Friday 15th December 2017

Governors Okay Withdrawal of $1bn from ECA to Fight Insurgency Kachikwu assures NEC fuel scarcity will end in 48 hours Adeosun threatens to withdraw budget facility to states Omololu Ogunmade in Abuja Governors of the 36 states of the federation under the aegis of the Nigerian Governors’ Forum (NGF) yesterday

in Abuja gave the federal government the green light to withdraw $1 billion from the Excess Crude Account (ECA) to fight the insurgency in the North-east.

The ECA currently stands at $2.317 billion.

Making this disclosure while briefing State House correspondents at the end of the 83rd monthly National

Economic Council (NEC) meeting, the governor of Edo State, Mr. Godwin Obaseki, said the chairman of NGF and governor of Zamfara State, Abdulaziz Yari, made the offer

on behalf of his colleagues during the meeting.

According to Obaseki, the governors mandated the federal government to take the money from the ECA as

their own contribution to the fight against the Boko Haram terrorist group.

The balance in ECA, as Continued on page 8

IMF: Concern over FX Scarcity Persists, But Nigeria Remains Investment Destination… Page 10 Friday 15 December, 2017 Vol 22. No 8275. Price: N250

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INEC Confirms Kogi Governor, Yahaya Bello Registered Twice Dismisses staff guilty of double registration, registers 21 political parties To act on court ruling on Anambra Senate seat Onyebuchi Ezigbo The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has confirmed that the Kogi State governor, Alhaji Yahaya Bello engaged in double registration during the Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) exercise in his state,

effectively violating the Electoral Act. In a statement issued last night by the commission’s National Commissioner & Member, Information and Voter Education Committee Mrs. May Agbamuche-Mbu, Continued on page 9

Battle for S’West: PDP Accuses APC of Sowing Seeds of Discord in Region Daniel, Ladoja throw weight behind Secondus Onyebuchi Ezigbo in Abuja Ahead of the 2019 elections, the supremacy battle between the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and All Progressives Congress (APC) over the South-west geopolitical zone is heating up, with the main opposition party accusing the

ruling party of trying to sow the seeds of discord within the ranks of the PDP in the region, particularly on issues relating to the outcome of its national convention.

The PDP also declared that the people of the SouthContinued on page 8

Court Denies Alleged Husband Killer, Maryam Sanda Bail … Page 50

L-R: Speaker, Ogun State House of Assembly, Hon. Suraju Adekunbi; Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), Mr. Oscar Onyema; Ogun State Governor, Senator Ibikunle Amosun; and President, NSE, Mr. Abimbola Ogunbanjo, when the governor rang the closing gong at the NSE in Lagos... yesterday

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Daura, Magu Shun Each Other at Senate Probe EFCC boss dismisses notion of street fight between operatives of agencies Damilola Oyedele in Abuja The cold war between the Director-General of the Department of State Services, Mr. Lawal Daura and the acting Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Mr. Ibrahim Magu, was apparent yesterday when both men noticeably shunned each other at a Senate hearing.

Daura and Magu did not exchange pleasantries when they both appeared before the Senate ad hoc committee charged with investigating the recent face-off that occurred

between the operatives of both agencies, even though the hearing was yet to commence.

On November 21, operatives of the DSS had prevented officials of the EFCC from arresting its former DG, Mr. Ita Ekpenyong at his Asokoro residence in Abuja.

Officials of the National Intelligence Agency (NIA) also prevented EFCC operatives from arresting the sacked DG of NIA, Mr. Ayo Oke, from his residence in the same neighbourhood.

Reacting to the face-off,

the Senate on November 22 summoned Daura, Magu and the acting DG of the NIA, Ambassador Mohammed Dauda over both incidents.

At the venue of the hearing yesterday, Magu and other staff of the EFCC were already seated before Daura walked in at 2.46 p.m., also accompanied by DSS officials.

Maintaining an expressionless facade, Daura took the front seat on the left row from where the EFCC officials were already seated.

The acting head of the NIA also walked in a few minutes later.

The chairman of the Senate ad hoc committee, Senator Francis Alimekhena, in his opening remarks, said it was necessary to get to the root of the altercation between the agencies. “This committee was not set up to witch-hunt any of you but to prevent recurrences like this in the future. The altercation is a serious security breach which can lead to anarchy. “This is not a banana republic and the laws of the land must be obeyed,�

Alimekhena said.

At the request of Daura

for a closed-door session, the committee members argued over whether the submissions should be taken with the press present or not.

Senators Shaaba Lafiagi (Kwara APC) and Chukwuka Utazi (Enugu PDP) were of the view that issues that border on security were bound to be discussed, and should not be made public.

Eventually, the committee resolved to hold the hearing behind closed doors in a smaller hearing room where the submissions of the agencies would be taken separately and on separate

days.

Magu, in his brief remarks earlier, said there was no clash between his men and those of the DSS, as EFCC officials had withdrawn “peacefully�. “There was no street fight; we did not fight anyone. So, the reference is not proper, with all due respect. My men went there to execute a warrant of arrest and when they could not, they withdrew peacefully,� Magu said.

Thereafter, the senators and their guests left the hall to another room for the closeddoor session.

the party said.

It asked Nigerians not to despair, adding that the PDP was now repositioned to provide direction and return the nation back to the “path of unity and prosperity�.

In affirmation of the PDP stance that its chairmanship aspirants from the South-west had accepted the outcome of the convention, two of them – Rashidi Ladoja and Gbenga Daniel – agreed yesterday to support the emergence of Secondus as the new national chairman of the party.

Speaking during a peace meeting in Lagos with the PDP Reconciliation Committee led by the Bayelsa State governor, Hon. Henry Seriake Dickson, the former Ogun State governor, Daniel, said it was too late for leaders of the PDP of his status to contemplate leaving the party.

In a statement issued yesterday by Dickson’s media aide, Mr. Fidelis Soriwei, the former Ogun governor was quoted as having assured his guests that the PDP in the South-west would do everything to ensure the success of the party in 2019.

Daniel said that while it was true that grievous mistakes and wrong assumptions, which should have been avoided were made, he was experienced enough to know

the nature of the struggle for power, which he said was not a “tea party�.

Earlier, the committee visited former Oyo State governor, Chief Ladoja, who said that the PDP had a great chance to recapture power in all the states and even at the national level.

He assured the committee that the PDP in the South-west would work in harmony in the overall interest of the party.

Ladoja also said the Southwest PDP had accepted the outcome of the convention.

According to him, the convention provided the opportunity for the zone to learn its lesson, as it had realised that it could speak with one voice.

On his part, Dickson said that the party would need the full support of its members in the South-west to effectively execute its plan to capture political power in 2019. “We are here to discuss the issues that have arisen as a result of the convention. The party holds you, Ogun State and the South-west zone in very high esteem. Moving forward, we will rely on your support and the guidance of leaders like you to succeed. “We look forward to your active robust participation in the affairs of the PDP going forward,� Dickson informed Daniel.

BATTLE FOR S’WEST: PDP ACCUSES APC OF SOWING SEEDS OF DISCORD IN REGION west were too sophisticated politically to fall prey to the antics of the APC. The South-west zone was crucial to the victory of the APC in the 2015 elections which swept President Muhammadu Buhari to power.

But the PDP is bent on breaking APC’s current stranglehold on the region, in order to regain power in 2019.

It is believed that the main opposition party’s desire to make the South-west a swing zone may have informed its decision to ditch its microzoning formula, which threw up Mr. Uche Secondus, from the South-south, as the new national chairman of the PDP at its convention last Saturday.

Prior to the convention, the post of chairman had been zoned to the Southwest, but some stalwarts believed that PDP would be better positioned to take on the APC if it paired its presidential candidate, which has already been zoned to the North with a running mate from the South-west.

Should Buhari contest the 2019 presidential election, he would most likely do so with Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo, from the South-west as his running mate, so the thinking in the PDP is that a vice-presidential candidate from the South-west could

split the vote in the region.

Continuing, the PDP said that it had observed the “feverish moves� by the APC to create disaffection among its members, distract it, and divert the attention of Nigerians from the colossal failure of its government.

It said truth was that the APC administration, having wrecked the country, was resorting to shadow boxing to stay afloat. “Nigerians are however impatient to kick them out,� it added.

In a statement issued yesterday by its National Publicity Secretary Kola Ologbondiyan, PDP said having woefully failed to stop its elective national convention, “a desperate APC has again failed in another bid to plant seeds of discord within the ranks of our members in the South-west, particularly on issues relating to the outcome of our hugely successful national convention�. “The South-west is too sophisticated to fall for the gimmicks of the APC. The people cannot be distracted or deceived by baseless propaganda and cheap resort to ethnic politics. “The South-west will not fail to join other despairing Nigerians in voting out the APC in the 2019 election,� it said.

PDP pointed out that the people of the region have seen through the antics of the APC propaganda machine and would not allow themselves to be deceived.

According to the PDP spokesman, the South-west leaders who contested for the PDP chairmanship position were all men of quality and credibility, adding that the fallout of the convention would not in any way diminish their standing as core nationalists and statesmen whose interests, particularly in the PDP and the nation, were not driven by personal or ethnic considerations.

PDP said the peoples of the South-west are also not immune to the sufferings Nigerians are being subjected to by the current, chaotic state of the economy that the APC administration has inflicted on the nation. “What essentially drives the individual and collective aspirations of the South-west leaders in the PDP remains in tandem with the vision of other leaders of our party across the country, which is to rescue our dear nation from the directionless administration of the APC with its attendant economic hardship on Nigerians. “In fretting, the APC does not seem to realise that people in the South-west are as much

victims of its misrule as other Nigerians. “Those in the South-west suffer from the current chaotic state of the economy which the APC administration has inflicted on the nation; they groan from APC’s negative policies on foreign exchange as well as the heavy taxations that are killing industries and businesses; they suffer the misery in the land resulting from the spiralling rate of inflation, decline in the stock market and decayed infrastructure. “The APC’s attempt to plant seeds of discord among our members in the South-west merely betrays their fears of losing control of the region. “The APC must note that its exit has become inevitable.

They must note that the more they fight the PDP, the more united we become and the more Nigerians see through their deception and emptiness. “Today, many are leaving their ranks in droves. Very soon their party will be empty and its collapse will be loud. “For the PDP, we remain one big family committed to credible processes that guarantee internal democracy in our party. Our leaders have since revved our internal conflict resolution mechanisms and consultations in this direction are yielding tremendously positive results,�

GOVERNORS OKAY WITHDRAWAL OF $1BN FROM ECA TO FIGHT INSURGENCY reported to the council by the Accountant General of the Federation (AGF), Ahmed Idris, was $2.317 billion as of December 13, 2017.

Obaseki said: “The NEC also resolved through the chairman of NGF to support the effort of the federal government in the area of security. “Pleased with the achievements made by the federal government till date in the fight against the insurgency, the governors of Nigeria through their chairman announced at the NEC meeting that the governors have given permission to the federal government to spend $1 billion in the fight against the insurgency. This money is supposed to be taken from the excess crude account.�

Obaseki also said the council discussed the fuel shortages across the country, adding that the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu, assured the council that within the next 48 hours, adequate fuel supply would

be restored to all parts of the country. “We also discussed the issue of fuel supply. As you know, there have been challenges in fuel supply in the country and the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources assured the council that within the next 48 hours, fuel supply will be restored nationwide. “And because there is enough fuel in our strategic reserves, the ministry has released fuel from our strategic reserves and expects that distribution will reach all parts of the country within the next 24 hours,� the governor explained.

Obaseki also said the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Boss Mustapha, briefed the council on the forthcoming retreat of secretaries to the state governments between December 17 and 18.

He said the retreat was conceived to ensure the alignment of state policies with those of the federal

government, with a view to creating a synergy between state and federal policies and consequently facilitate the effectiveness of overall national policies.

In his briefing, the governor of Gombe State, Ibrahim Dankwabo, said the Minister of Finance, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun, gave the council an update on the budget loan facility to the states.

According to him, the loan facilities for June, July, August had been released while the finance ministry was currently working on the September payment.

However, Damkwabo said the minister told NEC that issuance of budget support facilities to states was predicated on certain conditions which she said many of the states had failed to meet.

Against this background, the governor said the minister warned that her ministry would withdraw further support to states which fail

to comply with applicable conditions. “The Minister of Finance informed council that the budget support facility to states was based on certain conditions as agreed under the fiscal responsibility plan. “But she complained that most states were yet to comply and added that non-compliance would make her ministry stop any further support to any of the states that do not comply,�

Damkwabo said.

Dankwabo who also said the council was informed that the ongoing audit of the Nigerian Customs Service (NCS) and Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) would hopefully be concluded in 2018, gave an update on government accounts up to December 13.

According to him, the AGF reported that the balance in ECA account was $2.317 billion, the Stabilisation Account at N7.78 billion while the Natural Resource Account

was put at N106.984 billion.

Also at the briefing, the Minister of Water Resources, Adamu Suleiman, who recalled that 30 per cent of the Nigerian population in 1992 had access to pipe borne water, the figure had now dropped to 7 per cent, implying that the nation was heading towards a crisis in terms of water sanitation.

The minister said the country requires N1.9 trillion in the next 15 years to boost water supply with a view to meeting its sustainable development goals (SDG) on water supply and sanitation by 2030.

He said his ministry has rolled out an action plan designed to improve water supply sanitation from 2018, which he said would involve a five-year recovery programme and 13 years of a revitalised strategy supported by international agencies, all of which he noted was a product of wide consultations geared towards meeting the SDGs.

TOP GAINERS BERGPAINTS DANGFLOUR FCMB NPFMFB FIDELITY TOP LOSERS PRESCO CADBURY

NGN NGN % 0.38 8.09 4.9 0.10 12.59 4.9 0.06 1.28 4.9 0.06 1.32 4.7 0.10 2.36 4.4 NGN NGN % 3.41 65.00 4.9 0.81 15.54 4.9 GTBANK 2.00 39.90 4.7 LIVESTOCK 0.04 0.86 4.4 CAVERTON 0.06 1.32 4.3 HPE Nestle Nig Plc â‚Ś 1,462.50 Volume: 323.946 million shares Value: N 4.402 billion Deals: 5,168 As at yesterday 14/12/17 See details on Page 43

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STARTERS

Nigerians Score Buhari 52% on Governance Bayelsa, Abia, Kogi, others get low performance ratings Police is least trusted security outfit

Ndubuisi Francis and Udora Orizu in Abuja Nigerians have given President Muhammadu Buhari a job performance rating of 52 per cent on governance in the 2017 national poll conducted by NOIPOLLS. The survey was for the months of April and May 2017.

The national poll is the flagship offering of NOIPolls, the premier public opinion polling institution, which conducts extensive polls reflecting the opinions and attitudes of Nigerians on various sectors, topics and social, economic and political issues.

Unveiling the report at a press conference in Abuja yesterday, the chief executive of NOIPOLLS, Dr. Bell Ihua, said the survey showed that Nigerians rated the job performance of Buhari at 52 per cent on governance.

Unsurprisingly, the highest approval rating of 75 per cent was polled from the president’s geopolitical zone--the North-west while his lowest approval of 19 per cent came from the South-east geopolitical zone. “These regional variations arguably reflect not only the voting patterns during the 2015 presidential election, but also speak to the pattern of agitations and counter-agitations since President Buhari came to power,� the survey noted.

The poll also rated the president on specific sectors on a four-point scale, where 1 stood for poor and 4 stood for excellent.

From the results, the highest average score of 2.3 points each were obtained for the president’s performance on security and agriculture while the worst ratings of 1.8 points each were for his performance on the economy and poverty alleviation & job creation.

Sixty per cent of those polled said they were dissatisfied with the president’s handling of the economy.

The poll also sought the opinion of Nigerians regarding Buhari’s anticorruption war.

The results showed that while 91 per cent of Nigerians believe corruption is still a major issue in the country, 58 per cent were of the opinion that the president’s anti-corruption war was working, with

NEWS TCN: Transmission Hits new Peak of

5,156MW of Electricity TheTransmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) yesterday disclosed that it recorded new national peak electricity transmission capacity of 5,155.9 Megawatts (MW) on December 8.The Interim Managing Director ofTCN, Usman GurMohammed, made the disclosure at an interaction with journalists in Abuja. Page 10

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NEWS

FRIDAY DECEMB ER 15, 2017 Ëž T H

TCN: Transm ission Hits new Peak of 5,156MW of Electricity Email davidso

The Transmissi Nigeria (TCN) on Company of yesterday disclosed that it recorded new national peak

electricity transmissio of 5,155.9 Megawatt n capacity s (MW) on December 8.

News Editor

n.iriekpen@thi

I S D AY

Davidson Iriekpe

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0811181308

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The Interim Managing Director of TCN, Usman Gur-Mohammed, made the disclosure at an interaction with journalists in Abuja.

He said TREP had attracted financing for

by TCN several projects donor agencies, from millions engineers saved several delivery. of Naira. completion of adding that the He also revealed the projects would According to Gur-Moham result in expansion that TCN had resolved the collaborati him, some of record exceededmed said the new transmissio of the several ons include previous national n capacity to grid and slow implementi challenging Agip and about the bond peak record the at least within 20,000MW in NNPC joint The federal governmen ng contracts programme. of “Government venture four the year. in respect of on February 5,074.70 recorded t will on the is Monday issue He also revealedyears time. towers 94 2.

The contracts, money from going to use He said the that TCN Green bonds engineers had according to on Okpai-Onitisha DC and 98 worth N10.69 the Green Bond specific nation’s him, include for peak line.

He noted that the Kukwaba load capacity average in installation been involved substation some aspects billion to finance projects projects. It is for green TCN was of the of transforme at collaborating that have been beginning of with governmenalso rs Yawuri-Ka, Katsina-Daura line, The Director-Ge 2017 budget. as green the year was the at substations in classified about and it’s also project-tied the country.

4,000 MW. t of fanchan, Mbalano- Japan on developme Debt Manageme neral of the The Ohafia-Um TCN nt of capacitor “So, it’s not banks in Apo interim boss uahia, Nnewi-Oni He money going . explained Mrs. Patience nt Office (DMO), governmen and Keffi substations that to Transmissiadded Oniha, the accomplishthat installations were and Maiduguri substations tsha and rehabilitatio during a forum disclosed this it is going t for general spending, on Rehabilitat He said the completion . ed at less than Akangba, and n of Apapa, Expansion Programm ion and cent with investors for specific projects 10 per ongoing seeking to subscribe of Isolo substations of the some have that cost e (TREP) significant benefits hitherto paid projects would which sought He said . contractors At the forum were to the bond. environme for the significant to decentralis over the years. to 1,000MW transmission add about ongoing discussions were nt.� investors from e Pension Funds According capacity to aspects of the grid before The DMO DG Japan to him, project company Government with implementation January 31, 2018. explained that Federal Ministry Administrators, delay the to to rehabilita successfull Gur-Moha regions the in Ikeja issuing of Finance, Interdesigned was te y installed mmed, the ministerial Committee News substatioWest Agency of Nigeria result of many the bond was as a national to further increase the 10 transformers in and Ota on Climate processes involved Bauchi, Funtua, Ejigbo, ns.

(NAN), Change; Nigerian peak transmissi Ajah, Gombe, said within the year, also Stock Exchange, in floating the instrument capacity.

He added that on Aba, Umuahia, Central Bank s.

TCN entered the European She of and Zaria, sayingAuchi, Damboa several into collaboration with Union (EU) had also pledged and Exchange Nigeria, Securities process said: “There are several Commission, that installations provide 25 million partners to to World through that you have to go Bank, Chapel reposition Euros grant to the company Hill before the for better service support TCN on solar other private sector Denham, and Independen “For instance, bond is issued.

Power Plant Moody has rated (IPP) evaluation t The DMO boss representatives. the projects said the bond . as being qualified is part of governmen green instruments for t’s effort and it’s a process align with the global objective to we have to go through. expanding the of definitely But now, market for climate next week finance. the green bonds� we are issuing This, she added The Minister is in line with President Muhamma for State, Environment, du Buhari’s Ibrahim commitment to support Nigeria’s the negative impact Jibril, said transition towards of climate change on the country had green economy. a low carbon, it imperative made for the issuance She said Green of a bonds have been financing instrument the subject of increasing address the problems.that would government and investor According to interest, driven her, the prospect of matching by Change is real and “Climate low-carbon investment large business, requirements government and the capital with global bond market need to work together markets held institutional investors. by effects. to slow its According to “This pilot green government is her: “The federal we expect bond, at to be the first which it is about issuing that stage where more, of many has for N10.69bn. the Green Bond to addressdeveloped the platform the nation’s “We are meeting target of reducing its emissions the people who will invest in by 20 per cent unconditio the bonds to sensitise cent conditionalnally and 45 per ly by 2030.�

Ikoyi Cash:

FG to Issue First N10.69bn Green Tranche of Bond Mond James Emejo in Abuja ay them

Court

to Hear Suit Whistle-Blo on wing Payment Jan 17

Following the payment of the tranche of the Ikoyi Osborne first obstacles in quick Tower of the determination cash recovery suit, High Court saga, the Federal served hearing notice has been L-R: General Overseer, in Abuja has Redeem Christian January 17, fixed in the on all the six defendants Shonekan; and former 2018 for hearing court action. in Abuja....yesterday Head of State, Gen.Church of God, Pastor Enoch a court action in Yakubu Gowon Adeboye; former In the suit filed instituted against (rtd), at the 2017

by Abdulhami Head, Interim Finance Minister, Mohamme d Presidential Christmas National Governme Financial Crimes Economic and claimed d in Abuja, the plaintiff nt, Chief Praise Concert to have participated Commission at the PresidentiaErnest (EFFC), Office actively in the whistle l Villa blowing General of the of the Attorney led to Godwin Omoigui.

Federation (OAGF), the recovery efforts that and three others of the money by the EFCC. of whistle-blow on part payment The court action ers entitlement with No. FHC/ Obinna Chima with huge sum of in the ABJ/CS/11 the agency report 58/2017 also about N360 and 27, 800 Euros $43.4m, N23.3m Usman, has Bala to a dollar. anti-corruption recovered by the Sheriff Stephen Sunday and one Tamene’s comm yields fell ag all f S W t i

IN THE MOO D OF THE SEAS ON

IMF: Concern over FX Scarc ity Persists, Investment But Nigeria Destination Remains

EDITORIAL Prevalence of Illicit Drugs

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The alarming rate at which vulnerable groups among the young and old are getting hooked on illicit drugs caught the attention of the Northern Traditional Rulers Council last week. In the communique issued at the end of the council's General Assembly...

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PREVALENCE

There is an urgent

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need to embark

he alarming rate groups among at which vulnerable the young and getting hooked old are the attention on illicit drugs caught of Rulers Council the Northern Traditional last week. In niquĂŠ issued the commuat the General Assembly end of the council’s , the traditiona “noted with l rulers rate of drug abuse grave concern the alarming and drug addiction partner with â€? and resolved coalition of northern to menace in the North in particular groups to check the general. and the nation in While we commen d the their timely intervention traditional rulers for on this social that is threaten malaise regrettable thating the future of a generatio President Muhamm n, it is not seem to adu Buhari does appreciate the ‘‘I have charged gravity of the law enforcem them (Customs ofďŹ cials) situation. ent ďŹ cking in illicit agencies to go after thoseand other drugs that are trafespecially among causing much young people,â€? harm last week. But he said in Kano the issue goes beyond trafďŹ ckin g HARD DRUGS, drugs, even in though FROM CANNABRANGING it constitutes IS, TO a COCAINE, HEROIN serious problem AMPHETAMINES AND on its own. The consumption INCREASINGLY ARE of ON THE STREETAVAILABLE illicit drugs has IN MOST become a major TOWNS IN NIGERIA health problem AND ABUSED BY in BOTH THE Nigeria.

YOUNG AND

THE OLD Hard drugs, ranging from Indian hemp, nabis, often cancalled are increasin to cocaine, heroin and ampheta gly mines in Nigeria and available on the street in old. Yet, these abused by both the young most towns problems for are substances that cause and the the user and and ampheta the society at serious mine-type stimulan large. Heroin counter drugs ts and most of our are also being increasin over-the cities. gly abused in Even when statistics may be hard to come by,

Letters to the Editor

PAT

OF ILLICIT D

on enlightenmen t campaigns against

RUGS

the use of hard

drugs

there must be drugs and the a correlation between the today. Indeed, prevalence of crimes in abuse of our country many of the ing vicious robberies audaciou and murders s crimes includprisons, churches , raiding of banks, aided by drugs, and kidnappings, are of the culprits going by the confessio said to be ns of some that were caught. now is that many of our young But the real danger hooked on substanc people es that are more are already way trafďŹ c to or less a onedestruction.

T

herefore, we are worried about of the nation what the future would are on substance be when several of its youths pecially when abuse. It is more disturbin our institution g esenough data s do not to needed facilitiesknow what we are battling really keep with to handle cases have always of drug abuse. and the argued that Experts due to the prohibited substance abuse, medical consequences of prevalence that is made more there is increased disease lifestyle associated difďŹ cult to treat while the with addiction heavy cost on also contribut healthcare in es to a the country.

From different ďŹ ndings, individu and chronic als with addiction illnesses disease or diabetes, such as asthma, cardiova quickly as others are less likely to recover scular with the as diction. The implications same illness but no adof lead to high healthcare cost drugs and alcohol abuse health facilities, and without to other countriewe will continue to lose adequate resources s. It is a notoriou loses billions of dollars annually s fact that Nigeria tourism. to India for medical There is no eaten deep intodoubt that the threat of drug abuse has the fabrics believe that with effective of our society. But we still the problem counselling s programmes, sensitisation can be tackled, in addition campaigns by appropriate government to authorities. Therefor and other at all levels, e, the governm should create ent, especially in drug awarene schools. It is and cultural also importan ss units, organisations t rid our society to join in the for religious impact negativeof this dangerous habit efforts to that can ly on the future of our country. only

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POLITICS APC’s Unwarranted Attacks on PDP

Since the advent of the All ProgresPOLITICS sives Congress (APC) national leadership under President APC’s Unwar ranted Attac ks on PDP Muham- madu Buhari, the government has had relative peace because the op- position Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) was unable to give the government the kind of S fight it got from the APC while it was in opposition.

Page 18 FRIDAY, DECEMB ER

Buhari 42 per cent responding to the contrary.

The job performance of state governors was also assessed by Nigerians.

From the results, as rated by citizens resident in each of the states, the top performing states were Katsina (86 per cent), Sokoto and Kano (with 83 per cent each), Adamawa (82 per cent), Zamfara and Jigawa (80 per cent each), Kebbi (79 per cent), Niger (73 per cent), Yobe (71 per cent) and Anambra (66 per cent).

On the other hand, the ten least performing states were identified as: Bayelsa (12 per cent), Abia (15 per cent), Delta (18 per cent), Imo (19 per cent), Borno (24 per cent), Kaduna (28 per cent), Kogi (30 per cent), Benue (34 per cent), Bauchi (35 per cent) and Kwara (38 per cent).

In terms of institutional effectiveness, Nigerians had the opportunity to assess the performance of 17 public institutions with a regular interface with the populace.

The results revealed that the top five institutions considered effective

by Nigerians were the military (72 per cent), Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC 65 per cent), Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC 63 per cent), National Agency for Food and Drug Administration & Control (NAFDAC 61

of investigation into the involvement of staff in the matter. “The initial report submitted by the panel was referred to the Appointment, Promotion and Disciplinary Committee, which made recommendations to the commission. “While the governor of Kogi State currently enjoys immunity from prosecution, the commission took the following decisions in respect of its own staff: Summary dismissal of two staff for acts of gross misconduct, immediate and compulsory retirement of an electoral officer for acts of gross misconduct.�

The commission also stated that it had registered 21 new associations that had fulfilled the constitutional requirements for registration as political parties.

The names of the new political parties are, All Blending Party (ABP), All Grassroots Alliance (AGA), Alliance for New Nigeria (ANN), Abundant Nigeria Renewal Party (ANRP), Coalition for Change (C4C), Freedom and Justice Party (FJP), Grassroots Development Party of Nigeria (GDPN), Justice Must Prevail Party (JMPP), Legacy Party of Nigeria (LPN), Mass Action Joint Alliance (MAJA), Modern Democratic Party (MDP), National Interest Party (NIP), National Rescue Mission (NRM),

15, 2017

A N A LY S

per cent), and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC 59 per cent).

On security, the poll reported that while 65 per cent of Nigerians feel safe in their localities, 35 per cent do not feel secure.

In line with this perception, about a third of the population (33 per cent) said they were aware of a robbery incident, and 13 per cent said they knew of a kidnapping within their locality in the last 12 months.

On the rating of government’s response to threats of violence in the country, 48 per cent expressed their satisfaction with the response. On the contrary, 50 per cent of Nigerians expressed dissatisfaction with government’s response to threats of insecurity, particularly amongst residents of the South-east (83 per cent) and Southsouth (79 per cent) geopolitical regions.

Nigerians were also asked to rate their level of trust for organisations involved in providing security.

The results revealed that the military topped the list of such organisations with 77 per cent, followed by vigilante groups and community security (64 per cent).

On the other hand, the Nigeria Police were identified as the security institution with the least level of trust with only 35 per cent.

INEC CONFIRMS KOGI GOVERNOR, YAHAYA BELLO REGISTERED TWICE INEC also said that 21 associations have fulfilled the constitutional requirements for registration as political parties.

With the new development, the total number of registered political parties in Nigeria is now 67.

The commission said following reports of alleged double registration by the governor of Kogi State in the on-going CVR exercise, the commission had set up a panel of investigation into the involvement of staff in the matter.

It explained that the initial report submitted by the panel was referred to the Appointment, Promotion and Disciplinary Committee, which made recommendations to the commission.

However, the commission said that it was constrained from acting on Bello’s culpability because he currently enjoys “immunity from prosecution�, but had ordered the dismissal of two of its personnel involved in the matter for gross misconduct.

It also ordered the compulsory retirement of an electoral officer involved in the illegal act for gross misconduct.

The statement read: “Following reports of the alleged double registration by the governor of Kogi State in the on-going Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) exercise, the commission set up a panel

Two-Minute BrieďŹ ng

New Progressive Movement (NPM), Nigeria Democratic Congress Party (NDCP), People’s Alliance for National Development and Liberty (PANDEL), People’s Trust (PT), Providence People’s Congress (PPC), Re-Build Nigeria Party (RBNP), Restoration Party of Nigeria (RP), and Sustainable National Party (SNP).

In addition, INEC said that it would soon take a decision on the re-run election for the Anambra Central Senatorial District earlier scheduled for January 13, 2018, but which has now been affected by a ruling of the Federal High Court in Abuja.

In this regard, the commission said it has applied for the Certified True Copy of the judgment to enable it to take a decision on the Senatorial seat.

Following the judgment of the Court of Appeal, which ruled that the senatorial re-run election should go ahead, the commission had slated the Anambra Central Senatorial District poll for January 13.

However, the commission said in the statement that its attention had been drawn to the judgment of the Federal High Court on the issue on December 13 and was waiting for the Certified True Copy of the ruling to enable it to make a decision on the issue.

17

Group Politic s Editor Tobi Soniyi Email tobi.so niyi@thisday live.com 0803314613 9 SMS ONLY

IS

The All Prog ressives Con members inste gress ad of attacking should address the grow the Peoples Democratic ing disaffection amo ng its Party, writes Shola Oyeyipo

ince the advent sives Congressof the All Progresand leaders leadership under (APC) national of our party, of God and madu Buhari, President Muhamwith all hands that by the grace conduct of tenancy of the on deck, the national conventio had relative the government has peace on May 28, APC in Aso Rock Villa brief “Perhaps, APC n. position Peoples because the op2019. By this, expires Article leaders have quit notice,�

(PDP) was we serve them 25 (A)(i) of unable to give Democratic Party he said. their party’s never read Similarly, a which stipulates the kind of Rather the governme constitution the APC must fight it got that nt holding than congratulate from the APC it was in oppositio be the PDP for of the party shall be ‘the national conventio a successfu while chose n prepared to do n.

The reasons to throw jibes l convention, the APC at a date, venue and held once in two years time to be recommen at the party. by the National condemne PDP membersare not far-fetched. While and be matur what is right The party ded most tagged d the PDP national who held and approved Working Committe e enough to or the other convention it as a ruse. in the last one public office by the National e (NWC) accept and Committe facing corruptio administration Here is a party criticisms in e (NEC), subject Executive are muster that has not the statutory the leadership n allegations and good to the giving the courage been faith charges, notices to tion as it shifted to hold it national able to National Electoral also held the crisis that engulfed the Independ of the party conven- at party back. ent its mid term Commission convention, least Aftert the 14 days notice (INEC) and non-elective three times resolution eligible to given to members crisis, well-mea in of the leadership has left many attend.’ of the party 2017 alone. This with the leadership calling on the ning Nigerians have “What impunity loyalists dissatisfied been could be higher . violating its acts together former ruling party The APC than National Publicity constituti to get its APC Bolaji Abdullah by effectively and fill the vacuum Secretary, Mr. APC can be moralisinon? It is strange that shifted its conventio it n three g on the principles alone, having of social justice, particularly putting the APC on created the opposition i, apparently making initially slated times in 2017 its toes, the with meaningf jest PDP after its whereas well researche PDP had not the convention, of Nigerians are a complete its actions against April, then August, ul criticisms d suggestio later Novembeexercise for till next year. departure from of doing things. ns on better and especially due departed from its evil said norm,� Ologbodi r and now ways, to its constant ways money the yan noted.

Now that He said the Within six months, resort to using to sway the PDP has successful conduct the caretaker national conventio put in place put its house “In reacting electoral support. of the PDP order, many expect the committee in n had sent party to begin its role spine for-votes and to revelations of how was able to by the leadership of the party to play money- had of the ruling party jitters down the APC as an opposition party. stabilise the perpetuated systematic rigging was was able because the party. The succeeded must be prepared Similarly, the to brazenly during PDP and in uniting party of the conducting to do what convention cap it up with the on all fronts be PDP, the APC the National Conventio a very elective axiom: by in good mature enough to accept is right n is mindful of August 9th, held in Abuja on “It is laughablecredible elective convention faith.

A leopard criticisms Saturday 2017 that cannot changethe popular roundly .

Abdullahi Importantly, From the words failed in not the APC which has its spot�, said. it is expected of former pr only managi exchanges fairs of the Goodluck J that in th i He said f id h il

WEEKENDFILE Deconstructing Rez the Wordsmith

WEEKEND WEEK LY PULL OUT

Can you talk about the direction that you think you are pushing towards in the next four to five years?

I take cognisance of the fact that the world is increasingly becoming global than we realise and what comes with that is that languages would get extinct, identities would get lost... Page 27

Acting Feature s Editor: Charles

LIVIN G | P31

BUSINESS Nigeria Loses over $6,4bn Annually

Ëœ ÍŻÍłËœ Í°

to Non-reciprocity of BASA Aviation industry experts have projected that the federal government is losing over $6.4 billion annually from non-payment of royalty by foreign carriers.

This, according to the experts, is the amount that was supposed to be paid by international operators as Nigerian airlines are incapable of reciprocating ... Page 19

| P36

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MONEY MARKET OBB OVERNIGHT

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Ajunwa Email: charles.ajunwa @thisdaylive.c om

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310.91 % -0.08% 0.20%

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Group Busine

ss

N O V E M B E R S & P INDEX

Email chika.amEditor Chika Amanze-Nwac anzenwachukw u@thisdaylivehuku .com 0803329415 7

2 3 ,

S & P INDEX 1/4 TO DATE

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2 0 1 7

EXCHANGE RATE N305.95//1US DOLLAR* ĚŠ

5.23% 18.59%

Quick Takes

BCI Boss, Olugbo

COURTESY VISIT

L-R: Directorat e Head, Lagos State, Akinwunm & South West, to the Governor i Ambode and Executive Olubowale A. Ogunrinde at Lagos House, ; MD/CEO, Unity Director, Ikeja ... recently South Bank, Temisan Bank Tuedor, during Plc, Mrs. Tomi Somefun; a courtesy visit Governor of Lagos by a team from Unity Bank Plc

Nigeria Loses over $6,4bn Non-reciprocit y of BASA Annually to

The Institute di of Manageme Bags IMC Fellows nominated Africa’s nt Consultant s (IMC-Niger hip leading backgroun ChiefExecutive d screening expert ia) has OďŹƒcer(CEO) Mr Kola Olugbodi, ofBackground and the CheckInternationa for the Fellowship Consultants l(BCI), of the Institute (FIMC). of Manageme According to nt David Iornem, the Director-General of IMC-Nigeria, the fellowship outstanding contributions is given to individuals who Professor that world peace, have made national stability have promoted good manageme In addition to nt, the Fellowship and economic progress. status (CertiďŹ ed , Olugbodi will Management also InternationalCouncil Consultant) which gain the CMC ofManageme is granted by CMC status is ntConsulting the the highest qualiďŹ catio Institutes(ICMCI).The can aspire to attain. It is globally n any management recognised in consultant accepted over 50 countries. and it is reciprocall The institute y will the Airport Hotel,hold a RoundTable Discussion Ikeja, Lagos where next weekTuesday on him. the Fellowship at will be conferred

Air Peace

Nigeria’s leadingIntroduces New Routes Freetown in Sierraairline, Air Peace has announced plans to connect fromitsMurtala Leone, Banjul inThe Gambia and Dakar from DecemberMuhammedInternational Airport,Lagos in Senegal hubstarting A statement 15. issued by the Manager, Mr. carrier’s Corporate AVIATIO N Chris Aviation industry Communications the second phase Iwarah said the new makes foreign experts have routes projected that of the airline’s carriers to pay of Africa and expansion project would constitute the for landing bring before now,â€? ment is losing federal govern- the rights. on theWest Coast Air Peace made its route network to a country should the Ambassad But the new total said. annually from over $6.4 billion gerian or have policy might from the Murtalaits ďŹ rst scheduled commercia of 14 destinations. airline operating a Ni- have been non-payment royalty by foreign Muhammed backed by white not Industry consultant l ight out of of country into that Kotoka Internation Nigeria per, with the same Internation paal This, according carriers. number rules;as enshrined in Civil Service CEO of Belujane Konsult, and The airline plans al Airport, Accra-Gha Airport, Lagos into the to the experts, of frequencies. but that had na on February to operate ights is the amount given some Aligbe, said that Nigeria Chris well as six internation But in a situation 16. that was supposed to ďŹ ve other would continue to lose to be paid where Nige- foreign airlines the window regional routes al destination ria does not Guangzhou by internation huge extricate as s comprising have the capacity revenues -China, themselves from to from non-recipro operators as al provide Dubai, Air Peace, which Houston, Mumbai and to payments.

Nigerian airlines strong airlines city such airline South Africa London, recently embarked are incapable to respond operation in of foreign to the number size to 24 aircraft, soon. of reciprocatin on a project to Nigeria until Recently at of frequencie number of frequencies g the commercial increase its eet the inaugural the country establishes be serviced by said its Freetown, Banjul s, flight of agreement its operated its Boeing 737 and Dakar routes national carrier. own Medview Airline by these foreign is reached between its guests. aircraft to guarantee would lack of capacity carriers due to countries representatives of both Dubai, the Nigeria Ambassad to Aligbe the comfort “Wearepleased of or defunct said that before the Nigeria does and the fact that operates whereby the airline that to the United Arab Emirates, Nigeria route network toannouncethesecondphase on the West Coast (NAL) went Airways Limited airlines that not have strong to pay to Nigeria should have Mohammed Dansata of theexpansion of our ights under, of Africa with ofour from Lagos to international operate many for the royalty to the country lamented the non-recipr Rimi one that negotiated it was the December 15.

Freetown, Banjul the commencement destinations. number of foreign ocity commercial This Every year, which Nigerian of frequencies Nigeria airlines operation to agreement with foreign the economies is an exciting step in fulďŹ lling and Dakar on Friday, airlines by domestic airlines do airlift about 4 foreign airlines reciprocate our promise to carriers and and that as far as officials leisure trips of the region, oer air travellers million passengers unlock and this is paid not said that the country seamless connectivit the Ministry annually from on business passenger. per a lot of people when of Transporta in is losing Nigeria. and y as well we launched revenues because and doing tion In 2016, the our ďŹ rst ight as create jobs for the Ghana on February About four the negotiation these Nigeria airlines come out of Nigeria years ago, passengers thattotal number of federal 16â€?, , to Air Nigeria would Peace into Accra, to take shortchang government abrogated the the nation’s continue to said. passed through the nation’s be wealth away payment of the Nigerian ed.

Dana, SPG Unveil airports were but royalties airlines million and 15. “We need string Dana Air and Yuletide about 4.2 million2 airlines in response by foreign wealth from are not bringing exploitation carriers. the were airlifted to the request other parts to oer 25per Starwood Preferred Guests Package of Nigeria by The by foreign carriers. made by the Internation of the airlines world to the foreign cent In the principle country. started after al of family, friends discount on air tickets hotels have partnered “We have not the demise of Bilateral Transport Association (IATA) Air to suit the holiday of Nigeria Air Service Agreemen did not adopt been but The airline said and individuals this Christmas Airways. But needs t (BASA), slot allocation, reciprocate the BASA able to fact that it this partnership every airline the which is not these of the SPG hotels because airlines that operates entails guests and New year. foreign to book a room into income is another source of Etihad and Emirates are that should Meridian Ogeyi – Sheraton Abuja Hotel, operat- it ing to Nigeria, for governme Sheraton Lagos at any is us that should be blamed; but no nt that airline Lagos to get place, Port Harcourt, and Hotel, Le be blamed.

25 Four is operating Nigerian Speaking on the percent o their next ight Points by Sheraton to Dubai Continued Air, Mr. Kingsley partnership, the Communica with Dana Air. on page 20 Ezenwa said be planning special ‘Its Christmas, tions Manager of Dana and families, getaways, pay far more, friends will we have decidedand to lessen the burden of having to these amazingCh to partnerthe Eromo l A ristm SPGh t l d 

Chinedu Eze

NSC Tackles Port Service Doing Busi Providers over ness Violation Ease of 46

INTERNATIONAL Diplomats Clamour for Intensified Security after Breach at German Embassy Following the recent breach at the German Embassy onWalter Carrington Crescent,Victoria Island, five diplomats from their respective embassies yesterday tasked the police to intensify security.

Page 46

INTERNATIO NAL

FRIDAY DECEMB ER

email:foreigndesk Diplomats Clam @thisdaylive.com our for Inte Security afte nsified r Breach at German Embassy

CHANGE OF

15, 2017 Ëž T H

I S D AY

NAME

I, formerly known CHANGE OF and addressed NAME as AKINNUSI I, formerly now wish FUN>AYO MA'RET known addressed as and addressed to be known and ANYAE' U NAMVICTOR AKURO FUNMI>AYO as O'UNSEMO RE now wish to known and addressed be documents MA'RET. All former as VICTOR ANYAE' U NAM general publicremain valid. The former documents AKURO. All should please note. take remain valid.

The general I, formerly known take note. public should please Chiemelie Ezeobi and addressed as KAREEM A IDEMI I, formerly known RUTH now wish to be known In response, Imohimi as LAYENI OLAMIDEand addressed Following the and addressed reminded them that it as ERE IFA now wish that the police be known and was a RUTH. All the German recent breach at and has strengthen addressed as to the police wouldmilitary zone security on Embassy on ed documents remain valid.former ALAKIJA OLAMIDE. MRS Walter any Carrington Crescent, the waterways, not conduct general The operations All he public said former Victoria Island, documents should please there without the marine unit of the five diplomats remain valid. take command note. from their respective collaborating with had taken stock general public The embassies yesterday the military. should please of jetties in the I, formerly He educated state, note. take tasked the police to intensify the need to the diplomats on ones, both public and private as EMEKA known and addressed security. have at least which I, formerly known The diplomats three in security have been included to be knownOKONKWO R now wish were drawn armed policemen at A:AYI OLUWAKAYand addressed as and addressed from the British arrangements. all times within their as EFI EMEKA OKONKWO High Commission Imohimi said premises. wish to be known ODE HE O now United States R. All former , He also urged documents perceived (US), German, AJAYI OLUWAKAYand addressed as remain valid.

Italian them to have troubled spots have and The Netherland general public also been The ODE EZEKAYA. identified and s embassies, a common ground constructed All former documents should please all in Lagos. were witnessing for the printers note. take remain increased The general and photocopie Tabling their grouse patrols, assuring public should valid. where any applicant rs, I, formerly known please take note. before the Lagos Police seeking their residents of a hitch free yuletide. and addressed ONtU>IRI <ENNETH Commissioner, services would go as In an interview Edgal Imohimi, I, formerly known O INNA now afterwards Similarly, Imohimi to. wish to be known the VC said, at command as AHMED A A and addressed â&#x20AC;&#x153;The University , NtANNA and addressed headquarters the the Vice Chancellor also received Lagos is as of <ENNETH only the Ikeja, they now wish to AHMED SAIDU , University in of Lagos be known lagoon on one school that has former documents O INNA. All addressed (UNILAG) and cited the popular remain side and we Oluwatoyin Prof. vulnerable as AHMED are The general public should valid.

Nigerian SAID. All Ogundipe, former documents Army Mammy because of the clamoured for who please location take note. remain increased patrol of the school.

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by Ahmadu NIYI now lot wish to be known to assist us.â&#x20AC;? former PRECIOUS O>A ISI. All Bello and addressed documents crescent to scout Way end of the customers.

The general public remain valid. SALAUDEEN KAMOLIDEE N as According NIYI. should please All former documents take note. remain worries were them, their The general public should valid.

CORRECTION the recent securitytriggered by please take note.

OF NAME: German Embassy, breach at the I A DURRAHMA I, formerly known which almost went out of my name was N MUNIRUDEEN TAIWO MISS MARTHA and addressed as wrongly spelt hand before ALVAN now wish as A U>RRAHAMA it was contained.

N TAIWO and MUNIRUDE be known and TAIWO A DU>RAHMAN MUNIRUDE addressed as to They appealed MARTHA TEMPLE . Henceforth MRS to be known and to the police boss I wish address as A DURRAHMA to close the market MUNIRUDEEN former documents AYASUK. All N TAIWO. All former and carryout remain the same.The remain an operation The general general public document in public should valid. take note. area of criminals order to rid the CORRECTION please take note.

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The general take note. public should please

SPORTS Kanu, Diouf, Other African Legends

Play for IDPs in Kan Former African football stars including Nwankwo Kanu; former Senegal and FRIDAYSPORTS Kanu, Dio Liverpool forward, El Hadji Diouf; Legends Playuf, Other African for IDPs in K former South African Captain, Aaron ano Mokoena, and former Zimbabwe star, Benjani Nwaruwari were all in action yesterday as some legends of the game in the continent played Kano Pillars FC in a charity game at Odoh Sizzles on the Sani Abacha Stadium in Kano.

Equatorial Gui nea Open Day One Page 54 T H I S D AY

Ëž FRIDAY, DECEMB ER

15, 2017

Group Sports Editor Duro Ikhazuagbe Email duro.ik hazuagbe@th isdaylive.com

Ibrahim Shaibu in Kano the game. He Former African described the initiative football succour aimed at bringing stars including Nwankw to persons Kanu; former Senegal ando homeless as a result made Liverpool forward, of the terrorist activities El Hadji Diouf; former South African East as a laudable in North Captain, Aaron â&#x20AC;&#x153;Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s an opportunione.

Mokoena, and former ty for us (ex internatio Zimbabwe nals) to show Benjani Nwaruwa star, support in action yesterdayri were all displaced for the internally persons as legends of the game insome glad to be here in and we are continent played the Kano today. â&#x20AC;&#x153;The FC in a charity Kano Pillars a good organisers have done job in arranging game at the Sani Abacha game and bringing this Stadium in Kano.

These former all these former into the ancient stars trooped want African stars here. the charity matchcity to play in them,â&#x20AC;?to say a big kudos I to concludes put together to raise funds for the Internally African player of the former Displaced Persons the year who also has a foundation (IDPs) the North-Ea st of Nigeria. in care of children andfor taking Although persons suffering from by a capacitythe game watched One of the heart diseases.

Masu Gida crowd at the Sai the organisers of event, Moo in favour ofground ended 2-1 Mustapha Mohammed had the legends the NPFL team, described , showed glimpses the game asearlier of what made more than a â&#x20AC;&#x153;just match.â&#x20AC;? amongst Africanthem popular He indicated Akide Ibrahimfootball fans. the first that scored both time in the it was goals for Pillars history of football that while Mokoena got the legendsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; a group consolation legends would be playing of goal. raise funds to Ex challenges ofand highlight the Nigerian players IDPs in Nigeria. including Daniel Chairpers Garba Lawal Amokachi, Organisin on of the Local and Tijani g Babangida Committee, Miss Abi Goodman side of theplayed on the a pathetic , painted picture Super Eagles legends with dishearten Brown Ideye ing conditionof the also spicing IDPs. of the fresh legs. up the team with rise She urged the world to up to action to support the Speaking shortly after Federal Governmentâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s the game, efforts to make life Kanu expressed meaningful his happiness Cristiano Ronaldo these displaced persons for being part of (left) and Gareth again. once the Club World Bale are Cup team to successfu ďŹ nal against Brazilian hoping that Real Madrid can cap its most side Gremio lly defend the on Saturday, successful trophy and which would end 2017 with see the La Liga year ever with victory in ďŹ ve titles giants become the ďŹ rst

AIMING FOR CLUB

World Cup Spon sor, Hisense, Take s over Toshiba

WORLD CUP RECORD...

An Official Sponsor Olawale Ajimotok of the 2018 World Cup in The company an in Russia, Hisense Mongomo Electronic Company dictated the operated Toshiba primarily Guinea , Equatorial Ltd, acquired 95 four under momentum at curtailed per cent shareshas various auxiliary TV and par. following bogies Toshiba Visual of Odoh, winner on and on Corporation including commerci products Andrew Oche of the 2014 holes 1, 5 and 14.

(TVS). the greens. and advertisem al display for a Odoh quest and 2015 titles, sank Sunday Olapade Markus carded 3e Actuaries As a key element ent display five Haruna products.

Equatorial birdies to set his mission Mohammed and him in 33rd place, 77 to leave global strategy, of Hisenseâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s factories They had two Guinea Open treble on track. tied on 17th both shot started the brand in Japan patents on a bright sponsored position at 79 which left while Pam Ben note after the last editions related to TV one for 40th him in tied posted a solid he ZimbabwFaillet-Smith of over par 73. of the European with Gift Willy. and acousticsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; image quality par Olapade 70 yesterdaytwo under England e, Luke Joy of Odegha grossed .

FIFA Confedera Cup and the Club, Ada, from MicCom in Chief and Ryan 81 to lie 50th place. in Russia last tion Cup also Hisense Executive Officer, Mongomo Golf over the also of Zimbabw Cairns Osun State, Course June.

Equatoria Group, in share of e had a reached two under only Jany Lee of Hisense, a l Guinea. suffer a costly second position the US led leading global Hongxin, lauded Mr Lin to the ladies The effort brand in home three under meltdown the major at the closing left him in at three under par. tied for appliances acquisition and assured a four holes. in par, one stroke manufacturing The Nigerian stakeholders all overni sixth position behind First ahead f is also th who time Alej of th fi t A t d ht l i h d D

10

FRIDAY DECEMBER 15, 2017 ˾ T H I S D AY

NEWS

News Editor Davidson Iriekpen Email davidson.iriekpen@thisdaylive.com, 08111813081

TCN: Transmission Hits new Peak of 5,156MW of Electricity The Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) yesterday disclosed that it recorded new national peak

electricity transmission capacity of 5,155.9 Megawatts (MW) on December 8.

FG to Issue First Tranche of N10.69bn Green Bond Monday James Emejo in Abuja The federal government will on Monday issue the Green Bond worth N10.69 billion to finance some aspects of the 2017 budget.

The Director-General of the Debt Management Office (DMO), Mrs. Patience Oniha, disclosed this during a forum with investors seeking to subscribe to the bond.

At the forum were investors from Pension Funds Administrators, Federal Ministry of Finance, Interministerial Committee on Climate Change; Nigerian Stock Exchange, Central Bank of Nigeria, Securities and Exchange Commission, World Bank, Chapel Hill Denham, and other private sector representatives.

The DMO boss said the bond is part of government’s effort to align with the global objective of expanding the market for climate finance.

This, she added is in line with President Muhammadu Buhari’s commitment to support Nigeria’s transition towards a low carbon, green economy.

She said Green bonds have been the subject of increasing government and investor interest, driven by the prospect of matching large low-carbon investment requirements with global bond markets held by institutional investors.

According to her: “The federal government is at that stage where it is about issuing the Green Bond for N10.69bn.

“We are meeting the people who will invest in the bonds to sensitise

them about the bond programme.

“Government is going to use the money from Green bonds for specific projects. It is for green projects that have been classified as green and it’s also project-tied.

“So, it’s not money going to government for general spending, it is going for specific projects that have significant benefits for the environment.”

The DMO DG explained that the delay in issuing the bond was as a result of many processes involved in floating the instruments.

She said: “There are several process that you have to go through before the bond is issued.

“For instance, Moody has rated the projects as being qualified for green instruments and it’s a process we have to go through. But now, definitely next week we are issuing the green bonds” The Minister for State, Environment, Ibrahim Jibril, said the negative impact of climate change on the country had made it imperative for the issuance of a financing instrument that would address the problems.

According to her, “Climate Change is real and business, government and the capital market need to work together to slow its effects.

“This pilot green bond, which we expect to be the first of many more, has developed the platform to address the nation’s target of reducing its emissions by 20 per cent unconditionally and 45 per cent conditionally by 2030.”

The Interim Managing Director of TCN, Usman Gur-Mohammed, made the disclosure at an interaction with journalists in Abuja.

Gur-Mohammed said the new record exceeded previous national peak record of 5,074.70 recorded on February 2.

He said the nation’s average peak load capacity at the beginning of the year was about 4,000 MW. He added that the Transmission Rehabilitation and Expansion Programme (TREP) which sought to decentralise significant aspects of project implementation to regions was designed to further increase the national peak transmission capacity.

He said TREP had attracted financing for several projects from donor agencies, adding that the completion of the projects would result in expansion of the grid transmission capacity to at least 20,000MW in four years time.

He also revealed that TCN engineers had been involved in installation of transformers at substations in the country.

The TCN interim boss explained that installations were accomplished at less than 10 per cent of the cost hitherto paid to contractors over the years.

According to him, the company successfully installed 10 transformers in Bauchi, Funtua, Ejigbo, Ajah, Gombe, Aba, Umuahia, Auchi, Damboa and Zaria, saying that installations

by TCN engineers saved several millions of Naira.

He also revealed that TCN had resolved several challenging and slow implementing contracts within the year.

The contracts, according to him, include the Kukwaba substation, Katsina-Daura line, Yawuri-Kafanchan, MbalanoOhafia-Umuahia, Nnewi-Onitsha and Maiduguri substations.

He said the completion of some ongoing projects would add about 1,000MW transmission capacity to the grid before January 31, 2018.

Gur-Mohammed, the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), also said within the year, TCN entered into collaboration with several partners to reposition the company for better service

delivery.

According to him, some of the collaborations include the Agip and NNPC joint venture in respect of towers 94 and 98 on Okpai-Onitisha DC line.

He noted that TCN was also collaborating with government of Japan on development of capacitor banks in Apo and Keffi substations and rehabilitation of Apapa, Akangba, and Isolo substations.

He said discussions were ongoing with Japan Government to rehabilitate Ikeja West and Ota substations.

He added that the European Union (EU) had also pledged to provide 25 million Euros grant to support TCN on solar Independent Power Plant (IPP) evaluation.

Ikoyi Cash: Court to Hear Suit on

Whistle-Blowing Payment Jan 17 Following the payment of the first tranche of the Ikoyi Osborne Tower cash recovery saga, the Federal High Court in Abuja has fixed January 17, 2018 for hearing in a court action instituted against Finance Minister, Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFFC), Office of the Attorney General of the Federation (OAGF), and three others on part payment of whistle-blowers entitlement in the huge sum of the $43.4m, N23.3m and 27, 800 Euros recovered by the anti-corruption agency in the Flat 7, Osborne Towers, Ikoyi, Lagos through whistle blowing efforts.

PRNigeria confirmed that Justice Ijeoma Ojukwu of the Federal High Court is billed to adjudicate on the court action instituted by one of the original whistle-blowers Abdulmumini Musa, in which he is praying for a mandatory injunction to stop the finance minister from excluding him from the payment of the 2.5 per cent to five per cent of the whistleblowing fees.

The Court Action by Musa was sequel to the move by the Minister Mrs Kemi Adeosun to pay a sum of N421m to the whistle-blowers without the plaintiff benefitting despite the facts that joint efforts led to the recovery of the huge sum.

To ensure that there is no

obstacles in quick determination of the suit, hearing notice has been served on all the six defendants in the court action.

In the suit filed by Abdulhamid Mohammed in Abuja, the plaintiff claimed to have participated actively in the whistle blowing efforts that led to the recovery of the money by the EFCC. The court action with No. FHC/ ABJ/CS/1158/2017 also has Bala Usman, Stephen Sunday and one Sheriff, all of Suite 6, Kujre Oil and Gas Filling Station, Abuja as 4th, 5th and 6th defendants respectively.

Plaintiff in the writ of summons claimed that he, 4th, 5th and 6th defendants’ jointly volunteered information to EFCC operatives which eventually led to the recovery of the huge local and foreign currencies.

Specifically, the plaintiff sought court declaration that he is entitled to share from the approved whistle blowing entitlement by the Minister of Finance and order of the court directing the EFCC and the minister to include his name as part of the beneficiaries of the whistle blowing fees along with the 4th, 5th and 6th defendants as they actively participated and are instrumental to the whistle blowing or disclosure of information which eventually led to the recovery of the huge sums of money.

IN THE MOOD OF THE SEASON

L-R: General Overseer, Redeem Christian Church of God, Pastor Enoch Adeboye; former Head, Interim National Government, Chief Ernest Shonekan; and former Head of State, Gen. Yakubu Gowon (rtd), at the 2017 Presidential Christmas Praise Concert at the Presidential Villa in Abuja....yesterday Godwin Omoigui.

IMF: Concern over FX Scarcity Persists, But Nigeria Remains Investment Destination Obinna Chima with agency report Worries over the repatriation funds out of Nigeria following currency controls last year still dominates investor fears, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said on Wednesday.

But IMF’s senior financial sector expert, Miriam Tamene, who said this, added that the country was still on international investors’ radar.

Tamene said there was interest in Nigeria’s securities market, adding that however, investors were being careful because fears of getting trapped still exist Nigeria introduced capital controls following dollar shortages triggered by a currency crisis last year. The naira then fell to a record low of N520 to the dollar, prompting the central bank to introduce a raft of measures to boost dollar liquidity.

The naira has appreciated across various segments of the forex market as it currently trades at

about N360 to a dollar.

Tamene’s comments came after her team visited Nigeria’s Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) as part of consultations on developments covering the economy. The report of the consultation would be presented to IMF board in February.

“Investors are interested in Nigeria, but with difficulties they had in getting their money out recently, that confidence is not there yet,” Reuters quoted Tamene to have said in a statement released by the SEC. “It has improved though, but they are still watching.”

Nigeria’s currency market for investors has traded $22.37 billion since it was launched, according to market operator FMDQ OTC Securities Exchange.

On Wednesday traders said some foreign investors were booking profits from treasury bills and bidding to repatriate funds abroad, creating a liquidity squeeze on the currency market, after debt

yields fell.

In April this year, the central bank liberalised the market to allow investors trade the naira at market-determined rates in a bid to attract inflows into debt and stock markets. This led to the introduction of the Investors’ and Exporters’ (I & E).

In fact, most activities now occur on the I&E window, with Fitch Ratings recently acknowledging that the rate on the I&E “should now be considered the relevant exchange rate”.

The CBN Deputy Governor, Financial System Stability, Dr. Joseph Nnanna, recently described the I & E window as “a mighty success”, saying it has “performed beyond our expectations”.

“Within a few months of the window’s introduction, we have seen a volume of over $10 billion.

It is a huge success and I believe other countries can copy that from us,” he said.

MSCI last month announced its decision to retain the MSCI Nigeria Indexes on its MSCI

Frontier Markets Indexes, after an initial threat to delist Nigeria, and had cited the performance of the I & E window as the major reason for its decision.

The Nigerian Stock Exchange has gained 45 per cent so far, this year, helped by demand for consumer goods and banking shares after the central bank lifted currency restrictions for investors.

Acting SEC Director General, Abdul Zubair, said several initiatives had been launched by the commission to increase investor confidence and grow the capital market.

The Fund called on Nigerian authorities to lower inflation currently at 15.91 percent as of October and increase access to local monies to grow the economy.

The government plans to repay some treasury maturities this month, in a move to lower borrowing cost, which has triggered a debt sell-off by foreign investors and caused treasury bill yields to fall across the board

T H I S D AY FRIDAY DECEMBER 15 2017

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FRIDAY DECEMBER 15, 2017 ˾ T H I S D AY

NEWS

Buhari Returns from France President Muhammadu Buhari has returned to Abuja after participating at the “One Planet” summit in Paris, France. He departed on Monday.

The president’s aircraft landed at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport (NAIA), Abuja, at about 4:35p.m. where he was received by senior government officials including his Chief of Staff, Alhaji Abba Kyari, and the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Alhaji Musa Bello.

While in Paris, President Buhari appealed to the international community to support Nigeria’s commitment to reduce the negative effects of climate change.

Buhari, according to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), told participants that Nigeria could not implement its Nationally Determined Contributions without adequate financial, technical and capacity building support from developed nations He said Nigeria ratified the Paris Agreement in May 2017 but its Nationally Determined Contributions to reduce emission by 20 per cent by 2020 and 40 per cent by 2030 could not be attained alone.

According to him, the country is not under illusion of the challenges it is facing, having just came out of recession.

The summit with the theme: ‘Climate Change Financing,’ was attended by over 60 heads of state and governments, as well as representatives of non-governmental and private organisations.

President Buhari signed the Paris Climate Agreement on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York on September 22, 2016, and followed this up with the signing of the Instrument of Ratification at the State House, Abuja, on March 28, 2017. This ratification made Nigeria the 146th party to the Paris Agreement. The agreement became binding on Nigeria with effect from June 15, 2017, one month after the submission of the Ratification Instrument to the United Nations on May 16, 2017.

Under the agreement, Nigeria has committed (the so-called ‘Intended Nationally Determined Contributions – INDCs) to reducing carbon emissions 20 per cent unconditionally and 45 per cent with international support by 2030. To achieve this, Nigeria requires billions of dollars in funding and investment for energy, transport and agriculture projects that would reduce carbon emissions and mitigate the effects of climate change (manifesting as desertification, flooding, erosion, erratic rainfall, among others.

Nigeria has prioritised five sectors for the implementation of its INDCs. Among these is oil and gas, under which Nigeria shall strive through a new National Gas Policy that will reduce flaring, and also promote the use of gas instead of wood products.

Nigeria also proposes to pursue

House Committee Seeks Collaboration with Dangote Refinery Ejiofor Alike The House of Representatives Committee on Local Content has expressed its commitment to partner Dangote Refinery on local capacity development in line with the provisions of the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry Content Development (NOGICD) Act of 2010.

Speaking when he led the other members of the committee on inspection tour of the multi-billion refinery in Lagos, the Chairman of the committee, Hon. Emmanuel Ekon, said the purpose of the visit was to help guide the company to be in compliance with the NOGICD Act. He said the committee did not visit the company to antagonise anybody, adding that Alhaji Aliko Dangote is the pride of the black man.

“We actually came here to see what is going on. We have come; we have seen and we need to work with the management of Dangote Group of companies to bring them up to speed. We understand that when a country engages on this kind of massive development, some rules have to be bent so that we can get to where we need to get to. We came here to see how we can guide Dangote Group of Companies so that they can be in compliance with the law,” Ekon explained.

The company had told the committee that out of four foreign companies and one Nigerian company approached by the company to move some of its imported equipment from the Apapa Port to the construction site at the Dangote Free zone by water, only the Nigerian company had the capacity to move the equipment to the site successfully through the

Lagos lagoon.

According to the Technical Consultant to Dangote on Refinery and Petrochemical, Mr. Babajide Shoyode, the Warri-based Nigerian company, Wellman was the only company that successfully transported the equipment to site, adding that the barge that carried the equipment had to wait for six hours under the Eko bridge for the tide to calm down, otherwise the equipment would have hooked on the bridge.

In his response, Ekon said there were many ‘Wellmans’ in Nigeria’s oil and gas sector that have the capacity to execute complex projects, and urged Dangote Group to work with the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) to identify Nigerian companies that have competences in particular areas to avoid exporting jobs or using foreign companies to execute jobs for which there is local capacity.

“We don’t want the kind of mistakes that other companies have made in Nigeria to be repeated here. That is why we need to start early to make sure that our company – because this is our own interest – that this company is up to speed so that five years down the road, they don’t run at loggerheads with the law. That is why we are here.”

“We need to talk to the management; we need to talk to Alhaji Aliko Dangote himself; we need to work with him and we need to encourage him. We are not here to antagonise anybody; we are not here to antagonise Dangote Group of Companies. We are not here to do things to slow down the speed of this massive construction that is going on, We are only here to start from the beginning to put them on the

climate-smart agriculture, though the country is paying greater attention to agriculture to diversify the economy.

Government also planned to reduce fossil fuel burning by shifting from road transport to rail and also promote the use of renewable energy

via investment in solar and wind energy.

Government cannot singlehandedly fund the implementation of the INDC targets.

An estimated 80 per cent of the funding for climate action will need

to come from the private sector.

This is why the government of Nigeria is launching, this month, a Green Bond, to raise domestic financing for low-carbon infrastructure projects across the country.

The One Planet Summit was hosted by the President of France, Emmanuel Macron, and organised by the United Nations, World Bank Group, French Government and a coalition of civil society and non-governmental organisations.

CHIEF EXECUTIVES OF STATES

L-R: Governors Akinwumi Ambode (Lagos); Badaru Abubakar (Jigawa); Godwin Obaseki (Edo); Ibrahim Daankwambo (Gombe); and Abdulaziz Abubakar (Zamfara) at the National Economic Council (NEC) meeting at the Council Chambers of the Presidential Villa, Abuja … yesterday Godwin Omoigui.

Anambra Central: Okonkwo Writes INEC, Demands Certificate of Return It’s judicial miscarriage, says Annie Okonkwo Iyobosa Uwugiaren in Abuja Dr. Obiora Okonkwo, who was last Wednesday declared the senator for Anambra Central by a Federal High Court in Abuja, has written to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) demanding immediate issuance of a certificate of return to him as ordered by the court.

Justice John Tsoho had in a judgment last Wednesday ordered INEC to issue a certificate of return to Okonkwo without delay.

He also ordered the President of the Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, to swear-in Okonkwo to occupy the vacant seat of Anambra Central in the Senate.

The letter to INEC dated December 14, 2017, and titled: ‘Request to issue certificate of return to Dr. Obiora Okonkwo in compliance with judgment of the Federal High court in suit No. FHC/ABJ/CS/1092/2014 delivered on December 13, 2017’, signed by his lawyer, Chief Sebastine Hon (SAN), read in part: “We respectfully, but firmly, request sir, that you issue/cause to be issued, our client the said certificate of return as ordered by the Federal High court, forthwith, to enable our client present himself to the leadership of the Senate for inauguration.”

The letter was received at the office of the INEC chairman at about 4.30p.m. yesterday According to the letter, “We are counsel to Dr. Obiora Okonkwo, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate that won the party’s nomination to contest the March 2015 election for Anambra Central senatorial district but was unlawfully and wrongfully denied the ticket, which ticket was handed to Mrs. Uche Ekwunife.

He is hereinafter referred to as ‘our client’; and we hereby wrote on his instructions.

“Aggrieved by that clearly unlawful decision of the PDP, our client took out an originating summons in December 2014, challenging the actions of the PDP. Joined as defendants in the suit were PDP, then chairman of PDP, Alhaji Adamu Muazu, INEC and Ekwunife.

“In the course of the trial however, counsel to the PDP and the PDP chairman; counsel to INEC and counsel to Ekwunife, all submitted to judgment, as per the claims in the amended originating summons and the motion for judgment filed and served on them by the plaintiff (our client). It is instructive to note that the Motion on Notice sought consequential orders, including an order that INEC should forthwith issue our client with a certificate of return and that he should be immediately sworn in as senator.

“In the course of the hearing on December 13, 2017, all defence counsel again conceded and submitted to judgment; hence the Justice Tsoho of the Federal High Court, Abuja entered judgment for our client as per claims in the amended originating summons as prayed in relief three of the motion on notice.”

Okonkwo also attached all documents referred to in the letter made available to INEC. He reminded INEC that “your commission, sir, has already scheduled a fresh election into this senatorial district for 13/1/2018” adding that “we however, submit as follows: that the decision of the Court of Appeal ordering fresh election, delivered on 7/12/2015 did not nullify the victory of the sponsoring political party (PDP)

but merely held that Ekwunife, the so-called PDP candidate for the election, was not duly nominated by the PDP. “The Court of Appeal in that decision also held that the APGA candidate, Chief Victor Umeh, could also not be declared winner of the said election, since he did not poll the highest number of votes.

“Therefore, that the Court of Appeal did not nullify the March 2015 election into Anambra Central senatorial district but merely held that Ekwunife could not prove her due nomination by the PDP. Now that the Federal High Court in suit No. FHC/ABJ/CS/1092/2014 has held that our client was duly nominated candidate of the PDP in that election; and in view of the settle case law that it is a political party as opposed to a candidate that wins an election, our client should, as ordered by Justice Tsoho, be issued a certificate of return forthwith, to enable the senate leadership inaugurate him as Senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.”

Okonkwo also reminded INEC that his suit predated any other matter affecting Anambra Central senatorial district as it was a pre-election suit.

Meanwhile, Senator Annie Okonkwo who representedAnambra Central and who said he was the original candidate of the PDP in the 2015 general election until he was substituted, has reacted to the Federal High Court pronouncement, saying it was a miscarriage of justice.

In a statement from his media office, the senator stated that he was completely shocked by this latest curious judicial harvest to a litigant from the shadows, who plied fables as facts and gained concurrence from the respected Justice Tsoho.

“It is sometimes fitfully amazing how our hallowed judicial

temples can be deliberately misled, perhaps inadvertently, to contrive somersaults of superior court verdicts on a settled matter.”

“Let it be recalled and I say this with responsibility from the records, that on this vexed matter of who was and still is the validly nominated PDP candidate for Anambra senatorial zone for the 2015 general election, Senator Annie Okonkwo was the one by law and legitimate party processes.

“I graciously emerged the duly nominated candidate of the party from the INEC recognised and approved primary. The party hierarchy validated my candidature by submission to INEC, who accepted and published my name to canvass and win the votes for the PDP. The PDP won that election but crowned the wrong laureate, and the sequence of comedies ensued.

“Let me make it simpler and clearer that you cannot build something on nothing. There were two parallel PDP primaries for that election. Mine was recognised, accepted and adopted by party and law. The other was not, but connived to ambush my victory until pronounced dead for illegitimacy by a far superior court of records. In that instance, every foundation from that platform that has fallen by conclusive judicial sword, cannot stand however remotely and cleverly manufactured.

“It has remained my firm belief and prayers that the bizarre circumstances and perfidy that has denied Anambra Central zone, one of the most sophisticated and cultured constituency in this country, a voice in our highest legislative chamber for reasons of inordinate conspiracies to deny them their expressed preference will one day soon come to be.”

T H I S D AY FRIDAY DECEMBER 15 2017

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COMMENT

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

IS DEMOCRACY WORKING IN NIGERIA? Nnamdi Ebo argues that more could be done to make it work properly

D

emocracy is associated with the ancient Greeks and Romans. The term â&#x20AC;&#x153;democracyâ&#x20AC;? first appeared in ancient Greek political and philosophical thought in the city-state of Athens during classical antiquity (5th century BC) to mean â&#x20AC;&#x153;rule of the peopleâ&#x20AC;?. In modern usage, democracy is a system of government in which citizens exercise power directly/indirectly electing representatives to form a governing body such as a parliament. Democracy contrasts with other forms of government where power is held by an individual (absolute monarchy); a small number of individuals (oligarchy); the military (militocracy); or the state/ military (Stratocracy).

Contemporary Nigerian democratic experiment began in 1999 under the 1999 Constitution. As Africaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s largest economy and most populous with over 180 million people, Nigeria is a bellwether for the viability of the continentâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s democracies. The 16th US President Abraham Lincoln said in his famous â&#x20AC;&#x153;Gettysburg Addressâ&#x20AC;? on November 19, 1863 that â&#x20AC;&#x153;Democracy is the government of the people, by the people, for the peopleâ&#x20AC;?.

Are Nigerians getting democratic dividends as professed by politicians? Presidents and governors conduct themselves sanctimoniously whenever they are commissioning over-budgeted projects, expecting Nigerians to be thankful because they are god-sent and delivering democratic dividends to them. Reacting to the conduct of politicians in the US, an American actor and newspaper columnist, Will Rogers (1879-1935), vociferated: â&#x20AC;&#x153;Be thankful weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re not getting all the government weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re paying forâ&#x20AC;?.

Nigerian political history is suffused with political parties which appeared in various guises, and have also disappeared under different guises. Before independence in 1960, Nigeria had already witnessed three different elections: 1923 election following Sir Hugh Clifford Constitution (1922); 1946 indirect election following Sir Arthur Richards (Lord Milverton) Constitution (1945); and 1951/1954 elections following Sir John McPherson Constitution and Sir Oliver Lyttleton Constitution respectively.

We had Herbert Macaulayâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s NNDP (1920s-1930s) later dissolved into NCNC (1940s-1960s), Ahmadu Belloâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s NPC, Nnamdi Azikiweâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s NCNC and Obafemi Awolowoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s AG. We also had dubious political alliances: Zikâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s NCNC/Awoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s AG faction forming UPGA and Belloâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s NPC/Akintolaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s AG faction forming NNDP and smaller parties: Tobi Izedonmiâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s DPNC, Aminu Kanoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s NEPU, Joseph Tarkaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s UMBC, Ibrahim Imamâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s BYM, Alvan Ikokuâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s UNIP, etc. The big three â&#x20AC;&#x201C; NPC, NCNC and AG derived their political strength from their primordial bases of Northern, Eastern, and Western Regions respectively. Nigeria flirted with democracy operated by Shagariâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s NPN, Zikâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s NPP and Awoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s UPN (1979-1980).

With the PDP and APC, there is a viewpoint among â&#x20AC;&#x153;politically savvy Nigeriansâ&#x20AC;? that democracy, even the worst form, is the best for Nigeria â&#x20AC;&#x201C; better than any military government, however benevolent.

Supporters of this viewpoint cite freedom, accountability, separation of powers and development among others. While this may be true literally, it may not be true realistically â&#x20AC;&#x201C; in the context of the Nigerian democratic experiment.

UNDER THIS DEMOCRATIC DISPENSATION, ARE NIGERIANS PATRIOTIC ENOUGH IN SUPPORT OF THEIR COUNTRY? DOES GOVERNMENT DESERVE SUPPORT WHEN IT IS NOT DELIVERING DIVIDENDS OF DEMOCRACY?

It will be recalled that all the trans-West African highways/ interstate (multi-lane expressways), major universities, teaching hospitals, airports, new cities/towns including Abuja, hydro-electric/ power projects, even post-civil war democratic constitutions, were all delivered by the military juntas. They delivered projects, now lacking maintenance, without constituency project allocations, partisan politics, executive-legislative standoffs, expensive legislative oversights, contentious budget allocations and humongous lawmakersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; salaries, the highest in the world.

On the state of the law under democracy, must we take as justice what the courts reel out as punishment in their eloquence on government officials and politicians found guilty of stealing billions of naira from the treasury, in contrast, to justice delivered disproportionately to ordinary Nigerian petty thieves? Has democracy produced democratically elected politicians? Did Nigerians get what they voted for? Are these politicians all democracy can offer? Is democracy the lowest common denominator like â&#x20AC;&#x153;trickle down economicsâ&#x20AC;? which supposedly sends down dividends to the masses? Is democracy simplifying or â&#x20AC;&#x153;complexifyingâ&#x20AC;? the complex network of Nigeriaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s tribal and ethnic environment?

Are Nigerians better off now than during the military era? It will take imagination and intestinal fortitude to decipher what exactly Nigerians are benefiting from this democracy. Intellectuals and academics contend that the problem is with the operators of democracy, not the system. Nevertheless, there is growing discontent among Nigerians that this democracy is not working. The position taken by many Nigerians is that it is better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak out and remove all doubt. The US 40th President Ronald Reagan said â&#x20AC;&#x153;Governmentâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s first duty is to protect the people . . ..â&#x20AC;?

American writer Mark Twain once said that â&#x20AC;&#x153;Patriotism is supporting your country all the time, and your government when it deserves itâ&#x20AC;?. The US third President Thomas Jefferson said â&#x20AC;&#x153;The care of human life and happiness. . .is the first and only object of good governmentâ&#x20AC;?.

The US 32nd President Franklin D. Roosevelt said â&#x20AC;&#x153;Let us never forget that government is ourselves and not an alien power over us. The ultimate rulers of our democracy are not a president and senators and congressmen and government officials, but the voters of this countryâ&#x20AC;?.

Under this democratic dispensation, are Nigerians patriotic enough in support of their country? Does government deserve support when it is not delivering dividends of democracy? Does the government care for human life and happiness? According to Roosevelt, the president, lawmakers and government officials are not the government â&#x20AC;&#x201C; voters are the government. If so, why is there so much poverty, hunger, unemployment, insecurity and loss of faith in governance?

If democracy is working, why are many Nigerians risking their lives fleeing the country through the dangerous Sahara Desert to Libya en route to Europe? While not advocating a military government or inviting a coup dâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ĂŠtat, this democracy-militocracy comparison is relevant with regard to what Nigerians expect from democracy. 2019 is looming and the â&#x20AC;&#x153;usual suspectsâ&#x20AC;? are mustering, regrouping, plotting and ready to employ their deep pockets to move around, once again, to ask for peoplesâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; votes. They will promise heaven on earth during campaigns, even as hell fights back knowing that these politicians are lying to voters, as usual. Is democracy working in Nigeria?

www.nnamdiebo.com

RURAL ROADS TO THE RESCUE

Osun State is experiencing improved economic and social activities as a result of access roads to the farms, writes Kingsley Omoyeni

N

igeria had hitherto virtually depended on oil as a foreign exchange earner, thereby neglecting the agriculture sector for many years.

During those years, a lot of rural roads to farmlands were also neglected, thereby leaving them in a state of disrepair.

But it has become very obvious that the only way out of the current economic quagmire is for all and sundry to go back and embrace farming on a massive scale.

For a nation or state to promote agriculture, rural farmers need to be encouraged in many ways.

One of such ways is by making their roads good and accessible, to allow them go to farms and at the same time transport their farm produce to the various markets around them.

Osun Governor, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, and the Osun Rural Access and Mobility Project (Osun RAMP) are very helpful, going by the huge impact the activities of RAMP has had on rural communities through the construction and rehabilitation of roads. The State of Osun being an agrarian state is made up of many rural areas with vast farmlands which need accessible roads to allow the farmers in such communities to transport their farm produce to nearby markets for sale.

It was therefore a huge respite to the people of Osun through the efforts of Governor Aregbesola when the state was chosen as one of the lucky ones to benefit from the RAMP intervention through the World Bank and the French Development Agency in the construction and rehabilitation of rural roads across the state in order to assist farmers in the

transportation of their goods to the cities, thereby boosting the economy of the state through farming.

The project in Osun is being implemented and supervised by the State Project Implementation Unit (SPIU), a body made up of the heads of government agencies and parastatals. Chief among them is the Ministry of Works and the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security. Through its activities, the project has had a wider impact on the affected communities by providing accessibility which has brought means of livelihood to the poor and at the same time boosted the economy of the state.

The Aregbesola administration and Osun RAMP met a lot of the rural roads in a state of disrepair.

But the story has changed significantly today as a lot of the roads are now w earing a new look as farmers and traders alike are now experiencing boom in their activities as they now find it much easier to get to their farms.

Commercial activities in many of the said communities have now doubled because their markets are now flooded with varieties of farm produce on every market day. A lot of communities which had formerly been cut off by rivers from major markets now have access to the markets because Osun RAMP has succeeded in constructing bridges that will stand the test of time for them.

Some of the communities in Osun where river crossings or bridges have been constructed include: Elewonta in Iwo, Olomu stream in Irewole local government, Iree Polytechnic road in Boripe, Olukesi farm - Oju Eri in Boluwaduro Local Government; Ipon Stream in Odo-Otin, Odo Owere in Ede North Local Government; Gbalefe road, Modakeke in Ife East, as well as Oke-Aho stream located at Sekona

in Ife North Local Government. Others are: Faweri River in Ife South Local Government, Ogbaagba Ogudu, Odo Oroki in Obokun Local Government, Opa Bridge in Odunrin via Ipetumodu, Oyile River in Ilasetown, Oyi Adunni in Oke-Ila among others.

The impact of RAMP intervention on rural roads in Osun cannot be overemphasised as most of the rural dwellers are now happier, going by the fact that they are now able to do what they know how to do best with much ease. Gone are the days when they have to trek long distance of unmotorable roads before they get to their farms.

Some traders spoken to on some rural market days across the state testified to the fact that they now make good business as a result of the roads leading to their various markets, saying that they now get a lot of patronage from people living in urban centres.

Food and beverage vendors in the communities now make more money as more people visit the rural areas as a result of good roads; urban dwellers are now able to frequent the rural communities without the fear of bad roads damaging their vehicles.

Lumbering activities in most of the rural communities have also increased tremendously because their trucks no longer get stuck in the mud during rainy season.

New private schools as well as filling stations now spring up on a daily basis in most of the rural communities. This is because the roads are now motorable. The volume of cars plying the roads is now more than it used to be. Good roads, as they say, truly aid the rapid development of an area.

Some of the roads rehabilitated and constructed

by Osun RAMP include: 13.7km Agbowu-Aba Onile roads, 13.73km Ogbaagba-Eleru-Bode Osi roads, 3.1km Asa-Dagbolu-Ajagunlase road, the 12.73km Ikonifin-Sade-Ajagunlase road, 11.1km Agoro-Ikonifin road, the 4.38km Pataara-Ileko Oba farm settlement road and the 4.38km Akinyele-Aba Ayo-Isero road.

Others are: 3.91km Eeleke-Kanko road, 10.5km Jagun Osi/Onikoko-Osi-Sooko Road, 9.3km Ara Joshua-Yinmi Oja road, 10.9km Gbengbeleku junction-Owode Amu road, 39.164km Shasha road, the 3km Ilesa-Ilo Olomo boundary, 8.8km IlesaOdogbo-Igbowiwi road, 6.58km Odogbo-Iwara road.

Also touched by the intervention are roads such as the 1km Isale general township road in Ilesa, the 10.5km Isale General Hospital-Muroko-Okebode road, 10.7km Ira-Ikeji ile-Oligeri-Iragbiji road, Ira-Ibete road, Ikeji Arakeji-Aikulola road, the 10.8km Idiroko/Akinyele farm settlement, the 18.7km Mokore farm settlement road, 30km Orile Owu-Ago Owu-Ogedengbe road, 20km Alaguntan forest reserve road among others.

And just recently in November, the government of Osun took its drive to opening Osun to the world through road infrastructure flagged off the construction of another one kilometre access road to Olumirin Water Falls in Erin Ijesa being sponsored by the Government of the State of Osun with the implementation carried out by Osun RAMP. The solution to the current economic downturn the nation is facing is the opening of rural roads that leads to farm settlements and Osun RAMP is doing just that in the State of Osun.

Omoyeni is of the Osun State Ministry of Information and Strategy

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EDITORIAL PREVALENCE OF ILLICIT DRUGS

There is an urgent need to embark on enlightenment campaigns against the use of hard drugs

T

he alarming rate at which vulnerable groups among the young and old are getting hooked on illicit drugs caught the attention of the Northern Traditional Rulers Council last week. In the communiquĂŠ issued at the end of the councilâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s General Assembly, the traditional rulers â&#x20AC;&#x153;noted with grave concern the alarming rate of drug abuse and drug addictionâ&#x20AC;? and resolved to partner with coalition of northern groups to check the menace in the North in particular and the nation in general.

While we commend the traditional rulers for their timely intervention on this social malaise that is threatening the future of a generation, it is regrettable that President Muhammadu Buhari does not seem to appreciate the gravity of the situation. â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;I have charged them (Customs ofďŹ cials) and other law enforcement agencies to go after those trafďŹ cking in illicit drugs that are causing much harm especially among young people,â&#x20AC;? he said in Kano last week. But the issue goes beyond trafďŹ cking in drugs, even though HARD DRUGS, RANGING it constitutes a serious problem FROM CANNABIS, TO on its own. The COCAINE, HEROIN AND consumption of AMPHETAMINES ARE INCREASINGLY AVAILABLE illicit drugs has become a major ON THE STREET IN MOST health problem in TOWNS IN NIGERIA AND Nigeria.

ABUSED BY BOTH THE Hard drugs, YOUNG AND THE OLD ranging from cannabis, often called Indian hemp, to cocaine, heroin and amphetamines are increasingly available on the street in most towns in Nigeria and abused by both the young and the old. Yet, these are substances that cause serious problems for the user and the society at large. Heroin and amphetamine-type stimulants and over-the counter drugs are also being increasingly abused in most of our cities.

Even when statistics may be hard to come by,

Letters to the Editor

there must be a correlation between the abuse of drugs and the prevalence of crimes in our country today. Indeed, many of the audacious crimes including vicious robberies and murders, raiding of banks, prisons, churches and kidnappings, are said to be aided by drugs, going by the confessions of some of the culprits that were caught. But the real danger now is that many of our young people are already hooked on substances that are more or less a oneway trafďŹ c to destruction.

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herefore, we are worried about what the future of the nation would be when several of its youths are on substance abuse. It is more disturbing especially when our institutions do not really keep enough data to know what we are battling with and the needed facilities to handle cases of drug abuse. Experts have always argued that due to medical consequences of the prohibited substance abuse, there is increased disease prevalence that is made more difďŹ cult to treat while the lifestyle associated with addiction also contributes to a heavy cost on healthcare in the country.

From different ďŹ ndings, individuals with addiction and chronic illnesses such as asthma, cardiovascular disease or diabetes, are less likely to recover as quickly as others with the same illness but no addiction. The implications of drugs and alcohol abuse lead to high healthcare cost and without adequate health facilities, we will continue to lose resources to other countries. It is a notorious fact that Nigeria loses billions of dollars annually to India for medical tourism.

There is no doubt that the threat of drug abuse has eaten deep into the fabrics of our society. But we still believe that with effective counselling programmes, the problems can be tackled, in addition to sensitisation campaigns by government and other appropriate authorities. Therefore, the government, at all levels, should create drug awareness units, especially in schools. It is also important for religious and cultural organisations to join in the efforts to rid our society of this dangerous habit that can only impact negatively on the future of our country.

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

PATRICK IBRAHIMYAKOWAâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S FINAL HOME COMING

â&#x20AC;&#x153;

Under the cold gaze of a harmattan-filled morning, the convoy of Governor Patrick Ibrahim Yakowa left the Kaduna State Government House around 6am for the Kaduna Airport on December 15, 2012 where a plane was waiting. By 9am they had landed at the Port Harcourt Air Force base, having covered the 615 kilometres between Kaduna and Port Harcourt. They then went into the VIP lounge of the Base to wait for the Helicopter that would convey them to Okoroba, in Nembe Local Government, the hometown of Mr. Douglas in Bayelsa State. The occasion was the burial of Pa Tamunoobebara, father of Mr. Oronto Dauglas, a Special Adviser to President Goodluck Jonathan on Research and Documentation.

The initial plan was for the governor to proceed straight to Bayelsa and join Governor Seriake Dickson who would also be attending the burial but on entering the VIP lounge, he met Gen. Andrew Azazi, the former National Security Adviser (NSA) who was also going for the burial and they decided to proceed straight.

While waiting for the chopper that would convey them, they got talking. Minutes later the chopper assigned to convey Yakowa and his aides arrived first, but because they were still engaged in animated discussion and typical of Yakowa, he invited Azazi to go with him. Space was created for him by asking Mohammed Dayyabu, Yakowaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s protocol officer and Ezekiel Dzarma, his Chief Detail to follow later in Azaziâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s helicopter. With that arrangement, Yakowa, Elder Dauda Tsoho and Azazi left and landed safely at the Okoroba Primary School field from where they trekked the short

distance to the venue of the occasion.

After the event, instead of going to the area set apart for the reception, Yakowa trekked to the house of Oronto Douglas, where he ate with some few people, while Azazi attended the reception which was just at the back of Orontoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s house. He later joined Yakowa inside the house where they continued talking while waiting for the time the helicopters would start conveying them back to Port Harcourt. By this time Governor Dickson had already left.

While they were still waiting, a Navy Augusta helicopter with registration number NNO7 that would convey Azazi arrived first and Azazi said since Yakowa gave him a â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;liftâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; in Port Harcourt when his chopper arrived first, he should also go with him and allow his aides to follow later in Yakowaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s chopper. The Governor initially refused because the Bayelsa Governor, Seriake Dickson had also asked Yakowa to join him in his own helicopter but he declined, saying his own chopper would soon be around. He added that he wants to quickly return to Port Harcourt so he could move to Abuja for a meeting thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s waiting for him. But when Azazi asked him again saying they can wait at the lounge in Port Harcourt, Yakowa turned and looked at his orderly â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Kulas Mairiga and told him that, they should follow in his helicopter when it comes and meet him in Port Harcourt. He collected his phones from Kulas and together with Elder Tsoho, walked the short distance to Azaziâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Helicopter. Those around the field being used as a landing pad for all the choppers shuttling the guests gave them the go-ahead to proceed. The Helicopter slowly lifted up into the

sky, gave a little shrill noise which brought a little frown to the faces of those on the ground, but the noise normalises when the helicopter attained some heights. It then flew away.

About some minutes, another chopper arrived and somebody got space for Yakowaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s aides and they too lifted, but after 10 minutes of flying, they saw thick smoke billowing upward from the swampy forest beneath. Their pilot decided to check and flew low but didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t see the source of the smoke due to the thick vegetation. However, minutes later, he spoke to those onboard that he needed to go back and check out the scene of the smoke again as he has gotten a message that the control centre had lost radio contact with one of the choppers.

Flying back and hovering closer than before they saw the smoldering wreck of a helicopter but they couldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t land because of the dense and swampy vegetation. He radioed back what he had seen and they continued to Port Harcourt. Yakowaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s aides were wondering whose helicopter was that. They silently acknowledged within them that Azaziâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s chopper was the only one that preceded theirs and on getting to the air force base, they met a rescue chopper that was about lifting to the crash site. They nevertheless walked into the baseâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s VIP lounge to look for Yakowa but were told that they havenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t returned to the lounge since leaving in the morning. They became deadly quiet, looked at themselves and accepted within them that something had horribly gone wrong with their principal.

Reuben Buhari, Excerpts from the book â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;The Breakâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;

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T H I S D AY ˾ FRIDAY, DECEMBER 15, 2017

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

POLITICS A N A LY S I S

APC’s Unwarranted Attacks on PDP The All Progressives Congress should address the growing disaffection among its members instead of attacking the Peoples Democratic Party, writes Shola Oyeyipo

S

ince the advent of the All Progressives Congress (APC) national leadership under President Muhammadu Buhari, the government has had relative peace because the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) was unable to give the government the kind of fight it got from the APC while it was in opposition.

The reasons are not far-fetched. While most PDP members who held one public office or the other in the last administration are facing corruption allegations and charges, the leadership crisis that engulfed the party also held the party back.

Aftert the resolution of the leadership crisis, well-meaning Nigerians have been calling on the former ruling party to get its acts together and fill the vacuum it created by effectively putting the APC on its toes, particularly with meaningful criticisms and well researched suggestions on better ways of doing things.

Within six months, the caretaker committee put in place by the leadership of the party was able to stabilise the party. The party was able to cap it up with the elective convention held in Abuja on Saturday August 9th, 2017 From the words of former president, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan and other PDP loyalists, the successful conduct of the convention was a step in the right direction for the party to relaunch itselt in national politics.

After the convention, Jonathan said: “I reiterate that the only way to prove that this is victory for the PDP and all our members is for the new leaders to be magnanimous and aim to carry everybody along, for we cannot achieve our mission and aspirations unless we unite as a family.

“To the rest of us, let us make sacrifices, put our differences behind us and accept this as a new dawn that will take our party to greater height.”

In his acceptance speech which was mainly centred on returning the PDP to power at the federal level come 2019, Uche Secondus, the new national chairman of the party acknowledged that the mandate given him and his team is to return the PDP to power come 2019.

“As herculean as this mandate seems, I know it’s achievable. My campaign pillars for this election are to rebuild, reposition and regain. Let me assure you great members

and leaders of our party, that by the grace of God and with all hands on deck, the brief tenancy of the APC in Aso Rock Villa expires on May 28, 2019. By this, we serve them a quit notice,” he said.

Rather than congratulate the PDP for holding a successful convention, the APC chose to throw jibes at the party. The party condemned the PDP national convention and tagged it as a ruse.

Here is a party that has not been able to muster the courage to hold it national convention as it shifted its mid term non-elective convention, three times in 2017 alone. This has left many of the party loyalists dissatisfied with the leadership.

The APC National Publicity Secretary, Mr. Bolaji Abdullahi, apparently making jest of the opposition PDP after its convention, said the PDP had not departed from its evil ways, especially due to its constant resort to using money to sway electoral support.

“In reacting to revelations of how moneyfor-votes and systematic rigging was brazenly perpetuated during the National Convention of the PDP, the APC is mindful of the popular axiom: A leopard cannot change its spot”, Abdullahi said.

He said further that “The abnormalities that trailed the PDP national convention have further exposed the PDP as a party not ready and willing to change. Indeed, the PDP has once again displayed itself to the generality of Nigerians that it is a party with corruption deeply rooted in its DNA”.

Playing up the sentiment of one of the contestant for the PDP chairmanship, Chief Olabode George, Abdulahi said: “Again, it is tragic that the PDP which used to pride itself as ‘the biggest political Party in Africa’ has now been reduced to a regional party.

By frustrating South-west chairmanship candidates, it is unfortunate that the PDP has decided to punish the South-west for not voting for the party in 2015.

“We urge members of the PDP that can pass the integrity test to join the APC so that we can together bring about the much-needed Change the country deserves.”

Firing back at the APC and describing the vituperative statement by Abdulahi as unwarranted attack, the newly elected PDP National Publicity Secretary, Mr. Kola Ologbondiyan drew inference from how the ruling party had flagrantly flouted the provisions of its constitution as regards the

conduct of national convention.

“Perhaps, APC leaders have never read Article 25 (A)(i) of their party’s constitution which stipulates that ‘the national convention of the party shall be held once in two years at a date, venue and time to be recommended by the National Working Committee (NWC) and approved by the National Executive Committee (NEC), subject to the giving of the statutory notices to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and at least 14 days notice given to members eligible to attend.’

“What impunity could be higher than APC violating its constitution? It is strange that APC can be moralising on the principles of social justice, whereas its actions against Nigerians are a complete departure from the norm,” Ologbodiyan noted.

He said the successful conduct of the PDP national convention had sent jitters down the spine of the ruling party because the PDP had succeeded in uniting on all fronts by conducting a very credible elective convention.

“It is laughable that the APC which has roundly failed in not only managing the affairs of the country but also its own internal issues, would recourse to panic mode just because the PDP has succeeded in uniting its fronts by conducting a very credible elective national convention.

“We were very much aware of the plot by the APC to scuttle the convention and failing in that, it has resorted to a failed attempt to discredit an elective convention that has been adjudged as credible, novel and laudable by political stakeholders and lovers of democracy across the nation.

“Is it not disgusting, reprehensible and embarrassing that the APC that has repeatedly failed to hold meetings, congresses and a convention in the last three years and has flagrantly continued to violate its own constitution is questioning our party’s right to perform her legitimate and constitutional obligation?” he added.

For a fact, a lot of APC supporters, wellwishers and observers have waited endlessly for the party to conduct its mid-term elective national convention. The unofficial reason for the continued shifting of the date has been that the subtle disunity among the major power blocks in the party will escalate into major crisis when the convention holds.

Since its maiden convention in 2014, the APC has not held another one. It had

Similarly, the APC must be prepared to do what is right and be mature enough to accept criticisms in good faith

shifted its convention three times in 2017 alone, having initially slated the exercise for April, then August, later November and now till next year.

Now that the PDP has put its house in order, many expect the party to begin to play its role as an opposition party. Similarly, the APC must be prepared to do what is right and be mature enough to accept criticisms in good faith.

Importantly, it is expected that in their many exchanges as will be seen in the days ahead, both parties will show maturity, civility, keen understanding of issues as well as set good examples in their bid to outdo each other.

That much was acknowledged by the National Chairman of the APC, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun when he challenged the newly elected PDP National Chairman to ensure a balance between partisan and national interests as he called for robust engagement with the party.

If the PDP will get over the acrimony that trailed the convention by genuinely pacifying aggrieved members, it may live up to the expectation of Nigerians who have urged it to fill the opposition gap.

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo had noted in October that Nigeria needed a strong ruling and opposition parties for democracy to thrive in the country. His position came less than a week after former Head of State; General Abdulsalami Abubakar told the PDP that it was not playing its opposition role effectively.

“I have said that publicly before and I will say it again: for our democracy to thrive and continue to be strong, we need strong party in government and strong party in the opposition,” Abdulsalami said.

As it is today, not a few Nigerians are waiting for the PDP to take its rightful place in national politics.

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T H I S D AY Ëž Ë&#x153; ÍŻÍłË&#x153; Í°ÍŽÍŻÍľ

BUSINESSWORLD R A T E S MONEY MARKET OBB OVERNIGHT

A S

A T

REPO 7.17% 7.75%

CALL 1-MONTH 3-MONTH

9% 9.67% 10.83%

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

310.91 % -0.08% 0.20%

2 3 ,

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

2 0 1 7

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EXCHANGE RATE N305.95//1US DOLLAR* ĚŠ

Quick Takes BCI Boss, Olugbodi Bags IMC Fellowship

COURTESY VISIT

L-R: Directorate Head, Lagos & South West, Olubowale A. Ogunrinde; MD/CEO, Unity Bank Plc, Mrs. Tomi Somefun; Governor of Lagos State, Akinwunmi Ambode and Executive Director, South Bank, Temisan Tuedor, during a courtesy visit by a team from Unity Bank Plc to the Governor at Lagos House, Ikeja ... recently

Nigeria Loses over $6,4bn Annually to Non-reciprocity of BASA Chinedu Eze Aviation industry experts have projected that the federal government is losing over $6.4 billion annually from non-payment of royalty by foreign carriers.

This, according to the experts, is the amount that was supposed to be paid by international operators as Nigerian airlines are incapable of reciprocating the number of frequencies operated by these foreign carriers due to lack of capacity and the fact that Nigeria does not have strong airlines that operate many international destinations.

Every year, foreign airlines airlift about 4 million passengers annually from Nigeria.

In 2016, the total number of passengers that passed through the nationâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s airports were 15. 2 million and about 4.2 million were airlifted by foreign carriers.

In the principle of Bilateral Air Service Agreement (BASA), every airline that operates into

AVIATION the country should have a Nigerian airline operating into that country with the same number of frequencies.

But in a situation where Nigeria does not have the capacity to provide strong airlines to respond to the number of frequencies, commercial agreement is reached between representatives of both countries whereby the airline that operates to Nigeria should have to pay royalty to the country for the number of frequencies which Nigerian airlines do not reciprocate and this is paid per passenger.

About four years ago, the federal government abrogated the payment of royalties by foreign airlines in response to the request made by the International Air Transport Association (IATA) but did not adopt slot allocation, which is another source of income for government that

makes foreign carriers to pay for landing rights.

But the new policy might not have been backed by white paper, as enshrined in Civil Service rules; but that had given some foreign airlines the window to extricate themselves from such payments.

Recently at the inaugural flight of Medview Airline to Dubai, the Nigeria Ambassador to the United Arab Emirates, Mohammed Dansata Rimi lamented the non-reciprocity of foreign airlines operation to Nigeria by domestic carriers and said that the country is losing a lot of revenues because these airlines come to Nigeria to take the nationâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s wealth away but Nigerian airlines are not bringing wealth from other parts of the world to the country. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We have not been able to reciprocate the BASA because Etihad and Emirates are operating to Nigeria, but no Nigerian airline is operating to Dubai

before now,â&#x20AC;? the Ambassador said.

Industry consultant and CEO of Belujane Konsult, Chris Aligbe, said that Nigeria would continue to lose huge revenues from non-reciprocity of foreign airline operation in Nigeria until the country establishes its own national carrier.

Aligbe said that before the defunct Nigeria Airways Limited (NAL) went under, it was the one that negotiated commercial agreement with foreign airlines and that as far as officials in the Ministry of Transportation and doing the negotiation, Nigeria would continue to be shortchanged. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We need string carriers. The exploitation of Nigeria by foreign airlines started after the demise of Nigeria Airways. But the fact that it is not these foreign airlines that should be blamed; it is us that should be blamed.

Continued on page 20

NSC Tackles Port Service Providers over Ease of Doing Business Violation Eromosele Abiodun The Nigerian Shippersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Council (NSC), the ports economic regulator is currently addressing various complaints brought against service providers by importers and their customs agents across the country THISDAY findings have revealed.

The complaints, which are against some shipping companies and terminal operators, are impacting negatively on ease of doing business at the ports.

A source close to the Complaints Unit of the Council said these issues include arbitrary increase in charges, off dock terminal charges regarded

MARITIME as double taxation, transfer charges against the consent of importers and breach of contract of affreightment by the carrier shipping companies.

Others include very poor customers relations, which customs agents described as very humiliating treatment on consignees, exporters and clearing agents by shipping companies and security staff of the off dock terminals.

Other cases pointed out were poor system of stacking, which leads to difficulty in loading containers for scanning and examination, damage to cargo at the ports, terminal, warehouses, short-landing and

delivery , delayed receipt of empty containers by shipping companies at the designated terminal or holding bay and cargo loss.

Some of the shipping companies, THISDAY learnt, are also being accused of not refunding deposits paid on empty containers and excessive rated storage charges.

Other complaints are allegation of punitive and unjustifiable charges for stale container deposit refund cheques; slow and lackluster handling of claims, including deliberate attempts to unjustifiably limit liability by shipping agencies and terminal operators despite acceptance of the liability.

Described as more wor-

risome by shippers was the issue of excessive and illegal demurrage charges by some off-dock bonded terminals.

It was gathered that the council has been holding series of meetings with some of the service providers involved to handle the issues raised.

The affected consumers of shipping services were said to have approached the council for intervention after their efforts to get the service providers address the issues failed.

THISDAY learnt that officials of the Complaints Unit of the Council have held meetings with some of the service providers to resolve the issues.

The Institute of Management Consultants (IMC-Nigeria) has nominated Africaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s leading background screening expert and the ChiefExecutiveOďŹ&#x192;cer(CEO)ofBackgroundCheckInternational(BCI), Mr Kola Olugbodi, for the Fellowship of the Institute of Management Consultants (FIMC).

According to the Director-General of IMC-Nigeria, Professor David Iornem, the fellowship is given to individuals who have made outstanding contributions that have promoted good management, world peace, national stability and economic progress.

In addition to the Fellowship, Olugbodi will also gain the CMC status (CertiďŹ ed Management Consultant) which is granted by the InternationalCouncilofManagementConsultingInstitutes(ICMCI).The CMC status is the highest qualiďŹ cation any management consultant can aspire to attain. It is globally accepted and it is reciprocally recognised in over 50 countries.

The institute will hold a RoundTable Discussion next weekTuesday at the Airport Hotel, Ikeja, Lagos where the Fellowship will be conferred on him.

Air Peace Introduces New Routes

Nigeriaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s leading airline, Air Peace has announced plans to connect Freetown in Sierra Leone, Banjul inThe Gambia and Dakar in Senegal fromitsMurtalaMuhammedInternationalAirport,Lagoshubstarting from December 15.

A statement issued by the carrierâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Corporate Communications Manager, Mr. Chris Iwarah said the new routes would constitute the second phase of the airlineâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s expansion project on theWest Coast of Africa and bring its route network to a total of 14 destinations.

Air Peace made its ďŹ rst scheduled commercial ďŹ&#x201A;ight out of Nigeria from the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos into the Kotoka International Airport, Accra-Ghana on February 16.

The airline plans to operate ďŹ&#x201A;ights to ďŹ ve other regional routes as well as six international destinations comprising Dubai, London, Guangzhou-China, Houston, Mumbai and South Africa soon.

Air Peace, which recently embarked on a project to increase its ďŹ&#x201A;eet size to 24 aircraft, said its Freetown, Banjul and Dakar routes would be serviced by its Boeing 737 aircraft to guarantee the comfort of its guests. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Wearepleasedtoannouncethesecondphaseoftheexpansionofour route network on the West Coast of Africa with the commencement of our ďŹ&#x201A;ights from Lagos to Freetown, Banjul and Dakar on Friday, December 15.This is an exciting step in fulďŹ lling our promise to unlock the economies of the region, oďŹ&#x20AC;er air travellers on business and leisure trips seamless connectivity as well as create jobs for the people when we launched our ďŹ rst ďŹ&#x201A;ight out of Nigeria into Accra, Ghana on February 16â&#x20AC;?, Air Peace said.

Dana, SPG Unveil Yuletide Package

Dana Air and the Starwood Preferred Guests hotels have partnered to oďŹ&#x20AC;er 25per cent discount on air tickets to suit the holiday needs of family, friends and individuals this Christmas and New year.

The airline said this partnership entails guests to book a room at any of the SPG hotels â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Sheraton Abuja Hotel, Sheraton Lagos Hotel, Le Meridian Ogeyi place, Port Harcourt, and Four Points by Sheraton Lagos to get 25 percent oďŹ&#x20AC; their next ďŹ&#x201A;ight with Dana Air. Speaking on the partnership, the Communications Manager of Dana Air, Mr. Kingsley Ezenwa said â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Its Christmas, and families, friends will be planning special getaways, and to lessen the burden of having to pay far more, we have decided to partner the SPG hotels to unveil these amazing Christmas and New year oďŹ&#x20AC;ers. With these special oďŹ&#x20AC;ers on hotel and ďŹ&#x201A;ight ticket, our guests can plan conveniently, get best fares and enjoy the season.â&#x20AC;&#x2122;â&#x20AC;&#x2122; Speaking further, Kingsley said, â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Our guests should expect more amazing oďŹ&#x20AC;ers this season and visit our website www.ďŹ&#x201A;ydanaair. com for the most convenient fares this Christmas. Our guests should also ensure that their Dana Miles membership numbers are always quoted when booking on our website, so that they can enjoy some of the beneďŹ ts that we are going to be churning out in the next couple of days.â&#x20AC;&#x2122;â&#x20AC;&#x2122;

â&#x20AC;&#x153;If you look at any market in Africa, the most popular one is Nigeria. This is because you can be sure if you are a foreign airline you will fill your aircraft

International aviation consultant and former Secretary-General of African Airlines Association

Nick Fadugba Continued on page 20

20

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BUSINESSWORLD NIGERIA LOSES OVER $6,4BN ANNUALLY TO NON-RECIPROCITY OF BASA This is because nobody allows a vacuum; once there is a vacuum something comes to fill it. If you know the huge amount of money that these airlines repatriate every day you will see the need why we need a national carrier,â&#x20AC;? Aligbe said.

International aviation consultant and the former Secretary-General of Africa Airlines Association (AFRAA), Nick Fadugba has dismissed the agitation going on in the country, demanding that most of the BASA deals with other countries should be renegotiated, noting that it would be difficult to renegotiate some of the agreements. â&#x20AC;&#x153;When I look at BASA in Nigeria, it is like we opened the stable door, and the horse has gone and to catch it back it is going to be very difficult. We entered into BASA agreements with numerous countries, the principle of BASA is reciprocity and yet we entered into BASA and we are not able to reciprocate. Why? Because we donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t have the airlines and why donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t we have the airlines? It is because they are weak, small and under capitalised.

NSC TACKLES PORT SERVICE PROVIDERS OVER EASE OF DOING BUSINESS VIOLATION It was gathered that some of the cases raised have been resolved while some are still pending.

It was also gathered that the NCS has maintained dialogue with the affected service providers, mounting pressures on them to do the right thing.

The source said the NCS has been persuasive and only adopt hard measures if the affected service providers fail to embrace peaceful moves.

The President of the National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarders (NAGAFF), Increase Uche had recently expressed satisfaction with the NSC on some policies and projects being promoted by the ports economic regulator that are targeted at achieving ease of doing business at the ports.

th Group Business Editor

Ă&#x2019;Ă&#x201C;Ă&#x2022;Ă&#x2039; Ă&#x2014;Ă&#x2039;Ă&#x2DC;äĂ?Ě&#x2039; ĂĄĂ&#x2039;Ă?Ă&#x2019;Ă&#x;Ă&#x2022;Ă&#x; AgriBusiness/Industry Editor

NEWS

Peterside: Nigeria Water Unsafe, Deadly Eromosele Abiodun The Director General of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Dr. Dakuku Peterside has confirmed United States of America maritime administrationâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s claims that Nigeria water is deadly and unsafe.

Peterside stated this against the backdrop of Nigeriaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s loss of a seat in Category C of the International Maritime Organisation (IMO). According to him, Nigeria insecure and unsafe water contributed immensely to the nationâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s woes at IMO election.

Speaking to journalists at the end of a meeting of the â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;G7 Friends of Gulf of Guinea Groupâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; in Lagos, he explained that G7 Friends of the Gulf of the Guinea Group is one of the international initiatives Nigeria is leveraging on to strengthen fight against piracy and other criminal activities on the sea.

It is on record that actual and attempted piracy attacks in Nigerian territorial waters in 2016 were 36 while 40 persons were kidnapped on Nigeria waters in 2017.

The insecurity of the nationâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s water had prompted the United States of America in November 2017 to warn ships to be wary when approaching Nigerian waters.

The US Maritime Administration, who quoted the latest quarterly report from the International Maritime Bureau noted that a total of 20 reports of attacks against all vessel types were received from Nigeria while 39 of the 49 crew membersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; kidnappings globally occurred off Nigerian waters in seven separate incidents.

The NIMASA boss said the impression of the international

community is that Nigeria was not doing enough to tackle the challenge adding that it contributed immensely to Nigeria losing the election. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I cannot deny the fact that the issue of piracy may have had some impact on the elections. Our colleagues did not have much information about what we were doing to tackle piracy and there was a general impression that Nigeria was not doing enough to tackle the issue of piracy,â&#x20AC;? he said Also, speaking on the amount spent on the lost election, the DG said a whopping N100million was expended on Nigeria failed election bid. â&#x20AC;&#x153;NIMASA spent less than N100million for the IMO campaign and it was only three delegates that attended

the conference from NIMASA, â&#x20AC;&#x153;he said. He explained that countries like Singapore, China, and United Arab Emirates attended the IMO with highest number of delegates.

Speaking further on why Nigeria lost out of the IMO Election, Dakuku identified late preparations, delay from the Federal Executive Council and recession as another reason why the country lost â&#x20AC;&#x153;Also, late preparations and the fact that we did not go round other countries like others did, it would have cost plenty of money but we are not willing to spend such money.

We had considered economic factors in context of our political aspirationsâ&#x20AC;? â&#x20AC;&#x153;It is Nigeria that ran for IMO category C, and for you

to use the name Nigeria, you must get the approval of the man who is managing all the country, the president just got elected, so it would have gone through a process, we have lost some time but the approval eventually came, after we got the approval, there are also budgetary processes to go through, even if the approval was given two years ago, we also need to do the background work to get budgetary provision for it before we begin the campaign, all of these things affected our early preparations. â&#x20AC;&#x153;But now that we know better, we are starting the next preparations immediately, because we deserve a place in the council of the IMO, these are what we meant by late preparations,â&#x20AC;? he explained.

However, to find a lasting solution to piracy, the DG explained that the G7 Friends of the Gulf of the Guinea Group is one of the international initiatives Nigeria is leveraging on to strengthen the fight against piracy and other criminal activities on the sea. â&#x20AC;&#x153;What you are seeing now is an international dimension of the fight against piracy and maritime crime which is a new strategy. G7 is an initiative of the group towards finding lasting solution to the issues of security in the gulf of guinea.

For the first time, they decided to take the program outside the continent of Europe and the lot fell on Nigeria because they think the gulf of guinea suffers the peculiar problem and criminal activities on sea.

ARISE WOMENâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S GALA NIGHT

L-R: Rev. Sarah Bawa; former Minister and also a former Deputy Governor of Plateau State, Mrs. Pauline Tallen and Founder/ CEO, Arise Women, Siju Iluyomade, during the Arise Womenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Gala Night at Transcorp Hilton, Abuja â&#x20AC;Ś recently

Kayode Assumes OfďŹ ce as Abuja Chamber President A four time cabinet minister of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Prince Adetokunbo Adeyinka Kayode, SAN, recently assumed office as the President of the Abuja Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ACCI).

Kayode who was in charge of Culture and Tourism, Labor and Productivity, Defence as well as Justice and Attorney of the Federation succeeded Mr. Tony Ejinkeonye who has completed his three-year single term.

A statement signed by the Director General of the ACCI,

Prince Adetokunbo

Mr. Chijioke Ekechukwu explained that at the Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the Chamber which took place in

Abuja, the legal luminary said he was overwhelmed at the show of solidarity extended to him by the Council, Executive, members, partners, management and staff of the chamber during the years he served as the First Deputy President.

He promised to use the wealth of experience gathered from his track record of private legal practice, public service as well as the key roles he has played in the organised private sector (OPS) to elevate the Chamber to enviable heights.

He immediately announced a change that will ensure that

members of the chamber are brought together to discuss issues of common concerns in every quarter of the year. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Under my administration, I will ensure that all members are brought together quarterly to discuss issues, fashion ideas as well as key into available opportunities that will present themselvesâ&#x20AC;?, he stressed.

He thanked the immediate past President for staring the ship of the chamber in the right direction and emphasised that, he will build on the foundation laid by his predecessor.

Prince Kayode was First

Deputy President of the Chamber for three-years. He is bringing massive wealth of experience as a legal luminary, dedicated private, public and Organised Private Sector (OPS) players Earlier in his speech, Ejinkeonye sued for an extension of the cooperation he received from all to the new President in order to realise the mission and vision of the chamber.

The highly attended AGM had in attendance three former Presidents of the Chamber, Mr. Peter Okoro, Engr. Solomon Nyagba and Barr. Dele Oye.

Ă&#x2122;Ă&#x2DC;Ă&#x2039;Ă&#x17E;Ă&#x2019;Ă&#x2039;Ă&#x2DC; äĂ?

Comms/e-Business Editor

Ă&#x2014;Ă&#x2014;Ă&#x2039; Ă&#x2022;Ă&#x2122;Ă&#x2DC;Ă&#x201D;Ă&#x201C; Capital Market Editor

Ă&#x2122;Ă&#x17D;Ă&#x17D;ĂŁ Ă&#x2018;Ă?Ă&#x2DC;Ă?

Senior Correspondent

Ă&#x2039;Ă&#x2019;Ă?Ă?Ă&#x2014; Ă&#x2022;Ă&#x201C;Ă&#x2DC;Ă&#x2018;Ă&#x152;Ă&#x2122;Ă&#x2013;Ă&#x; (Advertising) Correspondents

Ă&#x2019;Ă&#x201C;Ă&#x2DC;Ă?Ă&#x17D;Ă&#x; äĂ? (Aviation) Ă&#x201C;Ă&#x2DC;Ă&#x17D;Ă&#x2039; Ă&#x153;Ă&#x2122;Ă&#x2022;Ă? (Labour) Ă&#x153;Ă&#x2122;Ă&#x2014;Ă&#x2122;Ă?Ă?Ă&#x2013;Ă? Ă&#x152;Ă&#x201C;Ă&#x2122;Ă&#x17D;Ă&#x;Ă&#x2DC; (Maritime) Ă&#x201D;Ă&#x201C;Ă&#x2122;Ă?Ă&#x2122;Ă&#x153; Ă&#x2013;Ă&#x201C;Ă&#x2022;Ă? (Energy) Ă&#x2039;Ă&#x2014;Ă?Ă? Ă&#x2014;Ă?Ă&#x201D;Ă&#x2122; (Nationâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Capital) Ă&#x152;Ă&#x201C;Ă&#x2DC;Ă&#x2DC;Ă&#x2039; Ă&#x2019;Ă&#x201C;Ă&#x2014;Ă&#x2039; (Money Mkt) Reporters

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FG Reiterates Commitment to Building Word Class Ecology of Mineral, Mining Kasim Sumaina in Abuja The Minister of Mines and Steel Development, Dr. Kayode Fayemi has reiterated governmentâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s determination to turn around the mining sector by building a world class ecology of mineral and mining in the country.

Fayemi stated that the present administration led

by President Muhammadu Buhari â&#x20AC;&#x153;is serious about taking mining out of the dungeon and listening to players and drivers of the industry and we

are working with key enablers, particularly enabling ministries to ensure that this was doneâ&#x20AC;? he said.

The Minister in a statement by the Ministry in Abuja, made this known during the Sensitisation/Consultation with Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG)/Industry Stakeholders in the Mining Sector which took place at the Lagos Court of Arbitration International Centre. Lekki Lagos.

According to him, â&#x20AC;&#x153;That the country is focusing more

on rebuilding Nigeria mining and mineral sector, which has been comatose for quite a long time. To ensure that this is done, he said the Ministry has come up with a Roadmap and constituted a committee called Mining Implementation Strategy Team (MIST).

MIST, he noted, â&#x20AC;&#x153;is not a government body but a body independent of the Ministry but supported by the various pillars of the Ministry with the sole objective of monitoring and ensuring the implementation of the ministryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Roadmap.

Addressing the issue of continuity of policies in the sector, he hinted that, â&#x20AC;&#x153;continuity is important to us, the mining law that we are operating now is 2007 law and we are still working with because the sector needs predictability, it needs certainty so we are not changing law but enforcing the law.â&#x20AC;? Fayemi explained that it would no longer be business as usual for those who obtain mining licenses without operations as those who do not use their licenses would lose them to those who

are serious and ready to do the mining business The minister stressed the need to improve the partnership among the federal government, state and the host communities. Adding that, efforts are already being made to ensure that the States get their own dues on whatever is derived from the mining sector and that the government is also working on the most effective way to ensure that those in the industry derive maximum benefits and government does not loose revenue as well.

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21

BUSINESSWORLD

NEWS

LCM Donates N5m to Five Orphanages Eromosele Abiodun In furtherance of its corporate social responsibility, the Lagos Channel Management (LCM) has donated N5 million to five orphanage homes in Lagos, calling on other corporate to do same to reduce crime in the country.

Speaking during the presentation of cheques to the three Lagos state homes and two private homes, Managing Director of the company, Mr. Danny Fuchs said that government alone should not be expected to shoulder the responsibility of providing welfare for the vulnerable members of the society, urging other corporate organizations to lend helping hands. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We all know that the government is doing its best. We can also appreciate the economic situation of the country and that is why every one, particularly

the corporate organizations, must lend a helping hand to the task of providing adequate welfare for the vulnerable. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We at the LCM have been doing this since 2009; and we hope we can do even better than this!â&#x20AC;?, he said, calling attention to the close semblance of what he saw as a child to what the average Nigerian child at the various homes are also going through, â&#x20AC;&#x153;he said.

He tasked the members of press to remain undaunted in their task of public enlightenment but with special emphasis on sensitizing corporate organizations on the need to consistently help the society.

At the event, a representative of the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Youth and Social Development, Mrs Yewande Falugba presented a Commendation letter from the Lagos State Government, appreciating the

consistency of the partnership efforts of the dredging company.

Falugba who commended the dredging company said that if the organization refused to help the helpless will take arms when they grow up and devastate the society. The company had only few weeks ago, provided over N3 million medical materials to the Lagos State Accident and Emergency body, LASAEC. The yearly event which kick started in 2009 saw the homes, Oyiza Home of Love (orphanage and foster foundation), Lady Atinuke Oyindamola Memorial Home, Special medical correctional Centre for Boys; Correctional Centre for Boys; and Olubukola Fowowe homes receiving a million Naira each.

The event has witnessed the dredging company expending over N45 million in the past nine years.

EEDC: Over 200 Transformers Vandalised in Anambra in 10 Months David-Chyddy Eleke in Awka Over 200 transformers belonging to the Enugu Electricity Distribution Company (EEDC) were vandalised by hoodlums between January and November in Anambra State, an official of company has said.

Network Manager, EEDC, Awka, Mr. Samuel Onuoha, made the disclosure while addressing to a group of protesters, who stormed the EEDC office in Awka on Monday to express their concerns over several months of power outage.

Onuoha said that the company had zero tolerance for vandalisation of its installations, while adding that about 50 transformers had been vandalised in Nnewi, 30 in Awka, over 100 in Onitsha and six in Ekwulobia districts within the period. â&#x20AC;&#x153;There are different levels of vandalisms; some go for oil and different types of cables, some remove the feeder pillar

units, among others. â&#x20AC;&#x153;The vandalism escalated in the â&#x20AC;&#x153;emberâ&#x20AC;? months; we cannot continue to run business like that,â&#x20AC;? Onuoha stated, adding that six cases of vandalism were currently at different levels of prosecution in the state.

However, the network manager said the company had commenced replacement of vandalised facilities across the South-East geo-political zone, urging residents and community leaders to protect their transformers.

He also urged them to report cases of vandalism to the office or the nearest police station. â&#x20AC;&#x153;What we do in EEDC is also a business that involves buying and selling; so anything affecting our inability to distribute electricity is also affecting our income,â&#x20AC;? he stressed.

Onuoha assured the protesters that the company would fix their vandalised transformer

by Wednesday.

On claims by the protesters

that two EEDC officials were arrested for the vandalisation and handed over to the police, Onuoha said the police as a statutory body had laws guiding its work and should be allowed to handle the matter as the law provides.

He appealed to the protesters to show understanding, noting that the company was collaborating with security agencies and community leaders to minimize vandalism of its installations.

Earlier, residents of Odeagba and Arthur Eze Street business owners took to the streets and later disrupted business activities at EEDC office for two hours to demonstrate power outage for 14 months.

Chairman, Arthur Eze Business Association, Mr. Amaechi Okeke, who led the protest, said since October 2016, when the Arthur Eze one sub-station/ transformer was vandalised, the area had been without power supply.

Post Assurance Brokers Hosts Global Insurers Jonathan Eze A consortium of international insurance companies from the United Kingdom comprising Lloyds, Lockton LLP, Cathedral, Atrium and Talbot are currently in Nigeria for an assessment and better understanding of the Nigerian insurance market.

The Vice Chairman/Chief Executive Officer, Post Assurance Brokers, Lekan Ajisafe at whose instance the team is visiting, is thrilled that leading international insurance companies are in Nigeria to feel the market and meet some of their key insurance buyers.

Ajisafe noted that this was the first time these respected professionals were visiting the Nigerian market. He added that â&#x20AC;&#x153;this visit is imperative at this time when Nigeria is just coming out of recession

with the much needed economic improvement. This is the time to improve our relationships with the international Insurance market as well as change impressions held about Nigeria.â&#x20AC;?

Post Assurance Brokers, a leading insurance brokerage firm in Nigeria would be conducting the august visitors round the market with visits to key stakeholders and special insurance buyers like Caverton Helicopters.

Prominent among the insurance practitioners visiting the Nigerian market for the first time include Andrew Cameron of Lockton LLP, John Spence of Cathedral, Alex Cullen of Atrium and Will Gaunt from Talbot. Cameron who spoke for the team is delighted at the opportunity to personally visit the country, stating that it will afford them the opportunity to explore chances of better cooperation. â&#x20AC;&#x153;It

is always different reading reports and seeing things personally. We are delighted to be in Nigeria, to feel the pulse of the insurance market, meet some buyers and interact with major stakeholders.

This will definitely help improve our perception of the Nigerian market,â&#x20AC;? he enthused.

Ajisafe expressed optimism that this visit will deepen cooperation between the Nigerian and United Kingdom insurance markets in a way that would help boost the Nigerian economy. He is delighted that Post Assurance Brokers would be â&#x20AC;&#x153;taking them round facilities of the insured in Lagos and exposing them to the various initiatives of the government through the insurance regulatory body, the National Insurance Commission (NAICOM),â&#x20AC;? as part of measures to ensure the visit yields the desired results.

RISK MANAGEMENT WATCH Robert Mbonu

Political Risk: Recognition and Management

E

vents around politics are grabbing more news headlines and commentary as the months go by. The signs are ominous that 2018 is going to be a year of fast paced economic activities as government attempts to cover for any lost grounds. We will also witness deft maneuvers and horse trading by political actors.

National elections are always looked upon with anticipation because of the power citizens can derive to determine changes in the direction of governance. The buildup is usually a period characterised by high tension and uncertainĂ&#x17E;Ă&#x201C;Ă?Ă?Ë&#x203A; Ă&#x2DC;ĂŁĂ&#x17E;Ă&#x2019;Ă&#x201C;Ă&#x2DC;Ă&#x2018; Ă&#x;Ă&#x2DC;Ă?Ă?Ă&#x153;Ă&#x17E;Ă&#x2039;Ă&#x201C;Ă&#x2DC; Ă&#x201C;Ă? Ă?Ă&#x2019;Ă&#x2039;Ă&#x153;Ă&#x2039;Ă?Ă&#x17E;Ă?Ă&#x153;Ă&#x201C;Ă?Ă?Ă&#x17D; Ă&#x152;ĂŁ an element of risk due to the outcome which could be unpredictable and uncontrollable.

Business strategies are driven by assumptions ĂĄĂ&#x2019;Ă&#x201C;Ă?Ă&#x2019; Ă&#x2039;Ă&#x153;Ă? Ă&#x2022;Ă&#x2DC;Ă&#x2122;ĂĄĂ&#x2DC;Ë&#x153; Ă&#x152;Ă&#x;Ă&#x17E; ĂĄĂ&#x2019;Ă&#x2039;Ă&#x17E; Ă&#x2019;Ă&#x2039;Ă&#x161;Ă&#x161;Ă?Ă&#x2DC;Ă? ĂĄĂ&#x2019;Ă?Ă&#x2DC; Ă&#x17E;Ă&#x2019;Ă?Ă&#x153;Ă? is a deviation and the truly unexpected occurs? Ă&#x2019;Ă?Ă&#x2DC; Ă&#x161;Ă&#x2122;Ă&#x2013;Ă&#x201C;Ă&#x17E;Ă&#x201C;Ă?Ă&#x2039;Ă&#x2013; Ă?Ă&#x2039;Ă?Ă&#x17E;Ă&#x2122;Ă&#x153;Ă? Ă&#x2039;Ă?Ă?Ă?Ă?Ă&#x17E; Ă&#x152;Ă&#x;Ă?Ă&#x201C;Ă&#x2DC;Ă?Ă?Ă?ËŁ Ă&#x2DC;Ă&#x17D; ĂĄĂ&#x2019;Ă?Ă&#x2DC; Ă&#x2014;Ă&#x2122;Ă&#x17D;Ă?Ă&#x2013;Ă?Ë&#x153; Ă?Ă&#x201C;Ă&#x2014;Ă&#x;Ă&#x2013;Ă&#x2039;Ă&#x17E;Ă&#x201C;Ă&#x2122;Ă&#x2DC;Ă?Ë&#x153; Ă&#x2039;Ă&#x2DC;Ă&#x17D; Ă?Ă&#x2122;Ă&#x153;Ă?Ă?Ă&#x2039;Ă?Ă&#x17E;Ă&#x201C;Ă&#x2DC;Ă&#x2018; all fail critically?

Typically it could be one of two things: Ă?Ă&#x2DC;Ă&#x201C;Ă&#x2039;Ă&#x2013; Ă&#x2122;Ă&#x153; Ă&#x161;Ă&#x2039;Ă&#x153;Ă&#x2039;Ă&#x2013;ĂŁĂ?Ă&#x201C;Ă?Ë&#x203A; Ă&#x2122;Ă&#x17E;Ă&#x2019; Ă&#x2039;Ă&#x153;Ă? Ă&#x;Ă&#x2DC;Ă&#x17D;Ă?Ă&#x153;Ă?Ă&#x17E;Ă&#x2039;Ă&#x2DC;Ă&#x17D;Ă&#x2039;Ă&#x152;Ă&#x2013;Ă?Ë&#x153; but they do nothing to help ensure business Ă?Ă&#x;Ă&#x153;Ă Ă&#x201C;Ă Ă&#x2039;Ă&#x2013;Ë&#x203A; Ă&#x2019;Ă?Ă&#x153;Ă? Ă&#x201C;Ă? Ă&#x2039; Ă&#x161;Ă&#x2122;Ă&#x17E;Ă?Ă&#x2DC;Ă&#x17E;Ă&#x201C;Ă&#x2039;Ă&#x2013; Ă&#x;Ă&#x161;Ă?Ă&#x201C;Ă&#x17D;Ă?Ë&#x153; Ă&#x2019;Ă&#x2122;ĂĄĂ?Ă Ă?Ă&#x153;Ë&#x153; for those with the foresight to mobilise in light of disruptive scenariosâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;and respond in a way that ultimately powers performance. Ă? ĂĄĂ? Ă?Ă&#x153;Ă&#x2122;Ă?Ă? Ă&#x2122;Ă Ă?Ă&#x153; Ă&#x17E;Ă&#x2122; ͺ͸͚Î&#x20AC;Ë&#x153; Ă&#x2039;Ă&#x2DC;Ă&#x17D; Ă&#x17E;Ă&#x2019;Ă? Ă?Ă&#x2013;Ă?Ă?Ă&#x17E;Ă&#x201C;Ă&#x2122;Ă&#x2DC; ĂŁĂ?Ă&#x2039;Ă&#x153; Ă&#x17D;Ă&#x153;Ă&#x2039;ĂĄĂ? Ă?Ă&#x2013;Ă&#x2122;Ă?Ă?Ă&#x153;Ë&#x153; Ă&#x201C;Ă&#x2018;Ă?Ă&#x153;Ă&#x201C;Ă&#x2039;Ă&#x2DC; Ă Ă&#x2122;Ă&#x17E;Ă?Ă&#x153;Ă? ĂĄĂ&#x201C;Ă&#x2013;Ă&#x2013; Ă&#x152;Ă? Ă&#x2018;Ă&#x201C;Ă Ă?Ă&#x2DC; the opportunity to make changes to how they Ă&#x2039;Ă&#x153;Ă? Ă&#x152;Ă?Ă&#x201C;Ă&#x2DC;Ă&#x2018; Ă&#x2018;Ă&#x2122;Ă Ă?Ă&#x153;Ă&#x2DC;Ă?Ă&#x17D;Ë&#x203A; Ă? Ă?Ă&#x2122;Ë&#x153; Ă&#x17E;Ă&#x2019;Ă?Ă?Ă? Ă?Ă&#x2019;Ă&#x2039;Ă&#x2DC;Ă&#x2018;Ă?Ă? Ă?Ă&#x2122;Ă&#x;Ă&#x2013;Ă&#x17D; Ă&#x2019;Ă&#x2039;Ă Ă? Ă?Ă?Ă&#x2122;Ă&#x2DC;Ă&#x2122;Ă&#x2014;Ă&#x201C;Ă?Ë&#x153; Ă&#x161;Ă&#x2122;Ă&#x2013;Ă&#x201C;Ă&#x17E;Ă&#x201C;Ă?Ă&#x2039;Ă&#x2013;Ë&#x153; Ă&#x2039;Ă&#x2DC;Ă&#x17D; Ă?Ă&#x;Ă&#x2013;Ă&#x17E;Ă&#x;Ă&#x153;Ă&#x2039;Ă&#x2013; Ă&#x2022;Ă&#x2DC;Ă&#x2122;Ă?Ă&#x2022;Ě&#x2039;Ă&#x2122;Ă&#x2DC; effects resulting in disruptive scenarios.

Those enterprises that recognise the complex eco-political variables and develop a plan of attack for political risk management will be better positioned in the evolving marketplace.

Others that sit on the sidelines may see opportunity pass them by. The downsides of ignoring risk can be far more complicated than trying to understand it (and manage it).

Political risk generally refers to uncertainty regarding adverse political situations. These include a possibility of economic instability leading to government closures and a shutdown Ă&#x2122;Ă? Ă&#x201C;Ă&#x2DC;Ă&#x17D;Ă&#x;Ă?Ă&#x17E;Ă&#x153;Ă&#x201C;Ă?Ă?Ë&#x153; Ă&#x2039;Ă? ĂĄĂ&#x2122;Ă&#x153;Ă&#x2022;Ă?Ă&#x153;Ă? Ă?Ă&#x201C;Ă&#x17E;Ă&#x2019;Ă?Ă&#x153; Ă&#x153;Ă?Ă?Ă&#x;Ă?Ă? Ă&#x2122;Ă&#x153; Ă&#x2039;Ă&#x153;Ă? no longer able to do their jobs. Essentially for Ă&#x161;Ă&#x153;Ă&#x201C;Ă Ă&#x2039;Ă&#x17E;Ă? Ă&#x152;Ă&#x;Ă?Ă&#x201C;Ă&#x2DC;Ă?Ă?Ă?Ă?Ă?Ë&#x153; Ă&#x161;Ă&#x2122;Ă&#x2013;Ă&#x201C;Ă&#x17E;Ă&#x201C;Ă?Ă&#x2039;Ă&#x2013; Ă&#x153;Ă&#x201C;Ă?Ă&#x2022; Ă&#x201C;Ă? Ă&#x17D;Ă?Ă?Ă&#x201C;Ă&#x2DC;Ă?Ă&#x17D; Ă&#x2039;Ă? the risk of losing money as a result of uncertain Ă&#x161;Ă&#x2122;Ă&#x2013;Ă&#x201C;Ă&#x17E;Ă&#x201C;Ă?Ă&#x2039;Ă&#x2013;Ă&#x2013;ĂŁ Ă&#x2014;Ă&#x2122;Ă&#x17E;Ă&#x201C;Ă Ă&#x2039;Ă&#x17E;Ă?Ă&#x17D; Ă&#x2122;Ă&#x;Ă&#x17E;Ă?Ă&#x2122;Ă&#x2014;Ă?Ă?Ë&#x153; Ă&#x2122;Ă&#x153; Ă&#x153;Ă?Ă&#x2018;Ă&#x;Ă&#x2013;Ă&#x2039;Ă&#x17E;Ă&#x2122;Ă&#x153;ĂŁ Ă?Ă&#x2DC;Ă Ă&#x201C;Ă&#x153;Ă&#x2122;Ă&#x2DC;Ă&#x2014;Ă?Ă&#x2DC;Ă&#x17E;Ă?Ë&#x203A; Ă?Ă&#x17E;Ă? Ă&#x2122;Ă? Ă&#x17E;Ă?Ă&#x153;Ă&#x153;Ă&#x2122;Ă&#x153;Ă&#x201C;Ă?Ă&#x2014;Ë&#x153; ĂĄĂ&#x2039;Ă&#x153;Ă?Ë&#x153; Ă&#x2039;Ă&#x2DC;Ă&#x17D; military coups are all extreme examples of political risk. Ă? Ă&#x2039; Ă&#x2DC;Ă&#x2039;Ă&#x17E;Ă&#x201C;Ă&#x2122;Ă&#x2DC;Ë&#x153; ĂĄĂ? Ă&#x2019;Ă&#x2039;Ă Ă? Ă&#x152;Ă?Ă?Ă&#x2DC; Ă&#x17E;Ă&#x2019;Ă&#x153;Ă&#x2122;Ă&#x;Ă&#x2018;Ă&#x2019; Ă&#x161;Ă?Ă&#x2039;Ă?Ă?Ă?Ă&#x;Ă&#x2013; Ă?Ă&#x2013;Ă?Ă?Ă&#x17E;Ă&#x201C;Ă&#x2122;Ă&#x2DC;Ă? Ă&#x2039;Ă&#x2DC;Ă&#x17D; Ă&#x2019;Ă&#x2039;Ă&#x2DC;Ă&#x17D;Ă&#x2122;Ă Ă?Ă&#x153;Ă? Ă&#x201C;Ă&#x2DC; Ă&#x17E;Ă&#x2019;Ă? Ă&#x161;Ă&#x2039;Ă?Ă&#x17E;Ë&#x153; Ă&#x17E;Ă&#x2019;Ă?Ă&#x153;Ă?Ă?Ă&#x2122;Ă&#x153;Ă? the approaching elections in 2019 should not be a cause for any concern. But business and government leaders make a serious mistake when they ignore or underestimate the conseĂ&#x203A;Ă&#x;Ă?Ă&#x2DC;Ă?Ă?Ă? Ă&#x2122;Ă? Ă&#x2039;Ă&#x2DC;ĂŁ Ă&#x;Ă&#x2DC;Ă?Ă&#x2122;Ă&#x2013;Ă&#x17D;Ă&#x201C;Ă&#x2DC;Ă&#x2018; Ă&#x161;Ă&#x2122;Ă&#x2013;Ă&#x201C;Ă&#x17E;Ă&#x201C;Ă?Ă&#x2039;Ă&#x2013; Ă&#x153;Ă&#x201C;Ă?Ă&#x2022;Ă?Ë&#x203A; Ă&#x2DC;ĂŁ breakdown in law and order has the potential Ă&#x17E;Ă&#x2122; Ă&#x161;Ă&#x2122;Ă?Ă? Ă?Ă&#x201C;Ă&#x2018;Ă&#x2DC;Ă&#x201C;Ă?Ă&#x201C;Ă?Ă&#x2039;Ă&#x2DC;Ă&#x17E; Ă&#x161;Ă&#x153;Ă&#x2122;Ă&#x152;Ă&#x2013;Ă?Ă&#x2014;Ă?Ë&#x203A; Ă&#x2019;Ă?Ă&#x153;Ă?Ă?Ă&#x2122;Ă&#x153;Ă?Ë&#x153; Ă&#x17E;Ă&#x2019;Ă&#x201C;Ă? risk is of significant importance because of the substantial impact it has on the performance of every player big or small. Ă&#x2122;Ă?Ă&#x17E; Ă?Ă&#x2122;Ă&#x2014;Ă&#x161;Ă&#x2039;Ă&#x2DC;Ă&#x201C;Ă?Ă? Ă&#x2019;Ă&#x2039;Ă Ă? Ă&#x201C;Ă&#x2DC;Ă?Ă&#x153;Ă?Ă&#x2039;Ă?Ă&#x201C;Ă&#x2DC;Ă&#x2018;Ă&#x2013;ĂŁ Ă?Ă&#x2122;Ă?Ă&#x;Ă?Ă?Ă&#x17D; Ă&#x17E;Ă&#x2019;Ă?Ă&#x201C;Ă&#x153; Ă&#x2039;Ă&#x17E;Ă&#x17E;Ă?Ă&#x2DC;Ă&#x17E;Ă&#x201C;Ă&#x2122;Ă&#x2DC; Ă&#x2122;Ă&#x2DC; Ă?Ă&#x201C;Ă&#x2DC;Ă&#x2039;Ă&#x2DC;Ă?Ă&#x201C;Ă&#x2039;Ă&#x2013;Ë&#x153; Ă&#x2014;Ă&#x2039;Ă&#x153;Ă&#x2022;Ă?Ă&#x17E; Ă&#x2039;Ă&#x2DC;Ă&#x17D; Ă&#x2122;Ă&#x161;Ă?Ă&#x153;Ă&#x2039;Ă&#x17E;Ă&#x201C;Ă&#x2122;Ă&#x2DC;Ă&#x2039;Ă&#x2013; Ă&#x17E;ĂŁĂ&#x161;Ă?Ă? Ă&#x2122;Ă? Ă&#x153;Ă&#x201C;Ă?Ă&#x2022;Ë&#x153; Ă&#x2039;Ă&#x2DC;Ă&#x17D; Ă&#x2DC;Ă?Ă&#x201C;Ă&#x17E;Ă&#x2019;Ă?Ă&#x153; Ă&#x2014;Ă?Ă&#x2039;Ă?Ă&#x;Ă&#x153;Ă? nor manage political risk. Organisations tend either to accept (or ignore) these Ă&#x153;Ă&#x201C;Ă?Ă&#x2022;Ă?Ë&#x153; Ă&#x2122;Ă&#x153; Ă&#x17E;Ă&#x2122; Ă&#x2039;Ă Ă&#x2122;Ă&#x201C;Ă&#x17D; Ă&#x2039;Ă&#x2013;Ă&#x17E;Ă&#x2122;Ă&#x2018;Ă?Ă&#x17E;Ă&#x2019;Ă?Ă&#x153; Ă?Ă&#x201C;Ă&#x17E;Ă&#x;Ă&#x2039;Ă&#x17E;Ă&#x201C;Ă&#x2122;Ă&#x2DC;Ă? Ă&#x17E;Ă&#x2019;Ă&#x2039;Ă&#x17E; Ă?Ă?Ă?Ă&#x2014;Ă&#x201C;Ă&#x2DC;Ă&#x2018;Ă&#x2013;ĂŁ Ă&#x161;Ă&#x2122;Ă?Ă? Ă&#x2013;Ă&#x2039;Ă&#x153;Ă&#x2018;Ă? Ă&#x161;Ă&#x2122;Ă&#x2013;Ă&#x201C;Ă&#x17E;Ă&#x201C;Ă?Ă&#x2039;Ă&#x2013; Ă&#x153;Ă&#x201C;Ă?Ă&#x2022;Ă?Ë&#x153; even when those risks are accompanied by significant opportunity.

Political risk management can be integrated

Ă&#x201C;Ă&#x2DC;Ă&#x17E;Ă&#x2122; Ă?âĂ&#x201C;Ă?Ă&#x17E;Ă&#x201C;Ă&#x2DC;Ă&#x2018; Ă?Ă&#x2DC;Ă&#x17E;Ă?Ă&#x153;Ă&#x161;Ă&#x153;Ă&#x201C;Ă?Ă? Ă&#x153;Ă&#x201C;Ă?Ă&#x2022; Ă&#x2014;Ă&#x2039;Ă&#x2DC;Ă&#x2039;Ă&#x2018;Ă?Ă&#x2014;Ă?Ă&#x2DC;Ă&#x17E; Ě&#x2122; Ě&#x161; Ă?ĂŁĂ?Ă&#x17E;Ă?Ă&#x2014;Ă?Ë&#x153; ĂŁĂ&#x201C;Ă?Ă&#x2013;Ă&#x17D;Ă&#x201C;Ă&#x2DC;Ă&#x2018; Ă&#x161;Ă&#x2122;Ă&#x17E;Ă?Ă&#x2DC;Ă&#x17E;Ă&#x201C;Ă&#x2039;Ă&#x2013; Ă&#x152;Ă?Ă&#x2DC;Ă?Ă?Ă&#x201C;Ă&#x17E;Ă? Ă?Ă&#x;Ă?Ă&#x2019; Ă&#x2039;Ă? lower risk management costs (through more rational hedging and insurance purchasing); new revenue streams from industries that would be too risky to enter without risk management support; better performance of existing businesses in high risk sectors; and loss mitigation through improved business continuity planning and crisis management.

Political risk may have different characterĂ&#x201C;Ă?Ă&#x17E;Ă&#x201C;Ă?Ă? Ă&#x17E;Ă&#x2019;Ă&#x2039;Ă&#x2DC; Ă&#x2122;Ă&#x17E;Ă&#x2019;Ă?Ă&#x153; Ă&#x17E;ĂŁĂ&#x161;Ă?Ă? Ă&#x2122;Ă? Ă&#x153;Ă&#x201C;Ă?Ă&#x2022;Ë&#x153; Ă&#x152;Ă&#x;Ă&#x17E; Ă&#x201C;Ă&#x17E; Ă?Ă&#x2039;Ă&#x2DC; Ě&#x17D; Ă&#x2039;Ă&#x2DC;Ă&#x17D; should - be managed. Effective management of political risk can enable companies to enter and Ă&#x2DC;Ă&#x2039;Ă Ă&#x201C;Ă&#x2018;Ă&#x2039;Ă&#x17E;Ă? Ă&#x2DC;Ă?ĂĄ Ă&#x152;Ă&#x;Ă?Ă&#x201C;Ă&#x2DC;Ă?Ă?Ă? Ă?Ă&#x2DC;Ă Ă&#x201C;Ă&#x153;Ă&#x2122;Ă&#x2DC;Ă&#x2014;Ă?Ă&#x2DC;Ă&#x17E;Ă?Ë&#x153; Ă&#x161;Ă&#x153;Ă&#x2122;Ă Ă&#x201C;Ă&#x17D;Ă&#x201C;Ă&#x2DC;Ă&#x2018; a potential for competitive advantage.

The complex and ever changing factors Ă&#x17E;Ă&#x2019;Ă&#x2039;Ă&#x17E; Ă&#x161;Ă&#x2122;Ă?Ă? Ă&#x161;Ă&#x2122;Ă&#x2013;Ă&#x201C;Ă&#x17E;Ă&#x201C;Ă?Ă&#x2039;Ă&#x2013; Ă&#x153;Ă&#x201C;Ă?Ă&#x2022; Ă&#x2039;Ă&#x153;Ă? Ă&#x201C;Ă&#x2DC;Ă&#x17E;Ă&#x201C;Ă&#x2014;Ă&#x201C;Ă&#x17D;Ă&#x2039;Ă&#x17E;Ă&#x201C;Ă&#x2DC;Ă&#x2018;Ë&#x203A; three-step process can be used to enable Ă?Ă&#x2122;Ă&#x2014;Ă&#x161;Ă&#x2039;Ă&#x2DC;Ă&#x201C;Ă?Ă? Ă&#x201C;Ă&#x17D;Ă?Ă&#x2DC;Ă&#x17E;Ă&#x201C;Ă?ĂŁ Ă&#x2022;Ă?ĂŁ Ă&#x161;Ă&#x2122;Ă&#x2013;Ă&#x201C;Ă&#x17E;Ă&#x201C;Ă?Ă&#x2039;Ă&#x2013; Ă&#x153;Ă&#x201C;Ă?Ă&#x2022;Ă?Ë&#x153; Ă&#x2014;Ă?Ă&#x2039;Ă?Ă&#x;Ă&#x153;Ă? Ă&#x17E;Ă&#x2019;Ă?Ă&#x201C;Ă&#x153; Ă&#x161;Ă&#x2122;Ă&#x17E;Ă?Ă&#x2DC;Ă&#x17E;Ă&#x201C;Ă&#x2039;Ă&#x2013; Ă&#x201C;Ă&#x2014;Ă&#x161;Ă&#x2039;Ă?Ă&#x17E; Ă&#x2122;Ă&#x2DC; Ă&#x161;Ă?Ă&#x153;Ă?Ă&#x2122;Ă&#x153;Ă&#x2014;Ă&#x2039;Ă&#x2DC;Ă?Ă?Ë&#x153; Ă&#x2039;Ă&#x2DC;Ă&#x17D; determine the best method to manage such risks.

The first step is to identify the main political risks that exist and can be imagined. GaugĂ&#x201C;Ă&#x2DC;Ă&#x2018; ĂŁĂ&#x2122;Ă&#x;Ă&#x153; Ă?Ă&#x2DC;Ă Ă&#x201C;Ă&#x153;Ă&#x2122;Ă&#x2DC;Ă&#x2014;Ă?Ă&#x2DC;Ă&#x17E; Ă&#x2019;Ă&#x2122;Ă&#x2013;Ă&#x201C;Ă?Ă&#x17E;Ă&#x201C;Ă?Ă&#x2039;Ă&#x2013;Ă&#x2013;ĂŁË&#x153; Ă&#x152;Ă&#x2039;Ă?Ă?Ă&#x17D; Ă&#x2122;Ă&#x2DC; Ă&#x2018;Ă?Ă&#x2122;Ă&#x161;Ă&#x2122;Ă&#x2013;Ă&#x201C;Ă&#x17E;Ă&#x201C;Ă?Ă&#x2039;Ă&#x2013;Ë&#x153; Ă?Ă?Ă&#x2122;Ă&#x2013;Ă&#x2122;Ă&#x2018;Ă&#x201C;Ă?Ă&#x2039;Ă&#x2013;Ë&#x153; Ă&#x2039;Ă&#x2DC;Ă&#x17D; Ă?Ă&#x2122;Ă?Ă&#x201C;Ă&#x2039;Ă&#x2013; Ă?Ă&#x2039;Ă?Ă&#x17E;Ă&#x2122;Ă&#x153;Ă?Ë&#x153; Ă&#x2039;Ă&#x2014;Ă&#x2122;Ă&#x2DC;Ă&#x2018; Ă&#x2122;Ă&#x17E;Ă&#x2019;Ă?Ă&#x153;Ă?Ë&#x153; Ă&#x201C;Ă? Ă&#x2039; Ă&#x2022;Ă?ĂŁ Ă?Ă&#x2122;Ă&#x2DC;Ă?Ă&#x201C;Ă&#x17D;Ă?Ă&#x153;Ă&#x2039;Ă&#x17E;Ă&#x201C;Ă&#x2122;Ă&#x2DC; ĂĄĂ&#x2019;Ă?Ă&#x2DC; building a clear and comprehensive risk assessment. The key question at this stage is: â&#x20AC;&#x153;How can political actors or conditions Ă&#x17D;Ă&#x201C;Ă&#x153;Ă?Ă?Ă&#x17E;Ă&#x2013;ĂŁ Ă&#x2039;Ă?Ă?Ă?Ă?Ă&#x17E; Ă&#x2122;Ă&#x;Ă&#x153; Ă&#x2122;Ă&#x152;Ă&#x201D;Ă?Ă?Ă&#x17E;Ă&#x201C;Ă Ă?Ă?ËŁËŹ Ă&#x153;Ă&#x2122;Ă&#x2014; Ă&#x2019;Ă?Ă&#x153;Ă?Ë&#x153; risk managers can develop an inventory of Ă&#x161;Ă&#x2122;Ă&#x2013;Ă&#x201C;Ă&#x17E;Ă&#x201C;Ă?Ă&#x2039;Ă&#x2013; Ă&#x153;Ă&#x201C;Ă?Ă&#x2022; Ă&#x17E;ĂŁĂ&#x161;Ă?Ă?Ë&#x203A; Ă?Ă&#x2122;Ă&#x;Ă&#x2DC;Ă&#x17D; Ă&#x2014;Ă&#x2039;Ă&#x2DC;Ă&#x2039;Ă&#x2018;Ă?Ă&#x2014;Ă?Ă&#x2DC;Ă&#x17E; team can then develop an evidence-based set Ă&#x2122;Ă? Ă&#x153;Ă&#x201C;Ă?Ă&#x2022; Ă?Ă?Ă?Ă&#x2DC;Ă&#x2039;Ă&#x153;Ă&#x201C;Ă&#x2122;Ă?Ë&#x153; Ă&#x152;Ă&#x2039;Ă?Ă?Ă&#x17D; Ă&#x2122;Ă&#x2DC; Ă&#x152;Ă&#x2122;Ă&#x17E;Ă&#x2019; ĂĄĂ?Ă&#x2013;Ă&#x2013;Ě&#x2039;Ă&#x17D;Ă?Ă?Ă&#x201C;Ă&#x2DC;Ă?Ă&#x17D; and highly specific data directly relevant to the companyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s objectives.

Ă&#x2DC; Ă&#x17E;Ă&#x2019;Ă? Ă?Ă?Ă?Ă&#x2122;Ă&#x2DC;Ă&#x17D; Ă?Ă&#x17E;Ă?Ă&#x161;Ë&#x153; Ă&#x2039;Ă&#x153;Ă&#x2014;Ă?Ă&#x17D; ĂĄĂ&#x201C;Ă&#x17E;Ă&#x2019; Ă&#x2039; Ă Ă?Ă&#x153;ĂŁ Ă?Ă&#x161;Ă?Ă?Ă&#x201C;Ă?Ă&#x201C;Ă? Ă?Ă?Ă&#x17E; Ă&#x2122;Ă? Ă&#x161;Ă&#x2122;Ă&#x2013;Ă&#x201C;Ă&#x17E;Ă&#x201C;Ă?Ă&#x2039;Ă&#x2013; Ă&#x153;Ă&#x201C;Ă?Ă&#x2022; Ă?Ă?Ă?Ă&#x2DC;Ă&#x2039;Ă&#x153;Ă&#x201C;Ă&#x2122;Ă?Ë&#x153; Ă&#x2039;Ă&#x2DC; Ă&#x2039;Ă?Ă?Ă?Ă?Ă?Ă&#x2014;Ă?Ă&#x2DC;Ă&#x17E; and measurement of the potential impact of each scenario on the business is carried out. Ă&#x201C;Ă?Ă?Ă&#x2122;Ă&#x;Ă&#x2DC;Ă&#x17E;Ă?Ă&#x17D; Ă?Ă&#x2039;Ă?Ă&#x2019; Ă?Ă&#x2013;Ă&#x2122;ĂĄ Ě&#x2122; Ě&#x161; Ă&#x2039;Ă&#x2DC;Ă&#x2039;Ă&#x2013;ĂŁĂ?Ă&#x201C;Ă? Ă?Ă&#x2039;Ă&#x2DC; Ă&#x152;Ă? Ă&#x;Ă?Ă?Ă&#x17D;Ë&#x153; Ă?Ă&#x2122;Ă&#x153; Ă?âĂ&#x2039;Ă&#x2014;Ă&#x161;Ă&#x2013;Ă?Ë&#x153; Ă&#x17E;Ă&#x2122; Ă?Ă?Ă&#x17E;Ă&#x201C;Ă&#x2014;Ă&#x2039;Ă&#x17E;Ă? Ă&#x17E;Ă&#x2019;Ă? Ă?Ă&#x201C;Ă&#x2DC;Ă&#x2039;Ă&#x2DC;Ă?Ă&#x201C;Ă&#x2039;Ă&#x2013; impact of specific events as an input to help organisations understand their tolerance levels. Ă&#x17E;Ă&#x2019;Ă?Ă&#x153; Ă&#x17E;Ă&#x2122;Ă&#x2122;Ă&#x2013;Ă?Ë&#x153; Ă?Ă&#x;Ă?Ă&#x2019; Ă&#x2039;Ă? Ă&#x2039;Ă&#x2DC; Ă&#x2122;Ă&#x153;Ă&#x2018;Ă&#x2039;Ă&#x2DC;Ă&#x201C;Ă?Ă&#x2039;Ă&#x17E;Ă&#x201C;Ă&#x2122;Ă&#x2DC;Ă&#x2039;Ă&#x2013; Ă&#x2DC;Ă?Ă&#x17E;ĂĄĂ&#x2122;Ă&#x153;Ă&#x2022; Ă&#x2039;Ă&#x2DC;Ă&#x2039;Ă&#x2013;ĂŁĂ?Ă&#x201C;Ă?Ë&#x153; Ă?Ă&#x2039;Ă&#x2DC; Ă&#x2019;Ă?Ă&#x2013;Ă&#x161; Ă&#x17D;Ă?Ă&#x17E;Ă?Ă&#x153;Ă&#x2014;Ă&#x201C;Ă&#x2DC;Ă? Ă&#x17E;Ă&#x2019;Ă? Ă?Ă?Ă&#x17E;Ă&#x201C;Ă&#x2014;Ă&#x2039;Ă&#x17E;Ă?Ă&#x17D; operational impact of specific risks. Ă&#x201C;Ă&#x2DC;Ă&#x2039;Ă&#x2013;Ă&#x2013;ĂŁË&#x153; Ă&#x2122;Ă&#x2DC;Ă?Ă? Ă&#x153;Ă&#x201C;Ă?Ă&#x2022;Ă? Ă&#x2019;Ă&#x2039;Ă Ă? Ă&#x152;Ă?Ă?Ă&#x2DC; Ă&#x201C;Ă&#x17D;Ă?Ă&#x2DC;Ă&#x17E;Ă&#x201C;Ă?Ă&#x201C;Ă?Ă&#x17D; Ă&#x2039;Ă&#x2DC;Ă&#x17D; Ă&#x2014;Ă?Ă&#x2039;Ă?Ă&#x;Ă&#x153;Ă?Ă&#x17D;Ë&#x153; Ă&#x2039;Ă&#x2DC; Ă?Ă?Ă?Ă?Ă?Ă&#x17E;Ă&#x201C;Ă Ă? Ă?ĂŁĂ?Ă&#x17E;Ă?Ă&#x2014; Ă?Ă&#x2122;Ă&#x153; Ă&#x2039;Ă?tive political risk management can be put in place. The first element in managing political risks is to map potential risk management Ă&#x2014;Ă?Ă&#x17E;Ă&#x2019;Ă&#x2122;Ă&#x17D;Ă? Ă&#x2039;Ă&#x2018;Ă&#x2039;Ă&#x201C;Ă&#x2DC;Ă?Ă&#x17E; Ă&#x17E;Ă&#x2019;Ă? Ă&#x161;Ă&#x153;Ă&#x201C;Ă&#x2122;Ă&#x153;Ă&#x201C;Ă&#x17E;ĂŁ Ă&#x153;Ă&#x201C;Ă?Ă&#x2022;Ă?Ë&#x203A; Ă?Ă&#x2122;Ă&#x;Ă&#x153;Ă?Ă? of action and framework can be designed to assign responsibilities and establish a schedule Ă?Ă&#x2122;Ă&#x153; Ă?Ă&#x2122;Ă&#x2DC;Ă?Ă&#x;Ă&#x2013;Ă&#x17E;Ă&#x2039;Ă&#x17E;Ă&#x201C;Ă&#x2122;Ă&#x2DC;Ë&#x153; Ă&#x153;Ă?Ă&#x161;Ă&#x2122;Ă&#x153;Ă&#x17E;Ă&#x201C;Ă&#x2DC;Ă&#x2018; Ă&#x2039;Ă&#x2DC;Ă&#x17D; Ă&#x153;Ă?Ă Ă&#x201C;Ă?ĂĄË&#x153; Ă&#x2039;Ă? ĂĄĂ&#x201C;Ă&#x17E;Ă&#x2019; other risk controls. Ă&#x2DC; Ă?Ă&#x2DC;Ă&#x17D;Ă&#x;Ă&#x153;Ă&#x201C;Ă&#x2DC;Ă&#x2018; Ă&#x2013;Ă?Ă?Ă?Ă&#x2122;Ă&#x2DC; Ă?Ă&#x153;Ă&#x2122;Ă&#x2014; Ă&#x17E;Ă&#x2019;Ă? Ă&#x161;Ă&#x2039;Ă?Ă&#x17E; Ă&#x201C;Ă? Ă&#x17E;Ă&#x2019;Ă&#x2039;Ă&#x17E; Ă?Ă?Ă&#x2039;Ă&#x2DC;Ă&#x2DC;Ă&#x201C;Ă&#x2DC;Ă&#x2018;Ë&#x153; Ă?Ă Ă&#x2039;Ă&#x2013;Ă&#x;Ă&#x2039;Ă&#x17E;Ă&#x201C;Ă&#x2DC;Ă&#x2018; Ă&#x2039;Ă&#x2DC;Ă&#x17D;Ë&#x153; ĂĄĂ&#x2019;Ă?Ă&#x2DC; Ă&#x2DC;Ă?Ă?Ă?Ă?Ă?Ă&#x2039;Ă&#x153;ĂŁË&#x153; adapting to this risk should be key to any survival strategy. The political actors also have a duty in the coming months to ensure transparency and minimal disruption to business and economic activities as the election stages warm up. Ëž Ă&#x152;Ă&#x2122;Ă&#x2DC;Ă&#x;Ë&#x153; Ë&#x153; Ë&#x153; Ě&#x2122; Ě&#x161;Ë&#x153; Ë&#x153; Ě&#x2122; Ă&#x17E;Ă?Ă&#x153;Ă&#x2DC;Ě&#x161; Ë&#x203A; Ă&#x17E;Ă&#x;Ă&#x17D;Ă&#x201C;Ă?Ă&#x17D; Ă&#x2DC;Ă&#x2018;Ă&#x201C;Ă&#x2DC;Ă?Ă?Ă&#x153;Ă&#x201C;Ă&#x2DC;Ă&#x2018;Ë&#x153; Ă&#x201C;Ă? Ă&#x2039;Ă&#x2DC; Ă?âĂ&#x161;Ă?Ă&#x153;Ă&#x201C;Ă?Ă&#x2DC;Ă?Ă?Ă&#x17D; Ă&#x2039;Ă&#x2DC;Ă&#x2022;Ă?Ă&#x153; Ă&#x2039;Ă&#x2DC;Ă&#x17D; Ă&#x2DC;Ă&#x17E;Ă?Ă&#x153;Ă&#x161;Ă&#x153;Ă&#x201C;Ă?Ă? Ă&#x201C;Ă?Ă&#x2022; Ă&#x2039;Ă&#x2DC;Ă&#x2039;Ă&#x2018;Ă?Ă&#x2014;Ă?Ă&#x2DC;Ă&#x17E; Ă&#x161;Ă&#x153;Ă&#x2122;Ă?Ă?Ă?Ă?Ă&#x201C;Ă&#x2122;Ă&#x2DC;Ă&#x2039;Ă&#x2013;Ë&#x203A; Ă&#x2039;Ă&#x153;Ă&#x2DC;Ă?Ă&#x17D; Ă&#x2039; Ă&#x161;Ă&#x2122;Ă?Ă&#x17E; Ă&#x2018;Ă&#x153;Ă&#x2039;Ă&#x17D;Ă&#x;Ă&#x2039;Ă&#x17E;Ă? Ă&#x17D;Ă?Ă&#x2018;Ă&#x153;Ă?Ă? Ă&#x201C;Ă&#x2DC; Ă&#x201C;Ă?Ă&#x2022; Ă&#x2039;Ă&#x2DC;Ă&#x2039;Ă&#x2018;Ă?Ă&#x2014;Ă?Ă&#x2DC;Ă&#x17E; Ă?Ă&#x153;Ă&#x2122;Ă&#x2014; Ă?ĂĄ Ă&#x2122;Ă&#x153;Ă&#x2022; Ă&#x2DC;Ă&#x201C;Ă Ă?Ă&#x153;Ă?Ă&#x201C;Ă&#x17E;ĂŁË&#x153; Ă&#x17E;Ă?Ă&#x153;Ă&#x2DC; Ă?Ă&#x2019;Ă&#x2122;Ă&#x2122;Ă&#x2013; Ă&#x2122;Ă? Ă&#x;Ă?Ă&#x201C;Ă&#x2DC;Ă?Ă?Ă?Ë&#x203A; Ă&#x2014;Ă?Ă&#x2014;Ă&#x152;Ă?Ă&#x153; Ă&#x2122;Ă? Ă&#x17E;Ă&#x2019;Ă?

Ă&#x2DC;Ă?Ă&#x17E;Ă&#x201C;Ă&#x17E;Ă&#x;Ă&#x17E;Ă? Ă&#x2122;Ă? Ă&#x201C;Ă?Ă&#x2022; Ă&#x2039;Ă&#x2DC;Ă&#x2039;Ă&#x2018;Ă?Ă&#x2014;Ă?Ă&#x2DC;Ă&#x17E;Ë&#x153; Ă&#x2039;Ă&#x2DC;Ă&#x17D; Ă&#x201C;Ă? Ă&#x161;Ă&#x153;Ă?Ă?Ă?Ă&#x2DC;Ă&#x17E;Ă&#x2013;ĂŁ Ă&#x17E;Ă&#x2019;Ă?

Ă?Ă&#x2018;Ă&#x201C;Ă&#x2122;Ă&#x2DC;Ă&#x2039;Ă&#x2013; Ă&#x153;Ă&#x2122;Ă&#x;Ă&#x161; Ă&#x2019;Ă&#x2039;Ă&#x201C;Ă&#x153; Ă?Ă&#x2122;Ă&#x153; Ă&#x201C;Ă&#x2018;Ă?Ă&#x153;Ă&#x201C;Ă&#x2039;

22

T H I S D AY ˾ ͯͳË&#x153; Ͱͮͯ͵

T H I S D AY Ëž Ë&#x153; ÍŻÍłË&#x153; Í°ÍŽÍŻÍľ

23

BUSINESSWORLD

INTERVIEW

Fadugba: NCAA Should Regulate the Financial Viability of Airlines International aviation consultant and former Secretary-General of African Airlines Association, Nick Fadugba, in this interview calls for strict financial regulation of Nigerian airlines. He also urged the federal government to articulate a blueprint for airport infrastructure. Chinedu Eze brings the excerpts: Overview of the aviation industry I really want to talk on three points, one is Nigerian airlines; two is the government and three is the regulatory environment. Let me start with Nigerian airlines. We have a situation in Nigeria today where we have too many airlines which are too small and the market is fragmented. None of the airlines have a critical mass in terms of fleet or route network to become effective and to make money.

When you look at Ethiopian Airlines, the combined fleet of all Nigerian airlines is about 40 percent of the fleet of Ethiopian airlines. We have approximately 40 aircraft as a country, all our airlines. Ethiopia at the moment has about 90 plus aircraft and the most modern. In the next few years Ethiopia will operate about 130 aircraft. So you see Ethiopian is taking on a bigger scale. You could say that in Ethiopia they have a monopoly which is very different from Nigeria and in Nigeria of course we have a very vibrant economy which is not a monopoly.

So we have many airlines; this is good thing in a way, but the problem is that none of them, to the best of my knowledge, is really profitable today. So what I would recommend for our Nigerian airlines is that they need to work together, they can compete; for example, on Lagos-Abuja or Abuja-Port Harcourt but they can work together on training, on maintenance, on spares pulling, on spare parts purchasing; there are many areas where they can work together.

They can still compete despite the cooperation.

This is done in the rest of the world; airlines can compete and collaborate. More importantly, I would like to say that Nigerian airlines should come together. You mentioned ego, yes ego is a big factor, it is a negative factor in the airline industry in Nigeria; very negative; it is holding us back. If you look around the world, British Airways is coming to Nigeria.

Collectively within the IAG Group, they have about 600 plus aircraft. Delta Air Lines has 600 plus aircraft, Emirates, you can imagine a huge fleet and yet we have the market in terms of passengers; everybody wants to come to Nigeria.

If you look at any market in Africa, the most popular one is Nigeria. This is because you can be sure if you are a foreign airline you will fill your aircraft, probably from the front, first the business class and then economy.

Nigerians like to travel in style if they can afford it. You know you donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t get in countries like South Africa or Ethiopia or Kenya; the aircraft tends to fill from the back (economy class) but in Nigeria it is from the front. That means this is a premium market; the ticket yield is very high and you can be profitable and, of course, the load factor from Nigeria is unusually high compared to the rest of Africa.

So I would like to see Nigerian airlines work together, they need to code-share. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s quite a surprise and a disappointment that no airline in Nigeria is code-sharing. For example, if a flight is delayed on airline A, you can quickly send your passengers to airline B if you have interlining agreement and code-share. This is what they do in the modern world and we need to do that in Nigeria.

Fundinga Financing is a big problem. We find that in Nigerian airlines there can be leakage of revenue, so what we need is transparency and good corporate governance to ensure that all revenues are reinvested in the operation. It is extremely important. And then I would encourage all Nigerian airlines to focus on unit cost, load factor and the fair yield. These are three critical ingredients for success. Unit cost, the cost of operation, the ticket yield, how much

Fadugba

are they making? And then the load factor, are they flying half empty or almost full? This is because these make the big difference. So that is in terms of the airlines, I would encourage

So in Nigeria, I would have said the country should have two airlines, but I just want to be over generous and say three. We need three strong airlines with a ďŹ&#x201A;eet of 50 aircraft minimum each. Now we are talking, if you have minimum 50 aircraft and you have critical mass, when you are ordering aircraft you can dictate to your supplier.

When you are buying spares you can dictate, when you are getting MRO (Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul) you can dictate your terms. At least you are in a better buying position

more cooperation; they can compete, yes on route but work together in many areas. And by working together they will save money collectively on maintenance and on training and on spares pulling and many other areas.

Government policies I believe the government of Nigeria today needs to take urgent action to rescue the Nigerian aviation industry. When we look at the aviation infrastructure in Nigeria, it is far behind where we need to be. And we need to aspire to the global standard of excellence. I would like the government of Nigeria to take the Singapore aviation model and the Dubai aviation model.

This is because in Singapore and in Dubai, in particular, the governments have harnessed aviation as a tool for economic development.

Deliberately and decisively, they have taken aviation as a sector that will develop their economy. We are talking about Dubai, is it as big as Lagos? I am not very sure, probably not.

Singapore, I am sure you can fit it in Lagos State as well. Today if you look at Dubai, if there is no aviation we will be talking about Dubai? Singapore, we wouldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t talk about it if not for the amazing aviation industry. It is a hub in Asia, a major hub and Dubai of course is a major hub in the Middle East. And yet they built it with nothing that we have in terms of the population. What is the population of Singapore? Is it up to a million or a couple of millions? The real population of Dubai, is it a couple of a hundred thousand? And here we have a 180 million people in Nigeria or entrepreneurs. And I am talking from the board chairman to the market woman, they are all business people, they fly. I have been at Murtala Muhammed International airport,

I have profiled passengers, young men and women with briefcase, they are going to China.

It is amazing.

I donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t see it in any country. We travel round the airports in Africa. When I travel to these countries in the continent I sit down and I profile the Africans in particular; the European we are tourists or businessmen. Nigeria is amazing, I donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t see such market Nigeria has in South Africa, businessmen going to China to buy and bring back, no. In Kenya, not really, in Ethiopia I donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t see it. So what do we have? We have the aviation product in terms of passengers and cargo demand. There is absolutely no reason why Nigeria should not have two or three thriving airlines. I do not believe sincerely that Nigeria needs more than maximum, three large airlines.

It can have niche airlines. If you want to be a niche airline I can decide to fly from Lagos to my village; that is fine. That is what I want to do, I am a niche airline. If you look at Air Namibia for example, you can say it is like a niche airline. They go to Johannesburg, they go to Windhoek(Namibia), to Frankfurt, but they are not trying to be everywhere.

So in Nigeria, I would have said the country should have two airlines, but I just want to be over generous and say three. We need three strong airlines with a fleet of 50 aircraft minimum each. Now we are talking, if you have minimum 50 aircraft and you have critical mass, when you are ordering aircraft you can dictate to your supplier. When you are buying spares you can dictate, when you are getting MRO (Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul) you can dictate your terms. At least you are in a better CONTINUED ON PAGE 24

T H I S D AY Ëž Ë&#x153; ÍŻÍłË&#x153; Í°ÍŽÍŻÍľ

24

FADUGBA: NCAA SHOULD REGULATE THE FINANCIAL VIABILITY OF AIRLINEA all airlines in Nigeria and for the owners. It is not an easy job and they are working very hard but if we want to move forward we must scale up in terms of fleet, traffic, and cooperation and joint ventures. We really need to move forward.

buying position.

National maintenance hangar Let me turn to the national hangar. All of us in Nigeria, this great country have been hearing of this national hangar. It is as if establishing a national hangar is beyond achievement; it is not rock science, it is a hangar. If you go to Ethiopia they have like six hangars and they are modern, state-of-the-art. And yet here in Nigeria, we donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t have one major MRO centre and it is not good enough. So I believe the government really needs to take decisive action to harness aviation as a tool for economic development. I am not saying that government should fund MRO, I believe Nigerian airlines, individually they donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t have sufficient fleet to fund the investment but collectively they can work together.

Instead of Nigerian airlines complaining about government all the time, they need to work together. When they have worked together to the maximum possible, then they can complain about government. But I really want a more practical achievable cooperation. If you look at other countries all around the world, they work together; it is only in Nigeria we are trying to kill each other. And the thing is that other foreign airlines are taking advantage of the Nigerian airlines due to lack of cooperation. They can see what we are doing and they must think we are not wise. A lot of Nigerians complain about Ethiopia but I want to put it on record that Nigerians should not envy Ethiopian airlines, they should emulate it.

They should seek to match it and surpass it. After all, a big percentage of the customers of Ethiopian airlines are from Nigeria. I have no doubt in my mind that if we have strong airlines, efficient airlines, safe airlines, on time airlines, Nigerian passengers will fly with them.

I have got no doubt in my mind because when Nigeria Airways was there everybody was proud to fly on Nigeria Airways. And I have no doubt in my mind that if we have one r two strong airlines in the future Nigerian will patronise them.

National Carrier I now want to talk about national carrier. Let me first of all pay respect to the government and the Minister of State, Aviation, Senator Hadi Sirika. He is an aviator; he is very committed and dedicated to aviation industry in Nigeria.

However, my question is that the government of Nigeria has some levels of control of two airlines today- Arik Air and Aero Contractors because they are party owned by AMCON (Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria), which is a government body.

So what we are saying is that if the government by default is a part owner of two Nigerian airlines, why are we talking about creating a third airline? This is because you can be sure that if you establish a third airline, all three will not make money and of course there are other airlines beyond the three. So I would suggest, very respectfully, that the government needs to rethink its policy on a national airline. What is going to happen to Arik? What is going to happen to Aero? I donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t think it can be expected that Arik can flourish, Aero can flourish and a new national carrier will flourish all at the same time. And we also have Air Peace and so many other airlines.

I would have thought in my own mind that the government would merge Aero and Arik, turn it into a national carrier. The current owners-the owners of Arik and Aero would now become key shareholders in the new venture. The beauty is that this carrier will inherit the Nigerian Airways hanger and compound which is the best in Nigeria, of airside and landside. There is no doubt in my mind that if you combine Aero, Arik as a national carrier they will be formidable. So I think the government needs to rethink its strategy because I do not believe sincerely that all three airlines can survive.

If you revive Aero, you revive Arik, then you establish a national carrier, to do what?

To compete with the airlines that you have just spend public money to restructure and then you create another airline to compete with them?

Yes, I do believe that Nigeria needs a national carrier; but a national carrier in which government

Bilateral Air Service Agreement (BASA)

Fadugba

should have a minority golden share. Because sometime it is important to have government ownership in international market but it will be a minority golden share and the rest should be sold to shareholders. Therefore, the current owners of Arik and Aero should be offered shares in the new venture; it should be a combined effort. And all the other private Nigerian airlines should be offered shares to buy in to this new national airline.

Merger of airlines That means we can shrink the number of airlines in Nigeria from, maybe, 12 today to maybe three or four. Now we are talking serious business because the scale will be much bigger and therefore the likelihood of success will be enhanced. I am not criticising the government policy, but I think right now the government is spending public money, tax payersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; money to restructure two airlines which the government partly owns by default, through AMCON. So talk of a third national airline to compete with these, in my mind it is not a wise decision. I donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t think in Nigeria we can have more than

So what we are saying is that if the government by default is a part owner of two Nigerian airlines, why are we talking about creating a third airline? This is because you can be sure that if you establish a third airline, all three will not make money and of course there are other airlines beyond the three. So I would suggest, very respectfully, that the government needs to rethink its policy on a national airline

three very strong airlines. You can have as many as you like but I am talking about strong, profitable, efficient, reliable, safe airline which have a critical mass and scale to be formidable, to compete with other airlines from around the world.

Regulatory environment The third point I wanted to make is the regulatory environment. You know the government has made great effort and everybody commends Dr Harold Demuren (former Director-General, the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority). I really want to commend him so much and many others in the industry but what Dr Demuren has done is formidable. And he is recognised around the world and I must admit that I am one of his great fans in the aviation industry. I believe he has done a great job. To move forward, we need a stronger regulatory environment. The government took a wise step a few years ago to regulate that a one aircraft airline is not an airline. I believe we need to take a step further as the ART (Aviation Round Table) President, Mr. Gbenga Olowo suggested.

I believe we need to increase the minimum number of aircraft needed to constitute a viable airline. It could be five; I would love to say 10, a minimum of 10 aircraft to be an airline, a real airline. I know this will be punitive for many of the airlines that donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t have the resources to get up to 10 aircraft. But I really do believe that in the interest of the industry, we need to scale up. And this should be part of the regulatory requirements to have a minimum size fleet which is viable. In addition to regulating the size of the fleet, I believe it is critical for the NCAA to regulate the economic and financial viability of every airline in Nigeria.

If you go to the UK CAA (Civil Aviation Authority), one of the delights is that you can go online and you can get their traffic statistics, their financial statistics; it is amazing the public information that is available. We need to adopt that system. Now, who knows what airlines carried, the passengers, is it public knowledge?

It is not widely known, it is not widely reported.

This is data, it is critical to know the size of the industry and the industry trends. So the NCAA must become stronger in terms of data collection from the airlines, the traffic, the on time performance, the financial performance.

Is the airline paying staff, are they maintaining their aircraft? We need stronger financial and economic oversight for airlines in Nigeria to move forward. I have tremendous respect for

You know it is very difficult. When I look at BASA in Nigeria, it is like we opened the stable door and the horse has gone and to catch it back it is going to be very difficult. We entered into BASA agreements with numerous countries, the principle of BASA is reciprocity and yet we entered into BASA and we are not able to reciprocate. Why? because we donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t have the airlines. And why donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t we have the airlines? because they are weak, small and under capitalised.

When you go to BASA, you allocate the routes and the frequencies and everything.

The foreign partner will come and say they want to operate to Lagos; for example, 10 times a week. Where is your airline to operate to London 10 times a week? To reciprocate or to any other route, we cannot match it. And the government cannot hold back the industry because Nigerian airlines cannot reciprocate.

Because people have to travel, the Nigerian economy would have been much weaker if the government says, okay until we wait for these Nigerian airlines to catch up we wonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t allow foreign airlines to come to Nigeria. So when I look at BASA, it is of great concern to me but it is a problem that we created in Nigeria. Why? Because we did not ensure that we had strong enough airlines to reciprocate.

And therefore we gave the market to foreign airlines to provide our economy with safe, efficient air service.

When you have opened your market on that basis, it is very difficult now to take it back out of spite or out of resentment or what have you.

So it is a tough, tough question and the only way it can be resolved is by having strong airlines that have the capacity to provide the service.

Because, for example, if you have three, my hypothetical number of three is very strong, you can have more airlines but three very strong airlines with 50 aircraft each minimum, these airlines would be able to put on the services required. So you can go to Ethiopian, you can go to British Airways and renegotiate, now we are ready to reciprocate. And thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s the way you can get your market back. But it is very, very difficult to take back the routes, having given them away. Nigerians say letâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s renegotiate, okay we go back to the negotiating table, where are our airlines? Is it not the same situation? Who is going to fly the frequencies? So even if we go back to the negotiating table today we do not have any airline we can put forward that can perform the reciprocal services.

I know it is going to take us a long time but if we really come together, if we regulate minimum number of aircraft, a realistic number, if we regulate that airlines must work together, the government did it with banks and it worked and the banks became very strong. And we can do it with airlines and I really want to urge the federal government of Nigeria to embark on this mission of harnessing aviation as a tool for national economic development. This is because without it we are not going anywhere in terms of global aviation.

International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) Forum in Abuja I am very pleased, first of all that Dr. Bernard Aliu was elected the first African and a Nigerian President of ICAO Council. It is a tremendous achievement for Nigeria and he is doing a wonderful job and we are very proud of that.

When it comes to financing, let us look at the airlines in Nigeria, we heard today that our airlines are not bankable, many of them. They donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t have a good business plan, they donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t have sound management, they donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t have critical mass. We heard from the speakers today that they are a risk, financial risk. Therefore, we need to clean up our house in the aviation industry.

We will need to work on it otherwise we are not going anywhere. We need strong airlines, the only way we can do that is to regulate a minimum size, it is to enforce cooperation.

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INTERVIEW

FADUGBA: NCAA SHOULD REGULATE THE FINANCIAL VIABILITY OF AIRLINEA There is no reason why two airlines flying to Abuja within half an hour of each other and one has technical hold, you cannot deploy the passengers to the other plane. It is a win, win situation. You know we need to get away from this mentality, ego and all of that type of thing, it is really damaging. I was listening to the Minister of State, Aviation talk about AMCON, which is a government agency. AMCON owns by default Aero and Arik and I am thinking of a new national carrier, an investor will wonder how you are going to fund the national carrier when government already has two competing airlines. I would not as a banker fund even Arik or Aero, and let me tell you, there are many people outside Nigeria that had called me all the time and asked about what is happening in Nigeria. Some of them are aircraft suppliers or financing people.

They wonder why the country owns basically Aero and Arik and it is still talking about a third airline. And yet Aero is out there looking for money, Arik is looking for money and government is talking about a new national carrier.

It is confusing everybody and it has been dragging on for almost two years now. The government is over two years now and we have been hearing of a new national carrier for two years. We donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t know how to define it, who are the owners, what form or shape and then you are saying come and fund the

other airline, it will not work. So that is on the airlineâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s side, it is a confused situation right now.

Infrastructure Let me turn about physical infrastructure like airport. The government doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t have the financial resources to manage properly or fund 22 airports. It is a huge challenge to fund 22 airports, many of them are not economically viable but they are there. You are asking a foreign investor to come and fund airport infrastructure in Nigeria. They want to commission the airport and if I do my research as an investor, I would want to come to Nigeria because it seems to me as a huge potential market. I do my research as an investor of airport infrastructure, the first thing I would see on the internet is MM2 (Lagos domestic airport) and I would come up with reams of information about the court case up till now, litigation and litigation.

There is also litigation with Maevis, I would now turn to Chief Akandeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s land at the airport or the disagreement there. What guarantee do we have or does an investor have that coming into invest in the new airport that is about to be concessioned would not end up in the same situation? I would have preferred that the government, before you call anybody to come and invest in any other infrastructure, to resolve these problems. The government needs to bite the bullets and needs to urgently resolve the MM2 situation, the Meavis situation

and the Chief Akande situation. These issues need to be resolved urgently because we do not want to see any more concessioned airport or infrastructure end up in the court. And I believe if we are not careful this is going to happen. I am also concerned in my mind that we are inviting foreign investors to come and invest in different airports, I believe that before we do that we must have an aviation blue print for the country. Because if you invite an investor to come and invest in Abuja another in Lagos and Port Harcourt and they are all in different strategies conflicting with each other, it will not work. So the government should have devised and published a blue print for aviation development for Nigeria.

So when the investor comes in he will follow the blue print; he will not do things arbitrarily. And then we have coordinated infrastructure development. But at the moment if you concession the airport to three, four parties and they are all coming with their own different strategies, where is the harmonisation? Where is the coordination?

Are they going to use different infrastructure technologies? Will they be able to speak with each other in terms of the technology, the different airports, the gates, all the equipment and what have you?

So the government by now should have published a blue print for infrastructure development

for Nigeria and the investors have to follow the blue print. If they come in now what rules will they follow? Are there any guidelines? Is there any harmonisation? I have not seen it.

So I believe two issues need to be clarified immediately by the government-the national carrier, the government needs to look carefully at the implications of a national carrier on the other troubled airlines in Nigeria; especially now that the government itself is a part owner to two of the troubled airlines.

That situation needs to be resolved. And the second one is aviation infrastructure; the government needs to have a harmonised blue print, a clearly articulated blue print for aviation infrastructure development in Nigeria. So that when the concession the airports, they follow the plan and if they donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t follow it they are out.

So any agreement with the concessionaires must be stipulated that they follow the guidelines in the national plan for aviation development. Otherwise we are going to get investors coming in and introducing completely different models. That means that if you go to Abuja it will be completely different philosophy, you go to Lagos there is no harmonisation and dovetailing of systems and procedures and infrastructure. So I really think the government needs to address these issues urgently. We donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t have a lot of time to waste in Nigeria, we are far behind.

HMD Global Celebrates One Year in Managing Nokia Phones Emma Okonji HMD Global, the home of Nokia phones is celebrating one year anniversary in managing Nokia phones since 2016.

In just 12 months, the start-up has made 12 major announcements including the introduction of eleven new devices, and global partnerships with industry heavyweights such as ZEISS. Throughout the period, the home of Nokia phones has been guided and motivated by the enthusiasm of its rapidly expanding fan base.

With the ambition of being truly global from day one, HMD Global has already released its newportfolio of six Nokia smartphones and five feature phones in over 80 markets with activations in 170 countries, delivering websites in 48 languages and setting up solid foundations for future growth.

Fast paced growth and scale HMD Global arrived on the scene to incredible fanfare, marked by the return of the Nokia 3310 at Mobile World Congress 2017, and the introduction of its first, global wave of Android smartphones.The new portfolio won over 20 awards at the show and sold out across markets. Today, Nokia phones are on sale across more than 80 countries on 45 local websites across 48 languages. Devices have already been activated in more than 170 countries.

During its first year, HMD Global has forged major strategic partnerships with industry leaders, including Nokia, Google, Foxconn and ZEISS. Over the next year, the companyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s commitment to those partnerships aims to deliver purposeful innovation to fans and set new standards for what youcan expect from a smartphone.

Nigerian Breweries Honours 65 Workers Christopher Isiguzo in Enugu At least 65 staff of the Nigerian Breweries Plc have been honoured in Enugu state with long service awards even as the state government has reaffirmed its readiness to create conducive environment for business to thrive.

Speaking at the event marking the award presentations at Ama Plant of the Brewery in AZPeter Ani said the awards were for those who diligently gave long period of service to the beverage company.

The company said the long service award was to celebrate qualified employees of various categories and appreciate their dedication and loyalty.

Ani said it was a ritual for the company to celebrate their

deserving management and non employees as a confirmation of their commitment to performance, dedication and excellence. He noted that the most important resource in any organisation is its employees, without such there would be corporate failure.

According to him, the 65 deserving employees have served the company for 10, 15, 20, 25 and 30 years, and collectively contributed a total of 905 service years to the progress of the company.

Ani said: â&#x20AC;&#x153;The long service award ceremony is a demonstration of our companyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s appreciation for the individual and collective contributions of the distinguished recipients to the larger success for which the company is well identified.â&#x20AC;?

CAPACITY BUILDING

L -R: Regional Manager South-South Premium Pensions Ltd, Mr Baridoo Friday; and Head, Corporate Communications Mr. Paddy Ezeala, at the closure of the #MakeitHappen Campaign at the National Youth Service Corps Camp, Nonwa, Rivers State ... rececntly

Edo Govt Engages NeoMedia to Market Ososo Carnival In a bid to properly harness the potentials and opportunities that the annual Ososo Festival in the Akoko-Edo area of Edo State offer, its organisers have engaged a leading marketing and event agency â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Neomedia and Marketing Limited to help raise the standard of organisation and marketing of the festival to international level.

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

He also added that his agency, with experience in marketing of international brands and events, would not find it tough in galvanising necessary support that would make the carnival appeal to the world. â&#x20AC;&#x153;As a carnival that has

already taken a life of its own and has appealed to relevant stakeholders, our job is to help the organisers attract potential sponsors and guests that would make it a revered carnival that everybody will identify with. It gladdens my heart personally that the proactive government of Edo State, under the leadership of Mr. Godwin Nogheghase Obaseki, has not only bought into the carnival; the government has created a good platform for its growth.

With what is on ground, 2017 edition will be a watershedâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;â&#x20AC;&#x2122;, he said.

Also speaking at the event, the stateâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Commissioner for Arts, Culture, Tourism and Diaspora Affairs, Honorable Osaze Osemwegie-Ero said the state government would harness the potentials of Ososo Carnival as part of its plans to boost the stateâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s economy through the development of 58 newly identified tourism sites across the state.

According to the Commissioner, who said he personally visited Ososo recently to verify the potentials of Ososo community as a veritable hub for economic and social development through tourism, expressed delight at the state of its preparedness towards the hosting of the forthcoming carnival which takes place every December. â&#x20AC;&#x153;The natural potentials of Ososo community as a tourism hub cannot be overemphasized. It must be highlighted and developed as part of this administrationâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s deliberate policy to create employment â&#x20AC;&#x201C; particularly for the youths. By doing this, we are indirectly curbing crimes as the saying goes that â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;an idle mind is the devilâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s workshopâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;. â&#x20AC;&#x153;To this end, government has identified 58 other potentially viable tourism sites across the state which will be developed so that the state and

the communities in particular can reap the benefitsâ&#x20AC;?, he said.

Mr. Osemwegie-Ero said the state is not relenting in this venture as efforts were on to identify and develop other hidden tourism potentials in the state such as the Aba Festival which recently held in Igarra with thousands of tourists in attendance.

Also corroborating the Commissioner, Chairman(BOT) of Ososo Carnival Initiative, Hon. Emmanuel Agbaje, harped on the need for governments at all levels to begin the process of de emphasizing oil as the economic mainstay of the nation by focusing on the development of other growth areas such as tourism.

He disclosed that having personally witnessed the last outing of Ososo carnival, he has no doubt that the annual event is set to take the center stage in tourism development such as the famous annual Calabar Carnival.

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BUSINESSWORLD

ANALYSIS

Why Nigeria Lost the IMO Council Election Eromosele Abiodun posits that policy somersaults, shoddy preparation and inexperience were some of the factors that hampered Nigeriaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s bid to get re-elected into category â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Câ&#x20AC;&#x2122; of the International Maritime Organisation A few days ago, Nigeria, for the third consecutive time lost her bid to get re-elected into category â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Câ&#x20AC;&#x2122; of the International Maritime Organisation (IMO).

This was despite the robust campaign embarked upon by the Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi and officials of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) led by its Director General, Dakuku Peterside.

Many analysts have said the failure by Nigeria to get the category â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Câ&#x20AC;&#x2122; has further exposed the Muhammadu Buhariâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s administration obsession to appoint close family and party members into position that they are not qualified to hold.

While some stakeholders blamed Nigeriaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s failure on NIMASAâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s incompetence, one can only agree because at Nigeriaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s expense, smaller countries such as Jamaica and Liberia were elected into the IMO council.

Last week, President, Ship Owners Association of Nigeria (SOAN), Greg Ogbeifun had called on Peterside to resign, saying, he has â&#x20AC;&#x153;failed the maritime industry.â&#x20AC;?

Ogbeifun asserted: â&#x20AC;&#x153;Government should stop giving excuses why they failed and look at issues in the industry. We have an administration for two and half years in office, things have gone worst, they have not even visited our maritime institution in Oron. Instead we are spending money abroad; the international community is laughing at us because they know we do not know what we are doing, and we are saying enough is enough.â&#x20AC;?

As a matter of fact, the last time Nigeria won its IMO Council bid was in 2007 under Dr. Ade Dosunmu who was then the Director-General of the NIMASA and every attempt made since 2011 to return to the council has failed.

At the end of the election, 40 countries were elected into the IMO Council in three categories for the 2017/2018 biennial.

The successful countries are: China, Greece, Italy, Japan, Norway, Panama, Republic of Korea, Russian Federation, United Kingdom and United States in Category A. Australia, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, India, Netherlands, Spain, Sweden and United Arab Emirates were elected in Category B while Bahamas, Belgium, Chile, Cyprus, Denmark, Egypt, Indonesia, Jamaica, Kenya, Liberia, Malaysia, Malta, Mexico, Morocco, Peru, Philippines, Singapore, South Africa, Thailand and Turkey were elected in Category C. Category A council members are countries with the largest interest in providing international shipping services, while Category B are countries with the largest interest in international seaborne trade: Category C, which has 20 countries are those with special interests in maritime transport or navigationâ&#x20AC;? and whose election to the Council will ensure the representation of all major geographic areas of the world,â&#x20AC;? according to IMO. The election which took place in London had Nigeria as one of the countries seeking re-election by scoring 98 points in an election that saw five African countries-Morocco, Egypt, South Africa, Kenya and Liberia- join the group at the expense of Nigeria.

A breakdown of the votes showed that Morocco scored 134 votes; Egypt â&#x20AC;&#x201C; 133; South Africa -121; Kenya â&#x20AC;&#x201C; 120 and Liberia â&#x20AC;&#x201C; 116. It was gathered that Singapore came top with 142 votes to beat 20 countries. Category C is the executive organ of the IMO that takes decisions in the absence of the Assembly and coordinates all activities of the organs of the organisation. It has 20 member countries with special interest in maritime transport or navigation.

Nigeriaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s 36-man delegation was led by the Minister of Transportation, Chibuike RotimiAmaechi, the Director-General of NIMASA, Dr Dakuku Peterside and some directors and top officials of the ministry of transportation.

Call for Petersideâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Removal Last week, at the annual dinner of the Ship Owners Association of Nigeria (SOAN), its President, Greg Ogbeifun, had urged the federal government to replace the NIMASA boss over

Amaechi

what he described as â&#x20AC;&#x153;gross incompetenceâ&#x20AC;?.

Ogbeifun said: â&#x20AC;&#x153;The event at the recent IMO elections into Category C of the Council where Nigeria lost and actually came second to the last position underscores the importance and urgency of the theme of this end of the Workshop and Dinner: The SOAN helmsman noted that whereas some officials have been sacked over fraud in the past, no one has been relieved of his position by the federal government on account of non-performance, or incompetence.

He added: â&#x20AC;&#x153;That our flag administration is extremely weak such that the Nigerian Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG) which owns a large trading worldwide is unable to register their ships in the Nigerian flag and boost our tonnage. Instead, they have all their ships registered in foreign Flags of Convenience. NLNG actually approached our flag administration to express their desire and preference to register all their ships in Nigeria if the flag administration can be enhanced and reorganised to meet international standards. â&#x20AC;&#x153;They went further and paid for a consultant to carry out a study of our Flag Administration and make recommendations to achieve this objective. The report and recommendation have been awaiting implementation by the Maritime Administration since then, over three years ago. â&#x20AC;&#x153;That the Honorable Minister of Transportation on assumption of office and with promptings from stakeholders, set up a committee to study and make recommendations for the revamping and restructuring of our flag administration to make it more attractive for international patronage.

A team of sound professionals worked assiduously to produce a comprehensive report and recommendations to achieve the objective but there has not been the political will to implement the recommendations of that report. â&#x20AC;&#x153;That our own maritime administration, instead of engaging and collaborating with stakeholders, ship-owners, ship-repairers and Maritime Security providers to grow the Industry, they only specialise in collecting levies and revenues and meting out punitive measures on these stakeholders such as ship owners whose arrests, threats to arrest, and shutdown of ship repair yards with the accompanying consequences to the Industry which the international maritime communities and the IMO are observing.â&#x20AC;?

The ship owners further stated: â&#x20AC;&#x153;That our maritime administration is spending and squandering huge sums of money developing other nationâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s maritime industries and institutions at the expense of ours by sending young Nigerianâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s to various institutions round the world for incomplete training as seafarers such that their incomplete training overseas has not included the much needed sea time because there are no ships for them to sail on. This is in spite of the fact that we have our own Maritime academy of Nigeria, Oron largely funded by NIMASA by

Peterside

reason of the ACT establishing her but sadly, not one single Cadet has ever been sponsored by the maritime school by NIMASA.â&#x20AC;?

Amaechi Lambasts NIMASA DG Although Amaechi rejected the call for Petersideâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s removal, he agreed that the agency is not leaving up to its expectations. He however linked SOANâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s outburst to NIMASAâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s refusal to disburse the Cabotage Vessel Financing Fund (CVFF), despite the severe toll the non-disbursement was taking on the shipping industry.

But the minister berated the NIMASA boss over his failure to implement the report of a committee on reforms in the maritime industry.

He also expressed dissatisfaction with the level of development of the maritime industry under Petersideâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s watch, warning that heads may roll in the industry soon.

The visibly angry Amaechi said: â&#x20AC;&#x153;As the Minister of Transport, I sat down with all of you and you set up a committee, the committee submitted its report, you indicted us there. When I got the report, I asked the NIMASA DG, who is also the chairman of the committee why are you not implementing the committeeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s report, he said he was yet to get directive from me and I gave that directive in writing. â&#x20AC;&#x153;So he is yet to answer why he is not implementing it; but I am still not satisfied with the industry because I believe that the industry is supposed to produce more money than it is producing. I am not looking for financial audit but performance audit and heads may likely roll when the audit report comes.â&#x20AC;?

The content of the reform committeeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s report remains largely unknown as both NIMASA and the Federal Ministry of Transportation have kept it closely to their chests.

Stakeholders Decry Failure Also, maritime stakeholders have expressed shock at the inability of Nigeria to get re-elected into the policy making body of the IMO, citing policy somersaults, shoddy preparation and inexperience by the federal government as represented by the federal ministry of transportation and NIMASA. A London-based Nigerian maritime analyst, Donald Adebola, who spoke shortly after the election, attributed Nigeriaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s loss to â&#x20AC;&#x153;inexperience and shoddy preparationâ&#x20AC;? by the handlers of the countryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s bid.

He said: â&#x20AC;&#x153;It is clear that both the Minister of Transportation, Amaechi and the Director General, Peterside are not knowledgeable about the workings of IMO and while that is not wrong in itself, their inability to mobilise knowledgeable people on board to drive the process is confounding.â&#x20AC;?

On his part, a former director general of NIMASA, Dr. Ferdinand Agu said: â&#x20AC;&#x153;Politicians

donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t have a clear idea what the maritime sector is all about. How can you contract maritime safety to a private company when the Nigerian Navy is there?â&#x20AC;? he asked rhetorically.â&#x20AC;?

Peterside Explains Meanwhile, Peterside has explained why the nation lost its election bid into the IMO council. Although industry forces blamed the near lacklustre performance of NIMASA for the loss, Peterside said the accusations have no forbearing on the real reasons.

Speaking in Lagos at a press briefing to address the issues raised by industry watchers, Peterside cited three factors for the loss.

According to him, the Nigerian delegation started preparations late; did not spend as much as others nations did in lobbying other participating nations and not being well informed about the issues of piracy bedevilling the nation.

Also debunking claims that billions were spent by the delegation, he stated that the three delegates who represented Nigeria, which he led, spent less than N100million on the entire process.

He said: â&#x20AC;&#x153;Nigeria was last in the IMO council in 2011 and since then we have made efforts to get re-elected. We were first in council in 1975. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Election into council is a democratic process and a fair comparison process and in terms of performance we have done very well. A few things were not tidied up which has to do with administrative process and part of it is that we started late in our quest to be elected in the IMO council. If you notice the trend in election all those who got elected in Category C were simply re-elected. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Aside from the fact that we started fairly late, Nigeria did not spend as much as other countries. Other countries were hosting IMO events virtually every other months and for some reasons we did not take that route. Before when Nigeria goes for election in IMO, we will go from country to country but we are just coming out of recession, we did not think it wise to send delegation to go from one country to the other because you know how much that would have cost us, â&#x20AC;&#x153;he said.

He added: â&#x20AC;&#x153;So our campaign was not as potent as it should have been. The issue of piracy which I cannot deny had some impact on the election.

So these were some of the reasons why we lost the election.â&#x20AC;? He described calls by SOAN for his sack as a deliberate act of mischief. Peterside claimed that the agency had implemented over 80 percent of the ministerial recommendation for restructuring. On maritime security, he said there was a reduction in crimes, adding that the international community saw in Nigeria the will to tackle these challenges. He stated that with little support, Nigeria would surmount maritime crime in the Gulf of Guinea.

WEEKLY PULLOUT

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

LIVING | P31

COLLAGE | P36

THISLIFE | P37

FILE

DECONSTRUCTING REZ THE WORDSMITH

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

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Deconstructing Rez the Wordsmith Adebola Afolabi, better known as RezthaPoet, is what you would call a spoken word poetry sensation. His art, devoid of bells and whistles, is a metaphor for identity, the idea that matters has significance, one placed on it by history. In 2015, he published an album of spoken word poetry ‘Exposit’ that has been described as a work that embodies a beautiful hybrid of language, folklore and transatlantic artistic developments. In this interview with Solomon Elusoji, Rez, as he is called by friends, discusses the major themes and ideas that have shaped his art

Rez

Can you talk about the direction that you think you are pushing towards in the next four to five years?

I take cognisance of the fact that the world is increasingly becoming global than we realise and what comes with that is that languages would get extinct, identities would get lost.

I also realise this more with mutual roots, because I felt more need for people there to know that we are one, we are the same but we are different. To think of the field of ethnology, which is really what it is about, how we realise our diversity, but we also find our similarities in that diversity without looking at the diversity. So it is something that I sort of realised.

I went to Amsterdam this year and I was in cab and they were playing ‘Pana’ by Tekno.

And these guys started telling me that even though he knows that this song is from Africa, their sound, their version of Afro-beat is very close to that sound and it is that vibe, that groove that connects them to the song. They don’t have any obvious links to us. But I think it is a potpourri of culture; there are a lot of North-Africans there and there is a huge immigrant community there. I guess that is how it has evolved from their own Dutch sound, but if you bring it together, they have a sound that is close to that, so

people like Timaya are very popular there.

I don’t know if Timaya and Tekno know this, their songs are very popular and I am talking about 2017. They play their music at corporate events; You see Afrobeat and Dutch music mixed seamlessly, the beat is not changing, the tempo is not changing, it’s the same groove, the same vibe so you get to ask yourself, how do you find yourself in all of this? How much are we in all of this and how different are we? It is all about identity.

of places. I had a chance to live in India for nine months at a time. I remember I had an experience I wrote poetry about. ‘Monkey Calls’ that is the title of the poem because I was going about and some guys were making monkey calls to me. I wasn’t thrown a banana…of course I didn’t realiie it because I had integrated there, I ate their food and there was that sadness. I was moved to tears, I know who I am, how dare you think of me like that.

Is the hybrid of influences and identity more of an opportunity or a threat?

I see it as both, depending on how you handle it and that is really what my message is all about. A vanilla world is boring, where English and French are already dominating, do you know how many languages have become extinct, do you know how many cultures have died and how many would continue to die. I know the Igbo people are very loud about this; a lot of their young people don’t speak their language anymore.

So if you find language in my poetry, this is me finding myself in a world, reiterating to myself that this is who I am, this is me and I’m loving it but I also should not get lost in it, I should not lose my identity.

I have had that privilege of seeing a couple

Is there a problem with the black skin, like some people would tell that the black skin is cursed?

No, we used to be at the top. If you go down history, we civilised the world. The British Royal Family was founded by black people, not entirely, but in their early years. I cannot throw numbers at you, but we have to go online and dig numbers. I have read this.

Just this week, I was watching the footprints of the Moors in Europe, so you are talking as far back as when Europeans only had their bath once a month; we were the ones that taught them hygiene. It was the black people that helped with their military; check their history you would find black generals, both in the British and Roman army. I am talking before this civilisation that we know.

A lot of people would disagree with you on that because... (cuts in) History has been whitewashed.

Jesus and the 12 disciples are all blacks.

Michelangelo was actually commissioned to whitewash history. There are books that exist in certain libraries of the world where the picture of Jesus and the 12 disciples before the whitewashing existed. This is why our work is very important as poets and visual artists. Those that existed in generations not so far – three hundred, four hundred, five hundred years after Jesus Christ – what they documented is different from what we have today.

So what happened to black civilisation?

It is law of diminishing returns, in my opinion.

It is what I see happening with Western culture and the Far East; India and China are going up, culturally in their stead. So I think it is just a law of nature. There has been different civilisations. There was a time it was the Arabs, not so far ago, it was actually the Arabs that laid the foundation of the Europe that we have today, in Architecture and in Science. Some of these Arabs that we are talking about were also brown people from North Africa. Some of these Arabs we are talking about are brown people,

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Rez in action

so they are close to blacks, they are not your Middle Eastern Arabs. They are actually from Tunisia and Morocco. They are Africans, but they are more brown than ‘this’ black. They are not the Nubians, they are closer to the Kermets.

From Morocco, you can see Spain miles away, it is like when you are in Lagos Island and you are seeing Badagry. It is that distant. It is just one small distance between the two continents.

That is how they went there and guess what, they were invited by the Europeans to come and help them because there was a Catholic Church, and there was the issue of corruption and mismanagement. So they were the ones that came and helped them sort of change, it’s like some sort of revolution. They didn’t go with their sword, they were invited. They were like what’s happening, we are fed up with our politicians now, we are fed up of our politicians, and they now had a saviour – complex and were looking for a messiah. So they invited them over and from there they went and from there they built underground drainage systems, lighted the streets and they were bringing stuff like Pythagoras theorem to design buildings.

Have you heard of Fibonacci before, how they were applying that in design, in architecture, all of these things?

So was it the blacks that built the pyramids?

Yes. That is in Egypt. All the Pharaohs are blacks. They are Kermets. So if you watch the movie today you see it is all whitewashed. Till today, all whitewashed. Every single pharaoh that was mentioned in your bible is black.

Moses is black. Let us go into history, it is not something I am saying, it is documented history. It is a very broad topic. See how we have gotten from just identity of self to identity of Africa. Being a white man in Nigeria is setting an identity. Yes, I love this culture, but who am I truly, who am I becoming? And by the way, culture evolves, so which of my choices am I giving away, am I evolving, am I making a conscious effort to choose what I am adding from my cultural exposure to my being or whether I am letting go? What part of me is sacrosanct? This is the core, this defines who I am, everything else just surrounds it. Maybe I can take inspiration from Indian culture. Up to a point in time you find a culture where a lot of our people

are wearing saris, where did that come from?

It is really a deep conversation.

So I am curious to get your opinion on this, what exactly is poetry?

I used to know the answer. I said something somewhere, even sound can be poetry. I see poetry as expression and that is why if we look at music and poetry, ninety per cent or maybe eighty per cent – and this is my personal estimation, and I am not backing this by any statistics – I have a feeling that eighty per cent of the music that we listen to today is made up of poetry. There are some songs like, ‘Baby whine am’ – there is nothing poetic about that – but if you look at songs that are introspective .

And some people would tell you that songs like ‘Baby whine am’ is poetry.

We can argue it. Some people would tell you that there is a place for that conversation, but me being me, what I am drawn to is probably what I am already pushing out, so you find that the sounds, that woman the way she talks is poetic. Sometimes it is not necessarily the voice but the musicality, how sonorous is it? So I think poetry is about our interaction with matter, borne out of our existence and how we process it. Even visual art can be described as poetic. You could actually be expressing yourself in poetry and that’s where the other argument comes from, is it Spoken Word or Spoken Word poetry?

There is a difference. I have heard a Spoken Word artiste and I said ‘Oga, you are doing motivational speaking’-- and he says it is spoken word and I am like what is ‘spoken word’? I think the manner, the creativity, the beauty that comes with the expression is what makes it poetic.

So what about spoken word and traditional poetry, what is your take on the dichotomy?

I think it boils down to an issue of identity somewhere. We are products of neo-colonialism.

So in our minds there is a struggle between whom we have become and who we were.

Who we were is our traditional poetry, who we have become is ‘we are now British educated and our lingua franca is English’. And we are Western educated and western have become

to define our educational system as poetry.

Now when we define poetry in that curriculum or syllabus, they include English Poetry for you, they don’t include traditional poetry. So it seems like something else from a western perspective is not poetry, but if you bring it all together, you translate or transliterate and you discover that language is just in the reading of it. You are basically doing exactly the same thing with the lines, just different languages.

So spoken word and traditional poetry is not very different, traditional poetry was probably driven by oral poetry and spoken word is also very oral. When people ask me, this thing you are doing and I am like no, this thing we are doing. I am like no, all the generations before us have done the same thing. Professor Wole Soyinka, Professor Niyi Osundare, they have all done the same thing.

So we have had this Poetry event with Chief Larry Williams, he comes with the drums and he is performing his poetry. He is reading to the delivery. He is a performance poet and there are different approaches to poetic expression.

The real Spoken Word is more of oral performance than theatrical. They can have theatrical elements but it is more of that oral expression than theatrics. Else we would start drifting into monologues, can you say monologue is poetry? I heard something somewhere where they say, poetry is actually the core of every piece of art that you find out there and I am tempted to agree.

You can get lost in what poetry means and everywhere you turn you find what poetry means, in visual arts, in music, even in our daily conversation, monologues, dialogues, in movies, even in plays you find poetry, in the exchanges, in the conversations. So poetry may at times get lost, get relegated because we are looking at the evolving forms of it, those other forms of art are almost like the evolved forms of the expression so when you tell me that why are you a poet and you are putting music, even if you take my vocals aside and you play sounds, I would still tell you it is poetry.

Let me add a bit of question to that: do you think anybody can be a poet?

I think so. And you can have good and terrible poetry. As a matter of fact, you can have good and bad poetry. And as far as we are existing, we wax poetic and we do not necessarily realise it all the time. Because there are certain rules, irrespective of your language or medium, and these rules are driven by the sort of response the work itself elicits out of the listener or the processor. The rules have now emerged over time because it is either you are painting imagery or you are being creative with words, your metaphors, your wordplay, all of those figures of speech. So when you ask me, how I judge good writing, I would say my metre is figures of speech.

Some people focus on more; I use a lot of rhymes but that doesn’t make me a rapper, but rap is just a term that uses that element a lot. Rap uses a lot more than rhyming.

It does not discard the fact that rap is still rhythm and poetry.

Again, the message it contains is equally important. Are you advancing the society, are you advancing conversations. For example, I can agree it is poetry but I can’t be attracted to it if it is too materialistic and every human being has a materialistic part of them. We love to dance, party, celebrate, and eat. There can be poetry about that but I also think the art is a powerful tool, a medium and we need to harness the power behind the tool.

And that’s why I would not over subscribe, except if minimally, to materialism. So if you find me doing surface level, it’s to reach out to more people.

There are different aspects of us. I think a lot of poets explore most of the direct socially conscious themes that we forget that there are several human emotions, human experiences that we are not engaging. People are happy every day, people are sad every day, people are caught up in the dynamics of communication, relationships every day.

Like I have ‘Germane’ on the album, that is me and my guy talking about our relationship. You know there is so much that we can explore in the times that we are living in, coupled with the threats, concerns and conversations technology is bringing to the fore. I feel we should explore that and that in itself is conscious.

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Bank of the Year The United Bank for Africa has ended the year on a flying note, picking up some of the most important awards in the global and local financial sector, writes Solomon Elusoji One of Africa’s leading financial institutions, United Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc has once again proven its leadership on the continent, as the Banker Magazine crowned UBA the “African Bank of the Year 2017”. This Banker Award is premier for Nigeria, as it marks the first time a Nigerian-headquartered bank will be wining the prestigious and highly coveted award.

To further demonstrate the group’s strength and dominance in the financial sector on the continent, four of UBA Group’s operations in Africa also led contenders in their respective countries to emerge the Best Bank of the Year 2017 in their respective markets. UBA Congo, UBA Tchad, UBA Gabon and UBA Senegal emerged the Best Bank of the Year in Congo, Tchad, Gabon and Senegal, reinforcing the strong franchise of the Group across its chosen markets in Africa. Notably, UBA Gabon and UBA Senegal won the same awards in 2016, as both subsidiaries of UBA Group remain the Banks to beat in Gabon and Senegal.

A publication of the Financial Times Newspaper, The Banker Magazine is a global financial intelligence magazine that provides global bank ratings/analysis and it is the definitive reference in international banking for high level decision makers globally. According to the magazine, the aim of the award “is to highlight industry wide excellence within the global banking community. The winner is selected from participating banks in each of the 120 countries from which entries are received for the competition.”

The Group Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, UBA Plc, Mr. Kennedy Uzoka, who was delighted by the recognition from The Bankers said, “These awards mark another milestone for UBA Group and is a testament of the diligent execution of the bank’s strategic initiatives on customer service. Being recognised as Africa’s best bank complements positive feedback from customers and is a recognition of our improving efficiencies, service quality and innovation. I therefore dedicate it to our growing loyal corporate and retail customers, who are our essence.

Given our heritage commitment to Africa’s development, we continue to impact lives through our services as well as funding to individuals, businesses and government.”

Uzoka added: “The bank remains focused on its goal of democratising banking in Africa, leveraging on new technologies and our rich pool of talent. It is satisfying that our efforts towards leadership are yielding great results. We continue to gain market share across our chosen markets, as we deepen financial inclusion, meeting basic and complex financial service needs of the growing African population.

We are Africans determined to change the narrative of financial services in Africa and this is just the beginning,” he noted.

On his part, Regional CEO, UBA Francophone Africa, Mr. Emeke Iweriebor, described the awards as exciting, stating that the bank’s great work in Africa is increasingly being recognised.

Iweriebor who dedicated the awards to the bank’s esteemed customers, said “Our pioneering innovations in the African banking sector are undoubtedly critical to the growth and development of the continent. Africa’s banking sector has come a long way but we still have a lot to do. We at UBA Group are dedicated to being a critical part of this transformation.”

He added that the bank will continue to leverage its local knowledge, global exposure as well as presence to drive positive change in Africa, working actively with the government, local businesses, regulators and other stakeholders in deepening financial services.

The Banker award’s “Bank of the Year Awards” are widely regarded as the Oscars of the Banking Industry. For 90 years, The Banker has been the world’s leading monthly journal of record for the banking industry.

The organisers note that the aim of the awards programme is to highlight industry wide excellence within the global banking community.

The Banker selects one winning bank for each of the 120 countries that are covered. Over

These awards mark another milestone for UBA Group and is a testament of the diligent execution of the bank’s strategic initiatives on customer service. Being recognised as Africa’s best bank complements positive feedback from customers and is a recognition of our improving efficiencies, service quality and innovation. I therefore dedicate it to our growing loyal corporate and retail customers, who are our essence. Given our heritage commitment to Africa’s development, we continue to impact lives through our services as well as funding to individuals, businesses and government

L-R: Co-founder, Quadron Studio, Mr Uche Anisiuba; Storyteller/Director, Ewonro Amune; Festival Director/Managing Director, USP Brand Management, Muyiwa Kayode; Creative Director, Color Red Studio, Tochukwu Ogbogu; and Filmmaker/Animator, Collins Egba, at a workshop session, at the LIFANIMA 2017 in Lagos…recently

Uzoka...a team player

1,000 applications are entered and judges select winning banks based on the ones that have made most progress over the past 12 months.

Success begins from home Away from the Banker Magazine award, UBA has also, recently, emerged as Winner of the 2017 Sectoral Leadership Awards – Financial Services (Banking) organised by the PEARL Awards; as well as the Bank CEO of the Year 2017 which was organised by New Telegraph Newspapers.

UBA triumphed over Guaranty Trust Bank Plc (first runner-up) and Zenith Bank Plc (second-run) to win the PEARL sectoral leadership award as a result of the bank’s outstanding operational and stock market performance in the 2016 year of assessment.

The bank emerged winner based on verifiable facts and figures.

The PEARL Awards Nigeria, endorsed by the Securities and Exchange Commission is one of Nigeria's foremost award recognition bodies, focused on rewarding corporate excellence

in local institutions and promoting healthy competitiveness amongst quoted companies through growth, diversification and innovation; ultimately leading to improved performance on the Nigerian Stock Exchange.

In the same vein, the UBA Chief, Uzoka, who was recognised for his various achievements since he took on the leadership role at UBA was selected as the Bank CEO of the Year 2017, by New Telegraph Newspapers.

In his remarks on the award, Uzoka, while expressing his delight at the nomination, added that it remained a humbling experience for him to be selected for the honourable award.

He also stated that the award is a call for him to do even more to ensure that UBA’s customers are prioritised in the bank’s activities.

He said, “I want to express my delight with this recognition. It goes to show that the effort that myself and my team have put in throughout the year has been totally worth it.

I also congratulate all my colleagues because this recognition is not just for Kennedy but for the entire staff of UBA.”

The why UBA’s outstanding year can be attributed to several things, including its longstanding legacy of providing quality financial services to millions across Africa.

In 2016, the bank’s year end result revealed that it emerged as the largest financial institution in Nigeria both in profitability and assets size, controlling an estimated 10 per cent market share in deposits.

Also, its subsidiaries in the rest of Africa accounted for a notable 31 per cent of the total earnings of the Group over the same period. Earlier in the year, the bank had successfully raised $500 million through a debut Eurobond, which was 240 per cent oversubscribed.

All these contributed to a scramble for UBA's share, which in turn increased the bank’s share price currently standing at about N9.90, representing a rise of over 165 per cent or N6.16 per share compared to N3.74 per share recorded in 2016. According to the organisers of the Pearl awards, it is this performance as well as other indicators that led to the bank’s selection for the coveted awards.

A history of excellence UBA was incorporated in Nigeria as a limited liability company after taking over the assets of the British and French Bank Limited who had been operating in Nigeria since 1949. The United Bank for Africa Plc merged with Standard Trust Bank in 2005 and from a single country operation founded in 1949 in Nigeria - Africa's largest economy - UBA has become one of the leading providers of banking and other financial services on the African continent. The Bank provides services to over 14 million customers globally, through one of the most diverse service channels in sub-Saharan Africa, with over 1,000 branches and customer touch points and robust online and mobile banking platforms.

UBA was the first Nigerian bank to make an Initial Public Offering, following its listing on the NSE in 1970. It was also the first Nigerian bank to issue Global Depository Receipts.

The shares of UBA are publicly traded on the Nigerian Stock Exchange and the Bank has a well-diversified shareholder base, which includes foreign and local institutional investors, as well as individual shareholders.

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The Pressure Cooker Lets Out a Good Steam There exists a sea of motivational books for women on how they can enhance their career prospects while also navigating the rigours of raising a family. However, the book, ‘Pressure Cooker: Lessons from a Woman at Work’, written by Nkiru Olumide-Ojo is an exemplar for its simplicity but yet pragmatic insights into how women can be successful in their careers while also maintaining a decent home-front.

Olumide-Ojo, a Marketing and Communications professional, is an advocate of women’s issues and founded the LightHouse Network, a social-development initiative that is dedicated to empowering young women by providing them a formal mentoring structure. She has also spoken at conferences and events on brand management and women issues. She has received several awards, including the 2008 edition of NIPRO Top 40 Under 40. She is married with two children.

So when Olumide-Ojo decided to have a book reading to discuss some of the pertinent issues she raised in her book and how she navigated through them in the course of her burgeoning career at the prestigious Terra Kulture, Tiamuyi Savage, Victoria Island, Lagos, career women from all walks of life converged in their numbers to get up close and personal with the author.

Olumide-Ojo started by sharing with the audience how she grew up in a no holds barred society in Port-Harcourt where at a tender age she was given the impression that not everything is supposed to be done by women. Juxtaposing that in the work place, it could act as a restraint to women

The book, 'Pressure Cooker’ authored by Nkiru Olumide-Ojo

on how far they are willing to go in their careers because they have been brought up with an erroneous allusion that aiming for the top may well be the exclusive preserve of men. She says mentorship and guidance are two key areas that women in their careers should seek in order to set out on a right footing.

On why she decided to write the book, Olumide-Ojo said the Pressure Cooker: Lessons from a Woman at Work was penned in order to help young women in their careers. She hopes that women would be able to glean lessons from her life experiences and avoid errors that are common amongst women in the work place and at home with their partners.

“I had two young children and was struggling to be great at everything – at

home, career and friendships because they were all important to me. I wasn't finding the right answers from people, so I started writing a column in BusinessDay newspaper called the Pressure Cooker to express my frustrations. Seven years after, it has morphed into a book. The book really means to say to young women in this same challenge that 'you are not alone'. It also says there are simple solutions you can apply to make your journey easier,” Olumide-Ojo said.

Reading excerpts from the work, where members of the audience were treated to the goldmine of nuggets nestled in various chapters of the book. Delving into the fourth chapter titled Your Partner and Work, she says it is absolutely important that women build their lives in the way that it allows them to own the things that matter to them.

RCCG Donates Neo-Natal Care Equipment to Massey Street Children Hospital Massey Street Children Hospital Lagos is the latest beneficiary of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) intervention of the Redeemed Christian Church of God Lagos Province 44, with the donation of neo-natal care equipment & hospital relief materials.

The gesture, according to the Pastor in Charge of the Province, Pastor Amos Emovon, is to improve the quality of health care services at the hospital especially neo-natal care, increase the survival rate of very low birth-weight and premature infants thereby increasing the infrastructural support for enhancing the capabilities of the hospital.

While handing over the equipment comprising 1 unit of Standard Infant Incubator, 12 units of Bed Pans and 1 Roll (about 50 metres) of Mackintosh, he said it was in alignment with the vision and mission of the RCCG Mission which regularly embarks on various CSR Initiatives directly and through its various Parishes/Areas/Zones as a way of positively impacting the quality of lives within the communities the parishes are located.

Flanked by the Assistant Pastor in Charge of the Province (CSR), Pastor Ajibola

L-R: Assistant Pastor (CSR), Ajibola Opeoluwa-Calebs; Dr. Oluwagbenga, Pastor Emovon; and Deputy Medical Director, Dr. Abimbola Mabogunje, during the event.

Opeoluwa-Calebs and other dignitaries, he said “the RCCG Lagos Province 44 appreciates the effort of government. We also appreciate the contribution of our extremely knowledgeable doctors and medical personnel. However, without adequate equipment especially in the neo-natal care department, we may not be

able to reduce infant mortality rate. Thus, these items are being donated to help our doctors and medical personnel to improve the quality of neo-natal care, increase the survival rate of very low birth-weight and premature babies and thereby increasing the infrastructural support for enhancing the capabilities of the hospital”.

One-Bariga Woman Launch for December 18 The Chief Executive Officer of Knowledge Aid Initiative (KAI), Success Ojo, has over the years consistently fought for the interest and social inclusion of the vulnerable in remote communities. She has not stopped at that but has also made plans to make this Christmas unforgettable for the less privileged especially those who live in the slums.

So as Christmas draws nearer, KAI is planning a Christmas party tagged “Blessing Bag Xmas Party” for 1, 000 children in disadvantage communities. Scheduled to hold on December 18 in Lagos, the concept, Ojo explained is to make Christmas great for children living in slums as well as the unreached communities.

“Our support will truly make a difference in the lives of some of the most marginalised and underprivileged people. We all have reasons to be thankful to God for the grace of surviving to the end of the year despite its turbulence, trials and all. Just imagine the face of these children when they are handed a bag full of necessities that they do not have access to in the slums. Imagine how good it will feel for them to have a good lunch, put on some nice dress, and

Success Ojo ... for One-Bariga

have a drink and a handshake from Santa Claus”, she noted.

Knowledge Aid Initiative, Ojo stressed, is a nongovernmental organisation which is aimed at helping women and children in the slum to live a better life, adding, “We work with low income families to improve their standard of living to become productive members in their communities.

We remain committed to improving the lives of people living in the marginalised communities. We are working to build a

sustainable social change and improve the quality of life.”

Ojo who said the organisation will also launch an initiative called OnebarigaWoman also on December 18, noted, “We did our needs assessment in ilaje communities in Bariga, Lagos and our findings showed that majority of the women are social-economic challenges in the community. We also discovered that the men in the community are the problem; they marry lot of wives and keep all of them in makeshift homes. This leaves the women under intense pressure to cater for the needs of the home as their men are not responsible. Thus, in their bid to feed their children and the family, their children are pulled out of school to assist their mother in her trade. Some of their children especially the girls are expose to sexual molestation and they get pregnant while the boys end up joining gangs because they lack basic education and proper parental guidance to lead a better life. Sequel to this, we will be launching OnebarigaWoman Saving and Loan Association (OSALA); a project that seeks to empower Ilaje, Bariga women with startup funds and business management skills.”

Ferscoat Schools Donates Balls for Lagos Inter School Cup Organisers of the ongoing Lagos inter school cup, Wonderland sports has commended Ferscoat Schools OludeIpaja, Lagos for donating 20 match balls to be used for the competition.

Coordinator of the event, Tayo Adeyemo stated this during a courtesy visit to the school. He expressed gratitude to the school proprietor, Pastor Felix Opata for identifying with Nigerian youths through sports.

Speaking at the event, Opata said the gesture was part of the school 25th Year anniversary, “we have always identified with programme that will improve Nigeria as a country and we understand the power of sports to help in discovering talents for the nation.

“We are passionate on nation building which makes Ferscoat schools unique and sports is one area we feel we can tap in to give our children the desired support.”

Meanwhile, 2016 finalist Cedar College are through to the round of 16 after a 2-1 win over Phidel College Idimu in Group E. There was a big upset as Ajibay College proved bookmakers wrong by beating title favourites Murtala Muhammed Airport School Ikeja, two nill in Group A, while Effortswill School Ejigbo were stunned two nill by High Cue College Isolo in front of their vociferous fans.

In Tuesday’s round of 16 fixtures billed for Cedar College, Dee Unique College Abesan Estate will face Arisonia School Egbeda Defending champion Towergate Academy Ipaja will battle Primefocus Bengee College Agege takes on Ajibay College while Amplifier College of Agege entertains Faith Heritage. Elsewhere, Elibel College will meet Cedar College, Taqwa School Ifako will face High Cue of Isolo.

Orji Obiorah: My Movies Highlight Global Issues A Canada-based Nigerian, Orji Obiorah, is making the country proud as he continues to churn out movies of high international standard, which seems the best of times for filmmaking business in Nigeria. The graduate of Film and Media Studies at York University, Toronto, Canada, is the founder of Victoria Street Studios. Orji uses his Nigerian expressionist movies to inspire Obiorah intellectual debate, as well as expose societal malaise. His latest movie, ‘Mrs. Jones’, attests to this. The Awka-Etiti, Anambra State-born said he developed the art of storytelling as a child in the 70s.

According to him, nightly storytelling in most Igbo homes prepared him as a storyteller through movies. He noted that his storytelling skills were influenced by a British television horror series titled, ‘Hammer House of Horror’ as well as James Hadley Chase thriller novels.

“I became a passionate viewer of the British produced television horror series titled, ‘Hammer House of Horror.’

Also, I was addicted to reading James Hadley Chase thriller novels. Undoubtedly, the gothic storytelling style of the ‘Hammer House of Horror’ series and the fascinating stories of James Hadley Chase novels greatly influenced my storytelling style. But, I firmly believe that filmmaking is a natural gift just like singing. The ability to write and direct stories is natural for me. York University only enabled me to write, and produce intellectual stories,” he said.

Speaking on producing movies that would change the way Nigerians are perceived outside the shores of the country, he said, “I have not done or intend to do any movie that would change the way Nigeria is perceived outside. The vitriolic political, religious, and tribal situation in Nigeria might affect the manner in which the movie is interpreted. I seriously do not want to be the ‘bad guy’, or even the ‘hunted guy.’ However, my movies will continue to highlight adverse global social issues.

“Every situation, landscapes, and music inspire me.

Every project is extremely challenging. Apart from ‘Mrs. Jones’, all my short films and art videos were produced while I was at York University. At York University, I was mostly taking 30 credits per semester: writing, directing, doing cinematography, and editing those films while taking 30 credits was a lot of work.

‘Mrs. Jones’ took me seven years to complete. I started principal photography for the movie in January 2011 while I was still at film school. After graduation, I relocated to Fort McMurray, Alberta, where I worked in an oil and gas firm in order to raise funds to complete the production of the movie,” he noted.

He has produced couple of movies from ‘Gone Too Soon’ to ‘Hotel Saint Lucia’, ‘The Black Flaneur’, and ‘Mrs. Jones’ among others. The messages he passed in his movies are simple - Work hard, work harder, continue working hard, until you no longer need to introduce yourself to anyone.

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Dabiri-Erewa Canvases Social Welfare for Nigerians, Commends Doctor’s Initiative Funmi Ogundare The Senior Special Assistant to the President, Foreign Affairs and Diaspora Hon. Abike DabiriErewa, has stressed the need for the government to ensure that there is social welfare package for the people, noting such move would make life more comfortable.

Dabiri-Erewa who made this call, recently, at the official inauguration of Rockgarden Homes for the Elderly, in Lagos, said aside the fact that government has its roles and responsibilities to the people, individuals can also give back to the society and impact lives rather than spend so much money on parties.

She described the elderly home as very comfortable to house the aged within the country and even those in diaspora.

According to her, “It is an apartment where you can have your aged parents in a very serene environment, there is privacy, medical care and the food is good. It is personalised.

She commended the Chief Executive Officer of the home for the initiative saying that it is about the legacy they are leaving behind.

“We need to change our priorities, this is an individual doing this and giving back, and it is not free. People will come and give a reasonable amount of money so that they can have their aged parents getting the best of care. It is commendable

L-R: Mrs. Gbemisola Fadugbagbe, the Chief Executive Officer of Rockgarden Homes, Dr. Akinyemi Fadugbagbe, Senior Special Assistant to the President, Foreign Affairs and Diaspora Hon. Abike Dabiri-Erewa and Olori Funmilayo Fadugbagbe, at the official inauguration of Rockgarden Homes for the Elderly, in Lagos...recently

and really appreciated. I hope others will emulate what the doctor and his wife have done.”

The Chief Executive Officer of Rockgarden Homes, Dr. Akinyemi Fadugbagbe, said the initiative was borne out of his love for the aged in the society, adding that it is designed to provide a safe, serene and dignified environment where they can age gracefully and participate in socially and physically stimulating activities.

“We foresee a Nigeria where the vulnerable

elders in the society are well housed and cared for, and it is with this dream in mind that we embarked on this journey.”

He argued that if people have not been taking care of their elderly ones either as government or at the private level, it shows the level of development in such society, adding, “our senior citizens have laboured for their children, so we need to go out to take care of them. It is a vision, I saw people who could have lived a little longer

perhaps because they are not getting the best of care, died. I felt if everybody has been waiting for government, the private sector should rise up to make this happen.”

Fadugbagbe said a team of multidisciplinary team of medical doctors, registered nurses, physiotherapists, speech and language therapists, social workers and elderly care aides have been brought together to provide the aged with skilled, professional yet compassionate care and all the attention they need.

The Commissioner for Youth and Social Development, Mrs. Uzamat Akinbile-Yusuf who was represented by the Principal, Children Correctional Centre for Girls, Idi Araba, Lagos, Mrs. Abiola Osinfowokan said the state government would continue to support private initiatives through effective monitoring of activities to ensure that institutions/homes and orphanages in the state are operating in line with best practices and laid down procedures.

She opined that no society will flourish where the wisdom and participation of the elderly is neglected, adding, “ that is why this administration has put machinery in motion to cater for the elderly in Lagos and also encourage genuine efforts of individuals and corporate organisations willing to partner state government in providing care for elderly.”

RusselSmith Expresses Commitment to Workplace Safety Ugo Aliogo RusselSmith, an Indigenous Oilfield Services firm, has racked up an impressive assortment of Health and Safety awards and recognition. The company has however attributed its exceptional safety performance to its ‘Everybody is responsible for Safety’ policy, as this has fostered a high sense of commitment towards safety at all levels within the organisation have expressed commitment to drive workplace safety as part of efforts to promote an accident-free work environment.

The group in a statement signed and issued to THISDAY said there was need for organisations to have professional safety managers to conduct the occupational health and safety affairs of the organisation.

It also stated that the group has invested in communication and training in an interesting way to cut across diverse cadres of the company, spurred by the belief that a chain is only as

investment, adding that in 12 years of operations in the Nigeria oil and gas industry sector, they recorded “over 3.5million man hours with no

loss time incidents (LTI), no restricted work case and no fatality.”

The Senior Executive Vice President of the Group, Kayode Adeleke, in the statement noted that that their commitment to promote the culture of safety has become a lifestyle in the organisation, adding that they are ethically disciplined about the issue of safety, “we are more humbled than anything else receiving the 9JaSAFE Award. We have a programme known as Safety Quest 24/7.

It means that you have to practice safety daily whether at Home or Office.”

The statement added: “Through the years, the company which started off with the introduction of Rope Access solutions, which has now diversified into three main business divisions; Aerial Inspection and Survey Services, Topside Asset Integrity Management Services and Subsea Asset Integrity Management Services. This expansion was made possible with the resilient drive to keep been innovative and safety conscious.

tasking journey so far – spending two months here, all the way from Enugu, so I’m happy that I’m going back with something. I thank the organisers and the sponsors for putting up this programme for us.”

He said with land already available to him, the money would enable him to acquire seeds and getting a tractor and some other things for his venture.

Speaking to journalists at the event, Chief Judge of the show and Chairman, Nigerian Economic Summit Group, Mr. Kyari Bukar, said the programme has immense impact on both the contestants and the viewers. Bukar said: “Indeed, even viewers have sent me messages that they have learnt a great deal about how to start their business or how to run their business.

Winner of Next Titan Season 4, Kennedy Iyeh

L-R: Vice-President, Organisational Performance Management, RusselSmith, Funke Daniel-Samson, Assistant Manager, Health, Safety and Environment, Itohan Egbedion; Chief Executive Officer, RusselSmith; Leslie Oghomienor, and Senior Executive Vice President, RusselSmith, Kayode Adeleke, at the 9ja Safe Awards ceremony

strong as the weakest link.

It explained that the devotion to building a winning team has turned out to be the group’s best

Kennedy Iyeh Wins Next Titan Season 4 Peter Uzoho After 10 weeks of intense entrepreneurial contest, young agribusiness entrepreneur and graduate of Microbiology from the Godfrey Okoye University, Enugu State, Mr. Kennedy Iyeh, has emerged winner of the Next Titan Season 4 competition, smiling home with N5 million and a brand new Ford Ranger car.

At the grand finale held Sunday in Lagos, 22-year-old Iyeh surpassed three of his competitors in the last four of the show with his great business idea which seeks to use organic method of farming and cultivation to produce herbs and seeds that will serve as raw materials for the manufacturing of cooking flavours. With his brand, Blue Leaf (herbs and spices), he wants to use compost manure and animal droppings

to produce herbs for culinary use instead of fertiliser as a way of preventing health hazards.

In the last four contest characterised by intense challenge and struggle to win, Iyeh pitch his business idea against the other three as each tried to prove why his or her business idea was superior to the other. They included, Amaka Nworah who is into shoe manufacturing; Adenike Ogundarun, cake making; and Sam Dioka, whose business focuses on manufacturing bags using plant fibres to discourage the use of nylon bags.

They also had the judges to encounter with as their entrepreneurial skills were tested through asking them to show cause why their business ideas would be viable and able to compete in their respective lines of business.

In his excitement, the winner of the show, Iyeh, said: “I feel very excited. It has been a very

‘Just Worship’ Holds in Lagos Kingsley Oparah It was a beehive of activities on the night all roads led to the Shepherdhill Baptist Church, Obanikoro, Lagos, for the 7th edition of the international worship event tagged ‘Just Worship’ held on November 17.

The event which started 30 minutes earlier scheduled had praise and worship led by the Shepherdhill Baptist Church choir. About 10p.m. came the voice on arrival in cowboy style by the comperes of the night, Pastor Oluwatobi Adeniji and Rev. Ifedapo Bamidele, the youthful and energetic pastors who set the hall agog with their witty delivery of the programme of the night.

The wife of the host pastor, Mrs. Kristilere came

on stage thereafter to assure worshipers that the night was a night of blessing and victory. The idea of ‘Just Worship’, according to the organisers, is to bring out the glory of God on earth.

The event proper started with a poem rendition by the young and beautiful Miss. Heritage Kristilere, whose powerful rendition and performance reminded one of the late Martin Luther King Jnr. Bishop Sax also gave a good account with his trumpet.

At the peak of the night was the arrival on stage of the ‘Welu-Welu’ coroner, Sammie Okposo who held the crowd spell bond for over an hour with lyrics such as ‘Jesus I Thank You’, ‘I no know wetin you see’. The marriage DUO of Praise and Joy performed extremely well to the admiration of the crowd yearning for more. Other

great performances came from Onos Ariyo, Bola Dada (KakakiJesu), Dupe Olulana, Indian Christian congregation and other anointed worship leaders.

Speaking at the event, the lead worshipper and visionary, Dr. Israel Kristilere who also led a worship session said they got the vision to lead worship in 2008 while he was attending a training at Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, to gather believers of all denomination not for prayer but ‘Just Worship’.

He said this year’s theme ‘Victorious’ is an assurance from God that His Glory is manifesting and chains are broken.

Also speaking, Praise and Joy said it was a great privilege to be identified with the programme since inception which has also opened doors of

blessings for the group, noting it is their prayer for the purpose of ‘Just Worship’ to be fulfilled.

Bola Dada (KakakiJesu) who performed for the first time said it was a good experience and she hope to be a regular to the event. The energetic singer and dancer said praise and worship keep her joy, adding that she will reach out to the world and bless souls through her music.

The show which attracted both young and old, witnessed people coming from within and outside Lagos. Mr. Kunle Yusuf who is based in UK said he was in the country to attend the event for the third time. A student of University of Lagos, Gbenga Olaojo said he never missed the event even if he was writing exam, he would make out time to be there.

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RRS: Making Giant Strides in Policing Lagos Femi Ogbonnikan takes a critical look at the exceptional performance of the Rapid Response Squad under the leadership of its Commander, ACP Olatunji Disu, in crime fighting and how it has helped in no small measure reduce violent crimes to the barest minimum.

Lagos is unusual in comparisons with other states of the federation. Apart from assuming a mega status, as the second fastest growing economy in Africa and seventh in the world, Lagos State plays host to both national and foreign nationalities that throng the 'centre of excellence' on a daily basis, in their thousands, for commercial and industrial activities. In summary, it is the economic hub of the country.

With an estimated population of 21 million, in the latest report, according to the state government, in the post colonial era, Lagos State was created on May 27, 1967, according to the 'State Creation and transitional provisions decree No. 14 of 1967, which restructured Nigeria into a federation of 12 states, it has the highest Gross Domestic Products (GDP), which houses one of the largest and busiest ports in the African continent.

On account of the premium placed on the thriving commercial, industrial and banking activities, the state government, through the establishment of the Lagos State Security Trust Fund (LSSTF), is leaving no stone unturned in ensuring the security of lives of its citizens and investments.

Recently, Lagos State Governor, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode, said the state government has spent over N15 billion in 2016 to beef up security and ensure the safety of lives and property.

The governor made the declaration at a dinner held at the Lagos House, Alausa, Ikeja, in honour of the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Mr. Ibrahim Idris, who was on a two-day working visit to the state.

He said security, being one of the tripods upon which his administration is built, has improved drastically since he assumed office.

He attributed the development to the sustainability of the Lagos State Security Trust Fund (LSSTF), a template, he said has helped to champion funding of security agencies to carry out effective policing across the state.

"Like the IGP said yesterday, the template of which we are using to run the Security Trust Fund is worthy of emulation and he has also averred that they would like to replicate it in other parts of the country and also for men of the Nigeria Police Force,” Ambode said.

Recommending the LSSTF model to other states, Ambode said the initiative has gotten serious buy-in by the public, revealing that out of the N15 billion spent on security last year, the private sector contributed over N5 billion.

The governor particularly commended the efforts of former Inspector General of Police, Mr. Musiliu Smith, who is the Chairman of the LSSTF, saying that the model he midwifed in 2007 has changed the face of security in the state.

"That same template that he (Smith) brought to Lagos that we have continued to use in the last 14 years and it’s been working and in different forums, he has shared how he started it and how we have also improved on it.

"For us to be having the private sector, just to give you a very clear example, as at last year, we have spent as a government close to the region of N10 billion, but the private sector has actually contributed more than N5 billion of their own money into the Security Trust Fund.

"There is no way the private sector would do that if they don’t believe in the cause of our Security Trust Fund. So I want to recommend it also to others, it is something that could work in other states. Like you said, funding is a major issue for security in this country and then we can have partnerships with the private and public sector to also help in securing the country," Ambode noted.

Stressing that security remains fundamental to the development of the nation's economy, the governor assured that the state government would continue to support the Police and other security agencies.

"We believe strongly that if Lagos is peaceful, there would be life in other parts of the country.

I believe the task ahead is greater than the things that you have achieved in just a few months that you have been there and I believe you would make your own mark just like your predecessors," Ambode said.

Besides, Ambode, when he received the immedi-

L-R: RRS Commander, ACP Olatunji Disu, Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Mr. Imohinmi Edgal and Lagos State Police Command Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) 'Operations', Alhaji Muhammed Alli

ate past and the new Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Mr. Fatai Owoseni and Mr. Imohinmi Edgal, respectively in his Alausa Office on Tuesday, September 5, 2017, admonished the new CP to sustain the tempo of the fight against crimes and criminalities in the state.

"What is most important to us I'd emphasised that we must keep the city safe. Lagos must be safer; and Lagos must be cleaner and it is based on that we can invite investors to come in. That is when we can protect our 24/7 economy. And so, we can't afford not to have a vibrant police force. More importantly is the fact that we, in government, can't have a prosperous state and the prosperity and peace that Lagos is enjoying now actually founded on that fabric of the security of lives and property," Ambode said.

In a bid to reinvigorate the Lagos State Police Command, the Rapid Response Squad (RRS), came on stream in 1999 during the administration of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the then governor, as a child of necessity, with a clear mandate to fight crime and make the state habitable for the citizenry and uninhabitable for criminal elements.

With the rebranding on November 27, 2015 and provision of the modern crime fighting equipment, such as 100 (4-door) saloon cars, 55 Ford Ranger pick-up cars, 10 Toyota Landcruiser pick-up vans, three helicopters, two gun boats, 15 Armoured Personnel Carriers, others, all valued at N4.765 billion and complemented with drones and tracking devices, the Squad under the leadership of Mr. Olatunji Disu, an Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP), has, since his inception as Commander, in no doubt, with the active support of the personnel, displayed exceptional leadership capability with the requisite capacity to respond swiftly to crime in any part of the state.

While making a giant stride in policing Lagos with vigour, born in Lagos Island to the renowned family of Disu in Rica, Tokunbo Quarters, Olatunji Disu had his post-primary school education at the prestigious May Flower Junior School, Ikenne, Ogun State under the tutelage of the prominent educationist, Dr Tai Solarin and also his senior secondary education at the Saint Gregory's College, Lagos Island before proceeding to the Lagos State University (LASU), Ojo campus (in 1985) where he obtained a Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree in English (education). His quest for a higher qualification saw him enrolling for a Post Graduate Diploma (PGD) in International Relations and Strategic Studies at the same LASU and subsequently a Diploma in Personnel Protection in the United Kingdom (UK). Disu's career in the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) began when he enlisted into the force on May 18, 1992 and he was admitted at the

Nigeria Police Academy, Kaduna Anexxe. Disu's career progression in the force got a boost with his deployment to Lagos to serve as ADC to the then Lagos State governor, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, shortly after which he was posted to Ogun State Police Command as the Divisional Police Officer (DPO) in-charge of Ago-Iwoye.

On account of his sterling qualities to lead the ever Nigeria Police continent on African Union Mission in Sudan (AMIS) to quell the crisis in the war-torn Darfur in 2005 and returning home with laurels and outstanding commendations earned him various enviable positions which he has held, including his leadership as Officer in-charge of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS), Ondo State Police Command Headquarters and subsequently, Officer in-charge of the SARS, Oyo and Rivers States Police Command Headquarters respectively, helping to manage on one of the most volatile and politically turbulent states in the country. Soon afterwards, he was elevated to a new rank as an Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) and he was at the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of the Rivers State Police Command before his transfer to Lagos State Command and subsequent deployment as the Commander in-charge of RRS. Upon his assumption of office two years, Disu and the RRS personnel have demonstrated competence which has translated in bursting several violent and fraud cases.

For instance, the arrest of the kingpin behind the seven-day kidnap of Veronica Iyabo Anisulowo, Seun Oloketuyi, at Ecovec Royal Hotel, Ojo, Lagos, sometime in April 2016, was a landmark achievement for the squad and is still fresh in memory. Oloketuyi was personally nabbed by Disu at the hotel with the aid of tracking devices while on his trail from Lanlate, Igbo-Ora, Ilero, Shaki, Ogbomosho, all in Oyo State and to Ilorin, Kwara State before he eventually took off and headed to the hotel with a bid to jetting out of the country to Dubai (United Arab Emirate), the following day in his bid to escape from arrest.

At a Lagos hospital where he had earlier visited for treatment over an undisclosed ailment, upon his arrival and met an auxiliary female nurse who attended to her, it was gathered, gave her in to the decoy team deployed led by Disu. The lady in question and the kingpin, it was learnt, have been dating and she had cooperated with the decoy team.

"The lady took an Okada to the hotel and they had been conversing on phones, while the Commander and his boys had laid siege on the hotel. As the lady called her and Oloketuyi was disembarking from the staircase, the Commander who pretended to be one of the customers quickly surge towards him and gripped him from behind

by his jeans trouser. And that was how the kingpin was nabbed," hinted a police sergeant that was part of the arrest. Similarly, was the case in which one Blessing Yanyanbin kidnapped a Chinese national in Ikorodu. Another Godwin was arrested in Warri, Delta State in connection with a kidnapping incidence in Iju-Fagba, Lagos.

Also, on December 16, 2016, a five-man kidnap syndicate invaded an undisclosed hospital in Lagos Island and kidnapped its medical director and its owner. It took the swift intervention of two armed RRS decoy teams deployed with the aid of tracking devices to locate the victim to a thick bush in Epe, an outskirt of Lagos where the police teams engaged the kidnappers in a heavy shootout. At the end of the ensuing melee, the five kidnappers were mowed down during crossfire, while the victim was rescued unhurt after seven days incommunicado. Others are the unravelling of the murder of a 50-year-old Bureau De Change operator, Mabel Mba Okafor, a resident of 16B, Close 9, Victoria Garden City (VGC), in Ajah, Lagos, on Wednesday, August 17, 2016.

For a week, a decoy team was deployed in Bali, Taraba State in trail of the prime suspect, Tanko Abdulateef, 22 years old, and he was apprehended.

Two mobile phones of his late boss and several other personal effects were recovered from him.

The suspect confessed killing his boss by ripping open his bowel with secateurs.

Other notable achievements include the arrest of several dealers in stolen mobile phones across the state, especially in Ajegunle-Apapa and Ikeja Computer Village, leading to the recovery of cache of stolen phones; the arrest of several armed robbery suspects, one-chance gangs, blackmailers and pick pockets. In terms of bank frauds, several cases bordering on frauds have been cracked by the RRS teams, thus leading to the arrest of several suspects and colluding bank staffers.

Some of the prominent cases are: N150 million bank fraud with the arrest of one Israel Ochenhi; Peter Ezerupe; Obeny Udeme; and a Winners Golden Bet fraud amounting to N5 million. Of note, was the recent involvement of the RRS personnel in the raid and subsequent arrest of no fewer than 250 suspected badoo members in Ikorodu who held the entire community by the jugular for over a year.

However, RRS has taken policing beyond the traditional conventional means of crime detection and prevention. It is designed to be the first responder to crisis. It is living up to expectations by averagely getting to crime scenes even before the nearest police formations. The state command is leveraging on new technologies, like drone surveillance phones and social media tracking and Internet fraud at the disposal of the squad to burst many high profile cases.

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Sahara Group Partners Nouah, Mwegelo on Youth Empowerment in Tanzania Peter Uzoho Nollywood ace actor and movie director, Ramsey Nouah and Tanzanian actress and entrepreneur, Jokate Mwegelo yesterday joined Sahara Tanzania Limited to kick start the company’s vision of grooming and empowering future leaders in Tanzania.

Nouah and Mwegelo engaged young Tanzanians at the Nkrumah Hall, University of Dar Es Salaam on December 14, 2017 on the theme: #MyFutureStartsWithMe. This is coming ahead of the convention of an elaborate empowerment project by Sahara Tanzania in 2018 that will address how youths can harness their potential and prepare for success as entrepreneurs.

An affiliate of Sahara Group, a leading African energy and infrastructure conglomerate, Sahara Tanzania Limited plans to replicate the Group’s extrapreneurship initiatives in Tanzania to enhance opportunities for socio-economic growth and development. Sahara deploys extrapreneurship platforms to create, preserve and replicate wealth by establishing a network for innovators, entrepreneurs and investors.

Sahara Group’s Spokesperson, Bethel Obioma,

Nouah

said the project was in line with the Group’s unflinching commitment to promoting the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) across the globe. “We are so delighted to have Ramsey and Jokate working with us to lay the foundation for the empowerment project which we believe will inspire and transform the

lives of youths in Tanzania.”

Nouah, winner, Best Actor in a Leading Role at the African Movie Academy Award in 2010, said he was excited at the platform Sahara Tanzania was providing for youths to dream and back their aspirations with “the right support and counsel.” He added: “The goal of the project is to produce and empower young extrapreneurs in Tanzania who will transform the world from Africa. The exceptionally gifted youths in the continent need to know that the theme #MyFutureStartsWithMe is not a cliché.

It is a clarion call for African youths to take charge of their aspirations.”

Mwegelo, who was named among Forbes Africa 2017 list of “30 under 30” successful entrepreneurs, is the promoter of ‘Be Kidotified’ a campaign which empowers young girls by building sports facilities in public schools, and promoting education and entrepreneurship.

She said the timing of project resonates with Tanzanian youths’ growing awareness of their role in transforming the nation. “Tanzanian youths now have an opportunity to reach for their dreams through the extrapreneurship and empowerment programmes of Sahara Group in

Tanzania,” she stated.

Obioma said the Group also plans to formally launch Sahara Foundation, its corporate responsibility vehicle in Tanzania to ensure it explores all possible avenues and collaborations for “bringing energy to the lives of the good people of Tanzania.”

In January 2017, Sahara Foundation inaugurated its maiden project in Tanzania – the upgrade of the Library at Pugu Secondary School. The intervention which involved renovation of the facilities and donation of textbooks and various aides has transformed the learning experience of over 900 students and 70 teachers at the school. The teachers were also trained on how to maximise the resources in the library for students at various levels.

Sahara Foundation Manager, Oluseyi Ojurongbe said: "the project represents our commitment to the pursuit of Sustainable Development Goal 4 as well as other SDGs. We are confident that our extrapreneurship model which supports much wider impact through shared resources, expertise and networks will enhance the provision of quality education especially for underserved beneficiaries across Africa.”

Air France-KLM Rewards Employees, Partners in Nigeria Solomon Elusoji The end-of-the-year award night party, held in Lagos, started late, but it did not lack the sweetness of date; couples streamed in wearing smiles and holding hands; there was music, food and lots to drink but the highlight, of course, was the award ceremony which had brought together the delicate, nostalgic group which had participated in Air France-KLM 2017 success story in Nigeria, despite the economic difficulties.

The idea for the award night was conceived by a Station Duty Manager at Air France-KLM, Damilola Ogunseye.

“I got inspired to bring all the team working with us together, including NAHCO, CheckPort, and some other agencies we work with, since we all carry out our duties at different points and you might not be able to see who exactly is doing what,” he said. “But when we come under one roof, outside the office environment, then we can relate and dance and chat with one another; so this is about team building, and it is why the management of Air France-KLM is

Air France-KLM's Ms. Schep poses with her award

giving their absolute support for this program.”

The award night, which is in its third edition, was attended by several top Air France-KLM

executives including the Financial Manager Africa and Middle East, KLM, Ton Crince and the Senior Manager, Special Projects, Marijke Schep.

“The award means very much to me, but not just to me, but also for the team,” Schep, who received her award for her “support and exceptional performance” said. “We have had worked hard and done big things together. Up till today they are still working hard and putting down their feet in a hard environment; I’m very proud for them.”

Ogunseye was happy with the outcome of the award night and was optimistic about its future. “Now, everybody is looking forward to something,” he said. “It was not the case before.

Now, everyone is motivated. And you will see how genuinely happy people are, even when they don’t get an award, because they know those who got the award deserve it. We also try to open up a channel for people to express their innate abilities and to ensure they contribute positively to their work.

“Also, we have the presence of top management here; so that shows there is something positive

Ngozi Adebiyi Self-Publishes Debut Book ‘Grow!’

Solomon Elusoji The CEO and Lead Consultant of OutsideIn HR, a human resource consulting and coaching firm, Ngozi Adebiyi has launched her first book “Grow!”, a compilation of articles about life, leadership and business.

“It is about asking the question ‘why are we here’ and ‘why do we need to do better in the workplace,’” Adebiyi told THISDAY at the public release of the book in Lagos, recently. “I wanted to challenge people. I believe that as a leader you have the space to make a difference.”

‘Grow!’, which was self-published, is a book that “reads both as an invitation and a guide at the same time,” a statement from Ms. Adebiyi said. “It speaks directly to people looking to make a difference, move mountains and become more impactful in their career, workplace and at entrepreneurial endeavours.”

“Ngozi Adebiyi’s passion and desire to see people, organisations and the society make posi-

Adebiyi

tive shifts is evident in the words she carefully and accurately captures in the chapters of this book. In a succinct way, she sheds light on how to effectively grow regardless of the field you operate in. How she juxtaposes etiquettes, culture

and character traits, illustrates the balance and wisdom she’s gathered from her rich and well decorated career as an HR expert and Consultant having worked with several leading firms such Arthur Andersen, Guinness, KPMG and Reckitt Benckiser.”

There are 88 articles in the book and each can be taken as a nugget. Designed in byte-sizes, the articles had previously been published in BusinessDay and online blog, BellaNaija.

Former Chairman of KPMG Africa, who wrote the book’s foreword, said: “I spent 38 years of my working career at Andersen and KPMG. During this period, I was Chief Executive of those firms for 20 years. In retrospect, my leadership at these two outstanding firms would have been better enhanced if I had the benefit of reading Ngozi Adebiyi’s amazingly insightful book ‘Grow’.”

He added that the book “contains practical advice for running an organisation, managing careers and succeeding in today’s complex and dynamic workplace.”

Teen Star, Iseoluwa to Headline Concert December 17 Ferdinand Ekechukwu Following the launch of her first album and the release of her colourful video just a few months ago that left memorable impression in the minds of gospel music lovers and got the industry watching, teen star ‘Iseoluwa' is set to take the scene a notch higher this Yuletide with her maiden concert dubbed, ‘Iseoluwa Live in Concert'.

The 12-year-old singer alongside other top gospel artistes will thrill fans and lovers of gospel tunes in what is described as first of its kind experience, following her age and talent, which has wowed her audience since her emergence on the music scene.

Top gospel acts to support the youngster are

Mike Abdul, Tim Godfrey, Wole Oni, Onos, and Eben. Others are Tosin Bee, Odunayo Aboderin, and the sensational music instructor of the MTN Project Fame, Uncle Ben. Since her emergence, the child star who was discovered at the age of five, by her mum, has made special appearances in music events like the ‘Meets Media' monthly event for creatives and personalities in the entertainment and media circuit and as well headlined music activities at church festivals/ Slated to hold on Sunday 17th of December at the RCCG Jesus Embassy Parish, Harris Drive, VGC Lekki Lagos, ‘Iseoluwa Live in Concert’ is peculiar in way that the purple coloured themed event is to promote the message of peace, according to the artiste. “If we are to create peace in our

Iseoluwa

world we must begin with children.

they are seeing that can also help the team grow in the future.”

The award winners were graded on their “performance, as it relates to punctuality, speed of response to issues, problem solving; all these are parameters used to determine the winners,” Ogunseye said.

An Assistant Secretary to the Station Manager, Olubukola Oyinloye, who also received an award said she was very happy. “It means achievement and I appreciate God,” she said. “The award is a motivation for a job well done. It is helping people to be more committed and faithful to their job.”

Chairman of MEI Group of Companies, Michael C. Eyinnaya, who has worked with Air FranceKLM for more than a decade, lauded the idea of the award. “Where people work and they are being encouraged by awarding them is a great incentive,” he said. “It makes them to be committed. This is the third time I'm attending since inception. For me it has created a platform to encourage workers. It makes people to feel honoured and recognised.

Three African Beauty Entrepreneurs Win ‘Dark and Lovely-SLA Accelerator’ Skin Gourmet from Ghana, Beauty Revolution from Nigeria and FreshMe from South Africa have emerged as the winners of the 2017 Dark and Lovely-SLA Beauty Accelerator Demo Day, which held at OPEN Sandton in Johannesburg, recently.

The Demo Day was the closing ceremony to the 10-week entrepreneurship development programme which is run to support early stage entrepreneurs who are building businesses in the beauty industry.

Over the past 10 weeks, five beauty businesses worked with mentors and advisors including; Nneka Keshi, Digital Director at L’Oreal for Sub-Saharan Africa; Tresor Mpasa - International Brand and Afua Osei, Co-Founder of She Leads Africa, SLA. At the event, the five entrepreneurs pitched their businesses to a host of industry stakeholders, media and investors for a chance to win cash prizes. The first place winner was Violet Amoabeng of Skin Gourmet; Violet is the Founder of Skin Gourmet, a premium skincare line made from raw pure and natural ingredients sources from the wild in Ghana.

The second place winner was Louisa Kinoshi of Beauty Revolution Studio; Louisa is the Co-Founder of Beauty Revolution Studio, an e-commerce and digital beauty network for African makeup artists, beauty bloggers, makeup enthusiast and African women in general.

In third place were Sherri Rhode, Deveash Jivan and Lendl Rhode of FreshMe: Sherri, Deveash and Lendl are Co-Founders of FreshMe which takes beauty brands to salons and brings people to brands in an informal salon market.

35/ENTREPRENEUR

15.12.2017

‘You Can Enjoy Rental Income without Owning a Property’ Founder of Africa’s Property Investment Group, Mr. Chudi Kalu, in this interview with Mary Ekah, speaks about investing in the real estate business as the surest way to building and securing one’s future, providing insights and latest money-making tips in the property market in Africa, among other issues is easier for plumbers to own houses while a banker remains a tenant for a very long time?

This is so because the plumber is thinking in terms of cash flow while the banker is thinking in terms of building and owning and so he waits for so long till he is able to save a huge amount to buy or build a house.

How would you describe Nigerians’ attitude towards investment in real estate?

So far we have realised that people fear that the recession in the nation will stop them from investing in property. But that is not the case because a lot of people are already taking advantage of real estate investment because they know that the way to come out of any form of recession is when they enjoy consistent cash flow. So a lot of people are investing in real estate at this particular time. That is why we have been holding a lot of seminars and workshops lately aimed at opening the minds of investors to how they can change their financial levels for better by investing in real estate, the opportunities that are available to people and how ordinary individuals can take advantage of the investment opportunities available within the real estate sector without having to break the bank.

And I think that for real estate industry to grow in Nigeria and for property business in Nigeria to be activated properly, investors should come in; and we cannot always expect foreigners to invest in real estate in Nigeria, we the local people should take advantage of the opportunities around us.

You have had series of conferences and workshops on real estate lately, what is the driving force behind all these?

We at AFPING are trying to give everyone an opportunity to invest in high quality real estate investment. Presently we have projects in Surulere, Yaba, Ijesha amongst other areas in Lagos and elsewhere. We also have some UK projects that we are pursuing at the moment. Anybody can take advantage of these opportunities and you don’t necessarily have to live in the UK to invest in the UK. To this end, we have been doing a lot of coaching on real estate investment and how people can take advantage of the rental market. We are particularly focused on educating people on how they can enjoy rental income without owing a property of your own.

People keep wondering if this is possible.

It is actually very possible if you understand how it works. Now because of the challenge of buying property in certain areas, a lot of people have lost money because of ‘Omo onile’ and they bought property expecting that some of those property will appreciate but after 10 years, they probably do not know where the location of that property is and at the end they would realise that they must have been duped.

So it is better to play within a particular market where you can easily take advantage of. Now how do you participate in the Lagos market for example without getting your hands burned?

At least we can see the population. When I see the Lagos traffic, I get so excited and then some people wonder why I am so. I feel so because as long as there are people within town, rent will continue to go up. And what drives rental income for landlords is the number of people that lives in a particular area. And how do I as an individual participate in that game without actually owning a house is what we have been able to figure out at these seminars and workshops. When you go round that, you see a lot of property that are empty and also property that the landlords do not have the required funds to put them in good shapes because they probably do not have a regular income and yet the property is within a good location. All one needs to do is to invest in such property and renovate for better rental charges while both the landlord and investor share the profits. So, as an investor, you do not have to buy the property to share in the profits, All you need to do is just to invest some money for its renovation and then in return get huge rental income. That is what we coach people on during the seminars and workshops that we have been holding lately and you don’t

Kalu

have to be an expert in the industry before you can earn rental income but all you need is to have a little fund on ground.

According to statistics, we have 17 million housing deficit in Nigeria and if every household pays a hundred thousand naira from the 17 million housing deficit that we have in this country that will be more than 17 billion naira annually. So I would say that the deficit we are facing in the housing sector is an opportunity and not a curse. And it is those people who see the opportunity within that market that would take advantage of it. If they say we have about 17 million housing deficit, what it simply means is that you have 17 million families who are ready to pay only for kind of houses they can afford, so that means that if anybody has the houses that fit their needs, they would be willing to pay. So the deficit is an opportunity for only those that see it as a business opportunity and can then thrive on it.

So it is a missed opportunity for me if I do not invest in such market. So real estate is a big market not just for the developers but also for people who can see opportunity in that area and grab it and this can only be achieved when I use my money to do renovations on some of these properties on ground. Many people have properties but they are still poor merely because they are not thinking creatively nor taking advantage of the immense problem of housing deficit and then convert that problem to their own advantage; and that is what our seminars and workshops are all about. We are trying to teach people how they can take

advantage of the housing problem in Nigeria.

Every problem is clothed with opportunity and how you take advantage of that opportunity is what this is all about.

How would the common man who could hardly save the miniature income earn benefit from this?

There is a scheme we have been doing for over four years now, where by certain people can put funds together to own high quality real estate investments. For example, there is a particular project somewhere in Ikeja that requires about N22 million. Now, if I come together with like 10 other people and together we raise N22 million, we all can buy and renovate that particular property and start enjoying cash flow from it. It simply means that 11 of us will share the profit based on the returns we get per year. That is what we are currently offering people right now, taking it to the market place, so that people can take advantage. We have already people buying into the idea and investing in real estate. This also means that if I want to invest in a property in Lekki, I don’t need to have all the money for the property to invest in it, but it simply gives me an opportunity to invest in high quality real estate investment that may take me so many years of savings to be able to invest.

So, we don’t just want to make opportunity for only those who can afford to buy plots of lands to make money, we also want those who have little means to also be able to invest in properties and make money. Why is it that it

This is information that people in this sector may hardly want to give out so freely. So why and how are you doing this?

I have been using every platform available to me. I have been using the social media a lot to create awareness and I have been crazy about it and I know a lot of people that have taken this raw information and duplicate it for their own benefits and presently are having numerous properties around town. This is to tell you that this actually works. It is better we cover this nation with success than preventing people from being successful because a lot of people have success but hide the secret of their success from others. The real estate market is too wide for me to hide anything. We have over 17 million people having housing problems in Nigeria; even I alone cannot serve half a million people. The market is too wide so there is no need for competition.

We hold seminars regularly on this. We just concluded one last week called the Rental Income Plan. It is all about helping people to understand how they can do these things on their own. People can be part of this by registering on our website www.afping.com.

We are thinking of holding these conferences at least once in two months, where we gather people in a class to learn. They don’t have to be real estate experts but those who are ready to take the opportunity in the real estate sector.

Husband and wives can also take advantage of this. We also do one-on-one training, leading people by their hand and helping them to explore the real estate market. And if someone says he doesn’t have the time because he has a regular job, then he/she can invest with us and grow with us. And investing in real estate is predictable, tangible and indestructible. That is why I am inviting everybody to do it and you don’t necessarily have to invest with me, you can do it on your own. I started doing this when I didn’t even have full information about the sector but for the fact that I had opportunities. So those whose eyes are opened to opportunities can take advantage of the real estate market.

How do you guarantee security for such investments and is the training free of charge?

Some amount of money is attached to the trainings because we bring in experts to coach these people. And the training one gets involved in also determines the amount one pays. When it is a class, that is a group of people, we give discounts. So the fee ranges from 50,000-750,000 naira depending on which class you want to attend. We also do executive class whereby after the class, you can pick a particular property and we would guide you by the hand, that means that we would follow you to where the property is, secure the property, negotiate the deal with the property owner and then show you by example how we do it. And talking about security, we have, in the last seven years, been privileged to have sold more than 2,000 plots of lands; so what we do is that the same way we secure people’s property is also the same way we secure people’s investments. So you are not investing into any real estate project that is not insured. We are working with several insurance companies to ensure that people’s investments are secured and that they do not lose their investments in case of negligence on the part of the developers. So that is one of the ways we are guarding against people experiencing loss in their investments.

36/COLLAGE

15.12.2017

L-R: 2nd runner-up, Most Beautiful Girl in Kwara, (MBGK), Miss. Dami Omodara, MBGK, 2017, Miss. Adeleke Deborah, Kwara State Governor, Dr. Abdulfatah Ahmed, Chairman, Just So Dynamic Entertainment, Mr. Alabi Saheed and 1st runner-up, MBGK, Miss. Ella Soiki during courtesy visit to the Governor at Government House, Ilorin...recently

L-R: Lagos State APC House of Representative Aspirant, Hon. Matin Iwonlawe; newly-weds, Nabila Fasanya; and Oritsefemi Majemite, at the couple's wedding reception in Lagos... recently

R-L: SA to the President on National Assembly (Senate), Senator Ita Enang; former Deputy Speaker, House of Representative, Rt Hon Austin Opara, wife, Hon Justice Margaret Opara, Daughter, Miss Omarizichi; Solomon Ita Enang; Nnabuchi Azinge; Mrs Valerie Azinge, husband Prof Epiphany Azinge and Dr (Mrs) Rosemary Ita Enang at the Call to the Bar for Successful Canditates at the August 2017 Bar Final Examinations in Abuja...recently .

Photo; Julius Atoi/THISDAY IMAGES.

L-R: Special Apostle Adeniyi Adeniji; Spiritual Leader in Charge, Chapel of Grace, Cherubim and Seraphim Movement Church, Idimu District, Prophet Joseph Adeyemi; his wife, Mother in Israel, Motunrayo; Guest Speaker, Special Apostle Bamidele Adebanjo and Most Senior Apostle Elijah Adeyemi, at the 18th adult harvest thanksgiving and 20th anniversary of the Church, in Lagos.....recently

The Solemnization of Holy Matrimony between Princess Olajumoke & Joshua Obot at Living Faith Church (Winners Chapel) Durumi Phase 2, Abuja... recently

Newly Installed Zonal Superintendent, Four Square Gospel Church, Oke Ire Missionary Zone, Badore Ajah, Dr. Henry Bandele Ogunjewo with wife Pastor Grace Funmilayo (middle)ďŹ&#x201A;anked by their Children, Henry (left) and Emmanuel receiving blessing from the District Overseer, Four Square Church Oshodi, Rev. Benjamin Taiwo, aat the inauguration ceremony in Lagos..recently KOLA OLASUPO

R-L: Former governor of Abia State, Orji Uzor Kalu; Managing Director, House J Hotels and Suites, Bayo Fatusin and Prince Kunle Oyewumi during the Awards Night of New Telegraph Newspaper in Lagos...recently

L-R: Women and Insurance Lead, International Finance Corporation, Esther Dassanou; Executive Secretary, Lagos State Employment Trust Fund, Akintunde Oyebode; CEO of Eventful Limited, Yewande Zacchaeus; Chairperson of Wimbiz, Aishah Ahmad; Group Head, Micro Enterprise and Financial Inclusioon, Bank of Industry, Uloma Ike and CEO Agrolay Ventures, Ada Osakwe, at the 16th WIMBIZ Annual Conference in Lagos ...recently

T H I S D AY FRIDAY DECEMBER 15 2017

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38/OPINION

15.12.2017

ADEOLAAKINREMI HOME TRUTHS

Email: adeola.akinremi@thisdaylive.com

Tel 08116759785(sms only)

Atiku

PDP’s Bet on Atiku to Take it Back to Power Sometime we are exasperated by the internal politics of the Peoples Democratic Party that we forget that there will be no way to simply ask PDP to shake off the stench.

That PDP’s convention was riven by disagreements over “unity list” shouldn’t be a surprise, the architects of power in the grand old party have lived by swords and stones since the party formation. The remnants are carcasses putting on sinews for a comeback.

Let’s look back in history. Since August 1998, when it was registered, the PDP has produced 13 national chairmen and they have all emerged through horse-trading.

The chairmen have equally lost their bones to party dogs with their carcasses eaten by party vultures once party hawks think they need to abdicate the throne.

The party chairmen have spent between one to two years in office on the average.

From Dr. Alex Ekwueme who served as first protem national chairman of the party for about three months to Uche Secondus, the current national chairman, PDP’s conventions have been a show of chaos and confusions.

Interestingly, of the nine men who started the process that birthed the PDP, only Dr. Iyorcha Ayu and Prof. Jerry Gana are still actively involved in PDP’s internal politics. The other members of the G9 that metamorphosed into G18 and G34 respectively are Chief Solomon Lar, Senator Francis Ellah, Alhaji Abubakar Rimi, Chief Bola Ige, Alhaji Sule Lamido and Mallam Adamu Ciroma.

True, the PDP has tried to reform, but it has been difficult because president’s interest has always been above party interest.

In fact, the current Minister for Agriculture and Rural Development, Chief Audu Ogbeh, as a PDP chairman during President Olusegun Obasanjo’s regime was cast in the mold of a renegade when he attempted a reform.

We all read their open letters on the pages of newspapers. In a “we do not have too much time to waste,” letter, Ogbeh called out Obasanjo, questioning his integrity on party matters.

Of course, Obasanjo himself, a battle-ready politician, didn’t waste time in a December 12, 2004 response to describe Ogbeh as a pretentious man skillful in “hide and seek games.” At the end, Ogbeh was forced out.

So the frosty fight in PDP started with the party and will certainly not end. It appears to be a political strategy in politics where the strong silence the weak.

Yes, we’ve seen the relatively new All Progressives Congress (APC) doing the same and the two main political parties in America—our copied democracy—have seen hijackers take centre stage during conventions.

The recent revelations in a memoir by the DNC chairwoman, Donna Brazile, that the 2016 Democratic primary was "rigged,” because the DNC was fully under the control of Hillary’s campaign is one example.

But how will a bet on Atiku take PDP back to power? My simple response is: no idea. But I know that PDP needs more than an Atiku

to retake power. The math is simple. The APC as an opposition party won the hearts and minds of the people through uncovering of PDP’s malfeasance. Those who wanted APC to take over power did what crooked corporations do. They planted moles inside government to pilfer sensitive documents and act as whistleblowers. It worked.

The government of Jonathan was unseated, because the information sufficiently dominated conversation till election time. For instance, the alleged $20 billion corruption at the NNPC won’t just go away, though the inaccuracy of the figure. The APC stayed on message as an opposition party, pushing the message until it stuck.

Now, the PDP needs to show Nigerians what this government is doing wrong, going after malfeasance that cannot be denied and making it known to the public.

There’s so much shrouded in secrecy under this government just like any other in our democratic history, but there’s a momentus.

The inability of the present government to arrest the former head of Presidential Task Force on Pension Reforms, Abdulrasheed Maina since the scandal of his backdoor return to government broke is a sign. Here’s the rub: anytime a government is silent on an accused person who has been part of that government there’s much more in silence. Can PDP find a navigator in Maina to open the seal on what is being covered by the APC? In most cases, opposition party thrives on a combination of approach to take power.

I know sensation is one of such and that is where the touted possible presidential flagbearer of the PDP, former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar needs to go.

Really, to take PDP back to power Atiku needs to create some kind of upsets like MKO Abiola did when he got the ticket of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) to contest presidential election in 1993. What kind of upsets did Abiola caused? Abiola forced the price of commodities such as staple foods to go down.

For instance the price of bread, milk and others went down and everything changed without MKO in government yet. He had his name written on foodstuffs on sales in the market at ridiculously lower prices. Can Atiku make this happen? Surely it is one way to turn the tables for the PDP in 2019. With pervasive hunger and low purchasing power across the country, an upset in the price of staple foods with lower prices everywhere, is a game changer.

Clearly Atiku has a very narrow needle to thread and he needs to build his campaign to produce result. He must make the campaign a dead-heat for Buhari with clear-cut and implementable policy programmes, if he must take PDP back to power. There is still an unexpectedly large percentage of Nigerians who are on the fringe looking at the turn of the clock. Can PDP really bet on Atiku to take it back to power? I cannot make that bet yet.

Follow me on Twitter:@adeolaakinremi1

T H I S D AY FRIDAY DECEMBER 15 2017

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40

T H I S D AY ˾ ͯͳË&#x153; Ͱͮͯ͵

T H I S D AY FRIDAY DECEMBER 15 2017

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T H I S D AY Ëž , ÍŻÍłË&#x153; 2017

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BUSINESS/MONEYGUIDE

KPMGUrgesFirmstoEnsureFullDisclosureofNon-executiveDirectorsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Remuneration Ugo Aliogo The Partner, Tax Regulatory and People Services, KPMG Nigeria, Adewale Ajayi, has called on companies to ensure full disclosure of the remuneration of their Non-executive Directors (NEDs). This, he said would help bring to the spotlight what the NEDs earn.

Ajayi made the call yesterday in Lagos at a media briefing to launch the second edition of KPMGâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Survey report on the NEDsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; remuneration in the top 25 listed companies in Nigeria.

He also noted that there was need to create alliance between management and shareholdersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; interest. Ajayi added: â&#x20AC;&#x153;There are standards that define what type of information that you disclose for remuneration. The standard states that when you publish your financial statement you must disclose your remuneration. What is obtainable in the country today is that most companies donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t usually disclose the directorsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; fees. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Even the Company and Allied Matters Act (CAMA) requires shareholders to approve directorsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; remuneration and it goes beyond the direc-

torsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; fee. Directors provide independent oversight. â&#x20AC;&#x153;They watch what the management does; to that extent therefore, shareholders will want to know what directors earn. We conduct remuneration surveys for the oil and gas industry, consumer market, pension industry and insurance sector.â&#x20AC;? Speaking on the survey report, the Manager Tax, Regulatory and People Services, KPMG Nigeria, Nneka Jethro-Iruobe, said in carrying out the survey they considered the best categorisation of companies in the country, therefore they used the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) to identify these companies and they cut across oil and gas, financial services and consumer market.

She explained that when they considered the 25 most capitalised companies, 20 participated in the survey signifying, an 80 percent participation rate.

She said one of the things the survey examined was the total remuneration companies were paying to their directors.

From the survey, it was noted that none of the participating companies have documented severance policy in place for exit-

ing Board members, stating that over 50 percent of companies either provide a discretionary amount or hold a dinner in honour of the existing board member. It further stated that an organisationâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s remuneration philosophy should guide the mix and balance between the elements of pay (cash compensation and benefits) that make up the gross compensation provided to its NEDs, â&#x20AC;&#x153;three of the companies provide only cash remuneration to board members, while remaining 85 percent provide cash and benefits.â&#x20AC;? The survey also shed light on equity holdings from which it was revealed that the thrust of NEDs should be alignment of interest with shareholders through significant equity holdings.

It added that it was imperative that directorsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; remuneration should also include equitybased compensation, â&#x20AC;&#x153;none of the participating of the companies pays their directors in shares. However, companies can implement a plan that may require a percentage of the annual directors to be payable in shares.â&#x20AC;?

Fitch Places FirstBankâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Subordinated Notes on â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Rating Watch Positiveâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Fitch Ratings has placed First Bank of Nigeriaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s subordinated notes, which are rated â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;CCCâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;/â&#x20AC;&#x2122;RR5â&#x20AC;&#x2122;, on Rating Watch Positive (RWP).

The notes were issued through FBN Finance Company BV, a special purpose vehicle, which was established to provide funding for the bank. FBNâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s other ratings are unaffected by this rating action.

The rating action, according to a statement from the agency, followed publication of an exposure draft. â&#x20AC;&#x153;The exposure draft includes a proposal to append â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;+â&#x20AC;&#x2122; or

â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;-â&#x20AC;&#x2122; modifiers to â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;CCCâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; LongTerm Issuer Default Ratings (and long-term debt ratings) to denote relative status/ creditworthiness within this rating level. â&#x20AC;&#x153;The subordinated debt of FBN is rated one notch below FBNâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;b-â&#x20AC;&#x2122; Viability Rating (VR).

If modifiers are introduced to the â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;CCCâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; IDR category as proposed, the one notch differential would be maintained and FBNâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s subordinated debt would be rated â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;CCC+â&#x20AC;&#x2122;. â&#x20AC;&#x153; The notching from the VR reflects higher-than-average loss severity for subordinated

debt relative to senior debt.

No additional notches for non-performance risk have been applied. The ratings on the subordinated notes are sensitive to a change in FBNâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s VR,â&#x20AC;? the agency explained.

Fitch stated that it expected to resolve the RWP within the next six months upon the conclusion of the exposure draft period, stating that if the final criteria are substantially similar to the Exposure Draft, then the rating on the subordinated notes is likely to be upgraded to â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;CCC+â&#x20AC;&#x2122; after the final criteria are published.

Keystone, Sterling Empower Women

MARKET INDICATORS MONEY AND CREDIT STATISTICS

Ě&#x2122;

Ě&#x161;

AUGUST 2017 Broad Money (M2)

21,851,454.31

Ě&#x2039;Ě&#x2039; Ă&#x2039;Ă&#x153;Ă&#x153;Ă&#x2122;ĂĄ Ă&#x2122;Ă&#x2DC;Ă?ĂŁ Ě&#x2122; ÍŻĚ&#x161;

9,890,813.10

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ÍśË&#x153;͹ʹ;Ë&#x153;ͳ;͹Ë&#x203A;ͯ͡

-- Quasi Money

11,960,641.22

Net Foreign Assets (NFA)

9,732,990.89

Net Domestic Assets(NDA)

ÍŻÍ°Ë&#x153;ÍŻÍŻÍśË&#x153;Ͳʹ͹Ë&#x203A;ͲͰ 26,821,446.81

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4,824,226.22

Ě&#x2039;Ě&#x2039;Ě&#x2039;Ě&#x2039; Ă?Ă&#x2014;Ă&#x2122;Ë? Ă&#x153;Ă?Ă&#x17D;Ă&#x201C;Ă&#x17E; Ă&#x17E;Ă&#x2122; Ă&#x2122;Ă Ă&#x17E;Ë&#x203A; Ě&#x2122; Ă?Ă&#x17E;Ě&#x161; Ă&#x2013;Ă?Ă?Ă?

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Ě&#x2039;Ě&#x2039;Ě&#x2039;Ě&#x2039; Ă?Ă&#x2014;Ă&#x2122;Ë? Ă?Ă&#x17D;Ë&#x203A; Ă&#x2039;Ă&#x2DC;Ă&#x17D; Ă&#x201C;Ă&#x153;Ă&#x153;Ă&#x2122;Ă&#x153; Ă?Ă?Ă&#x2122;Ă&#x;Ă&#x2DC;Ă&#x17E;Ă? Ě&#x2122; Ě&#x161;

-3,010,310.52

Ě&#x2039;Ě&#x2039;Ě&#x2039;Ě&#x2039; Ă&#x153;Ă?Ă&#x17D;Ă&#x201C;Ă&#x17E; Ă&#x17E;Ă&#x2122; Ă&#x153;Ă&#x201C;Ă Ă&#x2039;Ă&#x17E;Ă? Ă?Ă?Ă&#x17E;Ă&#x2122;Ă&#x153; Ě&#x2122; Ě&#x161;

21,997,220.59

--Other Assets Net

-14,702,983.39

Reserve Money (Base Money)

ÍłË&#x153;Ͳ͜ʹË&#x153;͎͜ͲË&#x203A;Í´Íł

Ě&#x2039;Ě&#x2039; Ă&#x;Ă&#x153;Ă&#x153;Ă?Ă&#x2DC;Ă?ĂŁ Ă&#x201C;Ă&#x2DC; Ă&#x201C;Ă&#x153;Ă?Ă&#x;Ă&#x2013;Ă&#x2039;Ă&#x17E;Ă&#x201C;Ă&#x2122;Ă&#x2DC;

ÍŻË&#x153;͜ʹ͜Ë&#x153;;͹ͳË&#x203A;ÍŽÍľ

Ě&#x2039;Ě&#x2039; Ă&#x2039;Ă&#x2DC;Ă&#x2022;Ă? Ă?Ă?Ă?Ă&#x153;Ă Ă?Ă?

3,268,266.17 Ëž Ă&#x2122;Ă&#x;Ă&#x153;Ă?Ă? Ě&#x2039;

Keystone Bank Limited and Sterling Bank Plc have reiterated their resolve to continue to support female entreprenuers.

For Keystone explained in a statement that in furtherance of its commitment to empower female entrepreneurs across Nigeria, through its Pink Network initiative, it recently organised a capacity building workshop., tagged: â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;The Accelerate Business Seminarâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; for female business owners. The Pink Network is an online platform to learn, get mentorship, share business ideas and interact.

The one-day seminar which is the second edition was held on Wednesday December 13, 2017 at the Keystone Bank Learning Academy, Lagos in partnership with Enterprise Development Centre (EDC), Fate Foundation, Junior Achievers Nigeria, SME100 and Trans Royal Couriers.

At the event, business professionals took participants through series of discussions on how to access finance and borrow sensibly, thriving in business in the 21st century using the internet, identifying and reaching target market, implementing

an effective delivery system, among other issues.

Speaking about the initiative, the bankâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Group Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Obeahon Ohiwerei said: â&#x20AC;&#x153;Keystone Bank Limited has creatively set up this platform to cater for the dreams and aspirations of women SMEs and the professional working class women. â&#x20AC;&#x153;As a financial institution, we understand the importance of women in building a robust economy, but lack of access to entrepreneurial skills, finance, networking, and management skills pose a major setback to womenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s economic inclusion.

Hence, we took the bold step to provide solution to these challenges.â&#x20AC;?

On its part, Sterling Bank Plc in a separate statement also obtained yesterday that as part of its commitment to female entrepreneurs, it recently sponsored a seminar on Women Empowerment and National Development for the Women Group of the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI).

Speaking at the opening ceremony, General Manager,

Corporate Banking, Sterling Bank, Mrs. Mojisola Bakare said the One-Woman proposition of the bank offers value-added financial offerings to meet business and personal needs of women in Nigeria. The proposition also fosters support by providing platforms for women to support other women.

Bakare said the offerings included Sterling Maternal Medical Finance (SMMF) available to women for peculiar medical treatments like fibroid.

Other features of the product are customised debit cards with a bold feminine touch that would provide cardholders access to discounts for spas, makeover services; and furniture/household items at select outlets and two percent discounts on interest rates for all existing retail loan products (e.g. personal loan, asset acquisition loan, MSME loans,) for women.

Also included are Womenpreneurship, job shadowing schemes and capacity building programme for young women, internship opportunities with access to the MSME academy for free or at a discount.

MANAGED FUNDS Month

AUGUST 2017

Inter-Bank Call Rate

Í°Í°Ë&#x203A;Í´Íą

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

ͯͲË&#x203A;ÍŽÍŽ

Treasury Bill Rate

ÍŻÍąË&#x203A;͹ͳ

Savings Deposit Rate

ͲË&#x203A;ÍŽÍś

1 Month Deposit Rate

ÍśË&#x203A;͜ʹ

3 Months Deposit Rate

ÍŻÍŽË&#x203A;ͯͲ

6 Months Deposit Rate

ÍŻÍŻË&#x203A;ͳͯ

12 Months Deposit Rate

ÍŻÍŻË&#x203A;Ͳ͎

Prime Lending rate

ÍŻÍľË&#x203A;ʹ͡

Maximum Lending Rate

͹ͯË&#x203A;Í°ÍŽ Ëž Ă&#x2122;Ă&#x2DC;Ă?Ă&#x17E;Ă&#x2039;Ă&#x153;ĂŁ Ă&#x2122;Ă&#x2013;Ă&#x201C;Ă?ĂŁ Ă&#x2039;Ă&#x17E;Ă? Ě&#x2039; ͯ͹Ϲ

OPEC DAILY BASKET PRICE AS AT, WED, DEC 13 2017 The price of OPEC basket of fourteen crudes stood at $61.50 a barrel on Wednesday, compared with $62.75 the previous day, according to OPEC Secretariat calculations. (View Archives 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 ˾ , DECEMBER 15, 2017

43

MARKET NEWS

NSE Rewards Firms for Complying with Rules and Regulations Goddy Egene and Nosa Alekhuogie

Stockbrokers Limited accounted for the highest value of trades on the Exchange in 2017.

On the other hand, Pilot Securities Limited won the award for the Most Compliant Dealing Member firm of the year 2017, for demonstrating the best level of compliance with the NSE Rules and Regulations.

The firm was honoured for its compliance with the Minimum Operating Standards of the

Listed Company for 2017, having demonstrated the highest degree of compliance with the rules and regulations regarding disclosure obligations of listed companies on the exchange in 2017. The award for the Best Dealing Member firm went to Stanbic IBTC Stockbrokers Limited, for a high performance culture. It was the firm’s sixth consecutive win in the NSE CEO Awards. Stanbic IBTC

The Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) has announced the recipients of the 2017 edition of its prestigious NSE CEO Awards. The winners were unveiled at the awards ceremony on Wednesday, at the Stock Exchange House, Lagos.

Dangote Cement Plc has been named the Most Compliant

exchange, adequate and timely rendition of statutory and regulatory returns. Speaking at the awards, the Chief Executive Officer of the NSE, Mr. Oscar Onyema, commended the winners of the 2017 NSE CEO Awards.

“I would like to congratulate all the 2017 award winners who are all deserving of recognition.

The awards are given solely on merit and are awarded to

PRICES FOR SECURITIES TRADED AS OF

commend listed companies and dealing members for their excellent and exceptional performance, compliance to NSE rules and regulation, high ethical standards and impressive customer service that leave no room for any penalties.”.

“The awards offer winners a year-round marketing opportunity and a big morale-booster for companies who have made extraordinary contributions to

the Nigerian capital market and exemplify the highest standards,” he added. The NSE CEO awards was initiated in 2012 to motivate listed companies and dealing members to a higher level of corporate governance and compliance to reinforce investors’ confidence in the Nigerian capital market.

Since inception, the annual award has become one of the important events at the NSE.

A S AT 2 3 / 1 1 / 2 0 1 7

Price List (Equities) PRICES FOR PREMIUM BOARD SECURITIES FINANCIAL SERVICES S/N

BANKING

1

ZENITH INTERNATIONAL BANK PLC

MARKET PRICE CAP(Nm) 784,912.34 25.00

%CHANGE 1.83

TRADES 743

BANKING S/N 2 OTHER FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS FINANCIAL SERVICES INDUSTRIAL GOODS S/N 3 BUILDING MATERIALS INDUSTRIAL GOODS PREMIUM BOARD TOTALS Price List (Equities) PRICES FOR MAIN BOARD SECURITIES AGRICULTURE

OTHER FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS FBN HOLDINGS PLC

BUILDING MATERIALS DANGOTE CEMENT PLC

4 5 6 CROP PRODUCTION

FTN COCOA PROCESSORS PLC OKOMU OIL PALM PLC. PRESCO PLC

S/N 8 LIVESTOCK/ANIMAL SPECIALTIES AGRICULTURE CONGLOMERATES S/N 9 10 11 12 13 DIVERSIFIED INDUSTRIES CONGLOMERATES CONSTRUCTION/REAL ESTATE S/N 14 BUILDING CONSTRUCTION S/N 15 16 INFRASTRUCTURE/ HEAVY CONSTRUCTION

FISHING/HUNTING/TRAPPING ELLAH LAKES PLC. LIVESTOCK/ANIMAL SPECIALTIES LIVESTOCK FEEDS PLC.

DIVERSIFIED INDUSTRIES A.G. LEVENTIS NIGERIA PLC. JOHN HOLT PLC. S C O A NIG. PLC. TRANSNATIONAL CORPORATION OF NIGERIA PLC U A C N PLC.

BUILDING CONSTRUCTION ARBICO PLC. INFRASTRUCTURE/HEAVY CONSTRUCTION JULIUS BERGER NIG. PLC. ROADS NIG PLC.

17

UACN PROPERTY DEVELOPMENT CO. LIMITED

18 19 20 REAL ESTATE INVESTMENT TRUSTS (REITS) CONSTRUCTION/REAL ESTATE CONSUMER GOODS S/N 21 AUTOMOBILES/AUTO PARTS S/N 22 23 24 25 26 BEVERAGES--BREWERS/DISTILLERS S/N 27 BEVERAGES--NONALCOHOLIC S/N 28 29 30 31

90,289,874

34

TRADES

VOLUME

35 FOOD PRODUCTS

372

18,399,501

372

18,399,501

1,115

108,689,375

%CHANGE

TRADES

VOLUME

0.01

22 22 22

197,826 197,826 197,826

MARKET PRICE CAP(Nm) 1,100.00 0.50 64,865.88 68.00 66,000.00 66.00 MARKET PRICE CAP(Nm) 511.20 4.26 MARKET CAP(Nm) 2,610.00

%CHANGE -0.29

108,887,201

-

TRADES

VOLUME

3 26 16 45

3,200 164,218 90,397 257,815

%CHANGE -

TRADES 0

S/N 36 37 FOOD PRODUCTS-DIVERSIFIED S/N 38 39 HOUSEHOLD DURABLES

0 VOLUME

%CHANGE

TRADES

0.87

3.57

11

165,900

11

165,900

56

423,715

%CHANGE -

TRADES 2

-

0 0

40 41 PERSONAL/HOUSEHOLD PRODUCTS CONSUMER GOODS FINANCIAL SERVICES S/N 42 43 44

0 PRICE

MARKET PRICE CAP(Nm) 1,853.10 0.70 194.58 0.50 2,111.93 3.25

VOLUME 0

VOLUME 1,500 0 0

45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 BANKING S/N

54,061.83

1.33

1.53

165

22,345,117

54

31,406.13

16.35

-

38

141,833

205

22,488,450

55 56

205

22,488,450

MARKET CAP(Nm) 711.32

PRICE

%CHANGE

4.79

TRADES

-

0 0

REAL ESTATE DEVELOPMENT

S/N

743

57 58

S/N

REAL ESTATE DEVELOPMENT

0.72

90,289,874

33

S/N

CROP PRODUCTION

S/N

MARKET PRICE CAP(Nm) 3,919,316.70 230.00

%CHANGE

32

1,137

S/N

7 FISHING/HUNTING/ TRAPPING

MARKET PRICE CAP(Nm) 249,472.28 6.95

VOLUME

REAL ESTATE INVESTMENT TRUSTS (REITS) SKYE SHELTER FUND PLC UNION HOMES REAL ESTATE INVESTMENT TRUST (REIT) UPDC REAL ESTATE INVESTMENTTRUST

MARKET PRICE CAP(Nm) 36,960.00 28.00 165.00 6.60

%CHANGE -

VOLUME

59

0

60 61

0 TRADES

62 VOLUME

14 0

27,215 0

14

27,215

MARKET PRICE CAP(Nm)

%CHANGE

TRADES

VOLUME

6,911.73 2.66

-

8

58,149

8

58,149

%CHANGE

TRADES

VOLUME

-

0

0

-

0

0

MARKET PRICE CAP(Nm) 2,000.00 100.00 11,305.89 45.22 26,682.70 10.00

-

0

0

0

0

22

85,364

63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77

AUTOMOBILES/AUTO PARTS DN TYRE & RUBBER PLC BEVERAGES--BREWERS/ DISTILLERS CHAMPION BREW. PLC. GOLDEN GUINEA BREW. PLC. GUINNESS NIG PLC INTERNATIONAL BREWERIES PLC. NIGERIAN BREW. PLC.

BEVERAGES--NON-ALCOHOLIC 7-UP BOTTLING COMP. PLC.

MARKET PRICE CAP(Nm) 2,386.33 0.50 MARKET CAP(Nm) 16,050.47 242.22 221,228.66

%CHANGE

TRADES

VOLUME

-

1

2,000

1

2,000

78 79 INSURANCE CARRIERS, BROKERS AND SERVICES S/N

PRICE

%CHANGE

TRADES

VOLUME

2.05 0.89 101.00

-4.65 -

29 0 28

519,150 0 48,436

81 MICRO-FINANCE BANKS

177,691.81 53.94

4.13

22

1,245,915

S/N

1,030,783.12 130.00

-0.38

267

1,758,251

82 83

MARKET PRICE CAP(Nm) 59,254.61 92.50

%CHANGE 2.78

346

3,571,752

TRADES

VOLUME

13 13

MARKET FOOD PRODUCTS CAP(Nm) DANGOTE FLOUR MILLS PLC 46,200.00 DANGOTE SUGAR REFINERY PLC 189,600.00 FLOUR MILLS NIG. PLC. 84,238.01 HONEYWELL FLOUR MILL PLC 15,860.40

339,032 339,032

PRICE

%CHANGE

TRADES

VOLUME

9.24 15.80 32.10 2.00

-0.65 2.46 1.90 -3.00

71 118 43 17

1,598,382 3,204,507 393,626 1,379,040

80

84 85 86 MORTGAGE CARRIERS, BROKERS AND SERVICES S/N 87 88

MULTI-TREX INTEGRATED FOODS PLC N NIG. FLOUR MILLS PLC. NASCON ALLIED INDUSTRIES PLC UNION DICON SALT PLC. FOOD PRODUCTS--DIVERSIFIED CADBURY NIGERIA PLC. NESTLE NIGERIA PLC.

HOUSEHOLD DURABLES NIGERIAN ENAMELWARE PLC. VITAFOAM NIG PLC. PERSONAL/HOUSEHOLD PRODUCTS P Z CUSSONS NIGERIA PLC. UNILEVER NIGERIA PLC.

1,861.25 0.50

-

1

2,000

1,028.21 5.77

-

0

0

-0.57

150

7,107,226

-

0 400

0 13,684,781

41,861.13 15.80 3,676.41 13.45 MARKET PRICE CAP(Nm) 22,125.22 11.78 1,031,959.17 1,301.90 MARKET PRICE CAP(Nm) 1,766.22 23.23 2,814.40 2.70 MARKET PRICE CAP(Nm) 92,988.57 23.42 229,915.12 40.02

MARKET PRICE CAP(Nm) ACCESS BANK PLC. 289,279.72 10.00 DIAMOND BANK PLC 27,329.26 1.18 ECOBANK TRANSNATIONAL 302,767.60 16.50 INCORPORATED FIDELITY BANK PLC 47,228.92 1.63 GUARANTY TRUST BANK PLC. 1,236,109.53 42.00 JAIZ BANK PLC 17,383.91 0.59 SKYE BANK PLC 6,940.15 0.50 STERLING BANK PLC. 28,790.42 1.00 UNION BANK NIG.PLC. 105,002.00 6.20 UNITED BANK FOR AFRICA PLC 336,864.30 9.85 UNITY BANK PLC 5,844.67 0.50 WEMA BANK PLC. 19,287.23 0.50 BANKING

INSURANCE CARRIERS, BROKERS AND SERVICES AFRICAN ALLIANCE INSURANCE COMPANY PLC AIICO INSURANCE PLC. AXAMANSARD INSURANCE PLC CONSOLIDATED HALLMARK INSURANCE PLC CONTINENTAL REINSURANCE PLC CORNERSTONE INSURANCE COMPANY PLC. EQUITY ASSURANCE PLC. GOLDLINK INSURANCE PLC GREAT NIGERIAN INSURANCE PLC GUINEA INSURANCE PLC. INTERNATIONAL ENERGY INSURANCE COMPANY PLC LASACO ASSURANCE PLC. LAW UNION AND ROCK INS. PLC. LINKAGE ASSURANCE PLC MUTUAL BENEFITS ASSURANCE PLC. N.E.M INSURANCE CO (NIG) PLC. NIGER INSURANCE CO. PLC. PRESTIGE ASSURANCE CO. PLC. REGENCY ALLIANCE INSURANCE COMPANY PLC SOVEREIGN TRUST INSURANCE PLC STANDARD ALLIANCE INSURANCE PLC. STANDARD TRUST ASSURANCE PLC UNIC DIVERSIFIED HOLDINGS PLC. UNITY KAPITAL ASSURANCE PLC UNIVERSAL INSURANCE COMPANY PLC WAPIC INSURANCE PLC

MICRO-FINANCE BANKS FORTIS MICROFINANCE BANK PLC NPF MICROFINANCE BANK PLC MORTGAGE CARRIERS, BROKERS AND SERVICES ABBEY MORTGAGE BANK PLC ASO SAVINGS AND LOANS PLC INFINITY TRUST MORTGAGE BANK PLC RESORT SAVINGS & LOANS PLC UNION HOMES SAVINGS AND LOANS PLC. OTHER FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS AFRICA PRUDENTIAL PLC CUSTODIAN AND ALLIED PLC

%CHANGE

TRADES

VOLUME

3.33 0.15

35 59

500,933 115,833

94

616,766

%CHANGE

TRADES

VOLUME

-

0 20

0 37,164

20

37,164

%CHANGE

TRADES

VOLUME

-4.99 0.18

54 99

712,231 1,562,309

153

2,274,540

1,027

20,526,035

%CHANGE

TRADES

VOLUME

2.46 1.72

212 47

98,336,273 5,498,380

-

43

559,873

1.88 -0.14 3.51 0.16 1.03 -1.96 -

76 261 2 5 8 82 207 30 22 995

36,963,834 13,195,623 113,140 171,560 183,131 1,047,321 116,630,865 5,184,236 144,170 278,028,406

%CHANGE

TRADES

VOLUME

10,292.50 0.50

-

0

0

3,742.31 0.54 21,525.00 2.05

1.49

10 4

148,884 124,000

3,000.00 0.50

-

2

3,000

14,314.39 1.38

-

4

31,000

7,364.75 0.50

-

1

100

7,000.00 0.50 2,411.47 0.53

-

0 0

0 0

1,913.74 0.50

-

0

0

3,070.00 0.50

-

0

0

642.04 0.50

-

1

50

3,661.72 0.50 2,620.76 0.61 5,120.00 0.64

3.39 -

0 3 11

0 103,000 132,694

4,000.00 0.50

-

0

0

7,392.70 1.40 3,869.74 0.50 2,759.15 0.50

0.72 -

9 0 0

111,332 0 0

3,334.38 0.50

-

0

0

4,170.41 0.50

-

0

0

6,455.52 0.50

-

0

0

4,670.54 0.50

-

0

0

1,291.15 0.50

-

0

0

6,933.33 0.50

-

0

0

8,000.00 0.50

-

0

0

6,691.37 0.50

-3.85

5

705,409

50

1,359,469

MARKET PRICE CAP(Nm)

MARKET PRICE CAP(Nm)

%CHANGE

TRADES

VOLUME

-

0

0

2,995.50 1.31

0.77

5 5

123,000 123,000

MARKET PRICE CAP(Nm) 5,460.00 1.30 7,370.87 0.50

%CHANGE

TRADES

VOLUME

-

1 0

500 0

6,005.46 1.44

-

0

0

5,664.87 0.50

-

0

0

2,949.22 3.02

-

0

0

1

500

11,799.67 2.58

MARKET PRICE CAP(Nm) 7,540.00 3.77 23,527.46 4.00

%CHANGE

TRADES

VOLUME

0.53 4.99

31 20

320,438 22,507,848

44

T H I S D AY ˾ ͯͳË&#x153; Ͱͮͯ͵

45

˾ FRIDAY, DECEMBER 15, 2017

MARKET NEWS

SEC Restates Commitment to Industrial Harmony for Market Growth Goddy Egene The acting Director General of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Dr. Abdul Zubair has restated his commitment to workers’ welfare in order to ensure peace and harmony in the organisation that will eventually lead to growth of the nation’s capital market.

Zubair said this when he received executive members of the Association of Senior Civil

Servants of Nigeria (ASCSN) led by its Secretary General Comrade, Isaac Ojemhanke in Abuja.

The DG expressed the readiness of the present management of the commission to partner the trade union in a bid to make the working environment peaceful and ensure that the regulator is able to carry out its responsibilities without let or hindrance.

“We are pleased to partner

A Mutual fund (Unit Trust) is an investment vehicle managed by a SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission) registered Fund Manager.

Investors with similar objectives buy units of the Fund so that the Fund Manager can buy securities that willl generate their desired return.

An ETF (Exchange Traded Fund) is a type of fund which owns the assets (shares of stock, bonds, oil futures, gold bars, foreign currency, etc.) and divides ownership of those assets into shares. Investors can buy these ‘shares’ on the

with you and we are extending our hands of fellowship. We do not want confrontation. We are willing to partner with the union to fashion a way forward. We take the union in high esteem, we are here to listen and be ready to work with you,” Zubair said.

Speaking earlier, Ojemhanke said the union believes that the organisation has to exist for there to be a trade union, hence all efforts to ensure that there is peace and harmony within

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 13Dec-2017, unless otherwise stated.

organisation.

“There must be survival of the organization. If the organisation does not survive there would be no union.

We are here to partner with the management, we will partner with the SEC once the management is ready to play by the rules” Ojemhanke said.

He commended the acting DG for his efforts so far, especially steps taken to boost morale and improve industrial

harmony in the commission, adding that the parent body would always support the management in that direction.

Zubair recently assured the investing public and stakeholders of the commission’s its commitment to ensuring an uninterrupted and orderly operation of the market and the regulations thereof.

“Further to the Commission’s commitments to ensure market efficiency, accountability and

transparency in the Capital Market, the Commission wishes to assure the investing public and all stakeholders of its commitment to ensuring an uninterrupted and orderly operation of the market and the regulations thereof. Accordingly, the commission is poised to continue to ensure the stability of the Nigerian capital market and maintain the high level of investor confidence observed in the market,” he stressed.

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 182.59 186.42 44.99% Nigeria International Debt Fund 235.12 236.69 11.33% 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 17.50% ACAP Income Funds 0.64 0.64 82.53% AIICO CAPITAL LTD ammf@aiicocapital.com Web: www.aiicocapital.com, Tel: +234-1-2792974 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn AIICO Money Market Fund 100.00 100.00 18.43% 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 19.27 19.85 56.05% ARM Discovery Fund 396.51 408.46 38.07% ARM Ethical Fund 27.87 28.71 24.74% ARM Money Market Fund 1.00 1.00 17.69% 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 153.38 154.46 45.83% AXA Mansard Money Market Fund 1.00 1.00 17.91% 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 18.68% Paramount Equity Fund 12.07 12.38 28.96% Women’s Investment Fund 98.08 100.60 15.94% CORDROS ASSET MANAGEMENT LIMITED assetmgtteam@cordros.com Web: www.cordros.com, Tel: 019036947 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Cordros Money Market Fund 100.00 100.00 17.70% CORONATION ASSET MANAGEMENT investment@coronation.com Web: www.coronation.com, Tel: 012366215 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Coronation Money Market Fund 1.00 1.00 17.22% Coronation Balanced Fund 1.08 1.10 9.35% Coronation Fixed Income Fund 1.04 1.04 3.97% FBN CAPITAL ASSET MANAGEMENT LTD invest@fbnquest.com Web: www.fbnquest.com; Tel: +234-81 0082 0082 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn FBN Fixed Income Fund 1,136.66 1,137.83 12.02% FBN Heritage Fund 151.20 152.51 35.63% FBN Money Market Fund 100.00 100.00 17.60% FBN Nigeria Eurobond (USD) Fund - Institutional 112.24 113.16 9.07% FBN Nigeria Eurobond (USD) Fund - Retail 111.71 112.15 9.31% FBN Nigeria Smart Beta Equity Fund 172.39 174.95 53.13% 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 1.41 1.44 51.60% Legacy Short Maturity (NGN) Fund 2.97 2.97 15.63% 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 3,002.91 3,041.81 36.49% Coral Income Fund 2,452.15 2,452.15 17.64% 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 16.22% 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 17.66% Vantage Balanced Fund 2.13 2.16 26.91% Vantage Guaranteed Income Fund 1.00 1.00 18.31% Kedari Investment Fund (KIF) 114.12 114.12 17.61%

LOTUS CAPITAL LTD fincon@lotuscapitallimited.com Web: www.lotuscapitallimited.com; Tel: +234 1-291 4626 / +234 1-291 4624 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Lotus Halal Investment Fund 1.20 1.22 21.34% Lotus Halal Fixed Income Fund 1,049.97 1,049.97 11.37% 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 14.12 14.22 46.01% Meristem Money Market Fund 10.00 10.00 18.73% 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 1.26 24.02% PACAM Fixed Income Fund 11.00 11.07 5.88% PACAM Money Market Fund 10.00 10.00 16.68% 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 131.03 133.01 29.14% 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 1.42 1.42 13.94% 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 2,231.88 2,244.91 21.90% Stanbic IBTC Bond Fund 176.46 176.46 14.61% Stanbic IBTC Ethical Fund 1.00 1.01 30.52% Stanbic IBTC Guaranteed Investment Fund 218.66 218.66 17.00% Stanbic IBTC Iman Fund 180.22 182.46 38.78% Stanbic IBTC Money Market Fund 100.00 100.00 17.65% Stanbic IBTC Nigerian Equity Fund 9,604.07 9,716.02 26.65% Stanbic IBTC Dollar Fund (USD) 1.06 1.06 6.00% 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 1.34 1.35 19.73% United Capital Bond Fund 1.53 1.53 25.45% United Capital Equity Fund 0.94 0.96 39.57% United Capital Money Market Fund ZENITH ASSETS MANAGEMENT LTD Web: www.zenith-funds.com; Tel: +234 1-2784219 Fund Name Zenith Equity Fund Zenith Ethical Fund Zenith Income Fund

1.00

Bid Price 12.80 13.55 18.97

1.00 17.10% info@zenith-funds.com Offer Price 12.99 13.70 18.97

Yield / T-Rtn 32.40% 23.80% 14.70%

NAV Per Share

Yield / T-Rtn

11.41

1.01%

132.29

6.71%

Bid Price

Offer Price

Yield / T-Rtn

12.10

12.20

39.86%

REITS 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

145.14

148.29

46.72%

Stanbic IBTC ETF 30 Fund

110.59

112.68

45.95%

VETIVA FUND MANAGERS LTD Web: www.vetiva.com; Tel: +234 1 453 0697 Fund Name Vetiva Banking Exchange Traded Fund Vetiva Consumer Goods Exchange Traded Fund Vetiva Griffin 30 Exchange Traded Fund Vetiva Industrial Goods Exchange Traded Fund Vetiva S&P Nigeria Sovereign Bond Exchange Traded Fund

funds@vetiva.com Bid Price

Offer Price

Yield / T-Rtn

4.83 9.81 17.66 20.50 146.34

4.87 9.89 17.76 20.70 148.34

74.29% 39.32% 49.06% 28.35% 15.25%

The value of investments and the income from them may fall as well as rise. Past performance is a guide and not an indication of future returns. Fund prices published in this edition are also available on each fund manager’s website and FMAN’s website at www.fman.com.ng. Fund prices are supplied by the operator of the relevant fund and are published for information purposes only.

FRIDAY DECEMBER 15, 2017 ˾ T H I S D AY

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INTERNATIONAL

email:foreigndesk@thisdaylive.com

Diplomats Clamour for Intensified Security after Breach at German Embassy Chiemelie Ezeobi Following the recent breach at the German Embassy on Walter Carrington Crescent, Victoria Island, five diplomats from their respective embassies yesterday tasked the police to intensify security.

The diplomats were drawn from the British High Commission, United States (US), German, Italian and The Netherlands embassies, all in Lagos.

Tabling their grouse before the Lagos Police Commissioner, Edgal Imohimi, at the command headquarters in Ikeja, they cited the popular Nigerian Army Mammy Market operated in the neighbourhood, as one of the security threats they face.

They also condemned the activities of touts, who crowd the parking lot

by Ahmadu Bello Way end of the crescent to scout customers.

According them, their worries were triggered by the recent security breach at the German Embassy, which almost went out of hand before it was contained.

They appealed to the police boss to close the market and carryout an operation in order to rid the area of criminals they claimed were attracted to the neighbourhood as a result of the market.

In response, Imohimi reminded them that it was a military zone and the police would not conduct any operations there without collaborating with the military.

He educated the diplomats on the need to have at least three armed policemen at all times within their premises.

He also urged them to have a common ground constructed for the printers and photocopiers, where any applicant seeking their services would go to.

Similarly, Imohimi also received the Vice Chancellor, University of Lagos (UNILAG) Prof.

Oluwatoyin Ogundipe, who clamoured for increased patrol on the lagoon bordering the university.

While assuring the entourage

that the police has strengthened security on the waterways, he said the marine unit of the command had taken stock of jetties in the state, both public and private ones, which have been included in security arrangements.

Imohimi said perceived troubled spots have also been identified and were witnessing increased patrols, assuring residents of a hitch free yuletide.

In an interview afterwards, the VC said, “The University of Lagos is only the school that has lagoon on one side and we are vulnerable because of the location of the school.

“We have been doing our best to make sure we keep security but at the same time, we have to bring in the state security to assist us.”

CHANGE OF NAME

CHANGE OF NAME

I, formerly known and addressed as AKINNUSI FUNLAYO MA'RET now wish to be known and addressed as O'UNSEMORE FUNMILAYO MA'RET. All former documents remain valid. The general public should please take note.

I, formerly known and addressed as KAREEM A IDEMI RUTH now wish to be known and addressed as ERE IFA RUTH. All former documents remain valid. The general public should please take note.

I, formerly known and addressed as EMEKA OKONKWOR now wish to be known and addressed as EFI EMEKA OKONKWOR. All former documents remain valid. The general public should please take note.

I, formerly known and addressed as ONWULIRI KENNETH O INNA now wish to be known and addressed as NWANNA KENNETH O INNA. All former documents remain valid.

The general public should please take note.

I, formerly known and addressed as VICTOR AKURO ANYAE' UNAM now wish to be known and addressed as VICTOR ANYAE' UNAM AKURO. All former documents remain valid.

The general public should please take note.

I, formerly known and addressed as LAYENI OLAMIDE now wish to be known and addressed as MRS ALAKIJA OLAMIDE. All former documents remain valid. The general public should please take note.

I, formerly known and addressed as AJAYI OLUWAKAYODE HE O now wish to be known and addressed as AJAYI OLUWAKAYODE EZEKAYA. All former documents remain valid.

The general public should please take note.

I, formerly known and addressed as AHMED A A AHMED SAIDU now wish to be known and addressed as AHMED SAID. All former documents remain valid.

The general public should please take note.

I, formerly known and addressed as SALAU KAMALDEEN NIYI now wish to be known and addressed as SALAUDEEN KAMOLIDEEN NIYI. All former documents remain valid.

The general public should please take note.

I, formerly known and addressed as MISS MARTHA ALVAN now wish to be known and addressed as MRS MARTHA TEMPLE AYASUK. All former documents remain valid.

The general public should please take note.

I, formerly known and addressed as Emanuel olugbenga O'UNWALE now wish to be known and addressed as Emmanuel olugbenga AYOMIDEͲ AAFO'. All former documents remain valid. The general public should please take note.

I, formerly known and addressed as SAIRYON PRECIOUS now wish to be known and addressed as SAIRYON PRECIOUS OLA ISI. All former documents remain valid.

The general public should please take note.

CORRECTION OF NAME: I A DURRAHMAN MUNIRUDEEN TAIWO my name was wrongly spelt as MUNIRUDE A ULRRAHAMAN TAIWO and MUNIRUDE TAIWO A DULRAHMAN. Henceforth I wish to be known and address as A DURRAHMAN MUNIRUDEEN TAIWO. All former document remain the same.The general public take note.

CORRECTION OF NAME: I A OH ASHIR YAMUSA formerly known as A OH ASHIR my name was wrongly spelt as A OH ESIRU YAMUSA .I henceforth wish to be known and address as A OH ASHIR YAMUSA. All former documents remain the same.The general public take note.

I, formerly known and addressed as CYNTHIA ISIOMA OSEDO now wish to be known and addressed as PRINCESS CYNTHIA ISIOMA DENNISͳA' ANOMA. All former documents remain valid.

The general public should please take note.

T H I S D AY FRIDAY DECEMBER 15 2017

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T H I S D AY ˾ ͯͳË&#x153; Ͱͮͯ͵

T H I S D AY FRIDAY DECEMBER 15 2017

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FRIDAY DECEMBER 15, 2017 ˾ T H I S D AY

NEWSEXTRA

Court Denies Alleged Husband Killer, Maryam Sanda Bail Alex Enumah in Abuja A High Court of the Federal

Capital Territory (FCT) in Jabi, Abuja, yesterday refused the bail application of Maryam Sanda who

Driving School Instructor Rapes, Kills Corps Member in Ogun Femi Ogbonnikan in Abeokuta A 29-year-old murder suspect is now in police custody for allegedly killing a corps member after raping her.

The suspect, Festus Udoh, yesterday, before journalists at the Ogun State Police Command headquarters, Eleweran, Abeokuta, narrated how he lured, raped and strangled the corps member, Tawose Modupe, who was serving in Abeokuta, to death at Mawuko area in Odeda Local Government Area of the state.

According to the 29-year-old suspect who is a driving instructor and a native of Uromi, Edo State, the victim had enrolled at the driving school where he was working and she was assigned to him as a learner.

Udoh stated that the victim had called him last Saturday for her learner’s permit, after which he asked her to come to Lafenwa area of Abeokuta to collect it.

“As she came to Lafenwa, I now told her that she should follow me, that there was a place that I will do it for her. We boarded a taxi at Lafenwa and alighted at Iberekodo.

From there, we took a bike and dropped at Mawuko junction. As we were coming and discussing, she asked me, ‘is it this place?’ I said this is where I used to stay.

She now followed me. We walked to this place and I then told her I wanted to have sex with her. She said no. I insisted and dragged her into the bush.

“As she refused my advances, I dragged her into the bush and had sex with her. After having sex with her, she threatened to inform her family. I told her not to inform her family. I then tore her shirt. As she was gasping for breath, I left and fled the scene.

“The following day, fellow corps members had called my boss to inquire on the whereabout of the lady. My boss called me to come and see her at church. So, when I got there, I saw that people had gathered there. From there, they dragged me into the vehicle and took me to Lafenwa police station.

I was there until I was taken to anti-kidnapping section, where I confessed to the crime,” Udoh stated.

Briefing journalists yesterday, the Ogun State Commissioner of Police, Alhaji Ahmed Iliyasu, who was on-the-spot assessment to the crime scene, said the command had earlier received a case of a missing Batch A 2017 corps member.

The CP added that upon receiving the information, detectives from the anti-cultism, anti-kidnapping squad, and other operatives from Lafenwa police division and federal SARS swiftly swung into action.

Iliyasu noted that through technical intelligence and information, the police were able to verify some information with the persons or person she had her last contacted or spoken with.

“Technically, the information led to one person by name Festus Udoh, an indigene of Uromi in Edo State, who was teaching this innocent deceased corps member how to drive. She enlisted with him in a driving school by name Lizzy Driving School in Abeokuta.

The man tactically and deceitfully convinced her on the fateful day that her driving permit was ready.

“She went to meet him and he cleverly and deceitfully took this lady and brought her down to this area, Mawuko, in this forest and had a forceful, illegal carnal knowledge of her. At the end of which he strangled her and killed her.

FG Approves PPA for $550m, 550MW Ondo Power Plant Chineme Okafor in Abuja The federal government yesterday gave its approval to the Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) between the Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading Company Plc (NBET) and Kingline Power Limited for the construction of its 550 megawatts (MW) Ondo open cycle independent power project (IPP).

The government approval of the project’s PPA was made known in Abuja when the NBET and Kingline signed the terms in the agreement before the Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Mr. Babatunde Fashola.

With the final signing of the PPA by the Managing Director of NBET, Dr. Marilyn Amobi, and Chief Executive Officer of Kingline, Mr. Sean Kim, Kingline indicated that it would now move to achieve a financial closure on the project within quarter three (Q3) of 2018, and subsequently commence construction.

Amobi, in her remarks, stated that the PPA was procured within the least cost development plan of

the NBET, and that it had gone through the regulatory processes as well as a review by the Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP), and legal advice, from the office of the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice.

She explained that Kingline would be expected by the government to from this, achieve a financial closure shortly and construct the plants for power generation to the grid.

Similarly, Kim noted that within the period it initiated the PPA with the NBET in 2016, it had gone on to execute an Engineering Procurement Contract (EPC) with Hyundai Engineering, in addition to securing other contracts relevant to the construction of the plant within 24 months.

He also said the company has so far raised up to $150 million worth of equity for the project, and that its debt financing would be anchored by development financial institutions and export credit agencies being arranged by Standard Chartered Bank.

is accused of killing her husband, Bilyamin Bello, son of a former National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

Justice Yusuf Halilu, who rejected Sanda’s application for bail, however, granted that of her co-accused.

Maryam, her mother, Meimunat Aliyu, a former Director of Aso Savings and Loans, and two other members of their family are being prosecuted by the federal government over their alleged complicity in the death of late Bilyamin.

Meimuna, Aliyu Sanda and Sadia Aminu were alleged to have tampered with evidence of the said offence.

They were arraigned on a twocount criminal charge preferred against them by the police.

They however, pleaded not guilty to the charges.

While count one of the charge borders on murder and culpable homicide, charged and directed at Maryam, the second borders on concelling true information from the police and tampering with evidence was targeted at the three other defendants.

Following their not guilty

plea, prosecuting counsel, James Idachaba, prayed the court for an adjournment to enable them prepare for the trial.

Responding, defence counsel, Joseph Daudu (SAN), however brought an application praying the court to admit the defendants to bail pending their trial.

But the application for bail was opposed by prosecution counsel.

In his ruling on the bail application for Maryam, the trial judge, Justice Yusuf Halilu, held that the applicant did not give an exceptional circumstance to warrant the court to exercise its discretion in her favour.

He noted that the defence counsel in his submission stated that Maryam is having a life threatening disease which cannot be taken care of by the prison facility.

The court however held that the applicant did not present a proof that such disease cannot be handled by the prison facility.

Responding on the second grounds canvassed by Daudu that Maryam is having an eight month old baby, the court held that such factor cannot be a ground for the court to exercise its discretion

in favour of the defendant.

The court consequently refused the bail application for Maryam.

For other three defendants, the court noted that since they were on police administrative bail, there was no reason why bail should not be granted in their favour.

Justice Halilu therefore granted the three other defendants bail with two sureties with evidence of residence in Abuja.

He added that such sureties must submit their travel documents with the registrar of the court and also the title documents of their landed properties.

The court added that such documents would be verified and authenticated.

The court later adjourned till February 5,6,7 and 8, 2017 for commencement of trial.

Meanwhile, the Independent Corrupt and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) yesterday threatened to obtain a bench warrant against Meimunat who was scheduled for arraignment before another court yesterday over allegation of fraud.

Meimunat could not attend the court where she was billed to answer charges on alleged

fraud owing to her joinder in a murder case.

Her daughter, Maryam, was alleged to have stabbed her late husband Bilyaminu, with dangerous weapon on November 19 in Abuja.

Meimuna and two others, Aliyu Sanda and Sadia Aminu, were alleged to have tampered with evidence of the said offence.

But the ICPC reacting to her absence at the trial yesterday, said it may be forced to apply for a bench warrant against Meimuna who was a former Director at the Aso Savings and Loans so as to come and face her trial over alleged fraud.

Meimuna was meant to be arraigned before Justice Mero Nasiru of Court 16 but she was not in attendance.

The court was however informed that the defendant was before Justice Yusuf Halilu of Court 32 to answer to a murder case where she was joined as co-defendant, alongside her daughter.

The court however frowned at such act, saying in order of hierachy, the defendant ought to have appeared before it first and not the other way round.

Justice Nasiru however adjourned till January 11, 2018.

CONFERENCE PARTICIPANTS

L-R: Group Deputy Managing Director, Access Bank Plc, Roosevelt Ogbonna; Commissioner for Science and Technology, Lagos State, Femi Odubiyi; and Executive Vice Chairman, Signal Alliance Limited, Collins Onuegbu, during the first Africa Fintech Foundry (AFF) conference 2017 in Lagos....yesterday

Bulkachuwa Defends Appointment of 14 Justices to A’Court Bench Alex Enumah in Abuja The President of the Court of Appeal, (PCA), Justice Zainab Bulkachuwa, yesterday disclosed that the court followed laid down procedure in the appointment of 14 justices of the court.

Justice Bulkachuwa who made the disclosure at the opening ceremony of the 2017 Court of Appeal judges’ conference in Abuja, added that the appointment was to fill the vacancies which arose from retirement, demise and elevation to the Supreme Court Bench of some justices from certain zones of the country.

Speaking on the activities of the appellate court, Justice Bulkachuwa said the Court of Appeal, within the year delivered a total of 3,001

judgements and has heard about 6, 963 appeals.

Allegations, bothering on exclusion of judges from the South-east zone of the country had trailed the appointment of the 14 justices to the Court of Appeal Bench, but Bulkachuwa said the judges appointed were from the zones where vacancies exist on the bench of the court.

According to her, the ongoing process of elevation of judges to the court is strictly based on merit with particular preference for judges who have distinguished themselves by the quality of their judgements in the lower courts and to fill in vacancies created by the death, retirement or elevation to the Supreme Court of former justices.

The PCA said the annual conference of the court, which takes

place every December is a tradition to bring together the justices of the Court of Appeal to brainstorm on the successes so far recorded with a view to highlighting and proffering solutions to the issues raised.

“Sometimes ago, the judiciary came under heavy attacks on allegation of corrupt practices. As judicial officers, it is not enough to simply talk about corrupt practices but one must believe in the fight against corruption and we must work at it together.

“I urge us all to eschew corruption and uphold best practices that will rekindle and bring back trust to the judicial arm of government. Let’s not ask how corruption can be tackled; our main focus should be

on what we can do as individuals, or collectively as a body to address this plague,” she said.

In his remarks, the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Walter Onnoghen, commended the justices of the Court of Appeal for keying into his vision to reform the judiciary and decongesting the courts by speedy conclusion of matters pending before various divisions.

He charged the judges to be courageous, fair, firm and to stick to the constitutional provisions, the law and doctrine of precedent in the discharge of their duties.

Onnoghen further enjoined the justices to be in absolute control of their court and the information put in the public domain, adding that they should do less of damage control, and more of pro-active dissemination of information.

FRIDAY DECEMBER 15, 2017 ˾ T H I S D AY

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NEWSEXTRA

Nnamani Asks Court to Stop EFCC from Prosecuting Him Says he entered plea bargain with anti-graft agency in 2011 Davidson Iriekpen Former Governor of Enugu State, Chimaroke Nnamani, has urged the Federal High Court in Lagos to restrain the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) from inviting, arresting or prosecuting him in connection with a criminal charge involving an alleged N5.3bn fraud.

In an application filed before Justice Chuka Obiozor yesterday, Nnamani through his lawyer, Shamsudeen Abubakar, from the chambers of Mr. Rickey Tarfa (SAN), sought an “order of perpetual injunction restraining the complainant/respondent whether by itself, agents, privies or any other person from inviting, interrogating, investigating, arresting

IjawYouths Accuse IOCs of Blackmailing N’Delta over Relocation Directive Emmanuel Addeh in Yenagoa The Ijaw Youth Council (IYC) Worldwide has taken exception to insinuations by some International Oil Companies (lOCs) that their failure to relocate their headquarters to the Niger Delta was as result of the insecurity in the region.

The foremost Ijaw youth group in a statement in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State, its national headquarters, said there was no tenable excuse for the refusal of the oil companies to move their offices to the area where their operations are based.

According to the Secretary General of the group, Mr Alfred Kemepado, there is nowhere in the world where the current Nigerian model of locating head offices outside of regions where oil majors operate is obtainable.

“Oil companies in Europe operate within the territory where crude is extracted. So why is it different here in the Niger Delta?

“The allegation that the Niger Delta is not secure remains an evil blackmail, because the police records have proven that the region remains one of the most secure in Nigeria.

If the region is not secure, how come oil production per barrel is increasing?” he queried.

Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, had during a peace tour of the Niger Delta, assured the

region that the federal government was working closely with the oil companies to ensure that they moved their headquarters to the region.

Kemepado argued that even when insurgents struck in parts of the country, including the federal capital, there was no news of any company relocating for reasons of insecurity, noting that there was a deliberate ploy to “de-market,” the region.

“There are Boko Baram bombings in the North. Even in Abuja, they even struck, yet companies are not relocating. The situation in the Niger Delta is not peculiar to the region, therefore the rumoured issue of insecurity is not a potent reason why the IOCs should not relocate,” the IYC scribe said.

The Ijaw youth body said that many people were benefitting from painting the Niger Delta in bad light, stressing that the ‘cabals’ must back down on the campaign to dent the image of the oil-rich area. “ The Niger Delta region has suffered a deliberate de-marketing and image-denting by those involved in bad politics, simply for their selfish gains. Niger Deltans are a peaceful people,” he posited.

“Some cabals have connived with the IOC’s to deliberately demarket the region in order to gain total control of her economy,” the IYC alleged.

SON Launches PAM to Check Substandard Products Jonathan Eze The Director-General of the Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON), Osita Aboloma, has said that the agency’s newly introduced Product Authentication Mark (PAM) will raise the patronage of madein-Nigeria products and boost the country’s economic diversification drive from oil to non-oil sector and check substandard products.

The PAM is a mark of quality fixed on all finished products to demonstrate their conformity to approved standards. It is issued as a sticker with security features and QR code which can be scanned by a smart phone. It is applied on each product to ensure traceability and tracking of imported and local products.

Speaking at a stakeholders forum on PAM in Lagos yesterday, Aboloma said PAM would reduce counterfeiting of products which had become a clog in the wheel of the progress of local manufacturers, adding that it was one of the federal government’s initiatives targeted at improving the business “We started it because counterfeiting is an age-long

menace that has burdened us, leading to the influx of substandard goods in Nigeria. It also makes it difficult for local manufacturers to be competitive,” the said.

“It is our opportunity to deploy technology and authenticate products shipped into the Nigerian market,” he said.

Certain items such as food products, drugs, and machineries of manufacturers, among others, are exempted from PAM, which will tentatively take effect on February 1, 2018.

According to Acting Director, Product Certification, SON, Tersoo Orngudwem, the PAM was important to manufacturers as it would enable them to sell their products and easily trace them in the market.

Orngudwem said the agency’s initiative would reduce the cost of changing logos while ensuring that consumers buy products that gave them value for their money.

On his part, DG of the Consumer Protection Council (CPC), Babatunde Irukera, said his agency supported the PAM as it would protect consumers from buying counterfeits and cloned products.

or prosecuting the accused person in respect of the offences contained in Charge No: FHC/L/09C/2007 – Federal Republic of Nigeria Vs. Chimaroke Nnamani & Ors in its original or amended form.”

The ex-governor, who is said to be seriously ill in a United States’ hospital, also urged the judge to set aside the warrant issued for his arrest last week.

Nnamani alongside his erstwhile aide, Sunday Anyaogu, and six companies were charged with alleged N5.3bn fraud in 2007.

On March 25, 2015, Justice Mohammed Yunusa, who was handling the case, granted an application by the EFCC the assets of the six companies charged with the former governor.

Counsel for the EFCC, Kelvin Uzozie, hinged the application on the fact that the case was not moving due to the ill health of Nnamani, who had to take court’s permission on several occasions to travel abroad.

On May 19, 2015 the six companies were re-arraigned on

amended 10 counts.

The companies are Rainbownet Nigeria Limited, Hillgate Nigeria Limited, Cosmo FM, Capital City Automobile Nigeria Limited, Renaissance University Teaching Hospital and Mea Mater Elizabeth High School.

Mr. Rickey Tarfa, who represented them, entered guilty plea for them On July 7, 2015, the assets and funds of the four companies were forfeited to the federal government.

The four companies whose assets were forfeited to the federal government are Renaissance University Teaching Hospital; Cosmos FM; Capital CityAutomobile Nigeria Limited, all in Enugu; and Rainbownet Nigeria Limited.

The schedule filed by the EFCC indicated that the companies’ assets were worth over N5bn, while the amount standing to their credit in 64 banks was estimated at N34.8m.

Upon the forfeiture of the companies’ assets, Justice Yunusa adjourned further proceedings in respect of the rest of the defendants till November 12, 2015.

Nothing was, however, heard again about the case until November 30 this year when the matter came up before Justice Obiozor, since Justice Yunusa had been suspended.

Justice Obiozor fixed December 4 for the re-arraignment of the defendants but Nnamani and Anyaogu were absent in court leading to the judge issuing a bench warrant against them and ordering that they should be produced before him on December 14, 2017.

But in his application yesterday, Nnamani stated that he had already entered into a plea bargain with the federal government during which the companies charged along with him forfeited their assets.

He disclosed that prior to his handing over the reigns of affairs of governance of Enugu State on May 29, 2007, he undertook a medical trip abroad to attend to his ailing health.

The former governor added that on July 13, 2007, due to the sharp deterioration of his health, the 1st accused/applicant was seen as an

emergency by the cardiology unit of the National Hospital, Abuja with progressive chest pain, dizziness, palpitation, breathlessness and poor vision.

He said he underwent a major heart surgery abroad in 2003 to correct a grave medical condition in his heart; He noted that in view of his inability to stand trial without jeopardising his life in the process, he was advised by his lawyers to consider settling outside the court in order to adequately take care of his grave ill health.

He said this made him to instruct his counsel of Messrs Rickey Tarfa and Co., to initiate the plea bargain settlement process with the EFCC. Nnamani said consequently, by a letter dated October 12, 2011, the Chairman of the EFCC was intimated formally of his intention to settle the case out of court.

In order to give full effect to the plea bargain agreement, he said he was required to furnish the EFCC with particulars of properties in the companies.

PROJECT INAUGURATION

L-R: Former Delta State Governor, Chief James Ibori; Governor Ifeanyi Okowa; Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike; and Iyase of Asaba, Chief Isioma Onyeobi, at the inauguration of the Cable Point road, Asaba.... Wednesday.

House C’ttee Gives Last Chance to Adenuga, Olusanya, Bello-Osagie to Avert Arrest Insists no institution is above parliament James Emejo in Abuja The House of Representatives Adhoc Committee investigating the activities of telcoms operators and vendors yesterday issued what it termed the final opportunity for some chief executives of major telecommunications companies to appear before it to avert arrest.

Speaking at the resumed hearing, Chairman of the committee, Hon. Ahmed Abu, while issuing the final summon for Chairman of Globacom, Dr. Mike Adenuga Jr.; Globacom Group Chief Operating Officer, Mr. Mohammed Jameel and Chief Executive of 9Mobile, Mr. Boye Olusanya to appear before it, warned that “the proceeding for warrant of arrest is close to the chest of this committee.”

Also summoned for the last time was the former Chairman of the defunct Etisalat Nigeria, Mr. Hakeem Bello Osagie.

The committee’s decision followed repeated entreaty to the parties to appear before it and clarify allegations of tax evasion amounting to about N143 billion; breach of contract between telecoms operators and value added services providers, particularly in the areas of lottery activities; five per cent VAT charge on recharge cards among other activities considered as unfriendly business practices.

The investigative hearing is as a result of the resolution of the House at plenary over a motion on the need to probe alleged foul play in the telecommunications sector.

However, in moving the motion for their arrest, which was later amended to a final summon, a member of the committee, Hon. Darlington Nwokocha (PDP, Abia) said:”When invites are being extended to people, institutions and agencies, it is expected that

they respond; for whatever reasons that they are not able to come the first time or the second time and the reasons are not quite genuine, I think it behoves on this House to reason otherwise and to invoke the necessary instrument that can put us on the right track.

“I think there are one or two persons, leaders of particular organisations- 9Mobile and Etisalat- Several invites had been extended to them and our procedures have not been accordingly progressing as desired because the necessary information we expect from them have not been given to us.”

Also, in ruling on the summons, Abu further noted that “Also, we invited Globacom and I can’t even remember the last time Globacom attended any of our meetings and Globacom is supposed to be the home-grown company.

“I think we’ll make a fool of

ourselves to talk about MTN, Airtel and 9Mobile and leave Globacom out of it...so, they’ve not honoured any of our invitations. And I have just been informed by the office that we actually wrote Mr. Adenuga; anyway, this is a tough one but for the interest of this institution, the summary of all what I’ve said today is that no one is bigger than the institution called parliament.

We oversee so many things; the parliament is the conscience of this country and I think you all agree with me.

“But in the interest of this institution as the conscience of this nation, we know he (Adenuga) is a Nigerian and we’ll keep it just at our right hand side, an arrest warrant if the Glo company fails to honour any of the invitations not from Hon. Ahmed Abu, not from this adhoc committee but from the House of Representatives because this is a resolution of the House.”

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Court Declares Name Change to ‘State of Osun’ Illegal Yinka Kolawole in Osogbo The Osun State High Court in Ilesa yesterday declared the change of the name of the state to the “State of Osun” illegal, null and void.

Delivering judgment in a case instituted by a human rights activist, Kanmi Ajibola, challenging the legality of the ‘State of Osun Land Use Charge Law’, Justice Yinka Afolabi ruled that the law and its makers were unknown to the 1999 Constitution.

In his over one hour judgment, the judge chided the state Governor, Rauf Aregbesola, for deliberately and singlehandedly renaming the state illegally contrary to the known norms and the country’s constitution.

He also declared that the makers of the law, who are currently serving as members of the state House of Assembly, were not sworn in as members of the ‘State of Osun House of Assembly’ but as members of Osun State House of Assembly going by the seventh schedule of the constitution.

Going through history of state creations in Nigeria since 1962, Justice Afolabi stated that since the creation of the state in 1991, previous governments used the constitutional envisaged name,

Osun State while all other 35 states of the federation have not deviated from the constitutional names given to them.

“The executive governor of the state changed the name in 2011.

The renaming of a state goes further and deeper for anyone to singlehandedly do. To re-order the name of Osun State as ‘State of Osun’ is hereby declare illegal, null and void.

“On the oath of allegiance, I want to state that the seventh schedule is part of the law. It is not a mere draft or mere oath.

It does not give room for any alteration. After deposing to an oath of office, you cannot turn around to do otherwise,” the Justice Afolabi stated.

Ajibola had canvassed that all businesses done in the name of ‘State of Osun’ be declared null and void, saying such were done contrary to the constitution.

He had gone to court in 2016, asking for certain reliefs after being served a notice by a private company known as Interspatial Limited and christened as ‘State of Osun Land Use Charge Annual Demand Notice’ in the name of ‘State of Osun’, and signed by one Mrs. A. Ogunlumade, Permanent Secretary of the state Ministry of Finance.

According to him, the notice was

You Risk LoosingYour Crowns If Olubadan is Dethroned, Family Heads Tell New Obas Ademola Babalola in Ibadan Ibadan family heads, otherwise known as Mogajis, have issued a stern warning to the eight of the 21 new kings enthroned by Governor Abiola Ajimobi in August 27 this year.

They asked the new Obas who recently issued 21-day ultimatum within which they planned to recommend Olubadan to state government for dethronement, to immediately withdraw such notice or face the wrath of all Ibadan sons and daughters.

The eight Obas were high chiefs and members in the Olubadan-in-council.

They became crown-wearing Obas following the recent reform carried out on the 1957 Ibadan Chieftaincy Declaration Law. The reform has however pitted the state government and the new Obas on one hand against the Olubadan and his subjects.

The Mogajis under the Council of Ibadan Authentic Mogajis, after their meeting at Oja’ba palace on Wednesday, reportedly attended by notable Mogajis like Alhaji Abass Oloko (Mogaji Oloko), Chief Abduljelyl Karheem (Mogaji Adanla), Alhaji Moshud Gbolagade (Mogaji Akere), Alhaji Waheed Kosoko (Mogaji Onilabu), Alhaji Ademola Oladosu (Mogaji Olasomi) and Chief Wale Oladoja (Mogaji Akinsola family), said they could no longer fold their arms and watch the city disintegrate.

Their spokesman, Chief Oladoja in a statement said: “We can’t continue to fold our arms and watch while some people rain abuses and insults on our revered Kabiyesi.

“It is a big slap on the real Ibadan sons and daughters, and we have decided to appeal to the eight high chiefs to withdraw their statement within the next seven days or face the consequences of their disloyalty to the Olubadan, who by law and tradition of the city remains the Paramount ruler of the land.

“These eight high chiefs are members of the in Olubadanin-council and they should stop parading themselves as constitutional Obas in Ibadan land, failure to do so may lead to anarchy.

“We know quite alright that the government of President Muhammadu Buhari will not tolerate anything that will jeopardise the security of any part of the country, and the governor as the Chief Security Officer of the state should caution all these so-called vassal Obas.

“They should allow court to decide the cases on merit and stop cutting corners. We, the authentic Mogajis begin to wonder if these people are already feeling guilty before the court pronouncements?

Why should anybody not allow the status quo to remain pending the judgment of several cases on the matter.

“We hold dear Nigerian judiciary as bastion and hope of all. Therefore, they should allow the judiciary to do its job. Otherwise, we will go after them and subject them to public ridicule too. They are our fathers and they should know that an injury to one is an injury to all. They risk losing their crowns should they go ahead to recommend Olubadan for removal over phantom charges.

addressed to him as the property owner of No. 42, Onigbogi Street off Ibala, Ilesa West, and was served him on August 15, 2016.

Justice Afolabi threw out all the arguments by the state Attorney-

General, Dr. Basiru Ajibola, who stood in as counsel for the state governor and the state government and that of the Director of Legal Services, Mrs. Rachel Ojinni, as he granted all the seven prayers of

the plaintiff.

The judge also berated the governor for his refusal to appoint his commissioners who should perform their statutory duties, saying the tax law itself envisaged

that tax matters must be endorsed by the Commissioner for Finance and not any other person.

However, the stateAttorney-General disclosed at the court that the judgment would be appealed.

PROUD PARENTS

Lagos-based lawyer, Dr. Joseph Nwobike (SAN); his daughter, Oprah; and wife, Olubunmi, at Oprah’s call to Bar in Abuja...Tuesday

Delta’s Job Creation Template a Model, Says World Bank Omon-Julius Onabu in Asaba The World Bank has endorsed the Job Creation Scheme of the Delta State Government as a model for other states to emulate.

Speaking on behalf of the global financial institution in Asaba yesterday, Dr Tunde Adekola, a Senior Education Specialist in the global bank, observed that “Delta State is the only state that has demonstrated its commitment to skills development in practical terms.”

The World Bank representative spoke at the Products Exhibition and Business Fair by beneficiaries of the Delta State Government’s job creation scheme.

According to Adekola, “The World Bank will continue to support the Delta State Government in the areas of skills and technical

development and will work with the Job Creation Office of the state government to strengthen the labour market observatory system in order to make Okowa’s dream of re-creating the middle class a reality.”

At least 400 out of the 2,324 beneficiaries of the Skills Training and Entrepreneurship Programme (STEP) and the Youth Agricultural Entrepreneurs Programme (YAGEP) of the state participated in the exhibition and business fair.

Declaring the event open, Okowa said that many of the young entrepreneurs “began their journey less than 15 months ago when they completed their training programmes and were handed their starter-packs. Some of them commenced their businesses for as short as six or nine months ago. Indeed, theirs is a remarkable story of industry, diligence and

determination to succeed.

While expressing optimism that the job creation programmes of his administration will ensure diversification of the economy, Okowa credited the success of the scheme to “rigorous planning, discipline, focus, painstaking selection process, stringent guidelines, prudent management and commitment to set goals.”

According to him, “we had to brave the odds and refused to accept the notion that the average youth in Delta was not ready to jettison the rent-seeking mentality and the prevalent culture of entitlement.

“We are inching closer towards our goal of economic diversification through our STEP and YAGEP, as the beneficiaries of these programmes have the capacity to enhance the business

competitiveness of the state economy thereby enabling it to withstand external shocks that may arise from vicissitudes in the oil market.”

Nonetheless, the Sokoto State Governor, Alhaji Aminu Tambuwal, who was with Okowa during the event, expressed delight at the impressive turnout of the efforts of the young exhibitors who he said were set to add value to the local economy of the state.

Earlier in the day, Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State inaugurated the multi-million naira Cable Point Dual Carriage way in Asaba. Speaking at the commissioning ceremony, Wike congratulated Okowa for keeping his promises to the people of Delta State.

“Money or no money, it is good when you make a promise, fulfil your promise,” he declared.

NBM Moves to Partner Govt, Empower, Resettle Libya Returnees Sunday Okobi The Neo Black Movement (NBM) of Africa Worldwide has stated that it is perfecting arrangements to partner the federal government in order to empower and resettle Nigerians who were recently repatriated from Libya on account of slave trade and other inhuman activities being perpetrated in that country.

During a march at the weekend in Lagos, the movement’s National Media Officer, Mr. Obiora Klinton Aduba, called on the United Nations, African Union and the

Nigerian Government to ensure that the perpetrators were brought to book.

According to him, before the middle of the second quarter of next year, seminars and other functions would be organised to empower the returnees and sensitise Nigerians against seeking greener pastures abroad.

He noted that the citizens needed not travel overseas before they could make it in life.

Admitting that unemployment may have necessitated the exodus of some of these citizens, Aduba stated that the movement was

brainstorming on how government could create jobs and gainfully engage the youths to stem the emigration.

He noted that the various placards eliciting social justice were informed by the group’s disposition to put an end to poverty, a root cause of these sojourns.

According to him, “We are on the streets to condemn the slave trade and other inhuman acts taking place in Libya. We have marched to their embassy to say no to impunity by the Libyans against their fellow blacks. We call on the United Nations, African Union and

the Federal Government to bring the perpetrators to justice.

“NBM of Africa would partner the government to empower the returnees so that they can know that there is more to life and realise that they can be useful to themselves even after the terrible experiences in Libya.”

Asked why the movement is so passionate about the issue, the National Legal Adviser, Chief Hope Aliyu, recalled that NBM was born to check white’s oppression, decrying that in this instance, it were Africans inflicting torture on fellow blacks.

T H I S D AY FRIDAY DECEMBER 15 2017

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T H I S D AY ˾ FRIDAY, DECEMBER 15, 2017

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FRIDAYSPORTS

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

Kanu, Diouf, Other African Legends Play for IDPs in Kano Ibrahim Shaibu in Kano Former African football stars including Nwankwo Kanu; former Senegal and Liverpool forward, El Hadji Diouf; former South African Captain, Aaron Mokoena, and former Zimbabwe star, Benjani Nwaruwari were all in action yesterday as some legends of the game in the continent played Kano Pillars FC in a charity game at the Sani Abacha Stadium in Kano.

These former stars trooped into the ancient city to play in the charity match put together to raise funds for the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in the North-East of Nigeria.

Although the game watched by a capacity crowd at the Sai Masu Gida ground ended 2-1 in favour of the NPFL team, the legends showed glimpses of what made them popular amongst African football fans.

Akide Ibrahim scored both goals for Pillars while Mokoena got the legends’ consolation goal.

Ex Nigerian players including Daniel Amokachi, Garba Lawal and Tijani Babangida played on the side of the legends with Super Eagles Brown Ideye also spicing up the team with fresh legs.

Speaking shortly after the game, Kanu expressed his happiness being part of

the game. He described the initiative aimed at bringing succour to persons made homeless as a result of the terrorist activities in North East as a laudable one.

“It’s an opportunity for us (ex internationals) to show support for the internally displaced persons and we are glad to be here in Kano today.

“The organisers have done a good job in arranging this game and bringing all these former African stars here. I want to say a big kudos to them,” concludes the former African player of the year who also has a foundation for taking care of children and persons suffering from heart diseases.

One of the organisers of the event, Moo Mohammed Mustapha, had earlier described the game as “just more than a match.”

He indicated that it was the first time in the history of football that a group of legends would be playing to raise funds and highlight the challenges of IDPs in Nigeria.

Chairperson of the Local Organising Committee, Miss Abi Goodman, painted a pathetic picture of the disheartening condition of the IDPs. She urged the world to rise up to action to support the Federal Government’s efforts to make life meaningful for these displaced persons once again.

World Cup Sponsor, Hisense, Takes over Toshiba An Official Sponsor of the 2018 World Cup in Russia, Hisense Electronic Company Ltd, has acquired 95 per cent shares of Toshiba Visual Corporation (TVS).

As a key element of Hisense’s global strategy, the brand sponsored the last editions of the European Cup and the FIFA Confederation Cup also in Russia last June.

Hisense, a leading global brand in home appliances manufacturing is also the first Asian corporate sponsor of Russia 2018.

This acquisition includes Toshiba TV productions, brands and operations service worldwide.

The acquisition agreement that was signed off on November 14, 2017 with erstwhile owners, Toshiba Corporation of Japan, cost Hisense 12.9 billion Japanese Tuan (about $115 million).

The Toshiba corporation management will however retain 5 per cent of the production, research and development , engineering and sales functions.

Until this development, Toshiba had dominated the global television technology and market shares for 142 years and boasts an incredible share across the entire Asia, America, Europe and the Latin Americans.

The company primarily operated Toshiba TV and various auxiliary products including commercial display and advertisement display products. They had two factories in Japan patents related to TV image quality and acoustics’.

Chief Executive Officer, Hisense Group, Mr Lin Hongxin, lauded the major acquisition and assured all stakeholders of the company‘s determination to optimise Toshiba’s resources in research and development, supply chain, global sales channels and support each other in display technology to provide competitive content, operation services for smart TVs in the global market as well as to accomplish sustained fast – growth and hold on the Japanese market.

In the last 12 months, sales of Toshiba TV had ranked No.3 in the Japanese market. While Hisense TV‘s market share is the highest among all foreign brands.

All over the world, Hisense colour TV business ranked third in 2016 while it also maintained a consistent leadership position in China for 13 consecutive years. In Nigeria Hisense has been qually visible with products sales and services nationwide through its proxy Fouani Nigeria Limited.

AIMING FOR CLUB WORLD CUP RECORD...

Cristiano Ronaldo (left) and Gareth Bale are hoping that Real Madrid can cap its most successful year ever with victory in the Club World Cup final against Brazilian side Gremio on Saturday, which would see the La Liga giants become the first team to successfully defend the trophy and end 2017 with five titles

Odoh Sizzles on Equatorial Guinea Open Day One Olawale Ajimotokan in Mongomo, Equatorial Guinea Andrew Oche Odoh quest for a 3e Actuaries Equatorial Guinea Open treble started on a bright note after he posted a solid two under par 70 yesterday over the Mongomo Golf Course in Equatorial Guinea.

The effort left him in a tied for sixth position behind overnight leader Madalitso Muthiya of Zimbabwe, who

dictated the momentum at four under par.

Odoh, winner of the 2014 and 2015 titles, sank five birdies to set his mission on track.

Ben Faillet-Smith of Zimbabwe, Luke Joy of England and Ryan Cairns also of Zimbabwe had a share of second position at three under par.

The Nigerian, who teed off in the afternoon, birdied holes 4, 7, 8, 11 and 17.

His charge was, however,

curtailed following bogies on holes 1, 5 and 14.

Sunday Olapade and Haruna Mohammed both tied on 17th position at one over par 73.

Olapade from MicCom Club, Ada, Osun State, reached two under only to suffer a costly meltdown in the closing four holes.

First timers, Daniel Pam, Elisha Markus and SJ Odegha, struggled on the long and penal golf course and paid for inconsistency off the tee

and on the greens.

Markus carded 77 to leave him in 33rd place, while Pam shot 79 which left him in tied for 40th with Gift Willy.

Odegha grossed 81 to lie in 50th place.

Jany Lee of the US led the ladies at three under par, one stroke ahead of Alejandra Ianaza of Mexico, Elin Arvidsson of Finland and Maria Jose Uribe of Colombo.

Nigeria’s Uloma Mbuko shot 88 which left her in 33 position.

Boboye Pleased with Plateau Utd Edo FA Award to Hold Dec 22 Edo State FA has announced another glamorous outing.

Display against CHAN Eagles that her annual award We would be rewarding Plateau United coach Kennedy Boboye has said he is pleased with his team’s improved display against the CHAN Eagles in an NPFL Invitational Tournament match-up in Kano.

The match ended in a goalless draw, but the NPFL champions Plateau United stepped up their game after a series of indifferent outings at the Ahlan Pre-Season Tournament also in Kano.

The Jos club held their own against the home-based Eagles with their new signing Tosin Omoyele named Man of the Match.

“Plateau United struggled at the Ahlan Tournament because we were not as prepared as the

other clubs. But you could see it was a different team against the CHAN Eagles,” Boboye told SCORENigeria.com.ng “We played as if this were our last game on earth,” added Plateau United defender Terna Suswan.

Eagles coach Salisu Yusuf said he is using this competition to test the players he will pick for next month’s CHAN in Morocco.

“We are testing players, we played eight new players against Plateau United and the result of the match does not matter.

“The players took responsibilities and they did not do too badly.”

would take place December 22 at the prestigious Imaguero College Hall in Benin City.

Edo FA Chairman, Frank Ilaboya in a statement yesterday in Benin said arrangements are in top gear to ensure that the event that enters its third year remains as glamorous as it has always been since it was instituted.

Ilaboya’s release stated in part: “We wish to state that the Edo FA award would take place December 22 this year in Benin at the prestigious Imaguero College Hall.

“Arrangements are in top gear to make it

stakeholders who have excelled this year and the names of those that deserve to be honoured would be made known in the next couple of days.”

Ilaboya pointed out that the annual Edo FA award is the state FA’s little way of appreciating and encouraging those who make football tick not just in the state, but in the country.

He expressed happiness that Edo is fast regaining its position as a state to be reckoned with in the round leather game, thanks to the state government that is attracting football activities to Benin.

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MISSILE Oyegun to Secondus â&#x20AC;&#x153;Our party wholeheartedly welcomes opposition because we believe that democracy cannot thrive without a vibrant but responsible opposition that puts the nation ďŹ rst. This will often challenge you to balance partisan interests with overall national considerationsâ&#x20AC;? â&#x20AC;&#x201C; National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Chief Odigie Oyegun in a riposte to his newly elected opposition party counterpart, Uche Secondus of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) who issued a red card to the APC, subtly cautioning Secondus on the need to balance party politics against the national interest.

FEMIFALANA The Protest Judgment of the Court of Appeal GUEST COLUMNIST

I

am unable to persuade myself to share the views of some learned colleagues who have argued that the judgment delivered on Tuesday, December 12, 2017 by the Lagos Judicial Division of the Court of Appeal in the case of the Honourable Justice Hyeldzira Ajiya Ngangiwa v Federal Republic of Nigeria (Appeal No CA/L/969c/2017) has clothed Nigerian judges with immunity. It is indisputable that the sole legal issue decided by the Court is that a serving judicial officer cannot be charged with a criminal offence in any court by any prosecution agency unless and until he/she has been subjected to the disciplinary jurisdiction of the National Judicial Council.

The Honourable Justice Abimbola Obaseki-Adejumo who read the leading judgment of the Court and her learned brothers who concurred with her Ladyship are not unaware of the case of Fawehinmi v Inspector-General of Police (2002) NWLR (PT 767) 606 wherein the Supreme Court held that notwithstanding the immunity conferred on the President and state governors they can be investigated even though they cannot be charged with any criminal offence until the expiration of their term of office.

The Court of Appeal has not said that judges cannot be investigated by the anti graft agencies. On the contrary, the Court conceded that judges can be investigated but that the report of any criminal investigation indicting them should be turned over to the National Judicial Council which will deal with it as a complaint of misconduct and possibly recommend the removal and prosecution of such judges to the appointing authorities before they can be arraigned in court. Realising that the judgment might be misunderstood or misinterpreted the Court made it abundantly clear that â&#x20AC;&#x153;no judicial officers is covered by immunity from prosecution under the Constitution as the Constitution only grants the powers to discipline judicial officers for official misconduct to the NJC.â&#x20AC;?

Having read and digested the landmark judgment which has generated an interesting debate in legal circles I have come to the irresistible conclusion that it was a protest judicial decision against the special treatment being accorded to certain personalities and criminal suspects by the Buhari administration in the prosecution of the war against corruption. Hence the Court did not cite any decided case in Nigeria or any other common law country.

In fact, their Ladyship and Lordships said, ex abundanti cautela, that the judgment had taken judicial notice of

Chief Justice Walter Onnoghen

the decision of the President of the Republic to set up a panel of inquiry to probe a former Secretary to the Government of the Federation and a former Director-General of the National Intelligence Agency. As far as the Court is concerned, indicted judges deserve to be treated, in like manner, before they can be properly prosecuted in a court of law. It is however doubtful if the Court of Appeal was aware of the fact that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) had reported the judges on trial to the National

I have come to the irresistible conclusion that the landmark judgment was a protest judicial decision against the special treatment being accorded to certain personalities and criminal suspects by the Buhari administration in the prosecution of the war against corruption.

Hence the Court did not cite any decided case in Nigeria or any other common law country

Nigeria Bar Association (NBA) President, Mahmoud Abubakar Balarabe, SAN

Judicial Council which had endorsed the prosecution and placed the judges on suspension pending the conclusion of their trial. The position of the NJC cannot be faulted in the circumstance because the Supreme Court has ruled in the cases of Garba v University of Maiduguri 1986) 2 NWLR (Pt 18) 559 and Federal Civil Service Commission v Laoye (1989) All N.L.R 350, that administrative bodies lack the vires to determine the civil rights and obligations of any person accused of committing a criminal offence in Nigeria.

Regrettably, our colleagues who have been celebrating the landmark judgment have not considered the fact that it has exposed our judges to greater danger.

For instance, the criminal case filed against of one of the judges arrested by the Department of State Security (DSS) last year was dismissed by the trial court in his favour. Consequently, the judge was reinstated and was allowed to resume duty in his court. He has just been recommended for compulsory retirement by the NJC following another case of misconduct. But assuming that the President had dismissed the judge based on the recommendation of the NJC which might have found him guilty of the allegation of corrupt practices levelled against him by the DSS he would not have been reinstated since the dismissal would have been premised on the civil offence of misconduct. It is common knowledge that the age long practice of interdicting public officers on trial pending the conclusion of criminal cases pending against them is to prevent a situation whereby they are removed from the public service on account of criminal allegations that have not gone through the crucible of cross examination. But once they are discharged and acquitted they

are reinstated with all the rights and privileges.

Therefore, by asking that judges be disciplined by the NJC before they are prosecuted the Court of Appeal has made it impossible to reinstate such judicial officers even if they are eventually discharged and acquitted. With respect, such unintended consequence of the judgment has made a mockery of judicial independence and further exposed our judges to danger.

However, since the judgment has seriously questioned the inconsistency of the federal government in the prosecution of the war on corruption the Court of Appeal has equally challenged our judges to apply the law to all citizens without fear or favour. Out of ingenuity some lawyers are going to invoke the constitutional right of equality of all citizens before the law to challenge the validity of the criminal cases pending against some civil servants on the grounds that the administrative jurisdiction of the Federal Public Service Commission has not been invoked against them.

More so, that the NJC, the Federal Civil Service Commission and other executive bodies have been created by section 158 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 as amended.

Even professionals in the private sector who are standing trial for corruption will rely on the judgment of the Court of Appeal and insist on going through administrative procedure before they can be prosecuted in any court. For instance, a medical doctor who is charged with murder in a state high court for killing a patient in a hospital due to criminal negligence may challenge the case on the grounds that the Medical and Dental Practitioners Tribunal has not been given the opportunity to try the allegation of professional misconduct which informed the criminal prosecution.

If such preliminary objections are filed the trial courts may have no choice than to uphold them as they are bound to follow the judgment of the Court of Appeal in the case of the Honourable Justice Hyeldzira Ajiya Ngangiwa v Federal Republic of Nigeria (supra).

Finally, in view of the foregoing, it is indubitably clear that the judgment has far reaching implications for the judiciary, the anti graft agencies and other law enforcement agencies as well as the Buhari administration which has loudly proclaimed to be fighting a war against corruption and impunity in the country. It is therefore hoped that the EFCC will not hesitate to challenge the controversial judgment of the Court of Appeal at the Supreme Court. t.S 'BMBOB JT B 4FOJPS "EWPDBUF PG /JHFSJB

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