Wednesday 14th February 2018

FG: Nigeria’s Power Sector Loses N24bn Monthly to Diesel Generators Says generators consume 300 million litres of diesel monthly Commissions N59.6bn transformer facility to upgrade supply in Abuja Chineme Okafor in Abuja Nigeria’s electricity sector is losing N24 billion monthly to the diesel generator market, which consumers especially heavy electricity users like industries embrace as an alternative to power their homes and operations, the

federal government has disclosed.

Speaking on Monday, the Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Mr. Babatunde Fashola, who was represented at the February 2018 edition

of the monthly power sector operators’ meeting at Katampe in Abuja, by the Minister of State for Power, Works and Housing, Mr. Suleiman Hassan, explained that on the average, 300 million litres of

diesel were consumed monthly to power these generating sets.

Fashola, stated this shortly after commissioning a 100 mega volt amp (MVA) transformer installed by a power firm - MBH Power

Limited, for the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) at its Katampe transmission substation. The high voltage transformer, which is expected to increase the transmission capacity of the substation

OPEC Assures US Shale Won’t Distort Oil Market… Page 6

by 48 megawatts (MW) was reportedly financed by the World Bank at the cost of N59.6 million.

The minister noted that the expenditure made on diesel consumption in Nigeria, acquisition and maintenance Continued on page 8

Tuesday 13 February, 2018 Vol 23. No 8335. Price: N250

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Izunaso: Trouble Awaits APC If Buhari Refuses to Run

Bolaji Adebiyi in Abuja

There would be turmoil in the All Progressives Congress (APC) if President Muhammadu Buhari declines to seek a second term of office, the National Organising

Secretary of the party, Senator Osita Izunaso, has warned.

Izunaso spoke to THISDAY yesterday and said the political intrigues that would follow the president’s refusal to contest the 2019 presidential election would not only divide the

APC but would also smash and cause it to lose the general election.

“It would not be in the interest of the party and Nigeria for President Buhari not to run,” he said firmly, adding: “The consequence

would be unimaginable as all the big wigs that have been hibernating would come out and fight to the finish.”

He said the president should, therefore, waste no further time in declaring his intention to run.

According to him: “President Buhari should come out and run. If he declares today that he would run, it would be a popular decision and it would unite the party and galvanise it into action.”

Although the president has

not stated clearly his political future, his body language fuels speculations that he intends to make a second bid for the presidency next year.

THISDAY had reported Continued on page 8

Finally, Govs’ Forum Backs State Police as Buhari Vows to End Security Challenges Damilola Oyedele in Abuja State control of police gained more strategic converts yesterday as the Nigerian Governors’ Forum (NGF) threw its weight behind the idea that has been variously thrown up as the panacea for worsening insecurity in the country.

But the support is conditional as the forum said only states that could afford to establish their own police should be allowed to do so, while the federal police would continue to secure the others.

The shift in the governors’ position on state policing came just as President Muhammadu Buhari rose from a meeting with security chiefs at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, vowing to end the mounting security challenges plaguing the country.

The president had met with the security chiefs for two and half hours yesterday

with none of the officials willing to speak with State House correspondents on the outcome of the meeting.

But a post on the president’s Twitter handle read: “Today I presided over a meeting of the Security Council. We fully understand the seriousness and urgency of Nigeria’s security issues, and are determined to implement carefully considered solutions that will not only earn the confidence of Nigerians, but also stand the test of time.”

The meeting was attended

by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo; Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Mr. Boss Mustapha; Minister of Defence, Brig. Gen. Mansur Dan-Ali (rtd); Minister of Interior, Lt. Gen. Abdulrahman Danbazzau (rtd); Minister of Foreign Affairs, Chief Geoffrey Onyeama; and National Continued on page 6

Osinbajo: Let’s Handle Herdsmen – Farmers’ Violence with Open Mind ... Page 6

SIX HEARTY CHEERS...

L-R: Former Chief of Defence Staff, Lt. General Alani Akinrinade (rtd); Governor of Bayelsa State, Hon. Seriake Dickson; and former Governor of Anambra State, Dr. Chukwuemeka Ezeife; during the 6th Anniversary Public Lecture of the Restoration Government in Yenagoa… Yesterday lucky francis

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OPEC Assures US Shale Won’t Distort Oil Market Nigeria must be gas-ready for future without oil, says NLNG

Ejiofor Alike with agency reports The President of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and United Arab Emirates (UAE)’s Energy Minister, Suhail Al Mazrouei, has stated that the increased production of shale oil by the United States will not hamper the efforts of OPEC and non-OPEC countries to clear the glut in the oil market.

This is coming as the Managing Director of Nigeria LNG Limited (NLNG), Mr. Tony Attah, says Nigeria must unleash its gas potential and support NLNG’s expansion programme, Train 7 project, in preparation for a world that is fast making efforts to reduce its fossil fuel consumption and minimise carbon footprint.

In its monthly Oil Market Report (OMR) released yesterday OPEC attributed the increase in US shale oil production to steady gains in the price of crude oil since the middle of last year.

According to the cartel, the oil price gains triggered more work in exploration and production, not only in the US shale oil sector, but also in the deep US waters in the Gulf of Mexico.

By the second half of the year,

OPEC said it expected total US oil production to slow down or even stall.

At more than 10 million barrels per day, the United States is now rivalling Saudi Arabia, the de facto leader of OPEC, in terms of production.

Speaking yesterday in an interview in Dubai, AI Mazrouei disclosed that the oil market should re-balance this year, given robust demand and producers’ compliance with their pledges to curtail supply.

He stressed that the US shale oil won’t be a “huge distorter” for the oil market as stronger demand and compliance with oil cuts have buoyed prices.

There are concerns that the surging US shale oil production would complicate efforts

by OPEC, Russia and other producers to prop up crude prices by curtailing supply.

Crude oil is rebounding from its biggest weekly decline in two years, though gains are limited due to concerns over resurgence in US shale oil production.

The US oil rig count rose last week by 26, the most in a year, to 791, Baker Hughes data showed at the weekend.

American weekly crude output

topped 10 million barrels a day for the first time on record, and the US government forecasts it will balloon to 11 million later this year.

Oil producers had agreed in November 2017 to extend the self-imposed limits on production output until the end of this year, seeking to counter a glut fed partly by US shale oil drillers.

“Shale oil is coming and the expectation is that it will come stronger than in 2017, and this is something that we have to watch. But considering all factors, I don’t think it will be a huge distorter of the market,” Al Mazrouei said.

He added: “What concerns us today is the level of inventories that we need to achieve the five-year average, and I see the market going in that direction and achieving balance.

“How long it will take depends on how long the increase in shale production will take. Demand for this year is expected to be good, if not better than 2017.”

This, together with “good” economic indicators and compliance with output cuts, indicate that the crude market will balance within the year, he added.

Also speaking yesterday to reporters at a conference in Cairo, Egypt, the Secretary General of OPEC, Mr. Mohammad Barkindo noted that the oil market was “on course to restoring balance” for the first time since 2014.

According to Barkindo, oil demand is set to grow by 1.6 million barrels a day in 2018, the same level as last year, with crude inventories continuing to dwindle as OPEC and other producers pursue their output cuts until the end of the year.

Barkindo added that Venezuela is proposing that OPEC seeks a five-year deal for cooperation on output with allied producers beyond 2018.

“Venezuelans see that the cooperation with non-OPEC producers shouldn’t end,” Barkindo told reporters in Cairo. “They have put forward a proposal for the time frame of the cooperation, and that was five years. But this proposal isn’t final, and it’s a work in progress,” Bloomberg quoted Barkindo as saying.

Barkindo said producers’ “unprecedented conformity” with their targets for reducing output is driving progress toward a balanced market.

According to him, compliance reached a record level of 129 percent in December, for a monthly average of 107 per cent last year, and preliminary estimates show that compliance in January will surpass December’s level.

Oil prices are currently at less than half their 2014 peak, with benchmark Brent crude futures up 0.8 per cent at $63.28 a barrel in London yesterday.

Brent tumbled 8.4 percent last week, in the second consecutive weekly loss.

“It’s a correction only. It will come back,” Kuwaiti Oil Minister, Bakheet Al-Rashidi told reporters in Kuwait City.

Kuwait expects cooperation on oil policy to continue beyond 2018, he said.

“We will look for criteria to make sure the market is stable at all times,” he added.

In a presentation titled “Global Energy Transition: Which Way Forward Nigeria?” at the 2nd West Africa International Petroleum Exhibition and Conference (WAIPEC) in Lagos, Attah said the global energy landscape was changing with major concerns for the environment, such as global

warming, and increasing demand for cleaner energy.

He remarked that with reduced appetite for crude oil as a dependable source of energy, gas is the best option for Nigeria in the future.

“The best bet for Nigeria is gas.

It is available in abundance and three times cleaner than oil in terms of carbon content. Nigeria has to begin to think about the relevance of oil in the future.

Nigeria has to start to develop its gas resources in readiness for this future. Some critics say gas is not profitable but let me draw your attention to Qatar, a small fishing economy which was transformed from a GDP per capita of $2,000 in 1970 to a GDP per capita of $124, 000 in 2017 using gas,” Attah said.

“Gas can lift Nigeria, which is where NLNG comes in. NLNG is producing 22 Million Metric Tonnes Per Annum (MMTPA) but we are not resting on our oars.

We want to construct a Train 7 that will increase our capacity to 30 MTPA. It is time for gas.

It is time to unleash Nigeria’s potential. That is how we can survive the future with increasing appetite for renewable energy,” Attah added.

Osinbajo: Let’s Handle Herdsmen – Farmers’Violence with Open Mind George Okoh in Makurdi Finding solutions to the perennial crises between herdsmen and farmers in several communities in Nigeria could only be achieved if the issue is approached with an open mind, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo has said.

The vice president, who is leading a presidential committee to find solutions to the crises, said unless everyone concerned viewed all the issues in the matter objectively, it would be difficult to find lasting solutions to the problem.

Osinbajo, who spoke through Ebonyi State Governor David Umahi that represented him during a fact finding mission to Benue State yesterday, commiserated with the government and people of the state, saying the New Year Day killings and subsequent ones stood condemned.

"We are here to tell you that

we feel your pains because whatever happened to Benue may affect other ethnic groups in Nigeria. That is why in the national economic council meetings, the issue of farmers and herdsmen's crises were discussed extensively after which an agreement was reached that a nine-man committee to be set up to proffer sustainable solutions to the crisis between the two bodies," he said.

According to the vice president, as part of the efforts to resolve the crises, a sub-committee was raised to visit the four most affected states including Benue, Taraba, Kaduna and Plateau to interact with the people and get their views.

"We have heard the presentation of the Benue people and shall also try to hear the presentation of the herdsmen so that sustainable resolutions could be found,” Umahi, his

representative said, adding: “The herdsmen/farmers crises is not a Benue problem alone but a national problem, which requires national attention and solutions.”

He clarified the Cattle Colony policy of the federal government, saying that states could not be forced to give up their land except they buy into the programme.

Receiving the delegation, Governor Samuel Ortom thanked the committee for coming to the state.

He appreciated the committee for choosing the state as its first port of call and expressed optimism that the visit would afford its members opportunity to see things for themselves.

"We choose the path of peace in a civilized way to tackle the crisis even when Fulani herdsmen are killing our people like chickens,” he said, adding: “We remain committed to this

cause in ensuring that we live in peace. We must not accept the total deceit that is going on in the country.”

Ortom said the anti-open grazing law started smoothly until Miyetti Allah issued a threat, which was actually carried out by them. “Therefore, l want to urge the committee to work assiduously to bring justice to Benue," he stated.

The President-General, Mzoh U Tiv, Chief Edwin Ujege, who spoke on behalf of Benue sociocultural groups, said the people of Benue state wanted peace and the protection of the lives and property in accordance with Nigeria constitution.

According to him, since the crisis started in 2011 in Benue State, well over 2000 people have been killed including women and children with property worth N95bn destroyed.

He said the Federal government must uphold the

anti-open grazing law enacted by the Benue State government.

Missing Policeman Found Dead Meanwhile, a police officer who went missing in the state on Saturday has been found dead, locals told PREMIUM TIMES Monday.

The officer, whose identity has not yet been disclosed, was amongst the four mobile police officers that went missing following an ambush on their patrol vehicle in Logo Local Government Area on Saturday.

The incident occurred in Tse Akpam village, near Azege town around 3:00 p.m. Saturday afternoon while the officers were returning from a peace-building mission in remote villages, Police Commissioner, Fatai Owoseni, told PREMIUM TIMES. The remains of the officer, said to be a sergeant, were found in

the bush on Monday morning and had been deposited at a morgue in Anyiin, another town in Logo LGA, locals said.

Suspected Headsmen Kill 2 Civil Defence Men Two operatives of the Nigeria Security Civil Defence Corp (NSCDC) and one of the missing police Mobile Policemen missing since Sunday in Logo have been confirmed killed.

The two NSCDC operatives were killed during an attack on their patrol team at Awange after Kasseyol Village in Guma local government area of Benue State.

The Public Relations Officer of the Benue State Command of the NSCDC, Mr Adakole John Peter, confirmed the incident, saying both men were killed when herdsmen stormed the village about 5pm yesterday and attacked their team.

FINALLY, GOVS’ FORUM BACKS STATE POLICE AS BUHARI VOWS TO END SECURITY CHALLENGES Security Adviser, Maj. Gen. Babagana Monguno (rtd).

Also in attendance were the Director-General of the Department of State Services (DSS); Mr. Lawal Daura; Director of the Nigeria Intelligence Agency (NIA), Mr. Ahmed Abubakar; and Inspector General of Police, Mr. Ibrahim Idris.

The service chiefs at the meeting were – Chief of Defence Staff; Gen. Gabriel Olonisakin; Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Tukur Buratai; Chief of Naval Staff, Rear Admiral Ibok-Ete Ekwe Ibas; and Chief of Air Staff, Air-Vice Marshal Sadique Abubakar.

The heads of Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS), Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Nigeria Fire Service (NFS), Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), Nigeria Prisons Service (NPS) and Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) were also at the meeting.

Stating the new position of the NGF, its Chairman, Governor Abdul-Aziz Yari of Zamfara State, on the side lines of the National Security Summit convened by the Senate, which ended in Abuja yesterday, said the governors had agreed to find a way to fine-tune

the policy.

Majority of members of the forum had opposed the establishment of state police, an idea which required an amendment to the 1999 Constitution for it to fly.

The bill seeking to establish it was subsequently killed in both chambers of the National Assembly during the constitutional amendment votes last year.

But hope that a rethink of the issue was gaining ground rose last week when Vice President Yemi Osinbajo at the opening of the security summit made a strong case asking states to establish their own police, saying it holds the key to reducing the high level of violent crimes and insecurity in the country.

Yari rekindled that hope yesterday when he announced the shift in the position of the NGF, saying allowing states that could afford it have their way, would reduce the pressure on the federal police system.

Clarifying the initial rejection of the idea, he said it was opposed by many states on the ground that they could not afford it.

He explained: “That is why we are saying that it is not all

the states that are supposed to have state police. Those that can, should have it. For instance, Lagos State, as rich as they are, can have state police. The number of Federal police in Lagos can then be reduced (and deploy) to Osun, Ogun and other states that cannot afford it.

“If Rivers State can afford it, more Federal police can be redeployed to Cross River and other neighbouring states like Enugu that cannot do it. If Kano State can do it, they can take to my state (Zamfara) that is not all that rich. It is something that we can't take up at the same time.”

He noted that while the NGF was ‘unfortunately’ divided over the matter, the number of police in Nigeria was grossly inadequate, and fell far below the global standard ratio.

Yari lamented that the challenges of insecurity such as banditry, militancy in the Niger Delta, cattle rustling and others had caused the economy to dwindle and were threatening national unity.

According to him: “The take home from this summit is that the Vice President raised some of the key discussions about the issue of state police. Today, we

have reiterated the position of the Vice President on the security summit we held in August that there is a need for state police.

“Internal security is supposed to be handled and managed by the police but the police of today are inadequate. There are about 4 million people in Zamfara State but we have less than 5000 policemen. If we look at the ratio, it is far below international standard.

“Therefore, we in the forum agreed that we can find a way that we can fine-tune the issue of State police.”

Also speaking with newsmen, the Senate Minority Leader, Senator Godswill Akpabio, said there was a consensus on the need for state police at the summit, particularly when considering the nation’s population.

He said: “We centralised security in the hands of the police, which basically should provide security of lives and property. At independence in 1960, we were less than 60 million in population.

Today, we are about 200 million and the number of policemen cannot really police the entire country and provide security for Nigerians.

“Therefore, there is the need to decentralise that aspect and that comes under devolution of powers. We may need to rejig the Constitution to bring security under the Concurrent List of the legislature so that it will be easy for the states to set up something that will be in line with proper guidelines.

State policing has been accepted by all and sundry. I have not seen anybody speaking against it. I think that is one major thing we can take out of this summit.”

He also spoke on the federal government’s bid to re-create grazing routes, to reduce the constant clashes between farmers and herdsmen and stated that ranching would be more appropriate in contemporary Nigeria.

“The implication now is that with the current population growth in the country, there is now a lot of competition between the cows, the grass and the infrastructure. If the routes are no longer existing, we have to modernise the system,” he said.

Senator Victor Umeh (Anambra, APGA) also speaking, said the issue of the National Conference of 2014 was also raised at the summit, with queries

on why the government is not considering implementing the report.

“Some of the leaders who came here were at the national Continued on page 8

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Restructure or Risk Breakup of Nigeria, Southern Leaders Warn Buhari Afenifere chieftains, Dickson, Ezeife, others meet

Emmanuel Addeh in Yenagoa The clamour for the restructuring of Nigeria persisted yesterday as leaders of thought from the Southern part of the country gathered in Yenagoa, capital of Bayelsa State, to review the state of the nation, warning President Muhammadu Buhari that he risks the breakup of the country with his opposition to the rebalancing of the federation.

The leaders who spoke on the topic: “Restructuring and the dawn of a new Nigeria,” at the 6th Anniversary of the administration of Governor Seriake Dickson, said the logic behind the incessant strife in the country demanded that a review of its current structure that was feeding conflicts and the underdevelopment of Nigeria, had become necessary.

On the discussion panel were Afenifere leaders, including Lt. Gen. Alani Akinrinade (rtd) and its spokesman, Mr. Yinka Odumakin; former governor of Anambra State, Chief Chukwuemeka Ezeife; former Petroleum Minister and Amayenebo of Nembe, King Edmund Daukoru; former Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Power, Ambassador Godknows Igali; and a university don and activist, Prof Gordini Darah.

A leader of the Coalition of Northern Groups (CNG) and Arewa Youth Consultative

Forum (AYCF), which recently renounced a quit notice to Igbo in the region, Alhaji Yerima Shettima, was also one of the discussants.

Akinrinade, who was guest speaker, argued that despite the initial opposition to restructuring by some Nigerians, the clamour for it seemed to have reached a crescendo and must be hearkened to by the Buhari government.

He said: “A new era is usually preceded by a dark night of struggle and strife. It was the same with the struggle for restructuring and inclusive federalism. While the battle raged, no weapon known to humanity was considered too vulgar and lowly.

“Blackmail, violence, extortion, religious manipulation, economic sanctions and intellectual persuasion were freely deployed.

But at the end of the day, when all weapons of intimidation and coercion seemed to have exhausted their capacity, calm, reason and rationality appeared to have prevailed.”

While wondering why former President Goodluck Jonathan did not commence the implementation of the 2014 National Conference, which recommended restructuring, he expressed anger with Buhari’s consignment of its report to the dustbin.

He said: “Four years ago as

Buhari the battle for the restructuring of the nation raged unabated, President Goodluck Jonathan convoked a National Political Conference with the express mandate to look at the grave political issues facing Nigeria and to come up with acceptable solutions.

“Given the urgency of the situation, one would have thought that the convener would

have acted with express resolve once the conference turned in its report. But for reasons best known to him, President Jonathan delayed and prevaricated until he was defeated in a landmark presidential election.”

He added: “In his own case, and as if government is a radical dis-continuum, General Muhammadu Buhari would have nothing to do with the

IZUNASO: TROUBLE AWAITS APC IF BUHARI REFUSES TO RUN exclusively that Buhari was putting together his campaign machine, reappointing his 2015 campaign director-general, former Rivers State governor Rotimi Amaechi, to lead the fresh charge for 2019.

But as there was no official disclaimer of the report, two former leaders of the country, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo and Gen. Ibrahim Babangida, in separate statements, earlier in the year, asked Buhari to

step down in 2019, accusing him of underperformance in his three years in the saddle.

The president’s silence on his 2019 move had been feared to cause disquiet in the APC as some ambitious power players in the party might, in their strong push for Buhari’s slot, pull down the house.

Izunaso agreed with this possibility, saying as the national organising secretary,

he was in a position to know the undercurrent of the power struggle in the party.

“I think if the president declares today, it would rest the simmering power struggle, unite and refocus the party to retain power in 2019,” he said.

Izunaso disagreed with the views of Obasanjo and Babangida that Buhari had underperformed, saying the president had done creditably

well.

According to him: “The president has performed exceedingly well. When we came into office, we promised three things: improve security; revive the economy; and fight corruption.

“The president has taken these three head on. He has fought Boko Haram to a standstill; pulled the economy out of recession;

Confab report. In fact it is on record that the former infantry officer went as far as to flatly assert that he would make sure that the report ended up in a permanent cooler - the archives.

This was not just a case of benign indifference but active hostility.”

Akinrinade, however, warned that restructuring will also not lead to an ‘automatic El Dorado' without fixing the current level of grinding poverty, feudal squalor, misery and state larceny.

Quoting Albert Einstein, he said: “Insanity is doing the same thing all over again and expecting a different result,” noting that had the country embraced devolution of power and the decentralization of the police, it might have been possible to avoid or minimize the fallout of the current spate of communal clashes, marauding ethnic militias, violent kidnapping, banditry, cyber-terrorism and religious insurgency.

He concluded: “President Buhari should go immediately for the clusters of consensus and low hanging fruits by initiating a Bill for the structural unbundling of an overburdened centre through the removal of several agreed items from the current Exclusive List and their devolution to the constituting states in a way and manner that does not enfeeble or endanger the manifest destiny of the nation.”

On his part, Ezeife described

FINALLY, GOVS’ FORUM and corruption is on its knees BACKS STATE POLICE right now.”

AS BUHARI VOWS Asked if he did not consider the rampaging TO END SECURITY herdsmen as a new form CHALLENGES of security threat that has become a serious concern to Nigerians, he said: “That is not exactly a new development. It is an inheritance that President Buhari is tackling with vigour.

You know the president prefers to do than to talk.”

FG: NIGERIA’S POWER SECTOR LOSES N24BN MONTHLY TO DIESEL GENERATORS of the generators acounted for the huge loses to her grid power market.

He explained that the government was making efforts to ensure that up to 2000 megawatts (MW) of stranded power in the system was transmitted and distributed to target consumers who need them the most but do not have that much of power yet.

He said: “Many of them use diesel. Diesel importation has been declining over the last two years. Many are reporting that they ran their generators for noticeably few hours. This is progress.

However, Nigerians still consume about 300 million litres of diesel every month and most of this is used to power generators.

“About 75 per cent is imported, putting pressure on scarce foreign exchange.

Assuming 40 per cent of the consumption is used for power generation at an average price of N200 per litre, electricity industry is losing N24 billion every month largely to imported energy.”

He further stated: “At the

same time, there is about 2,000MW of electricity generating capacity that is unutilised. Therefore, the challenge of the moment before the industry is how to deliver the unutilised capacity to consumers who are willing to pay for it and are already paying dearly for alternatives.

“Problems like this require creative solutions and we don’t have any time to waste.

The N701 billion intervention program is a creative solution that appears to be having the desired effect for stabilising the gas and generation end of the electricity industry.”

He said government has scheduled a meeting this week with the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN), to try and find the best ways to implement the eligible customers regulation, which the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) recently made.

According to Fashola: “The eligible customer regulation and the meter service provider regulation are already subjects of detailed discussions and NERC regulatory action.

“The eligible customer regulation allows large consumers to buy their power directly from Gencos and then sign with TCN and Discos to have the power delivered to them.

To plan an orderly winwin implementation of this policy, the ministry is hosting a discussion with the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria and other interested large consumers of the policy on Tuesday.”

He further said that a policy being developed by the government to help the 11 electricity distribution companies (Discos) to expand the capacities of their distribution network to take additional power from the grid was almost ready.

“The distribution expansion program aims to rapidly construct 2500MVA of dedicated 33kV lines and packaged substations to deliver unutilised power to target consumers and Discos. It is our hope that we will all put our heads together to serve the public effectively,” he added.

Meanwhile, Fashola, said that the new TCN

transformer he commissioned in Katampe, and another in Apo would improve power supply to major parts of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), and that instances of power outages would be minimised.

He said: “We recorded another milestone with the installation of additional 1x100MVA transformer at Katampe and another of the same capacity at Apo. The capacity of the Katampe 132/33kV substation, prior to this installation, was 120MVA. Therefore, with this installation, the capacity has been raised to 220MVA. Similarly, the Apo 132/33kV substation has been raised from 190MVA to 290MWA. “The two transformer projects, executed by Messrs.

MBH Power Limited, are part of the Nigeria Electricity and Gas Improvement Projects (NEGIP) financed by the World Bank.

“With the commissioning of the two 100MVA, 132/33kV transformers, these communities, Gwarinpa, Life Camp, Jabi, Kado, Wuye, Maitama, Mpape, Katempe 1 and II, Jahi, Mabushi Garki,

Nigeria as a failed state because the country had refused to rethink the terms of its existence.

He said: “They gave us change from frying pan to fire. Since this change came about, some jumped into the Atlantic Ocean in Lagos, some in other ways take their lives and others are travelling out.

“Nigeria has failed God, Nigeria has failed man and there can be no other way to remake Nigeria than restructuring Nigeria to work and for justice to prevail in the country. Some of you have seen what nature has done to Nigeria. I don’t think there’s a luckier nation than ours. Look at our weather.”

Dickson, who later spoke to newsmen on the side lines of the event, reaffirmed his position that restructuring holds the key to preserving the unity, stability and economic prosperity of the country.

He maintained that those championing the restructuring crusade were the true patriots of an egalitarian, just and fair Nigeria and called on all wellmeaning Nigerians to support the restructuring movement towards actualizing the Nigerian project.

“Those in support of restructuring and constitutional amendment to address the imbalances in our nation are indeed believers of the Nigerian project and not the other way round,” the governor said.

Gudu, Guzape, Asokoro, Apo Resettlement, Wumba, Apo Mechanic Village and part of Lugbe and Nnamdi Azikwe International Airport all located within the FCT Abuja are expected to experience remarkable improvement in power supply.

“With this development, TCN has not only established adequate transformer capacity to serve these parts of Abuja but has also provided the necessary redundancy in line with the requirements of N-1 reliability criterion at both Katampe and Apo substations.”

In his remarks at the commissioning, the Managing Director of TCN, Mr. Usman Mohammed, explained that the project contractor - MBH Power, adhered to the terms of its contract with TCN, and ensured a timely delivery of the project.

According to him: “The contractor for this project, Messrs. MBH Power, did a marvellous job, they adhered to TCN new concept of speedy project delivery. They complied with our delivery schedule just as they did for Keffi and Apo substations.”

conference. You talked somewhere and abandoned the resolutions somewhere, only to come here and start to talk again. When are the solutions going to be found? You must be open and accept the means of addressing the grievances of the people,” he said.

Umeh said serveral issues of marginalisation, particularly of the South East, were raised at the closed door summit.

“These are the issues the government must look at to assuage the feelings of the people. Those who have not been treated well, when they are complaining, don’t think because you are comfortable today, others are making noise.

If you find grievances that are genuine, find a way of addressing them,” he added.

Meanwhile, a statement issued by the Ad-hoc Committee on the Review of National Security Infrastructure, yesterday said important assessment briefings were provided by heads of security and intelligence agencies.

“The primary purpose of the summit is to reassure citizens that all arms of government are serious about addressing insecurity and are working collaboratively to find solutions,” it said, adding: “Out of the whole-of-government efforts, Nigerians can expect a higher level of security to protect lives and property.”

The Chairman of the committee, Senator Ahmed Lawan, said data gathered from the proceedings would be used to improve the security sector through legislative interventions and advocacy.

T H I S D AY ˾ TUESDAY FEBRUARY 13, 2018

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NEWS Okorocha Considers Son-in-law as Successor

News Editor Davidson Iriekpen

Email davidson.iriekpen@thisdaylive.com, 08111813081

Rejects cattle colony in Imo

Amby Uneze in Owerri Imo State Governor, Chief Rochas Okorocha, yesterday said his son-in-law, Chief Uche Nwosu, has the qualities of a leader, adding that he would endorse him if he (Nwosu) indicates interest to run for governorship in 2019.

Nwosu is the current Chief of Staff, Government House, Owerri, and an ardent apostle of the Rescue Mission Government in the state.

He has floated several political organisations to champion his governorship ambition for 2019.

Okorocha revealed his interest in Nwosu when the officials of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and leaders from Owerri Municipal Council visited him at the Government House to urge him to encourage and support Nwosu for the governorship of the state in 2019, adding that the monumental achievements of the governor should not be left in the hands of any-how person.

The governor stated that although the Chief of Staff has not told him that he wants to run for the governorship of the state, but if he comes out, he would support him, He added that he has known Nwosu over the years but does not know his parents and

described him as an honest man who is sincere.

He said:, “Nwosu is hardworking, and never gets tired. He is a very humble young man. Not proud. Not arrogant. So, power won’t enter his head. In spite of the position he occupies, you can’t see him quarreling with anybody or maltreating anybody. He does not segregate against anybody whether from Orlu or Owerri or Okigwe zone. He relates with people enviously. I have checked him in and out, I have not found him wanting.

“What the state wants is Imo governor and not Owerri zone or Orlu zone or Okigwe zone governor. Zoning does not put food on the table of anybody. The young man is a team player, who does not use his office to molest anybody. He has the qualities of a good leader. If he says he will run for governor, I will support him.

“Obviously it might be as a result of these qualities that most people are talking about Nwosu for governor everywhere even when he has not declared for the governorship. It might also be the reason for the endorsements he is getting from all quarters.

You see, you don’t hide a good product. And the joy of every

leader is to have a worthy successor. You don’t mind political opportunists. We have done very well as a government and we should be concerned about what happens to the achievements after”, he said.

Continuing, the governor said “I am not from Owerri zone, but my administration has done more projects in Owerri zone and Owerri Municipal in particular more than the administrations before me had done put together. We need Imo governor and not a zonal governor. I have done in Okigwe zone what the man from the zone could not do for them.

The records are there”.

Okorocha also called on the Igbos not to repeat the mistake of 2015, stressing that they must massively vote for APC and President Muhammadu Buhari in 2019, adding that they need

the North for political survival.

In their speech earlier, Mr. Obinna Mbata, who spoke on behalf of the party and political leaders from Owerri Municipal, said their desire is to see a person with sense of leadership no matter where the person comes from to succeed Governor Okorocha and a person who believes in development, and that they have seen Nwosu as the man with these qualities.

Mbata maintained that the question was what happens to the amazing achievements of the governor after he must have left office, insisting: “The achievements of the governor have exceeded the expectations of so many people. And who succeeds him should be the concern of all patriotic citizens of the state. That is why we are here, to tell you that Nwosu has

all it takes to measure up well”.

Among the dignitaries in attendance was the member representing Owerri Municipal Constituency in the state House of Assembly, Hon. Lugard Osuji.

Meanwhile, Okorocha has said there is no place for cattle colony in the state except the cattle market at Okigwe.

He however, encouraged indigenes of the state to go into the cattle business because it is lucrative and that government would continue to support them through ranches.

The governor also said it was absolutely wrong to associate the Fulanis with the killer herdsmen, explaining that the herdsmen who kill should be treated as criminals, and they should not be used to stigmatise the Fulanis who have men and women who have largely contributed to nation-building.

The governor spoke when he received the national leaders of the Sacred Order of Cherubim and Seraphim led by its Supreme Head and Prelate, Solomon Alao, at the Government House Owerri, adding that most Nigerians who had spoken on the issue of herdsmen or cattle colony had done so out of emotions and not based on the facts of the matter.

According to him, the fact remains that no one in the country has the right to take another person’s life in whatever disguise.

“For herdsmen to kill anybody is not right and that must be condemned. But it is wrong to stigmatise the Fulani race because of the actions of some of the herdsmen. We must call a criminal a criminal irrespective of where the person comes from”.

N21bn Fraud: Ex-Air Force Chief, Amosu Holds Plea Bargain Talks with EFCC Davidson Iriekpen A former Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Adesola Amosu, yesterday told the Federal High Court in Lagos that he was holding plea bargain talks with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

An investigation officer, Tosin Owobo, had earlier testified that Amosu and two other former Nigeria Air Force (NAF) chiefs allegedly diverted N21billion to their personal accounts from NAF. He said they diverted the sum through several companies which they personally incorporated and none of which had any transaction or contract with NAF. Owobo was testifying in the trial of Amosu, former NAF Chief of Accounts and Budgeting, Air Vice Marshal Jacob Adigun and a former Director of Finance and Budget, Air Commodore Olugbenga Gbadebo.

They were arraigned before Justice Mohammed Idris but pleaded not guilty to the charges filed against them.

An initial plea bargain talks with EFCC broke down after they reportedly refunded about N2billion to the federal government.

EFCC accused them of

converting N21billion from NAF through various companies – Delfina Oil and Gas Limited, Mcallan Oil and Gas Limited, Hebron Housing and Properties Company Limited, Trapezites BDC, Fonds and Pricey Limited, Deegee Oil and Gas Limited, Timsegg Investment Limited and Solomon Health Care Limited.

Yesterday, EFCC’s lawyer, Nnaemeka Omewa, told the court that the defence team was currently in talks with the commission towards reaching a plea bargain agreement.

“My lord, the defence team met with the prosecution and has proposed terms of settlement. We are still on it, but we are also ready to go on with the trial of the accused persons,” Omewa said.

Amosu’s lawyer, Chief Bolaji Ayorinde (SAN), confirmed that talks were ongoing, but he sought an adjournment to allow parties conclude with discussions.

“It is true that parties have met. It is also true that terms have not been fully perfected.

Therefore, parties will be willing to come back before the court to report the outcome of our discussions,” he said.

Owobo had testified that N5.9billion was transferred from NAF accounts to Delfina Oil and Gas Limited.

EMERGENCY SECURITY MEETING

R-L: President Muhammadu Buhari, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, Minister of Defence Brig Gen Mansur Dan Ali(rtd); Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Geoffrey Onyeama; Minister of Interior, Lt-Gen. Abdulrahman Dambazau (rtd); Chief of Army Staff, Lt-Gen TY Buratai; Representatives of Chief of Defence Staff, Chief of Training and Operation, Major-Gen. A Mohammed, Chief of Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Ibok-Ete Ekwe Ibas, at secuity meeting at the State House in Abuja....yesterday

Dogara: Neglect of Ajaokuta Steel, Collective Shame Says no more concession Vows completion of plant James Emejo in Abuja The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Yakubu Dogara, yesterday said the inability of government to complete the moribund Ajaokuta Steel Rolling Company despite its enormous economic potentials had become a collective national shame.

He said it had become evident that the sheer lack of leadership and political will remained a major obstacle to the completion of the company- and not money.

Yet, he said full development of the steel sector is critical to the industrialisation of the economyadding that about 10,000 jobs would be created for engineers

and technical staff should the first of of the plan be completed.

Altogether, the speaker said over two million jobs would be created for the teeming unemployed youths.

Speaking during a fact-finding visit to the plant, Dogara who was accompanied by Kogi State Governor, Alhaji Yahaya Bello and members of the House Committee on Steel Development, chaired

by Hon. Lawan Mohamed Idrisu (APC, Kogi) as well as Minister of State for Solid Minerals Development, Bawa Bwari added that at a period when the country is pursuing foreign exchange conservation,

attention must be paid to the immense opportunities in the steel sector.

The speaker also foreclosed any plan to concession the plant, stressing instead that it should be completed by government even if the management services would be eventually out-sourced.

He said: “If we complete this plan, Nigeria will be better for it.

We are here for Nigeria...So, no more concessioning, we are tired of concessioning our assets strippers.”

“You can’t concession your future. I’ve never seen a country which concession it’s bedrock of industrialisation and succeeded.

“We’ll not repeat that mistake of concession. Anyone who attempt

to outsource will run into problem with us.”

He said with the determination of the present administration of President Muhammadu Buhari, the legislature will work with the executive to source for funds to complete the steel company.

He and Bello had suggested that if possible, recovered funds from treasury looters should be directed to financing the completion of Ajaokuta.

The governor, specifically said it would require only $500 million to complete the firm, arguing that recoveries made by anti-graft agencies from individuals. In recent times could fund the project.

T H I S D AY ˾ TUESDAY FEBRUARY 13, 2018

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COMMENT

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

A SEA OF DESPAIR

Patrick Abba Moro reckons that the Benue State Government could do more for its people

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t is regrettable that the Benue State government is in total paralysis and the governor, Samuel Ortom, cannot do anything about the wellbeing of the people. Sadly, rather than doing the needful to stop the indiscriminate killing by the Fulani herdsmen under his watch, Ortom decided to join the people in crying and blaming everybody but himself for the Benue massacre.

It is unfortunate that the killing of the good and innocent people of Benue State under the watchful eyes of the Chief Security Officer of the state, Samuel Ortom, has continued unabated, yet nothing is being done to put a final stop to the bloodbath. Our people can no longer sleep with their eyes closed for fear of attack by the marauding herdsmen, while the man that is supposed to protect them as their leader is busy crying and claiming not to have security agents on his side. If the governor who swore the oath of office to secure the lives of the people is so helpless and crying like a baby, what then is the fate of the Benue people? This clearly is an indication of the absence of government in Benue State. No reasonable government would fold its arms and watch the people being mercilessly killed for no just cause.

It is therefore safe to say that Benue State government is in total paralysis. The governor’s complaint that he does not have the police and army is hogwash. If I may ask, did we have police or army in Benue when we resisted the Jihadist movement in the days of Usman Dan Fodio? Did we also have the security agents on our side when the late Senator Joseph Tarka of blessed memory protected the people of Benue and the entire middle belt against domination by the Northern Peoples Congress (NPC)? Why is it difficult for Ortom to find indigenous solution to his “indigenous” herdsmen killing Benue people and the wanton destruction of property in the state?

In the midst of the herdsmen killing of Benue people, the state government owes workers about 12 months salaries. It is interesting to note that Governor Ortom betrayed his inner agenda when he declared that he would seek a new “vehicle”

IF THE GOVERNOR WHO SWORE THE OATH OF OFFICE TO SECURE THE LIVES OF THE PEOPLE IS SO HELPLESS AND CRYING LIKE A BABY, WHAT THEN IS THE FATE OF THE BENUE PEOPLE?

to drive his second term agenda whenever Benue people decide for him even when he had recently stated he had banned his political activities in the face of the herdsmen/ farmers crisis. If I may ask, when did Benue decide for Ortom to join the All Progressives Congress? And if the governor thinks that he can return to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), I dare say that that will signpost his political suicide because the PDP vehicle already has drivers.

Benue people must properly situate the current herdsmen/ farmers crisis at the doorstep of Governor Ortom’s leadership inertia. A Benue State government controlled by the APC failing to do the needful effective communication and relationship with a federal government controlled by same APC, only has itself to blame. When some of us complained of the dangerous activities of the marauding Fulani herdsmen in Agatu local government, Governor Ortom’s surrogates characterised us as meddlesome interlopers, claiming we did not come from Agatu and that we were crying more than the bereaved. And now Governor Ortom asking Benue people to defend themselves is a clear admission of failure. It is unacceptable and definitely will put Benue people on the harm’s way.

Now the federal government has deployed soldiers and other security agents to mitigate the crisis and Governor Ortom rather than harness and cooperate with security operatives to resolve the crisis, he is egoistically insisting he was not formally informed. We must put a stop to this ego massaging and playing of politics with the lives of Benue people. Governor Ortom must be reminded that the concern and empathy that Benue people, the Nigerian people and indeed, the world are showing is to the magnitude of the waste of innocent lives of citizens and property, the misery of Benue people and not to his leadership ineptitude, and his shedding of crocodile tears.

The day of reckoning is beckoning!

Abba Moro, a PDP chieftain, is the immediate past Minister of Interior

WELFARE SYSTEM FOR RETIREES Akintola Benson Oke shares reasons why it is important for the society to take interest in the concerns of the elderly and the retirees

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agos State is already noted and severally lauded as being the primus inter pares in the nation in the area of pension management and retirees’ welfare. Even so, it is apparent that the administration is not ready to rest on its oars or to become complacent in this area. Rather, the administration is poised to revise the very framework that has been so applauded in order to ensure that the system moves from being ‘very good’ to ‘much better.’

Second, Lagos State Government highly values officers of the public service and is absolutely committed to their post-service welfare. As I always point out, Lagos State has an administration led by an able and indefatigable governor who fully understands and appreciates the role that civil servants play in governance. Thus, I am hopeful that officers of the Lagos State Civil Service Pensions Office will appreciate why the task of designing, revising, and implementing pensions and retirees-related policies should not be strictly informed by legal and regulatory considerations only but should be moderated by the human instincts of compassion within the bounds of an approved framework.

On this note, I am delighted to join in the efforts to ensure that Lagos State continues to blaze the trail in designing and operating a system that caters to pensioners’ welfare in the most efficient way. I am certain that training will lead to improved efficiencies in the system.

This, indeed, is absolutely important and critical.

Yet, I wish to advocate for the development and inculcation of the element of compassion into the design system for retirees’ welfare in Lagos State. In so advocating, I will be showing that it is in the interest of the society at large for government to embark on certain gratuitous initiatives that benefit the most vulnerable in the society.

In the book, A Fearless Heart by Thupten Jinpa, the point is made that “Most of us value compassion and agree that it is important both in our own lives as well as in society more generally. Undeniably, compassion is also part of our everyday experience of being human.

We love and care for our children; confronted

with someone in pain, we instinctively feel for that person; when someone reaches out to us in a time of distress we feel touched. Most of us would also agree that compassion has something to do with what it means to lead a good life. So it’s no small coincidence that compassion turns out to be the common ground where the ethical teachings of all major traditions, religious and humanistic, come together.”

However, the author went further to note that most societies “lack a coherent cultural framework for articulating what compassion is and how it works. To some people, it’s a matter of religion and morality, a private concern of the individual with little or no societal relevance.

Others question the very possibility of selflessness for human beings, and are suspicious of sentiments like compassion that have other people’s welfare as the primary concern. As a well-known scientist once remarked, ‘Scratch an altruist and watch a hypocrite bleed’. At the other extreme, some people elevate these qualities to such heights that they are out of reach for most of us, possible only for exceptional individuals like Mother Teresa, Nelson Mandela, and the Dalai Lama. Compassion then becomes something to be admired at a distance in great beings, but not relevant to our everyday lives.”

At the end of the day, we find that what truly benefits society is an acknowledgement that in carrying out our lawful duties and in prescribing those duties in statutes and regulations, we owe a duty to the most vulnerable in our societies to ensure that their rights and entitlements are not strictly dictated by factors such as available resources or prescribed entitlements but also by compassionate instincts that require the society to go far and beyond the call of duty to care for the most vulnerable among us.

In a 2015 article published in The Guardian Newspaper of London,2 the editors attempted to address the approach of the society to retirees and older people. It noted that “society is failing to value and harness older people’s skills, knowledge and experience.” It then quoted statistics from a survey showing that “about 92% of the 1,250 respondents to the ageing population research believe that older adults’ contribution to society is not recognised.

One said: “On the whole the public view older people as a drain on society instead of an asset.” Another added: “Older people are mostly seen as a bundle of problems and service-needs.

Their strengths, skills and knowledge are not harnessed or appreciated in a society infatuated by the cult of youth.”

The Guardian then stated its own finding that, “In fact, older people in the UK contribute an estimated £61bn to the economy through employment, volunteering and caring. And, according to Ros Altmann, the UK government’s champion for older workers, being 50, 60 or 70 in the 21st century is no longer a predictor of physical or mental abilities. It certainly does not signify that someone has failing health and will soon be unfit to work, or no longer able to learn new skills.”

The editors further noted that, “with numbers of people aged 75 and over expected to double by 2040 and the proportion of older people in the UK due to rise from 23% to 28% of the population by 2030, it is vital to plan for the necessary services to support our ageing society.” This observation led them to ask the following questions: “How can we create a society where people are not so worried about getting old, where there is less stereotyping of older people, more inter-generational contact, and more opportunities to see older people as assets? What are the issues around financing retirement and how do we make sure older adults are not excluded because they don’t have enough money?

Now, I am not aware of the availability of equivalent statistics in Nigeria but I suspect that similar deductions can be made, if not in terms of actual numbers, but in the overall substance and conclusions. The questions raised in that article are therefore worthy of our consideration. While I am not permitted by space and occasion to address all the questions raised in that article, I will share reasons why it is important for the society to take interest in the concerns of the elderly and the retirees.

Most of these reasons were previously publicly shared by Sai Santosh in a published article.

First, we should care because they are our mothers and fathers. They are our first teachers.

They teach how to love, how to care, how to give, how to forgive, how to accept, and most of all they are our backbone of support.

Without their endless sacrifice during our early years, we would not be capable of what we are today. We need to care for our retirees and the older citizens because they deserve to be cared for.

Second, we should care because our retirees and the older citizens have more knowledge and wisdom than any one of us. Their experiences through the turbulence of storms that life takes them through yield great wisdom. They have come so far and they have learned so much, we have a responsibility to learn from that wisdom. So take the time to listen to what they have to say.

Third, our retirees and the older citizens have either acquired, created or have been brought up with a set of morals, values and/ or principles in their life. They may not apply to our own but the least we can do is see how those values impacted their lives. We can learn a thing or two from adopting those values. Learn the right and wrong. Have the insight into a set of rules that we can outline for ourselves to follow and live by. Our elders would want the best for us and they would be more than willing to tell us what set of rules and guidelines have made them successful and hopefully, peaceful.

Fourth, our retirees and the older citizens worked hard for our today. They sacrificed their yesterday for our today. We owe today’s comforts to their efforts yesterday.

Fifth, they have invaluable experience and insight. For this simple reason, we must appreciate them. We may or may not know of all the ups and downs they have faced in life but they have definitely gained experience that is worth respecting and learning from. Our elders may hide much pain from us because they don’t want us to feel the pain, the least we can do is appreciate them for all that they have gone through—gained and lost—and learn from their insight into situations and circumstances.

Dr. Benson Oke is Lagos State Commissioner for Establishments, training and pensions

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EDITORIAL EXECUTIVE ORDER ON LOCAL CONTENT The order, if well implemented, will enhance increased participation of local firms in the economy

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arely nine months after directing all ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) to give preference to local manufacturers of goods and services in their procurement processes, President Muhammadu Buhari last week signed another executive order aimed at steering the nation away from foreign dependence. Aside emphasising preference for Nigerian companies and ďŹ rms in the award of contracts, the latest order is expected to also promote local content in the application of science, technology and innovation towards “achieving Nigeria’s developmental goals across all sectors of the nation’s economy.â€?

For sure, Nigeria is not doing anything dramatically different. Every country adopts a local content policy and strategies to grow its economy. And if implemented, there is no doubt that the nation will reap bountifully from the new measures. But the challenge has always been with the enforcement of our laws.

Indeed, the order only reinforces and broadens the Nigerian Content Law of 2010 in the oil and gas sector of the economy. Even IT SERVES AS A though some indigCONSCIOUS STEP BY enous oil companies THE GOVERNMENT TO are now playing PROTECT AN IMPORTANT signiďŹ cant roles and in SEGMENT OF THE SOCIETY the process building AND EMPOWER THEM TO local skills, there is still PULL OUT OF POVERTY much more to do to realise the objectives behind the law.

It is noteworthy that some of the local oil ďŹ rms are now big enough to run on their own steam with the technical know-how that allow them to buy assets in the oil and gas industry, and manage their resources.

Some of them are also into the exploration and production as well as fabrication, engineering, and marine transportation. It is therefore commendable that item four of the latest executive order bars the Ministry of Interior from giving visas to foreign workers whose skills are readily available in Nigeria. This is where the

Letters to the Editor

abuse is located to the detriment of our people.

However, by the time the MDAs begin to engage indigenous professionals in the planning, design and execution of national security projects and other related issues, as directed by the new order, the socioeconomic impact on the nation will be all-embracing.

Similarly, the new executive order, if properly enforced, will enhance increased participation of local indigenous ďŹ rms in science and engineering-related ďŹ eld and increasingly build up their capacity in terms of manpower and infrastructure, all to the wellbeing of the nation.

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f particular signiďŹ cance is the inclusion in the executive order that consideration shall only be given to a foreign professional, “where it is certiďŹ ed by the appropriate authority that such expertise is not available in Nigeria.’’ This is the discretionary power that is at the heart of the problem. All over the country today, there are numerous “expatriatesâ€? from several countries who are no better than certiďŹ cated illiterates, but were granted express entries and work permits by dubious and corrupt immigration ofďŹ cials.

It is even more painful that many of these so-called “expatriatesâ€? learn the rudiments of what they are employed to do from Nigerians who are at the rung of the ladder. This is particularly disheartening because the country has professionals in almost every ďŹ eld who can stand their own, but ironically walking the street for lack of employment. Thus, an effective implementation of the order will ease, no matter how little, the unemployment burden on the nation.

Therefore, all factors considered, we endorse the executive order because we believe that if faithfully implemented, it will enhance increased participation of local ďŹ rms in the economy, create more job openings and minimise capital ight. It will also serve as another conscious step by the government to protect an important segment of the society and empower them to pull out of poverty. But this is only possible if government does the needful – by enforcing and implementing the new order to the letter.

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.

CURING THE POLICE OF ITS ILLNESS

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n Saturday, March 25, 2017, The Guardian newspaper carried a report as a rider on its front page. The title was, Zaki-Biam: IGP Briefs, Absolves Fulani Herdsmen. As at the time the story was published, I remember that I had bought the paper but didn’t give the report much thought. But with the killing of 73 and more people in Benue and others in Nasarawa States over grazing cattle on peoples farms, I had to run right back to that publication and look at it closely again. On page two of that publication and to quote the words right out of the paper as credited to the IGP of Police, Ibrahim Idris. In briefing Mr. President (concerning the killings in Zaki-Biam in Benue State) he had said: “No, I don’t think it is Fulani herdsmen. It was an activity of a criminal who is using some of his criminal gangs in the state to harass people.

That, I have assured the governor when I met with him few days ago�. Continuing, the IGP said he told the President that “we are police officers. Crime has no tribe; if you are a criminal, you are a criminal; we don’t look at crime in the identity of where you are coming from (sic).�

I doubt the IGP on that last part. French biologist and writer Jean Rostand (1894 - 1977) once said that if you kill a man, you’re a murderer; kill millions of men, you are a conqueror. Kill everyone, and you are a god. I do not understand which among the statuses arrogated to killing of innocent Nigerians it is that the Nigerian police intend to

subject Nigerians. In the recent case in Benin City, a policeman seeking bribe from an innocent Nigerian and perhaps seeking to establish the police as a good friend just thrust the adamant young man he was haranguing in the direction of an oncoming truck. He was hit and his head was crushed by the truck. Then there was the case of a media aide who issued a press release on behalf of his principal.

Apparently because the content of the press release did not urge Mr. President to contest for a second term, the police immediately declared the media aide a wanted man. That as far as most Nigerians are concerned established the Nigerian police not as friend but as a sycophantic body seeking the perpetration of the tenure of Mr. President.

But it was in the Benue case that most Nigerians believe that there must be a sinister plan to kill millions of Nigerians ostensibly from a temperament of an emerging conquistador.

Otherwise, how can anyone explain that an institution which is saddled with the protection of lives and property and which generally wants to be seen as a friend of the people stand akimbo as hundreds of people are murdered in broad day light and in peace times? If perhaps the Nigeria Police would be reminded how their antics would compare to certain events in the past, let me refer them to an article in the archive of the Microsoft Premium Encyclopedia 2009. In that article reference was made to the fact that IBB overthrew Muhammadu Buhari because of the increasingly dictatorial nature of the Buhari regime. The article said that

there was suppression of critical commentary and of various interest groups had gone against the pluralistic structure of Nigerian society and its people’s deep attachment to personal freedom. “Particularly unpopular had been the Buhari government’s Decree 4, which forbade publication of anything that might ridicule or denigrate government officials. The decree had shackled Nigeria’s vigorously independent, increasingly sophisticated press and led to the arrest of a number of prominent journalists. Also bitterly resented was Decree 2, which provided for the detention of any citizen deemed to constitute a security risk. Under this sweeping provision, the Nigerian Security Organisation (NSO) was given a virtual blank check to arrest critics and dissidents. The regime further alienated the populace by banning all public discussion of the country’s political future.

In addition, the coup was precipitated by the conservative economic policies of the Buhari regime, the article said.

I verily believe that the Nigerian police has contributed much more to demonsing our beloved president than anyone else. If the president does not do something about the police, posterity will consign him to the dustbin of history as a second-time dictator. A certain US politician, Al Smith (1873 - 1944) once said that you can cure all the ills which democracy brings by giving the people more democracy.

Buhari can cure the police with more democracy.

Bob MajiriOghene Etemiku, communications manager, ANEEJ

T H I S D AY ˾ TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 2018

16

POLITICS

Group Politics Editor Tobi Soniyi Email tobi.soniyi@thisdaylive.com 07054786260 SMS ONLY

EXECUTIVE BRIEFING

Questionable Reinstatement The reinstatement of the Executive Secretary of the National Health Insurance Scheme, Prof. Usman Yusuf by President Muhammadu Buhari has again raised ethical issues about his administration.

Davidson Iriekpen writes

F

or those who didn’t want to believe that nepotism has eaten deep into the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari, last week’s reinstatement of the suspended Executive Secretary of the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS), Prof. Usman Yusuf, provided them the opportunity.

A circular reportedly sent to the Ministry of Health by the Chief of Staff to the president, Abba Kyari, ordered Yusuf to be reinstated with immediate effect.

Yusuf took over the state-run health insurance provider on July 29, 2016. He was suspended by the Minister of Health, Prof. Isaac Adewole, in July 2017 following allegations of graft and gross misconduct. He was also accused of spending the sum of N929 million on health care training “without recourse to any appropriate approving authority.”

Yusuf was also alleged to have violated procurement law, dishing out contracts to cronies.

A panel commissioned by the minister found him not have acted rightly in the circumstance among others, he was accused of nepotism. But Yusuf denied all the allegations, maintaining that he was victimised for fighting corruption in NHIS. He said the allegations referred to by the minister were also being investigated by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), which had not submitted its findings as at the time he was asked to step aside.

But Adewole said Yusuf’s response to the petition was unsatisfactory. Consequently, he was suspended, a decision he resisted insisting that the minister had no power to suspend him.

What perhaps shocked many Nigerians was that the Presidency did not consider Yusuf’s indictment by a ministerial panel before asking him to return to work, neither was the humiliation of the minister put into consideration. This move also sent a wrong signal and is likely to encourage insubordination among heads of agencies against their supervising ministers.

The reinstatement had sparked outrage across the country, with many saying that Buhari recalled him because he is from the president’s state of Katsina. Since the inception of his administration, the president has been accused of either favouring people from Katsina State in particular and the north general when making appointments into government offices.

A case in point was his appointment of service chiefs and heads of security agencies who are mainly from the north. Also, heads of federal government parastatals are dominated by people from the north.

So bad is the nepotism allegation against Buhari that recently, former President Olusegun Obasanjo in a letter, said the president’s administration was characterised by ‘clannishness”. According to him, the president has also been unable to bring discipline to bear on “errant members of his nepotic court.”

While noting that it appears “national interest was being sacrificed on the altar of nepotic interest,” the former president listed the case of Abdulrasheed Maina, former pension boss, as an example: “What does one make of a case like that of Maina: collusion, condonation, ineptitude, incompetence, dereliction of responsibility or kinship and friendship on the part of those who should have taken visible and deterrent disciplinary action? How many similar cases are buried, ignored or covered up and not yet in the glare of the media and the public?”

The questions analysts are asking are: What now happens to the indictment against Yusuf?

Should the anti-graft agencies arrest and prosecute him? What then happens to the anti-corruption war the administration has been touting of fighting? They wondered if Yusuf is from the southern part of the country, would

Yusuf

he have been so favoured? Did he consider how the supervising minister would feel?

Though the federal government has said that Yusuf’s reinstatement would not stop his investigation, will he not interfere with the investigation?

Many Nigerians do not even believe Yusuf will face any further investigation. Why is it that neither the EFCC nor the ICPC has invited him for questioning? To lend credence to their view, they cited the reaction of the Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, when last week he said he was not aware that the reinstated Executive Secretary of NHIS was being investigated by any anti-graft agency.

“I am not aware that the EFCC is investigating the recently reinstated Executive Secretary of NHIS but if that is the case, I don’t think his reinstatement is a bar to any investigation. I didn’t say I’m not aware of his investigation.

What type of a government are we claiming to be running that anyone who is close to the president will become lawless, will not obey public service rules and will run a government agency as his personal estate because he is close to the powers that be?

I said by EFCC, I said I am not aware that the EFCC is investigating him and that if it is true, that the fact that he has been reinstated does not mean a stop to it. The fact that he has been reinstated does not mean that the EFCC will not continue with its investigation, that is what I said,” he stated.

Many analysts believe that whatever might be the justification for the action of President Buhari for lifting the suspension on Yusuf, it would no doubt create a disturbing impression and puts Adewole in the worst possible situation any superior official can find himself in an organisation. The minister’s authority has been severely undermined, discipline has been compromised and his directives would no longer carry much weight in a very important sector.

But human rights lawyer, Mr. Femi Falana, (SAN) has asked the federal government to stop insulting the intelligence of Nigerians by saying that the allegation against Yusuf had not been swept under the carpet and that his purported reinstatement would not stop the investigation being conducted by EFCC. Falana said in a statement that since section 42 of the constitution has banned the federal government from according preferential treatment to any citizen, the reinstatement of Yusuf could not be justified in law. According to him, the reinstatement should be withdrawn by the president without any delay.

“In line with the provisions of the Public Service Rules the former Secretary to the Government of the Federation and former Director-General of the National Intelligence Agency, Messers Babachir Lawal and Ayo Oke respectively were suspended pending the conclusion of the investigation into the allegations of corrupt practices and money laundering levelled against them. But the established principle has just been set aside

by President Buhari who has reinstated the suspended Executive Secretary of the National Health Insurance Scheme, Professor Usman Yussuf,” Falana added.

He argued that the federal government was playing on the intelligence of Nigerians

by saying that the allegation has not been swept under the carpet and that his purported reinstatement would not stop the investigation being conducted by the EFCC. The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) chided the presidency for reinstating Yusuf. The party, in a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Kola Ologbondiyan, described the presidency’s action as shocking, scandalous and a mockery of justice. It also mocked the All Progressives Congress (APC)-controlled federal government for allegedly covering up a cabinet minister reported to have bought a property worth N280 million in Abuja from alleged corrupt enrichment.

“The presidency stinks of corruption and has lost all claim of fighting graft, as long as it continues to protect indicted officials of the APC administration,” the statement added.

The PDP added that it was disgusting that the same presidency that is brandishing a medal of African Union Anti-Corruption champion, would short-circuit the processes, arm-twist anti-graft agencies and pull out an indicted government official, while he was still a guest at the EFCC where he was being grilled for his alleged malfeasance.

The statement said, “This is a government official probed and thoroughly indicted for abuse of office and fraud to the tune of N919 million by a committee set up by the minister of health, comprising senior officials of the health ministry, Department of State Services (DSS), and the ICPC and which report was submitted to the president last September.”

Also, labour under the umbrella of Association of Senior Civil Servants of Nigeria (ASCSN), has questioned the recall of Yusuf by President Buhari. In a statement issued in Lagos yesterday, ASCSN Secretary-General, Alade Bashir Lawal, said the action of the president was capable of being interpreted to mean that the government’s anti-graft war was selective and designed to deal with specific targets.

“How can a government official being investigated for a whopping sum of N919 million fraud by the EFCC be reinstated by the government that came to power promising to sanitise the system. This is very unfortunate.

We, therefore, urge President Buhari to rescind his action and allow Yusuf to leave the system in peace,” Lawal said.

The union also regretted that the action of the president was capable of lending credence to Yusuf’s arrogant public statements several times that he could not report to the Minister of Health since he dealt directly with Mr. President. According to the ASCSN, the investigative panel set up by the Minister of Health to look into the atrocities of Yusuf which include engaging a consultancy firm in which he is alleged to have vested interests is serious public demeanour that should not be condoned.

“Thus, if Yusuf resumes as Executive Secretary of NHIS, it will amount to passing a vote of no confidence on the minister. What type of a government are we claiming to be running that anyone who is close to the president will become lawless, will not obey public service rules, nor report to the supervisory minister, running a government agency as his personal estate because he is close to the powers that be. This is the type of action that continues to give the likes of United States President, Donald Trump, the effrontery to be deriding Africa and its leaders.”

The union’s statement added: “It is also on record that Yusuf had recruited persons from his primordial constituency who are on grade level 10 in the state public service and imposed them on the staff of the NHIS by CONTINUED ON NEXT PAGE

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T H I S D AY ˾ TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 2018

POLITICS

Five Pointers We’re Losing the War against Corruption Government often cites the recovery of huge sums of money as proof of success in the fight against graft. But behind the figures, is a grim picture showing that corruption remains pervasive, writes Tobi Soniyi

T

wo weeks ago, President Muhammadu Buhari was honoured as the African Union’s Anti-corruption Champion in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

The award is in recognition of the president’s commitment to the fight against corruption.

Indeed many voted for him because he promised to be tough on corruption.

Viewed against the administration of his predecessor, Dr Goodluck Jonathan, it is difficult to fault the AU for considering Buhari for the award.

Besides, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), recently said that it recovered about N511.9 billion in 2017.

The acting chairman of the commission, Ibrahim Magu, who disclosed this at his agency’s budget defence session before the House of Representatives Committee on Financial Crimes said the commission, between January and December 2017, recovered more than N473 billion, $98 million, €7 million, and £294,000 among others.

The anti-graft agency had last year at a conference of the state parties to the United Nations Convention Against Corruption held in Vienna said it recovered N738.9 billion or $2.9 billion between May 2015 and October 20, 2017.

Through the implementation of the Single Treasury Account, (TSA) over N4 trillion of government’s money was recovered from more than 17000 accounts in commercial banks.

Adopting Bank Verification Number, (BVN) has made it more difficult for fraudsters to move money around. Also last year, government adopted a whistle blowing policy that led to the recovery of billions of naira.

Government has also been able to stop leakages by fishing out ghost workers.

All these are laudable policies which previous leaders were not bold enough to implement even though they knew that such policies would help greatly in reducing corruption.

But are we winning the anti-corruption war? The answer is no. The reasons are not far-fetched.

In Anti-corruption War Little Things Matter There is no doubt about it, making sure that public funds are not stolen is a big step in the anti-corruption war. But to many people, corruption is when a policeman collects bribes from you. It is a difficult to persuade such people to believe that the Buhari government is different from the administration it replaced. They see this happening everyday. When government says that electric metres should be given free but no one gets it for free, that is corruption.

When officially a driver’s licence officially costs about N15,000 but you have to pay as much as N30,000 to get one, that is corruption. When you have to pay N40,000 for an international passport which should not cost more than N20,000 that is corruption. A government that can not stop all these or can not punish those involved in these illegal act can not claim to be fighting corruption. The claim by government that people don’t have to pay these bribes does not hold water. Victims are left with no choice.

If you need a passport and you refuse to pay the bribe, you don’t get the passport period.

You will be a subject of laughter if you go to a police station to report that they asked you to pay more for a driver’s licence or an intentional passport. The question is what is government

Abubakar Malami, SAN

doing to stop these corrupt acts. The answer is simply nothing. As long as government is unable to protect the poor from exploitation, the perception that corruption remains prevalent will not disappear.

Cronyism In simple terms, conyism is appointing friends and associates to positions of authority without proper regard to their qualifications. The president appears to have a restrictive meaning of the word ‘corruption’. The appointment of Ahmed Rufai Abubakar as the Director General of the National Intelligence Agency is one of such appointment. Appointing people into positions they do not merit is laying ground for corruption to thrive. There is no morally justifiable reason for the president to appoint his Chief of Staff into the board of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation. The job of a chief of staff is so demanding that adding membership of a board to it could only mean one thing: the person making the appointment does not expect optimal performance from his appointee.

Beyond that, it will be difficult to convince the citizens that the government is committed to doing the right thing.

Closely related to the above is nepotism. It means favouring relatives and friends with jobs.

As long as government is unable to protect the poor from exploitation, the perception that corruption remains prevalent will not disappear

Ibrahim Magu

Under this government, nepotism appears to be the order of the day. A government as nepotic as this can not win the war against corruption.

What justification does the government have for asking the suspended Executive Secretary of the National Health Insurance Scheme, Prof.

Usman Yusuf to resume when the allegations against him have yet to be concluded? That decision alone renders the whole anti-corruption war a joke.

for example, undermine development and governance while secrecy in extractive industries can squander a nation’s wealth and weaken the social contract.” The federal government, like most of governments in Africa falls short on transparency. Up till now, how much the president spent in the United Kingdom to treat himself remains a mystery. A government that is not ready to make transparency its watchword can not successfully lead a war against corruption.

Attacking those who Expose Corruption A government that will rush to attack those who perform their civic duty by exposing corrupt acts within the government can not win the war against corruption. Take the case of Senator Isah Misau, the senator representing Bauchi Central Senatorial District. After raising weighty allegations against the Inspector General of Police, Abubakar Idris, the government though the Attorney General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami, SAN had to file a ten-count charge against him. The allegations against the police chief were not investigated. Other people that are not as bold as Misau will keep quiet. A government that is unwilling to investigate allegations of corruption against officials of that government has lost the war against corruption even before it started.

Yet, the federal government expects the public to key into its anti-corruption crusade. It will not happen.

Lack of Synergy among Anti-corruption Agencies The Buhari-led government is losing the war against corruption because those leading the fight are working at cross purposes. Even though, Ibrahim Magu, remains the star of the anti-corruption war, his appointment could not be confirmed because the Department of State Security wrote a controversial report against him.

Many believed that if EFCC was carried along in 2016 when the DSS raided judges houses, the investigation would have been better handled.

That singular act ensured that the government lost the support of the judiciary in the fight against corruption. Almost three years into the life of this administration, it has been unable to secure high profile convictions.

At a time, EFCC and the minister for justice were locked in a battle of supremacy over the prosecution of high profile cases. Except the agencies implementing the anti-corruption strategy of the government agree to work together, we may as well forget the war against corruption.

There is also an urgent need for a re-appraisal of the corruption war.

As stated earlier, EFCC was able to recover billions of naira because it adopted a strategy that is working. The commission said it was able to make a lot of recoveries locally using the mechanism of the non-conviction based forfeiture provided under Section 17 of the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Fraud Related Offences Act, 2006.

Lack of Transparency Transparency is one of the key indices for measuring government’s commitment to the fight against corruption. According to Center for Global Development, efficient, resilient, and accountable governance systems are essential to successfully manage natural resources, provide public services, foster trade, attract private investment, and manage aid relationships.

It said: “Corruption and secrecy are often at odds with such goals. Illicit financial flows,

QUESTIONABLE REINSTATEMENT placing them on grade level 15 and above.

This is one intervention too many and as such Mr. President should allow Yusuf to retire from service to have time to run his personal business.”

On its part, the Health and Managed Care Association of Nigeria (HMCAN) has threatened to sue the federal government over the recall of Yusuf. Speaking at a press conference in Lagos, the Chairman of the Association, Dr. Tunde Ladele, said since Yusuf was already

under investigation, President Buhari should have waited till the case was over before either reinstating him or upholding the suspension. He said for someone who was accused of embezzling several millions of naira, and involved in nepotism, there was no basis for his recall except cleared after investigations.

“It was reported that the panel set up by the Minister of Health, Prof. Isaac Adewole had found that the sum of N919m had been

dubiously given to consultants for staff training and recommended that the EFCC probe the agency for diversion of funds and contravention of the Procurement Act. We therefore advised that in the spirit of transparency, accountability and the stance of government on anti corruption, the report and investigation should not be swept under the carpet. Doing this will erode public confidence and cast a doubt on the sincerity of government,” he added.

“Yusuf has little idea on how NHIS should best be run. The Acting Executive Secretary who replaced him after suspension was already making progress in growing the scheme before the latest announcement. So we condemn the recall, and urged the federal government to do the needful,” he added.

He explained that for the one year Yusuf held sway as the head of the scheme, not a single person was added to the number of those already under the scheme.

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TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 2018 ˾ T H I S D AY

FEATURES

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

Raising Auto Mechanics for the Future John Shiklam writes on the multi-million naira empowerment programme by Peugeot Automobile Nigeria for the training of auto mechanics and standardisation of workshops to address the challenges of repairing high tech vehicles

F

oremost automobile company in Nigeria, Peugeot Automobile Nigeria (PAN) Limited, Kaduna, has established a multi-million naira youths empowerment programme aimed at providing formalised operating structure in the loose and unregulated auto mechanics business across the country.

Tagged ‘Shade Tree Youth Empowerment Initiative’ (STYEl), about N36.7 million is to be spent in the training and development of youths in the automotive maintenance and repairs.

The programme is expected to train a generation of auto mechanics that will understand the workings of high tech vehicles of today in order to be able to handle repairs and servicing. The initiative is a welcome development considering the technological advancement in the auto industry and the low quality of auto mechanics that operate across many cities and towns in Nigeria.

Majority of these auto mechanics are largely without basic technical knowledge and rarely understand the workings of today's high-tech vehicles. Besides, they operate without requisite tools and in many cases they diagnose faults in vehicles, largely by trial and error to identify the problem.

In the 1960s and early 1980s, corporate organisations like UTC, Challarams, Mandillas, SCOA, FIAT and others, operated standardised mechanic workshops, manned by trained technical personnel who offered efficient repairs and servicing of vehicles.

The decline of these standardised auto mechanics gave rise to the emergence of roadside mechanics, most of who have no adequate technical training to handle modern cars. This has raised serious concerns among Nigerians about the ability of the present crop of mechanics to handle the repairs of these new technologies. This is part of the scenario that prompted the establishment of STYEI

by PAN. Speaking at the launching of the programme at the premises of the company in Kaduna, the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Alhaji Ibrahim Boyi, noted that the automotive sector, like many other industries, has witnessed technological innovations and disruptions.

He noted that, automobiles of today are composed of mechatronics, a combination of mechanical and electronic components,

Sarafina Kagoma, the lady mechanic

Some of the beneficiaries

Over the years, PAN, through its accredited and world class Auto Training Centre, has played a pivotal role in training and upgrading the skills of new and older auto mechanics as well as worked with regulators and accrediting agencies to re-design and upgrade training curriculum for modern and latest automotive skills training

embedded with computer chips for intelligence, ease and accuracy of self-diagnosis and repairs as well as enhanced safety.

These developments, Boyi noted further, had created the need for new set of skills and knowledge for today's auto mechanics and technicians.

According to him, "This has created a huge gap in terms of adequacy of such skills locally, as reported by National Automotive Design and Development Council (NADDC), in its national auto skills gap survey conducted in 2010.

"The followings were the identified skills gaps: Lack of understanding of the electrical and electronics (mechatronics) systems in modern cars.

"Lack of standard method of fault finding (step by step). Instead, trial and error is the most used. Improper tools, equipment and materials handling. Little or no experience in workshop management and organisation, lack of environmental consciousness and non-adherence to safety standards while performing certain given tasks etc."

He said, over the years, PAN, through its accredited and world class Auto Training Centre, has played a pivotal role in training and upgrading the skills of new and older auto mechanics as well as worked with regulators and accrediting agencies to re-design and upgrade training curriculum for modern and latest automotive skills training.

According to him, since its inception, the centre has trained l,200 auto mechanics and technicians, including 224 women.

He explained that it was to further respond to the skills gaps in the automotive sector that PAN floated the STYEI as a platform for its social investment programme.

Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Dr. Okechukwu Enelamah, who inaugurated the programme regretted the collapse of the automobile industry in Nigeria.

He recalled that the development of the industry started in the 1960s and reached its peak in 80s, noting that the progress recorded could not be sustained due to lack of policy, skills’ deficiency, low passion to drive the sector, inadequate protection, lack of support for innovation, inadequate after sale service

centres and inadequate energy for production.

"These scenarios had caused great damage to our individual mindset and contributed negatively to the economic growth of our dear country. I am indeed, so delighted by this initiative being part of the effort to revamp the sector which is intended to connect assembly plant, local component manufacturers, mechanics and end-users.

"Suffice it to say that, this initiative would go a long way in solving the limitation of trade facilitation, unemployment, incessant breakdown of vehicles, and promote patronage of local automotive products," the minister said.

He stressed that the programme would no doubt enhance and improve productivity on Small and Medium Enterprises (SME) across the country.

He said the federal government was poised to collaborate with the private sector and individuals in order to create better and productive Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs).

The minister said government would continue to collaborate with relevant stakeholders in the

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˾ T H I S D AY TUESDAY˜ ͯͱ˜ ͰͮͯͶ

FEATURES implementation of the STYEI project.

Enelamah said the programme would promote business activities and after sales service in response to diverse automotive needs.

"Invariably, it will engender steady growth of the sector and focus on technical and vocational skills, and more importantly marching acquired skill to industrial needs in resolving the human capacity gaps in this sector.”

The minister called on the board of STYEI management to liaise with the National Automotive Design and Development Council (NADDC) and Industrial Training Fund (ITF) in the course of its implementation to facilitate capacity building.

"It is also important to inform you that the federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment is ever willing to support start-ups/ new business development in SMEs," the minister assured. Also in his remarks, chairman of the Board of Trustees (BoT) STYEI, Mr. Otis Oliver Anyaeji, said the programme was initiated

by PAN in collaboration other institutions to drive employment, skill development, entrepreneurship and provide a sustainable operating model for auto mechanics across the country. Anyaeji, a pioneer chairman of the National Automotive Council, said the initiative presents a steady development and balance within the service end of the auto industry.

"When I was nominated as one of the trustees to the Board of Trustees of this initiative, I was assured by the programme initiators that beside my long association and contributions to the development of the automotive industry in Nigeria, a strong element in the nomination was the need to establish a robust corporate governance structure for an independent and a not-for-profit charitable trust.

"Having served on the Standing Technical Committee on the Nigerian Automotive Industry between March 1990 and July 1993 which led to the creation of the Centre for Automotive Design and Development, Zaria and as founding Chairman of National Automotive Council, the supervising authority of the auto industry in Nigeria, I recognised the immense opportunities that such an initiative presents to the steady development and balance within the service end of the auto industry," he said.

Anyaeji, called on PAN to focus the training in all the visible brands of vehicles to deepen the relevance of the initiative to the Nigerian economy. He said the vision for the STYEI is to engage as many Nigerian youths in profitable new businesses while addressing the acute state of disarray in the service arena within the downstream of the auto industry and providing an enabling structure for a more effective application of standardised skills and practices.

Speaking further, Anyaeji said: "We are confronted today with a pervasive dearth of technical and administrative skills among auto mechanics to support the highly intelligent and sophisticated new generation vehicles.

"As we make advances towards alternative energy sources to power our engines and artificial intelligence to drive our automobiles, the problem of skills inadequacy will become even more critical. When we consider the huge financial resources deployed on vehicle acquisition in this economy and the manhour losses attributable to long periods of demobilisation of vehicles which derive from wrong diagnosis and faulty repairs, we can begin to appreciate the extent of leakages caused by roadside mechanics.

"But we cannot realistically proscribe roadside mechanics given the narrow spread of standard workshops at the community level. What we can and should do is to create a platform for standardisation of practices and skills such as the STYEI is intending to achieve."

He said the programme is aimed at reducing the adverse impact of road side mechanics and encourage them to key into the project or migrate to the project.

He disclosed that many graduates of PAN Learning Centre sponsored by Bassa Local Government Area of Plateau State were road side mechanics and they performed quite well during the training.

Similarly, trainees from Kano State were also road side mechanics who were trained at the Learning Centre have similarly performed creditably.

He said the defining essence of the STYEI, is to empower Nigerian youths, who may be unemployed or underemployed, to engage in the provision of auto maintenance and

MDCEO of PAN, Ibrahim Boyi (1st left) and dignitaries at the launching of the programme

Trainees during the launching of the programme

allied services, under a structured work environment. The programme covers technical skills acquisition, interest free and unsecured grants as well as coaching and mentoring. It is designed and built around entrepreneurship, which means that beneficiaries will not only be given requisite skills to provide basic service support, but more importantly, be provided with the unique opportunity of owning and independently running an auto service business.

This, according to Anyaeji, includes intervention which will help to overcome the arduous and often unsuccessful undertaking of sourcing financing by start-ups.

"The programme therefore does not stop at providing technical training to beneficiaries but also takes the further critical step of providing standardised service garages, working tools and equipment for business take-off.

"An attractive element of the programme aimed at enhancing knowledge, work ethics and standardisation of practices, is the linkage of all STYEI service workshops to accredited dealership workshops of participating brands.

“This allows for revenue stability, continuity of learning in service culture, maintenance practices and easy referrals of complex problems.

"Without doubt, this programme is bold and ambitious in scope and the reward potential can be substantial. Each STYEI garage has the potential of recruiting at least 10 workers at take-off, a work force that is expected to grow rapidly over a short time horizon," he explained.

He stated further that a project of this scope requires substantial funding and collaboration with multiple programme partners, especially the NADDC, Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN), private foundations, training centres, automobile companies and dealerships, international development agencies, governments, its agencies and individuals directly involved in employment generation and poverty reduction.

The financing arrangement is structured to provide a revolving fund to sustain continuity.

The total set-up cost shall be provided by the funding agencies for the development

of infrastructure and procurement of tools and equipment. Of the total funding, 20 per cent is non-refundable while 80 per cent is payable over a period of five years at zero interest rate.

Anyaeji said the sustainability of STYEI depends on attracting co-sponsors from the groups mentioned above as target partners.

"The built-in incentives for partners include the participatory role they could elect to play in the administrative control for specific projects partly funded by them. They could even elect to become members of the Board of Trustees," he said. He disclosed that an initial grant of 80,000 euros (about N36.7 million) in one year, eligible for subsequent annual grants based on performance.

“In view of the enormous benefits offered by the STYEI, I would like to seize the opportunity of this unique gathering to call on all interest groups to support and participate in the project for the realisation of its objectives," Anyaeji said. The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has shown keen interest by training over 200 youths at the training centre and has promised to set up the garage under the STYEI programme. Some state governments in the North-west zone had also shown interest in the programme.

The initiative is designed as a sector specific programme to empower Nigerian youths who are willing and committed to becoming entrepreneurs within the service value chain of the automotive industry.

It is targeted at unemployed Nigerian youths between the ages of 18 - 40 with at least Senior Secondary School Certificate.

The programme offers the following value opportunities: There are two categories of the training- training for technical skills in automotive technology and STYEI specialised training. The training for unskilled youths lasts for 12 months, focusing on skills in auto mechanics, auto mechatronic, auto spray painting, auto welding and panel beating.

Other skills to be impacted on the beneficiaries include, auto electronics, basic auto electricity and electronics, service box applica-

tion, multiplexing, body electrical equipment, car conditioning system, discover gearbox, general diagnosis, auto panel beating, workshop management and safety, vehicle inspection.

Other components of the training also include management studies, entrepreneurship, basic accounting and Information Communication Technology (ICT).

At the end of the training, beneficiaries are expected to develop the capabilities to handle maintenance of both old and new generation vehicles so as to reduce the present prevalent incidents of automobiles being damaged in the course of attending to seemingly minor defects.

The programme will also go a long way in employment generation, thereby reducing the increasing rate of crime rate and other social vices. Some of the beneficiaries who spoke in an interview with THISDAY, said the training has given them hope and future in life.

One of the female beneficiaries, Sarafina Kagoma, said after several unsuccessful attempts to get admission to higher institution, she was lucky to be selected for the training.

She said she completed her secondary school in 2014 and when the opportunity came for her to enroll for the training, she grabbed it with two hands.

She said since she enrolled last year, it has been an exciting and worthwhile experience as she has learned so much about the working of a car. "I love this work, I have passion for working on cars because I have a big dream of making a car one day. I hope to train others too in the future, "I completed secondary school in 2014, but after trying several times to get admission without success, I got an opportunity to learn mechanic work in PAN," she said.

According to her, "the experience has been wonderful" adding that women should not see mechanic work as an exclusive for men.

"The opportunity is opened to women as well. Women even have better chances of becoming successful mechanics than men because they are very diligent. We should not restrict ourselves to house wife and house chores," she said.

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Quick Takes BEDC Pledges Improved Service Delivery The Benin Electricity Distribution PLC (BEDC) has promised improved service delivery for its customers in Edo, Delta, Ondo and Ekiti states.

Speaking at the graduation ceremony of the third set of BEDC graduate trainees and second set of technician trainees, held in Benin City at the weekend, the Managing Director/CEO of the company, Mrs. Funke Osibodu said the company was committed to continuously render better service to its customers. “We have so far engaged over 700 graduates and technicians and we intend to engage about 1000 in the first phase. We give them intensive two months classroom training and after that 10 months of practical field training on the understanding of the electricity business. We are grooming them to sustain the good things we are doing. “The whole purpose is about the customers, how to serve them better. There are many areas to work on but we are improving and as we grow, we will bring more trainees,� she said Speaker of Edo state house of Assembly, Hon Kabiru Adjoto, who was present at the occasion, commended the initiative.

Aret Adams Lecture Holds in Lagos

COURTESY VISIT

L- R: Managing Director, Financial Service, Accenture Nigeria, Toluleke Adenmosun; GMD, FBN Holdings Plc, UK Eke,MFR; Managing Director, Products, Accenture South Africa, Dr. Roze Phillips; CFO FBN Holdings Plc, Wale Ariyibi, during a courtesy visit by Accenture to FBNHoldings in Lagos‌ recently

Avuru: Crude Oil Price Above $80 Detrimental to Investments Ejiofor Alike The Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Seplat Petroleum Development Company Plc, Mr. Austin Avuru has stressed the need for crude oil price to stabilise around $60 per barrel threshold, saying that $80 oil and above could be detrimental to investments.

Avuru has also called on African players in the oil and gas sector to focus on domestic energy security as the multinational companies are moving investment funds from oil and gas into the renewable energy sources.

He argued that even though the multinational majors are shifting to the new frontiers

ENERGY of renewable energy, oil and gas will continue to remain relevant to Africa, pointing out that it will take another 20 years for these new frontiers being developed by the majors to be available for Africa’s consumption after they are fully developed.

Avuru cited the case of electric car, which he said, will take additional 20 years to reach Africa after it is fully developed in 2035.

In a special remark while delivering the keynote speech at the just concluded West African International Petroleum Exhibition and Conference (WAIPEC) hosted in Lagos by the Petroleum Technol-

ogy Association of Nigeria (PETAN), the Seplat boss described what is generally regarded as low oil prices as the real balancing.

According to him, when crude oil approaches $80, $90 and $100, it encourages operators to embark on massive investments in unconventional sources of energy, which create glut in the oil market and crash the price.

Avuru added that when the price of oil is too low as in February 2016 when it was $26 per barrel, a lot of projects are deferred, adding that the $69 oil being witnessed currently is as a result of projects that were deferred. “I was telling somebody that I am praying that it doesn’t

get to $80 per barrel because it will draw us out. We are safe at $60. But by real balancing what I am referring to is the fact that when the prices get to certain threshold, certain forms of unconventional become attractive and over a period of time, it crashes the price. Conversely, when the prices are too low as we saw $26 in February 2016, a lot of projects are deferred. The $69 we are seeing today is as a result of projects that were deferred,� Avuru explained.

Avuru added that as the multinational companies are moving resources away from oil and gas to the renewable energy, African players should Continued on page 22

Kogi Targets $350m Investment in Agriculture, Infrastructure Chineme Okafor in Abuja The Kogi State government has said it is hoping to attract about $350 million which it would put into developing its agriculture and infrastructure within this year.

It said out that, it would invest $200 million in its agriculture, while $150 million would go to the upgrade of the state’s social infrastructure.

The state’s Commissioner for Finance, Mr. Asiwaju Idris, made this disclosure at the weekend in Abuja when it hosted inves-

ECONOMY tors at its agricultural summit, and where, the Governor, Mr. Yahaya Bello, explained that his government was committed to the state’s agricultural sector. “We are targeting $350 million investment. We have packaged our process very well such that by March 20 we are going to Ivory Coast to discuss with the AfDB. We are also signing MoU with the NNPC too. We are taking $200 million for agriculture and $150 million for infrastructure this

year,� said Idris.

He further stated: “We want the investors to believe that they can invest in our state and that if they invest in our state their fund is secured. Let them believe that there is security of lives and property. “As a state we need the infrastructure that can help us grow because we don’t have the money but if you put the framework in place and people believe that your economy is good they will put their money and that is why we are telling them that Dangote did it and

he is a billionaire today.�

Speaking on his government’s economic plan, Bello, explained agriculture was pivotal to it and he was making efforts to make the state take maximum benefits from the tonnage of cassava its produces every year in the country.

Represented by the Speaker of the State House of Assembly, Mr. Matthew Kolawole, the governor said Kogi has become the largest producer of cassava in Nigeria at the Continued on page 22

The past President of African Refiners Association and currently, the Managing Consultant of PEJAD Nigeria Limited, Mr. Anthony Ogbuigwe, and a former Group Managing Director of NNPC and Chairman of Brass LNG Nigeria Limited) Dr. Jackson Gaius Obaseki will be the Guest Speaker and the Chairman respectively at this year’s 15th Annual Aret Adams Memorial lecture series slated for 1st March, 2018 in Lagos.

The Programmes Coordinator of Aret Adams Foundation, Mr. Akin Jokojeje, said this year’s lecture which is the 15th in the series, has a theme, tagged “Refineries in Nigeria: Challenges and Opportunities�

He said that the Foundation was established in honour of the late Chief Godwin Aret Adams, the first Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (1988 to 1990), who later became the Special Adviser on Petroleum Resources to former Head of State, Federal Republic of Nigeria, Gen. Abdulsalam Abubakar (rtd) in1998, adding that Aret Adams made outstanding contributions toward the growth of Nigeria’s Oil & Gas industry and the nation’s economy in general.

NIPCO Lauds Workforce The Managing Director of NIPCO Plc, Mr Sanjay Teoti, has lauded the company’s workers, describing them as the major asset of the organisation since its inception in 2004.

In his reflection on the performance of the integrated downstream operator at the company’s long service awards ceremony held in Lagos, Teoti said the the efforts of the workforce have made the organisation remained a benchmark in the hydrocarbon industry. “Your efforts over the years have made the organization remain a benchmark for operators in the downstream sector of the nation’s oil and gas industry “, he said Speaking in the company of NIPCO’s Chief Retail Officer, Harjeet Tuteja and Chief Operating Officer, Suresh Kumar, the NIPCO boss also pointed out that the organisation’s increasing recognition and pedigree in the hydrocarbon industry could be linked to the workers’ dedication as a crop of well-trained and motivated workforce He restated the resolve of management to continue to improve on workers welfare but informed that the sector is becoming more competitive with inflows of more entrepreneurs stressing that more support and understanding is required to achieve the needed growth.

“Your country (Nigeria) is exporting power too, to Niger, to Republic of Benin, to Togo and we are selling gas to the West African sub-region�

Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Mr. Babatunde Fashola

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BUSINESSWORLD AVURU: CRUDE OIL PRICE ABOVE $80 DETRIMENTAL TO INVESTMENTS

recognise that these new frontiers, when fully developed by the multinationals, would take another 20 years to get to Africa.

To this end, the Seplat boss suggested that as the majors are moving resources into these new frontiers, Africa’s focus in the next five years should be domestic energy security.

According to him, domestic energy security will help Africa to sustain consumption of energy until the new frontiers get to the continent.

KOGI TARGETS $350M INVESTMENT IN AGRICULTURE, INFRASTRUCTURE

moment and would want to extend the cassava production chain beyond just cultivation.

“Agriculture is the main stay of the economy and the oil well of Kogi State. Making agriculture a business concern and not just farming for farming sake is one of the most important priorities of my government.

“The policy thrust of the administration on agriculture is to produce food and ensure food security for the people of the state, its neighboring states and Nigeria at large. The policy thrust is strengthened with the launch of the Agricultural Rebirth Program that lays out the agricultural revolution plan for the state,” he stated.

According to him, “Some of the major achievements of my government since assumption of office include: N1 billion naira investment on production of cassava, rice, cashew and other staple crops across 21 LGAs, government procured agricultural machinery and equipment to remove the constraints of mechanisation and processing, massive investment on land clearing of thousands of hectares of land to address the constraints on land development, investment in rural network of roads to assist in evacuation of agricultural produce, government undertook to procure farmers’ surplus.”

Group Business Editor

Chika Amanze-Nwachuku AgriBusiness/Industry Editor

Jonathan Eze

Comms/e-Business Editor

Emma Okonji

Capital Market Editor

Goddy Egene

Senior Correspondent

Raheem Akingbolu (Advertising) Correspondents

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

Nume Ekeghe (Money Market) Nosa Alekhuogie (Cap Mkt)

NEWS

FG Begins Off-Grid Electrification of Four Major Nigerian Markets Stories by Chineme Okafor in Abuja The federal government through the Rural Electrification Agency (REA) has launched the execution of its Energising Economies Initiative (EEP), a project aimed at taking four big markets and major economic centres in Nigeria off the national grid, and powering their activities with clean and stable electricity.

According to the Managing Director of REA, Mrs. Damilola Ogunbiyi, who launched the first phase of the EEP at the weekend in Sabon Gari Market, Kano, the initiative will provide efficient, clean and sustainable power to traders and shop owners in each of the four markets – Sabon Gari - Kano, Ariaria – Aba, Somolu Printing Community and Sura Shopping Complex, both in Lagos, to boost their productivity.

Joined by the Governor of Kano State, Mr. Abdullahi Ganduje, at the unveiling of the first phase of the project in Sabon Gari, Ogunbiyi told journalists that the market which had been disconnected from the national grid and only gets its power from multiple diesel power generation sources, would now gradually shift to using solar power to undertake its activities.

She explained that REA conducted an energy audit to discover that the market which has 12,369 shops, has a load demand of 916 kilowatt (kW). According to her, 500 shops have been connected in the first phase, with 6,000 expected to be connected in the second phase, while the balance would be done in the third phase by the project implementing firm, Rensource Energy.

She also added that the entire market would be fully connected by the fourth quarter (Q4) of 2018, and that the initiative would be wholly driven by the private sector.

“The REA in partnership with Sabon Gari Energy Solutions Ltd, a private sector power company, has successfully connected 500 shops in the market as part of the first phase of deployment,” said Ogunbiyi. She further noted: “These shops will now benefit from stable, affordable and reliable power during market opening hours. The state of the art, decentralised solar system is equipped with remote monitor-

ing capabilities, smart meters as well as durable lithium ion batteries to support night time load.

“Convenient payment collection is also being facilitated by partnership with Paga, which will provide presence within the market through its agents as well as its digital platform to enable mobile payments. As a result of this first deployment a total of 20 skilled jobs have been created and it is expected that this will increase to 200 as deployment continues throughout the entire market.”

She stated that the Kano State government and Sabon Gari Market Association have

provided the REA strong supports to go on with project.

Ganduje, who was represented by his Commissioner of Commerce, Industry and Cooperative, Mr. Ahmad Rabi’u Bako, said the solar system would help the market contain occasional outbreak of fire that has led it loss goods and money.

He said: “We thank President Muhammadu Buhari, for recognising that we have had so many fire incidents in our market, that has been caused by using unconventional means of supplying power and every time we have power from the public supply.”

“Now, we are able to get from solar which is the safest source of power and also done in a way that will benefit us not only against power outage but also the safety of the market. We have seen the facility they have here, what we are expecting is a saner, and improved business environment. We expect less hazard because there is no pollution from solar unlike before when there are so many bits and pieces of generators here.

“The company is here not just to supply power and go away, but also to maintain, that is why they have a customer care facility here in the market,” he added.

A BOOSTTO POWER SECTOR

L-R: Director, Risk Management, Central Bank of Nigeria, Folakemi Fatogbe; the Chairman, Benin Electricity Distribution Plc (BEDC), Victor Gbolade Osibodu; Chief Executive Officer, BEDC, Funke Osibodu; and Founder, Elizade University, Chief Michael Ade-Ojo, at the graduation ceremony of Graduate Trainees and Technician Trainees Programmes held in Benin City… recently

Senate Committee Lauds Total’s $16bn Egina Dangote Refinery, Fertiliser Deepwater Project Plant to Recruit Fresh 900 Engineers local content development Director of the company, Mr. Stories by Ejiofor Alike The Senate Ad-hoc Committee on Local Content at the weekend commended Total Upstream Nigeria Limited (TUPNI) for its $16 billion Egina deepwater development and pledged its support for local content development in the project.

Speaking when he led the members of the committee on oversight visit to the $3.3 billion Floating Production Storage Offloading (FPSO) unit for the 200,000 barrels per day capacity Egina deepwater oilfield, the Chairman of the committee, Senator Solomon Adeola stated that the essence of the visit was to have first hand information on the FPSO..

“This is a wonderful investment coming to us a nation with a production sharing contracts between Total, inventors and Federal Government of Nigeria.

If Nigeria can attract such huge project estimated at $16.3 billion; it shows we are moving in a right direction and growing our economy,’’ he said.

Adeola said the FPSO was the first project executed after the passage of the Nigerian Local Content Act, stressing that it is an indication that

has come to stay in Nigeria.

According to him, the real local content growth is about domiciliation and domestication of capacity in-country.

He said the committee would ensure full implementation of the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry Content Development Act (NOGICD) passed by the national assembly.

According to him, the NOGIC Act Is already in operation, adding that the National Assembly is also planning to amend the act to address other sectors including the manufacturing, construction, information technology and others.

“We will ensure sure project in the future is fully domiciled in Nigeria to grow capacity building and local content development, it is also expected that by 2027 about 70 per cent of such project will be done in Nigeria. Today we here to see the six topside that was constructed in-country and the 12 done outside Nigeria but hope that if such projects comes on board again, all the 18 top side would done in-country to grow capacity.’’

Adeola explained.

In his remarks, the Managing

Nicolas Terraz, commended the committee for its support and encouragements towards ensuring that the projected is completed within the time frame.

Terraz said work has commenced on the FPSO for the integration of six locally fabricated modules that would take place within the next six months.

According to him, the integration of the six locally fabricated topside modules at the SHI-MCI Yard before its final sail-away to the Egina field is a game changer as far as the execution of deep offshore oil and gas projects in the country is concerned.

“It is also a remarkable achievement in local content development in Nigeria.

Being the first project to be launched after the enactment of the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry Content Development Act in 2010, EGINA is advancing Nigerian content to record levels and has by far the highest quantum of local content completed for any oil and gas project in Nigeria, but also for Total’s projects worldwide,’’ he said.

Dangote Refinery and Fertiliser Plant will recruit 900 engineers between February and June 2018, the company’s Senior General Manager in charge of Human Asset, Mr. Umar Hamza has said.

Speaking when another batch of trainee engineers, who returned from five-month course at the Bharat Petroleum Mumbai Refinery (BPCL) in India shared their training experience at the Dangote Free Trade Zone site of the refinery and petrochemical plant in Lagos, Umar stated that a fresh batch of 30 brilliant engineers will be sent to India in March 2018.

“Another batch of 30 will travel in April and don’t forget that the fertiliser group is also recruiting trainee engineers. I think they are also documenting about 50. So, as you can see, we have so far, either sent or prepared about five batches and it is a continuous process because from now to June, we intend to recruit 900 other engineers.

All of them will undergo one form of training or the other abroad. In terms of the cost implications, I can’t give you the specifics but I can assure you that it runs into millions

of dollars – no doubt about it,” Umar said.

Also speaking at the event, the General Manager in charge of the fertiliser plant, Mr. Akin Oladiran said the overseas training was part of the company’s planning process to ensure that Nigerians develop the necessary skills and technical competences to run the refinery and fertiliser plant in the future.

“There is this saying that if you don’t plan at all, you have already planned to fail. You see, sending these young men to India to acquire the training, is part of the planning process to avoid what you talked about capital flight. That is the plan. From what they have demonstrated, you can see that they are also focused. They are working with the vision. Like my colleague has said, as the refinery is doing, the fertiliser plant is also doing. We have already packaged about 50 to be sent to the same India to go and experience the running of fertiliser plant and it is a continuous process. So, very soon, you see competent Nigerians running refineries and fertiliser plants. That is the vision,” Oladiran explained.

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NNPC’s Subsidy Conundrum With the mounting losses incurred by the NNPC to subsidise cost of imported petrol, Ejiofor Alike suggests that the federal government should hands off regulation of fuel price before NNPC heads for another dark era A new petrol pricing regime was introduced on May 11, 2016 when the federal government increased the pump price of petrol from N86.50 per litre to N145 per litre in line with the market dynamics. In the circular with reference number A.4/9/017/C.2/IV/690, the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA) had directed the marketers of petroleum products to sell petrol within a retail price band of N135 to N145 per litre.

PPPRA also reviewed other components of the pricing template in what the government had described as appropriate pricing mechanism for petrol. For instance, while the lightering expenses was increased from N2 per litre to N4.56 per litre, the charges paid by the marketers to the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) and the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) were increased from 21 kobo per litre to 84 kobo per litre and 15 kobo per litre to 22 kobo per litre, respectively.

Other components, which were also reviewed upwards included: financing (64 kobo to N2.50 per litre); retailers’ margin (N5 to N6 per litre); dealers’ margin (N1.95 to N2.36 per litre); bridging fund (N4 to N6.20 per litre); transporters margin (N3.05 to N3.36 per litre) and administrative charges paid by marketers to PPPRA (15 kobo to 30 kobo) per litre. The circular had also added that the PPPRA would continue to “monitor market fundamentals in line with the policy of appropriate pricing with a view to advising marketers on subsequent guiding price band for petroleum products at the beginning of every month.”

When the N145 per litre pump price was introduced, the price of crude oil was relatively low with global benchmark, Brent at $48 per barrel, while United States West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude was $46 per barrel. From a peak of $115 per barrel in June 2014, crude oil price had dropped to a 13-year low of $27 per barrel in February 2016 before it recovered to $48 per barrel on May 11, 2016.

With this low oil price, the N145 per litre pump price was a true reflection of the expected open market price of imported petrol.

Before the price of petrol was increased to N145, the drop in the price of crude oil had led to significant drop in the cost of refined products to the extent that at N86.50 pump price, the federal government had incurred little or nothing in the payment of subsidy in 2015, as the exchange rate was just N171.36 per dollar In fact, with the international price of crude oil at $48 per barrel on May 11, 2016, the expected open market price of petrol should have been around N90 per litre at that period but for the rising exchange rate, which made it impossible for Nigerians to enjoy the benefits of the low price of crude oil.

Forex, oil price volatility When the federal government increased the exchange rate to N285 per dollar and crude oil price at $48 per barrel, it was convenient for the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and the private oil marketing companies to import petrol and sell at N145 per litre without incurring losses.

When the PPPRA said in its May 11 circular that it would continue to “monitor market fundamentals in line with the policy of appropriate pricing with a view to advising marketers on subsequent guiding price band for petroleum products at the beginning of every month,” the idea was to constantly review the price to reflect the market dynamics and the price of crude at the international market.

At a point when foreign exchange was made available to the marketers at affordable rates, the NNPC and some private filling stations were selling at N143 per litre.

Earlier in 2015 when the exchange rate rose to N188 per dollar - the interbank rate, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) still made forex available to the marketers at N171.36.

However, at a point in 2015, the exchange rate rose to N197, but there was no window provided for the private marketers, thus making the N86.50 price ceiling increasingly unsustainable

NNPC Towers, Abuja in the face of rising oil price.

From an official rate of N197 per dollar, the exchange rate was further raised to N285 per dollar and the pump price increased to N145 per litre.

When the exchange rate soared to about N400 per dollar, it eroded the capacity of the marketers to import petrol and the Minister of State for Petroleum, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu had to secure the intervention of the international

To maintain the price at N145, the NNPC has continued to incur huge losses and yet, the N145 pump price has not been achieved as the country has continued to suffer fuel shortages, which have encouraged profiteering and all forms of malpractices. The rising losses are not only unsustainable but will also expose the corporation financially, potentially fueling allegation of massive corruption, which had characterised the operation of the state-run oil firm before the present administration assumed office

oil companies (IOCs), which provided forex to the oil traders at affordable rates But the provision of forex to the marketers was not sustained by the IOCs. With the rising price of crude at the international market and the lack of capacity of the private marketers to access forex for importation, the oil traders stopped importation of petrol in October 2017. The private marketers said they cannot break even if they import petrol and sell at N145 with the current price of crude oil at $68 per barrel unless the federal government provides incentives or subsidy but the government no longer provides for subsidy claims in the yearly budgets.

NNPC’s huge losses as sole importer With the inability of the marketers to import, the NNPC assumed the sole importer of petrol in October 2017 and has been incurring huge losses to maintain the pump price at N145 per litre.

Addressing the National Assembly Joint Committee on Petroleum Resources (Downstream), Kachikwu had disclosed that the landing cost of petrol, which was N133.28 per litre in 2016, is now N171 per litre.

This, he said had made the NNPC to be the 100 per cent importer of the product.

As a result of the N26 difference per litre between the current landing cost of the product (N171) and pump price of N145, Kachikwu stated that the NNPC, which had been singularly importing the product at the volume of 25million litres per day since October last year, has been incurring a daily loss of about N800-N900million.

Cumulatively, these have amounted to N85.5billion, in just three months.

He told the lawmakers that the federal government had mandated a committee chaired by him to find urgent solution, pending when the local refineries would be in good shape in the next 18 months.

He said three solutions were being considered.

“One, is for the Central bank of Nigeria ( CBN) to allow the marketers access forex at the rate of N204 to a dollar as against the official rate of N305 to keep the pump price of fuel per litre at N145. Two, is to give room for modulated deregulation where NNPC would be allowed to continue selling at N145 per litre in all its mega stations across the country while the independent marketers should be allowed to sell at whatever price is profitable to them in all their outlets. Three, to look at the direction of blanket subsidy for all the importers in bridging the gap which would be like going back to a problem that had earlier been solved,”

Kachikwu explained.

There is no doubt that the second option reflected the current market dynamics as price regulation is not sustainable in the face of current realities of rising crude oil price and forex challenges.

At the beginning of the N145 pricing regime, Kachikwu had canvassed for price modulation to ensure continuous upward or downward review of the price to reflect the fluctuating price of crude oil. However, when the crude oil price rose, the federal government could not increase the pump price for fear of political backlashes, which could impact the electoral fortunes of the ruling party. To maintain the price at N145, the NNPC has continued to incur huge losses and yet, the N145 pump price has not been achieved as the country has continued to suffer fuel shortages, which have encouraged profiteering and all forms of malpractices. The rising losses are not only unsustainable but will also expose the corporation financially, potentially fueling allegation of massive corruption, which had characterised the operation of the state-run oil firm before the present administration assumed office.

It would be recalled that at the peak of the subsidy regime, the former administration of President Goodluck Jonathan had budgeted N286 billion for subsidy claims in 2011 but the actual payment exceeded this budget by over N1.2 trillion because of the huge losses incurred by the NNPC to subsidise petrol and kerosene. This had led to series of probes by the National Assembly and the executive, which uncovered massive fraud in the subsidy regime.

The federal government should nip the repeat of this experience in the bud by allowing both the NNPC and the private marketers to sell petrol at market price. The Group Managing Director of NNPC, Dr. Baru Maikanti had reportedly said the fuel supply challenges experienced by the country were caused by combination of factors ranging from diversion of the product from depots by tanker drivers to neighbouring countries where it is sold between N300 to N400 per litre to outright hoarding of the product by unscrupulous marketers.

For other countries to sell petrol at N300 and above means that N145 is not the market price and should be adjusted upward to save NNPC to end the perennial fuel crisis and save the NNPC from the impending doom.

Deregulation will encourage marketers to import petrol and boost investment in the downstream sector for job creation, and growth of GDP.

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REA to Help Jigawa Reduce Monthly Overhead on Streetlights Chineme Okafor in Abuja The Rural Electrification Agency (REA) and Jigawa State government have commenced negotiations to enable Jigawa to deploy solar electricity solutions to reduce its monthly expenditure on street lights in its 27 local governments by adopting solar power.

REA and Jigawa would also be pushing to advance the state’s plan to have its planned renewable energy city come up in good time, as well as, deploying mini grid and standalone solar power systems to Jigawa’s rural communities and farm areas.

Speaking after meeting with the Managing Director of REA, Mrs. Damilola Ogunbiyi, in Dutse, the Deputy Governor of Jigawa, Mr. Ahmad Mahmud, stated that the state spends an average of N110 million electrifying street lights in its local government areas, and would want to reduce or even stop that expenses on diesel generators.

Mahmud, also explained that the government would also want to support its farmers who use petrol powered pumps to irrigate their farmlands, in addition to deploying mini grid solutions to rural communities where it spends billions annually to extend unstable electricity grid to.

In terms of large scale solar power generation, the deputy governor also indicated that the government has set aside its land to support any serious investor in solar power in the state, and would need the support of the REA to accomplish these goals.

“We are in a unique position in Jigawa State, we are right in the middle of solar radiation belt. When you talk about solar, it is not just

about sunlight, there is a lot of factors to be considered like cloud cover, and it is not what you see in the sun that translates to solar electricity.

“Jigawa happens be right in the middle of the best solar belt in Nigeria, and we keep on getting a lot of investors coming to get land because solar requires land – you will probably need 150 hectares of land for a 100 megawatts solar plant, and with the drive towards agriculture, land is getting more difficult. We proactively moved in and identified state-owned land and locked it down, so when an investor shows commitment, he is guaranteed land in a matter of six weeks,” said Mahmud.

He further stated: “We have three very serious solar investors in Jigawa with combined potential generation of 280 megawatts, and the consumption of this state at the moment is less than 25 megawatts, and you can imagine the impact this would make. We are being very bullish about this development.”

“But more importantly in my conversation with the REA MD is that there is a lot we are doing in terms of putting solar in hospitals. We inherited street lights in 27 local governments in Jigawa, and they are being run on diesel generators and cost us N110 million in a month with the diesel supply. This fluctuates though, and sometimes get to N180 million.

“When you do the calculation, you will discover that one year of maintenance and operation of these generators will replace everything with solar, and we won’t have to worry about this for 25 to 30 years.

“The same thing is with irrigation where people use petrol pumps, and that cost of fuel can be 60 per cent of

Experts Predict Brent Trends in 2018: A Wrap Up The average price of Brent crude oil will remain below $70 per barrel in 2018, Rigzone reported, quoting several oil and gas experts.

Analysts at BMI Research expect the commodity to average $65 per barrel this year, with experts at investment banking firm Jefferies forecasting average prices of $63 per barrel.

Michael Burns, oil and gas partner at law firm Ashurst, suggests that the oil price will hover around the mid-$60 per barrel mark in 2018, Interfax Energy anticipates Brent to average $61 per barrel throughout the year, and a recent Gulf Intelligence (GI) survey polling 100 energy industry executives also highlighted that Brent would stay in the $60s region.

Geopolitical tensions in the Middle East, together with Venezuela’s deteriorating macroeconomic situation, are expected to be the main bullish factors affecting oil prices in 2018, according to Abhishek Kumar, senior energy and modelling analyst at Interfax.

“Ongoing protests in Iran, tussles within the Royal Family of Saudi Arabia, Houthis fighters threatening to disrupt traffic through the Bab-elMandeb strait, as well as the situation in Libya, Syria and Lebanon are all examples of geopolitical tensions in the Middle East,” Kumar noted.

The majority of those that took part in GI’s survey supported Kumar’s view, stating that geopolitics, including the threat of war in the Middle East, would replace OPEC output cuts as the biggest oil price driver this year.

As for the predominant bearish factor on oil prices in 2018, Kumar revealed the culprit will be rising oil output in the United States.

Analysts at Jefferies backed up this claim, describing U.S. production growth as a great risk to oil prices over the next 12 months.

Contrastingly, analysts at GMP FirstEnergy suggested that this year’s U.S. supply growth won’t seriously hold back the value of Brent crude.

the cost of cultivation, if we introduce solar pumps for the farmers, we will immediately eliminate this cost. These are areas where we are talking to REA to come in and help us move toward renewable

energy,” he added.

According to him, “We also have off grid communities that are small and the distribution companies may not invest money to take power to them.

We want to liaise with the

REA to commit to putting off grid standalone solutions in these villages because right now government is spending money to electrify them.

“We spend N4 to N5 billion every year on grid extension

that would not become our own but that of the distribution company. If we partner with the REA we can begin to see some changes this year in the power supply of Jigawa state.”

SUCCOUR FOR ELECTRICITY CONSUMERS

R-L: Managing Director/CEO of Eko Electricity Distribution Company (EKEDC), Mr. Adeoye Fadeyibi; Board Chairman of EKEDC, Mr.Charles Momoh; Power Africa Advisor, Gela Kereselidze; Director General, Bureau of Public Enterprise (BPE), Alex Okoh; Ernest Oji, Dere Otubu and George Etomi, all Board members of EKEDC, during the delivery of some technical equipment to EKEDC by Power Africa in Lagos… recently.

TCN’s Union Apologises to USAID Boosts Eko Disco’s Former Boss for Opposing His Capacity to Reduce Technical Appointment Losses Chineme Okafor in Abuja Senior workers of the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) under the auspices of their inhouse union - the Senior Staff Association of Electricity and Allied Companies (SSAEAC) have written to the immediate past Interim Managing Director (IMD) of the TCN, Mr. Usman Mohammed, apologising for opposing his initial appointment to run the company by the federal government.

In a letter dated January 29, 2018, which was reportedly sent to Mohammed just before his one-year appointment as the IMD of the company ended in February, the unions acknowledged they were naïve about the plans Mohammed had for the company and its workforce.

Signed by Yerima Bukar Hassan, the Branch Secretary of SSAEAC in TCN, the workers explained they didn’t know the IMD would help restore their capacity and confidence to revive TCN which they alleged was ran aground by its former management contractor, Manitoba Hydro International (MHI).

According to them, one year of Mohammed’s management of the company had resulted in the workers getting deeply involved in the operations of the TCN, especially taking charge of the installation and expansion works done on the transmission network.

They also the ability of the TCN to cancel the unprofitable fibre optic cable contract it had with some indigenous telecommunication outfits as

well as its retrieval of the facility was a bold decision and step Mohammed took in the interest of the company.

To grow the company’s profitability and competence, they noted that the extra ordinary tariff review request the TCN submitted to the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) under Mohammed was also a good move, hence, their expression of regret for resisting his appointment in the first place.

Listing some what they said they were able to accomplish with the support of Mohammed in office, the workers said they were able to transmit for the first time in the history of Nigeria’s power sector peak loads of 5,155 megawatts (MW) and 5,222.3MW of electricity respectively on December 8 and 18, 2017.

They also mentioned the development of a transmission expansion and upgrade plan by the company under Mohammed, to enable it identify and track the progress of its network expansion, as well as the reorganisation of TCN’s procurement department and training of its procurement officers to undertake standard procurement of projects in line with international practices.

Mohammed, who was harshly treated by TCN’s workers’ unions when he was appointed by the federal government from the African Development Bank (AfDB) to manage the company for a period of one year, had recently left the TCN following the expiration of his one year term.

Ejiofor Alike As part of its technical assistance partnership with some electricity distribution companies in the country, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), through its technical partners, Tetra Tech, has supplied Eko Electricity Distribution Company (EKEDC) with some technical equipment to help the company reduce Aggregate Technical, Commercial and Collection (ATC&C) losses and also boost its logistic and technical base.

Speaking during the delivery of the equipment at Eko Disco’s corporate headquarters in Lagos, the chairman of the Board of Eko Disco, Mr. Charles Itse Momoh expressed his satisfaction on the positive outcome of the partnership between the two bodies. Momoh added that the choice of Eko Disco as one of the four distribution companies for the USAID partnership would go a long way in building a new culture of excellence that has been the focus of the core investors of the company since 2013. He also expressed the confidence that the partnership would add much more value and produce more dividends than envisaged.

Also speaking at the occasion, representative of USAID/Tetra Tech, Mr. Gela Kereselidza said the equipment would serve as a big support for the attainment of performance-improvement goal of the partnership.

He said the performance of Eko Disco so far has been encouraging, adding that USAID was convinced that the choice of

the company for the partnership was not a wrong decision.

Gela stressed further that the two units of state of the art Zera Test System among the equipment would help reduce Aggregate Technical, Commercial and Collection (ATC&C) losses in the company.

Apart from the Zera test system, other equipment expected to be supplied include 500 hundred DT statistic meters with all accessories (CTs, Switchers, Boxes and etc) to boost metering efficiency and billing accuracy as well as one and 1 bucket truck to boost operational efficiency in overhead line tracing and fault clearing. As part of efforts to improve the power sector in Nigeria, Power Africa, a US government-led initiative, coordinated by the USAID had also signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoUs) with four discos in Abuja, Benin, and Eko Disco in 2016, as well as Ibadan Disco. Speaking at the recent MoU signing ceremony with Ibadan Discos, Director, Office of Economic Growth and Environment, USAID, Roseann Casey noted that aggregate energy losses had been reduced at each of the DISCOs, adding also that revenue collection increased by N27 billion (approximately $75 million) in 2017.

Casey revealed that Power Africa’s support to the four distribution companies represents a $12 million investment in the self-reliance and resilience of Nigeria’s energy sector, and demonstrates USAID’s position as the world’s premier international development agency.

A

13.02.2018

WEEKLY PULL-OUT

‘HERDSMEN CRISIS IS GRADUALLY ENVELOPING WEST AFRICA’

Major Genera General I.B.M. Haruna (Rtd.)

2/DASHBOARD

13.02.2018

Propriety of Court Placing Reliance on Findings Made in Similar Case to Resolve Present Issues PAGE 4

Kogi Chief Judge Swears in New Notary Public PAGE 5

Group Calls for Training of Judges in Tackling Cases of Human Trafficking PAGE 5

Suspend CCT Chairman Pending Alleged Criminal Trial, Group Urges FG PAGE 6

QUOTABLES ‘We cannot realistically police a country the size of Nigeria from Abuja. State Police and other community policing networks, are clearly the way to go.’

– Professor Yemi Osinbajo, SAN, GCON, Vice President, Federal Republic of Nigeria

‘A Lawyer Knows Something About Everything’ PAGE 6

‘Obasanjo appears not to have respect for those that have been in governance after him....He has this penchant for writing derogatory letters about them, publishing them in the press and making them look bad to the public. My own view, is that he wants to continue to dominate Nigerian politics.’

– Professor Itse Sagay, SAN, Chairman, Presidential Advisory Committee Against Corruption

COLUMNIST ADERINSOLA FAGBURE Aderinsola Fagbure is a keen writer having written her first article which was published by the junior section of a national daily, at the age of five. She is a graduate of Igbinedion University Okada and has just completed a Master’s degree in Corporate Law at the University College London. Her column, “In black and white” discusses the need for innovation on the Nigerian legal scene particularly in the fields of Mergers and Acquisitions, Corporate Finance, Corporate Governance and Energy Law.

Aelex Elevates 5 PAGE 7

The Mandatory Use of the National Identification Number Regulation 2017: How Constitutional?

PAGE 12

ONIKEPO BRAITHWAITE EDITOR JUDE IGBANOI DEPUTY EDITOR AKINWALE AKINTUNDE REPORTER TUNDE BUSARI GROUP HEAD OCHI OGBUAKU II ART DIRECTOR

/3

The Limits of Incompetence

D

Nigeria Army v Boko Haram espite the claims of the Nigerian Army that it has annihilated and vanquished the Terrorist Group, Boko Haram, on Monday, February 5, 2018, two people in a North East village were killed in an attack by them, and another six were also killed in another attack by them in Northern Cameroon. When I heard the news report about the killings on television, I felt somewhat depressed.

It is almost as if anytime the Army boasts of victory over Boko Haram, Boko Haram responds with reprisal attacks on innocent people, to show that they are still very much around.

My point? The spokespeople of Government agencies should not only be more guarded in the utterances they make to the public, but be cork sure about the veracity of the statements they issue to Nigerians.

Kassim Afegbua Later that Monday, my mood changed from that of depression to one of strange jocundity (humour) mixed with discouragement, when I heard that the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) had launched a man hunt for Kassim Afegbua, spokesman of General Ibrahim Babangida, former Nigerian Head of State, for allegedly issuing a false statement/report. I thought to myself in Yoruba that, “se iyen lo kan ni sin?”(is that what is the priority now?). Considering the fact that the security agencies are also guilty of issuing false reports e.g. claiming to have defeated Boko Haram when clearly they have not, why have they not launched a man hunt to arrest themselves?!

One would imagine that with the state of insecurity in the country, and having been adjudged as the worst Police Force in the World by a Global Index, NPF would be aware that they have their work cut out for them, and busy themselves with policing instead of trading words with critics and making a mockery of themselves.

While Sections 214-216 of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended in 2010)(the Constitution) and Section 3 of the ‘outdated’ Police Act 1968 provide for the establishment of the NPF, Section 4 of the Police Act provides inter alia (among other things), that the

duties of the NPF are “prevention and detection of crime, the apprehension of offenders, the preservation of law and order, the protection of life and property....”.

The National Assembly gave the NPF a deadline of 14 days, to apprehend the perpetrators of the Benue killings of January 2018. Nigerians have not been informed that this deadline has been met, yet NPF is concerned about Kassim Afegbua. A case of extremely misplaced priorities, if you ask me.

By virtue of Section 215(1)(3) of the Constitution and Section 9(4) and 10(1) of the Police Act, the President is charged with the ‘operational control’ of the Police and can give directions to the Inspector General of Police (IG) ‘with respect to maintaining and securing public safety and public order’.

This, President Buhari did, when he directed the IG to relocate to Benue State (I will not bother to address the issue of whether the President should have paid a condolence visit to Benue State).

Sunrise Daily Last week, I watched an episode of Sunrise Daily, which had the NPF Public Relations Officer, Jimoh Moshood, and the Chief Press Secretary to the Benue State Governor, Terver Akase, as guests. I felt thoroughly ashamed on behalf of the NPF, when Benue State accused the IG of only spending one day in their State and telling outright falsehoods about the Crisis. Mr Akase actually came to the program, armed with a sheet of paper that listed Benue State’s allegations of falsehood against the IG. I was taken aback when, in response to Benue State’s accusations and call for the IG’s resignation, Mr Moshood said “It is irresponsible for the Governor of Benue State to call for the resignation of the IG....you don’t join issues with a drowning man....He (Ortom) should be the one to resign first, for not being able to sustain peace in his State....”. The reason for my shock, was that Mr Moshood was indirectly indicting the NPF, that not only do they not know the law that they are meant to preserve, they are ineffective. Mr Moshood, especially as the NPF PRO, should have been conversant with Section 215(4) of the Constitution and Section 10(2) of the Police Act, which makes the instructions given by a Governor to the State Commissioner of Police, subject to ratification by the President or Minister of Govern-

ment who has the authority of the President to give the ratification. In plain terms, the Governor has no power or authority over the Police!

Pray tell, how is a Governor then expected to sustain peace in his/ her State? With juju (black magic)?

Governor Ortom should use ‘Afose’ (Command) to ‘pa ase’ (command) over the Fulani Herdsmen to disappear or make their weapons turn to water? Yes, that is how ridiculous that statement of Jimoh Moshood about Governor Ortom sustaining peace in Benue, sounded.

The NPF and other organisations will continue to have problems with their output, performance, and efficiency, as long as the selection processes for their leadership is flawed. A few weeks ago, I discussed the issue of nepotism extensively.

A situation where qualified and trained people are by-passed or sacked, and someone who is yet to acquire the requisite expertise and is simply unqualified for the job, is brought from behind to take up the mantle of leadership because he/she is some “oga at the top’s” ‘favourite’, is obviously a recipe for disaster and failure.

Role of Spokespeople As for our various spokespeople, most of them need to go for proper training, so that they can understand that their roles are not to personalise and trivialise issues and hurl abuses at their critics in the process, but that a public relations/spokes person’s main role is “to represent a company (or his/her organisation) or individual in a reputable and profitable way”.

Spokespeople are meant to have excellent speaking and writing skills. This is also seriously lacking, in many of the Government spokespeople that I have seen and heard via the different forms of information dissemination.

For one, you do not have to be able to use grand words like Honourable Obahiagbon, but you must be able to understand the meaning of the words and phrases that you use, and use them properly and respectfully in the right context, in order to represent your organisation satisfactorily. All these various spokespeople do, is to talk condescendingly with a false sense of entitlement, try to justify the failures of their various establishments and CEOs, and make statements that end up stirring up nothing but bitterness and resentment in Nigerians.

ONIKEPO BRAITHWAITE

THE ADVOCATE onikepo.braithwaite@thisdaylive.com onikepob@yahoo.com

“PRAY TELL, HOW IS A GOVERNOR THEN EXPECTED TO SUSTAIN PEACE IN HIS/HER STATE? WITH JUJU (BLACK MAGIC)?

GOVERNOR ORTOM SHOULD USE ‘AFOSE’ (COMMAND) TO ‘PA ASE’ (COMMAND) OVER THE FULANI HERDSMEN TO DISAPPEAR OR MAKE THEIR WEAPONS TURN TO WATER? YES, THAT IS HOW RIDICULOUS THAT STATEMENT OF JIMOH MOSHOOD ABOUT GOVERNOR ORTOM SUSTAINING PEACE IN BENUE, SOUNDED”

Dear Editor

Re: Before Nigeria Becomes Police State

Inspector-General of Police, Ibrahim Idris

Police Public Relations Officer, Jimoh Moshood

Dear Editor, Many thanks for your kind publication of my article ‘Hon. Justice H.A. Nganjiwa v FRN Revisited’ in your THISDAY LAWYER. It was well arranged, and I do appreciate the style you adopted in its presentation. I also found very refreshing, your tribute to Dr. Alex Ekwueme of most blessed and remarkable memory, and the opportunity you missed in interviewing him. Mrs. Hairat Balogun, is a woman that the legal profession must celebrate, and you did so well in capturing her 55th Anniversary of her Call to the Bar. The articles in today’s collection are contemporary and make interesting reading.

I look forward to better partnership in writing with you in your THISDAY LAWYER.

Regards, Daketima Kio Dear Editor, I have constantly read your publication in Thisday Newspaper. Your contributions and well thought out writing, with their legal assertions, to say the least are very impressive.

You and your team are indeed “appreciated”. Well done!!

Kind Regards, Charles Anusim Dear Editor, A very intelligent article, touching on various subjects but all linked!

Well done.

BBO, Lagos

4/LAW REPORT

13.02.2018

Propriety of Court Placing Reliance on Findings Made in Similar Case to Resolve Present Issues

T Facts

he Respondent filed a claim against the Appellant at the National Industrial Court (NIC) seeking inter alia, a declaration that the purported termination of his employment was invalid, wrongful, and in breach of his terms of employment with the Appellant. The Appellant denied liability, and the matter proceeded to trial. The Court entered judgement for the Respondent.

Dissatisfied, with the decision, the Appellant

filed this appeal.

Issues for Determination (1) Whether the Honourable trial Judge was right to adopt his erroneous finding of facts in his previous decisions, as his finding of facts and judgement in this case, in breach of the Appellant’s right to fair hearing; (2) Whether the Honourable trial Judge was right, when he suo motu, made out a case in this matter different from the case submitted to it by the parties for adjudication, in breach of the Appellant’s right to fair hearing; (3) Whether the Honourable trial Judge was right, when he refused to consider any of the issues raised in the Appellant’s Reply on Points of Law in response to the Respondent’s Final Written Address, in the final judgement of 30th September, 2015, in breach of the Appellant’s right to fair hearing; (4) Whether the Honourable trial Judge was right, when he made findings on the documents (Exhibit A04, A03 & A09) tendered and relied on by the Respondent by admitting and/or placing full evidential value on the documents contrary to the provisions of the Evidence Act, 2011, without making any findings of facts and pronouncement on the objections raised by the Appellant as to their relevance and/or admissibility in breach of the Appellant’s right to fair hearing; (5) Whether the trial Court was right to hold that the Respondent’s employment was wrongfully terminated, and to award damages in the sum of N172,660.52 as two months gross salary to the Respondent, a relief not sought by the Respondent in breach of the Appellant’s right to fair hearing; and (6) Whether the trial Court was right to rely on “the purported handbook” and the photocopies of the Appellant’s minutes of the Board of Directors meeting with extraneous attachments, in awarding the sum of N550,7781.25, a relief not sought by the Respondent.

Arguments The summary of the Appellant’s argument, was that every decision must be based on the peculiar circumstances and facts surrounding it, and that failure of the Court to consider the peculiar facts of the suit before relying on its earlier judgements, constituted a breach of its right to fair hearing. It was submitted that, the trial Judge was wrong to suo motu make out a case different from the case submitted by the parties.

The Respondent, on his part, contended that the trial Court dealt with the issues raised by the Appellant, and that every Judge has a style of writing in so far as the case is properly resolved.

Court’s Judgement and Rationale Resolving the issues, the Court noted that the decision of IHESI v ARINZE & ANOR (2007) 5 NWLR (Pt. 1027) 241 relied upon by the Appellant, was distinguishable from the instant case where the trial Court relied on its previous decisions of UKANDU v MAINSTREET BANK REGISTRARS LIMITED (UNREPORTED) SUIT NO. NICN/LA/335/2013 and ABIMBOLA v MAINSTREET BANK REGISTRARS LIMITED (UNREPORTED) SUIT NO. NICN/LA/317/2013 delivered on 27th May, 2015.

Here, the issues and the documents for evaluation were the same, so as the principal witness. Hence, the trial Court could not be faulted as a Court can rely on its previous ruling on a particular point, when relevant in the determination of an issue. This is more so, where the Court had earlier resolved same issues raised by a party in earlier proceedings.

On whether an erroneous finding is a breach of fair hearing, the Court observed that fair hearing was used in the instant case as a cancer with no definite shape or identity, as every perceived wrong was tagged as breach of fair hearing even when the Appellant had been given an opportunity to be heard. Fair hearing is giving equal opportunity to parties to be heard in litigation before the Court, and where parties are given opportunity to be heard but fail to use it, they cannot complain of breach of the right of hearing. DINGYADI v INEC

Yargata Byenchit Nimpar, JCA

In the Court of Appeal In the Lagos Judicial Division Holden at Lagos On Friday, the 24th Day of November, 2017 Before Their Lordships Joseph Shagbaor Ikyegh Ugochukwu Anthony Ogakwu Abimbola Osarugue Obaseki-Adejumo Justices, Court of Appeal CA/L/1288/2015 Between MainStreet Bank Registrars Ltd .........Appellant And Awe Olugbenga ......Respondent (Lead Judgement delivered by Hon. Yargata Byenchit Nimpar, JCA)

(2010) LPELR -952 SC. The Court held that the Appellant was not denied fair hearing, as it fully participated in the trial and with the Court’s unfettered right to rely on any material in arriving at its judgement, the findings relied on by the trial Judge was permissible, so as to save judicial time and avoid repetition.

Further, fair hearing is the courts right to rule against a party after having considered its case. A court of law has no legal duty to confine itself only to authorities cited by the parties; UNOGBO v UNA (2002) 16 NWLR (Pt.792) 175 at 211-212, but can include its own decision which it considers relevant. It follows that the arguments of the Appellant, were frivolous

“..... A COURT CAN RELY ON ITS PREVIOUS RULING ON A PARTICULAR POINT, WHEN RELEVANT IN THE DETERMINATION OF AN ISSUE. THIS IS MORE SO, WHERE THE COURT HAD EARLIER RESOLVED SAME ISSUES RAISED BY A PARTY IN EARLIER PROCEEDINGS”

and misconceived.

On the second issue, the Appellate Court agreed that there was no pleading in support of Pre-action notice; thus, the findings of the trial Court on the issue of Preaction notice, not being the case of the parties, was wrong and same was set aside. A court cannot raise issues suo motu and resolve same, without affording the parties an opportunity to address the Court thereon. Therefore, the trial Court erred, by including the issue of pre-trial notice in its finding on jurisdiction. Nonetheless, this did not occasion a miscarriage of justice to the Appellant, as the issue of jurisdiction is covered by the Constitution and not the Companies and Allied Matters Act relied on by the Appellant.

Parties had joined issues on the minutes of meeting of the Board of Directors, which the Appellant had asked the Court to take judicial notice of. Hence, to say the decision of the court was perverse because a copy of the minutes was tendered by the Respondent, was untenable. The Appellant who had adopted the answers to cross-examination in the UKANDU’S case, cannot turn around to complain when the Court also relied on its findings on similar issues in those cases.

Deciding the third issue, it was observed that the trial Court reviewed all preliminary issues raised by the Appellant in its Reply on Points of Law, which was similar to those raised in UKANDU’S and ABIMBOLA’S cases, where the trial Court adopted the findings in the judgement.

The Appellant who had invited the Court to take judicial notice of the records, cannot challenge the adoption of the Court’s findings therein.

On the fourth issue regarding admissibility of some documents in contravention of the Evidence Act, the Appellate Court stated that there is no rule of practice that says that the Court must make specific findings on each statement of counsel. Admissibility is founded on relevance and pleadings, the test which was met by the Respondent - OKONJI v NJOKANMA (1999) 14 NWLR (PT.683) 250. Though what is required to be tendered as documentary evidence is the original, the same law anticipated a situation where the original may not be available, such that a party can use secondary evidence, so far as the necessary foundation is laid – Section 87 of the Evidence Act. Having complied with the above, the Evidence Act was not flouted in any way. By the decision of the Court of Appeal, the lower Court is bound to observe the provisions of the Evidence Act contrary to Section 12 of the NIC Act. SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION v ABILO UBOBOSO CA/A/388/2013 (Unreported) and delivered on 21st December, 2016. The trial Court evaluated all the exhibits, and the fact that the finding did not benefit the Appellant, did not mean they were not evaluated.

Deciding issues five and six, their Lordships held that it is settled law that a Court cannot give what was not sought for by a Claimant. NIGERIAN AIR FORCE v SHEKETE (2002) 18 NWLR (PT.798) 129. However, the Appellate Court justified the two months’ salary awarded to the Respondent, even though the handbook stipulated a month’s salary in lieu of notice as in this case, the Appellant terminated the employment of the Respondent by letter giving only one day notice. Thus, failure to pay the one month’s salary in lieu of notice was a breach of the term of employment, and payment after such alleged termination, is wrongful. Also, going by the handbook which had been approved by the Board, the Respondent was entitled to terminal benefits having served for 5 years, which the trial Court computed. The terminal benefits includes gratuity - JULIUS BERGER (NIG) PLC v NWAGWU (2006) 12 NWLR (Pt.995) 518. The trial Court considered all evidence before it, and arrived at a just decision which the Appellate Court could not interfere with. By the way, a Court has the power to make consequential orders, and that cannot be offensive in anyway. USIOBAIFO v USIOBAIFO (2005) 3 NWLR (PT.913) 665. The award of sum of N550,781.25 was justified and well founded.

On this note, the Court found that the appeal lacked merit, and same was dismissed with costs of N100,000.00 against the Appellant in favour of the Respondent.

Appeal Dismissed.

Representation: Dr. Charles Mekwunye with Cyril Onyeogaziri and John Ochada for the Appellant.

Paul I. Okoh with B. N. Chukwu for the Respondent.

Reported by Optimum Publishers Limited (Publishers of the Nigerian Monthly Law Reports (NMLR))

13.02.2018

NEWS/5

L-R: Alhaji Isah Ozi Salami, the Chief Judge of Kogi State, Hon. Justice Nasiru Ajanah and Dr. Julius Elukpo, the newly appointed Notary Public, after the swearing in recently in Lokoja

L-R: Deputy Attorney General Conference of Western Attorneys General Amanda Plisner, Board Member Conference of Western Attorneys General Africa Alliance Partnership, Markus Green,Deputy Attorney General Anthony Da Silva, During the Global Trends in Combatting the Scourge of Human Trafficking in Abuja…Last Week

Kogi Chief Judge Swears in New Notary Public Yekini Jimoh in Lokoja The Chief Judge of Kogi State, Hon. Justice Nasiru Ajanah, has sworn in Julius Elukpo as a Notary Public.

Swearing in the new Notary Public at the State High Court in Lokoja, Justice Ajanah charged the newly appointed Notary Public to use the position to meet the challenges of the problems of justice, for the benefit of the people of the State.

Justice Ajanah, also cautioned the recipient against

using the position to fan the embers of political and tribal sentiments.

According to him "there is no doubt that your honesty, dedication to duty, candour and your belief in the rule of law, has brought this well merited appointment.

"As an officer of the Supreme Court and in accordance with the Notary Public Act, you are imbued with some responsibilities.

You are to exempt yourself from acting in matters which you have interest, and in other

cases you are to perform your responsibilities with utmost good faith.”

The Chief Judge who also charged Dr Elukpo to comply with the provisions of the Second Schedule of the Notary Public Act, disclosed that the appointment was the tenth since he assumed office as the Chief Judge of the State, noting that the feat was achieved as a result of the calibre of legal practitioners in the State.

Justice Ajanah commended the Chief Justice

of Nigeria, Hon. Justice Walter Samuel Nkanu Onnoghen, for the honour done to the son of Kogi State, and thanked God for giving him the opportunity to administer the Oath of Notary Public on Dr. Elukpo.

In his remark, Dr. Elukpo promised to live up to the expectation of the Kogi State Judiciary, and assured all that his input will continue to move the State forward in the interest of justice.

LP Drags National Chairman, Adebutu, 9 Others to Court over Ogun Party Structure Femi Ogbonnikan In Abeokuta Crisis rocking the Ogun State chapter of the Labour Party (LP) over the structure of the party, has deepened further, as the factional Chairman of the party in the State, Chief Biodun Owolabi, has dragged its National Chairman, Abdulkadir Abdulsalam, and ten others, including Hon Ladi Adebutu, the PDP lawmaker representing Ikenne/Sagamu/ Remo Federal Constituency to an Abeokuta Federal High Court.

Owolabi and two other Plaintiffs, in the writ of summons made available to newsmen in Abeokuta on Wednesday, are praying the court to restrain the National Chairman of the party and ten others from interferring in the party activities.

The Defendants, aside the National Chairman, include; the factional State Party Chairman, Abayomi Arabambi, Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Director General of the Department of the State Services (DSS) and an Ogun State Governorship aspirant of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Oladipupo Adebutu, who is also an incumbent Legislator in the lower chambers of the National Assembly.

Others are the Chairman

of the PDP in the State, Hon. Sikirulahi Ogundele, the National Legal Adviser of Labour Party, Oyeleke Akingbade, former Chairman of the Party in the State, Bode Simeon, a Chieftain of the Party in the State, Saburi Aroyewun and the Party itself.

In the writ of summons, the Plaintiffs sought an interim injunction, restraining Arabambi, (6th Defendant), Adebutu, (8th Defendant), Akingbade (10th Defendant) and Ogundele (11th Defendant) from interfering, manipulating, and hijacking the affairs of the Labour Party.

The writ is also praying the court to restrain the National Chairman (5th Defendant), INEC (2nd Defendant), IGP (3rd Defendant), D-G DSS (4th Defendant), Simeon (9th Defendant), Aroyehun (7th Defendant) and Labour Party (1st Defendant), from either parading themselves or interfering in the affairs of the Party.

It would be recalled that the Party in the State has been enmeshed in a leadership crisis, following the emergence of two factional executives during the parallel congresses held last week in Abeokuta.

A faction led by Owolabi which held its congress at the Party Secretariat, Adatan, Abeokuta approached the court, asking it to restrain the other faction and its supporters from interferring or parading themselves as recognised lead-

ers of the Party in the State.

The Plaintiffs in suit number FHC/A3/CS/10/18, claimed that their executives were duly formed by the authentic delegates of the Party across the 20 local governments in the State.

The Plaintiffs also said the other factional Chairman, Arabambi, allegedly connived with Adebutu with the motive to destabilise, disrupt and cause chaos in the party, hence the need to head to the court for justice to prevail.

The Plaintiffs, however, begged the court to enforce the law, following an order against the Defendants that," An order of perpetual injunction restraining all the Defendants from dealing with any person whatsoever apart from the executive committee members led by be granted.

“A declaration that the Ogun State Labour Party Congress held on 22nd day of January, 2018 at the Labour Party Secretariat in Abeokuta, was validly held in accordance with the Labour Party 2009 Constitution.

“An order of perpetual injunction restraining all the Defendants from dealing with any person whosoever, apart from the executive committee members led by the first Plaintiff as the Labour Party officers/ committee in Ogun State.

“An order of injuction

restraining the 8th, 9th, 10th and 11th Defendants from interfering, manipulating and hijacking the activities of the Labour Party in Ogun State, as they are not card carrying members of the Labour Party.

“An order of this honourable court invalidating any other congress(es) held or to be held in Ogun State including the kangaroo congress held at the hotel cum residence of the 8th Defendant, is illegal, unconstitutional and an attempt to disrupt the Labour Party activities in Ogun State.

“An order of this honourable court restraining the Defendants from opening a parallel State Secretariat or office of the first Defendant in Ogun State for registration of members or any political activities outside the Labour Party Secretariat at FAJ House,Abeokuta-Ibadan Expressway, Opposite NNPC filling station Car wash, Adatan Abeokuta.

“An order of this honourable court restraining the 5th – 11th Defendants and their loyalists, from parading themselves as Labour Party executive committee members in Ogun State.

“And for such further or other orders at this honourable court may deem it fit to make in the circumstances”, the writ stated.

Group Calls for Training of Judges in Tackling Cases of Human Trafficking Alex Enumah in Abuja The need for training of Judges on issues relating to human trafficking, was the hallmark of a three day symposium and training programme for officials of the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP).

Participants at the symposium and training programme tagged, ‘Global Trends in Combatting the Scourge of Human Trafficking’, were unanimous in recommending that Judges are acquainted with a full understanding of the networks and networking involved in the heinous crime of human trafficking, if the current efforts at tackling the menace must produce

desirable results.

Speaking to newsmen at the end of the training programme in Abuja, a facilitator and Local Coordinator of Conference of Western Attorneys General African Alliance Partnership, CWAG APP, organisers of the training, Ebelechukwu Enedah, said that all efforts at taming the scourge of human trafficking, would amount to very little if justice is not achieved at the end of the day.

“The recommendation that came out of here, is that there should be a training for the Judges, because after investigation, if you don't have a judiciary that understands the special CONTINUED ON PAGE 11

Don’t Send Anybody to Me, Magistrate Warns Parties in Land Grabbing Suit Akinwale Akintunde Magistrate Lateef Owolabi of the Special Offences Court sitting in Oshodi, has warned parties in a land-grabbing suit filed by the Lagos State Government against suspected land grabbers, Chief Kamorudeen Lamina aka Sir-K Oluwo and seven others.

Lamina and others suspects, Mr. Omotola Ogunsanmi, Mr. Samson Shobule aka (Samson Salau), Mr. Biliaminu Orega (aka Biliaminu Salau), Mr. Yekini Soyebo, Alhaji Jimoh Aromasodu, Alhaji Wasiu Orenuga and Alhaji Nurudeen Kasali, were arraigned before the court on June 16, 2017 on a six-count charge of land grabbing activities.

According to the Prosecutor, Mrs. M.M Balogun of the Lagos State Ministry of Justice, the Defendants were charged following a petition to the State Government by Planets Properties Ltd. The State accused the Defendants of committing the offences in February, 2017 in Mowo Kekere in Ikorodu area of the State, by forcefully taking over a plot of land sold to one Mrs. Ebere Okafor by the Ifegbuwa Family, despite evidence that the land was properly acquired

by Mrs. Okafor.

The offences, according to the State are contrary to Section 2(1) (2), Section 4 and Section 8 (1) (b) of the Lagos State Property Protection Law 2016.

At the resumed trial of the matter last week, the Magistrate lamented openly and sounded words of warnings to all parties, to stop sending people to him nor to offer him anything.

"Don't send anyone to anyone, don't send anybody to anybody, if you are sending anyone to me you are wasting your money, please, keep that shit to yourself we don’t do it here. If you are sending anyone to anyone, you are doing Saara. I hope you know the meaning of Saara.

We are committed to what we do here, we don't need your money.

"We don't receive money from anyone to settle any matter, but only do our job as required by the law. If you want settlement out of court, it is the Complainant you should approach, don't come here”, he said.

Chief Lamina was reported to have gone behind to offer money to the Prosecutor who rejected the offer, and warned him to desist from such an irresponsible and dirty act.

Magistrate Owolabi has adjourned the case February 20, 2018 for continuation of trial.

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13.02.2018

Suspend CCT Chairman Pending Alleged Criminal Trial, Group Urges FG Akinwale Akintunde Following the criminal charges filed against the Chairman of the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT), Danladi Umar by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), a human rights advocacy group, Access to Justice (A2J), has called for his immediate suspension pending his trial.

A2J also called on Umar to go on an indefinite leave, pending a formal suspension, notwithstanding the trial.

The group made the call in a statement signed by its Executive Director, Mr. Joseph Otteh.

The charges accuse Danladi Umar of de-

manding and receiving bribes from Rasheed Owolabi Taiwo, a Defendant standing trial before the CCT for “favours to be afterwards shown” to him.

According to the group, it is no longer tenable for Umar to continue in office as the Chairman of the Tribunal.

“He has brought the CCT nothing but public ridicule and embarrassment, which has done incalculable harm to the image of the Tribunal and the Judiciary in Nigeria. The Tribunal, under Danladi Umar, does not have the integrity, public trust and “moral character” it needs to fight corruption, which is something of a paradox given that the Tribunal is established to

enforce public morality. The Code of Conduct Tribunal, needs a new leadership that will restore public trust in the Tribunal, provide purposeful leadership for the staff of the Tribunal, and put the Tribunal's powers to effective use”, it stated.

Access to Justice also called on the government to appoint a third member to make the CCT meet its responsibility, arguing that “the failure of the Federal Government to appoint a 3rd member of the CCT to fill a position that has been vacant for many years now, greatly undermines the work of the CCT and the fight against corruption”.

The group further called for reform in the

CCT, adding that there are many aspects of the framework of the CCT that sub-serves the Tribunal’s ability to function efficiently and with integrity.

“The government should use this opportunity to reform the framework of the CCT, and, most importantly, ensure that the CCT is no longer placed under the Executive Branch of Government but under the Judiciary, and is made accountable to judicial oversight bodies - such as the National Judicial Council. This will give the Tribunal greater independence, and ensure more effective oversight of Tribunal members, and make the tribunal a more accountable anti-corruption institution.”

CIG Motors Dragged to Court by Ex-Staff over Alleged Wrongful Sack Akinwale Akintunde CIG Motors Company Limited has been dragged to court by one of its former staff, Akeem Adebiyi Adeyemi, over an alleged wrongful termination of appointment.

Adeyemi, in the suit filed by his lawyer, Mr. Olawale Fapohunda, before the National Industrial Court (NIC), Lagos Division, is seeking a declaration that the purported termination of his employment with the Defendant through a letter dated August 31, 2017 based on protest against certain racial comments by the Chairperson of the company, Mrs. Chen Xuixia is illegal, malicious and wrongful.

The Claimant also wants the court to declare that the Defendant breached his right to freedom from discrimination, as provided for by Section 42 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of

Nigeria as amended and Federal Law of Nigeria, Cap C23 LFN 2004.

He also prayed the court to declare that the deliberate refusal of the Defendant to remit his pension contribution from April 2017 to August 2017, is unlawful and a violation of the provision of the Pension Reforms Act 2014.

The Claimant added that the refusal of the Defendant to remit the Personal Income Tax monthly deduction made from him to the Lagos State Internal Revenue Services, is unlawful and a violation of the provisions of the Personal Income Tax Act Cap P8 LFN 2004.

Adeyemi also wants the court to declare that he is entitled to N208,000, being his outstanding entitlements and another order compelling the Defendant to pay N104,000 being 25 per cent of his salary for the months of July and August 2017 and an award of N750,000 as cost of the action.

He also seeks court’s order compelling the Defendant to remit the claimant’s pension contribution from April 2017 to August 2017 to his retirement savings account, and his monthly tax deductions for the same period to the Lagos State Internal Revenue Services.

In his 16 paragraph statement on oath, the Claimant averred that aside from being the Sales Manager of the Defendant’s company, it was also in line with his official duties to prepare monthly sales reports and present them at official monthly meetings.

He averred that he constantly interacted with the Chairman, Mrs. Chen Xuixia and that during most of his dealings with her, “she was always complaining and murmuring racial comments against him".

"The Claimant averred that in July and August, 2017, for no justifiable reasons, the Defendant illegally deducted the sum of N104,000 from the Claimant’s salaries, contrary to the spirit and letters of the Claimant’s employment contract.”

He further averred that at the monthly meeting of August 31, 2017, after making his presentation, "the Chairman of the company, Mrs. Chen Xuixia, a Chinese, expressed total disgust in what she referred to as "shabby" presentation and stated in her words that: "Nigerians are not good for anything" and that "that is why most of my workers here are Chinese".

He claimed that when this statement was made, he protested and stated that it was unfair to make such generalised statements about Nigerians.

He averred that that Mrs. Chen Xuixia got angry as a result of the Claimant’s protest, and there and then, terminated the Claimant’s employment unfairly and unjustly.

He claimed that his employment was terminated without recourse to the notice period stated in his contract of employment. He claimed to know as a matter of fact, that his disengagement was unfair and unlawful.

No date has been fixed for the commencement of trial.

Legal Personality of the Week Tolu Babaleye

‘A Lawyer Knows Something About Everything’ My name is Tolu Babaleye. I was called to the Nigerian Bar on September 28, 2009. I graduated from Ondo State University, Ado Ekiti on December 10, 1997. I did the compulsory NYSC in Abuja, at the Law office of Sam Ologunorisa, SAN & Co., where I was subsequently retained as a Junior Counsel from where I rose to the position of Head of Chambers in 2003.

I established Tolu Babaleye & Co. (Solution Chamber) on May 2, 2004 with Head Office in Abuja and a branch in Akungba- Akoko, a University town in Ondo State. I have practiced and appeared in all cadres and hierarchy of courts in Nigeria in the last 19 years, and I am still in active practice of Law. I left practice for one year and two months, to serve my people at the Local Government level as Executive Chairman of Akoko South West Local Government in Ondo State from December, 2007 to February, 2009.

I was part of the legal team in the case of Hon. Sunday Abegunde v The Ondo State House of Assembly & 11 Ors (2015) 4-5 SC PT1 P1, which is now the Locus Classicus on issue of cross-carpeting from one Political Party to another, without crisis in one’s Party in Nigeria.

I appeared for the 5th and 7th Respondents in that matter. Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, SAN appeared for the Appellant whereas Mr. Eyitayo Jegede, SAN (Then AG of Ondo State) appeared for the 1-4th Respondents.

I am a Human Rights Activist and advocate of a better society. I am a quintessential Bar man.

I belong to Nigerian Bar Association (Unity Bar) Abuja branch. I was former Secretary of Judiciary Committee, a co-opted member of Elders Committee of NBA Abuja, and also a former NEC member of NBA National.

I have served in many Local Organising Committees of NBA, including organising Pan Africa Lawyers Union Conference in Abuja in 2015 and African Bar Leaders Conference in Lagos in 2016.

I was part of the Nigerian Bar Association Legal Services Trade Mission to Netherlands in

Another serious challenge, is this Treasury Single Account (TSA). It was easy when Government Ministries, Agencies, Parastatals and Departments still kept money in accounts domiciled with Commercial Banks and one could easily garnishee those accounts. With this era of TSA, it has become very difficult to get the account details of any of the Ministries, Agencies and Parastatals for the purpose of execution of court judgements. This is not good for the justice system, and it is high time for the Attorney-General of the Federation does something about this antediluvian and archaic system, inherited from the British Colonial Masters.

Tolu Babaleye

February, 2016. I am the Chairman of Board of Trustees of Dynamic Patriotic Citizens Foundation, an NGO, and the National PRO of Vehicle Owners Association of Nigeria.

I am married with children.

Have you had any challenges in your carrier as a Lawyer, and if so, what were the main challenges?

Yes, I have had many challenges as a Legal Practitioner in litigation, ranging from courts not delivering ruling on interlocutory applications, and at times, court not delivering judgement after conclusion of hearing and adoption of Written Addresses.

I am also faced with challenges of not being able to execute Court judgements, especially when it is against Government. There is this obnoxious rule of seeking the consent of Attorney- General, to execute a judgement against Government, where the AG himself is a party to the suit in which the court has given judgement against.

That law is a serious impediment and a clog in the wheel of progress of justice.

What was your worst day as a Lawyer?

My worst day as a Lawyer, was the day I got to court to discover that the process filed by us was not attested to by the Commissioner for Oaths, due to overzealousness and inadvertence of one of my juniors in Chambers, and I had to slug it out with a Senior Advocate on the other side.

What was your most memorable experience as a Lawyer?

My most memorable experience as a Lawyer, was the day I got judgement against the former FCT Minister, who revoked the land of my client and gave it to his friend. The Court did not only return the land to my client, but also berated the system and this has changed the face of land administration in Abuja. It took almost 5 years to do the matter but the result was what the waiting.

Who has been most influential person in your life?

The most influential people in my life, are my parents. They never had any formal education, but yet trained me to become a Lawyer. They shaped my life, and told me to always assist people using the law. In the Legal profession, the most influential person in my life is Hon. Justice Bode Adegbehingbe of Ondo

State High Court, a very brilliant jurist. He has always encouraged me to be focused on the legal profession, and stop distracting myself playing politics.

Why did you become a Lawyer?

I became a Lawyer by providence, because God wanted me to be. I was a student of History, but finally made up my mind to read Law the day I encountered Dr. Fredick Faseun, who came University Campus to address us during the struggle against military rule. My encounter with him changed my perception, and I came to the realisation that the only profession that can give me satisfaction and fit into my views about life, was the Legal Profession. I decided to write another JAMB, and was eventually admitted by Professor Akin Oyebode, who gave me the best Legal Education that money can buy anywhere in the world.

What would be your advice, to anyone wanting a career in Law? The Profession is very versatile and there is no limit to what you can do as a Lawyer. As a Lawyer, you know something about everything, and that is why you are a Learned. I advice anyone wanting a carrier in Law, to be focused and be sure of the type of Lawyer he wants to become.

If you had not become a Lawyer, what career would you have chosen?

I would have become a Professor of History and a Motivational Speaker.

Where do you see yourself in ten years?

My future belongs to God and I leave everything to him to decide while I work towards my goal of becoming one of the best Lawyers and a Senior Advocate of Nigeria. I want to become a Peace Ambassador. I will also like to become a Prosecutor at the International Criminal Court in The Hague, as a means of contributing my quota to peace in the world.

13.02.2018

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Nigerian Judiciary and Global Best Practice: Mobil Oil and it’s Litigation Akinwale Akintunde Over the years, Mobil Producing Nigeria Limited, one of the biggest oil companies in the country, has sometimes been in the eye of the storm over its operations in Nigeria.

The multinational oil giant, continues to contend with court cases in various courts across the country. Reasons for this are not farfetched.

From Federal High Courts to States High Courts, from Court of Appeal to Supreme Court, various accusations such as oil spillage which has caused environmental pollution, shabby treatment of its Nigerian workers, as well as refusal to obey court orders, have been laid against the company by individuals and host communities.

In the league of other multinationals like Shell with several court cases against them, these complaints against Mobil and issues surrounding the conduct of its business in Nigeria, have resulted in several court cases filed by affected individuals and companies, some of which have been decided by the courts, and others, ongoing.

One of such cases is the one involving 860 staff of the company, who dragged the multinational before a Federal High Court, Uyo, over their employment status.

The staff, who were directly employed and paid as security personnel by the company in the 90s, after working for many years, were suddenly issued with letters by the company, indicating that their employment had been transferred to the Nigeria Police Force as Supernumerary

(SPY) Police Personnel, and not actual staff.

Thus, they were asked to claim their benefits and entitlements from the Police.

Such action by the company, did not sit well with the staff, on the ground that they were not employed by the Police and as such, could not work under the Police. They also accused Mobil of taking such a decision without carrying the employees along.

Organisations such as Amnesty International, Council of Chiefs in Akwa Ibom State and the Public Complaints Commission, waded into the matter, with no solution. Though the three interventionists recommended that Mobil accept the staff as theirs, yet the company refused to yield.

The matter came to a head when, in 2006, the Federal High Court, Uyo, ruled in favour of the affected staff. An appeal filed at the Court of Appeal, Calabar, Cross River State, also went in favour of the Complainants in a judgement delivered on May 21, 2009 by Justices Ngolika Orji-Abadua, Kumai Aka’ahs and Jean Omokri, which held that the Complainants could not be regarded as staff of the Nigeria Police, because “the circumstances, nature, procedure and methods of their employment were not in harmony with the provision of Sections 18, 19, 20 and 21 of the Nigeria Police Act.” The court also barred Mobil from forcing the staff, who served as guards, “to sign the document entitled: ‘Mobil Producing Nigeria Status Agreement for Supernumerary Police Service Conditions’, as same sought to contravene or breach the provisions of Section 18 of the Nigeria Police Act.”

In spite of judgements of the two courts, Mobil has allegedly refused to comply with the courts’ directive.

Not satisfied with the Court of Appeal’s decision, Mobil proceeded to the Supreme Court in 2010. However, it is worrisome that to date, the Apex Court has not decided on the matter, as Mobil has resorted to the use of adjournments each time the matter comes up for hearing, in an attempt to frustrate the course of justice.

Another court case involving Mobil was the 2002 N10billion suit filed against it by one Chief M. Ajanaku and the fishing communities of Lagos, over oil spill, before a Federal High Court, Lagos.

The Complainants had accused Mobil of releasing about 40,000 barrels (approximately 6,000 tonnes) (7,637,280 litres) of light crude oil into the marine environment on January 12, 1998, through its ruptured pipeline.

The incident affected the fishing business of the Nigerian fishing communities, as the spillage spread throughout the country. The Claimants accused Mobil of failure to replace the 25year old pipeline, which resulted in the spill. Therefore, they urged the court to award N10billion in their favour, for damages done to their business by Mobil, for neglecting to replace the pipeline when due.

Justice Ibrahim Buba, in his judgement, granted all the claims of the Claimants, and awarded N10billon against the oil giant. The suit dragged for 14 years, before judgement was delivered.

Another ongoing legal battle is between

Aelex Elevates 5

Olufunmbi Kehinde

Tiwalola Osazuwa

A Nigerian Law Firm, AELEX last Thursday announced the elevation of five of its staff to the position of Senior Associates.

They include Olufunmbi Kehinde, Tiwalola Osazuwa, Rafiq Anammah, Adefolake Adewusi and Kofoworola Bamgbose.

Olufunmbi holds a master’s degree in law from the University of Lagos. She is a member of the firms’s Corporate/Commercial Law Practice Group.

She is a member of the Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators, UK and the Chartered Institute of Taxation UK. Rafiq holds a law degree from the University of Nigeria. He is member of the firm’s Dispute

Rafiq Anammah

Adefolake Adewusi

Resolution Practice Group. He is a member of the International Bar Association, Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (UK), and the Institute of Chartered Mediators and Conciliators.

Tiwalola holds a law degree from the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ife. She is a member of the firm’s Corporate/Commercial Law Practice Group. She is a member of the International Trademark Association, the International Bar Association and the American Bar Association.

Adefolake holds a master’s degree from the University of Lagos. She is a member of the firm’s Dispute Resolution Practice Group.

Adefolake is a member of the International

Kofoworola Bamgbose

Bar Association, International Project Finance Association, Chartered Institute of Arbitrators UK, Chartered Institute of Taxation of Nigeria, Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators of Nigeria and Chartered Institute of Personnel Management of Nigeria.

Kofo obtained her law degree from the Cardiff University, Wales United Kingdom. She is a member of the firm’s Energy and Natural Resources Practice Group. In 2017, Kofo was ranked as a Next Generation Lawyer (Energy & Natural Resources) by Legal 500. She is a member of the Association of International Petroleum Negotiators.

Two Moved Up as Partners at Perchstone & Graeys A commercial law firm, Perchstone & Graeys, recently announced the elevation of two of its Senior Associates to Partnership; amid other key elevations within the firm.

At a private ceremony on February 1, 2018, the Firm’s management announced that, acting in concert with its External Consultants, Shan Consulting Limited, the Board of Partners had approved a new structure for the Firm, to take immediate effect. This includes the two new entrants to the Partnership Board; Mr. Ugochukwu Obi, and Miss Elisabet Ekpenyong. The newly appointed Partners

will continue to oversee the Firm’s ICT, and Exotic Financing & Capital Markets Desks respectively.

As part of the Firm’s restructuring, it also announced the creation of new management level positions. Mrs. Ifedayo Iroche; the present Head of the Firm’s Employment and Company Law Desks, was elevated to occupy the new position of Head of Chambers and Practice Development (Lagos Office). Mrs. Bukola Oyinlola-Anuwe, the present Head of Chambers (Abuja Office), also merited an expansion of her position to include

responsibility for Practice Development in the Firm’s Abuja Office. Mrs. Iroche and Mrs. Oyinlola-Anuwe will be primarily responsible for the Firm’s Practice Development in their respective branch locations.

In a statement, the Firm’s Management, reinforced appreciation of its entire team’s efforts in building and sustaining a thriving practice. The Management Board, pledged continuing commitment to raising the bar in professional excellence, and client service, as an adjunct to the achievement of global standards.

(Mobil) and another oil giant (ASCON), and the family of one late Chief (Dr) Sunday Ogunyade. The legal dispute is in respect of a plot of land located along Gbagada-Oshodi expressway with a petrol station situated on it.

The Complainant, ASCON Oil Company, sued Mobil to court, for its (Mobil) refusal to handover the said property to them (ASCON) after the expiration of its lease agreement with the initial owners (Ogunyade).

Mobil had, on September 1, 1980, entered into a 10-year, renewable lease agreement with Chief Ogunyade, to operate a petrol station on the said property. The lease was due to expire on August 31, 2000.

At the expiration of the agreement, a disagreement occurred between both parties, which led to a court case. Terms of settlement were reached where parties agreed to another 10 years of lease which commenced on September 1, 2000 and ended on August 31, 2010.

One month before the expiration of the agreement, precisely July 2010, ASCON Oil was approached by the Ogunyade’s family through their lawyer, Chief Dele Awoniyi, to take over the lease of the property. According to the family, the decision was as a result of the ill-treatment meted out to them by Mobil throughout the duration of the earlier agreement.

A sum of N100million was paid by ASCON to the family at the yearly rent of N10million, with the company expected to take over the property after August 31, 2010. The family also said it notified Mobil of the new arrangement with ASCON. According to court documents, ASCON wrote a letter dated June 23, 2010, to Mobil ‘specifically requesting for the handover of the land and station to our company, as the new tenants’ and requested for ‘a date and time for the handing over of the station land and premises after August 31, 2010’.

All hell was however let loose, when Mobil allegedly refused to hand over the property, prompting the family to institute a legal action at the Lagos High Court against their former tenants.

In view of the court case, ASCON Oil also insisted on supplementary lease agreement with the family, to the effect that its lease will only commence effectively after it has taken possession and started operating. This move made Mobil file a counterclaim seeking to stop the action.

While the case was ongoing, the family agreed to out-rightly sell the property to ASCON and a sum of N750 million was agreed.

To recover possession of the property from Mobil, ASCON filed another matter in court against the company in Suit LD/13/13.

Mobil however, did not file a defence, instead it filed a preliminary objection in suit LD/2052/12 against ASCON’s suit, claiming that they are still entitled to a lease over the property, even though its earlier agreement with the family had expired.

The trial judge, Justice Atinuke Ipaye dismissed the preliminary objection of Mobil and upheld that of ASCON. The judge also transferred the matter to Lagos State Multi-Door Court House (ADR) for settlement.

The matter was subsequently reassigned to Justice Lateef Lawal-Akapo of the Lagos High Court, Igbosere, in 2015. Mobil allegedly refused to show up for trial. Another effort to settle out of court, proposed by Mobil, also did not yield any positive result.

“We are preparing to go back to court since the appeal filed by Mobil was incompetent, because it was filed out of time, and no leave of court was initially sought to enlarge time to enable Mobil to properly appeal. Mobil clearly is determined to frustrate us from taking possession of a property we validly acquired for valuable consideration”, lamented ASCON. While this matter is pending, Taiwo Ogunyade, a son of late Chief Sunday Ogunyade and spokesperson of the Ogunyade, family lamented that "We have made several efforts to resolve this matter amicably and get Mobil to relinquish our property, all to no avail.

8/COVER

13.02.2018

Major General I.B.M. Haruna (Rtd.) PHOTOS: Godwin Omoigui

‘Herdsmen Crisis Is Gradually Enveloping West Africa’ He was a former Federal Commissioner for Information and Culture, and chaired the Committee that organised FESTAC. Major General I.B.M. Haruna suddenly found himself compulsorily retired from the Nigerian Army at age 37. As one whose father was a Soldier, and having spent his entire life in regimented army barracks, he found himself faced with the dilemma of fitting into civilian life. He then applied to read Agricultural Science at Ahmadu Bello University, but was offered Law instead. Now 78 years old, General Haruna went down memory lane in a chat with Onikepo Braithwaite who had the privilege of doing her Law School Chamber attachment in his chambers, as a student Lawyer in 1991. He proffered useful advice on the various challenges confronting the nation, including insurgency, Herdsmen crisis and more

S

ir, it is indeed a great honour for me to be able conduct this interview with you, especially as I had my first experience of law practice at General I B M Haruna & Co. in Kaduna in 1991, during the mandatory Law School Chamber Attachment. Thank you Sir. Kindly, tell us about your military career and what informed the decision for you, a military officer, a Major General in the Army to study Law? When I was retired from the Nigerian Army on 15th of March, 1977, I had no earlier exposure to living a Civilian life. I had been selected among Thirty, Fourteen year old children

in May 1954, to form the BOYS COMPANY Nigerian Army in Zaria. We were the children of ex-Service Army Men. Our fathers had served the British Colonial Army; West African Frontier Force (WAFF). They had fought in BURMA and in East Africa campaigns. We, the boys, were enlisted by the then Captain Wellington Umo Bassey (as he then was in 1954). Because I grew up in the Police Barracks, and because my father was demobilised from Army into the Nigerian Police Force Kaduna, I had not lived outside the Barracks.

I grew up in Kaduna and Zaria Barracks up to age 18, that is in 1958, when we, the first Boys Company graduated. I started my life as a Soldier in the Nigerian Army, after the 1958 passing out parade. I had participated in taking the Army Officers Qualifying Examination before the ‘passing out’ which led me into a career as an

“UPON RETIRING, I HAD NO COGNATE CIVILIAN SKILLS FOR CIVILIAN EMPLOYMENT TO ENGAGE MY LIFE, AND, WITH THE BURDEN OF A FAMILY OF YOUNG CHILDREN TO FEED, AND EDUCATE, I FELT STABBED AND FALLEN.....

WE HAD NO SEVERANCE PAY, NO COMPENSATION, NO RECOGNITION, EXCEPT ARMY RANK AND MEDALS”

Officer in the Nigerian Army, from there on.I passed the examination and subsequent Board interviews, in the Army’s Kaduna Headquarters of the Army. The Board was Chaired by Brigadier Young, the then British Brigade Commander, with Lt. Col. Hazelton who was Commanding Officer of the Army Training Depot, Zaria, as a Board member and others. Following my success, I progressed to the Regular Officer’s Special Training School Teshi Accra Ghana (ROSTS 11). Then, following cadet training at Aldershot United Kingdom, and The Royal Military Academy Sandhurst intake 27; (1959 to 1961), I was commissioned into the Nigerian Army at the Summer Sovereign’s Parade 1961, I trained as an Infantry and Ordnance Officer of the Royal Army Ordnance Corp (UK).

After passing requisite in-service promotion examinations, I attended the Joint Service

13.02.2018 Staff College Latimer 1971 (now renamed United Kingdom National Defence College).

In my Army career, I had the opportunity to Command Infantry Divisions, (including 2nd Division Onitsha), during the Nigerian Civil War 1969 to 1970. I held appointments as Chief Ordnance Officer, Quarter Master General of the Nigerian Army, Principal Staff Officer at Supreme Headquarters Dodan Barracks, and was a member of General Adebayo’s Committee for vetting and recommending the absorption of otherwise of Nigerian Army Officers who had served in the Biafra Army during the Nigerian Civil War 1967 – 1970.

It was during the Military Regime of Murtala – Obasanjo Government, 1975 to 1979, that I had my first glimpse of serving Civil Society and Government. My prior experience working with civilians, was at the Army Ordnance Depot at Murtala Mohammed Way, Yaba in Lagos.

I served the Murtala – Obasaanjo Regime as Federal Commissioner for Information and Culture, 1975 – 1977, and was privileged to be the Chairman of Nigeria’s participation in the World Festival of African arts and Culture held in 1977 tagged FESTAC 77. The FESTAC 77 was successfully staged, during which Nigeria made special presentations; of Regatta at Ikoyi Cowrie Creek, and Durba at Kaduna (Murtala Mohammed Square). It was after these successful events, that I was retired from the Nigerian Army.

The Ministry of Information under my commission had made strides, in establishing NTA, News Agency of Nigeria, Centre for Black Culture (CEBAC), and the National Theatre, which was established by the Ministry. The Ministry further consolidated External Affairs information services in Nigeria’s Embassies and Missions’ Posts, re-organised the Department of Museums and Antiquities, and engineered negotiated New Directions for the Ethics for practicing journalism in Nigeria, with the then media Chief led by H.E. Jakande.

When my army service was terminated on NTA at 7pm evening News, I was devastated and shocked that my career which I was expecting to last up-to 1979, when civil democracy will take over Government as promised by General Obasanjo, was abruptly severed. Two other Generals were retired along-side me General Obada and General Olutoye (Now HRH in his traditional Kingdom). I was then about to be thirty-seven years old.

Upon retiring and I had no cognate Civilian Skills for civilian employment to engage my life, and, with the burden of a family of young children to feed, and educate, I felt stabbed and fallen. The question then was: Where do I go, how do I restart life and get used to freedom in civilian garb? And with what asset do I orientate? We had No severance pay, No compensation, No recognition, except Army Rank and Medals. My life had become a night mare, ‘Begin Again’. So, I thought it was not too late to rely on my GCE Advance levels and return to school, and to farming. Farming was a childhood experience, even though it was for sustenance of life.

My application for admission into Ahmadu Bello University was for admission into faculty of Agriculture (Farming), but I was admitted into the Faculty of Law in 1977, following which I graduated in 1980.

Thereafter, I attended the Nigerian Law School at Lagos and was enrolled at the Bar as a Solicitor and Advocate of the Supreme Court of Nigeria - 1981. I really don’t view my being a Lawyer as a premeditated choice, or decision to be a Lawyer and practice as a Solicitor and a Barrister. It was all God’s doing. Glory be to Al Rahamani Rahim who is (beyond being a Creator and encompasses all Beings).

As a Lawyer and a military officer who has fought on the battlefield, what steps do you think that Government should take to avert the already escalating Fulani Herdsmen crisis, so we do not end up having another Boko Haram situation on our hands? Do you think that so far, Government has handled this crisis well?

Your question posed to me as a Lawyer, may not be answered as a Lawyer as such, because I am not holding a brief for that purpose, but I will comment, in exercise of my role as a Lawyer and expectations in social responsibility.

As a retired military officer, I have been in retirement since 1977, (that is forty years), and not being in a forum that is informed of recent developments in the military, my knowledge is limited. I cannot claim to know what steps are being taken by Government, and proffer what steps Government should take to avert the already escalating so- called

COVER/9 Fulani Herdsman crisis.

However, I acknowledge that the escalating scenario is more than crisis, simply. The overall development has gone beyond normal Internal Security Operations which are foreseen, and counter-measures are pre- planned, perceived and as expected threats to National security, for which material resources, personnel and operational costs are established and budgeted for, but for counter-insurgency, terrorism, crimes designed and carried out to sabotage and undermine the State, are not normally foreseen, budgeted for as recurrent expenses.

The escalating Fulani Herdsmen Crisis and its handling by Government, cannot be as easily evaluated in the manner that it is simplified by our media, in that the media has simply concluded that the crisis is Fulani driven; this stereotyping, ethnicising and caging the crisis as Fulani Herdsmen, I think the stereotyping ethnic Nationality Fulani Hash tag, is not comprehending and presenting the true nature of the security threat. To understand the complex nature of the crisis, the Fulani Herdsmen crisis stereotype, is a tip of the iceberg of regional security, or insecurity enveloping the West African sub-region as a whole. The insurgency, terrorism and criminality, is an overflow of regional and socio-political and economic crises and conflicts raging in the Region and elsewhere, like the Arab Nations.

The ripple effects are in Nigeria, and in particular, the challenges caused by Islamic Sects conflicts being generated in the Arab-Israeli Zone, the America and Western European ideological conflicts the world over (in particular following 9/11 bombings) and the search for allies, collaborators, to arm and fight ideological radicals, has expanded the war zones and regions of war. The so called Fulani’s crisis may be seen as a security challenge, acting with other threats in the new war frontier, or emerging war zone such as Nigeria in ECOWAS sub-Sahara Region.

The so-called Fulani crisis resembles initiating war by probing for intelligence, and monitoring sensitivities aimed at eventually subverting and destabilising the socio-economic foundations of developing Nigeria disintegrate, and eventually overturn Nigeria and the sub-region of West Africa. The crisis is viewed in isolation in Nigeria, but in its Real perspective, it is a search for new regional war and new order in the sub- Saharan Region.

The Fulani crisis for grazing cattle, alone, does not explain the huge amounts of armaments, explosives and devices, which are surreptitiously being imported into the country, smuggled and stockpiled around the country. Neither does Fulani crisis alone, explain the criminality of cattle rustling, kidnapping and huge ransom

payments, and various other criminal undertakings including gains from corruption, looting of public funds, and generally subverting the constitution of FRN 1999. These are bids to discredit the existing order and create instability and anarchy.

The Government should manage the crisis as it would manage war situations, by mobilising adequate forces, materials and galvanising public support and political will for the survival of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. The general scenario is like the civil war in a way, but fighting it in a different form: minding the need to war in conformity with Rules of Human Rights, and the Constitution of FRN – 1999.

Do you believe that Benue, Ekiti and Taraba States did the right thing in enacting their various anti-grazing laws, especially to protect their people?

In this search for a viable solution to the conflicts, there should be a reconstituted, restructured and re-shared powers to each strata of Government, powers shared vested in them so that they can participate adequately in all functions of governance. They should have powers for securing the well-being of the people, and stability of the Nigerian State, and powers which would promote patriotism and loyalty of the citizenry from the grass roots and up to governing elites.

In the light of what I said earlier in answer to the previous question, the challenges are complex, far and are beyond prescribing one solution like, enacting grazing lands in isolation of the causes and wider effects of the laws to the rest of the Nation. The legislations are going to be of limited effect, even though they are legitimate. I see such laws like scare

“THE FULANI CRISIS FOR GRAZING CATTLE, ALONE, DOES NOT EXPLAIN THE HUGE AMOUNTS OF ARMAMENTS, EXPLOSIVES AND DEVICES, WHICH ARE SURREPTITIOUSLY BEING IMPORTED INTO THE COUNTRY, SMUGGLED AND STOCKPILED AROUND THE COUNTRY”

crows, as long as they are disassociated with the overall federally conceived solutions to the problems. I believe that solutions should be widely discussed, to avoid heating the polity and further generate new dimensions of conflicts that would lead to instability of the states. There should be solutions that modernise and give awakening of new hopes for the oncoming generation of Nigerians.

What advice can you offer the Government on how to make the fight against Boko Haram more effective? The Leader of the Terrorist Organisation, has come out on video to say that we should expect more violent attacks. Are there any military strategies that can be employed to safeguard the people against these attacks?

Myadvicewillbethatstrategies,tacticsapplicablet owaringeneral,skills used for war of insurgency, criminality and terrorism should be applied. I believe my combatant colleagues in the Army and Government, are well acquainted with war and peace, and they are knowledgeable practitioners in our institutions.

I suggest that the authorities modernise, intensify and widen their scope of intelligence gathering, solidify their inter-service co-operation and collaboration within the National institutions, and cooperate with international systems and bodies. But above all, there should be awareness and galvanising of the citizenry at large, with honesty and sincerity of purpose in National Orientation campaigns. The Boko Haram successes that have been recorded should go further, from degrading to annihilation of Terrorism. There is need for intensive psychological re- orientation and de-radicalisation of the insurgents, and check-mate their recruitment sources, materials supply-chain, and capacity to produce improvised explosive bombs and vehicle bombs. The government should have the political will to deal with sponsors of insurgents and terrorists, and their collaborators seriously as traitors and criminals, whether they are at home or abroad. Government should stop the smuggling of Arms, explosives, and materials for production of improvised explosive devices and vehicle bombs and other insurgents’ armaments.

Government should flush out of the forests like Sambisa and known forests of would be insurgents, terrorist and cattle rustlers.

The Public should be convinced and carried along by Government, as to the effectiveness of activities and commitments to rid Nigeria of Boko Haram’s philosophy and radicalism.

Governments should clearly demonstrate, with responses and results of its effective programs for good governance and its submission to the Rule of Law. Government should strengthen the growth and development of democracy; use its principles to promote social justice and equity. In particular, they should show that their actions are devoid of corruption at all levels.

Many are saying that Government’s record on obedience to the rule of law has not been encouraging what with for instance, the failure to release from custody people that have been granted bail by the courts like Sheik El Zakzaky and his wife and Sambo Dasuki, the former NSA. Could Government’s low record be connected to the fact that we have an ex-military officer as President, and military training and principles, could may very well be at variance with things like obeying court orders and the rule of law?

There is a court process that can be invoked, where issues arising from court do demonstrate that concept of court by disobeying the order of a court, has occurred. Approaching the court, is a remedy open to the contestants.

However, if the terms and conditions for bail, for example, have been met and no separate case has intervened to initiate and justify a separate new case for detention, then bail order previously granted may not be subsisting to warrant an allegation of disobedience. The charge of disobedience, may not prevail or relate to the new case. Common sense dictates that if one is on bail for a fraud charge and the person proceeds to commit culpable homicide while on bail for fraud, the subsisting bail will not confer immunity on him to stop his arrest and proceedings for the new case. The facts of each case can be relied upon, if for example, some manoeuvring is being engaged to defect or sabotage courts processes.

Nigeria went through a very bitter civil war which ended in 1970, the effects are still being felt in every facet of the Nigerian society today. With the recent agitation by the Igbos for a Biafran state, would you

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13.02.2018

‘HERDSMEN CRISIS IS GRADUALLY ENVELOPING WEST AFRICA’ CONTINUED FROM PAGE 9 say that that war in which you fought in, is really over? Is another civil war possible in Nigeria? If it is, what can the Government do to avert it?

The Nigerian-Biafra Civil War has been over since it ended in 1970, its immediate affects had been addressed, though not adequately, because of the regressive quality of our leaders and infrastructures: Roads, Rail, Power and water supply. But what is felt today in the South East, cannot in my view, be attributed to the effects of the civil war alone; rather, it is the corruption, ineptitude, failure of leaders, or mal-administration and incompetence of successive democratic political leadership, compradors and business entrepreneurs with whom they destroyed post-war gains. Remarkable development had been brought about by the reconciliation, rehabilitation, and reconstruction policies of General Gowon`s regime. It is not the Civil War’s aftermath that has led to our todays predicament, but our leaders who proceeded to collaborate to corruptly consume and appropriate to themselves the assets and most of the benefits of post-war development. Public officers embarked on self-enrichment through privatisation and commercialisation of public properties and services, followed with looting of public funds, diversions and misappropriations of public budgeted funds and revenues. The effects of what we are going through today and its hardship, are not the direct or immediate effect of the 1967 to 1970 civil war. It is as a result of the faithlessness and in- sincerity of politicians to abide with the directives principles of State policies constitutionally provided by the 1999 constitution, policies enunciated by political party’s manifesto and vision 2020. Things have fallen apart, not because of civil war and coups, but due to elite leaders greed, avarice, corruption, and lack of integrity, transparency, and accountability, which rubbed on national institutions and their managements, eventually all moulded into national character.

Furthermore, due to condemnation and apathy of the public at large, sanctions have not been applied and if applied, it is applied selectively and unfairly because of our penchant to double standards, dysfunctional social values and discriminations based on for example, indigene, non- indigene, settler, paternity or maternity or social hierarchy, etc.

I think the civil war, led to consciousness of these wedges in our pursuit of national unity, but it would be worse to allow anarchy and Revolution to envelope Nigeria because of them. This impending gloom can be averted, if we engage in dialogues; social and political engineering which if reasonably managed and purposefully directed, it would move Nigeria forward to achieve unity of an egalitarian society, in diverse cultural heritages.

What are your views on the 1999 Constitution? Is it adequate? Or does it need amendment or total redrafting? Does Nigeria require Restructuring or is the

present arrangement acceptable?

The 1999 constitution being a cumbersome document, has been inflexible, and difficult in its application and has in some instances failed to meet the yearnings of the populace, and, in general, mould the Unity of the Federation with the ethnic Nationalities, and, Traditional entities: Kingdoms, Caliphates, Emirates and Autonomous Communities. Having regards to my earlier comments, the 1999 Constitution has to be amended, in order to divert likely civil disobedience and anarchy.

When Nigeria transited from military rule to democracy, many had high hopes that a truly progressive nation was going to emerge, but so far it does appear as if that hope is gradually fading. Corruption is still very much entrenched in Government circles, power is still elusive, insecurity is a growing concern. Where is Nigeria getting it wrong? How can we reverse this unfortunate circumstances?

Gathering from my earlier views, you can

“AS A 1977 RETIREE GENERAL NA 191, NOW AT AGE 78 IS NOT, L THINK, THE AGE FOR ACTIVE POLITICKING

BY ME, BUT TIME FOR SOBER REFLECTION AND STORYTELLING UNDER THE MOONLIGHT”

discern where l think we got things wrong, but Nigeria is on the path of getting things right or righted with the trend towards eradicating corruption with the cooperation of the world at large. And, since Africa is queuing with Nigeria, we expect good governance to follow, and Nigeria will eventually succeed as the touch bearer of the Black Race. I think that, the democracy is the key to the path of our sustainable development; the quality of democracy in practice, must be made by the people and for the people i.e. the functioning of the Executive Branch of government, the judiciary, the parliament and the electoral structure, organisations and processes, should be oriented towards the salvation and liberation of the people. A truly progressive people in a democracy expect that the coalitions of social movements and re-alignments and unifications are continuous and perpetual dynamics of politics and politicking, aimed at democratisation of people through political parties. In government, individuals are actors and advocates of their party’s manifesto.

And when individuals get elected into elective offices, they are expected to carry into effect their party’s manifesto. But unfortunately and unexpectedly, our elected persons get into offices and personify and personalise the offices. Their egos symbolise the office, their body language is policy. This attitude borders on the threat to ultimate dictatorship or cabal achy. In a democratic government, the political party in government needs to put their stamp of approval on or reproach of their proxies. The political parties seem to surrender to “MY COMMAND” and ‘Under my Watch’ Executive powers of their leader, which is derisive of democracy and political party government. The public at large, should be able to hold political parties liable for mis-governance by their proxies who are governing, because a breach of manifesto is a breach of trust.

How come you have stayed away from active politics and holding political office, unlike many of your fellow officers?

As a 1977 retiree General NA 191, now at age 78 is not, l think, the age for active politicking by me, but time for sober reflection and storytelling under the moonlight. I went to Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst in 1959 and while my mates General Murtala Mohammed, General Iliya Bisalla, General Mohammed Shuwa are all of blessed memory. May Allah Bless their souls in their peaceful eternal rest.

By fortune I was appointed Federal Commissioner for Information and Culture and Chairman Nigeria Participation in FESTAC 77, after which I was retired at the age 37. I have not veered into politics, because it is not my natural intuition and I have not had a rapport with politicians.

However, I respect our traditions, by which virtue l am the Wali of Garkida.

I adopted the Royal Military Academy Motto: “Serve to Lead’ and The Nigerian Army’s” Motto “Victory is from God”. I am not in active party politics and have not been convinced to join a political party, though I had participated in the Liberal Movement during 1994 Constitutional Conference.

Dr. Paul Unongo just resigned as Chairman of Northern Elders Forum; some are of the view that it points to the fact that, the North has deep cracks in its ranks and may not be as united as many think. As a member of that Forum, what led to this development and what does it portend for the North?

I am Not a member of the Northern Elders Forum, so I cannot comment on the Resignation of Dr. Paul Unongo. I heard it through the media.

You recently postulated that the problem with Nigeria, is what you described as ‘Micro-Nationalism’. What exactly do you mean by this, and how does it affect Nigeria negatively?

I don’t remember the context in which I made the postulation ‘Micro- Nationalism’ which you have quoted. However, I believe it is about ethnic nationalism of minority tribes, whereby minority citizens have been rendered second class citizens by the maxim “majority rule” in a democracy, the majority takes all and they can tyrannise or terrorise the minority. For example, IDOMA’S in Benue State, the Babur-Bura in Borno State and others, again the only Province of 26 provinces, Kabba province is not a State, even after creating 36 states, because of ethnic minority micro-nationalism. They are shoe-horned into Macro-Nationalism of the dominant Ethnic Nationalities, as things are without constitutional or legal protection, they will always be playing second fiddle.

13.02.2018

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IN BLACK AND WHITE ADERINSOLA FAGBURE

afagbure@yahoo.com

Get an Insurance Policy this Year

D

id you hear about the tanker explosion which took place late last year around the Festac axis of Lagos State? One of the sad points, was that the fire was so extensive that it destroyed the vehicles that were put up for sale in nearby car showrooms. Listening to the news, I wondered whether these vehicles had any form of insurance cover! In the event that there was none, that was indeed a huge loss to the affected entrepreneurs. In the local parlance, we would call that ‘gbese, huge gbese’.

Talking about insurance, the high sense of optimism and positivity that is displayed by many Africans, makes the concept less popular in these parts. A house owner who is being convinced to take up some form of burglary insurance policy, would argue against it and justify his stance by saying "God forbid oh! My house will never be burgled". "I pay for vigilante". It is no wonder that insurance contributes only about 0.3% of the nation's GDP, in spite of the compulsory insurance areas highlighted in the 2003 Insurance Act. Mandatory Insurance There are six classes of insurance for which failure to comply will be regarded as a criminal offence punishable by law. These are Motor Vehicle Insurance, Employee Group Life Insurance, Health Care Professional Indemnity, insurance of public buildings, insurance of buildings under construction and employers’ liability insurance. The most common is the third party motor vehicle insurance, and the least popular, in my view, is the one relating to buildings under construction. Lagos State, has in recent times, recorded a number of building collapse incidences and very few of the affected structures have been covered by insurance, sadly so. I guess contractors and building owners, bank on the fact that "all will be well". Failure to comply with this provision attracts an offence punishable with a fine. One can say this is a white elephant provision, as the fine is rarely implemented. National Insurance Commission (NAICOM), needs to rise up to its responsibility of ensuring compliance with the compulsory insurance policies.

Generally, there seems to be inadequate awareness of the need to insure. Publicity should be carried out in such a way that it brings a change in mindset, such that people do not attribute insurance to bad luck. A practitioner once mentioned that, insurance should be viewed from the angle of prevention is better than cure. Kudos to insurance companies that have come up with innovative packages such as loss of job, cyber insurance, education insurance and funeral planning related schemes. Insurance is a form of risk management, which could hedge against the possibility of losing economic security. Whether we care to admit it or not, every one of us is exposed to various risks as we go about our daily activities.

No Premium, No Cover One cannot talk about insurance without bringing to the fore the "no premium no cover rule", which presupposes that premiums be received in advance in full, or the policy automatically lapses, thus, discouraging laymen from buying policies. In ordinary terms, this means that if your policy costs N20,000 and you have only paid N15,000 as at

the time of the disaster or unfortunate incident, you cannot claim any compensation from the insurer. There have been arguments for a review of this concept, with some experts proposing a reasonable grace period with an appropriate penalty, for insurance covers where premium has not been paid. This proposal for reform, should be well thought out to contain the problem of unpaid premiums or bad debts within the sector. The drawback in underwriting of insurance contracts on credit, is that the insured may never see the need to pay his premium if no fatality occurs.

It must be mentioned that, insurance operates on the principle of utmost good faith. This means that insurance companies, must ensure that they carry out sufficient due diligence before taking up policies, to reduce incidences of reneging from their obligations. Lack of integrity among insurers, has eroded public confidence in insurance. It is advisable to deal with brokers, who are generally in a better position to claim the rights of the insured, because they better understand the fine print.

Global Brands It is noteworthy, that a number of global brands in this sector have their eyes on Africa, and particularly, Nigeria, while others are already visible through various affiliate arrangements. Syndicated arrangements are the norm, with regard to capital intensive policies, such as those in the aviation, oil and gas, and the maritime sector, where million dollar insurance policies are commonplace. In this light, the regulators have been called upon to implement global best practice standards, and exert some regulatory squeeze that will compel insurance companies to shore up financial capacity. This will encourage innovation and consolidation arrangements, and reduce incidences of reinsuring with foreign firms.

GROUP CALLS FOR TRAINING OF JUDGES IN TACKLING CASES OF HUMAN TRAFFICKING nature of human trafficking cases, of course, the charges are going to get thrown out; and if the perpetrators are not punished, everybody will go on and be doing what they are doing”, she said.

Enedah, noted that all over the world, countries and state governments are waking up to the scourge, and understanding the impact of human trafficking on the economy and the human race, adding that it is necessary to carry everyone on board, in order to rid the world free of criminal elements involved in trafficking.

She expressed confidence, that the training would enhance the work of NAPTIP staff in areas of investigation and prosecution, especially owing to the vast experiences they have been privileged to draw from their counterparts from the United States.

According to her CWAG APP collaborates with African Ministries of Justice, Attorneys

General, Solicitors General, and Public Prosecution agencies, to share knowledge and experience in the fight against crimes like human trafficking, corruption, money laundering, and cyber-crime and other cross border criminal activity.

“The training would enhance the work of NAPTIP staff, because I believe that the cross pollination of ideas has made the officers disclose their challenges, and the US was able to share their challenges and areas they have recorded so much success, and there was dawning of new knowledge”, she added.

Earlier, NAPTIP’s Director General, Dame Julie Okah-Donli, disclosed that the Agency in pursuit of its mandate to coordinate all issues relating to Trafficking in Persons in Nigeria, is poised to harness all available instruments to effectively tackle the menace of human trafficking.

“LACK OF INTEGRITY AMONG INSURERS, HAS ERODED PUBLIC CONFIDENCE IN INSURANCE. IT IS ADVISABLE TO DEAL WITH BROKERS, WHO ARE GENERALLY IN A BETTER POSITION TO CLAIM THE RIGHTS OF THE INSURED, BECAUSE THEY BETTER UNDERSTAND THE FINE PRINT” Dispute Resolution There are quite a number of unresolved cases, relating to insurance claims. The complexities of dispute resolution are apparent in this sector and lawyers need to advocate for necessary reforms. There may be the need to explore ADR options, by incorporating relevant clauses into all insurance contracts. Cases of non-payment of compensation, may also be referred to NAICOM as of first instance. The law courts which are over-burdened, should only serve as last resort dispute resolution options.

Insurance business has grown over the years, and it is hoped that individuals and small businesses, will appreciate the need to take out basic policies. It may be wise to include taking a relevant insurance policy in your 2018 goals. Here is wishing everyone a peaceful and fruitful year.

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 5

Speaking on the topic: ‘Combatting the Scourge of Human Trafficking: The Journey so Far’, the DG said the menace of human trafficking is a huge challenge before the country, with serious security implications.

She disclosed that in combatting human trafficking, NAPTIP had put in place various National Policies ranging from prevention, protection, and prosecution of traffickers.

"Since inception, the Agency has successfully prosecuted hundreds of cases and obtained 335 convictions as at December 2017, and now 338.

"The traffickers are serving various jail terms in different States of the Federation and abroad, and other cases that are pending in various courts, are at different stages of disposal/judgement.

"Assets of convicted traffickers, have been forfeited to the Victims of Trafficking Trust Fund on the orders of the court", she said.

While thanking the Conference of West African Attorneys General, Africa Alliance Partnership for the workshop, Okah-Donli, described the event as a child of necessity as it seeks to create awareness on the subject-matter of human trafficking in Nigeria, by enhancing the knowledge, depth and expertise required to effect positive changes in the fight against human trafficking in Nigeria.

On his part, a Board member of CWAG, Markus Green, stated that perpetrators of human trafficking, also use it as a cover up for other frauds such as money laundering, drug pushing amongst others.

He disclosed that, over $150bn is generated annually by perpetrators whose activities and crimes pose serious security threats, adding that with the training, NAPTIP officials would be more equipped in tackling the menace.

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13.02.2018

The Mandatory Use of the National Identification Number Regulation 2017: How Constitutional?

In this article, Okhuofu Oregbemhe examines the constitutionality of the mandatory use of the national identification number, concluding that in certain circumstances, the use is unconstitutional, like in the case of items for which only the State Houses of Assembly have the exclusive competence to legislate upon, for instance, for items like adoption of children

T Introduction:

he National Identity Management Commission (“the Commission”), was established by Section 1(1) of the National Identity Management Commission Act (“the Act”). The Commission is a body corporate with perpetual succession and a common seal and may sue and be sued.

The operation of the Commission is run by a governing board, with representatives from various offices, agencies and commissions.

By virtue of Section 5 of the Act, the Commission is charged with the following statutory functions, among others, to:

(a) create, manage, maintain and operate the National Identity Database established under section 14 of the Act, including the harmonisation and integration of existing identification databases in government agencies and integrating them into the National Identity Database; (b) carry out the registration of citizens of Nigeria into the National Identity Database; (c) issue a General Multi-purpose Identity Card to any person registered pursuant to paragraphs (b) and (c) of this section; The Act empowers the Commission to make regulations for the effective operation of the Act and the due administration thereof. In the exercise of these powers, the Commission has recently issued the “Mandatory Use of the National Identity Number

“ANY REGULATIONS PURPORTEDLY ISSUED BY THE COMMISSION, REQUIRING THE MANDATORY USE OF THE NATIONAL IDENTIFICATION NUMBER IN THE FILING OF, AND REGISTRATION OF CRIMINAL AND CIVIL ACTIONS IN THE STATE HIGH COURTS OR ANY COURTS ESTABLISHED BY THE LAW OF A STATE HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY, IS ULTRA VIRES THE COMMISSION AND THEREFORE, NULL AND VOID”

Regulations, 2017” (“the Regulations”). This regulation has such a broad and extensive reach, that in our view, its scope exceeds the powers of the Commission to legislate upon. We examine a few of these provisions, and explain why we hold the view that the Commission has exceeded its authority under its enabling law, and under the 1999 Constitution.

The Constitutionality of Some Provisions of the Regulations The Constitution is supreme and its provisions have binding force on all authorities and persons throughout the Federal Republic of Nigeria. The legislative power of the Federal Republic of Nigeria is vested in the National Assembly which consists of the Senate and a House of Representatives. The power of the National Assembly to enact laws for the peace, order and good government of the Federation, is, with respect, to the matters listed in the Exclusive Legislative List set out in Part 1 of the Second Schedule to the Constitution and the Concurrent Legislative List set out in the first column of Part II of the Second Schedule to the Constitution.

The legislative power of the National Assembly to enact laws for the peace, order, and good government of the Federation with respect to the matters contained in the Exclusive Legislative List, is to the exclusion of the State Houses of Assembly. The NaCONTINUED ON PAGE 13

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THE MANDATORY USE OF THE NATIONAL IDENTIFICATION NUMBER REGULATION 2017: HOW CONSTITUTIONAL? CONTINUED FROM PAGE 12 tional Assembly is also empowered to enact laws with respect to any matter in the Concurrent Legislative List, and if any laws enacted by a State House of Assembly in respect of such matters is inconsistent with any law validly enacted by the National Assembly, the law made by the National Assembly shall prevail, and the State law shall to the extent of its inconsistency be void.

The Exclusive Legislative List has 68 items over which the National Assembly has power to make laws for the peace, order and good government of the Federation or any part thereof, to the exclusion of the State Houses of Assembly. The Concurrent Legislative List contains 30 items for which both the National Assembly and the House of Assembly of a State have concurrent legislative powers, to make laws applicable within the Federation of Nigeria and the respective States. Any items not listed in the Exclusive and Concurrent Legislative Lists are within the legislative competence of the State Houses of Assembly.

The National Assembly, lacks the constitutional competence to make laws outside its legislative domain, which are by implication, residual matters reserved for the State Houses of Assembly. The National Assembly cannot, in the exercise of its powers to enact some specific laws, take the liberty to confer power or authority on the Federal Government or any of its agencies to engage in matters that ordinarily fall within the responsibility of the State Houses of Assembly, a State Government or its agencies.

This would be to allow the National Assembly, the Federal Government or its agencies, to encroach upon the constitutional authority conferred on the State Houses of Assemblies under their residual legislative power. See

the case of AG Federation v AG Lagos State 2013 16 NWLR Part 1380 Page 249 at 303 paras C-D per Galadima JSC. We are of the opinion that, some of the items listed in the Regulations for which mandatory use of the national identification number is required, are items over which the State Houses of Assembly have exclusive competence to legislate on, to the exclusion of the National Assembly, the Commission or any other agency of the Federal Government of Nigeria. For example, hospitality services, save for tourist traffic, are within the exclusive legislative competence of the State Houses of Assembly, and not for the National Assembly to make laws, neither does the Commission have the constitutional authority to make regulations for the registration, provision and use of hospitality services in Nigeria.

Adoption of Children The Regulation requires a mandatory use of the national identification number, in an application for the adoption of an infant, child or person under applicable laws. Adoption of an infant or child is neither listed in the Exclusive nor Concurrent Legislative Lists of the 1999 Constitution; thus, it remains a residual matter within the exclusive legislative competence of the State Houses of Assembly. The National Assembly or the Commission, cannot legislate or make Regulations on the practice and procedure of adoption in Nigeria. It is ultra vires the National Assembly and the Commission, to make provisions for the mandatory use of the national identification number for applications with respect to adoption of an infant or child under the relevant State enactments.

Federal Courts By virtue of the Regulation, filing and registration of criminal and civil actions in court or other arbitration processes, now require the mandatory use of the national identification number. The National Assembly, has the legislative competence to legislate for the practice and procedure of the federal courts, or such other courts and tribunals established by an Act of the National Assembly or for which the National Assembly has power to make laws. Thus, the National Assembly, would, in the circumstances, have legislative competence to enact laws regulating the practice and procedure of the Federal High Court, National Industrial Court of Nigeria, High Court of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, National or Federal Tribunals, Court of Appeal, and Supreme Court.

State Courts However, the National Assembly does not have the constitutional competence, to legislate for the practice and procedure of State High Courts or such other courts or tribunals as established by a State House of Assembly. In the same vein, the Commission cannot make Regulations requiring the mandatory use of the national identification number, in courts established by the law of a State House of Assembly.

The Regulation requiring the mandatory use of the national identification number in filing and registration of criminal and civil actions in States Courts, is not just inconsistent with the 1999 Constitution, but to the extent that it makes mandatory provisions concerning the practice and procedure of other courts established by the law of a State House of Assembly, it is null and void.

Presently, no law of any State House of Assembly or any State High Court Civil Procedure Rules, provides for the mandatory use of the national identification number in filing and registration of criminal and civil actions, therefore, litigants and practitioners before those courts, cannot in the circumstances resort to or be compelled to affix on their court processes, the national identification number as required by the Regulations.

Since the National Assembly cannot legislate for the practice and procedure of the High Court of a State (Fashakin Foods (Nig) Ltd v Shosanya 2006 10

“WE ARE OF THE OPINION THAT, SOME OF THE ITEMS LISTED IN THE REGULATIONS FOR WHICH MANDATORY USE OF THE NATIONAL IDENTIFICATION NUMBER IS REQUIRED, ARE ITEMS OVER WHICH THE STATE HOUSES OF ASSEMBLY HAVE EXCLUSIVE COMPETENCE TO LEGISLATE ON, TO THE EXCLUSION OF THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY, THE COMMISSION OR ANY OTHER AGENCY OF THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT OF NIGERIA�

NWLR Part 987 Page 126 at 145), the Commission cannot make Regulations for the practice and procedure of those courts, by requiring a mandatory use of the national identification number in processes filed and registered in those courts. Any Regulations purportedly issued by the Commission, requiring the mandatory use of the national identification number in the filing of, and registration of criminal and civil actions in the State High Courts or any courts established by the law of a State House of Assembly, is ultra vires the Commission and therefore, null and void.

Arbitration Furthermore, the Regulation requires the mandatory use of the national identification number, in arbitration processes in Nigeria. Arbitration is a private dispute resolution mechanism, and is regulated by the Arbitration and Conciliation Act 2004 and the Lagos State Arbitration Law 2009. Arbitration being a private dispute resolution mechanism, party autonomy is vital. In the view of this writer, if parties decide to arbitrate under the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, being a federal enactment, then, the mandatory use of the national identification numbers may become mandatory, imperative and binding. However, if parties choose to arbitrate their dispute under the Lagos State Arbitration Law 2009, which is a State law, the use of the national identification number becomes optional, and not mandatory, binding or compulsory for the parties.

Probate The Regulation requires the mandatory use of the national identification number with respect to filing, processing and obtaining of probate documents. Filing, processing and obtaining of probate documents, is within the exclusive legislative competence of the State Houses of Assemblies, and not the National Assembly. Filing, processing and obtaining of probate is neither listed in the Exclusive nor Concurrent Legislative Lists of the 1999 Constitution; therefore, it is a residual matter for the State Houses of Assembly to legislate upon.

The pedestal upon which the Regulation is anchored, is sections 27 and 31 of the Act. The National Assembly or the Commission, does not have constitutional or statutory competence to enact laws or regulations with respect to filing, processing and obtaining of probate documents in the States.

Having regard to the fact that filing, processing and obtaining of probate, generally, is a residual matter, the requirement for a mandatory use of the national identification number in filing, processing and obtaining documents in the State High Court Probate Registry, becomes unconstitutional and beyond the powers of the Commission.

The constitutionality of any enactment by the National Assembly or any government agencies, must be measured against the backdrop of sections 4(6) and (7) of the 1999 Constitution.

In light of the above, the power of the National Assembly or any government agencies to legislate on a given matter, must be traceable to the 1999 Constitution, either the Exclusive or Concurrent Legislative Lists. If the National Assembly or any government agencies legislates on any matter not within its legislative competence or outside the ambit of the said constitutional provisions, such enactment is invalid and shall have no effect at law.

Conclusion In conclusion, we contend that some provisions of the Regulations reviewed above, to the extent that they seek to regulate areas within the exclusive legislative competence of the State Houses of Assembly, are null and void.

Okhuofu Benedict Oregbemhe, Senior Associate, SPA Ajibade & Co., Lagos

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Lawyers Name Bribery of Judges As Biggest Threat to the Legal Profession This is a Report of a Survey carried out in 2017 by Professor Ernest Ojukwu, SAN, among a cross section of Nigerian Lawyers, on the top ethical issues which they want to be tackled in the legal profession, in order to achieve improvements in the profession

L

awyers in Nigeria, have identified bribery of judges, as the biggest threat that needs to be tackled as a matter of urgency in the legal profession. This is the result of a survey carried out among a cross section of Nigerian lawyers between May and October, 2017, and presented in a report dated 23rd January, 2018 titled, Response Of Nigerian Lawyers On Top Ethical Issues They Want Tackled In The Legal Profession, which was submitted to the President of the Nigerian Bar Association, by Professor Ernest Ojukwu, SAN. Purpose of the Survey The report states that, the recent survey was conducted with the purpose of determining the most critical ethical issues confronting the legal profession in Nigeria, in response to the rallying cries of numerous members of the legal profession whom he encountered in the process of conducting a number of sensitisation workshops on the Rules under the Institute of Continuing Legal Education, and other ethics workshops under the auspices of the NBA Academic Forum and NBA Branch programmes. The report states that, these programmes and workshops afforded lawyers the opportunity to table their complaints, and consequently, have through the years listed many ethical challenges facing the legal profession, which he also collated as examples of indiscipline and ethical challenges at the Bar, as stated by practitioners, public servants and members of the public, which are all in the public domain at this time.

As a step towards a practical dissection of the problems, the survey was designed to determine the response of lawyers to tackling ethical challenges within the profession, in order of priority. The study presents the benefit for both lawyers as well as nonmembers of the legal profession, as it first gives lawyers an opportunity to give voice to their concerns in relation to ethical challenges within the legal profession. This, in turn, would create openness and transparency which will build trust among members and consumers of legal services. People and organisations, will also be ready to assist the legal profession to begin to solve the problems, and consequently, the legal profession and its leadership would be equipped with a tool to work with, at deploying its resources towards tackling the ethical challenges.

How the Survey was Conducted The study was limited to the perceptions of lawyers from all sectors and from all geographical zones. Data for this study, were collected using a survey form developed by the reporter. The list of ethical issues listed in the survey form, was based on the experience and research of the reporter, who was for more than ten years, deeply involved in the drafting of the Rules of Professional Conduct for legal practitioners.

The survey presented a list of 45 ethical challenges and issues, and each respondent was asked to pick five ethical issues they wished the Bar to tackle immediately. The findings aggregated, resulted in the discovery that the top 5 ethical issues or challenges they want tackled by the Bar or the legal profession are as follows: 1. Bribery of Judges: 190 responses (6.94%) 2. Delay tactics in court/using litigation as an instrument of delay/delayed trials/

filing of frivolous applications to delay trials or executions or proceedings: 182 responses (6.65%) 3. Bribery of court personnel for processes: 176 responses (6.43%) 4. Lawyers’ active role in disobeying court orders/blocking enforcement of orders and judgements: 149 responses (5.44%) 5. Rudeness to other colleagues/Impolite attitude: 149 responses (5.44%) These 5 ethical issues raised in the study, have been determined critical as found by the study and ranged from nearly 7 percent to about 5 percent, out of the total of the 45 ethical issues delineated in the survey form.

A close few other ethical issues raised also include: lawyers advising disobedience to court orders- 120 responses (4.38%); litigating of every matter even when ADR (Alternative Dispute Resolution) should have been advised or used- 109 responses (3.98%); lack of transparency in NBA accounting- 107 responses (3.91%); Not following simple court etiquette/ Disorderliness in court- 104 responses (3.8%); and Selling grades to law students;/Receiving money from law students to influence results- 83 responses (3.03%).

Never has the ethical conduct of a body of professionals been critical to the well-being of a nation, as the ethical conduct of the legal profession. Following a general discontentment about the status quo, members of the legal profession have articulated their concerns at various levels of the profession.

There have been calls for the legal profession, especially the Bar, to look inwards and tackle or stem the tide of indiscipline and unethical conduct among its members. The report stated that, at a workshop organised by the Nigerian Bar Association, in collaboration with the Presidential Advisory Committee Against Corruption (PACAC) in Abuja in July 2016, the then Chief Justice of Nigeria, Hon. Justice Mahmud Mohammed through Hon. Justice Kudirat Kekere-Ekun, was reported to have urged members of the Bar to examine themselves, with a view to developing workable ways to curb corruption, and charged them to look inwards as individuals in the system, and collectively as a body, to improve the legal system. This is one among many calls, for an examination of the case of unethical conduct and indiscipline, among members of the legal profession.

The legal profession might have an opportunity to change the face of its body in the near future, as long as it is responsive to its needs to address the ethical issues presented by members of its body. The NBA itself, is critical to realising the greater objective of a transparent and trustworthy legal profession, and must also be the first to determine and implement solutions to the issues raised in this study. In the end more than hope is required, but more so the dogged insistence of the legal profession to revivify itself, and in so doing, the nation at large.

“THERE HAVE BEEN CALLS FOR THE LEGAL PROFESSION, ESPECIALLY THE BAR, TO LOOK INWARDS AND TACKLE OR STEM THE TIDE OF INDISCIPLINE AND UNETHICAL CONDUCT AMONG ITS MEMBERS”

T H I S D AY ˾ TUESDAY FEBRUARY 13, 2018

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Growing the Economy through Investment Jonathan Eze writes on the need for a deliberate sustainable economic plan that will further boost investors’ confidence NestlÊ’s conscious expansion of its business in Nigeria is a demonstration of its unwavering faith in her economy. It also serves as an international beckon on prospective investors to think Nigeria as a fertile ground for industrial relocation and expansion.

The benefits of this bold step is not just for the profit it would generate for the company but to a large extent, creation of jobs for unemployed Nigerians, increased business partnerships with local farmers that supplies them with raw materials and revenues accruable to government at the state, local and federal levels in form of taxation and other levies.

Hence, government must ensure that it creates continuously favourable and enabling environment to encourage investments coupled with economic policies that will ease the doing of business in the country.

While inaugurating its Milo Ready-To-Drink (RTD) beverage production plant, the company made it clear that it is aimed at meeting the growing consumer demand and that it is an investment that would help create over direct 100 additional jobs.

The new plant is part of the existing Agbara factory, which has been successfully operating for 37 years.

The Vice President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo inaugurated the plant, which is equipped with the latest state of the art technology and adopts high safety and environmental standards. “This new plant is a reflection of the continued confidence the industry has in the robustness of our economy. We are grateful to NestlĂŠ for these significant investments, particularly for locating its factories in rural communities and sourcing its raw materials from local farmers contributing to the sustainable development of Nigeria,â€? said the Vice President.

The new plant produces NestlĂŠ Milo ReadyTo-Drink (RTD) beverage in 180ml cartons and has a yearly production capacity above 8,000 tonnes.

Launched in October 2017, Milo RTD is made from the natural goodness of milk, malt and cocoa. Milo provides essential nutrients and is fortified with NestlÊ’s unique blend of vitamins, ACTIV- GO (Vitamins B3, B2, B6, B12, vitamin C, and vitamin D) and minerals including Calcium and Iron. “The new NestlĂŠ Milo RTD is complementing the existing range of offerings of the iconic Milo brand. It is conveniently packaged to offer the unique Milo taste and meet the nutrition needs of active children on the go. This is in line with the company’s commitments to enable healthier and happier lives,â€? said Mauricio Alarcon, Managing Director and CEO NestlĂŠ Nigeria. “This new production plant is a true reflection of how NestlĂŠ creates shared value for all, by providing good jobs, sourcing 80% of our inputs with local farmers and investing in the development of rural communities,â€? he added NestlĂŠ has been present in Nigeria since 1961. With staff strength of over 2,300 direct employees, three manufacturing sites, 8 branch offices and a head office located in Lagos, NestlĂŠ is a strong pillar of growth in the Nigerian economy. It produces a range of high quality iconic brands including Maggi, Milo, Golden Morn, NescafĂŠ and NestlĂŠ Pure Life.

Alarcon in his address restated why the company is boldly reinvesting in the economy. “I would like to speak briefly on our continued commitment to Nigeria and why since NestlĂŠ started trading in the country 57 years ago, we have not looked back. We continue to invest in the development of our people, in the innovation of new products to meet consumer needs and preferences and in new facilities to help us achieve our growth objectives for the country. “This new manufacturing facility reflects our confidence in the resilience of Nigeria’s economy and our long-term perspective which looks beyond today. It will please you to know that in the past 5 years, NestlĂŠ Nigeria Plc has spent N74.1 billion on productive investment in our manufacturing operations. “Leveraging our strong R&D capabilities, we continue to develop a relevant wide range of high quality nutritional offerings adapted

Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo (middle), anked by Deputy Governor of Ogun State, Mrs.Yetunde Onanuga, Commisioner for Commerce and Industry, Bimbo Ashiru; Managing Director & CEO, NestlÊ Nigeria Plc, Mr. Mauricio Alarcon and Minister of Trade and Investment, Dr. Okechukwu Enelamah; at the NestlÊ Milo Ready-To-Drink Factory inauguration in Agbara, Ogun State ... recently to local tastes. I mentioned to you earlier that we are committed to developing our people. This commitment goes beyond the staff of NestlÊ to include everyone who is a part of our value chain from farm to fork.

We work with partners to touch millions of lives every day and to improve livelihoods within the communities where we operate. We call this principle Creating Shared Value and it is embedded in the way we do business. “For example, the malt used in MILOÂŽ is made from sorghum supplied by the smallholder farmers who are part of the Sorghum and Millet in the Sahel program (SMS) which NestlĂŠ runs in partnership with the International Fertilizer Development Corporation (IFDC).

Under this project, we train farmers on good farming and business practices. The farmers are taught how to improve the quality of their grains while increasing the yield from their farms. The availability of higher quality grains ensures that we have the input needed for NestlÊ’s strict quality standards and that the farmers have a steady source of income. “We are constantly inspired by the stories of the 30,000 farmers we have reached through the SMS program in the last 2 years. One of such success stories is Saadatu from Kano who says that, now, nothing is impossible for her family. By purchasing directly from small-scale suppliers and aggregators, we not only seek to protect the supply and quality of our raw materials, but also to have a positive, long-term impact on the local economy and standards of living of rural communities.â€?

The MD also delved into the company’s corporate social responsibilities. “Another example of how we create shared value is the NestlĂŠ MILOÂŽ Basketball Championship.

MILOŽ has built a rich heritage in Nigeria as the food drink of champions, inspiring early participation in grassroots sports through various programmes including the Basketball Championship, which is in its 20th year. In 2017 alone, 100,000 students from the 36 states of the federation participated in the Milo Basketball Championship. “Over the years, the championship has trained professionals who currently play in various leagues around the world as well

as in the National league. Nkechi is one of such players who are not only doing well for themselves but are also giving back to others. “Motivated by these outcomes, the MILOŽ brand is committed to continue to inspire youth participation in sports. We believe that this is a platform for learning valuable life lessons such as respect, teamwork, perseverance and resilience for success, not only on the field but also in other aspects of life.�

Food fortification is yet another area where the company is standing tall. This has helped in addressing micronutrient deficiencies in iron, zinc, iodine and vitamin A. “NestlĂŠ invests in the fortification of its food and beverages with essential micronutrients as appropriate. A ready example is MILOÂŽ RTD. Made from the natural goodness of milk, malt and cocoa, MILOÂŽ is fortified with ACTIV-GO, a unique blend of vitamins and minerals including calcium and Iron. This combination helps improve bone health and proper functioning of the muscles and red blood cells.â€?

Alarcon expressed gratitude to the federal government, the Government of Ogun State, partners, shareholders and staff who share their vision for the future. “By continuing to make wise, long term investments in people, in improving productivity and in increasing purchasing power, we will build a future for Nigeria, based on sustainable business practices which benefit all stakeholders, he said.

Osinbajo who was visibly excited after the tour of the plant, said that the President Muhammadu Buhari’s led government is also a “ready-to-serveâ€? government, ensuring that it implement the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP) to keep the economy on the path of sustainable economic growth and global competitiveness.â€? “One important component of the Plan is the provision of critical infrastructure, such as roads, rail and power, which this administration is fully committed to. We’re fully committed to supporting companies such as Nestle as we spur growth and create jobs within the economy.â€? “I am sure we all agree that NestlĂŠ MILO

holds a special place in the heart of every Nigerian – since as children, we all aspired to be future champions. Indeed, NestlÊ’s commitment to doing business in Nigeria has been unwavering over the past 57 years, since the company’s establishment in Nigeria in 1961.

This is truly worth commending – particularly when you consider the socio-economic benefits achieved for Nigeria by the location of its factories in rural areas and sourcing its raw materials from local farmers. “I recall inaugurating the Abaji water factory in May 2016 and, today, the Ready-to-Drink Factory is another testimonial of the company’s commitment and success in Nigeria. I am told that this factory was built at a cost of N4.1 billion, and it will create 150 direct jobs in addition to local sourcing of raw materials from Nestle’s network of over 30,000 farmers. “Another is the creation of an enabling business environment, and making Nigeria a progressively easier place to do business. To actualise this goal, in July 2016, Mr. President inaugurated the Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council (PEBEC), which he asked me to Chair, and he gave us the task of implementing this mandate. “The business climate reforms undertaken under PEBEC have already begun to bear some fruit and reflects that Nigeria is committed to creating an enabling environment to facilitate private sector-led growth and development.

Many, of course, will recall that in October, 2017, the World Bank released its flagship “Doing Business� report for 2018. In that report, Nigeria moved up by an unprecedented 24 places, and for the first time the country was also recognised as one of the top 10 most improved economies in the world. “This result shows the power of collaboration across various levels of government, especially in the reform areas such as getting credit, where we are now ranked 6th out of 190 countries due to our enhanced legal framework, with the potential to unlock credit to small and medium-scale enterprises by giving added comfort to lenders.�, Osinbajo concluded.

Traditional leaders and other stakeholders were at the grand event that signifies a new era in the industrial capacity of Nestle Nigeria.

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BUSINESS/MONEYGUIDE

CBN Sustains Forex Injection with $210m ČŠ ˜—Â?ÂžÂœÂ’Â˜Â—ČąÂ˜Â&#x;ÂŽÂ›ČąÂŠÂ‹Â˜Â”Â’Â?ÂĄÇŻÂŒÂ˜Â–ČąÂ?ÂŠÂ•ÂœÂŽČąÂ™ÂŠÂ›ÂŠÂ•Â•ÂŽÂ•ČąÂ–ÂŠÂ›Â”ÂŽÂ?ȹ›ŠÂ?ÂŽ Obinna Chima The interbank foreign exchange market has received the sum of $210million from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), to meet customers’ requests in various segments of the market.

In its determination to meet the customers’ needs in the sundry segments of the market, the CBN offered $100 million to authorised dealers in the wholesale segment of the market, while the SME segment got the sum of $55 million, according to figures obtained from the Bank yesterday.

The figures also indicated that customers needing foreign exchange for invisibles such as tuition fees, medical payments and Basic Travel Allowance (BTA), among others, were also allocated the sum of $55 million.

The Bank’s acting Director,

Corporate Communications Department (CCD), Mr. Isaac Okorafor, assured Nigerians that the central bank would continue to intervene in the interbank foreign exchange market, in line with its pledge to sustain liquidity in the market and maintain stability.

According to Okorafor, the CBN will not renege on its promise to manage the forex with a view to reducing the country’s import bills and halting accretion to its foreign reserves. The CBN had last Friday intervened in the Retail Secondary Market Intervention Sales (SMIS) to the tune of $325.64 million to cater for requests in the airlines, agricultural, petroleum products and raw materials and machinery sectors. The naira was stable just as it sold for N362 to a dollar on the parallel market yesterday.

However, there was some sort of confusion in the market yesterday as one of the commonly referenced websites for parallel market forex rate erroneously quoted the naira at N383 to a dollar, implying a depreciation of the nation’s currency by about N20 in one day.

When contacted, the President of the Association of Bureau De Change Operators (ABCON), Alhaji Aminu Gwadabe, urged Nigerians to disregard the rate quoted by aboki.com, saying operators of the website were only out to deceive Nigerians. “These people need to be arrested. All they are after is to cause confusion and distabilise the system. The naira closed at N362 to a dollar today and as far as I am concerned, they (abokifx), are acting a script. We are floating our website in few days’ time and we have made presentation to the CBN,� He explained.

VAIDS: FG Outlines Process for New Taxpayers The Federal Ministry of Finance has once more explained the process of participation in the Voluntary Assets and Income Declaration Scheme (VAIDS) to new taxpayers as well as existing ones that had not been paying appropriate taxes.

According to the VAIDS office in the Federal Ministry of Finance, the first step for new taxpayers is to apply for a Tax Identification Number (TIN), which will be fast-tracked.

Existing taxpayers are required to register for VAIDS by filling the declaration form, obtainable from relevant tax authorities and available online.

The relevant tax authority can help calculate a taxpayer’s liabilities. In addition, the VAIDS office has also provided training to professionals in tax advisory services to educate taxpayers on their obligations.

A statement explained thatVAIDS, which provides a time-limited opportunity to regularise tax status, is open to every taxpayer liable to pay tax in Nigeria. “It covers Nigerian residents, who had taxable undeclared income outside Nigeria and non-residents, who earned undeclared income derived from or accruing from Nigeria,�

explained the VAIDS office.

Nigerians resident outside the country can declare online or appoint an agent resident in Nigeria to declare on their behalf.

The tax authority will, however, review tax information provided by declarers to ensure they are accurate. Information provided by declarers, said the Federal Ministry of Finance, is confidential and strictly for use under VAIDS. Tax debtors who fail to declare at the expiration of the window in 31 March will face a variety of sanctions, including payment of interests and penalties as well as prosecution.

Fitch Assigns ‘Stable Outlook’ to UBA’s Subsidiaries Fitch Ratings has affirmed a ‘stable outlook’ on the foreign currency, long term issuer default ratings of UBA Plc’s subsidiaries in Cameroon, Ghana and Senegal.

The entities -UBA Cameroon SA, UBA Ghana Limited and UBA Senegal SA, which are some of the flagship subsidiaries of the Nigerian-headquartered United Bank for Africa Plc, are rated “B-�, as constrained by the weak operating environment within which the three subsidiaries operate.

Fitch noted that the credit ratings and the stable outlook on

the subsidiaries were driven by the standalone financial strength of each of these subsidiaries, as reflected by their respective Viability Ratings.In addition, the rating agency also noted potential support from their parent, UBA Plc, if such was required. According to Fitch, the subsidiaries’ are profitable and their ability to build up capital internally was positive because it will support UBA Plc’s ambitious growth plans for the subsidiaries.

Assessing the loan portfolio of the subsidiaries, the agency noted that the three subsidiaries of UBA

Plc lend to leading domestic corporate and public sector entities and such loans dominate the portfolio of UBA subsidiaries in each of the respective markets.

Fitch specifically expects notable improvement in UBA Ghana’s asset quality in the near term, reflecting government’s efforts to address energy sector problem loans.

Discussing the capitalization of the subsidiaries, Fitch notes; “We view the banks’ capital buffers as modest, given the risks to which they are exposed. Reported regulatory capital ratios meet local Basel 1 requirements�.

Moghalu to Deliver UNN Public Lecture The President of the Institute for Governance and Economic Transformation (IGET) and former Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Professor Kingsley Moghalu, will be the Guest Speaker for the 2018 Annual Public Lecture of the University of Nigeria, Nsukka’s Department of Economics on February 13, 2018.

The former central banker will speak on the topic, ‘Innovation and the Wealth of Nations: A Case for an Innovation Economy in Nigeria.’ “I warmly look forward to returning to my alma mata

university and engaging with students and faculty in this knowledge exchange,� Moghalu said in statement. He added: “Scientific innovation built the wealth of the rich countries of the world. Our natural resources have been a curse and not a blessing, so we must now think beyond crude oil and join the 21st century with an innovationdriven economy. This requires strong and focused public policy�. Moghalu had pressed the case for an innovation economy in African countries in his book “Emerging Africa: How the Global Economy’s Last

Frontier Can Prosper and Matter�, published to global critical acclaim in 2014 by Penguin Books in London, UK. He was appointed Professor of Practice in International Business and Public Policy at Tufts University’s Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, one of the world’s top graduate schools of international affairs, in Massachusetts, USA after he completed his five-year tenure as Deputy Governor of the CBN in November 2017. He taught the course “Emerging Africa in the World Economy� before returning to Nigeria in late 2017 and founding IGET.

MARKET INDICATORS MONEY AND CREDIT STATISTICS

(MILLION NAIRA)

AUGUST 2017 Broad Money (M2)

21,851,454.31

-- Narrow Money (M1)

9,890,813.10

---- Currency Outside Banks

1,523,239.91

---- Demand Deposits

8,367,573.19

-- Quasi Money

11,960,641.22

Net Foreign Assets (NFA)

9,732,990.89

Net Domestic Assets(NDA)

12,118,463.42

-- Net Domestic Credit (NDC)

26,821,446.81

---- Credit to Government (Net)

4,824,226.22

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

7,834,536.74

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

--3,010,310.52

---- Credit to Private Sector (CPS)

21,997,220.59

--Other Assets Net

--14,702,983.39

Reserve Money (Base Money)

5,486,804.65

--Currency in Circulation

1,868,735.07

--Banks Reserves

3,268,266.17 Ëž Ă™Ă&#x;ĂœĂ?Ă? Ě‹

Money Market Indicators (in Percentage) Month

August 2017

Inter-Bank Call Rate

22.63

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

14.00

Treasury Bill Rate

13.35

Savings Deposit Rate

4.08

1 Month Deposit Rate

8.86

3 Months Deposit Rate

10.14

6 Months Deposit Rate

11.51

12 Months Deposit Rate

11.40

Prime Lending rate

17.69

Maximum Lending Rate

31.20

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OPEC DAILY BASKET PRICE AS AT FRIDAY FEBRUAR 9, 2018

The price of OPEC basket of fourteen crudes stood at $61.52 a barrel on Friday, compared with $62.69 the previous day, according to OPEC Secretariat calculations.

The OPEC Reference Basket of Crudes (ORB) is made up of the following: Saharan Blend (Algeria), Girassol (Angola), Oriente (Ecuador), ZaďŹ ro (Equatorial Guinea), Rabi Light (Gabon), Iran Heavy (Islamic Republic of Iran), Basra Light (Iraq), Kuwait Export (Kuwait), Es Sider (Libya), Bonny Light (Nigeria), Qatar Marine (Qatar), Arab Light (Saudi Arabia), Murban (UAE) and Merey (Venezuela) SOURCE: OPEC headquarters, Vienna

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MARKET NEWS

NSE All-Share Index Falls Further on Continuing Negative Sentiments Goddy Egene and Nosa Alekhuogie The equities market extended its losing streak to the sixth consecutive day yesterday as sell pressure persisted. Having remained in the negative territory for the whole last week and shedding, 3.39 per cent, the bulls were expected to return.

However, the bears consolidated their hold on the market, driving down the Nigerian Stock

Exchange (NSE) All-Share Index (ASI) by 0.9 per cent to close lower at 42,737.89. Similarly, the market capitalisation fell by same margin to close at N15.34 trillion.

The depreciation recorded in the share prices of GTBank, FBN Holdings, Zenith Bank, Dangote Sugar, and Transcorp were mainly responsible for the decline recorded.

According analysts at FSDH Research, the on-going sell

P R I C E S MAIN BOARD

F O R DEALS

sentiment may continue till midweek albeit on a milder scale than in the previous trading sessions “Profit taking and bargain hunting may likely characterise subsequent trading sessions,” they added.

In all, 36 stocks depreciated, while only 13 appreciated. Eternal Plc led the price losers with 9.6 per cent, trailed by Equity Assurance Plc with 8.3 per cent.

AIICO Insurance Plc shed 8.2

S E C U R I T I E S

MARKET PRICE

QUANTITY TRADED

VALUE TRADED ( N )

per cent, while Consolidated Hallmark Insurance Plc lost 5.7 per cent.

FBN Holdings Plc, GTBank Plc and Multiverse depreciated by 5.0 per cent apiece. May & Baker Nigeria Plc and Fidelity Bank Plc shed 4.9 per cent each.

On the positive side, PZ Cussons Nigeria Plc led the price gainers with 5.8 per cent, trailed by Beta Glass Plc, Glaxosmithkline Consumer Nigeria Plc and Unity Bank

T R A D E D MAIN BOARD

A S

Plc with 4.9 per cent apiece.

UAC of Nigeria Plc chalked up 4.1 per cent, just as Jaiz Bank Plc, Linkage Assurance Plc garnered 3.8 per cent and 3.5 per cent respectively. C & I Leasing Plc, ABC Transport Plc and Wema Bank Plc advanced by 2.7 per cent, 2.5 per cent and 2.3 per cent in that order.

All the sectoral indices trended southwards. They were led by the NSE Banking Index, shedding 3.8 per cent following

O F

losses in bellwether banking stocks - GTBank (-5.0 per cent) and Zenith Bank (-4.9 per cent).

The NSE Insurance Index followed with 1.1 per cent slide while the NSE Consumer Goods Index closed 0.9 per cent lower due to downtick in Nigerian Breweries Plc (-2.9 per cent) and Dangote Sugar Refinery Plc (-4.8 per cent). The NSE Industrial Goods Index and NSE Oil & Gas Index shed 0.4 per cent and 0.2 per cent respectively.

0 8 / 0 2 / 2 0 1 8 DEALS

MARKET PRICE

QUANTITY TRADED

VALUE TRADED ( N)

˾ TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 2018

32

MARKET NEWS

FMDQ Lists Stanbic IBTC Dollar, Money Market and Bond Funds Goddy Egene FMDQ OTC Securities Exchange (FMDQ) yesterday listed the Stanbic IBTC Dollar, Money Market and Bond Funds floated by Stanbic IBTC Asset Management Limited (the SIAML Funds) on its platform. The SIAML Funds, which are open-ended Funds, are set to enable investors achieve competitive returns on their assets while safeguarding capital, by investing in low risk short-term securities, high quality government bonds and dollar denominated

securities domiciled in Nigeria.

Welcoming the guests to the listing ceremony in Lagos, Vice President, Capital Markets Directorate, FMDQ, Ms. Tumi Sekoni, commended the fund manager on the strong and consistent performance of the funds and on taking the prudent and strategic decision to list the them on FMDQ’s platform. She reiterated the OTC Exchange’s commitment to support and deepen the Nigerian financial markets by steadfastly availing its platform for the efficient

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

registration, listing, quotation and trading of securities.

The Chief Executive of Stanbic IBTC Asset Management Limited, Mrs. Bunmi Dayo-Olagunju said: “Considering the volatility in the equities and commodity markets, it is imperative for investors to diversify their portfolios by investing in mutual funds and other investment vehicles.”

According to her, the attractiveness of mutual funds or collective schemes is derived from the numerous benefits they offer over other investment vehicles,

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 09Feb-2018, unless otherwise stated.

such as flexibility, liquidity, steady returns, professional management and risk reduction, among others.

Also speaking, Executive Director, Stanbic IBTC Capital Limited sponsor of the funds, Mr. Kobby Bentsi-Enchill, noted the firm had sponsored many listings on FMDQ’s platform. He commented that Stanbic IBTC was excited with the remarkable growth of the fixed income market as this was vital to the creation of liquidity and pledged that the organisation will continue to work with regulators and operators to

establish a world-class capital market in Nigeria.

“As a Registration Member (Listings) of FMDQ, Stanbic IBTC Capital Limited is also pleased to have supported the listing of the Stanbic IBTC Bond Fund, Stanbic IBTC Dollar Fund and of course, the Stanbic IBTC Money Market Fund which is the largest open-ended mutual Fund in Nigeria,” he said.

In his remarks, the Managing Director/CEO of FMDQ, Mr. Bola Onadele. Koko applauded the fund manager for its impressive

performance in the market and stated that FMDQ remained unflinchingly committed to developing the Nigerian financial markets through its highly efficient platform, promoting unrivaled world-class standards to drive transparency, governance and liquidity, among others, in the markets.

He explained that funds would benefit from improved credibility, as continuous disclosure of all relevant information to do with the funds are made available to a wide range of investors.

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 N/A N/A N/A Nigeria International Debt Fund N/A N/A N/A 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 0.86 0.87 4.37% ACAP Income Funds 0.62 0.62 3.52% 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 16.15% 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 20.39 21.00 11.58% ARM Discovery Fund 424.44 437.24 9.09% ARM Ethical Fund 30.44 31.30 11.31% ARM Money Market Fund 1.00 1.00 15.96% 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 165.86 167.02 9.34% AXA Mansard Money Market Fund 1.00 1.00 15.52% 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 N/A Paramount Equity Fund N/A N/A N/A Women's Investment Fund N/A N/A N/A 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 15.63% CORONATION ASSEST MANAGEMENT investment@coronationam.com Web:www.coronationam.com , Tel: 012366215 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Coronation Money Market Fund 1.00 1.00 N/A Coronation Balanced Fund N/A N/A N/A Coronation Fixed Income Fund N/A N/A N/A FBN QUEST ASSET MANAGEMENT LTD invest@fbnquest.com Web: www.fbnquest.com; Tel: +234-81 0082 0082 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn FBN Fixed Income Fund N/A N/A N/A FBN Heritage Fund N/A N/A N/A FBN Money Market Fund 100.00 100.00 N/A FBN Nigeria Eurobond (USD) Fund - Institutional N/A N/A N/A FBN Nigeria Eurobond (USD) Fund - Retail N/A N/A N/A FBN Nigeria Smart Beta Equity Fund N/A N/A N/A 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 1.40 1.43 7.34% Legacy Debt Fund 2.92 2.92 1.46% 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 N/A N/A N/A Coral Income Fund N/A N/A N/A GREENWICH ASSET MANAGEMENT LIMITED assetmanagement@gtlgroup.com Web: www.gtlgroup.com ; Tel: +234 1 4619261-2 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Greenwich Plus Money Market Fund 100.00 100.00 14.67% 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 15.07% Vantage Balanced Fund 2.21 2.24 5.13% Vantage Guaranteed Income Fund 1.00 1.00 17.76% Kedari Investment Fund (KIF) 116.67 116.98 1.42%

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 1.17 1.19 1.40% Lotus Halal Fixed Income Fund 1,043.53 1,043.53 1.24% 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 16.93 17.09 20.14% Meristem Money Market Fund 10.00 10.00 16.27% 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 N/A N/A N/A PACAM Fixed Income Fund N/A N/A N/A PACAM Money Market Fund 10.00 10.00 N/A 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 142.80 145.02 10.77% 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 1.51 1.51 1.80% 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 2,355.01 2,373.65 4.97% Stanbic IBTC Bond Fund 176.71 176.71 0.15% Stanbic IBTC Ethical Fund 1.08 1.09 7.43% Stanbic IBTC Guaranteed Investment Fund 225.34 225.44 2.33% Stanbic IBTC Iman Fund 187.91 190.11 4.95% Stanbic IBTC Money Market Fund 100.00 100.00 14.88% Stanbic IBTC Nigerian Equity Fund 10,354.53 10,495.72 7.08% Stanbic IBTC Dollar Fund (USD) 1.07 1.07 0.94% 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 1.38 1.39 16.20% United Capital Bond Fund 1.58 1.58 12.21% United Capital Equity Fund 1.01 1.03 11.59% United Capital Money Market Fund 1.00 1.00 13.00% United Capital Eurobond Fund 102.98 102.98 0.74% United Capital Wealth for Women Fund 1.12 1.13 16.30% ZENITH ASSETS MANAGEMENT LTD info@zenith-funds.com Web: www.zenith-funds.com; Tel: +234 1-2784219 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Zenith Equity Fund 13.43 13.64 7.11% Zenith Ethical Fund 13.89 14.06 5.39% Zenith Income Fund 19.39 19.39 2.49%

REITS NAV Per Share

Yield / T-Rtn

10.00 133.45

-11.35% 0.75%

Bid Price

Offer Price

Yield / T-Rtn

12.52 163.88 122.30

12.62 167.49 124.62

3.29% 14.78% 11.96%

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

EXCHANGE TRADED FUNDS Fund Name Lotus Halal Equity Exchange Traded Fund SIAML Pension ETF 40 Stanbic IBTC ETF 30 Fund

VETIVA FUND MANAGERS LTD Web: www.vetiva.com; Tel: +234 1 453 0697 Fund Name Vetiva Banking Exchange Traded Fund Vetiva Consumer Goods Exchange Traded Fund Vetiva 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

5.70 9.89 19.70 23.14 151.93

5.74 9.97 19.80 23.34 153.93

20.08% 3.31% 10.91% 17.54% 2.24%

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.

T H I S D AY ˾ TUESDAY FEBRUARY 13, 2018

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TUESDAY FEBRUARY 13, 2018 ˾ T H I S D AY

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Drama at NHIS Office as Police Disperse Workers Protesting Yusuf’s Reinstatement Unity workers back Buhari’s decision Union insists on his suspension Senator Iroegbu in Abuja It was a mild drama yesterday at the headquarters of the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) in Abuja, as workers continued their protest over the reinstatement of the Executive Secretary, Usman Yusuf, prompting police intervention.

The protest was initially by workers who are in support of President Muhammadu Buhari’s decision on February 6, 2018, to reinstate Yusuf, overriding the recommendation of the Minister of Health, Prof. Isaac Adewole.

But on getting to the NHIS headquarters, they encountered another group of workers protesting the reinstatement of the embattled Executive Secretary, who Adewole suspended in June 2017, following allegations of gross misconduct, and who is under probe for alleged N919million fraud.

The minister’s committee of inquiry was reported to have found Yusuf guilty of alleged offences that ranged from nepotism to misappropriation of public funds.

Fearing things might degenerate further, the crack team of police officers were quickly drafted to take over the premises of the NHIS headquarters and dispersed the protesting workers.

But the statement issued afterwards by the Unity Group/ Concerned NHIS Staff and signed by the duo of Dr. Uchenna Ewelike and Mohammad Shehu Gajo, commended Buhari “on the reinstatement of Yusuf as the substantive Executive Secretary of NHIS, after confirming his innocence in all the unsubstantiated allegations leveled against him.

The group which claimed to be made up of staff of NHIS and active members of local branches of both Medical and Health Workers Union of Nigeria and Association of Senior Civil Servants of Nigeria, however expressed concern about the recent happenings in NHIS, following the reinstatement of Yusuf.

Part of the statement read: “It is saddening that in the past 13 years following the official launch of NHIS formal sector programme we are still battling with single digit coverage. Today, healthcare providers are not being paid promptly by the HMOs, enrollees are dissatisfied due to poor quality of services. We are also having low coverage of our population in the country when compared with countries at par with Nigeria. In this regards, Yusuf was appointed by the president to sanitise the system. This he has commenced in earnest and we must support him in this laudable objective.

As it is anticipated, only people who are beneficiaries of the decayed and inefficient system are protesting because they are resistant to change.

“We all know that Prof.

Yusuf has already brought to bear his expertise and wealth of experience acquired over the years, home and abroad to address the lingering problems of the scheme. We must all therefore give him the necessary support he may require to achieve this mandate for the benefit of all.

“The task of putting NHIS in the front burner of the Nigerian health system is enormous and the realisation of its mandate is critical in the attainment of Goal 3 of the Sustainable Development

Police Repel Suicide Attack on Borno Michael Olugbode in Maiduguri Police have repelled a suicide attack on its location in troubled Borno State, the Police Commissioner in the state, Damien Chukwu ,said yesterday in Maiduguri.

Addressing a press conference, Chukwu said two female suicide bombers who targeted the police facilities in Dikwa were killed by eagle eye police officers on Sunday night.

He said the suicide bombers were sighted by personnel on duty, approaching the outpost from about 100 meters.

He explained that they were asked to halt their movement but after they did not heed the warning, they were gunned down.

He said: “Upon failure to ignore the warning, the personnel on duty have no option than to open fire on them. In the process, the Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) strapped on their bodies, went off and kill them on the spot.”

The commissioner also decried the rising spate of rape cases across local government areas in the state and called on stakeholders to sensitise the public on the ugly incidents.

He lamented that several rape cases were being recorded on daily

basis, saying there was urgent need for religious, community and traditional leaders to map out effective modalities towards addressing the situation.

He added that some of the cases involved teenage girls being sexually abused by 60-year plus old men.

He said: “The growing rate of sexually assault related cases in Borno State were too alarming. Though I cannot ascertain what is obtainable in other state, but I can categorically declare that the problem is too rampant that require urgent intervention from all and sundry.

“Presently, we are prosecuting several suspects in connection with the crime.

We will make sure they face the full wrath of justice to serve as deterrent to others.”

On other crimes committed, the police boss disclosed that two persons were apprehended for car theft and armed robbery.

One of the suspects, Babagana Modu, he said, had earlier stolen a Honda car in Kano and brought it to Maiduguri, before being nabbed by detectives.

He said the other suspect also received a Honda car allegedly stolen from Abuja.

Goals (SDGs). We must therefore as major stakeholders focus on the gains of providing Nigerians with easy access to healthcare needs.”

To this end, the pro-Yusuf group went on to make a number of demands including a call on “well-meaning Nigerians to support this focused and result oriented leadership in NHIS under Yusuf”; and urged “NHIS Staff to continue to discharge their normal duties without fear of intimidation and harassment by a faction of staff union”.

The group also called on all security agencies to act within the law and deal with anybody or group of persons with intentions of breaking the law and disrupting the peace

within the work environment.

As public servants, the group stressed. “We are guided by the ethics of the profession and should not allow ourselves to be willing tools in the hands of corrupt stakeholders who are not comfortable with the reforms going on in the scheme which will match global best practices.

They also called on the National Unions of MHWN and ASCSN, who are opposed to Yusuf’s recall, to “call the different factions of their local chapters in NHIS to order and advise them to re-channel their energy in helping the enrollees who are either poorly treated or denied access on regular basis.”

But speaking with journalists on the matter, the leader of the

joint leadership of the NHIS workers, Omomeji Abdulrazak, made it clear that the executive secretary has a case to answer at the EFCC and ICPC. According to Abdulrazak, until Yusuf clears his name from the myriads of indictment before he can even be considered worthy for reinstatement or not.

He warned that while they support President Buhari, the recall of Yusuf could negatively affect the image of the administration and its anti-corruption war.

The union leader also accused Yusuf of victimisation of workers who are opposed to his return as well as alleging that his comeback is to cover his tracks.

He said: “We are collaborating

the fact that Yusuf has a case to answer at the EFCC and ICPC. We are tired of what is happening, its like the president does not know what is happening. We support the president but on this case something is missing.

“There are some workers who went as whistle blower at the EFCC against Prof. Yusuf but they are being victimised. They should obey the civil service rule that if he is under investigation he should step aside. You can see that he is not working against the interest of the president. What we are telling the president is that we remain loyal to Nigeria and civil service. You see what is happening, this man has come back to cover all loopholes.”

DIPLOMATIC VISIT

L-R: British Deputy High Commissioner in Nigeria, Laure Beaufils; Executive Director, IT and Operations, Access Bank Plc, Ade Bajomo; British High Commissioner to Nigeria, Paul Arkwright; GMD/CEO, Access Bank Plc, Herbert Wigwe; and Executive Director, Business Banking, Access Bank Plc, Titi Osuntoki, during the visit of British High Commissioner to Access Bank head office in Lagos.... weekend.

Patience Jonathan Asks Court to Strike out EFCC’s Suit to Forfeit Her N9.9bn Davidson Iriekpen Wife of former President Goodluck Jonathan, Patience, has asked the Federal High Court in Lagos to strike out an ex-parte application filed by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) seeking temporary forfeiture of her $8,435,788.84 and N7.35billion.

She is praying the court for an order striking out the motion filed last December 13 on the ground that the court lacks jurisdiction to hear it.

Mrs. Jonathan said the motion was “a gross abuse of court process” because the issues were already pending before Justice Binta Nyako of the Federal High Court in Abuja.

“The ex-parte originating summons filed by the EFCC amounts to forum shopping, thus an abuse of court process,” she said.

Through her lawyer Mr. Ifedayo Adedipe (SAN) and

Chief Mike Ozekhome (SAN), Mrs Jonathan said the same application had earlier been filed by the EFCC before Justice Mojisola Olatoregun of the court’s Lagos division, upon which it had obtained an exparte order.

She said the same application was before Justice Nyako “over same parties to be affected by this same application.”

The former first lady said EFCC allegedly failed to disclose the different suits and orders made prior to filing the application before Justice Olatoregun in Lagos.

“The respondent is making great mockery of this judicial system and in extension this honourable court,” Mrs. Jonathan said.

In a supporting affidavit, a lawyer in Ozekhome’s chambers, Chimaobi Onuigbo, said EFCC knowing that its application had been challenged in Abuja, filed the one in Lagos.

“The respondent upon knowing that their application had been challenged has come

to this court to seek same relief over same accounts and parties that it has filed same application against in all the suits already mentioned.

“They have never been invited, investigated, charged or convicted by any court after same accounts have remained frozen for over one year and two months.

“I know that the applicant will never disclose these gross abuse of the judicial process of this court to this honourable court as this same matter is pending before four different courts of concurrent jurisdiction,” the deponent said.

The respondents in EFCC’s motion are Mrs Jonathan, Globus Integrated Services, Finchley Top Homes Ltd, AM PM Global Network Ltd, Pagmat Oil and Gas Nig. Ltd, Magel Resort Ltd and Esther Oba. EFCC lawyer, Rotimi Oyedepo, had at the last hearing, informed Justice Olatoregun that he had filed an affidavit showing that all

monies seeking to be forfeited were not subject of litigation in any court.

He said the coast was clear to hear the forfeiture application, adding: “The application we filed in Lagos is for forfeiture and it is not pending before any court other in Nigeria.”

EFCC said the funds, which it believes were diverted from Bayelsa State, were found in 15 bank accounts linked to Mrs. Jonathan.

According to the commission, the funds were allegedly moved from Bayelsa State’s coffers when Mrs. Jonathan served as permanent secretary.

The commission alleged that she gained access to the funds by fraudulently assuming the identity of one Esther Oba as the signatory to the accounts.

Hearing was stalled in the case yesterday due to Justice Olatoregun’s absence.

The case is fixed for tomorrow for hearing.

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NEWSEXTRA

FRSC: How Ex-minister, Shagaya Died Obasanjo, Dogara, Lalong, others mourn Onyebuchi Ezigbo in Abuja, Seriki Adinoyi in Jos and Femi Ogbonnikan inAbeokuta Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) yesterday revealed how the former Minister of Internal Affairs, Senator John Shagaya, died in a road accident.

Shagaya, retired BrigadierGeneral, died last Sunday in an auto crash along Langtang-Pankshin Road in Plateau State.

In a statement, FRSC spokesperson, Bisi Kazeem, confirmed that the All Progressives Congress (APC) chieftain

was on his way to Jos when his vehicle crashed into a tree at 2:25p.m.

Kazeem said FRSC Corps Marshal, Boboye Oyeyemi, had given his condolences to the family “while appealing to other motorists to always avoid whatever could cause mishap on the highways.”

He said: “An FRSC team from Langtang Unit Command was at the scene of the crash almost immediately after the crash.

“He was travelling in a Toyota Land Cruiser SUV with his driver and an orderly from the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps

2019: Ex-CBN Deputy Gov, Moghalu to Run for President A former Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Kingsley Moghalu, yesterday announced that he was consulting widely to run for the presidency in 2019.

Moghalu told journalists in Lagos that time had come for technocrats, intellectuals and experienced people to take power from Nigeria’s career politicians.

He said he would not be deterred from joining the race, in spite of speculations that 2023 was the year slated for Igbos to have a shot at the presidency.

Moghalu, according to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), argued that politics in Nigeria should be detribalised for Africa’s most populous nation to grow and take its rightful place in the comity of nations.

“It is the turn of any competent Nigerian to aspire for the post of presidency because career politicians have failed Nigeria.’’

He said that zoning, which had been used by the major political

parties, might have been relevant in the past but that it was no longer necessary because competence should be placed above tribe in present day Nigeria.

“Zoning was an internal arrangement by political parties that was not constitutional. It should no longer matter where the president comes from.

“The future of Nigeria rests in technocratic interventions.

We need thinking people that will take Nigeria from the politics of stomach infrastructure to politics of mental infrastructure.’’

The former CBN chief said the first part to progress for Nigeria was for the people to begin to think differently and beyond tribe in choosing those who would lead them.

Speaking on a second term for President Muhammadu Buhari, Moghalu said the president had constitutional rights to seek re-election.

(NSCDC).

“Preliminary report indicated that the driver lost control and hit a tree making the General to sustain a head injury that eventually led to his death.

“The two injured aides of the late General are currently in Pankshin General Hospital while the corpse of Shagaya has been deposited at the Air Force Hospital Mortuary in Jos.” Shagaya served as minister of internal affairs under military President Ibrahim Babangida, and represented Plateau South in the senate from 2007-2011.

He was recently appointed by President Muhammadu Buhari as Chairman of the Board of the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPSS) in Kuru near Jos. Meanwhile, more eulogies have continued to be poured on the late former minister as former, President Olusegun Obasanjo, Speaker of the HouseofRepresentatives Hon.Yakubu Dogara, Plateau State Governor, Simon Bako Lalong, and his predecessor, Senator Jonah David Jang, have described his passage as tragic.

Obasanjo described as shocking, the death of Shagaya.

In a condolence letter written to

Governor Lalong, a copy of which was made available to journalists in Abeokuta, Ogun State capital, through his media aide, Kehinde Akinyemi, Obasanjo noted that the late military administrator served his country meritoriously.

According to him, “I was shocked to receive the sad news of the tragic death of Shagaya.”

The former president eulogised the late politician for having “served his country meritoriously as a soldier, a military administrator and a lawmaker before he died after a tragic road accident.

“He will be surely missed by his family members, his community, his state, friends and former colleagues in the military circle.

“May his soul rest in perfect peace and may God console his family, friends and peers,” Obasanjo stated in the letter.

On his part, Dogara in a statement issued by his Special Adviser Media & Public Affairs, Turaki Hassan, described Shagaya as a fine gentleman, reputable elder statesman, distinguished lawmaker and accomplished military officer.

The Speaker who described the late Shagaya’s death as a big loss to Nigeria, said his generation fought

to keep Nigeria together.

“We will continue to remember his sacrifices as a military officer who fought in the civil war to keep Nigeria one.”

“We console with his the Shagaya family, people and government of Plateau State over this irreparable loss.”

Also Lalong in as statement signed by his Director of Press, Emmanuel Samuel Nanle, said he received with a grief stricken heart, “the news of the demise of Shagaya, which sad event occurred as a result of a fatal motor accident, on his way back from his home town in Langtang North Local Government.

The governor described the death as a painful reality that the state will live to contend with; essentially that the vacuum it has created in the top advisory echelon will rob the state and country of the wealth of his experience garnered over the years of his meritorious professional military, public service and Business career.

Similarly, Jang, in a letter of condolence to Shagaya’s family, which he personally signed, expressed deep sense of grief over the untimely death of Shagaya, whom he described as an elder

statesman, leader, and father to many across the country.

He lamented that, “His demise at a time the country needs his extensive experience and counsel, is especially painful considering his recent efforts toward addressing the seeming incessant killings going on within the Middle-Belt by suspected Fulani herdsmen.

“On behalf of my family, wellwishers, and the people of Plateau North senatorial zone, I am with you throughout this difficult moment of bereavement. May God comfort you, the Taroh nation, the government and people of Plateau State, and the Federal Republic of Nigeria,” the letter added.

The All Progressives Congress (APC) expressed sadness over the death of Shagaya, In a statement issued yesterday by the APC’s National Publicly Secretary , Malam .Bolaji Abdullahi, described the Shagaya as a staunch party man and former Minister of InternalAffairs between 1985 and 1990.

The party condoled with the family of the deceased, the government and people of Plateau State over the sad loss of the statesman who passed on at the weekend following a fatal motor accident.

We Can No Longer Bear Effect of Bonga Oil Spill, Communities Cry out Sylvester Idowu in Warri Communities impacted by the December 2011 Bonga crude oil spill under the auspices of Shoreline Communities of Nigeria have raised the alarm over the effect of the spill on their lives.

They said the harmful chemicals Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company (SNEPCo) used to dispel the spills have further destroyed ecological resources and fishing activities in the affected communities.

According to them, the effect of the spill and chemicals are currently ravaging 730 communities especially children, women and men numbering 8,000,000 living at the coastline in 21 local government areas of Bayelsa, Rivers, Delta, Ondo, Ogun and Lagos States.

The communities therefore appealed to the federal government, individuals and corporate bodies to assist them with relief materials.

InastatementsignedbyMr.Mathias Palimote representing Lagos State, Mr Austin Ofoeyemo, Delta State, Mr Jacob Palimote, Bayelsa State, Mr. Harry Fombo, Rivers Rivers, Mr Godwin Ojajune, Ondo State and Papa Bamigboye, Ogun State and made available to journalists yesterday in Warri, Delta State, they alleged that the harmful chemicals sprayed

by Shell was seriously affecting their fishing activities. According to them the appeal is to cushion the effect of the December 2011 and

July 2017 SNEPCo Bonga crude oil spill disaster on the people.

“The effects in our fishing areas which have not been restored since the spills incidences are now the major causes of sicknesses, deaths and hunger. “The effect is currently ravaging 730 of our communities especially children, women and men numbering 8,000,000 people living at the sea coast of 21 local government areas of Bayelsa, Rivers, Delta, Ondo, Ogun and Lagos States.

“So we are appealing that the federal government, National Assembly, European Union, United Nations and all other international communities. “Central Bank of Nigeria )CBN), Federal Ministries of Health, Environment, Transport, Petroleum Resources, Agriculture and Water Resources, Ecological Fund Office, National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), corporate organisations and other relevant authorities should come to our aid.

“They should please kindly and urgently intervene by assisting our communities and people with relief materials, fishing nets, accessories and boats as well as boreholes water and health centres in each of the affected 21 local government areas. “So as to cushion the effects of the pollutants, pending the restoration of the contaminated natural resources, fishing grounds, dead aquatics and when Shell will pay compensation to our communities,” they appealed.

LISTING IBTC FUNDS

L-R: MD/CEO, FMDQ Plc, Mr. Bola Onadele Koko; Chief Executive, Stanbic IBTC Asset Management Limited (SIAML), Mrs. Bunmi DayoOlagunju; and Executive Director and Head, Debt Capital Market, Stanbic IBTC Capital Limited, Mr. Kobby Bentsi-Enchill, during the listing of Stanbic IBTC Money Market Fund, Stanbic IBTC Bond Fund and Stanbic IBTC Dollar Fund on the FMDQ OTC Securities Exchange in Lagos .....yesterday Abiodun Ajala

Herdsmen Destroy UNILORIN Farm, Poison Dam The Vice-Chancellor of the University of Ilorin, Prof. Sulyman Abdulkareem, has decried the destruction of the university’s multi-million naira research and training farms by herdsmen, who also poisoned the dam with chemicals.

According to the university weekly bulletin issued yesterday, the management of the institution last Thursday held a security meeting with the leaders of the 11 Fulani settlements on the university land.

The publication quoted the vice-chancellor as saying that economic trees’ were destroyed by cattle grazing on the vast land of the institution.

The meeting was attended by representatives of law enforcement agencies comprising of the Nigerian Police Force, the Department of

State Security Services (DSS) and the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC).

At the meeting held at the institution’s Auditorium Basement, Prof. Abdulkareem disclosed that the university management would no longer tolerate illegal grazing of cows on its land.

He, therefore, told the illegal settlers, who have started building permanent structures to vacate the University land in the interest of peace.

According to him, this was coming almost a year after the university authorities first issued a quit notice to the illegal settlers.

Abdulkareem, the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reported, recalled that the university management had on April 26, 2017 handed down a seven-day ultimatum to

the Fulani herdsmen encroaching on the university land to quit the campus, but the quit notice was never complied with.

The vice-chancellor also noted that on May 11, 2017, 28 persons, comprising Fulani herdsmen, Yoruba and Hausa farmers, were dragged to an Ilorin Chief Magistrate’s Court for allegedly trespassing into the university land, destroying the school’s plantation and perpetrating other unauthorised activities on the university campus.

He explained that the accused persons were alleged to have resorted to poisoning the institution’s dam with chemicals, while also engaging in illegal felling of economic trees from which they made charcoal.

However, at last Thursday’s

meeting, the vice-chancellor clearly told the Fulani settlers that “enough is enough”.

The VC warned that the university could no longer condone the destructive activities of their grazing cattle on the university land, as this is becoming too costly for the institution to bear.

According to the institution’s publication, herdsmen from 11 communities took turns to speak at the meeting.

The Chairman of the Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association, Usman Adamu, told the university management that the herdsmen destroying the university farm land were not living in the community.

He said there were other ethnic groups embarking on illegal activities like logging, and were not Fulani.

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Protest Rocks Oyo APC State Secretariat over Impending LG Polls Ademola Babalola in Ibadan With exactly three months to May 12 local government election in Oyo State, some members of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) yesterday staged a protest at the party secretariat at Oke Ado, Ibadan to register their displeasure over alleged imposition of councillorship and chairmanship candidates by the state Governor, Abiola Ajimobi, in connivance with some party leaders.

They were led by their spokesman, Mr. Kamardeen Kayode Obisesan from Egbeda Local Government who said: “We heard that the governor for complicity and orchestrated move had perfected plans to impose his cronies and his group which have been the only group ravishly enjoying the real dividend of democracy in Oyo State since the inception of this administration from May 2011 to date.

“Moreover, information at our disposal confirmed that the names of would-be candidates for the chairmanship and councillorship in the 33 local government councils, local council development areas have been secretly compiled and approved without any conduct of primaries just waiting for the submission to OYSIEC. This action is devoid of internal democracy and unacceptable.

“Therefore, the APC concerned group in the 11 local government councils in Ibadanland resolutely

plead that the state executive should forthwith release the timetable for the forthcoming local government election and equally that the party primaries be conducted in accordance with article 20 of the party’s constitution.”

The aggrieved APC members who claimed that they were aspirants said they had registered their intentions to contest the council poll with the party, stressing that “they wouldneverallowwhattheydescribed as “action that is capable of destabilising the party” but would fight the injustice to a logical conclusion.

They argued that out of 68 caretaker chairmen and local council development areas for the state, one slot was given each to a former governor and a traditional ruler. The remaining 66 positions were allegedly allotted to loyalists of Ajimobi.

They, therefore, called on the national secretariat of the party to quickly rise up to the occasion and salvage the party from the precipice.

Though the party Secretary, Mojeed Olaoya, said the APC Chairman, Chief Akin Oke, would react appropriately to the protest, an aide of the governor, Otunba Moronkola Thomas, described the protesters as dissidents.

Thomas who is the Senior Special Executive Assistant to the governor, said: “It was a sponsored protest by some dissidents within the party.

They are the dissidents foreseeing their imminent defeat in the forthcoming primary or consensus

arrangements being put in place to forestall crisis. The governor had sued for the possibility of working out a consensus arrangement with the party elders across the state in line with the article the provision contained in the APC constitution as amended in 2014.”

But a communique signed

by Chief Abolade Akinyemi, Alhaji Gani Alade, Mr Osuolale M. Ishola-Asanke, quoted the aggrieved members as proposing the move to impose candidates.

In a letter of protest addressed to the party chairman in the state, Chief Akin Oke and the national chairman of the party, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, national leader of the party, Senator Bola Ahmed Tinubu and three APC senators, they stated: “We are quick to stress that we have absolute and implicit confidence in the performance and ability of the State executive council of the APC in steering the ship of our great party in Oyo State.

Hence, our full support for the state executive in executing the laudable programmes of our great party is guaranteed and not negotiable.

“The group observed that the governor in conjunction with some few party members had concluded the secret plan of imposing candidates for the forthcoming local government elections, an act which is against article seven of the party’s constitution; that actively condemn and resist all forms of oppression and exploitation of Nigerians.”

Group Threatens to Recall Senator Sani for Criticising Buhari, El-Rufai John Shiklam in Kaduna A group tagged: ‘Concerned Indigenes of Kaduna Central senatorial district,’ has threatened to initiate the recall of Senator Shehu Sani for criticising President Muhammadu Buhari and Governor Nasir el-Rufai.

Sani who represents the Kaduna central senatorial district in the National Assembly, belongs to the state faction of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).

Addressing a press conference yesterday in Kaduna, the group said Sani’s virulent attacks on Buhari and el-Rufai was unbecoming.

Spokesman of the group, Aliyu Saidu, said instead of Sani to invest his legislative resources towards uplifting the conditions of his constituents, he has become “the foster boy of President Buhari’s enemies, always amplifying the challenges we are facing while ignoring the many progress the administration is making in order to portray the government as incompetent and clueless.”.

“We hereby inform the world that we shall be exercising our available constitutional options by initiating a recall process against Sani,” the group declared.

Saidu also declared that the APC reconciliation committee headed by Senator Bola Tinubu was a waste of time as elections are approaching.

“We cannot wait for any committee of reconciliation, time is moving, by the report of the committee submits is ready, elections would have been around the corner,” he said.

The group condemned Sani’s alleged diatribe and antagonism

towards el-Rufai, saying the governor had maintained “stoic

silence, never allowing himself to be distracted.”

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Sanusi Asks Miyetti Allah to Expose Killer Herdsmen The Emir of Kano, Muhammd Sanusi II, has asked the Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria (MACBAN) to expose criminal herdsmen among them.

Speaking at a national executive council meeting of MACBAN at Minna, Niger State, Sanusi according to The Cable, said not all herdsman are criminals.

The emir said Nigerians should avoid “ethnic profiling” whenever a crime is committed.

“Nigerians should avoid ethnic profiling whenever a crime was committed, criminals have no tribal marks,” Sanusi said.

“MACBAN should liaise with the governors of Niger, Kogi, Nasarawa and Kano States who have indicated interest to allocate grazing reserves, with a view to developing them.”

On his part, Gidado Siddiki, Zonal Chairman of MACBAN, said the solution to the conflict between herders and famers is to engage all the stakeholders.

He commended the approaches of the governors of Anambra and Enugu States Willie Obiano and Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, respectively, towards ending the farmersherdsmen crisis.

“The conflict between

herdsmen and farmers has a long history; the solution has been to engage all stakeholders to find an amicable solution to the conflict,” he said.

“We commend Obiano and Ugwuanyi who have been able to effectively stem the recurring clashes b e t w e e n f a r m e r s a n d h e rd e r s at a time their other peers and the federal g o v e r n m e n t a re a t a loss on how to handle t h e c lashes.”

The meeting was also attended by Muhammadu Barkindo Musdafa, Lamido of Adamawa; Ango Abdullahi and Aliyu Tilde among others.

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Former Liberian President, Sirleaf Wins Mo Ibrahim Leadership Award Former Liberian President, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, has been announced as the winner of the Mo Ibrahim Prize for Achievement in African Leadership, The Cable has reported She is the first woman to win the award.

Sirleaf, who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2011, became president in 2006 and was re-elected for a second term in 2011.

“Sirleaf took the helm of Liberia when it was completely destroyed by civil war and led a process of reconciliation that focused on building a nation and its democratic institutions,” Salim Ahmed Salim, chair of the Mo Ibrahim Foundation’s prize committee, said.

The foundation said Liberia was the only country out of 54 to improve in every category and sub-category of the foundation’s index of African governance since 2006.

Categories include safety

and rule of law, participation and human rights, sustainable economic opportunity, and human development.

Sudanese-British businessman, Ibrahim, said he was delighted Johnson-Sirleaf had become the foundation’s first female laureate.

“In very difficult circumstances, she helped guide her nation towards a peaceful and democratic future, paving the way for her successor to follow,” he said.

Johnson-Sirleaf left office in 2017 and was replaced by George Weah, a former footballer.

Winners of the Mo Ibrahim prize receive $5 million over 10 years and $200,000 annually for the rest of their lives.

Nelson Mandela became an honorary recipient of the award in 2007.

In some years, the award, which was launched in 2006, has not been awarded as no candidate was considered good enough.

PDP Condoles with Buhari over Loss of Relatives Onyebuchi Ezigbo in Abuja The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has condoled with President Muhammadu Buhari and his family on the loss of two close relatives, Hajiya Halima Dauda and Hajiya Aisha Alhaji Mamman, which occurred in quick succession.

In a statement yesterday, the party said it had been saddened by the loss.

“The PDP family has indeed been saddened by this very sad

loss for which our prayers and thoughts have since been with the first family. The loss of a loved one at any point is always a painful experience and the PDP shares in this pain.

“We join millions of other Nigerians in lifting President Buhari and his family in supplications, fervently praying the Almighty God in His mercies console them and give them the fortitude to bear the loss,” it said.

Video: Many Captives Still with Boko Haram, Says Red Cross The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) which facilitated the release of the three abducted University of Maiduguri lecturers and ten policewomen, has said that the radical group, Boko Haram, is still holding many people captive against their will.

The women were abducted along Damboa Road when their convoy was carrying the body of a dead police personnel home for burial, while the university lecturers were abducted while conducting oil prospective in the Lake Chad area.

The kidnap took place in Borno State.

ICRC Deputy Regional Director for Africa, Patrick Youssef, disclosed this in a series of tweet and video posted on his verified and official twitter handle.

“We are so pleased that these 13 people are free and will be able to see their families again.

“There are many people missing or being held against their will due to the conflict.

We hope that these people, too, will get to return to their families soon.”

The agency’s head of Nigeria delegation, Eloi Fillion, also stated that ICRC was not directly involved in the negotiations leading to their release.

“ICRC was not involved in negotiations leading to their release. Our neutrality does not allow our taking part in political negotiations. We act as neutral intermediary when requested to do so by the parties to the armed conflict.”

Adeosun to Address UN, OECD’s Conference on Tax, Revenue Leakages The Minister of Finance, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun, has been invited by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) to speak at the Platform for Collaboration on Tax Conference at the United Nations (UN) Headquarters in New York, United States of America.

The Platform for Collaboration on Tax (PCT) Conference, which will hold between February 14 and

16, 2018, is a collaborative initiative of the UN, OECD, International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank Group.

The Director of Centre for Tax Policy and Administration, OECD, Pascal Saint-Amans, who signed the invitation letter, said the minister would also be in a panel to discuss ‘Revenue Leakages: Illicit Financial Flows.’

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T H I S D AY ˾ TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 2018

TUESDAYSPORTS

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

Yusuf Replaces Siasia as U-23 Coach as NFF Appoints Coaches for National Teams Olawale Ajimotokan in Abuja Home-based Eagles Head Coach to the last African Nations Championship (CHAN) in Morocco, Salisu Yusuf, has been appointed to replace Samson Siasia as the new coach of Nigeria’s Under-23 team to the next Olympics Games in Tokyo, Japan.

With Nigeria’s record of gold (1996), silver (2008) and bronze (2016) at the Games, Yusuf who up the ante for Nigeria with the silver medal finish at the 2018 CHAN in Casablanca a fortnight ago, is saddled with the task of leading the Dream Team to qualify for the men’s football event of the 2020 Games in Tokyo.

Chairman of the Technical and Development Committee of the Nigeria Football Federation, Alhaji Yusuf Ahmed ‘Fresh,’ said yesterday that the appointments of coaching crews of all the national teams, except those of the Super Eagles, Under-20 women (Falconets) and Under-17 women (Flamingos) whose contracts are running

were with immediate effect.

Yusuf ‘Fresh,’ who is also vice chairman of the NFF Strategy Committee, said: “All the coaches will be unveiled at a later date, alongside the coaching crews of the U20 and U17 girls that were appointed earlier as a result of their World Cup qualifying campaigns.”

Officials listed for the positions include; (1) HOME-BASED EAGLES /OLYMPIC MEN TEAM: Salisu Yusuf (Head Coach); Imama Amapakabo; Kennedy Boboye; Fidelis Ilechukwu; Alloy Agu (Goalkeepers’ Trainer) (2) U-20 MEN (FLYING EAGLES): Paul Aigbogun (Head Coach); Abdullahi Maikaba; Abubakar Bala; Hassan Abdallah (Scouting); Suleiman Shuaibu (Goalkeepers’ Trainer) (3) U-17 BOYS TEAM (GOLDEN EAGLETS): Manu Garba (Head Coach); Nduka Ugbade; Jolomi Atune Ali; Bunmi Haruna (Scouting); Abideen Baruwa Olatunji (Goalkeepers’ Trainer) (4) U-15 BOYS TEAM

Ambode Inaugurates Boards of Lagos Sports Trust Fund, Commission Lagos State Governor, Mr Akinwunmi Ambode yesterday identified the importance of collaboration of key stakeholders to achieve the desired goal for sports administration and development in the country, saying funding of sports should not be the exclusive preserve of government.

Speaking at Lagos House in Alausa, Ikeja when he inaugurated the new boards of the Lagos State Sports Commission and the Lagos State Sports Trust Fund, Governor Ambode emphasised the need for the private sector to partner with the government to invest in sports development especially in training talents that abound in the country, as well as putting necessary infrastructures in place.

He said: “I want to reiterate our commitment to the sports sector and the need for collaboration between the government and all sports stakeholders in the State.

“In achieving our vision in sports, it is our belief that the funding of sports should not be the responsibility of government alone. This informed the establishment of the Sports Trust Fund whose mandate is primarily to interface with the private and public sectors to raise funds for sports development.

“Funds raised through the Sports Trust Fund would be utilized for various aspects of sports development on the recommendation and advice of the Sports Commission.”

On the other hand, the State Sports Commission is charged with the responsibility of upgrading and maintaining various sports facilities, developing strategic plans for

sports development in the State, identifying and creating new locations for development of community sports facilities, overseeing the activities of all the sports associations in the State, grassroot sports development as well as capacity building for sports administrators, sports officers, coaches and athletes.

Speaking further, the Governor said the inauguration of the new boards of both agencies was part of the grand plan of positioning Lagos as one of the top sports destinations in Africa, saying that the vision of his administration remained to make the state as the hub for sports, tourism and entertainment and leveraging on the interconnectivity within the three sectors.

While the Trust Fund is chaired by a former Lagos State Deputy Governor, Mr Femi Pedro, the Lagos State Sports Commission is to be headed by seasoned sports administrator, Dr Kweku Adedayo Tandoh.

Other members of the Trust Fund are Olaposi Agunbiade (Executive Secretary), Dr Enitan Oshodi, Oladipo Awe, Adekoyejo Adejumo, Segun Odusanya, Akindele Ogunlana, Kweku Tandoh, Babatunde Bank-Anthony, Moyosore Ogunseinde, Professor Ademola Abass, Fola Padonu and Omolola Essien.

Members of the Sports Commission are Babatunde Bank-Anthony (Director General), Olaposi Agunbiade (Executive Secretary), Gboyega Edu, Toyin Okenla-Ojeaga, Prince Fatai Olukunga, Abdulazeez Tijani, Babatunde Fatayi-Williams, Oluseyi Akinwunmi, Bolaji AdenijiAdele and Gbenga Kuye.

(FUTURE EAGLES): Alala Danladi Nasidi (Head Coach); Haruna Usman ‘Ilerika’; Ahmed

Lawal Dankoli; Patrick Bassey (Scouting); Ernest Salolome (Goalkeepers’ Trainer)

(5) U-13 BOYS TEAM: Jolomi Atune Ali (Head Coach); Jude Agada; Abdullahi

Umar Tyabo; Adewale Laloko (Scouting); Adeoye Onigbinde (Goalkeepers’ Trainer)

President of the Nigerian Wrestling Federation, Dr Daniel Igali (right), celebrating Team Nigeria’s victory at the just concluded 5th African Wrestling Championship in Port Harcourt...on Sunday night

Nigeria Wins African Wrestling Championship in Port Harcourt Nigeria emerged the overall champions of the 5th African Wrestling Championship which ended on Sunday night at the Alfred Diete Spiff Sports Complex in Port Harcourt.

Sunday also marks the end of the five-day competition in the Garden City.

The five-day competition witnessed wrestlers from African countries contest for trophies in the Greco-Roman and Free Style models.

Nigeria came first in

four major categories of the championship which had 90 gold medals at stake.

Team Nigeria wrestlers emerged top in the cadet women wrestling, junior freestyle, senior women wrestling and senior freestyle wrestling. At the end of competition on Sunday night, South Africa won the Cadet Free Style followed by Nigeria in the second place with Algeria finishing in the third position.

In the Men Wrestling Cadet,

Egypt came first with Nigeria and Algeria picking the second and third places.

Nigeria won the Women version with Tunisia and second and third respectively.

The host country again shot to the top spot in the Junior Category Free Style with Algeria and Egypt picking the silver and bronze medals.

In the Junior Greco Roman, Egyptian wrestlers won the gold and bronze medals leaving Nigeria with the silver.

Tunisia won the Women Wrestling, Junior Category with Nigeria and Algeria settling for the silver and bronze respectively.

In the senior category, Nigeria won her dominant area of strength, the men and women Free-Style leaving South Africa and Egypt picking the second and third places.

Egypt maintained her strength in the Greco-Roman with Algeria and Morocco settling for the silver and bronze.

2018 Lagos Polo Tournament Gallops off with 34 Teams Some of the most renowned indigenous and international polo teams have converged on Lagos to compete for highly coveted trophies in the 2018 Lagos International Polo Tournament.

Sponsored by leading African financial institution, Guaranty Trust Bank Plc, the competition will see both Nigerian and foreign teams compete in four main cups, namely: the Silver Cup, Open Cup, Lagos Low Cup and Majekodunmi Cup. The first week of the polo extravaganza starting today February 13 through February 18 will see teams compete in the Silver Cup which has eight home teams and six visiting teams while Open Cup will feature four teams all of which are from Lagos.

The second week will run from February 21 to 25 with seven Lagos’ teams and seven visiting teams battling for the Low Cup while Lagos Fifth Chukker and Kaduna Keffi Ponys will round off the

tournament with a titanic clash for the prestigious Majekodunmi Cup, the most valuable polo title in polo in West Africa.

Over the years, GTBank has been at the forefront of supporting polo; widely revered as the sport of kings, and promoting the Lagos International Polo Tournament, which has hosted reputable personalities such as His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales.

Some of the players expected to light up this year’s tournament include Manuel Crespo, a seven-goaler from Argentina; South Africa’s Leroux Hendricks +5; and Juan Gustavo another +7 handicap player from Argentina.

Other professionals expected include Cieza Patricio +6, Adamu Atta, Mohammed Babangida +3, Hassan Babangida +3, Augustine Canale +6, Mario Gomez +4 and Martin Juaregi +4. For the third year running, Natalie Alan is to feature as the only

female player in this edition.

Polo enthusiasts will also be treated to a variety of offthe-pitch activities ranging from thrilling performances by music stars to an exquisite experience at the exclusive GTBank Lounge where guests will be treated to epicurean cuisine and vintage wine.

Commenting on GTBank’s sponsorship of the 2018 NPA Lagos International Polo Tournament, Managing Director of Guaranty Trust Bank Plc, Segun Agbaje, said; “We love the game of polo, the passion and the symbiosis between the players and their horses, but most importantly, we hold a strong affinity to the sport of kings because it reflects quality, competitiveness and fair play; some of the values that have made GTBank a Proudly African and Truly International Financial Institution.”

Speaking at media session to herald the 2018 edition yesterday, Tournament Director, Seyi Oyinlola, promised that

this year will get better as it has been over the years adding that it’s going to be a two-week of thrilling polo experience for the lovers of the game.

Lagos Polo Club President, Ade Laoye, said the host club has been rejuvenated with the continuous infrastructural upgrade.

He stressed that the stables were removed from their former location for safety of players and horses in line with international best standard.

Laoye added that aside its international touch, the coming of teams from Kaduna, Kano, Port Harcourt and Ibadan in this year’s tournament makes it a truly national tournament

UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE TODAY (8:45pm) Juventus Vs Tottenham Basel Vs Man City

WEDNESDAY Real Madrid Vs PSG FC Porto Vs Liverpool

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MISSILE Olujowon to Mother

“At my age, I am over 34 years, and it is ridiculous to the extreme that my mother would ask the police to look for me. I am well, alive and kicking and the police need not look for me” – Olujowon Obasanjo lambasting his mother Ms. Taiwo Martins for raising false alarm to the police reporting that he is missing.

TUESDAY WITH REUBENABATI abati1990@gmail.com

To NatGeo: A Story Idea on Nigerian Animals Dear Editor, NatGeo,

I

am a great fan of your magazine, National Geographic, and your sister platform, National Geo Wild, and your coverage of natural history, particularly the behaviour of animals in the wild. I must commend you and your organization for the high level of commitment, attentiveness to details and professionalism consistently and habitually displayed in your various reports both in print and the broadcast form. As a journalist of many years standing myself, I will like to suggest to you and your various channels, a story idea that you may probably find interesting, for professional reasons and for reasons of corporate social responsibility.

Kindly pardon my presumptuousness in this regard, but I crave your understanding. Knowing how busy your schedule is likely to be, I will try to be quick and as specific as possible.

This is about my country, Nigeria, a land of over 900, 000 sq. kms., with rich biodiversity and ecosystem, and definitely the largest market for both human and natural resources in Africa.

Since May 2015, when a new government took over power at the centre in our country, I have observed a curious and intriguing change in the behaviour of animals in Nigeria, suggestive of a certain transmutation, or perhaps transformation within the animal ecosystem, resulting in patterns of behaviour and interaction that may be of interest to your readers and viewers.

The most recent incident in this regard and the trigger for this letter is the current news in Nigeria about how a snake, described as a mysterious snake, has reportedly swallowed a sum of N36 million ($100k) belonging to the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB). JAMB is the national regulatory body in charge of admissions into tertiary institutions, very much like UCAS in the United Kingdom. This incident occurred we are told, in the process of the attempt by JAMB to audit the accounts of its zonal headquarters. In Makurdi, one Ms. Philomena Chieshe who has now been suspended, allegedly could not account for the said N36 million, being part-proceeds from the sale of forms for students seeking university admissions.

When interrogated, she reportedly said her maid had confessed to the missing money having been taken by a mystery snake.

As a media channel that reports animal behaviour, this must be of great interest to you. I don’t know whether this happens in other parts of the world, but here in Nigeria, we now seem to have a variety of snakes that are attracted by the smell of raw cash, and which feed on vaults and bags of money. A documentary on this new variety of snakes, and a proper documentation of the genus and peculiarities would be good for filming.

What exactly does the smell of national currency do to snakes? How nutritious is paper currency to snakes? The JAMB Registrar, Professor Isi-aq Oloyede who has turned JAMB, for the first time in its existence, into a revenue generating body by plugging all loopholes within the system, and without increasing any fees, is insisting that this is a case of corruption and that he will get to the root of it. The Professor probably may not understand the way of snakes and the new variety in Nigeria.

He is a good man and I like him. I wouldn’t want him to be bitten by snakes.

Your investigative intervention should assist him. Your experts and investigators can deploy the tools of science and investigative journalism to

JAMB Registrar, Prof. Ishaq Oloyede seek out these snakes and catch them in action, and document for your numerous patrons, this new scientific development. Right now in Nigeria, we are preparing for the general elections scheduled for 2019. We need information and knowledge because if the Makurdi snake gets away with the N36 million, the same snake and its family could return in 2019 to swallow ballot boxes and papers and thus compromise Nigerian democracy.

I am, however, tempted to believe that the snakes in Makurdi may have become quite audacious, in reaction to a recent declaration, under this same political administration, by a high-ranking state official, that he bought two houses in Dubai from the sale of snakes! Are snakes vengeful? Is this nemesis? Do they resent being sold for profit? Do snakes have the capacity to feel and settle scores?

Could the sale of snakes, with the profit of houses in the UAE by a senior official, have motivated some snakes in Benue state to swallow money meant for the national treasury? What does the process of swallowing, and the digesting of money by snakes entail? Many young Nigerians and I believe other persons across the world will learn a lot from this.

I therefore hope you will consider this a very urgent subject for your consideration and editorial intervention. Sir, the truth is that animals all over Nigeria are growing and becoming wild. They have no respect anymore for Nigeria’s constituted authority. We could wake up one of these days to hear that elephants have invaded the Central Bank of Nigeria, and swallowed all the bank’s vaults, leaving the entire country impoverished. The way things are, nobody will be surprised. I am sure you would not want that to happen, considering Nigeria’s strategic importance and population. If that were to happen, neither Africa nor the West would be able to handle the natural and humanitarian crisis that would ensue. And if that were to happen, I am sure you will not want to miss the story.

I made the point that Nigeria has become such a wild zoo where the animals no longer respect constituted authority, and where there seems to be a conflict of roles between animals and human beings. Let me elaborate a little. Every year, Nigeria holds what is called Armed Forces Remembrance Day on January 15. One of the highlights of the event is the release of pigeons by the President at the end of the ceremony to symbolise the release of peace upon the land. I became really worried about the Nigerian animal kingdom when in the last three years, the pigeons released by the President simply refused to fly. Government officials shouted

at the pigeons to fly. Some waved their hands and even tried sign language. Some professional sycophants flapped their arms like birds to guide the pigeons. But no way! The pigeons just jumped onto the floor and behaved as if they were having an evening-time promenade.

When you focus on birds on NatGeo Wild, the birds are shown flying. What’s going on here then? Why are some birds in Nigeria refusing to fly? The President of Nigeria is the most powerful man in the land. When he asks human beings to jump, they actually do more than jump; they make an effort to somersault. But birds, common birds, are defying Presidential orders. What kind of birds are these? A deaf and dumb specie? Or are they resisting being used as symbols of peace?

Is it possible that birds have witchcraft? - because since those birds refused to fly, Nigeria has not known peace.

I began to suspect that something was indeed terribly wrong with the animal kingdom in Nigeria when sometime in 2017 rats invaded the President of Nigeria’s office! These criminal rats chased the President out of his office for more than a month.

They tore the furniture in his office apart, littered the place with their droppings and disrupted Presidential work. I am not making this up. The Nigerian Presidency issued an official statement to this effect. Your publication and the Nat Geo Wild Channel missed the story, quite unfortunately.

But you have a second chance. You can do a good story, investigating the furniture-eating rats in Nigeria’s Presidential Villa. The President has since returned to his office, but what if the fangled-teeth rats are still around the place? What else will they eat? Having eaten up the President’s furniture without consequences, or implications, they may most certainly, just decide to munch the country’s security vote and foreign reserves! This then, is a matter of national security. If your cameras can just unmask these disrespectful rats, that will be the story of the decade.

I believe you will also get good stories and footages from covering the story of cows in Nigeria. I must tell you, cows have become far more important in my country today than human beings. Whereas many Nigerians have become homeless and defenceless, cows have bodyguards wielding AK-47 guns, bodyguards who insist that the life of cattle is more important than that of human beings. In your experience, you may have heard about cattle ranches and modern ways of processing cattle, but in Nigeria’s animal kingdom, there has been much talk about creating colonies for cattle in Nigeria: as in plans to take land from human beings and give to cattle! Many Governors in the country have resisted this, even the President has said that he has no constitutional powers to seize anybody’s land, but one young Governor, the one in Kogi state, has donated 15, 000 hectares of his people’s land, as cattle colony. This must make a good story for your National Geo Wild Channel. Why would any state Governor prefer cattle to human beings? What kind of behaviour is that? What is it really that attracts human beings to animals?

My knowledge of the Bible tells me that the battle between herdsmen and farmers is an old, original battle. Of the two sons of our father Adam, and our mother, Eve, one was a farmer – Cain, the other was a herdsman – Abel. Cain killed Abel. Since then, the world has not known peace. Their descendants have been at each other’s throats for as long as antiquity. I sincerely hope that it is not this original

battle of vengeance that is now being re-enacted in Nigeria today over the battle of the cows and the farmlands. Herdsmen are killing farmers and vice versa and many of us are scared. Some people are even now saying they will create a Third Force to put an end to the drift. But nobody is sure of what tomorrow will bring. You have expert photographers and cameramen; they should be able to tease out the finest strands of this story.

Should you decide to take on this story, and do a documentary on how Nigeria has been turned into a wild zoo, within three years, I must advise that your reporters and experts should also be prepared for the shock of hearing some prominent Nigerians making references to animals all the time.

One of our more outspoken Senators who should be a good interview subject about ten months ago actually told Nigerians that the seat of power, that is the Presidency of Nigeria, had been taken over by hyenas, wolves, and jackals in the absence of the lion-king. He also drew attention to a mortal combat between crocodiles and fishes. This remains a great puzzle.

The wife of the President would later reply that the hyenas and jackals would soon be expelled from the Kingdom. I am not sure this has happened, and I do not intend to go near the place to find out the truth. I can tell you why in a private conversation.

But the other day, a prominent government official, a Professor of Law, who should know what he is talking about, but who has been sounding like one of the hyenas the Senator complained about, gave a lecture in which he himself complained about how Nigeria has become an animal kingdom! This same Professor not too long ago, also announced that the ruling party of which he is a member, is led by “rogue-elephants.”

I have a confession to make. I worked in government until recently but I am frightened by the manner in which wild animals are now all over the place. When public officials talk, they see animals.

When events occur, they blame animals. When things get missing, animals creep into the future. Fela, the musician once warned us about animals but I didn’t take him serious. As a responsible media house, interested in the life and times of animals in the wild, please hurry up and investigate how Nigeria has become a country of snakes, fishes, hyenas, crocodiles, cows, lions, wolves and jackals in just three years! Your audience will be supremely enriched by the effort.

I also assure you that there are many knowledgeable persons on ground who can assist you to do a good story or a series of excellent reports. Incidentally, we have a former President who once wrote a book titled: This Animal called Man, and who is a famous chicken farmer to boot. We have another former President who has a Ph.D in Zoology and was once described as a fisherman. We also have a sitting President who before becoming President, a second time, owned 150 cattle (I don’t know how many he has now) and who is a life patron of the herdsmen association of Nigeria. We even have a Nobel Prize winner, who enjoys hunting in the forest of a thousand animals. And you have me here, waiting, expectantly, who can serve as your consultant (my charges are modest) - as you write the story of how Nigeria, suddenly, before our very eyes, became a country of wild animals.

Thank you very much for your time and attention.

Please don’t delay until rogue elephants swallow the Central Bank or wolves eat up the NNPC – our treasure trove. Best regards.

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