Wednesday 4th April 2018

Ahead of CHOGM, Buhari Heads to London on Private Visit Omololu Ogunmade in Abuja

President Muhammadu Buhari will leave Nigeria on April 9 for London, ahead of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) scheduled to take place between April 16 and

20 in the British capital.

A top presidency source told THISDAY yesterday that the president was leaving Nigeria ahead of the meeting to attend to some private matters in the United Kingdom.

The source, however, did not explain the nature of the

private matters the president wants to attend to.

At the CHOGM summit, leaders will focus on delivering a sustainable, fairer, a more secure and prosperous future for the citizens of its member states.

The summit’s theme is:

“Towards a Common Future” and is focused on building on the strengths of the 53 nations that make up the Commonwealth to ensure this unique organisation is responsive to global challenges and delivers a more prosperous, secure,

sustainable and fair future for all its citizens, particularly its young people.

The summit will aim to build links between countries to offer young people access to knowledge and skills; and give them a voice on key issues such as democracy, human

rights and the rule of law.

During the week of April 16, leaders will attend working sessions to discuss shared global challenges, attend a dinner hosted by Queen Elizabeth II at Buckingham Continued on page 11

NHIS Boss in Another Controversy, Ignores TSA, Moves to Invest N25b in FGN Bonds… Page 10 Wednesday 4 April, 2018 Vol 23. No 8385. Price: N250

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Nwabueze Backs Danjuma, Insists Nigerians Have Constitutional Right to Self-Defence Asks president to rein in killer herdsmen Christopher Isiguzo in Enugu Renowned constitutional lawyer and elder statesman, Prof. Ben Nwabueze threw his weight behind the call

by former defence minister, General T.Y. Danjuma (rtd) for Nigerians to defend themselves against the marauding Fulani herdsmen who have killed hundreds of

people nationwide, owing to what Danjuma blamed on as the collusion of the military with the killers.

According to Nwabueze, Nigerians should rise up to

defend themselves, noting that Danjuma had only re-echoed Section 33 of the Constitution, which guarantees citizens the right to self-defence.

Section 33 of the Nigerian

Constitution, which deals with the right to life states: (1) Every person has a right to life, and no one shall be deprived intentionally of his life, save in execution of the

sentence of a court in respect of a criminal offence of which he has been found guilty in Nigeria.

Continued on page 10

Uncertainty over Oyegun’s Future as APC Govs’ Meeting with Buhari Deadlocked Presidency, others root for Oshiomhole to lead party Lalong heads panel to resolve tenure extension quagmire Omololu Ogunmade and Onyebuchi Ezigbo in Abuja The attempt by President Muhammadu Buhari and governors elected on the platform of All Progressives Congress (APC) to resolve the lingering quagmire caused by the president’s rejection of the 12 months tenure extension for elected and appointed executives of the party at all levels, ended in a stalemate at the State House yesterday.

The inability of both sides to agree on the issue has effectively cast an air of

uncertainty over the fate of the National Chairman of the APC, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, even as the presidency is already leaning towards former Edo State governor, Adams Oshiomhole to emerge as the chairman of the party at its National Convention, in the event Buhari gets his way.

But this was just as the APC, at the same time, set up a 10-member technical committee headed by the Plateau State governor, Simon Lalong to review the tenure extension granted to the executives of Continued on page 11

Swiss Authorities Block Bank Accounts Linked to Malabu Deal ... Page 12

FINALLY, OANDO GETS ITS OWN OFFICE… Group Deputy Managing Director, Oando Plc, Mofe Boyo; Minister of State, Petroleum Resources, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu; and Group Managing Director of Oando, Wale Tinubu, at the opening of the company’s $150 million head office complex in Lagos… yesterday

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NHIS Boss in Another Controversy, Ignores TSA, Moves to Invest N25b in FGN Bonds Yusuf: Those complaining are corrupt Denies yield meant to stockpile funds for Buhari’s re-election bid Martins Ifijeh The Executive Secretary of the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS), Prof. Usman Yusuf is embroiled in yet another controversy following his decision to invest at least N25 billion of the scheme’s funds in government securities through Cowry Asset Management Limited.

This is even as the Minister of Finance, Kemi Adeosun and her counterpart in the health ministry, Prof. Isaac Adewole, according to documents seen

by THISDAY, have both warned against the investment, saying it is in violation of the government’s Treasury Single Account (TSA) policy.

The TSA policy requires all federal ministries, departments and agencies to domicile their funds in the TSA with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), except where the agency is granted exemption by the federal government.

But Yusuf, who was suspended by Adewole last year over corruption allegations and nepotism, but was reinstated

by President Muhammadu Buhari without recourse to his minister, has said the health minister gave his approval for the investment to be made.

According to a letter seen

by THISDAY with reference number NHIS/ES/262 and titled: “Re: Urgent Need for the NHIS to Invest Its Residual Funds,” which was addressed to the managing director of Cowry Asset Management, the NHIS boss appointed the firm as its asset manager/financial adviser to advise the scheme on investments in FGN bonds.

The letter said: “By this letter, I am formally engaging Cowry Asset Management Limited to be the scheme’s Asset Manager/Financial Adviser, and authorising it to advise the scheme on investing in Federal Government securities.”

It also quoted an approval given by the health minister, vide letter Ref Nos: HMH/ ABJ/032/X/465 dated August 18, 2017, for the NHIS to start investing its residual funds in bonds.

However, Yusuf was silent on a counter letter with Ref

Nos: HMH/ABJ/312/11/82 dated August 29, 2017, titled: “Re: Approval to Commence Investment of NHIS Residual Funds in Securities,” where the minister asked him not to proceed with the investment, citing a violation of federal government’s TSA policy.

“This is to inform you that the Honourable Minister of Finance has advised against the proposal to invest NHIS residual funds in securities. The approval of such investment, she stated, will be an indirect violation of the government’s Treasury Single Accounts (TSA) policy,” the minister’s August 29 letter stated.

The minister’s letter further added that “because of the above, the Central Bank of Nigeria has been advised to pay Treasury Bill rates on any residual balance held in the TSA with the CBN for investment trust”.

“You are therefore directed to stop all actions and processes on the investment of NHIS residual funds in securities with immediate effect and approach the CBN to facilitate the payment of interest on residual funds,” the letter added.

One inside source, who preferred to remain unnamed, hinted that the trigger for the “urgent” need to invest NHIS residual funds stemmed from the House of Representatives Committee on Health’s visit to the organisation, as well as concerns that the NHIS boss allegedly wants to use it as an avenue to deploy the yield from the investment into Buhari’s electioneering funds.

The source stated that when the House committee had visited the NHIS for its oversight functions, it recommended that the scheme invested its residual funds in securities, but the then acting executive secretary, Mallam Attahiru, had turned down the suggestion, citing the directive from the health minister in his letter of August 29.

The source further added, however, that “the committee members were not impressed and expressed their disappointment".

This much was corroborated in the letter written by Yusuf

appointing Cowry Asset Management as its asset manager/financial adviser.

“In August 2017, members of the House committee conducted an oversight visit to the scheme and discovered that it had not been investing its funds, despite the continuing depletion of the fund and poor cash backing from the federal government.

“It, therefore, recommended the urgent need to invest the funds it does not immediately require,” the source disclosed.

According to the source, based on Yusuf’s insistence on going ahead with the investment, Cowry Asset Management had in a letter dated March 5, 2018 and signed

by Nathan Nwokoro and Okwudili Egwu, written to the executive secretary, requesting the NHIS to invest the sum of N25 billion.

The letter read in part: “That all funds more than the expected 12 months obligations of N62.5 billion so invested in Long-Term FGN securities to serve as your growing reserves with periodic significant coupon payments into the scheme.

“Given your current financial standing, invest N25 billion immediately to take advantage of the current attractive yields in the market.”

Cowry Asset, in the said letter, listed the FGN Bonds to be purchased as 14.2 MAR -14—2024 for N5 billion, 12.5 JAN – 22-2026, for N5 billion, 16.2884- MAR-17-2027 for N5 billion, 10.00-JUL- 23-2-30 for N5 billion and 12.1493- JUL-18-2034 for N5 billion.

Upon receipt of the letter of March 5, the executive secretary equally approved the request on the same day. He wrote: “GM CMD, Approved,” and appended his signature accordingly.

On the same day, yet another letter was written by Cowry Asset Management with the title: “Indicative Offer to Sell FGN Bonds.” The letter contained amongst other investment instructions, the account details of Cowry Assets Management domiciled with Access Bank Plc. But a former management staff of the NHIS, who pleaded anonymity, informed THISDAY

that the NHIS executive secretary did not have such powers to invest NHIS Funds to the tune of N25 billion, noting that it required the input of the scheme’s governing council and final approval by the health minister.

“The NHIS Act requires that for any investment up to N10 billion, the board of the NHIS has to make a recommendation to the Minister of Health for approval, so even the board does not have such a mandate.

If you ask me, I think it is criminal to embark on such a venture,” he stated.

Another source noted that the approval given by the NHIS boss was carried out to act quickly before the inauguration of the board of the NHIS on March 7, 2018.

“You can see from the dates that the letter was sent in on March 5, 2018, by Cowry Asset Management and it was also approved on the same day, while the board was inaugurated on March 7, 2018.

“If the executive secretary is sincere with his dealings in the NHIS, why didn’t he wait for the inauguration of the board which was some days away?

“Instead, he hurriedly approved not even with the input of the Policy and Planning Department of NHIS. “Let us say his actions were in the interest of the NHIS, doesn’t the NHIS have a management team? How can an individual wake up and accord himself such rights and privileges?” he wondered.

According to the source, prior to the go-ahead given to asset management firm, the executive secretary had sought the support of the scheme’s head of audit Mr. John Okon, a general manager, who was earlier suspended alongside the executive secretary.

“The executive secretary approached the head of the audit and told him they needed to raise money for the elections and hence the need for the long-term investment.

“But Okon refused on the grounds that during the seven months he was on suspension, the APC government did nothing for him,” the source further alleged.

He said owing to the lack of cooperation, Okon was redeployed from the audit department and replaced with one Shehu Ademu, an assistant general manager, who the source added, was not qualified to hold the position.

“The executive secretary redeployed Okon from the audit department and he was replaced by his crony Shehu Ademu, who is an assistant general manager and not qualified to hold such a sensitive position.”

When Okon was contacted

by THISDAY, he said as a civil servant, he was not authorised to grant interviews to the press.

A senior staff of the health ministry also told THISDAY that the decision on the long-term investment of government funds without the requisite approval from the supervisory ministry showed “we are an unserious people in this country”.

“In the history of the NHIS, before the commencement of the TSA policy, the highest NHIS has ever invested its funds is 12 months,” he added.

Also, sources in the NHIS confided in THISDAY that since his resumption of duty on February 6, 2018, following his recall from suspension, the executive secretary has refused to append his signature to any document except he had initiated it.

“It is such a terrible situation at the NHIS as it stands, the morale of the staff is quite low,” said the sources.

When THISDAY reached out to Yusuf, he sighted NHIS Act, Part IV, Section 4, as the reason for the investment, noting that the action was not only right but was done to stem corruption in the system.

Section 4 of Part IV of the NHIS Act states: “The Scheme shall invest any money not immediately required by it in Federal Government Securities or in such other securities as the Council may, with the approval of the Minister, from time to time, determine.”

The characteristically abrasive Yusuf said those reporting him to the press were corrupt Nigerians who wanted the status quo to remain, adding that his mandate in the NHIS

NWABUEZE BACKS DANJUMA, INSISTS NIGERIANS HAVE CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHT TO SELF-DEFENCE (2) A person shall not be regarded as having been deprived of his life in contravention of this section, if he dies as a result of the use, to such extent and in such circumstances as are permitted by law, of such force as is reasonably necessary (a) for the defence of any person from unlawful violence or for the defence of property: (b) in order to effect a lawful arrest or to prevent the escape of a person lawfully detained; or (c) for the purpose of suppressing a riot, insurrection or mutiny.

Nwabueze, in a statement issued yesterday in Enugu, further cautioned that anarchy and consequent ethnic cleansing were imminent

should Nigerians resort to self-defence in the face of the federal government’s failure to effectively checkmate the activities of the rampaging killer herdsmen in parts of Nigeria.

He warned that the attacks, killings, destruction of properties, and displacement of people by Fulani herdsmen would ultimately force communities at the receiving end to resort to self-defence as guaranteed under Section 33(1-2) of the Constitution.

He noted that in the event the situation degenerates to that level, the blame should be entirely heaped at the doorstep of President Muhammadu Buhari whom he accused of failing to disarm the killer herdsmen at the early stages

of the conflict.

The constitutional lawyer said the resort to self-defence, which he prayed would not happen, would culminate in indiscriminate killings on both sides, ethnic cleansing and anarchy, adding that such a terrible situation must be viewed from the prism of an extraordinary situation created by the Fulani herdsmen.

He said had the Buhariadministration handled the issue at the beginning, the killings, destruction of properties, and the displacement of persons might not have occurred to the point of their escalation to a national calamity, and the point where self-defence becomes a national issue.

“Still armed with AK-47 guns, the Fulani herdsmen

were thus enabled to kill people in Kaduna State on 29 March, 2018, and even on the very days the president was on a visit to some of the affected states – Plateau, Taraba, Zamfara and Benue,” he said.

According to the legal luminary, Danjuma was only reechoing what was guaranteed in the Constitution when in a statement on March 24, 2018, he called on Nigerians to rise up and defend themselves against the murderous attacks by Fulani herdsmen and against the larger design at ethnic cleansing.

He said in the statement: “The action which the aggrieved individuals may take in selfdefence, guaranteed by the Constitution, must be viewed in the context of the extraordinary situation created by the Fulani

herdsmen insurgency and the means they employ – AK47 and other sophisticated weaponry.

“Faced by an attack by such means, self-defence using sticks, bows and arrows is futile and meaningless. What is the value in guaranteeing a person the right of self-defence and then denying him the appropriate means to exercise the right effectively when the need to do so arises?

“Self-defence, to be effective and meaningful in the prevailing context, must be by means proportioned to the means employed by the attackers.

“Disarming the citizenry and leaving them unprotected against the killer Fulani Continued on page 11

remains to sanitise the system and grow the scheme.

“As I speak now, we have not invested a single penny since I came on board because I wanted to know all the things they did in the past and stop it.

“That’s exactly what I am doing. They won’t have the time to do all the nonsense they did in the past. Every penny will be taken back into the scheme.

“I am in NHIS to do the right thing. And I will do it transparently. I will follow what the NHIS Act says. Corruption will no longer be condoned in this scheme,” he said.

On concerns that the yield on the investment was not meant to stockpile funds for Buhari’s re-election bid, as speculated, the NHIS boss said: “This is not the Jonathan era. They think Buhari will do that nonsense?

“Where we come from we are brought up well. NHIS money is blood money, and it is meant to serve our people.

“Billions have been stolen.

Now I am here as the chief executive officer. I will grow the scheme for our people.

Every penny that comes in as an investment will be shown to the world, not all the nonsense they did in the past.”

Asked if the health ministry was in support of the investment since the NHIS Act specifies so, he said the minister does not have to be in support, as what mattered was the NHIS Act, which is the legal document establishing the scheme.

“Besides, the ministry gave its approval and we have a board which we are currently discussing this decision with.”

According to him, anybody saying otherwise was lying.

“They don’t know who they are dealing with. The money will be invested, returns will be shown to the entire world and the scheme will be grown for our people,” he added.

The head of the NHIS Union, Abdulrazaq Omomeji told THISDAY that the governing council of NHIS was looking at the entire issues in the organisation, adding that the union should be given the chance to see how they can resolve the matter.

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NEWS

Kogi Gov in Plaster Cast After Injuring Foot Yekini Jimoh in Lokoja The governor of Kogi State, Alhaji Yahaya Bello’s left foot is currently in a plaster cast after falling from a car and sustaining an injury, possibly a fracture, on the foot.

THISDAY gathered yesterday that the incident occurred during the Easter holidays along the Old Market road in Lokoja when he was returning from a trip to Abuja.

According to an eyewitness account, the governor who was in a BMW car opened the door of the car when he got to

the Old Market in Lokoja, the state capital, and in an attempt to stand up and spray money on people by the roadside, slipped and hurt his left foot.

One eyewitness disclosed that the car dragged the governor for some metres before he was rescued by his security aides and quickly moved to another vehicle.

The governor was later rushed to one of the private hospitals in Abuja for treatment. However, the incident prevented Bello from attending the burial of the late Deputy Majority Leader, Hon. Buba Jibril, who until his death last

week had represented the Lokoja/KotonKarfi federal constituency at the National Assembly.

Owing to the accident, it was the deputy governor, Chief Simon Achuba who represented the governor at the burial.

Providing clarity on the accident, the governor’s media aide, Mr. Kingsly Fanwo confirmed the incident, saying yesterday that Bello injured his left foot while alighting from a vehicle.

“We wish to refute rumours that the governor of Kogi State, Alhaji Yahaya Bello is either hospitalised

or otherwise incapacitated.

The governor missed his footing last Friday, March 30, 2018, while alighting from a vehicle and injured his left foot.

“He was treated by his doctors, who bandaged the leg and discharged him. We thank all the governor’s supporters and well-wishers who reached us to enquire after his wellbeing.

“The governor is doing very well and is back at work as usual after the Easter holidays. Once again, the governor sends his best wishes to Kogites for the Easter season and beyond,” Fanwo said in the statement.

Bello

UNCERTAINTY OVER OYEGUN’S FUTURE AS APC GOVS’ MEETING WITH BUHARI DEADLOCKED the party. The committee has until the weekend to submit its report.

The meeting between Buhari and the governors, rather than reach a consensus on the lingering crisis, ended up deepening the cracks over the issue, as the governors left the State House, Abuja, more polarised than before the start of the meeting.

According to sources, the president’s rejection of the tenure extension earlier granted to Oyegun and others at last week’s APC National Executive Committee meeting, has divided the governors, with some insisting that the executives continue beyond the expected expiration of their tenure in June while others are vehemently opposed to it.

Buhari, at the NEC meeting last week, had told the party to jettison the approval granted by the same NEC in February on the tenure extension on the grounds that it was in violation of the Nigerian Constitution and the APC constitution.

It was on this basis that the APC governors met with the president yesterday to resolve the issue but still could not reach an agreement on the way to go.

It was learnt that owing to the stalemate, the president adjourned the meeting and asked the governors to decide on another date for the meeting to continue.

THISDAY further learnt that the Chairman of Nigerian Governors’ Forum (NGF) and Zamfara governor, Abdulaziz Yari rose to suggest April 9 for the next meeting, in accordance with the president’s advice, but was vehemently confronted by the governor of Kaduna State, Malam Nasir el-Rufai, leading to an abrupt end of the meeting without agreeing on the next date for the meeting.

Ahead of the meeting, elRufai was at the State House for three hours.

Sources said the governor had opted to come earlier than expected because he was bent on convincing the president to change his stance on the tenure elongation. But it was not certain if he met with Buhari before the meeting.

Of the 24 APC governors, only the governors of Yobe and Katsina States, Ibrahim Geidam and Aminu Masari, were absent at the meeting.

Geidam was however represented by his deputy.

Before the commencement of the meeting, however, the governors had met with a view to possibly find a common ground on the matter but to no avail, as the governors who wanted Oyegun and others to continue were vehement on their resolve and vice-versa.

The governor of Kogi State, Yahaya Bello, according to sources, was said to have described the move to stop Oyegun from continuing as nothing but a coup, arguing that the decision to halt the tenure elongation was only an attempt to please the National Leader of APC, Chief Bola Tinubu, who is believed to be opposed to Oyegun’s stay at the helm of affairs of the APC. Like Bello, el-Rufai is also said to be a staunch supporter of Oyegun while Yari is an opponent, which was the reason for the clash between both men at the meeting with Buhari, leading to its abrupt end yesterday.

It was also learnt that el-Rufai had earlier challenged the Chairman of APC Governors’ Forum, Chief Rochas Okorocha, who was believed to have thrown his weight behind the president’s rejection of the tenure elongation.

Some of the governors, during their group meeting, notably the governor of Ondo State, Rotimi Akeredolu, were said to have suggested the possibility of constituting a caretaker committee to steer the affairs of the party

if resolving the stalemate was becoming unachievable.

But the suggestion by Akeredolu might not see the light of the day, as the idea of constituting a caretaker committee is also alien to the party’s constitution.

It was also learnt that before the meeting with Buhari came to an abrupt end, some of the governors had also proposed the backing of the former governor of Edo State, Adams Oshiomhole as Oyegun’s successor, but even this proposal was turned down by others who wanted Oyegun to continue.

The governors who were opposed to Oyegun’s exit were of the view that beyond the concern over constitutional breaches raised by the president, Buhari was intent on pleasing Tinubu, whom he believes is more politically useful to him than Oyegun.

There are also many party loyalists in the presidency who have argued that Oyegun has little or no benefit to offer Buhari, as his opponents had alleged that he could not even deliver his polling unit to APC during the last governorship election in Edo State while Tinubu has the capacity to deliver a whole region to the president.

In addition to the debate over Oyegun’s electoral value or lack thereof, there has been no love lost between Oyegun and Tinubu, despite the fact that the latter helped the former to emerge as the party's national chairman ahead of the 2015 elections.

Things turned sour between both men after Oyegun was alleged to have worked effectively against Tinubu’s preferred candidates in both the Kogi and Ondo governorship elections.

In Kogi, for instance, Oyegun had supported the incumbent governor, Bello, following the death of the then APC governorship candidate, Abubakar Audu,

as against his running mate, Hon. James Faleke, who was Tinubu’s choice.

It is for this reason Bello is perceived to be an ardent supporter of Oyegun, believing that it was payback time for the man who once stood by him in a critical moment and resulting in his eventual emergence as Kogi State governor without contesting the election.

Similarly, Oyegun backed Akeredolu as the candidate of the APC in the Ondo governorship election against Tinubu’s preferred choice for the post.

Last February, Tinubu had also raised the alarm that Oyegun was sabotaging his reconciliatory efforts in the party. The allegation forced Buhari to summon Oyegun to the State House.

To underscore the level of indignation between Tinubu and Oyegun, the latter was conspicuously absent at the 66th birthday colloquium of the former Lagos State governor, which was attended by all notable stakeholders of the APC including the president.

But even as the governors failed to agree on the tenure extension for the party’s executives, the APC yesterday set up a 10-member technical committee headed by the Plateau State governor to review the tenure extension agreed to at the NEC meeting last February. The committee has until the weekend to submit its report.

Other members of the 10-member committee are the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Boss Mustapha, Oyo State governor, Senator Abiola Ajimobi, elRufai, Akeredolu, Senator Ben Uwajumogu, Hon. Kabiru Ajana, Mr. Elisha Kurah (SAN), Mr. C.J.N. Dakas (SAN), and the APC National Legal Adviser, Dr. Muiz Banire (SAN), who will serve as a member/secretary.

The committee, which has less than one week to conclude its assignment, was mandated to undertake a thorough study of the whole issue including its legal implications and then recommend the best position that will enhance the party’s goal of winning the 2019 presidential election.

The party had agreed at its NEC meeting last week to reconsider the one-year tenure extension granted to its executives after Buhari had opposed it.

Addressing the committee members yesterday, Oyegun said the party would do everything possible to ensure that any decision taken was advantageous to the APC and does not go against the constitution.

“We must observe the law and at the same time emphasise that we are trying to do things that will be advantageous to the party.

“We will furnish you with all the documents like the resolutions of NEC, the party’s constitution and the Nigerian Constitution to help you do a good job.

“You are also at liberty to request for additional material like the statement of Mr. President during last NEC meeting and every other thing to guide you achieve the task you are about to undertake.

“I am praying and hoping that this is the kind of thing you can accomplish in about three to four days.

“Getting answers from you is crucially time sensitive and depending on which way you advise, we may have to put in motion very serious activities in the party virtually within a week of getting the report and taking decisions.

“The chairman, Governor Lalong, has successfully done a lot of very sensitive assignments in the past and each time you have always come out in flying colours and I am sure this will be

NWABUEZE BACKS DANJUMA, INSISTS NIGERIANS HAVE CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHT TO SELF-DEFENCE herdsmen would only render nugatory, to a large extent, the constitutional guarantee of self-defence, viewed again in the context of the extraordinary situation created by the Fulani herdsmen armed insurgency and the failure or inability of the federal government to stop it.

“Danjuma did not just get up one happy, glorious day to make the call. He was moved to do so by the extraordinary situation, with its tragic effects,

created by the Fulani herdsmen and the federal government.”

Continuing, Nwabueze also made reference to the United States Constitution, explaining: “The U.S. Constitution, adopted with effect from 1787, underwent its Second Amendment in 1791.

“The Amendment provides: ‘A well regulated Militia being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall

not be infringed.’

“The provision of the Amendment is predicated on the concept of Freedom on which the American Federal Republic is founded, and which postulates ‘a free state’ as requiring a well regulated Militia and freedom of the people to keep and bear arms; accordingly, the Amendment prohibits infringement of that freedom.

“The constitutional guarantee

of the right of the American people to keep and bear arms may have resulted in a trigger-happy society, but it has not given rise to anarchy or ethnic cleansing from 1791 to the present day (March 2018).”

He further lamented that Nigerians must come to terms with the fact that the country has not been, and is not being, conducted with a due sense of responsibility as well as a due sense of shame.

“Is it not a shame that the Fulani herdsmen should have been allowed to inflict so much slaughter and havoc on innocent, law-abiding citizens without being disarmed at the initial stages of the conflict and without the wrath of the law being brought down on them?

“And we unashamedly castigate Gen. Danjuma for calling on Nigerians to rise up to defend themselves?” he contended.

yet another one.

“We, on behalf of NEC, decided on a team that mixes the top brains in the legal sector with some of the major stakeholders of the party.

“Some of the issues that have been remitted to you for resolution are strongly legal and at the same time have been impacted dramatically by political considerations.

“Therefore, your job is to bring these two together and advise us on the way we can implement our activities in the next few weeks and months in a way that is politically advantageous to our party, the APC, and at the same time can face due deference to the niceties of the law.

“I thank you for accepting this onerous assignment and wish you the very best of luck,” he said.

While accepting the assignment on behalf of other members of the committee, Lalong assured Oyegun that with the calibre of those appointed on the committee, he was confident that the job will be done properly.

Lalong acknowledged that the work of the committee was enormous and very critical to the survival of APC, but said with prayers they would succeed in resolving the matter.

He said the committee will try to look into the tenure extension proposal and advice the NEC on the way forward on the quagmire.

He further dismissed speculations that the composition of the committee favoured the NWC and was targeted at checkmating Tinubu, stressing: “I think the discussion about elongation was not against Tinubu. We are concerned about the way forward for the party and the position of the president on the issue.

“The issue of whether it is satisfying somebody should not be there. He is a member of the party and at the end of the day, our decision is not final but subject to the ratification of NEC.”

AHEAD OF CHOGM, BUHARI HEADS TO LONDON ON PRIVATE VISIT Palace and gather at Windsor Castle for the Leaders’ Retreat – a day when leaders engage in frank dialogue and set the course for future Commonwealth cooperation.

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WEDNESDAY APRIL 4, 2018 ˾ T H I S D AY

NEWS

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

Swiss Authorities Block Bank Accounts Linked to Malabu Deal The government of Switzerland has blocked several bank accounts in the country linked to the planned bribery trial of Eni and Shell executives in Milan, Italy, as it relates to the infamous Malabu

oil scam.

On Monday, the office of the Swiss Attorney-General confirmed that at the request of public prosecutors from Milan, it has confiscated, assets and shared

Again, Presidency Spurns Obasanjo’s Assessment of Buhari In reaction to the latest noconfidence vote passed by former President, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, on President Muhammadu Buhari, the presidency has said Obasanjo’s failure tag on the current administration was not new.

It said the administration would therefore not join issues with the former president over his comments and assessment.

According to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), Obasanjo last Monday night, while addressing a group of youths who visited him at his country home in Abeokuta, had described the Buhari administration as a failure.

Obasanjo also asked the All Progressives Congress (APC)-led government to stop complaining about the challenges it met on the ground.

“What we have now is failure.

Never you reinforce failure, let failure be failure. Those of you who are in business, your business could have been better today if we have a competent, effective and performing government.”

However, the President’s Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Mr. Femi Adesina, who responded to Obasanjo’s comments in a

phone interview on Channels Television last Monday night, said the assessment was not new.

“Already, the statement issued few months ago by the Minister of Information and Culture, Mr. Lai Mohammed, in response to the earlier criticism made against the government by Obasanjo had adequately addressed the issues raised,” Adesina said.

He maintained that the APC-led federal government would keep making reference to the failures of the past administration with a view to guarding against such mistakes in future.

According to Adesina, the Buhari administration has successfully tackled the mismanagement of the country economy, as Nigeria now has more savings in its foreign reserve than ever before.

The former president had earlier issued a 13-page statement criticising Buhari’s performance and councelled him not to seek re-election in 2019.

Obasanjo’s 13-page statement attracted mixed reactions from a cross sections of Nigerians including politicians and opinion leaders from within and outside the country.

Jonathan Denies Raid on His Residence, Discovery of Stolen Loot Former President, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan, has denied the video and news report alleging that there was a raid in his residence and that loot was discovered by the raiders who are members of the Nigerian police.

In a statement signed by the activist and former Adviser to Jonathan on Social Media, Reno Omokiri, the former president said the report was allegedly circulated by agents of the All Progressives Congress (APC)-led federal government purported to be videos of a police raid of the home of President Jonathan, and in which huge sums of money were found.

“Let it be known that no police officer or any other security agentstormed any of the residences of former president Jonathan and no cache of dollars or any other foreign currencies have been found in any of his residences and indeed none can be found because no such stash exists.

“Nigerians may want to recall that there was a curious burglary of the former President’s house in 2017. The motive of that incident or who was behind it may never truly come to light until sometime in the future, but even during that burglary, no monies were discovered in the house and only sundry properties and electronics were stolen,” the statement said.

It recalled that on March 7, 2014, Jonathan declared to Nigerians as follows “I am loyal to Nigeria’s

economy. I don’t have accounts or property abroad.

“That declaration remains true today as it was then. Furthermore, the former president, in keeping with the cashless policy which his administration introduced and fully implemented, does not keep huge cash at his residence. Jonathan is a modest man and whatever he has by way of cash and property are the results of his legitimate earnings.

“He is the most investigated living former president in Nigerian history. That nothing implicating has been found on him should not lead his traducers to become desperate and, fabricate evidence and circulate it as propaganda,” the statement also said.

The statement therefore urged Nigerians to be on the alert to fake news circulated by desperadoes via WhatsApp and other social media platforms and intended to malign the good name of Jonathan.

“Finally, I advise anyone willing to take my advice that the only way to make progress in Transparency International’s Corruption Perception Index is to fight corruption and not the opposition and to do the fighting in the courts and not in the media.

“That is how the Jonathan administration was able to achieve Nigeria’s best ever performance on Transparency International’s Corruption Perception Index in 2014 when Nigeria improved by eight places from 144 to 136,” the statement added.

information with Italian authorities.

The trial of the executives, including former Eni’s Claudio Descalzi, and his predecessor, Paolo Scaroni, was originally slated for March but was moved to May after it was transferred to Milan.

Nigerian and Italian investigators accuse officials of both Eni and Shell of shady financial deals to

secure a licence for the lucrative OPL 245.

Three separate bank accounts in Lugano, Basel and Geneva were blocked, according to media reports confirmed by prosecutors but they declined to reveal the value for the seized assets.

In all, apart from Messrs Descalzi and Scaroni, 11 other people

including two former top Shell managers, former Nigerian oil minister, Dan Etete and a series of middlemen and advisers are being probed.

Eni and Shell were also listed as corporate defendants in the case. Both oil companies have denied wrongdoing and expressed

confidence that the trial would exonerate both the companies and individuals.

Apart from Etete, a former Attorney-General of the Federation, Bello Adoke, are among several Nigerians indicted in the deal, which was approved by exPresident Goodluck Jonathan, who also denies wrongdoing.

EVERGREEN ADEBANJO… STILL GOING STONG AT 90

Afenifere leader and statesman, Chief Ayo Adebanjo; National Leader of the All Progressives Congress, Chief Bola Tinubu, and Adebanjo’s wife, Christiana, at the formal launch of an autobiography of Adebanjo: “Telling lt As lt Is,” held to commemorate his 90th birthday in Lagos… yesterday Abiodun Ajala

Kachikwu Harps on Transparency as Oando Inaugurates $150m Head Office ExxonMobil appoints Inoyo vice chairman Ejiofor Alike The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu, has charged local operators in Nigeria’s oil and gas industry to continue to conduct their operations with transparency.

This is coming as ExxonMobil affiliates in Nigeria – Mobil Producing Nigeria Unlimited (MPN) and Esso Exploration and Production Nigeria Limited (EEPNL)-have announced the appointment of Udom Inoyo as Vice-Chairman of the Boards of the companies.

Before he joined the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari in 2015, Kachikwu had occupied a higher position of Executive Vice Chairman and General Counsel of ExxonMobil (Africa).

In his remark yesterday in Lagos at the inauguration of the head

office complex built by Oando Plc with funding from Stanbic IBTC (Chartered) Bank, Kachikwu said he expected the local firms to conduct their businesses with transparency, adding that in the next few months, he will launch project 100, which seeks to identify 100 viable local projects in Nigeria that need support.

“I am not the Minister of Petroleum I am the Minister of State for Petroleum. The Minister of Petroleum remains the president.

So, I bring the good tidings from the Minister of Petroleum, President Muhammadu Buhari. The building is class; it is my expectations that you do things with transparency,” Kachikwu said.

In his speech, the Group Chief Executive of Oando Plc, Mr. Wale Tinubu, stated that the head office sitting on a 27,000-square metre space is the biggest so far in Lagos.

“We were affected by 60 per cent

devaluation. We invested with our bankers $150 million for this project.

This site was earlier planned for a mega filling station. Work started in 2014 and completed in 2017.

We attracted investment of $170 million into Nigeria. Our bankers are Stanbic IBTC (Chartered) Bank,” Tinubu explained.

In another development, ExxonMobil affiliates in Nigeria – Mobil Producing Nigeria Unlimited (MPN) and Esso Exploration and Production Nigeria Limited (EEPNL)-have announced the appointment of Udom Inoyo as Vice-Chairman of the boards of the companies, with effect from March 19, 2018.

Until his appointment, Inoyo was an Executive Director and In-country Human Resources Manager for MPN and EEPNL. According to a statement by the Manager, Media and Communications, Mobil Producing

Nigeria Unlimited, Mr. Oge Udeagha, the new ExxonMobil vice chairman joined the MPN in 1989, and after several Human Resources roles in Nigeria, United States and Belgium he was appointed Manager, HR Policies and Programmes in 2001.

He became the General Manager, External Affairs between 2002 and 2006, and, thereafter, the In-country HR Manager. He was elected to the Board of MPN as Executive Director in 2004.

Inoyo hails from Akwa Ibom State and holds a bachelordegreein Political Science (1981) and LL.B in Law (1987) fromtheUniversityofCalabar,and was called to the Nigerian Bar in 1988.

He is an alumnus of the Lagos BusinessSchoolandThunderbirdSchool of Global Management, Arizona.

Udom is currently the President and Chairman of Council, Chartered Institute of Personnel Management of Nigeria (CIPM).

Bandits Kill Two Policemen in Kogi Yekini Jimoh in Lokoja Some unidentified gunmen yesterday invaded a Police Station at Gegu in Kogi State, killing two police officers on duty and injuring a suspect in police cell.

THISDAY reliably gathered that the bandits who were numbering five and heavily armed with AK 47 rifles, invaded the police station at about 2.15a.m. on motorcycle.

According to a source,

immediately the bandits arrived at the station, they opened fire to scared people away and then moved straight into the station and opened fire on the two policemen on duty and also injured a suspect in the police cell.

It was further gathered that the gunmen made away with the police AK 47 rifle and ransacked the station for more guns and ammunition.

The source added that the

operation lasted for 30 minutes as the bandits took their time to operate freely due to lack of counter power during the attack.

Motorists travelling during that hour made U-turn when some Good Samaritan alerted them about the operation.

The state Police Public Relations Officer, Mr. William Ayah, confirmed the attack to THISDAY. According to him, two police

officers were killed by the armed men while a suspect was injured, adding that the police command has commenced investigation into the attack.

Meanwhile the corpses of the two police officers have been deposited at the Federal Medical Centre in Lokoja by the Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC) while the injured suspected is also receiving treatment in the same hospital.

T H I S D AY ˾ WEDNESDAY APRIL 4, 2018

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T H I S D AY Ëž Ëœ Í˛Ëœ 2018

COMMENT

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

THE CLOSURE OF LAGOS

The cost of the shut down as a result of President Buhari’s visit is high, argues Sonnie Ekwowusi

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he closure of Lagos last Thursday in order to facilitate the visit of President Muhammadu Buhari to Lagos State to, inter alia, commission the new Ikeja Bus Terminal, attend a colloquium in honour of the national leader of All Progressives Congress (APC), Bola Tinubu, and also embark on a tour of the Eko Atlantic City, was completely unnecessary and un-called for. Surely, President Buhari deserves a befitting welcome to Lagos. But there was absolutely no need to collapse Lagos in order to give him a befitting welcome. Certainly the president’s visit to Lagos would have been organised in a more congenial way without causing great inconveniences, harm and loss to the people. The pertinent questions are: Is it reasonably justifiable in a democratic society to shut down the socio-economic, cultural and religious life of Lagos simply because President Buhari was coming to town to, inter alia, commission a project?

Is it reasonably justifiable to close up or divert the major road arteries in Lagos unmindful of the harm and suffering such closure and diversion would cause the citizenry simply because President Buhari was coming to Lagos to commission a project?

The way we maltreat one another in Nigeria at times could give a reasonable man excuse to begin to believe that we are really occupying the lowest rung of human civilisation. And when outsiders call us names we kick and shiver in protest. But the great issue that cannot be overlooked is that there is something seriously wrong with the way we do things especially the disdain with which we maltreat the ordinary people. If not, why must suffering be inflicted on the people of Lagos simply because their leader was coming to town? Yet these were the same people who queued up under the sun to vote for the leader in 2015. Instead of the leader coming to town to thank the people of Lagos for voting for him, he is punishing them by keeping them under false imprisonment in their respective houses.

Why do the kings of the world plot evil against the poor and downtrodden? Why this rage? Why this arrogance? The closure of Lagos last Thursday simply attests to the militarisation of our democracy. We can be saying with our mouth that we are practising civilian democracy while in actual fact we are practicing military totalitarianism and despotism. We are chips of a traumatised military culture. Nothing has changed. But there are graver consequences for doing the wrong thing under the right name. The inordinate craze for preserving individual might has engendered a decaying sense of national purpose. It has led to the substitution of raw power without moral purpose for traditional idealism. For example, the sense of belonging -which ought to be a traditional ideal if not always a practice- seems to grow more elusive in Nigeria with every passing day. The old image of Nigeria as a citadel of equality, humanitarianism and peaceful co-existence seemed blurred. â€œâ€Ś it is excellentâ€?, writes Shakespeare, “to have a giant’s strength, but it is tyrannous to use it like a giantâ€?. Using power like a giant fosters a hostile environment uncongenial to proper ordering of society.

Last Thursday was hell in Lagos. Passengers missed their flights; Awaiting-Trial-Inmates (ATI) who would have been taken to court for

PRESIDENT BUHARI DESERVES A BEFITTING WELCOME TO LAGOS. BUT THERE WAS ABSOLUTELY NO NEED TO COLLAPSE LAGOS IN ORDER TO GIVE HIM A BEFITTING WELCOME

bail considerations lost the opportunity of being taken to court; the organised private sector lost huge sums of money; the sick could not be taken to the hospitals for medical treatment. In fact medical doctors on emergency could not get to their designated hospitals. Clergymen and Christian worshippers were denied ingress and egress to their respective churches to attend the Holy Thursday worship accorded so much eschatological importance in Christendom. Yet these were same the people, as I said earlier, who voted for President Buhari in 2015 being so contemptuously treated. The treatment was so hurtful that the Archbishop of the Catholic Archdiocese of Lagos Alfred Adewale Martins had to issue statement complaining that the last-minute restriction of movements in Lagos was a violation of the right to religious worship enshrined in our constitution. The annoying aspect is that this is not the first time this holiday-fixing faux pas has occurred.

For example, after declaring Tuesday and Wednesday as holidays for the celebration of Eid-El-Fitri in 2016, the government, following the announcement of Alhaji Sa’ad Abubakar III, the Sultan of Sokoto, dramatically extended the holiday to Thursday thus causing great damage to the people Nigeria must be one of the few countries in the world today where life ceases to exist simply because a president is coming to town.

As powerful as the president of the United States is no American city is shut down whenever he chooses for any reason to come to town. Nigerians who travel overseas are amazed at the simplicity and naturalness with which world leaders mingle and socialise with ordinary citizens. A friend narrated how he sat very close to the President of Ghana at a Sunday church worship in Ghana. Try that in Nigeria and security operatives will break your head. In the United Kingdom some political office holders bike to and fro work, whereas in Nigeria political office holders go about with killer convoys. Remember how towering academic Prof Festus Iyayi met his death after the men managing the convoy of the then Kogi State Governor Idris Wada negligently drove their vehicles in such a reckless manner and crushed him to death? In 2005 the convoy of former Ogun State Governor Gbenga Daniel was involved in an accident in which five journalists lost their lives. In 2007, 12 persons died after the convoy of former Edo State Governor Prof Oserheimen Osunbor was involved in an accident along Lokoja-Abuja expressway. In November 2012 the speeding and reckless convoy of the late Kaduna State Governor Patrick Yakowa killed a poor road-side orange hawker in Kaduna. In December 2012 the reckless convoy of Senator Danjuma Goje of Gombe State allegedly ran over one Haruna Maigari and also injured others. In January 2015, 14 persons were killed in an accident involving the convoy of the Gombe State Governor, Alhaji Ibrahim Hassan Dankwambo. In March 2017 the Senior Special Assistant to Borno State Governor, Kashim Shettima died and three others injured following a convoy accident along Kaduna- Abuja expressway. In January 2018 a police officer attached to the wife of Taraba governor, Mrs. Anna Darius Ishaku, died after the convoy of Governor Ishaku was involved an accident along Bali Jalingo road

SECOND TERM: TIME FOR SECOND THOUGHTS Idowu Omisore writes that the electorate should be discerning in electing their representatives

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he crux of democracy is the will of the people, not the whims of some sycophants. Since the return of democracy in 1999, we have had a couple of general elections which were fraught with histrionics right from the campaign stage. Incumbents generally seek to be re-elected but it is up to the electorate to determine if they deserve another term. With what is playing out in the polity and the imminence of 2019 elections, nobody needs to be told to think twice before endorsing or voting any incumbent governor, legislator or even president.

Once election is approaching, second-term crooners appear. We see individuals, groups, clubs, different characters telling anyone who cares to listen, reasons why they think an incumbent should be re-elected. There is nothing wrong with this. Incumbents readily attract sycophants who can’t even tolerate a constructive criticism of the incumbent. Pay too much attention to these second-term crooners and your sense of critique will be lulled to sleep; this is not the time for us to sleep.

The HolyWrit says that: “but while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat and went his way.� As we prepare for 2019 elections, we must become vigilant and critically-minded so we do not get hoodwinked into putting unfit candidates in positions of leadership.

It is now almost like a tradition, a second nature, for us to re-elect incumbents. It is rather disgusting when people serving currently in government are the ones applauding themselves and endorsing the incumbent for another term. Encomiums from the electorate – the masses – carry more credibility than the noise made by sycophants and beneficiaries.

I don’t expect anyone benefiting directly and indirectly from the current administration to speak negatively about it but it is important we think beyond our immediate self. Self praise is no praise

at all, especially when the achievements of the incumbent are almost invisible to the bulk of the electorate.

Everyone is at liberty to express their opinion – to praise or criticise the government. In the end, election results largely reflect public opinion. Given their ability to shape public opinion at the grassroots, opinion leaders in our society have a highly sensitive role to play: doing an honest examination of the incumbent and other aspirants, their strengths, weaknesses and potential.

The media is a great opinion moulder. In 1972, Maxwell McCombs and Donald Shaw in Public Opinion Quarterly pointed to the agenda setting function of the mass media. They suggested that the media tells people the important issues to think about. According to the scholars, in choosing and displaying news, editors, newsroom staff, and broadcasters play an important part in shaping political reality. Readers learn not only about a given issue, but also how much importance to attach to that issue from the amount of information in a news story and its position. In reflecting what candidates are saying during a campaign, the mass media may well determine the important issues—that is, the media may set the “agenda� of the campaign.

If the media truly understands the enormous influence they have, they will begin to focus on real issues, provide factual and critical analyses that the reading public needs to adjudge the right candidate they should endorse and vote for.

Naturally, incumbents have an advantage over the other aspirants. They have a lot of resources at their disposal, so many people at their beck and call, and some achievements to showcase since they are still in power. They are contesting from a position of power. Unlike the new contestant who probably has the character, competence and compassion to make a difference. When compared to the other aspirants, the incumbent is often seen as the tested and trusted

candidate. It is for these reasons that the incumbent sometimes gets easily re-elected.

Having second thoughts about something requires critical thinking. We should ask critical questions and seek satisfactory answers before concluding that the incumbent is worth another term in office. In terms of character and competence, how did the incumbent fare? Another fair measure with which to judge is the extent to which the incumbent delivered on his/her campaign promises.

Think twice before you endorse/vote an incumbent for a second term. It’s been said that elected government officials strive to perform during their first term so that the voting public can re-elect them.

And that once they are re-elected, they begin to show their true colours.

In a case where the incumbent has performed well and can be trusted to continue on that note, it would be commonsensical to support a second term for such an incumbent. For example, Lagos State, the commercial nerve-centre of Nigeria, has been under the leadership of progressives since 1999. In between, incumbents have been re-elected. A lot of voices and banners are already screaming for the re-election of Governor Akinwunmi Ambode. This is somewhat explicable. Somehow, the Ambode administration has been able to instigate visible development across the five divisions of the state, particularly in the area of road infrastructure. I know he has not officially declared his interest yet.

When he does eventually, I won’t be surprised if he is re-elected. I would rather be surprised if he is not, because All Progressives Congress seems to be the only party in Lagos State for now. Even though Ambode has made visible efforts to sustain the tempo of progressive governance, the electorate has started to question his zeal to rake in more revenue.

This is what democracy is all about. The electorate must be free to ask questions and hold the elected accountable.

Nigerians are getting more politically aware and active everyday. Social media platforms have allowed citizens express their reservations and expectations. The APC’s victory over PDP during the 2015 presidential election is perhaps a classic instance of when we started to think critically as a country. What never happened before in our nationhood history happened: an incumbent president was defeated. The electorate, for the most part, desired a positive change and they voted out the then incumbent president. Critical thinking won over sycophancy. Olusegun Adeniyi’s book, “Against the Run of Play� better captures the intricate details and factors that occasioned APC’s historic victory.

In many states of the federation, there is a dearth of better options. By this I mean that the electorate does not have enough candidates to choose from. This situation, of course, works for the incumbent. More patriotic Nigerians need to step out, especially young people. New alternatives are needed so that people can have the freedom of choice to select the candidate they are confident would perform. This attitude of nothing concerns me will take us nowhere. Mr. Fela Durotoye’s declaration to contest for the office for the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria is a powerful statement that should inspire young Nigerians home and abroad to join the political process.

2019 elections are almost here! Let’s critically assess the candidates put forward by the different political parties, especially the incumbents seeking re-election. Incumbents who have clearly proved their mettle deserve another opportunity but the ball is in the court of the electorate. A new Nigeria will emerge when we put on our thinking caps, shun sentiments and place the right people in power.

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T H I S D AY Ëž Ëœ Í˛Ëœ 2018

EDITORIAL DANJUMA AND THE CALL TO ARMS The security agencies could do more to stem the carnage across the land

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pparently outraged by the brutality and gruesome killings going on in Taraba State where he hails from, former Chief of Army Staff and Defence Minister, Lt. Gen. Theophilus Danjuma (rtd), last week accused the armed forces of complicity and called on Nigerians to rise up and defend themselves from the incessant attacks by herdsmen. “The Armed Forces are not neutral.

They collude with the armed bandits that kill people and kill Nigerians. They facilitate their movement. They cover them,� said Danjuma. It is perhaps the most biting indictment of the armed forces, and indeed a rebuke of the narrative that the violence and bloodbath is the work of some foreign herdsmen and armed bandits.

From Benue to Taraba to Zamfara, Kaduna and Ekiti to Enugu and other conict zones across the country, killings have become THE SECURITY AGENCIES a routine fare.

NEED TO STEP UP THEIR Indeed, the ability of ACTS AND STRENGTHEN terror-minded gangs INTER-AGENCY to thumb their noses COORDINATION TO at the authorities CHECKMATE THE CURRENT each time the security forces atDESCENT INTO ANARCHY tempt to make claims and boastful noises must be seen as a measure of their strength vis a vis the weakness of the federal government.

To compound the problem, there seems to be no coherent strategy to deal with the menace.

President Muhammadu Buhari admitted recently that he directed the Inspector-General of Police, Ibrahim Idris to relocate to Benue State after the sensational burial of some 73 victims of cold-blooded murder. Idris did not only ignore the order, he also disputed a presidential story that he was queried, and nothing happened. And even after the president’s reluctant visit to the state, as he also did to Taraba and all assurances that the killings would stop, the mass slaughter is still on. Besides, hundreds of thousands have become homeless in their ancestral land.

It took Danjuma’s outburst for the Ministry of Defence to admit that it had received reports from Nigerians on the “misconduct� of soldiers as regards the farmers and herdsmen’s clashes, but none came from Taraba. Taraba, however, disputed that assertion. Even so, we ask: When did the authorities receive the message of misconduct of some soldiers? What was the nature of the offence? And how did they deal with it? What sanctions were imposed on the vicious culprits? What measures were put in place to check future occurences?

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t is this sheer reluctance on the part of the authorities to intervene decisively in the increasing desperation for survival among the people that made Danjuma’s extreme call to arms and balance of terror to resonate with many Nigerians. Who could, in good conscience, deny the people the means to defend themselves when confronted by gun-wielding herdsmen?

However, whatever may be the situation, a free-for-all call to arms will only fuel and worsen an already prickly situation, while also foreclosing any chance of a solution.

Indeed, it will heighten criminality across board. Already, the nation is awash with illegal and small arms and light weapons (SAWLS). The ease of access to these weapons has made individuals and communities less amenable to make peace as they are ready to go on the offensive or reprisal attacks. This does not bode well for the country as it will result in the total breakdown of the law.

For the umpteenth time therefore, we reiterate that security agencies need to step up their acts and strengthen not only inter-agency coordination to checkmate the current descent into anarchy, but also the intelligencegathering capabilities of the Police and State Security Service (SSS). As we have also repeatedly pointed out, it is important for all the critical stakeholders in the country to look beyond politics at a time like this and render whatever assistance they can in the bid to put an end to the current carnage, which clearly puts all at risk.

But in the quest for a solution to the challenge at hand, Danjuma’s proposition is not one that should lend itself to consideration.

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EMPOWERINGYOUTHS WITH HANDS-ON SKILLS

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silent technological and innovative revolution is quietly going on in Ogun State. This path-charting development which has the potential of repositioning the economy of the state as a pacesetter in the country is coming courtesy of a partnership between Foreign Trade And Investments Services Africa (FTAISA), an international consulting group, and Ogun State Government under the watch of Governor Ibikunle Amosun.

The initiative which is known as Ogun State-FTAISA City & Guilds TECHBAC Skills and Entrepreneurship Development Programme is designed to equip the youths in Ogun State with useful technological and entrepreneurship skills with a view to ultimately make them employers of labour and wealth creators. Under this arrangement, foremost training institutions in Germany and other parts of Europe and the world acclaimed City and Guilds of London are working in close collaboration with FTAISA to empower the youths with practical skills which would help to take them off the streets and make them drivers of economic growth in the state.

Senator Amosun is certainly a man with his eyes on the future who sees in the FTAISA programme a life-giving opportunity to prepare his people for leadership roles in various facets of the nation`s economy in the coming years. This is why he quickly grabbed the opportunity when it came his way to partner with FTAISA and their European collaborators.

Data coming out of the country point to a growing deficiency in vocational and entrepreneurship skills; to the extent that the nation now relies on artisans from neighbouring countries like Togo, Benin

Republic and Ghana to fill the gaps. But through the FTAISA Skills Acquisition Programme, Ogun State and indeed Nigeria have the opportunity to strengthen their workforce and in turn, the economy.

Stakeholders are of the view that if Ogun State government can sustain this programme, it would see a noticeable return on its investment.

The good news is that outstanding trainees in the on-going FTAISA skills programme would have the opportunity to serve as expatriate workers in different parts of Europe and other parts of the developed world where their services are highly needed. In a globalised economy, the ability and capacity to compete depends on building a skilled, competent and confident workforce. According to the project coordinator of FTAISA in Nigeria, Dr. Cliff Ogbede, the intention of his organisation is to continue to work with Ogun State government and other governments and agencies around the globe to drive employment by helping people develop the skills they need to progress into a job, on the job, and onto the next job.

He said that the on-going programme in Ogun State would enable outstanding trainees undergo further skills internship training in their partner institutions abroad. He noted that FTAISA has received several requests from some European Union companies seeking to hire successful trainees from the Ogun programme.

The FTAISA programme in Ogun State covers a variety of fields including automotive engineering, electrical and electronics engineering, refrigeration/air-conditioning, plumbing, building services, land and animal husbandry, hospitality/tourism and catering, beauty and health care, and digital technology/ICT. The trainees who are around 1500 are drawn from the three

senatorial zones of the state, covering Abeokuta, Ijebu Ode and Yewa land. This was after a selection process that was preceded by a very competitive examination which was carried out in several centres across the state on January 20, 2018.

The FTAISA has rolled out a lot of incentives to encourage the trainees and ensure that they do not suffer any distraction. Such incentives include free enrolment process, free feeding at the training centres, medical insurance, free uniforms and workshop materials and free examination enrolment and evaluation. These measures have guaranteed maximum attendance and participation by the trainees.

The flag-off ceremony which featured all the successful candidates was done by Governor Amosun in Abeokuta on January 22, 2018 with the German Ambassador to Nigeria, Dr. Bernhardt Schlagheck as the special guest of honour. He promised to give total support to the initiative which he believed would give the economy of the state a very strong boost.

The presence of the German Ambassador further demonstrated the importance which the European partners attached to the programme.

Governor Ibikunle Amosun deserves all the accolades for recognising that the future belongs to those who possess skills and are ready to deploy their creative energies to serve the cause of mankind. The future does not lie in the possession of theoretical certificates that do not bear any relevance to the needs of the society. Those governors elsewhere in the country who give out wheel barrows and tricycles as their youth empowerment programme should go to Ogun State for tutorials on skills acquisition and entrepreneurship development.

Chief Cliff C. Ogbede, Surulere, Lagos

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T H I S D AY ˾ WEDNESDAY APRIL 4, 2018

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T H I S D AY ˾ WEDNESDAY, APRIL 4, 2018

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MIDWEEKPOLITICS

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

THE NEWSMAKER

Time to Prevent a Bigger Threat Except the federal government stops indiscriminate killings by herdsmen and militias, Nigeria risks becoming a failed state, warns Shola Oyeyipo

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While the federal government has yet to wipe out Boko Haram insurgents, murderous herdsmen and militias are wreaking havoc daily.

Ordinary citizens and notable leaders are daily expressing lack of confidence in security agencies to stop the killings.

Not only are there suspicions that the army and the police are deliberately looking the other way while the killer herdsmen continue to perpetrate their heinous crimes, there is now a growing call for Nigerians to defend themselves against further attacks.

Miffed by the unchecked attacks on innocent Nigerians by herdsmen, former Chief of Army Staff, Lieutenant General Theophilus Danjuma (rtd), called on Nigerians to rise up and defend their states against the rampaging herdsmen.

He feared that if citizens did not defend themselves, they would soon be wiped out because he suspected that an ethnic cleansing was going on in Taraba and other parts of the country. He bluntly accused the armed forces of complicity in the killings - that they are providing cover for Fulani herdsmen to perpetrate the attacks.

He said: “The peace in this state is under assault.

There is an attempt at ethnic cleansing in this state and, of course, in all the riverine states of Nigeria. We must resist it. We must stop it.

Every one of us must rise up.

“The armed forces are not neutral; they collude with the armed bandits that kill people, kill Nigerians. They facilitate their movement.

They cover them. If you are depending on the armed forces to stop the killings, you will all die one by one.

“The ethnic cleansing must stop in Taraba State, it must stop in all the states of Nigeria; otherwise Somalia will be a child’s play. You have nowhere else to go.”

Though, the military was quick to counter Danjuma through its spokesman,Texas Chukwu, who in a press statement, referred to the General’s outburst, as “unfortunate,” and urged Nigerians to shun his advice, many people did not find the army’s reaction persuasive enough.

The army denied complicity in the attacks and urged Nigerians to go on with their dayto-day activities and be law-abiding, warning that anyone caught with arms and ammunition would be dealt with in accordance with the laws. “Every law-abiding citizen is assured of equal protection and security of their lives and property irrespective of his/her person”. It added.

While the army’s reaction to Danjuma is official and expected, there is however the urgent need to underscore the fact that his position is shared by many other opinion moulders. This has a far reaching implication for the polity.

For instance a former Director General of Nigeria Intelligence Agency (NIA) and former Director-General, State Security Service (SSS), Chief Albert Horsfall, had earlier in February, alleged that “security officers are planning with the herdsmen or they are not doing their work to stop the attacks happening in Nigeria.”

According to him, they are either collaborating with them or the security people don’t just care.

“The president cannot fight the herdsmen on his own, but the people he send must wake up”, he added.

His suggestion was that President Muhammadu Buhari should compel heads of police and other security outfits to first collect all the guns in possession of the herdsmen.

Nobel Laureate, Prof Wole Soyinka also feels it is ideal for the citizenry to protect themselves against the marauding killers where the security agents statutory saddled with that responsibility are failing.

Soyinka bemoaned the seemingly unchecked wanton killings perpetrated by the rampaging

President Muhammadu Buhari

nomads, and blamed the escalation on the lacklustre attitude of the leadership to stop the killings.Though he acknowledged that face-offs between farmers and cattle rearers have existed for many years, his present concern is that it is beginning to look as if Boko Haram is gradually infiltrating other parts of Nigeria.

Even before the attacks on the police headquarters and the United Nations building in Abuja, Soyinka had called attention of people in authority to the dangerous activities of the nomads, especially as he observed during his hunting expeditions.

Also bothered that the Nigerian security agents are not doing enough to stop the herders, Soyinka said: “We are bringing back the Ogun State Hunters Association (OSHA) and we will collaborate with police, military and other such organisations. When they see armed herdsmen they should report. If they are not disarmed, we will disarm them.

“I don’t want anybody to believe war has been declared. It is a civic protection. If the police do not take action, OPC, vigilante and other groups will consider it their duties to move into the spaces and disarm them. It should not be our responsibility but where there is some negligence we have to do it.

“We must demand of the security agencies to clean up the forests. Time should be set when armed herdsmen will be disarmed.”

He said the activities of the herdsmen on communities across Nigeria had reached “unacceptable and irresponsible levels,” and he described what Nigerians are experiencing with herdsmen as “new phase of terrorism,” and “new phase of colonialism.”

Though he acknowledged the achievements of the Nigerian Army against the Boko Haram

He gave an instruction in January, he didn’t know it was not obeyed in March and his Inspector-General of Police is still there. What other way to condone is more than that?

terrorists but he said if efforts invested into other military interventions such as Pyton Dance and Crocodile Smile had been put into stopping the herdsmen, Nigerian couldn’t have had what it had on its hands.

While he agrees with the idea of setting up of ranches saying “setting up ranches should be accelerated,” as against colonies, he said in the meantime government should not make excuses for the killer herdsmen.

Though the Defence Minister, Mansur Muhammad Dan-Ali, the National Secretary of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Alhaji Maimala Buni, and some other pro-government persons were quick to caution Nigerians against the call to arm, which they feel is capable of undermining government efforts to restore peace and security in the country, quite a number of Nigerians are of the opinions that self-protection may be a likely solution to the attacks.

Even when the army was condemning Danjuma for taking his stance, Governor Ayo Fayose of Ekiti State, Senator Shehu Sani, former Minister of Steel, Paul Unongo, the Yoruba socio-political and cultural group, Afenifere, Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, Movement for the Actualization of the Sovereign state of Biafra, MASSOB and Ohanaeze Youth Council, were in total solidarity with him.On way forward, two respectable Nigerians, elder statesman and one of the leading voices in the South West region, who is a prominent member of the pan-Yoruba sociopolitical organisation, Afenifere, Chief Ayo Adebanjo, and Nigerian politician, human right activist and former Liaison Offichaver to President Shehu Shagari, Alhaji Tanko Yakasai, have suggested what government should do.

Though not really hopeful that there could be any meaningful improvement under the current administration, Adebanjo said those perpetuating the killings should be apprehended and brought to justice. To him, that is the first and most important action that must be taking to avoid crisis.

“The way out is for him (President Buhari) to come out to say he is no longer supporting them. He has been one of their patrons. How can you say people are killing people in day light and there is no arrest? We have security; we have army and we have police!

“He gave an instruction in January, he didn’t know it was not obeyed in March and his

Inspector-General of Police is still there. What other way to condone is more than that?

“They killed them in Agatu, they went back again there, not a single word of sympathy. It happened in Adamawa; all over the country.

At a time they denied that they are not Fulani.

Remember, at the beginning of this thing (herdsmen attacks) they were saying ‘why are you calling them Fulani?’ That they are coming from another country.

“Under normal circumstances, law and order would have broken down in Nigeria and Buhari must be told. How many people did IPOB kill before he declared them as terrorists? These are people who are shouting for their own autonomy in their own territory. He didn’t hesitate to declare them as terrorists but these are people that are known now - they are all over the country.”

Yakasai, on his part wants the administration to seek relevant opinions from stakeholders and put them to use to reverse the situation.

“Whatever problem you find yourself in, it is either you generate mechanism to deal with it or you invite wide range of opinions to galvanise and get them to develop some ideas as to how to handle the problem.

“My opinion is that since this thing (herdsmen violence) has persisted for so long like Boko Haram, I think the government ought to organise a stakeholders meeting involving the farmers, herders, the governors, National Assembly, academicians, political class, traditional rulers and public opinion moulders like the media people. You will put them together.

“There will be 1000 ideas out of which you can get 10, 20, 100 concrete ones that you can pick and apply them to solving the problem.

“So, my opinion is that it is not too late for the government to now organise a stakeholders meeting comprising all the people I mentioned before, including students, women; all of them.

Let them generate ideas and put those ideas to writing by way of summary of the debate.

“The government will set up a small committee to sample these ideas, then advise the government on which ones are practicable.

“I think we will be able to get some ideas.

Then we can have trajectory emerging from the discussion. This is my thinking because it is a problem, including the problem of Boko Haram, that we are yet to find solution to.”

T H I S D AY ˾ WEDNESDAY, APRIL 4, 2018

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MIDWEEKPOLITICS

Saraki Consolidates in Kwara After the council elections that saw the Peoples Democratic make gains in some strongholds of the All Progressives Congress, the Senate President, Bukola Saraki stepped in. His intervention has yielded positive results, Hammed Shittu reports

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head of the 2019 general election, Senate President, Dr Abubakar Saraki is tightening his grip on his home state, Kwara.

Across the three senatorial districts in the state, Saraki is reaching out to both friends and foes. The interesting thing is that the people are receptive to his messages. Those claiming that ‘Saraki is finished in Kwara’ may be living in a fool paradise. His efforts to consolidate his political leadership and his father’s dynasty have yielded positive result.

Already there is a mass defection of members of the Peoples Democratic Party in one of the strong hold of the opposition party in the state, Oke- Ero Local Government Area of the state to the All Progressives Congress.

This local government council in question is home to supporters of the governorship candidate of the PDP during the 2015 general election in the state, Senator Simeon Ajibola.

During that election, the PDP gave the APC a serious fight and mounted a serious challenge to the political control and leadership of Saraki in the state.

But, with the current political leadership consolidation embarked on by Saraki across the three senatorial districts of the state, many opposition groups have seen the reason to return to the Saraki political hegemony that had been in existence for over 40 years. The Senate President is funding many welfare programmes in the state.

Saraki has extended assistance in education and other areas to indigent people in the state and this has now brought a new political dimension to the political calculations ahead of the next year general election Many indigent students across the three senatorial districts benefited immensely from Saraki’s widows mite this year by paying the examination fees of final year students of secondary schools in the state. This gesture has changed the heart of many people in the state towards coming to terms with his political leadership.

Also, the supply of free Joint Admission and Matriculation Board’s forms to some final year students across the three senatorial districts has further encouraged many people to switch their loyalty and political leadership to Saraki.

As this was not enough, Saraki has been given financial assistance to the needy to enable them meet their daily needs. This has further endeared more people to the senate president.

It should be pointed out that Saraki did not base the assistance on political party or religious consideration. Whether they are members of PDP or APC is not an issue.

What is important to him is whether they are in need or not.

Data obtained by this correspondent from the constituency office of the senate president located along Olorunsogo area, in Ilorin popularly called Mandate Office, show that PDP members benefited in large numbers from the gestures.

However, in return for this gesture of Saraki, the ancient town of Ilofa, the headquarters of Oke-Ero Local Government council of the state was turned into a carnival following the defection of over 3,000 members of the PDP to the ruling APC citing the good political leadership of Saraki.

The event which took place at the Jamaat Primary School, Ilofa showed that the defectors were very happy to join the APC. Addressing the mammoth crowd, the leader of the decampees who is also a former chairmanship candidate of the PDP during the last November 18, local government council election in the state, Mr. Wale Asonibare said that, “we decided to dump the PDP in view of the sterling political leadership of the Senate president, Saraki.”

He said that, “Saraki is a political juggernaut of note that has been working hard to lead the state and Nigeria to the promised land.

Senate President, Bukola Saraki

“I want to say that, nothing will be too small to work with him (Saraki) so as to realise the objective in order to move the nation forward”.

Asonibare however said that the need for him and his supporters to leave the PDP was necessitated by the lack of focus, vision and internal democracy within the p PDP, which he described as ‘dead and dry bone’.

He also described the PDP as a sinking party adding that,” there is no doubt that, the PDP lacks internal democracy and this would not lead the party to any where in the next year general election both in the state and the nation in particular.”

Welcoming the decampees to the APC on behalf of the Senate President, Alhaji Jimoh Balogun, the APC Kwara South Senatorial Chairman lauded the decision of the defectors for making the right decision at the right time.

Balogun stated that, the effort of the Kwara South Senator, Dr Rafiu Adebayo Ibrahim cannot be overemphasized in making the defection a reality.

Going by the enthusiasm shown by the defectors, things are looking up for Saraki and his party, the APC in Kwara

He added, “Only a fool who doesn’t know what politics means would join the opposition in Kwara, as any political mission in Kwara without Saraki is a mission to nowhere and that will amount to an exercise in futility”.

Balogun said that Asonibare and other defectors moved out of the deceitful PDP because the party has become moribund and noted that the achievements of APC government of Kwara State and the leadership template provided by Saraki have silenced the opposition permanently.

He therefore, urged other politicians that remained in PDP to pack their things and join the progressive ruling party for the betterment of the state and her citizens.

Party leaders and stakeholders of the APC at hand to receive the defectors are the APC Chairman in Oke-Ero LGA, Chief Joseph Adeniyi; the Executive Chairman of Oke-Ero LGA, Hon. Bayo Oni; member representing Oke-Ero constituency at the Kwara State House of Assembly; former KWHA member, Dr Abraham Ashaolu; a former Commissioner in the state, Hon. Kayode Towoju, and the immediate past commissioner for energy, Hon. Muideen Alalade.

In separate speeches, they all agreed that the event was remarkable for the APC members and loyalists in the local government area and Kwara State in general.

Promising the new members that their interest would be jealously protected, the APC leaders said that, they would not regret their coming to the ruling APC. They however, commended the bravery of Asonibare for leading the defectors to leave the PDP. They unanimously saluted the courage of the decampees to take the bull by the horn

in dumping their former party to join the progressive party to build a new direction for themselves, urging the new and old members to work as a team for the success of the party in the future elections.

Other APC leaders who received the decampees were; former Special Adviser to the Governor of Kwara State, Prince Deji Oni, Alhaji Yusuf Olaniyi and Hon. Mrs Margret Abegunde, Senior Legislative Aide to the Senate President among others.

Also welcoming the defectors, the leadership of the APC in Kwara said the defection of the decision to defect from PDP to APC has shown the acceptability of the political leader of the state and the Senate President, Saraki.

In a statement issued in Ilorin and signed by the state Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Sulyman Buhari the party said that, “with the most recent defection of PDP leaders and their foot soldiers to the APC, the camp of the PDP in Kwara State has been further depleted.

“Considering the strength of the defectors, Buhari said that, “It is clear that the PDP will never recover from this colossal depletion of its camp”.

The statement added that, “unlike the recently stage-managed defection by the Peoples Democratic Party in Kwara State, the defection which took place today is real, genuine and massive.”

The statement therefore assured the defectors of equal opportunities and fair play and urged the defectors to immediately team up with party members at the grassroots level.

Going by the enthusiasm shown by the defectors, things are looking up for Saraki and his party, the APC in Kwara.

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FEATURES

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

Bama’s Displaced Millionaires Chineme Okafor writes on the forced exodus of some prosperous businessmen from Bama and neighbouring towns in Borno State because of the Boko Haram insurgency

Mallam Modu...he lost close to N10 million when Boko Haram visited and sacked his town

Alhaji Umar Ali who lost close to N7m

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They spoke solely in Hausa, the paper however relied on professional interpreters provided by the PAGED initiative to communicate with them. “I worked under one of my bosses, he used to sell oil. After working for him for some time, he gave me enough money to start my own business and I became a boss of myself. I sold petrol and kerosene,� Ali told THISDAY. “He gave me money and a tanker and oil inside, I sold and I started bringing in my own products in a short while. Before they spoiled the town, I brought one or two tankers of petrol to sell. “When we were about to run away, my consignment already came in and there was nothing I could do to take them back.

There was no network in town during the period and there was nothing I could do, the consignment came in, I saw them, but there was nothing I could do. They (Boko Haram) burnt it down, and I even had to run away and trekked from Bama,� he added.

Ali said he lost, “about N6 to N7 million,� when his oil tanker was burnt down by the terrorists, and that he had emptied his bank account to make that purchase that turned out to be his last in Bama. “I used to keep my money in the bank but I did one business during the fuel crisis and handover of power from Goodluck to Buhari, I removed all my money from the bank and put them in business. “I thought putting them in the business, things will be better and I’ll put them back in the bank, but everything went down the drain. No money, the vehicle, nothing at all,�

Ali explained in a rather calm voice, not seeming to hang on to the disappointment for too long.

He equally disclosed that he had N30, 000 in cash credit from people who owed

nsurgency in Nigeria’s Northeastern state of Borno, an area reportedly about two-and-half times the size of the entire five states in the South-east, has left many people with indescribable tales.Typically, many families in the towns that the terrorist group, Boko Haram, had ran over have lost both members and means of livelihoods. Some have found very resolute ways to pick up their lives back, moving on mostly to unfamiliar towns and cities as internally displaced people, yet, a lot more appear to have failed to find new lives for themselves.

Amongst those who have moved on are business people or traders from Bama - an area of 4,997 kilometres square and reportedly home to 269,986 people as at the 2006 census, and known mostly for trading in smoked fish from the Lake Chad; petroleum products from downtown parts of Nigeria to border towns with Cameroon, Chad and Niger; as well.

Historically, Bama is one of the towns that constituted the Dikwa Emirate – a successor to the famous Borno Empire. It is fairly close to Nigeria’s border with Cameroon on the northern flank, and once was a thriving commercial hub.

It is also Borno’s second largest town after Damboa. Its geographical position as a border town gives it the exclusive appeal as a commercial hub and its inhabitants made the most of the commercial opportunities it presented until Boko Haram took it over.

Those who had, over the years, earned their livelihoods from their toils in Bama were however forced to abandon their businesses and monies when Boko Haram invaded.

According to a humanitarian brief on Bama by the United Nations Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA), the town was severely affected by the Boko

Haram conflict, and was repeatedly attacked between May 2013 and September 2014, until it finally came under the control of the insurgents who reportedly turned it into their headquarters.

Though the Nigerian armed forces reportedly regained control of Bama in March 2015, when they did, its over two years rule by Boko Haram had left it with a devastating socio-economic and humanitarian conditions.

One of those who fled Bama leaving his businesses and capital behind was Alhaji Umar Ali. He told a team of social and community issues researchers which included THISDAY but led by the Participatory Communication for Gender Development (PAGED) initiative, that when Boko Haram came calling, he had very little time to recover his capital and so lost N7 million to the conflict.

Following the tracks of the PAGED initiative which were documenting the stories of displaced people in the North-east under a project called ‘uprooted’, THISDAY was able to speak to Ali and a couple of other business people from Bama and Malam Fatori who lost millions of naira and business stocks to Boko Haram attacks on their towns.

One of those who ed Bama leaving his businesses and capital behind was Alhaji Umar Ali. When Boko Haram came calling, he had very little time to recover his capital and so lost N7 million to the conict

him before Bama went down, but all of that counted very little to him because his debtors were not better off.

Ali told THISDAY that: “Every Muslim believes that whatever will happen will surely happen, you don’t have a say about it. We gave people before, but now people give us.�

In response to questions on his thoughts about getting back on his feet again from the misfortune, he said: “Everything is of God. If God says we will get the money back, then sure. Everything is in God’s hands. “I came to Maiduguri, looking for my family, and I met somebody who gave me a room. I saw my family of six children and wife. But we stay in that one room now. When I was in Bama, I had enough room that I could give to people to live in.�

The PAGED initiative which the ‘uprooted’ project is documenting people’s experiences with Boko Haram and how this is changing gender norms and cultural practices in the conflict-ridden Borno State, explained to the paper that Ali’s experience was just one of a lot of others who lost business stocks and millions in cash to the insurgents.

Its Coordinator, Ms. Ummi Bukar, noted that Bama was silently affluent with lots of wealthy traders who either kept their monies at home as a cultural practice, or in banks like Ali did, in line with modern trends. Though not confirmed, Bukar, suggested that Boko Haram may have funded its operations and survival in Bama with some of the monies and stocks that were left behind by these business people.

Though not from Bama, but with similar story as that of Ali, another displaced trader, Mallam Modu Bukar, whose town, Malam Fatori was invaded by Boko Haram, also told of how his business and financial assets were sponged away by the terrorists.

While Ali kept his money in the bank,

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Commercial stores burn down in bama by Boko Haram

Bama IDPs in Maiduguri protesting to be allowed back to their homesteads

Modu Bukar never did, and so it was pretty easier for Boko Haram to get hold of his money which he said was about N10 million.

Bukar’s hometown of Malam Fatori, is near Borno’s border with Niger and Chad.

It reportedly recorded fierce clashes between Nigeria's military backed up by a multinational force, and Boko Haram fighters for its control.

It was not clear when exactly Bukar lost his livelihood and left the town, but he said: “I came from Malam Fatori. I was a businessman, a trader. I had N15 million that I was using for business.�

Continuing, he explained: “We don’t use bank, we only take money to the market and buy things. I cannot quantify the amount of goods I had that time, but I had about N10 million at that time. Because of the fight I ran to Maiduguri. Boko Haram were looking for me to give them money, I ran away and all the goods I had they burnt down.�

Asked why he never used the banks, and how he felt losing all he had to Boko Haram, Bukar stated: “We don’t keep money in the bank because we don’t believe in the bank and because of our businesses. “Somebody will bring in goods and you have to pay instantly and the person will not be patient to wait for you to go and get money from the bank to pay, another businessman will pay and you’ll lose. It is better to stay with your money.�

“It is God’s doing, I know to eat today is very tough. Children go to school in other

Many of the people who live in Bama are either traders or farmers or both, after speaking to many indigenes who ed from the town when Boko Haram attacked, they mostly admitted that they kept their monies at home. This is because of the nature of their trading which requires instant cash at any given time, they do not have the luxury of visiting banks before every transaction.

Most of the houses in Bama were burned down, and with them probably a lot of the cash

places, but not here. It is tough and not funny at all, we have to go out and look for menial jobs to do,� he added.

Bukar, like Ali also believes he could get back to earn as much money as he did before Malam Fatori came down to Boko Haram if God permits him to.

Resignedly, he said: “I worked with somebody in Abandan, made some money and established myself. I never thought I would make such money, but if God allows me, I’ll make it again.�

Bama’s home explained

banking

custom

To understand the cultural practice of home banking in Bama, as well as what may have been lost to Boko Haram from this, Bukar, explained that the practice could have been as old as the town itself.

She however noted that she could not put a figure on what may have been lost by business people who fled Bama, but noted that with the age-old practice of keeping money at home, so much must have been left behind. “Many of the people who live in Bama are either traders or farmers or both, after speaking to many indigenes who fled from the town when Boko Haram attacked, they mostly admitted that they kept their monies at home. This is because of the nature of their trading which requires instant cash at any

given time, they do not have the luxury of visiting banks before every transaction.

Most of the houses in Bama were burned down, and with them probably a lot of the cash,� Bukar explained.

To give an idea of the amount of money that may have been lost to Boko Haram by Bama traders, Bukar, stated: “Some of the men and women left who didn’t escape, narrated to us how Boko Haram would come into their houses and demand for certain amount of money, sometimes millions. They did that constantly for a while before they burned down the town completely.�

Speaking further on the socio-economic work her initiative is doing to help resettle the people unsettled by Boko Haram in Borno, she said: “The project aims to capture the untold stories of women and girls who, like countless peers in the region, have shown exceptional courage and resourcefulness in safeguarding their families and helping them to survive in the midst of the Boko Haram crisis.�

These women, she added had in the process, “found opportunities, like access to livelihoods and decision-making power that would have been hard to acquire prior to the regional conflict.�

According to her, this gender-changing roles have thrown up challenges that require solutions, hence, the intervention from PAGED.

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IMAGES

L-R; Former Governor of Abia state Senator. Theodore Orji; Governor Okezie Ikpeazu of Abia State and his Ekiti State counterpart Ayodele Fayose during the commissioning of Umuotako Road, Aba., Abia State...recently

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Photo Editor ĂŒĂ“Ă™ĂŽĂ&#x;Ă˜ ÔËÖË Email Ă‹ĂŒĂ“Ă™ĂŽĂ&#x;Ă˜Ë›Ă‹Ă”Ă‹Ă–Ă‹ĚśĂžĂ’Ă“Ă?ĂŽĂ‹ĂŁĂ–Ă“Ă Ă?Ë›Ă?Ù×

L-R: Former Governor of Delta State, Chief James Ibori; Edo State Governor, Mr. Godwin Obaseki; Minister of State, Petroleum Resources, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu; and his wife, Bettyu, during the conferment of chieftaincy title on Chief Josephine Ada Kachikwu, in Issele-Uku, Delta State..,recently

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Children catching fun during the Easter Monday Celebration in Ibadan...recently

felix ademola

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BUSINESSWORLD R A T E S MONEY MARKET OBB OVERNIGHT

A S

A T

REPO 14 % 15.08 %

CALL 1-MONTH 3-MONTH

17.92% 18.38 % 18.83%

M A R C H S & P INDEX INDEX LEVEL 1-DAY MONTH-TO-DATE

Group Business Editor Chika Amanze-Nwachuku

Email chika.amanzenwachukwu@thisdaylive.com 08033294157

2 9 , 2 0 1 8 347.44 % -0.06 % 1.41%

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

5.45 % 5.45 %

EXCHANGE RATE N305.65/1US DOLLAR* *AS AT LAST FRIDAY

Quick Takes Wema’s ‘Alat’ Wins Award

ECONOMY ON THEIR MINDS

L-R: Director, Debt Management OďŹƒce, Dele Aforlabi; guest speaker, Prof. Kingsley Moghalu; Chairman of the Governing Board, Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) Senator Olabiyi Durojaiye and Chairman, Centre for Financial Journalism, Ernest Ebi, during the Bullion Lecture 2018, focused on the state of the economy, held at the Civic Centre, Lagos...recently

Rising Cyber Threats Worries Chief Executives Obinna Chima Cyber threats have replaced over-regulation as top concern for banking and capital markets (BCM) chief executive officers (CEOs), a survey by PwC has revealed.

According to the study by the global professional services 89 per cent are worried about their cybersecurity, adding that 93 per cent of the CEOs would be investing more heavily in it in 2018. This formed part of the report: “Driving change: no magic solutions, just hard work,� which is part of PwC’s 21th Global Survey. The report highlighted the outcomes of interviews with 188 BCM CEOs around the world.

Furthermore, it showed that the BCM CEOs were bullish about economic growth – 57 per cent believed it will improve over the next 12 months,

ECONOMY compared to 30 per cent in 2017.

However, the CEOs’ optimism about the economy hasn’t translated into increasing confidence in the prospects for their own organisations as 38 per cent were very confident about their companies’ ability to boost revenue growth over the next 12 months, down from 40 per cent in 2017.

The pace of technological change (85%) and the closelyrelated impact of changing consumer behaviour (73%) as threats to growth are rising.

The survey stated that it was probably why less than half (44%) of the BCM CEOswere clear about how robotics and artificial intelligence (AI) can improve customer experience.

Commenting on the report, PwC’s Global Banking and

Capital Markets Leader, David Hoffman, said: “There are two types of BCM organisations – those that have experienced a major cyberattack and those that will. Unsurprisingly, nothing is more likely to keep their CEOs awake at night. The importance of cyber protection to customer trust underlines the extent to which cyber threats are a strategic rather than just IT risk. “Developments such as the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) make the need for more proactive safeguards, better coordination and more systematic response plans even more pressing.�

Hoffman added: “As the CEO Survey findings underline, the big differentiator is digital transformation, and the breakthrough innovation and boost to growth that stem from it. Get this right and there

are opportunities to transform your customer experience and put clear blue water between you and your competitors. “However, driving change is proving to be exceptionally challenging. In our experience, BCM organisations that have tried to bring in technologies such as robotic process automation (RPA), blockchain and AI without at the same time streamlining and rationalising their core processes have quickly come unstuck.

Technology can’t reinvigorate innovation and returns without new ways of working, like human and machine collaboration, and a rethink of how to connect with clients.�

Additionally, the survey showed CEOs realised customer behaviour can’t be addressed without first dealing with the Continued on page 24

Q1: Investors in Stocks Count Gains as Market Rises 8.5% Goddy Egene Some investors in the stock market are looking back at the first quarter (Q1) of 2018 with smiles as their investments closed with higher value. The market, which recovered from a three-year decline to close last year on positive note, maintained the momentum in the beginning of 2018. That bullish trend was sustained and boosted the market to a record high on February 2, 2018 when the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) All-Share Index hit 44,639.99, while market capitalisation stood at N16.019 trillion. On that date, the year-to-date growth was 16.7 per cent.

CAPITAL MARKET However, profit taking, portfolio rebalancing by institutional investors combined with other factors to later attract the bears.

That bearish trend persisted throughout March to reduce the YTD growth 8.5 per cent at the end of the first quarter (Q1) last week.

THISDAY checks showed that despite the reduction in the YTD growth, some stocks still fetched investors significant capital growth, thereby making them not to regret their investments in the equities market.

For instance, Unity Bank Plc recorded a gain of 130 per

cent in the Q1, just as Caverton Offshore Support Group Plc appreciated by 106 per cent.

Investors in Cement Company of Northern Nigeria Plc gained 96.8 per cent, while Wema Bank Plc recorded a growth of 90.3 per cent. NPF Microfinance Bank recorded a growth of 69.6 per cent, just as N.E.M Insurance Plc, Eterna Plc and Sterling Bank Plc chalked up 65 per cent, 63.7 per cent and 62 per cent in that order.

Other top price gainers for the quarter included: FCMB Group Plc (60.8 per cent); Glaxosmithkline Consumers Nigeria Plc (57.3 per cent); Skye Bank Plc, Fidson Healthcare (54 per cent apiece);Beta Glass Plc

(47.5 per cent); FBN Holdings Plc (42 per cent); Cutix Plc (39 per cent); Unilever Nigeria Plc (34.1 per cent); C & I Leasing Plc (33.3 per cent); Dangote Flour Mills Plc (31.2 per cent);Flour Mills of Nigeria Plc (28.6 per cent) and Jaiz Bank Plc 28 per cent).

Although the market witnessed a decline in the last month of the Q1, the 8.5 per cent recorded for the whole quarter was still in line with the projections made by analysts.

Analysts had said the market would close the year with a growth. According to analysts at Afrinvest West Africa, “Our near Continued on page 24

ALAT by Wema, a fully digital bank, has been named ‘Best Digital Bank in Africa’ at the 2018 Asian Banker Awards.

Wema Bank launched ALATin May 2017 to provide digital banking services for students, entrepreneurs and professionals in Nigeria.

ALAT, a branchless bank with apps available on Google Play, the Apple App Store oers unique features including account opening in minutes, group savings, instant loans, a virtual dollar card and up to 10 per cent annual interest on savings.

Over 200,000 ALAT accounts have been opened since May 2017, accounting for more than 1 billion naira in deposits.

The Asian Banker is regarded as one of Asia’s most authoritative provider of business intelligence to the ďŹ nancial services industry.

It runs a prestigious annual banking awards program, recognising banks with groundbreaking products and services.

According to a statement, the bank’s keenness to consolidate its position as a leader in the digital banking space had seen it build a robust portfolio of digital solutions tailored to meet a diverse pool of customers and tailored to suit the dynamic lifestyles of students, budding entrepreneurs and young professionals. “The Bank was the ďŹ rst to pioneer card control, a solution that allows customers secure their payment cards by locking and unlocking their cards directly from their mobile phones. It also oers USSD Bankingthroughits*945#platformandattractivepaymentgateway solutions to merchants through its WebPay service.

Afreximbank Supports Mali with $700m

The African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) will arrange $700 million multi-sourced ďŹ nance to support trade and related infrastructureprojectsinMali,focusingmainlyontransportlogistics, tourism, agro-processing and the ďŹ nancial sector, Dr. Benedict Oramah, President of the Bank, announced in Bamako recently.

Oramah, who was speaking after a meeting with President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita of Mali, said the support would target activities aimed at increasing the country’s industrial capacity in cotton processing and at developing the transport and hotel infrastructure. “We have identiďŹ ed a number of projects to support Mali’s economic development,â€? Oramah added. Those included “the ďŹ nancing of an industrial park along the border with Burkina Faso and CĂ´te d’Ivoire; the development of the country’s aviation sector; the construction of cross-border railway infrastructure; and ďŹ nancial support to the local banking industryâ€?. “These key initiatives align with Afreximbank’s strategy to promote intra-African trade and the industrialisation of the continent,â€? he stated, adding that the Bank would deploy its Food Emergency ContingentTrade Financing FacilityinthecountrytoenableMalimitigateandeďŹƒcientlymanage vulnerability to drought by substituting physical food reserves with readily available ďŹ nancing to import equivalent volumes of food in case of an emergency.

Stakeholders Chart Way for Tourism

The wife of Ondo State Governor, Betty Anyanwu-Akeredolu recently joined experts in the tourism and hospitality industry, foreign development partners, and other relevant stakeholders to chat a way forward for the sector.The two-day event organised by the International Hospitality, Tourism and Eco-sustainability Forum (IHTEF), with the theme “Emerging Markets in Nigeria: The Future of Hospitality and Tourism, held took place in Owerri.

In her contribution, Akeredolu observed that Nigeria has a lot of natural endowments that if properly harnessed would make Nigeria a tourist destination. She cited her home town Emeabiam as having untapped tourism potential. She said: “Our dear Imo state has a lot of potentials to be the tourist destination in Nigeria. You heard all the speakers mention so many tourist attraction areas in Nigeria. “Even where I come from Emeabiam in Owerri West, we have a conuence yet to be developed, where Otamiri River joined Uramurukwa River, that is eco-tourism waiting to be harnessed.

Another one is the rubber estate, the bikers can get fun from just riding round the perimeters of that thousands of hectares of the abounded rubber estate.

“I believe the MPC should reduce the MPR by 25 basis points. But if they don’t have the courage to do that, like it happened in Ghana, South Africa, they should probably adjust the asymmetric corridor�

CEO, Financial Derivatives Company

Bismarck Rewane

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RISING CYBER THREATS WORRIES CHIEF EXECUTIVES technological disruption that drives them. At the same time, the relatively low level of perceived disruption coming from new competition would suggest that the heat from FinTech is easing off, it added.

It noted that rather than a potential rival, FinTech businesses were seen as a valued source of innovation and talent. “Capitalising on the potential of new technologies is also as much about talent as tech itself.

People rather than systems drive innovation and realise its full commercial potential.

As the CEO Survey findings highlight, attracting digital talent is notoriously hard – less than 20% of BCM CEOs see it as easy. “While much of the focus is on bringing in app developers, robotics engineers and other specialists, it’s just as important to ensure that tech awareness permeates throughout the organisation, including senior leadership. “It’s also key to consider how to organise talent when humans and machines are now coming to work so closely as part of a hybrid workforce,� it added.

Q1: INVESTORS IN STOCKS COUNT GAINS AS MARKET RISES 8.5% term outlook for the equity market remains positive due to improving fiscal and current account balances – supported by rising oil prices – which is expected to have positive knock-on impacts on FX market stability and earnings.

However, a major downside risk is the upcoming general elections which could weigh on polity stability and lead to more short-term thinking in economic policymaking.�

Similarly, analysts at Vetiva Capital said: “Despite the 2017 equity market rally driven by a partial liberalisation of the country’s exchange rate regime, the Nigerian Stock Exchange remains relatively undervalued.�

They have therefore projected further gains for the equities market in 2018, with an estimated full year return of between 15 per cent and 20 per cent.

Dangote Sugar Refinery to Pay Higher Dividend as Profit Hits N40bn Goddy Egene Dangote Sugar Refinery (DSR) Plc has reported improved results for the year ended 2017 and recommended higher dividends for shareholders.

Two other members of the Dangote Group, Dangote Cement Plc and NASCON Allied Plc had earlier announced their results that showed higher performance compared to the previous year.

Last week, DSR unveiled its audited results, showing growth in performance indicators and recommended higher final dividend.

DSR reported a revenue of N204.42 billion in 2017, up 20.4 per cent above the N169.72 billion recorded in 2016. Profit before tax jumped by 173.3 per cent to N53.6 billion, from N19.61 billion, while profit after tax grew fast by 176 per cent to N39.78 billion as against N14.4 billion in 2016.

Given the impressive performance, the board of directors recommended a final dividend of 125 kobo in addition to the 50 kobo interim paid last year. This will bring the total dividend for the year to 175 kobo per share compared with 60 kobo paid the previous year.

Commenting on the results, the Acting Group Managing Director, DSR, Abdullahi Sule said: “We are very pleased

Aliko Dangote

with the 2017 business year, with an increased revenue growth of being 20.4 per cent and gross

profit increase of 121.8 per cent, the best recorded in the history of the company. Our focus for 2018 remains the actualisation of our Backward Integration Projects (BIPs) with focus on the achievement of 1.080M MT sugar from our BIP sites in the next six years.

Concerted efforts are being made to leverage our strengths and maximise every opportunity to increase our market share and create sustainable value for all stakeholders.�

The company said the increase in direct overheads was mainly driven by our

production cost, which was driven by increased energy cost. The price of gas increased marginally from $7.38/mscf to $7.45/mscf, combined with the instability in gas supply during the first three quarters, pushed up the overall energy cost for 2017. “This led to the use of LPFO at a higher price against budget.

Our actual average price for the year under review was N143/litre against budgeted price of N100/litre. Investments made in respect of the various BIPsack were funded from DSR’s internal resources.

The group liquidity position improved from N35billion to N41billion as at December 31, 2017. In line with our liquidity management policy the excess funds were placed on short term fixed deposit to earn investment income.

In addition, N13.0billion was deposited with the CBN for FX forward contract payable to foreign trade creditors at maturity. This sum is treated as other financial assets under the broad class of other assets in the statement of financial position,� DSR explained.

ACADEMIA-INDUSTRY FORUM

L-R: Pro Chancellor, Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Ile Ife, Dr. Yemi Ogunbiyi; Vice Chancellor, Prof. Eyitope Ogunbodede and Board Chairman, National InformationTechnology Development Agency (NITDA), Prof. Adeolu Akande, during the Academia-Industry Engagement forum organised by the university at Sheraton Hotels, Ikeja, Lagos...recently

N5.5bn Alleged Debt: Court Suspends Hearing in Honeywell Suit A Federal High Court in Lagos has suspended the hearing of a N5.5 billion debt case between Honeywell Flour Mills Plc, its sister companies and Ecobank Nigeria Limited.

The companies are praying the court to hold that they are not indebted to Ecobank.

Justice Mohammed Idris adjourned hearing in the suit pending the determination of an interlocutory appeal filed

by Ecobank.

The bank had appealed against the judge’s refusal to recuse himself from continuing to hear the case.

When the case came up for continuation of defence last Thursday, the bank’s lawyer, Mr. Divine Agbua, told the

judge that the Court of Appeal directed him to suspend further hearing of the suit.

He said: “The appeal filed by the defendant came up for hearing at the Court of Appeal.

Judgment was reserved. They made a directive to await their decision. May I apply that this case be adjourned sine dine (indefinitely). We shall notify your lordship upon delivery of judgment by the Court of Appeal.�

Plaintiffs’ counsel Olabode Olanipekun confirmed that the Court of Appeal directed that the case be halted “out of respect for the hierarchy of courts.� “My application would be for the court to adjourn, not sine dine, but till a further date

for us to report the outcome of the appeal,� he said.

Ruling, Justice Idris said he would comply with the appellate court’s directive.

He held: “I have listened to learned counsel. I have read the orders of the Court of Appeal. It is clear that the Court of Appeal had directed this court to await its judgment on this matter out of respect for the hierarchy of courts. “As a trial court, subordinate to the Court of Appeal, this court shall abide by the orders made by the Learned Law Lords of the Court of Appeal. This court shall, therefore, await the judgment of the Court of Appeal in this matter before further proceedings are continued herein.

“In the circumstances, further proceedings in this matter are hereby adjourned pending the determination of the appeal.

Either party shall be at liberty to apply for a hearing at the conclusion or the delivery of judgment by the Learned Law Lords of the Court of Appeal.

This shall be the decision of the court,� the judge ruled.

Ecobank had asked Justice Idris to recuse himself because it no longer had confidence in the judge to do justice in the case.

The judge had refused the application, saying he would stick to his judicial oath in determining the case.

His words: “It is always tempting for a judge against whom criticisms are made to

say he would prefer not to hear further proceedings in which the critic is involved. “But it is important for a judge to resist the temptation to recuse himself simply because it’ll be comfortable to do so. The danger is that we’ll soon reach a position in which litigants were able to select judges to hear their cases simply by criticising all the judges that they do not want to hear their cases, whether the criticism is justified or not. “These issues are either for the appellate court or appealable issues and the defendant can exercise the right of appeal if it so desires. The application for the judge to recuse himself from this matter is most frivolous and it is refused,� he said.

Group Business Editor

Ă’Ă“Ă•Ă‹ Ă—Ă‹Ă˜Ă¤Ă?Ě‹ ĂĄĂ‹Ă?Ă’Ă&#x;Ă•Ă&#x; AgriBusiness/Industry Editor

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LCCI: Solid Mineral Sector Can Generate about 5m Jobs Jonathan Eze

Capital Market Editor

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Senior Correspondent

Ă‹Ă’Ă?Ă?Ă— Ă•Ă“Ă˜Ă‘ĂŒĂ™Ă–Ă&#x; (Advertising) Correspondents

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The Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI), has said that earnings from solid minerals can potentially outweigh its receipts from crude oil. This is as it noted that the sector holds capacity to generate about five million jobs and 20% of GDP over the next 10 years if the ongoing reform in the sector sails through.

With a huge reserve of about 44 minerals, the sector

is endowed with huge potential for job, export revenue and local input for manufacturing and industrial production.

Chairman, Mining and Solid Minerals Group, LCCI Babatunde Alatise, disclosed this at a stakeholders’ forum held in Lagos recently.

The LCCI said it has reviewed the new roadmap for solid minerals and recent policy initiatives and identified the following areas that require urgent attention in order to

successfully diversify the Nigerian economy leveraging on the mineral resource potential.

On legal and legislative governance, LCCI said the issue of what should constitute a community agreement before mine development commences seem not clearly defined in the Roadmap. “It is observed that the expectations of some communities and sub national governments are not in tune with the provisions of the mining Act. “A truly independent

regulatory mechanism is crucial for development in the mining sector. Such a regulator should be independent of the Ministry of Solid Minerals in terms of finance, organisation and management to ensure there is less of government/political interference. “The Industry Regulator as presently proposed in the Roadmap comprises components of the Mines Cadastre Office (MCO), Mines Inspectorate Department (MID) and Artisanal

and Small Scale Mining Department (ASM) departments of the ministry as an integral part of the regulatory structure. This we believe is not in tandem with best global practices. “The “Act� should be revised to make explicit and clear provision for accountability and transparency as lack of accountability and transparency in the industry can lead to loss of government revenue to business operators and regulatory bodies.�

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NIPC Act: Ikpeazu Pledges Commitment to EEC Tenants Benefit Ugo Aliogo The Abia State Governor, Dr. Okezie Ikpeazu, has pledged his administration’s commitment to ensure that tenants in the new Enyimba Economic City (EEC) benefit from all provisions in the Nigeria Import Promotion Council (NIPC) as part of measures to make the business ecosystem friendly for them.

Ikpeazu who disclosed this in Lagos at the Source India Exhibition 2018, which took place from March 27 to 29, explained that they are also creating incentives for those who want to do business as it is required.

He explained that they aim was to harness the incentives created by the NIPC Act, stating that as a free trade zone location, a tenant is quarantined from the regular corporate tax, the tenant also has incentives around importing raw materials, ability to repatriate funds and make profits. He added: “Therefore all the benefits enshrined in the NIPC Act as a tenant, you have the opportunity to benefit from it.�

Ikpeazu who was repre-

sented at the event by the Director-General Public Private Partnership (PPP), Office of the Governor, Austin Ufomba, said one of the key pillars of the administration is to industrialise the state and make it one of the biggest industrial hub in West Africa, which is in resonance with what the federal government is doing at the national level.

The event also featured the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the High Commission and Nigeria which was chaired by the President of the Nigerian Association of Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (NACCIMA) represented by a National Officer at NACCIMA, Mrs. Flora Nadifon, and the Deputy Director-General, NACCIMA. Earlier in his remarks, the India Deputy High Commissioner to Nigeria, Shri Subhash Chand, said India-Nigeria trade and commercial relations continue to remain steady, despite the recession in the country, stating that the country is one of the important exporting destinations for India in the Africa region.

He also stated that with a skilled workforce as well as high managerial and technical competence in comparison to its peers in Asia, stressing that they would continue to create opportunities for Indian companies in emerging markets and Africa.

Continuing, Ikpeazu added: “We need to create more jobs to harness our local capabilities and resources. We should reduce the propensity to consume and the adaptive nature. There are huge opportunities in Aba and we want to re-ignite that potentials this why we are creating an economic city. We know people want to manufacture, therefore people want ecosystem that are good for their manufacturing.

They need areas where they can get gas, power and reliable water for manufacturing, places with good logistics centre to truck in goods from the manufacturing port to the sea port, with easy. We want to create business friendly environment in the state.

This model has been done in India, China and Ethiopia. We are bringing something that is best in class.�

PETAN to Coordinate Nigerian Pavilion in OTC 2018 Ejiofor Alike The Petroleum Technology Association of Nigeria (PETAN) will coordinate the Nigerian Pavilion at the Offshore Technology Conference (OTC) holding at Houston, Texas from April 30 to May 3, 2018.

The association’s Publicity Secretary, Mr Ranti Omole, said in a statement in Lagos that the OTC is the premier gathering of professionals and opinion leaders in the global oil and gas industry.

According to him, it provides excellent opportunities for positive portrayal and promotion of the great potentials of Nigeria and the Nigerian oil and gas industry.

Omole added that it also provides a unique platform for close interactions with leading international and major Nigerian oil service companies, indigenous oil companies, industry executives, government policy makers and political leaders, to share ideas on improving the Nigerian oil industry. “PETAN member companies and many other indigenous oil service companies will be part of a robust contingent, to showcase the dynamism and potentials of Nigeria’s Petroleum Industry. About 2,500 professionals and industry leaders from Nigeria and beyond her shore will attend this year’s event. PETAN has

been organizing and hosting the Nigerian pavilion at the Offshore Technology Conference (OTC), Houston, Texas since 2005,� the statement said.

He identified the key highlights of OTC 2018 to include 50 years of OTC- programming which reflects on our history, the current state of the industry, and what is on the horizon; faster deployment of new technologies - solutions to reduce the development timeline and create project-ready technologies which meet current industry challenges; an cost reducing tools and techniques - ways to decrease costs and improve overall value, while maintaining high standards for safety, operationability, and reliability.

NAHCO Wins Nigav Award One of Nigeria’s leading ground handling company, Nigerian Aviation Handling Company Plc, nahco aviance, has again clinched the Airport Ground Handling Special Achievement Award at the 2017Nigeria Aviation (NIGAV) Awards, held at the Oriental Hotel, Victoria Island, Lagos, over the weekend.

Among the 44 categories of awards, nahco aviance was announced the winner of the only award for ground handling, while the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), the Nigerian Meteorology Agency (NIMET), Accident Investigation Bureau (AIB), the Nigeria Airspace Management Agency (NAMA), Bi-courtney and 37 other institutions and individuals also won different categories of awards.

The Nigerian Aviation Awards, one of the nation’s most prestigious air transport awards is an annual event organised by FCI International

Limited, and it seeks to recognise companies, organisations and individuals for best practices and outstanding contributions towards developing the nation’s aviation industry.

The Managing Director/ CEO of NAHCO Plc, Mr. Idris Yakubu said it was heartwarming to see that the efforts the company is putting in place to achieve exemplary service is being noticed and appreciated.

Yakubu thanked the organisers for the award, adding that it will only inspire the Company to greater heights.

Speaking on the choice of nahco aviance as the winner of the Special Achievement Award, the Chairman of FCI, Mr. Fortune Idu, said that nahco aviance has consistently demonstrated excellence in the industry.

According to him, the Company’s choice as a winner had never been disputed since its culture of excellence sets it apart from other operators

in the sector.

Over the years, nahco aviance has won several NIGAV awards in various categories.

These include as Ground Handling Operator of the year 2009, Best Passenger Facilitation Company of the year 2010 and Handling Company of the Year award for 2012 and 2013 editions back-to- back. This latest award made it the Company’s fifth NIGAV award from inception. It is the fourth industry awards so far received by nahco aviance in the year 2018.

Only recently, nahco aviance won the African Corporate Leadership Excellence Prize at the Sheraton Hotel & Towers, Ikeja, Lagos. The Award was an affirmation of the Company’s high ratings in the corporate world, especially in the Aviation sector. The award was organised by the African Institute for Leadership Excellence.

ELEVATING TO THE NEXT LEVEL Marie-Therese Phido

Shooting from the Hip - Are You Off Script?

My best soap opera these days is watching and reading about the highly entertaining happenings in American politics. Each day we see different twists, turns and intrigues.

One that particularly struck a chord was the sacking of Rex Tillerson, Secretary of State who was sacked a few weeks ago by a tweet. He has been called one of the worst Secretaries of State of US history, while some have said his time in the role was an unmitigated disaster.

Tillerson was the former ExxonMobil CEO, whose nomination was greeted and hailed by policy hands – but failed woefully.

He ended up not wielding any significant influence in internal administration nor over American foreign policy with Syria, North Korea, Russia, etc.

Tillerson was brought in to address America’s foreign policy issues.

He however focused his attention on slashing inefficiencies in the State Department, did not work closely with long time staff in the department and had a fraught relationship with President Trump who appointed him to this role. They had very divergent views on how the State Department and foreign policy should be run. The conclusion was that Tillerson failed at the things he was supposed to be good at.

As CEO of a global organisation like ExxonMobil, you would expect that he should know exactly what his terms of reference for the work should have been and what specifically was expected of him to be termed successful by his stakeholders and his boss. By the time he was sacked most people concluded, he was not savvy, versatile and adaptable. He could not drop the toga of the private sector to adopt the skills and intricacies of the public sector.

He also lacked the ability to manage his boss and staff.

Sadly, he tarnished an otherwise stellar career by taking a job, where he displayed a poor understanding of the script and mandate he was given to execute. His execution was very poor by all standards. The question is, why did he fail despite being a smart guy? In his case and many others, it was clear that because you are smart does not mean you are not going to make mistakes which can hamper your career and hold you back.

Taking a cue from Tillerson’s grave mistakes, Gordon Tredgold, Founder of Leadership Principles says, you need to understand that no matter how smart you are in order to succeed, you must aim to do the following:

Planning and preparation are key Planning and preparation are important ingredients in achieving success, but the most important thing of all is action. You cannot think your way to success no matter how smart you are. At some point, you need to roll your sleeves up and make it happen.

Just because someone lacks a particular educational qualiďŹ cation doesn’t mean that their ideas or input should be ignored when offered. In many cases, experience is a much more valuable commodity than intelligence

Don’t wait to be promoted before doing the next level job If you want to be a leader, then you need to start leading. Leadership isn’t a title or a position; it’s about action, influence and the ability to drive results. Throughout my career, I have seen hundreds of smart people wait to be offered a leadership position before they start to lead. But that’s like waiting to be picked for a football team before you learn to be good at football. More often than not it’s not going to happen. Lead first, and then the position will come.

Communicate clearly When you communicate, it’s the responsibility of the person sending the message to make sure that it’s received and understood. You need to explain things clearly and simply. When people can understand, then they can implement. Too often it’s left to the party receiving the message to figure out what was being said, and what needs to be done. Just because you’re smart enough to know what you’ve said doesn’t mean that the person receiving the message fully understood it. And when smart people get this one wrong, it can result in failure for both.

Delegate “It would be quicker if I just did it myself� is a phrase you often hear from those who either struggle to delegate or who don’t like to delegate. But when you refuse to delegate work you limit your team’s achievements to what you can achieve yourself. When you delegate, it allows you to increase your results and impact significantly.

If you cannot delegate then you become indispensable at your current level, which might sound like a good thing, but it could actually stop you from being promoted.

Listen to or ask for feedback To improve performance, you need to get feedback. Feedback is the breakfast of champions.

It allows you to know what went well and what needs to be worked on. Without feedback, you can develop bad habits that reduce both your effectiveness and efficiency. Don’t be the person who, just because they’re smart, thinks they know it all. We can all do better, and to improve you need to both ask for and listen to feedback.

Don’t wait till you are 100% ready before taking a shot Perfect is the enemy of good enough, and if you wait until everything is perfect, then you will never achieve anything. Yes, you can always do a little bit more preparation, but one of the keys to success is starting.

Great opportunities don’t come along every day, and if you wait until you feel you are ready, you can miss them.

Don’t underestimate the value of the not so smart Just because someone lacks a particular educational qualification doesn’t mean that their ideas or input should be ignored when offered. In many cases, experience is a much more valuable commodity than intelligence.

It’s great to learn from your mistakes, but it’s much smarter to learn from those of others, so you can save time and money by avoiding making them yourselves.

Tillerson failed but, we will not fail. We will read the script of whatever role we are given and understand what is being evaluated and what our boss and stakeholders view as valuable. Not understanding the script can be deadly, as we have seen in Tillerson’s case.

.– Marie-Therese Phido is Sales & Market Strategist and Business Coach Email: mphido@elevato.com.ng tweeter handle @osat2012 TeL: 08090158156 (text only)

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UBA Shows Resilience Despite the challenging operating environment, United Bank for Africa Plc ended 2017 with a better performance, translating to higher dividends for its shareholders, writes Goddy Egene

UBA-House

United Bank for Africa Plc recently showed resilience in its performance for the year ended December 31, 2017. Although expectations have been mixed about what the performances of banks would be in 2017, stakeholders remained bullish that UBA would deliver improved results. And when the financial institution unveiled its audited results last week, it showed positive trends in the performance. Growth in the contribution and market share from its pan-African subsidiaries was significant.

The pan-African financial institution gross earnings of N462 billion, indicating a growth of 20 per cent from N314 billion recorded in 2016.

Interest income stood at N325.66 billion, up by 23.3 per cent from N263.97 billion, while net interest income improved by 25.6 per cent to N207.63 billion from N165.2 billion in 2016.

Loan impairment charges also rose by 18.8 per cent from N27.6 billion to N32.9 billion, bringing the net interest after impairment charges to N174.74 billion, from N137.5 billion in 2016.

Net operating income increased by 20.8 per cent from N257.2 billion to N310.84 billion.

UBA ended the year with profit before tax (PBT) of N105.26 billion, indicating a growth of 16.1 per cent, while profit after tax (PAT) stood at N78.59 billion, showing an increase of 8.7 per cent from N72.26 billion in 2016.

The bank’s subsidiaries outside Nigeria contributed a third of the Group’s top-line and 45 per cent of the profit for the year, a remarkable improvement from 31 per cent contribution made by the ex-Nigeria offices in 2016. This, market analysts said is the success of the bank’s expansion strategy, with target of 50 percent contributions by 2020.

The bank’s contributions to support the economy in terms of loans and advances also

increased. Specifically, loans and advances rose by 9.6 per cent from N1.505 trillion to N1.651 trillion. Customers’ confidence in the bank equally improved, leading to an increase of 9.9 per cent in deposits from customers to N2.733 trillion, up from N2.486 trillion.

The bank’s total assets peaked at N4.07 trillion, translating into 16.1 percent year-onyear growth from the figure of N3.50 trillion recorded as at 2016 financial year.

Reflecting a strong internal capital generation, the bank’s shareholders’ fund also soared 18.2 per cent to N529.4 billion in the 2017 financial year.

Based on the performance, the Board of UBA Plc proposed a final dividend of 65 kobo per every share of 50 kobo each. This final dividend proposal is in addition to the 20 kobo per share interim dividend paid after the audit of the 2017 half year financial statements, thus putting the total dividend for 2017 financial year at 85 kobo per share.

Bank Explains Performance Speaking on the results, the Group Managing Director/CEO, UBA Plc, Kennedy Uzoka, said: “The results, underlines the success of our strategy of expanding across Africa, diversifying revenues and capturing the broader business opportunities inherent in Africa’s growth.

The results reinforce the sustainability of our business model and the capacity to deliver superior long-term return to shareholders, as the economic and business environment improve.� “In 2017, we made strong progress in our strategic initiative of dominating transaction banking across all our countries of operation, gaining market share in all lines of our business.

Even as the non-oil sectors of our largest country

of operation, Nigeria, remained relatively weak, we still grew earnings by 20 per cent to N462 billion, a third of which is attributable to non-funded income,� he further noted.

Speaking in similar vein, the Group Chief Finance Office, Ugo Nwaghodoh said: “In a period of high interest rates, we achieved a relatively low 3.7 per cent cost of funds. This operational efficiency reflects the benefit of our rich pool of stable savings and current account deposits. The net interest margin stabilised at seven per cent, even as yields on treasury assets dropped in the last quarter of 2017. Our core transaction banking offerings gained strong momentum, with income from these business lines growing by double digits.�

He said the bank remain committed to its responsible approach to balance sheet management, with focus on growing risk asset and broader balance sheet in a profitable and prudent manner. “Amidst a subdued Nigerian credit market, we grew our loan portfolio by 10 per cent, leveraging our robust liquidity and capitalisation to support good businesses through this challenging economic cycle. We closed the year with a Basel II capital adequacy ratio of 19 per cent and a liquidity ratio of 50 per cent, well ahead of 15 per cent and 30 per cent regulatory requirement respectively. Our disciplined approach to lending and broader risk management continues to uphold our asset quality.�

Apart from the strong financial performance in 2017, UBA Group proved its leadership on the continent as the Banker Magazine crowned the Group, “African Bank of the Year 2017�.

To further demonstrate the group’s strength and dominance in the financial sector on the continent, four of UBA Group’s operations

in Africa also led contenders in their respective countries to emerge the Best Bank of the Year 2017 in their respective markets. UBA Congo, UBA Tchad, UBA Gabon and UBA Senegal emerged the Best Bank of the Year in Congo, Tchad, Gabon and Senegal, reinforcing the strong franchise of the Group across its chosen markets in Africa.

Analysts’ comments Assessing the results for the fourth quarter (Q4), analysts at FBN Quest, said the results were better-than-expected. According to them, while PBT beat their forecast by 64 per cent , the surprise in PAT was greater at 108 per cent. “The positive surprise in earnings was mainly driven by a better-than-expected performance in non-interest income which came in around 49 per cent higher than our forecast. Relative to consensus, Q4 PBT also came in around 28 per cent higher. However, in terms of y/y trends, PBT declined by 15 per cent year-on-year(y/y) mainly because provisions and opex increased by eight per cent and 15 per cent respectively, and base effects (Q4 2016 non-income was also strong for similar reasons to Q4 2017). In contrast, PAT grew by 19 per cent y/y to N27.6 billion, thanks to a positive result of N13.2 billion in other comprehensive income (OCI),� they said.

According to FBN Quest, sequentially, PBT and PAT grew by 30 per cent q/q and 35 per cent q/q respectively, because of a healthy growth of 42 per cent q/q in non-interest income. “On a full year basis, PBT expanded by 16 per cent y/y to N105.2bn. However, PAT fell by 24 per cent y/y because of a higher income tax rate of 25.3 per cent (vs. 20.3 per cent 2016) and a 58 per cent y/y decline in OCI. The 2017 PAT translates to an ROAE of 21.1 - this is amongst the highest in our coverage universe,� they said.

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Shonubi: No Central Bank Will Give up Its Currency for Cryptocurrencies The CEO of the Nigeria Interbank Settlement System, Mr. Ade Shonubi, in this interview, argues that financial technology companies will not take over the business of deposit money banks. He also shed more light on the Association of Financial Service Innovators. Obinna Chima presents the excerpts: We have the big ďŹ ntech companies and globally it has been projected that in the next 10 years, ďŹ ntechs would take over about 50 per cent of the businesses of the banks. Do you foresee this happening?

I don’t see it. I don’t see the fintechs taking over the business of the banks. What I see is a collaboration, whereby the customer gets the best based on what the banks can provide efficiently and what the fintechs can provide efficiently. The fintechs are not good at managing liquidity and money and getting the best value out of money. But they can automate processes and bring in, whether it is artificial intelligence or logic to a system.

I don’t see them replacing banks. I see them encouraging the banks to up their game. In those days, banks used to hire consultants like Arthur Anderson to review their processes.

But what we are finding with fintechs is that outside, they have built the improved processes and are now telling the banks to adopt it. But by law, the relationship from a money-making perspective is still with the banks.

I hear people talk about crypto-currencies.

It will not play a significant part in any part of the world for their local transactions. No government in the world would give up its ability to generate and create its own currencies to third parties it does not know. So, we would have crypto-currencies for selected users, same way today I can buy dollars when I want to send somebody to buy something for me in the United States of America. But my day to day transaction is naira. So, the only way you can have local cryptocurrencies is if the central bank of that country issues it, not that any one of those out there would come. So, would the banks be threatened by the fintechs? Yes. And I think there even other businesses that are easier for the fintechs to get involved in – insurance, anything that requires a lot of technicalities, even in some aspect of health. But the money aspect of the business is with the banks, which is why they are focusing on the banks. So, what I foresee is collaboration and not one taking the business of the other.

Since last year, the trend of e-payment adoption as well as BVN registration appeared to have slowed down. What was responsible for that?

So, starting with transactions, if you look in absolute terms, the growth in 2017 was more than the growth in 2016, but the base increased. So, if you look in absolute terms, there were lots more transactions. It is because the base has been increasing over time. So, that is why we are seeing a slowdown in the rate of adoption. You would have seen a lot more transactions in 2017 than in 2016 and we think that would happen for a while.

The only way we would go back to such massive growth, which is now a response to the question on BVN, almost all bank customers now have BVN. The number of accounts continue to grow, but the number of individuals that have accounts are not growing fast. So, unless we bring more people in, you and I would be doing more transactions, but at some points there won’t growth in electronic transactions. Soon, those of us that have bank accounts would only be doing electronic. So, what next? Those who are outside the banking space continue to do business, even though with cash. So, the focus must be how do we increase the 33 million that have BVN to 40 million or even 50 million? How do we bring people into the banking space? So that we can see

So, the focus must be how do we increase the 33 million that have BVN to 40 million or even 50 million? How do we bring people into the banking space?

So that we can see the growth pick up signiďŹ cantly. And that is why one of the aims of the Central Bank of Nigeria and the banking industry this year is to focus on ďŹ nancial inclusion and get more customers into the banking system

Shonubi

the growth pick up significantly. And that is why one of the aims of the Central Bank of Nigeria and the banking industry this year is to focus on financial inclusion and get more customers into the banking system.

What is the rationale behind NIBSS and the CBN supporting the launch of the association of Financial Service Innovators?

What used to happen before was that a few companies, particularly the larger ones, would come to NIBSS and say they say they have ideas that involve the payment system and would want to know how they can connect such ideas to the payment system.

Now, the CBN has regulations as to who can come into the payment system. The question is, do you get into the payment system first before you then come up with ideas that require payment? Is there any way that if I have an idea, I can test it, before I can go to the CBN to ask for licence before I can be part of the payment system? So, that was a challenge and few of them were complaining that when they go to the bigger companies, they actually take their ideas, they don’t recognise it, they convert it into their own and they use it. So, that got us thinking. Incidentally, at the same time, the CBN had as one of its objectives, to drive financial inclusion and to use fintechs. So, the

two us coming together, we started talking about how we can encourage these people to have their own association. We don’t want to create an association for them because it must be sustaining and they must believe in it. If they are not the ones driving it, after all, it would just die and become a pressure group. So, that was what led to it. And to show our commitment to them, we offered to support the association for the first one year and in addition, create what is now called the sandbox.

We are also conscious of the fact that if we don’t manage the people we put there, we might find a situation whereby someone who is in Ukraine or Russia will be taking our knowledge, build solutions and come back to sell to us. So, we decided to limit it to any Nigerian. The only way we could do that is through the BVN. So, if you go to the website of the association, anybody can download the documentation as to how to build the application, but you cannot test it if you are not a Nigerian. So, you need to put your BVN. Also, while we ask for BVN is so that one or two persons don’t manipulate or take over the system and are the only one using it, running several different technology and the limited resources cannot go round. Our hope is that the small players can test and either go to the CBN to ask to be licenced or when they are going to the big companies, it will

no longer be for their support, but to show them what they have developed. So, that is the drive behind the association. If you go online today, the number of registered BVN is only 33 million and I have been saying it that 33 million is too small for a 180 million population. It is people like these start-ups that are fintechs, that would be able to create small applications that may only work for 10,000 people because their cost is not high. They are close to the people and so are more likely to make it work and bring more people into the banking system. It is going to be harder for the big companies.

We don’t want a repeat of when we brought in GSM and it was only the international companies. Remove the doors now, other than Globalcom, who else is left? Almost all the applications we are using were copied from abroad. I don’t mind, but if we are the ones copying and we are not paying licencing fees outside, I won’t mind as well.

But we are paying. So, let’s groom these young ones. A lot of them don’t have jobs, which is another problem we have. We are churning out graduates without giving them employment, employment opportunities, nor are we making them employable. Now is the time for many of them to show what they know. That is the primary thing, but they must take ownership. We support them, but they must take ownership. Everybody must have ownership.

So in the nearest future, we expect a signiďŹ cant improvement in the adoption of ďŹ ntech with initiatives like this?

If they get it right, I expect that. Our role is to provide them with that support.

I know the CBN is looking at it internally.

They are not a pressure group. The sandbox will give everybody opportunity. I am very hopeful that we would see a lot of people converting their ideas into good products.

For a start-up that wants to join the association, what are the requirements?

It is the individual that join. Just go online and register. If you are a corporate, then you need to sign up with them as a partner. We want to make it easy for people to join, but we also want the association to sustain itself.

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Dissecting the Relevance of Oil and Gas Insurance Policies Ebere Nwoji examines the impact of the local content policy and the energy and allied risk insurance pool on indigenous insurers in the oil and gas business The Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry Content Development Act, 2010 “NOGICD ACT� was enacted to enhance the development of local content in Nigeria’s Oil and Gas Industry. The target was to promote indigenous participation in the oil and gas industry.

The NOGICD Act, which was signed into law on April 22, 2010, no doubt has contributed immensely to the growth and development of indigenous capacity in the Nigerian oil and gas industry.

Investigations have revealed that the act has achieved 87per cent level of growth in the operations of some sub sectors.

For instance, the engineering sub sector has achieved as high as 90 percent level of growth; fabrication subsector, 50 percent growth and manufacturing sector with only 20 percent level of growth.

The local content policy requires oil and gas business operators in Nigeria to ensure that local insurers insure at least 10 percent of the risk and the rest taken abroad. It later increased this to 45 per cent and later 70 percent after which the rest can be insured abroad.

To ensure that the local content law is made effective through effective monitoring of business operators, the federal government had set up the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) to supervise operators and approve businesses to be insured outside Nigeria.

The whole essence was to ensure that Nigerian companies take active part in the juicy oil and gas businesses and build capacity through what experts referred to as domiciliation principle.

Domiciliation policy, according to insurance experts is a framework, which enables local players build capacity through a relationship alignment with foreign counterparts who are more experienced and knowledgeable in oil and gas insurance underwriting while playing active part in the sector’s transactions For the insurance sector, there is mixed feelings on the level of growth achieved in the face of the act. While the broking arm of the industry put the level of growth in the sector in the face of the act at 70 percent, insurance underwriters said the act has achieved less than 30 percent growth in oil and gas business participation for them.

A former president of Nigerian Council of Registered Insurance Brokers (NCRIB) Mr. Ayodapo Shoderu, in his own assessment, said insurance brokers have recorded moderate achievement in handling oil and gas insurance account since the enactment of the local content law.

According to him, they are currently enjoying the patronage of oil industry corporate accounts as well as that of the Nigerian National Petroleum corporation (NNPC) unlike before.

Speaking to THISDAY on the level of success achieved by insurance underwriters shortly before assuming his present position as Deputy Commissioner for Insurance Technical, Mr. Sunday Thomas, who was then Director General Nigeria Insurers Association (NIA) said looking at overall performance of insurers playing in the oil and gas business, the impact of the local content act in their operations has seen some level of improvement.

According to him, local retention has increased over the years from less than 5percent to about 30 percent.

He said though the market was expected to have benefited as high as 70percent, knowledge capacity of indigenous operators has increased within the period.

A researcher in one of the reinsurance firms in the country said in over all, Nigerian content has increased the patronage of the local insurers by international oil companies (IOC) )and other indigenous oil and gas companies.

He however said what often happens thereafter is that most of the insurance companies can’t provide all the needed cover, but take the business and spread it to their counterparts in Nigeria and overseas due to their business limit (capacity) and volatility of oil and gas business. He said this has limited the benefits derivable from the act by indigenous insurers.

Before the act came in place, insurance industry

NIA, Chairman, Mr. Eddie Efekoha

operators have been agitating for inclusion in the insurance of oil and gas in the country. The business has always been taken abroad by oil multinationals who prefer to use their captive firms in their home countries than using Nigerian insurers.

They often cited low capital base of the industry as a major impediment.

According to them, the initial capital base of all the insurance companies put together cannot insure one oil rig of an oil firm.

This is one of the reasons for upgrading of the minimum capital base of the industry to N3 billion for general business, N2billion for life underwriters, N5billion for composite and N10 billion for reinsurance companies to tackle the low capital base problem.

After this, the issue of capacity of the indigenous firms came up, but the indigenous insurers had argued that it was not acceptable excuse for starving them of the much needed juicy oil and gas account. They argued that in those countries they take the businesses to, no single insurance firm insures any business alone but share it among themselves according to each company’s capacity adding that if the businesses were given to them in Nigeria they can equally share it among themselves.

An insurance expert and former Managing Director International Energy Insurance, Mr. Jacob Erahbo speaking on this, argued that there is nothing those foreign firms they push their businesses do that Nigerian underwriters cannot do.

He argued that by giving those excuses, oil multinationals in the country, were just deceiving themselves.

It was in the process of these arguments and agitations that the idea of local content act came into being and was signed in April 2010 with a mandate by federal government to see to increase in local content in oil and gas business to 45 percent and later to 70 percent.

But even with the act in place, insurance industry did not commence benefiting from it immediately .On its part, the National Insurance Commission did not rest on its oars.

A lot of efforts and pressure was put on the oil industry operators by the insurance industry.

The National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) in its effort in this regard, released the guidelines on oil and gas insurance.

Also, the industry had a few years back established the Energy and Allied Risks Insurance Pool of Nigeria (EAIPN),to enable indigenous

insurers participate in the insurance of oil and gas businesses in the country and take charge of insurances of oil industry multinationals operating in the country which have for years remained the preserve of foreign insurers.

The pool was planned to take off with $20m capacity fund as planned by the regulator with each participating company in the pool paying $250,000per line.

Prior to the formation of pool in the years past, the insurance industry within Nigeria and across the African region had experimented on three major oil and gas insurance pools with the intention of increasing their participation in the juicy oil and gas business.

These are the NOEIP pool established by the then federal government owned NICON Insurance Corporation in 1995.The pool was established through the Nigeria Insurers Association with the intention to increase local retention of oil and gas risks and prevent capital flight through the retention of premium locally.

The NOEIP pool, which was later transferred to Niger Insurance after the privatisation of NICON could not see the light of the day despite all efforts to make it work by the members.

There were also the FAIR Pool, and the African Oil and Energy Insurance Pool which were established with the objective of increasing retention capacity of the insurance industry in Africa, curb capital flight by way of reinsurance premium from the continent, develop technical capacity for oil and gas insurance on the continent, as well as exchange information among others.

The effectiveness of these towards increasing the participation of African insurers in the huge highly technical and juicy oil and gas business is still questionable as greater portion of the business is still insured by foreign insurance operators In other words, these pools obviously have not achieved their objective of ensuring that indigenous insurers secure more opportunities in participating in the oil and gas insurance in the industry inaugurated 14 insurance companies to operate the Technical Management Board of the Energy and Allied Risks Insurance Pool of Nigeria (EAIPN).

The industry hoped that inauguration of the EAIPN will help operators retain capacity in oil & gas underwriting, curb capital flight and grow the local market in energy and allied risks underwriting.

The companies include, Leadway Assurance Company limited, Custodian & Allied Insurance Plc, Aiico Insurance Plc, Lasaco Assurance Plc,

Royal Exchange Insurance Co. Ltd, Consolidated Hallmark Insurance Plc, and Sovereign Trust Insurance Plc. Others are Linkage Assurance Plc, Industrial And General Insurance Plc, Nigerian Agric Insurance Corporation (NAIC), Sterling Assurance Company Limited, Prestige Assurance Plc, NEM Insurance Plc and NSIA Insurance. Commissioner for Insurance, The board, had Mr. Wole Oshin of Custodian and Allied Insurance as its chairman.

According to Oshin, the pool took off with 14 subscribers, who contributed 40% of their subscribed lines amounting to USD 4,000,000.00.

He expressed optimism that other insurance companies that have expressed their interest in the Pool, will later subscribe to the Pool.

According to Oshin, Africa re-emerged as the manager of the Pool after a rigorous selection process.

From insurers’ comments on their performance in the oil and gas business since the enactment of the local content Act in 2010 and inauguration of the pool in 2015, tremendous improvement has been achieved.

This could also be seen from a recent data released by the NIA on the performance of 38 firms that participated on oil and gas business between 2012 and 2016.

According to NIA, the firms in the year 2016 raked in N54,130 billion gross premium from oil and gas insurance business.

The above figure was gross premium income got by 38 underwriting firms that played in the oil and gas class of business in 2016.

According to the report, out of this, a total of N38.8 billion was ceded as reinsurance to both local and foreign reinsurers while N15.9 billion was retained as net premium.

Ranking the above insurance firms which participated in oil and gas underwriting between the period 2012 to 2016, The report shows that Leadway Insurance Ltd, maintained the lead for the five year period .

In 2016, the company raked in N11.625 billion to beat 37 other underwriters.

In 2015, the company raked in N6.55billion, in 2014, it madeN7.719billion, in 2013, N16.969billion and N17.614 billion in 2012.

The insurers said this is just the beginning of good things coming the way of the industry adding that in more years to come they stand to improve on this adding that if the trend continues, insurance industry in Nigeria will be better positioned to take its pride of place in the finance services sector.

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Recognition for Ogun Infrastructure Devt Soyombo Opeyemi writes that the Ogun State Government’s investment in infrastructure has received applause from the federal government “It is unlikely that any administration since the birth of the State has developed infrastructure as rapidly and as sure-footedly as the Amosun administration�, said Vice President Yemi Osinbajo at the 4th Ogun State Investors’ Forum.

Recently, I fielded questions from journalists. This very instructive question was asked: “The nation appears again to be gripped by 2019 election fever, bringing governance practically to a standstill in most parts of the country.

How do we ensure elected public officials deliver dividends of democracy to the people till the expiration of their tenure?�

It was a thoughtful question because many politicians are consumed with politics and place development in Number Two position. Indeed, for such, the battle for 2019 began immediately after the conclusion of 2015 polls.

Why should a person elected for four years work (or pretend to work) for two years and then spend the remaining two years exclusively on politics?

Is the Ogun State governor, Senator Ibikunle Amosun, from this world or elsewhere? 2019 is less than a year, yet he is still consumed with passion for development. The opposition is busy strategising for 2019, yet Amosun is gripped by development fever. “Will Investors’ Forum bring votes?� Some sterile minds might ask.

The belief in some quarters is that a governor would work hard during his first term because he needs a re-election and then spend the second term to feather his own nest. It is a wrongheaded notion because no governor is elected to help himself at the expense of the people but to serve them.

The Canadian High Commissioner to Nigeria, Ambassador Chris Cooter, visited Ogun State on April 14, 2013 and had this to say: “The Governor has

Amosun

been emphasizing that his administration is very particular about hard work.

Here we are on a Sunday, I look at the construction going on, definitely, I am impressed. It is going to transform the state, no doubt. Whether it is canal, the road network, health or education, clearly, I can see a demonstration of the ‘can do attitude’. I have not been to a

state where people are working quite as hard as this one, and I have been in most of them now...�

Here we are again on the eve of an election year. Yet Amosun has spent sleepless nights organising another Investors’ Forum in order to consolidate the gains of the past and accelerate growth of the state’s economy.

Like Vice President Yemi Osinbajo rightly observed, “It is unlikely that any administration since the birth of the State has developed infrastructure as rapidly and as sure-footedly as the Amosun administration, the Governor and his team certainly deserve the loudest commendation.�

It’s, therefore, not surprising that the the Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) of the state rose from N750 million monthly when the government of Amosun was inaugurated in 2011 to the current figure of N7 billion per month. Clearly, investments in security infrastructure, road infrastructure and relevant social services on a massive scale, have yielded positive results.

Between 2012 when the first Investors’ Forum was held and 2017, over 300 multi-billion naira industries berthed in Ogun State. This is apart from the hundreds of Medium Scale Enterprises taking advantage of the enabling environment created by the Amosun administration.

Hundreds of thousands of our teeming youths have been employed by these companies. A greater number of indirect jobs have been created, all impacting positively on the socio-economic lives of residents. “I will work till the last day in office,�

Amosun vowed yesterday during his address at the opening of the 4th Ogun State Investors’ Forum, at June 12 Cultural Centre, Abeokuta. For Governor Amosun, a visionary politician should seek to leave his state far better than he met it. He should look back after his years in government and feel satisfied that he had creditably played his allotted role in the socio-economic development of his state. Besides, when you work genuinely for the people, politics will take care of itself.

-Soyombo, media aide to Governor Amosun, writes from Abeokuta

NGO Donates Food Items, Conducts Medical Test for Widows Ugo Aliogo A Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO), Debash Humanitarian Service has donated food items, and also conducted medical tests for widows in Digital Bridge Institute, Oshodi Community Centre, Lagos.

Speaking at the donation ceremony at the weekend, the Chief Executive Officer, Prophetess, Bola Obanla, said the effort was aimed at giving back to society and putting smiles on the faces of these individuals.

She lamented that in the society, the rich don’t remember the needy community, instead they focus on assisting themselves only, stressing that she embarked on this path because of her desire to give and share.

Obanla added that since the inception of

the organisation two years ago, it has reached out to communities in Lagos where they have imparted the lives of many widows and less privileged, while applauding her husband, friends and church members for the support to the organisation.

According to her, “Today, we are covering one community in Oshodi Local Government Area. We are giving out cooked meals and uncooked meals to the widows present here today, some of the items include garri, Ankara, and others to take home for Easter. This we believe will make them happy during this Easter period and we are also providing free medical tests for them. In terms of support, I have received support from my husband, friends, and church members. We are covering Digital Bridge Institute, Oshodi

Community Centre. The expectation is that we will carry out more of this effort. We have been doing this since two years ago and we have visited many communities in Lagos to support 100, and 200 widows and the less privileged. After this we want to keep doing more.�

In her remarks, one of the beneficiaries, Pastor Dayo Ogunsanya, noted that the initiative is aimed at blessing humanity, adding that in December 2017, the foundation were able to donate food items to widows and during the hurricane, they were able to give out incentives and items to those affected.

She remarked that she was privileged to be part of an initiative that is giving back to humanity, describing the initiative as the heart of God, even as he commended the foundation

for its continued efforts at touching lives.

Ogunsanya maintained that since its inception two years ago, the foundation has remained faithful and committed in supporting the needy in the society, while lamenting that other NGOs are concerned about meeting their personal needs instead of assisting the needy, “we need to be faithful in the little things that God has called us to do. Therefore, my advice is for people to be faithful in everything.�

She further added: “The vision for Debash Humanitarian Service started before me.

What I know about this initiative is that it is blessing humanity. In December 2017, they were able to donate food items to widows.

During the hurricane they were able to give out incentives and items to people affected by the hurricane.�

Maranatha Hotel Boss Seeks Tax Reduction Ugo Aliogo The Chief Executive Officer, Maranatha Hotel, Dr. Etofolam Osuji, has urged the Imo State Government to reduce the arbitrary taxes imposed on hoteliers in the state, stressing that this would help them to continue in business and be able to contribute meaningfully to the economy of the state and reduce the rate of unemployment.

Osuji, who made the call in Imo state at a media briefing organised by the Federation of Tourism Association of Nigeria (FTAN) South east Secretariat, said it is unfortunate that government has not engaged them at

the level where they would bring value to the people.

He pleaded with the state government to provide hoteliers and business enterprises in the state the enabling environment for their businesses to thrive, especially by ensuring steady electricity supply.

The Marantha CEO expressed the hoteliers’ desire to partner the government in developing the state, adding that if government provides the level playing for hoteliers and business owners, it would address unemployment in the state. He however added that the hoteliers are inundated with anti-tourism policies, despite their desire to promote the tourism

potential of the state in an environment that is highly conducive for such activity.

He stressed: “Government should provide us with the enabling environment to do business by giving us steady electricity. Government should remove taskforce from us, we pay our taxes. The levies they place on hoteliers are too much. But these monies should come in a structured manner. I want a situation where I will partner with the government in developing the state in such a way that everyone will benefit. I want a situation unemployed youths are fully engaged. We need to partner with government to make sure that we drive the vision for them.

“The charges are arbitrary. Due to the high taxation, you are not able to break even, so what you do is to continue to manage the debt profile especially when have guests patronising you. In the area of tourism, if the parameters are well set it means that this state will be ranked number one as the best in leisure destination in Nigeria. It implies that every year you evaluate yourself to find out if you are achieving what you set out to achieve. If the answer is that you are not achieving it, you find the challenge within that structure, work on those challenges and bring in stakeholders in the sector will help to change things.�

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T H I S D AY ˾ WEDNESDAY APRIL 4, 2018

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EDUCATION Providing Teachers for Liberia amidst Educational Challenges The request by the Liberian government for Nigeria to provide the country with 6,000 teachers under the Technical Assistance Corps agreement has generated mixed feelings among experts, some of who view it as a welcome development, while others think there is need for Nigeria to take adequate care of its teachers and tackle the myriad of problems bedevilling the education sector instead of sending teachers abroad to teach. Funmi Ogundare reports Last month, the Liberian government requested for 6,000 teachers from Nigeria as part of the Technical Assistance agreement between the two countries. During a courtesy visit to President Muhammadu Buhari at the Presidential Villa in Abuja, the President of Liberia, George Weah said his government inherited many problems which could only be tackled with assistance from countries like Nigeria.

Weah, who was inaugurated into office on January 22, identified some of the urgent problems facing his country to include youth unemployment and the need to revive the education, agriculture, mining and health sectors.

According to him, “your sustained technical assistance for capacity building in these sectors is most welcome. For example, Nigerian teachers and medical volunteers to Liberia, under the Technical Assistance Corps (TAC) Agreement with Liberia, have been very crucial in boosting capacity development in Liberia, and it is my hope that this assistance can be considerably increased to address with urgency our most pressing socio-economic needs at this time. “More specifically, under the Bilateral Teacher Exchange programme, we are seeking 6,000 plus teachers to make up for the shortage of good teachers in our educational system.�

Nevertheless, the Nigerian government up till now is yet to yield to the request, as the Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT) said the country does not have enough teachers to go round and that the union is still at loggerhead with the government over the issue of salary.

The Chairman of the Bayelsa State chapter of the union, Mr. Kalaama Toinpre said the country is still battling with the sack of 25,000 Kaduna teachers that couldn’t pass primary the four examination given to them, adding that this is not a good development.

He said the Nigerian government should employ good teachers to schools that are lacking rather than sending the ones on ground to teach abroad. “Our schools are suffering; even some subjects don’t have teachers. The country cannot take adequate care of its teachers and they are talking about sending them abroad to teach.�

The Head of the 16Plus School (sixth form), Lagos, Mrs. Anne Bessong argued that with the current state of education in the country, Nigeria itself needs help. “I understand that there is a bilateral teacher exchange programme between Nigeria and Liberia, but what is the guarantee that it is the good teachers that will be sent to do the required job and make a success of it?

Liberia is looking up to Nigeria but does Nigeria really have what it takes? Have we bothered to take a closer look at our education system? Have we ever interacted with recent graduates from our universities?

Have we checked the quality of education we are churning out as a nation?�

She added that whatever is worth doing is worth doing well.

The Director of De Beautiful Beginning (DBB) Private School, Magodo, Lagos, Mrs. Olubukola Ogunleye argued that if Nigerian teachers are happy in the country and are being recognised and treated very well, they will not want to go to Liberia.

She stressed the need for the government to encourage the public school teachers so

President Muhammadu Buhari (right) with the Liberian President, George Weah, during Weah’s visit to Nigeria

that the country would not have to lose its human resources to brain drain. “The public school teachers are not well paid. When you talk of good private schools, they pay their teachers very well, so the government should encourage the teachers and they in turn should know their worth.

If we don’t have teachers, we will not have lawyers and doctors. By the time the teachers travel out, we will be losing our assets so we should discourage that; we have assets in Nigeria and so we should not allow them go out.�

Some sections of the society see the request as an opportunity for Nigeria to culturally influence other countries in this area since Liberia believes that solution to its challenges could be found from its next door neighbour.

The Zonal Coordinator, North Central, National Institute for Cultural Orientation (NICO), Ilorin, Mr. Ohi Ojo said the request by the Liberian government shows the realisation

by Liberia that human capital development is key to national development with its foundation on education. “That of course shows that Nigeria is recognised as having enough manpower in that regard. That is a good point for Nigeria.�

He argued that in the past, the country was known for many bad things, many of which were not really true, adding that it is an opportunity to redeem the country’s

image and let the world know that Nigeria is full of many good things and people.

He appealed to the Nigerian government to ensure that it is only professional teachers, not those selected on quota basis are sent to Liberia to avoid giving the country a bad name. “Nigerian teachers that will be sent to Liberia and many other places should attend Nigerian cultural administration course in order to appreciate people and culture so that they can be good ambassadors and represent Nigeria well abroad,� Ojo stressed.

The Assistant Chief Communications Officer, Fiscal Responsibility Commission, Abuja, Mr. Dayo Jagun commended the sincerity and farsightedness of the elected president of Liberia for realising the importance of education to development, saying that it is a step in the right direction for a country with a chequered history.

He added that the request for 6,000 teachers from Nigeria will hasten the educational development thereby putting Liberia back to the path of human capital development which is crucial to national development. “Weah’s request reaffirms the leadership role of Nigeria in the sub-region. It would be recalled that Nigeria played a role in Liberia’s civil war where we contributed both human and material resources for almost 20 years.

“The first civilian to civilian handover from Johnson Sirleaf to Weah is an indication that Liberia is on the path of development and focusing on education will surely bring sustainable development.�

A lecturer in the Department of Mass Communication, Lagos State University (LASU), Dr. Tunde Akanni said he believes that Nigeria is in a position to help through such schemes like the TAC, adding that it should not be delayed. “Liberia’s request is not misdirected. We should appreciate the speed of diagnosis of the problem by the new Liberian leader and the seriousness attached to finding solution.

The Afrocentric focus of the government is also commendable. With this request, it is obvious that Liberia believes that solutions to its challenges could be found from next doors neighbour,� he said.

The Director, Centre for Planning Studies, LASU, Professor Ayo Omobayo said it is a welcome development as long as they would be paid a decent wage as expatriates, adding that such earnings would add to the country’s fix earning under NI accounting. “Nigeria may actually be a labour surplus in terms of qualified teachers, there is no need to worry over those going to Liberia.

Surplus labour should move by natural course of things from areas of surplus to areas of need.�

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EDUCATION

DEEPEN Supports Low Cost Private Schools’ Innovations Funmi Ogundare The United Kingdom-funded Developing Effective Private Education in Nigeria (DEEPEN) programme, through its Challenge Fund, is providing opportunity for education service providers to pilot a range of innovative products and services in low cost private schools so as to improve teaching and learning in schools.

With the fund, it will identify what works to improve the quality of education in low cost private schools and disseminate examples of best practices and support the growth of a competitive non-state education market.

Speaking at its close out programme and innovation fair in Lagos recently, the Senior Education Advisor Team

Leader, DEEPEN Programme, Dr. Gboyega Ilusanya listed its components to include supporting innovation and facilitating change. “With facilitating change component, we are using our market systems approach to improve learning outcomes in schools in Lagos, through that, we are looking at rules and standards, supporting government to improve their grading system to enable schools to do better. “The other side is looking at access to finance, which to a number of schools can improve but they are stuck in between and they couldn’t access the finance. We also improve the level of information available to stakeholders and making a choice for low cost private education to help schools to improve on their services and

ultimately improve learning outcomes of it. “The innovation component is looking at the areas in which innovation around teaching and learning, literacy, numeracy and how children can solve mathematical problems and much more, could be piloted, tried and tested in low income private schools to support improvement. “Other innovations are centred around technology and teachers’ support arms where challenges facing them and being able to prepare their lessons are sorted out. Such les-

son plan which was developed by a previous programme on hard copy, is converted to an app which can be downloaded on a tablet, tried and tested to support teachers and improved beyond literacy and numeracy to social studies and basic sciences.

It is like bringing in technology into schools that are serving low income households.�

The Team Leader Challenge Fund, DEEPEN, Dr. Nneka Enwonwu, who emphasised on the impact of the programme on education providers said, “they are quite excited that people are looking at them and thinking

about ways they can improve and help them because they have a lot of challenges in terms of quality of teachers, structures and challenges in getting support to have access to finance from financial institutions. It is something that they never really have gotten so they can’t really improve. They are quite excited that people are coming up with solutions that will help them.�

The Director-General, Lagos State Office of Education Quality Assurance (OEQA), Mrs. Ronke Soyombo reiterated the state government’s commitment to

supporting schools to improve the quality of education.

She described the innovation as laudable, saying that it is a way of giving back to the children and improving teaching and learning in schools. “Every little help counts and that is what we are doing today.

We need to put our hands on deck to raise standard in our schools. What Challenge Fund is showing is how teachers can be more creative in our schools,� she said, while expressing satisfaction about the innovation of the education providers for low income private schools.

Edo SUBEB to Train 2,000 Teachers on ICT Adibe Emenyonu in Benin City The Edo State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB) has concluded plans to train about 2,000 public school teachers on ICT-based teaching under the Edo State Basic Education Sector Transformation (Edo BEST) programme. The acting Chairman of Edo SUBEB and Special Adviser to the Governor on Basic Education, Dr. Joan Osa Oviawe, who disclosed this recently, said the programme would cater for the needs of all stakeholders, including pupils, teachers, headmasters/mistresses, parents, communities and school infrastructure.

She said Edo BEST, which is a strategic vision to revamp SUBEB and the Local Government Education Authorities (LGEAs) and transform basic education in the state, will be

piloted in 300 schools.

Oviawe said teachers that do not participate in the first phase of the training will not be allowed to teach in the 300 pilot schools because only those with the right skills set, competence and tools will be able to deliver on the learning outcomes expected from the schools. “It is important that our teachers know that for the 300 pilot schools, any teacher who did not participate in the training cannot remain in the school. This is because they need to be trained in the new pedagogy before they can implement it. “The programme is being launched in phases with the pilot involving 300 schools. To prepare for this pilot, teachers have been asked to volunteer to be part of the training on improved pedagogy and easy to use technology.�

Bauchi Poly Promises Free Education for Disabled Persons, Science Students Segun Awofadeji in Bauchi The Rector of the Abubakar Tatari Ali Polytechnic (ATAP) Bauchi, Dr. Suleiman Lame has promised that all disabled persons in the state willing to study any course in the institution could do that free of charge.

Speaking with journalists after inspecting the newly constructed Departments of Tourism and Mass Communication (HND) Complex, the rector said aside the disabled people, students wishing to study Mathematics, Physics and Chemistry Education in the polytechnic could also enrol free of charge.

He said the gesture was aimed at empowering people

with disabilities educationally and motivating the basic science students, adding that secondary schools in the state are facing shortage of mathematics, physics and chemistry teachers.

He explained that the polytechnic deemed it necessary to come up with such policy to promote education in the state.

Lame added that the institution, in collaboration with the Bauchi State Commission for Youth and Women Rehabilitation and Development (BACYWORD) is currently training about 4,000 youths drawn from the 20 local government areas of the state on entrepreneurial skills and remedial studies.

L-R:The Head, Health Safety and Environment, Ikeja Electric, Jamiu Badmos; Chief Human Resource Officer, Ikeja Electric, Ibiene Okoleke; the Vice-Chancellor, University of Lagos (UNILAG), Oluwatoyin Ogundipe; Head, Corporate Communications, Ikeja Electric, Felix Ofolue; and Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Management Services, UNILAG, Ben Oghojafor, during the presentation of Ikeja Electric’s Power Play Board Game to the university‌ recently kolawole alli

Afe Babalola Decries Infrastructure Neglect in Nigerian Schools

Declare State of Emergency in Education, School Proprietor Tells Govt

Kehinde Lawal

Ernest Chinwo in Port Harcourt

The Founder and Chancellor of Afe Babalola University Ado Ekiti (ABUAD), Chief Afe Babalola, has expressed concern about the dilapidation of infrastructure in many Nigerian tertiary institutions.

Speaking at the seventh International Conference on Infrastructural Development in Africa (ICIDA), held at the Lagos State Polytechnic, Ikorodu, Babalola, who was represented by the Provost, College of Science and Management Sciences, ABUAD, Professor Adeolu Durotoye, said the state of infrastructure in Nigerian tertiary institutions is responsible for the alarming rate of Nigerian students going abroad to study.

He attributed the level of dilapidation in schools and other vocational institutions over the years to neglect by successive regimes, while appealing to government to address the problem by increasing budgetary allocation to education. “For Nigeria to catch up with the rest of the world in terms of quality education, government must comply with the 26 per cent UNESCO benchmark for

education. I recall that Chief Obafemi Awolowo devoted 54 per cent of the budget to education. Targeting a certain percentage of GDP each year will ensure that the education infrastructure deficit is slowly reduced, while demands for new infrastructure are met.�

The Chairman ICIDA and Provost, College of Art and Built Environment, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Ghana, Professor Joshua Ayarkwe said the conference was aimed at rethinking infrastructure development in Africa, adding that approaches to it in Africa are Eurocentric. “We have come to realise that there is no way we are going to develop without an inclusive thinking, so we need to really look beyond what we are doing. We need to position ourselves and look beyond the current mode of development and embrace the fourth industrial revolution,� he said.

The Director of Higher Education, Lagos State, Mr. Semasa Sutton who represented Governor Akinwunmi Ambode, said adequate attention must be given to Nigeria institutions.

The founder of Showers Christian High School, Port Harcourt, Mrs. Ekama Akpan has called on government at all levels to declare a state of emergency in education to stem the rot in the system and position the country for development.

She also warned Nigerian parents against being in a hurry to send their young children and wards to foreign universities.

Addressing journalists in Port Harcourt, Akpan noted that the future of the country depends on the quality of the output from its educational institutions, adding that there is need for government to take conscious decisions to improve the quality of teachers and regulation of the sector.

She also appealed to parents and the media not to leave the development of the sector to government alone as the result could be disastrous. “The future of this great country depends on the quality of our education and the children we train. We must make the children know that their

parents will not be there forever.

Also, parents must start talking because most of our youths are now drug addicts, who engage in all forms of criminality. “We need to see how we can encourage parents to look into the education sector. If you leave the sector for government and politicians, they will reduce the quality of education in the country. The more private schools we have, the better for us. “To have quality education, we must pay teachers, buy books and pay more attention to ICT. The policies of both federal and state governments in the sector must be transparent.�

On the cries of some private school owners against government regulation, Akpan insisted that government has a right and should ensure regulation of the sector to ensure that all schools meet minimum standards.

She however said the regulation should be transparent and carried out by officials who have passion for education. “Government has the responsibility to regulate the education sector. If it regulates well, things will change for the better.�

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Saraki Facilitates Construction of 100 Classrooms in Kwara Schools Hammed Shittu in Ilorin The Senate President, Bukola Saraki has facilitated the construction of about 100 classrooms through the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC) for pupils of various schools in the Kwara Central Senatorial District, Kwara State.

Saraki said the move is to add value to the quality and standard of education of the pupils. The project is under the 2016 and 2017 budget of the constituency project of the National Assembly.

The Director General of Mandate Office of Abubakar Bukola Saraki Constituency Office, Alhaji Musa Abdullahi, who spoke to journalists on the development on behalf of Saraki, said the gesture was meant to complement the efforts of the state government at boosting the quality

of education in the state. “During the 2016 budget, the UBEC released about 47 new classrooms slot to the constituency and they have been constructed and completed for the usage of the pupils. In the 2017 budget, the constituency also received 47 new classrooms slot and the construction of the new classrooms will start anytime from now.

With this new development, all the old dilapidated classrooms in the constituency have almost been replaced with the new ones so as to bring new lease of life to the learning of the pupils.�

He expressed the senate president’s commitment towards education standard of the state, particularly people of his constituency.

He also explained that a lot of pro-

grammes are on ground for the people of the state and implored Kwarans to continue to support the government to ensure that more development comes to their doorsteps.

He also announced plans by the constituency office to distribute thousands of school materials to various schools like laboratory equipment, writing books, school furniture, computer sets and generators, among others.

He said the materials would help address the non-availability of materials needed for the students to excel in their academics.

The senate president also promised that the present government in the state would continue to listen to the yearnings and aspirations of the people, particularly those at the grassroots.

Members of the 1988 Class of king’s College old boys with the waste management facility they donated to the school to mark the 30th anniversary of their graduation

King’s College Class of 1988 Donates Waste Mgt Facility to School As part of efforts to boost the waste disposal system at King’s College, Lagos and to give back to the school, the 1988 class of the old boys has donated a N15 million worth of redesigned and refurbished waste management facility to the school.

The project, funded and executed by the 1988 set in commemoration of the 30th anniversary of their graduation from the college, is the first step in the many programmes lined up to give the school the support it deserves.

A member of the Class of 1988 Organising Committee, Emeka Oragwu said the overriding sentiment about the donation was that the anniversary provided a suitable opportunity for the set to express its gratitude to the school. “Our successes in life are thanks to the solid intellectual and social foundation we received at King’s College, we also learnt that debts are always repaid; what better way to express our thanks than by giving something back to the school.�

A member, Organising Committee for the anniversary celebration, Mohammed Shaibu, while explaining the rationale of

the waste management facility, said the members noticed the shortcomings of the current school’s waste disposal system, designed for a far smaller school population. “The increase in student population as is the case with the demand on public services generally in Nigeria is largely beyond the control of the school body.

Unsurprisingly, the school has struggled to accommodate the additional pressure on facilities and resources,� he said.

Prompted by the scale and urgency of the situation, the class of 1988 decided to not only develop a solution for the waste management challenge, one that would not only remove the health hazard but would also leave a lasting, practical legacy.

Shaibu said the project will among other things facilitate efficient collection and removal of waste and implementation of an operational system for daily waste management across the site.

He said the project would also ensure the development of a waste classification system, promote ecological and environmental awareness and the development of a waste management awareness training

programme, to embed a new culture of waste management on the King’s College site. “We didn’t merely wish to bequeath the physical infrastructure to the school; we wanted to put in place the makings of a new culture, one that encouraged the long-term sustainability of the project.� “Through this, not only would the school take ownership of the solution; it could also set an example, championing the positive outcomes of long-term planning,� Shaibu said.

The project plan and the design for the new waste disposal site were in their entirety developed pro-bono by the organising committee. The costs were underwritten by direct contributions solicited from the class of 1988 and supported by corporate contributions in kind.

Emphasis was placed on sustainability; one innovative feature of the project was the installation of an anaerobic digester, capable of converting organic waste to methane gas. “There is the potential to derive value from waste,� Oragwu noted.

Firm Unveils Business Game for Students,The Chairman’s Empire For children aged seven and above, a new game has been designed to help build their self-confidence, social skills, concentration, alertness, memory, business communication skills, social awareness, logical thinking and reasoning, empathy, mathematical skills and practical and concrete knowledge of economics.

According to the Managing Director of Distinct Integrated Services Limited, promoters of the game, Ima Mariam Agunbiade-Etiebet, the new game, The Chairman’s Empire among other things, gives children a deeper knowledge of economics and how it could be applied

in running a business outfit. “The Chairman’s Empire is designed to promote self-confidence among the youths.

They develop social skills and healthy rivalry as they interact with one another in a competitive game that boosts their concentration and alertness all through. “While sitting at this fun game, the child gains in self-confidence and alertness. His memory is enhanced as he engages in logical thinking and reasoning to make the best of his business investments. He cannot afford to take his eyes off the board because if he does, he may just lose money.�

Agunbiade-Etiebet added: “Study has shown that mathematics has over the years been the bane of many Nigerian students. The Chairman’s Empire game helps boost the mathematics acuity of most players. It is therefore expected that children exposed to this game at an early age would have an easier grasp of the subject of mathematics.�

By exposing their children and wards to the Chairman’s Empire game, she said the average parent gives them a head start over other children not so exposed as they learn early how to own and run a business of the their own.

Continuous Personal Development Plan Ă™Ă&#x; Ă—Ă‹ĂŁ Ă’Ă‹Ă Ă? Ă—Ă‹ĂŽĂ? ĂĄĂ’Ă‹Ăž Ă?Ă’Ă‹Ă–Ă– Ă?Ă‹Ă–Ă– Ă‹ Ă™Ă˜ĂžĂ“Ă˜Ă&#x;Ă™Ă&#x;Ă? Ă?ĂœĂ?Ă™Ă˜Ă‹Ă– Ă?Ă Ă?ÖÙÚ×Ă?Ă˜Ăž Ě™ Ěš ĂšĂ–Ă‹Ă˜ Ă?Ă™Ăœ ÞÒÓĂ? ĂŁĂ?Ă‹ĂœË› Ă’Ă“Ă? Ă?Ă™Ă&#x;Ă–ĂŽ ĂŒĂ? ĂŒĂŁ ĂĄĂ‹ĂŁ Ă™Ă? Ă?ĂĄ Ă?Ă‹Ăœ ĂœĂ?Ă?ÙÖĂ&#x;ĂžĂ“Ă™Ă˜Ă?Ëœ Ă?Ă™Ă&#x;ĂœĂ?Ă?Ă? Ă™Ăœ ĂšĂœĂ™Ă”Ă?Ă?ĂžĂ? ĂŁĂ™Ă&#x;ËŞĂŽ Ă?Ù××Ă?Ă˜Ă?Ă? Ă‹Ăž Ă?Ù×Ă? ĂšĂ™Ă“Ă˜Ăž Ă“Ă˜ ÞÒĂ? ĂŁĂ?Ă‹Ăœ Ă™Ăœ Ă“Ă˜ĂŽĂ?Ă?ĂŽ Ă?Ù×ÚÖĂ?ĂžĂ? ÞÒÓĂ? ĂŁĂ?Ă‹ĂœËœ ÞÒĂ?ĂœĂ?ĂŒĂŁ Ă‹ĂŽĂŽĂ“Ă˜Ă‘ Ă‹Ă˜Ă™ĂžĂ’Ă?Ăœ Ă?Ă?ËÞÒĂ?Ăœ ÞÙ ĂŁĂ™Ă&#x;Ăœ Ă?ËÚ˛ ÙÎËã Ă“Ă? ĂšĂœĂ™ĂŒĂ‹ĂŒĂ–ĂŁ ÞÒĂ? Ę¨ĂœĂ?Ăž ĂŽĂ‹ĂŁ ĂŒĂ‹Ă?Ă• ÞÙ Ă?Ă?Ă’Ă™Ă™Ă–Ëœ Ă?Ă™Ăœ ĂŁĂ™Ă&#x;Ăœ Ă?ĂžĂ&#x;ĂŽĂ?Ă˜ĂžĂ? Ă“Ă˜ ÞÒĂ? Ă?ĂĄ Ă?Ă‹Ăœ ĂĄĂ’Ă“Ă–Ă? ĂŁĂ™Ă&#x; Ă—Ă‹ĂŁ Ă’Ă‹Ă Ă? Ă‹Ă–ĂœĂ?Ă‹ĂŽĂŁ ĂŽĂ™Ă˜Ă? ÞåÙ Ă“Ă˜Ă?Ă?Ăž ĂŽĂ‹ĂŁĂ? ÞÒÓĂ? ĂĄĂ?Ă?Ă• åÓÞÒ ÞÒĂ? ĂœĂ?Ă?Ăž Ă™Ă? ÞÒĂ? ĂžĂ?Ă‹Ă?Ă’Ă?ĂœĂ?Ëœ ĂžĂœĂ‹Ă“Ă˜Ă“Ă˜Ă‘Ëœ ĂšĂ–Ă‹Ă˜Ă˜Ă“Ă˜Ă‘ Ă‹Ă˜ĂŽ Ă?Ă Ă‹Ă–Ă&#x;Ă‹ĂžĂ“Ă˜Ă‘Ë› Ă™ĂŽĂ‹ĂŁËœ ËŞĂŽ Ă–Ă“Ă•Ă? ÞÙ ĂœĂ?Ă?Ù××Ă?Ă˜ĂŽ ÞÙ ĂŁĂ™Ă&#x; Ă‹ ÞÙÙÖ Ă?Ă™Ăœ Ă?Ă&#x;Ă?Ă?Ă?Ă?Ă? ÞÒËÞ Ă?Ă&#x;ĂžĂ? Ă‹Ă?ĂœĂ™Ă?Ă? Ă‹Ă–Ă– ĂŽĂ“Ă?Ă?Ă“ĂšĂ–Ă“Ă˜Ă? Ě‹ ĂœĂ?ĘŽĂ?Ă?ÞÓà Ă? ĂšĂœĂ‹Ă?ÞÓĂ?Ă?Ë› Ă’Ă? Ă?Ă™Ă˜Ă?Ă?ÚÞ Ă™Ă? ĂœĂ?ĘŽĂ?Ă?ÞÓà Ă? ĂšĂœĂ‹Ă?ÞÓĂ?Ă? Ă“Ă? ĂŒĂ‹Ă?Ă?ĂŽ Ă™Ă˜ ÞÒĂ? Ă“ĂŽĂ?Ă‹ Ă™Ă? Ă–Ă“Ă?Ă?Ă–Ă™Ă˜Ă‘ Ă–Ă?Ă‹ĂœĂ˜Ă“Ă˜Ă‘ Ă‹Ă˜ĂŽ ĂœĂ?Ă›Ă&#x;Ă“ĂœĂ?Ă? ĂŁĂ™Ă&#x; ÞÙ Ă‹Ă˜Ă‹Ă–ĂŁĂ?Ă? ĂŁĂ™Ă&#x;Ăœ Ă?âÚĂ?ĂœĂ“Ă?Ă˜Ă?Ă?Ă? Ă“Ă˜ Ă™ĂœĂŽĂ?Ăœ ÞÙ Ă–Ă?Ă‹ĂœĂ˜ Ă?ĂœĂ™Ă— ÞÒĂ?Ă—Ë› Ăž Ă“Ă? Ă‹ ĂšĂœĂ™Ă?Ă?Ă?Ă? Ă™Ă? Ă?Ă?Ă–Ă?Ě‹Ă™ĂŒĂ?Ă?ĂœĂ Ă‹ĂžĂ“Ă™Ă˜ Ă‹Ă˜ĂŽ Ă?Ă?Ă–Ă?Ě‹Ă?Ă Ă‹Ă–Ă&#x;Ă‹ĂžĂ“Ă™Ă˜ Ă“Ă˜ ĂĄĂ’Ă“Ă?Ă’ ĂŁĂ™Ă&#x; Ă‹ĂœĂ? Ă–Ă™Ă™Ă•Ă“Ă˜Ă‘ Ă‹Ăž ĂĄĂ’Ă‹Ăž ĂŁĂ™Ă&#x; ĂŽĂ™Ëœ ĂžĂ’Ă“Ă˜Ă‘ Ă‹ĂŒĂ™Ă&#x;Ăž ĂĄĂ’ĂŁ ĂŁĂ™Ă&#x; ĂŽĂ™ Ă“Ăž Ă‹Ă˜ĂŽ ĂžĂ’Ă“Ă˜Ă•Ă“Ă˜Ă‘ Ă‹ĂŒĂ™Ă&#x;Ăž Ă“Ă? Ă“Ăž ĂĄĂ™ĂœĂ•Ă?Ë› Ă™Ă–Ă–Ă™ĂĄĂ“Ă˜Ă‘ ĂŁĂ™Ă&#x;Ăœ ĂœĂ?ĘŽĂ?Ă?ĂžĂ“Ă™Ă˜ ÞÒÙĂ&#x;Ă‘Ă’ Ă—Ă‹ĂŁ Ă–Ă?Ă‹ĂŽ ÞÙ ĂŁĂ™Ă&#x;Ăœ Ă—Ă‹Ă•Ă“Ă˜Ă‘ Ă‘ĂœĂ?Ă‹Ăž Ă?Ă’Ă‹Ă˜Ă‘Ă?Ă? Ă‹Ă˜ĂŽ Ă“Ă—ĂšĂœĂ™Ă Ă?Ă—Ă?Ă˜Ăž Ă“Ă˜ ĂŁĂ™Ă&#x;Ăœ Ă”Ă™ĂŒ Ă™Ăœ ĂŒĂ&#x;Ă?Ă“Ă˜Ă?Ă?Ă?Ë› Ă’Ă?Ă˜ ĂĄĂ? ĂœĂ?ĂžĂ’Ă“Ă˜Ă• Ă™Ăœ ĂœĂ?ĂžĂ?Ă–Ă– Ă™Ă&#x;Ăœ Ă?âÚĂ?ĂœĂ“Ă?Ă˜Ă?Ă?Ëœ ĂĄĂ? Ă‹ĂœĂ? ĂŒĂ?ĘľĂ?Ăœ Ă‹ĂŒĂ–Ă? ÞÙ Ă?Ă‹ĂžĂ?Ă‘Ă™ĂœĂ“Ă?Ă? ÞÒĂ? ÒËÚÚĂ?Ă˜Ă“Ă˜Ă‘Ă?Ëœ Ă?Ă—Ă™ĂžĂ“Ă™Ă˜Ă?Ëœ Ă“Ă˜ĂŽĂ“Ă Ă“ĂŽĂ&#x;Ă‹Ă–Ă? Ă“Ă˜ ÞÒĂ? Ă?âÚĂ?ĂœĂ“Ă?Ă˜Ă?Ă? Ă‹Ă˜ĂŽ Ă“ĂŽĂ?Ă‹Ă? Ă?Ă—Ă‹Ă˜Ă‹ĂžĂ“Ă˜Ă‘ Ă?ĂœĂ™Ă— ÞÒĂ? Ă?âÚĂ?ĂœĂ“Ă?Ă˜Ă?Ă?Ë› Ă™Ă˜Ă?Ă?Ă›Ă&#x;Ă?Ă˜ĂžĂ–ĂŁËœ ĂĄĂ? Ă‹ĂœĂ? Ă‹ĂŒĂ–Ă? ÞÙ Ă–Ă“Ă˜Ă• Ă™Ă&#x;Ăœ Ă“Ă˜ĂžĂ?Ă˜ĂŽĂ?ĂŽ ĂšĂ&#x;ĂœĂšĂ™Ă?Ă? åÓÞÒ ÞÒĂ? Ă‹Ă?ĂžĂ“Ă™Ă˜Ă? ÞÒËÞ ĂĄĂ? Ă‹Ă˜ĂŽ ÙÞÒĂ?ĂœĂ? ĂŽĂ“ĂŽ Ă™Ăœ ĂŽĂ“ĂŽ Ă˜Ă™Ăž Ă?Ă‹ĂœĂœĂŁ Ă™Ă&#x;Þ˛ Ù×Ă? ÑÙÙÎ ×ÙÎĂ?Ă–Ă? Ă™Ă? ĂœĂ?ĘŽĂ?Ă?ĂžĂ“Ă™Ă˜ ÞÒËÞ ĂŁĂ™Ă&#x; Ă—Ă‹ĂŁ ĂĄĂ“Ă?Ă’ ÞÙ ĂœĂ?Ă?Ă?Ă‹ĂœĂ?Ă’ Ă‹ĂœĂ?Ë? ÙÖĂ?Ă? ̙Ͱ͎͎ͯ̚˪Ă? Ă?ĂŁĂ?Ă–Ă? Ă™Ă? ĂžĂ’ĂœĂ?Ă? Ă›Ă&#x;Ă?Ă?ĂžĂ“Ă™Ă˜Ë› ĂœĂ™Ă™Ă•Ę¨Ă?Ă–ĂŽ ̙ͯ̚͜͡͡˪Ă? Ă?Ă?Ă?Ă“Ă˜Ă‘Ë&#x;ĂžĂ’ĂœĂ™Ă&#x;Ă‘Ă’ Ă?Ù×ÚÖĂ?Ă—Ă?Ă˜ĂžĂ‹ĂœĂŁ Ă–Ă?Ă˜Ă?Ë› Ă™Ă’Ă˜ ̙ͯ͡͡ͳ̚˪Ă? ÚËʾĂ?ĂœĂ˜Ă? Ă™Ă? Ă•Ă˜Ă™ĂĄĂ“Ă˜Ă‘Ë› Ă“ĂŒĂŒĂ? ͯ̚͜͡͡͡˪Ă? Ă?ĂžĂœĂ&#x;Ă?ĂžĂ&#x;ĂœĂ?ĂŽ ĂŽĂ?ĂŒĂœĂ“Ă?Ę¨Ă˜Ă‘Ë› ĂœĂ‘ĂŁĂœĂ“Ă? Ă‹Ă˜ĂŽ Ă?Ă’Ă™Ă˜ËŞĂ? ̙ͯ͡;̚͜˪Ă? Ă?Ă“Ă˜Ă‘Ă–Ă? Ă‹Ă˜ĂŽ ĂŽĂ™Ă&#x;ĂŒĂ–Ă? ÖÙÙÚ Ă–Ă?Ă‹ĂœĂ˜Ă“Ă˜Ă‘ Ă‹Ă˜ĂŽ Ă™Ă–ĂŒ ̙ͯ͡;ͳ̚˪Ă? Ă?âÚĂ?ĂœĂ“Ă?Ă˜ĂžĂ“Ă‹Ă– Ă–Ă?Ă‹ĂœĂ˜Ă“Ă˜Ă‘Ë› ÙÙÎ ĂžĂ?Ă‹Ă?Ă’Ă?ĂœĂ? Ă’Ă‹Ă Ă? Ă?Ă“Ă—Ă“Ă–Ă‹Ăœ Ă?Ă™Ă˜Ă?Ă?ĂœĂ˜Ă? Ă‹Ă˜ĂŽ ĂĄĂ™ĂœĂœĂ“Ă?Ă? Ă–Ă“Ă•Ă? ÞÒĂ? Ă?Ă™Ă–Ă–Ă™ĂĄĂ“Ă˜Ă‘ ÞÒËÞ Ă—Ă‹ĂŁ ĂŒĂ?Ă˜Ă?ʨÞ Ă?ĂœĂ™Ă— ÞÒĂ? Ă?ĂŁĂ?ĂžĂ?×ËÞÓĂ? ËÚÚÖÓĂ?Ă‹ĂžĂ“Ă™Ă˜ Ă™Ă? Ă‹ ĂœĂ?ĘŽĂ?Ă?ÞÓà Ă? ×ÙÎĂ?Ă–Ë› Ă’Ă?ĂŁ ĂĄĂ™ĂœĂœĂŁ Ă‹ĂŒĂ™Ă&#x;ĂžË?

Ă? ÞÒĂ?Ă“Ăœ Ă–Ă?Ă?Ă“Ă™Ă˜ ĂĄĂ?Ă˜Ăž ĂĄĂ?Ă–Ă– Ă™Ăœ Ă˜Ă™ĂžËœ ÞÒĂ? ĂĄĂ’ĂŁĂ? Ă?ÓÞÒĂ?Ăœ ĂĄĂ‹ĂŁ

Ă? ÞÒĂ? Ă?ĂžĂ&#x;ĂŽĂ?Ă˜ĂžĂ? Ă&#x;Ă˜ĂŽĂ?ĂœĂ?ÞÙÙÎ Ě™Ă™Ăœ ĂŽĂ“ĂŽĂ˜ËŞĂžĚš ĂĄĂ’Ă‹Ăž ĂĄĂ‹Ă? ÞËĂ&#x;Ă‘Ă’ĂžËœ ÞÒĂ? ĂĄĂ’ĂŁĂ? Ă?Ă™Ăœ ÞÒËÞ˛ Ă’Ă?ÞÒĂ?Ăœ ĂžĂ?Ă‹Ă?Ă’Ă?ĂœËŞĂ? Ă“Ă˜Ă?ĂžĂœĂ&#x;Ă?ĂžĂ“Ă™Ă˜Ă? Ă‹Ă˜ĂŽ Ă?Ă˘ĂšĂ–Ă‹Ă˜Ă‹ĂžĂ“Ă™Ă˜Ă? ĂĄĂ?ĂœĂ? Ă?Ă–Ă?Ă‹ĂœË› Ùå Ă—Ă&#x;Ă?Ă’ ĂŽĂ“ĂŽ ÞÒĂ? ĂžĂ?Ă‹Ă?Ă’Ă?Ăœ ÞËÖÕ Ă‹Ă˜ĂŽ ĂĄĂ’Ă‹Ăž Ă‹ĂŒĂ™Ă&#x;Þ˛ Ùå Ă—Ă&#x;Ă?Ă’ ÞÓ×Ă? ĂĄĂ‹Ă? Ă‹Ă–Ă–Ă™Ă?Ă‹ĂžĂ?ĂŽ ÞÙ Ă?ĂžĂ&#x;ĂŽĂ?Ă˜Ăž ÞËÖÕ˛ Ùå ĂžĂ?Ă‹Ă?Ă’Ă?Ăœ ĂœĂ?Ă?ĂšĂ™Ă˜ĂŽĂ?ĂŽ ÞÙ Ă?ĂžĂ&#x;ĂŽĂ?Ă˜Ăž ÞËÖÕ˛ Ă’Ă?ĂœĂ? ĂžĂ?Ă‹Ă?Ă’Ă?Ăœ Ă?ÞÙÙÎ Ă‹Ă˜ĂŽ ÞÒĂ? Ă?ĘĽĂ?Ă?Ăž Ă™Ă? ÞÒĂ?Ă“Ăœ ÚÙÓĂ?Ă?Ëœ ÚÙĂ?Ă“ĂžĂ“Ă™Ă˜Ă“Ă˜Ă‘ Ă‹Ă˜ĂŽ ×Ùà Ă?Ă—Ă?Ă˜Ăž ĂžĂ’ĂœĂ™Ă&#x;Ă‘Ă’Ă™Ă&#x;Ăž ÞÒĂ? Ă–Ă?Ă?Ă?Ă™Ă˜Ë› Ă’Ă™ ĂžĂ?Ă‹Ă?Ă’Ă?Ăœ Ă?ÚÙÕĂ? ÞÙ˚ËʾĂ?Ă˜ĂŽĂ?ĂŽ ÞÙ Ă“Ă˜ ÞÒĂ? Ă–Ă?Ă?Ă?Ă™Ă˜Ë› Ùå ĂžĂ?Ă‹Ă?Ă’Ă?Ăœ Ă?Ă‹Ă—Ă?ËšĂ?Ù×Ă? Ă‹Ă?ĂœĂ™Ă?Ă? ÞÙ ÞÒĂ? Ă?ĂžĂ&#x;ĂŽĂ?Ă˜ĂžĂ? ĂŽĂ&#x;ĂœĂ“Ă˜Ă‘ ÞÒĂ? Ă–Ă?Ă?Ă?Ă™Ă˜Ë› Ă?ĘŽĂ?Ă?ÞÓà Ă? ĂšĂœĂ‹Ă?ÞÓĂ?Ă? Ă“Ă˜ Ă?ĂŽĂ&#x;Ă?Ă‹ĂžĂ“Ă™Ă˜ Ě™ Ă?ĘŽĂ?Ă?ÞÓà Ă? Ă?Ă‹Ă?Ă’Ă“Ă˜Ă‘Ěš ÞÒĂ?ĂœĂ?Ă?Ă™ĂœĂ? ĂœĂ?Ă?Ă?ĂœĂ? ÞÙ ÞÒĂ? ĂšĂœĂ™Ă?Ă?Ă?Ă? Ă™Ă? ÞÒĂ? ĂžĂ?Ă‹Ă?Ă’Ă?Ăœ Ă?ĂžĂ&#x;ĂŽĂŁĂ“Ă˜Ă‘ Ă’Ă“Ă? Ă™Ăœ Ă’Ă?Ăœ Ă™ĂĄĂ˜ ĂžĂ?Ă‹Ă?Ă’Ă“Ă˜Ă‘ Ă—Ă?ÞÒÙÎĂ? Ă‹Ă˜ĂŽ ĂŽĂ?ĂžĂ?ĂœĂ—Ă“Ă˜Ă“Ă˜Ă‘ ĂĄĂ’Ă‹Ăž ĂĄĂ™ĂœĂ•Ă? ĂŒĂ?Ă?Ăž Ă?Ă™Ăœ ÞÒĂ? Ă?ĂžĂ&#x;ĂŽĂ?Ă˜ĂžĂ?Ë› Ăž Ă‹Ă–Ă?Ă™ Ă“Ă˜Ă Ă™Ă–Ă Ă?Ă? ÞÒĂ? Ă?ÞÒÓĂ?Ă‹Ă– Ă?Ă™Ă˜Ă?Ă“ĂŽĂ?ĂœĂ‹ĂžĂ“Ă™Ă˜ Ă™Ă? Ă?Ă–Ă‹Ă?Ă?ĂœĂ™Ă™Ă— ĂšĂœĂ™Ă?Ă?ĂŽĂ&#x;ĂœĂ?Ă? Ă™Ă˜ Ă?ĂžĂ&#x;ĂŽĂ?Ă˜ĂžĂ?Ëœ Ă?Ă™Ăœ Ă?âË×ÚÖĂ?Ëœ ĂŽĂœĂ‹ĂĄĂ“Ă˜Ă‘ Ă&#x;Ăš Ă‘ĂœĂ™Ă&#x;Ă˜ĂŽ Ă?Ă–Ă‹Ă?Ă? ĂœĂ&#x;Ă–Ă?Ă?Ëœ ĂŽĂ“Ă?ĂšĂ–Ă‹ĂŁĂ“Ă˜Ă‘ ÞÒĂ?Ă— Ă‹Ă˜ĂŽ Ă?Ă‹ĂœĂœĂŁĂ“Ă˜Ă‘ Ă™Ă&#x;Ăž ĂšĂ?Ă˜Ă‹Ă–ĂžĂ“Ă?Ă? Ă™Ă? ĂŽĂ?Ă?Ă‹Ă&#x;ÖÞ˞ Ă™Ăœ Ă&#x;Ă?Ă“Ă˜Ă‘ Ă?ĘĽĂ?Ă?ÞÓà Ă? ĂŽĂ?Ă?Ă• Ă‹ĂœĂœĂ‹Ă˜Ă‘Ă?Ă—Ă?Ă˜Ăž ÞÒËÞ Ă?Ă‹Ă?ÓÖÓÞËÞĂ?Ă? Ă–Ă?Ă‹ĂœĂ˜Ă“Ă˜Ă‘Ëœ Ă?Ă™Ăœ ĂŽĂ“ĘĽĂ?ĂœĂ?Ă˜Ăž Ă–Ă?Ă?Ă?Ă™Ă˜Ă?Ë› Ă™Ă&#x; Ă—Ă‹ĂŁ ĂŒĂ?Ă‘Ă“Ă˜ Ă‹ ĂšĂœĂ™Ă?Ă?Ă?Ă? Ă™Ă? ĂœĂ?ĘŽĂ?Ă?ĂžĂ“Ă™Ă˜ Ă“Ă˜ ĂœĂ?Ă?ĂšĂ™Ă˜Ă?Ă? ÞÙ Ă‹ ĂšĂ‹ĂœĂžĂ“Ă?Ă&#x;Ă–Ă‹Ăœ ĂšĂœĂ™ĂŒĂ–Ă?Ă— ÞÒËÞ Ă‹ĂœĂ™Ă?Ă? Ă“Ă˜ ĂŁĂ™Ă&#x;Ăœ Ă?Ă–Ă‹Ă?Ă? Ă™Ăœ Ă‹Ă? Ă‹ ĂĄĂ‹ĂŁ Ă™Ă? Ę¨Ă˜ĂŽĂ“Ă˜Ă‘ Ă™Ă&#x;Ăž Ă—Ă™ĂœĂ? Ă‹ĂŒĂ™Ă&#x;Ăž ĂŁĂ™Ă&#x;Ăœ ĂžĂ?Ă‹Ă?Ă’Ă“Ă˜Ă‘Ë› Ă&#x;Ă–Ă“Ă? Ă“Ă?Ă? ̙Ͱ͎ͯͯ̚ Ă“Ă˜ Ă’Ă?Ăœ Ă‹ĂœĂžĂ“Ă?Ă–Ă? ËŠ Ă?ĘŽĂ?Ă?ÞÓà Ă? Ă?Ă‹Ă?Ă’Ă“Ă˜Ă‘Ëž Ă˘ĂšĂ–Ă™ĂœĂ“Ă˜Ă‘ Ă™Ă&#x;Ăœ Ă™ĂĄĂ˜ Ă–Ă‹Ă?Ă?ĂœĂ™Ă™Ă— ĂœĂ‹Ă?ÞÓĂ?Ă?ËŞËœ Ă?Ă&#x;Ă‘Ă‘Ă?Ă?ĂžĂ? Ă?Ă™Ă&#x;Ăœ Ă—Ă?Ă‹Ă˜Ă? ÞÒËÞ ÞÒĂ? ĂžĂ?Ă‹Ă?Ă’Ă?Ăœ Ă?Ă™Ă&#x;Ă–ĂŽ ĂœĂ?ĘŽĂ?Ă?Ăž ĂŒĂŁË? Ă?Ă‹Ă?Ă’Ă?Ăœ ĂŽĂ“Ă‹ĂœĂŁË? Ă?Ă?Ăš Ă‹ ĂŽĂ“Ă‹ĂœĂŁ Ă“Ă˜ ĂĄĂ’Ă“Ă?Ă’ ĂŁĂ™Ă&#x; ÔÙÞ ĂŽĂ™ĂĄĂ˜ ĂšĂ™Ă“Ă˜ĂžĂ? Ă™Ă˜ ÒÙå ÞÒĂ? Ă–Ă?Ă?Ă?Ă™Ă˜ ĂĄĂ?Ă˜ĂžË› Ă?Ă? Ă•Ă?ĂŁ ĂĄĂ™ĂœĂŽĂ? ÞÙ Ă˜Ă™ĂžĂ? Ă“Ă?Ă?Ă&#x;Ă?Ă? ĂŁĂ™Ă&#x;ËŞĂŽ Ă–Ă“Ă•Ă? ÞÙ Ă?Ă–Ă‹ĂœĂ“Ă?ĂŁËœ ĂœĂ?Ă‹ĂŽ Ă&#x;Ăš Ă™Ă˜ Ă™Ăœ Ă“Ă˜Ă Ă?Ă?ÞÓÑËÞĂ? Ă–Ă‹ĂžĂ?ĂœË› Ă˘ĂšĂœĂ?Ă?Ă? ĂŁĂ™Ă&#x;Ăœ Ă?Ă?Ă?Ă–Ă“Ă˜Ă‘Ă? Ă‹ĂŒĂ™Ă&#x;Ăž ÞÒĂ? Ă–Ă?Ă?Ă?Ă™Ă˜Ëœ ÒÙå ĂŁĂ™Ă&#x; Ă‹ĂŽĂ”Ă&#x;ĂŽĂ‘Ă? ÞÒĂ? Ă–Ă?Ă?Ă?Ă™Ă˜ ÞÙ Ă’Ă‹Ă Ă? Ă‘Ă™Ă˜Ă?Ë› Ă?Ă?ĂšĂ“Ă˜Ă‘ ĂŁĂ™Ă&#x;Ăœ ĂŽĂ“Ă‹ĂœĂŁ ĂŒĂ?Ă‘Ă? Ă?Ă™Ăœ Ă?Ă?Ă–Ă?Ě‹ĂŽĂ“Ă?Ă?Ă“ĂšĂ–Ă“Ă˜Ă?Ëœ ĂŒĂ&#x;Ăž ËŠĂ?ĂœĂ?Ă?äĂ?Ă?ËŞ ÞÒĂ? Ă?âËĂ?Ăž Ă?Ă Ă?Ă˜ĂžËœ Ă—Ă‹Ă•Ă“Ă˜Ă‘ Ă“Ăž Ă?Ă‹Ă?Ă“Ă?Ăœ Ă?Ă™Ăœ ĂŁĂ™Ă&#x; ÞÙ ĂšĂœĂ™ĂšĂ?ĂœĂ–ĂŁ ĂœĂ?Ă?ÞÓĂ?ĂŁ ÞÒĂ? Ă“Ă?Ă?Ă&#x;Ă? Ă™Ăœ Ă•Ă?Ă?Ăš Ă&#x;Ăš ÞÒĂ? ÑÙÙÎ ĂĄĂ™ĂœĂ•Ë› Ă?Ă?Ăœ Ă™ĂŒĂ?Ă?ĂœĂ Ă‹ĂžĂ“Ă™Ă˜Ë? Ă˜Ă Ă“ĂžĂ? Ă‹Ă˜Ă™ĂžĂ’Ă?Ăœ ĂžĂ?Ă‹Ă?Ă’Ă?Ăœ ÞÙ Ă?Ù×Ă? Ă“Ă˜ Ă‹Ă˜ĂŽ Ă™ĂŒĂ?Ă?ĂœĂ Ă? ĂŁĂ™Ă&#x;Ăœ Ă–Ă?Ă?Ă?Ă™Ă˜Ë› Ă™Ă&#x; Ă—Ă‹ĂŁ Ă‹Ă?Ă• ÞÒĂ? Ă™ĂŒĂ?Ă?ĂœĂ Ă?Ăœ ÞÙ Ă˜Ă™ĂžĂ? ĂšĂ‹ĂœĂžĂ“Ă?Ă&#x;Ă–Ă‹Ăœ Ă‹ĂœĂ?Ă‹Ă? Ă–Ă“Ă•Ă? Ă?ĂžĂ&#x;ĂŽĂ?Ă˜Ăž Ă“Ă˜Ă Ă™Ă–Ă Ă?Ă—Ă?Ă˜Ăž Ă‹Ă˜ĂŽ ĂœĂ?Ă?ĂšĂ™Ă˜Ă?Ă? Ă™Ăœ ÞÒĂ? Ă&#x;Ă?Ă? Ă‹Ă˜ĂŽ Ă?ĘĽĂ?Ă?Ăž Ă™Ă? ĂžĂ?Ă‹Ă?Ă’Ă“Ă˜Ă‘ Ă‹Ă“ĂŽĂ? Ă‹Ă˜ĂŽ Ă™ĂŒĂ”Ă?Ă?ĂžĂ? Ă™Ă? ĂœĂ?Ă?Ă?ĂœĂ?Ă˜Ă?Ă?Ă?Ë› Ă? ĂŁĂ™Ă&#x; Ă‹ĂœĂ? Ă–Ă&#x;Ă?Ă•ĂŁ ÞÙ Ă‘Ă?Ăž Ă?Ă™Ă˜Ă?ĂžĂœĂ&#x;Ă?ÞÓà Ă? Ă?ĂœĂ“ĂžĂ“Ă?Ă“Ă?Ă—Ă?Ëœ ÔÙÞ ÞÒĂ?Ă— ĂŽĂ™ĂĄĂ˜Ëœ Ă?Ă?Ă?Ă• ÞÒĂ? Ă™ĂšĂ“Ă˜Ă“Ă™Ă˜Ă? Ă™Ă? Ă?âĂ?Ă?Ă–Ă–Ă?Ă˜Ăž Ă Ă?ĂžĂ?ĂœĂ‹Ă˜ ĂžĂ?Ă‹Ă?Ă’Ă?ĂœĂ? Ă™Ă˜ ÒÙå ÞÙ Ă“Ă—ĂšĂœĂ™Ă Ă?Ëž Ă?Ă?Ă‹ĂœĂ?Ă’ Ă™Ă˜ ÞÒĂ? ĂĄĂ?ĂŒ Ă?Ă™Ăœ ĂšĂœĂ™Ă?Ă?Ă?Ă?Ă“Ă™Ă˜Ă‹Ă– Ă‹ĂœĂžĂ“Ă?Ă–Ă?Ă? ÞÒËÞ Ă—Ă‹ĂŁ Ă‹ĂŽĂŽĂœĂ?Ă?Ă? ÞÒĂ? Ă“Ă?Ă?Ă&#x;Ă?Ă? Ă?Ă™Ă&#x;Ă˜ĂŽË› Ă?Ă?Ă™ĂœĂŽ ĂŁĂ™Ă&#x;Ăœ Ă–Ă?Ă?Ă?Ă™Ă˜ ̙ËĂ&#x;ĂŽĂ“Ă™ Ă‹Ă˜ĂŽ Ă Ă“Ă?Ă&#x;Ă‹Ă–ĚšË? Ă˜Ă? ĂĄĂ‹ĂŁ ÞÙ Ă&#x;Ă?Ă? ĂŁĂ™Ă&#x;Ăœ Ă—Ă™ĂŒĂ“Ă–Ă? ĂšĂ’Ă™Ă˜Ă? ĂœĂ?Ă?ĂšĂ™Ă˜Ă?Ă“ĂŒĂ–ĂŁ ĂŽĂ&#x;ĂœĂ“Ă˜Ă‘ ĂŁĂ™Ă&#x;Ăœ Ă?Ă™Ă˜ĂžĂœĂ‹Ă?Ăž Ă’Ă™Ă&#x;ĂœĂ?Ëœ ĂŽĂ?ĂšĂ?Ă˜ĂŽĂ“Ă˜Ă‘ Ă™Ă˜ Ă“ĂžĂ? Ă?ËÚËĂ?Ă“ĂžĂŁËœ Ă“Ă? ĂœĂ?Ă?Ă™ĂœĂŽĂ“Ă˜Ă‘ ĂŁĂ™Ă&#x;Ăœ Ă–Ă?Ă?Ă?Ă™Ă˜ Ă™Ă˜ ÓÞ˛ Ă–Ă‹ĂŁ Ă“Ăž ĂŒĂ‹Ă?Ă• ÞÙ ĂŁĂ™Ă&#x;ĂœĂ?Ă?Ă–Ă?Ëœ ÞÒÓĂ? Ă‘Ă“Ă Ă?Ă? ĂŁĂ™Ă&#x; Ă‹Ă˜ Ă“Ă˜Ă?Ă“Ă‘Ă’Ăž Ă“Ă˜ĂžĂ™ à ÓÞËÖ Ă‹Ă?ĂšĂ?Ă?ĂžĂ? Ă™Ă? ĂŁĂ™Ă&#x;Ăœ Ă™ĂĄĂ˜ Ă?Ă–Ă‹Ă?Ă?ĂœĂ™Ă™Ă— Ă‹Ă?ĂžĂ“Ă™Ă˜Ă?Ë› Ă™Ă&#x; Ă?Ă‹Ă˜ ĂŽĂ?ĂžĂ?Ă?Ăž ĂĄĂ’Ă?ÞÒĂ?Ăœ Ă™Ăœ Ă˜Ă™Ăž ĂŁĂ™Ă&#x;Ăœ Ă?ÒÙÓĂ?Ă? Ă“Ă? Ă?ĘĽĂ?Ă?ÞÓà Ă?Ëœ ĂœĂ?Ă?ĂžĂœĂ“Ă?ÞÓà Ă?Ëœ Ă?Ă˜ĂžĂ’Ă&#x;Ă?Ă“Ă˜Ă‘Ëœ ĘŽĂ‹Ăž Ă™Ăœ ĂŒĂ‹Ă–Ă‹Ă˜Ă?Ă?ĂŽË› Ă–Ă‹ĂŁ ÞÒÓĂ? ĂŒĂ‹Ă?Ă• ÞÙ ÞÒĂ? Ă?ĂžĂ&#x;ĂŽĂ?Ă˜ĂžĂ?Ëœ ĂĄĂ‹ĂžĂ?Ă’ Ă‹Ă˜ĂŽ Ă–Ă“Ă?ĂžĂ?Ă˜ ÞÙ ÞÒĂ?Ă“Ăœ ĂœĂ?Ă‹Ă?ĂžĂ“Ă™Ă˜Ă?Ë› Ă Ă“ĂŽĂ?Ă™ ĂœĂ?Ă?Ă™ĂœĂŽĂ“Ă˜Ă‘ Ă?ÒÙåĂ? ĂŁĂ™Ă&#x; Ă‹Ă?ĂšĂ?Ă?ĂžĂ? Ă™Ă? ĂŁĂ™Ă&#x;Ăœ ĂŒĂ?Ă’Ă‹Ă Ă“Ă™ĂœËž Ă‹Ă–Ă– ĂŁĂ™Ă&#x;Ăœ Ă˜Ă™Ă˜Ě‹Ă Ă?ĂœĂŒĂ‹Ă– ĂŒĂ?Ă’Ă‹Ă Ă“Ă™ĂœËœ ĂĄĂ’Ă?ĂœĂ? ĂŁĂ™Ă&#x; Ă?ĂžĂ™Ă™ĂŽËœ ĂĄĂ’Ă™ ĂŁĂ™Ă&#x; Ă?ÚÙÕĂ? ĂžĂ™Ëœ ÒÙå ĂŁĂ™Ă&#x; Ă?Ă‹Ă—Ă? Ă‹Ă?ĂœĂ™Ă?Ă? ÞÙ ÞÒĂ? Ă?ĂžĂ&#x;ĂŽĂ?Ă˜ĂžĂ?Ëœ ÞÒĂ?Ă“Ăœ ĂžĂ?ÖÖ̋ÞËÖĂ? ĂŒĂ™ĂŽĂŁ Ă–Ă‹Ă˜Ă‘Ă&#x;Ă‹Ă‘Ă?Ă? Ă‹Ă? ĂŁĂ™Ă&#x; ÞËĂ&#x;Ă‘Ă’Ăž Ă?ĂžĂ?Ë› ĂžĂ&#x;ĂŽĂ?Ă˜ĂžĂ?ËŞ Ă?Ă?Ă?ĂŽĂŒĂ‹Ă?Ă•Ë? Ă?Ă• ĂŁĂ™Ă&#x;Ăœ Ă?ĂžĂ&#x;ĂŽĂ?Ă˜ĂžĂ? ĂĄĂ’Ă‹Ăž ÞÒĂ?ĂŁ ĂžĂ’Ă“Ă˜Ă• Ă‹ĂŒĂ™Ă&#x;Ăž ĂĄĂ’Ă‹Ăž Ă‘Ă™Ă?Ă? Ă™Ă˜ Ă“Ă˜ ĂŁĂ™Ă&#x;Ăœ Ă?Ă–Ă‹Ă?Ă?ĂœĂ™Ă™Ă—Ë› Ă’Ă?Ă“Ăœ Ă™ĂšĂ“Ă˜Ă“Ă™Ă˜Ă? Ă‹Ă˜ĂŽ ĂšĂ?ĂœĂ?Ă?ĂšĂžĂ“Ă™Ă˜Ă? Ă?Ă‹Ă˜ Ă‹ĂŽĂŽ Ă‹ ĂŽĂ“ĘĽĂ?ĂœĂ?Ă˜Ăž Ă‹Ă˜ĂŽ Ă Ă‹Ă–Ă&#x;Ă‹ĂŒĂ–Ă? ĂšĂ?ĂœĂ?ĂšĂ?Ă?ÞÓà Ă?Ë› Ă’Ă“Ă? Ă?Ă‹Ă˜ Ă‹Ă–Ă?Ă™ ĂŒĂ? ĂŽĂ™Ă˜Ă? åÓÞÒ Ă?Ó×ÚÖĂ? Ă›Ă&#x;Ă?Ă?ĂžĂ“Ă™Ă˜Ă˜Ă‹Ă“ĂœĂ?Ă?Ë› Ă? ĂŁĂ™Ă&#x; Ă‘Ă™ Ă‹Ă–Ă™Ă˜Ă‘ ÞÒÓĂ? ĂŁĂ?Ă‹ĂœËœ ĂšĂ?ĂœĂ“Ă™ĂŽĂ“Ă?Ă‹Ă–Ă–ĂŁ ÞËÕĂ? Ă?Ù×Ă? ÞÓ×Ă? Ă™Ă&#x;Ăž ÞÙ Ă‹ĂšĂšĂœĂ‹Ă“Ă?Ă? ĂŁĂ™Ă&#x;Ăœ Ă™ĂĄĂ˜ ĂšĂœĂ‹Ă?ÞÓĂ?Ă?Ë› Ă™ Ă˜Ă™Ăž ĂŒĂ? Ă‹Ă?ĂœĂ‹Ă“ĂŽ Ă™Ă? ĂšĂ?Ă?Ăœ Ă‹ĂšĂšĂœĂ‹Ă“Ă?Ă‹Ă– Ă‹Ă˜ĂŽ ÞÙ Ă?Ă?Ă?Ă• Ă?Ă?Ă?ĂŽĂŒĂ‹Ă?Ă•Ă? Ă?ĂœĂ™Ă— ĂŁĂ™Ă&#x;Ăœ Ă?ÙÖÖĂ?Ă‹Ă‘Ă&#x;Ă?Ă? Ă‹Ă˜ĂŽ Ă?Ă–Ă“Ă?Ă˜ĂžĂ? ĂœĂ?Ă?ĂšĂ?Ă?ÞÓà Ă?Ă–ĂŁË› Ă‹Ă Ă? Ă‹Ă˜ ÙÚĂ?Ă˜ Ă—Ă“Ă˜ĂŽĂ?ĂŽ ËʾÓÞĂ&#x;ĂŽĂ? ÞÙ Ă™ĂŒĂ?Ă?ĂœĂ Ă?Ăœ Ă™ĂšĂ“Ă˜Ă“Ă™Ă˜Ë› Ă’Ă?Ă“Ăœ Ă?Ă™Ă˜ĂžĂœĂ“ĂŒĂ&#x;ĂžĂ“Ă™Ă˜Ă? Ă—Ă‹ĂŁ ĂŒĂ? Ă—Ă™Ă?Ăž Ă“Ă? Ă˜Ă™Ăž Ă‹Ă–Ă– ÞÒĂ? Ă“ĂŽĂ?Ă‹Ă? ĂŁĂ™Ă&#x; Ă˜Ă?Ă?ĂŽ ÞÙ Ă“Ă˜Ă?Ă™ĂœĂšĂ™ĂœĂ‹ĂžĂ? Ă‹Ă˜ĂŽ Ó×ÚÖĂ?Ă—Ă?Ă˜Ăž Ă?Ă™Ăœ Ă‹ ĂŒĂ?ĘľĂ?Ăœ ĂŁĂ™Ă&#x;Ë› - Omoru writes from the UK

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PAMO Announces Resumption with Hopes As Pamo University of Medical Science (PUMS), the first private medical university in the country resumed for the 2017/2018 academic session yesterday, its hope is to make a mark in teaching, research and community services, writes Davidson Iriekpen

The university gate The first private medical university in the country, Pamo University of Medical Science (PUMS), Port Harcourt, Rivers State, yesterday commenced the 2017/2018 academic session.

The Registrar of the institution, Dr. W.U.G Imoedemhe in a statement, said students were expected into their halls of residence not later than 6pm yesterday.

He said admitted students of the institution must show evidence of payment of the school fees, adding that only students with evidence of full payment of fees would be allowed into their halls of residence.

The institution was one of six granted licence by the National Universities Commission (NUC) on December 19, 2017 to operate a mandatory on-campus residence for all students. The university is solely to produce graduates in the medical field. It was established to bridge the gap of inadequate manpower in the medical and healthcare sector.

It is well-equipped with modern facilities not only found in developed countries, but not available in most public institutions in the country.

One of the advantages PUMS has is that it has an already-made teaching hospital - Pamo Specialist Hospital- established in the late 1980s. So as students are learning theoretically, they are also doing practicals in order to have full medical knowledge and experience.

The institution is fully residential with tasteful facilities to give the students adequate comfort. It also has a police post to provide it and the entire community with security.

Those who witnessed the unveiling of the university agreed that PUMS could not have come at a better time than now when medical education in the country is facing the challenges of access, quality and relevance.

This is perhaps compounded by the inadequate number of medical and health professionals practicing in the country.

Presently, the medical schools in the country cannot absorb the number of qualified candidates who are interested in pursuing courses in the medical field. Universities in Nigeria, whether private or public that offer medicine are distracted by other courses since they are not specialist institutions. This is where PUMS stands out.

According to statistics, Nigeria has only 35 per cent of her requirement for medical

practitioners. This gloomy picture is worsened by the fact less than five per cent of qualified applicants can be admitted into degree programmes in medical and health sciences in all universities every year in the country on account of limited spaces.

The university has courses such as anatomy, biochemistry, human nutrition and dietetics, pharmacology and physiology in the Faculty of Basic Medical Sciences, as well as Bachelor of Medicine and Surgery (MBBS) in the Faculty of Clinical Sciences. The institution is sited in a serene atmosphere in a large expanse of land off Aba Road in Port Harcourt.

Because of the crises that have characterised public and most private universities in the country, PUMS in order to ensure that it achieves its core mandate of producing quality medical doctors and personnel in the country, has set the rules for incoming students. These rules, the management of the school has promised, it won’t compromise on.

First, it said each year, the admission process would strictly be based on merit and that students must be resident on campus. It added that for students to concentrate on their studies and not unnecessarily show off their background, they would not be allowed to use cars on campus; they will not be free to stroll in and out of campus at will. It warned that there would be absolute zero tolerance for cultism and related vices for both staff and students, even visitors, parents and guardians would not be allowed to stroll in and out of campus at will. The school added that students would not be allowed to expose their bodies indecently, as there would be dress code for lectures and official functions for both students and officials.

Last February, at a colourful ceremony in Port Harcourt which had in attendance public office holders, academics, captains of industry, former Head of State, General Abdulsalami Abubakar (rtd) was installed the Chancellor of the institution. At the ceremony, he reiterated that the university could not have come at a better time than now to fill the gap left by most institutions in the country.

Abdulsalami decried the inability of most Nigerian public universities to provide standard medical-related programmes, promising that PUMS would strive to address all the challenges facing medical education and practice

in the country as it aims to achieve global excellence in terms of teaching, research and community services. He said the university would produce graduates in different fields of medicine who are not only competent in their profession, but also entrepreneurial, ICT driven and that are worthy in character and learning.

The former head of state listed inadequate number of qualified medical practitioners and the rising migration of the few well-qualified medical practitioner as part of the reasons for medical tourism with billions of naira “spent annually in foreign countries to treat ailments which could have been easily treated in Nigeria if there are adequately qualified doctors in the country.�

He also lamented the increasing out-flow of students seeking tertiary medical education in neighbouring African countries such as Ghana, Uganda and Sudan and other countries outside the continent with disastrous consequences.

The former military Head of State called on the NUC to as a matter of urgency, review the requirement for the establishment of private universities in the country, saying that such review should take cognisance of the nature of mono-discipline and city-based institutions like PUMS. He called on the federal government to re-examine its role and responsibilities to private educational institutions especially at tertiary level by ensuring that the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) works out modalities of extending support to privatelyowned educational institutions as part of its responsibility in financing education in the country. “The inability of our universities to meet up with the increasing demand for placement is more pronounced in the field of medicine and medical related programmes�, while recent reports “have shown that less than five per cent of qualified candidates are able to gain admission into medical programmes in all Nigerian universities.

The last Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria examination of foreign trained doctors saw 680 doctors sitting for the examination. The sad aspect of this however is the monumental failure rate of the foreign trained doctors in the medical and dental council professional qualifying examination as witnessed in the

last examination.�

He added: “Recent reports have shown that less than five per cent of qualified candidates are able to gain admission into medical programmes in all Nigerian universities. PUMS will strive to address all these challenges as it aims to achieve global excellence in terms of teaching, research and community services. This university is set to produce graduates in different fields of medicine who are not only competent in their professional but also entrepreneurial, ICT driven and that are worthy in character and learning.�

Also, speaking at the occasion, the ProChancellor of PUMS, Dr. Peter Odili thanked God, President Muhammadu Buhari and his government and the Executive Secretary of the NUC, Prof. Abubakar Rasheed for the successful commencement of activities at the university. He said the institution has set a record of being the university that took the shortest time to plan and establish. He added that PUMS will produce doctors and medical personnel that would make a difference towards their patients and tackle the challenge of poor medical education in the country. “The management of PUMS is determined to ensure that the vision and mission of founding an institution that will make a difference and set a new tone in medical education and healthcare delivery are achieved and sustained. The products of PUMS will be different and they will stand out in a disciplined way; they will apply their knowledge in the care of their patients. They will be humane and empathetic and treat their patients with dignity.� At the event, Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike lauded the establishment of the medical university in the state. He said with the addition of PUMS to the Faculty of Medicine recently introduced in the Rivers State University, the state would become a hub for medical training and certification of doctors in no distant time. The governor announced N500 million as take-off grant to the university and pledged to sponsor 100 indigent students of the state yearly in the school in the next five years.

As the university resumes for the 2017/2018 academic session next week, its hope is to make a mark in teaching, research and community services.

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Ă?ĂžĂ“Ă˜Ă‘ Ă?Ă‹ĂžĂ&#x;ĂœĂ?Ă? ĂŽĂ“ĂžĂ™ĂœË? Ă’Ă‹ĂœĂ–Ă?Ă? Ă”Ă&#x;Ă˜ĂĄĂ‹ Ă—Ă‹Ă“Ă– Ă?Ă’Ă‹ĂœĂ–Ă?Ă?˛ËÔĂ&#x;Ă˜ĂĄĂ‹ĚśĂžĂ’Ă“Ă?ĂŽĂ‹ĂŁĂ–Ă“Ă Ă?Ë›Ă?Ù×

Battling Cultism through Sports Of recent, Bayelsa State seems to have witnessed an upsurge in cultism, especially among teenagers. Emmanuel Addeh writes on how one man is tackling the menace

R-L: Bayelsa State Commissioner for Information and Orientaion, Mr. Daniel Iworiso-Markson, state deputy governor, Rear Admiral John Jonah (rtd) and chairperson, Ogbia Local Government Caretaker Committee, Mrs. Naomi Ogoli, at the ďŹ nal of Governor Dickson Unity Cup in Opume playing ground

F

rom the expulsion, naming and shaming of six secondary school students two weeks ago for their alleged involvement in cult activities, by the Bayelsa State Ministry of Education to the renewed efforts by the security agencies to tackle the menace, the fight against cultism in the state seems to be receiving some attention.

However, these strategies, tried before now, had not done much to eradicate cultism, especially among teenagers in Bayelsa, who most times, out of boredom, join bad gangs, terrorising residents for fun.

Convinced of the need to look at a different way of minimising the activities of the misguided youngsters, in addition to being a viable tool for bringing people together, the Governor Dickson Unity Cup codenamed the Ogbia Challenge, kicked off last month, involving over 32 teams.

Promoted by Mr. Daniel Iworiso-Markson, Bayelsa State Commissioner for Information and Orientation, who has never hidden his belief that the Ogbia people occupy a special place in Governor Seriake Dickson’s heart, the event started with the unveiling of a mascot in Yenagoa, the state capital, in a well attended ceremony.

Iworiso-Markson said that unity remained a catalyst for communal growth and development, insisting that every Ogbia person must avoid divisive tendency and work together in the spirit of oneness as practiced by the forebears of the Ogbia nation.

The football fiesta, he said, would also hunt for talents to be promoted at the big stage in football while discussions are on with scouts to assist in picking the best of talents, who when groomed, could play in big leagues abroad and contest for national jersey.

He said the Ogbia Challenge also has the capacity of diverting the youths from vices and crimes, saying that young people must embrace sports as a career.

To underscore the importance of the event, the Obanobhan of Ogbia, His Royal Majesty Charles Owaba, urged Ogbia people to embrace one another as a members of one big family in order to promote individual’s

The Bayelsa State deputy governor, Rear Admiral John Jonah (rtd), explained that the state government's investment in the construction of stadia and other sporting centres across the state is part of government’s deliberate efforts at ensuring that the latent talents of the Bayelsa youths are groomed to blossom in a way that will create stars out of them

Dickson...a sports loving governor

well-being and communal development, noting that those who seek the good of the land will prosper.

That first ceremony was attended by the Commissioners for Chieftaincy and Community Development, Chief Saviour Ibegi, Special Projects, Fred Obua and Energy, Chief Partner Ogbolo as well as the Director General Bayelsa State Investment Agency, Patience Abah and Ogbia Local Government Chairman, Mrs. Naomi Ogoli , who all spoke in support of the initiative.

In the end, the fixtures for the tournament, 32 teams from across various communities in Ogbia were selected to participate in four centres namely Opume, Kolo, Otuokpoti and Imiringi.

When the games started, 16 teams were eliminated, while a fresh battle for the second phase of the Unity Cup began.

Among the qualifiers from Zone A, Otuabagi

Centre were Idema, Akipelai, Otuogidi and Oloibiri while those who qualified from Zone B, Kolo Centre were Ogbia town, Ewoi, Onuebum and Kolo 2.

The others from Zone C, Otuoke Centre were Otuoke, Otuaba, Okiki and Okodi while those in Zone D, Imiringi Centre were Otuabula, Obeduma, Ayakoro and Abobiri.

After about a month of crossfire, the D-day for the finals of the event which drew the who-is-who from the state cabinet as well as traditional rulers arrived.

At the event, the Bayelsa State deputy governor, Rear Admiral John Jonah (rtd), directed the state Ministry of Sports Development to include the Governor Dickson Ogbia Unity Cup in the state's sports calendar.

According to him, similar events should be replicated in every local government area of the state.

During the grand-finale which was between the Otuasega and Otuokpoti communities

at the Opume playing ground in Ogbia LGA, the deputy governor said the football competition fell in line with the government policy of youth engagement with a view to steering them away from the notorious vices of crime, drug and cultism.

He said that the Governor Dickson-led administration is committed to promoting programmes that would project the well-being of the youths since the future of the state lies in their proper upbringing.

He explained that the state government's investment in the construction of stadia and other sporting centres across the state is part of government’s deliberate efforts at ensuring that the latent talents of the Bayelsa youths are groomed to blossom in a way that will create stars out of them.

Beyond all these, the retired naval chief who was also a footballer in his youth days said sporting activities also have the potential

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to promote public peace and communal harmony in view of its unifying factor.

He commended the Commissioner for Information and Orientation, Iworiso-Markson and the Ogbia Restoration Crusaders, the organisers of the football competition, describing them as true lovers of peace and unity who should be emulated by all.

In her welcome address, the chairperson, Ogbia Local Government Caretaker Committee, Mrs. Naomi Ogoli said the positive engagement of youths may ultimately be a potent tool at crime fighting.

Ogoli said crime rate in Ogbia dropped drastically during the over three-week event and called for more sporting activities to curb the tendency for crime in the area.

She also expressed her willingness to partner good spirited individuals and corporate organisations in sponsoring sporting and skills acquisition programmes with a view to making the youths productive and self-reliant.

The Royal father of the day, the Obanobhan of Ogbia, HRM Owaba called on all Ogbia sons and daughters to embrace the values of brotherliness, unity and peace in order to put Ogbia Kingdom on the fast lane of development.

In his comments, Iworiso Markson who proposed the vote of thanks, commended the deputy governor, Rear Admiral John Jonah for gracing the finals of the Governor Dickson Unity Cup. Iworiso-Markson also commended the Secretary to State Government, Kamela Okara and other top government functionaries for finding time to be in Opume.

He said with the tournament, a new vista of peace and unity has arrived Ogbia, noting that the Kingdom is set to witness a rebirth, renewal and development.

Earlier, there was a tension-filled encounter between the hard-fighting Otuasega and Otuokpti football team, with Otuasega running away with victory with a lone goal, thereby lifting the coveted trophy.

Highlight of the events were the presentation of various cash prizes to the participating teams, cultural display amidst singing and dancing.

Following the success of the event which took place last weekend, the promoter of the tournament and Commissioner for Information and Orientation, Iworiso-Markson expressed gratitude to all those who supported it.

He thanked Governor Dickson for providing a stable leadership in the state which allowed for such communal event to take place without rancour and also praised him for fulfilling his promise of reconstructing the Iminringi and Opume Bridge, internal roads, among others which today has made Ogbia ‘a huge construction site’.

Iworiso-Markson also expressed immense appreciation to the deputy governor, Jonah, for gracing the finals as Special Guest of Honour as well as the Secretary to the State Government, Okara.

The commissioner equally commended all political appointees from Ogbia, the Council Chairman, Ogoli for her role in the competition, the Obanoban 111 of Ogbia, chairman and members of the Opume Council of Chiefs and members of the Ogbia Restoration Caucus.

He also appreciated the efforts of the Senior Special Assistant on Youths in Ogbia, Ossanya B. Ossanya who led all youths including the

The Bayelsa State Commissioner for Information and Orientation, Mr. Daniel Iworiso-Markson, appealed that while the football competition is over, the peace and bonds of unity that it had generated should be sustained so that it can further foster development and continued peace in Ogbia Kingdom

Youths celebrating the victory of Otuasega against Otuokpti football team at the ďŹ nal of Governor Dickson Unity Cup in Opume playing ground

Otuasega (in green) and Otuokpti football team (in yellow), at the ďŹ nal of the Governor Dickson Unity Cup in Opume

Bayelsa State deputy governor, Rear Admiral John Jonah (on white cap) anked by other government oďŹƒcials

Ijaw Youth Council (IYC) in Ogbia to show solidarity and support for the competition in all the communities leading up to the finals.

While also appreciating women and other groups for turning out in their numbers to make the event colourful, Iworiso-Markson appealed that while the football competition is over, the peace and bonds of unity that

it had generated should be sustained so that it can further foster development and continued peace in Ogbia Kingdom.

He used the opportunity to once again congratulate all the teams that participated, urging them to see themselves as winners because the competition has discovered in them new talents that will be groomed and

exposed to play professionally in bigger clubs and leagues both locally and globally.

The governor’s aide reiterated his call for peace and unity among all Ogbia sons and daughters and urged them to continue to support the government led by Governor Dickson in order to attract more development to the area.

T H I S D AY Ëž , APRIL 4, 2018

38

BUSINESS/MONEYGUIDE

Experts Advocate Simplified Solutions for Financial Inclusion Obinna Chima The success of the financial inclusion in Nigeria will be guaranteed through the deployment of simple technologies and processes that align with the realities of the target audience who are mainly at the bottom of the pyramid, experts have said.

This formed part of the recommendations made by delegates at the just concluded third edition of the PoS Innovation Summit held in Lagos.

The summit with the theme: “Deepening Financial Inclusion through Agency Banking,� was organised by Global Accelerex Limited, one of the leading CBN-licenced Payment Terminal Service Provider (PTSP).

It had in attendance representatives from the central bank, commercial and microfinance banks,the Payment Terminal Service Providers (PTSPs), licenced mobile money operators and other stakeholders in the payment industry.

According to a statement, one of the keynote speakers, the Chief Operating Officer, Government Enterprise and Empowerment Programme (GEEP) MarketMoni, Mr. Uzoma Nwagba, revealed that GEEP’s N140 billion micro

credit scheme, focused on the segments of society with the greatest difficulty accessing credit like traders, artisans and farmers, will lead to full integration into the financial system and alleviate challenges of the financially vulnerable.

He added that critical to the programme was the use of agents, that are responsible for the day-to-day engagement of beneficiaries.

Also, the Executive Director, Business Development of the Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System (NIBSS), Mr. Niyi Ajao, disclosed that the volume of PoS transactions have recorded significant growth between 2012, when the cashless policy was introduced by the CBN and 2017, when the industry recorded over 146 million volume in transactions.

He further stressed the need to ensure that other parts of the country are included in the financial system through the building of a strong network of agents that will take financial services to the nooks and crannies of the country as 68 per cent of the transactions took place in Lagos alone.

The Head of the Financial Inclusion Secretariat at the CBN, Mrs. Temitope Akin-Fadeyi, reiterated the

commitment of the central bank to ensure the financial inclusion of 80 per cent of Nigerian adults by the year 2020.

Also, the Managing Director of Global Accelerex, Mr. Tunde Ogungbade, expressed optimism about the delivery of innovative products and services to the last mile through Agency Banking, and the inclusion of the underbanked in the financial ecosystem, no matter the location.

Members of the panel of discussion and representatives of organisations such as Cooperative Societies and the Association of Mobile Money Agents in Nigeria (AMMAN) alluded to the fact that PoS terminals remained one of the best channels that can be used to provide seamless financial services to the underserved populace.

Practitioners were also encouraged to focus on collaboration in order to provide robust platforms that will serve as one-stop-financial-shops for the users, and increase awareness programs to sensitize the populace on the availability and advantages of simple banking options like agency banking that will lead to more participation and greater financial inclusion.

Access Bank Partners Unified Payments on Innovative Payment Solution Lawal Kehinde Access Bank Plc has gone into a partnership with Unified Payments to provide a payment solution in Nigeria christened ‘PayAttitude Digital.’ The digital payment solution was unveiled in Lagos yesterday.

Speaking at the event, the Group Managing Director, Access Bank, Mr. Herbert Wigwe, described the solution as a leading-edge payment solution that will ensure customers of the bank enjoy unique and convenient banking services.

He explained: “Customers can send and receive cash, initiate third party payments, pay physical and online merchants and much more. “Individual users can simply

download the App from Appstore on their devices while merchants can be set up remotely.�

Furthermore, Wigwe said PayAttitude Digital would be more beneficial and efficient to the bank’s customers in making payments and transactions from their phones. “The initiative will safeguard customer account from errors, fraud in their banking activities. “Access Bank is committed to simplifying the lives of our customers and this is evident through the number of innovative solutions that we make a available to them,� he added.

PayAttitude Digital was also described as a smart, trendy and convenient mobile App that enables account holders to use just their phone number for transaction at ATMs, Web

and PoS terminals.

Also speaking at the event, the Managing Director/Chief Executive of Unified Payments Services Limited, Mr. Agada Apochi stated that “Unified Payments is happy to be the pioneer processor, switch and partner of PayAttitude and Access Bank to provide top-notch services as we have always done.�

In her remark, the Country Managing Director of PayAttitude, Mrs. Titilayo Olubiyi said: “With PayAttitude, no visit to bank branch is required to be enabled.� According to her, “it is all self-service from customer device. Likewise, it guarantees higher security levels as PIN will no longer be entered on the PoS, ATM or Web but on the personal device of customers.

Broad street

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‹

MANAGED FUNDS Month

AUGUST 2017

Inter-Bank Call Rate

22.63

Minimum Rediscount Rate (MRR)

Ecobank Mobile App Hits Four Million Users The upgraded version of Ecobank’s mobile app has attracted three million new customers in sixmonths, taking the total number of users to fourmillion.

The bank revealed this in a statement yesterday.

According to the statement, the app builds on the core functionality that saw the original version applauded as a game changer for African banking by using digital technology to combat many of the financial inclusion barriers faced by those on the continent.

This, it stated includes the dearth of rural branches, affordability of products, high transaction costs and minimum opening balance requirements.

The Group CEO, Ecobank,

Mr. Ade Ayeyemi, said thebank’s strategic mission was built around using mobile banking to deliver innovative, efficient and cost-effective services to those who have typically sat outside of the formal economy, and therefore goes far beyond the reach of the traditional branch and ATM networks. “Subsequently, while the app won one million customers in its first year of launch, upgraded features have seen the rate of sign-ups treble in half of the time.

So far this year, app usage has been growing at an average 700,000 new customers per month. “Customers can use the app on their mobile to instantly open Ecobank Xpress Account, which doesn’t have any ac-

count fees, paperwork or minimum balance requirements, or to send and receive money across 33 African countries,� the Ecobank chief explained. “Therefore, our app not only removes the barriers that have financially excluded so many Africans but offers next generation functionality to help them send money, make withdrawals or pay for goods and services.�

Also, Ecobank’s Group Executive, Consumer Banking, Patrick Akinwuntan, said Ecobank was committed to providing all Africans with access to financial services, but doing so in a way that conjoins functionality with convenient, accessible and efficient banking channels, such as the rollout of Ecobank Xpress Point Agents.

Monetary Policy Rate (MPR)

14.00

Treasury Bill Rate

13.35

Savings Deposit Rate

4.08

1 Month Deposit Rate

8.86

3 Months Deposit Rate

10.14

6 Months Deposit Rate

11.51

12 Months Deposit Rate

11.40

Prime Lending rate

17.69

Maximum Lending Rate

31.20 Ëž Ă™Ă˜Ă?ĂžĂ‹ĂœĂŁ ÙÖÓĂ?ĂŁ Ă‹ĂžĂ? Ě‹ ͯ͹Ϲ

OPEC DAILY BASKET PRICE AS AT, MON, APRIL 2, 2018 The price of OPEC basket of fourteen crudes stood at $66.48 a barrel on Monday, compared with $65.87 the previous Thursday, according to OPEC Secretariat calculations.

The OPEC Reference Basket of Crudes (ORB) is made up of the following: Saharan Blend (Algeria), Girassol (Angola), Oriente (Ecuador), ZaďŹ ro (Equatorial Guinea), Rabi Light (Gabon), Iran Heavy (Islamic Republic of Iran), Basra Light (Iraq), Kuwait Export (Kuwait), Es Sider (Libya), Bonny Light (Nigeria), Qatar Marine (Qatar), Arab Light (Saudi Arabia), Murban (UAE) and Merey (Venezuela).

SOURCE: OPEC headquarters, Vienna

T H I S D AY Ëž , APRIL 4, 2018

39

MARKET NEWS

UACN Property Records N2.9bn Loss as Finance Cost Soars to N5bn Goddy Egene and Nosa Alekhuogie

into the red in 2016 with a loss of N1.551 billion, which it attributed to recognition of losses on certain projects and impairment of investments in one joint venture project, foreign exchange losses and negative performance of its hotel asset.

Although the company had assured stakeholders of efforts being made to ensure better

Shareholders of UACN Property Development Company (UPDC) Plc, a member of the UAC of Nigeria Group, will have to wait longer before getting dividend as the company has recorded further loss for the year ended December 31, 2017.

The company had slipped

performance in 2017, the audited results of the property development firm, showed that its loss position has worsened.

UDPC recorded revenue of N3.983 billion in 2017, down 20 per cent from N4.994 billion in 2016. While the company reduced administrative expenses from N1.256 billion to N859 million, finance cost soared due to huge interests paid on bank

borrowings and overdrafts. Net finance cost jumped by 78 per cent from N2.835 billion in 2016 to N5.030 billion in 2017.

Consequently, UPDC ended 2017 with loss of N2.947 billion, compared with a loss of N1.551 billion in 2016. Chairman of UPDC Plc, Mr. Larry Ettah had last year told shareholders at the annual general meeting (AGM) that despite the chal-

lenging business terrain, the company continued its ongoing project developments in 2016 and commenced new ones in 2017. “A key strategic imperative for 2017 is to deleverage the company. This is being achieved through deployment of an aggressive sales strategy, one for one Rights Issue that is about to be launched, and divestment

PRICES FOR SECURITIES TRADED AS OF

from low yielding investment properties. The fundamentals of the company are strong and the brand remains positioned to deliver value to all stakeholders,� he said.

Ettah had said the Nigeria’s real estate market still presents substantial opportunities as well as a number of challenges for property investors and developers.

A S AT 2 8 / 0 3 / 2 0 1 8

Price List (Equities) PRICES FOR PREMIUM BOARD SECURITIES FINANCIAL SERVICES S/N

BANKING

MARKET

PRICE

%CHANGE

TRADES

VOLUME

29.80

-0.17

427

13,255,508

13

UACN PLC.

53,303.99

18.50

-

67

6,110,342

155

16,374,890

CONGLOMERATES

155

16,374,890

CAP(Nm) 1

ZENITHINTERNATIONAL

935,615.51

BANKPLC BANKING S/N

2

OTHERFINANCIALINSTI-

MARKET

TUTIONS

CAP(Nm)

434,333.04

PRICE

12.10

%CHANGE

-2.02

427

13,255,508

CONSTRUCTION/REALESTATE

VOLUME

S/N

372

28,509,452

14

OTHERFINANCIALINSTITUTIONS

372

28,509,452

FINANCIALSERVICES

799

41,764,960

S/N

-

MARKET

TION

CAP(Nm)

ARBICOPLC.

711.32

INFRASTRUCTURE/

MARKET

CAP(Nm)

15

JULIUSBERGERNIG.PLC.

16

Ë›

PRICE

%CHANGE

VOLUME

4.79

-

0

0

0

0

PRICE

%CHANGE

VOLUME

34,188.00

25.90

-

10

11,035

165.00

6.60

-

0

0

10

11,035

S/N

MARKET

PRICE

%CHANGE

VOLUME

CAP(Nm) 3

4,311,248.37

253.00

-0.78

59

618,216

Ëš STRUCTION

59

618,216

59

618,216

858

42,383,176

S/N

17

-

MARKET

MENT

CAP(Nm)

-

8,184.95

PRICE

%CHANGE

VOLUME

3.15

-

11

47,868

11

47,868

Ë›

PriceList(Equities)

TIES

S/N

REALESTATEINVEST-

MARKET

MENTTRUSTS(REITS)

CAP(Nm)

PRICE

%CHANGE

VOLUME

2,000.00

100.00

-

1

10

11,300.89

45.20

-

0

0

26,682.70

10.00

-

0

0

1

10

22

58,913

AGRICULTURE 18 S/N

MARKET

PRICE

%CHANGE

VOLUME

0.20

-

6

48,500

PLC

CAP(Nm) 19 4

FTNCOCOAPROCES-

440.00

ESTATEINVESTMENT

SORSPLC 5

OKOMUOILPALMPLC.

UNIONHOMESREAL TRUST(REIT)

68,681.52

72.00

-

17

41,329

20

INVESTMENTTRUST

6

PRESCOPLC

72,000.00

72.00

-

14

181,049

37

270,878

TRUSTS(REITS) CONSTRUCTION/REALESTATE

REALESTATEINVESTMENT

S/N

FISHING/HUNTING/

MARKET

TRAPPING

CAP(Nm)

ELLAHLAKESPLC.

511.20

PRICE

%CHANGE

VOLUME

4.26

-

0

0

0

0

7

S/N FISHING/HUNTING/TRAPPING S/N

LIVESTOCK/ANIMAL

MARKET

SPECIALTIES

CAP(Nm)

PRICE

%CHANGE

VOLUME

Ë›

2,820.00

0.94

-4.08

33

926,418

LIVESTOCK/ANIMALSPECIALTIES

33

926,418

AGRICULTURE

70

1,197,296

21

AUTOMOBILES/AUTO

MARKET

PARTS

CAP(Nm)

Ęś

1,670.43

PRICE

%CHANGE

VOLUME

0.35

-

0

0

0

0

AUTOMOBILES/AUTOPARTS 8

S/N

CONGLOMERATES

BEVERAGES--BREWERS/

MARKET

CAP(Nm)

PRICE

%CHANGE

VOLUME

22

CHAMPIONBREW.PLC.

20,200.10

2.58

-4.80

14

153,903,833

23

Ë›

242.22

0.89

-

0

0

PLC. S/N

9

-

MARKET

TRIES

CAP(Nm)

A.G.LEVENTISNIGERIA

1,773.68

PRICE

0.67

%CHANGE

-

7

VOLUME

58,293

24

GUINNESSNIGPLC

226,704.62

103.50

0.49

41

539,088

25

INTERNATIONALBREW-

467,614.89

54.40

0.46

37

581,800

1,023,603.46

128.00

-0.08

68

1,074,294

160

156,099,015

VOLUME

PLC.

ERIESPLC.

10

JOHNHOLTPLC.

210.14

0.54

-

3

1,050

26

11

SCOA NIG.PLC.

2,111.93

3.25

-

0

0

Ě‹Ě‹ Ëš

-

NIGERIANBREW.PLC.

ERS 12

TRANSNATIONALCORPORATIONOFNIGERIA PLC

75,605.26

1.86

0.54

78

10,205,205 S/N

MARKET CAP(Nm)

PRICE

%CHANGE

˾ WEDNESDAY, APRIL 4, 2018

40

Nigeria Daily Stock Market Report: dŚŝƐ ĂLJ ĨƌŝŶǀĞƐƚ ϰϬ /ŶĚĞdž ƐŚĞĚƐ ϭ͘Ϭй

THISDAY AFRINVEST 40 INDEX

dŚĞ dŚŝƐ ĂLJ ĨƌŝŶǀĞƐƚ ŝŶĚĞdž ƐŚĞĚ ϭ͘Ϭй LJĞƐƚĞƌĚĂLJ ƚŽ ĐůŽƐĞ Ăƚ ϭ͕ϲϳϰ͘Ϭϱ ƉŽŝŶƚƐ ǁŚŝůĞ ƚŚĞ zd ĨƵƌƚŚĞƌ ǁĞĂŬĞŶĞĚ ƚŽ ϴ͘ϱй͘ zĞƐƚĞƌĚĂLJ͛Ɛ ŶĞŐĂƟǀĞ ƉĞƌĨŽƌŵĂŶĐĞ ǁĂƐ ŵĂŝŶůLJ ĚƌŝǀĞŶ ďLJ ƐĞůů ŽīƐ ŝŶ E' D ;Ͳϯ͘ϱйͿ͕ 'h Z Edz ;ͲϮ͘ϵйͿ ĂŶĚ t W K ;Ͳϰ͘ϭйͿ ǁŚŝĐŚ ĐƵŵƵůĂƟǀĞůLJ ĂĐĐŽƵŶƚ ĨŽƌ Ϯϴ͘ϴй ŽĨ ƚŚĞ ŝŶĚĞdž͘

Fundamental Performance Metrics for THISDAY AFRINVEST 40 Index

Ticker

ĞůůǁĞƚŚĞƌƐ ƌĂŐ DĂƌŬĞƚ WĞƌĨŽƌŵĂŶĐĞ ŝŶƚŽ EĞŐĂƟǀĞ dĞƌƌŝƚŽƌLJ͘​͘​͘ E^ ^/ ĚŽǁŶ ϭ͘ϲй >ŽƐƐĞƐ ŝŶ ŵĂƌŬĞƚ ďĞůůǁĞƚŚĞƌƐ Ͳ E' D ;Ͳϯ͘ϱйͿ͕ 'h Z Edz ;Ͳ Ϯ͘ϵйͿ͕ ĂŶĚ t W K ;Ͳϰ͘ϭйͿ Ͳ ĚƌĂŐŐĞĚ ƚŚĞ ^/ ĚŽǁŶ ϭ͘ϲй ƚŽ ϰϬ͕ϴϱϱ͘ϲϰ ƉŽŝŶƚƐ LJĞƐƚĞƌĚĂLJ ƌĞǀĞƌƟŶŐ ŝƚƐ ƉŽƐŝƟǀĞ ĐůŽƐĞ ƚŚĞ ƉƌĞǀŝŽƵƐ ƐĞƐƐŝŽŶ͘ Ɛ Ă ƌĞƐƵůƚ͕ zd ŐĂŝŶ ĚƌŽƉƉĞĚ ƚŽ ϲ͘ϴй ǁŚŝůĞ ŵĂƌŬĞƚ ĐĂƉŝƚĂůŝnjĂƟŽŶ ĨĞůů ƚŽ Eϭϰ͘ϴƚŶ ĂƐ ŝŶǀĞƐƚŽƌƐ ůŽƐƚ EϮϯϰ͘ϰďŶ͘ KŶ ƚŚĞ ĐŽŶƚƌĂƌLJ͕ ĂĐƟǀŝƚLJ ůĞǀĞů ŝŵƉƌŽǀĞĚ ĂƐ ǀŽůƵŵĞ ĂŶĚ ǀĂůƵĞ ƚƌĂĚĞĚ ƌŽƐĞ ϯϰ͘ϴй ĂŶĚ ϲϴ͘ϴй ƚŽ ϯϲϰ͘ϴŵ ƵŶŝƚƐ ĂŶĚ Eϲ͘ϯďŶ ƌĞƐƉĞĐƟǀĞůLJ͘ E/d, ;ϴϴ͘ϮŵͿ͕ dZ E^ KZW ;ϲϬ͘ϬŵͿ ĂŶĚ ^d Z>/E' ;ϰϬ͘ϱŵͿ ůĞĚ ƚŚĞ ƚŽƉ ƚƌĂĚĞĚ ƐƚŽĐŬƐ ďLJ ǀŽůƵŵĞ ĐŚĂƌƚ ǁŚŝůĞ E/d, ;EϮ͘ϲďŶͿ͕ E/' Z/ E Z t Z/ ^ ;Eϭ͘ϮďŶͿ ĂŶĚ E ^d> ;EϬ͘ϲďŶͿ ǁĞƌĞ ƚŚĞ ƚŽƉ ƚƌĂĚĞĚ ƐƚŽĐŬƐ ďLJ ǀĂůƵĞ͘

ƌŽĂĚ ĂƐĞĚ ^ĞůůͲKīƐ ĐƌŽƐƐ ^ĞĐƚŽƌƐ ^ĞĐƚŽƌ ƉĞƌĨŽƌŵĂŶĐĞ ǁĂƐ ĞƋƵĂůůLJ ďĞĂƌŝƐŚ ĂƐ Ăůů ŝŶĚŝĐĞƐ ƵŶĚĞƌ ŽƵƌ ĐŽǀĞƌĂŐĞ ĐůŽƐĞĚ ŝŶ ƚŚĞ ƌĞĚ͘ >ĞĂĚŝŶŐ ƚŚĞ ďĞĂƌŝƐŚ ƉĞƌĨŽƌŵĂŶĐĞ ǁĂƐ ƚŚĞ /ŶĚƵƐƚƌŝĂů 'ŽŽĚƐ ŝŶĚĞdž͕ ǁŚŝĐŚ ƐŚĞĚ ϯ͘ϰй͕ ĚƵĞ ƚŽ ƉƌŽĮƚ ƚĂŬŝŶŐ ŝŶ E' D ;Ͳϯ͘ϱйͿ ĂŶĚ t W K ;Ͳϰ͘ϭйͿ͘ dŚĞ ŽŶƐƵŵĞƌ 'ŽŽĚƐ ĂŶĚ Kŝů Θ 'ĂƐ ŝŶĚŝĐĞƐ ĨŽůůŽǁĞĚ ƐƵŝƚ͕ ĐůŽƐŝŶŐ Ϭ͘ϲй ĂŶĚ Ϭ͘ϱй ůŽǁĞƌ ƌĞƐƉĞĐƟǀĞůLJ ŽŶ ĂĐĐŽƵŶƚ ŽĨ ůŽƐƐĞƐ ŝŶ E/' Z/ E Z t Z/ ^ ;ͲϬ͘ϵйͿ͕ E'^h' Z ;Ͳϯ͘ϳйͿ͕ &KZd ;ͲϮ͘ϵйͿ ĂŶĚ DK /> ;ͲϬ͘ϰйͿ͘ ^ŝŵŝůĂƌůLJ͕ ƚŚĞ ĂŶŬŝŶŐ ŝŶĚĞdž ƐůŝĚ Ϭ͘ϰй ĂƐ ŝŶǀĞƐƚŽƌƐ ƐŽůĚ Žī ƉŽƐŝƟŽŶ ŝŶ 'h Z Edz ;Ͳ Ϯ͘ϵйͿ ĂŶĚ h ;ͲϬ͘ϵйͿ͘ ůƐŽ͕ ƐĞůů ŽīƐ ŝŶ D E^ Z ;Ͳϭ͘ϮйͿ ĂŶĚ >/E< ^^hZ ;Ͳϰ͘ϴйͿ ĚƌŽǀĞ ƚŚĞ ŶĞŐĂƟǀĞ ƉĞƌĨŽƌŵĂŶĐĞ ŽĨ ƚŚĞ /ŶƐƵƌĂŶĐĞ ŝŶĚĞdž ;ͲϬ͘ϭйͿ͘

/ŶǀĞƐƚŽƌ ^ĞŶƟŵĞŶƚ tĞĂŬĞŶƐ /ŶǀĞƐƚŽƌ ƐĞŶƟŵĞŶƚƐ ŵĞĂƐƵƌĞĚ ďLJ ŵĂƌŬĞƚ ďƌĞĂĚƚŚ ;ĂĚǀĂŶĐĞͬĚĞĐůŝŶĞ ƌĂƟŽͿ ǁĞĂŬĞŶĞĚ ƚŽ Ϭ͘ϯdž ĨƌŽŵ Ϭ͘ϵdž ƌĞĐŽƌĚĞĚ ƚŚĞ ƉƌĞǀŝŽƵƐ ǁĞĞŬ ĂƐ ϭϭ ƐƚŽĐŬƐ ĂĚǀĂŶĐĞĚ ƌĞůĂƟǀĞ ƚŽ ϯϳ ƐƚŽĐŬƐ ƚŚĂƚ ĚĞĐůŝŶĞĚ͘ dŽƉ ƉĞƌĨŽƌŵŝŶŐ ƐƚŽĐŬƐ ĨŽƌ LJĞƐƚĞƌĚĂLJ ǁĞƌĞ s ZdKE ;нϵ͘ϬйͿ͕ > thE/KE ;нϰ͘ϭйͿ ĂŶĚ E D ;нϰ͘ϬйͿ ǁŚŝůĞ &/ >/dz ;Ͳϵ͘ϯйͿ͕ dZ E^ KZW ;Ͳϵ͘ϮйͿ ĂŶĚ : W h> K/> ;Ͳϲ͘ϴйͿ ůĞĚ ƚŚĞ ůĂŐŐĂƌĚƐ ůŝƐƚ͘ zĞƐƚĞƌĚĂLJ͛Ɛ ďĞĂƌŝƐŚ ƉĞƌĨŽƌŵĂŶĐĞ ǁĂƐ ůĂƌŐĞůLJ ĚƌŝǀĞŶ ďLJ ŝŶǀĞƐƚŽƌƐ ŬŝŶŐ ƉƌŽĮƚ ŝŶ ƉƌĞǀŝŽƵƐ ĚĞĐůŝŶĞƌƐ͘ ,ŽǁĞǀĞƌ͕ ǁĞ ĞdžƉĞĐƚ ďĂƌŐĂŝŶ ŚƵŶƟŶŐ ƚŽ ďƵŽLJ ƉĞƌĨŽƌŵĂŶĐĞ ŝŶ ƐƵďƐĞƋƵĞŶƚ ƚƌĂĚŝŶŐ ƐĞƐƐŝŽŶƐ͘

ŽŵƉĂŶLJ ŝŶ &ŽĐƵƐ͗ hŶŝŽŶ ĂŶŬ ŽĨ EŝŐĞƌŝĂ WůĐ ;͞hŶŝŽŶ͟Ϳ tĞŵĂ hŶŝŽŶ ĂŶŬ ŽĨ EŝŐĞƌŝĂ WůĐ ;͞hE/KEͿ ďĞŐĂŶ ŽƉĞƌĂƟŽŶƐ ŝŶ ϭϵϭϳ ĂŶĚ ƌĞĐĞŶƚůLJ ĐĞůĞďƌĂƚĞĚ ŝƚƐ ϭϬϬƚŚ ĂŶŶŝǀĞƌƐĂƌLJ ǁŚŝůĞ ĂĚŽƉƟŶŐ ƚŚĞ ƐůŽŐĂŶ ŽĨ ͞zŽƵƌ ^ŝŵƉůĞƌ ĂŶĚ ^ŵĂƌƚĞƌ ĂŶŬ͘͟ KŶ ƌĞĂĐŚŝŶŐ ŝƚƐ ϭϬϬƚŚ ĂŶŶŝǀĞƌƐĂƌLJ ƚŚĞ ĂŶŬ͛Ɛ ŵĂŝŶ ĨŽĐƵƐ ǁĂƐ ƚŽ ͞ ĞůĞďƌĂƚĞ͕ /ŵƉĂĐƚ ĂŶĚ >ĞĂĚ͟ ǁŚŝůĞ ĞdžƉĂŶĚŝŶŐ ŝƚƐ ƉƌŽĚƵĐƚ ƉŽƌƞŽůŝŽ͘

/Ŷ ŝƚƐ ϵD͗ϮϬϭϳ ƌĞƐƵůƚ ůĂƐƚ LJĞĂƌ͕ ƚŚĞ ĂŶŬ͛Ɛ ƉĞƌĨŽƌŵĂŶĐĞ ǁĂƐ ƌĂƚŚĞƌ ƵŶĚĞƌǁŚĞůŵŝŶŐ͘ 'ƌŽƐƐ ĞĂƌŶŝŶŐƐ ƌŽƐĞ ϭϱ͘ϲй zͲŽͲz ƚŽ EϭϬϵ͘ϱďŶ ŝŶ ϵD͗ϮϬϭϳ͕ ƐƵƉƉŽƌƚĞĚ ďLJ Ă ϮϮ͘ϰй zͲŽͲz ŝŶĐƌĞĂƐĞ ŝŶ ŝŶƚĞƌĞƐƚ ŝŶĐŽŵĞ ;ĨƌŽŵ EϳϮ͘ϯďŶ ϵD͗ϮϬϭϲ ƚŽ Eϴϴ͘ϱďŶ ϵD͗ϮϬϭϳͿ͘ ŽŶƚƌĂƌLJ ƚŽ ƚŚĞ ŐƌŽǁƚŚ ƌĞĐŽƌĚĞĚ ŝŶ ŝŶƚĞƌĞƐƚ ŝŶĐŽŵĞ͕ ŶŽŶͲŝŶƚĞƌĞƐƚ ŝŶĐŽŵĞ ƵŶĚĞƌƉĞƌĨŽƌŵĞĚ͕ ĨĂůůŝŶŐ ϲ͘ϯй ƚŽ EϮϭ͘ϬďŶ ŝŶ ϵD͗ϮϬϭϳ ;ĨƌŽŵ EϮϮ͘ϱďŶ ŝŶ ϵD͗ϮϬϭϲͿ͘ dŚĞ 'ƌŽǁƚŚ ŝŶ ŝŶƚĞƌĞƐƚ ŝŶĐŽŵĞ ǁĂƐ ĚƌŝǀĞŶ ďLJ Ă Ϯϲ͘ϯй ƵƉƟĐŬ ŝŶ ůŽĂŶƐ ĂŶĚ ĂĚǀĂŶĐĞƐ ĂƐ ǁĞůů ĂƐ ĂŶ ŝŶĐƌĞĂƐĞ ŝŶ ŝŶƚĞƌĞƐƚ ĨƌŽŵ dƌĞĂƐƵƌLJ ŝůůƐ ;ƵƉ ϮϬ͘Ϭй zͲŽͲz ƚŽ EϮϭ͘ϵďŶͿ͘ DĞĂŶǁŚŝůĞ͕ ƚŚĞ ĂŶŬ͛Ɛ ŶŽŶͲŝŶƚĞƌĞƐƚ ŝŶĐŽŵĞ ǁĂƐ ĚƌĂŐŐĞĚ ďLJ Ϯϭ͘ϲй ĚĞĐůŝŶĞ ŝŶ KƚŚĞƌ ŽƉĞƌĂƟŶŐ ŝŶĐŽŵĞ ĂƐ ǁĞůů ĂƐ Ă ϵϴ͘Ϯй ĚŝƉ ŝŶ ĞͲďƵƐŝŶĞƐƐ ŝŶĐŽŵĞ ǁŚŝĐŚ ĨĞůů ϲϭ͘ϱй ƚŽ EϬ͘ϳďŶ ĂƐ ĂƌĚ &y ŐĂŝŶ ƌĞĚƵĐĞĚ ĨƌŽŵ Eϭ͘ϰďŶ ŝŶ ϵD͗ϮϬϭϲ ƚŽ EϮϱ͘Ϭŵ ŝŶ ϵD͗ϮϬϭϳ͘ KŶ ƚŚĞ ŽƚŚĞƌ ŚĂŶĚ͕ ŽƉĞƌĂƟŶŐ ĞdžƉĞŶƐĞƐ ŐƌĞǁ ϭϬ͘ϭй zͲŽͲz ƚŽ Eϰϵ͘ϬďŶ ĨƌŽŵ Eϰϰ͘ϲďŶ ŝŶ ϵD͗ϮϬϭϲ͘ ŽŶƐĞƋƵĞŶƚůLJ͕ W d ĂŶĚ W d ĨĞůů Ϯ͘ϭй ĂŶĚ ϰ͘ϲй ƚŽ Eϭϯ͘ϬďŶ ĂŶĚ EϭϮ͘ϰďŶ ƌĞƐƉĞĐƟǀĞůLJ ŝŶ ϵD͗ϮϬϭϳ͘

KŶ Ă ƋƵĂƌƚĞƌ ŽŶ ƋƵĂƌƚĞƌ ďĂƐŝƐ͕ Yϯ͗ϮϬϭϳ ƐƚĂŶĚĂůŽŶĞ ƐŚŽǁĞĚ ĂŶ ĞƋƵĂůůLJ ǁĞĂŬ ƉĞƌĨŽƌŵĂŶĐĞ͘ 'ƌŽƐƐ ĞĂƌŶŝŶŐƐ ĨĞůů ϭϵ͘ϰй YͲŽͲY ƚŽ EϮϬ͘ϯďŶ ;ĨƌŽŵ EϮϱ͘ϱďŶ ŝŶ YϮ͗ϮϬϭϳͿ͕ ĚƌĂŐŐĞĚ ďLJ ĚĞĐůŝŶĞƐ ŝŶ ŝŶƚĞƌĞƐƚ ŝŶĐŽŵĞ ;ĚŽǁŶ Ϯ͘ϲй ƚŽ EϯϬ͘ϮďŶ ĨƌŽŵ Eϯϭ͘ϬďŶ ŝŶ YϮ͗ϮϬϭϳͿ ĂŶĚ ŶŽŶŝŶƚĞƌĞƐƚ ŝŶĐŽŵĞ ;ĚŽǁŶ ϯϳ͘ϯй ƚŽ Eϱ͘ϮďŶ ĨƌŽŵ Eϴ͘ϯďŶ ŝŶ YϮ͗ϮϬϭϳͿ͘ ůƐŽ͕ W d ĂŶĚ W d ĨĞůů Ϯϳ͘ϭй ĂŶĚ ϯϭ͘ϵй ƚŽ Eϯ͘ϱďŶ ĂŶĚ Eϯ͘ϮďŶ ƌĞƐƉĞĐƟǀĞůLJ͘ ĞƐƉŝƚĞ ŝƚƐ ƵŶĚĞƌǁŚĞůŵŝŶŐ ϵD͗ϮϬϭϳ ĞĂƌŶŝŶŐƐ ƌĞƐƵůƚ͕ ǁĞ ĞdžƉĞĐƚ ƚŚĞ ďĂŶŬ ƚŽ ƚĂŬĞ ƐƚĞƉƐ ƚŽ ƌĞĚƵĐĞ ĐŽƐƚ ƉƌĞƐƐƵƌĞƐ ŽŶ ƉƌŽĮƚĂďŝůŝƚLJ ŝŶ ŽƌĚĞƌ ƚŽ Ɛƚ ƉĞƌĨŽƌŵĂŶĐĞ ĨŽƌ &z͗ϮϬϭϳ͘ /Ŷ ĂĚĚŝƟŽŶ͕ ǁĞ ďĞůŝĞǀĞ ŵĂŶĂŐĞŵĞŶƚ͛Ɛ ĐŽŵŵŝƚŵĞŶƚ ƚŽ Ɛƚ ŝƚƐ ƌĞƚĂŝů ƐĞŐŵĞŶƚ ďLJ ůĞǀĞƌĂŐŝŶŐ ŽŶ ƚĞĐŚŶŽůŽŐLJ ƚŽ ĚƌŝǀĞ ƉƌŽĮƚĂďŝůŝƚLJ͕ ǁŝůů ďĞ ƉŽƐŝƟǀĞ ĨŽƌ ƚŚĞ ďĂŶŬ ĂƐ ǁĞ ĞdžƉĞĐƚ ƚŚĞ ƌĞůĞĂƐĞ ŽĨ &z ϮϬϭϳ ĞĂƌŶŝŶŐƐ ƌĞƐƵůƚƐ͘

Afrinvest Securities Limited (RC 603 315) (A Dealing Member of the Nigerian Stock Exchange)

Wednesday, April 4, 2018

Current Price

Previous Current Price Weighting Change

Price Change YTD

Price Change Index to Date

ROE

ROA

P/E

P/BV

Divinden Earnings d Yield Yield

THISDAY AFRINVEST 40 1,674.05

-0.99%

8.5%

67.4%

26.9%

8.3%

7.8x

1.0x

8.0%

1

Guaranty Trust Bank PLC

43.40

-2.9%

21.0%

6.5%

7.0%

30.6%

5.2%

7.2x

2.1x

6.2%

12.8% 13.9%

2

Zenith Bank PLC

29.80

1.7%

14.0%

16.2%

14.9%

23.3%

3.4%

5.3x

1.1x

9.1%

19.0%

3

Nigerian Brew eries PLC

128.90

-0.8%

7.9%

-4.4%

-4.6%

19.2%

8.8%

31.1x

5.8x

3.2%

3.2%

1,380.00

0.0%

6.6%

-11.3%

-11.3%

89.0%

21.3%

32.4x

24.4x

3.1%

3.1%

251.00

-3.5%

6.3%

9.1%

9.1%

26.3%

12.4%

21.6x

5.6x

4.2%

4.6%

4

Nestle Nigeria PLC

5

Dangote Cement PLC

6

FBN Holdings Plc

12.30

-1.6%

7.1%

39.8%

39.9%

2.6%

0.3%

20.0x

0.7x

1.6%

5.0%

7

Access Bank PLC

11.25

1.8%

4.5%

7.7%

6.1%

15.1%

2.0%

4.6x

0.6x

5.8%

21.9%

8

United Bank for Africa PLC

11.65

-0.9%

4.6%

13.1%

11.9%

16.1%

2.0%

5.2x

0.8x

7.3%

19.1%

17.00

4.0%

3.0%

0.0%

4.5%

10.3%

0.8%

6.4x

0.6x

3.6%

665.10

0.0%

3.0%

6.2%

6.2%

19.4%

11.1%

3.9x

0.7x

9

Ecobank Transnational Inc

10

SEPLAT Petroleum Development C

11

Stanbic IBTC Holdings PLC

15.6% 26.0%

48.00

-1.0%

3.1%

15.7%

17.4%

28.7%

3.4%

11.1x

2.9x

1.0%

104.00

0.0%

2.4%

10.6%

10.6%

14.6%

5.6%

19.5x

2.7x

0.6%

5.1%

43.45

-4.1%

1.5%

-3.2%

-3.2%

47.1%

9.8%

3.9x

6.6x

2.3%

25.7%

1.1%

-1.2%

-5.8%

8.0%

1.1%

2.1x

0.4x

5.8%

47.2%

9.0%

12

Guinness Nigeria PLC

13

Lafarge Africa PLC

14

Fidelity Bank PLC

2.43

-9.3%

15

Oando PLC

5.99

0.0%

1.2%

0.0%

0.0%

40.7%

4.2%

2.7x

0.6x

16

Dangote Sugar Refinery PLC

21.00

-3.7%

1.1%

5.0%

3.1%

43.2%

19.8%

8.2x

3.2x

2.4%

12.2%

17

Okomu Oil Palm PLC

72.70

0.0%

1.1%

7.4%

7.4%

37.4%

25.9%

7.6x

3.2x

4.1%

13.2%

18

Unilever Nigeria PLC

55.00

0.0%

1.4%

34.1%

36.8%

50.3%

8.4%

33.9x

12.9x

0.2%

3.0%

19

International Brew eries PLC

54.40

0.0%

0.7%

-0.2%

-1.1%

24.6%

7.4%

57.0x

13.0x

20

Flour Mills of Nigeria PLC

37.30

0.0%

0.8%

28.6%

28.6%

13.1%

3.0%

7.8x

0.9x

2.5%

12.8%

21

Transnational Corp of Nigeria

7.0%

37.0%

1.8%

1.68

-9.2%

0.6%

15.1%

13.5%

19.6%

4.1%

14.4x

1.2x

119.0%

-4.9%

0.5%

3.6%

3.6%

6.3%

2.2%

23.7x

0.7x

5.6%

22.3%

2.5%

0.3%

7.7x

0.2x

22

UAC of Nigeria PLC

17.50

23

Diamond Bank PLC

1.92

3.2%

0.6%

28.0%

24

Total Nigeria PLC

249.00

0.0%

0.5%

8.3%

25

FCMB Group Plc

2.38

0.0%

0.7%

26

11 PLC

185.00

-0.4%

0.4%

-2.9%

4.2% 12.9%

8.3%

31.0%

6.5%

10.5x

3.0x

6.8%

9.5%

50.6%

3.8%

0.6%

6.9x

0.3x

4.2%

14.5%

-4.9%

30.8%

11.0%

9.1x

2.4x

4.3%

11.0%

-4.9%

27

Forte Oil PLC

40.80

0.4%

-6.2%

-2.9%

44.3%

3.7%

14.1x

4.6x

28

PZ Cussons Nigeria PLC

23.45

0.0%

0.4%

13.8%

10.9%

10.7%

5.0%

22.2x

2.3x

2.2%

29

Cadbury Nigeria PLC

14.50

-4.0%

0.3%

-7.5%

-7.1%

2.6%

1.1%

57.1x

2.3x

1.1%

1.8%

30

Presco PLC

72.00

0.0%

0.4%

5.1%

5.1%

42.9%

25.9%

3.5x

1.3x

2.1%

28.2%

31

NASCON Allied Industries PLC

21.50

2.4%

0.4%

16.2%

11.9%

54.6%

19.5%

10.7x

4.9x

7.0%

9.4%

32

UPDC Real Estate Investment Tr

10.00

0.0%

0.3%

0.0%

0.0%

0.8x

7.2%

33

Union Bank of Nigeria PLC

6.70

0.0%

0.3%

-14.1%

-10.8%

5.6%

1.2%

8.6x

0.4x

34

Julius Berger Nigeria PLC

25.90

0.0%

0.3%

-7.5%

-7.5%

17.3%

1.8%

7.2x

1.1x

35

Sterling Bank PLC

1.74

-0.6%

0.4%

61.1%

54.0%

6.1%

0.6%

9.2x

0.5x

36

Dangote Flour Mills Plc

15.20

-4.7%

0.3%

25.1%

25.1%

61.6%

15.8%

4.9x

2.1x

37

GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Niger

34.85

2.5%

0.4%

61.3%

61.3%

61.2%

23.6%

7.2x

2.6x

22.6%

13.8%

38

Chemical and Allied Products P

38.75

0.0%

0.2%

14.0%

8.5%

66.2%

30.2%

18.1x

12.1x

5.3%

5.5%

39

Beta Glass PLC

75.70

0.0%

0.2%

47.5%

47.5%

18.4%

11.9%

10.7x

1.8x

1.4%

9.4%

40

Transcorp Hotels Plc

7.45

0.0%

0.1%

3.3%

3.3%

4.7%

2.8%

21.2x

1.0x

1.8%

4.7%

T o p 10 G a ine r s T ic k er

7.1%

11.7% 3.9%

20.3%

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

P ric e

P ric e C hg %

T ic k er

Vo lum e

P ric e C hg %

2.91

9.0%

Z EN IT H B A N K

88.2

1.7%

LA WUN ION

0.76

4.1%

T R A N SC OR P

60.0

-9.2%

N EM

2.86

4.0%

ST ER LN B A N K

40.5

-0.6%

ET I

17.00

4.0%

LA SA C O

21.0

3.0%

R OYA LEX

0.32

3.2%

ET I

20.0

4.0%

D IA M ON D B N K

1.92

3.2%

FB NH

13.4

-1.6%

10.7

-9.3%

0.34

3.0%

F ID ELIT YB K

GLA XOSM IT H

34.85

2.5%

FCM B

9.9

0.0%

N A SC ON

21.50

2.4%

NB

9.2

-0.8%

A C C ESS

11.25

1.8%

A C C ESS

7.2

1.8%

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

T o p 10 L o s e r s T ic k er

13.9% 10.9%

C A VER T ON

LA SA C O

4.5%

T ic k er

P ric e

P ric e C hg %

F ID ELIT YB K

2.43

-9.3%

Z EN IT H B A N K

T R A N SC OR P

1.68

-9.2%

Value

P ric e C hg %

2636.0

1.7%

NB

1196.7

-0.8% 0.0%

J A P A ULOIL

0.55

-6.8%

N EST LE

642.7

M A YB A KER

2.66

-5.0%

ET I

339.4

4.0%

ET ER N A

6.32

-5.0%

GUA R A N T Y

307.2

-2.9%

J A IZ B A N K

0.77

-4.9%

FB NH

164.2

-1.6%

UN IT YB N K

1.16

-4.9%

T R A N SC OR P

101.1

-9.2%

UA C N

17.50

-4.9%

F LOUR M ILL

93.4

0.0%

LIN KA SSUR E

0.79

-4.8%

D A N GC EM

87.4

-3.5%

UC A P

3.18

-4.8%

A C C ESS

80.4

1.8%

Investment Research

Brokerage Ayodeji Ebo | aebo@afrinvest.com

Robert Omotunde | romotunde@afrinvest.com

Bolaji Fajenyo | bfajenyo@afrinvest.com

Omotola Abimbola | oabimbola@afrinvest.com

41

˾ WEDNESDAY, APRIL 4, 2018

MARKET NEWS

ASHON, IRM Expose Stock Market Operators to Risk Management Strategies Goddy Egene The Association of Stockbroking Houses of Nigeria (ASHON) in collaboration with a frontline management consulting firm, IRM Professionals, recently exposed market operators to a range of risk management challenges that impact their activities as part of initiatives to promote risk management culture among the capital market operators in Nigeria.

Speaking at the forum in Lagos, the Managing Partner

and Chief Executive, IRM Professionals, Mrs. Owodunni Yussuff explained that certain risks were peculiar to capital market operations and they should be managed in order to ensure business continuity.

According Yussuff, the risks are classified into business risk and consequential risk, saying that business risks include credit risk and market risk while consequential risks comprises legal, liquidity, operational, settlement and reputational risks.

She explained that apart

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

from the technical risks, there are regulatory risks that are currently affecting capital market operators in Nigeria.

“As part of minimum operating standard (MOS), they are expected to have a risk management function and a risk manager.

But many of them are not well equipped in the area of risk management department for optimal performance. As of now, many of our operators have not established what we call risk culture. The principal risk associated with a broker

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 29Mar-2018, unless otherwise stated.

dealer or a capital market operator in Nigeria is compliance with the rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the Nigerian Stock Exchange, the Investment and Securities Acts (ISA). Capital market operators are obliged to comply with the regulatory rules and regulations in order to avert sanctions with its attendant implications on corporate reputation”, Yussuff said.

Commenting on the imperative of training capital market operators, Chairmanof ASHON,

Chief Patrick Ezeagu, explained that the association had no option than to expose capital market operators to risk management training in view of inherent risks associated with capital market operations.

Ezeagu noted that capacity building would always be on the front burner of ASHON’s activities in order to support global competitiveness of capital market operators in Nigeria.

He said: “ASHON in its own wisdom looked at the deficiencies in the human capital capacities

of operators within the industry and found out that with the kind of economy that we are operating, risks are inherent in the business we do. Effective and efficient risk management structure positions stockbroking houses to exist in perpetuity as going concern. Risk changes over time and therefore, tools of identifying and managing risk must change over time and the only way you can ensure that we are prepared to manage risks is to continually train and re-train risk Managers within the Capital Market space.”

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 187.48 188.27 5.49% Nigeria International Debt Fund 243.61 244.42 5.29% 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 0.88 5.16% ACAP Income Funds 0.65 0.65 8.06% 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 15.52% 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 N/A N/A N/A ARM Discovery Fund N/A N/A N/A ARM Ethical Fund N/A N/A N/A ARM Money Market Fund N/A N/A N/A 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 N/A N/A N/A AXA Mansard Money Market Fund N/A N/A N/A 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 14.95% Paramount Equity Fund 12.75 13.07 3.12% Women's Investment Fund 103.55 106.20 2.90% 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 15.09% 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 15.56% Coronation Balanced Fund 1.13 1.15 7.17% Coronation Fixed Income Fund 1.10 1.13 5.89% FBNQUEST ASSET MANAGEMENT LTD invest@fbnquest.com Web: www.fbnquest.com/asset-management; Tel: +234-81 0082 0082 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn FBN Fixed Income Fund 1,195.77 1,196.97 4.18% FBN Heritage Fund 148.63 150.00 6.64% FBN Money Market Fund 100.00 100.00 14.70% FBN Nigeria Eurobond (USD) Fund - Institutional $114.74 $115.25 1.60% FBN Nigeria Eurobond (USD) Fund - Retail $114.74 $115.25 1.70% FBN Nigeria Smart Beta Equity Fund 183.51 186.33 13.87% 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 1.43 1.40 7.34% Legacy Debt Fund 2.98 2.98 3.32% FSDH ASSET MANAGEMENT LTD coralfunds@fsdhgroup.com Web: www.fsdhaml.com; Tel: 01-270 4884-5; 01-280 9740-1 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Coral Growth Fund 3,127.85 3,160.38 4.78% Coral Income Fund 2,556.67 2,556.67 4.50% 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 14.07% 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 14.82% Vantage Balanced Fund 2.18 2.21 3.46% Vantage Guaranteed Income Fund 1.00 1.00 16.37% Kedari Investment Fund (KIF) 118.53 118.81 3.02%

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 1.84% Lotus Halal Fixed Income Fund 1,065.51 1,065.51 3.31% MERISTEM WEALTH MANAGEMENT LTD info@meristemwealth.com Web: http://www.meristemwealth.com/funds/ ; Tel: +234 1-4488260 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Meristem Equity Market Fund 16.53 16.69 17.33% Meristem Money Market Fund 10.00 10.00 13.92% PAC ASSET MANAGEMENT LTD info@pacassetmanagement.com Web: www.pacassetmanagement.com/mutualfunds; Tel: +234 1 271 8632 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn PACAM Balanced Fund 1.31 1.33 9.96% PACAM Fixed Income Fund 11.46 11.50 3.72% PACAM Money Market Fund 10.00 10.00 14.21% 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 143.23 145.85 11.25% 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 1.54 1.54 3.95% 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 2,354.59 2,374.96 4.99% Stanbic IBTC Bond Fund 180.11 180.11 2.07% Stanbic IBTC Ethical Fund 1.07 1.08 6.44% Stanbic IBTC Guaranteed Investment Fund 229.94 230.04 4.42% Stanbic IBTC Iman Fund 192.13 194.26 7.27% Stanbic IBTC Money Market Fund 100.00 100.00 14.79% Stanbic IBTC Nigerian Equity Fund 10,208.30 10,347.84 5.57% Stanbic IBTC Dollar Fund (USD) 1.08 1.08 1.89% 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 1.39 1.40 4.08% United Capital Bond Fund 1.61 1.61 3.05% United Capital Equity Fund 1.01 1.03 10.35% United Capital Money Market Fund 1.00 1.00 13.41% United Capital Eurobond Fund 105.05 105.05 2.09% United Capital Wealth for Women Fund 1.13 1.13 3.75% 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 13.42 13.62 5.75% Zenith Ethical Fund 14.14 14.31 7.01% Zenith Income Fund 19.75 19.75 3.88% Zenith Money Market Fund 1.00 1.00 13.50%

REITS NAV Per Share

Yield / T-Rtn

10.00 134.23

-11.35% 1.34%

Bid Price

Offer Price

Yield / T-Rtn

12.59 160.43 118.16

12.69 163.88 120.37

3.86% 12.33% 8.16%

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

N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A

N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A

N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A

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.

42

T H I S D AY ˾ ͲË&#x153; ͰͮͯͶ

T H I S D AY ˾ WEDNESDAY APRIL 4, 2018

43

44

T H I S D AY ˾ ͲË&#x153; ͰͮͯͶ

45

WEDNESDAY APRIL 4, 2018 ˾ T H I S D AY

INTERNATIONAL

email:foreigndesk@thisdaylive.com

Trump-Russia Inquiry: Dutch Lawyer Alex van der Zwaan Sentenced to 30 Days Jail The first person has been jailed as part of the FBI inquiry into alleged collusion between Donald Trump’s presidential campaign team and Russia, a BBC report says.

Dutch lawyer Alex van der Zwaan, 33, was sentenced to 30 days in prison for lying to investigators about contacts with ex-Trump aide Rick Gates.

He struck a plea deal in February.

Van der Zwaan is the son-in-law of one of Russia’s richest men and was the 19th person to be charged by special counsel Robert Mueller.

The indictment against him did not refer to the 2016 election campaign. Mr Trump has not been accused of any wrongdoing.

In March, the US imposed sanctions on 19 Russians, including 13 people charged by Mr Mueller’s inquiry, over accusations of interference in the 2016 election and alleged cyber-attacks.

In court on Tuesday, Van der Zwaan was also fined $20,000

and sentenced to two months of supervised release.

The Dutchman is a Londonbased lawyer who formerly worked at international law firm Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom.

The firm, which is co-operating with the investigation and which fired him last year, worked with former Trump campaign chief Paul Manafort and his ex-colleague Mr Gates at a time when they were both political consultants in Ukraine.

Van der Zwaan, who speaks French and Russian and graduated from King’s College London in 2006, is married to the daughter of Russian billionaire German Khan.

His wedding to art critic Eva Khan featured in Russian Tatler magazine last year. German Khan controls Alfa Group, one of Russia’s largest investment groups, and Alfa Bank, which he co-founded, is the largest non-state owned bank in Russia, according

to Forbes.

Van der Zwaan reached a plea deal with the special counsel in February.

According to court documents, Van der Zwaan “wilfully and knowingly” made false statements to investigators while answering questions about a report prepared in 2012 by his former law firm for the Ukrainian Ministry of Justice on the trial of Yulia Tymoshenko.

Ms Tymoshenko, a former Ukrainian prime minister, was jailed in 2011 over a gas deal with Russia, in charges she said were politically motivated.

Mr Mueller’s indictment said Van der Zwaan “deleted and otherwise did not produce emails sought by the special counsel’s office” and made a false statement about when he was last in contact with Mr Gates and “Person A”, who has not been identified. Person A is noted as a long-term business associate of Mr Gates and Mr Manafort.

Saudi Prince Says Israel Has ‘Right’ to its Land The crown prince and de facto leader of Saudi Arabia said Israel has a “right” to a homeland, a notable shift in the kingdom’s position published Monday, AFP reported.

Saudi Arabia and Israel still have no formal diplomatic relations, but behind the scenes, improvements in their ties have accelerated in recent years.

Both countries see Iran as their biggest outside threat and the United States as their key ally, and both see danger from armed Islamist extremists.

Israel’s conflict with the Palestinians has long proved an obstacle to a full rapprochement, however, as Riyadh still supports their claim to sovereignty.

But now Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman -- speaking to the editor-in-chief of US news

magazine The Atlantic -- appeared to put the rival land claims on an equal footing.

The prince was asked by Jeffrey Goldberg whether the “Jewish people have a right to a nation-state in at least part of their ancestral homeland?”

“I believe that each people, anywhere, has a right to live in their peaceful nation,” said the prince, who is on a three-week US tour.

“I believe the Palestinians and the Israelis have the right to have their own land,” he added.

“But we have to have a peace agreement to assure the stability for everyone and to have normal relations.”

Since 2002, Saudi Arabia has been the main sponsor of the Arab Peace Initiative, which envisions a two-state solution to the Israeli-

Palestinian conflict.

But no such senior Saudi official is known to have previously accepted that Israel has a “right” to any land beyond the practical need to secure a lasting deal.

If, as expected, the crown prince succeeds his octogenarian father King Salman and ascends to the Saudi throne, he will also become guardian of Islam’s holiest shrines.

But he told Goldberg he had no “religious objection” to Israelis living alongside Palestinians, so long as the main Muslim holy site in Jerusalem -- the Al-Aqsa mosque compound -- is protected.

“We have religious concerns about the fate of the holy mosque in Jerusalem and about the rights of the Palestinian people,” he said.

“This is what we have. We don’t have any objection against any other people.”

UK Military Research Boss Says They Can’t Prove Nerve Agent Was Made in Russia The head of Britain’s military research centre said on Tuesday it was unable to prove the militarygrade nerve agent that poisoned a Russian double-agent last month had been produced in Russia.

“We were able to identify it as Novichok, to identify that it was military-grade nerve

agent,” Reuters quoted Gary Aitkenhead, chief executive of the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory at Porton Down in England, as telling Sky News.

“We have not identified the precise source, but we have provided the scientific info to

government who have then used a number of other sources to piece together the conclusions you have come to.”

Moscow has denied being behind the attack on Sergei Skripal and his daughter in the southern English city of Salisbury on March 4.

France Strike: Rail Misery as Three-month Action Tests Macron France’s rail network has been severely disrupted, as a wave of strikes against President Emmanuel Macron’s labour reforms gets under way, according to BBC. The start of the strike has been dubbed “Black Tuesday”, but the action will spread over three months, affecting two days in every five.

Staff at state railway SNCF are

leading the strike, but the energy and waste collection sectors are also affected.

The unrest presents Mr Macron’s biggest challenge since his election last May. The president plans to overhaul the heavily indebted SNCF but the unions say some of the changes would pave the way for privatisation, which the government

denies.

With the four main rail unions observing the strike, services have been severely curtailed. Some 77% of SNCF drivers were believed to be on strike. The company said 34% of its staff overall were striking.

Only one in eight high-speed TGVs is scheduled to run while only one in five regional trains is operating.

46

WEDNESDAY APRIL 4, 2018 ˾ T H I S D AY

NEWSEXTRA

Failed Unity Bank Buyout Deal Shows Perils of Investing in Nigeria The recent failed deal between Milost Global Inc, a New York private equity firm and Nigeria’s ailing Unity Bank for recapitalisation has been identified as one of the

Perils of Investing in Nigeria.

Milost Global Inc. said it penned an agreement in November to provide $1 billion of financing that would’ve given it 60 percent of

Bafarawa Tasks Tiv Community on Peace Mohammed Aminu in Sokoto Former Sokoto State Governor, Alhaji Attahiru Bafarawa, has advised the Tiv community in Sokoto State to live in peace with their host community, saying foreigners were behind the killings in Benue State.

Bafarawa made the remark while receiving a delegation of Tiv Community under the leadership of Mr. Samuel Ambiam, who visited his residence in Sokoto yesterday.

According to him, they should reciprocate the gesture given to them for many decades by the Hausa Fulani in Sokoto State by living in harmony, as majority of them are now established with children and grandchildren.

He noted that most Fulani have been living peacefully with Tiv communities in all the states of the North without any problem.

Bafarawa however, lamented that due to misunderstanding and politics, they are now fighting and killing people without cogent reasons.

The former governor insisted that foreigners were behind the incessant attacks on communities in Benue State.

“Our own Fulani here do not carry guns, they move around with sticks to protect their livestock from night marauders and wild animals.

So, the attacks and killings in Benue are being perpetrated by foreigners.

“We are all aware how the Hausa Fulani and Tiv do joke and share banter as northerners with respect, love and unity, especially during the era of Sir Ahmadu Bello.

“But now we have turned against one another with guns, cutlasses and other weapons destroying lives and property. This is very sad and unfortunate to see Tiv people and Fulani killing one another due to intolerance and ignorance among our people,” he said.

Earlier, the leader of the group , described Bafarawa as man of peace who is committed to peace and stability of the nation.

He said members of the Tiv community were at his residence to express their appreciation over his donation of N10 million to victims of the crisis in Benue State.

“Your donation has eased some of the problems being faced by our people, as some of the victims from both sides have benefitted and are now using part of your donation to rebuild their lives after losing their properties.

“On behalf of the entire Tiv community in Sokoto State and the nation at large, we are grateful for the kind gesture and honour done to us by your brotherly visit to Benue State,” he added.

Unity Bank Plc. Milost has now backed off, citing an unidentified “politically connected” shareholder who threatened the investor’s Nigerian interests if it pursues the deal.

The Lagos-based lender has denied that the documents were binding and said it had nothing to do with the threats.

The transaction failed as President Muhammadu Buhari wants to make it easier for businesses to operate in Africa’s most populous nation, which ranks 145th out of 190 countries in the World Bank’s ease of Doing Business index.

While Milost is still weighing other opportunities in Nigeria, it sends a warning to other investors.

“The message we get from clients is that even though the Nigerian government is outwardly pro-investment, in practice foreign investors don’t always receive a warm welcome,” said Matthew Kindinger, an analyst at Washingtonbased Frontier Strategy Group, which advises multinational companies on their business strategies in emerging markets.

“Nigeria is a very challenging environment. You get a lot of problems that you wouldn’t elsewhere.”

Rough Patch

In January, InterContinental Hotels Group Plc said it’s pulling out of the country after a disagreement with local partners over how to get a 358-room Lagos

property out of receivership.

Efforts to rescue embattled mobile-phone company Etisalat Nigeria were dragged out as a shareholder sought to block buyers from taking over the company.

In 2009, Richard Branson’s Virgin Atlantic Airways sold its stake in a Nigerian airline after a dispute that saw him complain of the government using “mafioso tactics” and “orchestrating negative propaganda,” the British Broadcasting Corp. reported at the time.

Unity Bank, formed 12 years ago out of the merger of nine banks and which last year missed a recapitalisation deadline set by regulators, said in a statement on Thursday that it’s typical for documents to be exchanged between negotiating parties and the papers it signed only suggested the “terms and conditions on which Milost was planning to consider its possible participation in the capital funding of the bank.”

Not the First

“It is for the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) to investigate the truth,” Milost Chief Executive Officer, Kim Freeman, said by phone. “They signed the term sheet and the commitment agreement. They are denying everything because they have been caught off guard” and failed to disclose the transaction to shareholders and the stock exchange, he said.

Milost, which was founded in 2015 according to its LinkedIn profile, has $25 billion in committed capital with interests spanning from cannabis to mining and oil, according to its website.

Not the First

It’s not the first time the firm has come under the spotlight. South African construction company WG Wearne Ltd. on February 14 said that Milost failed to fulfill its funding obligations and that the builder will terminate their agreement for up to 300 million rand ($25 million) in debt financing if the terms aren’t met.

The WG Wearne deal is still on and the company has made two draw-downs already on the facility, Solly Asibey, Milost’s chief investment partner, said. WG Wearne’s Chief Financial Officer Marius Bierman didn’t immediately return a message left at its office seeking comment.

“It would have been great for the banking sector, Unity Bank in particular, if this deal was true and it had gone through,” Lekan Olabode, a bank analyst at Vetiva Capital Management Ltd., said by phone from Lagos.

“Now that it didn’t, Unity Bank is back to where it was and will continue to search for where its funding will come from.”

Unity fell on Thursday to extend losses over the past three days to 9.6 per cent.

Other bank deals have also

been hard to get over the line.

Johannesburg-based FirstRand Ltd., Africa’s largest bank by market value, walked away from buying Lagos-based Sterling Bank Plc in 2011 because it said the asking price was too high.

FDI Shrinks

Dithering by policymakers over the handling of a currency peg has also cost inflows into the country, with a foreign-exchange shortage only easing after the central bank introduced a weaker exchange rate for investors in April last year. Foreign-direct investment declined for three straight years to $982 million in 2017, according to the National Bureau of Statistics, the lowest since at least 2012.

Milost’s $1.1 billion purchase of Primewaterview Holdings Nigeria Ltd., a real estate company, and its pending $250 million investment in Resort Savings & Loans Plc account for almost all Nigerian mergers and acquisitions. Deals in the country this year amount to $1.4 billion, compared with $2.7 billion for all of 2017, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

The country’s population of about 180 million and an economic recovery from 2016’s slide means Nigeria is “too big to ignore,” said Frontier Strategy’s Kindinger.

“A lot of multinationals have it top of their list for Africa. It will always remain a priority for those interested in Africa, even for all its difficulties.” r Culled from Bloomberg

Crisis Hits Ohanaeze asYouth Wing Passes No ConfidenceVote on Nwodo Christopher Isiguzo in Enugu The youth wing of the apex Igbo socio-cultural organisation, Ohanaeze Ndigbo, yesterday passed a no-confidence vote on the organisation’s President General Chief John Nnia Nwodo, vowing to obstruct the planned summit on restructuring billed to hold in Enugu.

The youth wing, in a statement issued after its security meeting in Enugu yesterday, and signed by Okechukwu Isiguzoro and Okwu Nnabuike, President General and Secretary General respectively, asked Nwodo to appear before them within seven days.

They vowed that the proposed summit on restructuring being put together by Ohanaeze Ndigbo should be cancelled as they would ensure that it does not take place in any part of Igboland.

In a swift reaction, however, Nwodo dismissed the group as non-existent having been disbanded by his predecessor, Chief Enwo Igariwey.

He said those behind the “socalled youth wing” were merely seeking for attention, adding that his leadership remained intact and would continue with its programmes.

But the youth wing in their statement, accused Nwodo of running the organisation as a

private empire without recourse to the constitution. “We hereby passed votes of no confidence on Chief Nnia Nwodo and his Ohanaeze Ndigbo presidency and we give him seven days to appear before the Ohanaeze disciplinary committee to explain and answer for his political infidelity against Igbo and collective humanity,” they said.

The group alleged that Nwodo, against the Ohanaeze Ndigbo’s tradition and constitution, abused his office by paying loyalty to Alhaji Atiku Abubakar immediately after his election on January 10, 2017, and that he has rendered the office of the Secretary General impotent by appointing Director of Administration without Ime Obi’s approval.

He was also accused of closing down the Publicity Department of Ohanaeze, by not giving the department the liberty and that he has failed to audit the accounts of Ohanaeze within the last 12 months, according to the group’s constitution of periodic audit.

They also accused Nwodo of making controversial statements on Biafra openly in Lagos and conspiracy to re-arrest the leader of Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) Nnamdi Kanu and the factional leader of Movement for the Actualisation of Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSO), Uchenna Madu.

CONDOLENCE VISIT

L-R: Acting CEO, Dangote Cement Plc. Mr. Joseph Makoju; President, Dangote Group of Companies, Alhaji Aliko Dangote; and President African Development Bank, Dr. Akinwumi Adesina, when Dangote paid a condolence visits to Akinwumi over his father’s death at his Ibadan residence....yesterday.

Police: Melaye to Be Arraigned May 10 The Nigeria Police Force said it would arraign Senator Dino Melaye and the four suspects rearrested for alleged conspiracy and unlawful possession of prohibited firearms at the Federal High Court in Lokoja on May 10.

The suspects are: Kabiru Seidu, 31, alias Osama, Nuhu Salisu, 25, alias small, Musa Mohammed, 27, alias Iko and Emmanuel Audu, 26.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reported that on March 28, the police command in Kogi announced the escape from lawful

custody of six suspects including Seidu and Salisu.

On March 30, the police announced the re-arrest of four of the six suspects.

The Force Spokesman, Jimoh Moshood, who made the disclosure while briefing journalist on the arrest of four of the six suspects yesterday in Abuja, said two of the suspects were still at large.

Moshood said that Seidu and Salisu who were principal suspects were rearrested in Tafa Balewa Local GovernmentArea of Bauchi State and

Ganaja Village, Lokoja, Kogi.

The spokesman said the six accomplice in the case arrested by the police would be prosecuted with the six rearrested suspects.

The suspects are: John Beneche, 22, Seye Atowoju, 27 Danjuma Yunusa, 35, Egga Ochai,50 Abbas Haruna, 30 and Gloria Audu, 28.

He said the suspects would be arraigned in court for prosecution on completion of investigation.

Moshood warned that the police would not relent in its efforts to check activities of unscrupulous

politicians, adding that they must play the game according to the rules. He commended members of the public for giving the police timely information that aided the re-arrest of the suspects. The spokesman said the force`s fight against crimes and criminality in the country remained unequivocal and unwavering.

Seidu had confessed that Melaye handed over to him a bag containing one AK47 rifle, two pump action guns and N430,000 to share with his boys.

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Tinubu: How Adebanjo Made Me Lagos Governor Backs him on restructuring Shola Oyeyipo Despite the reported discord between them, the national leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and former Lagos State

Governor, Senator Bola Tinubu, has revealed that he would not have become a governor without the impeccable integrity of Chief Ayo Adebanjo.

Speaking yesterday in Lagos

Two Women Killed in Auto Crash Involving Motorcade of Ikpeazu’s Wife Emmanuel Ugwu in Umuahia Two women died yesterday following a fatal accident involving the convoy of the wife of Abia State Governor, Mrs. Nkechi Ikpeazu.

Several others sustained various degrees in of injuries with some in critical condition.

The victims are Mrs. Nwamaka Maduabuchukwu, a Senior Special Assistant, Media, office of the wife of the governor and Mrs. Promise Uche Nwankpa fondly called Tomato Jos, whose husband was a former member of the state House of Assembly.

Crowd of mourners and sympathisers gathered at the emergency unit of the Federal Medical Centre (FMC) when the dead and the injured were brought in from the scene of the crash late in the evening.

Sources who were part of the travelling party in the convoy said that the accident involved one of the buses in the convoy.

According to them, the crash

occurred at Ndiolumbe in Isiala Ngwa North Local Government when the convoy of the governor’s wife was returning from Obingwa Local Government Area.

Nwankpa was said to have died on the spot while Maduabuchkwu was confirmed dead on arrival at the FMC. Some prayer warriors were seen praying fervently around the lifeless body of the SSA entreating God to bring her back to life.

Meanwhile, the Chairman of Abia State Council of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Mr. John Emejor, was among the sympathisers that were seen grieving over the death of the accident victims.

Maduabuchukwu was until her death, the Chairman of Information Chapel of the state NUJ. Emejor described the chapel chairman’s untimely death as “very unfortunate” and prayed God to banish untimely dead among journalists.

Anyaoku calls for restructuring of Nigeria

during the launch of a book titled: ‘Telling It As It Is’, an autobiography commemorating the 90th birthday of a prominent Yoruba and Afenifere leader, Adebanjo; Tinubu said but for the elder statesman, he wouldn’t have become Lagos State governor “because some forces within his party, Alliance for Democracy (AD), at that time had set out to replace him as the party’s candidate fraudulently.”

Tinubu, who said he attended the event particularly to eulogise the good virtues of the elder statesman, said: “If not because of his honesty and integrity, I would not have become the governor of the state.

Adebanjo said no to electoral rigging. As the acting chairman of the AD, he said direct primary is the answer-that every registered member must participate in our primary- and when the result came, some people tried to manipulate it and altered the result. Adebanjo stood his ground and said as the acting national chairman of the party, the result of the fair and free primary must be upheld, and that was in my favour.

“If he were corrupt, they were ready to pay him. If he were a corrupt national leader, he would have taken money, compromised the result and submit another name.

“That is the only testimony I will come to give. That is the

truth I came to tell. He upheld the result as being the most free and fair primary held in AD at that particular time.

“May God Almighty continue to bless you! Continue on your principled path of integrity and great character-path of honesty that represents the value of our race of the democrats and your committed allies.”

Adebanjo has been a die-hard advocate of true federalism and agreeing with him on that democratic principle, Tinubu said: “If you don’t understand him, you might say he is divisive, but what is the meaning of restructuring if not true federalism and if not about freedom and opportunity for each federating unit to come up with their blueprints, govern and promote the unity of this country?

“What is the meaning of restructuring if not about the resources, management and opportunity for federalism in any democratic setting? I agree with him on that. He has been a father to all of us in politics. He is committed to that principle of democratisation in this country. He is ready to pay the supreme price for it as some of us, including me standing before you.”

The APC chieftain did not hide the fact that there had been a nolove-lost relationship between him

and Adebanjo, but he maintained that in spite of that, he holds him in high esteem.

“I respect you. You are a mentor to me. We can disagree, because you taught me rebellion, so, if I go the other way sometimes that means I am not a bastard. I have a good father to emulate. No matter what you say, you can’t but praise, honour and respect him for his principled stance on issues of the country,” Tinubu said.

Also describing Adebanjo as a leader who’s truly passionate about Nigeria, who still displays strength and commitment to the country at 90, former Commonwealth Secretary-General, Chief Emeka Anyaoku, said he has no doubt that if Nigeria had remained under the four regions, the country would have been better now, saying: “The country was doing well in those days.”

He maintained that the military disfigured the Nigeria political structure by taking over the government and staying in power for many years.

The 90-year-old Adebanjo, a front line advocate of a restructured Nigeria who has been very critical of the President Muhammadu Buhari-led APC government, said he remains politically active because of the qualities of training he got from the late sage, Chief

Obafemi Awolowo, and the absence of development in Nigeria.

“With the way we are living in Nigeria, there is no reason for us to be poor. There should be no reason for us to be unemployed.

“I was in Maiduguri with Awolowo in 1979 in a helicopter.

We were going round on campaign and he looked over all the green lands and said: ‘Ayo, it is criminal to have unemployment in this country.’

“The government today no longer act on any manifesto.

Both the APC and the PDP, what will you say they stand for rather than say ‘you stole money, I did not steal money? That is not the question! What do you do to put food on the table of the people?”

He queried.

Prominent leaders from across the country, including the vice president during the Ibrahim Babangida military government from 1985 to 1986, Commodore Ebitu Ukiwe; former Ogun State Governor, Olusegun Osoba; 2011 running mate to President Buhari and founder of Latter Rain Assembly, Pastor Tunde Bakare; former Ogun State Deputy Governor, Mr. Gbenga Kaka; former Ekiti State Governor, Chief Adeniyi Adebayo; renowned industrialist, Chief Pius Akinyelure, and several others were at the event.

Osinbajo to Launch Nigeria’s Economic Diplomacy Initiative Tomorrow Alex Enumah in Abuja Vice President Yemi Osinbajo will tomorrow in Abuja launch the Nigerian Economic Diplomacy Initiative (NEDI).

NEDI is an initiative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in collaboration with the Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment, Nigerian Investment Promotion Commission (NIPC), and Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC).

The initiative, according to the spokesman of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Dr. Tope Elias-Fatile, is aimed at spurring economic growth and development through facilitation of market access, Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), cross-border

trade and recruitment of skilled Nigerians in the diaspora for national development.

“It aligns with the federal government’s Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP),” he said.

While noting that NEDI leverages on online technology and existing infrastructure in Nigerian missions across the world, the spokesman disclosed that the platform is divided into two parts – NEDI Business and NEDI professionals.

“NEDI business matches Nigerian businesses with business opportunities around the world while NEDI Professional serves as a one-stop shop for recruiting and engaging Nigerian professionals in the diaspora for national development,” he added.

Obaseki Lauds Oshiomhole at 66 The Edo State Governor, Mr. Godwin Obaseki, has congratulated his predecessor, Adams Oshiomhole, as he clocks 66 years today.

In a statement, Obaseki praised Oshiomhole for his accomplishment as a former governor and labour leader, noting, “We celebrate you and all that you have accomplished through your humble beginnings to your illustrious career as a labour leader, and as the immediate past formidable, progressive governor of our dear state.”

He added: “Your leadership

prowess has ushered in a new chapter in our quest for development and we celebrate your unforgettable contributions to advancing our march to modernisation.”

According to him, Oshiomhole’s commitment to humanity, and how he has, at different times through various capacities, impacted the people he leads, cuts him out as “a light that cannot be hidden.

“We appreciate you and all you have done and what you represent to the people of Edo State and all Nigerians. We wish you many more years of fruitful service to humanity,” he added.

APC GOVERNORS

L-R: Governors Abubakar Sani Bello (Niger); Abiola Ajimobi (Oyo); Umaru Al-Makura (Nasarawa); Akinwumi Ambode (Lagos) and Abdul’azziz Abubakar Yari (Zamfara) at a meeting of All Progressives Congress (APC) governors with President Muhammadu Buhari at the Presidential Villa in Abuja ...yesterday Godwin Omoigui.

Kaduna Monarch Urges FG to Flush out Bandits from His Domain John Shiklam in Kaduna The Emir of Birnin-Gwari in Kaduna State, Mallam Jibril Zubairu Mai-Gwari II, has urged the federal government to intensify efforts at getting rid of the bandits terrorising his domain.

Birnin Gwari Local Government Area is on of the areas with high rate of violent crimes, ranging from armed robbery, kidnapping and cattle rustling.

Only recently, 11 soldiers were killed in the area by bandits.

The emir had at the weekend asked his subjects to defend themselves against bandits following

the seeming failure of security agencies to curtail the situation.

Speaking yesterday in his palace, when the Minister of Interior, Lt. Gen. Abdulrahman Danbazzau (rtd) and Deputy Inspector General of Police Operations, Habila Joshak, visited him, the emir lamented that his people were being killed on daily basis.

“Just day before yesterday (on Sunday), two people were killed and nine others, including a newly wedded bride were kidnapped,” he said.

According to the traditional ruler, “the bandits hibernate in Zamfara and come to attack in

Birnin Gwari and hibernate in Birnin Gwari and go to Zamfara to carry out attacks.”

He expressed optimism that with the visit of the minister and the DIG, the security situation will improve.

The emir also called on the federal government to rehabilitate the Kaduna-Birnin Gwari-Jebba road, which has been in a deplorable state for a decades, adding that the bad state of the road is contributing to the activities of criminals in the area.

In his response, Danbazzau said that federal government

was very concerned about the security situation in Kaduna State, particularly the Birnin Gwari axis.

He said his visit was with the DIG and the Kaduna state police commissioner was to assess the security situation in the area.

He said: “God willing, we are going to map out strategies to address the continous killing of innocent lives, kidnapping and cattle rustling.

“I want to assure you that, the federal government remains committed to protecting lives and property of every Nigerian. We will not take banditry, we will deal with them accordingly.”

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Boko Haram: Stay Indoors During Exchange of Gunfire, Military Tells Maiduguri Residents NAF deploys special forces to Zamfara Michael Olugbode in Maiduguri and Paul Obi in Abuja The military has set up a four-man committee to investigate what could have been responsible for the high number of casualties during Easter Sunday attack on Maiduguri, Borno State Residents of the North-east region were equally warned against coming out onto the streets anytime there is exchange of fire between the military and the terrorist in order not to fall victim of a crossfire.

Speaking during the inauguration of the committee to investigate the attack and advise on way to curb future reoccurrence, Maj. Gen. Rogers Nicholas said 29 persons, including a soldier, was lost during the attack at the outskirts of Maiduguri.

He explained that the soldiers were able to ward off the threat of 10 suicide bombers who attempted to penetrate Maiduguri last Sunday by gunning down seven of them.

Nicholas said the remaining three fled and could have been apprehended if not that the people came out onto the streets during the attack, and the terrorists detonated their bombs right in their midst killing 18 people.

He regretted that the only soldier who was lost was cut down in a crossfire as he left the trenches to pick his phone that he was charging minutes

before the Boko Haram sect terrrorists launched the attack.

Nicholas gave the committee led by Brig. Gen. Henry Wesley three days to investigate and submit their report.

The military commander, who also lamented that 75 persons were injured in the attack, said: “The people need to be careful and watchful as well as remain indoors whenever there is an incident because if people had remained indoor, we could not have had this large number of casualties.”

He said the military Theatre has decided to set up a committee to unraveled what happened and how it happened and the way to ensure that it does not happen again.

Nicholas urged various communities to assist the military with information as the terrorists move within their settlements.

Meanwhile, following the increasing rate of killings in Zamfara State, the Nigerian Air Forces (NAF) yesterday deployed Special Forces to ensure peace in the area.

According to NAF Director of Public Relations and Information, Air Vice Marshal Olatokunbo Adesanya, “Following the recent attack on Bawan Daji community in Anka Local Government Area of Zamfara State where some lives were lost, the Chief of the Air Staff, Air Marshal Sadique Abubakar, has directed

Tension in Enugu as Suspected Herdsmen Attack Man with Machete Christopher Isiguzo in Enugu A major crisis was averted in the sleepy town of Okpanku in Aniri Local Government Area of Enugu State last Monday following an alleged invasion of the area by suspected herdsmen.

The herdsmen were said to have attacked a security guard with machete which nearly led to his death but for quick intervention by some people in the community.

According to an eyewitness account, the suspected herdsmen were cutting down a Mango tree in somebody’s compound with the intension of feeding their herds with it, but they were stopped by the security guard.

Rather than leave the place, the herders reportedly pounced on the guard and attacked him with matchete leaving him in the pool of his blood.

The guard however mustered some courage to raise the alarm which made other villagers to rush to the scene. However, before they arrived at the scene, the herders had fled into the bush. The victim was rushed to the hospital for treatment.

Tension immediately enveloped the community as the young men threatened reprisal.

Another source in the area

said: “The Fulani herdsmen were carrying their cattle passing through the community when suddenly the herders entered inside the compound of one Eric Ogudu and started plucking mangos in that compound.

“The security guard in that compound (name withheld) tried to stop them but they refused, and in ensuing scuffle, they gave him several machete cuts in his arms and shoulder.

“The guard started shouting ‘Fulani people done kill me And immediately, the attention of the people were drawn and the villagers who came out started pursing them.”

It was further gathered that the owner of the compound, Eric, has already made statement to the police at Aniri Divisional Headquarter in Okpanku, and a team of policemen had been deployed to the community to maintain peace and calm the youths who are bent on fishing out the herdsmen who carried out the attack.

The spokesman of the police in Enugu, Superintendent of Police, Ebere Amaraizu, confirmed the attack on the community.

According to him, “Police have commenced investigation into the matter.”

that NAF Special Forces be deployed to Gusau as part of efforts to stop the incessant banditry in the area.

“Accordingly, the NAF Special Forces agents who were trained in asymmetric warfare, were airlifted from Kaduna with the NAF C-130 Hercules aircraft to complement the efforts of other security forces on ground to prevent further attack on innocent citizens.”

Adesanya explained that “the personnel and other supporting staff would operate from the recently established 207 Quick

Response Group in Gusau, where they would reinforce the existing regiment personnel in the unit in support of the ongoing operation Sharan Daji in the state.

In his address to the troops at Gusau shortly before their deployment yesterday, the Air Officer Commanding Special Operations Command, Air Vice Marshal Ismaila Kaita, announced that the Special Forces would be further deployed to remote areas of Zamfara State, where they would be engaged in internal security operations.

He therefore urged them to

effectively utilise their experiences and training to protect the lives and property of the people of the state.

Abubakar added that the NAF leadership expects the Special Forces to exhibit the highest standards of professionalism and respect for human rights in discharging their duties.

He further added that “the NAF has taken additional measures to enhance its contributions to tackling internal security challenges in the country in fulfillment of its constitutional responsibility.

“In addition to earlier established Quick Response Groups and Wings as well as the deployment of NAF Special Force to various states, the NAF recently established Quick Response Wings at Agatu, Doma and Nguroje in Benue, Nasarawa and Taraba States respectively, to bring security closer to those in the relatively remote areas.

“Arrangements are also ongoing to establish a new Quick Response Group in Jalingo in Taraba State to superintend over the activities of the three new Quick Response Wings,” he disclosed.

EMINENT LAWYERS

L-R: Mr. Johhny Egwuonwu (SAN); Chief Emeka Ngige (SAN); Prof. Ilochi Okafor (SAN); Cheif Judge of Anambra State, Justice Peter Umeadi; Chief Nnamdi Ibegbum (SAN); and Sir Emeka Anaenugwum (SAN) at the seventh Anambra State Chief Judge’s annual dinner in Awka ...recently

Lawmakers, Group Condemn Kaduna Senators for Rejecting $350m Loan John Shiklam in Kaduna Fifteen members of the House of Representatives from Kaduna State yesterday faulted the Senate rejection to approve the $350million World Bank loan request by the state government.

The Senate had last Thursday rejected the request by the state for the $350million loan, saying it would worsen the debt profile of the state.

According to the Senate, the rejection was based on the recommendation of the Senate Committee on Local and Foreign Debt and the three senators from the state.

However, in an interview with journalists in Kaduna yesterday, the state caucus in the House of Representatives maintained that the rejection of the loan was purely political and not in the interest of the state.

The caucus comprises members drawn from the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the House.

The leader of the caucus, Datti Babawo, said all the 15 out of 16

members of the House from the state approved the loan because of the enormous benefit the state would derived from the loan.

Babawo noted that the Senaterejection of the loan was purely political which would at the long run, do the state no good.

The lawmaker added that rejection of the loan by the Senate was not only political but a reflection of the abuse of power by the three senators from the state who were supposed to put the interest of the people above their personal interests.

“On a monthly basis, the Governor, Mallam Nasir el-Rufai, whenever he comes to Abuja, we always call for a meeting of the National Assembly caucus of both the House of Representatives and the Senate; to tell about this loan.

“Initially, the three senators do attend the meeting but the two stopped coming, leaving only Senator Suleiman Hunkuyi attending. But later, he too decided not to come.

“It is strictly political. It has nothing to do with development.

The interest of those who were opposed to it were strictly for their own personal and selfish reason

and not for the benefit of the people of this state,” Babawo said.

A group known as Kaduna Concerned Citizens has also condemned the three senators for scuttling the World Bank loan to the state government.

Addressing a news conference yesterday in Kaduna, the group accused the senators for working against the interest of the people of the state.

Coordinator of the group, Mallam Abdulazeez Musa, said the three senators should have looked beyond whatever issues they have with the state government and put the interest of the Kaduna people into consideration.

According to the group, the loan would have enable to complete many projects being embarked upon.

“The Kaduna Concerned Citizens hereby reject and totally condemn the position taken by the Senate to stand in the way as a clog in the wheel of the progress of the good people of Kaduna state by this unpatriotic and selfishtrejection of a legitmate request by a State government that has fulfilled all the requirements set by the World

Bank to be granted this facility for infrastructural development.

“The huge infractructural deficit in the education, health and road sectors necessited the governor of Kaduna state to declare a state of emergency in the education sector, as we have over 4,200 primary schools that require total renovation, provision of potable water and furniture out of which over 400 schools have so far been renovated.

“The government needs a minimum of N60 billion just to fix primary schools. A lot more would be needed to actually build new schools that can have enough classrooms, staffrooms/quarters and other facilities.

“This is how the state government approached the World Bank with facts and figures including pictures and after strict scrutiny of the state laws, accounts and performance, the World Bank was convinced that the state merits their support” the group said.

The group accused the senate for collaborated with the three senators from the state to deprive the over 10 million citizens of the state their legitimate right to decent investment in human capital development.

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Looters’ List: You Can’t Divert Attention from Your Misrule, Says PDP Onyebuchi Ezigbo in Abuja The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has accused the presidency and the All Progressives Congress (APC) of engaging in a failed plot to use their so-called looters’ lists to divert public discourse from the raging questions on their numerous scandals, manifest sleazes and overall failures in governance.

The party in a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Kola Ologbondiyan, yesterday said the country has now seen that the federal government has no case against the PDP, as the lists only have individuals who are not indicted or convicted for corruption, some of who are not even members of the PDP. “It is now a notorious fact that the whole essence of the flimsy and contemptible lists was to cause public misperception, ‘change the topic,’ and divert international and national discourse from various serious issues including “The parlous state of the nation’s economy caused by President Muhammadu Buhari’s misrule, for which Nigerians are now resorting to vices, including slavery and suicide as options.

“The intensive global vote of no confidence on President Buhari-led APC government, particularly on its painful anti-people policies, as presented in damning verdicts by international figures, the latest being the world renowned Bill Gates.

“The vote of no confidence on the Buhari administration by eminent statesmen, including former

President Olusegun Obasanjo, former military President, Ibrahim Babangida and former Minister of Defence and ex-Chief of Army Staff, Gen. Theophilus Danjuma (rtd), who also indicted this administration of failure to protect the citizens.

“The international interest over speculations of conspiracy theorem on the alleged manipulation of security in the abduction and return of the Dapchi schoolgirls for which Amnesty International (AI) has called for an open inquest.

“The international embarrassment over alleged procurement of the Martin Luther King Jr award for President Buhari, which has now attracted global opprobrium to our dear nation and entire citizenry.

“The Transparency International (TI) latest verdict, indicting the Buhari-led government of superintending over the spiraling of corruption in Nigeria in the last three years.

“Efforts by the Buhari Presidency to conceal the N9 trillion corrupt oil contracts at the NNPC, alleged stealing of N1.1 trillion worth of crude oil, looting of N18 billion Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) intervention fund and the stealing of N10 billion National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS), all by APC officials and presidency cabal.

“The public resentment that trailed President Buhari’s last week’s visit to Lagos as well as his embarrassment at the

National Mosque last Friday, where worshippers demonstrated their resentments to his administration and almost resorted to near mob action.

Sunday Okobi The Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC) has restated its commitment to the federal government’s railway modernisation project, as well as supporting President Muhammadu Buhari’s vision of transforming the rail industry into a world class transport system.

This commitment was made as NRC top management rounded off its annual retreat for the first time at the Railway village in Owa Oyibu town, Delta State.

According to a statement made available to THISDAY by Deputy Director Public Relations, Yakub Mahmood, the theme of the retreat is ‘NRC moving towards higher standard’.

He stated that the retreat was aimed at recommitment to developing a world-class rail system; availing the participants the opportunity to brainstorm and equally inspect the rehabilitation of the abandoned Itakpe-Ajaokuta/ Warri standard gauge rail line, preparatory to its inauguration soon.

Calls for change of tactics The National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Prince Uche Secondus, yesterday condoled with the victims of Sunday’s suicide bomb in Belle village, near Maiduguri, the Borno State capital.

He said it was time for security agencies to review their strategies so as to proactively avert bloodletting of innocent persons.

Secondus added that the senseless bombing that led to loss of over 29 lives and about 90 persons injured on Easter Day was very unfortunate and condemnable.

The PDP boss said in a statement signed by his spokesperson, Ike Abonyi, that his heart and that of

other well meaning Nigerians are with the families who lost their beloved ones as well as the injured.

Secondus charged security agencies operating in the area on the need to review their strategies so as to proactively avert more bloodletting of innocent persons.

He said the need to adjust the military operations in the region became imperative given the disturbing record of the United Nations UN Coordination of Humanitarian Affair (OCHA) released in Abuja on Monday showing that 22 attacks were carried out against the people in the region in the most troubled states of Borno, Yobe and Adamawa in the last three months.

According to available records, over 120 deaths and over 200 injured in the three months of this year excluding abductions.

Secondus also charged President Muhammadu Buhari and his All Progressives Congress (APC)controlled federal government to ensure that the humanitarian situation in the region is not allowed to deteriorate.

“It’s a pity that in this country today, human lives mean nothing as innocent citizens continue to lose their lives daily with women and children worse hit.

He appealed to the militants to embrace peace and avoid wasting of human blood which cannot be justified by any reason.

Lagos Police Recovers 188 Arms, 280 Ammunition Rebecca Ejifoma Following the 21-day grace period the Inspector General of Police (IG), Ibrahim Idris, gave for all suspected criminal in possession of illegal and prohibited firearms to hand them over to the police, the Lagos State Police has recovered 188 arms and 280 ammunition from bandits voluntarily.

The Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Edgal Imohimi, confirmed this at the Command Headquarters Ikeja yesterday. “The firearms mop up exercise yielded positive result in the command in our fight against

crime.”

Some of the arms recovered were: 38 pump action rifles, six AK47 rifles, 12 double-barrel rifles, 11 single-barrel rifles, 70 single barrel locally made cut to size short guns, 42 locally-made double-barrel short-gun, 18 locally-made revolver pistol, three Barrett’s pistol – all serviceable. The ammunition are 220 cartridges and 60 7.62 MM AK 47 ammunition.

However, he warned that those still in possession of other illegal firearms should surrender it to the police.

“Failure to voluntarily surrender

repositioned and rebranded PDP convicted for corruption, we wish to remind them that our three-day ultimatum to explain the source of looted fund to finance President

Buhari’s 2015 campaign still subsist and no amount of blackmail or intimidation can stop Nigerians from holding the dysfunctional APC accountable.”

NRC Reiterates Commitment to FG’s World-class Rail Devt Plan

Secondus Sympathises With Maiduguri Bomb BlastVictims Onyebuchi Ezigbo in Abuja

“These are issues that cannot be swept under the carpet using any ploy whatsoever.

“While we still challenge the APC to name any members of the

those arms, the police will move into the second phase of the exercise.”

According to him, the second phase of the mop up firearms is where the police would search from house to house with credible information that there are categories of firearms and arrest will follow.

He said: “But I’m hoping it won’t come to that. So, take advantage of the grave period.”

He, therefore, beckoned on Lagosians to provide information on whoever was in possession of firearms as efforts to rid the society of crime.

Deputy Director Public Relations further noted that the retreat which was meant to encourage team work in the evaluation of the preceding year’s key performance indicators was also a platform to fashion out strategic master plan that will be a guiding and working document for implementation by all the respective departments towards operational proficiency in the transportation industry in Nigeria.

“The theme for this year’s retreat was consciously chosen to be in tandem with the federal government railway modernisation project as well as supporting President Buhari’s vision of transforming the rail industry into world class transport system that can drive the Nigerian economy,” Mahmood said.

According to the statement, in his presentation at the retreat, the Managing Director of NRC, Fridet E. Okhiria, set out the ‘2018 Strategic

Direction’ for the corporation as stated above, which among others include: improving on rolling stock availability; inculcating staff discipline; support and encourage contractors on the completion of all the on-going railway modernisation projects.

The statement noted that in compliance to these, Okhiria said it’s imperative for optimal operational and administrative productivity.

He tasked the management to build more interdepartmental synergy that is devoid of bottlenecks which hinders prompt response to official matters resulting in blame game syndrome as against the prompt transparent collective responsibility principles.

Earlier in his speech, the Chairman of the corporation board, Usman Abubakar, charged the staff to brace up to the challenges that would be associated with the ongoing railway modernisation projects across the country such as operational timeliness, top class

customer services and regular information dissemination which are fundamentals in modern transportation business.

He commended the management and entire staff of the NRC for their resilience and hard work despite some short comings which the management is proffering solution in order to assist tremendously in achieving higher level of operational performance beyond last year.

“This is reciprocal to the present administration efforts towards ensuring that NRC retains its role as the major player in the socio-economic development of the country,” he added.

The retreat ended with a Gala night where awards were given to deserving retirees and long service staff that contributed to the corporation growth and development. Among the awardees was Alhaji Abubakar Labaran, the Managing Director, Railway Property Management Company Limited.

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WEDNESDAYSPORTS

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

Okagbare is Flag Bearer for Team Nigeria as XXI Commonwealth Games Begin Duro Ikhazuagbe Double sprint champion at Glasgow 2014, Blessing Okagbare-Ighoteguonor, has been listed to be Team Nigeria’s Flag Bearer at the opening ceremony of the XXI Commonwealth Games today inside the Carrara Stadium in Gold Coast, Australia from 7pm.

The 2018 Games are scheduled to take place between April 4 and April 15 with more than 4,500 athletes from 71 nations and territories competing for the 275 gold medals at stake.

There will be the same number of men and women’s medal events for the first time at a major multi-sport event.

Okagbare who last week erased Mary Onyali-Omagbemi’s 22-year old 200m African record at an invitational Meet in the USA, is however not going to defend the 100m and 200m gold medals she won in Scotland four years ago in Gold Coast.

THISDAY learnt at the weekend that pressure is being mounted on the Sapele-born sprinter to help Team Nigeria to podium placement in the two events.

Okagbare had earlier told her acquaintances that she was going to Australia to compete in only the 4x100m relay event.

Track & field aficionados believe the University of Texas in El Paso (UTEP) graduate took the decision of not competing in the 100m and 200m events as ways of getting back at Nigerian sports authorities who abandoned her to her fate when she got injured before the Rio

2016 Olympic Games in Brazil.

Each Team Nigeria athlete who made podium appearance has been promised $5,000 for gold medal while Silver medal winner will smile home with $3,000. Bronze medalists will get $2000 each.

Organisers of the XXI Commonwealth Games officially held a welcome ceremony for Team Nigeria at the Games Village on Tuesday.

Teams’ arrival at theVillage is not officially acknowledged until a Welcome Ceremony is held for the various contingents.

The athletes were entertained by a dance troupe from the Munujali tribe.

Preceding the performance, athletes watched from the sideline as the Nigerian flag was raised and the national anthem sung.

A commemorative indigenous shield was presented to the Minister of Youth and Sports, Solomon Dalung, while Team Nigeria in return presented the talking drum to their hosts.

Dalung expressed delight in the ceremony which brought together all participating athletes.

“What we have seen here today basically is to express the bond of friendship which exists amongst athletes. The spirit of togetherness expressed by people who have just met themselves for the first time here suggests the fact that the bond is very strong.

“I think that the Commonwealth needs to go back to its initial concept of investing in youth development,

providing scholarships and according opportunities to young people to travel across the Commonwealth,” observed Dalung.

On his expectations on Nigeria’s performance at the Games, the Minister said he hoped Team Nigeria will exceed its previous performance.

Also at the Games village to encourage the athletes were the past and present Presidents of the Nigeria Olympic Committee Sani Ndanusa and Habu Gumel, Permanent Secretary of the Ministry, Mr Olusade Adesola, as well as the Nigerian Ambassador to Australia, Mr Bello Kazaure

Husseini.

90 athletes are representing Team Nigeria at the 2018 Games in Australia. The 10 sports Nigerian athletes are to take part include; Athletics, Basketball, Wrestling, Weightlifting, Boxing, Table tennis, Gymnastics, Para Table-tennis, Para-athletics, Para- powerlifting. Team Nigeria

placed eight with 11 gold 11 silver and 14 bronze medals at the Glasgow 2014 Games.

Gold Coast 2018 also includes the largest ever programme of disability sport at a Commonwealth Games.

Basketball returns to the roster of sports, with judo dropped in favour of beach volleyball.

Cristiano Ronaldo (in flight) doing the bicycle kick that earned him the second goal of Real Madrid’s 3-0 UEFA Champions League quarter final crushing of Juventus in Turin… last night

Greensprings/Kanu Football Camp, NPFL: Tough Midweek Battles for Top and Bottom Benchers in Kano.

Boys had to work their socks MATCH DAY 15 FIXTURES Milestone for LSFA, Says Akinwunmi George Akpayen Bottom-three in the division, off to win 2-1 with Lukman The Chairman of the Lagos State Football Association (LSFA), Seyi Akinwunmi, believes the annual Greensprings Kanu Football Camp has been a milestone for the state as it has helped to mould many players.

Akinwunmi, a passionate supporter of the camp applauded the management of Greensprings School in their efforts to complement the FA in development of sports at grassroots level.

“The annual Greensprings Kanu Football Camp has been a milestone for us at LSFA and we are very grateful to the management of the school for keeping faith with the clinic.

Some of our products have benefitted from the camp with two of them now graduates of the school and we are hoping that more will come through.

We will continue to partner with the school by providing our technical support to the camp and also sponsor some students to be part of the camp again this year. We are also hopeful that the Lagos State Sports Commission will also assist some students to be part of the camp this year,” Akinwunmi said.

As part of the train-thetrainers programme this year,

coaches from LSFA will have a one-day session on April 7, with the foreign coaches to update their knowledge on latest hacks in the world of football.

Coaches from England and Netherlands are expected to take charge of the camp and they will be assisted by their Nigerian counterparts during the five-day camping exercise holding at the Lekki campus of Greensprings School, Lagos.

Former captain of Super Eagles, Nwankwo Kanu has also pledged his continued support to the camp.

Kanu, who has been the ambassador of the camp since its inception in 2012 believes the clinic has helped to unearth talents for the country and would continue to discover and nurture educated footballers for the country.

Two of the pioneer students of the camp, Musa Alli and Elvis Onyenze; who benefited from the Greensprings scholarship award, have featured for the Nigerian national U-15 team and Kanu believes this kind of experience would help the youngsters in their career.

Kanu has promised to be on ground to motivate participants during the camp which holds on April 8 to 13at the Lekki campus of Greensprings School.

The Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL) season continues today with Matchday 15 games and the big focus will be the six-pointer between struggling sides Sunshine Stars and basement boys Kwara United FC. As expected, there will be significant interest at the other end of the standings with table-toppers Lobi Stars playing on the road at Abia Warriors and four-time champions Kano Pillars playing hosts to former cup champions FC Ifeanyiubah at the Sani Abacha Stadium

Sunshine Stars and Kwara United go head-to-head in this clash at the Akure Stadium.

It is the first time both teams will meet in the NPFL since September 2015 after Kwara United made a return to the division from the second tier.

Kwara United have had to part ways with former Under-20 coach John Obuh as he appeared to be marching to the beat of a different drum, and they brought in Abubakar Bala who got off to a winning start against Kano Pillars though the Harmony

Binuyo in the heart of inspiring that comeback.

However the trip to troubled Sunshine Stars comes on the back of their poor run against the Akure team. Sunshine Stars have not lost in their last five meetings with Kwara United since a 1-0 loss in Ilorin in May 2012 (3W 2D).

Kwara United have had to rely heavily on Stephen Alfred for goals with their last season leading scorer in he second tier Michael Ohanu still struggling to find his feet in the top division so far.

Go Round v MFM FC K’Pillars v Ifeanyiubah Abia Warriors v Lobi Rangers v Yobe Stars Enyimba v Tornadoes Rivers Utd v Heartland Sunshine v Kwara Utd

UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE RESULTS Juventus 0-3 Real Madrid Sevilla 1-2 Bayern Munich

TODAY (7.45) FC Barcelona v AS Roma Liverpool v Man City

Okpekpe Race Promoter, Itemuagbor, Hails Oshiomhole at 65 Restates commitment to gender equality in IAAF Silver Label race Promoter of the first and only International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) silver label road race in Nigeria nay West Africa, Mike Itemuagbor, has congratulated the immediate past Governor of Edo State, Adams Oshiomhole as he clocks 65 years on earth today.

In his congratulatory message, Itemuagbor relives memories of how Oshiomhole and the current governor of Edo State, Godwin Obaseki, embraced the idea of a 10km

road race to project Okpekpe town in particular, Edo State and Nigeria in general as an international sporting destination.

“The significance of this day is beyond just your birthday. It is a celebration of someone that is loved and greatly admired not only by the people of Edo State but also by all sporting loving Nigerians who feel honoured that through your actions Edo State is playing host to an international sporting

event. Happy 65th Birthday Comrade Governor,” wrote Itemuagbor in the goodwill message to Oshiomhole.

“We are happy that you made Edo State the first in Nigeria to host an international athletics event that is recognised by the world governing body for the sport. With your unconditional support Okpekpe race became the first road race in West Africa to be granted a label status by the IAAF,” Itemuagbor further wrote.

“As we all know, IAAF Road Race Label events are races that the IAAF designates as one of the leading road races around the world. Having Okpekpe race designated as one of such few races across the globe is no mean feat and we are forever grateful for it.

Perhaps, we won’t be talking about the race today if you did not construct the beautiful network of roads in Edo State one which is playing host to the race which is in its sixth edition this year.”

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MISSILE

Obasanjo to Buhari

“The truth is this: when you have an ineffective and incompetent government, we are all victims. And don’t let anybody deceive you” – Former president Olusegun Obasanjo scoring president Muhammadu Buhari low and adjudging his government as a failure.

ISSAAREMU Danjuma: Statesmanship on Trial GUEST COLUMNIST

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rguments for and against have expectedly trailed the reported damning remarks of General Theophilus Yakubu Danjuma on Nigeria Army’s operations in some parts of the country.

The former Chief of the Nigerian Army and one time Nigeria’s Minister of Defence made the remarks on Saturday, March 24, 2018 during the convocation ceremony of the Taraba State University.

Danjuma accused the Nigerian military of ethnic bias in the course of operations.

As a distant critical admirer of the General over the years, I was even further shocked to read that Danjuma, a former Chief of Army Staff and Defence Minister, in a university Convocation remarked that Somalia would be a child’s play if the army did not improve on its operations.

Of course, we all know that Somalia is not a child play but a forgotten killing field of suicide bombers. Nigeria for whatever reason dares not be a Somalia. Indeed, Nigeria should lead Africa to take Somalia and South Sudan and other war torn zones out of the brink of mutually assured madness.

The divisive, binary reactions to the retired General’s outburst including a call for arms for self help by any aggrieved citizen further underscores the fact that it’s not too late for the General to rethink the provocative statement. Nigeria Army in its current form is a product of independence in 1960. The vision of its formation is to keep Nigeria one through fair and just operations.

Undoubtedly the Nigerian Army has assiduously

Danjuma performed the duty of preserving the unity and territorial integrity of the country as well maintained peacekeeping operations abroad. The most globally acknowledged and documented have been the ECOMOG operations in Liberia and Sierra Leone. Thousands of troops died in the West African peacekeeping operations as the Nigerian Army made enormous sacrifices. Of late, the Nigerian Army has also commendably taken on the terrorist gangs, despite the fact that the unconventional methods of the insurgents and reported diversions of operations funds by some of the commanders. Of course, a critical SWOT analysis of Nigerian army would also reveal some down sides that include the adventure of some

elements who through an unnecessary coup in 1966 provoked a counter coup, a civil war of tragic outcomes and prolonged military rule which by and large underdeveloped Nigeria.

However on the whole, Nigeria Army remains in written vision, a national formation and documented activities a constitutionally defined pan-Nigerian organisation. As a young student in Ahmadu Bello university (ABU) in 1977/78, I was at the receiving end of the downside of Nigeria Army. The military rule of Obasanjo/Yar’ Adua/ Danjuma, had ordered the military troops to illegally invade the campuses and dared to kill some students over the mass protests against arbitrary increase in school fees by the regime. Despite the loss of fellow students to military brutality and our deep sense of grief and outrage, Nigerian students then organised under the auspices of National Union of Nigerian Students (NUNS), never called for armed resistance or self-help against Nigerian Army. The patriotic instinct in us dictated that Nigerian Army despite its imperfections or even its abuse by the ruling Generals was still a pan-Nigerian organisation for our collective defence. Nigerian students had all in unison hailed Murtala Obasanjo military regime for championing the cause of liberation of Angola and Mozambique and damning the apartheid South African regime.

Danjuma should act statesmanship and refuse the temptation of giving in to provocation with an unnecessary outburst against the Nigerian Army he presided over either for better or for worse.

Indeed, without Nigerian Army Danjuma would

not have been known today as a professional Army General. The real test of our faith in Nigeria is not when it serves us well. The real test of our patriotism is when we are provoked and unjustly maltreated and still remain focused on the task of nation-building. Nigeria cannot afford the pitfalls of a silly “eye-for-an-eye” policy, because not only 180 million black people would not just go blind but also all Africans would be imperilled.

Paul Kagame is currently the President of Rwanda. He was once an army General who ended the 1994 Rwandan genocide. Today he has transformed Rwanda to one of the fastest growing countries in Africa. Kagame is not envying Somalia despite the injustices done to his Tutsi ethnic group but building a new “Singapore of Africa,” a developed city state. He is also the current Chairman of the Africa Union.

The likes of Danjuma should move beyond self or group, work and think Nigerian and African as they once did.

However, the discordant voices in the land should task President Buhari to wake up to the challenges of building a diverse Republic like Nigeria.

Buhari must take bold steps and initiate non-partisan, pan- Nigerian engagement on the critical issues of national security. The recent politicisation of the kidnapping of poor schoolgirls shows that we need to remind ourselves that if we work separately terror gangs will defeat us.

Statesmanship is certainly on trial in Nigeria and we dare not lose statesmanship to sectarian self -help.

AfCFTA and Nigexit Forty four African countries have signed on to the controversial African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA). Nigeria, the continent’s biggest economy under the legitimate pressures of stakeholders notably Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) pulled out on March 21, 2018. Godliness is in the details of Nigeria’s last minute volteface. Some have argued that Nigeria could have done smart diplomacy like South Africa, which attended Kigali meeting, endorsed in principle continental free trade but refused ratification of AfCFTA until further consultations with local manufacturers and trade unions.

AfCFTA is the Africa’s version of European Union’s Treaty of Rome (signed by membercountries some 60 years ago!). Paradoxically the Europeans had actually copied the vision of the great pan Africanist, late Kwame Nkrumah of Ghana, who at the founding of OAU (AU) in 1963 envisioned a common African market and indeed a United States of Africa! African trade agreement came into being at the 10th Ordinary Session of African Union Heads of State summit held in Rwandan capital, Kigali. The main objective is the promotion of continental trade liberalisation leading to a Continental Customs Union (CSU) by 2022 and the creation of an African Economic Community by 2028!

Given the last minute cancellation of Nigeria’s delegation to Kigali, Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Okechukwu Enelamah, owes all Nigerian stakeholders the explanations while a continental trade deal with impacts on investment, jobs, labour and human rights, was rushed through the Federal Executive Council (FEC)

without the mandatory consultations with relevant stakeholders. All African leaders must show the proof that AfCFTA is not another top-down deal signed behind the legitimate aspirations of African peoples for a common wealth, not just common market. AfCFTA enthusiasts say it is the world’s largest free trade area “since the World Trade Organization which was formed in 1995”! And that is the first problem!

The uncritical membership of World Trade Organisation (WTO) of most African countries including Nigeria in the 1990s with attendant massive lowering of tariffs through wholesale trade liberalisation arrested the nascent African manufacturing and development leading to massive collapse of labour- intensive industries like textile and automobile due to unfair competition. How AfCFTA could foster African re-industrialisation process and uplift millions out of income poverty is a critical question begging for answer. There is no doubt that Africa needs intra-trade rather than external aid and loans and unfavourable trade with Europe, America and China. Relatively, trade between African countries is miserably low.

It accounts for only 10% of all commerce on the continent compared with 25% in Southeast Asia. With One African Market, undoubtedly, the agreement brings together 1.2 billion people (almost population of India or China) with a combined Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of more than $2 trillion!

The host and current African Union (A.U.) president, Paul Kagame said: “This agreement is about trade in goods and services”. However, only producing nations trade in goods. The painful truth is that by and large, this is not a producing

Africa that the likes of Nkrumah envisioned.

On the contrary, Africa is a dumping ground for imports of all types and exporters of raw materials in the tradition of the colonial economy.

Only South Africa with 25% manufacturing value added qualifies as a trading nation. Nigeria’s 20% Manufacturing value added (MVA) of the 80s has sharply fallen to less than 5%.

The development of Regional value chains should first be encouraged at the regions to first replace through import substitution and ensure linkages with all sectors. Trade, (sorry fair trade!) is the means to development, not the end itself. Therefore any genuine trade pact must necessarily foster growth, create mass decent jobs and engender development.

If Nigeria further reduces import duties to 90%, as envisaged by ACFTA, cheaper imports would be fuelled with smuggled goods that would overrun domestic markets of local products. Domestic high production costs have undermined competitiveness, perpetuating in turn deindustrialisation, unemployment and income poverty. What are the implications of the ACFTA, for existing ECOWAS treaty, and its notorious Common External tariff (CET) and the contentious new-colonial Economic Partnership for Africa (EPA)?

President Muhammadu Buhari must initiate a trade summit and its impact on job creations in Africa. Who funds the implementation of ACFTA and the Customs Union? Whatever the outcomes of such deliberation, ACFTA should allow Nigeria the domestic policy space such that the current policy objectives of job creation and industrialisation as contained in the

Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (EPRG) and Nigeria Industrial Revolution Plan (NIRP) are not jeopardised. Twice beaten by WTO and bilateral trade deals of dubious values, Africa must be endlessly shy of new trade deals.

With Donald Trump’s America damning globalisation and Europe, China and America in trade wars, AU must do quality and quantity control of ACFTA’s clauses. Most African countries are neo-colonial dumping grounds. With Brexit and Britain’s desperation for new market outlets, ACFTA must show that it is not another route to European products labelled “made in Africa”.

Common market must also go with common labour and human standards. EU, which ACFTA belatedly apes, operates on respect for labour and human rights.

Paul Kagame emphases trade in goods and services and partnerships between “profit” and “power”. What then about African people? What about the workers that produce the goods and services? . Are they humans with minimum pay and trade unions or slaves without voices? Will ACFTA fuel another round of jobless- growth in a continent with average open unemployment of 50% or promote real decent job-led development?

ACFTA should incorporate the ILO standards and African human rights charter.

The federal Government must be wary of trade pacts, in which the domestic industry is decent-job blind. With 50% youth unemployment in Nigeria, development and growth should take precedence over controversial trade deals.

Economic development of Africa is a work in progress; it is not just an event of a televised ratification of trade deals.

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