SUNDAY 8TH APRIL 2018

In One Wild Weekend, Nike, Skepta, and Naomi Campbell Converged to Celebrate Lagos, the Coolest City on Earth, Says Vogue Alex Frank A cultural convergence of glittering proportions took place this past weekend in Lagos, Nigeria, a city that is—to put it lightly—having a moment.

Naomi Campbelland Imaan Hammam were in town to walk runways at Arise Fashion Week

(a finely curated schedule of catwalks by African designers) and Nike debuted their brandnew kits for the Nigerian soccer team (who have qualified for this year’s World Cup in Russia in June) with a pop-up jerseycustomization station at African Artists’ Foundation. And then there was the second edition

of Homecoming, a three-day event organized by London It-girl-cum-mogul Grace Ladoja, who imagined the mini-festival as a celebration of her heritage country, booking headliners Skepta (a London boy of Nigerian descent) and Wizkid (the Lagos-born Afrobeats megastar) for a concert at a

swanky venue. John Boyega and Ozwald Boateng were casually milling about backstage, breakout rapper J Hus crowd-surfed during his insanely energetic set, and it felt, for a moment, like Nigeria was the only place you’d want to be.

To be fair, a weekend in Lagos with this much excitement has

felt inevitable for some time.

You’d be hard-pressed to find any other city with as much cachet and influence and vitality in 2018, and one can imagine in the future looking back at this time in Lagos like we do now at London in the 1960s: as the seismic center of a youthquake.

“We are at the forefront,” says the

Nigerian-British fashion designer Irene Agbontaen, lounging at Tarkwa Bay, a pleasant beach on the water. “We’ve been at the forefront.” Or, as Skepta puts it simply: “Lagos really feels like the new cultural mood board.”

In the city itself, there are Continued on page 8

Poor Remittances by Discos Threaten NBET’s N701bn Power Fund ... Page 10 Sunday 08 April, 2018 Vol 23. No 8389

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APC Holds Make or Mar Meeting Monday How Okorocha busted tenure elongation Onyebuchi Ezigbo in Abuja The All Progressives Congress (APC) yesterday confirmed that it would hold its National Executive Committee meeting on Monday

Govs plot hijack of convention planning committee

to resolve its lingering leadership succession crisis.

The party’s National Publicity Secretary, Malam Bolaji Abdullahi, told THISDAY in Abuja that in spite of the constitutional issues

around the meeting’s notice, it would go on as scheduled, clarifying that it is a continuation of the penultimate week's meeting of the NEC. "I don't think there is any issue

about the meeting's notice because the Monday's NEC is seen as a continuation of the last one held last week,” he said, adding: "The notice for the meeting has been given since that time because

Oyegun, Oshiomhole, Sylva, Ebri vie for chairman we didn't finish the issue of constitutional amendment, the report of the committee on true federalism and all that. So the question of the constitutionality of the meeting does not even arise."

Abdullahi’s confirmation headlines the storm expected at the meeting as members are expected to deliberate on Cosntinued on page 8

Buhari Undecided as Opponents Falter: Where Goes Nigeria in 2019?

Abimbola Akosile

Less than a year, precisely 313 days, to the 2019 general elections, the nation’s political landscape is still hazy, as President Muhammadu Buhari remains undecided on whether he would make a second bid for his office even as potential presidential aspirants in his ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and other parties, including the main opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), are hesitant to step forward.

Notwithstanding the controversy over the reordering of the sequence of election contained in the Electoral Act Amendment Bill 2018, which has been vetoed by the president, it would have been expected that the country would be in an electioneering frenzy by now, particularly after the release of the electoral calendar by the Independent Electoral Commission (INEC) earlier in the year.

The electoral commission had fixed the presidential and National Assembly elections for February 16, 2019 while the governorship and state Houses of Assembly elections are to hold two weeks later on March 2, 2019. But intra parties

preparations for the elections, including primaries for the nomination of candidates, are to begin on August 18 and end on October 7, 2018.

Nothing demonstrates the lethargy in the polity more than the fact that four months to the scheduled nomination primaries of the political parties, no serious bid is being made by any of the 11 presumed aspirants THISDAY listed in its February 25, 2018 edition.

They included the incumbent, Buhari; former Vice President, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar; Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki; APC National Leader, Senator Bola Tinubu; former Governors Rabiu Kwankwaso (Kano State) and Donald Duke (Cross River State); Governors Aminu Tambuwal (Sokoto State), Nasir el-Rufai (Kaduna) and Ibrahim Dankwambo (Gombe); former CBN Deputy Governor, Prof.

Kingsley Moghalu; and multibillionaire business mogul, Aliko Dangote.

Although political analysts have adduced several probable reasons for the lull, a substantial number of them apprehend Buhari’s indecision on his presidential future as the Continued on page 8

GOOD TO SEE YOU… Speaker, House of Representatives, Hon. Yakubu Dogara (left), with Hajiya Jummai Balewa, wife of late former Prime Minister of Nigeria, Alhaji Abubakar Tafawa Balewa, during the speaker’s visit to the late prime minister’s family in Bauchi … yesterday Speaker’s Media Office

THISDAY Summit on Universal Health Coverage, Timely, Says Tejuoso ... Page 12

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PAGE EIGHT BUHARI UNDECIDED AS OPPONENTS FALTER: WHERE GOES NIGERIA IN 2019? main reason responsible for the hesitation by presumed contestants. They contend that while many of the possible aspirants in the ruling APC might be holding back because Buhari is most likely to have first right of refusal, opposition parties, particularly, the PDP’s contenders might be taking their time largely because of the intense covert power game in their parties.

Buhari had told some APC governors of Northern extraction that visited him at the Presidential Villa, Abuja in February, to persuade him to run again in 2019 that he was taking his time to contemplate the possibility and that he would make his decision known as soon as he makes up his mind.

A few weeks ago, his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Mr. Femi Adesina, broached the issue in a media interview and said the president was keeping his decision to his close to his chest, particularly because he would not want his government to be saboutage.

The immediate implication of the president’s mum on the rerun is that he has left several others in his party, including Tinubu, el-Rufai, Tambuwal and Kwankwaso, who are believed to have a burning desire to take his seat, undecided too.

In the main opposition party, the PDP, where the defection of Atiku had been expected to increase the tempo of activities, all is also quiet as the party struggles to recover from its

post-December 9, 2017 National Convention crisis, which has seen some of its founding members leaving for the Social Democratic Party (SDP).

The general lull, in the face of growing disenchantment with the Buhari administration has left many political observers confounded, asking: “Where goes Nigeria in 2019?” Will the country be stuck with Buhari or will a new aspirant spring a surprise out of the blues? The answer blows in the wind even as the 11 presumed aspirants earlier listed by THISDAY remain in contention albeit in deep silence.

Muhammadu Buhari / Still the man to beat The incumbent, Buhari still maintains a stoic silence over his re-election in 2019 even though he is constitutionally entitled to a second term of office. Since his pronouncement at the State House during the visit of APC governors in February, 2019, and his hint at a possible presidential run, first at a summit on terrorism in Abidjan, C’ote d’Voire and second, when he visited Kano State in February, he has avoided the issue.

But the closest to further hint of a presidential contest was a press interview granted by his media adviser, Adesina, last month that he was still keeping a decision close to his chest to avoid political saboutage of his government.

Atiku Abubakar Seen as the most prepared and experienced of the other

contenders outside of the ‘incumbency weight’ of the present occupier, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar who has never hidden his desire to rule Nigeria, made a deft political move recently when he moved from the APC to the PDP apparently to realise his ambition.

However, since he joined the PDP, apart from a few visits to some governors and attendance at high profile public functions where he seized the opportunity to make statements critical of the Buhari government, he has been very active even within the PDP. Rabiu Kwankwaso Unlike Atiku, Kwankwaso has been quite active, particularly in his Kano home base where he is having a running battle with his erstwhile deputy, Governor Abdullahi Ganduje, who is solidly behind Buhari.

In spite of the hostility at home, Kwankwaso has continued to move around the political circles, canvassing for support. But he too, has been somewhat circumspect in apparent effort not to be seen to be confronting Buhari.

Bukola Saraki Though he has till date not declared any presidential ambition in a Buhari era, Saraki’s desire for the job is well-known.

A magnificent political strategist with a national network, the incumbent President of the Senate has continued to bid his time even as he holds the National Assembly firmly in

spite of his travails at the Code of Conduct Tribunal, where he undergoing trial for alleged concealment of assets.

Saraki has made it clear that he would not step forward against Buhari. But he is believed to be working towards retaining his senatorial seat as a prelude to second term as Senate president.

Bola Tinubu Sometime ago, THISDAY published an exclusive story suggesting that the APC National Leader was organising to contest the presidency. While not denying his interest, he nonetheless put out a rebuttal, saying he would entertain the ideal unless Buhari is disinterested.

Thought to have been side-lined in the last two and half years of the Buhari administration, Tinubu appears to have made a massive comeback in last few months with the president saddling him with the task of settling the quarrels among disenchanted members and reuniting the party.

He has also been very visible around the president and this year’s colloquium held to mark his birthday that was attended

by Buhari was seen as a relaunch of the president’s South-west presidential campaign for 2019.

So clearly Tinubu for now is not in the race.

Aminu Tambuwal The man THISDAY called the fox in its February 25, 2019 edition review, Sokoto State Governor Aminu Tambuwal has remained foxy. Largely quiet at

IN ONE WILD WEEKEND, NIKE, SKEPTA, AND NAOMI CAMPBELL CONVERGED TO CELEBRATE LAGOS, THE COOLEST CITY ON EARTH, SAWYS VOGUE new shops and clubs popping up, and more broadly you can feel the pulse of Nigeria and its diaspora all over the world, whether it’s Kehinde Wiley’s sensational portrait of Barack Obama now hanging in the National Portrait Gallery or the innovation of Afrobeat setting the pace for music all over the globe. “There are so many people of Nigerian descent doing big things—Chimamanda [Ngozi Adichie], Skepta, [boxer] Anthony Johnson, Wizkid,” says Teni Zaccheaus, a founding publisher of Native, a new magazine made for and by Nigerians. Native also teamed up with Nike to throw a football tournament featuring teams from their magazine, Skepta’s crew, and Off-White in competition. “It’s a renaissance of art and culture and music and sports and performance and architecture.”

Homecoming’s organizer Ladoja has been key to the spread of Naija culture in the West. As a creative mind behind Skepta, one of the most successful artists in the history of British grime, she’s made it

her mission to bring Lagos to London and London to Lagos.

“I’m British and Nigerian—what are we gonna make that bridges that? It’s hippie shit, but I genuinely believe I understand my purpose,” she says poolside one day at the hip hotel Maison Fahrenheit in Victoria Island.

“I’m just a vessel for change.”

She (along with Greatness Dex, who runs the African satellite of Skepta’s grime collective) has been a part of helping Skepta to become a local hero here; while in the country for Homecoming, he was officially made a chief (or Amuludun of Odo-Aje) of his family’s hometown, Ijebu Ode. “To be able to come back to Nigeria and get so much love for my work is my biggest life blessing. I’ve always hoped to never get lost in translation with me being British-born,” Skepta says. “Finding your way home is everything, so to do it and still be loved like you were abroad makes it all worth it.”

Ladoja epitomizes the diasporic kids of her generation, many of whom want to build a connection with Nigeria even though they were raised

ON THE RUNWAY R-L Noami Campbell, Ozwald Boateng and another model

elsewhere. “My parents, Skepta’s parents, left Nigeria to England for a better life,” she says.

“That’s why the event is called Homecoming: because I felt at home here the very first time I came. It made me know exactly who I am—to embrace all the things that made me different in England.” Skepta agrees.

“Everything makes sense to me in Lagos, I even understand myself,” he says. So significant are Ladoja’s contributions that the Queen of England has awarded Ladoja with an MBE for her services to the music industry, and Ladoja plans to rep Nigeria in the palace by rocking a local designer, Grey, and native prints for the awards ceremony. “I’m going to wear traditionalwear to meet the Queen!” she says, beaming.

Ladoja brought along a group of friends playfully dubbed the International Girl Crew—including model Paloma Elsesser, nail artist Madeline Poole, stylist Camille Garmendia, and journalist Phoebe Rose Lovatt—to hang in her city for Homecoming. “We are all an extension of the greatness

of Grace. I’ve been so inspired by the work that she has been doing,” says Elsesser. “Because I’m mixed, I have a disjointed cultural identity. Black people in England know where in Africa they came from, but people like me in America don’t really. I feel emotional coming here.” What does the veteran party girl say about Lagos’s ability to have a good time? “It’s the most bottle clubs I’ve been to in the last five years. Kids are down to fuck it up. Yes, there’s some American and British music played, but a lot of it is Nigerian music and people are so proud to sing these songs.” It’s the passion behind the parties, though, that makes it a special place. “Madeline [Poole] cried when Skepta came out and shouted us out!” she says about the Homecoming concert.

“He knows working women of color need to be amplified and supported.”

It is a testament, too, to Lagos’s ascendancy that a company as gigantic as Nike came through and hosted such a splashy weekend. The occasion was the launch of their design of the Nigerian soccer team’s 2018 World Cup jersey, which was subtly inspired by the kit for the 1994 team, the first Nigerian team to qualify.

The white-and-fluorescent-green jersey is as bold and bright as Lagos itself (Skepta wore one on stage for his Homecoming performance, and Nike ran with the spirit of the stylish city by opening up a pop-up with Homecoming for people in Lagos to come through and customize their kits with patches, lettering, and special-made Nike logos (of course, Naomi Campbell stopped by). “It’s legendary that Nike is doing this,” says Agbontaen, a rasp audible in her voice from late nights out in Lagos. “It only takes one before all the rest start to come. Nigeria wasn’t as safe 15 years ago as it is now, but we aren’t living in fear anymore. You see surfers, you see skate kids—we have it all. Nigerians are hustlers—our culture is to hustle.” It seems to be working.

Culled from Vogue

the seat of the Caliphate, the shy faced governor is speculated to be making some underground moves to team up with some elements in the opposition PDP to make a presidential bid.

Although he has denied this severally, watchers of the political scene still think he has something cooking. For now, however, his presumed presidential ambition remains speculative.

Nasir el-Rufai Recent activities of the Kaduna State Governor el-Rufai, who is also known to be interested in the presidential job, suggest that he might have put the idea on hold, pending the end of Buhari’s tenure. He was one of the Northern governors that approached Buhari in February to persuade him to declare his intention to rerun. He is also known to, along with the Minister of Transportation, Mr. Rotimi Amaechi, to coordinating a group preparing the ground for Buhari’s second term campaign.

Donald Duke Described as an idealist by THISDAY in its first review, Duke has increased his public visibility, a move believed to demonstrate his seriousness for the contest.

Beyond his lead role in the formation of former President Olusegun Obasanjo inspired Coalition for Nigeria, it is not clear on what platform the former governor of Cross River State would run. Even the coalition he has helped to raise has not put forward any coordinated plan that could lethally injure Buhari’s possible run.

Aliko Dangote

Though seen as a good material for the job given his wealth of experience and runaway success in the business world, multi-billionaire Dangote remains apolitical and uninterested in taking the prefix president of Nigeria.

He obviously prefer to retain his influential position as big businessman and industrialist with huge access to the corridors of power.

Kingsley Moghalu Another eloquent idealist in the mix, Moghalu, a political economist, lawyer and former United Nations official, has since publicly declared his ambition and he known to be organising for a major push for the presidency.

The major challenge to his candidacy, however, is the weight of his platform, which might be able to withstand the rigour of a fight with the heavyweights like APC and PDP. Ibrahim Dankwambo The unassuming Governor of Gombe State, Ibrahim Dankwambo does not hide the fact that he nurses a presidential aspiration and to drive this, he has adopted an interesting approach. He seems to believe in the idea of endorsements and has been getting them in droves, a development now seen to be enhancing his visibility.

Importantly, Dankwambo believes there is the need to ride on his performance record and has deployed more resources to sell his administration’s achievements in recent times.

However, he appears to be taking it easy for now as the coast in the PDP remains unclear

APC HOLDS MAKE OR MAR MEETING MONDAY President Muhammadu Buhari’s constitutional points of objection to the February 27, 2018 NEC’s decision to extend the tenure of the John Odigie Oyegun-led National Working Committee (NWC) as well states and local government executive committees.

The extension had elicited strong objection very senior chieftains of the party, including its National Leader, Senator Bola Tinubu, and Governor of Zamfara State, Alhaji Abdulaziz Yari, who argued that it was in violation of the party’s and the 1999 Constitution as altered, which provide for period election for executives of political parties.

As opposition to the extension of the executive tenure which ought to end on June 13, 2018 rose, with the Lagos State chapter and three other members filling suits against it in court, the president in a surprise move backed the opposition gang, advising the party leadership to reverse itself.

Dazed by Buhari’s masterstroke, the proponents of tenure elongation, prominent among who were governors of the party, particularly, Ondo State Governor Rotimi Akeredolu (SAN) and the National Legal Adviser, Mr. Muiz Banire (SAN), initially resisted, extracting a technical committee from the NEC to review the president’s advice.

As the technical committee populated largely by proponents of tenure elongation, including Plateau State Governor Simon Lalong set about its work, governors of the party, perhaps aware of the implication of confronting the president went into several meetings to break the emerging logjam.

After last Monday’s meeting of the party’s governors with the president, it became obvious that the tenure elongation was losing steam and would sustain its resistance to Buhari’s advice for long.

The resistance broke down irretrievably on Tuesday after another meeting of five of the governors and the president at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

THISDAY gathered

authoritatively that at the meeting attended by the APC Governors’ Forum Chairman, Imo State Governor Rochas Okorocha; Senator Ibikunle Amosun (Ogun State); Yari (Zamfara); Abdullahi Ganduje (Kano State); and Lalong (Plateau), Okorocha assured Buhari that all the governors, except four, were for his advice.

Pointing at Lalong, Okorocha was said to have told Buhari that the Plateau State governor along with Malam Nasir el-Rufai (Kaduna), Akeredolu (Ondo) and Yahaya Bello (Kogi) were the only odd men amongst them.

Lalong was said to have gone into a rage, denying his support for tenure elongation and promising to be on Buhari’s side of the divide.

The report of the technical committee submitted to Oyegun on Friday, widely reported to have recommended the reversal of the February 27, 2018 NEC decision to extend the party’s executives tenure by one year from June 13, 2018 must be Lalong’s clearest indication that he had switched camp.

With the collapse of the elongation support, the governors, THISDAY gathered further, had refocused their attention on the control of the convention planning committee, routing for Governor Badaru Abubakar of Jigawa State.

This, however, THISDAY learnt, might again pitch the governors against the president, who is said to prefer the former interim National Chairman of the party, Chief Bisi Akande.

As a lot of fireworks are expected at the Monday meeting, with the remnants of advocates of the tenure elongation still hoping to use the Forum of State Chairmen to upset the apple cart, names of likely contestants for the party’s national chairman have begun to emerge.

Top on the list is Oyegun, who is said to have behind him some of the governors that backed his tenure extension. Others are former governors, Mr. Adams Oshiomhole (Edo State), Timipre Sylva (Bayelsa) and Clement Ebri (Cross River State).

T H I S D AY, T H E S U N D AY N E W S PA P E R ˾ APRIL 8, 2018

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SUNDAY COMMENT

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

MUCH ADO ABOUT THE ‘LOOTERS’ LIST The government must do more beyond entertaining the public with ridiculous lists of looters

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trust is indicative of how unserious the current administration is about fighting corruption in Nigeria.

In fact, nobody has summed up the tragedy as aptly as Okogie: “Huge sums of money belonging to the people of Nigeria obviously got into wrong hands and for the wrong reasons. There are good reasons to suspect that the looting that took place cut across party lines. Nigerians deserve to know how, for example, the two leading parties financed their campaigns in 2015. But instead of honest answers, we are treated by the two big parties to a theatrical display of politically-motivated compilation of lists of looters.”

pparently in response to the challenge by the main opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), the federal government last week released lists of some alleged looters. But the statements by the Information and Culture Minister, Mr Lai Mohammed have simply reinforced a disservice to the anti-graft war.

Restricted chiefly to members of the PDP, the lists were not only arbitrary but they represented a tacit endorsement of graft for members and appointees of the government in power. Indeed, many Nigerians see the whole drama of sensational release in the media of lists of alleged looters rather Notafewofficials than charge suspects to inthepresent court and secure convicadministrationhave tion as perhaps one of beenrepeatedly the most embarrassing jokes of the year. fingeredforactsof Not surprisingly, corruptionwithout the PDP has ridiculed consequences. the federal govern-

Similarly,someof theformerleading lightsofthePDPwho happenedtobethe arrowheadsofthe Buhariascendancy havebeenimmune fromtheinvestigative searchlightofthe Economicand FinancialCrimes Commission(EFCC) andotheranticorruptionagencies

ment by publishing its own list of perceived or real plunderers, thus engendering accusations and counter accusations that Anthony Cardinal Olubunmi–Okogie, retired Lagos Archbishop of the Catholic Church, has described as “a show of shame.” The SocioEconomic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has also dismissed the entire episode as capable of diminishing the expressed goal of transparent governance while helping “suspected perpetrators to escape justice, and ultimately, deny victims of corruption justice and effective remedies.”

That Nigerians are being entertained with some ridiculous lists at a period the authorities in South Korea and Brazil are securing court convictions against former leaders found to have abused public

Letters to the Editor

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S U N DAY N E W S PA P E R EDITOR BOLAJI ADEBIYI DEPUTY EDITORS VINCENT OBIA, OLAWALE OLALEYE MANAGING DIRECR ENIOLA BELLO DEPUTY MANAGING DIRECTOR KAYODE KOMOLAFE CHAIRMAN EDITORIAL BOARD OLUSEGUN ADENIYI EDITOR NATION’S CAPITAL IYOBOSA UWUGIAREN

T H I S DAY N E W S PA P E R S L I M I T E D EDITOR-IN-CHIEF/CHAIRMAN NDUKA OBAIGBENA GROUP EXECUTIVE DIRECTORS ENIOLA BELLO, KAYODE KOMOLAFE, ISRAEL IWEGBU, IJEOMA NWOGWUGWU, EMMANUEL EFENI DIVISIONAL DIRECTORS PETER IWEGBU, ANTHONY OGEDENGBE DEPUTY DIVISIONAL DIRECTOR OJOGUN VICTOR DANBOYI SNR. ASSOCIATE DIRECTORS ERIC OJEH, PATRICK EIMIUHI ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR SAHEED ADEYEMO CONTROLLERS ABIMBOLA TAIWO, UCHENNA DIBIAGWU, NDUKA MOSERI DIRECTOR, PRINTING PRODUCTION CHUKS ONWUDINJO TO SEND EMAIL: first name.surname@thisdaylive.com

he battle against corruption could only be meaningful when it is transparent and not selective. Yet, to further trivialise the anti-graft war, many of the alleged looters have running cases in courts of competent jurisdiction. Under the rule of law, it is the sacred duty of the judiciary to safeguard the rights and liberty of the citizens. Respecting such rights forms the bedrock upon which the society lays claim to civilisation.

That is why persons accused of any crime, including corruption, are expected to be charged to court if not for anything, at least to avoid a miscarriage of justice.

Incidentally, not a few officials in the present administration have been repeatedly fingered for acts of corruption without consequences. Similarly, some of the former leading lights of the PDP who happened to be the arrowheads of the Buhari ascendancy have been immune from the investigative searchlight of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and other anti-corruption agencies. Only last week, the Attorney General and Justice Minister, Mr Malami was indicted by a National Assembly committee in the lingering case of the recall of former Chairman of the Presidential Task Force on Pension Reforms, Mr. Abdulrasheed Maina.

Even some former members of the PDP who were accused of abusing the public trust seemed to have been forgiven after crossing over to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC). The treatment of these cases violates all known rules of due process and respect for basic public decency and accountability.

As we stated recently in this space, with such a hazy and distorted definition of target, the administration has repeatedly committed an unpardonable political hubris and travesty of natural justice in its declaration of war on corruption. Besides, the so-called looters’ list carried the same tendency of the ruling government to stand by its members, even when their wrongs are crying for attention. But as it stands, nobody is fooled. The government must therefore do more beyond entertaining the public with meaningless lists if they are to rekindle trust in a policy that is increasingly becoming laughable.

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

Dismantling The Bermuda Triangle in The APC I am therefore of the firm view that it is better to follow strictly the dictates of our party and national constitutions, rather than put APC and its activities at grave risk. Fortunately, we have already approved a timetable for the holding of congresses and elections. I think these should be allowed to go forward and all efforts should now be geared towards making them a great success.

––President Muhammadu Buhari, calling for constitutionality on tenure extension of executive members of the ruling All Progressives Party.

I

can feel the effort of Mr. President to reconcile the aggrieved members of the ruling party, the All Progressives Party (APC) materialising. That is because he has chosen the correct,

though the tough way, to institute internal democracy in the party by allowing the constitution to guide the members and their conducts.

This could be the best thing that will be happening in Nigeria since her return to democracy. I think that no party, especially the big ones, has relied entirely on the national constitution to resolve its intraparty squabbles, not to talk of the party’s constitution written by themselves.

With this position of the president to strictly uphold the constitution of Nigeria and that of the APC in the face of all oddities amongst the APC members, the Bermuda Triangle of the party: the President bloc, the Saraki bloc and the Oyegun bloc could be dismantled and united. There could also be a hidden bloc; all will be soothed and positioned for a better contest against the opposition in 2019. It is quite normal in any society that

people follow interests. That is why in politics especially, there is no permanent friend or foe. And there is hardly any clean politics just like there is hardly any saint in politics. However, there is always the order of omission, commission and limitation.

Furthermore, with this position of the president, if actually it works throughout the electioneering and election period, it will be hard for the ruling party to lose the forthcoming elections. If the APC strictly follows its constitution, conducts free primaries at the local and national conventions, millions of Nigerians, peradventure more than in 2015, will embrace them wholeheartedly for continuity.

Internal democracy has been the problem of the past. That was often the key factor to failure after elections. When things are done wrong from the onset; that is if the

foundation is weak, assuredly, all that follows will be wrong.

In the simplest terms, if for any reason which is often personal and against popular acceptance, there is imposition of candidates or incompetent people are just allowed to occupy positions, then the democratic norms and the constitution would be violated. By doing so, the people imposed will display their arrogance and ineptitude when Nigerians will be in dire need for action and performance. It is in connection to these hypotheses that some elements in each side of the Bermuda Triangle in the APC have been operating, looking at one another with suspicion and gloating at, nay plotting for, the failure of the other.

I must confess that I was thrilled at least with the outcome of the APCs meeting in Abuja on Tuesday, March 27, 2018, where the president, I may say for another time, proved to Nigerians to be a leader to trust and support. The

earlier onerous decision to extend the tenure of the APC chairman by one year had nearly put the party in disarray. Through a motion at the last National Executive Committee meeting on February 27, 2018, it was unceremoniously agreed to extend the tenure of the Oyegun’s led executives expiring in June 2018 for one year.

Independent investigations showed that some party stalwarts had started parking their brooms for burning in preparation to bid farewell to the party, while others were already engaged in serious consultations to head to court.

That, indeed, would have spelt a doom for the party.

“I have taken some time to review and seek advice on the resolution”, the president proclaimed. This, unquestionably, is a good quality of a leader.

There is no hurry in life.

–– Muhammad Ajah, Abuja

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T H I S D AY, T H E S U N D AY N E W S PA P E R Ëž PRIL 8, 2018

SUNDAYNEWS

News Editor ĂŒĂ“Ă—ĂŒĂ™Ă–Ă‹ Ă•Ă™Ă?Ă“Ă–Ă?

E-mail: Ă‹ĂŒĂ“Ă—ĂŒĂ™Ă–Ă‹Ë›Ă‹Ă•Ă™Ă?Ă“Ă–Ă?̜ÞÒÓĂ?ĂŽĂ‹ĂŁĂ–Ă“Ă Ă?Ë›Ă?Ă™Ă—Ëœ ͸΀͚͚͟͟Πͽ͝͸͞ Ě™Ă?Ă—Ă? Ă™Ă˜Ă–ĂŁĚš

Poor Remittances by Discos Threaten NBET’s N701bn Power Fund t RiskofearlydepletionasfourDiscospayN6.08bnoutofN44.85bnJanuaryinvoice tNBETofficialsintroducereligionintoleadershipcrisis Chineme Okafor Ă“Ă˜ ĂŒĂ&#x;ÔË

There are strong indications that the N701 billion payment assurance facility secured by the NigerianBulkElectricityTrading Plc(NBET)forpowergeneration companies (Gencos) in Nigeria may not last up to the 24 months disbursement timeline it was

originally planned for. This is because of the poor financial remittances of the 11 electricity distribution companies (Discos) in the country.

The fund, which was established in 2017, was to be disbursed till 2019, THISDAY gathered at the weekend that following the

consistent drop in the monthly remittances of the Discos to the NBETforelectricitysoldtothem, NBET might have been forced to take more from its N701 billion payment facility to ensure it met the 80 per cent payments to the Gencos. This, sources in the industry explained to the paper, constituted a real threat to the

24-monthdisbursementwindow ofthefacility.Similarly,theNBET, it was learnt, had documented this threat and presented the likely scenario – that is, how long the facility could take the sector if the poor remittance levels of the Discos continued – to relevant authorities of the federal government for actions.

In December 2017, NBET disclosed that the remittance performances of the Discos dropped to an all-time low of 8.33 per cent, as against the 100 per cent they were supposed to do. It explained then that five Discos, comprising Ikeja, Kano, Kaduna, Yola, and Jos, did not remit any money to it, and that it got just N4.47 billion out of the N50.21 billion December invoice it sent to the Discos. NBET also stated then that while the total financial shortfall for the month was N49.766 billion, it still paid the Gencos up to 80 per cent of their invoices with support from the N701 billion facility.

Again in January 2018, NBET stated that just four of the Discos – Abuja, Enugu, Jos, and Yola – paid parts of their invoices to

it. It said out of N44.85 billion invoice it sent to the Discos in January, only N6.08 billion was received from the four Discos while seven others paid nothing. The remittance for January, it noted, represented 13.58 per cent of the invoice.

However, sources in NBET explained to THISDAY that if the poor Discos’ remittances continued, the N701 billion may be depleted by September 2018, some four months ahead of the 2019 disbursement duration.

One of the sources even told the paper that a term-sheet had been prepared by NBET in this regard, and shared with the government. He said it was expected that this would lead to some pre-emptive measures from the government.

(See concluding part on www.thisdaylive.com)

Ooni Appoints Latifah Heritage Ambassador

CONDOLENCE VISIT

L-R: Senate President Bukola Saraki with the Olofa of Offa, Oba Muftau Gbadamosi Esuwoye II, during Saraki’s visit to Offa to commiserate with victims and bereavedfamiliesfollowingtherecentbankrobberyattacksinthelocalgovernment...yesterday Ë? Ă?Ă?Ă“Ă?Ă? Ă™Ă? ÞÒĂ? ĂœĂ?Ă?Ă“ĂŽĂ?Ă˜Ăž Ă™Ă? ÞÒĂ? Ă?Ă˜Ă‹ĂžĂ?

CBN to Deploy N60 Billion Intervention Fund in Vulnerable Sector t External reserves hit $47bn Obinna Chima

As part of efforts to stimulate economic activities, the Central BankofNigeria(CBN)Governor, Mr. Godwin Emefiele has disclosed plan by the central bank, incollaborationwiththebanksto deploypartoftheAgri-business, SME Investment Scheme Fund (AGSMEIS) fund to the “vulnerable sector in the next few days.�

Thisisjustasheputthepresent value of the country’s external reserves at $47 billion.

Emefiele said this in a keynote address he delivered after he receivedTheGuardian“Economic Personality of the Year 2017� award in Lagos yesterday.

He also disclosed that by the middleofthisyear,theAGSMEIS fund, which was derived from an initiative by the banks to set

Malabu Scandal: UK Opposition Leader Wants Govt Probed over Payments to Etete Ejiofor Alike åÓÞÒ Ă‹Ă‘Ă?Ă˜Ă?ĂŁ ĂœĂ?ĂšĂ™ĂœĂžĂ?

A Liberal Democrat and former British Business Secretary, Vince Cable, has called on the UK Home Office and National Crime Agency to explain themselves over the revelation that the country’s anti-money laundering agency allowed JP Morgan to transfer $875 million to a former Nigerian oil minister, Mr. Dan Etete. The transfers were made in relation to the Malabu oil deal, involving the controversial Oil Prospecting Lease (OPL) 245.

JP Morgan’s London branch had claimed it repeatedly sought consent from the Serious Organised Crime Agency

(Soca) to pay the fund into accounts linked to Etete. The bank said instead of being told to block the transfers, it was authorised by Soca to make the payment.

The revelations about the transactions were reported to be contained in the U.S. bank’s defence filed last week at the High Court against the $875 million damages claim by the Nigerian government.

Cable yesterday said he was shocked at the revelation. The leading opposition politician, who was Business Secretary at the time of the transfers in 2011 and 2013, said it suggested there was a weakness in the country’s anti-money laundering regime.

aside five per cent of their profit aftertaxyear,wouldhaverisento N60 billion. Emefiele explained: “In2016,thebankscameupwith aninitiativewheretheyallagreed that they would contribute five per cent of their profit after tax, to support the development initiatives of governments in Nigeria. “Bythemiddleofthisyear,the banks would have contributed N60 billion into the fund. I can assureyouallthatinthenextfew days, the CBN together with the

banks would be unfolding the disbursement to the vulnerable sectors in Nigeria.�

Commenting on the central bank’s interventions in real sectorsoftheeconomyinrecenttime, theCBNGovernordisclosedthat N393.5billionhadbeenreleasedto 478largescaleagriculturalprojects since inception in 2010.

Furthermore, in terms of the RealSectorSupportFacility(RSSF), he said the CBN was poised to disburseuptoN400billionatonly nine per cent.

Again, Herdsmen Kill Four in Taraba Wole Ayodele Ă“Ă˜ Ă‹Ă–Ă“Ă˜Ă‘Ă™

For the third day running, no fewer than four people were killed by herdsmen at Kokotye village, outskirts of Bornon Kurku in Bali local government area of Taraba state.

The victims, whose names were given by the Tiv traditional ruler in Bali, Zaki David Gbaa as Joseph Agabo, Adama KwaghzeeAgabo,AyemJoseph and Myom Agabo are children of the same father.

According to the Ter Bali, the herdsmen invaded the village which is a Tiv settlement at about 7pm on Friday and killed the family of four.

Condemningtheattack,Gbaa said it was highly unprovoked and has led to an exodus of

people from the community to KunganaaswellasDanAnacha in Gassol local government area.

He called on the federal government to act quickly and decisively to put a stop to the killings going on across the country, saying it is undermining peaceful coexistence in the country.

According to him, “As we speak, more people are leaving the area for safety for fear of attacks. I want to call on the army operatives of Exercise Ayem Akpatuma to arrest the situation before it gets out of hand.� “The Divisional Police Officer of Bali has since moved to the area, he is not yet back so we don’t know the security situation in the area now�, he lamented.

Ă˜ ĂœĂ?Ă?Ă™Ă‘Ă˜Ă“ĂžĂ“Ă™Ă˜ Ă™Ă? Ă’Ă?Ăœ ĂšĂœĂ™Ă—Ă™ĂžĂ“Ă™Ă˜ Ă™Ă? Ă?ĂœĂ“Ă?Ă‹Ă˜ ĂžĂœĂ‹ĂŽĂ“ĂžĂ“Ă™Ă˜Ëœ Ă?Ă&#x;Ă–ĂžĂ&#x;ĂœĂ? Ă‹Ă˜ĂŽ Ă’Ă?ĂœĂ“ĂžĂ‹Ă‘Ă? ĂŒĂ?ĂŁĂ™Ă˜ĂŽ ÞÒĂ? Ă?Ă’Ă™ĂœĂ?Ă? Ă™Ă? ÞÒĂ? Ă?Ă™Ă˜ĂžĂ“Ă˜Ă?Ă˜ĂžËœ ÞÒĂ? Ă™Ă˜Ă“ Ă™Ă? Ă?Ă?Ëœ ĂŒĂ‹ ĂŽĂ?ĂŁĂ?ĂŁĂ? Ă˜Ă“ĂžĂ‹Ă˜ Ă‘Ă&#x;Ă˜ĂĄĂ&#x;Ă?Ă“ Ě™ ÔËÔË

ĚšËœ Ă’Ă‹Ă? Ă‹ĂšĂšĂ™Ă“Ă˜ĂžĂ?ĂŽ Ă‹ Ă“Ă‘Ă?ĂœĂ“Ă‹Ă˜ Ă‹Ă˜ĂŽ Ă“Ă˜ĂžĂ?ĂœĂ˜Ă‹ĂžĂ“Ă™Ă˜Ă‹Ă– Ă?Ă‹Ă?Ă’Ă“Ă™Ă˜ ĂŽĂ?Ă?Ă“Ă‘Ă˜Ă?Ăœ Ă‹Ă˜ĂŽ ÞÒĂ? Ëœ Ă?Ă Ă“Ă?Ă?Ă‹Ă˜Ăž Ă˜ĂžĂ?ĂœĂ˜Ă‹ĂžĂ“Ă™Ă˜Ă‹Ă– Ă“Ă—Ă“ĂžĂ?ĂŽËœ ĂœĂ“Ă˜Ă?Ă?Ă?Ă? ËÞÓĂ?Ă‹Ăž Ă&#x;ĂœĂ‹Ă™Ă–Ă‹ Ù×ÙÎĂ&#x;Ëœ Ă‹Ă? ÞÒĂ? Ă?ĂœĂ“ĂžĂ‹Ă‘Ă? Ă—ĂŒĂ‹Ă?Ă?Ă‹ĂŽĂ™Ăœ Ă™Ă? ÞÒĂ? ÖÙÕĂ&#x;Ă˜ Ă?Ă‘Ă‹Ă?ĂŁË› Ă’Ă? Ă‹ĂšĂšĂ™Ă“Ă˜ĂžĂ—Ă?Ă˜Ăž ĂĄĂ‹Ă? Ă?Ă™Ă˜ĂžĂ‹Ă“Ă˜Ă?ĂŽ Ă“Ă˜ Ă‹ Ă–Ă?ÞÞĂ?Ăœ ĂŽĂ‹ĂžĂ?ĂŽ Ă‹ĂœĂ?Ă’ ÍŻÍą Ă‹Ă˜ĂŽ Ă?Ă“Ă‘Ă˜Ă?ĂŽ ĂŒĂŁ ÞÒĂ? Ă™Ă˜Ă“ Ă™Ă? Ă?Ă?Ëœ ĂĄĂ’Ă“Ă?Ă’ Ă—Ă‹Ă•Ă?Ă? Ù×ÙÎĂ&#x; ÞÒĂ? Ă™Ă?Ă?Ă“Ă?Ă“Ă‹Ă– ĂœĂ?ĂšĂœĂ?Ă?Ă?Ă˜ĂžĂ‹ĂžĂ“Ă Ă? Ă™Ă? ÞÒĂ? ÖÙÕĂ&#x;Ă˜ Ă?Ă‘Ă‹Ă?ĂŁ Ă‹Ă˜ĂŽ Ă?×ÚÙåĂ?ĂœĂ? Ă’Ă?Ăœ ÞÙ Ă?Ă?Ă?Ă• Ă?ĂžĂœĂ‹ĂžĂ?Ă‘Ă“Ă? ĂšĂ‹ĂœĂžĂ˜Ă?ĂœĂ?Ă’Ă“ĂšĂ? Ă‹Ă˜ĂŽ ÞÒËÞ ĂĄĂ“Ă–Ă– ĂšĂœĂ™Ă—Ă™ĂžĂ? Ă‹Ă˜ĂŽ Ă?Ă&#x;Ă?ĂžĂ‹Ă“Ă˜ ÞÒĂ? Ă–Ă?Ă‘Ă‹Ă?Ă“Ă?Ă? Ă™Ă? ÖÙÕĂ&#x;Ă˜Ë› Ă’Ă? ĂšĂœĂ?Ă?Ă?Ă˜ĂžĂ‹ĂžĂ“Ă™Ă˜ Ă™Ă? ÞÒĂ? Ă?ÞËĂ?Ă? Ă™Ă? Ă™Ă?Ă?Ă“Ă?Ă? ĂĄĂ“Ă–Ă– ĂŒĂ? ĂšĂ?ĂœĂ?Ă™ĂœĂ—Ă?ĂŽ Ă™Ă˜ Ă‹ĂžĂ&#x;ĂœĂŽĂ‹ĂŁËœ ĂšĂœĂ“Ă– Í°Íś ĂŒĂŁ ÞÒĂ? Ă™Ă˜Ă“ Ă‹Ăž Ă’Ă“Ă?

Ă?Ă? Ă‹Ă–Ă‹Ă?Ă?Ëœ Ă–Ă?Ě‹ Ă?Ă?Ëœ Ă?Ă&#x;Ă˜ ÞËÞĂ?Ë› ĂœĂ™Ă—Ă“Ă˜Ă?Ă˜Ăž ĂŽĂ“Ă‘Ă˜Ă“ĂžĂ‹ĂœĂ“Ă?Ă? Ă?ĂœĂ™Ă— ĂĄĂ“ĂžĂ’Ă“Ă˜ Ă“Ă‘Ă?ĂœĂ“Ă‹ Ă‹Ă˜ĂŽ Ă™Ă&#x;ĂžĂ?Ă“ĂŽĂ? ÞÒĂ? Ă?Ă’Ă™ĂœĂ?Ă? Ă™Ă? ÞÒĂ? Ă?Ă™Ă&#x;Ă˜ĂžĂœĂŁËœ Ă?Ă&#x;Ă?Ă’ Ă‹Ă? Ă&#x;ĂŒĂ‹Ëœ ĂœĂ‹Ă¤Ă“Ă–Ëœ ĂœĂ‹Ă˜Ă?Ă?Ëœ Ëœ Ă?ĂšĂ&#x;ĂŒĂ–Ă“Ă? Ă™Ă? Ă?Ă˜Ă“Ă˜Ëœ Ă™Ă‘Ă™Ëœ ĂœĂ“Ă˜Ă“ĂŽĂ‹ĂŽ Ă‹Ă˜ĂŽ Ă™ĂŒĂ‹Ă‘Ă™ Ă‹Ă˜ĂŽ Ă‹Ă? ĂĄĂ?Ă–Ă– Ă‹Ă? ĂžĂœĂ‹ĂŽĂ“ĂžĂ“Ă™Ă˜Ă‹Ă– ĂœĂ&#x;Ă–Ă?ĂœĂ? Ă‹ĂœĂ? Ă?âÚĂ?Ă?ĂžĂ?ĂŽ ÞÙ Ă‘ĂœĂ‹Ă?Ă? ÞÒĂ? Ă™Ă?Ă?Ă‹Ă?Ă“Ă™Ă˜Ë›

Adhere Strictly to Procurement Act, Magu Warns Public Officers Ndubuisi Francis Ă“Ă˜ ĂŒĂ&#x;ÔË

The acting Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC), Mr. Ibrahim Magu has warned public and civil servants, particularly, heads of government agencies to adhere strictly to the provisions of the Procurement Act, 2007 in award of contracts and procurement processes or risk prosecution.

Magu, who vowed to inject fresh vigour into the anti-corruption fight in the country, noted that the antigraft war was unstoppable.

Speaking in Abuja on Saturday at a retreat on public procurement for chief executive officers/ accounting officers of ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) of government, organised by the Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP), Magu said the EFCC was resolute in combating corruption irrespective of the growing adversarial tendencies from many quarters.

He stated: “It has come to our knowledge that heads of public officers try to steal from public coffers through procurement processes. For us everybody has a duty to fight corruption. “I want to warn that only strict adherence to 2007 Pro-

curement Act will save you from jail term. Nothing will stop us in the fight against corruption, nothing. I say nothing, nothing at all. “Nobody, nobody can stop the fight, it has come to stay and we are determined. We are unrelenting in the face of serious adversity serious adversity.

Nothing can stop us. “Even though, corruption is fighting back, we will continue to fight and we will win at the end of the day, because we are not fighting corruption as an individual.

Every Nigerian should join in the fight against corruption,� he said While soliciting for the support of all Nigerians to win the war against corruption, he expressed optimism that victory was certain. “The appeal is that we want to mobilise everybody, the best strategy in fighting corruption is to bring everybody on board and I am telling you, we will succeed. No doubt about that,� he added.

In his address, the BPP Director General, Mamman Ahmadu said the retreat was organised in line with ongoing reforms for the purpose of efficiency, transparency, accountability and value for money, in the entire process.

T H I S D AY ˾ SUNDAY APRIL 8, 2018

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T H I S D AY, T H E S U N D AY N E W S PA P E R ˾ ΀˜ ͺ͸͹΀

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NEWS THISDAY Summit on Universal Health Coverage, Timely, Says Tejuoso t Moeti: Nigeria, others should honour pledges towards UHC The Chairman, Senate Committee on Health, Senator Lanre Tejuoso, has stated that the 2nd THISDAY Healthcare Policy Dialogue, tagged: ‘The Journey to Universal Health Coverage in Nigeria’ is timely, as the National Assembly has intensified efforts for the implementation of the Basic Healthcare Provisions Fund (BHCPF) for all Nigerians.

The BHCPF is a fund allocation to cater for the basic health needs of all Nigerians, with a minimum of one per cent provision by government as stipulated in the 2014 National Health Act. Tejuoso said the National Assembly is about concluding the passage of the 2018 national budget, but that if it doesn’t reflect the one per cent of the consolidated revenue fund for health, the country would be sending a wrong signal to development partners.

“If we don’t do this, it means we are not encouraging development partners that have spent more than that over the past years. We cannot surrender our health financing to foreign friends,” he added.

He said the implementation for 2018 would mean a minimum of about N45 billion would be set aside in this year’s national budget for BHCPF. According to him, this is why the health summit, organised

by THISDAY Newspapers is coming at the right time since the passage of the national budget is around the corner, adding that the event would afford policy makers and healthcare stakeholders the opportunity to chat a way forward for universal health coverage for the citizens.

The high level policy dialogue will hold Thursday 12th April at the Congress Hall, Transcorp Hilton Hotel, Abuja by 10am.

The Summit, which is the second in a series of healthcare policy dialogues organised by THISDAY, will be headlined by the Director General of the World Health Organisation (WHO), Tedros Adhanom Ghabreyaesus and the Minister of Health, Prof.

Isaac Adewole headlining it.

The first edition, with the theme: Healthcare Financing, was held Tuesday March 6th 2018 in Abuja, and it recorded a huge success as it drew quality participation and came up with some far reaching conclusions that are currently being discussed at the highest level of government in the country.

This second edition, which draws on the success of the first, is particularly relevant as Nigeria sets into motion its Universal Health Coverage aspirations with the launch of the BHCPF under the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari.

This high level policy dialogue will bring together policy makers, including members of the Federal Executive Council, parliamentarians, development partners, including bi-and multi lateral institutions, entire senior leadership of the WHO, healthcare practitioners, civil society organisations, private sector leaders, media think-tanks, academia, institutions involved in financing and delivering healthcare – banks, HMOs, MFIs & insurance companies, and members of the public.

The WHO DG will be accompanied to the event by the entire senior leadership of the WHO, including the African Regional Director of WHO, Dr. Matshidiso Rebecca Moeti (the first woman to hold such position).

Ghabreyaesus will use the

occasion to launch the logo and beneficiary identification card for the Basic Health Care Provision Fund of the National Health Act. He will also be hosted at a high-level experience sharing event by the Nigerian government as the country has set

in motion its universal health coverage aspirations with the launching of the Basic Healthcare Provision Fund of the National Health Act under the administration of President Muhammadu Buhariof Health.

Other speakers at the THISDAY Summit include

Country Director, World Bank Nigeria, Rachid Benmassoud, CEO Dangote Foundation, Rachid Benmassoud, Minister of State for Health, Osagie Ehanire, Representative of Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Paulin Basinga, Representative of United Nations Children’s

Fund (UNICEF), Mohammed Malick Fall, Minister of State for Budget and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed, Representative of United Nations Populations Fund, (UNFPA), Diene Kieta, and Senior Rep & Mission Chief, International Monetary Fund (IMF), Amine Mati.

Town Hall Meeting Calls for LG Autonomy Participants at a town hall meeting of the 24 communities composing Ikole Local Government Area of Ekiti state have stridently called for autonomy of the LGs to enable them respond to the yearnings of the people at the grassroots. The gathering observed that autonomy would en-

sure that the Local Governments are strong enough financially to work for the people. They also called for a more responsive leadership that would be in synch with the interest of the people.

While condemning the present practice of locating projects without their inputs, they want

political leaders to be forthright and deliver meaningful development projects with the people’s consent. They are not particularly happy that the LGs have been subverted by governors who dictate not just who is elected chairman but what the LGs do with their funds. “The LGs are

in shreds because they are now in the pockets of governors”, they maintained.

Both the Senate and the House of Representatives had in their amendment to the 1999 Constitution, endorsed LG autonomy and its direct funding as part of the process of strengthen-

ing the third tier of government but the powerful lobby of the governors, who had been accused of fiddling with LG funds ensured that their respective houses of assembly voted down the amendment.

(See concluding part on www. thisdaylive.com)

T H I S D AY ˾ SUNDAY APRIL 8, 2018

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Ͷ˜ ͰͮͯͶ ˾ THISDAY, THE SUNDAY NEWSPAPER

OPINION Martin Luther King’s Message And Trump Presidency Chido Nwangwu pays tribute to Martin Luther King Jnr., crusader for justice and equality of the races

S

ince April 4, 2018, as we mournfully mark 50 years since the killing of the foremost exponent of a global reality of social justice and the equality of the races, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jnr., it is important to bear witness to history and assess the present.

On July 15, 1994, I visited the Martin Luther King Jr. Center in Atlanta, Georgia, for the first time as a member of a committee of a few African ambassadors, African-American professionals and a handful of continental Africans assembled by the Rev. Leon Sullivan, longtime advocate for equal rights for South African and American Blacks, to plan aspects of the 1995 African and African-American summit in Dakar, Senegal.

As I walked the premises with the late Dr. King’s son, Martin Luther King III, my mind’s eye recalled Dr. King’s vision, his unique poetic cadence, the flowing timbre of his voice, the inimitable rhyme and rhythm that punctuated his manner of speaking. Amid those memories, I recalled the shattering staccato of angry exchanges between many members of Jewish and African-American communities in far away New York, Chicago and Massachusetts, carrying on in ways that would have made Dr. King recoil. At least, he would have spoken with the calming ointment of mutual respect and Solomonic wisdom.

Into 2018, what do we see along the trajectory of what I’ll simply characterise as The Power and Permanence of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jnr.?

First, the U.S. President Donald J. Trump’s inflammatory stoking of bigotry and mainstreaming of the offsprings of the messengers of hate constitute, substantially, an existential moral threat to the works and legacy of the truth-teller and prophet.

Trump should take an iron-clad stand (not made-for-Tv retakes) against the assorted confederacy of skinheads and neo-Nazi thugs in Europe and corners of the United States. As well as against the radical jihadist merchants of death in Nigeria called Boko Haram and other transporters of hate, mayhem and bigotry.

Second, for all it’s worth, these times and the 21st century truly require leaders with a King-size vision, temper and courage. For example, South Africa’s late president Nelson Mandela towered beyond bitterness to live and work with his repentant apartheid

jailers. His response to hatred from his apartheid oppressors mirrors King’s timeless example: be forgiving, remain noble, foster racial harmony and be fair-minded.

I witnessed part of the King-Mandela sense of grace, first-hand, at the Robben island. I was part of the U.S media team with President Bill Clinton during the closing days of March 1998 when he visited Southern Africa. I highlighted the spirit of forgiveness of Mandela in my forthcoming 2018 book MANDELA & ACHEBE: Footprints of Greatness, about two global icons and towering persons of African descent.

Third, 50 years since his assassination, I believe that the global alliances of family, faith, character and social justice, representing the rich tapestry of our ethnic/racial origins as Indians, Caucasians, Blacks, Jews, Asians, and a multitude of other backgrounds have advanced Dr. King’s vision.

Fourth, on the critical issue of race, racial identity and politics, in the course of political fights in Washington DC and locally, we have listened to the impassioned partisan drivel that Dr. King fought for a “colour-blind society.” From my researching King’s view on this issue and having discussed the same question with one of his sons, the claim that the late but revered King worked and died for the emergence of a “colour-blind society” amounts to nothing more than grandiose distortion and arrant nonsense.

It is sociologically misleading since multi-ethnic and multi-racial

These times and the 21st century truly require leaders with a King-size vision, temper and courage. For example, South Africa’s late president Nelson Mandela towered beyond bitterness to live and work with his repentant apartheid jailers.

His response to hatred from his apartheid oppressors mirrors King’s timeless example: be forgiving, remain noble, foster racial harmony and be fair-minded

societies will have their “colour” components. Therefore, the ideologically misleading mantra pretending to establish a “colour-blind society” merely serves as a wedge issue and fund-raising code for contortionists of King’s vision and work which fundamentally and specifically sought the recognition of our backgrounds and even our racial origins. He specifically demanded that we neither be judged nor discriminated against because of the colour of our skin. He underscored that we rather be judged by the content of our character.

Fifth, as a continental African in America, a recent immigrant and citizen of the United States of America who has been blessed by the graciousness, business opportunities, global breadth and hospitality of other Americans, I have cause to be thankful for benefiting from the vision, personal sacrifice and peaceful soldiering of the late but great Martin Luther King,Jnr. I salute this prophet for enabling a moral and social justice compass which foster harmony, fair scales of opportunity and acceptance of all our unique talents and racial origins.

Sixth, 50 years since the killing of the evangelist of character first, we should do more by utilising technological tools, networking our strengths, building family, exercising personal discipline, empowering religious and community organisations to fight all forms of discrimination and intolerance.

Seventh, the believers in King’s goals must deal with an increasing challenge, specifically: the hordes of unemployed (soon unemployable in the robotic computer market) inner-city youths who, frankly, do not care so much about whose holiday is celebrated, when and by whom. They prefer to connect with the “hustle”; but there has been an increase in the high school, first degree numbers and the numbers of healthcare professionals.

Dr. King saw the inequities of his time, but it did not stop him from rising to the challenge of the day and charting a moral, visionary road map for tomorrow.

50 years ago, the King was killed!

50 years after, long lives the King!!

50 years ahead, long shall the king live!!!

—Dr. Nwangwu is Founder & Publisher of Houstonbased USAfrica multimedia networks, first Africanowned, U.S-based newspaper published on the internet USAfricaonline.com

PDP And APC’s Own Goals

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The PDP and APC are complicit in looting the people’s commonwealth, writes Sufuyan Ojeifo

personally consider the timing of the apology rendered by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) through its national chairman, Prince Uche Secondus, for the party’s past mistakes while in power, to be wrong. It was a case of a right action coming at the wrong time.

The apology should have strategically come at the point of inauguration of a new government, after it must have successfully defeated President Muhammadu Buhari in the 2019 presidential election. By that time, the nation must have been ready for the party’s new offerings.

That would have been the best time to advert the attention of Nigerians to those things that might be considered as mistakes during its 16-year rule from 1999 to 2015 and seize the momentum of the celebrations to promise that never again will it repeat such mistakes now that it has been given a second chance to govern the nation.

The apology of March 26, 2018 at a public national discourse on “Contemporary Governance in Nigeria” was an imprudent own goal that has caused it a collateral damage. Reason is that it provided an opportunity for an almost comatose All Progressives Congress (APC), which had lost its momentum in running the opposition’s gauntlet in recent times, to suddenly find its voice.

The APC tried to strike a rhythmical chord, even if tentative, in the haze of its internal contradictions, confusions and crises. Its offering in the circumstance was that Nigerians should not accept PDP’s apology. The APC was trying to appropriate the triumphal edge in a battle in which it has been roundly pummelled.

The PDP publicists, under the command of the veteran journalist-turned-politician, Mr. Kola Ologbondiyan, have doubled down the party’s publicity machinery in the campaign to deconstruct and pooh-pooh the APC-controlled federal government and President Muhammadu Buhari’s incongruous political and governance philosophies.

They have tackled every misstep and policy inconsistency of the APC government such that the governing party had been largely beaten back in the battle for control of the people’s minds. The apology by the PDP was a breather that the APC capitalised on to forcefully rebound.

And, in rebounding, its usual mantra of “looted public funds by the PDP” was deployed prestissimo for some damaging effects. The APC’s only option was to make a big issue of alleged looting of public treasury that purport-

edly took place under the PDP-led federal government, superintended by former President, Goodluck Jonathan.

But instead of turning out as the governing party’s joker, the option of deploying the issue of corruption has blown up in its face as counterproductive. The reason is that corruption in public office and criminal looting of the treasury are characteristic of successive administrations. The APC administration, in that circumstance, has been unable to escape essential indictment because of the presence in its fold of allegedly corrupt former public office holders who were hitherto in the PDP. The APC thus scored an own goal by trying to assail the nation and the world with a catalogue of criminal diversions of public funds allegedly perpetrated by the PDP in the prosecution of the 2015 presidential election.

By that strategic blunder, the Buhari administration confirmed the extant prejudice that it has all this while been accused of in the anti-graft war.

Minister of Information, Lai Mohammed, in a bid to dismantle PDP’s claim to having been reformed, rebranded and repositioned for 2019 and its generation next agenda, released a one-sided, obviously partial list of Nigerians who allegedly looted the public treasury.

The first list of six persons comprised PDP leaders.

The second list of 24 more persons comprised PDP leaders, former National Security Adviser, Col. Sambo Dasuki (rtd.), former ministers, former military chiefs and businessmen who executed one business or the other in the Jonathan administration, even though many of them still have their cases pending in court.

Lai Mohammed, who is a lawyer, shunned the legal restraint of the matters being sub judice by declaring them as looters of public funds. He faces two risks: one is contempt ex facie curiae (contempt outside the court) while the other is civil suit of libel that those whose names had been published when they had not been indicted by any court of law can file against the federal government with Lai Mohammed as co-defendant.

The published list did not include names of indicted looters of public treasury in the APC neither did it include the names of former PDP leaders who plundered public treasury at different times since 1999 till date but who are now sheltered in the APC. Their identities are well known to the Nigerian public.

Nigerians must have been terribly scandalised by the sheer double standards exhibited by the APC government in the attempt to point a finger of guilt at the PDP as being a party of looters whereas the remaining four fingers point back at it.

There is no own goal in a game of football as exemplified by this treasury-looting game that could be more lugubrious than this. The faux pas has caused the Buhari administration a collateral damage. Its so-called integrity has been damaged. The administration has unravelled as tentative and lacking strategic capital to attract and sustain the confidence of a distraught population.

Rather than the cacophonous spat that the PDP’s apology has precipitated, what we should have seen happening really is a season of somberness for the APC to look back and assess its successes and failures ahead of the 2019 general elections. It should have, without the prompting of Nigerians, embarked on an audit of its campaign promises in a bid to account to the Nigerian voters who invested their mandate in its administration.

Since the APC came in the saddle amid the perceived failures of the PDP to provide leadership, it is in its place as the governing party to tackle the problems inherited and not to resort to incessant complaints about the magnitude of the rot that the PDP government left behind. Buhari was elected to perform and not to complain.

This is the tragedy of the Buhari administration. It has unravelled as incompetent and ineffective to adopt the essential summation of former President Olusegun Obasanjo.

Its latest frenzy to make political capital out of the incongruous list of corrupt politicians, which tended to portray indicted politicians in its ranks and party as saints and perhaps untouchables, is against the run of morality, fairness and good conscience.

The APC and the Buhari administration are therefore complicit in providing cover to a special breed of public treasury looters whose sins are overlooked in furtherance of some political considerations. This is an own goal by them and Nigerians are laughing at them in derision. Truth!

––Ojeifo wrote via ojwonderngr@yahoo.com

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T H I S D AY, T H E S U N D AY N E W S PA P E R ˾ APRIL 8, 2018

LETTERS WINNIE MANDELA: VOICE FOR THE VOICELESS

I

t is no longer news that Winnie Mandela, the South African antiapartheid crusader and former wife of the first black President of South Africa, Nelson Mandela, has died at age 81. According to a family source, she passed away after a protracted illness. Her death, no doubt, symbolises the end of an era in the history of struggles for political emancipation in South Africa.

In the tempestuous years of apartheid rule in the Rainbow country, she was a thorn in the flesh of the white supremacists and a rallying point for the unconditional release of her then incarcerated husband. Winnie was one of the leading figures in the struggle against apartheid in South Africa. She was dubbed the “Mother of the Nation” while numerous musicians and writers across the world, who celebrated Nelson Mandela in their works, also accorded her great consideration.

The departed enigma was married to Nelson Mandela for 38 years, including the 27 years the iconic former president was imprisoned in Robin Island, near Cape Town. She kept the memory of her imprisoned husband alive during his years on Robben Island and helped give the struggle for justice in South Africa a universal image.

Up till the time she breathed her last, she was a leading member of South Africa’s frontline political party, the ruling African National Congress (ANC). At

Winnie Mandela

the time of her death, she was a member of the country’s parliament. In 1993, she was elected president of the ANC’s Women’s League. In 1994, she was elected to parliament and became Deputy Minister of Arts, Science and Technology in the country’s first multiracial government.

While reacting to her demise, South Africa’s President, Cyril Ramaphosa referred to Winnie as “an advocate for the dispossessed and the marginalised” and a voice for the voiceless.” He said: “Even at the darkest moments of our struggle for liberation, Mam’ Winnie was an abiding symbol of the desire of our people to be free. In the midst of repression, she was a voice

of defiance and resistance. In the face of exploitation, she was a champion of justice and equality.”

Born in 1936 as Nomzamo Winifred Madikizela, Winnie married Nelson Mandela in 1958 at age 22, and firmly supported him at the risk of her own life and freedom throughout the dark years of apartheid. While in prison, when Nelson Mandela was banned from reading newspapers, it was Winnie that connected him to the external world through her regular visit. Though, she became a target of endless harassment from the ruling white minority government, she obstinately stuck to her gun and stood by her incarcerated

husband. She declined to be cowed despite the emotional pains and aches of unending pestering of her family by security forces, detentions, solitary confinements and banishment.

In the words of Archbishop Desmond Tutu:”Her courageous defiance was deeply inspirational to me, and to generations of activists.”

Thanks to her doggedness, as well as the staying power of her co-fighters, in 1990, the curtain finally drawn on white minority rule in South Africa. Unfortunately, she was separated from her Madiba in 1996, two years after he became South Africa’s first black president.

Ironically, despite Winnie’s vital role in securing a new and unprejudiced political system in South Africa, she became a victim of the political struggle that played out during the anti-apartheid campaigns. In view of her deep involvement in the vicious anti-apartheid battle, she became entwined in a series of scandals that eventually ended her marriage with Nelson Mandela.

In 1986, she was widely linked to “necklacing”, a code name for ‘jungle justice’ which involves the burning alive of suspected traitors who had flaming, petrol-soaked tyres forced over their heads. In December 1988, her bodyguards, known as the Mandela United Football Club, kidnapped four boys belonging to another anti-apartheid party. One of them, Stompie Moeketsi, was subsequently assassinated by her bodyguards. In May 1991,

Dissecting Danjuma’s Avowal on Security

M

y recent analysis on the state of the nation as regards security, which I titled ‘averting reprisals over herdsmen massacres’ was informed by my panoramic view.

I foresaw that if apt measure wasn’t taken by the concerned authorities, Nigerians as a people might resort to self-defence or worse still, reprisal. Hence, I use the medium to decisively warn the governments at all levels on the dangers inherent in docility, and urged them to expedite action towards putting the said societal menace to an end.

Intriguingly, Lt. General Theophilus Danjuma had in his capacity openly advocated for self-defence. The retired security personnel, who had at different occasions served as the Nigeria’s Chief of Army Staff and Minister of Defence, recently enjoined Nigerians to defend themselves from killer herdsmen across the country instead of depending on the Armed Forces.

Gen. Danjuma opined that the army and other security

agencies “colluded with killers to attack Nigerians”.

Having accused the army of bias, saying it had failed in its responsibility of securing the country from attacks, he equally insinuated that there was an attempt at ethnic cleansing in the state as well as some rural localities in Nigeria. Hence, he further stated, “We must resist it. We must stop it. Every one of us must rise up.”

In the Nigeria’s extant laws, likewise other countries’, it is only in the course of self-defence one is permitted to commit murder. It suffices to assert that the former justifies the latter. It’s noteworthy that such form of killing can be classified as manslaughter.

The above constitutional clarification indicates that anyone could deploy any means towards defending him/herself in the course of any battle that befell them, even though no one is legally allowed to have arms or ammunition in his/her possession unless he is licensed to do so.

But going by Gen. Danjuma’s counsel, every Nigerian had been encour-

aged to possess arms and other forms of weapons. It’s more confusing that it took place in an era Nigerians were mandated by the police to return all firearms and ammunition in their custody or possession, as may be the case.

Besides, it’s mind-boggling that the advice came from no other person than a retired security chief; from a Nigerian who is meant to know the nitty-gritty surrounding state policing; a man who ought to realise that illicit handling of arms is criminal, hence unacceptable; a man who should comprehend the best security tit-bits to tender in a public sphere.

If Gen. Danjuma was of the view that the President Buhari-led administration wasn’t doing enough towards stemming crime in the country, he should have realised that it is his duty as a renowned security figure to help in boosting the government’s capacity rather than inciting the people against the constituted authority.

As an erstwhile army boss, he has all it takes to demand for an explanation why things aren’t being done

as expected. It’s his civic responsibility to assist the Armed Forces, and even the police, in carrying out their lawful obligations.

Though Danjuma claimed that he is not a politician, this statement has made me to be of the notion that he’s an affiliate of a certain political party; that he belongs to one of those oppositions that are fond of employing sentiments while discussing issues of public concern. He has by that step communicated to me that he is not neutral, thus merely making effort to lure the electorate into his net.

I don’t really comprehend how we arrived at this point that a supposed patriotic Nigerian who had meritoriously served in one of the country’s reputable security outfits could publicly suggest to civilians that the best alternative way they could fight or repel crimes is to be fully armed as a people in their respective localities.

If at this age, a full-fledged Nigerian could think in such direction, then I’m afraid, we are headed for doom.

––Comrade Fred Nwaozor, Owerri.

she was sentenced to six years in prison for kidnapping in relation to the incident, but the sentence was later reduced to a fine.

In 2003, she was convicted of fraudulently taking out bank loans and theft. But according to her, the loans were used to help poor people.

Her conviction for theft was later reversed since she had not recognised any personal gain from her actions. South Africa’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission also accused her of human rights abuses during the apartheid years.

Winnie was also accused of having several lovers while her husband was in prison.

For instance, she was alleged to have an affair with Dali Mpofu, a lawyer 30 years her junior and a member of her defence team.

The story of Winnie and Mandela is a classical narrative of people who chose to sacrifice their life, comfort. For For Winnie, her whole life was defined by Mandela’s deep and passionate involvement in the struggle for a free South Africa. When she gave birth to her children, her husband was never there for her.

Even though he was not in jail at the time, he was out on several commitments for the struggle. But then, she was aware of Mandela’s obsession with the struggle before marrying him, knowing quite well that his first marriage crashed because of the struggle.

How will history judge Winnie? Time will tell.

––Tayo Ogunbiyi, Lagos State Ministry of Information and Strategy, Alausa, Ikeja

MADE IN NIGERIA CHOCOLATES

O

sun State is set to put a stop to billions of naira that Nigerians are using to import chocolate and other cocoa products from EU countries.

Osun Cocoa Processing Plant, Ede is now producing “Made in Nigeria” Cocoa Butter, Cocoa Cake, Cocoa Powder and chocolates and set to flood world market with “Made in Nigeria” chocolates. Osun Cocoa plant, Ede is back after more than 30 years of wobbling and fumbling. Despite living in one of the world’s biggest grower of cocoa beans, Nigerian residents have never quite embraced chocolate as part of the national diet. Rauf Aregbesola has provided lifeline for cocoa farmers in Nigeria.

Interestingly, Osun is a major producer of chocolate today and a major cocoa-producing state, and chocolate manufacturing centre is in Ede. Osun State is the third largest cocoa producer in the South West after Ondo and Oyo states. The state largely draws its rising profile as a big role player and producer of the cash crop from Cocoa farms. The arrival of a new chocolate factory in Osun State will also allow Nigerian planters to finally access the pleasure of chocolate. Osun chocolate is targeting the local market, then progressively expand to the sub-region. The factory is initially producing cocoa powder and chocolate.

Despite its Chinese ownership, the plant represents a small victory in the continent’s battle to profit from its natural resources instead of exporting them to be processed elsewhere.

Smallholder cocoa farmers and other stakeholders are happy over the establishment of an elaborate cocoa processing plant that produces chocolate. They are happy that the plant will be able to check the bleak future of the business which is presently facing stiff international competition as well as government overbearing influence.

With Ede cocoa processing plant, Governor Aregbesola has expanded assistance to cocoa farmers and numerous stakeholders within the cocoa value sequence regarding the development of cocoa in Nigeria. He has brought innovation and localised the processing of cocoa products in the 14 cocoa producing states in Nigeria. With over 20 million cocoa farmers in Nigeria, Osun-China’s cooperation over Ede cocoa processing plant has given lifeline to Nigerian cocoa farmers who could not export their products before now.

The partnership with one of China’s Most popular politicians and business leaders Qizan Zhao, Deputy Leader of the Communist Party of the People’s Republic of China and one of the leading businessmen in China is producing a N10bn investment in Osun and over 1000 jobs for local people in the next two years in the state especially youths and this will help to support the industrialisation efforts of Governor Aregbesola. With this plant farmers can now distribute new high yield cocoa seedlings to cocoa farmers, and continue to allow the purchase of chemicals and inputs at 50% subsidy. Governor Aregbesola has connected Nigerian cocoa farmers to the Ede cocoa processing plant and they can source cocoa easily here.

“The two China-based companies -Skyron Corporation and Golden Monkey Group of Company had promised the production of chocolate and others in Ede. Golden Monkey Corporation remains the number one producer of candies and chocolate in China, and reviving the cocoa processing company in Ede has not been a problem. At least, now, our people know that more value accrues to them if they process cocoa rather than exporting in its raw form.

Inwalomhe Donald, Benin City.

16

THISDAY, THE SUNDAY NEWSPAPER ˾ Ͷ˜ ͰͮͯͶ

INTERNATIONAL Nigeria’s Economic Diplomacy Initiative as a Potential Catalytic Agent of Institutional Corruption

I

n a press release number MFA/PR/41/2018/23, on April 3rd, 2018, the launching of ‘Nigeria’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs Economic Diplomacy Initiative (NEDI)’ was announced and scheduled to take place on Thursday, 5th April, 2018 at the Banquet Hall, State House, Abuja. And true enough, it came to pass as planned: Professor Yemi Osinbajo, Vice President, was on ground to launch the NEDI. As explained by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the ‘NEDI is an initiative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) in collaboration with the Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment (FMTI); the Nigerian Investment Promotion Commission (NIPC); and the Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC).’ More important, ‘the initiative aims at spurring economic growth and development through facilitation of market access, Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), cross-border trade and recruitment of skilled Nigerians in Diaspora for national development.’

And perhaps most importantly, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs also has it that the ‘NEDI leverages on online technology and on existing infrastructure in Nigerian Missions across the world. The platform is divided into two parts - NEDI Business and NEDI Professionals.’ In this regard, while ‘NEDI Business matches Nigerian Business with business opportunities around the world,’ the NEDI Professional ‘serves as a one-stop shop for recruiting and engaging Nigerian professionals in the Diaspora for national development.’

Additionally, at the launching of the NEDI on April 5, Professor Osinbajo said: ‘economic diplomacy, as most of us know, is the use of diplomatic methods to address national economic interest and, of course, it has a key role to play in our case in achieving the objectives in our Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP).’

Thus, many issues are directly and indirectly raised in the initiative. First, what do we mean by Nigeria’s economic diplomacy?

This expression implies that there is another economic diplomacy that is not Nigerian in character. Put differently, economic diplomacy also exists elsewhere, and by implication, there is also the economic diplomacy that is typically Nigerian which we should be dealing with now.

Again, when talking about economic diplomacy, that is typically Nigerian, in which way is the new economic diplomacy launched on Thursday, April 5, 2018, majorly different from that of the Ibrahim Babangida era? It should be recalled that under the military presidency of Babangida, Major-General Ike Nwachukwu came up with the policy of economic diplomacy when he was Minister of Foreign Affairs.

And to a great extent, the policy has always been talked about since then. In many ways, it is not different from what is again being proposed to Nigeria and the world as a new initiative. For instance, the institutional stakeholders are not different: NIPC, NEPC, FMTI, and, in fact, the private sector stakeholders were also conceived to be actively involved. The objectives are essentially the same: attraction of fresh FDI in order to grow and develop the economy. It was on the basis of the Ike Nwachukwu-driven economic diplomacy that even the Ministry of Foreign Affairs had a special trade and investment unit headed by Ambassador Olusegun Akinsanya who brought the private sector to equip the unit in an unprecedented scientific manner.

Besides, the launching of the NEDI took place on the same day the Kaduna Economic and Investment Summit was also held. The summit was organised to promote economic diplomacy through partnerships. This means that it is not only the Federal Government, but also the state governments, that are showing much concern for issues in economic diplomacy. Therefore, when discussing Nigeria’s diplomacy, what the constitutive states of Nigeria do, are necessarily also constituent parts of Nigeria’s diplomacy and cannot be restricted to only what the federal ministries do.

As such, what makes the NEDI an initiative? Is it really a new initiative? An initiative necessarily implies ingenuity, originality, freshness of idea, a new beginning, a new development, a new approach, acting first, and, in fact, something that is not comparable. While it can be admissible that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is taking a fresh look at the old or existing policy of

VIE INTERNATIONALE with

Bola A. Akinterinwa Telephone : 0807-688-2846

e-mail: bolyttag@yahoo.com

decision and then come back to eat its words claiming ignorance of the time of adoption of the earlier decision. No continuity of policy. New policy is without historical precedents informing it.

Every Minister is a leader without follower and philosophy. And perhaps, most disturbingly, Nigeria is apparently the only country in the world where the very people who are required to ensure good governance are the same people aiding and abetting bad governance frolic around with impunity.

Put differently, when the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is talking about recruiting professionals, the Ministry, even under the current Minister of Foreign Affairs, there is the need to ask how it has managed or supervised the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs in its capacity as Supervisory Authority. Asking such question is apt in order to appreciate how the Ministry is likely to manage the NEDI when saddled with the responsibility. In this regard, Vie Internationale posits, and strongly too, that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, as it is, is not capable of implementing NEDI or any policy without having to encircle itself in subjectivity of purpose, with corruption, political chicanery, and ethnic jingoism.

Again, and for the umpteenth time, the empirical case of what happened at the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs is a clear illustration of the foregoing thrust. One case study may not be sufficient to make a general conclusion. However, when a government is coming out to the public to preach the gospel of holiness, fairness and justice as basis for national development, and yet the same government is also consciously aiding and abetting unholiness of character, unfairness and injustice in political governance, the people of Nigeria only need to remind the same Government not to make haste in forgetting history and moving slowly in admitting that truth is constant.

NEDI as Potential Agent of Corruption

Onyeama, Minister of Foreign Affairs economic diplomacy, especially from the perspective of seeking to leverage on online technology and trying to have a two-typology approach -business and professionals - in the implementation of the economic diplomacy, the truth still remains basic: the NEDI is a reflection of change-in-continuity. Consequently, the use of the word ‘initiative is not appropriate as it suggests an academic theft or intellectual fraud, which should not be.

If Foreign Minister Geoffrey Onyeama wants to re-invent the existing economic diplomacy, there is nothing wrong with it. In fact, it will be quite commendable, especially that the Buharian administration is yet to have any clear foreign policy focus since it came to power. Seeking to articulate one for the government cannot but therefore be a welcome development. However, changing the tactic or technique does not make the fresh approach conceptually an initiative.

What probably could qualify the NEDI as an initiative is the fact that it has the great potential to promote and strengthen institutional corruption in Nigeria and the reason cannot be far-fetched: who are the professionals to be used? Will they not be or include Nigerians, especially senior officials of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs? In terms of Nigerian businesses and international business opportunities, in which way will they be different from what are currently in place in terms of inter-personal relationships? Regarding the attitudinal disposition of the Nigerian business men, and that of the public servants, in which way will NEDI address it for the purposes of economic growth and development?

Without scintilla of doubt, the Nigeria of today is that of self-deceit and where policy pronouncement always conflicts with policy implementation. Nigeria of today is where a Government Agency or Department or Ministry will approve or adopt a policy

Without scintilla of doubt, the Nigeria of today is that of self-deceit and where policy pronouncement always conflicts with policy implementation.

Nigeria of today is where a Government Agency or Department or Ministry will approve or adopt a policy decision and then come back to eat its words claiming ignorance of the time of adoption of the earlier decision. No continuity of policy. New policy is without historical precedents informing it. Every Minister is a leader without follower and philosophy. And perhaps, most disturbingly, Nigeria is apparently the only country in the world where the very people who are required to ensure good governance are the same people aiding and abetting bad governance frolic around with impunity

There are two main rationales for considering the NEDI as a potential and catalytic agent of corruption under the present Buharian administration. The first rationale is that the administration is on record to have been consciously appointing people with known bad records in public positions. President Muhammadu Buhari does not appear to bother much about integrity of those people serving under him. He is always claiming their competence over moral integrity as justification for his action and official remissness. There is no disputing the fact that the Buhari administration attempted to reinstate the former Chairman of the Presidential Task Force on Pension Reforms, Mr Abdulkareem Maina. Mr. Maina was indicted and sacked because of mismanagement of N2.7 billion pension funds.

There is also the case of the Executive Secretary of the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS), Professor Usman Yusuf, who was indicted for corruption, and yet, President Buhari is on record to have reinstated him. Additionally, on Tuesday, 3rd April, 2018, the organised labour unions drew public attention to the plans by the Federal Government to reinstate the Director General of the Security and Exchange Commission (SEC), Mr. Mounir Gwarzo, who is currently on suspension for corruption charges.

Concerns about the plans of his reinstatement prompted the Association of Senior Civil Servants of Nigeria (ASCSN) to remind that ‘Gwarzo was suspended after a properly constituted administrative panel set up by the Finance Minister, Mrs Kemi Adeosun, found him culpable of financial impropriety.’ What the President and his cabal do not probably know, the ASCSN has also said, is that ‘the impression being created in the minds of millions of Nigerians with the policy of recalling chief executives and other top government officials enmeshed in financial malpractices is that the war against corruption is a ruse.’ I cannot agree more with this viewpoint and this brings us to the second rationale: the case of the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs (NIIA) and the role of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the handling of the case.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is the Supervisory Authority for the NIIA. When I was the Director General of the NIIA, 2010-2015, I drew the attention of the then Governing Council, chaired by Major General Ike Omar Nwachukwu, to various acts of serious misconduct as defined in the Public Service Rules in which some members of staff were engaged but which the Ike Nwachukwu-led Governing Council simply covered up.

For instance, Miss Agatha Ude, Director of Administration and Finance, changed promotion examination result for some staff and I complained to the Council. The Council asked the Council Committee on Appointments and Promotions to look at the matter.

Being the complainant and also the statutory chairman of the committee, another member of the committee was directed to chair the investigation. When the decision was to be taken on the matter, I was asked to go and look for some ludicrous documents. When I returned and still raised questions about the matter, I was told the matter had been resolved by the Committee of which I was a member. I could only protest, but to no avail.

The same Ike Nwachukwu-led Governing Council dictated the contents of the letter to be sent to assessors of professorial candidates, a thing that had never occurred in the life and academic existence of the NIIA. In fact, for the first time, the Director of Research and Studies, Professor Ogaba Danjuma Oche, revealed the names of possible assessors to the candidates. The Ike Nwachukwu-led Governing Council opted to keep silent over it.

(See concluding part on www.thisdaylive.com)

17

T H I S D AY, T H E S U N D AY N E W S PA P E R ˾ APRIL 8, 2018

BUSINESS

Editor Vincent Obia 08054681757 Email vincent. obia @thisdaylive.com

LAST WEEK Petrol

NigeriarecordsaboutN1.4trillionyearly asunder-recoveryfromitsimportation and sale of Premium Motor Spirit at N145 per litre, Minister of State for Petroleum Resources Ibe Kachikwu said. Kachikwu spoke at a meeting in Abuja where stakeholders in the LiquefiedPetroleumGassectormetto reviewthechallengesoftheLPGmarket.

He explained that it was time Nigeria begantolookatalternativefuelsources, such as LPG, which are clean and less expensive.TheministersaidPresident MuhammaduBuhariwouldinthenext two months launch an infrastructure rebirth plan, which the country would leverage to attract private finance to upgrade its oil and gas infrastructure.

AfDB

Foodstuff market...there are worries about rising cost of food

Despite Concerns over Food Inflation, Analysts Justify MPC’s Tight Monetary Stance Kunle Aderinokun and Bamidele Famoofo Following the decision of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to retain the base interest rate at 14 per cent, for the umpteenth time, economists and money market experts have responded. Though, the decision was in line with their expectations, they expressed reservation about the level of food inflation, which is still high. They justified CBN’s decision to maintain the hard stance, given the impact of activities in the lead-up to the forthcoming general elections on monetary policy, the analysts expressed concern that food inflation was still above the threshold.

The April meeting was the first time this year that the MPC met, after it eventually formed a quorum to legally meet and take monetary policy decisions.

Defending the decision of the MPC to hold the monetary policy rate (MPR) at 14 per cent in the last 18 months, with other variables also remaining fixed, CBN Governor Godwin Emefiele said, “On the argument to hold, the committee believes that key macroeconomic variables have continued to evolve in a positive direction in line with the current stance of macroeconomic policy and should be allowed more time to fully manifest.”

Another argument pushed by MPC was that further tightening would strengthen the impact of monetary policy on inflation, with complementary positive effects on capital flows and exchange rate stability. But Emefiele and his team at the MPC are not unaware that their decision to hold interest rate at its present level could serve as disincentive to economic growth. “Nevertheless, it could potentially dampen the positive

outlook for growth and financial stability.

However, the committee is of the view that loosening would strengthen the outlook for growth by stimulating domestic aggregate demand through reduced cost of borrowing.”

The MPC resolved to maintain its hard stance because, according to it, relaxing the MPR and other variables could lead to a rise in consumer prices, generating exchange rate pressures on the currency in the process. The committee also believed that loosening could worsen the current account balance through increased importation.

A Lagos-based economist, Dr. Boniface Chizea, could not agree less with the MPC. Chizea said, “I thought that was on the cards. As the saying goes, if it is not broken why mend it. We have witnessed steady recovery of the economy from growth in notional GDP to persistent downward decline in the rate of inflation for about 12 months now. And as policymakers, the likely inclination would be not to rock the boat.”

Chizea argued that the widespread expectation of Nigerians, especially those in the productive sectors of the economy to see rates cut was not realistic at the present time. “Now the expectations of most economic agents is to see some action in the direction of reduction of the base interest rate; the Minimum

Rediscount Rate (MRR), which has been sticky at 14 per cent, despite the nudging by the fiscal authorities for an indicative notional reduction, as it is argued, to make cost of funds cheaper to boost the appetite of small and medium scale enterprises, the acknowledged engine that has the potential to catalyse rapid growth in economic activities for increased demand for credit. But the fly in the ointment is that inflation rate, though we have witnessed a decline, is still above the rate of inflation, which the last time I tracked was at 14.3 per cent,” he stated.

To Chizea, reduction in MRR at the moment would be a clear disincentive to the informed corporate treasurer in terms of patronising bank deposit facility at the risk of paying an inflation tax.

Such development would worsen the liquidity in circulation outside the banking system and blunt the effectiveness of monetary policy instruments, he said.

On his own part, a lecturer at the Department of Economics, Lagos Business School (LBS), Dr. Bongo Adi, said the decision of the MPC to hold MPR at 14 per cent in the last 18 months was due to government’s high deficit and the need to repay its huge debt.

Nevertheless, Adi believes it is high time the MPC changed its stance to help boost economic activities, as government revenue profile has improved in the

last few months with the economy’s recovery from recession. “It is expected that by now rate should be relaxed to drive the real sector,” he said. “But what l can see that made the MPC to continue to hold MPR at 14 per cent is fear. The CBN is afraid that the forthcoming general elections will fuel inflation.”

However, Head Research, SCM Capital, Mr. Sewa Wusu, said the MPC’s decision to retain all the monetary variables at current levels was in line with expectations. “The fact that all macroeconomic indications are supporting recovery gave the committee the leeway to hold rates.”

But Wusu said the onus was now on the government to make more policy pronouncements to further support growth. He noted that though inflation had witnessed a reduction, it was still on the high side when compared to the target threshold.

“My view is that the MPC considers the current anchor rate as tight enough to combat the pressures emanating from prices, particularly as election spending cycle kicks in. That said, the decision to hold the rate was just in line with expectation,” Wusu stated.

Likewise, CEO, The CFG Advisory Limited, Adetilewa Adebajo, said the decision was “not unexpected from a new team trying to find its feet.”

Food inflation has remained stubbornly high as a result of the security problems in the food basket in Benue, Plateau, Taraba and Adamawa states. Rates this high are not sustainable for government debt service and will also, eventually, compromise the real sector recovery and GDP growth, which for the last three years has not even equalled the rate of our population growth of three per cent

The African Development Bank on Thursday said it had approved a $50 millionRiskParticipationAgreementfor CommerzbankAGtoaddressthecontinent’stradefinancemarketdemand.

Thefundwillenablebanksoperatingin Nigeria and other African countries to providecredittotheircustomers,includingSmallandMediumEnterprisesthat areinvolvedintradewithintheregion.

AstatementbyAfDBsaidtheBoardof Directors of the lender approved the $50millionunfundedRiskParticipation Agreement for Commerzbank AG on March 27.

ERGP

The federal government is aiming to createatotalof570,000jobsthrough the implementation of the focussed labs under the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan. Minister of Budget and National Planning, Senator Udo Udoma, said this in Abuja during the ERGPMid-Labsyndicationmeeting.A statement from the minister’s media adviser, Akpandem James, quoted Udomaassayingthatthegovernment was optimistic that given the number ofprojectsthatwerelikelytobeready for approval by the end of the lab process,theaimofresolvinginter-agency bottlenecks,whichisoneofthecardinal objectivesofthelabs,wouldhavebeen achieved.

OPEC

The Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) dedicated the March edition of its bulletin to the celebrationofNigeria’soilandgassector.OPECsaidNigeria,whichjoinedthe organizationin1971,hadprovidedable leadership and important support to thebody.TheorganisationsaidNigeria had made unique contributions to its recent successes. OPEC said Nigeria produced1.43millionbarrelsperdayof petroleumandearnedatotalof$27.79 billion through petroleum exports in 2016. It noted that the trend would continue. With Nigeria’s 37.45 billion barrels in proven crude reserves and 5,480 billion cubic metres of proven natural gas reserves, OPEC said the country occupied an important place in future global energy supply.

NEDI

VicePresidentYemiOsinbajolaunched theNigerianEconomicDiplomacyInitiative(NEDI),aninitiativeoftheMinistry ofForeignAffairs,onThursdayinAbuja.

Osinbajosaidthefederalgovernment wascommittedtoconsultationwithcriticalstakeholders,especiallytheprivate sector, before taking vital economic decisions. ”In the case of Nigeria, the privatesectorisparticularlyimportant becauseitaccountsforwellover90per centofourGDP, ”thevicepresidentsaid.

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T H I S D AY, T H E S U N D AY N E W S PA P E R ˾ APRIL 8, 2018

BUSINESS/ENERGY

NERC’s Accountable Power Strategy Debuts amid Apprehension Electricity distribution companies have commenced implementation of the new Meter Assets Providers (MAP) regulation, which aims to achieve full metering of electricity consumption in the country within three years, but challenges remain.

Chineme Okafor reports

Power distribution installations in Nigeria

T

he main objectives of the Meter Assets Providers (MAP) regulation may be few, but they are key to the survival of the power market in Nigeria. The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission signed the regulation on March 8, saying it takes effect from the same day. But its actual implementation by the power distribution companies (Discos) began last Tuesday.

Objective NERC said MAP would encourage the emergence of independent and competitive meter service providers in Nigeria’s electricity market, through which more consumer meters could be deployed to the distribution networks.

It said the regulation would help to eliminate the controversial practice of estimated billing, which is as old as the sector itself, and which has been widely criticised as an avenue used by the Discos to swindle their customers through irregular calculation of consumption figures and payments.

MAP, which recognises the business opportunity that exists in the wide metering gap in Nigeria’s power market, should attract private investments in the provision of metering services and effectively close the metering gap through accelerated meter roll out in the Discos’ networks.

NERC reported that as at August last year, the total number of customers registered by the 11 Discos as eligible electricity users within their respective networks was 7,476,856, and those metered were 3,451,611. This leaves a metering gap of 4,025,611 as well as a collective metering percentage of 46.16 per cent.

MAP would also seek to boost revenue assurance in the market as regards the Discos being able to scientifically collect revenues for power sold to their consumers, as against relying on estimated methodology, which has remained quite controversial both from the Discos’ and consumers’ ends.

NERC said because the Discos, which are

responsible for meeting up with their metering targets by ensuring that all their eligible customers are completely provided service meters, had failed in this regard, it had to think up an alternative, hence MAP. According to the commission, the possibility of closing the metering gap is very likely once it concludes its on-going customer enumeration exercise.

NERC mandated the Discos to engage the services of MAPs in accordance with the provisions of the regulation to meet their metering targets specified by it.

MAP would allow for third-party investments in meter infrastructure within the 11 Discos’ networks, and successful MAPs in any of the distribution networks would be given operational licenses by the regulator that would last for 15 years.

Metering Debate Most unmetered residential customers of the Discos believe the Discos gain more by charging estimated rates than having them metered to ensure accuracy in consumption and payments.

These consumers believe the Discos are comfortable with the practice of estimated billing. But the Discos think otherwise. Overtime, the Discos have claimed that the amount of financial investment needed to close up the metering gap in their networks is huge and that the market cannot provide them that. They say this has hampered their ability to reduce their losses with their metering plans as expected of them in the service level agreements they signed upon taking over the Discos.

Accepting that metering was a big deal in the power market, and needed to be resolved as soon as possible, the Discos note that provision of this to all their registered consumers is difficult due to the huge financial requirement. Their association, Association of Nigerian Electricity Distributors (ANED), told THISDAY recently that the lack of cost reflective tariffs had limited their capacity to invest in metering. The group also noted that meters installed by them had

been subjected to abuses by customers.

“Meter fraud is huge – by-passing, tampering, recoding, and hook-ups. It is a big issue to us, even in places we had installed meters already,” said Executive Director for Research and Advocacy, ANED, Mr. Sunday Oduntan.

Oduntan explained, “Major scale organised meter fraud has to be combatted by tamper proof meters – split unit and pre-paid installed in areas already fully enumerated.

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

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

Requirements According to NERC, the existence of MAP would not stop the Discos from continuing with their metering obligations to their customers. It says the regulation stipulates that the minimum technology and back-office requirements expected of the MAPs to be engaged by the Discos must be sufficient enough with relevant technological resources that capable of maintaining and retrieving records of financial, inventory, and customer data.

NERC noted that MAPs must also be able to deploy infrastructure on an on-line real-time basis that would be sufficient for regulatory and statutory reviews. The commission also expects that the technology type deployed by MAP shall be capable of being integrated to the distribution licensee’s vending platform, in addition to evidence of applicable certifications.

The distribution licensee, it added, shall conclude the procurement process for the engagement of a MAP within 120 calendar days from the

day the regulation became effective.

According to NERC, “The commission shall engage the services of a tender auditor to audit the conduct and results of a distribution licensee’s procurement process for the engagement of the MAP. Upon completion of evaluation of bids, the successful bidder shall submit an application for the grant of a Meter Asset Provider license to the commission.

“The commission shall grant a license to the successful bidder subject to satisfactory compliance with the minimum qualification criteria and procurement processes provided in these regulations. The tenure of MAP license shall be 15 years in the first instance.”

The commission stated that upon the completion of the approval procurement process and a grant of MAP license, the distribution licensee would be allowed to enter into meter service agreement with the successful bidder. It said MAP shall source not less than 30 per cent of its contracted metering targets from local meter manufacturing or assembling companies in Nigeria.

The regulation equally listed the obligations expected of the Discos, MAP and consumers in this regard. It said, among others, the Disco shall include a metering service charge as a clear item on the billing of its customers provided with meters and this shall be separate from the energy charge.

For the MAPs, the regulation grants legal ownership of the meter asset until fully amortised through payment of a metering service charge by beneficiary customers, as well as right to be paid in full the aggregated metering service charge paid by customers during the billing cycle.

For the customers, the regulation stipulates that in addition to getting a meter installed for them, they are entitled to periodic inspection of meters to ensure integrity and reading accuracy. Where required, the MAP regulation also stipulates that the service provider must repair or replace faulty meters within two working days of being notified of such faults.

Caution Experts in the electricity industry believe the MAP initiative is a good approach for accountability and efficiency in power supply. But they say it needs to be carefully implemented.

A former head of the Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading Plc (NBET), Mr. Rumundaka Wonodi, stated that MAP could become a good method for attracting additional funds into the power sector, which has lacked third-party funding for a long time. But Wonodi warned that certain aspects of MAP were not clear and needed to be clarified by the regulator. For instance, he stated that there was need to clarify the operational guidelines and, perhaps, create a standard template for negotiating agreements under the MAPs. He also said the fact that an accurate data on the customer base was still non-existent could make it difficult for investors in the MAPs to take clear investment decisions.

According to Wonodi, “The regulation is okay, but there is need to have the operational guidelines that will detail the relationships better, if not, it is too high-level for implementation.

“There is a little more work that needs to be done to provide guideline, standard templates of agreement so that the bickering will stop.

And, you have to consider if there should be a need for pilot phase before the Discos start signing it off for every person. Instead of trying to cover all the Discos, there should be one for a learning curve.

“The structure looks good but it needs tweaking. We have not done enumeration, so without it, it is difficult to know exactly the rate of penetration. Enumeration is key and a pilot programme for each Disco would have been a nice way to start.”

T H I S D AY, T H E S U N D AY N E W S PA P E R ˾ APRIL 8, 2018

19

BUSINESS/MONEY

As Tier-One Banks Raise FIC Markets Turnover to N24tn in 2 Months...

Fixed Income and Currencies markets make over N24 trillion turnover within two months this year, with three top tier banks accounting for about 61 per cent of the value, reports Bamidele Famoofo

I

nvestors in Nigeria’s Fixed Income and Currencies (FIC) markets splashed about N24.27 trillion or US$71.97 billion on the various investible instruments on offer as at the end of February. However, Deposit Money Banks (DMBs), also known as commercial banks, were key drivers of turnover in the markets in the review period.

Specifically, statistics made available by the FMDQ OTC Securities Exchange in the review period showed that three top-tier banks among the 10 licensed Dealing Member Banks on the FMDQ League table accounted for 61.01 per cent or N11.05 trillion of the turnover value between January and February.

Top Dealers The three top banks that drove turnover in the review period were Stanbic IBTC Bank Plc, Access Bank Plc, and United Bank for Africa Plc. Stanbic IBTC Bank Plc, named first among the top three that accounted for N11.05 trillion, traded for the overall over-the-counter (OTC) market. It was also the first among the top 10 dealing banks licensed by the CBN to transact business in the market in the period.

Besides the three leading banks licensed by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to transact business under the platform of the FMDQ OTC Securities Exchange in the review period, there were seven others which accounted for N7.06 trillion of total turnover value in the review period.

They include Standard Chartered Bank Nigeria Limited; Ecobank Nigeria Limited; Citibank Nigeria Limited; and First Bank of Nigeria. Other dealing member banks on the FMDQ League Table in the order of ranking include, Union Bank of Nigeria Plc; First City Monument Bank Limited; and Guaranty Trust Bank Plc. In all, the top 10 DMBs accounted for 74.63 per cent or N18.11 trillion of the overall turnover in the market.

Breakdown The total turnover for January and February amounted to N24.27 trillion. Trading activities in Treasury bills (T.bills) contributed the largest to overall turnover, accounting for 41.93 per cent of the market. Foreign Exchange (FX) market transactions (Spot FX and FX Derivatives) accounted for 35.24 per cent while Repurchase Agreements (Repos)/ Buy-Backs product categories (Repos/Buybacks) accounted for 16.02 per cent. Bonds and Unsecured Placements and Takings represented 5.94 per cent and 0.88 per cent, respectively, of overall market turnover.

T.bills worth N10.18 trillion (about $30.18 billion) was traded in the market in January and February. In the Foreign Exchange segment of the market, turnover value stood at N5.80 trillion (about $ 17.18 billion).

Repurchase Agreement/Buy- Backs was next on the market’s product categories, accounting for N3.89 trillion (about$ 11.53 billion) of turnover value in the review period while transactions in Foreign Exchange Derivatives attracted about N 2.76 trillion (about $5.03 billion) from dealing member banks and other retail investors as contribution to total turnover value. Over N1 trillion was invested in the Federal Government of Nigeria (FGN) Bonds in the period at N1.43 trillion (about $4.3 billion).

Average daily turnover in the FIC markets during the 39 business days recorded in the period stood at N622.35 billion (about $1.85 billion) The FMDQ OTC Market Turnover Report

A view of Marina in the central business district of Lagos

shows the turnover on all products traded on the FMDQ secondary market – FX, Treasury Bills (T.bills), Bonds – Federal Government of Nigeria Bonds, other bonds (Agency, Sub-national, Corporate and Supranational) and Eurobonds) – Commercial Papers and Money Market (Repos/Buy-Backs and Unsecured Placements/Takings). These figures exclude primary market auctions in T.bills and bonds.

The data, collated from the weekly trade data submissions by FMDQ Dealing Member (Banks) (DMBs), represents trades executed among the DMBs, DMBs and Clients, and DMBs and the CBN. Capital Sourcing Some notable capital sourcing activities took place on the platform of the FMDQ OTC in the review period. For instance, a major mileage was recorded within the first two months of the year with the admittance of the FSDH Merchant Bank Limited N4.51 billion Series 5 and N14.05 Series 6 commercial paper (CP) notes under its N30.00

billion CP Debt Issuance Programme, for quotation on its platform.

“The successive admittance of these securities, following due approval from the FMDQ Board Listings, Markets and Technology Committee, attests to the highly efficient time to market and ‘second-to-none’ Listings and Quotations service offered by FMDQ,” a statement from the FMDQ OTC disclosed. The statement added, “FMDQ recognises the potential of a fully-functional DCM and shall continue to innovate and provide efficient services, as may be necessary, to support issuers, investors, intermediaries and other stakeholders, towards achieving an operationally excellent and competitive DCM.” Additionally, for the first time in the history of the market, a microfinance bank approached the market to raise capital to grow micro-businesses in the Nigerian economy.

“FMDQ admitted on its platform the first ever microfinance bank bond in Nigeria – the LAPO MFB SPV PLC Series 1 N3.15 billion

Statistics made available by the FMDQ OTC Securities Exchange in the review period showed that three top-tier banks among the 10 licensed Dealing Member Banks on the FMDQ League table accounted for 61.01 per cent or N11.05 trillion of the turnover value between January and February

17.75% 5-year Fixed Rate Senior Unsecured Bond (the LAPO MFB SPV Bond) under a N20 billion Bond Issuance Programme,” the market reported.

Associate Vice President, Market Architecture Division, FMDQ, Ms. Jumoke Olaniyan, applauded LAPO MFB for successfully raising N3.15 billion from the domestic capital markets, and for indubitably setting the pace for other microfinance banks planning to raise capital in the Nigerian DCM. Olaniyan commended the issuer for joining the league of corporate entities whose debt profiles had been raised via the value-packed listings and quotations service offered by FMDQ. She reiterated the OTC Exchange’s commitment to continually align its strategies and innovation to serve and provide the much-needed support to the players in the DCM. In his address at a ceremony to commemorate the listing of the bond in March, Managing Director of LAPO MFB, Dr. Godwin Ehigiamusoe, revealed that the demand for capital from micro, small and medium businesses was high, and as a propoor financial institution, LAPO Microfinance was committed to the social and economic empowerment of low-income households through provision of access to responsive financial services on a sustainable basis.

“With excellent corporate governance, experienced management, committed staff and extensive footprints across Nigeria, LAPO Microfinance is poised to deliver its core mandate of enhancing financial inclusion by continuously tapping the Nigerian DCM to raise capital to improve lives of the underprivileged,” Ehigiamusoe stated.

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T H I S D AY, T H E S U N D AY N E W S PA P E R ˾ APRIL 8, 2018

BUSINESS/TELECOMS

Telecoms Penetration Grows amid Infrastructure Challenges In spite of the enormous challenges of infrastructure, there has been an exponential increase in telecoms subscription in Nigeria since GSM was launched 2001, writes Emma Okonji

S

ince the introduction of the Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) in Nigeria in 2001, telecommunications subscriptions have maintained a steady growth. Two years after GSM was introduced in the country, subscriptions jumped from 400, 000 lines to over five million active lines, even though the country had struggled to maintain 400,000 lines for several decades.

Since the era of GSM, subscriptions have continued to rise, despite telecoms infrastructural challenges faced by the country.

At the just-concluded 29th Enugu International Trade Fair, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), the telecoms industry regulator, announced that the country’s phone subscriptions have reached 147 million as at January 2018.

Executive Vice Chairman, NCC, Professor Umar Garba Danbatta, who made the disclosure, said Nigeria had continued to witness steady growth in mobile phone subscriptions in such a momentum that had impacted greatly on the country’s social media space.

Penetration Danbatta who was represented by Director of Public Affairs at NCC, Mr. Tony Ojobo, said, “Our statistics continue to show positive movement in the provision of services with internet and phone penetrations standing at over 100 million and 147 million subscribers respectively in January 2018.

“With broadband penetration of 21 per cent, Nigeria’s social media space has continued to thrive and citizens are enjoying access to modern ways of interaction in the cyberspace. “ Although the rise in telecoms subscription has impacted greatly on the social media space as well as the e-commerce space, the country is still battling with telecoms infrastructural challenges.

The infrastructural deficit is currently impeding broadband penetration in the country.

Danbatta said Nigerians were not left behind with services and innovations that abound in the Information Communication Technology (ICT) industry. “It is our commitment to keep the nation abreast of developments in telecommunications industry through innovative and world class regulatory processes,” Danbatta said at the 29th Enugu International Trade Fair, adding, “The commission will soon issue directive to service providers to give 14 days’ window to subscribers to enable them roll over their unused data. In other words, this will stop the current practice where subscribers lose unused data even if they fail to renew on the date of the expiration of the current subscription.”

He said NCC had already put the service providers on special notice about the commission’s current monitoring of user experience relating to poor reception, wrong billings and deductions and will call them to account in due course.

President of Enugu Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Mines and Agriculture (ECCIMA), Emeka Udeze, said NCC’s presence at the fair was a well thought out strategy to interact with its various publics in the South-east. Udeze said a whole lot of positive changes had taken place in the ICT sector, which had accelerated the pace of socio-economic development of the country.

In 2016, while presenting the first progress report of the eight-point agenda that was unveiled to the media in 2015 by NCC, Danbatta said the Nigeria broadband penetration had reached 20.95 per cent. Since then, the figure has increased to over 21 per cent, an indication that the country has continued to witness steady growth in both mobile phone subscription and broadband penetration.

According to Danbatta, the commission recognises its prime responsibility in the actualisation of the national broadband plan to attain 30 per cent broadband penetration by the end of 2018.

He said the commission was set up with the aim of boosting the importance of broadband on the international policy agenda and expanding

A smartphone... internet and phone penetration continues to grow rapidly

its access in every country. The NCC boss said that the commission was also set up as a key strategy in accelerating progress towards national and international development targets.

Effect The steady growth in telecoms subscriptions has affected growth in teledensity and mobile internet subscription since 2017, according to statistics obtained from the website of NCC. According to the statistics, both teledensity and the number of mobile internet subscription grew from July to December 2017, bringing the total number of subscriber teledensity to 103.61 per cent, as at December 2017, up from 79.39 per cent in July 2017. The number of mobile internet subscription also rose from 91.4 million in July 2017 to 98. 4 million in December 2017.

Teledensity is the number of active telephone connections per one hundred inhabitants living within an area and is expressed as a percentage figure. NCC’s statistics shows the sum total of all active telephone subscribers and teledensity as calculated on monthly and annual basis. Mobile internet subscription is best described as the active online presence of subscribers connected to the internet through mobile devices, like mobile phones and tablets.

Teledensity and mobile internet subscription assumed new growth in the later part of 2017, after a drop in the first six months in 2017, which was largely attributed to the effect of recession in 2016 and early part of 2017.

According to the statistics, in July last year, the total number of telecoms subscribers across networks was 139.1 million, with a teledensity of 79.39 per cent. In August, number of subscribers rose slightly to 139.4 million, with a slight increase in teledensity of 99.6 per cent. In September, subscriber number rose to 139.9 million, with teledensity of 99.9 per cent. In October, subscriber number also increased to 140.7 million, with increase in teledensity of 100.5 per cent. In November, subscriber number surpassed that of October figure, to reach 142.3 million, with increased teledensity of 101.66 per cent, while in December, the number

of subscribers also increased to 145.1 million, with increased teledensity of 103.6 per cent.

The statistics shows that telecoms subscribers’ number and teledensity reached their peak at 155.1 million and 110.8 per cent, repetitively, in January 2017, before nosedived between the months of February and July in 2017. As at July, subscriber number was as low as 139.1 million, with a teledensity of 79.39 per cent, before the figures started picking up again. According to NCC’s latest report, the country’s phone subscriptions have reached 147 million as at January 2018.

Perspectives Commending the growth in telecoms subscriptions, teledensity and mobile internet subscription across networks, experts attributed the growth to the availability and affordability of mobile devices, occasioned by the fact that Nigerians and Africans are largely a mobile dependent people.

The growth in mobile internet subscription could also be likened to recent statistics about the increased internet presence among African countries, as released by Google, which ranked Nigeria highest in online presence in Africa, above South Africa and Kenya. The Google research study also ranked Nigeria among the top three countries of the world that spend quality time online in search of various goods and services.

President, Association of Telecoms Companies of Nigeria (ATCON), Mr. Olusola Teniola, who commended the growth of mobile phone and internet subscriptions across network, said the growth would open up opportunities for more Nigerians to have access to communication and the internet, thereby boosting e-commerce and encouraging merger and acquisition in the ICT industry, as recently witnessed in the acquisition of Konga, an e-commerce business, by the Zinox Group.

Chief Executive Officer of Pinnet Informatics, Mr. Lanre Ajayi, who also commended the steady growth in telecoms subscriptions and mobile internet subscriptions, said the growth would boost innovations on the part of telecoms service providers and spur healthy competition and further

growth of the telecoms sector. Ajayi said mobile phone manufacturers should take advantage of the growth opportunity in the Nigeria telecoms space, to consider setting up mobile phone manufacturing plants in Nigeria that will further reduce the cost of mobile phones. Ajayi attributed the growth in telecoms subscriptions and internet subscriptions to affordability and accessibility of mobile phone devices. He said more access to mobile phone devices would further boost mobile subscriptions and internet subscriptions and open up lots of opportunities in the e-commerce space where people could shop online and do a variety of online businesses, using their mobile phones that are connected to the internet.

Challenges Despite the growth in telecoms subscriptions, the telecoms business in Nigeria is fraught with challenges. Chairman of the Association of Licensed Telecoms Operators of Nigeria (ALTON), Gbenga Adebayo, said government should enact policies that would protect telecoms infrastructure from vandalism. Adebayo also called on governments at the federal and state levels to remove all forms of barriers, like taxes and levies that are inimical to telecoms growth. He frowned on the recent move by some state governments and federal government agencies to introduce new taxes and levies on telecoms operations, saying such action can erode the gains of telecoms in the country.

Reacting to the Amended Taxes and Levies Order of 2015, which according to Adebayo, has engendered a multiplicity of taxes across different tiers of government, he insisted that such developments were inimical to telecommunications operations and growth in the country. He said the Amended Order failed to fix the taxable rate, resulting in the imposition of arbitrary levies and charges by the state government. The industry is also burdened with enactment of laws at the government level to legitimise various levies and charges that tend to negate the ease of doing business in Nigeria, Adebayo said. see concluding part on www.thidaylive.com

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T H I S D AY, T H E S U N D AY N E W S PA P E R ˾ APRIL 8, 2018

BUSINESS/PERSPECTIVE

A broadcasting station

How Pay-Television Business Works Edwin Nnadozie

A

lmost every pay-television subscriber I run into attempt, not often successfully, to speak with authority on how pay-television business works. Pay-television operations and business tend to be put in the same category as sex in which everybody thinks he/she is knowledgeable, an expert even.

The widely assumed familiarity with the pay television ecosystem feeds the almost-religious belief that pay television services should be cheap and that providers are ripping subscribers off. Even without actually saying it, I suspect, many subscribers believe that pay-television services should be treated like public utilities in the country, amenities we think should be used free of charge but expect to function optimally. Having worked in the television industry for over a decade, I can, at the risk of sounding conceited, claim to know a thing or two about how the business works.

Before proceeding, it is important to state that there is no intention to slate anybody for not being familiar with the business of pay-television. It is no civic obligation, after all. Having assumptions is part of our make-up as humans. Some assumptions, of course, are reasonably well founded; others, not so much.

First and very crucially, it is important to understand that pay-television companies usually do not own the enchanting content they broadcast. They are often just vendors or brokers for content creators and owners. Content creators and owners sell to pay-television companies for re-sale to the latter’s respective subscribers. There can be no prizes for guessing which party is dominant one in the pay television ecosystem. While providers own the customer relationship and make their money from rent on the delivery of content, pricing power belongs to the content owners.

Most often, content owners, often large companies, charge affiliate fees-their primary source of revenuefor funding content production. Affiliate fees are carriage fees paid per month per subscriber by

pay television companies or multichannel video programming distributors to content owners.

While the affiliate model benefits both content owners and vendors (the former is able to extend its reach and generate new sales; the vendor or affiliate makes commissions), the senior partner-by miles-is the content owner.

Premium content, including live coverage of iconic sports events and recent Hollywood movie releases, determine where subscribers go. Competition for this category of content is as fierce and bruising as a prize fight, which naturally drives up the cost of acquisition. The subsisting broadcast rights to the Premier League, which lapses next year, cost UK’s Sky and BT a staggering 5billion pounds.

This amounts to a 70 per cent increase over what was paid the last time.

Even for content produced locally, costs are not static, as producers are not insulated from local and international economic indices, which impose upward cost reviews when new content agreements are being entered into. Just as with foreign content, local content is denominated in dollars, the international currency of doing business, because most pay-television platforms operate across borders. Some pay-television companies, such as DStv, are known to develop sports and entertainment content, which costs astronomical sums.

As with everything in life, profile almost always determines what you get. Thus, a small-time content owner is very unlikely to attract a sizeable affiliate fee for its content. But the behemoths such as Sky Sports, Viacom or Disney are well placed to negotiate and attract much fatter sums per subscriber per month because they offer compelling content, without which any pay-television package marketed stands at a debilitating disadvantage.

Pay-television service providers remain in business because subscribers want access to popular content such as the Premier League, Spanish La Liga, documentaries, movies or kids’ entertainment.

The bid to remain in business leaves them at the mercy of content owners who, on account of the hot properties they own, could keep charging higher sums as affiliate fees. Pay-television companies

suffer further disadvantage when content-owning giants decide (and it is often) to band channels together and compel them to pay affiliate fees for all their channels whether popular or not. This often results in dispute between both parties. Also, this practice inevitably causes subscription price hikes and subscriber displeasure, which pay television companies have to deal with exclusively.

Another plank of the business is the cost of satellites used for transmission. There are five major components involved in direct to home (DTH) or direct broadcasting (DBS) satellite system: the programming source, broadcast centre, satellite, satellite dish and the receiver. The broadcast centre is the central hub of the system. At the broadcast centre, the pay television company receives signals

The pay-television business landscape may have the appearance of unfettered munificence, it is, however, a field where staggering sums are required just to stay afloat. In a country like Nigeria, where the cost of doing business is enormous on account of deficit in infrastructure, a pay-television company’s operating costs are better imagined. Providing an alternative source of power alone has been known to run businesses out of the country

from various programming sources and beams broadcast signal to geostationary satellites, which receive the signals from the broadcast station and rebroadcast them to Earth for the subscriber’s dish to pick up and pass on to the receiver.

Signal transmission to satellites is done by multiplex operators or satellite operators, which provide uplink services. Satellite television broadcast begins with a transmitting antenna at an uplink facility. The uplinked signals are then transmitted to be received by transponders tuned to a specific frequency range which, in turn, retransmit the signals back to Earth at a different frequency. The signal path to from the satellite to the receiving Earth station is known as downlink.

Many satellites used by pay-television companies are in Europe. MultiChoice Africa, for example, sends its programming packages to a satellite in Europe.

Satellites, as should be obvious, cost hundreds of millions of dollars to build and launch. They cost similarly huge amounts to maintain, so the business of working with satellites is an obscenely expensive one. Who bears the costs? Pay-television companies. Exclusively.

The pay-television business landscape may have the appearance of unfettered munificence, it is, however, a field where staggering sums are required just to stay afloat. In a country like Nigeria, where the cost of doing business is enormous on account of deficit in infrastructure, a pay-television company’s operating costs are better imagined.

Providing an alternative source of power alone has been known to run businesses out of the country.

There are equally costs of additional investments such as providing facilities, including building of production studios. Add that to the cost of developing new content, for operators that do (MultiChoice is an example) and watch the costs further balloon and make investment costs really high. Personnel costs do not have a reputation for reducing. The pay-television industry is just not where things go very swimmingly as widely assumed.

– Nnadozie, studio engineer, writes from Enugu.

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T H I S D AY, T H E S U N D AY N E W S PA P E R ˾ APRIL 8, 2018

BUSINESS/PERSPECTIVE

Towards a More Equitable Tax System Ade Adefeko

T

he tax debate is a never-ending saga constantly subjected to emotional vituperations, depending on which side of the divide one belongs. This debate has most recently brought to the front burner contending issues with respect to the newly introduced Voluntary Assets and Income Declaration Scheme (VAIDS) and the administration of tax in Nigeria.

No doubt, Nigeria is blessed with abundant natural and human resources. Nigeria has a population of about 186 million people.

Of this number, about 77 million were employed as at 2015, according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS). Furthermore, as released by the Joint Tax Board (JTB), only about 10 million people, out of this number, are registered for personal income tax across the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

These numbers just do not add up.

How does one explain that 10 million people carry the tax burden that at least 77 million people are expected to share? This is 13 for the cost of 100. Little wonder oil revenues still account for about 70% of government income, a reality that leaves the economy very vulnerable to fluctuations in the oil market. We believe this context lends credence to the need for a reassessment of the government’s current approach to improving the country’s tax base through VAIDS. VAIDS was introduced in 2017 by the federal government, to increase Nigeria’s tax to Gross Domestic Product (GDP) ratio from 6% to 15% by 2020, broaden the federal and state tax brackets, curb non-compliance with existing tax laws, discourage the use of tax havens, and prevent illicit financial flows and tax evasion. The scheme, which has been lauded by many as a vital tool for improving tax compliance and government revenue, ended on March 31. For a country with a 6% tax to GDP ratio, it is ordinarily expected that this scheme would be in place for more than nine months in order to increase tax compliance.

VAIDS can be compared to the Offshore Voluntary Disclosure Programme (OVDP), a similar scheme in the United States of America (USA), which was introduced in 2009 and would end in September, 2018. The OVDP was designed to allow taxpayers with unreported offshore assets to voluntarily resolve past tax and reporting non-compliance in exchange for amnesty on criminal prosecution and penalties. While our VAIDS, which should have ended on March 31 (we hear it might be extended), would have only been in operation for nine months, the OVDP programme in the USA (with higher tax to GDP ratio compared to Nigeria) was designed to last for nine years! What a contrast in a system with high level of tax evasion and transparency issues.

In scoping the scheme, the government has said it will target all individuals resident in Nigeria as well as companies operating in Nigeria. The scheme also has as its primary targets, multinational enterprises and high net-worth individuals (HNIs). We think this focus might be the albatross of the scheme and the numbers can show this.

The government had noted that the majority of those who pay personal income tax in Nigeria are low income earners and salary earners whose taxes are deducted at source. Furthermore, government at all levels place huge tax burden on multinational enterprises and HNIs compared to other existing businesses in order to increase its tax revenue. The logic of the tax authorities, which is perhaps understandable, is that given the limited human resources at their disposal and paucity of relevant data

FIRS Executive Chairman, Tunde Fowler

on other businesses, it is more efficient to concentrate on a few HNIs and multinational enterprises, who are already in the tax net and who can bring in the expected results, than focus on other businesses without adequate financial information or whose business addresses may not be known. If this was the justification for the focus on the multinational enterprises and HNIs, then we advocate for at least a more balanced approach.

We see four possible groups within the Nigerian tax bracket: enterprises (multinational and domestic), HNIs, the formally employed, and the informally employed. We could collapse both the formally and informally employed to have a more manageable three-pronged approach to achieving our tax objectives.

A balanced approach to improving the country’s fiscal position will focus on all four, if we see VAIDS beyond just a short-term revenue mobilisation scheme, and view it as a long-term approach to structuring a framework for effective tax collection. Note that our submission here is that none of these groups should carry more tax burden than it ought to, a situation we think is required to create an efficient and fair tax system.

Multinationals and HNIs do not need any special attention from the tax authorities to get them to contribute their quota to the country’s tax base. Most multinationals and HNIs already pay tax, but it must be stressed that some of them do not pay the correct amount of taxes.

This is because some of these multinationals and HNIs take advantage of the loopholes inherent in the tax laws and

administration of taxes generally. Such loopholes should be blocked through legislative action.

More importantly, the government needs to take a long-term view and find means to broaden the composition of each of the components that make up the tax bracket. Broadening the tax base can be achieved through concerted effort by government at all levels to bring as many people as possible within the tax bracket. As a starting point, there is a need to focus on the informal sector of the economy. The IMF had in 2017 valued Nigeria’s informal enterprises to be about 65% of GDP. This means that the government cannot shy away from evolving a smart strategy to formalise a lot of these enterprises and bring them under the tax net. This is a pool of about $263 billion of productivity. This is critical to achieving the tax to GDP objectives, which will see the government more than double taxes collected within the next two years, discounting the rate of GDP growth.

There is also a need to ensure that the personal income tax bracket is broadened. There are at least 67 million taxable income types in the formal sector for starters. At the current minimum wage of N18, 000 per month, which comes across as pessimistic, given the large number of incomes, we have an annual pool of about N14 trillion in taxable income. Averaging personal income tax of 18%, this adds about N2.5 trillion to the current tax base, in the minimum.

In a bid to bring more people within the tax net, government across all levels should undertake significant enlightenment and sensitisation campaigns (radio jingles, talk shows, road walk etc.,) to provide information to the citizenry on the need to pay tax.

A major constraint, however, is that all our tax laws are written in English Language, which many of the people in the informal sector do not understand. There is, therefore, the need to provide the laws to the people in their local languages through translation of the tax laws, particularly, the Personal Income Tax Act. A cue can be taken from the Republic of South Africa, where some of the country’s tax laws have been translated to local languages to reach a larger percentage of the population.

In addition, government needs to embrace technology in the administration of taxes to achieve greater efficiency. Although e-filing of taxes has been introduced, the system is plagued with a lot of hitches and, in some instances, income tax filing is still done manually. To improve this process, the tax authorities can partner with the private sector and other technologically driven organisations to provide seamless and easy platforms for tax payers to be able to pay their taxes and file tax returns without stress.

On the whole, it is important to note that the goal of this piece is neither to exonerate any category of taxpayers nor over burden anyone of them. Rather, the essence is to show that the numbers may not necessarily support the government’s primary focus on HNIs and multinationals. Consequently, we believe that the tax system should show more equity in distributing tax responsibilities and government should be focused on bringing more people within the tax net and bracket.

While a case is made for a balanced and even tax system and an expansion of the tax net, the government also has to be responsible, transparent and efficient with how the taxes are spent. Tax apathy and evasion can be reduced where there is high level of transparency and visible development is evident.

– Adefeko, a corporate communications expert, writes from Lagos.

Despite Concerns over Food Inflation, Analysts Justify MPC’s Tight Monetary Stance But Adebajo believed, “Inflation has established a downward trajectory and this action of holding will only delay economic growth, as the expected stimulus from the budget capex is delayed as a result of non-passage by the legislature.” Lamenting the inflationary consequences, he said, “Food inflation has remained stubbornly high as a result of the security problems in the food basket in Benue, Plateau, Taraba and Adamawa states.

“Rates this high are not sustainable for government debt service and will also, eventually, compromise the real sector recovery and GDP growth, which for the last three years has not even equalled the rate of our population growth of three per cent.”

Director, Union Capital Markets Limited, Egie Akpata, also stated that the decision of the MPC to maintain the status quo was expected. Akpata based his view on the fact that nothing material had happened this year to warrant a change from their current position. “Based on their observations around inflation, exchange rates etc., it is possible that this status quo might be maintained beyond the next MPC meeting.”

According to him, “Apart from rising oil prices, there is no big idea being pursued by the fiscal authorities that will change the trajectory of the economy. Passing the 2018 budget would only put pressure on the FGN to continue its borrowing spree and reduce the ability of the MPC to cut rates. Banks have already cut deposit rates by

almost as much as the drop in T-bill yields. So their net interest margins are not under so much pressure that they would significantly increase their loan creation.”

Akpata said, “The CBN can drive interest rates lower by cutting the rates paid for OMO bills.

Rates for T-bills at the primary auction have been falling and fell again at Wednesday’s auction. But the CBN has to manage the balance between keeping the naira attractive to foreign portfolio investors and dropping interest rates with the hope that it will lead to increased demand for credit, which should stimulate the economy.”

However, Chief Economist and Managing Director, Global Research, Africa, Standard Chartered Bank, Razia Khan, noted that keeping the policy rates was against the bank’s expectation. Khan, however, pointed out that the decision was in line with the market’s consensus.

Nonetheless, Khan said, there was much discussion about the monetary policy measures instituted so far and their impact on the economy. “It may be that the MPC will wait until for confirmation of the deceleration in headline CPI, which we expect over the coming months, before it cuts its policy rate,” said. “For now, the MPC remains concerned about the relative stickiness of food price inflation in Nigeria, notwithstanding weak demand, weak economic performance, and weak credit growth.”

She added, “While we continue to anticipate

Emefiele

further MPR easing over the course of the year, it is clear that maintaining FX stability is paramount.

The CBN will not do anything that is perceived to endanger this.

“The hope appears to be that the federal

Cont’d from Pg. 17 government steps to deal with contractor arrears, and that will help to lessen NPLs in the banking system. Much hope is also placed on ‘rapid passage’ of the 2018 budget to lift the economic outlook.”

Expressing the bank’s position, Khan stated, “While we are also concerned about the stickiness of food price inflation, we think the base effect combined with weak demand, will be overriding. Inflation data should soon show a more pronounced improvement.”

She explained, “Given that the 2018 budget is unlikely to be passed before May, and given that implementation of the budget may take even longer, weak money supply growth remains a key concern. Credit growth to the government it is strong, but is doing seemingly little to boost overall economic activity.”

But chief economist believed, “Notwithstanding the improvement in oil earnings, downside risks to the outlook for the Nigerian economy still predominate. The CBN will try to counteract this through its targeted provision of subsidised credit to certain sectors, at below-inflation interest rates, in line with what it calls its ‘development objective’.

“We believe, however, that the longer term strengthening of Nigeria’s monetary and banking framework would be better served by greater reliance on the MPR itself as a signal of monetary policy intent.”

T H I S D AY ˾ SUNDAY APRIL 8, 2018

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T H I S D AY ˾ Ͷ˜ ͰͮͯͶ

T H I S D AY ˾ SUNDAY APRIL 8, 2018

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T H I S D AY, T H E S U N D AY N E W S PA P E R Ëž APRIL 8, 2018

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Post MPC Reac on: Consolida ng on ains in the Economy MPC Retains all Policy Rates

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eta n the s mmetr c orr dor around the at 200 and 500 as s po nts. n arr n at ts dec s on, the B , n the commun ue re eased a er the mee n , ac no ed ed the pro ress made n recent mes n sta n the mar et and anchor n n a on e pecta on o er nonethe ess, the omm ee, on a a ance of factors, dec ded to ma nta n status uo, ar u n that a po c rate cut, h e ene c a to ro th, m ht ne a e mpact e terna account and enerate and onsumer pr ce pressures. he omm ee adm ed the need to support ro th current runn n e o trend and on term poten a and uo pr ate sector cred t ro th up a pa tr 5% n e ruar .

m ar , ma nta ned that the B con nue to adopt uncon en ona monetar po c , nterpreted as tar eted de e opmenta nter en on n spec c sectors such as the anchor orro ersÍ› pro ramme, to a d cred t o to u nera e ut ro th enhanc n sectors of the econom . he a so noted that recent sca po c ac ons such as nau ura on of ood ecur t ounc , e orts to pa o contractor de ts th ssuance of prom ssor note and passa e of the 201 ud et e re u red to mpro e food susta na t , support nanc a s stem sta t and a d the much needed econom c ro th.

Our iews͙ Possible Im lica ons and Outlook thou h the ͛s dec s on as ar e n ne th forecast, e e e e po c rate cut n 201 s a ma er of hen, not f, a a nst the ac drop of

1. uppor e e terna account cond on – sta e o pr ces, r s n current account surp us and e terna reser es – h ch emp r ca stud es ha e emphas ed to e the ma or anchor of monetar po c . he e do ns de r s s to e terna account sta t are ͞sudden stops ͞and h h pro a t of cap ta o re ersa s as the 201 e ec on season dra s near et, e th n the B has enou h e terna reser es and reso e to defend the currenc .

2. Ben n out oo for consumer pr ces, h ch the B o ernor has repeated h h hted to e a ma or po c cons dera on. th pers stent dece era on of n a on rate, the case for eas n ecome more compe n n 2 201 . fr n est esearch forecasts ear end n a on at 11.4%.

lobal Markets Review and Outlook: Mixed Performance across Markets over Concerns on Possible Trade ar n estors͛ fears th re ards to a poten a trade ar et een the and h na ere radua eased fo o n comments te en nuch n, the n ted tates͛ reasur ecretar , on the poss t of ne o a ons et een the and h na. o e er, on hursda , res dent rump d rected den ca on of an add ona 100.0 n orth of h nese mports to e h t th the tar mpos on. en ment n the mar ets as m ed as the 500 re 0.2% h e the c osed 0.1% o er o due to res dent rump͛s recent comments on ma on. m ar , the hare trended 1.7% h her o .

he pos e sen ment tered nto mar ets n urope and s a as a nd ces c osed n the reen sa e for on on ͛s an en h ch as dra ed 0. % o er due to an e es o er a poten a trade ar et een h na and the . rance͛s 40 apprec ated the most, up 1. %

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omes c Market Review: rac ve Entry Prices arise following Sustained Sell o s erformance of the domes c e u t mar et as he ear sh performance n the oca ourse as susta ned th s ee as the hare nde shed 1. % to se e at 40, 41.14 po nts h e return further moderated to . %. onse uent on th s, n estors ost 23 . n n a ue as mar et cap ta a on decreased to 14. tn. he dra to mar et performance th s ee can e ar e a r uted to susta ned se o s n e ethers N CEM 2.0% , ENIT . % and R NTY 1.3% . n the contrar , mar et ac t e e stren thened as a era e o ume and a ue traded rose 14. % and 5 . % to

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erformance across the B mar et as m ed th 3 nd ces a n n h e 2 dec ned. nd a͛s B ens, outh fr ca͛s hare and uss a͛s ere up 2.0%, 0. % and 0.4% o respec e as at the me of r n . o e er, h na͛s han ha ompos te s d 1.2% o as h na͛s reta ator mpos on of tar s on mports from the e hed on n estor sen ment. e se, Bra ͛s o espa further moderated 0.5% o .

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n he onetar o c omm ee he d ts rst mee n for the ear on the 3rd and 4th of pr fo o n the recent con rma on of t o ne eput o ernors of the B rs. sha hmad and r. d ard damu and three ndependent mem ers rof. deo a den n u, r. u anus and r. o ert so a . n ne th consensus e pecta on for a Ížrate ho dÍ&#x;Í• the omm ee unan mous oted to ma nta n rates at pre ous e e s, uc n a trend of po c rates cuts fr can centra an s n recent ee s. he re ona eas n c c e has seen en a 50 ps to .5% , hana 200 ps to 1 .0% and outh fr ca 25 ps to .5% ease enchmar rates n the r ast mee n s, ra s n specu a ons of a poss e rate cut the er an , pr or to the mee n , a er successfu anchor n near term n a on e pecta on o er. he B ho e er dec ded to

thou h e e pect a rate cut n 201 , the mpact on ed ncome e ds m ht not e su stan a as the B has a read set n mo on the eas n c c e de erate u d n mar et rates do n n the past months, n add on to noc on e ect of the sca strate to reduce domes c de t ssuance. a nst th s ac drop, er an ed ncome mar et has performed fa r ear to–date the Ban ond nde s up 1. % as ond e ds ha e dec ned 44 ps on a era e to 13. % h e s rates ha e compressed 10 ps n the pr mar mar et n the same per od. o e er, our out oo con nues to fa our o er e ds, a e t radua , th short to ntermed ate onds fa n faster than on er term onds as the e d cur e radua norma es.

n the e u es s de, e an c pate modest performance as e ha e con nued to tness moderate par c pa on of fore n n estors th po c norma a on n s stem c centra an s and the pu ac of domes c n estors accoun n for 5 . % of mar et ac es as at e 201 . e erthe ess, as the ed en ronment s e pected to radua taper throu h the ear, e u es e ecome more a rac e espec a as uarter earn n s mpro e secur es a ua ons.

Post MPC Reac on: Consolida ng on ains in the Economy MPC Retains all Policy Rates

440. m un ts and . n respec e . he most traded stoc s o ume for the ee ere ENIT 1 7.4m , CCESS 1 0.1m and B 1 .2m h e R NTY 5. n , ENIT 5. n and NESTLE 2. n ere the most traded stoc s a ue.

he mar et c ed o the ee on a ne a e note, par n a ns from the pre ous sess on as the enchmar nde fe 1. % and 0.3% on the rst t o trad n da s. osses n N CEM, R NTY and ENIT ere the ma or dra s to mar et performance. B hursda , the ear sh trend as ha ted a a nst the ac drop of ncreased ar a n hun n n N CEM, ETI and B h ch ed the enchmar nde 0.3%. o c ose the ee , the ears returned to the mar et, o se n the pre ous da ͛s a n, thus dra n performance do n ps.

cross sectors, performance as e ua ear sh. he as nde ed a ards, do n 2. % fo o n osses n MOBIL .5% and TOT L 5.0% . he ndustr a oods and Ban n nd ces fo o ed su t, do n 2.1% and 1.3% respec e as n estors so d o pos ons n N CEM 2.0% , PCO 2.4% , ENIT . % and R NTY 1.3% . m ar , se pressures n NI ERI N BRE ERIES 0. % , INTBRE .7% , PIC 7.0% and NEM 1. % dro e the onsumer oods and nsurance nd ces do n 1.1% and 0.1% respec e .

n estor sen ment ea ened n the ee as mar et readth ad ance dec ne ra o fe to 0.4 from 1.2 recorded the pr or ee fo o n 1 stoc s that ad anced a a nst 50 stoc s that dec ned. he est perform n stoc s ere L S CO 21.2% , M YB ER 14.3% and L NION 12.3% h e P L OIL 23.7% , NITY 17.2% and L OSMIT 14.7% ed the osers chart. e e e e the current ne a e performance of the mar et s a correc on to the u sh run tnessed n the rst t o months of the ear. h s has created a rac e entr pr ces n ar e and med um cap stoc s th stron fundamenta s. e therefore ma nta n our pos e out oo on the mar et n the near term fo o n the re ease of stron 2017 earn n s and e pecta on of mpress e 1 201 resu ts.

Money Market Review and Outlook: wash of Li uidity OBB and O N Rates Trend Southwards T Bills Market Bullish n n the mone mar et, the pen Bu Bac BB and ern ht rates dec ned o due to an ncrease n s stem udt a r uta e to and reasur s

27

T H I S D AY, T H E S U N D AY N E W S PA P E R Ëž APRIL 8, 2018

repa ments n the s stem. he BB and rates dec ned at the start of the ee on uesda , do n 3. ppts and 3.7ppts to c ose at 3.3% and 4.4% respec e re a e to 7.2% and .1% recorded n the pr or ee . h s s a r uta e to the sp o er e ect of B repa ment of a out 177.3 n h ch ncreased the tota s stem u d t to . n from 45 .7 n n the pr or ee . m ar , the BB and rates further dec ned m d ee to 2.7% and 3.3% respec e fo o n ncrease n tota s stem udt to 4.2 n.

o e er, the trend as re ersed hursda as the BB and rates nched up to 4. % and 5.3% respec e fo o n a mass e mop up of 74 .7 n h ch as necess tated a 5. % 52 . n sur e n s stem u d t to 1.3tn. t the auc on, the B ssued 1 da ered 200.0 n, a e 3. n and 245 da ered 500.0 n, a e 4. nstruments at 12.5% and 14.3% respec e . t the c ose of the ee , the BB and rates c osed o er, do n 3.7% and 4.0% respec e as s stem u d t c osed at 1.2tn.

n the reasur B s mar et, performance as ar e u sh as a era e rate across tenors traded o er on 3 of 4 trad n da s. t the open n of the trad n ee on uesda , the reasur B s mar et as u sh as the a era e rate across enchmar s fe 22 ps to 13. 2%.

B m d ee , th s u sh trend con nued as the a era e rate across enchmar tenors mar na dec ned 2 ps further to 13. 0% and 4 ps on the su se uent trad n da to c ose at 13.5 %. o e er, the B carr ed out a r mar ar et uc on here the 1 da ered .5 n, u scr p on 10.0 n, o ed .5 n , 1 2 da ered 47. n, u scr p on 20.4 n, o ed 17. n and 3 4 da ered 3 .1 n, u scr p on 173. n, o ed .1 n ere a o ed at

stop rates of 11.75%, 12.70% and 13.04% respec e .

he auc on resu t c ear d sp a s n estorsÍ› appe te for on dated treasur s nstruments as nterest rate out oo con nues to fa our radua modera on n the ne t coup e of months.

Based on our short term out oo , e e pect the reasur B s mar et to rema n u sh en the op m s c econom c out oo and the B ͛s po c as for eas n .

Foreign Exchange Market Review and Outlook: Naira Remains Stable as Rates Trade within Tight Bands

n a d to susta n s stem u d t and ma nta n sta t across the d erent se ments of the mar et, the B con nued ts ee nter en ons of 210.0m a the ho esa e econdar ar et nter en on uc on . onse uent , rates traded a sh th n ht ands dur n the ee . o o n the resump on from ho da s, the ee opened at on uesda th the B spot rate at 305. 5 1.00 and th s apprec ated 5 o o to 305. 0 1.00 m d ee h ch rema ned constant throu hout the ee . he para e mar et rate opened at at 3 2.00 1.00 and rema ned unchan ed the end of the ee .

n the other hand, n the n estor and porters͛ fore n e chan e ndo , the er an utonomous ore n chan e rate opened the ee apprec a n 17 o o to 35 . 3 1.00 from 3 0.00 1.00 at the pr or hursda ͛s c ose. B m d ee , the rate deprec ated to 21 o o to c ose at 3 0.04 1.00 and apprec ated 3 o o to 3 0.01 1.00 the su se uent da . o e er, rate apprec ated 13 o o o to c ose at 35 . 7 1.00 compared to 3 0.00 1.00 n the pr or ee . oreo er, ndo ac t e e ea ened as cumu a e turno er measured on hursda stood at 1.0 n, do n 1 .0%

1 5.3m from ee .

1.2 n recorded n pr or

he tota a ue of open contracts of the a ra se ed futures n the futures mar et mpro ed 57.2m, represen n a 1. % o ro th to 3.3 n on r da from 3.2 n ast ee c ose. onethe ess, the

201 nstrument as the most su scr ed th a tota mar et a ue of 0.5m contract pr ce 3 0.31 1.00 h e the 201 as the east su scr ed th a tota mar et a ue of . m contract pr ce 3 1.

1.00 .

ur e pecta ons n the near term s that rates con nue to trade th n ht ands as the pe an rema ns comm ed to susta n n ts nter en ons n the face of domes c macroeconom c and e terna sector pos es, nc ud n the stead accre on to the e terna reser es.

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28

T H I S D AY, T H E S U N D AY N E W S PA P E R ˾ ΀˜ ͺ͸͹΀

MARKET NEWS

GlaxoSmithklime Share Price Declines 15 % on Profit Taking Goddy Egene Shares of GlaxoSmithkline Consumer Nigeria (GSK) Plc declined 14.2 per cent last week following profit taking by investors after the stock recorded an unprecedented rally last month. Investors had increased demand for the stock following the announcement of a distribution of a total of N8.97 billion as dividend to shareholders for the 2017 business year. According to the board of directors

of GSK, it approved the payment of N8.49 billion as special dividend and N478.4 million as ordinary dividend, bringing total payout for the 2017 business year to N8.97 billion.

While the special dividend is N7.10 per share, the ordinary dividend is 40 kobo per share bringing the total dividend to N7.50 per share.

In a move to benefit from this dividend, some investors had increased their demand for the stock, a development that lifted the share price

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 N21.00 N34.00.

However, profit taking set in last week, causing the stock to fall to by 14.7 per cent to close lower at N29.00 per share. Some market analysts said the stock may witness further decline this week as more investors move to lock in profit.

GSK made N20.9 billion in 2016 from the sale of its drink business to Suntory Beverage and Food Nigeria Limited. The amount being cash was kept in the bank

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 05-Apr-2018, unless otherwise stated.

by the company until it has now decided to distribute it to its shareholders. Before the N7.10 special dividend, the company had paid a special dividend of 60 kobo per share in 2016 amounting to N717 million.

The company had in 2016 concluded a N22.6 billion divestment of its drinks business to the Japanese group, Suntory Beverage and Food Limited (SBF). GSK Nigeria’s drinks business included the two iconic brands-

Lucozade and Ribena.

The Chairman of the GSK, Mr. Edmund Onuzo had told shareholders last year that the divestment of the company’s drinks business in enabled the company to align with the global strategy and focus on its core businesses with the aim of driving improved margins and sustainable growth.

According to him, although the immediate outcome of the divestment is a leaner and nimble

company, focus on healthcare would enhance GSK’s brand portfolio.

“In 2017, GSK would focus on growing major brands like Sensodyne, Panadol, Andrews Liver Salt and Macleans to drive baseline profitability.

These are part of our sustainability measures, we are now more focused on our core strength and going forward, we hope to aggressively build our consumer healthcare portfolio,”Onuzo said.

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 187.22 188.07 5.37% Nigeria International Debt Fund 243.93 244.81 5.44% 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 14.75% 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 159.00 160.11 4.82% AXA Mansard Money Market Fund 1.00 1.00 14.71% 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 12.44 12.76 12.20% Women's Investment Fund 103.56 106.21 2.91% 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 14.79% 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 15.12% Coronation Balanced Fund 1.08 1.10 2.72% Coronation Fixed Income Fund 1.10 1.13 6.37% 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 1,200.05 1,201.25 4.55% FBN Heritage Fund 147.62 148.96 5.91% FBN Money Market Fund 100.00 100.00 14.30% FBN Nigeria Eurobond (USD) Fund - Institutional $114.75 $115.21 1.59% FBN Nigeria Eurobond (USD) Fund - Retail $114.76 $115.21 1.69% FBN Nigeria Smart Beta Equity Fund 181.51 184.32 12.71% 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 1.42 1.40 6.99% Legacy Debt Fund 2.99 2.99 3.58% 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 3,147.10 3,179.55 5.41% Coral Income Fund 2,564.60 2,564.60 4.82% 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 13.98% 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 14.83% Vantage Balanced Fund 2.17 2.19 2.87% Vantage Guaranteed Income Fund 1.00 1.00 16.38% Kedari Investment Fund (KIF) 118.33 118.73 2.90%

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 2.15% Lotus Halal Fixed Income Fund 1,069.19 1,069.19 3.41% 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 N/A N/A N/A Meristem Money Market Fund N/A N/A N/A 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 10.20% PACAM Fixed Income Fund 11.52 11.57 4.33% PACAM Money Market Fund 10.00 10.00 14.15% 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 2,344.25 2,364.80 4.54% Stanbic IBTC Bond Fund 181.07 181.07 2.62% Stanbic IBTC Ethical Fund 1.06 1.07 5.45% Stanbic IBTC Guaranteed Investment Fund 230.68 230.77 4.76% Stanbic IBTC Iman Fund 190.71 192.86 6.49% Stanbic IBTC Money Market Fund 100.00 100.00 14.28% Stanbic IBTC Nigerian Equity Fund 10,104.43 10,242.38 4.50% Stanbic IBTC Dollar Fund (USD) 1.08 1.08 2.08% 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 13.37 13.57 6.63% Zenith Ethical Fund 14.13 14.30 7.16% Zenith Income Fund 19.80 19.80 4.68% 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

12.41 158.49 116.61

12.51 161.90 118.80

2.37% 10.98% 6.74%

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

EXCHANGE TRADED FUNDS Fund Name Lotus Halal Equity Exchange Traded Fund SIAML Pension ETF 40 Stanbic IBTC ETF 30 Fund

VETIVA FUND MANAGERS LTD Web: www.vetiva.com; Tel: +234 1 453 0697 Fund Name Vetiva Banking Exchange Traded Fund Vetiva Consumer Goods Exchange Traded Fund Vetiva Griffin 30 Exchange Traded Fund Vetiva Industrial Goods Exchange Traded Fund Vetiva S&P Nigeria Sovereign Bond Exchange Traded Fund

funds@vetiva.com Bid Price

Offer Price

Yield / T-Rtn

5.13 9.58 18.86 21.35 155.15

5.17 9.66 18.96 21.55 157.15

8.19% 0.07% 6.18% 8.49% 4.40%

The value of investments and the income from them may fall as well as rise. Past performance is a guide and not an indication of future returns. Fund prices published in this edition are also available on each fund manager’s website and FMAN’s website at www.fman.com.ng. Fund prices are supplied by the operator of the relevant fund and are published for information purposes only.

T H I S D AY ˾ SUNDAY APRIL 8, 2018

53

54

T H I S D AY, T H E S U N D AY N E W S PA P E R ˾ Ͷ˜ ͰͮͯͶ

08.04.2018

̓

FLORENCE ITA-GIWA

GOING FULL THROTTLE ON CULTURE By her stature as Mother of the Efik Kingdom, Senator Florence Mayen ItaGiwa has spent much of her life promoting Efik culture, most times at her own expense. Nseobong Okon-Ekong reports on the first edition of Abang Cultural Festival, which Ita-Giwa recently launched in Calabar

T

he plan was not for me to enter her bedroom. We had postponed the interview a couple of times. Another time was set for 10 O’clock in that morning. The previous evening, Senator Florence Mayen Ita-Giwa spearheaded a renaissance of Efik culture, particularly, of the womenfolk on the platform of Abang Cultural Festival. “It is easy to assume that only the men promote or sustain our culture through Ekpe and other

Ita-Giwa

masquerades, but that is far from the truth. Efik women have a lot of very lovely cultural dances that are almost going into extinction,” Ita-Giwa said last week at the premises of the African Club. “During the big festivals in December, for instance, much of the cultural displays on the streets of Calabar are promoted by the men.

The cultural dances of the womenfolk like the Abang and others are gradually fading away.

I don’t think that should happen. We have to preserve some of these things for our children.”

By her stature as ‘Eka Iban ke Essien Efik

Duopeba’ (Mother of the Efik Kingdom), having spent much of her life promoting Efik culture, most times at her own expense, she also founded a socio-cultural group, ‘Mbono Iban Isong Efik’ comprising some of the leading Efik women from all walks of life including senior lawyers, successful business women, professionals and academicians. At 72 years, she is never scared to jump over the barricade of any challenge that life throws at her. Enterprising and always thinking of new schemes to retrieve any moribund social order

back on the right track, she moves around wit the confidence of a champion.

When the first edition of Abang Cultural Festival kicked off, Ita-Giwa announced to a cheering gathering her wish to return as an Efi woman should there be reincarnation. She tol them matter-of-factly, “Efik women are peace loving, caring, prepare great meals, which is why when men from other ethnic groups com here, they don’t want to go. It is nothing to do with ‘love portion’.” It would not be the only myth she either debunked or strengthened in

55

APRIL 8, 2018 ˾ T H I S DAY, T H E S U N DAY N E W S PA P E R

COVER the course of our interaction. While the men and women echoed her sentiment, she waited for the din to die, before making a passionate appeal to the youths of the land. “Stop the violence. Stop the bloodshed. Efiks are not known for violence.”

To honour the event, the Obong of Calabar, Edidem Ekpo Okon Abasi Out V was represented by his wife, and Etubom Bob Duke, Chairman, Etubom’s Traditional Council, who chaired the occasion. Some of the very important guests at the event were Chief Effiong Edet, Prof. Edisua Itam, Ntukae (Mrs.) Afi Ikpeme, Princess Victoria Adang, Hon. Nkoyo Toyo, Prof. Eka Braide and Mrs. Andem Rabana. Duke who emphasized on the importance of peace in Efik land while commending the effort of Ita-Giwa and her team, also expressed confidence that with the cohesion of professional and distinguished Efik women, it will be easier to rally their support for the Efik monarch.

Two members of the MIIE, Professor Braide, a former Vice Chancellor of the Federal University, Lafia, and Professor Itam, were hopeful of what the association in general and the Abang Festival in particular could achieve for the cultural landscape of Calabar.

Both women said nothing to compare the Abang Festival to. “We have seen individual groups moving around town, but this is like an assemblage of so many groups competing.

This is the first time I am seeing this. It is an exhibition of the cultural heritage of our people, with the various dance groups really showing what they are good at doing, the costumes, the dances and the history behind the dances.”

Itam, a Bio-Chemistry teacher at the College of Medicine, University of Calabar, referenced the crowd, the enthusiasm and the excitement at the festival. She said, “Some of us have never seen these plays. It will encourage our children.

This will really encourage other aspects of our culture.”

The MIIE was formed by Ita-Giwa for the funeral of one of the icons of Efik land.

Thereafter, the group decided to stay on and effect some socio-economic development in

Cross River State and the Abang Festival is one of them. The group may consider making the Abang Festival an annual event that will grow bigger.

Chief Charles Okon, President of the African Club, founded in 1903, the oldest club in that part of the country said he was honoured that his facility was chosen to showcase a revival of women dances in Calabar. “The club supports cultural activities and promotes socialisation at community level.

This has to do with people coming together to celebrate what they inherited and hold very dear. Senator Ita-Giwa is a honourary member and a patron of the club. She has been quite supportive of the club and we hold her in very high esteem.”

For the first edition, there were 11 competing and five non-competing troupes.

Their performance was scrutinized by a team of judges chaired by Head of the Theatre Arts Department, University of Calabar. Perhaps, due to the announcement of the festival in town, a few masculine-centred masquerades were at the grounds of the African Club and out of courtesy, the organisers allowed them a short time parade before the crowd. But everyone had come out to see dances by the women folk. Interestingly, women of all ages turned up. Although, it was a non-competing group, a team of children of between three and six years stole the show and won an instant cash prize of N100, 000 from Ita-Giwa. The first position was won by a group of market women who performed the ‘Ukwa’ dance. They took home N150, 000. The second and third place winners were rewarded with N100, 000 and N50, 000 respectively. However, no participating group was allowed to return home empty handed.

They all went away with cash prizes between N25, 000 and N10, 000.

According to the head judge, the evaluators were looking at uniformity, character, costume, use of space and rhythm in scoring the overall performance of the groups. The ordinarily known Abang is that which the dancer is distinguished with a spool around her waist and a colourful headgear. The attractiveness

Abang Dance troupe

of the dance is displayed in the femininity and sexuality that the dancers demonstrate. The Abang Festival also offered a platform to a variety of other female dances like Ekombi and Ntimi.

Since the increasingly popular Carnival Calabar started and Ita-Giwa became the leader of the one of the competing bands, Seagull Band, creative genes have been fired to appreciate her past. In one of her presentations, she was accused by pastors and some Christians of trying to bring back the worship of the ‘Queen of the Coast’ a water deity believed to be half-woman, half fish), sometimes called ‘Mammy Water’. But, she said, she is very spiritual and had challenged the Christians to show who was better blessed

by God. “I don’t believe in witchcraft or ghost. I don’t believe in juju. I believe in God and I am a Christian. My parents were Christians but my mother encouraged me to take an interest in our culture from my teenage. Twice I have performed a very sacred role at the passing and the coronation of the Obong of Calabar.

It is usually reserved for first daughters. At Obong’s death, if you are chosen for the role, the chief come for you at 12 midnight, you have to wear black and go round all the ruling houses till about 5 O’clock in the morning. At the entrance of each house, you must wail and say that your father the king is dead. The other role is at the coronation of the king, you are adorned in white and you go round strategic place in Calabar to announce peace and prosperity at the installation of the new king. It is height of ignorance to try to kill your culture.

Religion is a very personal thing and some of these people do what they do for personal interest, not for the love of God. They should learn how the Efik accepted Christianity. The missionaries formed some kind of friendship with the leadership of the Ekpe society and Ekpe was used to coerce the people to church on Sundays. The most revered church by the Efik, the Presbyterian Church in Duke Town, is across the street from the Ekpe Shrine and the Obong must attend both the church and the

shrine at his coronation. I built an Ekpe shrine in my compound to honour the memory of my father. Though Ekpe is not supposed to enter a woman’s compound, I open my gate January 1 every year. They have to pay home to me as the Mother of the Kingdom.”

One question that Ita-Giwa would not give a direct answer to is her relationship with ‘Mammy Water’. “I believe the only incision on my body is the one made by my grandmother when she thought I was actually ‘Mammy Water’. I was told that as an Efik woman, Mammy Water is my heritage. I have never seen Mammy Water. I don’t know what it looks like, but from images by artists, I was able to conceptualise the presentation at Carnival Calabar, which was a play by Lilian Bach.

Monalisa Chinda was to play the role. I think she got scared. I had to take her to the Mammy Water shrine so that she would understand what was expected of her. The story of Efik migration, in part, states that Mammy Water guided the Obong of Calabar to where the Efik settled in Creek Town. I do not think Mammy Water is a malevolent spirit like witchcraft.”

Ita-Giwa’s home could be described as a house of mirrors. There are glasses that reflect everywhere you turn. On her massive bed, with a headrest in the shape of 16 flower petals, each one has a mirror, apart from the mirror on the walls. She explained her attraction to anything that throws back her image. “I like to look at myself. I also like space. I cannot get enough space and mirrors give an illusion of space.”

Her phone kept ringing for the duration of the interview, even as different aides interrupt our discussion. But she showed the utmost courtesy because she had postponed our meeting more than once. It was well into early afternoon, but she was still in her nightwear.

She told me she went to bed late because she had to attend to ailing daughter, Betty, one of the children she adopted from the creeks of Bakassi. Betty who is named after her late mother, was the reason she slept late. Betty was also the reason she had to stop talking to me.

But, it was fair. After all, we had been talking for close to three hours.

56

T H I S DAY, T H E S U N DAY N E W S PA P E R ˾ Ͷ, ͰͮͯͶ

EVENT

Why Hadiza Bala-Usman Campaigns for the Girl-child THERE ARE THOUSANDS OF OTHER WOMEN IN THE NORTHERN PART OF NIGERIA, WHO HAVE THE COMPETENCE AND ABILITY TO OCCUPY THE SEAT THAT I CURRENTLY OCCUPY AND THAT THE ONLY THING THAT STANDS BETWEEN THEM AND THE ROLE IS THAT THEY HAVE NOT BEEN PRESENTED WITH THE OPPORTUNITY

Vanessa Obioha

B

y the time Hadiza BalaUsman finished delivering her paper on ‘Equity and Inclusiveness’ at a recent WIMBIZ masterclass at George Lagos Hotel, Ikoyi, most members of her audience were in awe of her towering personality. The audience of mostly young women were curious about her achievements; how she climbed the rungs of the ladder of success to occupy one of the most powerful positions in public service: Managing Director of the Nigeria Ports Authority, how she became an advocate of the girl child. Their questions were almost endless. But the former Chief of Staff to the Kaduna state governor in her gentle mien seemed undaunted by the avalanche of questions thrown at her.

Such questions have become familiar since she took over the reins at NPA, a position which many, at first, doubted her capacity to cope. Others slandered her appointment as being politically orchestrated.

Despite the odds stacked against her, Bala-Usman has over time proved that she is more than just a pretty face. Under her watch, she has restored the lost glory of the organisation, initiated friendly policies that ensure smooth operations with transparency at the core, as well as, developed good welfare packages for staff. Her efforts have been greatly lauded but it was not as easy as a walk in the park. Being a woman in such an enviable position requires her to work twice as hard as her male counterparts. She told her enraptured audience how she arrives to work on time, reads every mail sent to her, holds meetings with men who either looked down on her or are intimidated by her status. A lot was expected from her every step. However, this has not stopped her from playing the role of a wife and mother. She has somehow perfected a balance between her home and career.

Bala-Usman’s meteoric rise to power at 42 years is a success story worth telling.

Her provenance makes her success more beguiling as northern women have very few representations in the government.

While this singular fact makes her an outstanding one-in-a-million, she, however, pointed out that there are more northern women who could do better than her given the opportunity.

“There is a kind of unspoken general perception that certain cultural peculiarities that are identifiable with the northern part of Nigeria literarily means that there are too few women to take positions of responsibility than those from other parts of the country. While some of those who hold this perception suffer from a willing inability to seek the truth, others are actually justified by the fact that they have not seen women from the north match some of the milestones that women have attained in their part of the country. But I tell you there are thousands of other women in the northern part of Nigeria, who have the competence and ability to occupy the seat that I currently occupy and that the only thing that stands between them and the role is that they have not been presented with the opportunity.”

But opportunities like the ones presented to Bala-Usman are very scarce

Bala-Usman

in the north. The average northern girlchild has so many obstacles. From lack of access to qualitative education to gender and religion issues. Moreover, as Bala-Usman argued, the patriarchal society we live in makes the plight of the northern girl very pathetic.

“We are essentially a patriarchal society in which different parts of the country have literarily instituted ways in which women are limited. If it is not through lack of access to education, it is denial of ownership of land and assets or forced early marriage, discrimination in inheritance rights, human resources development and sustainable economic growth and what have you.

“Lately, the incidence of violence against women and sexual molestation have become very rampant.

Researchers say that 25 per cent of women in Nigeria go through some form of domestic violence. Between 60 and 70 percent of the 46 million illiterate adults in Nigeria are believed to be women. And of the 11 million children who are said to be out of school in Nigeria, it is believed that not less than 60 percent are girls. These factors have been employed by society to perpetuate the suppression of the female gender and increase the ratio of inequality in the society.”

Generally, she further argued, women in Nigeria have a longer way to go in achieving their dreams as they have been stereotyped to function at a particular level. She bemoaned the dearth of female representations in many sectors of the economy, particularly in politics and commerce. This gaping difference according to her shows that Nigeria is still lagging behind in achieving gender equity and inclusion.

“The challenge of exclusion is a global one and unless we realise this and tackle it as challenge that we all face, chances that we will ever attain equity in this country are negligible.”

Notwithstanding, the NPA boss believes that there is a solution.

“My experience has taught me that preparation is the most important factor to actualisation. I say to women that we must not allow ourselves to be defined by gender. We should build our capacity to be the best in areas that we have chosen for ourselves and earn respect through competence that is obvious to all. When people see that we add value to every environment and situation that we find ourselves, even if they continue to deny us what is due us, it would no longer be our fault!”

She further advocated that the girl child education must be given top priority.

“If we make the education of our girls a priority, we make the girls knowledgeable family planners, more competent mothers, more productive and better paid workers, informed citizens, confident individuals and skillful decision makers. With the singular instrument of education, we would have tackled the dangers of poverty, income inequalities, underdevelopment, gender disparities, discrimination, poor education, conflict, gender-based violence and even harmful traditional practices which all collegiate to diminish the capacity of the woman to make the best of herself.

Above all, we as mothers must bring up our children to value womanhood.

The boys must be taught to cherish and nurture women as creatures made

by God just as themselves, while we must inculcate the value of hard work, equality of the sexes as well as selfesteem in our girls. As a child, I was brought up to know everything my brothers knew. I learnt to wash cars and fix a car tyre, I was allowed to speak my mind and take up my parents on issues that I do not understand. These are the ways in which we can build an inclusive society from our homes and when we do that, it would be impossible for anyone to sell the news of female inferiority to our children when they get to the public space. Let us start from our homes, even as we take the very essential battle of inclusion to the policy makers.

Our society will be the better for it at the end.”

T H I S D AY ˾ SUNDAY APRIL 8, 2018

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T H I S D AY ˾ ͶË&#x153; ͰͮͯͶ

ARTS & REVIEW A

PUBLICATION

IREPâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S MUST-WATCH FOR MUSIC JOURNALISTS PAGE 61

08.04.2018

A TOAST TO AN ENDURING LEGACY EDITOR OKECHUKWU UWAEZUOKE/ okechukwu.uwaezuoke@thisdaylive.com

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APRI Ͷ˜ ͰͮͯͶ ˾ THISDAY, THE SUNDAY NEWSPAPER

ARTS & REVIEW\\EXHIBITION

ATOASTTO AN ENDURING LEGACY A group exhibition in Lagos, celebrating 50 years of Osogbo Art School’s existence, only lifts a corner of the veil on its vibrancy, says Okechukwu Uwaezuoke

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ould there still be any aficionado, who hasn’t heard of the quintet? That would be rather far-fetched, for these artistic icons have been around long enough to etch themselves into the industry’s consciousness.And for them, worming their way into the embrace of both local and international art circles was just a matter of time.

The artists, who have come to be known as the members of the Osogbo Art School, were actually products of a workshop experiment by German-born Horst Ulrich Beier, better known as Ulli Beier, and his English-born second wife Georgina held in the south-western town of Osogbo in the early '60s.

So, featuring at an on-going exhibition at Thought Pyramid Art Centre Lagos, along Norman Williams Street in South-West Ikoyi, Lagos are the works of five of this famous art school’s leading lights: Muraina Oyelami, Jimoh Buraimoh, Rufus Ogundele, Twins Seven Seven and Adebisi Fabunmi. The exhibition, titled Vision of the Last Quarter, opened on Friday, March 30 and will be concluded on Sunday, April 15.

Because the celebration of the Osogbo Art School has become a very culturally correct thing to do, the exhibition was guaranteed to elicit the interest of the Lagos art community, more than any other held so far at the venue this year.

Indeed, a celebration of the exploits of the once sneered-at art informal art school goes hand-inhand with reverence for traditional Yoruba arts and culture.

This explained Beier’s enthusiasm for the Yoruba cultural heritage while he lectured at the University of Ibadan and which saw him visit south-western Nigerian towns like Ede, Ilobu and Osogbo. He had, in 1961, first co-founded the Mbari Artists and Writers Club in Ibadan, which had the likes of Chinua Achebe and Wole Soyinka as members. Then, he had co-founded Mbari-Mbayo with the dramatist Duro Ladipo in Osogbo the following year. With his wife Georgina, who designed costumes and sets for Duro Ladipo’s theatre, he conducted the Osogbo workshop from 1963 to 1966. Thus, the couple became catalysts for the spectacular evolution of the careers of the exhibiting quintet.

The exhibition beams the spotlight on this art school’s 50 years of existence. This is even when it has actually been around for a little longer than that. “The exhibition looks at the evolution of Osogbo art from the '60s till date, using the works of Muraina Oyelami, Jimoh Buraimoh, Rufus Ogundele, Twin Seven Seven and Adebisi Fabunmi... telling the story of the journey from Osogbo to the world. A journey that has been filled with a lot of revelations, discovery and immense success, a journey so successful that it has become a movement; a movement so strong and influential that it has become a lifestyle; a lifestyle so unique and captivating that it has garnered the praise and respect of art communities all over the world,” explains Jeff Ajueshi, the Thought Pyramid Art Centre’s director.

Vision of the Last Quarter, is also a collaboration between Ajueshi’s Thought Pyramid Art Centre Lagos and the Centre for Black Culture and International Understanding (CBCIU). Recall that the Thought Pyramid Art Centre had last year hosted a similar exhibition in Abuja.

Apparently, the exhibiting artists had influenced and mentored younger generations of Osogbo-based artists, whose works have inundated the Lagos art scene. Their influences have also extended to the academia, where their efforts had been previously viewed derisively as “naive”. Even the annual Harmattan Workshop organised in the Delta State town of AgbarhaOtor at the instance of the highly revered elder of the Nigerian art scene Bruce Onobrakpeya seemed to have drawn some of its inspirations from the Osogbo Workshop experiment. Thus, the legacy of the informal art school – partly forged by the stimulus of the Beiers and the late Austrian-born Osun-Osogbo priestess, Susanne Wenger – was handed down from generation to

Top and Bottom: Some of the works at the exhibition

generation.

The art school’s informality, which was at odds the tenets of the formal art schools, turned out to be its unique selling point. Curiously, it was and is still being celebrated for its iconoclasm. “All inhibitions of academia and pedagogical bottlenecks were broken,” explained Sam Ovraiti, one of Nigeria’s leading artists. “A new informal method of teaching art and looking at its products was ushered in the art system in Nigeria making art created by workshop trained artists accepted as quality art.”

Even so, not much would be left of the Osogbo art legacy without the works of these exhibiting artists, whose renown as visual arts titans have transcended their origins. They have also been known to have made spectacular forays not only in the local art scene, but also into the international exhibition platform.

Take 78-year-old Oyelami, who works from his home town Iragiji, for instance. His works have been featured in venues across the globe like the Studio Museum in Harlem, New York, Staatlichen Kunsthalle in Berlin, Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institute, Washington DC and Institute of Contemporary Arts in London, among many others. The fact that he double as both a painter and a great performing artist extends his sphere of expression. Besides being among the early artists of the Osogbo Art School, he also studied technical theatre specialising at the then University of Ife (now Obafemi

Awolowo University) in Ile-Ife, where he later taught traditional music from 1975 to 1987.

In addition, he was once a guest of the Chopin Academy of Music in Warsaw, Poland, artist in residence and fellow of the National Black Theatre in Harlem, New York, and guest professor of African Studies at the University of Bayreuth, Germany.

The works of this one-time member of the Duro Ladipo Theatre Company depict his experiences, stories, folktales and landscapes.

Similarly, Buraimoh has also basked in the international limelight with his works gracing exhibitions in both local and international scene.

His works, which blend the Western aesthetics with Yoruba motifs have also found their way into prestigious venues like the Smithsonian Museum of African Art in Washington, DC. The 1996 recipient of a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Center for African and African-American Art and Culture in San Francisco, California also bagged an Award of Excellence from the Atlanta Urban Design Commission as The Best Mosaic Mural of the Year with his 1997 mosaic mural, titled “The Elders”, which was commissioned by the City of Atlanta, Georgia USA and installed in the City Howell Park.

As for Ogundele, his works are rooted

in his traditional Yoruba culture and religion. A self-confessed adept of the Yoruba god of iron, his works have also made waves on the international stage, featuring in exhibitions in the USA, the UK, Germany, Ghana, Kenya, Czechoslovakia, Canada, Japan and Nigeria.

Fabunmi, who seems fixated on traditional Yoruba images, has held several solo exhibitions in Nigeria and in Kenya in addition to a major retrospective in Bayreuth, Germany in 1989. His works has been displayed in group exhibitions in London, New York, Vienna and Prague, among others. Then, there was the late Prince Taiwo Olaniyi Oyewale-Toyeje Oyelale Osuntoki, a. k. a.

Twins Seven Seven, whose works were influenced by traditional Yoruba mythology and culture. Thus, his representations offered a fantastic universe of humans, animals, plants and Yoruba gods.

Back in the 1990s his works were displayed in major exhibitions in Spain, Finland, Mexico, the Netherlands, England, Germany, and the US. Thus, Twins Seven Seven, who died at 67 in Ibadan on 16 June 2011 as a result of complications from a stroke, became one of the most celebrated artists of the Osogbo Art School.

As for the Thought Pyramid Art Centre exhibition, it only lifts a corner of the veil on the vibrancy of the school’s products, who also express themselves on other platforms.

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THISDAY, THE SUNDAY NEWSPAPER Ëž IL 8, 2018

ʜ ˺˺FILM

IREPâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S MUST-WATCH FOR MUSIC JOURNALISTS Yinka Olatunbosun

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o doubt, scores of documentary movies were screened at Freedom Park, Lagos during the just concluded 2018 iREP international documentary film festival. But one particularly hits home the reality of what it means and takes to be a music journalist. Titled My Fatherâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Book, the short documentary was inspired by a little, almost forgotten book by a music journalist named Ceasar Kagho dedicated to the memory of Charlie Bee, an iconic disc-jockey who redefined night life entertainment in the old Bendel State (now Edo and Delta States).

Produced by Kagho Idhebor and Kagho Akpor, the documentary was set in the 1970s in the former Bendel State, based on their fatherâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s book titled, Bendel Deejays (19771981) A Tribute to Charlie Bee (1957-1982).

The book was published long before the two film makers were born against the backdrop of the era of disco music. The book wasnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t just a historical piece of the key players in popular music of the period, it was a tool to dig into music archives and how a movement in music ran its course.

The sole narrator was Ceasar Kagho, a journalist and a die-hard music fan who began his career in print journalism as a political reporter. On his fatherâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s advice, he switched his beat to entertainment and became one of the best at his game. He was

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A shot from My Father's Book on the streets, backstage and where necessary in the studio watching the movement in music and the trends that marked the disco era.

He enjoyed clubbing. As a matter of fact, to be an entertainment writer requires social skills. He didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t need to learn those for he was a natural. He toured with artists and had all access pass during music concerts which enable him to enter just about anyway during a

performance. But something must have struck him about disc jockeys. They are ones who make music popular, through sound manipulation.

The opening scenes in the film showed turntables, vinyl records and audio consoles that were popular with disco DJs. Skills on the wheels such as beat-matching, scratching, beat juggling, back spinning and needle drops were the usual techniques that make DJs unique but with Charlie Bee, the protagonist of the book upon which the movie is based, a humane strength of character distinguished him from his contemporaries. He was young but not a juvenile. Unlike his peers in the entertainment music, he didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t engage in heavy drinking, smoking or philandering. And he was dropdead handsome. He was sporting jerry curls that was popular with music stars of the period.

But he had such a good heart. He began his session at the club with a message of love and his signature tune. Everyone loved Charlie Bee so much that most of the DJs of the period added Bee as suffix to their stage names.

Sadly, the news of his death stung like a bee.

He was single and childless at the time he passed but he touched so many lives with his simple lifestyle and message of love and unity.

Disco also died a natural death as well with the rise in pop music. According to Caesar, most of the disco enthusiasts and DJs relocated or delved into other careers because discotheques lost its popularity in time.

On the techniques of cinematography, the movie was well-paced, neatly edited and the narrator was shot through monochrome effect that captured the spirit of â&#x20AC;&#x153;pastâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;â&#x20AC;&#x2122;. Lots of the narration was done in show-and-tell, that is through the help of old photographs treated with high-resolution by Logor. Stories abound to be and with My Fatherâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Bookâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;, we have learnt that it is stories that we may have taken for granted that are the real stories.

To preserve that music legacy, Caesar wrote his book and now his children shot the movie and screened it for the first time at Freedom Park. It was a most fitting film submission to the theme of iREP festival, â&#x20AC;&#x153;Archiving Africaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;â&#x20AC;&#x2122;, an untold story of disco era in Nigeria and a must-watch for every music journalist.

The Inverted Pyramid; Adapted from a novel by Emeka Dike

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T H I S D AY, T H E S U N D AY N E W S PA P E R ˾ APRIL 8, 2018

CICERO

Editor Olawale Olaleye Email wale.olaleye@thisdaylive.com, SMS: 08116759819

IN THE ARENA

Beyond the Mounting Critique of Buhari Criticisms of President Muhammadu Buhari by some of his predecessors in office set the tone for veiled electioneering for 2019 general elections, writes Olawale Olaleye

T

here has been no let-up in the criticisms of President Muhammadu Buhari by some prominent Nigerians, particularly some of his predecessors in office, who at the same time were his erstwhile allies in the military and politics. And as much as possible, the criticisms have been kept at the level of patriotism, a justification that has elevated the weight and essence of what has come to be known as the “intervention of the owners of Nigeria”.

Last January, Obasanjo, in a 13-page letter, vilified Buhari over his alleged poor handling of the affairs of the nation and went ahead to advise him not to seek re-election in 2019. Titled: “The Way Out: A Clarion Call for Coalition for Nigeria Movement,” Obasanjo said Buhari had performed far below expectations and should honourably join the league of the country’s former leaders.

Days later, former military president, Gen. Ibrahim Babangida (rtd.), followed suit and in his own press statement, after condemning some of the happenings in the country today, wanted a different kind of leadership that sits well with the demand of the times, especially in the digital age.

It was not surprising, therefore, that weeks after this, a former Minister of Defence under the Obasanjo administration, Lt-Gen. Theophilus Danjuma (rtd.), also joined the fray and encouraged self-defence against the ferocious attacks by herdsmen in most parts of the country, alleging the culpability of the security agencies. His intervention, of course, elicited reactions from all corners in the country.

But Obasanjo and Babangida have yet to relent in their resolve to ensure that their message isn’t just understood, but activated.

Addressing a joint delegation of Nigeria Young Professionals Forum (NYPF) and New Nigeria 2019, who paid him a courtesy call at the Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library (OOPL), Abeokuta last Monday, Obasanjo described Buhari’s government as a failure, saying by his military training, you do not reinforce failure.

He said: “What those I call power addicts would want to do is to divide you based on gender, age, tribe, religion and region. You have one commonality – interest of Nigeria. And it doesn’t matter where you come from. The truth is this: when you have an ineffective and incompetent government, we are all victims. And don’t let anybody deceive you. Those of you who are in business, your business could have been better today, if we have a competent and effective and performing government.

“As I said, stop giving excuses. We met challenges. If there were no challenges, then we wouldn’t need you to come. You came in because you know there are challenges and then giving us excuse that you have many challenges, that is why you haven’t achieved results, and then you still want to go back. The first lesson I learnt in my military training is never reinforce failure.

Buhari...the criticisms keep coming in What we have now is a failure – never you reinforce failure! Let failure be a failure.

“And if you do not see what you should see, you will then be a victim of what you don’t like, because it is only when you see what you should see and you do what you should do that you put away what you do not like. And if you don’t see what you should see and you don’t do what you should do, you will be a victim of what you don’t like.”

As if planned to always follow in each other’s footsteps, Babangida too, last week, declared that it was time for the old generation politicians to leave the stage and pave the way for the younger ones to steer the ship of state.

Babangida, who spoke in Minna, Niger State capital, insisted that the old generation has overstayed in the corridors of power for too long, and within the period have failed the country. He made the call when a new political movement: “The New Nigeria,” led by Moses Siloko Siasia, visited him at

his Hilltop residence.

Although the interventions by these Nigerians have also been interpreted variously to mean personal aggrandisement by supporters of the president, the interesting thing, however, is that there is nothing they are saying or yet to say that an average Nigerian does not know.

This is why the expansion of the discussion on the performance of the Buhari administration is increasingly becoming instructive and unavoidable. For many Nigerians, it is the future of the country that is at stake and it should supersede loyalty to an individual. The choice for them, therefore, is to either come to terms with the perceived failure of the Buhari administration and make an informed choice in 2019 in the collective interest of Nigerians or stick to loyalty to one man at the collective’s detriment.

Whichever is embraced ultimately, 2019 beckons with its fury!

P O L I T I CA L N OT E S

Oluwo’s Excessive Joke

T Oba Akanbi

he Oluwo of Iwo, Oba Abdulrasheed Adewale Akanbi, last week, cracked an expensive joke, when he said he would love to be addressed as an Emir by the Muslim community. The monarch of the largely Moslem town in Osun State, who has always hopped from one controversy to the other in recent time, immediately came under stringent attacks especially that such allusion was deemed disrespectful to the Yoruba culture and tradition.

Smart, he quickly came out to say he was misunderstood and denied ever saying he

would rather he was an emir. The Oba, who went further to affirm his love for the Yoruba tradition and his position, also enjoined some media practitioners to avoid causing crisis by quoting people out of context.

At least, he has cleared the air of the misunderstanding that could have snowballed into a serious crisis for him. More importantly, it would have been expected that the Oluwo at his level would know when to draw the lines of jokes in certain matters. Such a disposition undermines his personality and position, and hopefully, he would be more circumspect next time.

T H I S D AY, T H E S U N D AY N E W S PA P E R ˾ APRIL 8, 2018

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BRIEFINGNOTES

President Muhammadu Buhari; Chief of Staff, Abba Kyari; and Asiwaju Bola Tinubu

‘No Alternative’ Chant Gets a Fight The tradition of supporters of incumbent presidents insisting that there is no alternative to their candidate, is being challenged in the run up to the 2019 general elections, writes Shola Oyeyipo

I

t started way back in 1982 at the twilight of the first term of Second Republic President Shehu Shagari. As his tenure drew to a close and challengers began to emerge, positioning to upstage him in ruling National Party of Nigeria (NPN), his loyalists, particularly, Umaru Dikko, now late, who coordinated his presidential campaign in 1979, told the aspirants not to waste their time as there was no vacancy to jostle for. For now, he told the presidential hopeful, to go find something else to do as there was no alternative candidate to Shagari the incumbent.

The tradition has endured all through the third to the fourth republic. Since the return of democracy in 1999, the no alternative to the incumbent chant has been a cliché that has gathered vigour by the day. In 2003, as challengers rose against President Olusegun Obasanjo, his main enforcer in his Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Chief Tony Anenih, minced no words in telling everyone eyeing the presidency to forget it as there was “no vacancy in Aso Rock” because the there was “no alternative” to the occupier of the office.

By 2014, it was the turn of the cheerleaders of President Goodluck Jonathan to sing the familiar song. In his own case, the drive to fence others within the party, led to a huge crisis that divided the PDP and eventually consumed him. While they prevented an alternative candidate from emerging in the party, they were unable to prevent an alternative president from emerging in the general election as the opposing All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate Maj. Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (rtd.) won the coveted seat.

Interestingly, Buhari, who benefitted bountifully from the “no alternative” debacle of Jonathan is not about to kill the tradition as his supporters have also begun to mouth the chant.

First to sing was Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, who as far back as 2016 said the Buhari-led administration was on the right track and that there was no alternative to what it was doing. In 2017, the Benue State Governor, Samuel Ortom, re-echoed Mohammed’s position that Nigeria has no alternative to Buhari in the forthcoming presidential election. On the chorus have been Kaduna State Governor Nasir El-Rufai; Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Boss

Mustapha; APC chieftain, Mr. Preye Aganaba; lawmaker representing Oyo Central, Senator Fatai Buhari; the Chairman, South-west chapter of the Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG), Tokunbo Korodo; and a host of others who have at various times chorused the same mantra.

But there are several emerging odds that might make Buhari’s road to 2019 rough and stop this “no alternative” song. They include age, ill-health, restructuring, unaddressed herdsmen killings, the economy, intra party politics and his vanishing goodwill, which is reflected in the opposition against him among some former heads of state and national leaders. Some of these have developed into full blown issues of public discourse.

A couple of weeks ago, the Northern Elders’ Forum (NEF) rose from a meeting, expressing disappointment with the performance of Northerners in government at all levels. It announced that it had begun the search to replace the present crop of leaders, presumably including Buhari, in 2019.

Without a doubt, Buhari had tried to rise up to the occasion, particularly in the areas of security and the fight against corruption, which his supporters are clinging to but there are many questions hanging, answers to which would determine whether majority of the voting populace would consider retaining him in office.

Among many other issues, the 2019 election might be a referendum on how the president has handled the wanton killings by herdsmen.

There is a growing perception though that he is condoning the killers by not declaring them terrorists and taking stiffer measures to stop them.

This view is shared by notable Nigerians like former Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Theophilus Danjuma (rtd); former Director General, Nigeria Intelligence Agency (NIA) and former DirectorGeneral, State Security Service (SSS), Chief Albert Horsfall; and Nobel Laureate, Prof Wole Soyinka.

It would, therefore, take extra efforts to persuade many, who have lost their loved ones and bread winners to the murderous herdsmen to consider Buhari as the only alternative. Truth is, just as the president was able to raise issues against Jonathan in the handling of Boko Haram, candidates from opposition parties will certainly make mountains out of herdsmen matter.

The president’s attitude towards the agitation for the restructuring of Nigeria may leave its proponents looking for an alternative to him.

Clearly, if he continues to dilly-dally on the

matter, he might lose a significant number of the Southern votes to whichever candidate promises to bring about the restructuring of the federation.

Recently, the National Leader, Pan Niger Delta Forum (PANDEF), Chief Edwin Clark; Governor of Bayelsa State, Hon. Seriake Dickson; PDP National Vice Chairman, South-south, Chief Emmanuel Ogidi; and Horsfall, insisted that the federal government must restructure Nigeria before the 2019.

What that means is that leaders in the region and their people want restructuring. They will rather negotiate with anyone, who promises them true federalism and more importantly, leaders from the South-west and South-east are on the same page with their South-south counterparts on the need to restructure Nigeria.

For the umpteen time, it is safe to say if Buhari and the APC refuse to heed the yearnings of Nigerians for restructuring, they only stand to lose a huge support base in the entire South and for some political analysts, the likes of former vice president, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, who has been canvassing restructuring, could benefit significantly.

Age is another factor that will also throws up a different dimension to the debate in the coming election. Already, at no point in Nigeria’s political history have the Nigerian youths been so challenged to take up leadership and there are already clear indications that some youth candidates will target votes among the youth.

They have been spurred by the ‘Not Too Young to Run Bill’ recently passed by the National Assembly in July 2017, which cuts down the age requirement for anyone aspiring to be president from 40 to 35 years; while a 30-year-old can now run for governor. The bill also stipulates that a 25-year-old can now legislate in the National and State Assemblies.

Last week, while receiving the leadership of a new political movement, New Nigeria (NN), led by Mr. Moses Siloko Siasia at his Hilltop residence in Minna, the Niger State capital, Babangida advised that a new generation of political leaders should take over from the present crop of politicians at the helm of affairs.

The former military president was quoted to have said he and other like-minds proposed as far as back as 1989, the possibility of handing over the country’s leadership to younger people, who had the passion and zeal to propel it on the path of development and growth but that the older generation was recalcitrant then.

Babangida is not alone in his opinion that

Nigeria could progress better in the hands of younger generation, which he said “is more adventurous and full of fresh ideas.”

A lot of youths are already showing more than passing interests in the presidency. One of such is young and vibrant leadership trainer, Fela Durotoye, who recently indicated his presidential ambition. He is banking on Nigerians, his youthfulness and antecedents to unlock and take over from Buhari. He has joined the Alliance for New Nigeria (ANN).

However, while some Nigerians are sceptical about his ability to run for the office of president, he is looking to capitalise on the lack of feeling of personal responsibility and indifference towards personal obligation to participate in voting by a lot of Nigerians, especially the youth population.

It shouldn’t be surprising that more youths like Fela are already fine-tuning their strategies to join the race. The implication is simply that instead of the usual two horse race between the ruling party and one strong opposition, some of the so-called smaller parties are prepared to feature youths on their platforms, so more votes will be split among the contenders.

Also an issue is the age and health of Buhari.

Many say he is too old with fragile health and should not seek re-election. Anti-Buhari forces have attributed his sicknesses to the demands of the office of the president, which they say is too hard for a 75-old.

But the President of Arewa Youth Consultative Forum (AYCF), Shettima Usman Yerima, does not share this sentiment. His take is that the North should present another candidate for the 2019 presidency on the grounds that President Buhari has “failed.”

He argued that the North needs a “vibrant” presidential candidate in the next general election, adding that age would be a vital factor in determining the “alternative” to Buhari in 2019.

Joining the debate, a Bauchi-based politician, Professor Abubakar Malami, thinks it is too early to pass judgment on the chances of Buhari in the 2019 polls.

Saying though many of Buhari’s reforms are yet to bring the desired results, he argues that this has not diminished his stature among his core supporters. “One can therefore safely conclude that Buhari is still the man to beat in 2019,” he said. Malami’s optimism is shared by Mallam Gidado Ibrahim, Chairman of Northern Alternative Forum (NAF), who said the search for an alternative to Buhari would be a “wild a goose chase.”

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T H I S D AY, T H E S U N D AY N E W S PA P E R ˾ APRIL 8, 2018

CICERO/REPORT

Fayemi and other EKiti APC leaders at a meeting in Isan Ekiti

Fayemi’s Ambition Alters Ekiti’s Political Equation Minister of Mines and Steel Development, Dr. Kayode Fayemi’s, recent declaration of interest for governorship of Ekiti State, writes Victor Ogunje, has changed the political equation in the state

A

fter several months of guessing and political permutations, the Minister of Mines and Steel Development, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, recently hinted at a governorship run in Ekiti State. His interest will undoubtedly alter the existing political equation, particularly in the All Progressives Congress (APC) ahead of its May 5 primary and the July 14 governorship bout.

Fayemi’s declaration didn’t come as a surprise to many who have been following trends in the state as rumour had been rife that the former governor desired to come back to the Government House in 2018.

Before Fayemi took the plunge, the APC had about 35 aspirants who had declared intentions for the plum seat. The former governor, who was in the saddle between 2010 and 2014, was defeated by incumbent Governor Ayodele Fayose, in a manner that took the people by surprise and made political analysts still ruminating over how an incumbent, believed to have redefined governance in the best way possible, could be roundly defeated in all the 16 local governments by an opposition figure.

Several postulations were adduced for Fayemi’s loss. Some said it was due to alleged rigging through the instrumentality of military and paramilitary organisations deployed by the then federal government. Some said it was due to the inability of the Minister to connect with the grassroots, meaning that he was elitist. Some said it was rigged through electronic means called ‘Photo chromic.’

Whatever reasons the APC brought to the fore to rationalise its position, the fact remained that Fayemi lost the election.

Since last year, party members have been speculating about Fayemi’s interest, which had attracted condemnations among some of the APC aspirants.

The scurrilous comments against Fayemi’s personality made the State Chairman, Chief Jide Awe, to openly express worries on the matter and warned that any aspirant hiding under social media or other platforms to perpetrate such would be dealt with.

Fayemi has remained a factor in Ekiti politics.

Virtually all the people that have federal appointments in Buhari’s government were through his connections. And many of the APC aspirants eyeing the coveted seat have benefitted from his political structure and were actually hoping to use it for the

May 5 primaries until the speculation about his intention grew.

With his declaration of interest, the equation has now changed. Before now, aspirants from the south believed that they could successfully engage those in the contest in a political battle and bring the ticket to the south. But with Fayemi’s entry, the zoning now seems endangered and the songs have changed. The affected aspirants are now intensifying their campaigns to ensure that the ticket doesn’t slip off their fingers, because they were not oblivious of the fact that defeating a former governor like Fayemi in the primary would be an uphill task.

“Let me say this, Fayemi’s interest may make this zoning of a thing to be unrealisable. He has solid structures in APC and being a serving minister, he has enormous connections and strong financial war chest to outsmart us,” one of the aspirants told THISDAY last week.

The aspirant, who is from the south, said though Fayemi’s popularity had plummeted even within the party, this he said had not degenerated to the level that he would not be able to muster at least five delegates in each of the 177 wards to defeat others.

With this, he said, it was obvious that the party’s ticket was a done deal for Fayemi.

Fayemi’s interest has been received with mixed feelings. While some people he was too elitist to be elected again, others said the large number of aspirants that had declared their intentions in the party had eroded his support base.

But the declaration held in Isan Ekiti on March 31, 2018 dispelled this erroneous thought. The gathering confirmed how strong and potent Fayemi’s political strength was in Ekiti. Many of the party big wigs were present at the occasion. Even the state Chairman, Chief Jide Awe, who had been out of circulation for some time over an alleged murder case suddenly surfaced.

There is widespread belief, however, that Fayemi is banking on his closeness with President Muhammadu Buhari to outwit other contenders. Even Governor Ayo Fayose had at various fora accused him of plotting with some external forces in APC to rig the election and destabilise the state.

Again, Fayose’s sudden thinking that his predecessor should be probed three years after he assumed office vividly attested to the threat posed

by Fayemi to the continuity agenda of the present government.

Virtually all the aspirants from the south and northern extractions, like Dr. Wole Oluyede, Hon. Bamidele Faparusi, Muyiwa Olumilua, Chief Sesan Fatoba and even the Director General of Kayode Fayemi campaign organisation in 2014, Hon. Bimbo Daramola, had advised Fayemi against running. It was a general consensus among them that it would be better for him to remain a leader than to be flexing muscles with his political protégés.

But last week, Fayemi openly shunned this advice and threw his hat in the ring. To the consternation of all party members, He spoke for the first time like a typical politician. He regaled members with slangs and his oratory power shook the land. He gave his people a sign of hope, as he assured that the APC at the national and state levels were resolute to deploy all logistics that would make the party win the poll.

Speaking with journalists in Isan Ekiti, his country home, Fayemi said he had learned a great lesson from his disastrous defeat of June 21, 2014 while seeking re-election, saying this experience and what he did in Ondo would be of great benefit to him in the election.

He said he decided to tarry a while so that he would not breach the Electoral Act and Independent National Electoral Commission’s (INEC) laid down rules, saying he would formally notify his party at the state secretariat of the party anytime from April 14.

He said he was never a coward and not afraid to declare openly for his intention to re-contest despite opposition by some people, saying he is running based on his track records and not out of power seeking venture.

He said: “Yes, I will run for the governorship of our state. As a leader of the party, I am going to follow the due process as laid down by our party and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). This includes formal notification of the leadership of the party, presentation of letter of intent at the state secretariat and a public declaration.

“I am running based on track records, which you can’t controvert. We will lay it bare for people to see.

My government did social security for the elderly, renovated all schools, we established Peace Corps, Youth in Commercial Agriculture, youth volunteer scheme, paid bursary and scholarship, established Traffic management Agency, constructed roads, among others.”

T H I S D AY, T H E S U N D AY N E W S PA P E R ˾ APRIL 8, 2018

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CICERO/ISSUE

Osinbajo

Mohammed

Adeosun

Ologbondiyan

Magu

Trading Accusations over Corruption The recent release of names of alleged looters by the federal government continues to generate reactions from many quarters, with many people wondering if the move was aimed at battling corruption or setting the stage for the impending 2019 general elections, writes Iyobosa Uwugiaren

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ice-President Yemi Osinbajo first stoke the fire with his frequent allegations of massive corruption against former President Goodluck Jonathan-led PDP federal government.

Thereafter, the major opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), through its spokesman, Mr. Kola Ologbondiyan, challenged the All Progressives Congress (APC)-led government to name any of its members convicted for any corrupt practice. And the Minister of Information, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, responded with two lists of alleged looters peopled by PDP chieftains, who are currently being tried for corruption and financial crimes. They all served during the Jonathan-led administration.

“The PDP has challenged us to name the looters under their watch. They said they did not loot the treasury. Well, I am sure they know that the treasury was looted dry under their watch. Yet they decided to grandstand. This shows the hollowness of their apology,” Mohammed said as he released the names.

But, the PDP spokesman, and many of those at home with national politics, especially as the 2019 general election approaches, said the recent naming of the alleged looters by APC, was parts of “self-importance and narcissism” in preparation for what the electorate should expect from the ruling party, when the campaign eventually commences.

This is aside the swirling popular view by some legal experts that Mohammed’s action was illegal, and might have done well in belittling the “self-proclaimed war” against corruption by the Buhari-led government.

For sure, the date for 2019 general election is fast approaching, less than 10 months or so. And from his actions and inactions in the past few weeks, it appears Buhari and the APC are under suffocating pressure from the electorate to give account of their stewardship in office in the past three years.

At the beginning of his tenure, the president promised to tackle corruption uncompromisingly and frontally. He vowed to confront the fear-provoking insecurity challenges, created by the deadly activities of Boko Haram, Fulani herdsmen, ritual killing, cultism and kidnappers, and create a friendly economic environment for investors to create jobs for millions of jobless youths.

While the Buhari government appears to be partying over its ‘huge’ achievements in the past three years, the harsh verdict by many Nigerians and a critical segment of the international community is that the government has failed. Not many political analysts doubt that the plans by Buhari’s media strategists to rationalise the harsh verdict by the electorate on their boss may have informed the desperation by the ruling party to turn the heat on the PDP, even though the presidential spokesman, Femi Adesina, would stubbornly deny that.

However, for those who know the media strategy/ campaign created by Buhari’s spin-doctors, headed by the Minister of Information and Culture, the media design from Day-1 has been to “demonise Buhari’s predecessor and give the impression” that the present government was committed to fighting corruption, and present piping-hot excuses why the government could not perform to the expectations of many people.

Mohammed had on many occasions called press

conferences, made up of senior editors, both in Abuja and Lagos, to announce the quantum of monies in different currencies that the anti-corruption agencies had recovered from Jonathan’s appointees.

On his part, the Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Ibrahim Magu, once said Nigeria had successfully traced and recovered $2.9 billion from alleged looters between May 2015 and October 2017. Magu, who recently reinforced his claim at the 7th Session of the Conference of State Parties to the United Nations Convention Against Corruption in Vienna, Austria, disclosed that the amount did not include smaller currencies such as Dirham and British Pounds.

Giving a breakdown of the recovered cash, Magu listed the sources as: $43 million recovered from Diezani Allison-Madueke, former Minister of Petroleum, and the N2 billion spread in seven accounts in three Nigerian banks laundered from the Federal Capital Territory Police Command Salary Accounts.

He added that using the instrument of the nonconviction-based forfeiture provided under Section 17 of the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Fraud Related Offences Act, 2006, the anti-corruption agency had also made a lot of recoveries locally.

The EFCC boss boasted: “Within this year alone, the commission recovered stolen assets running into several millions of US Dollars and billions in naira. This includes the sum of $43 million recovered from Diezani AllisonMadueke, Nigeria’s former Minister of Petroleum and N2 billion spread in seven accounts with three Nigerian banks laundered from the FCT Police Command Salary Accounts.”

On his part, Osinbajo has never missed any opportunity at public events to re-echo the widely publicised anticorruption war by EFCC and by extension, the Buhari-led government.

He once said: “When we began this journey in 2014, our party, the APC was determined to change the dominant narrative of the country. We were determined to ensure that the notion of a country rich in natural resources and even richer in human capital but being destroyed daily by corruption and impunity in the looting of public resources will have to change that narrative.

“We saw a nation, where a few impostors have so privatised the commonwealth, while oil prices were at their highest and we were getting growth figures as high as 70 per cent, the majority of the people remained extremely poor.”

But in spite of the celebration by the Buhari-led government over its perceived success in the anti-corruption war, the respected global anti-corruption monitor, the Transparency International (TI) said recently that Buhari’s government stinks.

In its recent report, the perception of corruption in Nigeria worsened between 2016 and 2017 as Nigeria ranked 148 out of 180 countries assessed in 2017 on the perception of corruption. The index showed that out of 100 points signalling maximum transparency and no corruption, Nigeria scored 27 points.

With the one-point reduction in the score, Nigeria slipped in the country-ranking by 12 positions, from 136 in 2016 to 148 in 2017. The rankings are from 1 to 180, with 180 indicating the country having the worst perception of corruption.

The report noted that while the rest of the world had improved in the perception on corruption, Nigeria slips further down as the fight against corruption deteriorates.

And shamefully, on the African continent, Nigeria ranks 32nd position in Africa out of 52 assessed countries in 2017. While Botswana leads the continent with the record of competent and largely corruption-free public administration; Nigeria hopelessly falls behind with 27 points.

In West Africa, Nigeria is the second worst country out of 17 countries, leaving only Guinea Bissau behind.

The Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) is one of the most respected international measurements of corruption trends. It was established in 1995 as a composite indicator used to measure perceptions of corruption in the public sector in different countries around the world. The CPI draws upon a number of available sources which capture perceptions of corruption.

A local anti-corruption monitor, CISLAC said it was worried about the new but unfavourable trend in the fight against corruption in the country as shown in the TI report.

“This fresh setback in the fight against corruption confirms that grand-corruption, political corruption, nepotism, favouritism and bribery persist in Nigeria at all levels,” the organisation said.

Continuing, it noted: “It is CISLAC’s view that the negative perception is mainly a consequence of the inability to combat grand corruption and astronomical plundering of public coffers costing the Nigerian tax payers around 25 per cent of annual GDP. “Since the current administration has come to power on the anti-corruption ticket, no significant politically exposed person has been duly sentenced on anti-corruption charges.’’

Aside the TI damaging verdict, the Minister of Finance, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun’s, recent letter to Magu appeared to have also suggested that the EFCC’s anti-corruption war and its reportedly recovered looted funds were more of publicity ecstasy than real war against corruption.

Adeosun lately asked Magu to clarify, where the cash recoveries from May 2015 to January 2018 had been deposited and provide associated evidence.

In a letter with reference number: FM/HMF/EFCC/SEFCC-REC/2018/1, dated February 9, 2018 and entitled: ‘Summary of EFCC Recoveries from May 2015 to January 2018,’ the Minister of Finance said the clarification became necessary based on the information available to the Office of Accountant-General of the Federation.

She said: “This is to notify you of the records of cash asset recoveries in the custody of the EFCC from May 2015 till date based on information available to the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation (attached). It has however come to the attention of the Ministry of Finance, the use of recovery figures in media reports by the EFCC that do not reconcile with the records of the ministry.

“You are therefore kindly requested to clarify where these cash recoveries have been deposited and provide accompanying evidence.”

As the country approaches the 2019 general election, the trading of words by the ruling party and the major opposition party over alleged corrupt practices and the extensively perceived poor outing by the Buhari administration in the past three years, will surely be more pronounced, especially in the days ahead.

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T H I S D AY, T H E S U N D AY N E W S PA P E R ˾ APRIL 8, 2018

SUNDAYINTERVIEW James Olotu

Olotu

By the Time I Left Office, NIPPs Were Almost a Done Deal Mr. James Olotu was the pioneer Managing Director of Niger Delta Power Holding Company (NDPHC), a firm incorporated by the government of former President Olusegun Obasanjo to own and implement the National Integrated Power Projects. Olotu had worked in the defunct National Electric Power Authority (NEPA), from where he was seconded to the NIPPs in May 2006 as head internal audits, when the NIPPs was established as a taskforce to improve power supply in the country. He was deeply involved in the setting up of the NDPHC and in the initiation and construction of the ancillary electricity generation, transmission, and distribution projects. He left the NDPHC in 2016 with an estimated asset value of $11.5 billion. In this interview with Chineme Okafor, Olotu speaks on the economic impact of the NIPPs and his time at the helm of the company. Excerpts

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ou’ve been out of office for about a year now, what have you been doing?

I left office suddenly, and one thing that happened to me when I left office was that I had time for myself. While in office, the volume of work that my office entailed, the kind of people that office needed to interact with, the volume of stakeholders that you had to manage to achieve the results that we achieved were such that family was not one of the greatest commitments and, secondly, one didn’t have time for oneself. So, the first thing I did was to enjoy my sleep, which I never had enough, I ate regularly, and I wanted to make sure I stayed at home with my family for a long time. But as a very active mind, after a few months of doing that, I became restless and joined an organisation called Skipper Seil, which is a group of companies based in India and Dubai, and involved in power business in

Nigeria as well. They won a contract to do the 44 kilometres rail project in Kaduna, which is about $700 million and I joined because I like to be part of challenges to show that Nigerians can do such projects.

They also have about four power projects to do, three of them are coal-fired plants and the last one is gas-fired. They equally have special economic zones to develop in Kaduna and Katsina, and I thought these were very challenging opportunities to build up another big company overtime. But somehow, I left and recently decided to set up a new outfit with some of the best brains in Nigeria’s power sector and very soon we will have Innovest Nigeria Solution Limited come up to provide solutions to Nigeria’s issues. It is going to be a limited liability company and I will be its chairman.

What new things would Innovest bring into Nigeria’s power sector?

Innovest is not just about Nigeria’s power sector, even though power is one its fundamentals. It is about power and defining solutions, using the most modern solutions for deploying power solutions to Nigeria within a short time and they may be solar, wind, biomass or ethanol. We have a lot of these resources to produce some high quantum of power and some of these will be off-grid because our grid is not stable and we will concentrate more on non-fossil fuel power solutions, even though we know that we are not ripe enough as a nation to depend on these solutions. If you look at the world today and global warming, the thinking and technology are about saving cost of production and those countries that do not have crude oil and gas are running away from buying oil because of its costs.

Does Innovest have the huge capital base that such innovative solutions usually require?

Innovest doesn’t necessarily need a lot of financial capital base, but we need the brain.

For instance, a state government has invited us to be part of the work they are doing in power, airline, pharmaceutical, tire manufacturing, deep seaport, and fertiliser. Innovest does not have the money and so does the state, but Innovest will ensure that the best of hands are involved because we can get the real investors with the best form of commitment to invest in this kind of project and get a sovereign guarantee to go on this project.

The NIPPs stopped at a point, and then restarted. What happened?

I wasn’t the one that started the NIPPs; it was a baby of the three tiers of government with Chief Obasanjo as the leader. The Minister of Power then, Liyel Imoke, was operationally the technical support and NIPP was a group

Continued on Pg. 68

THISDAY, THE SUNDAY NEWSPAPER ˾ APRIL 8, 2018

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SUNDAY INTERVIEW t ‘We Inherited Many Unreliable Contractors’ of people that were gathered together with different skillsets to become like a taskforce and it was when I got in there that the idea of turning it into a company came to the fore. The reason was that NIPP could not award a contract as a taskforce and you are dealing with billions of dollars of projects and there was no way you can sign a contract when you are not a company.

So, the first thing I did was to make sure we were registered as a company, and then to take an inventory of what had happened before I came in and there was no office and my car was actually my office. My WIFI communication system was discovered by me one day when I went to AYA to take fuel. I noticed that my phone was receiving an open connection under a tree and it became my office. I was now using it to communicate with the team. NIPP was a very diverse programme and at a time, we had about 1,700 different projects taking place at the same time across the power sector value chain.

Then the National Assembly and a committee of the Revenue Mobilisation, Allocation, and Fiscal Commission were the ones that raised the issues about the way NIPP was formed and that they were using the Excess Crude Account to fund it. Those issues were serious enough for it to stop. We looked at the issues they raised and found that many of them were valid issues.

We met with the leadership on it to mobilise the state and local governments to join the federal government in the project, as their money was involved, and it was done. All the state governments raised bills at their Houses of Assembly and the federal government also raised a bill to the National Assembly, which was passed and they became law. From these, everybody came on board and they now decided to give more money. Originally, the NIPP was six power plants and about 30 transmission projects before it was expanded. We now realised that if we built these power plants, how will electricity get to our houses if we don’t build distribution and gas infrastructures. We solved that problem by expanding it to include the value chain, and so we involved all the sectors.

When the NIPP was stalled, the other staff from the various ministries and agencies, including PHCN, returned. I made sure I did not lose touch with them. Everything I said worked and by the time government came back to the NIPP, my people were already on board, it was just a question of inviting them and asking that their leadership release them. We moved to PHCN, to Guardian House, and to Nile Street and then to the Central Business Area where it is now. We overcame by tenacity and love for the country.

But financial commitments had been made before it was stalled.

Before the projects were stalled, they had already spent $2.8 billion and those who were trying to stop it did not understand.

The contracts that were signed at that time were more than $6 billion but we had already put in $2.8 billion. As at the time they were investigating what had been spent in the power sector then, and everyone was talking about $16 billion, the actual money spent was $3 billion in the entire sector. The Accountant General of the Federation said it did not release any money, the CBN said it did not release any such money but the press were not well informed.

If you stalled the project at that time, it meant the $2.8 billion spent as collateralised advanced payment guarantees, international and performance bonds will have been lost and those contractors could go to court and whatever was their perceived expectation of profit if the projects were finally completed, you will pay them. So, we decided that we should also challenge that area; we met with a lot of people and educated them until we finally convinced them that they were not wrong but that they were not well informed.

The power sector is a special kind of sector, unlike the works sector. If a contractor is asked to build a 100-kilometre road and he does 50 kilometres, you will see it. But you won’t see anything in power until it is completed. You can only see machines that are not doing anything until the last bolt is tightened.

At what stages of the various projects did you leave NDPHC, and what were some of the challenges that remained unresolved?

The entire investment of NDPHC was $8.4 billion. The investment we had in generation, out of that $8.4 billion, was $4.4 billion. The investment we had in transmission network infrastructure development was about $2 billion. Investment in distribution infrastructure was about $1.5 billion. Then the investment we had in gas was about $750 million. The rest was for administration, taking care of compensation, salaries and rents.

Now, that is very important thing to clear because most of the time you hear commentators say they spent $8.4 billion and recovered only $5.7 billion. The projects were not all finished at the same time and what happened was that we had 10 power plants in various locations and of different sizes. The transmission, distribution lines were over 10,000 kilometres of different sizes that included 330kV, 132kV double circuit, 33kV and 11kV. The substations were more than 5,000MVA when completed.

The gas stations were for the 10 power plants.

By the time I left, generally the projects were like 85 per cent completed. Among the power stations, six were completed and were already delivering power to the grid. One was half completed, which is a hybrid power plant – the Alaoji power plant, where we commissioned the first phase, which is the single circuit. The second, which is the steam turbine, was not completed. So, that is why we say it was half completed.

These are the projects we handed over and by the time I was leaving, the transmission projects were like 90 per cent

Continued from Pg. 67

completed. We added more distribution projects and they were about 350 before I left, we had about 165 of them before. And by the time I was leaving, the distribution projects were about 85 per cent completed. The generation projects were like 80 per cent completed in general terms, because six and half of the generation projects were completed, while the remaining three and half were about 80, 70, and 50 per cent completed.

What was the Challenge?

Now the challenge is that all the contractors were not procured by us. They were procured before my team came in.

So, we inherited people who ordinarily were not the best of contractors to handle the projects. The second challenge was that we had some contractors who got more projects, although they also bid for the projects. The reason was that most of the credible contractors didn’t bother to apply due to scepticism, which they had about the Nigerian company calling for the multi-billion naira projects. One of the contractors, who had about five projects, which were the biggest projects, was the same contractor that was keeping the last three projects that had not been completed. Of course, you have violence in some areas. Also in certain areas of the country, the rains were higher than what you get in other locations. So, in those areas where there was so much rain, during heavy rainfall periods, projects were not fast, especially when it had to do with the foundations.

You also attempted to privatise the plants, how did that idea come up?

We took the 10 power plants to the open market because the idea was that we wanted to privatise them. The reason for wanting to privatise them was not because Nigerians were incapable of running them. It was because we wanted the private sector to run them. NDPHC operates as a private firm, although the shareholding is by government. But we wanted to hand over the plants completely to the private sector for efficiency and effectiveness. Secondly, we wanted the private sector to provide the money that we used for the plants’ construction and use this money for the second phase of the NIPP, which was already approved during the last regime. And the second phase of the NIPP involved Mambila, Gurara and several other hydro power plants, which all together were about 15. The idea also included investing in some solar architecture, so, we thought of moving into solar, hydro and coal, and the money we plan to use for these projects would have come from the sale of the 10 initial plants.

We then put 80 per cent of the shares of those 10 plants in the market, finished, and at the end of the transaction, we were able to rake in $5.7 billion for 80 per cent shares in those 10

power plants, finished and unfinished. For the unfinished ones, we agreed that we will finish them before we collect the money from the bidders, they can give us some assurance by paying certain percentage so that when we finish we hand over to them.

Now, don’t forget we spent $4.4 billion for that and got $5.7 billion. Also, don’t forget that I said it was 80 per cent. So, really, if it was 100 per cent, which is what the bidders want, it will be $7.1 billion, and that is for only generation. Therefore we invested $4.4 billion and got $7.1 billion.

For the transmission projects, we are supposed to hand over to the TCN, which will then boost their capacity from taking like 5,000MW to taking about 7,000MW when our infrastructure is added to theirs. And, we need to get our money from them, which actually is the money of the three tiers of government, which are the investors, and they want to see their money growing. For distribution and gas, they will sit with us and agree that they will pay back the money in 10 years, which is the value of the assets in 10 years. For transmission, we will give it to them at the value, but what was the value? We’ve seen the value for generation assets. For the value, we told them to take these assets at the contract prices that we awarded them, plus maybe 10 per cent administrative charges. For the gas projects, by the time we finished the valuation, which was actually done by an expert, the result was much higher.

We had to hold back our contract prices since they claimed that it was fraudulent. So, we told them to come and pay whatever the value from their valuation results were, and if the value is less than what we spent in building it, you can now say we padded. But if the value was more than what we spent in building it, then we are making a profit. That was what happened for gas, but people in distribution ran away. They now said they will prefer to take the assets at our contract prices.

Transmission also came to tell us that they will take the assets at the contract prices.

So, what went wrong with the privatisation efforts?

When we were going into the projects, we went with everybody – the National Assembly, Ministry of Power, Ministry of Petroleum Resources, Nigerian Gas Company, PHCN, Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission, Market Operator, and everybody went with us. We are just the builders of the power plants.

The power plants, on their own, will not work. So we needed somebody from transmission to say, yes, it will work because we have a line that will take this power. We needed somebody from gas to come and say, yes, that power plant has a gas, the gas that is required in the quantum that is required to fire it. What are the investors buying?

By the time I left, generally the projects were like 85 per cent completed. Among the power stations, six were completed and were already delivering power to the grid. One was half completed.

The second was not completed... Distribution projects were about 85 per cent completed.The generation projects were like 80 per cent completed in general terms

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Ekere: NDDC is Not a Cash Cow Former Deputy Governor, Akwa Ibom State and Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of the Niger Delta Development Commission, Mr. Nsima Ekere, recently spoke with journalists on the reform agenda of his administration at the commission. Shola Oyeyipo presents the excerpts:

H

ow has it been overseeing affairs at the NDDC? It’s been very challenging, very engaging, but also very interesting. It is well intentioned by government to help the region deal with some of the effects of exploitation of hydrocarbon. So, it is a very good platform that could adequately address the challenges of development of the Niger Delta. And it has actually been doing that. Could it have done more? Probably! The greatest challenge I would say we have been facing is the overtrading that the NDDC has been involved in. Before we came in, the balance sheet of the commission was over-bloated. It is so huge.

Our reform agenda when we came on board were called the four Rs. To restructure the balance sheet of NDDC, because they were so huge and part of that is to reduce the number of new commitments – new liabilities we create. That is why we dedicated 70 per cent of our budget to ongoing projects so that we can try and complete them, and only 30 per cent is for overheads and new projects. And that is deliberate, because there is no point creating new liabilities for the commission when probably there is no money.

The second R, talking about the reform agenda that we came with, is to restructure the governance system of NDDC. We want NNDC to be known as an organisation that respects laws, respects government policies and follow due process in whatever we do.

Before now, virtually anything could happen in NDDC. That is why we said we must improve the governance system and bring in technology to run things there.

The third plank of the reform agenda was to restore the commission back to its core mandate and get NDDC to concentrate on ticket projects that will lead to regional integration, build a regional economy, and stop competing with local governments. That is why for the first time, you will see that we have started doing projects in collaboration with state governments.

Some weeks back, we were in Ondo State where we flagged off the construction of a 51km road from Araromi side to Lagos. It is in collaboration with the state government.

We also have collaboration with Edo State.

We have collaboration with shell to do the Oria-Nembe road. It’s a new way of thinking in the NDDC. The fourth is to generally rededicate ourselves to what is good at all time. To let everybody rededicate ourselves to doing things right for the good of the commission and the region. I am pleased we have gotten some positive results.

Are we where we want to be? I will say no.

It’s still work in progress. A lot of work still has to be done. My prayers are that subsequent administrations in NDDC will see the need to continue with the reforms anytime that we leave.

What will you say are the major challenges at NDDC? The greatest challenge to us as a management, I will say is the attitude of the people.

There is this sense of entitlement. They have been spoilt for so long, so they are used to getting things done in a particular way and getting certain kinds of gratifications. Right now, they may not get what they are used to getting.

So, the attitude is one of the greatest problems that we have faced and we are hoping we will keep working on their attitude.

Do you usually interact with the people on the kinds of projects you site in specific places?

We decided to adopt the bottom-up approach in project conceptualisation. We gather all kinds of representations from the communities. They write letters demanding projects, but

Secondly, we are also partnering Small and Medium Scale Enterprise Development Agencies of Nigeria (SMEDAN) in setting up an enterprise hub. SMEDAN has what they call Industrial Development Centres (IDCs) all over the country. It was set up in the 70s and then we discovered that in the Niger Delta region, they have about five or six IDCs that are not functioning.

So, in partnership with SMEDAN that specialises in helping small and medium scales enterprises to come up, we are setting up now the pilot scheme in Akwa Ibom State, in partnership with a private sector organisation, the first enterprise hub for new businesses and start-ups.

The advantage and the difference between this and the normal training is that in normal training, you just train people and at the end, give them starter packs and tell them to go.

But with the hub, the people that you trained are empowered and you actually keep them within the hub, so that you can mentor them and supervise them and make sure that the businesses stand and do very well.

It is only after the businesses stand two, three, four years that you see that they are standing and employing people and the guys have really mastered it that you can now gradually take them out of the hub centres to the outer world.

I am very passionate and enthusiastic that this particular hub will help the region.

Ekere...Akwa Ibom governor feels threatened by our works we made up our minds that we must work in collaboration with the state governments. Before now, we had a situation where there were lots of conflicts with the state governments. You’re doing a road here and the state is also doing a road in the same place, you’re doing a water project, you will discover the chairman local government is also trying to do a borehole in the same place.

So, what we did was, we set up States Project Committees for the nine states of the region. They also serve as the budget committees. So, the state representatives on the board of NDDC chair that committee. We tell them, go to your state, engage with the state government and agree from all of the requests coming in from different communities, on which projects NDDC should take on board.

That is how we get the projects that we input into our budget and send to the National Assembly. So, we don’t just sit down at the head office and choose projects. Of course, I can’t say there wouldn’t be political interference in terms of project locations. Some inputs from the political class came in, particularly from the National Assembly, because when you send in budget, the budget belongs to the National Assembly. Whatever they return to you is the budget. And so, some of the projects you see there are not the projects we suggested.

Isn’t funding also part of your challenges?

It is a very huge challenge. I have a friend, who was MD of NDDC sometime ago, when he took over, he met a balance of N130bn.

That was what he used to start work. When we came, we met about N2bn. Meanwhile, the salary bill of NDDC in a month is over N800m. So, by the time we paid the first salary the thing dropped and we couldn’t really do anything but we have been working with the oil companies to get their contribution to the NDDC fund and also the federal government contribution too has been coming in. There is a huge deficit in terms of what we get and what we are supposed to get from the federal government cumulatively. Over the years, we have a deficit of almost N1.8trn debt that the federal government owes the NDDC from inception till date.

How do you hope to retrieve the funds?

We have engaged the federal government.

We wrote to the president. Fortunately, we got

the sympathy of the president. He directed that the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Budget and Planning should sit down with NDDC, do reconciliation, agree on the exact amount that the shortfall has become cumulatively over the years and then agree on an acceptable payment plan so that the money can be paid to us.

Unfortunately, I will say we are not getting the kind of support we expected from the Ministry of Finance, because till date, we are on it but we haven’t agreed on anything yet, let me tell you the truth. We are hoping and putting pressure on them to try. Most of the funding we have used was from the oil companies. Most of them are paying. Of course, there are still some that are outstanding. But the Senate and House of Representatives have been outstanding in helping us retrieve the money.

There is this feeling that NDDC is doing more in infrastructure development than it is doing in poverty reduction. How do you react to that?

Let me say I share the concern you raised.

We believe it is good to build infrastructure, but it is very necessary to build human capital as well. NDDC, over the years, has done a lot of capacity training; specialised training, skills and acquisition trainings in different areas. The last time we graduated some people that we trained on home finishing skills, I think that brought the total to almost 23,100 the number of people we trained in different skills.

We trained people on welding, catering, agriculture and all kinds of skills. But when I came I discovered that one of the challenges that we had was that there were these boys that usually stayed at the gate of the NDDC and some of them had been there for 15 years and they were still there. We discovered that even some of them had been beneficiaries of some of the training that NDDC had done over the years. I believe that we must look for sustainable development model that would keep our people permanently involved and engaged for a sustainable period of time.

We set up N5billion export oriented agricultural scheme. The idea is to help farmers in the region in their agricultural value chain and it is targeted specifically at export from shipping, fishing and even cassava. We will help people depending on various states and areas that have comparative advantages at certain products.

Has it taken off yet?

We signed the MoU in November with SMEDAN and the private sector people and then in February, we signed the agreement with them for the hub to take off.

Is it true that the NDDC doesn’t pay contractors upfront?

Yes. I inherited that policy and I decided to keep it. Not to pay mobilisation to any contractor. We pay on milestone. As contractors work and raise Interim Payment Certificate (IPC), that is when we pay them.

This policy of actually stopping advanced payment has helped to sanitise our projects. So, you don’t have contractors collecting government money and abandoning sites. I appreciate the fact that some genuine contractors are put in tight corner but this helped us first of all to ensure that we are dealing with credible contractors.

There is a perception by some people that the NDDC is a cash cow. Since when you took over, what have you brought in to change that perception?

Let me give you a scenario of the NDCC. On monthly basis, from the federation account, we get about over N5billion and by the time we pay salaries and send money to state offices for overheads generally; salaries alone is about N800million and by the time you pay the state offices and impress to the various directorates and so on and so forth, you have about N3billion plus and you have conservatively about N1trillion as debt.

So, how can it be a cash cow when every month you are thinking of how to cut some fingers and add and pay contractors? Seriously, that is what it is. So, it is a wrong perception.

Being the Managing Director of NDDC is a very tough and difficult job. You can’t sleep, because of this kind of perceptions you have.

Everybody is expecting money. The boys in the region are expecting money; the elders are expecting money; the traditional rulers are expecting money.

How do you get this money and give to everybody? How do you satisfy them? It is a wrong perception. And I will charge the media to help us change this perception. NDDC is definitely not a cash cow. It doesn’t even have the capacity to be a cash cow in the current scenario. We are not generating any income.

We cannot be a cash cow. And then because we are now committed to doing things

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David, Leader of All Seasons, Marks 70 Paul Mumeh

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he story of the immediate past President of the Senate, Senator David Alechenu Bonaventure Mark, his military and political careers, albeit his steady rise to the top cannot be written completely in one book. This is just an attempt, a line in the intermediate chapter of the still unfolding narrative of Mark’s highly eventful sojourn on earth.

History is replete with such narratives of great men and women who in spite of their backgrounds made it to the very top of their chosen professions or careers. We are familiar with the cliché, “from grass to grace,” of people rising above the circumstances of their births to become great personalities in the society. Mark unarguably belongs to this class. He rose from a hitherto obscure Otukpo rural community in the present day Benue State to the zenith of his profession. As a soldier, he belonged to the elite class and was indeed very successful, rising to the rank of a General before he left the crispy “Khaki” uniform for the “Agbada.” As a politician, he made his mark to the admiration of both friends and foes. Till date, he remains the only Nigerian living or dead who has contested senatorial election six times and won in the same corresponding number.

Mark was Nigerian Senate President for the sixth and seventh Senates (2007-2011 and 2011-2015) of the Fourth Republic, when he demonstrated considerable maturity in leading his colleagues and managing national issues creditably.

He was dubbed “Mr. Stability” for stabilizing the Senate and the National Assembly that was hitherto a theatre of musical chairs. The stability in the National Assembly was to later help in stabilizing the polity at the time of the uncertainty surrounding the state of late President Umaru Yar’Adua’s health.

It is instructive to note that the return of Mark for the 6th record time to the Senate took a long and tortuous path and was often laden with frustrations and intrigues. To begin with, the reasons given for the nullification of that March 28, 2015 Senatorial election was not worth the paper it was written on. Many wondered why the Tribunal could not resolve the mere discrepancy in date between the day election was held and Mark the date which appeared on the result sheet.

Whereas it could have been an oversight on the part of the electoral officials for no fault of Mark but it cost him an avoidable re-run, the test of his popularity and the will of his Benue South Senatorial zone. The return of Mark reinforced his mystique often criticized as a mere fluke sustained by his military background and the strong loyalty to the then ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). That election and its outcome brought to the fore so many things about his integrity and sterling leadership qualities. Above all, the unwavering commitment of the Idoma and Igede people of Benue State leaves a big lesson for others.

In the Senate today, Mark is the most ranking member and has garnered a whole lot of experience not just as a member of the red chamber but as President of the Senate Emeritus.

Undoubtedly, the quality of debate on motions and bills will always benefit from the insights and experience of Mark to sustain good governance. No doubt, he represents a reference icon on both local and international issues that may confront the upper legislative chamber nay National Assembly from time to time. Although, he maintains a dignified silence in the chamber for now, he nonetheless offers useful advice to his colleagues, especially the leadership from time to time.

Many political pundits have severally described Mark as a pragmatist, a magnet that moves both friends and foes into his enchanting orbit, a man whose flame and fame continues to illuminate. He is a pan- Nigerian, a true nationalist and political strategist of no mean standing. He has proven to be a man of immense political sagacity.

Born on the 8th day of April, 1948 in Otukpo, Otukpo Local Government of Benue State of Nigeria, he started his early education at St. Francis Catholic Practising School, Otukpo from 1956-1961. He later proceeded to the prestigious Nigerian Military School (NMS) Zaria from 1962-1966 thereby setting the tone for his ambition for a military career. He graduated from the Nigerian Defence Academy (NDA) Regular Course 3 and was commissioned Second Lieutenant in 1970. He proceeded for further professional training in the United Kingdom and India from 1971-1976 and bagged Bachelor’s Degree in Telecommunications Engineering. Between 1978 and 1979, he was a student at the Command and Staff College, Jaji and in 1990-1991 he was at the National Defence University in Washington DC and later at Harvard University Boston, USA 1991-1992. He held various Staff, Command and Administrative appointments during his service in the Nigerian Army. Some of these include b t t li it d t Di ti St ff C d d St ff C ll

War College (NWC) now National Defence College (NDC); Abuja. Mark also held extra-curricular appointments while in the military. He was appointed the chairman of the very challenging Abandoned Properties Implementation Committee in 1976. In his capacity as chairman, he effectively supervised the implementation of the Federal Government White Paper on the controversial abandoned properties in the old Eastern Region now South-East and South-South zones. In 1984, Lt-Colonel Mark was appointed Military Governor of Niger State. His tenure as the Military Governor of Niger State was characterized by brilliant ideas, bold actions and courageous initiatives which set Niger State on the path of development. As Minister of Communications in 1988, he revolutionised the communications sector in Nigeria by introducing mobile phones and digital telephone system in the country. He reorganised NIPOST and started the city coding system. The Nigeria Telecommunications (NITEL) was removed from the Civil Service structure and staff welfare package was improved significantly. He also built two ultra-modern digital earth stations in Lagos and Enugu from internally generated revenue without recourse to the Federal Government fund.

Upon his return to Nigeria from self-exile in 1998 to a tumultuous reception by his Idoma people of Benue State, they instantly declared him their political leader and he responded to their yearnings and aspirations by joining the PDP and had the privilege of contesting election into the Senate. He was successfully elected as the Senator for Benue South Senatorial District in 1999. Mark was returned by his people in 2003, 2007, 2011 and 2015. In June, 2007, fortune smiled on Mark when he was elected President of the Senate.

During his tenure, a new phrase was added to Nigeria’s political lexicon on Tuesday, 9th February, 2010 when Mark and his colleagues tested extant laws of the land in order to forge a bailout for Nigeria’s continuous existence as one nation through the invocation of the Doctrine of Necessity. That singular action ended the political logjam that had gripped the nation prior to the emergence of a new leadership. On several occasions, Mark’s interventions and wise counsel have rescued the nation from the precipice.

In 2012, he was on hand to save the nation from the catastrophic oil subsidy riots. It was also Mark and his colleagues who resolved the rift between the government and the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) and their Polytechnics counterparts to return to classes after one year of industrial dispute Similarly Mark as then President of the

strike action and succeeded in getting the medical doctors back to work during the outbreak of the endemic Ebola virus disease. Under Mark, the National Assembly in December 2008, returned N7billion unspent fund to the national treasury.

Widely popular for his belief in democracy and rule of law, his political and social ingenuity in handling bills and motions have always been to the admiration of his colleagues in both the Senate and the House of Representatives, as well as Nigerians who keenly watch his dexterity. As the then Senate President, he handled the affairs of the Red Chamber with a deftness that carried everyone along; he left no one in doubt as to the fact that the success of the parliament lies in team work. He fondly called his colleagues “my bosses.” Under his leadership, the Legislature broke the 50-year old jinx by successfully amending the 1999 Constitution. By that achievement, he has helped to set a precedence of procedure such that even those who will come after him will not have much difficulty in altering the Constitution positively.

He led the National Assembly to, among others, pass into law the Anti-gay Bill, otherwise called Same Sex Marriage law in spite of pressures from the Western world.

His Benue South constituents stand to benefit even more of the dividends of democracy with such a highly experienced politician making their case easier at every point. At the moment, he is pushing for a clear position from the federal government on the persistent clashes between the Benue people and Fulani herdsmen. He believes that the crisis which continues to erupt requires the intervention of the federal government to find a permanent solution.

For him, nothing less than accepting the modern global trend of building ranches would solve the problem. It will require a man of his status to make the case for the completion of the several federal projects still on-going in the zone, including but not limited to, the Oweto/ Loko Bridge project, Federal University of Health Sciences in Otukpo, the Otobi Multipurpose Dam and several others in the area.

It has been resolved that Mark is a clear leader of all seasons.

In the past, it was debated in some quarters about his status and why nobody has been able to successfully challenge his political leadership in Benue South. The outcome of that February 28, 2016 rerun election truly put paid to this debate.

As a great believer in education, Mark established a scholarship scheme under David Mark Scholarship Foundation (DMSF), which awards scholarships from primary to university level. No fewer than 20,000 students, most of them indigents, have benefitted from the annual scholarship scheme since its inception in 2005. He built and donated a multi-million naira complex to the National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN) Otukpo Study Centre in 2010. As a sports enthusiast, he has in place an annual David Mark Secondary School football competition for the youths. As an avid lover of the game of golf, Mark has an 18-hole Green Golf Championship Course in Otukpo open to the public free-of-charge. These have not only given sports a boost in the state but also offered employment to several people. The club has a strong golf academy which provides opportunities for children to play. Mark also established a radio station, Joy FM 96.5, in Otukpo which offers employment to over 50 Nigerians in his constituency. This has promoted grassroots communication, education, enlightenment, peace and harmony among the people.

A man of undoubted national acclaim and an asset, he has been decorated and honoured with several awards across the country among which are: Grand Commander of the Order of the Niger [GCON); Doctorate Degrees (Honoris Causa) from several universities across the country, including but not limited to: National Open University of Nigeria, Rivers State University of Science and Technology, Enugu State University of Science and Technology, Benue State University, Nasarawa State University, University of Agriculture, Makurdi, Federal University of Technology, Minna; Novena University, Ogume, Delta State; Fellow, Auchi Polytechnic, Edo State; Fellow, Nigeria Institute of Management (fnim); Fellow, Nigeria Institute of Public Relations (NIPR); Public Officer of the Year, 2011 Award

by African Newspapers of Nigeria Plc (publishers of Tribune Newspapers); and Man of the Year Award 2015 by the Daily Independent Newspapers Limited.

––Paul Mumeh is the Media Assistant to Senator David Mark

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NEWSXTRA FG May Lose over N200bn to Ijora-Apapa Bridge Closure Eromosele Abiodun The plan by the federal government to close the Ijora-Apapa Bridge in Lagos for “permanent repairs” will cost the country over N200 billion, if the bridge is blocked for two months.

The government makes between N1.2 trillion and N1.3 trillion annually from the ports through the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) and the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA).

Also, stakeholders believe closing the bridge without first

fixing the Tincan portion of the dilapidated Apapa-Oshodi Expressway will amount to shooting itself in the foot.

They called on the government to have a rethink and fix the Apapa-Oshodi Expressway before closing the Ijora-Apapa Bridge for repairs; otherwise, there will be no access to the ports.

President, National Council of Managing Directors of Customs Licensed Customs Agents (NCMDLCA), Mr. Lucky Amiwero, told THISDAY that

closing the Ijora-Apapa Bridge without proper traffic management will lead to cargoes been divert to other countries.

According to him, “It will make no sense, if they go ahead and close the bridge without alternative roads to the port. The Tincan section of the Apapa-Oshodi Expressway has completely collapsed. That road must be fixed first and the trucks on the Ijora-Apapa Bridge that has extended to Western Avenue and Maryland must also be cleared

before anything can be done.

“I can tell you that the country will lose a lot of cargo and billions of naira in revenue. Daily, Nigerians who ply that road suffer undue hardship; some are killed by falling containers and trucks. Why add more insult to injury? It makes no sense why anybody will think of this. They should immediately reverse the decision and first provide alternative means of getting in and out of the Apapa port, which is the gateway to the Nigerian economy.”

An official of the Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA) said the government had to provide alternative means of getting in and out of the port.

The official, who did not want his name in print, however, argued that the government will not lose much revenue since it is a partial closure.

The federal government had recently announced that it would close the Ijora-Apapa Bridge for “permanent repairs” as soon as stakeholders come up with alternative routes for use by commuters.

The Federal Controller of Works, Lagos, Adedamola Kuti, said this in Lagos recently.

He assured that Julius Berger

Plc, the contractor handling the project, was ready to move to site.

The controller noted that the ministry was working on effective traffic diversion alternatives that would ensure minimal stresses on users then.

Kuti stated that the bridge was still in use because of an earlier emergency repair work done

by Julius Berger to stabilise it. According to him, Messrs Buildwell Nigeria Ltd, had completed permanent repairs on an extension of the bridge, which was damaged by fire.

The controller explained that when Julius Berger returned to site, it would carry out permanent repairs on the portion of the bridge awarded to it.

In Brief NBA Ikorodu Holds Law Week

PREACHING PEACE L-R: Head, Media/ Public Relations, The Lord’s Chosen Charismatic Revival Ministries, Pastor Louis Chidi; General Overseer, Pastor

Lazarus Muoka; and wife, Pastor (Mrs.) Joy Muoka, at the Easter Sunday service/ crusade on God’s Covenant of peace and blessing in Lagos...recently ETOP UKUTT

The Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Ikorodu Branch has begun its 2018 Annual Law Week. It commenced on Friday, April 6, with a press briefing addressed by the branch Chairman, Mr. Levi Adikwaone and other executives of the branch and a Jumat service at the Majolape Mosque, Ebute, Ikorodu. Health Talk and Free medical screening also held on Friday.

According to Adikwaone, the Law Week is usually a week set aside by the branches of the NBA in Nigeria to celebrate the Legal Profession.

Adikwaone, during the press briefing disclosed that the members of the Branch would today attend a Thanksgiving church service at the Redeem Christian Church of God (RCCG), Overcomers Parish, Pashoku, Ikorodu He said other activities lined up to mark the Week include: the Bar and Police Forum on Monday, during which members of the branch would visit the Area N Police Command and other police formations under the command with a view to offering legal assistance to those in custody.

The Asiwaju Babatunde Olusola Benson (SAN) Annual Lecture tagged ‘Law and Economic Development: Moving Nigeria from Recession to Prosperity’ would hold on Tuesday at the Ikorodu Town

Presidency Commiserates with Victims of Offa Bank Robbery t Police arrest seven suspects t Saraki seeks improved security Abimbola Akosile and Hammed Shittu in Ilorin The Presidency has sympathised with the victims of armed robbery attacks which were carried out on five banks in Offa, Kwara State last Thursday, during which 17 people were confirmed killed, including nine policemen.

The official message was contained in a series of tweets on the Presidency Twitter handle @ NGRPresident yesterday, more

than 48 hours after the incident, and two minutes after a tweet by a former new media aide of former president Dr. Goodluck Jonathan, Mr. Reno Omokri, who castigated the presidency for failing to express any condolence to the victims of the Offa robbery attacks.

Omokri, in his first tweet on his Twitter handle @renoomokri at 14.36pm wrote “Policemen died during the daring Offa bank robbery. Not a word of condolence

from President Buhari. He even travelled to Katsina. Imagine what this does to the morale of the Police? They are not paid well and their Commander-in-Chief does not give a damn when they are killed!”

In an apparent reply to Omokri’s tweet, the presidency at 14.38pm tweeted “We sympathise with the families of victims, residents of Offa and the Government and people of Kwara State, on Thursday’s violent robbery at-

tack. @PoliceNG have arrested a number of suspects & deployed extra personnel to the town, to assist in investigations and beef up security”.

Omokri, in his response to the official tweet, said “Look at the time stamp on those tweets.

Exactly two minutes after I criticized President Muhammadu Buhari for not condoling with the families of the 9 policemen killed during the Offa bank robbery, and instead jetting

off to Katsina for the weekend, the President hurriedly issued a condolence. Obviously, Aso Rock monitors my tweets and are adjusting their behaviour accordingly.

“When a gunman killed 9 people in Munich, Germany on July 22, 2016, President Buhari condoled with the German people the next day. When 9 policemen were killed by bank robbers in Offa, President Buhari jetted to his village. No condolence. No visit.

It was as if nothing happened!” he added.

Meanwhile, the Kwara state police command yesterday said it has arrested seven persons in connection with the armed robbery attacks in Offa.

The state police Commissioner Ado Lawan disclosed this to reporters in Ilorin, the Kwara state capital. He said one person was arrested at Igosun road while the six others were arrested at different locations in Offa.

Presidency Chides Senator Goje 2019: C’River APC Governorship Aspirant Suspected Herdsmen Abduct, Kill Pastor in Edo over Comments on Buhari’s NSIP Declares, Promises to Build Institutions Abimbola Akosile withagency report The Presidency has upbraided Senator Danjuma Goje over his comments and criticism of the President Muhammadu Buhari administration’s National Social Investment Programme (NSIP).

In a statement issued by the Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity to the Vice President, Laolu Akande, he said contrary to Goje’s view, the programme is touching the lives of many Nigerians.

The statement reads “Our attention has been drawn to a news report quoting Senator Danjuma Goje as suggesting that a sum of N1.5 trillion has so far been released for the National Social

Investment Programme of the Buhari Administration.

“The distinguished senator was reported as saying that by the end of three years the NSIP would have handled an unprecedented sum of N1.5 trillion. He was speaking at a Senate Appropriation Committee hearing on Thursday.

“The Senator was also quoted directly that “I am yet to see one boy who came to tell me that he has benefited from your N500 billion.” “First we would like to hope that the senator was misquoted. And we call on him to make the necessary clarifications.

However were it to be true that he made such wild claims, it would not only be unfortunate but certainly an irresponsible statement.

Ugo Aliogo The race for Cross River State government house assumed a competitive twist during the week following the declaration of an All Progressives Congress (APC) aspirant, Tony Ushie to give the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) a good run for the seat.

At a well-attended rally which held in Igoli, the headquarters of Ogoja local government council, Ushie said he is poised to reengineer the fortunes of the state to entrench self-reliance by concentrating on the areas where the state has comparative advantages in human and material resources.

According to him “We need to re-engineer the state towards creating niches in sciences,

technology, sports, agriculture, education, SMEs and those small things that will gradually make us function without depending on federal allocation.”

Giving an example of himself as a beneficiary of an SME, the former Obanliku council chairman on the platform of GDM stated that “My guardian and senior brother, Chief Francis Amoke is just an ordinary Welder. From his small workshop at 6, Ogon Street, Igoli Ogoja, he directly sponsored nine of us through the university and has provided support to many others. He now has two geoscientists, an ordained priest of the Catholic Church, a lawyer, teachers, many other professionals and attendant positive multiplier effects.

AdibeEmenyonuinBeninCity Suspected herdsmen have reportedly killed a Pastor of the Church of God Mission in Benin City, Pastor Pius Eromosele.

Pastor Eromosele was said to have been killed at his farm at Odighi in Ovia North East local government area after they allegedly demanded a N4 million ransom.

Another farmer who was found killed and whose identity could not be ascertained was buried inside the bush because he was already decomposed.

The unidentified farmer was found by a search party comprising of hunters and local vigilante who went into the bush to look for Pastor Eromosele.

Eldest son of late Pastor Eromosele,

Dr. Richard Eromosele, said his father was abducted on Thursday March 29 and was found already decomposing in the bush on Tuesday April 3.

Dr. Eromosele said he almost passed out when he saw the way his father was brutally murdered.

The junior Eromosele told newsmen that the killers cut through his father’s skull after they shot him at close range.

He stated that he reported the incident to the police and was referred to the anti-kidnapping unit but the police did not do anything to rescue his father.

Richard said two of his father’s workers, Kingsley and Akpan, who managed to escape from the herdsmen narrated what happened before his father was killed.

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T H I S D AY, T H E S U N D AY N E W S PA P E R ˾ APRIL 8, 2018

IMAGES

M

r. Mohammed Usman Abdulrazaq, son of Dr. Alimi and Mrs. Foluke Abdulrazaq, and grandson of billionaire nonagenarian lawyer and former President Nigerian Stock Exchange, Alhaji AGF Abdulrazaq SAN, recently wedded Amirah Mohammed, daughter of veteran journalist and former director at NTA, Alhaji Barde Mohammed, and Hajiya Manirah Mohammed, in Kano. A colourful wedding reception was later held at the International Conference Center Abuja. Here are faces of some of the personalities that graced the occasion. Photographs by Julius Atoi

Mr. Mohammed Usman Abdulrazaq and his newly wedded wife, Amirah

L-R: Bride’s mother, Hajiya Manirah Mohammed, and Minister of State Budget and Planning, Mrs Zainab Ahmed’

R:-L: Mother of the groom, Mrs Foluke Abdulrazaq and Alhaja Bola Shagaya

L-R: Col Lawan Gwadebe (rtd) and brides father, Alh Barde Mohammed

L-R: Father of the groom Dr Alimi Abdul-Razaq; former Vice–President Namadi Sambo and the National Security Adviser (NSA), General Babagana Monguno

L-R: Senator Ibrahim Mantu and Mr Hubert Shaiyen

L-R: Alh Aliko Dangote and Mr. Tony Elumelu

Mr Jide Somefun and wife, Tomi

L-R: Otunba Lanre Ipinisho and Mrs. Kema Chikwe

T H I S D AY, T H E S U N D AY N E W S PA P E R ˾ APRIL 8, 2018

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IMAGES

R-L: Senator Khairat Abdul-Razaq-Gwadebe; Mrs Folake Abdul-Razaq; Hajiya Hafsal Lawal and Hajiya Aisha Mohammed Lawal

L-R: Alh Gbolarumi Olugbesan and Alh Mumuni Yunusa

R-L: Mrs. Munirat Marwa; General Buba Marwa; Mrs Stella Omotesho and Mrs. Deorike Etti

L-R: Hajiya Fatima Basola and Senator Biodun Olujimi

L-R: Mr Wale Edun and Admiral Jubril Ayinla (rtd)

L-R: Asiwaju Adegboyega Awomolo (SAN) and Mrs Victoria Awomolo (SAN)

L-R: Chief Segun Osoba and Otunba Niyi Adebayo

L-R: Mr. Segun Awolowo; Senator Liyel Imoke; and Mrs Obioma Imoke

L-R: Chief Ferdinard Alaabraba; Chief Kola Jamodu and Mr. Vivian Ikem

L-R: Grooms Uncles, Abdulrauph AbdulRazaq; Mallam Abdulrahman AbdulRazaq; Mallam IsiakaAbdulRazaq and Mr. Ahmed Abdulrazaq

L-R: The Jarma of Ilorin, Alh Kola Belgore; Alh. Abdulsamad Rabiu; the groom’s father, Dr. Alimi AbdulRazaq; Alh. Lawan Garba and the Zanna of Ilorin , Engr Lanre Shagaya at the Kano wedding Fatiha

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T H I S D AY, T H E S U N D AY N E W S PA P E R ˾ APRIL 8, 2018

SUNDAYSPORTS Man United Come from Behind to Halt City Title Party

Edited by Demola Ojo Email demola.ojo@thisdaylive.com

Demola Ojo with agency reports

P

aul Pogba spoiled Manchester City’s anticipated Premier League title party by scoring twice in two minutes as Manchester United came from 2-0 down to win a thrilling derby 3-2 yesterday. Chris Smalling completed the comeback that looked so improbable when City were well on course to round off a resounding march towards the title by racing into a 2-0 first-half lead.

Goals from captain Vincent Kompany and Ilkay Gundogan put the hosts in a commanding position, who were left to rue huge missed chances from Raheem Sterling to extend their lead.

“In that level in that competition when you have chances you have to score,” said City manager Pep Guardiola. “They shot four times on target and scored three goals.”

Guardiola added more spice to an already hotlyanticipated clash when he claimed on Friday he had been offered the chance to buy Pogba two months ago by the player’s agent Mino Raiola. Pogba has endured a desperately disappointing season having often been dropped by Jose Mourinho for United’s biggest games.

But after so much criticism, Pogba showed why he was the world’s most expensive player when United splashed out £89 million to bring him back to the club from Juventus in 2016 by hauling United back into a game that looked lost at half-time.

“If the accusation from his agent is that he wants to go to other clubs, his price has gone up,” said Mourinho wryly.

And Mourinho challenged his side to use their fightback as a springboard to a title challenge next season. “I want to congratulate City for the title because they are going to win and deservedly. They gave no chance to the others because they had this season of don’t stop winning,” added the Portuguese.

“My objective here was to get points and not spoil any celebrations. The point is can we improve enough to catch them next season?”

Guardiola kept his pre-match promise to prioritise Tuesday’s Champions League quarter-final second leg against Liverpool with City needing to overturn a 3-0 first leg deficit.

Kevin de Bruyne, a leading candidate for player of the year awards, was left on the bench alongside

Smalling and Pogba scored three goals between them yesterday (1)

Gabriel Jesus and City’s all-time top goalscorer Sergio Aguero.

Guardiola and Mourinho have a longrunning rivalry dating back to their time in charge of Barcelona and Real Madrid respectively. And the game quickly settled into the usual pattern when the two face off with City dominating possession and United happy to get plenty of men behind the ball.

Yet, for all City’s possession, just like when City won 2-1 at Old Trafford in December, it was from a set-piece that United were undone.

City’s Abu-Dhabi owners have splashed an estimated 878 million euros over the past

decade to assemble a squad that has tilted the balance of power in Manchester from red to blue.

Kompany was one the Emiratis’ first purchases, and he was a fitting scorer on what seemed destined to be a historic day.

The Belgian outmuscled Smalling to power home Leroy Sane’s corner on 25 minutes. Five minutes later City doubled their lead in a style that has characterised their season as Gundogan brilliantly turned onto Sterling’s pass before slotting into the far corner.

City should have been out of sight by halftime as Guardiola screamed in frustration after Sterling fired two glorious chances well over the

bar. Like the rest of his teammates, Pogba was overrun in the first 45 minutes, but came alive to slot home from Ander Herrera’s cushioned pass with his chest to get United back into the game eight minutes after the break.

That goal was the first Mourinho’s men had scored away from home against top-five opposition in the Premier League all season. And they soon had two in two minutes whenAlexis Sanchez picked out Pogba’s late run into the box and his header beat Ederson low to his right-hand side.

City’s Champions League hopes were likely ended by conceding three times in 19 minutes at Anfield in midweek.

Floundering Chelsea Host Messi Hat-trick Helps West Ham in London Derby Barca Equal Record Chelsea will be looking to bounce back from defeat and continue their home run against West Ham when the two meet this afternoon at Stamford Bridge. The Blues were beaten 3-1 by Tottenham last weekend to extend the gap between Chelsea in fifth and the top four to eight points. However, they have not lost in 11 home Premier League games against the Hammers (W8 D3).

Antonio Conte admits it will be tough to make a top four surge with just seven games remaining but the Italian still wants to see his players battling until the end.

“We have to try to do everything to continue to have the possibility to fight for a place in the Champions League,” he said. “It won’t be easy, we have to be realistic, but at the same time we have to give all of ourselves.

I think that everyone has to show pride, desire and a will to fight until the end of the season. This is very important for me, for my staff and for the players, also because the supporters deserve at least this.”

West Ham have already beaten Chelsea this season though, winning the reverse fixture 1-0 in December and handing David Moyes his first victory as Hammers boss.

When asked if his side could do the double, he said: “I hope lightning can strike twice and we can do it again.

I’ve seen Chelsea quite a lot and they’re a really good team with some excellent players.

“We’ll go there and give them great respect but with a game-plan to bring points back here to West Ham. They have to win all their games as a top club so don’t think for a minute that they will switch off. We have to hope we catch them on an off-day and we perform well. If we

Conte and his Chelsea team lie fifth after going through a difficult spell do, I hope we can give them a really good game.”

Chelsea could have both Thibaut Courtois and Pedro fit. The Belgian has been missing with a hamstring injury, with the Spain forward absent due to an unspecified knock, but the pair are in contention to return against the Hammers.

West Ham’s MichailAntonio will miss the game, as well as the rest of the season, following his injury against Southampton last weekend. Moyes confirmed Manuel Lanzini, who missed the game with the Saints, may feature.

Barcelona equalled the record longest unbeaten run in La Liga history as a Lionel Messi hat-trick inspired the runaway leaders to a 3-1 win over Leganes yesterday to make it 38 league games unbeaten.

The Catalan giants will look to break the record that Real Sociedad set in 1979-80 when they host Valencia next weekend, with Ernesto Valverde’s side now just seven matches from becoming the first La Liga side to go through a campaign without tasting defeat.

Messi was the star of the show at the Camp Nou with a magnificent treble, as Barca stretched their lead at the top to 12 points ahead of second-placed Atletico Madrid’s derby against Real Madrid today.

Coach Valverde named a strong side despite having a Champions League quarterfinal, second leg on Tuesday at Roma, with Messi, Luis Suarez and Philippe Coutinho all starting.

Suarez passed up two good early chances to put Barca ahead, prodding wide and then seeing visiting goalkeeper Ivan Cuellar deny him with an excellent save. But the hosts moved in front in the 27th minute through a trademark Messi free-kick.

The Argentinian stepped up and curled the ball over the ball and into the bottom corner from 25 yards out to score his 27th league goal of the season.

It didn’t take the 30-year-old long to double his tally for the day, latching onto Coutinho’s through ball and firing low into the corner.

Barcelona eased off in the second half, perhaps with the midweek clash at the Stadio Olimpico on their

Messi celebrated another hat trick yesterday minds, and Leganes hit back midway through the second half.

Former Liverpool winger Nabil El Zhar cut inside and fired into the bottom corner from the edge of the box despite slipping as he shot.

But the home side finished off the match as a contest late on with Messi completing his third hat-trick of the season in style.

The five-time Ballon d’Or winner chested down Ousmane Dembele’s pass and dinked the ball over Cuellar with consummate ease.

Barca will now turn their attentions to avoiding a disaster in Italy as they defend a 4-1 first-leg lead, still bidding to complete the treble with a Copa del Rey final against Sevilla to come in a fortnight’s time.

T H I S D AY, T H E S U N D AY N E W S PA P E R Ëž ÍśË&#x153; Í°ÍŽÍŻÍś

High Life

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͎͎͜;ʹ͜͜ͳ;ͳͰ

...AĂ&#x2014;Ă&#x2039;äĂ&#x201C;Ă&#x2DC;Ă&#x2018; Ă&#x2013;Ă&#x201C;Ă?Ă?Ă?Ă&#x17E;ĂŁĂ&#x2013;Ă?Ă? Ă&#x2122;Ă? Ă&#x201C;Ă&#x2018;Ă?Ă&#x153;Ă&#x201C;Ă&#x2039;ËŞĂ? Ă&#x153;Ă&#x201C;Ă?Ă&#x2019; Ă&#x2039;Ă&#x2DC;Ă&#x17D; Ă?Ă&#x2039;Ă&#x2014;Ă&#x2122;Ă&#x;Ă?

Angela Onyeadorâ&#x20AC;ŚSix Years After Ëž Ă&#x201C;ĘľĂ?Ă&#x153;Ă?ĂĄĂ?Ă?Ă&#x17E; Ă&#x2014;Ă?Ă&#x2014;Ă&#x2122;Ă&#x153;Ă&#x201C;Ă?Ă? Ă&#x2122;Ă? Ă&#x2039; Ă&#x152;Ă?Ă&#x2013;Ă&#x2122;Ă Ă?Ă&#x17D; Ă?Ă&#x2DC;Ă?Ă&#x2019;Ă&#x2039;Ă&#x2DC;Ă&#x17E;Ă&#x153;Ă?Ă?Ă?

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heir active hearts had lost their wind; their ďŹ reâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s extinct and like the immortal dead, the Onyeador sisters, and their only brother, had departed this world. Now all roads lead to yonder for the beautiful sisters and shining beacons of the Lagos high society. The sisters were Stella, Angela and Ebele Onyeador. Ebele, the youngest of the siblings, died few months after her elder sister and late art and culture aďŹ cionado, Angela, died in mysterious circumstances.

No simple or ornamental tribute could capture an essence of Angelaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s extraordinary appeal. Men were swayed by her beauty and poise, but her hold on women was even more phenomenal; she stoked intense feelings of gratitude and contentment in most people privileged enough to have made her acquaintance during years spell on earth.

Six years since her sad departure from the mortal world, memories of Angela assail her loved ones like a bittersweet gust of cold breeze after a discomforting heatstroke.

Prior to Angelaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s eventual answer of the call of Heaven, six years ago, some naysayers went to town with the news of the illness of this arts aďŹ cionado and elegant stallion, which arose shortly after the death of her elder sister, Stella, the wife of late Chief Odumegwu Ojukwu. So bad was the sickness that she was

LATE SEGUN AGAGUâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S WIDOW, FUNKE, CELEBRATES LOW KEY 70TH BIRTHDAY

There is nothing gorgeous about being draped in the finery that constricts the heart and soul. Olufunke Agagu, the widow of the late former governor of Ondo State, Dr. Olusegun Agagu, understands this priceless fact hence her predilection for modesty and unabashed humility. When Olufunke Agagu, the former First Lady of Ondo State clocked 70, last weekend, she did not roll out the drums as such. It was a family affair!

Gone, for her, were the years of letting expensive cognacs and

Olufunke Agagu

said to have been ďŹ&#x201A;own to India for comprehensive spiritual assistance as her ailment was said not to be a medical problem. After sometime, the â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;doomsdayâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; rumour was completely debunked by Angela. She stepped out in a grand style, but not for too long.

She kept a low proďŹ le, until another story broke out on how she instituted a case against the Senate, Economic and Financial Crimes Commission and Nigeria Deposit Insurance Commission in her bid to restore the good name and integrity she had built for herself over the years. The Senate had listed Angela, a former director of the defunct Assurance Bank, among the people who incurred the bad debts that sent some of the formerly distressed banks to their early grave.

In her own case, she was alleged to have taken a loan of N28million.

MiďŹ&#x20AC;ed by the revelation, the public relations guru quickly went to town to clear the air, explaining that she had sorted out her debt. Angela promised to ďŹ ght the battle with the last drop of her blood. She backed up her claims with documentary evidence and demanded a retraction and apology from the Senate and NDIC. When the public retraction and apology were not forthcoming, the former promoter of beauty pageant threatened to ďŹ le a suit at the law court to address the anomaly. But nothing happened. Angela fell sick again. She slipped in and out of coma induced by her ill-health. As usual champagnes flow like a rivulet; or setting sail on a yacht for different territorial waters with stops in the beautiful cities of the world with her husband, Agagu. Alas, her husband is no more. She settled for a low-key birthday with members of her family in their Ikoyi, Lagos, home.

For her, it was a day to exult and exalt God for coming thus far in life. Who wouldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t?

Funke has survived several tempests that would have sunk a whole clan. Curiously, however, the misfortune that befell the former First Lady of Ondo State, is the type that assumes folkloric proportions ages after. Her husband, the brilliant geologist, former deputy governor, former minister of Aviation, and later, Power and Steel and exGovernor of Ondo State, Dr. Olusegun Agagu, died after a brief illness in September 2013.

But that is not the real tragedy.

On October 3rd, the Associated Aviation Flight 361 conveying his corpse to Akure, the Ondo State capital, for state burial with 13 passengers and 7 crew members, crashed on take-off from the Murtala Mohammed International Airport, Ikeja, killing, among other passengers, Ebony Caskets owner, Tunji Okunsanya, and his son as well as Commissioner for Culture and

Angela Onyeador

there were stories of betrayal by her friends and associates who until Tourism in Ondo State, Deji Falae. Years after, everybody is bracing up to the reality of the tragedy, whatever seemed like a scene from a movie then must now have dawned on everyone involved. For Olufunke too, life must go on.

The bespectacled, soft-spoken woman is gradually learning to smile again. And she has so much to smile for indeed.

Her son, Feyi, who was aboard the ill-fated plane, not only survived the crash, he is now nearing full recovery. So is her son-in-law who also survived the crash. So, thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s so much for the Agagu matriarch to live for. Not surprisingly, a family source said Funke has been telling everyone now that for the rest of her life, she would serve the Lord Almighty.

her sickness, beneďŹ tted from her immense connection. to retrieve his hat from the political ring; rather than jostle for political office and power, Marwa has decided to tow the path of honour by retiring to the bench to contribute his quota to national development, as an elder statesman.

The former military administrator of Lagos State may henceforth participate in politics only as a member of an inestimable think-tank.

Unlike many military men, whose enduring images are those of brutality and rigidity, Marwa was well loved by the majority of Lagosians during his time as the stateâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s numero uno. Operation Sweep, which

WISDOM OF BUBA MARWA...WHY HE STAYS AWAY FROM POLITICS Buba Marwa must be an honourable man. Having persistently failed at becoming governor of Adamawa State, the ex-military officer sought solace in the wisdom of the ancients, which counsels tact and native intelligence in the face of odds - odds of a political nature to be precise.

Like the quintessential elder statesman who is faced with conflict between love for country and insatiable ambition, he has decided

Buba Marwa

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HIGHLIFE

Tough Luck or Coincidence? Senator Olorunnimbe Mamora Loses Lucrative Appointments in a Row

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here is no gainsaying Senator Olorunnimbe Mamora suffers the brute end of tough luck. Soon after experiencing a succession of disappointments, his recent dream of becoming an ambassador has dissipated into thin air, like a worthless imagination, fed upon illusion and put to death by reality.

Call it fatal coincidence or tough luck, Mamora has been through a lot of disappointments in his political career. It could be recalled that he wanted to become governor of Lagos State but he was dropped and replaced with Babatunde Fashola by ex-Lagos governor and APC leader, Bola Tinubu. He wanted to go back to the Senate but he was replaced with another person. And just recently, his dream of becoming an ambassador ended abruptly.

This development came to be via the resubmitted list of non-career ambassadorial nominees to the Senate for ratification by President Muhammadu Buhari. The name of Mamora, which was in the original list was he launched during his time as governor had helped to rid the state of criminal elements, while the impact of his Operation 250 Roads is still felt today on the numerous roads he helped to build or repair.

Since his retirement from military service, Marwa has concentrated more on his home state of Adamawa. Although he has repeatedly been frustrated in his governorship bid by the powers that be, he remains a loyal servant in the background, helping the state government with his experience in the art of governance.

OONI OF IFE’S ELDER BROTHER, TUNJI OGUNWUSI, IN DEBT CRISIS It is not only boys that are not smiling, a reminder of that lingo made popular by a Nigerian rapper; some

Tunji Ogunwusi

conspicuously missing from the new one. This was the second time that Mamora experienced a near appointment in the new administration of President Muhammadu Buhari. He was pencilled down to become the Chairman of the Nigerian Ports Authority in recognition of his energetic efforts during the campaign trail. But he lost out barely 48hrs to the announcement.

Again he has been dropped.

Sadly, he turned down an appointment by President Muhammadu Buhari. The President appointed Mamora as the Chairman of the Abuja Investment and Infrastructure Centre (AIIC) but the ex-legislator was said to have rejected the offer.

Mamora was the Deputy Director-General of the Muhammadu Buhari Campaign Organisation during the 2015 presidential election. He was said to have argued that the appointment was not befitting, adding that the people who never participated in the process that brought Buhari to power were occupying the front seats of government. acclaimed millionaires can’t even afford a smile, as much as they can’t afford a good sleep. This is the lot of Prince Adetunji Ogunwusi, the elder brother of Ooni of Ife, Oba Enitan Ogunwusi. Some years back, when defaulting on bank loans did not occasion countless sleepless nights, the property mogul got a multimillion naira loan from Skye Bank through his company, Prime Waterview. The economy was still buoyant and nothing in the forecast showed that the business he invested the money in would tank atrociously. Well, it did.

And his over N500million went down the drain. Adetunji has been cliffhanging since.

While it may be true that the tiger never loses its spots whatever odds the jungle may throw at it, Adetunji loses his claims to affluence and membership of the millionaire’s club like a tiger losing its spots to the jungle odds.

Despite his chronic indebtedness and precarious financial situation, he fights a desperate battle to save his royal reputation. He would have people believe that he could never lose his affluence or fade into irrelevance simply because he has financial troubles and a little trouble with his bank.

Predictably, his bankers are angry with him. They are in court with him over the debt.

But wait a minute, would the ensuing drama end well for the Ife Prince? Not totally, Sir! As

Olorunnimbe Mamora

you read news of his descent has become gossip across high society circuits, cubicles and boardrooms of his creditors cum bankers.

THE EXPENSIVE PRESENCE OF DERIN BRAITHWAITE AT OVER 60

Her femininity is big enough to embrace everything; even desolate spells and crashed marriages. But for all the misery she has had to endure, Lagos society woman, lawyer and politician, Derin Braithwaite, has waded out of the sinking sands with barely a scratch or scar of defeat. The ravishing woman has smothered the agony and desolation of her two crashed marriages. Rather than mope and wallow in self-pity, she has chosen to channel fulfilment from the remarkable feats of her sons in

Derin Braithwaite

the academia. She is even more excited about the prospects of hosting their marriages and becoming a grandma soon. Derin, daughter of late Chief Talabi Braithwaite, the doyen of Insurance, had her first marriage with Dele Ogedengbe, the former Commissioner for Justice, Ondo State, but hit the rocks. Presumably wiser and expectant of a fairer deal, she got married to Kunle Disu, a businessman, but that too, ended very sadly. She has been single since her two failed marriages. But despite high society’s anticipation of a likely third marriage, matrimony is hardly on Derin’s mind. Not at this age! The former Chairman of Lagos Island West Local Government and former Special Adviser on Central Business District to Babatunde Raji Fashola of Lagos State, would rather focus on the feats of her sons. After a glorious stint, spanning several decades in the social circle, it seems that the irrepressible forces of nature have combined to make her slow her roll. In the days when she held sway, no party was complete without her. She and her friends held the society scene by the throes, dictating its pulse at will and never letting up in the fashion department whenever it mattered. As time went by, however, younger socialites started sprouting, giving Derin and her friends a good run for their fashion and socializing facility. Now, it is

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Conjugal Course...Zahra Buhari-Indimi is Expectant

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mother’s joy begins when a new life is stirring inside her womb. Ask Zahra Indimi, the beautiful daughter of President Muhammadu Buhari, she knows. Only Ahmed and his wife, Zahra, know what it is about their union that drives them to perpetuate one of the most enviable and durable signs of love. It is simply romantic to see the couple holding hands or sharing smiles in public, oblivious to the world and its many distractions. They got married last year in a private wedding ceremony. And to prove their commitment, abiding love for each other, and to increase the population of Nigeria, Zahra, we gathered is expecting Indimi’s baby. The eversmiling Zahra is completely besotted by her hubby and says this baby is evidence of their made-in-heaven love affair. Casting a probing look at the ever reticent Zahra when sighted at an event recently, it was glaring to all wandering eyes that she has been noticeably put on a 9-month maternal course by Ahmed through a legitimate conjugal collaboration.

Looking so robust and bigger than her pre-marital figure, the widely acknowledged selfdisciplined lady was cynosure age that is playing tricks on her physiognomy.

FEMI OTEDOLA SPOTS A NEW FETISH...HOW THE BILLIONAIRE OIL MAGNATE TURNED INSTAGRAM, SOCIAL MEDIA SENSATION

The rich take their pleasures blithely, after the fashion of whatever seems to be trendy.

Hence it is not in habit but in novelty and the clichéd that many a billionaire often pursues and acquires joie de vivre and pleasure.

According to TheCable, It was just a regular bus trip in London, UK — but the trip-taker, Femi Otedola, the billionaire Chairman of Forte Oil and Geregu Power, is far from regular. By virtue of being a Nigerian billionaire, most of whom are known for their ostentatious displays, Otedola was not expected to be found using public transport. But the oil mogul and one of the richest Nigerians took a bus “to see my old teacher at Wandsworth” — and ever since, Nigerians on Instagram can’t seem to shake off the excitement. Expectedly, he basked in the blizzard of good wishes that buffeted him on the social media.

The oil magnate shared the video on his page, and in less than three days, it has been viewed almost 260,000 times.

With over 1,400 comments, the video is Otedola’s most engaging post on Instagram since he hopped aboard the photo-sharing platform.

Shortly after his bus trip,

Zahra Buhari-Indimi

of all eyes as onlookers turned their attention on her and began to make some biological permutations. Married last year,

one could not say with all sense of assuredness that the baby occupying her womb is not more than three months old. Looking

Otedola stopped by a restaurant where “truck drivers and millionaires eat at the same table” to sate his appetite.

Curiously, however, what shade and colouration of vanity would drive Nigerian elites to engage in intense competition with each other for social correctness and youth appeal? Perhaps the type that drives the proverbial old woman to channel and relive the pleasure of youth and her famished beauty in grandiose and evanescent dreams. We heard that some rich men are ‘copying’ Otedola’s style on the social media now in some funny ways.

Some would call it egotripping but not a few people

would see through these men’s frantic quest for social appeal, particularly among the youth. Hence it’s official: Nigeria’s superrich are bored with their wild extravagance and lust for expensive material toys like private jets, yachts and posh homes in exclusive neigbourhoods around the world; they have devised another means to perpetuate their hankering for elitist consumption and status enhancement.

Femi Otedola

VINTAGE FLORENCE! WILL GOVERNOR AJIMOBI’S WIFE RUN FOR SENATE?

Yes, Florence Ajimobi, who is one of the most beautiful first ladies Nigeria, celebrated her 59th birthday some days ago. Her husband did not let the day go without celebrating the woman who makes his heart flutter and palpitate. However, you could be forgiven if you think that there is no masculine power or privilege that could surmount Florence’s ethereal femininity and prettiness. Gradually, step by step, the woman whose ravishing beauty is oft likened to a mythical Greek goddess’ is ascending the nation’s political ladder. In and around Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, it is being discussed overtly and covertly by those conversant with happenings in the political circuit that Florence, the half-caste wife of Governor Isiaq Abiola Ajimobi, is mooting the idea of contesting for a Senate seat in 2019.

lost in her own joyous mood, she was full of life and so expectant of the bundle of joy waiting to be delivered later this year.

She is eyeing the Oyo South Senatorial seat, occupied at the moment by Soji Akanbi, a brilliant politician who is also eyeing the governorship seat about to be vacated by Ajimobi.

Governor Ajimobi served as Oyo South Senator between 2003 and 2007 and was deputy minority leader. Florence, originally a Lebanese, was born and raised in Nigeria. She has been married to Ajimobi for more than 35 years. At the moment, the news is still in the realm of speculations, but inside sources say the woman is serious about her aspirations considering that her husband is purportedly not interested in running for public office again because of age. Ajimobi will be 70 in 2019.

Florence Ajimobi

Sunday April 8, 2018

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Price: N400

MISSILE

Wike to FG

“This is an irresponsible federal government that has no respect for the rule of law. They have become the judge, the prosecutor in cases before courts. All they want to do is tie the hands of judges to ensure all those standing trial are convicted at all costs” – Rivers State Governor Nyesom Wike insisting that publishing the list of persons standing trial in courts and calling them looters is an unfortunate act of irresponsibility by the federal government

SIMONKOLAWOLE SIMONKOLAWOLELIVE!

simon.kolawole@thisdaylive.com, sms: 0805 500 1961

A Woman Spotted the Snake

T

hree years ago, Oronto Douglas, then adviser to President Goodluck Jonathan, lost his brave battle with cancer. He fought to the very last minute. For once, cancer met a stubborn victim who refused to go down without a fight, even when the odds were hopelessly stacked against him.

His death on April 9, 2015 – four months to his 49th birthday -- is one of the most heartbreaking experiences I have had in my life. I wept like a newborn. We were good friends for nearly 20 years, although we also frequently argued fiercely, mostly on issues of governance and development. Since his exit, I often replay, in my mind, our discussions and debates about democracy and nation-building in Nigeria.

One of such is the anti-graft war. I often argued with him that Jonathan was not doing enough to contain corruption, especially as he was apparently reluctant to get rid of certain elements perceived to be extremely corrupt in his government. Oronto never uttered one bad word about Jonathan to me, which I understood very much. He kept telling me the president was doing his best within the circumstances and peculiarities of governing a politically and economically complex country like Nigeria. His view, which I found very consistent, was that to fight corruption effectively in a country like ours, you need to deploy different approaches beyond “public lynching”.

Indulge me to paraphrase him: “There are institutions that have to be strengthened if you want to fight corruption in a sustainable way.

You need the police, EFCC and ICPC to be led by competent and independent people and to function properly. I will call that the institutional approach. You need the prosecution to be robust and the judiciary to be alive to its responsibility.

I call that the legal or enforcement approach.

You also need public bureaucratic processes to be well established and enforced. That is the administrative approach. Finally, you need a re-orientation of the populace as well, and that is the most difficult aspect of the war.”

We both agreed that it is a combination of these approaches that will lead to a robust anti-graft war, but we failed to agree that Jonathan needed to make a scapegoat of some top government officials as part of the overall strategy. He told me plainly: “Public lynching is one thing President Jonathan does not like. There will be temporary applause but that will not address the problem beyond the media trial. He will allow EFCC and ICPC to do their job without interference.” In truth, it was not as if we disagreed fundamentally, but I kept telling him that for the optics, Jonathan needed to fire some ministers and take some tough actions before he could be perceived as fighting corruption.

Oronto often said something that did not make much sense to me then but which, on hindsight, was important. Jonathan’s preferred approach, he said, was to prevent corruption from the root and reduce the more difficult task of enforcement with all the complications that come with legal battles. He also said the measures being adopted by Jonathan would outlive his government. How true. Although, there are now startling revelations about the corruption under Jonathan’s government, it is ironic that some of the instruments being used by the Buhari administration to expose the rot were actually started by his predecessors. And this brings me to the focus of our discourse today.

First, much of what Oronto said about administrative strategy is yielding fruits. The

Oronto Douglas (1966-2015) idea of a treasury single account (TSA) started with Obasanjo in 2004 before it was abandoned.

Jonathan dusted it up and partially implemented it. Buhari has fully implemented it. TSA has helped to eradicate a certain type of corruption in ministries, departments and agencies. From time immemorial, MDAs would place funds with banks at a low rate and leverage on the same funds to borrow money from the same banks at a high rate. The bankers and the civil servants were sharing the spoils across the fence. The full implementation hurt the economy and I wanted it reversed at a point, but you really cannot make omelette without breaking an egg. All government revenues can now be monitored real time.

Another administrative approach introduced

by Jonathan is the integrated payroll and personnel information system (IPPIS) which uses the biometric system to verify civil servants and eliminate ghost workers from the payroll.

Nigeria was losing hundreds of billions of naira to evil servants in the past, but through IPPIS today, ghost workers have relocated to hell.

It was recently reported that 80,000 police “officers” were actually ghosts. They have been eliminated by IPPIS. Also, the biometric verification number (BVN) is a major tool in the hands of EFCC in its anti-graft war. Nobody who has a bank account is “safe” anymore.

A simple administrative approach is fighting corruption without firing a bullet.

Recently, Mr. Kola Ologbondiyan, the spokesman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), started the #BuhariChallenge on Twitter with a satire: “Anyone on this street that can name one infrastructural development project initiated and completed by @MBuhari since he assumed office will get a 50k prize from me.” Mr. Tolu Ogunlesi, President Buhari’s social media aide, replied: “The PDP Admin left behind HUNDREDS of abandoned projects, that the Buhari Administration has been painstakingly completing, one by one. Only an IRRESPONSIBLE Govt would set aside important ABANDONED projects to instead be chasing the cheap glory

of ‘We started our own!’” And that’s how the fight started…

It took only a couple of minutes for Twitter to catch fire, which was not surprising by the way. Nevertheless, the pattern of responses reinforced my distaste for partisan politics.

The comments kept coming in – from the mundane to the ridiculous – and if you enjoy humour, you would laugh yourself to the point of no return. I love humour, yes, but I was so disheartened by some of the things that were being said. There is this mindset that refuses to see government as a continuum, that can’t see the state as an institution rather than a person.

I understand that people must play politics, but at what stage does Nigeria become our primary constituency?

One common trend in Nigeria is that people go into government with a mindset of dissociating themselves from their predecessors, thereby discontinuing inherited projects in order not to be taunted as not having new ideas. God only knows how many court cases Nigeria is fighting at the international level because one government comes and breaks the contract entered into by another. We are paying millions of dollars in litigation and settlements. At the state level, it is so common for new governors to discard the programmes and policies of predecessors simply to make a point that they have their own ideas. Good policies and projects are sacrificed.

Nigeria cannot make progress that way.

We need a new mentality, a new mindset that says “Paul planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase”. Or, to put it in local parlance, “woman see snake, man kill am, case closed”.

As long as a snake bite has been averted, the argument over who spotted it and who killed it is purely academic. I will always say that politicians must play politics. I cannot argue over that. But the pattern of comments by ordinary Nigerians appeared to suggest that most of us have been sucked in by the war of attrition between PDP and APC. We cannot use this war to define Nigeria. Jonathan started a project, Buhari completed it – Nigeria and Nigerians are the beneficiaries. That should settle it.

Infrastructural projects, by the way, take time.

We conceived a mega power project in Mambilla, Taraba state, over 40 years ago. Governments have come and gone but the project, which can generate up to 3,500 megawatts, had no life.

Buhari has shown more seriousness in finally getting it off the ground. If it is completed and we begin to enjoy better power supply, who cares whether it is APC or PDP that did it? Obasanjo conceived Abuja-Kaduna rail, Jonathan did most of the work and Buhari put the finishing touches, and so what? We are moving to self-sufficiency in rice but the journey started under Obasanjo was continued by Yar’Adua and Jonathan, and has been revved up by Buhari. All we need is rice!

I can understand the anger of the PDP that no credit is being given to them, that they are only being portrayed as looters by the APC government. I sympathise with them. But that is at the level of politicking and I would leave the matter to the partisans to fight themselves to the finish. We, the ordinary Nigerians, should see the bigger picture: previous administrations started important projects in infrastructure and agriculture and Buhari did not abandon them.

Instead, he is pursuing the completion with determination and passion. As a Nigerian, I am truly, truly excited by this. Everything cannot be politics. Politics cannot be everything. Let’s try to focus on the progress of Nigeria once in a while.

And Four Other Things…

CRIME AND PUNISHMENT Park Geun-hye, the former South Korean president, has been sentenced to 24 years in jail with a fine of $17 million. Her offence was “minor” compared to what we witness daily in Nigeria: she colluded with her friend, Choi Soon-sil, to receive funds from conglomerates, such as Samsung and Lotte, to help Choi’s family and fund non-profit foundations owned by her.

Meanwhile, Lula da Silva, former president Brazil, is due to start a 12-year jail term for corruption and money laundering while in office from 2003 to 2011. In Nigeria, even former commissioners don’t go to jail, much less lawmakers, ministers or presidents.

The jails are meant for pickpockets and bloggers. Travesty.

STATUS QUO When news broke that Mr. Ali Janga, the Kogi state commissioner of police, had been removed because of the escape of suspects from detention, something told me this is impossible in Nigeria. I thought the world was about to come to an end. In Nigeria, government officials never get sacked for dereliction of duty -- neither do they take responsibility for failure under their watch. You only get fired if you don’t have a godfather. After the announcement, the drama started. Mr. Esa Sunday Ogbu, his replacement, failed to assume duty, allegedly because he was warned not to

by Alhaji Yayaha Bello, the state governor.

Then Bello visited Abuja. And before you could blink, Janga was re-instated. Nigeria!!!

ROBBING PETER Remember when government officials wondered why students were protesting over fuel price hike when they were not car owners? It’s getting better. Rt. Hon. Rotimi Amaechi, minister of transportation, says the train fares between Kaduna and Abuja were increased because the majority of those using the service are rich. Hear him: “Some of you have been asking why we increased the fare between Kaduna and Abuja. For each locomotive, we spend N56 million, when we were charging you N600, we were getting N16 million so all you rich men, we were dashing you N40 million per month. Actually, very few poor men use those trains.” Now, I can confidently say I have seen it all. Ridiculous.

AND FINALLY… “He died that we might live,” we Christians usually say about the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Well, what about this? Two months ago, Scott Westgarth, a British boxer, tragically died a few hours after winning a fight. However, the 31-year-old had signed up for organ donation. His mum, Rebecca, has now revealed that his late son’s organs saved SEVEN lives. Millions of people die every year waiting for organ transplants without getting donors, but this can change if we are willing, like Westgarth, to donate our organs when we die. It is something health campaigners should focus us in Nigeria.

Imagine the death of ONE man saving SEVEN lives! Invaluable.

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