Monday 28th May 2018

CBN to Undertake Spot Checks on Bank Branches to Ensure FX Liquidity ABCON rejects directive, insists on rate review Obinna Chima In furtherance of its objective to ensure that banks meet the foreign exchange (FX) demand of eligible travellers, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) will from this week and periodically

undertake spot checks on bank branches.

The move is to ensure that the financial institutions are selling FX over-the-counter to their eligible customers

and non-customers.

The Acting Director of Corporate Communications, CBN, Mr Isaac Okorafor, disclosed this in a chat with THISDAY yesterday.

The naira depreciated to a nine-month low of N366 to a dollar on the parallel market last week due to artificial scarcity in the system.

To this end, Okorafor

explained that the Bank decided to take this measure because its investigation showed that several banks were intentionally not selling FX to travellers on

Bandits Kill Another 30 Persons in Zamfara… Page 10

demand and thereby creating unnecessary bottlenecks.

“Therefore, to stop the practice, the CBN will from this week and periodically undertake unannounced spot checks to ensure compliance.

Continued on page 10

Monday 28 May, 2018 Vol 23. No 8439. Price: N250

www.thisdaylive.com TR

UT H

& RE A S O

N

Obasanjo Administration Spent Only $3.5bn on New Power Projects, Says Ezekwesili… Page 59

nPDP Leaders to Meet Buhari, Osinbajo Today Hammed Shittu in Ilorin In continuation of the dialogue over the grievances of members of the new Peoples Democratic Party (nPDP) bloc of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), another meeting between the group and Vice President Yemi Osinbajo will hold today in Abuja.

Attendees at the meeting according to THISDAY checks are expected to meet President

Muhammadu Buhari later in the day to intimate him about the outcome of their meeting.

The nPDP group led by a former acting chairman of the PDP and now a chieftain of the APC, Alhaji Abubakar Baraje had last week met with the national chairman of the APC, Chief John Odigie Oyegun to discuss and possibly resolve their differences.

Continued on page 10

We’ve Kept Our Promises to Nigerians, FG Insists Nigerians are tired of your deceit, PDP tells Buhari, APC Tobi Soniyi in Lagos and Onyebuchi Ezigbo in Abuja With a massive investment of N2.7 trillion in infrastructure, the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed said President Muhammadu Buhari has delivered on his campaign promises to Nigerians.

Apparently unimpressed by the ruling party's chest

thumping, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has asked President Muhammadu Buhari and the All Progressives Congress (APC) not to use the occasion of the 2018 Democracy Day to remind Nigerians of its administration's unfulfilled promises.

Continued on page 57

THE JOURNEY SO FAR…

L-R: The Chairman, Board of Directors, Ernest Ebi; Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Nnamdi Okonkwo; Executive Director, Lagos and South-west, Nneka Onyeali-Ikpe, all of Fidelity Bank Plc at the Bank's 30th Annual General Meeting (AGM) held in Lagos… recently

2

T H I S D AY ˾ ͰͶ˜ ͰͮͯͶ

T H I S D AY ˾ MONDAY MAY 28, 2018

3

4

T H I S D AY ˾ ͰͶ˜ ͰͮͯͶ

T H I S D AY ˾ MONDAY MAY 28, 2018

5

6

T H I S D AY ˾ ͰͶ˜ ͰͮͯͶ

T H I S D AY ˾ MONDAY MAY 28, 2018

7

8

T H I S D AY ˾ ͰͶ˜ ͰͮͯͶ

T H I S D AY ˾ MONDAY MAY 28, 2018

9

10

MONDAY, MAY 28, 2018 ˾ T H I S D AY

PAGE TEN

Bandits Kill Another 30 Persons in Zamfara Mohammed Aminu in Gusau At least 30 persons were reportedly killed in a fresh attack by bandits in Malikawa village of Gidan Goga district in Maradun Local Government Area of Zamfara State.

THISDAY checks yesterday

revealed that the bandits had earlier attacked and killed five persons who had gone to work in their farms.

A resident of the village who pleaded anonymity told journalists that the attackers shot the five persons who had gone to their

farms to plant seeds.

According to him, the attackers also refused to allow the residents to bury the victims by attacking those who attended the funeral procession.

“Five villagers who had gone to plant seeds on their farmlands

He, however, disclosed that the villagers were able to hold funeral prayers for the victims after soldiers arrived in the community.

The Police Public Relations Officer of the Zamfara State Police Command and Deputy Superintendent of Police,

Muhammad Shehu, who confirmed the incident, said the attack was a result of a land dispute between two warring factions.

He added that security operatives had been deployed to the area to restore law and order as well as prevent further attacks.

the Nigerian economy as operators in the payments system have been attracting foreign direct investment notwithstanding the challenges.

“Also, you have made the country proud and our payment system a benchmark in our subregion, through your innovations, hard work and collaboration,” he told his audience who were mostly bankers.

Furthermore, he noted that with the support of the bankers, the central bank has been able to surmount the challenges it faced about two years ago.

“Today, inflation in the past 18 months has been declining. Our reserves that came down to as low as $24 billion is now about $48 billion.

“The liquidity in the foreign exchange market which disappeared is coming back and at an increasing pace. In the past 12 months, we have received nothing less than $20 billion in foreign investments into this economy,” Adelabu added.

Meanwhile, the Association of Bureaux De Change Operators of Nigeria (ABCON) yesterday rejected CBN’s directive mandating its members to make three forex biddings and purchases on a weekly basis.

The group also insisted that the regulator should review BDC’s dollar purchase rate to align with commercial banks’ buying rate.

ABCON President, Alhaji Aminu Gwadabe, in a statement, said that the CBN’s directive mandating the BDCs to make such purchases was not in line with global best practices and should be put on hold.

He added: “The CBN’s directive at this time of our operational difficulties is no doubt precarious and vague and was intended to emasculate a sector that has helped the system to stabilise and thus unacceptable”.

Gwadabe said the regulator should firstly merge BDC dollar

buying rate with that of commercial banks and also pay ABCON disbursement fees as it is practised globally. For instance, Travelex also collects forex disbursement fees from the CBN. The ABCON leader urged BDC operators to remain calm and focused, ahead of an executive engagement with the CBN and further communications soon.

Gwadabe, therefore, recommended that the CBN should review the directive that his members should bid for the greenback thrice in a week to two days, and at $30,000 per market day.

He said: “The rate between the banks and DBCs should be merged for uniformity and fairness.

A situation where the banks buy dollar from the CBN at a lower rate than the BDCs is not helping the market stability drive. Besides, ABCON should be considered for disbursement fees like Travelex in the collection centres to ameliorate the new assignments”.

The ABCON boss insisted that making Fridays as market days and funding same day would be difficult to achieve and therefore should be discouraged.

Gwadabe assured the CBN of ABCON and BDC’s continuous support in enabling the regulator to achieve its core mandate of ensuring exchange rate stability and liquidity access.

Gwadabe also added that: “The BDC sector is confronted with many challenges such as multiple exchange rate, abnormal bank charges, Value Added Tax (VAT) and Commission on Turnover (COT), parallel market operators and illegal International Money Transfer Operators (IMTOs), porous international borders, complex documentation requirements and poor capacity/ skills of operators.

“For instance, the increasing difficulties arising from over-regulation and complex documentation requirements

that licensed BDC operators are facing in carrying out their daily legitimate operation remain worrisome. These hitches have the negative impact on BDCs’ efforts toward compliance with statutory and regulatory requirements. For instance, six units within the CBN are involved with BDC regulations, supervision, licensing, monitoring, saying this constitutes multiple regulations of a unit of the financial sub-sector that is only involved as a small market player”.

He said a BDC operator is expected to render daily, monthly, quarterly, half yearly and annual returns to these various departments of the same corporate body, which could be very cumbersome, repetitive and time consuming for both the operator and the regulator.

“ABCON is, therefore, using this opportunity to appeal to the CBN to take urgent steps to review the rate at which the dollar is sold to BDCs in order to boost ongoing recovery of the naira against the dollar. Obviously, the BDC business has been badly affected by the uncompetitive rate as the CBN sells dollars to BDCs at a higher rate compared to what it sells to commercial banks, yet both institutions target the same market segment and customers.

"The BDCs buy dollar from the International Money Transfer Operators (IMTOs) at N360/$1 and sell to end users at N361.5/$1 while the CBN sells to commercial banks at N357/$1 and the banks sell to end users at N360/$1,” he said.

He urged the CBN to review BDC rate to align with that of the banks since both sectors serve the same customers.

The ABCON boss also wants the apex bank to make BDC transactions Value Added Tax (VAT) and Commission on Turnover (COT) exempt and reduce BDCs licence renewal payments.

party, APC and constituted Committees on various issues especially on how to rescue Nigeria from economic, social, political and especially security challenges," it said.

According to the statement, the meeting was well attended by members of the nPDP including serving and former Governors, Senators, Members of the House of Representatives, and other aggrieved APC stakeholders.

Among those listed to have attended the meeting included: Senator Abubakar Bukola Saraki, President of the Senate, Rt. Hon. Yakubu Dogara, Speaker, House of Representatives, Rt. Hon. Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, Governor of Sokoto State, Senator Rabiu M. Kwankwaso, Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola, Admiral Murtala Nyako (Rtd), Senator Mohammad Adamu Aliero, Senator Danjuma Goje, Senator John Owan Enoh, Senator Emmanuel Andy Uba, Senator Dr. Ibrahim Gobir, Sena Rufai Ibrahim, Senator Ibrahim A. Danbaba, Senator Suleman

Nazif, Senator Isa Hamma Misau, Senator Muhammed Ubali Shitu, Senator Shehu Sani, Senator. Dino Melaye, Senator Suleiman O. Hunkuyi, Senator.

Shaaba Lafiagi, Senator. Bala Ibn Na’Allah, Senator. David Umaru, Senator Barnabas Gemade, Alhaji. Abubakar K. Baraje, Chairman Former nPDP, members of the House of Representatives, Aminu S. Shagari, Kabiru Marafa Achida, Hon. Isa M. Ashiru, Hon. Muh’d Musa Soba, Hon. Mark Gbillah, Sani Mohd Rano, Garba Umar Durbunde, Aliyu Madaki, Rep. Zakari Mohammed, Hon. Rufai Ahmed Chachangi, Hon. Razak Atunwa, Hon. Emmanuel M. Udende, Hon. Hassan Saleh, Hon. Nasiru Garo Sule, Hon. Orker Jev, Hon. Aliyu Ahman Pategi, Hon. Isah Halilu B., Hon. Rabiu Garba Kaugama, Hon. Abdussamad Dasuki, Hon. Ismaila A. Gadaka, Hon. Lado Suleja, Hon. Dickson Tarkighir, Hon. Babatunde Kolawole, Hon. Dr. Bode Ayorinde, Hon. U. Danjuma Shida, Hon. Danburam

Nuhu, Hon. Sunday Adepoju, Hon. Sani Zorro, Hon. Ahmed Garba Bichi, Hon. Garba Ibrahim Mohammed and a host of others.

were shot dead in the morning by the armed bandits hiding in a forest near our community.

"Thus, when people of the area went to get the corpses for burial, the gunmen started shooting sporadically and they killed about 25 persons,” he said.

C B N TO U N D E RTA K E S P OT C H EC KS O N BA N K BRA N CH ES TO EN SU R E FX LI Q U I DIT Y “Any bank or Bureaux De Change (BDC) that is found making any effort to frustrate the stability achieved in the FX market would be dealt with seriously.

“The CBN officials, including the Governor, would be going on this spot checks from Monday, to ensure that people are doing the right thing.

“We are determined, with our reserves to ensure that few greedy individuals don’t mess up the system,” he explained.

Okorafor said the CBN observed that some BDCs were shying away from trading in FX, thereby creating artificial scarcity and putting pressure on the exchange rate.

He pointed out that it was for this reason that the CBN in a statement released on Saturday warned that BDCs must access the greenback at least thrice weekly, saying any BDC that fails to access the FX window at least three times weekly shall have its licence revoked.

Okorafor also warned that the “CBN is prepared to licence new BDCs that are ready to deal in FX.” He also assured that “the CBN is liquid and stands ready to defend the naira. So, any speculator should be prepared to make a loss.”

The CBN had in a statement released at the weekend mandated all Deposit Money Banks (DMBs) to buy and sell FX to travellers (both customers and non-customers) upon presentation of relevant, valid travel documents such as visa and ticket over-the-counter.

It also stated that all travellers shall be attended to immediately at banks’ counters, adding that banks would be sanctioned for any contravention.

In addition, it stated that all BDCs shall henceforth access forex from the CBN on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.

“It is compulsory that all BDCs access forex at least three times weekly. Any BDC that fails to access the forex window at least

three times weekly shall have its licence reviewed by the CBN. Compliance is compulsory,” the statement added.

Meanwhile, the CBN has stressed the need for increased collaboration between banks and financial technology (fintech) companies to address the incidence of electronic banking fraud in the country.

The Deputy Governor, Operations, CBN, Mr. Adebayo Adelabu said this in a keynote address he delivered at the Electronic Payments Incentive Scheme Efficiency Award that took place in Lagos at the weekend.

Adelabu confirmed the recent allegation of financial fraud in one of the payment services companies. But Adelabu who did not mention the name of the firm said the magnitude of the fraud reported in the media was not correct.

The management of eTranzact, a mobile banking and payment services company last week announced a fresh management change over an allegation of N11 billion fraud perpetrated through its channels.

Continuing, Adelabu said reports available to the CBN showed that a lot of the operators were resisting the shared services that were introduced by the central bank and the Bankers’ Committee.

“I learnt that there have been lots of resistance from operators in the shared services that were introduced by the Bankers’ Committee.

“There are lots of benefits that can accrue to us as business people if we embrace shared services, especially around technology.

The result would be beneficial to all and sundry.

“Of late, the number of the rumour of successful frauds in a couple of banks and fintechs. I will say that it is true, but maybe not the magnitude of the rumour being spread.

“But we can still prevent fraud by ensuring that our systems are well protected,” he said.

Adelabu stressed that the controls, recommendations and regulations from the CBN and other regulators should not just be seen as cosmetics, saying that some banks and fintechs are of the habit of just implementing the minimum requirements of such policies, just to satisfy the desire of the regulators.

“This is very wrong. We should look at the real impact on our business and the effects on our customers. More importantly is the integrity of our people.

“We need to start doing more investigations on people that handle sensitive activities in our organisations and this should be regular because we have lots of bad elements among us.

“I would also implore operators to continue to invest in technology and the people to ensure that we improve the quality of our service delivery.

“The CBN is committed to ensuring that we have a thriving banking industry and whatever it takes to achieve this, we would not relent,” he said.

Nevertheless, he pointed out that Nigeria continues to be celebrated as a trailblazer in the continent in electronic payments services.

According to him, channelling of payment through the e-payment leads to an efficiency of allocation of resources especially in an emerging market such as Nigeria.

This, he said often times, leads to increased consumption, more consumption leads to more production and by extension improved employment level and enhances the standard of living.

“We have seen the growth in volume and value but I believe we are still scratching the surface, as the potential growth in the payment ecosystem is high.

Furthermore, the payments system has been a harbinger of hope for

n P D P L E A D E R S TO M EET B U H A R I , O SI N BA JO TO DAY Baraje who spoke with journalists in Ilorin, Kwara State capital yesterday also confirmed the planned meetings with the Vice President, Prof. Osinbajo and the President Buhari in Abuja today (Monday) barring any last minutes changes.

The APC chieftain commended members of his group and concerned Nigerians who share their views and concerns about the plight of the nPDP members in APC. Baraje expressed optimism that at the end of today's meeting with Osinbajo and Buhari, the ruling party will come out stronger and become more united in the general interest of the citizenry.

He said the next line of action of his group will be determined by the outcome of today's meeting.

Last Saturday, the hierarchy of the defunct new Peoples Democratic Party (nPDP) constituted task teams to help it navigate through the seeming political logjam it has found itself.

The group which played a very vital role in the victory of the APC at the 2015 presidential election is aggrieved and has complained of what it described as the lack of patronage and maltreatment of its members by the APC-led Federal Government.

The group's complaints which were conveyed in a well-worded protest letter addressed to the APC leadership also issued a seven-day ultimatum to the ruling party for its response.

Before the expiration of the ultimatum, the leadership of APC met with Baraje but could not reach an agreement on how to resolve the issues in contention.

They however, agreed to continue the discussions on a future date.

In a statement issued by the chairman of the former nPDP, Alhaji Abubakar Kawu Baraje after the group's deliberations, the group said it has constituted Committees to take charge of the various issues especially on how to rescue Nigeria from economic, social, political and especially security challenges.

The statement by nPDP said: " Nigerians may recall that members of the former New PDP Block within the All Progressives Congress (APC) addressed a letter dated April 27, 2018 to the Chairman of APC where we informed the party of our grievances and expectations from both the party and government of President Muhammadu Buhari.

"Following this development, the party invited us and we honoured their invitation for a meeting. We met with the leadership of the party last week during which we resolved to report the outcome of our meeting to our members and stakeholders before arriving at any decision or proceeding with the next phase of discussions or actions with the APC and government.

"I am glad to inform you therefore that we have briefed our members at a meeting convened in Abuja on Wednesday, 23rd May 2018 where we reviewed the state of the nation and our

TOP GAINERS NGN NGN IKEJHOTEL 0.23 2.58 MRSOIL 1.70 36.05 STERLBANK 0.06 1.29 FIDSON 0.25 5.95 LAWUNION 0.04 0.98 TOP LOSERS NGN NGN EQUITY 0.02 0.21 ASSURANCE FIDELITY 0.16 1.90 JAPAUL 0.02 0.24 DANGFLOUR 0.65 8.90 JBERGER 1.45 27.55 HPE Nestle Nig Plc ₦1,600.00 Volume: 256.430 million shares Value: N2.949 billion Deals: 4,911 As at 25/5/18 See details on Page 35

% 9.7 4.9 4.6 4.3 4.2 % 8.7 7.7 7.6 6.8 5.0

T H I S D AY ˾ MONDAY MAY 28, 2018

11

12

T H I S D AY ˾ ͰͶ˜ ͰͮͯͶ

T H I S D AY ˾ MONDAY MAY 28, 2018

13

14

MONDAY, MAY 28, 2018 ˾ T H I S D AY

COMMENT

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

BOOSTING PRODUCTIVITY THROUGH IMPROVED AGRIC EXTENSION NIRSAL will reduce the risk of investing in the agric sector, writes Nantim M. Joseph

T

he famed agricultural successes of the First Republic, symbolised by the groundnut pyramids in the North and the cocoa and palm plantations in the West and East were achieved on the back of robust policies and effective agricultural extension systems. But this second factor has not been given adequate emphasis in recent efforts to rejuvenate the sector.

This is one of the reasons why a once food sufficient and food exporting country has become one in which only 20 per cent of the food consumed by its population is grown at home. The consequence of this is the current heavy dependence on imported food products to feed a teeming population which according to the World Bank, is expected to surpass the population of the United States which currently stands at 324,459,463, by 2050.

Many recommendations have been made to fix this existential economic challenge confronting Nigeria. However, the consensus is that Nigeria must hike its food production substantially to keep up with that population growth. These are the core concerns of the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP) and the Agricultural Promotion Programme (APP) of the Buhari administration which are designed to tackle rising food imports and declining levels of national food self-sufficiency.

In this connection, key challenges that undermine agricultural production include reliance on rain fed agriculture, smallholder land holding, and low productivity due to poor planting material, low fertiliser application, and a weak agricultural extension system amongst others.

Aliyu Abdulhameed, MD/CEO of the Nigeria Incentive-Based Risk Sharing System for Agriculture (NIRSAL), believes that establishing an effective modern agricultural extension service to support the ERGP and the APP is key to the revitalisation of Nigerian agriculture. And this is the vision behind NIRSAL’s game changing Project Monitoring Reporting and Remediation Offices (PMRO) scheme launched in 2017.

He explains the thinking and focus of the scheme: “The PMRO structure is very critical to our operations. Agriculture is a field business. The PMROs would act as our eyes to ensure that agricultural projects that we facilitate finance for are executed in line with agreed terms and also serve to extend the reach of our interventions”.

Achieving this will not be easy. Previous efforts by successive administrations to repeat the agricultural extension feats of the 60s-70s and reduce the over-reliance on imports have not been very successful. One challenge is that federal and state governments still struggle with attracting investment to the sector, hence low agricultural budgets continue to hamper efforts to grow the sector significantly despite numerous colourfully advertised programmes. The sector also struggles with outdated practices, inefficient technologies and weak monitoring.

For each of these challenges, NIRSAL has responded with a robust structure to tackle the negative effects sustainably and the PMRO scheme is the latest in the battle to boost agricultural productivity and food security. NIRSAL itself is a product of government’s efforts to properly organise and fund the agricultural sector, reduce the risk of investing in the sector, while seeking areas of new funding for the sector to grow. With the coming of the PMROs, players in the sector can now expect to have at their disposal modern best practices in planting, processing, packaging and even in funding. As a result, inefficient technologies are systematically done away with while the sector benefits from the specialised monitoring the scheme brings with it.

The PMRO structure which already covers 225,000 farmers is set to boost the status of agriculture as a business and a sector capable of earning huge foreign exchange to add to the coffers of the national treasury.

To improve the chances for success, the PMRO scheme is fashioned to be a formidable ally to all stakeholders along the agricultural value chain chiefly the smallholder farmers and investors, providing robust all-round support for all parties.

Another strong feature of the scheme is a focus on capacity building anchored on Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) such as effective production, safe processing and sustainable post-production techniques, including equipping the smallholder farmers with the technical and business knowhow required to operate modern technologies and attract the requisite funding for projects as well as supervising funded projects.

ABDULHAMEED BELIEVES THAT ESTABLISHING AN EFFECTIVE MODERN AGRICULTURAL EXTENSION SERVICE TO SUPPORT THE ERGP AND THE APP IS KEY TO THE REVITALISATION OF NIGERIAN AGRICULTURE

The farmers work with the PMROs from conception to actualisation of their projects, learning how to produce food products that meet global standards, through modern planting techniques and efficient use of farming resources such as fertilisers and pesticides. The PMROs will also assist them with business development, helping them attract the kind of funding required for their projects, from the right financial institutions.

On the other hand, the PMRO scheme will play the roles of liaison, eyes on ground and facilitator to the agricultural projects that it supports, including those to which STANBIC IBTC and Union Bank have already collectively committed N20 billion. In fact, Abdulhameed sees the PMRO scheme as a first line defence and security to ensure that projects that rigorously conceptualised and technically sound agricultural projects achieve their objectives.

As Abdulhameed noted when NIRSAL signed an MOU on a N10 billion agricultural finance scheme in November 2017, “To ensure proper use of the loans and success of the projects, NIRSAL will leverage its Project Monitoring, Reporting and Remediation Offices located across the 36 states in the country.

The PMROs will closely supervise projects to ensure proper use of the loans by beneficiaries.”

With such investments already coming into the programme, the PMRO scheme’s multifaceted approach to agricultural extension systems places it at the epicentre or epicentres of agribusiness in Nigeria, as they operate from all 36 states including the Federal Capital Territory.

The investors/financial institutions, working hand in hand with the PMROs as part of NIRSAL’s risk management framework, for handling investments in agriculture, will serve as supervisor and monitor to ensure strict adherence to terms agreed with beneficiaries, and as a result reduce the risk of doing business in the sector.

Some of the risks include but are not limited to loan diversion. To help deal with this, the PMRO structure will complete NIRSAL’s institutional strategy of only providing inputs in lieu of cash to farmers by physically ensuring that they are rightly deployed and that timelines for projects are complied with. It is also a good thing that NIRSAL has empowered them with the technology tools for remote monitoring and reporting of events as they occur on the field for appropriate steps to be taken, when there is a need. The scheme’s close progress tracking feature also enables NIRSAL to identify risk events, take steps to mitigate them to avoid loss.

A critical part of the PMRO scheme is the leadership it has at state level, which enables it to effectively carry out this tracking and feedback system.

Led by financial experts mostly from the private sector and senior level former directors from the public service, these PMRO heads leverage their private sector experience and technical knowhow in agribusiness to play very vital roles at the points where they are most needed. These include providing technical support, mentorship, business advisory services such as writing business plans, financial management to agricultural players operating at the state levels.

Overall, the introduction of the PMRO structure into the Nigerian agricultural space by NIRSAL under the leadership of Abdulhameed is timely, necessary and commendable. It is a physical evidence of the institutional efforts by the risk-mitigating agency to win the confidence of commercial banks who see putting money into agriculture as sinking it into a dark hole. It’s nationwide presence and trained field staff, ability to monitor agricultural projects, track and report risk events, guide and support agricultural producers helps fill a worrying gap left by the extension services of old. The institutional role of enabling access to relevant information by grassroots agricultural players makes them highly relevant in government’s efforts to increase farmer yield, boost productivity and reposition agriculture as the mainstay of the country’s economy. The management of NIRSAL deserves commendation and should be supported by stakeholders to ensure its sustainability and impact as a pillar of the Buhari administration’s agricultural promotion policy. r +PTFQI JT B QVCMJD QPMJDZ BOBMZTU

THE NSE AND DEMUTUALISATION PHOBIA Sola Oni argues that the exercise may be beneficial

I

n 2005, a senior colleague and at The Nigerian Stock Exchange, attended an investor education training programme at Stockhlome Stock Exchange, Europe, to tap into the exchange’s investor education policy and processes. The choice of stockhlome’s market by the management was partly informed by the euphoria that it had demutualised since 1993 and got listed in 2000, making it the first stock exchange to demutualise and listed in the world. It was an engaging experience.

The Nigerian Stock Exchange was initially operating like silo under the obnoxious Exchange Control Act of 1962 which was later replaced with investor-friendly acts to open the market to the international community.

The exchange has always been blessed with leaders that have foresight. I was covering the capital market for The Guardian when the exchange was operating manual system of trading called Open Outcry or Call-Over or Pit Trading. It is the use of shouts and signals to convey trading information of bid and offer (buy and sell) on the trading floor. The trading method connects stockbrokers in a theatrical manner. It is quite entertaining. Electronic trading with all its speed and accuracy has never dislodged open outcry. New York Stock Exchange, Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) and some other markets operate open outcry simultaneously. There are arguments on whether liquidity is more enhanced in open outcry than electronic trading.

However, 1997 was a turning point in the history of our stock market as it joined the global markets by transiting from the open outcry to Automated Trading System (ATS). The market equally commenced electronic trading, clearing and settlement with the installation of the Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS). The history was made under the administration of Apostle Hayford Alile, the Director General and his successor, Professor Ndi Okere-Onyuike. The duo laid the global foundation on which the market stands today. They shall always remain relevant in the history of the exchange.

Shortly upon her assumption of office as the

Director General and Chief Executive Officer, Professor Okereke-Onyuike exhibited another round of foresight. In 2001, she defied her exalted position and associated privileges and initiated the need to transform the exchange from a private company limited by guarantee to public one, called demutualisation in stockbroking parlance. The American-trained first class finance graduate knew that her decision would trigger dramatic changes in the exchange’s legal and governing structure, ownership, management, (including her position) processes and procedures.

She strongly believes that demutualisation could not be done in 48 hours, hence, her tactics was that all stakeholders including stockbrokers, exchange’s staff, investing public and financial press should be engaged ahead of switch-over date apart from ensuring compliance with necessary regulatory approvals.

However, the ongoing plan suffered a slight setback as Ndi the Amazon’s administration was ‘toppled’ in August 2010 in a phantom palace coup at the radiance of her retirement, leading to funny exit of many of us in the management and other cadres of staff, some of whom have passed on. The matter has been resolved in her favour but the rest is history.

In 2011, another leader of foresight, Mr Oscar Onyema stepped into Professor Okereke-Onyuike’s big shoe and made a success of the position in his first tenure. This earned him a second round from the exchange’s govering council. Onyema, the current chief executive officer of the exchange must be commended for upholding the tenets of demutualisation project. Like his predecessor, Onyema came to the exchange with robust foreign experience and embarked on many policies, taking some tough decisions to sustain the exchange’s brand positioning.

Nobody can fault Onyema on market discipline.

He wanted stockbrokers to become information technology savvy. His policy on Minimum Operating Standard (MOS) was initially unpopular but has now become a status symbol for our dealing member firms. The quantum leap in minimum capital base for stockbroking firms, formerly regarded as corporate

backbreaking, has further reinforced investor confidence in the system. The exchange has recorded many innovations and won a catalogue of awards in the last couple of years.

However, the ongoing demutualisation of the exchange is one singular project that is fast attracting the attention of all stakeholders in the financial market including foreign investors. Everyone is awaiting the new face of the market and how it will affect the management of the exchange, the impending change in the status of stockbrokers from the current owners to clients in the name of shareholders and involvement of non-members as shareholders either now or later.

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has issued guidelines on the demutualsation. The exchange’s National Council and Management have secured endorsement of the stockbrokers to go ahead.

But every progress report must be made available to the members and unilateral decision should not be taken by the exchange.

The South African Bank, FirstRand Bank Holding Company and Nigeria based financial firm, Chapel Hill Denham are working round the clock as advisers. The Nigerian Stock Exchange Demutualisation Bill, 2017 has been presented at the Green and Red Chambers in Abuja and the bill is awaiting presidential assent in a matter of time.

Onyema has what it takes to drive the demutualisation process. However, he must tame the elephant in the house. Market watchers are curious that the rate of staff turnover across the board at the exchange is fast becoming unprecedented and causing minor panic. In our days, working at the exchange was a status symbol. Turnover was almost nil. It is yet unclear if the current trend is demutualisation phobia. But we cannot ignore the fact that a staff who foresees uncertainty of job security may voluntarily opt out.

Onyema needs to re-assure the staff who are on fasting and praying that their job is secured and the fact that they have to re-apply is a mere paper work.

It is essential to curb the trend of turnover as continu-

ous resignation of staff may send wrong signal to the public. Capital market basically thrives on trust.

As part of post demutualiation human capital strategy, the exchange can attract some of our home-grown stockbrokers to strengthen the market by leveraging on their globally acceptable skills and competencies. Many of them are well grounded in the art and science of investment. Apart from passing the standard Chartered Institute of Stockbrokers’ Professional Examination, some genuinely flaunt CFA (Chartered Financial Analyst) qualification, arguably the most recognised qualification in the global financial market at the moment. Granted that a CFA chartered holder has never worked in Ghana, the qualification has positioned him to be a competitive professional globally. Also, much as the market is encouraging foreign investors with hot money and the obvious consequences, indigenous investors should also be attracted because they are more stable.

Stockbrokers obviously want demutualisation project to succeed. But it is normal that they are keen about what becomes of their means of livelihood after the transformation. Some of our stockbrokers are above 80 years and they derive their daily meals from the market.

They know that demutualisation has two phases: Pre- demutualisation which sets the stage and postdemutualisation, the promised land.

Dealing member firms are expressing concerns in measured tone on what valuation metric will be used to determine the worth of their shares. This is logical as share valuation is fundamental to their net position at the end of the exercise. Their great expectation is that the exchange should review the valuation metrics used by many demutualised exchanges and adopt the market that is closest to the exchange in structure. The firms are also whispering about the need for equitable allotment of shares on the premise that they are the revenue engine for the market and this is their payback period. r0OJ $PNNVOJDBUJPOT $POTVMUBOU BOE $IBSUFSFE 4UPDLCSPLFS JT UIF $&0 4PGVOJY *OWFTUNFOU BOE $PNNVOJDBUJPOT

15

T H I S D AY Ëž Ëœ ÍşÎ€Ëœ ͺ͸͚͜

EDITORIAL CONCERNS OVER THE 2018 BUDGET It is in the interest of everyone that the budget is signed into law

lmost seven months after it was submitted to them and with half the year almost gone, the National Assembly last Friday night transmitted the harmonised version of the 2018 Appropriation Bill to President Muhammadu Buhari for assent.

It says a lot about our country that there is such tardiness in dealing with what ordinarily should be a signpost to measurable governance and accountability in a given year. To compound the problem, there is no guarantee as to when the president would sign the bill into law given the usual bickering between the legislature over areas of ‘distortions’ that we are likely going to witness in the coming days, may be weeks.

To the extent that TO THE EXTENT THAT budget cycle begins EVERY BUDGET IS from formulation to INTENDED TO PROVIDE legislative approval FINANCIAL CONTROL to its implementation AND SERVE AS THE and evaluation or BASIS AGAINST WHICH monitoring, it is DEVELOPMENTAL regrettable that at ACTIVITIES CAN BE the federal level, we MONITORED, WHAT seem to have instituTHE CURRENT DELAY tionalised a regime of SUGGESTS IS THAT THE budget implementaNIGERIAN ECONOMY tion not commencing IS NOT OPERATING ofďŹ cially in January OPTIMALLY of a ďŹ scal year. In fact, in recent years, it has never commenced in the ďŹ rst quarter of the year. Yet, this particular budget was submitted as far back as last November with expectations at the time that it would be passed, signed into law and be ready for implementation by January this year.

However, that has turned out a mirage even though both the executive and the legislature should share the blame. With the usual allegations of budget padding and failure of ofďŹ cials of ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) to appear before ďŹ nance and appropriation committees of the National Assembly, the

A

Letters to the Editor

O

T H I S DAY EDITOR

DEPUTY EDITORS

˜

MANAGING DIRECTOR

DEPUTY MANAGING DIRECTOR

CHAIRMAN EDITORIAL BOARD

EDITOR NATION’S CAPITAL

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

GROUP EXECUTIVE DIRECTORS ˜

˜

˜ ˜

DIVISIONAL DIRECTORS ˜ DEPUTY DIVISIONAL DIRECTOR

SNR. ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR

ASSOCIATE DIRECTORS

˜ CONTROLLERS

˜

˜

DIRECTOR, PRINTING PRODUCTION

TO SEND EMAIL: ďŹ rst name.surname@thisdaylive.com

process of passing the budget dragged on endlessly as critical stakeholders raised concerns about the implications of the delay for the fragile economy.

What is even more worrisome is that if the past were to be any guide, there is no sign that the implementation would commence anytime soon since there is no guarantee that President Buhari would assent to what has just been passed by the National Assembly. In 2017, for instance, the presidency delayed assent for a month because of its disapproval of some alterations and the introduction of some items into that budget by the legislature. This time too, it is not likely that the president will assent without asking sundry questions, including the hike to N9.1 trillion from the N8.6 trillion that was initially proposed.

To the extent that every budget is intended to provide ďŹ nancial control and serve as the basis against which developmental activities can be monitored, what the current delay suggests is that the Nigerian economy is not operating optimally. The implications of that are many and far-reaching. One, capital projects which are critical for development cannot be executed since contractual agreements cannot be initiated without budgetary approval. Two, following the fact that capital projects cannot be executed and contractors cannot be paid, other businesses which provide services directly or indirectly to them are affected by the squeeze.

What the foregoing inevitably leads to is cyclical unemployment and a dwindling in some small businesses that we have seen over the years in Nigeria.

For instance, the food hawker who hitherto provided food to labourers at a construction site may be out of business whilst projects are delayed. What follows is that the economy contracts at a rapid pace due to the liquidity squeeze while the government becomes dependent on borrowing to fund recurrent and other essential expenditure which is not prudent.

Such state of affairs is unsettling for a country on the eve of an election year, with the attendant huge pressure political activities will exert on the economy.

We therefore hope that both the presidency and the National Assembly leadership can work in harmony to ensure that the 2018 budget is signed and ready for implementation without any further delay..

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

DEMOCRACY DAY: HOW HAS NIGERIA FARED?

n May 29, 2018, Nigerians will celebrate their 18th anniversary of uninterrupted democratic governance which started in the year 2000. It will also mark the third year of Nigeria’s leadership under the All Progressives Party (APC), after 16 years of the nation’s governance under the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). The day, therefore, represents the swearing in of the first president-elect, Olusegun Obasanjo, on May 29, 1999. What Nigeria has become of in the last 19 years of democratic rule calls for reflections. Howbeit, with the gradual development witnessed over the years, Nigerians deserve to remember their past and celebrate a determined leadership now in place.

The celebration of May 29 as Democracy Day has been a subject of some controversy. While many Nigerians view the holiday attached to it as an opportunity to celebrate the goodies of democracy and basic human rights, others have kicked against it with the view that there is nothing much to celebrate in Nigeria as regards the new system of governance. Some Nigerians still believe that democracy has done more harm to the nation than before. Some blame Nigerians for their woes, not the system widely believed to have caused the development of many nations and liberated many from the shackles of slavery, ignorance and squalor.

Former President Obasanjo initiated it, surely, after wide consultations. Even if it were on personal volition as some critics claimed, Nigerians needed to rejoice for their efforts of diverse magnitude in forcing the military back to the barracks. No one alive then would prefer the continuation of the military rule in Nigeria, witnessing the harshness, the lawlessness and the uncivil regards to unarmed and non-uniformed citizens. But what has the

system really brought to Nigeria? Is it just for Nigerians to gather at the Eagle Square in Abuja and state stadia across the nation to deliver and listen to written speeches laden with chronic sad and past experiences as well as promises of elephantine projects that are never achieved? Or it is to spend the scarce resources on parties for nothing that truly has positive effects on the citizenry.

Or what else!

When Obasanjo started this jamboree, many Nigerians were opposed to it. They were right, somehow. In fact, some citizens dragged him to court. I can remember of two human rights lawyers and pro-democracy activists, Messrs Kayode Adaramoye and Niyi Adeleke who went to a federal high court in Lagos, to challenge the constitutional competence of then President Olusegun Obasanjo to unilaterally declare May 29 of every year as a public holiday. Both lawyers had fought for the return of Nigeria to democracy. Besides, they were the heads of a pro-democracy organisation known then as Free Democracy. Yet, they found no tangible reason for celebrating May 29 or even declaring it a public holiday.

In the same vein, human rights lawyer and pro-democracy activists, Femi Falana (SAN), carpeted the celebration. According to him, it was meant to spite those who celebrate June 12, 1993 which was the beginning of the anniversary celebration especially by the people of the Southwest to mark the death of Chief MKO Abiola believed to have won the presidential election annulled by then military administrator, General Ibrahim Babangida in 1992.

Falana juxtaposed the celebration with celebrating an attack by armed bandits, an event that recounts grief and lamentation rather than jubilation. There should be no remembrance of such

bad experience. It is supposed to be a forgotten event. He said the military rulers behaved like armed robbers; they raped and robbed Nigeria; US$12 billion disappeared, US$5 billion was carted away, among others. He said that public holidays are declared to mark significant events and individuals who positively contributed to the development of their societies like the United States did to honour Martin Luther King for his audacity to challenge racism and vast contribution to the political plurality of the USA. “No serious country in the world ever sets aside a day to mark the exit of military dictators�, he postulated.

Former Secretary General, National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG), Frank Kokori, was reported to have also described Obasanjo’s May 29 Democracy Day as a spite on late MKO Abiola. He said Obasanjo unilaterally made the day to belittle the late Abiola and others who fought for freedom and democracy for Nigeria. “He (Obasanjo) did it because he always wants to be at the top. His intention was to spite Abiola and those of us who fought for freedom and democracy�, he noted.

Another sound human rights, pro-democracy activist and director of Muslim Rights Concerns (MURIC), Professor Ishaq Akintola, believes that celebrating May 29 is a grievous mistake because it is not worthy of merriment. According to him, June 12 is the way forward on accounts that it represents the beginning of a democratic era in Nigeria. “That is where we are coming from. Let us go back to it in order to jog our people’s memory, ignite their passion and rekindle their patriotism.� r .VIBNNBE "KBI "CVKB

16

T H I S D AY ˾ ͰͶ˜ ͰͮͯͶ

T H I S D AY ˾ MONDAY MAY 28, 2018

17

18

T H I S D AY • MONDAY, MAY 28, 2018

POLITICS

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

BUHARI’S THREE YEARS IN THE SADDLE

A Case of Missed Opportunities Today, Nigeria is in disarray. Brothers are killing one another while some sections of the country feel completely alienated, no thanks to President Muhammadu Buhari who has failed in the past three years to show leadership when it mattered most. Tobi Soniyi, Segun James and Shola Oyeyipo report

I

n recent Nigerian history, President Muhammadu Buhari will go down in history as the most uncaring, unsympathetic and insensitive leader the country has produced.

Two separate events on Tuesday May 22 illustrate this assertion. On that day, the victims of the Mbalom Church massacre in Benue State were buried. The killings which claimed the lives of two Catholic priests and 17 parishioners sparked condemnation worldwide and was a subject of a nationwide protest by Catholics.

The two priests, Rev Fathers Joseph Gor and Felix Tyolaha, and 17 members of the congregation while killed during an early morning mass at St. Ignatius Catholic Church at Ayar Mbalom in the Gwer East Local Government Area of Benue State.

The 19 were given a mass burial last Tuesday at Se Sugh Maria Pilgrimage Centre, Ayati Ikpayongo in Benue State.

On that day, President Muhammadu Buhari, whose inability to protect the lives of the victims led to their death, was busy in his office hosting Buhari Support Organisation! The president was busy playing politics with the security of the people. The people of Benue can bury their dead, what is of paramount important to our president is how he would get reelected as president. Nothing else matters! Eventhough, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo was there, that day was not a day for President Buhari to play politics. He is the one elected president and not Osinbajo. Buhari has simply declined to show leadership when that quality is needed.

That attitude should not surprise many. It has become a pattern. The president simply does not care about the people he governs. His conduct usually gives him out even though the Presidency sometimes issues statements to portray the president as someone who cares.

He takes delight in pleasing a section of the Nigerian people and those he thinks will help him get reeleted.

To those who think that they are the president’s people, German anti-Nazi theologian and Lutheran pastor Martin Niemöller’s famous quote should be instructive- “When they locked up the social democrats, I remained silent; I was not a social democrat. Then they came for the Jews, And I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a Jew. When they came for me, there was no one left to speak out.”

Early Warning Signal At the beginning of his administration, the president made it abundantly cleared the direction in which his government would go.

Despite the occasional pandering towards statesmanship, the president has consistently been true to his words.

Shortly after he was sworn in and precisely, on July 22nd, 2015, the president was on an official visit to the United States where he had to speak at the United States Institute of Peace (USIP).

After the president had spoken, members of the audience were invited to ask questions in a session moderated by former Undersecretary of State for African Affairs Johnnie Carson.

Dr. Pauline Baker, the President Emeritus of The Fund for Peace, said to the president: “My question relates to another area of Nigeria that hasn’t gotten a lot of attention during this trip and that is the Niger Delta. It’s a challenge that you are going to face. I wonder if you would tell us how you intend to approach it with

particular reference to the amnesty, bunkering, and inclusive development?”

Initially, President Buhari did not appear to understand the question. However, after some help from Mr. Carson. President Buhari looked at Mr. Carson and said, “inclusive?”

“Inclusive government…including women,

On that day, President Muhammadu Buhari, whose inability to protect the lives of the victims led to their death, was busy in his office hosting Buhari Support Organisation!

youth” Mr. Carson responded to President Buhari. “I see,” the President said.

Finally the prescient answered thus: “I hope you have a copy of the election results. The constituents, for example, gave me 97% cannot in all honesty be treated on some issues with constituencies that gave me 5%.

“I think these are political reality.”

A scrutiny of the Buhari’s three years in office reveals that the president continues to govern in accordance with the statement he made during that visit to the US. Given the fact that he emerged president from an election that showed that the nation had been divided along ethnic lines, the president’s first priority should have been to embark on measures that would unite the country. However, President Buhari failed to assure those who did not vote for him that he is a president for all. He had the opportunity to rally Nigerians behind him as a united people but the president failed in this regard. That is a lost opportunity.

The president is still under the illusion that force can be used to hold Nigeria together.

Perhaps, he is emboldened by his use of force to silence members of the Indegenous People

of Biafra. If anything, the president has merely succeeded in postponing the evil days.

Having been elected as president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, he was expected to be president of all, not only of the people who gave him 97 per cent of the votes.

Failure to Stop Killings Today,activists will gather at Unity Fountain in Abuja and elsewhere in Nigeria to hold a solemn service in remembrance of those who had lost their lives to the killing spree now taking place in Nigeria. It is part of the activities lined up for the National Day Mourning.

The group coordinating the event, Office of the Citizen, which is made up civil society organisations, has been crying out loud hoping that someone in government would take decisive steps and stop the killings but nobody listened.

According to the Office of the Citizen, the level of impunity and frequency of killings in Nigeria in recent times is a source of grave concern to citizens.

CONT’D ON NEXT PAGE

19

T H I S D AY • MONDAY, MAY 28, 2018

PERSPECTIVE It said: “We demand that this dehumanization of Nigeria lives must stop.”

Under Buhari, Nigeria has become a killing field. For so long, the president was in denial.

Later, the attitude was that it was not a big deal.

When the burial of 57 people killed in one fell swoop in Benue became a national embarrassment, the presidency shocked Nigerians by saying that they had killed more people in Zamfara State. Meaning that the presidency could not understand why the nation was making a fuse over the killing of 57 people in Benue after all more people had died in Zamfara State without anyone shouting about it. That is the absurd level to which governance has been elevated in the past three years.

Instead of campaigning to get reeleted, the president should work extremely hard to justify the four-year mandate already given to him.

Trust Nigerians, if Buhari has ruled well, they would have been more than happy to give him a second term. He will not even need to campaign for it. He would have earned it on a platter of gold.

The Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) made the point when it called on the president to suspend his campaign for a second term till he had addressed and stopped the killings by herdsmen.

CAN, in a statement by its spokesman, Pastor Bayo Oladeji, said, “While CAN is not opposed to the President’s exercise of his civic right by seeking re-election for the second time, we urge him to halt it for now and attend to the security problems occasioned by the criminal activities of the terrorists, herdsmen and bandits.

“CAN asks President Buhari to suspend his re-election bid until he restores sanity to the country while ensuring the release of Leah Sharibu, the remaining Chibok girls and other hostages from the captivity of the Boko Haram terrorists.”

The brazeness with which herdsmen, bandits and militias killed people across the country and the government’s lacklustre response forced many to allege that the killings were being sponsored by those in authorities. A tough response from government would have served as an assurance for the people. But the government of Muhammadu Buhari failed to reassure people. Those he delegated powers to such as the Inspector General of Police were simply overwhelmed.

As if to add salt to the injury of those who have lost loved ones to killer herdsmen, those in authority were defending the killers and justifying the killings. For instance, the Minister of Defence, Mansur Dan-Ali provided justification for the attacks by suspected armed herdsmen when he attributed their nefarious activities to the enactment of anti-open grazing laws in some states.

Recently, President Buhari blamed former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi who was killed in October 2011, almost seven years ago, for the ongoing herdsmen carnage in Nigeria.

He told Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, who visited him at the Nigerian House that Gaddafi supporters found their way into Nigeria and that they are being used to slaughter innocent Nigerians.

A government that can not protect lives and properties has no reason to remain in power a day longer.

Nigeria’s Unity Threatened Since the return of democracy in 1999, no time has the unity of the country been threatened as much as it is under President Buhari.

His actions and inaction forced people to seek protection under their regional or tribal associations. The South-east and the South-south felt completely isolated. IPOB threatened secession. Calls for the country to be restructured became strident.

Before Buhari came, policing the country, which is the legitimate duty of the police, had been outsourced to the armed forces.

There has been no strategy to return the task to the police. A government that promised change was expected to do things differently.

But not Buhari. He dispatched military to the Niger Delta and lately to the South-east. The military failed woefully in the Niger Delta and took the adoption of dialogue to resolve the dispute there.

As instructive as the success of dialogue in the Niger Delta is, the government of the day failed to adopt dialogue in resolving the IPOB crisis. Buhari sent in the military. A democratic country that routinely resorts to

President Muhammadu Buhari

the use of the military to resolve agitation of marginalisation and other domestics issues will not allow democracy to be well entrenched.

The present administration failed to use the agitation for restructuring to deepen the nation’s democracy. It is another missed opportunity.

Former President Goodluck Jonathan is known to be an orator. However, there are two statements credited to him that, in our view, make him stand out as an icon of democracy. During the 2015 presidential election campaign, Jonathan reportedly said that his ambition to get reelected was not worth the blood of any Nigerian.

The president once wrote on his Facebook wall: “My dear friends on Facebook, “I have said it before and I will continue to say and live by the fact that my ambition, and indeed the ambition of anybody, is not worth the blood of any Nigerian. Therefore, I urge all Nigerians to look forward in hope as we fulfil the dreams of our founding fathers to ‘build a nation where peace and Justice reign’”.

This statement is commended to President Buhari.

Last Friday, Jonathan was in Ekiti State for the inauguration of a flyover built by the administration of Ekiti State Governor Ayodele Fayose in Ado Ekiti.

At the event, Jonathan urged leaders to always strive to resist the pressure from unpatriotic elements wishing to subjugate democracy to attain selfish ends.

He said: “I use this opportunity to call on Mr. President because I was there before, and I know that when you are there, there is so much pressure on you to use all the powers at your disposal to subjugate democracy.

“Don’t do that because what you go with, at the end of the day, is the good name you leave behind. If you use your powers negatively, posterity will haunt you. I call on Mr. President to use his power to strengthen democracy because all the great democracies we see in the world today were built by people. People make sacrifices to make their country great.”

Making a case for good leadership, the former President stated further that he always felt sad each time people said negative things about Nigeria, noting that it has got to a stage where the nation’s neighbours cite the country as a bad example.

He said: “A President of a neighbouring

country, Ghana, recently made two negative remarks about Nigeria. First, the current Ghanaian President was addressing Ghanaians about the movement of cattle within their shores and he said openly that Ghana is not like Nigeria where cattle roam freely. That was quite uncomplimentary.

He added that recently the same President was speaking in the United Kingdom when he made disparaging remarks about Nigeria’s currency.

“If it has got to a level when the Presidents of neighbouring countries will cite Nigeria as a negative example, then we must know as leaders of this country that certain things are not going well, and we must change the way we do things.”

Rule of Law Takes Back Seat Although President Buhari, during the campaign claimed that he had become a democratic, many did not believe him. They chose to doubt him because of the iron fist with which he exercised powers as a military head of state. Still, many were willing to trust. But as it turned out, old habit dies hard.

In the past three years, Nigerians watched helplessly as government relegated rule of to the background. You need not look far to find instances where the government of the day had substituted rule of law with its own rules. Former National Security Adviser to ex-president Jonathan, Ibrahim Dasuki remains in custody even though he was granted bail by the courts. Leader of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria, Ibraheem El’Zakzaky remains in custody after his followers were massacred by the army. The court had ordered that he be released but the authorities refused and have now charged him with some criminal offences while those who killed his followers are enjoying life their freedom.

Members of the opposition are being hounded on the pretext that government is fighting corruption. But loyalists of the president are free to steal. The long arm of the law is too short to catch corrupt friends of the president.

In October 2016, operatives of the Department of State Security Services, like armed robbers in the night broke into judges house under what they called sting operation. Shockingly, the Vice President, a professor of law defended the indefensible and justified the ignominious

act. When rule of law is entrenched everyone benefits, but its absence means that no one is really safe. The argument, which they conveniently ignored is that: it is not whether the judges are corrupt or not it is whether the way and manner they were attacked was justifiable in a democracy. The good thing is that what goes around comes around. There is no guarantee that the house of former vice presidents can not be broken into at night in the future. It will not matter then, as it does not matter now whether the former vice presidents are corrupt or not.

Some of the affected judges made allegations of attempting to perverse the cause of justice against the president’s men. But because they are president’s men, they are untouchable. They were not investigated. Those who corruptly escorted Abdulrasheed Maina into the country and gave him double promotion are keeping their job. Yet we are fighting corruption. We also want Transparency International to rate us better. President Buhari has three years to prove himself a democrat but bungled it. It is another missed opportunity to make Nigeria a better place for all.

Another aspect of the concept of rule of law is accountability. How come is it that thousands of people have been killed but not a single person has been convicted for the killings? That in itself is an incentive to continue the killings.

Nigeria, as a country can’t protect people from being killed and can’t arrest and prosecute those who killed others.

One Year Remaining Can the president take advantage of the remaining one year of his term to turn a new leaf? Yes, he can. However, the signs are not looking good. For this to happen, the president must first convince himself that he has failed the people. The people are suffering. In some states, farmers can no longer go to their farms.

Another sign that this government in not likely to repent is its attitudes to criticisms.

The idea of picking up a fight with anyone who criticises the government is a pathway to destruction. Goodluck Jonathan, Olusegun Oasanjo, Theophilus Danjuma, Ibrahim Babangida, Abbdulsalam Abubakar, Mathew Kukah can not all be wrong. These are people who have nothing to lose or gain by speaking truth to power. Directly or indirectly, they have spoken.

A good president should listen.

20

MONDAY, MAY 28, 2018 • T H I S D AY

FEATURES

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

Birnin Gwari Bandits Dare the Army John Shikam writes that the recent directive by the Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Tukur Buratai, ordering his men to flush out the bandits terrorising communities in Birnin Gwari Local Government Area of Kaduna State, seems to have made the hoodlums more daring

O

n May 14, 2018, the Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Lt. Gen. Tukur Buratai ordered troops to flush out bandits terrorising communities in Birnin Gwari Local Government Area of Kaduna State, within three weeks.

The directives, coming from the Army Chief came as a great relief to the people of the area who have been living under a reign of terror.

Like other parts of the country, Birnin Gwari has been under constant attacks by gunmen leading to so much bloodshed, abductions and destruction of property.

However, about two weeks after Buratai’s directives, nothing much seemed to have changed as the bandits continue to unleash mayhem on the communities and travellers in the area as people are being killed or abducted almost every week.

Despite the deployment of security personnel to the area, the hoodlums seemed to be operating freely as they go about with their criminal activities.

The COAS, had during the flag-off of the Forward Operation Base (FOB), tagged operation ‘Idon Raini’ at the proposed site of the 2 Battalion at Kampanin Doka Village, near Birnin Gwari, charged the troops to bring the criminals to their knees in three weeks.

“In the next two, three weeks, there must be resounding results that will bring these criminals to their knees finally," the COAS had declared while addressing the troops.

The launching of the operation was sequel to the deadly attack on Gwaska Village in the Birnin Gwari area. Over 70 people were killed with several houses set ablaze during the deadly invasion of the village.

The troops were camped at the very location where 11 soldiers were killed about two months ago.

Tukur said: “The criminals are not coming from the moon or coming from outer space, they are within this territory, I don't know why you cannot go to where they are, and fish them out.”

Speaking further, he declared that: “The killings must stop, the wanton destruction of property must stop, not only within Kaduna State but in the North-west, the North-central and across our country.

"We must respond decisively and commanders will be personally held responsible for any lapses,” he stressed.

He warned that troops must “decide and take appropriate action, anything outside that, you will also be held responsible."

About two weeks after Buratai’s directives, nothing much seemed to have changed as the bandits continue to unleash mayhem on the communities and travellers in the area as people are being killed or abducted almost every week

Buratai (left) with the Emir of Birnin Gwari, Mallam Zubairu Jibrin, when the COAS paid a courtesy visit on the Emir at his palace...recently

Buratai addressing troops in Kampanin Doka

Buratai said the Nigerian Army will no longer adopt a defensive approach but an offensive approach.

“The battle must be taken to the door steps of the criminals. We are no longer going to adopt the defensive approach, it must be offensive. Since the battle has been brought to you, you must take it back and crush them wherever they are,” the COAS ordered.

He regretted that it was unfortunate that the insecurity is equally turning against the security forces and urged the troops to first of all protect themselves to avoid a repeat

of the incident that led to the killing of 11 of their colleagues in the area.

“We are first and foremost supposed to ensure that we protect ourselves. If we cannot protect ourselves, it will be difficult to protect any other person.

"I am saying this against the unfortunate incident that happened here, in this particular place where 11 of our colleagues were unfortunately killed.

"Our training must be applied on the ground. Whatever we have learnt during training, must be applied on the ground.

"You must apply all the techniques and the procedures and the tactics for the type of operations you are deployed to perform. So we expect very high standard of operation.

"A situation where our troops don't observe the basic routines must be avoided,” Buratai told the troops.

He also assured the troops of their welfare, adding that their challenges and other logistics were being addressed.

Earlier during a courtesy call on the Emir of Birnin Gwari, Mallam Jibrin Zubairu, in his palace in Birnin Gwari, the Army Chief

21

• T H I S D AY MONDAY, MAY 28, 2018

FEATURES assured the traditional ruler that the security challenges would be over as everything was being done to tackle the situation.

"We are working round the clock to make sure we get things in order...We will do our best so that the situation is brought to normalcy. The Army is concerned, the government is concerned, I want to assure you that we will work assiduously to bring about normalcy here so that the people will go back to their farms and continue their livelihood," the COAS told the Emir.

The assurances of Buratai, raised the hope of the people who have been under a reign of terror for many years.

Hundreds of people in Birnin Gwari town had stormed the palace of the Emir as news went round that the COAS had come to crush the hoodlums.

The Emir was so elated about the visit and the assurances by the Army Chief to bring an end to banditry in the area.

“The Minister of Interior was here, the Inspection General of Police (IGP) was here and now you have come, it means the government has heard our cry,” the Emir said while responding to remarks by the COAS. “Your visit is a great reassurance that the security challenges would be addressed,” the Emir said.

He told Buratai who was accompanied by top military officers and the Kaduna State Police Commissioner, Austin Iwar that unless the Army go to the bushes and flush out the bandits from their hideouts, the killings would not stop.

The Emir said soldiers are normally stationed on the roads while the bandits are in their hideouts in the bushes.

“This place is not Sambisa (forest), the bandits have their limit, they can be defeated.

Since the Chief of Army Staff has come here, we are optimistic that the problem will be over," the Emir told journalists in an interview shortly after the courtesy call by the COAS. However, the hope of the people seems to have dimmed when three days after the COAS' visit, 10 people were killed when bandits attacked four villages.

It appears that each time a top security official visited the area, the bandits respond with more attacks.

When the IGP, Ibrahim Idris visited the area alongside the General Officer Commanding 1 Division of the Nigerian Army on May 6, 2018, the bandits invaded Gwaska Village two days after the visit and killed over 70 people. Several people were wounded while many houses were burnt.

Also three days after the COAS visited the area, the bandits responded by attacking four villages, killing 10 people.

The hoodlums are said to be more daring as they mount road blocks on the roads and disguise as policemen, robbing and abducting people.

According to the Chairman of the Birnin Gwari branch of the National Union of Road

When the Army Chief ordered his men to smoke out these criminals within three weeks, we felt very relieved. We were hopeful, we were jubilating, but with the way things are going, we are becoming disenchanted. We have not felt the impact of security agents deployed to Birnin Gwari. Of course, they have their own challenges, but we don’t expect that these bandits should be operating the way they are doing

Residents of Birnin Gwari town during the visit of the COAS

The troops deployed for operation Idon Raini

Transport Workers (NURTW), taxi section, the road from Birnin Gwari, connecting Funtua, in Katsina State is a no go area, as the bandits have taken over the road.

He said the criminals operate freely along the route as there are no security personnel patrolling the road, adding that motorists have abandoned the road for fear of being robbed or kidnapped.

The people of Birnin Gwari are wondering why, in spite of the three weeks’ directives by the COAS, the attacks seemed to be going on unabated, with people being killed or abducted almost on a weekly basis.

A politician from Birnin Gwari who pleaded anonymity said the people of the area were so excited when Buratai gave his men three weeks to chase out the bandits.

“When the Army Chief ordered his men to smoke out these criminals within three weeks, we felt very relieved. “We were hopeful, we were jubilating, but with the way things are going, we are becoming disenchanted.

“We have not felt the impact of security agents deployed to Birnin Gwari. Of course, they have their own challenges, but we don’t expect that these bandits should be operating the way they are doing,” he said.

There are complaints among the people that the impact of the security agencies deployed to the area are yet to be felt, as the bandits appear to have become the law unto themselves and operate with impunity.

The military operations launched by Buratai were part of the efforts aimed at combating the menace of the bandits.

The police had earlier deployed 200 additional personnel to the area after the killings in Gwaska.

But there seem to be no respite as the bandits continuously carry out their criminal activities.

On May 20, they invaded Maganda Village at about 2:00 a.m. and abducted three housewives.

A 12-year-old boy was said to have been shot following sporadic shooting by the gunmen.

The three women, said to be wives of one Alhaji Adamu Nakwalla, were abducted when the bandits could not find their husband who was hiding.

One of the wives was later released after they had reached Danyamu, a neighbouring village and was given a phone number to deliver to her husband to call.

On Tuesday and Wednesday last week, 44 passengers travelling along the dilapidated Birnin-Gwari-Kaduna highway were abducted by gunmen.

The victims, according to the NURTW chairman were travelling to Kano for business.

Duniya said the bandits posed as police men and stopped the vehicles, adding that the female victims were stripped naked and their clothes were left by the vehicles at the scene of the attack before they were taken to the bush. Duniya said on the Wednesday incident, 21 people travelling in three Golf vehicles from Birnin-Gwari to Kano were abducted while 17 people in a Saloon car as well as six people traveling in a truck and a tanker were earlier abducted on Tuesday.

A security official who pleaded anonymity regretted the attacks, but added that security personnel also have their challenges.

He said it was not possible for security personnel to be deployed to every village in the area.

He added further that although security personnel have been working hand-in-hand with local vigilante groups the terrain of the area and the fact that bandits have sophisticated weapons and are always in large group while launching an attack posses

serious challenges.

“Birnin Gwari Local Government is very large, it is a very difficult terrain. It has a thick forest stretching to Zamfara, Sokoto, Birnin Kebbi, Katsina and Niger states.

“The bandits are said to have established various camps in the Kamuku Forest.

“Security personnel are ill-equipped to go into the forest, but I believe steps are being taken to address it,” he said. Similarly, the dilapidated federal highway from Kaduna to Birnin Gwari poses serious security threat.

The bad state of the road has made it easy for bandits to operate. Because of the bad state of road, vehicles move at a snail speed making it possible for the criminals to operate and run into the bushes.

Even if security agencies are alerted, the bad road makes it impossible to respond to distress calls in good time.

During Buratai’s visit, the Emir appealed to the federal government to repair the road.

“The bandits use the bad roads for their attacks,” the Emir said.

Besides, bad road, communication is also a challenge in some of the communities where there is no telephone network, making it impossible to alert security agents in times of emergencies.

Some of the security personnel also complained that sometimes they are not properly fed.

“They don’t give us food, there are times we go without breakfast,” one of the security personnel alleges.

The farming season has come and the people are praying and waiting to be liberated from these bandits that have destroyed their economic and social activities. Unless the security agencies tackle the situation, many families stand the risk of hunger and starvation.

22

T H I S D AY ˾ ͰͶ˜ ͰͮͯͶ

ADVERTORIAL

T H I S D AY • MONDAY, MAY 28, 2018

23

BUSINESSWORLD R A T E S MONEY MARKET OBB OVERNIGHT

A S

A T

REPO 17.17 19.67

CALL 1-MONTH 3-MONTH

M A Y

Group Business Editor ChikaAmanze-Nwachuku Email: chika.amanzenwachukwu@thisdaylive.com 08033294157, 08057161321

2 5 ,

2 0 1 8

S & P INDEX 12.67 18.08 18.50

INDEX LEVEL 1-DAY MONTH-TO-DAY QUARTER-TO-DAY YEAR-TO-DAY

EXCHANGE RATE 354.63 -0.16% -1.65% 2.50% 7.64%

N305.90/1US DOLLAR AS AT LAST FRIDAY

THUMBS UP Fidelity Bank N500m SMEs Funding

DEEPENING PROFESSIONAL KNOWLEDGE

L-R: Chairman, Brand Journalist Association of Nigeria (BJAN), Goddy Ofose; Managing Director, CMC Connect Limited, Yomi Badejo Okusanya; Vice Chairman, Troyka Holdings, Jimi Awosika; Chairman, Katunga Media Limited, Chike Ogeah; Managing Director, THISDAY Newspapers, Eniola Bello and Vice Chairman, BJAN, Clara Okoro, at a media training organised by Katunga Media in Lagos...recently

THISDAY Model Portfolios Decline Further as Bears Dominate Market Goddy Egene

: CAPITAL MARKET

The massive decline in prices of bellwether stocks that depressed the stock market to a four-month low last week impacted negatively on the THISDAY Model Portfolio (TMP). The TMP growth contracted from 40.5 per cent the previous week to 33.5 per cent last week as all the four constituent portfolios suffered significant decline.

However, market analysts

were not surprised at the decline in the TMP given the fact that the stock market has remained bearish and posted decline for four consecutive weeks. The equities market fell by 2.8 per cent last week, bringing the year-to-date (YTD) growth to 3.7 per cent, a development that has been reflected in the performance of the TMP. The TMP is an initiative

of THISDAY Economic and Financial Intelligence Unit (TEFIU), designed to enable leading stockbrokers and investment houses in the country share their trading skills and methodologies with ordinary investors. The investment houses involved in the project are Afrinvest Limited, FSDH Securities Limited, Capital Assets Limited, Meristem Limited and Lead Advisory Limited.

It is made up of five differ-

ent portfolio types constructed individually in conjunction with five leading stockbroking firms in the country with different investment objectives.

Each partner stock broking houses constructed a portfolio of 10 stocks selected according to their individual best judgement and using their best and well tested stock selection and investment strategies. Each of them then Continued on page 24

ATCON Kicks against CBN’s Order on 0.005% Cyber Security Levy Emma Okonji The Association of Telecommunications Companies of Nigeria (ATCON), umbrella body of telecoms operating companies in Nigeria has kicked against the recent directive by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) that all banks should collect 0.005 per cent levy on all electronic transactions into a National Cyber Security Fund account within the CBN. The National President of ATCON, Mr. Olusola Teniola, who briefed journalists on the

ECONOMY issue, said the directive would be inimical to the growth of several businesses that have been compelled to make the 0.005 per cent remittance out of their squeezed income, owing to several other remittances such businesses have been involved in through levies imposed on them by the federal, state and local government agencies.

He listed such businesses to include GSM Service Providers and all telecommunication companies; Internet service

providers; Banks and other financial institutions; Insurance companies and Nigerian Stock Exchange, among others.

“The eventual implementation of the levy of 0.005% would cripple if not render useless government and private sector efforts to speed up the broadband penetration in Nigeria and our association has a mandate to protect the investment in the telecom industry from undue pressure from the government in the form of yet additional burden on our members that are already overtaxed by all

Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) are the engine room of any economy. This is because they play very importance role in the economic development of a country, in terms of production, employment generation, contribution to exports and facilitating equitable distribution of income.

This informs Fidelity Bank’s commitment to supporting a huge number of SMEs expand the scope of their businesses.

In recognition of its unparalleled support for SMEs, Fidelity Bank was last year, awarded the “SME Friendly Bank of the Year 2017” in utmost recognition of its support for Micro Small Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) in Nigeria.

The accolade was bestowed upon the bank at the 2017 Lagos Chamber of Commerce & Industry (LCCI) Awards.

In continuation of that crucial role, Fidelity Bank, last week disclosed that it will in September this year, organise a fair that is expected to provide an opportunity for operators of small and medium scale enterprises (SMEs) to meet with viable financing organisations.

The bank estimates that the initiative would provide SMEs in the country an opportunity to access financing of about N500 million from viable organisations across the globe.

Chief executive, Fidelity Bank, Mr. Nnamdi Okonkwo said at ‘Fidelity SME Forum,’ a radio programme that was monitored on Inspiration FM that the two-day event has been christened the ‘Fidelity SME Funding Fair.’

He explained: “For the first time in Nigeria, Fidelity Bank sat back, and we were wondering how we can help SMEs have access to finance.

“So, what we have done is to plan a two-day event which we have called the Fidelity SME Funding Fair.

“With this, we are trying to create a market place. Now, a lot of organisations that provide financing opportunities from international and local organisations, far beyond the traditional banks and development institutions.

“These financing organisations have the money, but don’t know how to reach the SMEs, while the SMEs have the need, but they don’t know how to reach these people.”

The funding organisations, Okonkwo explained, would be allocated booths at the event, where SMEs would have the opportunity to meet and speak with them.

He said that before the fair would hold, Fidelity Bank would organise a seminar where it would bring SMEs and providers of finance to speak generally.

According to him, after the seminar, the bank would go into a one-on-one session so that the SMEs can interact with them and of course, mediated by Fidelity Bank.

“Towards the end of the first day, we would go into a pitching session where SMEs would be given the opportunity to pitch what they do to the fund providers and state why they think they should attract financing.”

Whereas some financial institutions charge very high interest rates on loans granted to MSMEs, Fidelity Bank has continued to grant loans to SMEs at attractive rate and flexible repayment plan. With all of these and more, Fidelity Bank deserves a thumbs up.

tiers of governments,” Teniola said.

As a premier association that was formed by technocrats in the telecoms industry to facilitate as well as accelerate the growth and adoption of broadband for the purpose of socio-economic development of Nigeria to enable the country stay ahead of innovation in the 21st century, the association would do everything possible to protect its members from undue financial pressure from government, Teniola added.

Continued on page 24

Okonkwo

24

T H I S D AY • MONDAY, MAY 28, 2018

BUSINESSWORLD

NEWS

THISDAY MODEL PORTFOLIOS DECLINE FURTHER AS BEARS DOMINATE MARKET deployed an imaginary fund of N10 million to invest on the 10 stocks in whatever proportions they considered best.

But four of the stockbroking firms have been recording growth in their respective portfolios, while one has recorded instability in its performance. The four portfolios have maintained growth Continued on page 25

SHADOW PORTFOLIO WEEKLY TRACKING TABLE PORTFOLIO MODEL

START DATE

START VAL(N)

VALUE NOW (N)

GAIN (N)

GAIN (%)

REMARK

1

PORTFOLIO A

JULY 3, 2017

10,000,000

11,868,882

1,868,882

18.7%

POSITIVE

2

PORTFOLIO B

JULY 3, 2017

10,000,000

13,228,772

3,228,772

32.20%

POSTIVE

3

PORTFOLIO C

JULY 3, 2017

10,000,000

13,702,194,

3,702,194

37.00%

POSITIVE

4

PORFTOLIO D

JULY 3, 2017

10,000,000

14,580,921

4,580,921

45.80%

POSITIVE

5

PORTFOLIO E

JULY 3, 2017

10,000,000

9,971,275

-28,725

-0.29%

NEGATIVE

The shadow portfolio is computed weekly by THISDAY in association with the following partners. While this will no doubt serve to enlighten the public THISDAY and its partners do not intend this table be used for investment purpose without due consultation with ATCON KICKS AGAINST CBN’S ORDER ON 0.005% CYBER SECURITY LEVY Giving reasons for ATCON’s rejection of the 0.0005 per cent remittance, other executive members of ATCON said: “The Cybercrime Act 2015, Section 44 that the CBN seeks to implement, states in Section 44, an establishment of a National Cyber Security Fund. In Section 44.2 (a), a Levy of 0.005 of all electronic transactions by the businesses specified in the second schedule to this Act. Where in the Schedule five categories including GSM Service providers and all telecommunication companies and Internet Service Providers are to apply this charge.�

ATCON, they said, believes any premeditated actions that are capable of killing the telecoms industry must be eschewed by all tiers of governments in Nigeria as the perceived benefits of imposing this levy on aforementioned businesses have the direct capability to erase if not destroy the achievements that have been made since the telecoms sector was liberated. “We therefore advise government to review this directive as it would affect some macro-economic elements such as loss of employment and we as Industry will have to increase prices to cover the collection, processing and pass on these costs to the 150 million subscribers,� they further said.

Group Business Editor

Chika Amanze-Nwachuku AgriBusiness/Industry Editor

Jonathan Eze

Comms/e-Business Editor

Emma Okonji

Capital Market Editor

Goddy Egene

Senior Correspondent

Raheem Akingbolu (Advertising) Correspondents

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

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

any of the partners through THISDAY Economic and Financial Intelligence Unit PARTNERS: Afrinvest; FSDH, Capital Assets, Meristem & Lead Capital. For more information send sms to 09067059433

Afreximbank: Improved Access to Market Info, Catalyst for Intraregional Trade Ndubuisi Francis in Abuja Intra-regional trade can only be expected to expand economic growth and development if there is improved access to market information, the President of the African ExportImport Bank (Afreximbank), Dr. Benedict Oramah, has said.

Oramah, who spoke in Busan, South Korea during a breakfast event organised by the Bank to promote the maiden Intra-African Trade Fair (IATF) scheduled to hold in Cairo, Egypt between December 11 and 17 said that, unlike in relatively mature markets where information on the sources and suppliers of specific goods and services were seamlessly available, the situation was different in Africa.

According to him, most

African manufacturers do not know that they could source raw materials from the continent and traders are not aware that enormous demand exists for their goods in neighbouring markets.

He cited a recent study sponsored by the Bank, in partnership with the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) and the Commonwealth Secretariat, which showed that South Africa imports leather from India at double the price Ethiopia exports the same input and that Mauritius and Nigeria import leather products from Italy and Belgium at much higher costs than what South Africa and Botswana export them.

Similarly, Kenya imports raw hides from New Zealand while Burundi exports the

same product at a much lower price.

Oramah described the situation as tragic, saying, “We are more familiar with other markets than our own rich market�.

He disclosed that Afreximbank was offering the IntraAfrican Trade Fair as a platform for networking and other forms of engagements among traders (buyers and sellers), manufacturers, financiers and policy makers, with the expectation that it would ultimately lead to actual intra-regional trade and investment deals.

He thanked the African Union and the government of Egypt for being the Bank’s partners in the endeavour.

Being the continent’s single largest trade fair and the first of its kind in decades, the fair will truly bridge the enormous

trade information gap and connect major players in the continent’s trade space and identify market opportunities, he noted.

Oramah, who presented an overview of the trade fair, disclosed that it will feature exhibitors showcasing their goods and services and B2B meetings where business people would discuss opportunities and conclude deals.

It would also include conferences and workshops with discussions on intra-African trade finance and facilitation Afreximbank and other financial institutions will be on hand to finance deals and there would be a high-level panel for heads of state and ministers, and a conference to discuss issues affecting intra-African trade. A trade information portal would

provide trade and market information and host a digital trade fair.

Also speaking at the session was Jean-Louis Ekra, former President of Afreximbank and Vice Chairman of the Advisory Council set up in support of the trade fair.

More than 80 participants, including ministers of finance, central bank governors, and representatives of global financial institutions and global, regional and national development finance institutions, attended the event.

Other collaborating institutions in the trade fair include the Pan-African Chamber of Commerce and Industry; the African Trade Policy Centre/ UNECA; the World Trade Centre, Miami; the International Trade Centre; and the AfroChampions Initiative.

ment. The ground handling business is endangered species; everyone wants to collect from the ground handling company. For instance, one of the certifications we used to do with the International Safety Audit of Ground Operations (ISAGO) and not paid for, but now, we pay a lot of money to get that done,� Agboarumi stressed.

He disclosed that although export is beginning to grow but handling companies must earn certificates before they could export goods to Europe, noting that their situation is exacerbated by still competition and rivalry among the handling companies, which forced them to review downwards the cost of their services. “Also, before you can shift things through our corridor to Europe, there are some certifications you need to do, which cost us lots of money.

We spend quite a lot to remain in business and we believe

that the government needs to come out with policies that will reduce the money that we spend and make us fall in line with international best practices. “Despite all these, there is price war in the system among the operators and we think the Ministry of Transport, Aviation unit, or the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) can come in. As a ground handling company, we are losing a lot of money. If you look at the categories of airlines as they operate in other parts of the world, they spend a specific amount on ground handling services, but in Nigeria, possibly because of pressure from us and our competitors, these charges have totally gone down,� Agboarumi added.

He remarked that airlines come into Nigeria and pay peanuts for ground handling services, which they can’t even get in other African countries.

‘Nigeria,Tough Country to Do Business’ Chinedu Eze The acting Managing Director and Chief Executive of Skyway Aviation Handling Company (SAHCOL), Mr. Basil Agboarumi has described Nigeria as a tough environment to do business.

Some of the things he identified as what make Nigeria a difficult country to do business include policy summersault by government, high and sometimes multiple taxation, lack of constant electricity and other basic infrastructure and high cost of importation in terms of customs duty and others.

Agboarumi, who spoke at the League of Airports and Aviation Correspondents (LAAC) Gateway Forum at the weekend said that handling companies in the country face a lot of challenges because of the heavy equipment they use, noting it is costly to bring them into the country.

He also disclosed that there have been increased volume of goods exported out of the country, which are largely farm produce like yams, palm oil, vegetables and others like spare parts, hair extensions and others. “Nigeria is a tough country to do business in and that doesn’t isolate us as a ground handling company. It takes courage to do business in this country. There are lots of things that work against the ground handling companies.

For instance, the equipment that we use is heavy, bulky and cost a lot of money. To get any equipment into the country, you will require several millions of dollars and more so, they are not things you just go to the shelf to pick as you buy your cars. They are all produced on requirement and we have to pay a lot of duties to bring them into our ramps for ground handling services�, he stressed.

He therefore urged the federal government to provide incentives to the handling companies in terms of tax waivers so that they would spend less on importation of equipment and plough their funds to other areas in order to create stronger and profitable organisations. “As you are aware, the government recently approved waivers to the operating airlines to help them sustain their operations, but the fact is that the airlines don’t exist on their own. There are some other supporters of aviation that need to be looked at like the ground handling companies because safety starts from the ground. If there is no safety on the ground, there could be a problem in the air.

So, critically, government needs to support our operations through incentives that they approved for the airlines in the country. We need incentives for ground handling equip-

25

T H I S D AY • MONDAY, MAY 28, 2018

BUSINESSWORLD

NEWS

Stakeholders Harp on Robust Nigerian Energy Policy Ugo Aliogo The federal government has been advised on the need to create robust energy policy in order to strength the growth of the oil and gas sector.

The advise was given at the 2018 edition of the Brand Innovation Conference with the theme: ‘Repositioning the Energy Sector for Growth organised by the Brandzone Consulting LLC. Speaking at the event, the Managing Partner, Brandzone Consulting LLC and the Convener, Mrs. Chizor Malize, said the theme was selected to reflect the fact that there have been fundamental changes to the dynamics of the world’s energy industry, which the Nigerian local industry needs to align to.

She also stated that the sector has a pivotal role to play in the country’s economic growth outcome, adding, the #LightUpNigeriaConference recognised the need to reposition the energy sector for continuous growth and advancement.

She said: “The energy sector requires more than ever before an effective integration

of opportunities across the sector value chain, development of strong strategic frameworks around every tenet of business, consolidation of knowledge, skills, experiences and expertise to maximise the industry potential.

The conference is designed to dissect emerging sector opportunities, issues and challenges inhibiting growth, and global innovation and opportunities that can catalyse growth for both the energy sector operations and the nation.”

In his remarks, the Senior Technical Adviser to the Minister of State, Petroleum Resources, Mr. Gbite Adeniji, who represented the minister, lauded the organisers of the event, stating that the objective of the forum aligned with the resolve of the federal government to alleviate Nigerians from energy dearth.

Adeniji shared the key steps the government has taken to reposition the sector which include; providing a robust policy framework, ensuring a conducive business environment, pushing a gas

revolution, rehabilitating the existing refineries, addressing the Niger-Delta issues, entrenching transparency and efficiency and adopting

stakeholder engagement in the policy and investment drive.

He said the roadmap of the Federal Ministry of

Petroleum Resources, which is the ‘seven big wins’, was an aggressive framework of the government in leading an efficient energy industry,

noting that stakeholders that the federal government was committed to energy security in the country.

UNVEILING HERO LAGER BEER

L-R: Marketing Director, International Breweries Plc, Mr. Arne Rust; Mr. Alain Degroot; His Royal Highness, Obi of Onitsha, Igwe Nnaemeka Afred Ugochukwu Achebe; Business Unit President, International Breweries Plc, Annabelle Degroot; National Sales Director, International Breweries PLC, Mr. Godwin Ochie; and Director, International Breweries Plc, Mr. Michael Ajukwu; during the knighting of a new Red Crown Cork and the title “Mmanya Ejiri Mara” on Hero Lager Beer, at the King’s Courtyard, Ikpeazu Stadium, Onitsha … recently

Day Hero Lager knighted in Onitsha It was Saturday, May 12, 2018.

In clear blue skies, in twos and threes, they arrived the King’s Courtyard, Ikpeazu Stadium, Onitsha, Anambra State.

Beaming with enthusiasm, they chatted animatedly about what the day held. Their enthusiasm was not unexpected; a sense of anticipation had been created.

For two weeks, word had gone round that a major corporate activity, laced with local identity, was in the works. His Royal Highness, Igwe Nnaemeka Alfred Ugochukwu Achebe, the revered Obi of Onitsha, would superintend the occasion.

Then, on Friday, May 11, 2018, Onitsha, the commercial hub of eastern Nigeria, experienced a heightened traffic of the people and vehicles from across the country into the city and its environs.

Then the D-day came. As it turned out, it was not just a big company conducting a big launch; it was a popular product earning recognition for being an integral part of the people. Hero, a premium lager on the stable of International Breweries Plc, a subsidiary of the world’s largest brewer, Anheuser-Busch InBev, (AB InBev) was being knighted with a new crown cork -a Red Cork and the title of “Mmanya Ejiri Mara Igbo.”

Traditional and community leaders were in attendance, along with corporates, public

figures, trade partners, distributors and the community at large – all of who enthusiastically came together to witness Hero’s further induction into the people’s culture while reinforcing a long and healthy relationship.

His Royal Highness, Igwe Achebe, represented by Engineer Okey Ononye, Onowu Iyase of Onitsha, gave his blessing to commence the red cap ceremony. One after another, the people expressed fulfillment that International Breweries Plc did not just site a plant in Onitsha, but also introduced a brand that has connected directly with the culture and aspirations of the people.

The red cap ideology is of high importance to the South Eastern people of Nigeria as it represents the peak of achievement, societal status and recognition for any individual.

Launched into the Nigerian market in August 2012 without much fanfare, Hero lager beer steadily warmed its way into the hearts of consumers in the South Eastern region and became a symbol of inspiration. The success of the brand draws from its strategic cultural resonance with the people and has catapulted Hero Lager from zero to a market leader in the region. Furthermore, consumers have christened Hero, ‘Oh Mpa’, in reverence and as a mark of

respect and common value (Mpa means father in Igbo language).

The event expectedly lived up to its billing as it became a thrilling voyage of cultural displays, musical performances, comedy and drama. It was such an experiential experience and achieved not just awareness for Hero lager beer but further affection and love for the brand.

Speaking when he received the International Breweries Plc team in his palace, HRH, Igwe Achebe gave a warm welcome to his guests and spoke glowingly about the affinity between the brand and the people, while praying for a long-term involvement of the company in the community via investments, employment, empowerment and social corporate responsibility.

He commended the management of the company for the honour of commemorating the milestone in Onitsha, the commercial nerve-centre of Anambra State and home to one of its plants.

The event, he said, speaks to the fact that International Breweries Plc., values and appreciates the people of the community wherein it operates, adding that since the inception of the brewery in Onitsha, International Breweries Plc.,has not only created jobs for the people but has also being very supportive of activities in the area. “I must commend the efforts of the

company. This is surely worthy of emulation. Today, as we knight Hero lager beer and award it the title of “Mmanya Ejiri Mara Igbo” (A symbol of inspiration), our prayer is that the brand continues to do well.” Hero became the first beer brand to be awarded a symbolic title in Nigeria.

The unveiling event was designed both to commemorate another phase in the evolution of Hero as well reiterating the AB InBev’s commitment to the socio-economic development of Nigeria.

Marketing Director, International Breweries Plc., Arne Rust, said the ceremony represents the essence of the brand.

“Through this ceremony, we hope to inspire consumers to be heroes every day and in every way. We have great plans for our consumers in Nigeria, part of which includes strategically launching several beer brands to suit specific geography and cultures. Hero is a well-established brand in the eastern part of the country.

International Breweries Plc. genuinely cares for the culture and tradition of the people, and we will consistently seek ways to showcase our culture and positively impact the society,” he said.

He closed his remarks by pledging the commitment of International Breweries Plc to sustain a win-win match

between the people and Hero, especially for a product they understand, associate with and have personalized.

On his part, Marketing Manager Hero Lager, International Breweries Plc., Nigeria, Okoli Obum, said, Hero Lager, through its composition, taste, and essence, embodies the spirit of Ndigbo–spirit of courage, tenacity, strength to achieve and be recognized for their achievements,importantly all Nigerian consumers openly identify with these values for which Hero Lager stands for“We want to use this opportunity to show our appreciation to our eastern brothers who have received the Hero lager beer as one of their own.

Since we introduced this beer to the Nigerian market, the brand has since found expression within and beyond the region due its affinity with the Igbos, who are predominantly traders and travel extensively across borders for commercial endeavours.it has clearly found its way into the taste buds of beer drinkers first in South East Nigeria and other parts of Nigeria. The people are happy and proudly indentify with this excellent quality beer - for this, we say thank you.”

The red capping of Hero ran as an integrated marketing campaign during which people and Nigerian men were re-

warded in recognition of their efforts and mission to “Go! Be the Hero.” As sponsors of the FIFA World Cup 2018, Hero will be wishing the national team farewell as they leave for Russia with the unveiling of the world’s biggest football message written with people“Eagles Be Fearless, Go Be The Hero.”

Obum noted that International Breweries Plc is a proud part of the world’s largest brewer, Anheuser-Busch InBev, (AB InBev). International Breweries Plc was established in 1971 and was listed on The Nigerian Stock Exchange in 1995. The Company AB InBev consolidated its business stakes in Pabod Breweries Limited, Intafact Beverages Limited into its majority ownership of International Breweries Plc in a merger that was concluded in December, 2017.

Anheuser-Busch InBev, AB InBev, which pledges to rise to every occasion, is the world’s largest brewer with over 400 beer brands. Its dream is to bring people together for a better world. Beer, the original social network, has been bringing people together for thousands of years. The company is committed to building great brands that stand the test of time and to brewing the best beers using the finest natural ingredients, Obum concluded.

N10 million deployed stood at N13.228 million as at last Friday, down from N13.899 million two weeks ago.

Portfolio A, which recorded the fourth highest gain, closed with 18.7 per cent, a decline from 23.5 per cent the previous week. This indicates that the

N10 million deployed is now worth N11.869 million.

Despite the decline suffered by the portfolios, only one stock in Portfolio D, remains a negative performer. The only stock with negative performance has recorded 20.3 per cent decline. However, the

highest gainer fell from 121.5 per cent to 117.7 per cent. The second highest gainer stood at 86.6 per cent, down from 112.6 per cent. Other gainers included: 77.5 per cent; 45.8 per cent; 37.5 per cent; 29.9 per cent; 21.8 per cent; and 14.6 per cent.

THISDAY MODEL PORTFOLIOS DECLINE FURTHER AS BEARS DOMINATE MARKET YTD growth but that growth contracted last week.

For instance, Portfolio D, which remained with the highest growth stood at 48.5 per cent, a decline from 53.3 per cent the previous week.

This portfolio’s value reduced from N15.328 million to

N14.581 million, which still an improvement compared to its value of N10 million at the introduction of the portfolio.

In a similar vein, Portfolio C, which maintained its second position, fell from 46.3 per cent two weeks to 37 per

cent last week. This implies that its value reduced from N14.634 million to N13.702 million last week.

Similarly, Portfolio B fell from 38.9 per cent to 32.2 per cent but maintained the third highest growth among the TMP. This implies that the

26

T H I S D AY • MONDAY, MAY 28, 2018

BUSINESSWORLD

WEEKLY REPORT

Sell Pressure on Bellwether Stocks Depresses Market to Four-Month Low Goddy Egene It was another bearish week at the Nigerian equities market as investors continued with their sell off positions in bellwethers, pushing the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) All-Share Index to a four-month low. Specifically, the NSE ASI fell below the 40,000 mark to close at 39,323.62, translating to a decline of 2.8 per cent last week alone. Month-to-date, the benchmark index has declined by 3.7 per cent, while the year-to-date (YTD) growth contracted to 2.8 per cent. Similarly, the market capitalisation shed N416.1 billion last week to close at N14.2 trillion. The negative performance recorded last week was partially caused by the dumping of shares of bellwethers-Dangote Cement Plc, Nigerian Breweries Plc, GTBank Plc and Zenith Bank Plc. According to analysts at Afrinvest (W.A), the current bearish run in the local bourse is largely due to foreign investors selling off positions in emerging and frontier markets, leaving local investors skeptical of potential near term upsides. “However, we believe cheaper valuation presents investors with an attractive entry opportunity to take advantage of,” they said.

In their own assessment, analysts at Cordros Capital said the persisting sell-offs and continued sessions of sideways trading suggest a need for cautious trading by investors.

“However, still-strengthening macroeconomic fundamentals remain supportive of potential gains for patient funds,” they noted.

Daily Performance The domestic bourse opened the trading week on a negative note as the bears consolidated their hold. The index fell 0.12 per cent following sell offs in Tier 1 banking stocks – Guaranty Trust Bank Plc (GTBank) and Access Bank and FBN Holdings. In terms of market capitalisation the NSE investors shed N17.2 billion to close at N14.6 trillion. As result, the NSE ASI YTD return declined to 5.7 per cent.

The volume of trading level weakened as volume and value traded dipped 22.6 per cent and 54.6 per cent to 271.2 million shares and N2.3 billion respectively. The top traded stocks by volume were African Alliance Insurance Plc (90.0 million shares), Fidelity Bank (21.9 million shares) and Diamond Bank (20.5 million shares) while GTBank (N664.9 million), Zenith Bank (N282.8 million) and Nestle (267.0 million) were the top traded stocks by value. Sectorally, three of five indices tracked trended northwards. The NSE Oil & Gas Index advanced the most, appreciating 0.5 per cent. The NSE Industrial Goods Index appreciated by 0.3 per cent, while the NSE Consumer Goods gained 0.1 per cent. Conversely, the NSE Insurance Index topped losers chart, shedding 0.9 per cent, while the NSE Banking Index fell 0.2 per cent.

On the second day, the market maintained their dominance of the market the market as 34 stocks depreciated led by Eterna Plc with 8.5 per cent. Honeywell Flour Mills Plc and The Initiates Plc trailed with 5.0 per cent each. LASACO Assurance Plc went down by 4.8 per cent, while African Alliance Assurance plc shed 4.7 per cent. The persistent bear run pushed the NSE All-Share Index further down by 0.43 per cent to close at 40.249.29, while market capitalisation closed lower at N14.58 trillion. Investors traded 281.260 million shares worth N4.092 billion in 4,304 deals.

The market fell further on the third day of the week, reducing the YTD to 4.9 per cent.

The YTD return is the lowest in more than three months. The negative performance was mostly caused by profit taking in the shares of Ecobank Transnational Incorporated, Nigerian Breweries Plc and Dangote Sugar Refinery.

Analysts at Meristem Securities Limited said: “The market closed underwater for the third consecutive day this week. This is reflective of the bearish sentiment towards top counters in the market, especially in the consumer goods and banking space.”

In all, 28 stocks depreciated, while 15 others appreciated in prices. UAC of Nigeria Plc led the price losers with 8.5 per cent to close at N14.50. The conglomerate has suffered

N89.178 billion, down by eight per cent from N82.572 billion.

Operating profit fell by 19 per cent to N7.031 billion, from N8.639 billion. However, net finance cost soared by 218 per cent from N1.361 billion to N4.324 billion in 2017. As a

results, profit after tax fell by 83 per cent to N962 million in 2017 compared with N5.666 billion in 2016. Meanwhile, Chams Plc closed as the second highest price loser with 5.0 per cent, followed by C & I Leasing Plc and Unity Bank Plc with 4.9 per cent apiece. UAC

Top 10 Brokers by Volume Rank

Broker

Description

1

RSNL

RENCAP SECURITIES (NIG) LIMITED

204,591,852

Quantity

7.46

2

UNEX

UNEX CAPITAL LIMITED

167,993,936

6.12

3

MCSE

MORGAN CAPITAL SECURITIES LIMITED

160,671,577

5.86

4

SISB

STANBIC IBTC STOCKBROKERS LIMITED

156,151,355

5.69

5

CSL

CSL STOCKBROKERS LIMITED

122,350,881

4.46

6

MERI

MERISTEM STOCKBROKERS LIMITED

111,933,119

4.08

7

EFCP

EFCP LIMITED

101,206,147

3.69

8

CSSL

CARDINALSTONE SECURITIES LIMITED

96,294,416

3.51

9

UNON

UNION-CAPITAL MARKETS LIMITED

78,031,828

2.84

10

TYNL

TYNDALE SECURITIES LIMITED

68,764,017

2.51

1,267,989,128

46.22

Top 10 Total Volume

% of Volume

NOTE: The top 10 Stockbrokers are responsible for 46.22% of the total volume between 21/05/2018 and 25/05/2018

Top 10 Brokers by Value Rank

Broker

Description

Value

% Value

1

EFCP

EFCP LIMITED

5,627,541,845.05

17.55

2

FBNS

FBNQUEST SECURITIES LIMITED

5,284,283,440.64

16.48

3

SISB

STANBIC IBTC STOCKBROKERS LIMITED

3,775,792,730.55

11.77

4

RSNL

RENCAP SECURITIES (NIG) LIMITED

2,703,325,726.35

8.43

5

CSL

CSL STOCKBROKERS LIMITED

1,944,151,335.83

6.06

6

IONE

INVESTMENT ONE STOCKBROKERS INTL LTD-BRD

1,100,795,261.29

3.43

7

CHDS

CHAPEL HILL DENHAM SECURITIES LTD - BRD

935,148,028.74

2.92

8

CSSL

CARDINALSTONE SECURITIES LIMITED

712,148,755.88

2.22

9

MCSE

MORGAN CAPITAL SECURITIES LIMITED

481,300,885.51

1.50

10

TAGE

FORTRESS CAPITAL LIMITED -BRD

386,417,894.92

1.21

22,950,905,904.76

71.57

Top 10 Total Value

significant sell-off following the company’s poor results for 2017 financial year.

The high finance cost recorded by the

company depressed its profit after tax by 83 per cent for the year ended December 2017.

Specifically, UACN posted a revenue of

Property Development Company Plc shed 4.8 per cent. On the positive side, Ikeja Hotels Plc maintained the number spot, gaining 9.8 per cent to close at N2.24. The stock had similarly led the price gainers as investors continued to react positively to the lifting of the suspension placed on the stock in November 2016.

MRS Oil Nigeria Plc chalked up 4.8 per cent, while First Aluminium Nigeria Plc garnered 4.5 per cent. Niger Insurance Plc and John Holt Plc appreciated by 4.3 per cent and 3.8 per cent in that order. Trading activity level was mixed as volume traded fell 4.8 per cent to 266.7 million shares while value traded rose 14.3 per cent to N4.7 billion.

The market depreciated by 1.06 per cent to close below the 40,000 benchmark on Thursday with the NSE Index fell to 39,723.85, while market capitalisation closed lower at N14.39 trillion.

Decline in the share prices of Diamond Bank, Fidelity Bank, Dangote Sugar, Nigerian Breweries and FBN Holdings were mainly responsible for the negative close on Thursday.

Similarly, the market went further down on Friday by 1.01 per cent to close the week lower.

The depreciation recorded in the share prices of Diamond Bank, Fidelity Bank, Transcorp, UBA and FBN Holdings depressed the market.

Market Turnover An analysis of the trading activity in the review week showed a turnover of 1.372 billion shares worth N16.022 billion in 21,099 deals, down from 1.457 billion shares valued at N23.666 billion that exchanged hands in 19,674 deals the previous week.

But the Financial Services Industry remained the most traded, recording 1.010 billion shares valued at N8.670 billion traded in 12,049 deals, thus contributing 73.6 per cent and 54.11 per cent to the total equity turnover volume and value respectively. The Services Industry followed with 107.246 million shares worth N229.715 million in 712 deals. The third place was occupied by Consumer Goods Industry with a turnover of 71.946 million shares worth N5.506 billion in 3,818 deals.

Trading in the top three equities namely –Zenith Bank Plc, African Alliance Insurance Company Plc and Ikeja Hotel Plc accounted for 276.876 million shares worth N2.939 billion in 2,112 deals. Also traded during the week were a total of 70 units of Exchange Traded Products (ETPs) valued at N1,943.00 executed in seven deals, compared with a total of 153,246 units valued at N4.009 million that was transacted the previous week in 22 deals.

Similarly, a total of 10,754 units of Federal Government valued at N11.412 million were traded in five deals, compared with a total of 7,508 units valued at N7.506 million transacted two weeks ago week in 12 deals.

Price Gainers and Losers Meanwhile, a total of 61 stocks depreciated last week higher than 54 equities of the previous week, while only 14 stocks appreciated, compared with 20 stocks of the previous week.

Eterna Plc led the price losers with 22.2 per cent, trailed by Japaul Oil & Gas Plc with 20 per cent. Dangote Flour Mills Plc shed 16.8 per cent, just as Transnational Corporation of Nigeria Plc went down by 16.3 per cent.

AIICO Insurance Plc and Equity Assurance Plc declined by 16.1 per cent and 16 per cent in that order. Other top price losers included: Flour Mills of Nigeria Plc (15.5 per cent); FCMB Group Plc(15.3 per cent); Dangote Sugar Refinery Plc and FBN Holdings Plc (12.2 per cent each).

On the positive side, the Ikeja Hotel Plc led the price 44.9 per cent, trailed by MRS Oil Nigeria Plc with a growth of 21.2 per cent.

Law Union and Rock Insurance Plc garnered 20.9 per cent, just as Niger Insurance Plc and Consolidated Hallmark Insurance Plc chalked up 11.1 per cent.

Other top price gainers were: Okomu Oil Palm Plc (8.4 per cent); John Holt Plc (7.6 per cent); Royal Exchange Plc (6.2 per cent); Mutual Benefits Assurance Plc (6.0 per cent); and Forte Oil Plc (5.0 per cent).

27

T H I S D AY • MONDAY, MAY 28, 2018

BUSINESSWORLD

MARKET INDICATOR

The Monetary Policy Conundrum Obinna Chima Perhaps, the major headache facing the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor, Mr. Godwin Emefiele and other members of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) today, is to loosen monetary policy or not at this time.

The situation became more nerve-wracking with the slowdown in the first quarter Gross Domestic Product (GDP) that was announced by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), last week.

The MPC last week, rose from its second meeting for the year, expressing apprehension that the late passage and implementation of the 2018 budget, as well as election spending, could trigger inflationary trends and reverse the economic gains made so far, if pre-emptive measures were not adopted.

Therefore, the committee, which for the 11th consecutive time, retained the Monetary Policy Rate (MPR) at 14 per cent, Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR) at 22.5 per cent, Liquidity Ratio (LR) at 30 per cent, and the asymmetric corridor at +200-500 basis points around the MPR, explained that it retained them in consideration of the forecast of high liquidity injection in the second half of 2018, upward pressure of prices driven largely by substantial expansion of fiscal policy, which would arise from the late passage of the 2018 budget, outstanding balance from the 2017 budget and pre-election spending, to retain the interest rate.

Emefiele said eight of the nine members of the committee who were part of the meeting voted for the retention of the rate while one rooted for further tightening.

The MPC decision was made a day after the NBS report showed that despite the favourable oil price environment in the first quarter of 2018, the decline in non-oil sector output during the period weighed heavily on the Nigerian economy, resulting in a GDP growth rate of 1.95 per cent, down by -0.16 per cent from 2.11 per cent recorded in the fourth quarter of 2017.

But the NBS had explained that the 1.95 per cent GDP growth was still better than the -0.91 per cent GDP growth rate recorded in the corresponding period in 2017. Aggregate GDP in Q1 2018, however, stood at about N28.5 trillion in nominal terms, higher than the N26.03 trillion recorded in Q1 2017. The rate of growth was, however, lower relative to the growth recorded in the first quarter of2017 by -7.70 percentage points at 17.06 per cent but higher than the preceding quarter by 2.14 percentage points at 7.22 per cent.

This therefore prompted the call for a reduction in the benchmark interest rate, to support growth in the economy.

But Emefiele explained that the MPC decided not to lower the MPR for now as a pre-emptive measure to guard against possible inflationary pressures that the late implementation of the 2018 budget and election expenses might exert on the economy.

“It is very true that we said until inflation drops to single digit before we take a decision on reducing the interest rate, but you will also observe, in the course of this presentation, we explained the expansion of fiscal activities that we foresee, beginning from around May or June this year.

“At this time, the fact that we are still on the 2017 budget; the 2018 budget will eventually kick in around June or July, there will be an acceleration in the rate of spending and we also expect a lot of election spending.

“These indications, expectedly, are meant to expand the economy and spur growth which I will say is commendable, but we also know that those expansionary fiscal measures will gradually lead to an inflationary increase and if that happens, it will reverse the gains we have recorded over time.

“The committee considered the forecast of high liquidity injection in the second half of 2018, upward pressure of prices driven largely by the substantial expansion of fiscal policy which will arise from the late passage of the 2018 budget, outstanding balance from the 2017 budget and the pre-election expenditure,” he explained.

Emefiele stated that the MPC felt that further tightening would ensure the mop up of excess liquidity, mindful that despite the

moderation in inflation, the current inflation rate was still above the single digit target and that the real interest rate only turned positive in the review period.

“The objective of the policy stance, therefore, would be to accelerate the reduction in the rate of inflation to single digit, to promote economic stability, boost investor confidence and promote foreign capital flows with complimentary impact on exchange rate stability.

“Conversely, the committee believes that raising the interest rate would, however, depress consumption and increase the cost of borrowing to the real sector. Moreover, such policy will make deposit money banks to reprise their assets,” he said.

Nevertheless, the Chief Economist for Africa

The objective of the policy stance, therefore, would be to accelerate the reduction in the rate of inflation to single digit, to promote economic stability, boost investor confidence and promote foreign capital flows with complimentary impact on exchange rate stability. “Conversely, the committee believes that raising the interest rate would, however, depress consumption and increase the cost of borrowing to the real sector

at Standard Chartered Bank Razia Khan pointed out that while ordinarily there ought to be some concern about the inflationary impact of pre-election spending, current conditions in the economy make it difficult to overplay the threat of much higher inflation.

She explained: “Inflation is on a down trend, courtesy of recent forex stability. It will likely decelerate further. The economy is weak. Outside of lending to the government, money supply is contracting.

“In our view, it would have made more sense for the CBN to front-load its easing, reversing course later if it became clear that pre-election spending – in its multiple forms – was likely to be a problem.

“However, the CBN is especially concerned about investor profit taking and the likelihood of capital outflows at this point in time.

We interpret the decision to keep all rates unchanged as suggesting that forex stability – even with oil back at $80 per barrel – remains paramount, and the CBN will not do anything to risk this. Not even easing, when the opportunity presents itself.

“The CBN also seemed to indicate that it remained uncertain of the monetary transmission mechanism even if it did cut the policy rate.

“While the MPC continues to hint that easing remains on the cards when conditions eventually permit it, there is far less clarity on when everything might eventually fall into place.”

On his part, the chief executive of Financial Derivatives Company Limited, Mr. Bismarck Rewane, said the weak GDP numbers coincided with the drop in the Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) for April that was reported by FBN Quest, as well as the decline in consumer confidence in the first quarter.

According to Rewane, it pointed to the fact that the economy was being strangulated by high interest rates.

“The reality is that if they don’t bring down those interest rates and increase credit to the private sector, they are just going to strangulate this economy. The economy will remain sub-optimal.

“Look at the sectors that contracted, which is more interesting. The only sector that employs people that expanded was manufacturing.

But trade, construction, transport, all of

them contracted. So, those sectors are still in recession, and agriculture also slowed down,” he said.

To analysts at Renaissance Capital, there would be no change in monetary policy rate and other monetary policy tools until around the July and September meetings.

“We see the policy rate being cut by one percentage point at the July and September meetings, respectively, bringing it down to 12 per cent at the end of 2018.

“This is not likely to have a meaningful policy easing effect, as open market operations will keep yields elevated,” it added.

The financial advisory firm revealed that at a conference it held recently where its officials interacted with some bankers in Lagos, “the banks said lending rates were unlikely to fall on the back of rate cuts, as treasury bill yields are of greater influence”.

The chief executive of Cowry Asset Management Limited, Mr. Johnson Chukwu, said the slowdown in GDP should be of great concern to the policymakers.

“This slowdown at a time when there were no major bottlenecks in the economy should worry everyone. Bottlenecks in the sense that there was enough forex liquidity, the crude oil price was above $60 per barrel.

“So, maybe the issue has to do with the cost of funds and availability of credit because if this slowdown continues, we may slip back into a recession. So, if anything happens to oil production today, we may be in a difficult position,” he added.

But the Senior Economist at Exotix Capital Christopher Dielmann said the MPC decision was largely based on the high level of inflation that continues to plague the country as well as rising US treasury rates painting the macro backdrop to this decision.

“As growth continues to lag and inflation falls towards single digit, we expect a policy rate cut as early as the MPC’s next meeting in July,” Dielmann said.

Clearly, while most Nigerians would love to see a reduction in interest rate, the MPC members have found themselves in a delicate situation as they seek to find a balance between the likelihood of inflationary pressure few months into an election year and the need to ensure that the foreign portfolio flows does not cease.

28

T H I S D AY ˾ ͰͶ˜ ͰͮͯͶ

T H I S D AY ˾ MONDAY MAY 28, 2018

29

30

T H I S D AY • MONDAY, MAY 28, 2018

BUSINESSWORLD

PERSPECTIVE

Prospects for Africa’s Oil and Gas Sector Bank Anthony Okoroafor highlights the exciting prospects for the oil and gas sector in Africa as well as the challenges and opportunities for regional collaboration investments in certain countries. Low refining capacity and the consequences of importing refined crude at additional costs.

Africa has huge resource base, 128 billion barrels or 7.5% of world proven oil reserve, 503.3 Tcf (86.8 billion BoE) or 7.6% of world’s proven gas reserves and 26 billion barrels (Libya 5th globally) of shale oil. Algeria (3rd globally) holds 707 Tcf or 121.9 billion BoE shale gas potential. It is estimated that Africa oil & gas will increase by 74% by 2050. We need to collaborate, learn, and establish common economic interest. If common economic interest is not created, we are wasting our time. Electricity to Africa should be the starting point of development. Without access to electricity correlates with poverty.

How Can We Build African Content?

The type of regional collaboration needed is that that will create wealth and value in our region.

The oil & Gas industry needs to become an enabler for Africa economic growth and not just a revenue earner. An economy is powered by adequate electricity & petroleum products. We need to build enough entrepreneurial capacity in Africa. Africa needs about a 100 Dangotes and Tony Elumelus. Our priority should be to eliminate poverty while preserving our environment. Africa is under explored with a huge hydrocarbon potential and a readily available market.

The continent has the opportunity to use its oil and gas reserves to boost its economic and social development. The future prospects look brighter than before. Investors have changed their perception of Africa as a risky jurisdiction to a jurisdiction of enormous opportunities. With the enablers in place, the oil & gas industry will finally become a source for Africa economic growth and not just a revenue earner. Regional collaboration requires government and industry working together because of the complex issues involved.

Hard Facts • Oil & Gas in Africa has not alleviated poverty • Common economic interest not seen • key economic opportunities that will drive collaboration not identified yet • 620 million people in SSA living without access to electricity • Lack of infrastructure and connectivity to connect the population • Logistics is not easy • Key government agencies are not connecting • Practitioners in the industry are not connecting • Common Fiscal Policy & Regulation – custom duties & Tax not in place • Interstate Commerce not in the picture yet • We do not know much about oil industry in other countries • Ecowas and AU not challenged to be a platform for regional collaboration • Most cars will run on electric by 2030 • Legislature in Europe for cars to run on electric • Technology not domiciled in Africa. As long as we continue to purchase technology from

PETAN Chairman, Bank Anthony Okoroafor

outside, it is still going to be difficult.

• No academic collaboration within Africa around critical research topics.

• In the 45 years of regional collaboration in W/Africa, neither gas nor power flows through West Africa.

• LNG exports from Nigeria, Algeria, Egypt and Equatorial Guinea were 1.61 Tcf, 13.1% of global in 2016 • Refining capacity as % of global 2.6% or 2.1 million bbl/day • LNG operating capacity in 2016 51% Rest of world 82% • Gas pipeline exports were 45.6bcm and consumption 13.3 Bcf per day • Africa accounts for 25% of Europe’s total imports, 20% of china’s total imports and 20% of US total imports (oil & Gas).

How Much Market We Can Create by Connecting Africa • If we just use gas, we have to provide electricity to 620 million people in Africa, and process our crude to supply fuel in Africa,

things will definitely change. If we articulate clearly what the opportunities represent in the creation of wealth in Africa.

• Enough consumption of resources in Africa will drive the economy • This will result in promoting value/wealth in the region Challenges Inhibiting Growth • Fragmented regulatory and business contexts in the 54 countries in Africa create a hurdle for regional development. Member countries need a deepened regional economic integration by collaborating on market integration, infrastructure and industrial development.

• Uncertainty in Regulatory and fiscal frameworks. PIB in Nigeria is lagging in the national assembly since 2008.

• Upstream regulation in South Africa remains uncertain. Tanzania passed two laws in July 2017 allowing the government to forcibly renegotiate contracts, among others.

• Bunkering and infrastructural deficit - Pipeline oil theft and militancy have stalled oil and gas

Way Forward • Strong Regulations: Harmonising Regional Regulations and fiscal Policies. Regulations should have regional content in mind so as to encourage collaboration. African governments must address the regulatory and fiscal conditions in order to attract investment and reignite the development.

• Economic, governance and security reforms are paramount for the continent • Deeper regional Integration - Regional Integration broadens markets and will attract investments in Africa’s petroleum sector which will improve quality of life for Africans and also bring returns to the investors • Infrastructure Investment - Strategic investment in refineries Increase in Domestic Petroleum Utilisation • Securitising finance for investments in regional infrastructure • Security - Efficient security measures to prevent bunkering and oil theft implemented. Build alternative export lines and develop stronger community relationships • Collaborate on Data gathering • Trans-border labour mobility for skills and technology transfer • Development of regional oil and gas infrastructure for processing, transportation and storage of upstream, midstream and downstream to support competitiveness in the global market and benefit from economies of scale.

• Galvanise formal partnerships • Create social entrepreneurship framework as a catalyst for increased collaboration in Africa • Challenge Ecowas and AU to be a platform for regional economic corporation • Institutional Engagement – Expand collaboration effort of government and private sector.

• Use our population as a strategic advantage • Change from revenue/rent economies to economic enablers economy • Create Key economic opportunities that will drive collaboration.

• Knowledge becomes more reasonable when we interact more, move conferences around countries in Africa • Create entrepreneurial drive in Africa • Establish a minimum ethical standard that the industry can adapt • Effective integration of regional governments and extractive companies could transform Africa’s economies and the lives of its citizens.

• 540 million people in resource driven countries could be lifted out of poverty by effective development and use of reserves: more than what china did in the past 20 years.

- Okoroafor is Chairman, Petroleum Technology Association of Nigeria (PETAN)

Popoola: Renaissance Investor Conference will Boost Investment in W’Africa Nosa Alekhuogie The chief Executive Officer Nigeria, Renaissance Capital, Temi Popoola has said that the firm’s 9th Annual Pan-Africa 1:1 investor Conference held in Lagos recently provided an opportunity to broaden and expand the narrative around investing in West Africa.

Renaissance Capital, a leading emerging and frontier markets investment bank held the Pan-Africa 1:1 investor Conference, following a bespoke investor trip to Ghana and the successful completion of its investor conferences in Russia and South Africa in April.

Now in its ninth year, the

conference has continued to provide the opportunity to hear first-hand from prominent government officials, opinion leaders and economists in the region, alongside Renaissance Capital analysts, who collectively shared African insights and presented high-opportunity corporate stories.

The conference, according to the organisers, also served as a platform for closed-door 1:1 meetings between top global and local investors from across the globe and over thirty corporate representatives to discuss investment opportunities in Nigeria and other fast-growing economies on the continent.

Popoola said: “This conference provides an opportunity to broaden and expand the narrative around investing in West Africa – a long term, broad objective of fulfilling our mission to providing client solutions and ensuring we remain an innovative and ever-evolving partner to them. We hope to bring more visibility to the region and help facilitate increased capital inflows. We continue to believe Africa will be a $29 trillion economy in 2050, larger than the 2012 combined GDP of the US and the eurozone.”

In her investor address, the Director-General, Nigeria Debt Management Office, Mrs. Patience Oniha, said: “The

combination of fiscal and monetary policy strategies adopted by the federal government has delivered results on several key parameters – GDP, inflation, external reserves, FX stability, etc. This trajectory is expected to continue. The reinforcement of the ongoing strategy through other policy measures, of which the focus is on generating non-oil revenues, is one of the factors that will boost economic indicators.”

The conference played host to a panel session covering the future of West African Exchanges, with participation from Dr. Edoh Kossi Amenounve, CEO, Cote D’Ivoire Stock Exchange, Ekow Afedzie,

Deputy Managing Director, Ghana Stock Exchange, and Tinuade Awe, Executive Director, Nigerian Stock Exchange.

“The main challenges for investors are on the front of liquidity: how can Ghana and Nigeria increase liquidity in the near future? Nigeria is looking better on most metrics, having accelerated growth, a stable currency and rising FX reserves, but needs to improve on bank lending which remains weak”, said Renaissance Capital Global Chief Economist, Charles Robertson.

He added: “The cyclical story is again improving for much of Africa as commodities pick up. The credit rating

downgrade cycle is basically finished. We think Nigeria will have one of the strongest growth accelerations in Africa in 2018, while the currency is well supported for 2018.”

Renaissance Capital most recently acted as the Lead Issuing House on Nigeria’s first ever corporate infrastructure bond and first 10-year bond issued by a non-financial corporate entity (Viathan Funding Plc) – a deal that has been nominated by the 2018 African Banker Awards for Deal of the Year (debt category) – and as Joint Lead Manager for the largest combined new issue and liability management offering ever by a Nigerian issuer (Fidelity Bank).

T H I S D AY ˾ MONDAY MAY 28, 2018

31

32

T H I S D AY ˾ ͰͶ˜ ͰͮͯͶ

T H I S D AY ˾ MONDAY MAY 28, 2018

33

34

T H I S D AY • MONDAY, MAY28, 2018

BUSINESS/MONEYGUIDE

Survey Shows CEOs Optimistic about Growth amid Headwinds Obinna Chima Despite being relatively bullish on the economy as well as the overall outlook for their respective countries, optimism from global chief executive officers (CEOs) was tempered by a healthy dose of realism, as a survey showed 55 per cent of them predicted cautious topline revenue growth for their businesses.

On the other hand, half of the CEOs (52 percent) said they would need to hit growth targets before hiring new skills.

According to the latest KPMG Global CEO Outlook, the chief executives were driving growth against a backdrop of significant demographic shifts, geopolitical volatility and the seemingly inevitable future cyber-attack.

The report stated that the CEOs were stepping up to the cyber challenge, in particular, with 59 per cent saying they feel a personal responsibility for protecting customer data.

“CEOs are harnessing the headwinds of change to steer their organisations to growth,” the Chairman, KPMG International, Bill Thomas said.

“The CEOs I’m talking with recognise that geopolitical uncertainty, disruption and cyber threats are their new normal.

The best are looking for the opportunities this creates, changing

their systems, and in some cases their entire business. “It’s clear that driving growth in 2018 and beyond will require CEOs to combine resourcefulness and realism in equal measure,” the report added. Furthermore, the survey showed that CEOs play an essential role in pivoting their organisations to the consumers of tomorrow in order to seize every opportunity to grow, with four in 10 (38 per cent) responding that their business requires repositioning to meet the needs of Millennials. There’s also a growing sense of inevitability of a cyber breach with nearly half (49 per cent) of CEOs saying that becoming the victim of an attack is a case of ‘when’ and not ‘if’. Given the current geopolitical environment, it’s perhaps not surprising that a ‘return to territorialism’ was named the number one threat to growth this year, in the survey.

It also revealed that CEOs were optimistic about the macroeconomic environment as they were confident about global and industry growth prospects (67 and 78 percent, respectively). They were also confident in their individual country growth (74 per cent are confident, although this is down 3 percentage points from 2017).

However, only 37 per cent plan to increase headcount by

more than six percent over the next years and 55 per cent predicted cautious revenue growth of less than two per cent over the next threeyears.

CEOs are embracing the digital agenda like never before and taking personal ownership of data and trust as the survey showed that 71 per cent of them were personally ready to lead a radical organisation transformation. Also, 59 per cent saw protecting customer data as a critical personal responsibility, while contrary to popular opinion, 62 percent expect Artificial Intelligence to create more jobs than it destroys.

With customer demands changing continually, and the technology landscape in a constant state of flux, agility and intuition are critical as 59 percent believed agility was the new currency of business; indicating if they’re too slow they will be bankrupt. In addition, more than half (51 percent) were less confident in the accuracy of predictive analytics compared to historic data, and have the highest trust for social media sources over all others.

“Data is hugely important, but ultimately CEOs have to make big calls and it’s clear that experience and intuition still have a role to play,” Thomas added.

Stanbic IBTC Bank Introduces Savings Product Nume Ekeghe Stanbic IBTC Bank has introduced a high yield current account product designed to help self-employed business owners to address the perceived challenge with current accounts.

The product is also available to professionals who want to enjoy zero transactional charges as well as maximise investments and returns.

Consideration for the success of SME operators and salary earners underlined introduction of the Stanbic IBTC Bank High Yield Current Account (HYCA) which has two variants, HYCA Platinum and HYCA Gold, both available for High Net worth Individuals and Individuals in the middle class.

As a hybrid accounts, the products offer the unique features of both savings and

current accounts which is an opportunity to enjoy zero monthly fees as well as interest earnings paid on credit balances.

According to the Head, Personal Banking, Stanbic IBTC Bank, Nkolika Okoli, the products were introduced to meet the needs of professionals on the go as well as successful business owners who usually shy away from personal current accounts for fear of bank charges.

“These products were introduced with the aim of helping customers achieve their savings and investment objectives as well as enjoy the transactional flexibilities that come with regular current accounts.

“Embedded in the products are robust banking services for people and businesses on the move and managed in a manner that allows them to focus on their core areas.

“The advisory services attached to the products also ensure best banking solutions round-the-clock,” Okoli said.

She added that the bank also understands the lifestyle of the target market and has included a Lifestyle offering which allows its HYCA Gold customers access over a thousand VIP lounges in airports across the globe using their MasterCard Gold debit cards.

“The cards are enabled on the Lounge Key programme with lounges in almost all International airports and we will continuously explore ways to develop financial solutions that are relevant to the financial and economic aspirations of Nigerians.

“The simple fact is that a business owner ought to draw a salary or allowance from the business and this should go to a personal account.

FCMB Rewards More Customers in Promo The first draws of the First City Monument Bank’s (FCMB) ongoing reward scheme, tagged, “FCMB Millionaire Promo Season 5 ”, took place across Nigeria recently with the emergence of additional four customers of the bank as millionaires.

In addition, 640 other customers won various exciting gifts, ranging from LED televisions, power generating sets, decoders, tablets, smart phones and other consolation prizes.

A statement from the bank explained that the winners emerged through electronic selection of qualified customers at a ceremony held at the four regions and 25 zones that make up the financial institution’s footprint.

In attendance were officials of the National Lottery Regulatory Commission, Consumer Protection Council, community leaders, thousands of customers of the financial institution and other dignitaries.

At the Lagos regional draw, which took place in, Lagos, Mourence Oluwatoyin Ibitola emerged winner of N1million, while Mr. Murphy Onminyi won N1million at the Abuja/ North regional draw held in Abuja.

In addition, Binabi Miller, won N1 million at the Southeast/South-south draw in Delta State, just as Mrs. Moriliat Ajerinola was rewarded with the same amount at the Southwest regional draw that took place in Oyo state.

One of the winners of N1million, Mrs. Moriliat Ajerinola, a teacher, commended FCMB. The ongoing promo which commenced in March and will run till October 2018, is part of the various initiatives of the financial institution to reward customers for their loyalty and patronage during the year.

Speaking on the latest draws, the Executive Director, Retail Banking of the Bank, Mr. Olu Akanmu, said: “We are delighted to produce another set of millionaires and winners of various gift items.

“We will continue to reward and enhance the experience of our customers through this promo and other offerings that will further empower and add value to them.”

MARKET INDICATORS MONEY AND CREDIT STATISTICS

(MILLION NAIRA) 2018

Month

MARCH

Broad Money (M2)

24,303,049.86

-- Narrow Money (M1)

10,912,604.10

---- Currency Outside Banks

1,668,378.21

---- Demand Deposits

9,244,225.90

-- Quasi Money

13,390,445.76

Net Foreign Assets (NFA)

15,619,134.18

Net Domestic Assets(NDA)

8,683,915.68

-- Net Domestic Credit (NDC)

26,267,136.53

---- Credit to Government (Net)

3,823,345.45

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

5,433,209.43

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

-1,609,863.98

---- Credit to Private Sector (CPS)

22,443,791.08

--Other Assets Net

-17,583,220.85

Reserve Money (Base Money)

6,746,646.49

--Currency in Circulation

1,668,378.21

--Banks Reserves

4,357,551.58 • Source - CBN

MANAGED FUNDS Month

MARCH

Inter-Bank Call Rate

15.16

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

14.00

Treasury Bill Rate

11.84

Savings Deposit Rate

4.07

1 Month Deposit Rate

8.82

3 Months Deposit Rate

9.72

6 Months Deposit Rate

10.93

12 Months Deposit Rate

10.21

Prime Lending rate

17.35

Maximum Lending Rate

31.55 • Monetary Policy Rate - 13%

OPEC DAILY BASKET PRICE AS AT, MON, MAY 24, 2018 The price of OPEC basket of fourteen crudes stood at $76.62 a barrel on Thursday, compared with $76.43 the previous day, according to OPEC Secretariat calculations.

The OPEC Reference Basket of Crudes (ORB) is made up of the following: Saharan Blend (Algeria), Girassol (Angola), Oriente (Ecuador), Zafiro (Equatorial Guinea), Rabi Light (Gabon), Iran Heavy (Islamic Republic of Iran), Basra Light (Iraq), Kuwait Export (Kuwait), Es Sider (Libya), Bonny Light (Nigeria), Qatar Marine (Qatar), Arab Light (Saudi Arabia), Murban (UAE) and Merey (Venezuela).

SOURCE: OPEC headquarters, Vienna

35

T H I S D AY • MONDAY, MAY28, 2018

MARKET NEWS

Fidelity Bank to Capitalise on Business Opportunities Goddy Egene and Nosa Alekhuogie

to shareholders.

Speaking at the 30th annual general meeting (AGM) of the bank in Lagos, Okonkwo said the bank would continue to focus on redesigning systems and processes to enhance service delivery.

He said the bank would deepen cost optimisation initiatives to reduce operating expenses and cost-to-service.

Managing Director/CEO of Fidelity Bank Plc, Mr. Mr. Nnamdi Okonkwo, last Friday said the bank was aware of the growing opportunities in the nation’s economy and would take advantage of them to deliver quality services to customer and good returns

“Clearly, our success in 2017 financial year has set a strong pedestal for sustained growth in revenue. We are optimistic about a favourable operating environment and we look forward to delivering decent set of numbers at the end of 2018 financial year, “Okonkwo said.

In his address to shareholders, Chairman of Fidelity Bank,

Mr. Ernest Ebi, said that the bank was strategically poised to successfully navigate the business environment in 2018.

Ebi expressed optimism that the expected improvements in the global landscape would trickle down to the domestic economy to consolidate the comforting business climate witnessed towards the end of 2017.

PRICES FOR SECURITIES TRADED AS OF

He said the bank recorded gross earnings of N179.9 billion for the year ended December 31,2017, up by 18.3 per cent from N152.02 billion in 2016. profit after tax soared by 94 per cent to N18.9 billion compared with N9.7 billion in the comparative period of 2016.

The profit before tax also grew by 83.6 per cent to N20.3 billion from N11.0 billion in the

preceding year, while profit after tax jumped by 94 per cent from N9.7 billion to N18.9 billion.

Based on the performance the board of directors recommended a dividend of N3.19 billion, which translated to 11 kobo per share. Shareholders at the AGM approved the dividend and commended the board and management for the improved performance.

A S AT 2 4 / 0 5 / 2 0 1 8

Price List (Equities) PRICES FOR PREMIUM BOARD SECURITIES FINANCIAL SERVICES S/N 1 2 3

BANKING ACCESS BANK PLC. UNITED BANK FOR AFRICA PLC ZENITH INTERNATIONAL BANK PLC

MARKET CAP(Nm) 309,529.30 381,323.55 847,705.33

PRICE

%CHANGE

4 OTHER FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS FINANCIAL SERVICES INDUSTRIAL GOODS S/N 5 6 BUILDING MATERIALS INDUSTRIAL GOODS OIL AND GAS S/N 7 EXPLORATION AND PRODUCTION OIL AND GAS PREMIUM BOARD TOTALS Price List (Equities) PRICES FOR MAIN BOARD SECURITIES AGRICULTURE S/N 8 9 10 CROP PRODUCTION S/N 11 FISHING/HUNTING/TRAPPING S/N 12 LIVESTOCK/ANIMAL SPECIALTIES AGRICULTURE CONGLOMERATES S/N 13 14 15 16 17 DIVERSIFIED INDUSTRIES CONGLOMERATES CONSTRUCTION/REAL ESTATE S/N 18 BUILDING CONSTRUCTION S/N 19 20 INFRASTRUCTURE/HEAVY CONSTRUCTION S/N 21

OTHER FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS FBN HOLDINGS PLC

BUILDING MATERIALS DANGOTE CEMENT PLC LAFARGE AFRICA PLC.

EXPLORATION AND PRODUCTION SEPLAT PETROLEUM DEVELOPMENT COMPANY LTD

MARKET CAP(Nm) 366,131.99

-1.38

122

8,423,376

-1.33

173

13,033,916

S/N 31

27.00

-3.40

S/N

23 24 REAL ESTATE INVESTMENT TRUSTS (REITS) CONSTRUCTION/REAL ESTATE CONSUMER GOODS S/N 25 AUTOMOBILES/AUTO PARTS S/N 26 27 28 29

433

20,366,501

728

41,823,793

32

PRICE

%CHANGE

TRADES

VOLUME

33

10.20

-4.67

301

9,979,613

34

301

9,979,613

35

1,029

51,803,406

36

MARKET CAP(Nm)

PRICE

%CHANGE

TRADES

VOLUME

4,157,883.81

244.00

-0.04

50

233,828

351,273.84

40.50

-

60 110 110

138,556 372,384 372,384

MARKET CAP(Nm) 432,330.22

30 BEVERAGES--BREWERS/DISTILLERS

10.70

PRICE 734.70

%CHANGE -

TRADES

VOLUME

7

2,584

7

2,584

7 1,146

2,584 52,178,374

37 38 FOOD PRODUCTS S/N 39 40 FOOD PRODUCTS--DIVERSIFIED S/N 41 42 HOUSEHOLD DURABLES S/N 43

CROP PRODUCTION FTN COCOA PROCESSORS PLC OKOMU OIL PALM PLC. PRESCO PLC

MARKET CAP(Nm)

PRICE

%CHANGE

TRADES

VOLUME

440.00

0.20

-

0

0

81,082.35

85.00

3.28

15

76,196

75,000.00

75.00

-

18 33

27,585 103,781

PRICE

%CHANGE

TRADES

VOLUME

4.26

-

0 0

0 0

FISHING/HUNTING/ TRAPPING ELLAH LAKES PLC.

MARKET CAP(Nm) 511.20

LIVESTOCK/ANIMAL SPECIALTIES LIVESTOCK FEEDS PLC.

MARKET CAP(Nm) 2,550.00

DIVERSIFIED INDUSTRIES A.G. LEVENTIS NIGERIA PLC. JOHN HOLT PLC. S C O A NIG. PLC. TRANSNATIONAL CORPORATION OF NIGERIA PLC U A C N PLC.

BUILDING CONSTRUCTION ARBICO PLC. INFRASTRUCTURE/ HEAVY CONSTRUCTION JULIUS BERGER NIG. PLC. ROADS NIG PLC.

PRICE

%CHANGE

TRADES

VOLUME

0.85

-4.71

13

574,510

13

574,510

46

678,291

MARKET CAP(Nm)

PRICE

%CHANGE

TRADES

VOLUME

1,561.90

0.59

-

1

100

214.03 2,111.93

0.55 3.25

1.85 -

2 1

100,801 100

56,907.19

1.40

-2.78

104

5,760,602

41,778.80

14.50

-

20 128 128

12,421 5,874,024 5,874,024

MARKET CAP(Nm) 711.32

56 57 58 59 60

0 0

61

TRADES

VOLUME

-

40 0

190,604 0

40

190,604

MARKET CAP(Nm)

PRICE

%CHANGE

TRADES

VOLUME

5,560.57

2.14

-

29

925,844

REAL ESTATE INVESTMENT TRUSTS (REITS) SKYE SHELTER FUND PLC UNION HOMES REAL ESTATE INVESTMENT TRUST (REIT) UPDC REAL ESTATE INVESTMENT TRUST

MARKET CAP(Nm) 2,000.00

PRICE 100.00

11,300.89

45.20

MARKET CAP(Nm) 15,580.70

55

VOLUME

REAL ESTATE DEVELOPMENT UACN PROPERTY DEVELOPMENT CO. LIMITED

BEVERAGES--BREWERS/DISTILLERS CHAMPION BREW. PLC. GOLDEN GUINEA BREW. PLC. GUINNESS NIG PLC INTERNATIONAL BREWERIES PLC.

S/N

0 0

29.00 6.60

MARKET CAP(Nm) 1,479.53

48 49 50 51 52 53 54 BANKING

TRADES

38,280.00 165.00

AUTOMOBILES/AUTO PARTS DN TYRE & RUBBER PLC

46

10.00

62 63 64 65 66 67 68

29

925,844

%CHANGE

TRADES

VOLUME

69

-

0

0

70

-

0

0

71

0

72 73

-

0 0

0

69

1,116,448 74

PRICE

%CHANGE

TRADES

VOLUME

0.31

-

1 1

50 50

76

PRICE

%CHANGE

TRADES

VOLUME

77

1.99

-2.93

16

734,112

242.22

0.89

-

0

0

227,799.81

104.00

-

33

114,479

445,265.65

51.80

-

4

5,325

75

78 79 80

116.10

-4.99

80

232,615

133

1,086,531

MARKET CAP(Nm)

PRICE

%CHANGE

TRADES

VOLUME

47,750.00

9.55

-4.98

150

6,920,700

203,400.00

16.95

-4.78

89

1,965,668

127,111.77

31.00

-4.32

65

525,007

19,746.19

2.49

-0.40

36

2,805,588

1,489.00

0.40

-

0

0

6.85

-

0

0

53,651.13

20.25

-1.22

89

1,797,614

3,676.41

13.45

-

0 429

0 14,014,577

MARKET CAP(Nm)

PRICE

%CHANGE

TRADES

VOLUME

24,416.63

13.00

-

27

65,350

1,268,250.00

1,600.00

-

77

60,581

104

125,931

HOUSEHOLD DURABLES NIGERIAN ENAMELWARE PLC. VITAFOAM NIG PLC.

MARKET CAP(Nm)

PRICE

%CHANGE

TRADES

VOLUME

1,680.31

22.10

-

1

500

3,439.82

3.30

-

6 7

19,800 20,300

PERSONAL/HOUSEHOLD PRODUCTS P Z CUSSONS NIGERIA PLC. UNILEVER NIGERIA PLC.

MARKET CAP(Nm)

PRICE

%CHANGE

TRADES

VOLUME

86,754.92

21.85

-

41

133,671

290,122.77

50.50

-

36

584,873

77

718,544

751

15,965,933

FOOD PRODUCTS-DIVERSIFIED CADBURY NIGERIA PLC. NESTLE NIGERIA PLC.

BANKING

47

928,440.33

1,220.67

DIAMOND BANK PLC ECOBANK TRANSNATIONAL INCORPORATED FIDELITY BANK PLC GUARANTY TRUST BANK PLC. JAIZ BANK PLC SKYE BANK PLC STERLING BANK PLC. UNION BANK NIG.PLC. UNITY BANK PLC WEMA BANK PLC.

%CHANGE

FOOD PRODUCTS DANGOTE FLOUR MILLS PLC DANGOTE SUGAR REFINERY PLC FLOUR MILLS NIG. PLC. HONEYWELL FLOUR MILL PLC MULTI-TREX INTEGRATED FOODS PLC N NIG. FLOUR MILLS PLC. NASCON ALLIED INDUSTRIES PLC UNION DICON SALT PLC.

S/N

%CHANGE

PRICE

NIGERIAN BREW. PLC.

45

4.79

MARKET CAP(Nm)

26,682.70

44 PERSONAL/HOUSEHOLD PRODUCTS CONSUMER GOODS FINANCIAL SERVICES

PRICE

REAL ESTATE DEVELOPMENT 22

VOLUME

11.15

BANKING S/N

TRADES

INSURANCE CARRIERS, BROKERS AND SERVICES AFRICAN ALLIANCE INSURANCE COMPANY PLC AIICO INSURANCE PLC. AXAMANSARD INSURANCE PLC CONSOLIDATED HALLMARK INSURANCE PLC CONTINENTAL REINSURANCE PLC CORNERSTONE INSURANCE COMPANY PLC. EQUITY ASSURANCE PLC. GOLDLINK INSURANCE PLC GREAT NIGERIAN INSURANCE PLC GUINEA INSURANCE PLC. INTERNATIONAL ENERGY INSURANCE COMPANY PLC LASACO ASSURANCE PLC. LAW UNION AND ROCK INS. PLC. LINKAGE ASSURANCE PLC MUTUAL BENEFITS ASSURANCE PLC. N.E.M INSURANCE CO (NIG) PLC. NIGER INSURANCE CO. PLC. PRESTIGE ASSURANCE CO. PLC. REGENCY ALLIANCE INSURANCE COMPANY PLC SOVEREIGN TRUST INSURANCE PLC STANDARD ALLIANCE INSURANCE PLC. STANDARD TRUST ASSURANCE PLC UNIC DIVERSIFIED HOLDINGS PLC. UNIVERSAL INSURANCE COMPANY PLC VERITAS KAPITAL ASSURANCE PLC WAPIC INSURANCE PLC

MARKET CAP(Nm) 33,350.96

PRICE

%CHANGE

TRADES

VOLUME

1.44

-8.28

121

29,558,323

376,165.80

20.50

2.24

59

982,585

59,688.08

2.06

-5.50

169

26,810,168

1,259,654.47

42.80

-1.61

276

9,074,937

19,151.76 10,132.62 37,139.64 186,372.82 11,338.66 29,316.59

0.65 0.73 1.29 6.40 0.97 0.76

-4.41 -3.95 -4.44 -3.80

17 46 22 16 8 27 761

2,093,300 4,931,341 496,674 124,859 97,302 613,812 74,783,301

MARKET CAP(Nm)

PRICE

%CHANGE

TRADES

VOLUME

4,117.00

0.20

-

1

200

4,088.82

0.59

-4.84

31

1,624,000

26,250.00

2.50

-

8

73,172

2,170.00

0.31

3.33

3

100,200

14,833.02

1.43

-4.67

11

618,468

5,155.33

0.35

-

2

200

3,220.00

0.23

-

6

31,775

2,411.47

0.53

-

0

0

1,913.74

0.50

-

0

0

2,456.00

0.40

-

0

0

539.32

0.42

-

2

2,000

2,782.90

0.38

-2.56

19

3,882,000

4,038.55

0.94

4.44

20

3,145,166

6,640.00

0.83

-4.60

6

225,110

2,720.00

0.34

-2.86

14

1,214,000

13,729.31

2.60

-

19

184,782

1,934.87

0.25

4.17

5

5,031,126

1,832.36

0.48

-

0

0

1,800.56

0.27

-

3

3,100

2,085.21

0.25

-4.00

22

53,526,264

5,422.63

0.42

-

1

30,000

4,483.72

0.48

-

0

0

516.46

0.20

-

2

1,500

8,000.00

0.50

-

0

0

4,853.33

0.35

-

7

141,500

6,959.02

0.52

-3.85

51

1,331,403

36

T H I S D AY ˾ ͰͶ˜ ͰͮͯͶ

37

˾ MONDAY, MAY 28, 2018

MARKET NEWS

GSK Explains Payout of N8.4bn Special Dividend Goddy Egene GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Nigeria (GSK) Plc has said the recommendation of the payment of a special dividend of N8.4 billion was in line with its commitment to maximise shareholders’ returns.

GSK Nigeria had recommended a special dividend of N8.4 billion or N7.10 per share and an ordinary dividend payout of N478.4 million or 40

kobo per share, bringing the total divided to N8.878 billion or N7.50 per share.

Speaking at the 47th annual general meeting in Lagos, the Chairman of GSK Nigeria, Mr. Edmund Onuzo, said: “For us as a company, maximising shareholder’s return is high on our agenda. Given our current cash position and with money set aside for local manufacturing investment, returning cash back to investors via

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

dividends is in line with this thinking on returns.”

According to Onuzo, following the successful divestment of the drinks business of the company, it has been able to cashin on the returns from the divestment.

“We have tightened our portfolios, drove investment behind our power brands and we are now better focused and aligned with our global business. We are

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 24-May-2018, unless otherwise stated.

glad this has yielded the right dividend particularly for our esteemed shareholders,” he said.

Reviewing the performance of the company, the chairman said revenue increased from N14.3 billion in 2016 to N16 billion, while profit before tax increased from N185 million in 2016 to N1.1billion in 2017.

He explained that in 2017, GSK upgraded

its facilities across its production lines and drove various innovative projects to increase reach in order to deliver long-term growth in Nigeria. On the change in leadership at GSK, Onuzo said it was part of the leadership succession plan of the company.

He assured the shareholders that “GlaxoSmithKline is committed to Nigeria for the long term. We

have confidence in the continuing growth prospects of the business and we are focused on restructuring for the benefit of all our stakeholders.”

The shareholders approved the board’s recommendation and lauded the board for its performance. The shareholders urged the management not to relent in their effort in this regard.

Offer price: The price at which units of a trust or ETF are bought by investors.

Bid Price: The price at which Investors redeem (sell) units of a trust or ETF. Yield/Total Return: Denotes the total return an investor would have earned on his investment. Money Market Funds report Yield while others report Year- to-date Total Return.

NAV: Is value per share of the real estate assets held by a REIT on a specific date.

DAILY PRICE LIST FOR MUTUAL FUNDS, REITS and ETFS MUTUAL FUNDS / UNIT TRUSTS AFRINVEST ASSET MANAGEMENT LTD aaml@afrinvest.com Web: www.afrinvest.com; Tel: +234 1 270 1680 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Afrinvest Equity Fund N/A N/A N/A Nigeria International Debt Fund N/A N/A N/A ALTERNATIVE CAPITAL PARTNERS LTD info@acapng.com Web: www.acapng.com, Tel: +234 1 291 2406, +234 1 291 2868 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn ACAP Canary Growth Fund 0.84 0.85 1.80% ACAP Income Funds 0.66 0.66 9.06% 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 13.35% ARM INVESTMENT MANAGERS LTD enquiries@arminvestmentcenter.com Web: www.arm.com.ng; Tel: 0700 CALLARM (0700 225 5276) Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn ARM Aggressive Growth Fund 19.47 20.05 6.55% ARM Discovery Fund 411.49 423.90 5.77% ARM Ethical Fund 29.01 29.89 6.19% ARM Money Market Fund 1.00 1.00 13.47% 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 157.26 158.37 3.67% AXA Mansard Money Market Fund 1.00 1.00 13.06% 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 N/A N/A N/A Paramount Equity Fund N/A N/A N/A Women's Investment Fund N/A N/A N/A CORDROS ASSET MANAGEMENT LIMITED assetmgtteam@cordros.com Web: www.cordros.com, Tel: 019036947 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Cordros Money Market Fund N/A N/A N/A 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 13.13% Coronation Balanced Fund 1.14 1.17 8.96% Coronation Fixed Income Fund 1.12 1.15 7.99% 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 1,153.22 1,153.92 0.45% FBN Heritage Fund 149.53 150.83 7.26% FBN Money Market Fund 100.00 100.00 13.31% FBN Nigeria Eurobond (USD) Fund - Institutional $113.56 $113.95 0.51% FBN Nigeria Eurobond (USD) Fund - Retail $113.38 $113.77 0.45% FBN Nigeria Smart Beta Equity Fund 177.88 180.58 10.57% FIRST CITY ASSET MANAGEMENT LTD fcamhelpdesk@fcmb.com Web: www.fcamltd.com; Tel: +234 1 462 2596 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Legacy Equity Fund 1.40 1.42 6.99% Legacy Debt Fund 3.04 3.04 5.30% FSDH ASSET MANAGEMENT LTD coralfunds@fsdhgroup.com Web: www.fsdhaml.com; Tel: 01-270 4884-5; 01-280 9740-1 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Coral Growth Fund N/A N/A N/A Coral Income Fund N/A N/A N/A GREENWICH ASSET MANAGEMENT LIMITED assetmanagement@gtlgroup.com Web: www.gtlgroup.com ; Tel: +234 1 4619261-2 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Greenwich Plus Money Market Fund 100.00 100.00 13.87% Nigeria Entertainment Fund 102.42 103.33 2.41% 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 13.10% Vantage Balanced Fund 2.23 2.25 5.65% Vantage Guaranteed Income Fund 1.00 1.00 15.51% Kedari Investment Fund (KIF) 119.92 120.31 4.27%

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 1.19 1.21 3.69% Lotus Halal Fixed Income Fund 1,067.06 1,067.06 5.85% 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 1.34 1.36 12.39% PACAM Fixed Income Fund 11.76 11.82 6.54% PACAM Money Market Fund 10.00 10.00 13.53% 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 128.64 131.03 -0.07% 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 1.58 1.58 6.13% 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 2,406.86 2,427.01 7.31% Stanbic IBTC Bond Fund 184.52 184.52 4.57% Stanbic IBTC Ethical Fund 1.08 1.09 7.43% Stanbic IBTC Guaranteed Investment Fund 235.05 235.11 6.73% Stanbic IBTC Iman Fund 185.90 187.85 3.76% Stanbic IBTC Money Market Fund 100.00 100.00 12.69% Stanbic IBTC Nigerian Equity Fund 10,233.64 10,372.70 5.83% Stanbic IBTC Dollar Fund (USD) 1.09 1.09 3.07% UNITED CAPITAL ASSET MANAGEMENT LTD unitedcapitalplcgroup.com Web: www.unitedcapitalplcgroup.com; Tel: +234 803 306 2887 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn United Capital Balanced Fund 1.34 1.35 0.38% United Capital Bond Fund 1.65 1.65 5.33% United Capital Equity Fund 0.97 0.99 5.78% United Capital Money Market Fund 1.00 1.00 12.79% United Capital Eurobond Fund 105.94 105.94 2.95% United Capital Wealth for Women Fund 1.14 1.15 4.84% 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 13.33 13.53 6.87% Zenith Ethical Fund 13.86 14.02 5.48% Zenith Income Fund 20.18 20.18 6.65% Zenith Money Market Fund 1.00 1.00 12.91%

REITS NAV Per Share

Yield / T-Rtn

11.41 135.24 51.22

1.01% 2.10% 0.77%

Bid Price

Offer Price

Yield / T-Rtn

12.67 154.59 116.34

12.77 157.82 118.47

4.50% 8.21% 6.47%

Fund Name FSDH UPDC Real Estate Investment Fund SFS Skye Shelter Fund Union Homes REIT

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

4.99 9.46 18.39 20.49 145.07

5.03 9.54 18.49 20.69 147.07

5.15% -1.16% 4.94% 4.17% 6.02%

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.

38

T H I S D AY ˾ ͰͶ˜ ͰͮͯͶ

T H I S D AY ˾ MONDAY MAY 28, 2018

39

40

T H I S D AY ˾ ͰͶ˜ ͰͮͯͶ

T H I S D AY ˾ MONDAY MAY 28, 2018

41

42

T H I S D AY ˾ ͰͶ˜ ͰͮͯͶ

T H I S D AY ˾ MONDAY MAY 28, 2018

43

44

T H I S D AY ˾ ͰͶ˜ ͰͮͯͶ

T H I S D AY ˾ MONDAY MAY 28, 2018

45

46

T H I S D AY ˾ ͰͶ˜ ͰͮͯͶ

T H I S D AY ˾ MONDAY MAY 28, 2018

47

48

T H I S D AY ˾ ͰͶ˜ ͰͮͯͶ

T H I S D AY ˾ MONDAY MAY 28, 2018

49

50

T H I S D AY ˾ ͰͶ˜ ͰͮͯͶ

T H I S D AY ˾ MONDAY MAY 28, 2018

51

52

T H I S D AY ˾ ͰͶ˜ ͰͮͯͶ

T H I S D AY ˾ MONDAY MAY 28, 2018

53

54

T H I S D AY ˾ ͰͶ˜ ͰͮͯͶ

T H I S D AY ˾ MONDAY MAY 28, 2018

55

56

T H I S D AY ˾ ͰͶ˜ ͰͮͯͶ

57

T H I S D AY Ëž Ëœ ÍşÎ€Ëœ ͺ͸͚͜

PAGE FIFTY-SEVEN

Anambra Community in Shock Over Murdered Twins Found in Freezer David-Chyddy Eleke in Awka Egbu Umuenem village, Otolo Nnewi community in Nnewi North local government area of Anambra State is still in shock after a set of twins, named Peter and Paul aged six years were found dead in an abandoned freezer in their apartment.

The deceased boys whose parents, Mr and Mrs Nwachukwu Onwe, an automobile mechanic and trader hail from an undisclosed village in Ebonyi State were said to have taken home the deceased bodies of the twins on Saturday afternoon after a search party had revealed their bodies hidden

in the freezer.

A visit to the community yesterday showed that indigenes of the community were still in shock over the incident.

A resident of the area, who gave his name as Boniface told THISDAY yesterday afternoon, during a visit to Egbu Umuenem, that the twins were moved by their parents to Ebonyi State where they hail from.

Boniface insisted that residents of the community have not come out of their shock since the Friday incident in which the twin brothers were killed mysteriously and stuffed in a refrigerator by unknown persons.

Peter and Paul had been murdered last Friday evening after they returned from school and were ordered by their mother to go home from her shop, a few metres away, change their uniform and return to the shop for lunch.

Sources said their inability to return on time prompted their mother to go home in search of them but failed to find them, thus raising the alarm that led to the constitution of a search party.

The search party lasted until nightfall when the couple, with some neighbours, decided to continue the search at daybreak, and later discovered the bodies

of their twins, the next morning, being Saturday in a discarded freezer in their apartment.

THISDAY gathered from members of the community that the death of the twin brothers who are said to be very lively boys is still a shock to them.

A leader of the community, Chief Afam Obi Ekosi, Obi Egbu Umuenem, Otolo, who had earlier reacted on Saturday said it was an abomination to witness such a thing in his domain. He noted that an incident like that had never happened in the community before.

He said that the community was thrown into agony by that

occurrence as he corroborated the sequence of how the incident occurred as narrated by other sources earlier. “We are dumbfounded.

We heard that the children were pupils of a nursery and primary school around us here.

I was surprised how that small freezer contained the twins. It is suspected that they might have been strangled to death before squeezing them inside the small freezer.

"Whoever did that must pay dearly for it because this is to dent my community image.

We have never recorded this kind of crime in this community before. The kind of crime we

record is housebreaking and all that, not this kind. I’m not happy that this is happening in my community. We have invited the police. If it should be investigated, it is in the hands of the police. If it will not be investigated, it is in the hands of God. And God knows who did it. The perpetrator will not go unpunished,� the Obi said.

The Police Public Relations Officer, Anambra State Police Command, SP Haruna Muhammed who confirmed the incident, has however assured that the police would do its best to unravel the cause of death and also punish the perpetrators of the crime.

recorded by the administration knew the sincerity, transparency and accountability of this administration.

He said: "We cannot be a hostage to oil price or production levels. That means taking back control of our economy and making it productive and delivering value for all of our people. That's exactly what we are doing.

"By building an economy that is no longer reliant on income from one commodity, thanks to the ongoing diversification process, we will be creating a sustainable basis for long-term and inclusive growth for all.

"We are keenly aware that government must be accountable, and this government is very accountable. "We are providing security, we are providing an enabling environment for businesses and we are delivering strong and effective public services. We want to assure Nigerians that we will continue to deliver on our campaign promises."

On infrastructure, he cited ongoing construction works on roads, railway and at some airports as proof that the Buhari administration had demonstrated a single-minded commitment to upgrading and developing Nigeria’s transport, power and health infrastructure.

He said: "In May 2018, the federal government launched the Presidential Infrastructure Development Fund (PIDF), under the management of the Nigerian Sovereign Investment Authority.

The PIDF is kicking off with seed funding of US$1.3 billion.

Funding for critical projects will no longer be a problem."

On the fight against corruption, Mohammed said the whistleblowing policy introduced by the Federal Ministry of Finance in December 2016 had since yielded the following in recoveries: N13.8bn from tax evaders, N7.8bn, $378million, ÂŁ27,800 in recoveries from public officials targeted by whistleblowers.

In addition, he said N8.1 trillion was discovered to have been underpaid to the Federation Account between 2010 and 2015 by 15 revenue-generating agencies.

On security, the minister said security and normalcy had been restored to the North-east.

He said El-Kanemi Warriors Football Club had since returned to their home base in Maiduguri (in April 2016), two years after relocating to Katsina State because of the insurgency.

In North-central, the minister said a Joint Military Intervention Force (JMIF), comprising Regular and Special Forces personnel from the Army, Air Force and Navy, and working in collaboration with the Nigeria Police Force, Department of State Security (DSS), and Nigeria Security and Civil Defense Corps (NSCDC) had been deployed.

Apparently unimpressed by the ruling party's chest thumping, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has asked President Muhammadu Buhari and the All Progressives Congress (APC) not to use the occasion of the 2018 Democracy Day to remind Nigerians of its administration's unfulfilled promises.

The opposition party maintained that in the last three years, such addresses had contained deceits, falsifications and unfulfilled promises.

It also noted that Nigerians have become frustrated and despondent by the magnitude of lies and deception told by the Buhari Presidency and the APC and would prefer to spend the next 12 calendar months contending with such past deceptions than listening to fresh falsifications.

PDP further said that the Buhari Presidency and the APC had, since assuming power in 2015, violated all tenets of democracy, trampled on citizens' rights and should not be associated with democracy under any guise whatsoever.

"Indeed, this administration should not come close to the emblem of democracy, as such would be an unpardonable spat on the faces of millions of suppressed Nigerians and the graves of victims of extrajudicial executions under this administration, as catalogued by international bodies including, Transparency International (TI), Amnesty International (AI) and even the United States Department of State.

PDP said that instead of celebrating Democracy, Nigerians are today groaning in regret for electing an administration that has completely turned against them, engaging in clampdown with utmost impunity, setting aside our constitutional provisions and desecrating all democratically established institutions.

"We ask: How can Nigerians celebrate Democracy Day when the rights of citizens are daily trampled and they no longer

enjoy their freedom to politically associate and aspire, as was the order under the PDP rule?

"Where is the democracy when government tends towards military fiat: where citizens are wantonly arrested, locked up and dehumanized just for expressing political opinions considered to be at variance with views held by those in power?

"Where is the democracy when opposition members have become endangered species and considered enemies of the state without any just cause; Where dissenting voices are daily harassed, arrested, handcuffed and arraigned on trumped-up charges, just to emasculate opposition?

"Where is the democracy when our National Assembly, the very bastion of our democracy, is under siege; where federal lawmakers are daily blackmailed, hounded, harassed, intimidated, detained and dehumanized; where strange elements invade the hallowed chambers of the Senate, threatened our senators and forcefully cart away the mace, yet nobody has been prosecuted?

"Where is the democracy when court judges are arrested in the middle of the night by agents of state; top government officials engage in actions and speeches that promote division, hatred and bloodletting; when journalists and media houses are being harassed and intimidated and our nation, in the last three years, ranking among the most hostile to free press?

Nigerians now look back with nostalgia to the 16 years of the PDP, years when government operated with a conscience, where democracy was nurtured and the rights, freedom, happiness and prosperity of all citizens were guaranteed and upheld.

"Above all, the PDP salutes the courage and resilience of Nigerians in the face of despotism, drive towards anarchy and totalitarianism.

"We are collectively strengthened by the fact that this year’s Democracy Day signals the reinvigorating of that democratic march by the citizens to end APC's misrule and abuse of our rights.

"Nigerians must, therefore, use this year's occasion to reinforce their commitment to rescue our nation by restoring democratic rule on the platform of the repositioned PDP, come 2019," it said.

W E ’ V E K E P T O U R P R O M I S E S TO N I G E R I A N S , F G I N S I ST S The opposition party maintained that in the last three years, such addresses had contained deceits, falsifications and unfulfilled promises.

It also noted that Nigerians have become frustrated and despondent by the magnitude of lies and deception told by the Buhari Presidency and the APC and would prefer to spend the next 12 calendar months contending with such past deceptions than fresh falsifications Addressing journalists in Lagos yesterday, to mark the third year anniversary of the Buhari Administration, the minister said that the administration had kept its social contract with the Nigerian people by delivering on its campaign promises.

According to him, Buhari has put the nation on the path of sustainable growth and development, diversifying the economy like never before, tackling corruption at its very core and devising creative measures to secure lives and property.

He said: "After just three years, Nigeria is rising again like a phoenix from the ashes of years of massive looting of the national treasury, misgovernance and fallen oil prices. Under the able, focused and patriotic leadership of President Muhammadu Buhari, this administration has recorded many firsts in so short a time, achievements that are beginning to impact positively on the lives of Nigerians."

He stated that in just three years, the Buhari Administration administration had taken power generation to an all-time high of 7,000 MW, from 2,690 MW which it inherited.

Within the same period, he said the administration had taken distributable power to an all-time high of 5,000 MW. He also boasted that within three years, the administration had moved Nigeria closer to self-sufficiency in rice production, while the country, he claimed was just two years away from meeting its target production of 6 million metric tonnes of milled rice, to meet Nigeria's consumption requirement.

Mohammed said that in the process, the government had increased the number of rice farmers from 5 million to an all-time high of over 11 million and reduced rice import bill of $1.65 billion annually by 90 per cent.

He also said that the Buhari administration had slashed leakages in government spending that made corruption possible, through a diligent

implementation of the Treasury Single Account (TSA) and the Whistle-Blower Policy.

He further said that the government had been feeding 8.2 million pupils in 45,394 schools in 24 states and employing 87,261 cooks in the process.

He also cited, as an achievement, the payment of conditional cash transfer of N5,000 monthly to 297,973 poorest and most vulnerable households.

"In just three years, this administration has delivered 10 million, 50kg bags of fertilizer at a low price of N5,500 (for 2017 alone). The country now has annual savings of US$200 million in foreign exchange and 60 billion annually in budgetary provisions for Fertilizer subsidies," he added.

The minister said that the administration was determined to turn around the nation's infrastructure fortunes, including power, roads and rail by spending an unprecedented N2.7 trillion ($9 billion) on infrastructure.

Other achievements touted by the minister included: raising capital expenditure in the yearly national budget to an unprecedented 30 per cent on the average; retaking every inch of Nigeria's territory from insurgents; and, making an unprecedented investment in social programmes.

On the fight against insurgency, Mohammed said: "For those who are tempted to belittle our achievements, let me quickly say that on 29th of May 2015, when President Buhari was reeling out his agenda for the nation, Boko Haram was squarely in charge of a territory the size of Lebanon, occupying 24 local governments, collecting taxes, deposing and installing emirs and hoisting its flag; corruption levels in our society were at an all-time high and the economy was in the doldrums."

He said that the Buhari government had made steady progress in the three priority areas it set for the nation: economy, security and the fight against corruption.

On the economy, the minister argued that the nation's economy was back on the path of growth, after the recession of 2016-17.

To support his claim, Mohammed said the economy grew 1.95 percent in Q1 2018 and that consistent growth was achieved in the priority sectors of agriculture and solid minerals throughout the recession while inflation continued to fall for 15 consecutive months, from 18.7

percent to12.5 percent as of April 2018.

"External Reserves of $48 billion are the highest in 5 years, and more than double the $23 billion we met in 2015", he added.

Other statistics he rolled out are: total exports in 2017 were 59.47% higher than for 2016; in 2017, agriculture exports grew 180.7% above the value in 2016; in 2017, raw material exports grew 154.2% above the value in 2016; and, in 2017, solid minerals exports grew 154.2% above the value in 2016; in 2017, exports of manufactured goods grew 26.8% above the value in 2016.

According to him, the first quarter of 2018 saw the fourth consecutive quarterly increase in capital importation since Q2 2017 while the total value of capital imported in the quarter stood at $6,303.63 billion, a year on year increase of 594.03%, and a 17.11% growth over the figure reported in the previous quarter.

He also cited the new foreign exchange window introduced by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) in April 2017 which he said has been recording an average of $1 billion in weekly turnover and had attracted about $45 billion in inflows in its first year, signalling rising investor confidence in Nigeria.

Mohammed said that the stock market ended 2017 as one of the best-performing in the world, with returns of about 40 percent.

Additional five million taxpayers, he said were added to the tax base since 2016, thereby bringing the total number of taxpayers to 19 million with tax revenue increasing to N1.17trn in Q1 2018, a 51% increase on the Q1 2017 figure.

All these he said were a few of the achievements of the Buhari administration in the past three years.

He said: "Where many saw challenges, we saw opportunities. Where many saw impossibilities, we saw possibilities. We surmounted every opposition on our path to deliver on our promises to Nigerians. While naysayers pretended to be blind to our achievements, Nigerians who are being positively impacted by the good works of President Buhari applaud and appreciate our efforts, from the feedback we are getting."

He said that no government in the history of the country had ever done so much with so little.

Mohammed said the beneficiaries of the successes

58

MONDAY MAY 28, 2018 ˾ T H I S D AY

NEWS

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

FG Considers Options to Mitigate Impact of Late Passage of 2018 Budget Says part of $322m recovered Abacha loot to fund specific projects Admits it held wide consultation on new tariffs on beverages Ndubuisi Francis in Abuja The federal government admitted yesterday that the late passage of the 2018 budget would pose some hard challenges, but expressed its preparedness to roll out options to mitigate the possible negative impacts.

It also disclosed that besides social safety nets and pro-poor programmes, part of the $322.51 million Abacha loot returned by the Swiss Government would be earmarked for specific projects.

The Minister of Finance, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun, who made the disclosures in response to media inquiries, said it would amount to insincerity on her part to declare that the late passage of the 2018 Budget will not have some negative fiscal consequences.

The National Assembly had only on May 16, 2018 passed the 2018 Budget, six months after the Appropriation Bill was submitted to the National Assembly by President Muhammadu Buhari .

The minister said: “Of course, there will be some and it will be insincere of me to say that the delay in the budget passage has no impact. It does because the cost of money in the markets change and so there will be an impact. But we are going to try and mitigate that impact as much as possible and focus on completing projects.

“Many of the projects like the rail projects, power projects are multi-year projects, so we will continue working. We didn’t close

down our system. Normally, the system closes down on December 13 and the Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) can’t spend anymore. But we left the system open to enable MDAs continue with the execution of their projects.

“Yes, there will be an impact but it could have been better had we got the 2018 Budget running in January.I remain optimistic about the budget. We have to realign our priorities since five months are gone already.

“What has helped us is that the 2017 budget was passed late last year and what we have done was to carry on with those projects. We will close the 2017 Budget with capital expenditure in excess of N1.5 trillion which is higher than the previous year’s figure of N1.3 trillion.

“The provisional figure as at last week was N1.491 trillion and there are some postings still to come in. So, I am quite confident that we will close the 2017 Budget in excess of N1.5 trillion for capital expenditure. As you know, many of these projects are multi-year projects so hopefully there wouldn’t be too much disruption.

On the recovered Abacha loot, she said: “The US$322.51 million Abacha funds returned by the Swiss Government were earmarked for social safety nets. That is the conditional cash transfers that the poor get.

“As announced by the president, we are also going to earmark some of the recovered funds for

specific projects where the people can actually point and say these projects were funded with recovered funds.”

Giving further insight, the minister noted: “Up till the present moment, we are still uncovering government funds hidden in banks which no one knew about. Through the TSA (Treasury Single Account), the government has saved billions of naira in bank charges. We can see every account on TSA and where we see suspicious pattern, we ask the agency some questions to know what is going on. Let me talk about recovery of funds and what we have done.

“We have recovered money but a lot of what we recovered was properties. People used stolen money to buy assets and the challenge we had was when the figure of the recoveries was released, people assumed the recoveries were only cash. Most often, the recoveries were properties.

“Through the Efficiency Unit (E-Unit), many of the properties were allocated to government agencies which were renting

buildings they occupied. The cash recoveries were earmarked for specific projects,” the minister stated.

Reacting to last week’s motion in the Senate asking the federal government to halt the proposed adjustments in excise duties on alcoholic beverages to enable consultations with stakeholders, she said extensive consultations were held with stakeholders “before we came up with that proposal which the president approved.”

She listed such stakeholders as the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN), Nigerian Association of Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (NACCIMA) and members of the private sector.

“We had a lot of stakeholders’ engagement before we came up with that policy and it’s been widely accepted by the industry. What we eventually recommended was lower than when we started.

“It was when we engaged with stakeholders and we began to consider all the possible impacts because we don’t want to lose jobs

and that’s why we took a threeyear phased approach rather than overnight increase in the rate,” the minister said but could not say whether the June 4 commencement date is sacrosanct.

The minister also reacted to concerns by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and others on Nigerian’s burgeoning public debt, saying there was no cause for concern “I have said this before and I am saying it again, there is no cause for worry. Nigeria’s debt-to-GDP ratio is 20 per cent and it is one of the lowest in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Ghana is at 68 per cent, Ethiopia is at 50 per cent, and Nigeria is at 20 per cent. China’s-debt-to GDP is at 250 per cent.

“They had a particular strategy which is go and borrow, sort out the infrastructure and sort out how to pay. “There was room in the global economy for them to do that to become an industrial hub and to grow that way. We are not pursing that strategy.

“We are pursuing a very measured strategy. We are running a budget

deficit; the size of that deficit is coming down now. Nigeria is not among the countries IMF is worried about.

“We do have a challenge on debt-service-to revenue. That is because the interest cost is quite high and that is a function of two things. One is the fact that most of the debts were short-term so we are paying interests and compounding it.

“We have been refinancing treasury bills and issuing bonds.

We have been refinancing treasury bills in the domestic market and replacing them with longer term debt in the international market.

“And this is reducing our cost of borrowing. This time last year, Nigerian government was borrowing at an average cost of about 18 per cent but now it is 13 per cent.

“We are working very hard on the debt service cost and of course revenue. The other leg of the equation is revenue. Debt service as a percentage of revenue, you reduce your debt service and you increase your revenue,” she argued.

APC Clears Nasarawa LG Polls Emmanuel Ukumba in Lafia The All Progressives Congress (APC) has cleared all the 13 local government areas and 147 electoral wards of Nasarawa State in the just concluded council polls conducted by the state Independent Electoral Commission (NASIEC) at the weekend.

Chairman of NASIEC, Henry Omaku, announced results of the election to journalists yesterday at the headquarters of the state electoral body in Lafia, stating further that only two registered political parties, Social Democratic Party (SDP) and Alliance Democratic Party (ADP), participated in the state’s council polls.

However, the two major opposition political parties in the state, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), had earlier on announced their boycott of the council polls at the appointment of officials of the state’s electoral umpire by Governor Umaru Tanko Al-Makura on the ground that the appointees were card carrying members of the APC, hence, according to the opposition political parties, “the proposed election would not be free, fair and credible to them.”

When announcing the council polls result, the NASIEC chairman observed that the electoral materials meant for the election had arrived at the designated polling units late

due to logistics problem.

He equally lamented at the noncompliance by citizens of the state to the order restricting movement during the election period, even as he complained that the turn out of voters during the exercise was grossly low.

However, the chairman of the state’s electoral umpire was satisfied that there were no reports of violence during the election as the exercise went on and concluded peacefuly in all parts of the state.

Meanwhile, Governor Al-Makura has commended the people of Nasarawa State for their orderly conduct during the state’s council polls.

The governor gave the commendation when addressing journalists shortly after casting his vote at his Lugun Wambai polling unit of Gayam Ward in Lafia Local Government Area of the state at about 1:56p.m. last Saturday.

He also commended the security operatives, election observers and sister electorate authorities from various states who had come to observe what had gone on in the state.

He said: “I have no doubt in my mind of what I have seen in my ward. With the reports I have received across the state is anything to go by, the election will be remembered as one of the elections that added value to democracy not only in Nasarawa State, but Nigeria as a whole.”

CELEBRATING NORWEGIAN NATIONAL DAY

L-R: Managing Director, Statoil Nigeria, Mr. Heine Melkevik; Petroleum Geoscientist and Vice President, Nigerian Association of Petroleum Explorationists (NAPE), Mrs. Doris Akpovwa; and British High Commissioner to Nigeria, Mr. Paul Arkwright, during celebrations to mark the Norwegian National Day in Abuja .....recently

Ex-Lawmaker Replies Okonjo-Iweala, Says N’Assemby was Not Bribed to Approve Budget Ibrahim Shuaibu in Kano A former House of Representatives member, Yusuf Shitu Galambi, has described as false and unfounded, the statement by the former Minister of Finance, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, who alleged that members of the seventh National Assembly were given N17billion by the President Goodluck Jonathan-led government before they passed the 2015 budget.

According to Okonjo-Iweala in her book: ‘Fighting Corruption is Dangerous: The Story Behind the Headlines’, the N17 billion was besides the National Assembly’s N150billion annual ‘standard’ budget.

She said: “The legislature was concerned largely about three things—the size of its own budget; the nature and the size of the capital budget, particularly investment projects; and the number and geographical location of the projects.”

But reacting to the claims, Galambi, who served as member of Appropriation Committee in 2015, described the statement as false and unfounded.

In an interview with journalists in Kano yesterday, the former National Assembly member who represented Gwaram federal constituency in Jigawa State, stated that the statement of the former

minister was full of “outright lies, falsehoods and mischievous innuendo.”

According to him, “I was a member of the Appropriation committee in 2015 and to the best of my knowledge; I am unaware of any single kobo given to any member during the said period to facilitate passage of 2015 budget.”

He challenged the former minister to mention the names of persons she presented the bribe for the public to be aware.

“I am optimistic that she knows the persons she presented the said money to. I also implore the financial graft agencies to wade in by questioning her over the

allegation of corruption.

Galambi, a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), vowed to sue her to court for defamation of character.

According to him, the allegation had portrayed the former minister as someone that promotes corruption in the country.

The lawmaker explained that “Okonjo-Iweala betrayed the trust reposed on her by promoting corruption in the country as she widely alleged in her book.”

He also appealed to her to immediately tender an apology to Nigerians over her involvement in the promotion of corruption in the country while she was a minister.

MONDAY MAY 28, 2018 ˾ T H I S D AY

59

NEWSEXTRA

Obasanjo Administration Spent Only $3.5bn on New Power Projects, Says Ezekwesili Ejiofor Alike As allegations and counter allegations continue to mount over the actual cost utilised by the former President Olusegun Obasanjo administration to execute power projects in the country, former Minister of Education, Dr. Obiageli Ezekwesili, has weighed in with a clarification that only about $3.5 billion was injected into the construction of new power generating stations under the National Integrated Power Projects (NIPPs) as at the time the tenure of the administration of Obasanjo ended in 2007.

President Muhammadu Buhari recently launched a ferocious attack on Obasanjo, accusing him of “bragging” that he spent $16 billion on the power sector without anything to show for it.

Buhari launched the attack when he received members of the Buhari Support Organisation (BSO) at the State House, Abuja.

Obasanjo has been at the vanguard of those vehemently opposed to Buhari’s bid to seek a second term in 2019 and has been working behind the scenes with other ex-military generals to support a candidate who can defeat the president.

Buhari, however, has restrained himself and his aides from responding to the various accusations of non-performance and clannishness levelled against him

by Obasanjo.

But Buhari threw caution to the wind and took on his former boss by saying that the debt incurred from the $16 billion spent by Obasanjo on power projects without any output was now being paid by his administration, adding that in Nigeria’s history, his government had made the highest capital allocations in the 2017 and 2018 budgets.

Speaking in Lagos at a roundtable with the theme: ‘Savings and Stabilisation Mechanism for Nigeria,’ organised at the weekend by the Shehu Musa Yar’Adua Foundation’s Oil Revenue Tracking Initiative (ORTI), Ezekwesili argued that all the additional electricity being generated in the country today comes from some of the 10 brand new power stations built under the NIPP. In her detailed presentation on ‘Policy Options on Safeguarding and Smoothening Fiscal Adjustments in Nigeria,’ the former education minister and ‘Madam Due Process’ said the NIPPs were part of the success story of the Excess Crude Account (ECA) created by the Obasanjo’s administration.

Ezekwesili stated that after the ECA was created, President Obasanjo chaired the committee that approved special intervention for the power sector.

According to her, the special intervention for the power sector identified “some key artery points across the country, where there would be a deliberate development

of the capacity to generate power.

“So, you have things like Papalanto (the 676MW-capacity Olosunsogo II Power Plant built in Olorunsogo in Ogun State

by SEPCO III Electric Power Construction Corporation of China); Geregu (the 434MW capacity Geregu II Power Station built in Ajaokuta, Kogi State,

by Siemens Nigeria Limited); Alaoji (961MW-capacity Alaoji Power Plant built by Rockson Engineering in Abia State) and other power stations in at least 10 locations. It is from out of these projects that whatever power that anybody is generating today comes from,” she explained.

Ezekwesili further disclosed that it was from the Excess Crude Account that the Central Bank of

Nigeria (CBN) raised Letters of Credit directly for these projects.

“I do recall that even as Vice President at the World Bank, from what the federal government made available as at that time showed that as at 2007, $3.5 billion had gone into these NIP projects.

So, when I see sometimes, figures that get bandied around, I say part of the culture we must have as citizens is to say that whenever figures show up, we must interrogate them. We need to have a habit to interrogate data, otherwise they will be part of the political rascality of not wanting to be accountable to the society,” she added.

Ezekwesili also explained that the ECA was so successful that it was also from that account that

the country paid $12 billion to take down the stock of its foreign debts.

“People still argue whether it was sensible for us to spend that amount of money to take down the stock of our debt. But I need to tell you that it was a good thing that we took down the stock of our debt. It was an important thing to do because without taking down the stock of our debt, we were not going to be admitted into the global financial system,” she said.

The former minister pointed out that those indebted countries that engaged in a “reckless behaviour” by insisting that “we didn’t see anything out of the debt and so, we were not paying,” eventually paid dearly for their recklessness.

“Only one or two countries have done that recklessness and they paid dearly for it. There is nothing like that – it is irresponsible. So, nobody wants to reward that kind of behaviour,” she said.

According to her, the six years of record high oil prices after the tenure of Obasanjo could have built up foreign reserves to as much as $100 billion, including an ECA level of at least $40 billion.

“The summary of the inflows and outflows from the Account shows that the opening balance was $4.56 billion in 2011 and reached a peak the following year at $8.7 billion before declining to $2.3 billion in 2013. The balance as at May 2015 was $2.07 billion,” Ezekwesili added.

Sit-at-Home: IPOB Warns Police Commissioners in South-east against Interference David-Chyddy Eleke in Awka The Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) has warned police bosses in the South-east not to interfere in the proposed sit-at-home protest fixed for Wednesday, saying they have no right to determine how Igbos choose to honour their fallen hero.

IPOB was reacting to a statement by the Anambra State Commissioner of Police, Mr.

Umar Garba, in which he called on residents of Anambra State to disregard the order, adding that the group was outlawed and had not powers to order a sit at home protest.

The group through its Media and Publicity Secretary, Emma Powerful, acknowledged that police bosses in all the states that make up the Southeast were mostly from the North and had no powers to determine how the Igbos

honoured their departed brothers.

He said: “All Fulani police commissioners that litter South-east must desist from commenting about this solemn occasion. Some of them have offered comments that we deem insulting to the memory of the dead.

“We don’t have a say about how they honour their victims of Boko Haram violence in core North and those killed by their

fellow Fulani terrorists. We have chosen sit-at-home as the best way to say thank you to all our brave soldiers for what they did for us between 1967 to 1970.

“It will be crass insensitivity of the highest order for any Fulani police or army officer in the South-east to intrude upon our grief.”

The group insisted that the Southeast and South-south, including other states marked out for the exercise would be locked down on May 30, and that nothing can stop it.

60

T H I S D AY ˾ ͰͶ˜ ͰͮͯͶ

MONDAY MAY 28, 2018 ˾ T H I S D AY

61

NEWSEXTRA

SPDC JV Paid N5.31tn to FG in Four Years NNPC reviews operational KPIs to survive uncertainties in oil industry Sylvester Idowu in Warri and Chineme Okafor inAbuja Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) joint partners’ economic contribution to the federal government between 2013 to 2017 stands at $23 billion (N5.31 trillion).

The revelations came as the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) yesterday disclosed that it would review the key performance indicators (KPIs), and other operational strategies it had given to its subsidiaries to boost its plan of becoming a fully integrated national oil company.

The monies were paid under the joint venture agreement between government-owned NNPC, 55 per cent; SPDC, 30 per cent; Total E&P Nigeria Limited, 10 per cent; and the Eni subsidiary Nigerian Agip Oil Company Limited, five per cent.

Shell’s share of royalties and corporate taxes paid to the federal government in 2017 stood at approximately $1.1billion (N333.33 billion), SPDC $0.4billion; SNEPCo $0.7 billion).

This was contained in latest edition (April 2018) of ‘Shell in Nigeria Briefing Notes’ which was presented to journalists in Warri, Delta State over the weekend.

The copy of the document which was obtained by THISDAY indicates that Shell also paid $1.9 billion to the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) since inception in 2002.

According to the report, the oil bearing communities social investment funds for communitydriven projects under the Global Memorandum of Understanding (GMoU) was $228 million (N41.10billion).

The company stated that 94 per cent of Shell contracts was awarded to Nigeria companies in 2017 while 631,000 barrels of oil equivalent per average daily production by Shell-operated ventures in Nigeria in 2017.

As part of effort to support local content, develop human resources, Shell in 2017 spent about $0.76 billion (N230.30 billion) on contracts awarded to Nigerian companies.

The report says between 2012 and 2017, the Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas Company Limited (NLNG) of which Shell contributes 25.6 per cent share, has committed over $45 million (N14.19 billion) to social investment projects in the Niger Delta region.

According to the report, Shell is also contributing $49 million (15.36 billion) to the construction of the 34-kilometer Bonny-Bodo road project estimated to cost more than $190 million (N60 billion) as part of federal government socioeconomic integration of the Niger

Delta region.

The report says Shell Nigeria Gas Limited (SNG), another of its sister firms, supplies natural gas to about 90 industrial and commercial customers, majority of which were in Ogun, Rivers and Abia States, adding that the gas is used for power generation and for the manufacturing of domestic products.

The presentation was made by senior SPDC’s officials including Head, Government and Community Relations, Alaye Dokubo; Head Community Interface, Evans Krukrubo, Community Interface Coordinator, Jerry-Gaultney Udjo, as well as Shell Petroleum Development Company, Media Relation Manager, Bam Olugbenga Odugbesan, (SPDC West)’s Media Relations Officer, Mr. Joseph Obari, Precious Okolobo among others.

Before the presentation, SPDC General Manager, External Relations, Mr. Igo Weli, had said SPDC is still very active in Delta State contrary to widespread believe that it had relocated from the state.

To confirm the company’s presence in Delta State, he disclosed that Shell operates Joint Ventures has implemented wide ranging projects in the state which included the disbursement of N1.88 billion to Global Memorandum of Understanding (GMoU) with cluster host communities.

He also disclosed that a Professorial Chair was established at Federal University of Petroleum Resources, Effurun (FUPRE) as part of Shell’s continuous operations in the state and contribute to its development.

“These are in addition to the donation of N600 million facilities to five schools under a Youth Sports and Athletics Development project to mark Nigeria’s centenary anniversary.

“The projects shows our continuous presence and interest in the development of Delta State. While it is true that SPDC divested from a number of assets in line with business strategy, and in support of the participation of more Nigerian companies in the oil and gas industry, we are still active in Delta State,” Mr. Weli said.

He gave, as example, that SPDC still operates Forcados Terminal, Flowstations, gas plants and a network of pipelines in the state.

Meanwhile, the NNPC stated that the reviews would enable it prosper as an oil company despite the changing dynamics of the global oil industry.

Its Group Managing Director,

Saraki, JOHESU to Meet Today As a follow-up to his mediation between Joint Health Sector Unions (JOHESU) and the federal government, the Senate President, Dr. Abubakar Bukola Saraki, is set to meet with the leadership of JOHESU today at 3p.m at his office.

Last week, Saraki began mediating in the ongoing strike action that has crippled Nigeria’s healthcare facilities for the past 40 days, with a meeting with JOHESU officials last Thursday afternoon, and the ministers in charge of the labour and health ministries, Dr. Chris Ngige and Prof. Issac Adewole, last Friday morning.

Since the discussions initiated by

the Senate President, it is believed that government has improved on its offers to the striking health workers.

“If it is true that government has improved on its offers to JOHESU, it will be desirable for the health workers to also stretch out a hand of fellowship — in good faith — to meet the government mid-way and accept the offer, so that we can finally resolve this matter and have a win-win situation for the union, the government and the Nigerian people who make use of our public health institutions,” Saraki said.

Dr. Maikanti Baru, said this at the corporation’s first quarter 2018 top management steering committee meeting held in Abuja.

A statement from the corporation’s Group General Manager, Group Public Affairs Division, Mr. Ndu Ughamadu, quoted Baru to have admitted that there were tremendous changes going on in the global oil industry which NNPC must plan well to survive through.

Baru explained that apart from the review of its operational KPIs, the other new strategies to be adopted by NNPC would include setting realistic targets for immediate sign-off, as well as spending items capable of improving its bottom-line.

All these, Baru noted would become NNPC’s long-time survival strategies to achieve efficiency, growth and

profitability in its operations.

“The changes we are seeing in the industry over the last few years call for some action on our part. This is because as a business concern, we don’t live in isolation in the industry and therefore, we must act now,” said Baru in the statement.

According to him, the NNPC was accelerating its action on the holistic rehabilitation of its four refineries in Kaduna, Warri, and Port Harcourt, in addition to strengthening its internal control mechanisms and intensifying exploration efforts in the frontier oil basins.

He added: “Today, we are reviewing the mission and vision of the corporation and have also ventured into renewable energy and power sectors.”

The statement equally quoted NNPC’s Chief Operating Officer

(COO), Downstream, Mr. Henry Ikem-Obih, to have explained that a lot of work had been done to get the corporation to measure up with its peers.

Ikem-Obih, noted that the corporation was investing a lot in downstream supply and distribution assets, and that now its focus in the sector revolved around imbibing world-class culture, implementing best practices, focusing on cost reduction, improving efficiency, deploying cutting-edge technologies and having a clean balance sheet that reflects its corporate business vision.

He said: “Gradually, we are repositioning from an intervention engine for the nation to one that is ready to make profit, grow and create value for our teeming stakeholders.”

Similarly, NNPC’s Group

General Manager, Corporate Planning and Strategy Division, Mr. Bala Wunti, said the essence of the meeting was to review performance, redefine expectations, identify areas of improvement and implement actionable items that would boost efficiency and high profitability.

Wunti, noted that the meeting had brought to the fore areas yearning for further improvement which the division would vigorously pursue to ensure profitability and growth for NNPC. He said: “It is important that we do what we need to do like any other NOC to move on the upward trajectory and be able to achieve our mandate of delivering value to our major shareholders, who are Nigerians.”

Soyinka to Lead Discourse as Friends Gather for Kunle Ajibade Raheem Akingbolu Journalists, literary giants and members of the human rights family will converge on Lagos this Wednesday to celebrate one of their own, Kunle Ajibade.

Ajibade, a renowned journalist and author, has functioned as a crucial actor within the Nigerian media space over the last three decades.

He turns 60, today, May 28.

To honour him on attaining a milestone six-decade on earth – and particularly in view of efforts of those like him whose cumulative struggles and suffering saw to the present democracy that Nigerians enjoy, the Friends of Kunle Ajibade and other well wishers are holding a one-day colloquium at the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs (NIIA) on Wednesday May 30 at 10 a.m. This would be followed by a Cultural Evening/Poetry Reading at the Freedom Park to start by 5:30p.m. on the same day.

A statement issued by the Friends of KunleAjibade @ 60 Committee, in Lagos, indicated that the colloquium would be led by Professor Wole Soyinka, the 1986 winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature, on the theme: ‘A Bright Future for Nigeria and How to Get There.’

According to the statement, fellow speakers on the day would include; Dr. Kingsley Moghalu; Mrs. Ayo Obe; Mr. Femi Falana(SAN) and Ms. Ayisha Osori. The list also includes; Mr. Owei Lakemfa; Mr. Sam Omatseye and other notable speakers.

Ajibade’s roles in the media have seen him serve as reporter to media houses, a Senior Correspondent for The African Concord magazine and Assistant Editor with The African Guardian. He has also held different editorial and management responsibilities in the now rested Tempo and A.M News titles, before being Executive Editor of TheNEWS magazine and P.M.News.

It was his work in the Nigerian media in the dark days of brutal military rule that saw him crusading on the side of social justice, and hence running against the murky essence of the vicious Abacha military regime in its high noon.

KunleAjibade was arrested on spurious charges and ‘jailed for life’ in 1995, after a kangaroo

and contrived judicial process,in similar vein to the encounters of other journalists like George Mbah of TELL Magazine, Chris Anyanwu of The Sunday Magazine (TSM), and Ben Charles Obi of the Weekend Classique, about the same period.

His experience of arrest, imprisonment, and subsequently

release from the gulag of military dictatorship after three harrowing years are chronicled in his memoir, Jailed for Life: A Reporter’s Prison Notes, which won the Victor Nwankwo Book of the Year award in 2005.

He is also author of What a Country!, which details Nigeria’s travails under cruel and repressive

rule.

Meanwhile, the organisers of the birthday soiree, has stated that the Cultural Evening/ Poetry Reading that would follow the one-day colloquium, would comprise tributes, readings and music,involving poets, solo saxophonists, drummers and other performance artistes.

MONDAY MAY 28, 2018 ˾ T H I S D AY

62

CHILDREN’S DAY CELEBRATION...

CHILDREN’S DAY CELEBRATION...

Saraki Marks Children’s Day with IDPs in Benue Our Correspondents Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki, yesterday celebrated this year’s Children’s Day at the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) camp in Abegena, Benue State, with a renewed call on federal government to step up funding of security agencies.

Saraki who was received at the camp by Governor Samuel Ortom of Benue State, emphasised the urgent need for government to properly fund the nation’s security agencies. His Chief Press Secretary, Sanni Onogu, in a statement issued in Abuja, quoted the Senate President as saying: “We must equip and support the security agencies, if we are to bring to the barest minimum those situations that cause people to be internally displaced. The killings going on in many parts of this country must stop. They are anathema to civilised values and cannot be tolerated.”

According to him, “Just last week, the Senate received detailed briefings from service chiefs and other security agencies on the nature of our current security challenges, and the ways in which we can contribute to finding solutions.

“The Senate also received the Report of the Security Summit it organised in February this year, an event that tapped into a very wide spectrum of national assets with knowledge, experience and responsibility in improving citizen, community and national security.

Saraki while commiserating with the people of Benue over the loss of lives and property occasioned by incessant attacks by bandits, reiterated the call of the Senate for increased funding for security agencies to enable them combat violent crimes across the country.

He stressed that killings in parts of the country must stop because they are an abomination to civilised values that cannot be tolerated.

Amosun Harps on Investment in Children Ogun State Governor, Senator Ibikunle Amosun, has stressed the need for investment in children, describing them as the future of the economy.

The governor said this yesterday while speaking at the 2018 National Children’s Day celebration, with the theme: ‘Creating Safe Spaces for Children: Our Collective Responsibility’ held at the MKO Abiola International Stadium in Abeokuta. According to him, any nation that wants to progress must invest in its children, as they are the future of the economy, adding that they must be well nurtured and guided Amosun, who advised the children to be of good behaviour, character and integrity in their schools and homes, because “these attributes would make you great in life.”

The governor charged all parents, guardians, teachers and other stakeholders to be true and positive role models to their children and wards, noting that their greatness in life is the collective responsibility of all.

Okowa Decries Growing Cases of Child Abuse in Nigeria Delta State Governor, Dr. Ifeanyi Okowa, has on the occasion of this year’s Children Day in Nigeria, strongly condemned the increasing cases of various child abuse in the society, charging parents and responsible members of the society to show more interest in providing safer environment for proper growth and development of the child.

He noted that the different abuses children are being subjected often leave lasting physical, mental or psychological scar, which ultimately rebounds on the society in diverse and devastating ways.

The governor charged parents, teachers and other caregivers to pay greater attention to the well being of children as well as ensure the protection and promotion of child rights in our society.

According to Okowa, “We must all condemn in strong terms the worrisome level of abuse against children in the society today ranging from rape, defilement, sexual exploitation, cultism, child trafficking, child labour, to mention a few. The situation calls for more concerted efforts of all and sundry to take proactive measures and increase the consciousness of providing safe and very secure spaces for our children to grow up in the midst of genuine and selfless love, care and attention.

“I wish to appeal to all duty bearers to actively promote the ideals of the Childs Rights Law, bearing in mind that we are accountable to God on how we discharge our obligations to our children, knowing very well that our future as a state and country, will be defined by the quality of today’s children.”

Bauchi Govt to Protect Rights of Children The Bauchi State Government has said it is committed to the promotion and protection of rights of children as contained in the Child’s Rights Act 2007.

The state Governor, Muhammad Abdullahi Abubakar, stated this at the occasion of this year’s Children’s Day celebration held at the Abubakar Tafawa Balewa stadium in Bauchi yesterday.

The governor stressed the need for all hands to be on deck towards creating awareness on the critical role of protecting the rights of children against all forms of violence.

Represented by the state Commissioner for Women Affairs and Child Development, Rukayya Ibrahim Kewa, the governor noted that Children’s Day celebration is aimed at reminding parents and guardians of their responsibilities of protecting the rights of their children.

Abubakar therefore charged the state Ministry of Women Affairs and Child Development to liaise with other agencies to provide lasting solution to the challenges faced by women and children in the society.

Obaseki: Govt Committed to Creating Safe Spaces for Children

Senate President, Dr. Abubakar Bukola Saraki, celebrating the 2018 Children’s Day with children at the Abegena Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) camp in Benue State.... yesterday.

Edo State Governor, Mr. Godwin Obaseki, has said the gamut of reforms and initiatives to improve the quality of life of children in the state demonstrates the state government’s commitment to providing spaces for children to fully realise their potential. Obaseki disclosed this at the 2018 Children’s Day celebrations held at the University of Benin Sports Complex, Benin City yesterday.

The governor, who was represented by the Deputy Governor, Philip Shaibu, said the theme for this year’s Children’s Day celebration, ‘Creating Safe Spaces for Children: Our Collective Responsibility’, is apt and reflects the commitment of the state government towards creating secure environment for the overall development of children and the prosperity of families. He said the state was committed, more than ever before, to creating safe spaces for children with its aggressive fight against human trafficking, which is one of the greatest crimes against humanity.

Prioritise the Welfare of Nigerian Child, Says Kwara Gov As the country marks children’s day celebration, Kwara State Governor, Alhaji Abdulfatah Ahmed, at the weekend charged leaders at all levels of government on the need to prioritise the welfare of every Nigerian child so as to prepare them to be the future leaders.

Ahmed in his message issued in Ilorin which was signed by his Chief Press Secretary, Alhaji Abdulwahab Oba, to mark this year Children’s Day celebration advised the parents to use more of their time with their children and wards in order to ensure their upbringing for future attainments.

According to him, “No nation can grow beyond the quality of its children who are potential leaders and experts in various fields of human endeavours.” The governor, however, assured Kwarans that his administration would continue to formulate and implement policies that would be favourable to children in the state. He urged parents and guardians to bequeath quality education, moral and spiritual upbringing to their children and wards to make them useful citizens.

Wike’s Wife Urges Children to Take their Education Seriously

The wife of the Rivers State Governor, Justice Eberechi Suzzette Nyesom-Wike, has called on Rivers children to take their education seriously as a foundation to be responsible citizens in the future.

Addressing children during the 2018 Children’s Day celebration at Isaac Boro Park in Port Harcourt yesterday, Justice Nyesom-Wike told the children that education is key to their progress in the society.

She said: “Once you get an education, everything will find its place, because you will be empowered to be responsible citizens.

“You need to be careful and mindful of the friends that you eep. This is because evil communication corrupts good manners. Not everyone has a right to come into your space.” The Rivers governor’s wife prayed for God’s blessing on all Rivers children as they make progress in life.

“God will establish you and you will not die before your time.

You will live long to fulfill all your days and everything that God has planned for you to achieve,” Justice Nyesom-Wike prayed.

She noted that to ensure that children are more responsible across the state and alive to their responsibilities, Rivethics clubs will be introduced in schools.

Justice Nyesom-Wike said children are very special gifts from God and must be nurtured for the good of the society.

Akeredolu Reads Riot Act against Children Abusers

The Ondo State Governor, Mr. Oluwarotimi Akeredolu, yesterday read riot act against abusers of children declaring that no abusers of children would go unpunished.

Akeredolu made the declaration in Akure, Ondo State capital during the celebration of this year’s Children’s Day saying “anybody caught abusing a child would be severely dealt with in accordance with the law of the state”. Akeredolu, who was represented at the event held at the Gani Fawehinmi Arcade, Akure, by his deputy, Mr. Agboola Ajayi, said his government would its best to ensure the security of children in the state “through both pre-emptive and preventive activities and measures as well as other child protection intervention programmes” “While the government is not interested in putting anyone in prison, it will not fold its arms and allow enemies of progress to destroy the children and well-being of our society “I am warning those that make violence and abuse of children their pre-occupation to steer clear of Ondo State.”

LASG: Pupil Population, Food Price Hike Delay Execution of School Feeding Programme The Lagos State Government at the weekend disclosed that huge population of pupils in public schools and hike in prices of food items, among other rationales, delayed the execution of the National Home-grown School Feeding Programme (NHGSFP) in the state.

Specifically, the state government claimed that the population of pupils in 1,010 primary schools across all local government areas alone “is about the number of students in five or six states put together.”

The Deputy Governor of the state, Dr. Oluranti Adebule, explained the delay at an annual ministerial news conference she addressed at the state secretariat, Alausa on Friday to mark the third anniversary of Governor Akinwunmi Ambode.

Among others, Adebule addressed the news conference alongside the Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Mr. Kehinde Bamigbetan; Special Adviser on Education, Mr. Obafela Bank-Olemoh and Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Education, Mrs. Elizabeth Adekanye.

Statistics from the Lagos Bureau of Statistics showed that there “are currently 1,010 primary schools with a population of 497,318 pupils; 670 junior and senior secondary schools with a population of 564,758 students and 5 technical and vocational schools across the state.”

Across the federation, the Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo had claimed that 24 states had already started executing the school feeding programme with 8,260,984 pupils being fed daily in 45,394 public primary schools The states already implementing the feeding programme comprise Anambra, Enugu, Oyo, Osun, Ogun, Ebonyi, Zamfara, Delta, Abia, Benue, Plateau, Bauchi, Taraba, Kaduna, Akwa-Ibom, Cross River, Imo, Jigawa, Niger, Kano, Katsina, Gombe, Ondo and Borno.

Conoil Celebrates the Nigerian Child

Conoil, one of the leading nation’s complete energy providers, has advised teachers, parents, governments, non-governmental organisations and all well-meaning Nigerians on the need for vigilance and urgent action to stem the growing negative influence on the children. In its goodwill message to the Nigerian child to commemorate Children’s Day celebrations, the company entreated parents, leaders and every adult to lead by example by imbibing hard work, diligence, discipline, honesty, prudence, selflessness and patriotism.

It also called on parents to strive at all times to nurture, educate, mentor and pride their children to be the best in whatever endeavor they find themselves. The statement counselled the private sector to partner with government at all levels to guarantee better living conditions for the Nigerian child by providing access to quality and affordable education, effective transportation system, good healthcare and other basic necessities so that they can grow, flourish and keep our country strong.

63

T H I S D AY ˾ MONDAY, MAY 28, 2018

MONDAYSPORTS PRE-WORLD CUP 2018…

PRE-WORLD CUP 2018…

Group Sports Editor Duro Ikhazuagbe Email duro.ikhazuagbe@thisdaylive.com 0811 181 3083 SMS ONLY

PRE-WORLD CUP2018…

Super Eagles, DR Congo Set Port Harcourt Aglow Duro Ikhazuagbe Nigerians are to have a glimpse of what to expect from the Super Eagles at the World Cup in Russia next month as the three-time African champions take on Democratic Republic of Congo in a tune-up game this afternoon at the Adokiye Amiesimaka Stadium in Port Harcourt.

The send forth match is expected to be full of fireworks as every player on Gernot Rohr’s 30-man provisional squad wants to impress for a chance to make Nigeria’s final list of 23 players for the Mundial in Russia.

Interestingly, DR Congo that narrowly lost the Russia 2018 ticket to Tunisia sounded it loud and clear last Thursday on arrival in Lagos that they were not here on a tea party.

Apart from star player Yannick Bolasie who missed the trip to Port Harcourt, the two-time African champions are loaded to the hilt with their big-name performers.

Yannick Bangala, Chancel Mbemba, Aaron Tshibola, PaulJose Mpoku and Gael Kakuta, as well as Cedric Bakambu, Britt Assombalonga, Benik Afobe, Kabongo Kasongo and Ben Malango are all in Port Harcourt for the clash with Super Eagles.

Speaking shortly after training yesterday, Super Eagles Captain, John Mikel Obi, said that they were in no mood to drop their guard.

“We do not expect the Congolese to be easy opposition. They have a strong team made up of very talented players and we know this is one good opposition for us to confront before going to the World Cup.

“The FIFA World Cup is no picnic. We have to arrive in Russia with a winning mentality and you get that feeling of being ready only after beating strong teams,” stressed the Tianjin Teda midfielder.

Already, Rohr has thrown in his own motivational factor by telling his ‘soldiers’ that five players would be cut from the provisional list of 30 after today’s encounter, leaving him with only two more to dispense with when announcing the final squad in Bad Tatzmannsdorf, Austria a week from today.

This declaration, plus Mikel’s assertion of the need for winning mentality, will propel the Eagles to give their all this evening, against a squad that nearly grabbed a World Cup ticket for itself.

Overhauling Tunisia was always going to be a mountain to climb in their group, but DR Congo were almost there when leading the Carthage Eagles 2-0 in Kinshasa, only to concede two second half goals that abbreviated their chances and eventually killed their dream of a trip to Russia.

Going down memory lane, the most famous encounter between both countries remains their clash in Dire Dawa, Ethiopia in March 1976, when a young Green Eagles’ squad thrashed the Cup holders 4-2 to the shock of African football enthusiasts.

Baba Otu Mohammed scored two of those goals, with Sam Ojebode making good from the penalty spot and Thompson Usiyen getting Nigeria’s other goal. In that squad were the likes of Joe Erico, Sani Mohammed, Godwin Odiye, Idowu Otubusin, Kelechi

Emeteole, Ojebode, Muda Lawal, Aloysius Atuegbu, Haruna Ilerika, Baba Otu, Usiyen and Kunle Awesu.

NIGERIA/DR CONGO IN HISTORY

5/11/1966: Nigeria 3-2 DR Congo (Lagos: Friendly) 27/11/1966: DR Congo 1-0 Nigeria (Kinshasa: Friendly) 1/3/1976: DR Congo 2-4 Nigeria (Dire Dawa: AFCON 1976) 19/1/1992: DR Congo 0-1 Nigeria (Ziguichor: AFCON 1992) 2/4/1994: DR Congo 0-2 Nigeria (Tunis: AFCON 1994) 3/3/2010: Nigeria 5-2 DR Congo (Abuja: Friendly)

EAGLES PERFORMANCE UNDER ROHR

Nigeria 1-0 Tanzania (Uyo: AFCON Qualifier) Zambia 1-2 Nigeria (Ndola: WC Qualifier) Nigeria 3-1 Algeria (Uyo: WC Qualifier) Senegal 1-1 Nigeria (London: Friendly) Corsica 1-1 Nigeria (Ajaccio: Friendly) Nigeria 3-0 Togo (Paris: Friendly) Nigeria 0-2 South Africa (Uyo: AFCON Qualifier) Nigeria 4-0 Cameroon (Uyo: WC Qualifier) Cameroon 1-1 Nigeria (Yaounde: WC Qualifier) Nigeria 1-0 Zambia (Uyo: WC Qualifier) Algeria 1-1 Nigeria (Constantine: WC Qualifier) Argentina 2-4 Nigeria (Krasnodar: Friendly) Poland 0-1 Nigeria (Wroclaw: Friendly) Serbia 2-0 Nigeria (London: Friendly) Mikel at his unveiling as Kwese Brand Ambassador in Port Harcourt… weekend

Injury Knocks out Moses Simon from Kwesé Signs Mikel as Brand Ambassador Russia 2018 Rohr grants Victor Moses two days extension

Femi Solaja The dream of Super Eagles forward, Moses Simon, to be at next month’s World Cup in Russia has gone up in flames following the confirmation by team’s Technical Adviser, Gernot Rohr, that the FC Gent of Belgium player will be out of action for between three and four weeks.

This development means the 30-man provisional list has been reduced to 29 and with just 17 days to the Mundial, Nigeria will

be short one all through the Group stage matches of the tournament should the coaches decide to retain Simon in the final 23-man list to Russia.

He has joined the likes of Dani Carvajal of Spain and Sergio Romero of Argentina on the list of players already confirmed to miss the World Cup finals. Egypt’s Mohamed Salah may join the list if he fails to recover from the should injury he sustained during Saturday night’s Champions League final against Real Madrid.

French Open: Venus Knocked out in First Round Former world No 1 Venus Williams suffered a shock defeat

by Chinese player Wang Qiang in the French Open first round on Sunday.

The 37-year-old ninth seed was well short of her best as Wang claimed a 6-4, 7-5 victory and gained a measure of revenge for her first-round loss to Venus at Roland Garros last year.

The seven-time Grand Slam champion has now lost both her matches at major tournaments this year, having reached

the Australian Open and Wimbledon finals in 2017.

Wang, the world number 91, has never made the third round of a Slam, and will face Petra Martic of Croatia for a place in the last 32 after the biggest win of her career.

World No 9 Venus will now turn her attention to playing the doubles tournament with her sister Serena, who is competing in a Grand Slam event for the first time since last year’s Australian Open after giving birth to her daughter.

Simon sustained a thigh injury in his second training session with the Super Eagles in Uyo last week. The report of the scan carried out on Simon last Saturday revealed the extent of the injury.

“It is unfortunate Moses Simon will not be travelling with the team on Tuesday (to London) because he is down with an injury,” Rohr said yesterday.

“The nature of his injury is such that he won’t be recovering quickly enough to make the World Cup. We are looking at three to four weeks and there after starts rehabilitation training before getting to match fitness level. You can see that the situation is not good for him and for the team as well,” Rohr said last night.

In another development, Rohr also confirmed that he has extended Chelsea wing back, Victor Moses’ permission before linking up with the team. Moses did not join his colleagues when the camp opened last week in Uyo. According to Rohr, the additional two days is to enable Moses celebrate his wedding anniversary with his wife after a long season and will join the rest of the team in London before the trip to World Cup.

Econet Media’s pan-African broadcast network, Kwesé has signed John Mikel Obi as the first official brand ambassador for the brand.

The former UEFA Champions League, Premier League and now Chinese Super League player, will represent the dynamic broadcaster’s services and initiatives across the continent starting with the upcoming FIFA World Cup 2018 in Russia.

Considered one of Nigeria’s most accomplished players, Mikel will feature in Kwesé’s upcoming advertising campaigns which will encompass print, television and radio.

“In choosing the right personality to partner our brands, we wanted someone who embodies what we stand for as an African broadcaster.

“Mikel represents exceptional

sporting talent and is loved by fans across the continent. His commitment to excellence and his work to improve the sporting talent of the next generation of athletes made him the perfect choice for us,” expressed Joseph Hundah, President and Group Chief Executive Officer of Econet Media.

One of only two African players to have won Europe’s top two continental club competitions when he was part of Chelsea’s Europa League-winning team in 2013, Mikel enjoyed over a decade of service for the Blues - a midfielder making 374 appearances for the team. His accolades include being a two-time recipient of the African Young Player of the Year award (2005, 2006) as well as the Chelsea Young Player of the Year award (2007, 2008).

There is no denying Mikel’s impressive sporting career, however his most rewarding role is that of founder of the Mikel Obi Africa Children’s Sports Foundation. The foundation seeks to alleviate poverty by empowering young Africans through sports. This includes nurturing sporting talent in the areas of football, rugby, tennis, cycling, basketball, cricket, hockey and athletics. Foundation beneficiaries have access to a range of specialist coaches and teachers providing them with a unique opportunity to hone their skills.

Extending beyond athletic support, the foundation also assists children with an interest in sports sciences, nutrition, physiotherapy and the like to realise their dreams and forge a better future for themselves and their families.

Salah Confident of Playing for Egypt at the World Cup Liverpool and Egypt forward Mohamed Salah has said that he is “confident” of playing in the World Cup after suffering a shoulder injury in the Champions League final against Real Madrid. The LaLiga team won 3-1 to lift the trophy third time consecutively.

Salah, 25, left the pitch in Kiev in tears after a first-half challenge with Real Madrid captain Sergio Ramos.

“Your love and support will give me the strength I need,” said Salah.

Egypt play their first game of the World Cup in Russia on 15 June against Uruguay in Yekaterinburg.

After the game in Kiev, Reds boss Jurgen Klopp described the injury as “really serious” and it did not “look good” on the Liverpool website.

But the Egyptian FA

tweeted that Salah’s X-ray showed he had a “sprain in the shoulder ligaments” and that it was “optimistic” he would be fit for Russia.

Salah, who scored 44 goals for his club last season, tried to carry on after the tangle with Ramos in the 26th minute.

However, he was forced to leave the pitch a few minutes later and was replaced by Adam Lallana.

TR

Monday May 28, 2018

UT H

& RE A S O

N

Price: N250

MISSILE Ortom to Herders “What was the offence of the priests and the parishioners?

Perhaps the church now grows grass to feed their cattle or the parishioners were in the farms.� – Governor Samuel Ortom of Benue State lamenting the rationale behind the killing of two Catholic priests by herders.

""""" !

BENMURRAYBRUCE MAKING COMMON SENSE

ben.murraybruce@thisdaylive.com

Failed Leadership and Nigerian Youths

O

f recent, there has been a lot of talk about the problems facing Nigeria’s youth especially the issue of drug addiction and fraudulent

behaviour.

These two vices have led to a ban on the production of codeine in Nigeria and a clamp down on club going youths, because the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, in its wisdom, has determined that clubs are a favourite hang out of youths with a tendency for internet fraud (why they think that, I do not know).

However, the recently concluded state congresses of the ruling All Progressive Congress give a clue where the problem facing our youths originate from.

The ruling party showed a remarkable lack of capacity to govern itself. Their state congresses were marred with almost nationwide violence and thuggery and the party produced parallel congresses in almost every state.

I mean, it was so ludicrous that a foreigner could be forgiven for thinking that the P in APC stands for “Parallel�.

How can a party that cannot govern itself internally, be expected to govern Nigeria externally? The state congresses of the APC shows that the party itself needs to be colonized by a more civilised party and tutored on how to be a proper party. APC is not even mature enough to be a ruling party in a local government, how much more at the federal level.

State congresses that were expected to produce 36 state executives ended up producing almost twice that number. Where does this happen? I pray the party does not produce an alternate president soon.

But what is even more appalling is the violence that greeted these congresses. As someone said on Twitter, “If a party in charge of the Army, Navy, Air Force, Police, DSS, NIA and Civil Defence can’t organise violence free state congresses, then how can that same party conduct a violence free general election next year? If within they can’t accept defeat, then what will happen in 2019?�

And these are the people who have been providing “leadership� to our youths since 2015. Any big surprise then that our youth are so disillusioned that they have taken solace in drugs?

Let me provide one example of the pedestrian leadership provided by the APC which is driving our youth to major despair.

With all the promises that the APC made during the campaigns for the 2015 elections,

President Muhammadu Buhari

I was shocked to watch on the news that a branch of the APC was “empowering� youths in Borno State with shoe shining kits.

Shoe-shining in 2018? Without education, Nigeria’s 12 million out of school children, who are mostly in Northern Nigeria, will find it hard to earn a living in future. If they cannot earn a living, they will live in despair which will make them vulnerable to anti social tendency!

A people are a reflection of their leadership! If our youth are taking to drugs and crime, we the leaders must take a good long kook at ourselves. We cannot claim that our youth are lazy when we have not provided job opportunities for them and instead have destroyed the jobs previous administration’s created.

The truth is that drugs and crime are only a symptom of the problem facing our youth. The real disease is despair.

They watch while we claim to be fighting corruption yet corruption is growing daily and Transparency International is not fooled.

They watch while we claim to be improving the economy yet we have reduced the value of the Naira, increased the price of fuel and simultaneously increased the amount of the same subsidy we claimed was a fraud.

And the worst is security. They read as the government lies that it has defeated Boko Haram. Meanwhile other terrorists, like herdsmen and bandits, have added to the mix to make the country even less secure.

Youths go to the farm and are murdered by herdsmen. They complain and are branded as “lazy�. But even I will not want to prove my hardworking nature by going to the farm to be slaughtered by herdsmen who carry AK-47 almost unchallenged by the government. In that case, it is government not me that is lazy!

From the aforementioned, it is clear that the trouble with Nigeria is still squarely and fairly a problem of leadership as Chinua Achebe said almost forty years ago.

To succeed in leading the people, a

If you see a problem only when it is a problem, then you are not a leader. A genuine leader must be visionary enough to see the problem before it comes and must also be creative enough to ďŹ nd solutions to them instead of ďŹ nding who to blame or arrest or victimise for them

government must be proactive, not reactive and must anticipate problems that are to come in society and prepare to provide solutions to them.

Two examples immediately come to mind.

On the issue of terrorism, it is reactive to wait for youths to become terrorists and then fight them.

Nigeria has the highest number of out of school population of young children who should be in school. The population of such children is put at 12 million.

We must look ahead. Without education, these 12 million children, who are mostly in Northern Nigeria, will find it difficult to earn a living in future. If they cannot earn a living, they will live in despair which will make them vulnerable to the philosophy of anti terror groups.

Seeing that this is the case, the time to start fighting future terror is now.

We must invest more of our revenue in education and develop a mechanism to compel all youths, particularly those in the North, to get an education knowing that educated youths live longer, live better and have less children.

But if we do not invest the money in educating them while they are children, we will spend the money in fighting them when they become adults.

Also, there is a resurgence of the criminal behaviour known as 419, or advance fee fraud, with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission invading various places where youths, especially in the South, are known to gather.

The government must realize that, according to the Nigerian Bureau of Statistics, 10 million Nigerians lost their jobs in the last three years. That is two times the population of the Republic of Togo.

If the government does not provide job opportunities for jobless youths, of course they will be more vulnerable to joining fraud syndicates.

If you see a problem only when it is a problem, then you are not a leader. A genuine leader must be visionary enough to see the problem before it comes and must also be creative enough to find solutions to them instead of finding who to blame or arrest or victimise for them.

And right now, Nigeria needs leaders and of the state congresses of the APC are anything to go by, Nigeria has better look elsewhere for leadership because no good thing can come out of the APC! r #FO .VSSBZ #SVDF JT UIF GPVOEFS PG UIF 4JMWFSCJSE &OUFSUBJONFOU (SPVQ BOE UIF 4FOBUPS SFQSFTFOUJOH #BZFMTB &BTU JO UIF /BUJPOBM "TTFNCMZ

Printed and Published in Lagos by Leaders & Company Limited . Lagos: 35 Creek Road, Apapa, Lagos. Abuja: Plot 1, Sector Centre B, Jabi Business District, Solomon Lar Way, Jabi North East, Abuja .

All Correspondence to POBox 54749, Ikoyi, Lagos. EMAIL: editor@thisdaylive.com, info@thisdaylive.com. TELEPHONE Lagos: 0802 2924721-2, 08022924485. Abuja: Tel: 08155555292, 08155555929 24/7 ADVERTISING HOT LINES: 0811 181 3086, 0811 181 3087, 0811 181 3088, 0811 181 3089, 0811 181 3090. ENQUIRIES & BOOKING: adsbooking@thisdaylive.com