WEDNESDAY 25TH JULY 2018

FG to Sell Yola Disco, Two Power Generation Plants Again, Discos carpet Fashola over poor power supply Chineme Okafor in Abuja and Peter Uzoho in Lagos The federal government will re-sell the Yola Electricity Distribution Company (Disco),

which was returned to it in 2015 by a core investor as a result of the Boko Haram insurgency, and two additional gas-fired power generation plants, THISDAY has learnt.

This development is coming as the electricity distribution companies in the country under the aegis of the Association of Nigerian Electricity Distributors (ANED)

have again described as false the claim by the Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Mr. Babatunde Fashola, that the transmission capacity has increased from 5,000

Megawatts in 2015 to 7,124 MW in December 2017, representing a yearly increase of 1,062 MW in the transmission capacity.

The Discos also stated that

adequate power supply will not be feasible until 2023 because of liquidity challenges facing the power sector.

Continued on page 10

Nigeria, Niger Set up Teams on 150,000bd Border Refinery… Page 49 Wednesday 25 July, 2018 Vol 23. No 8497. Price: N250

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How Saraki Waded Through Security Blockade Nigeria sliding into anarchy, warns rAPC, others Presidency: Let security agencies do their work Iyobosa Uwugiaren in Abuja More facts emerged last night on how Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki, escaped the plot by the security agencies

to prevent him from making it to the National Assembly in order to abort the plan by many lawmakers to decamp from the All Progressives Congress (APC).

Although Saraki told his colleagues at the Senate chambers yesterday that “it was just by the intervention of the Almighty God’’ that he was able to make it to the

National Assembly, his close aide told THISDAY that he made it because, “the Senate president was smarter than the security agencies.’’

The source, who pleaded

anonymity, said Saraki was alerted about the ‘’evil plans’’ by the security agencies, when on Monday, at about 8p.m., he received a letter, asking him to report to the police

over the Offa robbery case, which was said to have been concluded before now.

Apparently acting on Continued on page 10

PDP Takes Over Senate as 14 Senators Defect from APC 37 cross carpet in House of Representatives I wish defectors the best, says Buhari

Deji Elumoye, Omololu Ogunmade, James Emejo and Onyebuchi Ezigbo in Abuja It was a bad day for the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) yesterday as a gale of defection swept through the National Assembly with 14 of its leading senators defecting to the main opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

The APC also lost weight in the House of Representatives, where 32 of its members crossed carpeted to the side of the PDP. The ruling party also lost four members to the African Democratic Congress (ADC),

while one other resign without stating which party he will join.

The political realignment reconfigured the federal legislature as the PDP took control of the Senate with 57 senators to the APC’s 49, while the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) has one senator. Two seats are vacant.

The Senate Majority Leader, Senator Ahmad Lawan, however, disputed this position last night, insisting that in spite of the defection, the APC still has 52 senators to PDP’s 50; APGA three; and Continued on page 16

Presidency, Govs, W’Bank Chiefs to Headline 3rd THISDAY Healthcare Summit ... Page 16

THAT THERE MAY BE MORE PETROL...

L-R: Katsina State Governor, Alhaji Aminu Bello Masari; President Issoufou Mahamadou of Niger Republic, and President Muhammadu Buhari, after the MoU signing ceremony and inauguration of the Steering and Technical Committee for the Nigeria – Niger Hydrocarbon Pipeline and Refinery Projects at the Presidential Villa, Abuja… yesterday godwin omoigui

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PAGE TEN HOW SARAKI WADED THROUGH SECURITY BLOCKADE security report about the plans by security agencies to prevent him and his deputy, Ike Ekweremadu, from presiding over the sitting yesterday, the Senate president was said to have left his Maitama residence late Monday night and moved to a ‘’house very close to the National Assembly,’’ even though another source said Saraki slept in the National Assembly.

To divert the security agents’ attention, his aides, which included security men, were said to have left Saraki’s residence in Maitama, Abuja about 8:30a.m. in a convoy, and apparently acting the script of their bosses, the police were said to have blocked the convoy, thinking the Senate president was inside his official car.

But they were wrong, as Saraki was said to have entered the National Assembly before then, and settled down in one of the offices, waiting for his colleagues to arrive the chambers.

When he was sure that many of the senators sympathetic to his political course were more in numbers in the chambers, the Senate president, spotting white flowing Agbada, entered his office about 10:35a.m. and later moved to the chambers at exactly 10:40a.m., the source said.

Saraki eventually presided over the Senate and announced the defection of 14 senators from the APC. Relaying his experience in the hands of security operatives, who laid siege to his house yesterday to his colleagues, the Senate president said the plenary would not have held if not for his preparation.

He said, “The road leading to my place was cordoned off and all cars coming in and out as early as 6:30 were being

stopped and you have to come down. My convoy was stopped from moving. Given something that one was prepared for, I had my own car too. So the deputy senate president called me and said he could not come here,’’ he stated.

“That’s the situation why the DSP (Ekweremadu) could not come here and I was already going somewhere else. If not, this plenary would not have been able to hold today. So I had to come here.”

Condemning the siege, he said it was God that made him escape it.

He added, “But as you all rightly said, if one of our colleagues cannot come out for no fault of his, I don’t see how we can continue to sit and ignore the fact that a presiding officer cannot be here. And if it was by the plan, I too, would not be here.

“It was just by the intervention of the Almighty God that I was able to get myself here.”

The security agencies early yesterday morning laid siege to the homes of Saraki and Ekweremadu in Abuja, preventing both vehicular and human movement in and out of the roads leading to their houses.

As part of the security agencies plot, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on its part, had also invited the Deputy Senate President over alleged money laundering.

The anti-graft agency, in a letter of invitation dated July 24 and signed by the Director of Operations, Mohammed Abba, had invited the Deputy Senate President to report to the commission’s office same yesterday for “clarification.”

The EFCC claimed it was “investigating activities case of conspiracy, abuse of office and money laundering” in which

his name featured prominently and the need to obtain certain clarifications from him.

The letter further stated, “In view of the above, you are kindly requested to report and interview the undersigned at 5 Fomela Street, Off Adetokunbo Ademola Crescent, Wuse II Abuja on Tuesday, 24th July, 2018 at 10a.m. prompt.

“This request is made pursuant to section 38(1) of the Economic and Financial Crimes (Establishment) Act, 2004.”

But, in spite of the letter of invitation, the EFCC and a team of policemen stormed and occupied some positions of the official residence of Ekweremadu, in the Apo Legislative Quarters, Abuja in the early hours of Tuesday.

Nigeria Sliding Into Anarchy, Warns rAPC, others The reformed All Progressives Congress (rAPC), the Civil Liberties Organisation (CLO) and a frontline PDP Presidential aspirant, Mr. Kabiru Tanimu Turaki (SAN), yesterday condemned the invasion of the residences of Saraki and Ekweremadu, by security agencies, in what is seen as an attempt to intimidate and stop some aggrieved APC’s lawmakers from switching party.

In a statement signed by the National Publicity of R-APC, Prince Kassim Afegbua, the aggrieved factional group within APC, wondered why the police, that should serve as the custodian of the democratic rights of the people, provide a good anchorage to safeguard the lives and properties of the people, have suddenly become instrument of “oppression, suppression and willing tools’’ in the hands of the powers-

that-be.

According to R-APC, ‘’We are particularly disturbed that those who glorify themselves as democrats and fighters for democracy, by condemning military rule have suddenly maintain conspiratorial and ominous silence. ‘’They have not only endorsed this act of ignominy, but also watching with relish in the closet of their homes as the nation drifts on the plane of fascism, democratic militarism, gangsterism, and bare-faced dictatorship. ‘’It baffles us that while we are putting in place concerted efforts to secure our democracy by fighting brazen injustices and outright abuses, the APC government that prides itself as fighters of corruption have been trying hard to crumble this democracy.’’

On his part, a frontline PDP Presidential aspirant, Kabiru Tanimu Turaki (SAN) condemned the Gestapo tactics unleashed on Saraki and Ekweremadu, adding that it was clearly a dangerous attempt to truncate Nigeria's democracy.

Also reacting to the incident, a respected human rights organisation, the Civil Liberties Organisation (CLO), said it was appalled at the rapid slide into ‘’anarchy, dictatorship and incivility’’ that Nigeria was being plunged by the current administration.

In a statement by its National President, Mr. Igho Akeregha, the group said the siege, by the police and operatives of the Department of State Services (DSS) on the Abuja residences of the Senate president and deputy Senate president was apparently ordered by the administration to avert defection of some senators who are dissatisfied with the growing undemocratic practices within the ruling APC.

‘’The CLO and indeed many Nigerians who made huge sacrifices to enthrone democracy are daily confronted with extreme brigandage and lawlessness promoted by the Buhari administration.

Citizens should now stop this dangerous drift,’’ CLO stated, adding, ‘’We similarly condemn the Executive and abhor it’s penchant to deploy state instrument of coercion against those who do not share its view as this behaviour if left unchecked, will inevitably destroy constitutionalism and the rule of law in the country.’’

Presidency: Let Security Agencies Do their Work But in a statement, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Malam Garba Shehu, said the Presidency had taken note of what he described as orchestrated campaign against Buhari each time a very important person (VIP) is invited by law enforcement agencies while discharging their legitimate duties and functions.

He was reacting to the invitation of Saraki by Special Anti-robbery Squad (SARS) in relation to Offa robbery incident yesterday.

According to him, the law of the land is intended for all and not for the poor or those at the lowest rungs of the social ladder, adding that it is odd, strange and bizarre that while ordinary citizens can be called up to answer questions or be interrogated, the VIP cannot be questioned without the annoying insinuations of partisanship, persecution or outright politicisation.

Shehu further said this country cannot achieve peace and development when important cases are viewed

through a political prism while the law is considered as being applicable to some, and not applicable to others.

He added that the workings of law enforcement agencies were stipulated in both the constitution and the laws of the country, noting that if they work at the discretion of past presidents, who decided who to question and who to detain, Nigerians should get used to the fact that Buhari is different because he does not influence or interfere with cases.

The statement added: "The constitution clearly directs law enforcement agencies to promptly report and investigate any actual or potential infringement of the law and also initiate proceedings against all those involved.

"This president is not the one who directs them on what to do. President Buhari does not stand in the way of law enforcement either. Under our constitution, he has no powers to stop the investigation of anyone or institution. When they are set to investigate anything and anyone, the best friend of the law is the one who lets them do their work.

"The president’s constant refrain is that he will not tolerate any form of illegality including corruption and the law enforcement agencies have been given complete freedom to identify and bring all culprits to justice. His instructions to them are very clear: Anyone with a case to answer or found guilty should not be spared.

"Accused persons should approach the courts to plead their innocence rather than going to the public to plead persecution. The country is better served when the law enforcement agencies are allowed to do their work and we must stop the actors of this dangerous game of politicising law enforcement."

FG TO SELL YOLA DISCO, TWO POWER GENERATION PLANTS THISDAY gathered from a document sighted at the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) that the agency has received approval from the federal government through the National Council on Privatisation (NCP) to re-sell the Yola Disco through a competitive bidding process to be managed by the BPE. Also up for sale are the 987.2 megawatts (MW)-capacity Afam power plant and the 240MW Afam Three Fast Power Limited (ATFPL), which the government initiated in 2016.

From the BPE document, the THISDAY learnt that the agency has invited core investors to express interest in acquiring the government’s 60 per cent shareholding in Yola Disco, and 100 per cent shareholding in the Afam Genco.

For Yola Disco, the BPE stated that it had as at December 31, 2017, supplied grid power to over 181,000 customers across four states, and has 3,454 substations; nine transmission stations, 33 numbers of 33KV circuits covering 6,590 kilometers and 112 11KV circuits covering 1,385 kilometers.

BPE explained that its preference for bidders of the Disco would be the existing power distribution companies or core investor groups with power distribution companies as equity investors.

Successful bidder, it explained, would be responsible for operating the Disco, make all necessary investments to improve the distribution network and customer service in line with the objectives of the government

as set in the National Electric Power Policy 2001 (NEPP).

The BPE document indicated the pre-qualified bidders will be issued a Request for Proposal (RFP) and other bidding documents upon the payment of a non-refundable fee of $20,000 in bank draft payable to the bureau.

For Afam Power Plc and ATFPL, the document suggested they would be jointly privatised through competitive bidding.

On the capacity of Afam, the BPE explained that Afam Power Plc consists of Afam 1 to 5 with an original installed capacity of 987MW, while ATFPL consists of an initial installed capacity of 240MW comprising eight turbines of 30MW each supplied by General Electric.

“The plant was commissioned in five phases between 1962 and 2001. The station also has 132KV and 330KV switchyards that are owned and operated by the Transmission Company of Nigeria.

“Afam 1-5 used to house 20 Gas Turbines. At present Afam 1, 2, 3 are decommissioned while two units of Afam 4 (GT17and 18) are generating between 70 - 110MW, the remaining four units (GT 13-16) and the two units of Afam 5 (GT 19 and 20) can also be rehabilitated “ATFPL is a large scale pilot power project involving the optimisation of power output in potential brown field sites through the use of trailer – mounted turbines utilising gas or condensate as feedstock,” said the document.

It explained potential bidders would be responsible for operating the station, improving

the generation capacity and make all necessary investments in line with the objectives of the NEPP.

Discos dispute Fashola’s claim on improvement in electricity supply As the federal government is shopping for investors to buy the Yola Disco, the remaining 10 electricity distribution companies in the country under the aegis of the Association of Nigerian Electricity Distributors (ANED) has again described as false the claim by the Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Mr. Babatunde Fashola that the transmission capacity has increased from 5,000 Megawatts in 2015 to 7,124 MW in December 2017, representing a yearly increase of 1,062MW in transmission capacity.

ANED’s Executive Director in charge of Research and Advocacy, Mr. Sunday Oduntan, told journalists yesterday in Lagos that in the two historical generation peaks of 5,074 MW recorded in February 2, 2016 and 5,222 MW in December 18, 2017, the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) was able to transmit only 4,577 MW and 4,265 MW, respectively, stressing that TCN has never wheeled energy in excess of 4,265 MW. “Further confirmation of the limitation of TCN is the 22 total systems collapse in 2016 and six partial systems collapses; 15 total systems collapse and nine partial meltdowns in 2017; and six times in the first eight days of 2018 alone,” he said.

Oduntan also described as misleading, the minister’s claim that power generation has improved from 4,000 MW in 2015 to 7,000 MW in 2018, insisting that a volume of generation slightly under 7,000 MW already or previously existed, prior to the beginning of the present administration.

Speaking on Fashola’s statement that customers should turn to the Discos for the supply of meters and transformers, Oduntan reminded the minister that at the 18th monthly power sector and stakeholders meeting held on August 14, 2017, the minister had told the stakeholders that the supply of meters to electricity customers was not exclusive to the Discos, and described Fashola’s earlier position “as a contradiction of his convenient assertion now that customers with no meters should turn to the Discos.”

Oduntan added, “The metering gap, a major concern for our customers and us, the Discos, unfortunately, has become a politicised issue.

As a means of tracking and accounting for our revenues, there is no greater interested party in comprehensive metering than the Discos.

“Metering alone reduces collection losses very significantly and improves customers’ willingness to pay. Metering is a performance requirement for Discos, in terms of their loss reduction and metering targets, as specified in the Performance Agreement with BPE. As such, the Discos are committed to ensuring that their customers

are metered.”

Oduntan described the current metering gap of 4.1 million as a legacy of 62 years of government under-investment and PHCN inefficiency.

He said the performance agreement signed by the private investors and the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) had indicated that the metering gap was 1.7 million.

“This gap continues to grow, as Discos enumerate and identify their customers, convert illegal consumers into customers, replace non-functional and aged meters and make new connections. The gap not only exceeds the 1.7 million metering obligation specified in the Discos’ performance agreement (out of which the Discos have delivered 88 per cent of their metering obligation and the 2.7 million metering gap at the handover of the Discos but exceeds the allowance for total capital expenditure - N305 billion, for the 11 DisCos, over five years, for all metering, network expansion, rehabilitation and replacement of transformers, and injection stations, when compared with an estimated N299 billion required to address the gap. In simple terms, the cost of comprehensive metering, currently, simply dwarfs the ability of the current tariff to accommodate same. It means that the already artificially suppressed tariff cannot accommodate the cost without an increase,” he explained.

Also reacting to the minister’s claim that the Discos cannot distribute what the generation companies generate and that there is a transmission expansion

plan from 2018 to 2028, which the federal government is committed to implement, Oduntan argued that a stress study of the distribution network conducted by the Presidential Task Force on Power (PTFP) in 2012 indicated that the Disco had capacity utilisation of 4,561 MW. According to him, another stress test conducted by the Systems Operator, a unit of TCN in 2015, indicated a distribution capacity utilisation of 6,288MW, adding that the distribution capacity rating of the Discos by TCN for 2012 was 6,026MW, which was significantly higher than that specified by the PTFP stress test.

TOP GAINERS CUTIX CUSTODIAN WAPICINSURE CCNN REGENCYALLIANCE TOP LOSERS BETAGLASS LAFARGE PRESCO

NGN NGN 0.33 3.63 0.55 6.10 0.02 0.44 1.10 26.00 0.01 0.25 NGN 8.10 72.90 3.25 29.25 6.60 59.55 PZ 1.65 15.15 FCMB 0.19 1.81 HPE Nestle Nig Plc ₦1,450.00 Volume: 378.698 million shares Value: N4.418 billion Deals: 4,551 As at Tuesday 24/07/18 See details on Page 39

% 10.0 9.9 4.7 4.4 4.1 % 10.0 10.0 9.9 9.8 9.5

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COMMENT

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

NIGERIA AND THE BUHARI AGENDA Tola Adeniyi argues that the president has not done enough to protect the people

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obody should by now be in doubt about President Muhamm adu Buhari’s gory agenda for Nigeria. I wrote about this subject in a satiric article titled The Agenda (theeagleonline.com.ng/the-agenda-by-tolaadeniyi/). We cannot pretend to be unconcerned when hundreds of thousands of our fellow country men, women and children have been consigned to Internally Displaced Persons crammed camps all over half of the country, and yet we pretend not to be at war!

Let me confess that I used to be one of Buhari’s most ardent fans. I was the founder of the Canada-based Global Intelligentsia for Buhari with members drawn from Europe, Asia, Australia and the Americas.

I campaigned vigorously and canvassed funds for his ascendancy and wrote copiously to ensure his victory but it hurts me to the marrow that the blood of the innocent flows ceaselessly all over the country under his watch. Whatever achievements Buhari may have made cannot compensate for irreplaceable lives of the victims of pogrom.

Today, I will only reproduce concerns published by other observers to buttress the fact that Nigeria faces extinction if Buhari’s government is allowed to continue with its incredible drive as conveyed by the president’s body language to annihilate certain Nigerians, destroy their means of livelihood, forcefully take over their lands and give such lands to ‘foreign’ terrorists and implant totally alien cultures to the occupied lands.

I will start with the highly respected CNN prodigy Christiane Amanpour, hear her: “By all definitions and descriptions, the Nigeria’s so called herdsmen are terrorists and if President Buhari doesn’t believe so, then it would be difficult for anyone to reasonably absolve him (Buhari) from complicity. I cover wars and crisis as a journalist, I think I know, and the world also knows how terrorists operate. “The fact that herdsmen’s attacking pattern is focused primarily on wiping off farmers should rob Buhari who has achieved only little in his economic agenda that’s expected to be powered mainly by farmers.

The impact of these well defined attacks on Nigeria’s economy is expected to be grave, maybe on the long run greater than that of Boko Haram which has been largely localised to the North East�. Christiane Amanpour, CNN My next reference is the Presidency itself as quoted by Chief Femi Fani Kayode: “The Nigerian Presidency, through presidential spokesman Femi Adesina, has told the Vanguard Newspaper that “giving land for ranching is better than death�. He also said “Being alive is better than ancestral attachment to land�. In other words you must surrender your ancestral lands to the Fulani or prepare to be slaughtered. You must give them your homes or they will take your lives! You must give them your money and all that is dear to you or they will butcher you and your family and take over all that is yours. Surely only the accursed still support this evil government. Do we need any further evidence to prove that Buhari is not condoning the ethnic cleansing and genocide?�

This buttresses my conviction that the killings are not necessarily inspired by religion but rather by messianic craze to grab peoples’ lands by force of arms and drive original owners into extinction. We follow this up with Ekiti State Governor, Ayo Fayose who in his Twitter asked

I CAMPAIGNED VIGOROUSLY AND CANVASSED FUNDS FOR HIS ASCENDANCY AND WROTE COPIOUSLY TO ENSURE HIS VICTORY BUT IT HURTS ME TO THE MARROW THAT THE BLOOD OF THE INNOCENT FLOWS CEASELESSLY ALL OVER THE COUNTRY UNDER HIS WATCH

Buhari eight critical questions concerning the president’s anti-corruption campaign: One, I ask our President, what has happened to the report on the $43m discovered in an apartment at Osbourne Towers, Ikoyi, Lagos?

Two, what has happened to the allegation of award of $25bn contracts without following due process made against Dr. Baru by Dr Ibe Kachikwu?

Three, what happened to the DSS indictment for corruption of Magu and the AGF Investigative Panel set up by the president? Four, who is the owner of LEGICO Shopping Plaza, Ahmadu Bello Way, VI, Lagos inside which the EFCC claimed that it found N448.8 million cash?

Five, who brought the five sacks in which the EFCC claimed that it found N49 million cash to the Kaduna Airport? Six, what happened to the probe panel on the alleged N500m bribery by MTN? Seven, most importantly, what has happened to the report on the fraudulent reinstatement of Maina? Eight, is the president going to use APC broom to sweep the report on Maina under the carpet just as he did to others before it?

Incriminating evidence is the unprecedented nepotism and extreme I-don’t-care parochialism exhibited by Buhari in his disguised military government masquerading as civilian. See the composition of the country’s Security Council: Muhammadu Buhari (President); Mansur Mohammed Dan Alli (Minister of Defence); Abdulrahman Dambazau (Minister of Internal Affairs); Lawal Daura (DG-SSS); Ibrahim Magu (Chairman, EFCC); Tukur Buratai (Chief of Army Staff); Sadique Abubakar (Chief of Air Staff); Mohammed Saliu Usman-AVM (Chief of Defence Intelligence); Ibrahim Idris (Inspector-General of Police); Abubakar Malami (Attorney-General); Baba Gana Monguno (National Security Adviser); Ahmed Rufai Ababukar (DG NIA).

In what language will they communicate, please? Do they discuss Nigerian security or Northern Security? An expanded meeting will have: Abdullahi Gana Muhammadu (Civil Defence); Hamid Ali (Controller-General of Customs); Mohammed Babandede (ComptrollerGeneral of Immigration); Ja’afaru Ahmed (Comptroller-General of Prisons). Notice anything? They are all from the North, mostly Fulanis.

And witness the recklessness of a war monger who in normal country should have been charged to court for terrorism, the so-called Myetti Allah Kautal Hore, who has rejected calls for sacking of service chiefs apparently because the said chiefs are acting out their script.

And I quote: Secretary-General of the group, Mr Saleh Al-Hassan, said this during an interview on Sunrise Daily, a Channels Television programme, on Monday.

A large section of Nigerians, including National Assembly and governors, has called on President Muhammadu Buhari to sack service chiefs for failing to protect lives of Nigerians. However, Al-Hassan said those calling for the sack of service chiefs “are corrupt politicians.� “That is why people calling for the removal of service chiefs are either corrupt politicians or those working for them. We should not fall for that gambit.� Says foreign herdsmen can graze in Nigeria.

Al-Hassan also rejected suggestions that herdsmen from other countries should be prevented from grazing their cattle in Nigeria.

Otunba Adeniyi, Jagun Oodua Adimula ll

METAPHYSICS OF DEMOCRACY There is need to strengthen family values, writes Sonnie Ekwowusi

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omething important happened last week.

It triggered off a pot-pourri of conversation between a friend and I on variegated subject matters relating to democracy, philosophy of education in Nigeria, family values and national development and so forth. We were along a major street in Lagos. My friend was driving the car. I sat in the front seat.

Vehicular traffic was light. The rain was drizzling.

The street beggars and hawkers were completely soaked by the rain. But they stubbornly remained under the rain. Suddenly a lady in white appeared by the side of the street. She looked like a young mother. She was contemplating crossing the street.

Therefore my friend applied the brake to enable her cross the street. Then the lady did something strange. She opened her hands and dropped something that looked like a chaff of corn, ruffled tissue papers and sachets of ‘pure water’ right on the clean street. In other words, the lady had littered the street with the refuse in her hands without any qualms. Time was 4 o’clock in the afternoon.

Disgusted by what the lady did, my friend turned, looked at me and said, “Lack of home training�. I nodded my head in affirmation. Thereafter a long conversation ensued on the aforesaid subject matter.

It raged until my friend dropped me off home.

We seem to place all our hope in democracy.

At the moment we are anxiously waiting for the 2019 elections. But we tend to forget one thing: we always forget that an abstract democracy not sustained by the fundamental social tradition of the society is a recipe for disaster. At the end of the day what strengthens a nation is not nAPC, APC, PDP, nPDP, GNP, nGNP, ADP, CUUP, and so forth.

Neither will it be the outcome of the 2019 elections.

What ultimately strengthens a nation and thus paves way for the much-vaunted prosperity are those little communally-binding ideals which inform and form the superstructure of the character of an individual. A country cannot escape destruction if the communal-binding ideals are relaxed in proportion to the democratic ties. Simply put, if we want to strengthen the democratic ties, we must first of all strengthen the communally-binding ideals because the latter are what give rise to the former. Truth be told, democracy has not divested us of our civic, social and family duties and obligations as members of the society. Rather democracy ought to assimilate and reinforce these civic, social and family duties.

For example, the family is one of the most important pillars upon which any society stands and lays its claim to civilisation. Small wonder the family has been dubbed the shaper of values of the child.

The value which the family institution inculcates in a child eventually becomes the foundation upon which he/she builds the superstructure of his/her behaviour. Consequently the destruction of the family is tantamount to destruction of a society. And that is why the crises in contemporary democracy are essentially the crises of the family. Therefore it is wrong to perceive the family as a private thing unconnected with the national question. In fact one of the things precipitating a crisis in the political ream is the crisis in the family. When families fail to function properly, Prof. Robert P. George argues, the effective transmission of the virtues of public honesty, public civility, self-restraint, patriotism, respect for constituted authority, fulfilment of civic duties such as paying taxes, participation in the one-year compulsory National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), cleanliness, social etiquettes, public hygiene,

concern for others, etc., are imperilled. In fact, the increasing societal vices such as drug abuse, rape, human trafficking, kidnapping, piracy and internet pornography are traceable to failed parenting or failed families.

Therefore we must re-work our democracy to focus on those things that really and truly strengthen a nation. Let me repeat here what has been repeatedly said. The surest way to be ruined by democracy is to take democracy for granted.

Let us learn not to take our democracy for granted.

One of the deficiencies of contemporary democracy is lack of freedom. We must envision a metaphysical democracy that guarantees personal freedom.

Freedom is more than absence of imprisonment or freedom from the iron grips of despotic rulers.

Freedom is living in liberating principles- shared beliefs and shared values. If there are no liberating principles to guide political activity, then political ideas and convictions can easily be manipulated or corrupted for reasons of power. What is needed today is a democracy that portrays the positive vision of the human person and the solidarity which binds all men.

It is wrong for the lady in white to litter the street because she is a stakeholder in positively shaping society. Parents may not outsource parental responsibility because responsible parenthood engenders a virile nation. A fresh university graduate must not evade participating in the compulsory NYSC because it is, inter alia, a diservice to the nation. When you see a dying citizen in the street in desperate need of assistance your first impulse will not be to complain to the government: your first spontaneous reaction would be to look for the urgent means of restoring the health of the dying

person. In many Nigerian cultures, one person alone does not raise a child. The task of raising a child is the task of every member of the community.

Therefore we cannot forget who we are as a people.

There is a limit to be achieved with empty political creeds or abstract political thoughts or abstract party manifestoes. But much more can be achieved with cultural life, with lived experience made up of little values which forms the character of an individual and sustains the society.

In his essay, Metaphysics of Democracy, Prof Thomas Joseph White writes, “democracies are subject to the whims of superficial collective ideologies; indoctrination of the masses based on television values, demagogy, political correctness, and plutocracy�. Prof Whit is right. Contemporary democracy is made to subsist without reference to the transcendence. We live in a new world in which universal values have been replaced by arbitrary rights to choose; pleasure is mistaken for happiness; information replaces knowledge (truth); sexual conventionalism replaces self-control; egoism replaces solidarity; equality means the deconstruction of man-woman anthropological complementality; subjectivity replaces objectivity. Truth becomes anything that suits one’s fancy.

Certainly, a liberal democracy that does not correctly articulate the human orientation towards transcendence poses a great danger. Our task is to challenge such liberal democracy. In any case, we have seen how such modern liberal democracies are collapsing like packs of cards today. In order to strengthen the nation there must be a fine blend or a convergence between those communally-binding values which sustain society and our democratic tents.

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T H I S D AY WEDNESDAY, JULY 25, 2018

EDITORIAL NNPC AND THE SUBSIDY CLAIMS The operations of the state-run corporation must be made transparent

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or the fifth time in seven months, the Federation Accounts Allocation Committee (FAAC) meeting was deadlocked last week due to claims by the Nigeria Governors’ Forum that the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) was short-changing the federation over volumes of petrol it imports into the country. At the centre of this recurrent controversy is the absence of due process, transparency and accountability in the management of the NNPC, an agency of government notorious for corruption and opacity.

The NNPC reportedly collected subsidy to the tune of N89 billion in the month of May, part carry-over from last year, yet the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) doubts the genuineness of those figures.

The Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA) that is statutorily responsible for documenting how much petroleum products Nigeria consumes daily also has reservations about the NNPC figures. Between the NNPC, DPR and PPPRA – the three main sources that should know and provide reliable statistics about how much petrol Nigeria consumes at A REGIME OF UNBRIDLED SUBSIDY IN every point - none WHICH A SUBSTANTIAL has agreed with the figures being churned SLICE OF THE out by others.

NATIONAL BUDGET What has come GOES TO SERVICE THE out clearly from the unfortunate developCONSUMPTION OF ment is the lack of ONE SINGLE ITEM IS transparency and DETRIMENTAL TO THE accountability in the DEVELOPMENT OF ANY management of our NATION oil assets. Meanwhile, the NNPC from a recent letter to the Finance Minister, Mrs Kemi Adeosun, in a bid to exonerate itself from any wrongdoing in the FAAC imbroglio, inadvertently let out very damning information about its own operations.

In the letter, NNPC disclosed it imports and claims subsidy for 60 or 70 million litres of petrol daily, a figure

Letters to the Editor

the DPR and other stakeholders in the sector dispute on grounds Nigeria could not be consuming more than 30 million litres every day. Even the PPPRA from its records indicated an average of 45 million litres has been the volume of petrol Nigeria consumes daily, and upon which it has based its advice on imports.

What the differing figures have done is to highlight the level of corruption in the business of petrol importation and distribution in Nigeria by the NNPC and perhaps explains why most private oil marketers have been pushed out of the busines.

B T H I S DAY

EDITOR BOLAJI ADEBIYI DEPUTY EDITOR DAVIDSON IRIEKPEN MANAGING DIRECTOR ENIOLA BELLO DEPUTY MANAGING DIRECTOR KAYODE KOMOLAFE CHAIRMAN EDITORIAL BOARD OLUSEGUN ADENIYI EDITOR NATION’S CAPITAL IYOBOSA UWUGIAREN MANAGING EDITOR JOSEPH USHIGIALE

T H I S DAY N E W S PA P E R S L I M I T E D

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF/CHAIRMAN NDUKA OBAIGBENA GROUP EXECUTIVE DIRECTORS ENIOLA BELLO, KAYODE KOMOLAFE, ISRAEL IWEGBU, IJEOMA NWOGWUGWU, EMMANUEL EFENI DIVISIONAL DIRECTORS BOLAJI ADEBIYI, PETER IWEGBU, ANTHONY OGEDENGBE DEPUTY DIVISIONAL DIRECTOR OJOGUN VICTOR DANBOYI SNR. ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR ERIC OJEH ASSOCIATE DIRECTORS PATRICK EIMIUHI, SAHEED ADEYEMO CONTROLLERS ABIMBOLA TAIWO, UCHENNA DIBIAGWU, NDUKA MOSERI DIRECTOR, PRINTING PRODUCTION CHUKS ONWUDINJO TO SEND EMAIL: first name.surname@thisdaylive.com

ased on the NNPC letter to Adeosun, in which it made frantic efforts to absolve itself and even accused the DPR of intentionally divulging information on the situation to the governors, as well as undisputable operational records from the PPPRA, we are constrained to believe that the downstream sector of the petroleum industry will never be free of unwholesome practices until it is weaned of the subsidy regime.

Yet, neither the NNPC nor the officials of the current administration seem keen on restoring sanity in that direction.

As we have consistently argued on this page, a regime of unbridled subsidy in which a substantial slice of the national budget goes to service the consumption of one single item is detrimental to the development of any nation. But the issue at hand is how to make the NNPC more accountable and transparent in its dealings. The solution lies in the reform of the sector.

The National Assembly has done considerable work in that regard with the passage of the Petroleum Industry Governance Bill (PGIB) which is yet to be signed into law by President Muhammadu Buhari.

While we welcome recent disclosure that the World Bank, National Bureau of Statistics and other key stakeholder would embark on a project to gather data, verify them and eventually come up with a figure of how much petrol the country consumes daily, we urge that this does not become another empty pledge. Beyond this, we also maintain that reforms of NNPC should be expedited so that it can be operated as a transparent body like what obtains in other jurisdictions.

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

HOW OSUN APCVOTED FOR CONTINUITY

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t last, Adegboyega Isiaka Oyetola is the candidate of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in the forthcoming governorship election in Osun.

He defeated 13 other aspirants in a keenlycontested election adjudged by observers as free, fair and credible. With its massive turnout and the huge success that attended the election, I am sure enemies of ‘Direct Primary’ would have by now had a rethink.

In his acceptance speech, the Iragbiji-born Insurance guru called on his co-contestants to join him in the task of winning the governorship election, come September 22, 2018. While thanking party faithful for ensuring his victory, Oyetola, who currently serves as Chief of Staff (CoS) to Governor Rauf Aregbesola, urged the people to brace up for the task ahead with a firm resolve to ensure victory for the party. “Our opponents from other parties increase their arsenal to fight with us. But we are ready. We are tested. Like the broom sweeping away the rot, we are set and ready”, he said.

With this victory, APC has surely crossed the first hurdle. But, as Oyetola has admitted, the battle ahead is bound to be fierce.

Personally, I have no problem with that! After all, such is the rancorous nature of political practice in this part of the world.

However, the immediate task before APC is how to prevent going to that war with a divided house. More especially, it is about how to avoid a repeat of August 9, 2017 in which some key leaders in APC obviously betrayed the party. This task, in

my view, must begin with reconciling aggrieved members - real, even imagined; particularly, those whose egos might have in one way or the other been bruised in the course of electing the party’s standard-bearer. Much as wrangling of this nature is not alien to a party of APC’s structure and strength, ability to admit faults (where necessary) and forgive (whenever the need arises) are essential ingredients of progressive politics.

Having said this, let’s now focus our attention on the candidate. In Oyetola, continuity of Aregbesola’s good works in Osun is guaranteed! With over-30 years cognate experience which also spans the oil and gas world; plus close to eight years’ tutelage at the feet of the governor, I have no doubt in my mind that the urbane technocrat-turned-politician will successfully carry the torch to the Promised Land.

From investigations, Oyetola’s ‘sin’ rests on three major planks: ‘Consolidation and Continuity’; ‘Lagos orientation’; and ‘West Agenda’. While fans of the first plank think that a vote for Oyetola may amount to continuing with ‘same-of-the-same’, his ‘Lagos-factor’ accusers hold the view that his “long sojourn in Lagos” might have shut him out of the intrigues and peculiarities of Osun politics. The worst of their ‘odds’ is the zoning stuff.

In the thinking of these ‘West lo kan’ sympathisers, it is “morally just” to concede the slot to the West Senatorial District, having done only 22 months out of the state’s almost-22 years’ journey into democracy.

Zoning versus competence! Infrastructure Development versus

Salary Brouhaha! APC-Abuja versus aggrieved APC-Local!

Religion versus Region! By the way, why is a tiny fraction of Nigerians interested in pouring sand in Oyetola’s gaari? Why are zoning traders silent on a similarly-contested terrain of religion, bearing in mind that Church and State also derive their powers from the people’s loyalty? Beyond the ritual of succession, the introduction of tribal primordial sentiments as a means of accessing power has remained such a shameful and sometimes painful part of our Nigerianness. In saner climes, Oyetola’s vast experience in finance management, business and public administration would have served as the needed balm to help heal the state’s economic wounds.

Sad that politics in Nigeria is an amusing hobby of sorts.

Much as it is a game of Chess, it is also warlike in nature and texture. Interestingly, its victory is not served a la Carte! In the case of Osun-APC, its ‘chess’ component ended on July 20, 2018 while its war game is most likely to be felt as we gradually approach the governorship election. Having said that, a time like this presents an opportunity to devise strategic political plans that can help prevent unpleasant refrains from taking over our landscape as from November 27, 2018. Food for the stomach and the stomach for food: while there is no silver bullet to the challenges currently confronting the state, it is time those who love dear state sank their differences in the overall interest of party.

Abiodun Komolafe, Ijebu-Jesa, State of Osun

WEDNESDAY, ͺͽ˜ ͺ͸͹΀ ˾ T H I S D AY

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NEWS

Presidency, Govs, W’Bank Chiefs to Headline 3rd THISDAY Healthcare Summit Adewole: THISDAY is a star in repositioning healthcare in Nigeria

Martins Ifijeh High powered members of Nigeria’s economic team lead by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, governors, National Assembly members, Federal Ministers, Commissioners of Health, World Bank chiefs and officials of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation are among stakeholders expected to grace the third edition of the THISDAY Healthcare Policy Dialogue billed to hold at the Musa Yar’Adua Conference Centre in Abuja on Friday, July 27, by 10a.m.

The summit, which hopes

to bring under one roof healthcare stakeholders, development partners and policy makers to chat a way forward for the provision of basic healthcare to all states of the federation, will also focus on honoring high performing states in healthcare, as well as states with potential to spring surprises.

It will also address the role of emergency medicine in healthcare provision.

This is following the previous two policy dialogues, which focused on Healthcare Financing and Universal Health Coverage (UHC) in March and April

Adewole 2018 respectively.

Both earlier endavours yielded a number of successes, including for the first time, the earmarking of

N57.15 billion in the 2018 national budget for the Basic Health Care Provision Fund (BHCPF) by the National Assembly.

This third edition, themed, ‘Funding Healthcare for All; Why States Matter,’ with a sub-theme, ‘Emergency Medicine: Need for Action,’ will honour eight states using federal government’s Saving One Million Lives Programme Performance Index as a major tool in determining star states that have delivered healthcare to their people.

Among those expected are Minister of Health, Prof.

Isaac Adewole,

Minister of FCT, Alhaji Mohammed Bello; Zamfara State Governor, Alhaji Yari Abubakar; Chairman, Senate Committee on Health, Senator Lanre Tejuoso; Lagos State Governor, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode; Kano State Governor, Alhaji Umar Ganduje; Delta State Governor, Dr. Ifeanyi Okowa; Anambra State Governor, Mr. Willie Obiano; Adamawa State Governor, Mr. Jibrilla Bindow; Cross River State Governor, Prof. Ben Ayade; and Founder, Flying Doctors Nigeria, Dr. Ola Orekunrin.

Others are Minister of State for Health, Dr. Osagie

Ehanire; Country Head, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Ms. Paulin Basinga; Chief Health, Nutrition and Population, World Bank Nigeria, Mr. Benjamin Loevinsohn; UNICEF Country Director, Mr. Mohammed Fall; Senior Health Advisory, Nigeria Governors Forum, Mr. Abdulwahab Ahmad; Programme Manager, Saving One Million Lives, Alhaji Ibrahim Kana, among others.

States to be honoured using the SOML Performance Index are Zamfara, Lagos, Cross River, Delta, Anambra, Adamawa, Kano State and the Federal Capital Territory.

Others include: Hons. Ali Madaki (Kano), Hassan Saleh (Benue), Ahma Pategi (Kwara), Mark Gbillah (Benue), Shehu Usman (Kano), Aminu Shagari (Sokoto), Nuhu Danburam (Kano) and Atunwa Abdulrazak (Kwara).

Also Salisu Zakari (Bauchi), Hassan Omale (Kogi), OkerJev (Benue), Rufai Chanchangi (Kaduna), Abdulsamad Dasuki (Sokoto), Sani Zoro (Jigawa), Benjamin Okolo (Kogi), Funke Adedoyi (Kwara), Bode Ayorinde (Ondo), Bashiru Salihu (Sokoto), Barry Mpigi (Rivers).

Other are Hons. Nasiru Sule (Kano), Segun Ogunwuyi (Oyo), Lawal Rabiu, Sani Rano (Kano), Dickson Tarkighir (Benue) Musa Adotsamiya and Emmanuel Udende (Benue).

The members from Oyo State who defected from APC to ADC were Hons. Sunday Adepoju, Olugbemi Samson, Taiwo Michael, and Olasupo Abiodun.

The plenary was agog soon after the House Speaker Yakubu Dogara read their letters of defection on the House floor as PDP members took to singing and jubilation.

The defectors mainly cited divisions and factionalisation as reasons for leaving the ruling party.

But speaking with reporters at a press briefing later, leader of the APC group who defected, Hon. Rassaq Atunwa from Kwara State, said they left because the APC had failed to deliver on its campaign promises to Nigerians.

He said the latest defection was only a first batch, stressing that more APC members would join the PDP in the coming days.

Also, Hon. Aliyu Madaki from Kano said the APC had failed to deliver on security with which it rode into power in 2015.

Also, addressing reporters shortly after the defection was announced yesterday, the Leader of the House, Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila, expressed sadness over the defections.

He described those who defected as being "part of the family," adding that the doors of the party remained open to them whenever they realised they had made an error to have jumped ship.

I Wish Defecting Members the Very Best, Says Buhari

the better.

"The business of governance must be driven by men and women of honour. If it's about 'me,' the earlier those pursuing personal gains leave the better.

We will go for campaign...

These people, the votes they got in 2015, and the president got more votes from their constituencies. There were big masquerades with no electoral value," Oshiomhole stated.

The party’s National Publicity, Abdullahi, tried to calm nerves, saying despite the defections the party was still in the majority.

In a statement he said apart from being in control of 25 out of the 36 states of the federation, APC maintained a clear majority in the federal House of Representatives and state assemblies. According to him, "As a truly democratic party, we respect the right of every citizen to political association. Therefore, we urge our members to remain calm as we continue to work hard to position our party strongly for the next general elections.

"APC remains in firm control of 25 states of the 36 states of the federation and maintains a clear majority in the federal House of Representatives and state assemblies.”

PDP TAKES OVER SENATE AS 14 SENATORS DEFECT FROM APC two vacancies.

President Muhammadu Buhari and the APC attempted to downplay the gale of defections yesterday, wishing the carpet crossers well in their future endeavours.

“I wish all of our party members who today defected, the very best in their future undertakings,” the president said in a statement by his Senior Media Assistant, Malam Shehu Garba, adding, “The APC has done its best to stop the defections, and I must commend the party leadership for working tirelessly to unite the party and position it for future victory.”

The APC National Chairman, Mr. Adams Oshiomhole, was, however, less conciliatory as he dismissed the defectors as big masquerades without electoral values.

The party’s National Publicity Secretary, Malam Bolaji Abdullahi, on his part toed a more temperate path, saying the APC respected the right of the defectors to political association and enjoined the remaining members to remain calm.

Efforts to ward off the defections had collapsed on Monday night as the angry members of the APC massed in the reformed All Progressives Congress (rAPC) had refused all entreaties to persuade them to stay back.

The first sign of hostility was the invitation to Senate President Bukola Saraki by the police, asking him to report at one of its stations in Guzape, Abuja for interrogation of the April 2018 Offa bank robberies.

Saraki had responded that the invitation was a political game to prevent the impending defections from the APC. Yesterday morning, he was proved right as the police blocked his convoy from leaving his Maitama, Abuja residence around the same time security operatives laid siege to Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu’s house in Apo, Abuja.

The security efforts were futile as Saraki made it to the Senate to preside over the day’s proceedings that witnessed the reconfiguration of the power blocs in the upper legislative chamber.

The APC senators who defected as contained in a joint letter written to that effect and read at plenary by the Senate president, were Dino Melaye (Kogi West), Barnabas Gemade (Benue North East), Abdullahi Danbaba (Sokoto South), Mohammed Shaaba Lafiagi (Kwara North), Rafiu Ibrahim (Kwara South) and Suleiman Hunkuyi (Kaduna North).

Others were Hamman Isa Misau (Bauchi Central), Monsurat Sunmonu (Oyo Central), Usman Bayero Nafada (Gombe North), Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso (Kano Central), Suleiman Nazif (Bauchi North), Lanre Tejuoso (Ogun Central) and Abdulaziz Nyako (Adamawa Central).

Worried by the development, the Senate Leader, Lawan (APC Yobe North), made spirited attempt to save the ruling party from losing the defected members by hurriedly making pleas for change of mind.

Lawan, who came through order 43 of the Senate rules under personal explanation, appealed to the Senate president to discountenance the already read letter, since according to him, efforts are being made by leadership of the party to solve the internal crisis rocking the party.

But the Senate president in his response, described Lawan's submission as belated in the face of executive recklessness against him and Ekweremadu who was not allowed to attend the plenary session as a result of security siege slammed on his house by operatives of Department of State Security (DSS) and Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

He said, "As you know and have seen that the seat beside you is absent. As we speak, the deputy Senate president cannot get out of his house today.

"He is under siege. This morning, I could not also leave my street as well due to all efforts by some people that believe that today's sitting must not hold because some members want to move or defect.

"It is not something that has started today; it will not end today; people have gone,

they've come back. But this kind of action does not allow for what you are saying or speaking as the leader of the Senate, who has been here for many years. The senators are adults and have made their personal decisions as clearly explained in the letter.

The 14 senators in the letter said, "Dear Senate President after due consultation with our constituents and stakeholders in our constituencies, in proper recognition of section 68(1G) of the 1999 Constitution as amended and with the fact our party, the All Progressives Congress (APC) is hereby emerging a factionalised party.

"We hereby inform the Senate that we the undersigned are changing our political affiliation from the APC to the PDP. We thank you for your exemplary leadership."

However, the APC senators are still officially playing the role of majority in the Senate on account of the Senate President, Saraki, still retaining his membership of the party in the Senate and Senators Hope Uzodimma (Imo West), Fatimah Raji Rasaki (Ekiti Central) and Sunny Ogbuoji (Ebonyi South) who are believed to have defected to it outside the Senate chamber but yet to do so officially on the floor of the upper legislative chamber.

Meanwhile, the Senate had adjourned plenary to Tuesday, September 26, 2018 after the adoption of votes and proceedings of yesterday's sitting.

Moments after the defections in the Senate, it was the turn of the House of Representatives to entertain the exodus from the APC to the PDP and the Africa Democratic Congress (ADC).

The mass defection, which had been predicted to take place for several weeks, had 32 APC members decamp to the PDP while one other member resigned from the ruling party without telling which party he intended to join.

Members who left the ruling party to PDP include Hons.

Garba Umar (Kano), Olayonu Tope (Kwara), Ahmed Garba (Kano), Kabiru Marafa (Sokoto), Zakari Mohammed (Kwara), Abubakar AmudaKanike (Kwara).

In his reaction, President Buhari said the APC tried hard to stop the defection of party members to other parties.

In a statement by his media aide, Shehu, the president noted that none of the defecting federal lawmakers of the APC had any specific grievances against him or the government he leads, neither did he harbour anything against any of them.

"As the saying goes, all politics is local. We understand that some of the distinguished and honourable lawmakers have issues with their home states, especially on zoning, which bars some of them from seeking another term in their constituencies," he said.

Buhari argued that the APC had done its best to halt the defections, commending the leadership of the party for relentlessly working for its unity and ensuring success in the upcoming elections.

The president assured members of the APC of his total support and urged party faithful not to despair but to rather see the defections as a seasonal occurrence that happens on election eve.

Oshiomhole: Defectors Are Big Masquerades without Electoral Values Oshiomhole was less restrained in his response to the defections yesterday, describing the estranged members as big masquerades without electoral values.

According to him, Nigerians will go to the poll very soon and the outcome will reveal clearly that the defectors do not constitute any threat to APC, alleging that defectors are those who cannot adjust to the change being championed by the APC government.

He said the business of governance should be driven by men and women of honour and not by those who are more pre-occupied with personal interests, adding that the earlier such persons took their exit from the party

PDP Hails Defecting Lawmakers The PDP has hailed the defectors for seeing the reason to join forces with it in the struggle to enthrone good governance in the country. The party’s National Publicity Secretary, Mr. Kola Ologbondiyan, who addressed a press conference in the wake of the defections, congratulated them for choosing the party. "I congratulate members and leaders of the PDP on the defections and abandonment of the sinking ship of the APC in the Senate,” he said, adding, “The situation as we have today, has clearly shown to the entire world that the government of President Buhari has been abandoned

by Nigerians." The PDP spokesman said Nigerians now look up to the party to provide the leadership in 2019 that would guarantee good governance for our people.

WEDNESDAY JULY 25, 2018 ˾ T H I S D AY

17

NEWS

Group News Editor Ejiofor Alike Email Ejiofor.Alike@thisdaylive.com, 08066066268

MPC: FG Not Conscious of Saving for Rainy Day Retains policy rate at 14% Creates incentives to boost banks’ lending Ndubuisi Francis in Abuja The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) rose from its meeting yesterday with the verdict that the federal government was not saving for the rainy day, considering the increasing allocations from the Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) in recent months.

The MPC expressed concern about the liquidity impact of the 2018 expansionary fiscal budget and increasing FAAC distributions due to rising prices of crude oil as well as the 2019 elections- related activities.

The CBN Governor, Mr. Godwin Emefiele, who read the communiqué at the end of the two-day meeting in Abuja, said the committee observed that as the prices of crude oil increased in 2017 and 2018, the monthly allocation to various levels of government also increased.

This, the committee noted,

suggested that the federal government was not conscious of saving for the rainy day.

The committee therefore, advised the fiscal authorities to build the buffers, especially now that the prices of crude oil is relatively high.

The MPC noted with satisfaction, the fourth consecutive quarters of growth of real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and the positive growth outlook in the domestic economy.

According to the committee, this was shown by the sustained improvement in the manufacturing and non-manufacturing indices in the second quarter of the year.

The MPC commended the approval of the 2018 budget, and called for an accelerated implementation to further support the fragile growth recovery.

The committee also called for sustained implementation of the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP) to further stimulate output growth.

It also noted the sustained

Bandits Kill Three Police Officers, Burn PatrolVehicle in Kaduna John Shiklam in Kaduna Three policemen were reportedly killed yesterday in an ambush by unknown gunmen along the Birnin-Gwari - Kaduna road.

Their patrol vehicle was also burnt by the hoodlums.

THISDAY gathered that the policemen were said to be on patrol when they were ambushed.

A statement by the Birnin-Gwari Vanguards for Security and Good Governance quoted eyewitnesses as saying that the incident occurred near Labi village, Birnin-Gwari Local Government Area (LGA).

The statement signed by the Chairman of Birnin-Gwari Vanguards for Security and Good Governance, Ibrahim Abubakar Nagwari, also expressed condolences of the people of the area to the family of the dead policemen.

“On behalf of the entire people

of Birnin-Gwari and our association Birnin-Gwari Vanguards for Security and Good Governance, we extend our heart-felt condolences to the their families and the Nigerian Police Force for this irreparable loss.

We equally like to commend all security agencies for the difficult task of uprooting acts of terrorism, armed banditry and Kidnapping along Birnin-Gwari-Kaduna highways as well as Birnin-Gwari-Funtua road and indeed the Kamuku Forest.

“We are calling on all peaceloving people of Birnin-Gwari to assist the security agencies to unmask all evil elements across our territory and also give accurate information on all hideouts of these criminals” the statement added.

Efforts to get the reaction of the spokesman of the Kaduna State Police Command, Mr. Mukhtar Aliyu, to speak on the incident were unsuccessful as he could not be reached on phone.

moderation in inflation pressure, especially the headline inflation as well as stability in the foreign exchange market.

However, the MPC expressed concern on the threat posed by incessant herders-farmers’ crisis in some key food producing states, adding that the negative impact on some key food supplies chain, will continue to exact pressures on food prices.

For the 12th consecutive time, the committee retained the Monetary Policy Rate (MPR) at 14 per cent, and Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR) at 22.5 per cent.

It also retained the Liquidity Ratio at 30 per cent and the asymmetric corridor at +200 and --500 basis points around the MPR. Emefiele explained that seven of the 10 members at the meeting voted in favour of the retention of the policy rate at 14 per cent, while two opted for a reduction, just as one member was in favour of hiking the rate.

The committee, he stated, strongly considered the option of tightening, believing that doing so would curtail the threat of a rise in inflation, even as the injection from the fiscal authorities will still provide the economy with substantial liquidity.

“Notwithstanding the deceleration in headline inflation, the current double digit inflation

remains above the bank’s six to nine per cent target rate. In addition, the committee is of the view that tightening will help stem the tide of capital flow reversal in the face of sustained monetary policy nominalisation in some advanced economies.

“This, the committee believes, will rein in inflationary pressure and moderate inflation rate to single digit levels, increase real interest rate, build investors confidence and further stabilise the country’s exchange rate.

“On the contrary, the committee is of the view that raising interest rate at this time will weaken consumption and raise the cost of borrowing to investors in the domestic economy.

“In addition, the decision the policy will trigger the re-pricing of financial assets by money deposit banks and further constricting to the real sector that will promote non inclusive growth without development,” he said.

According to him, in considering the option of loosening, the committee assessed the potential effect of stimulating aggregate demand through lower cost of capital, adding that this could stimulate consumption and aggregate demand.

“The committee, however, considered its potential relevance, taking into account, the expected

liquidity injection from the 2018 budget, and increased FAAC disbursements and election related spending ahead of 2019 general elections.

“If this cristalisis, it will increase inflationary and exchange rate pressures as well as return interest rates into trajectory.

Moreover, lowering policy rate may not translate to an automatic reduction in market rate due to poor transmission mechanisms “The committee is also of the view that loosening will reverse the gains already made with reduced importation which has strengthened the current account balance, and lower bank risk appetite and possible rise in NPLs which could negatively impact on the banking industry stability.

“In the discussion for a hold, it was noted that risk to the macroeconomic and financial environment appears fairly balanced with improvement in output growth and inflation,” he stated.

The argument in favour of maintaining the current policy stand, he added, was to monitor the magnitude of the liquidity impact of the fiscal injections and elections- related expenditures ahead of the 2019 polls.

He disclosed that the committee decided to initiate a novel way of incentivising the Deposit Money Banks (DMBs) to increase lending

to the real sector.

The CBN governor noted that credit to the sector had decreased in recent times, adding that the MPC deliberated extensively on what could be done to encourage banks to increase credit.

“At this meeting, we found a somewhat improvemnt which is gratifying but we feel that we must still do what we need to do.

Two approaches were considered,” Emefiele said.

The first approach, where we said, in order to achieve the objective of lowering interest rate particularly to those priority sectors--manufacturing sectors, agric sector that we will encourage large corporates to issue commercial papers to the market and there will be a memorandum that will detail explanations of what they are going to do with that money.

“In order to complement the effort of the banks, we will expect that these commercial papers will come at low rate at single digit of 9 per cent or below that, and for long tenor at a period of seven years with a specific purpose for that loan.

If the central bank sees those kind of notes in the market, we will complement the effort of the banks through a mechanism to support that bank that lends to

Cont’d on page 50

Buhari Nominates Owasanoye as ICPC Chair Deji Elumoye in Abuja President Muhammadu Buhari has nominated Professor Bolaji Owasanoye as the chairman of the Independent Corrupt Practices and other related offences Commission (ICPC).

The president in a one-page letter to the Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki, which was read on the floor of the Senate yesterday also seek Senate confirmation for eight other members of the commission.

The letter, dated October 27, 2017, was titled: ‘Confirmation of the appointment of the chairman and members of the Independent Corrupt Practices and other related offences Commission (ICPC)’.

Those nominees include Dr.

Grace Chinda (Delta), Okolo Titus (Enugu), Obiora Igwedebia (Anambra), Mrs. Olubukola Balogun (Lagos) and Justice Adamu Bello from Katsina State.

Others are Hannatu Mohamed from Jigawa State,Abdullahi Maikano Saidu from Niger andYahaya Dauda from Nasarawa State.

The letter reads: “In compliance with the provision of Section 38(6) of the Corrupt Practices and other related offences Commission (Establishment) Act, 2000, I have the pleasure to present the under listed names for confirmation as chairman and members of the Independent Corrupt Practices and other related offences Commission (ICPC) by the senate.”

President Buhari in the letter pleaded to the Senate for “usual expeditious consideration” in approving the nominees.

WE WILL FORGE AHEAD

R-L: National Chairman, All Progressives Congress, Mr. Adams Oshiomhole; Ogun State Governor, Senator Ibikunle Amosun; Senate Majority Leader, Sen. Ahmed Lawan, Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Mr. Boss Mustapha, and Senior Special Assistant to to the President on National Assembly, Sen. Ita Enang, after a meeting in Abuja...yesterday State Hose

FG Shifts Closure of Third Mainland Bridge to August 24 The three-day closure of the Third Mainland Bridge for investigative maintenance test earlier slated to begin on July 27, 2018, has been shifted to August 24, the Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Mr. Babatunde Fashola (SAN), has announced.

The shutdown, earlier scheduled to last from July 27 to July 30 will now last from August 24 to August 26, 2018.

In a statement, Fashola said the

shift in the date was arrived at after due consultations with the Lagos State Government and wide deliberations with other relevant stakeholders, adding that the date shift was done “in order to give succour and relief to the people of Lagos State and other inter-state road users and support the efforts of the state government.”

On the efforts to decongest the Oshodi-Apapa Expressway, Fashola said, in the short term, he has directed the immediate deployment of trucks

to the trailer park being constructed by the ministry with the capacity to accommodate about 300 trucks while construction works for the shoreline protection continues.

Also, the on-going palliative work on the sections of the Apapa-Oshodi expressway,theon-goingconstructionof the road leading to the Apapa Port from Ijora will soon be completed while the main exit route through Tincan-Oshodi-Oworonshoki is under procurement for award.

When completed, the project will enable free flow of traffic in the axis.

Also, following the visit of the Vice President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo, to Lagos in connection with the Apapa port gridlock, the federal government has said, as a short term measure, a call up system in the control of truck movement would be introduced adding that it would be initially manual, while the long term digital and ICT-based system would be developed and deployed.

T H I S D AY • WEDNESDAY, 25, JULY, 2018

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MIDWEEKPOLITICS

Group Politics Editor NSEOBONG OKON-EKONG Email nseobong.okonekong@thisdaylive.com 08114495324 SMS ONLY

THE NEWSMAKER

Sweet and Sour is His Name Nseobong Okon-Ekong writes that the sustained interest of former Vice President Atiku Abubakar to become President of Nigeria has brought about a renewed interest on his personality

H

is name is on many lips in Nigeria today. It is increasingly becoming a sweet and sour chant, depending on what side of the political divide, one is pitched. A few years ago, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, Nigeria’s former Vice President was not so much loved. Odium surrounding his name had become magnified by the sustained slander from his ex principal, former President Olusegun Obasanjo. Time indeed changes all things. The Atiku image has gone full-circle, transforming from the good, to the not-so-good, to the bad and back to the good; even (and surprisingly) in the estimation of Obasanjo.

For those who showed open animosity against Atiku, their reason stemmed largely from an unproven allegation of being the mastermind behind many corrupt schemes. In the unofficial fraudulent, but thriving enterprises that drives the Nigerian underground economy, Atiku was perceived to possess extraordinary intellect or skill that is markedly superior to his or her peers. This supposition has strikingly signposted his public services, whether in the Nigerian Custom Service, as a politician and later in The Presidency. He is thought to be responsible for the highest level of planning and execution of major operations.

The most recent infraction leveled against him was the alleged involvement of his business partner, Mr.Gabriele Volpi and his company, Intels Nigeria Limited in some shady deals, including manipulation of its expatriate quota. Before that, Atiku’s name was linked to the controversial importation of 53 suitcases in 1984 by a first-class traditional ruler from the North. He was fingered again in the Halliburton scandal which resulted in the conviction of a US lawmaker, William Jefferson, leading to Atiku’s ban from entering the US. But the former Vice President has repeatedly challenged anyone with evidence of corruption against him to come forward.

So far, no court of law has tried or found him guilty of corruption.

Another allegation frequently leveled against Atiku who is better known by his ethnic title as the Turaki of Adamawa (he has since been elevated to Wazirin of Adamawa) is that he habours inordinate ambition to rule the country.

As running mate to Obasanjo, he was said to be the critical half that ensured victory for the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential ticket in 1999 and again in 2003.

Having inherited the political association called the Peoples Democratic Movement (PDM) founded by the General Shehu YarÁdua who passed while being detained by the Gen.Sani Abacha regime, Atiku looked set to become Nigeria’s Number One Citizen. Obasanjo was not a politician. He had just been released from prison. He had no political vehicle to ride on. Owing to the mood of the country (following the annulment of the June 12 Presidential Election which was assumedly won by Chief Moshood Abiola, a Yoruba of Egba stock like Obasanjo), Atiku was prevailed on to yield his political machinery to Obasanjo to enable some kind of healing on the national psyche. While Obasanjo spent the better part of first tenure on shuttle diplomacy to win back friendship for Nigeria that had become a pariah nation during Abacha’s dictatorship, Atiku stayed back at home and gained huge political (and many say financial) capital. The common joke was that even Obasanjo’s family members who visited The Presidency were better received and catered for by Atiku than their presumed host.

By the time Obasanjo realised what was happening and sought for a second tenure in 2003, Atiku had become a powerhouse and nearly removed the carpet from under his

Atiku Abubakar

feet. Atiku rallied all the governors behind him. It was Atiku who made governors of Nigerian states to realise that they wield considerable influence and could in fact hold Mr. President to ransom, forcing him to do their bidding on certain issues. Suddenly, Obasanjo became a general without a troop!

Unconfirmed reports had it that faced with imminent defeat and disgrace, Obasanjo had

In 2007, Atiku took a shot at becoming president.

However, the political dynamics had changed.

Many of the governors who could swing victory in his favour had lost power.

Obasanjo ensured that he was muscled out. He promised the governors that one of them would succeed him, thereby weakening the influence base of Atiku

to eat the humble pie (and do the unthinkable as a Yoruba by prostrating to beg a younger person who was not royalty). More than any other, this moment of humiliation dug a deep hole in Obasanjo’s ego, for which he has not forgiven Atiku.

Of course, Obasanjo visited Atiku with vicious vengeance throughout their second tenure. There was no love lost between the two men, until recently when the common goal to oust President Muhammadu Buhari appears to have brought about some kind of rapprochement between them.

Many Followers of Atiku think his best chance to become President of Nigeria was in 2003 when majority of the governors were urging him on and he had Obasanjo by the balls. He could have easily moved from Vice President to President, after all, there was said to be an understanding that Obasanjo would serve only one term, since his emergence was initially informed by a compelling need to placate the Yorubas over the perceived injustice done to Abiola. But having tasted power, Obasanjo did not only renege on his promise, he even sought clandestine ways of remaining in power for a third term.

In 2007, Atiku took a shot at becoming president. However, the political dynamics had changed. Many of the governors who could swing victory in his favour had lost power. Obasanjo ensured that he was muscled out. He promised the governors that one of them would succeed him, thereby weakening the influence base of Atiku, who was also forced out of the PDP. He went ahead to contest the election on the platform of the Action Congress (AC). He lost the presidential

election to PDP’s Umaru YarÁdua who became President of Nigeria. However, one of the good things that came out of that political maneuver was the public presentation of Atiku as a leader of thought, capable of proffering ingenious solutions to the different challenges confronting the Nigerian society. He began with a speech at Chattam House in London.

Following the defeat, Atiku became a wanderer on the political landscape, searching for the best place to actualise his ambition of leading Nigeria. He made another failed bid in 2015 through the All Progressives Congress (APC).

Disenchanted with the APC, Atiku pulled out of the party last year. He reverted to his tactic of public speaking, hitting hard at the policies and manifest weaknesses of the Buhari administration. He has not just been a critique, he has also been saying how he will do things differently, with the resultant effect that an increasing umber of Nigerians not only seem to be paying attention, they are actually considering giving him a chance if he becomes the flag bearer of one of the political parties. This time, Atiku has advisedly added a deliberate engagement with Nigerian youths, while embarking on nationwide consultations to seek support from different interest groups over his ambition of become Nigeria’s next president in 2019.

Last week, Atiku ended every speculation concerning his political future by staging an impressive presidential rally in his home state, Adamawa on the platform of the PDP. Though it may be argued that he has other contenders in the party to worry about, one thing is clear, the former Vice President is on the march again to Aso Rock.

T H I S D AY ˾ WEDNESDAY JULY 25, 2018

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FEATURES

Group Features Editor: Chiemelie Ezeobi Email chiemelie.ezeobi@thisdaylive.com, 07010510430

Celebrating the African Child Adibe Emenyonu writes that the commemoration of the annual African Child’s Day was another opportunity for the Edo State government to emphasise its determination to educate children of school age

Students from various schools invited to the quiz competition

T

he importance of education cannot be overemphasised.

And in Edo State, the government of Godwin Obaseki believes educating the population is everything in the effort to achieve human and material development. The annual African Child's Day celebrated recently provided a unique opportunity for the government to reiterate its belief in educational pursuits for children of school age.

Put together by the Edo State Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Development in collaboration with the Office of Wife of the Governor and Hallmark Initiative, the four-day event featured educational talks alongside drama presentation/poem recitation. There was also a presentation on drug abuse

by Miss Benedicta Uweru titled: "Effect of Drug Policies on Youth, The Present and Future of Nigeria.�

Another presentation was by Gift Ojie-Jonathan, a Libyan returnee, on the negative effect of Illegal Migration.

Also used to entertain the audience were cultural displays and a debate by school children on who should take the blame

if a child was failing in school. Perhaps, the most heart rending was a poem rendered in Benin Language by a Primary Three pupil advising parents to teach

While the realities of the economic hardship in the world today may well justify the drive for wealth, history has shown that an uneducated population is one which is prone to slavery and oppression from exploiters

their child the danger inherent in hard drugs, such as codeine and Tramadol.

The Struggle It is noteworthy to state the struggle that led to the commemoration of the day of the African Child. The day is celebrated on June 16 every year to commemorate the 1976 student uprising in Soweto under the apartheid regime in South Africa. The Assembly of Heads of Government of the Organisation of African Unity (AOU), now African Union (AU), in 1991 set aside that date every year to commemorate the massacre of over 700 African children who on June 16, 1976 took to the streets to protest against the oppressive rule of apartheid in South Africa.

The apartheid government at that time had introduced the Afrikaans language as a means of instruction in schools in addition to English language but exempted the white students, who in the new law were allowed to learn in any language of their choice. Consequently, about 20,000 black children walked from their schools to Orlando Stadium for a rally to protest the new law which led to the massacre of several of them by the South African apartheid police.

Edo's Educational Priority Celebrating the day with children drawn from various schools in the Edo State, wife of the state governor, Mrs. Betsy Obaseki, in her goodwill message, said South African narrative was necessary for the children, so they can appreciate the importance of education and for them to appreciate the significance of the freedom they now enjoy as outlined in the Constitution of Nigeria and the importance of Child Rights Law Against this backdrop, she said the education of the child remained a priority that could not be toyed with if the country must attain the much talk about national development. In attaining this goal, she said the Obaseki led administration was giving education its pride of place by embarking on reforms in basic education and also revamping technical schools in the state.

Represented by the Commissioner For Women Affairs and Social Development, Mrs Magdalene Ohenhen, Mrs. Obaseki said, “I do not want the importance of this day to be lost in the euphoria of celebration, rather (I want it) to serve as a reminder of the importance of educa-

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FEATURES

Cross section of students at the ceremony

We help teenagers change old habits, development positive behaviour and implement strategies for taking immediate action towards their dreams

tion as the medium of knowledge and enlightenment, particularly in a world that is today fixated on accumulation of wealth at any cost.

"While the realities of the economic hardship in the world today may well justify the drive for wealth, history has shown that an uneducated population is one which is prone to slavery and oppression from exploiters. “This mind-set also informed some of my initiatives such as the ‘Betsy's Angels Shelter’ and ‘Betsy Obaseki After School Club’, both of which were launched this year. The launch of the children version of the Child Right Law and the initiation of my partnership with the school of the blind and people living with disability are some of my other children centred initiatives. “My appeal to you today is to make the most of the opportunities you now have for education and enlightenment using the technologies at your disposal so that you can stand like those Soweto students against oppression where it

Edo State Commissioner for Women Aairs and Social Development, Mrs. Magdalene Ohenhen, anked by spouses of Local Government Council Chairmen at the ceremony

comes in the form of poverty, discrimination, drug abuse, bullying or human trafficking."

Collaboration As one of the collaborators for the event, Hallmark Initiative, in their goodwill message, said the body consisted of volunteers across Nigeria, who were motivated by a strong vision to eradicate ignorance among vulnerable

teenagers, especially those in remand homes, juvenile centres, and orphanages in rural communities.

Hallmark Founder and CEO, Emmanuel Umukoro, noted that because rural and urban communities in the southern part of the country had their fair shares of challenges for everyone, the decision to be a change agent was propelled by what they saw children and teenagers in rural communities suffer.

Umukoro said, "So, Hallmark Initiative was birthed out of a genuine passion to promote the development and empowerment of children and teenagers in grassroots communities. With a vision to raise civic leaders out of teenagers, through their various programmes, we help teenagers change old habits, development positive behaviour and implement strategies for taking immediate action towards their dreams."

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IMAGES

L-R: Managing Partner, Zdesigns and Development Consulting Company, Arc. Ibeanu Chike Chamberlain; Territory Manager Africa, Autodesk Inc., Simon BromďŹ eld; Senior. Technical Sales Specialist – AEC, Autodesk, Vijay Raina; and Nigeria Business Development Manager, Autodesk Inc, Louis Iwegbuna at Autodesk’s Future Forum in Lagos...recently Photo: Abioddun Ajala

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

L-R: Internal Communications & Sustainability Manager, British American Tobacco Nigeria (BATN), Eduvie Martin; Leaf Coordinator, BATN, Uwaifo Onaho; and Area Head of Corporate Aairs, BATN, Abimbola Okoya, receiving an award for the outstanding contribution to the ďŹ ght against Child Labour in Oyo State from the Immediate past Chairman of the State Steering Committee on Child Labour, Mr. Ayodele Adeniyi, in lbaddan...recently

L:R- Director Pace Sports and Entertainment Marketing, Sola Fijabi; Technical Consultant, Higher Institutions Football League (HiFL), Alhaji, Gara Gombe; A model donning one of the newly unveiled jerseys for the UNIMAID desert warriors, Clinton Obi; Assistant Director, Students’ Support Service (NUC) Ms. Rita Okonjo; Vice President, National University Games Association, Emeka Ogbu and the Executive Director, Brooks and Blake, Nigeria Limited, Taiwo Ogunwumi at the oďŹƒcial seeding and draws dinner of the Higher Institution Football League (HiFL), organized by Pace Sports and Entertainment Marketing in Lagos, recently.

Photo: Abioddun Ajala

L R: Speaker,House of Representatives,Rt. Hon. Yakubu Dogara; Senator Aliyu Wamakko; Etsu Nupe, Alhaji Yahaya Abubakar and Archbishop of Abuja, Roman Catholic Church, John Cardinal Onaiyekan, at the ongoing of 1st National Assembly Open Week in Abuja...recently

L-R: Oyo State Commissioner for Health, Dr. Azeez Adeduntan; state Governor, Senator Abiola Ajimobi; Contractor, Mr. Ayo Majolagbe; and Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Health, Dr. Olayemisi Iyiola, during the inspection of World Bank-assisted Jericho Paediatric and Maternity Centre, a project of the state government, in Ibadan...recently

L-R; INEC National Commissioner, Prof Antonio Okoosi-Simbine; INEC Chairman, Prof Mahmood Yakubu and INEC National Commissioner, Prof Okechukwu Ibeanu during a meeting between INEC and its Resident Electoral Commissioners (RECs) in Abuja...recently.

Photo: Julius Atoi

L-R: Secretary,NBA Lagos Beanch, Ikechukwu Uwana; Chairman, NBA Lagos Branch, Mr. Chuka Ikwuazom; Mr. Desmond Ogba; Funmilayo Otsemobor; Mr Reginald Udom;. Afoma Ofodile and Chairman, Continuing Legal Education Mentorship Committee, NBA Lagos, MR. Tobenna Erojikwe, during a mentorship lecture for NBA Lagos young Lawyers by in Lagos...recently.

PHOTO: KOLAWOLE ALLI

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BUSINESSWORLD

Group Business Editor Obinna Chima Email obinna.chima@thisdaylive.com 08024557078, 08091152219

Í° ÍŽ Ëœ Í° ÍŽ ÍŻ Íś MONEY MARKET OBB OVERNIGHT

REPO 15.67 % 15 %

CALL 1-MONTH 3-MONTH

9% 11.38 % 11.78%

S & P INDEX INDEX LEVEL 1-DAY MONTH-TO-DATE

353.45 % -0.03% -0.21%

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

-0.21% 7.28%

EXCHANGE RATE ͹͎ͳ˛͜ͳͯ ̊ ̊

Quick Takes PTAD Pays Pensioners’ BeneďŹ ts

The Pension Transitional Arrangement Directorate (PTAD) has disclosed that it has paid a total of N1.7 billion to 5,382 civil service pensioners as outstanding pension arrears.

The directorate disclosed this in a statement made available to the media. According to the directorate, the pensioners were among the 7,969 civil service pensioners who were enrolled on PTAD monthly payroll in March 2018, during which they were paid a total of N71.5 million for the month.

PTAD, also said in addition to this, it has adjusted monthly pension paymentsfor10,522pensionerstoreecttheircorrectlycomputed monthly pension based on their employment records. “4,292 pensioners had their monthly pension payments adjusted downward, while 6,230 were adjusted upwards,â€? the agency said.

PTAD, in the statement, assured pensioners under the deďŹ ned beneďŹ t scheme who have outstanding pension arrears that payments will be made as soon as the federal government allocates and disburses funds.

NCRIB Commensurates with Ogun

CEO FORUM

L-R: Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Olam Nigeria Limited, Mukul Mathur; CEO, Zenith Bank Plc, Peter Amangbo; CEO, Dangote Cement Plc, Joseph Makoju; Partner / Head, Advisory Services, KPMG Nigeria, Bisi Lamikanra and Senior Partner, KPMG Nigeria, Kunle Elebute, at the 2018 KPMG CEO outlook launch in Lagos‌ recently ETOP UKUTT

Agusto & Co: Fintechs, Long-term Threat to Banks Obinna Chima Agusto & Co. has stated that the emergence of financial technology (fintech) companies in the country was accelerating the adoption of digital banking.

The agency, however, noted that while fintech companies may not be a threat to the Nigerian banking industry in the short-term, they are potential long-term threat to the sector.

Agusto & Co., which stated this in its latest Banking Sector Report made available to THISDAY, therefore supported ongoing strategies by “proactive players in the banking industry to either partner with these fintech companies or create an alternative form in-house.�

The report observed that banks with net interest spread (NIS) consistently above the Industry average of 59 per cent in 2017, garnered a large pool of stable,

BANKING low cost deposits through investments in technology to enhance digital services in their retail banking strategies.

Therefore, it pointed out that financial inclusion strategy aimed at capturing the informal and unbanked portion of the Nigerian populace, which accounts for about 47.5 per cent of Nigerians, remains an avenue to get lowcost funds into the system. “This is achievable though mobile and agency banking.

The young populace, particularly “millennials� are available targets that can be on boarded into the banking system through digital solutions. “The idea behind technology is to grow low cost deposits efficiently, so that the Industry’s spread is preserved as it focuses to top tier corporates for risk

asset creation. “In addition, the use of digital platforms reduces the marginal (or additional) cost of serving customers, thereby maintaining profitability,� Agusto & Co. stated.

According to the agency, with 198 million Nigerians and 148.8 million active mobile (GSM) telephone lines as at March 2018 (Tele density of 75.4%), the potential for financial inclusion via technology was enormous.

Although it highlighted key drawbacks to this to include infrastructure deficit in terms of internet connectivity and cell towns outside major cities, the report stressed that opportunities still exists to increase transactions on e-banking platforms and grow service fees. “The Industry’s e-banking income generated from payment platforms and electronic channels has been on the rise

and was the largest contributor to fees & commissions at 24 per cent in 2017. “Mobile money and ATM transaction trends show growing usage of electronic payment platforms which increases opportunities for banks to earn service and transaction commissions. “With increasing transactions on these digital platforms, the Industry is able to grow commissions and the 24 per cent contribution will rise further overtime. “The margins of the Nigerian banking Industry are under threat due to the weak economic climate which continues to impact asset quality and regulatory constraints caused by a tight monetary policy stance aimed at protecting exchange rates. “The adoption of digitalisation Continued on page 24

Accrued Rights: PFAsYet to Feel Impact of N54bn Released By FG Ebere Nwoji Pension Fund Administrators (PFAs) are yet to feel the impact of the N54 billion released by the federal government last year for payment of accrued rights of pensioners for 2016 and 2017.

A reliable source who disclosed this to THISDAY, attributed the development to the non- appointment of board for the pension industry regulator, the National Pension Commission (PenCom), a situation which was said to have been slowing down activities of both the pension fund administrators

PENSION and PenCom. The Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, IEI-Anchor Pensions, Glory Etaduovie, who also confirmed this, said though the fund was said to have been paid, not all PFAs have received it.

He said though the affected PFAs were still hopeful, the delay in releasing the said funds to the pension fund administrators managing the RSAs of those affected, may not be unconnected with lack of board for

the regulator.

He said delay in appointment of board for the commission was also affecting the activities of the PFAs. Before now managing directors of some PFAs had complained that delay in releasing the accrued rights is affecting smooth running of the contributory pension scheme (CPS).

But the federal government had last year, made budgetary provision of N54 billion for payment of accrued rights of its workers and pensioners for 2016 and 2017.

Accrued rights are entitlements of workers in pension terms before the advent of the private sector managed contributory pension.

It is pension rights of government workers that were in service before the commencement of CPS. The CPS enabling laws demands that the government should release the money to PenCom, who in turn releases to the workers or pensioners through the various PFAs managing their RSAs. Continued on page 24

The Nigerian Council of Registered Insurance Brokers (NCRIB) has commiserated with the government and people of Ogun State for the loss of lives and property due to recent ooding in Abeokuta, the state capital.

The NCRIB President, Mr. Shola Tinubu said this in a statement.

He decried the monumental loss of lives and property caused by the ooding in the state. According to Tinubu, the disaster calls for a rethink by the government and the people about risk management and disaster prevention before they occur.

Whilst calling on governments to embrace insurance for its citizens as a way of mitigating material losses when they occur, the president admonished the citizens to individually insure against ďŹ re and other perils that cover ooding as government may not be able to adequately compensate them when a loss occurs to their lives and property.

Heritage Supports Football Championship

Heritage Bank Plc has signed a partnership agreement with Feet ‘N’ Tricks International Limited on the Africa Freestyle Football championship.The premier edition of the tournament which is scheduled to hold from September 13 to 15, 2018, in Lagos is being planned as a fusion of freestyle football and entertainment that would feature top musical and dance artistes.

The Divisional Head, Corporate Communications, Heritage Bank, Mr. Fela Ibidapo who was quoted in a statement to have said this, explained that the bank was excited to be part of the initiative.

Also speaking, Chairman of Feet ‘N’ Tricks International Limited, Mr. Valentine Ozigbo, said registration for the tournament was open to male and female freestylers of African descent and will close on 15 August 2018. According to him, the registration would be available on the company’s website for interested individuals.

He said the qualifying rounds and Nigerian championship would hold between September 13th and 14th in Lagos.

LCCI Hosts Expo

The Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) is set to host the fourth edition of the Information, Communication, Technology and Telecommunications (ICTEL) Expo.

The event is scheduled to take place between July 25 and 26, 2018, in Lagos. The Director General of LCCI, Muda Yusuf, while commenting on the expo, explained,: “The ICTEL EXPO is positioned to be a veritable platform for both operators and regulators to network, showcase and explore with technology with the view to repositioning the ICT sector of the economy.â€? Yusuf added that this year’s edition promises to be the best ever in the series with the theme, “Developing EďŹƒciency and Competitiveness in the Digital Age.â€? “This is intended to create a platform to discuss strategies for economic diversiďŹ cation and business sustainability with particular focus on ICT. There would also be conferences and exhibition during the two-day event,â€? he added.

“Whilst the Discos are appreciative of the initial reconciliation associated with the N27 billion, they are concerned by the lack of good faith associated with the continued absence of an automatic mechanism for the payment of bills consumed by the MDAs�

Executive Director, Association of Nigerian Electricity Distributors

Mr. Sunday Oduntan

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AGUSTO & CO: FINTECHS, LONG-TERM THREAT TO BANKS strategies can enable banks raise low cost retail deposits, while reducing the costs of servicing these customers. “The future of banking in Nigeria lies with the retail market and with banks ensuring that this segment of the market is well served using digital solutions. This will ensure that cost of funding is low and operating expenses are minimised in the medium to long term,� it added.

According to the firm, regulation continues to squeeze funds available to the banks for lending, thereby, increasing cost of funds.

Apart from regulatory liquidity requirements which demands banks to reserve a minimum of 30 per cent of assets in liquid or ‘near cash’ assets, the cash reserve requirement (CRR) is also a major drag on profitability, Agusto & Co stated.

The Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) official CRR currently stands at 22.5 per cent (or 27.5% for banks that are unwilling to lend to sectors prioritised by the CBN).

ACCRUED RIGHTS: PFAS YET TO FEEL IMPACT OF N54BN RELEASED BY FG But the government has been owing the pensioners in this regard.

Findings showed that since the inception of the CPS, total accrued rights owed by government to workers and retirees amounts to N300 billion.

The Acting Director General National Pension Commission, Aisha Dahiru Umar, had said the released fund would boost efforts at clearing outstanding pension liabilities especially the accrued rights of retiring government workers. But some PFAs maintained that they were yet to feel the impact of the released funds.

Etaduovie, while speaking at a forum organised by the National Association of Insurance and Pension Correspondents (NAIPCO), also noted that one of the major challenges facing the CPS despite its success story and advantages was the unwillingness of some state governments and their workers to accept the scheme.

Group Business Editor

Obinna Chima

NACCIMA: AfCFTA Signing Will Integrate SMEs in Africa Jonathan Eze The Nigerian Association of Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (NACCIMA) has said the signing the Africa Continental Free Trade Area Agreement (AfCFTA) would serve as a platform to integrate small and medium scale enterprises (SMEs) into the regional economy.

The pact would also accelerate women’s trade and economic empowerment.

Addressing a press conference in Lagos yesterday, the President of the association, Iyalode Alaba Lawson, noted that the immediate impact of the AfCFTA could be the loss of revenue from import duties and taxes which may impede the federal government’s current agenda to invest heavily in infrastructure and affect other spending activity.

Thus, the NACCIMA boss stressed the need for the government to step up efforts with policies that would ensure that Nigerian products and services are market ready for the African continent in the shortest possible time.

He added that in order to take full advantage of the AfCFTA when the country finally agrees to sign the agreement, the federal government must intensify current efforts to eradicate non-tariff and regulatory barriers to international trade.

These include border delays, burdensome customs and inspection procedures, as well as ensure that multiple licensing and taxes are eliminated.

He argued that a situation where it was easier to import than to export in the continent would defeat the purpose of signing the AfCFTA. Lawson said, “This is an issue on the top of our national agenda in the field of trade, and we must therefore say a few words about it. The AfCTA aims to create a common market of 1.2 billion people with an

estimated GDP of $2.5 trillion. “At present, over 40 African countries have signed this Agreement. Nigeria was deeply involved in the negotiations from the beginning and indeed we chaired the process. “We therefore cannot afford to be excluded from a common African market because it is a veritable strategy to raise the competitiveness of

African economies in the global economy. “Clearly, NACCIMA’s position is that our dear country should sign the AfCFTA. We as a country have been closely and long involved with the vision of an African Free Trade Area right from the establishment of the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) now known as the African Union (AU).�

The association urged that strategy for implementation should be worked out to tackle the inherent problems. “While we continue to address the issues around the AfCFTA, and work on a strategy for implementation to tackle the problems and set up an all-embracing implementation committee in readiness for when it will finally take off.�

ANNUAL SEMINAR

L-R: Director General, Consumer Protection Council, Babatunde Irukera; Chairman, Air Peace, Allen Onyema; President, African Business Aviation Association(AFBAA),Mr.NickFadugbaandChairman/CEO,SelectiveSecurityInternationalLimited,Mr.AyoObilana,duringthe22ndannualseminar and awards by the League of Airports and Aviation Correspondents in Lagos‌recently KOLAWOLEALLI

NCC to Deploy Tech Solution to Combat Fraud Emma Okonji The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has disclosed plan to deploy a technological solution that will enable tracking of SIM boxes used to perpetuate the fraud.

This is just as members of the House of Representatives Committee on Financial Crimes have commended the NCC over the commission’s prompt intervention in addressing the issue of call masking in the country.

Call masking is a practice where calls are generated from one network to another, with

the identity of the caller hidden from the call recipient, aimed at defrauding the call recipient.

Therefore, the lawmakers expressed its satisfaction with the measures so far taken by the NCC with a view to curbing the menace of call masking and refiling in the country.

Speaking while leading other members of the committee to a meeting at the NCC office in Abuja, the Chairman of the committee, Mr. Kayode Oladele, expressed concern about the dangers the menace of call masking portends in the country. “Within a very short time we are very impressed by the

responses and I wish Nigerians could be told about what we have done here today. “Many people feel that nothing has been done whereas so much has been done, except that if you ask me what we have achieved today I will say that I am leaving here more confused because the problem is bigger than what we thought,�

Oladele said at the end of the meeting. Earlier, the Executive Vice Chairman of the NCC, Prof.

Umar Garba Danbatta told the committee that the menace was not peculiar to Nigeria’s telecom industry alone, adding that the agency had assembled

a technical team brains to select the best technology solution to be deployed for detecting SIM boxes used by the perpetrators in the country. “When we notice a phenomenon which is anticompetitive or undermining the security of the land we promptly take actions. In this regard, we have taken some steps to ensure that operators licensed by the commission abstain from the act. “And we noticed an anecdotal improvement as the numbers came down reasonably. Yet all of a sudden we have an additional dimension, SIM boxing. These are electronic

boxes with a capacity to receive and transmit calls. “We are at a loss how these items of equipment find their way into this country because we don’t type-approve them, and we couldn’t have typeapproved them. It’s illegal to bring SIM boxes into the country,� Danbatta pointed out.

According to him, other African countries bedevilled by the same menace of call masking had successfully used technology solutions to tackle it, adding that the commission would soon speed up its procurement process to ensure its deployment in Nigeria.

C’River to Inaugurate 30,0000 Tons Cocoa Processing Plant

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Bassey Inyang in Calabar The Governor of Cross River State, Professor Ben Ayade, has announced that the 30,000 tonnes per annum cocoa processing plant in Ikom, Central Cross River State which is currently under construction will be completed and commissioned soon.

A visibly elated Ayade made the announcement in reaction to the recent delivery of equipment for the plant, which he said would provide employment

opportunities when it becomes operational. “I am really impressed. As you can see, intellectual money is on display here. From what I have seen, the contractors deserve excellent pats on the back. This is what we call commitment and consistency,� Ayade said while inspecting ongoing work at the plant.

Ayade said the plant was configured with the capacity to process cocoa beans to chocolate bars. “Again, we are going to be the first in Africa as this is

the first cocoa processing plant that will process cocoa beans to chocolate,� the governor said.

Ayade said with the delivery of the equipment, his vision for cocoa revolution in the state was crystalising.

The governor said the plant would bring about value-chain addition to cocoa, which will ultimately enrich cocoa farmers in the state. “This is the spirit of intellectual money and Cross River ultimately will be proud that I knew where I was going from

the beginning. “I am following an agenda that at the end of my eight years in office, when every single citizen of the state remembers my days, he or she will say this young man had a great vision. “For all the years gone by Cross River has been producing cocoa for other states to bear the name because we did not have an off-take mechanism, we did not have a programme by government to buy off the cocoa at good rates. So, outsiders used to come in and buy the cocoa

from us and grade it as cocoa from their own state,�Ayade said.

He said the plant would offer cocoa farmers in the state, “the opportunity, platform and industry to process their own cocoa, giving a premium value for money. A cocoa house is going to be built here. Once you have a cocoa farm, you just come here, collect money during harvest, we take your cocoa, so you have money for the product and you don’t have to go to bank to get a loan.�

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Expert Seeks Increased Private Sector Participation in Economy Mary Nnah If Nigerians are to survive the present economic situation, government must allow more of private participation in the running of the nation’s economy, the Chairman, Pinnacle Leadership and Entrepreneurial Academy, Gbola Sokoya has said.

Speaking in a chat with THISDAY, on a planned lecture scheduled to hold in Lagos on Thursday, Sokoya decried the fact that there had been too much involvement of government in the running of the nation economy.

This, he said, has had negative effect on the economy.

Sokoya said the forthcoming lecture titled, “Sustainable National Development in Globalised Economy,� to be delivered by a United States of America-based Nigerian professor of Economics and Management, Prof. Sesan

Soyaka, aims to simulate the private sector participation to get involved in national economic growth.

He noted, “There is too much of government involvement in the day to day running of the economy in Nigeria.

Government is involved in everything that happens and this, to a large extent retards the economic growth of the nation.�

Speaking further, he said, “If more money is invested into the economy by the private sector, the development of the economy of this nation would be more rapid. Private sector has better efficiency than public sector, which is a proven case everywhere. “No doubt, the plan of the present administration to stimulate the economy is good. I have read the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP) of this administration and I think it is in the right

direction. “That is why I want to stimulate the private sector, so that we do not just sit down and criticise government but take initiatives to contribute to the growth of the nation’s economy. “You don’t need to talk to government before you know that the 180 million people in Nigeria must eat.

Even if your own business is going to feed just hundred persons, just start it. “Even if it means for you to sew cloths, everybody has to wear cloth, just start something. We have a huge market. You need to see the numbers of foreigners that come into this country on a regular basis looking for business opportunities. They are even trading in businesses that you and I can easily handle. There is too much of government in the economy, we need more of the private sector presence,� he said.

Cole Appointed into W’Bank Advisory Council The Executive Director and Co-founder of Sahara Group, Tonye Cole has been appointed into the World Bank Group’s (WBG) Expert Advisory Council on Citizen Engagement.

The WBG established the Expert Advisory Council in 2014 to guide the development and implementation of the Strategic Framework for Mainstreaming Citizen Engagement in the bank’s operations.

The strategic framework was designed to give citizens a stake in decision-making in order to improve the intermediate and final development outcomes of their partnerships with government.

A statement on Monday, disclosed that Cole, would be one of the first two Nigerians ever appointed to the council.

The statement quoted the Sahara Energy boss as saying, “This platform will help articulate and address the real concerns of the private citizenry across the globe on a size and scale only the World Bank can provide.�

“The World Bank is a results driven institution. I am delighted at the opportunity to collaborate with other members of the council on robust agenda setting and implementation of initiatives that are so crucial to global sustainable development.�

Cole is one of the two designated private sector specialists on the council, which is composed of two representatives each from civil society, academia, the private sector, governments, foundations and development partner/donor organisations.

Other new members joining the Council are Flavia Milano (Inter-American Development Bank), Helena Bjunemalm (Swedish International Development Agency), Emily Martinez (Open Society Foundations) and fellow Nigerian Muhammed Sanu Abdullahi (Government of the State of Kaduna). “My work with global agencies and institutions on sustainable development has only reinforced the importance of private and public-sector collaboration.

“My colleagues and I believe that continued crosssectorial and multi-stakeholder engagement can transform the landscape on sustainability and social development for the next generation. I am feeling very positive as we collectively embark on this new chapter,� he added.

Commenting on Cole’s appointment, World Bank official, Jeff Thindwa, who oversees the council’s nomination and selection process, expressed delight at Cole’s addition to the Council, saying, “Mr. Cole will bring a unique private sector perspective to the Council. Combined with his longstanding experience serving global development institutions in various capacities, this positions Mr. Cole to make an impactful contribution to the work of the Council.�

Speaking on the appointment, Bethel Obioma, Head, Corporate Communications, Sahara Group, said it offers yet another platform for Cole to share his passion for “giving wings to aspirations.�

Firm Set to Complete Azuri Peninsula Project Ugo Aliogo and Judith Obaze ITB Nigeria Limited is set to complete its first steel and concrete building project known as the Azuri Peninsula, in Eko Atlantic City, Lagos State.

In a statement made available to THISDAY by the Managing Director of ITB Nigeria, Mr. Ramzi Chidiac, the firm described the Azuri Peninsula project, which began in 2015 as a unique steel and concrete residential building project that consists of three set of over 30 storey towers.

The statement also noted that the project offers a

unique collection of fourbedroom luxury and super luxury apartments, two and four-bedroom stunning Marina Town houses as well as s six-bedroom simplex (penthouses).

Chidiac in the statement expressed satisfaction with the project, stating that it would be the first composite structure created by a combination of steel and concrete to form a single element. “This helps to deliver performance that is more effective than when individual components are used together but not unified.

This testifies to the excellent work that we do at ITB

Nigeria,� he stated.

Chidiac explained that the firm is focused on fully understanding the needs of its clients and delivering on their promises, “regardless of the scale or complexity of the challenge at hand.� “Steel and concrete structures involve a mix of steel and concrete together to form a single element. The tensile capacity of the steel and the compressive capacity of the concrete result in a standard structure. “This gives rise to benefits like speed, performance and value. Additionally, concrete encasement protects the steel from buckling, corrosion and fire,� the statement added.

ELEVATING TO THE NEXT LEVEL Marie-Therese Phido

How WillThe Fourth Industrial Revolution Impact?

I was asked to moderate a panel in Cape Town at the Africa Women Entrepreneurial and Innovation Forum (AWEIF). The topic focused on the new digital economy and the fourth industrial revolution. Before I got this topic, I had heard snippets of the terminology, but had not focused on it. On my way back, I also bought the book titled, “The Fourth Industrial Revolution: what it means, how to respond�, by Klaus Schwab to give me a deeper understanding. Below is an excerpt of the book for your information and knowledge base. “We stand on the brink of a technological revolution that will fundamentally alter the way we live, work, and relate to one another. In its scale, scope, and complexity, the transformation will be unlike anything humankind has experienced before. We do not yet know just how it will unfold, but one thing is clear: the response to it must be integrated and comprehensive, involving all stakeholders of the global polity, from the public and private sectors to academia and civil society.

The First Industrial Revolution used water and steam power to mechanize production.

The Second used electric power to create mass production. The Third used electronics and information technology to automate production. Now a Fourth Industrial Revolution is building on the Third, the digital revolution that has been occurring since the middle of the last century. It is characterized by a fusion of technologies that is blurring the lines between the physical, digital, and biological spheres.

There are three reasons why today’s transformations represent not merely a prolongation of the Third Industrial Revolution but rather the arrival of a Fourth and distinct one: velocity, scope, and systems impact. The speed of current breakthroughs has no historical precedent. When compared with previous industrial revolutions, the Fourth is evolving at an exponential rather than a linear pace. Moreover, it is disrupting almost every industry in every country. And the breadth and depth of these changes herald the transformation of entire systems of production, management, and governance.

The possibilities of billions of people connected by mobile devices, with unprecedented processing power, storage capacity, and access to knowledge, are unlimited. And these possibilities will be multiplied by emerging technology breakthroughs in fields such as artificial intelligence, robotics, the Internet of Things, autonomous vehicles, 3-D printing, nanotechnology, biotechnology, materials science, energy storage, and quantum computing.

Already, artificial intelligence is all around us, from self-driving cars (in developed economies) and drones to virtual assistants and software that translate or invest. Impressive progress has been made in AI in recent years, driven by exponential increases in computing power and by the availability of vast amounts of data, from software used to discover new drugs to algorithms used to predict our cultural interests. Digital fabrication technologies, meanwhile, are interacting with the biological world on a daily basis. Engineers, designers, and architects are combining computational design, additive manufacturing, materials engineering, and synthetic biology to pioneer a symbiosis between microorganisms, our bodies, the products we consume, and even the buildings we inhabit.

Challenges and opportunities Like the revolutions that preceded it, the Fourth Industrial Revolution has the potential to raise global income levels and improve the quality of life for populations around the world. To date, those who have gained the most from it have been consumers

able to afford and access the digital world; technology has made possible new products and services that increase the efficiency and pleasure of our personal lives. Ordering a cab, booking a flight, buying a product, making a payment, listening to music, watching a film, or playing a game—any of these can now be done remotely.

In the future, technological innovation will also lead to a supply-side miracle, with long-term gains in efficiency and productivity.

Transportation and communication costs will drop, logistics and global supply chains will become more effective, and the cost of trade will diminish, all of which will open new markets and drive economic growth.

At the same time, as the economists Erik Brynjolfsson and Andrew McAfee have pointed out, the revolution could yield greater inequality, particularly in its potential to disrupt labor markets. As automation substitutes for labor across the entire economy, the net displacement of workers by machines might exacerbate the gap between returns to capital and returns to labor. On the other hand, it is also possible that the displacement of workers by technology will, in aggregate, result in a net increase in safe and rewarding jobs.

We cannot foresee at this point which scenario is likely to emerge, and history suggests that the outcome is likely to be some combination of the two. However, I am convinced of one thing—that in the future, talent, more than capital, will represent the critical factor of production. This will give rise to a job market increasingly segregated into “low-skill/low-pay� and “high-skill/high-pay� segments, which in turn will lead to an increase in social tensions.

In addition to being a key economic concern, inequality represents the greatest societal concern associated with the Fourth Industrial Revolution.

The largest beneficiaries of innovation tend to be the providers of intellectual and physical capital—the innovators, shareholders, and investors—which explains the rising gap in wealth between those dependent on capital versus labor. Technology is therefore one of the main reasons why incomes have stagnated, or even decreased, for a majority of the population in high-income countries: the demand for highly skilled workers has increased while the demand for workers with less education and lower skills has decreased. The result is a job market with a strong demand at the high and low ends, but a hollowing out of the middle.

This helps explain why so many workers are disillusioned and fearful that their own real incomes and those of their children will continue to stagnate. It also helps explain why middle classes around the world are increasingly experiencing a pervasive sense of dissatisfaction and unfairness. A winner-takes-all economy that offers only limited access to the middle class is a recipe for democratic malaise and dereliction.

Discontent can also be fueled by the pervasiveness of digital technologies and the dynamics of information sharing typified by social media.

More than 30 percent of the global population now uses social media platforms to connect, learn, and share information. In an ideal world, these interactions would provide an opportunity for cross-cultural understanding and cohesion.

However, they can also create and propagate unrealistic expectations as to what constitutes success for an individual or a group, as well as offer opportunities for extreme ideas and ideologies to spread.�

Next week, we will focus on how the fourth industrial revolution will impact business, government, people and shape government.

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

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Wema Bank Consolidates Growth With a 29.7 per cent increase in customer deposits and profit after tax for the half year ended June 30, 2018, Wema Bank Plc has consolidated its growth and raised hopes for improved returns for shareholders, writes Goddy Egene

Wema Bank Plc has shown resilience over the years surviving many challenges that saw the collapse of many of its peers. Through various strategies, including reverting to a regional bank at a point, the financial institution has been able to reposition itself for better performance.

Going by its results for the half year ended June 30, 2018, Wema Bank Plc is fast regaining strong customer acceptance and posting improved bottom-line.

The bank recorded gross earnings of N31.93 billion in 2018, indicating a growth of 5.1 per cent above the N30.37 billion recorded in the corresponding period of 2017. Interest income was N25.39 billion, compared with N25.36 billion in 2017.

Non-interest income rose by 30.4 per cent from N5 billion to N6.5 billion. Profit before tax improved by 26.6 per cent, from N1.43 billion to N1.81 billion, while profit after tax grew faster by 29.6 per cent from N1.22 billion to N1.58 billion.

A further analysis of the results showed that more customers are getting attracted to the bank as deposits improved by 39 per cent, while total assets stood at N450.12 billion, up by 16.7 per cent from N385.4 billion.

Also, while many banks are reducing lending, Wema Bank Plc increased loans and advances from N223.4 billion in 2018, from N215.8 billion in 2017. Shareholders’ funds stood at N50.98 billion from N49.72 billion.

Bank Explains Performance Commenting on the results, the Acting Managing Director /CEO, Wema Bank, Mr. Ademola Adebise said the performance was largely in line with our expectations. “Deposit grew by 39 per cent to N354.88 billion on the back of continued acceptance of the Wema brand and the sustained success of ALAT – our flagship digital bank. We also improved our earnings capacity. The bank continues to execute on its five-year retail strategy with a clear mandate to improve performance by leveraging innovation. The emphasis for us is not just to digitise our product offerings to customers but also to build a technology driven back-end infrastructure to further improve on

turnaround time and efficiency,� he said.

According to him, the bank also continues to improve its customer acquisition through the impressive performance of its USSD platform.

The bank also recorded significant growth in agency banking partnerships, with the number of agents increasing by 25 per cent to 845 agents as at H1’2018 across all the 36 states of Nigeria. “The bank will further leverage on its platforms and in-built capabilities in lowering cost to serve and growing market share. “During the period, the bank secured credit lines of $15 million and N7.3 billion from the African Development Bank (AFDB) and the Development Bank of Nigeria (DBN) respectively.

This is further in-line with the Bank’s intent of obtaining long term funding to drive its SME business. The bank is also expected to open the second tranche of its debt issuance program in a few weeks. With these half-year results, we believe we are on track to deliver on our commitments to shareholders at the beginning of the year,� he said.

Enters New MD After nine years in office as MD/CEO, Mr. Segun Oloketuyi will retire effective September 30, 2018. He has already proceeded on terminal leave from July 1, hence Adebise will take over in acting capacity subject to regulatory approvals.

Oloketuyi was named GMD/CEO of Wema Bank Plc in June 2009. Upon joining Wema, he was tasked with returning the bank to profitability following the 2008 banking crisis which saw the collapse of many banks.

At that time, Wema Bank had negative retained earnings in excess of N66 billion and was declared a bank in grave financial situation by the regulatory authority. In his decade-long leadership, he completely turned around the fortunes of the bank, recapitalising the bank and returning it to profitability.

The bank is now positioned to deliver dividends to shareholders in the near-future.

In his time as MD, the bank also regained its national banking licence from the Central

Bank of Nigeria, which has allowed it to expand to the North and East of the country, significantly increasing its market share and customer base in the process,� it said.

The smooth transition that saw Adebise occupy the position of MD/CEO has been hailed as a strategic decision. Adebise has been part of the bank’s executive management team since the transformation programme began in 2009 and has played a pivotal role in the execution of the strategic turnaround programme for the bank.

He has over 28 years’ experience in the banking industry (inclusive of four years in management consulting), and has worked in various capacities in information technology, financial control & strategic planning, treasury, corporate banking, risk management and performance management.

Before joining Wema Bank, Adebise was Head, Finance & Performance Management Practice at Accenture (Lagos Office) where he led various projects for banks in business process re-engineering, information technology and risk management.

He is an alumnus of the Advanced Management Program (AMP) of the Harvard Business School and a holder of a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science from the University of Lagos. He also holds a Master’s degree in Business Administration (MBA) from the Lagos Business School.

Adebise is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN).

He is also an Associate of the Chartered Institute of Taxation and Computer Professionals (Registration Council of Nigeria). He is an honorary member of the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (HCIB) and a member of the Institute of Directors.

N20bn Bond Boost In order to boost its capital, Wema Bank Plc is planning to raise N20 billion via bond offering in August. Adebise said: “We need to enhance our funding. The bank is in the process of raising Tier II and the offer will

be opened in August,� Adebise said.

The debt raise is the second tranche of a N50 billion bond programme. The bank said it has appointed parties for the offer and aims to boost its capital ratio to 15 per cent before year-end.

The debt issue would help Wema Bank boost its capital ratio above its internal guidance of 15 per cent, from 14.3 per cent compare with the regulatory minimum capital ratio for Wema Bank and its peers, which is 10 per cent.

Wema Bank had earlier said it could issue debt assuming government bond yields dropped below 18 per cent with falling inflation. The bank also hinted of raising equity in 2018 to bolster its capital ratio and cut its operating costs as its new digital strategy gains traction.

ALAT Wins Award ALAT, which contributed to the growth of deposits of Wema Bank Plc won the ‘Best Mobile Banking App’ and ‘Best Digital Bank for 2017’ in this year’s World Finance Digital Banking Awards.

The World Finance Digital Banking Awards celebrate organisations that lead the way with digitalisation while meeting consumer demands and mitigating against accompanying risks along the way.

The recognition by World Finance, a global print and online media platform which provides comprehensive commentary and analyses of the global economy, is the latest in a series of awards that has greeted the arrival of ALAT into the African banking space. “We are delighted to earn such a global recognition so early in the existence of ALAT. To us, they are not merely a reward for the hard work but also an incontrovertible evidence of Wema Bank’s new place as a leader in banking innovation in Africa,� the bank said.

The bank noted that it would always remain committed to leveraging technology in delivering superior value to all stakeholders. “We have developed in-house capacity and capabilities to enable us provide best-in-class digital banking services across all touch points,� it added. According to the bank, beyond ALAT, it continues to champion innovation and leverage technology in breaking barriers plaguing conventional banking.

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As FG, Discos Trade Blames Neither of the federal government nor electricity distribution companies (Discos) in Nigeria’s power sector can win in the new fight over who’s to blame for the poor showings of the country’s electricity industry, writes Chineme Okafor Pundits who have keenly observed the way Nigeria’s power sector had functioned in the last three years or thereabout, weren’t startled by the recent crossfire between the federal government through the Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Mr. Babatunde Fashola, and the power distribution companies (Discos).

They, as a matter of fact suggested to THISDAY that the exchanges came later than they had expected, noting that both parties had built up palpable tensions in the sector over the last couple of months on decisions and actions they had taken.

The relationship between the government and the Discos have not really being a healthy one as the parties involved have consistently suspected each other.

And as the months rolled by, feelings that a disagreement was in the horizon became profound and the first to fire the salvo but in a discreet manner was Fashola, who told the Discos at a meeting in Kaduna, that the rains were now upon the country and they should become a lot more efficient in their operations.

Fashola, equally made comments about the proposed legislation on estimated billing by Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila, a member of the Federal House of Representatives, stating that the practice had become a source of controversy in the sector and that government would work to end it. “On the legislative side of government, there is a clear intention to intervene by legislation.

The executive and legislative response show that government is committed to addressing this issue of meters. It would take some doing but we are committed. “Let me be clear that every Disco is affected, no Disco is exempted, we all have meter under-supply and therefore every Disco needs to respond by providing meters quickly and seeking to end estimated billing, which is subjective, discretionary, and often times prone to abuse, and that is why it causes disaffection between the Discos and consumers,� he said.

Though the Discos did not react publicly to this, they quietly expressed their views, which was that the government appeared bent on hanging the unsavoury aspects of estimated billing on their shoulders.

They viewed this in bad taste, and inferred the government was yet to accept both parties were together in efforts to bring stable electricity to Nigerians.

Open confrontation Almost a month after the Kaduna meeting, Fashola, addressed a press conference, where he specifically asked the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) to improve its regulation of the sector and bring the Discos to account for efficient service delivery.

Suggesting the Discos have failed to live up to expectations in the industry, the government said it would not sit back and allow them hold Nigeria hostage with their alleged poor performances.

Fashola, thus asked them to buckle up or get out and leave the business of power distribution for people who were willing to compete and uphold their obligations in the sector.

He wanted NERC to begin to enforce the contracts of service of the Discos with regards to supply of meters, upgrade of their distribution networks and promotion of market efficiency.

He, in summary, substantially blamed the Discos for the failings of the sectors, and even went as far as insisting the government didn’t grant exclusive rights to them over their distribution areas, and in which case, the NERC could further split their networks, especially in areas still underserved by the Discos. “It must be obvious to the ordinary person that the supply of power is now a private business in the hands of private operators and in the final end, in the hands of the Discos. “But because of the critical and sensitive nature of power supply, government has not left the supply solely,� said Fashola.

He however stated: “It is the Discos who are service providers that you should turn to when you have questions about transformer collapse and metering,� adding, “As it is now

obvious, from 2016 when the Discos complained about lack of power to distribute, the problem today is that the Discos cannot distribute all of the power that is available, leaving the sector with an unused capacity of 2000 megawatts approximately.� “In the face of this picture, where we have power to sell, with more to come, the number of complaints coming to government for meters, which the Discos should supply, and for estimated billings, and mass disconnections when not everybody is owing cannot continue. “Government must act and will do so. The Discos bought these assets with their eyes opened, and they must compete to deliver or exit,�

Fashola insisted.

The Discos Fired Back Not wanting to concede to the blames leveled against them by Fashola, the Discos through their association – the Association of Nigerian Electricity Distributors (ANED) – firmly reacted to him and claimed he was quite economical with some of his claims, notably the level of power generation.

They promptly indicated the government was fighting a battle none of the parties would be comfortable with and allegation that the government was misrepresenting facts.

The Discos even linked the new disagreement to the upcoming 2019 elections, claiming they were been demonised for political mileages. “It is with much regret that we feel compelled to respond to the significantly distorted picture that has been painted of the Disco by the Honourable Minister of Power, Works and Housing in his press briefing of Monday, July 9th, 2018. “In good faith and with recognition that the challenges of the Nigerian Electricity Industry (NESI) cannot be turned around based on a culture of misrepresentation, we have declined to rebut previous inaccurate assertions by the minister and other government functionaries. “In this instance, it is clear that the objective of that briefing was to demonise the Discos, who by the structure of NESI, are the faces of a difficult sector. We are also left wondering whether such demonisation of the Discos is camouflage for the absence of the effective policy leadership that is desired for implementing the enabling environment that is necessary for the viability and sustainability of NESI?,� they said through ANED’s Director of Research and Documentation, Mr. Sunday Oduntan.

Oduntan further stated, “We recognise that we are on the crux of a political season, in which all manner of advantage is being sought by political contenders, we however do not want to be used as the whipping dog to advance other people’s agenda.�

According to him, “Our members, the Discos, are not politicians, even though they distribute a product that is of great importance to politicians, in view of the needs of their constituents. “Our constituency which consists of customers,

employees, bankers, vendors and investors have a greater interest in improved service delivery than the adoption of cheap theatrics and propaganda for political advantage. “We take our service delivery obligations to our customers seriously, with total commitment to improving the quality of the electricity distribution experience to them, as well as meeting the performance obligations of the agreement that we have with the Bureau for Public Enterprises (BPE). “This is more so as the commercial success of our investments is intrinsically tied to the quality of our service delivery.�

Oduntan denied the entire allegations heaped on the Discos by the minister, noting that the government at the privatisation exercise acknowledged the sector was moribund and famous for its inefficiencies, and needed to have a tariff structure that covers the cost of all stakeholders along the value chain, but has so far failed to live by this.

This, he added has also contributed to the failure of the market to move into its planned contract-based regime. He inferred the problems of the sector were self-inflicted and could be solved with honest commitments from all stakeholders. “Unfortunately, the evolution into TEM (Transition Electricity Market) was truncated by politically-induced regulatory restrictions and actions - (removal of collection losses, freezing of the tariff for R-2 residential class for 18 months, non-payment of N100 billion subsidy for 2013 and 2014, under-recovery of required revenue, non-implementation of minor and major tariff reviews, all manner of politically induced regulatory orders.) - that have resulted in the inability of the Discos to recover the cost of the energy that they supply, preventing their ability to enter into contracts to directly purchase energy from Gencos,� he explained.

Oduntan, equally stated that the current 4.1 million meter gap in the sector was as a result of the government’s failure to invest in metering in over 62 years of running the sector, adding that no other party can be as interested in universal metering of consumers than the Discos because according to him, “metering alone reduces collection losses very significantly and improves customers willingness to pay.�

Regarding power generation profile which Fashola said has improved overtime, Oduntan said in disagreement, “We do not understand the constant references to the increase of generation capacity to 7,000MW, from 4,000MW, for the period of 2015 to 2018 that has been used as the basis of defining the Discos as incapable of taking on more power. “A review of NERC’s “Daily Energy Watch� for January 28th, 2015 would indicate a generation availability of 6,421MW - divided into peak of 4,230MW and constrained energy of 2,191 MW. In other words, it is misleading to state that available generation has grown from 4,000MW in 2015, as a measure of progress, given that a volume of generation slightly under 7,000 MW already

or previously existed, prior to the beginning of this administration.�

He said the government could not claim to have an idle 2000MW capacity when gas supply to generation plants have not been consistent.

As regards the government financial support for the sector, Oduntan, explained that the Discos only got N58.45 billion or 27.75 per cent of the N213 billion the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) previously provided for the country’s energy sector, adding that it should not be misread that it got so much and yet doing very little.

Experts’ Opinion Considering the anxiety the development has thrown up, experts who volunteered their opinions to THISDAY, chose to have their names not mentioned in the report.

They, however explained that the development was not in the interest of the country’s power sector.

For instance, they stated that the government appeared to have become exceedingly political with the operations of the sector, adding that the regulatory jobs of the NERC had largely been taken away from it, or at best, orders handed down to it to implement.

Some of them even suggested the government had been largely responsible for the failings of the sector and cited the time it took to constitute the sector’s regulator after the term of its former commissioners expired in December 2015, as well as its alleged refusal to allow the regulator some independence in dealing with the Discos.

According to them, that Fashola and the Discos now exchange words over service delivery, meant that the NERC was either failing in its regulatory tasks or has been relegated and not taking up its jobs. “You’ll see a veiled politicisation of the issues, and that is very unfortunate because the sector does not need that now or anytime. This is a sector that has not attracted any form of new investments since it was privatised and I think that should worry the government and operators more. “We should not get to the point of scaring investors. We should not give the impression that this is a difficult sector to invest in because it is not if the government allowed the regulator to do its job. How often do we hear the ministry of finance quarrel with the banks? It never does because it has no business with them when there is a CBN to do all the regulatory and supervisory works,� said an expert who spoke unanimously.

The expert further stated that while the Discos are also guilty of poor performance at some of their tasks, they however have valid claims against the government as regards its interference with the workings of the sector, notably tariff. He said, the NERC and not the power ministry was enough to deal decisively and with regulatory measures with the Discos and their failures.

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Insurance Operators Urged to Adopt Innovation Ebere Nwoji Insurance sector operators have been advised to prepare for the next generation of consumers and talents by embracing changes and responding to the economic, social and technological needs in the sector.

Stakeholders who spoke at the 2018 Presidential Valedictory Lecture to mark the end of the tenure of Funmi BabingtonAshaye as the 48th President and chairman of Council of the Chartered Insurance Institute

of Nigeria (CIIN), stressed that the industry must embrace new ways of delivering its services to meet the expectation and speed of the new generation of consumers, and talents.

The lecture which was delivered by Babington-Ashaye had as its theme, ‘Insurance and Generation Next- Meeting the Needs of Stakeholders’.

Speaking at the event, the Chairman, First Bank of Nigeria Limited, Mrs. Ibukun Awosika, who chaired the event said insurance model today is not

sustainable. “The industry will die if it does not open itself to change and embrace the new space,� stating that there are lots of disruptors that are ready to take over the business and offer the same services the insurance companies or the brokers think they are offering.

She said the potential for growth was huge, saying the industry currently operates at the least of its capacity. “There is a bit of complacency in the industry, so you might

not survive the next generation if people and technology come in with the new things they have, she stated.

Babington-Ashaye, in her lecture said for the industry to catch-up with the generation next, players in the business must leverage technology, adopt new ways of working, repackage products, and improve products and pricing strategy, as well as data mining.

The insurance industry she further said, is at the threshold of its evolution in which devel-

opments in technology would significantly impact its products offerings, operations and the skill set of personnel required to deliver value to the diverse stakeholders, in the near future, which will be dominated by generation next. “Given the declining inflow of new entrants into the profession, the fear of a talent gap is rife.

We need to change the wrong perception by showcasing the career opportunities that exist, the product we develop, the risks we assume and the

professional advisory services we provide, Babington-Ashaye stated. Speakers at the event all agreed on the need for the industry to bring flexibility and varieties of offering, open up the sector for new talents, particularly from outside insurance, and improve on remuneration to make the sector attractive for generation next, enhance perception and increase trust.

According to them, all of these will position the sector for sustainable growth and attract the generation next.

OAK Pension Grows Profit by 65% OAK Pensions Limited said it grew its profit by 65.8 per cent, from N230.88 million in 2016, to N382.8 million in its 2017 financial year.

The Chairman of the company, Dr. Awa Ibraheem, disclosed this during the company’s 12th annual general meeting in Lagos.

While expressing OAK Pension’s commitment to serving its contributors and retirees, Ibraheem, said the company will continue to give them better returns on investment. “Our duty is to manage the funds on behalf of the retirees and ensures the funds grow so that when they retire, they benefit more than what they contributed. Our retirees are happy with us with the rate of return on investment.�

He said that OAK Pensions tries to balance return with risk, by making sure that the interest of its retirees are well protected, and balancing the high returns with low risk.

To get closer to its stakeholders, he said that the company had extended its call centers so that its interaction with retirees will be more efficient and effective. “We have also gone far by improving on our ICT, we have completely computerised now, and on the feedback we are getting from retirees, it is much easier for them to be served than in the past,� he said.

While observing that most of the contributors of the Contributory Pension Scheme were from the government and private sector, he said that the informal sector were actually the drivers of the economy. “What we are doing now is to expand our informal sector department, to provide them with more facilities,� he said adding that the company was committed to protecting the financial future of the Nigerian workers and will continue to enlighten the informal sector on the need to key into the CPS.

STRATEGY SESSION

L-R: Head, Operations, IEI Anchor Pension Managers Limited, Mr. Labaga Jonah; Chief Compliant Officer, Mr. Baror Eric Ivivie; Company Secretary/Legal Adviser,Mrs.OnoruOlufemi;ManagingDirector/CEO,Mr.GloryEtaduovieandChiefFinanceOfficer,Mr.AshenoIliya,atamediabriefingorganisedbyIEI Anchor Pension Managers Limited in Abuja‌recently

Expert Advises States to Set Aside CIIN Inaugurates 49th President Sinking Funds Pension fund management expert and the Executive Director, Business Development, South and Strategy, Premium Pensions, Mrs Kemi Oluwashina has stressed the need for state governments to set up what she described as ‘sinking funds’ to address problem of arrears of pension entitlements owed to retirees in various states.

Oluwashina, who gave the advice during a courtesy visit to the Head of Service of Enugu State, Mr Chidi Ezema, defined sinking fund as an account that is used to deposit and save money to repay a debt or replace a wasting asset in the future.

According to her, it’s like a savings in which you deposit money regularly that can only be used for a set purpose. “A sinking fund is essentially established to ease the process of retiring debt or prevent defaulting on debts. It can serve several purposes, but the main purpose is to lower the outstanding principal before it becomes due,� she explained.

According to her, nonpayment of pension entitlements, especially accrued rights to retiring or retired workers was affecting the successes recorded in the contributory

pension scheme in Nigeria, as she emphasised the need for state governments to establish sinking funds to address the problem. She pointed out that the liability of unpaid pension entitlements would never go away until it is frontally tackled. “It is a fact that the real value of unpaid pension liabilities gets eroded with time to the detriment of the retirees who are already passing through untold hardship things only get worse when the liabilities keep piling up. Setting aside this special fund is a midway approach to addressing the liabilities,� she insisted.

Continuing, she said, “While Accrued Rights are largely entitlement of workers before the advent of the private sector – driven contributory pension scheme, its late payment by especially, the various tiers of government renders pension administration cumbersome or even impossible. “This is because Accrued Rights have to be lumped into Retirement Savings Accounts (RSAs) before lump sum and Programmed Withdrawals could be worked out for retirees.

Most, if not all retirees from government establishments for now have their entitlements

locked in both the old Defined Benefit Scheme and the new Contributory Pension Scheme,� she noted.

She said backlog of pension liability was more pronounced in most state governments who have neither been making any serious effort to address the issue, nor keyed into the new scheme by domesticating the Pension Reform Act 2014.

According to her, while the federal government is making efforts to offset the unpaid Pension Accrued Rights for the period covering May 2017 to April 2018, which currently stands at N97.55 billion, most state governments still struggle with payment of salaries let alone addressing issues of pension.

Pension liabilities before the advent of the Contributory Pension Scheme stood at N2 trillion while the scheme has accumulated Funds under Management in excess of N8 trillion since inception in 2004.

She said her visit to the Enugu State Head of Service was to demonstrate appreciation for the efforts being made by the state government to join the league of states that had keyed into the contributory pension scheme.

The immediate past Chairman, Nigeria Insurers Association (NIA), Eddie Efekoha will today be inaugurated as the 49th president of the Chartered Insurance Institute of Nigeria (CIIN).

Efekoha, who is also the Managing Director, Consolidated Hallmark Insurance Plc, penultimate week handed over the baton of leadership of the umbrella body of insurance underwriters, the Nigeria Insurers Association (NIA) to Mr Tope Smart of NEM Insurance.

Addressing Journalist at hand over ceremony organised by the institute, the Chairman, investiture planning commit-

tee, Mr Sunny Adeda, said the institute prides itself in having a robust succession plan which has continued to ensure a seamless and rancour-free transition from one president to another.

He said any potential candidate to the office of the president was expected to have moved through the leadership ladder without blemish. “The journey to the institute’s presidency engenders commitment, hard work and consistent membership of the governing council. “Continuous membership is essential, but not adequate to make anybody the president of the institute. We ensure

that such persons must be fit and proper and possess outstanding qualities as well as an uninhibited zest to serve selflessly�.

Reviewing the election, Adeda said “the election of Efekoha as the president of the institute by the governing council is an attestation to the fact that he has the outstanding qualities required of anybody to become the president of the institute. “He therefore deserves to be celebrated for this recognition. The investiture committee which is chaired by me and 12 other members has done so much to make the celebration of Eddie Efekoha a memorable event.�

Car Insurance Premium Falls The average price paid for motor insurance has recorded its first quarterly fall in two years, according to insurers.

Despite the drop, average costs during the first quarter of 2018 were the highest that the Association of British Insurers (ABI) has ever seen at this time of year, London-based independent. co.uk reported.

The ABI’s latest Motor Insurance Premium Tracker found the average price paid for private comprehensive motor

insurance was ÂŁ478, down ÂŁ13 on the final quarter of 2017, as well as being the first quarterly fall in premiums in two years.

The index, which started in 2012, measures prices consumers pay for their motor insurance, rather than quotes.

The ABI said ÂŁ478 is the highest average premium it has recorded for the first quarter of any year. It marks a ÂŁ14 increase on the same quarter last year. The ABI said the price of motor insurance

is subject to seasonal trends and average motor insurance premiums can fall in the first quarter of the year due to new car registrations in March, which boost demand for motor insurance, leading to more competition.

It said the Civil Liability Bill, which makes changes to the personal injury compensation system in England and Wales, may also have contributed to a more pronounced fall in the first quarter of the year.

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National Carrier for Pariah Nation Victor Ariole

“Corruption is horrible‌but something is worse than that and that is incompetenceâ€?‌ Prof Chinedu Nebo We are yet to see any airplane for the proposed National Carrier but millions of dollars have already been expended for just setting ‘side kicks’ including the mere design of logo that does not fit. So as Nebo said both corruption and incompetence are being fostered on Nigerians in order to boost a weak ego of owning a National Carrier that could end up creating more pariah status for Nigeria.

Until you travel wide, you would not know the degree of pariah that Nigeria is subjected to. So, why should Nigeria bother itself with what will expose it more to pariah state. For now more image laundering is required to pull Nigeria out of the pit of pariah outlook and it Sirika is by countering the image by allowing those who can be trusted by other nationals to be that is also the aspect that make money smart. travelling wide with other airlines till great deal Nigerian elite just want to contract any one to of confidence is restored on the people of Nigeria. come and exploit the Nations as long as their I have heard Archbishop Kukah lament once pocket could be filled with the proceeds. how he was treated in east Africa not minding Most of the elite parade double nationality and his cassock; and somehow such constant visits could find safe haven in their second country have allowed Rwanda to build some trust in if Nigeria sinks. Those who cannot keep two Nigerians after discovering that they are not all as passports are strictly checked at any entry point painted. National Carrier with an infrastructure as if they are the condemned of the earth. So, if base that call for drastic upgrading is also part a carrier is identified as a Nigerian Carrier then of the distrusting process of a nation. What the checks could be enormous. is more as just recounted by the Minister of I had followed sometimes Khadafy’ national flight Finance money is smart and can only go where well subsidized to get to Tripoli and knows what the rate of return is assured hence, even the Nigerians go through on arrival and that Carrier is expected foreign investors, without assurance extinct today as Khadafy is gone also. The point is of returns or good infrastructure cannot come that the promoter matters to the external world. The with clean hands; they will come to exploit Maroc Carrier is still available and it is struggling Nigeria more by any means. Nigeria exited to meet up notwithstanding the good image the Paris club debt on irreconcilable bills; either King parades. I have also been part of following they were bills not known by the government it and know the kind of aircraft made available or bill illegally incurred in the name of Nigeria; to convey Nigerians to Casablanca. Again, it is

a proof that Nigerians are not cherished except for the quantum of their trade value. In May I was in Dubai on return journey to Nigeria after a conference and Nigerian passengers were made to hang around or stand till their boarding announcement and I wondered if it is not the same standard observed for passengers as even a small town in Afghanistan had its passengers well seated close to the Nigerian desk and it smacked of discrimination. It is only Ethiopia that had shown so far no discriminatory service as I get always lodged in five star hotel when transiting for some hours.

A carrier must be proud of its home facilities, and caring to the passengers; and I am doubtful of such in Nigeria. An experience meted out to passengers last year as they were travelling out of Nigeria’s airport was revisited on Nigeria bound passengers the day I boarded that south Africa’s carrier back to Nigeria. No light and people were asked to go and photocopy the front page of their passport at enormous cost.

The craft itself was not air-conditioned as the plea was be patient till we are ready to tee-off.

Quite surprising to me as it was the first time I was hearing that and according to them it was to save energy as they had to make use of the energy on the tarmac as against the one of the craft. It is necessary for Nigeria to see how benchmarkable Ethiopia could be for the carrier and Nigerian egoistic passengers before thinking of a Nigerian Carrier. Even as that carrier had found friendly tarmac in Lome to avoid complete contact with Nigeria, it still remains a favorite of the Togolese. Can Nigeria boast of such rapport? Lome airport is cute and palatable for passengers to feel comfortable in, and it observes relatively bestpractice rules. When an airport is not comfortable for travelers, they could find ways to avoid the carrier owner and its fleets.

That is why people join fleets that can boast of good image of their owners in terms of the nation associated with it. The truth is that a

leveraged infrastructure commands respect and it could also translate to profitability seen in marginal costing outlook not necessarily average costing; that is for accountants to ponder. In effect the infrastructure could attract other profit making ventures that can contribute to reduce cost of the usage of the Carrier or the facilities on travelling passengers. For example I have visited Maiduguri airport that is of international standard but unfortunately the usage is horribly local as mamaput sells there. Well, that was 2009 and the abandonment was glaring.

National carrier for Nigeria is an ego not matched by ingredients that could make for a sustainable superego. Some Nigerians you meet in flights display some sort of arrogance that make you feel depressed. And based on such attitude air hostesses report back on their experience for further discriminatory process of passengers of Nigerian make-up. Imagine boarding once Virgin Nigeria and being disembarked far from the terminus and being conveyed by bus in a journey that is about one hour and also discovering that the desk of such airline as marked Nigeria looks like a cage for processing goats. That was in 2012 or 2013. In effect such experiences could not encourage flying any craft on Nigeria’s name unless it is highly subsidized like Kaddafi’s own.

Even if so subsidized what about the safety; just as the mentioned Khadafy own started suffering insecurity before its extinction. Good Nigerians should prevail on Government to upgrade Nigeria’s airport facilities before ever thinking of floating a National carrier. It could be dangerous to further expose Nigerians to more pariah state with a National carrier that could be a great debt burden on the Nation as fictitious debts could be tied on it and Paris club could come again with irreconcilable debt profile of Nigeria. – Ariole, is a Professor of French and Francophone Studies at the University of Lagos

Championing Indigenous Participation in Oil and Gas Industry Samuel Ibiyemi The woes of indigenous companies in Nigeria’s oil and gas industry seems not to have abated despite the signing of NOGIC Act on April 22, 2010.

Until the appointment of Dr Maikanti Baruas the Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), the industry operated merely like a cult where access to information and leadership was like an elephant making effort to pass through the hole in a needle.

Since assumption of office, Baru has worked to eliminate agonies of the government, legislators, workers and contractors in the oil and gas industry. Hence, no more stories of fuel scarcity, long queues at filling stations disappeared and sanctity instituted in the project award process. The exclusion of indigenous companies from project awards and lack of direction for hydrocarbon exploration to build reserves have also become a forgotten issue.

Today, things are looking up for both the government and other stakeholders. The corporation from a position of loss in financial result has also begun to record significant profit in its operation.

Baru has unflinchingly continued to work for increased participation of indigenous companies in oil and gas and this is demonstrated whenever the opportunity arises.

At the commissioning of the Lagos Midstream Jetty (LMJ) at the Apapa Harbour in Lagos last year, Baru had pledged support for indigenous companies’ participation in the sector.

Earlier in the year, the NNPC had listed 32 indigenous players as part of the 50 companies selected to lift Nigeria’s crude for the export market for a two-year period (2018 - 2020), an improvement on the 18 Nigerian companies approved for the contract between 2017 and 2018.

This was an action which demonstrated in practical terms, NNPC’s commitment under Baru’s leadership to support indigenous companies.

In a statement signed by NNPC Group General Manager, Crude Oil Marketing Division, Mele Kyari, the Nigerian companies involved are Aipec, Masters Energy, MRS, Barbedos, Bono Energy, North West, Oando, Casiva, Cretus, Amazon

Baru

Energy, Sahara Group, Ocean Bed, Eterna, AMG, Arkleen, Gladius Commodities, Leighton, Levene, Hinstock, AA Rano, Propetrol, Emadeb, Setana, Prudent and Setraco. The others are Shoreline, Ultimate Gas, Voyage, West African Gas, Zitts and Lords and Duke Oil, a subsidiary of NNPC. All contracts are for 30,000 barrels per day except for Duke Oil Limited. The contract is expected to run from July 2018 to June 2020.

The increased participation of indigenous companies in the latest crude oil contracts is a practical proof that the Baru-led NNPC is committed to drive indigenous participation in the oil and gas sector, which will help keep a significant percentage of oil and gas spend in the country which in turn will translate to a significant boost in the economy.

This singular gesture is expected to trigger a lot of developmental strides in the country.

As indigenous players will build more capacity, a lot more oil and gas facilities will also be built, more opportunities will spring up giving birth to more businesses and several jobs created.

With more Nigerian manpower and facilities contributing to the sector, the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) will witness a significant upward surge.

Baru has on numerous occasions consistently voiced his support for building capacity of indigenous players to make them key players

in the sector. While receiving members of the Independent Petroleum Producers Group (IPPG) at the tail end of 2017, he once again reiterated his support for collaborating with indigenous producers in order to grow their capacity and participation in the exploration and production sub sector while also urging them to tender bids for the marginal fields.

Speaking at an occasion to mark the Egina Manifold Sail Away celebration in Port Harcourt, the NNPC Group Managing Director disclosed that the Corporation will speed up local capacity development within the nation’s oil and gas industry.

Furthermore, Baru noted that NNPC would always support initiatives aimed at domesticating the ample opportunities in the oil and gas industry.

Baru recognises the need to allow local contractors carry out range of services like fabrication among others in the industry to boost the contribution of the sector to the economy.

He has at various times also pushed for university-industry partnership to grow local content initiatives. Recently, at the convocation lecture of the Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University (ABTU), Baru called for a workable and symbiotic partnership between the industry and the nation’s educational institutions with the aim of breeding high skilled manpower, incubation of technology thereby enhancing the Nigerian Content initiative.

NNPC together with International Oil Companies (IOCs) have been able to work out a formula to secure oil pipelines and reasonably curb pipeline vandalism. This was achieved largely by engaging mechanism where members of the oil bearing communities are engaged to secure the oil facilities within their domain.

This move has engaged the youths in the oil producing communities productively, and in the process empowered them to make income lawfully, curb environmental degradation arising from oil spillage and also ensure there is no downtime or loss of revenue by oil companies, a win-win situation for all parties.

In the downstream retail sector, NNPC’s retail outlets have continued to increase with a network of over 400 stations spread across the country which has helped create several jobs.

Upstream, the NNPC under the leadership

of Baru has also embarked on oil search in the inland basins in a move to increase the nation’s oil reserves.

He said with renewed desire of the federal government to increase the nation’s reserve base and production, NNPC’s Frontier Exploration Services (FES) Division was reinvigorated to champion the exploration activities in the inland basins.

The oil search if successful will generate huge investments, improve local technical and financial capacity while also creating a lot of jobs for the citizenry. Conscious of the supply and demand gap for domestic gas supply, Baru’s administration recently signed agreements for seven Critical Gas Development Projects (7CGDP) to deliver about 3.4 billion standard cubic feet of gas per day (bscfd) to bridge the foreseen medium term supply gap by 2020 on an accelerated basis.

In promoting merit and identifying with excellence in performance, Baru at the just concluded NOG conference in Abuja identified with a few of the indigenous companies that have made a success of the opportunities presented by NNPC’s domestic capacity development initiatives.

He took a few moments during his walk through the Exhibition hall to identify with and commend the effort and strides of Amazon Energy, an indigenous firm that he knew from its humble beginnings, but that now provided Engineering, Procurement and Construction Services for major projects in the industry, stating that Amazon Energy was an example and a model of NNPC’s objective in its unrelenting quest to ensure the continuous development of local capacity in the Nigerian oil and gas sector.

Contrary to the fear of International Oil Companies (IOCs) about the technical capabilities of indigenous firms, the appointment of Baru by President Muhammadu Buhari has proved a point that the development and growth of technology in a country is only possible with the collaboration of indigenous stakeholders in the public and private sectors of the economy. – Ibiyemi, an oil and gas analyst and Publisher Nigerian NewsDirect, wrote from Lagos

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Nwankwo: Access to Capital Affecting MFBs The Chief Executive Officer, Impact Training Centre Limited, an academy involved in training microfinance institutions, Mr. Promise Nwankwo, in this interview, spoke about developments in the sub-sector. Nosa Alekhuogie presents the excerpts: What is the public perception about microďŹ nance banks?

My take is that microfinance is the bank of the future. When microfinance banks (MFBs) started, fortunately I was part of it about ten years ago. What has happened over the years is that there has been one or two issues. But with capacity building initiatives in the industry which the central bank has introduced, through the Microfinance Certification Programme and a few other capacity building institutions that have come of age, I think the industry is getting better. Over time, I think it would become much more interesting because I know that a lot of MFB promoters came in with their commercial bank mindset. I know fully well that MFB is quite different from commercial banking. What we are doing right now is to ensure that a lot of them know how to appraise those customers because a lot of customers they are dealing with are illiterates. I assume also that a lot of them are women. So, your ability to appraise them in terms of loans so that you don’t give them excess loans is one of the things that is in the industry. And things are much more better once they understand that training is very important.

What is the rate of customer default in the sub-sector?

We normally use the word portfolio at risk. It varies from bank to bank. But on the average, currently, I think we have over 1,000 MFBs in Nigeria and averagely I think it’s about 40 per cent because of the level of default by customers. I also want to tie it to what I said earlier, the ability to appraise a customer is the major reason why a lot of defaults are happening and some customers wouldn’t tell you the whole truth about their businesses.

So, our ability to teach customers how businesses are done is the major way which those level of defaults can be reduced and secondly, I think loan monitoring is very important. You can’t just give out loans to customers and go to sleep. You must ensure that you monitor them as much as possible.

How are the MFBs coping with the challenge of poor infrastructure in the country, which obviously would be affecting their proďŹ tability?

It affects their profit immensely because the cost of doing business is quite high in the industry and you have to take care of any bill that is attached to it. Your ability to a reasonable extent to reduce cost as much as possible so that you would keep your head above water and stay afloat is very important. One of the major parameters for MFBs is that you work

Nwankwo

within a radius of your environment, maybe 5-10 kilometres, so that you don’t see yourself extending to places that is going to cost you so much to transport. Then possibly, if you can afford solar, you should put those things in place so that it would reduce your level of buying diesel or fuel because over time, solar can last for the next 20-25 years as the case may be. So, if you can afford that, you would discover that it reduces your cost. Of course, there is the initial cost, but over time, it would reduce. On how they are coping, the major thing is outreach. You must ensure that you cover a lot of customers so that you are not just dealing with few customers. You must endeavour to be dealing with a multitude so that over time it weighs out the cost of doing business. For example, for the kind of product we offer, we do group lending and it is expected that an account officer would have at least 200-250 clients he or she is dealing with over a period of nine months to one year. So, with that, if you are given X amount, you see that the cost of doing business is spread rather than dealing with one customer. So, your ability to have more outreach covers a lot of cost for you.

What measures do you think should be taken to improve ďŹ nancial inclusion?

Well like I said earlier it’s a function of outreach.

A study has shown that only about 33 per cent of the entire population has been to the four walls of a bank and about 65 per cent have not, particularly in the rural areas. It is a very interesting place to look at where people can now begin to set up businesses or branches as the case may be, in rural areas and ensure that they market them because a lot of them need loans to expand their businesses or whatever they are doing. So, financial inclusion includes that those customers are now being part of the financial system where whatever money they have is no longer kept under their pillows but now being accounted for in the sector. The CBN can do a lot in assisting the MFBs especially in the area of training because you find out that one area of deficiency in the sub-sector is knowledge, commercial banking inclusive. So, helping to sponsor or co-sponsor training of staff in the microfinance institutions would affect

the quality of the workforce and that would make a huge impact.

Can you highlight some challenges facing the sub-sector today?

One of them is capital and access to funds.

You would realise that many of them were set up with N20 to N50 million. So, it is quite difficult for them to reach out and with the cost of doing business in Nigeria, you need a sizable amount of money for you to do a sustainable business. And for you to have a very small capital and you are struggling in an environment where you have to provide your own power and all sorts of things, it is quite difficult.

Even if you want to borrow, the banks are not lending and for the development funds from the CBN, because of the conditions attached, it is also not available. It is only the big microfinance institutions that have access to foreign development organisations and that’s why some of them are doing well.

But they are very few. We have less than 10 of them in Nigeria, whereas the other MFBs that are over 900 do not have access to funds.

African Risk Capacity Partners Institute The African Risk Capacity (ARC) and the African Institute for Mathematical Sciences – Next Einstein Initiative (AIMSNEI), recently held a meeting where they agreed to work together towards promoting innovation and assisting African Union Member States to better prepare for and respond to natural disasters and extreme weather events.

The objective of the meeting was to discuss, first hand, the feasibility of developing a certification programme, and implementing an internship programme and support to research and development which are components of activities contained in an already existing AIMS-NEI / ARC partnership agreement.

A statement from the ARC

revealed that in March 2018, the organisation and the African Institute of Mathematical Sciences had entered into a formal partnership agreement to foster innovation through scientific learning and problem solving aimed at helping African countries better respond to natural disasters and climate change.

Established in 2003, the AIMS-NEI, is a pan African network of Centres of Excellence for postgraduate training, research and public engagement in mathematical sciences that enables Africa’s brightest students to become problem solvers and innovators that propel scientific, educational and economic self-sufficiency.

Speaking at the meeting, the Director-General of the

ARC, Mohamed Beavogui, paid tribute to the founders of the AIMS-NEI and reaffirmed the resolve of African Union to pursue home-grown solutions for climate and other natural disaster problems facing the continent. He indicated that the Africa RiskView, the tool deployed by the ARC, was the leading tool for drought risk management on the continent. “We are also going into flood modelling, outbreaks and epidemics and we need highquality continuous research to develop the requisite insurance tools,� he said.

He added, “the intention of the African Union in establishing the African Risk Capacity is to protect its vulnerable population from the costly impacts of natural disaster risks.

“In addition to pooling financial resources, this requires scientific research and innovation to work. Our partnership with the African Institute for Mathematical Sciences connects us with the continent’s top existing scientists and those in the making.� To effectively deliver on its mission and stay abreast of cutting edge knowledge and best practices, ARC needs a progressive pool of African experts, as well as partnerships with other global actors, on risk modelling, actuarial sciences, insurance, disasters management, and pathogen modelling.

The AIMS-NEI has an extensive network of technical and professional expertise, know-how and facilities to conduct research and develop

solutions that respond to industry objectives, including ARC’s goal to catalyse a better risk management system for Africa and provide the capacity building support required to implement such a system.

In his remarks, the Managing Director of Operations, AIMS-NEI Global Network, Mr. Moulaye Camara, thanked the African Risk Capacity for the innovative and work it was doing towards helping Africa become weather risk and natural disaster resilient. “Mathematical sciences, he said, underlies every modern technology and its application is found in every field. Considering that Africa, will be home to 40 per cent of the world’s youth (18 and under) by 2050, investing in mathematical

sciences is critical to drive the continent’s development forward. “This requires collaborations with like-minded institutions and persons; hence our goal in partnering with ARC in its mission to create cutting-edge pan-African natural disaster response systems to help governments in protecting the livelihoods of their vulnerable populations.�

The African Risk Capacity model is home-grown, innovative, cost-effective, and is proving that it can assist member-states to strengthen their capacities to better plan, prepare and respond to extreme weather events and natural disasters, thereby achieving the food security for their populations.

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Labour Tackles FG Over Botched Promotion Examination Ugo Aliogo Worried by the cancellation of promotion interview organised by the Federal Civil Service Commission (FCSC) for workers in in the Directorate Cadre in Abuja, the organised Labour under the auspices of Association of Senior Civil Servants of Nigeria (ASCSN) has demanded that the officers affected should be adequately compensated in order to avert industrial crisis.

In a statement signed by the ASCSN Secretary-General, Comrade Alade Lawal, it noted

that 100 senior civil servants in the directorate cadre were invited from different parts of the country for promotion examination fixed for June 25-28, in Abuja, but the examination was cancelled after they had completed accreditation.

Lawal, said it was sad that senior civil servants were made to risk their lives, pay transport fares and accommodation in Abuja, arrived at the venue of the promotion examination only for it to be canceled.

The statement further noted that such an action could create the impression that

some top government officials were sadists who take delight in inflicting sorrow on innocent civil servants.

Lawal in the statement expressed displeasure with the development,

calling on the FCSC and the Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation (HCSF) to take necessary steps to pay the officers concerned double their Duty Tour Allowance (DTA)

for the trauma and anxiety caused them.

The statement said: “The FCSC should henceforth stop the practice of summoning Civil Servants to Abuja for Promotion Examina-

tion only for the exercise to be rescheduled. This almost irrational decision by the FCSC to be postponing Promotion Interviews is becoming standard practice and should be stopped.�

He recalled that in 2010 hundreds of Senior Civil Servants were invited for interview in Abuja for almost one week and the Government refused to pay them their DTA.

Oil Firm, ExxonMobil Provide Recipe for Healthy Living to Students Chineme Okafor in Abuja International oil firm, ExxonMobil, has engaged the National Basketball Association (NBA) and an international Non-governmental Organisation (NGO), Africare to teach about 300 students from 10 secondary schools in Abuja about how best to live healthily.

The youth development program which focuses on developing life skills and raising public health awareness among high school youths, recently took place in Abuja, with students from Government Model Secondary School, Maitama; Rahinna Model College, Jikwoyi; Raberto Schools, Wuse II; Divine Mercy Secondary School, Asokoro; and Glisten International School, Jahi, in attendance.

Also, in attendance at the programme were students from Bicardos International School, Kubwa; Government Secondary School, Karu; Government Secondary School, Wuse Zone 3; Government Secondary School, Garki; and Government Secondary School, Airport.

At the event, ExxonMobil disclosed it has continued to be a corporate leader in the fight to reduce the global burden of malaria.

It explained the programme - Power Forward - uses the game of basketball to teach and mentor 300 students from 10 secondary schools annually in Abuja.

Power Forward, it explained was in its fifth year, and teaches health literacy and life skills such as leadership; respect; and personal responsibility through basketball and other programming to positively impact Nigerian secondary school students.

According to the oil company, in 2017, the program reached over 12,000 youth in schools and vulnerable communities with life skills information; distributed 3,700 bed nets; established 20 hand wash stations to promote hygiene; and promoted exemplary leadership skills It further stated that while 10 secondary schools participated at the 2018 edition of the programme, it has however reached about 30 schools in

Abuja to date.

In a brief of the programme shared with THISDAY, ExxonMobil said it was inaugurated in Abuja on November 19, 2013, with a tip-off event featuring NBA and Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) representatives, Nigerian policymakers and influential personalities.

It noted that the NBA players and legends who had participated in the program to date include former NBA players; Hakeem Olajuwon; Olumide Oyedeji; Kelenna Azubuike; Jerome Williams; and Obinna Ekezie who is also the current chief executive of Wakanow.

For the WNBA, it noted that All-Stars Swin Cash and Chiney Ogwumike and former WNBA player, Mactabene Amachree, have all graced the program.

ExxonMobil, equally noted that its supported programs have since 2000, distributed more than 14 million bed nets, nearly three million diagnostic tests and more than four million anti-malarial treatments, thus reaching more than 125 million people worldwide.

Nevertheless, he expressed optimism that the challenges were not insurmountable, adding that a holistic approach alone would set the pace for an enduring solution to resolve the challenges.

He categorised the challenges under three bands which he said were transaction framework; operational issues; as well as policy and regulatory concerns, Okoh explained that solutions proffered without a thorough diagnosis of the issues would fall through in the course of time.

He reaffirmed the Bureau’s dedication to the success of the sector towards ensuring improved electricity supply to the nation.

Similarly, the statement quoted the Deputy Chairman of the Committee, Honourable Shadimu Mutiu, to have given an assurance of the committee’s support towards the success of the sector.

Mutiu, reportedly said that only a joint effort could bring about the much needed progress sought by all parties involved in the sector.

STAKEHOLDERS’ GATHERING

L-R: Deputy Director, Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation, Mr Olujide Iyanda; General Manager, Sterling Bank Plc, Mojisola Bakare and President/ Chairman of Council, Charted Institute of Bankers of Nigeria, Dr. Uche Olowu, at the 2018 Lagos Bankers and Stakeholders’ Night in Lagos‌recently

NigComSat Partners Others on Capacity Building Emma Okonji In line with the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) roadmap and objectives of the federal government, the Public Service Institute of Nigeria (PSIN), Nigeria Communications Satellite Limited (NigComSat) and Sawtel Technology Limited have signed a tripartite agreement for the implementation of an e-learning management system for both civil and public servants in Nigeria.

The agreement, when implemented would see the publicsector productivity boosted by improving their skillset using broadband.

Announcing the collaboration and its impact on both the civil servants and the public servants, the PSIN Administrator, Dr. Abdul-Ganiyu Obatoyinbo, highlighted the importance of ICT in manpower development, stressing that the agreement will

see the institute deploying ICT to train civil servant simultaneously regardless of their location using cutting edge technologies to achieve this objective. “It is a known fact that without ICT in today’s world you cannot make impact. Public service has the mandate of training and we cannot achieve that without ICT. “We will definitely need ICT infrastructure to execute these training because we cannot bring everybody out physically. But we are here to achieve the target that we want to in all our economic industries, which includes the ease of doing business. “ICT is key, even the strategic plan approved by the Federal Executive Council (FEC) as projected by the government, it shows that ICT is the central key,� Obatoyinbo said.

He added, “We strongly believe that by the time this infrastructure is in place in about six weeks we should start seeing

some immediate regulation. I am confident that by the time the e-business rating is carried out under the next assessment Nigeria would have risen up to about 50–60 ranges. So, that only happens when capacity building is in place because you train a staff you get the results.�

Also, the Managing Director of NigComSat, Abimbola Alele, revealed NigComSat’s willingness to partner PSIN and Sawtel to take the institute to greater height. “I congratulate you because you are expanding the horizons of not just only the civil servants but the military, paramilitary and so many other agencies that want to push governance, and you are utilising the best instrument available right now globally, ICT, to train them because ICT is currently the main driver in the world today. “You are not only being ICT compliant but you are also saving

lives of people travelling long distance to come here, and also saving government resources because people would pay per diem to come here but with this agreement people can remain at their location, receive the same content, same information for training and seat for exams simultaneously,� she added.

On the importance of such agreement, the Executive Director, Marketing at NigComSat, Samson Osagie said, “The tripartite agreement is all about realisation of the policy objectives of the ICT roadmap in Nigeria. It is our own way in advancing this ICT roadmap in Nigeria. “Our contribution is to assist in developing the capacity of the public civil servants in Nigeria through our critical ICT infrastructure. We would provide the critical infrastructure through the optimisation of satellite services to the MDAs.�

Benin Disco Lauds Arrest ofVandals The Benin Electricity Distribution Plc (BEDC) has commended Ovbiogie Community in Ekiadolor area of Benin, Edo State for apprehending electricity vandals.

The company’s Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Mrs Funke Osibodu, represented by the company’s Chief State Head for Edo State Mr. Fidelis Obishai, made the commendation at the appreciation ceremony hosted by the company in Benin at the weekend.

Osibodu said vandalism and other forms of electrical

thefts were serious threats to the country’s sustainability and economic growth.

According to her, vandalism impacts negatively on the company’s revenue, as funds that should have been used for electrical infrastructure projects, are being used to repair damaged installations and also replace stolen equipment.

The vigilante groups in the Ovbiogie community had assisted BEDC in apprehending two persons who vandalised two transformers in the community.

Osibodu commended the community for its vigilance over BEDC’s network, saying the fight against electricity vandals “is a collective responsibility that can only be sustained through increased partnership.�

She added that the increase in the vandalism of the company’s assets would force the company to spend money meant to improve the electricity infrastructure to repair or replace damaged and stolen installations. “If a pole is damaged,

wires are carted away and transformers are vandalized, the community remains in darkness. It behoves on all of us to ensure that these equipment are protected for our common good�, she said.

Osibodu further pointed out that electricity generated in the country was not sufficient to give 24 hours power supply to all customers, thus the current load shedding to ensure equitable distribution of power, so as to satisfy electrical needs of all classes of customers.

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EDUCATION How UNICEF Tackles Girls Molestation Through G4G UNICEF with support from UKAID, its educational programme known as Girls for Girls (G4G), has come to the rescue of many girls in Zamfara to protect them from being molested. Kuni Tyessi reports Da nan, da nan, da nan, da nan. Ba mai tabawa sai dai ni kadai.

Here and here and here and here. No one must touch them except me alone.

The above is a rendition in Hausa language, the predominant tongue in northern Nigeria, especially in the North-west, where Zamfara State is geographically located, and a place where the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), with support from the United Kingdom Agency for International Development (UKAID) has taken its crusade on the development and promotion of girls education initiative which is known as Girls for Girls (G4G).

A team of journalists from the print and electronic, programme officers and facilitators, as well as UNICEF staff paid a scheduled visit to one of the beneficiary schools of the programme; Gurubi Model Primary School, in Talata Mafara LGA of the state .

After the usual greetings in several of the classes which the pupils had all extended to the visitors in an exciting manner, some women who are members of the High Level Women Advocates (HiLWA), a group comprising of women professionals from all sectors of the society, chorused what sounded like a political slogan, and in response, the girls began to sing and demonstrate by touching some parts of their bodies which were the lips, chests, pelvic regions and buttocks.

They had been taught sex education according to the best of their understanding and based on their ages which were within 12- 16 years. This method of retention was adopted as a result of documented research which posits that with continuous repetition of words, the brain or retentive memory is bound to remember and never forget what has been taught.

This had also become important as global statistics has revealed that 7 out of 10 girls have been molested. However, several of such cases are neither reported or even discussed, as the perpetrators, most often than not, are usually members of the girl’s family or rich and ‘well- respected’ members of the society.

To forestall such indecent practices against the girls who have defied all imaginary fears associated to western education and have accepted to go to school, they have been taught what molestation is and the need for their bodies to be respected by all irrespective of social status and family ties.

The girls sang with vigour and so much zest, an indication that they knew who they are in terms of creation, what they stood for, in terms of individuality and personality, and what they hope to achieve in life with the presence of the G4G programme in their community.

Their actions was also an indication that they were in tune with the level of self awareness and openness they had been exposed to, all thanks to UNICEF and UKAID and other partners.

One of the pupils, Maimuna Hamisu, 16, who like all the pupils was dressed in a checkeduniformed material and sewn veil, popularly referred to as ‘hijab’ in local parlance, and with an inscription ‘I Pledge To Remain In School’, said the programme has helped her to improve on her personal hygiene, cooking skills, respect for elders and members of her community.

Moreso, it has positively impacted on her entire life and destiny as she hopes to be a medical doctor someday. Sadly, she registered her displeasure concerning other girls who were out of school simply because they preferred to go hawking during school hours.

Hamisu who spoke in Hausa said, “ I feel privileged to be exposed to G4G type of education

They must be protected from being molested even though I am 16 years old in primary six.

My age and class doesn’t matter to me as I have been able to learn life’s goals and lessons with the hope of becoming a medical doctor. Some of the things I have learnt in the G4G programme is how to improve on my personal hygiene, skills acquisition such as how to make different with the use of beads, soap making and how to cook balanced diet meals in their right proportion. “I am not happy that there are girls of my age in this community who have not ceased the opportunity given by UNICEF to enrol in school. I will like to tell them that money is not everything as the reason behind their refusal to enrol in school is because they go hawking. I will like to tell them that with education, they can achieve a lot more and later give back to the society what society has given to them. By the grace of God, I will never drop out of school.�

Malama Amina Abdullahi, a middle- age advocate for girls education and also the leader of the mothers’ association in the community, which has bought the UNICEF initiative and is working hand in hand with the girls towards ensuring that the maximum impact of the programme is achieved, said noticeable impactful changes have been observed in the lives of the beneficiaries.

She noted that as a mother, the programme has enlightened them well enough to know and understand that there’s nothing to be ashamed of between a mother and her daughter when it comes to knowing their bodies and recognising the physical, psychological, physiological and emotional changes which are normal, natural and are bound to arise as time goes on.

The advocate said fortunately enough, they have never had cases of child molestation since the commencement of the programme in the community as the teachers and mentors comprising both males and females have been responsible enough to know the importance of children and what they represent in every society.

Abdullahi who also communicated in Hausa, and with so much passion about the effects of child molestation, reiterated that should there be such a case, the mothers’ association will ensure that such a teacher is reported to the authorities and humiliated so as to serve as deterrent to other predators.

According to her:� We have never had such a satanic person and incredulous act in our school and by God’s grace, we will never record such.

We teach and tell our daughters never to be afraid to confide in us when the issue of molestation arises. We tell them that on no account must a man or a boy touch them in sensitive parts of their bodies as the sole aim of their being in school is not to be touched by the opposite sex, but to be educated and enlightened. “Everybody in this community knows me.

As a mother, I will not tolerate such should it happen. Once such is reported to us, we will take the matter up and report it to the head of this community. If he refuses to act, I will personally mobilise the women and we will go to the educational secretary, who if he also doesn’t take action, we will proceed to Gusau, the state capital and make a case, until something has been done. With such a force from the mothers’ association, the authorities will have no choice but to name and shame such person(s) and excommunicate them from our daughters. “We as mothers are in love with this programme and we pledge our lives to it. Most of us are financially handicapped as several of our bread winners are not in the civil service. Most of them are into menial jobs and farming and the little they get is channeled towards feeding and other responsibilities. The last thing on their minds is the issue of sending the boys to school, not to talk of the girls. But with this G4G which has come to us freely, we say thank you to UNICEF and UKAID and may the organisations continue to soar.�

The Programme Officer of G4G in Katsina State, Ms. Aisha Abdullahi, during a media dialogue in Zamfara state, had revealed that the young girls who were usually timid and docile in the face of such discussions, have embraced the initiative and have begun to have a voice of their own and also embraced the speaking out regarding sexual violation.

She recalled a case of sexual abuse which had to do with a well respected man in the society fondling the breasts of a girl, noting that said the girl was able to report the matter which was further taken up by the school authorities and investigated upon, after which further measures were put in place. “We have had cases of sexual abuse in two of our communities in which one of the girls was able to confide in her friends. They all, including the victim, reported the matter to their mentor who in turn reported to the school authorities.

The abuser was invited and when he came, he accepted that he was guilty. “Before the introduction of the G4G, such case were hardly reported by the girls and when done, actions were usually not taken due to the adverse effects of stigmatisation and the attendant consequences. “The issue of rape and other kinds of sexual molestation have been reduced to a very large extent and most of the girls have stopped hawking as we have realised that hawking is one of the things that exposes them to vulnerability and rape. We have also decided to work hand in hand with their mothers as well as women organisations and groups,� she added.

Other key groundbreaking milestones achieved through the G4G, includes greaters interest in enhanced learning, sensitisation and enlightenment of mothers, greater awareness in girls education in various communities as well as strong state involvement through dynamic leadership of the state education board, among others.

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EDUCATION

Nigeria Has over 9,000 Professors in Varsity System, Says NUC Kuni Tyessi in Abuja In the face of approximately 190 million Nigerians and with a youthful population of over 60 per cent , only about 9,000 professors abound so far in the Nigerian university system as revealed by the National Universities Commission (NUC).

Out of the total number, as recorded in the commission’s database of professors, it discovered that despite the alarmingly low number, there were duplication of names due to sabbaticals and

other engagements, while some who had been sent abroad as professors were in the actual fact not professors.

The Executive Secretary of the commission, Professor Abubakar Adamu Rasheed, who disclosed this, recently, during the Council of Vice Chancellors of Nigerian (CVCN) retreat in Abuja, said the era of lecturers promoting themselves to the status of professors must come to an end as the commission is committed to curbing the tide of fake professorship.

He lamented the embarrassment that fake professors have caused the commission and the nation at large after being discovered by foreign institutions who had accepted letters of recommendation from it, saying that a compilation of the database will be reviewed on an annual basis and with the correct and updated figure made public.

According to him, “Our record shows that there are over 9,000 professors in the Nigerian university system

and we have discovered that there are several duplications, you might see the same name in Bayero University as well as in Ahmadu Bello University. “Some institutions abroad have called us to say that the professors we sent to them are actually not professors.

To some extent, you will not blame such people. Sometimes the students are responsible for this. By the time the lecturer stays for too long in the university, the students begin to call him professor. Within the first year, he

feels uncomfortable but from the second year, he accepts the name and begins to address himself as professor and to the extent of been bold enough to write to us with claims that they are professors. “A directorate of full professorship is very important. A list of all the professors in each university will be compiled on every vice chancellor and the vice chancellors must ensure that the right list is used for confirmation.�

He decried the abuse of con-

vocation ceremonies saying that it has been turned into jamboree and mere pageantry especially when honorary degrees are been awarded.

He called on vice chancellors to ensure discipline in their institutions and learn to do that which is globally accepted. “Universities must take convocation ceremonies very seriously. It has been abused in Nigeria and this must be addressed. It is not a time for giving gifts and reciting lengthy recitation.

AUST Produces 25 PhDs, 432 Masters Graduates in 10Years, Says Nyamapfene Funmi Ogundare It was celebration all the way as ChristHill College, Amuwo Odofin, Lagos, recently held its 2018 graduation, prize giving and awards ceremony for 32 students with an appeal to the graduands to be the best they can and take responsibility for their lives as they go into the higher institutions.

In his remarks, the Principal, Mr. Edosa Omoregie, described the graduating class as excellent achievers and amazing by their performance in the West African Senior Secondary School Certicate Examinations (WASSCE), while admonishing them to use their God-given talents wisely. “You are the best in the world and God has given you talents.

The road ahead is long with no ending . I pray that God will grant you the vision, knowledge and understanding as you go ahead in life, � he said.

He listed some of the competitions the students had participated in and won to include ;national essay competition, Nigerian Spelling Bee (Southwest qualifiers) , inter-school Mastermind Science competition and basketball competition, among others , while commending the school’s management and Parents Teachers’ Association (PTA) for its support .

The Director , Mrs. Omotunde

Lawson who emphasised on the efforts the school has made over the years in ensuring that no child is left behind in getting quality education, commended the teachers for impacting the students and their commitment to duty.

She appealed to parents to be up and doing in bringing up their children properly and ensure that they meet up their obligations to the school through payment of fees as and when due.

In his valedictory speech, the Head boy, Master Daniel Adekunle who represented the school in Nigerian Spelling Bee (Southwest qualifiers) and Fellowship of ExChristian Students Association (FECA), described their experiences as having tremendously helped to shape their decisions as students saying, “we have met some really amazing people, both students and staff who have brought out the best in us, groomed us and taught us how to be independent-minded.�

He advised his colleagues to “always keep pushing because we know we can achieve our dreams. Leaving this college to face the world is a painstaking transition from the known to the unknown. There will be many obstacles, potholes and roadblocks.

There will be times when we feel like throwing in the towel, but always remember that you are not alone in this journey.�

Lara Day School Celebrates its 55th Anniversary Funmi Ogundare Lara Day School, Lagos, recently celebrated its 55th anniversary and graduated its 48th set of pupils.

Speaking at the graduation and prize giving ceremony for the 2017/2018 set, held in Lagos, the Executive Director of the School, Mrs. Olatomi Keleko, emphasised on its challenges, achievements, legacies and experienced since it was established in 1963 establishment of the school. “Lara Day School has come through so many years of turbulence and challenges since its establishment in 1963. The school started with a population of 7 children and we have since grown; we are grateful to God and all those who stood by us through these years. Lara Day School has moved from one generation to this present generation and we are moving to another generation very soon,� she said The Head of School, Mrs. Patricia Tioluwani expressed delight about how far the school has come over the years saying, “It has been 55 years of maintaining a very strong vision, mission statement and a very rich

heritage; 55 years of continuously improving standards; 55 years of consistent excellent results. “Our 21st century teaching method supports various learning style and multiple intelligence. Our staff and our parents have grown from being mere acquaintances to beyond even friends; you might even mistake us to be family members. Our facilities support 21st century teaching and learning. These and many more have been our strength for the past 55 years and we are still going stronger.�

In his exhortation, Reverend Olu Toriola said the school has a reason to thank God for its 55 years of existence adding that doing such is an invitation for more blessings.

He admonished the graduands to see themselves as beacon of hope saying, “When we see you , we see a better Nigeria, an end to political nonsense in the country.

When you get to the next level, you may meet all kinds of people, but do not misbehave. Remember the sons of whom you are. Never allow anybody to kill you. Be mindful of who your friends will be, don’t fight, be gentle.�

L-R: An English teacher at ChristHill College, Lagos, Mr. Maxwell Ewedoma, Head boy, Master Daniel Adekunle, Director of the School, Mrs. Omotunde Lawson, Head girl , Miss Emmanuella OsuoďŹ a and the Principal, Mr. Edosa Omoregie during the college’s 2018 graduation, prize giving and awards ceremony, held in Lagos‌ recently

US-based Don to Spearhead Pinnacle Academy’s Lecture

ChristHill College Graduates 32,Tasks Students on Responsibility

Mary Nnah

Funmi Ogundare

A United States of America-based Nigerian and Professor of Economics and Management, Sesan Sokoya, will on July 26 lead discussants at a lecture being organised by Pinnacle Leadership and Entrepreneurial Academy.

The lecture titled ‘Sustainable National Development in Globalised Economy’, will be held in commemoration of the 60th birthday anniversary of Pastor Gbola Sokoya, a chartered accountant and Chairman of Pinnacle Leadership Academy, at the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs, Victoria Island, Lagos.

Professor Sokoya, a lecturer in the US with a wealth of experience in the academia has been teaching management for almost 25 years. He has done extensive work in both China and Finland, thought to probably be among the most vibrant economies in the world today. It is believed that with the amount of research works he has done in these major economies of the world, he would be contributing a great deal from his wealth of experience to move the Nigeria’s economy forward.

Apart from Sokoya, the lecture’s discussion panel will parade high

profile individuals who are accomplished in their various fields of endeavours. The panel will be made up of five discussants and a moderator to take care of the post lecture discussion in the Nigerian perspective. They include former Chief Executive Officer of Union Bank and Managing Director, Benin Electricity Distribution Plc, Mrs. Funke Osibodu; Director-General, Budget Office of the Federation, Mr. Ben Akabueze and representing the government players would be the Executive Secretary, Presidential Advisory Committee against Corruption (PACAC), Professor Bolaji Owasanoye.

In an interview with THISDAY on the forthcoming lecture to be held in his honour, Pastor Sokoya, a pastor with the Redeemed Christians Church of God (RCCG), Faith City and a former banker with Union Bank of Nigeria, said, “I am clocking 60 years on July 25 and I intend to have a thanksgiving service on that day. Usually, you would have people say that after the thanksgiving service, we would go throw a big party but I have decided not to have a party. I want to contribute something to what I call the greater Nigeria project, and so the idea of a public lecture came up.

It was celebration all the way as ChristHill College, Amuwo Odofin, Lagos, recently held its 2018 graduation, prize giving and awards ceremony for 32 students with an appeal to the graduands to be the best they can and take responsibility for their lives as they go into the higher institutions.

In his remarks, the Principal, Mr. Edosa Omoregie, described the graduating class as excellent achievers and amazing by their performance in the West African Senior Secondary School Certicate Examinations (WASSCE), while admonishing them to use their God-given talents wisely. “You are the best in the world and God has given you talents.

The road ahead is long with no ending . I pray that God will grant you the vision, knowledge and understanding as you go ahead in life, � he said.

He listed some of the competitions the students had participated in and won to include ;national essay competition, Nigerian Spelling Bee (Southwest qualifiers) , inter-school Mastermind Science competition and basketball competition, among

others , while commending the school’s management and Parents Teachers’ Association (PTA) for its support .

The Director , Mrs. Omotunde Lawson who emphasised on the efforts the school has made over the years in ensuring that no child is left behind in getting quality education, commended the teachers for impacting the students and their commitment to duty.

She appealed to parents to be up and doing in bringing up their children properly and ensure that they meet up their obligations to the school through payment of fees as and when due.

In his valedictory speech, the Head boy, Master Daniel Adekunle who represented the school in Nigerian Spelling Bee (Southwest qualifiers) and Fellowship of Ex-Christian Students Association (FECA), described their experiences as having tremendously helped to shape their decisions as students saying, “we have met some really amazing people, both students and staff who have brought out the best in us, groomed us and taught us how to be independent-minded.�

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Science Education Must Be a Priority in Nigeria, Says Momah A former Minister of Science and Technology, Major General Sam Momah (rtd), in this interview with Funke Olaode proffers solution to Nigeria’s unemployment problem and explained that for the nation to join the world MUCH MORE THAN A HEAD power, science education must be taken seriously

Ă? ĂŁĂ™Ă&#x; Ă‹ĂœĂ? Ă‹ ĂšĂœĂ“Ă—Ă‹ĂœĂŁ Ă?Ă?ÒÙÙÖ ĂžĂ?Ă‹Ă?Ă’Ă?ĂœËœ Ă™Ăœ Ă?Ă Ă?Ăœ ĂŒĂ?Ă?Ă˜ Ă™Ă˜Ă?Ëœ ĂŁĂ™Ă&#x;ËŞĂŽ Ă‹ĂšWhile you were Minister of Science and Technology and you had this notion that by 2020, Nigeria should be among the big league of advanced countries. What gave that conviction considering the fact that the nation is still lagging behind?

I didn’t say that, it was what government had said. The previous government under former President Goodluck Jonathan said that by 2020 Nigeria should be one of developed countries in the world. You can see that two years to it there is no way we can attain it. It means it is not visible. I still believe we have to map out another date. Another problem with us as a nation is that we don’t plan for the future.

We should look at what Nigeria should be in the next 20 0r 30 years. I was in Indian Academy as a cadet in the early 60s. Then India couldn’t feed themselves, but they decided to sit down and give themselves a date that by certain year, say 1964, they must feed themselves and they were able to achieve it. Farms sprang up everywhere and government supported them. And every two years they set for themselves a target that they would produce wrist watch, cars, among others.

From that day till this moment, India has continued to take care of itself.

You have written almost 10 books committing money, time and resources to it, what is the motivating factor?

It is because I love Nigeria and l believe we should make it. I write on issues about Nigeria. I have written books on ‘Consequences and Solutions, Nigeria on the Brink’, ‘Technology is Power’, and so many books about Nigeria given global strategy . I don’t have strength to be a politician in Nigeria because it is not for service. Politics is still very dirty that is why I write books.

Hopefully people can pick one or two things and start implementing it. The inspiration is the love of Nigeria and a strong conviction that a black race must emancipate itself by developing our best. We should create wealth such that in the abundance of it, people will not have to fight themselves.

The reason why people fight is because of scarcity of resources.

Momah

Nigeria is still far in meeting the world power and our technology is in comatose.

What is the problem and solution?

The problem of science and technology in Nigeria is because we still do not take education seriously. Technology starts with education and when you go there and apply what you learn, you will get it. Most countries make science compulsory for you to get to their level, but here in Nigeria our education system is zero. I am ashamed and embarrassed about what is going on now on sex for marks in a country that is supposed to lead the black race. When you get to our universities it is a shame. Some don’t go to school but they end up with higher grade.

Like the developed world, it is either you produce or perish. You must produce as a nation to earn money. Secondly, it is because we have duplication of research and efforts. Universities and ministries are researching and everybody is researching. I was once in a ministry where I introduced what is called ‘Technology Digest’. Every Tuesday and Thursday, there was a television programme whereby

we showcased those who had made some research and achievements such that you don’t duplicate what I have done.

When I was in the ministry all the researches were brought close to my nose, but I learnt that they have gone back to various ministries because some people wanted higher budget. Again, when we research, we don’t update or when we do we don’t commecialise it. Abroad, once you carry out a research you call the private sector, they will look at it and see how they can use it. This idea of importing is affecting us as a nation as we don’t patronise made in Nigeria goods. So science and technology is not encouraged.

When you see people buying what you researched, you get your commission and research more.

It is often said 50 per cent of Nigerian youths are unemployed and those who are employable cannot ďŹ nd jobs. What is the way out?

The way out of unemployment is to strengthen our economy.

Before we can achieve this, the main courses of our problem

as a nation, which is security must be dealt with and once we take care of those things, investors will come and there will be a boom in the economy and things will improve. It beats me that in this country we do not eat what we produce as we import everything, we cannot save for raining day.

We have a refinery, but we still export our crude oil and bring back the refined one. We have textile mills but we don’t use them and we all wear foreign clothes. If you buy everything foreign how do you create employment? It means we are creating unemployment which creates insecurity. For instance, the vehicle we use today, why must we import vehicle from outside when we have assembly plants in Nigeria? If the president starts using one of the cars being produced in Kaduna or wherever or there is an instruction that, henceforth, government agencies must buy Nigeria assembled cars just to ensure that we patronize them, we will create employment. Ultimately, if we use what we produce, unemployment will reduce by 50 per cent. If we eat what we grow and stop importing rice, we are strengthening the economy. These are critical areas that we have to look into as a nation.

Pacific Schools Graduates Students , Says Dysfunctional Curriculum, Bane of Nigerian Devt The Pacific Schools, ShashaAkowonjo, Lagos in its 15th Valedictory Service/Graduation ceremony released a set of young people it described as ‘Titans of the 21st century’.

The Principal, Mr. Andrew Mekwunye in his remarks, attributed the problems of high rate of unemployment as well as the unemployability of the Nigerian educated populace to the wholesome adoption and application of an environmentally-irrelevant curriculum for the Nigerian society.

According to him, “unemployment was alien and strange to the traditional Nigerian society until the missionaries and the colonial government introduced a static and sterile curriculum that is of no cultural relevance

to Nigeria.�

He said education is expected to equip people with the relevant skills for survival in every society, adding that it should be able to transmit cultural heritage, moral and spiritual values, innovations, problem-solving techniques, job creation, social responsibility, political participation, among other skills. “The use of non-functional curriculum is the major source of the multiplicity of the social, educational and economic crises that the country is battling with today. Europe, Asia, America and other countries are already investing more than 26 per cent of their annual budgets towards restructuring educational curriculum to make it more functional and practical-oriented for job creation

and it should vary from one community to another.�

Mekwunye said countries like Singapore, Brazil, China among others that have overhauled their educational sector through massive investment are today reaping the benefits, adding that it has helped to reduce unemployment and crime rates in these countries.

He however warned that history and posterity will not vindicate the past, present and future government if nothing is done to restructure the dysfunctional curriculum.

The guest speaker, Mr. Sunday Enikanselu in his address titled, ‘Literacy Answers it All’, said Nigeria’s attainment of improved social policy and economic development depended much on the development of the intellectual

capacities of Nigerian youths using literacy education, adding that the purpose of education can only be effectively achieved through the promotion of quality literacy education in the country.

According to him, “Literacy education laced with critical skills are the prerequisite for quality education and tools for advancement of knowledge. The youths need improved skills to navigate the 21st century global community. The youths must embrace literacy activities and develop their creative abilities through numerous cognitive activities and practical applications of knowledge to solve problems.

Without these skill, they will not be able to successfully participate in the global economy as active citizens.�

ĂšĂœĂ?Ă?Ă“Ă‹ĂžĂ? ÒÙå Ă?Ă’Ă‹Ă–Ă–Ă?Ă˜Ă‘Ă“Ă˜Ă‘ Ă“Ăž Ă?Ă‹Ă˜ ĂŒĂ? ÞÙ Ă?Ă™Ă˜ĂžĂ‹Ă“Ă˜ ÞÒĂ? Ă‹Ę°Ă?ĂœĚ‹Ă?Ă?ÒÙÙÖ Ă?ĂšĂ“ĂœĂ“Ăž Ă™Ă? Ă?Ă‹ĂœĂ?Ă?ĂœĂ?Ă?Ëœ Ă?Ă‹ĂœĂ?Ě‹Ă–Ă?Ă?Ă? Ă?ĂœĂ?Ă?ÎÙ× Ă?Ă’Ă“Ă–ĂŽĂœĂ?Ă˜ Ă“Ă˜Ă˜Ă™Ă?Ă?Ă˜ĂžĂ–ĂŁ Ă?âÚĂ?ĂœĂ“Ă?Ă˜Ă?Ă? Ęś ĂŽĂ“Ă?ÚÖËã˛ Ă’Ă“Ă? Ă“Ă? ĂĄĂ’ĂŁ ĂĄĂ“Ă?Ă? ĂŽĂ&#x;Þã̋ÞĂ?Ă‹Ă?Ă’Ă?ĂœĂ? ĂĄĂ‹Ă–Ă• Ă?Ă’Ă“Ă–ĂŽĂœĂ?Ă˜ Ă“Ă˜ĂžĂ™ ÞÒĂ? Ă’Ă‹Ă–Ă– Ă™Ăœ ĂœĂ?ĂžĂ‹Ă“Ă˜ ÞÒĂ?Ă— Ă“Ă˜ Ă?Ă–Ă‹Ă?Ă? Ă‹Ă˜ĂŽ Ă—Ă‹Ă“Ă˜ĂžĂ‹Ă“Ă˜ Ă?Ă&#x;ĂšĂ?ĂœĂ Ă“Ă?Ă?ĂŽ ÚÓĂ?Ă•Ě‹Ă&#x;ĂšĂ? Ă‹Ăž ÞÒĂ? Ă?Ă˜ĂŽ Ă™Ă? Ă?Ă?ÒÙÙÖ Ă’Ă™Ă&#x;ĂœĂ?Ë› Ă‹Ă˜ĂŁ ĂŁĂ™Ă&#x;Ă˜Ă‘ Ă?Ă’Ă“Ă–ĂŽĂœĂ?Ă˜ ĂĄĂ™Ă&#x;Ă–ĂŽ ĂœĂ‹ĂžĂ’Ă?Ăœ Ă”Ă&#x;Ă?Ăž ĂŽĂ&#x;Ă—Ăš ÞÒĂ?Ă“Ăœ ĂŒĂ‹Ă‘Ă? Ă‹Ă˜ĂŽ Ă—Ă‹Ă•Ă? Ă?Ă™Ăœ ÞÒĂ? ʨĂ?Ă–ĂŽ Ă?Ă™Ăœ Ă?Ă‹ĂžĂ?Ă’Ě‹Ă&#x;Ăš ÚÖËã Ă™Ă˜Ă?Ă? ÞÒĂ? ĂŒĂ?Ă–Ă– Ă‘Ă™Ă?Ă?Ë ÍłÍľ ĂŁĂ?Ă‹Ăœ ÙÖÎ Ă?ĂŒĂŒĂ“Ă? Ă“Ă? Ă—Ă&#x;Ă?Ă’ Ă—Ă™ĂœĂ? ĂžĂ’Ă‹Ă˜ ÞÒĂ? Ę°Ă?ĂœĚ‹ Ă?ÒÙÙÖ Ă–Ă&#x;ĂŒ ĂŒĂ&#x;Ă? ĂŽĂœĂ“Ă Ă?Ăœ Ă?Ă’Ă? Ă“Ă?Ë› Ă?ĂŒĂŒĂ“Ă? Ă“Ă? Ă‹ ĂœĂ™Ă&#x;ĂžĂ?ĂœËœ Ă‹ Ă˜Ă‹Ă Ă“Ă‘Ă‹ĂžĂ™Ăœ Ă‹Ă˜ĂŽ Ă‹ ʨĂ?Ă’Ă“Ă˜Ă‘ ĂŒĂ‹Ă“ĂžËœ Ă‹Ă–Ă– ĂœĂ™Ă–Ă–Ă?ĂŽ Ă“Ă˜ĂžĂ™ Ă™Ă˜Ă?Ëœ Ă‹Ă? Ă?Ă’Ă? Ă?Ă‹ĂœĂœĂ“Ă?Ă? Ă™Ă&#x;Ăž ÞÒÓĂ? Ă Ă?ĂœĂŁ ĂŽĂ?Ă–Ă“Ă?Ă‹ĂžĂ? Ă”Ă™ĂŒË› Ă‹ĂžĂ?Ă’Ă“Ă˜Ă‘ Ă’Ă?Ăœ Ă‹Ăž ĂĄĂ™ĂœĂ• Ă“Ă? Ă?Ă&#x;Ă?Ă’ Ă‹ ĂŽĂ?Ă–Ă“Ă‘Ă’ĂžË Ă?ĂŒĂŒĂ“Ă? Ă&#x;Ă?Ă?Ă? ×Ùà Ă?Ă—Ă?Ă˜ĂžËœ Ă Ă“ĂŒĂœĂ‹Ă˜Ă?ĂŁËœ Ă?ÙÖÙĂ&#x;Ăœ Ă‹Ă˜ĂŽ Ă›Ă&#x;Ă“Ă?Ăž Ă?Ă™Ă˜Ę¨ĂŽĂ?Ă˜Ă?Ă? ÞÙ ËŠĂŒĂ‹Ă“ĂžËŞ ÞÒĂ? Ă?Ă?ÒÙÙÖ Ă?Ă’Ă“Ă–ĂŽĂœĂ?Ă˜ Ă?Ă’Ă? ÚÓĂ?Ă•Ă? Ă&#x;ĂšËœ Ă™Ă˜ ÞÓ×Ă?Ëœ Ă“Ă˜ĂžĂ™ Ă’Ă?Ăœ ĂŒĂ&#x;Ă?Ë› ĂŁ ÙÎ̋Ă?Ă™Ă˜ Ă™Ă˜Ă?Ă? ÞÙÖÎ Ă—Ă? ĂžĂ’Ă‹ĂžËœ ËŤ Ă?ĂŒĂŒĂ“Ă? Ă˜Ă?Ă Ă?Ăœ Ă?Ă’Ă™Ă&#x;ĂžĂ?Ëœ Ă?Ă’Ă“Ă–ĂŽĂœĂ?Ă˜ Ă”Ă&#x;Ă?Ăž Ă™ĂŒĂ?ĂŁ Ă’Ă?ĂœËŹË› Ă™ ĂŒĂ?Ă‘Ă‹Ă˜ ÞÙ ĂœĂ?ĘŽĂ?Ă?Ăž Ă™Ă˜ ĂĄĂ’Ă‹Ăž Ă“Ăž Ă“Ă? Ă‹ĂŒĂ™Ă&#x;Ăž Ă?ĂŒĂŒĂ“Ă? ÞÒËÞ Ă—Ă‹Ă•Ă?Ă? ĂŽĂ‹ĂœĂžĂ“Ă˜Ă‘Ëœ Ă?Ă›Ă&#x;Ă?Ă‹Ă–Ă“Ă˜Ă‘Ëœ ĂšĂœĂ‹Ă˜Ă•Ă“Ă˜Ă‘Ëœ Ă“Ă—ĂšĂ&#x;Ă–Ă?Ă“Ă Ă? Ă‹Ă˜ĂŽ Ă?Ă˜Ă?ĂœĂ‘ĂŁĚ‹ĂšĂ™ĂšĂšĂ“Ă˜Ă‘ Ă?Ă?ÒÙÙÖ Ă?Ă’Ă“Ă–ĂŽĂœĂ?Ă˜ Ă”Ă&#x;Ă?Ăž Ă™ĂŒĂ?ĂŁ Ă?ĂŒĂŒĂ“Ă?Ë› ĂŽĂ“ĂŽĂ˜ËŞĂž Ă’Ă‹Ă Ă? ÞÙ ĂžĂ’Ă“Ă˜Ă• ÞÙÙ ĂŽĂ?Ă?Ăš Ă‹Ă? Ă—ĂŁ ÙÎ̋Ă?Ă™Ă˜ Ă?Ă&#x;ÚÚÖÓĂ?ĂŽ Ë› ËŤ Ă&#x;Ă˜ĂžĂŁËŹ Ă’Ă? Ă?Ă‹Ă“ĂŽ ËŤĂ‹Ă–Ă– ÞÒĂ? Ă?Ă’Ă“Ă–ĂŽĂœĂ?Ă˜ ÞËÖÕ ÞÙ Ă’Ă?ĂœËŹË› Ă’Ă“Ă? Ă‹Ă˜Ă?ĂĄĂ?Ăœ Ă?Ă™ Ă“Ă˜Ă˜Ă™Ă?Ă?Ă˜ĂžĂ–ĂŁ Ă?ÞËÞĂ?ĂŽ Ă?Ă?Ă˜Ăž Ă—Ă? Ă?ĂšĂ“ĂœĂ‹Ă–Ă–ĂŁ Ă?Ă™Ă&#x;Ă–Ě‹ Ă?Ă?Ă‹ĂœĂ?Ă’Ă“Ă˜Ă‘Ë› Ă˜ĂŽ Ă?Ă™ Ă‹Ă?Ă• ĂŁĂ™Ă&#x; ĂžĂ™ĂŽĂ‹ĂŁËœ ËŤĂ‹ĂœĂ? ĂŁĂ™Ă&#x; Ă‹ĂšĂšĂœĂ™Ă‹Ă?Ă’Ă‹ĂŒĂ–Ă? Ă?Ă˜Ă™Ă&#x;Ă‘Ă’ Ă?Ă™Ăœ Ă‹ Ă?Ă’Ă“Ă–ĂŽËœ ĂžĂ?Ă?Ă˜Ă‹Ă‘Ă?Ăœ Ă™Ăœ ĂŁĂ™Ă&#x;Ă˜Ă‘ Ă‹ĂŽĂ&#x;Ă–Ăž ÞÙ ÞËÖÕ ÞÙ ĂŁĂ™Ă&#x;ËŁËŹ Ă–ĂœĂ?Ă‹ĂŽĂŁ Ă“Ă˜ ÞÒĂ? Í°Ă˜ĂŽ ĂžĂœĂ“Ă—Ă?Ă?ĂžĂ?Ăœ Ă™Ă? Ă’Ă?Ăœ ĂšĂœĂ?Ă‘Ă˜Ă‹Ă˜Ă?ĂŁËœ Ă?Ă?Ă‹ĂœĂ?ĂŽËœ Ă?Ă™Ă˜Ă?Ă&#x;Ă?Ă?ĂŽ Ęś ĂžĂœĂ™Ă&#x;ĂŒĂ–Ă?ĂŽËœ ÍŻÍą ĂŁĂ?Ă‹Ăœ ÙÖÎ Ă‹ĂŁĂ–Ă?Ă“Ă‘Ă’ Ă˜Ă‹Ă“ĂžĂ’ Ě™ Ă’Ă? Ă“ĂœĂœĂ™Ăœ Ă™Ă˜Ă–Ă“Ă˜Ă? Ͱ͎˚;˚ͯ̚͜ ĂĄĂ?Ă˜Ăž ÞÙ Ă’Ă?Ăœ Ă’Ă?Ă‹ĂŽ ĂžĂ?Ă‹Ă?Ă’Ă?Ăœ Ă‹Ă? Ă?Ă’Ă? Ă?Ă™Ă&#x;Ă–ĂŽĂ˜ËŞĂž ĂŒĂœĂ“Ă˜Ă‘ Ă’Ă?ĂœĂ?Ă?Ă–Ă? ÞÙ ĂžĂ?Ă–Ă– Ă’Ă?Ăœ ĂšĂ‹ĂœĂ?Ă˜ĂžĂ? ÞÒËÞ Ă?Ă’Ă? ĂĄĂ‹Ă? ĂšĂœĂ?Ă‘Ă˜Ă‹Ă˜ĂžË› Ă’Ă“Ă? Ă?Ă?Ă?Ă—Ă“Ă˜Ă‘Ă–ĂŁ ĂĄĂ“Ă?Ă?Ëœ Ă?Ă‹Ă–Ă—Ëœ Ă?âÚĂ?ĂœĂ“Ă?Ă˜Ă?Ă?ĂŽ Ă‹Ă˜ĂŽ Ă‹ĂšĂšĂœĂ™Ă‹Ă?Ă’Ă‹ĂŒĂ–Ă? ĂšĂœĂ“Ă˜Ă?ÓÚËÖ ÞÒĂ?Ă˜ Ă?Ă‹Ă–Ă–Ă?ĂŽ Ă“Ă˜ Ă—Ă&#x;Ă— ÞÙ ĂŒĂœĂ?Ă‹Ă• ÞÒĂ? Ă˜Ă?ĂĄĂ?Ë›

Ă˜ Ă—ĂŁ Ă—Ă“Ă˜ĂŽËŞĂ? Ă?ĂŁĂ?Ëœ Ă?Ă‹Ă˜ Ă?Ă?Ă? ÞÒÓĂ? ĂšĂœĂ“Ă˜Ă?ÓÚËÖ ÞÒÙĂ&#x;Ă‘Ă’ĂžĂ?Ă&#x;Ă–Ă–ĂŁ Ă?ĂœĂ?Ă‹ĂžĂ“Ă˜Ă‘ Ă‹ Ă?Ă™Ă˜ĂŽĂ&#x;Ă?Ă“Ă Ă? ËÞ×ÙĂ?ÚÒĂ?ĂœĂ? Ă?Ă™Ăœ ÞÒÓĂ? ĂŽĂ“ĘŠĂ?Ă&#x;Ă–Ăž ĂŽĂ“Ă?Ă?Ă&#x;Ă?Ă?Ă“Ă™Ă˜ ĂŒĂ?ÞåĂ?Ă?Ă˜ ×ÙÞÒĂ?Ăœ Ă‹Ă˜ĂŽ Ă’Ă?Ăœ ÍŻÍą ĂŁĂ?Ă‹Ăœ ÙÖÎ ĂšĂœĂ?Ă‘Ă˜Ă‹Ă˜Ăž ĂŽĂ‹Ă&#x;Ă‘Ă’ĂžĂ?Ăœ ÞÙ ÒËÚÚĂ?Ă˜Ë› Ă?Ă‹Ă˜ Ă?Ă?Ă? Ă’Ă?Ăœ Ă?×ÚÙåĂ?ĂœĂ“Ă˜Ă‘ Ă‹ĂŁĂ–Ă?Ă“Ă‘Ă’ åÓÞÒ ÞÒĂ? Ă˜Ă?Ă?ĂŽĂ?ĂŽ Ă?Ă™ĂœĂžĂ“ĂžĂ&#x;ĂŽĂ? ÞÙ Ă?Ă‹Ă?Ă? Ă’Ă?Ăœ Ă™ĂĄĂ˜ Ă—Ă&#x;Ă— åÓÞÒ ÞÒÓĂ? ĂŽĂ?Ă–Ă“Ă?Ă‹ĂžĂ? Ă‹Ă˜ĂŽ Ă?Ă?Ă˜Ă?ÓÞÓà Ă? Ă˜Ă?ĂĄĂ?Ë› Ă?Ă‹Ă˜ Ă?Ă?Ă? Ă‹ Ă˜Ă™Ă˜Ě‹Ă”Ă&#x;ĂŽĂ‘Ă—Ă?Ă˜ĂžĂ‹Ă– ĂŒĂ&#x;Ăž Ă?Ă?Ă˜Ă?ÓÞÓà Ă? Ă‹Ă˜ĂŽ Ă?×ÚËÞÒĂ?ÞÓĂ? Ă’Ă?Ă‹ĂŽ Ă&#x;Ă?Ă’Ă?Ăœ Ă—Ă&#x;Ă— Ă•Ă“Ă˜ĂŽĂ–ĂŁ Ă“Ă˜ĂžĂ™ ÞÒĂ? ÙʊĂ?Ă? Ă‹Ă˜ĂŽ Ă“Ă˜Ă Ă“ĂžĂ? Ă‹ĂŁĂ–Ă?Ă“Ă‘Ă’ ÞÙ Ă?ĂšĂ?Ă‹Ă•Ë› Ă’Ă“Ă? ĂšĂœĂ“Ă˜Ă?ÓÚËÖ˪Ă? Ă‹Ă—ĂŒĂ“Ă?Ă˜Ă?Ă?Ëœ ĂžĂ™Ă˜Ă? Ă™Ă? à ÙÓĂ?Ă? Ęś Ă?ÒÙÓĂ?Ă? Ă™Ă? ÞÒĂ? ÚÙĂ?Ă?Ă“ĂŒĂ–ĂŁ Ă?Ă?ĂĄ Ă“Ă˜ĂžĂœĂ™Ě‹ĂĄĂ™ĂœĂŽĂ? Ă&#x;Ă?Ă?ĂŽ ĂœĂ?Ă Ă?Ă‹Ă–Ă?ĂŽ Ă‹ ĂœĂ?Ă‹Ă–Ă“Ă¤Ă‹ĂžĂ“Ă™Ă˜ ÞÒËÞ ÞÒĂ?Ă“Ăœ ĂšĂœĂ™Ă?Ă?Ă?Ă?Ă“Ă™Ă˜Ă‹Ă– ĂŒĂ?Ă’Ă‹Ă Ă“Ă™Ăœ Ă?ĂœĂ™Ă— ÞÒĂ?Ă˜ Ă™Ă˜ ĂĄĂ™Ă&#x;Ă–ĂŽ Ă’Ă‹Ă Ă? Ă“Ă—Ă—Ă?Ă˜Ă?Ă? Ó×ÚËĂ?Ăž Ă™Ă˜ ÒÙå ÞÒÓĂ? Ă˜Ă?ĂĄĂ? ĂĄĂ‹Ă? ĂœĂ?Ă?Ă?Ă“Ă Ă?ĂŽ ĂŒĂŁ Ă‹ĂŁĂ–Ă?Ă“Ă‘Ă’ËŞĂ? ĂšĂ‹ĂœĂ?Ă˜ĂžĂ?Ë› ÙÞ Ă?Ă&#x;ĂœĂšĂœĂ“Ă?Ă“Ă˜Ă‘Ă–ĂŁ Ă?ĂžĂ&#x;Ă˜Ă˜Ă?ĂŽËœ ÚÙĂ?Ă?Ă“ĂŒĂ–ĂŁ Ă’Ă&#x;ĂœĂž Ęś ÚÙĂ?Ă?Ă“ĂŒĂ–ĂŁ ĂŽĂ“Ă?Ă‹ĂšĂšĂ™Ă“Ă˜ĂžĂ?ĂŽ Ă—Ă&#x;Ă— Ă‹Ăž ÞÒÓĂ? Ă—Ă?Ă?ĂžĂ“Ă˜Ă‘ Ă–Ă?Ę° ÞÒËÞ ÙʊĂ?Ă? ĂŒĂœĂ&#x;Ă“Ă?Ă?ĂŽ ĂŒĂ&#x;Ăž Ă?ĂžĂœĂ™Ă˜Ă‘Ë› Ă’Ă? Ă–Ă?Ę° åÓÞÒ ÞÒĂ?Ă?Ă? ĂĄĂ™ĂœĂŽĂ?Ëœ ˍ˛˛˛ ĂĄĂ‹Ă? Ă?Ă’Ă™Ă?Ă•Ă?ĂŽ ĂŒĂ&#x;Ăž Ă‹Ăž ÞÒĂ? Ă?Ă‹Ă—Ă? ÞÓ×Ă?Ëœ Ă—ĂŁ Ă—Ă“Ă˜ĂŽ Ă•Ă“Ă?Ă•Ă?ĂŽ Ă“Ă˜ Ă‹Ă˜ĂŽ ÞÒÙĂ&#x;Ă‘Ă’Ăž ĂĄĂ? ĂĄĂ“Ă–Ă– ĂŽĂ?Ă‹Ă– åÓÞÒ ÞÒÓĂ?Ëœ Ă‹ĂŁĂ–Ă?Ă“Ă‘Ă’ ĂĄĂ“Ă–Ă– Ă?ÞÓÖÖ Ă’Ă‹Ă Ă? Ă‹ Ă–Ă“Ă?Ă? Ă‹Ă˜ĂŽ ĂĄĂ?ËŞĂ–Ă– Ă—Ă‹Ă•Ă? Ă?Ă&#x;ĂœĂ? Ă™Ă? ÞÒËÞˏ˛

Ă‹ĂŁĂ–Ă?Ă“Ă‘Ă’ ĂŽĂ“ĂŽ Ă‘Ă™ Ă™Ă˜ ÞÙ Ă?Ă&#x;ĘĽĂ?Ăœ Ă‹ Ă‘ĂœĂ?Ă‹Ăž ĂŽĂ?Ă‹Ă–Ë› Ă’Ă? Ă?Ă’Ă‹ĂœĂ?ĂŽ ÞÒËÞ Ă?Ă’Ă? ĂĄĂ‹Ă? ĂŒĂœĂ‹Ă˜ĂŽĂ?ĂŽ ĂŽĂ“Ă?Ă‘Ă&#x;Ă?ĂžĂ“Ă˜Ă‘ Ă‹Ă˜ĂŽ ÞÙÖÎ Ă?Ă’Ă? Ă’Ă‹ĂŽ ĂœĂ&#x;Ă“Ă˜ Ă’Ă?Ăœ Ă–Ă“Ă?Ă? ĂŒĂŁ Ă’Ă?Ăœ Ă?Ă–Ă‹Ă?Ă?Ă—Ă‹ĂžĂ?Ă?Ë› Ă&#x;ĂœĂžĂ’Ă?ĂœĂ—Ă™ĂœĂ?Ëœ Ă?Ă’Ă? Ă?Ă‹Ă?Ă?ĂŽ Ă?ĂœĂ&#x;Ă?Ă– Ă?Ù××Ă?Ă˜ĂžĂ? Ă?ĂœĂ™Ă— Ă?ĂžĂœĂ‹Ă˜Ă‘Ă?ĂœĂ? ĂĄĂ’Ă™ Ă”Ă“ĂŒĂ?ĂŽ ÞÒËÞ Ă?Ă’Ă? ĂĄĂ™Ă&#x;Ă–ĂŽ Ă˜Ă?Ă Ă?Ăœ Ă‹Ă?Ă’Ă“Ă?Ă Ă? Ă‹Ăž Ă?Ă?ÒÙÙÖ˛ Ă’Ă? ĂšĂœĂ“Ă˜Ă?ÓÚËÖ Ă‹Ă˜ĂŽ Ă?Ă?ÒÙÙÖ Ă?Ă™Ă˜ĂžĂ“Ă˜Ă&#x;Ă?ĂŽ ÞÙ Ă•Ă?Ă?Ăš ÞÒĂ?Ă“Ăœ Ă’Ă?Ă‹ĂœĂžĂ? Ă‹Ă˜ĂŽ ĂŽĂ™Ă™ĂœĂ? ÙÚĂ?Ă˜ Ă?Ă™Ăœ Ă‹ĂŁĂ–Ă?Ă“Ă‘Ă’Ë› Ă&#x;ĂœĂ“Ă˜Ă‘ Ă’Ă?Ăœ ĂšĂœĂ?Ă‘Ă˜Ă‹Ă˜Ă?ĂŁËœ Ă?Ă’Ă? Ă‹ĘľĂ?Ă˜ĂŽĂ?ĂŽ Ă?Ă?ÒÙÙÖ ĂšĂ‹ĂœĂž ÞÓ×Ă? Ă‹Ă˜ĂŽ ĂœĂ?ĂžĂ&#x;ĂœĂ˜Ă?ĂŽ Ă?Ă™Ă&#x;Ăœ ĂĄĂ?Ă?Ă•Ă? Ă‹Ę°Ă?Ăœ Ă’Ă?Ăœ ĂŒĂ‹ĂŒĂŁ ĂĄĂ‹Ă? ĂŒĂ™ĂœĂ˜Ë› Ă’Ă“Ă? Ă—Ă™Ă˜ĂžĂ’ Ě™Ă˜Ă™ĂĄ ÍŻÍ´ ĂŁĂ?Ă‹ĂœĂ? ÙÖÎ̚ Ă?Ă’Ă? Ă‹ĘľĂ?Ă˜ĂŽĂ?ĂŽ Ă’Ă?Ăœ Ă?Ă?ÒÙÙÖ˪Ă? ĂšĂœĂ™Ă— Ă‹Ă˜ĂŽ ĂĄĂ™Ă&#x;Ă–ĂŽ ĂŒĂ? Ă‘Ă™Ă“Ă˜Ă‘ Ă“Ă˜ĂžĂ™ Ă˜Ă“ ÞÙ Ă?ĂžĂ&#x;ĂŽĂŁ Ă&#x;Ă?Ă“Ă? ÞÒÓĂ? Ă?ÚÞĂ?Ă—ĂŒĂ?ĂœË› Mrs Kehinde Omoru writes from the UK

FUT Minna Expels PhD Student, Three Others for Overstaying Laleye Dipo in Minna

The Senate of the Federal University of Technology Minna Niger State has expelled from the institution a postgraduate student of the institution , Olateju Ademola Mukaila Olateju Ademola Mukaila was a student in the Department of Urban and Regional Planning.

This is just as three other students were expelled for overstaying in the university.

A statement published in the university’s weekly magazine said Mukaila was expelled for committing the offence of plagiarism.

The statement reads: “Senate at its 431st meeting held on February 28, 2018, considered among others, the expulsion of Olateju Ademola Mukaila (PhD/SET/2010/322), Department of Urban and Regional Planning, School of Environmental Technol-

ogy from the university with immediate effect. “This is based on the reports of various university committees that investigated his alleged involvement in plagiarizing that has to do with the thesis of Dr. N. T. A. Abd’razaq titled: ‘Ecological Foot Print for Sustainable Development in Minna’.

The bulletin further reports that Akangbe Olusola Olamide (2009/1/34863BL) 500 level student of the department of Geology, Nnaegbuna Innocent Uchenna (2009/1/33720BL) a 500 level student of the department of Geology and Olorunmaiye Emmanuel Juwon 2009/1/34309BL), another student of the same department were expelled for overstaying in the university.

They were said to have stayed for 15 semesters in the school as against the normal 10 semesters.

T H I S D AY ˾ WEDNESDAY JULY 25, 2018

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T H I S D AY ˾ WEDNESDAY JULY 25, 2018

35

36

T H I S D AY ˾ Ͱͳ˜ ͰͮͯͶ

T H I S D AY ˾ WEDNESDAY JULY 25, 2018

37

T H I S D AY • WEDNESDAY, JULY 25, 2018

38

BUSINESS/MONEYGUIDE

Poll: Consumer Confidence Rises in Second Quarter Ugo Aliogo A survey by the NOIPolls has revealed that Consumer Confidence Index (CCI) increased by 1.4 points to stand at 67 points in the second quarter of 2018, slightly higher than the 65.6 points recorded in the first quarter.

It showed that the increase signified the tendency of households to spend, slightly increased in Q2 2018, adding

that the NOIPolls Consumer CCI measures how optimistic or pessimistic consumers are regarding their present and future economic prospects.

The poll also stated that the slight increase in CCI corroborated findings from the Consumer Expectation Survey (CES) conducted by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and trading economics, which revealed that consumer confidence in the country

increased in the Q2.

The group in the statement noted that the two variables that make up the CCI; the Present Situation Index (PSI) and the Expectation Index (EI) both experienced an increase.

The statement added that the PSI increased by 4.2 points from the results obtained in the first quarter, to 43.2 points in second quarter. Similarly, the EI increased by 4.9 points to stand at 84.8 points.

FirstBank: Recalling $300m Eurobond Ahead of Maturity, Demonstration of Strength First Bank of Nigeria Limited, a subsidiary of FBN Holdings Plc decided to exercise its option to recall its $300 million 8.25 percent subordinated note (Eurobond) raised from the international debt markets before the due date of August 2020 as a demonstration of the strength of its foreign currency liquidity.

A report by the bank also explained that it would not be re-issuing debt in Eurobond markets in the near term, following the planned redemption.

In addition, the bank explained that the move to buy back the $300 million debt was a demonstration of the resilience of its balance sheet.

“Reissuance will be a function of our funding needs, market conditions, expected pricing in relation to alternative funding structure and sources.

“At the moment, the bank has ample liquidity to meet foreign and local currency

funding needs and maintains sufficient market access to raise additional funds, if required,” it added.

First Bank of Nigeria Limited recently exercised its option to redeem the fixed rate subordinated note held by FBN Finance /Company B.V. Accordingly, FBN Finance Company B.V. exercised its option to call the $300 million 8.25% subordinated notes, raised in the international debt markets, due August 2020.

By the action the bank intends to call and prepay holders of these notes on August 7, 2018.

“Despite the 2020 Bond being a subordinated Tier 2 instrument, we are able to redeem this without any impact on our capital ratios, due to the surplus Tier 2 capital we currently hold confirming the robust capital base of the bank.

“To ensure the smooth redemption, FirstBank had

systematically built up internal liquidity on the back of a strong franchise and its deep market access in the course of 2018, foreign currency deposits had grown 11.9 per cent year to date and 6.9 per cent year-on-year,” the bank explained in a report.

It added, “It is important to note that the bank through its various SPVs like FBN Finance Company B.V. is a repeat issuer and this exercise would make it the second time FirstBank will call and prepay bondholders following its debut 2007 9.75% US$175 million which was called in 2012.

“It is a known issuer in international debt markets and has significant market access.

The bank has remained focused on delivering on its strategic objectives and continues to execute towards, improving its asset quality and risk management, enhancing revenue generation; and optimising operational efficiency.”

R-L: Auditor General for the Federation, Anthony Ayine being presented the award by Country Head of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants, Thomas Isibor, in Abuja…recently

MARKET INDICATORS MONEY AND CREDIT STATISTICS

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)

Auditor-General’s Office BecomesACCA‘Approved Employer’ The Officer of the Auditor General of the Federation (OAUGF) enlisted as an ‘Approved Employer’ of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA).

The ACCA disclosed this in a statement yesterday. The ACCA Approved Employer Programme is a platform for partnership which is designed to recognise employers who place high value on the professional development of staff, particularly in its finance function.

ACCA explained that it remains open to collaborate with organisations “on this platform to provide support in building staff capacity, recruit the best talent and maximise

global research and insights which may be jointly carried out among other things.”

The statement noted that while the professional development of ACCA members working at the OAUGF was a key focus during the process of application and appraisal, t e benefits of collaborating with ACCA on this platform would be to deliver on benefits to finance professionals from across diverse professional bodies who work at the OAUGF. According to the Head of Training at the OAUGF, Mr Ishmael Agan, “This means a lot to us as an office. We see it as one of the international approvals and recognitions for our staff development

programmes.

“We look forward to taking advantage of the many benefits this partnership will bring to bear on our staff.

“The Office of the AuditorGeneral for the Federation is going through significant reforms to enable the Office deliver better on its constitutional mandate.” “The recognition of the Office as an approved employer by the ACCA will encourage good candidates to join the office and will improve the audit talent pool. It is a great step in the right direction, and I’m sure the office will work hard to deepen its relationship with the ACCA,” Ayodeji Ogunyemi said.

Keystone Bank Wins Award Keystone Bank Limited said it recently emerged as ‘Africa’s Most Innovative Bank of the Year, 2018’ at the European Global Banking & Finance Awards held in London recently.

The bank chief, Mr. Obeahon Ohiwerei, also clinched the Best Banking CEO in Africa Award.

The award which was organised by the European Global, UK, the European Global Banking & Finance Awards, according to a statement from the organisers, reflected the innovation, achievement, strategy, progressive and inspirational changes taking place within the

Global Financial community.

Keystone Bank and its CEO were said to have beaten other competitors in Africa to emerge leaders of the continent at the award ceremony.

On Ohiwerei’s emergence as the ‘Best Banking CEO in Africa’, the organisers said the Keystone Bank boss was chosen in recognition of his achievements last year, which was seen as an inspiration for business and government leaders working to raise Africa’s investment profile.

The judging panel of the award considered excellent

leadership skills, enhanced organisational image and innovation. “Since he became Managing Director of the lender, Ohiwerei has spearheaded a number of growth initiatives, which has placed the bank on upward trajectory,” the statement added. Receiving the awards, the Group Managing Director/CEO of Keystone Bank Limited, Mr. Obeahon Ohiwerei said, “We are honoured to win the ‘Africa’s Most Innovative Bank’ award and to be recognised as the ‘Best Banking CEO’ in Africa.

(MILLION NAIRA) 2018

Month

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 Inter-Bank Call Rate

MARCH 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, 23, JULY , 2018 The price of OPEC basket of fifteen crudes stood at $71.85 a barrel on Monday, compared with $71.57 the previous Friday, according to OPEC Secretariat calculations.

The OPEC Reference Basket of Crudes (ORB) is made up of the following: Saharan Blend (Algeria), Girassol (Angola), Djeno (Congo), 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

T H I S D AY •WEDNESDAY, JULY 25, 2018

39

MARKET NEWS

Vetiva Capital Places ‘Buy’ Rating on Dangote Cement Shares Goddy Egene and Nosa Alekhuogie

Dangote Cement Plc was among the price losers, falling N1.00 to close at N235 per share, Vetiva Capital Management Limited has placed a ‘buy’ rating on the counter.

In its latest recent earnings review of Dangote Cement Plc, Vetiva cited operational efficiency of the group, strong cement prices and improving contributions from pan-African

The stock market returned to the bears’ territory yesterday after opening positively on Monday. Consequently, the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) All-Share Index (ASI) shed 0.70 per cent to close lower at 36,455.25.

In all, 29 stocks depreciated while 16 appreciated. Although

operations as key performance drivers of the company’s half year (H1) 2018 results.

The report noted that Dangote Cement Plc recorded a three per cent earnings growth to N113 billion despite early rains, while the group earnings before interest depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) rose 21 per cent to N246 billion ( eight ahead of Vetiva’s estimate).

Speaking on the report, the Head of Research at Vetiva Capital Management Limited, Olalekan Olabode said: “EBITDA was particularly strong in the Nigeria operations, rising 19 per cent year-on-year( y/y) to N227 billion, supported by healthy cement prices and continued improvement in fuel efficiency.

Operations in the pan African business also remained strong

PRICES FOR SECURITIES TRADED AS OF

within the period despite some operational challenges in a few countries, with EBITDA rising 32 per cent y/y to N26 billion.”

Following Dangote Cement half year (H1) performance, Vetiva has revised its estimates. “We revise our volume estimate for the Group to 26.2 million MT and our FY’18 revenue estimate to N958 billion. Given this, Vetiva Research now expects an

full year 2018 (FY’18) Group EBITDA of N490 billion, a strong 26 per cent y/y growth estimate. “We raised our interest expense from N27 billion to N39 billion, after taking into account the FX losses in second quarter (Q2) and the recently issued commercial papers (Series 1:N12.04 billion at 12.40 per cent per annum , Series 2: N37.96 billion at 12.65 per cent PA).

A S AT 2 3 / 0 7 / 2 0 1 8

Price List (Equities) PRICES FOR PREMIUM BOARD SECURITIES FINANCIAL SERVICES

S/N 1 2 3 BANKING S/N 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 REAL ESTATE DEVELOPMENT S/N 22 23 24 REAL ESTATE INVESTMENT TRUSTS (REITS) CONSTRUCTION/REAL ESTATE CONSUMER GOODS S/N 25 AUTOMOBILES/AUTO PARTS S/N 26 27 28 29

BANKING ACCESS BANK PLC. UNITED BANK FOR AFRICA PLC ZENITH INTERNATIONAL BANK PLC OTHER FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS FBN HOLDINGS PLC

MARKET CAP(Nm) 289,279.72

%CHANGE

TRADES

321,474.56

9.40

-1.57

192

5,372,488

723,689.18

23.05

0.22

305

11,293,315

31

686

23,414,110

32

MARKET CAP(Nm) DANGOTE CEMENT PLC 4,021,559.75 LAFARGE AFRICA PLC. 281,886.42

6,748,307

30 BEVERAGES--BREWERS/DISTILLERS S/N

-0.99

MARKET CAP(Nm) 328,441.93

189

VOLUME

10.00

BUILDING MATERIALS

EXPLORATION AND PRODUCTION SEPLAT PETROLEUM DEVELOPMENT COMPANY LTD

PRICE

PRICE

%CHANGE

TRADES

VOLUME

33

9.15

1.10

236

6,157,737

34

236

6,157,737

922

29,571,847

35 36

PRICE

%CHANGE

TRADES

VOLUME

236.00 32.50

0.55 -

113 67 180 180

2,391,998 481,154 2,873,152 2,873,152

TRADES

VOLUME

MARKET CAP(Nm)

PRICE

382,488.96

650.00

%CHANGE -

4

2,399

4

2,399

4 1,106

2,399 32,447,398

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

MARKET CAP(Nm) 440.00

43

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

0.20

79,174.53

83.00

66,150.00

66.15

-

FISHING/HUNTING/ TRAPPING ELLAH LAKES PLC.

MARKET CAP(Nm) 511.20

LIVESTOCK/ANIMAL SPECIALTIES LIVESTOCK FEEDS PLC.

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

BUILDING CONSTRUCTION ARBICO PLC. INFRASTRUCTURE/ HEAVY CONSTRUCTION JULIUS BERGER NIG. PLC. ROADS NIG PLC. REAL ESTATE DEVELOPMENT UACN PROPERTY DEVELOPMENT CO. LIMITED REAL ESTATE INVESTMENT TRUSTS (REITS) SKYE SHELTER FUND PLC UNION HOMES REAL ESTATE INVESTMENT TRUST (REIT) UPDC REAL ESTATE INVESTMENT TRUST

MARKET CAP(Nm) 2,100.00

MARKET CAP(Nm) 1,217.75

PRICE

%CHANGE

TRADES

VOLUME

-

3

25,200

-

20

82,097

22 45

122,470 229,767

44 PERSONAL/HOUSEHOLD PRODUCTS CONSUMER GOODS FINANCIAL SERVICES

VOLUME

45

4.26

-

0 0

0 0

46

TRADES

VOLUME

-

12

304,098

12

304,098

57

533,865 VOLUME

PRICE

%CHANGE

TRADES

47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 BANKING

0.46

-

0

0

225.71 2,111.93

0.58 3.25

-

4 1

30,000 112

49,590.55

1.22

4.27

180

16,146,104

55

37,744.99

13.10

-1.13

38 223 223

446,751 16,622,967 16,622,967

57

MARKET CAP(Nm) 711.32

56

58 %CHANGE

TRADES

VOLUME

59

4.79

-

0 0

0 0

60 61

PRICE

%CHANGE

TRADES

VOLUME

32,076.00

24.30

-

20

118,207

165.00

6.60

-

MARKET CAP(Nm) 4,495.22

S/N

PRICE

MARKET CAP(Nm)

62 63

0

0

20

118,207

64

PRICE

%CHANGE

TRADES

VOLUME

65

1.73

-9.42

9

679,360

66

9

679,360

67

MARKET CAP(Nm) 1,900.00

PRICE

%CHANGE

TRADES

VOLUME

95.00

-

0

0

11,300.89

45.20

-

0

0

70

24,014.43

9.00

-

0

0

71 72

AUTOMOBILES/AUTO PARTS DN TYRE & RUBBER PLC

MARKET CAP(Nm) 1,002.26

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

MARKET CAP(Nm) 14,876.04

0

0

29

797,567 73

%CHANGE

TRADES

VOLUME

74

0.21

-

5 5

124,137 124,137

75

PRICE

%CHANGE

TRADES

VOLUME

76 77

1.90

-7.32

14

367,513

0.89

-

0

0

212,467.13

97.00

-

48

98,301

322,344.82

68 69

PRICE

242.22

37.50

-

20

215,000

FOOD PRODUCTSMARKET -DIVERSIFIED CAP(Nm) CADBURY NIGERIA 20,284.58 PLC. NESTLE NIGERIA PLC. 1,133,498.44 HOUSEHOLD DURABLES NIGERIAN ENAMELWARE PLC. VITAFOAM NIG PLC.

MARKET CAP(Nm) 1,680.31 3,387.70

MARKET PERSONAL/HOUSEHOLD PRODUCTS CAP(Nm) P Z CUSSONS NIGERIA 66,704.01 PLC. UNILEVER NIGERIA 298,740.28 PLC.

MARKET CAP(Nm) 30,108.51

DIAMOND BANK PLC ECOBANK TRANSNA379,835.71 TIONAL INCORPORATED FIDELITY BANK PLC 55,052.11 GUARANTY TRUST 1,141,929.75 BANK PLC. JAIZ BANK PLC 17,973.19 SKYE BANK PLC 9,161.00 STERLING BANK PLC. 39,730.78 UNION BANK NIG.PLC. 168,900.37 UNITY BANK PLC 10,987.98 WEMA BANK PLC. 28,159.36

TRADES

%CHANGE

FOOD PRODUCTS DANGOTE FLOUR MILLS PLC DANGOTE SUGAR 212,400.00 REFINERY PLC FLOUR MILLS NIG. PLC. 121,781.27 HONEYWELL FLOUR 15,067.38 MILL PLC MULTI-TREX INTE1,340.10 GRATED FOODS PLC N NIG. FLOUR MILLS 1,167.21 PLC. NASCON ALLIED 55,108.32 INDUSTRIES PLC UNION DICON SALT 3,676.41 PLC.

BANKING

%CHANGE

0.70

MARKET CAP(Nm) 44,500.00

S/N

PRICE

PRICE

NIGERIAN BREW. PLC. 863,665.42

78 79

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. 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 SUNU ASSURANCES NIGERIA PLC. UNIC DIVERSIFIED HOLDINGS PLC. UNIVERSAL INSURANCE COMPANY PLC VERITAS KAPITAL ASSURANCE PLC

108.00

0.47

82

2,375,476

164

3,056,290 VOLUME

PRICE

%CHANGE

TRADES

8.90

-2.20

44

374,066

17.70

-

40

143,979

29.70

-

76

522,844

1.90

-

24

407,860

0.36

-

0

0

6.55

-

1

2,500

20.80

2.72

22

294,334

13.45

-

PRICE 10.80

PRICE

0

0

207

1,745,583

%CHANGE

TRADES

VOLUME

-

24

79,025

-

42 66

74,405 153,430

%CHANGE

TRADES

VOLUME

22.10

-

0

0

3.25

-

9 9

35,069 35,069

PRICE

%CHANGE

TRADES

VOLUME

16.80

-

57

352,329

52.00

-

33

125,839

90

478,168

541

5,592,677

PRICE

%CHANGE

TRADES

VOLUME

1.30

3.08

66

5,627,297

20.70

-1.93

34

330,739

1.90

1.06

114

5,813,117

38.80

2.11

156

8,194,019

0.61 0.66 1.38 5.80 0.94 0.73

-6.15 1.54 1.47 5.80

9 36 92 33 8 51 599

708,708 1,700,096 4,526,208 138,145 100,531 2,971,478 30,110,338

MARKET CAP(Nm)

PRICE

%CHANGE

TRADES

VOLUME

4,117.00

0.20

-

0

0

4,227.42

0.61

-8.96

23

1,306,876

26,775.00

2.55

-

5

83,352

1,960.00

0.28

-

3

99,384

16,492.66

1.59

6.00

8

245,000

4,271.56

0.29

-

0

0

2,411.47

0.53

-

0

0

1,913.74

0.50

-

0

0

2,333.20

0.38

-

0

0

539.32

0.42

-

0

0

2,489.97

0.34

3.03

12

1,724,579

4,296.33

1.00

-

1

500

6,400.00

0.80

1.27

3

246,500

2,640.00

0.33

-

6

78,000

15,841.51

3.00

-0.33

22

1,616,570

2,089.66

0.27

-

2

2,000

1,908.71

0.50

-

7

178,565

1,600.50

0.24

-4.17

10

1,515,000

2,085.21

0.25

-4.00

17

2,437,964

5,422.63

0.42

-

0

0

4,483.72

0.48

-

0

0

2,800.00

0.20

-

9

689,950

516.46

0.20

-

0

0

8,000.00

0.50

-

0

0

4,160.00

0.30

-

0

0

˾ WEDNESDAY, JULY 25, 2018

40

Nigeria Daily Stock Market Report: Wednesday, July 25, 2018

d,/^ z &Z/Es ^d ϰϬ > ^ d, E^ ^/ Θ E^ ϯϬ /E y dŚĞ dŚŝƐ ĂLJ ĨƌŝŶǀĞƐƚ ϰϬ ŝŶĚĞdž ǁĂƐ ĐƌĞĂƚĞĚ ŽǀĞƌ Ă LJĞĂƌ ĂŐŽ ;:ƵŶĞ ϱƚŚ ϮϬϭϳͿ ĐŽŶƐŝƐƟŶŐ ŽĨ ϰϬ ƐƚŽĐŬƐ ǁŚŝĐŚ ĐƵƚ ĂĐƌŽƐƐ ƚŚĞ ǀĂƌŝŽƵƐ ƐĞĐƚŽƌƐ ŽŶ ƚŚĞ EŝŐĞƌŝĂŶ ^ƚŽĐŬ džĐŚĂŶŐĞ͘ dŚĞƐĞ ƐƚŽĐŬƐ ǁĞƌĞ ƐĞůĞĐƚĞĚ ďĂƐĞĚ ŽŶ ƚŚĞŝƌ ůŝƋƵŝĚŝƚLJ͕ ƚƌĂĚĂďŝůŝƚLJ ;ŇŽĂƚͿ ĂŶĚ ƐŝnjĞ ;ŵĂƌŬĞƚ ĐĂƉŝƚĂůŝnjĂƟŽŶͿ͘ ŽůůĞĐƟǀĞůLJ͕ ƚŚĞƐĞ ƐƚŽĐŬƐ ĂĐĐŽƵŶƚ ĨŽƌ ϵϰ͘Ϭй ŽĨ ƚŽƚĂů ŵĂƌŬĞƚ ĐĂƉŝƚĂůŝnjĂƟŽŶ ĂŶĚ ĂƉƉƌŽdžŝŵĂƚĞůLJ ϰϮ͘Ϭй ŽĨ ƚƌĂĚĂďůĞ ŇŽĂƚ͘ Ɛ Ăƚ dƵĞƐĚĂLJ͕ ϮϰƚŚ ŽĨ :ƵůLJ ϮϬϭϴ͕ ƚŚĞ ĨƌŝŶǀĞƐƚ ϰϬ ŝŶĚĞdž ĚĞĐůŝŶĞĚ ͲϬ͘ϱϵй ƚŽ ƐĞƩůĞ Ăƚ ϭ͕ϰϴϰ͘ϱϯ ƉŽŝŶƚƐ ǁŚŝůĞ zd ƌĞƚƵƌŶ ĨĞůů ƚŽ ʹϯ͘ϴй͘ dŚĞ zd ƌĞƚƵƌŶ ŽĨ ƚŚĞ dŚŝƐ ĂLJ ĨƌŝŶǀĞƐƚ ϰϬ ƐƵƌƉĂƐƐĞƐ ƚŚĞ zd ƌĞƚƵƌŶ ŽĨ ƚŚĞ E^ ůů ^ŚĂƌĞ /ŶĚĞdž ĂŶĚ ƚŚĂƚ ŽĨ ƚŚĞ E^ ϯϬ ǁŚŝĐŚ ĂƌĞ ŶĞŐĂƟǀĞ ŽĨ Ͳϰ͘ϳй ĂŶĚ ʹϲ͘ϱй ƌĞƐƉĞĐƟǀĞůLJ͘ zĞƐƚĞƌĚĂLJ͛Ɛ ŶĞŐĂƟǀĞ ƉĞƌĨŽƌŵĂŶĐĞ ŝŶ ƚŚĞ dŚŝƐĚĂLJ ĨƌŝŶǀĞƐƚ ϰϬ ǁĂƐ ĚƵĞ ƚŽ ƐĞůůŽīƐ ŝŶ E/' Z/ E Z t Z/ ^ ;Ϯ͘ϯйͿ͕ E' D ;Ϭ͘ϰйͿ ĂŶĚ h ;Ϯ͘ϳйͿ ǁŚŝĐŚ ĐƵŵƵůĂƟǀĞůLJ ĂĐĐŽƵŶƚ ĨŽƌ ϭϴ͘Ϯй ŽĨ ƚŚĞ ŝŶĚĞdž͘ WƌŽĮƚ dĂŬŝŶŐ ŝŶ ĞůůǁĞƚŚĞƌƐ ZĞǀĞƌƐĞƐ WŽƐŝƟǀĞ WĞƌĨŽƌŵĂŶĐĞ͙ E^ ^/ ĚŽǁŶ ϳϬďƉƐ zĞƐƚĞƌĚĂLJ͕ ƉƌŽĮƚ ƚĂŬŝŶŐ ŝŶ ŵĂƌŬĞƚ ďĞůůǁĞƚŚĞƌƐ ʹ /Ed Z t ;Ͳ ϴ͘ϬйͿ͕ E/' Z/ E Z t Z/ ^ ;ͲϮ͘ϯйͿ͕ t W K ;ͲϭϬ͘ϬйͿ ĂŶĚ E' D ;ͲϬ͘ϰйͿ ʹ ƌĞǀĞƌƐĞĚ ŐĂŝŶƐ ƌĞĐŽƌĚĞĚ ŝŶ ƚŚĞ ƉƌĞĐĞĚŝŶŐ ƐĞƐƐŝŽŶ͕ ƉƵƐŚŝŶŐ ƚŚĞ ďĞŶĐŚŵĂƌŬ ŝŶĚĞdž Ϭ͘ϳй ůŽǁĞƌ ƚŽ ϯϮ͕ϰϱϱ͘Ϯϰ ƉŽŝŶƚƐ ǁŚŝůĞ zd ůŽƐƐ ĚĞĐůŝŶĞĚ ƚŽ ϰ͘ϳй Ͳ ŝƚƐ ůŽǁĞƐƚ ůĞǀĞů ƐŝŶĐĞ KĐƚŽďĞƌ ϮϬϭϳ͘ Ɛ Ă ƌĞƐƵůƚ͕ ŝŶǀĞƐƚŽƌƐ ůŽƐƚ Eϵϯ͘ϬďŶ ĂƐ ŵĂƌŬĞƚ ĐĂƉŝƚĂůŝnjĂƟŽŶ ĨĞůů ƚŽ Eϭϯ͘ϮƚŶ͘ ,ŽǁĞǀĞƌ͕ ĂĐƟǀŝƚLJ ůĞǀĞů ƐƚƌĞŶŐƚŚĞŶĞĚ ĂƐ ǀŽůƵŵĞ ĂŶĚ ǀĂůƵĞ ƚƌĂĚĞĚ ĂĚǀĂŶĐĞĚ ϲϳ͘ϲй ĂŶĚ ϭϬϬ͘ϭй ƚŽ ϯϳϴ͘ϳŵ ƵŶŝƚƐ ĂŶĚ Eϰ͘ϰďŶ ƌĞƐƉĞĐƟǀĞůLJ͘ dŚĞ ƚŽƉ ƚƌĂĚĞĚ ƐƌŽĐŬƐ ďLJ ǀŽůƵŵĞ ǁĞƌĞ D s/ t /Z ;ϭϬϬ͘Ϭŵ ƵŶŝƚƐͿ͕ dZ E^ KZW ;ϰϱ͘ϱŵ ƵŶŝƚƐͿ ĂŶĚ E/d, ;ϰϮ͘ϳŵͿ ǁŚŝůĞ ƚŚĞ ƚŽƉ ƚƌĂĚĞĚ ƐƚŽĐŬƐ ďLJ ǀĂůƵĞ ǁĞƌĞ E/d, ;Eϵϴϴ͘ϱͿ͕ 'h Z Edz ;Eϱϰϱ͘ϱďŶͿ ĂŶĚ E' D ;Eϰϵϵ͘ϱďŶͿ͘ >ĂƌŐĞůLJ ĞĂƌŝƐŚ ^ĞĐƚŽƌ WĞƌĨŽƌŵĂŶĐĞ WĞƌĨŽƌŵĂŶĐĞ ĂĐƌŽƐƐ ƐĞĐƚŽƌƐ ǁĂƐ ůĂƌŐĞůLJ ďĞĂƌŝƐŚ ĂƐ ϰ ŽĨ ϱ ŝŶĚŝĐĞƐ ƵŶĚĞƌ ŽƵƌ ĐŽǀĞƌĂŐĞ ĐůŽƐĞĚ ŝŶ ƚŚĞ ƌĞĚ͘ dŚĞ /ŶĚƵƐƚƌŝĂů 'ŽŽĚƐ ŝŶĚĞdž ůĞĚ ĚĞĐůŝŶĞƌƐ͕ ƐŚĞĚĚŝŶŐ ϯ͘ϵй ĂƐ ŝŶǀĞƐƚŽƌƐ ƐŽůĚ Žī ŽŶ t W K ;ͲϭϬ͘ϬйͿ ĂŶĚ E' D ;ͲϬ͘ϰйͿ͘ dŚĞ ŽŶƐƵŵĞƌ 'ŽŽĚƐ ŝŶĚĞdž ĨŽůůŽǁĞĚ͕ ůŽƐŝŶŐ Ϭ͘ϳй ŽŶ ƚŚĞ ďĂĐŬ ŽĨ ƉƌŝĐĞ ĚĞƉƌĞĐŝĂƟŽŶ ŝŶ E/' Z/ E Z t Z/ ^ ;ͲϮ͘ϯйͿ ĂŶĚ E'^h' Z ;Ͳ ϰ͘ϴйͿ ǁŚŝůĞ ƐƵƐƚĂŝŶĞĚ ƐĞůůŽīƐ ŝŶ dKd > ;Ͳϳ͘ϬйͿ ĂŶĚ K E K ;Ͳ Ϯ͘ϵйͿ ĚƌĂŐŐĞĚ ƚŚĞ Kŝů Θ 'ĂƐ ŝŶĚĞdž Ϭ͘ϱй ůŽǁĞƌ͘ ^ŝŵŝůĂƌůLJ͕ ƚŚĞ ĂŶŬŝŶŐ ŝŶĚĞdž ƌĞǀĞƌƐĞĚ ŐĂŝŶƐ ĨƌŽŵ DŽŶĚĂLJ ĂƐ ŝŶǀĞƐƚŽƌƐ ĞdžŝƚĞĚ ƉŽƐŝƟŽŶƐ ŝŶ h ;ͲϮ͘ϳйͿ ĂŶĚ &/ >/dz ;Ͳϵ͘ϱйͿ͘ KŶ ƚŚĞ ŇŝƉƐŝĚĞ͕ ƚŚĞ /ŶƐƵƌĂŶĐĞ ŝŶĚĞdž ǁĂƐ ƚŚĞ ůŽŶĞ ĂĚǀĂŶĐĞƌ͕ ƵƉ Ϭ͘Ϯй͕ ĂƐ ŝŶǀĞƐƚŽƌƐ ƚŽŽŬ ĂĚǀĂŶƚĂŐĞ ŽĨ ďĂƌŐĂŝŶ ŚƵŶƟŶŐ ŽƉƉŽƌƚƵŶŝƚLJ ŝŶ h^dK / E ;нϵ͘ϵйͿ͘ /ŶǀĞƐƚŽƌ ^ĞŶƟŵĞŶƚ tĞĂŬĞŶƐ /ŶǀĞƐƚŽƌ ƐĞŶƟŵĞŶƚ ĂƐ ŵĞĂƐƵƌĞĚ ďLJ ŵĂƌŬĞƚ ďƌĞĂĚƚŚ ;ĂĚǀĂŶĐĞͬ ĚĞĐůŝŶĞ ƌĂƟŽ Ϳ ǁĞĂŬĞŶĞĚ ƚŽ Ϭ͘ϲdž ĨƌŽŵ ϭ͘ϭdž ƌĞĐŽƌĚĞĚ ŽŶ DŽŶĚĂLJ ĂƐ ϭϲ ƐƚŽĐŬƐ ĂĚǀĂŶĐĞĚ ĂŐĂŝŶƐƚ Ϯϵ ƐƚŽĐŬƐ ƚŚĂƚ ĚĞĐůŝŶĞĚ͘ zĞƐƚĞƌĚĂLJ͛Ɛ ƚŽƉ ŐĂŝŶŝŶŐ ƐƚŽĐŬƐ ǁĞƌĞ hd/y ;нϭϬ͘ϬйͿ͕ h^dK / E ;нϵ͘ϵйͿ ĂŶĚ t W/ ;нϰ͘ϴйͿ ǁŚŝůĞ d '> ^ ;Ͳ ϭϬ͘ϬйͿ͕ t W K ;ͲϭϬ͘ϬйͿ ĂŶĚ WZ ^ K ;ͲϭϬ͘ϬйͿ ǁĞƌĞ ƚŚĞ ǁŽƌƐƚ ƉĞƌĨŽƌŵŝŶŐ ƐƚŽĐŬƐ͘ KƵƌ ŽďƐĞƌǀĂƟŽŶ ŽĨ ƚƌĂĚŝŶŐ LJĞƐƚĞƌĚĂLJ ƐĂǁ ŝŶǀĞƐƚŽƌƐ ƌĞĂĐƚ ŶĞŐĂƟǀĞůLJ ƚŽ ĚŝƐĂƉƉŽŝŶƟŶŐ ĞĂƌŶŝŶŐƐ ŽĨ E'^h' Z ĂŶĚ t W K͘ 'ŽŝŶŐ ĨŽƌǁĂƌĚ͕ ǁĞ ĞdžƉĞĐƚ ƚƌĂĚŝŶŐ ĂĐƟǀŝƟĞƐ ŽǀĞƌ ƚŚĞ ŶĞĂƌ ƚĞƌŵ ƚŽ ďĞ ĚŝĐƚĂƚĞĚ ďLJ Ă ďĂůĂŶĐĞ ŽĨ ƉůĂLJ ďĞƚǁĞĞŶ ŝŶǀĞƐƚŽƌƐ͛ ƌĞĂĐƟŽŶ ƚŽ ĞĂƌŶŝŶŐƐ ƌĞůĞĂƐĞƐ ĂŶĚ ďĂƌŐĂŝŶ ŚƵŶƟŶŐ ŽŶ ĨƵŶĚĂŵĞŶƚĂůůLJ ƐŽƵŶĚ ƐƚŽĐŬƐ ƚƌĂĚŝŶŐ Ăƚ ĂƩƌĂĐƟǀĞ ĞŶƚƌLJ ƉƌŝĐĞƐ͘

Afrinvest Securities Limited (RC 603 315) (A Dealing Member of the Nigerian Stock Exchange)

THISDAY AFRINVEST 40 INDEX Fundamental Performance Metrics for THISDAY AFRINVEST 40 Index

Current Price

Ticker

THISDAY AFRINVEST 40

Price Price Previous Current Change Change Price Weightin YTD Index to g Change Date

ROE

ROA

P/E

P/BV

Divinden Earnings d Yield Yield

1,484.53

-0.59%

-3.8%

48.5%

18.7%

6.7%

6.7x

0.8x

5.8%

1

Guaranty Trust Bank PLC

39.00

0.5%

21.3%

-4.3%

-3.8%

32.6%

5.2%

6.3x

2.2x

6.9%

11.8% 15.8%

2

Zenith Bank PLC

23.10

0.2%

12.2%

-9.9%

-10.9%

26.3%

3.6%

3.9x

1.0x

11.6%

25.9%

3

Nigerian Brew eries PLC

3.8%

4

Nestle Nigeria PLC

5

Dangote Cement PLC

105.50

-2.3%

7.3%

-21.8%

-21.9%

17.4%

n

26.4x

4.5x

3.9%

1,452.00

1.5%

7.8%

-6.7%

-6.7%

73.3%

18.9%

33.9x

21.5x

2.9%

3.0%

235.00

-0.4%

6.6%

2.2%

2.2%

21.7%

9.9%

24.0x

5.6x

4.5%

4.2%

6

FBN Holdings Plc

9.20

0.5%

6.0%

4.5%

4.7%

6.7%

0.8%

6.6x

0.5x

2.7%

15.1%

7

Access Bank PLC

10.00

0.0%

4.5%

-4.3%

-5.7%

12.7%

1.5%

4.9x

0.6x

6.5%

20.3%

9.2%

8

United Bank for Africa PLC

9.15

-2.7%

4.1%

-11.2%

-12.1%

15.9%

1.9%

4.0x

0.6x

9

Ecobank Transnational Inc

20.65

1.2%

4.2%

21.5%

26.9%

12.2%

1.0%

6.7x

0.8x

10

SEPLAT Petroleum Development C

11

Stanbic IBTC Holdings PLC

24.7% 14.9%

650.00

0.0%

3.3%

3.8%

3.8%

22.3%

13.2%

3.3x

0.7x

3.0%

29.9%

48.55

0.0%

3.5%

17.0%

18.7%

30.8%

4.1%

9.2x

2.5x

1.0%

10.9%

12

Unilever Nigeria PLC

52.10

0.2%

3.4%

27.1%

29.6%

20.4%

8.7%

28.8x

3.8x

1.0%

3.5%

13

Guinness Nigeria PLC

96.00

-1.0%

2.4%

2.1%

2.1%

15.4%

6.1%

18.3x

2.4x

0.7%

5.5%

14

Lafarge Africa PLC

29.25

-10.0%

1.1%

-34.8%

-34.8%

-54.0%

-10.1%

1.8x

5.1%

-30.8%

15

Fidelity Bank PLC

1.72

-9.5%

0.9%

-30.1%

-33.3%

10.4%

1.4%

1.4x

0.3x

5.8%

16

Oando PLC

5.00

-2.9%

1.1%

-16.5%

-16.5%

10.3%

1.5%

6.2x

0.3x

17

Dangote Sugar Refinery PLC

16.85

-4.8%

1.0%

-15.8%

-17.2%

45.0%

20.0%

5.7x

1.9x

14.6%

17.5%

18

Okomu Oil Palm PLC

83.00

0.0%

1.4%

22.6%

22.6%

39.7%

29.4%

8.3x

2.8x

4.0%

12.1%

19

International Brew eries PLC

34.15

-8.0%

0.5%

-37.3%

-37.9%

24.6%

7.4%

35.8x

8.1x

20

Flour Mills of Nigeria PLC

29.70

-1.0%

0.7%

2.4%

2.4%

10.4%

2.8%

6.5x

0.8x

3.4%

15.4%

1.16

-4.9%

0.5%

-20.5%

-21.6%

12.9%

2.8%

6.0x

0.7x

1.7%

16.7%

21.5x

0.6x

4.9%

74.0% 16.1%

2.8%

21

Transnational Corp of Nigeria

22

UAC of Nigeria PLC

13.20

0.8%

0.5%

-21.9%

-21.9%

1.5%

0.6%

23

Diamond Bank PLC

1.30

0.0%

0.5%

-13.3%

-17.2%

-5.8%

-0.7%

-19.1%

-19.1%

25.0%

5.3%

9.0x

2.1x

9.1%

11.1%

14.6%

5.8%

0.9%

3.5x

0.2x

5.5%

28.9%

4.4%

15.5%

24

Total Nigeria PLC

25

FCMB Group Plc

26

11 PLC

27

0.1x

4.7% -56.3%

186.10

-7.0%

0.4%

1.81

-9.5%

0.6%

180.00

0.0%

0.5%

-7.5%

-7.5%

38.8%

15.7%

6.5x

2.2x

Forte Oil PLC

25.20

0.0%

0.3%

-42.0%

-40.0%

17.6%

1.6%

13.6x

2.1x

28

PZ Cussons Nigeria PLC

15.15

-9.8%

0.3%

-26.5%

-28.4%

10.7%

5.0%

14.4x

1.5x

3.3%

7.0%

29

Cadbury Nigeria PLC

10.50

-5.4%

0.3%

-33.0%

-32.7%

2.0%

0.8%

49.1x

1.7x

1.5%

2.0%

30

Presco PLC

59.55

-10.0%

0.3%

-13.1%

-13.1%

35.8%

24.8%

2.5x

0.8x

3.4%

40.5%

31

NASCON Allied Industries PLC

20.10

-3.4%

0.4%

8.6%

4.6%

62.4%

20.6%

9.5x

5.5x

7.5%

10.5%

0.8x

8.4%

7.4%

32

UPDC Real Estate Investment Tr

9.00

0.0%

0.3%

-10.0%

-10.0%

33

Union Bank of Nigeria PLC

5.75

-0.9%

0.3%

-26.3%

-23.4%

5.3%

1.1%

8.3x

0.6x

34

Julius Berger Nigeria PLC

24.30

0.0%

0.3%

-13.2%

-13.2%

17.3%

1.8%

6.7x

1.1x

4.3%

14.9%

35

Sterling Bank PLC

1.40

1.4%

0.3%

29.6%

23.9%

10.7%

1.0%

4.2x

0.4x

1.4%

23.8%

12.1%

36

Dangote Flour Mills Plc

8.95

0.6%

0.2%

-26.3%

-26.3%

0.0%

0.0%

1.1x

2.2%

37

GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Niger

16.70

0.0%

0.2%

-22.7%

-22.7%

4.4%

2.8%

26.4x

1.1x

44.9%

38

Chemical and Allied Products P

34.00

-2.9%

0.2%

0.0%

-4.8%

66.2%

30.2%

15.9x

10.6x

6.0%

6.3%

39

Beta Glass PLC

72.90

-10.0%

0.2%

42.1%

42.1%

17.7%

11.5%

8.9x

1.4x

1.5%

11.3%

40

Transcorp Hotels Plc

7.45

0.0%

0.1%

3.3%

3.3%

5.3%

2.9%

19.5x

1.0x

1.8%

5.1%

T o p 10 G a i n e r s

T o p 10

T ic k er

P ric e

P ric e C hg %

C UT IX

3.63

10.0%

T ra de s

T ic k er

C UST OD IA N

6.10

WA P IC

by V o lum e

Vo lum e

P ric e C hg %

M ED VIEWA IR

1 00.0

0.0%

T R A N SC OR P

45.5

-6.6%

9.9%

0.44

4.8%

26.00

4.4%

R EGA LIN S

0.25

4.2%

WEM A B A N K

0.75

2.7%

D A N GF LOUR

9.05

CCNN

Z EN IT H B A N K

42.7

0.2%

FB NH

36.0

0.5%

A C C ESS

20.5

0.0%

GUA R A N T Y

1 4.0

0.5%

1.7%

UB A

1 1 .0

-2.7%

A IIC O

0.62

1.6%

D IA M ON D B N K

8.4

0.0%

SKYEB A N K

0.67

1.5%

F ID ELIT YB K

8.2

-9.5%

1.40

1.4%

ST ER LN B A N K

8.2

1 .4%

ST ER LN B A N K

T o p 10 L o s e r s

T o p 10

T ic k er

P ric e

P ric e C hg %

B ET A GLA S

72.90

-10.0%

WA P C O

29.25

-10.0%

P R ESC O

59.55

-10.0%

PZ

T ra de s

by V a lue

T ic k er

Value

P ric e C hg %

Z EN IT H B A N K

988.5

0.2%

GUA R A N T Y

545.5

0.5%

D A N GC EM

499.4

-0.4%

FB NH

332.3

0.5%

NB

267.3

-2.3%

15.15

-9.8%

FCM B

1.81

-9.5%

H ON YF LOUR

1.72

-9.5%

N EST LE

21 0.9

1 .4%

F ID ELIT YB K

1.72

-9.5%

M ED VIEWA IR

21 0.5

0.0%

R OYA LEX

0.33

-8.3%

A C C ESS

205.9

0.0%

H M A R KIN S

0.26

-7.1%

WA P C O

1 1 1 .0

-1 0.0%

1.14

-6.6%

UB A

1 01 .3

-2.7%

T R A N SC OR P

3.8%

Investment Research

Brokerage Ayodeji Ebo | aebo@afrinvest.com

Robert Omotunde | romotunde@afrinvest.com

Bolaji Fajenyo | bfajenyo@afrinvest.com

Eronmosele Aziba | eaziba@afrinvest.com

T H I S D AY Ëž

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MARKET NEWS

Lafarge Africa Plans N90bn Fresh Capital Injection to Boost Profitability Goddy Egene The board of Lafarge Africa Plc has approved the extension of existing shareholder loan of $315 million and a new Right Issue of up to N90 billion as part of efforts to reduce the company’s leverage and strengthen its profitability.

The Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of Lafarge Africa Plc, Mr. Bruno Bayet disclosed this in a statement following the release of the company’s half year(H1) results ended June 30, 2018. According to the results, Lafarge Africa

recorded a revenue of N162.292 billion in 2018 and operating profit of N16.33 billion. But a high financing cost of N23.715 billion pushed the company into a loss position of N3.902 billion for the period.

However, Bruno said the company has a refinancing plan that is aimed at preparing for future development in Nigeria, improving the company’s leverage as well as strengthen its profitability. Hence, the proposed N90 billion right issue subject to all corporate and regulatory approvals.

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

The company had last year successfully raised N132 billion through a rights issue.

Lafarge reported strong sales in Nigeria which increased volumes in second quarter (Q2) 2018 while in total, 68 kilotons(kt) of cement have been exported to Ghana with 28kt shipped in Q2 2018.

The company posted a profit of N1.9 billion in its Nigeria operation.

Commenting on the performance, Chief Executive Officer of Lafarge Africa, Michel Puchercos, said: “Our company saw strong market growth in Nigeria reflecting

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 23Jul-2018, unless otherwise stated.

the end of the recession in the cement market. Cement demand has been on the rise since the beginning of 2018.

We saw a 22 per cent increase in volume, benefiting from export to Ghana which began in fourth quarter (Q4) 2017.

Earnings before interest tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) for our Nigeria operations was N19.1 billion and EBITDA margin of 32.2 per cent, thanks to robust operational performance and continuous effort to reduce cash costs.’’ He added that the lack of large infrastructural projects

impacted volumes in the company’s South Africa operations, but revenues improved by 7.7 per cent on the back of price increase in all segments in first quarter (Q1) and FX translational effect. ‘’Aggregates, however, turned positive in Q2 despite low infrastructure spending. Success in the Nigeria operations has been due to operational stability, success of the turnaround plan implementation and volume improvement,�

Puchercos added.

Looking forward, Puchercos

said new route-to-market initiatives will deliver and continuous focus on cash cost reduction will drive operational performance in second half (H2) of the year. “Our South Africa management is focused on executing the turnaround plan implemented in Q1, the target for H2 is to deliver volumes.

The focus is on growing the contribution margin. Actions around efficiency and cost management are on track and will contribute to significant savings in production costs across all the segments in H2,� he said.

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

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

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

DAILY PRICE LIST FOR MUTUAL FUNDS, REITS and ETFS MUTUAL FUNDS / UNIT TRUSTS AFRINVEST ASSET MANAGEMENT LTD aaml@afrinvest.com Web: www.afrinvest.com; Tel: +234 1 270 1680 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Afrinvest Equity Fund 179.26 179.47 0.73% Nigeria International Debt Fund 245.15 245.36 6.01% 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 0.84 1.54% ACAP Income Funds 0.62 0.62 3.93% 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 12.58% 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 18.47 19.03 1.08% ARM Discovery Fund 394.20 406.09 1.32% ARM Ethical Fund 28.88 29.75 5.71% ARM Money Market Fund 1.00 1.00 12.62% 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 146.35 147.38 -3.52% AXA Mansard Money Market Fund 1.00 1.00 12.48% CHAPELHILL DENHAM MANAGEMENT LTD investmentmanagement@chapelhilldenham.com Web: www.chapelhilldenham.com, Tel: +234 461 0691 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Chapelhill Denham Money Market Fund 100.00 100.00 10.61% Paramount Equity Fund 12.01 12.32 8.33% Women's Investment Fund 103.38 106.03 2.73% NAV Per Share Fund Name Nigeria Infrastructure Debt Fund 105.44 CORDROS ASSET MANAGEMENT LIMITED assetmgtteam@cordros.com Web: www.cordros.com, Tel: 019036947 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Cordros Money Market Fund 100.00 100.00 12.58% 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 12.23% Coronation Balanced Fund 1.16 1.19 11.09% Coronation Fixed Income Fund 1.14 1.17 9.69% 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 1,172.25 1,172.96 8.40% FBN Heritage Fund 144.39 145.49 3.44% FBN Money Market Fund 100.00 100.00 12.09% FBN Nigeria Eurobond (USD) Fund - Institutional $113.50 $113.91 2.98% FBN Nigeria Eurobond (USD) Fund - Retail $113.32 $113.73 2.92% FBN Nigeria Smart Beta Equity Fund 165.90 168.23 3.58% 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 1.31 1.33 0.70% Legacy Debt Fund 3.09 3.09 7.22% 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 11.88% Nigeria Entertainment Fund 102.30 103.66 2.52% 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 12.48% Vantage Balanced Fund 2.14 2.16 1.29%

Vantage Guaranteed Income Fund 1.00 1.00 14.23% Kedari Investment Fund (KIF) 120.75 121.08 4.97% LOTUS CAPITAL LTD ďŹ ncon@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 3.68% Lotus Halal Fixed Income Fund 1,061.65 1,061.65 5.34% 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 12.83 12.94 -1.93% Meristem Money Market Fund 10.00 10.00 11.02% 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 1.32 1.35 11.17% PACAM Fixed Income Fund 11.72 11.78 6.15% PACAM Money Market Fund 10.00 10.00 12.09% 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 128.23 128.90 -1.04% 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 1.61 1.61 8.63% 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 2,335.26 2,354.33 4.10% Stanbic IBTC Bond Fund 185.36 185.36 5.05% Stanbic IBTC Ethical Fund 1.01 1.02 0.50% Stanbic IBTC Guaranteed Investment Fund 241.40 241.45 9.61% Stanbic IBTC Iman Fund 176.29 178.27 -1.57% Stanbic IBTC Money Market Fund 100.00 100.00 11.81% Stanbic IBTC Nigerian Equity Fund 9,440.48 9,567.77 -2.38% Stanbic IBTC Dollar Fund (USD) 1.10 1.10 4.09% 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 1.16 1.16 -2.35% United Capital Bond Fund 1.52 1.52 6.90% United Capital Equity Fund 0.77 0.78 -0.25% United Capital Money Market Fund 1.00 1.00 11.54% United Capital Eurobond Fund 103.99 103.99 3.97% United Capital Wealth for Women Fund 1.08 1.09 3.72% 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 12.64 12.84 1.03% Zenith Ethical Fund 13.43 13.58 1.93% Zenith Income Fund 20.58 20.58 8.74% Zenith Money Market Fund 1.00 1.00 11.00%

REITS NAV Per Share

Yield / T-Rtn

11.41 136.73 51.39

1.01% 3.22% 1.10%

Bid Price

Offer Price

Yield / T-Rtn

12.04 140.70 106.69

12.24 143.63 108.65

-0.29% -1.51% -2.36%

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 GrifďŹ n 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

4.50 8.55 17.07 18.62 145.07

4.54 8.63 17.17 18.82 147.07

-5.04% -10.61% -2.47% -5.31% 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.

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T H I S D AY ˾ WEDNESDAY JULY 25, 2018

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T H I S D AY ˾ WEDNESDAY JULY 25, 2018

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WEDNESDAY JULY 25, 2018 Ëž T H I S D AY

FOREIGN/DIPLOMATIC AFFAIRS

Editor: VINCENT OBIA vincent.obia@thisdaylive.com 0805 468 1757

In Brief Israel Shoots Down Syrian Fighter Jet Israel shot down a Syrian fighter jet that it said penetrated Israeli airspace on Tuesday, the Israeli army said. The army said the Russian-made Sukhoi plane was under surveillance when it flew some two kilometres (1.25 miles) into Israeli airspace. But Syria said in response that one of its jets was targeted by Israel while conducting raids against rebels in southern Syria, in Syrian airspace. Israel’s air defences fired two Patriot missiles at the jet. IDF Spokesman, Brig. Gen. Ronen Manelis, said the plane was either a Sukhoi-22 or -24 and that it crashed in Syrian territory in the southern portion of the Syrian Golan Heights. The pilots reportedly died. This is the second time the Israel Air Force has brought down a Russian-made Syrian jet since 1985. The first time was in 2014, when it shot down a Sukhoi-24 that entered Israeli airspace over the Golan Heights. The same defence battery was involved in that incident as Tuesday’s.

Hundreds Missing in Floods after Laos Dam Collapse

Jean-Pierre Bemba wants to be president of the DRC.

Herwig Vergult/EPA

DRC Election: The Dangers behind Bemba’s Possible Candidacy Reuben Loman

T

he possible return of Jean-Pierre Bemba has shocked many in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

With just over five months before the presidential and gubernatorial elections, he has re-emerged to challenge President Joseph Kabila’s political order. And despite his chequered past, Bemba has a popular following.

More than two years ago, Bemba was indicted for war crimes by the International Criminal Court. He was found guilty of war crimes and crimes against humanity and was sentenced to 18 years in jail. But in June this year, his appeal against most of his convictions was successful. He may therefore be out of jail sooner than originally thought.

Bemba was also convicted of witness tampering and/or bribing witnesses. This appeal is on-going.

Bemba’s schedule, including his return to the DRC, has not been confirmed. But many suspect he will head back to his home country.

His party, the Movement for the Liberation of the Congo (MLC), has nominated him as their presidential candidate only weeks after his conviction was quashed. He has been in touch with his supporters whom he spoke to on telephone recently to thank them. He promised that he would return soon.

Central Africa and the international community will have to pay close attention to Bemba’s plans, despite the fact that he has been away from the Congolese political scene for a number of years. His possible entry into the fray has thrown an already uncertain situation into further disarray. For one, it’s unclear who he would run against. If Kabila insists on standing again – which constitutionally he’s not allowed to do – the DRC faces another period of increasing uncertainty, and almost inevitably more violence.

Although Bemba will be welcomed home by some, his history in Congolese politics has been controversial and he has many enemies.

Born in 1962 in what is now Nord-Ubangi, in north-western Congo, Bemba is the son of a successful businessman, Jeannot Bemba Saolona. In the 1990s, Joseph Mobutu hired

Bemba as his personal assistant when the latter was in his 30s.

In 1998, when the Democratic Republic of Congo was in the grip of the Second Congo War, Bemba began the Movement for the Liberation of the Congo (MLC) with support from Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni. The Second Congo War had begun after Laurent Kabila dismissed the Rwandan handlers who had guided him to power during the First Congo War. Rwanda then launched an invasion of the Congo. Other nations joined in to support either side.

The MLC tried to protect communities which it felt were sympathetic to its cause during the fighting. By repelling the invading Rwandan-backed forces it gained control of much of the north-western parts of the Congo.

In his defence at the ICC, Bemba claimed to have re-opened hospitals and schools as the war raged. Yet in fact, the MLC was known for its ethnic cleansing of the Twa (“Pygmy�) peoples during this conflict.

The MLC also operated beyond the DRC’s borders. It was invited into the Central African Republic by then President, AngeFÊlix PatassÊ, to suppress a suspected coup attempt. Human rights advocates suspected Bemba and his party of committing human rights violations during his time in the CAR. Nothing resulted from these suspicions at the time.

Once the peace process in the DRC began following the signing of the Second Sun City deal that was struck in April 2002, Bemba became part of the country’s transitional government. He served as one of four vice presidents under Kabila, who came to power in 2003 in an arrangement that was dubbed “1 + 4�. It was an uneasy arrangement, however, because elections were due in 2006 and both Bemba and Kabila wanted to be president.

Bemba and Kabila fought a bitter campaign against one another. Bemba’s slogan, “100% Congolese,� was widely interpreted to be a slight on his opponent’s heritage because, although Kabila was born in the Congo, rumours abounded that he was in fact from Tanzania. That notwithstanding, by the end of October 2006, Kabila had won

the second round run-off.

During the election, there was significant fighting between Bemba’s troops and those loyal to Kabila. A number of soldiers and civilians were killed.

In 2007, Bemba fled to the South African embassy in Kinshasa before leaving for Portugal on the pretext of seeking medical treatment there. In fact, he was fleeing the violence. In his absence, the state came down hard on MLC activists.

But it took until 2008 for Bemba to be arrested in Brussels. His International Criminal Court trial began in 2010 and he was convicted in 2016.

Having been exonerated from most of his convictions, Bemba now joins only a handful of candidates who have declared their intention to stand. They include, first, Felix Tshisekedi, the son of the late opposition politician Etienne Tshisekedi, and leader of the Union for Democracy and Social Progress.

The second candidate of note is Moise Katumbe, the former governor of Katanga and leader of a political alliance called “Ensemble pour le Changement� (Together for Change).

Katumbe has declared his intention to run but he is unlikely to be on the ballot because of a three-year jail sentence he has been ordered to serve for illegally selling a property. He is currently in a period of self-imposed exile as he awaits the elections.

The deadline for candidates to declare their intention to stand for President is 8 August.

Many candidates are likely to wait until the last minute to declare, when they are sure they stand a good chance.

It remains to be seen whether Bemba will face off against his old nemesis, Kabila. The image Kabila’s party is pushing is that he will stand despite being constitutionally barred from doing so.

Given Kabila’s potential candidacy, and Bemba’s entrance onto the Congolese political scene, election related violence could further intensify in the DRC. r-PGGNBO JT B MFDUVSFS JO "GSJDBO )JTUPSZ 2VFFO .BSZ 6OJWFSTJUZ PG -POEPO 6OJUFE ,JOHEPN

Hundreds of people are missing and an unknown number are dead after a dam under construction collapsed in south-east Laos, state media say. The collapse at the hydroelectric dam in Attapeu province late on Monday sent flash floods through six villages, Lao News Agency reported. More than 6,600 people have been made homeless, it added. “The disaster has claimed several human lives [and] left hundreds of people missing,� the agency reported. Attapeu is Lao’s southernmost province, and borders Cambodia and Vietnam.

Kabul Hit by Multiple Explosions Multiple explosions rocked the Afghan capital, Kabul, on Tuesday with three confirmed to have been caused by rockets that hit a residential area, officials have said, according to Al Jazeera. At least three people were wounded in the attacks, with police deployed to the area to find the launch site, an official told the AFP news agency. “Rockets were fired on Kabul city from an unknown direction and ... hit residential areas near the mountains in PD5 (police district),� police spokesman Hashmat Stanikzai said. The Afghan news website, Tolo News, reported five explosions in total, adding that the blasts took place near a police academy in the district of Afshar, in western Kabul.

Far-right German ‘Reichsbuerger’ Numbers Surge Membership in a network of farright groups that claim allegiance to the pre-war German Reich surged in 2017, Germany’s domestic intelligence service said, fuelling concerns about the threat of extremist violence. The number of Reichsbuerger - “Reich Citizens�

- movement adherents, who say the modern-day Federal Republic of Germany is illegitimate, rose by 65 per cent, the agency said in its annual report issued on Tuesday. While far-right activity remains a fringe phenomenon in Germany, it has been behind high-profile crimes, most recently 10 murders committed by the so-called National Socialist Underground (NSU), whose sole surviving leader was sentenced to life in prison last month.

WEDNESDAY JULY 25, 2018 ˾ T H I S D AY

49

NEWSEXTRA

Nigeria, Niger Set up Teams on 150,000bd Border Refinery Dangote secures $4.5bn financing for plant Chineme Okafor in Abuja and Kehinde Lawal with agency report Nigeria and the Niger Republic yesterday made some progress on the planned construction of 150,000 barrels per day (bd) processing capacity refinery to be built in a border town in Katsina between both countries.

Both countries in Abuja set up two task teams to be jointly managed by officials from them.

They said they would seek private sector finance to execute the projects.

The task teams, which were inaugurated by President Muhammadu Buhari and President Mahamadou Issoufou of Niger, would develop detailed project implementation roadmap that covers bankable feasibility studies for the refinery and associated pipeline project; optimal project site and pipeline routes; security plan; as well as selected consortia of investors for the projects.

Headed by the Minister of State for Petroleum, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu, and his Nigerien counterpart, Mr. Foumakoye Gado, the teams would be expected to submit their report

by December 2018, after which implementation of the project would commence and possibly last over two years.

Speaking at the ceremony, which held at the State House, Buhari said the initiative would provide a reliable market for stranded crude oil volumes from Niger Republic as well as provide petroleum products for Nigeria to enable it exit importation of refined products as she planned to do in 2019.

He noted the project would be private sector driven with the full support of the governments of both countries.

“Nigeria and Niger have excellent relations for several decades, as neighbours, sharing a long border with common cultural and historical ties. Nigeria sees this cooperation on crude oil export from the Republic of Niger and

construction of refinery facilities in Katsina State as a win – win for both nations,” said Buhari.

He further stated: “In addition, it is my hope that the current frontier exploration efforts in the northern part of the country (Chad Basin, Gongola Basin, Sokoto Basin, Bida Basin and Benue trough) will also result in the provision of additional hydrocarbon inflow to the corridors of the proposed pipeline and a potential refinery around Kaduna axis.

“I am happy that several productive engagements held between the Nigerian and Nigerien authorities have resulted in the positive agreements to progress with activities on this important project.”

Inaugurating the task team, the president said, “Asteering committee has been set up to be chaired by the Nigerian Minister of State for Petroleum Resources and the alternate chairman is the Nigerien Minister of Petroleum, to provide strategic leadership, direction and governance oversight for the project.

“Further to this, a senior level joint technical team is carefully selected based on competence to develop the implementation roadmap and strategy on both the refinery and pipeline projects. This team will be led

by Nigeria’s engineer, Rabiu Suleiman supported by the Director General Hydrocarbon of Niger Republic.”

Nigerien president, Issoufou, agreed with Buhari that the project would strengthen existing economic and political ties between both countries.

He said, “The country sees the refinery as way of uniting with the country after being separated by colonialism. The initiative remained a way of growing intra-African relationship.”

Providing some insights into the projects, Kachikwu explained the decision to build the refinery and pipeline was taken after it was discovered the initial plan to build a line to the Kaduna refinery for crude oil supplies from Niger was uneconomical.

Be Guided inYour Utterances, Ngige Tells Oshiomhole The Minister of Labour and Employment, Senator Chris Ngige, has told the National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC) to be “verse in little basic issues” that guide public governance, so as to be properly guided in his utterances to avoid unnecessary character assassination and unfortunate misinformation of the Nigerian public.

The minister said in a statement that the allegation that he appropriated the powers of the board of the Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund (NSITF) in the award of contracts, leading to the delay in inaugurating the board of the agency was false and misleading.

Ngige who was reacting to a widely publicised statement by the APC chairman said neither the minister nor the board of the agency has the power to award contracts since they were not part of the Tenders Board.

He insisted that the monumental fraud in the agency accounts for his delay in the inauguration of the board.

The statement read: “The attention of the Minister of Labour and Employment, Dr. Chris Ngige, has been drawn to media reports that his office appropriated the powers of the board of the Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund (NSITF) in the award of contracts, hence the delay in inaugurating the board of the agency.

“Such a blatant falsehood is either on account of fertile ignorance or outright mischief or both by the originator as well as the peddlers.

It is therefore imperative that the provisions of the Procurement Act 2010 which is clear and unambiguous on the process for the award of contracts be re-emphasised.

“For clarity purpose, the Ministerial Tenders Board (MTB) for the award of contracts in any Ministry is made up of the Permanent Secretary as chairman andhisDirectors,whileintheparastatals, the Parastatals Tenders Board consists of the Chief Executive Officer (Director General or Managing Director) and his Directors,” he said.

He noted that almost nothing of both governments’ funds would be put in the projects, adding that investors were already lining up to partake in it.

“There is a decision to build a pipeline from Niger Republic into Nigeria’s boarder town and construct a refinery with capacity probably between 100,000 and 150,000 barrels per day. It is all dependent on the Niger crude volume and what they find.

“The study has to be done and we know what is involved. The technical and financial components, negotiating the finance. We have mentally structured our minds to a two-year period but it depends on what we find,” Kachikwu explained.

He noted that Katsina was chosen to host the refinery because it

was close to Niger, adding that there was a potential for an extension to Kaduna.

He said the project would have: “Private-sector led multi-stakeholder partnership with or without equity participation from federal governments, state governments or agencies as necessary.

“Long term contracts for the supply of feedstock; adequate funding from reputable financial institutions; provision of guarantees and incentives that will safeguarded investments and returns at the setup of the company; respect for the sanctity of contracts.”

In a related development, the President of the Dangote Group, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, has arranged more than $4.5 billion in debt financing for his Nigerian oil refinery project and aims to start

production in early 2020, Reuters reported yesterday.

Dangote, who built his fortune in cement, is building the world’s largest single oil refinery with capacity of 650,000 barrels per day (bpd) to help to reduce Nigeria’s dependence on imported petroleum.

Africa’s richest man had disclosed that the $12 billion oil refinery project was expected to become operational in 2019.

Despite being a crude oil exporter, Nigeria imports the bulk of its petroleum because of a lack of domestic refining capacity.

Lenders would commit about $3.15 billion, with the World Bank’s private sector arm providing $150 million, Dangote said, adding that he was investing more than 60 percent from his own cash flow.

According to him, Standard

Chartered Bank was arranging funds for the project.

“We will end up spending between $12 billion to $14 billion.

The funding is going to come through equity, commercial bank loans, export credit agencies and developmental banks,” Dangote said in an interview in Lagos yesterday.

“Hopefully, we will finish mechanical (construction) by next year and products will start coming out in the first quarter of 2020.”

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) would provide guarantees for about N575 billion in local currency for 10 years, with African Development Bank providing a $300 million loan. Trade banks from China, India and some European countries are also in the mix, Dangote said.

PRIZE-GIVING DAY

L-R: Deputy Director, Federal Ministry of Education, Mrs. Bola Oyeteru; Editor, THISDAY Newspaper, Bolaji Adebiyi, and Principal, Federal Government College, Ikot-Ekpene, during the 23rd Speech and Prize- Giving Day of the school in Ikot-Ekpene, Akwa Ibom State... recently

Fayemi Sets up 32-member Transition Committee Nseobong Okon-Ekong Ekiti State Governor-elect, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, has announced a 32-member Governorship Transition Committee, charged with the responsibility of liaising with the outgoing administration for a smooth transition ahead of the October 16 take off date of the new government in the state.

The committee is headed by a former member of the National

Assembly, Senator Olubunmi Adetunmbi as chairman, while a former Chairman of Ijero Local Government Council, Hon. Abiodun Omoleye, will serve as deputy chair. A former Permanent Secretary in the state’s civil service, Mr Ayodeji Ajayi, is the secretary of the committee.

Inauguration of the committee holds today at AB Hotels in AdoEkiti, according to a statement by the Special Adviser on Media to

the Governor-elect, Mr. Yinka Oyebode. The committee shall submit its final report by Friday, September 7.

The committee is expected among other tasks to review and make preliminary assessment of the fiscal position of government with particular emphasis on: status of assets and liabilities of government; status of implementation of the 2018 Appropriation; revenue and cash flow position of government, public

debt profile of government and their deployment, salary arrears due to all public-sector workers and pensioners.

The scope of work given to the committee shows that the Fayemi administration plans to hit the ground running. Included on the committee’s task is the need to determine the status of public procurement of government with particular emphasis on: government’s ongoing and outstanding contractual obligations.

Salami Cautions against Use of Private Lawyers in Prosecuting Corruption Cases Alex Enumah in Abuja A former President of the Court of Appeal, Justice Isa Ayo Salami, has cautioned against the practice of engaging private legal practitioners in the prosecution of corruption-related cases by the federal government.

Salami, who hinged the advice on the recent judgment of the Supreme Court in a case involving senior politicians, remarked that whereas lawyers from the government chambers show more commitment

because of the career and other factors, private lawyers are more concerned about the legal fees.

He spoke at a seminar organised by the Presidential Advisory Committee Against Corruption (PACAC) in conjunction with Centre for Socio-Legal Studies (CSLS).

The seminar tagged: “The ACJA 2015 and the preservation of Constitutional Safeguard” aims at making the provisions of the law more effective.

The former Court of Appeal

president, who noted that when it is envitable for government to engage private lawyers in such cases, the government should ensure that the lawyer is not from the same state or region as the defendant to avoid compromise.

“The practice of appointing private practitioners to handle corruptionrelated cases should be discouraged as the standard of proof in civil matters is on the ‘balance of probability’ while in criminal cases, the standard is ‘proof beyond reasonable doubt’.

“ The Supreme Court recently held that at trial, where evidence is readily available but not called, a prima facie case would not have been made out against the accused. Consequently, the Attorney General of the Federation should be meticulous in the selection of prosecution lawyers and only professionals who have garnered experience over the years with specialty in criminal litigation should be assigned corruption related cases,” he said.

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WEDNESDAY JULY 25, 2018 ˾ T H I S D AY

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FG Not Paying $300m for 5% Stake in Nigeria Air, Says Sirika Stakeholders fault establishment of national carrier Kasim Sumaina in Abuja and Chinedu Eze in Lagos The federal government yesterday debunked reports that it would pay $300 million for five per cent stake in the new national carrier, Nigeria Air. However, Airline Operators of Nigeria (AON) and economists have faulted the government’s plan to invest in the new national carrier, saying the development would be contrary to government’s earlier statement that it would have zero financial commitment in the project.

This is coming as the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) has called for zero tolerance to flight cancellations and delays, which have plagued airline operations in the country.

The Minister of State for Aviation, Hadi Sirika, said in a statement by the ministry’s Deputy Director of Press, Mr. James Odaudu, that the federal government would not fund the entire project.

According to him, “Government is just providing startup capital in the form of an upfront grant/ viability gap funding. Once the strategic equity investor is in place, they will be expected to build on the initial investment made.”

The minister said the strategic investor will only become known after the public-private partnership procurement process is completed.

On shares to be sold after one year of operations, Sirika stressed that the company’s shares will be sold through an initial public offering after which the government will own five per cent equity.

“Government’s equity share held in trust for Nigerians will be devolved to Nigerians via an

IPO. “The government will retain only 5 per cent equity, the list of shareholders then will be available to SEC and the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE).

“The rest of the 95 per cent equity of Nigeria Air Limited will then be owned by the strategic equity investor and the public. “At that point, Nigeria Air Limited becomes a public company subject to SEC, NSE and relevant CAMA rules for public companies.”

Meanwhile, stakeholders have faulted the federal government’s plan to invest in the new national carrier.

AON said government is actually establishing a national carrier with its own funds without recourse to the National Assembly noting that no investor has shown firm commitment to the project.

Former boss of Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON), Mustafa Chike Obi, said the explanations given

by Sirika indicated that the federal government is actually establishing the airline with state funds.

The experts noted that this is also in contrast to the condition given by the Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission (ICRC) when it issued Outline Business Case Compliance Certificate for the national carrier.

ICRC insisted that government would have zero investment and management of the airline.

Chike-Obi said, “It appears it (the national carrier) is really a 100 per cent Government Sponsored Enterprise (GSE) that would transform into PPP in the future when the federal government sells down 95 per cent to investors. They should just have said so. Pray the process of selling down the 95 per cent follows all due process.”

Babalakin: Collective Intellect Critical for Growth The Pro-Chancellor and Chairman, Governing Council, University of Lagos (UNILAG), Dr. Wale Babalakin (SAN), has called for the harnessing of Nigeria’s collective intellect. This, he said, would speed up the nation’s growth.

Babalakin spoke in Lagos at the maiden edition of the UNILAG ProChancellor’s Distinguished Annual Lecture Series. The lecture, titled: ‘Responding to Nigeria’s Disease Outbreaks and Epidemics: Ebola, Zika and HIV’, was delivered by Prof. Phyllis Kanki, a professor of Immunology and Infectious Disease from the Harvard School of Public Health.

The event was chaired by Justice Olayinka Ayoola, a retired Justice of the Supreme Court.

Babalakin, who initiated the lecture series, which is the first of its kind in Nigeria, said the objective was to accelerate Nigeria’s educational exposure, harness talents and bring to Nigeria gifted

people from all areas of human endeavor who have contributed to advancing knowledge.

His words: “It is because of this premise that we have sought out Prof. Phyllis Kanki, who is an outstanding professor of medicine at Harvard University and whose research in HIV/AIDS has been very beneficial to limiting the scourge of this deadly disease.

Our lecture is designed to continue to find those who fit into this category. “ Emphasising the importance of education in problem solving, Babalakin said: “It is our view that education is going to liberate Nigeria.” “Until we get our education sector right, we will continue to dwell in underdevelopment and be unable to attend to the needs of our people.

In 2001, I delivered a lecture at the Government College, Ibadan (GCI), titled ‘The Nigerian Intelligentsia, an Endangered Species’. In 2001, it sounded like a false alarm,” he said.

MPC: FG NOT CONSCIOUS OF SAVING FOR RAINY DAY that corporate at single digit rate.

“It is not meant to bring competition in the money deposit banks; it is meant to complement their efforts. The most important thing is that we want to see to it that we achieve a single digit rate,” he said.

The second approach, he said works in such a way

that if a bank lends money for new projects and planned expansion (which is verifiable and not refinancing), for seven years (inclusive of two years moratorium) at nine per cent interest rate, the CBN would go into that bank’s CRR and release equivalent of that cash from the CRR at zero kobo spread.

THISDAY also spoke to the economist and Managing Director of Financial Derivatives Company Limited, Bismarck Rewane who said that such expenditure on airline by government is misplacement of funds.

Top official of AON said the government would actually spend over $3 billion to establish the national carrier, noting that the $300 million it said it would spend is not realistic.

“The projection is that the airline will operate for five years before it

would begin to make profit; so it cannot even go to the stock exchange.

But the establishment of the airline to become on-going concern cannot cost less than $3 billion because for the airline to become international carrier, it must have to acquire long-haul aircraft.

“Why do we want to use $3 billion out of our total annual revenue of $26 billion to please one per cent Nigerians that travels by air?

“Boeing B777 costs about $340 million and we need about five units to fly two long haul distant routes

successfully. What all these show is that the desire to acquire a national carrier is simply for pride because most of the national carriers we have today are officially bankrupt, except Ethiopia Airlines,” senior official of AON told THISDAY. Meanwhile, the NCAAhas called for zero tolerance to flight cancellations and delays, which have plagued airline operations in the country.

Spokesman of the agency, Sam Adurogboye said the call was made at the just concluded stakeholder’s

forum organised by the regulatory authority in Lagos.

Adurogboye said the forum was attended by 13 international airlines, eight domestic airlines, and airport operators, including the Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) and Bi-Courtney Aviation Services (BASL).

During the discussions, officials of the NCAA requested the airline operators to enumerate their challenges that could be the likely causes of delays and cancellations.

MOBILITY SOLUTIONS

L-R: Head, Customer Care, International Operations, Mahindra Limited, Mr. Krishnamurthy Ravi; Group Managing Director, Geepee Industries Ltd., Mr. Murli Valecha; and Managing Director, Mahindra West Africa Ltd., Mr. Prasad Sane, during the official inauguration of Mahindra 3wheeler mobility solutions for Nigeria in Lagos...yesterday Abiodun Ajala

‘Presidential Candidate without Concrete Restructuring Plans for Nigeria Won’t GetYorubaVotes’ Sunday Okobi A pan-Yoruba group, Yoruba SelfDetermination Advancement Forum (YOSEDAF), has vehemently vowed that no presidential candidate without concrete plans to restructure Nigeria as well as genuine federalism will get the votes of the South-westerners in the 2019 presidential election.

The group, which lamented that the Yoruba people, who gave their all, to enthrone the current government in 2015, have been bizarrely maltreated and abandoned to their fate, noted that only candidates with genuine interest in true federalism would be given audience during electioneering.

YOSEDAF leaders made these assertions yesterday at a press conference with the theme: ‘2019 General Election: Restructuring and Genuine Federalism’ in Lagos to probe and take a position for the Yoruba race in the Nigerian polity.

They insisted that the region must be given autonomy in order to accelerate its developmental stride.

According to the Convener and Secretary of the group, Kunle Adesokan and Mr. Kola Are respectively who addressed journalists, “From the colonial days, the Yoruba has relentlessly worked towards the restructuring of Nigeria to reintegrate all Yoruba people in Nigeria under one regional government. But the military intervention in 1966 paved the way for all kinds of nepotismdriven balkanisation and clustering of peoples, nations and nationalities into states without regard for ethno-cultural contiguity.

“There is no gainsaying the fact that in the last two decades since return to civil rule, democracy has failed woefully to deliver on good governance.

“Therefore, for any political party and its presidential

candidate to enjoy the support of Self-Determination Platforms and people in Yoruba land, a covenant on restructuring and genuine federalism that guarantee maximum autonomy for Yorubaland is non-negotiable!“To this end, our resolve that Yoruba people will not support a candidate on the basis of promises of bringing about highfalutin change. There must be a clear roadmap with the prospects of delivering on restructuring and federalism worth of the support of our people.”“It is only through the emergence of a leadership that shares the passion of a new Nigeria; which restructuring and genuine federalism guarantee, that the future could be secured out of the prevailing nightmares and miseries.”

YOSEDAF lamented that almost all the economic activities in Nigeria take place in Yoruba land but the region has

nothing to show for it, adding that poverty in the region is growing at astronomic pace, “therefore, the presidential material that would be acceptable in deepening our democratic quest towards the agenda of restructuring and genuine federalism must be of the pedigree that is broadminded enough in the mold of the legendary MKO Abiola of the June 12 fame.

“It is only a presidential material like MKO that shares the worldview of imbuing capacities of the young and marginalised groups that can restore confidence in the economy and create a new momentum that will trigger socioeconomic emancipation of our peoples. We would mobilise our peoples to support an ethnically and religiously detached presidential candidate whose emergence will automatically reduce tension and fear of subjugation, hatred and political vindictiveness.”

Benue House of Assembly Impeaches Speaker George Okoh in Makurdi Speaker of Benue State House of Assembly, Terkimbir Ikyange, was yesterday impeached by 22 out of 30 members of the state assembly.

The members came through the back of the assembly which shares fence with Government house and in less than 45 minutes, concluded the sitting that was presided over

by the former minority leader, Sule Audu, representing Agatu state constituency.

Motion for the impeachment was moved by Richard Ujege representing Konshisha state constituency and seconded by Anthony Ogbu representing Ado constituency.

During the sitting, Titus Uba, APC representing Kyan Vandeikya

constituency emerged speaker while Johnson Egli Ahubi, PDP is deputy speaker.

Other new principal officers of the assembly include, majority leader Avine Agbom of the APC representing Makurdi North who defected to the PDP, Sule Audu, PDP deputy Majority leader and Kester Ikenge, PDP representing Logo, Chief Whip.

Addressing journalists after the sitting, the new speaker explained that the action was done to protect the image of the 8th assembly, adding that it was as a result of high-handedness by the impeached speaker.

It should be noted that the House only last week went on recess and was billed to resume on August 15, 2018.

WEDNESDAY JULY 25, 2018 ˾ T H I S D AY

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How I was Robbed of PDP Governorship Ticket, by Ogunbiyi A gubernatorial aspirant on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Dr. Akin Ogunbiyi, has kicked against the conduct and outcome of the just concluded gubernatorial primaries for Osun State, claiming that the process was rigged.

In a petition to the Chairman, Gubernatorial Electoral Appeal Panel of the party in Abuja, Ogunbiyi rejected the outcome of the election based on what he described as obvious irregularities.

According to him, the grounds for his appeal include the noneligibility of Senator Nurudeen Ademola Adeleke to contest the

primary having failed to meet the requirements as stipulated by Section 177 (D) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended).

His petition read in part: “Senator Adeleke submitted a document purported to be a testimonial as evidence that he was educated up to Senior Secondary certificate which is not suffice to meet the basic qualifications stipulated by the Constitution and the Electoral Act. The date of issue on the purported testimonial submitted by Adeleke was altered with pen; the Principal of Muslim Grammar School, Ede, Osun State, Mr. Khalid A. Abbas,

who purportedly signed the testimonial had not been posted to the school in question as at the date indicated on the document and the Principal who purportedly issued the testimonial to Adeleke has denied ever issuing or signing it and the denial is very well on record.”

He stated further that “I hereby putAdeleke to the strictest proof of his eligibility and demand that he proves same to the contrary.

“The obvious implications of 1.1 to 1.6 above are that PDP will not have an eligible gubernatorial candidate in the forthcoming September 22, 2018, elections if SenatorAdeleke is fielded.”

Poor Weather Forces Delta to Cancel Lagos-Atlanta Flight Twice Chinedu Eze About 500 passengers of Delta Airlines were stranded yesterday when the United States carrier cancelled its Lagos to Atlanta flight twice in the past 48 hours.

The passengers who arrived at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA) Lagos with the hope of flying out of the country could not contain their disappointment.

Delta Airlines operates four weekly flights to Lagos from its base in Atlanta, Georgia, while another three weekly flights is operated to Lagos from New York.

The first flight was cancelled

last Monday after the airline waited for improved weather report, but the US indicated adverse weather that could be dangerous to flight safety.

This prompted the airline to cancel the flight.

A source close to the airline at the Lagos airport confirmed the flight cancellation, but said the airline’s management had already sent out notification to the affected passengers.

The airline source also noted that two flights, rather than one, are expected from U.S today to airlift the affected passengers who ought to have travelled last Monday.

The airport official explained that the first flight would arrive in Nigeria at 3:00 a.m. while the other would be expected at 2:35p.m. same day.

The two flights would then depart Nigeria at 11p.m. on Wednesday for Atlanta.

“The management of Delta Airlines already sent out weather and travel advices to the affected passengers. That is why you don’t have most of the passengers on ground at the Lagos airport.

“Delta has a standard, which it can’t compromise. It is not possible for it to airlift passengers in bad weather,” the airline said.

FG to Online Publishers: Don’t LendYour Platforms to Fake News The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, has appealed to online publishers not to lend their platforms to the spread of fake news, warning that they stand to lose credibility if their publications are identified with fake news.

The minister spoke during an interaction with online publishers and social media influencers in Lagos yesterday, in furtherance of the National Campaign against Fake News which was launched by the federal government in Abuja on July 11, 2018. ‘’Your credibility and indeed your source of livelihood is at stake. If the society loses confidence in the media, especially social media, because of fake news, you will be the worst hit. And we are very close to that point now.

‘’Today, nobody knows what to believe anymore. You read something online, and within a few hours, it is denied. The fake news epidemic is spreading fast,’’ he told the publishers and the influencers.

Mohammed urged the publishers to lend their support to the campaign, just like the traditional media has done, saying: ‘’A starting point is for you to put a banner on your various platforms that says: SAY NO TO FAKE NEWS! Of course, a platform that abhors fake news will not engage in one.’’

He also appealed to Nigerians to do two simple things: Before sharing that information on Facebook, Twitter or WhatsApp, ask how credible the source is, and don’t share any information for which you can’t vouch.

‘’The war against fake news is a must-win. As a multi-ethnic, multi-religious country, Nigeria cannot afford an unbridled spread of fake news. This phenomenon is exploiting our fault lines to aggravate the crises in the country,’’ the minister said, adding that the government will neither resort to coercion nor censorship in the campaign.

He said the fake news phenomenon has exacerbated the crises in the country, citing a recent BBC report that says fake news circulating in the social media is fuelling the farmers-herders crises in Nigeria. ‘’Gory pictures from other lands are circulated freely via Facebook, WhatsApp and Twitter, purportedly being from the killings in Benue or Plateau States,’’ Mohammed said.

Oando Inaugurates Road Projects in Host Communities Oando PLC, in conjunction with its Joint Venture (JV) partners – Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and the Nigerian Agip Oil Company (NAOC), has inaugurated a series of road projects with drainage systems in its host communities in Imo, Rivers and Bayelsa States.

In Imo State, the JV partners inaugurated three road projects, specifically, the Flora Nwakuche road,the Echina road and the Bishop Nwedo road, with drains in the Oguta community.

Roads were also built in the EbgemoAngalabiri community, Ekeremore and in Etiema, Nembe in Bayelsa State, whilst in Rivers

State, a 1.5 kilometres of road was built in the Aggah community, Onelga.

Speaking on the projects, Community Relations Manager, Oando Energy Resources, Mr. Sam Onyenwe said: “We recognise the importance of good road networks to the community and the economy at large. We are hopeful that the commissioning and handing over of these roads today will lead to an improvement in the transportation and delivery of goods and services. We are also hopeful that this will open up these particular communities to their neighbouring communities and promote economic development,”

he explained.

Oando and its partners engaged the people of the communities in the labour-based road construction and rehabilitation, providing much needed employment.

These road projects are one of the many infrastructural development projects Oando and its JV partners have embarked on in 2018, all with the aim of improving the local economy and promoting self-sustenance in its host communities. The company and its JV partners also inaugurated an agro-storage facility in the fishery community of Twon Brass, Bayelsa State at the beginning of the year.

WEDNESDAY JULY 25, 2018 ˾ T H I S D AY

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INVASION OF SARAKI, EKWEREMADU’S RESIDENCES

Atiku, Secondus, Makarfi Decry Siege on Saraki, Ekweremadu’s Homes Our correspondents Former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, National Chairman, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Mr. Uche Secondus and former National Chairman of PDP, Senator Ahmed Makarfi, yesterday condemned security siege on the Abuja residences of Senate President, Bukola Saraki and his deputy, Ike Ekweremadu. Atiku in a statement by his Media Office called for a stop to the persecution of National Assembly leadership.

“The news of the siege on the residences of Saraki and Ekweremadu, is “both troubling and unsettling.’’ “No democratic nation ought to treat the leadership of its parliament like common criminals in the course of a political disagreement.

“I remind the powers-that-be that on August 31, 2013, when Saraki walked out of the PDP and began the process of joining the All Progressives Congress (APC), there was celebration in their camps.

“I also remind them that their electoral victory, which they have so badly mismanaged today, would not have been possible without the Senate President. “Power is transient and is also a trust that should only be used for the good and advancement of the people one leads and not for the persecution of real and imagined political opponents.”

Similarly, Secondus in a statement issued in Abuja, described the development as “attack on democracy, using state security apparatus’’.

He said that Department of State Services (DSS), army and the police had attacked the National Assembly with the aim of forcibly overthrowing its leadership and rendering it comatose.

“The Saraki, Ekweremadu and other distinguished senators are currently under severe assault from security agencies.

“It is now a known fact that democracy have now collapsed in Nigeria and we are now under a totalitarian and fascist government with no appetite for opposition,’’ Secondus said.

He called on all Nigerians, home and abroad, to immediately speak up against the act he described as “gross violation of the Constitution of Nigeria.’’ On his part, Makarfi in a statement in Kaduna, Makarfi said the siege on the residences of principal officers of the National Assembly, by detachments of the Nigerian Police Force, obviously to stop them from presiding over the day’s session, is condemnable.

Makarfi, according to his spokesman, Mukhtar Sirajo, described the action as “dangerous, primitive and one that constitutes a very serious threat to democracy in our country.”

He said: “It is a clear breach of one of the fundamental tenets of presidential democracy, which provides for separation of powers.

“It also constitutes a serious abuse of the fundamental human rights of the targeted individuals, both the presiding officers and the defectors respectively, because the right to associate is inalienable.

“Sadder still, is the fact that this impunity and crass disrespect to legality and constitutionality are being perpetrated under a government that is itself a beneficiary of respect for the rule of law by the then PDP government.”

CAN Cautions Presidency, Police over Threat to Democracy Following the siege on the residences of the Senate President, Dr Bukola Saraki and his deputy, Ike Ekweremadu, by the Nigerian Police and other security agencies, the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) yesterday cautioned the presidency and the police over threat to the nation’s democracy. CAN observed that the siege was completely at variance with democratic norms expected in a democracy.

CAN President, Rev. Supo Ayokunle, explained that “the leadership of the association has warned the presidency and the Nigeria Police not to do anything capable of threatening the survival of democracy in Nigeria. Speaking on the invasion, CAN warned “the presidency to desist from using the Nigeria Police to pull down democratic institutions built at a great price, which includes, but not limited to, loss of lives and imprisonment of many patriots in the past.

“We express grave concerns over the poor handling of police’s invitation to the Senate President, Saraki, over the infamous Offa robbery saga that led to the death of no fewer than 30 people. And the alleged plan by the EFCC to arrest Ekweremadu over alleged money laundry,” Ayokunle explained.

Ohanaeze Raises the Alarm over Ekweremadu’s Life The President General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Chief John Nnia Nwodo, has warned that nothing should happen to the Deputy Senate President, Chief Ike Ekweremadu.

Nwodo said the álarm became necessary following some disturbing reports that operatives of the state besieged his house this morning for yet undisclosed motives. The Ohanaeze leader said while it would not begrudge the state for doing its statutory duty, it must be within the confines of rule of law more so that the nation is in a democracy.

“In a democratic setting as ours, we expect security agencies to be civil and work within the rule of the law without breaching the civil liberty of any individual. Nwodo said that Senator Ekweremadu being the highest Igbo in this government is much cherished by his people and is expected that he should be accorded all the respect deserving of his position. He recalled that another Igbo son Senator Enyinna Abaribe was incarcerated for three days without any tangible reason disclosed to Nigerians till date. “We will not want to be sentimental into believing that there are grand design to silent and humiliate Igbo leaders at the national level who are legitimately representing their people very well but whose stance on issues is not agreeable with the ruling authorities.”

South-east Youth Leader Condemns Siege on Ekweremadu’s Residence

L-R: Senate Minority Leader, Senator Godswill Akpabio; National Chairman, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Uche Secondus, and Deputy Senate President, Senator Ike Ekweremadu, during a solidarity visit members of the Senate and PDP after SARS operatives relaxed the siege on the house of Deputy State President in Abuja.... yesterday Julius Atoi South-east Youth Leader of the Peoples Democratic Party, Chidiebere Egwu, has condemned the siege on the official residence of the Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu, by the security agencies yesterday morning.

The youth leader who spoke to THISDAY in Abakaliki, noted that the siege was a total humiliation and intimidation against the Igbo race by the presidency. Describing the act as a shame to democracy, the youth leader alleged that the siege was a threat to the life of the Deputy Senate president, warning that if anything happens to Ekweremadu, the Igbo race would hold the presidency responsible.

Egwu further called on the international community, civil societies and human rights activists to intervene and save Nigeria’s democracy from imminent collapse. He said: “The hostage of the Deputy Senate president, Ike Ekweremmadu, is a shame to our democracy. His hostage was a clampdown to Igbo race. We won’t tolerate the excesses of the Federal government again. Nothing should happen to our son.

If Ekweremadu dies, we will die with him”.

“Our democracy has suffered major setbacks under the Buhari’s administration. The President has shown that he is incompetent to rule Nigeria. The travails of the deputy Senate president show that Buhari hates Ndigbo. Our security agencies have derailed in their constitution responsibilities. They are now political tools in the hands of the federal government to witch hunt perceived opponents.

Nigeria Heading to Anarchy under APC, Says Group A pro-democracy group, the Democratic Alliance for Good Governance (DAGG), has condemned in strong terms, yesterday’s siege on the residence of the Senate President, Dr Bukola Saraki and his deputy, Ike Ekweremadu, by the police and other security forces.

The group described the siege as a war on democracy and a direct attempt to muzzle opposition which may result into anarchy.

In a statement issued in Abuja yesterday by its National Coordinator, Usman Mohammed, the group said: “We strongly condemn the siege laid on the residence of the Senate President, Deputy Senate President and other principal officers of the National Assembly yesterday morning and we believe all lovers of democracy in the country and beyond would rise against this tyranny and impunity, which is nothing less than a colossal threat to sabotage democratic governance in Nigeria.

“The attempt to stop the Senate from holding its plenary over plans by some lawmakers to defect from the APC to the PDP is one of the tyrannical move of the APC-led government to gag opposition in the country and a direct attack on the lawmakers’ right to association.

“We wish to remind the president and his party the APC that they came to power as a result of unrestricted freedom they enjoyed while in opposition and healthy democracy which gives room for opposition.

“We however wish to warn that Nigeria is greater than President Muhammadu Buhari and his party, the APC and they must desist from undemocratic practise that may plunge the nation into turmoil. We also call on all Nigerians to rise against this unprecedented impunity and tyranny of the APC-led federal government capable of destabilising the nation and its hard earned democracy.

Third Force Petitions International Community Over Impunity Nigeria Intervention Movement (NIM) has said it is perturbed by the resort to panicky gestapo actions by the presidency, using security forces to prevent the Senate President, Bukola Saraki and his deputy, Senator Ike Ekweremadu, from attending to their constitutional legislative duties at the National Assembly.

As statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Mallam Nasser Kura, said the ruthless show of force rather than civil engagement being foisted on the leadership of the Nigerian parliament by its executive counterpart, is to say the least anti-democratic, highhanded and reckless and have the potential of truncating the life of Nigeria’s hard earned

civil rule if caution is not quickly taken.

The group therefore called on President Muhammadu Buhari to immediately caution his men in the security apparatchik of Nigeria, so as to avoid the breakdown of order and a breach of the country’s peace and stability.

APC will Only Survive If Buhari Steps down, Oshiomhole Resigns, Says Ex-OMATA President Former President General of Onitsha Markets Amalgamated Traders Association, OMATA, Chief Pius Ozoh Anekwe, yesterday said that harassment and intimidation of Senate President Dr Bukola Saraki and his deputy, Chief Ike Ekweremadu, would not save the All Progressives Congress (APC) from its imminent collapse.

Anaekwe however said what will rescue the party from its near collapse is for the party to beg President Muhammadu Buhari to step aside, and the newly elected National Chairman of the party, Adams Oshiomhole, to resign because he would kill the party before 2019 general election. Reacting in Onitsha to the intimidation and harassment of the Senate president and his deputy by the police and the Department of State Services (DSS), Anekwe said that President Buhari has killed APC with his policies and style of administration, while Oshiomhole has come to bury the party. “APC died the day it removed its former National Chairman Chief John Oyegun following the party’s decision to obey the demands of Senator Tinubu to remove him.

Kwara Assembly Condemns Police Invasion at Senate President’s Residence The Kwara State House of Assembly has called on Nigerians, credible civil society organisations and the international community to rise in unison for the protection of the nation’s democracy. This followed a motion of Urgent Public Importance, by the House Leader Hon. Hassan Oyeleke, titled: ‘Unsuccessful Terrorising of the National Assembly,’ by the nation’s security agencies.

The Speaker, Dr. Ali Ahmad, while reading the resolutions of the House on the motion, expressed displeasure that with the invasion, the nation’s hard won democracy was being threatened, pointing out that it was disheartening that the institution of police, was being misused for personal aggrandisement, by the power that be. The House according to him, then condemned in totality the impunity of the security agencies, by invading the National Assembly, the private residences of the Senate President Dr Bukola Saraki and some senators by the police.

Don’t Derail Nigeria’s Democracy, South-west PDP Urges Buhari The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the South-west yesterday urged the leadership of the All Progressives Congress (APC) to initiate actions against moves to derail democracy in Nigeria. The party in a statement by its Zonal Publicity Secretary, Ayo Fadaka, criticised the manner ‘despotic’ democracy under President Muhammadu Buhari was gaining ascendancy. It read: “The Police action taken again the Senate President, Bukola Saraki and his deputy, Ike Ekeremadu clearly is an abuse of the fundamental human rights of the duo and also an abuse of power privileges.

“No excuse or reason can justify the prosecution of this cheap and pedestrian action; these gentlemen are no criminals that should be hounded by the police who should clearly devote their time squarely to ridding our nation of the many criminal elements that torture the citizenry daily.” According to the statement, the police invitation to Saraki was in furtherance of the petty attempt to rope him into the now famous Offa robbery, stressing that President Buhari and his handlers should know that irrespective of concoctions in this regard, the eminent and illustrious background of Saraki will never make them to stick.

T H I S D AY ˾ WEDNESDAY JULY 25, 2018

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T H I S D AY •WEDNESDAY JULY 25, 2018

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Group Sports Editor Duro Ikhazuagbe Email duro.ikhazuagbe@thisdaylive.com 0811 181 3083 SMS ONLY

Eagles Coach,Yusuf, Filmed Receiving Cash in Sting Operation Super Eagles Chief Coach, Salisu Yusuf, has been caught on camera receiving cash from men posing as football agents.

The sting operation was conducted by controversial Ghanaian journalist Anas Aremeyaw Anas in September 2017 - and is being broadcast for the first time by BBC Africa Eye. Yusuf who led the Homebased Eagles to the silver medal finish at the 2018 African Nations Championship last January was first assistant coach to Gernot Rohr during the 2018 World Cup in Russia, is due to lead the national team to the Olympics in 2020.

In that secretly filmed video, Yusuf was showed receiving money which the sting operators said was to ensure two players are named in the squad for the 2018 African Nations Championship held in Morocco where Nigeria finished as runners up.

The video showed Yusuf, who is paid N3 million monthly by the Nigeria Football Federation, taking $1,000 from the undercover reporters, who eluded to other financial incentives after the coach had taken the money. ‘’So if anything goes through and these players are able to get their contracts, you will get 15% of that contract,’’ one of

the undercover reporters told Yusuf and he replied; ‘’they will be in CHAN’’.

According to the FIFA code of ethics, officials should not engage in any activity that gives rise to suspicion or collect any cash gifts.

The two players were eventually selected for the African Nations Championship but no further money was requested or given to Yusuf and there’s no further suggestion that the money he took influenced the selection of the players.

In the video, Yusuf said : ‘’You know in football it is supposed to be by your consistency and form’’.

But in a swift reaction to the video yesterday, Yusuf denied any wrongdoing and said he neither promised nor committed to selecting players for games, adding that he never asked the undercover journalists for money but it was offered to him and the amount was $750, not the $1,000 Anas claims.

Yusuf also stated that he believes the money falls within the gifts the FIFA codes allow for, viewing it as of trivial and symbolic value and not as an inducement to select the two players represented by the two agents.

Embattled Super Eagles coach Salisu Yusuf Meanwhile, the disciplinary committee of the Nigeria Football Federation ( NFF) have given their recommendations on the fate of the coach Yusuf.

The NFF Disciplinary Com-

mittee has however asked the board to sack him.

A check at the secretariat of the football house in Abuja revealed that Yusuf will be relieved off his role as coach

of the Super Eagles and U23s, but it won’t be immediate as he would be given the chance to defend himself by the board of the NFF. President Amaju Pinnick

and his vice Shehu Dikko were highly disappointed and bitter over the conduct of the Kano born coach, and that has led to suggestions that he won’t survive the axe from the board.

that Asaba was ready to host hitch-free championship.

He reiterated the govetn-

ment’s appeal to residents of the state capital to be patient as the government was cur-

rently carrying out massive drainage projects to address the flooding problem in Asaba

We Are Ready to Host Africa, Says Okowa ȱę ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ

By Omon-Julius Onabu in Asaba With barely a week to the commencent of the 21st Africa Senior Athletics Competition on August 1st, 2018, Delta State Governor, Dr. Ifeanyi Okowa, has assured of the state is ready to host Africa at Asaba.

Okowa gave the assurance yesterday evening when he paid an unscheduled inspection visit to assess the final phase of construction work at the Stephen Keshi Stadium Asaba, shortly after resumption from a two-week vacation.

At the stadium, he said that the state was ready to host the athletes and visitors for the Asaba 2018 competition, stating that all the major works at the stadium have been completed.

“We are ready to host the African Senior Athletics Com-

petition, most of the facilities are ready and by Sunday, few days from now, all the facilities will be ready for the opening ceremony; I was happy that we had a successful African trial as it showed our preparedness to host the whole of Africa”, Okowa assured.

The governor, who was conducted round the facilities by the chairman of the local organising committee (LOC), Solomon Ogba, urged Deltans in particular and NIgerians in general to turn up in the numbets to watch the competition.

“As Deltans, we should be proud that we are hosting the whole of Africa; we should be proud and we expect Nigerians to turn up and cheer the athletes”, he said.

Okowa also inspected the drainage project at Summit

Delta State Governor, Senator Ifeanyi Okowa (2nd right), Chairman Local Organising Committee, Chief Solomon Ogba (left); Chairman State Sport Commission, Tony Okowa (2nd left) and Arch. Joseph Ogeh, during the Governor’s visit to Stephen Keshi’s Stadium, Asaba, Delta State

Road, Asaba and expressed satisfaction at the pace and quality of work, assuring

Israeli Players Steal Show at Lagos International Badminton Classics The highest paid Badminton Classics in Africa ended in Lagos, Nigeria at the weekend with visiting Israeli players stealing the show at the Molade Okoya-Thomas Indoor Sports Hall of Teslim Balogun Stadium in Surulere.

The Israelis won both the men and women’s singles of the 4th Lagos International Badminton Classics amid cheers from invited guests and other fans who watched the thrilling finals. Israel’s Misha Zilberman beat his opponent from Malaysia, Misbun Ramdan Mohmed Misbun 2-1 to win the men’s singles, while Ksenia Polikarpova also from Israel defeated Indian Sri Kreshna Priya Kudaralu in 2-1 game to win the women’s singles top prize.

However, Indian players dominated the doubles events.

The duo of Kuhuo Garg and Riya Mookerjee won the men’s doubles, while the pair of Attri Manu and Reddy Sumeeth were winners of the women’s doubles.

Chairman of Lagos State Sports Commission, Dr Kweku Adedayo Tandoh was happy with the outing of Nigerian players, especially

the women in this year’s competition which attracted 24 nations across the world.

One of the players, Dorcas Adesokan fought her ways to the semi final. Amin Vop Christopher and U. Ukeh got to the quarter finals. In the men’s singles, Opeyori Anuoluwapo made it to the quarter final stage.

“This was a good record for our players and it showed that they are improving in their game. This was a remarkable performance and I want to say our Badminton is growing. I believe if these players are exposed to more competitions especially Classics across the world, it will definitely affect their game, “ Tandoh said.

The chairman thanked Governor Akinwunmi Ambode for providing enabling environment for the organisation of the event.

To the President of Badminton Federation of Nigeria (BFN), Francis Orbih, successes recorded in the competition since inception was made possible through the support from the Lagos State Government. “I’m glad that we have been laying a good platform upon which

a solid legacy for Badminton in Nigeria and Lagos State is being built.

“I want to appreciate the Lagos State Government, our partners and the media for the tremendous support we have

received since inception. I have no doubt in my mind that the success achieved so far will sustain the vision and even lift Lagos International Badminton Classics to a greater height, “ Orbih said.

Gusau Hails Resolution of NFF Crisis as NFF Congress Endorses Pinnick Chairman of Chairmen of Nigerian Football, Alhaji Ibrahim Musa Gusau, has commended the Federal Government and other highlyplaced individuals who helped in the peaceful resolution of the NFF leadership crisis.

“We are happy with the restoration of sanity and peace in our football. That move has saved our football and saved our country’s image from being smeared unnecessarily in the international sphere.

“There are 211 countries of the world who members of world football –governing body, FIFA and all of those countries adhere strictly to the tenets and dictates of association football as enshrined in the FIFA Statutes, which is duplicated in their

own countries’ respective versions,” Gusau said.

The Member of NFF Executive Committee and Chairman of Zamfara State Football Association also praised the members of the NFF Congress, who overwhelmingly endorsed the Amaju Pinnick-led board at emergency meetings over the weekend.

Gusau reiterated that the nationwide action has shown that the Nigerian football family is united and committed to the global best practice of playing football according to Football Statutes and nothing else. He said aggrieved personalities and entities can always ventilate their grouse through established alternative dispute resolution mechanisms.

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OPINION Dear President Buhari, Our Sports Minister Okay?

Fred Edoreh

Harry Kane, one of the shortlisted candidate for FIFA best

Kane, Hazard, Salah, Ronaldo Head FIFA’s Best Shortlist England’s Harry Kane,Chelsea’s Eden Hazard, Mohamed Salah of Liverpool, Manchester City’s Kevin De Bruyne and new Juventus signing Cristiano Ronaldo are all included in a 10-man shortlist for the Best FIFA Men’s Player award for 2018 released yesterday.

England full-back Lucy Bronze is on the shortlist for the best women’s player.

Tottenham forward Kane, 24, won the Golden Boot at the World Cup in Russia with six goals as England achieved their best finish since 1990.

He went into the World Cup on the back of registering his first 30-goal haul in a Premier League season.

And Kane maintained that form at the finals, becoming the first English player to win the top scorers’ prize since Gary Lineker in 1986.

Hazard 27, won the FA Cup with Chelsea in May and then collected the Silver Ball in Russia after inspiring Belgium to third - their best World Cup finish.

Salah, 26, also enjoyed a prolific campaign. The Egyptian scored 46 times for club and country during 2017-18, helping Liverpool to the Champions League final in his first season at Anfield.

Belgium midfielder De Bruyne, 27, played a prominent role in a record-

breaking season for City, who accumulated the most points and wins in a Premier League season.

It was also a landmark year for five-time Ballon d’Or winner Cristiano Ronaldo. The Portuguese scored 54 goals in 54 games in all competitions, spearheading Real Madrid’s triumph in the Champions League and the Fifa Club World Cup. Voting for the award closes at midnight on 10 August, while the awards ceremony takes place in London on 24 September.

& Portugal Kevin De Bruyne - Manchester City & Belgium Antoine Griezmann - Atletico Madrid & France Eden Hazard - Chelsea & Belgium Harry Kane - Tottenham & England Kylian Mbappe - Paris StGermain & France Lionel Messi - Barcelona & Argentina Luka Modric - Real Madrid & Croatia Mohamed Salah - Liverpool & Egypt Raphael Varane - Real Madrid & France

Full shortlist Cristiano Ronaldo - Juventus

NFF Crisis: Football Elders to Reconcile Pinnick, Giwa From Olawale Ajimotokan in Abuja After several hours of brainstorming in Abuja yesterday, elders of the Nigerian football family have resolved to reconcile the Amaju Pinnick and Chris Giwa warring factions in the interest of Nigerian football.

The two individuals have factionalised the NFF for almost a year over claims to the leadership of the football federation.

After the round table parley summoned by Sports Minister, Solomon Dalung, the select group of 21 elders, comprising former NFF Chairmen, former Secretary Generals, former board members, national coaches, resolved to intervene and end the crisis that was adjudicated up to the Supreme Court.

Those at the meeting included Col Abdulmumuni

Aminu, (rtd) Chief Adegboye Onigbinde, Alhaji Ibrahim Galadima, Dr Tijani Yusuf, Aminu Maigari, Dr Sam Jaja, and Gen OU Olatoye.

Also in attendance were Pepsie Adiukwu, Chris Green, Abba Muktah, Bolaji Ojooba, Honour Sirawo, Dele Ologbese, Lumumba Adeh, Fanny Amun and Mitchel Obi. Prof Onye Gyewado, Kojo Williams, Ikeddy Isiguzo, Emmanuel Zira and Ahmed Sani Toro, made up the group.

Ex- international, Olusegun Odegbami and Senator Obinna Ogba, listed as members of the group were absent.

Dalung, who read the resolutions after the issues were extensively discussed, said the patriotic intervention of the elders would ensure the restoration of unity at the “Glasshouse”.

“After thorough discussions, revision and analysis of everything that relates to peace

and unity in the football family, the elders in the football family have resolved they will go into the crisis and reconcile the different parties so as to allow Nigerian football to grow.

The meeting was motivated by an African adage that if there is an elder at home, the infant can not die of hunger,” Dalung said.

The Giwa faction was expelled from NFF secretariat on Monday by operatives of Department of State Services (DSS), which reinstated Pinnick on the order of government.

But Dalung insisted that the Supreme Court ruling which restored the orders of the High Court of Jos granting Giwa reliefs, had not been vacated.

The minister, who presented the genesis of the crisis, laid the blame on Pinnick for failing to make concessions to the Giwa faction.

“I inherited the crisis that was inconclusive

before President Goodluck Jonathan vacated office. Giwa resurrected the court processes because he felt abandoned

by Pinnick, who reneged on terms brokered by Jonathan,” Dalung said.

He listed some of the concessions demanded by Giwa to include the chairmanship of an NFF committee and the headship of the League Management Company (LMC).

“Giwa also asked for three slots to be given to the members of his group to travel to Russia for World Cup to promote unity, but NFF claimed those on the list were people banned by FIFA. They also gave an excuse that they had no money to accommodate those that were not banned. People have accused me of having vested interest because I am from Plateau like Giwa so people from Plateau don’t deserve justice. It is not fair”.

On Monday morning, Nigerians were relieved to see President Muhammadu Buhari intervene on the crisis affecting the smooth running of the Nigeria Football Federation.

He ordered the restoration of the Executive Committee led by Amaju Pinnick back to office after the Chris Giwa group took over the secretariat for several weeks following an ex-parte order from the Federal High Court.

The President had, through a memo personally signed by the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami (SAN), on Friday, July 20, briefed the Minister of Sports, Solomon Dalung, of the government’s wish to run Nigeria football in line with FIFA Statutes and cautioned him against effecting one sided judgment on the dispute as well as making further public comments on the matter until the conclusion of the cases in court.

The memo was copied the Inspector General of Police and the Director General of the State Security Service for action.

In the evening of same Monday, Dalung released a ministerial statement rejecting the directives of the President and the action of government in restoring sanity.

“As far as I am concerned,” he said, “nothing has changed. There is no development after the Supreme Court ruling of April 27, 2018, and the Federal High Court Order of 5th June 2018.

The President cannot go against the rule of law. The order issued by the court has not been vacated and the President cannot vacate a court order because there are clear cut processes of doing that.”

He declared the action of government in this regard as “security excesses”, saying he has initiated his own process “to work out a road map out of the quagmire.”

While the dispute in Nigeria football has been embarrassing to Nigerians, as it presents us before the global community as disorderly, what is more disturbing is how Dalung’s counter portrays the government of Nigeria as disorganised and without respectable leadership.

Dalung

Is Dalung saying that, as a minister, he cannot take directives from the President?

Is he suggesting that the Attorney General lied in saying that the directive was from the President? What does he mean by “security excesses”? Does it mean that the Police and State Security Services in Nigeria act without command? Does this whole scenario not portray the government as without unity of purpose, action and a commanding structure?

How can the Minister of Sports suggest that the Minister of Justice is wrong to have interpreted and adviced on a judicial issue?

Who between them is more competent and officially recognized to advice on a legal matter which Dalung himself has described as a “quagmire”?

In relation to his grounds of rejecting the President’s directive, fact is there is no judgment or order of the Supreme Court for Giwa to take over the NFF. What the Supreme Court ruled on, on April 27, was the objection of the NFF on the re-listing of the Giwa suit, and it only directed that the matter re-listed for retrial at the lower court. It therefore is a lie for Dalung to keep saying there is a Supreme Court judgment.

If this was not so, there would have been no further need for the Giwa group to apply for an ex-parte order to temporarily take over the NFF which was granted on June 5 and which Dalung gleefully effected.

Even at that, the said exparte has lapsed and can no longer sustain Giwa in office.

By insisting that the ex-parte order has not been vacated and that the President cannot vacate it, it is a wonder that Dalung who flaunts an LLB, LM and LLM in law does not know that by Order 26, Rule 12 of Federal High Court (Civil Procedures) Rules, 2009, “no order made on motion ex-parte shall last for more than fourteen days after the party or person affected by the order has applied for the order to be varied or discharged or last for another fourteen days after the application to vary or discharge it has been argued.”

Edoreh is immediate past chairman of Lagos State Sportswriters Association of Nigeria (SWAN)

Wednesday July 25, 2018

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MISSILE

Oshiomhole to Ministers “If the minister refuses, we will suspend him from the party. You know we must return to internal discipline. For me, it is the height of mischief for any minister. You cannot purport to be honourable minister and you act dishonourably. Nobody is greater than the party. If the president condones disrespect for his office, I will not condone disrespect for the party...”

– The National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Mr. Adams Oshiomhole, threatening to sack the Minister of Labour and Productivity, Senator Chris Ngige and the Minister of State for Aviation, Mr. Hadi Sirika, if they refuse to heed to his instruction.

KAYODEKOMOLAFE So, When will the Focus Be on Issues?

A THE HORIZON

s it was in 2014, so it is in 2018.

This is not a cheery observation to make given the Nigerian condition.

Few months to the 2015 elections there was a political ferment that even a casual observer of the Nigerian scene would not fail to notice.

The All Progressives Congress (APC) had emerged in February 2013 as a fusion of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP), Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) and a significant slice of the then ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). The opposition APC was hurriedly packaged to engage the PDP, which had been in power for 16 years, in a war of attrition.

Hence, there was a frenetic jostle for power.

Different actors put their ambitions prominently on display. Some elements, which are today at daggers drawn, were in alignment with the sole purpose of defeating President Jonathan Goodluck in the bitterly fought presidential election.

Now the mood in some quarters is that of realignment.

However, what was sorely lacking in the burst of political activities four years ago was principle.

Today, the same principle is also conspicuously absent in the unfolding drama. The Indian sage, Mahatma Gandhi, is often quoted as saying that one of the seven social sins is playing “politics without principle.” But, in the 2014 politics, issues were not made the focus of attention. No principle was enunciated. The focus was on power. Yet the issues were as enormous as they are today – security, mass poverty, joblessness, corruption etc. In fact, based on the intervention of former National Security Adviser, Col. Sambo Dasuki, the elections were postponed for some weeks in 2015 in order to ensure a measure of security in the northeast. The nation was virtually adrift in the sea of the problems.

The incumbent PDP in 2014 could not defend its record convincingly on all the issues. Neither could the opposing APC offer a coherent alternative strategy of development to combat the burgeoning socio-economic and political problems. That is why President Muhammadu Buhari could not launch his economic plan until he was two years in office after waiting for six months to appoint a cabinet. The APC had “true federalism” as one of the party’s campaign slogans. After two years in power, the party had to set up committee party to define its concept of federalism when the momentum for restructuring could no longer be ignored. You would expect that the party should have sorted that out strategically. This lack of focus on issues while jostling for power could explain the lack strategic responses to many issues.

Just like the APC failed to provide alternative vision in 2014, the PDP’s focus today is not on the issues. The attention of the major opposition party and those aligning or realigning with it is not on issues. The passion is about grabbing power and not about generating ideas to solve the mounting problems on the ground. The nation is being cynically entertained in a grand political drama; there is no coherent debate going on the issues on ground.

Elsewhere parties merge on the basis of programmes and not on “big names” alone.

Politicians break ranks because of divergence of principles. The other day, Boris Johnson resigned as the British Foreign Minister. The whole world knows it is because he wants “hard Brexit” which is not the idea of Prime Minister Theresa May, who still cares about Britain’s place in Europe after Brexit. Johnson may be ambitious, but the maverick of a politician is at least associated with a set of conservative ideas about how Britain should be run.

kayode.komolafe@thisdaylive.com

Not so here, since 1999 every administration only came with a programme or a semblance of it only after winning elections. Elections ought to have been won on the basis of strategies and the programmes to achieve such in the first place.

In this respect, the Buhari’s administration has been following in the footsteps of the earlier administrations in this dispensation of increasingly declining politics.

Unlike the Second-Republic, the political parties of this dispensation promised the people nothing in strategic and programmatic terms. That is why the administration of President Olusegun Obasanjo administration only began to put the National Empowerment and Economic Development (NEEDS) together after four years that the President had been in power. Matters even became ridiculous when the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) that produced Obasanjo in the first place was even listed merely as one of the “stakeholders” to be “consulted” while the “technocrats” drafted the agenda. Little surprise then that some of the reforms initiated by President Olusegun Obasanjo could not be consummated during his tenure as they arrived almost at the twilight of his administration. Obasanjo’s successor, President Umaru Yar’Adua enunciated his “Seven-Point Agenda” in his inaugural address. His party, the PDP, never coherently articulated the famous agenda during the campaign for his election. The trend of politics without ideas continued when President Goodluck Jonathan could only give the first hint of his “transformation agenda” also in his inaugural address on May 29, 2011. This is because the PDP never sold such an agenda coherently while presenting Jonathan to the electorate for the election.

Today, the story is hardly different. Political parties are supposed to lead debates on the issues

0805 500 1974

confronting the nation. Neither the party in power nor any of those jostling to displace it is offering an alternative vision for the future. So it is fairly predictable that the campaign season would again be replete with hate speeches, lies, insults and curses as it was in 2014. After all, it is easier to abuse or curse Buhari than come up with a policy- alternative to the failed privatisation in the power sector, which the PDP launched 13 years ago with an Act of Parliament and the APC has continued with the same doctrinal commitment despite the less than satisfactory outcomes.

The place of issues is not visible in the political drama engulfing the land.

Take a sample. Recent developments could have been more relevant to the people if, for instance, those parting ways with Buhari are doing so because they have a superior idea on how tackle the crippling insecurity as an alternative to the obvious failure of the Buhari’s security management. Killings take place almost on daily basis in parts of the country while the fight for power without programmes continue. For example, only on Sunday some persons including policemen and soldiers were reportedly killed on the Abuja-Kaduna road. If such killings take place so close to the seat of power, you could imagine how helpless the situation could be in remote villages of Benue, Taraba, Edo or Zamfara. Like other roads in the country, the Abuja-Kaduna has become a den of killers. None of the “big names” from all sides in this political drama could travel on this road without beefed up armed escorts. But the people who are bound to use this dangerous road have no such privileges.

Yet the government has responsibility for their security. The security system doesn’t seem to have come to terms with the true profile, motives

and modes of operation of the killers in various locations of the country. The profile of killings of thousands in Zamfara state doesn’t appear to be the same as the one in Borno just as the profile of the killings in Benue might be differently compared to the one in Yobe. Yet instead of a serious discussion of the failure of the security system to stop the bloodshed politicians only lead public discussions with ethnic and religious labels The political quarrels could have been meaningful if it is based on the alternative security strategies of the opposing parties to that of the APC. To overcome this political underdevelopment, the political parties should be distinguishable on the basis of divergent ideas informing their proposed strategies of development. In other words, the parties should be ideological. There should ideological contents to their programmes around which to mobilise the people so that the polity could be weaned from debilitating effects of religious and ethnic manipulations during elections.

Beneath all this is the worsening lack of capacity of the people to even nurse expectations of those seeking power.

The people seem to expect nothing.

At the end World War II, the phrase “a revolution of rising expectations,” was used in the public sphere in the West to refer to the belief of the people that with freedom and prosperity they could actually improve their conditions. This conviction propelled the people to seek political changes so that social opportunities could be expanded.

The reverse seems to be happening in the Nigeria of 2018 with what could be roughly described as the crisis of declining expectations with all the cynicisms it engenders in the public space.

The antidote could be the insistence by the people that those who seek power should focus on the issues of the Nigerian condition.

Dangote’s Creative Capitalism The N250m-complex built by the Aliko Dangote Foundation at the premises of the University of Ibadan School of Business will be commissioned this morning.

The project is a fulfilment of the pledge made two years ago when the Nigeria’s premier university conferred an honorary doctorate degree on the President of the Dangote Organisation, Alhaji Aliko Dangote.

According to the management of the school, facilities provided would enhance considerably the operations of the Business school while the larger university community would be relieved of some pressures on its structures.

The Dangote Foundation has built similar complexes in some other public universities.

The significant point to stress here is that part of the profits made by Dangote is used to enhance public institutions with the provision of facilities. That would enable those who cannot afford to pay for similar facilities in private institutions to have the benefits of such facilities.

Some years ago, the American billionaire, Bill Gates, endeavoured to deepen the idea of philanthropy by coming up with what he called “creative capitalism.” According to Gates, embodied in the philosophy of creative capitalism is “an approach where governments, businesses, and non-profits work together to stretch the reach of market forces so that more people can make a profit, or gain recognition, doing work that eases the world’s inequities.”

Its focus is on the poorest of the society.

Incidentally, Dangote, Gates and other

Dangote stakeholders are in partnership in the efforts to tackle some health issues such as polio, malaria and maternal mortality.

Creative capitalists realise the purpose of making billions of dollars as profits should not just be to acquire more private jets, yachts and mansions in all the metropolitan capitals as well enjoy more choice wines and other luxuries of life while pretending to be oblivious of the crisis of their social environment.

It is amazing that Nigerian men of means are not embarrassed when, for instance, it is said that if the non-governmental organisations withdraw their care and support in the northeast, the humanitarian tragedy there would turn to a disaster. A lot of the funds that the Nigerian NGOs seek from the West could actually be sourced internally if most Nigerian billionaires are creative capitalists.

The Dangote Foundation, in the spirit of creative capitalism, has invested billions in the feeding and care of the internally displaced persons in the northeast. You would expect the billionaires from the troubled region to be in the forefront of partnering with government and international donors to alleviate the conditions of those who are in desperate situation in the conflict zone.

In fact, Nigerian foundations should be leading the efforts to provide the succour for the poor in the region.

Those billionaires who think that the only way to intervene in the crisis of public education is to create another market in the sector and turn quality education into another commodity purchasable only by the rich should embrace the example shown by the Dangote Foundation.

For instance, it serves a greater social purpose to develop the business school in the University of Ibadan, a pre-eminent public school, than to establish another mushroom private university in the same city.

That’s the moral in the step taken by the Dangote Foundation in building the complex being commissioned today.

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