WEDNESDAY 30TH AUGUST 2018

UBA Grows Gross Earnings By 16% to N258bn Nume Ekeghe The United Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc has announced its audited 2018 half year financial results, showing strong growth across key performance metrics as well

as a significant contribution from its African subsidiaries.

Despite declining yield environment in two core markets - Nigeria and Ghana - the pan Africa financial institution delivered double digit growth in gross earnings,

as it recorded a 16 percent year-on-year rise in top-line to N258 billion, compared to N223 billion recorded in the corresponding period of 2017.

The performance, according to analysts, underscored the capacity of the UBA Group

to deliver strong performance through economic cycles, even in a challenging business environment.

According to the report made available to the Nigerian Stock Exchange yesterday, UBA, reported strong growth

in operating income at N168.5 billion, compared to N161.8 billion in the first half of 2017, an increase of 4.1 per cent.

Notwithstanding the inflation-induced cost pressure in the period, UBA finished the first half of the year strongly,

with a profit before tax of N58.1 billion.

The profit after tax also improved to N43.8 billion, a 3.4 percent growth compared to N42.3 billion achieved in Continued on page 8

Farmers Draw N150bn from CBN’s Anchor Borrowers’ Programme… Page 8 Thursday 30 August, 2018 Vol 23. No 8534. Price: N250

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CBN Orders MTN to Refund $8.134bn Illegally Repatriated from Nigeria StanChart, Stanbic, Citi, Diamond Bank incur fines for aiding telecoms firm Ijeoma Nwogwugwu Three years after facing a record-breaking $5.2 billion fine in Nigeria, South Africa’s telecommunications giant, MTN, is again in trouble with the Nigerian government over the illegal repatriation of $8,134,312,397.63 from the country, in violation of the extant laws and regulations.

According to banking industry sources who spoke to THISDAY, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), having carried out its investigation into the illegal remittances to MTN’s Johannesburg-based parent company over a nine-year period, wrote to the Nigeria subsidiary on Continued on page 6

Buhari Assures May of Free, Fair, Credible Elections in 2019

Meets Ambode, seeks sustainable UK, Lagos relations

Omololu Ogunmade in Abuja President Muhammadu Buhari yesterday in Abuja assured the United Kingdom Prime Minister Theresa May of his commitment to conducting free, fair and credible elections in 2019.

A statement by the Special

Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Mr. Femi Adesina, said Buhari who made the promise at a bilateral meeting with May, welcomed UK's assistance meant to strengthen democratic institutions in the country.

Continued on page 6

Presidency: PIGB Contains Constitutional, Legal Breaches... Page 12

WELCOME TO NIGERIA...

President Muhammadu Buhari (right) with British Prime Minister, Mrs. Theresa May, during the prime minister’s visit to the Presidential Villa, Abuja… yesterday godwin omoigui

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PAGE SIX CBN ORDERS MTN TO REFUND $8.134BN ILLEGALLY REPATRIATED FROM NIGERIA Tuesday demanding that the $8.134 billion be refunded with immediate effect to the CBN. The illegal foreign exchange remittances to MTN’s parent company in South Africa, said the sources, was done through four Nigerian banks.

The banks – Standard Chartered Bank, Citibank Nigeria Limited, Stanbic IBTC Bank Limited and Diamond Bank Plc – were found to have helped MTN illegally repatriate $8.134 billion between 2007 and 2015, despite the fact that the telecoms giant was in violation of the extant Nigerian foreign exchange and anti-money laundering laws.

The four banks have also been directed by the CBN to refund the $8.134 billion with immediate effect and were respectively fined by the central bank for the various violations regarding the remittances undertaken on behalf of MTN Nigeria.

After the issuance of its operating licence by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) in 2001, the shareholders of MTN Nigeria invested the sum of $402,590,261.03 between 2001 and 2006 to fund its investments in the country by way of inter-company loans and equity investments.

The investments were carried out through the inflow of foreign

currency cash transfers and equipment importation, which was evidenced through the Certificates of Capital Importation (CCIs) issued by the four banks.

The CCIs issued at the time of the investment of $402.6 million showed that $59,436,923.44 was invested by way of a shareholder loan and $343,153,339.56 as equity.

However, this position was contrary to MTN’s financial statement for the year ended December 31, 2007, which showed that $399,594,146 was invested in the firm by way of a shareholder loan and $2,996,117 was invested as equity investment, in accordance with the shareholder’s agreement, but contrary to CCIs issued

by StanChart, Citibank and Diamond Bank.

This was deemed as a rendition of false returns by the banks to the CBN. According to the banking sources, following MTN’s request through StanChart for CBN’s approval to convert the $399.6 million to preference shares, an approval-in-principle was granted by the central bank vide a letter dated November 13, 2017; with the grant of a final approval after MTN must have fulfilled certain conditions.

The conditions were for the implementation of the decision

through a board resolution by MTN and the submission of documentary evidence to that effect to the Director, Trade and Exchange Department with the CBN. The second condition was for the provision for an undertaking that no remittances will be made for either of the interest or the principal repayment would be made to the shareholders from the date of the loan to the date they converted to preference shares.

But the banking sources said that MTN failed to meet the conditions, and despite its non-fulfillment of the conditions, which led to the non-issuance of a final approval by the CBN, the telecoms firm went ahead to convert the shareholders’ loan to preference shares, following which StanChart issued new CCIs in respect of the illegal conversion.

The sources said that the action of the bank, in aiding MTN in the illegal conversion of the shareholder loan and issuance of the new CCIs, was described by StanChart as an “unintended omission” in its submission to the central bank during the latter’s investigation of the illegal remittances.

On account of the illegal conversion of the interest-free shareholder loan of $399.6 million,

the sum of $8.134 billion was illegally repatriated on behalf of MTN by the four banks between 2007 and 2015.

Having found MTN and the four banks complicit in the illegal repatriation of the $8.134 billion to South Africa, the central bank on Tuesday wrote MTN demanding that it refund the said sum with immediate effect.

It further warned MTN to be guided by the provisions of the extant laws and regulations of Nigeria in its foreign exchange transactions and to adhere strictly to them, failing which appropriate sanctions, including but not limited to, denial of access to the foreign exchange market will be imposed on the company.

Other findings made by the CBN included the discovery that StanChart issued three CCIs outside the regulatory 24 hours without the approval of the central bank.

StanChart, also in contravention of Memorandum 24(ii) of the Foreign Exchange Manual, which stipulates that CCIs should be transferred based on a customer’s instructions to a bank of the customer’s choice along with the transaction history of the CCI, StanChart provided confirmations to Citibank and Diamond Bank, instead of transferring the CCIs to them as required by the FX

Manual.

It was discovered that the two banks, on the strength of StanChart’s confirmation, subsequently remitted various sums as dividend from MTN Nigeria at different times.

Owing to the hefty infractions committed by StanChart, the central bank ordered the bank to refund $3.448 billion with immediate effect to the CBN, being the sum repatriated by the bank on the basis of illegally issued CCIs. It also fined the bank to the tune of N2,470,604,767.13 for the various violations of the extant laws and regulations in its foreign exchange dealings regarding the remittances on behalf of MTN. The central bank instructed StanChart to send a cheque in discharge of the N2.470 billion fine to the Director of Banking Supervision with the central bank immediately.

THISDAY also learnt that fines of N1.89 billion, N1.30 billion and N250 million were also imposed on Stanbic IBTC, Citibank and Diamond Bank respectively.

It was however not immediately ascertained how much Stanbic IBTC, Citibank and Diamond Bank were ordered to refund to the CBN for their role in the foreign exchange illegal remittances on behalf of MTN.

Subject to Nigeria’s foreign exchange and anti-money laundering laws, foreign companies are free to bring in any recognised foreign currency into the country. Such funds will have to be brought in through an authorised dealer, usually a bank authorised by the CBN. The bank through which the funds are imported would need to issue a certificate of capital importation (CCI) to the investor as evidence of the inflow of such fund into Nigeria. In the absence of the CCI, foreign exchange cannot be purchased from the official foreign exchange market for the repatriation of the proceeds of the foreign company’s investment in Nigeria.

Prior to the sanctions imposed

by CBN, the Senate had carried out an investigation into the illicit remittances done by MTN through the four banks.

Last year, the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mr. Abubakar Malami, had also written to the CBN Governor Mr. Godwin Emefiele, notifying him that it had mandated a firm to carry out a comprehensive audit for the recovery of funds due to the federal government with respect to illegally repatriated export revenue by MTN and the banks.

Can MTN Nigeria Survive Multiple Fines?

Emma Okonji As the news broke yesterday that MTN Nigeria has once more been penalised by another regulator in Nigeria, industry watchers have been wondering if the telecom giant will be able to overcome the challenges it has been faced with in the country.

Precisely, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has asked MTN Nigeria and four banks which it also sanctioned alongside the telecom company to “immediately refund the sum of $8,134,312,397.63, illegally repatriated by the telecoms company to the coffers of the Central Bank of Nigeria.”

The four banks also fined a total of N5.87 billion by the Nigerian banking sector regulator were Standard Chartered Bank, Citibank Nigeria, Stanbic IBTC and Diamond Bank Plc, over what the CBN described as flagrant violation of extant laws and regulations of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, including the Foreign Exchange (Monitoring

N E W S A N A LY S I S and Miscellaneous Provisions) Act, 1995 of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and the Foreign Exchange Manual, 2006 The CBN order on MTN, is coming at a time when MTN Nigeria is still struggling to complete payment of the N1.04 trillion fine imposed on it in 2015, by the telecoms industry regulator, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), for violation of SIM card registration order.

Although the whopping N1.04 trillion was later reduced to N330 billion after several plea bargain from MTN Nigeria, and the payment plan staggered and spread within a period of four years, MTN is yet to complete the payment, before incurring the recent fine from CBN. Telecoms industry stakeholders are concerned about the current CBN order on MTN and the four deposit banks to refund $8,134,312,397.63, illegally repatriated by the telecoms company to the coffers of the

Central Bank of Nigeria. They are afraid if such refund, coupled with the N330 billion that MTN is still battling to pay the telecoms regulator, will not eventually knock the telecoms company out of business. They are also worried and asking questions, why MTN Nigeria is always involved in unwholesome issues that attract the penalty of huge financial fines.

Announcing the decision, CBN’s Director, Corporate Communications, Isaac Okorafor, said the actions of the Bank became necessary following allegations of remittance of foreign exchange (FX) with irregular Certificates of Capital Importation (CCIs) issued on behalf of some offshore investors of MTN Nigeria Communications Limited and subsequent investigations carried out by the apex bank in March 2018.

The CBN spokesman further disclosed that the decision of the Bank followed thorough investigations by it into the allegations of remittances by the

four banks of forex with irregular certificates of Capital Importation (CCIs) issued on behalf of some offshore investors of MTN Nigeria Communications Limited.

Giving clarifications on the payment of the MTN fine imposed on it by the NCC, the Executive Vice Chairman of NCC, Prof. Umar Garba Danbatta, had said MTN was meeting up with the payment agreement plan for installment-based payment. So far it has paid N165 billion, which is 50 per cent of the total fine of N330 billion.

MTN is due to pay another N55 billion by December this year and will complete payment by 2019.

NCC had in October 2015, fined MTN a whopping N1.04 trillion for its failure to disconnect 5.2 million improperly registered SIM cards on its network within the prescribed deadline. After much plea on the part of MTN management for a reduction in the fine, it was subsequently reduced by 25 per cent to N780 billion, an amount that MTN

considered still inimical to the survival of its telecoms business.

MTN Nigeria subsequently sought judicial determination as a means of protecting the local ecosystems valued and supported by MTN’s business, but later withdrew the case and continued with its plea bargain, which eventually led to further reduction of the fine to N330 billion and the payment spread in six tranches in four years.

Berating government and the NCC for its harsh stand on MTN Nigeria over the N1.04 trillion fine in 2015, the former President of the Association of Telecoms Companies of Nigeria (ATCON), Mr. Lanre Ajayi blamed President Muhammadu Buhari's administration for the manner in which it handled the MTN fine that was imposed on the telecoms company in October 2015 by the Nigerian Communications Commission, the telecoms industry regulator.

According to him, the NCC was in a hurry to impose a whopping N1.04 trillion fine

on a single company that has contributed so much to the country's GDP in terms of job creation and employment. He said he expected President Buhari led government to handle the matter in a better way, but explained that he was surprised at government's initial position that the fine be paid in full. Ajayi said the fine was outrageous in the first place and could ground the operations of MTN, if compelled to pay. He warned that the action of Buhari's government over the fine since it was imposed on MTN, could send wrong signals to foreign investors who want to invest in the country, and called on government to think of better ways of reaching amicable resolution on the matter.

Juxtaposing the argument of Ajayi in the recent CBN refund order on MTN and the four deposit banks, industry stakeholders are of the view that the fines hanging over MTN Nigeria could mar its telecoms business in Nigeria.

signed by the security advisers of the two countries while the second is meant to boost the economies of both countries.

According to him, the security and defence pact covers all aspects of security challenges confronting Nigeria, including training, policing, civil policing, human rights and close cooperation between the two countries.

Furthermore, Onyema said the second pact aimed at guaranteeing the prosperity of Nigeria and Britain by leveraging on areas where the two countries have competitive advantages including prospective business investments in Nigeria.

He also said the economic pact would involve all stakeholders particularly in view of the planned exit of the United Kingdom from the European Union (EU) in 2019, saying with Brexit, the United Kingdom would be free to engage in bilateral relations, a move which he said would also be beneficial to Nigeria.

"There are two agreements that were signed today. The first one was on defence and security pact between our two

country's respective national security advisers and the second one was an economic

BUHARI ASSURES MAY OF FREE, FAIR, CREDIBLE ELECTIONS IN 2019 ‘‘I assure you that I’m all out for free, fair and credible elections. I’m very pleased that my party is doing very well.

The High Commissioner will brief you more. The recent successes in polls in Katsina, Bauchi and Kogi have boosted our morale greatly. ‘‘Nigeria has accepted multiparty democracy and that is putting politicians on their toes, forcing them to work harder,’’ the president was quoted.

On the anti-corruption campaign, Adesina said the president applauded the British support to the country, noting that the success of the fight was very important to ordinary people in the country.

He further quoted him, "We had great opportunities and resources between 1999 and 2014, due to high oil prices.

But when we came in 2015, oil prices plunged to as low as 37 dollars per barrel. ‘‘What we have been doing since 2015 is to focus on infrastructure development, despite low earnings. Work is ongoing in roads, rail, power, and many others."

On Brexit, he said Buhari

noted that UK's planned exit from European Union (EU) provides an opportunity to strengthen the historic ties between Nigeria and the UK. ‘‘We are nervously watching the development about Brexit because we know that the relationship had been on for a long time. I assure you that I am prepared to strengthen the relationship between our two countries,’’ he said.

According to Adesina, the president thanked the UK government for its support on security and the fight against insurgency in Northeastern Nigeria, as well as the improved trade relations between both countries. ‘‘I am very grateful to the British government under your leadership for the help in security, particularly your training team that is in our institution in Kaduna,’’ Buhari reportedly said.

The statement added that before the commencement of the bilateral meeting, Buhari underscored the need for UK's support on moves to revive the Lake Chad, which he described as a means of livelihood for

millions of people.

It also said the president told the visiting prime minister that Europe and China were already conducting an in-depth study on how to recharge the lake through inter-basin transfer from the Central African Republic.

Furthermore, Adesina said in her remarks, May, who welcomed the assurance by the Nigerian government that it would conduct credible elections in 2019, said she was pleased to be in Abuja to continue the ‘‘excellent discussions’’ she started with Buhari in London in April, this year, particularly on security, trade, asset recovery and the fight against corruption. ‘‘Security and defence cooperation are very important steps to address Boko Haram and Islamic State in West Africa,’’ he quoted May as saying.

On asset recovery, he quoted May as saying, “We do not want to hold anything that belongs to Nigerian people, but we follow the judicial process, which can be slow.’’

The statement added, “The prime minister appealed to

President Buhari to use his position as ECOWAS Chair to keep the issue of human trafficking on the front burner in the sub-region.

“President Buhari and Prime Minister May witnessed the signing of two agreements: Security and Defence Partnership and Economic Development Forum Agreement.”

Seal Partnership on Security, Economy The two leaders signed two pacts bordering on security and economy.

May who arrived the Presidential Villa in company with some British officials at 1p.m., was received by some top government officials.

After the meeting which lasted for about 50 minutes, there was no usual press briefing by Buhari and May but the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Chief Geoffrey Onyeama, told journalists that two pacts were signed by the two countries.

According to him, the first agreement bordered on defence and security, which he said was

Continued on page 8

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Farmers Draw N150bn from CBN’s Anchor Borrowers’ Programme Ogbeh: No excuse for loan default Nigeria saves $800m from local rice production James Emejo in Abuja and Chinedu Eze in Lagos The federal government has disbursed N150 billion to local farmers under the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN)’s Anchor Borrowers Programme (ABP) in two years to assist farmers of key agricultural commodities.

This is coming as the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Chief Audu Ogbeh, yesterday said the ministry would ensure that farmers repay loans granted them through the apex bank's Real Sector Support Facility (RSSF), warning that there would be no excuses for default.

Speaking yesterday in Lagos, the Executive Director, Bank of Agriculture, Mr. Niyi Akenzua, said plans were underway to disburse more funds before the end of the year.

He said the Bank of Agriculture was working in collaboration with the CBN to boost rice production in Nigeria, adding that the efforts made in local production of rice has saved Nigeria about $800 million in foreign exchange.

He said Nigeria would seize to import rice by the end of 2019 because it would be able to meet local demand of rice before the end of the next year.

Akenzua said the N150 billion was part of the N250 billion intervention fund given to the Bank of Agriculture by

the federal government in 2016 to boost food production in the country.

“When this government took over the price of crude was very low. That forced the administration to look to agriculture to revive the economy. That was how the Bank of Agriculture was revived. In 2016, government gave the bank N250 billion intervention fund. In 2017, we disbursed N100 billion for anchor borrowers to boost rice production. This year, we have already disbursed N50 billion. We are working in collaboration with CBN and our target is that by end of next year, Nigeria will stop importation of rice. With the progress we have made in local rice production so far, we have saved government almost $800 million in foreign exchange,” Akenzua said.

Speaking at an event organised by Crenov 8 to sensitise farmers and the public on the planned meetthe-farmers conference slated for October in Lagos, Akenzua said the Bank of Agriculture is ready to disburse loans to farmers to boost rice production and other farm produce.

Akenzua commended Crenov8 Consulting; a leading consulting and digital technology firm, which is connecting African farmers to Middle East where farm produce from Africa is in

high demand.

The consulting firm said at the pre-conference media launch that it would hold agro export gathering tagged ‘Meet-the-Farmers Conference (MTFC)’ on October 10, 2018 in Lagos.

“Meet The Farmers’ conference is an agro stakeholders’ conference that aims to connect large scale agro-commodity producers to buyers from the Middle East. Key Stakeholders from Africa and GCC (Middle East) will come together during the one-day event to network, collaborate, and form potential business partnerships across borders to ensure food security in the Middle East and promote agribusiness in Africa.

Crenov8 embarked on this mission in 2017 to create a platform where the African agricultural producers will meet with the off takers in the Middle East and beyond.

According to Crenov 8’s spokesman, Bola Oyedele, the main purpose of this event is to establish and strengthen the international trade ties that exist between Africa and the GCC through agriculture, utilising the unique positioning of Dubai as a hub.

No Excuse for Loan Default Meanwhile, Ogbeh has assured that his ministry will join hands

to ensure that farmers repay loans granted them through the CBN's Real Sector Support Facility (RSSF), warning that there will be no excuses for default.

He said given that refinancing of existing loans are forbidden under the programme, borrowers, particularly farmers and industrialists are advised to strictly adhere to the terms and conditions of the loans and utilise funds for the purpose for which it was granted.

Addressing journalists at a press briefing, the minister said borrowers would have "to swear to God and yourself that you will repay. We don't want the banks losing all their money on grounds of charity."

He noted that the terms of the loans are healthy at seven-year tenure, two-year moratorium and a maximum of N10 billion per borrower.

He, however, expressed concern about the common farmers who form the bulk of the population as they may be unable to meet conditions for accessing the CBN intervention.

"We are going to work out a system where cooperatives become the borrowers on behalf of their members since they don't have relevant collateral to provide the banks.

"We want to sit with the CBN and tell the banks that a certain portion of your loans must be reserved for people who are borrowing N300,000

to N2 million, especially young people who want to add value."

He added, "We will work out a formula where no-one is left out because if the big guys take it-and banks will rather deal with the big guys to save them the problem of pursuing borrowers all over the villages- the cooperative will do the job.

"We will also talk with microfinance banks to see if they can charge nine percent. " Ogbeh also said the ministry is currently working with the Nigeria Incentive-Based Risk Sharing System for Agricultural Lending (NIRSAL) to see how lending to agriculture could further be reduced to between five and six per cent.

According to him, borrowers are mandated to make the project and records available for inspection and verification by the apex bank.

While expressing immense gratitude to President Muhammadu Buhari, the CBN and the Bankers' Committee for the new policy of single digit - nine per cent lending to the agriculture and manufacturing sectors, the minister said the new regime represented a major step towards reversing the horrible damage done to Africa by the Structural Adjustment Programme (SAP) of the mid-eighties.

He said the outrageous interest charges by commercial banks over the last three

decades had largely been responsible for the slow growth of the economy.

He said: "We also urge borrowers especially farmers and industrialists to ensure, they repay whatever they borrow because banks are not charitable organisations, especially as we intend to use the co-operatives to move agricultural credit to the most vulnerable segment of our population namely the women and the youths."

He added that with the new interest rate regime, which was facilitated by his ministry, there is no further excuse why farmers should lag behind.

Ogbeh reiterated the CBN's warning that the facility is not for lending to traders, stressing that an individual who may want to borrow under the guise of agriculture or manufacturing will be denied credit.

He said: "We need to grow this economy, we need to feed this country; the population is growing at frightening rate and we can't afford a situation where someday, Nigeria falls short of food and we begin to experience the kinds of problems which another country-Venezuela is facing."

He said the ministry would continue to pursue the growth of agriculture particularly exports as "the oil and gas era may not be with us for too long."

century, noting that much of Nigerian education, cultural and political systems was influenced by Britain and that there are more Nigerians living in the UK than elsewhere in the world outside Nigeria.

Ambode emphasised that Lagos remained a place of choice for British investors, especially given that stability in the government, the size of Lagos economy and population, the particular focus of his administration on the rule of law and justice sector reform.

All of these, the governor said, have not only enhanced the ease of doing business in Lagos but also ensured a greater protection of people and investment in the state.

He said Lagos would appreciate it if the British investors that came with prime minister could explore the various opportunities that abound in the state, including

energy, technology, export finance, infrastructure and the creative industry.

Ambode said he was optimistic that relations between Britain and Lagos could only become stronger, stressing that his administration would do whatever it would take to forge closer association.

In her response, May said she was happy to be in Lagos, underscoring the commercial importance of the state in Nigeria.

She pointed out the important role that a stable government in Lagos plays in giving extra confidence to investors in the state.

The Head of the British Government also disclosed the availability of export credit finance to the tune of 750 million pound sterling as well as a considerable development finance, which Lagos State could look towards.

She spoke about the role

that Britain could play in the development of the technology industry in Lagos given the particular capability of the UK in that area.

In that regard, the PM disclosed that she brought as part of her delegation, an expert in Fintech to explore the opportunity in this area that Lagos could benefit from.

The British Prime Minister also noted the special strength of the London City as a financial hub that could be of considerable importance for Lagos State, just as she emphasised sustainability and growth in Britain/Lagos relationship.

Finally, she expressed the desire of the British government to assist Lagos in the development of her creative industry and alluded to the fact that the jacket she was wearing when she met with the governor was actually made in Nigeria.

banker having been name checked by Mark Zuckerberg ” Uzoka said.

“Our enhanced asset-liability management strategies improved asset yield and grew interest income by 21 per cent despite prevailing yield environment.

“Our re-engineered sales structure provided the impetus for renewed retail deposit growth. I am particularly pleased by the 24 per cent year-to-date growth in retail savings and current account deposits, underpining the increasing penetration of our digital offerings and the Group’s overarching goal of democratising banking across Africa.

“We improved net interest margin to 7.4 per cent in line with our 2018 target, notwithstanding strong competition for wholesale deposits and the impact of rising global interest rates on our foreign currency funding,”

he concluded Also speaking on UBA’s financial performance and position, the Group CFO, Ugo Nwaghodoh said: “We finished the first half of the year in a stronger position and we are optimistic on the future of our business. Amidst economic recovery and uncertainties in Nigeria, our largest market, we grew net interest income and operating income by 9.6 per cent and 4.1 per cent respectively.

“We doubled revenue from trade services and grew e-banking income by 24 per cent, a testament to our market share gain, which is driven by innovative offerings.

“Our foreign operations contributed 40 per cent of Group’s profit, underlining the benefit of our pan-African strategy.

“We sustained our asset quality, with cost of risk at 0.8 per cent. Whilst the loan book declined by 6.5 per cent

due to prepayments from some customers in Nigeria and Ghana, we grew the overall balance sheet by five per cent in the first half of the year.

“The Group’s capital adequacy ratio of 23 per cent Bank’s liquidity ratio of 48 per cent and loan-to-deposit ratio of 57 per cent all reinforce our capacity to grow, with ample headroom for risk asset creation,” Nwaghodoh said.

In recognition of UBA’s dominance in Africa’s digital banking space, UBA emerged the Best Institution in Digital Banking across Africa, courtesy of Euromoney. Earlier in the year, UBA launched Leo, an e-chat service using artificial intelligence to help customers execute transactions on Facebook, the first of its kind in Africa. The Bank is set to replicate the success of Leo on WhatsApp on September 1st, bringing convenience to its growing youthful customer base across Africa.

BUHARI ASSURES MAY OF FREE, FAIR, CREDIBLE ELECTIONS IN 2019 development forum that's been set up.

"This clearly highlights the two priority areas in our relationship at the moment. Under the defence and security pact, it's a comprehensive agreement that covers all aspects of the security challenges. So apart from the military training, but also the support, the policing, civil policing and human rights aspects of security and the close cooperation that our two countries will have. The training that will be provided also by the UK to our security forces "On the economic development forum, this is a forum that really aims at co-prosperity of our two countries. It's looking to leverage on areas where we have, as countries, competitive advantages: the financial centre that London is and the investment opportunities in our

country to build that up with the private sector as well as at the government level.

"It will be comprehensive and will involve different stakeholders. This is in the context of UK's Brexit, coming out of the European Union.

They feel freer now to engage with countries on a bilateral level and build up trade relations with those countries.

"For us, this also fits into our economic recovery and growth plan where Mr. President has put forward a road map for transforming this country and so, this partnership will be a framework that will achieve very much into our economic recovery and growth plan," he said.

May has been on tour of three African nations including Nigeria to boost alternative business relations that will cushion the effect of Brexit next year.

May Meets Ambode, Seeks Sustainable UK, Lagos Relations The British Prime Minister, May, was later received in Lagos yesterday by Governor Akinwunmi Ambode, where it was affirmed that the state remained a choice destination for investors from the United Kingdom.

May arrived the Presidential Wing of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport at 4:30p.m. and was received by Ambode, the Deputy Governor, Dr. Mrs. Oluranti Adebule, the Secretary to the State Government, Mr. Tunji Bello, and the Special Adviser, Overseas Affairs and Investment, Professor Ademola Abass.

Welcoming the prime minister, the governor traced the relationship between Britain and Nigeria back to the 19th

UBA GROWS GROSS EARNINGS BY 16% TO N258BN the corresponding period of 2017.

The first half 2018 profit translated to pre-tax and post-tax return on average equity of 23 per cent and 17 per cent respectively.

In addition, the results showed that UBA’s foreign operations contributed 40 per cent of the Group’s profit, which according to analysts attested to the benefit of UBA’s pan-African strategy and reinforced the bank’s objective of achieving 50 per cent earnings contribution from offshore subsidiaries.

Also, in the first six months of the year, the bank’s total assets grew 4.9 per cent to N4.27 trillion and customer deposits rose by 6.1 per cent to N2.90 trillion, compared to N2.73 trillion as at December 2017.

This growth trajectory underlined UBA’s market share gain, as it increasingly wins customers through its

re-engineered customer service and innovative digital offerings.

Furthermore, the results showed that the Group’s shareholders’ funds remained strong at N496.3 billion, even as implementation of IFRS 9 impacted the total equity of the bank and its peers.

In line with its culture of paying both interim and final cash dividend, the board of directors of UBA Plc declared an interim dividend of N0.20 per share for every ordinary share of N0.50 each held on the qualification date – Wednesday, September 05, 2018.

Commenting on the results, the Group Managing Director/ CEO, UBA, Mr. Kennedy Uzoka said: "Our performance in the first half of the year reflects the resilience of our business model and strategies.

Despite declining yields in two core markets, Nigeria and Ghana, we delivered double digit growth in gross earnings. Our performance

demonstrates the success of our digital banking initiatives and broader customer-first strategies.

“We are integrating banking to our customers’ lifestyle, simplifying processes for routine transactions and driving financial inclusion by making banking services accessible and affordable.

“We are creating opportunities for wealth creation and economic progress, as we empower our customers through innovative platforms and solutions that support their personal and business growth.

“Our commitment to delivering excellent service is paying-off, as we increasingly win a bigger share of customers’ wallet across our chosen markets. We won the highly coveted “Africa’s Best Digital Bank”award by Euromoney, demonstrating our pioneering initiatives are being recognised with Leo, our digital

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THURSDAY AUGUST 30, 2018 ˾ T H I S D AY

NEWS

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

Presidency: PIGB Contains Constitutional, Legal Breaches Atiku, Adebanjo, environmentalists reject veto Deji Elumoye, Omololu Ogunmade, Adedayo Akinwale in Abuja and Segun James, Shola Oyeyipo in Lagos The presidency yesterday in Abuja cited constitutional and legal breaches as the reasons President Muhammadu Buhari withheld his assent to the Petroleum Industry Governance Bill (PIGB).

Senior Special Assistant to the President on National Assembly

Matters, Senator Ita Enang, in a statement, gave three reasons for the decision that has come under severe criticism from leading politicians and environmentalists, including former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, Chief Ayo Adebanjo and Nnimmo Bassey.

According to Enang, the National Assembly empowered the Petroleum Regulatory Commission, one of the bodies created by the bill to unduly retain 10 per cent of the funds it generates to the detriment of

APC Settles for Indirect Primary to Elect Candidates Onyebuchi Ezigbo in Abuja Ahead of today’s National Executive Committee (NWC) meeting of the All Progressives Congress (APC), they were indications last night that the party would go for the delegate system to elect candidates for the 2019 general election.

Following the meeting of APC national caucus at the Presidential Villa last Tuesday night, the leaders agreed in principle to adopt indirect primary option as provided for in the constitution and to also allow the NWC the discretion to grant states wishing to use direct primary to do so.

THISDAY gathered that the National Executive Council (NEC) meeting would be expected to provide guidelines and conditions on which states may be allowed to apply direct primary election.

While giving insight on what may likely be the decision of APC NEC, former Military Administrator of Lagos State, Brigadier Mohammed Marwa (rtd), said the issue of method of primaries was part of what was discussed at the national caucus meeting, and that it has been referred to NEC for final decision.

Marwa, who spoke at his daughter’s formal declaration of intent to vie for the ticket for the House Representatives in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), said: “We discussed extensively at the meeting of the national caucus, and we were of the belief that there are circumstances that could favour the use of direct primaries in some places and in some others places, indirect primaries and this is so in the party’s constitution but that will left at the discretion of the NWC. As I said, there will be guidelines on when to apply direct or indirect primaries, and that will be specified by the NEC to the satisfaction of every one.”

On whether the issue of method for the primaries will lead to hot exchanges at the NEC meeting, Marwa said: “I am absolutely confident that when the NEC meets tomorrow (today), the decision it will come up, and will be satisfactory to all.”

Marwa, who also spoke of the chances of APC in the next presidential election, especially with the spate of defections in the ruling party, said as far he is concerned, the reelection of President Muhammadu Buhari in 2019 is a forgone conclusion.

As at yesterday, there seemed to be no letting off the steam as leaders of the APC engaged in last minute lobbying to make sure that decisions at the NEC meeting do not trigger off crisis.

THISDAY gathered that the issue was hotly debated at the last Tuesday night meeting of APC national caucus but no decision was reached.

A source, who was privy to discussion at the meeting, said four governors who spoke at the meeting opposed the use of direct primary method.

Imo State Governor and Chairman of the APC Governors’ Forum, Rochas Okorocha, who spoke on behalf of others governors, defended the choice of indirect primaries, saying it would save the party the trouble of having to contend with logistics challenges that go with direct method.

Also, Governor Abdulaziz Yari of Zamfara State said direct primaries would be cumbersome and may have serious ripple effect for the party to handle.

Governor Rotimi Akeredolu of Ondo State also opposed direct primary, saying the timing was not right for its introduction.

Akeredolu whose position ran contrary to that of the APC national leader and former Lagos State Governor, Bola Tinubu, wondered at the reason for the haste in seeking to introduce direct primary at this late hour.

Even those who had expected President Buhari to expressed his preference during the meeting were disappointed because the president held his views close his chest, perhaps waiting for the defining moment during the NEC meeting.

However, those agitating for direct primary appeared to have pitted some of the South-west stakeholders against party members from other zones.

Addressing journalists in Abuja yesterday, the National Vice Chairman of APC for Northeast, Mustapha Saliu, said contrary to the insinuation by some stakeholders who said the party has decided to adopt direct primary, no decision on the issue was taken by either the NWC or the national caucus.

He stated that while the majority of the stakeholders were against the use of

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the three tiers of government and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

He also said the president vetoed the bill because it expands the scope of the Petroleum Equalisation Fund (PEF) in a manner that is antithetical to the policy of his administration and consequently stipulating provisions that are in conflict with independent PEF. Enang also disclosed that the president opted to return the bill to the National Assembly because it consists some legislative drafting concerns, which he said, had the capacity to create ambiguity and conflicting interpretation.

He stated the president’s reasons for declining assent as follows, “The provision of the bill permitting the Petroleum Regulatory Commission to retain as much as 10 per cent of the revenue generated unduly increases the funds accruing to the Petroleum Regulatory Commission to the detriment of the revenue available to the federal, states, Federal Capital Territory and local governments in the country.

“Expanding the scope of Petroleum Equalisation Fund and some provisions in divergence from this administration’s policy and indeed conflicting provisions on independent petroleum equalisation fund.

“Some legislative drafting concerns which, if assented to in the form presented, will create ambiguity and conflict in interpretation.”

Enang, who said it was inappropriate to make public statement on any executive communication that has not been read on the floor of legislative chambers, said he was compelled to make these clarifications because of some misrepresentations by the media on the president’s decision.

While appealing to the National Assembly for understanding of his action, the presidential aide added that if such clarifications were not made, such misrepresentations could result in blackmail and pit both the executive and the legislature against the public.

He added that none of the reasons reported by the media for the president’s decision to

return the bill represents the true situation.

He explained, “By presidential communication of July 29, 2018 (one month ago) addressed to the Senate and House of Representatives, Mr. President did communicate decline of assent to the Petroleum Industry Governance Bill 2018 for constitutional and legal reasons stated therein.

“By convention, it is inappropriate to speak on the content of executive communication addressed to the legislature until same has been read on the floor in plenary.

“But I plead for the understanding of the legislature that due to the misrepresentations in the public domain and apparent deliberate blackmail which if not promptly addressed may set both the executive and the legislature against the public and even the international investment community, this be excused.

“None of the reasons for withholding assent by Mr. President adduced by the media is true. Other issues therein contained. May this

please answer some of the issues raised until the communication is read on the floor.”

The PIGB was passed by the National Assembly in March, 2018 and was transmitted to the president in July for his assent.

The bill, which was initiated by late President Umaru Yar’Adua and sent to the sixth National Assembly headed by Senator David Mark in 2008, has been enmeshed in controversy due to some of its provisions.

The Senate had on March 28 passed it having adopted the report of the conference committee of the PIGB, which harmonised the versions earlier passed by both Senate and House of Representatives.

The harmonised version of the bill seeks to, among others, unbundle the NNPC and merge its subsidiaries such as Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) and Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA), into one entity.

The objectives of the PIGB include transforming the

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HEALTH IS WEALTH

L-R: Medical Director, Avon Medicals, Dr. Lillian Ekpo; CEO, Avon Medical Practise, Dr. Awele Elumelu; representative of the Commissioner of Health, Lagos State, Dr. Taiwo Lawal; Chairman, Heirs Holdings, Tony O. Elumelu; President, Heirs Holdings, Mr. Emmanuel Nnorom, during the cutting of the tape at the launch of the state-of-the-art Avon Dialysis Centre in Lagos...yesterday

Suspected Herdsmen Kill Family of Five,Three Others in Plateau Seriki Adinoyi in Jos At least eight persons were killed last Tuesday in Barkin Ladi Local Government Area (LGA) of Plateau State in separate attacks by gunmen suspected to be herdsmen.

In one of the attacks, a pastor of Church of Christ in Nations (COCIN), Rev. Adamu Gyang Wurim, his wife and three children were burnt to death in their sleep at Abonong village in Foron district of the LGA. The member of the Plateau State House of Assembly representing Barkin Ladi constituency, Hon. Peter Gyendeng, confirmed the killings on the phone yesterday.

He said: “The attackers, armed with machetes and AK47 rifles, reportedly stormed the village at about 8p.m., shooting sporadically and burning houses, killing another two.”

Also confirming the killings, Chairman of the Berom Youth Movement (BYM), Foron branch, Mr. Thomas Tsok, said:, “They first shot at two young men walking out of the deceased Pastor’s residence where they had gone to charge their phones, killing them.”

Four other people, according to him, were shot yesterday morning in Fan and Bek villages leaving them in critical condition at the hospital.

Tsok said the herders also destroyed farmlands and a

church building.

The development allegedly caused serious unrest in the area as women gathered at the Special Task Force (STF) Headquarters in Barkin Ladi, protesting the attacks. They also reportedly blocked highways through the area demanding justice.

Another attack at a mining site in Wereh village, Ropp district of the same LGA had resulted in the killing of one and wounding of another.

Six other villages - Loh-Fan, Loh-Pwat, Nafan, Sagas, Nzom and Ude villages were also attacked on the same Tuesday night, according to the member representing Barkin Ladi/Riyom constituency in the Federal House of

Representatives, Hon. Istifanus Gyang.

He said: “These attacks are coming at a time when the people are yet to recover from the massacre of over 200 persons in the same B/ Ladi LGA with thousands of the displaced victims still languishing in IDP camps.

“The unfortunate thing is that the perpetrators of these attacks continue to execute their agenda with reckless abandon without an appropriate response by the government.”

The Police have not confirmed the killing as the Public Relation Officer of the state Police command said he was waiting for briefing from the Divisional Police Officer (DPO) of the area.

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COMMENT

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

SONG OF NAIPAUL

Okello Oculi pays tribute to V.S. Naipaul, an intellectual and Nobel laureate

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’The world is what it is; men who are nothing, who allow themselves to become nothing, have no place in it’’. So wrote Vidiadhar Suraiprasad Naipaul. He was born on August 17, 1932 at Chaguanas on the Caribbean island of Trinidad; and died on August 11, 2018. His Brahmin grandfather had been shipped by the British to labour on sugar plantations after African shipped there earlier would labour no more. His father moved to urban Post of Spain and wrote for the Trinidad Guardian newspaper, thereby imparting the intellectual virus to his son.

In 1966, V.S. Naipaul’s talents flowed like volcanic lava by night onto Makerere University campus in Kampala, Uganda as ‘’Writer- In- Residence’’. A large Indian/Pakistani population in Kampala gave him physical anonymity and a vibrant sample of another group of uprooted immigrants he described as living lives of ‘’half men’’. Their opinions of politics in newly independent Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania was rich humus for his 1971 novel ‘’In a Free State’’; while trips across the border into Mobutu’s Zaire (now Democratic Republic of Congo), gave him rich harvests for his 1979 novel ‘’A Bend in the River’’ – the title evoking the boomerang shape of Congo River.

One afternoon the Editorial Team of the campus bi-monthly newspaper, The Majererean, was summoned to a chat with one VS Naipaul. His scholarly roots in Trinidad and Oxford University as well as his literary works were unknown to us. His status as a colonial with an Oxbridge cap probably alarmed our British teachers of lesser breed. Anyhow, curiosity fuelled our walk.

Several knocks at the door to his flat drew loud silences.

When I pushed the door open, an odd sight gave me a jolt.

A long room full of a gleaming cement floor lacking carpet and furniture met me. At the far end was a small figure crouched on a lone wooden chair: his eyes piercing. Noticing my hint of stubbornness mixed with panic, he beckoned me to bring my little crowd forward. We walked across a heavy wind of a brilliant stare.

As we stood above him - with no effort on his part to stand up and shake our hands - a slim silent European woman (who must have been his wife, Patricia Hale], hurriedly brought previously banished chairs: turning down offers to help. He was a man who enjoyed whipping people with his power.

On turning his attention to the quality of our newspaper, he was like an uncle squeezing out a boil without the mediation of a pain-killer. He hit me, as the ‘’News Editor’’, with the rhetorical question: ‘’Do you imagine that everyone is your mother? Only a mother wades through irrelevant verbosity before finding a news item that her pampered son is telling readers’’. The ‘’Editorial’’ by John Ruganda was, with Naipaul as Cheer- Leader, collectively

NAIPAUL’S LEGACY OF CROSS-BORDER TRAVEL IS ONE THAT AFRICAN WRITERS OWE THEIR CONTINENT. HIS 2001 BOOK ‘’THE MASQUE OF AFRICA’’ WAS HARVESTED BY HIS TRAVELLING TO UGANDA, GABON, NIGERIA, GHANA AND COTE D’IVOIRE

reduced it from a full page to the shortest line in the text. While we both survived Naipaul’s intellectual tsunami, our Features Editor seemed to tremble and whittle.

Naipaul’s fury was reserved for the Poetry Page. ‘’Literary production is not for illiterate and intellectually lazy’’, he fumed. We must not make ourselves according mediocrity and ignorance praised as talent in us by patronising racist British teachers. He was now shouting. The fury was genuine. He was not trying to crush but was weeding what seemed to him like the presence of a forest or River Nile threatening to defeat his crusade to sprout excellence along our Equator. Severity and authenticity in writing was his flag.

We experienced what came to be central to Naipaul’s work: travelling across countries and geographies of post-colonial struggles for overcoming injuries inflicted by Europe’s ‘’absurd fantasies’’. Later he spent 90 days to travel by road and rail to cover the huge size of India so that he could tease out her complexity: accomplish for himself a mission by which ‘’One wrote oneself into knowledge’’ of a country. His brutal and photographic narratives about India’s squalor, human decay and explosions with butchery of one another, angered patriotic Indians.

Naipaul’s legacy of cross-border travel is one that African writers owe their continent. His 2001 book ‘’The Masque of Africa’’ was harvested by his travelling to Uganda, Gabon, Nigeria, Ghana and Cote d’Ivoire. His travel from Egypt, Pakistan, Malaysia to Indonesia was reported in ‘’Among the Believers: An Islamic Journey’’ (1981). It echoed views of a fellow Caribbean writer, Franz Fanon, in his searing anger at the use of religious fanaticism and tribal jingoism to cover up lazy attitudes and practices of consuming products that come out of the intellectual sweat and genius of European and American economies.

Naipaul’s use of provocative and ruthless photograph-like depiction of reality in Africa, Asia and the Caribbean has been criticised as his bending to ‘’memories’’ of inhumanity in Indian Brahmins and imperialist Britain. Vivid descriptions of Indians openly defecating in Bombay infuriated elites anxious to show themselves to Europeans as a ‘’civilised’’ people. American elites smoking Cuban cigars in Copenhagen almost certainly detested his brilliant mocking of illiterate ‘’Red Necks’’ moaning their poverty in Alabama or Texas on the pages of ‘’A Turn in the South’’. Perhaps one Vladimir Putin read it and decided to find a Donald Trump.

Naipaul was Knighted in 1989; and won a Nobel Prize in 2001.

SO FAR, SO HOPEFUL

Former Sokoto Governor, Attahiru Bafarawa, is a good material for president, writes Jonas Nwafor

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ince three years or so, Nigerians have known no peace, following the way and manner things are going in the country.

The present administration under the watch of President Muhammadu Buhari of the All Progressives Congress (APC), is not helping issues. It has rather compounded the situation by exhibiting a high sense of incompetence and insensitivity. One can be tempted to say that Mr. President and his lieutenants are not prepared to lead the country, as they have little or nothing to show as their achievements since the inception of the administration some three years ago.

Today, no right-thinking Nigerian can be bold to appreciate the administrative style of President Buhari and the happenings in the country, especially in the areas of economy and security. The economic weather in the country is not only harsh, but also scorching. It is quite regrettable, considering the fact that the immediate past President of Nigeria, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan, and his team did well in the management of the nation’s economy.

Nigerians observed this, but for the sake of emphasis, let me draw your attention to the recent statement made by former President Jonathan. He said, “I took over a Nigeria that was the second largest economy in Africa with a GDP of $270.5 billion in 2009. I handed over a Nigeria that had grown to become the largest economy in Africa and the 24th largest economy in the world with a GDP of $574 billion.

“I inherited epileptic fuel supplies, resulting to endless queues at the filling stations. I maintained despite enormous challenges of fuel subsides and handed over a relatively stable fuel regime and also at a managed local price of N87 per litrThe truth of the matter is that the cost of living then was better than what we are experiencing today. Many business outfits in the country have gone moribund as a result of bad economy. The existing ones are managing to survive. In all, Nigerians are suffering untold hardship orchestrated by bad governance.

In the area of security, I can say that Nigeria is

not making any head-way. Nigeria is now a country where people armed with sophisticated weaponry, including AK-47s, rocket launchers, dynamites and machetes, operate with little or no harassment by the security operatives. Available statistics show that over 50,000 innocent Nigerians have been killed by Boko Haram and Fulani militia since 2011.

However, it is important to note that the present administration has not done much to address the problem of security in the country. This may be seen as why the Fulani herdsmen operate the way they like, terrorising and killing people unnecessarily.

The United States Council on Foreign Relations (CFR), in its recent report, said that it had documented at least 19, 840 deaths in Nigeria, since 2015, just after President Muhammadu Buhari assumed office. While the United Kingdom – based Christian Solidarity Worldwide, revealed, “during the first quarter of 2018, CSW documented 1061 deaths in 106 attacks by the Fulani Militia on Communities in Adamawa, Benue, Plateau and Taraba States, with an additional 17 lives lost. CSW also documented seven instances of violence targeting Fulani herders or communities in which 61 people lost their lives”.

The point I want to make is that virtually every sector of the economy is bad, meaning that there is a big problem in the country.

The question now is, who, among the array of presidential aspirants in the PDP and other political parties in Nigeria, has the capacity to lead the country out of the present predicament if given the opportunity to serve as president in 2019? This and related questions are seriously begging for attention, as the 2019 general elections draw closer.

Actually, there are many people jostling for the office of the president. Some are serious, while others are contesting for the sake of it. As citizens, they may like to exercise their constitutional rights, thereby making the game very interesting to watch.

That is the beauty of democracy. But the concern of Nigerians now is not the number of people who have indicated their interests to run for the position, rather their antecedents and political credentials.

Hence, what Nigerians want to know is the stuff they are made of before supporting any of them.

It is a fact because the electorate are desirous of electing somebody who knows the game, as president. They are of the view that only a credible person who is familiar with the trend can effect positive change.

To achieve this objective, some political pundits in the country have painstakingly assessed all the presidential aspirants, including those in the PDP. At the end of the exercise, it favoured the former governor of Sokoto State, Alhaji Attahiru Bafarawa, who is a PDP president aspirant, as he was seen as the best among all. They scored him higher because of his track record, intimidating political credentials and experience in the field of politics.

The position of the political analysts is quite undisputable, considering the fact that Bafarawa, in the first instance, is one of the most experienced and oldest politicians in Nigeria, having joined politics in his early 20s, precisely in 1976. And it is worthy of note that he has been in the art of politics from that time till date. His consistency, no doubt, makes him more popular than his contemporaries.

Dr. Amanze Obi, in a piece captured “A professional in the Saddle”, published in the Daily Sun of Thursday, August 16, 2018, in his weekly column, “Broken Tongues”, captured it all. He said, “A casual encounter with him will readily tell the story. His journey into the murky terrain of politics dates back to 1976, when he contested and won election as Councillor. Upon assumption of office, he was made a supervisory Councillor, a position that elevated him among his pack.

Bafarawa was in his early 20s at the time. Since then, the man has remained in politics, traversing the political landscape with assured steps. He has contested election to the National Assembly. He has midwifed the formation of political parties, notably the United Nigeria Congress Party (UNCP) and Democratic Peoples Party (DPP). He has been party chairman at state and national levels. He contested and won election as a delegate to the

National Constitution Conference of 1994 to 1995.

He has been governor”.

With these credentials, one can simply testify that Bafarawa is grounded in Nigerian politics, that he has acquired much knowledge in the political sector. This is why he sees himself as a professional political.

Commenting on this, Dr. Amanze Obi noted, “Bafarawa’s selling point is not his past romance with the highest office in the land. What goads him on is his long standing involvement in politics. The former governor prides himself on being a professional politician. He savours his wide spectrum of experience in politics, a quality that many politicians in Nigeria are bereft of. For Bafarawa, one of the reasons why many who delved into politics and governance in Nigeria fail is because they are not professional politicians. He readily reminds us that our politics is peopled by gatecrashers who, ordinarily, should not be in politics. Being not grounded in the science and art of politics, many who cross over from other professions such as the military, bookkeeping, farming, teaching, and the like get lost in the mix. The result is the amateurish politics that usually results in bad governance. If you ask Bafarawa, he will tell you that politics should be left for professional politicians like him”.

The message the above remarks send to the world is that Bafarawa is not only conversant with the Nigerian politics, he is also a force to reckon with. And one good thing is that he started politics from the grassroot level, meaning that he must have knowledge of how to carry people from different classes along. Hence, he is the type of person Nigeria needs at this trying period. Nigeria needs an experienced person who can listen to the yearnings of the masses; somebody who has the capacity to transform the economic and security situation of the economy, as well as other sectors that are begging for attention, and somebody who can measure well in the provision of infrastructural facilities.

Nwafor wrote from Gudu District, FCT

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EDITORIAL A CASE FOR CONDEMNED INMATES

The delay in carrying out the executive function is impacting significantly on the administration of justice

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he large turnover of inmates on death row in the country recently prompted the National Economic Council to voice concern over prison congestion while asking the state governors to take prompt action on the matter. As at last count, the official number of condemned prisoners in the country, according to the Attorney General of the Federation and Justice Minister is 2,359. Statistics released by the Prison Rehabilitation and Welfare Action (PRAWA) estimated that 11 per cent of the 22,641 convicts and four per cent of about 74,000 inmates in the country were awaiting trial. This is clearly unacceptable.

We can understand that some governors dither in signing death warrants on humanitarian, political, religious, emotional and ethnic grounds. But whatever may be the mitigating sentiments, the delay in carrying out this executive function is breeding congestion that has impacted significantly on the administration of justice in Nigeria. That is aside the helplessness endured in the roller coaster IT IS AN INHERENT of emotions for these VIOLATION ON THEIR condemned inmates who have practically RIGHTS AND DIGNITY been reduced to the TO KEEP PEOPLE status of living dead.

INTERMINABLY Statutorily, goverON DEATH ROW, nors are not bound ESPECIALLY FOR CASES to sign the warrants for the execution of THAT HAVE BEEN people on death row.

CONCLUDED BY THE They can exercise SUPREME COURT their prerogative to commute such sentences to lifetime in jail or reduced jail terms. They can also grant such convicts state pardon, therefore putting a closure to the matter. But it is morally reprehensible for them to leave inmates perpetually on death row.

The obligation on the governors is specifically enshrined in Section 212 of the 1999 Constitution as well as Section 221 of the Penal Code and Section 319

of the Criminal Code. All these codes prescribe capital punishment for murder while sections 37 and 38 of the Criminal Code prescribe the same punishment for treasonable felony. There is of course a global campaign against capital punishment but it is still applicable in Nigeria. Majority of these death row inmates are in solitary confinement having been convicted for such offences as murder, treason, treachery and armed robbery.

Some states in the country have also enacted capital punishment for those convicted of kidnapping.

I 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

t is an inherent violation on their rights and dignity to keep people interminably on death row, especially for cases that have been concluded by the Supreme Court. Such practice is antithetical and capable of inflicting traumatic shock on the condemned inmates awaiting an imaginary death in solitary confinement. To put it in context, prisoners on death row are condemned to a kind of existential limbo, existing as entities in cold storage rather than living as human beings. We, therefore imagine the harrowing spell condemned prisoners go through daily in solitary cells, humbled by the force of an impending death that seems to be an eternity.

Whatever may be the justifications, prolonged solitude is a punishment that is detrimental for the psychology of death row inmates. It kills its victims incessantly and unmercifully. It also negates the international treaties, declarations and other documents that establish the scope of prisoner rights to which Nigeria is a signatory. A clear reference is the UN adopted Standards Rules of 1955 that recognise solitary confinement and prolonged segregation as appropriate only in exceptional circumstances and to be used sparingly.

We state that a solution to the rising cases of prisoners on death row is to carry out a thorough review of the Administration of Justice Criminal Act. The review will reduce incidents of prisoners on death row being held outside their states of conviction and allow governors to consider their sentences when such cases are brought forward. In the meantime, they must deal with the issue of those that are already condemned, one way or another. That is what leadership demand.

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PIGB REJECTION AND OIL SECTOR REFORMS

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he news, early this week, that President Muhammadu Buhari has refused to assent to the Petroleum Industry Governance Bill (PIGB) and has returned it to the Senate, struck me like a thunderbolt, not because it shattered my professional forecast that the bill will come into force before the end of this administration, but because it has set back the petroleum industry reform by at least two years.

Some industry watchers had ruled out the possibility of the president assenting to that bill based on his body language since the bill was sent to him few months back but I found myself always defending him on the ground that signing such bill requires thorough review and the president has not exactly been around in the last few months. At every occasion the discussion came up, I always argued almost lonely - that the president will sign the bill. I think the fact that the provisions of the bill largely align with the position of Ibe Kachikwu, state minister of petroleum, on restructuring the industry influenced my optimism.

I had formed my optimistic outlook based on my reading of the situation, principally informed by: one, Minister Ibe Kachikwu that I expected to be the principal adviser to the president on the bill is aligned to the bill from past public speeches; two, the executive would want to use the passage of the bill as an easy political point ahead of the elections (“PIB came into fruition during my tenure”); and three, almost every expert agrees that the regulatory and institutional framework of the industry needed restructuring

which is central to this bill. Therefore, there is a strong reason for me to believe the bill will be signed. That was the basis of my case. I have been proved wrong.

I honestly think whoever advised Buhari to reject that bill has done a great disservice to oil and gas industry in Nigeria.

The reports say that Buhari rejected the bill on the grounds that, one, it whittles down his power as petroleum minister and, two, he did not see any fiscal terms in the bill.

The second is too ridiculous to be believed (as even anyone with the slightest knowledge of developments on PIB knows that there is now a separate bill – Petroleum Industry Fiscal Bill - that takes care of the fiscal terms of the universal bill), so I will assume the press misquoted their source on that. It is too incredible that the advisers to the president will not know this.

On the first ground, while it is true that the PIGB reduces the powers of petroleum minister, that is actually one of the best things about it. The clamour for the reduction of powers of petroleum minister through the PIB predates Buhari. I don’t think the president will want us to keep having emperors and empresses like Dan Etete and Diezani Alison- Madueke as petroleum ministers. If Buhari chose to be petroleum minister, not all subsequent presidents will go that route, so why does a law that seeks to prevent petroleum ministers from becoming the alpha and omega of the industry become a problem? I fear the president is erroneously personalising some things here.

Buhari is getting fatally wrong advice on this PIGB, which the current National Assembly has done a very good job of after 10 years of dilly-dallying.

The unspoken force behind this rejection, I strongly suspect, is the entrenched interest of some folks in the institutions this bill dismantles and reorganises in accordance with the best practices in other parts of the world (Saudi Arabia, UAE, Norway, China, etc).

The bigger problem is that, with the current impasse between the executive and legislative arms of government, this bill will not see the light of the day in the next two years. Having come this far with the passage of the bill after a decade of lethargy, it is bad news that the bill is returned to the National Assembly. Even sadder is the fact that the three other associated bills – the Petroleum Industry Fiscal Bill, the Petroleum Host and Impacted Communities Bill and the Petroleum Industry Administration Bill – which have all reached advanced stage of passage, and very critical to oil and gas investments in Nigeria, especially the fiscal bill, will also be dealt huge blow. I think this is sad news for the petroleum industry not just in Nigeria, but globally.

There is no perfect law in the world. I strongly believe the current version of the PIGB is good enough to achieve a better management of the petroleum industry in Nigeria. It would be good if the president has a rethink on this matter.

Suraj Oyewale, Lagos

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THURSDAY AUGUST 30, 2018 ˾ T H I S D AY

NEWS

Kwankwaso Declares for Presidency Atiku, Saraki berates FG for denying senator use of Eagle Square

Deji Elumoye and Adedayo Akinwale in Abuja The race to clinch the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) ticket was heated up yesterday as former Governor of Kano State, Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, formally declared his intention to run for the presidency ahead of 2019 general election.

This is coming as a former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar and Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki, have both described the denial of Kwankwaso the use of the Eagle Square for the declaration of his presidential ambition as “unfortunate.”

Kwankwaso said his determination to vie for the office of the president on the platform of PDP was to offer a paradigm shift in leadership, adding that the narrative

of poverty, insecurity and hopelessness must change to turn to a new dawn of confidence in building a well-restructured Nigeria.

The declaration that later took place at Chida Hotel in Abuja, was initially scheduled to take place at Eagle Square, which was later sealed off by the police, after the sum of N2, 217, 600 was paid to Integrated Facility Services Limited on August 17, 2018. His attempt to make use of the old parade ground at Area 10 Abuja did not also yield fruit.

However, while addressing his supporters in Abuja, Kwankwaso said: “To live is to witness changes because change is an inseparable part of life. Come May 2019, the narrative of helplessness, buck passing, division, poverty, insecurity and hopelessness

must change, and a new dawn of confidence in building a one well-restructured Nigeria must be achieved.”

“I will provide a leadership where everybody is free and equal; where Nigerians see themselves as Nigerians first and as Ibo, Yoruba, Hausa, ljaw, lbibio, Fulani, among others as second; where elites are self-assured and self-assertive; where they are confident and competent, and where they want to do what is right no matter whose ox is gored.”

Meanwhile, Atiku and Saraki, have both described the denial of Kwankwaso use of the Eagle Square for the declaration of his presidential ambition as “unfortunate.”

Kwankwaso had Tuesday said he was informed that he cannot use Eagle Square and the Abuja International Conference for his presidential

Bafarawa kicks against consensus candidate

declaration.

In a tweet yesterday, Atiku condemned the “last-minute cancellation” of the approval granted to Kwankwaso.

He said President Muhammadu Buhari used the same premises for his presidential declaration in 2014 during a Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) administration “without hindrance.”

Atiku wrote: “The last minute cancellation of an approval granted @ RMKwankwaso is unfortunate.

“On October 15, 2014, under the @officialPDPNig led administration, then presidential aspirant; @ MBuhari, declared for president at Eagle Square with no hindrance whatsoever. This was a work day.”

On his part, Saraki condemned the refusal to allow Kwankwaso the use

Eagle Square.

He said the move sends a wrong message about the country’s democracy.

In statement by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity Yusuph Olaniyonu, Saraki the development connotes intolerance in the country’s politics.

“The refusal to allow senator Kwankwaso to utilise the Eagle Square for his presidential declaration, despite an earlier approval, sends a wrong message about our democracy, particularly the tolerance level in our politics,” he said.

“That square belongs to all Nigerians because it was built with public funds. We hope this is not what we will be seeing as we approach the 2019 general election.”

In another development, a former Governor of Sokoto State and one of the

aspirants on the platform of PDP, Attahiru Bafarawa, after picking his forms, said the swelling numbers of aspirant was encouraging, stressing that it shows that the party is accepted by Nigerians.

According to him, “Honestly speaking, this is giving us encouragement. This shows that our party is democratic, and is a popular party acceptable by Nigerians. That’s why people are aspiring, and more are interested in joining the party unlike other parties that are not democratic run as a one-man show.”

Also, Bafarawa vehemently opposed the issue of consensus candidate, saying those talking about consensus candidates are not interested in democracy, adding that any aspirant that wishes to withdraw from the race is welcomed.

T H I S D AY ˾ THURSDAY AUGUST 30, 2018

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T H I S D AY • THURSDAY, AUGUST 30, 2018

POLITICS

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

PERSONALITY INTERVIEW

‘I’m the Least Controversial Governorship Aspirant in Imo’ Stanley Nkwazema interacts with Professor Jude Njoku, former Vice Chancellor of the Federal University of Technology Owerri and member of the Imo State executive council who aspires to become chief executive of the state.

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rofessional background I have a special motivation to aspire to govern Imo State. I believe that Imo State needs credible and knowledgeable leadership that you can trust-a leadership that is development oriented and equally seeks the welfare and prosperity of the people. A leadership that will restore the dignity of the people. We now live in a state that has been relatively bastardised. The people have suffered some degree of dehumanisation. We need to raise the psyche of our people again. We need to raise hope and confidence in our people.

By my training and exposure; experience and maturity, I have all it takes to give that kind of leadership. I started my academic career at the Ahmadu Bello University in 1977 and in 1983, I transferred my services to the Federal University of Technology Owerri, starting from headship of a department; I am an Agric Economist by training. In 1990, I became the Dean of Student Affairs and rose to the post of Deputy Vice Chancellor Administration in 1997 and eventually became the Vice Chancellor of that university in 2000 and finished in 2005. I also had the opportunity to be appointed the Honourable Commissioner for Lands under the regime of Ikedi Ohakim.

Experiences from the North, Academia and Political terrain Whatever I grew to be in academics was as a result of the exposure I got from the Ahmadu Bello University in Zaria. What I am as a technocrat and administrator also started from my time in the university. I was elected the best Vice Chancellor in Nigeria in 2004 because I ran a university where there were no crises and of course the university witnessed some unprecedented development. My serving as a commissioner exposed me to the rudiments of state administration and governance. From there I got to know how the system functions. That is what enabled me to begin to have political aspirations. As a commissioner, you have to be involved in all electioneering planning and implementation because you were expected to deliver your local government to the party.

Without serving as a commissioner for four years, I probably wouldn’t have had the experience and exposure in politics.

Do you have the blessing of the Owerri people and your family?

Before I embarked on this journey, I had consultations with my family and they gave approval. I must say that initially my wife was hesitant in the sense that she was afraid that my getting involved might affect her position as Rector of Federal Polytechnic Nekede, Owerri, a federal institution that is under an-All Progressives Congress (APC) led government and I am contesting under the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). I assured her that it was not going to affect her because she will be finishing this September; in fact she will finish before the primaries. When she became convinced, she started praying. I also had my declaration in my local government and they also gave their blessing. In Owerri zone where I come from, I also have their support and that of the entire Imo State.

Do you have the war chest to contest against Ihedioha, a former Deputy Speaker and Sam Anyanwu a serving senator?

There is also another man called Chukwuma Ekomaru, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria in the race from Owerri zone. I think the most serious contenders with me are Ihedioha and Sam Daddy.

I wouldn’t say that it would be very easy for me to defeat them because they are also heavy weights. But I also know that is possible to defeat them. I think I have one advantage over them which is that of being a technocrat and also a

Njoku

huge experience in leadership, management and administration as well as coming from a constituency which none of them come from

My serving as a commissioner exposed me to the rudiments of state administration and governance. From there I got to know how the system functions. That is what enabled me to begin to have political aspirations. As a commissioner, you have to be involved in all electioneering planning and implementation because you were expected to deliver your local government to the party

because I come from the academic community, that is my primary constituency. If I am, given the ticket, the entire staff and students of Federal University of Science and Technology Owerri where I come from, will rise up to my support, the same will happen for the staff and students of Federal Polytechnic Nekede, the Imo state University, Alvan Ikoku, Imo state Polytechnic and even College of Land Resources.

I was Commissioner for Education and I have developed some friendship with the teachers in primary and secondary schools. Most of the young men and women working around here and outside the state are my products and they have promised that once I get the ticket, they will express their support because I belong to them and they belong to me. My colleagues who left the party for All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) which is already crowded are saying that if I am given the ticket they will vote for me because they went there in anger. There was this feeling that some other person had monopolised the party and they had to move away. The same is also applicable to the people in the APC; a lot of them come here to pledge that they will vote for me if I get the ticket. Another advantage is I’m the least controversial aspirant. I haven’t stepped on any toe. I am new. They have been so long that they have stepped on several toes. There is some kind of fight between the two other aspirants and the view is that if they fight too much, they might ask the two of them to step aside and then they will look for somebody else. This may be an advantage to me.

I will be the Governor of Imo and not Owerri Alone Having looked at the infrastructural deficit in Imo state, I want to be the Governor of Imo state and not Owerri because there are three main zones that make up Imo state and they will receive almost commensurate attention. I believe that a viable and effective civil service is essential to the successful implementation of any government programme. The civil service in Imo state is basically dead. One would like to start with some kind of reform in the civil

service so that we will bring it back to life and make it viable to sustain government policies. I also think that we must revive and revitalise the local government system which is also basically dead and that can be done by ensuring that you allow local government elections to take place and also allow them to be autonomous both administratively and financially because that level of governance will take care of various areas of development if properly managed and guided. If you allow the local council areas to conduct elections and produce the leadership, those councilors will in turn create some level of employment.

They will look at the developmental need of the people in the local government areas. You can give them targets like constructing five kilometres of road every year. Bby the time you finish about 20 Kilometres of roads must have been constructed. For eight years, you will be able to take care of the needs of basic infrastructure, medicare and educational needs at that level. While development is taking place at the state level, it is also taking place at the local government level. On the education sector, the present government prides itself with offering free education but we do know that what they are offering is not free education because the students pay fees in other forms.

I don’t intend to scrap the free education, I will improve on it. The present free education is restricted to institutions owned by the state government alone; it doesn’t extend to other federal institutions, I will like to augment that with the award of scholarship and bursaries so that all eligible indigenes of Imo state whether within and outside the state owned institutions can benefit from that educational scholarship and bursary programmes. That way you handle it in a more holistic manner and you are able to reach out to more indigenes of Imo state even if that means pegging the level of support to something that is reasonable to make sure it reaches several other people. In other to ensure that there is quality in the system you must make sure that the institutions are adequately staffed and funded so that students are very well taught. Situations where you have about 300-500 students and you have only one Maths teacher and one English teacher is grossly inadequate.

IN THE MIRROR • Distinguished academician; started as a lecturer at the Ahmadu Bello University in 1977. Transferred his services to the Federal University of Technology Owerri in 1983. He became the Vice Chancellor of the university in 2000 and finished in 2005 • Recognised for running the best university administration in Nigeria in 2004. The institution recorded no crisis during his tenure • During his tenure as VC of FUTO 23 structures were started and completed, student population jumped from 10000 to 20000. His service period was known as FUTO’s golden age • Agric Economist by training • Appointed Commissioner for Lands, Survey and Urban Planning under the regime of Ikedi Ohakim regime • His wife is the serving Rector of Federal Polytechnic Nekede, Owerri • Campaigning on Restoration Agenda through which he intends to restore the state to its lost glory on the platform of the PDP

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T H I S D AY • THURSDAY, AUGUST 30, 2018

POLITICS

‘Our Cadets Delight Every Organisation’ Over 40,000 youths have been taken off the streets in the State of Osun since the establishment of the Osun Youth Empowerment Scheme (OYES) in 2011. Solomon Odeniyi engages the Boss of the scheme Col. Sam Oyewole

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he birth of OYES? OYES being the brain child of Governor Rauf Aregbesola was conceived as part of his six points integral action plan in 2005 while having the ambition to contest the 2007 gubernatorial election where he promised to take in 20,000 unemployed youths and engage them profitably in his first 100 days in office. When he got his mandate on the 26th of November 2010 within 98 days of taking the oath office he was able to launch the OYES scheme where the first batch were admitted.

The formation was as a result of the high rate of unemployment among the youth. He saw that the situation was not healthy for the state’s development and since 2011 he launched the scheme we have been able to do three more .

This year another 20,000 would be admitted.

Criteria for OYES The criteria are very simple. We first look at the international definition of a youth which gave it as those within the ages of 18-35. Anyone who wishes to engage as a cadet must fall within the stated age brackets and must have minimum of a secondary school leaving certificate.

You do not have to be an indigene of the state before you’re admitted into the scheme, all that is required is that you must reside in the state.

There 23 states order than Osun participating in the OYES scheme.

Misconception OYES is a volunteer scheme and by international best practice all volunteer’s scheme may or may not earn money because we are quite aware that the youth we are taking in as volunteers do need a stipend to buy the rudimentary items of living so they are paid 10,000 which many may think is small however, majority only work three hours per day that’s between 7am and 10am. An able body that has gone through our trainings and is aware of the Omoluabi and Apalara ethos is not likely to go and sleep after 10am perhaps what is natural for him to do is

OYES participants

to find something productive to do. Many of our cadets have taken up this philosophy called MSI which is Multiple Sources of Income by the time you have finished with the task each day you must go and find something else to do and most cadets have keyed into this and between the period of 11am and 5pm I can assure you that those who engaged themselves in something else are earning more than the N10,000 stipends given to them.

Benefits of the scheme It is one of the ways a youth can render his services to the state and to humanity and the community which he lives in. Man is a progressive being as he continues to increase in education, experience, and exposure . we try to expose our cadets to collaboration in the areas of serving other agencies and receiving some extra money, but above all building their résumés to be able to meet requirements for experience that is called collaboration even it is more than collaboration because this in

some cases do not last more than six months it is just a temporary deployment and after that they are likely to be disengaged but we take them through exist program training , during this training they are taught something new after the two years volunteer works they will go and be able to earn more money than whatever they earned in OYES and their MSI after two years There are array of activities spanning through all artisan works, agricultural value chain, ICT and even allowing them to further in their education and in preparation for that you would recall that the governor sent some cadets to Germany for agricultural training, some went to India and Pakistan for ICT and info geometric, some to Ghana for ICT among others. Many are now employed into Adulawo Technical Village in Ilesa. Many went to Abuja for renewable energy training and there are others engaged in comparative studies in Rwanda and Kenya.

Our cadets are in many universities and higher institutions of learning towards making them

a robust human being so that after the two years they can stand on their own.

The Effects of These on the State I will divide this into the tangible and intangible benefits. The tangible ones are that the restlessness dominant among the youth has been considerably reduced. I can make bold to say that in the over seven years that the programme has been in existence there has not been any riot in the state or protest which means our cadets are teachable. We have some of our cadets earning more money that the regular employees in any system because they have been taught to manage their income, through contributions some through cooperative, loans they have been encouraged to go and buy land and to build houses hitherto the Yoruba’s axiom that when hunger has been out of poverty the rest is laid to rest. Hunger has always been out of poverty, it should be housing. Many of this young people that are landlords do not just own land but have built their houses. These are just the tangible things. Let me give a testimony of a cadet who is into the supply of cooking gas at Ife who now has a business valued at over N4million.

He started with taking bike to campus to deliver gas. He is now an owner of his own pickup van and three points to sell gas. We also have Dr. Mofolake Kehinde, a PhD holder who was in OYES and was given the opportunity to study at the University of Ilorin.

I am not saying all my cadets are like that, there are still some we are labouring on but we pray that those ones that are successful will be a bright light that would serve as a source of inspiration.

Now to the intangible, all our streets are clean, the inter and intra cities roads are well maintained the veggies on both the left are well kept. The intangible is felt in the economy of the state.

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‘I Feel Insulted by Politicians’ Bishop Mike Okonkwo, the Presiding Bishop of The Redeemed Evangelical Mission grants a rare interview on politics and national issues. Adedayo Akinwale reports

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n recent times we have started having all manners of preaching, talking about the role of the church in nation building, what’s your perception about that?

The church is the light of the world and salt of the earth. We are supposed to be the role model for the society. That is our position because if the church gets it right, definitely the nation will be positively affected.

Many people who subscribed to the church have not sat down to be taught what their role should be. There are quite a number of people who believe that going to church and answering Christian names makes them a Christian. That is not true. The first port of call to become a Christian is to subscribe to Christ as your saviour and your Lord. Until you personally make that commitment, you can go to church in your entire life and still not be a Christian. The second category of people are those who subscribe to the person of Christ but have refused to sit down and be taught to know how they should live their life. This new life you have, how do you live it? Just like a woman who gives birth to a baby, the baby has to be fed, you have to train the baby until he grows up to become responsible, that’s the same way the life of Christ is. Majority who are going to church are excited about the drama and the spectacular and the things they say but they have not really sat down to say, where is that Christ manifesting in my life?

These are some of the problems. That’s why the society does not seem to feel the impact of Christianity in this country.

Okonkwo

One of the issues in our politics is that many politicians profess Christianity, in fact they are quick to say let us pray, how come we have been unable to fix Nigeria?

They just want to identify with Christianity, since they don’t want to worship idol, they will identify with Christianity, but it is much more than that. It isn’t just about identifying, have you received Christ into your heart? That is the issue. Once you have not received Christ, there is a problem. The people can never produce the fruit that is expected, every seed produces after its type. Until you have the seed of Christ in you, you cannot produce it. And then even when you have it, you still need to nurture it, that you put a seed in the ground, a good seed and a good soil and you don’t take care if

that soil enough, it will not produce the fruits.

Most of our politicians say they are Christians even those who are truly Christians, get into the position they don’t understand that they are moving into a shark infested water. Politics in Nigeria is like shark infested water. Immediately they get into power they disengage from the church, you won’t see them again, unless during ceremonies. They will now think that because they make donations and do some philanthropic works, it will cover-up for not living the life. That is another issue. Many of them are not connected to anywhere. They are not receiving instruction from anywhere.

In the Pentecostal circle, most of the church leaders have interrogated this issue and we are very concerned, there is now a strategic and intentional plan that we will begin to train our Christian leaders who feel called into public service to let them know that when they are going there, they should carry God into that place. Others may do wrong things. Christians cannot because they represent God. We believe God that as we progress, we will begin to see the kind of fruits we desire.

As we approach 2019, are you surprised at the manner of turbulence in our political space?

We will still see more. I’m not surprised, I believe that before the election, if there will be any, we will still see more nonsense in the polity. I feel abused. I feel insulted by the politicians, I feel that they are raping Nigerians. You move from this party to the other, then tomorrow you move again, the same people and you are

rubbing it on the face of Nigerians. I believe that through it all, God is up to something concerning this country. His plan concerning Nigeria will be fulfilled no matter what anyone thinks. In every tough situation, God knows how to bring out the good.

The US Congress reportedly cited Nigeria as one of the most dangerous places on earth for Christians, do you agree with that?

Of course, how else will you say it, with all the killings that are going on in the country. You can’t just sit down and begin to clap your hands and say everything is well. They must have checked their indices and come up with such report. Events in the recent past have shown there is something fundamentally wrong which has to be addressed and cannot be ignored.

Do you think that this current situation of herders/farmers clash can be resolved by sitting at a conference like you suggested?

There is nothing wrong in sitting together and interrogating the issue. I think we have not really gotten the true picture of what is going on. People are not telling us the truth.

I don’t believe that Nigerian security is not strong enough to fish-out those perpetrating this evil., I know we may not be sophisticated as the western world but I still know that we have what it takes to do that.

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T H I S D AY ˾ ˜ ͱͮ˜ ͰͮͯͶ

FEATURES

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

Nigerian Navy and the Continuing Quest for Knowledge As the Nigerian Navy continues to expand and diversify, the quest for knowledge and intervention for societal improvement is increasingly becoming a core component of its operations. Rebecca Ejifoma writes

L-R: Chairman, House of Representatives Committee on Navy, Abdussamad Dasuki; Vice Admiral Ibas; Chairman Senate Committee on Navy, Senator Issa Misau and Pavlou displaying ADUN license

S

ince its inception, the Nigerian Navy has continually striven to distinguish itself as a unique arm of the military that thrives on innovation. This zeal to live above board in the discharge of its military responsibilities and protection of Nigeria's territorial waters is behind the progress the navy has made so far.

The core of that success has been the ability to grasp the trend and adapt to changes. The return to democracy appears to have created more opportunities for the navy to benefit and expand its scope of operation in order to position the service as a global example among world navies. While the Nigerian Navy has been fortifying its military capacity to safeguard Nigeria's territorial waters, it has equally strategised itself for modern warfare and is now broadening its knowledge base through education.

The new Admiralty University of Nigeria (ADUN), Ibusa, Delta State, is a template and platform that is geared towards enabling the navy contribute its quota to the pool of knowledge. Coming at a time the Nigerian Defence Headquarters (DHQ), particularly the navy, is expending enormous financial resources to train personnel abroad in foreign institutions, the establishment of Admiralty University has come at just the right time.

Curbing Capital Flight According to the Chief of Naval Staff (CNS), Vice Admiral Ekwe Ibok-Ete Ibas, the purpose for setting up ADUN is to reduce the high rate of foreign trainings by not only its personnel but also those of its sister services. He observed that the establishment of the institution was aimed at reducing the pressure the development was imposing on foreign exchange.

At the unveiling of ADUN, Ibas, who was represented by Chief of Policy and Plans, Naval Headquarters, Rear Admiral Henry Babalola, stressed that the navy's main objective was to spearhead the application of knowledge to solve real challenges of the moment.

The CNS explained that the university will fully take off in October and start academic activities with degree programmes in three faculties. He said the university was "conceived to expand the frontiers of knowledge for the growth and development of humanity, meet the training needs of the Nigerian Navy along

with those of their sister services with reduced travel abroad for training and the pressure it imposed on foreign exchange".

Ibas said, “Admission of students into the inaugural class is already on-going and the university opens in October 2018,with degree programs in three faculties-Arts and Social Sciences, Management Sciences and Science, offering pioneer degree programmes in emerging fields, such as Forensic Science, Cyber Security and Software Engineering. The faculties of Medicine, Engineering, Law and Pharmacy are planned to commence in 2019."

Speaking further, he stated, “A full capacity ADUN will deliver undergraduate, graduate, post-graduate degree and certificate programs in nine faculties on four campuses-its main campus in Ibusa as well as additional campuses in Lagos, Sapele and Calabar."

At the moment, Ibas observed, "The permanent university campus along the Ibusa Ugwashi-Uku Express Way, near Asaba, Delta State, is fully equipped with all academic infrastructure, science labs, computer facilities, student residential cafeteria and restaurants sports grounds, fully equipped health centre as well as providing comfortable en-suit hostels for all students."

He further explained, "To prepare graduates who are equipped with skills demanded in the industries and are globally competitive, ADUN will offer a non-traditional teaching and learning environment."

The university was conceived to expand the frontiers of knowledge for the growth and development of humanity, meet the training needs of the Nigerian Navy along with those of their sister services with reduced travel abroad for training and

Lectures will be delivered at the institution through flipped classroom technology, giving students access to lectures, notes, books and teaching materials online, while classroom time will be used to better understand the theory, practice and critically analyse new knowledge.

This is in line to the best educational practices as experienced by students at some of the best universities in the United States and Europe.

Ibas said the university had developed partnership with universities overseas to expand the breadth of teaching and learning resources available and accessible students and faculty, adding that some of these partnerships will also afford the students the opportunity to complete part of their degree programs here in Nigeria and the other part at our partner university overseas."

According to the naval chief, ADU is established out of a Public-Private Partnership (PPP) between the navy through its investment arm-Navy Holdings and Hellenic Education, an international educational organisation.

Formative Years Speaking to THISDAY, President of ADUN, Dr. Pavlos Pavlou, traced the history of the university to its formative stage. He explained that the idea started in the middle of 2014 and there are two partners in this collaboration in the setting up of the Admiralty University, under a public private partnership. One part being the Nigerian Navy through its Nigerian Navy Holdings Company, which is a 100 per cent subsidiary of the navy.

On the other hand, Pavlou stated that Helenic Education is also another partner in the ownership of ADUN, adding, "Helenic Education is an international organisation, whose main dream is to develop universities and colleges of higher education. So part of what we did in 2014 was to look at Nigeria as a market within West Africa and seeing the procedures for establishing both private and public universities."

Pavlou stated, "As we were studying the procedures, we came across a former CNS of where we discussed it with and he said the NN had colleges of different levels training the navy personnel and spread around the country, like the College of Engineering in Sapele, a College of Logistics and Finance in, Owerrinta, a College of Medicine in Offa

and a few others. And he told us that these colleges were mainly for navy personnel and that no civilian was allowed into those colleges.

He said what the navy wanted to do was to expand this scope, to open up its colleges to civilians, open it to the nation and that was the basis where the discussion started. And we said if you want to do that, then you are talking about a different organisation, a different investment, setup and running, because they were running their system as a college."

On the licence for the university, Pavlou assured that they went through all the procedures that the National University Commission (NUC) entails, adding that, "but the NUC placed us under the category of private university. And the simple reason is that although the Nigerian Navy owns 60 per cent for the investment, it could be said it is a federal university but because it was a PPP arrangement, they then placed us under private universities' category. So we went to the private universities' procedures but the process went through for about 18 month which was faster than anyone else within the country."

Merit Recruitment Also speaking, Vice President for Enrolment Management and University Relations, Linus Ikyurav, said the staff recruitment process painstaking. Ikyurav said, "The selection was purely 100 per cent based on merit. We are looking for areas that we don't even have personnel here; there are some faculties that to be able to afford them, we can only get them by remote lecturing using digital technology.

"So there are certain areas that are very unique that we are looking for specialised hands in handling them.”

He stated that the biggest part of the selection was based on merit and "secondly, geographical spread - if we have more qualified applications for a given field of study, we will go into the consideration of geographical spread and the universal spread because we want a diverse and the uniqueness of the applicants, their ability to impact the knowledge into the students and not just parading the academic qualifications because you might be bright with a first-class certificate but a horrible lecturer. Part of what we are trying to introduce is that you are not just a lecturer but a mentor to the students".

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T H I S D AY ˾ ˜ ͱͮ˜ ͰͮͯͶ

PERSPECTIVE

From Fishes to Earth’s other Resources George Oji

T

he Eriwe fish farming estate in Ijebu-Ode, Ogun State will for many years to come remain a case study of a highly successful community self-help initiative and empowerment programme within Nigeria and beyond.

Already, the Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO) is so proud of the fish farming model of the Eriwe community that the world body is show-casing it as a model for other countries to copy and emulate. With over 3,000 fish ponds scattered over an estimated 156 hecters of land area, an average fish farming production turnover of about 2,500 metric tonnes annually and income generation of about N2 billion annually, the community holds the enviable record of being the biggest fish farming estate in Africa.

The uniqueness and success of the fish farming project is that it is a community-based initiative, run and managed by a community-based Non Government Organisation (NGO) of the people called the Ijebu Development Initiative on Poverty Reduction (IDIPR) and targeted at lifting the people of the community out of poverty.

The success of the fish farming project is also in part attributable to the personalities behind the formation and management style of the NGO. With the likes of the Kabiyesi, the Ewujale of Ijebu land as the grand patron, the renowned economist, Professor Akin Mabogunje as the Chairman of the Board of Trustees of IDIPR and Professor Olanikpekun Kamil Alausa as the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the NGO, the fish farming project is run purely as business and commercial concerns.

Altogether, there are about 150 cooperatives that form clusters under the IDIPR that own the fish farms.

Not surprisingly, the success story of the Eriwe farming estate has made it a highly sought after model by other communities within and outside Ogun State as well as beyond the country.

It is following the success story of the Eriwe fish farming estate and the emphasis of the President Muhammadu Buhari administration to diversify the Nigerian economy to non-oil sectors that attracted the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development to partner with the community to upscale the fish farming of the estate.

Last week, the Minister of State, Federal Ministry of Agriculture, Senator Heineken Lokpobiri was in Eriwe to personally, commission four projects that were executed by his ministry as part of the Federal Government’s efforts to encourage the people grow more fish. The projects, which included a feed mill, cold room, fish market and the processing unit, are all intended to make the estate a real fish farming cluster where the farmers will fully appropriate all the advantages of fish farming value chain.

Besides its commitment to the Eriwe fish farm project, the Federal Government, according to Lokpobikri is also intervening in some other areas in Ogun State, like the construction of rural roads to enable easy evacuation of farm produce, rehabilitation of some moribund farms in the state, establishment of cocoa and rubber plantations among others. For the minister, “If agriculture succeeds in Ogun, agriculture has succeeded in Nigeria.”

At the commissioning of the four Federal Government funded projects in Eriwe community, which had in attendance, members of the board of trustees of IDIPR, board of directors, traditional rulers and members of the community Lokpobiri eugolised the people for their self-help efforts and commitment

Lokpobiri

to consciously work themselves out of poverty.

The minister particularly appreciated the efforts of the Eriwe community in fish farming, which has assisted the Government grow the fishery sector in Nigeria. He revealed that when the present administration came to power, the local production of fish was only about 600,000 metric tonnes, but with the support of the likes of the Eriwe community, that figure has been increased to about 1.1 million metric tonnes, which represents almost 100 per cent increment. According to Lokpobiri, there is still a lot to be done because our national demand is about 3.5 million metric tonnes and we are producing only about 1.1 million metric tonnes, which means that we are only producing about one third of our national demand.

With the successes recorded in fishing, the people of Eriwe community have began to diversify into other agricultural projects, like, poultry farming, piggery and presently, they have also acquired land outside the estate to do cocoa farming and plantation. They also have another project principally for rubber. They have entered into agreement with Michelin who will supply the seedlings and will also buy back.

The success story of the Eriwe fish

farmers’ project as told by one of the citizens is quite humbling to say the least. According to him, at a particular time around 2000, the people of Eriwe came together to fashion out ways of alleviating poverty in the whole of Ijebu land. One of the things that they decided to do was to go into farming.

At that particular time, the Government had a land, about 156 hecters of land, which was acquired during the Western region days. The land was acquired to develop fish farming then, but one way or the other because of paucity of funds, the farm could not be developed to their expectation.

Having identified what to do, the community approached the Government of Ogun State around 2002 to request for the lease hold of the land.

The then Governor of the State, Chief Segun Oshoba graciously granted them that lease hold and since then, the journey started.

The decision to make the entry point for their poverty alleviation scheme to center around fisheries was quite unambiguous. This was because they discovered that the land that they were given was actually a wet land that has a lot of resources to develop into fish farm estate. They started a model and that model was to empower fish farmers; give them land, give them incentives, give them training and they

are allowed to form cooperatives.

The cooperatives, around which the farming was organised formed the basis that accounted for the success of the project. There are almost over 150 farmers’ cooperatives in the estate; all of them, working together and initiating projects together. What the NGO does is that it accesses credits for the farmers, gives them training and other initiatives that helps them to progress.

The beauty of the project is that it is run like a commercial business. Whatever the farmers sell always go into a single account. That way, they are able to trace every single money coming into the project. One other beautiful thing about the project is that it is run in a single sales account. That single sales account ensures that whosever that obtains loans from the farm, is made to compulsorily repay the facility because every product the person sells from his farm has to first of all go to that single sales account. From that single sales account, if the persons is owing anything, the deduction for such debt is made from source and the balance given to the person. Every year the people hold AGM. During the AGM, the account of the cooperatives are discussed. t0KJ UIF NFEJB BJEF UP UIF NJOJTUFS XSPUF JO GSPN "CVKB

22

IMAGES

L-R: Operations Manager, Shell Nigeria Gas, Niyi Salami; Ogun State Commissioner for Health, Dr. Babatunde Ipaye; and Shell’s Regional Community Health Manager, Dr. Akin Fajola, during the Community Care Programme at Ansar-UdDeen Practicing School, Ota, Ogun State...recently.

T H I S D AY ˾ ˜ ͱͮ˜ ͰͮͯͶ

Photo Editor ÌÓÙÎßØ ÔËÖË Email ËÌÓÙÎßØ˛ËÔËÖË̶ÞÒÓÝÎËãÖÓàÏ˛ÍÙ×

L-R; SUG President, LASU, Olalere Moshood; Wife of the Lagos State Governor, Mrs. Bolanle Ambode and Vice Chancellor, Lagos State University (LASU), Prof. Olanrewaju Fagbohun during an appreciation award plaque bestowed on Mrs Ambode at the 2nd LASU Distinguished Lecture Series, titled Life Skills Education for Employment & Entrepreneurship Learning in the 21st Century at the University Auditorium, Ojo...recently

Governor Ibikunle Amosun of Ogun State (2nd right), Chairman, All Progressives Congress (APC), Ogun State, Chief Derin Adebiyi (left) Members of the state House of Assembly, who defected from the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) to the APC, Hon. Akintayo Folakemi, representing Yewa South State constituency (2nd left) and Hon. Ojo Viwanu, representing Ipokia/Idiroko State constituency (right), when the two lawmakers visited the governor, in his office in Oke-Mosan, Abeokuta, shortly after their defection..recently

L-R: European Union Ambassador to Nigeria, Mr Ketil Karlson; Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Ezenwo Wike and Ambassador of Ireland to Nigeria, Sean Hoy, after a meeting with the Rivers State Governor at the Government House, Port Harcourt...recently

R-L: Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi of Enugu State; Commissioner (South East), Police Service Commission, Dr. Nkemka Jombo-Ofo; Hon. Austin Braimoh (South South); Barr. Rommy Mom (North Central) and Najatu Muhammad (North West), when members of the Commission paid a courtesy visit to the governor at the Government House, Enugu,.. recently

L-R: Publisher Premium times, Mr. Dapo Olorunyomi; Director General National Agency for the Control of Aids .Dr. Sani Aliyu; Country Program Director AIDS Healthcare Foundation in Nigeria, Dr. Echey Ijezie; and Adviser Strategic International Prevention, United Nations Programme on HIV and AIDS, Dr. Modupe ,during the media event to unveil Nobel laureate Prof. Wole Soyinka keep the promise to AIDS video campaign in Abuja...recently

L-R: CEO 7Season Lunge, Rita Okorodudu;Dr. Ifeyinwa Nwakluesi; Senatot Folerencr Ita-Giwa;Dr.Bukky Jaiyyesimi;Mrs. Elizabeth Jibunoh; Mrs. Cecilia Umoren and Ndidi Obioha at a tribute night in honour of Lady of Soul Late Aretha Franklin organiseed by Senator Folrence Ita-Giwa and 7Season Lounge held in Lekki Victoria Island Lagos....recently .MUBO PETERS.

T H I S D AY • THURSDAY, AUGUST 30, 2018

23

BUSINESSWORLD R A T E S MONEY MARKET OBB OVERNIGHT

A S

A T

A U G U S T

REPO 6.75 7.92

CALL 1-MONTH 3-MONTH

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

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Quick Takes SPAR Nigeria Celebrates Anniversary

SPAR, one of the leading chain of hypermarket stores, is celebrating its 30th anniversary in Nigeria with a “Scratch and Get Free Gifts,” promo for its Nigerian shoppers.

The promo which is open for the month of August would be showering shoppers with a new car and over 750 gifts items.

This was announced by the Head of Marketing, SPAR Nigeria, John Goldsmith in Lagos.

In the statement of the Head of Marketing, John Goldsmith, “We are delighted to have been in Nigeria for thirty years. We have enjoyed the support and the patronage of Nigerians and we are reciprocating this good gestures through this Scratch and Get Free Gifts Promo.”

“The promo which will run throughout the month of August at all SPAR outlets nationwide guarantees a gift for every shopper whose spend in any of our stores is 5,000 and above.

“There are over 750 different types of products as giveaway, these includes Nissan Almera Saloon car, Televisions, washing machines, Gas cookers, Fridges, Laptops, Perfumes, Wines & Spirits, Bags, SPAR Gift cards and so much more. .

Tecno Celebrates Phone Lovers

Danbatta: Over 40 Million Nigerians Lack Access to Internet

To conclude the launch of its Spark 2 smartphone, one of the leading mobile giant, Tecno mobile held an event at the in Lagos recently, tagged the ‘biggest student rave of 2018.’

The event had top musical acts Slim Case and Solidstar alongside DJ Consequence and Celebrity OAP and Hypeman Do2Dtun, thrilling attendees made up of students from top universities within and outside Lagos, media personalities, celebrities and top executives of the mobile giant.

Guests were ushered through the lit ‘dream tunnel’ towards the dream wall and red carpet, where they took pictures, had the chance to write their dreams, mingle with other guests and interact with the media.

The main acts for the day, Slimcase and Solidstar lived up to the expectations of the crowd as they took them through their hit songs with the audience singing and dancing along

Stories by Emma Okonji

Nokia Gets €500m 5G Loan

THIS IS OUR SCORECARD

L-R: Acting Managing Director, Linkage Assurance Plc, Mr. Daniel Braie; Chairman, Chief Joshua Bernard Fumudoh and Company Secretary, Moses Omorogbe at the company’s 24th Annual General Meeting in Lagos…recently

The Executive Vice Chairman of NCC, Prof. Umar Garba Danbatta has revealed that over 40 million Nigerians are still deprived of internet access, despite the fast pace of internet adoption in the country.

Danbatta, who made the disclosure this week while addressing delegates at this year’s International Telecoms Union (ITU) annual regional capacity building workshop, which was hosted by Nigeria in Abuja, attributed the lack of internet access to the rise in the country’s access gap, which he said, had reached 200 recently.

ICT The ITU is the specialised agency of the United Nations responsible for telecoms industry regulation.

Disturbed by the number of Nigerians that lacked access to the internet, Danbatta called on the ITU to examine existing African policies and change policies that pertain to internet governance, with a view to making them more impactful for Nigerians and Africans.

While presenting the status of Nigeria’s internet penetration, Danbatta told the ITU delegates that Nigeria still has 200 access gaps that are currently depriving close to 40 million people, access to

internet and further explained that the country needed to put certain policies in place to address internet governance.

“We need to look at what we can do to fast track blocking of these access gaps because unless and until we do so, many of our citizens will continue to live without access to the internet especially the right kind of internet connectivity, which is the high speed internet that is mostly facilitated by broadband infrastructure,” Danbatta said.

He urged the ITU delegates to make important suggestions on what could be done to change African enabling policies and institutions, with a view to further deepen

internet penetration in Africa and Nigeria Nigeria recorded 102.8 million mobile data subscriptions as at June this year, representing the level of internet penetration in the country.

MTN takes the lead with 38.9 million active mobile internet subscriptions. It is closely followed by Airtel with 26.7 million active internet subscribers and Globacom 26.6 million internet users. Also, 9mobile has 10.6 million internet subscribers.

Also speaking at the forum, the representative of ITU Regional Director for Africa, Continued on page 24

NIPOST Moves to Boost Revenue with ATM, PoS Services In line with its drive towards adopting technology to reform the Nigerian Postal Service (NIPOST) and reposition the institution for competition, NIPOST Lagos zone has installed automatic teller machines (ATM) and point of sales (PoS) machines across most of its post offices in the Lagos zone.

NIPOST said it would use the ATM and PoS technology to generate more money for NIPOST and also block all loopholes and channels through which monies leaving the post offices were unaccounted for

ECONOMY in the past.

The Zonal Manager, NIPOST Lagos Zone, Mrs. Adebola Ayeni, who spoke on the new vision of NIPOST, while conducting the NIPOST Governing Board, led by its Chairman Maimuna Yaya Abubakar, on a two-day familiarisation tour of postal establishments in Lagos, said the new reformation of NIPOST, designed to serve the public better, is ongoing.

At the General Post Office, Ikeja the Post Master General/

CEO (PMG/CEO) of NIPOST, who is also a member of the board, Bisi Adegbuyi, informed the other board members that NIPOST has added dedicated financial services to her products to complement the universal service obligation of the Post in order to improve on revenue generation.

Adegbuyi, disclosed that NIPOST, through arrangement with Keystone Bank, had installed ATM and PoS machines in most of the post office branches, in order to serve customers better.

At the Nigerian Aviation Handling Company (NAHCO) inside Murtala Mohammed International Airport offices of EMS/Parcel and International Mail Processing Centre of NIPOST, Adegbuyi and the Chief Operating Officer of NIPOST, Mallam Yahaya Rufai, conducted the board members round the facilities and introduced them to the two scanning machines donated to NIPOST by the British High Commission in Lagos.

Continued on page 24

Nokia has received a loan of €500 million from the European Investment Bank (EIB) to support its 5G efforts, as the continent looks to keep pace with Chinese rivals in developing the technology.

The agreement comes a few months after Nokia’s main European rival Ericsson also secured a similar loan from EIB, worth €250 million, to support 5G research and development.

In a statement, Nokia said the loan would last for five years in total and is backed under the European Fund for Strategic Investment.

Nokia will use the funds to invest in research, development and innovation in 5G, while pushing the technology across multiple European countries.

Commenting on the loan, Nokia’s Chief Financial Officer, Kristian Pullola, said: “This financing bolsters our 5G research efforts and continues the broader momentum we have already seen this year in terms of customer wins and development firsts, supporting our relentless drive to be a true leader in 5G – end-to-end.”

Star Brand Holds Awards

Organisers of Star Brand Awards (STABA), Awesome Brands Magazine, have disclosed that its award will hold this week in Lagos.

The publisher of Awesome Brands Magazine, George Nwachukwu, said the awards was conceptualised to honour brand excellence among the best of brands in Nigeria and across the world.

He said the award is for deserving brands that have shown best practices in branding and met the stringent selection criteria.

Nwachukwu further said the event would provide a platform for reinforcing the growing need for innovation and quality brands leadership and sensitise all stakeholders to embrace best practice in innovation

“The Austin’s five forces model is not just about a theory, but it provides an experiential way to analyse the future of banking, which includes the banks, the fintechs, the regulators and communication commissions” Founder, CWG Plc, Austin Okere

24

T H I S D AY •THURSDAY, AUGUST 30, 2018

BUSINESSWORLD DANBATTA: OVER 40 MILLION NIGERIANS LACK ACCESS TO INTERNET Marcelino Tayob, said: “Information and Communications Technology (ICT) and internet in particular have changed the way we live, work, study and entertain ourselves. The internet is present practically in all sectors of the economy and the society.”

According to Tayob, the forum is an annual event which ITU office for Africa organises every year with the objective of providing a platform to African countries to share experiences, strengthen their knowledge and raise awareness on matters that concern the theme selected for the year.

Internet governance, he stressed, remained one of the priorities to be addressed by the ITU capacity building programme with focus on developing at least the developing countries, which is in line with the recommendation of global capacity building held in Nairobi 2016.

The Administrator, Digital Bridge Institute (DBI), Dr. Ike Adinde, highlighted that the workshop was a capacity building event organised under the auspices of the ITU with DBI as co-host, which seeks to explore how Africa can benefit from Internet Governance.

NIPOST MOVES TO BOOST REVENUE WITH ATM, POS SERVICES They informed the board members that through the machines, postal offensive items such as fake British Pound Sterling, fake International Passports and other prohibitives items have been intercepted and impounded.

“At this point, surveillance is a team work involving NIPOST, Customs and operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA),” Adegbuyi told his colleagues at the NIPOST Board who were on facility tour.

Adegbuyi, however noted some of the challenges facing NIPOST, despite efforts being made to reposition the government parastatal.

He called on government for assistance to help actualise the dream of automating all the operations of NIPOST.

NEWS

Singaporean Agency Identifies Growth Opportunities in Africa’s Digital Economy Emma Okonji Enterprise Singapore, the government agency of Singapore that is championing enterprise development across African countries, has identified new growth opportunities in Africa’s digital economy and manufacturing industry.

In addition to oil and gas, and urban infrastructure solutions, Enterprise Singapore has identified Africa’s thriving digital economy and its manufacturing industry as two new growth engines. The agency, which has successfully facilitated close to 50 projects for Singapore companies in Africa in the last two years, with about 80 per cent of such projects undertaken by small and medium enterprises (SMEs), said more local companies were turning towards Africa as the continent progressively opens up through digitalisation, regional integration and global trade, offering opportunities across various industries. Over 60 Singapore companies are present in Africa, operating across more than 40 African countries and multiple industries.

Speaking at the 2018 Africa Singapore Business Forum, which held in Singapore recently, the Chief Executive Officer, Enterprise Singapore, Mr. Png Cheong Boon, said: “Africa’s rapid growth and thriving digital economy offers rich opportunities for Singapore companies seeking higher growth and market diversification.

“We are encouraged to see our local companies, including SMEs, venturing into Africa and gaining traction there. We hope many more can tap onto platforms like the biennial Africa Singapore Business Forum and connect with our three regional offices in Africa to spark even closer business exchange and

partnerships.”

Citing a McKinsey report on Africa, which stated that Africa’s consumer spending is expected to reach $2.1 trillion by 2025, and coupled with a fast growing internet economy, the continent was looking for solutions to facilitate access to global markets and ensure payment interoperability.

Africa’s e-commerce purchases are projected to hit $75 billion by 2025.

Speaking further, Boon said as Africa ramps up trade connectivity within itself and the rest of the world, Singapore companies can also offer tried and tested solutions to help

modernise trade facilitation systems, digitise manual processes and improve data transparencies.

In the last year, Enterprise Singapore has helped more than 10 Singapore companies to break into Africa’s digital technology space including e-Government services, e-commerce platforms and cross border payments, he said.

Addressing Africa’s manufacturing needs, Boon said many African countries were embracing manufacturing as a key economic growth strategy to boost exports, upgrade domestic enterprise

capabilities, and create higher-skilled employment.

“Singapore’s manufacturing services companies with expertise in plant construction and design, equipment set-up, production workflow planning, quality control and testing, and skills training will be able to support manufacturers to expand production across the continent,” Boon said.

Africa’s agri-food manufacturing sector for example, presents tremendous market potential for Singapore companies across the value chain – from agri-tech and food production, to food processing and packaging.

Africa’s food production industry is poised to be worth $1 trillion by 2030 as the continent seeks to substitute imports with high value domestically-manufactured food. Larger local companies such as Olam, Wilmar, Tolaram and Vega Foods, have gone beyond trading and distribution, to vertically integrate agri- and food processing into their operations, he added.

The growing bilateral economic ties between Singapore and Africa were further cemented with the signing of an Avoidance of Double Taxation Agreement (DTA) between Singapore and Gabon.

ECONOMIC FORUM

L-R: Chief Commercial Officer, SystemSpecs, David Okeme; General Manager/Editor-in-Chief, Vanguard newspaper, Gbenga Adefaye; Group Head, Strategy and Innovation, SystemSpecs, Oluwaseun Adesanya and CEO, Naturescape Consulting Ltd, Jumoke Kassim, at the Vanguard-Systemspec Economic Forum in Lagos...recently KOLAWOLE ALLI

Nigeria Spends $1bn on Fish Importation Annually Oluchi Chibuzor The Executive Director of the Nigerian Institute for Oceanography and Marine Research (NIOMR), has disclosed that the import bill of Nigeria on the importation of fish stands at about $1 billion.

The Executive Director of the institute, Gbola Akande, said this at an event in Lagos.

Akande, who was represented by the Director

(Aquaculture), Dr. Patricia Aanyanwu. He further said fisheries and aquaculture play major roles in employment generation, poverty eradication, food security, foreign exchange earnings, adding that fish farming had been identified as a business venture with lots of potential investment opportunities, making it a veritable tool for increased fish production. ‘’The total demand for fish

in Nigeria for 2015 was over 3.6 million tones, according to federal department of Fisheries (FDF), whereas total domestic production in the same year was 1.027 million tonnes. Part of the deficit of 2.233million tones is currently met by farmers. ‘’Nigeria spends about $1 billion importing fish into the country. Our goal is to be self-sufficient in fish production.

“This deficit in fish production can be met through

local production, by engaging our youths and women in aquaculture production in a more sustainable manner for increased fish production and better standard of living.’’

On his part, the Assistant Director Aquaculture, Dr. Benjamin Ebonwu, advised the participant at the training which commenced on August 27th and ends on September 7th 2018, to to form a group to approach government so as to

access pool of funds through the Central Bank of Nigeria’s ( CBN) Anchor Borrower’s programme for the establishment of feed mill within their geopolitical zone.’

The coordinator, NIOMR programe, Abiola OlawepoJohnson said, “That government should a have data base of unemployed youths in the country, released fund on time and increased number of people that are trained per year.”

BoI Gets ISO Re-certification Group Business Editor

Obinna Chima

Jonathan Eze

Capital Market Editor

Goddy Egene

AgriBusiness/Industry Editor

Jonathan Eze

Comms/e-Business Editor

Emma Okonji

Senior Correspondent

Raheem Akingbolu (Advertising) Correspondents

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

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

For adhering to quality management system (QMS) principles in delivering, the Bank of Industry has been re-certified to be ISO 9001:2015 mQMS-compliant by the certification agency.

This ISO 9001:2015 QMSre-certification provides the Development Finance Institution (DFI) with a world class platform to drive its business management tools to deliver efficient

and effective business services to its customers, and is an affirmation of its vision to be the leading African DFI operating under global best practices.

To achieve this re-certification, the institution went through a rigorous process of reviewing, revamping and documenting its business processes which helped to achieve the initial ISO 9001:2015 QMS certification in 2017, which is the latest version in

QMS; a process made possible by its executive management’s commitment and disposition towards adoption and specialisation of best practices within the institution.

According to a statement, as a strategyfocused organisation, the BoI would continue to reinvent and benchmark itself with global trends towards enhancing its service delivery profile to all its stakeholders.

Managing Director, Mr.

Olukayode Pitan, had pointed out that, “Our zeal to sustain quality inspired our desire to upgrade our quality management certification from 9001:2008 versions to the latest version which is the 9001:2015.

We were able to achieve this feat through our strict adherence to the project decisions time table and the provision of regular update to management on the progress of the implementation by the management representa-

tives of this project,” he said.

He had added, “The re-certification marks the beginning of another three-year QMS cycle within which we are expected to maintain and continually improve our management system. We have developed a framework to ensure that we maintain high standards and pass both the internal and external ISO audits as they take place within the cycle and beyond.”

The Country Direc-

tor, DQS Management Systems Nigeria Limited, Mr. Lawrence Oludu, had earlier said the certification gives the bank’s stakeholders confidence that the values of the institution has been checked by a third party that is truly independent; assurances that the processes and the methodologies engaged

by BoI in doing businesses have been checked while also giving the bank the required image needed for global competition.

25

T H I S D AY •THURSDAY, AUGUST 30, 2018

BUSINESSWORLD

E-BISINESS

Achieving 30% Broadband Target With barely four months to the December 2018 target of achieving 30 per cent broadband penetration, government is optimistic of meeting the target, writes Emma Okonji Having acknowledged the importance of internet and broadband as the foundation for transformation to a knowledge-based economy, coupled with the declaration of the International Telecoms Union (ITU) to make broadband accessible and affordable to all citizens of the world by 2020, the federal government in 2013, developed a five year National Broadband Plan for the country. The plan has a mandatory target to achieve 30 per cent broadband penetration across the country

by December 2018.

As at 2012 when the National Broadband Plan was conceived, broadband penetration was between four per cent and six per cent.

The broadband plan document (2013-2018), specifically made it clear on page nine of the document that government would at the end of 2017, attain a fivefold increase in broadband penetration, which is a minimum target of 20 per cent before attaining the maximum target of 30 per cent by 2018.

True to its words and commitment, government, as at 2017, attained 20 per cent broadband penetration, which was a fivefold increase in broadband penetration over the 2012 penetration rate.

The feat would, however, not have been achieved if not for the 8 Point Agenda of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), that was built around broadband penetration put in place by the Executive Vice Chairman of NCC, Prof. Umar Garba Danbatta.

After two years after his assumption of office, the country attained 20 per cent broadband penetration, up from 10 per cent in 2015. Today the country boasts of 22 per cent broadband penetration, and Danbatta is optimistic that the county will attain the maximum target of 30 per cent, if all agencies of government that have specific roles to play in the country’s broadband penetration, live up to their tasks and expectations.

Presidential committee on broadband The first national Information and Communications Technology (ICT) policy that was drafted for presentation to the Federal Executive Council for approval contained the proposed broadband policy position of the country and it emphasised the importance and centrality of broadband to achieving the overall objective of ICT as a tool for national development.

On the 20th of September 2012, former President Goodluck Jonathan inaugurated the Presidential Committee for a national broadband strategy and roadmap. The committee was co-chaired by the former EVC of NCC, Dr. Ernest Ndukwe and the Chairman of Zenith Bank, Mr. Jim Ovia, supported by 15 core members, representing various stakeholder groups in the ICT sector and additional set of co-opted members from the general public.

The committee was mandated to ensure the broadband plan was realistic and workable to achieve broadband penetration in not just the underserved areas, but also to the unserved areas of the country, with good plans for proper implementation.

Although government’s desire was to ensure pervasive broadband access, its intention was also to involve the private sector to deliver not just on basic reach and penetration, but also on quality of service to enable Nigerians truly feel the positive impact and benefit of broadband.

The strategy The strategy of government to achieve ubiquitous and affordable broadband access was hinged on pervasive rollout of wireless broadband networks nationwide, based on 3G and 4G access technologies as the paramount objective.

To achieve this, government planned to deploy the open access and shared infrastructure framework and then license Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) that would provide low cost 3G and 4G devices for broadband access.

The intention was also to licence telecoms Infrastructure Companies (InfraCos) in the six geopolitical regions of the country, to provide broadband infrastructure. To further drive the

Danbatta

initiative and deepen broadband penetration in the country, the Board of the NCC in December 2017, approved two additional InfraCo licences.

The two Infraco licencees were Zinox Technology Limited for South East and Brinks Integrated Solutions Limited for North East, thus bringing the number of InfraCos to four as at December last year. This year NCC licensed additional InfraCos for North west, South west and South south, making seven licensed InfraCos. NCC is, however , making plans to re-license the North central InfraCo, following the return of IHS licence that was hitherto licensed to cover North central.

In 2015, NCC had licensed MainOne Cable Company Limited, to provide services in Lagos while IHS got its licence to cover the North central geopolitical zone including Abuja.

The Infraco licences are based on the NCC’s Open Access Model in line with the National

The emergence of the internet in Nigeria has been a blessing, especially to the huge young population, that has started their leadership journey from today. There is no gainsaying that the internet has been very beneficial in diverse ways. The expansive amount of information on the internet has been useful for children and teenagers in their academic pursuits

Broadband Plan.

Director, Public Affairs at NCC, Mr. Tony Ojobo, said as part of the initiative to achieve deeper broadband penetration, NCC, as the driver of the process, has so far licenced a number of companies to stimulate broadband penetration.

Ojobo listed the companies to include Bitflux Communications Limited (Bitflux) for 2.3 GHz and MTN Nigeria for the 2.6 GHz licences.

Challenges before MDAs, InfraCos Having met and surpassed the 20 per cent minimum target of broadband penetration, the NCC is of the view that Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) of the Federal Government, as well as InfraCos, have major roles to play in achieving the 30 per cent broadband penetration by December 2018. The NCC has therefore challenged them to ensure they fulfill their mandates on the roles assigned to them towards achieving the 30 per cent maximum target of broadband penetration by the end of 2018.

The NCC equally urged all InfraCos to come forward and access the N3 billion subsidy fund set aside by NCC that will assist them to roll out broadband infrastructure in rural and underserved communities, designed to further deepen broadband penetration in the country.

“All MDAs and licensed InfraCos must accomplish their assigned roles towards achieving the 30 per cent broadband penetration by 2018,” Danbatta said, adding, “We have gone beyond the 20 per cent minimum broadband penetration as enshrined in the National Broadband Plan (2013-2018), but we are yet to hit the maximum target of 30 per cent.”

The current state of broadband As at 2012, before the Presidential Committee on National Broadband Plan was inaugurated, Nigeria had between 4 per cent to 6 per cent broadband penetration, an era that characterised high cost of broadband bandwidth, which led to high cost internet access, even though the few corporate internet users were placed on shared bandwidth that further slowed down internet connectivity, instead of the dedicated bandwidth that offered faster internet connectivity.

From 2012 to 2015, broadband penetration improved to 10 per cent, which was the era after the berthing of submarine cables from Europe to the shores of Nigeria, which were owned by few broadband companies like Glo 1, MainOne and MTN WACS. Although that era had huge capacity of broadband deposits at the shores of the country,

but the utilisation of broadband was still low, because the country lacked the national backbone infrastructure that will transmit broadband capacity from the shores of the country to the hinterlands, were demand for internet was high.

With the strategy put in place by Danbatta and the NCC team, including efforts of the private sector initiative, broadband penetration jumped from 10 per cent in 2015 to 20 per cent in 2017 and currently at 22 per cent.

NCC’s position NCC is optimistic that with current 22 per cent broadband attainment, the country would achieve the 30 per cent maximum target by the end of 2018, provided all government agencies and all private sector participants that were given specific roles in achieving the country’s broadband penetration target, accomplish their various tasks.

According to Danbatta, “Our current performance shows that we, as a nation, have achieved 70 per cent broadband penetration, having reached 22 per cent penetration out of the maximum targeted 30 per cent penetration.

“All agencies of government like the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), Galaxy Backbone, including InfraCos and the National University Commission (NUC), must accomplish their assigned roles towards achieving the maximum 30 per cent broadband target,” Danbatta said.

Explaining the efforts of the commission towards achieving the remaining eight per cent broadband target by the end of this year, Danbatta said the NCC was working with an advisory committee set up by government to increase broadband access in the country.

The committee, supervised by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, is planning to lay additional 18,000km fibre infrastructure to complement the already 40,000km on ground, a situation, Danbatta said, would help achieve improved broadband access in the country.

Another measure, which he said would help achieve faster broadband penetration, was about the harmonisation of Right of Way (RoW) pricing.

He said all the governors of the 36 states of the federation must agree to abide by the resolution of the National Economic Council (NEC) report on RoW, which stipulated harmonised price of N145 per metre charge in the laying of fiber optic cable for broadband deployment.

“The RoW price harmonisation was reached at the last National Executive Council meeting in Abuja, but majority of the states still charge arbitrary fees on RoW, beyond the harmonised rate,” Danbatta said.

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Glo, Industry Stakeholders NITDA Raises Concern over Shortage of ICT Lawyers Support Digital Summit must be bridged since Nigeria issues: IT development and IT behalf of the sector,” Pantami Stories by Emma Okonji Leading telecommunications company, Glo and other key stakeholders in Nigeria’s ICT ecosystem have indicated their desire to support the Nigerian Women Digital Agenda Summit organised by the Centre for Cyber Awareness and Development (CECAD). The summit holds today in Lagos.

Others that would be part of the summit themed, “Harnessing the Opportunities in the 21st Century,” include the chief executive officers of leading technology companies and technology experts from across Nigeria.

Other partners are the Association of Licensed Operators of Nigeria (ALTON), Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Medallion Communications Limited, National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) and Nigeria Internet Registration Association (NIRA).

The event was designed to highlight the huge opportunities available to women in the 21st century, accelerate progress and identify Nigerian women across board that have been able to maximise the tremendous opportunities offered by the digital age to better their communities, career and the country at large. It

is expected to bring together over 700 women and girls from different walks of life to share strategies and map out the future of the Nigerian woman in a digital age.

Announcing its decision to be official sponsor of the event, Globacom Nigeria said that it believes that technology has great role to play in the economic empowerment of the Nigerian woman.

Globacom has been at the cutting-edge of innovation, introducing most of the novel products and services that have shaped the growth of the telecommunications industry in Nigeria in the last 15 years. The company was the first to launch 4G LTE network in 33 cities across the country in 2016. It recently scored another first by introducing the novel concept of creating a dedicated path in its 4G LTE network for enterprise customers.

According to the Executive Director of CECAD, Dr. Bayero Agabi, the 21st century is a period of tremendous information explosion, where science, technology and innovation are no longer treated as stand-alone but have become integral parts of human existence transforming lives and businesses.

The National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), the government agency responsible for the implementation of information technology (IT) policies and IT promotion in the country, has expressed concern over the shortage of information and communications technology (ICT) lawyers in the country.

The Director-General of NITDA, Dr. Isa Ibrahim Pantami, who noted this at a recent forum, said such skill gap

would need ICT lawyers to address technology related litigations. ]NITDA, he said had made efforts to raise more ICT lawyers through the collaboration with some universities, to introduce ICT Law as a course at Masters and Doctorate Degree levels.

“The reason being that we do not have ICT Law running in any Nigerian university and all regulatory agencies of ICT require ICT lawyers to work for them.The mandate of NITDA centres around two fundamental

regulation. IT development is all about developing IT, using IT professionals like Computer Scientists, Computer Engineers among others. “In regulating the ICT sector, we deploy ICT lawyers who understand ICT Laws to help in regulating the ICT sector. It is for this reason that we are introducing ICT Law as a course in some of our universities, so that the country can produce Lawyers with good knowledge of ICT who can regulate the sector, and write many legal documents on

said. According to him, NITDA meant to set guidelines and framework, and even policies for ICT adoption, deployment and usage across the country, and “we will continue to do that in order to promote ICT development in the country.”

He explained that NITDA is currently developing some policies that will make it easier to regulate the sector like cloud policies, e-government operability framework, intellectual rights property among other policies.

Google Launches Second Launchpad Accelerator Initiative Google has launched its second Launchpad Accelerator Africa class as part of its ongoing efforts to support entrepreneurship on the continent.

The accelerator, which is housed in Lagos, Nigeria, has already demonstrated its value.

The first Launchpad Accelerator Africa class saw 12 start ups graduate, with more than 20 teams from Google and 40 mentors from nine countries supporting them. The start ups have directly created 132 jobs and between them, have raised over $7 million in funding.

Their products are being used by approximately 4.5 million people.

Announcing the initiative, Head of Startup Success and Services, Launchpad Accelerator Africa, Fola Olatunji-David, said: “The growth of entrepreneurship in Africa is critical to the survival of our continent.

“We are currently as a region creating about three million jobs per year, while more than 11 million job seekers are entering the market.

“Google believes that empowering entrepreneurs and start-ups is essential to drive employment growth, and enable both economic and social development on the continent.”

For the second class, Google extended applications to an additional 11 countries, competition for spots was even fiercer than the first time around.

Google received more than 250 applications, including from graduates of previous Launchpad programmes, with others referred to the programme by Launchpad mentors.

The 11 finalists from six

countries, include AppZone (Nigeria); Chalkboard Education (Ghana); Cloud9xp (Kenya); EzyAgric (Uganda); Formplus (Nigeria); Medsaf (Nigeria); Mintrics (Egypt); PayGo Energy (Kenya); Pineapple (South Africa); Preeva (South Africa) and Thank U Cash (Nigeria).

AppZone builds Software as a service (SaaS) fintech software ecosystems for digital banks, allowing them to reduce operational costs while improving service delivery.

Chalkboard Education allows people to make their curricula available via mobile devices (USSD, SMS, and internet). It also lets those institutes gather insights about student learning patterns and helps them create and adapt curricula for the mobile space.

Cloud9xp is an online marketplace and booking service that allows people to buy and sell experiences in various locations across Africa and the Middle East.

EzyAgric is an on-demand platform that provides inclusive and data-driven access to finance, production and marketing services for farmers and agribusinesses in Uganda.

It does so through a network of youth agents equipped with smartphones and other forms of agricultural technology, providing employment and helping farmers improve yields and market access in one go.

Formplus allows companies to collect online and offline data through the use of customisable digital forms. The startup also provides analytics based on form answers and allows for payment collection via PayPal, Stripe and Flutterwave

PRODUCT LAUNCH

L-R: Head Commercial Banking, Ecobank Nigeria, Mr. Rotimi Moronfolu; non-Executive Director, Funmi Oyetunji; CEO, Brui’s Istra Fast Food, Mabrukat Nurudeen Daura; CEO, Jetlink Limited, Mr. John Nwosu and non-Executive Director, Ecobank Nigeria, Prof. Franca Ovadje, at the launch of Ecobank Emerald Business Club in Lagos…recently SUNDAY ADIGUN

Visa Partners LSETF to Digitise Payments for MSMEs As part of its efforts to educate and enable Nigerians reduce their reliance on cash, Visa, the global leader in payments, has launched its Cashless Lagos Hackathon in partnership with Lagos Innovates, an initiative of the Lagos State Employment Trust Fund (LSETF).

The three-day event, which is scheduled to hold from 14 September until 16 September, will seek to digitise payments for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) and will be delivered by Passion Incubator. The hackathon is open to software developers, programmers, coders, data specialists and designers who have the capacity to create lasting technology based financial solutions for MSMEs who are beneficiaries of LSETF. Participants can access lagosinnovates.ng/hackathon for details on the hackathon and have until 11 September 2018 to submit their applications. Selected applicants will meet with the MSMEs on the first day of the hackathon to understand their pain points before the commencement of the hackathon.

Through the hackathon, participants are required to come up with solutions that would allow the business owners to receive payments, make bulk purchases and keep inventory of their transactions, thereby allowing access to bank loans and government grants.

Country Manager, Visa West Africa, Kemi Okusanya, said: “This partnership is part of our strategy to help merchants become more financially responsible. What makes this hackathon unique is that it encourages Nigerians to develop locally relevant solutions, tailored for their specific environment and needs. We are always looking to support innovative programmes that can better equip individuals to manage their money more effectively, and these solutions will achieve that.”

Six teams will present their ideas to the judging panel constituted of representatives from a cross section of business and payments experts drawn from the public and private sectors. Three finalists will be selected based on impact, design, innovation, and customer validation. The winning teams will receive 2million, 1million and 500,000 grants respectively to be used for the development of the solutions, courtesy of Visa.

Commenting on the partnership, the Executive Secretary LSETF, Akintunde Oyebode said: “We are pleased to have Visa on board with us for the second edition of our Hackathon. Lagos State is the economic capital of Nigeria and the home of Africa’s leading startups. Our partnership with Visa puts us in a unique position to help uncover,

support and apply emerging technologies to some of the biggest transaction challenges faced by entrepreneurs. We are

excited by the possibility of leveraging technology, especially digital channels to improve our current cash-based economy.”

Vodacom Becomes Africa First to Launch 5G in Lesotho Vodacom Group has launched Africa’s first commercial 5G fixed wireless access (FWA) network, in Lesotho, while announcing the technology will be ready for deployment in South Africa when spectrum is assigned.

Its Lesotho 5G network uses 3.5GHz spectrum previously assigned by regulators to deliver “fibre-like speeds.” Two enterprise customers are already signed-up to use Vodacom’s service, the telecoms company said in a statement.

Lesotho is a relatively small market with the United Nations (UN) estimating its population stands at around 2.3 million.

However, the 5G FWA network in the country is likely to be seen as a testbed for deployments in its larger operations on the continent.

In a statement, Vodacom CEO, Shameel Joosub highlighted the achievement, but warned Vodacom’s home market of South Africa could not afford to be left behind as 5G rolls out elsewhere.

Vodacom used a temporary licence in South Africa to

showcase the technology, but is still waiting on regulators in the country to begin the process of assigning 3.5GHz spectrum.

“What we have accomplished in Lesotho is an example of what can be achieved in Africa, should the requisite spectrum also be made available,” Joosub said. “Vodacom will be able to make 5G services available to its customers in South Africa once requisite spectrum is assigned.”

“Global technological advancements are evolving at a rapid pace and South Africa can’t afford to be left behind, particularly when we look at some of the potential use cases for 5G to support critical sectors of our society such as healthcare and education.”

The Independent Communications Authority of South Africa is yet to confirm a date for its 5G auction. A number of trials have taken place in the country including a collaboration between MTN and Ericsson unveiled in January, and Vodacom’s newly announced deployment.

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S’Africa Withdraws Land Expropriation Bill Passed in 2016 South Africa’s parliament withdrew an expropriation bill it passed in 2016 that allowed the state to make compulsory purchases of land to redress racial disparities in ownership, the ruling African National Congress (ANC) said on Tuesday.

The thrust of the bill, which had not been signed into law, has been overtaken by a proposal by the ANC to change the constitution to allow the expropriation of land without compensation.

The bill was meant to enable the state to pay for land at a value determined

ANC’s proposal to change the constitution.

“The bill in its current form would need to be reconsidered in light of the process of reviewing Section 25 of the constitution for the expropriation of land without compensation,” Reuters quoted Nonceba Mhlauli, a spokeswoman for the ANC’s chief whip, to have said.

“Were the bill to be reintroduced, it would contain a clause or clauses reflecting expropriation of land without compensation if that is the way that South Africans have chosen to go,” she said.

by a government adjudicator and then expropriate it for the “public interest”, ending the willing-buyer, willing-seller approach to land reform.

However, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa announced on August 1, the ANC plans to change the constitution to allow the expropriation of land without compensation, as whites still own most of South Africa’s territory.

South Africans are taking part in public hearings on land reform that are being held countrywide, to give their comments on the

German Regulator Threatens Facebook Data Crackdown Emma Okonji The Federal Cartel Office in Germany may order Facebook to take action to address concerns regarding its use of data gathered without consumers’ consent if the company fails to do so voluntarily, according to Reuters’ report.

“We are conscious that this should, and must, go quickly,” the president of the watchdog, Andreas Mundt, said, adding he hoped to take “first steps” regarding this in coming months. While it is unclear what these steps will be, they are more likely to include

introduced by Facebook such as a “clear history” option “affects our investigation and addresses our concerns,” Mundt said.

Facebook has been on the hot seat ever since the Cambridge Analytica incident, which forced it to suspend more than 400 apps following an audit of services designed to detect misuse of user data.

Last month Germany’s telecoms regulator Bundesnetzagentur said United States (US) technology giants including Google and Facebook which provide messaging and email services, should be regulated in the same way

some kind of action rather than a fine. In a preliminary assessment of the social network in 2017, the cartel office determined Facebook is abusing its dominant position and making the use of its platform “conditional on its being allowed to limitlessly amass every kind of data generated by using third-party websites and merge it with the user’s Facebook account.”

It added these third-party sites include services owned by Facebook such as WhatsApp and Instagram.

The cartel office is also looking into whether new features

UPMFB Disburses N451.1 Million Loans The Enugu-based Umuchinemere Pro-credit Micro Finance Bank (UPMFB), owned by the Catholic diocese of Enugu has given out the sum of N451, 182, 305 as loans to active poor persons within the diocese in the first six months of 2018.

The money given to a total of 2, 114, among 809 female beneficiaries, was in loans of various forms and categories to improve their quality of lives by engaging in various types micro, small and medium enterprises and leap out of poverty.

About the same period in

2017, the UPMFB which first began operations on July 22, 1995 as a community bank and later transformed to a microfinance bank in 2007, gave a total of N409, 205, 200 to a total of 1, 774 beneficiaries, a significantly below difference from that of the current financial year.

In the current financial year, the number of male beneficiaries was a total of 1,305 males and they received the sum of N257, 045, 905 of the N451, 182, 305 facilities which were interventions meant to fight poverty in the land.

Detailed information from the bank’s head of Credit, Mr. Charles Udeani, indicated that both the agriculture and housing microfinance sectors received the sum of N30 million and N10.9 million respectively. Small businesses received a total of N98.1 million of the facilities.

Though the N451.1million was below the bank’s N600 million target in the first six months of the year, it is hoped that if the macro economic climate of the country improves the bank will meet its target for the year by the end of the year.

Financial Nigeria Holds Colloquium Peter Uzoho In commemoration of its 10 years of existence, the Financial Nigeria Magazine is holding its first colloquium in Nigeria.

The event would constructively challenge policymakers and economic managers on the country’s Sustainable Development (SDG) agenda.

The colloquium organised by the Nigeria Development Finance Forum (NDFF), the conference arm of the Financial Nigeria International Limited, publisher of the Magazine, with the theme: “Nigeria’s Sustainable Development Agenda,” will hold on September 11, 2018, in Abuja.

Speaking at a press conference in Lagos, the Founder and Managing Editor, Financial Nigeria Magazine, Mr. jide Akintunde, said the company would use the occasion of

the anniversary colloquium to advance the debate of the priority policy goals for achieving sustainable economic development in Nigeria.

He said the debate which started months ago by the Founder of Microsoft, Bill Gates’, during his visit to Nigeria, was stifled amid growing evidence that the country’s development priority might be sub-optimal, stressing that the magazine had resolved to re-ignite that discussion in a positively way for the country’s development.

He said two keynote addresses would be delivered on the theme by the duo of former Minister of State for Health, Dr. Muhammad Ali Pate and the Chief Executive Officer of the European Organisation for Sustainable Development, Mr. Arshad Rab.

He said: “Following the keynote addresses, a high-level panel will discuss the strategies for trade, fiscal sustainability, human development, external relations and financing, in setting appropriate development goals for the country.”

He noted that the panellists would include U.S Ambassador to Nigeria, Stuat Symington; Executive Chairman, Fiscal Responsibility Commission, Victor Muruako; Director for Africa Office, MacArthur Foundation, Kole Shettima, amongst others.

Giving more insights into the programme, executive Editor of the Magazine, Mr. Martins Hile, stressed that the colloquium was an opportunity to serve the wider Nigerian public with quality debates and cutting-edge ideas that the Magazine provides its readers on a monthly basis.

THE ENTREPRENEUR’S BEST FRIEND DEBBIE LARRY-IZAMOJE

15 Tips to Massively Increase Instagram Engagement in 2018

I

t is safe to say that Instagram in 2018 is too big to ignore. Here is an in-depth guide with 18 extremely useful tips for increasing engagement on both paid and organic Instagram campaigns, so let’s dive in.

Know how often to post.

You need to be active in order to attract followers and boost engagement rates – but how active?

According to studies, the sweet spot is a consistent 1-2 posts a day. Knowing when the best time to post on Instagram is also critical especially when dealing with Instagram’s algorithmic timeline.

Recommended post times can vary wildly depending on which expert you listen to. With some advocating 8 AM – 9 AM or 2 PM – 5 PM for your first post to even 2 AM for your second, this inconsistency can create genuine confusion for content planners.

Instead, uncover your own followers’ Instagram habits by using the Insights feature of your Instagram Business account. This helps you identify when your followers are most active and allows you to plan accordingly, ensuring your posts continue to appear at the top of their feeds.

Don’t preach, tell a story instead You should captivate audiences through images and video, not simply preach marketing missives at them.

To increase engagement rates, become a storyteller instead, offering ‘micro-stories’ via your captions, videos, Instagram Stories and profile.

Or try sharing user-generated content that resonates with your brand.

Make your Instagram branding matter Clarity, creativity and consistency are king for enterprises aiming to build brand awareness on Instagram. An erratic, haphazard approach just doesn’t work.

Try to focus on core areas like presenting your profile, creating style patterns that keep your images looking fresh, and mastering hashtag use. You should also be interacting regularly with your followers to build up engagement and loyalty. By road mapping your processes and brand best practices for Instagram, you can present a positive and consistent brand to your target audience.

Explore the full range of Instagram video formats A picture may be worth a thousand words, but a video is worth 1.8 million. For instance, consider Instagram Stories’ live video option for big reveals about new products or services or use a prerecorded ad to offer up authentic, behind-

the-scenes stories to your followers to increase Instagram engagement.

Use Instagram video subtitles and closed captions With video increasingly dominating the online space, audio has become a poor cousin with the majority of users preferring not to enable sound when viewing a video. It’s why subtitles have become so essential for marketers, enabling core messaging to be delivered on-screen alongside visuals.

Facebook research shows that captioning videos increases average video view times by 12%. Messaging effectiveness is also boosted massively, boasting a success rate of 82% compared to 18% with sound on and zero captions.

Use SEO to ‘win’ Instagram.

Creating an SEO strategy for your Instagram account is vital on the increasingly competitive platform.

The two key areas that affect SEO are your account handle and account name. The first is the ‘@’ name that you register with, which should clearly reflect the sector in which your business operates.

Remember, Instagram can identify the content of your posts. If it doesn’t fit with your handle, then expect your posts not to appear in the Explore section.

Then there’s your account name, which appears under your profile picture and should reflect your account handle and industry. When people search Instagram using words or emoji’s, it’s your account name that Instagram will check searches against. Just like our registered brand name @imageboostersng whenever you think of a boosting your brand our page is where you’d land and that’s how we become the number 1 #Digital Marketing.

Take advantage of Instagram’s video ad formats With 75% of Instagrammers stating that they take actions “like visiting sites, searching, or telling a friend” after being influenced by a post, mastering the platform’s range of advertisement formats is essential. While photo ads remain a stalwart of the platform, Instagram video formats are an increasingly invaluable tool for targeting a selected audience.

The platform offers three key video formats to create Instagram ads: single video ads offer the opportunity to create up to 60-second commercials, ‘carousels’ allow more message real estate by enabling followers to swipe across for additional images or videos, and Instagram Stories offers a vertical full-screen format where images and videos can be spliced together to

ABOUT DEBBIE LARRY-IZAMOJE Debbie Larry-Izamoje AKA The Entrepreneur’s Best-Friend holds a BSc in Information management from the University of Sheffield, United Kingdom, and MSc in management from University College London (UCL). She has also secured certificates in user innovation from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Innovation and strategy from Harvard University.

She is on a mission to raise a generation of young established or soon to be established professionals who are more vocal about business difficulties while providing solutions through public speaking, training, workshops and coaching.

She is the founder of the Image Boosters a full service agency with core services in digital marketing, PR, branding and more.

Website: www.imageboosters.com.ng Instagram: @dee_larry @imageboosters_ Email: contactus@ imageboosters.com.ng or debbie@imageboosters.com.ng, 08050464111 (text only)

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Ehiguese: PR Has Become an All-comers Business in Nigeria President, Public Relations Consultants Association of Nigeria (PRCAN), the umbrella body of PR firms operating in Nigeria, Mr. John Ehiguese, speaks on quackery and other factors hindering the growth of PR in Nigeria. Raheem Akingbolu provides the excerpts: There have been debates over where public relations belong in the integrated marketing communication industry. What is your take on this?

It is ironical that we who are the ones that are supposed to project the images of others do not ourselves have a strong image. But there are a lot of factors that are responsible for this.

I think at the heart of it is a relatively weak regulatory environment. PR unfortunately in Nigeria has become an all-comers business.

The level of quackery is simply unbelievable.

I mean there is almost zero regulation; barriers to entry are extremely low, or practically non-existent.

That is a big issue. When you have that kind of environment; it is difficult to earn respect as a practitioner because if people don’t perceive your profession as being up there then you the practitioner cannot earn that level of respect and commensurate remuneration.

But we are doing the best that we can about the situation. As the President of Public Relations Consultants Association of Nigeria (PRCAN) I’m privy to the fact that we have a number of programmes that we are executing to see how we can grow the profession and the PR brand itself.

Elsewhere in the world, PR is highly regarded. In many Fortune-500 companies across the world, for example, the head of public relations occupies a vice presidential position and reports directly to the Managing Director, or President, of the corporation That is because they understand the importance of PR in every single action that they take as an organisation. What I am saying here is that we don’t appreciate the function enough in this part of the world. I agree to an extent with you on the ‘weakest link’ tag because we should actually be leading in the IMC mix because we deal more with the core brand values, so we should play a leading role in developing the overall communications strategy.

PR deals with the image, perception and reputation and these are perhaps the strongest assets of any brand. Consumers do not patronise a business. They patronise the brand. Let’s take a brand like Toyota, for example: how many customers concern themselves with how many cars Toyota sold last year? Who the CEO of Toyota international is; in how many countries Toyota operates? How many brands of Toyota cars are available and what is the profit of Toyota globally? Do you have the answers to any of these questions? These are business questions that have no meaning to you and as a consumer. What is important to the consumer is the brand. The brand is a promise. So, the Toyota brand for example, promises you a bouquet of benefits. You buy that brand because those benefits align with your expectations and desires. So, as a consumer it is the brand that you are patroniSing, not the business. Things that have to do with the business are more of interest to the investors; those who own the business. As a consumer, you deal with the brand and your perception of that brand is the number one driver of choice.

A brand’s image and reputation are a part of its DNA. These are at the core of consumer choice and patronage. And, theoretically, the more patronage you get the better your bottom line. That is the connection and ordinarily you would have expected that the people that deal with reputation, such a very important asset of the brand, should enjoy the pride of place in the IMC mix. But unfortunately, because of a number of factors, we don’t have that kind of advantage in the Nigerian market and it is unfortunate.

I hope it changes, I hope it gets better. We have done the bit that we can. My generation is phasing out and I hope the younger ones will work harder to grow the PR profession

media releases. This is happening because the ethnical environment in Nigeria is very weak. I have seen a practicing journalist in one of the major newspapers in Nigeria who has the title ‘Reporter/Media Consultant’ on his official call card. Can we compete fairly with that kind of person in terms of offering media relations services? So, he is enjoying the best of two worlds; but it destroys the PR business. Thank God that situation is changing now largely because of the influence of social media and online platforms; but it is still a big problem in Nigeria.

Can’t this problem be solved by NIPR or PRCAN? The ball is largely in the court of the NIPR because from an industry perspective, it is at the core of NIPR’s responsibilities to enforce ethics, as the statutory industry regulator.

Although PRCAN derives its legal charter from a By-law of the NIPR, we can only engage in self-regulation, and we are doing the best we can, within the limits of the constraints we face.

We really have a weak regulatory system and it is affecting our business. Everywhere in the world, PR is growing but in Nigeria it is a different ball game altogether. The profession is not growing at the same pace when compared with other climes.

Ehiguese

and to make it occupy its pride of place in the IMC mix.

Would you subscribe to mergers and acquisitions as solution to the challenges facing the industry?

There are fundamentally two benefits of M&As – scale and synergy. Globally, mergers and acquisitions are becoming more widespread; you want to have a bigger organisation so that you can do more and you can be able to service all your clients efficiently, especially the big ones. But the situation in Nigeria is a peculiar one because it is not a matter of scale. Scale does not guarantee you the biggest businesses in this clime.

The fact that you are a big PR agency does not mean that you will get the biggest PR accounts; and if as a big agency you don’t get the big accounts, you may not be able to sustain your cost profile and that means that you cannot sustain the business. Going into mergers and acquisitions is not a bad idea where it delivers a lot of synergy because when you are merging it is not just about scale, it is also about synergy – what is one party bringing to the table that the other doesn’t have; so that when both come together, you have some fantastic synergy that helps you serve your clients better and more efficiently?

That is one level.

The other level deals with scale. As you know, scale is size and the assumption is that if you are big then you can attract the big accounts and be able to do big-ticket campaigns. You can satisfactorily service a brand like Nigerian Breweries Plc that has 22 vibrant product brands because you now have the capacity, you have the size. But in Nigeria, it does not work like that. Scale is not necessarily an advantage in this environment. So, I don’t see how mergers and acquisitions, given the situation that we are in, would necessarily be a plus for the industry.

It is believed in some quarters in the industry that Nigerian agencies often hold the short end of the stick when it comes to affiliation.

How have you avoided it to happen to your agency -Mediacraft Associates?

I think that it is important when you go into any kind of affiliation to be very clear about what it is that you want out of the arrangement, as well as the terms of engagement. This is very important. Some people are so desperate

to get affiliated that they just sign off their birthright, if you know what I mean. I was in a sense prepared when I did, and I knew what I wanted. I would say that I have probably one of the best affiliation agreements you could ever have. It is a fantastic relationship. I have no regrets; no complaints, whatsoever. I have benefitted tremendously from the relationship and when I even hear what some of my colleagues are going through, I just thank God that I don’t have that kind of an experience.

We are privileged to have a very fantastic affiliation agreement, incredible partners and they don’t give us any problem at all; they give us full support and, in fact, treat us every bit like a part of their global family.

Let’s talk about PRCAN, the umbrella association for your sub-sector which you have been privileged to preside over for a second consecutive term?

It could be better but, of course, you can understand that the environment is challenging on so many fronts and at so many levels.

I am sure you know that the membership of PRCAN is corporate. It is for organisations, not for individuals. It is for practicing consultancy firms. Now, our members have generally suffered a rough patch recently, largely because of the recession and also because of encroachments into our business.

We have a situation that is an aberration in Nigeria where a journalist can also pretend to be a PR consultant. That is absolutely unacceptable. It is unethical; it distorts the whole of PR consultancy function and paradigm.

As PR consultants, we and the media are partners. We support them by giving them content for their platforms and we need them to provide their platforms for our clients, the brands we work for, to disseminate their messages.

So, it is a symbiotic relationship. But where the journalist now becomes a PR practitioner, then you have distorted the whole arrangement.

It is not right, and Nigeria is probably the only country in the whole world where you have that kind of anomaly going on and it seems to have been accepted as normal.

So, you find a working journalist who also runs a PR agency on the side. Essentially, he is doing what is called press agentry. Press agentry is a sub-set of media relations which has to do with being an agent for the media; in other words, just sourcing for, and distributing

In commemoration of your 60th birthday, which you recently celebrated, would you like to give a message to the industry and to the nation?

To the industry, I will say that those of us that have chosen public relations as a profession must, as a matter of duty and responsibility, invest in perpetuating the business by making sure that the practice gets better and is sustainable and sustained beyond their generation.

It is a different thing if you are just a parttime PR person or just passing through as a survival strategy until you get the next job. To me, therefore, everybody has a responsibility to contribute his own quota to growing the profession one way or the other and I think that it is just a natural obligation that we all have.

That is my message to all the PR practitioners in the industry. With regards to Nigeria, that is a very tough one because every day I take stock of this country and I ask myself: what does the future hold?

We had a PRCAN Fireside chat in November last year to which we invited a management consultant to come and talk to us about his macro-economic forecast for Nigeria in 2018 and how it would impact our business. One significant take-away for me from that session was the revelation that he made that the median age of Nigerians today is 18 years old. The Nigerian Bureau of Statistics says that the average age of Nigerians today is actually 17.9 years.

What that means practically is that 50% of Nigerians today are 18 years and below! This scares me. Since I got that piece of information in November last year, my heart has not been at peace. What is the plan that Nigeria has for its young population, probably a quarter of whom are probably out of school anyway?

I believe very strongly that if Nigeria wants to survive she must, as a matter of the utmost urgency, develop a 50-year ‘Marshal Plan’ for this teeming young population in terms of their education, health care, employment, housing, and so on. Otherwise we are sitting on a social time bomb!

A country that does not plan for its youth is not ready for the future. My message to Nigeria and the political leadership is that every development programme that they design for this country from now on must be youth-centric.

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ANALYSIS

Strengthening Brand’s Equity with CSR Raheem Akingbolu writes on the essence of the MTN Foundation’s ‘What Can We Do Together’ initiative and its impact on communities Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), one of the stems of sound corporate governance is increasingly attaining wider global and local adoption as its impacts in helping nations meet their sustainable development goals become more perceptible. Today, top executives across different industry want to demonstrate their corporate citizenship through altruistic, ethical and legal initiatives that presents their organisations as socially responsible.

However, the big challenge for executives is how to develop an approach that can truly deliver on these lofty ambitions—and yet, few have found the way. Some innovative companies have managed to overcome this hurdle, with community partnership as one way to create value for both the business and society simultaneously. Some others have also been able to create a sustainable CSR Strategy tailored towards their values.

The MTN Example For MTN Nigeria, it has been a journey to “brighten” the lives of Nigerians for the past 17 years through its social investment vehicle, MTN Foundation.

With the “What Can We Do Together (WCWDT)” initiative of the Foundation, the company has extended its mission of brightening lives to local communities across Nigeria.

The “What Can We Do Together (WCWDT)” initiative was launched in 2015 as part of the 10th anniversary of the MTN Foundation, and in just three years more than 10 million Nigerians in 400 communities and 347 local government areas across Nigeria have been impacted.

The interventions by the MTN Foundation evidently reflect the MTN mission of transforming lives by addressing the pressing needs of the Nigerian populace for maximum impact.

The MTN brand is passionate about Nigeria’s growth and is determined to help Nigerians reach the heights of their potential.

This mission is executed through the three focus areas – health, education and economic empowerment – that are crucial to the socioeconomic development of any society.

The uncontrolled population growth has further contributed to the prevailing negative indices in these essential areas of our nationhood.

A recent UNICEF report ranks Nigeria as the leading country with the highest number of out-of-school children with over 10 million children outside school. This reality is essentially facilitated by the shortfall in school infrastructure.

It is believed that many schools in the country lack friendly classrooms for learning, and the ones with classrooms lack required furniture.

The same reality is visible in the health sector with ill-equipped health facilities spread across the country.

To change this narrative, MTN through ‘What Can We Do Together’ is brightening the lives of Nigerians, one community at a time.

The underlying philosophy is predicated on the belief that Nigerians are talented and possess enormous capacity for greatness. However, the

inherent potential cannot be unlocked without an enabling environment.

The foundation realises that sustainable change can only be achieved in Nigeria when stakeholders work together and put in place the right things in the right places. It is evident that the government cannot do it alone but requires the collaboration of all well-meaning corporate

Today, top executives across different industry want to demonstrate their corporate citizenship through altruistic, ethical and legal initiatives that presents their organisations as socially responsible

citizens. Promoters of MTN understand this enormous responsibility and continue to support through the MTN Foundation.

Partnership Over the years, the management of MTN Foundation has emphasised the importance of collective ownership of social investment.

Besides, research has shown that social intervention projects are more durable when the receiving community is extensively involved in the conceptualisation, implementation and delivery of the project. This is contrary to the popular practice, where many organisations usually make the error of dumping projects in communities that do not reflect the immediate need of the receiving communities. The resultant effect of this model is the rapid deterioration of such projects.

According to the telecom firm, it is on this premise that the, “What Can We Do Together,” initiative was introduced in order to ensure that social investments truly reflect the burning needs of the benefiting communities.

The hand-in-hand principle on which the initiative rests was once summarised by MTN Nigeria Chairman, Dr. Pascal Dozie with the words of the 26th President of the United States of America, Theodore Roosevelt, who said, “Do what you can, with what you have, where you are.” Benefiting communities under the initiative are chosen through a nomination process that allows any Nigerian resident to nominate a community for possible selection.

The nominated communities are scrutinised through a verification conducted by an expert verification team. Successful communities are subsequently enlisted to benefit from the initiative.

The journey so far To date, MTN Foundation through the “What Can We Do Together” initiative has delivered 40 transformers, 40 borehole installations, and 14,200 items of school furniture to students who previously had to sit on sandy floors to receive lessons across 347 local government areas in Nigeria. A total of 66 orphanages were also said to have received highly essential household items and 80 primary healthcare centres have been supplied with vital medical equipment.

Speaking on the success of the last edition of the initiative, the Executive Secretary of the MTN Foundation, Nonny Ugboma said that the executed projects were selected from a pool of thousands of nominations by members of the public in Phases 1 and 2. “At the end, 200 communities were chosen to benefit in Phase 1, another 200 communities in Phase 2 and announcements were made in the print, electronic and digital media platforms. We are pleased to report that all the 200 projects in Phase 1 have been successfully implemented, while all the 200 projects in Phase 2 are at various stages of delivery and installation,” Ugboma said.

On his part, the Chairman of the MTN Foundation, Prince Julius Adeluyi-Adelusi praised the nominators for being true change agents.

Nigeria’s Hair Market Ranked among Global Best Raheem Akingbolu Godrej Nigeria has identified Nigeria as the 10th most lucrative market for hair extensions in the world.

Godrej Consumer Products, which is represented by Lorna in Nigeria made this known in Lagos, during the re-launch of the product and introduced a range of fashionable and durable human and synthetic hair extensions in the Nigerian market.

The company manufactures the popular Darling hair products and extensions.

Godrej Business Head West Africa, Chitwan Singh, said the

manufacturers of the products spent four to five years to understand the Nigerian market and now produces hair extensions that suit the peculiar fashion needs of the people.

Singh, who said the company employs over 3000 people in Nigeria, noted that Nigerian consumers deserve the best and that was why it introduced new styles to the market in order to meet the fashion tastes of the people, adding that Nigerian is a leading country in fashion and music in Africa.

Known to stand for beauty and transformation of the

African woman through quality hair extensions, the brand has revamped with innovative new hair styles, superior product benefits and richer colors.

Lorna Nigeria is one of the pioneers of the hair extension business in Nigeria, in partnership with Kaneka, Makers of Kanekalon quality fibers.

In September 2011, Godrej Consumer Products Ltd. entered into a partnership with the Darling Group, using the best capabilities within both groups through brand building and distribution to expand its reach.

Singh said Darling is present

in 21 countries across Africa.

Over 30 years of experience and expertise in the field of hair means that Darling enjoys market leadership in most of the countries that it operates in.

With a vast catalogue of hair extension styles at a range of attractive prices, including braids, weaves and crochets, the brand caters to over 150 million women across the continent.

In Nigeria, they re-launched with three new hair extensions; the SuperSoft braids, which are softer in texture and longer than any other braids in the market, the Natural Twist

which can be braided or styled and Afro Kinky, which is a tribute to the natural hair movement that has picked up across the world.

Speaking at the press conference, Singh said, “Darling understands that today’s multi-dimensional woman wants more out of life and liberation from conventional hairstyles.

We are passionate about hair and the transformative power it can have on a woman’s sense of being.

Darling equips African women with an indispensable freedom to effortlessly channel any style, anytime with ease.

We deliver innovative trendy hairstyles which are also value for money.”

Darling believes that every African woman should be the best that she can be. Looking like a fashionable trendsetter, while switching between so many roles should be made easy and great for an everyday woman.”

Darling has tremendous affinity with salons across its market and with the factory located here in Lagos Nigeria, Darling is keen on receiving regular feedback from and delivering the best styles for their consumers.

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BUSINESSWORLD

NEWS

Facebook Rolls Out Video Service Globally Stories by Emma Okonji Committed to giving people around the world a new way to discover great videos and interact with friends, content creators and other fans, Facebook has made its videoon-demand service, Facebook Watch available globally while also expanding its Ad Breaks program so more partners can make money from their videos.

According to the social media giant, taking Facebook Watch global also means new opportunities for creators and publishers around the world.

Facebook Watch enables users discover new videos spanning entertainment, sports, news and more in a personalized Watch feed, catch up with creators and publishers they love by keeping a watchlist, or a collection of recent videos from Pages they follow, save videos to watch later in Watch as well as participate in videos.

“Over time you’ll be able to find new video experiences in your Watch feed, like watch parties, premieres, and

videos focused on audience participation — like the new trivia game show, Confetti.

And we’ll make it easier to find live videos so you can discuss the big moments as they’re happening,” a statement from Facebook read.

The service was launched in the US a year ago to give people a place on Facebook to find shows and video creators they love and to start conversations with friends, other fans, and even creators themselves. Over the past year, Facebook has made the experience more social by like making it easier for people to see which videos their friends have liked or shared, creating shows that have audience participation at their core, and opening Watch to videos from Pages.

“These updates have helped people discover and engage more deeply with videos they love — from Red Table Talk with Jada Pinkett Smith, to beauty mogul Huda Kattan’s behind-the-scenes show Huda Boss, to live Major League

Baseball games. Every month, more than 50 million people in the US come to watch videos for at least a minute in Watch — and total time spent watching videos in Watch has increased by 14x since the start of 2018. We’re excited to bring Watch to everyone around the world and invite you to join in the action in our new video destination,” the statement added.

To access Watch on iOS and Android, users are urged to look for the Watch icon in their shortcuts bar or the “More” bookmark. Watch is also available on Apple TV, Samsung Smart TV, Amazon Fire TV, Android TV, Xbox One, and Oculus TV. Meanwhile, the company’s Ad Breaks service, which is designed to allow companies monetize their content, will roll out in the UK, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand on Thursday, August 30, and launch in another 21 countries including France, Germany, Spain and across Latin America and Asia on September 21.

UK Fintech Firm Partners Interswitch Group on Money Transfers European digital money transfer service, Azimo has announced a strategic partnership with leading African payments business, Interswitch Group, to further enable instant money transfers from 23 countries in Europe to any customer in Nigeria.

Speaking on the partnership, the founder and CEO of Azimo, Michael Kent, stated that Nigeria’s teeming population makes it Azimo’s biggest market.

He said, “A huge and rapidly growing population, coupled with the explosion of smartphone ownership, means that Africa, and Nigeria in particular, is one of the most exciting fintech markets on the planet.

“We look forward to working with fintech leader, Interswitch, to build new digital low-cost financial services that drive inclusion and transform the

financial lives of our customers in both the UK and Africa.”

Digital money transfers play a significant role in the growth of Nigeria’s economy – the largest in Africa. Remittances to the nation were worth $22 billion in 2017 - the equivalent of 5.6 percent of Nigeria’s GDP and higher than the country’s oil revenues.

By reaching millions of customers in Nigeria, Azimo’s partnership with Interswitch will also help to tackle the problem of financial exclusion in a country where 40 percent of the population is unbanked.

Commenting on the new alliance, the Group Managing Director and CEO at Interswitch, Mitchell Elegbe said, “We formed this partnership with Azimo as they are a global leader in cross-border payments with great tech capability and a strong knowledge of our core

markets. This agreement is a key milestone in our common strategy to better serve the Nigerians where ever they are located around the world.”

“In the longer term, the deal will see the two companies build new mobile-based financial services for Interswitch’s rapidly expanding customer base of over 25 million people in Nigeria, Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania.

“The partnership comes at a time when British Prime Minister Teresa May, on a recent visit to South Africa, divulged that the scale of opportunity for London’s businesses across Africa is huge. She noted that 111 African companies have already come to London to raise the funds needed to invest and grow, hence their desire to ensure that the UK is the partner of choice for African nations,” he added.

DellEMC Supports Banking Summit As part of efforts to keep banking services in Nigeria at par with global trends and ensure optimum value to all stakeholders, DellEMC would be lending support to the New Age Banking Summit, billed for Lagos in September 2018.

Integrated Marketing Manager, East, West and Central Africa, Annie Odo-Effiong states that the support is because “DellEMC is committed to changing the narratives of how technology is helping individuals and businesses grab opportunities for digital banking in Nigeria, in keeping with emerging global trends.”

She further highlights that support for the summit, now in its eighth edition is “driven by the need to properly harness the notable transformation in the changing landscape of financial technology, which is bound to impact consumer behavior and consumption habits in the financial services industry in

Nigeria.”

The summit would be focusing on how technology is impacting financial services with emphasis on mobile and internet banking, biometrics, cloud, artificial intelligence, internet of things, etc., which have left banks and financial institutions with no choice but to undergo digital transformation in order to thrive in this rapidly evolving digital age.

“Fintech has clearly become the driver of financial progress in Nigeria,” according to OdoEffiong At the Event, Senior Manager, Systems Engineer Emerging Africa, Mr. Noumeh Tahhan, will be delivering a presentation on behalf of DellEMC. According to the organisers, the summit is put together to equip financial services provides with the necessary knowledge to keep pace with modern day requirements in

line with global trends.

The organisers noted that the digital revolution gave birth to enhanced efficiency, security and reliability of existing banking services for current and potential customers, leaving the Central Bank of Nigeria with no choice but to encourage collaboration between banks and emerging fintech companies with an aim to accelerate the progress of financial inclusion in the country.

The summit is designed to address key challenges and explore technologies that can accelerate the Nigerian banking sector into the digital age. With a focus on emerging channels such as Blockchain, Next-Generation Payments, Artificial Intelligence, Big Data and Cyber Security, the summit will be a knowledge-sharing platform that will explore innovative tech solutions key to shaping the future of banking in Nigeria, the organisers said.

FROM THE FARM

DIMIEARI VON KEMEDI

Why Our Banks Are Failing Farmers: An Irish Lesson in Finance Amidst a breakdown in relations between clerks and their employers, the Irish Banks Standing Committee took the drastic step of closing banks for six long months in 1970.

At the end of the period, the Central Bank of Ireland carried out a review. Not only did the Irish economy continue to function, but the level of economic activity increased over the period, recounts Felix Martin in Money The Unauthorised Biography.

Trust was what kept things going. During the period of closure, cheques or corporate IOU’s were personal, and sellers did their own risk assessment.

If money is the wheel on which the modern economy runs, the banking system is the engine. This is why the health, innovation and versatility of the banking sector can be a key measure of the strength and potential of an economy. But banks are by no means the only measure.

In China, the shadow lending industry is worth a mindboggling $15 trillion, or 80 per cent of GDP, according to Bloomberg data. The informal credit sector accounts for 38 per of African GDP, the IMF reported in 2017.

ways of financing buyers, and processors and input providers are funding farmers. Any major value chain participant with a reasonable turnover who is not involved in this shadow banking activity risks losing long-term competiveness and growth.

But much more needs to be done if we’re to properly resource our farming community to feed our children.

Like the Irish, we need to create clusters of trust networks among our food and agriculture commodity businesses, processors, consumer groups, farmer cooperatives, mechanisation equipment and service providers, as well as seed, agrochemicals and fertiliser and other input providers. Key to this process is finding ways of enabling safe and innovative use of technology, materials and services to the benefit of consumers and value chain participants.

A farmers’ cooperative, for example, can work with a food processor that acts as an off-taker in tandem with the sales and distribution companies closest to the consumer payment point. The processor’s note supplemented by a small amount of funds activates mechanisation service providers, who are in turn financed at least partly by equipment manufacturers. Through mutual understanding of each other’s services, we can build an ecosystem where the farmers are collectively guarantying one another’s work as project managers and system integrators.

The entire structure can be underpinned by a series of technology based enablers that manage and track climate risks, logistics, farm management, IOU’s, price movements and other key indicators to maximise efficiency and minimise risk.

Only once we have such a system tested, proven and up and running, will our banks do the job they’re supposed to do. As the Irishinfluenced poet Robert Frost wrote, a bank is a place where they lend you an umbrella in fair weather and ask for it back when it begins to rain.

While banks provide important safeguards, the process leading to bank lending sometimes takes several months. Worldwide, nonperforming credit tend to be lower in the informal sector because parties within the value chain understand one another far better than the banks, who are outsiders, hobbled by inadequate knowledge, paralysed by fear of the known and oftentimes, it must be said, chastened by arrogance

Would the economy be sustained if the Irish Bank Crisis happened today? Probably even more so, given the multitude of alternative systems of exchange, information networks and distributed ledger systems such as blockchain.

While banks provide important safeguards, the process leading to bank lending sometimes takes several months. Worldwide, non-performing credit tend to be lower in the informal sector because parties within the value chain understand one another far better than the banks, who are outsiders, hobbled by inadequate knowledge, paralysed by fear of the known and oftentimes, it must be said, chastened by arrogance.

Nowhere are banks more neglectful of their duties than in Africa. Even the Irish Banks Standing Committee would blush for its modern-day peers on our financially bereft continent.

Less than three per cent of total bank lending in Africa goes to agriculture even though farmers account for 70 per cent of all employment and nearly 40 per cent of gross domestic product, according to the African Development Bank and the International Center for Tropical Agriculture.

With no indication of this gap shrinking any time soon, we agriculturalists must find more ways of establishing our own systems of trust outside the banking system.

Some of this is already happening through vendor credit financing. Machinery manufacturers and distributors are finding innovative

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PERSEPCTIVE

CPC versus Multichoice: Exploiting Consumers or Exploring Market NasomNgaro On Monday, 20th August 2018, the news of a court order halting MultiChoice’s recent price hike broke and since then, typically opinionated Nigerians took to various media platforms to argue for and against the order.

Many who argued for, felt that it was high time authorities stepped in to protect Nigerians from the apparent exploitation by MultiChoice which enjoys a dominant position in the Pay Tv industry, and which, according to one writer, has increased its prices by 55 per cent between 2009 and 2017.

Those who argued against, considered the injunction an interference with Nigeria’s “free market economy,” and asserted that the government has no business regulating pricing.

In an attempt to further clarify the court order, the Consumer Protection Council (CPC), at whose instance the federal government obtained the injunction, released a statement noting that the move was to protect consumers from conduct it considered potentially exploitative, obnoxious or unscrupulous. According to the statement, the Council, pursuant to its mandate under the Consumer Protection Council Act (CPCA), was investigating MultiChoice to determine whether the company had complied with the Council’s previous orders, and to address new issues arising from persistent complaints to the Council (from the public and the House of Representatives), which alleged that the company was exploiting consumers in Nigeria.

The CPC statement noted that,“in any inquiry under the CPCA, the question must be whether any entity or individual has engaged in conduct that constitutes an “obnoxious practice”, or “unscrupulous exploitation”. If any conduct is declared to be these, and such conduct has sufficiently distorted the market and redounded to the benefit of an entity or person at the expense of consumers, the objective, and or outcome of such conduct, is necessarily suspect and implicated under law whether it is price, market share, appearance, name or other features of a commodity or service. An Inquiry in this respect does not question whether a price is acceptable or excessive. It simply really examines conduct.”

CPC assured that “the investigation, or indeed the Council, did not intend to regulate price, or in any way interfere with the commercial interface between Multichoice and its customers in fixing price.”

Some consumers who felt exploited by MultiChoice commended the CPC. Curiously, some commentators still considered CPC’s approach and the Court Order as an attempt to fix price,and they argued that pricing was a forbidden terrain for any Nigerian authority to tread, because according to them, Nigeria operates a “free market economy”, and as such, any interference must be resisted. This argument only exposes the ignorance of its proponents. It is only in free markets that regulation occurs. Other than that, what we would have is imposition.

The theory being peddled, that a free market means no one is looking to ensure that there is fairness, no abuse, and that the market is truly free, is erroneous, entirely incorrect, and very dangerous.

Market is neither one-sided nor unilateral.

On the contrary, it is bilateral, sometimes, even multilateral. That is why it is called a market-a place where consensus is built, negotiated and agreed in the form of price or consideration.

That negotiation is not necessarily oral haggling, but a similar principle of some sort. As such, the vital element of consensus which is choice, remains the defining feature of any legitimate and transparent market, properly so called. The role of a regulator, or regulation is as the name conveys, to be a thermostat that essentially regulates the “temperature” of the market to ensure it is optimal. Anything short of that, would result in exactly what the critics argue against- imposition.

It is disingenuous for anyone to argue that what makes a market free is the ability of a seller to impose a price on buyers. The freedom and choice should exist both ways. Where a

DG CPC, Babatunde Irukera

seller is compelled to sell at a certain price, or a buyer optionless but to buy at a certain price, then there is no free market. Free market is not synonymous with a seller being predatory and a buyer having no choice.

There are certain conducts that have been globally accepted to operate against the interest of a free market. Some are monopoly, dominance, vertical and sometimes horizontal agreements, exclusive and tie-in contracts, transfer pricing, collusion and many others which together constitute obnoxious, unscrupulous or exploitative conduct.

Behaving in a manner consistent with any of these, distorts the market, and when the market is distorted, inappropriate conduct that is relevant to the outcome such as pricing is implicated. Such conduct must continue to be illegal, as it materially affects and prevents markets and prices from truly being free, freely negotiated and optimal. It leads to a market that is not free where the perpetrator of the inappropriate conduct imposes a price on the buyers. When this happens, consumer protection must either kick in, or be considered to be failing.

It is not true that pricing is always off limits.

Where necessary, governments world over have intervened to regulate unfair/exploitative pricing, and they will continue to do so.

Only this month in Botswana, did a Court declare that the Botswana Communications Regulatory Authority had the power to approve any increase in cable TV subscription fees. Similarly, Article 102 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) provides that, “any abuse by one or more undertakings of a dominant position within the internal market or in a substantial part of it shall be prohibited as incompatible with the internal market in so far as it may affect trade between Member States. Such abuse may, in

particular, consist in: (a) directly or indirectly imposing unfair purchase or selling prices or other unfair trading conditions”.

The present question is: Should a regulator which has a statutory mandate to address “obnoxious practices or the unscrupulous exploitation of consumers by companies, firms, trade association or individual”, fold its arms and do nothing if it has reasonable grounds to suspect that obnoxious practices or the unscrupulous exploitation of consumers is being perpetuated in any manner whatsoever, including pricing? No, I think not.

Any agency of government with a mandate to protect citizens, must explore all avenues available to it in the bid to truly protect. It is true that Nigeria has no competition authority with an express mandate to regulate pricing, however, to argue that in the absence of such, existing legalisation prohibiting inappropriate conduct is unenforceable, and Nigerians ought to be left vulnerable and at the mercy of unscrupulous and exploitative businesses, is a disturbingly wrong approach, and we should really be worried if the government or any of its agencies ever took that approach to their protection responsibilities.

The mandate of the CPC to protect consumers from “obnoxious practices or the unscrupulous exploitation”, did not make any exception for when the conduct or practice in question relates to pricing. Why then are we reading such an exception into the law?

In the usual fashion, Nigerians have admirably taken the investigation of whether MultiChoice is indeed exploitative upon themselves. They have researched and found that Nigerians pay relatively low DSTV subscription tariffs, when compared to other countries in which MultiChoice operates, and have, as result, concluded that no exploitation is happening, and that CPC is being meddlesome.

While the efforts are commendable, we must note that the question of exploitation does not end with a price comparison, attention should also be paid to purchasing power, market size, and other relevant factors.

A complex economic, market behavioural analysis is required for such a determination. I wonder if those who researched it also noted that while MultiChoice increased tariffs in Nigeria in August 2015 by about 20 per cent, the following year it reduced tariff prices in Ghana, Kenya, Botswana, Tanzania, Zimbawe and Uganda, by between 11 per cent and 21 per cent. The company said this was in recognition of the economic hardship those countries were experiencing.

However, it appears that MultiChoice paid no heed to economic hardships in Nigeria, because, in May 2017, during an officially declared economic recession, MultiChoice again increased its prices by five per cent.

In the same 2017, Multichoice again slashed its prices in Ghana and Kenya, by between 3.42 per cent and 30 per cent.

When in 2017, MultiChoice justified its price increases in Nigeria, by citing the hike in foreign exchange rate, one would expect that when the forex dropped we would see a reduction in prices, on the contrary, in August 2018, we have again witnessed price increases.

So, the mere fact that Nigerians pay a purportedly comparatively low tariff is not enough to rule out exploitation, more expert analysis needs to be done, to reach a determination on the issue. I dare say, that the pattern of behaviour in view, raises many questions, and thus warrants such an investigation as the CPC is conducting. And the court’s order to maintain status quo, is therefore appropriate.

In any case, if there is any legitimate challenge to this Court Order MultiChoice can, at appeal, express its concerns, rather than taking to the media to declare a lawful Court Order “an affront”. Such denigration of our judiciary is despicable.

That Nigerians expected a regulating agency to adopt a “siddon look” approach in this matter is not really surprising, it speaks to our history of regulatory inefficiency, however, now that we have a regulator that is alive to its responsibilities, we ought to let it do its job.

We should allow CPC to conclude its ongoing investigations, and then interrogate its findings.

If eventually, it appears as though the order was a malicious attempt to interfere in MultiChoice’s legitimate business activities, MultiChoice may approach the Court for an award of damages against the federal government.

If our government does not protect us from MultiChoice’s monopoly of the market, who should? It is true that StarTimes is also in the Nigerian Pay TV market, but it only competes with the low-end GOtv brand, while the high-end DStv brand has no competitor.

The presence of other players in a market does not defeat a monopoly or dominance argument. Markets are segmented in different ways to determine conduct in that market. In the absence of a competition authority that can effectively regulate the space, should the Federal Government allow Nigerians to be plundered? No, it must do what it can, within the ambit of existing laws, to ensure protection.

How long shall we continue like this? Nigeria is the biggest economy in the world without a competition law. I hope that this experience with MultiChoice would drive home the point to our legislative and executive institutions that they must work assiduously to ensure that we have an adequate competition authority in the nearest future.

While we work at achieving a robust competition regime, legitimate efforts by existing regulators to bridge the gap under prevailing law is not only welcome, but also laudable. We should commend such efforts for the ingenuity, doggedness and passion to protect, and encourage them to go on full steam because we all (critics and supporters alike) are the beneficiaries of their hard work.

Ngaro is a Senior Partner at N.R. Ngaro& Co

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Enforcing the Use of Pedestrian Bridges With the multiplicity in the number of pedestrian bridges in Lagos, some residents still shun the lifesaving public utility. Kayode Fasua Reports: Osayi Omoigui was sprightly and chirpy as she made to cross over a busy Lagos highway.

It was only 10 days to her wedding and the chummy air of celebration was palpable.

But she would never be the bride. Poor Osayi was knocked down by a hit-and-run driver as she reportedly made to run across the scary Berger Bus Stop’s portion of the Lagos-Ibadan expressway. She died instantly. At the period, there was no pedestrian bridge at the Berger portion of the road. That was in December 2014.

Elsewhere at the Ibeju-Lekki local council area of Lagos, an unidentified man whom eyewitnesses suspected must have either been drunk, tipsy or mentally deranged, was crushed beyond recognition by a fast-moving vehicle, when he reportedly swaggered on the main road, along Lekki-Epe Expressway. This occurred way back in September, 2016. An observer said we would never know what would have happened if a pedestrian bridge had been in place at the area in the era of the incident. Would the alleged drunk or cranky fellow have taken the option of using it to keep alive?

Early in 2017 as well, an excited masquerade made a final dance in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, by stylishly crossing over a busy highway. He was knocked down in a jiffy by a hit-and-run driver, who, by the act, had demystified the myth of extra-terrestrial personality of a masquerade.

Upon his election as governor in Lagos in 2015, those close to Governor Akinwumi Ambode said he was humane enough to take some of his aides round the danger-prone sections of virtually all Lagos highways, with a vow to construct a pedestrian bridge in each of them, “before the end of my first term in office.”

A source said the governor was particularly determined to fix first, the busy Berger Bus Stop with a dignifying pedestrian bridge. According to him, “the governor started his career in the Lagos civil service at the Public Works office, close to the Berger Bus Stop; and as a young man of 22 then, he could hardly stand the frequent outcries of people as a result of hit-and-run accidents that was the lot of that portion of the road.”

However, Ambode, from all indications, appears to have been driven by his resolve to save pedestrians’ lives on the Lagos roads through aggressive execution of pedestrian-bridge projects.

While the governor has embarked on the construction of no fewer than 30 pedestrian bridges in the last one year, he is also embarking on various multi-billion naira fly-over bridges across critical flashpoints in the Lagos megalopolis.

While speaking during an inspection tour of Toyota Bus Stop on the ever-busy Oshodi Apapa expressway, Ambode first looked straight ahead in deep contemplation, and then said, “I promise to do a pedestrian bridge at Toyota Bus Stop. The contractor handling the Airport Road will commence work on the pedestrian bridge and this road, next week, if you allow me.

That is why I have come here personally; I was here yesterday. I don’t want to inconvenience you, but I have come to appeal to you; just

bridge be patient with us; we will bring growth and development to this place.”

The pedestrian crusader that Ambode is, he has no fewer than 10 of such bridges under construction at the Lagos end of the LagosAbeokuta expressway, in a determined move to curb fatalities.

In the governor’s N1.04 trillion 2017 budget , for instance, he devoted 67 per cent of the financial plan to capital expenditure, of which his pet pedestrian bridges and vehicles’ fly-over bridges got a lion’s share.

However, while the Lagos governor appears to be doing his best to eliminate, if possible, fatalities arising from indiscriminate crossingover of highways through the construction of pedestrian bridges, how compliant are most Lagos residents in using the bridges?

A community leader and Secretary to the Council of Imams in Ikeja, Alhaji Adeshina Balogun, lamented the refusal of most pedestrians to use the over-head bridges, as they often shun them, opting to risk their lives by crossing over the road.

“Even, Governor Ambode went to the extent of using barbed wires to fence off stubborn pedestrians so as to force them to use the bridge and not kill themselves. But do you know that

some people still trek down to where the barbed fence terminates to cross over the road? Indeed, people are stubborn and the government has to make the penalty for failing to use the pedestrian bridge very stiff,” Balogun urged Expressing concern about this attitude too, Ambode, while commissioning the Berger pedestrian bridge early in the year, warned Lagos residents to take road safety seriously.

According to him, people need to make use of the pedestrian bridges rather than risk their lives by crossing over the express road.

He said, “The pedestrian bridge at Berger bus-stop along Lagos-Ibadan expressway has been completed and is now open for use.

We encourage Lagosians to make use of this pedestrian bridge rather than crossing the Express. We are committed to delivering on the promises we made to Lagosians.”

Meanwhile, the Lagos State House of Assembly recently attempted to hold the bull by the horn, as it passed fresh bills to deal with traffic offenders, especially those who shunned the use of a pedestrian bridge.

Moving a motion in that direction recently, Mr. Rotimi Olowo, representing Somolu Constituency 2, had informed members of the Assembly that many deaths could be avoided on the expressways

in the state, only if residents would utilise the pedestrian bridges.

Olowo said, “Despite the huge amount committed by the government to provide this infrastructure in their area, a lot of people still defy the use of the pedestrian bridge provided by government.”

However, a market woman at the popular Mile 12 Market in Lagos, Mrs. Morenike Adio, said she stopped using Lagos pedestrian bridges for two reasons. The first is that, “It is strenuous doing so, as it weakens my legs”. She gave her second reason as “I’m always feeling dizzy while on top of the bridge, as if something could make me fall over.”

“So what I always do is to watch carefully while crossing over the road,” Mrs. Adio said.

But puncturing such claims, a former Vice-Chairman of Ikeja Local Government and chieftain of the All Progressives Congress, Alhaji Abdulfatai Anifowose, asked, “Which is better between climbing a bridge and descending safely, and running across a road only to be killed by a fast-moving vehicle?”

Anifowose said Lagos residents were grateful for the live-saving pedestrian bridges of Governor Ambode and other of his road construction achievements.

Group Harps on Skill Acquisition The Association of Esan Professionals has stated that the recent graduation of Esan youths from Petroleum Training Institute (PTI), Effurun, Delta State will boost human development in Edo State.

In a statement signed by the association’s Secretary, Dr. Celey Okogun, the professionals stated that with international certification in welding and fabrication and the induction of another batch to commence a nine-month training, the Esanland capacity building and industrialisation championed by the association is taking the state to a greater level.

According to the statement, from inception in 2001, the Association of Esan Professionals (AEP) was clearly focused on empowering Esan people through rapid social and economic development of Esanland, mobilising and facilitating youths and human capital development as well as fostering the spirit of unity and a sense of oneness among all Esan people.

The statement quoted the founding President of AEP, Chief Lawson Omokhodion as saying that; “This vision combined with the desire to emancipate Esanland from

the vicious cycle of poverty inspired the institution of Esan Economic Empowerment Workshop (EEEW), a summit aimed at promoting economic revival and infrastructural development of Esanland.

On October 2, 2004, Ambrose Alli Hall, Ekpoma (Esan West L.G.A.) hosted the first ever EEEW under the chairmanship of Chief Anthony Enahoro.

With the theme: “Towards developing the investment opportunities in Esanland,” the association provided a platform for sharing best practices and cross-fertilization of ideas on how to deal with

critical developmental challenges facing Esanland,” The statement stated further that the EEEW was hosted in turns, on a rational basis by the five (5) Local Government Areas (LGA) that make up Esanland, namely; Esan West LGA, Ekpoma; Esan North East LGA, Uromi; Esan Central LGA, Irrua; Esan South East, Ubiaja; and Igueben LGA, Igueben respectively.

It added that from the above, it was conceptually expedient that the next five EEEWs, spanning over five years were devoted to agriculture, agribusiness and vocational investments.

It further stated that on the heels of the aforementioned potentials in Esanland, the 3rd EEEW in Irrua on September 30, 2006 sought to, among others, engage the local people, trade groups, the private sector and communities through dialogue to start the formal training to extension services;while also focusing on source of funding cooperative groups for development.

Titled ‘Implementing the Vision of Building Groups for Economic Empowerment using Cooperatives as Tools’, the workshop was said to have attracted over 1,000 participants

and about 42 cooperative societies including herdsmen from Northern Nigeria who live and engaged in cattle trading across major cities like Uromi and Ekpoma.

For this purpose, AEP set up five (5) committees, namely; Poultry Committee chaired by Mr. Emmanuel Ijewere; Cassava Committee chaired by Barr.

Matthew Egbadon; Welder/ Artisan Trade Association Committee chaired by Chief (Dr.) Leemon Ikpea; Pineapple Committee chaired by Mr. Godday Abumere; and Micro Finance Committee chaired by Chief (Dr.) Pascal Ebhohimen.

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Now, Women in Technology Startups Are Emerging Women are making some remarkable breakthrough in the Nigerian technology startup industry, Ugo Aliogo reports

The Nigerian technology startup industry is an industry dominated by men; but with increased awareness and interest, more women are coming into the industry and creating amazing technology solutions to address societal needs.

According to a study by Africa Renewal, a United Nations publication, it was noted that even in the most developed countries, the computer field is disproportionately dominated by men.

The study also noted that a 2012 US Department of Labour survey reported that women in the US comprised 30 percent of web developers, 25 percent of programmers, 37 percent of database administrators, 20 percent of software developers, and a little over 10 percent of information security analysts.

To put the issue in proper perspective, THISDAY spoke to the Co-founder and Vice President of Product Delivery Science, Dr. Oluwatoyin Oshinowo. Delivery Science is a technology startup that helps large organisations get data, visibility and control from the field.

Oshinowo said that the startup phenomenon is an ongoing activity because a lot of individuals have realised that the job market is not working for them, and the spaces available in the market may not appreciate an individual and his values. “Therefore, the individual realises this and decides to startup on their own,”she noted.

Her argument was hinged on the fact that there are more men in technology startups than women because, from a societal viewpoint, a man is seen as the breadwinner of the family, and as such, he has to invent technology-driven solutions and products to sell, in order fend for the family, “women on their part have this hustle mentality.”

Oshinowo argued that the presence of women in the technology startup is not new, because there is now searchlight being beamed on the technology space, and the place of women is now being seen. She also noted that in most startups, there is always a woman who is either a project manager or developer, adding that they prefer to stay behind the scene.

The viewpoint of the Co-founder, Piggy BankNG, Odunayo Eweniyi, is slightly different from Oshinowo’s. Eweniyi remarked that the industry has experienced an influx of women who are breaking grounds in the technology ecosystem.

She explained that it is an amazing time for the female folks who are aware of the gaps in the sector to work in bridging the gap. “We are seeing the rise of female-focused accelerators, and there’s a lot of push for gender balance

across technology. It’s a massive improvement from just a couple of years ago,” she noted.

From the standpoint of the Managing Director, Mines Nigeria, Adia Sowho, the argument is that the startups in Nigeria are not much, but that nonetheless, there are a few women in some of the technology driven startups companies.

She explained that working in the technology space does not necessarily imply that the individual has a technical background, stating that the number of women in the space is appreciable. “And they are making remarkable breakthroughs. I think when you get to more of technical roles, there is a shortage period; we don’t have enough men and women, really,” Sowho observed.

Driving Women Inclusion in Technology Startups In driving women’s inclusion in technology startups, Eweniyi posited that girls are often interested in technology, but face barriers in primary and secondary school and even in University and the workplace. She added that the first step is dismantling preconceived notions about what boys and girls can do and destroying the destructive concept that women don’t belong in technology.

“Then, we need to realise that there are women in the technology space. There is therefore, the need to encourage them to excel in order to mentor others. The only way to get more girls and women into technology is to show support to the existing ones so that they can pave the way for others. Don’t just add more women to your organisation, put women in positions of authority where they can be leaders and role models,” she noted.

Sowho also said in driving inclusion for women, there is the need for increased adoption and use of technology in every sector of the economy, in order to drive the interest of women in the technology space. She said, “Technology is the underlining enabler of every field. I think it is not enabling enough industries and when it starts enabling enough industries, we will start to see its penetration increase and we will see more women in that space. Technology is not one person’s problem; therefore, everyone needs to embrace it. I think both the private sector and government needs to champion continuous use of technology, especially when we are trying to create the infrastructure for a sector.”

From Oshinowo’s standpoint, the argument is that in the Western world, there are organisations that focus on women led startups in order to support and grow these startups. She explained that if government is committed in making the technology space attractive to women, it has

to start from secondary schools.

Oshinowo further advised that government should make the Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) subjects more interesting for students to study. “You will be able to bring in more women into the space. I don’t think there is a challenge confronting women in the technology space. First and foremost, I think it is the interest in technology-driven subjects should be nurtured,” she stated.

Challenges Facing Women in the Technology Startup Space Eweniyi explained that the technology industry is hindered by unconscious biases that warp perceptions, which she noted is a major problem, adding that the sector would continue to lose top talents “and remain one-sided if we don’t make significant progress in changing the ratios.”

She also stated that by several measures, the industry is stagnating or even moving backwards especially in achieving greater equity for women, adding that diversity and inclusion are not just buzzwords; they should be actual realities that must be considered first, “second, people must begin to address the unconscious biases in their hiring processes.”

In her response, Sowho remarkedthat one of the challenges confronting women is limited opportunities, stating that if the opportunities available for the women, they would make use of it. She explained that once the woman is free to pursue an education, and they are able to recognise the presence of other women in those spaces, more women would naturally come into such spaces.

Sowho said, T”here are some smart women doing technical roles. Therefore, if the opportunities are there and the environment permits women to come in, they will be able to work. I think when people are hiring, they should find it significant to hire women in order to bring about diversity in thinking and make their solution more robust. Women don’t need any special training to be in technology, the training for men is the same as the one for women. What is important is the work environment; if it is the work environment welcomes them more women will come. But what you have in other environment is that it is male-dominated and it is not attractive to women.”

Internet Penetration in Africa and the Rise of Women Technology Experts According to Africa Renewal, despite the growth of internet usage in Africa over the last decade, about 10 percent of the continent has access to the internet. The report which was conducted by the Internet World Stats said

the low diffusion on the continent is certain to hinder efforts by efforts by Africans especially girls to becoming coding professionals.

Eweniyi said while internet penetration in Africa has been gathering pace over the past five years, there has been a long way to go, adding it stands at 21.8 percent of the population – much lower than other continents. She also stated that Nigeria is trying to meet up and there is hope the industry would get it right with more focused and deliberate efforts.

For Sowho, the viewpoint is slightly different; her argument is that in using internet the focus is mainly on affordability. She noted that to subscribe for an internet service, an individual must be able to afford it and understand why using the internet is of benefit to the individual.

She added that the use cases needs to be there for people to get on the internet, noting that if the use cases are not there, the internet penetration would remain very low, “it is a combination of affordability of the phone, access to the internet and usability.”

Oshinowo said in the area if internet penetration in the Africa, the focus should be on the infrastructure, adding that most of the individuals on the continent gain to access to the internet are through mobile and added the power outage in Nigeria has not been sorted out.

She explained that running most of the mobile towers, companies spend so much on liquefied natural gas at an exorbitant rate, stating that another factor that would help the service providers justify the commercial expense of the mobile tower and keep it open, they have to examine the number of individuals in a particular area who are subscribers to such services.

According Oshinowo, “So what inevitably happens is that in those areas where they don’t have many individuals, they don’t put towers in there because they cannot commercially justify the expense of having a tower. Internet penetration in areas where you don’t have many people is non-existent. Let’s look at the ISPs, distribution is a major problem in this country. In solving the problem, we need to address the power problem in the country that brings down the cost of maintaining the towers.

“Once we have addressed that we can then talk about putting these towers in places that don’t have it. To increase internet penetration in the country, it does not have to come from the companies. It has to be a government led initiative. I don’t think our government is forward thinking when it comes to technology.”

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Adebowale: Why Nigeria’s Refineries Should be Functional The state of inertia, under which the Nigerian refineries now reel, has always been a source of concern to many economic experts. In this interview the President, Certified Institute of Purchasing and Supply Administrators of Nigeria, Dr. Mufutau Adebowale, suggests the way out. Kayode Fasua presents the excerpts: The general belief is that our refineries are in bad shape and if repaired, are no longer sustainable. Do you share this view?

That’s a cock and bull story, a big lie. All our refineries are in near perfect condition, if not in perfect order. All that is required is for the career engineers in the NNPC to effect minor repairs and we are good to go. During the tenure of President Jonathan, scarcity of fuel was common because the refineries were kept comatose, making local refining of fuel impossible. As a result, we had to depend on importation, and because the naira was fluctuating against the foreign currencies, particularly dollar, the prices of fuel were not stable. But ‘in order to be helping the masses’, they made the government to be paying a fraction of the cost of the fuel which they described as fuel subsidy. This was indeed a big waste and a channel for the ‘fat rats’ in the NNPC and the Petroleum Ministry to siphon money.

I stood up against this and wrote series of letters to President Jonathan, urging him to pay special attention to the activation of our refineries. The following month, precisely March 2012, the production capacity rose at our refineries by 70 percent. That means the refineries had not damaged as the public was made to know. Same thing happened when Buhari came in. So, after the refineries came alive, the powerful people, the cabal, ensured deliberate neglect of the refineries and we had to start importing fuel again. Along the line, the government was paying subsidy to oil importers. When our refineries are working, we don’t import and the government does not have any cause to pay for any subsidy.

Recall that the Minister of State for Petroleum, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu, at a time wrote a letter to the President to complain of how some contracts valued at $25bn were allegedly awarded by the NNPC Group Managing Director, without recourse to him. Do you see the cabal at work here?

Well, the Minister of State, Kachikwu, is even lucky that his letter was leaked and exposed. That means it had been read and assimilated. What about me? I have written series of letters to President Muhammadu Buhari through those who are close to him, on how to make our refineries work, but I have not got any acknowledgement till date.

When Buhari was still President-elect in 2015 and there was serious fuel scarcity at the tail end of President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration, I personally sent a letter to

who want to make noise, they get them retired prematurely. I am saying this with a knowledge of hindsight in the Nigerian oil industry. By the grace of God, to have risen to the position of president in the Certified Institute of Purchasing and Supply Administrators of Nigeria. I definitely have seen a lot; a lot of how the purchase of needful equipment for oil installations had been frustrated through administrative bottlenecks and other devious means.

When the powerful people in the oil industry became jittery that pressure was too much on government to bring the refineries back on stream. They, for instance, advised government during the time of Jonathan to sell off the refineries. Their aim was to buy the refineries and start selling refined oil to the country and still control the importation of oil, depending on their assessment of the global market. Immediately I got wind of this, I did a letter to Jonathan and told him not to sell the refineries but use our local engineers and technicians to handle the refineries. The President then acted according to my advice and five weeks after, we achieved 60 percent capacity utilisation at the refineries. This was commendable on the part of former President Jonathan.

Adebowale

Buhari on how he could hit the ground running and what to do to end fuel scarcity. I sent the letter by courier on April 21, 2015, through the Emir of Daura, the monarch of his community. I also wrote another one through the powerful Arewa Consultative Forum. I told him what to do to make the refineries work and truly, 11 days after he assumed office, Port Harcourt refineries and others resumed full operation. Meaning that he got my letter but there was no acknowledgement or ‘thank you.’ I am not happy about that.

Coming back to the issue of NNPC, I will be surprised if Kachikwu is not frustrated out of the Petroleum Resources Ministry because the corporation he’s battling with has

a powerful cabal that dictates the economy of the country. This same cabal has not allowed our refineries to function and is behind the sustained importation of refined fuel.

So if the refineries are in good shape, how can the cabal stand in their way, preventing them from functioning?

Thank you. This is very simple. The method often used by the NNPC cabal in sustaining the wasteful culture of fuel importation is to frustrate our experienced, indigenous engineers out of the refineries. They would simply transfer them to other departments where they will be far removed from the refineries. For those who are stubborn and

And what is the way forward?

The solution is not far-fetched. Government should call back the redeployed or sacked good engineers and technicians formerly at the refineries. They should let the old engineers having peculiar experience of our refineries be allowed to work there.

This will ensure constant production of fuel locally. When fuel is produced locally in Nigeria, its price at the consumer level could be as low as N30 per litre for petrol. Again, there will be no need to pay any subsidy on fuel at all. Besides, foreign reserves will not be expended on importation of fuel. Why importing fuel and spending our foreign reserves, thereby causing more problems for the government?

It is important to understand that presidents come and go. But the career officers in the oil industry remain. And they give advice to successive administration. We had Olusegun Obasanjo, Umaru Yar’Adua, Jonathan and now, we have Buhari; and people are fond of directing blames at the previous presidents without looking at the direction of the powerful career officers in the oil industry who are behind all the problems. It is time to take the bull by the horn.

Funke Akindele Now Keystone Bank Children in Ebola-affected DR Congo Brand Ambassador Head Back to School Nume Ekeghe Keystone Bank Limited, has signed Nollywood actress and producer, Mrs. Funke Akindele Bello popularly known as ‘Jenifa’ as its official brand ambassador.

By virtue of this partnership, Akindele would prominently represent the Keystone Bank brand and feature heavily in the lender’s marketing campaigns and consumer-focused strategies, while leveraging her large followership and popularity that cuts across socio-economic classes and age groups to further deepen the

brand’s growing impression in the market.

Speaking during the contract signing ceremony at the bank’s head office in Lagos, a statement quoted the Group Managing Director/CEO of Keystone Bank Limited, Dr. Obeahon Ohiwerei, to have said, “The bank will explore every good platform to deepen it’s strength in the retail and youth segment.

The Nigerian entertainment industry is driven largely

by SMEs and is growing exponentially, positioning the nation globally and positively impacting our GDP.

“We are extremely pleased to partner with a hardworking entrepreneur like Jenifa who is also a role model to a wide spectrum of youths and people from all walks of life.

This partnership aligns with our corporate objective of supporting SMEs and empowering enterprising women, through our PINK account and network.”

Commenting on the development, Akindele revealed her excitement at being the bank’s choice which according to her, “is a great institution that is fast making its marks in the sector.”

As the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) gears up for the upcoming academic year – with some 250 schools in Ebola-affected health zones – the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) is scaling up education; health and water; sanitation; and hygiene programmes to assist children and their teachers.

“Education is…essential for children to develop to their full potential. Especially in times of crisis such as an Ebola outbreak, schools are vital for children to find stability, learn prevention measures and receive psychosocial support,” UNICEF Representative in

the DRC, Dr. Gianfranco Rotigliano said, following his visit to Mangina, the epicentre of the latest Ebola outbreak.

The government of the DRC recently made the decision to proceed as planned with the start of the school year in the affected provinces of North-Kivu and Ituri, in the vast country’s eastern region, with more than 82,500 children getting ready.

“Every effort must go into ensuring a smooth and safe start to the new school year,” he added.

Principals and teachers will be trained on Ebola prevention and protection, and on how to

teach children good hygiene practices to avoid the virus spreading.

To ensure schools in the 250 schools in the affected health zones are prepared for early detection and response, UNICEF is distributing supplies, including laser thermometers, hand washing units and prevention posters.

Meanwhile, according to the UN refugee agency, violence continues to escalate in eastern DRC, forcing massive displacements and putting millions at risk.

In recent weeks, the disease has killed more than 60 people and infected dozens more.

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Edo Donates Relief Materials to Communities Affected by Windstorm Edo State Government has donated relief materials to communities affected by windstorm in Esan West and Owan West local government areas of the state.

The Special Adviser to Governor Godwin Obaseki on Special Duties, Hon. Yakubu Gowon, handed over the relief materials on behalf of the state government to chairmen of the two local councils in Benin City, the state capital.

Gowon said the governor had earlier extended similar gesture to some communities in other local government areas in the state where windstorm wreaked havoc three months ago. He explained that Obaseki has fulfilled the promise he made shortly after the disaster, to assist the affected communities.

“This is a continuous exercise; as at date, we have donated relief materials to communities in about 12 local government areas and we have been receiving letters of appreciation from the beneficiaries.

“While some states in the country that experienced similar disaster are still waiting for the support of the federal government, the Edo State government has gone ahead to render assistance to these communities,” he said.

Receiving the items, the chairmen of the councils commended the Obaseki-led administration for bringing succour to the affected persons.

The Chairman of Owan West Council, who was represented

by Mr. George Ohioma, assured that committees would be set up to oversee the distribution of the items as directed by the state government. The Chairman of Esan West LGA, represented by Osborn Elimhele said “we are happy about the intervention from the state government and we will ensure that the affected people get the materials.”

The relief materials include roofing sheets, bags of cement, ceiling boards and bags of nails.

Meanwhile, as part of ongoing efforts to improve quality education by leveraging Information Communication Technology (ICT), the Edo State Government has partnered SAP, an international software company, on a two-day digital literacy workshop for 500 secondary school teachers across the state.

The government is organising the training tagged Digital Literacy Workshop through its Information Communication Technology Agency (ICTA).

It will hold from August 30 to 31, at the ICT Agency CBT Centre, Government Secretariat Building, High Court Road, Benin City.

Director, Edo State Information Communication Technology Agency, Yuwa Naps, in a statement, noted that the workshop is being put together by the agency and the Post Primary Education Board in partnership with SAP, West Africa. He added that Governor Obaseki will be on ground to launch the training.

NARSDA Diversifying Beyond Space Exploration’ Kayode Fasua Consequent upon the launch of the NigeriaSat-2 and NigeriaSat-X satellites, the National Agency for Space Research and Development (NARSDA) has said it is implementing a number of satellite-based projects that are strategic to national development.

In a statement by NARSDA’s Director General, Prof.

Seidu Mohammed, the agency stated that its contribution to national development has now been diversified beyond space exploration.

The statement, issued through the agency’s spokesman, Dr. Felix Ale, noted, “These specifically in the areas of boosting sustainable food production, resources inventory and management, ecological and disaster management.

Mohammed stressed that the NigeriaSat-2 and NigeriaSat –X images are currently being used locally and internationally for things like, the development of Landuse/Landcover map of Nigeria at a scale of 1: 50,000; development of early warning systems for food security; development of detailed soil map/soil information system; the development of essential maps for national security; satellite images to

support to the Armed Forces and national security for the Nigerian peace-keeping missions all over the world.

He added that the satellitebased projects could also serve in other localised activities such as flood disaster monitoring and management.

On NASRDA’s rocketry programme, the DG said it was tailored towards civilian use, noting, “In particular, the programme is designed to deliver scientific payload to altitude of interes, and presently, the team has achieved a launch capability of 20km.

Meanwhile, the agency has said it recently evolved an intrusion detection and alert system to counter some prevailing cybercrimes.

“This is a security system for intrusion detection and alert. It detects intrusion in an unauthorised place and sends intrusion alerts (SMS / Calls) wirelessly to relevant pre-programmed personnel’s mobile phone for immediate action.

“It is equipped with peripherals such as internal microphone for reaching back remotely to the environment.

It also uses a GSM SIM which makes it possible that only the provider/user of the SIM can operate the device.

“It is an essential instrument for crime deterrent,” the agency stressed.

WFP Provides Lifeline to New IDPs Ugo Aliogo While food security across conflict-affected areas of Nigeria’s northeast has improved over the past years, the World Food Programme (WFP) remains focused on meeting the urgent needs of the steady flow of newly displaced people, the outfit has said.

The body noted that many Internally displaced Persons (IDP) arrived from areas that remain inaccessible to humanitarian organisations.

According to a statement made available to THISDAY by the Communications Associate, Communications,

Advocacy and Marketing, WFP, Adedeji Ademigbuji, the WFP had recognised the support of donors for its food assistance activities in the northeast.

The statement also noted that Canada, European Commission (ECHO), Finland, Switzerland, the United Kingdom (DFID), the United States (USAID), and private donors contributed to WFP Nigeria in 2018.

Ademigbuji in the statement, said to continue its emergency operation in northeast Nigeria, WFP urgently required US$ 100 million to provide emergency food assistance, prevent malnutrition in young children and pregnant and

breastfeeding women, and support livelihoods and retain flexibility to respond to further displacement through March 2019.

The statement said, “Many new arrivals in the camp, particularly the young, are malnourished. This is the lean season, when the year’s food reserves are depleted. Those in the worst condition tend to come from villages where it is unsafe for humanitarian organisations to operate and food is scarce.

Currently, some 800,000 people in these remote areas are thought to be cut off from any aid assistance.

“The school hall in the camp now serves as a warehouse and distribution point for food trucked in by WFP. “Bulis Ntasiri, Food Security Officer with WFP’s implementing partner, Danish Refugee Council (DRC), is preparing food for a group of about 50 women who have just arrived with their children.

“Each family receives a monthly ration of cereals, pulses, salt and vegetable oil.

Children under five, women who are pregnant or breastfeeding, also receive extra nutrition in the form of super-cereal that has been fortified with vitamins and minerals.”

Educate Girls and Women to Customs Boss Orders Probe into Boost Equality Alleged Breach of Clearance Procedures Government policies have institutions, such as supreme boosted women’s participation in the work force. But women still make up a smaller percentage of the labor force than men in most countries. Of the many policies available, such as education and legal rights, which ones provide the most “bang for the buck” to reduce inequality between men and women?

Therefore, an IMF study showed that policies that narrow gender gaps between men and women in education have paid off the most in all regions.

By analyzing data from 1980-2014, the study found that education contributed more to narrowing the gender gap in North America—by 47 percentage points—than in any other region, because the average years of women’s total schooling is much higher.

Europe and Central Asia lowered the gap by more than 41 percentage points. East Asia and the Pacific reduced the gap by more than 35 percentage points. South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa have the potential to catch up, both currently at 16 percentage points each.

When comparing regions, most have also been able to narrow the labor force participation gap by more than 10 percentage points on average, through their legal institutions and equality in legal rights for women, during the time frame studied. Strong legal

courts, parliaments, and heads of state, as measured by the control of corruption, and the economic risk rating of a country, played a role in increasing female labor force participation.

Equal legal rights for women, specifically equal inheritance rights, also served to reduce the gap in these countries. The Middle East and North Africa is an exception, as this region still faces a relatively high number of legal restrictions against women.

Infrastructure—in particular, improving sanitation facilities —can play a large role in less developed countries.

Improved facilities, including access to running water and electricity, results in less time needed to spend on household work, and more opportunity to join the labor market. South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa have potential to catch up with the other regions.

While a lot of progress has been made in recent years to reduce gender gaps, women still do not participate in the work force at the same rate as men in most countries. A woman’s access to education, social and financial services, and legal rights remains limited at best, especially in emerging markets and low-income countries.

These differences result in less economic power for women, lower savings and pensions, and lower growth and economic development in these countries.

James Emejo in Abuja The Comptroller-General of Customs (CGC), Col. Hameed Ibrahim Ali (Rtd) has ordered investigation into all allegations of breaches of the Customs Import Clearance Procedure as set out in its extant law/ statute books.

This followed recent seizures of Military hard wears by operatives of the Service.

Ali has further inaugurated an investigation panel under the Chairmanship of Assistant Comptroller General (ACG) Sanusi Umar, to conduct thorough investigation with a view to fishing out all those connected to the unholy importations.

According to a statement issued by the Customs spokesman, Deputy Comptroller, Joseph Attah, the CGC had while inaugurating the committees said, “even though preliminary investigations have led to the arrest of five persons including the importer of both consignments, it is imperative that a painstaking investigation is conducted to unravel all those who are remotely connected to the criminal importations with a view to punishing offenders and preventing reoccurrence.”

Officers and Men of the NCS Federal Operations Unit, Zone ‘C’ and Operatives of the Onne Area II Command

Port-Harcourt had at different times within the last one month intercepted a (2X40ft) containers, MRSU 3040288 and MRKU 4909151 found to contain Military Camouflages and other items on the 27th July 2018 and 16th August 2018 respectively.

While the first interception was found to contain 11 bales, each containing 400 pairs of new set of military camouflage uniform totaling 4400 sets, the second interception was found to contain 620 sets of completely sewn military camouflage uniform and caps, 10,100 pieces of inner military T-Shirts, 512 pairs of military jungle boots contrary to Schedule 4(13) of the ECOWAS Common External Tariff which falls under Absolute Prohibition and Section 46(b) of Customs and Excise Management Act (CEMA).

However, the panel has the mandate to investigate and establish the full facts of the case in relation to the importation of both containers (MRSU 3040288 and MRKU 4909151).

It will also seek to identify all parties involved in the unholy importations and establish their degree of culpabilities as well as profile all importation previously made by the sole importer or his cronies with the intent of discovering if possibly, this has been a trend.

T H I S D AY ˾ , AUGUST 30, 2018

36

HEALTH & LIFESTYLE

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Battling Cancer Misdiagnosis Ayodeji Ake looks at the life of 34-year-old Mary Abia, a visually impaired breast cancer patient, who could have been hale and hearty today if medical personnel did not misdiagnose her condition

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t is no longer news that one of the biggest healthcare challenges in Nigeria is misdiagnosis, which often results in patients being treated for an ailment different from what they are suffering from. In many cases, the patients pay the ultimate price for such professional error. This is the lot of Mary Abia, a visually impaired 34-year-old woman.

The Lagos resident had in 2016 noticed a boil in one of her breasts and gone to one of the hospitals on Lagos Island to get proper diagnosis. The examination was done, and the doctor declared it was a fibrotic growth.

Abia, who is now on stage-four breast cancer, and presently on palliative care, told THISDAY that such declaration by the medical doctor was the genesis of her current condition. But she still hopes her situation is not beyond God. Misdiagnosis Abia said when she approached the doctor, he asked to see the breast and after examination, told her he was going to need a small needle, which cost N22, 000, to collect a sample from the growth to complete the diagnosis. She said, “I was then given an appointment for next week to come with the money. He collected the money by morning, left the hospital and came back by evening while I was still waiting. He told me he went to buy the needle, which he eventually used to collect the sample.

“By the time I came back the next week for the result, he said the machine was faulty.

The following week when I went back, he said the result showed fibrotic growth, and that I would go through a surgical operation to determine the exact issue, as his machine was not saying the right thing.”

Abia, who spent about N200, 000 for the surgery, said she was discharged a day after, even while she complained about uncontrolled bleeding. When all hope seemed lost, she commenced self-medication at home, while believing that God would heal her.

After-effect As days went by, her case continued to deteriorate and her breast tissues began to fall off. She went to the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH), where she was eventually diagnosed with breast cancer. It was information that came rather too late.

Abia said, “I was then immediately placed on chemotherapy twice a week, and this cost me N55,000 every week and I had to stop when I could no longer afford it. By the time I went back to LASUTH in January, my limbs were swollen. I didn’t know what next to do.

My sister has been there for me, but the cost of treatment is overwhelming.”

Abia’s cancer is on stage-four; the last cancer stage, which means she can only live on palliative care until a miracle occurs.

Intervention Speaking on the development, Chief Executive Officer, Care Organisation Public Enlightenment (COPE), a foundation that caters for such patients, Mrs. Ebun Anozie, expressed sadness that Abia’s case had gone beyond what could be treated, and she can only be put on palliative care to suppress the pain.

According to Anozie, “I have told them the truth because in situations like this, you don’t hide it. All they can do for her is palliative care. It is a treatment that won’t make her feel the pain and they will continue to treat her until the time comes, because it is now on stage four.

“Government should up their game because people are dying. The healthcare system should also be upgraded because not everyone in

Misdiagnosis of breast cancer can be prevented

Nigeria can afford to go abroad for treatment.”

Anozie, while lamenting the high cost of cancer treatment, called on pharmaceutical organisations to help reduce the prices of breast cancer drugs. She said, “I am appealing to pharmaceutical organisations to reduce the cost of breast cancer drugs, as some medication are as high as N700,000 and the patient may be required to buy up to 13 doses.”

Prevention On the prevention of cancer, Anozie urged Nigerians to go back to natural foods, instead of processed meals, adding that people should shun lifestyles that predispose them to cancer.

Government should up their game because people are dying. The healthcare system should also be upgraded because not everyone in Nigeria can afford to go abroad for treatmen

She added, “We should maintain a heart of forgiveness, as unforgiveness breeds various diseases because of the venom it contains.

People should exercise more, take a lot of water, but stop or minimise intake of cold water and other coloured drinks, among others.”

Partnership On what she was doing on her part to reduce the burden of breast cancer, Anozie said COPE had created a Wall of Fame tagged “The Big 10 Sponsors”, meant for the public to appreciate the partnerships that have been made in the fight against breast cancer in Nigeria. She noted that an annual contribution of N1 million by a company or organisation can make a positive difference in the lives of 333 Nigerian women at an individual cost of N3, 000 for a breast ultrasound scan screening.

“Under the Wall of Fame campaign, members of staff and customers will be beneficiaries; women will equally have the opportunity to get screened, regardless of their location and socio-economic status,” she said. “With this initiative, the perception that cancer is a death sentence will be a thing of the past, as early detection gives a better chance of survival. Prompt screening with efficiency is assured. It will also help develop standards and tools to guide the planning and implementation of interventions for prevention, early diagnosis, screening,

treatment and palliative care.”

Appeal to Banks, Organisations Anozie went on to appeal to banks to key into the cancer prevention and treatment initiative.

“For instance, if a bank keys into this, apart from giving the vouchers to customers to use, female bank staff can also use the voucher for their screening. It does not necessarily mean that a customer must have breast cancer before the voucher is given to a customer as a thank you gift.”

Anozie further appealed to other private organisations to key into the concept as a means of giving back to the society and saving the lives of people transacting business with them. She noted, “If they are not alive and healthy, they can’t do business with you. So that is just the essence. But if they are alive and healthy, they can do business with you.

A token of N3, 000 to your client is nothing compared to what the people have invested into your organisation.”

She added that for Nigerians who might not be patronising any of the fortune companies or organisations, they could benefit from COPE’s monthly breast ultrasound scan, which takes place every first Saturday of the month.

“For good 16 years, we did it free for women. I believe that if I can afford aso-ebi, I can afford an ultrasound scan with just a thousand naira to get my breast examined,” the advocate against breast cancer said.

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T H I S D AY Ëž , AUGUST 30, 2018

NEWS

Low Cost Services for Women, Children, Adolescent on Basic Health, Nutrition Stories by Martins IďŹ jeh The Minister of Health, Professor Isaac Adewole has announced that the federal government is committed to ensuring all Nigerians, particularly women, children and adolescents facing some of the most challenging circumstances, have access to basic health and nutrition services at the lowest cost possible.

The minister made this known recently at a forum put together by the Nigerian government, Global Financing Facility (GFF) and Partners, in Abuja, to co- finance efforts towards improving the health and nutrition of the poorest women, children and adolescents in the country.

Adewole said: “The GFF has created a new sense of awareness that we must put our money on the table for

these essential investments in our people and use them in even smarter ways and that is something that has not been done before. “Nigeria being the most populous country in Africa was facing big challenges; We are the single largest contributor to the global annual number of mortality rate; infant and child mortality rates are unacceptably high; total fertility rates have remained stubbornly high and has worsened nutrition outcomes in children as well as immunisation rates, especially among the poorest children.�

To this end, the minister expressed regret that such challenges had hugely outpaced government spending on health and nutrition, coupled with government spending in recent years being unable to reach those

who needed them most, and doing little to reduce high and impoverishing out -ofpocket spending on health by poor Nigerians.

Adewole maintained that the grant from the GFF would co-finance early implementation of the Basic Health Care Provision Fund (BHCPF) with funds mobilised from the government and other contributors, starting in three states: Abia, Niger and Osun.

Following the start-up phase, the minister revealed that the federal government would provide most of the financing for the scale-up to the remaining 33 states and

the Federal Capital Territory.

Also speaking, the Director of the GFF, Mariam Claeson, said that Nigeria’s commitment to sustainably financing health and nutrition was a beacon for other countries, as they worked closely with the GFF to make sure the investment they made lasted for years to come. ‘’The government of Nigeria will make an enormous difference in the lives of millions of Nigerians by making a lasting investment in the health and nutrition of women, children and adolescents-the foundation of the society and the economy’’

In his remarks, the World Bank Country Manager for Nigeria, Rachid Benmessaoud, said that the government of Nigeria, with the support of the GFF, the World Bank and other partners were catalysing real change for the people of Nigeria. “This investment in human capital will pay dividends in lives saved and improved and help build a stronger and more prosperous economy,� he noted.

He said GFF was investing a total of 47 million dollars in Nigeria, linked to 350 million dollars in funding from the International Development

Association and the World Bank’s fund for the poorest countries, which had focused on scaling-up health services in North-east, Nigeria and accelerating nutrition results for women, children and adolescents in the country.

The GFF is a multistakeholder partnership that is helping countries tackle the greatest health and nutrition issues affecting women, children and adolescents. GFF is supported by governments of Canada, UK, Denmark, Japan, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and Norway.

‘Lack of Viable Drug Revolving Fund Threatens National Security’ The Association of Hospital and Administrative Pharmacists of Nigeria (AHAPN), has expressed concern over the lack of viable Drug Revolving Fund (DRF) in hospitals across the country, adding that this is capable of compromising national security.

Stating this in a communiquĂŠ at the 20th Annual National Scientific Conference of the association held in Rivers State recently, and made available to THISDAY, it said if the DRF is put in place, patient satisfaction with healthcare delivery will be ensured, while prescribers and dispensers will also have job satisfaction leading to fewer brain drains, with medical tourism drastically reduced.

The communiquĂŠ reads in part: “Any Drug Revolving Fund scheme allowed to operate without depletion of funds or decapitalisation is also guaranteed to generate revenue for the health institution. “The operational guidelines for DRF include provision of adequate take off capital, appropriate training of all operators, setting up of a DRF Committee, maintaining separate accounts with the Head of Department of Pharmacy as mandatory signatory, protecting the integrity of the DRF, and abiding by cost recovery policy, among others. “The goal of the National Drug Policy (NDP) is to make drug available, qualitative, affordable, and effective at all times to the Nigerian populace, in other to ensure the

rational use of such drugs, and to stimulate increased local production of essential drugs.�

The conference concluded that for NDP to be effective, part of the strategies for its implementation include the DRF, drug selection, price policy, drug distribution and storage, among others.

The communiquĂŠ also called on government at all levels to ensure that viable DRF schemes are put in place in all state and federal hospitals, adding that they should be mandated to operate along the guidelines in order to reap the maximum benefits from the scheme. “Some of the barriers to implementing pharmaceutical care in Nigeria include pharmacist’s attitude and resistance to change; education and training; health systems barriers; and remuneration. “We therefore enjoin all pharmacists to embrace pharmaceutical care as an add-on to traditional roles.

Despite the identified barriers, all pharmacists must arm themselves with the relevant advanced knowledge and skills,� the communiquÊ noted.

At the end of the conference, a total of eight scientific papers were presented on a range of research topics by hospital and administrative pharmacists across the country, while the second edition of the association’s journal rebranded The Health System Pharmacist, was unveiled at the opening ceremony.

PARTNERSHIP AGAINST DYSMENORRHEA

Cross section of members of Endometriosis Support Group of Nigeria (ESGN) and sta of Nigeria Institute for Medical Research (NIMR), during the signing of memorandum of understanding to address dysmenorrhea, held in Lagos recently ĆźÇ?Ç?DŽljǎ Ç Ç„Ç…Ç€Çƒ

IDHS to Boost Nigeria’s Healthcare with Digital Solution Integrated Digital Healthcare Services (IDHS) Limited is set to boost the Nigerian healthcare space with digital online platform that helps patients seek healthcare services directly from medical personnel in the comfort of their homes.

Stating this at a press briefing in Lagos recently to announce the debut of the digital platform in Nigeria, Founder, IDHS, Elizabeth Nwaka Adesina, said this is the first web- based healthcare platform in West Africa involved in online text, audio and video health consultation with a global pool of medical doctors and other healthcare practitioners both in United Kingdom, United States and Nigeria.

Eweka-Adeshina said the platform allows for easy referral of patients to specialist doctors and other medical practitioners, hospitals, pharmacists and diagnostic centres.

“The platform also has selfcare modules to support those with chronic health conditions like Diabetes, Hypertension, Kidney disease, Arthritis, Asthma and others. “There is also health insurance policy for seamless end-toend healthcare service via our platform and prescriptions are issued by medical doctors on the platform. There are also support features for pregnant women and those requiring support to conceive. ‘Users have access to a global pool of medical doctors to gain, share and transfer medical knowledge. There are also multiple payment options via the platform which also help to plug leakages that occur with cash payments. “ Also, users who don’t physically require an examination can have a consultation online. Following consultation online, the patient can be

directed to the right place for follow up care,� she said.

Eweka-Adeshina explained that in conjunction with major players in the health sector such as the Federal Ministry of Health, the IDHS services would be readily available and affordable at all functional Primary Health Centres (PHCs) nationwide. “The protection of all users on our platform is very important to us. We are able to confirm that we have deployed several measures to reduce the risk of fraud and unveil any potential fraud on IDHS. Healthwise, all medical practitioners are thoroughly vetted before their accounts are activated; we use only the most secure, encrypted payment gateways through our financial service provision partners. “Furthermore, our server is hosted with the most secure provider in the world, we

use additional protection and encryption of user information, 2 to 3 tiers user identification verification and the list goes on.�

She said the platform offers lots of free, value adding features like mental health support, support and advisory services for pregnant women, adding that fertility support and birth control advisory services, symptom checker and self-care for those who are affected by long term illness like hypertension, diabetes, cancer and others. “Furthermore, we provide an ecosystem through which in-country doctors can partner with and collaborate with global doctors seamlessly and make referrals on the platform. “We have stellar track record, also having launched in the UK and UAE to good reception and are currently in continuing partnership talks with the relevant authorities in these regions.

Boska Kicks off Pain Free Day Initiative in Ilorin As part of efforts to improve the health of Nigerians, major pain killer company, DexaMedica, makers of Boska, has kicked off its Pain Free Day (PFD) initiative in Ilorin, Kwara State.

The initiative is an opportu-

nity for residents of Ilorin to meet health experts and get full range of health services, including free focal glasses for eye correction, ear and nose defects, health awareness on how to live stress-free, among others. According to the Brand

Executive, Boska, Uche Ovuike, the PFD was designed to help consumers stay fit as they go about their daily work.

She said: “Many Nigerians engage in strenuous work in a bid to keep afloat in the current economic situation,

hence the need to provide drugs and health information free of charge to consumers.�

She said an average Nigerian cannot afford the high cost of treatment in hospitals these days but can leverage on the PDF initiative to remain healthy.

T H I S D AY ˾ , AUGUST 30, 2018

38

INTERVIEW

Yusuf: Cancer is Not Death Sentence

Kayode Yusuf is a trained oncologist and the CEO, L’Pacemaker Limited. In this interview with Golde Vera, he posited that cancer can be treated successfully if presented early enough. He also spoke about the need for government to subsidise treatment, and what Nigerians need to do to prevent the scourge. Excerpts; time it shows signs, it may be full blown. A woman could have lump and just think it is nothing, where as it will continue to spread. If it is malaria, the person might begin to shiver, thereby knowing what to do.

So, science is not there yet. What we do is continue to care for our people, just the way I do for my flocks as a pastor. We treat patients that cannot afford it. We get documentation from their hospital and we give them free treatment. For instance, the patient might be billed for six courses, but we will pay for two or three. For children at particular age, we pay in full for them.

The rate of death from cancer is significantly increasing in Nigeria. How can government collaborate to eradicate the scourge?

The rate of death from cancer is increasing in Nigeria because we are still trying to move forward, though effort is being made to make things better. The reason why the rate is a little bit high in Nigeria is because there are things that are still lacking. Cancer is not actually a death sentence but a lot of people think once you have it the person dies. No, people survive it.

But what are the things that will help one’s survival rate?

Number one is early presentation and right diagnosis. But you see in Nigeria, most of those things are still lacking, people show up when it is so bad. We have stages one to four, but by the time it gets to the last stage, that is when people come to the hospital. I think it is more of the enlightenment, which is going on right now. Non-governmental organisations are coming in with people and collaborating with the government, because the government cannot handle this alone. I think one of the things the government can do is enlighten the people, do more of campaign just the way they have done for tuberculosis and polio. For example, there is something they have done with malaria which is the global fund PMFN Nigeria malaria eradication program. From the report we are getting, we realize that the incident is gradually going down and this happens because there is government involvement. Government is bringing the global fund whereby they can subsidise the cost. Sincerely, most people die from cancer because it is expensive. Some people, when they are told the cost, they just give up and say its better they go and die because cancer treatment is very expensive all over the world.

If the government can come in with subsidies, bring in partners from abroad or get in touch with the global fund players whereby they can help just the way they are helping with tuberculosis and polio, I think it will really increase the

Yusuf

access to both early detection, diagnosis and the treatment itself. After chemotherapy, there is radiotherapy that the patients have to go through, but the machines are so few in Nigeria.

Even among the few available, it’s either one has broken down or another is not functioning well. Government can come in because the investment is heavy, it can provide this machine to the entire general and teaching hospitals, get the normal approval from the regulatory board, and partner private entites to make the radio machine available, I think it can reduce the death rate because they will be cheap.

What determines survival in a cancer situation?

There are four stages of cancer, so early detection protects life. A woman that presents herself at the early stage of breast cancer stands a high chance of survival compared to a woman that comes in at stage four.` Do you think they know about it early?

No, they might not know because cancer does not show sign at the early stage. By the

What are your challenges as a company?

The challenges we face as a company normally is on the business terrain in Nigeria. If bottlenecks are addressed a lot of things will be alright.

Everybody knows that it is tough doing business in Nigeria. It is a very tough terrain to do business in Nigeria, and apart from that, there are issues around controlling and managing products. Another thing is capital; funds are not too available for us to get some things, these are just the normal everyday challenges that companies face.

What prompted you to study pharmacy?

I didn’t want to study pharmacy at first. I wanted to study medicine but there is a way you plan something but God and destiny would just shape it the way it should be. Bible says that there is a way that seems right to a man, but sometime, it might just not be that way and a lot of people could be walking in another man’s clock. Initially there was this craze, everybody wanted to be medical doctors. Our parents wanted us to be medical doctors, but somehow, I got into the pharmacy profession. I was initially studying biochemistry and wanted to change to medicine, but it came out it was pharmacy, and there is no regret at all. It’s been a very beautiful profession and fulfilling, even though very challenging. So, if you ask what prompted me, I would say nothing really prompted me into

pharmacy because I wanted to study medicine.

Before I got into the university, I was somebody that was already into business, maybe I would have caged myself with all due respect, but I really thank God for everything.

What does L’pacemaker means?

L’pacemaker is a French word and it means The Pacemaker. I’m a trained pharmacist by profession and I had this thing for oncology. l did my training in oncology and the company I worked with was into oncology, so when we came into it, it was a field that few players were then. We came with a vision and a goal to make impact and bring another dimension into the oncology market. God has been faithful to us, and if it comes to oncology; I would say we are the company that has the largest number of staff dedicated to oncology in Nigeria. People know us for oncology though we have some other drugs coming in here and there.

What informed your decision to allow your wife work with you?

Once I am in the office I become very professional. Once I am in the church, I change to church mode, though am always spiritual from morning till night. Then once I am in the house, I change to family mode.

It is very easy for my wife to work with me because we all understand these. She is a professional and has worked in places where she got to a management stage. So, it is easy for her. As a professional, you don’t mix family with business. Once we get into the office she understands it is not usual honey thing. That is why in the office, I won’t call her honey but I would call her by her designation in the office. So, it’s easy for her to flow into the system. And I think it is best for us because at least we can have a little bit of security guaranty in that aspect somebody that understand the vision, in the office she is into the HR and the account sections. You can vouch for her and think less in that area.

Orakwue:MyastheniaGravisExperiencemademeEstablishMyFoundation Amaka Orakwue, a lawyer and PR practitioner, is the founder of STRUGZ and the Tener Candado Foundation, created to aid persons living with Myasthenia Gravis, which is a weakness and rapid fatigue of muscles under voluntary control, and other auto immune related diseases. In this interview with Rebecca Ejifoma, Orakwue, an indigene of Onitsha, speaks on her journey so far. Excerpts: and the whole experience so far has been draining because it targets your muscles and affects your daily life. I have had some crisis that resulted to being rushed in an ambulance to the hospital.

I underwent a major surgery this year called thymectomy to take out my swollen thymus gland and the experience was horrifying. In all, I am thankful to God and I continue to keep the faith and not let Myasthenia Gravis determine how I live my life. I am very empathetic to those going through the same experience and that’s why I am very passionate about The TENER CANSADO Foundation, which helps individuals living with Myasthenia Gravis and other auto immune related issues.

What was the landmark event that shaped your life?

When I was diagnosed with Myasthenia Gravis. I realised that in a split second, your whole life can change and it’s important to live a life of purpose. To touch people’s lives positively and to make an impact in the world, I see life differently and I live everyday like it’s my last.

You recently launched a foundation to help the less privileged, what motivated that?

Knowing the struggles I have passed through as a Myasthenia Gravis patient and how expensive it is to purchase the drugs and get care proper neurologist, I thought of people who would not be able to afford these medications nor afford a neurologist consultation. So, I decided to start a campaign to educate people about Myasthenia Gravis, fund research to find a cure and encourage patients on living their best lives despite their challenges and weakness. Information is power and the will to win has helped me a lot, so I wanted to share my winning strategies.

You have also ventured into other things outside your practice. How do you intend to create a balance between your primary job and the others, especially the foundation?

I am a woman and multi-tasking is second nature to us. Venturing into other things makes

Orakwue

my career more fun and challenging at the same time. I create a balance by drawing up strategies and objectives on each job/project. I also set achievable goals and targets. Fundamentally, I have an amazing team and it makes juggling quite easy.

Tell us about your experience, the struggles you passed through as a Myasthenia Gravis patient?

Myasthenia Gravis unfortunately has no cure

What do you consider as your greatest accomplishment in life?

I have several notable accomplishments in my career and in my business. Probably, the most notable accomplishment in my career was being part of the team that drafted and delivered on The Physical Planning and Development Law 2015 for Bayelsa State Government. This project gave me an opportunity and a platform to actually utilise my M.Phil in Legislative Drafting, and hone in on my research skills. While my greatest accomplishment in my business, I would say, is seeing a client’s brand that I manage, scale through the competitive market. Also,

my ability to turn my brand STRUGZ into a diversified brand has been short of amazing to me. Thanks to God Almighty, especially how we keep evolving. I’m excited about the future and can’t wait to share with the world our new project that is launching very soon. But my fulfilling activities is in creating opportunities for people, including the less- privileged. Touching lives and making positive impacts in peoples lives is my own little way of changing the world from my little corner.

What motivates you?

I get motivated by my ambitions, positive energy and the knowledge that my thoughts and words are so powerful that it always aligns with nature to birth my heart desires.

What difference do you intend to make as a lawyer in Nigeria?

Well, I intend to improve the performance of the criminal justice system in Nigeria by ensuring that defendants do not have to spend too much time awaiting trial. Also, procedural documents must wherever possible be made available in digital form to lawyers and the public.

I also intend to create and introduce a new system where women can get formal and legal education on divorce and settlement options.

39

T H I S D AY ˾ , AUGUST 30, 2018

HEALTH NEWS

WHO Calls on Nigeria, Others to Fight Non-communicable Diseases Martins Ifijeh The World Health Organisation (WHO) has called on member countries, including Nigeria to prioritise the eradication of Non Communicable Diseases (NCDS) in their various regions, as the preventable disease was silently killing Africans from all walks of life.

The call was made by the WHO Regional Director for Africa, Dr. Rebecca Moeti at the 68th session of the WHO\AFRO meeting in Dakar, Senegal, which is currently ongoing.

She lamented that the region has the highest level of hypertension in the world with about 30 per cent of adults suffering from the disease.

She said: “Similarly, growing trend of adult onset of diabetes and obesity reaching epidemic proportions among women in sub-Saharan Africa, and about 150, 00 deaths from tobacco related diseases have been recorded.

“I therefore urge member states to intensify pursuit of some proven public health policies and strategies to address the NCDs

such as increased taxation, banning advertising, having mandatory health warnings for tobacco co-products and alcohol, and most importantly engaging other sectors such as trade that play such important role in this work.”

Reacting to the call, Nigerian Health Minister, Prof.

Isaac Adewole, said Nigeria

was committed to tackling these group of diseases by implementing appropriate and effective policies and strategies.

“A lot has been achieved in restricting illicit tobacco trade and enforcing anti-tobacco legislations. I can assure you that with the implementation of the Step Survey, we

would be able to accurately determine the burden of NCD in Nigeria.”

Nigeria, he added was currently discussing with WHO on the conduct of a pilot project to treat all hypertensive persons in Ogun and Yobe States, adding that President Muhammadu Buhari’s support to the health

sector was unprecedented and would ensure the attainment of Universal Health Coverage.

Speaking earlier, the Director General, WHO, Dr. Tedros Ghebreyesus, advocated for unity among all the actors, from across governments and across UN family, with a call for all to leverage on their collective strength.

USAID Increases Support for Good Governance and Health in Nigeria The United States Agency for International Development (USAID), has announced additional development assistance in support of moves to achieve the development goals outlined in the bilateral Development Objectives Assistance Agreement between US and Nigeria, which was signed in 2015.

According to the acting Mission Director, USAID, Erin Holleran, in a statement made available to THISDAY recently, he said of the new funding, 25 million dollars will strengthen good governance by supporting state governments’ efforts to bolster Nigeria’s Open Government Partnership commitments to improve transparency and fight corruption.

Meanwhile, an additional 1.5 million dollars will support a healthier, more educated population in targeted states through the US President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), for a total of 26.5 million dollars in additional assistance.

He said USAID was also partnering federal and state health ministries to build stronger health systems with the aim of guaranteeing equitable access to quality healthcare services nationwide.

The statement reads in part: “The additional new funding brings the total U.S. government assistance provided under the five-year Development Objectives agreement to 1.1 billion dollars.

Imo Varsity Student Needs N10.5M for Kidney Transplant Rebecca Ejifoma A 200-level student of Imo State University, Odoh Uchenna, urgently needs N10.5 for his end-stage kidney transplant.

According to the 22-year-old, already, a first degree relative donor is available but the necessary finance is what is stalling the kidney transplant St. Nicholas Hospital in Lagos.

In his appeal he said, “This letter is difficult for me to write, but I feel it might interest wellwishers and kind hearted Nigerians to know what is going on in my life.

“I have been suffering from end stage kidney failure since April 30, 2018. My desire is to pursue the option of kidney transplant as the best option to elongate my life.

“As a result of this sickness, I can’t do the things I love doing. I can’t even stand for two minutes. I can’t work the distance of one pole. Above all, I have been out of school.

I have swollen face, legs and stomach.

“Recently, I had to undergo a procedure where two litres of water was removed from my heart. Before then, I could not breathe normally because the

water enclosed my heart and made it difficult to function properly. You can imagine the cost of such process in Nigeria, not to mention the excruciating pains I went through.

“My wish is to live, finish my education, live a quality life and have a positive impact on this earth. According to my nephrologist, transplant is still the recommended treatment for patients with end stage kidney disease. “ I have been going for three sessions of dialysis weekly since May 2018. The average cost of a session is N50,000. This amounts to at least N600,000 per month. I have been admitted to the hospital on several occasions and the latest took a total sum of N601,000 from my family’s pocket.

“As a result my family is left penniless. Please my fellow Nigerians, I’m pleading for your kind and generous donations towards saving my life.”

Well meaning Nigerians are encouraged to send their donations; to Odoh Uchenna Barthlowme0424084810 (GTBank).

CURBING CARDIAC ARREST

L-R: Principal, Igbobi College, Yaba, Venerable Femi Fashina; Board Member, Joe Nwiloh Foundation, Mr. Akin Omorodion; Chief Operating Officer, Joe Nwiloh Foundation, Adedoyin Yusuf; Initiator of the foundation, Dr. Joe Nwiloh; and Consultant Family Physician and Occupational Medical Practitioner, Dr. Bukunola Fagade, during the foundation sponsored medical outreach programme aimed at teaching how to perform cardiovascular resuscitation (CRP) through chest compression on victims of cardiac arrest in Lagos recently ˝ ǏNJNj džǐǏǏ

Endometriosis Group, NIMR Sign MoU to Address Painful Menses, Infertility Martins Ifijeh As part of efforts to reduce the burden of dysmenorrhea (painful menstruation) and infertility among women, the Endometriosis Support Group in Nigeria (ESGN) and the Nigerian Institute of Medical Research (NIMR), have signed a memorandum of understanding to address the health conditions.

Sharing his thoughts at the signing in Lagos recently, Founder, ESGN, Dr. Abayomi Ajayi, said the two institutions were collaborating to undergo a study among 30,000 school girls across the six geographical regions of the country on the

prevalence of dysmenorrhea, menstrual hygiene and infertility.

He said for interventions to be made on preventing infertility and other reproductive health issues experienced by women, and girls, there has to be a data showcasing what they go through.

According to him, “the earliest data in Nigeria on issues like these is 42 years old. So this study will be the latest. We know most of the disease that occurs later in life for women starts at the onset of menses.

“For instance, we know there is a relationship between having painful menses and having chronic pelvic pain later in life, in which endometriosis is one

of them. And we know that endometriosis is an underlying factor for infertility among our women.

“So if we know how many of these girls have dysmenorrhea, we can see how many of them will develop endometriosis later in life. This will help us diagnose this condition before it affects their fertility. With early knowledge, we may be able to truncate the vicious cycle.”

He said while the national survey will not be cheap cost wise, he expressed hope that organisations and individuals will see the importance and support them.

On his part, the Director General, NIMR, Prof. Babalola

Salako, said the outcome of the study may form a policy brief that will be sent to the federal government and could be passed on to schools.

“NIMR is throwing its weight into the idea because we are also concerned about the rate of infertility in Nigeria. Painful menses might hinder girls’ ability to assimilate in class.

If it occurs during exams, it means they won’t do well. So this is a very important research, “ he said.

He said while NIMR will bring in its experienced researchers in that specialty onboard, it would also help in fast tracking policy advice to the federal government.

Akeredolu: 102Women Die Daily During Childbirth James Sowole ÓØ ÕßÜÏ The Wife of the Ondo State Governor, Mrs Betty Anyanwu-Akeredolu, has said that not less than 102 women die every day as a result of childbirth, while 2,123 children die either before on their fifth birthday.

These challenges, according to her, are largely as a result of the low literacy level of our women, adding that half of Nigeria’s women population are seemingly uneducated.

Akeredolu, who is the founder of the Breast Cancer Association of Nigeria (BRECAN), said the major cause of low literacy level among Nigerian women was the lack of opportunity to be properly schooled due to gender stereotypes prevailing in the country.

She said this at the second edition of BEMORE Summer Boot Camp opening ceremony held at Public Service Training Institute (PSTI), Ilara-Mokin where another set of 400 girls were being trained in the field of

ICT and Solar Technology.

While speaking on the need to pay more attention to girl-child education in Nigeria, Akeredolu said that no nation can achieve sustainable development until special attention is paid to

the girl-child in terms of education and protection.

She noted that female illiteracy in Nigeria remains high till date, adding that more than half of Nigerian women were still without any form of formal education.

40

T H I S D AY •THURSDAY, AUGUST 30, 2018

BUSINESS/MONEYGUIDE

Regulators Urged to Wade into Sea Trucks Group’s Imbroglio Peter Uzoho A civil society organisation, Campaign Against Impunity (CAI), has called on the federal government and relevant authorities in the oil and gas industry to urgently intervene in the alleged liquidation and takeover of West African Ventures Limited, by expatriates brought into the company by its Dutch-Nigerian founder, Jacques Roomans.

Speaking at a press conference in Lagos on Wednesday, the group through its Coordinator, Mr. Sina Oloremikan, specifically pleaded with the federal government and its agencies including the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board, National Petroleum Investment Management Services, and the National Office of Technology Acquisition and Promotion, to urgently intervene in the matter.

According to him, West African Ventures was an offshore engineering company established in Nigeria in 1995 as an umbrella organisation responsible for all Sea Trucks Groups (STG) businesses in

Nigeria and managed by expatriates, Fraser Moore, Stephen Assiter, Graham Pennycook and others, brought into the company by Roomans in 2002.

He said the businesses of the company were largely managed by Fraser, its chief operating officer/managing director for many years, and that the expatriates led by Fraser, later lured Roomans to take a $575million bond in 2013 with a nine per cent interest per annum, for the growth of the business.

He narrated that the crisis started when Fraser’s demand to be made the CEO of the company was turned down, and he resorted to conspiring with his other expatriates to scheme Roomans out of the company and succeeded in hijacking it from him.

Oloremikan maintained that such act of impunity by the expatriates to hijack the company from its rightful owner and lack of action by the government and its agencies encourages expatriates to endanger the activities of indigenous companies, noting that, if allowed to continue, would lead to huge economic

loss to the country.

He said: “We are asking that the case of STG in liquidation/ Telford be closely monitored and that government ensures adherence to the rule of law. We are already noticing the gross disobedience of Nigerian laws in this case and are concerned at the audacity of expatriates in our country, committing this kind of impunity.

“In a suit filed by WAV against the liquidators on June 20, 2017, WAV had applied for an order of interim injunction restraining the liquidators from taking any steps or undertaking any business. The case with suit number FHC/L/CS/968/2017 was presided over by Chuka Austine Obiozor, a justice of the Federal High Court in Lagos. And after the consideration of the application, the court ordered that the parties maintain status quo pending further order.

“Similarly, in another case, with suit number FHC/L/ CS/1114/2017, filed on June 17, 2017, Obiozor again, ordered at the parties to maintain status quo pending further order on the matter.

TWPC Trains Corporate Organisations, Others on Customer Service Ugo Aliogo The Work Place Centre (TWPC) Limited has trained corporate organisations and business owners on the use of technology in driving customer service experience. Speaking yesterday in Lagos at the CARM 2018 Masterclass with the theme: ‘Evolving Customer Experience in a Digitalised World,’ the Managing Partner, TWPC, Bola Adeniyi-Taiwo, said the focus of the event was on the customer and how the customer experience was evolving in a digitalised world.

She also stated that as a company focused on using technology to drive human resources solutions, the TWPC is interested in seeing

how technology is impacting customer experiences in Nigeria “and how the global impact is being to affect our operations in the country.”

Adeniyi-Taiwo explained that the expectation was that at the end, the firm would be able to inculcate into the country, a customer service culture, understanding the importance of technology and getting organisations to start to think about the customers; getting organisations to see customer service as an essential part of their operations, in spite of technology and the changes it brings. In his remarks, the keynote speaker, Shep Hyken, said the customer has an expectation and regardless of whatever technology they

are using, “whether a channel, social media channel, chat box, or phone call, every customer has a different expectation based on the channel.”

He also noted that the goal of an organisation was to meet the expectation of the customer, stating that as an organisation rolls out different technologies, they must access and measure, “what they need to do and what the expectations are.”

Continuing, Adeniyi-Taiwo added: “We started this initiative in 2015 with the arrival of Shep Hyken. The beautiful of the programme is that we have always looked at a theme that is relevant every year. The theme relevant for this year is technology and how it is impacting customer experiences.

R-L: Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Mr Boss Mustapha; Governor of Ogun State, Senator lbikunle Amosun and Commissioner for Commerce and Industry, Bimbo Ashiru, at the inauguration of the lnternational Brewery factory in Ogun State...recently

MARKET INDICATORS MONEY AND CREDIT STATISTICS

(MILLION NAIRA) 2018

Month

MARCH

Broad Money (M2)

24,303,049.86

-- Narrow Money (M1)

10,912,604.10

---- Currency Outside Banks

1,668,378.21

---- Demand Deposits

9,244,225.90

-- Quasi Money

13,390,445.76

Net Foreign Assets (NFA)

15,619,134.18

Net Domestic Assets(NDA)

8,683,915.68

-- Net Domestic Credit (NDC)

26,267,136.53

---- Credit to Government (Net)

3,823,345.45

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

5,433,209.43

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

-1,609,863.98

---- Credit to Private Sector (CPS)

22,443,791.08

--Other Assets Net

-17,583,220.85

Reserve Money (Base Money)

6,746,646.49

--Currency in Circulation

1,668,378.21

--Banks Reserves

4,357,551.58 • Source - CBN

MANAGED FUNDS

Ecobank Launches ‘Emerald Business’ Club Nosa Alekhuogie EcoBank Nigeria Limited has launched its ‘Emerald Business Club,’ an electronic platform aimed at offering convenience, accessible banking services especially to small and medium size enterprises, local corporates and various clients in the commercial sector.

The initiative was launched in Lagos on Tuesday. The Managing Director, Ecobank Nigeria, Charles Kie, explained that the new product was for its commercial clients as well as to support SMEs. He said; “We believe we have a responsibility in providing them with solutions that would help them take care of their businesses in an efficient and cost-effective ways.

“We made these solutions available to our customers to enable easy and fast payment, to enable speed in connections for transactions between customers and their merchants. We are providing them with the

framework in which they can also interact with us.”

Also speaking at the event, the Head, Commercial Banking, Ecobank Nigeria, Mr. Rotimi Morohunfola, noted the need to make its customers have a competitive edge.

“We are launching this platform which we think is beneficial to our customers and of course would bring significant impact to their businesses.

“For our commercial clients, we have set out an Emerald Club and the whole idea is to better bond with our customers, give them information about business opportunities across Africa. “It would also provide access to markets, finance in partnership with Development Bank of Nigeria, Bank of Industry and Ikooba Technologies,” he said.

On his part, the Group Head, SME, Ecobank Nigeria, Patrick Egounlety, while speaking about the new club explained that, the banking industry has dramatically changed and

as such banks needed to go beyond the provision of financial services only.

“In 2014, Ecobank launched its SME Club initiative which also served as a platform for adding value to SMEs through capacity building, networking, access to markets, access to finance, products and services.

In doing all these, the banks objective was to improve customers’ satisfaction.

“With lessons on what did not work and taking into consideration, customers’ feedbacks and needs, it was decided to revamp SMEs Club and rename it Emerald Business Club with more features and more benefits.

“The most significant change of the extension of the club is the Zero maintenance fees, fast track transactions for emerald club members, networking seminars and business forums.

“The main objective of Emerald Business Club is to occupy the domestic private sector, local corporates and SMEs.”

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, 27, AUGUST , 2018 The price of OPEC basket of fifteen crudes stood at $74.75 a barrel on Tuesday, compared with $74.09 the previous day, according to OPEC Secretariat calculations.

The OPEC Reference Basket of Crudes (ORB) is made up of the following: Saharan Blend (Algeria), Girassol (Angola), 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

41

T H I S D AY • THURSDAY, AUGUST 30, 2018

MARKET NEWS

Onyema: UK a Great Ally for Nigerian Capital Market Devt Goddy Egene The Chief Executive Officer of The Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) Mr. Oscar Onyema has stressed that the United Kingdom(UK) remains a key partner to Nigeria, particularly for its capital market development. Onyema spoke to journalists on the sidelines of the business networking event

hosted by the British High Commission as part of the visit of the British Prime Minister, Theresa May to Nigeria.

“Both countries have a long history of trade and collaboration which is evident in various aspects of our socio-economic sectors. As you know, the NSE has a capital market agreement with the London Stock Exchange aimed at promoting seamless

cross-border access between Lagos and London markets to ultimately develop larger capital markets that enable capital formation for businesses and governments; create deeper liquidity pools and greater competitiveness for investors; as well as enhance capacity and promote diversity of investment products to meet the needs of a wide range of investors and

issuers”.

On the significance of the visit by the UK Prime Minister, Onyema stated that “the capital market is a major barometer of any economy. It was therefore not surprising that Prime Minister May allotted some time from her schedule to meet with capital market operators. The networking event has also in attendance some UK companies

that might be interested in our market. The visit was positive and a good recognition for the Nigerian capital market”.

Onyema further opined that as the world is preparing for the fourth industrial revolution, the Nigerian capital market must ready itself to compete globally.

He said “the capital market like many sectors is being impacted by technology. The World Bank

P R I C E S F O R S E C U R I T I E S T R A D E D A S AT

has just issued bond-i its first blockchain operated bond.

We have seen the growth of cryptocurrencies amongst innovations. On our part at the Exchange, we have deployed Artificial Intelligence to monitor activities in our market. This has even become imperative as we look set to demutualize and introduce more sophisticated products such as derivatives.”

17/08/2018

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) 277,708.53

TRADES

VOLUME

30 BEVERAGES--BREWERS/DISTILLERS S/N

9.60

-

76

1,661,352

285,565.17

8.35

0.60

203

9,626,390

717,409.88

22.85

-0.44

283

15,871,230

562

27,158,972

32

PRICE %CHANGE

TRADES

VOLUME

33 34

MARKET CAP(Nm) 351,773.87

MARKET CAP(Nm) DANGOTE CEMENT PLC 3,748,911.63 LAFARGE AFRICA PLC. 241,121.31

BUILDING MATERIALS

EXPLORATION AND PRODUCTION SEPLAT PETROLEUM DEVELOPMENT COMPANY LTD

PRICE %CHANGE

MARKET CAP(Nm) 382,488.96

9.80

-0.51

157

4,754,734

157

4,754,734

719

31,913,706

TRADES

VOLUME

56 49 105 105

347,702 6,757,359 7,105,061 7,105,061

TRADES

VOLUME

31

35 36

PRICE %CHANGE 220.00 27.80

6.80 -0.36

PRICE %CHANGE 650.00

-

5

344

5

344

5 829

344 39,019,111

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

MARKET CAP(Nm) 440.00

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

43 PRICE %CHANGE

TRADES

VOLUME 5,000

0.20

-

1

71,113.99

74.55

-

11

69,082

60,000.00

60.00

-

8 20

11,111 85,193

TRADES

VOLUME

0 0

0 0

MARKET CAP(Nm) 1,830.00

MARKET CAP(Nm) 1,164.81

PRICE %CHANGE 4.26

-

PRICE %CHANGE 0.61

-7.58

PRICE %CHANGE

TRADES

VOLUME

13

1,219,115

13

1,219,115

33

1,304,308

TRADES

VOLUME

44 PERSONAL/HOUSEHOLD PRODUCTS CONSUMER GOODS FINANCIAL SERVICES

46 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 BANKING

-

0

0

-

0 0

0 0

46,745.19

1.15

2.68

82

17,405,011

55

36,304.34

12.60

-

30 112 112

192,251 17,597,262 17,597,262

56

TRADES

VOLUME

59

0 0

0 0

60

TRADES

VOLUME

61

6

6,348

MARKET CAP(Nm)

57 58

-

PRICE %CHANGE

33,000.00

25.00

-

165.00

6.60

-

MARKET CAP(Nm) 4,443.26

S/N

PRICE %CHANGE 1.71

-

62 63

0

0

6

6,348

64

TRADES

VOLUME

65

2

10,594

66

2

10,594

67

TRADES

VOLUME

MARKET CAP(Nm) 1,900.00

95.00

-

1

2,500

11,300.89

45.20

-

0

0

70

24,014.43

9.00

-

1

140

71 72

AUTOMOBILES/AUTO PARTS DN TYRE & RUBBER PLC

MARKET CAP(Nm) 954.53

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

MARKET CAP(Nm) 14,406.27

PRICE %CHANGE

69

2

2,640

10

19,582

TRADES

VOLUME

-

1 1

3,862 3,862

75

PRICE %CHANGE

TRADES

VOLUME

76 77

73 PRICE %CHANGE 0.20

1.84

-0.54

9

10,198,900

242.22

0.89

-

0

0

197,134.45

90.00

-

38

185,996

302,574.34

68

35.20

-

19

5,312,785

74

78 79

PRICE %CHANGE

151

851,644

217

16,549,325

TRADES

VOLUME

85

1,151,192

177,600.00

14.80

-1.99

51

891,240

90,208.35

22.00

0.45

88

1,871,852

12,529.71

1.58

0.64

44

1,552,600

1,340.10

0.36

-

0

0

1,158.30

6.50

-

1

2,960

52,988.77

20.00

-

24

1,181,110

3,676.41

13.45

-

FOOD PRODUCTSMARKET -DIVERSIFIED CAP(Nm) CADBURY NIGERIA 18,782.02 PLC. NESTLE NIGERIA PLC. 1,188,984.38

PRICE %CHANGE 10.00

58,779 16,216 74,995

PRICE %CHANGE

TRADES

VOLUME

14.05

315,975.30

55.00

4,117.00

VOLUME

20 32

MARKET CAP(Nm) 55,785.20

MARKET CAP(Nm)

TRADES 12

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

MARKET CAP(Nm) 25,244.82

11,703 6,662,657

-

MARKET CAP(Nm) 1,680.31 3,377.28

2 295

-

HOUSEHOLD DURABLES NIGERIAN ENAMELWARE PLC. VITAFOAM NIG PLC.

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

-0.10

1.32

DIAMOND BANK PLC ECOBANK TRANSNA386,258.05 TIONAL INCORPORATED FIDELITY BANK PLC 48,098.16 GUARANTY TRUST 1,118,384.81 BANK PLC. JAIZ BANK PLC 15,910.69 SKYE BANK PLC 6,662.54 STERLING BANK PLC. 36,275.93 UNION BANK NIG.PLC. 161,620.18 UNITY BANK PLC 9,468.36 WEMA BANK PLC. 25,073.40

47

103.00

7.70

45

0.58 3.25

4.79

MARKET CAP(Nm) 38,500.00

BANKING

0.44

PRICE %CHANGE

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

S/N

225.71 2,111.93

MARKET CAP(Nm) 711.32

NIGERIAN BREW. PLC. 823,680.91

22.10

-

1

200

3.24

-

9 10

24,849 25,049

PRICE %CHANGE

TRADES

VOLUME

-

30

135,874

3.77

25

233,396

55

369,270

610

23,685,158

PRICE %CHANGE

TRADES

VOLUME

1.09

-1.80

51

3,847,569

21.05

0.24

32

311,295

1.66

3.11

95

7,170,381

38.00

-0.13

149

5,769,685

0.54 0.48 1.26 5.55 0.81 0.65

-7.69 0.79 -2.63 -10.00 4.84

2 48 61 27 9 18 492

109,300 6,161,380 4,841,584 200,778 713,162 161,281 29,286,415

PRICE %CHANGE

TRADES

VOLUME

-

0

0

0.20

4,712.54

0.68

1.49

18

1,274,516

26,775.00

2.55

0.79

3

94,489,040

2,100.00

0.30

-

6

390,197

14,521.84

1.40

-

9

322,014

3,387.79

0.23

-4.17

8

373,672

2,411.47

0.53

-

0

0

1,913.74

0.50

-

0

0

2,149.00

0.35

-

2

1,310

539.32

0.42

-

0

0

2,270.26

0.31

-

8

385,030

3,480.03

0.81

-10.00

2

200,000

5,920.00

0.74

-

0

0

2,400.00

0.30

-9.09

20

2,538,582

15,049.43

2.85

-

19 130,487,918

3,095.79

0.40

-

15

1,099,993

2,175.92

0.57

-

1

1,000

1,533.81

0.23

4.55

9

1,781,738

2,168.61

0.26

-3.85

10

2,237,844

5,422.63

0.42

-

0

0

4,483.72

0.48

-

0

0

2,800.00

0.20

-9.09

7

420,846

516.46

0.20

-

0

0

7,040.00

0.44

-

0

0

3,605.33

0.26

8.33

5

5,000,000

˾ THURSDAY, AUGUST 30, 2018

42

Nigeria Daily Stock Market Report:

Thisday Afrinvest 40 Index Slows 59bps Yesterday, Wednesday 29th August 2018, the Thisday Afrinvest 40 index declined 59bps ƚŽ ƐĞƩůĞ Ăƚ ϭ͕ϰϰϱ͘ϬϮ points while YTD return stood at –ϲ͘ϯй͘ dŚĞ ŶĞŐĂƟǀĞ performance of the index was due to price losses in ZENITH (-Ϭ͘ϵйͿ͕ DANGCEM (-Ϭ͘ϰйͿ ĂŶĚ FBNH (-ϳ͘ϮйͿ ǁŚŝĐŚ ĐƵŵƵůĂƟǀĞůLJ ĂĐĐŽƵŶƚ ĨŽƌ Ϯϰ͘ϱй ŽĨ ƚŚĞ ŝŶĚĞdž͘

>ŽƐƐĞƐ ŝŶ ĞůůǁĞƚŚĞƌƐ ƌĂŐ ŽŵĞƐƟĐ Bourse into the Red͙ NSE ASI down 44bps ŌĞƌ ƐƚĂƌƟŶŐ ƚŚĞ ƚƌĂĚŝŶŐ ĚĂLJ ŽŶ Ă ƉŽƐŝƟǀĞ ŶŽƚĞ͕ ƐĞůů ŽīƐ ĂĐƌŽƐƐ ŵĂƌŬĞƚ ďĞůůǁĞƚŚĞƌƐ ŝŶ ůĂƚĞ ƚƌĂĚŝŶŐ ŚŽƵƌƐ ĚƌĂŐŐĞĚ ƚŚĞ ďĞŶĐŚŵĂƌŬ ŝŶĚĞdž Ϭ͘ϰй ŝŶƚŽ ƚŚĞ ƌĞĚ ƚŽ ƐĞƩůĞ Ăƚ ϯϱ͕ϯϱϴ͘ϵϰ ƉŽŝŶƚƐ ǁŚŝůĞ zd ůŽƐƐ ǁŽƌƐĞŶĞĚ ƚŽ ϳ͘ϱй͘ ^ŝŵŝůĂƌůLJ͕ ŝŶǀĞƐƚŽƌƐ ůŽƐƚ Eϱϳ͘ϰďŶ ĂƐ ŵĂƌŬĞƚ ĐĂƉŝƚĂůŝƐĂƟŽŶ ƌĞĚƵĐĞĚ ƚŽ EϭϮ͘ϵƚŶ͘ dŚĞ ŶĞŐĂƟǀĞ performance recorded today was largely due to losses in FBNH (-ϳ͘ϮйͿ͕ DANGCEM (-Ϭ͘ϰйͿ ĂŶĚ UBA (-ϯ͘ϲйͿ͘ ,ŽǁĞǀĞƌ͕ ĂĐƟǀŝƚLJ ůĞǀĞů ǁĂƐ ŵŝdžĞĚ ĂƐ ǀŽůƵŵĞ ƚƌĂĚĞĚ ŝŶĐƌĞĂƐĞĚ ďLJ ϭ͘ϲй ƚŽ ϯϰϱ͘Ϭŵ ƵŶŝƚƐ ǁŚŝůĞ ǀĂůƵĞ ƚƌĂĚĞĚ ĚĞĐůŝŶĞĚ ϱϴ͘ϴй ƚŽ EϮ͘ϯďŶ͘ dŚĞ ƚŽƉ ƚƌĂĚĞĚ ƐƚŽĐŬƐ ďLJ volume were NEM ;ϭϴϵ͘ϭŵ ƵŶŝƚƐͿ͕ UBA ;Ϯϳ͘Ϯŵ ƵŶŝƚƐͿ and TRANSCORP ;Ϯϭ͘ϳŵ ƵŶŝƚƐͿ ǁŚŝůĞ NEM ;EϱϰϬ͘ϭďŶͿ͕ ETI ;Eϯϴϯ͘ϬďŶͿ ĂŶĚ GUARANTY ;EϯϱϬ͘ϮďŶͿ ǁĞƌĞ ƚŚĞ ƚŽƉ ƚƌĂĚĞĚ ƐƚŽĐŬƐ ĨŽƌ ƚŚĞ ĚĂLJ͘

DŝdžĞĚ WĞƌĨŽƌŵĂŶĐĞ ĂĐƌŽƐƐ ^ĞĐƚŽƌƐ Performance across sectors was mixed as 2 of 5 ŝŶĚŝĐĞƐ ƵŶĚĞƌ ŽƵƌ ĐŽǀĞƌĂŐĞ ĐůŽƐĞĚ ŝŶ ƚŚĞ ŐƌĞĞŶ͘ dŚĞ Kŝů Θ 'ĂƐ ŝŶĚĞdž ĂƉƉƌĞĐŝĂƚĞĚ ƚŚĞ ŵŽƐƚ͕ ƵƉ Ϭ͘ϱй ĚƵĞ ƚŽ gains in OANDO ;нϯ͘ϵйͿ ĂŶĚ TOTAL ;нϭ͘ϭйͿ͕ ĨŽůůŽǁĞĚ ďLJ ƚŚĞ ĂŶŬŝŶŐ ŝŶĚĞdž ;нϬ͘ϮйͿ͕ ďƵŽLJĞĚ ďLJ ƉƌŝĐĞ ĂƉƉƌĞĐŝĂƟŽŶ ŝŶ ACCESS ;нϮ͘ϮйͿ ĂŶĚ DIAMOND ;нϲ͘ϵйͿ ǁŚŝĐŚ ŽīƐĞƚ ůŽƐƐĞƐ ŝŶ UBA (-ϯ͘ϲйͿ͘ KŶ ƚŚĞ ŇŝƉƐŝĚĞ͕ ƚŚĞ /ŶĚƵƐƚƌŝĂů 'ŽŽĚƐ ŝŶĚĞdž ĚĞĐůŝŶĞĚ ƚŚĞ ŵŽƐƚ͕ ĚŽǁŶ ϭ͘ϵй ĂƐ ƐĞůů ŽīƐ ŝŶ DANGCEM (-Ϭ͘ϰйͿ ĂŶĚ WAPCO ;-ϱ͘ϲйͿ – currently at a 52-ǁĞĞŬ ůŽǁ ŽĨ EϮϱ͘ϱϬ - ĚƌĂŐŐĞĚ ƚŚĞ ŝŶĚĞdž͘ /Ŷ ƚŚĞ ƐĂŵĞ ǀĞŝŶ͕ ƚŚĞ /ŶƐƵƌĂŶĐĞ ĂŶĚ ŽŶƐƵŵĞƌ 'ŽŽĚƐ ŝŶĚŝĐĞƐ ƐůŝĚ Ϭ͘ϯй ĂŶĚ Ϭ͘ϭй ŽŶ ƚŚĞ ďĂĐŬ ŽĨ ƐĞůů ƉƌĞƐƐƵƌĞƐ ŽŶ STDINSURE (ϵ͘ϱйͿ ĂŶĚ UNILEVER (-Ϯ͘ϬйͿ ƌĞƐƉĞĐƟǀĞůLJ͘

/ŶǀĞƐƚŽƌ ^ĞŶƟŵĞŶƚ ^ƚƌĞŶŐƚŚĞŶƐ /ŶǀĞƐƚŽƌ ƐĞŶƟŵĞŶƚ ƐŽŌĞŶĞĚ ƚŽĚĂLJ ĂƐ ŵĂƌŬĞƚ ďƌĞĂĚƚŚ ;ĂĚǀĂŶĐĞͬĚĞĐůŝŶĞ ƌĂƟŽͿ ƐůŝĚ ƚŽ Ϭ͘ϲdž ĨƌŽŵ Ϯ͘ϭdž ƌĞĐŽƌĚĞĚ LJĞƐƚĞƌĚĂLJ ĨŽůůŽǁŝŶŐ ϭϳ ƐƚŽĐŬƐ ƚŚĂƚ ĂĚǀĂŶĐĞĚ ƌĞůĂƟǀĞ ƚŽ Ϯϳ ĚĞĐůŝŶĞƌƐ͘ dŚĞ ŐĂŝŶĞƌƐ͛ chart was topped by PORTPAINT ;нϭϬ͘ϬйͿ͕ REGALINS ;нϵ͘ϱйͿ ĂŶĚ SKYEBANK ;нϳ͘ϳйͿ ǁŚŝůĞ LIVESTOCK (-ϭϬ͘ϬйͿ͕ STDINSURE (-ϵ͘ϱйͿ ĂŶĚ LASACO (-ϵ͘ϭйͿ ĚĞƉƌĞĐŝĂƚĞĚ ƚŚĞ ŵŽƐƚ͘ ĞƐƉŝƚĞ ƚŚĞ ĚĞĐůŝŶĞ ŝŶ ƚŚĞ ďƌŽĂĚĞƌ ŝŶĚĞdž͕ ǁĞ ĞdžƉĞĐƚ ƚŚĞ ŵĂƌŬĞƚ ƚŽ ƌĞďŽƵŶĚ ŝŶ ƚŽŵŽƌƌŽǁ͛s trading ƐĞƐƐŝŽŶ ĂƐ ŝŶǀĞƐƚŽƌƐ ŚƵŶƚ ĨŽƌ ďĂƌŐĂŝŶ ŽƉƉŽƌƚƵŶŝƟĞƐ͘ KƵƌ ǀŝĞǁ ŝƐ ĨƵƌƚŚĞƌ ƐƵƉƉŽƌƚĞĚ ďLJ ƚĞĐŚŶŝĐĂů ĂŶĂůLJƐŝƐ͕

as the current 14- ĂLJ Z^/ ;ZĞůĂƟǀĞ ^ƚƌĞŶŐƚŚ /ŶĚĞdžͿ ŽĨ ƚŚĞ ŵĂƌŬĞƚ ŝƐ ϯϵ͘Ϭ ƉŽŝŶƚƐ ǁŚŝĐŚ ŝƐ ĐůŽƐĞƌ ƚŽ ƚŚĞ ŽǀĞƌƐŽůĚ ƌĞŐŝŽŶ͘

Afrinvest Securities Limited (RC 603 315) (A Dealing Member of the Nigerian Stock Exchange)

Thursday, August 30, 2018

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

1,445.02

-0.59%

-6.3%

44.5%

19.8%

6.6%

6.2x

0.8x

6.1%

1

Guaranty Trust Bank PLC

39.05

0.1%

21.9%

-4.2%

-3.7%

35.8%

5.4%

6.0x

2.4x

6.9%

12.0% 16.7%

2

Zenith Bank PLC

22.00

-0.9%

11.9%

-14.2%

-15.2%

25.6%

3.6%

3.7x

1.0x

12.4%

26.7%

3

Nigerian Brew eries PLC

100.00

0.0%

7.1%

-25.9%

-26.0%

15.9%

n

28.7x

4.7x

4.1%

3.5%

4

Nestle Nigeria PLC

1,500.00

0.0%

8.3%

-3.6%

-3.6%

92.0%

23.0%

30.8x

26.7x

2.8%

3.2%

5

Dangote Cement PLC

229.00

-0.4%

6.6%

-0.4%

-0.4%

21.7%

9.9%

23.4x

5.5x

4.6%

4.3%

6

FBN Holdings Plc

9.00

-7.2%

6.0%

2.3%

2.4%

7.4%

0.9%

5.9x

0.5x

2.7%

17.0%

7

Access Bank PLC

9.50

2.2%

4.4%

-9.1%

-10.4%

12.7%

1.5%

4.7x

0.6x

6.8%

21.4%

8

United Bank for Africa PLC

8.05

-3.6%

3.7%

-21.8%

-22.7%

15.9%

1.9%

3.6x

0.6x

10.3%

28.1%

9

Ecobank Transnational Inc

10

SEPLAT Petroleum Development C

20.05

3.9%

4.1%

17.9%

23.2%

12.2%

1.0%

6.5x

0.8x

650.00

0.0%

3.4%

3.8%

3.8%

25.0%

14.6%

3.0x

0.7x

2.8%

33.5%

3.6%

16.9%

18.6%

35.4%

4.9%

7.5x

2.4x

2.1%

13.3%

15.4%

11

Stanbic IBTC Holdings PLC

48.50

0.0%

12

Unilever Nigeria PLC

50.00

-2.0%

3.3%

22.0%

24.3%

20.4%

8.7%

27.6x

3.6x

1.0%

3.6%

13

Guinness Nigeria PLC

90.00

0.0%

2.4%

-4.3%

-4.3%

15.4%

6.1%

17.1x

2.3x

0.7%

5.8%

14

Lafarge Africa PLC

25.50

-5.6%

1.0%

-43.2%

-43.2%

-54.0%

-10.1%

1.6x

5.9%

-35.3%

15

Fidelity Bank PLC

1.70

-2.3%

0.9%

-30.9%

-34.1%

10.4%

1.4%

1.3x

0.3x

6.5%

16

Oando PLC

5.40

3.8%

1.3%

-9.8%

-9.8%

10.3%

1.5%

4.8x

0.4x

74.8% 21.0%

17

Dangote Sugar Refinery PLC

15.90

2.6%

1.0%

-20.5%

-21.9%

41.5%

18.1%

5.4x

1.9x

7.9%

18.6%

18

Okomu Oil Palm PLC

71.20

0.0%

1.2%

5.2%

5.2%

35.8%

26.6%

7.7x

2.5x

4.1%

13.0%

19

International Brew eries PLC

32.00

0.0%

0.5%

-41.3%

-41.8%

24.6%

7.4%

33.5x

7.6x

20

Flour Mills of Nigeria PLC

23.05

-7.1%

0.5%

-20.5%

-20.5%

9.8%

2.9%

5.7x

0.6x

4.1%

17.6% 15.5%

3.0%

21

Transnational Corp of Nigeria

1.25

-0.8%

0.5%

-14.4%

-15.5%

12.9%

2.8%

6.4x

0.8x

1.6%

22

UAC of Nigeria PLC

12.10

0.8%

0.4%

-28.4%

-28.4%

1.4%

0.6%

21.6x

0.5x

5.4%

23

Diamond Bank PLC

1.39

6.9%

0.5%

-7.3%

-11.5%

-7.2%

-0.9%

-16.5%

-16.5%

33.1%

6.9%

7.2x

2.2x

8.9%

13.9%

19.6%

6.7%

1.0%

3.1x

0.2x

5.3%

32.2%

6.2x

2.2x

4.4%

24

Total Nigeria PLC

25

FCMB Group Plc

26

11 PLC

27

Forte Oil PLC

192.00

1.1%

0.5%

1.89

-0.5%

0.6%

180.00

0.0%

0.5%

-7.5%

-7.5%

40.2%

16.0%

21.70

-2.7%

0.3%

-50.1%

-48.3%

29.7%

3.0%

0.1x

4.6% -62.2%

1.7x

16.2% -12.1%

28

PZ Cussons Nigeria PLC

15.00

7.1%

0.3%

-27.2%

-29.1%

10.7%

5.0%

14.2x

1.4x

3.3%

7.0%

29

Cadbury Nigeria PLC

10.05

0.0%

0.3%

-35.9%

-35.6%

5.9%

2.2%

29.8x

1.7x

1.6%

3.4%

30

Presco PLC

60.05

0.0%

0.4%

-12.3%

-12.3%

2.5x

#N/A N/A

3.2%

39.7%

31

NASCON Allied Industries PLC

20.00

0.0%

0.4%

8.1%

4.1%

62.4%

20.6%

9.5x

5.4x

7.5%

10.5%

0.8x

7.8%

9.3x

0.6x

1.8%

6.9x

1.1x

3.6x

32

UPDC Real Estate Investment Tr

9.00

0.0%

0.3%

-10.0%

-10.0%

33

Union Bank of Nigeria PLC

5.85

0.0%

0.3%

-25.0%

-22.1%

34

Julius Berger Nigeria PLC

25.00

0.0%

0.3%

-10.7%

-10.7%

17.3%

35

Sterling Bank PLC

1.38

2.2%

0.4%

27.8%

22.1%

11.0%

1.1%

36

Dangote Flour Mills Plc

8.15

3.8%

0.2%

-32.9%

-32.9%

0.0%

0.0%

37

GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Niger

14.00

0.0%

0.2%

-35.2%

-35.2%

6.5%

3.6%

38

Chemical and Allied Products P

28.35

0.0%

0.2%

-16.6%

-20.6%

66.2%

30.2%

39

Beta Glass PLC

78.00

0.0%

0.2%

52.0%

52.0%

17.7%

11.5%

9.5x

40

Transcorp Hotels Plc

6.75

0.0%

0.1%

-6.4%

-6.4%

5.3%

2.9%

18.8x

T o p 10 G a i n e r s T ic k er

T o p 10

P ric e

P ric e C hg %

2.98

10.0%

T ra de s

T ic k er

P OR T P A IN T R EGA LIN S

10.7% 4.0%

14.4% 27.8%

0.4x

1.4%

1.0x

2.5%

20.1x

2.0x

53.6%

5.0%

13.2x

8.9x

7.2%

7.5%

1.6x

1.4%

10.6%

0.9x

1.8%

5.3%

by V o lum e

Vo lum e

P ric e C hg %

N EM

1 80.1

0.0%

UB A

27.2

-3.6%

T R A N SC OR P

21 .7

-0.8%

ET I

1 9.2

3.9%

FCM B

1 1 .6

-0.5%

0.23

9.5%

SKYEB A N K

0.56

7.7%

PZ

15.00

7.1%

D IA M ON D B N K

1.39

6.9%

C UST OD IA N

5.45

6.9%

GUA R A N T Y

9.0

0.1 %

C ON T IN SUR E

1.46

4.3%

Z EN IT H B A N K

8.3

-0.9%

20.05

3.9%

F ID ELIT YB K

7.1

-2.3%

5.40

3.8%

FB NH

6.3

-7.2%

8.15

3.8%

J A P A ULOIL

6.1

-3.8%

ET I OA N D O D A N GF LOUR

T o p 10 L o s e r s T ic k er

T o p 10

P ric e

P ric e C hg %

LIVEST OC K

0.54

-10.0%

ST D IN SUR E

0.38

-9.5%

LA SA C O

0.30

-9.1%

F IR ST A LUM

0.33

-8.3%

T ic k er

FB NH F LOUR M ILL WA P IC WA P C O

T ra de s Value

by V a lue P ric e C hg %

N EM

540.1

0.0%

ET I

383.0

3.9%

GUA R A N T Y

350.2

0.1 %

UB A

221 .5

-3.6% -0.9%

9.00

-7.2%

Z EN IT H B A N K

1 84.2

23.05

-7.1%

T OT A L

65.4

1 .1 %

0.34

-5.6%

NB

62.7

0.0%

25.50

-5.6%

FB NH

58.3

-7.2%

J A P A ULOIL

0.25

-3.8%

D A N GC EM

52.8

-0.4%

A IR SER VIC E

5.00

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Investment Research

Brokerage Ayodeji Ebo | aebo@afrinvest.com

Robert Omotunde | romotunde@afrinvest.com

Bolaji Fajenyo | bfajenyo@afrinvest.com

Eronmosele Aziba | eaziba@afrinvest.com

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MARKET NEWS

Take Advantage of Low Share Prices, Brokers Advise Investors Goddy Egene Stockrokers have urged investors to take advantage of low prices of shares to increase their portfolios.

Speaking under the aegis of Association of Stockbroking Houses of Nigeria (ASHON), they said the ongoing downswing in stock market will be short -lived because market fundamentals remain strong. According to them, shares of many listed companies are undervalued, selling below their intrinsic values, saying there can be no

better time to beef up portfolios in anticipation of superior return on investment (ROI).

The stock market has witnessed a consistent bear run, leading to a year—to-date decline of 7.5 per cent as at Wednesday.

However, ASHON, in statement signed by its chairman, Chief Patrick Ezeagu and General Secretary, Mr. Sam Onukwue said investors should see the bearish period as entry opportunity.

Realising the negative impact the volatile polity is having on the market, ASHON said: “For the umpteenth time,

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

we strongly appeal to the political class that rather than indulge in unwholesome activities, actions, attitudes and destructive utterances, they should support all efforts aimed at creating the muchneeded enabling environment for accelerated economic growth and development .”

According to association, the unguarded activities and unrestrained utterances of our politicians are heating up the polity with dire consequences on the economy as a whole and the capital market in particular.

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 2808-2018, unless otherwise stated.

“Perhaps we may remind the political class that uncertainties and all sorts of insecurities that currently pervade our country affect investors’ sentiments, asset valuations, market and country risk profile and portfolio allocation decisions. In recent times, trading statistics on the securities markets in Nigeria have been reflecting investors’ apathy to unprecedented level of tension that portends likely breakdown of law and order in the 2019 general elections,” they said.

ASHON explained that it is an

unassailable investor-behaviour that bad news trigger market panic and investors over react to such news, adding that innocent investors watch helplessly as their investments are plundered by the bearish market exacerbated by prevailing uncertainties in the polity created by the political class.

“As the country’s economic barometers, the securities markets in Nigeria have continued to reflect investors’ apprehensions to instability in the political and economic landscape through all their indices. This has largely

accounted for the inability of our market to fully recover from the effects of the 2008 financial crisis , notwithstanding the efforts made by the regulators and operators to fully revive the market. There is clear and present danger if the trend continues,” it said.

The stockbrokers said foreign portfolio investors and their indigenous counterparts have embarked on massive sell down of shares and other financial instruments with attendant effect of gross erosion of values despite stellar performances of many listed securities.

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 169.95 170.48 -4.41% Nigeria International Debt Fund 264.28 264.84 14.21% 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 0.83 0.84 1.27% ACAP Income Funds 0.63 0.63 4.81% 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 12.30% 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 17.96 18.50 -1.71% ARM Discovery Fund 377.39 388.77 -3.00% ARM Ethical Fund 28.50 29.36 4.30% ARM Money Market Fund 1.00 1.00 12.34% 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 140.82 141.81 -7.17% AXA Mansard Money Market Fund 1.00 1.00 11.94% 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 10.71% Paramount Equity Fund 11.80 12.11 6.46% Women's Investment Fund 103.38 106.03 2.73% 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 12.15% 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 N/A N/A N/A Coronation Balanced Fund N/A N/A N/A Coronation Fixed Income Fund N/A N/A N/A EDC FUNDS MANAGEMENT LIMITED mutualfundng@ecobank.com Web: www.ecobank.com Tel: 012265281 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn EDC Nigeria Money Market Fund Class A 100.00 100.00 11.90% EDC Nigeria Money Market Fund Class B 1,000,000.00 1,000,000.00 12.40% 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 1,186.50 1,187.22 9.65% FBN Heritage Fund 143.54 142.55 0.69% FBN Money Market Fund 100.00 100.00 12.14% FBN Nigeria Eurobond (USD) Fund - Institutional $113.95 $114.33 3.38% FBN Nigeria Eurobond (USD) Fund - Retail $113.73 $114.11 3.28% FBN Nigeria Smart Beta Equity Fund 160.90 163.20 0.65% 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 1.27 1.29 -2.10% Legacy Debt Fund 3.13 3.13 8.37% FSDH ASSET MANAGEMENT LTD coralfunds@fsdhgroup.com Web: www.fsdhaml.com; Tel: 01-270 4884-5; 01-280 9740-1 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Coral Growth Fund 3,058.77 3,089.69 2.45% Coral Income Fund 2,693.53 2,693.53 10.04% 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 12.10% Nigeria Entertainment Fund 102.99 104.58 3.32% 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 11.95% Vantage Balanced Fund 2.13 2.15 0.95% Vantage Guaranteed Income Fund 1.00 1.00 14.18% Kedari Investment Fund (KIF) 121.21 121.49 5.35%

LOTUS CAPITAL LTD fincon@lotuscapitallimited.com Web: www.lotuscapitallimited.com; Tel: +234 1-291 4626 / +234 1-291 4624 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Lotus Halal Investment Fund 1.19 1.21 3.45% Lotus Halal Fixed Income Fund 1,071.37 1,071.37 8.60% 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 11.97 12.07 -8.04% Meristem Money Market Fund 10.00 10.00 10.83% 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 1.33 1.35 11.70% PACAM Fixed Income Fund 11.85 11.93 7.43% PACAM Money Market Fund 10.00 10.00 11.36% 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 127.82 128.39 -1.40% 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 1.63 1.63 9.94% 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 2,294.04 2,309.82 2.20% Stanbic IBTC Bond Fund 185.43 185.43 5.09% Stanbic IBTC Ethical Fund 0.98 1.00 -1.98% Stanbic IBTC Guaranteed Investment Fund 239.28 239.33 8.65% Stanbic IBTC Iman Fund 168.75 170.68 -5.77% Stanbic IBTC Money Market Fund 100.00 100.00 11.63% Stanbic IBTC Nigerian Equity Fund 8,899.21 9,007.44 -8.03% Stanbic IBTC Dollar Fund (USD) 1.08 1.08 2.32% 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 N/A N/A N/A United Capital Bond Fund N/A N/A N/A United Capital Equity Fund N/A N/A N/A United Capital Money Market Fund N/A N/A N/A United Capital Eurobond Fund N/A N/A N/A United Capital Wealth for Women Fund N/A N/A N/A 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 12.31 12.50 -1.77% Zenith Ethical Fund 12.94 13.07 -1.98% Zenith Income Fund 20.81 20.81 9.95% Zenith Money Market Fund 1.00 1.00 11.61%

REITS NAV Per Share

Yield / T-Rtn

11.41 137.71 51.52

1.01 3.96% 1.36%

Bid Price

Offer Price

Yield / T-Rtn

11.49 130.05 100.48

11.59 132.81 102.38

-5.19% -8.95% -8.02%

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

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

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

SPECIALIST FUNDS*

funds@vetiva.com Bid Price

Offer Price

Yield / T-Rtn

4.34 8.18 16.49 17.34

4.38 8.26 16.59 17.54

-8.38% -14.45% -5.74% -11.80%

143.18

145.18

6.43%

NAV Per Share

Yield / T-Rtn

105.44

17.63%

FOR HNI & PROFESSIONAL INVESTORS ONLY

Fund Name Chapel Hill Denham Nigeria Infrastructure Debt Fund

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 ˾ THURSDAY AUGUST 30, 2018

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FOREIGN/DIPLOMATIC AFFAIRS

Editor: VINCENT OBIA vincent.obia@thisdaylive.com 0805 468 1757

In Brief In Latest White House Exit, Trump to Lose Counse White House counsel Don McGahn, whose relationship with President Donald Trump has been strained by the investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election, is set to leave the job in the coming weeks, Reuters reported. Trump announced on Twitter on Wednesday that McGahn would leave after the U.S. Senate confirms the nomination of Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court. He will become the latest in a long string of high-ranking advisers to leave Trump’s side. McGahn did not know the tweet was coming, an administration official said, but he had been planning to leave the White House because he felt he had achieved his goals in getting conservatives named to federal judgeships, rolling back regulations and reeling in the bureaucracy.

Germany Returns Skulls of Namibian Genocide Victims

Emmerson Mnangagwa being sworn-in as the second president of Zimbabwe. Photo credit: EPA-EFE/Aaron Ufumeli.

Zimbabwe: A Future Finely Balanced Between Democracy and Militarisation David B. Moore

E

mmerson Dambudzo Mnangagwa’s inauguration as Zimbabwe’s second president and commander-in-chief consummated power for the main beneficiary of the November 2017 coup that forced Robert Mugabe’s long delayed retirement. Zimbabwean scholar and activist Brian Raftopoulos’ remarks during a public meeting at the University of Cape Town five years ago come to mind. As all were wondering what would happen in the weeks before the much-marred 2013 Zimbabwean election, Raftopoulos argued that Zimbabwe’s military-economic Êlite – a new capitalist class at an early stage – will not be removed just with elections.

Mnangagwa’s next five years may see this prediction reach its endpoint. His billboards said he would deliver the new country Zimbabweans want: the promise remains poised on tenterhooks. The classic dynamic in politics everywhere – the interplay between militarisation and democratisation – looms large.

Raftopoulos’ proviso that a “partnership to prevent militaristic moves� was necessary in 2013 may be more apposite (and trickier) now than ever. The prospects for the next elections in 2023 (barring constitutional changes – possible because Zanu-PF MPs make up more than the two-thirds in Parliament needed to change that hard-won document) could take stark contours.

The contest is, and will be, far beyond a battle of two parties and their main protagonists. It will be between increasing democratic participation – starting with the classic precepts of free and fair elections – or a securitisation process much less stealthy than before.

This is the most important point to consider about Zimbabwe’s medium-term prospects.

The others are moves within Zanu-PF itself, dynamics within the MDC-Alliance and what happens to the economy.

After the Constitutional Court’s ruling confirming Mnangagwa as the “duly� elected president, MDC-Alliance leader Nelson Chamisa suggested that he and Mnangagwa needed a serious discussion that would lead to the breaking of Zimbabwe’s legacy of violent and

jimmied elections.

It’s still an open question whether such a discussion would lead to a coalition government, or the space for the faction-ridden MDC-Alliance to flex the muscles of a loyal opposition and to rebuild. Its bad experience during the 2009-2013 “government of national unityâ€? might militate against a repeat. But the wider need to cushion the new rĂŠgime from militarisation is worth considering.

The cautionary note to the MDC-Alliance about any such new dispensation might be: don’t neglect your badly fractured party and its allies needing to be in the fold; and don’t sideline your enemies within precipitously.

Meanwhile, many among the MDC-Alliance and its supporters fear the Zanu-PF machine is poised to wipe them out permanently.

Much related to the above and perhaps the key, is Zanu-PF itself. The battle between Mnangagwa and Vice-President Constantino Chiwenga could be overdrawn, but the tragic killings of August 1 have thrown it into stark relief.

Can no one in power know who shot the demonstrators and innocent bystanders? Could Chiwenga really say that news of the shootings was “fake� and aver the MDC-Alliance deployed cadres to do the shooting to discredit Zanu-PF? In any case, a military unit came in, because - so says “the state� - the police could not contain the violence. On site observers, however, attest that the police and the demonstrators were enjoying a friendly encounter, including selfies and dancing.

Then the soldiers arrived.

The journalists who were there say the men with guns were the Presidential Guard, under Chiwenga’s control: after they arrived and started killing, the violence and car burning ensued.

One analysis says this tragedy has exposed Zimbabwe’s parallel states. Furthermore, the senior soldiers have just had their retirements deferred. Perhaps Mnangagwa’s inaugural Freudian slip – when he failed to acknowledge his vice- presidents – revealed his inner desire to be rid of Chiwenga.

One can only hope that the promised commission of inquiry will unearth what happened, and deal with it summarily.

The Patriot, one of the fractured ruling party’s media mouthpieces, reveals some party

propagandists’ thinking about democracy and human rights. ‘Unmasking CSU’ (Counselling Services Unit, a long-serving source of succour for wounded democracy activists, as well as an advocacy NGO) paints the CSU and other human rights organisations writing “fake reports� to fan “tribalism and violence to achieve regime change�. Only words? If they turn into bullets Zimbabwe will have stepped down the ladder a long, long way.

Ticking like a time bomb is the ruined economy.

No real money and a gargantuan number of unemployed embedded in the precarious “informal sector�, if they’re not eking out a penurious peasant’s existence. Their situation is so miserable that they are easily bribed – with flour and subsidised prices for their maize backed by intimidation from the chiefs – to vote.

Help from elsewhere might not be forthcoming either, or not helpful if it is. The rulers’ faux pas against the demonstrators has worried even its dedicated supporters in the wider world, imperilling even the demanding strictures of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank re-engagement. The “West� dangled the slightly less rigorous chalice of Heavily Indebted Poor Country status in front of Mnangagwa’s finance bureaucrats before the elections. Even though Zimbabwe is considered “too rich� for the easier debt-relief packages that comes with the status, broad hints were made. It’s doubtful if those whispers will get louder now.

In any case, as civil society activist Takura Zhangazha has written, IMF and World Bank policies are woefully inadequate for Zimbabwe’s problems: it is highly unlikely that its poor majority will be lifted to a decent life under their aegis.

As for private investment: Zimbabwe will again be fair game for the cowboys - from the east as well as the west these days.

Zimbabwe is in a precarious position. Its immediate future rests under the sword of Damocles. The threads of democracy have to be thickened. One hopes the chronicle of its demise cannot be foretold. t .PPSF JT 1SPGFTTPS PG %FWFMPQNFOU 4UVEJFT BOE 7JTJUJOH 3FTFBSDIFS *OTUJUVUF PG 1BO "GSJDBO 5IPVHIU BOE $POWFSTBUJPO 6OJWFSTJUZ PG +PIBOOFTCVSH

Germany has returned the human remains of indigenous people killed during a genocide in colonial Namibia more than 100 years ago. A Namibian government delegation received the skulls at a church service in the capital, Berlin, BBC reported.

The bones had been sent to Germany for now-discredited research to prove the racial superiority of white Europeans.

Tens of thousands of Herero and Nama people were murdered in response to an anti-colonial uprising. Their descendants are still waiting for an apology from the German government. The genocide began in 1904 after a Herero and Nama rebellion in response to the German expropriation of their land and cattle. The head of the military administration in what was then known as German South West Africa, Lothar von Trotha, issued an extermination order in October 1904. The Herero and Nama were forced into the desert and any who were found trying to return to their land were either killed or put into concentration camps.

US, Russia in War of Words as Syria Attack Looms Russia has deployed a dozen warships to the Mediterranean Sea in what a Russian newspaper on Tuesday called Moscow’s largest naval build-up since it entered the Syrian conflict in 2015, Al Jazeera reported.

The reinforcement comes as Russia’s ally, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, is believed to be considering a major assault on the last rebel-held enclave in northern Idlib province. Russia has accused the United States of building up its own forces in the Middle East in preparation for a possible strike on Syrian government forces. On Saturday, the Admiral Grigorovich and Admiral Essen frigates sailed through Turkey’s Bosphorus towards the Mediterranean, Reuters news agency images showed.

Merkel in Africa Charm Offensive Germany’s Angela Merkel visited Senegal on Wednesday and will also make stops in Ghana and Nigeria on Thursday and Friday, respectively. Her aim is similar to that of British Prime Minister Theresa May - to boost trade with Africa. “African countries could be a good market down the line,� Ms Merkel said in a recent video address, according to AFP. “Other countries are already very active here.�

T H I S D AY ˾ THURSDAY AUGUST 30, 2018

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THURSDAY AUGUST 30, 2018˾ T H I S D AY

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NEWSEXTRA

Jonathan Lauds Saraki’s Leadership Qualities Senate president opens campaign office in Abuja Deji Elumoye in Abuja Former President Goodluck Jonathan has lauded the leadership qualities of the Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki.

This is coming as the Senate President has opened a campaign office along Adetokunbo Ademola street in Wuse Zone 2, Abuja.

According to the former president, Saraki’s leadership qualities are exemplified in the firm and progressive direction he has provided for the National Assembly.

The ex-President who

spoke when Saraki paid him a courtesy visit yesterday at his Maitama residence in Abuja, said the tremendous support being enjoyed by Saraki among lawmakers in the National Assembly testified to his leadership ability.

He thanked Saraki and members of his entourage for the visit, noting that most of those on the delegation had at one time or the other, played key roles in his political history and development.

“Senate President; let me use this opportunity to commend your leadership

abilities. Looking at what is happening in the country, if not for your strong leadership, probably the National Assembly would have been in chaos and if the National Assembly is in tatters, then of course, democracy is gone.

“I am quite pleased with the kind of relationship you have with the House of Representatives’ members and how you have been able to hold the National Assembly together because on the day

that the parliament was invaded, though the target was the Senate, the House of Representatives members were as active as, if not more active than, the Senators and that cannot happen by chance.

“What we know is that if there is an assault on the Senate. Then it is also seen as an assault on the House of Representatives. If they (House of Representatives members) don’t believe in you, I don’t think some of

them would have taken that kind of risk. That commitment shows that they believe in your leadership”, he said.

Saraki had earlier said his visit was to pay his respect to the ex-president and also to inform him of his formal return to the fold of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

He said the present realities in the country had shown that all those who love the country must work together to

return the country to the path of growth, fairness, equity and justice.

Meanwhile, Saraki has opened a campaign office along Adetokunbo Ademola Street in Wuse Zone 2, Abuja.

Sources further hinted that a Director-General and other campaign officers would, in a matter of days, be named

by Saraki, and they will take full charge of his campaign office in readiness for the 2019 elections.

PDP Slams APC, Presidency for Deceit over Restructuring Adedayo Akinwale in Abuja The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has said the comment made by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo dismissing the promise by the All Progressives Congress (APC) to restructure the country, if voted into power, had further confirmed that the ruling party outrightly lied to Nigerians to win the 2015 general elections.

The opposition party also said the ruling party’s dodgy approach to the issue of restructuring has earned it the odious reputation as the most deceptive political organisation in the history of the country.

The National Publicity Secretary of PDP, Mr. Kola Ologbondiyan, in a statement yesterday recalled that APC made the issue of restructuring a cardinal agenda in its manifesto, alongside other bogus promises, which it had failed to fulfill.

According to him, “now that the 2019 general elections are around the corner, the APC

has become apprehensive that Nigerians will hold it to task on its promises, including that of restructuring, hence the resort to rhetoric and desperate recants, for which the loquaciousness of persons like Prof. Osinbajo has been enlisted.”

The main opposition party counselled the APC and Buhari’s Presidency to learn that there is no way they can hide from their shadows, adding that “they must be ready to face Nigerians on all scores, in all their lies, deception and false promises, with which they fraudulently took over power in 2015”.

PDP noted that the APC, in line with its duplicitous script, went ahead to set up a deceptive committee on restructuring, which made several recommendations that they never contemplated implementing, but only to create an impression that their dysfunctional party and incompetent government are committed to their promises.

AI Calls on FG to Account for Victims of Enforced Disappearance Martins Ifijeh Amnesty International has called on the federal government to immediately release thousands of Nigerians who have been subjected to enforced disappearance and held in secret detention facilities across the country without charge or trial.

In a statement yesterday to mark the International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances, the group said the Nigerian government has used the tactics to silence critics and instill fear in civilian populations facing the double threat of Boko Haram and military operations against them.

According to the Director, Amnesty International Nigeria, Osai Ojigho, many families were still searching for loved ones who have not been seen for many years.

He said: “In some cases, families live with the pain of not knowing whether their loved ones are alive or dead. It is time the government did the right thing –and either release these detainees or charge them with a recognisable criminal offence in a fair trial without recourse to death penalty.

“Some detainees have been held incommunicado for up to nine years or more, without

access to family or lawyers.

Others have received court judgements ordering their release from custody, but security agencies have continued to defy these court orders.”

He said an example is the case of journalist Abiri Jones, who was held in the Directorate of Secret Services (DSS) detention for two years without access to family members or lawyers, adding that at the beginning, the government denied detaining him, only to later release him following pressure from civil society organizations.

He said it was unacceptable that many families were going through the same turmoil Abiri’s family went through.

“Hundreds of people suspected of belonging to or being associated with Boko Haram or its affiliates, the Niger Delta agitators or pro-Biafra activists in the southeast of the country, have been arbitrarily arrested and unlawfully detained by DSS in recent years.

“Although the new leadership of the DSS has started releasing some detainees, the authorities must ensure that hundreds of other detainees are quickly released or charged in court,” the director noted.

OATH OF OFFICE

L-R: Human rights lawyer and Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Chief Mike Ozekhome; former Chief of Staff to former President Goodluck Jonathan, Chief Mike Oghiadome; newly-elected President of Afenmai World Congress, Dr. David lyalomhe; former President, Dr. John Emale, administering the oath of office on lyalomhe, at the 2018 Afenmai World Congress held in Los Angeles, California. USA...recentty

Ganduje Heads 63-man APC Campaign Committee for Osun Election Onyebuchi Ezigbo in Abuja Kano State Governor, Abdullahi Ganduje has been appointed to lead a 63-man All Progressives Congress (APC) campaign committee for the September 22 governorship election in Osun State.

This was announced yesterday by the National Chairman of the party, Adams Oshiomhole at the party’s National Secretariat in Abuja when he inaugurated the committee.

The committee, which will hold its campaign across nine constituencies in the state, has no fewer than six other governors as its members.

The Zamfara State Governor, Abdul-Aziz Yari will serve as deputy to Ganduje while

governors Yahaya Bello of Kogi State; Ibikunle Amosun of Ogun State; Abubakar of Bauchi State; Akinwumi Ambode of Lagos State, Simon Lalong of Plateau State, Abubakar Badaru of Jigawa and Rauf Aregbesola of Osun State, are members of the committee.

Other members of the committee include all APC lawmakers from the state and some ministers.

Addressing members of the committee after their inauguration, Oshiomhole stressed that it is very paramount for the party to retain the state after ruling it for eight years.

He said, “By way of protocol, the 63 names I just read out constitute members of the Osun State campaign council. We are very grateful to Governor

Ganduje for graciously accepting to provide leadership and chair this very important committee.

“So, we have a body of experience to go about and the whole idea is to sustain the values and the ideals of our Party, which is based on transparent elections on the basis of one man, one vote and joining forces with the party leadership in the state, to work hard, to mobilise people of Osun State to vote wisely for the APC candidate in the next governorship election that is scheduled to take place by the special of God on September 22, 2018.

In his response, Ganduje commended Oshiomhole for the confidence reposed in them, reiterating that his committee would do all it could do to

win the state.

According to him, “Our chairman, on behalf of this powerful council, I will like to thank you very much for having confidence in us.

“The task ahead of us is very important. So, I think Mr. Chairman what you have done is to match the quality of the council with the importance of assignment.

“There is no doubt that winning Osun Sate is very vital to the party, the government because its a state we shall retain, it has been our state in APC for the last 8 years and by the will of God we will maintain this state in order to have a 100 per cent states of the South-west part of this country in our great party,” he said.

180 Nigerians Return to Nigeria Today from Libya Chinedu Eze A batch of 180 Nigerians will arrive today at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos, from Libya.

It is also slated that a batch of Nigerians would be deported from Germany early next week.

A source close to Aviation Security (AVSEC), a department under the Federal Airports Authority

of Nigeria (FAAN) made this known at the Lagos airport yesterday.

He said the returnees would be assisted back to the country by the International Organisation for Migration (IOM), which has been responsible for the repatriation of Nigerians from Libya in recent times.

The returnees would also be received by officials of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) at the airport.

The returnees are Nigerians who had attempted to travel to Europe through the desert and the Mediterranean Sea and other illegal channels, but were caught in the web of crises that has engulfed the North African country.

The AVSEC source said the deportees would return to the country through the Lagos Airport at 8p.m. through a chartered flight from Europe.

Most of the deportees, it was learnt, are females while

no fewer than three of them have medical issues.

No fewer than 2,000 Nigerians have returned from Libya in the past one year and just recently, a batch of 171 Nigerians were returned from Libya for illegal migration.

The returnees comprised 70 female adults, including nine pregnant women, 90 male adults, three children and eight infants, while eight of them returned to the country with bad health related issues.

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Theresa May Celebrates Opportunities on London to Lagos Link Vincent Obia The City of London will play an even greater role in financing the fastest-growing economies across Africa and the world as the United Kingdom leaves the European Union by the end of March next year, British Prime Minister Theresa May said yesterday as she visited Nigeria on the second day of her three-day trip to Africa.

The Prime Minister highlighted the opportunities for trade, innovation, professional services, and investment that exist through the city of London to Lagos link.

The visit, which began with closed-door discussions with President Muhammadu in Abuja, included a whistle-stop tour in Nigeria’s commercial capital, Lagos State, where the prime minister met the state Governor, Akinwunmi Ambode, and members of the business community, as well as victims of modern day slavery.

May arrived in Nigeria from South Africa and will proceed to Kenya from Nigeria on Thursday.

Nigeria and Britain were reported to have signed two agreements on defence and security partnership as well as Economic Development Forum in Abuja before May headed to Lagos.

The prime minister, who arrived at the presidential wing of the Muritala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, about 4.20 p. m. aboard a Royal Air Force aircraft, highlighted

the opportunities for trade, innovation, professional services, and investment that exist through the city of London to Lagos link.

May said: “Already, the finance and business links between Lagos and London are bringing enormous benefits to businesses and people in the UK and in Nigeria, and today’s announcements deepen this burgeoning partnership even further.

“London is a world leading financial centre, and as the UK leaves the European Union, it will play an even greater role in financing the fastest-growing economies across Africa and the world.”

In Lagos, May visited securities exchange company, FMDQ, which has played a central role in driving and advancing Nigeria’s financial market.

UK-Nigeria trade was worth £4.2 billion last year, up from £3.7 billion in 2016, with British Deputy High Commissioner to Nigeria, Laure Beaufils, saying just before the prime minister’s visit that bilateral trade between both countries is expected to more than double by 2030.

British companies, including British Airways, GSK, Shell, Diageo, Unilever, and Standard Chartered, have successful and long-established operations in Nigeria, many of which date back to the 1930s. About 111 African companies are said to have come to the UK to list on the London Stock Exchange, to raise money.

The prime minister’s Office

Protesters Storm PenCom over Botched Recruitment Exercise Tobi Soniyi Protesters yesterday stormed the headquarters of the National Pension Commission (PenCom) in Abuja protesting against the commission’s failure to allow workers recruited by the agency to resume work.

The protesters, under the aegis of the Nigerian Youth for Change, alleged that the botched recruitment exercise resulted in the death of one of the new recruits, late Mustapha Ajiya.

Azubike Okafor, who provided the background to the development, said Mustapha was lawfully employed

by PenCom based on the approval of the last Executive Management Committee of the agency.

Okafor explained that Mustapha successfully completed the aptitude test, passed the various interviews and was offered employment via a letter dated March 2017 and was directed to resume on May 2, 2017.

“Mustapha accepted the offer and resigned his previous employment.

However, the Executive Management Committee of PenCom was removed in April 2017 and Mrs. Aisha Dahir-Umar, after receiving the handover note as the most senior staff, indefinitely suspended their already legally

concluded employments.”

The protesters expressed pessimism that if nothing was done to lift the suspension, the other 41 recruits still waiting for PenCom to allow them resume, may face the same fate as Mustapha.

Reacting to the development, the acting Director-General of PenCom, Mrs. Aisha Dahir-Umar, said that the suspension of the recruitment was not a unilateral decision of PenCom as she met a letter upon resumption of office directing her to suspend it due to irregularities.

Dahir-Umar said the recruitment did not follow strictly the conditions spelt out by the Federal Character Commission (FCC) and this might have informed the decision of the commission to initiate the suspension of the recruitment.

The acting PenCom boss said the FCC gave the former management the approval to recruit 16 new workers but the commission eventually employed 42 persons also failed to obtain the final compliance certificate before issuing employment letters to the new recruits.

“By the time I resumed office, there was already a letter to say they should not be allowed to resume. That is the problem. It is not PenCom that stopped their resumption,” she said.

had said May was expected to welcome a commitment from Dangote Cement to list on the London Stock Exchange during a meeting yesterday with Chairman Aliko Dangote. Also yesterday, oil and gas company, Seplat Petroleum, was expected

to commit to list its $350 million eurobond programme on the London Stock Exchange.

To encourage deeper partnership between London and Lagos on capital markets, the prime minister announced new initiatives to support Nigeria’s

capital markets regulator, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

The prime minister’s office stated: “Britain is a leading global hub for FinTech, which contributes over £5 billion to the UK economy every year,

and Lagos is at the forefront of FinTech innovation in Africa.

The first UK-Africa FinTech partnership will use the UK’s unique expertise to support African entrepreneurs, improve

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ON THE MOVE...

L-R: Kaduna State Governor, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai, Comptroller General of the Nigeria Customs Service, Col. Hameed Ali (rtd), and Kogi State Governor, Alhaji Yahaya Bello after the Caucus Meeting of All Progressives Congress held at the State House New Banguat Hall ...recently STATE HOUSE

PRESIDENCY: PIGB CONTAINS CONSTITUTIONAL, LEGAL BREACHES administration of the upstream, midstream and downstream sectors of the Nigerian petroleum industry.

The bill creates a framework that will free up acreages that are not being developed by current license and lease holders, thereby creating opportunities for new investors. This will bring substantial new investment to the nation’s oil and gas industry.

It also ensures effective management of the environment by petroleum operators and administrators.

It provides a framework to unleash midstream activities, which will open up the market for the supply of gas and other downstream products, for economic growth and provides much needed legal backing for the deregulation of our downstream petroleum sector.

Atiku, Adebanjo, environmentalists reject veto Strident criticisms followed the presidential veto yesterday as politicians and environmentalists described it as an unfortunate development.

Leading the critics was former Vice President Atiku who said the veto was “a monumental mistake,” adding that the reason given by the president for rejecting the bill also betrayed the fact that the current administration was out of tandem with global best practices.

The former vice president wondered why that the National Assembly in conjunction with the oil majors and host communities would be allowed to put in so much work and yet nothing came out of it.

He said, “The PIGB will be a great catalyst for Nigeria’s oil and gas sector and has the capacity of stabilising our

host communities, boosting our reserves and creating the enabling environment that attracts the type of investment that will make Nigeria a world leader in the petroleum industry.

“In recent months, Nigeria became the world headquarters for extreme poverty, having overtaken India as the nation with the most people living under $2 a day (81 million people). If we are to change the situation and bring our people out of poverty, we must support legislation such as the PIGB.” Afenifere chieftain, Adebanjo, reacting to the veto, said the Nigerian leader was not only undemocratic; he was also not a man of his words.

According to him, the development “is very unfortunate,” noting, “I am the last person you should be asking about Buhari. You know I told you I will be disappointed if he is democratic and that I am disappointed that he has not disappointed me. What is he doing now that I have not said before? He doesn’t want to rule, he wants to dominate!”

The people of Niger Delta region, who are mostly affected by the impact of oil and gas activities in the country, reacted angrily to the president’s action, accusing him of not only being selfish, but also against the development of the region.

According to environmental rights activist, Mr. Nnimmo Bassey, an architect, who chairs Environmental Rights Action (ERA), a Niger Delta based advocate group against environmental pollution, the National Assembly should immediately override the presidential veto in the interest of the nation and the environment.

“Although I’m not a fan of a

fragmented PIGB, it would be okay if the National Assembly overrides the presidential dissent.

The petroleum sector needs a workable structure. The PIGB would comprehensively handle the pressing problems of our devastated environment and communities,” he said, adding, “The fact that the president stepped up to speak about the PIGB challenging his powers as the Minister of Petroleum Resources is important because we are reminded of a vital point: that this represents a sad commentary of the petroleum resources industry in Nigeria.”

This position was also shared by a Bayelsa State environmental activist, Mr. Alagoa Morris, who wondered why the president had the belief that the bill would whittle down his powers as Minister of Petroleum Resources when the reverse is the case.

“I don’t think the bill will reduce the powers of the president if signed into law; instead, it will retain it, if not increase it. The only thing that will change is that the technocrats will manage the system. Unfortunately, that is what the politicians don’t want.

He should sign it in the interest of peace.”

Elder statesman and Niger Delta leader, Chief Edwin Clarke, declined to speak on the issue, saying that he was still studying the situation before he could make any comment.

But for retired Colonel Tony Nyiam, another political and environmental activist in the Niger Delta region, “It is most sad that the PIGB, which has been in the works for many years now, has been shutdown.

It shows that President Buhari is insensitive to things that are sensitive to the Niger Delta

people.”

An oil and gas lawyer, Mr. Uche Nwokedi (SAN), said since Buhari refused to assent to the bill, the country should continue to operate the Petroleum Act of 1969.

Nwokedi noted that as far as he was concerned, nothing was wrong with the Petroleum Act of 1969, as the law had everything to effectively administer the industry.

A prominent civil society group, Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA), described the presidential veto as an “intentional retrogression” and “a show of the will- not- to overcome.”

HURIWA also affirmed that the decision might not constitute any shock to most rational thinkers in Nigeria and globally, because it is a notorious fact that pragmatic governance change has not yet manifested in Nigeria even with much talked about change mantra mouthed by President Buhari and his officials.

In a statement by its National Coordinator, Mr. Emmanuel Onwubiko, the rights group noted that it had cost the country humongous amount of public funds to build up the proposed legislation that had just suffered political still-birth.

“We absolutely condemn this ill-advised decision of Mr. President to reject a bill that so much intellectual works have gone into producing it just as valuable resources that could even have been deployed to clean up the messed up and impoverished Niger Delta oil mineral producing communities have been spent to reach a clearly acceptable determination of the final copy of the bill only for this sad end to be intentionally choreographed.”

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Uduaghan: Why I Dumped PDP for APC Omololu Ogunmade in Abuja Former Governor of Delta State, Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan, yesterday claimed that he dumped the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for All Progressives Congress (APC) because of APC rule of engagement and investment in infrastructure.

Uduaghan, who made this disclosure in Abuja while speaking with journalists in the State House after attending the APC caucus meeting presided over by President Muhammadu Buhari, said he was fascinated by the development that Niger Delta region had witnessed under the administration of Buhari.

The former governor further said he was attracted to the party because the federal government took up the crises it met in Niger Delta, noting that the region is characterised with a range of crises which he said he devoted a lot of time to address when he was in office.

He also claimed that his defection was predicated on his interest in the development of Niger Delta which he said the APC government had been championing, adding that the APC would further give him the platform to pursue such interest.

“Politics is about interest.

I’m from the Niger Delta area, and I managed a lot of crises from the Niger Delta.

Sometimes, I went to the creeks and engaged the boys, and my principle when I was managing the Niger Delta was out of engagement, and the current APC government succeeded in managing them through engagement.

“The president saw a lot of leaders from the Niger Delta while the vice-president went from state to state of oil producing area making a lot of engagements, and agreements

were reached.

“Nobody at that level had gone from state to state before in Nigeria, this was the first time, and of course the crisis is not over yet, they need to be supported by those of us from the Niger Delta who are passionate about the region so that in moving forward, we can have solutions to the crisis in the area. If a new person comes in, he would start putting agreement up

again and all that.

“Secondly, in the area of infrastructure, this government has done very well. Talking about my state, for the first time a rail line came to Delta State; for the first time, a committee has been officially inaugurated for the gas city which we have been talking about, also we have human capital development projects, school feeding among others in the Niger Delta.

“So, let me join the party in order to effect changes because we cannot achieve anything by working from the outside in the region. Some of us have to join the APC train and many people are going to come with me so that we can achieve a lot in the region for the APC government. Politics is about regional interest and I’m interested in the Niger Delta,” he stated.

NNPC Plans New Subsidiary for Commercial Bunkering Operations Chineme Okafor in Abuja The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has disclosed it would set up a new subsidiary company to undertake the business of commercial petroleum products bunkering in the waters of Nigeria.

In a statement issued by its Group General Manager, Public Affairs, Mr. Ndu Ughamadu, which was made available to THISDAY yesterday in Abuja, the corporation said the move is aimed at consolidating its foothold on shipping business in Nigeria as well as to boost its profit margins.

Ughamadu, noted that plans to set up the subsidiary firm was disclosed by the Group General Manager, NNPC Shipping, Mrs. Aisha Katagum, in an interview she granted in the August edition of the corporation’s in-house journal-NNPC News.

Katagum, he stated, said the new subsidiary would provide refueling services to

ships and other ocean-going vessels, adding that business models to be adopted for this would be developed by the corporate planning department of the corporation.

“Actually, the NNPC Group Managing Director is also very keen on that. He has directed the Corporate Planning and Strategy (CPS) Division to come up with a business model for us to see how it could operate,” the statement quoted Katagum to have said in the interview.

She explained that the bunkering subsidiary was most likely going to be an incorporated company like Nidas, a subsidiary under NNPC Shipping, adding that the proposed company would likely be domiciled in the NNPC Shipping division as well.

“I’m sure it’s going to be a big business because we have so many vessels that come into the West African coast. This year alone, over 120 vessels have brought imports for us,” she further stated.

APC SETTLES FOR INDIRECT PRIMARY TO ELECT CANDIDATES direct primary because of its cumbersome nature, only some party leaders from the Southwest have been pushing for its adoption.

Saliu said everyone appreciateed the value of direct primaries but for the difficulties that go with it.

He noted that the issue of modalities for party primaries would be resolved at today’s NEC meeting.

Saliu said: “I am aware that some members of the House of Representatives from certain part of the country are circulating text messages to their colleagues that a decision

has been reached on the nature of the primary to be used by the party.

The APC chieftain said though the NWC deliberated on the matter, it did not take any final decision but will present its suggestions to the NEC for final resolution.

“The reason why I am doing this is that some people are trying to mislead members of the public claiming that some decision came from the party or an organ of the party. Any decision that will come from the party will be disseminated officially from the spokesperson of the party. We should wait

COMBAT READINESS

L-R: Representative of the Chief of Army Staff and Commander, Nigerian Army Training and Doctrine Command, Major General Ademoh Salihu; representative of Edo State Governor and Head of Service, Mrs. Gladys Idahor; Commander, Nigerian Army Ordinance Corps, Major General Joel Isokpehi Unuigbe, and Chief of Staff to Edo State Governor, Chief Taiwo Akerele, at the 20th Combat Service Support Training Week held at the Nigerian Army School of Supply and Transport in Benin City, Edo State…recently

10,000 Kwankwaso Supporters Dump PDP for APC, Burn Red Caps in Kano Ibrahim ShuaibuinKano Over 10, 000 tricycle riders loyal to the Kwankwasiyya Group and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), yesterday in Kano State destroyed and openly burnt their red caps and formally defected to the All Progressives Congress (APC).

Receiving the defectors, the

Chairman of APC in the state, Alhaji Abdullahi Abbas described the event which took place at Sani Abacha Stadium as historic and an indication that the Kwankwasiyya and the PDP are dead and buried in Kano.

“Today, they have come to join us and we have received them with open hands. In our great party, there is no discriminative.

They will be accorded the same treatment just like any one of us.”

“We are happy to receive the tricycle riders who have realised that there is no hope where they were.

Abbas also stated that, “with what is happening now, you will agree with me that come 2019, President Muhammadu Buhari and

Governor Abdullahi Abdullahi Umar Ganduje will have a landslide victory in Kano.”

Speaking also, the Commissioner for Local Government Affairs, Alhaji Muktar Sule Garo, said about 6500 members of Kwankwasiyya Tricycle operators and 3500 members of PDP Tricycle operators defected to the APC.

Marafa Empowers Party Loyalists with Foodstuffs, 51 Cars Deji Elumoye in Abuja A member of the National Assembly, Senator Kabiru Marafa, has empowered his loyalists and the less- privileged in Zamfara State with car gifts and bags of grains.

Senator Marafa (APC, Zamfara Central), through Marafa Campaign Organisation

, MCO, distributed 51 cars to party executives and loyalists, 100,000 Jerseys to the youth and 2,000 bags of grains to the less-previledged in the state.

APC’s Publicity Secretary in Zamfara State, Bello Bakyasuwa in a statement said the items distributed included 24 units of Peugeot 406, 12 Volks Wagen Golf cars, three units of Peugeot 407 , six units of VW Sharon,

one unit of Murano, one unit of Highlander and four Ford buses.

He listed the beneficiaries of the cars to include the state chairman of the APC, three zonal vice chairmen, state Secretary, youth leader, organising secretary, publicity secretary, women leader, all local government chairmen and other selected party loyalists in the state.

According to him, the 2,000 bags of grains were distributed to Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs), less-privileged persons and youth organisations across the state.

For ease of transportation, he said a cash donation of N1,000 was attached to each of the 2,000 bags of grains for the beneficiaries to convey the item to their respective destinations.

THERESA MAY CELEBRATES OPPORTUNITIES ON LONDON TO LAGOS LINK access to financial services for consumers and encourage new investment.

“Nigerian entrepreneurs will be connected with UK FinTech investors and business mentors to get the finance and advice they need to start and grow their companies, while a dedicated fund worth up to £2 million will support Nigerian innovators as they turn their ideas into successful businesses.

“To support African entrepreneurs and help British companies enter this rapidly expanding market, the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) will work with regulators in Africa to

share the UK’s successful experience of developing regulation and policies that encourage innovation and protect consumers. The FCA will also explore new mechanisms to help financial innovators try out new ideas.”

While in Lagos the prime minister announced the launch of a 12-month skill sharing programme, Legal Services are GREAT, under which UK legal professionals will work with their Nigerian counterparts to support Nigeria’s legal industry, share knowledge, skills and experience in areas such as infrastructure and science, and provide advice on issues like cross-border

transactions. It is hoped that with collaborations like this, the UK legal system, with its reputation for transparency, would help increase investor confidence in Nigeria’s business environment while creating new business opportunities for UK law firms and chambers.

May also announced in Lagos the creation of new innovation partnerships in Nigeria, South Africa, and Kenya aimed at bringing together British and African expertise to address global challenges and provide tailored support to businesses across the continent to connect, grow and trade.

She announced the launch

of a new programme to help innovative companies in northern Nigeria attract investment and scale up their businesses. Through such initiative, about three million people, mainly women, are expected to earn more money while about 100,000 new jobs would be created.

The UK government supports trade between the two countries through UK Export Finance agency, which has an envelope of £750 million to support British businesses which want to export to Nigeria. This is in addition to the development finance offer from CDC, which has a portfolio of over $350 million in Nigeria.

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Fayemi Hires 35 Lawyers, Assembles 1,009 Witnesses to Defend Mandate Victor Ogunje in Ado Ekiti The Governor-Elect of Ekiti State, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, has hired 35 lawyers and assembled 1,009 witnesses to defend his victory at the recent governorship election in the state.

Fayemi yesterday filed his defence to the petition written by the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and outgoing Deputy Governor of Ekiti State, Professor Kolapo Olusola Eleka at the Election Petition Tribunal sitting in Ado Ekiti, the Ekiti State capital.

Fayemi polled a total of 197, 459 votes to defeat Olusola, who got 178, 223 votes in the keenly contested election.

Olusola, who was the candidate of the PDP in the July 14 governorship election, had a couple of weeks ago filed a 700-page petition against Fayemi’s victory.

Olusola asked the tribunal to declare him winner of the election , having polled the highest number of lawfull votes in the election.

The PDP’s candidate accused the APC of using the federal might to muzzle

opposition , while also accusing the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) of falsifying results in Fayemi’s favour.

In the 2,558-page defence with over 3,000 documents as exhibits, Fayemi averred that he won the gubernatorial election of July 14, 2018 and urged the tribunal to dismiss the petition of Eleka for lack of merit.

The team of lawyers armed with 3,500 exhibits and 1,009 witnesses , were led to the tribunal by three Senior Advocates of Nigeria (SANs),

Mr Hakeem AfoIabi, Mr. Yomi Aliyu and Dr. Kayode Olatoke.

Addressing journalists after filing the defence, Dr. Kayode Olatoke (SAN), who spoke on behalf of his colleagues, said Eleka’s petition was a waste of time as it lacked substance and would be dismissed by the tribunal.

He explained further that Fayemi won fair and square in 12 out of the 16 Local Governments Areas (LGAs) of the state, while Eleka won in four.

In his response to Eleka’s petition bordering on alleged

over -voting in some polling units, Olatoke dismissed this claim as frivolous and baseless.

He said Eleka’s first ground in his petition is based on Fayemi’s phantom indictment, which had been nullified and set aside by a competent court.

“The second ground of Eleka’s petition is alleged over voting, which is another false claim. In any case, the petition in itself is self-defeating.

“The third ground is on deliberate voiding of votes as alleged by Eleka but in actual fact, majority of the voided ballots were votes meant

for Fayemi, while the fourth ground is on vote buying which is baseless as it was, Eleka’s sponsor, Fayose that was guilty of this.

“Fayemi won convincingly based on his popularity,” Olatoke said.

Other senior lawyers in the team representing Dr Fayemi and the APC are Prince Lateef Fagbemi (SAN), Hakeem Afolabi (SAN), John Baiyeshea (SAN), Chief Akin Olujimi (SAN), Jelili Owonikoko (SAN), Yomi Aliyu (SAN) and Segun Ajibola (SAN).

No date has been fixed for hearing.

Aliko Dangote Foundation Seeks Greater Investment in Water Supply Emmanuella Igwe As the World Water Week 2018 takes place in Stockholm, Sweden, the Aliko Dangote Foundation has expressed the belief that adequate provision of clean water can greatly help to reduce malnutrition in Nigeria.

To the Foundation, timely investment by governments at all levels, the private sector, and concerned stakeholders would help to address the emergency which was declared on the water and sanitation sector recently by the federal government.

The World Water Week, with the theme, ‘Water, ecosystem and human development’ Sweden, is billed to last between August 26 and 31.

Organised by the Stockholm International Water Institute (SIWI), World Water Week (WWW) is the largest global event focusing on water sector and development-related challenges. The meeting brings together governments, experts, and private sector leaders to brainstorm solutions to the most pressing water-related challenges of today.

Speaking recently in Lagos on the water component of the

Aliko Dangote Foundation’s Nutrition Programme, the Managing Director/CEO of the Aliko Dangote Foundation (ADF), Ms. Zouera Youssoufou, said, “Within our flagship nutrition programme we have a substantial Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) component.

We cannot be effective at fighting malnutrition if we don’t also provide clean drinking water to our beneficiaries.”

“We have a global water challenge, which is what SDG 6 is focused on solving.

Achieving SDG 6 is essential for progress on all other SDGs and vice versa. Sustainable management of water and sanitation underpins wider efforts to end poverty, advance sustainable development and sustain peace and stability.

We all have a part to play as Government, Private sector, development partners and individuals.”

This year’s World Water Week seeks to explore the need to safeguard the sustainability of vital ecosystems as habitats for plant and animal life, and as resources for human development and well-being.

Africa Investment Summit Holds 2019, As UK Plans to be Continent’s Largest G7 Investor by 2022 Vincent Obia British Trade Minister George Hollingbery said on Wednesday that Prime Minister Theresa May will use her on-going visit to Africa to set the stage for an Africa Investment Summit to be held in the UK next year.

Hollingbery stated this in Cape Town, South Africa, where the prime minister began a three-day visit to Africa on Tuesday. May will visit Nigeria today and proceed to Kenya tomorrow to conclude her first visit to the continent in five years as prime minister.

Hollingbery said the summit will bring together UK and African governments, alongside major international investors to raise awareness on opportunities on the continent and ensure progress towards UK’s ambition of becoming the largest G7 investor in Africa by 2022. The Prime Minister had announced the ambition on Tuesday in South Africa as part of her visit to promote economic ties between Britain and Africa ahead of

Britain’s exit from the European Union in March next year.

The ambition was announced together with a range of measures to boost trade between the UK and Africa and encourage UK investment in the region, including the creation of a new Africa Investors Board.

Considering its historical ties with Africa, May’s government believes the UK is not where it ought to be in terms of economic involvement on the continent, particularly, in relation to fellow G7 members – Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, and the United States.

But the British government has during the prime minister’s visit committed to working more closely with African countries and increasing in its presence across the continent - bringing in trade experts, investment specialists, health and family planning policymakers and cutting-edge climate researchers so both parties can work together to deliver on shared interests and find solutions to the world’s biggest challenges.

YOU ARE WELCOME TO OUR PARTY

L-R: Abia State Chairman of All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA); Mr. Augustine Ehiemere; APGA’s governorship aspirant, Mr. Alex Otti; his running mate, Mrs. Uche Eme Uche; and other party chieftains at the reception ceremony of decampees from PDP and APC to APGA in Obingwa Local Government Area in Abia State...recently

Siege on N’Assembly was a Collective Decision, Says Daura’s Associate PDP: We’re vindicated The decision to invade the National Assembly which led to the sack of the former Director General of the Department of State Service (DSS) Lawal Daura, was a collective decsion of principal officers of sister security agencies, his close associate revealed to PRNigeria.

Daura was recently sacked

by Acting President Yemi Osinbajo when he directed operatives of DSS to invade the National Assembly, an action which caused serious tension in the country.

But close associate to the sacked DSS boss who spoke to PRNigeria on conditions of anonymity said Daura insisted that he took all actions in national interest through a collective responsibility, including involvement of principal officers of sister agencies even though he promised not to disclose on whose authority he relied on to lay the siege to the National Assembly.

The source further said that “while the former DSS boss has not officially handed over up till now, his house both in Asokoro and Gwarinpa were thoroughly searched in the night and nothing incriminating were found, and all items found

including necklace, praying mat, CDs, ATM card, women bags, documents and receipts have been duly returned to him accordingly.”

The source also stated that when he was invited by the then Acting President Yemi Osinbajo for the security briefing, he quickly rushed out and left some of his personal belonging including phones in the office.

He noted that when he was whisked away and eventually sacked, he did not know his offence.

The source further disclosed that Daura felt demoralised after being tagged as a mole of the opposition elements for laying a siege to the National Assembly.

The source said: “Daura has been completely demoralised by the wide spread insinuations of working for the opposition when he took daring moves to protect the presidency and the ruling party against the antics of the powerful opposition elements.

The allegation of being a mole is utter balderdash!”

The source who is also close to security agencies pointed out that: “Spymasters all over the world can be sacrificed but not to the extent of rubbishing

their integrity and reputation on the altar of political considerations, especially a spymaster created by the same system, considering the delicate and sensitive nature of intelligent services.”

However, the new development from the sacked Daura-born security chief has contradicted the report submitted by the Inspector General of Police (IG), Idris Ibrahim, that Lawal Daura, has confessed that he deployed hooded operatives of the Secret Service to the National Assembly complex based on intelligence report that unauthorised persons were planning to smuggle dangerous weapons and incriminating items into the federal legislative complex.

His purported confession was disclosed in an alleged interim investigation report submitted to the then Acting President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo.

In the report, the IG argued that Daura carried out the siege on the National Assembly, without the approval of the Acting President.

“The former DirectorGeneral, Department of State

Security Services, DSS, Lawal Daura, acted unilaterally, without informing the Presidency. He did not share or intimate other Security Agencies on the unlawful operations,” Idris said in the report.

Meanwhile, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has described the revelation as a vindication of its stand on the matter.

The National Publicity Secretary of the party, Kola Ologbondiyan, told THISDAY that Nigerians have now realised the need to vote out the All Progressives Congress (APC)-led government in 2019.

“Nigerians will recall that we said the sack of Daura was to make him the fall guy. Now, we have been vindicated.

“It is unfortunate that people who cannot tally figures and sequence events are the ones claiming to be governing our nation.

Unfortunately, they have brought the nation down on her knees.

“There is no doubt that Nigerians must prepare to rescue our nation come 2019 by voting in the PDP,” he said.

THURSDAY AUGUST 30, 2018 ˾ T H I S D AY

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NEWSEXTRA

Falana, Secondus, Advocacy Group Berate Buhari for Undermining Rule of Law Alex Enumah in Abuja and Martins Ifijeh in Lagos More reactions yesterday trailed President Muhammadu Buhari’s comment that the rule of law must be subject to the supremacy of national security and interest, as human rights lawyer, Mr. Femi Falana (SAN); National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party

(PDP), Prince Uche Secondus, and an advocacy group, Access to Justice, berated the president for trying to subjugate his interest as a national interest and his personal political security as national security.

The president had while addressing the opening ceremony of the 2018 Annual General Conference of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA)

Akpabio: What I Find Attractive in APC Former Senate Minority Leader, Godswill Akpabio, has revealed that the style of fighting corruption and poverty in the All Progressives Congress (APC), attracted him to the party.

Describing the two as twins, Akpabio, after an APC caucus meeting late Tuesday night, praised President Muhammadu Buhari’s leadership style in tackling corruption and poverty.

“The first thing you need to know about the APC, from the point of view of leadership, I am quite impressed. The president has kept his integrity intact. He has been able to improve the image of Nigeria and restore a lot of respect to Nigeria from the international community. I can assure you that he alone can attract millions of people, he is that infectious. Of course his stance on corruption and that Nigerians have food on their table is something is applauded all over the world. I have also advocated that he also fights the twin brother of corruption, that is poverty.

“I am joining the APC as a government to stabilise the

government and to assist the government to create employment opportunities for Nigerians so that we can fight the twin brother to corruption, which is poverty.

Poverty creates corruption and corruption deepens poverty, so we need to fight the two together. And that is one of the things I find attractive with the APC and believe me with my people in Akwa Ibom State, with my presence in the APC my people in South South have now seen the light and they say APC is the party to vote for come 2019.”

On what was discussed, Akpabio said the meeting deliberated on topical issues in the interest of the country.

“The meeting went very well and a lot of topical issues were discussed bothering on the interests of the Nation. The resolutions are fantastic and I believe that resolutions will not only move the party forward but will help to alleviate the situation in the country today and Nigerians will be happy for it.”

Akpabio left the opposition party, PDP, to join the ruling

in Abuja last Sunday said the security of the country could not be sacrificed on the altar of the rule of law, where national interest was threatened.

According to him, the “Rule of law must be subject to the supremacy of the nation’s security and national interest.

“Our apex court has had cause to adopt a position on this issue in this regard and it is now a matter of judicial recognition that where national security and public interest are threatened or there is a likelihood of them being threatened, the individual rights of those allegedly responsible must take second place, in favour of the greater good of the society.”

But Falana disagreed, saying national security is subject to the rule of law.

Falana, in his presentation at the NBA conference yesterday,

said Nigeria’s political history has subjugated the rule of law at the detriment of protecting the rights of Nigerians.

On his part, Secondus said at the centre of every national interest as contained in the constitution is the rule of law of the country, adding that democracy is anchored on them.

The national chairman of PDP made the assertion when he received two presidential aspirants of the party - former Sokoto State Governor, Alhaji Atahiru Bafarawa, and the incumbent Governor of Gombe State, Dr. Ibrahim Dankwambo, at the party’s national campaign office otherwise called legacy house in Maitama, Abuja.

According to a statement from the national chairman’s media office signed by his media adviser, Ike Abonyi, Secondus warned that President Buhari’s interpretation of national interest

and national security should be disregarded because it was all aimed at enabling him create Order 6 to appropriate legislative and judicial functions, and operate a full blown dictatorship.

On its part, Access to Justice expressed its displeasure over President Buhari’s statement that the rule of law must be subject to national security.

The group said the president missed the mark when he gave the impression that national security and rule of law were competing or exclusive notions, or that a state must prioritise one over the other.

Stating this in a statement made available to THISDAY yesterday and signed by its Director, Joseph Otteh, and Programme Officer, Daniel Abioye, the group said national security and the rule of law do not contradict one another, neither are they mutually

exclusive concepts.

They said: “The rule of law embodies the principle of governance that all persons, institutions and entities, including the state itself, are bound by duly made laws, including laws on national security. A state of war or emergency may be legitimate grounds for limiting the exercise of some human rights, but even then, the limitations have to be imposed in accordance with the law.

“There is, therefore, no conflict between the two notions. In any event, no state of emergency has been declared in Nigeria neither is the country in a state of war with another country.”

The group urged President Buhari to respect the limits of executive powers and not misuse those powers on the grounds of national security.

INEC: Why We Can’t Prosecute STRENGTHENING AMNESTY PROGRAMME Ekiti Vote Buyers Yet Senior Special Adviser to the Vice President on Niger Delta, Mr. Edobor Iyaimu addressing Special Adviser to the President on Niger Delta The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has said that it has powers to prosecute allegations of vote buying by both the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) during the recently concluded governorship election in Ekiti State but lacks the powers to arrest and investigate suspects.

INEC said this in response to the open letter by SocioEconomic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) to the commission’s Chairman, Mahmood Yakubu, requesting the electoral commission to “promptly, thoroughly and effectively investigate allegations of vote buying, and to collaborate with the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) in any such investigation.”

The organisation also urged INEC to “prosecute anyone suspected to be involved and/ or complicit in the alleged vote buying, if there is relevant and sufficient admissible evidence of electoral bribery and abuse of the electoral and democratic process against them.”

But INEC in a letter signed by its Acting Secretary, Okechukwu Ndeche, said

while the commission’s legal officers or any legal practitioner appointed by it can prosecute alleged vote buying, other agencies must first arrest and investigate suspects before the commission can prosecute. The commission however said that it would “partner with other agencies to prosecute electoral offenders.”

The INEC response dated August 20, 2018 but received yesterday by SERAP read in part: “We refer to your letter dated July 17, 2018 wherein you requested that the commission investigate and prosecute alleged vote buying in the recently concluded governorship election in Ekiti State.”

“The commission wishes to inform SERAP of the constraints posed by extant statutory provisions against your well-intended request.”

“You may also wish to note that it is not part of the constitutional duties of the commission to arrest and investigate suspects found to have contravened provisions of the Electoral Act or any other Law for the time being in force. Section 150(2) of the Electoral Act 2010 (as amended) only confers powers on Legal Officers of the commission or any other Legal Practitioner appointed by it to undertake

Affairs, Prof. Charles Quaker Dokubo, and members of the implementation committee of the Presidential Amnesty Programme for the establishment of a National Development Programme through Industrial Fishing and Associated Seafood/Fisheries production and value chain processing in Nigeria through the Niger Delta Region, held in Abuja...yesterday

Investigation of Accounts: Benue, EFCC to Know Fate October 8 Alex Enumah in Abuja Justice Nnamdi Dimgba of the Federal High Court Abuja, will on October 8, 2018, deliver judgment in the suit filed by the Benue State Government challenging the powers of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to investigate its accounts.

Justice Dimgba gave the date for judgment yesterday after counsel representing the various parties to the suit adopted their briefs of arguments.

Before yesterday’s proceedings, the court had ordered the EFCC to stop further investigations into the finances of Benue State Government pending the determination of the suit filed by the state.

In an originating summons marked FHC/MKD/CS/42/18 filed by the Attorney General of Benue State, the state is challenging the powers of the

EFCC to investigate or inquire into the accounts and /or appropriations, disbursements and administration of the funds of Benue State Government having regard to the clear provisions of sections 1(1) and (3), 125(2),(4) and (6), 128 and 129 of the 1999 constitution.

While adopting his brief of arguments on behalf of the Benue State Government, Emeka Etiaba (SAN) who was with Emeka Okpoko (SAN), urged the court to hold that the EFCC lacks the statutory powers to investigate the account of a state government.

He argued that by virtue of the provisions of sections 1(1) and (3), 125(2),(4) and (6), 128 and 129 of the 1999 constitution, it is only the Benue State House of Assembly and the Auditor- General, Benue State (4th and 5th respondents), has the power to investigate or inquire into the accounts and /or appropriations, disbursements and administration of the funds of Benue State Government

having regard to the clear provisions of sections 1(1) and (3), 125(2),(4) and (6), 128 and 129 of the 1999 constitution.

He further informed the court that the EFCC went beyond the investigation of top government functionaries to probing into sensitive financial documents of the state.

He listed some of the documents forwarded to the EFCC for investigation to include; Certified True Copies (CTC) of the approved budget for the Bureau for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs and those of all the 23 Local Government Areas (LGAs) from 2015 to date; approved budget of the state and the local government councils from January 2015 to date; details of the statutory allocations released to the state and local government councils from January 2015 to date; details of excess crude oil allocations released to the state and Local government from January 2015 to date and details of Value

Added Tax (VAT) allocations released to the state and local government councils from January 2015 to date.

Etiaba submitted that in the course of its investigation, the commission had interrogated some high ranking government officials, including the Permanent Secretary, Government House; Permanent Secretary, Bureau of Internal Affairs and Special Services; Mr. Kato Ijir; Secretary to the State Government; Mr. Agbo Omada (Assistant Director, Finance); Terwase Orbunde (Chief of Staff to the Governor); Dr. Dura Magdalene (Special Assistant Adviser on SDG’s to the governor) and Mr. Stephen Amase.

Besides government officials, the depondent further averred that the EFCC also invited and interrogated members of the State House of Assembly including Hon. Avine Agbum; Dominic Ucha; Ngohemba Agaigbe; Ngunan Adingi, among others.

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THURSDAYSPORTS

Group Sports Editor Duro Ikhazuagbe Email duro.ikhazuagbe@thisdaylive.com 0811 181 3083 SMS ONLY

CAF CONFEDERATION CUP

Enyimba Beats CARA Brazzaville to Qualify for Q’final Duro Ikhazuagbe

Substitute Wasiu Alalade grabbed the last gasp, lone goal winner that shot Enyimba to the quarter-final stage of the 2018 CAF Confederation Cup against CARA Brazzaville of Congo last night in Aba. The lone Nigerian team standing in CAF continental campaign this season topped Group C on 12 points while the Congolese also qualified as the runners up of the group on nine points.

The hard-fighting Congolese have Djoliba of Mali to thank for holding Ivorian team, Williamsville to a barren draw in Abidjan. Win or draw for Williamsville would have created problems for CARA. Before that saving

goal came from the boots of Alalade who cashed on the rebound from Mfon Udoh’s freekick, Enyimba had hit the cross bar in the dying minutes of the game but the absence of a Video Assistant Referee (VAR) denied the Aba team what looked like a deserved goal.

Playing their first game in three years at the newly refurbished Enyimba Stadium, the People’s Elephant took the game to the visitors as early as the third minute when but Augustine Oladapo’s drive from the edge of the box shaved the wrong side of the post.

Ten minutes later Augustine Dimgba was at it again for the Nigerian side, but he saw his shot from 20

yards out well-saved by the Brazzaville keeper, Chili Ngakosso.

CARA offered very little in terms of attack in the opening half with their only significant shot on goal coming on the half hour mark when Ngoma Mbo broke into the box, but he was denied in a one-on-one with the keeper.

Enyimba controlled the remainder of the

half, but failed to find a goal before the halftime break.

The home side continued to dictate matters in the second half and Oladapo went close to scoring again in the 55th minute, but his attempt from just inside the box went inches wide of the target.

Much like the first half the visitors struggled in the final

third and often gifted the ball back to the opposition due to some poor passing.

Still, Enyimba pushed forward and were finally rewarded for all their possession when Alalade scored the winning goal in the 94th minute.

The beautiful turf on which Enyimba grabbed the ticket to the quarter final however witnessed

some of their players celebrating like they were in any of the great grounds in the English Premiership.

For the first time the players did some belly diving without any fear of injury.

Aba fans who have been starved of great football spectacles for years trooped into the pitch and began dancing Shaku-Shaku.

FINAL GROUP C TABLE P

W

D

L

GF

GA

Enyimba

6

4

0

2

5

5

0 12

CARA Bra.

6

3

0

3

7

5

+2 9

Williamsville 6

2

2

2

5

5

+0 8

Djoliba

1

2

3

3

5

-2

6

PTS

5

Coach Danjuma Rubbishes Reports of Unpaid Camp Uzoho: I’m Ready to Work, Have High Allowances in Falconets

Enyimba players grabbed their first win at the refurbished Aba Stadium pitch last night with the 1-0 defeat of CARA Brazzaville to top Group C of the 2018 CAF Confederation Cup

Head Coach of the Falconets, Chris Danjuma, has described as utter falsehood and a cluster of esoteric jargons, a story in one online publication yesterday that an official of his team claimed players and officials were not paid their entitlements before and during the FIFA Under-20 Women’s World Cup finals in France.

“I see this as a silly, mischievous story. I have spoken to my assistants and backroom staff and they all denied talking to the reporter. We were paid our entitlements for the camping in Austria and at the FIFA World Cup, and no money was lost as claimed in the story.

“From the very first day I saw the reporter in our camp prior to our departure to the final training camp in Austria, I observed he was a very funny figure just looking for negative stuff to report. It is unfortunate that some persons commit their lives to trying to cause mischief and trouble wherever they see there is peace.”

Danjuma said the claim by the reporter that the team was ‘suffering’ before the

Sports Minister arrived and gave them personal cash was incorrect.

“We had been paid our entitlements before the Sports Minister came. I am aghast at what the reporter was out to achieve. Was the reporter in Austria with the team to ascertain we were ‘suffering?’

“No member of the Falconets’ technical crew or the playing body has any negative thing to say about the NFF. They did their very best for us and supported the team at each point during the qualifying series, the training camp and the FIFA World Cup.” On her part, Team Administrator Modupe Shabi was in shock about the claim that Head of Women’s Football, Ruth David misplaced the sum of Euro10,000.

“That is fallacy. Miss David handed every money that was meant for the team to me and I did the payment to the players and officials. She did not pay anyone directly and certainly did not misplace any Euro10,000. The entire story is the imagination of the reporter or something he saw in his dream.”

Expectations With Elche

Super Eagles first choice goalkeeper, Francis Uzoho, has expressed his determination to make the best of his time with Spanish Segunda B side, Elche C.F. following his loan move from Deportivo La Coruna,

Deportivo La Coruna announced on Friday that the 19-year-old will spend the 2018/2019 campaign on loan at Elche.

“I am very happy to be here. My dream is to be better every time, I come to work and learn,” Uzoho

told Elche’s official website.

“I am going t Uzoho was Nigeria’s first choice goalkeeper at the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia.

The former Nigeria youth international made two appearances for Deportivo La Coruna in the Spanish

La Liga last season.

He however played 28 games with the club’s B side, Deportivo La Coruna Fabril in the Segunda B. “I will try to give the best of me, I have high expectations with the team,” he concluded.

Aruna Quadri Lifts Less Privileged in Lagos Away from his regular training ahead of the 2018 ITTF African Championships, Aruna Quadri on Tuesday put smiles on the faces of students of SOS Children’s Village International in Isolo, Lagos.

Accompanied by his wife – Ganiat Aruna, the 2018 ITTF Challenge Seamaster Nigeria Open champion said he decided to show his compassion for the less privileged as he had to go through thick and thin to become what he is today.

Aruna Quadri and his spouse were received at the SOS Children’s Village by the National

Fund Development and Communication Coordinator, Gboyega Fadowole-Aje who described Aruna’s gesture as commendable while hoping that other sports stars in Nigeria would take a cue from the athlete.

“We want to first of all congratulate you on your victory at the just concluded Nigeria Open and wish you well in your endeavours. We were indeed touched by this your singular gesture and we believe your presence in the Village would surely inspired the children to aim high like you in their endeavours.

“On behalf of the

Country Director, we are grateful and we wish well in your endeavours,” Gboyega Fadowole-Aje said.

For Aruna Quadri, the gesture has been part of his plans to support the disadvantaged people in the society. “This is another way to show love to those who are not privilege and I believe this small gesture will augment what others have been doing for them. I am doing this to also give back to the society where I emerged from and this will not be a one-off thing as I hope to make it a regular in my plans whenever I am home in Nigeria,” the

world number 18 said.

Also, the National Store Coordinator of SOS Children’s Villages, Lawrence Agbaegbu believes the efforts of the table tennis star is a welcome development while urging other wellmeaning individuals and corporate bodies to support the centre which is an international home for the less privilege.

Aside the mini table donated by Aruna Quadri, food items valued at thousands of dollars was given to the home.

Aruna Quadri also took time out to play table tennis with some of the children in the centre.

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THURSDAYSPORTS US OPEN 2018

Sharapova, Wozniacki, Kitova in Second Round Five-time Grand Slam champion Maria Sharapova held off a spirited fight-back from Swiss veteran Patty Schnyder to reach the second round of the US Open.

The Russian defeated Schnyder - who, at 39, is the oldest player ever to make the main draw of a Grand Slam via qualifying - 6-2 7-6 (8-6).

The match was Schnyder’s

first in a Grand Slam since she came back to tennis in 2015 having retired in 2011.

“I knew I was in for a battle no matter her story or my story,” said Sharapova.

“For her to come back and have the desire is really admirable. I’m just really happy I was able to win that last point.”

Sharapova, 31, will play

Maria Sharapova (right) and Patty Schnyder last meeting came at the Rome Masters in 2008

Romanian Sorana Cirstea in the second round in New York.

Schnyder, who reached the quarter-finals at Flushing Meadows in 1998 and 2008, said: “It actually doesn’t feel so special and it doesn’t feel like I’ve been gone for such a while. It has been part of my life for so long.”

In their first meeting in 10 years, world number 186 Schnyder was handed an early break by Sharapova - who was crowned US Open champion in 2006 - after the Russian made three double service faults in the opening game.

Serving did not improve on either side of the net with the first four games all breaks, before Sharapova held for the first time to take a 3-2 lead.

From there, the 22nd seed dictated the first set, taking it in 40 minutes, and looked to have eased through the second having built a 5-1 advantage.

But errors started to creep into Sharapova’s game allowing Schnyder to level at 5-5 before forcing the tie-break, in which Sharapova - who hit 23 winners but made 46 unforced errors - needed four match points to seal victory.

Elsewhere, Australian Open champion Caroline Wozniacki

beat Australian Sam Stosur 6-3 6-2 in hot conditions to reach the second round of the US Open.

Second seed Wozniacki, 28, broke the 2011 champion’s serve five times on a day when temperatures in New York topped 32C with high humidity.

The Dane plays Lesia Tsurenko next.

Organisers implemented the extreme heat policy at Flushing Meadows with a 10-minute break between the second and third sets in women’s singles matches.

There was a 10-minute break between the third and fourth sets of men’s singles matches.

Wimbledon champion and fourth seed Angelique Kerber saw off Russian Margarita Gasparyan 7-6 (7-5) 6-3 and faces Swede Johanna Larsson in the second round.

Two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova is also into the second round after beating Belgian Yanina Wickmayer 6-1 6-4.

The Czech fifth seed, 28, broke serve twice to take the first set and won five successive games from 4-1 down in the second. She will play China’s Yafan Wang next.

Akinfenwa’s Pet Squash Project Comes of Age How often small ideas get translated into visible, tangible landmarks that shape people, societies, and even nations .It is amazing to behold when dreams crystallise into palpable, substantial achievements people relate with, and which often become references and inspiration to many who seek successes in life’s many endeavours.

When he conceived the idea of sponsoring a yearly squash tournament , he least expected it would become as gargantuan as it has today become. Captain Oluwashina Isiaka Akinfenwa only wanted “to start a closed, manageable squash tournament” that would attract veterans (of his ilk), enthusiasts and a sprinkling of amateur players, enjoying the game at a specific period every year to keep fit and healthy. But the Managing Director of Cargolux Merchant Express, Nigeria’s foremost cargo company, sponsors of the annual Cargolux Merchant Express Squash Tournament never reckoned with the huge interest his pet project would generate.

Today, after 14 years of resolutely keeping faith with his dream, he has not only achieved the initial objectives of building a tournament that wins converts to the game of squash, he has successfully helped to create careers for dozens of athletic youths who have taken to the sport through the catch- themyoung programme introduced into the tournament a few years ago.

“Only three clubs were invited to participate in the maiden edition of the Cargolux Merchant Express Squash Tournament when we started in 2004”, Akinfenwa recalls and adds “using the

Lagos Country Club, Ikeja as our venue, we have been able to grow exponentially over the years.Today, apart from retaining a host of active participants from top clubs in Lagos, we are never short of participation from across the country and even beyond”.

The success of the tournament has since inspired an expansion of its scope to include age- grade categories since 2008. The initiative has in- turn proved a masterstroke as it has spurned great talents that have excelled in the sport, participating and winning laurels in tournaments within and outside the country.

According to Akinfenwa, this pleasant twist in fortune has served to further boost the profile of the tournament as a breeding ground for nurturing quality squash talents into stardom.

“The huge interest we generated through our sustained sponsorship of this tournament led inevitably to an expansion of its scope to include the age- grade categories , first to the U-19, then U-16, and now U-14 and even 10. And some of these boys and girls that the tournament has been able to discover are now household names in the sport, and doing well for themselves at home and abroad.”

Besides using the tournament to promote the game of squash, participants have never had to leave without taking anything home. Although he is modest about the monetary incentives that yearly accrue to participants in the different categories of competition, rather opting to leave the aspect to the discretion of the organisers, the Cargolux Merchant Express Tournament is reputed to be the biggest awarders of prizes

Captain Oluwashina Isiaka Akinfenwa

as far as squash championships go in Nigeria. In the early days of its existence, participants were known to take home, apart from sumptuous cash prizes, washing machines, home theatres’, standing fans, refrigerators, irons and the like.Now that the tournament has grown bigger, participants are assured of bigger prizes, especially at this year’s edition, currently ongoing at the Lagos Country Club.

“I do not like to talk about prizes, for individuals or clubs participating in the Cargolux Merchant Express Squash Tournament as we have always left it to the discretion of the organisers, but I know for a fact that all participants are always well rewarded. We have improved in the standards of our prize awards so much over the years that this tournament has come be the number one choice for squash

enthusiasts all across Nigeria. For this year’s tournament, we are even set to wow everyone who takes part, particularly winners in the various categories,”” Captain Akinfenwa is also excited by the boost the tournament has earned following the active collaboration of the Nigeria Squash Federation, under the leadership of Mr Boys Oyerinde, insisting it has added a new dimension to the competition’s profile.

“The tournament has attracted more participation with the added collaboration of the Nigeria Squash Federation under the able leadership of Boye Oyerinde.

Together we have ensured that the tournament is better organized,” he noted.

But does he not feel that the rapid growth of the tournament could become an overbearing weight on Cargolux Merchant

Express Nigeria, considering the huge capital outlay required to sustain it? “Not at all,” he fires back , as if to protest “By the grace of God, we have been led to do what we are doing today, not because we were compelled to, or for pecuniary considerations. Cargolux has been bankrolling this tournament, and will continue to, as long as the company continues to exist because we are committed to encouraging the sport grow at both youth and professional levels, as well as giving something back to society as part of our Corporate Social Responsibility”.

But is he considering extending sponsorship to other areas, say football or tennis? “ Not now or in the foreseeable future. I don’t know any other sport. I will be like a fish out of water if I tried to put my money into bankrolling any other sport.

I have played squash for more than 30 years. Its my terrain. I can relate with it. I know the game, the rules, ..all the people who make the game what it is today in Nigeria. So, you can see my predicament? “ But can Captain Oluwashina Akinfenwa categorically say that he has achieved the objectives which prompted the sponsorship in the first place?

“Oh, yes !” he says. “I’d say with no equivocation that we have achieved the objectives that inspired our coming into the sponsorship of the Cargolux squash tourney if you consider that we have succeeded in taking the sport to a better place than we met it. Like I said before, this tournament in 14 years of existence has succeeded in impacting lives, especially those of the youth who

are now accomplished stars of the sport in Nigeria and beyond,”” OFFICIATING The success of the Cargolux Merchant Express Squash Tournament is ,to a large extent anchored on the quality of officiating it has gotten over the years. Actively pulling his weight in this regard is the indefatigable Seun Peters, a policeman who is passionate about seeing to the growth of squash in Nigeria.

He comments on the impact the Cargolux tourney has had on the growth of the sport, calling for more support from government, philanthropists as well as corporate entities who he says can add more pep to the growth of the game in the country. He traces his involvement in the competition and reels out a list of accomplished achievers who have broken through while leveraging on the competition’s platform.

“I am fulfilled seeing how players like Soliu Faidat, Abel Shedrack, Desmond Iguodala, Adegoke Timiloluwa, ,Gabriel Olufemide, Kehinde Samuel , Olatunji Busayo, to mention a few , have developed to squash players of repute. Yet, most of them started in this tournament in the age grade categories.

Because a platform like this was offered them, they have had the opportunity to grow and ended up as top professionals competing against the best the sport has to offer across the world.

But what does a youngster need to play the sport? “ Parents’ consent, first and foremost. Then aptitude and the tools to play the sport such as a racket, sneakers, and kits for training, “ says the tournament’s chief referee.

Thursday, August 30, 2018

TR

UT H

& RE A S O

N

Price: N250

MISSILE Abdulsalami to Nigerians “We have to be careful in thinking that strong leaders can really help. Just as a weak leader can wreak an institution, a strong leader who just has power and courage but lacks capacity, ability and competence to lead could also wreak institutions. So, it is very important that we recognise this important aspect of the leadership that we require” – Former military Head of State, General Abdulsalami Abubakar on the kind of leadership Nigeria needs.

OLUSEGUNADENIYI McCain and the Nigerian Public Space THE VERDICT

olusegun.adeniyi@thisdaylive.com

W

hen I arrived Washington DC last Friday from Abuja, there were two major newsbreak in the United States. The first, a statement from the family of Senator John McCain that he had halted treatment for brain cancer, 13 months after being diagnosed of the illness. “In the year since, John has surpassed expectations for his survival. But the progress of disease and the inexorable advance of age render their verdict,’’ the McCain family said. The second story had to do with the prosecutorial immunity granted the Trump Organization executive vice president and chief financial officer, Allen Weisselberg, apparently in exchange for information to Special Counsel Robert Mueller about alleged pre-election hush money payments made to some women with whom President Donald Trump reportedly had affairs in the past.

Less than 24 hours after the initial statement, the McCain family announced his death. With that, virtually all major networks in the country started to devote their coverage almost solely to paying tributes to the retired Navy fighter pilot who was shot down over North Vietnam in 1967 and held as a prisoner of war for more than five years, before spending the past 31 years in the Senate. Few former American presidents would receive the kind of rave tributes that the media have reserved for McCain who twice ran for the presidency, losing on both occasions. And it is most fitting that the two men who defeated him, former Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama will deliver eulogies on Saturday during his memorial service at the National Cathedral.

Until I left United States on Monday for Ottawa, Canada (where I am currently a guest of Pius Adesanmi and his lovely wife, Muyiwa), McCain was still dominating the major networks and I learnt a lot not only about him but also about life generally and what truly counts. Amid the encomiums, there were several archival television footages from his public life but the most replayed was a particular scene from his presidential campaign in 2008. At that period, McCain was the Republican candidate against Obama, the first African-American to become the candidate of a major political party, who was running on the Democratic platform.

At a town hall in Lakeville, Minnesota in October 2008, McCain was bombarded with all manner of negative rhetoric against his opponent but when one supporter said she was scared of an Obama presidency, McCain replied: “I have to tell you: He is a decent person and a person you don’t have to be scared of as president of the United States.”

That drew jeers from the crowd at a period not a few Americans found it difficult coming to terms with the prospect of a black man in the White House.

On that night, many in the campaign audience were unrelenting in their attacks on Obama and felt frustrated that McCain would not take the bait to hit his opponent hard. “The people here in Minnesota want to see a real fight” one man said to which McCain responded, “If you want a fight, we will fight, but we will be respectful. I admire Senator Obama and his accomplishments.”

That earned McCain more jeers before one woman said: “I don’t trust Obama, I have

Late McCain read about him. He’s an Arab.”

When politicians are offered such an unsolicited line with which to decimate their opponents, only few would not fall for it and in Nigeria, none of our ‘John the Baptist’ politicians who jump from one party to another would refuse to take advantage, especially with the stake as high as the presidency. But that moment brought out the best in McCain who showed a remarkable character that is in short supply in the world we now live in; one that is sorely needed, especially in Nigeria, if we are ever to develop a political culture that is about respect for others and service to humanity.

The late American senator retrieved the microphone from the woman, shook his head and replied: “No, Ma’am, no. He’s a decent family man; a citizen that I just happen to have disagreements with on fundamental issues and that’s what this campaign is all about.”

In recent weeks, we have witnessed in Nigeria nothing but toxic politics. Abuses, name calling and hate speeches are now fair

When politicians consider themselves accountable to the people and the security network places the overall interest of the country above regime protection for the incumbent power holders, chances are high that the system will deliver on public good to the greater majority of the people

game, including between and among those who were only a few weeks ago within the same political parties. Yet, for any democracy to work and deliver on public good, according to Michael Ignatieff, a former leader of the Liberal Party of Canada, politicians must respect the difference between an opponent and an enemy. “The problem is that politics is not war, but the only reliable alternative to it.

Once we think of politics as war, battle cries drown out democratic persuasion. By slow degrees, belligerence and self-righteousness make cooperation impossible” said Ignatieffoct.

Against the background that we all have common enemies in the poverty that has become a common staple for majority of our citizens, the unemployment that is wasting a whole generation of our young people, the insecurity that is turning our country into a killing field and a myriad of other problems, the ongoing desperation for power definitely cannot be about public good because it renders impossible the kind of unity of purpose we need to muster at such a time as this if we must tackle those challenges. Let’s be honest here, in a milieu where there are no debates on critical issues of the day and where contests for power now feel like zero-sum games, it is difficult to accept that the goal of politics is about building consensus for the general good of the society.

We have a population that is ballooning at a period of shrinking opportunities for majority of our people yet there is hardly any discussion about that by our leaders and those who seek to replace them, even when the rest of the world is worried. On Tuesday in South Africa, visiting British Prime Minister Theresa May used our country to illustrate the point on poverty and inequality. “Much of Nigeria is thriving, with many individuals enjoying the fruits of a resurgent economy, yet 87 million Nigerians live on less than $1 and 90 cents a day, making it home to more very poor people than any other nation in the world,” May stated in what should be another food for thought for the authorities in Nigeria.

As I therefore watched all the encomiums being showered on the late McCain across the political divides, even as fractured as American politics has also become today, no thanks to President Trump, I could not but come to the inescapable conclusion that those who seek power in our country must also begin to think of the legacy they intend to leave behind for posterity. There are more ennobling things in life than retaining powers and privileges or seeking primitive accumulation while our politicians must also understand that they can disagree among themselves without necessarily being disagreeable.

What is particularly more disturbing is that the corrosive politics being practiced in the country has permeated the whole society as there is no longer civility in everyday conversation. Ordinarily, the social media is meant to empower citizens with the requisite tools for interactions but since those who lord themselves over the rest of us have perfected the art of manipulation, young people have also bought into the ‘we-versus-them’ narrative that is being used to divide and plunder by those from whom we should ordinarily demand accountability. Today, it is almost difficult for

people to differ on opinions without resorting to abuse or threats of violence essentially because, as I recently told a troll on Twitter, many Nigerians like to judge others by their own standards.

The only way to change that narrative, as indeed we must, is to begin to inculcate a new form of constructive engagement in the public space and embrace politics that places premium on service to the people.

And we can all learn from the example of McCain who is getting an exit that only befits a president even when his only armour were the patriotism, impeccable integrity and principle which he brought to bear on his long record of public service to the American people. He was by no means a perfect man (and he himself admitted that much in his last letter) but when it mattered, McCain rose above party, race and creed and went wherever the business of America dictated hence the wave of tributes from across world.

Measured against the towering stature of a man like McCain, Nigerian politicians at the national level present a pitiable picture.

Our political culture has remained seasonal, populated by leaders and politicians who remain fixated with their narrow interests that are devoid of values, genuine patriotism or commitment to any known causes or ideals.

Yet, participation in politics must be more ennobling than merely seeking power just for the sake of it and we have a lot to learn from the United States, even with all its own internal contradictions.

In the unfolding drama of the Mueller investigation, we see the independence of a judicial process that is using evidential tools to uncover the truth yet the American presidency cannot deploy any dubious ‘national security’ claim to put itself above the law in spite of its enormous powers. What Mueller represents is a feverish effort to protect the integrity of America’s democracy from a massive assault of desperate lies and cover ups. The underlying logic of such investigation, with a focus on the election that brought President Trump to power, is to strengthen the institutions that safeguard the rights of citizens and protect national security.

Meanwhile, it is instructive that by working quietly behind the scene in a most professional manner, Mueller has been able to secure convictions against some former close associates of the president whereas those charged with such powers for criminal investigations in Nigeria would rather peddle, on the pages of newspapers, damaging allegations--for which they lack both the presence of mind and the competence to secure proof--essentially against opponents of the government who are usually their primary targets.

Taken together therefore, both the exemplary life of Senator John McCain that is now being celebrated across political divides in the United States and the progress of the Mueller investigation represent the hidden strengths of America. The lesson is simple: When politicians consider themselves accountable to the people and the security network places the overall interest of the country above regime protection for the incumbent power holders, chances are high that the system will deliver on public good to the greater majority of the people.

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