THURSDAY 13TH SEPTEMBER 2018

Drop in US Inventories, Iranian Sanctions Push Oil Price to $80 Ejiofor Alike with agency reports Crude oil futures climbed yesterday, with Brent reaching $80 per barrel, after a largerthan-expected drop in United States crude inventories and as US sanctions on Iran added

to concerns over global oil supply.

US crude inventories fell by 5.3 million barrels in the last week, the US Energy Information Administration said yesterday.

Analysts had expected a decrease of 805,000 barrels.

With the tightening supply, the global benchmark, Brent crude futures were up $1.01 at $80.07 per barrel after reaching $80.13 per barrel, its highest since May 22.

The US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude rose by $1.73 to $70.98 per

barrel, a one-week high.

The spread between the two benchmarks widened seven per cent in the session to $9.30 a barrel.

Outside the drop in the United States’ inventories, oil traders have also been focusing on the impact of

US sanctions against Iran that will reduce Iranian oil exports from November Since May when the Trump administration said it would impose sanctions on Iran, traders have been focusing on the impact they could have on global supply.

President Trump had later tweeted that the sanctions were “the most biting sanctions ever imposed”.

“Anyone doing business with Iran will NOT be doing business with the United Continued on page 6

APC, PDP Trade Words over The Economist, HSBC Reports on President ... Page 8 Thursday 13 September, 2018 Vol 23. No 8548. Price: N250

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Dogara, No. 4 Citizen, Dumps APC, Picks PDP Nomination Forms... Page 6

Buhari Emerges Unopposed, Faces APC Affirmation Primary in October Onyebuchi Ezigbo in Abuja As the submission of completed expression of interest and nomination forms for aspirants seeking the ticket of the All Progressives Congress (APC) closed yesterday, President Muhammadu Buhari was the only presidential aspirant who collected and submitted the nomination forms.

Consequently, he has emerged unopposed in his bid for a second term of office on the platform of the party.

He would, however, undergo other processes before he would be formally pronounced the presidential candidate of the APC for next year's election.

According to the Electoral Continued on page 6

Battle for Lagos Heats Up, Ambode, Sanwo-Olu Submit Nomination Forms Gov: No rift with Tinubu

Gboyega Akinsanmi The battle for the sole of Lagos State began to crystallise yesterday as Governor Akinwunmi Ambode and his main challengers, Mr. Jide Sanwo-Olu and Dr. Obafemi Hamzat, submitted their nomination forms for the governorship of the state to the national secretariat of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Abuja.

While Sanwo-Olu submitted

his forms in person, Ambode and Hamzat returned theirs through their aide.

THISDAY’s information however suggest that Hamzat might withdraw for Ambode, following, the National Leader, Senator Bola Tinubu’s speculated support for Sanwo-Olu. Apparently trying to boost the morale of his foot soldiers, Ambode said yesterday that Continued on page 6

Jonathan Replies Oshiomhole, Says He Didn’t Start Vote Buying… Page 8

LONE CONTENDER...

President Muhammadu Buhari (left) and National Chairman, All Progressives Congress, Mr. Adams Oshiomhole, during the president’s submission of his presidential nomination forms in Abuja…yesterday godwin omoigui

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Dogara, No. 4 Citizen, Dumps APC, Picks PDP Nomination Forms Says nobody can retire him politically Shola Oyeyipo in Abuja The Speaker, House of Representatives, Hon Yakubu Dogara, yesterday picked the Peoples Democratic Party’s (PDP) expression of interest and nomination forms to bid for a return to the House in 2019.

A reliable source told THISDAY that the speaker, who is the number 4 in the country’s order of protocol, sent one of his trusted aides to pick the forms, a day after his party, All Progressives Congress (APC), close collection of nomination forms.

Dogara’s action signifies

that he has finally dumped the ruling party for the main opposition one.

He had told journalists on Tuesday that he had agreed to re-contest the Bogoro/ Dass/Tafawa Balewa federal constituency seat but failed to signify the platform he intended to use.

Dogara, who made his intention known when members of his constituents, who feared that he might not be willing to re-contest having served 12 years, visited his Abuja home, said he accepted the request of his constituents and would seek re-election.

He appreciated the show of

support from his people, who travelled all the way from Bogoro, Dass and Tafawa Balewa local government areas in Bauchi State to Abuja, mocking those, who he said are working to truncate his future political ambition. “Some people said they will retire us from politics, but we want to inform them that only God and the electorate can retire us," he said.

He told the multitude that visited him, "Because you came, because of your sacrifice, I want to announce to you that I will run to once again represent our

constituency. I will soon come to meet you at home to make this formal.

"I am shocked and surprised because I never thought or imagined that when I woke up today I will see this mammoth crowd in my house.

"I am seeing faces of people we started this journey with since 2007. I pray God to reward you for this sacrifice.

I was almost tired having been doing the same thing for almost 12 years now.

"But in recent days I started hearing some rumours and some people were already celebrating that I will not run again. Nobody can impose

leadership on you. Only you our people can choose who will represent you.

"I want to assure you that whatever you want us to do is what we will do. Those who have said that they will retire us from politics I want to tell them that we have just begun.

"We will continue to attract development to our area; build roads, hospitals, schools, and create opportunities for our people to thrive."

The leaders of the group that visited Dogara's Abuja home, Alhaji Murtala Miyetti Allah, Mrs. Keziah Dare and Mr Bulus Iliya Bully, told the

speaker that their visit was at the behest of the people of the constituency, who sent them to appeal to him to re-contest.

"I cried bitterly when I heard that you won’t contest again but am very happy now having seen you. Please continue to represent us. You have done so much for our people. You empowered women and youths", Dare said.

Bully, on his part said: "The people you are seeing are here because you have done well for us. We never expected the kind of development we are experiencing in our area."

Only reporters attached to the Presidential Villa who came with him were allowed to cover the event.

The president's visit also grounded activities at the party office for several hours as security operatives kept vigil around the secretariat preventing normal movement of people.

Even aspirants of the party coming to submit their nomination forms were not allowed access until the president's departure.

Buhari had on Tuesday received the nomination forms for presidential ticket of the APC from a

group known as Nigeria Consolidation Ambassadors Network (NCAN) at the State House.

The purchase of the nomination forms by the group at a whooping N45.5 million generated concerns by the media and the main opposition party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), which criticised the action.

APC, however, defended the president saying that no law was violated; adding that funds for the president's nomination forms were raised by supporters who want him back in office at 2019 general elections.

make sure that everything that is of blessing to Lagos State and also blessing of Epe will come to pass," the governor explained.

He, specifically, commended the party leaders and faithfuls who made input to the success of the delegates' election in Epe, assuring that the APC remained the party to beat in Lagos and Nigeria.

"We have concluded our delegates’ election in Epe Local Government. By consensus, we have picked our three delegates that will be going to the national convention come October 6 for the presidential direct primaries and the convention for all other people.

"I want to say a very big thank you to all our

delegates that are present here; I want to say a big thank you to all our leaders that have also supported us to make sure that this event has come and is done very successfully.

"I want to reiterate once again that our party remains the party to beat. We are the party at the national level and we are going to remain the party in the state,� he said.

At the event which was held at APC's Secretariat in Aiyetoro, Epe, Alhaji Shakiru Seriki (Bamu),

BUHARI EMERGES UNOPPOSED, FACES APC AFFIRMATION PRIMARY IN OCTOBER Act 2010 as amended, an unopposed aspirant would have to face a special convention or congress of his party to affirm his candidature.

Specifically, Section 87 (6) of the Electoral Act says, “Where there is only one aspirant in a political party for any of the elective positions mentioned in paragraph (4) (a) (b) (c) and (d), the Party shall convene a special convention or congress at a designated Centre on a specified date for the confirmation of such aspirant and the name of the aspirant shall be forwarded to the Commission as the

Candidate of the Party.� The party had in memo stated its clear intention to comply with this provision of the electoral act in a clarification he sent to its state branches on Tuesday, urging full compliance so that any victory obtained at the polls would not be susceptible to being successfully challenged at election petition tribunals.

What this means is that even though Buhari may have technically clinched the presidential ticket of the APC, he still has to face the process of ratification through the direct primary approved by the National Executive

Committee some weeks ago.

The president had yesterday submitted his forms to the National Chairman, Mr. Adams Oshiomhole, at the National Secretariat of the party in Abuja.

Before the arrival of the president at the party secretariat, armed security men, comprising the police, Directorate of State Services (DSS), officials of the Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC) and the Nigerian Security Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), had cordoned off all the streets leading to the national secretariat of the

party.

The president, who arrived at 3.44 pm, spent about 30 minutes with the members of the National Working Committee (NWC) led by Oshiomhole, during which he submitted his form.

Journalists were literally prevented from having a view of the president and his entourage as they entered the NEC Hall of the APC to submit the nomination form.

Journalists covering the APC national chairman were almost held hostage in the media centre throughout the duration of the president's stay.

BATTLE FOR LAGOS HEATS UP, AMBODE, SANWO-OLU SUBMIT NOMINATION FORMS he had no rift with Tinubu and the party leadership, asking his supporters to remain calm but steadfast.

Rather than confronting the APC national leader, however, Ambode challenged all his supporters to continue to pray for his administration, assuring them that God, who brought him to power, would show His hands at the right time.

He denied any disagreement with the APC leader during the election of delegates for the APC national convention and presidential preliminary election in Epe yesterday, noting that comments on the social media did not represent the truth.

The Mandate Movement, Tinubu’s political group, had

endorsed the Managing Director of Lagos State Property Development Cooperation (LSPDC), Mr. Sanwo-Olu to contest the 2019 governorship election in Lagos State.

Subsequently, all Chairman of 20 Local Government Areas and 37 Local Council Development Areas (LCDAs) signed Sanwo-Olu’s governorship nomination form, claiming that they were acting on the instruction of the APC leader.

APC chieftains including former APC Deputy Chairman, Cardinal James Odumbaku and former Commissioner for Agriculture & Cooperatives, Mr. Kaoli Olusanya, allegedly directed Ambode to return his nomination form or face

impeachment at a meeting held at Watercress Hotel, Ikeja Monday night.

As shown in the video of the meeting that THISDAY received through WhatsAPP, Odumbaku claimed that there was no other political group in Lagos State again than the Mandate Movement, noting that the Bola Ahmed Tinubu Campaign Organisation had been fused into the Mandate Movement.

He, therefore, said Sanwo-Olu “is our anointed candidate. We gathered here on the instruction of our leader. We must honour him by supporting his choice candidate for the 2019 governorship election in the state. The era of Ambode has gone. This is a new era.

In 2019, Sanwo-Olu will be

the one to occupy the State House.�

But while addressing the delegates for the APC national convention in Epe yesterday, the governor acknowledged that the media had been flooded with report of a major rift between Tinubu and him over alleged difference on his re-election.

He said: "I want you to know that there is no fight anywhere. Tinubu and my good self we are not in any fight. We are not in any controversy. We are praying to God that the best is yet to come. The best will be what Lagos State deserves. “I want you to just continue with your prayers that at this time, God will show His hand. He will

DROP IN US INVENTORIES, IRANIAN SANCTIONS PUSH OIL PRICE TO $80 States,� he added.

The sanctions, which will be re-imposed after a 180day “wind-down period,� ending November 4, target Iran’s US dollar purchases, metals trading, coal, industrial software and its auto sector.

While the US said it wants as many countries as possible to stop buying Iranian oil, many European countries as well as China and India, oppose the sanctions.

The sanctions are already brewing a potential confrontation between the US and Iran as Tehran has threatened to block the Strait of Hormuz, an important sea route through which tankers ship more than 30 per cent of

crude oil to the international market, in retaliation to the sanctions.

But the US military has promised to counter any blockade of the Gulf passageway.

Iran’s President, Hassan Rouhani responded during a rare visit to Europe last month that Tehran could disrupt regional crude shipments and cut its cooperation with the UN nuclear watchdog.

The Guardian of the UK reported that the commander of Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guards, whose forces patrol the Strait of Hormuz, had stated that the Guards were ready to put Rouhani’s words into action if necessary.

However, the US navy promptly said it was ready to confront Tehran militarily in response.

The Guards commander, Mohammad Ali Jafari, was reportedly quoted by the semi-official Tasnim news agency as saying: “We will make the enemy understand that either everyone can use the Strait of Hormuz or no one.�

A spokesman for US Central Command, Bill Urban, had said Washington and its allies provided security in the region and would not stand idly by. “Together, we stand ready to ensure the freedom of navigation and the free flow of commerce wherever

international law allows,� he said.

Russian Energy Minister, Alexander Novak yesterday warned of the impact of US sanctions against Iran. “This is a huge uncertainty on the market – how countries, which buy almost 2 million barrels per day (bpd) of Iranian oil, will act. The situation should be closely watched, the right decisions should be taken,� he said.

Novak said global oil markets were “fragile� due to geopolitical risks and supply disruptions.

The Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) cut its forecast for oil demand growth in 2019 in its

monthly report and said rising challenges in some emerging and developing countries could negatively impact global economic growth.

OPEC said it expected demand growth of 1.41 million bpd in 2019, a 20,000-bpd downgrade from its previous forecast.

Oil traders were also watching the progress of category 4 Hurricane Florence which is expected to make landfall by Friday.

Crude output will not be affected by the “monster� storm, but the evacuation of more than a million residents, as well as businesses, has prompted a near-term spike in fuel demand.

Continued on page 8

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NGN NGN % 0.05 0.60 9.0 0.05 0.61 8.9 0.03 0.53 6.0 0.03 0.60 5.2 0.01 0.23 4.5 NGN % 0.03 0.27 10.0 3.05 27.85 9.8 0.16 1.51 9.5 LASACO 0.03 0.30 9.0 STANBICIBTC 4.00 41.00 8.8 HPE Nestle Nig Plc â‚Ś1,479.00 Volume: 246.906 million shares Value: N6.931 billion Deals: 3,912 As at yesterday 12/09/18 See details on Page 41

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APC, PDP Trade Words over The Economist, HSBC Reports on President Iyobosa Uwugiaren and Onyebuchi Ezigbo in Abuja Recent reports by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), a research arm of The Economist of London, and the HSBC, a global banking and financial services company, saying that President Muhammadu Buhari would lose the 2019 presidential election to the opposing Peoples Democratic Party’s (PDP) candidate because of the prevailing worsening economic conditions in the country, created an opportunity for the PDP and the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) to banter yesterday.

Both reports were very critical of the Buhari administration’s handling of the economy and politics, concluding that four more years of the president would injure the economic development of the country.

While the APC urged Nigerians to disregard the analysis and predictions as false, deceptive, unreliable and tendentious, the PDP said they had vindicated its standpoint that the APC –led government had failed to deliver on its electioneering promises to Nigerians.

The ruling party queried the rationale behind the concerns being shown about the affairs of the country by the London based organizations when it could not summon courage to beam its searchlight on

the case of former Nigerian minister who allegedly starched away stolen public funds in the United Kingdom.

The HSBC had in its special reports about Nigeria, said that a second term for Buhari would greatly stunt the economic development of the country and probably push the country into more difficulties, adding that the next administration would flounder against the same problems after 2019 elections and that Nigeria’s manifold security threats will continue to fester.

The EIU report predicted a win for the PDP in the forthcoming presidential election.

In a statement by its acting National Publicity Secretary, Mr. Yekini Nabene, APC described the contents of the reports by the two renowned foreign organizations as nothing but the usual doomsday prophesies about the Nigerian nation.

The party particularly referred to a similar prediction made by the Western powers that Nigerian federation would collapse in 2015, resulting in some ethnic nationalities going their separate ways, which it said had been proved wrong.

It added that despite the predictions, nearly four years after the doomsday prophesy, the Nigerian federation rather than collapse is waxing stronger.

The party said, " As earlier

Buhari stated, the contents of these reports are nothing but the usual doomsday prophesies about the Nigerian nation, which has serially proved false, deceptive, unreliable and tendentious�, the ruling party claimed.

"We should remember similar prophesies and analysis about the political situation in Nigeria made some years back by similar Western institutions. It was prophesied that the Nigerian federation would collapse in 2015, resulting in some ethnic nationalities going their separate ways "The President Buhariled administration has been striving to unite the country and consolidate

positively on the strength of our diversity.�

The ruling party noted that when compared to past administrations, the current government had achieved a quantum leap in terms of revenue accrual to the Nigerian treasury by institutions like Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) and the Nigeria Customs Service.

It further faulted the foreign expert’s analysis, saying that all the cash and property recoveries from corrupt public officials of the immediate-past administration by the Economic and Financial

Crimes Commission (EFCC) were equally of no significance to these experts.

On the economic front, APC frowned on the position taken by the London based organizations, which it argued had failed also to hold the home government accountable for allegedly providing safe haven for some corrupt Nigerians.

For instance, APC said that a former minister in the immediate-past administration who is resident in the United Kingdom is alleged to control enough corruptlyobtained assets which value if put to productive use could have employed thousands of Nigerians.

For the PDP, the reports only confirmed its position that Nigerians across board had rejected Buhari, ahead of the 2019 presidential election.

In a statement by the National Publicity Secretary of the party, Mr. Kola Ologbondiyan, PDP stated that Buhari’s rejection was predicated on his abysmal failure and the deception of his APC in the last three years.

The opposition party further said that the findings by the two organizations that Buhari stands no chance in the general elections and that his winning portends grave danger for Nigeria, is completely in tandem with the stand of majority of Nigerians, irrespective of their current political

party affiliations, ethnicity or creed.

The party noted that in line with the reports, Nigerians are fed up with the president mainly due to the incompetence and unprecedented corruption in his Presidency, resulting in the ruining of the once robust economy, with attendant mass job loss, ravaging hunger, starvation and disease, as well as escalated insecurity, with documented mass killings, violation of human rights and daily bloodletting in various parts of our country, a development that has put the unity of our great country at risk.

According to PDP, ‘’Moreover, the finding by the two bodies that a second term for President Buhari will worsen our nation’s economic and security woes is a position also held by Nigerians across board, hence their determination to rally on the platform of the repositioned PDP, with our array of very popular Presidential aspirants, to vote him out in 2019. ‘’The world now knows the major reason the Buhariled APC administration has resorted to harassment and vicious attacks on the opposition, using trumped-up charges; the various assaults on the institution of the Judiciary and the National Assembly, as well as unrelenting machination to compromise the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to rig the elections.’’

Jonathan Replies Oshiomhole, Says He Didn’t Start Vote Buying Adedayo Akinwale in Abuja Following the claim by the National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Adams Oshiomhole, that former President, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan, started vote buying in Nigeria, the ex-president has said that Oshiomhole’s fragile psychological state has reached a boiling point.

The Chairman of APC had while featuring on a Channels Television programme, ‘Roadmap’, was quoted to have said: “President Jonathan started

this massive vote buying in Nigeria and the media must play back and do proper interview and investigation to discover the origin of vote buying.�

However, while responding through a statement issued by his media aide, Ikechukwu Eze, titled: ‘Oshiomhole: The burden of blame game and tumultuous leadership’, the former president said Oshiomhole was currently operating under tremendous stress in a bid to steady the already floundering ship of his administration.

Jonathan stressed that as

the new leader of his party, he might have got himself entangled in a voyage of tactless desperation.

He stated: “Our attention has been drawn to a media report in which the national Chairman of APC, Oshiomhole, was alleged to have claimed that President Jonathan started vote buying in Nigeria. “His recent flip flops where he praised Governor Samuel Ortom and Senator Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso one day only to denounce them the next day, is enough evidence of his

fragile psychological state. “Not only is he contented on squabbling with members of the opposition, we note the selfdestructive tendencies of Oshiomhole who is locked in a feud with members of his own party, including the Minister of Labour, Chris Ngige, and a host of APC governors. It appears that Oshiomhole’s psychological strain may have reached boiling point.�

Jonathan added that when juxtapose the above statement with Oshiomhole’s current statement, it becomes

obvious that the APC chairman is suffering from “multiple personality syndrome and has a Jekyll and Hyde schizophrenia.�

On the vexatious issue of ‘vote-buying’, which has unfortunately found its way into the country’s election lexicon, Jonathan pointed out that it was obvious that the shameful development in the democratic experience became very glaring during the 2016 gubernatorial elections in Edo State, an exercise that took place more than one year after he had left office.

He noted: “It is therefore

deceitful for any politician or group to link the former president with the anomaly, no matter how they want to stretch the now-failing blame game. “While in office as president between 2010 and 2015, Jonathan conducted many elections including the 2011 and 2015 general election, and many offseason gubernatorial and parliamentary elections in some states like Anambra, Ekiti, Ondo and Edo, and not for once did the issue of vote buying come up in the assessment of those elections.�

aspirant said he cannot deny that Tinubu is the leader.

He also acknowledged that his candidacy had been endorsed by leaders of the party at the local government level.

He added, "There is no doubt that things would be said here and there. A man that is standing in front of you, fully grown-man with several years of experience, like I said, it is about the Lagos of our dream, it is about the Lagos we want to take to the next level.

"I think it has nothing to do with our leader and there

is no denying the fact that he's our national leader. And he takes back position not only in the State but in the national and you know he has interest in the well-being and improvement in Nigeria's dream.

"So, by extension, Lagos is a dream that he is pertinent about and we will continue to refer to him as our leader but most important thing is, I am in front of you, this is who I am, this is what I have come to express to you and Lagos, certainly will be a better place to live for all of us.�

BATTLE FOR LAGOS HEATS UP, AMBODE, SANWO-OLU SUBMIT NOMINATION FORMS Otunba Bode Alausa and Mrs. Olayinka Oladunjoye, the State' Commissioner for Commerce, Industry and Cooperatives, were elected as national delegates from Epe division which comprises of one Local Government Area (Epe) and two Local Council Development Areas (Eredo and Ikosi-Ejirin).

The party leaders and faithful in the division also took turn to affirm their unalloyed support for the second term bid of the governor.

They include the Chairman of Epe Local Government,

Adedoyin Adesanya; Chairman of Eredo LCDA, Saliu Adeniyi; Chairman of Ikosi-Ejirin LCDA, Samson Onanuga: party chairman in Epe Local Government, Otunba Kehinde Adeniyi; State Welfare Officer, Alhaja Abiodun Bankole; former member of House of Representatives representing Epe, Hon Bola Gbabijo and member of Lagos State House of Assembly representing Epe Constituency II, Segun Olulade.

Others are APC Women leader in Epe, Mrs Iyabo Adegboyega; LGA party

secretary, Alhaji S.A Owolomose; youth leader, Abdul Ibrahim; Otunba Bode Alausa, Akin Oladipupo, among others.

Youths in the division also staged a peaceful protest displaying placards of various inscriptions to affirm their support for the Governor's second term bid.

Speaking in Abuja yesterday, Sanwo-Olu expressed confidence that he would win the contest, saying he was prepared for the job having had experiences in governance of the state.

"I have had a wide range

of experience and I have a dream to obviously contribute a lot more as a 'Lagosian and son of the soil, I will just be able to let our people get to where they know that governance is all about people, it is about what we expect, it is about what will go back to them, improve the cause of life, course of security and there are lots of other things we are going to be rolling out," he said.

When asked to comment on the insinuation that he was being sponsored by the national leader of APC, Bola Tinubu, the governorship

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

Power Discos Fight Back, Ask NERC Not to Gag Them Chineme Okafor in Abuja Power distribution companies (Discos) in Nigeria have asked the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) to focus on solving the challenges of the country’s power sector and not get busy with efforts to gag them from speaking out on issues that affect their operations.

Responding to a recent order to them by the NERC to restrain their umbrella association-the Association of Nigerian Electricity Distributors (ANED)-from speaking on policy statements or

actions made by it or the Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Mr. Babatunde Fashola, the Discos said their rights to associate are protected by Section 40 of the country’s constitution.

NERC had in a communique issued after a meeting with the Discos in August said ANED’s activities would no longer be tolerated by it, and that the association should no longer interfere with policy directives or regulatory pronouncements made by it or Fashola.

It equally barred ANED from making any unwarranted

remark against Fashola and its commissioners.

But in a statement signed by ANED’s Chief Executive Officer, Azu Obiaya, and sent to THISDAY yesterday in Abuja, the Discos indicated ANED was a legal association set up to protect their interests just like other associations in the country’s power sector.

According to them, ANED’s activities were supported by Section 40 of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria under the right of association, adding that ANED represented them with a principal mandate of

advocacy to protect the interests of member companies directly and indirectly, the incomes of a 22,000 of their workforce.

“The Discos, with their formation of, and membership of ANED, are exercising this right no different from similar entities along the Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry (NESI) value chain, such as the Association of Power Generating Companies (APGC), Nigerian Gas Association (NGA), National Union of Electricity Employees (NUEE),the investors who have sunk more than $1.4 billion in

the acquisition and operations of the Discos till date, and our customers who seek to enjoy the benefits of the best practices that result from the interaction of our members under the ANED umbrella,” the statement noted.

The statement also stated that ANED’s expression or promotion of viewpoints that are contrary to that of an established regulation or policy should not be misunderstood as interference, particularly in the context of the workings of an industry with multiple stakeholder interests.

They noted the need for the NERC to address the widening tariff gap that has reportedly kept them from performing their obligations to the sector.

According to them, NERC’s freezing of residential tariff classes in 2015 for 18 months; removal of collection losses from the tariff in 2015 and non-implementation of five tariff reviews were responsible for the gap.

Discos further asked the NERC to focus its regulatory job on resolving the sector’s N435.7 billion under-recovered revenue.

FEC Constitutes Ministerial Committee to Investigate Abuja Earth Tremor Omololu Ogunmade in Abuja The Federal Executive Council (FEC) yesterday in Abuja set up a ministerial committee to investigate the earth tremor which rocked Abuja last Thursday and report its findings to the council.

Briefing journalists at the end of the weekly FEC meeting, the Minister of Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Muhammad Bello, listed ministries which make up the committee to include: FCT, Science and Technology, Power, Works and Housing and Steel Development.

According to him, there is no cause for concern as preliminary investigation showed that the tremor was mild as experts said Nigeria was not prone to earthquake disaster, emphasising that the development cannot result in wild tremor.

“There was a movement called tremor but it was very mild. Preliminary investigations showed that it was mild in Mpape from where it spread to other parts of Abuja. It was very mild.

There was no cause for concern.

Experts informed us that Abuja didn’t fall into geological areas that can lead to tremor. The council set up a ministerial committee consisting of the Ministry of Science and Technology, Power, Works and Housing, Mines and Solid Minerals and FCT to look into the situation,” he said.

Furthermore, the minister said mining activities and blasting of rocks in Mpape had so far been suspended until the conclusion of investigation.

However, he also pointed out that preliminary investigation into the development revealed that the tremor was not caused by mining activities and rock blasting in Mpape.

Also briefing, the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, said the council deliberated on the report of Electoral Reforms Committee set up by President Muhammadu Buhari and chaired by former Senate President, Ken Nnamani, to examine various issues including provisions of the Constitution on Electoral Act (Amendment) Bill, 2017.

According to him, the committee was set up to come up with a report aimed at enhancing the electoral process, entrenching accountability in the conduct of elections and political parties’ affairs, ensuring speedy resolution of pre-election matters

and election disputes as well as imposing stiffer penalties on electoral offenders.

According to Malami, the committee proposed the initiation of Electoral Offences Commission and Tribunal Bill 2018 and two other bills for onward submission to the National Assembly for enactment.

He also said the committee recommended the proposal of constitutional provisions that would enhance the electoral process, regulate activities of political parties and guarantee the independence of Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in a way that it cannot be subjected to the manipulation or control of any authority.

Consequently, he said the council approved the review and initiation of Constitution Alteration Bill 2018, Electoral Act (Amendment) Bill 2018, Electoral Offences Commission Bill 2018 with a view to achieving the objectives.

In his briefing, the Minister of Budget and National Planning, Udo Udoma, said he briefed the council on the second quarter report by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) that the economy grew by 1.5 percent during the quarter.

According to him, the council was particularly encouraged by the continuous growth of the non-oil sector by 2.05 percent, adding however that the council expressed concern on the state of crude of oil and agriculture.

Consequently, he said efforts would be intensified to raise oil production volume to 2 million barrels per day and simultaneously raise the growth of agriculture to three per cent.

“The non-oil sector grew by 2.05 percent and we are very encouraged by this. In fact, this is consistent with the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP) objectives. However, the council was a bit concerned about agriculture as well as crude oil, and so we intend to intensify efforts in agriculture which has been affected by some of the insecurities in some parts of the country and some of the clashes which are now being contained.

“So, we expect agriculture to pick up again. We expect it to go back to the 3 percent which we had been experiencing before.

Then, in terms of crude oil production, we are going to intensify work to get oil production back to over 2 million barrels a day,” Udoma said.

A NEW HONORARY FELLOW...

L-R: Vice President of Nigeria Academy of Pharmacy, Sir lfeanyi Atueyi; Senator Daisy Danjuma; her husband/Honorary Fellowship Awardee of Nigeria Academy of Pharmacy, General Theophilus Danjuma (rtd), and President, Nigeria Academy of Pharmacy, Prince Julius Adelusi-Adeluyi, during the investiture of Danjuma as an Honorary fellowship at 2018 lnvestiture, Academy Lecture and Luncheon in Lagos...yesterday ABIODUN AJALA

Vote Buying: EFCC, INEC Will Go After Politicians, Parties, Says Magu To work with banks to track transactions

Iyobosa Uwugiaren in Abuja

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (INEC) has revealed that it is working with the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and the police to track politicians and individuals involved in vote buying during elections.

The anti-graft agency also disclosed that it had commenced monitoring of financial spending by political parties and politicians, saying the banks had been put on notice regarding transactions by politicians.

The acting Chairman of EFCC, Ibrahim Magu, who stated this yesterday at an interactive session with journalists, said: “We are working with INEC to stop vote buying, we are seriously pursuing this.”

The EFCC boss, who said the commission would continue to operate within the ambit of the law, stated that it will work with banks to monitor transactions by politicians.

According to him, “We will monitor unusual cash withdrawals.

We are going to work with other relevant agencies like the police on this.

“Before now, it was inconceivable for law enforcement agencies to investigate the sources of election funding of political parties and their candidates.

“This has led to gross financial abuse and the pervasion of the electoral process and consequently enthroned bad leadership which in turn led to corruption and bad governance.”

Asked why the commission

was not investigating some high profile corruption cases involving prominent people, the EFCC boss denied such claims, stating that contrary to claims and insinuation in some circles, the commission is perfecting arrangements for the arraignment of former Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) Mr. Babachir Lawal, and is on the trail of ‘wanted’ former Chairman Presidential task force on Pension Reforms, Abdulrasheed Maina .

He said the EFCC under him would never shield anyone from investigation and prosecution in accordance with the law.

Magu also assured the populace that the commission would continue to be politically neutral in its operations and go after anybody or institution that we sufficiently believe to have a

case to answer.

On the allegation of corruption at the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), Magu said the commission would give its report on the matter in two weeks’ time.

He denied claims that the commission had delegated the Ministry of Sports to investigate the matter, insisting that the probe was being handled by the commission.

“We will not spare anybody.

We are investigating the matter, and within two weeks, we will give our report,” he explained.

Giving a scorecard of the commission’s performance, Magu disclosed that the anti-graft agency between January and August secured 158 convictions and recovered N106,516,222,383.68, $1,635,925.81, £629,193.65; €25,575.00.

Ezekwesili Hints at Running against Buhari Former Minister of Education, Oby Ezekwesili, has hinted at challenging President Muhammadu Buhari in 2019 general election.

Writing via her Twitter handle yesterday, Ezekwesili asked if it was already late to join the race for 2019.

A former vice-president of World Bank (African region), has been a strong critic of Buhari, and has at various times accused him

of failing in his responsibilities.

She is currently spearheading a movement known as #RedCardMovement, aimed at “retiring old politicians.”

She recalled that Buhari declared to run for 2015 presidential election on October 8, 2014, adding: “It is not late.”

According to The Cable, the academic tweeted: “Let me even ask those of you that understand the electoral calendar.

Is it already late to challenge all these OLD ORDER candidates of the Siamese-Twins of Bad Leadership &Governance Failure?

“I am starting to think that one should step up and send them PACKING for GOOD. I am beginning to think, why not?

“I am beginning to think, Let’s ALL ARISE and take on these old order candidates cos after all, a time comes when enough

becomes really and truly enough.

“I believe like many of you that the #NewNigeriaOfOurDream is POSSIBLE. Let’s FIGHT FOR IT! “I went in search of what time our current President declared a Run for 2015 Presidential Elections. Here is what I found: https://t. co/4dWZ68yuqM “He declared on October 8, 2014. Folks, IT IS NOT LATE o. #LetsFightForIt.”

THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 13, 2018 ˾ T H I S D AY

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Amina Mohammed: Nigeria Now Heavily Indebted The Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations (UN), Amina Mohammed,

has stated that two-time Minister of Finance, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, spent years

I ‘ll Appear Before You October 16, Fayose Tells EFCC Victor Ogunje in Ado Ekiti Governor Ayodele Fayose of Ekiti State has written to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) informing the agency of his intention to appear before it on October 16.

Fayose’s tenure will lapse on October 15 and the Governor -elect, Dr. Kayode Fayemi will take over on October 16.

Fayemi defeated the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the July14 governorship election in Ekiti State.

In the letter personally signed by Governor Fayose, he said he was notifying the agency of his decision to make himself available to the EFCC “to clarify issue(s) or answer questions on issues within my knowledge.”

Fayose, in the letter dated September 10, 2018 and addressed to the Chairman of EFCC, said his desire to submit himself to the commission was hinged “on several and serial actions of your commission for sometime now, including but not limited to freezing of my accounts and attempts to secure temporary forfeiture of my properties.”

He said these were

“indicative of the commission’s desire to have me clarify some issues or answer some questions but for the immunity I enjoy under Section 308 of the 1999 Constitution as the sitting governor of Ekiti State.”

Fayose stated in the letter: “I wish to inform you that my term of office pursuant to which I enjoy immunity against investigation and prosecution under the above provision shall lapse by effusion of time on October 15, 2018.

“As a responsible citizen of our great country, who believes in the rule of law, I wish to inform you of my decision to make myself available in your office on Tuesday, October 16, 2018 at 1p.m. to clarify issues or answer questions within my knowledge.

“Kindly confirm the suitability of the above date or indicate by return, the commission’s convenient date.”

A stamp on a copy of the letter, entitled “Notification of my decision to make myself available in your office to clarify issue(s) or answer questions on issues within my knowledge”, indicated that it was received in the office of the EFCC chairman on September 11, 2018.

to get Nigeria out of debt, but the country is now back to worrying levels of debt.

Speaking at the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the UN ‘working together conversation’ last Tuesday, the former Nigerian minister of environment expressed her worry on the rising level of debt in Nigeria and the rest of Africa.

She said the UN and IMF must have better conversations on the demands of a growing economy seeking ways to making growth better and inclusive.

“Public resources are always going to be important, and so are the ODA and the private sector. But I think we still haven’t yet got quite the solution, and I hope that the work that we do together will open up that space to think more on how to leverage that.

“As I was coming up from New York, some of the concerns that came

up from the meeting we had in China just recently and reports that we have like the debt issues are really big, I mean, having experienced what it was for Okonjo-Iweala to get debt relief.

“It took her a few years to convince people, and we are now back again in my country with a level of debt that is worrying, but it’s happening all over Africa. Is that the way we want to go?

“I think we really need to sit down and have a better conversation about growing the economy, its inclusiveness and success, because stability is needed more than ever today, across our countries and where we are working on that,” she stated.

According to The Cable, in the conversation with the Managing Director of the IMF, Christine Lagarde, Mohammed had agreed with Lagarde that Okonjo-Iweala was very influential in the debt relief Nigeria secured

in 2006.

Before 2005, Nigeria had an external debt stock of $36 billion, which had been carried over from the military years dating back to 1985.

In October 2005, with Okonjo-Iweala as finance minister, Nigeria and the Paris Club announced a final agreement for debt relief worth $18 billion and an overall reduction of Nigeria’s external debt stock by $30 billion.

The deal was completed on April 21, 2006, when Nigeria made its final payment and its books were cleared of any Paris Club debt, bringing Nigeria’s external debt profile to just $3 billion while domestic debt was only about N1 trillion.

As at June 30, 2018, Nigeria’s total debt profile, according to the Debt Management Office (DMO), had risen to $73.21 billion or N22.38 trillion.

The mother of six also spoke about every of the

17 goals that make up the SDGs as her children, saying all were equally important for the future of the world.

She added that when she was appointed minister of environment in Nigeria, she was seen as the dustbin lady, because the people did not see the real value of her office.

“I have to tell you, when I went back to Nigeria as minister of environment, my state was saying, was it environment they gave you?

That is the dustbin lady.

They did not even get that environment was broader than just waste disposal,” she told Lagarde and a room full of development experts.

She said climate change is important, so is gender parity and inclusion for youths.

Mohammed stated that “the average age of entry into the United Nations is 45,” adding that the UN is working hard to change this, and include young people in its working process.

We Must Unite to Avoid Implosion, Kwankwaso Tells Fellow PDP Presidential Aspirants Laleye Dipo in Minna A former Governor of Kano State and presidential aspirant under the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Alhaji Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso has urged all those contending for the presidential ticket of the party to unite to avoid the implosion of the party after its national convention.

Kwankwaso made the call when he addressed party faithful at the PDP secretariat in Minna, Niger State, yesterday in continuation of his mobilisation of delegates for the realisation of his 2019 presidential ambition.

The Senator who was not forthcoming on whether or not he would support the plan by the PDP’s Board of Trustees (BoT) to choose a consensus candidate for the presidential election, said with unity the party would not implode after the convention.

“All contestants should come together, unite in the interest of Nigeria,” he said.

He however challenged the leadership of the party to be “ fair to all the aspirants right from the primaries” so that the party would be stronger.

The presidential aspirant berated the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC)-led government for nonperformance, saying the change he and others who followed and

supported President Muhammadu Buhari envisaged in 2015 was the greatest mistake he had made.

According to him “the much talked about change has only brought hunger, killings and unemployment to Nigerians” “We sought for change in 2015 and along the line, I realised the change only brought about more killings, hunger, underdevelopment, poverty and unemployment.

“I will not support or remain in that type of change; that is why I am back to the PDP to change the change that has brought untold hardship on Nigerians,” he added.

Kwankwaso decried the deplorable condition of the SulejaMinna road, lamenting that it was one of the road projects the APC promised to reconstruct during the presidential campaign but after three years the road remained impassable.

He appreciated the roles being played by two former military leaders of the country- retired Generals Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida and Abdulsalami Abubakar in the entrenchment of democracy, adding that the duo had brought peace and stability to the country.

In his speech, the state chairman of PDP, Alhaji Tanko Beji, assured him that the state would vote for a candidate that would improve the lives of Nigerians and also bring development to Niger State.

CONGRATULATIONS, YOUR EXCELLENCY...

L-R: Scout Commissioner, Lagos State Scout Council, Chief JonathanTawose; Lagos State Deputy Governor, Dr. Oluranti Adebule; Governor Akinwunmi Ambode, and Chief Judge of Lagos State / President, State Scout Council, Hon. Justice Opeyemi Oke, and State Commissioner, Lagos State Girls Guide Association, Mrs. Iyabode Adebule-Okuyeri, during the investiture of the governor as Patron of the Lagos State Scout Council, at Lagos House, Alausa, Ikeja...yesterday

Afreximbank Secures $850m from China to Boost African Trade Ndubuisi Francis in Abuja The African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) has stated that the $850 million in financing facilities being made available to it by two Chinese financial institutions will allow the African trade finance bank to greatly expand its support to African businesses seeking to diversify and expand their trading activities.

Afreximbank President, Prof. Benedict Oramah, who said this in Cairo, Egypt, while reporting on the bank’s participation in the recently-concluded Forum for China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC 2018), held in Beijing, China, noted that the bank used the opportunity of that

event to sign agreements for a $500 million facility with the China Development Bank and a $350 million facility with Bank of China.

According to a statement by the African trade finance bank, the China Development Bank facility is to enable Afreximbank support trade enabling infrastructure projects across Africa while the $350 million from the Bank of China is targeted at direct bank-tobank loans, participation in syndicated loans and trade finance, among others.

The Bank of China agreement followed the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) between the Chinese bank and Afreximbank.

Under the terms of the

MoU, the two institutions agreed to collaborate in the identification of co-financing and co-investing opportunities.

They also committed to cooperate in projects and transactions to enhance trade and investment between China and Africa.

It also involves supporting projects under the “Belt and Road” Initiative in order to bring shared development opportunities to China and Africa.

Oramah said Afreximbank took advantage of the participation to hold meetings with several high-level personalities, including Presidents Macky Sall of Senegal, Faure Gnassingbé of Togo and Denis Sassou Ngueso of the Republic of

Congo.

The delegation also met with Zhang Qingsong, the new President of China Exim Bank, to discuss areas of collaboration.

With the meeting, the Afreximbank delegation was the first to be formally received by the China Exim Bank’s President in his new role.

Similar meetings were held with Liqun Jin, Chairman and President of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank and Liu Liange, President of Bank of China.

The Afreximbank delegation also met with Jack Ma, Chairman of the Alibaba Group, to hold discussions on areas of possible collaboration.

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T H I S D AY ˾ THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 13, 2018

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COMMENT

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

AFRICA FIRST MEETS CHINA FIRST Okello Oculi writes that the continent has much to learn from China

W

hen in 1945 the Vietcong humiliated French colonial armies and in 1949 Mao Zedung’s communist guerrillas drove out Japanese colonisers and the local Kuomintang rulers, drums of triumph sounded the shout: “The East is Red�. When a Chinese delegation attended the first globalisation at the 1955 Bandung Conference of ‘’Non-Aligned’’ countries, she broadened her alliance with Communist Soviet Union to include newly independent African and Asian countries.

During the colonial epoch, Africa and China had shared that tragic phase of globalisation as victims of Euro-American humiliation and exploitation. From Algeria to Angola and the collapse of virulent racism in Southern Africa, both China and Africa shared the birth of nationhood by what Ahmed Ben Bella called ‘’bleeding a little’’ to win freedom.

In 2002, Kenya’s President Mwai Kibaki - an economist trained by British teachers at Makerere University College and the London School of Economics - announced that Kenya was turning to China for investment capital and the development of infrastructure. This followed collaboration between Tanzania, Zambia and China over the building of Tazara railway line to carry copper exports and vital imports; a liberation globalisation for Africa. Kibaki expressed a disgusted turning away from the IMF/World Bank as neo-colonial false guardians of development.

What might be termed as a ‘’season of migration to the east’’- to borrow the title of a novel by a Sudanese writer - the first two decades of the 21st Century has seen the deepening of Africa-China branch of globalisation. From September 1-3, 2018, 53 African presidents and prime ministers held the seventh forum with Chinese leaders in Beijing. Its context was concern about ramifications for Africa of a trade war launched by President Donald Trump against imports from China. African components of Chinese manufactures would be hit. Fumes of defiance against a hegemonic America flexing economic and diplomatic power was in the skies over Africa.

This situation calls for deep reflection. Michael Pillsbury, a writer on China, has urged American governments to closely study ancient Chinese texts and philosophy to inform contemporary diplomatic relations with that country. His critics accused him of seeking to replace Cold War contests with Communist Russia with a new one against China. Others accused him of campaigning for his family’s interests in global trade in grains for which he would make enormous financial gains from a food ‘’colonisation of stomachs’’ of a billion Chinese people. Nevertheless, Pillsbury does make a significant point for Africa to consider.

Africa has suffered from an information blockage about China by colonial administrations and post-colonial NATO manipulators of the global information order which they dominate. As an example, the ‘’Cultural Revolution’’ which Chairman Mao Zedung undertook as a means of weeding out actual and potential agents

ACHIEVING HIGHLY SKILLED AND HIGHLY DISCIPLINED POOLS OF WORKERS IS CHINA’S LESSON TO AFRICA

of American, British, French, German and Japanese intelligence operatives who were embedded in the country’s bureaucracy, was vilified as dictatorship. Its defensive value for protecting the sovereignty of a new nation was ignored. Africa ignored Mao’s initiative to high costs.

Merle Fainsod’s study of Bolshevik Russia reported that the Communist Party blocked sabotage of their policies by officials with feudal Czarists orientation by planting communist officials to oversee decisions of top bureaucrats. Most post-colonial African governments, either deliberately or out of lack of awareness of this experience, ignored the possible value of this social engineering. The price paid for this default has included a pandemic of military take-overs of governments; festering corruption and blockages of development targets.

In contemporary relations with China, several measures suggest themselves. An obvious one is a programme of translating classical Chinese texts and contemporary literary and political economy texts into African languages. European missionaries translated the Holy Bible into various African languages; a legacy which African authors writing in English, French and Portuguese have avoided either out of intellectual laziness or the erroneous hope that Euro-American readers would read their works. Kenya-born Ngugi Wa Thiongo remains a lonesome voice shouting in the wilderness for literary works to be published in African languages.

In line with Euro-American scramble for access into China’s over a billion consumers, African authors should push for translations into China’s languages of their novels, drama, poetry and works by ‘’public intellectuals’’. A dialogue between Africa and China must not be mediated primarily in European colonial languages. The invention of cell phones and computers with translations into different languages gives youths in Africa the advantage of acquiring competence in Chinese languages.

President Nyerere translated Shakespeare’s works into Ki-Swahili Euro-American propagandists blame birth rates in Africa for the poverty in the continent. They ignore centuries of exploitation of Africa’s human and material resources through transfers of labour and manufacturing into Euro-American economies, as well as criminal collusion with African officials to transfer funds out of Africa. President Thabo Mbeki’s Committee has reported that over 50 billion American dollars are sent out of African economies annually.

China has demonstrated that a huge population is a vital resource; especially critical if the population gets compulsory high quality education at all levels. Achieving highly skilled and highly disciplined pools of workers is China’s lesson to Africa.

Scandinavian countries have also built this power; with special emphasis on ensuring that skills and talents of their female populations bloom. Nigeria, Ethiopia, Easy African Community countries and Egypt must open their minds to this lesson from China.

ANYTHING CAN HAPPEN HERE! We should be prepared for every eventuality, argues Olusegun Adeniyi

I

n the aftermath of the earth tremors that hit Abuja last week, the federal government assured residents of their safety but it is important that Nigerians do not get carried away by all the assertions that our country is immune from earthquakes. We are not. Where such natural disasters are concerned, nations and territories are categorised into high risk, medium risk and low risk. That Nigeria falls into the low risk category does not in any way rule out the possibilities of an earthquake.

In their book, “The Changing Earth: Exploring Geology and Evolution�, James Monroe and Reed Wicander stated very clearly: “No place on earth is immune to earthquakes, but almost 95 % take place in seismic belts corresponding to plate boundaries where plates converge, diverse and slide past each other.�

Therefore, while earthquakes may be unlikely in Nigeria, and my prayer is that we never experience such tragedy, we should dispense with the notion that it is impossible.

That explains why we need to change our attitude to occurrences like the Abuja tremors as I pointed out in a piece published on this page eight years ago, on 1st September 2011 to be specific. Titled ‘It can never happen here’ and published in the wake of the bombing of the United Nations building in Abuja, I consider it very instructive for times like this so the edited version is excerpted below.

First, a confession: I do not own the copyright to today’s headline. It belongs to the late Chike Akabogu, one of the most gifted writers Nigeria has ever produced.

He was a member of the defunct National

Concord Editorial Board in the late eighties and early nineties. Unfortunately, he died at a very young age. Akabogu once wrote about how Nigerians like to delude themselves that they are different; that bad things that occur elsewhere have no place in our country.

I remember when the wave of terrorism heightened at the beginning of the last decade, it was considered too distant a phenomenon to worry about in Nigeria even when there were explosions at the United States’ embassies in Kenya and Tanzania. When Farouk Muttallab was caught trying to blow up a Delta Airlines flight in December 2009 and the United States’ government wanted to link our nation with terror, we easily wriggled out by claiming that Farouk caught the bug abroad; after all, he was not schooling in Nigeria.

We all took the ugly incident in our strides, believing it could never happen on our shores. Now, the chicken has come home to roost with last Friday bombing of the United Nations head office right here in Abuja. With no place to hide anymore, we can no longer live in denial as a nation: In Nigeria, as in other countries, anything and everything can indeed happen!

The philosophy of ‘it can never happen here’ is actually responsible for the state of our nation today because both the leaders and the led have come to certain conclusions that feed not only the culture of impunity that has become a national ideology but also our state of unpreparedness for any eventuality. Yet for us to develop, we must accept that anything can happen here. For instance, our leaders must accept that the ’Arab Spring’ which

has consumed several leaders from Egypt to Tunisia and has now birthed at Muammar Gaddafi’s shores in Libya can happen here.

We should also never lose sight of the fact that the road to Mogadishu began with the orgy of violence we have witnessed repeatedly in Jos where no fewer than 20 people were killed with several property destroyed in a renewed hostility last weekend. We should expect that we could have an earthquake, a Tsunami and other tragic occurrences as forces of nature fight everywhere in the world.

As pessimistic as all these may sound, that is the way most serious countries now think by building negative scenarios and working to ensure they do not happen; while also planning towards mitigating such occurrences in the event that they do. But by living in denial of anything and everything, we prevent ourselves from learning useful lessons. That is why we were surprised that we now have suicide bombers in our midst. Because we never came to terms with the fact that if it could happen elsewhere, it can also happen in our country.

However, the tragedy of our nation today is not that we don’t learn from the example of other countries but rather that we don’t learn even from our own experiences. We can use a recent incident to underscore that fact. Just a few weeks ago there was heavy downpour which practically sacked the city of Lagos.

Last weekend in Ibadan, we witnessed a far bigger tragedy. If we find it difficult to deal with the simple issue of rainfall and flooding, how can we handle bigger tragedies?

As I write this, I just received a mail

from one Mr. Dayo Akinuli which speaks for itself: ‘Please we the residents of Alpha Beach and its environs are appealing to you to help us use your column to sensitise Governor (Babatunde) Fashola and President (Goodluck) Jonathan who came to the Ocean almost two months ago with a promise that everything would be done to make the place habitable. Between then and now, over a thousand residents have packed out. The ocean has gradually found its way into our neighbourhood through Bode Ajakaye Street, very close to the GLO Building. All these claims can be verified by paying a visit to the beach. We all know the project is beyond what the state government can handle but they must not wait until the ocean sweeps all the residents to the great beyond before they do something.’ The forces of nature and that of terrorism represent the biggest threat facing mankind today yet experience of the past few weeks has shown very clearly that we are ill-prepared to tackle either of these challenges. On the first one, as a former resident of Ajah, I never fail to entertain fear about the vulnerability of the Lekki Axis of Lagos. Not only do we have no capacity to handle emergency in the event that nature strikes along that coast but indeed that we may not even have anything to warn of an impending danger. That explains why somebody must begin to think along that line: Anything can happen here!

Note: Need I say more? t"EFOJZJ JT $IBJSNBO 5)*4%": &EJUPSJBM #PBSE

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EDITORIAL

BUHARI AND THE UNSIGNED PIGB The rejection of the bill is a major setback for the country

C

iting the provision that empowers the proposed Petroleum Regulatory Commission to retain as much as 10 per cent of the revenue generated amongst other reasons, President Muhammadu Buhari has refused assent to the Petroleum Industry Governance Bill (PIGB) recently passed by the National Assembly.

Against the background that the sector—which provides most of the country’s foreign exchange and to a large extent drives other sectors of the economy—has for decades operated with an archaic legislation, this is no doubt a major setback for the country.

It is particularly noteworthy that the unsuccessful passage of the PIB at the National Assembly for many years led the current Eighth Assembly to separate it into various components including the PIGB which deals mostly with the governance issues in the industry; the Petroleum Industry Fiscal Bill, which deals with the ďŹ scal issues; the Petroleum Industry Host Communities Bill, which deals with issues of oil assets host communities, and the Petroleum Industry THE PIGB PROVIDED Administration Bill, which would address HOPE TO INVESTORS IN THE INDUSTRY THAT other administrative challenges of the THERE WOULD BE SOME sector.

The PIGB, the ďŹ rst LEVEL OF CERTAINTY of the four bills, was IN HOW THEY DO passed in March BUSINESS 2018 to provide the legal framework for the creation of commercially oriented and proďŹ t-driven petroleum entities; to ensure value addition and elevate the petroleum industry to international standards through the creation of efďŹ cient and effective governing institutions with distinct roles. Basically, the PIGB envisaged that the Ministry of Petroleum shall be responsible only for setting the overall policy and strategy for the oil and gas sector. It also granted the minister pre-emptive rights over all petroleum

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products in the country in the event of a national emergency.

However, the powers to grant, renew, amend, extend or revoke licenses for oil and gas acreages were taken away from the minister unlike it was in the 1969 Act. It equally provided for the establishment of the National Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NPRC) to replace the DPR, Petroleum Inspectorate and PPPRA. Under the PIGB, the NPRC shall be completely independent, and shall among other functions, be responsible for regulating the oil and gas sector as well as the conduct of bid rounds and or processes for the award of any licenses or lease required for oil and gas exploration and production in the country. It was also going to get the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) separated into functional companies that would be listed on the stock exchange, and ultimately end NNPC’s long years of operational failures, thereby turning its successors into proďŹ t making entities.

We are well aware that the PIGB was not the ‘silver bullet’ that would cure Nigeria’s oil industry of all its operational anomalies, but it was going to set off the process of an enduring reform, depending however on the implementation of its provisions. For sure, it provided hope to investors in the industry that there would eventually be some level of certainty in how they do business. Unfortunately, that hope has been dashed.

We will like to remind the president that in setting up his Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP), he had chosen the oil sector as one of the major pillars of that plan, and anticipated it would contribute immensely to its success. But the oil industry as presently run will hardly provide the kind of results he is expecting for many reasons among which is that new investments to improve its productivity will not come due to operational uncertainties. While we therefore do not want to be seen as being pessimistic, we are nonetheless constrained to warn that this decision is one that could set Nigeria on the road to Venezuela with all its dire consequences.

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

ARUNA QUADRI AND IMPERATIVES FOR SPORTS DEVELOPMENT

R

ecently, Nigeria’s Aruna Quadri emerged as winner of the men’s singles event at the 2018 International Table Tennis Federation, ITTF, African Championships in Mauritius. Quadri achieved this feat in a grand style as he did not drop a point from the first round until the final when he defeated Egypt’s Ahmed Saleh 4-1 to win his first African Championships title. In 2016, Quadri, who is presently ranked number 18 in the world narrowly lost to Egyptian Omar Assar. Before his current ranking, in 2014 Aruna was ranked number 30 in world table tennis. That same year, the ITTF adjudged him the Star Player of the Year.

With this feat, the Nigerian rising table tennis star has won virtually all the titles in Africa with the exception of the All African Games. It will be recalled that a few weeks ago, Aruna won the ITTF Challenge Nigeria Open in Lagos.

Keen followers of the ping pong game are not likely to be surprised about his rising profile. In the last few years, the Oyo State-born superstar has been making stable progress as a globally renowned table tennis player. For instance, at both the 2012 and 2016 Summer Olympics, he competed for Nigeria in the men’s singles table tennis event and got to the quarter-finals stage on both occasions. He was also part of the Nigerian team that won bronze at the 2014 Commonwealth Games.

Similarly, in the 2017 ITTF World Challenge Bulgaria Open, he advanced to the semi-finals where he was defeated in a highly entertaining and captivating match by eventual winner Dimitriji Ovtcharov. A major feature of Aruna’s

winning recipe is his forehand style which has proved quite irresistible.

It was his brilliant performance at the men’s singles event of the 2016 Summer Olympics where he was seeded number 27 that particularly announced him to the ping pong world.

In the first round, he played and defeated Slovakian Wang Yang (4-1). In the second round, he played number five seed Chuang Chih-yuan whom he repeatedly frustrated with his unconventional playing style. Aruna eventually defeated Chaung in possibly the biggest upset of the tournament, without losing a single set (4-0). In the third round, he faced and defeated famous German player, Timo Boll, thus earning a spot in the Quarter Finals which he lost to then number one seed, Chinese Ma Long.

A quiet but very hardworking sportsman, Aruna has been variously described as a quintessential professional who gives his all to his chosen profession. While others brag around town showing off their feats, Aruna is quite modest and always eager to cover new grounds. For instance, rather than embarking on a prolonged party disposition to commemorate his recent conquest at Mauritania, Aruna simply said that the victory is now in the past and that his focus is now on winning the elusive gold at the next edition of the All African Games. That, indeed, is the hallmark of great athletes. Today, thanks to his hard work, tenacity of purpose and hunger to achieve more, aside being the 18th ranked table tennis player in the world, Aruna is the highest ranked African in the world. For the record, he is the first Nigerian and second ever African tennis player to make ITTF top18 rating.

Incidentally, Quadri did not actually start as a table tennis player. He was originally into athletics while at the secondary school. His foray into the racy ping pong world began in the late 90s and ever since he has not looked back. Till date, his biggest career highlight was winning the Polish Open in 2017, thus making him the first African to win an ITTF competition outside of the continent.

With the current giant strides of Aruna in table tennis, it has now become imperative for all key stakeholders in the sports sector to come up with the needed initiatives that could further promote sports development in the country.

Today, sport has become a business concern that contributes to gross earnings of many countries. Sadly, things aren’t really in the right perspective with sports in Nigeria.

A visit to the various stadia across the country would surely reveal the pathetic situation of athletes preparing to represent us in major sporting events as they train in most awful conditions, sometimes depending on support from family members and friends, among others. Indeed, it is always difficult to secure the needed fund for these athletes to attend major tourneys. The implication of neglecting sports is far too grievous. We inadvertently shut the door against thousands of Nigerians who would have used same as escape route from poverty.

Globally, sports have become a huge industry through which lots of youths have got fame and fortune. t 5BZP 0HVOCJZJ -BHPT 4UBUF .JOJTUSZ PG *OGPSNBUJPO 4USBUFHZ "MBVTB *LFKB

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T H I S D AY ˾ ͯͱ˜ ͰͮͯͶ

T H I S D AY ˾ THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 13, 2018

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T H I S D AY • THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 13, 2018

POLITICS

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

PERSONALITY INTERVIEW

‘CrossRiverStateisTooDelicateforPoliticalStrife’ Nseobong Okon-Ekong encounters former Minister of Culture, Tourism and National Orientation, Chief Edem Duke who believes in his capacity to deliver the dividends of good governance to meet the yearnings of the people of Cross River State

Y

ou already have a good reputation as a philanthropist whose charity touches a lot of individuals and the community at large, do you need to become a governor to dispense goodwill to the people?

We must try to differentiate personal generosity occasioned by God’s blessings and the ability to allow what accrues to you to trickle down. It is not the same thing as building the people in consonance with the assets and liabilities that form the socio-political asset base of the state.

When you do personal philanthropy, it has no timetable. It has no strategy. It does not answer to any critical and urgent need of the macro society. It is only seasonal, at best, propelled by what you have and what you can spare at any given time. Of course, it is fuelled by the spirit of sacrifice. If you have enough to satisfy yourself and family and you cannot share, then you are a poor man. In sharing, you take a bit of yourself, you sacrifice a bit of yourself. In giving, you grow a bit of somebody else. You diminish yourself in order to enhance your fellow man.

When you seek public office, you seek it to a certain level, having evaluated the totality of the needs of your people and weighed it against the assets that are available to it and the skill and ability to build the team of the handful of people that are willing and able to sacrifice to entrench prosperity in the midst of wants and challenges. Often times, some people seek political office even at the level of governor in order to enhance their curriculum vitae. Some seek it as a way of settling old scores. Some seek it as puerile adventurism. That is, they see the governorship as a tool to promote their own ecstasy. There is some ecstasy about being a governor. They desire to get there before they know what to do in the office. That is why you find in many instances in Nigeria, people say that they use the first four years to learn the ropes and curves and then struggle to win the heart and mind of the people in order to now work for them for four years. Eight years of the people can disappear like a flicker of light. I, High Chief Edem Duke without being immodest, know where I am in life. The knowledge and experiences I have acquired, the vision that I have. I am more prepared to assume the role of a servant-governor.

Cross River State once held a lot of promise as a model for good governance. What went wrong in your reckoning?

Whilst we speak specifically about Cross River State, it is also applicable to many states across the country. People come to this aspiration to being governor ill-prepared and ill-equipped in every ramification. After the euphoria of political endorsement and winning, they spend a reasonable period of time fighting in the court and by the time they settle into office, you will only discover that these guys were not actually prepared for the enormous responsibility. Unfortunately, many also see the position of a governor as a passport to the dispensation of prosperity. That is, ‘if I’m able to be governor, I can make Mr. A rich and I can descend with vengeance on Mr. B and bring him down.’ There are people who are propelled by such drive. I know that the Cross River State started on a very promising note and the unique selling point for Cross River State which enabled it to continue to attract interest by the generality of the public and outsiders was the fact that we set our target within the limit of promises available to us. We identified what the low-hanging fruits were and we focused on those. These initiatives transpired from the Donald Duke government to the Liyel Imoke government. There were a few distortions in the sense that we always find a situation whereby people want to build their own legacies. But

brokers who would rather want to diminish or deprive the people from that prospect in order for you not to look better than them.

Not for any other reason.

Zoning has become acceptable in Nigeria even if it is not quite spelt out in our constitution.

Will that hinder your quest to become governor of Cross River State?

Cross River State is too delicate for political strife and bitterness. The point at which Cross River State is today demands that those who see themselves as possessing the requisite competencies to lead should be free to express their aspiration.

It is important to plead fairness across the board, in terms, of who is representing the state in various capacities in order to give a sense of belonging to all parts. I believe that this question should be moderated by a sense of political morality.

We are like a family and in a polygamous family, so to speak, which is not an aberration in the Nigerian cultural context; we must be able to look at the political landscape of Cross River State and see how equitably positions have been circulated.

IN THE MIRROR

Duke

between Donald and Liyel, whatever else I may not be aware of, you still saw the sustenance of a stream of activities that maintained that positioning of the Cross River State. However, rather than build on those initial successes, you now find a government that takes off at a completely different tangent, articulating policies, the framework of which you could not see in the immediate contraption of those policies. Then, you know that the state will commence a dangerous nosedive.

When you noticed this plunge, why didn’t stakeholders like you immediately speak up?

You need to understand the challenges of interfacing with people who do not understand how to manage power. I want to be a bit cautious in my statement. You need to have a structured government and administration that has an agenda properly articulated and interrogated. Every stakeholder, no matter how big or small must see the roadmap clearly and know at which milestones and junction they can interplay. More importantly, leadership is a team game. In whatever kind of game you can imagine in your head, there is no how you will respond to the start out whistle without having a strategy in place. As time goes, pending on the vicissitudes of your circumstances, you can always adjust and have a team with different competencies and capacities, that can bring the wherewithal that is necessary, either to consolidate the original vision or to re-orchestrate or recalibrate it and still help in ultimate delivery of your set goal.

Is there such as a wide departure from where you perceive two other administrations were heading from the present one?

I think that it will be a futile exercise trying to speak to that issue because words are insufficient to illustrate the departure from what we had begun to see as a trend in Cross River State and the ultimate point at which we found ourselves today.

You were a minister of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Was that not sufficiently high office

for you to impact on Cross River State?

You must understand the difference between your assignment as a minister and your relationship or influence or lack of it in the state. As a minister, the entire country is your constituency.

Therefore, it is expected that if you are able to do one thing in your state, you must have replicated that one thing in as many states as possible if not in all of your states. Therefore, you have to be judicious in utilising that position and responsibility.

As a governor, you have powers limited only by the legislature in your state. There must be some checks and balances. Where governors are uncomfortable with the constitutional responsibility of the legislature in their state, it is a recipe for disaster because conflict will emanate very early.

As a minister, I had the privilege to see every state of Nigeria, of relating with your sector on the continent and globally. You are a very rounded citizen and administrator, a very seasoned administrator. You could see the good, the bad and the ugly. That is one of the things that prepared me adequately for the aspiration of governor. I have looked within Nigeria and I am satisfied that Cross River State has something unique than many other states.

I have looked at some countries in Africa and around the world and I have seen that Cross River State is more blessed than many countries that are reveling in prosperity. I know what is fuelling and propelling this prosperity. I know that I can harvest these ideas, opportunities and network them in order to develop and grow a Cross River State that will resonate again with our people and as a country to what it used to be, in fact, far beyond what it used to be.

Do you foresee any challenge to this aspiration, whether regional, communal or political?

The challenge that I anticipate would be two-folds.

One fold is whether your electorates will be able to see the vision that you enunciate and buy into it and translate that to confidence in you at the polls. On the other hand, you see a challenge with other aspirants and power

• *Broadcaster and Producer with the Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria and later Senior Producer with the Cross River Broadcasting Corporation • First Public Relations Manager, SCOA Nigeria Group • Established Libramark Communications • Organised the first Akwa -Cross International Trade Fair in 1990, and gave life to the phrase Akwa-Cross • He was the Manager in charge of Community Relations, Budget and Planning between 1991 and 1992. In 1993, he became the General Manager, Public Affairs of the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) • Served as Nigeria’s Representative on the Board of the European Economic Interest Group, Brussels, Belgium • Served as Chairman, Transition Committee on Tourism for Governor Liyel Imoke • President Calabar Chamber of Commerce and Industry • Chairman, Tourism, Hospitality and Entertainment Trade Group NACCIMA • Secretary General Federation of Southsouth Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture • Holder of Medal of Honour from Germany • Honourary Citizen of the State of Georgia, USA • Established the first modern integrated hospitality business in Calabar and introduced the concept of tourism and formed the first private sector tourism group in Cross River State • He originated the idea of a tourism resort on the bank of the Calabar River • Former President Federation of Tourism Associations of Nigerian • Former Supervising Minister of Information • Former Minister of Culture, Tourism and National Orientation • Former Chairman, Forum of Africa Minister of Culture and Tourism

NOTE: Interested readers should continue in the online edition on www.thisdaylive.com

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T H I S D AY • THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 13, 2018

POLITICS

‘I Will Continue to Criticise Obasanjo’ Former Ogun State governor and Chairman, Constitution Drafting Committee of the All Progressives Congress, Chief Olusegun Osoba fields questions from Shola Oyeyipo on the prospects of credible elections in 2019, former President Chief Olusegun Obasanjo’s of antagonism against President Muhammadu Buhari’s second term ambition

T

hat impact would the delay in signing the draft electoral act have on the 2019 elections?

The President is objecting to some language in the draft act. I hope there will be consensus between the executive and the legislature to have the draft act signed into law because there are so many provisions in that act that I believe will be of immense help and have great impact on the electoral system to the extent that it will give us a reasonably good outcome.

Which areas of the act do you hope can give good outcome to the 2019 elections?

The act says the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) should use modern electronic system. That is fundamental to the success of any aspect of life in the modern day system. The implication is this, on the day of the election, it will mandatory for INEC to use card reader, and in the era of power bank and solar energy, there is no reason why anybody will say because there is no power supply card readers cannot work in any village. If you use solar, you can energise your phone anytime. I believe the introduction of modern electronic system is fundamental.

It is also mandatory for officials conducting elections to carry out pre - election accreditation and audit and the result must be immediately transmitted to the headquarters. Failure on the part of the electoral officer to do that is five years in jail. That is very serious. After accreditation, there will then be voting. If the person had accredited 50 people, you cannot have any result more than 50 because you would have transmitted that 50 accredited number to the headquarters. Scope of rigging is reduced.

There could be less than 50 votes but it can never be more than 50. Anything more than 50 becomes null and void.

cards to pay online too in London. The system will tell me my parking has started on my telephone. Simultaneously, alert is sounding on my telephone to tell me that N25 has been taken from my account. Anywhere, I am around the world, any kobo taken from my account, alert sounds on my phone.

The Nigerian banking system makes it possible for me to do mobile transfer of money anywhere in the world so far there is internet service. I transfer money even in the aircraft.

Nigerian banking system can use mobile banking for Point-of-Sale (PoS), Automated Teller Machine (ATM), applications on your phone that can do virtually all that you want.

Nigerian banks can use satellite technology and digital technology and they are so efficient, I do not see any excuse for.

and Ajegunle, in Iyana - Ipaja and everywhere, why are we pretending that we cannot have an electronic voting system in Nigeria?

Looking at the crises in the National Assembly over reconvening and the lawmakers’ issues with The Presidency, don’t you think if these issues are not resolved on time coupled with the fact that the electoral act has not been signed into law, do these not point to danger ahead?

You can see that that there is danger ahead, but it is a danger you can easily overcome unless we don’t want to be sincere. The National Assembly has no choice and I will counsel them that they should make haste and pass the budget for INEC. Same thing, if they do their duties, the executive will perhaps sign the electoral act into law after the amendment/ objection by The Presidency.

I think Nigeria is a country of pretense. If we are sincere, we should be able to implement anything; pass the budget, implement part of the electoral act for the next electoral process. I called Nigeria country of pretense because how can we be claiming to be 200 million people when we are not up to 200 million? If Google Map is operational in Kano, in Abuja, Ado Ekiti

Are you not bothered by the amount of money that INEC requires for the 2019 general election?

If you want the best of the best, it costs money.

If you don’t want any excuse for failure by INEC then everything should be done to have a free and fair election for the survival of this country. No money will be too much for me.

I will not look at the aspect of money at this time because the election is very crucial. It is now left to INEC to ensure that it performs when it is empowered and funded.

I am very annoyed by two examples that I hope will not repeat itself. The two examples are Akwa Ibom and Rivers States. The card readers showed less number of accredited voters in both states. The Supreme Court then overturned the tribunal judgment that said there was too much discrepancy between accredited voters and the result announced. The Supreme Court gave the judgment to say card reader was not

How do you react to the general fear that the only way your party, the All Progressives Congress (APC) can win the 2019 elections is through rigging?

That is a very cheap blackmail for anybody to say APC is planning to rig. If the APC is planning to rig, they would not have cooperated on the electoral act up to this level. If APC is going to rig, it wouldn’t have allocated reasonable amount of money to INEC. Is APC going to spend the money for INEC or is the APC as a party going to collect commission from INEC? Give me some evidence that APC is planning to rig.

Osoba

The third issue is that it attracts five years in jail for any officer not to transmit the result immediately to the headquarters. These three aspects, to start with, are major. It would create checks-and-balances on the attitude of those handling our electoral processes.

Your optimism is shared, but do you think it is possible to get the electoral act functional for the 2019 elections?

The election is still about six to go. If we are serious as a country, we should learn from the banking system in Nigeria. Our bankers are some of the bests in terms of digital banking.

If you look at the newspapers, you will see advertisements everyday of all the major banks advertising electronic systems to check your balance, transfer money, pay bills, buy tickets.

The applications you have in many of these banks are so flexible and so far reaching in terms of what you can use them for. I use Nigerian cards when I travel abroad. When I park my car, for example, in London, I use

NOTE: Interested readers should continue in the online edition on www.thisdaylive.com

‘There is No Ideology-Based Political Party in Nigeria’ Segun James discovers why Chief Tunde Daramola, the Lagos State Chairman of the African Democratic Congress has traversed the major political parties in Nigeria

Y

ou are a pharmacist and a close political supporter of assassinated Lagos politician, Funsho Williams, can you tell us about your foray into politics?

I am a Pharmacist and Management Consultant. I worked at Abott Laboratories, a multinational pharmaceutical and baby product company based in the United States (US). I joined the company as a Product Manager in 1981 and rose to the level of Marketing Director in 1988.

I started my own pharmaceutical company. I was one of the first Nigerians with a Masters degree when I came back to Nigeria after my studies in Long Island University in the U.S. In 1984, I was appointed a Board Director of the Lagos State Development and Building and Development Commission (LSDBC). It was while there that I had a close contact with late Engineer Funsho Williams, who I met at the New Jersey Institute Polytechnic, while he was also in the U.S. By this time he was nursing the ambition to run for the governorship of Lagos State. He must have discovered something in me because he embraced me and I started working with him. That was how I found myself in politics.

I was part of his Network Alliance (NA), where I was the Secretary. I was there during the Alliance for Democracy (AD) primary between Bola Tinubu and Funso Williams, where we were robbed of the governorship ticket. The arrangement we had with Tinubu after the primary was not honoured. We felt that we could not realise the governorship ambition if we remained in the AD. In 2001, we joined the

while we were on the political rallies for the local government elections, we witnessed the sad assassination of Funsho Williams.

Daramola

People’s Democratic Party (PDP) to pursue that ambition. In 2003, we got the ticket of the PDP; in fact, it was Network Alliance that brought life into PDP in Lagos State. We lost the 2003 election the then Vice President, Atiku Abubakar was in cohort with Tinubu. There was a result on the internet which was suddenly changed. In 2004, when the PDP was making appointments, somehow, Funsho Williams was short-changed and the ministerial appointment was given to Senator Seye Ogunlewe.

In 2003, I left for America because I didn’t want to work with certain elements in the party that short-changed Funsho. It was while there in 2005 that I was invited to contest for the state secretary of the PDP and I won, I was secretary of the PDP in Lagos till 2008. In 2006,

Why did you leave the PDP for the APC? In 2014, some of us felt there were injustices in the PDP and there was need for political correctness. In spite of all appeals to reasoning, the administration of the day felt they could continue without anybody stopping them. That was when the new Peoples Democratic Party (nPDP) emerged. We later decided to go to the All Progressives Congress (APC), there was an agreement for the nPDP to form an alliance with the APC. Memoranda of Understanding (MoU) were signed, but none of the agreement was honoured. As a matter of fact, democracy was jettisoned. It was a coven style approach to issues. You are in the cult and you must listen to the cult leader.

It was a deliberate design to ensure that we were never empowered. Remember the Senate President and the Speaker of the House of Representatives had to bend backwards to swallow their vomit by going back to the old PDP that they left to be able to secure their positions. However, those that thought they could run the APC like a cult and wanted to dictate everything ended up in the tiger’s belly.

The seed of discord was sown when it was discovered that there was a secret agreement between Buhari and Tinubu for Buhari to be president and Tinubu vice president. It was President Obasanjo at his behest that finally nailed the coffin that there was no way there

would be a Muslim / Muslim ticket because Nigeria was a sensitive country. They ended up pacifying Tinubu by asking him to nominate the vice president. That was what brought about the nomination of Prof. Yemi Osinbajo.

You have traversed several political parties from AD to PDP to APC and now the African Democratic Congress (ADC). Why these movement?

There is no ideology-based political party in Nigeria. All the political parties are after is power.

Their ideology is simple, win the centre and control the people and the wealth of the nation.

Of course, this is turning wisdom upside down, because it is supposed to control the wealth for the benefit of the people but unfortunately, it is the other way round. Grabbing the people and the wealth is all that has been happening politically in this Fourth Republic.

I left the APC for the ADC because I discovered that the ADC has a philosophy to embrace youths and women and you do not require a godfather for you to be all you can be. It emboldens participatory democracy. It gives freedom for you to choose your leaders. In ADC, they have given us the freedom to set our structures. Our National Executive Committee (NEC) has decided that anybody under 40 years male or female will pay half the price of Expression of Interest form and Nomination fee.

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FEATURES

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

Alarming Prevalence of Suicide According to World Health Organisation, yearly, about 800,000 people die from suicide. Chiemelie Ezeobi writes that the World Suicide Prevention Day, again, brought to the fore, the need to tackle the menance headlong

Warning signs to look out for

ast year alone, no fewer than 12 suicide cases and five foiled attempts were recorded in Lagos within six months. This year, although there are no well known documented data of deaths caused by suicide, the anomaly is still being witnessed across the nation as statistics showed that Nigeria has the 13th highest suicide mortality rate in Africa, which is per 100,000 population.

Globally, this puts Nigeria as the world’s 30th highest suicide rate.

Undoubtedly, suicide cases continue to pose a big problem to both our country and international bodies. This is because despite the fact that the two major religions- Christianity and Islam, preach against this bizarre act of ending one’s own life, it still happens. Asides religion, suicide is a criminal offence that even traditions and culture are also against.

Yet, this act is on the increase in the country with people hanging theirselves to jumping into the lagoon, or through the intake of dangerous poison and deadly substances.

With the World Suicide Prevention day being commemorated this September, it brings to the fore the deadly ailment that musn't be treated with kids gloves.

As alarming as it sounds, the reality as revealed by the World Health Organisation (WHO) states that 800,000 people die from suicide around the world every year. The body also stated that suicide is the second leading cause of death amongst 15-29-year olds.

Also, the National Alliance on Mental Illness put out its statistics too. According to the alliance, 54 per cent of people who die by suicide had no known mental health condition, neither were they diagnosed or open about it.

They also noted that other risk factors that cause suicide can stem from trauma or abuse, isolation, stress, access to firearms or substance abuse.

L

WHO Statistics A break down of statistics from WHO states that 800,000 people die from suicide around the world every year. This means that one person die every 40 seconds and

Suicide, the second leading cause of death among 15 to 29 year olds

for every suicide, 20 plus others have attempted suicide. The body also stated that 79 per cent of suicide victims live in low- or middle-income countries, which means that 21 per cent live in high-income countries.

However, the figure for this year is a sharp decline from the 2012-2013 statistics. The 2012-2013 statistics from WHO shows that no fewer than a million people die annually from suicide, which represents a global mortality rate of 16 people per 100,000 or one death every 40 seconds. More disturbing also is the fact that there are an estimated 10 to 20 million attempted suicides every year.

WHO also reported that suicide is the second cause of death among young people between15-29 years in 2012. In 1990, it resulted in 712,000 deaths and rose to 842,000 in 2013 making it the 10th leading cause of death worldwide. WHO’s in 2012 statistics also show that out of Nigeria’s population, 6.5per cent committed suicide out of which 10.3 per cent are male and 2.9 per cent are female.

Commemorating

World

Suicide

Communities can; play an important role in suicide prevention, support those who previously made an attempt to take their lives, comfort those who have lost someone to suicide, as well as help ďŹ ght the stigma associated with suicide

Prevention Day Thus, the World Suicide Prevention Day provided the needed opportunity to shine light of the menance, as well as posit solutions.

According to WHO, communities can; play an important role in suicide prevention, support those who previously made an attempt to take their lives, comfort those who have lost someone to suicide, as well as help fight the stigma associated with suicide.

Support for Suicide Victims Lending their voice, Support for Victims, an advocacy group said: "On this #WorldSuicidePreventionDay, remember that your mental health is just as important as your physical health - and crime can affect both. If you're struggling with the impact of a crime, we're here for you. Please don't suffer in silence #ItsOkayToTalk."

Medical Perspective According to UK-based Dr. Chin Akano, a psychiatrist, it was usually better to seek for help as soon as possible when one is depressed. The doctor said some of the common risk factors that leads to suicide include depression, severe anxiety, acute stress due to any reason, severe adjustment reaction, drug and alcohol abuse, side effect of certain prescribed medication eg certain anti- depressants, psychotic illnesses eg schizophrenia, other mental illness like mania and personality disorders, previous suicide attempt and family history of suicide, Cultural and religious beliefs and lack of supportive social cycle.

In a lengthy post shared online by the doctor at the height of last year's suicidal trend, he picked depression as one of the most common causes of suicide, adding that the symptoms can be identified when one feels low for most of the time for at least two weeks or when one experiences lack of pleasure in doing things, especially things that you used to enjoy and again this has to be most of the time for up to two weeks ( known as anhedonia).

He listed other symptoms as when one gets tired so easily, poor sleep or sleeping too much, poor appetite or over eating, poor

PHOTOS: GOOGLE

sex drive/libido, erectile dysfunction, lack of concentration that makes doing common things a chore, poor self hygiene, poor or reduced motivation, feeling that you have let yourself, family or friends down, feeling that life is no longer worth living that you may feel like hurting or killing yourself and you may also start hearing voices telling you that you are useless, dirty, failure or even telling you to harm or kill yourself.

He said, "If you or a loved one have a few of these symptoms, they are likely to be suffering from depression and must seek help urgently. There are available ways to help them. These may be in form of counseling and other forms of psychotherapy including cognitive- behavioural therapy CBT. This may be the only treatment they require especially in reactive depression where the stressful event is known.

"They could need medications known as antidepressants . Most of them especially the newer ones SSRI and SNRI work if taken regularly at approximately same time for several months. It may take a couple of weeks before the benefits are noticeable. I can assure you that they do work. You may also require both psychotherapy and anti-depressants "If you are hearing voices or displaying some psychotic tendencies, anti-psychotics like Seroquel , Olanzapine may be added.

In very severe cases of depression or in psychotic depression like above where immediate response is required, you may receive shock treatment known as electro-convulsive therapy ECT. This is hardly administered these days but it works. Personally when I was a senior trainee in psychiatry In the UK I administered that treatment on several hopeless cases and I saw them transform overnight."

Hotline for Suicide Cases Who would have thought that suicide cases would become very incessant that a hotline for suicide cases in Nigeria would need to be put in place? Well, since the trend seems to be on the rise, some certain persons created two hotlines to attend to suicidal persons (08062106493and 08092106493), but despite these hotlines, suicide cases still abound.

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FEATURES

The Back to School Project Rebecca Ejifoma writes that the 'Back to School Project' initiated by the Anioma Youths Network for Development recently empowered 120 less privileged children and orphans in our little way.

"As a non-governmental organisation NGO with a vision to positively impact the lives of the young ones in our communities, AYND strongly believes that one does not need to have so much money before one could make impact in the lives of others. Like I did last year, let me once again quote Etienne de Grelett’s postulation on the essence of good deed in life as long as one is alive; saying: “I shall pass through this life but once. Any good therefore, I can do, or any kindness I can show, let me do it now. Let me not defer or neglect it; for I shall never pass this way again.

"I need not over-emphasise the fact that today brings an immense joy to me as a person and to other members of AYND as a dream nurtured over the years to positively affect the lives of our brothers and sisters in Anioma is being crystallised through our gathering here today."

AYND's Vision The back to school project team and some of the beneďŹ ciaries

U

narguably, the first week of September is a trying period for most parents as they are usually under pressure to pay school fees and buy all the necessary books and materials for their children and wards for the start of a new school session.

Having understood the trauma most of these parents pass through, especially the economically downtrodden, the Anioma Youths Network for Development (AYND), a Non Governmental Organisation (NGO), operating from Delta North Senatorial District, has vowed to bridge the gap as much as they can.

Therefore, for the second time running, ANYD hosted 120 less privileged school kids and orphans and equipped them with educational materials including school bags, maths sets, writing materials and even books.

Last year, which marked the launch of the Back to School Project, about 130 primary and secondary school less privileged pupils and students were given a new lease of life.

The Empowerment Held at one of the garages at Onicha Ugbo, it was filled to capacity by the beneficiaries, majority of whom were the less-privileged and orphans drawn from five communities including Onicha-Ugbo.

The other communities are; Ubulu-Uku, Isele-Uku, Igbodo and Obior.

At the appointed time, dignitaries including traditional rulers, business moguls, journalists, politicians and senior security personnel from the state and beyond stormed the area for the event. The occasion kicked off with an opening prayer and words of exhortation from the royal father of the day, the Obi of Onicha Ugbo kingdom, His Royal Majesty Agbogidi Victor Chukwumalieze 1, who was however, ably represented by his traditional Prime Minister- the Iyasere of Onicha Ugbo.

After a few activities, the moment everyone had waited for came up and that was the presentation gift items made up of school bags, book and other aids to learning to the pupils. The master of ceremony MC, Mr. Frank Oshanugor, a Lagos based veteran journalist and author reeled out names of registered beneficiaries as they filed up regimentally to receive the items amid grin-filled cheeks and visible joy of appreciation.

According to Convener and National President of the AYND empowerment initiative, Mr. Odita Sunday-Udemaguna, the back to school project 2018 was a huge success as hundreds of bags, text and note books, dictionaries and Maths sets were shared to orphans and less privileged.

It was also a fun time dancing and rejoicing with the 111 kids drawn from five communities in Delta State.

Convener AYND, Odita Sunday

Giving as a Lifestyle For the convener, who also doubles as the President, Crime Reporters Association of Nigeria

Unarguably, it is a period parents are usually under pressure to pay school fees and buy all the necessary books and materials for their children and wards. It is a known fact that there are some children in our communities whose parents are not well placed to carter to their needs at this time of school resumption; hence we have chosen to lend some support in our little way

(CRAN) said giving is living. He said: "Giving is Living, Make it a hobby. Little gift can go a long way in putting smiles on people's faces."

Prior to his speech, he first made cash donations of N25, 000 each to two widows to assist in boosting their petty trade. According to him, in trying to give a helping hand to less privileged brothers and sisters in primary and secondary schools, he is personally not driven by political intentions or pecuniary gains, rather by passion and the fact that as a child, he also suffered so much deprivation as he grew up without a mother.

He said: "As a toddler, I did not have the motherly affection and attention as I lost my mother very early in life. At this juncture, I strongly believe that apart from God, education is the only thing that can liberate the son and daughter poor parents in our society. Education becomes interesting for kids and teenagers when you make academic tools available to them. Like I said in my address last year, the “Back to school� programme was strategically planned to take place at a time like this when primary and secondary schools in the country are about to resume for a new academic year.

"Unarguably, it is a period parents are usually under pressure to pay school fees and buy all the necessary books and materials for their children and wards. It is a known fact that there are some children in our communities whose parents are not well placed to cater to their needs at this time of school resumption; hence we have chosen to lend some support

Statistics from UNESCO has unfortunately revealed that Nigeria has the highest number of out-of-school children in sub-Sahara Africa to the alarming tune of 10.8 million, an anomaly that is often caused by lack of money for fees, academic materials or sheer illiteracy.

It was some of these anomalies that the Back to School Project by the AYND, is trying to rectify by providing educational materials to these less privileged kids in five communities in the Anioma community.

With a vision to transform the society by empowering disadvantaged children to realize their full potential, the Back to School' project for 120 less privileged primary and secondary school students held this September at OnichaUgbo, Delta State where the beneficiaries from various secondary and primary schools in Onicha-Ugbo, Ubulu-Uku, Issele-Uku, Obior and Igbodo, all in Anioma, were given high quality school bags, note books, mathematical sets, biros and other accessories to aid them as the 2018/2019 school year begins.

Odita Sunday said: "I need not over-emphasise the fact that today brings an immense joy to me as a person and to other members of AYND as a dream nurtured over the years to positively affect the lives of our brothers and sisters in Anioma is being crystallised through our gathering here today.

"Historically, the AYND NGO with the youths as its centre-piece was founded about three years ago by a few of us following an idea mooted by my humble self (among other things), to advance issues that affect the lives of young people (youths) largely in the various communities that make up the Anioma nation – (Delta North Senatorial District).

"None of us at AYND are yet in the billionaires’ club, but we have the passion to be our brother’s keeper, hence we believe so much in using this programme to identify with our brothers and sisters in the secondary and primary schools.

"Personally, I embarked on this initiative with my salary as a journalist (with Guardian Newspaper) and some support from friends (largely in security organisations) and kindhearted politicians like Prince Ned Nwoko.

"As a non-governmental organisation with a vision to positively impact the lives of the young ones in our communities, AYND strongly believes that one does not need to have so much money before he could make impact in the life of others.

"This belief aptly brings to mind Etienne de Grellet’s saying that: “I shall pass through this life but once. Any good therefore I can do, or any kindness I can show, let me do it now. Let me not defer or neglect it. For I shall never pass this way again.�

"In conclusion, on behalf of AYND, I want to passionately appeal to well placed personalities in Anioma and elsewhere to key into what we are doing today to contribute in uplifting the less privileged ones in our communities. We cannot wait for government to do much for us; otherwise we would be waiting for ever."

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IMAGES

Minister of State, Trade and Investment, Aisha Abubakar (middle), FCT Permanent Secretary, Sir Chinyeaka Ohaa (right) and other dignitaries, inspect the arts and crafts on display at the Abuja Enterprise Agency Complex, during the commissioning of the FCT Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) One Stop Shop in Abuja... recently

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

R-L: Founder, Dayo Israel Empowerment Foundation, Hon. Dayo Israel; presnting cash to the benďŹ ciaries, Alhaja Ramota Lasisi; Idayat Nahir and Oluwatoyin Mufutau, during the empowerment of women in his community with seed funds for their business at, Ebuta-Metta, Lagos...recently PHOTO: KOLA OLASUPO

A cross section of Legbobagi family, during the Quranic Wolimat Graduation ceremony held in Shonga, Kwara State‌recently

L-R: Oyo Central Leader of the All Progressives Congress, Chief Solomon Akindele; a former Governor of Oyo State, Chief Adebayo Alao-Akala; state Chairman of the APC, Chief Akin Oke; and state Governor, Senator Abiola Ajimobi, during a meeting the governor held with the party’s governorship aspirants and stalwarts iin Ibadan...recently

L-R: Divisional Head, Corporate Services, First City Monument Bank (FCMB), Felicia Obozuwa; winner of the FCMB #FlexxYourCreativity 3.0 contest, Toluwani Ogunye and Head, Youth Segment, FCMB, Mr. Michael Nwoseh, during the grand ďŹ nale of the youth empowerment contest in Lagos...recently.

Chairman, Legislatve Aids, National Assembly,Corade Sam Malaye[middle] leading other members to protest N5.8bn unpaid allowances to Legislative Aids in Abuja...recently PHOTO: JULIUS ATOI

L-R: Member of the National Campaign Council on Osun Gubernatorial Election, Senator Gbenga Ashafa and APC National Leader, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu galvanizing support for the candidate of the party, Mr Gboyega Otedola, in Osun State...recently

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Quick Takes WorldRemit Launches Digital Service

One of the leading international money transfer companies, WorldRemit has launched a new digital service within Africa, making it easier to send and receive money across the continent.

The new digital service will reduce the cost of sending money across borders. The prohibitive charges that individuals and businesses pay to transfer money within Africa are recognised as a major obstacle to the growing regional integration promoted by the continent-wide free-trade agreement signed by 44 countries in March 2018.

The fast-growing economies of the East Africa - Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda - are being targeted for the rollout of the latest innovation.

The CEO and Co-founder of WorldRemit, Ismail Ahmed, said: “Just as WorldRemit has revolutionised the way people send money from developed countries, our vision is to do the same within Africa.

Gates Foundation Supports Kenya

CAPACITY BUILDING

L-R: Head, Strategic Partnership, Microsoft Africa Initiative, Soromfe Uzomah; Comfort Anorue; SME Segment Management, Bridget Enuma; Facilitator, Michael Olafusi and Yinka Shittu, at the MTN-Microsoft Training for SME held in Lagos…recently

Danbatta: Telecoms Investment Surpasses $70bn in One Year Stories by Emma Okonji in Durban, South Africa The Executive Vice Chairman of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Prof.

Umar Garba Danbatta has put the value of the contribution of the telecoms sector to the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) at over $70 billion.

Danbatta, who made the disclosure during the ongoing ITU Telecom World 2018 conference in Durban, South Africa, told foreign investors that as at 2017, the telecom

ICT sector’s contribution to the GDP used to be $70 billion, but has been growing at about $5 billion every quarter.

Danbatta said telecoms contribution to Nigeria’s GDP rose to 10.5 per cent, up from the initial 9.1 per cent in 2016.

With a population of 180 million, active subscriber base of over 160 million and internet penetration of over 100 million, Nigeria remains an attractive country for investors who crave for adequate Return on Investments (RoIs),

Danbatta said.

According to him, “While we celebrate the seemingly success story recorded in these directions, the NCC has put in place incentives for Infrastructure Companies (InfraCos) in order to encourage speedy deployment of infrastructure that will deepen broadband penetration as quickly as possible, and further increase telecoms investment in GDP.” “This is part of the roadmap to take Nigeria to the next level under the Open Access Model template. So far, six Infraco licences have

been issued to cover Lagos, North East, North West, South South, South West and South East zones of the Country.

Arrangements are underway to re-licence the North Central zone,” Danbatta said.

The commission, he added, had earlier assigned 2.3GHz licence to Bitflux Consortium and six of the 14 slots available on 2.6GHz to MTN Nigeria and two slots to Openskys, and six slots are still available for assignment.

“We undertook these Continued on page 24

Zinox Group Targets $10bn Investment By 2021 The Zinox Group is targeting to hit $10 billion investment by 2021.

This is just as the Group’s CEO, Leo-Stan Ekeh is planning to retire and quit the establishment as chief executive officer by 2021.

The Zinox Group comprises Zinox Technologies; Technology Distribution (TD); Task Systems; ICT Brokers; ICT Connect; and Konga A source who disclosed this to THISDAY, pointed out that going by Ekeh’s tone at the Zinox Group corporate retreat held in April, it was clear he would retire as Group CEO when he turns 65 in 2021.

According to the source who pleaded to remain anonnymous, Ekeh’s target

ICT is to achieve a tech group worth $10 billion in valuation by 2021.

The source pointed out that if the target is realised, Ekeh he intends to change the lives of his devoted employees by empowering the before he retires into full-time research in the technology and social work sectors.

“This is his ambition and I hope he realises this, especially considering the turbulent Nigerian economy. This was one of the reasons his group did not retrench any staff during the last economic recession, an unprecedented feat that is highly commendable in view of the gale of

retrenchment that greeted the economic downturn,” the source disclosed.

Confirming the development, Corporate Communications Advisor, Zinox Group, Mr. Echika Ezuka disclosed that Ekeh’s decision to call time on his stellar career, was one that was taken after deep consideration, as it would afford him more time to focus on his other humanitarian interests Ekeh, who was honoured by former President Olusegun Obasanjo on the occasion of Nigeria’s Independence Anniversary on October 1st 2002, for his sustained pioneering efforts in the area of Information and Communications Technology (ICT) and as a

model for modern Nigerian youths, has been consistent with several technology innovations in Nigeria and beyond.

In addition to pioneering desktop publishing and computer graphics in Nigeria with his first company – Task Systems Ltd, Ekeh also pioneered the deployment of digital dispensing pumps in Nigeria in partnership with Elf Petroleum and Schlumberger, France through his company Stanoil. He launched the first ICT support company in Nigeria – ITEC Solutions Ltd, and also pioneered structured ICT Distribution in Continued on page 24

Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is seeking to engage the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) on the rollout of a free software that will enable Kenyans transact money across different banks and telcos. The foundation, which had also initiated talks with banking regulators in Tanzania and Nigeria, expects that interoperability will fill current gaps of financial inclusion for low-income people and women.

Upon securing necessary regulatory approvals in Kenya and partnerships with industry players, the software, Mojaloop, would then be expected to connect the six mobile money providers and 44 registered banks.

Training to Address Fake News

The issue of fake news and its resultant effect on brands especially its direct impact on productivity and resultant effect on employment and the economy at large, will be discuss next month at a training being organised by Katunga media.

The training, which is in its second edition is a bi –annual capacity engagement sessions for media professionals to discuss germane the issues with a view to seeking lasting solutions to them.

According to a statement signed by the Executive Vice Chairman of Katunga Media, Edgar Joseph, the need for Brand Custodians to seek very credible and sustainable response to this malaise cannot be over emphasised, as a result of the critical damage it fosters on brand reputations which in most cases leads to the erosion of market share.

The statement stated that it is in this regard, that Katunda Media in partnership with Brand Journalists Association of Nigeria (BJAN) and with support from the Nigerian Institute of Public Relations have pulled together some of the most influential industry experts to take a robust look at the issue with the aim of providing a discerning road map towards seeking a lasting solution.

Tecno Partners MTN

TECNO Mobile has gone into a partnership with MTN to introduce MPulse, which is an initiative to channel the work ethic of teenagers and create a template of optimal productivity.

According to a statement, the platform was designed for youngsters between ages nine to 15, to enable them to learn and gain pragmatic skills while also having fun.

The statement noted that the event which held at the Landmark Event Centre, Lagos, saw excited children brimming with eagerness as the venue was transformed into a wonderland called ‘Pulse Planet.’ It also provided the attendees lots of memorable attractions and activities.

“Customer service extends beyond addressing customers’ complaints. Responsive organisations must try to meet customers’ demands, and that is basic, being the fundamental level of customer service, which we practice at Spectranet”

CEO, Spectranet, Ajay Awasthi

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DANBATTA: TELECOMS INVESTMENT SURPASSES $70BN IN ONE YEAR

Telcos to Accelerate Financial Inclusion

regulatory steps in line with the National Broadband Plan (NBP) of 2013-2018, where it is anticipated that 30 per cent penetration will be attained, by the turn of 2018.

“Nigeria had a mere five per cent penetration of broadband in 2012, but now we have attained 22 per cent and hope to hit the 30 per cent prescribed

by National Broadband Plan

by December 2018, through various initiatives including granting subsidies to InfraCo licencees, Spectrum Trading among others,” Danbatta said.

Speaking on incentives for new investors on Infraco licences, Danbatta said: “In line with our initiatives to encourage investors for InfraCos to roll out, the Commission has created provisions in its 2017 and 2018 budgets as subsidies to the InfraCos. “This is essentially to be disbursed piecemeal to the InfraCos as the deployment of their infrastructure progresses.

Stories by Emma Okonji

FG URGED TO REVISIT POLICIES ON LOCAL CONTENT DEVT West Africa with the launch of Technology Distributions Ltd, which has remained the biggest distributors of ICT devices in the West African sub-region.

Renowned for his disruptive business mindset and unerring eye for detail, Ekeh equally enjoys the status of manufacturing the first local and internationally certified computer brand in sub-Saharan Africa through Zinox Technologies Ltd., manufacturers of Zinox brand of computers and digital devices.

Ekeh is credited with the biometric digital revolution in Nigeria, having delivered the INEC Voters’ registration in 2006 when foreign contractors could not deliver after months of promises. He again supervised the biggest single ICT digital rollout in Africa with INEC in 2010 as well as the largest single e-Library and wireless cloud rollout project on the continent through one of his companies – Zinox Technologies Ltd.

Four telecoms operators in Nigeria which include Glo, 9mobile, Airtel and MTN have resolved to invest more in the financial inclusion initiative of the Central Bank of Nigeria.

The telcos came together at a meeting recently, where they resolved to clearly articulate their commitment to deepening financial inclusion and providing Nigerians with access to a range of affordable financial services.

Reiterating their commitments as industry stakeholders, the telcos said they remained the largest investors in telecoms in Nigeria, and have decided to come together to deliver a concrete commitment to Nigeria - a promise to materially improve financial inclusion rates and to deliver access to financial services to 90 million customers over the next 30 months.

The resolve of the telcos was not unconnected with calls for level playing field for mobile network operators to be allowed to participate fully in the country’s mobile money industry.

According to the telcos, following the issuance of Nigeria’s first mobile money licences in 2009, the journey towards financial inclusion has been slow, as current financial exclusion levels stand at over 40 per cent.

“There is a significant gap to be covered in order to meet Nigeria’s target of 20 per cent financial exclusion by 2020. In Nigeria, telcos are excluded from accessing mobile money licences directly under current guidelines, while in most subsaharan African markets where mobile money is successful, telcos are given a level playing field,” the telecoms operators said in a joint statement at the recent meeting.

The meeting was facilitated

by the Academic Director and Senior Fellow at Lagos Business School, Yinka David-West, who said: “Far beyond financial inclusion rates in Nigeria, we also have to examine how people currently considered to have access to financial services stack up when evaluated against the criteria for true financial inclusion, i.e. access to a full suite of quality financial services, provided at affordable prices, in a convenient manner.

“When evaluated against this definition, it is clear that as a

country, we have to work, not just to drastically increase the number of financially included persons, but also to increase the quality of inclusion and access we give, especially if we hope to positively impact the economy and the quality of the lives of Nigerians in any meaningful way.”

The telcos argued that telecommunications industry recognises that with an issue as critical as financial inclusion, it is important to focus on sustainable solutions. This requires

inclusivity and collaboration of varied solutions providers in order to achieve real results. The telecommunications industry has the capabilities, technology, infrastructure, distribution network and subscriber base that can quickly be leveraged to provide these solutions.

According to the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), the industry has a reach of 86 per cent of the country, with 162.3 million customers, representing the single largest customer base of any industry

in Nigeria.

The industry players have a combined presence in 773 local government areas across the country further emphasising their ability to reach especially hard to reach areas of the country in a bid to deepen access to financial services.

They also have 1,000,000 unique agents already in place selling airtime across the country, creating a strong distribution network that can quickly be converted to established mobile money agent networks.

SHOWCASING NIGERIA’S

L-R: Executive Vice Chairman/CEO, Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Prof. Umar Garba Danbatta; Secretary General, International Telecommunications Union (ITU), Mr. Houlin Zhao; Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Communications, Mrs. Nkechi Ejele and Chairman, NCC Board of Commissioners, Senator Olabiyi Durojaiye, at the ITU Telecom World 2018 in Durban, South Africa... recently

Govt Urged to Revamp National Theatre to Boost Tourism The Managing Director of Jumia’s hotel and flight booking services, Omolara Adagunodo has urged the federal government to redirect its attention to revamping one of Nigeria’s oldest tourism products, the National Theatre, adding that it will yield massive revenue for the tourism sector.

Adagunodo, made the call recently in Lagos while speaking to some stakeholders within the industry at an event organised by tourism enthusiasts in the country.

She cited the continuous progress and revenue generated by privately managed theatres like the MUSON centre and Terra Kulture as proof that if the government should consider restoring the theatre to its former glory, it will produce a lot of investment returns.

According to her, “We have witnessed in the last couple of months tons of activities happening at the MUSON centre and Terrakulture in Lagos such as concerts, stage plays, and many more. These activities

are consequently raising a huge amount of revenue for the owners.

“Aside from the revenue generation, lots of Nigerians have become employed through these theatres. These sufficiently prove that our government needs to redirect its attention to revamping and resuscitating our national theatre as this will undoubtedly generate tons of revenue for the tourism sector.”

The call came months after Adagunodo had urged the federal government to lever-

age the synergy between the entertainment and hospitality sector to boost revenue for the economy.

The National Theatre which was established in 1976 to promote arts and culture in the country is currently in dire need of attention as it lies dormant.

“The government is losing millions of naira by neglecting this unique masterpiece. This is not good for the country because the theatre alone can generate thousands of jobs for

Nigerians as well as serve as a source of revenue for the economy,” she added.

Adagunodo urged the government to provide funds to, first of all fix the theatre, adding that “If the facilities can be fixed, the National Theatre will become a strong competitor to the likes of Terra Kulture and Jazzhole, and the theatre will become the destination of choice for Lagosians.” This will in turn enable the government to earn revenue from the theatre, she said.

Group Business Editor

Obinna Chima

Capital Market Editor

Goddy Egene

AgriBusiness/Industry Editor

Facebook Partners Firm on Accelerator Programme

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) Ebere Nworji (Insurance) Reporters

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

As part of its commitment to empower students and entrepreneurs in building solutions using technology, Facebook, in partnership with Co-Creation Hub (CCHub), has launched the start of FbStart Accelerator programme in Nigeria.

Made up of 11 students and five start-up teams, the six-month bootcamp aims to aid innovative and visionary teams in creating solutions with advanced technologies.

The research and mentorshipdriven accelerator programme will provide the teams with access to product and industry experts to gain valuable insight, as well as deeper knowledge in how to optimize value driven products, and solutions which leverage Artificial Intelligence (AI), Data Science, Internet of Things (IoT), Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR).

The FbStart Accelerator

Programme, announced earlier this year during the opening of Facebook’s first hub space on the continent, NG_Hub, would be the focal point for the bootcamp.

Designed specifically for two categories of participants - students and start-ups - the student teams would be provided with equity free funding of between $5,000 and $15,000, while having the option to work virtually to transform

their ideas or research into working prototypes.

Start-up teams would be provided with $20,000 in equity free funding and like student teams will have access to technical and business mentors from the Facebook and the CCHUB network as well as free working space at NG_Hub. Commenting on the start of the FbStart Accelerator programme, Developer Programmes Manager at Facebook,

Emeka Afigbo, said: “We believe technology provides expansive opportunities to engage young, creative Nigerians, the use of cutting edge technologies as a basis show that Africans can leverage these technologies to build solutions that are both locally and globally relevant.

I am excited to see how these teams will develop and learn throughout their time with us, and ultimately what the will build and create.”

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Bridging Africa’s Digital Divide The need to bridge Africa’s digital divide was the focus of global technology leaders at this year’s International Telecommunication Union Telecoms World conference in Durban, South Africa, writes Emma Okonji Organised annually by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), which is the United Nations specialised agency for information and communication technologies (ICTs), this year’s ITU Telecom World event, sought to bridge Africa’s digital divide, using the ITU ‘4 I’s’ initiative, namely Infrastructure, Investment, Innovation and Inclusivity.

The four days conference, which held at the International Conference Centre (ICC) in Durban, South Africa, brought together an influential audience of key policy-makers, regulators, industry experts, investors, small and medium size enterprises (SMEs), entrepreneurs and innovators, to discuss and proffer solutions on how best to bridge the Africa’s digital divide.

The conference provided a unique global platform for developed and emerging markets to focus on smart digital transformation and the global opportunities this offers for Africa, while considering critical factors like infrastructure, investment, innovation and inclusivity.

Bridging the digital divide Global technology leaders were particular about bringing the digital divide and offering opportunities for Africans to catch up with the rest of the world in technology development. The forum stressed the need for African governments to key into ITU’s initiative for Africa, which emphasised infrastructure, investment, innovation and inclusivity.

The forum insisted that African government must build modern infrastructure, invest in evolving technologies, support innovation from technology startups and ensure all inclusive connectivity of its citizens.

ITU Secretary-General, Mr. Houlin Zhao, who spoke during the opening ceremony of the conference, said the ITU “4 I’s” initiative were all critical to bridging the digital divide and achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

According to Zhao, ITU Telecom World 2018 remained a platform for everyone to forge new ICT partnerships and create new ICT business opportunities.

He called on Africans to use ITU Telecom World 2018 for smart digital development and to work together to ensure a smart and inclusive digital future for all - in South Africa, the African continent, and the rest of the world.

According to him, “ITU Telecom World 2018 is the last major ITU gathering before we meet at the Plenipotentiary in Dubai next month.

It is an opportunity for African countries to make their voice count and play an important role in shaping the environment that will lead the development of digital technology into the next decade. It will further strengthen ITU’s mission to develop ICT and engage with SMEs across the globe.”

He urged all young entrepreneurs to use technology tools to develop technology solutions that would address specific challenges in Africa and the rest of the world.

“All the young entrepreneurs are the hope of a nation, an entire continent, and our world.

ITU Telecom World 2018 is your opportunity to show the world what African tech SMEs can do to help create jobs, transform people’s lives, and achieve the Sustainable Development Goals right here in Africa,” Zhao said.

Driving investment with ICT South African President, Cyril Ramaphosa, in his speech, stressed the need for African governments to drive investments, using information and communication technology (ICT). He said: “We are determined that the ICT sector be an integral part of this investment drive, with a focus on infrastructure investment, e-commerce, local manufacturing of equipment, and innovation.”

South Africa, he said, demonstrated its capabilities in the development and deployment of information and communications technology.

“We are certain that Telecom World 2018

Nigeria pavilion at the ongoing ITU World Conference in Durban, South Africa

will produce innovative solutions to societal challenges and establish a platform for greater inclusive growth, the South African president said.

The Group CEO of MTN, Rob Shuter, who commended South African government for hosting the conference for the first time in the continent, said MTN would continue to partner African governments to drive the fourth industrial revolution in Africa, which is basically about knowledge economy.

“We are excited about the engagements taking place between governments, industry experts and other representatives from around the world; on the victories and challenges of the ICT sector. MTN’s theme for this conference is “anything is possible when we are connected.

This stems from our company’s core belief that everyone deserves the benefits of a modern, connected life,” Shuter said.

Shaping Africa’s digital revolution Speaking on the need to address Africa’s digital revolution, Ramaphosa said African countries were at the dawn of a digital revolution that would reshape the way we work, they way we live and the way we relate to each other.

According to him, technological change is proceeding at a pace far greater than anything humanity has experienced before. It is through forums like this that we are able not only to anticipate technological change, but also to harness it for the advancement of humanity.

It is through bodies like the International Telecommunication Union that we craft a digital agenda for inclusivity, sustainability and development.

“We have the means and the responsibility to direct the evolution of information and communications technology towards the achievement of a better life for all the peoples of the world,” Ramaphosa said.

“It is our task to ensure that the 4th Industrial Revolution improves the human condition and that no one is left behind. It is our task to ensure that this digital revolution responds to the needs of the developing world. It must assist in overcoming unemployment, not exacerbate it, and it must bridge the digital divide, not widen it. It must employ the latest in communications technology and data analytics to solve some of the world’s greatest development challenges. The decisions

we make now, as individual countries and as a global collective, will determine whether the 4th Industrial Revolution is the opportunity that so many people anticipate or the threat that so many people fear, he added.

Government’s role in digital innovation As economies become increasingly dependent on information and communication technology, it is critical that governments, especially African governments, work more closely with industry to maximise the value of digital innovations.

The South African president called on governments and industry players to develop effective collaborative relationships with the communities they are both expected to serve.

“It is such relationships that are required, for example, for the accelerated rollout of broadband in areas that are generally seen as not being economically viable,” Ramaphosa said, adding that there are currently 20 million South Africans who do not use the internet, for a range of reasons such as unaffordable data prices, lack of internet-enabled devices and lack of access.

He said the South African government has recently decided to accelerate the licensing of the radio frequency spectrum in the 2.6Ghz, 700Mhz and 800Mhz bands to hasten the growth of mobile communications.

“We have finalised consultations with the telecommunications industry and other stakeholders to ensure allocation of spectrum reduces barriers to entry, promotes competition and reduces costs to consumers. In addition, government has begun work in preparation for 5G spectrum licensing as part of efforts to build a smarter digital economy,” Ramaphosa said.

“Earlier this year, we announced plans to establish a Digital Industrial Revolution Commission to ensure we are in a position to seize the opportunities of the rapid advances in information and communication technology, “he added, while revealing that the South Africa government recently embarked on an investment drive to attract $100 billion in new investment in the country over the next five years.

New initiatives New initiatives were launched at the ITU Telecoms World conference to bridge the

gender digital divide in Africa and to equip girls and young women with digital skills that are key to achieving gender equality and women’s empowerment ITU and UN Women, launched the initiative in collaboration with the African Union Commission. One of the initiatives known as The African Girls Can CODE Initiative (AGCCI), is a four-year progamme that aims to train and empower girls and young women aged 17 to 20 years old across Africa to become computer programmers, creators and designers – and in so doing, enable more girls and young women to take up studies and careers in the information and communication technology (ICT) sector.

The initiative plans to encourage African countries to mainstream ICT studies, including coding, into their national curricula to provide girls and young women with more opportunities to learn digital skills; establish a network of women in ICT who will act as role-models; and create an online community platform through which girls can connect and share their coding experiences.

According to ITU Zhao, “ITU is delighted to be part of the African Girls Can CODE Initiative, which builds on our ongoing efforts to bridge the gender digital divide in Africa and around the world. It is essential that girls and young women are equipped with digital skills so that they can access employment opportunities in our increasingly digital world.”

“It is important to increase the number of girls and women who are participating in today’s technology led world,” said UN Women Executive Director Dr. Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka. According Mlambo-Ngcuka, “Empowering girls with digital skills will be key to solving some of the big challenges the world faces in the 21st century, attain sustainable development and make the world a better place to live in.”

ITU Telecommunication Development Bureau Director, Brahima Sanou, said: “By teaching coding and other digital skills, this initiative is not only an opportunity that could help reduce youth unemployment but it is also a means towards achieving gender equality, women’s empowerment and accelerating the attainment of the Sustainable Development Goals.”

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Adinde: African Govts Must Enact Policies for ICT Skills Funding The Administrator, Digital Bridge Institute, the human capital development arm of the Nigerian Communications Commission, Dr. Ikechukwu Adinde, in this interview speaks on the need for governments in Africa to formulate policies that will support capacity building in information communication technology. Emma Okonji brings the excerpts: today SystemSpecs has over 5,000 employees and then you can just imagine that we have a lot more of such companies springing up from all over the country. We talk of online businesses like Konga and Jumia, you need to know the number of employees working with these companies both from the backend, front-end, online and offline, they are doing quite a lot. My message to President Buhari is that he should make robust ICT financing for skills development a choice, not an option.

Where will you place Nigeria in ICT skills development, when compared with other African countries?

From the various sessions that we had during this event, it is clear that Nigeria is not doing badly in terms of such comparisons. I think Nigeria is doing quite well. Currently there are about 103 ICT hubs in Africa and out of this number, Nigeria hosts about 30 of them which is up to 30 per cent of that number. In terms of ICT skills, academic and professional certifications, Nigeria is doing quite well. As a matter of fact, from the analytics that we have, many young Nigerians are getting opportunities, not just in Nigeria but outside the country because they are getting jobs with Google, Facebook and quite a number of other companies and they are moving out of the shores of this country. This is an indication that the more of these talents we can develop here, the more we will be able to export them not just to Europe and America but also within the African continent and Nigeria can become a hub for ICT talents for the entire African continent. We have the population and the vibrancy of the youths who are looking for opportunities to build their skills and knowledge in the ICT sphere.

What are your views on the need for sub-regional integration for ICT skills development?

I think that was an important discussion to have. I think there is an important framework within which the African governments can pursue ICT skills development at a continental level. Take for instance, New Partnership for Africa Development (NEPAD), that can become the platform and then make ICT a critical agenda in their programme of work.

Last year, for example, we participated in a bid for an ICT empowerment programme, which NEPAD is pushing through the German government that is funding the programme.

African governments should be able to put in more effort at making sure that NEPAD can push through their agenda for ICT skills development and make this a Pan-African programme not just for a particular country but one that will affect the entire Africa.

The reality of the modern economy is that it is a digital economy driven by knowledge in the ICT sphere. Like the Executive Vice Chairman of NCC referred to the 4th Industrial Revolution, if Africa does not prepare for it, just like the 1st, 2nd and 3rd revolution eluded us, the fourth will also elude us. We have a great opportunity, building on the skills of our young people to mainstream into the fourth revolution which is essentially knowledge-based economy that is digitally oriented. The reason is that Africa has very young and dynamic individuals across all sectors such as agriculture, health, manufacturing, among others, and without ICT we will not be able to harness the opportunities that abound in Africa. African leaders must make it a policy to finance ICT skills development of the teeming youths. It must not be an option.

Many of our young graduates today are looking for opportunities and the opportunities lie in the ICT sector. With ICT you can solve a lot of problems in health, education, transportation, among others. The more skills these people have in ICT the more they are able to engage more creatively, and innovation will happen much faster.

What is your take on the Advanced Digital Awareness Programme for Tertiary Institutions (ADAPTI) ?

The ADAPTI happens to be a clear shining example of what government intervention can do in building ICT skills. I make bold to say anytime I have the opportunity that no capacity building institution in the world

The Digital Bridge Institute (DBI) recently hosted this year’s International Telecommunications Union (ITU) annual regional human capacity building workshop in Abuja.

What were the key decisions taken at the workshop?

The workshop was a three-day workshop hosted

by Digital Bridge Institute, which is the training arm of NCC, and the focus was on how to strengthen capacity on internet governance in Africa, and the need to support the growth of digital literacy across African countries in the 21st century. Key decisions were taken at the workshop, among which was the need for African governments to make information and communications technology (ICT) skills funding as a policy, and not as an option. It was resolved that policy makers and governments in Africa must launch aggressive intervention into the ICT industry by investing in skills development to stimulate economic growth and tame the rising tide of youth joblessness and associated insecurity in the region.

The delegates at the regional workshop argued that if Africa wants to transform and become a global player, it must transform its human capital.

Adinde

can survive with tuition fees alone because education is expensive but critical to national development; both at the formal and informal levels. The only way it can happen and happen sustainably is that there has to be some form of intervention from government and other stakeholders.

ADAPTI is a shining example of what that kind of intervention from government can do. The NCC has supported ADAPTI from its inception and so today the universities are

African governments should be able to put in more effort at making sure that NEPAD can push through their agenda for ICT skills development and make this a PanAfrican programme not just for a particular country but one that will affect the entire Africa

enjoying our capacity building opportunities because there is funding coming from the NCC via the ADAPTI programme to the universities.

As we speak ADAPTI has accounted for the training of over 50,000 Nigerian lecturers and non- lecturers across all tertiary institutions. It is an excellent example of what government intervention can do. This year we have extended the programme with the gracious approval of NCC to secondary schools, so we now have a second component of another version of ADAPTI which we call Digital Awareness Programme(DAP) which is an appreciation programme for secondary schools and this year we are targeting over 2000 primary and secondary school teachers.

This just goes to show that a lot can be achieved when there is intervention or funding for capacity building. Capacity building should not be an option; it is a choice that government and organisations just have to make because the more knowledgeable and more skilled your employees are, the better their performance and productivity at work, and the better they are able to contribute to organisational objectives and goals.

What is your advice for Muhammadu Buhari’s led government on ICT development in Nigeria?

A lot is being done already but I think a lot more can still be done. My candid advice is that ICT is the pathway to Nigeria’s future and to Nigeria’s greatness and it should not be compromised on the basis of anything.

There should be more investments in the sector because we have young people who have demonstrated that with ICT Nigeria can go a long way and increasingly we are seeing businesses emerging from the ICT sector. Take SystemSpecs, one of Nigeria’s FinTech player for example, and look at the great impact it has created in the Nigerian economy with its local software called Remita. This is just a bird’s eye view of what ICT can do and

How will you rate the regional ITU capacity building workshop?

I can tell you without sounding immodest that DBI’s performance in terms of hosting this workshop can be qualified as excellent, because for the first time we have been able to host an international event at top level and we hosted it successfully. The ITU delegates even acknowledged that this is one sterling performance from the institute, both in terms of organisation, administration and processes that we put in place for reception of delegates, workshop proceedings and the plenaries. As a matter of fact, everything about the workshop was acclaimed to be an excellent experience for the participants.

You said it was the first time for DBI to host regional ITU capacity building workshop.

What could be the implication of hosting the workshop for Nigeria?

It has several implications for Nigeria. We have been able to signpost that Nigeria is a destination for international events. The NCC, which is our parent institution, has always hosted events but not DBI. But this time we are confirming that indeed Nigeria is a place where you can hold international events successfully because the delegates came from different countries in Africa and they had a very exciting four days experience in Abuja, as part of the three days workshop.

The event was very successful, there were no incidents, and the hospitality experience was rated as excellent.

I think for Nigeria, when we are talking about rebranding the country and brandishing the image of the country as a place where people can come and do business, this is one avenue that DBI has been able to say that we are a good country and people can come here as an investor or visitor on holiday and spend time. The event had participants from over 37 countries in Africa and beyond and from ITU’s record that was the best they have had in recent time.

T H I S D AY •THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 13, 2018

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BUSINESSWORLD Firm Launches Security Solutions ESET, one of the major players in cybersecurity research and a top European Union-based endpoint security company, has announced the launch of its new line of enterprise security solutions designed to provide the global enterprise sector with tools for prevention and management of cyber risks on a global scale.

ESET with offices in West Africa, is raising its game with the introduction of ESET Dynamic Threat Defense, an off-premise cloud sandboxing solution providing almost instant analysis of zero-day and ransomware threats before they reach the network.

As recently reported by Forrester1, buyers want an “endpoint security suite that consolidates capabilities and minimizes complexity when possible.” ESET’s new line of cybersecurity solutions meets this demand and offers something extra. The new line of enterprise security solutions also welcomes the brand-new ESET Security Management Centre, a revamp of the renowned online console ESET Remote Administrator.

The online console provides not only complete network visibility and full security management via one single pane of glass, but also fully customisable reporting and single-click threat remediation, adding important complexityminimizing elements to the whole suite.

The Chief Technology Officer at ESET, Juraj Malcho, said: “We understand global enterprise increasingly requires

E-BUSINESS Enterprise Glo to Foster Digital Opportunities for Women

cybersecurity solutions that are more tailored to their specific needs, because we cooperate with a large number of them at the country level. “Get your hands on our latest offering and you will see how easily manageable an enterprise security solution can be.” The ESET endpoint protection solutions offer enterprises increased visibility of the alerts being sent to ESET LiveGrid – a platform made up of 110 million sensors worldwide and verified by ESET research and development centres. This allows customers to have the highest level of confidence when viewing data and reports within their consoles. ESET’s new enterprise products and services are designed to be seamlessly deployed in parallel with the existing ESET enterprise offer.

Speaking during the unveiling of the products in Lagos, the ESET’s Country Manager, Mr. Olufemi Ake, further explained that the West African market now have access to upgrade or subscribe to the newly launched enterprise products and services.

He said: “These powerful new tools which fit into the Gartner CARTA framework helps organisations to prevent, detect, predict and resolve all forms of known and unknown threats.

“This is based on our multi-layered technology with metadata from each of these layers processed to our ESET LiveGrid® cloud systems, providing further intelligence to our machine learning algorithms.

Emma Okonji Globacom has restated its commitment to creating more digital opportunities for women in Nigeria.

The telecommunications giants stated this when it led several organisations in the Nigerian IT public and private sector to pledge continuous support for women’s digital inclusion and economic empowerment.

The Head, Customer Care Call, Globacom, Mrs. Kemi Fadipe, gave the pledge on behalf of the telecoms company at Nigeria Women Digital Agenda Summit and

Awards (NWDA) held in Lagos recently.

Fadipe stated that in a bid to give women more active roles and opportunities in the Nigerian digital ecosystem, “Globacom since inception has demonstrated its commitment to women’s empowerment in concrete terms, by opening up access to telecommunication services, making them affordable to all classes of Nigerians, including women, and promoting gender equality and fair access to ICT in Nigeria.”

According to her, it has been proven that there is a positive correlation between

access to ICT and economic growth and development.

She revealed that “GLO has been providing technical support and solutions to many female entrepreneurs, which has empowered them to compete favourably and advance in their fields of endeavour.”

Also speaking at the event, the Founder, Women Arise for Change Initiative, Dr Joe Okei-Odumakin, explained that social media had become a veritable tool for championing the cause of human rights as well as social enterprise, given it has afforded many hitherto unknown cases of

abuse, and given a voice to many, especially women under abuse.

The human rights activist stated that “Justice has been brought to many abused women through the exposure that social media brings.

We have also succeeded in preventing the loss of life of several women who have been subjected to extreme abuse, while also ensuring justice for those who lost their lives.”

Okei-Odumakin therefore challenged women to deploy the cyberspace as a means of adding value to themselves, personal development, as well as enterprise development.

INFRASTRUCTURAL DEVELOPMENT Airtel Reaffirms Commitment to TOWARDS L-R: Key User Manager, Robert Bosch Power Tools Nigeria, Olalekan Oyebode; Sales Executive, Roots Equipment Nigeria, Ayo Olatunji; Area Sales Manager Bosch Power Tools Nigeria, Ojomu Seyifunmi; Retail Marketing Manager, Ajayi Samson and Senior Business Corporate Philanthropy Developer Accessories Nigeria, Fakoyede Omotayo, at the newly opened Bosch Solution Center located at the inauguration of Bosch Nosa Alekhuogie Airtel Nigeria has said it will continue to promote corporate philanthropy in line with its vision of empowering and assisting underprivileged Nigerians.

Speaking at the media viewing of Episode 12 of its Airtel Touching Lives Season 4, the company’s Director of Corporate Communications and CSR, Emeka Oparah, said it was part of the telecom company’s strategy to continue to give back to the communities where it operates and also encourage other corporate organisations and individuals to adopt the spirit of giving.

According to Oparah, “Airtel Touching lives is part of our strategy as a business and we have been at it for four years counting.

“We are proud to say we have done a bit to be able to tackle some challenges in various sectors like health, education, shelter among others. Also, we have been able to build bridges, roads and supply water to various communities across Nigeria.

“We believe for you to operate in any environment, you must earn a social license and for us, giving back just took a little twist. We thought to make it different by pulling this together as a bunch of initiative spread across Nigeria.”

Solution Center at Lekki Free Trade Zone, Lagos...recently

Oparah further said: “You and I know that the government cannot provide all the basic needs, so as a socially responsible organisation, we elected to try and do this and in the past four years, and I am proud to say we have done a bit of our own to help out.

“This initiative is across the country and it’s our way of giving back to the society.

These stories are documented and shown to people. What we do is not to look good on TV but to inspire other people to contribute their own quota.”

According to him “There are so many people out there who are suffering, and we try to mitigate this; but how many can we do? That is why we showcase this so that people can key into it and be spurred to lend helping hands to the needy.”

He also hinted that the company would not rest on its laurels in terms of creating positive impact, noting that plans are in top gear to roll out a much more robust Touching Lives Season 5.

At the media viewing, the Episode 12 of Touching Lives Season 4 was shown and it featured the story of Joy Musa who lost her husband, four children and her brother in a 2013 insurgent attack on Dogo Nahawa in Jos, Plateau State, and how Airtel came to the rescue of the forlorn widow.

Mobile App Unveiled HABO Global Limited, a sanitary product producer based in Lagos, has unveiled a mobile app designed to bring the company products especially sanitary pads to their customers and also reduce the possibility of buying counterfeit.

The launch of the app was in line with technology evolution, which has helped people and businesses get things done with ease. With the coming of smartphones in the Nigerian market, businesses have keyed into mobile applications development and electronic payment platforms to deliver top notch services at cost effective ways to their customers prospects.

Speaking on the need to deploy a mobile app to the market, the General Manager of HABO Global Limited, Nkiruka Igbokwe, said: “With the quality of HABO products in the market and considering the importance of their products to women’s health, we decided to deploy this mobile app, the mobile app would enable women and those that are interested in our products to have access to original product and also reduce the stress of searching on where to get these prod-

ucts. We designed the app to incorporate electronic payment and logistics. This we hope to make the use and access of HABO products exciting and refreshing.”

Speaking on the security and development of the mobile app, the Chief Executive Officer, Mira Technologies Limited, Ifeanyi Ifeabunike, said: “We brought the global best practices to the fore in the deployment of this app. We have taken into the consideration the need for customers to have their data protected by working with Interswitch, a reputable payment gateway and Guaranty Bank Plc to ensure that Nigerians have the most secured mobile app.”

“We also integrated email authentication and notification to ensure that security is taken a step further. The mobile app can be downloaded via Google Play store,” he added.

In line with corporate social responsibility and digitisation policy of the company, HABO Global has decided to give back to women by encouraging them to download the app and stand the chance to win mouth-watering prizes that would enable them start up their businesses.

iSON Technologies, Staxx Solutions Partner on Cyber Security iSON Technologies, one of the leading technology services providers in Africa has announced a strategic partnership with Staxx Solutions, a technology solutions provider with strong focus on mobile security.

The partnership was aimed at providing customers with the best of breed in mobile device cyber security solutions.

The new partnership would serve 29 countries across Middle East and Africa and will augment both companies’ efforts to help businesses detect and block the growing number of cyber-attacks on mobile devices, while managing their communications. The selected regions are most vulnerable to cyberattacks and through the partnership, iSON Technologies and Staxx Solutions have demonstrated a strong awareness of the environment for which they intend to dominate.

Speaking on the partnership, the Chief Growth Officer, iSON Technologies, Akshay Grover, said: “Our mission to always provide solutions to mobile analytical issues remains unchanged, and this is a step in the right direction to ensuring that our clients experience

maximum safety while using their mobile devices.

“Our portfolio provides security solutions to help organisations holistically protect their people, infrastructures, data and applications; offers solutions for network and infrastructure security, advanced threat protection for modern day threats, application security through its complete lifecycle, data-centric security, identity and access management,” he reiterated. The Chief Executive Officer of Staxx Solutions, Shuaib Mahmud, said: “Staxx seeks to provide the best of breed Mobile Cyber Security solutions to the markets we serve enabling businesses to protect their mobile enterprise.

“Partnering with world class leaders like iSON allows us to reach a much broader market segment.

“With Africa and the Middle East experiencing some of the highest growth and adoption rates of Mobile technology, there could be no better place to launch than a region rich with incredible business opportunities and a partner that offers the breadth of coverage like iSON.”

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CWG Seals Deal with Financial Institutions Emma Okonji The Automated Teller Machine (ATM) as a service concept, initiated about two years ago

by CWG Plc is gradually gaining traction, as the company has signed supply deals with three financial institutions in Nigeria.

According to CWG, these deals with the undisclosed financial institutions were testament to the soundness of the concepts model and how it fits well into the innovativeness required to support banks in boosting the competitiveness for customer satisfaction with banking operations in Nigeria with respect to ATM services.

CWG’s Product Manager, ATM/POS, Adeshile Adekanbi, who made the disclosure, said: “The gradual acceptance of the ATM as a Service (AaaS) concept is backed up with signed deals

between the company and three financial institutions in Nigeria; one of the tier 1 banks, a commercial banks and microfinance bank in the country.

“The concept is sure to be adopted by more financial institutions as the platform has embedded more innovations.”

According to Adekanbi, with every innovation out of the stables of CWG Plc, AaaS was initiated with the aim of allowing banks focus on their core competencies whilst allowing technology platform providers such as CWG drive their ATM Businesses.

Technology Platform provider, CWG, will thus provide a specified set of infrastructures and aligned responsibilities to drive efficiency of operations, whilst the banks responsibilities will also be as aligned with their capabilities and competencies.

Adekanbi further explained

that CWG added innovativeness for improved revenue generation and have set a model that would in effect support the strategy of the Central Bank of Nigeria in closing the gap on financial inclusion by 2020. “The valueadded services integrated into the AaaS platforms is sure to drive usage and overall satisfaction to all concerned stakeholders” Adekanbi said.

Responding to queries about the possible deviation of the ATM as a Service initiative from the company’s normal ATM support business, where it presently supports 30 per cent of ATM base in Nigeria; Adekanbi said regular ATM business remained a foundation on which the ATM as a Service concept is riding and it does not take away from the other, but gives room for more business opportunities depending on the capacity of its banking clients.

MTN Foundation Set to Award Scholarship to 1,164 Students Amby Uneze in Owerri The MTN Foundation, a nongovernmental organisation (NGO), is set to award its annual scholarship this year to a total of 1,164 students.

This comprised 1,068 science and technology students and 96 blind students.

The Executive Secretary of the MTN, Nonny Ugboma, said the award which would take place in Lagos and Imo States later this month, entails N200,000 for each scholarship which he said covers tuition, book allowance and stipend for each academic year.

Ugboma, disclosed this at the award ceremony and scholarship Alumni induction of the organisation held in Owerri.

Represented by an official of the organisation Abasi-Ebong Udobang, Ugboma, said the scholarship would be renewed

annually subject to the maintenance of the required grades by the beneficiaries.

She explained that the Foundation Alumni programme was designed to provide access to new ideas and information that could assist the students in their respective careers.

Speaking, the Director of the Foundation, Dennis Okoro noted that over the years, millions of Nigerians had trusted MTN with the task of providing the communications services to them.

“Through the MTN foundation numerous resources and energy had been invested into communities with the goal of building better relationships, working together to build a brighter future for all,” Okoro said.

While congratulating the new and existing students as they become students under

the Foundation’s science and technology scholarship scheme and the MTN scholarship scheme for blind students, he urged them to utilise the opportunity, assuring that after graduation, MTN would be there to strengthen her already existing relationship by welcoming them into the MTN scholars Alumni.

The Vice Chancellor of the Federal University of Technology Owerri (FUTO), Professor Francis Chukwuemeka Eze, who declared the ceremony open through the Vice Chancellor (Administration) Prof. Julius Sunday Orebiyi, commended the organisation for giving a total of 8,454 scholarships valued approximately to N1,6 billion to 3,114 students in the country despite the global socio-economic political dislocation.

ITC to Scale Up Trade Through Innovation, Others The 18th World Export Development Forum (WEDF) was opened on Tuesday by Zambian Vice President Inonge Wina; Minister of Commerce, Trade and Industry, Christopher Yaluma, and Arancha González, Executive Director of the International Trade Centre.

More than 1,400 delegates from more than 70 countries are attending the two-day event in Lusaka, Zambia.

Hosted by the International Trade Centre (ITC) and Zambia’s Ministry of Commerce, Trade and Industry, participants would be exploring how trade can work for the 99 per cent and be made more inclusive, especially for youth and women. This would all be discussed under the theme ‘Scaling Up Through Trade: Skill, Innovate, Connect’.

Opening the event, Wina said: ‘In Zambia, we are stepping up our efforts to strengthen the capacities of our micro, small and medium-sized enterprises, and anchor them

to multinationals, which will help increase exports and job creation, and ensure more sustainable growth.

“WEDF18 provides an opportunity to discuss challenges shared by other countries, share best practices and learn from one another.’ In her opening remarks, González pointed out that the WEDF was an arena where trade policy concerns meet business practice.

It is a conversation about what is working – and what needs to be improved – to make international markets work better for MSMEs and sustainable development.

Pointing to Africa’s untapped potential, González said: “Continent-wide economic integration will create a larger market than that available in individual African countries or regions. “For African businesses, this promises in turn to enable the productivity gains that come with increased scale and specialisation. For African consumers, it promises wider

choices and better prices.

“The evidence suggests that when African countries trade with each other, the goods they exchange are more sophisticated than those they export to the rest of the world,” she said.

González said that as others seek to retreat from international cooperation, African governments are moving forward. ‘African countries have recognised the opportunities offered by open trade exceed the downsides,’ she said.

Yaluma pointed to the need to empower Zambia’s women in trade.

“We are determined to protect and promote Zambia’s women entrepreneurs and can play a greater role in our country’s exports,” he said.

During the two-day event, business leaders, policymakers and youth from around the world will explore a range of trade-related issues, including agribusiness, investment and the African Continental Free Trade Area.

FROM THE FARM

DIMIEARI VON KEMEDI

Embracing AI: How Intelligence in Rural Africa Can Lead Growth

I

n the most technologically advanced countries, there is an ongoing debate about the impact of artificial intelligence (AI) on jobs and life in general.

AI is already contributing to GDP growth and a host of socio-economic benefits. The recent complete mapping of the wheat genome to prepare for higher temperatures in the northern hemisphere is just one example that also provides important opportunities for African countries. But there is also a fear that AI will replace the need for human workers across vast swathes of industry.

And yet technology keeps on advancing – and those who fear AI are getting left behind while those who embrace and deploy it ethically make advances.

For the most part, in Africa, the AI we need to master is not artificial. It’s Agricultural.

What is Agricultural Intelligence? The Ancient Egyptians knew. Animal traction in farming was used there more than 2,000 years ago. Yet, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization, more than 94% of African farmers would consider animal traction as an advance in land tilling.

Ancient Egyptian priests deployed a secret instrument known as the Nilometer to help divine interpretations on whether the Nile would emit too little water, causing famine, or too much, causing catastrophic flooding, according to John Lanchester’s How to Speak Money. For many in modern Nigeria, such tools would represent an advance. Weather, climate and harvest information is seldom applied to plan farming. Our use of fertilizers is abysmally low. Those that do use fertilizer too often fail to implement the necessary soil tests.

Many farmers do not use crop care products.

While the developed world grapples with the implications of their version of AI on human employment, our own Agricultural Intelligence will surely also replace many farm labourers – but that’s a good thing. The fewer people involved in agriculture, the more productive a country becomes in both per capita and overall numbers.

More than 80% of the populations of Burundi, Chad, Somalia, Central Africa Republic, Malawi, Eritrea, Guinea Bissau and the DRC are employed in agriculture, according to the World Bank, yet most of these countries import food from places where less than 10% of people are involved in food production.

With 91% of people employed by farming, Burundi produces just $202 of agricultural produce per capita. Slovenia with less than 5% employed in farming produces $239,000 per capita. In Nigeria, where a little over a third of us are employed in agriculture, our output is a mere $8,906.

In Nigeria, as across most of Africa, too many people are involved in producing too little.

Rather than viewing agriculture as a low skill source of employment for all, we must embrace technology and innovation in the complex business of farming. With fewer farmers but Agricultural Intelligence on their side, we will deliver quantum productivity in numbers and quality and spur the creation of jobs elsewhere within our economy. Countries with higher levels of productivity deploy technology ranging from mechanization and irrigation to use of weather and soil analysis, fertilizer, improved seeds, and farm management software.

Progressively improving our use of technology helps to attract investment in climate resilience, for example, guided by a clear focus on the long term. Freeing up farmers to instead engage more productively in diverse areas helps our economy.

So, how do we get there?

Land is the first factor of agricultural production, and this must be cleared and developed with irrigation, and the land prepared with techniques that prevent soil degradation. Most agricultural land in Nigeria is not properly cleared and there is little financing available for land clearance. We must understand the soil and use this understanding to determine what the earth needs to support crops that are suited to the land.

We must understand our crops better, and how to take care of them; and we must realise all of the complex relationships that need to be managed with the right tools to get the right results on the field and in the market place.

With fewer farmers producing more, farm businesses will attract more technologically savvy entrepreneurs who will create more jobs and commit more funds to the innovation that will in turn spur even greater productivity.

Research and development will thrive, and their outcomes will nurture expanding farm businesses.

Higher incomes from the farms will support the diversification of our economy and provide jobs and revenues in light manufacturing (and eventually more complex industries), health care, energy, technology and wide-ranging disciplines as people specialize, get better at what they do and become globally competitive.

With fewer farmers but Agricultural Intelligence on their side, we will deliver quantum productivity in numbers and quality and spur the creation of jobs elsewhere within our economy.

Countries with higher levels of productivity deploy technology ranging from mechanization and irrigation to use of weather and soil analysis, fertilizer, improved seeds, and farm management software.

Dimieari Von Kemedi works with smallholders (kemedi@alluvialtrade.com)

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CONSUMER

CSR as Tool for Capacity Development Raheem Akingbolu writes on the need for stakeholders to promote corporate social responsibility activities that will enhance human capital development Beyond swaying consumers’ perception to generate more values for their brands, today’s companies are going back to the basics of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR).

On both local and global landscapes, CSR is being touted as a major index to measure business growth. As a result of this, any company that is worth its salt always want to be seen to be doing something along this line.

Besides, the belief that CSR is 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.

This notwithstanding, companies often face challenges of identifying the projects that would help them deliver on the basic essence of CSR. In recent time, some top corporate entities in the Nigerian market are believed to have invested in sustainable CSR activities while some are not appeared to be getting it right.

For instance, to commemorate the 2018 Children’s Day celebration, Unilever Nigeria had organised a special event to celebrate children in Makoko community, Lagos.

The InterswitchSPAK Example Early this year, Interswitch, an integrated digital payments and commerce company, took a move towards supporting the resuscitation of Nigeria’s education system by introducing a scheme tagged ‘SPAK Initiative for STEM Grooming’.

A national science competition, SPAK according to the company was put together to re-ignite the importance STEM subjects for Nigerian youths.

SPAK; an acronym for Speed, Precision, Accuracy and Knowledge, revolves around key value areas necessary for a progressive future in today’s knowledge-based society.

STEM - which stands for Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics - education has suffered massive decline in Nigeria, leaving our youths poorly equipped for the future tasks necessary for self fulfillment and nation building.

With the goal of encouraging theoretical learning of STEM subjects, rewarding excellence and providing opportunities for developing innovative solutions for societal problems, the competition was therefore opened to students in year 11 and all schools nationwide were encouraged to register their best students in STEM subjects.

Chief Marketing Officer, Interswitch, Cherry Eromosele had stated that SPAK as the company has termed it was a distinctive concept under the Interswitch “Switch A Future” initiative. He described it as a mix of education, technology and entertainment which aligned with Interswitch’s fundamental values of excellence and innovation. He added that the initiative was designed to identify, promote and spark the right support and reward for STEM students and stakeholders.

He said, “For our youth to succeed in today’s knowledge-based economy; they need to acquire the right skill set, their minds need to be re-engineered and reconciled with STEM education in order to compete in or create a job market.”

It was revealed that the top two students would be awarded a 5-year scholarship, a mac laptop and gold trophy; and a 3-year scholarship, a laptop and a silver trophy accordingly while the third would also receive scholarship, a laptop, and a bronze trophy.

“In addition to these, all three winners were then guaranteed immediate employment at Interswitch upon graduation.”

Meanwhile, according to a recent WEF research, by 2030, more than half of the jobs in the world will be STEM based. Thinking ahead, Interswitch is thus believed to be making a conscious attempt to promote education and technology in Nigeria and to equip the

Participating students at the InterswitchSPAK Masterclass 20

younger generation for the future.

Take away from Masterclass 1.0 After crossing the initial hurdles, 81 finalists of the competition were recently assembled in Lagos for the Masterclass 1.0, where they interacted with some company executives, including the Interswitch boss and the CEO of Stanbic IBTC Holdings Plc, Yinka Sanni.

Of course, some of the students also shared their experiences during the competition.

Speaking on the topic ‘Emotional Intelligence and Leadership Responsibility of Youths’ during

Emotional Quotient or Emotional Intelligence is very necessary in today’s world. What this means is that your high scores and academic brilliance might have gotten you this far, but you need a lot more than that to be successful in life

the Masterclass, the Group Managing Director of Interswitch Group, Mitchell Elegbe, told the brilliant kids that although having a high intelligence quotient (IQ) was necessary, he was quick to point out that IQ alone was not enough to make headway in life.

Elegbe stated that emotional intelligence has become a necessity in today’s world, explaining that many people are getting more interested in the ‘softer’ skills.

He said: “Emotional Quotient or Emotional Intelligence is very necessary in today’s world.

What this means is that your high scores and academic brilliance might have gotten you this far but you need a lot more than that to be successful in life. The reason is that Nigeria continues to churn out highly intelligent people every day, so the only thing that will stand you out in life is that extra quality. This is where emotional strength, which includes attitude, good character and so on, come into play.”

He admonished the students not to set expectations that are too high for themselves and others, explaining that when people fail to meet set expectations, dissatisfaction was inevitable.

Elegbe challenged the students to break out of their cocoons and strive to be the best in their chosen careers, noting that challenges create opportunities for growth, as many innovators in the world today identified problems in the society and then proffered solutions to them.

He said: “If you come from a poor home, you are in a better position to see problems that need to be solved because those challenges are always around you. So, my advice is just be focused and be the best you can be.”

Also, the CEO of Stanbic IBTC Holdings Plc, Yinka Sanni, who spoke on the topic: ‘Social Innovation – The Power of Transformative Ideas’, noted that most of the wealthiest Nigerians made most of their money in the country.

He said: “I hope you students will accept this challenge to generate ideas that will help the country solve real problems to improve the lives of your country men and women.

This country has real problems and social innovation starts with you seeing a specific problem and finding a solution to it.”

On his part, MD Endeavor Nigeria, Eloho Omame, challenged the students to start businesses that will grow and have high impact by providing employment for many people, as this was the only way to grow the economy.

Imports After the Innovation Challenge, there was the TV quiz competition around STEM subjects for home viewers, targeted at students aged between 14 and 17 years in SS 2. It aimed at encouraging and guiding the students on career paths that would help them achieve full optimisation of their potentials and dreams to become inventors or entrepreneurs.

The winner of the TV Quiz competition gets a whopping N7.5 million scholarship over five years in a tertiary institution. The second prize is N4.5 million in scholarship funding over three years of tertiary education while the third prize is N1.5 million scholarship for one year.

Considering the fact that better education is necessary for all to go ahead in the life and get success as well as contributing greatly to a country’s development, many Nigerians have described SPAK as good initiative. To this end, Interswitch is believed to have scored high in this regard.

The proprietor of Victory Heritage International School, Ibafo, Ogun State, Mr. George Odeyemi Oyediran has described the initiative as a good intervention programme that would contribute to the growth of Science and Technology in the country.

“Since education remains the bedrock of any meaningful society, whoever that contributes towards its development is helping the nation. Therefore, Interswitch has done well for initiating this competition. Education develops confidence and helps building personality of a person and that of a country. Our good or bad education decides that which type of person we would in the future. I can only call on other corporate organization to focus their CSR in this direction,” Oyediran said.

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BUSINESSWORLD Experts Highlight Benefits of Marketing Research The government’s drive to grow and diversify the Nigerian economy will come earlier than projected if marketing research is prioritised, a former member of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC), Dr. Doyin Salami has said.

He has also pointed out that marketing can help create a virtuous cycle of value that stimulates economic growth, hence the need for the nation’s economic drivers to key into its understanding and research.

Salami, an adjunct professor at the Lagos Business School, spoke on the ‘Role of marketing research in Nigeria’s growth trajectory’ at Marketing Research Academy’s, MRA, programme held recently in Lagos. The economist underscored the role of marketing and marketing research in Nigeria’s search for new growth sectors to facilitate expansion and further diversification of the economy.

He said marketing and marketing research would assist the nation in getting ahead of the curve and guide the production process that will generate faster economic growth.

To this end, he identified three concepts of marketing which are: Value Creation, Value connection, Value Delivery and exchange. For value creation, he insisted that innovation, production and productivity are vital. He further stated that marketing research engenders understanding of existing and anticipated market needs.

“It bridges the gap between product innovation and market place needs” he stated.

While establishing the fact that nobody buys a product, but the solution, Salami described innovation as gap identification.

He said it was important to innovate and create value, but more importantly to communicate that value at a level that consumers are willing to continue to pay for it.

As a tip for business growth, he said affordability of product and consumer segmentation is significant in marketing to determine who affords the product. Relating marketing to economic growth, he said Nigeria has three key sectors – agriculture at 22 per cent of GDP, distribution at 17 per cent while oil at 10 per cent, which forms about 60 per cent of government revenue.

He said marketing is already embedded in distribution activity as it involves selling and buying. He therefore said there was need to have the understanding that the consumer is a key component of marketing in playing its role in economic growth. “A marketer cannot sell to people he/she doesn’t understand and with understanding, innovation to fill market gaps becomes crucial” According to him, “new marketing methods demand new kind of marketing executives and a paradigm shift from the old ways. Without marketing, product is not created and demand will diminish”, he said.

Other speakers at the forum unanimously held that qualitative marketing research and segmentation by advertisers are indispensable and can facilitate marketing campaign success.

With the theme: “What is

new”, the speakers argued that qualitative marketing research, segmentation and other marketing strategies can improve the nation’s GDP and subsequently lead to economic growth. They also observed that the new consumer has changed tremendously; hence strategic marketing campaign is imperative. One of the speakers who is also the Chief Executive Officer Insight Publicis Nigeria, Mr. Feyi Olubodun, who was represented by a former Assistant Professor of Media Management and Economics at the University of Georgia, USA, Dr Tayo Oyedeji, stated that new consumer is now Multiscreen. He added that Phone, IPAD, TV are now the new norm with today’s consumer.

He said: “It’s like the life of an average consumer in today’s market is tied to his phone.

The new consumer in Nigeria now has global perspective of issues, which makes news and information not local to him again,” Speaking on the topic: The New Consumer, he noted that proper segmentation is also crucial and that marketing is not just about promotions and advertising but starts from product development, innovation to pricing, distribution and promotion. “So if we must grow as a nation we have to create new products and find a way to get it across to the consumers”, he said.

Oyedeji believed that the role of government in value creation process is to create an enabling environment.

According to him, the biggest problem of some farmers is not fertiliser or seedlings but getting their produce into the market. He stated that such is a government challenge and not the problem of private sector.

Speaking on ‘Understanding the Consumer’, he emphasised that mass market is dead, adding that no marketer should plan to reach all Nigerians but that they should instead identify the segments that are profitable for their brands and find a way to reach this segment.

Speaking on digital marketing, he said Nigeria huge access to the internet by mobile phone in the world at 81 per cent, has further explained that digital has become a major part of marketing.

“If any marketers must be effective, they need to understand digital and spend money on it.

Today, Nigeria spends about 6 percent of total Ad spend on digital, It should be about 20 % by now”, he added.

In his contribution, the CEO of Kantar Nigeria, Aggrey Maposa, said any marketer that understands key mindsets of a consumer, will perform better in the market.

These changing mindsets, according to him, are; identity, technology, digital, balance and health and nutrition. On identity, he said people are becoming sensitive to their ethnicity and region.

He said technology has brought liberation to consumers and that it has allowed them to connect beyond borders with different people, a development he claimed was never envisaged.

CONSUMER

Stakeholders Urge Govts to Promote Made-in-Nigeria Goods Stories by Raheem Akingbolu Speakers at the fifth Lagos Public Relations Stakeholders’ Conference have called for a deliberate and strategic approach to address the reputation challenges faced

by Made-in-Nigeria brands.

The Chairman of the Conference and President, Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Babatunde Ruwase, said there is no better time than now to deliberate on how to promote Made-in-Nigeria.

Ruwase, said the patronage of such goods would boost domestic production, promote technology transfer and impact positively on GDP performance.

He noted that governments

at all levels has major roles to play in the promotion of Made in Nigeria products.

According to him: “Government in Nigeria are big spenders and could make a significant impact on the fortune of domestic producers.

“We would like to see a demonstrable commitment to the recent Executive Order on the patronage of Made in Nigeria products as well as indigenous skills.

“The country’’s population is estimated at 200 million.

“Nigeria is home to about one in five Africans. “Our youths are creative and enterprising. “These are strengths we can leverage to promote the Nigerian products and services”. ““A major multiplier

effect of patronizing local products is the increased demand for local labour. “The country’’s foreign reserves would also be conserved, thus ensuring the stability of our macroeconomic”.”

Delivering the keynote address at the Conference, themed: “Addressing Communication and Reputation Challenges of Made in Nigeria,” the Managing Director, Emerging Africa Capital Group, Oluwatoyin Sanni, explained that as a country, we need to make sure we are communicating right.

Sanni said Made in Nigeria is not just about physical products, but everything related to Nigeria: education, dressing, attitude to work, quality of service and relationship with

others among others.

According to her: “There is the need for conscious creation of Brand Nigeria.

“We must be deliberate to adopt all measures to promote the best of our country in the world. “We need to understand that perception is reality and that our communication must be deliberate and strategic, involving everyone to sell Brand Nigeria.

“Before you market products, services and business, you need to market your country first.

“No one wants to do business with people who say their own country is no good; the people you are selling to should also buy into where you are coming from,” she said.

BRAND AWARENESS

L-R Store Manager, SPAR Nigeria Lekki outlet, Vishnu Murthy; Miss Universe Tanzania, Jihan Dimack; former Miss Tourism, Nigeria/ founder, Aurora Foundation, Tomi Salami and Marketing Head, SPAR Nigeria, Mr. John Goldsmith, at a beauty queen contest hosted by SPAR Nigeria in Lagos recently ETOP UKUTT

Ten Jostle for PZ Cussons’ Fashion Designer Competition The top 10 participants in the Masters of Style fashion design competition, organised by PZ Cussons’ foremost brands, Imperial Leather and Canoe, have all arrived Lagos, the organisers have announced.

The contestants, who converged from various parts of the country, will be camped in Lagos, as they begin preparations for the final phase of the competition.

The Masters of Style competition recently concluded its campus tour of five universities: Jos, Port Harcourt, Benin, Lagos, and Calabar.

Three winners emerged from each of the campuses as they exhibited their designs during the campus showcase. They each received a token of N50, 000, N20, 000, and N15, 000 respectively. However, only the top two finalists from each campus qualified for the next phase of the competition.

According to a statement issued by the company in Lagos, at the end of the campus tour, 10 participants made the cut. They include: Makanjuola Adefunke and Okezie Abigail Ifeoma (University of Jos); Nwaribe Ekene and Otunwa Benedict (University of Port

Harcourt); Omotayo Mary Ibukunoluwa and Onome Ruona Blessing (University of Benin); Salvation Uzoma and Yahaya Taofiq Abolarinwa (University of Lagos); Ita Majed Okon and Paramole Omotayo Saheed (University of Calabar).

Welcoming the contestants, Brand Development and Activation Manager, Yetunde Badejo, congratulated the contestants for making it this far in the competition, and implored them to make ample use of the opportunities and trainings during the incubator and boot camp sessions.

“We have engaged notable fashion designers and masters of the business of fashion, to train and mentor you as you prepare to take on the world.

It is not just about the winner, which is why we want to equip every one of you for the future, so make good use of this opportunity, ask all the questions and learn as much as you can. We at PZ wish you all the very best,” she said.

The Masters of Style Incubator and Boot camp programme, which will hold in Lagos for a two-week period, will feature coaches, mentors and judges such as foremost fashion

designer, Mai Atafo; Creative Director, April by Kunbi, Kunbi Oyelese; Celebrity stylists, Style Infidel; fashion entrepreneur, Tolu Bally; and many others. The programmes have been designed to help these emerging talents groom and harness their skills, while also learning the business and trade secrets of the fashion industry.

During this period, the

contestants will be trimmed down to the final five, who will be assessed at the grand finale. The eventual winner of the competition will walk away with a whopping cash prize of N500,000, an internship programme with a top Nigerian fashion designer, and a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to showcase his/her collection at one of Nigeria’s top fashion shows.

MTN, Google Empower SMEs MTN Nigeria in collaboration with Google recently empowered small and medium scale enterprises (SMEs) in Port Harcourt, Rivers State by training 50 entrepreneurs in digital marketing.

Speakers at the event included the Pricing Manager, Enterprise Business Unit, MTN Nigeria, Bridget Enuma and Google Digital Skill Trainer for Haptics, Daniel Chinagozi.

According to a statement issued by the company, MTN Nigeria has focused heavily on making significant investments in developing Small-Medium Enterprises (SMEs) across Nigeria. The move is aimed at

improving the digital skills of small business owners, which in turn will empower them to create more opportunities for Nigerians and improve the country’s economy.

The events involved a series of talks and workshops on the various Google tools that can help SMEs find and understand new clients, followed by one-on-one sessions with key Google executives.

The training is the second in a series of training collaborations that MTN has planned for small business owners across various parts of Nigeria to deliver value to businesses

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ADVERTISING

Olagunju: To Keep Afloat, Media Managers Need to Go Extra Mile Mr. Gbenga Olagunju, is Managing Director of Endless Possibilities Media Consulting in Lagos. In this interview with Kayode Fasua, he laments the poor business climate in Nigeria, especially as it affects media advertisers and image managers moribund and have collapsed with many of them giving way to multinational religious organisations. Even though Government are the biggest spenders, patronage, in the form of public notices and sometimes special features, are small and far between. The conditions under which business can thrive are not conducive.

Thus most of the companies have relocated to a more conducive environment so they can continue to remain as a going concern.

Kindly appraise the performance of newspapers in Nigeria, in terms of copy sales and advertisement?

In Nigeria, the media industry is going through hell. Even before the economic meltdown, sales, for media products, had been dwindling progressively. The combined effect of the bad economic situation and poor reading habit among the populace is made worse by poor advert sales.

The catalyst for the woes can be viewed from the number of multinational companies that have closed shop owing to poor infrastructure, leading to high production costs and dwindling patronage.

Companies like Dunlop, Michelin and a host of other organisations, are responsible for the bulk of advertisement placement in newspapers and magazines. The effect of poor sales and revenue has impacted negatively in the running of media organisations. The few newspapers remaining have more or less resolved to circulate only in state capitals and some major cities, thereby limiting the reach of those newspapers. As a result, most media organisations are struggling to survive and in the main, unable to pay their employees as and when due.

At a time like this, media products are the least in the list of consumers’ scale of preference. This, when viewed against optimum print-run, can be seen in staggering number of unsold copies stacked in different sales’ offices around the country.

So, what are the ways forward?

In the media parlance, it is said that bad news is good business. Newspapers and magazines were performing above average during the military regimes. This is because readers found in the military, a common enemy that must be harassed to give way for democratic aspirations of Nigerians. Media managers identified themselves with the people’s aspiration and sales soared. During this period, copy sales of media products were enough to provide the needed resources to run their business successfully. However, with the advent of democracy, there appears to be some semblance of peace and contentment.

Sales nosedived while advertisement sales also dropped considerably. In addition, debt by sales agents, including advertisers and agencies, started mounting. Due to poor sales, agents’ commission was no longer enough and hence they began to spend sales proceeds.

As a result, they are not eager to fulfil their obligations to media houses. Threats of stoppage of supplies means little to them since they always collect copies from their fellow agents for sales. To compound the problem, copies are still reluctantly delivered to these agents because they are the people on ground to expose the newspapers for sales. Debtor advert agencies are also reluctantly accommodated and in fact, sometimes give adverts to newspapers as fillers (Adverts that are used to fill up spaces free for want of a paid advert). This way, most media organisations are in a dilemma, sort of.

To remain afloat, media managers must have business savvy, determining appropriate print run, beefing up their editorial content, firming up sales processes and engaging educated and resourceful sales personnel.

In the media setting, attention is focused on editorial, while sales and other support services departments are left with poorly trained personnel. This must change. As said earlier, media organisations should also be mindful of their editorial content, ensuring they maintain editorial integrity. If they continue to be upright while trying to weather the storm, over time, they will be accepted by the market as is the case with some organisations. Like the saying goes, “You cannot kill the beetle (Volkswagen Car).

Newspapers (Hard copies) will always be

What do you think the federal government should do to boost indigenous enterprises and save dying companies from the effects of economic recession?

To boost indigenous enterprises, the Federal Government should provide necessary infrastructure, i.e. good and accessible roads, electricity, cheap fund that can aid commerce and attract aspiring entrepreneurs.

The Federal Government should also enact or adjust existing laws that will adequately shield entrepreneurs from unfair competition and protect them from foreign goods/services that can be locally produced. This, including stable and good governance, will encourage potential investors to take risk and invest, thereby boosting economic activities with attendant capacity to also create more jobs.

Government should also be strict in enforcing all relevant laws regarding payment of duties on imported goods and be wary of granting frivolous waivers.

Olagunju

relevant with their ability to attract immediate attention and attract advertisement meant for mass audience.

In order to survive, some media outfits have, of late come up with different types of awards to organisations and individuals to augment their income. This is a double-edge sword.

The practices have affected some media outfits

Online advertising, no doubt, has impacted negatively on newspaper advert sales. It is quick, convenient and accessible. These attributes make it useful as a driving force for online platform. Even though online advert has its own drawback, it has eroded patronage for hardcopy advert sales

and have affected their credibility ratings.

Some have also instituted periodic talk shows; conferences, etc., to shore up their income and remain relevant.

Lagos advertisers are saying the state’s signage and advertisement agency is running them out of business, having added real advertising to its supervisory role. What’s your take on this?

LASAA is an arm of the Lagos State Government, saddled with the responsibility of supervising the practice of advert. I think the agency, as a self-accounting parastatal of government, is under pressure to generate revenue and meet some sale target. The way they go about doing their job, to me, is aggressive. I think they are going too far, over and above their statutory mandate. However, I do not think they are capable of running the private sector practitioners out of business, simply because, LASAA do not possess the wherewithal to outstage the professionals in the business of advertising.

How will you describe the effects of online advertising in Nigeria?

Online advertising, no doubt, has impacted negatively on newspaper advert sales. It is quick, convenient and accessible. These attributes makes it useful as a driving force for online platform. Even though online advert has its own drawback, it has eroded patronage for hardcopy advert sales.

What are the challenges facing the advertising industry in modern time?

The major challenge facing the advert industry in modern time is that of poor and dwindling patronage. The bulk of advert patronage, usually, is expected from multinationals and corporate organisations with huge and sizable budgets for promoting their products and services. Most of these organisations are

What is your recipe for the economic diversification programme of the federal government?

To boost the economy and make Nigeria less dependent on oil and by implication, a mono product economy, the Federal Government must be ready and be sincere to completely stop the attitude of a rent-seeking entity.

Diversifying or paying more attention to other veritable sources of income like agriculture, for example, is a profitable alternative; and, in fact, agriculture was the mainstay of Nigeria’s economy before the discovery of oil at Oloibiri in Bayelsa State.

To reap potential benefit of diversification, the government must invest massively in the entire necessary infrastructure that will help in this direction. When the productive sectors are genuinely supported through the provision of necessary infrastructure, affordable loan and protection from undue interference from agents of Government, Nigeria will confidently be less dependent on revenue from oil. Only then can we say Nigeria is on the road to recovery from the self-inflicted problem of economic recession.

What is your reaction to the issue of alleged multiple taxation by government agencies, especially in Lagos State?

Yes, this is a crucial issue that all stakeholders in Lagos businesses should address with the state government. While government is regulating businesses and also generating revenue, it must ensure that the interests of business owners are not also jeopardized.

When big businesses thrive, it has its own multiplier effect in that, other small-scale businesses will boom as well.

But in this era, our businesses are dying, major companies like Dunlop, Michelin and many others have closed shop and relocated to neighbouring countries like Ghana, Cameroon and Co ‘Devoir. The Lagos State Signage Advertisement Agency is frustrating our businesses. They were supposed to play a supervisory role, but their attitude towards us is akin to that of touts.

Despite the fact that we are still battling recession and unpaid salaries, the unwary attitude of LASAA officials, especially with its levies send wrong signals to foreign investors, who want to merge with some members of Outdoor Advertising Agency of Nigeria.

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BUSINESSWORLD

DEVELOPMENT

In Pursuit of Food Security Self-sufficiency in food production is one that Nigeria needs to attain to improve the living condition of its citizens, Ugo Aliogo reports According to a study by the Africa Development Bank (ADB) with name ‘Feed Africa’ and titled “Strategy for Agricultural Transformation in Africa 2016-2025,” it was noted that agriculture remains an integral part of both the African economy and the daily living of the majority of Africans. This study also stated that agric-related endeavours accounted for just over 60 percent of jobs across the continent.

The study noted that despite its central role, the agriculture sector represents only a quarter of Africa’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP), ranging from three percent of GDP in Botswana to almost 50 percent in Chad, the Central African Republic, and Sierra Leone, owing to the low productivity of the sector.

The study further explained that recent natural resource-price volatility has created an acute need for African economies to diversify their sources of foreign exchange earnings, making the potential for driving agriculture sector’s growth become increasingly important to realise.

It observed that in recent years, while commodity prices were relatively high – particularly minerals of which Africa is home to a third of the world’s reserves – Africa was a particularly fast-growing region with average annual growth around five percent. It added, “Africa’s economic growth has not been sustainable, and, in some cases, previous gains have been lost because of the historic dependence on raw commodity trade.

“Agriculture is a good option for the required diversification, as it exhibits lower price volatility and the continent has substantial undeveloped amount of the necessary endowments.”

Agriculture Sector Under Buhari Under President Muhammadu Buhari on November 17, 2015, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) launched the Anchor Borrowers’ Programme (ABP) in line with its developmental function. The programme was launched with the intention to create a link between anchor companies involved in processing, and small-holder farmers (SHFs) of the required key agricultural commodities.

The thrust of the ABP is the provision of farm inputs in kind and cash (for farm labour) to small holder farmers, to boost production of these commodities, stabilise input supply to agro-processors and address the country’s negative balance of payments on food. At harvest, the SHF supplies his/her produce to the Agro-processor (Anchor) who pays the cash equivalent to the farmer’s account.

In accessing the progress of the agriculture sector under the Buhari administration, the Vice-President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo, said the sector had achieved 3.6 percent growth rate, stating that the sector was key to the administration, especially in the diversification of the economy. He said, “Thinking of diversification of the economy, agriculture is the intuitive market.”

He also stated that before the administration came on board, the country was importing rice to the tune of $1.6 billion yearly, while $5 million was spent daily. He explained that through the efforts of the administration, they had cut down the figure to two percent and that they had improved rice production “and we are practically self-sufficient.” Osinbajo added: “Before now, we were importing rice to the tune of $1.6 billion yearly, and daily, $5 million was spent. Today, we are down to about two percent of the rice we are consuming. We have improved rice production and we are practically self-sufficient.

“On our part as a government, we are creating the right environment.

“The Anchor borrowers’ programme was an important programme in getting people back to the farm and milling was also very important part of the programme. We supported farmers in rice production. Therefore, it was a deliberate effort to ensure that we did not only improve the production of rice, but get the private sector to be involved and they responded very well.

“During the recession, because of the focus on mining, growth continued and today, the sector is still growing,” the VP stated.

Interest Rate This is one of the key challenges facing the

sector. The federal government had expressed fears over high interests charged by banks on loans given to farmers as well as lack of agriculture stakeholders to mount pressure of Nigeria’s political class, especially lawmakers, on food policies for the country. In his reaction to the issue, the Minister of Agriculture, Chief Audu Ogbeh, said the high interest charges by various banks on loans to farmers were unacceptable, noting that if the rate was not reviewed immediately, it would worsen food production in the country.

He also stated that many banks were still charging between 25 percent and nine percent as interest rate on loans.

“Many banks were still charging between 25 percent and nine percent on loans, that is the main reason many farmers failed to repay their loans because they are still using desolate tools, hoes and cutlasses which could not give mass production,” he noted.

He charged all stakeholders to address the issue as well as take to farm mechanisation process as precautionary motive to protect Nigeria’s population from starvation.

Experts’ Opinion In addressing the challenges facing the sector, experts believe that it requires not only government intervention, but the commitment of key stakeholders who understand the sector and what is needed to drive its growth.

The Acting Head, Department of Economics, Lagos State University (LASU), Dr. Ibrahim

There is also the need to promote nonfarming the rural areas. The reason is because farmers most times would want what they are doing to be diversified.

There is the need for provision of modern storage facilities to preserve agricultural produce. This will help in preserving post-harvest loss

Bakara, noted that the British Prime Minister Theresa May’s statement that Nigeria represents the capital of the world poorest folks with about 87 million people at $1.90 per day portends a great danger as to the state of malnourishment of Nigerians. He also noted that the country had not done well in policy implementation, especially in agricultural programmes that are development driven. He stated that government was paying lip service to the growth of the sector and if population growth is not checkmated, or if allowed to grow at a geometric rate, “then the gap between the two may have to be accounted for and I think that is what we have not been able to get right.” Bakare said the country’s food production was not growing at a geometric rate, relative to the population of the country and that government was not making concerted efforts for people to understand that it is committed about enhancing food production in Nigeria.

According to him, “the reality is that, for any aspect of the economy, if transparency is not given due recognition, I doubt if we are going to get there. The reality on ground is that, do we have appropriate mechanism or channels, and are the stakeholders involved in all these?

“The cassava value chain is an area where I expected government to have performed very well. The country spends up to N3 trillion annually importing products from processed cassava. The reality on ground is that we are wasting as a nation.

“The government policy-as long as it does not really flow down to the masses who should have been the major beneficiary, I don’t believe the bogus statistics which the government is presenting. The statistics are just meant for administrative purposes.

“These statistics are not just working. It is high time we move macro-based statistics and allow policies of the government to flow down.

If the policies of government are working, traders and farmers will confirm it that government is doing well. We should not be bothered with these bogus statistics which will aim at telling the international community that we are doing well, when in actual fact, our farmers are suffering. Farmers are ready to work and give us what we want.

“The farmers are frustrated, they are not happy. How can we get our food prices reduced when the farmers are not given the necessary support and enabling environment to practice agriculture? It is very disheartening.

“In most Africa countries, we have the arable land and the labour, but we produce less.

While in the advanced world, the land is smaller compared to ours, but because agriculture is highly mechanised, their productivity quadruples to what we produce in this part of the country. It is time we revolutionise agriculture. It is time for government to bring fairness and transparency into agriculture.”

Recommendations In recommending the measures to address the issue, Bakare said that government should understand that the sector is actors’ and governanceoriented project. He, however, noted that to move the sector forward, it requires a stakeholders’ approach and except the government factor these issues into consideration, whatever solutions being advanced would fall as a pack of cards.

He explained that there was the need to take cognisance of the stakeholders’ approach, and then, the government should genuinely provide easy credit farmers at very low interest rate.

The Acting HoD said in every stakeholders’ or actors’oriented approach, there is an identification who are the active and passive actors. He added that in stakeholders’ or actors’-oriented approach, government is supposed to provide the coordinating role, where they would bring into the arrangement, transparency, reciprocity, understanding, effective communication and ensure that the farmers are at the core of the project. He said: “There is the need to promote decent employment in the agriculture sector, especially in the rural areas. In this regard, I expect our government to have done a lot in using our National Youth Corps members to feed the nation. Let us have ‘corpers’ in farm villages.

“The corpers that can feed Nigeria on annual basis. They can support the practicing farmers.

Government should provide infrastructure for them such as health insurance, social welfare scheme so that these farmers will be encouraged.

“There is also the need to promote nonfarming the rural areas. The reason is because farmers most times would want what they are doing to be diversified. There is the need for provision of modern storage facilities to preserve agricultural produce. This will help in preserving post-harvest loss. The challenge we have in the country is that most of the things we produce get wasted.

“There is also the need to provide road infrastructure to facilitate movement of farm produce from the farm to the market. The roads need to be connected to the rural areas. There is the need to take care of the various forms of risks involved in agriculture production such as harvest losses, flooding and others.

“Also, social networking and farmers’ corporation is very important. Then accessible and cheaper education for farmers is very important because what farmers are exposed to in the advanced world are, continuous training and education on the best agriculture practices globally.” It is also expected that the recently introduced real sector support facility (RSSF) by the CBN will boost investment and provide low cost funding for businesses in the sect The initiative is also expected to support the country’s drive towards economic recovery in the country.

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Floating a New Crusade Against Suicide Kayode Fasua examines a recently launched initiative by a group of care givers to wage war against suicide among people in the continent Like rivulets trickling down the cottage rack, alarmed neighbours and rescue workers, all headed in the direction of the Lagos Lagoon at the Lekki Link Bridge area. A distress call had just been made that a young man who was later identified as Kingsley Gabriel, a student of the Lagos State University, plunged into the lagoon.

Gabriel reportedly jumped to a sure death, from Falomo Bridge, into the lagoon, leaving no one with a cue as to why he took his life.

Shockingly, however, this sad occurrence came barely a month after an unidentified woman on the wheel, suddenly stopped short midway into the Third Mainland Bridge, and climbed the bridge’s barricade, taking a plunge into the lagoon. Bewildered observers could only mutter, “Why?” Sometime ago too, a young female banker in Ughelli, Delta State, simply hanged herself, having been wrenched by the trauma arising from sighting her husband bedding another woman in their matrimonial home.

Last year too, a teenage girl, named Loveth, had chosen the path of suicide following what she considered an abysmal performance in her Joint Admission and Matriculation Board’s Joint Matriculation Examination. She scored 160, of the 400 total marks. According to reports, Loveth surreptitiously hatched the last plot as she took her life, drinking a poisonous substance.

However, while so many reasons have been advanced for the various cases of suicide as have occurred globally, its preponderance in the Nigerian society has somewhat brought on, a disquiet, to warrant the intervention of rights bodies, care givers and relevant government agencies.

While excruciating poverty, jilting, sundry insolvency, and what some call, ‘spiritual attacks’ are being adduced to the incidence of suicide, researchers also say that loneliness, which inexorably results in depression and a sense of rejection, is also a veritable factor for committing suicide.

Much as every suicide is adjudged to have been precipitated by a particular reason, most of the suicide cases in Nigeria, observers say, occurred with no suicide notes.

A poignant instance of this scenario was the shocking suicide of a former Peoples Democratic Party senatorial candidate in the Lagos East senatorial district, Alade Abaniwonda, which occurred in July 2011.

An ebullient Abaniwonda reportedly did a bank transaction at the Lagos Island area and told his driver to head him to his office at the CMS area. But while on the Carter Bridge, he reportedly ordered his driver to stop and park.

The confused lad did. Abaniwonda walked out and was crest-fallen on the bridge’s railing, apparently contemplating on what to do. He entered back into the car, refusing to offer any explanation for this weird act.

As further related by the driver, Abaniwonda later commanded the former to park again at the Marina section of the Lagoon, saying he was hard pressed and would want to use the toilet.

This, of course, was a ploy. Having alighted from the vehicle, Abaniwonda walked briskly to the bank of the lagoon and took a plunge.

His lifeless body was to be discovered three days after.

Arising from all these suicide cases, which are, indeed, not peculiar to Nigeria, a conglomerate of care-giving groups, rights bodies and entertainment outfits in Africa have now coalesced into a united body, to launch a one-year-long campaign against suicide, in Africa.

Code-named, “Africa Project Against Suicide (APAS) and tagged ‘Stay Alive Africa’, these developmental campaigns will be taken to all African countries, but 10 nations are to serve as take-off points.

The countries to serve as launching pads include, South Africa, Kenya, Nigeria, Ghana, Ethiopia, Gambia, Rwanda, Zimbabwe, Egypt and Mauritius.

The overall coordinator of the continental anti-suicide project, Nigerian-born Pastor Honey Olawale, told THISDAY that the programme would run from November 2018, to November,

2019. Cities earmarked for the war-against-suicide crusades and concerts in Nigeria, he said, are Lagos, Ibadan, Port Harcourt, Benin, Abuja, Kaduna and Enugu.

Speaking on the philosophy behind the initiative, Olawale said, “Owing to economic challenges and other social vices within the continent of Africa, the rate of suicide has risen very sharply between year 2016 and 2017; and the statistics of this deadly scourge has reached an alarming rate, hence the need to use training conferences and music as tools of discouragement to suicide.”

He listed the causes of suicide to include loneliness, psychiatric illness such as depression and bipolar disorder, economic recession, domestic conflicts, low self-esteem, unbearable

Owing to economic challenges and other social vices within the continent of Africa, the rate of suicide has risen very sharply between year 2016 and 2017; and the statistics of this deadly scourge has reached an alarming rate, hence the need to use training conferences and music as tools of discouragement to suicide

emotion and physical pain, substance abuse, and significant losses in a person’s life.

On the mission of the anti-suicide crusaders, Olawale added, “This project is meant to spread songs of hope across Africa and turn the heart of the downcast and depressed people from suicide, and also, depict the great destiny that is ahead of this continent.”

He stressed, however, that the aims and objectives of the concerting groups were to unite the African people, show the beauty of the continent’s rich cultures, let the people know what they will miss here on earth if they take their lives, and sing songs of encouragement and tell the stories of the people who have endured and stayed alive and are successful.

According to him, the two-pronged, expected result of the year-long events, are: reduction in the level of suicide, and unification of the African people.

For take-off, mega concert and conferences will be held at all the major participating countries and the official launching ceremony and conferences will take place at Polokwane city, South Africa, between November 19 and 24, 2018, he further disclosed.

Meanwhile, the World Health Organisation (WHO), two months ago, conducted a study and ranked suicides per 100,000 cases with Nigeria having 15 percent per 100,000. By that token, Nigeria has placed fifth in the inglorious column of countries with jaw-dropping cases of suicide.

The list was topped by South Korea with 24,000,000 cases; followed by Russia with 18,000,000; India, 16,000,000 and Japan coming fourth with 15,400,000 suicide instances.

Reacting to the worrisome situation, however, the Convener of Conference of Nigeria Civil Rights Activists, Comrade Ifeanyi Odili, said the Nigerian government should take the blame if cases of suicide are now spiralling. Odili, who is also the General Secretary of Campaign for Democracy (CD), said suicide incidence comes in isolation in a well-developed economy, as against high prevalence in a country wracked by abject poverty.

“As they say, a hungry man is an angry man, and a hungry man can never be persuaded by any sermon but first, by food.

“Here in Nigeria, there is abject poverty occasioned by bad leadership and satanic greed in high places. Look at the army of the unemployed, the intimidating number of youths who, having acquired academic knowledge, are in want of what to do.

“Look at the high rate of job losses in the last one year. Parents would sponsor children in school and the children will graduate to become dependants still on the stultifying parents.

“Someone who cannot feed his family, who is out of jobs, whose sons, out of excruciating hunger have joined bad gangs, and whose daughters, out of nothing to eat have turned to prostitutes; how will such a person not tinker with the thought of taking his life?

“Though it is a sin against God and humanity to commit suicide, the government of Nigeria is also sharing in the grave sin by not coming up with comprehensible policies to tackle poverty and make jobs available for our teeming population,” Odili deplored.

Reacting, however, a cleric, Emmanuel Bamiduro, said despite hardship, it is a serious sin to think the way of suicide, noting that God can cause a turn-around in the life of anybody.

Bamiduro, who is the General Overseer of Thy Word Is Life Ministry, a church in Casso, Lagos, said, “We have had instances of people who had contemplated suicide but did not yield to the temptation and still overcame their problems to become reference points in life; as such, nobody should see their situation as the end of the road.”

He also advised government at all levels to focus on tackling the malaise of mass unemployment afflicting the Nigerian society.

Complementing him, an Islamic cleric, Alhaji Adeshina Balogun, said no true Muslim would contemplate suicide, noting, “It is one of the greatest offences before Allah, and anybody who takes his life will spend the rest of his existence in everlasting fire.”

He counselled religious leaders in the country to keep harping on this line of admonition, to save lives, even as he stressing: “Many people are tired of their situation, but with words of encouragement, their spirit will be lifted, and you will be surprised to hear from them that, ‘Oh, I had thought of taking my life.’”

In own contribution too, a psychologist, Mr. Samuel Adeokun, said, “Suicide is always foreshadowed by loneliness and unhappy, confused looks; and under such a situation, what the sufferer needs, is love.

“Unfortunately, love is lacking in our society nowadays because a lot of people are obsessed with survivalist instincts, caused by socio-economic discomfort and sometimes, discomfiture.”

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Global Hunger Continues to Rise, Says New UN Report New evidence continues to signal that the number of hungry people in the world is growing, reaching 821 million in 2017 or one in every nine people, according to the State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World 2018 released on Tuesday. Limited progress is also being made in addressing the multiple forms of malnutrition, ranging from child stunting to adult obesity, putting the health of hundreds of millions of people at risk.

Hunger has been on the rise over the past three years, returning to levels from a decade ago. This reversal in progress sends a clear warning that more must be done and urgently if the Sustainable Development Goal of Zero Hunger is to be achieved by 2030. The situation is worsening in South America and most regions of Africa, while the decreasing trend in undernourishment that characterised Asia seems to be slowing down significantly.

The annual UN report found that climate variability affecting rainfall patterns and agricultural seasons, and climate extremes such as droughts and floods, are among the key drivers behind the rise in hunger, together with conflict and economic slowdowns.

“The alarming signs of increasing food insecurity and high levels of different forms of malnutrition are a clear warning that there is considerable work to be done to make sure we ‘leave no one behind’ on the road towards achieving the SDG goals on food security and improved nutrition,” the heads of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the World Food Programme (WFP) and WHO warned in their joint foreword to the report.

“If we are to achieve a world without hunger and malnutrition in all its forms by 2030, it is imperative that we accelerate and scale up actions to strengthen the resilience and adaptive capacity of food systems and people’s livelihoods in response to climate variability and extremes,” the leaders said.

The impact of climate variability Changes in climate are already undermining production of major crops such as wheat, rice and maize in tropical and temperate regions and, without building climate resilience, this is expected to worsen as temperatures increase and become more extreme.

Analysis in the report shows that the prevalence and number of undernourished people tend to be higher in countries highly exposed to climate extremes.

Undernourishment is higher again when exposure to climate extremes is compounded by a high proportion of the population depending on agricultural systems that are highly sensitive to rainfall and temperature variabilit. Temperature anomalies over agricultural cropping areas continued to be higher than the long-term mean throughout 2011–2016, leading to more frequent spells of extreme heat in the last five years. The nature of

rainfall seasons is also changing, such as the late or early start of rainy seasons and the unequal distribution of rainfall within a season.

The harm to agricultural production contributes to shortfalls in food availability, with knock-on effects causing food price hikes and income losses that reduce people’s access to food.

Slow progress on ending malnutrition Poor progress has been made in reducing child stunting, the report says, with nearly 151 million children aged under 5 too short for their age due to malnutrition in 2017, compared to 165 million in 2012. Globally, Africa and Asia accounted for 39% and 55% of all stunted children, respectively. Prevalence of child wasting remains extremely high in Asia where almost 1 in 10 children under five has low weight for their height, compared to just one in 100 in Latin America and the Caribbean.

The report describes as “shameful” the fact that one in three women of reproductive age globally is affected by anaemia, which has significant health and development consequences for both women and their children. No region has shown a decline in anaemia among women of reproductive age, and the prevalence in Africa and Asia is nearly three times higher than in North America.

Rates of exclusive breastfeeding in Africa and Asia are 1.5 times higher than those in North America where only 26% of infants under 6 months receive breastmilk exclusively.

The other side of hunger Adult obesity is worsening, and more than one in eight adults in the world is obese. The problem is most significant in North America, but Africa and Asia are also experiencing an upward trend, the report shows.

Undernutrition and obesity coexist in many countries, and can even be seen side by side in the same household. Poor access to nutritious food due to its higher cost, the stress of living with food insecurity, and physiological adaptations to food deprivation help explain why food-insecure families may have a higher risk of overweight and obesity.

Call for action The report calls for implementing and scaling up interventions aimed at guaranteeing access to nutritious foods and breaking the intergenerational cycle of malnutrition. Policies must pay special attention to groups who are the most vulnerable to the harmful consequences of poor food access: infants, children aged under five, school-aged children, adolescent girls, and women. At the same time, a sustainable shift must be made towards nutrition-sensitive agriculture and food systems that can provide safe and high-quality food for all.

The report also calls for greater efforts to build climate resilience through policies that promote climate change adaptation and mitigation, and disaster risk reduction.

Lagos Community Bemoans Nigerian Company Wins Shell Maiden Prize Bad State of Road Ugo Aliogo Community leaders in IbejuLekki and Mopo 1 in the Eti-Osa area of Lagos have lamented the deplorable state of access roads connecting the Okun-Ajah-Okun-Mopo-LekkiIwerekun-Eleko-Epe road, and called on the Lagos State Government to attend to them.

Speaking at a media briefing in Lagos recently, the Baale of Mopo 1, Eti-Osa, Chief Akinlade Adekunle, said they had taken steps and been to the state’s House of Assembly to complain about the bad state of the road but that the lawmakers merely assured them that something would be done.

Adekunle also stated that they had spoken to the state’s Commissioner of Works and the Environment who expressed government’s commitment to repairing the road.

“Since we were very young and our fathers were following politicians like Obafemi Awolowo and others, this road has always been like this.

“We have so many towns in this area. Our fathers then did their best to open the roads themselves through Direct Labour. They gathered themselves and patched the roads, so it could be motorable.

But even then, it was only vehicles with auxiliary gear that can ply the road. Land Rover was the most common jeep in those days before now.

“Since then, we have always supported any political party that is trending in the western region. They know the road here, if they need our vote and want to come and ask us to vote for them,” he noted.

The Baale explained that politicians who have received immense support from the community had failed in repairing the road and that they continued in making numerous promises to the people.

“It is this same road that they always use for election campaigns, deceiving us that they would construct the road if we vote for them.

“They would promise us that, by the grace of God, if they win the election, the road the first thing they would

do. But till the end of their tenure, they wouldn’t fulfil their promise. Even if another person comes to power, it is always the same old story,” the royal father lamented.

He also said under the present administration, there had been promises to repair the road, but that nothing significant had been done in putting the road in a better condition.

Adekunle added, “If they don’t do it, we won’t vote for them again.

“Those who have vehicles always take their vehicles to the mechanics every week.

Pupils are also unable to go to school once it rains. Even okada riders are not left out,” he said. Also speaking, the Olumopo of Ibeju-Lekki, Chief Lamoriyu Isiaka, said the state governor, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode, at a town hall meeting in Apapa recently, pleaded with the community to be patient, that he would repair the road, adding that the previous administration had made the same promise without fulfilling it.

Isiaka said it had been almost impossible, bringing all their agricultural produce such as banana, garri and plantain to the metropolis because of the bad state of the road, which he noted, has brought a lot of sufferings to the people. According to Isiaka “There is no road. We are really suffering. And we called on the governor, but he kept promising us that he would do it.

“But till today, we are still in the same situation. All the farm produce that we could sell to make money, we are always unable to get them to Lagos due to the state of the road. Some of the produce that are supposed to sell for N2 are usually sold for N1 because we know before we can get them to Lagos, they would definitely get spoilt.

So, we are not enjoying the proceeds from the sales of our farm produce.

“We are really suffering, and we have called on the governor to come to our aid and all they have been saying is that they are going to do it for us. It is always the same after the election,” he urged.

A Nigerian plastic-recycling company has won the maiden Shell Outstanding Achievement Prize in the 2018 Shell LiveWIRE Top Ten Innovators Awards.

Bayelsa State-based DeRabacon Plastics came tops in a competition that also saw another Nigerian firm, Alternate Energy Limited, emerge as the second runner-up in the Energy Solutions category to win a $10,000 prize money.

The two Nigerian companies are among the Top Ten Innovators named last week from among 21 entries in a contest which attracted over 11,000 voters from 102 countries.

“This is part of the streak of successes with the Shell Nigeria Live-WIRE programme, coming a year after two of our Nigerian entrepreneurs won in the merit category at the finals in Sierra Leone in 2017,” said General Manager External Relations of Shell Nigeria, Igo Weli.

“Being named as one of Shell LiveWIRE’s Top Ten Innovators showcases the innovative entrepreneurial talent that Nigeria is nurturing on the world stage,” Igo added.

De-Rabacon Plastics is a social enterprise that recycles end-consumer plastics into viable commercial products while Alternate Energy provides solar and wind powered community solutions, including water treatment and off-grid solar farms.

Reacting to news of DeRabacon’s emergence as a winner, Managing Director of the company, Yolo Bakumor Smith described the LiveWIRE opportunity as life-changing and providing employment and livelihood to over 58 direct and indirect employees and their scores of dependents.

“This is a booster to my dreams and I give credit to The Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria, SPDC, for the opportunity provided to Nigerians to be successful, globally recognised business owners,” Smith said.

In his response, Managing Director of Alternate Energy Limited, Henry Chikogu, described the award as a motivator not only to him

and his company but also to other Shell Nigeria LiveWIRE beneficiaries and to prospective participants in the annual programme.

Both Smith and Chikogu will be joining other winners in Kuching, Malaysia in November for the final awards ceremonies.

Emobella Engineering Nigeria Limited and Derahbs Energy Services, both Nigerian companies based in the Niger Delta were among the Top Ten winners in 2017.

Emobella provides engineering services with a USP of 24-hour availability and high-quality customer service, and De-rahbs Energy installs, services and repairs solar energy equipment, and provides a low-cost solar energy payment plan and training to future engineers and energy entrepreneurs.

Operating in 17 countries, Shell LiveWIRE strengthens local economies across the globe by promoting entrepreneurship and developing entrepreneurs.

Every year the programme supports thousands of individuals to access the knowledge, skills, networks and resources to turn their innovative business ideas into successful enterprises.

Launched in Nigeria in 2003, the programme helps young people explore the option of starting their own business as a real and viable career option, and provides them with training, finance, and business mentorship.

Shell Nigeria LiveWIRE has produced over 6,500 Niger Delta entrepreneurs most of whom are now employers of labour. Some of the beneficiaries are also given the opportunity to play in SPDC’s supply chain as vendors and are provided with access to growth capital.

In 2014, a special Shell Nigeria LiveWIRE programme for Ogoni youths was launched, the same year another special edition was launched for Niger Delta Youths with disabilities.

The Ogoni Special LiveWIRE is geared towards providing alternative livelihood for the youths of the area and has since produced over 165 entrepreneurs.

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Rebuilding Structures to Spark the ‘New African Civilisation’ Nathaniel Abara William Shakespeare opined: “There is a tide in the affairs of men, which taken at the flood, leads on to fortune. Omitted, all the voyage of their life is bound in shallows and in miseries.

On such a full sea are we now afloat. And we must take the current when it serves, or lose our ventures.”

Introduction Worldwide, economic globalisation shreds the fabrics of societies. It divides and weakens the majority in nations across the globe. Confronted with civil discontent, its leading proponents are now in hasty retreat – America to “America First” and the UK to “A Global Britain” as it grapples with the Battle of Brexit.

For Africa, the moment to “take the current when it serves” is now, set out on an expedition, a visionary enterprise that focuses not on the present global civilization that is in decline, but seeks instead to create a “New African Civilisation,” a massive socio-political revolution that ignites the flame of the cradle of humanity. It will create continent-wide rebirth, initiate a unique African Renaissance and build African-enlightened societies that assert the most cherished, noble ideals of the African heritage.

Yes, Africa can do it. Africa built humanity’s first civilisation, through the Egyptians, and left the world the legacies of the 365-day calendar, mathematics and engineering. Again, we are in “Africa’s Millennium,” and the 21st Century is lift-off time.

The New African Civilisation The civilisation initiative is all encompassing, comprehensive and long term. It presents Africa with unique opportunities of this information and knowledge age to share a new expansive, strategic and inspiring perspective that will mobilise the social world of all Africans across the globe: the vision of a great leap forward, on a long, thousand-mile trek to a new, advanced civilisation where everything works. The vision will be designed to generate enthusiasm among the people, especially the youth, and serve to engage the present and upcoming generations for the rest of their lives.

For this new civilisation to remain strong and endure, it must be well grounded. It will place its highest premium on the family institution as a prized possession. Family is, after all, the foundational building block of society as well as the repository of the unique DNA of Africa, the cradle of humanity.

Therefore, the family institution will be at the core of the evolution of the new civilisation.

From above, the civilisation enterprise will embody a strong spiritual character. The huge challenges of the continent require that Africa goes beyond itself, draws from supernatural resources well beyond human capabilities, to attain the extraordinary – the miracle of a new advanced civilisation. Great Britain and the US did this to attain their super greatness.

The US adopted its official national motto “In God We Trust,” while the UK titled its national anthem “God save the Queen.” The spiritual reference present in both is no coincidence.

The Heart of the Matter Africa needs to move expeditiously and deal with the most critical challenges that are currently retarding her progress, the very weak social structure, matrix and fabric that encapsulates the economies, the politics, and the organisation of its societies. This requires activist social development engagement.

The continent has a most pressing need to address the low-level of development of its fragile social substructure, infrastructure and superstructure that, for now, are not sufficiently robust to support the highly competitive economics and politics of the prevailing modern and global, intense and dynamic, disruptive and transformative, information and knowledge revolution.

Africa’s development challenge does not lie with its economy. Generations of our forebears traded globally and successfully in commodities and even humans. Also, today, Africa can boast

Buhari of men and women who rank among the one per cent of the world’s wealthiest people.

What holds Africa down is its defective social structure and character that need urgent revival.

Without sorting these out, its single-minded pursuit of economic development will remain an exercise in futility.

Truly, if Africa is to rebuild itself, properly reconstitute its presently defective social structure, matrix and fabric, and realise the new dream, it needs to adhere to the natural social order.

Africa is being confused and destabilised.

Its societies are compelled to function under a capitalist economic order when Africa fails by far to fit into the models of Europe which underpin the order.

Africa is yet to successfully ride the wave of the agricultural revolution. It is yet to rise to the industrial stage as the continent commands only about one per cent of global manufacturing and two per cent of world trade. Again, it needs to confront directly and resolve its complex matrix of negative legacies of history that hold it back such as relative immobility, slave trade, the partition of Africa, colonialism, and more recently, military rule.

For Africa to resolve these challenges, it needs to count on Nigeria. Being Africa’s largest economy and its most populous nation, Nigeria will lead the long march and be the first fruit of emerging, advanced societies that will be built all across Africa. It has the greatest potential to contribute to building a necessary and sufficient, continent-wide, critical mass of citizens with higher education and special skillsets that will serve to push and pull the rest, as the continent’s new, globally competitive societies emerge on the world stage.

What We Have Done on Social Development Our organisation’s exploration of social development and its relevance spans the last 15 years.

In Nigeria, the first major window opened for us to present a memorandum in Lagos on November 16, 2012 to the Senate Committee on Constitution Amendment.

We followed up with a press release on December 10, 2012, the International Human Rights Day, recommending, among others, the creation of the position and appointment of a Coordinating Minister for the Social Sphere in the Federal Cabinet to direct overall social development affairs in Nigeria.

We also engaged the Presidency. The outcome was that the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) led Federal Government appointed the World Bank to do a poverty survey of Nigeria preparatory to a national social intervention program.

The All Peoples Congress (APC) included our proposal in their manifesto resulting in the present N500billion Social Investment Fund.

To implement the fund, the succeeding APC government relied on the World Bank report

commissioned by its predecessor. Governance after all is a continuum.

A second social development initiative was focused on addressing the issue of affordability and access in higher education by partnering to hold the first International Student Finance Conference in June, 2012.

This is covered in a THISDAY newspaper interview in January 2013 under the title: “Improved Access to Higher Education, Key to Transformation of Societies.”

Earlier, the government had responded and launched the Presidential Special Scholarship Scheme for Innovation and Development. We then followed up with another proposal to the Federal Government for the creation of a more ambitious national N500 billion Student Finance Intervention Fund for Higher Education.

Our third engagement with the Presidency on social empowerment of citizens contributed to the convening of the National Centenary Conference 2014, to enable the people chart a new future for Nigeria.

We issued an opinion titled: “Centenary Conference: Sequencing Agenda Priorities,” published on the first working day of the conference to guide deliberations and public debate.

What Should Africa Do? Starting with the superstructure which oversees the continent’s development, Africa needs to press for speedy and total overhaul of the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) to make it agile, responsive, and non-bureaucratic so that it can fully identify with Africa. ECA serves as the overarching, supranational organisation of the United Nations for development coordination, collaboration and integration. Unfortunately, it is largely unresponsive and is indeed distractive and disruptive to the continent’s speedy progress.

It sits like a dog in a manger.

A University of London research came to the disheartening conclusion that “the ECA cannot play a meaningful role in development.”

The ECA appears to lack the knowledge of the secret of development. But, its counterparts in Asia and the Pacific do not. The sacred secret is that of the fundamental driving role of social development in societies.

Hence, the most pressing need in Africa is to restructure the ECA for a well-balanced devotion to both social and economic development, with an even greater emphasis on social development.

This restructuring will begin with a change in this commission’s name to “Social and Economic Commission for Africa”, (SECA). As stated earlier, there is much power in a name.

What Have Other Regions Done?

In contrast to ECA, the then Economic Commission for Asia and the Far East was very proactive and dynamic. As far back as 1974,

it acted to change its name to “Economic and Social Commission of Asia and the Pacific” (ESCAP) in order to emphasise that it had “devoted equal attention to both economic and social fields, in line with the integrated approach to development.”

This was an early seed of the Asian Miracle that unfolded from 1964 to 1990.

Similarly, in 1985, the then Economic Commission for Western Asia, based in Beirut, acted to change its name to “Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia,” (ESCWA) because it became “aware of the extreme importance of social development in the context of the overall development of the economies of member states.”

While all these changes unfolded, ECA continues to show a lack of initiative. Being essentially a bloated bureaucratic entity, it waited only to act on the directives of its supervisory organ, the Economic and Social Council of the UN, which very clearly also bears a name that incorporates the word “Social”.

ECA appeared not to be aware of the decisive steps its counterparts in Asia had taken with regard to social development. As a result, to date, no similar resolutions have been passed with respect to its work and designation. This inaction has resulted in the fact that the social development foundation, the roots that nourish Africa is weak and fragile. Hence, the African continent has performed very poorly in virtually all indicators of development.

Impact of Social Development in History Historically, eras of intensive social mobilisation and development have sparked major advances in human condition. During the Classical Era, Greece, between the 4th and 5th centuries BC, exerted a great influence on the Roman Empire and on the foundations of emerging western civilisation. Such great minds like Socrates, Plato and Aristotle provided thoughtful leadership in literature, theatre, philosophy, architecture, culture, science, and politics. The intellectual minds of Greece blossomed during this period to yield, among others, the political legacy of democracy that many modern societies highly prize today.

Later, during the Early Modern Period (1500 – 1750 AD), Europe experienced diverse intellectual and social movements during the Renaissance, the Age of Discovery or Exploration, the Protestant Reformation, and the Age of Enlightenment. These gave birth, towards the end, to the Industrial Revolution, from about 1760 to between 1820 and 1840. Also, these events generated several political upheavals, the most notable of which was the French Revolution of 1789 - 1799. Democracy was further entrenched, and Europe was transformed into industrial societies from which emerged the practice of capitalism.

In more recent times, China experienced the socio-political movement of the Great Cultural Revolution of 1966 to 1976.

This event served as the prelude to the economic leaps and bounds that have seen China become the world’s second largest economy today.

Conclusion Intellectual and social movements that advance social developments precede major political and economic events in history. Therefore, Africa of today cannot be the exception. Africa, you cannot “have your cake and eat it too”. “Rome was not built in a day.”

Africa has to go through the grit and grind and pay the price before it can emerge as a developed new civilisation. There can be no half-measures and no cutting of corners.

Again, from Shakespeare: “To be, or not to be: that is the question.” Yes, for Africa it must be. It must be a future that holds the great promise of the “New African Civilisation”. After all, as the cradle, Africa built for the whole of humanity the earliest civilisation. Africa can do it again for the post-modern world.

Abara, is a Competitiveness Advisor, Thought leader on Reinventing Society, and former investment banker

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HEALTH&LIFESTYLE

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

Tackling Prevalence of Hypertension in Nigeria There is no doubt hypertension afflicts several Nigerians, irrespective of age and economic status.

Martins Ifijeh writes on the way forward in addressing an ailment that affects about 30 million Nigerians, with over 70 per cent of its victim unaware lthough Mr. Adewale (first name withheld) was a septuagenarian, he was sprightly and the picture of perfect health.

In fact, last December, his sole desire was to spend it with his children. But that desire was trauncated on December 13 when the silent killer struck. According to his wife, Adewale who was hale and hearty one second, suddenly collapsed whilst they were preparing for Sunday service.

For the heartbroken widow, she found out the consequences of high blood pressure the hard way. She lost the man she had spent 47 years with. The doctor’s verdict was that he died of high blood pressure.

She said: “He slumped that morning while we were preparing for church service.

Our driver and I hurriedly took him to a private clinic around Ilupeju in Lagos. As the doctor was trying to run a diagnosis on him, he discovered his blood pressure was extremely high, which he said, obviously had been like that for sometime before the unfortunate incident. In less than an hour , my husband breathed his last. Just like a dream, I lost the best part of me to the cold hands of death.”

Blood pressure readings contain a systolic value and a diastolic value, which physiologically averages 120 over 80 respectively.

Anything above 140 for systole and 110 for diastole is referred to as high blood pressure, and is considered dangerous.

Since the deceased’s blood pressure was 183/115mmHg, he was already a walking corpse, a parlance often used by doctors to describe someone with an extremely high blood pressure. The fact that Adewale looked healthy even up to the Sunday morning he died is not surprising as it is the usual characteristic of high blood pressure, commonly known as hypertension.

This ailment does not show any symptoms before it strikes, which makes it about the deadliest disease known to man. Thus, health experts advocate for consistent and continuous check of blood pressure, since it does not present symptoms that would aid its host to get treatment and regulate the blood pressure.

Prior to his death, Adewale was just one among 30 million estimated Nigerians suffering from hypertension, and he fell among the over 70 per cent of sufferers in the country who are not aware they are hypertensive.

A

Sudden Deaths This perhaps explain why sudden deaths have been a common occurrence in the country since the last decade, when non communicable diseases like high blood pressure have been gaining grounds due to fast changing lifestyle of the citizens.

Until recently, hypertension was mainly associated with more affluent regions of the world, but the condition is increasingly emerging in low and middle-income countries, especially in Africa where health resources are scarce and stretched by a high burden of infectious diseases such as HIV, malaria and tuberculosis, and where awareness and treatment levels of the scourge control is still very low.

Indices Currently, the worldwide burden of hypertension is greatest in Low and Middle Income Countries (LIMCs) where it affects about one in every five of the adult population and this is projected to increase if current indices are considered.

By 2025, almost three out of every four people with hypertension will be living in LMICs, especially in Africa where this number has been projected to increase as globalisation and economic advancement

Hypertension is preventable

usher in urbanisation, and LMIC’s crave to mimic advanced countries in everything they do.

Among African nations currently having a surge in high blood pressure prevalence, Nigeria is at the peak, as about 20 per cent of its population, or about 40 per cent of its adult population, are hypertensive according to available statistics, which therefore suggests that the country is sitting on a keg of powder waiting to explode if nothing is done to quell the rising prevalence of the menace in the country.

Experts To address this concern and prevent millions of Nigerians like Adewale, from dying, experts are raising an alarm over the continuous high prevalence rate of the disease in the country. They are especially calling on Nigerians to be wary of any lifestyle that predisposes one to hypertension, while also calling on them to cultivate

Among African nations currently having a surge in high blood pressure prevalence, Nigeria is at the peak, as about 20 per cent of its population, or about 40 per cent of its adult population, are hypertensive

PHOTOS: MARTINS IFIJEH

the habit of continuously checking their blood pressure.

According to a public health physician and the Medical Director, Livingstone Medical Centre, Benin, Dr. Kenneth Efosa, the prevalence of hypertension in the country might be higher than the figures currently being used. He said the current figure was unreliable because most Nigerians who were hypertensive do not bother to go for check up to know their blood pressure status, and hence there was no room for documenting a lot of people who may be suffering from it.

“Every Nigerian above 18 years old should be encouraged to check their blood pressure at least once every six months because the disease may not give any sign. So if you know before hand that your blood pressure is unstable, it would be easier to tackle it,” the MD stressed.

He however noted that high blood pressure was no longer a problem of adults alone, adding that, children have now been discovered to suffer from it. “So my advice on routine check is that every family should own a sphygmomanometer or a computerised blood pressure machine, so that at their convenience, they can check the blood pressure of every member of their family,” he added.

Workable Solutions He said the only way out of the high rate of the disease currently threatening adult Nigerians, was for everyone to tailor their lifestyle towards minimising risk factors for hypertension.

According to him, habits to be stopped include, lack of exercise, not getting enough sleep, reduction of caffeine and salt intake, as well as reduction in alcohol consumption, among others.

“Exercising for 30 to 60 minutes five days a week will usually lower a person’s blood pressure by 4 to 9 mmHg. It is important you check with your doctor before embarking on any physical activity programme. Exercise needs to be tailored

to the needs and health of patients,” he explained.

He noted that reduction in alcohol intake was a double edged sword against the scourge. “Alcohol in very small amounts may lower blood pressure, but if it is taken too much, or even in regular moderate amount, it may increase blood pressure.”

Efosa noted that if Nigerians cut short on fast foods, processed, as well as canned foods, and patronise vegetables and fruits, it would go a long way in reducing the prevalence of hypertension.

He also advocated for weight loss as a way out. “If you are overweight, the nearer you get to your ideal weight, the more likely your blood pressure is going to fall. Even for those already on hypertension drugs, the treatment is more likely to be effective if the body weight is on a physiologic state,” he explained.

The health expert also stated that not getting enough sleep can also increase someone’s risk of developing high blood pressure, noting that, people with sleep duration above or below the recommended seven to eight hours a day might face an increased risk of hypertension.

Lack of Data A recent study conducted by the University of Edinburgh, United Kingdom, also revealed that apart from the changing lifestyle of Nigerians and their habits of poor medical check-ups, another factor hampering the campaign against the scourge was the lack of patient data, as this has affected specific interventions, which should be tailored into tackling the scourge.

The study believed the country’s stakeholders may not be aware of the great threat the scourge poses to the country because of lack of data to vividly describe the menace. The study also revealed that hypertension is the single most important cause of morbidity and mortality globally and this highlights the urgent need of action to address the problem.

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NEWS

Study Shows Social Sports Can Increase Life Expectancy by 10 Years Martins Ifijeh A study conducted by Saint Luke’s Health Center in Kansas City, United States, has shown that social sports like tennis and badminton could add up to 10 years to a person’s life than the regular sports like cycling and jogging.

The study also showed that while tennis can add an average of 9.7 years to life expectancy, badminton has the capacity to add at least 6.2 years to a person’s life.

Carried out on 8,577 people

in Copenhagen, and published in the Mayo Clinic Proceedings recently, the study showed that the social aspect of these sports play a big role on how it improves the health of people.

“It is well known that people who exercise are likely to live longer, and a study of nearly 8,600 people in Copenhagen found social sports may have extra benefits.

“But more solitary sports have less of an impact on people’s life expectancy – cyclists live an average of 3.7 years longer, swimmers

3.4 years and joggers just 3.2 years.

“We cannot tell why tennis adds more years to life than others, but we suspect that the social interaction could be important,” the study revealed.

One of the researchers of the study, James O’Keefe said that while raising the heart rate through exercise is important for longevity, connecting with other people was also vital.

The study also compared people’s lifestyle details, including how often they

played each sport, if at all, with national death records.

According to O’Keefe: “People who report almost never exercising are the most likely to die young. But there are also differences in life expectancy among people who play different sports.

“Joining a book club or church group when you retire may extend your life.

Maintaining social links might even be more important for health than keeping fit.

“We tracked a group of 424 recently retired English men

and women for six years, and it was observed that the more social groups the pensioners belonged to, the lower their risk of an early death.

“Those who stopped attending social clubs they had been members of before retiring became six times more likely to die prematurely, as those who kept attending two or more,” he said.

He suggested that people who cycle or run could consider finding a partner or group to join them to boost the long-term health effects.

The findings back up a study

of 80,000 British adults, published last year in the British Medical Journal, which found people who play racket sports tend to outlive joggers.

Researchers on the new study said the life-extending effects still remained regardless of people’s age, wealth or level of education, suggesting that sports have a direct benefit.

But O’Keefe said it was still possible that people who have enough free time and money to play tennis regularly live longer because they have free time and money, rather than because of the tennis.

Hygeia Emerges HMO Brand of the Year Ayodeji Ake

L-R: Chairperson, Local Organising Committee, Diabetes Foot Conference, Prof. Felicia Anumah; Minister of Health, Prof. Isaac Adewole; and President, Association of Reproductive Health, Prof. Oladipo Ladipo, during the 4th Pan- African Diabetic Foot Study Group Conference in Abuja...recently PHOTO: FMOH

‘Sweetened Foods, Not Fruit Juice Responsible for Excess Sugar’ Martins Ifijeh A reputed nutritionist, Dr. Bisi Abiola has revealed that sweetened food, not fruit juice intake, as some people erroneously assume, was responsible for excess sugar level.

Abiola, who is the Managing Director of Indulge Nigeria Limited, stated this in her monthly wellness dialogue series, which is supported by Chivita, to boost public knowledge on the benefits of 100 per cent fruit juice.

In the lecture, Abiola said simple sugar contained in whole fruit and fruit juices was mostly in the form of fructose, but also include glucose and sucrose, adding that the amount contained in fruit juices was moderate and far less than the quantity considered as excessive.

She said: “Most often, the largest quantity of sugar in our diet tends to come from sweetened-processed products such as cakes, sweets, chocolates, puddings/desserts and sugaradded beverages.

“Sugar in 100 per cent fruit juice always comes with the fruits that have been juiced.

Accordingly, the World Health Organisation takes account of natural sugars contained in fruit juices in the ‘free sugars’ category’.”

Abiola pointed out that 100 per cent fruit juice contains no-added sugar, flavour or preservatives, adding that there is no direct link between the product and health risks such as obesity,

cancer, diabetes and dental decay.

According to her, 100 per cent fruit juice contains fructose, which is equivalent to the raw fruits they are made from.

She further explained that some fruit juices are sweeter than others because fruits, which they are extracted from, are of varied amount of sugar.

She said: “Juice is an important source of nutrients for many people and 100 per cent fruit juice makes a valuable contribution to your daily intake of Vitamin C. “A glass of pure orange fruit juice is also a good source of folate and potassium. It is a difficult task for children, and harder for adults to eat the five recommended portions of fruit a day, a problem readily solved by ready to drink fruit juices like Chivita 100 per cent fruit juice.

“But surprisingly, the sugar scare is overshadowing the positive contributions that fruit juice makes to national health.

Research supports favourable effects of fruit juices on lipid profile and blood pressure.

“With regards to dental decay, there is no major evidence of a link with the consumption of fruit or fruit juices, except when related to feeding bottles in early childhood.

“In a methodical review of the evidence, there exists no reliable evidence of negative impact of 100 per cent fruit juice on health, including body weight, cardiovascular disease and risk of type-two diabetes.”

Hygeia HMO has emerged as the 2018 winner of the Health Maintenance Organisation (HMO) Brand of the Year Award by the Institute of Brand Management of Nigeria.

According to the institute, the award was earned by Hygeia HMO for the significant improvement in market affinity and awareness of the Hygeia brand.

The institute said: “As brand practitioners ourselves, we were on the lookout for the one brand in the health insurance space that was doing work that we could recognize as impactful and Hygeia HMO stood out quite remarkably.

“This and the feedback from the market on service delivery and quality helped us make this call.

“They already have the widest coverage in Nigeria and this in our estimation is a fantastic thing.”

In his response to this recognition, Executive Head

of Strategy & Business Development at Hygeia HMO, Obinna Ukachukwu and said, “Our strategy of providing healthcare to everyone in Nigeria whether employed, unemployed or a sole entrepreneur is paying off.

“We started on this journey of personal and family healthcare plans with Nigerian families and small businesses in mind and we have been very pleased with the growth.”

According to him, Hygeia HMO’s devotion to improving affordability of quality health care is unequalled in Nigeria.

He noted that Hygeia HMO’s personal and family plans start at only N23, 000 for a full year’s cover ensuring basic healthcare cover.

Obinna noted that the Hygeia HMO mobile app for members serves as ID, provides full transparency on the benefits to be received, the available hospital network and even has basic health monitoring features like a Body Mass Index (BMI) calculator.

FG Appoints Seasoned Osun APC Candidate Takes Pharmacist as DG NIPRD Free Medical Mission to Iwo Martins Ifijeh The federal government has announced the appointment of Dr. Obi Peter Adigwe, a seasoned pharmacist, as the Director General of the National Institute for Pharmaceutical Research and Development (NIPRD).

According to inside information, the presidency’s approval for Adigwe’s appointment followed his emergence as the top scorer in a merit driven rigorous and comprehensive interview process, which had in attendance, some of the best candidates in Nigerian Pharmaceutical Research and Development.

Prior to his appointment, Adigwe was the Executive Secretary of the Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Group (PMGMAN), where he played a key role in the development and implementation of policy initiatives, which made considerable impact on the pharmaceutical industry.

Some of his achievements in PMGMAN include the prioritisation of the Pharma Industry in the 2016 Fiscal Policy, the organisation of the Landmark 2017 Pharma Expo, and his contributions to the conceptualisation of the internationally renowned

Medicines’ Security Concept.

Adigwe was also the pioneer Head of the Health Policy Research and Development (HPRD) Unit at the National Assembly, where he formulated research and development strategies in health policy as well as developed innovative and contextual training, research and capacity building modules.

He has a significant number of peer reviewed publications including the first K.A.P. study on Ebola in Nigeria, as well as a seminal paper on Rational Use of Medicines. While in the United Kingdom, he had also co-authored a write-up that influenced an epoch-making health policy reform in the British Parliament.

Adigwe has undertaken many national assignments, and has headed, as well as served on numerous committees and working groups at the highest levels, such as the D8, United Nations, World Health Organisation, African Union and the ECOWAS. He has also won several academic honours including the prestigious University of Leeds’ GRASS Post-Doctorate award. His appointment is to take effect immediately.

The All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship candidate in Osun State, Alhaji Gboyega Oyetola, has gifted free healthcare services to over 2000 residents of Iwo. The project is being undertaken in partnership with the Development Support International, an organisation with rich experience in medical outreach projects.

The Project Manager, Ilerioluwa Free Health Mission, Dr. Adebola Odunsi, said over 200 medical doctors, nurses, pharmacists, dentists, ophthalmologists, optometrists, pharmacy technicians and logistics workers, treated the huge number of people at an open field opposite Iwo Local Government Area secretariat.

He said the team offered free treatment including surgeries in five broad areas, including eye care, general outpatient, dental care, emergency medical services and health education.

“Through surgeries, lumps were removed in several parts of the body; cataract was removed from the eyes of many patients, while hernias were also corrected through surgeries.

“It is very important our people support leaders that are interested in the health of the citizens. Prior to this exercise, we did a population estimate and found out that for us to be able to undergo this initiative; we need at least 200 medical personnel

with specialised services. This has helped us in undergoing about 300 surgeries to residents of Iwo,” he said.

Commenting on the project after undergoing eye test, the Oluwo of Iwo, Oba Abdulrasheed Akanbi, commended Oyetola, stressing that the politician has brought succour to his subjects.

He said: “Many residents were suffering ill-health due to poverty but this free health initiative has brought succour to them. Efforts like this should be lauded irrespective of who is behind it.”

He told his enthusiastic subjects to ignore any attempt to demean the initiative by describing it as political.

While stressing that the project brought smile to the faces of thousands of poor people who cannot afford medical care, he challenged other politicians to emulate Oyetola.

“Even if they describe this as political, it is welcome here. As long as it benefits my people, we are happy to have it. Let other politicians bring good initiatives like this to Iwo, we will also embrace it. But it is easier said than done,” the monarch said.

He also expressed gratitude to all members of the medical team for leaving their jobs in foreign countries and Lagos to offer free services to his subjects.

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HEALTH

Addressing Pigmentation Problem among Nigerians Aesthetic experts have proferred solutions to skin challenges like pigmentation, patches and discolouration, adding that they can be addressed to give those affected the glowing skin they deserve. Martins Ifijeh writes

E

ver wondered why many Nigerians now adorn a fairer and lighter skin in a bid to mask their normal skin coloration and look like whites? Wonder no more: for many of such persons, adorning a fairer skin gives them the needed glow for body confidence and beauty. To others, this glow typifies how healthy they look.

But the West African black coloration, which is now being toned into the fairer skin type is one unique skin type that comes with the highest amount of melanin every other race would crave for because of its benefits.

For instance, health experts believe dark pigmented people living in high sunlight environment like Nigeria are at an advantage due to the high amounts of melanin produced in their skin, as it protects from DNA damage and absorbs the right amounts of ultra violet radiation needed by the body, as well as protects against folate depletion.

However, despite the benefits and beauty associated with the colour, many Nigerians still lack confidence in how they look because being black to them comes with uneven skin tone and patchy discolouration which, they believe makes their skin not good enough.

While these uneven patches and discolourations are seen in the skin of all races, it is often common with people from African descent because the darker the skin, the more prone people are to having these skin challenges.

The most common form of this irregular pigmentation is hyper-pigmentation, a condition in which patches of skin become darker in colour than the normal surrounding skin, often caused by sun damage, among others.

Tackling Discolouration It is in tackling this discolouration and patches, such that all Nigerians can love the skin they are in, that the Founder, Clinicbe Skin of Colour, Dr. Barbara Kubicka is creating awareness on how common issues around skin colour can be addressed in Nigeria. She said variations in skin colour can be very noticeable and may tend to get worse with sun exposure, adding that treatments with bleaching creams can be counter-productive or even dangerous.

According to the aesthetic physician, “Pigmentation is a challenging issue and treatment is not a ‘quick fix’. For best results, at-home skincare regimes must be carefully followed every day and all professional peels and masks applied as per the treatment programme will produce results over time. With ongoing attention, the skin will respond, so results develop over a couple of months.”

Hyper-pigmentation is treatable

PHOTO: Google

problems for all tones of skin, believes the condition can be 100 per cent tackled to give Nigerians the glowing skin they deserve.

Discussing her experience with THISDAY, Kubicka said a 57-year-old woman concerned about facial hyper-pigmentation as a result of sun exposure once visited her clinic for treatment. She said over the counter skin care products the woman used before the visit were ineffective, causing her confidence level to deteriorate because her skin continued to worsen, impacting on her social life and self-esteem.

“I then prescribed a tailor-made programme of treatment to improve her complexion, combining an at-home regime of ‘Me Line’ products, which are designed for treating pigmentation and only available from selected skincare professionals. I also prescribed Obagi hydroquinone overnight cream to more intensively tackle the darker pigmentation areas.

“Skin of colour requires a completely different

Hyper-pigmentation Health experts say a major pigmentation issue affecting blacks, like typical Nigerians is hyperpigmentation, which usually appears as brown spots and dark patches on the face, chest, arms, hands and other parts of the body. It often occurs when an excess of melanin, the brown pigment that produces normal skin colour, forms deposits in the skin. They believed sun exposure; acne, genetics and hormonal changes can trigger or worsen irregular pigmentation in the body.

Hyper-pigmentation is known to be associated with a number of skin conditions and diseases such as melasma (a skin condition more common in women and thought to be related to hormones as in pregnancy, use of combined contraceptives, HRT, etc), Tinea (fungal infection usually in moist areas e.g. armpits, under breasts, groin etc) and a host of other medical conditions. Hyper-pigmentation is also seen following injury to the skin or inflammation of the skin which leads to PIH. While hyper-pigmentation can affect other races, it is believed that the intense sun light in places like Nigeria makes the skin issue somewhat more commoner in this part of the world. And in addressing this, many Nigerians ignorantly switch to bleaching creams which has been proven to be counter-productive.

Kubicka who is an aesthetic physician and specialises in treating challenging pigmentation

Pigmentation is a challenging issue and treatment is not a ‘quick fix’. For best results, athome skincare regimes must be carefully followed every day and all professional peels and masks applied as per the treatment programme will produce results over time. With ongoing attention, the skin will respond, so results develop over a couple of months

Kubicka

approach. TCA chemical peels, laser or IPL (intense pulsed light treatment) are often recommended by less knowledgeable aestheticians in the expectation that they will improve the complexion.

“However, when dealing with skin of colour, these treatments can cause post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation or hypo-pigmentation – making the discolouration significantly worse. Patients with darker skin types are also more susceptible to burns.

The key is to manage the risks of any treatment while ensuring that it is effective,” she said.

The renowned doctor who has one of her clinics in Lagos said after the initial pigmentation treatment programme, it is important to select an appropriate maintenance skincare regime for use at home, adding that the team at Clinicbe will continue to make suitable recommendations for Nigerians who require glowing skin without skin patches.

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HEALTH NEWS

Screening, Treatment of Diabetes, Hypertension to Be conducted in PHCs, Says Minister Martins Ifijeh The Minister of Health, Prof.

Isaac Adewole has said that plans are underway for Primary Healthcare Centers (PHCs) to screen and treat diabetes and hypertension across the country.

The minister made this known in Abuja recently while declaring open the fourth PanAfrican Diabetic Foot Study Group Conference and the Advance Course on Diabetic Foot/ Podiatry organised by the Pan-African Diabetic Foot Study Group in collaboration with World Diabetes Foundation and Mark Anumah Medical Mission.

Adewole said: “We will go beyond screening of diabetes at the teaching hospitals but we want to mainstream it in our primary healthcare centers.

“As we are implementing the basic healthcare provision funds in PHC in this year’s

budget, we want to offer care to Nigerians in the primary healthcare level, where the large number of population received medical care,” he said.

The minister said that the situation where everyone goes to teaching hospitals would not help the Nigerian health system.

He further explained that the federal government would conduct a survey this year to determine the number of people affected with such diseases.

“We want to know how many people have the problem so that government can provide care for them appropriately”, he said In his remarks, chairman of the occasion, and the President, Association of Reproductive Health, Prof. Oladipo Ladipo, said Nigeria has the largest population in Africa and indirectly has the largest number of diabetic patients

in Sub-Sahara Africa.

He said Nigerian doctors, nurses, and orthopedic surgeon must work together to ensure that diabetic foot was reduced to the barest minimum.

Ladipo said that more than 120 delegates converged from various parts of Africa to dis-

cuss way forward on diabetic foot /podiatry.

He emphasised that Nigeria must develop another way to manage non- communicable diseases.

In her presentation, the Chairperson, Local Organising Committee, Prof. Felicia

Anumah of University of Abuja Teaching Hospital said that diabetes had become pandemic and would lead to increase of diabetic foot.

She said the disease is silent until it sets up complications, has high economic cost and difficult to manage when the

case is presented lately.

“50 perc cent of the patients present their cases when the only option is amputation”, she said.

She called on general public to always visit healthcare providers for checkup if there is any pain in the feet.

Research Says Inadequate Sleep Can Cause Poor Sexual Satisfaction There are so many scientifically proven health benefits of sex. Aside from reproduction, pleasure and intimacy, sex seems to have a positive impact on many life areas, including work, physical performance, marriage and happiness.

Maintaining a healthy sex life at home has also been known to boost job satisfaction and engagement at work. However, women experiencing inadequate sleep could be denied of these health benefits and satisfaction that quality sex life provides.

This is according to a new research from the North American Menopause Society (NAMS), which suggests that quality of sleep influences the quality of women’s sex life.

The study says that many women who are going through menopause have trouble sleeping, revealing that sleep quality can also affect a woman’s level of sexual satisfaction.

It affirms that women, who are either pre-menopausal or have entered the menopause often have trouble sleeping.

According to the findings, some of the sleep problems they experience include trouble falling asleep, waking up in the middle of the night or waking up in the early hours of the morning, while some of the factors contributing to these sleep disturbances range from hormonal changes, hot flushes, and abnormalities of

the circadian rhythm to lifestyle choices or other age-related medical conditions.

Studies have consistently shown that insufficient sleep can cause a variety of health problems, as individuals who are constantly deprived of sleep may develop hypertension and heart disease.

Additional research has also found a link between insufficient sleep and Type 2 diabetes and obesity.

This new study from the North American Menopause Society looked at how sleep deprivation also affects levels of sexual satisfaction among post-menopausal women.

The first author of the study is Dr. Juliana M. Kling, and the findings were published in the journal Menopause, as the findings clearly revealed that poor sleep impacts sexual satisfaction.

Researchers analyzed the data collected by the Women’s Health Initiative (WHI) study, a long-term national health study aiming to prevent a range of diseases among post-menopausal women aged between 50 and 79.

For the present study, Dr. Kling and colleagues examined data on sleep quality and sexual satisfaction from 93,668 women enrolled in the WHI. Short sleep duration was defined as fewer than 7-8 hours of sleep per night.

FOR HEALTHY FERTILITY LIFE

L-R: Co-chair, Local Organising Committee, AFRH 2018 Annual Conference, Mrs. Biola Adewusi; Chairman, LOC, Dr. Abayomi Ajayi; President, AFRH, Dr. Faye Iketubosin, and Vice Chairman, LOC, Dr. Ikenna Emeka, during a press conference to announce the forthcoming conference in Lagos...recently PHOTO: AFRH

Invest in Building Resilient Health Systems, US Ambassador Charges NCDC Martins Ifijeh The United States Ambassador to Nigeria, Stuart Symington has called on the Nigerian Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) to invest in building resilient health systems, as this would help in safeguarding citizens and act as a strategy to bolster economic transformation in the nation.

Symington, who made this call during a courtesy visit to NCDC in Abuja recently, said

the disease control organisation plays a significant role as Nigeria’s national public health institute, adding it highlights the progress made in the prevention, detection and response to infectious disease outbreaks.

Symington who noted that the visit demonstrates a strong confidence in the long-standing relationship with the Nigerian government said: “The experience that I have had during my visit to NCDC headquarters has shown me

FrieslandCampina Donates Dairy Products to IDP Camp Martins Ifijeh The Global CEO, Royal FrieslandCampina, Hein Schumacher has donated dairy products and education materials to internally displaced persons at the Durumi IDP Camp, Abuja.

Schumacher made the donation as part of the four months nutrition outreach of FrieslandCampina WAMCO Nigeria to the IDP camp.

Speaking at the occasion, Schumacher explained, “FrieslandCampina is committed to its purpose, Nourishing

by Nature, which focuses on improving the overall health and nutrition status of populations where it operates. As a company, we want to provide better nutrition for the world, we understand that a significant portion of the world’s population is faced with undernourishment; milk is filled with a lot of essential nutrients and can make a positive contribution towards solving this challenge.”

In the company of the President, Consumer Dairy, Royal FrieslandCampina, Roel van Neerbos, Managing Director, FrieslabdCampina, Ben Langat, and the Corporate Affairs Director, FrieslandCampina WAMCO Nigeria, Ore Famurewa, Schumacher, who is on a two-day working visit to Nigeria, made the donation through the Nigerian Red Cross Society, which will be fully accountable for the distribution of the products and also deliver the project with care.

how things can be done efficiently in a public-sector organisation.

“I commend NCDC for being a model for other national public health institutes on the continent.”

The ambassador also reinforced the US government’s leadership and commitment to the Global Health Security Agenda (GHSA), whose goal is to support countries to strengthen their ability to prevent and respond to epidemics.

“Through the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

(US-CDC), we have supported NCDC to train frontline health workers, strengthen laboratory capacity and disease surveillance across the nation.

“Particularly laudable among NCDC’s recent achievements, is the coordination of the development of a National Action Plan for Health Security.

“This plan reinforces the need for multi-sectoral collaborations to fight epidemics and ensure global health security,” he added.

FBRA Urges Proper Disposal of Plastic Waste for Cleaner Environment Martins Ifijeh As the World Clean-up Day draws near, the Food and Beverage Recycling Alliance (FBRA) has called on consumers to imbibe the culture of proper disposal of used post-consumer packaging waste with special focus on Polythylene Terephthalate (PET) bottles to avoid environmental pollution.

FBRA, which is the Producer Responsibility Organisation (PRO) of companies in the food and beverage sector, explained that a healthy lifestyle that embraces waste management, is necessary for the ecosystem to get rid of diseases associated with unhealthy environment.

The alliance will on September 14, along with its collection partner Recycle Points, which is the eve of the World Clean-up

Day, engage in cleaning exercise and will educate members of the public on waste separation and management at the Arena Market in Oshodi, Lagos.

The exercise will involve volunteer staff from its member companies which include Nigerian Bottling Company Limited, the Coca-Cola Company Nigeria, Nigerian Breweries Plc, Seven-Up Bottling Company Limited and Nestle Nigeria Plc. They will be involved in cleaning of refuse sites within the market, as well as drainages filled with debris from packaging waste bottles.

As part of the initiative, traders and people in the market would be enlightened on issues relating to proper disposal and recycling, healthy lifestyle and measures aimed at curbing environmental pollution.

40

T H I S D AY • THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 13, 2018

BUSINESS/MONEYGUIDE

MTN: CBN, AGF Allegations Makes NSE Listing Challenging A $10.1 billion demand by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the Attorney General of the Federation from MTN Nigeria will make its planned listing on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) “pretty challenging and awkward.”

The Group’s Chief Financial Officer, MTN, Ralph Mupita, said this yesterday.

The central bank recently asked MTN to repatriate $8.1 billion in monies sent abroad, claiming the funds were sent without proper certification.

The company is also facing a $2 billion tax demand. MTN has denied any wrongdoing.

But Reuters quoted Mupita to have said preparation of the company’s initial public

offering (IPO) prospectus had advanced.

“We are not sitting here saying the listing is off. The listing is to remain on track,” he was quoted to have told CNBC Africa television.

“It makes the IPO that we had planned pretty challenging and awkward, but we have got to explore other options of continuing to meet the listing requirements,” he said.

MTN has said it will engage with the central bank over the demand. It said the monies sent out of the country were equity dividends.

Sources have told Reuters that the scale of the central bank’s demand affects market conditions, casting into doubt

the likelihood that the listing process would be completed by the end of the year, if at all.

Shares in MTN fell nearly a third in Johannesburg in the days after the central bank issued its demand on August 29. Mupita said the shares were oversold and trading below broker consensus. MTN’s shares were down 2.78 per cent on Wednesday.

Mupita said MTN was committed to Nigeria and would stay in the country, adding that the company was looking forward to an amicable resolution to the matters. Nigeria is MTN’s biggest market, accounting for a third of its annual core profit.

AfDB Board Okays Policy on Non-sovereign Operations James Emejo in Abuja The Board of Directors of the African Development Bank Group (AfDB) yesterday approved its policy on Nonsovereign operations (NSO).

The document reportedly provides the framework within which the bank through its private sector lending window may provide financing or investment without sovereign guarantees to private and public entities that meet specific eligibility requirements on non-concessional terms. The framework further covers non-sovereign guaranteed financing of eligible public sector enterprises, as well as financing of regional development finance institutions. Essentially, Nonsovereign Operations (NSOs)

are financing and investment operations that are not guaranteed by a State, covering mostly private sector transactions. The approval of the policy comes at a critical moment when the AfDB is seeking to accelerate inclusive and sustainable economic growth, and crowd in more private sector funding for strong and inclusive growth to drive economic transformation and sustainable development in its Regional Member Countries (RMCs). According to a statement issued by the bank, the NSO Policy will complement the Bank’s overarching 2013 Private Sector Development policy framework, notably, by defining what the Bank will do in the area of non-sovereign lending.

“Within this context, the objec-

tive of the Bank’s non-sovereign operations is to help accelerate the continent’s transformation through various financial support mechanisms and products including loans, lines of credit, guarantees, blended finance, equity investments and trade finance. “This would enable the Bank to contribute to the sustainable economic growth and inclusive social development of its RMCs individually and jointly, in fulfilment of the Bank’s mandate,” it noted. It stated that the Bank’s “engagement in its selected non-sovereign operations will aim to maximise the catalytic impact of its limited resources, while seeking to promote inclusive growth and the gradual transition to ‘green growth’ in its RMCs.”

NEXIM Earmarks N37bn to Promote Agricultural Products in 36 States, FCT Francis Sardauna in Katsina The Nigerian Export-Import Bank (NEXIM) said it has earmarked N37 billion to develop and support export commodities from primary production to exporting stage across the 36 states of the federation, including the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja.

According to the bank, each state and the FCT would benefit from N1 billion loan with single-digit interest rate to produce a chosen agricultural product that is export worthy in order to compliment the

federal government’s quest of diversifying the oil-based revenue to agriculture.

The Managing Director of NEXIM, Abba Bello, who disclosed this while on courtesy call to Governor Aminu Bello Masari, at the Government House, Katsina, said the team was in the state to present the product and workable plans to the governor to kick-start the project in the state.

“Katsina State is known for certain commodities that are exportable, for instances Soya beans.

So what we have come to suggest to his Excellency is let choose one or two products

that we can support from primary production using anchor-borrower scheme.

“We are piloting the scheme with at least N1 billion in Katsina, and we intend to see it done to burst export of commodities in the state before the end of this year’s farming season. The fund might be inadequate, but the portfolio will be increased,” he said.

According to the NEXIM bank chief, the initiative if accomplished, would general employment opportunities for the teeming unemployed youths in the state, enhance food production, thus improving the economy status of the country.

Cocoa Harvest Threatened by Flood, Disease Nigeria’s cocoa harvest is threatened by floods and an outbreak of fungal disease as heavy rains fall in the West African country’s main growing regions, the cocoa association said.

“It has been raining heavily and nonstop, almost daily since late July,” the president of the Cocoa Association of Nigeria, Sayina Riman, told Bloomberg.

“Just as flooding is threatening the survival of the cocoa trees, excessive rain is boosting the spread of black pod disease.”

A fungus that attacks both

pods and trees, black pod spreads fast in damp weather, causing pods to shrivel and turn black while trees whither.

The worst-affected south-eastern cocoa belt could lose as much as 40 per cent of its estimated output of 72,000 metric tons of cocoa beans, according to Riman.

Nigeria currently ranks joint fifth with neighbouring Cameroon among the world’s biggest cocoa producers, with the International Cocoa Organisation estimating its 2017-18 output at 240,000 tons.

The local cocoa association

estimates that production will be little changed in the 2018-19 season due to start in October.

Nigeria has two cocoa seasons comprising the smaller midcrop running from April to June, and the main crop from October to December.

More than 60 per cent of Nigeria’s cocoa is produced in the southwestern region, with the city of Akure as the main trading centre.

Cocoa closed at $2,284 per ton in Tuesday’s trading, down 0.7 percent from the previous day. The chocolate ingredient has gained 21 percent this year.

L-R: Chairman/President of China-Africa e-Commerce Co.Limited, Hou Zhigang; Director of Marketing, Zhicheng Jiang (standing next); FirstBank’s Group Executive, International Banking Group, Bashirat Odunewu and MD/CEO, First Bank of Nigeria Limited, Adesola Adeduntan, during an MoU signing in China…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 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, TUE, 11, SEPTEMBER , 2018 The price of OPEC basket of fifteen crudes stood at $76.02 a barrel on Tuesday, compared with $75.20 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, SEPTEMBER 13, 2018

MARKET NEWS

Indicators Hit New Low as Market Records Biggest Daily Loss in Eight Months Goddy Egene The stock market yesterday recorded its biggest daily loss in the last eight months following continued sell-offs in big counters.

Specifically, the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) AllShare Index went down by 3.46 per cent to close at 32,292.79, while market capitalisation

shed N422.2 billion to close N11.8 trillion. Consequently, the year-to-date decline worsened to 15.6 per cent.

According to analysts at Meristem Securities Limited said significant selloffs on top counters across all sectors today dragged market performance.

“Weak investor sentiment was adequately captured by a

poor market breadth of 0.30x, as investors flee the Nigerian bourse.

We do not expect a deviation from this trend in the remaining trading days this week, implying a negative close to the market this week,” they said.

A total of 37 stocks declined compared with only 10 that appreciated.

The price losers were dominated by heavy weights such as Dangote Cement Plc, Nigerian Breweries Plc, Zenith Bank Plc, FBN Holdings Plc and Stanbic IBTC Holdings Plc. However, Universal Insurance Plc led the price losers with 10 per cent, trailed by Cement Company of Northern Nigeria Plc with 9.8 per cent.

On the positive side, Law Union & Rock Insurance Plc led the price gainers with 9.0 per cent, followed by Skye Bank Plc with 8.9 per cent.

From every indication, investors are ignoring strong fundamentals of some of the stocks and continued to exit due to their apprehension over the current political situation.

Analysts at Afrinvest (W.A)

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

have made some stocks in the banking, consumer goods and industrial goods sectors to be attractive. In the banking sector, for instance, the said United Bank for Africa Plc has upside potential of 56 per cent and Zenith Bank Plc 52 per cent. GTBank Plc has 27 per cent growth potential, while Access Bank Plc has 11.3 per cent.

12/09/2018

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 30

BANKING ACCESS BANK PLC. UNITED BANK FOR AFRICA PLC ZENITH BANK PLC OTHER FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS FBN HOLDINGS PLC

MARKET CAP(Nm) 231,423.77

TRADES

VOLUME

BEVERAGES--BREWERS/DISTILLERS S/N

8.00

-8.57

157

46,154,893

241,105.92

7.05

-2.76

174

6,340,179

618,510.93

19.70

-1.01

401 732

16,947,596 69,442,668

32

TRADES

VOLUME

33

300

22,604,387

34 35

MARKET CAP(Nm) 290,751.87

MARKET CAP(Nm) DANGOTE CEMENT PLC 3,578,506.56 LAFARGE AFRICA PLC. 199,488.85

BUILDING MATERIALS

EXPLORATION AND PRODUCTION SEPLAT PETROLEUM DEVELOPMENT COMPANY PLC

PRICE %CHANGE

MARKET CAP(Nm) 357,009.32

PRICE %CHANGE 8.10

-7.95

PRICE %CHANGE 210.00 23.00

-5.83 -

PRICE %CHANGE 606.70

0.61

31

300

22,604,387

1,032

92,047,055

TRADES

VOLUME

37

59 25 84 84

18,704,802 82,378 18,787,180 18,787,180

38

TRADES

VOLUME

33

108,193

33

108,193

33 1,149

108,193 110,942,428

36

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

MARKET CAP(Nm) 440.00

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

76,217.41

79.90

-

40

245,046

60,000.00

60.00

-0.08

11 51

113,141 358,187

FISHING/HUNTING/ TRAPPING ELLAH LAKES PLC.

MARKET CAP(Nm) 511.20

PRICE %CHANGE

TRADES

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.

MARKET CAP(Nm) 1,800.00

MARKET CAP(Nm) 1,164.81

PRICE %CHANGE 0.20

4.26

-

-

PRICE %CHANGE 0.60

-

VOLUME

0

0

19,674,246

29,389.23

10.20

-

43 190 190

323,771 20,002,694 20,002,694

TRADES

VOLUME

0 0

0 0

TRADES

VOLUME

33,000.00

25.00

-

13

31,780

165.00

6.60

-

0

0

13

31,780

24,014.43

TRADES

VOLUME

55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67

12 12

200,031

68

PRICE %CHANGE

TRADES

VOLUME

-

0

0

69 70

-

0

0

72

0

73

-

0

200,031

S/N

-

9.00

71

74

0

0

25

231,811

TRADES

VOLUME

77

-

2 2

51,000 51,000

78

PRICE %CHANGE

TRADES

VOLUME

7

32,337

75 76

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. NIGERIAN BREW. PLC.

MARKET CAP(Nm) 14,093.09

PRICE %CHANGE 0.20

1.80

-

0

0

1,158.30

6.50

-

0

0

52,988.77

20.00

-

26

201,194

3,676.41

13.45

-

MARKET CAP(Nm) 1,680.31 3,346.01

MARKET PERSONAL/HOUSEHOLD PRODUCTS CAP(Nm) P Z CUSSONS NIGERIA 53,601.44 PLC. UNILEVER NIGERIA 268,866.25 PLC.

MARKET CAP(Nm) 28,487.28

362,607

140

45.20

-

54

-8.47

11,300.89

0.36

4,420

1.08

95.00

1,340.10

3

43,899.83

MARKET CAP(Nm) 1,900.00

1,574,657

48

720 1,000

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

516,288

29

4,420

2,957

1.57

72

-8.55

VOLUME

1 1

PRICE %CHANGE

-7.91

1.39

3

-

MARKET CAP(Nm) 4,079.48

19.80

11,022.97

TRADES

0.58 3.25

REAL ESTATE DEVELOPMENT UACN PROPERTY DEVELOPMENT COMPANY PLC

81,187.52

46

225.71 2,111.93

PRICE %CHANGE

375,104

0 0

VOLUME

MARKET CAP(Nm)

51

0 0

5

-

-1.39

DIAMOND BANK PLC ECOBANK TRANSNA339,466.70 TIONAL INCORPORATED FIDELITY BANK PLC 43,751.94 GUARANTY TRUST 959,456.44 BANK PLC. JAIZ BANK PLC 15,616.05 SKYE BANK PLC 8,466.98 STERLING BANK PLC. 41,746.11 UNION BANK NIG.PLC. 147,059.80 UNITY BANK PLC 9,117.68 WEMA BANK PLC. 23,144.68

TRADES

4.79

47,943

14.20

45

49 50 51 52 53 54 BANKING

242.22

0.89

-

0

0

192,753.69

88.00

-

30

65,689

275,067.58

32.00

-10.00

11

8,079,136

671,739.77

84.00

-4.55

101

314,037

79 80 INSURANCE CARRIERS, BROKERS AND SERVICES S/N 81

INSURANCE CARRIERS, BROKERS AND SERVICES AFRICAN ALLIANCE INSURANCE PLC AIICO INSURANCE PLC. AXAMANSARD INSURANCE PLC CONSOLIDATED HALLMARK INSURANCE PLC CONTINENTAL REINSURANCE PLC CORNERSTONE INSURANCE PLC GOLDLINK INSURANCE PLC GREAT NIGERIAN INSURANCE PLC GUINEA INSURANCE PLC. INTERNATIONAL ENERGY INSURANCE PLC LASACO ASSURANCE PLC. LAW UNION AND ROCK INS. PLC. LINKAGE ASSURANCE PLC MUTUAL BENEFITS ASSURANCE PLC. NEM INSURANCE PLC NIGER INSURANCE PLC PRESTIGE ASSURANCE PLC REGENCY ASSURANCE PLC SOVEREIGN TRUST INSURANCE PLC STACO INSURANCE PLC STANDARD ALLIANCE INSURANCE PLC. SUNU ASSURANCES NIGERIA PLC. UNIC DIVERSIFIED HOLDINGS PLC. UNIVERSAL INSURANCE PLC VERITAS KAPITAL ASSURANCE PLC WAPIC INSURANCE PLC MICRO-FINANCE BANKS FORTIS MICROFINANCE BANK PLC

VOLUME

170,400.00

VOLUME

47

TRADES 15

BANKING

-

PRICE %CHANGE

44 PERSONAL/HOUSEHOLD PRODUCTS CONSUMER GOODS FINANCIAL SERVICES

8,491,199

-

FOOD PRODUCTSMARKET -DIVERSIFIED CAP(Nm) CADBURY NIGERIA 17,655.10 PLC. NESTLE NIGERIA PLC. 1,172,338.60 HOUSEHOLD DURABLES NIGERIAN ENAMELWARE PLC. VITAFOAM NIG PLC.

PRICE %CHANGE

149

8.40

S/N

0.44

MARKET CAP(Nm) 711.32

PRICE %CHANGE

TRADES

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.

MARKET CAP(Nm) 42,000.00

MARKET CAP(Nm)

PRICE %CHANGE

0

0

193

2,715,186

TRADES

VOLUME

9.40

-6.47

27

215,201

1,479.00

-0.40

144 171

521,819 737,020

PRICE %CHANGE

TRADES

VOLUME

22.10

-

0

0

3.21

-0.93

27 27

5,196,229 5,196,229

PRICE %CHANGE

TRADES

VOLUME

13.50

-

27

134,928

46.80

-

28

131,174

PRICE %CHANGE 1.23

-8.89

55

266,102

597

17,456,736

TRADES

VOLUME

48

4,234,808

18.50

-5.13

55

8,110,247

1.51

-9.58

125

7,692,994

32.60

0.31

266

16,053,404

0.53 0.61 1.45 5.05 0.78 0.60

6.00 8.93 -0.69 -4.72 -1.27 5.26

18 79 297 25 6 15 934

2,223,200 5,783,893 10,656,969 229,276 248,712 1,025,422 56,258,925

PRICE %CHANGE

TRADES

VOLUME

4,117.00

0.20

-

0

0

5,821.37

0.84

-6.67

57

5,552,974

24,150.00

2.30

-

2

5,100

2,240.00

0.32

-8.57

1

100,000

14,833.02

1.43

-

1

29,982

3,682.38

0.25

-

10

91,601

2,411.47

0.53

-

0

0

1,913.74

0.50

-

0

0

1,964.80

0.32

-

1

50,000

487.95

0.38

-

1

11,666

2,197.03

0.30

-9.09

9

715,515

2,577.80

0.60

9.09

7

325,031

5,600.00

0.70

-

0

0

2,160.00

0.27

-3.57

8

447,885

15,841.51 2,554.03

3.00 0.33

-3.23 -8.33

39 15

1,811,521 526,006

1,832.36

0.48

-

0

0

1,533.81

0.23

-

3

16,173

2,001.80

0.24

-

0

0

4,483.72

0.48

-

0

0

3,485.98

0.27

-

2

20,000

2,800.00

0.20

-

3

152,272

516.46

0.20

-

1

2,984

4,320.00

0.27

-10.00

1

100,000

3,882.67

0.28

-

2

3,800

5,353.10

0.40

-2.44

40

1,884,759

203

11,847,269

PRICE %CHANGE

TRADES

VOLUME

0

0

MARKET CAP(Nm) 11,799.67

2.58

-

˾ THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 13, 2018

42

Thursday, September 13, 2018 THISDAY Afrinvest 40 Declines by 2.9%

THISDAY AFRINVEST 40 INDEX

Yesterday, Wedneday 12th September, the Thisday Afrinvest 40 index shed 2.9% to 1,292.97 points while YTD loss stood

Fundamental Performance Metrics for THISDAY AFRINVEST 40 Index

at -ϭϲ͘Ϯй͘ dŚĞ ŶĞŐĂƟǀĞ ƉĞƌĨŽƌŵĂŶĐĞ ŽĨ ƚŚĞ ŝŶĚĞdž ǁĂƐ ĚƵĞ ƚŽ ƐƵƐƚĂŝŶĞĚ ƉƌŝĐĞ ĚĞƉƌĞĐŝĂƟŽŶ ŝŶ NESTLE (-0.4%), ZENITH (1.0%) and NIGERIAN BREWERIES (-ϰ͘ϱйͿ ǁŚŝĐŚ ĐƵŵƵůĂƟǀĞůLJ ĂĐĐŽƵŶƚ ĨŽƌ ϯϲ͘ϴй ŽĨ ƚŚĞ ŝŶĚĞdž͘

ŽŵĞƐƟĐ ƋƵŝƟĞƐ DĂƌŬĞƚ ƐŚĞĚƐ ŝƚƐ ŝŐŐĞƐƚ ĂŝůLJ >ŽƐƐ ŝŶ ϴ DŽŶƚŚƐ͙ ^/ ĚŽǁŶ ϯ͘ϱй dŽĚĂLJ͕ ƚŚĞ ĚŽŵĞƐƟĐ ĞƋƵŝƟĞƐ market shed its biggest daily loss ŝŶ ϴ ŵŽŶƚŚƐ ĂƐ ƐĞůů-ŽīƐ ĚƌŽǀĞ ƚŚĞ ůů ^ŚĂƌĞ /ŶĚĞdž ; ^/Ϳ ϯ͘ϱй

Current Price

Ticker

THISDAY AFRINVEST 40

Price Price Previous Current Change Change Price Weightin YTD Index to Change g Date

ROE

ROA

P/E

P/BV

Divinden Earnings d Yield Yield

1,292.97

-2.87%

-16.2%

29.3%

19.7%

6.6%

5.7x

0.7x

6.4%

1

Guaranty Trust Bank PLC

32.60

0.3%

20.5%

-20.0%

-19.6%

35.8%

5.4%

5.0x

2.0x

8.4%

12.9% 20.1%

2

Zenith Bank PLC

19.70

-1.0%

11.9%

-23.2%

-24.0%

25.6%

3.6%

3.4x

0.9x

13.9%

29.8%

3

Nigerian Brew eries PLC

4.1%

4

Nestle Nigeria PLC

5

Dangote Cement PLC

6

FBN Holdings Plc

8.10

-8.0%

6.1%

-8.0%

-7.8%

7.4%

0.9%

5.3x

0.4x

2.9%

18.8%

7

Access Bank PLC

8.00

-8.6%

4.1%

-23.4%

-24.5%

13.3%

1.6%

3.7x

0.5x

8.1%

27.2%

12.1%

84.00

-4.5%

6.7%

-37.7%

-37.8%

15.9%

24.1x

3.9x

4.9%

1,479.00

-0.4%

9.1%

-4.9%

-4.9%

92.0%

23.0%

30.3x

26.3x

3.1%

3.3%

210.00

-5.8%

6.8%

-8.7%

-8.7%

21.7%

9.9%

21.4x

5.0x

5.0%

4.7%

8

United Bank for Africa PLC

7.05

-2.8%

3.6%

-31.6%

-32.3%

16.2%

1.9%

3.1x

0.5x

9

Ecobank Transnational Inc

18.50

-5.1%

4.3%

8.8%

13.7%

12.2%

1.0%

6.0x

0.8x

31.8% 16.7%

10

SEPLAT Petroleum Development C

606.70

0.6%

3.6%

-3.1%

-3.1%

25.0%

14.6%

2.8x

0.6x

3.0%

35.9%

11

Stanbic IBTC Holdings PLC

41.00

-8.9%

3.4%

-1.2%

0.2%

35.4%

4.9%

6.4x

2.0x

2.4%

15.7%

12

Unilever Nigeria PLC

46.80

0.0%

3.5%

14.1%

16.4%

20.4%

8.7%

25.9x

3.4x

1.1%

3.9%

ƚŽ ϭϭ͘ϴƚŶ͘ ^Ğůů-ŽīƐ ŝŶ E' D (-ϱ͘ϴйͿ͕ STANBIC (-ϴ͘ϵйͿ͕

13

Guinness Nigeria PLC

88.00

0.0%

2.6%

-6.4%

-6.4%

10.3%

4.5%

26.2x

2.2x

2.2%

3.8%

NIGERIAN BREWERIES (-4.6%) and ACCESS (-ϴ͘ϲйͿ ůĂƌŐĞůLJ

14

Lafarge Africa PLC

23.00

0.0%

1.0%

-48.8%

-48.8%

-54.0%

-10.1%

1.4x

6.8%

-39.1%

6.7%

lower to ϯϮ͕ϮϵϮ͘ϳϵ ƉŽŝŶƚƐ͘ YTD loss dipped to –ϭϱ͘ϲй while EϰϮϮ͘ϮďŶ ǁĂƐ ǁŝƉĞĚ Žī ŵĂƌŬĞƚ ĐĂƉŝƚĂůŝnjĂƟŽŶ ǁŚŝĐŚ ĚĞĐůŝŶĞĚ

15

Fidelity Bank PLC

1.51

-9.6%

0.9%

-38.6%

-41.5%

10.4%

1.4%

1.2x

0.2x

ĐŽŶƚƌŝďƵƚĞĚ ƚŽ ƚŽĚĂLJ͛Ɛ ďĞĂƌŝƐŚ ƉĞƌĨŽƌŵĂŶĐĞ͘ ,ŽǁĞǀĞƌ͕ ĂĐƟǀŝƚLJ

16

Oando PLC

5.00

-1.0%

1.3%

-16.5%

-16.5%

10.3%

1.5%

4.4x

0.3x

ůĞǀĞů ƐƚƌĞŶŐƚŚĞŶĞĚ ĂƐ ǀŽůƵŵĞ ĂŶĚ ǀĂůƵĞ ƚƌĂĚĞĚ ƐƉŝŬĞĚ ϲϯ͘ϵй

17

Dangote Sugar Refinery PLC

14.20

-1.4%

1.0%

-29.0%

-30.3%

41.5%

18.1%

4.8x

1.7x

8.9%

20.8%

18

Okomu Oil Palm PLC

79.90

0.0%

1.5%

18.0%

18.0%

35.8%

26.6%

8.6x

2.8x

4.0%

11.6%

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

19.80

-7.9%

0.5%

-31.7%

-31.7%

9.8%

2.9%

4.9x

0.5x

5.1%

20.5% 18.0%

ĂŶĚ ϯϯϰ͘Ϭй ƚŽ Ϯϰϲ͘ϵŵ ƵŶŝƚƐ ĂŶĚ Eϲ͘ϵďŶ ƌĞƐƉĞĐƟǀĞůLJ͘ dŚĞ ƚŽƉ ƚƌĂĚĞĚ ƐƚŽĐŬƐ ďLJ ǀŽůƵŵĞ ǁĞƌĞ ACCESS (46.2m), FBNH (22.6m) and TRANSCORP ;ϭϵ͘ϳŵͿ ǁŚŝůĞ ƚŚĞ ƚŽƉ ƚƌĂĚĞĚ ƐƚŽĐŬƐ ďLJ ǀĂůƵĞ ǁĞƌĞ E' D ;Eϯ͘ϵďŶͿ͕ NESTLE ;Eϳϰϴ͘ϬŵͿ ĂŶĚ

GUARANTY (N519.2m).

Kŝů Θ 'ĂƐ /ŶĚĞdž ŵĞƌŐĞƐ >ŽŶĞ 'ĂŝŶĞƌ dŚĞ Kŝů Θ 'ĂƐ ŝŶĚĞdž ĐůŽƐĞĚ ƚŽĚĂLJΖƐ session as the lone gainer ĂŵŝĚƐƚ ĂŶ ŽǀĞƌǁŚĞůŵŝŶŐ ďĞĂƌŝƐŚ ƉĞƌĨŽƌŵĂŶĐĞ͘ 'ĂŝŶƐ ŝŶ SEPLAT (+0.6%) and FORTE (+4.4%) drove the index 0.4% ŚŝŐŚĞƌ͘ KŶ ƚŚĞ ŇŝƉ-ƐŝĚĞ͕ ƚŚĞ /ŶĚƵƐƚƌŝĂů ĂŶĚ ĂŶŬŝŶŐ ŝŶĚŝĐĞƐ ĨĞůů

Transnational Corp of Nigeria

1.08

-8.5%

0.5%

-26.0%

-27.0%

12.9%

2.8%

5.6x

0.7x

1.7%

22

UAC of Nigeria PLC

10.20

0.0%

0.4%

-39.6%

-39.6%

1.4%

0.6%

18.2x

0.4x

6.3%

23

Diamond Bank PLC

1.23

-8.9%

0.5%

-18.0%

-21.7%

-7.2%

-0.9%

-17.5%

-17.5%

33.1%

6.9%

7.1x

2.2x

9.1%

1.3%

6.7%

1.0%

2.6x

0.2x

6.3%

38.0%

-7.5%

40.2%

16.0%

6.2x

2.2x

4.4%

16.2%

24

Total Nigeria PLC

25

FCMB Group Plc

26

11 PLC

27

0.0%

0.5%

-7.0%

0.6%

180.00

0.0%

0.6%

Forte Oil PLC

18.90

4.4%

0.2%

-56.5%

-55.0%

29.7%

3.0%

28

PZ Cussons Nigeria PLC

13.50

0.0%

0.3%

-34.5%

-36.2%

10.7%

5.0%

12.8x

1.3x

1.1%

29

Cadbury Nigeria PLC

9.40

-6.5%

0.3%

-40.0%

-39.7%

5.9%

2.2%

27.9x

1.6x

1.7%

3.6%

30

Presco PLC

60.00

-0.1%

0.4%

-12.4%

-12.4%

3.3%

39.7%

31

NASCON Allied Industries PLC

20.00

0.0%

0.4%

8.1%

4.1%

5.4x

7.7%

10.5%

32

UPDC Real Estate Investment Tr

9.00

0.0%

0.4%

-10.0%

-10.0%

0.8x

7.8%

-7.5%

62.4%

33

Union Bank of Nigeria PLC

5.05

-4.7%

0.3%

-35.3%

-32.8%

34

Julius Berger Nigeria PLC

25.00

0.0%

0.3%

-10.7%

-10.7%

17.3%

20.6%

8.0x

0.5x

6.9x

1.1x

3.8x

1.45

0.0%

0.4%

34.3%

28.3%

11.0%

1.1%

E' D (-ϱ͘ϴйͿ͕ CCNN (-9.9%), STANBIC (-ϴ͘ϵйͿ and

8.40

0.0%

0.2%

-30.9%

-30.9%

0.0%

0.0%

37

GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Niger

14.30

0.0%

0.2%

-33.8%

-33.8%

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%

40

Transcorp Hotels Plc

6.75

0.0%

0.1%

-6.4%

-6.4%

6.0%

3.3%

/ŶǀĞƐƚŽƌ ^ĞŶƟŵĞŶƚ dĂƉĞƌƐ &ƵƌƚŚĞƌ /ŶǀĞƐƚŽƌ ƐĞŶƟŵĞŶƚ ĂƐ ŵĞĂƐƵƌĞĚ ďLJ ŵĂƌŬĞƚ ďƌĞĂĚƚŚ ;ĂĚǀĂŶĐĞͬ ĚĞĐůŝŶĞ ƌĂƟŽͿ ǁĞĂŬĞŶĞĚ ƚŽ Ϭ͘ϯdž ĨƌŽŵ Ϭ͘ϱdž ƌĞĐŽƌĚĞĚ LJĞƐƚĞƌĚĂLJ ĂƐ ϭϬ ƐƚŽĐŬƐ ĂĚǀĂŶĐĞĚ ĂŐĂŝŶƐƚ ϯϳ ƐƚŽĐŬƐ ƚŚĂƚ ĚĞĐůŝŶĞĚ͘ KƵƚ ƉĞƌĨŽƌŵŝŶŐ ƐƚŽĐŬƐ ƚŽĚĂLJ ǁĞƌĞ LAWUNION

(+9.1%),

SKYEBANK ;нϴ͘ϵйͿ ĂŶĚ JAIZBANK (+6.0%) while UNIVINSURE (-10.0%), CCNN (-9.9%) and FIDELITY (-ϵ͘ϲйͿ ůĞĚ ůĂŐŐĂƌĚƐ͘ /Ŷ ůŝŶĞ ǁŝƚŚ ŽƵƌ ĞdžƉĞĐƚĂƟŽŶ͕ ƐƚƌŽŶŐ ďĞĂƌŝƐŚ ƐĞŶƟŵĞŶƚƐ

P ric e

P ric e C hg %

LA WUN ION

0.60

9.1%

SKYEB A N K

0.61

8.9%

J A IZ B A N K

0.53

6.0%

ƚƌĂĚŝŶŐ ƚŽĚĂLJ͘ &ŽůůŽǁŝŶŐ ƚŚŝƐ͕ ǁĞ ĂŶƟĐŝƉĂƚĞ Ă ƉŽƐƐŝďůĞ ƌĞďŽƵŶĚ ďĞĨŽƌĞ ƚŚĞ ĐůŽƐĞ ŽĨ ƚŚĞ ǁĞĞŬ ĂƐ ŝŶǀĞƐƚŽƌƐ ďƵLJ ƚŚĞ ĚŝƉ ĨŽƌ ƐƚŽĐŬƐ ǁŝƚŚ ĂƩƌĂĐƟǀĞ ĞŶƚƌLJ ƉƌŝĐĞƐ ĂƐ ǁŝƚŶĞƐƐĞĚ in GUARANTY ;нϬ͘ϯйͿ͘ dŚŝƐ ŚŽǁĞǀĞƌ ĚŽĞƐ ŶŽƚ ĐŚĂŶŐĞ ŽƵƌ ŶĞĂƌ-

ƚĞƌŵ ďĞĂƌŝƐŚ ŽƵƚůŽŽŬ ŽŶ ŵĂƌŬĞƚ͘

Afrinvest Securities Limited (RC 603 315) (A Dealing Member of the Nigerian Stock Exchange)

12.4% 14.4% 26.5%

0.4x

1.4%

1.1x

2.6%

20.6x

2.0x

52.4%

4.9%

13.2x

8.9x

7.2%

7.5%

9.5x

1.6x

1.4%

10.6%

15.4x

0.9x

1.8%

6.5%

T ic k er

Vo lum e

P ric e C hg %

A C C ESS

46.2

-8.6%

FB NH

22.6

-8.0%

T R A N SC OR P

19.7

-8.5% -5.8%

0.60

5.3%

D A N GC EM

18.7

0.23

4.5%

Z EN IT H B A N K

16.9

-1.0%

FO

18.90

4.4%

GUA R A N T Y

16.1

0.3%

UC A P

2.80

2.2%

ST ER LN B A N K

10.7

0.0%

C UT IX

4.00

1.3%

ET I

8.1

-5.1%

606.70

0.6%

IN T B R EW

8.1

0.0%

32.60

0.3%

F ID ELIT YB K

7.7

-9.6%

GUA R A N T Y T o p 10 Lo s e rs T ic k er

P ric e

P ric e C hg %

0.27

-10.0%

27.85

-9.9%

1.51

-9.6%

LA SA C O

0.30

-9.1%

ST A N B IC

41.00

-8.9%

1.23

-8.9%

CCNN F ID ELIT YB K

D IA M ON D B N K

7.8%

4.3%

J A P A ULOIL

UN IVIN SUR E

witnessed in yesterday͛s session weighed heavily ĂĐƌŽƐƐ

-13.8%

WEM A B A N K

SEP LA T

14.1%

T o p 10 T ra de s by V o lum e

T o p 10 G a ine rs T ic k er

9.5x

1.8%

Sterling Bank PLC

of losses in E D (-ϯ͘ϮйͿ ĂŶĚ AIICO (-6.7%).

1.5x

2.5x

Dangote Flour Mills Plc

^ŝŵŝůĂƌůLJ͕ ƚŚĞ /ŶƐƵƌĂŶĐĞ ŝŶĚĞdž ĐůŽƐĞĚ ϭ͘ϰй ůŽǁĞƌ͕ ŽŶ ƚŚĞ ďĂĐŬ

5.5% -70.3%

1.60

35

-taking in NESTLE (-Ϭ͘ϰйͿ ƉƵůůĞĚ ƚŚĞ ŝŶĚĞdž ĚŽǁŶ ďLJ ϭ͘ϲй͘

0.1x

189.70

36

ĐŽŶƟŶƵĞĚ ƐĞůů-ŽīƐ ŝŶ NIGERIAN BREWERIES (-ϰ͘ϲйͿ ĂŶĚ ƉƌŽĮƚ

3.0%

21

ϯ͘ϵй ĂŶĚ Ϯ͘ϴй ƌĞƐƉĞĐƟǀĞůLJ͕ ĨŽůůŽǁŝŶŐ ƐĞůů ƉƌĞƐƐƵƌĞƐ ŝŶ

ACCESS (-ϴ͘ϲйͿ͘ dŚĞ ŽŶƐƵŵĞƌ 'ŽŽĚƐ ŝŶĚĞdž ƚƌĂŝůĞĚ͕ ĂƐ

84.2% 22.7%

T o p 10 T ra de s by V a lue T ic k er

Value

P ric e C hg %

3928.4

-5.8%

N EST LE

748.0

-0.4%

GUA R A N T Y

519.2

0.3%

A C C ESS

368.8

-8.6%

Z EN IT H B A N K

334.2

-1.0%

IN T B R EW

232.9

0.0% -8.0%

D A N GC EM

H M A R KIN S

0.32

-8.6%

FB NH

194.2

A C C ESS

8.00

-8.6%

ET I

153.7

-5.1%

H ON YF LOUR

1.39

-8.6%

SEP LA T

64.9

0.6%

T R A N SC OR P

1.08

-8.5%

ST A N B IC

45.0

-8.9%

Investment Research

Brokerage Ayodeji Ebo | aebo@afrinvest.com

Robert Omotunde | romotunde@afrinvest.com

Bolaji Fajenyo | bfajenyo@afrinvest.com

Eronmosele Aziba | eaziba@afrinvest.com

43

T H I S D AY Ëž Ëœ ÍšÍťËœ ͺ͸͚͜

MARKET NEWS

SEC Assures Stakeholders of Tech-Driven Market, Investors’ Protection Goddy Egene

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), has said that it will soon come out with regulations that will guide technology-driven products in the capital market.

The Acting Director General of SEC, Ms. Mary Uduk during a presentation by Vice President, FinTech Association of Nigeria, Mr. Ade Bajomo, titled: “Market Impact of the FinTech Revolution� in Abuja yesterday.

Uduk, who also announced Bajomo as Chair of the Capital Market Committee on Fintech Roadmap for Capital Markets in Nigeria, said the SEC as the apex regulator of the Nigerian capital market is interested in investments that Nigerians are making especially with the advent of digitalisation. “If we will regulate this market and understand what is happening, we need our staff to understand the rudiments of FinTech. Very soon the whole world will

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

move to technology for regulation. Other jurisdictions have already gone far into it with some of them already amending their rules in that direction. The International Organisation of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) is on it and there is a lot on it already all over the world and we can’t be left behind.

We are very much interested in some of the most active areas of Fintech innovation like block chain technology, crypto currencies and how

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 1109-2018, unless otherwise stated.

they affect investors,� Uduk said.

According her, as regulators of the capital market, it is the responsibility of the SEC to find out how such investments are going on and if they meet set standards because when investors lose money they will come back to the SEC. “That is why we are seeking to understand what FinTech is all about to enable us regulate the market properly,� she stated.

The DG noted that during

the last Capital Market Committee meeting in Lagos, the Committee agreed to set up a Committee to draw a Fintech Adoption roadmap for the Capital Market.

Uduk alluded to the growing influence of Fintechs, saying that there is the need for the capital market to take advantage of the Fintech offerings in moving the capital market forward.

She equally emphasised the focus of the commission on capacity building, knowledge

sharing, advocacy and collaboration with relevant entities. “The capital market needs to create an enabling environment that is attractive enough for FinTechs to innovate as the Market should engage actively with the new trend in technology and provide the adequate regulatory framework for proper adoption of suitable technology and that is one of the reasons why we have invited FinTech here today for this presentation,� she said.

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

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

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

DAILY PRICE LIST FOR MUTUAL FUNDS, REITS and ETFS MUTUAL FUNDS / UNIT TRUSTS AFRINVEST ASSET MANAGEMENT LTD aaml@afrinvest.com Web: www.afrinvest.com; Tel: +234 1 270 1680 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Afrinvest Equity Fund 162.16 162.81 -8.75% Afrinvest Plutus Fund 100.00 100.00 11.00% Nigeria International Debt Fund 265.17 265.87 14.61% 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 0.82 0.83 -0.47% ACAP Income Funds 0.63 0.63 5.12% 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 N/A N/A N/A ARM Discovery Fund N/A N/A N/A ARM Ethical Fund N/A N/A N/A ARM Money Market Fund N/A N/A N/A AXA MANSARD INVESTMENTS LIMITED investmentcare@axamansard.com Web: www.axamansard.com; Tel: +2341-4488482 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn AXA Mansard Equity Income Fund 134.88 135.83 -11.08% AXA Mansard Money Market Fund 1.00 1.00 11.77% 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 10.32% Paramount Equity Fund 11.63 11.93 4.90% Women's Investment Fund 101.69 104.30 1.05% 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 12.19% CORONATION ASSEST MANAGEMENT investment@coronationam.com Web:www.coronationam.com , Tel: 012366215 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Coronation Money Market Fund 1.00 1.00 11.74% Coronation Balanced Fund 1.17 1.20 11.63% Coronation Fixed Income Fund 1.08 1.11 4.47% 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 11.41% 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 1,185.21 1,185.97 9.53% FBN Heritage Fund 139.54 140.47 0.67% FBN Money Market Fund 100.00 100.00 12.06% FBN Nigeria Eurobond (USD) Fund - Institutional $114.18 $114.47 3.58% FBN Nigeria Eurobond (USD) Fund - Retail $113.81 $114.11 3.35% FBN Nigeria Smart Beta Equity Fund 155.54 157.75 2.49% 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 1.23 1.25 -4.90% Legacy Debt Fund 3.14 3.14 8.79% Legacy USD Bond Fund 1.00 1.00 1.04% 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 2,997.81 3,026.58 0.39% Coral Income Fund 2,704.38 2,704.38 10.48% 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 12.02% Nigeria Entertainment Fund 102.87 104.54 3.24% 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 11.75% Vantage Balanced Fund 2.09 2.11 -0.95% Vantage Guaranteed Income Fund 1.00 1.00 14.19%

Kedari Investment Fund (KIF) 121.70 121.97 5.77% LOTUS CAPITAL LTD ďŹ ncon@lotuscapitallimited.com Web: www.lotuscapitallimited.com; Tel: +234 1-291 4626 / +234 1-291 4624 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Lotus Halal Investment Fund 1.19 1.21 3.72% Lotus Halal Fixed Income Fund 1,081.70 1,081.70 9.58% 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 11.46 11.56 -11.65% Meristem Money Market Fund 10.00 10.00 10.59% PAC ASSET MANAGEMENT LTD info@pacassetmanagement.com Web: www.pacassetmanagement.com/mutualfunds; Tel: +234 1 271 8632 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn PACAM Balanced Fund 1.31 1.33 9.77% PACAM Fixed Income Fund 11.82 11.87 7.00% PACAM Money Market Fund 10.00 10.00 11.08% 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 N/A N/A N/A 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 1.64 1.64 10.46% 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 2,263.91 2,279.30 3.07% Stanbic IBTC Bond Fund 184.27 184.27 5.85% Stanbic IBTC Ethical Fund 0.95 0.96 -5.45% Stanbic IBTC Guaranteed Investment Fund 241.05 241.10 11.73% Stanbic IBTC Iman Fund 165.46 167.33 -7.61% Stanbic IBTC Money Market Fund 100.00 100.00 11.57% Stanbic IBTC Nigerian Equity Fund 8,561.32 8,663.63 -9.99% Stanbic IBTC Dollar Fund (USD) 1.09 1.09 5.38% UNITED CAPITAL ASSET MANAGEMENT LTD unitedcapitalplcgroup.com Web: www.unitedcapitalplcgroup.com; Tel: +234 803 306 2887 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn United Capital Balanced Fund 1.17 1.17 -1.59% United Capital Bond Fund 1.54 1.54 7.66% United Capital Equity Fund 0.72 0.73 -5.07% United Capital Money Market Fund 1.00 1.00 11.54% United Capital Eurobond Fund 104.92 104.92 4.88% United Capital Wealth for Women Fund 1.07 1.07 2.64% 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 11.27 11.44 -9.54% Zenith Ethical Fund 12.35 12.47 -5.85% Zenith Income Fund 20.22 20.22 6.85% Zenith Money Market Fund 1.00 1.00 11.55%

REITS NAV Per Share

Yield / T-Rtn

11.41 138.09 51.52

1.01 4.25% 1.36%

Bid Price

Offer Price

Yield / T-Rtn

11.30 121.96 93.94

11.40 124.55 95.71

-4.78% -14.61% -14.01%

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

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

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

SPECIALIST FUNDS*

funds@vetiva.com Bid Price

Offer Price

Yield / T-Rtn

3.89 7.77 15.44 16.26 141.50

3.93 7.85 15.54 16.46 143.50

-17.80% -18.76% -11.60% -17.23% 5.30%

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.

44

T H I S D AY ˾ ͯͱ˜ ͰͮͯͶ

45

THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 13, 2018 Ëž T H I S D AY

FOREIGN/DIPLOMATIC AFFAIRS

Editor: VINCENT OBIA vincent.obia@thisdaylive.com 0805 468 1757

In Brief

Anyaoku: Annan Left Enduring Legacy in Pursuit of World Peace

Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed (left) and Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki re-opening the Eritrean embassy in Addis Ababa.

Photo credit: EPA-EFE/Stringer.

Horn of Africa: Peace Prospects High, But Obstacles Remain Martin Plaut

I

t’s just five months since Abiy Ahmed took over as Ethiopian Prime Minister, yet the pace of change in the Horn of Africa has been simply staggering. Insuperable obstacles have been swept away. So many hurdles have been vaulted that it’s difficult to keep track.

First, Ethiopia and Eritrea ended years of hostilities. And just two months after Abiy’s first path-breaking visit to Eritrea, meetings have been held in Djibouti to try and eliminate some of the major international problems besetting the region.

The background to the Djibouti mission was the conflict between Eritrea and Djibouti that erupted in 2008. For many years it was unresolved and there was a serious source of tension in the region.

The Djibouti-Eritrea issue was also the reason why United Nations sanctions against Eritrea were not lifted – despite UN monitors declaring that Eritrea was no longer aiding the Somali Islamist group, Al-Shabaab.

The armed confrontations between Ethiopia and Eritrea, and between Eritrea and Djibouti, have now vanished in a puff of smoke. Or so it would appear.

It would be a mistake to ridicule what has been achieved. Eritrea seems to have genuinely dropped its hostility towards its southern and its eastern neighbour.

But it’s also prudent to note the obstacles that remain.

Eritrea is still locked in a confrontation with its western neighbour, Sudan. In January Sudan’s President Omar al Bashir closed the country’s border with Eritrea, sending crack troops to patrol the frontier. The dispute was never officially explained and seems to have been parked for now. But others remain.

Abiy is aware that a lot still needs to be done. As he put it recently, “When the time came both peoples Eritrea and Ethiopia woke up from their sleep and

said enough is enough and brought back their peace. The next question will be not about who contributed how much to the peace deal, it should be on how to keep and sustain the peace, because the peace needs to be maintained. So, all people have to work together to sustain it.�

In addition, for the peace efforts to stick both Ethiopia and Eritrea must complete internal reforms. Abiy has pushed Ethiopia much further down the road of reform while Eritrea still has a long way to go.

Consolidating democracy and internal peace building will be needed if the dramatic pace of change is to hold in the region.

As Abiy rightly says, a great deal still needs to be done to sustain the peace.

People and villages all along the Ethiopian border need to be assigned to their respective countries, as the new border comes into force. Tens of thousands of troops will have to be withdrawn from the trenches they have inhabited since the end of the border war of 1998–2000. A host of customs arrangements and immigration issues must be resolved. This is the hard graft that needs to follow the handshakes and smiles of the leaders.

Then there are internal reforms in both Ethiopia and Eritrea that have to be addressed if peace and security are to be consolidated.

Ethiopia has made considerable progress on this front. Journalists have been freed from jail, the internet restrictions lifted and media regulations relaxed. Political prisoners have been released and opposition leaders have come home.

Even hardline rebels based in Eritrea have returned. Berhanu Nega, the elected mayor of Addis Ababa, who fled into exile in the US, has arrived home. Speaking to the BBC he described Ethiopia as “a fundamentally changed country.�

These developments have transformed the atmosphere in the capital. But in the rest of Ethiopia there are still major issues confronting the government. More than two million people have been displaced

in recent ethnic clashes. The Tigrayans, who ruled the country after seizing the capital in 1991, are smarting from their loss of influence.

In Eritrea there have only been the most feeble of moves towards reform. Bloomberg reported that the government is “definitely studying� the possibility of demobilisation of its vast army of national service conscripts.

In an interview the Minister for Labour and Human Welfare Luul Gebreab said, “Definitely a small army will remain, and the others will concentrate on the developmental work as planned.�

When this might take place is not clear.

On other reforms, including the implementation of the country’s constitution, the freeing of political prisoners and the lifting of the ban on independent media and all opposition political parties, there is a stony silence from the Eritrean government.

Herman Cohen, the former US Secretary of State for African Affairs who brokered an end to the Eritrean-Ethiopian War in 1991 has offered encouragement. He has has argued that President Isaias “should not fear a more open Eritrea system. Now would be a good time to start the process.�

There are no signs of this taking place and as a result no drop in the number of Eritreans fleeing to neighbouring Ethiopia.

The UN Refugee agency registered 1,738 in July this year – very much on trend with previous years.

The developments between states in the Horn of Africa are clearly very welcome.

The question now is whether they can be translated into reality on the ground, and whether the international developments will be reflected in internal reforms.

Once both of these steps have been taken it would be possible to conclude that the region has truly been transformed. t1MBVU JT 4FOJPS 3FTFBSDI 'FMMPX )PSO PG "GSJDB BOE 4PVUIFSO "GSJDB *OTUJUVUF PG $PNNPOXFBMUI 4UVEJFT 4DIPPM PG "EWBODFE 4UVEZ 6OJWFSTJUZ PG -POEPO

Former Commonwealth Secretary-general Emeka Anyaoku has described the late Kofi Annan as a global statesman who left a lasting legacy in the search for human dignity and development. Anyaoku stated this as Annan’s body was flown back to Ghana from Switzerland for a state funeral on Tuesday ahead of a private burial in Accra on Thursday.

The former Commonwealth scribe eulogised Annan for the many initiatives he had floated during his tour of duty as United Nations Secretary-general (January 1997 – December 2006) and after, to uplift Africans and the human race, in general.

Anyaoku said, “Kofi Annan was the United Nations Secretary-General during the last three years of my ten-year tenure as Commonwealth Secretary-General and in 2002 after my retirement from the Commonwealth, he invited me to chair the United Nations panel for mobilising international support for the new mechanism established by African leaders in the African Union for the development of the African continent (NEPAD). “Beside official collaboration between our two organisations, Kofi Annan and I were close personal friends for over 50 years, and we worked together in Abuja in January 2015 for the adoption of what came to be known as the Abuja Accord by which all the 12 Nigerian presidential candidates, including the then incumbent President Goodluck Jonathan and his eventual successor President Muhammadu Buhari, committed their political parties to violence-free campaign and importantly, to acceptance of the results of the impending national elections.�

Anyaoku thanked Ghanaian President Nana Akufo Addo for inviting him “to join in paying last respects to this great son of Africa and an outstanding global statesman who has left a legacy that will endure in the pursuit of world peace and human dignity and development. “I am sure that all of us in Africa are deservedly proud of Kofi Annan’s memorial.� Annan died on August 18 in Switzerland at 80.

Trump Signs Order to Sanction Foreign Meddlers in U.S. Election

President Donald Trump on Wednesday signed an executive order to protect U.S. elections from foreign interference by imposing sanctions on countries and other actors who seek to meddle. The order would direct intelligence agencies to assess whether any individuals or entities interfered in a U.S. election, turn that information over to the Justice and Homeland Security departments, and then – based on their assessment of the validity and impact of that intelligence – trigger automatic sanctions, said U.S. Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats. A special counsel has been investigating alleged Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election and whether Trump’s campaign colluded with Moscow. Russia denies meddling and Trump has dismissed the probe as a “witch hunt.�

Pompeo CertiďŹ es Saudi Arabia, UAE Actions in Yemen

US Secretary of State Michael Pompeo on Wednesday certified to Congress that the governments of Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates were taking discernible steps to protect civilians in their fight against Houthis in Yemen. The certification was pursuant to Section 1290 of the John S. McCain National Defense Authorisation Act for Fiscal Year 2019 (NDAA), the State Department said in a statement. “The governments of Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates are undertaking demonstrable actions to reduce the risk of harm to civilians and civilian infrastructure resulting from military operations of these governments,� the statement said. It added, “The Trump administration has been clear that ending the conflict in Yemen is a national security priority. We will continue to work closely with the Saudi-led coalition to ensure Saudi Arabia and the UAE maintain support for UN-led efforts to end the civil war in Yemen, allow unimpeded access for the delivery of commercial and humanitarian support through as many avenues as possible, and undertake actions that mitigate the impact of the conflict on civilians and civilian infrastructure.� Saudi Arabia led a military intervention in 2015 in response to calls by Yemeni President Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi for help against Houthi takeover in Yemen.

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THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 13, 2018 ˾ T H I S D AY

NEWSEXTRA

NDIC Berates Banks over Abuse of Ethical Standards James Emejo in Abuja The Managing Director and Chief Executive of the Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC), Alhaji Umaru Ibrahim, yesterday decried instances of abuse of extant regulations and ethical standards by deposit money Banks, adding that this has impaired confidence in the banking industry and

the financial system in general.

He particularly cited the recent involvement of some banks in illegal forex transfers in collusion with MTN Nigeria as a wake-up call for better corporate governance and ethical behaviour by the banks.

Speaking when he received executive members of the Chartered Institute of Bankers (CIBN) led by its President, Dr.

Uche Olowu, who paid him a courtesy visit, Umaru, however, stressed the need for effective collaboration between regulators and operators in the banking system for the establishment of sound ethics and professionalism in the banking industry.

He assured the CIBN president of his resolve to strengthen collaboration with

the institute in the enforcement of good corporate governance among banks as well as the promotion of high ethical standards and professionalism.

In a statement by the Head of Communication and Public Affairs, NDIC, Mr. Mohammed Kudu Ibrahim, the NDIC boss reinforced the primary responsibility of regulators to

uphold strict compliance with international best practices and ethical standards in order to promote effective risk management and sound corporate governance in the banking industry.

This, he said, was in line with the corporation’s drive towards protecting depositors and enhancing

public confidence in the financial system.

Olowu, however, attested to the recognition of the NDIC Academy by the International Association of Deposit Insurers (IADI) as a world class institution in providing capacity building for the banking industry.

N’Delta Leaders Restate Demand for Nigeria’s Restructuring Emmanuel Addeh in Yenagoa Niger Delta leaders have again called on the federal government to immediately commence the process of restructuring the country, to save it from crumbling.

Speaking under the umbrella of the Pan Niger Delta Forum (PANDEF), the group of elders and leaders in the region, said as currently constituted, the country’s delicate fault lines would continue to widen if the President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration decides to do nothing about returning Nigeria to a truly federal state.

National Chairman of PANDEF, Air Commodore Idongesit Nkanga (rtd), who spoke during the inauguration of the Bayelsa State branch of the group, noted that the imbalance in the country was not sustainable.

“Today, Nigerians have begun to speak out about this 10-storey building called Nigeria, which is sitting on the foundation meant for a bungalow. The main issue has been that Nigeria needs to be restructured so that our people can be accommodated, so that there will be no first class country with second class citizens.

“That call for restructuring has reached a deafening crescendo and it has come to the point that anybody who wants to be in charge of the affairs of this country must explain to us how restructuring will be carried out in his administration. “ Our issue in the Niger Delta is that, of the three

pillars of the restructuring, fiscal federalism is nonnegotiable. It also touches on true federalism and devolution of powers so that this will be a balanced country.

“As far as sustenance of this country is concerned today, it’s the oil. Our people bear the brunt of the exploitation and exploration of oil, the pollution and other environmental factors.

Therefore, we have the right to say if we don’t benefit from this oil, Nigeria should not let us not die from it,” he said.

Nkanga urged the new exco to continue to preach the ‘religion of restructuring’ to the creeks of the Niger Delta, which he said remains the number one agenda of PANDEF. The former military administrator of Akwa Ibom State also called on the federal government to re-open talks on the 16-point agenda, which commenced in 2016 with leaders of the South South.

The new Exco in Bayelsa State is led by Chief Thompson Okorotie as Chairman, with Senator Enatimi Rufus-Spiff as Vice Chairman, while Douglas Naigba is the new Secretary.

In his acceptance speech, Okorotie expressed joy that the Niger Delta can now speak with one voice.

“We are saying the federal government should make a pronouncement on restructuring and they should begin the implementation now. Until this country recognises the oil-producing areas, there will not be peace,” he said.

2019 : Mark Names Kure His Presidential Campaign DG Deji Elumoye in Abuja Former Senate President and presidential aspirant on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Senator David Mark, has appointed Senator Zainab Abdulkadir Kure as the Director General of his campaign organisation.

Kure was Niger State First Lady between 1999 and 2007 and a PDP Senator who represented Niger South between 2007 and 2015.

A consummate politician, Kure was the Chairman, Senate Committee on Environment and National Planning respectively, when Mark was the President of the Senate.

Mark also appointed Abuja based-legal practitioner and public commentator, Mr.Abba Ejembi, as the Spokesperson of his campaign organisation, saying both appointments took effect immediately.

CREATING ALTERNATIVE PLATFORM...

L-R: National Secretary, African Democratic Congress (ADC), Alhaji Said B. Abdullahi; National Chairman, ADC, Chief Ralph Nwosu; Leader, ADC, Oyo State, Senator Olufemi Lanlehin; and ADC governorship aspirant, Ogun State, Otunba Gboyega Isiaka, at the first quarterly ADC/ media roundtable, in Lagos ...yesterday

N4.3bn Pension Scam: Gov Bello Lied, Says Kogi PDP Yekini Jimoh in Lokoja The Kogi State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has refuted the claim by the state government that two former governors of the state in the party embezzled N4.3 billion pension fund, describing the allegation as baseless and an attempt to cover its failure.

The party in a statement issued yesterday by its Director of Research and Documentation, Mr. Achadu Dickson, said Governor Yahaya Bello’s administration was only looking for an avenue to hide his incompetent, especially his inability to pay workers and pensioners their salaries and entitlements.

The party said on the contrary, pensioners were better off under the PDP-led administrations in the state.

“Once again, attention seekers and bare-faced liars are on the prowl in the Confluence State. After currying public outrage over its inability to pay workers/ pensioners’ salaries and particularly sucking from the burden of a controversial screening and staff verification exercise, the Yahaya Bello administration has retooled its jaded and largely discredited propaganda machinery.

“For the umpteenth time, its target is PDP and its two former Governors in the state, Alhaji Ibrahim Idris and his successor, Capt. Idris Ichalla Wada.

“The government’s latest antics as contained in a series of media reports credited to Kingsley Fanwo, Director General Media and Publicity to Bello, in which he claimed the government had uncovered a N4.3 billion pension

fraud. In short, Fanwo laboured in vain to shift the blame of non-payment of gratuities and pension allowances of retirees by his boss, to the former governors.

“Yahaya Bello’s inability or unwillingness to meet his financial obligations to workers, pensioners and contractors is legendary. Each time the government makes an attempt to explain it away, it comes off worse and more laughable.

“The nine years Alhaji Ibrahim Idris governed Kogi State still remain the golden years in the history of the state. Under him, pension funds were judiciously applied and pensioners were paid their monthly allowances as at when due. His administration also introduced pension reforms that ensured retiring staff were immediately placed on pension starting from the

month they retired. In addition, he increased pension benefits through the introduction of relativity, which ensured the least paid pensioner earned a living minimum pension up from the paltry allowance they were being paid.

“Due to the high figure of outstanding gratuity benefits which he inherited and paucity of funds, gratuities were scheduled on the basis of first come, first served, subject to availability of funds.

The administration religiously implemented the gratuity time table fairly without let or hindrance. Certainly, Ibrahim Idris did not supervise the mismanagement of pension funds or any funds for that matter, as erroneously alleged

by Governor Bello’s garrulous spokesperson.

Flood Sacks 100 Residents in Osun Yinka Kolawole in Osogbo Heavy rain in most parts of Osun State has resulted in serious flooding which has wreaked havoc in areas like Ifedapo community, Palace Road, Ofatedo, Egbedore Local Government Area in the state.

The flood was reported to have sacked more than 100 residents of the local government area last Tuesday night as well as destroying property worth millions of naira, farmlands and causing death of livestock.

When THISDAY visited the area, it was observed that property

belonging to the victims were still trapped inside their houses as they chose to abandoned their property and belongings and run for their lives while also saving their children from drowning in the flood.

In an effort to avert the destruction of documents and some other valuables, youths of the community were mobilised to help scoop water from houses while others watched helplessly as the flood continued to surge into the buildings.

One of the victims, Adedayo Kolawole, said not less than 100 houses were affected. He

attributed the flooding to lack of drainage in the Aje market, an international market owned by the state government.

Kolawole said over the years, they have been complaining about the terrible state and the hilly nature of the area as the flood runs down from the hills and cause damage to the houses in the area.

He said though no life was lost, some household appliances and livestock were destroyed by the flood.

Kolawole asked the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) and the State Emergency

Management Agency to come to their rescue According to him, “The flood came to us unexpectedly, though the area is flood prone due to the hilly nature of Aje International market owned by the state government. We have complained but nothing has been about it.”

Another victim who spoke with THISDAY, Mrs. Amina Badejoko, said: “The flood displaced many families. Take a look at those houses, the level of water in them. You would also observe that the shops have been submerged.”

47

THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 13, 2018 ˾ T H I S D AY

NEWSEXTRA

Obasanjo Decries Nigeria’s ‘Poorest Economy’ Rating Femi Ogbonnikan in Abeokuta Former President, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, has berated the recent ranking of Nigeria as the poorest country in the world.

Speaking, while addressing executives of the Lagos State chapter of African Democratic Congress (ADC) in Abeokuta, last Tuesday, Obasanjo said as the party continued in its growth, it should stay away from such ideology of having leaders that would not improve on the country’s economic situation but rather destroy it.

He said the present situation in the country could not be isolated from the current poor leadership of the ruling administration running the economy.

The former president, who was reacting to the remarks made by the Lagos State Chairman of ADC, Chief Tunde Daramola, on the economic situation in the country, asked if Nigerians

wanted a repeat of such leadership.

According to Obasanjo, “As you have rightly said, this is a hard time on the economy for us all. It is for all of us, except the very few, to decide the type of administration we want to have for another four years in the upcoming general election.

“Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and ADC cannot do it alone. It must be the collective efforts of all Nigerians to get the right leadership for the country. Recently, the country was rated as the poorest country in the world.

“India is with a population of 1.3 billion and Nigeria is about 180 million, yet we still have the poorest citizens in the world. Nigerians do not deserve this current excruciating economic condition, and this is the honest truth.”

On the larger representation of women in the state chapter of the party in Lagos State, Obasanjo admitted that the development is a true

reflection of the society, as some women are more responsible and resultoriented than the male counterparts.

“Even in schools, our girls are performing better than the boys. So, if you have more women in the executives, it is not strange because they

can get us going,” Obasanjo said.

Daramola had earlier intimated the former president on the purpose

of the visit, noting that the party was planning to have a rally as well as open its state secretariat in Lagos this week.

HOLY ANOINTING...

Don’t Postpone 2019 General Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi of Enugu State (left), being anointed by Rev. Fr. Anthony Njom, when “The Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi Prayer Elections, Makarfi Cautions INEC Organisation” paid the governor a solidarity visit at the Government House, Enugu... yesterday Omo-Agege Dismisses Emerhor’s Threat condemnable because “it Tobi Soniyi Former Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Caretaker Committee, Senator Ahmed Makarfi, has called on the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) Chairman, Prof Mahmood Yusuf, not to postpone the 2019 general election.

In a statement issued yesterday by his media aide, Mr. Sirajo Mukhtar, the PDP presidential aspirant said postponing the elections would threaten the survival of Nigeria’s democracy.

He therefore called on all security agencies to do their work by ensuring that all security issues are addressed to forestall any plan to postpone the elections.

The statement read in part: “INEC has hinted at the possibility of postponing the 2019 general election on account of threats of violence, and this must have come to not a few Nigerians as the shocker of the year, not only because the commission had hitherto been giving assurances of its readiness for the polls but also because of the significance and crucial nature of the elections to the development of democracy in the country and its continued peaceful coexistence.”

Makarfi said he was appalled by the news and had actually been expecting either a rebuttal or at least a clarification by the commission neither of which had so far happened.

The PDP aspirant said he believed that even the idea of postponing the election, for whatever reason, was

toys not only with the feelings and aspirations of Nigerians but also the survival of the democratic dispensation.”

Makarfi noted that coming from the body that was constitutionally saddled with the responsibility of organising and conducting the elections made it more alarming.

According to him, it points towards reluctance, lack of capacity or complicity or all to thwart Nigeria’s march towards an enduring democracy.

He said: “It clearly does not inspire confidence that those in charge are prepared to midwife free, fair and credible polls.”

The former governor of Kaduna State said the most important thing it would take for the elections to take place successfully was for the electoral body and the security agencies to play their part with utmost neutrality and objectivity that would inspire the confidence of all.

The statement read: “The success of the polls depends largely on them, and thus, the fate of the country is in their hands. They must therefore stop daydreaming and wake up to the challenges facing the country and their own roles in confronting the challenges.”

Makarfi called on the actors on the political stage as well as all Nigerians not to take the INEC statement lightly but remain vigilant, calm and peaceful, and do all it legitimately takes to protect and preserve Nigeria and its democracy as well as eschew violence no matter the provocation.

Senator Ovie Omo-Agege, representing Delta Central senatorial zone of Delta State in the Senate, has dismissed the threat to his second term aspiration from Chief Otega Emerhor, describing his potential challenger as an infantile political speculator.

In a statement issued by his Special Assistant, Efe Duku, the senator said Emerhor had miscalculated badly, adding that his aspiration was an act of political rascality taken too

far.

“First, it can only take Emerhor who worships every anti-Buhari machination to naively characterise Senator Omo-Agege’s fearless rejection of legislative impunity and tyranny in the Senate and unqualified support for President Muhammadu Buhari as ‘rascality’. It can only take the envious Emerhor to talk down on the politically savvy ‘Obarisi’ who as a senatorial candidate in 2015

scored almost 10 times more votes than Emerhor who was a so-called governorship candidate. Only Emerhor with zero political leadership accomplishments can laughably dare to compare himself with Omo-Agege – a formidable grassroot political leader and a onetime Commissioner and Secretary to the Government of Delta State,” the statement explained.

“Emerhor’s decision to

launch unprovoked attacks on his senator on the bogus claim that certain Urhobo elders and leaders purchased APC Senate nomination forms for him to join the senate race may sound musical to his ears but that is a script of cowardice from the playbook of the ‘five fingers of a leprous hand’ infamy of ‘begging’ delusional characters to vie for elective public office. Urhobos are too sophisticated for such childish schemes.

FG Initiates Empowerment Programmes for Niger Delta Ex-agitators Sunday Okobi Given his passion to demonstrate and advance the reintegration phase of the federal government’s Amnesty Programme for former militant agitators in the Niger Delta since he was appointed as the Coordinator of the programme, Professor Charles Dokubo, has initiated various empowerment projects for ex-militants in the Niger Delta region.

Dokubo who recently received a team of experts from a renowned fishing institution in Greece and their Nigerian partners at his office, said the “revolutionary fishing training was to boost the skills and empower former agitators.

The team was at the office preparatory to the takeoff of a training programme that will involve 2,500 beneficiaries of the Amnesty Programme

and which is expected to be ‘revolutionary’ in terms of the way the fishing business is being done in Niger Delta, in particular and Nigeria in general, when fully actualised.

The programme, a PublicPrivate-Partnership (PPP), initiative, would include the building of 100 fishing trawlers in Burutu, Delta State, for training of the beneficiaries.

On developing new pool of fishing magnates in the region, the Managing Director, TheoMan Limited, manager of the project, George Theodoru, said during the visit to Dokubo that: “The fishing venture will lead to creation of a new pool of entrepreneurs in fishing business and contribute to the development of the Niger Delta.”

According to him, “The prospective beneficiaries will undergo training on the operation of state-of-the-art boats for fishing, using modern

equipment, transportation and preservation of their catches.

At least 2,000 of the 2,500 beneficiaries of the training are expected to be fully employed on completion of the project.”

Also, Dokubo noted that the project is another opportunity for advancement of empowerment and wealth creation in the region which he said he had worked to set off with different initiatives and projects since his appointment.

“I have sat through most of your discussions and you have explained to me the techniques and the method of how you do your own business. I want that to be replicated in Nigeria and in the Niger Delta, because we are a seafaring people.

So, we hope that this new concept will work well for our communities and for the Niger Delta people so that the best that we can offer will enhance

our capabilities and also strengthen the business and seafaring lives of our delegates,” the presidential adviser told the team.

The training programme is coming on the heels of the recent flagging off of distribution of starter packs to ex-agitators by the coordinator of the Presidential Amnesty Programme at the town of Kaiama, Bayelsa State.

While presenting the starter packs, made up of power generating sets, freezers and plastic tanks among others to 150 ex-agitators, Dokubo noted that the initiative was designed to create entrepreneurs out of the beneficiaries, reduce unemployment and enhance concerted efforts by the President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration to deepen peace and security in the Niger Delta.

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IPOB Threatens to Lockdown South-east, S’South David-Chyddy Eleke in Awka The Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) has said it will lockdown the entire South-east and Southsouth geopolitical zone on Friday (tomorrow) when it will observe a day’s sit-athome action in memory of the people who were killed during the military operation; ‘Operation Python Dance 2’.

The Media and Publicity Secretary of the group, Emma Powerful said in a statement that the group has also set up a monitoring unit that would ensure full compliance.

It said threats by the Police Commissioners in Anambra, Imo and Enugu States would not deter it as it was poised to make a policy statement with the action.

It said, “The order from IPOB remains that every

Biafran, both home and abroad, is expected to stay indoors, away from work, market and roads, from dusk on Thursday September 13 to dawn on September 14, 2018.

“We wish to reaffirm our resolve and determination to ensure a total lockdown of the whole of Biafraland (South-east/South-south) contrary to the childish and laughable utterances and threats from poorly-educated Fulani Police Commissioners

in Imo, Anambra and Enugu States.

“A special compliance unit has been set up by IPOB High Command to monitor and take record of traitors and saboteurs who may have been recruited by the government to undermine the sanctity of the occasion. Any person or persons found outside on the 14th of September 2018 will be recorded as an enemy of Biafra and dealt with accordingly.

“Such person or persons along with their families will face the eternal wrath and consequences of their actions.

“This IPOB generation will not forgive any act of treachery capable of derailing our march to freedom,” the statement.

IPOB stated that there was need to resist the military operation code named: ‘Operation Python Dance’ and also displaying so by adhering to the oneday strike, adding that such

action if not rejected may become a permanent feature that will place the Southeast under Jihadi military occupation every year.

It added that, “By observing the sit-at-home tomorrow, we the people of Biafra would be conveying an unequivocal message to the international community that we are determined to live as free men in Biafra, away from bondage that Nigeria has become.

AdelekeVows to Resist Diversion of N16bn Paris Fund in Osun Yinka Kolawole in Osogbo The candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for September 22 governorship poll in Osun State, Senator Ademola Adeleke yesterday vowed that any attempt by Governor Rauf Aregbesola to criminally divert the N16.6 billion Paris fund released to the state government would be resisted.

Adeleke noted that the fund was meant for the payment of workers’ salary arrears, pensions and gratuities in the state.

Speaking yesterday at a press conference, Adeleke added that Similar funds running into several billions of naira were released to the state government in the past.

“Yet,Osun State government failed to pay workers and pensioners but Aregbesola continue to suffer workers for 34 months of untold hardship,” he said.

According to him, the criminal diversion of this latest fund will be resisted.

He contended that the government officials who are directly or remotely connected

with the application of this the fund must ensure that workers’ salaries, pensions and arrears are paid without further delay.

He warned that any attempt to divert the fund for bogus contractor payments or for any electoral purposes will be resisted by the people.

“Every kobo from the refund must go to settlement of outstanding salaries and employment of workers. If anything contrary is done in the handling of the fund,we will ensure full recovery of the last kobo once our government is voted into office. All those involved in such criminal diversion of the Paris refund or any other funds meant for the welfare of the workers and pensioners will be pursued, arrested and prosecuted,” Adeleke explained.

Adeleke urged Osun workers and voters to remain eternally vigilant.

He contended that he would remain resolute in his commitment to bring succour to the hardworking members of Osun State workforce as well as the oppressed masses.

2019: Maku Picks APGA Governorship Nomination Form Emmanuel Ukumba in Lafia The National Secretary of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), Mr. Labaran Maku, has obtained the nomination form to contest for the governorship ticket on the platform of his party in Nasarawa State.

Maku, a former Minister of Information, contested for the governorship seat of the state during the 2015 general elections on the platform of APGA but lost to the incumbent Governor, UmaruTanko Al-Makura.

Announcing Maku’s ambition at a press briefing yesterday in Lafia, the DirectorGeneral of Labaran Maku Campaign Organisation, Dr. Nawani Aboki, said Maku was set for the journey of the 2019 election.

Aboki said: “I want to formally inform you that Labaran Maku is set for the journey of the 2019 election.

The forms have been purchased

and duly filled. By next week, there will be presentation of the nomination form to the national headquarters of APGA.” “I want to also say that there has been no secret or open meetings between PDP and APGA anywhere in Nasarawa State or outside the state that there was any agreement that Maku will step down for anybody.APGA has the best product in the market to sell to the people of Nasarawa State.

A good product cannot step down for a bad product.

“So we want to state here that no agreement has been made that Maku should step down for anybody in PDP. Today, Maku remains the best thing that can happen to Nasarawa State. We are therefore calling on the people of Nasarawa State to disregard any rumour in this regard. Rather, they should work with Maku to ensure that we put a government that cares for the people of this state.”

YOU ARE WELCOME...

Chairman, Board of Trustees, Edo State Chapter of the Association of Hotel Proprietors, Mr. Roland Osunde (left), in handshake with Edo State Governor, Mr. Godwin Obaseki, during a courtesy visit to the governor, at the Government House, Benin City, Edo State...recently

Akwa Ibom APC Leaders Buy Guber Form for Ekere Leaders of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Akwa Ibom State on Tuesday presented the party’s gubernatorial expression of interest and nomination forms, which they had bought, to the Managing Director of Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), Mr. Nsima Ekere with a call on him to contest the 2019 election.

Ekere was presented with the forms at a rally by the people of Akwa Ibom (Eket) Senatorial District to honour him and endorse President Muhammadu Buhari held in Eket.

Led by Atuekong Don Etiebet, the APC State Caucus Chairman and former Petroleum Resources Minister, party leaders that bought and presented the forms to Ekere included Senator Godswill Akpabio, former Senate

Minority Leader, Senator Nelson Efiong, representative of Akwa Ibom South senatorial district in the National Assembly, Senator Ita Enang, Senior Special Assistant to the President on National Assembly (Senate) Matters, Mr. Umana Umana, Managing Director of Oil and Gas Free Zones Authority, and Mr. Ben Ukpong, National Population Commissioner for Akwa Ibom State.

Ntufam Hilliard Ettah, the APC National Vice Chairman (South-South Zone), Mr Ini Okopido, the Akwa Ibom State APC Chairman, and Barr Bassey Dan-Abia, a governorship aspirant and former NDDC Managing Director, were among those who witnessed the presentation.

Atuekong Etiebet urged Mr Ekere to accept the form, fill and return it before the deadline set by

the party’s National Headquarters.

He hinted that with all the major APC leaders in Akwa Ibom State supporting Mr Ekere, the party may choose its governorship candidate by consensus.

Senator Akpabio, who drove the crowd ecstatic with solidarity songs for Mr Ekere, said the NDDC boss had already been endorsed by his Akwa Ibom North-West (Ikot Ekpene) Senatorial District.

“We are yet to fully take a decision on whether it should be direct primaries or consensus but I know in Ikot Ekpene Senatorial District, Nsima Ekere has already been endorsed...APC is going to rule Akwa Ibom in 2019,” he said.

Though he urged the party not to preclude other aspirants outside Akwa Ibom South Senatorial District from buying nomination forms, Senator Akpabio, a former

Governor of the state, argued that that they were contesting in vain as Mr Ekere’s victory was certain.

“I want to make one point very clear. When I was contesting in 2007, it was the turn of Ikot Ekpene Senatorial District. But people from Eket and Uyo Senatorial Districts also bought forms. I want to plead with you to make sure that our party is richer.

Even though Nsima Ekere is going to the Governor, please go and buy form for governorship. You are not going to be stopped from contesting.

This is democracy. What Akwa Ibom people are saying today is that Eket Senatorial District should have two tenures and it should end in 2023. Therefore, no matter where you come from, if you are not from Eket Senatorial District, you are contesting in vain. I think that is the message,” he said.

I Have No Issues with Bauchi Gov, Says Oshiomhole SegunAwofadeji in Bauchi The National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Adams Oshiomhole has stated that he had “no issues” with the Governor of Bauchi State, Mohammed Abdullahi Abubakar.

This was contained in a statement signed by the governor’s Special Adviser,

Mallam Ali M. Ali, and made available to journalists yesterday in Bauchi.

According to the statement, APC chairman gave the assurance when he hosted Abubakar in his residence in Abuja on Tuesday.

Oshiomhole who said his main concern was the electoral victory of the party at all levels, told Abubakar:

‘’I have no issues with you, Your Excellency. My concern is winning the impending elections, especially the presidential. We want to win more states and more legislators. I have faith in you.” He thereater, wished his guests well and safe trip back home.

Speaking earlier, Abubakar revealed to his host that he

was in his residence to intimate him first-hand that he was returning his governorship nomination and expression of interest forms at the party’s national secretariat.

The governor was accompanied to the visit by members of the national and state assemblies,members of the state’s executive council and top party stalwarts.

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Abdullahi Declares for Governorship, Vows to Fix Kwara Hammed Shittu in Ilorin A former Minister of Sports, Malam Bolaji Abdullahi, has formally declared interest to run for the governorship of Kwara State on the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) platform.

Abdullahi made the announcement yesterday at a very colourful ceremony in Ilorin, the state capital, where he was endorsed by several political groups and hailed as the leading gubernatorial aspirant of the PDP for the State.

Abdullahi said he was inspired to join the race because of his passion to provide purposeful and impactful leadership that will improve the lots of the people, explaining that the central agenda of his government would be youth-inclusiveness.

“The greatest investment the government can make is to make the youth productive. That’s why my number one, two and three agenda is on youth development because if we do not solve the problem of the youth, we cannot talk about development. ‘’The vast majority of our population are young people, to harness their potentials we must provide them with quality education,’’ he said.

Abdullahi stated that as a child of poor parents who hawked food in the streets of Ilorin, he knew what it is to be poor and suffer lack.

“When we were young, my sister and I used to hawk fufuon the streets of Ilorin. We were poor. I went to LSMB primary school at Oke Anifowoshe. The same school we attended cannot give quality education today.

All I want is for the children of the poor to have the same opportunity as I did and have the chance to become someone of influence.

Abdullahi argued that the greatest freedom the people of the state desire is improvement in their quality of life and wellbeing.

According to him, there is no doubt that youths remain a major factor in the socio economic growth of any society, hence all hands must be on deck to ensure its development and growth.

He explained that he took the issue of youth development as a great challenge during all his previous political positions, stressing thatif the state must witness great development and growth, the issue of youths development must be a front burner.

He said: “Even, during my consultations across all the wards in my constituency in Ilorin West Local Government Council Area of Kwara State, all the people I have seen were young people between age 0 and 19 and without being fully engaged.

“And I have taken it upon myself that youthdevelopment would be my main priority because if we start building schools, health institutions,

PDP Loses Ex-deputy Gov, Senator to APC in Akwa Ibom Hamid Adedeji The exodus from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Akwa Ibom State continued on Tuesday with the defection of Lady Valerie Ebe, the immediate past Deputy Governor of the state, and Senator Eme Ekaette, former Senator representing Akwa Ibom South Senatorial District, to the All Progressives Congress (APC) with their supporters.

Both women who made history as the first female Deputy Governor and first female Senator in the state in 2012 and 2007, respectively, defected during the Eket Senatorial District rally to endorse President Muhammadu Buhari and honour Mr Nsima Ekere, the Managing Director of Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) in Eket.

Ebe, Senator Ekaette, Ekere and Governor Udom Emmanuel all hail from Eket Senatorial district.

Enobong Umoetuk, a former Commissioner for Special Duties, from Onna, the same local government area with Senator Ekaette and Governor Emmanuel, was among the defectors.

Ebe, formerly a staunch supporter of Governor Emmanuel, hinged her defection on the failure of the Governor to satisfy the

yearnings of Akwa Ibom people.

“This government is not doing well. PDP can’t survive.

I know that without joining APC I will be making a huge mistake. The crowd is fantastic.

I see that people are very much willing and happy to be members of APC. We don’t want to lose, so we need to join the winning party,” she said.

Senator Ekaette also criticised the non-performance of the PDP State Government, attributing it to bad leadership.

“For the past three years in this state, we have been struggling with underdevelopment and hunger all over the land. Women are crying, dead bodies all over the mortuary. All these things you can attribute to bad leadership,” she said.

Receiving the defectors, the APC National Chairman, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, represented by the National Vice Chairman, South-South Zone, Prince Hilliard Ettah, said he was elated with the growth of the party in the zone, noting that from one Senator in 2015, APC now has eight Senators in the zone.

“The APC in this zone is the fastest growing in the country,” he said.

The defectors were presented by Mr Ini Okopido, the APC State Chairman.

construction of roads, among others without rising to the youths development, it will be a serious challenge to move the state forward.

“Our youth demography can yield the expected dividends only when we are prepared to make the required investments that would discover, tap and channel their massive potentials productively.

When our youths are fully developed and engaged, the propensity to develop our state in the areas of social amenities and other

infrastructures would have meaning and this will help us to move the state into a greater height among other states of the federation.

He also said: “I want to tell you by the grace of God that if given a chance to lead our state come 2019, youths will be educated and their skills will be improves, thereby creating employment opportunities for them; because if we fail to do this, the youths will fight back and this will not help the state”.

Abdullahi however, pledged

that his administration would provide qualitative education, health, agriculture, sport, local industries, mining, infrastructure, among others so as to accelerate the economic growth of the state.

He advised those opposing the leadership of the Senate President in the state to have a rethink and support his (Saraki’s) ideas of leadership so as to move the state forward, noting that Saraki’s leadership had empowered the lessprivileged people in the state.

Also speaking at the

event, the Chairman of the Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi Campaign Organisation, Mr. Abiodun Asonloko, described Abdullahi as the most prepared aspirants amongst the PDP gubernatorial hopeful. ‘’Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi is the first gubernatorial aspirant that made his manifesto available even before he b e c o m e s t h e c a n d i d a t e o f t h e P a r t y.

This is an indication of good things in the offing for Kwara State’’, he said.

IT’S NICE MEETING YOU...

Chief of Air Staff, Nigerian Air Force (NAF), Air Marshal Sadique Abubakar (left) ,and Director General, Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP), Mamman Ahmadu, after their procurement meeting at the BPP office Abuja...yesterday

205 Inmates in Kebbi, Sokoto Regain Freedom Alex Enumah in Abuja and Mohammed Aminu in Sokoto Following efforts by the Presidential Committee on Prisons Reform and Decongestion, 205 inmates in Kebbi and Sokoto prisons have regained their freedom.

A total of 135 of the inmates were released from prisons in Kebbi State, while the remaining 70 were from prisons in Sokoto State.

While the federal government through the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, facilitated the release of 51

inmates, while others were released by the Kebbi and Sokoto State goverments.

Apart from those who committed minor offences who were released after their fines were paid, cases of others with maximum sentences were also considered.

In his remarks, Chairman of the committee and Chief Judge of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) High Court, Justice Ishaq Bello, charged those released to shun crime and be better citizens as they go back into the society.

Among those released include a 70-year-old man convicted on

charges of witchcraft.

The old man, Mohammad Seriki Aski, regained freedom after Justice Bello looked into his case and said he should not have been convicted in the first place.

He said there is no law that can sustain charges of witchcraft and should not have been tried in the first place.

Another prisoner who regained his freedom is a 61year-old man, Abubakar Aliyu, who was initially sentenced to death for armed robbery but was later commuted to life imprisonment and later 25years imprisonment.

He was released after spending 12years in prison.

However, 80-year-old Fatima Abubakar, who was convicted for murder, was discharged after spending nine years in prison.

She was discharged after the committee considered the frailty of her health.

The committee chairman ordered that Fatima be handed over to her son after her release.

However, the transport fare of two young women among the freed prisoners was paid by the Policy and Legal Advocacy Centre (PLAC).

Obaseki Urges Actionable Strategies as Experts Fine-tune Edo Environmental Policy Flooding, deforestation top validation session The Edo State Governor, Mr. Godwin Obaseki, yesterday charged environment experts to fast-track work on the Edo State Environment Policy that was tabled for validation at the expert session in Benin City, the state capital.

The policy document which was prepared in partnership with the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO), according to Obaseki, would address environmental issues such as flooding, deforestation, amongst others.

Senior Special Assistant to

the Governor on Environment, Dr. Felix Iyalumhe, who shared the governor’s expectations, explained at the one-day validation workshop that the state was working with critical stakeholders on the last lap of the policy, with a view to having a document that will help create a safer and cleaner state.

Iyalumhe added that residents of the state would benefit from the implementation of the policy as it would address the issue of flash floods and other environmental challenges being faced in the state.

The National Programme Officer, UNIDO, Mr. Reuben Bamidele, noted that human activities have continued to pose a great deal of threat to the sustainability of the environment.

Bamidele assured that when developed, the Edo Environment policy would checkmate the activities that cause environmental degradation in the state.

“Edo is currently being faced with challenges of erosion, deforestation, especially with the furniture business in the state; the forest is gradually

being eroded.

“In the area of agriculture, the effect of bush burning and use of agrochemicals also pose a threat to the environment; these are challenges the state has to tackle. The environment policy is needed to mitigate their impact,” he added.

Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Environment and Sustainability, Mr. Brai Emoedume, explained that the essence of the workshop was to validate the input of stakeholders in the policy.

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Parade Policemen Who Invaded Clark’s Home, IYC Tells IG Deji Elumoye in Abuja The Ijaw Youth Council (ICY) has asked the Inspector-General of Police, Ibrahim Idris, to parade the policemen that recently invaded the Abuja residence of elder statesman, Chief Edwin Clark.

Its President, Mr. Peretubo Oweikemi, who made the call on behalf of the Council while on a solidarity visit to Clark in Abuja yesterday evening, commended the police IG for apologising over the incident but added that the police ‘invaders and intruders must be brought before the public for the whole world to know them” His words:”We commend the Police for apologising to you over the incident but we want the IG to do one more thing to demonstrate that he means no harm with this illegal raid of Pa Clark’s residence.

“He said he never sent them and had sacked the police officers who took part in the raid. I have the mandate of all the Youth Leaders in the Niger Delta to demand that the IG should publicly parade these officers he claimed to have sacked to prove that they

were indeed sacked. As at today, we don’t know these people he claimed to have sacked but in this house, your aides will know and identify those who came to conduct the illegal search of your house.

“So if they are publicly paraded before the media, then we can verify that they were indeed sacked for harassing and embarrassing our leader. We appreciate all he has done so far , but he should publicly parade them to convince us that he knows nothing about their illegal assignment”.

According to the Ijaw Youth leader, intimidating Chief Clark amounts to intimidating the entire people of the Niger Delta “which means that it can happen to anybody in the Niger Delta.

“This is a handshake taken too far. The Nigerian Police attempted to test the waters.

They thought the water is calm; the water is not calm and can be very volatile when the need arises”.

Responding, the former Minister of Information and Culture, Chief Clark, told the Ijaw Youth that he accepted the apology tendered because he wanted

FG Approves $41m for Ilesa Water Project I am prepared to lead Osun, says Oyetola Kehinde Lawal The federal government has approved $41 million for the Ilesa water project, Governor Rauf Aregbesola, said yesterday.

He spoke in Ilesa at a campaign rally to seek support for Alhaji Gboyega Oyetola, the Osun State candidate of the All Progressive Congress in the Sept 22 governorship election.

Oyetola, his running mate, Benedict Alabi, Deputy Governor, Grace Titi Laoye-Tomori, Ilesa federal lawmaker, Ajibola Famurewa, among others, attended the rally. They recalled that the Ijesa zone was neglected for 16 years by the Peoples Democratic Party when the party was in power in the state.

Aregbesola, who described the APC as a welfarist party, assured that every part of the state would enjoy even development with the APC-led federal government and in the state.

He rallied support for Oyetola, saying he stood far taller than other candidates in the race.

Aregbesola assured the people that they would not regret voting in Oyetola as he successor because “he is competent, has

integrity and has the fear of God.” According to the governor, Oyetola with his track record in the private and public sectors would advance the fortune of the state and live up to expectations of the people.

The governor, who advised the people not to listen to “rumour mongers peddling unfounded information about our party and candidate,” told the residents of the state to ensure they use their “power of votes wisely for someone who will not let you down.”

Oyetola said he was prepared for the job adding that governance is not “a tea party to be left with the mediocre or the desperados.”

He said he would never promise what he would not be able to deliver, saying development would be spread across the state.

“I am prepared for this job. I will hit the ground running. I know where to start and no one is going to tell me what is next to do. I will protect the welfare of the people of the state, including the projects of our hard- working governor who had made enough sacrifice for this great state and made it what it is today,” he said.

to douse tension across the Niger Delta region.

He said hours after the raid on his house became public knowledge, he got reports that many people, particularly youth groups in the volatile oil bearing region were enraged and spoiling for war.

Clark said as an elder who had worked so hard

to build and sustain the current peace in the region, he knew that accepting the apology offered to him rather than venting his anger, was the best way to avert an outbreak of crisis in the region.

According to him, the invasion of his house was apparently to intimidate and subdue him, but assured that

no one can intimidate him at his age.

He added that at 91, he had no fears and would continue to speak his mind on issues of national interest.

Clark added that “they came and apologised and disowned those boys, but we are no fools. Those boys have no right or powers to come and search my house.

“When they were here, my people phoned an AIG and he answered and they continued the search. When my people followed them to their office, the boys took them to their boss.

So they should not lie to me that those boys came on their own. I accepted the apology because of Nigeria,” he further explained

FEC MEETING...

L-R: Minister of Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Malam Mohammed Musa Bello; Minister of Interior, Lt. Gen. Abdulrahman Bello Danbazau (rtd); Minister of Communications, Adebayo Shittu, and Minister of Labour and Productivity, Dr. Chris Ngige, during the Federal Executive Council meeting at the Council Chambers, Presidential Villa, Abuja...yesterday GODWIN OMOIGUI

Ugwuanyi Charges Appointees on Policy Sensitisation, Peace, Reconciliation Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi of Enugu State has charged his Executive Assistants (EAs) in all the electoral wards of the state to assume responsibilities and work assiduously towards sensitising and enlightening the rural dwellers on the numerous programmes, policies and vision of his administration.

The governor also asked them to be an instrument of peace and reconciliation in their respective wards to ensure continuous delivery of democratic dividends to the people of the state.

Ugwuanyi, who spoke during an interactive meeting with the elated Executive Assistants,

emphasised the importance his government attaches to them as his representatives at the grassroots, stressing that the position is sensitive and vital to the success of its rural development agenda.

Describing the appointees as “political generals and commanders” in the rural areas, the governor told them to intensify efforts in their responsibilities as the link between his administration and the rural dwellers, to guide and inform them of the workings of government.

The governor, who thanked the EAs for their selfless

service, equally urged them to continue to work as a team and remain steadfast in the task ahead, noting that his administration is all-inclusive and grassroots-oriented and “we are all members of one family”.

Earlier, the EAs through their address presented by the State Coordinator, Samuel Ozougwu, appreciated God for using Ugwuanyi to accommodate them “as integral part of the machinery for the delivery of good governance to the people of Enugu State”.

They commended the governor for his uncommon leadership style anchored on

peace and development, stating that he has redefined politics in the state and has “no boundary or discriminate in his projects execution in the state”.

The enthusiastic appointees reassured him of their absolute loyalty and support as his “foot soldiers and willing tools in his hands to continue with his good works in the state, promising to deliver on other responsibilities given to them.

“Our prayer is that God will nullify every counsel, plan, desire, expectations, imagination, device and activities of the enemy against you and Enugu State,” they prayed.

Borno Guber AspirantVows to Work with Buhari to End Insurgency Shola Oyeyipo A governorship aspirant on the platform of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in Borno State, Alhaji Idris Mamman, has urged Nigerians and the people of the state to re-elect President Muhammadu Buhari, to completely end the Boko Haram insurgency.

Mamman, who spoke with journalists in Abuja, shortly after submitting his nomination form at the APC national Secretariat, said getting Borno people out of post-Boko Haram trauma will be a top agenda of his administration when elected and that it will be achievable working with President Buhari.

“We know we have had many

years of insurgency. We need to bring back peace so that our people can have good life again and their businesses can thrive again. We have to build on the success of the President because when he came on board, Boko Haram was degraded insurgency.

Before, we could not go to Borno, but now we go there without fear. If the President is re-elected, Boko Haram will be completely eradicated.

“We are just coming out of insurgency and our priority now is to foster peace, good governance and quick recovery. Our people have gone through a lot, and the onus is on us to quickly take them out of the trauma for prosperity and happiness to reign.

“We have no time to waste. We

have to get going as quickly as possible and I am very ready to take them to the next level. But first thing first, I have to get the nomination of my party members across Borno State in the coming governorship primary election.

After which I will approach the Borno electorate to complete the process they have started by voting for me to be governor and for our dear President Buhari to be returned for second term in office”, Mamman said.

The chartered accountant and technocrat-turned politician who received remarkable support when elders from Northern Borno purchased nomination and expression of aspiration forms for him, even though he is from Southern part of the state, said

he is abreast of the challenges confronting his people and that he is prepared to tackle them.

He vowed to give priority to education, health, land and environment, social welfare, works and housing, and peace and reconciliation amongst others as governor of the state.

“I understand what it means for these very intelligent and committed leaders of Northern Borno to have decided on me as the person they are putting forward at this crucial period in our lives. I understand that this is a challenge and a responsibility. I am being asked to be the torchbearer for the collective aspiration of the entire people of Borno State to take our dear state on a new road in our quest for a greater Borno.”

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THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 13, 2018 ˾ T H I S D AY

NEWSEXTRA

2019 Elections Budget: Groups to Protest Today at N’Assembly Complex Want budget passed on Sept 18 Deji Elumoye in Abuja Two election monitoring groups, Election Monitor and Movement for Transparency Elections, have expressed concern over the delay by the National Assembly to pass the 2019 election budget submitted to the legislature

by President Muhammadu Buhari on July 17.

To drive home their apprehension, the two groups are to embark on a protest march to the National Assembly premises today.

The Convener, Mr. Biodun

Ajijola, in a statement issued in Abuja, said the groups are demanding that the 2019 election budget proposals be passed by the federal legislature on or before September 18.

He warned that if there is further delay in passing and releasing the budget beyond September 18, “then we would call on Nigerians from all walks of life to embark on sustained protests daily and simultaneously nationwide until the whole election budget is passed and released to INEC.

According to him, it is germane to remember that Nigeria is greater than any individual or group of persons and those that feel they are greater than Nigeria should remember that there is a day of reckoning for everyone.

“We want Nigerians to know that our country will triumph and overcome every agenda and attempt to truncate the hard-fought democracy so many have paid the ultimate price for.

“It’s quite unfortunate and completely unacceptable that

the National Assembly is even considering postponing its resumption till the second week in October 2018 because its members are going to take part in political party primaries. What’s the logic in going for primaries and refusing to conclusively

approve the budget for the same election they wish to participate in?”

He therefore called on all well- meaning Nigerians to come out for a peaceful march to the National Assembly “with the take -off point being Unity Fountain”

ADC Deploys 90-man Campaign Committee to Osun The African Democratic Congress (ADC) has named a 90-man Electoral Campaign Committee to wrest power from the incumbent All Progressives Congress in the Osun State Governorship election slated for September 22, 2018.

The National Chairman of ADC, Chief Ralphs Nwosu, who announced this at the party’s first quarterly roundtable in Lagos yesterday, also disclosed that the party now had five million card carrying members, with more already queuing up to register.

According to him, the Osun Campaign Committee is led by Senator AbdulAzeez Nyako, representing Adamawa Central senatorial district in the National Assembly, Chairman of the Coalition of United Political Parties, Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola, who is the host, and former governor of Oyo State, Senator Rasheed Ladoja.

Others members of the committee are Senator Monsurat Sunmonu, representing Oyo Central senatorial district; ADC’s National Coordinator, Electoral Matters and INEC Liaison, Chief Anayo Arinze; National Publicity Secretary, Mrs. Yemi Kolapo; Chairman, ADC, Ogun State, Dr. Gbolade Osinowo; 15 governorship aspirants of ADC; 11 House of Representatives members; 10 state chairmen of ADC, among many other political heavyweights.

Nwosu said, “We are confident of victory in the landmark election because the leaders of the committee have defined a paradigm shift in the fortunes of the key South-west state, which has suffered untold deprivation and stagnation under the outgoing APC regime of Rauf Aregbesola.

“We took our time to select the ADC candidate, Alhaji Fatai Akinbade, and his running mate; Justice Folahanmi Oloyede (rtd), who sacrificed her career for the masses when she criticised Governor Aregbesola for alleged failure

to pay workers’ salaries and pensions.”

According to the party leader, the candidates are the only clear choice for a new direction in Osun State, given the dashed hopes by successive regimes, which have been marked by uncompleted projects, massive corruption, failed investments and untold hardships for civil servants and private businesses.

“The massive ADC campaign train will visit all the local governments and wards in Osun State on Saturday to assure the larger percentage of the disgruntled electorate that there is little doubt that their fortunes will only fare worse under the dubious ‘continuity of failure’ agenda of the APC, to its fold,” he said.

Nwosu added that Akingbade himself was an insider in the Aregbesola administration but has opted out due to the unprecedented hypocrisy that had characterised the APC administration and assured that the party flag bearer was loved by the people of the state due to “his masses-oriented philosophy, which include volunteerism, integrity, and endearing humanity.

He said, “Our party is pleased to present a leader, an accomplished public servant, and a man always at home with his people. Alhaji Fatal Akinbade perfectly fits the bill to rescue the state from the selfish proxy war of politicians based outside the state. With his running mate, Rtd Justice Folahanmi Oloyede, who lost her job fighting for the masses, beside him, the good people of Osun should be confident of good governance.

“Judging from the candidates being paraded by other parties in the coming election in the state, we can readily beat our chest that we shall coast home to victory at the Osun gubernatorial polls because Akinbade stands a shoulder above all of them.”

BUSINESS PROMOTION...

L R: Chairman, Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI), SME Group, Mr. Abiodun Oladipo; Head, MSME Banking, Sterling Bank, Mrs. Ezinne Okafor; President, LCCI, Mr. Babatunde Ruwase; representative of Director General, SMEDAN, Mr. Yinka Fisher; and Managing Director, CRC Credit Bureau Limited, Mr. Ahmed Popoola, during 2018 annual seminar of the SME Group held at LCCI Conference and Exhibition Centre in Lagos...yesterday ETOP UKUTT

Two Die as Police, AnambraYouths Clash David-Chyddy Eleke in Awka Two youths of Nteje community, in Oyi Local Government Area of Anambra State, have allegedly lost their lives in a clash involving policemen in the area and youths of the community.

THISDAY gathered that the clash was caused by the death of a commercial motorcyclist who was said to have been killed after he tried to escape arrest, but ran into a moving vehicle, causing his death.

The youths who blamed the police for his death mobilised and attacked the Nteje Police Station threatening to raze it.

In attempt to repel the youths, the police were said to have called for enforcement from men of the Federal Special Anti- Robbery Squad, FSARS

from Awkuzu, causing shootout, which led the youths to beat a retreat.

The youths however recommenced their protest on Wednesday morning, barricading the federal highway, causing a huge traffic gridlock on road.

A source from the area told our correspondent that, “A young man who was riding a motorcycle in the night was evading arrest when he was hit by the police and he lost control and died while another was gunned down during the protest.

“Human and vehicular movements were paralysed for over three hours on the Onitsha-Express way when the youths blocked the road in protest, and in a bid to scare the youths, the police started

shooting and in the process, a youth was hit by bullets, making it the second person that died.”

The Police Public Relations Officer in the state, Haruna Mohammed, who confirmed the unrest in the community, however denied that two persons were killed.

He said the motorcyclist was not killed by the Police; rather he was trying to escape arrest when he ran into a moving vehicle, but was rushed to the hospital, where he was confirmed dead.

“You know there is a state law prohibiting riding of motorcycles as from 7pm in the state. So the young man on sighting policemen in the night, and in the process to escape arrest he rammed into an on-coming vehicle and got

wounded.

“When he was taken to a hospital he was confirmed dead.

The youths in the area mobilised that night and moved to the Nteje police station, accusing the police of killing their kinsman.

“But the police were quick to mobilise and quell the protest.

This morning (Wednesday), they mobilised again and attacked the police for the same reason; but the police were able to quell the situation.

“We have arrested some people in connection to the crisis, and we are still investigating. I cannot tell you the number of people that have been arrested because our men are still investigating. I assure you that only one person died, and he was not killed by the police,” he said.

Shekarau’s Political Ally: Why I Remain in PDP Adedayo Akinwale and Palvin Namero in Abuja A long -time political ally of former Governor of Kano State, Ibrahim Shekarau, Malam Salihu Sagir Takai, has declared his intention to remain in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

Takai who was the governorship candidate of the PDP during the 2015 general elections was also commissioner for Water Resources and later for Local government during the eightyear tenure of Shekarau when

he served as governor of Kano State from 2003 to 2011.

The declaration of Takai was coming few days after Shekarau’s defection to the All Progressive Congress (APC) having dumped the PDP at the weekend.

Shekarau claimed he was forced out of the PDP by alleged perceived injustice from the national leadership of the party.

However, Takai in a statement issued yesterday disclosed that he has resolved to remain in the PDP. According to him, “after

extensive consultations with my supporters, admirers, well -wishers, party faithful at different levels including aspirants to various elective offices, it was clear that majority wanted us to remain in the PDP and as a democrat, I have no option than to heed to the opinion of the majority by remaining in the PDP.” He said that it took him more than four days consulting with his supporters on the state of affairs in the PDP in Kano since the dissolution of the state executives by the National Working Committee of the party

and the subsequent defection of some members led by Shekarau.

He stated: “I hereby report that the outcome of these consultations showed that majority wanted us to remain in the PDP. In view of this opinion of the overwhelming majority, I hereby announce to the people of Kano State that I alongside my teaming supporters hereby remain in the PDP and at the same time continue with my aspiration of becoming the next governor of Kano State under the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP come 2019”.

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THURSDAYSPORTS

Group Sports Editor Duro Ikhazuagbe Email duro.ikhazuagbe@thisdaylive.com 0811 181 3083 SMS ONLY

Weah: Nigeria Football is a Model Olawale Ajimotokan in Abuja Former World Footballer of the Year and now President of the Republic of Liberia, Mr. George Opong Weah has hailed Nigeria as a great and worthy ally in national development, while describing Nigerian Football as a model that he wants his country to follow.

Speaking after Tuesday night’s exhibition match between the Lone Star and the Super Eagles at the Samuel Kanyon Doe Sports Complex in Monrovia, which the Eagles won 2-1, Weah, a former World Footballer of the Year, revealed that Nigeria Football has always inspired him. “As a young, upcoming footballer, I was always fascinated by Nigeria’s football stars. I looked up to the likes of Stephen Keshi, Rashidi Yekini, Friday Ekpo and others and believed that the African footballer can also get to the very top. I believe that in Africa, somewhere, there is another Ballon D’Or winner.

We have to find him, expose him to the world and give him the opportunity to actualise his dream,� Weah, who was named African, European and World Footballer of the Year in 1995, said.

While commending the Government of Nigeria, the Nigeria Football Federation and the Super Eagles for the honour done him on the occasion which was to celebrate his contributions to Liberian Football, Weah revealed that as a people, Liberians look up to Nigeria’s pedigree in the round leather game and will work hard to get there.

Weah and former national teammate, James Debbah, led out the Lone Star against the Super Eagles in a game played in an ambience of warmth, mutual respect and good spirit. Henry Onyekuru and Simeon Nwankwo scored for Nigeria in the first half Super Eagles Stand in Captain, John Ogu (right), shaking President George Weah before the friendly game on Tuesday night in Monrovia while Liberia reduced the deficit through a penalty son, Timothy, featured for the same day, with the junior NFF 2nd Vice President delegation to Monrovia. kick in the second half when Shehu Dikko and Executive Interestingly, on a day that the U.S. national team in a Weah starting and playing 89 Oluwasemilogo Ajayi handled Committee member Ibrahim Weah’s Number 14 Lone Star win over Mexico. The father/ minutes in the USMNT’s 1-0 the ball in the box.

Musa Gusau led the Nigerian jersey was been retired, his son duo both took the field on win over 10-man Mexico.

‌ Rewards Eagles with $2,000 Each for Monrovia Friendly For honouring the invitation to play in the friendly game to retire George Weah’s No 14 Lone Star jersey, Super Eagles have been rewarded with a cash gift of $2,000-a-man.

The 1995 World Footballer of the Year who is now President of Liberia was delighted that Nigeria presented a strong side

including several last players from the recent World Cup in Russia for Tuesday night’s game in Monrovia. “We were paid $2,000 each by the President of Liberia,� one of the players at the game informed SCORENigeria Weah, 51, now many kilogrammes overweight and far

from fit, played for 79 minutes in a game the Eagles won 2-1.

In his playing days, the big striker featured for some of Europe’s best teams – PSG, Monaco, AC Milan and Chelsea.

Meanwhile, Bordeaux winger Samuel Kalu has said it was a huge motivation to play on the same pitch with the one-time

World Footballer of the Year.

Kalu, who made his Super Eagles debut at the weekend in Seychelles, said it was a big lift to share the same pitch with Weah who is now his country’s elected President. “I couldn’t follow him much when he was playing, but I could see some of his skills

Eaglets to Battle Ghana’s Starlets for Ticket to Tanzania 2019 U-17 AFCON Nigeria and Ghana will rekindle a 67-year old rivalry when the Golden Eaglets take on the Black Starlets of Ghana in Niamey on Saturday for a place in the 2019 Under-17 AFCON finals.

The Eaglets kept their heads and did the hard work they had to do when defeating host nation Niger Republic 2-1 in a very competitive match at the General Seyni Kountche Stadium in Niamey yesterday evening, to set up a mouth-

watering final with the Black Starlets, three-time winners of the global championship. It was sweet revenge for the five-time world champions, as the Nigeriens knocked out the Eaglets from the 2017 Africa Under-17 finals on a 3-2 aggregate, when the home-and-away leg contests still held sway.

Following a tinkling of the old format, countries in each of Africa’s six football regions now gather in one venue to take part in a qualifying tournament,

with only the winning team eligible for the final tournament, save the region of the defending champion that produces two.

Akinwumi Amoo set Manu Garba’s wards on their way with a fine finish from a pull out in the 45th minute, and Olakunle Oluwasegun, who had scored a brace in the 2-3 defeat to Burkina Faso in their opening match and another in the 5-1 mauling of Cote d’Ivoire last week, made the scoreline

comfortable with another magnificent strike two minutes before the hour.

The home team pulled a goal back late on but the Nigerian boys held on, and reward is a potentially explosive final against Ghana, who had earlier defeated Cote d’Ivoire in the first semi final at the same venue.

Oluwasegun was named man of the match. The finals of the 2019 Africa U17 Cup of Nations will hold in Tanzania.

NSA Congratulates Aruna Quadri over African ChampionshipTitle Unmissable Incentives, organisers of the Nigerian Sports Award, NSA have congratulated Nigeria’s ping-pong prodigy, Aruna Quadri for doing the country proud by winning his first African title at the just concluded 2018 ITTF African Championship in Mauritius.

Quadri who had earlier won the top prize at the ITTF Challenge Nigeria Open in Lagos continued his winning streak by beating Egypt’s Ahmed Saleh to emerge men’s single champion for the first time.

Executive Director of the Unmissable Incentives, Mr. Kayode Idowu, commended Quadri for his consistency which had seen him record superlative feats over the years.

He noted that the feat achieved by the table-tennis sensation bears testimony to the recognition accorded him by the Nigerian Sports Award having been a recipient of the award in the last three years.

Similarly, the organisers also hailed the performance of the Super Eagles in the 3-0 defeat of Seychelles in a 2019 AFCON Qualifier played Victoria.

Idowu who lauded the team for their performance against Seychelles and urged them to remain focused by ensuring that it secures the maximum points needed to guarantee qualification for the 2019 Nations Cup. “NSA commends Aruna

Quadri for showing the stuff that he is made of by winning a major trophy at the 2018 ITTF African Championship.

He has done well for Nigeria.

We are happy that he has remained a shining light in Nigeria sports, winning laurels. “Equally, we are delighted at the performance of the Super Eagles of Nigeria against Seychelles. It is good news that they are soaring. We want them to continue in that path by making the country and football lovers happy. We can only hope that they continue to achieve good results in other subsequent matches,� Idowu said. Meanwhile, nominations are still open for the 2018 edition of the prestigious Nigerian

Sports Award as entries from the general public for the various award categories continue till October 7, 2018.

Nominations this year’s award including; Racket Sports Person of the Year (Lawn Tennis, Table Tennis, Badminton, Squash), Team Sports Person of the Year, Coach of the Year, Combat Sports Personality of the Year (Karate, Judo, Taekwondo, Wrestling, Boxing), Wrestler of the Year, Discovery of the Year, Footballer of the Year (Women), Footballer of the Year (Men), Athletics Star of the Year, School Sports Award, Sports Administrator of the Year, Sports Governor of the Year and Para Sports Person of the Year.

from the videos I have seen of him,� the winger commented. “He’s a legend, a world-class player. It was a big motivation to play against him,� Kalu stressed.

He said despite Weah being part of the Lone Star in last night’s game, the Eagles wanted to win the game.

“We want to win any match we play,� he maintained.

Kalu was outstanding on his debut against Seychelles on Saturday in a 2019 AFCON qualifier. “It was great to represent Nigeria, this is a good step for me in the national team,� he said.

African Freestyle Football Championship Starts in Lagos The first-ever African Freestyle Football Championship will start today with the qualifying rounds and Nigerian championship at the Balmoral Convention Centre, Federal Palace Hotel in Lagos.

Freestylers from various parts of the country and some others top ones on the continent are expected to be on parade.

The championship will also host international freestyle professionals; Guinness world record holder, Iya Traore and Female freestyle legend, Raquel Benetti from Brazil.

However, the 2018 Africa Freestyle Football Championship will be a fusion of freestyle football and entertainment as top musical and dance artistes will be performing, including Falz, Vanessa MDEE, KCEE, Mayorkun, Slim Case and Mr. Real Feet and Tricks International, organisers of the event has named former professional English footballer, John Fashanu; former Head of Lagos State Football Association, Waidi Akanni; and former Super Eagles Coach, Samson Siasia, Superstar actresses, Kate Henshaw and Tonto Dikeh as brand ambassadors for this year’s Championship.

All with enviable careers and celebrated globally are undoubtedly a perfect representation of the sporting excellence the brand stands for.

Chairman, Feet ‘n’ Tricks International, Valentine Ozigbo, said this year’s championship would be a mind-blowing competition for participating athletes and fans of the sport. “We have a dream of promoting freestyle football and exposing the country’s talents to be among the best in the world stage. Last year’s event was very successful and we believe this edition would even be better,� he said.

One of the brand ambassadors, Samson Siasia, noted that it was great to have such a noble idea which provided an option for lovers of football. “Those who cannot do the rigorous one will just do their thing with freestyle. I look forward to the tournament because it’s going to be exciting,� Siasia said.

After the qualifying rounds, the best 16 male and eight female freestyle athletes in Africa will emerge to battle it out at the grand finale on Saturday September 15 in a keenly contested competition that is expected to produce the first African male and female Freestyle Football Champions.

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THURSDAYSPORTS THE AMAJU PINNICK INTERVIEW

I Need Another Mandate to Make The four-year tenure of the Amaju Pinnick-led board of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) elected on September 30, 2014 in Warri, Delta State will run to a close next week.

Already, fresh elections have been scheduled to hold on Thursday in Katsina, with most members of the outgoing executive committee seeking fresh mandates to return for another four years in charge of the Beautiful Game in the country.Just before Pinnick left Nigeria on Tuesday afternoon for Accra as leader of the FIFA/CAF delegation to put in place a Normalisation Committee to run Ghana’s football, the Vice President of the Confederation of African Football, took time to speak with DURO IKHAZUAGBE on his stewardship in the past four years, his achievements and challenges. He also spoke of his desire to accomplish the mission of making Nigerian football become self-reliant. Excerpt...

C

an you give us a run down of the achievements of your board and why you think you deserve another term at the Glass House in Abuja?

I want to say that from the very beginning, we had a vision of where we are taking Nigerian football to. Our vision was built on youth development, sustainable football culture and capacity building. We actually started with capacity building because we realised that it was the foundation on which every other things we planned to achieve will be placed upon.

Anything built on a faulty foundation was not going to stand. I gave myself the mandate to ensure that in eight years from my first day in office, a Nigerian referee should be qualified to officiate at the World Cup. Nigeria is too big and important in football not to have her officials referring at the summit of the game or in the global scene. At that point, we then decided to take about 40 Nigerian referees to England for training. And on their return, they started getting invitations for big matches globally. That was the first thing we did. We also took coaches for training. Two of the coaches we took on that capacity building programme, Florence Omagbemi and Anne Chiejene won the African Women’s Nations Cup. That was a direct impact of the programme. Then again, we took administrators for similar capacity building for them to really know how to handle football development at the grassroots level. They all went to England for the training. Today, if you look at the Congress of the NFF there is now quality unlike before when ethnicity and ‘who you know’ was all that you need to be part of that August assembly.

What is on the mind of these people now is football development. That is what informed the need to take these critical stakeholders in the country’s football on the capacity building programme to England. Those were the first three things we did on coming on board.

And of course because we wanted a self sustaining NFF, we went about getting key players in the Nigerian economy to come under one roof to rub minds on how they can be of assistance in the new vision we have for Nigeria football.

But unfortunately, the very day we scheduled for that event at the highbrow Eko Hotel in Lagos, a court process stopped us from achieving that but a few companies like Zenith Bank, Emzor, Taleveras and several others that made it to the venue, gave us sponsorship to kick start this vision of self reliance. I am 100 per cent sure that if that event had took place as planned by now NFF would have become self-sustaining by now. We used our contacts extensively to let them know why football should be liberated from government in terms of funding. Government controls football by providing enabling environment like security and facilities but securing funding

from the private sector would have reduced dependence on government all the time.

In this last four years, we also looked at the professional league and strengthened it with the creation of the League Management Company.

Some of the reforms carried out returned the NPFL to amongst the best leagues in Africa today.

Board room points became a thing of the past, teams went to play away matches without fears of harassment from the home team fans, and above all, a place like Maiduguri that has been starved of league matches due to the insurgency in that part of the country began to see their darling team El Kanemi play home matches at home.

We entered into partnership with airlines flying teams to play there. Security agencies gave back up. It drew wide plaudits from home and abroad that even BBC reported the first match there.

How did you achieve all these with some of the key sponsors pulling out of their deals with NFF at the inception of your administration?

I must confess, it was difficult for us. We had some of the key sponsors we inherited pulling out due to certain things that happened before we took charge. First was Adidas. We didn’t know why. We made countless trips to their headquarters with no result. They didn’t tell why. At that point Nigeria was supposed to be a beautiful bride having just on the AFCON 2013 and qualified for the World Cup in Brazil amongst other successes recorded by the previous board. Why did they pull out? They didn’t tell but we later realised why. We cannot put them in public space now due to what transpired.

But it was most unfortunate that the former administrators allowed that to happen. It was a big minus for the NFF. The first day that I signed a document to purchase jerseys for Nigeria, I wept.

It touched me that a football-playing nation like Nigeria with almost 200 million people, we are buying jerseys instead of enjoying sponsorship from any of the major sportswear companies as it were in time past. It was at that point that we went all out and didn’t just get any brand but NIKE. When we got NIKE there was no money attached to the contract. But if you look at what was coming to the federation as kits and equipment as well as bonuses, we believe it was good enough. We knew it was very difficult for NIKE to return to Nigeria but we were going to get them renegotiate at the expiration of the contract without cash. Today, NIKE is very happy with Nigeria. They have conducted an integrity test on the NFF and it’s leadership and are satisfied with the result. Now, they have made an offer to us and we are studying it. Our Marketing Committee is studying it and will make its report to the executive committee. We will then tell Nigerians what they are offering us and why

Pinnick... seeking fresh mandate to lead Nigeria football

they are offering it. What they are proposing is an eight-year tenure contract with the NFF. Part of what we are requesting from them is to have their factory in our export free trade zone in Nigeria where they will be producing NIKE products. Most of the NIKE products are not produced in the USA. They are produced in their satellite factories in Indonesia under their standards. Indonesia is not better than Nigeria.

We have the labour force here too. If that happens, you just imagine the value chain and what Nigeria stands to benefit. From production to marketing and other ancillary benefits, it’s going to be huge for us. We would have succeeded in impacting the Nigerian economy with that singular contract. That is our dream of making football an integral part of the economy.

If you recall what happened in England in the early 1990s, the English government gave a seed money of £200million as loan to upgrade their stadia and facilities. Today, the English government gets over a £1billion or more in taxes from football. Take for instance, if the English Premier League’s grosses £6billion a year, 30 to 40per cent of that money goes to government as taxes. That is what we are aiming to do with football in Nigeria. It is a clear vision and we are on course to making that happen here also. But to achieve that, the government needs to create the enabling environment to make that possible.

I want to specially thank President Muhamadu Buhari for saving Nigerian football at the point he did through Vice President Yemi Osinbajo.

His intervention saved over 60 million Nigerian youths. Football is more than a passion here in Nigeria. The ripple effect of what would have happen if the President didn’t intervene would have been left imagined. We are not where we want to take Nigerian football yet but we believe we can take our football to become self-sustaining.

We are 65 to 70 per cent of where we are going.

As I speak to you now, there are four deals on the table. If we are able to conclude those deals, I can tell you that in the next one and half years we can tell government, “Thank you for funding football, we can now stand on our own and fund all our football activities.�

You came in at a time things were really tough for the NFF, how difďŹ cult was it convincing Corporate Nigeria to partner the federation with you in charge?

It was very tough I must tell you. To Corporate Nigeria the NFF was a filthy place. There are

certain things that we know as leaders that we cannot come out to speak about here. There were so many things that we should rather not talk about here now. For us to be able to make them look in our direction as a new board, we went ahead to get international consultants to make us look good in the new mission to rebrand the NFF. That was why we went for Financial Derivatives as our financial consultants, PwC as our auditors and Baines & Company as our management consultants. So if we were going to negotiate a deal and introduce Bismarck Rewane as our financial consultants and Uyi Akpata from PwC as our auditors, people began to look at us differently that something new was happening in NFF. That became our MO (Modus of Operation).

At that point, we started attracting sponsors who believed their investments were safe with our NFF. These people agreed to partner us because they know the background of members of our board and where we are coming from. The level of trust became appreciative to the point of doing business with us. I must confess the recent court crisis almost dented all that gain made until the Presidency intervention. The last three weeks have been good to enable us conclude some of the Programmes we have on the table. When people say yes, we collected this or that, we have no problem with that as all. Our deals are open for scrutiny. Our partnership with AITEO is N1.2 billion a year. It is captured in our budget. It is for the AITEO Cup, payment of salaries of coaches and the AITEO/NFF Award. We also have our Football Houses. The essence of building these football houses is for us to have good grassroots football administration. After training them in England, they need offices to operate. Normally, they operate from one cubicle or room in the ministry of youth and sport. We want them to have places to operate from and key into FIFA Connect programme. Once you are connected any player discovered at that level is entered into the database of the system. This ensures that such a player can no longer change his or her name and age. There is a record of him or her to whelp avoid situations of age cheating in our football. Such moves strengthen us and makes for integrity checks possible. We have six of such houses waiting to be commissioned.

In the next 12 months, six more are going to be commissioned around the country. AITEO is sponsorship all these. In the next two years, we want to have football houses all over the country. After that, we will have to pitches per

55

ÍšÍťËœ ͺ͸͚΀ Ëž T H I S D AY

THURSDAYSPORTS

Nigeria Football Self-reliant

Super Eagles

state. Nigerian kids love to play football. They don’t care whether you lived in Ikoyi or Ajegunle.

Everybody just want to play football.

Given all these you have elucidated how do we then describe the youth programme of the Pinnick-led NFF board?

I need to give kudos to my NFF 1st Vice President Seyi Akinwunmi. He has been exceptionally bright in that area. He’s the chairman of our Youth Committee as well a member of CAF youth development committee. When people say we did not qualify for the last AFCON Under-17 I am not bothered because we went to the competition with players who are truly under-17. The essence of these cadet competitions is developmental not an end. Now we are doing the right things.

Nigeria has won the Under-17 five times at the world level but what has it achieved for us at the intermediate and the senior levels? Look at the ongoing Zonal qualifiers in Niger Republic, only two of our boys are said not to be within the age bracket. Benin Republic lost 10 players to cheating. We don’t want to belong to such groups any more. Even our two players disqualified will be found to be within the age limit if they are retested. They will pass because they passed through our youth system sponsored by Zenith Bank. It is called the Next Eagles Challenge. We are starting the programme immediately after the elections. Our priority is getting the right players who will naturally transmit from the junior to the intermediate and the senior category.

What would you consider your greatest achievements for the senior national team, the Super Eagles?

Our biggest gain is building a virile, young team almost from scratch. As our biggest brand, we are talking of a sustainable Super Eagles. I must admit that it is still work in progress. We are seeing a youthful, disciplined and dedicated Eagles. It is a major plus for us. We are not just going to be counting what we have won within the period. We are not in competition with any previous board because football evolves and is dynamic. If you look at what happened recently, who will never believe that Madagascar will play draw with Senegal with all their star footballers?

Football has gone beyond what anyone thinks.

Nobody is sitting and waiting to be rolled over by so-called football powers. Not any more. What you achieve four years ago is different from what can happen now or tomorrow. Of course we can talk about the Rio Olympic medal, the Under-20, Under-17 World Cup, Falcons AWC etc. But the Super Eagles remain the top brand as it remains

our benchmark in negotiating with sponsors.

We have got a world-class coach. We are also not resting as we combed around the world for Nigerians born overseas to come play for us if they are good enough. If England can make our son Dele Alli to play for the Three Lions, we must be proactive not to allow others snatch from us those good enough for Eagles. That however doesn’t mean we are ignoring quality players from our domestic league in getting into Eagles.

We saw what they did against Atletico Madrid during the friendly before the World Cup in Russia. If we get the mandate to continue for another four years, Nigeria will become a power both in the game and in the administration in the continent and at the global level.

What will you attribute to responsible for why Super Eagles failed to qualify for AFCON 2015 and 2017 back-to-back?

Government all over the world is a continuum and I will not put the blame of why the Super Eagles failed to qualify for the AFCON 2015 on the previous board. If you will recall, when I took over the NFF, Nigeria had only one point from a possible six points. Our first game was a difficult one as we played away to Congo Brazzaville. We however won that game. All we then needed to do to qualify was beat South Africa. I recall, God bless his soul, Stephen Keshi, warning all the big names in our Eagles to go into their rooms to rest before the game as it was a big one for Nigeria. But they insisted that they were professionals and that nobody should dictate to them like kids. They sneaked to indulge in things not for this public space. The result was that early in the clash with Bafana Bafana, Eagles concede two goals. It was quite regrettable. We did our best but it was not good enough to see us through. In the qualifiers for the AFCON 2017, we were unfortunate to be grouped with Egypt who were also hungry to be at the AFCON having missed three editions after winning back to back three times. They had a new coach, Hector Cupper who wanted to make a statement with the AFCON. I believe that Nigeria had the capacity to make it along with Egypt but just as we were thinking of seizing the momentum, Chad pulled out of the competition leaving CAF with no option than to deduct points of matches they played.

That decision left us in the cold. But now we have learnt our lesson. We now have a very disciplined team with a coach who does not tolerate nonsense from any player. We have put everything Eagles’ need at their disposal and believe strongly that Nigeria will qualify for

the AFCON 2019. We have lined up friendly games for the coaches to have opportunities of looking at other players in order to have stand bye and those who are good to step in when the preferred are not available.

But the women’s team, the Super Falcons, has not enjoyed the same beneďŹ ts as the Super Eagles. Why that?

Like I said earlier, the Super Eagles is our best brand and that is what Corporate Sponsors discuss in negotiating a contract. They watch the players play for their clubs in Europe and elsewhere every now and then. It is Eagles they want and not the Falcons. It is regrettable but that is the reality we are faced with when dealing with sponsors. But we have now hired a top-notch coach to be in charge of the Falcons.

There is no doubt that the Falcons is the most successful male or female team in Africa. They have won the Nations Cup nine times and have played countless times in the Women’s World Cup since inception in 1991. We remain hopeful that success for Falcons at the world stage will bring sponsors to the team.

Don’t you think the non-passage of the NFF bill into law in the National Assembly could work against some of the laudable projects you have outlined to make the federation self reliant?

We have done all that we need to do to get the bill passed. We have interfaced with the National Assembly and let them know the delay in passing the bill for the President to assent it into law was doing to the business of football in the country. They have passed it at both houses. They need less than 15 minutes to get it concurrent and pass it to the President for assent. This was part of what we told the Vice President when he was acting during President Buhari’s vacation. We want the Presidency to press it upon the House the need to finish its work for the bill to be signed into law. Trust me, if we have the enabling environment in place, Nigerian football will not go to government for funding in the next one and half years from now unless in very rare case for intervention.

This liberation is the first thing the NFF needs to become self-reliant.

Your thrust into continental and global bodies came to some like a shock. You are CAF 1st Vice President, head of the AFCON Committee as well as member of an important Committee in FIFA. Is there a movement involved in all these?

First, I will like to thank the President of the country for giving me the opportunity to serve

because if he did not, I will not be where I am today in both CAF and FIFA. However, I must say here that there are very few people who have been accepted to play vital roles in the global space. I also believe that some of Nigerians who have been called to serve should enjoy some form of protection from home. Very few Nigerians have been accepted into the global space when it comes to sports matters. With all modesty, I want to say yours sincerely is one of such.

Engr. Habu Gummel is another Nigerian who has risen in that sphere. It is not easy to get there. When I got to CAF I looked around and discovered that there was no Nigerian in sight in terms of administration and decision-making.

That was what spurred me to say no, Nigeria is too big to be playing back bench roles in football administration in Africa. I let my colleagues know that in Nigeria the first love is football, the second love is football while the third love is also football. We are a 100 per cent football-playing nation and so ought to have some of our people in right positions in the administration of the game. I let them know that Nigeria is one of the very few countries in the world that have participated in all FIFA competitions. I preach Nigeria and Nigerian football to them. I let them know what will be missing when Nigeria did not qualify for any competition. With this my strong Nigerianess, I started getting attention from my colleagues and today, as they say, the rest is history.

My happiness today is that we are now having Nigerians coming into CAF administration. We have a Nigerian as Director of Organisation in CAF, Nasir has just been appointed as a General Coordinator. Our target is to within the next four years get him to FIFA as a general coordinator.

Nigeria is a big country and important in football.

We need to rally round those in those positions in CAF and FIFA. If for instance something happens and such Nigerians get pull down, it is not another Nigeria that will take the position. It will go to another country and Nigeria will be loser after all. These positions help one way or the other.

Take for instance, if I was not in CAF I will not be able to direct the Libyan federation to order their coach to apologise when he made snide remarks about our country.

Elections into the NFF board are scheduled for next Thursday in Katsina. Why do you want a fresh mandate?

Like I said earlier, my board has achieve close to 65 per cent of the dream to make the NFF self-reliant. I need another tenure to complete the job we have started. I want to say that it will be difficult for whoever comes in if I don’t get re-elected to continue where we have reached now. There is going to be a lot of apprehension between who takes over and the sponsors because of the confidence they have built on my board.

I relate with them because of the trust they have in my capacity and the structure we have put in place for probity. Getting such trust from the corporate players in the Nigerian economy does not just happen over night. We have developed a synergy that makes the sponsors not doubt what we are doing. They are involved in all that we are doing. Take for instance, we are taking three of our sponsors to the next FIFA Best Award for them to see how things are done fit and proper. I requested these special invites for them to be in the centre of how FIFA run their events. So, I think we need to be reelected to continue the transformation we are bringing to Nigerian football in terms of vision, youth development and the drive to be self-reliant. It was a difficult call for me to want to come back because of some of the things that have transpired since I was elected in 2014. There where times that I ask myself why go through all these stress? I feel like throwing in the towel but that would amount to betraying members of my board who believe we are doing the best thing for Nigeria football and should not jump ship now.

I have a young family and I know the denials they have been made to go through because of my NFF position. Serving Nigerian football is because of the passion I have for the game. Nothing more.

Like all good things, beautiful roses come through thorns. Nothing good comes easy.

I also want to say that as human, some of my actions may have offended some Nigerians. I say sorry to those who feel offended. Such decisions were certainly taken for the betterment of the game in Nigeria.

TR

Thursday, September 13, 2018

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MISSILE Osinbajo to Church Leaders “It is convenient for some people to conclude that because the President is a Muslim and a Fulani that is why the killings are taking place but why would a leader want to kill the people who elected him? ” – Vice President Yemi Osinbajo explaining to Pastors and Church leaders in Calabar that the violence in the North-Central is not a Muslim /Christian conflict but a struggle for land, pasture and water.

OLUSEGUNADENIYI THE VERDICT

olusegun.adeniyi@thisdaylive.com

The Ways of the Godfathers A

gainst the background that there is no fresh recruitment in the already over-bloated civil service—at both federal and states—where salaries are no longer guaranteed and at a period most of the private companies are downsizing as a result of the harsh operating environment, it is no surprise that many Nigerians are now looking for the easy way out of their economic challenge. That perhaps explains why there are more people seeking political offices than at any other period in our history, going by the list of those contesting the 2019 general election across the country. From presidency to the governorship to the state and national assemblies, hundreds of thousands of Nigerians are now pinning their survival hopes on winning, by hook or crook, elections into public offices.

Even those that are not directly involved are conspiring with politicians to “purchase” their forms in what has become a lucrative enterprise, especially since Nigerian politicians don’t take responsibility for anything, including their own ambitions: They are always being ‘begged by the people’. Instructively, Senator Shehu Sani (who else?) said at the weekend that he was approached by “a group of youth struggling for daily bread” to announce that they bought a nomination form for him as part of the ongoing drama of deceit while another politician offered him pepper spray and handkerchief to rub his face to induce tears that would be attributed to his concerns about “the plight of the masses” while collecting or submitting the nomination form at his party secretariat.

In a milieu where the only thriving industry is politics, all kinds of tricks are being conjured by office seekers though it must be said that Nigerian politics has always been an Abracadabra game: The more you look, the less you see.

That perhaps explains why we are in the season of spiritualists and marabouts even when I am inclined to believe that as our democracy progresses, our politicians will also begin to see those charlatans for what they truly are. Afterall, it took Harry Houdini, a famous illusionist who testified before a subcommittee of the United States Congress in February 1926, to expose the futility of “fortune telling” and sorcery to which many American elected officials and politicians were addicted at the period.

However, the real challenge of our politics is the role of godfathers: the political contractors who help people to power as an investment on which they seek bountiful rewards. This is also their season. Not too long ago, I encountered a professional who left to serve his state before getting a rude awakening in politics. From the position of a powerful aide to the governor who eventually completed two terms, he sought to succeed his boss by becoming governor himself. After preliminary consultations, he was directed to go and get the endorsement of a prominent godfather in the state (which I will not disclose to protect my source).

The meeting with the said godfather, according to the man (let me call him Dr X) who recounted the tale to me, started on a convivial note, especially when the first request sounded seemingly harmless, in the circumstance: “You know people like us invest in politicians with the expectation to secure contracts and make money when you people

INEC Chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu get to your cosy offices…”

That is not too much to ask for, Dr X told the godfather, “after all, as our fathers would say, those who serve in the altar must also eat from the altar.” With that sorted out, the godfather said, “There are a few other things you should understand. The party will pick your running mate and all the members of the State House of Assembly. When you become governor, the party will also pick two thirds of the commissioners with specific portfolios like works, finance, education, health and a few others.”

At this point, it was dawning on Dr X that this “party”, which clearly meant the godfather himself, was determined to run rings around him as governor but having come this far in the negotiation, he decided that it was better he concluded it. Dr X told the godfather that the demands of the “party” were not too much but that they were subject to further negotiations. Then the godfather went back

When politics is not driven by a desire for positive change in the lives of ordinary citizens but rather by desperation for power in pursuit of private interest, the godfathers and their collaborators in the occult world will always be in the business of determining who gets what

to financial matters. “On contracts, I think you should know that the profit margin has to be 70 percent. Meanwhile, your monthly security votes will also be shared 50-50 with the party.”

To these propositions, Dr X could not hide his anger as he asked the godfather how anybody could possibly offer a 70 percent profit margin for contracts but all he got by way of reply was a mere shrug, a sort of take-it-or-leave it response. All the market analysis made by Dr X made no impression on the godfather. As far as he was concerned, this was not an issue subject to negotiation. From that point, Dr X decided it was pointless arguing as more and more ridiculous demands were made by the godfather. After the list was exhausted and Dr X said he would consider the terms, knowing that no right thinking person would follow such an agreement, the godfather shook his hands warmly and said: “If you agree, we will put everything in writing and both of us will sign.”

This, to Dr X, was carrying the whole thing to a ridiculous level. Assuming he signed, how can anybody enforce such agreement?

So, he verbalised his thoughts. “Sir, I know a little bit about law. This sort of agreement is not binding and I cannot sign it. But if I really want to deceive you, I will sign such document because I know that it cannot be enforced anywhere.”

For a while, there was silence before the godfather then offered what Dr X thought was a reassuring statement. “I think you are right.

We can then proceed to the last stage which is

to take an oath in three shrines, one in each of the three senatorial districts in the state.”

When Dr X expressed shock at this demand, the godfather smiled and asked, “Why do you pretend to be shocked? Did the governor, your friend who sent you to me, not explain these things to you? How do you think he got to office?”

Undaunted, Dr X made a counter offer: “Sir, you are a Muslim and I am a Christian.

I can swear with the Bible but if you prefer the Quran, I can also swear by the Quran.

In fact, I can swear with both the Bible and the Quran if that will satisfy you. But I won’t go to a shrine.”

Shaking his head, the godfather said neither the Bible nor the Quran would help his cause.

The oath had to be taken at shrines. That was where the conversation ended and I can report that Dr X, who is back to his professional calling, did not do a deal with the godfather.

But many politicians in our country, including those who give loud testimonies in Church, have at different times succumbed to such deals and diabolical methods to achieve their goal as Dr Reuben Abati explained in his “Brief Manual of Nigerian Politics” on Tuesday.

While we will come back to this issue another day, the lesson is simple: When politics is not driven by a desire for positive change in the lives of ordinary citizens but rather by desperation for power in pursuit of private interest, the godfathers and their collaborators in the occult world will always be in the business of determining who gets what - to our collective detriment as a nation.

Fayose’s Challenge to EFCC Whatever you may say about Governor Peter Ayodele Fayose, there is no doubting the fact that he has the courage of his convictions, regardless of what those convictions are—and that includes the fact that he does not like this reporter, as he last year told me at a Nigeria Governors Forum session to which I was invited by the Director General, Mr A.B. Okauru.

But it doesn’t really matter. On Tuesday, Fayose submitted a letter to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), pledging to make himself available on October 16 to clarify whatever issues the commission may have with him.

Fayose’s move came against the background that shortly after the result of the June gubernatorial election in Ekiti State—won by the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate, Dr Kayode Fayemi—was announced, there was a gloating statement from the EFCC official Twitter handle: “The parri is over; The cloak of immunity torn apart, and the staff broken. #Ekiti Integrated Poultry Project/ Biological Concepts Limited N1.3bn fraud case file dusted off the shelves. See you soon.” Although the statement was deleted after public uproar, it was clear enough evidence that the EFCC had targeted Fayose for the selective justice for which the institution has become notorious.

Meanwhile, I have over the years been very critical of Governor Fayose, especially

over the manner in which he has attacked the person of President Muhammadu Buhari, even before the election that brought the man to power. There is a measure of public decency that I expected of the governor which unfortunately he never displayed and most of the things he did and said against Buhari were disrespectful and bordered on hate-mongering. That was why I never spared the governor and the reason he also doesn’t like me, even though I have never lost my sleep over that.

Since it is an open secret that the EFCC is interested in Fayose, whatever may be the motivation, the commission had better put its act together with concrete evidence that they can take to court for a diligent prosecution should they have any case against him. But given what has transpired in the past three years and the Tweet that has already given the game away, there should be no media trial or any attempts at public humiliation of Fayose when he is out of office. A commission whose responsibility is to fight corruption in the public space cannot become a partisan instrument for the blackmail and coercion of opposition politicians in the hands of a government in power.

NOTE: Interested readers will find my take on the Abuja earth tremors of last week on page 14 under the caption, ‘Anything can happen here’.

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