WEDNESDAY 7TH NOVEMBER 2018

Billionaire Businessman, Sunny Odogwu, Passes at 87 Okowa, Ibori mourn Omon-Julius Onabu in Asaba Billionaire industrialist and publisher of the defunct Post Express Newspapers, Chief Sunny Odogwu, has passed

on at 87.

Odogwu, who holds the prestigious traditional title of 'Ide Ahaba' of Asaba Kingdom in Delta State, died on Monday night in his Lagos home.

He was a brother-in-law to former President Ibrahim Babangida, who married his late sister, Maryam.

Reacting to his passing, Delta State Governor, Senator Ifeanyi

Okowa, and former governors of the state, Chief James Ibori and Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan, described it as a monumental loss to the Anioma people, the state and Nigeria.

Okowa in a statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Mr. Charles Aniagwu, commiserated with the family Continued on page 8

Odogwu

Anchor Borrower: 850,000 Farmers Integrated Into Financial System … Page 10 Wednesday 7 November, 2018 Vol 23. No 8603. Price: N250

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Buhari Campaign Challenges PDP, Atiku on Petrol Price ... Page 10

Fear of Inflation Mounts as Buhari Approves New Minimum Wage To send enabling bill to N’Assembly Deji Elumoye, Omololu Ogunmade, Shola Oyeyipo in Abuja As workers and their unions celebrate the N30,000 new minimum wage approved

by President Muhammadu Buhari yesterday, analysts have expressed fear that the fresh wage regime could put inflationary pressure on the already fragile economy.

Transmits three-year MTEF

Labour’s CWC meets today

Those who spoke to THISDAY said the 60 per cent minimum wage increase was likely to lead to a general increase in prices of goods and services in the short-term.

One of them, the Chief Executive Officer, Financial Derivatives Company Limited, Mr. Bismarck Rewane, pointed out that the wage hike would Continued on page 10

Senate Investigates, Police Deny Attack on Ekweremadu Was Assassination Attempt Deji Elumoye, Alex Enumah, Adedayo Akinwale, Shola Oyeyipo in Abuja The police have dismissed the claim by Deputy Senate President Ike Ekweremadu that there was an assassination attempt on his life when unknown persons yesterday broke into his residence, saying

the incident was a case of burglary.

Ekweremadu had told the Senate yesterday that his residence was attacked in the early hours of yesterday and alleged that it was an attempt on his life.

The Senate immediately Continued on page 8

Despite Court Ruling, Kano Assembly Continues ROYAL PEER KING ORDER… L-R: Duchess of Cornwall, Camilla; Prince of Wales, Prince Charles; and President Muhammadu Buhari, during the Ganduje’s Alleged Bribery Investigation …Page 8 prince’s visit to the president at the Presidential Villa, Abuja…yesterday GODWIN OMOIGUI SEE MORE PICTURES INSIDE

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Despite Court Ruling, Kano Assembly Continues Ganduje’s Alleged Bribery Investigation Ibrahim Shuaibu in Kano Kano State House of Assembly yesterday said that it would continue investigating the videos showing the state Governor, Alhaji Abdullahi Ganduje, allegedly receiving bribe from a contractor, despite a court ruling on the investigation.

A Kano High Court on Monday had ruled that the status quo be maintained, following an order sought

by one Muhammad Zubair on behalf of Lawyers for Sustainable Democratisation of Nigeria.

The High Court, presided over by Justice A.T. Badamasi, had directed the committee investigating the matter to maintain the status quo ante pending the determination of the motion on notice.

However, in a press conference yesterday, the chairman of a seven-man committee constituted by the

assembly to investigate the allegation, Alhaji Baffa DanAgundi, said according to their understanding, the court did not stop them from continuing with their investigation.

According to him, the assembly has its own understanding of what the court called “status quo be maintained pending the determination of the motion", adding that the committee would approach the court to tender documents that gave it

the power to investigate the matter.

He cited sections 128 and 129 of the 1999 Constitution as amended, which provide that the House of Assembly has jurisdiction to investigate corruption allegations against public officers.

He stated that the assembly had utmost respect for the rule of law, adding that the committee would respect whatever interpretation given by the court on November 12,

which the judge had set aside for hearing.

He said, "We have received a court order that we should stop investigating the video clips showing Governor Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, allegedly collecting bribe.

"We had a meeting today at the assembly and according to our understanding, the court didn't stop us from investigating the allegation. We understand that the court only said the status quo be maintained. As

such, we will continue with our work.

"The court set Monday for us to appear before it for hearing.

We will respect the court and go with our documents that justify our position and jurisdiction to investigate this matter."

Dan-Agundi also said that the next items on their schedule was forensic analysis of the video clips, which should have been held yesterday but suspended as a result of the court ruling.

SENATE INVESTIGATES, POLICE DENY ATTACK ON EKWEREMADU WAS ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT resolved to investigate the incident.

But the Force Public Relations Officer, Mr. Jimoh Moshood, said in a statement to journalists that it was a case of burglary.

He explained that one Mohammed Yusuf (of no fixed address) but a native of Kaura Namoda in Zamfara State was arrested and in the custody of the police, while his accomplice simply known as Ali was still at large and wanted by the police.

He stated, "The police has commenced investigation into the crime and the principal suspect Mohammed Yusuf of Kaura Namoda has volunteered confessional statement after interrogation, admitting to the crime and mentioned one Ali (other name unknown) now at large, who escaped from the scene to have carried out the crime along with him.

"Preliminary investigation carried out so far did not reveal assassination attempt on the life of the Deputy Senate President, Senator Ekweremadu, and his family but a case of burglary.

However, investigation is still ongoing to determine if there is any other motive behind the offence.

"The same suspects had earlier at about 0300hrs broken into the residence of one Mr. Haliru Adamu of No. 38 Denis Osadebey Crescent, APO Legislative Quarters, where they stole phones, jewelry and other valuables before proceeding to the residence of the Deputy Senate President."

The statement added that both Ekweremadu and Adamu have made statements to the police about the incidents.

Moshood while stating that

there was no delay in police intervention in the incident that occurred in the residence of the deputy Senate president, however, disclosed that the four police personnel and a personnel of the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps on duty at the residence of the deputy Senate president at the time of the incidence had been arrested and currently in detention for investigation for negligent acts and dereliction of duty.

He assured that the outcome of the investigation of the matter would be made public and suspects would be prosecuted.

He added that exhibits recovered from them included motor jack, big screw driver, a big rod, a small kitchen knife and other house breaking implements.

Senate Investigates Incident The Senate had earlier in the day resolved to investigate the incident after it had been reported by its deputy president, mandating its Committee on Police, headed

by Senator Abu Ibrahim (Katsina South), to look into it and report back in the shortest possible time.

This was sequel to a Point of Order (Order 43) raised by Ekweremadu yesterday at the resumption of Senate plenary that there was an assassination attempt on him, his wife and son.

According to him, "It is with gratitude to Almighty God that I will like to tell my colleagues, my constituents and the general public that myself, my wife and my son narrowly escaped assassination in the early hours of this morning.

"It was about 4a.m. on

Tuesday that some people evaded the security in my house and got all the way to my room where I was sleeping with my wife - there was a struggle, there was a fight with heavy commotion and by the grace of God, we eventually caught one of them while the rest escaped."

Ekweremadu expressed concern that several hours after the assassination attempt was reported to top hierarchy of the police, there was no response until several hours after.

Senate President Bukola Saraki in his contribution described the incident as unfortunate especially the late response of the police.

"What is more disturbing is the poor response of the police.

I hope the police are not being partisan with the way they treat cases,� he said, directing the Senate Committee on Police to properly investigate the incident and report back to plenary.

PDP, CUPP Express Concern Reacting to the incident, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the Coalition of United Political Parties (CUPP) expressed grave concerns over the alleged attack on the deputy Senate president.

The National Publicity Secretary of the PDP, Mr. Kola Ologbondiyan, and the national spokesperson of CUPP, Mr. Ikenga Ugochinyere, in a separate statements, lamented that the latest attack raised fears that certain forces, who had been hostile to Ekweremadu’s political standing, were still bent on silencing him at all cost.

Ologbondiyan said, “The PDP draws the attention of Nigerians to the series

of uninvestigated security threats around the person of Senator Ekweremadu.

Nigerians could recall that on November 17, 2015, a similar attempt was made on Senator Ekweremadu’s life by some assailants on his way to work. “Though that attack was reported to the authorities, there have been no investigations by the security agencies, no arrests have been made and no culprit has been brought to book. “Instead, the senator has been a subject of unrelenting harassments and attacks on his person and office since his emergence as Deputy Senate President, including the May 26, 2017 invasion of his official quarters by security agencies, purportedly in search of phantom caches of arms, and the July 24, 2018 siege of his official residence at Apo Quarters.�

The main opposition party therefore expressed worry about the relentless attack on the deputy Senate president, which it said it believed was part of a scheme to silence him.

It, therefore, demanded an immediate wide-range probe into the alleged attack as well as an assurance from the federal government on the safety of Ekweremadu.

The CUPP also condemned the incident, saying it was worrisome that the attack was coming months after a previous failed attempt on Ekweremadu’s life.

It lamented the increasing attack on key opposition leaders at the ward, local government and state levels, saying nothing had been done to bring the culprits to justice.

According to it, “This careless act of treating the lives of opposition leaders at different levels like chicken is a dangerous signal that can

derail the smooth conduct of the 2019 election.�

Dogara Tasks Security Agencies to Prevent Political Assassinations Following the incident, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Yakubu Dogara, charged security agencies in Nigeria to secure citizens against politically motivated intimidation, coercion and assassinations.

Dogara, in a statement by his Special Adviser on Media and Public Affairs, Mr. Turaki Hassan, condemned the alleged attack on Ekweremadu, tasking relevant agencies to work to secure lives and property as the 2019 elections draw closer.

According to him, the incident that took place at Ekweremadu’s Apo Legislative Quarters, Abuja resident, points to the fact that nowhere and nobody was safe in the country.

He said, “There is no room for excuses anymore. The security agencies must be alive to their responsibility of securing the lives and properties of Nigerians. This is unacceptable. The police must ensure that the gunman and all those involved are not only apprehended but brought to justice. “As the 2019 elections draws closer, it is of utmost importance that the police and other security agencies deploy its intelligence to forestall wanton killings and other violent acts that are programmed to cause fear and panic among Nigerians.

These kinds of incidents must be nipped in the bud before it gets out of hand. “I commiserate with the Ekweremadu family and

BILLIONAIRE BUSINESSMAN, SUNNY ODOGWU, PASSES AT 87 of Odogwu, the Asagba of Asaba, Prof. Chike Edozien, and the Asaba people on the death of one of their most illustrious sons.

Also, Ibori in a statement by his Media Assistant, Mr. Tony Eluemunor, said though he was a much younger man than Odogwu, he related closely with him as a friend and governor of Delta State from 1999 to 2007.

Ibori said, “He was my adviser-in-chief during my campaigns in 1999. Odogwu, who was at the time already a house hold name in Nigeria and one of the richest Nigerians alive, was humble enough

to strike real friendship with me. I benefitted greatly from his advice. His desire was a fast-track development of Delta State, which was just a few years old when I became governor. “He made it his duty to help me understand the complexity of our dear state, Delta.�

Uduaghan said, ''I received with a heavy heart the news of the passage of a renowned businessman, philanthropist and industrialist, Odogwu. “Odogwu, like many other great businessmen who hail from Delta State, brought pride to the people of the state.''

Speaking through his media

aide, Mr. Monoyo Edon, the former governor noted, ''In spite of his global connections, he returned home and was made a prominent traditional chief in Asaba (Ide Ahaba of Asaba). “Odogwu’s death is a great loss to our dear state, Delta, Nigeria and personally to me, who had the opportunity of tapping from his global experience in business.�

Odogwu was born on March 20, 1931, in Cross River State to parents from Delta State. He completed his senior secondary education at Ilesha Grammar School, Ilesha in 1946, joining an insurance firm to work as

a trainee after his studies.

In 1952, he branched out on his own to establish Robert Dyson and Diket, an insurance brokerage firm. In addition, he established trading store as a side business in Lagos Island. Between 1954 and 1958, Odogwu travelled abroad for further studies.

Upon his return to Nigeria in 1958, he took up a position of assistant director with C.T. Browing. He stayed with C.T. Browing for a year then left to establish in his insurance brokerage outfit called African Insurance Underwriters. In 1965, he added life insurance business to his portfolio,

establishing African Prudential Insurance.

Odogwu grew his insurance business and started diversifying into other industrial sectors in 1972.

By 1984, he had branched out into other industries under Sunny Iwedike Odogwu (SIO) group.

In 2012, Robert Dyson and Diket, Ltd, a firm largely owned by Odogwu signed a financing agreement with a group of creditors including Diamond Bank to finance the construction of Le Meridien Grand Towers Hotel in Lagos.

He is survived by his wife, Theresa and nine children.

pray that God will continue to keep them safe.�

In another development, members of the House of Representatives have called on the federal government to urgently facilitate the repatriation of 22 Nigerians reportedly stranded in the Republic of Niger, after escaping slavery in Libya.

The lawmakers also tasked the committees on Foreign Affairs, and Interior to liaise with relevant agencies to ensure the quick return of the stranded Nigerians and to also ensure that the returnees are trained in entrepreneurship to enable them reintegrate easily.

The resolution followed a motion by Hon. Balarabe Salame moved under matters of urgent public importance, where he noted that Economic Community of West Africa States (ECOWAS) parliament recently sent a fact-finding delegation to ascertain the status of stranded West Africans at the International Organisation for Migrants’ Camp in Agadas, Niger Republic, where it was discovered that 22 Nigerians are among those stranded there.

"Nigeria is one of the countries with considerable escapees numbering 22, dumped at the International Organisation for Migrants’ Camp in Niger Republic", Salame said, adding, “While most of the escapees have devised means and found their ways back to Nigeria, 22 Nigerians are still hanging in the camp with no certainty on how and when they will be repatriated home."

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Buhari Campaign Challenges PDP, Atiku on Petrol Price Puts landing cost of fuel at N205 per litre Onyebuchi Ezigbo in Abuja The Muhammadu Buhari Campaign Organisation has asked the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and its presidential candidate, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, to tell Nigerians how they intend to bring down the pump price of petrol from N145 to N97 per litre without resorting to subsidy.

The organisation said from the facts at its disposal, landing cost of Premium Motor Spirit (popularly known as petrol) hovered around N205 per litre, saying such an ambitious claim

by Atiku to crash petrol price

could only mean a return to full-blown subsidy payment with its attendant fraud.

In a statement on Tuesday by its Director, Strategic Communications, Mr. Festus Keyamo (SAN), the campaign said Nigerians would like to know details of the transparent system Atiku intends to adopt to achieve the crash in petrol price.

The Buhari campaign team said that it had become necessary for Nigerians to interrogate Atiku further in order for him to lay bare before them the template he had developed to crash the

price of petrol.

"This is not a game of tricks or hide-and-seek. He must come clean. Nigerians await the details of the transparent system Atiku Abubakar intends to adopt that would eliminate fraudulent cash payments to middlemen and make the product available at all times,� it said.

The PDP had said that its presidential candidate, Atiku, had worked out a pricing template that would immediately crash the pump price of petrol in the country.

The party also said it was opposed to the increase in the official prices of diesel and

kerosene, explaining that it would bring more pressure on the finances of already impoverished citizens since most businesses and homes across the country heavily depended on the products for sustenance.

The opposition party's spokesman, Mr. Kola Ologbondiyan, said the party was in high level talks with top international players in the oil and gas industry, adding that its engagements had shown that the appropriate pump price of fuel in the Nigerian market ought to be around N87 to N90 per litre.

But the Buhari campaign said

at today’s international price of gasoline, no supplier would ever contemplate any scheme that would deliver products at N87, adding that those who knew the true situation must be having a good laugh at the opposition.

The campaign said from available facts, the actual landing cost of petrol was N205 per litre.

It explained, "A simple check at the international prices will show that even at the world market where gasoline is procured, it will cost not less than N158 to procure a litre of crude oil.

“When you add the cost of refining, plus freight, finance and port charges (premium), there is no magic that one would employ to supply the finished product at N145 a litre.

Presently, the landing cost of the product in Nigeria hovers around N205 per litre."

The Buhari campaign described the claim by Atiku as opportunism of the highest order and said Buhari had worked out a transparent system whereby the whole subsidy regime had been totally eliminated with no cash incentive or payment again to middlemen.

Anchor Borrower: 850,000 Farmers Integrated Into Financial System CBN seeks legal framework as global remittances hit $613bn James Emejo in Abuja Over 850,000 small holder farmers have been integrated into the mainstream financial system through the Anchor Borrowers’ Programme (ABP), the Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mr. Godwin Emefiele, has said.

The apex bank governor, in a speech delivered at Enhancing Financial Innovation & Access (EFInA) 10th year anniversary in Lagos yesterday, with the theme, “The Business Case for Financial Inclusion,� said this was in line with the central bank’s financial inclusion strategy.

Emefiele was represented at the event by the Deputy Director, Development Finance Department, CBN, Mr. Osita Nwanisobi.

According to him, the capital requirement for unit microfinance banks (MFBs) have been increased to N100 million, State MFBs, N1 billion and National MFBs N5 billion respectively.

This, he said was with a view to positioning them to deliver sustainable micro finance services. “We will also reinforce our supervision and regulation of financial institutions to ensure

delivery of affordable and sustainable services to Nigerians.

I want to reassure you that we will leave no stone unturned in ensuring a credible, reliable and effective payments system as well as a stable and sound financial system, in view of their strategic significance for financial inclusion. “We are poised as a bank to ensure that we reach the target of 20 per cent exclusion rate by 2020. This will be supported by massive agent roll out under the Shared Agent Network Expansion Facility, implementation of the approved national identity

management framework as well as the micro-insurance and micro-pension services, collective investment schemes and extensive collaborative programmes with government and development partners, amongst others,� he added.

He reiterated that much needed to be done, if the nation would achieve its target of 20 per cent exclusion rate by 2020.

CBN Seeks Legal Framework as Global Remittances Hit $613bn

In a related development, Emefiele yesterday disclosed plan to conduct a maiden remittances household survey as well as establish a remittances legal and regulatory framework for the country.

Citing statistics from the World Bank, he noted that global remittances had risen gradually over the years to about $613 billion in 2017- with Africa accounting for $72 billion, out of which Nigeria has the lion share as well as ranked among the top five globally.

Emefiele said remittances statistics in the country,

FEAR OF INFLATION MOUNTS AS BUHARI APPROVES NEW MINIMUM WAGE lead to inflationary pressures.

He said, “Productivity growth in Nigeria is still minus 0.7 per cent. So, an increase in the minimum wage and all other increases that would follow and it means that basically inflation is likely to increase. “Our projection is that inflation will go from 11.5 per cent to around 13 per cent because of the wage increase. “If you add the election spending and the promissory notes the government has issued for contractor debt of N483 billion; when we add the money supply of the contractor note, the minimum wage and negative productivity, you have an inflation.�

When asked about the likelihood of an interest rate hike, he said, “Not really, because there is a transmission time lag between when money supply rises and when prices rise. “The transmission time lag is between three and six months.�

Buhari had received the report of the National Minimum Wage Tripartite Committee yesterday in Abuja and approved the new figure, effectively ending the first phase of the workers’ struggle for pay increase.

Receiving the report of the committee from its chairman, Ms Amal Pepple, in the Council Chamber of the Presidential Villa, Buhari told members of the committee, the organised labour and government representatives that henceforth, he would put the machinery in place for the transmission of the new National Minimum Wage Bill to the National Assembly.

The president, who said he was committed to seeing the new wage come into fruition, chronicled all the events leading to the final resolution, saying he was regularly briefed on updates on the negotiations.

Promising that the government would continue to engage the organised labour wherever necessary, Buhari thanked all who participated in the process.

However, he counselled the organised labour not to allow themselves to be used as political weapons by politicians.

He said, "In a way, both arguments are valid. I want to assure you all that we will immediately put in place the necessary machinery that will close out these open areas. Our plan is to transmit the Executive Bill to the National Assembly for passage within the shortest possible time.

"I am fully committed to having a new National Minimum Wage Act in the very near future.

"Let me use this opportunity to recognise the leadership of the organized labour and private sector as well as representatives of State and Federal Governments for all your hard work. The fact that we are here today, is a notable achievement.

"As the executive arm commences its review of your submission, we will continue to engage you all in closing any open areas presented in this report. I therefore would like to ask for your patience and understanding in the coming weeks.

"May I therefore, employ workers and their leaders not to allow themselves to be used as political weapons.'

In her submission, Pepple narrated how the decision to finally peg the minimum wage at N30, 000 was arrived at.

She also reported that the draft of the New Minimum Wage Bill that would be sent to the National Assembly had already been produced.

Pepple explained, "To arrive at our recommendation, the committee carefully weighed the demand of the Nigerian workers, which was predicated on the high cost of living occasioned by unfavourable exchange rate and rising inflation over the past few years, among other factors.

"The committee also considered the overall macroeconomic indicators, including the revenue and expenditure profile of government as provided by the Ministers of Budget and National Planning and Finance as well as the minimum wage proposed by some state governments in their memoranda submitted to the committee. “Consideration was also given to the critical role of the informal sector in employment generation and the need for a realistic minimum wage that will not stifle the growth of the sector and the overall economy. “After carefully weighing these critical factors and bearing in mind the overriding interest of the economy, the committee, while noting the offer of N24,000 by the federal government, is recommending an increase in the

existing minimum wage from N18,000 to N30,000.

"We believe that the implementation of the recommended minimum wage, will, no doubt, boost the purchasing power of workers, increase consumption expenditure and ultimately stimulate business and overall economic growth. “The committee has also produced a draft national minimum wage bill 2018 for condition by government.

"We strongly believe that the enactment of the draft bill into law is very critical to the operation and future reviews of the national minimum wage."

National Assembly Receives Three-year MTEF Meanwhile, the president has submitted a three-year (2019- 2021) Medium-Term Expenditure Framework and Fiscal Strategy Paper to the Senate for approval.

He also submitted the same proposal to the House of Representatives for expeditious consideration.

Buhari had in an October 29 letter titled 'Submission of 2019-2021 Medium-Term Expenditure Framework And Fiscal Strategy Paper' addressed to Senate President Bukola Saraki and read at plenary by Saraki yesterday stated that he was sending the fiscal strategy paper based on the provisions of the Fiscal Responsibility Act, 2007.

According to the president, the preparation towards submission of the 2019 budget

to the National Assembly is progressing well.

The Medium Term Expenditure Framework, MTEF and Fiscal Strategy Paper, the President explained, "were prepared against the backdrop of a generally uncertain global economic environment; as well as fiscal challenges in the domestic economy to ensure that planned spending is set at prudent and sustainable levels and is consistent with government's overall developmental objectives and inclusive growth".

While canvassing for an expeditious approval of his proposal, Buhari said, "I hereby forward the 2019-2021 MTEF and FSP to the Distinguished Senate and trust that it would be expeditiously considered in order to bring the 2019 FGN budget preparation process to timely closure."

At the House of Representatives, Speaker Yakubu Dogara, read a similar letter at yesterday's plenary The MTEF, which was approved by the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting of Wednesday, October 28, had proposed a $60 oil price benchmark, 2.3 million barrels per day at $305/$1 exchange rate and 3.01 per cent GDP growth rate for the 2019 budget.

The FEC, according to Minister for Budget and National Planning, Senator Udo Udoma, approved a proposed N8.73trillion budget for 2019 fiscal year, which is N400 billion less than the N9.12trillion approved for 2018 fiscal year.

Also yesterday, Saraki read

gathered from both banking records and staff estimates of informal inflows had proved to be inadequate, explaining that a large chunk of migrants' remittances pass through informal channels, therefore, unrecorded.

However, he said the survey and regulatory framework being sought would ultimately support improvement in the country's remittances transactions and boost the quality of data as currently captured in its balance of payments.

Continued on page 50

out a letter dated October 24 from Buhari requesting for the confirmation of the appointment of Hon. Abike Dabiri-Erewa, as the Chairman/ Chief Executive Officer of Nigeria Diaspora Commission in compliance with Section 2(1) of the Nigeria Diaspora Commission (Establishment) Act, 2017.

The president also sought Senate confirmation of Mr. Chidi Izuwah as Director-General of Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission and the substitution of Chief Olabode Mustapha with Mrs. Ronke Sokefun as Chairman of the Nigerian Deposit Insurance Corporation, (NDIC).

A six- man governing board of the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), headed by Dr Kabiru Nakuara was also presented to the Senate by the president for confirmation in compliance with Section 8(2) a & j of the Statistics Act, 2010.

The Senate also yesterday approved the establishment of two federal polytechnics and two colleges of education in various parts of the country.

This was sequel to the presentation of the reports of the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Tertiary Institutions and TETFUND, Senator Jibrin Barau (Kano North), calling on the Senate to approve the establishment of the higher institutions.

The institutions include Federal Polytechnic in Aba, Abia State and another one in Selami in Sokoto State.

The others are Federal College of Education in Gumel, Jigawa State and Sabon Birini in Sokoto State.

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

FG, CBN Reject US Report on Rising Rice Importation Buhari administration’s claim on rice false, Atiku insists Obinna Chima in Lagos, Omololu Ogunmade and Adedayo Akinwale in Abuja The federal government and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) yesterday debunked the report by the United States Department of Agriculture World Markets and Trade that Nigeria imported three million metric tons of rice in 2018.

The US report had said the import figure is 400,000 metric tonnes higher than the quantity of the product that was imported in 2017.

The report also stated that Nigeria’s local rice production dropped from 2016 to 2018 compared to the situation in 2015.

The report ran contrary to several claims by the Nigerian Government that local rice production had increased while importation had dropped by up to 90 per cent.

The report, which was released in October, showed that since 2016, Nigeria had consistently milled 3,780,000 metric tons annually which is a reduction from 3,941,000 metric tons recorded in 2015.

But the Minister of Information, Lai Mohammed, while briefing journalists in the State House, described the report as false.

Mohammed, who said he had contacted the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), the Minister of Agriculture and rice millers on the authenticity of the report, argued that they all dismissed the report as untrue.

According to him, whereas 1.2 million metric tons of rice was exported to Nigeria in 2014, the figure declined to 644,000 in 2015 and went further downward to 25,000 in 2016.

However, the presidential

candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, has said the claim by the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari that it has increased rice production in the country is false.

The minister also faulted the claim by the report that local rice production in the country is declining, saying instead, local rice production capacity has risen to 4.9 million metric tons.

The CBN has also clarified that the volume of rice importation into Nigeria (in metric tonnes) has declined drastically in 2018, judging by figures obtained from various official sources.

Indeed, figures obtained from India and Thailand, which are dominant rice exporters to Nigeria indicated that as at September, the latter had so far exported about 5,161 metric tonnes of rice to Nigeria, while the former

sold only a paltry sum of 426 as at July 2018.

Attributing the reduction to concerted effort by the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and interventions of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), the Director, Corporate Communications at the CBN, Mr. Isaac Okorafor, in a statement yesterday, also stressed that the Bank had not allocated any foreign exchange for the importation of rice this year.

Okorafor, argued that the figures being bandied in certain quarters were based on unrealistic assumptions such as satellite mapping of farms, expected demand by politicians for election campaigns as well as expected losses from flooding, all of which led to unauthentic conclusions that the country had imported or could import 400,000 more metric tonnes.

The spokesperson for the

CBN further noted that the combined figure of 5, 587 tonnes of rice imports from India and Thailand may have been rice imported on notvalid-for-forex basis.

Meanwhile, trade figures for the second quarter of 2018 received from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed that total imports value was N2,106.7 billion; -16.3% lower than the first quarter (Q1), 2018 (N2518.26 billion) and - 19.9 per cent lower than Q1, 2017 (N2,631.65 billion).

The report on the Bureau’s site showed that the value of imported agricultural goods in the second quarter of 2018 (N224.52 billion) increased by 21.7 per cent from Q1, 2018 (N184.49 billion) and lower by -3.14 per cent from Q2, 2017 (N231.80 billion).

According to the report, raw materials imports in Q2 2018 (N261.10 billion) declined by -8.3 per cent compared

to Q1, 2018 (N284.81 billion) and lower by -14.2 per cent in Q2, 2017 (N304.43 billion).

The solid minerals import in Q2, 2018 (N17.29 billion) increased by 37 per cent on a quarter-to-quarter basis (N12.62 billion), but declined by -91 per cent on a year-to-year basis (N193.16 billion). Energy goods imports in Q2, 2018 (N98.17 million) was 202.6 per cent higher than Q1 2018 (N32.45 million) and 288.5 per cent higher than Q2, 2017 (N25.27 million).

The NBS reported that the value of manufactured goods imported in Q2 2018 (N1,175.86 billion) declined by -1.2 per cent over the previous quarter (N1,189.97 billion) but increased by 1.6 per cent over the same quarter in 2017.

The Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and the CBN had been collaborating to reduce the volume of rice Cont’d on pg 50

PRINCE CHARLES, WIFE'S VISIT TO NIGERIA

Prince of Wales, Prince Charles, and wife, Duchess of Cornwall, Camilla, arrive Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja as part of their eight-day West African tour... yesterday

L-R: Obi of Onitsha Prof. Alfred Achebe; Sultan of Sokoto, Muhammadu Sa’ad Abubakar; Emir of Kano, Muhammadu Sanusi Lamido; Prince Charles; Oba of Benin; Oba Ewuare II; Ooni of Ife, Oba Enitan Ogunwusi; and Estu Nupe Alhaji Yahaya Abubaka, during the Prince’s meeting with Nigeria’s traditional rulers GODWIN OMOIGUI.

President Muhammadu Buhari introduces senior government officials to Prince Charles

Duchess of Cornwall, Camilla, in a group photogragh with some artists

WEDNESDAY NOVEMBER 7, 2018 ˾ T H I S D AY

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NEWS

16 Soldiers Missing After Boko Haram Attack Fighter jets, helicopters bomb insurgents’ camps in Borno Kingsley Nwezeh in Abuja with agency reports At least 16 Nigerian soldiers have been reported missing following clashes with Boko Haram jihadists in the Lake Chad area, military and militia sources told AFP yesterday.

This is coming as the Nigerian Air Force (NAF) jet fighters and attack helicopters yesterday bombarded terrorist locations in Ngwuri Gana in Borno State.

The news agency reported that the incident began when gunmen in several trucks attacked a military base and a local market in the town of Kukawa late on Monday,

briefly forcing troops out of the base.

“Our soldiers engaged the terrorists in a fierce battle following the attack.

“So far, 16 soldiers are missing, but search teams are combing the general area to locate them,” a military officer told AFP from Maiduguri.

There were no immediate reports of casualties on either side, but a civilian militia group confirmed that 16 soldiers were missing and also said one civilian had been killed in the crossfire.

Meanwhile, the bombings

by NAF led to the death of many of the terrorists and the destruction of the group’s

communication centre where its flag was hoisted.

Confirming the bombings, NAF, spokesman, Air Commodore Ibikunle Daramola, said NAF launched coordinated attacks on various targets.

“The Air Task Force (ATF) of Operation Lafiya Dole, yesterday, destroyed a Boko Haram camp and neutralised

several terrorists at Ngwuri Gana in Borno State.

“The operation was carried out based on human intelligence reports indicating that the settlement was one of the locations from where terrorists launch attacks against troops’ positions and villages around the general area of Kumshe.

“Intelligence, Surveillance

and Reconnaissance (ISR) missions later confirmed the presence of a large number of the terrorists in the settlement and also identified a suspected communications centre with Boko Haram flag and solar panels mounted.

“Accordingly, the ATF launched a coordinated attack on various targets within the settlement employing Alpha

Jet and F-7Ni aircraft as well as Mi-35 attack helicopters leading to the destruction of communication centre and neutralisation of several terrorists”, he said.

Daramola said “the NAF, working in concert with surface forces, will sustain the tempo of operations with a view to destroying all remnants of the terrorists in Borno State”.

Buhari: I’m Depressed, Distressed

by Ethno-religious Killings Omololu Ogunmade in Abuja President Muhammadu Buhari yesterday in Abuja said he was distressed and depressed by the atrocious ethno-religious killings in the country and appealed to Nigerians to learn to live together in peace and harmony.

Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Mr. Femi Adesina, in a statement, said the president made the remarks while receiving members of the Church of Christ in Nations (COCIN) in the State House led by Revd. Dachollom Datiri He said Buhari urged the religious community and traditional leaders to do more in promoting peaceful co-existence among Nigerians at different walks of life. ‘’As an organised institution (COCIN), I have no reason to doubt your report on the atrocities being committed in your communities including the killing of Idris Alkali, a retired Major-General, the dumping of his car into a pond and the body of the deceased thrown

into a disused well. ‘’The communities (in Plateau) have lived long enough to know that there is nothing they can do without each other than to live together in harmony. ‘’As leaders, we must persuade the upcoming generation, using every channel particularly the educational institutions, to live together with our neighbours,’’ the president was quoted as saying.

Adesina also said Buhari, who used the occasion to express the important roles religious leaders play in engendering peace, lauded what he described as the exemplary role of an Imam in Plateau State who risked his life to save hundreds of Christian families fleeing from attacks in June. ‘’It is not all Muslims that are against Christians and neither are all Christians against Muslims. The leadership in the respective religions have to work harder to make sure they convince the coming generation that they have to live together in the same country,’’ he said.

Four APC House Members Dump Party Buhari promised to compensate us, APC aspirants’ forum insists Shola Oyeyipo, Onyebuchi Ezigbo and Udora Orizu in Abuja The ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) yesterday suffered yet another setback in the National Assembly as four of its members in the House of Representatives defected to various other political parties.

This is coming as a group operating under the auspices of APC Aspirants Forum has stated that President Muhammadu Buhari promised to compensate them.

The group which was part of those who met President Buhari last week, comprises of 7,000 governorship, federal and state aspirants of the APC who lost out in the recent party primaries.

Members of the House of Reprresentatives who announced their decisions to dump the APC on resumption from their two weeks adjournment were; Dapo Lam Adesina (Oyo) who joined the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Abiodun

Awoleye (Oyo) left for Accord Party (AP), Segun Williams (Ogun - Labour Party (LP) and Lawali Hassan (Zamfara), who joined the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Yakubu Dogara, who read their defection letters yesterday morning, noted that the lawmakers attributed their decision to lingering crises in the party.

All the lawmakers involved in the defection assured their colleagues that they had extensive consultations with their constituents before taking the action.

However, in a bid to ensure that peace reigns and that the party is focused and united towards the 2019 general elections, the presidency and the leadership of the APC are working on a template to compensate the aggrieved members.

The latest move was revealed by group operating under the auspices of APC Aspirants Forum

REPORT OF MINIMUM WAGE…

President Muhammadu Buhari (left), receiving the report of Tripartite Committee on the Review of National Minimum Wage from PHOTO: GODWIN OMOIGUI Committee Chairman, Mrs Amal Pepple, at the Presidential Villa, Abuja …yesterday

Counsel Buhari on Rights Violations, PDP Urges Prince Charles Benin monarch seeks return of artefacts Alex Enumah and Adedayo Akinwale in Abuja The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has called on Prince Charles to caution President Muhammadu Buhari on the continued violation of human rights, siege on democratic institutions, political intolerance and stifling of opposition and free speech in the country under his administration.

This is coming as the Oba of Benin, Oba Ewuare 11, has urged the heir apparent to the British Monarch and Head of the Commonwealth, Prince Charles to use his good office to facilitate the return of Benin artefacts to Nigeria.

The PDP in a statement yesterday in Abuja by its National Publicity Secretary, Mr. Kola Ologbondiyan, further urged the British leader to counsel Buhari not to attempt to rig the 2019 presidential election but be ready to accept his imminent defeat in the polls, since it is clear that Nigerians have rejected him because of his incompetence and his administration’s apparent disdain for their safety and wellbeing.

The main opposition party also urged Prince Charles to take Buhari to task on his administration’s cavernous corruption, disobedience to court orders, as well as its

divisive proclivities, aloofness and insensitivity to the plight of Nigerians leading to escalation of violence and killings in various parts of our country in the last three and half years.

The PDP said Buhari’s administration has completely eroded the values of freedom of association, personal liberty, free speech, national cohesion, free enterprise, political tolerance and the country’s stencils for economic growth.

It alleged that the administration has plunged the country into avoidable security challenges and the worst economic recession, with attendant daily bloodletting, acute hunger

and starvation, escalated joblessness, high mortality rate and unprecedented stress on families.

The PDP therefore, called on Britain to take a decisive steps to caution this administration and assist in rescuing our country and returning it to the path of good governance and national stability, which has eluded her in the last three and half years.

Meanwhile, the Oba of Benin, Oba Ewuare 11, yesterday in Abuja, urged the heir apparent to the British Monarch and Head of the Commonwealth, Prince Charles, to use his good office to facilitate the return of Benin artefacts to the country.

UK, AI Decry Non-prosecution of Human Rights’ Violators Raheem Akingbolu and Martins Ifijeh The United Kingdom and Amnesty International (AI) Nigeria have stated that despite overwhelming evidence of human rights violations, the Nigerian authorities have failed to prosecute offenders and ensure accountability.

However, UK, on its part, expressed her satisfaction with Nigeria over the adoption of measures to hold security forces accountable for human rights abuses.

The country however raised question concerning the lack of prosecutions. UK’s position

was contained in the Universal Periodic Review 3, which was published recently.

“The UK welcomes Nigeria’s public commitment to human rights, the civil-military dialogue and the adoption of measures to hold security forces accountable for human rights violations. But we are concerned that, despite several investigations, there have been no prosecutions,” the report said.

The report also pointed out that the UK was concerned that Nigeria remains a source, transit and destination country for trafficking in persons and that the Gender and Equal Opportunities Bill is still not

enacted.

To this end, it recommended that that Nigeria obeys court orders for the release of Ibrahim and Zeenat El-Zakzaky and holds accountable the perpetrators of the killing of 347 Islamic Movement Nigeria members.

On its part, Amnesty International said its revelation was necessary following the review yesterday of the country’s role on human rights at the 31st session of the Human Rights Council’s Universal Periodic Review (UPR) Working Group.

In a statement made available to THISDAY yesterday, the Director of Amnesty

International Nigeria, Ossai Ojigho, said there are also concerns about restrictions on the rights to freedom of expression, association and peaceful assembly and continued imposition of the death penalty in the country.

He said: “It is clear that Nigeria is not making progress in terms of bringing human rights violators to justice. We consistently called for accountability but the government hardly takes concrete steps to tame the tide of impunity across the country by making sure those responsible for human rights violations are brought to justice.

THISDAYt WEDNESDAY NOVEMBER 7, 2018

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T H I S D AY • WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 7, 2018

COMMENT

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

REMOVE THE TRUCKS ON LAGOS BRIDGES Sonnie Ekwowusi argues that the traffic gridlock is worsened by trucks parked on bridges

T

he Lagos authorities say that they do not know the main cause of the increasing vehicular traffic jams in Lagos.

Consequently they have set up a task force code-named Operation Restore Sanity on Lagos Roads/Operation Velvet to solve the Lagos traffic problem. But unfortunately under the pretext of ridding Lagos of vehicular traffic congestions, the Police, LASTMA, FRSC, Civil Defence Corps and others have been patrolling round Lagos harassing innocent motorists. According to the Police Public Relations Officer of the State Police Command Chike Oti, the frustration of commuters plying the Lagos highways stems from the lawlessness of some road users.

At times I wonder whether some of these people who claim to be our leaders are in touch with the social realities. Who does not know that the main cause of the upsurge in intractable vehicular traffic congestions in Lagos in recent times is the heavy duty trucks (many of which are Dangote trucks) parked atop the Lagos bridges and the expressways for almost one year now? Even a small kid in primary school knows that it is wrong to turn the bridges into parking lots for heavy duty trucks because the bridges stand the risk of being damaged. To convert the bridges on which vehicles are meant to ply into parking lots for trucks and trailers is senseless. I am surprised that Asiwaju Bola Tinubu is less bothered about the collapse of the bridges. Already the foundations of the bridges have been weakened by humongous potholes, depressions and cracks. The bridge pavement surfaces have become uneven. The piers on which the bridges rest have shifted, a sign of serious structural problems. The heat emanating from the fire set under the bridges by some food vendors have degraded the bridge concrete decks as well as reduced the tensile strength of the iron rods of the bridges. Now to worsen the poor state of the bridges, the Lagos authorities are now authorising owners and drivers of heavy duty trucks and trailers to be parking their vehicles atop the Lagos bridges and expressways. As result almost all Lagos roads have become inaccessible owing to intractable vehicular traffic jams on the bridges and expressway. Lagos is a city with interlinking and interconnecting network of bridges and expressways. A vehicular traffic jam that starts on, say, Eko Bridge triggers off chains of traffic jams on Ojuelegba Bridge, Marina, Ikoyi Bridge, Carter Bridge, Ikorodu Road, Third Mainland Bridge, Mile 2, Festac and so forth. For example, the Ojuelegba Bridge is an important bridge that connects motorists and travellers to Lagos Island. It is incredible that over the last nine months heavy duty trucks have been allowed to park at the foot of the Ojuelegba Bridge. Consequently many vehicles trying to access the bridge from Maryland or Yaba could not do so. Everyday motorists are trapped on the bridge for countless hours. Not infrequently rickety trailers and oil takers unable to climb the bridge collapse and crush passers-by to death. It seems as if Eko Bridge is the worst hit. For example, penultimate Sunday most residents of Surulere and Yaba could not access the Eko Bridge let alone go to Lagos Island simply because Eko Bridge was rendered impassable by heavy duty trailers parked on the bridge. It is probably only in Nigeria that wicked leaders derive joy

THE ESSENCE OF POLITICS IS TO PROMOTE THE COMMON GOOD AND SPECIFICALLY TO IMPROVE THE WELFARE OF THE PEOPLE

in inflicting suffering on their fellow human beings. You can imagine the number of Lagosians who have died or suffered stroke or other deadly illness owing to the traffic jams resulting from the parked trucks on the bridges. The annoying aspect is that the Lagos authorities are playing dirty politics with the tragedy. Instead of ridding the bridges of the heavy trucks to smoothen the flow of traffic in Lagos the Lagos authorities have set up a useless task force that is now harassing innocent motorists and extorting money from them. So long as trailers and petrol tankers negligently driven by illiterate drivers are allowed to continue to encumber the Lagos bridges and highways the Lagos traffic situation will continue to worsen.

Apart from the heavy duty vehicles encumbering the Lagos bridges and causing traffic jams, about 90 per cent of the tankers and trucks plying the Lagos highways are not roadworthy. Very often these rickety trucks are carelessly abandoned right in the middle of the highways. Besides, they produce thick black suffocating fumes from their exhaust pipes. Their tyres are so completely worn out that the pieces are tied together with ropes. The trucks have no brakes even though they carry heavy cranes. The heavy cranes fall off the trucks from time to time killing innocent motorists and blocking the expressways. For example, last Saturday a rickety truck collapsed across the Anthony area of Ikorodu Road. Consequently the whole Ikorodu Road and all the roads leading to Ikeja, Mushin, Yaba, Surulere and the Lagos Island were impassable Therefore if the Lagos authorities are really keen on solving t agos of heavy duty trucks that are not roadworthy. Heavy trucks that are abandoned on the expressways should be seized. Any petrol tanker or trailer that fails the road worthiness test should be stopped from plying the highways. The paradox is that the FRSC and others checking the roadworthiness of vehicles do not lift a finger to check the rickety trucks and trailers. They are only interested in checking fine private cars in order to extort money from their owners. As a matter of urgency, heavy-duty trucks and tankers parked on Lagos bridges should be removed forthwith. Nothing justifies or rationalizes the abandonment of those heavy-duty trailers on the bridges. The owners and drivers of the trucks are not above the law. So, no excuse for not removing those trucks weighing heavily on the bridges and causing tremendous vehicular traffic jams in Lagos. Ex-Governor of Lagos Fashola successfully ordered for the removal of the heavy trucks on the bridges. So, why is it so difficult to remove the trucks abandoned on the bridges today?. The Lagos authorities should think properly. The Lagos bridges were never designed to serve as parking lots for heavy-duty trailers. They were designed for vehicles to move on them. A stitch in time, they say, saves nine. The authorities should not wait for the bridges to collapse and kill people or crush vehicles before removing the trucks and trailers on them. We pray that one oil tanker parked on the bridge will not catch fire one day and produce huge inferno that will engulf the whole bridge and burn commuters to death.

OLUSOSUN DUMPSITE: RETURN OF THE EYE SORE Reopening the dumpsite will endanger more lives, writes Jarikre Johnson

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rom the air, the 100-acre Olusosun dumpsite in Ojota, Lagos looks innocent.

From the ground, however, the site is a malodorous, contaminated world of its own with towering hills of waste. This landfill is fourth largest in the world whilst retaining notoriety as Africa’s largest landfill. Garbage received at the landfill is estimated at 10,000 tonnes per day. A substantial portion of this is electronic waste from container ships. Toxic fumes are released from the site and chemicals are absorbed into the ground. Around a thousand homes exist near the site. Residents here eke out a living by scavenging scrap from the dump and sorting, burning and recycling what they can. At the time it was built in the 1950s, the location of the landfill was on the outskirts of Lagos and was originally intended for wastes from individual and corporate sources.

Since the exponential urban development that has characterized Lagos, residential, commercial and industrial buildings have since sprung up around landfill. With this development comes a menace of environmental pollution that is bound to haunt the Lagos metropolis. According to research, health is at risk for those who live within five kilometres of a landfill site. Respiratory symptoms have been detected among residents living close to waste sites. These were linked to inhalation exposure to endotoxin, microorganisms, and aerosols from waste collection and land filling. Other hazards that come with living close to sites include fire and explosion, inhalation of toxic gases, injury to children playing on or around the dump site, disease carried by mosquitoes, flies and rodents and damage to plant and wildlife habitats.

Findings have also shown that water-borne diseases such as typhoid, dysentery, fatigue and cholera are among the ailments mostly suffered by inhabitants within the vicinity of the dumpsite. Some years ago, the groundwater quality around the dumpsite was investigated by collecting 19 representative water

samples from 16 wells and three boreholes, and a leachate sample from the landfill. The samples were examined in the laboratory for physical, chemical and bacteriological analyses using standard laboratory procedures. The obtained values of concentration of key parameters in all sampled wells were plotted against distances from the Olusosun dumpsite, in scatter diagrams. Unexpectedly, the concentration did not follow any attenuation pattern, with increasing distance up to the farthest sampled well. It is implied from the outcome of the exercise that the dumpsite is the source of pollution of groundwater in the area.

Meaning that solution to the groundwater pollution in the area is thus complex, and one that requires a more drastic and holistic approach. Apart from the health hazards of the dumpsite, Olusosun is known as an enclave of illegal activities for hoodlums, social miscreants and scrap scavengers.

Deteriorating soil quality and decrease in vegetation abundance are part of grave consequences of the open waste dumping which have resulted in growing public concern. The growing concern led the Lagos State Governor, Mr Akinwunmi Ambode to shut down the dumpsite in March of this year, as the location of the facility was no longer healthy both for trading and residents living in the neighbourhood.

Just before the governor’s intervention, there had been a sudden fire outbreak caused by a flare in the dumpsite. As is typical of dumpsites, there has been frequent occurrence of flare in the site. Landfill fire in itself isn’t novelty as hundreds of such occur each year on dumpsites around the world.

Such outbreaks range from minor surface fire to massive blazes that releases harmful emit. During such occurrence, harmful emissions such formaldehyde, hydrogen cyanide, hydrogen sulfide, nitrogen oxides, among others are released and are bound to cause health complications in those living in the immediate environment. This is obviously a major reason why the Lagos State government ordered the residents of Olusosun to relocate. In a statement, the

governor noted that “the closure of the site became necessary owing to the need to forestall future occurrences and protect the health of residents”. Upon the closure of the dumpsite, the state government directed waste collection operators to make use of the landfill sites at Owu Elepe in Ikorodu and that of Epe. The closure of the landfill led to the birth of the Cleaner Lagos Initiative (CLI) whose mission is on “improving the environment to make it cleaner, safer and healthier for all Lagosian through a harmonised and holistic approach”. To achieve its purpose means an innovative response to the issues of waste management in the state. The CLI pooled together several agencies across the value chain to “deliver a safe and sustainable environment for residents”.

Under the CLI arrangement, community sweeping was handed to the Ministry of Environment, whilst street sweeping were managed by three private companiesI – Avatar, Wastecare and Corporate Solutions. The Waste Collection Operators, mostly known as PSPs were directed to be in charge of residential and general waste collection. Visonscape Sanitation Solutions got the mandate to implement waste management infrastructure development across the state. Visionscape’s remit also included public waste collection to cover any service lapses that may occur. The CLI’s division of labour was believed to have been put in place to ensure that all “aspects of the integrated waste management plan in the state received optimum attention”. Alas! It didn’t turn out that way. No sooner had the CLI project commenced than its officials alleged sabotage of its effort. A senior official of the CLI said “it was unfortunate that those who felt the new arrangement would affect them adversely were working hard to sabotage it by all means, including deliberate dumping of large waste in public places”.

That was the major challenge. An official disclosed in an interview that the “the permutation of those behind the sabotage was that if they kept dumping tonnes of refuse in public places, they would achieve

the twin objective of distracting CLI officials from paying adequate attention to other places while projecting the initiative, which is targeted at a comprehensive turn around of Lagos to become one of the cleanest cities in the world, as a failure”. In a social media video, John Olawale, a Visionscape senior official alleged “that heaps of refuse sometimes appear overnight in places already cleared by environmental officials, saying that the deliberate sabotage of the project called for concern”. In another video, a man wearing LAWMA uniform was seen fleeing from arrest after illegally dumping waste from a spot that had just been cleared. Prior to the creation of the CLI, the PSPs were notorious for their lacklustre performance.

Upon the launch of the CLI, a group known as The Concerned Stakeholders of Association of Waste Managers of Nigeria, resolved to work with the state government. The stakeholders comprising of 48 Private Sector Participant (PSP) operators in waste management, stated that their resolve to work with the state government was to ensure the success of the Cleaner Lagos Initiative (CLI). The stakeholders added that the decision“was borne out of the genuine desire to protect the environment and prevent outbreak of any epidemic in the state considering the resurgence of refuse in public places”. The kind gesture was warmly received by the government.

In a twist of turn, an aggrieved group within the AWMN, distanced itself from the agreement to collaborate with the state government to rid the state of filth adorning major streets and highways, describing the resolution as “misleading and untrue”. Responding, the concerned stakeholders, in a statement signed on their behalf by Kasumu Afis Olasehinde of Gafista Concepts Limited, said the statement by the aggrieved stakeholders was not only in bad taste but had shown them to care less about the interest of Lagosians”. With this development, it can be easy to understand the political undercurrent behind the alleged sabotage of the Cleaner Lagos Initiative.

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T H I S D AY • WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 7, 2018

EDITORIAL THE STATE OF FEDERAL ROADS Many major roads across the country are in deplorable condition

F

rom its 2017 budget, the federal government allocated a total of N555.99 billion to the Ministry of Power, Works and Housing. Out of that amount, N295 billion was reportedly set aside for key capital projects which included funds for construction, expansion and maintenance of roads across the country. Yet, whatever the ministry may have done to redress the situation, the impact is hardly felt by Nigerians as most of the roads in the country remain simply impassable. And the rains which came in torrents this year have only added to the woes of road travellers.

It is noteworthy that aside capturing several road projects in the 2017 appropriation, the federal government also opted for supplementary funding to repair or build roads it considered economically important to the country. The TRIPS THAT ORDINARILY minister of power, SHOULD TAKE NO MORE works and housing, THAN A FEW MINUTES NOW Mr. Babatunde TAKE HOURS AND AT TIMES Fashola as well as other federal govDAYS BECAUSE OF THE ernment officials CONDITIONS OF MOST OF THE MAJOR ACCESS ROADS have particularly made a song and dance about using a N100 billion Sukuk Bond to augment budgetary funding for road construction. But the condition of the roads across the country is still deplorable and this should compel a rethink of the current strategy if anything is going to be achieved.

As we have repeated on this page, trips that ordinarily should take no more than a few minutes now take hours and at times days because of the conditions of most of the major access roads. And no part of the country is spared. It is not just that most of these roads are so impassable that we find very disturbing, it is also the fact that the dangerous spots along many of them have also become convenient operating centres for highway robbers who lay siege to unsuspecting motorists and other road users. This is aside the notorious fact that the poor state of these

roads hampers economic activities as farm produce cannot be transported to areas where they are needed. In the rainy season, many communities have practically been cut off with impassable roads.

F

T H I S DAY EDITOR BOLAJI ADEBIYI DEPUTY EDITOR DAVIDSON IRIEKPEN MANAGING DIRECTOR ENIOLA BELLO DEPUTY MANAGING DIRECTOR KAYODE KOMOLAFE CHAIRMAN EDITORIAL BOARD OLUSEGUN ADENIYI EDITOR NATION’S CAPITAL IYOBOSA UWUGIAREN MANAGING EDITOR JOSEPH USHIGIALE

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

rom the Calabar-Itu road to the Abuja-Kaduna, Enugu-Onitsha and then the Calabar-Ikom-Katsina-Ala road as well as the Benin-Auchi, Ibillo – Okene – Lokoja highway, commuters are made to suffer by meandering through these roads just as they experience nightmares when they travel through the Benin-Ore-Ofosu, the Ibillo-Ondo-Lagos road, Ibillo-Okene-Lokoja road and the Ilorin-OmuaranOtun Ekiti State road. Other road networks that are in terrible conditions include the Ore-Okitipupa and Ore-Ijebu-Ode, the Akure-Ondo-Ore, Akure-Ikere and Akure-Ilesa roads; the Akure-Owo, the OwoIkare-Oke-Agbe roads; the Ikare-Ugbe-Epinmi-Isua roads as well as the Ikare-Erusu-Ikaram-Akunnu roads. Even in Lagos, the roads leading to Apapa, the strategic port city where hundreds of millions of naira are made daily by the government and others, are embarrassing. Over the years, billions of naira had been poured on the Oshodi-Apapa road but it is still in a shambles, crater-ridden and looking more like a war-ravaged area.

Realising how important roads are for economic development and human mobility, President Muhammadu Buhari had made fixing Nigeria’s infrastructure a campaign promise in 2015. That is why we urge the federal government to live up to its commitment and lessen the sufferings of commuters who travel through the bad road networks on daily basis. It is therefore our hope that Fashola and his men will do all within their powers to ensure that the craters and potholes on many of our major roads are fixed as quickly as possible.

We will like to also ask that politicking for the 2019 election should not displace the task of governance which includes fixing the roads and ensuring that citizens’ travels are done with little or no risk to their lives and livelihoods.

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REVISITING THE NIGERIA AIR PROJECT

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hen on July 18, 2018 Hadi Sirika, Minister of State for Aviation told a large audience, including aviation experts during a diplomatic trip to the United Kingdom of Nigeria’s preparedness to float “Nigeria Air”, many were ecstatic about the project.

He said the project was aimed at resurrecting the defunct Nigeria Airways.The project reportedly would bring about innovation in the air sector of the country.

It therefore came as a bombshell when it was announced that the proposed project has been put on hold. One continues to wonder if the motive behind the project was well thought-out and planned, as the sudden suspension clearly portrays a wrong approach and perhaps wasteful decision.

Or how do you explain that a project supposedly planned and driven actively was put on hold due to alleged investors’ apathy? It would be recalled that on July 18, 2018 at the Farnborough International Airshow in the UK, the Nigerian minister of state for Aviation announced that the erstwhile Nigeria airways would be making a return to the skies as Nigeria air.

The minister said the Nigerian government will inject 8.8million dollars into Nigeria Air as viability gap funding. He said the private sector investors will bring some 300million dollars as start-up capital.

Obviously, it was shocking when the public got to know that Nigerian Air may not fly for now. Perhaps the project would have continued if only communication was efficient or if knowledgeable Nigerians had been involved rather than the snippets dropped here and there by those in charge. Even the views of the Nigerian air operators were waved off as the experts foresaw loopholes in floating a national airline from scratch, when

there were still many deficits on the act. One of the notable Nigerians who spoke against the investment was Oby Ezekwesili, the former Minister of Education, who faulted the plan and financial implication of Nigerian Air. The decay of Nigeria Airways commenced in 2003, when planes became flying coffins due to substandard purchase of aircraft. The aviation industry has witnessed several losses of lives and property worth billions.

Transportation by air became a risk to the masses; everything that could go wrong with the air sector did go wrong from the disengagement and payoff of the former staff still pending to the aborted or better still pending project of Nigeria Air. The project will continually be hollow and a mere drain pipe on the Nigerian tax payer as long as the problem in the air sector is not checked.

Having a newly birthed Nigeria Air is a good and welcome development.

However, it would have to go beyond Sirika’s optimism and nice words to become an achievable dream.

There must be a renewed commitment from the government and private sector players to see Nigeria Air works out, as Nigeria is a sleeping giant that has been stirred from sleep.

The aviation sector is one of the sectors in the country’s economy that can shake up this giant to consciousness if well harnessed and utilised.

Therefore, investors with sincere motives should be bought into plan.

Also, there should be an agreed plan of such intended and magnificent project just as the place of public-private partnership remains valid for this kind of idea.

Furthermore, Air Nigeria should go beyond some set of political individuals. We have experts who are Nigerians and will be willing to be part of the think-tank on the initiative and this should be explored totally.

Grace Omowunmi Semudara,graciemac1217@gmail.com

RE: THE THREAT OF CLIMATE CHANGE

I

read with interest your Editorial of Tuesday November 6, 2018 on the above.

I commend your write up and associate myself to this important issue that is the challenge of our time. Your editorial was timely and touched on important issues that concern all of us. lt is therefore desirable that people of deep concern must take urgent action to save our today and tomorrow. I salute your efforts and assure you that we will not give up in our efforts to highlight the challenges and opportunities in climate change.

I must mention with all humility that l had the grace of God to be one of the global negotiators that put together the Paris Climate Agreement and interestingly l am still actively involved in this field.

It will be a delight to share experience with you in this area that l had spent over two decades as a front line practitioner who is committed to environmental sustainability.

Once again l commend THlSDAY for this lovely piece.

Prince Lekan Fadina, Executive Director, Centre for Investment, Sustainable Development Management and Environment

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WEDNESDAY NOVEMBER 7, 2018 ˾ T H I S D AY

NEWS

Weak Ethical Framework Fuels Corruption in Nigeria, Says Report Chineme Okafor in Abuja Nigeria’s efforts at fighting corrupt practices within its body polity has had limited success due to the absence of strong ethical frameworks at all levels to tame the ugly practice, a study conducted by the Technical Unit on Governance and Anti-corruption

Reforms (TUGAR) which was presented yesterday in Abuja has disclosed.

The outcomes of the TUGAR study, which was presented to stakeholders involved in the fight against corrupt practices in the country, showed that poor professional standards and leadership at different levels as well as indiscipline

Niger to Spend N159.5bn in 2019 Laleye Dipo in Minna The Niger State Government is to spend over N159.5 billion for its services in the 2019 financial year, the state governor, Alhaji Abubakar Sani Bello, has disclosed.

The governor who presented the estimates before the House of Assembly, said N61.6 billion would be generated from the Federation Account while the Value Added Tax VAT would bring in N12.04 billion and Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) would fetch the government about N15.2 billion, Paris Fund Refund would bring in N22.27 billion.

According to governor Sani Bello the state also expects to get a refund of over N3.8 billion from the National Electricity Liability Company, N300 million as dividend from North South Power electricity company and N4 billion from the Pension Fund Administrators.

He said the government would also generate over N50.2 billion from the capital market.

According to the governor the recurrent expenditure was projected to be N63.3 billion while capital estimate would gulp more than N96.2 billion adding that the economic sector got the highest allocation of N56.02 billion.

The governor said agriculture

would be given more impetus in the fiscal year with government planning to clear not less than 200 hectares of land to be allocated to able bodied youths and fresh graduates adding that government would also open up 408 kilometers of rural roads to facilitate the movement of agricultural products from the rural areas to the urban centre.

In addition he disclosed that government would complete the payment for the 130 tractors it procured in the outgoing fiscal year.

Similarly Governor Sani Bello said N11.037 billion would be spent in the health sector adding that routine immunisation would be give more priority even as the administration would ensure the people of the state had easy access to health care facilities.

He said government would give due attention to the retirees and other statesmen pointing out that “despite the huge challenges inherited in the pension system, we have worked assiduously in the last three years to correct most of the anomalies and pay pensioners promptly.

“Government will continue to pay pensions, gratuity and other emoluments as at when due. To this end, the sum of N6Billion is proposed for pension matters in the 2019 budget estimates” he declared.

and poor workplace practices have become huge challenges to Nigeria’s fight against corruption.

Covering about 181 organisations which included 89 public agencies, 60 professional bodies, 10 private agencies, 11 non-governmental organisations (NGOs), seven private business entities and four informal sector associations, the study explained that there is now a diminishing emphasis on competence and merit in favour of nepotism among institutions in Nigeria.

Its findings tallied with remarks by the acting Chairman of the Fiscal Responsibilities Commission (FRC), Mr. Victor Muoruakor, at the presentation that professional bodies in

Nigeria have been found to be largely instrumental in most of the corrupt acts perpetrated in the country.

Presenting the report which was tagged: ‘Scoping Survey and Gap Analysis of Ethics Frameworks in Nigeria’, the Head of TUGAR, Lilian Ekeanyanwu, said four parameters for evaluation of ethics infrastructure in line with global standards were adopted during the studies.

Ekeanyanwu explained that the parameters were prevention; management framework; control and enforcement as well as periodic and regular reviews of ethical frameworks.

She noted that the Nigerian environment was found to

now discourage citizens from reporting ethical infractions.

According to the study, the Code of Conduct for Public Officers (CCPO) currently in existence applies broadly without providing detailed guidance that addresses such emerging issues.

“It was observed that once a code of conduct ethics has been created, it rarely is subject to review in spite of the fact that ethics environment and governance system are dynamic,” revealed the study which also found that neither the CCPO which is a national public ethics framework nor any individual organisations ethics framework among those surveyed has achieved

effectiveness based on the criteria deployed in the research.

It further indicated that citizens are now reluctant to complain about ethics breaches for fear of reprisals, delays, and cost of pursuing complaints to logical conclusion as well as general lack of confidence that complaints will be objectively investigated and culprits punished.

To improve the system, the study recommended the passage of a whistleblowers law; establishment of a national system for ethics frameworks as well as a policy requiring each organisation in the public sector to develop ethics instruments that address unique operational environment.

IT’S NICE MEETING YOU…

L-R: The Netherlands Ambassador to Nigeria, Robert Petri; European Union Ambassador/Head of Delegation in Nigeria and ECOWAS, Mr. Ketil Karlsen and Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi of Enugu State when the duo paid a courtesy visit to the governor at the Government House, Enugu…yesterday.

Ikeja Obaship Tussle Deepens Edo Assembly Passes N10.8bn Supplementary Budget as Two New Contenders Emerge The Edo State House of into law on Monday, November disbursement of the final tranche states.

Kayode Fasua A new twist has been added to the lingering obaship tussle in the Ikeja community of Lagos, as the Oshoja Ruling House, which is to produce the next Olu of Ikeja, may have opted for a fresh selection process.

However, kingmakers led by the late former deputy governor of Lagos State had four years back, selected Alhaji Samsondeen Adeleye of the Oshoja Ruling House as Oba-elect, and duly forwarded his name to the Ikeja Local Government Area.

But Adeleye, while speaking with THISDAY yesterday, raised the alarm, saying some leaders of his ruling house had come up with the idea of re-consulting the Ifa oracle on the desirability or otherwise of his choice.

Describing this as brazen injustice, Adeleye said: “How many times do they want the Ifa oracle to speak? Four years ago when the selection process was on, the Ifa oracle was consulted twice, both at Ile-Ife (Osun State), which is the source of creation, and here in Lagos. On both occasions, the oracle picked me.

“Why should some people now contemplate going to the

oracle for the third time? This is unhealthy and it is such that has a backlash effect.”

Adeleye, who also responded to a buzzing rumour that he had sold out his Obaship right to one of his younger ones for N35 million, said: “This is a blatant lie formulated by my detractors to incite the people against me, and cause a denial of my legitimate claim to the Obaship of Ikeja.

“If I had wanted money, I would have got it four years ago when we were all contesting for the throne, not now that I am Oba-elect. I will never sell my birthright for a pot of porridge.”

It was however gathered that two other contenders to the throne had surfaced in the Oshoja Ruling House, which reportedly stirred the fresh call for another consultation with the Ifa oracle.

Sources in the palace circles revealed that Shamsondeen Adeleye’s younger brother, Wasiu Adeleye, and nephew, Nurudeen Adeleye, recently indicated interest in the Ikeja Obaship position.

Nurudeen, a source revealed, appeared to be much keen among the two contenders, “as he has a war chest to pursue the dream.”

Assembly on Monday in Benin City, passed into law, a N10,874,000,000 Supplementary Budget for year 2018 fiscal year, and not ‘N160 extra budget’ billion as erroneously reported by some of Nigeria’s newspapers on Tuesday November 6, 2018.

With the N10,874,000,000 supplementary budget passed into law by the Edo State Legislature, the total budget size of the state for year 2018 stands at N160,967,330,443.52, being the combined figures of the initial N150.093 billion passed and signed into law last year

by Governor Godwin Obaseki, and the N10,874,000,000 passed

5, 2018.

Governor Obaseki, had on October 24, announced the decision of the state Executive Council (EXCO) after its weekly meeting, to review the 2018 budget upward.

Obaseki assured that the supplementary budget will be channelled to education, agriculture, building human capital and creating wealth for the state and the people, adding that the revision is a demonstration of the state’s commitment to open governance and transparency.

He explained that, “In the course of the 2018 fiscal year, the president approved the

of refunds from Paris/London club of borrowers to States and Local Governments (Edo State’s share of this refund amounts to N5 billion).

“The president further approved the application of a portion of this refund to clear the arrears of State Government’s cash contribution for Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC) Grants, resulting in a N3bn UBEC grant in favour of Edo State.

“The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) in the course of this fiscal year, approved the disbursement of concessional loans (under the Commercial Agriculture Credit Scheme, CAC), to qualifying

“Edo State met all qualifying criteria and thus received N5 billion from the CBN under CACs. The foregoing developments were not anticipated at the time the 2018 budget proposal was approved

by Executive Council in 2017.”

The revisions are in consonance with the actual expenditure run rates of affected Ministries Departments and Agencies (MDAs).”

Obaseki added, “The proposed revised/supplementary budget has been prepared in line with section 36 of Edo State’s Public Financial Management and Fiscal Responsibility Law (2018).”

Akwa Ibom PDP Leader Defects to APC The leader of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Nsit Atai of Akwa Ibom State, Prince Sunny Elijah on Monday defied last-minute pressure from Governor Udom Emmanuel and defected to the All Progressives Congress (APC) at a grand rally attended by Senator Godswill Akpabio, former Senate Minority Leader and other APC chieftains in the state.

Elijah, a strong grassroots politician rejoined PDP in

August, last year, at the prompting of Governor Emmanuel after his disagreement with some Nsit Atai APC leaders over the local government chairmanship nomination but he returned to APC on Monday in spite of pleas from the governor.

On getting wind of Elijah’s impending defection last week, Governor Emmanuel was reported to have sent five of his commissioners who lured Elijah to the house of a

multi-millionaire cement dealer and staunch supporter of the governor at Osongama Estate in Uyo where they begged him to remain in PDP with an immediate cash offer of N5 million and other promises.

Elijah, who rejected the offers defected to the APC with his wife and immediate past House of Assembly member for Nsit Atai, Mrs Sarah Elijah; another former House of Assembly member, Obong Asuquo Darby

Udo; a former local government chairman, Sunny Ossom, a serving supervisor, 40 PDP ward executive members, former PDP chapter chairmen, former councillors and thousands of other supporters.

Addressing the rally held by the APC state leadership to receive him and his supporters at Odot, the council headquarters, Elijah dismissed the PDP as a party full of contractors and lightweight politicians.

THISDAYt WEDNESDAY NOVEMBER 7, 2018

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T H I S D AY ËžWEDNESDAY NOVEMBER 7, 2018

MIDWEEKPOLITICS

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

THE NEWSMAKER

On the Luke Out for His People Ojo Maduekwe writes that the Speaker of the Akwa Ibom State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Onofiok Luke has garnered a good reputation that goes ahead of him on the political landscape

T

ome observers of Akwa Ibom state politics assume that because Governor Udom Emmanuel is not commissioning projects or calling world press conferences to verbally attack his opponents, then he’s not campaigning enough.

In analysing the political preparedness of the governor and his team ahead of the 2019 state governorship election, the perception is that the governor has not shown sufficient fighting spirit in promoting his achievements.

Not because there are no projects to commission. There are. The issue is, while majority of the governors in the 36 states consider the commissioning of such projects like classrooms and boreholes as an achievement which they use to campaign for reelection, Udom sees it differently, and unnecessary.

In an interview with THISDAY, Udom described this culture of governors going on a commissioning spree of all kinds of projects as “shameful�. “How can you commission a classroom or borehole?� Udom asked perplexed. As if he realized how easy critics of his government might misconstrue his question to mean a lack of projects, he added: “I have never gone to commission a primary school building and I have done about 346 schools.�

Coming from the corporate world, specifically the conservative banking sector, those close to the governor say that he’s brought a rather unique approach to governance in the state, a style different from his predecessors.

Credited with being a more “disciplined administrator and manager of resources� than his immediate predecessor, former governor, now Senator Godswill Akpabio, his lacking in the art of politicking was initially a huge drawback.

Being a newcomer with few loyalists, Udom has no political structure of his own in the state, and so relies on a few forerunners. Not a bad thing. ‘Egun nla lo n gbe yin igbale’ is a Yoruba parable which when loosely translated means that “the big masquerade is always the last to come out of the shrine after the smaller ones must have come out to perform.�

Like a big masquerade, this is how Udom has chosen to campaign for

Luke

the 2019 state governorship election.

While the governor maintains a rear seat, he’s nonetheless sent his foot soldiers to go do battle on his behalf.

Leading the way is the State Assembly Speaker, Onofiok Luke; Senator Bassey Albert; Emmanuel Enoidem, the Works Commissioner, Ephraim Inyang-Eyen and Prince Ukpong Akpabio (cousin to Senator Akpabio), whom Udom appointed his Commissioner for Investment.

Few, but highly influential, Udom’s foot soldiers are believed to have the capacity of pulling the necessary strings to get him reelected next year.

Said to be even more on ground for the governor is the politically savvy Luke.

In Akwa Ibom politics, Luke is a renowned ‘Grassroots General’ who knows where to pull the strings to attract votes. Over the year ’s he’s built relationships that span across the three senatorial districts of Uyo, Eket and Ikot Ekpene.

Luke is popular with party stakeholders, as well as, the masses. In a clime where the common man is quick to distrust those in politics, it

speaks highly of Luke that he still commands the respect of the rich and the trust of the poor.

This reputation he’s managed to build over the years has aided him.

There was an incident when as a floor member of the state assembly he had a falling out with Akpabio and his reelection appeared to be a mission impossible.

People say he’s the only one to ever challenge Akpabio and overcame his guile. When he spoke out against the former governor, even when many folks did not have the guts to do so, it was thought that was the end of his political career. But, against Akpabio’s wish he went ahead to win a second term to the state assembly.

A feat made possible because the masses sided with him.

To return as governor, Udom would need the likes of Luke to bring their credibility to bear for him. Amongst his foot soldiers, Luke stands out as having the closest contacts with the voters, the native intelligence to woo rural voters and the mental refinement to curry the favour of critical urban voters.

r.Z BTQJSBUJPO JT JO MJOF XJUI UIF ZFBSOJOH and desire of the people of Etinan Federal constituency, who want me to represent them in 2019. By 2019, you are going to hear a loud voice articulating the interest of Etinan Federal constituency and the interest of Akwa Ibom in the National Assembly. I promise to use my position if voted to serve the people in the House of Representatives to improve the well-being of the people of this federal constituency Luke consulting the people on his desire to serve as a federal legislator

r* OFWFS FYQFDUFE UP CF UIF OVNCFS UISFF man in Akwa Ibom State today. Even during the last general elections, the government of the day had their preferred candidate but to God’s Glory, I won overwhelmingly.

You must be humble because pride destroys humanity but humility can take you to any height. There’s nothing on earth to be proud of. Whatsoever you are today, another man had attained that height before you. To the Glory of God, I’m a beneficiary of humility Luke opening up on how he attained his present height in politics

Luke, 40, is one politician in Akwa Ibom close to the youths, having started his social engineering very early as pioneer Speaker of the Youth Parliament, with a network of youth leaders across the state. Because he’s over the years kept to his promises, everyone, even down to the market women and men, trust him.

If there’s anyone that can penetrate the hinterland to sell the Udom brand, or travel to Abuja to defend the governor, that man is Luke. Interestingly, Luke was in Abuja recently on the invitation of the Inspector General of Police.

The All Progressives Congress (APC) in Akwa Ibom had written a petition to President Muhammadu Buhari, wherein unsubstantiated allegations bordering on threats and the refusal to site campaign billboards were made.

In the petition, the APC alleged that Luke had threatened not to allow their candidate campaign freely and openly; allegations that they had no evidence to back up.

Also at the interrogation from the PDP side were the Director General of the Divine Mandate (Udom’s reelection organisation), Otuekong Idongesit Nkanga; State Commissioner for Environment; Chairman of Uyo local government area, and the Senior Special Assistant to Udom on Security Matters.

On returning from Abuja, while addressing the press, Luke narrated the encounter and how during interrogation he had stated to the hearing of the APC chairman in the state that: “No one can use the office of the president under the guise of politics to intimidate us; not even the state security agency‌ If you are popular, stop using the state security apparatus to try to intimidate us.â€?

The APC is banking on Akpabio to deliver the state. Ironically, Akpabio in turn is relying on federal might to manipulate the process. The APC overestimate the former governor and underestimate Luke, unaware that Luke knows the in and out of Akpabio and was a critical part of his election victories in the past.

Luke is the kind of foot soldier Udom can trust to stand firm when the campaign gets really heated.

Being someone to have ever called Akpabio’s bluff and still won an election, Udom can be sure that no amount of intimidation by the APC in the state, in cohort with federal security agencies, can move Luke.

OFF THE CUFF: r5IFZ TBJE UIF 1SFTJEFOU IBE TFOU XPSET for me to become the deputy governor. They offered me N2bn, but I said no. If you like, offer me N10bn, mine is no Luke noting that he would rather quit politics than defect to the All Progressives Congress r* BN B GVMM CMPPEFE NFNCFS PG UIF 1%1 I am a principled person, and I like being known for consistency Luke dismissing insinuations that he may be on his way out of the People’s Democratic Party

r* BN BMTP UFMMJOH UIFN UIBU JG UIFZ BSF popular; they should come back home and campaign, and not behave like children who would go and start a fight and then run to their father for protection. They should stop using the state apparatus and security agencies to intimidate us. The more they try to intimidate us, the more our resolve to defend the common mandate of Governor Udom Emmanuel Luke denouncing the alleged use of ‘federal might’ against the ruling PDP by the opposition APC in Akwa Ibom State

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T H I S D AY ˾ WEDNESDAY NOVEMBER 7, 2018

POLITICS

Buried in a Heap of Refuse Nseobong Okon-Ekong writes that waste management and ancillary services in Lagos State may have become an effective political tool that contributed to the denial of a second term ticket to Governor Akinwunmi Ambode

LAWMA street sweepers at work

T

here are three battles that every governor of Lagos State must fight and win.

He can choose to ignore these obstacles to his own peril. By and large, each chief executive of the Centre of Excellence must confront the traffic situation, stabilize the security and challenge the problem of refuse. On these three accounts, Lagosians will score him a success or failure. If a governor of Lagos does nothing else, but post excellent results in these three areas, he will be loudly applauded as a performing governor.

A lot of views have been canvassed in the public space as reason Governor Akinwunmi Ambode lost his chance to run for a second term on the ticket of the All Progressives Congress (APC). Since the beginning of the Fourth Republic in 1999, Ambode has the unfortunate peculiarity of not serving a two-term period. As insignificant as it seemed (and even now many still do not reckon it as a factor), the moment the governor began to tinker with the existing refuse management arrangement in Lagos, it signaled the beginning of his exit from governance.

Former Lagos State governor and National Leader of the APC, Senator Bola Tinubu who governed the state between 1999 and 2007 created the template with which the state is run, even after he left office. The intervention of the Tinubu administration in the critical areas of waste management, security and traffic management were sustained and improved upon by his successor, Mr. Babatunde Fashola. Ambode did his bit with security, changing the vehicles and speed with which the police tackled crime. He also discouraged criminals by lighting up Lagos and establishing a new corps of vigilante called, Lagos Neighbourhood Security Corps.

However, it was his attempt to interfere with the waste management policy of the state that pulled the rug off his feet.

Like the Lagos State Traffic Management (LASTMA), Tinubu had rebranded the Lagos Waste Management Agency (LAWMA) as he was leaving office in 2007 to deliver the required social service in those relevant areas, but more than that they were geared towards scoring political goals and to perpetuate the ruling party in power. The thou-

Ambode

sands of street sweepers and the private sector managers in Lagos along with those who unblocked the drains were a mighty army of loyal voters with unwavering allegiance to the APC. It was a huge political miscalculation for Ambode to even think of disengaging them.

However, it must not be forgotten that the first civilian governor of the state, Alhaji Lateef Jakande had already set the goal for modern waste management in the state over 30 years ago.

Perhaps, he had the good intention of bringing about a ‘Greener Lagos’, but the unwholesome manner of truncating the reign of LAWMA and the PSP waste management operators which was gaining wider acceptance and providing jobs for thousands of people, left a sour taste in the mouth. Not a few thought that the arrival of VisionScape on the Lagos waste management landscape brought with it a disaster that Ambode could not manage, and which, in more ways than one led to his not being able to win back the favour of the moulders of political opinion in Lagos.

When it was said that the leaders in the 57 local government areas and local council development areas had signed a document against the governor ’s return for a second tenure, it was actually instigated by the PSP waste operators in these places who had impressed it on Tinubu that there was no way they could persuade their foot soldiers to vote if their source of livelihood was taken from them. With a population of 22 million generating an average of 15 frightening tons of waste daily, it is a call for disaster if waste is not evacuated in Lagos for just one day!

Weighed down by a lot of malice arising from the disengagement of LAWMA and the PSP, Visionscape could not start on a smooth note.

The plan to generate 27,000 direct employment and lead to improvement in waste management in the state appeared to have failed from the beginning and no one was willing to give the consortium a chance to prove itself. Although it looked like it held a lot of promise with the deployment of new vehicles and outfitting its staff with modern safety gear, the undercurrent of politics subtracted from all these glaring advantage.

Refuse management involves big

money. The capital outlay committed to operations by many of the PSPs ran into millions of Naira, which some of them borrowed from the banks. Therefore terminating their working relationship with LAWMA and reducing LAWMA’s involvement to just a supervisory role was too much of a damaging blow they could not deal with. Last year, the state also raised about N27bn in its first green bond with a five-year tenor at 17.5 per cent coupon in its quest to improve on waste management in the state. It intends to raise an additional N23bn subsequently to support the Cleaner Lagos Initiative, CLI, scheme.

Now Ambode has been persuaded to allow LAWMA, the PSP and Visionscape to synchronize their operations. This was a move he rejected when it was earlier suggested to him. Agreeing to it when it has cost him a second term of governance of Lagos, may be coming too late, but it also demonstrates the governor ’s willingness to make amends for the greater good of Lagos. According to him, “We must acknowledge the environmental degradation that plagues the State and the urgent need for a world class comprehensive waste management system that addresses this crucial quality of life issue.”

The Lagos Waste Management Authority(LAWMA), formerly known as Lagos State Refuse Disposal Board (LSRDB) at inception was established in 1977 vide Edict No. 9 of 1977 when it was glaring during Nigeria’s preparation for Festival of Arts and Culture (Festac ’77) that the then two Local Government Councils, namely Lagos Island and Lagos Mainland,

could not cope with the volume of waste resulting from the oil-boom stimulated economy and its attendant influence on migrants into the new capital city from the rural and less developed areas of Nigeria and neighboring West African countries. In December 1991, the name Lagos State Waste Management Authority was christened vide Edict No 55 which made the agency to be responsible for the collection, transportation and disposal of municipal and industrial waste as well as the provision of commercial waste services to the state and Local Government Councils.

On March 13, 1979 the Board was officially commissioned and renamed Lagos State Waste Disposal Board (LSWDB) with additional responsibilities for cleaning primary and secondary drains within the metropolis. The following responsibilities were similarly added over the years. The Authority was renamed Lagos Waste Management Authority in March 2007 vide LAWMA Law No. 5 cap. 27, Vol. 40 of 2007.

By provision of Environmental Management & Protection Law of 1st March, 2017 the Authority is re-positioned from an Operator/ Regulator into a full Regulator in the Waste Management Sector, in line with Cleaner Lagos initiative. By this arrangement, public waste operations, Domestic Waste Operations, Waste Management Operations, Landfill Operations and Transfer Loading stations have been concessioned to private sector participants, while LAWMA will guide, model and appraise these practitioners in line with international best practices.

QUICK FACTS: r-"8." IBT TUBGG TUSFOHUI UP NBOBHF waste generated by about 22 million people r-"8." DPMMFDUT BOE USBOTQPSUT domestic,commercial and medical waste through about 375 Private Service Participants (PSP). *Sweeps 325 routes (Highways and major streets) in the state through private service providers. Over 200 companies and 4,500 staff are in use. *Collects solid waste from Lagoons and Waterways through 53 Private Service

Providers with 320 staff. *Collects all kinds of hazardous wastes for destruction. *Takes Care of waste in 1791 public schools within the 6 Educational Districts of the State. *Disposes about 7,000 Metric tons of Solid Waste per day in the four landfill sites across the State. *Uses Four mechanical workshops (Iddo Central Workshop, Mushin, Ikeja and Ogudu) for the maintenance of fleets, light/heavy trucks, plants and other operational/ utility equipment.

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T H I S D AY Ëž ÍľËœ Í°ÍŽÍŻÍś

FEATURES

Group Features Editor: Chiemelie Ezeobi Email chiemelie.ezeobi@thisdaylive.com, 08152252325

Ginzo Community: Five Decades of Untold Hardship, Neglect For five decades, the Ginzo Community in Katsina State has suffered untold hardship and neglect as a result of dearth of basic social amenities. Francis Sardauna writes that the state government needs to beam its rural transformational searchlight to ameliorate the situation

One of the dilapidated classrooms in Ginzo Community

V

irtually everything that makes life bearable cannot be found in Ginzo Community of Jibia Local Government, Katsina State, where residents seemingly live like second-class citizens.

From the crisis on ground, they have been 'systematically discriminated' against in the state as basic social amenities such as potable water, electricity, good roads, schools and healthcare facilities are alien to the community.

An elderly man in the community, Aminu Ginzo, who wept uncontrollably while narrating their ordeal to THISDAY said: "For about 50 years, this community has been in darkness.

Only few houses are with generators and it pains to see people rushing to those few places to charge their phones. “Look at that school, it fell off some years back. It was residents of this community that donated money to raise some part because there is need for our kids to be in school. Several letters have been written to the state government about our plight but we only see them during election period.

Sometimes, we wonder if we are not part of Katsina State let alone being part of Nigeria.

"This community has over 500 residents, but we share a stream with our animals. We lack all basic amenities that should make life easier for us.

Beside the school, you can see the

hospital. It has been under lock and key for sometime now. The road itself is another story of journey of no return.

For us, we have counted ourselves out of Katsina State because we donate all our basic amenities ourselves."

Five Decades of Neglect The community, according to residents, has been in existence for

This community has over 500 residents but we share a stream with our animals.

We lack all basic amenities that should make life easier for us. Beside the school, you can see the hospital. It has been under lock and key for sometime now

over 50 years without basic amenities.

To residents of Ginzo, the quest for potable water and basic healthcare is better imagined, as they share the only source of drinking water, which is a nearby stream, with their cattles.

When THISDAY ventured into the community to investigate the claims on October 31, 2018, our correspendent was first confronted with an embarrassing sight of a decrepit road leading to the community. It is appalling that residents who ply the road daily have accepted the rough ride on bikes as their fate, as it has remained the same for years.

Plea for Government Intervention The Village Head of the community, Samaila Shehu, in an interview, pleaded for government’s intervention, particularly in the area of provision of potable water supply, healthcare, access road and provision of additional classrooms and secondary school for the community.

Shehu who said the community had suffered neglect for years noted that, "even cars that manage to ply here change their brake pads and oil almost all the time due to the bad roads. I have been living in this area for the past 50 years and the road has been the same; as a matter of fact, it is even getting worse. The government should listen to our cry and do the needful to make the place conducive for us."

Another predicament confronting

the community is water, which was buttressed by Shehu. He said: "Our biggest challenge here is potable water supply. The well here dries up at will and the nearest to having water is a stream, but it is the same stream that our cattle drink from. So if we don’t go to the stream very early enough, we won’t be able to access water.

"We all know that it is not hygienic that our cattle drink from the same stream we also drink from. We have been facing this water scarcity for 20 years now. For over four years now, we have been seeding our complaints to the state government through the chairman of Jibia Local Government but nothing has been done up to this moment.

"We contributed N28,000 and gave it to the immediate past Director of Administration and Finance (DAF) of the local government for the renovation of our local well, but he could not renovate it. Unfortunately, he has been transfered to another local government and he couldn't refund us. So we are calling on government to make way for us to have access to clean and drinkable water, because water is life.�

The traditional ruler also lamented the non-availability of secondary and Islamic schools for children in the community as the nearest secondary school is the Barrack Secondary School, which is in Katsina, and is located about 10 kilometres away. He lamented that for those in school, they are forced

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FEATURES to trek from the community daily to Katsina and back.

On electricity, the community leader lamented that his community has not enjoyed electricity power supply, although he admitted that some efforts were made about 10 years ago towards providing power, but was later abandoned.

No Dividends, No Voting Shehu, who vowed not to cast his vote for any political office seeker again until the demands of the community are met, said: "Due to these problems that we are facing in this community, I and my subjects agreed to vote only candidates that would address our problems before election time.

"We have being voting since the return of democracy in Nigeria but we don't have a single dividend of democracy in this community. So, we decided to vote only candidates who will solve our problems before 2019."

Academic Structural Deficit It was observed that the only two classrooms available in the primary school for the pupils in the community, which accommodates an average of 150 pupils have only 20 desks. The windows have no locks as its wood had been destroyed by termites leaving rainwater to splash inside the classrooms. Whenever it rains, it is easy for the pupils to jump in and out whenever there is no teacher to monitor them.

Another resident of the community, Nura Hashimu, who took our correspondent to the dilapidated primary school in the area said: “This is the only available school for our children. You can see for yourself that even animals are not supposed to be kept here, let alone children acquiring knowledge.

It is pathetic that the kids of those living here have got no other place than to attend the prison tagged school by government. “This environment is not conducive for learning because the kids can easily be exposed to dangers. Even snakes can crawl into the class without the knowledge of anyone. Most times when it rains, you see parents rushing to the school to get their wards because the classrooms will be flooded".

Hashimu further lamented that: "the fact that the school is unfenced has also exposed some of the pupils to danger. You can see we indeed need more chairs and thorough renovation in this school. Government keeps coming with promises, but are yet to fulfill any."

Ginzo Primary Healthcare Centre (PHC)

Comatose Health Facility Similarly, a visit to the Primary Healthcare Centre (PHC) in the community shows reason why the residents would rather love to take herbs to

Due to these problems that we are facing in this community, my subjects and I have agreed to vote only candidates that would address our problems before election time. We have being voting since the return of democracy in Nigeria but we don't have a single dividend of democracy in this community

The abandoned water project in Ginzo

heal their illness and use midwives for child deliveries. The health centre was under lock and key, with cobwebs dotting the building, indicating that it has been under lock for a long time.

Checks also revealed that there was no toilet, no tank or electricity at the facility.

Its staff according to Hashimu stopped coming to work. He said the casual staff that even manages to come to the PHC, does not come on a regular basis. "Sometimes, he is not on duty and sometimes he complains that

drugs are not available. And since we have elderly people in the village, we enter the bush, look for appropriate leaves and use them as herbs.

"The only saviour we have is herbs when our children fall sick and since the hospital staff have left, births are delivered at home by midwives and sometimes old women are called in the community to help take care of that," he added.

For Hafsat Abdullahi, a mother of 14, life is unbearable for women in the community. She said: "The PHC

is not functional. Women in this village depend on God and traditional birth attendants for delivery. It was traditional birth attendant that helped me with the delivery of my last child.

After delivery, we give them a token as appreciation. The only time we face challenges is when things want to go out of hand".

The question still remains, will the government this time around listen to the plight of the Ginzo Community and provide them with the much needed social basic amenities? Only time can

22

IMAGES

L-R: All Progressive Congress (APC) Gubernatorial Candidate, Lagos State, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu; APC Chairman, Lagos State, Tunde Balogun; Deputy Governorship Candidate Dr. Obafemi Hamzat; APC State Deputy Chairman, Sunny Ajose and Leader of the Party, Kaoli Olusanya, during a press conference to formally unveil Dr. Hamzat as running mate to Sanwo-Olu for the forthcoming general elections, at the Party Secretariat, Lagos‌‌.recently

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

R-L: Representative of CEO Nigerian Export Promotion Council, Mr.. George Enyiekpon; Outgoing members of Export Expansion Grant Implementation Committee, Dr. Sani Danjuma and former Deputy Director of CBN, Mrs. Grace Atiegoba during a send forth award ceremony organized by Nigerian Export Promotion Council NEPC for members of the committee in Abuja...recently

L-R; Executive Secretary, Economic Commission for Africa; Vera Songwe; Vice President of Nigeria, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo; Executive Secretary, African Capacity Building Foundation, Emmanuel Nnadozie; Commissioner for Trade and Industry, African Union Commission, Albert Muchanga; Managing Director, Africa Regional OďŹƒce, Rockefeller Foundation, Mamadou Biteye and Vice President, Global Policy and Advocacy, Rockefeller Foundation, Christine Heenan at the Africa Trade Forum 2018 co-organized by the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), The Rockefeller Foundation and the Federal Government of Nigeria, in collaboration with the African Union Commission, held in Lagos....recently

L-R: President, Customary Court of Appeal, Oyo State, Justice Eni Esan; state Governor, Senator Abiola Ajimobi; and Chief Judge, Justice Munta Abimbola, during the inauguration of Esan, at the Governor’s OďŹƒce, Ibadan... recently

L-R; Vice Chairman, Board of Governors, Prince Taiwo Olashore; Principal/CEO Mr. Derek Smith; Chairman Board of Governors, Prince Abimbola Olashore and Member, Olashore International School Association, Prince Kehinde Olashore at the unveiling of the Olashore International School 25th Anniversary Logo in Lagos... recently

L-R: Trade Commissioner/Managing Director, Japanese External Trade Organization (JETRO), Lagos, Shigeyo Nishizawa; General Manager, Kaneka Africa Liaison OďŹƒce, Hiroshi Seko; Miss Kanekalon 2015, Esther Kanekalon; Manager, Kanekalon Beauty Salon; Yuko Shiokawa and, Deputy Trade Commissioner, JETRO Lagos, Chiharu Yamamura, at the 2018 Lagos International Trade Fair, TBS‌..recently

Founder, Nigeria and Entrepreneurship: Summit & Honors (NESH), Emeka Ugwu-Oju (right) presenting a trophy to the winner, Men Net, Bolaji Martins during the 1st NESH Charity Golf Competition at the Ikoyi Club Golf Course, Lagos...recently

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BUSINESSWORLD R A T E S MONEY MARKET OVERNIGHT OBB

A S

A T

REPO 11.42 % 10.33%

CALL 1-MONTH 3-MONTH

11.63% 12% 12.50%

O C T O B E R S & P INDEX INDEX LEVEL 1-DAY MONTH-TO-DATE

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

2 6 , 2 0 1 8

350.33% -0.13% 0.78%

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

0.78% 6.41%

EXCHANGE RATE N306.55/1US DOLLAR* ĚŠ

Quick Takes Techno Supports LFW 2018

COURTESY VISIT

L-R: Director General, Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN), Mr. Segun Ajayi-Kadir; President, Engr. Mansur Ahmed; Executive Secretary /CEO, Nigerian Shippers’ Council, Mr. Hassan Bello and Vice President, Lagos Zone, MAN, Chief John Aluya, during a courtesy visit by the shippers’ council executives to MAN in Lagos‌recently

Long-term Funding Needed to Develop Gas Infrastructure, Says Mgbenwelu Goddy Egene The absence of single-digit and long term naira funding remains one of the primary challenges in the development of gas infrastructure facilities in the country, an investment banker, Mr. Patrick Mgbenwelu has said.

The Nigerian gas sector currently has approximately $51 billion worth of investments, according to a recent report by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation(NNPC).

However, analysis of historical activities across the gas sector value chain indicates that its potential was yet to be sufficiently tapped, when compared to other sectors of the economy.

The relevance of gas infrastructure links to a multitude of other sectors and is constantly identified as a pillar for industrialisation, economic growth, and equitable distribution to the commonwealth.

But one of the impediments to the realisation of full sector’s potential is lack of long-term funding.

Mgbenwelu, who is Head,

ECONOMY Investment Banking Division, FBNQuest Merchant Bank highlighted specific challenges facing the sector and discussed some of the opportunities that can be explored for a more robust gas infrastructure funding landscape in Nigeria.

He spoke in Lagos on: “Gas Infrastructure Financing: Opportunities and Challenges,� recently, saying projects usually require long utilisation periods of debt to fully complete construction activities. “The current 5-7 year tenor funding from Nigerian banks at rates of 18 per cent and 24 per cent is inadequate for any gas infrastructure financing.

This means that the Nigerian financing landscape needs to transition to one where single digit and long-term currency funding with up to 20 years tenor period can be accessed,’’ he said.

Mgbenwelu stressed the need for partnership models between public and private sector organisations as a key driving force to meet the

country’s growing infrastructure demands.

According to him, the government must do more to identify, develop and market investment ready projects for investors to attract private sector capital.

Making references on the absence of hedging products, he stated that efforts should be made towards the development of such products which would provide the much needed comfort irrespective of whether Nigerian gas projects are funded in either dollars or naira.

On the issue of approvals and permits for gas financing, he called on the government to simplify the process and introduce one-stop-shops where investors can easily obtain all requisite approvals and paperwork required for these projects.

In the area of security, he further added that such solutions must include initiatives that will navigate the terrain for job creation to address likely host community issues in sensitive areas to encourage project acceptance by the local

communities and other key stakeholders. “In the midst of the gas infrastructural challenges highlighted, a number of applicable fund raising routes such as syndicated loans, reserve based lending, prepayment financing, and accessing the equity and debt capital markets can be explored.

In terms of sectorial opportunities, improvements in the power sector’s payment chain and liquidity constraints, accelerated reduction in gas flaring and rolling out investor friendly incentives for their participation will enhance development of the sector,� he said.

The programme manager of the Nigerian Gas Flare Commercialisation Programme, Mr. Justice Derefaka, in a recent interview with THISDAY, had stressed the need to end the age- long immoral practice of gas flaring in Nigeria. “Gas flaring is a tremendous waste we cannot simply tolerate, especially from a climate change perspective. Do you know that each cubic meter of associated gas flared results in about 2.5 Continued on page 24

Parties Activate Agreement to Stabilise Gas Supply Chineme Okafor in Abuja The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and its joint venture partner Chevron Nigeria Limited (CNL), have signed a ‘side letter’ to formally activate a 2011 Gas Sale and Aggregation Agreement (GSAA) they initiated with Egbin Power Plc and the Gas Aggregation Company of Nigeria (GACN).

The agreement brought the GSAA to a formal start and was expected to stabilise gas supply to Egbin power plant.

The GSAA according to a statement signed by the General

ECONOMY Manager, Policy Government and Public Affairs of Chevron Nigeria Limited, Mr. Esimaje Brikinn, would see the NNPC and CNL supply to Egbin 145 million British thermal units (mmbtu) of gas per day through the Nigerian Gas Company (NGC) which is the transporter of the gas.

Brikinn, explained that the signing ceremony for the GSAA activation was executed on behalf of the three companies by the Director Downstream Gas for CNL, Mr. Sanjay Nara-

simhalu; Managing Director of GACN, Mr. Morgan Okwoche; and the Managing Director of Egbin Power, Mr. Dallas Peavey Jr. According to Brikinn, the Egbin GSAA was identified as the first in Nigeria to be successfully made effective between a gas supplier and a power plant.

He stated that: “It is a demonstration of more than a few pioneering initiatives that the NNPC/CNL JV has made to enable implementation of the Nigerian Gas Master Plan, of which the GSAAs are a key component.

“It is noteworthy that the NNPC/CNL JV, Egbin and GACN were able to bring the Egbin GSAA to a formal start, in support of the federal government’s efforts to significantly improve the power situation in the country.�

On how the GSAA will work, Brikinn, stated that: “The NNPC/CNL JV’s gas obligation under the Egbin GSAA is 145MMBtu/d.

The gas will be delivered to Egbin’s transporter, which is the Nigerian Gas Company, at the delivery point, and the Continued on page 24

As part of its desire to drive mobile technology in the country,Tecno Mobile has stressed the need for increased mobile penetration in the country. The Deputy Brand Manager, TECNO Mobile, Attai Oguche, disclosed that TECNO was actively involved in the 2018 LFW, and highlighted the role and importance mobile technology plays in fashion. “The four-day event showcases the fashion industry by creating a platform for designers to exhibit their new season designs and collections on the run way and maximises their exposure within and beyond the industry. It also aords guests the opportunity to creatively display their inner fashion animals. “Everydayoftheeventattractedmodels,fashionenthusiasts,buyers, consumers,designers,celebritiesandthemediatotheTECNOfashion Booth which was one of the major spotlights and most visited booth of the event as they had the opportunity to experience some of the devices on display as well as to take pictures with the Camon X Pro,â€? the statement said. Oguche, in the statement added that mobile technologyremainsoneofthedrivingforcesbehindfashionpresently.

Headded:“TheadventoftheselďŹ ecamerahasgreatlyimprovedand increased the number of fashion themed images and as you know, TECNO’s 24MP Camon X Pro changed the selďŹ e game. “Other celebrities who made it a mission to be at theTECNO booth include former BBNaija house mates,Tobi Bakare and Uriel Oputa, Mai Atafo, Ozina Anumudu, Derenle Edun, Eki Ogunbor, Ese Amros, Celebrity DJ Sosse, Powede Eniola Awujo and many others.â€?

FirstBank Sponsors Career Fair

First Bank of Nigeria Limited has announced its sponsorship of the UniversityofIbadan(UI)GraduateRecruitment/Careerfairthattook place at Ibadan yesterday.The fair was part of the activities lined up for the commemoration of the institution’s 70th Foundation Day Anniversary and 2018 convocation ceremonies. It was an event in which organisations spanning diverse industries and sectors were giventheopportunitytoengagetheexceptionallytalentedďŹ nalyear students of the University on a career mentoring and ready for work tips. The Vice Chancellor of the University of Ibadan - Professor Abel Olayinka, delivered a welcome address whilst the Managing Director of FirstBank, Dr Adesola Adeduntan, who is an alumnus of the university, gave the keynote lecture.

Other activities lined up for the event included syndicate and coaching speed sessions. The syndicate session comprised four activitiesnamely:EmployabilitySkills,TheFutureofWork,Academic Pursuit – What and How? and Entrepreneurship/Startups.

Thesesessionsweredriventoensurethepreparednessoftheyoung graduates towards their career pursuit.

On the other hand, the speed coaching session was used to share knowledge and solve problems.

Kachikwu, Others Get Accolade

At the Nigerian Oil and Gas Core Strategic Investors’ meeting which held recently in Atlanta, United States of America, the Minister of StateforPetroleum,DrIbeKachikwu;DrLouisEkere,ChiefExecutive OďŹƒcer,HomelandIntegratedOshoreServicesLimited,anindigenous oilandgascompany;andEngr.SimbiWabote,theExecutiveSecretary of Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB), among other Oil & Gas stakeholders were specially recognised.

For Kachikwu, the standing ovation that greeted his presentation which was focused on the strides and successes being made in the oil and gas sector. Wabote, also delivered a presentation about the NCDMB’sroleintheoilandgassector,therolePresidentMuhammadu Buhari, who also doubles as the substantive Minister of Petroleum, has played to provide a safe and enabling environment for operators and investors and how the NCDMB had supported the indigenous growth of companies etc. It was, however, Ekere that got the hall cheering and clapping endlessly.

He dwelt extensively on the gains of the Buhari administration’s economic policies and programmes geared towards shoring up Nigeria’s Foreign Direct Investment and the role the oil and gas sector was playing in this regard.

“Now you want us to enhance the services, you want us to provide better radios, better communication, better navigation, better surveillance, knowing that equipment over time degrades, it has to be maintained; it has to be upgraded; for us to continue to do this, we need funds

MD, NAMA,

Captain Fola Akinkuotu

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LONG-TERM FUNDING NEEDED TO DEVELOP GAS INFRASTRUCTURE, SAYS MGBENWELU kilograms of CO2e emissions and gas flaring account for two per cent of all greenhouse gas emissions? “And in a world where we are under increased climate pressure, we cannot get rid of a precious natural resource and fuel in that way. Just so you know, the gas we flare is an important part of the global energy transition, the closet ally to renewables. “The UN has described energy as, ‘’central to nearly every major challenge and opportunity the world faces today. Be it for jobs, security, climate change, food production or increasing incomes, access to energy for all is essential.� Nevertheless, even today, little or no access to energy deprives part of the world’s population of the opportunity to improve their quality of life,� he had said.

PARTIES ACTIVATE AGREEMENT TO STABILISE GAS SUPPLY transporter will be responsible for transporting the gas to Egbin’s facilities. “The Egbin GSAA is another effort by the NNPC/CNL JV to reinforce its commitment to supporting the socio-economic development of Nigeria by maintaining its leadership role in domestic gas supply.�

Reports indicated that shortage of gas supplies to gas power generation companies (Gencos) in Nigeria largely resulted in poor power generation.

A recent report of the operations of the country’s electricity sector by THISDAY showed that constraints which included that of gas and grid frequently impaired power supply.

The report showed that grid constraints resulted to 2187.7MW not been generated and supplied on October 21, while the balance of 1305.8MW could not be put on the grid because there was not enough gas to generate power.

It noted that 10 gas power plants had issues of poor gas supply, while five of them were completely shut down on account of gas supply shortages.

Group Business Editor

ĂŒĂ“Ă˜Ă˜Ă‹ Ă’Ă“Ă—Ă‹ Capital Market Editor

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AgriBusiness/Industry Editor

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Comms/e-Business Editor

Ă—Ă—Ă‹ Ă•Ă™Ă˜Ă”Ă“ Senior Correspondent

Ă‹Ă’Ă?Ă?Ă— Ă•Ă“Ă˜Ă‘ĂŒĂ™Ă–Ă&#x; (Advertising) Correspondents

Ă’Ă“Ă˜Ă?ĂŽĂ&#x; äĂ? (Aviation) Ă“Ă˜ĂŽĂ‹ ĂœĂ™Ă•Ă? (Labour) ĂœĂ™Ă—Ă™Ă?Ă?Ă–Ă? ĂŒĂ“Ă™ĂŽĂ&#x;Ă˜ (Cap Mkt) ÔÓÙĂ?Ă™Ăœ Ă–Ă“Ă•Ă? (Energy) Ă‹Ă—Ă?Ă? Ă—Ă?ÔÙ (Nation’s Capital) Reporters

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Absence of Finance, Bane of Mining Sector’s Growth, Says FG Kasim Sumaina in Abuja The federal government has attributed the absence of finance to mining sector as the major challenge hampering the contribution of the sector to the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) The Minister of Mines and Steel Development, Alhaji Abubakar Bawa Bwari, said this while speaking recently at a dialogue meeting with chief executives of Nigerian banks and UNDP Country Director in Lagos. He stressed that access to credit either from banks or capital markets had been low to meet the sector’s financing needs, adding that, institutional investors were also wary of investing in projects along the life cycle.

According to him, “Without the financial sector, we simply cannot develop the sector to meet its true potential as the small and artisanal miners of development minerals who are looking to expand their operations do not have access to financing for capital equipment and operations. “We need a shift in mind set among the financial institutions about the mining sector in general. Since we are here to unlock opportunities in the development minerals sub-sector, the first challenge we must tackle is for the financial institutions to recognise the value chain potentials of the development minerals sub-sector.�

He explained that a key constraint identified in the roadmap was the underde-

veloped financing and business environment for mining, which he said had made it difficult to catalyse investments into the sector. “Financing for other stages of the life cycle particularly exploration and production are limited. This is due to lack of bankable data for exploration and the lack of systematic understanding of mining’s potential. “As a result, few banks have dedicated minerals and mining desks and teams.�

He lamented that the absence of a formal financing system was

affecting the sector’s potential to contribute to national development. He added: “Against this background, my ministry is keen to see the financing environment transformed to support the growth and development of the mining sector. “This is in line with the ministry’s objective for mining to have a multiplier effect on the economy beyond direct royalty and tax receipts. “This will be through the facilitation of mineral economic linkages, investment, and diversification. Promotion of side stream

linkages such as the stock market and financial services to finance business development is central to this objective.�

Continuing, Bwari revealed that the challenges required creativity and innovation to encourage participation along the value chain, starting with the upstream, which provides the anchor investment for the emergence of the value chain and where the financing bottleneck is. “Collectively we must address access to finance constraints faced by miners of development minerals and other minerals in general.

We are extremely pleased with the ACP-EU development minerals intervention “I understand participants from the financial institutions that attended the Nigerian workshop on Inclusive Finance of Development Minerals, appreciated the exposure provided through the workshop. “We are prepared to build on the ACP-EU/UNDP/African Guarantee Fund program to operationalize the N5 billion fund that the Ministry established in collaboration with the Bank of Industry to support small and medium scale miners.

INDUCTION CEREMONY

L-R: Head, Africa Regional Office, International Professional Managers Association (IPMA), Prof. Feyi-Sobanjo Taiwo, Director of Administration, Ibru Organisation, Henry Muogho and CEO, IPMA-UK, Prof. MikeWooi, during the 2018 Induction ceremony of the IPMA-Nigeria in Lagos‌recently

NIRSAL Facilitates $373m Loan to Agric Sector James Emejo in Abuja The Managing Director/Chief Executive, Nigerian Incentive Based Risk Sharing System for Agricultural Lending (NIRSAL), Mr. Aliyu Abdulhameed, has said the agency facilitated over $373 million as loans from commercial banks to farmers across the various agricultural value chain in the country.

He said by its support and through the Credit Risk Guarantee, NIRSAL had been able to facilitate about N85.5 billion as at the third quarter of the year.

He added that its interventions generated over 2.17 million jobs

for Nigerians.

NIRSAL was incorporation by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) in 2013- and is a $500 million Non-Bank financial institution specifically designed to redefine, measure, re-price and share agribusiness-related credit risk.

Abdulhameed said the total amount leveraged by NIRSAL Credit Risk Guarantees and other Agricultural Risk Management Tools & Products included the sum of N43.8 billion in agricultural inputs; N1.7 billion on mechanisation; N19 billion on primary production as well as N20.9 billion on processing.

He said: “This amount was not facilitated for the upstream (primary production/farming segment alone- largely at the level of the smallholder farmers- but across all four segments of the agricultural value chain.�

According to him: “A total of N45.6 billion in the pre-upstream segment of the agricultural value chain primarily to mechanisation and agricultural inputs such as fertiliser, seeds and agrochemicals required before primary production. “Over N19 billion into the upstream which is mainly the primary production of maize, cassava, soybeans, rice, cotton,

poultry among other commodities. N20.9 billion midstream segment of the agricultural value chain used predominantly in the processing of cassava chips, rice milling, cotton, oil palm, and cocoa.�

The MD further explained that a total of 24,666 farmers cultivating 20,062 hectares had also benefited from a new insurance initiative by NIRSAL in partnership with the National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) and the Nigerian Agricultural Insurance Corporation (NAIC).

He said the NIRSAL Area Yield Insurance Index product

had been deployed to protect a total harvest value of N4.77 billion, adding that “Insured farmers who suffered low area yields during the 2017 Wet Season have received appropriate compensation.�

According to him: “NIRSAL’s goal is to expand insurance uptake by primary producers from 0.5 million to 3.8 million by 2026 and continually develop insurance products that will give financial institutions and agricultural value chain players the comfort they need to lend to the agricultural sector while building the capacities of underwriters.�

practically everything else will arguably be most profound,�

Osinbajo added. The consultation process, he said, remained diligent, rigorous and transparent and was yielding positive results. “Since its establishment, the pace of outreach to improve on it, to build capacity and to sharpen expertise has accelerated. “Trade negotiations have done their job and we now enter the more crucial business of negotiating the details of tariff offers and what safeguards to put in place and on which goods and the specifics for the commitments for trade and services,� the Vice

President said.

He said it was time for “policymakers and stakeholders with the support of regional institutions across the continent to improve on the standard of the stakes in play.� “Nigeria as Africa’s biggest market is most likely to benefit the most or lose the most from the AfCFTA,� the vice president added.

Led by business mogul, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, Nigeria’s businesses and industrialists were unanimous that it was a question of when the country signs, not if it would sign the agreement.

‘Nigeria Not against ACFTA’ Chris Uba The federal government recently reiterated its position on the African Continental Free Trade Area (ACFTA), saying that Nigeria is not against the pact.

The Vice President, Prof.

Yemi Osinbajo, who said this in a keynote at the 2018 Africa Trade Forum in Lagos, said although, Nigeria was yet to sign the agreement, the country was not against it. He said the federal government was still consulting all stakeholders to ensure that concerns and challenges are addressed, ostensibly before the

country can put pen to paper. “I can tell you that there is virtual unanimity from those against and those for the AfCFTA on the benefits of intra-African trade for development, poverty reduction and job creation,� he told delegates who attended the two-day forum.

The Vice President added: “Across the board all stakeholders point to the issues where the policymakers are required to act in coordination regionally in dealing for example with issues like agreement on rules of origin which is critical to avoid abuse, that third parties cannot

benefit from an agreement their government has not signed, trade finance and related subjects. “Although most stakeholders support the agreement, there are concerns about impact especially on the local markets and the need to protect the agreement from abuse by third parties. “This is an opportunity for us to get this right and implement the agreement correctly,� he said.

He lauded the ACFTA as “the most significant Pan African agreement in this generation that we have yet signed as the continent.� “It’s impact on commerce and

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Firms Hail Improved Ease of Doing Business in Plateau Seriki Adinoyi in Jos Operators of businesses in Plateau state have lauded the Governor of the state, Simon Lalong, for creating enabling environment for their firms to thrive.

This, according to them led to the improved Ease of Doing Business (EDB) in the state.

The business community gave the accolades when the Governor hosted its members to a dinner organised by the trio of Plateau Investment and Property-development Company (PIPC), Plateau State Small and Medium Enterprise Development Agency (PLASMEDA), and German Development Agency (GIZ), in Jos. The governor, who was encouraged by the business reports in the state, expressed confidence that, with the various measures being put in place by his government, the growing EDB in the state would even improve, and compete favourably with

other leading states in Nigeria.

Lalong, said that with the application for the establishment of Police Mobile barracks at Gashish, a trouble spot in Barkin Ladi Local Government Area of the state recently approved, cattle rustling that had been one major cause of crisis in the state would be tackled as all rustling routes will now be adequately blocked.

He added that with peace in the state and good weather to complement, investors would naturally take advantage of the many business opportunities to invest in the state.

Members of a 5-man panel made up of Commissioner for Justice, Barr Chris Ahmadu, Commissioner of Commerce, Mr. Idi Usman, Commissioner for Lands/Survey, Barr Festus Fatuer, Chairman of Plateau Revenue Board, and Director of PLASMEDA, each took turn to x-ray how the feat of improved EDB was achieved in the last three and half years.

While disclosing that Alternative Dispute Resolution

through the establishment of mechanism for seamless settlement of business disputes was the secret, Ahmadu added that, “This is fast and less costly.�

He said the state was training mediators to build up a pool of resource persons to draw from, when the need arises, adding that the state was building Mediation Centres for such purposes.

Fuante, revealed that unlike in the past when issuance of Certificate of Occupancy (Cof-O) had several bottlenecks, with the new administration, over 2000 C-of-O had been given to land owners, with 50 per cent discounts and special waivers for major companies to make it bearable for them.

Usman, who identified the recently concluded Trade Fair as a clear testimony of the return peace in the state, said the recent establishment of One-Structure in the state, in which all business agencies are domicile in one place, registration of businesses has been made much easier.

Interswitch Introduces New Digital Payment Platform Nigerians can now shop directly from over 100 international stores, including Amazon, Zara, eBay and Macy’s, and pay in naira.

This became possible with the launch of Quickteller Global Mall, a service provided by Quickteller, a digital payment and commerce platform owned by Pan-African integrated digital payments and commerce company, Interswitch Group.

A statement explained that the new service was developed in furtherance of the company’s commitment toward solving existing challenges around digital payments and commerce in a sustainable manner.

The Quickteller Global Mall would afford customers easy access to shop from leading

international sites across the United Kingdom and the United States.

The Group Head, Product & Marketing Management, Digital Payments at Interswitch, Adetayo Teluwo, explained that the platform would enable, “our customers shop directly from over 100 international merchants, make simple and convenient payments in naira and enjoy door step item delivery and clearing powered by DHL.� “Listening to the pain points and expectations of our customers is of high priority to our business. We place a premium on extensive research, user interviews and testing and will continue to put our customers first with exciting propositions and use cases.

“Quickteller Global Mall allows access to a wide variety of household items, electronic devices, furniture, mobile devices, laptops, books and much more within a period of 10 to 15days and all this is incorporated in the new website. “This new webiste continues to offer existing and new customers complete ease, a fresh contemporary look, the power of search, same UI/UX for mobile and web, improved transaction success, Quickteller Kenya and complete simplicity. “Quickteller offers convenient access to payment needs across Toll(e-tag), flight tickets, Cable Tv, broadband Internet, electricity, fund transfers, airtime recharge and funding betting wallets,�

ELEVATING TO THE NEXT LEVEL Marie-Therese Phido

Brand Your People for Likeability I remember the first time I needed to ensure that the proposals we were sending out had the right quality of photographs. You know how you need to showcase the team that will be working on a project for which a lot of money will be paid for and needing to ensure that you build trust and likeability for the team based on how they present themselves and looked.

I had some opposition within the organization because some people could not understand why we needed to spend so much money, time and a lot of paraphernalia to just take pictures. They felt it was a waste of valuable time, because time was money and they did not like all the fuss that went into the whole process.

The photographer we brought at the time was also a perfectionist who wanted everything done in a particular way to get the best results. The first time I saw her output I had to look for her, because I did not know her.

What caught my attention, was the quality of her pictures. At that time, I felt she was the best and the one that could showcase my team and make them “shine� to increase their appeal and likeability. Before then as an organization, we were used to the “cut and nail� type of photographers.

So getting and paying for her service was a battle, but very worthwhile. It was essential that we got the best in showcasing the team, which enhanced our proposals.

I am sure many of us have received proposals and seen pictures of those to work on the projects and been discouraged by the unpolished and unappealing way the proposed team looked. This may not have been the case and usually is not, but the problem

SPAR Opens New Retail Store Azeez Abdulrauf Thirty years after entering the Nigerian market, SPAR has inaugurated a new megastore outlet in Leisure Mall, Surulere, to offer choices to consumers. The new development has thus introduced a new trend to the competition among operators of shopping malls in the country. The store is the company’s eight outlet in Lagos and 14th in Nigeria.

Speaking at the event, the Marketing Managers of SPAR Nigeria, Emmanuel Isangediok, said the company understands the hypermarket chain in Nigeria better, having been around in the country for 30 years. “You can see from our competitors that you can just get, maybe grocery items from their store: so from our own end you can get a lot of things other than grocery;

that is why we are different,� he said.

According to Emmanuel, one important thing for consumers and any economy is choice, hence SPAR was providing a wider choice for consumers in Surulere to choose and shop. “Consumers want a nice and well-secured environment to shop from – look at this place, it is well secured.

Well, lit and more importantly is the choice without going from one trader to another; in one single place you get everything under one roof,� he stated.

Speaking further on the market competition the new SPAR outlet was going to create, Emmanuel opined that South Africa with population of 56 million has over 5000 modern stores; while Nigeria with a population of over 180 million, only have a handful of 100s modern

stores. “Looking at the development index of South Africa and Nigeria; Nigeria has a long way to go. Again, every SPAR store employs directly and indirectly close to 350/400 staff, therefore retail stores are big employment generator in any economy. In every developed economy, the biggest employer is not the government, it is the private sector, and the retail sector is critical to the development of any economy. Nigeria is currently playing catch up, and the market is so big enough to accommodate everyone without hampering each other,� he concludes.

Earlier, the chairman of Leisure Mall, Abiodun Balogun, while inaugurating the new outlet urged government to provide every necessary support needed to ease Foreign Direct Investment in the country.

Likeability goes beyond the way you look. It starts with your looks but if not backed by other attributes you need to instil in your people, you will not go very far and this can sometimes be detrimental to your brand.You do not want people deriding your organisation and making snide remarks that “all they have are their looks and no substance

was the team or organization did not go the extra mile to brand its people.

Neglecting to brand your people for likeability can make you lose millions of Naira.

Many organizations are now conscious of this fact and are working toward ensuring that they have a particular kind of people to showcase their brands. Professional Services and banking professions that traditionally need to build confidence in their customers because of the advice they need to give or the money they need to take try to factor this requirement into their hiring process. But I am not sure they always succeed. I have had reason to question the quality of their people from my interactions with them on this requirement.

Likeability goes beyond the way you look. It starts with your looks but if not backed by other attributes you need to instil in your people, you will not go very far and this can sometimes be detrimental to your brand. You do not want people deriding your organization and making snide remarks that “all they have are their looks and no substance.�

I am sure some of you are asking, so what does likeability mean? I was asked the same question when I discussed this topic. So we checked for the synonyms and antonyms for clarity. Synonyms for likeability are: attractive, appealing, engaging, amiable, good (technical ability), winning, charming. The antonyms are: unattractive, disagreeable, cold, unfriendly, unpleasant, not good (poor technical ability).

As you can see from the above, likeability goes beyond looks and organizations need to ensure that they infuse these qualities in their people, and make them more likeable. Additional questions you have, may be, “how do we teach somebody to be charming or appealing?

Actually, you can and there are ways to do it. It is important that these traits are imparted because the impact of likeability on sales, branding and customer acceptance cannot be underestimated, as well as the fact that the likeability of a company begins at its most basic level – the employees who have the power to make or destroy a brand.

How clients feel about a particular individual employee affects the way they feel about the whole organization. This means, if you are a service provider, your employee’s behavior good or bad, affects your reputation and brand, because if your employees who provide first hand service are just not likeable for various reasons it affects patronage, sales and growth. This is because, usually the first person your customers meet may be your employees and not you the owner of the organization. You hear people say I will not be using this product or service again, not because the product isn’t normally stellar, but because the employees they interacted with was just not likeable.

The bottom line is, if you want to be an organization that is branded likeable, you need to start ensuring that you either hire for likeability or train your people to exhibit these vital characteristics and attributes from the gate house to the Ivory Tower.

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

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NAHCO Consolidates Growth After a positive six months results, Nigerian Aviation Handling Company Plc recently reported profit growth of 117 per cent for the nine months ended September 30, 2018, writes Goddy Egene The earnings season has been mixed for shareholders as company reported their financial results for the nine months ended September 30,2018. Going by the results, some shareholders would receive improved returns at the end of the year as their companies recorded increased profitability.

Some have already declared interim dividends. However, some firms also ended the period with lower bottom-line, which means shareholders of such firms may receive lower dividends.

But one sure thing is that shareholders of Nigerian Aviation Handling Company Plc (nahco aviance) will be among those to receive higher returns at the end of the current financial year.

NAHCO is a Nigerian diversified enterprise with interests in aviation cargo, aircraft handling, passenger facilitation, crew transportation and aviation training.

At the end of the nine months, the company posted a growth of 109 per cent in profit after tax (PAT).

Nine Months Financial Performance The unaudited figures released to the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), NAHCO recorded an impressive N7.25 billion, representing an increase of 25 per cent compared with N5.795 billion posted in the corresponding period of 2017.

An analysis of the revenue showed that passenger/aircraft handling accounts for the highest per centage of 62 per cent. Specifically, the company realised N4.466 billion in this segment of its business, up from N3.248 billion in 2017. Cargo handling remained the second highest with N2.452 billion or 33.8 per cent of the total revenue for the period.

The company recorded operation cost of N4.835 billion, up from N4.045 billion, while selling and administrative expenses rose from N1.645 billion to N1.918 billion.

Profit from operations increased from N305 million to N671 million. Net financing cost similarly increased from N30.64 million to N60.773 million.

Profit before tax jumped by 117 per cent to N731.841 million from N336.115 million in 2017. However, a higher tax payment made the PAT to grow slower at 107 per cent from N287 million to N601 million in 2018. Earnings per share soared rose from 18 kobo to 37 kobo.

Company Explains Performance Regarded as one of the best results posted by the company in recent times, the performance is outcome of initiatives and actions undertaken by its management led by the Managing Director/CEO, Mr. Idris Yakubu who assumed office in November last year.

Yakubu had started the implementation of a series of short and medium term process reviews and service improvement initiatives that has led to enhanced service delivery and improved customer satisfaction by the

Company’s growing clients.

In his comments, the MD/CEO said:“We are extremely delighted with the recent results.

It shows that the various initiatives that we are implementing to delight our customers are indeed working. A lot of credit for this performance, no doubt, goes to the Board of the company who have supported and trusted our leadership, our staff who are diligent and have become more responsive, our loyal clients who trusted us to handle all their business, and indeed, other stakeholders of the Company.�

While expressing his optimism that the company is looking forward to a solid end of year, Yakubu said that all indices point to a strong showing and the kind of performance that the company has not seen in recent years.

Generally acclaimed as the foremost ground handling company in the West Africa subregion, NAHCO serves more than 35 airlines at 11 airports across Nigeria, with plans to expand operations to other African countries.

It handles about 70 per cent of domestic and foreign airlines operating in Nigeria.

New Chairman, Director Come on Board Market analyst and operators said the appointment of new chairman and a nonexecutive director for company will add value to its performance going forward.

NAHCO announced the appointment of Mr. Sehinde Fadeni Oladapo as its chairman, who has taken over from Usman Arabi Bello, who resigned from the position on Thursday, October 25, 2018.

Oladapo is the founder and Managing

Director/Chief Executive Officer of GMT Energy Resources Limited, took effect on October 25, 2018.

The new NAHCO chairman had his higher education at the University of Lagos where he bagged a Bachelor of Science Degree in Biology. A well - traveled entrepreneur, he has attended various seminars and courses all over the world, including the Owners Management Programme at Harvard. He is also an Associate Member of the Nigeria Institute of Management (AMNIM), Nigerian Institute of Credit Management and the Port Harcourt Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

A recipient of several merit awards, Oladapo is highly acclaimed by professional bodies in Nigeria in recognition of his many contributions to nation building.

Oladapo sits on the boards of a number of companies including MCI FZE Yard Development Limited, a joint venture between MCI FZE and Samsung Heavy Industries Nigeria where Total Upstream Nigeria Limited and her partners integrated their EGINA FPSO’s 6 topside modules; the Badagry Ship-repair Maintenance Engineering Consortium (BSMEC) and Elect & Chosen Limited, a reputable interior design and furniture supply company.

He runs GMT, where he brings his great wealth of experience to bear on providing strategic direction and leadership in corporate reputation and sustainability and commercial negotiations. “Credited with incredible foresight and matchless skills in perceiving business needs

and creating solutions to address such needs, Oladapo had over the years developed a network of high value contacts in international and domestic business communities, including the local and global regulators,� the company said.

Similarly, NAHCO appointed Mr. Salam Taofeeq Oluwatoyin as non-executive director. Oluwatoyin took the sit vacated

by Mr. Ahmed Uwais on the board.

A top-notch lawyer, Oluwatoyin obtained an LLB (Hons) from the University of Ilorin, Nigeria, a Barrister at Law from the Nigerian Law School and LLM from the University of East Anglia, Norwich, England (UK).

Oluwatoyin is a member of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), International Bar Association, Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (UK) and Institute of Directors (IOD), and serves as the Managing Partner of Canary Legal, a corporate and commercial law firm.

He leads the firm’s corporate governance, company secretarial and legal advisory practice group, advises clients locally and internationally on Foreign Investment, Project Financing and Public-Private Partnerships (PPP).

He was at Rosehill Group Limited, a diversified investment holding company with interests in infrastructure, aviation, real estate, hospitality, and construction, as the head of legal and compliance department and subsequently rose to become the managing director of Rosehill Group Limited.

He is also on the Board of Asokoro Island, Sycor Private Investment Limited and Central Cement and Logistics (CENCEM).

ARC Lauds Approval of Africa Disaster Risks Financing Facility The African Risk Capacity (ARC) has lauded the approval of the Africa Disaster Risk Financing Programme (ADRiFi) Programme, by the African Development Bank (AfDB).

The discussions to establish the ADRiFi as a mechanism to enhance the resilience and response to climate shocks and natural disaster risks in Regional Member Countries (RMCs) was formalised in March 2017.

Since then, the African Development Bank and the African Risk Capacity, under the signed technical

collaboration agreement began to orchestrate activities to enhance risk management infrastructure and policy across Africa as well as supporting countries in building resilience against climate shocks.

During the African Development Bank Annual Meetings 2018 in Busan, South Korea, a special session on ‘Climate and Disaster Risk Financing’ gave a fresh impetus to the realization of the set objectives. “The ADRiFi programme is a timely response for a premium financing support

request from a number of RMCs to bridge the resource gap impeding the necessary participation in the African Risk Capacity insurance pool. “This is one of those moments when one feels very proud as an African,� the Director-General of ARC, Mohammed Beavogui said, while reacting to the announcement by the AfDB. “The faithfulness and commitment of President Adesina and his team to the realisation of this initiative begs for emulation by other regional and multilateral partners. This is critical for

us to achieve food security in the continent through ensuring that Africa’s vulnerable populations are insured against the oftenoverwhelming impacts of climate-induced natural disasters.�

Commending the AfDB President, Akinwunmi Adesina, and tenacious hard work of the bank and ARC teams involved in birthing the ADRiFi programme, the Board Chairperson of African Risk Capacity, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, shared her excitement. According to her, “The disaster risk

financing landscape in Africa has received an empowering shot in the arm‌let us now move quickly to extend our disaster risk insurance coverage to more member countries which, before now, could not join the ARC pool owing to fiscal constraints.�

The CEO of African Risk Capacity Limited, Dolika Banda, equally said:“We now know that collaborative partnerships work when there is good fidelity. ARC will leverage on the crest of this great achievement to connect with other institutions towards

a more inclusive disaster risk insurance coverage for Africa.�

The ADRiFi Programme would focus on national institutional strengthening, policy development, risk profiling, and contingency planning for disasters for participating RMCs. In line with the agreed structure, it would support countries in developing climate risk profiles, strengthen contingency plans and support risk transfer through premium subsidies of up to 50 per cent over a five-year period.

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Revitalising Nigeria’s Ailing Textile Industry Jonathan Eze writes that Nigeria’s ailing textile industry can be revived by developing a local supply chain Despite promises to revitalise the Nigerian textile sector which holds numerous potential for the economy, the sector has continued to perform below expectation.

The sad reality however is that the country relies more on imported fabrics while the once vibrant industry is facing near extinction. The textile industry particularly attracts serious public debate basically because of the pivotal role it played in stemming the tide of unemployment between late 1950s and early 1990s.

The minister of state for Industry, Trade and Investment, Hajiya Aisha Abubakar, who is also the chairperson of the Committee on Resuscitation of the Cotton, Textile and Garment Industry, recently pointed out that between N500 billion to N1 trillion was needed for a complete turnaround of the sector.

According to her, although the sector had been through several reforms, a lot of issues remained unsolved. “The main objective or thrust of these reforms was aimed at strengthening competitiveness and improving product quality. The many attempts on the resuscitation of the textile industry failed due to the fact that the industry is saddled or burdened with a number of legacy issues,� she said.

The financing aspect, for example, which was singly addressed by the previous administration only served to increase their indebtedness to the banks.

There is no linkage within the value chain nor do the sector players even play among themselves.

Apart from the infrastructure challenges, majorly with the high gas price, diesel and insufficient supply of low fuel pour oil; there are issues of distrust and insincerity across the line, low patronage, inadequate quantity and quality for supplies, the smuggling of fabrics and availability of cheaper options and so many more.

The first modern textile industry in Nigeria, the Kaduna Textile Mill, started production in 1956. The primary reason for setting up the mill was to process the cotton being produced at the time, in the northern part of the country. By the 70s and the 80s, the Nigerian textile industry had grown to become the third largest in Africa.

A report by the United Nations University (UNU) for instance, had stated in 1987, there were 37 textile firms in the country, operating 716,000 spindles and 17,541 looms. This was the golden period of Nigeria’s textile industry.

Between 1985 and 1991, it recorded an annual growth of 67 per cent and as at 1991, it employed about 25 per cent of the workers in the manufacturing sector.

Sadly, this once cherished national cash cow has now collapsed due to a number of factors.

The premise for this analysis is not unconnected to the fact that in any economy, one of the indices used in judging growth is primarily based on the producing power of that country. Industries form the bulk of these indices.

In Nigeria for instance, more than 80 per cent of all finished consumer products are imported.

Back then, the Multi-Fibre Arrangement (MFA) was a system of quota that could be imposed by developed countries on the amount of textile products that developing countries could export.

This was interpreted largely as a protection of developed countries’ textile industries from China.

The MFA was replaced by the WTO’s Agreement on Textiles and Clothing (ATC) in 1995.

Under these agreements, the textile industry was brought into full compliance with the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) rules, and all quota restrictions were rolled back.

The quota restrictions were not applicable to some countries, one of which was Nigeria.

In this instance, a renowned textile merchant,

Iyabo Folawiyo, told THISDAY that the decline of the textile industry was as a result of the hasty accession of Nigeria to the WTO in 1995.

According to her, in accordance with WTO rules, Nigeria had to remove any protection of the local textile industry, among others.

He argued that it would have been better for the country to secure special arrangements with the WTO, such that the local textile industry would be protected until it was surer on its feet.

Before the expiration of MFA, the United States introduced the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), an initiative that opened up the American market to African countries.

Textile industry, which is basically powered by quality electricity, is a tremendous source of employment. It can absorb millions of persons, if and or when it is functional. It has prospects to generate foreign exchange thereby mopping up revenue for the federal and state governments.

This is true when other African countries begin to depend on Nigeria for the supply of clothing materials for their fashion businesses and other purposes.

Gone are the days when Nigerians embraced

Textile industry, which is basically powered by quality electricity, is a tremendous source of employment. It can absorb millions of persons, if and or when it is functional. It has prospects to generate foreign exchange thereby mopping up revenue for the federal and state governments

the products of the likes of International Textile Industry (I.T.I) at Mushin, Lagos, Texlon at Amuwo Odofin, Enpee at Oshodi, Aswani at Isolo, Boujson Mercedes at Oyingbo, Sunflag at Surulere, Five Star at Isolo and many others. Virtually all the above mentioned textile companies except one have stopped production of clothing materials but re-versified to other businesses.

According to a report by the Oxford Business Group (OBG), given the role (MFA) played in relation to employment, the development of a local supply chain and the fulfilment of the government’s import substitution policies, revitalising the sector is a priority.

The OBG noted that the sector’s impact on job creation may not be as significant as it was during the peak of Nigeria’s textiles sector in the 1980s, as mechanical automation and improvements in technology have meant that fewer workers are needed. “However, the sector has been identified a chief area of light manufacturing under the government’s Economic Recovery and Growth Plan. “The country is hoping to attract $1.9bn in investment by 2019, and believes it could capture the N3.2 billion ($11.3m) in annual value that now goes to import markets. “Nigeria currently has 25 textile mills, which run at a sector average of 40 per cent capacity and employ around 25,000 people in total.

While these numbers are down from the late 1980s, when the sector comprised 180 mills and a 350,000-strong workforce, the belief that growth can return to the sector rests on the country’s abundant supply of raw materials. “Cotton grows in 26 of Nigeria’s 36 states, and West Africa is the fifth-largest producing region globally. Local cotton prices are around half the cost of those from the three largest growing countries – the US, China and India, as production is dominated by small-scale farmers in West Africa, which gives buyers leverage in price setting. “Among the categories of textile products that the domestic industry could most readily compete is print fabrics. Rolls of bright, patterned cloth have a huge market in Nigeria and across Africa, where they are made by hand into ready-to-wear clothing. “As it stands now, Chinese imports currently account for 60 per cent of the print fabric market in Africa, with India supplying an

additional 21 per cent. West Africa itself is a large market for prints and buys around 65 per cent of all foreign imports. Nigerian demand accounts for around 38 per cent of total imports in the region. “With Nigerian cotton potentially coming at a cost of less than half of that for Chinese or Indian alternatives, there is a competitive advantage for local production, particularly since cotton accounts for 40 per cent of the cost of production of print fabric. “Equally crucial for local producers, Nigeria has low-tariff access to 130m consumers in the West African region through its membership in ECOWAS. The bloc has established a common external tariff among its 15 member countries, with different rates for textile products, depending on whether they are finished, and intermediate goods,� the OBG report stated.

Challenges Furthermore, the report noted that tapping into Nigeria’s competitive advantages would not be without its challenges. “Electricity counts for about 15 per cent of production costs due to inconsistent power supply, which leads manufacturers to rely on more-expensive backup generators. “The current currency crisis is another challenge. A ban on imported textiles in place since 2010, while nominally beneficial for the sector, also encourages informal market activity, and smuggled products account for an estimated 85 per cent of fabric sold in the country. As is the case in so many sectors in Nigeria, one of the key constraints facing textile producers is financing, without which capital expansions are unlikely.

In 2009, the previous administration created N100 billion ($353.4m) textile fund that made financing available at a six per cent interest rate. “To address the issues facing foreign investors, the government is offering a package of incentives, including tax-free imports of equipment and inputs to 2019, as well as a three-year tax holiday. “Additionally, preferential treatment in the procurement process is being provided, which means that these investors will have first access to potentially lucrative government contracts for state-run schools, as well as the military,� it added.

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Sterling Bank Marks World Savings Day Amby Uneze in Owerri The staff and students of Owerri Girls Secondary School in Imo State were full of excitement recently as Sterling Bank Plc marked the 2018 World Savings Day in the school.

At the ceremony, students were taught on the need to inculcate the habit of savings against the rainy day.

Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of the bank, Abubakar Suleiman in a lecture, defined savings as income, not spent or deferred consumption that can be utilised when the need arises other than spending one’s income as soon as the money gets into someone’s hand without thinking of the future.

Suleiman, who was represented by the Regional Business Executive - Retail (South East 1), Ubong Isong, listed several reasons for savings which include; financial independence, emergencies, accommodation, education/self-development, retirement, and vacation, adding that savings should be an intentional act.

He urged the students to learn to save at least, 10 per cent of their pocket money, insisting that savings should target a specific purpose as

well as the need to approach a financial institution for such savings which would in turn earned them interest on their saved money.

According to him, there are several dangers associated with money not saved in a financial institution, such as theft, misplacement, incidents of fire outbreak, and tampering with the money at will.

Savings in a financial institution reduces risk of spending, theft, and its gives you’re the chance to grow or generate interest, he said.

He stated that saving in a bank could help a person access loans and appealed to parents to encourage their wards/children to inculcate the habit of saving their money in a bank at their young age, saying such behaviour would not only disciple the child but discourage such child from engaging in corruption and stealing.

Responding, the Vice Principal of Owerri Girls’ Secondary School, Rev. Sis. Clara Ukaegbu thanked the management and staff of Sterling Bank Plc for founding the school worthy for such celebration and promised to assist the students to save as a form of instilling financial discipline on them.

Firm Engages NIBSS, Banks on Financial Inclusion Emma Okonji In order to boost financial inclusion in the country, Terragon Group, a data and marketing technology company, recently hosted a chat with the new Deputy Governor, Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mr. Adebisi Shonubi, and top executives of financial institutions in Nigeria, on the theme “Transforming customer experience on digital channels through data science and artificial intelligence�.

The discussions centred on how banks and other financial institutions can use Data Analytics and Artificial Intelligence to close the financial inclusion gap in the country.

Terragon CEO, Mr. Elo Umeh, said: “Drawing on the advantages of mobile technology,

messages can reach the last mile, as long as they have a mobile phone.�

The Artificial Intelligenceenabled platform is able to deliver messages to audiences and draw real-time insights from customer feedback or behaviour; while also giving banks access to Terragon’s database of over 80 million Nigerians, inclusive of Nigerians that are offline.

According to Shonubi, “Recent discourse on financial inclusion stresses that homogeneity does not exist among financial service consumers. “Thus, there is a need to properly identify, understand and predict the lifestyles, habits, and challenges of the target market to better inform product design, which would lead to better adoption.

“Terragon’s Adrenaline makes this home-grown technology solution capability available to Financial Institutions today.

This is a timely development as we push towards closing the financial inclusion gap.�

According to Umeh, “The solution also takes cognisance of low literacy levels, which has been identified as an impediment in reaching the unserved; and makes it possible to reach audiences in other formats through audio and video.�

In a joint venture with leading telecommunication companies, Adrenaline, a solution from Terragon, delivers high impact, short audio and video messages in as little as five seconds via SMS. The key difference is that audio/video would render within

the SMS environment without consuming the subscriber data or the need for a smartphone.

Other features of the solution include a 360 degree view of current and potential customers, allowing more accurate Customer Relationship Management (CRM) profiling, customised messaging leading to precision targeting, reduces wastage and increases conversion.

With Artificial Intelligence and Data Analytics embedded in the platform, banks and other financial institutions can create dynamic, custom products, and messaging for their different customer segments and prospects in unserved or underserved areas as they now have full visibility into customers’ psychographics, Umeh said.

Renmoney Appoints Boshoro CEO Renmoney has announced the appointment of Oluwatobi Boshoro as its new Chief Executive Officer.

Prior to her appointment, Tobi served as the Head, Digital Strategy, Issuing and Service Management at Stanbic IBTC. The new Renmoney CEO had also headed Stanbic IBTC’s Electronic Banking and Digital Strategy units at various times, where she was responsible for the digital transformation of the bank.

Between 2008 and 2014, Tobi held senior positions at the Interswitch Group, including Group Head, Issuer Management.

She is an alumnus of the prestigious Harvard Business School, having completed multiple Executive Management programmes including the Gen-

eral Management Programme in 2013. Tobi also holds an M.Sc. Strategic Marketing degree from Cranfield University’s School of Management and a BSc. In Economics from Ogun State University.

Tobi has been described as an innovative and transformational leader with proven abilities to develop strategies to deliver customer-focused solutions and drive bottom line growth in highly competitive markets.

Renmoney’s new CEO was excited by the opportunity to significantly empower underbanked individuals.

A statement quoted her as saying: “I am thrilled to be part of an organization which is passionate about leveraging data and technology to enable individuals achieve their dreams.

‘Why IOCs Will Relocate to A’Ibom’ Okon Bassey in Uyo Akwa ibom state government has explained that the decision to embark on a 21-story tower building project was to ensure that multinational and International Oil Companies (IOCs) move their administrative base to the state.

The building which has reached the eight floor was initially intended to be cited at the former Etuk Market by Etuk and Aka roads Uyo, but was moved to the banking layout on Udo Udoma Avenue for more convenience and security.

Briefing newsmen in his office, the State Commissioner for Special Duties, Mr Akan Okon, stressed that the project would

gulp about N19 billion and was being funded through Public Private Partnership (PPP) with the public sector providing 40 per cent while the state government parted with 60 per, cent of the total cost.

He argued that on completion and commissioning, the IOCs would have no more excuse of justification not relocating to the state, noting that none of the multinational company has even a kiosk in the state being rated as number one oil producing state in the country. “I want to place on record that we do not have even a kiosk of any of IOC and government agencies that is involved in the petroleum industry.

CAREER FAIR

L-R: Group Head, Marketing & Corporate Communications, FirstBank, Mrs. Folake Ani-Mumuney; Vice Chancellor, University of Ibadan, Prof. A. I. Olayinka; MD/CEO, FirstBank, Dr. Adesola Adeduntan; Deputy Vice Chancellor, University of Ibadan, Prof. Olanike Adeyemo and Group Head, Human Capital Management & Development, FirstBank, Mrs. Rosie Ebe-Arthur, during a recruitment/career fair held in Ibadan...recently

Access Bank Partners Firm on Money Transfer Transfast, a cross-border payments and remittance firm has partnered with Access Bank to facilitate inflow of remittance to bank accounts and delivery in the form of cash pay-outs from any of Access Bank’s outlets in Nigeria.

The two entities signed a global agreement to offer remittance services to expatriates sending money to their loved ones across select markets in Africa. The new partnership further expands Transfast’s presence in Nigeria, allowing its customers in over 125+ countries to send money to millions of Access Bank accounts as well as non-account holders.

Access Bank is one a leading commercial banks in Nigeria, with an extensive network of

millions of customer accounts and over 318 branches. The new partnership with Transfast, according to a statement, would increase convenience and ease of banking for Access Bank’s customers in Nigeria as well as support the country’s efforts to achieve financial inclusion.

The partnership would ultimately connect over 15 million Access Bank customers in Nigeria, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ghana, Rwanda, The Gambia, Sierra Leone and Zambia to Transfast’s best in class online money transfer experience.

With 15 million people living in countries including the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia and Canada, remit-

tances play a significant role in Nigeria’s economy. The World Bank estimates that in 2017 alone Nigeria received $22 billion in remittances, making it the largest recipient in Africa.

This partnership is significant for Transfast, the firm stated. “The relationship with Access Bank will allow us not only to extend our network footprint, but also build on the trust that Access Bank enjoys amongst its customers,� Mr. Samish Kumar, CEO – Transfast said. “Access Bank’s state of the art technology makes it an effective delivery platform for Transfast services whose focus is in providing a seamless experience to its customers

both on the send side & at the point of collection,� added.

Commenting on the partnership, Victor Etuokwu, Executive Director, Access Bank Plc said: “It is with great pleasure that Access Bank Plc is partnering with Transfast a reputable global payment network to meet the needs of our customers who require a sound and reliable international payment platform. “As a top player in the remittance industry in Nigeria, our wide branch network and large customer base will be invaluable to this partnership and we are confident that this relationship will be mutually beneficial to both parties.

Diamond Bank Empowers Women Diamond Bank Plc has supported women who are MSME operators through its ‘BETA’ proposition.

Financial Literacy is an important step in promoting Financial Inclusion. It is an action geared towards bridging the gap between the banked and un(der)banked. With 70 percent of adult women in Nigeria still unbanked, Diamond Bank sees financial inclusion for women as a goal that must come to fruition.

Speaking recently at an event tagged “BETA Woman BETA Naija,� organised by Diamond Bank Plc in partnership with Amazing Amazon in Kaduna, Diamond Bank’s Group Head, Agency & Merchant Services, Mrs. Uche Ben-Uzoebo, stressed the importance of supporting women in business.

She said the event was to enlighten the women on the importance of savings; help them understand the value

of accessing formal financial services and aid them in planning to meet their financial goals through one of the Bank’s Financial Inclusion products BETA Savings Account.

Several northern celebrities and social media influencers were in attendance.

The event was introduced with a drama/play themed “Your Money is Always Safe in Diamond Bank,� which focused on saving wisely through the

formal financial sector in a BETA savings to avoid indelible loss.

The women were educated on choosing the better (BETA) way to save. “Gender is a vital consideration when discussing Financial Literacy. Women are highly capable, prudent and have a strong savings culture.

However, they have a harder time achieving this objective than men because they struggle to earn enough.

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Insurers Urged to Develop Affordable Products Ebere Nwoji Insurers have been urged to design affordable insurance policies to meet the needs of Nigerians at the grassroots.

The Chairman, Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) Trade Group of the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI), Abiodun

Oladapo, who stated this, enjoined insurance operators to emulate managers of food and beverage industries in creating low cost products. “Insurance operators can design affordable policies that would endear insurance to the public,� he stated.

Oladapo, while speaking at a forum organised by the

Nigerian Council of Registered Insurance Brokers (NCRIB) in Lagos, noted that Cowbell was able to penetrate the highly competitive milk market with affordable products, adding that the initiative forced other milk producers to repackage their products so as to compete effectively.

He implored insurers to

adopt similar strategy so as to put insurance in the hands of Nigerians especially those at the grassroots, adding that many businesses have collapsed because they were not insured.

He then, implored insurers to come to the aid of small business operators by crafting affordable policies and that they should also improve on

insurance education as most people are yet to come to terms with the workings of insurance.

Oladapo also urged insurers to do more in the area of claims payment, adding that the public would buy insurance when they see people’s business restored through insurance mechanism having been affected by disaster.

The President, National Association of Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (NACCIMA) Iyalode Alaba Lawson, implored insurance operators to take their services to people at the informal sector, unite and work closely with their colleagues in the Organised Private Sector (OPS).

FG Commends Risk Managers Ebere Nwoji The federal government has commended the efforts of Risk Managers Society of Nigeria(RIMSON) in championing the course of risk management education and Awareness in Nigeria.

The Head of Civil Service of the Federation, Mrs Winifred Ekanem Oyo-Ita, who gave the commendation in a goodwill message while declaring open the 2018 National Risk Management Confab in Abuja lauded RIMSON for its roles in creating risk management awareness among Nigerians.

Oye-Ita, who was the guest of honour at the conference said “the application of risk management solutions to the wide spectrum of our national challenges, holds out huge potentials for proffering solutions

that could prevent or turn those adversities to opportunities.�

She insisted that the task of nation-building was a collective one, stating that, “together we will all continue to strive towards addressing the challenges of our country in their diverse forms.�

She said her office had successfully launched the Federal Integrated Staff Housing (FISH) Programme, being a welfare package to assist civil servants to acquire their homes through the provision of mortgage facilities with a long-term repayment period.� “The FISH Programme according to the Civil Service Boss currently has over 55, 000 Federal Public Servants registered in the scheme and several houses being constructed and at different levels of completion across the country,� she added.

Leadway Pensure PFA Wins Awards Leadway Pensure has won two major awards.

They were the award for ‘Excellent Service Delivery,’ and ‘Most Outstanding Pension Funds Administrator’ for the year 2018. The awards were won at the Nigeria Customer Service Awards and the International Standards Leadership Awards respectively.

The company was said to have emerged winner of the keenly contested award for Excellent Service Delivery among several other PFAs after thorough evaluation of the company’s processes, staff attitude, turnaround time, product knowledge and friendly ambience for business.

Information, gathered through customer feedback, online poll and mystery shopping earned Leadway the top spot in the PFA category. In the same vein, the firm was announced as the Most Outstanding Pension Funds Administrator of the year 2018

at the International Standards Leadership Awards organised by the World Quality Alliance, which celebrates compliance and conformance to standards among organisations using criteria ranging from reliability, use of technology, ethical standard and policies, communication with customers, responsiveness, and customer satisfaction, among others. Leadway clinched the highly coveted award for its commitment to global best practice in its operations, products and services development, customer satisfaction, technological advancement, responsiveness and innovation.

Reacting to the awards, the Managing Director of the company, Ronke Adedeji, was quoted in a statement to have said: “We are very happy to have received these local and international recognitions out of several PFAs operating in the country.

Gas Exporting Countries to Discuss Global Outlook The Ecobank Academy, a corporate university of the leading independent paanAfrican banking group in collaboration with Ecobank Foundation, has launched an innovative development programme aimed at improving Africa’s health systems through rigorous financial management, effective leadership development and sound implementation capabilities.

The programme was co-

designed by Ecobank Academy and The Global Fund with support from leading organisations in financial management, leadership and execution.

The Minister of Health of Togo, Moustafa Mijiyawa; Head of Grant Management Division, Mark Eddinton for The Global Fund; and Amin Manekia, Ecobank’s Group Executive for Corporate & Investment Banking, inaugurated the programme.

BUSINESS MEETING

Associate Partner, DETAIL, Abiodun Oyeledun; Senior Associate, Ifedayo Adeoba; Associate Partner, Samson Enikanoselu; Interface Manager, Toun Olumide; Adjunct Professor, IE Business School, Dr. Kenneth Dubin and Director, IE West Africa Region, Onyekachi Eke, during a business forum organised by DETAIL in Lagos‌recently

MTN Partners Firms on Device Financing Scheme Emma Okonji MTN Nigeria has partnered with PayJoy, a Silicon Valley-based technology company, TD Mobile and Sterling Bank to unveil a revolutionary technology-driven device financing scheme.

The scheme would enable Nigerians from all walks of life own high-end devices by paying at flexible instalments.

The official launch of the scheme was held in Lagos recently.

In attendance were representatives of PayJoy, MTN, TD Mobile, Sterling Bank as well as Samsung – the first smartphone brand signed up for the scheme.

Managing Director, TD Mobile, Mrs. Gozy Ijogun, expressed delight with the PayJoy offering and TD’s role as device suppliers, especially in

view of the opportunity it presents in deepening smartphone penetration in the country. “With TD’s agility, millions of Nigerians are assured of the constant availability of the devices at multiple locations and in every MTN store nationwide. “We are delighted at this development as it will not only empower more Nigerians to own devices that were hitherto out of their reach, but will also boost smartphone penetration in Nigeria.�

PayJoy’s General Manager for Africa, Dominique Friedl, affirmed the revolutionary nature of the device financing scheme which relies heavily on technology in creating a seamless process for subscribers. “PayJoy’s mobile locking technology and data science enable financial inclusion for

billions worldwide. Our secure mobile locking technology and world class data science enables people in emerging markets worldwide to qualify for smartphone financing and cash loans that would otherwise be unavailable.� “You do not have to be a working-class Nigerian or salary earner to subscribe to this scheme or own that desired device. All you need to do is walk into the nearest MTN store,� Friedl said.

The scheme would be available in designated MTN stores in Lagos, Abuja and Port Harcourt this week.

Considering PayJoy’s offer, which stood out from other device financing schemes due to the convenient, flexible and value-adding benefits it provides to subscribers, MTN Nigeria’s

Senior Manager, Data and Devices, Abiodun Ajayi, said: “There are loads of freebies and incentives to help interested customers derive more value.

These include free 2GB data every month and access to a suite of MTN offerings such as MTN Pulse, MTN Music Plus and many others.�

Sterling Bank’s Group Head Strategy and Innovation, Shina Atilola who disclosed the organisation’s role in the scheme, encouraged Nigerians to sign up for the offer, notwithstanding their social status. “As financial partners, Sterling Bank is committed to ensuring that the devices are readily available for your convenience. The scheme is open to all classes of Nigerians and you do not necessarily have to be a salary earner to qualify, so I encourage everyone to sign up for it.

Ecobank Academy to Enhance Africa’s Health System The Ecobank Academy, a corporate university of the leading independent panAfrican banking group in collaboration with Ecobank Foundation, has launched an innovative development programme aimed at improving Africa’s health systems through rigorous financial management, effective leadership development and sound implementation capabilities.

The programme was co-designed by Ecobank Academy and The Global Fund with support from leading organisations in financial management, leadership and execution.

The Minister of Health of Togo, Moustafa Mijiyawa; Head of Grant Management Division,

Mark Eddinton for The Global Fund; and Amin Manekia, Ecobank’s Group Executive for Corporate & Investment Banking, inaugurated the programme.

Speaking at the opening on behalf of Ecobank’s Group CEO, Mr. Manekia said: “Ecobank from its inception, has embraced a commitment to enhance economic development across Africa. Ecobank has not only become a world-class pan-African institution, it is also a torchbearer for a new Africa. “The bank has become part of the mainstream banking culture in 36 African countries and is fully supportive of organisations that work continuously to improve the socio-economic transformation

of our communities alongside governments and the private sector.�

The curriculum seeks to expand the skills of grant implementers and includes modules on leadership, strategy, knowledge management and sharing of best practices.

At the heart of this training was the desire to help implementing partners play their part in driving long-lasting impact in the communities they serve.

They are not only accountable for the grants they are implementing, they are also at the forefront of the mission to end HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis as epidemics and build resilient and strong health systems. Ecobank’s vision is to

ensure that access to knowledge will not limit an organisation’s ability to deliver on its mission.

On behalf of their teams, Simon Rey, Ecobank Group Head for Ecobank Academy, Talent and Organisational Development and Carl Manlan, Chief Operating Officer for Ecobank Foundation jointly commented: “We fundamentally believe that it is in all our interest to build a knowledgeable pool of practitioners that can become leaders in their fields. “This training is organised because we believe that an ecosystem of finance managers in the development sector who are well trained and equipped to save lives will stretch every CFA Franc, Dollar or Euro that are disbursed for the purpose.�

THISDAYt WEDNESDAY NOVEMBER 7, 2018

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EDUCATION Grooming Youths in the Build Industry to Tackle Unemployment Considering the alarming rate of youth unemployment in the country and its negative effect on the economy, the Universal Learn Direct Academy is empowering youths to solve the endemic housing and infrastructural problems in Nigeria. Funmi Ogundare reports

Y

outh development and empowerment have been recognised as vital stages in life for building the human capital that allows young people to avoid poverty and live better, and possibly have a more fulfilling life. The human capital formed in youth is thus an important determinant of long-term growth that a nation can invest and rely on.

Hence, making sure that youths are well prepared for their future is enormously important to the course of poverty reduction and growth.

In response to the clarion call by the federal government to develop and empower the Nigerian youths to enable them contribute to the development of the country, the Universal Learn Direct Academia (ULDA) Limited recently held a seminar on self-employment skills in the building and construction industry which featured topics on ‘Study Gap Industry Preparedness’; ‘Emigration Backup Plan’; ‘Self-employment MSME Skills’; and ‘Trading Opportunities for Women in the Construction Industry’.

In his remarks, the visioner of ULDA, Mr. Gbola Oba enjoined the youths to connect their skills to their passion, saying that it is one thing for them to be a graduate of a particular course and it is another thing to be skilled in what they are passionate about.

He cited instances of people who studied courses in the social science and developed skills set in the building and construction industry, adding that they are now abroad and making it big. “The best way to solve Nigeria’s problems is to empower the youths. They need to create values by connecting their skills to their passion; there is no reason why they should fail. If they must leave the shores of Nigeria for greener pastures, they must be equipped to justify their stay abroad.�

He told THISDAY the importance of empowering youths to solve the endemic housing and infrastructural problems in the country, saying that it will help in curbing the menace of poor quality infrastructure and undignified housing in Nigeria. “The engagement is not only for those who are in the construction industry that would solve these problems, it may be those who are entrepreneurial with passion that will help us solve the sustainable problems, hence the need for the session to engage youths to drive many plans and inspire them.�

Aside creating employment, Oba said the academia trains social entrepreneurs who will be problem solvers and focus on the opportunities that the building and construction industry present anywhere in the world. “If you want to galvanize the economic activities in any society, just tell people to put in place a building project, which is multidisciplinary bringing together artisanship and professionalism.�

Oba described the youths as the best reflections of the country’s values while expressing concern about the problems inherent in ensuring that youths are equipped with the requisite skills in the country. “There is a fundamental problem in the system which showed that we have failed.

Imagine I had to beg some boys in Mushin to come and empower themselves with skills, even people that are not related to me have been taken to Dubai, they are bricklayers and we have done skills training for them. “They are now literate, despite the fact that some of them dropped out of secondary schools, they can now read structural engineering joints and electrical drawings.

Trainees with their site supervisor using levelling instrument The ones in Dubai now will be taking over structural sites because they know the job. We should encourage people to go for trainings so as to ensure a sustainable development in our society like other countries.�

He expressed concern about the over stratification of education and industry in the country, saying that it inhibits the level of competence one should have. “For instance in the UK, 65 per cent and above of those who leave secondary schools go to universities; in Germany, 70 per cent of those who leave secondary schools go for vocational training, while only 30 per cent end up in universities. When the recession came, Germany blasted through it and as we speak, the country has the lowest rate of youth unemployment anywhere in Europe because it has perfected from a programme of apprenticeship and artisanship. “Once you finish secondary school, they put you in industry to learn a skill that you will leave your life through; it will be

The best way to solve Nigeria’s problems is to empower the youths. They need to create value by connecting their skills to their passion; there is no reason why they should fail. If they must leave the shores of Nigeria for greener pastures, they must be equipped to justify their stay abroad

such that while you are in your school, you will be solving problems that people will pay for. That is the same thing we replicate here. The first three months is for theory (academic) and the next nine months is for industrial exposure. The degree to which you are galvanised by your passion will instruct it such that you must have a minimum level of competence before we graduate you.�

Concerning the students ULDA has trained in the past one year, Oba said it plans to take 50 of them to work in Dubai, adding that five of them on site supervision will be attached to those who studied bricklaying to form a construction team. “The site engineers are trained to use some of the state-of-the-art equipment. They have been exposed to projects even beyond what Nigeria could give them and going to Dubai. Five of them are going with the team; seven of them have already been assimilated into faculty as staff and they literary run the school. They are still our students here, but we have been paying them salaries in the last six months, we have always sent them to companies that need them and take them to sites to do our jobs.�

The Dean, Mr. Babatunde Faleye said if the country must grow, the need for human capital development is imperative, adding that the trend of being unemployable or looking for white collar jobs has changed. “We need to develop our youths; it is not the usual thing of being a lawyer, engineer or medical doctor that counts anymore.

What counts now is the skills you have, you enhance what you are good at, which you now translate to being employable and making money from it. The world is largely changing from being an employee and becoming an employer of labour; then only can we have youths that will feed the entire system in the nation.�

On his assessment of the programme, he said, “I see a lot of people getting interested; a lot of youths want to come for the training despite the employment that they have, while a lot of the older ones feels they have missed out, but I keep telling them that it is never too late to learn a skill. Skills acquisition doesn’t have to be

tedious, if you acquire training, you can in turn engage youths that are certified and form a team, manage them and start up your own enterprise.�

He expressed optimism about the youths keying into the programme saying, “we will not stop enlightening people about this because it is the only way out of the mess Nigeria is in now. If we don’t train individuals to acquire skills, we will be dependent all our lives, already we are dependent on produce, the government is engaging us internally to start producing things, but then we will now be dependent on skills. It is a thing that has to be continuous, it is challenging but we will keep at it.�

A social entrepreneur, Mr. Michael Ogunlola, who spoke on the topic ‘How to be an Entrepreneur’, recalled how he started his business when he was in secondary school, adding that he used to buy books in bulk for people who needed it. He said he also discovered his passion in education and started taking students in tutorials. “At that point, I decided to set up my own school, Compass Impact College, to help the community and open up their mind set. That was the starting point of how business worked for me. I discovered that over time, people only go to school to learn something, but they end up not practicing what they learnt, they only went to school to fulfil all righteousness. It shows the gap in entrepreneurial orientation. “We don’t just train, we teach entrepreneurs, we enlighten people on public speaking, tailoring, bead making, among others, and all these have been added to our curriculum.�

He stressed the need for the youths to be equipped with skills and be experts in what they are doing. “For you to be a strong entrepreneur you must be an expert in what you so, that was what brought about what I do today.�

On his challenges Ogunlola said: “It is good to be multi-talented, I use my personal income at a point to finance salaries. Our story has changed over time and we can pay bills, but at the start, the first two years were not like that, it is not always sweet, you must be ready for the challenges in

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EDUCATION Spelling Bee Winner Becomes Lagos One-day Governor, Gets Scholarship

Students Envision a Better Nigeria with NNPC/Chevron Art Contest

Funmi Ogundare

Uchechukwu Nnaike

A student of Lafiaji Senior High School, Lagos, Miss Gloria Ajala has emerged the winner of the Spelling Bee Cmpetition introduced in 2001 by the New Era Foundation to encourage academic excellence among students. She was awarded scholarship, as well as the star prize to govern the state for a day.

Ajala defeated Grace Ikhariale of Tin Can Island Senior High School, Tolu and Akinbodewa Oluwatosin of Iworo Ajido Senior Secondary School, Olorunda, who came second and third positions respectively.

In her remarks, the Deputy Governor of Lagos State, Dr. Oluranti Adebule congratulated the champion, saying that as it is the usual practice, her administration will award the one-day governor scholarship to pursue any course of her choice in any university in the country.

She said the one-day governor and her ‘cabinet members’ will also attend a cultural exchange programme in Finland, while promising that the state will continue to enhance teaching and learning.

According to her, like previous editions, this year’s spelling bee competition was educative and competitive; and produced a new set of winners in the primary and secondary categories to the delight of all interested parties.

Adebule expressed delight about the performance of the competitors at the grand finale, saying, “the competition has experienced improvement in the areas of presentation and vocabulary development. The improvements were the result of the various policies and programmes put in place by the administration to encourage learning and the spirit of competitiveness which has led to the winning of many awards and laurels in various competitions.�

She listed some of the awards to include the best performing and winning state in the National ICT Olympiad; first prize in the grand finale of this year’s PZ Cussons Chemistry Challenge; winner of the 2018 NNPC national quiz competition state finals. “Also, our students emerged the first, second and third positions at the regional finals of the World Robot Olympiad (Nigeria).�

The Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Education, Mrs. Adebunmi Adekanye said the competition has become the most interesting and keenly contested competition among students of public schools She said the prestige and privileges that come with winning the spelling bee contest has been a great motivating factor, while the competition has helped a lot to improve the spelling skills, oral and written English of students and teachers.

With the theme ‘The Nigeria of my Dream’ this year‘s NNPC/CNL Joint Venture National Art Competition for Nigerian Secondary Schools, like previous editions, has encouraged junior and senior secondary school students across the country to proffer solution to some of the problems confronting the country through their paintings/drawings.

The beautiful and interesting art works of the 10 finalists in each category, which were displayed at the grand finale in Lagos, showed that the students are aware of the current challenges and are hopeful of a better future for the country.

In the senior category, Mr. Chijioke Nnadi, a senior secondary three student of the Government Technical College, Enugu State emerged the overall winner with the work titled ‘The Future I See for Nigeria’ He painted a beautiful and organised city on one part and two children on the other side, one of them holding the Nigerian flag; both were admiring the beautiful city

and longing to be part of it.

The 19-year-old said the future he sees for Nigeria is brighter, adding that Nigeria will one day become one of the developed countries. “Even though the country is poor at the moment, I know that it will become great tomorrow because Rome and Dubai were not built in a day.�

For his effort he was presented with a cheque of N100,000 and other gift items. The first and second runners-up were Ugoeze Eche-George and Prosper Omiponle, both of Charles Dale Memorial International School, Port Harcour, Rivers State, they received an annual scholarship of N75,000 and N65,000 respectively.

In the junior category, Osize Iluebbey of UNIBEN Demonstration Secondary School, Edo State emerged winner and got N100,000 annual scholarship; the first runner-up was Chidubem Njoku of the same school; while the second runner-up was Harry Majekodunmi of Murtala Muhammed Airport, Ikeja School, Lagos. The first and second runners-up got N75,000 and N N65,000 respectively.

Speaking at the event, the Managing Director, Chevron Nigeria Mid-Africa Business Unit, Mr. Jeff Ewing said the competition is an enduring investment in education that enables students to think outside the box, move beyond boundaries and seek different ways to proffer solutions.

He described art as a delightful means of selfexpression and a window into the human mind. “Art helps in mental, physical and creative language development of children. This points to the fact that the more we motivate these young ones to recreate their beautiful thought-provoking imaginations in a visible form, the more they grow to become problem solvers for our society because problem-solving requires creative thinking.

Ewing, who was represented by the General Manager, Policy, Government and Public Affairs, Mr. Esimaje Brikinn, said this year’s theme was chosen “to stimulate the creative and problem-solving goldmine in our Nigerian kidartists. For our nation to move forward, we need the minds of our kids to be stretched to the point where they begin

to undertake challenges as champs. This will lead to a better Nigeria.�

In his remarks, the Group General Manager, National Petroleum Investment Management Services (NAPIMS), Mr. Roland Ewubare, commended the NNPC/Chevron Joint Venture who in partnership with the government and other stakeholders has made the yearly competition possible. “Also, the education support strategy has been significant to enhancing access to education for all Nigerians. This project has contributed to an increase in participation in fine art among our children and a rising interest of the public to art appreciation. I urge us to continue to nurture and sustain this partnership.�

Ewubare, who was represented by Mrs. Olubunmi Lawson, noted that the NNPC/Chevron joint venture is focussed on unlocking the potential of Nigerian youths and fostering creativity. “Through the creativity involved in this project, we have been able to promote patriotism for Nigeria in every child from an early stage.�

Osinbajo, Ogunsanya Commend Grange School at 60 The Vice-President, Yemi Osinbajo and the Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of Airtel Nigeria, Segun Ogunsanya, have commended Grange School, Lagos on the occasion of its diamond jubilee.

Osinbajo unveiled the anniversary logo of the school at the unveiling ceremony at the school premises in Ikeja in celebration of the diamond jubilee, while Ogunsanya congratulated the school for “bequeathing an enduring legacy on future leaders and contributing positively to the growth of the nation’s education sector.�

Highlights of the event included a performance by the school choir with a rendition by the primary and secondary musical band, as well as the grand unveiling of the 60th anniversary logo by the vice-president.

Osinbajo, who was the special guest of honour, commended the school for providing quality education in the past 60 years.

He said there is a link between quality education and poverty reduction.

He also spoke on the federal’s government’s agenda for inclusive education in Nigeria, as part of the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). “Education erases poverty by almost 60 per cent in a community, increases earnings by 10 per cent and reduces a nation’s inequality. To eradicate poverty, we equip the young people with education; this is to develop the category of people ready to take on the challenges of the 21st

century. “We have a threefold plan: first is ensuring that we are able to attain all of the sustainable goals.

Those standards include school enrolment, quality of education, adult literacy, quality of teaching, and we intend to meet all of those targets.�

In his remarks, the Headmaster, Guy Cassarchis said the school understands the importance of quality education, adding that the students are taught to be role models and mentors capable of dealing with life’s challenges, especially after school.

He announced the planned launch of a football academy which will eventually be accessible by other talented children outside the school, opening up opportunities for them to be scouted by international football clubs that have partnered with Grange School.

Also speaking, the Chairperson of the school’s Governing Council Awuneba Ajumogobia said the school has become a reference point in primary and secondary education in Nigeria. She said graduating students enjoy first choice privileges from some of the most prestigious tertiary institutions globally.

Ajumogobia attributed the school’s impressive academic accomplishment to its dedicated teachers, intelligent students and adequate support of stakeholders.

The first in a series of events to mark the school’s 60th anniversary, the logo unveiling was well attended by captains of industries and important dignitaries.

All the ďŹ nalists of the NNPC/CNL Joint Venture National Art Competition for Nigerian Secondary Schools, in a group photograph

Only Education can Tackle Poverty, Says Expert

Petroleum Minister Bags Award as PTI Graduates 1,086

Mary Nnah

Sylvester Idowu in Warri

Unless educational challenges are fully addressed, Nigeria will continue to wallow in poverty, expert has said.

Speaking recently on the state of education in the country, the Chief Executive Officer, FUNTAJ International School, Asokoro, Abuja, Alhaji Tajudeen Ibrahim, said the only way Nigeria can develop is when government attracts the best brains to the teaching profession. “We need to first of all go back to the rudiments; we have to go back to the basis. We have gone off the track education wise, social development wise, corruption has grabbed the whole system and so on. The attention to what a teacher is supposed to give is already challenged and it starts from the government.�

Ibrahim, who noted that politicians are self-centred and are not interested in the education system said: “If you want to

grow a nation, you start from the education path, it’s unfortunate that 90 per cent of all our good quality professionals are outside because that is where they can get job security and maintain all the challenges of life.�

He stressed that the brain drain can be addressed if the country goes back to re-chart its course; give the correct infrastructure and the correct template for people to develop on.

Ibrahim, who said his school’s belief is to ensure that whatever talent one has is developed, added, “our orientation is to give the child a total package in terms of moral confidence to stand on his own. Our alumni base is very outstanding and I am really proud of what they have done over the past 22 years. “I want to make a significant difference I know there are schools but I want to stand out to be one of the very best,� he said.

The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu has been honoured by the Petroleum Training Institute (PTI) during its graduation ceremony recently.

The PTI, established by Act No. 37 of 1972 as amended by Act No. 2 of 1973 and PTI CAP P16 of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 2004, is mandated to produce skilled technical manpower for the Nigerian oil and gas industry, arrange conferences, seminars for oil production.

The Chief Executive Officer of PTI, Professor Sunny Iyuke, who briefed journalists, said the minister was honoured with the ‘PTI Life Recognition Award’ for his invaluable contributions to the development of the institute and the oil and gas sector.

He said a total of 1,086 technologists and technicians were awarded the Higher National Diploma, National Diploma

and the PTI General Certificates.

Iyuke said of the number, 53 passed with distinctions, while 356 bagged upper credits, adding that the graduates were well groomed to international standards.

In realisation of its objectives, he said the institute has worked hard to fulfil the aim of the federal government’s content policy at the 2015 change agenda of President Muhammadu Buhari by developing and training competent manpower specifically for the oil and gas and allied companies. “Since inception, the institute has turned over 46,000 technologists and technicians in different disciplines. The PTI is changing its focus from local certification to international certification and training bodies. The aim of the collaboration is to produce fit for purpose world class indigenous technical manpower to drive the Nigerian oil and gas industry in line with global best practice.�

34

T H I S D AY Ëž ÍľËœ Í°ÍŽÍŻÍś

Oyo-Ita Harps on Good Policy to Develop, Encourage Teachers Okon Bassey in Uyo The Head of Civil Service of the Federation, Mrs. Winifred Oyo-Ita has called on federal and state governments to develop strong policy to encourage those in the teaching profession to put in their best.

She advised policy makers, people that develop and influence decision making process not to wait for teachers to embark on strike before taking decision on issues affecting them.

Oyo-Ita also called on Nigerians and parents to constantly pray for teachers to succeed in their career just as solemn assemblies and prayer sessions are often organised for people in other sectors, especially politicians.

Oyo-Ita was the guest speaker at the 11th Teachers’ Award for Excellence in Akwa Ibom State Public Secondary Schools, organised by the Inoyo Toro Foundation.

According to her, making an impact in the lives of little children is not easy because of

the challenges, obstacles, good and evil in the teaching job. “For once we should say the teachers’ reward should be here on earth, we should not wait until they go to heaven.�

She said there are many reasons for the falling standard of education in the country, adding that the system will keep declining if teachers are not encouraged to put in their best. She said it will be a thing of joy to see the teaching profession go back to what it was 50 years ago when teachers were honoured by kings and emperors.

Teachers she said are custodian of knowledge, intelligence and dignity, adding, “I learnt from my teacher the love for God, nation, and community.

I also learnt from my teacher self-respect, dignity, self-esteem, confident and public speaking, sports and games.�

Oyo-Ita advised teachers not to see the profession as a strayed job because they could not secure employment into juicy places like banks, teaching

hospitals, oil and gas institutions, among others.

While calling on stakeholders to establish schools that can accommodate the down trodden in the society, she stressed the need for groups and individuals to show interest in developing the education sector rather than leaving it to government alone.

She commended the foundation for the annual award and urged Nigerians to emulate and key into the vision. “What Inoyo Toro Foundation has started is not something that will end within soon; already it is in its 11th year. It is something that will outlive us and cut across, not only Akwa Ibom, South-south, but the entire country. “It is a vision of eradicating poverty through education. With what I see today there is hope, I am happy to see notable people in Akwa Ibom State and other states who have keyed into the foundation.�

The Chairman, Award Committee, Dr. Enobong Joshua said this year’s award was for six

subjects: Mathematics, Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Economics and Visual Arts with the first prize winner in each subject receiving N250,000, second prize N150,000 and third prize N100,000.

She commended Governor Udom Emmanuel for his sustained focus on education at all levels in the state through the provision of basic infrastructure and the recruitment of teachers.

Joshua expressed concern that public schools in the state are not performing optimally because of non-commitment of some of the teachers and school heads and urged education managers to brace up to their responsibilities. “The supervising government departments should strengthen their machinery for proper and effective supervision and honest appraisal of all sectors of the school system. I also wish to urge the students who are present in this programme not to be distracted by myriads of today’s youthful enticements and preoccupations but to take their studies seriously.�

L-R: The Vice-President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo; the MD, Airtel Nigeria, Mr. Segun Ogunsanya; Chairman, Governing Council, Grange School, Mrs. Awuneba Ajumogobia; and the Headmaster, Grange School, Mr. Guy Cassarchis, during the school’s 60th anniversary celebration in Lagos‌ recently

Olashore School Celebrates Silver Jubilee, Emphasises on Quality Education Ugo Aliogo Olashore International School, Iloko, Ijesha, Osun State is 25.

Briefing journalists recently, the Chairman, Prince Abimbola Olashore recalled how the school started 25 years ago, saying that educating children should be able to foster independent thinking, exploration and experimentation as a lifelong process.

He said he believes that change is a constant factor in life, adding that education should be able to encourage the development of values and thinking processes which will facilitate students’ intelligent adaptability in a changing world.

He also emphasised on leadership training for students and ensuring that they contribute towards the country’s development. “The school believes in

the dignity and worth of each student and recognises the importance of mutual responsibility in the world community. Since its establishment, Olashore has gained a reputation for academic excellence, promoting Nigerian morals and cultural values in its students, and equipping them for life.�

Olashore highlighted some of the programmes lined up to commemorate the silver jubilee to include a speech and prize-giving day scheduled to hold on November 10 at Oba Okunade Sijuwade Hall, at the school premises; its 25th anniversary school play will hold on November 21, 24 and December 1, at the MUSON Centre, Lagos, University of Ibadan Theatre Hall, and National Merit Award Hall, Abuja, respectively.

“We will be welcoming an outstanding leader from our pioneer set as our guest speaker, Mr. Bode Olanipekun, who recently became the youngest Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN). He is a shining example of what can be achieved building on the firm foundation laid by an Olashore education.�

Other programmes include the founder’s day and 25th anniversary alumni event on February 9, 2019 at the school hall and Banquet Hall, Royal Park Hotel, Iloko Ijesha respectively; a 25th anniversary lecture and book launch on February 12, 2019 in Lagos, as well as a valedictory service on June 8, 2019 at the school premises.

The Principal, Mr. Derek Smith said aside just helping the students to grow academically, the school develops in them the 21st century skills

needed to carve successful careers. “Academic excellence is only part of an Olashore education, developing leaders for the 21st century is a key part of our mission statement as we continue to celebrate students who have excelled in activities that develop 21st century skills which include; debating, public speaking and quizzes. The school has a bespoke leadership programme based on the social change model of leadership. This is based on our belief that all students can be leaders and that leadership is about creating positive change in your community.�

He stated how the students have been engaging in community service and transforming their lives, and how the school keeps track of its alumni who are making waves in their fields of endeavour.

CONTENDING WITH THE CLASSROOM; THE MEDIA Ă‹ĂžĂ?Ă–ĂŁ Ă‹Ăž ĂĄĂ™ĂœĂ•Ëœ ĂĄĂ?ËŞĂ Ă? ĂŒĂ?Ă?Ă˜ ĂžĂ’Ă“Ă˜Ă•Ă“Ă˜Ă‘ Ă‹ĂŒĂ™Ă&#x;Ăž Ă—Ă?Ă˜ĂžĂ‹Ă– Ă’Ă?ËÖÞÒ Ă‹Ă˜ĂŽ ÒÙå ÞÙ Ă?ÞËã Ă—Ă?Ă˜ĂžĂ‹Ă–Ă–ĂŁ Ă’Ă?ËÖÞÒã˛ Ă?Ă˜ĂžĂ‹Ă– ĂœĂ?ĂžĂ?Ă˜ĂžĂ“Ă™Ă˜ Ă‹Ă˜ĂŽ ĂœĂ?Ă?Ă‹Ă–Ă– Ă’Ă‹Ă? ĂŒĂ?Ă?Ă˜ Ă‹ Ă?Ă&#x;ĂŒĂ”Ă?Ă?Ăž ĂĄĂ?ËŞĂœĂ? Ă?Ó×ÚÖã Ă?ĂœĂ&#x;Ă?Ă’Ă“Ă˜Ă‘ Ă™Ă˜ Ă“Ă˜ Ă™ĂœĂŽĂ?Ăœ ÞÙ Ă?Ă™Ă˜Ă›Ă&#x;Ă?Ăœ Ă—Ă?Ă—Ă™ĂœĂŁ Ă–Ă™Ă?Ă?Ë Ă’Ă? ĂžĂœĂ“Ă™ Ă™Ă? Ă&#x;Ă? Ě‹ ˊÞÒĂ? ĂžĂ’Ă“Ă˜Ă•Ă?ĂœĂ?ËŞ Ě‹ Ă‹ĂœĂ? Ă“Ă˜ Ă™Ă&#x;Ăœ Ă?Ă‹ĂœĂ–ĂŁ ʨʰÓĂ?Ă? Ă‹Ă˜ĂŽ Ă—Ă?Ă˜Ă™ĂšĂ‹Ă&#x;Ă?Ă‹Ă–Ë› Ă?Ă—Ă™ĂœĂŁ Ă–Ă™Ă?Ă? Ă“Ă? Ă™Ă˜Ă? Ă?Ă™Ă—Ă—Ă™Ă˜ Ă Ă‹ĂœĂ“Ă‹ĂŒĂ–Ă? ÞÒËÞ ĂœĂ?Ă—Ă“Ă˜ĂŽĂ? Ă—Ă“ĂŽĂŽĂ–Ă?Ě‹Ă‹Ă‘Ă?ĂŽ Ă—Ă?Ă˜ Ă‹Ă˜ĂŽ åÙ×Ă?Ă˜ ÞÒËÞ Ă—Ă?Ă˜Ă™ĂšĂ‹Ă&#x;Ă?Ă? Ë Ă™ ĂĄĂ?ËŞĂœĂ? Ă&#x;Ă?Ă“Ă˜Ă‘ ÚÙĂ?Þ̋ÓÞĂ?ËŞËž ÚÙÚ̋Ă&#x;ĂšĂ?Ëž Ă‹Ă?ĂœĂ™Ă˜ĂŁĂ—Ă? Ă‹Ă˜ĂŽ Ă“Ă˜Ă“ĂžĂ“Ă‹Ă–Ă“Ă?Ă— ÞÙ Ă’Ă?Ă–Ăš Ă&#x;Ă? ĂœĂ?Ă—Ă?Ă—ĂŒĂ?Ăœ ĂžĂ’Ă“Ă˜Ă‘Ă? ĂŒĂ?ĘľĂ?ĂœË› Ă˜Ă?Ă™ĂœĂžĂ&#x;Ă˜Ă‹ĂžĂ?Ă–ĂŁ Ă‹ Ă–Ă‹ĂœĂ‘Ă? Ă?Ă’Ă&#x;Ă˜Ă• Ă™Ă? Ă“Ă‘Ă?ĂœĂ“Ă‹Ă˜ Ă?ĂžĂ&#x;ĂŽĂ?Ă˜ĂžĂ? Ă‹ĂœĂ? Ă˜Ă™Ăž ĂŽĂ™Ă“Ă˜Ă‘ ĂĄĂ?Ă–Ă– Ă“Ă˜ Ă?Ă–Ă‹Ă?Ă? ÞÒĂ?Ă?Ă? ĂŽĂ‹ĂŁĂ?Ë› ĂœË› Ă‹Ă—Ă“ĂŽĂ?Ă–Ă? ×ÙÞÙĂ?Ă’Ă™ Ă“Ă˜ Ă‹ Ă‹Ă˜Ă‘Ă&#x;Ă‹ĂœĂŽ Ă?ĂĄĂ? Ă“Ă‘Ă?ĂœĂ“Ă‹ Ă‹ĂœĂžĂ“Ă?Ă–Ă? Ă“Ă˜ ĂšĂœĂ“Ă– Í°ÍŽÍŻÍł Ă?Ă™Ă&#x;Ă˜ĂŽ Ă‹ ĂœĂ?Ă‹Ă?Ă™Ă˜ Ă?Ă™Ăœ ÞÒÓĂ?Ë› Ă“Ă˜Ă‹ Ă‹Ă?Ă™ĂŒ ÙÖË Ă’Ă‹Ă? Ă‹Ă–Ă?Ă™ Ă&#x;ÚÖÙËÎĂ?ĂŽ Ă‹Ă˜Ă™ĂžĂ’Ă?Ăœ Ă“Ă˜ĂžĂ?ĂœĂ?Ă?ĂžĂ“Ă˜Ă‘ ĂœĂ?Ă‹ĂŽ ÞÓÞÖĂ?ĂŽ ËŠ Ă—ĂšĂœĂ™Ă Ă“Ă˜Ă‘ ĂžĂ&#x;ĂŽĂ?Ă˜ĂžĂ?ËŞ Ă?Ă‹ĂŽĂ?Ă—Ă“Ă? Ă?ĂœĂ?Ă™ĂœĂ—Ă‹Ă˜Ă?Ă? Ă“Ă˜ Ă“Ă‘Ă?ĂœĂ“Ă‹Ă˜ Ă?ÒÙÙÖĂ?Ë? ÞÒĂ? ÙÖĂ? Ă™Ă? Ă?Ă‹Ă?Ă’Ă?ĂœĂ?ËŞË› Ă&#x;Ăž ĂŁĂ™Ă&#x; Ă™Ă˜Ă–ĂŁ Ă˜Ă?Ă?ĂŽ ÞÙ ÞËÕĂ? Ă‹ Ă?Ó×ÚÖĂ? ÖÙÙÕ Ă‹ĂœĂ™Ă&#x;Ă˜ĂŽ ĂŁĂ™Ă&#x; Ă‹Ă˜ĂŽ Ă?ĂšĂ?Ă‹Ă• ÞÙ ĂŁĂ™Ă&#x; Ă˜Ă?Ă“Ă‘Ă’ĂŒĂ™ĂœĂ? ÞÙ ĂœĂ?Ă‹Ă–Ă“Ă?Ă? ÞÒËÞ Ă&#x;Ă˜ĂŽĂ?ĂœĂšĂ?ĂœĂ?Ă™ĂœĂ—Ă‹Ă˜Ă?Ă? Ă“Ă˜ Ă‹Ă?Ă‹ĂŽĂ?Ă—Ă“Ă? ĂĄĂ™ĂœĂ• Ă“Ă? Ă?Ă&#x;ĂœĂœĂ?Ă˜ĂžĂ–ĂŁ ĂžĂœĂ?Ă˜ĂŽĂ“Ă˜Ă‘Ë ĂžĂœĂ?Ă‹Ă—Ă“Ă˜Ă‘ Ă?Ă™Ă?Ă“Ă‹Ă– Ă—Ă?ĂŽĂ“Ă‹ Ă“Ă? ĂœĂ?ÚÖËĂ?Ă“Ă˜Ă‘ Ă?ĂžĂ&#x;ĂŽĂŁ Ă‹Ă˜ĂŽ ĂœĂ™ĂŒĂŒĂ“Ă˜Ă‘ Ă?ĂžĂ&#x;ĂŽĂ?Ă˜ĂžĂ? Ă™Ă? ĂœĂ?ĂžĂ?Ă˜ĂžĂ“Ă™Ă˜ Ă‹Ă˜ĂŽ ĂœĂ?Ă?Ă‹Ă–Ă–Ë›

Ă˜ ÞÙÎËã˪Ă? ĂĄĂ™ĂœĂ–ĂŽËœ ĂžĂ?Ă?Ă˜Ă‹Ă‘Ă?ĂœĂ? Ă‹ĂœĂ? Ă?Ă‹ĂŁĂ“Ă˜Ă‘ ÞÒËÞ ÞÒĂ?ĂŁ Ă?Ă?Ă?Ă– Ă‹ĂŽĂŽĂ“Ă?ĂžĂ?ĂŽ ÞÙ ÞÒĂ?Ă“Ăœ Ă—Ă™ĂŒĂ“Ă–Ă? ĂšĂ’Ă™Ă˜Ă?Ă?Ë› Ă’Ă?Ă?Ă• Ă™Ă&#x;Ăž ËŠ Ă?Ă?Ă˜Ă? Ă?Ă‹ĂŁ ÞÒĂ?ĂŁËŞĂœĂ? Ă‹ĂŽĂŽĂ“Ă?ĂžĂ?ĂŽ ÞÙ ĂžĂ?Ă?Ă’Ă˜Ă™Ă–Ă™Ă‘ĂŁË› Ă?ĂœĂ?ËŞĂ? ÒÙå ĂšĂ‹ĂœĂ?Ă˜ĂžĂ? Ă?Ă‹Ă˜ Ă’Ă?ÖÚ˛˪ Ě™ Ă’Ă? Ă‹Ă?Ă’Ă“Ă˜Ă‘ĂžĂ™Ă˜ Ă™Ă?Ăž Ă‹ĂŁ Ͱ͎ͯʹ̚˛ Ă‹Ă•Ă? Ă‹ ÑÙÙÎ ÖÙÙÕ Ă‹ĂœĂ™Ă&#x;Ă˜ĂŽ ĂŁĂ™Ă&#x;Ëœ Ă‹ĂœĂ? ÞÙÎËã˪Ă? ĂšĂ‹ĂœĂ?Ă˜ĂžĂ? ÞÒĂ?Ă—Ă?Ă?Ă–Ă Ă?Ă? Ă‹ĂŒĂ–Ă? ÞÙ ĂšĂ&#x;Ăž ÞÒĂ?Ă“Ăœ Ă™ĂĄĂ˜ Ă—Ă™ĂŒĂ“Ă–Ă?Ă? ĂŽĂ™ĂĄĂ˜ Ă?Ă™Ăœ Ă‹ ĂĄĂ’Ă“Ă–Ă?ËŁ Ă?Ă˜ËŞĂž ÞÒĂ?ĂœĂ? Ă˜Ă™ĂĄ Ă‹Ă˜ Ă‹ĂŽĂŽĂ“Ă?ĂžĂ“Ă™Ă˜ ÞÙ Ă—Ă™ĂŒĂ“Ă–Ă?Ă? Ă‘Ă‹Ă“Ă˜Ă“Ă˜Ă‘ Ă‘ĂœĂ™Ă&#x;Ă˜ĂŽĂ? Ă“Ă˜ Ă“Ă‘Ă?ĂœĂ“Ă‹ ÞÙ ÞÒĂ? ĂŽĂ?ĂžĂœĂ“Ă—Ă?Ă˜Ăž Ă™Ă? Ă?Ă™Ă?Ă&#x;Ă? Ă‹Ă˜ĂŽ ĂœĂ“Ă‘Ă™ĂœĂ™Ă&#x;Ă? Ă?ĂžĂ&#x;ĂŽĂŁËŁ Ăž Ă“Ă? ÞÓ×Ă? ÞÙ ĂœĂ?ĂŒĂ™Ă™Ăž Ă‹Ă˜ĂŽ Ă?Ă’Ă‹Ă˜Ă‘Ă? ÞÒĂ? Ă‘Ă‹Ă—Ă?Ë› Let’s look at what can be done to rectify this problem? Ă?Ăž ÞÒĂ? Ă?Ă’Ă“Ă–ĂŽ ĂŁĂ™Ă&#x;Ăœ ĂŒĂ™Ă&#x;Ă˜ĂŽĂ‹ĂœĂŁ ĂŽĂ?Ę¨Ă˜Ă“Ă˜Ă‘ Ă—Ă™ĂŒĂ“Ă–Ă? ÞÓ×Ă?Ă? ĂŽĂ&#x;ĂœĂ“Ă˜Ă‘ ÞÒĂ? ĂŽĂ‹ĂŁËœ ĂžĂ&#x;ĂžĂ™Ăœ ÞÓ×Ă? Ă™Ăœ Ă?Ă?ÒÙÙÖ Ă’Ă™Ă&#x;ĂœĂ?Ë› Ă“Ă— ÞÙ Ă‹Ă?Ă’Ă“Ă?Ă Ă? Ă‹ Ă’Ă?ËÖÞÒã ĂŒĂ‹Ă–Ă‹Ă˜Ă?Ă? Ă™Ă? Ă?ĂžĂ&#x;ĂŽĂŁ Ă’Ă™Ă&#x;ĂœĂ? Ă‹Ă˜ĂŽ Ă?Ă™Ă?Ă“Ă‹Ă– Ă—Ă?ĂŽĂ“Ă‹ Ă’Ă™Ă&#x;ĂœĂ?Ë› Ă˜Ă?Ă&#x;ĂœĂ? ĂŁĂ™Ă&#x; Ă?Ă’Ă?Ă?Ă• ÞÒĂ? ĂœĂ‹ĂžĂ“Ă˜Ă‘Ă? Ă™Ă˜ ĂšĂœĂ™Ă‘ĂœĂ‹Ă—Ă—Ă?Ă? Ă‹Ă˜ĂŽ Ă?Ă’Ă‹Ă˜Ă˜Ă?Ă–Ă? ĂŁĂ™Ă&#x;Ăœ Ă?Ă’Ă“Ă–ĂŽĂœĂ?Ă˜ Ă Ă“Ă?Ă“ĂžËœ ĂŒĂ? Ă?Ă‹Ă—Ă“Ă–Ă“Ă‹Ăœ åÓÞÒ ÞÒĂ? Ă?Ă&#x;ĂŒĂ?Ă?ĂœĂ“ĂšĂžĂ“Ă™Ă˜Ă? ĂŁĂ™Ă&#x;ËŞĂœĂ? ĂšĂ‹ĂŁĂ“Ă˜Ă‘ Ă?Ă™ĂœË› Ă™Ă˜ËŞĂž Ă”Ă&#x;Ă?Ăž Ă‘Ă“Ă Ă? ÞÒĂ? Ă—Ă™Ă˜Ă?ĂŁ ÞÙ ĂŁĂ™Ă&#x;Ăœ ĂžĂ?Ă?Ă˜Ă‹Ă‘Ă?Ăœ ÞÙ Ă‘Ă™ Ă‹Ă˜ĂŽ ÚËã ÞÒĂ? ĂŽĂ&#x;Ă?Ă?Ë› ËÞÒĂ?ĂœËœ Ă•Ă˜Ă™ĂĄ ĂĄĂ’Ă‹Ăž ÞÒĂ?ĂŁ Ă’Ă‹Ă Ă? ÚËÓÎ Ă?Ă™Ăœ Ă‹Ă˜ĂŽ ÒÙå ÞÙ Ă˜Ă‹Ă Ă“Ă‘Ă‹ĂžĂ? ÞÒÙĂ?Ă? Ă?Ă’Ă‹Ă˜Ă˜Ă?Ă–Ă? Ă‹Ă˜ĂŽ ĂŒĂ&#x;ĘľĂ™Ă˜Ă?Ë Ă‹Ă•Ă? Ă?ĂœĂ“Ă?Ă˜ĂŽĂ? åÓÞÒ ĂŁĂ™Ă&#x;Ăœ Ă?Ă’Ă“Ă–ĂŽ Ă™Ăœ Ă?ĂžĂ&#x;ĂŽĂ?Ă˜ĂžË› Ă? ĂŁĂ™Ă&#x; Ă‹ĂšĂšĂœĂ™Ă‹Ă?Ă’ ÞÒĂ?Ă— åÓÞÒ Ă’Ă‹ĂœĂ?Ă’Ă˜Ă?Ă?Ă? Ă™Ăœ Ă’Ă“Ă‘Ă’ Ă’Ă‹Ă˜ĂŽĂ?ĂŽĂ˜Ă?Ă?Ă?Ëœ ÞÒĂ?ĂŁ ĂĄĂ“Ă–Ă– Ă˜Ă?Ă Ă?Ăœ ĂžĂ?Ă–Ă– ĂŁĂ™Ă&#x; Ă?Ă Ă?ĂœĂŁĂžĂ’Ă“Ă˜Ă‘Ë› Ă? ÞÒĂ?ĂŁ ĂŽĂ™ ĂŁĂ™Ă&#x; ĂĄĂ“Ă–Ă– Ă’Ă?Ă‹Ăœ Ă™Ă˜Ă–ĂŁ Ă›Ă&#x;Ă‹ĂœĂžĂ?ĂœĚ‹ĂžĂœĂ&#x;ÞÒĂ? Ă™Ăœ Ă’Ă‹Ă–Ă?Ě‹ĂžĂœĂ&#x;ÞÒĂ? Ă“Ă? ĂŁĂ™Ă&#x;ËŞĂœĂ? Ă–Ă&#x;Ă?Ă•ĂŁË

Ă? ĂŁĂ™Ă&#x; Ă–Ă?Ăž ÞÒĂ?Ă˜ Ă›Ă&#x;Ă?Ă?ĂžĂ“Ă™Ă˜ ĂŁĂ™Ă&#x; Ă™Ăœ ĂžĂ?Ă–Ă– ĂŁĂ™Ă&#x; ĂĄĂ’Ă‹Ăž ĂœĂ‹Ă˜ĂŽĂ™Ă—Ă–ĂŁ ÚÙÚÚĂ?ĂŽ Ă&#x;Ăš Ă™Ă˜ ÞÒĂ?Ă“Ăœ Ă—Ă™ĂŒĂ“Ă–Ă?Ă?Ëœ ĂŁĂ™Ă&#x; ĂĄĂ™Ă&#x;Ă–ĂŽ ĂŒĂ? Ă’Ă‹Ă Ă“Ă˜Ă‘ ÖÙËÎĂ? Ă™Ă? Ă‹ĂŽĂ Ă‹Ă˜ĂžĂ‹Ă‘Ă?Ă? ÞÙ ĂžĂ?Ă‹Ă?Ă’Ëœ Ă?Ă™ĂœĂœĂ?Ă?ĂžËœ Ă‹ĂšĂšĂœĂ™Ă Ă? Ă™Ă?Ëœ Ă™Ăœ ĂŽĂ“Ă?Ă‹ĂšĂšĂœĂ™Ă Ă? Ă™Ă? ĂĄĂ’Ă‹Ăž ÞÒĂ?ĂŁ Ă‹ĂœĂ? Ă?Ă?Ă?Ă“Ă˜Ă‘Ëœ ĂœĂ?Ă‹ĂŽĂ“Ă˜Ă‘Ëœ Ă?ĂžĂœĂ?Ă‹Ă—Ă“Ă˜Ă‘ Ă™Ăœ ĂĄĂ‹ĂžĂ?Ă’Ă“Ă˜Ă‘Ë› Ă’Ă? Ă—Ă?ĂŽĂ“Ă‹ Ă“Ă? Ă˜Ă™Ăž Ă‹Ă–ĂĄĂ‹ĂŁĂ? Ă?Ă Ă“Ă–Ëœ ĂœĂ‹ĂžĂ’Ă?Ăœ ÞÒĂ? Ă—Ă?ĂŽĂ“Ă‹ Ă“Ă? ĂŒĂ?Ă˜Ă“Ă‘Ă˜ Ă™Ăœ Ă“Ă˜Ă˜Ă™Ă?Ă&#x;Ă™Ă&#x;Ă?Ë› Ă’Ă? ĂŽĂ‹ĂŁĂ? Ă™Ă? ĂŒĂ?Ă“Ă˜Ă‘ Ă?Ó×ÚÖã Ă‹ ËŠĂ?Ă‹Ă˜Ă“Ă˜Ă‘ Ă‹Ă˜ĂŽ ĘŽĂ™Ă‘Ă‘Ă“Ă˜Ă‘ ĂŽĂ“Ă?Ă?Ă“ĂšĂ–Ă“Ă˜Ă‹ĂœĂ“Ă‹Ă˜ËŞ Ă‹ĂœĂ? Ùà Ă?ĂœË› Ăž ĂŽĂ“ĂŽĂ˜ËŞĂž ÞÙÞËÖÖã ÚËã Ă™Ă&#x;Ăœ ĂšĂ‹ĂœĂ?Ă˜ĂžĂ? ÞÙ Ă’Ă‹Ă Ă? ĂŒĂ?Ă?Ă˜ Ă–Ă“Ă•Ă? ÞÒËÞ˛ Ă’Ă? ÞÓ×Ă?Ă? ĂĄĂ? Ă‹ĂœĂ? Ă“Ă˜ Ă˜Ă™ĂĄ ĂŒĂ?Ă‘Ă? Ă?Ă™Ăœ Ă‹ ĂŽĂ“ĘĽĂ?ĂœĂ?Ă˜Ăž Ă‹ĂšĂšĂœĂ™Ă‹Ă?Ă’ ÞÙ ĂšĂ‹ĂœĂ?Ă˜ĂžĂ“Ă˜Ă‘ ĂĄĂ’Ă“Ă?Ă’ ĂŒĂ‹Ă?Ă“Ă?Ă‹Ă–Ă–ĂŁ Ă“Ă? Ă–Ă™Ă Ă“Ă˜Ă‘ Ę¨ĂœĂ—Ă˜Ă?Ă?Ă?Ë›

Þ˪Ă? Ă˜Ă™ Ă&#x;Ă?Ă? ĂžĂ‹Ă•Ă“Ă˜Ă‘ Ă™Ă&#x;Ăž ÞÒĂ? Ă?ĂšĂ?Ă?Ă• Ă“Ă˜ ĂŁĂ™Ă&#x;Ăœ Ă?Ă’Ă“Ă–ĂŽ Ă™Ăœ Ă?ĂžĂ&#x;ĂŽĂ?Ă˜ĂžĂ? Ă?ĂŁĂ?Ă? ĂĄĂ’Ă“Ă–Ă?Ăž ĂŁĂ™Ă&#x; Ă’Ă‹Ă Ă? ÖÙÑĂ? Ă“Ă˜ ĂŁĂ™Ă&#x;ĂœĂ?Ë› Ă?Ă—Ă™Ă˜Ă?ĂžĂœĂ‹ĂžĂ? ĂŒĂ?Ă“Ă˜Ă‘ Ă˜Ă™Ăž Ă?Ă™ ËʾËĂ?Ă’Ă?ĂŽ ÞÙ ĂŁĂ™Ă&#x;Ăœ Ă™ĂĄĂ˜ Ă—Ă™ĂŒĂ“Ă–Ă? Ă™Ăœ ÞÙ ÞÒĂ? Ă?Ă™Ă?Ă“Ă‹Ă– Ă—Ă?ĂŽĂ“Ă‹Ë› ÙÖĂ?̋×ÙÎĂ?Ă– ĂšĂ&#x;ĘľĂ“Ă˜Ă‘ ĂŁĂ™Ă&#x;Ăœ ĂŽĂ?Ă Ă“Ă?Ă?Ă? Ă‹ĂĄĂ‹ĂŁ Ă™Ăœ ĂžĂ&#x;ĂœĂ˜Ă“Ă˜Ă‘ ÞÒĂ?Ă— Ùʼ ĂŽĂ&#x;ĂœĂ“Ă˜Ă‘ Ă?Ă‹Ă—Ă“Ă–ĂŁ ÞÓ×Ă?Ă?Ëœ ĂŽĂ&#x;ĂœĂ“Ă˜Ă‘ ĂŽĂ“Ă˜Ă˜Ă?Ăœ ÞÓ×Ă?Ă?Ëœ ĂĄĂ’Ă“Ă–Ă?Ăž Ă“Ă˜ Ă?Ă’Ă&#x;ĂœĂ?Ă’ Ă™Ăœ ĂŁĂ™Ă&#x;Ăœ Ă™ĂĄĂ˜ ĂĄĂ™ĂœĂ?Ă’Ă“Ăš Ă‹Ă?Ă?Ă?Ă—ĂŒĂ–Ă“Ă?Ă? Ă‹Ă˜ĂŽ ĂŒĂ?Ă?Ă™ĂœĂ? Ă‘Ă™Ă“Ă˜Ă‘ ÞÙ ĂŒĂ?ĂŽË› Ă?Ă—Ă?Ă—ĂŒĂ?Ăœ ÞÒËÞ Ă?Ă‹Ă–Ă–Ă? Ă?Ă‹Ă˜ Ă‹Ă–ĂĄĂ‹ĂŁĂ? ĂŒĂ? ĂœĂ?ĂžĂ&#x;ĂœĂ˜Ă?ĂŽ Ă‹Ă˜ĂŽ ĂžĂ?âÞĂ? Ă?Ă‹Ă˜ Ă‹Ă–ĂĄĂ‹ĂŁĂ? ĂŒĂ? ĂœĂ?ÚÖÓĂ?ĂŽË› Ă’ĂŁ Ă‹Ă–Ă– Ă™Ă? Ă‹ Ă?Ă&#x;ĂŽĂŽĂ?Ă˜ Ă“Ă? Ă—Ă™ĂŒĂ“Ă–Ă? ĂžĂ?Ă?Ă’Ă˜Ă™Ă–Ă™Ă‘ĂŁ ĂœĂ&#x;ĂŒĂŒĂ“Ă˜Ă‘ Ă&#x;Ă? Ă‹Ă–Ă– Ă™Ă? Ă“Ă˜ĂŽĂ“Ă Ă“ĂŽĂ&#x;Ă‹Ă– ĂšĂ?ĂœĂ?Ă™Ă˜Ă‹Ă– ÞÓ×Ă? Ă?Ă™Ăœ ĂœĂ?ĘŽĂ?Ă?ĂžĂ“Ă™Ă˜Ëœ Ă?Ă™ĂŒĂ?ĂœĂ˜Ă?Ă?Ă? Ă‹Ă˜ĂŽ Ă“Ă˜ĂžĂœĂ™Ă?ĂšĂ?Ă?ĂžĂ“Ă™Ă˜ËŁ

Ăž Ă“Ă? Ă˜Ă™Ăž Ă›Ă&#x;Ă“ĂžĂ? Ă?Ă‹Ă?ĂŁ ÞÙ Ă•Ă˜Ă™ĂĄ ÞÒÙĂ?Ă? ×Ù×Ă?Ă˜ĂžĂ? ĂĄĂ’Ă?Ă˜ ĂŁĂ™Ă&#x;Ăœ Ă?Ă’Ă“Ă–ĂŽ ĂŒĂ?Ă‘Ă“Ă˜Ă? ÞÙ Ă?ÒÙå ÞÒĂ? Ă?Ă Ă“ĂŽĂ?Ă˜Ă?Ă? Ă™Ă? ÞÒĂ?Ă“Ăœ Ă‹ĂŽĂ™ĂšĂžĂ“Ă™Ă˜Ă? Ă™Ă? Ă˜Ă?ĂĄ ĂĄĂ‹ĂŁĂ? Ă™Ă? ĂžĂ’Ă“Ă˜Ă•Ă“Ă˜Ă‘Ëœ Ă–Ă“Ă?Ă?Ă?ÞãÖĂ?Ëœ Ă–Ă‹Ă˜Ă‘Ă&#x;Ă‹Ă‘Ă? Ă‹Ă˜ĂŽ ĂŒĂ?Ă’Ă‹Ă Ă“Ă™ĂœË› ÙåĂ?Ă Ă?Ăœ Ă“Ă? ĂŁĂ™Ă&#x; Ă‹ĂœĂ? ĂŁĂ™Ă&#x;Ăœ Ă?Ă’Ă“Ă–ĂŽËŞĂ? Ă?ĂœĂ“Ă?Ă˜ĂŽËœ ĂŁĂ™Ă&#x; ĂĄĂ“Ă–Ă– Ă›Ă&#x;Ă“Ă?Ă•Ă–ĂŁ Ă™ĂŒĂ?Ă?ĂœĂ Ă? Ă?Ă“Ă‘Ă˜Ă“Ę¨Ă?Ă‹Ă˜Ăž Ă˜Ă?ÑËÞÓà Ă? ĂŒĂ?Ă’Ă‹Ă Ă“Ă™ĂœĂ? ÞÒĂ?ĂŁ Ă‹ĂœĂ? ĂŽĂ?Ă—Ă™Ă˜Ă?ĂžĂœĂ‹ĂžĂ“Ă˜Ă‘ Ă‹Ă? Ă‹ ĂœĂ?Ă?Ă&#x;Ă–Ăž Ă™Ă? ÞÒĂ? Ă“Ă˜ĘŽĂ&#x;Ă?Ă˜Ă?Ă? ×ÙÎĂ?ĂœĂ˜ ĂžĂ?Ă?Ă’Ă˜Ă™Ă–Ă™Ă‘ĂŁ Ă‹Ă˜ĂŽ Ă—Ă?ĂŽĂ“Ă‹ Ă“Ă? Ă’Ă‹Ă Ă“Ă˜Ă‘ Ă™Ă˜ ÞÒĂ?Ă—Ë› Ă™Ă&#x; ĂĄĂ“Ă–Ă– ĂŒĂ?Ă‘Ă“Ă˜ ÞÙ Ă?Ă?Ă? ÞÒËÞ ÞÒĂ? ĂœĂ?Ă–Ă‹ĂžĂ“Ă™Ă˜Ă?Ă’Ă“ĂšĂ? ÞÒĂ?ĂŁ Ă‹ĂœĂ? Ă?Ă™ĂœĂ—Ă“Ă˜Ă‘ åÓÞÒ Ă?ĂœĂ“Ă?Ă˜ĂŽĂ?Ëœ Ă?Ă–Ă‹Ă?Ă?Ă—Ă‹ĂžĂ?Ă? Ă‹Ă˜ĂŽ ĂœĂ?Ă–Ă‹ĂžĂ“Ă™Ă˜Ă?Ă’Ă“ĂšĂ? Ă‹ĂœĂ? ĂŒĂœĂ?Ă‹Ă•Ă“Ă˜Ă‘Ëž ÞÒËÞ ÞÒĂ?ĂŁ Ă‹ĂœĂ? Ă?Ă’Ă™ĂĄĂ“Ă˜Ă‘ Ă?Ă“Ă‘Ă˜Ă? Ă™Ă? ĂšĂ?ĂŁĂ?ÒÙÖÙÑÓĂ?Ă‹Ă– Ă‹Ă˜ĂŽ Ă?Ă™ĂœĂ—Ă? Ă™Ă? Ă—Ă?Ă˜ĂžĂ‹Ă– Ă–Ă–Ă˜Ă?Ă?Ă?Ă?Ă?Ëž ÞÒËÞ ÞÒĂ?ĂŁ Ă‹ĂœĂ? Ă&#x;Ă˜ĂŽĂ?ĂœĂšĂ?ĂœĂ?Ă™ĂœĂ—Ă“Ă˜Ă‘ Ă‹Ă?Ă‹ĂŽĂ?Ă—Ă“Ă?Ă‹Ă–Ă–ĂŁ Ă‹Ă˜ĂŽ ÞÒËÞ ÞÒĂ?ĂŁ Ă‹ĂœĂ? ĂŒĂœĂ?Ă‹Ă•Ă“Ă˜Ă‘ ÞÒĂ? ĂŒĂ™Ă&#x;Ă˜ĂŽĂ‹ĂœĂ“Ă?Ă? ĂŁĂ™Ă&#x; Ă‹Ă˜ĂŽ ÞÒĂ?Ă“Ăœ ĂžĂ?Ă‹Ă?Ă’Ă?ĂœĂ? Ă’Ă‹Ă Ă? Ă?Ă?Þ˛ Ă? ĂŁĂ? ĂĄĂ‹ĂžĂ?Ă’Ă?Ă&#x;Ă– Ă‹Ă˜ĂŽ ĂœĂ?Ă?Ă™Ă˜Ă?ĂžĂœĂ&#x;Ă?ÞÓà Ă?Ë› Ă?Ă Ă?Ăœ Ă‘Ă“Ă Ă? Ă&#x;Ăš Ă™Ă˜ ĂŁĂ™Ă&#x;Ăœ Ă?Ă’Ă“Ă–ĂŽĂœĂ?Ă˜Ë› Mrs Kehinde Omoru writes from the UK

Skool Media Donates Laptops, Gadgets to FSTCYaba For a safer and conducive learning environment for staff and students of the Federal Science and Technology College (FSTC), Yaba, Lagos, an education-friendly organisation, Skool Media Limited has donated three patrol bicycles, 10 walkie-talkies, eight security searchlights, 10 raincoats, 10 security batons and 20 security whistles as part of the campaign drive to encourage and motivate security officers on the need to put their best to work.

Also, the organisation demonstrated its commitment towards quality education that now thrives on modern technology by donating 20 laptops to vice-principals and heads of department of the school.

At the presentation of the items, the Project Director, Moses Imayi said education is

pivotal to the growth of any economy and “we will not relent in offering our services to ensure that the momentum is maintained. I bring you greetings from the management of Skool Media Limited, an organisation passionate about fostering the growth of education in Nigeria through technology, innovation and creativity. “We are sincerely happy to be here today as part of our support scheme in ensuring quality education in a serene environment. Today reinforces our commitment to FSTC Yaba in ensuring consistent support to the advancement of knowledge.�

The gesture was sequel to a two-day training conducted on best security practices in the 21st century held on October 25 and 26, 2018.

T H I S D AY Ëž ÍľËœ Í°ÍŽÍŻÍś

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Lawmaker Suggests Capital Punishment forViolators of Minors A former lawmaker, Senator Bassey Henshaw has said there is an urgent need for the federal government to consider capital punishment for rape offenders particularly against minors.

Henshaw, who said this at the unveiling of the centenary banner of the Nigeria Girl Guides Association (NGGA) Lagos recently was reacting to the high rate of rape and other forms of abuse especially on the girl-child in the country.

According to him, domesticating such law would drastically reduce the rate of such occurrence. “Take the case of the late Ochanya Ogbaje, the 13-year-old girl from Benue State, who was continuously raped by both father and son for five years until she gave up the ghost recently. “It is just as sad as it is unacceptable. This is a case of outright violation of human right and we as a nation must not let this wicked act go unpunished and severely so. There are laws in Nigeria against many of these

things and it is usually the duty of the police to ensure that offenders are apprehended and punished. “One of the biggest challenges we have is that people always think they can get away with crime and indeed do get away with crime, so they continue to commit these crimes.

Henshaw added: “For me, the rape and eventual death of late Ochanya deserves capital punishment. But again, it is the duty of the law enforcement agencies to ensure that the culprits behind this shameful and unfortunate act are apprehended and punished appropriately in accordance with whatever laws are on the book anyway. “But what I am also saying is that laws to deal with these issues need to be broadened in terms of involving both the state and local governments not just the federal government.�

He stressed that there is no moral justification for any form of child abuse, especially rape of

young and innocent children and imagined how many others may have been going on unreported.

Henshaw, who is also a member of the advisory board of the association, noted that due to some beliefs and cultures in various communities, many people that were abused are afraid to speak out openly. “We have girls going abroad to prostitute, taking oath of secrecy in the process, and all these things are challenges, and so we need to do more advocacy, sensitisation and education, coupled with the assistance of the press.�

He congratulated the NGGA on its centenary celebration, adding that its efforts in protecting, adding value to the girl-child, as well as ensuring that they are relevant and heard in the process of nation building is priceless.

The association’s Chief Commissioner, Mrs. Maria Goretti Sule said the advocacy campaign is a wakeup call aimed at protecting the right of the girl-child, as well

as to condemn acts of physical violence against the girl-child on a daily basis in the country as was obtained in the case of Ogbaje. “We are appealing to the federal government and other leaders in our country to speed up action in ensuring that justice is carried out on the two men who raped the young 13-year-old innocent girl to death. “We can no longer fold our hands and watch this evil to continue in our society. Our association has been on the forefront of speaking against violence of whatever form, especially violence against children, girls and women.� “I also want to challenge our girls and young women to be strong to break barriers and refuse to keep quiet when they are being violated, opposed and intimidated. You can only receive help when you call for help. Raise your voices against violence and do not permit anyone to keep you silent against your will.�

Paedophilia: Catholic Church Harps on Sex Education in Schools Kuni Tyessi in Abuja Worried by the rampant cases of child molestation and the released global statistics that seven out of 10 children have gone through abuse of any kind, particularly sexual abuse, the Catholic Church has called for the teaching of sex education in schools.

It said with sex education, children will be enlightened enough to know about their sexuality and when it is abused, adding that children, young people and vulnerable adults must be helped with the advances in psychology and the art and science of teaching in order to harmoniously develop their physical, moral and intellectual endowments.

Cardinal Giuseppe Veralsaldi, who made this known recently at the third national Catholic Education Summit in Abuja, with the theme ‘Catholic Education in Nigeria: Challenges of Child Protection and Human Sexuality’, said Catholic schools must teach human sexuality in the light of magisterial exposition, adding that teachers must avoid the quick method of googling topics on human sexuality as the basis of their class note on the topic.

Regretting that the church globally is in crisis as a result of sexual abuse committed by a few clerics, he said it is pertinent to note that the present church law on protection of minors and vulnerable adults is one of the most comprehensive by any modern day institution.

Verasaldi, whose speech

was read by the Archbishop of Benin City, Edo State, Most Reverend Augustine Akubeze, said testimonies of the victims or survivors of sexual abuse show the trust of the people betrayed, thus creating credibility problems for the church, and if not dealt with is capable of draining the moral voice of the church globally.

He revealed that Pope Francis recently condemned episcopal failure in dealing with sexual abuse in minors and reiterated that clergymen will be held accountable when they abuse or fail to protect children. “Within our family of faith and our human families, the sins and crimes of sexual abuse of children must no longer be held in secret and in shame. We bishops, all priests, consecrated men and women and all those who work in Catholic institutions in Nigeria must ensure that there is safe environment for every child and vulnerable adults. “Education is one of the best ways to help a person discover the truth. Catholic schools should all be places of holistic formation of the human person. Education is to help people discover the truth. Education is not to manufacture truths. “Let us seek the truth through the kind of education we provide for our youths.

We must meet the youths and children where they are.

The education in our Catholic schools must make provisions for proper education of the use of social media,� he added.

Kwara Commends FG for Adopting ‘Every Child Counts’ Initiative Hammed Shittu in Ilorin

L-R: Father of the awardee, Mr. Jamiu Ibrahim; the 2018 winner of Goddy Jidenma Foundation Award for Excellence, Mustapha Ibrahim; and the Programme Executive of the foundation, Ms. Uchenna Ozugha, during the presentation of the award to Mustapha in Lagos‌ recently

Foundation Rewards Outstanding Student Master Mustapha Ibrahim of Birch Freeman High School, Lagos has emerged this year’s winner of Goddy Jidenma Foundation Excellence Award.

The award, instituted in memory of late renowned architect, Mr. Goddy Jidenma, is an annual prize presented to the best students in the West Africa Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) of various secondary schools in the country.

Speaking during the valedictory service of the school, the Programme Executive of the foundation, Ms. Uchenna Ozugha explained that the foundation is a non-governmental organisation aimed at promoting and encouraging academic excellence among students of Birch Freeman High School.

She identified hard work as a sure key to unlocking academic excellence.

The award since its institution in the school in November 2014, has yearly presented students

who emerged the best in WASSCE with monetary awards.

In her remarks, the Principal of the school, Mrs. Oluwakemi Oke, thanked the foundation for establishing and sustaining such a laudable scheme that encourages and motivates students to strive hard for excellence. She encouraged them to work hard to become winners of the next edition of the award.

The Vice-Principal, Mrs. Adediran Olapade, thanked the foundation for living up to its yearly promise and encouraged students to engage in healthy academic competitions in order to excel in their academic pursuits.

The father of the awardee, Mr. Jamiu Ibrahim also thanked the foundation for honouring his son with such an exciting monetary award. He said the prize has set his son on the right path in life and thanked his teachers for all their efforts and patience.

Kebbi to Build 40 Nomadic Schools Onuminya Innocent in Sokoto The Kebbi State Government has promised to construct 40 new nomadic schools across the 21 local government areas of the state so as to provide sound education for Fulani communities.

Governor Abubakar Atiku Bagudu, who made the promise in Birnin Kebbi while interacting with Fulani leaders from the 21 local government areas of the state under the auspices of Myetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association, also promised to construct new mosques in all the Fulani hamlets.

He said the meeting with the Fulani leaders was necessary to thank them for the peaceful coexistence in their areas and to inform them about the developmental strides of his government to Fulanis in their settlements.

Bagudu said it is important

for the Fulani leaders to be part of discussion on how to provide basic amenities for their areas so as to have a sense of belonging to the projects He announced that the construction of the new nomadic schools would start before the end of November 2018.

He added that out of the N1.5 billion loan the state government accessed, he has set aside N900 million to boost livestock farming and N600 million would be allocated to promote fish farming in the state.

Bagudu thanked Fulani communities in the state for maintaining peace with farmers. “I call on Fulani leaders to join hands with government for peace and seek for your right. I seek for more cooperation and peace; the state government will open up more opportunities for you.�

The Kwara State Government has commended the federal government for adopting the ‘Every Child Counts’ model of education, introduced 10 years ago by the administration of former Governor Bukola Saraki and scaled up by the current administration of Alhaji Abdulfatah Ahmed.

The Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo had last announced that the federal government’s new education policy will be named ‘Every Child Counts’.

The Senior Special Assistant on Media and Communication to the Governor, Dr. Muyideen Akorede in a statement, urged other states to emulate the federal government and adopt other successful reforms introduced by the state government.

According to the statement, “‘Every Child Counts’ was driven by the state government’s recognition of quality education as the bedrock of development and a tested pathway out of poverty.

To that end, ‘Every Child Counts’ expanded access

to quality education through improved teacher education, repositioning of colleges of education to enhance teaching quality, an experiential rather than instructional teaching at basic education level, as well as setting and enforcing quality standards in public and private schools. “The administration of Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed has since up-scaled ‘Every Child Counts’ by abolishing tuition fees in senior secondary schools, thus making pre-tertiary education free in the state, improving school infrastructure, prioritising science and technology, and establishing the International Vocational Technical and Entrepreneurial College (IVTEC), Ajase Ipo.�

The statement added: “While commending the federal government for adopting the initiative, we urge other states to follow suit by adopting other cutting-edge reforms by the Kwara State government such as state-wide health insurance, IGR reforms and the Kwara State Infrastructure Development Fund, among others.�

36

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CITYSTRINGS

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Rampant Abuse of the Innocent According to recent statistics from Child Protection Network, well over 200 children were sexually and physically abused in Lagos State from January to July this year. Rebecca Ejifoma reports that despite measures put on ground, these horrific abuses continue unabated

Walk against child abuse and rape

O

rdinarily, the innocence of children is something that should be sacred and protected at all costs, but daily and multiple reports of child abuse have put paid to that innocence.

According to recent statistics from Child Protection Network (CPN), well over 200 children were abused in the state sexually and physically from January to July this year.

Each day, the mainstream newspapers and the social media are inundated with tales of sexual abuse against children.

Although these vices have been on the increase, nothing seems to underscore their frightening dimension than the recent revelation by the Lagos State Government that the state recorded over 3,089 cases of sexual and domestic abuse in a little over eight months. As alarming as the figure is, the reality is that it only accounts for the reported cases. A lot more remain unreported.

The figure by CPN was not far off the mark by that of the Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Adeniji Kazeem, who during the recent commemoration of this year ’s Domestic and Sexual Violence Awareness Month, themed, “Securing the Home against Violence: Everyone’s Responsibility", said from January till August this year alone, the team handled 245 child abuse cases.

Although the increase in such sexual abuse of minors might not be unconnected to moral decadence in the society, the bulk however stops at the table of their parents, whom the responsibility of protecting their innocence was entrusted to at conception and birth. In this age and time when many parents barely have time for their children, they tend to entrust them with their relatives, neighbours or hired nannies without proper checks.

In most cases, the abusers are often those trusted family members, relatives or friends. As ironic as it may

seem, most it these parents keep their money and treasures in safe houses and banks, yet cannot protect their kid's innocence.

Incidence

In spite of the life imprisonment sentence for defiling of minors, more heinous cases are recorded daily. One of such occurred on July 12, this year, when a 13 year-old girl (names withheld) suffered brutal sexual violence from 26-years-old Chibuzor Emealo, who kidnapped and brutally defiled her from 12am till dawn at the Orile Iganmu area of Lagos. While the case is currently in court, Emealo, also known as Alomo, was arrested

While some of the abuse children go through, according to research, include sexual, physical and emotional abuse...it is good to start teaching these children education on their sexuality from very tender age. It will help both the parents and children to be safe from any trauma

after the little girl came home the next morning bleeding profusely from her bruised privates. The perpetrator was immediately arrested at his residence at 3 Omoniyi Street Orile-Iganmu.

Another serial rapist and paedophile, Michael Chukwuemeka Chukem, defiled his four nieces (names withheld) and a neighbour’s daughter at Ikorodu and Oshodi areas of Lagos in May this year. He was accused of defiling and continuously having carnal knowledge of his brother ’s daughter aged 11; his brother-in-law's three daughters (aged 10, six and four), alongside a neighbour ’s five-year-old daughter.

Sadly, one Mrs. Yetunde was arrested in Ifako area of the state for using minors as home-based prostitutes and renting then out to other teenage boys to defile them for pay. Following swiftly is the case of a printer, Sulaimon Adigun, 30, who had serially defiled a 10-year-old girl (name withheld) for 13 months at the Somolu area of the state. Adigun was arrested in February for the alleged crime and is till date in Kirikiri Prison. Adigun was said to have had carnal knowledge of the JSS1 student from 2017 to February 2018 when he was arrested.

Yet again, the Onipanu Police of Lagos arrested one Felix Irobuta Idehen, 54, for allegedly defiling an 11 year-old-girl (names withheld) from 2016 to August 24 this year in the same Somolu area of Lagos. Idehen, who resides at 8, Imagbon street Fadeyi, was a transporter known as ‘Alaye’ before he was arrested for the heinous crime.

CPN, also rescued a 14-year-old teenage girl (names withheld) from her elder sister’s husband, Mr. David Edward, who raped her daily and inflicted injuries on her for exposing him. THISDAY gathered that Edward, 40, subjected the survivor, a primary five pupil, to sexual abuse daily at their residence at 17 Folarin Street, Empire Surulere, Lagos.

Right on the heels of the rescue, an Ikeja Chief Magistrate Court remanded one Mr. Jephthah Ighodaro, 37, in Kirikiri Prison for allegedly defiling his three-year-old twin sons. The case was presided over by Chief Magistrate P. E Nwaka, who did not take the plea of the accused. Therefore, he ordered the prosecutor to duplicate the case and send a copy to the Director of Public Prosecution for advice.

According to CPN who first uncovered the crime, Ighodaro, who resides at No.1, St. Augustine Street Surulere, Lagos, committed the abuse between January and July this year at his residence, where his twins reside with him given that he was estranged from their mother.

The Lagos State Police Command also arrested one Mr. Olawale Ibitoye, 45, for defiling and marrying off her 14-year-old daughter at the Ketu-Epe area of the state. It was gathered that Ibitoye had been defiling his daughter from age eight before he married her off at age 14 to 33-year-old Moses Okurukpe of Izuru Delta State. Moses on the other hand claimed the father never told him the real age of his daughter.

The Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Imohimi Edgal, who paraded Ibitoye and Okurukpe at the command headquarters in Ikeja, disclosed that the incident came to the fore when the survivor became pregnant and was taken to a traditional medicine house, where she laboured for days.

He had assured that perpetrators of such crimes would definitely have their day in court, adding that the state has zero-tolerance for sexual abuse.

These are just few of the hundreds of case that has been recorded in the state. Most recently, cases of sodomy against male kids have been on the rise, as mother often neglect to look out for them like they would the girl-child.

37

T H I S D AY ˾ ͵˜ ͰͮͯͶ

CRIME&SECURITY CRIME SITUATION REPORTS

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Safeguarding and Child Protection Policy

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SOURCE: Experts Security Tips (expertsecuritytips.com)

POLICE STATIONS IN LAGOS WITH FAMILY SUPPORT UNIT The Lagos State Police has released an update on police stations in the state that have Family Support Units (FSUs)/Gender Unit/ Juvenile Welfare Centre (JWC) and phone numbers to reach them on.

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DO YOU KNOW YOUR POLICE DIGS (PART 1)?

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38

W E D N E S DAY Ëž NOVEMBER 7, 2018

BUSINESS/MONEYGUIDE

Unity Bank Moves to Finalise Capital Injection Deal Obinna Chima Unity Bank Plc yesterday said it is on the verge of finalising a capital injection agreement with some foreign investors.

Managing Director/CEO, Unity Bank Plc, Mrs. Tomi Somefun, who disclosed this during an interactive session with journalists in Lagos, said the bank would soon finalise a memorandum of understanding (MoU) that would lead to the anticipated capital injection in the commercial bank.

But, she declined to disclose the identity of the parties as well as the anticipated sum.

Somefun said: “All I can assure you is that this time around, it is very clear and it is not Milost. All I can say is that one of the parties is the second largest infrastructure finance institution in Asia. “Even though we have closed the process, some of the parties we had engaged before are saying they want to invest, because the bank is now looking good. “Two years ago, we were the one chasing these investors. But we have told them to wait

until we close this deal and any other party that wants to join, we can talk under different arrangement.�

According to the Unity Bank boss, due diligence had been done on the prospective investors. She pointed out that “what is still left is procedural or finalising that engagement.� “And because the Central Bank of Nigeria has seen what we are doing and they appreciate the efforts we are making and we have been carrying them along. “So, I would call the incidence with the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) last week an unfortunate one because we had intimated the NSE about what we were doing and we explained to them that the strategy was to finalise our MoU with prospective investors,� she said.

The NSE had last week placed the shares of Unity Bank on technical suspension and 24 hours after, the bank was reinstated.

Somefun disclosed that the bank sold off bad loans of about N400 billion last year in order to clean up its books and return

to profitability. “Why did we make huge loss last year? We sold off the remaining of our bad loans. “In fact, the business of this bank almost became debt recovery. We found out that we were spending so much time on debt recovery, so we decided to sell the legacy NPLs in 2017. “We also wrote the goodwill that were in the books as at the time of the merger. All of that put us in negative of N14 billion loss. “So, we were delaying, expecting to conclude the MOU before we release the results.

Also, because of the sale of the NPLs, the CBN wanted to be sure that those accounts were not performing. “Unfortunately, the NSE decided to take that action on November 1 and immediately we complied, we were reinstated “I make bold to say Unity Bank has not recorded the kind of recognition, public acceptance and diverse patronage it has enjoyed in the last three years. “However, you will not see a reflection of that in the revenues because of the challenges of huge NPLs we had to contend with,� she said.

Somefun

MARKET INDICATORS MONEY AND CREDIT STATISTICS

(MILLION NAIRA)

MARCH 2018

Nigerians Urged to Create Multiple Streams of Income Bamidele Famoofo The Managing Director, Flobal Trust Limited and author of ‘Multiple Bold Steps,’ Mr Abayomi Adeyeri has advised Nigerians to be entrepreneurial and seek ways to create multiple streams of income.

This is to enable them create sustainable wealth and attain good living standards.

He said Nigerians must learn to optimise their incomes and cultivate good attitudes so as to succeed in life.

He pointed out that Flobal Trust Limited, an investment advisory company licenced by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), was aimed at building a world-class investment institution with sustainable growth and to expand the worth of its customers by providing innovative investment advisory services.

A former senior management member of Ecobank Nigeria, Adeyeri, said with its real estate and investment company subsidiary called Flobal Capital LLC in the United States of

America, Flobal Trust’s mission is to provide effective platform and enabling environment that will facilitate and ensure convenient and accessible services and opportunities to its customers.

Speaking against the background of the introduction of his book, Adeyeri said Nigerian youths, especially those not employed and salaried workers should learn how to create multiple streams of income without necessarily compromising any good values, adding that civil servants in Nigeria should step up their customer service skills and imbibe ownership spirit.

According to him, his desire to see others succeed in life and the urge to pass a strong message that anyone can make it irrespective of colour, gender and challenges of life motivated him to put his experience and knowledge as a senior wealth creation expert into a book. “I intend to speak to our youths never to quit and not to be discouraged. The power to create lies in every youth. They are to activate same and turn their desires into reality.

“The various tools required for activation of creation power are enumerated in this book. Also, every employee should know that they are limited in wealth creation. The true wealth creators are entrepreneurs,� Adeyeri said.

He said the book takes people through the art of taking multiple bold steps and serve as a confident booster noting that in order for anybody to take bold steps, such a person must be courageous and have a strong positive attitude. “The thrust of the book is to plan well and put strategies that will ensure success in life in place in the various cycles of life discussed in this book. This is my first book and I intend to write more. It is currently available on Amazon, Barnes and Noble and Multiple Bold Steps website and most online bookstores with delivery period of between two days to one week depending on your location in the world. However, we plan to partner with any reputable publisher in Nigeria to publish the Nigeria version of this book soon,� Adeyeri said.

Institute to Hold Annual Conference Olaseni Durojaiye The Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators of Nigeria (ICSAN) has announced that its annual conference will hold in Lagos on 8th and 9th of November 2018, with the theme: “Exploring the diversification agenda towards the emergence of a resilient economy.�

The sub-themes for the conference are “The Diversification Agenda: Thekey areas of focus, the effect of fiscal and monetary policies on the Nigerian economy� and “The role of the chattered Secretary and Administrator in the

diversification agenda.�

Speaking at a press briefing hosted by the institute in Lagos, the president of the 52-year old institute and Chairman of Council, Mr. Samuel Kolawole explained that “the choice of the theme was informed by the need to deepen the discourse bordering on the need to diversify the nation’s earnings away from the oil sector as a way to truly grow and develop the economy.�

According to him there would be three technical Sessions, three speakers and four discussants during the conference. The opening session would be chaired by the immediate past Chairman

of Nestle Plc, Chief Olusegun Osunkeye; and Minister of Budget and National Planning, Senator Udoma Udo Udoma slated as the keynote speaker.

The speaker for the first session on “Diversification Agenda: The key areas of focus� would be Senior Fellow, Public Policy and Institutional Development, Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG), Dr. Tayo Aduloju.

The discussants slated for the session are Director General, Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN), Mr Segun Kadiri and Chief Operating Officer Deloitte West Africa, Mr. Anthony Olukoju.

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 Ëž Ă™Ă&#x;ĂœĂ?Ă? Ě‹

Money Market Indicators (in Percentage) Month

March 2018

Inter-Bank Call Rate

15.16

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

14.00

Treasury Bill Rate

11.84

Savings Deposit Rate

4.07

1 Month Deposit Rate

8.82

3 Months Deposit Rate

9.72

6 Months Deposit Rate

10.93

12 Months Deposit Rate

10.21

Prime Lending rate

17.35

Maximum Lending Rate

31.55

Ëž Ă™Ă˜Ă?ĂžĂ‹ĂœĂŁ ÙÖÓĂ?ĂŁ Ă‹ĂžĂ? Ě‹ ͯ͹Ϲ

OPEC DAILY BASKET PRICE AS AT MONDAY NOVEMBER 5, 2018

The price of OPEC basket of ďŹ fteen crudes stood at $71.45 a barrel on Monday, compared with $71.36 the previous Friday, according to OPEC Secretariat calculations.

The OPEC Reference Basket of Crudes (ORB) is made up of the following: Saharan Blend (Algeria), Girassol (Angola), Djeno (Congo), Oriente (Ecuador), ZaďŹ ro (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

39

W E D N E S DAY ˾ NOVEMBER 7, 2018

MARKET NEWS

Consolidated Hallmark Insurance Plans Private Placement Goddy Egene Consolidated Hallmark Insurance Plc (CHI) is preparing for a private placement that will inject fresh capital into the company and bring in new investors.

In order facilitate the private placement, the company would be having an extra-ordinary meeting (EGM) on November 28, in Lagos, to get the approval of the shareholders will give their authorisation to the

directors.

The directors are requesting that the authorised share capital of CHI Plc be increased from N5 billion divided into 10 billion ordinary shares of 50 kobo each to N7.5 billion ordinary shares divided into 15 billion ordinary shares with the creation of additional five billion ordinary shares of 50 kobo each.

In a notification to the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE)

P R I C E S MAIN BOARD

F O R

DEALS

regarding the EGM, the directors want to get the authorisation of shareholders to allot 1.130 billion units of ordinary shares of 50 kobo each at 65 kobo per share through a private placement.

It is believed that the private placement is being undertaken

by CHI Plc to meet the new capital requirements stipulated by the National Insurance Commission. CHI Plc had last year raised additional funds through a rights issue and the company

S E C U R I T I E S

MARKET PRICE

QUANTITY TRADED

VALUE TRADED ( N )

has been recording impressive performance in recent times.

It ended the nine months to September 30, 2018 with a growth of 70 per cent in profit after tax (PAT). The company recorded PAT of N356 million in 2018, up from N209 million in the corresponding period of 2017. CHI Plc had paid a dividend of N120 million in respect of 2017 financial year after posting PAT of N406.2 million.

T R A D E D MAIN BOARD

A S

Commenting on performance, the Managing Director/ Chief Executive Officer of CHI Plc, Mr. Eddie Efekoha said it was a show of a show of tenacity. “Business retention was good, giving us room to focus on our new business initiatives. While our revenue diversification plans are still at its preliminary stages, we are recording good progress in deepening our footprints in the retail market segments which

O F

we believe holds significant untapped potential for revenue growth,” he said.

According to him, the company was able to grow its net premium Income by five per cent to N3.683 billion and was also able to fulfill its claims payment obligations as at when due, successfully settling claims to the tune of N3.354 billion an increase of 93 per cent over the N1.731 billion paid in 2016.

0 6 / 1 1 / 2 0 1 8 DEALS

MARKET PRICE

QUANTITY TRADED

VALUE TRADED ( N)

˾ WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 7, 2018

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T H I S D AY Ëž Ë&#x153; ÍżË&#x153; ͺ͸͚͜

MARKET NEWS

May & Baker Nigeria Nine Months Profit by 241% to N744 Million Goddy Egene May & Baker Nigeria Plc drew on improved cost management and increased margins to sustain impressive growth in profitability in the nine months ended September 30, 2018.

The results showed that May & Baker Nigeria continued to witness impressive growth in its core Pharma business, with stronger margins, despite slight decline in revenue and present macroeconomic challenges.

Gross profit rose by 10.6 per cent from N2.156 billion in 2017 to N2.385 billion in 2018, while operating profit also increased by 15.83 per cent from N770.71 million to N892.75 million. With finance cost dropping by 37.25 per cent from N479.60 million in third quarter 2017 to N300.94 million in 2018, profit before tax jumped by 89.19 per cent to N609.94 million as against N322.39 million recorded in comparable period of 2017.

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 â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;sharesâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; on the

Profit after tax from continuing operations also leapt by 89.82 per cent from N218.505 million to N414.76 million. With the addition of net profit of N329.57 million from discontinued operation, total net comprehensive income grew by 240.65 per cent to N744.33 million in 2018 as against N218.505 million in 2017.

The company is currently raising N2.45 billion in new equity funds through a rights

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 0511-2018, unless otherwise stated.

issue to existing shareholders.

The company is offering 980 million ordinary shares of 50 kobo each at N2.50 per share to existing shareholders.

Managing Director, May & Baker Nigeria Plc, Mr. Nnamdi Okafor, said the nine months performance showed that the companyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s strategic focus and investments have continued to yield gains for the shareholders.

He said the ongoing rights issue would further help to reduce finance costs, increase

capacity and bring greater returns to shareholders, urging shareholders to pick up their rights in order to realise the benefits of their patience and support for the company over the investment years.

He said the company would pay dividend on the new ordinary shares to be issued through the rights issue, despite the fact that the proceeds of the rights issue will not impact our business this year as the net proceeds will be received

towards the end of current business year. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Our results in the past four years show we are increasingly becoming stronger, and our performance curve is firmly on the upside. The results show the inherent value in our company, and with the investments we had made in recent years and new investments underway, our shareholders can only expect continuing improvement,â&#x20AC;?

Okafor 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 N/A N/A N/A Afrinvest Plutus Fund N/A N/A N/A Nigeria International Debt Fund N/A N/A N/A ALTERNATIVE CAPITAL PARTNERS LTD info@acapng.com Web: www.acapng.com, Tel: +234 1 291 2406, +234 1 291 2868 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn ACAP Canary Growth Fund 0.83 0.84 1.08% ACAP Income Funds 0.62 0.62 6.41% 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 12.45% AIICO Balanced Fund 2.19 2.21 -4.57% 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 N/A N/A N/A AXA Mansard Money Market Fund N/A N/A N/A 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 132.15 133.08 -12.68% Paramount Equity Fund 1.00 1.00 12.00% Women's Investment Fund 101.77 104.38 1.13% 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 11.01% Cordros Milestone Fund 2023 11.64 11.93 4.94% Cordros Milestone Fund 2028 101.67 104.28 1.04% 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 100.00 100.00 11.31% Coronation Balanced Fund 99.46 99.38 Coronation Fixed Income Fund 99.97 99.20 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 11.79% EDC Nigeria Money Market Fund Class B 1,000,000.00 1,000,000.00 11.95% 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 1,159.71 1,160.44 10.61% FBN Heritage Fund 142.43 143.62 2.11% FBN Money Market Fund 100.00 100.70 4.17% FBN Nigeria Eurobond (USD) Fund - Institutional $113.44 $113.53 4.05% FBN Nigeria Eurobond (USD) Fund - Retail $11319 $113.54 4.11% FBN Nigeria Smart Beta Equity Fund 145.57 147.62 -8.32% 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 1.22 1.24 -5.59% Legacy Debt Fund 3.19 3.19 10.54% Legacy USD Bond Fund 1.02 1.02 1.60% 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 2,971.95 3,000.84 -0.46% Coral Income Fund 2,742.34 2,742.34 12.02% GREENWICH ASSET MANAGEMENT LIMITED assetmanagement@gtlgroup.com Web: www.gtlgroup.com ; Tel: +234 1 4619261-2 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Greenwich Plus Money Market Fund 100.00 100.00 11.88% Nigeria Entertainment Fund 105.09 105.29 4.94% 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 100.00 100.00 11.88%

Vantage Balanced Fund 2.15 2.17 1.75% Vantage Guaranteed Income Fund 1.00 1.00 14.79% Kedari Investment Fund (KIF) 122.25 122.46 6.22% 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 1,078.82 1,078.82 11.80% MERISTEM WEALTH MANAGEMENT LTD info@meristemwealth.com Web: http://www.meristemwealth.com/funds/ ; Tel: +234 1-4488260 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Meristem Equity Market Fund N/A N/A N/A Meristem Money Market Fund N/A N/A N/A PAC ASSET MANAGEMENT LTD info@pacassetmanagement.com Web: www.pacassetmanagement.com/mutualfunds; Tel: +234 1 271 8632 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn PACAM Balanced Fund 1.33 1.35 11.70% PACAM Fixed Income Fund 11.99 12.04 8.57% PACAM Money Market Fund 10.00 10.00 12.02% 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 126.91 127.27 -2.18% 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 1.67 1.67 12.61% 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 2,322.36 2,337.50 5.66% Stanbic IBTC Bond Fund 186.77 186.77 7.27% Stanbic IBTC Ethical Fund 0.97 0.98 -3.47% Stanbic IBTC Guaranteed Investment Fund 243.67 243.71 12.91% Stanbic IBTC Iman Fund 161.62 163.46 -9.75% Stanbic IBTC Money Market Fund 100.00 100.00 11.51% Stanbic IBTC Nigerian Equity Fund 8,697.73 8,804.87 -8.57% Stanbic IBTC Dollar Fund (USD) 1.10 1.10 6.35% UNITED CAPITAL ASSET MANAGEMENT LTD unitedcapitalplcgroup.com Web: www.unitedcapitalplcgroup.com; Tel: +234 803 306 2887 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn United Capital Balanced Fund 1.16 1.17 -2.13% United Capital Bond Fund 1.57 1.57 9.70% United Capital Equity Fund 0.70 0.71 -7.58% United Capital Money Market Fund 1.00 1.00 12.50% United Capital Eurobond Fund 106.04 106.04 5.97% United Capital Wealth for Women Fund 1.08 1.09 4.14% 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 11.13 11.29 -8.06% Zenith Ethical Fund 12.00 12.10 -7.05% Zenith Income Fund 19.75 19.75 7.18% Zenith Money Market Fund 1.00 1.00 11.74%

REITS NAV Per Share

Yield / T-Rtn

9.00 139.11 51.55

-20.11% 5.02% 1.42%

Bid Price

Offer Price

Yield / T-Rtn

10.38 117.26 90.80

10.48 119.75 92.50

-12.36% -17.90% -16.89%

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

4.15 7.06 14.94 13.82 143.25

4.19 7.14 15.04 14.02 145.25

-12.34% -26.07% -14.42% -29.58% 6.47%

NAV Per Share

Yield / T-Rtn

107.13

17.03%

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 managerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s website and FMANâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s website at www.fman.com.ng. Fund prices are supplied by the operator of the relevant fund and are published for information purposes only.

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WEDNESDAY NOVEMBER 7, 2018˾ T H I S D AY

48

FOREIGN/DIPLOMATIC AFFAIRS

Voters Crowd Polling Stations as US Delivers Verdict on Trump Andrew Menck didn’t bother to vote in the last seven midterm elections but, determined to deliver a rebuke to Donald Trump’s presidency, he joined the lines outside his local polling station that built up before dawn.

“I disapprove of the president’s actions,” said the 34-year-old, a Chicago voter who sees his ballot as a chance for real scrutiny of a president who has enjoyed a largely free hand from the Republican-controlled US Congress.

“I don’t know if he’s necessarily held accountable.

Republicans hold the House and Senate.”

Menck was among millions of Americans heading to the

polls on Tuesday in the first major voter test of Trump’s chaotic, often controversial presidency.

Massive early numbers — more than 35 million ballots have been cast ahead of polling day compared with fewer than 20 million in 2014 — sparked optimism that heavy rain in the eastern United States would not depress turnout.

A suburban Chicago polling station reported twice the number of voters compared to 2016 — a presidential election year — while in downtown Chicago, people gathered before polls opened at 6:00 am (1100 GMT).

“The message that I’m going to send is: We’re not okay with the direction that

Six Suspects Arrested in Violent Plot against Macron Six people have been detained yesterday in connection with a “violent” plot against French President Emmanuel Macron, officials said.

The six, who were not identified, were picked up by anti-terrorism units in the eastern French regions of Moselle and Isere and the northern region of Ile-et-Vilaine, officials added.

The arrests followed reports of a possible plot involving “violent action” aimed at the president, a source close to the investigation said.

Prosecutors have launched an investigation into a “criminal terrorist association,” a judicial source said.

“This investigation is looking into a plot, vague and ill-defined

this president is leading our country,” said Rory Mabin, a 34-year-old Chicago resident who votes in every midterm election.

“I’m not okay with traveling abroad and being ashamed for the first time to say that I’m American.”

James Gerlock, a 27-year-old Republican, said, however, that he was happy with the economic growth the country has seen under Trump’s presidency and “just (loves) the deregulation.”

In the Chicago suburb of Downers Grove, at a church along a leafy street, 500 people had voted in the first two hours of the morning — twice as many as two years ago, according to poll worker David Mendalski.

The story was the same in Maryland, where a Montgomery County election

official reported that turnout has been “astounding” early on, speculating that it might also surpass participation in presidential elections.

“People have marched, people have done other things, but this is the first opportunity they’re getting to really speak out and make their vote their voice,” former lawyer Diane Vogel told AFP at a polling station in Arlington, Virginia.

“So I’m hopeful that it will be the biggest turnout that midterm elections have ever seen.”

There was a sense of urgency among voters flocking to the Brooklyn Museum in New York City, where production artist Gilad Foss warned that democratic values were “kind of under attack.”

Across the East River in Manhattan, high school senior Ayla Jeddy voted after turning

18 in September — just in time to register.

“I looked up all the candidates last night, and I did vote for candidates who opposed the most egregious of (Trump’s) policies: his immigration policies… and his attitude towards women in general,” she said, proudly displaying an “I voted” sticker on her jacket.

In Georgia, Stacey Abrams, 44, the former minority leader of the state House of Representatives, is running for governor against Republican Brian Kemp, the 55-year-old Georgia secretary of state.

Abrams, who has received the support of Oprah Winfrey and other celebrities, would be the first black woman to become governor of a US state if she wins.

“I really wanted to vote for the first female African-

American governor, so that was one of the major driving forces, to be honest,” Lia Koski, casting her ballot in Atlanta, told AFP. One of the most expensive and closely watched Senate races is in Texas, where incumbent Republican Senator Ted Cruz is facing pro-immigration Democratic Representative Beto O’Rourke.

At a polling station in his home town, the border city of El Paso, Carlos Gallinar enthused that O’Rourke was “just great for El Paso, great for Texas, great for United States.”

“With all the issues that are happening across the country and the negative energy coming out of Washington and this president, it’s great to see someone like Beto who has great energy, great enthusiasm, (a) positive great message.”

at this stage, involving violent action against the president of the republic,” another official said.

In July 2017, a 23-year-old far-right extremist was charged with plotting to assassinate Macron at France’s Bastille Day military parade which the French leader attended with US President, Donald Trump.

The man, arrested at home, told investigators he wanted to kill Macron at the July 14 national day parade in Paris, along with “Muslims, Jews, blacks and homosexuals.”

AFP reported that three kitchen knives were found in his car and analysis of his computer found that he had conducted internet searches as part of his plot.

Army Searches for 79 Abducted Pupils in Cameroon An army search operation is under way in Cameroon to rescue dozens of people kidnapped from a boarding school.

At least 79 students and three others were seized on Monday in Bamenda, the capital of the North-West region, a government official has told the BBC. The government and English-speaking separatists have accused each other of orchestrating the kidnapping.

Cameroon’s North-West and South-West regions have been hit by a secessionist rebellion in recent years.

Regional governor, Adolphe Lele L’Afrique Deben Tchoffo, blamed separatist militias for the kidnapping.

But English-speaking separatists are accusing the government of staging the kidnapping, as an attempt to discredit their cause.

The authorities have declared a ban on vehicles driving between most districts of the North-West region.

Militias, who have been demanding the independence of the two English-speaking regions, have called for a school boycott.

But no rebel group has said it carried out the kidnapping of the students and the principal at Bamenda’s Presbyterian Secondary School, which has

pupils aged between 10 and 14.

A video of some of the children, believed to have been filmed by one of the kidnappers, is being shared on social media.

The students, all boys and crammed into a tiny room, all look nervous as the person holding the camera orders them to say their names and where they are from.

They also repeat the phrase: “I was taken from school last night by the Amba boys, I don’t know where I am.”

Amba is short for Ambazonia, the name of the new country that the separatists want to create.

At one point in the video, a voice in the background, believed to that of one of the kidnappers, says what sounds like “tu perds ton temps” (French for “you’re wasting your time”), BBC Monitoring says.

The majority Frenchspeaking government has blamed separatist militias for the abductions. Anglophone separatist leaders have denied responsibility.

One rebel group, the so-called Ambazonia Governing Council, issued a statement on social media hitting out at government “infiltrators and saboteurs” who it says are “planted... within the Ambazonia independence cause”.

Voters casting their ballots in the midterms at the Rummel Creek Elementary polling place in Houston, Texas….yesterday

PHOTO: AFP

Anger Mounts after Deadly Marseille Building Collapse French officials on Tuesday vowed to inspect all Marseille buildings “unsuitable” for habitation as anger rose among residents over the collapse of two buildings in the Mediterranean city, where up to eight people are feared dead.

Interior Minister Christophe Castaner told lawmakers in Paris that he had ordered a “building by building” audit before an “ambitious programme for ensuring safe conditions” along with Marseille authorities.

“Nearly 6,000 properties have been identified as at risk” in the city, he said, representing some 44,000 lodgings in lower-class neighbourhoods, calling the situation “unacceptable”.

The bodies of two men and one woman have already been pulled from the 15-metre (50-foot) pile of rubble on Rue d’Aubagne, a narrow shopping street which now resembles the scene of an earthquake.

Rescuers have been delicately searching what is left of the dilapidated buildings which collapsed suddenly on Monday morning in Noailles, a working-

class district in the heart of the port city.

Prosecutors say they believe eight people were inside at the time.

A third adjoining building partially collapsed on Monday night.

Residents said Tuesday the structural risks of the buildings and others like them were widely known, but that city officials did little when alerted about them.

“Everybody knew about the problems with the two collapsed buildings,” said Patrick Lacoste, a spokesman for a local housing action group.

“People died for nothing, even though we knew.”

“It’s hell here, they know it that it’s crap and now people die for nothing,” said local resident Toufik Ben Rhouma.

The disaster, he added, was “100 percent the fault of city hall”.

Only one of the buildings was occupied, as the two others were in such a bad state that they had been condemned.

Google Maps images taken in recent months showed the

collapsed buildings had large visible cracks in their facades.

People had been living in nine of the 10 apartments at number 65, while a shop occupied the ground floor.

A young bar waiter watched the scene with tears in his eyes, anxious for news of an Italian woman who lived in the building.

“She was a great girl, she used to come and study at the bar,” he said, without giving his name.

Abdou Ali, 34, came in search of his mother after she did not come to collect her youngest son from school on Monday afternoon. “I haven’t had any news,” he said, wandering among the rescuers.

Sophie Dorbeaux meanwhile told AFP she had left the block on Sunday night to stay with her parents because her door, like several others, was not opening or closing properly because of the building’s structural problems.

“The walls had been moving for several weeks and cracks had appeared,” the 25-year-old philosophy student said.

“It could have been me,” she added, visibly shaken.

Marseille city authorities, who have evacuated and rehoused 100 residents from nearby buildings as a precaution, believe heavy rain may have contributed to the buildings’ collapse.

But the incident — rare in a major Western city — has already sparked a political row over the quality of housing available to Marseille’s poorest residents.

The neighbourhood is home to many buildings in a similarly dilapidated condition, some of them run by slum landlords.

“It’s the homes of the poor that are falling down, and that’s not a coincidence,” said local lawmaker Jean-Luc Melenchon, leader of the leftwing France Unbowed party.

Marseille authorities began a vast upgrade plan for the city centre in 2011.

But a 2015 government report said about 100,000 Marseille residents were living in housing that was dangerous to their health or security.

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NEWSEXTRA

Igbo Traditional Rulers Set to Abolish Osu Caste System Deborah Orji Major traditional rulers in the South-east region have announced date for the abolition of the controversial Osu caste system.

Targeted also for abolition on December 28, 2018, are the Ohu, Ume as well as the Osu caste system which have taken roots in different parts of Igboland. The abolition will take place at the Nri Palace in Anambra State. Regent of the ancient Nri Kingdom, Prince Ikenna Onyesoh, in a statement issued yesterday said there would be far-reaching consequences for those wishing to continue the obnoxious practice after the symbolic

exercise.

According to the Regent, “On December, 28, 2018, more stringent spiritual implications will be pronounced from Ikpo Eze-Nri against such devaluation of mankind after an extensive spiritual abrogation exercise.”

He said it would be “spiritually suicidal for anyone to continue to hold unto these beliefs and practices after that pronouncement on December 28 as the oldest ‘Ofor’ (scepter of authority) in Igbo land shall be deployed for such pronouncements.”

In the statement also, Nri traditional rulers said they were set for the abolition, and effect reparation for the ancient

practice. The Osu caste system has stigmatised some sections of communities in the Southeast region, depriving them of access to social interaction and marriages with the belief that any ‘free born’ that marries an Osu defiles the family.

This obnoxious act however leads to investigations by elders before any marriage is contracted between two families, especially when they are from different communities.

The Osu is allegedly dedicated to deity (Alusi)

while Ohu is said to have inherited slavery as a socio-cultural placement in perpetuity.

According to the Chairman Of Eri Dynasty Traditional Rulers Forum, His Imperial Majesty, Eze Nkeli Nzekwe

Kelly (The Great King Kelly & Okalakwu Igbariam Ancient Kingdom) stated: “The whole world needs to witness what is about to happen in our land on December 28, 2018, “because such thing has never happened before.”

Deputy Gov Settles Lingering Obaship Tussle in Ekiti Town Victor Ogunje in Ado Ekiti Ekiti State Deputy Governor, Otunba Bisi Egbeyemi, has appealed to the people of Isaba Ekiti in Ikole Local Government Area to maintain peace over the vacant kingship stool.

Speaking in a meeting with traditional rulers from the council area led by the Elekole of Ikole Ekiti and Paramount Ruler of Egbeoba land, Oba Adewumi Fasiku, the deputy governor said development can only take place in an atmosphere of peace.

According to a statement signed by the Special Assistant to the deputy governor on Media, Odunayo Ogunmola, the stakeholders expressed their readiness to cooperate with the state government to successfully fill the vacant stool.

Egbeyemi expressed the readiness of the Governor Kayode Fayemi-led administration to touch all communities in the state with developmental projects.

He said: “Development can only take place when we allow peace to reign in our communities, and we are therefore calling on our people to cooperate with this government.

“Within these four years, we will touch all communities, not only the state capital and local government headquarters, but all our towns and villages so that everybody would get what is due to them.”

The deputy governor specifically charged the people of Isaba to give peace a chance and join hands for the development of their community.

According to him, the state government was passionate about peaceful coexistence of people in the state and meaningful development of every town and villages.

Earlier, the Odofin of Isaba, High Chief Paul Oye and Babaegbe Omo Isaba, Otunba Ben Oguntuase, appreciated the state government quick intervention on the matter of vacant stool in the community and promised to abide by the government decision on the matter.

In his remarks, Oba Fasiku urged the Chiefs of Isaba community stick to six kingmakers which are called ‘Iwarafamefa’ in Yorubaland, saying any attempt to change such would cause problems in the future.

Oba Fasiku also observed that any chief who fails to come to the palace is not entitled to monthly stipends.

Okorocha Sues EFCC, IG over Invasion of His Home Governor Rochas Okorocha of Imo State has sued the Inspector General of police (IG), Ibrahim Idris, over an alleged breach of his fundamental human rights in respect to the “ransacking” of his house in Jos. The Cable reported that the governor, who filed his case before Justice Musa Kurya of the Jos Federal High Court, is demanding N1.25 billion as general damages for the action.

Joined in the suit are Plateau State Commissioner of Police, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the attorney-general of the federation and minister of justice.

Okorocha, through his counsel, Markus Saleh (SAN), had told the court that on May 3, the respondents had invaded his home in Jos and held his family members and staff hostage in a search conducted

without any court warrant.

He prayed the court to declare the action as “illegal, null and void” as there was no valid court warrant for such an exercise.

Okorocha also prayed the court for a perpetual injunction restraining the respondents from further doing anything as such in his homes across the country.

He further sought for an order declaring that only the Imo house of assembly had the constitutional rights and power to supervise, monitor, legislate, appropriate and demand accounting of public funds of the state from him.

He asked the court to order the respondents to pay him the N1 billion as general damages and N25 million as cost of instituting the case.

The case has been adjourned to January 24 for the adoption of final written addresses by all parties in the case.

EMPOWERING TRADERS…

L-R: Executive Director, Micro Enterprise, Bank of Industry, Mrs. Toyin Adeniji; Governor of Lagos State, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode; Vice President Yemi Osinbajo; and governorship candidate of All Progressives Congress (APC) in Lagos State, Mr. Jide Sanwo-Olu, during the inauguration of TraderMoni, in Bariga, Ketu and Oshodi markets, in Lagos…recently

House Approves Sourcing Virement from MDAs Shola Oyeyipo in Abuja The House of Representatives has approved that the N242,245,050,100 supplementary budget approved for the execution of the 2019 election through virement sourced from 30 Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) and the Service Wide Votes (SWVs).

The federal government

had kicked against the lawmakers’ refusal to comply with the request of President Muhammadu Buhari who asked the National Assembly to provide the virement from the N557 billion inserted into the budget by the federal lawmakers for their constituency projects.

This came following the consideration of a motion by the Chairman, Appropriations’

Committee, calling on the House to rescind the earlier approval of the virement Budget for Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and security agencies for the conduct of the 2019 general elections and that the execution of the 2019 election should be through virement from 30 Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) and Service Wide Votes.

The Speaker, Hon. Yakubu Dogara, who chaired the Committee of Supply and who was assisted by the Deputy Speaker, Hon. Yusuf Lasun said the deduction on MDAs was evenly so as not to impose burden on them.

He said it was Joint Appropriations Committee decision to make the virement 29 percent across board for all the affected MDAs.

Kano Registers 5.4m Voters for 2019 Elections Ibrahim Shuaibu in Kano The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in Kano State has said about 5, 459, 914 people have been registered as eligible voters to participate in the 2019 elections in the state.

The commission Head of Department (HOD) incharge of Voters’ Education and Publicity in the state, Garba Lawal Muhammad,

told journalists in his office yesterday that 688, 972 eligible voters are yet to collect their Permanent Voters Card (PVC) in the state.

He said the uncollected PVCs as at October 31, 2018, include the number of those registered in 2011, 2015 and 2017/2018.

Mohammed noted that the figure may reduce, pointing out that “I must say that this figure is tentative because we

are still cleaning the register to ascertain the number of people who are no longer here as a result of death, relocation or other situation. At the end of the day, the number may reduce.

“For those who registered from April 2017 to date, we have 75, 798 registered voters who have already collected their PVC. “However, for those who registered from the second

quarter of 2018 to August 31, 2018, their PVC will soon be ready for collection, as we are still waiting them to arrive from the headquarters.

“Before 2015 elections, we had 4, 994, 913 registered voters who participated in the last general elections.

Presently, we have 5, 459, 914 registered and eligible voters who are supposed to participate in the 2019 general election.”

Saraki, Secondus Inspect Campaign Office, Assure Atiku of Victory Adedayo Akinwale in Abuja The Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki, and the National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Prince Uche Secondus, yesterday inspected the party’s Presidential Campaign Office in Maitama in preparatory to the commencement of the nationwide presidential campaign.

Saraki, who is also the Director General, Atiku Presidential Campaign Organisation, however assured the former Vice President Atiku Abubakar of victory in the

February 16, 2019 presidential election.

The Senate President said that everything is set for the party to conduct one of the best presidential campaigns in history as Nigerians are anxiously waiting for the party.

Saraki noted that every hand must be on deck to see off the All Progressives Congress (APC) to save the nation’s democracy and rescue the country.

Conducting the Senate President round the campaign complex, Secondus said that the rebranded and repositioned party is ready to go to Nigerians with issues when the campaign

begins.

He stressed that the party hopes to have a very successful electioneering just like their just completed primaries that was climaxed with the landmark national convention.

Saraki was accompanied on the inspection of the campaign office by members of the National Working Committee of the party and other critical stakeholders of the party.

Meanwhile, Atiku has welcomed the news that the federal government has agreed to pay the N30,000 minimum wage it had previously negotiated with the organised labour.

While expressing his commitment to the living wage, Atiku said one of the pillars of his soon to be launched policy document is making workers welfare a priority.

The former Vice President in a statement yesterday by his campaign organisation said that the Nigerian worker is the goose that lays the golden egg and is worthy of the best pay that Nigeria can afford.

He commended the patriotism displayed by the leadership of the Nigerian Labour Congress and its affiliates in calling off the planned nationwide strike.

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Benedict Peters’ Name Removed from EFCC’s Wanted Persons’ List Alex Enumah in Abuja The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has removed the name of billionaire businessman and founder of AITEO Group, Benedict

Peters, from the agency’s list of Wanted Persons’ List published on the official website of the commission.

The EFCC had on August 15, 2016, declared Peters wanted in connection with an ongoing

ANCHOR BORROWER: 850,000 FARMERS INTEGRATED INTO FINANCIAL SYSTEM Speaking at the opening of a workshop on remittances household surveys which was jointly organised by the CBN and the African Institute for Remittances, Emefiele said: “Nigeria is yet to conduct a household based remittances survey to provide scientific estimates of these inflows.

“In addition, data from banking records also come with some discrepancies due to classification challenges on the part of the reporting institutions.”

According to him, remittances inflows contributes substantially to foreign exchange earnings of developing countries including Nigeria- and exceeds international aids and grants in some cases.

He noted that global remittances had risen gradually over the years to about $613 billion in 2017- with Africa accounting for $72 billion, out of which Nigeria has the lion share as well as ranked among the top five globally.

Represented by the Director, Statistics Department, CBN, Dr.

Mohammed Tumala, the central bank boss further stated that the purpose of the meeting was to bring together, officials of the Africa Union (AU) member states to brainstorm and share experiences on how to enhance remittances statistics through the conduct of remittances household surveys.

He added that the country had in recent years taken measures targeted at attracting remittances inflows and contribute to its economic development.

These, according to him included the appointment of a Special Adviser to the President on foreign affairs and diaspora matters and the establishment of the standing committee on diaspora by the legislature.

Other measures included the floating of a $300 million diaspora bond by government and the introduction of electronic Certificate of Capital Importation to Nigerians in the diaspora as well as becoming a member of the International Association of Money Transfer Networks.

investigation being conducted by it.

However, the removal of Peters name from the list of wanted persons is believed to be in complaince with the Judgment of a High Court of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) which held that the commission cannot declare any person wanted without obtaining an order of the court to do so.

Justice Othman Musa, who had in his March 22, 2018 judgment in the suit filed by Peters challenging his declaration as a wanted person voided the action of the agency and subsequently ordered the EFCC to immediately remove the name of the billionaire businessman

from their wanted persons list.

Musa agreed with the submission of the plaintiff that the EFCC had powers to declare somebody wanted but that it must be done in strict compliance with the rule of law and order of the court.

He said the action of the agency in contravention of the rule of the law by declaring him wanted without a valid court order infringed on the rights of Benedict Peters.

Musa further held that the declaration of Peters as a wanted person/the uploading of his data on the website of the EFCC is unconstitutional, null and void.

He also ordered the EFCC to immediately remove the name

of Peters from its website where wanted persons list are uploaded.

However after nearly eight months since the court made the order, the EFCC finally complied yesterday and removed the name of Benedict Peters from the list of wanted persons on the EFCC website.

A source close to the founder of Aiteo group, who preferred anonymity, described the action of the EFCC as a great improvement in the rule of law records of President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration and the leadership of the agency under Ibrahim Magu.

Speaking to reporters in Abuja, a cross section of

human rights lawyers, civil society organisations, Arewa Consultative Youth Movement, and Ohanaeze Youth Movement, in an aggregate view, applauded President Buhari, the Attorney General of the Federation Abubakar Malami and the EFCC leadership led by Ibrahim Magu for igniting the fire of submission to the principle of rule of law with their decision to comply with the order of the court.

They all described the EFCC’s action as a great confidence building for the Buhari-led federal government and a plus in Magu’s quest to run an efficient agency rooted in the sacred principles of rule of law.

Fashola, Nnaji, Abaribe, Others for Power Safety Summit The Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Babatunde Raji Fashola (SAN); Professor of Robotics Engineering and former Minister of Power, Barth Nnaji, and former Permanent Secretary of Ministry of Power, Godknows Igali, are some of the high profile power industry experts that would speak at the forthcoming Power Safety Summit and Exhibition on November 27 to 28, 2018, in Abuja.

The summit, expected to attract stakeholders from across the power sector value chain, both within and outside Nigeria, according to the Media Adviser of the Summit, Charles

Ozoemena, will take place at the prestigious Nicon Luxury Hotel, Abuja.

Other confirmed speakers for the summit are Permanent Secretary (Power), Federal Ministry of Power, Works and Housing, Prof. Louis Edozien; Chief Executive, Nigerian Electricity Management Services Agency (NEMSA), Peter Ewesor, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), Professor James Momoh, and Managing Director and Chief Executive, Niger Delta Power Holding Company (NDPHC), Chiedu Ugbo.

Dickson’s Mother for Burial December Emmanuel Addeh in Yenagoa The remains of Madam GoldCoast, mother of the Bayelsa State Governor, Mr. Seriake Dickson, who died of cancer in August, will be interred in December in Toru- Angiama, Delta State.

A statement signed yesterday by the governor on behalf of the Nanaye Dickson family of ToruOrua, Sagbama and the Enimieye Compound of Toru-Angiama, Delta State, said the funeral rites will begin with a service of songs on December 6 at the Ecumenical Centre, Yenagoa.

“With gratitude to the Almighty God for a life well spent, I, Henry Seriake Dickson, Governor of Bayelsa State, on behalf of the Nanaye Dickson family of Toru Orua, Bayelsa State and the Enimieye Compound of Toru Angiama, in Esinikrizi, quarters of Delta State, hereby

announce the funeral rites of our late dear mother, Mrs. GoldCoast Dickson, who passed unto eternal glory in August 2018 at the age of 72,” the statement said. “ I appreciate the enormous and unprecedented out ouring of support and solidarity by way of calls, the numerous condolence visits, letters and others to the family.

“Now that the rains and the unfortunate flood are receding, the families and the communities hereby announce the funeral rites.

“Our families, the communities, the government the good people of Bayelsa State and I will be greatly honoured by your attendance at the funeral ceremonies as we pay our last respects to a truly golden mother.

“The public should please treat this announcement as a formal invitation to the burial,” the statement added.

AFRICA OIL WEEK…

L-R: Company Secretary, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Chidi Momah; NNPC’s Chief Operating Officer (Upstream), Rabiu Bello; General Manager, External Relations, Oando Energy Resources, Kofo Tunji-Olagunju, and General Manager, Commercial, Oando Energy Resources, Akinbambo Ibidapo-Obe, at Oando’s exhibition booth, during the 25th Africa Oil Week Conference in South Africa… recently

EU, Netherlands Envoys Hail Ugwuanyi’s Giant Strides The European Union Ambassador/Head of Delegation in Nigeria and ECOWAS, Mr. Ketil Karlsen and the Netherlands’ Ambassador to Nigeria, Robert Petri, yesterday, paid a courtesy visit to Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi of Enugu State at the Government House, Enugu.

The duo were in Enugu State for the EU-funded Youth Votes Count Campus

Outreach held at the University of Nigeria of Nigeria Nsukka.

In a brief chat with journalists at the Government House, the EU Ambassador, disclosed that the programme was “to support a clear process of free, fair, credible and peaceful elections” and “the importance of making votes count”.

Karlsen expressed delight with the giant development

strides and peaceful and serene atmosphere of Enugu State.

He said that Enugu State is “one of the most orderly place we have seen in Nigeria”, adding that “we enjoyed the road to University of Nigeria Nsukka”.

The Ambassador stated they had “the privilege to have a very good discussion with the governor on the challenges

and opportunities in Enugu State, and of course the importance of our continued partnership not only through development cooperation but also through investments and job opportunities”.

Speaking further on his experience in Enugu State, the envoy said: “I must say that I have a wonderful impression, very calm and serene. So, it has been a pleasure to be here.”

FG, CBN REJECT US REPORT ON RISING RICE IMPORTATION importation through what has become famed as the Rice Revolution.

Meanehile, the presidential candidate of the PDP, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, has said the claim by the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari that it has increased rice production in the country is false.

Atiku in a statement issued yesterday by his campaign organisation said the recently released data from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) World Markets and Trade Report has proven the claims by Buhari and his government to be false.

President Buhari boasted about it when he told British Prime Minister, Theresa May, on April 16, 2018, that: “We have cut rice importation by about 90 per cent; made a lot of savings of foreign exchange and generated employment. People had rushed to the cities to get oil money, at the expense of farming. But luckily, they are now going back to the farms. Even professionals are going back to the land. We are making steady progress on the road to food security.”

Atiku noted that the Minister of Agriculture, Chief Audu Ogbeh, on May 2, 2018, also made similar claim.

According to Ogbe, “Unemployment in Thailand was one of the lowest in the world, 1.2 per cent, it has gone up to four per cent because seven giant rice mills have shut down because Nigeria’s import has fallen by 95 per cent on rice alone.”

The former vice-president, however, noted that the “World Markets and Trade Report of the USDA, which is a public document disclosed that Nigeria imported three million metric tons of rice in 2018, which is 400,000 metric tons more than the quantity of the product imported in 2017.

“It does not end there. The

report shows that there has actually been a steep drop in commercial rice production from its 2015 peak under the previous Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) administration.”

Quoting the report further, Atiku added that “Nigeria had consistently milled 3,780,000 metric tons annually-a drop from 3,941,000 metric tons recorded in 2015.”

Atiku, therefore, appealed to Buhari and his government to be truthful to the Nigerian public, rather than claiming progress they have not made, “because no matter how far and fast falsehood has travelled, it must eventually be overtaken by the truth.”

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Fighter Jets, Helicopters Bomb Boko Haram Camps in Borno Kingsley Nwezeh in Abuja Nigerian Air Force (NAF) jet fighters and attack helicopters yesterday bombarded terrorist locations in Ngwuri Gana in Borno State.

The attack followed reports that large numbers of Boko Haram operatives were planning

to launch attacks on troop positions from the identified settlement. The bombings led to the death of many of the terrorists and the destruction of the group’s communication centre where its flag was hoisted.

Confirming the development, NAF, spokesman, Air

Commodore Ibikunle Daramola, said NAF launched coordinated attacks on various targets.

“The Air Task Force (ATF) of Operation Lafiya Dole, yesterday, destroyed a Boko Haram camp and neutralised several terrorists at Ngwuri Gana in Borno State. “The operation was carried out based

on human intelligence reports indicating that the settlement was one of the locations from where terrorists launch attacks against troops’ positions and villages around the general area of Kumshe. “Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) missions later confirmed the presence of a large number

of the terrorists in the settlement and also identified a suspected communications centre with Boko Haram flag and solar panels mounted. “Accordingly, the ATF launched a coordinated attack on various targets within the settlement employing Alpha Jet and F-7Ni aircraft as well as Mi-35 attack helicopters

leading to the destruction of communication centre and neutralisation of several terrorists”, he said.

Daramola said “the NAF, working in concert with surface forces, will sustain the tempo of operations with a view to destroying all remnants of the terrorists in Borno State”.

RVSG Faults Tonye Cole on Traditional Rulers 2019: Igbo in Diaspora Insists on Restructuring Ugo Aliogo

The Rivers State Government yesterday said the admonition to Rivers State traditional rulers to stay away from partisan politics was in the best interest of the state and integrity of the positions they occupy as impartial peacemakers.

Reacting to a statement issued by Dr. Chidi Lloyd on behalf of Tonye Cole Campaign Organisation describing Governor Nyesom Wike’s advice as inciting, the state Commissioner for Information and Communications, Emma Okah, said the Direcor General was misguided because Rivers people are not in a hurry to return to the dark days before May 29, 2015 when the sword of agony was hanging over the heads of traditional rulers if they did not openly support the All Progressives Congress (APC).

“Before Wike came into

office, the APC government in the state implemented an unwritten code that traditional rulers should support only the APC candidates in the State and shun politicians from the PDP or face severe sanctions. As a result, many of them ran away from their palaces and refused to receive Wike who was then the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) guber candidate in order to avoid the APC mayhem,” Okah said He said it is on record that some traditional rulers at that time were actively involved in partisan politics and taking advertisements in national and local newspapers to campaign for the APC and that in spite of this, the Wike administration did not punish any of them when he became governor.

Okah stated that although Cole is new to the politics of the state, it was important that his campaign director states why

the Elele King was denied staff of office, official vehicle and allowances after receiving Wike in his palace in Elele Town.

Contrary to the cheap propaganda mouthed by the Campaign Director, Okah said, “Traditional rulers are custodians of culture and tradition of their people as well as peacemakers in their domain. For this role, they are paid stipends from public funds as partners in development at the grassroots.

Therefore, it is only natural that if they are to leave their domain for engagements with public agencies outside the state, the governor deserve notification as elementary courtesy demands.

“For the Director General to see such harmony and courtesy as evil tells a lot about the quality of the campaign he will direct if Cole eventually becomes a governorship candidate in the 2019 elections.

Raheem Akingbolu The umbrella body of Igbo organisations in over 35 countries and the representatives of Ohanaeze Ndiigbo in Diaspora, Igbo World Assembly (IWA) has insisted that it would only support a candidate who believes and would implement the restructuring agenda, regionalisation and devolution of powers, among others.

In a world press conference jointly addressed by its Chairman, Nwachukwu Anakwenze and Secretary General, Oliver Nwankwor, at the weekend, the group noted that candidates for political positions must be “committed to core beliefs and principles, including respect for constitution and rule of law, respect for human rights and civil rights, respect

for the federal character commission rules, merit-based appointment to government positions, firm knowledge and competent management of Nigeria’s economy, detribalised appointments and leadership in all sectors of the government”.

Other core principles potential political leaders must meet, according to IWA, will also include equal and equitable treatment of all Nigerians regardless of tribes of origins or religion, elimination of ethnic cleansing in the Nigerian political space, belief in free and fair electoral process and avoidance of election rigging and belief in a government that will unite all Nigerians and not one that is divisive.

This is even as the Diaspora Igbo group expressed satisfaction over

the nomination of the presidential aspirants and the Vice Presidents of the two major political parties, the All Peoples Congress (APC), led by President Muhammadu Buhari and Vice President Yemi Osinbajo and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) led by Atiku Abubakar and Peter Obi. “We want a Nigeria where the majority’s right is balanced with the minority’s right. We want a Nigeria where various ethnic groups feel that they have a stake in the future of the country.

Meanwhile, IWA leaders from the 35-member countries after deliberations on the global teleconference (Skype) meeting on October 14, had unanimously commended Atiku for his decision to nominate Obi as his vice presidential candidate.

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THISDAYt WEDNESDAY NOVEMBER 7, 2018

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Group Sports Editor Duro Ikhazuagbe Email duro.ikhazuagbe@thisdaylive.com 0811 181 3083 SMS ONLY

In the Midst of ConflictingTunes, NNL Insists on Play-off for NPFL Qualification Duro Ikhazuagbe and Femi Solaja The Nigeria National League (NNL) insisted yesterday that it is not yet Uhuru for Bendel Insurance FC of Benin in its quest to join the professional rank of the countryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s club football yet.

The lower league body clarified the status of the Benin club against a backdrop of conflicting tunes that Bendel Insuranceâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s 2-1 victory over Shooting Stars of Ibadan at University of Benin Sports Complex on Monday morning was enough to guarantee its qualification to the Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL).

But yesterday, the Executive Secretary of NNL, Lawrence Katken, clarified that the lower league body was a bit disturbed with phone calls from interested parties for clarification on whether the Super 8 play-off would still go ahead or has been shelved. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We stand by the rules set at the beginning of the season which will allow two top teams in each group to contest for a play-off that will produce four teams that will gain promotion

into the elite division next season,â&#x20AC;? he explained yesterday.

He said further that, â&#x20AC;&#x153;the club congress without any opposition agreed at the beginning of the season that the two top teams in each group will play the Super 8 where the top four clubs will pick the tickets into the NPFL. â&#x20AC;&#x153;The arrangement is no secret to all the clubs. They are aware of the rules guiding the league, except some people want to be mischievous about it.

â&#x20AC;&#x153;For me, it is not true that Insurance FC has gained promotion to play the NPFL in NPFL next season. They still have a bridge to cross and thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s the Super 8,â&#x20AC;? he confirmed.

According to the rule of the NNL at the beginning of the season, the top two finishers in each of the two groups in each conference (North A1, A2 and South B1, B2) will square up to produce two teams in each of the conferences to move to

due to heavy down pour and poor visibility. â&#x20AC;&#x153;The case is also before the disciplinary committee, and the outcome will also have a telling effect on the group by blowing it wide open if it goes against Real Stars,â&#x20AC;? observed a source close to the NNL. With all these pending matters before the NFFâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Disciplinary Committee and the fact that NPFL rule grants promoted teams minimum of one month to prepare for life in the Nigerian topflight, appear major hurdles that may make sticking to the NNL rule of a Super 8 play-off difficult.

The League Management Committee (LMC) had to resort to an abridged league, that is ending the season midway and declare the leading team, Lobi Stars, Nigeriaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s representative in next seasonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s CAF Champions League.

Nigeria would have missed the deadline for the submission of the name of the countryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s representatives if LMC had insisted on going all the way to the last game of the NPFL.

the bench to contribute 14 points and 5 rebounds.

Dolphins overcame their 2017 heartbreak with a commanding 57-44 points win over new comers Mountain of Fire and Miracles Ministry basketball team.

Bintu Badmus who played 32 minutes contributed 19 points, 2 assists and 9 rebounds to aid her teamâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s progress.

Fumnanya Ijeh who was recently invited to the senior womenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s team preparing for the FIBA Africa 3x3 cup of Nations also shot 10 points and 5 assists. Mountain of Fire who were undone by inexperience lost out of a possible place in the final and will now face

Customs in the 3rd place play off at 12noon today.

Dolphins will face defending champions, First Bank at 2pm today in the final Zenith Bank Womenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s League National Final 6. In a classification match decided also yesterday, Kaduna Angels defeated Plateau Rocks 68-51 and that means the Angels finished fifth in the Final Six while Plateau Rocks are 6th.

The Group Managing Director of Zenith Bank, Peter Amangbo, is expected to be in attendance along with other top dignitaries of the sponsors while the Nigeria Basketball Federation led by Musa Kida will also be all out to witness the final of this competition.

Investiture of NOC Patrons to Hold Thursday in Abuja Pursuant to its resolve to reposition the Olympic Movement in Nigeria and explore new frontiers in spreading the benefits of Olympic ideals in the country, the Nigeria Olympic Committee (NOC) will tomorrow, November 8, conduct the investiture of its patrons from the northern part of the country in Abuja. The event scheduled to hold at the Sheraton Hotel and Towers in the federal capita city is a continuation of a similar exercise conducted at the Elegushi Palace in Lagos a fortnight ago where five prominent personalities were decorated. Six eminent Nigerians who will be honoured at the Abuja occasion include Alhaji

Liverpool Shocked by Red Star Belgrade squandered a great chance from six yards out in the 17th minute.

The Reds had more than 80% of the possession and hit the woodwork twice in the second half but could not score as Red Star recorded their 10th clean sheet in their last 15 home games in Europe.

Elsewhere on the night, Thierry Henryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Monaco are on the brink of Champions League elimination after they were thrashed 4-0 by Club Brugge.

The Ligue 1 side have one point from four matches and will be out if Atletico Madrid beat Borussia Dortmund in last nightâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s late fixture.

Henry, 41, is winless in five games in charge, with this a third defeat.

A Hans Vanaken double and a Wesley Moraes strike put Club Brugge 3-0 up at the break, before Ruud Vormer completed the victory late in the second half.

This was Monacoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s heaviest defeat in Champions League history and extends their run this season to 15 games without a victory in all competitions.

RESULTS Monaco Atletico Inter Tottenham Zvezda Napoli Porto Schalke

0-4 Brugge 2- 0 Dortmund 1-1 Barca 2-1 PSV 2-0 Liverpool 1-1 PSG 4- 1Lokomotiv 2-0 Galatasaray

WEDNESDAY FIXTURES Valencia CSKA Moscow Benfica Vâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Plzen Man City Bâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Munich Lyonn Juventus

v v v v v v v v

Young Boys Roma Ajax Real Madrid Shakhtar AEK Athens Hoffenheim Man Utd

Ibrahim Galadima; the Executive Governor of Bauchi, Mohammed Abdullahi Abubakar; Wife of Kebbi State Governor, Zainab Bagudu; Gbong Gwom Jos, Da Jacob Gyang Buba; Major General Adamu Dyeri (rtd) and Alhaji Bashari Mohammed Gumel. At the Lagos event, the following personalities were inducted as Patrons of the NOC. They include; Mrs Kofo Nwokedi, Sir Marc Wabara, Dr Emmanuel Uduaghan, Asiwaju Ahmed Bola Tinubu and His Royal Majesty Oba S.A. Elegushi.

NOC President, Habu Gumel, who is also a member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), said that the Olympic

body decided to pick men and women with passion for sports who will be able to impact on the activities of the body so as to affect the well-being of Nigerian athletes. â&#x20AC;&#x153;The fatherly role and duties of our distinguished Patrons, whom we are inaugurating are majorly advisory and ambassadorial. We shall from time to time defer to your high offices with a view to seeking your advice or guidance and also take advantage of your wealth of experience or connectivity to further strengthen our operations and the delivery of our common Olympic Movement objectives,â&#x20AC;? Gumel said in a statement yesterday.

Active Kids Rocked at MTN 2018 Mini Marathon

UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE

Liverpool suffered a shock in Serbia as two goals from Milan Pavkov gave Red Star Belgrade victory in their Champions League group-stage encounter.

Victory would have taken Liverpool four points clear at the top of Group C but they will be knocked off that spot later on Tuesday, whatever the result between Napoli and Paris St-Germain, who kick off at 20:00 GMT. Forward Pavkov headed his side into the lead after 21 minutes and fired a powerful effort into the bottom corner to make it 2-0 shortly afterwards.

The hosts dominated the first half and came close through Vujadin Savic and El Fardou Ben Nabouhane before Pavkovâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s opening goal.

Liverpoolâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Daniel Sturridge

the 88 minutes with Kada City leading by a lone goal is before the Disciplinary Committee of the Nigeria Football Federation. The decision reached on that case is likely going to alter the standing in the group.

In the other group of the northern conference, Malumfashi FC has a protest before the NNL, asking that it be awarded maximum points in the game with Real Stars. The match was said to have ended

Red Star Belgrade players celebrating their 2-0 defeat of Liverpoolâ&#x20AC;Ś yesterday

Zenith Bank Women League: First Bank to Face Dolphins in Final Zenith Bank Womenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s League defending Champions, First Bank will face Dolphins in the final of the Zenith Bank Womenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s League National Final 6.

First Bank and Dolphins who qualified for the final will also represent Nigeria in the 2018 FIBA Africa Women Club Championship.

Yesterday, First Bank Basketball Club of Lagos proved bookmakers right with an easy win over Nigeria Customs.

The Elephant girls crushed Customs 73-44 as they dominated the whole four quarters 19-14, 18-18, 23-10 and 14-10.

Nkechi Akashili dropped 20 points, 7 assists and 4 rebounds while Okoro Ifunanya came from

the Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL).

THISDAY learnt yesterday that of the four groups, only one group (B1 that have both Bendel Insurance and 3SC is the only one about to conclude their season as Insurance takes on Spartans today at the Agege Stadium. The two northern groups, it was also learnt, are a long way from concluding their season. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Kada City and Kaduna Utd match that was disrupted in

(18:55pm) (18:55pm) (21:00pm) (21:00pm) (21:00pm) (21:00pm) (21:00pm) (21:00pm)

For more than three hours on Saturday November 3, 2018, parents, teachers and marathon fans were thrilled by the performance of nearly 2000 children who took part in the 2018 Lagos Kids Mini Marathon â&#x20AC;&#x201C; an initiative of St. Saviourâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s School, Ikoyi Endowment Fund.

The Lagos Kids Mini Marathon - which was supported

by MTN through its mPulse (a special customer proposition for teens and tweens) - is the first kids-focused marathon event in Lagos and was created to inspire children to be more physically active from an early age, as well as raise funds for charity.

This yearâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s event had as its theme: â&#x20AC;&#x153;Active Kids Rockâ&#x20AC;?.

After an exciting run through the streets of Ikoyi, the race ended with Gbenle

Similoluwa and Goodluck Dara emerging winners in the male and female category.

They each went home with a prize of N100, 000, courtesy of MTN. The second prize-winners Muritala Toheeb and Agbede Ibukun received N50,000 each, while Akodenu Joleme and Olojede Tofunmi went home with N25,000 each as third prize winners. Participants at the event also went home with various gift items courtesy of MTN Nigeria.

Congratulating the winners, the Chief Marketing Officer, MTN Nigeria, Rahul De said â&#x20AC;&#x153;this event not only provides a platform for the participating kids to engage in physical exercises; we believe it would also stimulate children to adopt healthy lifestyles from a very young age.â&#x20AC;?

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Group Sports Editor Duro Ikhazuagbe Email duro.ikhazuagbe@thisdaylive.com 0811 181 3083 SMS ONLY

In the Midst of ConflictingTunes, NNL Insists on Play-off for NPFL Qualification Duro Ikhazuagbe and Femi Solaja The Nigeria National League (NNL) insisted yesterday that it is not yet Uhuru for Bendel Insurance FC of Benin in its quest to join the professional rank of the countryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s club football yet.

The lower league body clarified the status of the Benin club against a backdrop of conflicting tunes that Bendel Insuranceâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s 2-1 victory over Shooting Stars of Ibadan at University of Benin Sports Complex on Monday morning was enough to guarantee its qualification to the Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL).

But yesterday, the Executive Secretary of NNL, Lawrence Katken, clarified that the lower league body was a bit disturbed with phone calls from interested parties for clarification on whether the Super 8 play-off would still go ahead or has been shelved. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We stand by the rules set at the beginning of the season which will allow two top teams in each group to contest for a play-off that will produce four teams that will gain promotion

into the elite division next season,â&#x20AC;? he explained yesterday.

He said further that, â&#x20AC;&#x153;the club congress without any opposition agreed at the beginning of the season that the two top teams in each group will play the Super 8 where the top four clubs will pick the tickets into the NPFL. â&#x20AC;&#x153;The arrangement is no secret to all the clubs. They are aware of the rules guiding the league, except some people want to be mischievous about it.

â&#x20AC;&#x153;For me, it is not true that Insurance FC has gained promotion to play the NPFL in NPFL next season. They still have a bridge to cross and thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s the Super 8,â&#x20AC;? he confirmed.

According to the rule of the NNL at the beginning of the season, the top two finishers in each of the two groups in each conference (North A1, A2 and South B1, B2) will square up to produce two teams in each of the conferences to move to

due to heavy down pour and poor visibility. â&#x20AC;&#x153;The case is also before the disciplinary committee, and the outcome will also have a telling effect on the group by blowing it wide open if it goes against Real Stars,â&#x20AC;? observed a source close to the NNL. With all these pending matters before the NFFâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Disciplinary Committee and the fact that NPFL rule grants promoted teams minimum of one month to prepare for life in the Nigerian topflight, appear major hurdles that may make sticking to the NNL rule of a Super 8 play-off difficult.

The League Management Committee (LMC) had to resort to an abridged league, that is ending the season midway and declare the leading team, Lobi Stars, Nigeriaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s representative in next seasonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s CAF Champions League.

Nigeria would have missed the deadline for the submission of the name of the countryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s representatives if LMC had insisted on going all the way to the last game of the NPFL.

the bench to contribute 14 points and 5 rebounds.

Dolphins overcame their 2017 heartbreak with a commanding 57-44 points win over new comers Mountain of Fire and Miracles Ministry basketball team.

Bintu Badmus who played 32 minutes contributed 19 points, 2 assists and 9 rebounds to aid her teamâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s progress.

Fumnanya Ijeh who was recently invited to the senior womenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s team preparing for the FIBA Africa 3x3 cup of Nations also shot 10 points and 5 assists. Mountain of Fire who were undone by inexperience lost out of a possible place in the final and will now face

Customs in the 3rd place play off at 12noon today.

Dolphins will face defending champions, First Bank at 2pm today in the final Zenith Bank Womenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s League National Final 6. In a classification match decided also yesterday, Kaduna Angels defeated Plateau Rocks 68-51 and that means the Angels finished fifth in the Final Six while Plateau Rocks are 6th.

The Group Managing Director of Zenith Bank, Peter Amangbo, is expected to be in attendance along with other top dignitaries of the sponsors while the Nigeria Basketball Federation led by Musa Kida will also be all out to witness the final of this competition.

Investiture of NOC Patrons to Hold in AbujaThursday Pursuant to its resolve to reposition the Olympic Movement in Nigeria and explore new frontiers in spreading the benefits of Olympic ideals in the country, the Nigeria Olympic Committee (NOC) will tomorrow, November 8, conduct the investiture of its patrons from the northern part of the country in Abuja. The event scheduled to hold at the Sheraton Hotel and Towers in the federal capita city is a continuation of a similar exercise conducted at the Elegushi Palace in Lagos a fortnight ago where five prominent personalities were decorated. Six eminent Nigerians who will be honoured at the Abuja occasion include Alhaji

Liverpool Shocked by Red Star Belgrade squandered a great chance from six yards out in the 17th minute.

The Reds had more than 80% of the possession and hit the woodwork twice in the second half but could not score as Red Star recorded their 10th clean sheet in their last 15 home games in Europe.

Elsewhere on the night, Thierry Henryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Monaco are on the brink of Champions League elimination after they were thrashed 4-0 by Club Brugge.

The Ligue 1 side have one point from four matches and will be out if Atletico Madrid beat Borussia Dortmund in last nightâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s late fixture.

Henry, 41, is winless in five games in charge, with this a third defeat.

A Hans Vanaken double and a Wesley Moraes strike put Club Brugge 3-0 up at the break, before Ruud Vormer completed the victory late in the second half.

This was Monacoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s heaviest defeat in Champions League history and extends their run this season to 15 games without a victory in all competitions.

RESULTS Monaco Atletico Inter Tottenham Zvezda Napoli Porto Schalke

0-4 Brugge 2- 0 Dortmund 1-1 Barca 2-1 PSV 2-0 Liverpool 1-1 PSG 4- 1Lokomotiv 2-0 Galatasaray

WEDNESDAY FIXTURES Valencia CSKA Moscow Benfica Vâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Plzen Man City Bâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Munich Lyonn Juventus

v v v v v v v v

Young Boys Roma Ajax Real Madrid Shakhtar AEK Athens Hoffenheim Man Utd

Ibrahim Galadima; the Executive Governor of Bauchi, Mohammed Abdullahi Abubakar; Wife of Kebbi State Governor, Zainab Bagudu; Gbong Gwom Jos, Da Jacob Gyang Buba; Major General Adamu Dyeri (rtd) and Alhaji Bashari Mohammed Gumel. At the Lagos event, the following personalities were inducted as Patrons of the NOC. They include; Mrs Kofo Nwokedi, Sir Marc Wabara, Dr Emmanuel Uduaghan, Asiwaju Ahmed Bola Tinubu and His Royal Majesty Oba S.A. Elegushi.

NOC President, Habu Gumel, who is also a member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), said that the Olympic

body decided to pick men and women with passion for sports who will be able to impact on the activities of the body so as to affect the well-being of Nigerian athletes. â&#x20AC;&#x153;The fatherly role and duties of our distinguished Patrons, whom we are inaugurating are majorly advisory and ambassadorial. We shall from time to time defer to your high offices with a view to seeking your advice or guidance and also take advantage of your wealth of experience or connectivity to further strengthen our operations and the delivery of our common Olympic Movement objectives,â&#x20AC;? Gumel said in a statement yesterday.

Active Kids Rocked at MTN 2018 Mini Marathon

UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE

Liverpool suffered a shock in Serbia as two goals from Milan Pavkov gave Red Star Belgrade victory in their Champions League group-stage encounter.

Victory would have taken Liverpool four points clear at the top of Group C but they will be knocked off that spot later on Tuesday, whatever the result between Napoli and Paris St-Germain, who kick off at 20:00 GMT. Forward Pavkov headed his side into the lead after 21 minutes and fired a powerful effort into the bottom corner to make it 2-0 shortly afterwards.

The hosts dominated the first half and came close through Vujadin Savic and El Fardou Ben Nabouhane before Pavkovâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s opening goal.

Liverpoolâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Daniel Sturridge

the 88 minutes with Kada City leading by a lone goal is before the Disciplinary Committee of the Nigeria Football Federation. The decision reached on that case is likely going to alter the standing in the group.

In the other group of the northern conference, Malumfashi FC has a protest before the NNL, asking that it be awarded maximum points in the game with Real Stars. The match was said to have ended

Red Star Belgrade players celebrating their 2-0 defeat of Liverpoolâ&#x20AC;Ś yesterday

Zenith Bank Women League: First Bank to Face Dolphins in Final Zenith Bank Womenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s League defending Champions, First Bank will face Dolphins in the final of the Zenith Bank Womenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s League National Final 6.

First Bank and Dolphins who qualified for the final will also represent Nigeria in the 2018 FIBA Africa Women Club Championship.

Yesterday, First Bank Basketball Club of Lagos proved bookmakers right with an easy win over Nigeria Customs.

The Elephant girls crushed Customs 73-44 as they dominated the whole four quarters 19-14, 18-18, 23-10 and 14-10.

Nkechi Akashili dropped 20 points, 7 assists and 4 rebounds while Okoro Ifunanya came from

the Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL).

THISDAY learnt yesterday that of the four groups, only one group (B1 that have both Bendel Insurance and 3SC is the only one about to conclude their season as Insurance takes on Spartans today at the Agege Stadium. The two northern groups, it was also learnt, are a long way from concluding their season. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Kada City and Kaduna Utd match that was disrupted in

(18:55pm) (18:55pm) (21:00pm) (21:00pm) (21:00pm) (21:00pm) (21:00pm) (21:00pm)

For more than three hours on Saturday November 3, 2018, parents, teachers and marathon fans were thrilled by the performance of nearly 2000 children who took part in the 2018 Lagos Kids Mini Marathon â&#x20AC;&#x201C; an initiative of St. Saviourâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s School, Ikoyi Endowment Fund.

The Lagos Kids Mini Marathon - which was supported

by MTN through its mPulse (a special customer proposition for teens and tweens) - is the first kids-focused marathon event in Lagos and was created to inspire children to be more physically active from an early age, as well as raise funds for charity.

This yearâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s event had as its theme: â&#x20AC;&#x153;Active Kids Rockâ&#x20AC;?.

After an exciting run through the streets of Ikoyi, the race ended with Gbenle

Similoluwa and Goodluck Dara emerging winners in the male and female category.

They each went home with a prize of N100, 000, courtesy of MTN. The second prize-winners Muritala Toheeb and Agbede Ibukun received N50,000 each, while Akodenu Joleme and Olojede Tofunmi went home with N25,000 each as third prize winners. Participants at the event also went home with various gift items courtesy of MTN Nigeria.

Congratulating the winners, the Chief Marketing Officer, MTN Nigeria, Rahul De said â&#x20AC;&#x153;this event not only provides a platform for the participating kids to engage in physical exercises; we believe it would also stimulate children to adopt healthy lifestyles from a very young age.â&#x20AC;?

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MISSILE Saraki to NNPC “So if the National Assembly called on NNPC to carry out its legitimate duty of ensuring adequate fuel supply to Nigerians, the GMD logically thinks the corporation by that call has the licence to perpetrate illegality, spend money without approval and violate appropriation laws.”

–Senate President, Bukola Saraki, faulting NNPC’s GMD for claiming that the illegal diversion of dividends from the NLNG was done in compliance with National Assembly directive

KAYODEKOMOLAFE Beyond Geographical Restructuring T THE HORIZON

he legitimate advocacy for restructuring to correct the distortions of the Nigerian federalism suffers from a major draw back: those making the arguments for restructuring are not playing the politics of it well.

It was a senior advocate of Nigeria, Olisa Agbakoba, who alluded to this fact a few months ago at a distinguished forum organised by some members of the Yoruba elite who belong to a group called Voice of Reason.

One indicator of the faulty politics of restructuring is the seeming dichotomy between the political elite in power and those outside in their approaches to restructuring. For instance, why are regional and ethnic champions not working in synchrony with those representing them in the national and state assemblies? After all, restructuring is ultimately a constitutional exercise, which is within the purview of legislators across the country. This synchrony of purpose should be part of a good restructuring politics.

But, in the clamour for “for true federalism,” those wrongly perceived as “enemies” of restructuring are not spared of insults, prejudicial statements and misrepresentation of positions.

In the world of some advocates of restructuring whoever is suspected not to affirm their gospel of “true federalism” is a heretic fit for damnation.

Instead of a constructive dialogue, a segment of the restructuring advocacy is replete with savage attacks on their opponents in the debate while failing largely to respond to the arguments of the other side.

A most unhelpful trait in the argument for restructuring is manifest in the column of Bashorun Akin Osuntokun on this page last Friday. Given the columnist’s well earned reputation for rigour and clarity of purpose demonstrated on this page and elsewhere, his piece entitled “What is Geographical Restructuring?” is very much unlike the essential Osuntokun. For instance how does Osuntokun advance his argument for restructuring by accusing Vice President Yemi Osinbajo of “this persistent proclivity for puerile altercations,”?

To be sure, you could be as combative as you wish in criticising Osinbajo without insulting the gentleman. How can you say a professor of law is engaging in “puerile altercations” simply because he does not share your own otherwise legitimate view of restructuring?

For the reader to pass his own verdict on Osinbajo, perhaps it would be necessary to quote the vice president as Osuntokun does in the opening paragraph of his piece: “I rejected the notion that geographical restructuring was a solution to our national problems. Geographical restructuring is either taking us back to regional governments or increasing the number of states that make up the Nigerian federation. As we all may recall, the 2014 National Conference actually recommended the creation of 18 more states. I then argued that what we required now was not geographical restructuring but good governance, honest management of public resources, deeper fiscal federalism, and a clear vision for development.”

(Italic is for emphasis) Pray, how does Osinbajo’s argument for “good governance, honest management of public resources, deeper fiscal federalism, and a clear vision for development” amount to what Osuntokun calls “kangaroo debate deception” and the “antics of those who make a habit of looking for what is not lost”?

Yes, the Nigerian federation will be better with devolution of powers and strengthening the federating units to perform their constitutional functions. Beyond doubt, a number of items

kayode.komolafe@thisdaylive.com

Osinbajo now on the exclusive list should not be there for the purpose of a workable federation. For instance, a state government should construct roads within a state while only inter-state highways should be the business of the federal government. The corollary to this would be the generation and distribution of resources.

Now, there is hardly any notable opposition to that position in Nigeria today.

Why then has restructuring not been achieved after years of agitation for the necessary constitutional exercise? Some prominent advocates of restructuring seem not draw some lessons from the history of the agitation. The most elementary lesson is that federalism is squarely a matter of negotiation; that is the negotiation between the centres on the one hand and the federating units on the other as well as the negotiation among the federating units themselves. You don’t negotiate with insults.

In almost 30 years, the agitation has mutated as the National Question, resource control, the restructuring of the federation, state creation, zonal arrangement and other forms. Practically, all the administrations in this period have addressed the issues of federalism in one way or the other. Yet, the solution is yet to be found.

But let no one argue as if restructuring is a freshly discovered political formula.

In the 1980s, a group of nationalists including former federal permanent secretary, Chief Phillip Asiodu, advocated the convocation of a national conference. In fact, since after the tragic civil war (in which issues of the Nigerian federalism were at the fore), the first categorical attempt to hold a national conference at the National Theatre in Lagos was in August 1990. Radical lawyer, Alao Aka-Bashorun, was a leading light of the movement. This was four months after the abortive coup against the military government of President Ibrahim Babangida.

Prominent among the participants of the coup were officers whose origins could be traced to the northern and southern minority ethnic groups. In fact, in the coup statement Major Gideon Orkar announced that some northern states were “excised” from the country. This was the background to the stoppage of the conference by the Babangida regime.

The atmosphere of the Nigerian federalism was further poisoned by the annulment of the June 12, 1993 election, which was to conclude the transition programme of the Babangida regime, which included the making of the 1989 Constitution debated by a constitutional conference. Issues of federalism, of course, were thrown up in the struggle for the de-

0805 500 1974

annulment of the election and consequential inauguration of the winner, Bashorun MKO Abiola, as president. So the battle cry became Sovereign National Conference.

The military regime of General Sanni Abacha convened the 1994/95 conference. It was in that conference that former Vice President Alex Ekwueme, proposed the six-zonal structure, which even though not enshrined in the constitution, is now employed frequently by governmental and non-governmental organisations in viewing the Nigerian polity, economy and society.

The 2005 political conference convened by President Olusegun Obasanjo attracted the first elevens from all the zones of the country. The debate on the report of the conference in the national assembly was contaminated by a most unpopular proposition to insert a third term for the president.

Eminent and patriotic Nigerians also converged on Abuja for a serious business at the 2014 conference as the detailed report has shown. It is remarkable that President Goodluck Jonathan who convened the political conference could have put some of the recommendations into effect without legislations. He did not. The restructuring advocates who now sound understandably impatient have been silent on why Jonathan failed to act on the report which the ladies and gentlemen toiled for months to produce in Abuja.

The challenge now before the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari is to come up with its own coherent response to the emergent issues of the Nigerian federalism guided the manifesto of his party, the All Progressives Congress (APC).

That is the only way the Buhari administration can explode the myth of “true federalism.”

Such a federalism does not exist anywhere as every federation continues perfect its operation constitutionally. The Nigerian federalism will have to evolve based on its own peculiarities.

This is without prejudice to positive borrowing of things that work elsewhere. If you restructure the federation today, it does not mean that a ‘true federalism” has been achieved.

Besides, a federation is a living structure. So every generation will have to confront its own issues of federalism. Definitely, with federalism as the topic the tone and tenor of the debate between Osinbajo and the People’s Democratic Party (PDP)’s presidential candidate, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, in 2018 could not be identical with the one among Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe, Chief Obafemi Awolowo and Alhaji Ahmadu Bello in 1951.

The fixation with “true federalism” has, perhaps, unwittingly prevented some political forces not to see the valid point Osinbajo is making about poverty reduction and good governance. Take just a sample. Is it the absence of restructuring that explains the horrible state of primary schools in Ibadan, poor enrolment for basic education in Gusau or the heaps of refuse in Aba? Even within the present distorted federalism states ought to ensure the running of primary schools for basic education. Billions of naira to boost primary education is yet to be accessed in the Central Bank because some states have failed to provide the counterpart funding to access the resources. Ecological funds are made available to states; but the resources are diverted by some of them. Now, Osinbajo is right to attribute this to bad governance and not the distortion of federalism. Good governance will not be achieved by restructuring alone without a corresponding change in political orientation.

Contrary to Osuntokun’s misappropriation of Awolowo, Osinbajo appears more consistent with the Awolowo’s school of politics. Debaters on Nigerian federalism are wont to invoke Awolowo. In 1947, Awolowo wrote the Path to Nigerian Freedom. The most famous quote from the book is this: “Nigeria is not a nation, it is a mere geographical expression. There are no “Nigerians” in the same sense as there are “English” or “Welsh” or “French”. The word Nigeria is merely a distinctive appellation to distinguish those who live within the boundaries of Nigeria from those who do not.”

Years later, Awolowo also wrote the People’s Republic and the Strategy and Tactics of the People’s Republic. The two publications are socio-democratic character, embodying the vision, strategy and policies to develop the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Awolowo was not talking about how only the southwest would be transformed. That is why in 1978, the Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN), which he led, was not only concerned about the faults of the Nigerian federalism. Awolowo was also eminently preoccupied with the development of every part of the federation. The UPN came up with workable policies to ensure education and healthcare of all Nigerians wherever might be their loci in the federal spectrum. Awolowo was also canvassing full employment and rural development for the whole federation.

By focussing on development issues Osinbajo in treading the same path of progress as Awolowo.

In other words, the agitation to restructure the federation should be matched with the struggle to end mass poverty plaguing the land.

Osuntokun’s question cannot be rhetorical.

There is, of course, geographical restructuring. An example is contained in the communiqué released the other day after the Yoruba summit in Ibadan.

Among other things, the summit of a segment of the Yoruba elite suggested the creation of a regional parliament in addition to the national and state assemblies. Such a parliament in the southwest to be based in Ibadan would legislate for the people of Lagos, Ogun, Oyo, Osun, Ondo and Ekiti states. Doubtless, geography underpins such a proposition. Otherwise you would propose a regional arrangement that would group Ekiti with Rivers or Lagos with Kebbi. Now, Osuntokun is the Bashorun (the generalissimo) of Okemesi in Ekiti State.

Who tells him that the Okemesi man wants his affairs to be managed at an intermediate level from Ibadan? This is apart from the waste of resources obvious in that proposition. The Ekiti people did not want their affairs to be managed from Akure. Abacha created a state for them and despite the odious things about Abacha; he was a hero in Ekiti land. That is one limitation of geographical restructuring.

For clarity, there should be restructuring, but the argument of those who say making poverty history is as urgent (if not more urgent) as making the Nigerian federalism workable should not be distorted. For the record, this reporter has consistently made the point on this page that the primary problems in Nigeria are those of poverty and social inequality. The problem of Nigeria is not only with the structure of the federation; it is even more fundamentally with the socio-economic make-up of the country. Even when you achieve the vertical restructuring of the federation, the condition of the poor man in Chibok or Odi would not automatically improve without the horizontal restructuring which only poverty eradication can bring about in the society. This is the point to contradict by those who think differently.

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