THURSDAY 31ST JANUARY 2019

With Weak Capital, Tier 2 Banks Still Vulnerable, Analysts Insist Obinna Chima Some of Nigeria’s tier 2 banks are operating with weak capital which makes them vulnerable to shocks, a new report released yesterday, has indicated.

Analysts at Lagos-based

CSL Stockbrokers Limited, a subsidiary of the FCMB Group, gave the warning in a report on its outlook for the equities market in 2019.

Capital adequacy is a persistent issue for a number of Nigerian banks.

The CBN requires that

banks with international subsidiaries maintain a capital adequacy ratio (CAR) of 15 per cent while banks without international subsidiaries maintain a CAR of 10 per cent.

The minimum requirement for systemically important banks is 16 per cent.

Therefore, the firm in the report, pointed out that given the tough regulatory environment, some banks would require more capital in order to create sufficient buffers for their growth plans as well as unforeseen problems.

It also stated that any naira devaluation would affect the capital adequacy ratio (CAR) of some banks negatively.

Furthermore, it noted that the implementation of Basel III, a new global regulation on CAR, which is expected to commence this year, was

also expected to put some pressure on capital.

“A naira devaluation, in theory, challenges CAR because the naira-equivalent value of risk-weighted assets (RWAs) rise given that these include Continued on page 6

NNPC, Financiers’ Negotiations to Revamp Refineries Stalled… Page 8 Thursday 31 January, 2019 Vol 24. No 8688. Price: N250

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Obasanjo: Why Atiku is a Better Candidate

Former vice president pledges $25bn investment fund Segun James

THE PUSH CONTINUES...

L-R: Obong of Calabar, Edidem Ekpo Abasi Otu; President Muhammadu Buhari and Cross River State Governor, Prof. Ben Ayade, during the president’s visit to the traditional ruler in Calabar… yesterday

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has again defended his decision to support the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, saying he has not retracted his words on the former vice Continued on page 6

Onnoghen Suffers Setback as Appeal Court Refuses to Stay Trial at CCT Lawyers’ boycott stalls CJN’s case at industrial court CUPP, pro-democracy groups petition UN, AU Rhodes-Vivour may emerge new chief justice Alex Enumah and Kingsley Nwezeh in Abuja The Court of Appeal yesterday dampened the hope of suspended Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Walter Onnoghen, for reprieve, refusing to stay proceedings at the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT), where the CJN is

scheduled for arraignment for alleged asset declaration offences.

Instead, the appellate court dismissed the appeal filed by Onnoghen and asked him to return to his scheduled arraignment at the CCT.

Relief could also not come from the National Industrial Court (NIC) as the boycott of courts by lawyers directed by the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) stalled its proceedings in a suit challenging the suspension of Onnoghen

by President Muhammadu Buhari.

But as the legal fireworks continued across the courts, opposition political parties led

by Coalition of United Political Parties (CUPP) and a coalition of pro-democracy groups

in Nigeria have petitioned the United Nations and the African Union Commission over the suspension of the CJN. They have also commended the United States, United Kingdom and the European

At Last, EFCC Files Charges against Lawal, Oke... Page 6

Union for identifying with Nigerians on the matter.

The Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB) had filed a six-count charge at the CCT against Onnoghen for alleged asset declaration offences.

But Onnoghen in a motion on notice asked the Court Continued on page 8

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At Last, EFCC Files Charges against Lawal, Oke Alex Enumah in Abuja The federal government has filed corruption charges against a former Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Babachir Lawal.

Also, a separate charge was also filed against the former Director General of the National Intelligence Agency (NIA), Ayodele Oke, and his wife, Folashade, whose home millions of dollars belonging to the agency was found.

The charges were filed by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

The acting spokesperson of the commission, Orilade Tony, confirmed the development last night.

While the anti-graft agency

filed 10 counts charges against Lawal before the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory in Abuja, Oke and wife were charged at the Federal High Court in Lagos.

Oke and his wife will be arraigned in court tomorrow, while Lawal will be in court next week.

Others charged alongside the former SGF are Hamidu David Lawal; Sulaiman Abubakar; Apeh Monday; Rholavision Engineering Limited, a company owned by him, and Josmon Technologies Limited.

In the charge dated January 30 and filed same day, Lawal was accused of conspiring to commit an offence to wit: fraudulent acquisition

of property, and indirectly holding private interest in award of contracts.

The others were however charged with abetting, holding indirectly of a private interest by the former SGF in the award of contract to the two companies linked to him.

It filed four counts against Oke and his wife, Folashade, before the Federal High Court, in Lagos.

They were charged over a huge sum of money found in an apartment in Ikoyi, Lagos.

The charges against Lawal and Oke are coming over 15 months after they were sanctioned by the president.

Lawal was removed from office after he was indicted by a Senate committee which investigated the management

of money meant to assist persons displaced by Boko Haram.

Lawal was indicted for using his companies to get contracts worth millions of naira without executing the contracts.

Since his removal in 2017

by President Muhammadu Buhari, many Nigerians have called for his prosecution.

Last week, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo announced that Buhari had directed that charges be filed against Lawal and Oke. Lawal has since his exit been a major campaigner for President Buhari’s re-election in his home state, Adamawa.

Lawal’s travails began on December 14, 2016, when the Senate ad-hoc committee on

“mounting humanitarian crisis in the north-east� indicted him of fraud in a contract awarded for the clearing of “invasive plant species� in Yobe State, through the Presidential Initiative on Northeast (PINE).

PINE, which was under Lawal, was at the time unable to account for N2.5 billion allocated to it for the alleviation of the IDPs’ suffering.

Lawal’s crime, according to the ad-hoc committee, included his alleged spending of N570m to cut grass.

Rholavision Engineering Ltd was also said to have got suspicious payments of N200million from the contract.

Rholavision’s bank statements and other

documents were alleged to have shown how Josmon Technologies Limited, a company that got the contract from PINE to clear grass for N248,939,231, made cash deposits of N10million into Lawal’s company’s account 20 times from March 29.

Although the former SGF had claimed that he resigned from his company on August 15, 2015, and as a result was not a party to whatever business it contracted, sources had revealed that from a document from the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) that he was a director of Rholavision until September 16, 2016, when he wrote to the commission informing it of his intention to relinquish 1,500,000 ordinary shares.

Onyema had said the outflows last year was 50.53 per cent higher than the N402.26 billion repatriated by foreign investors the preceding year.

But analysts at CSL Stockbrokers in the latest report pointed out that at current levels, the valuation of bank stocks was still compelling. “The recent economic recession made some sectors vulnerable such as oil and gas, manufacturing, general commerce and power. “The fragile economic recovery resulted in a pick up in some sectors such as the oil and gas upstream sector however, a number

of sectors remain vulnerable and legacy issues persist for many banks. “While we do not expect any significant deterioration in the loan books of banks in 2019, we believe legacy issues will persist in many cases. Also, following Teleology’s withdrawal from the acquisition of 9Mobile, we are of the view that banks that have not taken sufficient provisions on Etisalat will need to take additional provisions in full year 2018. “We believe that CBN will be actively mopping up liquidity in the money markets in order to alleviate pressures on the exchange rate. In our view, the CBN

will prioritise exchange rate stability after the election and tolerate higher yields at the short end,� it stated.

The firm forecast an average loan growth of about 6.5 per cent for the tier one banks and average loan growth of about 10.7 per cent for the tier 2 banks.

They however noted that the emergence of a new President may trigger lending activities, even as they anticipated that yields would remain relatively attractive in 2019 as government continues to borrow locally despite plans to increase foreign borrowings given the fiscal imbalance brought about by increasing budget deficit.

have issues and all of us as human beings have one issue or the other in different magnitude but judging both of them empirically and for the task at hand, Atiku will perform much better than Buhari and he will seek for good and able people around the country and beyond and make use of them to achieve his mission and vision for the general good of Nigerians and the country. He will be a team leader but will not allow the seizure of his mandate by a cabal. A system to prevent impunity and ‘I can do what I like’ attitude and action must be put in place for all concerned.

It is more than check and balance, rather it is for the good of all stakeholders and equity-holders.�

"after unsuccessfully abusing the instruments of state to remove the leadership of the legislature, President Buhari has turned his sight on the judiciary,� describing the unilateral suspension of the Chief Justice of Nigeria by the president as unconstitutional.

"The constitution provides laid down rules for the suspension or removal of the CJN and this has not been followed. As someone who has vigorously defended our constitution over a number of decades, you can be rest assured that I will do all in my power to ensure the matter is resolved in accordance with our constitution."

He said that the unity of the nation has been fatally bruised but such actions by the president, saying that "social cohesion is being eroded, democratic consolidation being undermined, and national unity and security threatened by ethno-religious tension, agitations, restiveness and disputes over titles and entitlements" He said over the years, Nigeria has promoted, tolerated and celebrated a defective political structure.

"Our states and local governments are too weak to meet their constitutional responsibilities. Consequently, the federal government has succeeded in emasculating them and taking away those responsibilities and, along with these, the resources which belong to them."

He stressed that if the country is to develop into a united, secure and prosperous country, "we must adopt a new economic management

model and a new political structure that will cure all the federating units of their addition to oil revenues. We must restructure the polity and the economy."

Atiku argued that under the APC- led government, the future prospect of the country is bleak, saying that "unemployment had unfortunately been the only booming industry with over 13 million people joining the ranks of people without a job, which now totals 21 million.

"If people do not have a job, they struggle to feed their families, and that is why over 100 million of our people cannot afford one decent meal a day."

WITH WEAK CAPITAL, TIER 2 BANKS STILL VULNERABLE, ANALYSTS INSIST foreign currency loans. “The impact of foreign currency loans on RWAs is however expected to be offset by windfall gains banks make from net long FX positions, which should in turn boost capital. “Our expectation of a 5-7 per cent devaluation in the naira to N385-N390/US$ however is minimal and should have very marginal impact on the capital position of our covered banks. “Asset quality also poses a challenge to capital adequacy. If a bank suffers an unexpected rise in cost of risk (COR) that exceeds the capacity of one year's profits to absorb it, then that bank

will be looking at writing down capital. “For the banks we cover, with the exception of Diamond Bank for whom we expect significant deterioration in capital in 2018 ending due to huge impairments, we estimate that all other banks will make sufficient profit to absorb impairments within the year and would not require any write down in capital,� it stated.

However, analysts at the firm were optimistic about the banking sector based on their current share prices.

Investment outflows from the Nigerian Stock Exchange in 2018 led to a significant

moderation in the share prices of many banks despite improving fundamentals.

Specifically, the market closed the immediate past year with a decline of N1.898 trillion, while the NSE All-Share Index (ASI) had depreciated by 17.8 per cent.

The Chief Executive Officer of the NSE, Mr. Oscar Onyema, had disclosed that foreign investors pulled out N605.54 billion from the equities market in 2018 because of a shift to higher yielding assets with lower risks in developed countries, coupled with the perceived political risks in the forthcoming general elections.

OBASANJO: WHY ATIKU IS A BETTER CANDIDATE president but that the PDP presidential candidate “has done three things, which are absolutely imperative for a leader to be followed and believed.�

Speaking as a special guest of honour at the quarterly business lecture of the Lagos Island Club, the former president described Buhari’s supposed integrity as a fake, adding that Atiku will be a president to all Nigerians and not one who will be president to only the people who voted for him.

At the event, Atiku, who was the guest lecturer, said he would create a $25 billion fund to support private sector investments in infrastructure, warning that the country is on the brink of collapse, alleging that Buhari is abusing instrument of power because of his selfish ambition.

Obasanjo said though Atiku had never claimed to be a saint, he too never described him as such.

He posited that the division the country is now experiencing stemmed from the moment President Buhari said that only those who voted for him would enjoy government patronage.

Speaking on the capacity of Atiku to lead the country, Obasanjo said the PDP presidential candidate “has done three things which are absolutely imperative for a leader to be followed and believed.� “First, know who you are and present yourself as you are – a human being in blood and flesh and susceptible to human mistakes and human frailties. Don’t cover up with sanctimonious veneer of bogus integrity,

incorruptibility, uprightness, goodness and false figures and statistics, all of which are contrived to deceive, to cheat, to plunder and to destroy. “Atiku never claimed to be a saint and I never described him as such. I will never so describe any human being alive let alone calling him a Messiah. On an occasion in the past when I said that someone was not a Messiah, some Nigerians out of bad belle were up in arms. For me, as a Christian, the only Messiah I know and have is Jesus Christ and even then, the man aspect of Him was imperfect while the divine aspect of Him was perfectly messianic. “Secondly, a leader must be honest to himself and to the people he serves or he wants to serve. He must identify and acknowledge his situation, mistakes, shortcomings and inadequacy; show remorse where and when he has erred, seek forgiveness and repent; and not passing the bulk or keep blaming others and fail to accept responsibility.

Atiku accepts responsibility for his mistakes, shows remorse and seeks forgiveness from his political party and subsequently from Nigerians. “He asks for forgiveness from me and as a believer, a Christian as such, I forgave him in accordance with the teaching and instruction of my Saviour. “For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your Heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins (Matt 6:14-15 NIV).

If anybody blames me for forgiving Atiku, I leave

such a person with God Almighty, especially as both Christian and Islamic clerics joined Atiku to visit me to seek forgiveness. Anybody who does not forgive when forgiveness is sought with contrite heart cannot be a true believer and should not expect the forgiveness of God. “Thirdly, as a leader, you must understand the fundamentals of the problems you have to solve and be courageous, visionary and ready to reach out sufficiently to build a credible team of experts, knowledgeable men and women, concerned and interested citizens and noncitizens to work hard and tirelessly for solutions that will benefit all Nigerians and indeed Africans and humanity. He must have ability to build a credible team, lead them, listen to them and give them enough leeway to achieve and make meaningful contribution without abdicating his responsibility. He must be accessible to them. From my personal knowledge of Atiku, he has these qualities.�

The former president said both Muhammadu Buhari, the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and Atiku Abubakar of the PDP ‘have issues’ but one is better than the other. “I must reiterate that Atiku is not a saint and who is? But from what I know of Atiku, he will be a performer in all respects. I can say that again from my personal experience. He knows the problems and he handled some of them or similar and in the past. We now know that both Buhari and Atiku

Nigeria on Brink of Collapse, Says Former VP Also speaking at the event, Atiku who decried the unilateral suspension of the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Walter Onnogen, insisted that Buhari’s action was a grave attack on the nation's constitution and the people of the country.

The presidential candidate of the PDP said he would create a $25 billion fund to support private sector investments in infrastructure if he wins next month’s election.

Atiku pledged to use part of the money for reforming the power sector.

In his lecture: ‘My Vision to get Nigeria Working Again’ the presidential candidate of the PDP lamented that

TOP GAINERS CORNERSTONE MBENEFITS ABCTRANS LINKAGEASSURE BETAGLASS TOP LOSERS NEWRESTASL LASACO MCNICHOLS

NGN NGN 0.02 0.22 0.02 0.22 0.03 0.34 0.05 0.61 4.35 60.00 NGN 0.70 6.45 0.03 0.29 0.03 0.30 WEMABANK 0.06 0.62 MEYER 0.05 0.54 HPE Nestle Nig Plc â‚Ś1,440.00 Volume: 249.539 million shares Value: N3.122 billion Deals: 4,018 As at yesterday 30/1/19 See details on Page 39

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NNPC, Financiers’ Negotiations to Revamp Refineries Stalled Chineme Okafor in Abuja The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) yesterday disclosed that it could not agree with select investors on the commercial terms to be used in the revamp of its refineries in Port Harcourt, Warri, and Kaduna, signaling that negotiations between it and the investors may have collapsed.

After negotiating for over one and half years with potential financiers, the corporation indicated the negotiations may not continue because a common ground on the commercial terms of the transaction was not achieved.

Speaking at a special session during the just-concluded 2018 edition of the Nigeria International Petroleum Summit (NIPS) in Abuja, the Chief Operating Officer (COO), Refineries, NNPC, Mr. Anibor Kragha, said a lot of issues were affecting the refineries.

According to him,

negotiations between the state-run corporation and potential investors broke down in December 2018.

Kragha stated: “There are various fundamental issues affecting the smooth operations of refineries. The primary one has been lack of funding. Another one is the infrastructure to deliver. But the thrust of the government is essentially to go out, get all financial consortia that will deliver funding and technical expertise. “So, what did the NNPC do? We spent time, got consortia, traders and technical folks and spent over a year and half negotiating. But at the end unfortunately by December, we could not agree on the commercial terms. We were willing to do finance because we wanted to bring in private investments into it without selling the refineries and giving unnecessary guarantees.�

According to him, what the corporation now decided to do was to focus on fixing

NNPC Group MD, Maikanti Baru one refinery at a time, instead one refinery at a time starting of trying to get all the four with Port Harcourt, which is fixed at once using funds the largest one. from financiers. “It (Port Harcourt refinery) “Like I earlier said at the alone can deliver about 11 end of the day, the commercial and half million litres of terms we could not agree on petrol and we are also going them. So, what we are doing to look for OM (Original now is that we are focusing on Manufacturers) to actually

support us to deliver on the mandate. That’s what we have been doing in the last couple of weeks,� Kragha disclosed.

Further responding to questions about the country’s refining gap, Kragha, noted that the gap had continued to expand following steady growth in the number of households across the country who use petroleum products, as well as increase in their discretionary incomes. “It is actually believed that our petroleum products’ requirements will grow by at least three to five per cent a year. So, the refining gap is actually growing. By 2025 we are expected to need about 45 million litres of petrol per day, all things being equal,� he explained.

The NNPC refineries, he added, would be able to deliver an estimated 22.4 million litres of petrol when operational, adding that Dangote refinery would deliver about 53 million litres and that Nigeria would soon

have more than enough petrol for local consumption in the nearest future, as well as additional volumes to export.

Kragha also noted that NNPC’s plan was to get the Port Harcourt refinery optimally functional before the end of 2020, before getting on to revamp others.

He said: “So, in terms of what we are doing, NNPC is focused now and again, we started with three groups, expanded the groups to 28 financiers and we got two consortia at the beginning of last year, negotiated and tried to get the best terms possible. “But at the end of the day you cannot take terms that are too rigid and don’t make sense for you at that time. We are focused on Port Harcourt right now and one of the reasons I am rushing is to go and finalise terms with the original refinery builder to get to site as soon as possible, definitely this quarter and then we are going to move forward from there.�

The letters dated January 27, 2019, were signed by the lead activist, Imo Ugochinyere.

In the letters addressed to the UN Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres and the Chair of AUC, Moussa Faki, the activists sought the intervention of the two bodies in rebuking Buhari and seeking reversal of the suspension.

The letter read, “We humbly request the intervention of your good office in rebuking and seeking the reversal of President Muhammadu Buhari’s dictatorial ‘suspension’ of Justice Walter Onnoghen as the Chief Justice of Nigeria in stark contravention of the Nigerian constitution. “As it appears to every reasonable man, the ‘suspension’ and ‘replacement’ of Justice Walter Onnoghen is to activate a backdoor mechanism for the successful rigging of the general elections in Nigeria by turning the judiciary into a rubber stamp to legitimise any rigging perpetrated, particularly with President Buhari’s cousin in the top hierarchy of the national electoral body.�

The group added, “Our plea is concise and definite: please stand with us and with the good people of Nigeria in the trying days ahead.�

In the letters addressed to President Donald Trump of US and Donald Tusk of European Council, the group commended them for the concerns they raised over the matter. They urged them to ignore what they called the ranting of the Buhari administration “and see it as an attempt by a dictatorial regime that has lost the goodwill of the people to

desperately hang on to power.�

ONNOGHEN SUFFERS SETBACK AS APPEAL COURT REFUSES TO STAY TRIAL AT CCT of Appeal to halt his trial on the grounds that the tribunal erred in law when it adjourned on January 14 to rule on both his motion on jurisdiction as well as that of the federal government asking the tribunal to order his suspension as the CJN pending the determination of the charges against him at the CCT. But in a unanimous decision delivered yesterday, the three-member panel of the Court of Appeal led by Justice Abdul Aboki, held that the prayer of Onnoghen that his trial be put on hold runs contrary to the provisions of Section 306 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA) 2015.

Justice Aboki, who read the lead ruling cited the case of the Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki, in which Onnoghen himself at the Supreme Court, declined to stay Saraki's trial on the same grounds that Section 306 of the new law did not permit a stay of criminal trial.

According to him, there were no special circumstances in which Onnoghen's prayer would be granted in the appeal argued by his counsel, Chief Wole Olanipekun (SAN).

The appellate court in the ruling, aligned with the federal government that the suspended CJN's request for stay of proceedings ought to be refused.

The court, accordingly, dismissed the appeal seeking to stop the CCT from taking further steps in the six-count criminal charges filed against Onnoghen.

Justice Aboki said the earlier stay of proceedings granted on January 24 to enable the court consider the Motion on Notice for stay had lapsed.

The judge, however, said the applicant’s Notice of Appeal challenging the tribunal’s decision to hear two of the federal government’s motions together had been filed before it.

He said the new appeal was challenging an exparte order made by the tribunal that led to Onnoghen’s suspension as the CJN and Chairman of the National Judicial Council (NJC).

The judge said the appeal was also challenging the decision of the president to appoint an Acting CJN and Chairman of the NJC. “In the circumstances, the court hereby adjourns the hearing of the appeal until February 4.’’ The federal government had in a motion before the tribunal asked for an order for Onnoghen to step aside as the CJN. The government also sought the tribunal’s order to empower the president to swear in the most senior justice of the Supreme Court as acting CJN. The stance of the tribunal to entertain the above mentioned motions together led Onnoghen to file the motion for stay of his trial pending the determination of his motion challenging the jurisdiction of the tribunal.

Olanipekun had approached the appellate court praying for an order restraining the tribunal from continuing with the matter.

He insisted that his client’s motion challenging the jurisdiction of the tribunal should be treated first before any other proceeding could happen.

Malam Umar Aliyu (SAN), counsel to the federal government, had objected to such order of trial, adding that the defendant must take his plea by being arraigned

before any motion could be heard.

Aliyu had also argued that the prosecution’s application urging the tribunal to order the suspension of the CJN pending the determination of the petition should also be entertained immediately after Onnoghen had taken his plea.

According to him, nothing stops the tribunal from also hearing his client’s motion asking for an order to allow the president appoint an acting CJN pending the determination of the case.

Lawyer’s Boycott Stalls CJN’s Case at Industrial Court Meanwhile, the directive by Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), calling on its members to boycott the courts for two days stalled the hearing of a suit challenging the trial of Justice Onnoghen at the National Industrial Court, Abuja.

The suit, which is challenging the jurisdiction of the CCT was slated for hearing yesterday.

The court had on January 14 granted an interim order brought via a motion exparte application against the tribunal by Mr. Peter Abang, a lawyer and concerned Nigerian.

At the resumed hearing of the substantive suit, the judge, Justice Sanusi Kado, informed the defendant counsel, Mr. Abdullahi Abubakar, representing the Attorney-General of the Federation that there was a letter from the claimant’s counsel before the court.

Kado also said the letter from the counsel, Mr. James Igwe (SAN), asked for a new date, adding that his absence was due to NBA’s directive

to lawyers to boycott courts in protest of Onnoghen’s suspension.

The judge thereafter adjourned the matter until February 7 and directed that hearing notices should be served on all parties.

The NBA had reached a resolution to boycott courts nationwide on Tuesday January 29 and Wednesday January 30, after its National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting on Monday in Abuja.

Joined as co-defendants are CCB, CCT chairman, Mr. Danladi Umar, Office of the Attorney-General of the Federation and the National Judicial Service Commission (NJC).

Others are the Federal Judicial Service Commission, the Inspector-General of Police, Minister of Justice, Mr. Abubakar Malami, and the Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki.

CUPP, Pro-democracy Groups Petition UN, AU Commission In another development, opposition political parties led by Coalition of United Political Parties (CUPP) and a coalition of pro-democracy groups in Nigeria have petitioned the United Nations and the African Union Commission over Buhari’s suspension of Onnoghen.

They have also commended the United States, United Kingdom and the European Union for identifying with Nigerians on the matter.

Their position was contained in separate letters written to the bodies by the Save Democracy Coalition, copies of which were made available to journalists in Abuja on Wednesday.

Rhodes-Vivour May Emerge New CJN Meanwhile, strong indications yesterday emerged that Justice Bode Rhodes-Vivour could emerge the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), if the National Judicial Council (NJC) sanctions the acting CJN, Justice Ibrahim Tanko Muhammad.

Justice Muhammad was appointed last Friday following the suspension of Justice Onnoghen.

With the NJC’s decision to look into the petitions filed against Justice Onnoghen and Justice Muhammad, the consensus among senior lawyers is that both justices should be recommended for retirement to give the judiciary a break from the politicisation of the crisis presently rocking the office of the CJN. The NJC rose from its emergency meeting in Abuja on Tuesday, giving Onnoghen and Muhammad seven days to respond to petitions written against them.

THISDAY gathered that if this becomes the case, then the Lagos State-born Justice Rhodes-Vivour, who is third most senior will be nominated as the new CJN. The petition against Justice Muhammad seeks to have him punished for accepting to become acting CJN despite knowing that Buhari lacked the power to unilaterally suspend Onnoghen and to appoint him as acting CJN. The top five Supreme Court Justices of the Supreme Court today are: Justice Onnoghen, Justice Muhammad, Justice Bode Rhodes-Vivour, Justice Mary Odili and Justice Olukayode Ariwoola.

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

Pro-Ambode Protesters Ask Lagos Lawmakers to Account for N28bn Gov must appear on Monday, assembly insists

Gboyega Akinsanmi Hundreds of protesters yesterday gathered at the Lagos State House of Assembly, asking the lawmakers to account for N28 billion constituency allowances they collected between 2015 and 2018 or face mass action.

But despite the protest, the lawmakers have insisted that the state governor, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode, and some of his commissioners should appear before it to explain alleged infractions in the 2019 appropriation bill.

The lawmakers were alleged to have demanded the sum of N100 million from the State Executive Council to facilitate the presentation and passage of 2019 appropriation bill.

The protesters, under the aegis of Lagos Peoples Assembly (LPA), have warned the lawmakers against plan to initiate impeachment proceedings against Ambode.

The lawmakers had at a plenary last Monday alleged that the governor had started implementing the 2019 Appropriation Bill without presenting it formally to the assembly, which they claimed violated Sections 120 and 121 of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

But contrary to the claims of the lawmakers, the governor was said to have sent the 2019 Appropriation Bill and virement to the assembly on December 22, 2018, with a cover note, requesting to present the 2019 budget on December 28.

However, the assembly allegedly turned down Ambode’s request on the ground that they were on

recess.

The assembly also frustrated subsequent attempts by the governor to formally present the 2019 budget.

They later agreed that the governor would present the Appropriation Bill on January 21, but did not attend to the governor on the day the budget was scheduled for public presentation.

The protesters, who displayed placards of diverse messages of grievance, claimed that the decision of the state assembly was basically to witch-hunt the governor, who according to them, had within the last three years achieved more than any other governor in the country.

Their placards reads: ‘He is a performing governor, we reject impeachment; Lagos APC should be careful; election is around the corner; Lagosians love Ambode for his good works; We say no to impeachment of the governor, and enough of this intimidation of Ambode’.

According to the protesters, they are asking the lawmakers to account for N28 billion constituency allowances they collected between June 2015 and December 31, 2018.

The assembly received the sum of N500 million monthly without accounting for it.

In a letter of protest signed by Mr. Declan Ihekaire, the protesters stressed that they were concerned by the actions of the lawmakers against a governor who has considered the plights of residents as priority.

The letter said the legislative and the executive arms “are partners in business of governance. They

Elections: Nigeria Can’t Afford to Fail, Says US Envoy United States Ambassador to Nigeria, Stuart Symington, has said Nigeria should get the forthcoming elections right in order not to disappoint those that looked up to it after the feat recorded in 2015.

Symington made the remarks yesterday when he paid a visit to the Kaduna State Police Command.

“The State of Kaduna is an important place during this election. I am here to underscore a couple of key ideas.

“The first being that these elections are really about Nigerians, decided by Nigerians under its laws which will define the future of Nigeria.

“The election is also for others who have looked up to Nigeria’s example of democracy in the past especially if it would be as good as that of the elections of 2015.”

He, therefore, said it was important for Nigerians to decide on the election’s credibility like they did in 2015, “so that its credit will be invested in democracy and freedom throughout West Africa and across the entire World.”

He urged Nigerians to also interrogate politicians using hate speeches and disseminating fake news, as they are capable of dividing or causing problems among the people.

“These kinds of negative

speeches can have negative impacts in the future.

“There are other people who have pointed fingers at those who are saying the elections would come out wrong, saying the elections can be right if every citizen of Nigeria act on the understanding that they are individually responsible for anything they get from the polls”, he stressed.

He noted that so far, there have been cheering commitments from President Muhammadu Buhari and other leading candidates contesting to rule the country, to ensure that every vote counts.

The US ambassador added that people must take responsibility for their actions; “First, before God, second under the laws of the country, in the eyes of countrymen and lastly in the eyes of the world.”

Symington, therefore, encouraged all Nigerians to participate peacefully in the elections, to guarantee free, fair, peaceful and a credible honest reflection of their choice.

In his remark, the state Police Commissioner, Ahmad AbdurRahman, assured that the command would do its best in providing level- playing field to all political parties, candidates and the electorates to actively participate in the polls.

must work seamlessly for the development of the state. Our credible investigation revealed that both arms of the government are worried that the budget delay will invariably affect the ability of the government to complete various infrastructural projects commenced by the administration littering the state.

“The fear of both parties which is well founded is that opposition would make case of the uncompleted projects as campaign items to disparage the ruling party in the forthcoming general election.

No matter whatever other hidden

factors, this is the main bone of contention leading to the political feud for supremacy between the governor and the assembly.

The protesters in the letter further stated that “the peace, sustainable development of Lagos and welfare of Lagosians should be the primary, sole and fundamental concern of both elected arms as well as officers of the state.”

According to sources, the lawmakers allegedly demanded N100 million from him to facilitate the presentation and passage of 2019 Appropriation Bill.

One of the sources, who spoke

with THISDAY in confidence, alleged that after demanding N100 million, the lawmakers had also asked the governor to release public funds for their re-election campaigns.

According to the group, the lawmakers are witch-hunting the governor despite conceding defeat after the party’s primaries.

He has done everything to please some leaders of All Progressives Congress (APC) in the state.

In his response to the protesters yesterday, the Majority Leader of the assembly, Hon. Sanai Agunbiade, said their opinion would be

deliberated upon on the floor of the assembly because the lawmakers were elected by the people.

Agunbiade, who led three other lawmakers to receive the protesters, said there was never any face-off between the executive led by the governor and lawmakers, saying, we are only doing our responsibility as stipulated in 1999 constitution.

Meanwhile, the lawmakers yesterday insisted that Ambode and some of his commissioners should appear before it to explain infractions in the 2019 appropriation

Continued on page. 51

PAYING HOMAGE TO GODFATHER...

L-R: Former President Olusegun Obasanjo; General Overseer, Latter Rain Assembly, Pastor Tunde Bakare; and presidential candidate of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, at the Quarterly Business Lecture organised by Island Club, in Lagos... yesterday

Keyamo Blames Atiku for America’s Slide on TI’s Corruption Index Segun James The Director, Strategic Communications, Buhari Campaign Organisation, Mr. Festus Keyamo (SAN), has alleged that one of the reasons the United States dropped on Transparency International’s Corruption Perception Index was that the US gave the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, a visa.

Keyamo said this in a tweet while reacting to America’s slide on TI’s corruption perception index.

The spokesman, who posted a link to TI’s report said, “anything that gravitates towards Atiku is always tainted with corruption.

Now, the US gives him a ‘special waiver’ as a candidate to come in for a few days and see the result.”

The senior advocate had in the past alleged that the US had secretly indicted Atiku for

corruption hence the former Vice-President’s reluctance to travel to the country.

Keyamo had dared Atiku to travel to US and see if he would not be arrested. However, when Atiku travelled two weeks ago, Keyamo said the PDP candidate paid a lobbyist to help him travel.

According to TI, the US last year slid down the rankings of a global corruption index as America’s system of checks and balances faced growing threats

with Donald Trump as president.

US lost four points to score 71 out of 100 on the watchdog’s 2018 Corruption Perceptions Index, sending the country tumbling out of the top 20 for the first time since 2011.

“The low score comes at a time when the US is experiencing threats to its system of checks and balances as well as an erosion of ethical norms at the highest levels of power,” TI said in its annual report.

Appeal Court Denies Enlisting Dead Judges into Election Petition Panels Alex Enumah in Abuja The Court of Appeal has denied reports that it shortlisted the names of 10 dead judges for appointment as members of the newly-inaugurated Election Petition Tribunals.

A total of 250 judges across the federation were sworn in last Saturday by the acting Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Tanko Muhammad, as chairmen and members of 2019 Election Petition Tribunal.

They are to handle matters that may likely come up as a result of the conduct of the 2019

elections.

Shortly after the inauguration, reports emanating from the social media said no fewer than 10 dead or retired judges’ names were listed for the inauguration.

But in a swift reaction, the Court of Appeal’s Media Officer, Mrs. Sa’adatu Kachalla, who described the reports as being malicious, said there was no iota of truth in the claims.

“The attention of the Court of Appeal has been drawn to a malicious publication making the rounds in some portals that the names of 10 dead judges featured in the list of

the 250 judges sworn in on January 26, 2019 as Election Petition Tribunal Chairmen and Members.

“In view of the above, we wish to state that there was no name of a dead or retired judge on the list we sent to the Supreme Court for the swearing-in ceremony by His Lordship the acting Chief Justice of Nigeria, Mr. Justice Ibrahim Tanko Muhammed.

“The Court of Appeal therefore, finds this claim to be false, misleading and a total misrepresentation of the good intentions of the Hon. President aimed at building

not only a vibrant judiciary, but an endearing democratic society,” she said.

Kachalla noted that the President of the Court of Appeal, painstakingly went through the efforts of the states branches of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) and the Chief Judges of the 36 states and “selected these men and women of integrity to become members of the Election Petition Tribunal”.

The statement however urged members of the public to disregard in its entirety what it described as fake news.

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PEOPLES’ DEMOCRATIC PARTY DELTA

STATE

CHAPTER

Holds

FUND RAISING DINNER For the election of

Sen. Dr. Ifeanyi Okowa as the Executive Governor of Delta State and Barr. (Deacon) Kingsley Burutu Otuaro as Deputy Governor of Delta State Under the distinguished Chairmanship of

Prof. Sam Oyovbaire Date: Saturday, 2nd February, 2019 Time: 6.00 PM Venue: Event Centre, Asaba R S V P +234 905 469 5766

9 OKOWA OTUARO OTE SEN. DR IFEANYI

BARR. KINGSLEY BURUTU

FOR DELTA STATE GOVERNOR DEPUTY GOVERNOR S T R I C T LY

B Y

I N V I T A T I O N

9OTE PDP

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BETTER LIFE FOR NIGERIANS

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COMMENT

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

DANGERS OF LOSS OF COMMUNITY There is wisdom in sense of community, writes Okello Oculi

T

he mass protests of 2011 in Tunisia deposed a corrupt military dictator. It contaminated 30-year of police-terror in Egypt by Hosni Mubarak.

Headed by former American President, Bill Clinton - through sponsoring civil society groups led by unemployed university graduates and professionals – this contamination apparently created foot soldiers for a mass assault on Mubarak’s government.

Elections after Mubarak’s fall rolled into mass protests against Mohammed Morsi’s Islamist regime. The protests were almost certainly directed by former holders of power in the deposed regime.

Egyptian authorities routinely arrested hundreds of members of the Moslem Brotherhood which continued to win supporters due to its social welfare services to low income Egyptians. With the fall of Morsi the country found itself gripped by a rolling civil war. Her loss of a sense of shared community was rooted in a legacy of feudal Ottoman and British colonial exploitation. It now burst into warfare as external powers, notably: the United States, Israel, Turkey, Iran and the European Union continue to stoke this conflict.

In Libya the loss of community also had ancient roots.

In 2011 feelings of superiority by residents of Benghazi – traceable to more intense association with Italian colonial rulers – continued to grow under Muamar Gaddafi’s military regime. Gaddafi came from desert communities which elites of Benghazi regarded as “primitive’’. The exploitation of this rift in national community aroused residents of Benghazi into protests which became a pretext for NATO’s bombardment and destruction of Libya as governed by Gaddafi.

His decentralised “tribal’’ military and political administration became – in the hands of NATO’s invaders - a mechanism for virtual militarised shattering of the country. The pandemic of death and destruction that currently plagues Libya is a nightmare which political leaders of Benghazi never envisaged, and most never survived.

Iraq and Syria became more horrendous victims of postCold War international politics when leaders of weak countries allow their failure to manage a sense of community become available for manipulation by hostile interests. Among former Soviet states, Ukraine suffered losses of community on its Black Sea sector; while a secessionist war rages along its eastern border with Russia.

Greece and France have experienced mass protests against loss of, or threat of loss of, social welfare services won by workers after the Second World War. With the disintegration of communist Soviet Union, capitalist Europe stopped fearing low income classes becoming supporters of Soviet socialism.

Accordingly, profits lost to free health care, free education, cheap housing would be recovered through IMF and World Bank’s ‘’austerity measures’’. Unlike the horrendous violence dropped into Libya, Egypt, Iraq and Syria, protests against loss of community in Greece and France have been contained with police batons, detentions and teargas.

ABUJA SHARES THESE FAULTS. CEMENT GRABS RIVER BEDS THAT SHOULD GROW VEGETABLES, FLOWERS AND FRUIT TREES; AND FOR FISHING AND CANOE RACING. TREES DESTROYING TARMAC ROADS ARE DOMINANT

In Sudan, Omar Bashir’s regime is gripped by countrywide mass protests against increases in fuel and food prices.

The protesters have demanded the fall of Bashir. Since the Mahdist revolution, Sudan knows a long history of governments falling to mass protests. As a military intelligence officer, Bashir wore gowns of a devout Moslem to draw mass support away from Mahdi and Khatmiya families; and the Sudanese Communist Party. His current troubles are linked to American hostility to his friendship with Iran and its allies, including Qatar. His previous trouble was over satellite pictures revealing vast deposits of vital minerals in Darfur Province which rich New Yorkers wanted to control.

The current loss of community solidarity may attract military intervention by NATO leaders fresh from similar inglorious ‘’humanitarian’’ mission in Libya, Somalia and Syria.

The December 30, 2018 elections in the Democratic Republic of Congo aroused sharp appetites in Belgium, France, the European Union and President Trump. Trump’s presidency is gripped by severe losses of community solidarity and the ‘’general will’’. Accusations of election rigging and suspicions of treason continue to haunt Trump.

France is convulsive from Italian officials accusing President Macron of sustaining French exploitation and destruction of potential for economic development in African neo-colonies. Some 85 per cent of their foreign earning must be used by France. The poverty he supervises forces desperate Africans to drown in the Mediterranean Sea; others threaten jobs in European countries.

These same leaders promoted possibilities of violence in Congo, as pretext for military intervention in order to prevent the emergence of patriotic rulers who would end foreign greed in that land. It is the emergence of a Congolese political class with commitment to building a new community; and avoiding another Libya in Congo.

In 1965, I flew into Addis Ababa and was struck by a rare genius of combining village community and urban structures. The Embassy of India stood among small family homes. The jungle of asphalt, concrete skyscrapers which I had seen in New York, San Francisco and London were tamed in Addis Ababa by grass and fruit trees. In colonial Nairobi and Kampala cows, goats, sheep and Africans were prohibited from ‘’urban areas’’. Cocks crowing at sun, moon and stubborn night, and chickens chasing grasshoppers were absent.

Abuja shares these faults. Cement grabs river beds that should grow vegetables, flowers and fruit trees; and for fishing and canoe racing. Trees destroying tarmac roads are dominant. Emotional and mental incomes from environments that enhance community solidarity are desperately low. Admiring nature perishes into forced television addiction. The violence that these conditions irrigate is available for manipulation by those who celebrate their destroying Libya and Syria.

THE DAY A DREAM DIED Sam Akpe remembers the life and times of Alaere Alaibe

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t 6 pm on Saturday January 31, 2009, my mobile telephone handset bleeped. There was something foreboding about the high-pitched sound. I quickly reached out for it and starred at the short but devastating message that read, “We’ve lost her. Pray for the repose of her soul.� It came from Timi Alaibe. It was not lost on me who we had lost. The message only confirmed my worst fears.

My blood went cold. No! No! God, why? I shouted and questioned in disbelief. A feeling of shock, madness and confusion wrapped its suffocating grip round me. I was almost breathless. I could literally hear my heart screaming in irregular beat; blowing my ribs apart. My head was in a swirl. I was in utter confusion. Without any conscious effort to cry, streams of tears poured down my face.

A grievous heart ignites tears naturally. I passed the night in sleeplessness. But I faced a tougher task on Sunday morning as I was mandated to issue a formal statement on her death. Suddenly, I had to write about her using the past tenses.

That was 10 years ago when we lost Alaere Augustina Timi Alaibe in a London hospital.

Young, with the intellect and vision of a saint, she was full of life and lovely smiles. Alaere pursued her dreams with extraordinary zeal.

She had a vision—to lift women from the dust of poverty and illiteracy to the height of self confidence and belief in self worth. She

was almost there when death struck; cutting short such a beautiful life!

Each visit to her house in Port Harcourt was always a delight. She would warn, “Make sure you don’t eat hotel food. Those people cook their food in annoyance. When you are hungry, please come to the house.�

During one of such visits, her husband had travelled. We spent hours discussing her vision for the Niger Delta women. By 1am, she decided to drop me at the hotel by herself.

The short distance left me breathless. The road was clear and quiet. Her speed was a clear hundred metre dash. When she noticed my perturbation, she simply flashed that big smile and remarked, “Sam, relax, I was born in Ijawland but I’m a Lagos girl.� By the way, her Yoruba was flawless.

Alaere, in 2000, founded FREE—Family Reorientation, Education and Empowerment—a community-based non-profit organisation firmly positioned to harness the importance of the family. FREE’s target area of operation was the oil-rich Niger Delta region where she observed that many years of neglect and social degradation has turned many restive youths into willing tools of trouble makers. Her focus was to provide educational facilities, healthcare and good jobs particularly to young women. FREE set out to reduce the high levels of ignorance, alphabetic illiteracy, the collapse of family values, among others.

With a vision of “emancipation through knowledge,� the mission of FREE was to

re-orient, educate and empower the family with the aim of bringing back real values of hard work, honesty, morality and enterprise through education, counselling and skills acquisition programmes with special attention on the womenfolk and girl-child. She saw the family as the centre of the society. “If its values are eroded, the society suffers and becomes a ready-made factory for major vices such as robbery, prostitution and hooliganism,� she noted.

The impact of her efforts in four states of the Niger Delta region was enormous.

Through partnership with the United Kingdom-based Support for Africa Foundation, a health centre with a resident doctor was built. She set out to save and change lives; only to die of cancer; at 45; after a long fight. Ten years later, the tears are yet to dry.

The memory is still fresh. She was a rising sun with an early sunset.

Nobel Prize Winner and writer extraordinaire, Wole Soyinka, said this of her, “As one ages, energies and early fires of commitment wane correspondingly. It takes encounters with the creative zeal of a select handful of the younger generation to re-stoke those fires and rejuvenate the flagging self. Alaere Alaibe belonged among the loftiest ranks of such exceptional beings. My interaction with her was all too brief, but the quality of that experience remains enduring. I mourn with her family, her collaborators, and indeed, with a nation which remains untutored in what

it possesses, and thus undervalues its rare species, such as our late compatriot, Alaere Alaibe.�

Alaere took the Niger Delta women to the world stage in 2007 when FREE became the first Nigerian organisation to win the 2007 UNESCO Confucius Prize for Literacy Award. When she called that day to seek some vital information about the award, I could feel the excitement in her voice. In Bamako, Mali where she received the award, Alaere told the select international audience that “this recognition is a validation of what we have done, and yet a mirror that reflects the stark reality of the ignorance and poverty still ravaging the region. It reflects the urgent need for everyone here, and for the privileged people of the world to continue to do something to help them. As John F. Kennedy once said, “If a FREE society cannot help the many who are poor, it cannot save the few who are rich.�

Alaere lived a life of passionate rhythms; ruled by an uncommon passion—to cater for humanity, uplift the fallen and comfort the desolate. With a master degree in business administration (MBA), Alaere adopted a core business approach in pursuit of her passion.

So, 10 painful years have passed. Her lovely children are now adults. As much as the tears of her exit refuse to dry, our hearts will continue to cherish her memories. She will never be forgotten. She was a wonderful friend, my ‘editor.’

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EDITORIAL Pensioners And Tales Of Woes The Pension Commission should enforce compliance with the provisions of the reforms act

O

ne major attraction in public service, despite its poor remuneration package, is the benefit of receiving pension after retirement. But over the years, such prospect has become problematic and uncertain in Nigeria. And this has worsened the woes of retired civil servants. The failure of government to meet the pension expectation of retirees ends up shattering the plans of many as well as inducing economic trauma, which in some cases have led to fatalities. Indeed, many senior citizens who had no other source of earning a living after service had collapsed and died while on queues waiting for their pensions.

It was in a bid to move beyond this tragic situation that the Pension Reforms Act of 2004 was enacted.

It was, as the name suggests, designed to address the failures of the old scheme—the Defined Benefit Scheme (DBS). In its place, the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS) was IT IS ONLY FAIR AND introduced wherein JUST TO ALLOW both the government PENSION TO SOOTH THE and the workers themselves are to NERVES OF RETIRED up a given PERSONS, ESPECIALLY save amount of their AFTER THE WORKERS earnings towards HAVE BEEN FAITHFUL IN building up an MAKING APPROPRIATE accumulated funds CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE reserve which the worker can fall back SCHEME on after retirement.

It is noteworthy that the National Pension Commission (PenCom) has not only helped to grow the funds but has been very prudent in its management. However, there are still issues that are yet to be resolved by the government regarding many retired civil servants. From the Federal Inland Revenue Service to security and customs personnel, staff of Nigeria Prisons Service, Nigeria Immigration Service to those of local government, the authorities offer little or no comfort. It

Letters to the Editor

is even more painful that the monthly stipend doled out to many of the aged and frail looking men and women is about N2000 each, an amount that could hardly transport them back to their homes.

Complications in meeting up with the pension obligations had arisen fundamentally by the failure to link those in the old scheme (DBS) with those in the new scheme (CPS). But even after it seems to have been done, the federal and many state governments had failed severally in remitting deducted sums from workers’ salaries to the PFAs. The result is that neither government contribution nor workers’ deducted sums are credited to the accounts of the workers with the PFAs. This malaise is even more prevalent in the private sector where many companies do not remit their counterpart deductions to the PFAs as required by the Pension Act.

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

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

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

LAGOS APC AND ARROGANCE OF POWER

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he All Progressives Congress (APC) has been in power in Lagos State for a long time that it seems like forever. Obviously this has led to the belief of most of its ardent supporters to think beyond doubts that it cannot lose that power.

Obviously they have forgotten that the party won elections to get power and that elections have to be contested periodically and won to stay in power.

That, according to experts on politics, is the arrogance of power that is going to be the undoing of the party in the coming elections in Lagos State.

The signs are there for all to see except the APC members. First it is difficult for APC members in Lagos State to stand criticism of any kind of the party and the government. Even when non-partisan members of the public expressed sympathy for their governor who lost the primary, APC members toed only the party line and decision and simply chorused that the unfortunate governor deserved his fate. They insisted he was put there by the party in the first instance and must never argue with the party. When you talk about the excesses of Lagos public officials like LASTMA in waiting to take bribes for traffic light violations instead of making traffic moving, they turn a deaf ear and say they are government agents and should be allowed to

he provisions of the act had demanded that the government issues bonds in favour of retired workers, which will be redeemed to the PFAs who will credit same to the accounts of the individual staff. Therefore, the non-remittance of the deductions of staff is a clear breach of the provisions of the Pension Reforms Act and that perhaps explains why pension liabilities in the country today run into hundreds of billions of Naira.

While we urge the federal and state governments to keep faith with their obligations to pensioners, we also call on the pension sector regulator, PenCom, to apply stricter measures in enforcing compliance with the provisions of the Pension Reforms Act by the PFAs. We dare say that the failure in enforcing the rules is a major threat to the essence of the scheme.

Indeed, we believe and demand that it is only fair and just to allow pension to sooth the nerves of retired persons, especially after the workers have been faithful in making appropriate contributions to the scheme while in active service.

To continue to deny pension beneficiaries of what they have laboured for at the time they most need it, is to do great harm to the vulnerable.

function.

Such disdain for constructive criticism in a democratic setting is common with supporters of the APC in Lagos State. The obstinacy to admit failure of performance of their party in governance is unbelievable. Talk about the issue of traffic congestion of the bridges in Lagos by trailers and heavy duty vehicles and you will be told it’s not peculiar to Lagos and that trailers constitute nuisance on federal roads and there is nothing that the Lagos State government can do about it. If you remind them that it was better under Babatunde Fashola, their own APC party governor in a Peoples Democratic Party’s (PDP) federal government, they tell you the situation is not the same.

If you follow up that under an APC -controlled government at the centre, Lagosians spend more cruel hours on the roads in Lagos doing business and getting to work daily, they seem to have hearing problems. The worst complaint APC members don’t want to hear on the Lagos traffic congestion on and of the three Lagos bridges is that the Vice- President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo, came to Lagos to tackle the traffic congestion on Apapa- Badagry Expressway all to no avail. There was false relief and movement for two days and the situation got worse.

VOTE-BUYING AND 2019 POLLS

O

nce again, as we prepare for the forthcoming 2019 presidential election, there is need for us to clearly discern the difference between a free and fair election and a rigged one. Election is not naira bet. Thus, one is expected to vote for with his conscience and not for the highest bidder. Election is supposed to be a legal ground for choosing a democratic leader who in turn is expected to render service to the people.

Interestingly, vote- buying has become the latest trend during election.

As things are in Nigeria today, where there is low level of literacy coupled with endemic poverty and unemployment, vote buying or selling is hailed by many.

But it is not also difficult to point out the menace of vote buying as it does not only bring about mediocre in government but also leads to misrule and maladministration. Besides, those brought into office through vote buying will not serve the people well.

The ‘dibo ko sebe’ (vote and cook soup) system in the Osun State governorship election that ushered in the current governor was seen as a one-sided electoral fraud instigated by the All Progressives

Congress (APC), using federal might to outsmart the main opposition, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

In Ekiti guber poll last July, the political chicanery was named ‘see and buy’ with various parties’ foot soldiers invading polling units with bags of cash.

I must state that vote-buying is not the only act of corruption that takes place in the electoral process. Akin to that is the abuse of state resources, especially by political office holders. The misuse of coercive powers of the state such as the police, Department of State Services, and the military; the use of anti-corruption agencies such as the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Independent Corrupt Practices and other related offences Commission, the Code of Conduct Bureau to victimize and persecute political parties and candidates to publicly-owned media are all forms of political corruption. It is incontrovertible that in the run-up to the 2019 elections, government institutions are being used against opposition political parties and candidates.

But going forward it is our collective responsibility as citizens and electorate to fight against this menace which has hindered good governance in our country.

Grace Omowunmi Semudara, Abuja

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T H I S D AY ˾ THURSDAY JANUARY 31, 2019

POLITICS

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

PERSONALITY INTERVIEW

‘My Critics Are Ignorant of our Solid Developmental Paradigms’ Ahamefula Ogbu writes that Governor Okezie Ikpeazu of Abia State believes that he has laid solid foundation for enduring development

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hat accomplishments can you boast of as Governor of Abia?

It has been three and half years of hard work, painstaking planning, constant monitoring and evaluation of our assignments. What has made the job a little more interesting for us is that we had a clear vision of what we wanted to do and we also spent a lot of time developing and evolving strategies that will help us deliver on our mandate and some of these strategies are not classical pieces of information from the regular books of economics or development in other climes; we had to do some home grown strategies to suit our peculiar circumstances in Abia State.

We decided to look at how best we can deliver on our vision which is to create a better life for our people and to make Abia a destination for trade and commerce, as well as, an environment and ecosystem for small and medium scale enterprises. In order to achieve this, we looked at the pillars based on the things we think we had comparative and competitive advantage over other states. Prominent among them is trade and commerce because every Igbo man is acclaimed to be a good trader and in Abia we have a robust complement of very successful traders than even the Lebanese.

We also noticed that the World Bank had recently reported the presence of over 200,000 artisans doing all kinds of things with leather and garment. Naturally, it will be a misnomer for us to ignore the impact of those 200,000 people knowing that each and every one of them will employ at least four persons and about a million people or so doing one form of handicraft or the other cannot be ignored by any serious leader. Promotion of small and medium scale enterprises became our second pillar.

Abia is blessed with one of the most fertile soils in the world. A recent study by some Brazilians who wanted to do sugar cane farming here; took soil samples and went to Brazil and came back with that beautiful report. We knew of course that if you throw any fruit out of the window you will get that same plant, so everything can virtually grow and flourish in our state but we don’t have all the soil in the world. I think we are one of the smallest states in terms of land area, so we need to be careful about choice of crop and also diversifying our agriculture as it were and we are also desperate about value addition as well as bringing science and technology to bear in agriculture in Abia State.

So for the purpose of focus we decided to do oil palm, cassava, cocoa, rice and cashew because we just did not want to be jack of all trade, we wanted to see if we can be crop specific and then drive strong on them. Beyond this we have a little bit of oil in some local governments down south and we decided to also mainstream oil and gas as one of our pillars.

But beneath all of these, education became the fifth pillar because if you want to produce an agriculturist, you must educate them first.

Education is relevant in SME promotion, incubation growth, agriculture, trade and commerce and all of that; so we had to see how best we can retune our education system to suit our purpose.

this geographical position. That is what gave us the idea that we have a business population of close to 30 million every day but for you to take full benefit of that, you must be able to create access to your commercial nerve centre.

We started with some roads from the Ogbor Hill flank while we began work from the Aba-Owerri flank to give people from Port Harcourt access. We also began construction on MCC which is an alternative in-road along the Owerri-Port Harcourt axis. Within the first 100 days, we were able to open Omini, MCC that we later christened Gino Nwafor, then we opened Ukegbu, Ire, Umuola which had been in a state of complete disrepair for over 10 years such that you cannot move from one end of the road to the other. The only channel through which you could enter Aba from that axis was the Umuoba road and we had Sevenup Bottling Company along that road so whenever there was a problem with their truck on the way it led to traffic logjam and complete shutdown of business in the city.

People in Ariaria were sitting, hands-on-theircheeks for several weeks without patronage.

They were forced to take their wares to Akwa Ibom, some will have to do two, three, four trips through the bush because each time they go, their clients in Akwa Ibom will say this is not the goods we want. I felt the pain of my people and decided to embark on all of these.

Getting into Aba again, the other problem is how you access Ariaria because for over 16 years, nobody had travelled from one end of Fox Road, Brass to the other end. The Ariaria axis, the Ife-obara pond inclusive belongs to the lowest areas in Aba they are the sump in Aba; Aba is the sump in Abia. The only place that is lower is the Ife-obara side and we knew we had to contend with three things at once; sanitation, storm water management and then the roads.

Ikpeazu Strategically speaking, the enablers that will drive the five pillars became the main issue because these are the things you need to work on and the manifestation will begin to show on the pillars. There was the need for us to craft deliberate agendas on the enablers. You cannot talk about trade and commerce without good roads to move goods and services from one point to the other.

Beyond road, security, whatever you needed to do, you need to work hard on your security architecture and make sure that at least you provide the enabling environment for people to do business and you attract tourists, and industries into your space. Of course, health because if you attract a businessman and he is investing, you also imagine that he may get

What will say to them?

That I just did roads and went away? I am saying we have little time to plant our feet in history and if we fail today it will be too late tomorrow. I don’t know what the rest of Nigeria is thinking, but we in Abia must industrialise between now and the next five years and it is achievable

sick. There was the need for us to do something about our health sector.

Were your conclusions based on research or political rule of thumb?

We took all of these into cognisance and we did a deep research about who the Abians are, what Abia means to them, the relationship between one senatorial zone and the other, the agricultural belt of Abia, the oil belt of Abia, the trade and commerce hub of Abia and all of that.

Since Aba is a very strong centre of commerce, not only in Abia but the entire South-east and Nigeria, that is critical and strategic to the development of this country, it will be a misnomer also for us to abandon Aba. We opened up on roads in Aba.

How did you solve the drainage problems for the roads to be durable?

In fact at a point people resigned to fate and said there was juju shrine around those areas.

What we did was to do some proper planning to understand the terrain and began systematically and gradually to deal with the issues.

First, we dredged Waterside because we knew that it was going to be the major recipient of storm water or runoff. Two, we started a policy of ‘no drainage, no road’. All the roads we have done in Aba come with double arm drainage end-to-end and we follow up to see where the water will empty.

The third was that wherever water had sat for 20 years, we now decided to deploy cement pavement technology with full complement of drainage. This was our state-of-emergency strategy to recover Aba quickly. That is why I am proud to say, whereas I can hardly point at any road in Aba that is more than five years old, the ones we have done have lasted from the first 100 days till now and I have guarantee that they will outlive my tenure.

Where did you meet Aba and where have you taken it now?

I recall vividly that there was no good road to Akwa Ibom from any part of Aba. People from Port Harcourt couldn’t come because the Enugu-Port Harcourt highway was and is still in a state of disrepair. For the Akwa Ibom channel, it was so bad, it got to a point where people from Ariaria had to take their wares to Akwa Ibom because we have also painstakingly characterised the clientele of our big market.

In Ariaria, 60 per cent of those who patronise them come from the Akwa Ibom, Cross River axis, they include people coming from Cameroon, people coming through Northern Cross River and from our neighbouring states and the rest 40 per cent come from Port Harcourt and the businesses we do within ourselves, Owerri, Enugu and all of that.

Geographically speaking, Abia State; Aba and Umuahia in particular seem to be at the confluence of the South-east and South-south states, 30 minutes away from major cities like Uyo and Port Harcourt, 45 minutes to Owerri, less than two and a half hours from Enugu. We seem to be at the centre of seven states and for us, we wanted to take strategic advantage of

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

OSUN GOVERNORSHIP ELECTION TRIBUNAL UPDATE

Witnesses Fail Oyetola at Tribunal

By Our Reporter The All Progressive Congress and Governor Gboyega Oyetola of Osun State started their defence before the Osun State Governorship Election Tribunal Wednesday on shaky ground as their witnesses openly contradicted their tendered testimonies before the court.

The 2nd Respondent (APC) had brought the witnesses to confirm their pleaded allegations that there was over voting, lack of

ballot accounting in areas where the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) won at the last polls.

One after the other however, the witnesses capitulated openly disputing with the defendant’s counsels Mr. Owonikoko (SAN) admitting under cross examination that there was ballot counting contrary to their allegations in their pleaded evidence.

APC counsels mostly called witnesses from Ede, the home of the petitioner and PDP candidate in the election, Senator Ademola

Nurudeen Adeleke, with specific target of seeking the nullification of votes scored by the PDP from the town.

The last attempt by the APC to present an electoral document through a subpoena witness who was also the 3rd Respondents Ward Collation Agent, was however objected by the petitioner’s counsel, Dr. Onyechi IKpeazu citing it as an abuse of court process and an attempt to injure the principle of fair hearing since they; 2nd & 3rd respondents

were both defendants in the case at hand. He cited a couple of decided cases to corroborate his assertions.

The 2nd Respondent’s counsel Mr. Owonikoko (SAN) gave a counter argument why the objections should not stand. The tribunal then had a brief recess and returned after about 45minutes and announced their decision to uphold the objection of the petitioner’s counsel.

The tribunal continues its work today.

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T H I S D AY ˾ THURSDAY JANUARY 31, 2019

POLITICS

‘Badaru is the First Nigerian Governor to Stop Security Vote’ Alhaji Ahmad Mahmud former deputy governor of Jigawa State during the administration of Dr. Sule Lamido and director general of the campaign to return Governor Abubakar Badaru for a second tenure fields questions from Olaseni Durojaiye on how the governor has changed governance narrative in the North-west state

Badaru

W

hat are the achievements of this government in the last four years?

When this government came in 2015, it found out that the previous administration had badly vandalized the psyche of the people such that impunity was the order of the day.

Anything and everything goes during that regime. A lot of things were messy.

In four years, Governor Abubakar Badaru has changed all of that including the orientation of the people about things and governance.

There were a lot issues in the country pre-2015 elections. There was the Boko Haram issue; insecurity everywhere, the economy was down.

With the coming of President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration, things have started to ease up. The economy has since been on the rise, insecurity has reduced drastically, Boko Haram has been curtailed and contained. All these actions by the federal government naturally trickle down to the state governments.

Jigawa is also a beneficiary of the positive action of the federal government. The first thing Badaru did when he came in was to prioritise people-oriented investments by way of human capital development, through education. Education was; and is still a priority of this administration. He believes that once education is right, every other thing will be right. The other one is the issue of agriculture. Agriculture for this administration is like crude oil and that is why the government is investing heavily in agriculture such that it even has a slogan, farming is a business. The governor is galvanizing the youths into the agriculture value chain and ensures that they not only participate but they are making a living from it now.

He also started the cluster farming initiative. What this government did through this initiative was to refocus the subsistence mind-set of the small holder farmer and open their eyes to the commercial potential in farming activities.

The government then registered these subsistence farmers and cluster them for target input provision and extension service. Initially, a maximum cluster size of 50 hectares was formed in each of the 287 wards in the state. So far, a total of 1,306 clusters have been established with 61,184 farmers presently in this initiative.

At the moment, Jigawa is heavily into rice farming. What we grow presently is even much more than some states. Very soon, Jigawa will not only be supplying the rice needs of the country but the entire West African sub region. All these

Mahmud have been achieved in than three years.

You were in the administrations of former Governor Sule Lamido and now that of Abubakar Badaru, what is the incumbent administration doing differently?

There is a great difference. When he came into the government, he abolished security vote. He is the first governor in Nigeria that immediately he was sworn in, he stopped the payment of security vote.

I was Commissioner for Finance between 2000 and 2005. I know how the ministry was run. I have never in my life thought of getting a leader who is so prudent, so accountable like Badaru. Unlike before, this governor is a budget man. Everything and anything that the government must do must be documented, that is, it must be in the budget. If it is not in the budget, then, you won’t see him appending his signature.

He will never do anything outside of the budget. His action presently is a big deal in our political development. When I say it is a big deal, I am talking from experience. I know how government operates in this clime but for him to

Everything and anything that the government must do must be documented, that is, it must be in the budget. If it is not in the budget, then, you won’t see him appending his signature. He will never do anything outside of the budget. His action presently is a big deal in our political development

have a completely paradigm shift from the status quo, it is a big deal.

Unlike in the past, the governor was said to have insisted on completing the past administration’s projects though they are from different political parties with different manifestos?

That is why I said this governor is a big deal in Nigeria today. His actions are totally different from what is operational in Nigeria presently. It is unheard of that a new government from another party and different manifestos would still continue the projects of his predecessor. These are part of the qualities this man possesses.

He completed these projects; first of all, because the projects are for the people, more importantly, it is the people’s projects because it is the people that own the resources spent on the projects.

He has completed projects worth over N100 billion that he inherited before he started new ones of his own. His action is a real time progression in our political developments. We need more of the likes of Badaru in our polity. We need more clean businessmen in our polity. We need more of clean but God-fearing people like Badaru in our polity. If everyone is staying back, there won’t be serious minded people in politics. If Badaru too had stayed back, how would we have had this benefits the state is presently enjoying now. The more we have the likes of Badaru in the polity, from the ward, to local government, to state and the federal, the better for this country.

There has been a gale of defections from the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to your party. You also defected to the APC from the PDP under which you were a deputy governor of the Jigawa State. How do you respond to insinuations that the defectors were monetarily induced?

If you know Badaru very well, you will know that the governor would be the last person that would induce anybody with money. Badaru is not different from president Buhari. He is a very prudent person. I was once in PDP. I was the deputy governor to Dr. Sule Lamido for eight years of his administration.

Whoever is coming to APC is coming essentially because of two things. One, they are coming because they have since discovered that their lifestyle have changed, dependence on them have also reduced because the people are busy themselves, they are seeing developments everywhere which are also beneficial to them as well.

Two, some of them are coming because of some of us who left the PDP. They are

convinced that if people like me could leave the party, then they also have no reason to remain there. Presently, there are over 70 political groupings in the state waiting to decamp to the APC and declare their support for the APC. And they are from other parties too, including the PDP and the SDP. In the last one or two weeks, that is what we have been doing, receiving new members who interestingly, are even willing to support us financially.

Last week, I was in two local government areas where we witnessed the defection into the APC of 22 ward chairmen, two local government chairmen.

If everybody that matter in the state are all coming over to the APC, will this not lead to a one party state devoid of a virile opposition which experts continue to insisted is need for the growth of any democracy?

Yes, it might likely happen because if the government is truly for the people, if it is caring for the people, there is likelihood that the people would be voting such party into government all the time. Now, everyone can see that nobody is stealing any money, because there is nothing to steal. Besides, the governor is a self-made.

He is a contented person, he will not loot the state’s treasury; and the little he receives is accounted for through strategic projects that are beneficial to the people.

Nobody is preventing you from joining the party, nobody is bribing his way to secure contracts, and everything is done on merit. If you live in the state, you don’t need to know the governor before you get certain things done. Rules are rules. The problem with our country is that people go along with the trend, by trend I mean where the money is, that is where people will go to, even if it is detrimental to the development of the generality of the people.

However, things are changing. Ideas now rule the world. Prudence, I can say, is one word and a major reason why people are in love with this administration. Now, everyone is tending towards agriculture which fortunately is paying their bills.

As we speak here, I am the Director of Campaign; we have not received any money from the government.

We source the resources ourselves.

Badaru isn’t giving us a dime. This campaign is been financed by the people.

Now, people are watching and looking at our lifestyle, they know that their money is not being stolen. They know that whatever resources are earmarked for this or that project will definitely go into that project and that they will see the project physically, not on paper.

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FEATURES

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

Revatilising River Basin Development Udora Orizu takes a critical look at the efforts being put in place and the results achieved so far by the Federal Ministry of Water Resources to revitalise the River Basin Development Authorities

I

n the last three years, the Federal Ministry of Water Resources has made concrete steps to revitalise the River Basin Development Authorities (RBDAs), which were established to boost agricultural production in the country through all year irrigated farming restructure of the RBDAs and also by appointing new professional management teams.

Action Plan The target is to guarantee Nigeria’s food security and achieve integrated rural development, hence, the revitalisation of the RBDAs commenced with the development of a blueprint and action plan. The RBDAs have also introduced the concept of an integrated agricultural practice, known as the Songhai Model in each of the 109 Senatorial Districts of the federation.

In addition to these, the authorities commenced the Graduate/Youth Farmers Empowerment Programme in all the RBDAs, riding on the Songhai Model, which is aimed at engaging carefully selected participants in batches of 50 to be trained in various agricultural activities.

The RBDAs are also undergoing structural reforms towards partial and eventually full commercialisation of their operations. The National Council on Privatisation (NPC) recently approved the appointment of a transaction adviser to guide the process.

Mandate The Minister of Water Resources. Suleiman Adamu, who spoke recently in Abuja, at an interactive session with the media, stated that the ministry on May 26, 2016 inaugurated a Steering Committee with the mandate to draw up a partial commercialisation framework of the RBDAs, identify all keys issues such as funding, regulatory, policy, technical and other economic factors that may hinder the partial commercialisation of the RBDAs and to consider any other matter necessary for the drafting and implementation of the new legal and regulatory framework for the RBDAs and provide for the successful implementation of the program. The Federal Government envisages the attainment of their partial commercialisation by 2019.

According to him, "sometime in June, 2016 when the ministry signed a contract agreement between the RBDAs and Songhai Nigeria Partnership Ltd, the minister mandated the chief executive officers of the RBDAs to take charge and bring up a blueprint and a step by- step approach for the implementation of a laudable program whose output shall include increase tonnage of food production, generate employment and manage the available water resources using best practices for integrated rural development."

He revealed that aside from restructuring and attempts at repositioning the RBDAs for better efficiency and to aid diversification of the economy, guarantee food security, the ministry as well initiated the National Irrigation Programme, which is aimed to establish additional 100,000 hectares of irrigated farmland by 2020 and another 500,000 by 2030 in addition to another 1,000,000 hectares of irrigated land to be developed by the private sector and state governments within the same period, to give a boost to the economic diversification policy.

"The scheme will enhance the ability of the RBDAs to package their water services with the provision of complementary basic rural infrastructure and improved agricultural support services. In line with this policy thrust, the RBDAs have demonstrated that they have the capacity and commitment in keying into the change mantra of the present administration of economic diversification with emphasis on all year-round farming."

He added that agricultural extension services have been restored and the RBDAs are now positioned to deliver their mandate and their effectiveness will be measured by the amount of additional hectares of land they are able to bring into cultivation, efficiency of extension

Minister of Water Resources, Suleiman Adamu and the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed at the commissioning of Sabke Regional Water Supply Scheme in Katsina State

Minister of Water Resources. Suleiman Adamu, inspecting Zobe Water Supply Project in Katsina State

services and agricultural produce output.

Ogun/Osun River Basin In Ogun/Osun River Basin Development

The River Basin Development Authorities are also undergoing structural reforms towards partial and eventually full commercialisation of their operations...they are now positioned to deliver their mandate and effectiveness

Authority for instance, the Federal Government through this authority under the leadership of President Muhammadu Buhari has ensured efficiency in service delivery in food, security and employment generation.

Checks revealed that they have completed irrigation projects. The basin has also embarked on the rehabilitation of irrigation scheme in Lagos State, distributed water pumps to Fadama farmers, thereby ensuring food security. They have the Graduate Youths Employment Scheme, where many youths are benefiting. They also embarked on construction and completion of earth dams, they have ground water development boreholes located in Ogun, Osun, Oyo and Lagos States.

They also have solar-powered boreholes and equally adopted the green house technology for crop production. They have intervention

program in water supply scheme which have provided portable water to the people.

Other achievements recorded by the authority include the completion of construction of Three Centre Pivot Irrigation System (CPIS), rehabilitation of Itoikin Irrigation Scheme in Lagos State, completion of Iragbiji Earth Dam, distribution of 1,124 water pumps to Fadama farmers, Graduate Youth Empowerment Programme, which has benefited 24 youths from various catchment areas.

Benin/Owena River Basin Also in Benin/Owena River Basin Development Authority, the integrated farm comprises various farm enterprises like poultry, piggery, fishery (Aquaculture) the agro-forestry and CONTINUED ON NEXT PAGE

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FEATURES

unemployed graduates in the area.

Lower Niger Basin Lower Niger Basin Development Authority established to cover Kwara and Kogi States was to support the socio-economic lives of Nigerians.

It has five major irrigation projects and 35 other small irrigation ones under construction, in addition to hydro-meteorological services where it collects data and produce reports which are made available for public consumption from time to time.

It also has agricultural improvement intervention and has equally introduced Graduate Youth Employment Scheme where youths are trained in various farming skills and creation of job opportunities.

Anambra/Imo Basin Anambra/Imo RBDA, which has its key function as undertaking comprehensive study of both surface and underground water resources for multipurpose uses, the authority has equally gone deep in maintaining boreholes, dams, irrigation and drainage systems and has completed 35 dams and 85 erosion projects and has equally constructed solar powered boreholes, in addition to adopting Songhai model of farming.

Upper Niger Basin The Upper Niger River Basin Development Authority is not left out. A number of earth dams, bridges and roads have sprung up in strategic areas following its avowed determination. It has also adopted the Songhai farming method where different crops and live stocks are presently getting ready for harvest.

The dam projects in the River Basin include: Rafin Yashi Dam, Egbea Gaba Dam, Kuseki Earth Dam, Maitozo Dam, Chori Small Earth Dam, Likarbu Dam and Kudan Dam. Other interventions of the River Basin for the populace in the catchment include: construction of access road to Kuseki Dam, construction of access bridge to Kwarabe farmlands, undertaking of road works and construction of culverts, Songhai farm model established along with the construction of skill acquisition facilities to empower the unemployed graduate youths in the area.

Testing the water project

Hadejia/Jamare Basin Hadejia/Jamare River Basin Development Authority, which is having catchment area as Bauchi, Kano and Jigawa States, has rehabilitated six dams and constructed four others that have ensured water supply in the area, in addition to also rehabilitating water schemes that have brought about 10,000 farmers back to business.

Also, 120 solar powered boreholes and hand pump schemes were provided.

One of the projects

The ministry as well initiated the National Irrigation Programme, which is aimed to establish additional 100,000 hectares of irrigated farmland by 2020 and another 500,000 by 2030 in addition to another 1,000,000 hectares of irrigated land to be developed by the private sector and state governments

the market garden section. A unique farming method, the integrated farm is entirely organic, with no use of synthetic or inorganic fertiliser, pesticide, herbicide, fungicide or any other conventional chemicals used in present day agriculture.

Chad Basin In 2017 alone, Chad Basin Development Authority based in Maiduguri, Borno State with catchment areas in Bornu, Yobe and Northern part of Adamawa State has empowered over 281 youth through the provision of wash bores equipped with portable pumps for irrigation under the youth empowerment programme.

Similarly, 296 farming families have been empowered through the provision of wash bores equipped with portable irrigation pumps under the expansion programme of CBDA’s Small Irrigation Schemes and 826 portable irrigation water pumps distributed to farmers within the CBDAs catchment area.

At Chad Basin River Development Authority, there has been wide range of irrigation

schemes, which, although, have been affected by the Boko Haram insurgency, could not be easily accessed. But as peace is being restored, farmers are being mobilised back to site. One thing that stands this River Basin Authority out is river channelisation works, which have made adequate water available to farmers for irrigation. This is apart from various intervention programmes in areas of drilling of boreholes for farmers and provision of pumps for irrigation, in addition to rehabilitation and repairs of dams and earth dams.

Cross River Basin In a similar vein, the Cross River Basin Development Authority with catchment areas in Akwa Ibom and Cross River states has replicated the Songhai model of farming, provided improved water supply and have different water schemes.

The basin is using the Public Private Partnership (PPP) model, CRIBAS Nigeria Ltd, a subsidiary of the Cross River Basin Development Authority to engage youths and

Niger/Delta Basin Niger/Delta River Basin Development Authorities has rehabilitated its office building and, as well, constructed various boreholes.

In addition, the authority now has world class laboratory where soil and water are tested, thus generating enormous revenues for the government. In addition, it has started production of packaged water in 50cl and 70cl categories where up to 500 cartons are produced par day. They are also into PublicPrivate Partnership to ensure food security, he stressed.

Lower Benue Basin Lower Benue River Basin Development Authority has rehabilitated a number of dams and established demonstration farms for economic emancipation. To encourage farmers, specifically, the RBDA has supported them with farming tools and water pumps and has mobilised them to return to their farms, even as their Songhai farming is already yielding positive developments, the basin has also adopted drip method of irrigated farming, and as part of its intervention projects, it has constructed bridges, roads and rural electrification.

The ministry's plan for the sector through the RBDAs development is captured by the 12 RBDAs in their various programmes and activities. While we celebrate this small beginning, the ministry is poised in scaling up activities of the RBDAs to be one of the major catalysts of economic diversification in Nigeria.

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L-R:Chief Human Resource OďŹƒcer,Century group, Mr Tom Otuaga; Executive Director, Enterprise, Maclaren Kosuowei; Immediate past Chairman, Brand Journalist association of Nigeria (BJAN) , Mr Goddie Ofose; presenting BJAN Excellence Awards 2018, Best CEO in Oil Industry Service Solution to Managing Director/CEO,Century group, Ken Etete; and Managing Director,Katunga Media Ltd, Mr Joseph Edgar, in Lagos.. recently

Action Democratic Party(ADP) candidate,Otunba Christopher Adebayo Alao-Akala (right) and the Oba Sabo Hausawa of Ogbomoso,Alhaji Aruna Bala during Akala’s visit to Sabo,Ogbomoso,Oyo State...recently

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L-R; Group Managing Director, Sahara Power Group, Mr. Kola Adesina; South African President, Cyril Ramaphosa ; and Director, Governance and Sustainability, Sahara Group, Pearl Uzokwe during a meeting on energy sector collaboration in Davos, Switzerland...recently

R-L; Group Managing Director/CEO, Rahamaniyya Oil and Gas, Alh. (Dr) Abdulrahman Musa Bashir ; Representatives of Professional Evaluation and CertiďŹ cation Board (PECB) Canada, Mr.Aribodo Churchill and Chief Operating OďŹƒcer, Rahamaniyya Oil and Gas, Dr. Ravikumar Renala during the presentation of IMS CertiďŹ cates (ISO 9001, ISO 14001, ISO 45001) in Abuja...recently

L-R: , Governor of Bayelsa State; Henry Seriake Dickson(left) and Presidential Aspirant of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Alhaji Atiku Abubakar during a visit Dickson at government house before the PDP Presidential Rally in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State...recently

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Quick Takes Stanbic Supports Social Media Week

ĂžĂ‹Ă˜ĂŒĂ“Ă? Ă’Ă‹Ă? ĂŽĂ“Ă?Ă?Ă–Ă™Ă?Ă?ĂŽ ĂšĂ–Ă‹Ă˜ ÞÙ Ă?Ă&#x;ĂšĂšĂ™ĂœĂž ÞÒÓĂ? ĂŁĂ?Ă‹ĂœËŞĂ? Ă?ĂŽĂ“ĂžĂ“Ă™Ă˜ Ă™Ă? ÞÒĂ? Ă™Ă?Ă“Ă‹Ă– Ă?ĂŽĂ“Ă‹ Ă?Ă?Ă• Ă‹Ă‘Ă™Ă?Ë›

Ă˜ Ă‹ Ă?ÞËÞĂ?Ă—Ă?Ă˜ĂžËœ ÞÒĂ? Ă?Ă“Ă˜Ă‹Ă˜Ă?Ă“Ă‹Ă– Ă“Ă˜Ă?ÞÓÞĂ&#x;ĂžĂ“Ă™Ă˜ Ă?ÞËÞĂ?ĂŽ ÞÒËÞ Ă“Ăž ĂĄĂ™Ă&#x;Ă–ĂŽ ĂŒĂ? Ă”Ă™Ă“Ă˜Ă“Ă˜Ă‘ ÙÞÒĂ?Ăœ ÞÒÙĂ&#x;Ă‘Ă’Ăž Ă–Ă?Ă‹ĂŽĂ?ĂœĂ?Ëœ Ă“Ă˜Ă˜Ă™Ă Ă‹ĂžĂ™ĂœĂ?Ëœ ĂŒĂ&#x;Ă?Ă“Ă˜Ă?Ă?Ă? ĂšĂœĂ‹Ă?ĂžĂ“ĂžĂ“Ă™Ă˜Ă?ĂœĂ?Ëœ Ă?Ă˜ĂžĂœĂ?ĂšĂœĂ?Ă˜Ă?Ă&#x;ĂœĂ?Ëœ Ă‹Ă˜ĂŽ ÚÙÚ Ă?Ă&#x;Ă–ĂžĂ&#x;ĂœĂ? Ă?Ă˜ĂžĂ’Ă&#x;Ă?Ă“Ă‹Ă?ĂžĂ? Ă?ĂœĂ™Ă— Ă“Ă‘Ă?ĂœĂ“Ă‹ Ă‹Ă˜ĂŽ Ă‹ĂœĂ™Ă&#x;Ă˜ĂŽ ÞÒĂ? ĂĄĂ™ĂœĂ–ĂŽ ÞÙ ĂšĂ‹ĂœĂžĂ“Ă?ÓÚËÞĂ? Ă‹Ăž ÞÒĂ? Ă?Ă™ĂœĂ&#x;Ă—Ë› ĂžĂ‹Ă˜ĂŒĂ“Ă? Ă?Ă‹Ă“ĂŽ Ă“Ăž ĂĄĂ™Ă&#x;Ă–ĂŽ ĂŒĂ? ĂœĂ“Ă?Ă“Ă˜Ă‘ Ă‹ĂŒĂ™Ă Ă? Ă‹Ă˜ĂŽ ĂŒĂ?ĂŁĂ™Ă˜ĂŽ Ă“ĂžĂ? Ă?Ă™ĂœĂ? Ă?Ă“Ă˜Ă‹Ă˜Ă?Ă“Ă‹Ă– Ă?Ă?ĂœĂ Ă“Ă?Ă?Ă? Ă?ĂšĂ?Ă?Ă“Ă‹Ă–Ă“Ă?Ă‹ĂžĂ“Ă™Ă˜ Ă“Ă˜ Ă–Ă“Ă˜Ă? åÓÞÒ Ă“ĂžĂ? Ă?Ù××ÓÞ×Ă?Ă˜Ăž ÞÙ Ă?Ă™Ă˜ĂžĂœĂ“ĂŒĂ&#x;ĂžĂ? ÞÙ ÞÒĂ? ĂŽĂ?Ă Ă?ÖÙÚ×Ă?Ă˜Ăž Ă™Ă? ÞÒĂ? Ă˜Ă‹ĂžĂ“Ă™Ă˜Ë› Ă’Ă? ĂŒĂ‹Ă˜Ă• Ă?Ă‹Ă“ĂŽ ÚÖĂ?ĂŽĂ‘Ă?ĂŽ ÞÙ Ă?Ă™Ă˜ĂžĂ“Ă˜Ă&#x;Ă? Ă&#x;ÚÖÓĂ?ĂžĂ“Ă˜Ă‘ ÞÒĂ? Ă?Ă™Ă?ÓÙ̋Ă?Ă?Ă™Ă˜Ă™Ă—Ă“Ă? Ă–Ă“Ă Ă“Ă˜Ă‘ Ă?Ă™Ă˜ĂŽĂ“ĂžĂ“Ă™Ă˜Ă? Ă™Ă? Ă“ĂžĂ? Ă?ÓÞÓäĂ?Ă˜ĂœĂŁ ĂžĂ’ĂœĂ™Ă&#x;Ă‘Ă’ Ă?ĂžĂœĂ‹ĂžĂ?Ă‘Ă“Ă? Ă?Ă™Ă?Ă&#x;Ă? Ă‹Ă˜ĂŽ Ă“Ă˜Ă Ă?Ă?Þ×Ă?Ă˜Ăž Ă“Ă˜ Ă“Ă˜Ă“ĂžĂ“Ă‹ĂžĂ“Ă Ă?Ă? ÞÒËÞ Ă?Ă‹Ă–Ă– Ă&#x;Ă˜ĂŽĂ?Ăœ ĂžĂ’ĂœĂ?Ă? Ă•Ă?ĂŁ ĂšĂ“Ă–Ă–Ă‹ĂœĂ? Ě‹ Ă™Ă?Ă“Ă‹Ă–Ëœ Ă?Ă™Ă˜Ă™Ă—Ă“Ă? Ă‹Ă˜ĂŽ Ă˜Ă Ă“ĂœĂ™Ă˜Ă—Ă?Ă˜Ăž Ě™ ̚˛ ĂžĂ‹ĂžĂ“Ă˜Ă‘ ÞÒËÞ ĂœĂ‹ĂžĂ’Ă?Ăœ ĂžĂ’Ă‹Ă˜ Ă–Ă?Ă Ă?ĂœĂ‹Ă‘Ă“Ă˜Ă‘ Ă™Ă˜ ÞÒĂ? Ă‹Ă˜Ă˜Ă&#x;Ă‹Ă– Ă™Ă?Ă“Ă‹Ă– Ă?ĂŽĂ“Ă‹ Ă?Ă?Ă• Ă‹Ă‘Ă™Ă? ÚÖËÞĂ?Ă™ĂœĂ— ÞÙ Ă?Ă?Ă–Ă–Ëœ Ă“Ăž ĂĄĂ“Ă–Ă– ĂŒĂ? Ă’Ă“Ă‘Ă’Ă–Ă“Ă‘Ă’ĂžĂ“Ă˜Ă‘ ÞÙÙÖĂ? Ă‹Ă˜ĂŽ ĂŒĂ‹Ă?Ă“Ă?Ă? Ă™Ă? Ă?Ă™ĂœĂ—Ă‹Ă– Ă?Ă‹ĂœĂ?Ă?Ăœ ĂŽĂ?Ă Ă?ÖÙÚ×Ă?Ă˜ĂžËœ Ă?Ă˜ĂžĂœĂ?ĂšĂœĂ?Ă˜Ă?Ă&#x;ĂœĂ?Ă’Ă“Ăš ĂŽĂœĂ“Ă Ă? Ă‹Ă˜ĂŽ ĂŒĂ&#x;Ă?Ă“Ă˜Ă?Ă?Ă? Ă—Ă‹Ă˜Ă‹Ă‘Ă?Ă—Ă?Ă˜Ăž Ă‹Ă“Ă—Ă?ĂŽ Ă‹Ăž ĂĄĂ?ËÖÞÒ Ă?ĂœĂ?Ă‹ĂžĂ“Ă™Ă˜ Ă‹Ă˜ĂŽ Ă?Ă?Ă?Ă&#x;ĂœĂ“Ă˜Ă‘ Ă‹ ĂšĂœĂ™Ă—Ă“Ă?Ă“Ă˜Ă‘ Ă?Ă&#x;ĂžĂ&#x;ĂœĂ? ÞÒĂ? Ă“Ă‘Ă?ĂœĂ“Ă‹Ă˜ ĂŁĂ™Ă&#x;ÞÒĂ?Ë› Ă’Ă? Ă‹Ă˜Ă˜Ă&#x;Ă‹Ă– ĂĄĂ?Ă?Ă•Ă–Ă™Ă˜Ă‘ Ă?Ă™Ă˜Ă?Ă?ĂœĂ?Ă˜Ă?Ă? Ă‹Ă˜ĂŽ Ă?Ă˘Ă’Ă“ĂŒĂ“ĂžĂ“Ă™Ă˜ ĂĄĂ“Ă–Ă– ÒÙÖÎ ÞÒÓĂ? ĂŁĂ?Ă‹Ăœ Ă?ĂœĂ™Ă— Ă?ĂŒĂœĂ&#x;Ă‹ĂœĂŁ Ͳ ÞÙ Ă?ĂŒĂœĂ&#x;Ă‹ĂœĂŁ ÍśËœ åÓÞÒ ÞÒĂ? ÞÒĂ?Ă—Ă? ËŤ ÓÞÒ ĂœĂ?Ă‹Ăž Ă˜Ă?Ă–Ă&#x;Ă?Ă˜Ă?Ă? Ù×Ă?Ă? ĂœĂ?Ă‹Ăž Ă?Ă?ĂšĂ™Ă˜Ă?Ă“ĂŒĂ“Ă–Ă“ĂžĂŁË›ËŹ

Habo Unveils Mobile App

REWARDING LOYAL CUSTOMERS, DISTRIBUTORS

L-R: President, Dangote Group, Alhaji Aliko Dangote; National Best Performing Customer, Dangote Foods, Ali Balarabe of Ali Balarabe & Sons; Executive Director Commercial, Dangote Flour Mills Plc, Halima Aliko Dangote and Chairperson, NASCON Allied Industries Plc, Yemisi Ayeni, at the Dangote Foods gala night held in Lagos...recently

FG Urged to Develop ICT Capabilities for National Development Stories by Emma Okonji The Institute of Software Practitioners of Nigeria (ISPON) has called on the federal government to refocus its priorities and begin to look at capacity building in the area of Information and Communications Technology (ICT), especially in software development.

President of ISPON, Dr. Yele Okeremi, who made the call at a tech capacity development forum organised by Girl Code Academy in Lagos, expressed concern that the federal government was not doing the basic things required to enhance national development.

He was of the view that the federal government must begin to develop local ICT capacities for national development, if she must achieve her dream of

TELECOM becoming a smart city where activities are automated and driven by technology.

According to him, government should be able to support between five to ten technology hubs and start-ups and provide them with the opportunities to grow and compete globally. This would bring about national development and wealth creation for our county Nigeria. The idea of government borrowing money from other developed countries of the world to build national infrastructure may stop because Nigeria can become financially stable if it has up to ten powerful Nigerian technology start-ups that are doing well and creating wealth for Nigeria, he said.

“We therefore need leaders that have the vision to build capacity for national development,� he added. “Government should resuscitate hubs that are financial weak and about to go down, including those hubs that have already gone into extinction like Ideas Hub, among others,� Okeremi said.

Citing successful hubs in developed countries of the world, Okeremi said those successful hubs belong to the private sector with support from government, while encouraging Nigerian government to do same instead of setting up government hubs or government ICT Parks.

He emphasised that those meant to run technology hubs are those with core technology skills and competence among

private entrepreneurs.

Commenting on the smart nation initiative, Okeremi said they have do with lean government and large enterprise. “Every successful nation in the world have the policy and vision of a smart nation, but in Nigeria the story is different, where we have large government and weak private enterprise, yet Nigeria is yawning for a smart nation that is driven by technology. “What we see about government in Nigeria is not encouraging because government does not support the growth of private enterprise that is supposed the drive national development. “For Nigeria to have a smart nation of her dream, governContinued on page 24

ITU, W’Bank Move to Enhance Financial Inclusion Worried about the slow adoption rate in digital transactions in developing countries, Nigeria inclusive, the International Telecommunications Union (ITU), is considering new measures on how to create more global awareness around digital transactions, that will make more people get involved in online transactions, designed to boost digital financial inclusion.

ITU, which is an agency of the United Nation responsible for global telecommunications regulation, observed that majority of people across globe, especially in developing countries of the world, have mobile phones, yet they do not have access financial

TELECOM services.

The Chief of Study Groups Department for ITU’s Telecommunication Standardisation Bureau, Mr. Bilel Jamoussi, who made the disclosure at the just concluded Financial Inclusion Global Initiative Symposium, which held in Cairo, Egypt.

He said: “There are 1.7 billion adults today, who do not have any access to financial services, and about 1.2 billion of the same people have mobile phones,� a situation he said, was becoming worrisome.

The figure, according to him, represents a huge opportunity

to bring financial services to the unbanked, but it is important that regulators from both the finance and technology sectors have a conversation to create a new enabling environment for financial services.

In Nigeria, the central bank had since introduced the cashless economy policy that will drive financial inclusion.

The 2018 financial inclusion survey on financial inclusion by the Enhancing Financial Innovation & Access (EFInA) showed that in Nigeria, the hope of achieving the country’s 80 per cent target by 2020 was on track. The survey showed that 63.6 per cent of Nigeria’s adult

population now has access to financial services and only 36.6 per cent are presently financially excluded.

EFInA is a non-governmental organization and a financial sector development organisation funded by the Department for International Development (DFID) and Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation towards promoting financial inclusion in Nigeria.

The latest report covered 750 respondents in each of the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), and 27,470 interviews, which represented 97 per cent of the target sample Continued on page 24

Ă‹Ă‘Ă™Ă?Ě‹ĂŒĂ‹Ă?Ă?ĂŽ Ă?Ă‹Ă˜Ă“ĂžĂ‹ĂœĂŁ ÚËÎ ĂšĂœĂ™ĂŽĂ&#x;Ă?ĂžĂ“Ă™Ă˜ Ă‹Ă˜ĂŽ ĂŽĂ“Ă?ĂžĂœĂ“ĂŒĂ&#x;ĂžĂ“Ă™Ă˜ Ă?Ă“ĂœĂ—Ëœ Ă‹ĂŒĂ™Ëœ Ă’Ă‹Ă? Ă&#x;Ă˜Ă Ă?Ă“Ă–Ă?ĂŽ Ă‹ Ă—Ă™ĂŒĂ“Ă–Ă? ËÚÚÖÓĂ?Ă‹ĂžĂ“Ă™Ă˜ Ă?Ă™Ăœ ÞÒĂ? Ă™ĂœĂŽĂ?ĂœĂ“Ă˜Ă‘ Ă™Ă? Ă“ĂžĂ? ĂšĂœĂ™ĂŽĂ&#x;Ă?Þ˛ ĂœĂ?ĂšĂœĂ?Ă?Ă?Ă˜ĂžĂ‹ĂžĂ“Ă Ă? Ă™Ă? ÞÒĂ? Ă?Ă™Ă—ĂšĂ‹Ă˜ĂŁËœ ĂœË› Ă?Ă?Ă‹Ă˜ĂŁĂ“ Ă?Ă?Ă‹Ă˜Ă&#x;Ă˜Ă“Ă•Ă?Ëœ Ă—Ă‹ĂŽĂ? ÞÒÓĂ? Ă•Ă˜Ă™ĂĄĂ˜ ÞÙ ÔÙĂ&#x;ĂœĂ˜Ă‹Ă–Ă“Ă?ĂžĂ? Ă‹Ăž ÞÒĂ? Ă?Ă™Ă—ĂšĂ‹Ă˜ĂŁËŞĂ? Ă‹ĂĄĂ‹ĂœĂŽ Ă?Ă?ĂœĂ?Ă—Ă™Ă˜ĂŁ Ă‹Ă˜ĂŽ ĂŽĂ“Ă˜Ă˜Ă?Ăœ Ă˜Ă“Ă‘Ă’Ăž Ă’Ă?Ă–ĂŽ ĂœĂ?Ă?Ă?Ă˜ĂžĂ–ĂŁ Ă“Ă˜ Ă‹Ă‘Ă™Ă?Ë› Ă? ĂŽĂ?Ă?Ă?ĂœĂ“ĂŒĂ?ĂŽ ÞÒĂ? Ă‹ĂŒĂ™ Ă—Ă™ĂŒĂ“Ă–Ă? ËÚÚ Ă‹Ă? Ă™Ă˜Ă? Ă™Ă? ÞÒĂ? Ă?Ă?ĂĄ Ă—Ă™ĂŒĂ“Ă–Ă? ËÚÚÖÓĂ?Ă‹ĂžĂ“Ă™Ă˜Ă? ÞÒËÞ ĂĄĂ?ĂœĂ? ĂŽĂ?ĂŽĂ“Ă?Ă‹ĂžĂ?ĂŽ ÞÙ Ă?Ă&#x;Ă?Ă’ Ă‹ ĂšĂœĂ™ĂŽĂ&#x;Ă?ĂžËœ åÓÞÒ ĂšĂ‹ĂœĂžĂ˜Ă?ĂœĂ?Ă’Ă“Ăš Ă‹Ă‘ĂœĂ?Ă?Ă—Ă?Ă˜Ăž åÓÞÒ Ă“ĂžĂ? Ă?Ă“Ă˜Ă‹Ă˜Ă?Ă“Ă‹Ă– ĂšĂ‹ĂœĂžĂ˜Ă?ĂœËœ Ă&#x;Ă‹ĂœĂ‹Ă˜ĂžĂ?Ă? ĂœĂ&#x;Ă?Ăž Ă‹Ă˜Ă• Ă‹Ă˜ĂŽ Ă“ĂžĂ? ÖÙÑÓĂ?ÞÓĂ? ĂšĂ‹ĂœĂžĂ˜Ă?ĂœËœ Ă?ĂŽĂ?â Ă?Ă™Ă&#x;ĂœĂ“Ă?ĂœË› Ă? Ă‹ĂŽĂŽĂ?ĂŽ ÞÒËÞ Ă‹ĂŒĂ™ ĂĄĂ‹Ă? ÚÙÓĂ?Ă?ĂŽ Ă˜Ă™Ăž ÞÙ Ă–Ă?Ă‹Ă Ă? Ă‹Ă˜ĂŁ Ă?ĂžĂ™Ă˜Ă? Ă&#x;Ă˜ĂžĂ&#x;ĂœĂ˜Ă?ĂŽ Ă‹Ă˜ĂŽ ĂŒĂœĂ“Ă˜Ă‘ Ă&#x;Ă˜ĂšĂ‹ĂœĂ‹Ă–Ă–Ă?Ă–Ă?ĂŽ Ă?Ă&#x;Ă?ÞÙ×Ă?Ăœ Ă?ËÞÓĂ?Ă?Ă‹Ă?ĂžĂ“Ă™Ă˜Ëœ ĂžĂ’ĂœĂ™Ă&#x;Ă‘Ă’ ĂŽĂ?Ă—ĂŁĂ?ÞÓĂ?Ă“Ă?ĂŽ Ă™Ă˜Ă–Ă“Ă˜Ă? ĂžĂœĂ‹Ă˜Ă?Ă‹Ă?ĂžĂ“Ă™Ă˜Ă?Ë› ËŤ Ă&#x;Ăœ Ă—Ă™ĂŒĂ“Ă–Ă? ËÚÚ Ă’Ă‹Ă? ĂŒĂ?Ă?Ă˜ ĂŽĂ?Ă?Ă“Ă‘Ă˜Ă?ĂŽ ÞÙ ĂŒĂ? Ă&#x;Ă?Ă?Ăœ Ă?ĂœĂ“Ă?Ă˜ĂŽĂ–ĂŁËœ åÓÞÒ Ă?Ă?Ă?Ă&#x;ĂœĂ“ĂžĂŁ Ă?Ă?Ă‹ĂžĂ&#x;ĂœĂ?Ă? Ă“Ă—ĂŒĂ?ĂŽĂŽĂ?ĂŽ Ă“Ă˜ ÓÞ˛ Ă? Ă’Ă‹Ă Ă? ĂŒĂœĂ™Ă&#x;Ă‘Ă’Ăž ÞÒĂ? Ă‹Ă Ă‹Ă“Ă–Ă‹ĂŒĂ“Ă–Ă“ĂžĂŁ Ă™Ă? Ă™Ă&#x;Ăœ ĂšĂœĂ™ĂŽĂ&#x;Ă?ĂžĂ? ÞÙ ÞÒĂ? Ă?Ă“Ă˜Ă‘Ă?ĂœĂžĂ“ĂšĂ? Ă™Ă? Ă“Ă‘Ă?ĂœĂ“Ă‹Ă˜Ă?Ë› ËŤ Ă? Ă’Ă‹Ă Ă? Ă—Ă‹ĂŽĂ? Ă“Ăž Ă?Ă‹Ă?ĂŁ Ă?Ă™Ăœ Ă?Ă&#x;Ă?ÞÙ×Ă?ĂœĂ? Ă‹Ă˜ĂŽ ĂšĂœĂ™Ă?ĂšĂ?Ă?ÞÓà Ă? ĂŽĂ“Ă?ĂžĂœĂ“ĂŒĂ&#x;ĂžĂ™ĂœĂ? ÞÙ Ă?Ă™Ă˜ĂžĂ‹Ă?Ăž Ă&#x;Ă? ĂŽĂ“ĂœĂ?Ă?ÞÖã Ă&#x;Ă?Ă“Ă˜Ă‘ ÞÒĂ? ËÚÚ Ă™Ăœ ĂŒĂŁ Ă Ă“Ă?Ă“ĂžĂ“Ă˜Ă‘ Ă™Ă&#x;Ăœ ĂĄĂ?ĂŒĂ?Ă“ĂžĂ?ËœËŹ Ă?Ă?Ă‹Ă˜Ă&#x;Ă˜Ă“Ă•Ă? Ă?Ă‹Ă“ĂŽË›

MTN Foundation Boosts Healthcare

Ă“Ă‘Ă?ĂœĂ“Ă‹Ëœ ĂžĂ’ĂœĂ™Ă&#x;Ă‘Ă’ Ă“ĂžĂ? Ă?Ă™Ă?Ă“Ă‹Ă– Ă“Ă˜Ă Ă?Ă?Þ×Ă?Ă˜Ăž Ă Ă?Ă’Ă“Ă?Ă–Ă?Ëœ ÞÒĂ? Ă™Ă&#x;Ă˜ĂŽĂ‹ĂžĂ“Ă™Ă˜Ëœ Ă“Ă? Ă?Ă’Ă‹Ă–Ă–Ă?Ă˜Ă‘Ă“Ă˜Ă‘ ÞÒĂ? Ă?ÞËÞĂ&#x;Ă? Ă›Ă&#x;Ă™ ĂŒĂŁ ĂžĂ‹Ă•Ă“Ă˜Ă‘ Ă’Ă?ËÖÞÒĂ?Ă‹ĂœĂ? ÞÙ ÞÒĂ? Ă—Ă‹ĂœĂ•Ă?ÞÚÖËĂ?Ă?Ë› Ă’Ă? Ă?Ă“ĂœĂ?Ăž ĂŒĂ?Ă˜Ă?Ă?Ă“ĂžĂ“Ă˜Ă‘ Ă—Ă‹ĂœĂ•Ă?ĂžĂ? Ă“Ă˜ ÞÒÓĂ? Ă˜Ă?ĂĄ Ă“Ă˜Ă“ĂžĂ“Ă‹ĂžĂ“Ă Ă? Ă‹ĂœĂ? ĂŒĂ&#x;ĂŁĂ?ĂœĂ? Ă‹Ă˜ĂŽ Ă?Ă?Ă–Ă–Ă?ĂœĂ? Ă“Ă˜ Ă?ĂĄ Ă‹ĂŁĂ™Ă&#x;Ăž Ă‹ĂœĂ•Ă?ĂžËœ Ă™ĂœĂ™Ă•Ă“ĂœĂ“ Ă‹Ă˜ĂŽ Ă&#x;Ă—Ă&#x;åÙÔÓ Ă‹ĂœĂ•Ă?Ăž Ě™ Ă“Ă–Ă? ÍŻ Ă–ĂžĂœĂ‹Ě‹ ÙÎĂ?ĂœĂ˜ Ă‹ĂœĂ•Ă?Þ̚ Ă“Ă˜ Ă™ĂœĂž Ă‹ĂœĂ?Ă™Ă&#x;ĂœĂžËœ Ă“Ă Ă?ĂœĂ? ÞËÞĂ?Ë› Ă“Ă—Ă“Ă–Ă‹Ăœ ÞÙ ĂĄĂ’Ă‹Ăž Ă™ĂŒĂžĂ‹Ă“Ă˜Ă? Ă“Ă˜ Ă‹ ĂšĂœĂ™ĂšĂ?Ăœ Ă—Ă?ĂŽĂ“Ă?Ă‹Ă– Ă?Ă‹Ă?Ă“Ă–Ă“ĂžĂŁËœ ÞÒĂ? Ă‹ĂœĂ•Ă?Ăž Ă™Ă?ĂžĂ™Ăœ ĂšĂœĂ™Ă‘ĂœĂ‹Ă—Ă—Ă? Ă“Ă? Ă?ĂžĂœĂ&#x;Ă?ĂžĂ&#x;ĂœĂ?ĂŽ Ă“Ă˜ĂžĂ™ Ă Ă‹ĂœĂ“Ă™Ă&#x;Ă? ĂŽĂ?ĂšĂ‹ĂœĂžĂ—Ă?Ă˜ĂžĂ? Ă“Ă˜Ă?Ă–Ă&#x;ĂŽĂ“Ă˜Ă‘ Ă˜Ă&#x;ĂœĂ?Ă“Ă˜Ă‘ Ă?ĂžĂ‹ĂžĂ“Ă™Ă˜Ëœ ĂŽĂ™Ă?ĂžĂ™ĂœËŞĂ? Ă?ĂžĂ‹ĂžĂ“Ă™Ă˜Ëœ Ă‹Ă˜ĂŽ ĂšĂ’Ă‹ĂœĂ—Ă‹Ă?ĂŁ ĂšĂœĂ™Ă Ă“ĂŽĂ“Ă˜Ă‘ Ă?ĂœĂ?Ă? ĂŒĂ–Ă™Ă™ĂŽ ĂšĂœĂ?Ă?Ă?Ă&#x;ĂœĂ? Ă?Ă’Ă?Ă?Ă•Ă&#x;ĂšĂ? Ă‹Ă˜ĂŽ Ă˜Ă?Ă?Ă?Ă?Ă?Ă‹ĂœĂŁ ĂŽĂœĂ&#x;Ă‘Ă? ÞÙ Ă‹Ă–Ă– ĂŒĂ?Ă˜Ă?Ă?Ă“Ă?Ă“Ă‹ĂœĂ“Ă?Ă?Ë›

Ă˜ĂžĂ?ĂœĂ?Ă?ĂžĂ“Ă˜Ă‘Ă–ĂŁËœ ĂŒĂ&#x;ĂŁĂ?ĂœĂ? Ă‹Ă˜ĂŽ Ă?Ă?Ă–Ă–Ă?ĂœĂ? Ă‹Ăž ÞÒĂ? Ă—Ă‹ĂœĂ•Ă?ĂžĂ? ĂŒĂœĂ“Ă?Ă?Ă–ĂŁ Ă?Ă&#x;Ă?ĂšĂ?Ă˜ĂŽĂ?ĂŽ ÞÒĂ?Ă“Ăœ ĂšĂœĂ“Ă—Ă‹ĂœĂŁ Ă‹Ă?Ă?Ă“Ă‘Ă˜Ă—Ă?Ă˜ĂžĂ? Ă‹Ă˜ĂŽ ĂžĂœĂ™Ă™ĂšĂ?ĂŽ ÞÙ ÞÒĂ? ĂŽĂ?Ă?Ă“Ă‘Ă˜Ă‹ĂžĂ?ĂŽ ĂšĂ™Ă“Ă˜ĂžĂ? ÞÙ Ă?Ă™Ă˜Ă?Ă&#x;Ă–Ăž ÞÒĂ? ĂŽĂ™Ă?ĂžĂ™ĂœĂ? Ă?Ă™Ăœ Ă—Ă?ĂŽĂ“Ă?Ă‹Ă– Ă?Ă˘Ă‹Ă—Ă“Ă˜Ă‹ĂžĂ“Ă™Ă˜ Ă‹Ă˜ĂŽ ÙÞÒĂ?Ăœ Ă—Ă?ĂŽĂ“Ă?Ă‹Ă– Ă?Ă?ĂœĂ Ă“Ă?Ă?Ă?Ë› Ă˜Ă? Ă™Ă? ÞÒĂ? ĂŒĂ?Ă˜Ă?Ă?Ă“Ă?Ă“Ă‹ĂœĂ“Ă?Ă?Ëœ ĂŒĂ“Ă?Ă˜Ă? Ă&#x;Ă?ĂžĂ“Ă˜Ă‹ Ă•Ă‹Ă–Ă&#x;Ă‘ĂŒĂ™ Ă?Ă‹Ă“ĂŽË? ËŤ Ă‹Ă— ĂœĂ?Ă‹Ă–Ă–ĂŁ ÒËÚÚã Ă?Ă™Ăœ ĂĄĂ’Ă‹Ăž Ă“Ă? ÒËÚÚĂ?Ă˜Ă“Ă˜Ă‘ ÞÙÎËã Ă‹Ăž Ă?ĂĄ Ă‹ĂŁĂ™Ă&#x;Ăž Ă‹ĂœĂ•Ă?Þ˛ Ă?Ă‹Ă—Ă? ÞÙ ÞÒĂ? Ă—Ă‹ĂœĂ•Ă?Ăž ÞÙ Ă‘Ă“Ă Ă? Ă&#x;Ă? Ă?ĂœĂ?Ă? Ă—Ă?ĂŽĂ“Ă?Ă‹Ă– ĂžĂœĂ?ËÞ×Ă?Ă˜Ăž Ă‹Ă˜ĂŽ ÞÒĂ? ĂžĂœĂ‹ĂŽĂ?ĂœĂ? Ă“Ă˜ Ă?ĂĄ Ă‹ĂŁĂ™Ă&#x;Ăž Ă‹ĂœĂ•Ă?Ăž Ă‹ĂœĂ? Ă Ă?ĂœĂŁ ÒËÚÚã ĂŒĂ?Ă?Ă‹Ă&#x;Ă?Ă? Ă?Ù×Ă? ĂšĂ?ÙÚÖĂ? ĂŽĂ™Ă˜ËŞĂž Ă?Ă Ă?Ă˜ Ă’Ă‹Ă Ă? Ă—Ă™Ă˜Ă?ĂŁ ÞÙ Ă‘Ă™ ÞÙ Ă?Ă–Ă“Ă˜Ă“Ă? ÞËÖÕ Ă–Ă?Ă?Ă? Ă™Ă? ÞÒĂ? Ă’Ă?ËÖÞÒ Ă?Ă?Ă˜ĂžĂœĂ?Ă? ĂŒĂ&#x;Ăž ĂžĂ™ĂŽĂ‹ĂŁËœ Ă’Ă‹Ă? ĂŒĂœĂ™Ă&#x;Ă‘Ă’Ăž Ă—Ă?ĂŽĂ“Ă?Ă‹Ă– Ă?Ă?ĂœĂ Ă“Ă?Ă?Ă? ÞÙ Ă&#x;Ă? Ă’Ă?ĂœĂ?˛ˏ

NB Appoints Brand Ambassador

Ă?ĂœĂ™ĂŒĂ?Ă‹Ăž Ă?Ă?Ă˜Ă?Ă‹ĂžĂ“Ă™Ă˜Ëœ Ă&#x;ĂœĂ˜Ă‹ Ùã Ă’Ă‹Ă? ĂŒĂ?Ă?Ă˜ Ă&#x;Ă˜Ă Ă?Ă“Ă–Ă?ĂŽ Ă‹Ă? Ă‹ ĂŒĂœĂ‹Ă˜ĂŽ Ă‹Ă—ĂŒĂ‹Ă?Ă?Ă‹ĂŽĂ™Ăœ Ă?Ă™Ăœ ĂžĂ‹Ăœ Ă‹ĂœĂ‘Ă?Ăœ Ă?Ă?ĂœË› Ă? Ă“Ă? ĂœĂ?ĂšĂ™ĂœĂžĂ?ĂŽĂ–ĂŁ ÞÒĂ?Ă“Ăœ Ă?Ă“ĂœĂ?Ăž Ă™Ă?Ă?Ă“Ă?Ă“Ă‹Ă– ĂŒĂœĂ‹Ă˜ĂŽ Ă‹Ă—ĂŒĂ‹Ă?Ă?Ă‹ĂŽĂ™ĂœË› Ă’Ă? Ă‹Ă˜Ă˜Ă™Ă&#x;Ă˜Ă?Ă?Ă—Ă?Ă˜Ăž ĂĄĂ‹Ă? Ă—Ă‹ĂŽĂ? ĂœĂ?Ă?Ă?Ă˜ĂžĂ–ĂŁ Ă“Ă˜ Ă‹Ă‘Ă™Ă? ĂœĂ?Ă?Ă?Ă˜ĂžĂ–ĂŁËœ ĂĄĂ’Ă?ĂœĂ? ÞÒĂ? Ă‹ĂœĂžĂ“Ă?ĂžĂ? Ă‹Ă˜ĂŽ ÞÒĂ? ĂžĂ‹Ăœ Ă‹Ă‘Ă?Ăœ ĂžĂ?Ă‹Ă— Ă?Ă?Ă–Ă?ĂŒĂœĂ‹ĂžĂ?ĂŽ åÓÞÒ Ă‹ Ă?Ă?ĂĄ Ă—Ă?ĂŽĂ“Ă‹ ĂœĂ?ĂšĂœĂ?Ă?Ă?Ă˜ĂžĂ‹ĂžĂ“Ă Ă?Ă?Ëœ Ă?Ă™Ă˜Ă?Ă&#x;Ă—Ă?ĂœĂ? Ă‹Ă˜ĂŽ Ă?ĂœĂ“Ă?Ă˜ĂŽĂ? Ă™Ă? ÞÒĂ? ĂŒĂœĂ‹Ă˜ĂŽË› Ăž ÞÒĂ? Ă&#x;Ă˜Ă Ă?Ă“Ă–Ă“Ă˜Ă‘Ëœ ÞÒĂ? Ă? Ă?ĂœĂ™Ă™Ă˜Ă?Ăœ Ă?Ă˘ĂšĂœĂ?Ă?Ă?Ă?ĂŽ Ă’Ă“Ă? ĂŽĂ?Ă–Ă“Ă‘Ă’Ăž Ă?Ă‹ĂŁĂ“Ă˜Ă‘Ëœ ËŤ ĂžĂ‹Ăœ Ă“Ă? Ă™Ă˜Ă? Ă™Ă? ÞÒĂ? Ă—Ă™Ă?Ăž ĂœĂ?ĂšĂ&#x;ĂžĂ‹ĂŒĂ–Ă? ĂŒĂœĂ‹Ă˜ĂŽĂ? Ă“Ă˜ ÞÒĂ? Ă?Ă™Ă&#x;Ă˜ĂžĂœĂŁËœ Ă‹Ă˜ĂŽ Ă‹Ă— ĂžĂ’ĂœĂ“Ă–Ă–Ă?ĂŽ ÞÙ ĂŒĂ? Ă‹ĂŒĂ–Ă? ÞÙ Ă”Ă™Ă“Ă˜ ÞÒĂ? ĂžĂ‹Ăœ Ă?Ă‹Ă—Ă“Ă–ĂŁË› Ă™Ă?ĂžĂ?Ă˜ ĂžĂœĂŁ ÞÙ Ă?Ă˜ĂžĂ?ĂœĂžĂ‹Ă“Ă˜ Ă‹Ă˜ĂŽ Ă“Ă˜Ă?ĂšĂ“ĂœĂ? åÓÞÒ Ă—ĂŁ Ă—Ă&#x;Ă?Ă“Ă? Ă‹Ă˜ĂŽ ÞÒÓĂ? Ă“Ă? Ă‹ ĂŒĂœĂ‹Ă˜ĂŽ Ă Ă‹Ă–Ă&#x;Ă? Ă?Ă?Ă?Ă– Ă?Ă‹Ă˜ Ă?Ù××Ă&#x;Ă˜Ă“Ă?Ă‹ĂžĂ? åÓÞÒ ÞÒÓĂ? Ă˜Ă?ĂĄ Ă‹Ă?Ă?Ă™Ă?Ă“Ă‹ĂžĂ“Ă™Ă˜ åÓÞÒ ĂžĂ‹ĂœË› Ă’Ă‹Ă Ă? Ă‹Ă–ĂĄĂ‹ĂŁĂ? ĂŒĂ?Ă?Ă˜ Ă‹ Ă’Ă&#x;Ă‘Ă? Ă?Ă‹Ă˜ Ă™Ă? ÞÒĂ? ĂŒĂœĂ‹Ă˜ĂŽ Ă‹Ă˜ĂŽ ĂŒĂ?Ă–Ă“Ă?Ă Ă? ÞÙÑĂ?ÞÒĂ?Ăœ ĂĄĂ? Ă?Ă‹Ă˜ Ă“Ă˜Ă?ĂšĂ“ĂœĂ? Ă“Ă‘Ă?ĂœĂ“Ă‹Ă˜Ă? ÞÙ Ă?Ă’Ă“Ă˜Ă? Ă™Ă˜ ÞÙ ÞÒĂ? ĂŒĂœĂ“Ă‘Ă’ĂžĂ?Ăœ Ă?Ă“ĂŽĂ? Ă™Ă? Ă“Ă?Ă?˛ˏ

“Obviously, the banking and financial industry are the biggest consumers of technology, but Financial Technology (FinTech) will continue to dictate the speed of innovation in technology�

Founder/CEO, New Horizons Nigeria,

Mr. Tim Akano

24

T H I S D AY Ëž ÍąÍŻËœ Ͱ͎ͯ͡

FG URGED TO DEVELOP ICT CAPABILITIES FOR NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT ment must give full support to the private sector in terms of growth and development,�

Okeremi said.

According to him, “The wealth of a nation is not resident in the natural resources of that nation, but in the knowledge skills, especially Information and Communications Technology (ICT) skills that have been developed among citizens of that nation.�

Governments globally have shifted focus from oil to ICT and Nigerian government must do same because ICT skills drive global economies today.

ITU, W’BANK MOVE TO ENHANCE FINANCIAL INCLUSION of 28,380.

The survey was anchored on several indicators including banked population; remittances; savings with a bank; payments; received income; loan with a bank; and banking agents, among others.

Beside these, card payments on Point of sale (PoS) terminals in Nigeria have also grown from a paltry 5,000 monthly volume in 2011 to 30 million in November 2018, all thanks to the success of the cashless Nigeria initiative.

However, in order to bridge the global financial inclusion gap, the Financial Inclusion Global Initiative (FIGI), a partnership led by ITU, the World Bank Group and the Committee on Payments and Market Infrastructure, and with financial support from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, plans to advance research in digital finance and accelerate digital financial inclusion in developing countries. “We have three implementation countries: Egypt, Mexico, and China. And we have three working groups: one on electronic payment acceptance, another on digital ID, and another on security infrastructure and trust, led by the ITU,� Jamoussi, said. “The idea is to really continue the momentum, share the knowledge, and provide policymakers, ministers, telecom regulators, and central bank governors with the tools that they can use,�

Jamoussi further said.

Group Business Editor

Obinna Chima

Capital Market Editor

Goddy Egene

AgriBusiness/Industry Editor

Ă™Ă˜Ă‹ĂžĂ’Ă‹Ă˜ äĂ?

Comms/e-Business Editor

Emma Okonji

Senior Correspondent

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NCC Restates Commitment to Service Quality Stories by Emma Okonji The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has reiterated its commitment to improving the quality of service across networks, despite the challenges of poor telecoms infrastructure.

The Chairman of NCC Board, Senator Olabiyi Durojaiye and the Executive Vice Chairman/ CEO of NCC, Prof. Umar Garba Danbatta, made the commitment in a recent interview on the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA).

According to Danbatta the liberalisation of the telecoms sector in 2001, set the pace for telecoms growth and better quality of service. He, however, said shortly after the liberalisation, challenges such as poor infrastructure sets in, which adversely affected service quality till date. “As at 2000, before liberalisation of the telecoms sector, active subscriber number was less than 500,000 with a tele-density of 0.1 per cent, but that narrative changed with the liberalisation of the sector and as of today, subscriber number has exceeded 170 million with a tele-density growth of over 120 per cent. “The liberalisation ushered in more investors, which addressed the initial monopolistic nature of the telecoms sector. But soon after that, the challenges of poor telecoms infrastructure, coupled with wilful destruction of telecoms facilities, sets in and affected the quality of service across networks,� Danbatta said.

He, however, explained that NCC would continue to use its regulatory expertise to ensure quality of service is maintained through the Key Performance

Indicator (KPI) standard set by the Commission.

Durojaiye, who blamed the situation of poor telecoms service on the inability of government and the telecoms operators to re-invest revenue generated from telecoms into infrastructure development and network expansion, said government was supposed to plough back the revenue generated from telecoms sector into the deployment of basic facilities in the telecoms sector, but failed to do so. “Telecoms operators also have a duty to plough back part of

their revenue in developing telecoms infrastructure. The idea of repatriating every single naira generated from the Nigerian telecoms sector out of the country, is a disservice to the telecoms industry, and a major cause of poor telecoms service,� Durojaiye said.

The NCC Board Chairman called on members of the National Assembly to as a matter of urgency, pass the Critical National Telecoms Infrastructure Bill that is before it, in order to protect telecoms facilities from vandalism, which

he said, often times, affect service quality.

According to Danbatta, “When I joined the Commission in 2015 as the EVC, I had to continue to build on the existing infrastructure that I met on ground in order to boost service quality across networks. “When I came on board, there was a broadband target to achieve 30 per cent broadband penetration by December 2018, I keyed into the aspiration and target, in order to boost broadband infrastructure and

further improve service quality. “Although the broadband penetration level as at 2015 when I came on board was very low, and the hope of attaining the target was almost dashed, I had to put all, machineries in motion to ensure that Nigeria attained the target and I am pleased today that we were able to attain and surpassed the target in December 2018. In November 2018, we had achieved 30.09 per cent penetration and by December 2018, we achieved 31.48 per cent.�

NSUKKA PROFESSIONALS

L-R: Provost, Air Force Institute of Technology, Kaduna, Prof. Emmanuel Ezugwu; Deputy Managing Director, Afrinvest West Africa Limited, Mr. Victor Ndukauba; Co-founder, Sahel Consulting/Co-Founder, AACE Foods, Mrs.Ndidi Nwuneli; Founder, Kenna Partners, Prof. Fabian Ajogwu; MD/CEO, BIC Consulting Services, Dr. Boniface Chizea and President, Nsukka Professionals Association (NPA)/CEO XL Africa Group, Charles Nwodo, at the third Annual NPA Summit organised held in Lagos‌recently

‘FG Must Encourage Technology Growth’ The Executive Director, Systemspecs, Mr. Deremi Atanda, has stressed the need for the federal government to create an enabling environment that will encourage a lot more people to actively participate in technology development in order to have better understanding of technology.

Atanda, spoke at the 2019 Technology Conference with the theme: ‘Building The Future’, organised by Techpoint in Lagos, said the federal government needed to put general interest over personal interest in its policy formulation and implementa-

tion, in order to influence and motivate more people into technology. “In terms of government paying more attention, yes.

We need a lot more people to understand technology and the potential of knowledge economy beyond oil and that is our area of focus. We need people who can speak to hearts if Nigerians concerning technology growth,� Atanda said.

He added, “There should be no personal interest for those who represent our interest in government. They can help us take advantage of the realities of the current world, especially

as it relates to technology and that is what Lagos State is doing today. “I don’t know if you have heard of Code Lagos initiative where Lagosians at the primary and secondary school level are introduced to software development, building a manpower base for free and people are tapping into it because technology is the future and we need to build a lot more of that,� he said.

Atanda, insisted that technology would always remain a thing of reality such that no one can legislate against it. “You many choose to ignore it but it will assert itself and

that is why it is a wilderness of opportunities. This is because there are so many things you can do with technology and a lot of exceptional Nigerian sharp minds can take care of that. Many of the things we do here are also what we can take outside of here. So the opportunities are endless,�

Atanda said.

While speaking on entrepreneurship, Atanda charged start-ups to understand themselves better in terms of what they have to offer, what they will do and what they won’t do, adding that ignorance of that would lead to failure.

According to him, you need to know someone. The most important person to know is you when it comes to getting projects from government. You need to know what you have got to offer, what you will do, and what you will not do. Immediately you don’t know these things, you are almost setting yourself a failure because it means you will go in any direction and you get desperate if them all. “You need to know yourselves and have some values you want to live for and for us as organisation, we go through that evolution of defining values,� Atanda said.

Work at Lagos-Ibadan Standard Gauge Ongoing, NRC Insists Sunday Okobi and Oluchi Chibuzor Barring any further delay, the Managing Director of the Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC), Fidet Okhiria, has disclosed that with the pace of work going on in the Lagos-Ibadan standard gauge project by the contractor, the corporation will meet the expected date for inauguration of the project by next month.

He gave the assurance at the recent inspection tour of the ongoing project in Ogun State by the management of the

corporation. He admitted that with all challenges confronting the rail corridor removed, it would be set for inauguration

by February.

Okhiria, stated that the only impediment that may confront the project was the mobilisation of equipment to project sites. “With the sequence they are going, the formation is ready as they are putting steel post and the coal dust to enable them put the rail tracks as well as balancing it. “So lifting and balancing will be done mechanically to ensure the fittings are in place with

the help of virtual effects. “We are using what is called screen to remove dust and sand and re-balance the standard gauge, because it needs to be maintained till the period it will last to avoid deterioration, and there is a percentage of balance you must replenish which is not less than five percent of every year,� the NRC boss said.

Meanwhile, the management of the Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC) has advised the Nigerian public against patronising a ‘false’ online e-ticketing payment website,

where fraudsters request prospective passengers especially those of the Abuja-Kaduna train service to purchase or reserve tickets.

In a statement, the corporation’s acting Chief Public Relations Officer, Akinrinlola Lola Olawale, stated: “The NRC hereby pleads with our passengers of the Abuja- Kaduna train service in particular to disregard any of such mails, messages or calls as they are scam and not from the corporation.�

She added that the sales of train tickets are only done at

the various designated stations in hard copy and not yet on any online e-ticketing platform.

According to Olawale, the only official website of NRC remains www.nrc.gov.ng, adding that “all information concerning the corporation which includes train service operation and time schedule details is uploaded and updated therein whenever the need arises. “We therefore appreciate the continuous patronage of our esteemed customers as we are also committed to serving them better.�

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BUSINESSWORLD

ANALYSIS

Taming E-waste Health Hazards Emma Okonji writes that the move by the United Nation coalition to address the global health challenges emanating from the $62.5 billion annual e-waste will create healthy environment among nations

T

he global consumption of smart phones, computers and other electronic devices is on the increase. However, on the downside of it, the world is now seeing a growing tsunami of electronic waste (e-waste) that is posing danger to human health. Last week, seven United Nation (UN) entities came together to form a coalition, supported by the World Economic Forum and the World Business Council for Sustainable Development, to better address global e-waste challenges.

The coalition is of the view that global e-waste is beginning to create health challenges through hazardous emissions from electronic devices that have expired and no longer in active use. Some of the devices like computers, mobile phones, tablets and electric home appliances, may have been discarded by the original owners, but instead of properly discarding them, some of the devices still find their ways to developing countries in Africa and Asia, where they are dumped to constitute health hazards to citizens living around the dump sites.

Disturbed by the $62.5 billion in materials lost in approximately 50 million tonnes of annual e-waste, the coalition, presented a common front in addressing the global issue.

Secretary-General, International Telecommunication Union (ITU), Houlin Zhao, said: “ITU has been raising awareness and guiding efforts to reduce and rethink e-waste since 2011. So I am delighted to see that a movement to promote a circular economy for electronics is now gaining ground. Together, with newly created partnerships such as the United Nations E-waste Coalition, we can transform waste into wealth, and deliver development benefits to all.�

The strategy In order to address the situation, the coalition came with a strategy and presented a joint report on the dangers of global e-waste. They were of the view that technologies of the fourth industrial revolution showed a huge potential that could lead to free and safe environment, better product tracking, take-back and recycling, and products sold as services.

The new joint report shows that the world now discards approximately 50 million tonnes of e-waste per year, greater in weight than all of the commercial airliners ever made, whereas only about 20 per cent is formally recycled. The United Nations University predicts e-waste could nearly triple to 120 million tonnes by 2050 if nothing changes.

The Executive Director, United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR), Nikhil Seth, who commended the zeal of the coalition, said: “Working together with the UN coalition on e-waste presents a new paradigm shift and a new dispensation with tremendous opportunities to support countries march towards a cleaner and more sustainable way of managing e-waste. UNITAR recognises urgent needs in training and capacity building in the e-waste management value chain based on the national training needs assessment, and we are pleased to support this partnership and countries through our programmes.�

Value of global e-waste In terms of material value, environmental experts have said global e-waste presents an opportunity worth over $62.5 billion per year, more than the GDP of most countries and three times the output of the world’s silver mines, yet this amount is lost annually because of lack of proper coordination of global e-waste recycling.

The coalition joint report calls for a new vision for electronics based on the circular economy and the need for collaboration with major brands, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs),

academia, trade unions, civil society and associations in a deliberative process to change the system.

The report points to the importance of new technologies, explaining that although e-waste is growing, technologies from the Internet of Things (IoT) to cloud computing show a huge potential and could lead to ‘dematerialization’ and better product tracking and recycling.

Major global brands, governments and other organisations are in support of the initiative with commitments and projects to address e-waste and build a circular economy.

The report, titled: “A New Circular Vision for Electronics – Time for a Global Reboot,� noted that technologies such as cloud computing and the IoT support gradual ‘dematerialisation’ of the electronics industry.

The report also noted that material efficiency, recycling infrastructure and scaling up the volume and quality of recycled materials to meet the needs of electronics supply chains, will all be essential for future production.

Creating jobs from e-waste Although e-waste is growing, technologies from IoT to cloud computing show a huge potential and could lead to the ‘dematerialisation’ of the electronics industry as well as better product tracking, take-back and recycling.

In many countries, e-waste recycling operations are expanding.

New and inclusive business models for managing e-waste are being established.

These have already generated thousands of decent jobs in safe conditions. Global experts are of the view that if the electronics sector is supported with the right policy mix and managed in the right way, it could lead to the creation of millions of decent jobs worldwide.

Going by the material value of e-waste alone that is worth $ 62.5 billion a year, which is more than the GDP of most countries in the world, extending the life of products and re-using components prevents this unnecessary waste and brings economic benefits. “A system in which all discarded products are collected and then the materials or components reintegrated into new ones will reduce the need for new raw materials, waste disposal and energy, while creating

economic growth, new ‘green’ jobs, and business opportunities,� experts said.

The experts added that harvesting the resources from used electronics, produces substantially less carbon-dioxide emissions than mining in the earth’s crust.

According to the joint report on e-waste, nations can seize the development opportunities of e-waste, if they play the game rightly. “But more and more actors from the public and private sectors are needed to join this effort, as great things can happen when a wide variety of specialized individuals and groups are mobilized to work together towards a common vision.

Together, with newly created partnerships like the United Nations E-waste Coalition, we can transform waste into wealth, and deliver development benefits to all,� the experts said.

Legislation and new partnerships One of the global bodies, International Telecommunications Union (ITU) has been raising awareness and guiding efforts to reduce and rethink e-waste for several years now. Today, approximately 4.8 billion people or 66 per cent of the world’s population are now covered by e-waste legislation. That’s a large increase from just 44 per cent in 2014.

More and more actors have recently joined the fold to fight e-waste. These include: the United Nations E-waste Coalition, launched last year, which include a long and growing list of UN organisations such as ITU, UNEP, and ILO. The E-waste Coalition is supported by the private sector, as well as the World Economic Forum, and the World Business Council for Sustainable Development. Together, the United Nations E-waste Coalition is working towards designing and proposing creative solutions to promote a circular economy for electronics where waste is designed out of the system.

Dangers of e-waste The Director, Department of Environment, United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO), Stephan Sicars, said: “E-waste is a growing global challenge that poses a serious threat to the environment and human health worldwide. To minimise this threat, UNIDO works with various UN agencies and other partners on a

range of e-waste projects, all of which are underpinned by a circular economy approach.�

Unfortunately, only a small proportion, around 20 per cent, of e-waste is formally recycled. This results in global health and environmental risks, as well as the unnecessary loss of scarce and valuable natural materials.

The proper management of e-waste yields not just one, but multiple gains for development, according to experts views.

According to the recent coalition report on e-waste, many health and environmental risks are associated with improper disposal of e-waste.

Experts are of the view that the global amount of e-waste discarded every year weighs the equivalent of more than 125,000 jumbo jets. Of this total amount, 40 million tonnes of e-waste are discarded in landfill, burned or illegally traded and treated in a sub-standard way every year.

Waste, that said could contain substances that are hazardous to human health if not dealt with properly, including mercury, cadmium and lead, which can pollute water sources and food supply chains.

Electronic goods also have an impact on climate change. For example, manufacturing a tonne of laptops emits up to 10 tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO2.), and the total number of people working informally in the global e-waste sector is unknown.

According to ILO, the United Nations agency that sets international labour standard, in Nigeria, up to 100,000 people are thought to be working in the informal e-waste sector, while in China that number is thought to be 690,000.

ILO said sub-standard working conditions in the informal sector has led to adult and child workers, as well as their families, being exposed to many toxic substances.

Waste of scarce resources Recent reports on e-waste said since e-waste contains many high-value and scarce materials, such as gold, platinum, and cobalt, improper recycling of discarded electronics results in a significant loss of scarce and valuable raw materials, and puts unnecessary pressure on our limited natural resources.

The problem is only expected to get worse when by 2050, the volume of ewaste, in the worst-case scenario, could

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5 ) * 4 % ": t THURSDAY, JANUARY 31, 2019

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NCC to Boost Institutions’ Research on New Technologies Stories by Emma Okonji The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has concluded plans to collaborate with the Federal University of Technology (FUT), Minna, and other tertiary institutions on research into emerging technologies in the telecommunications sector.

The Executive Vice Chairman of NCC, Prof. Umar Garba Danbatta made the disclosure in Minna, Niger State, during a recent conference with academia, industry

and other stakeholders in the North-central region.

Danbatta, who was represented by the Director of Spectrum Administration at NCC, Austin Nwaulune, described the academia as a very important stakeholder in research and development. “For growth to happen you need research into emerging issues and emerging technologies and that is why we are partnering academic institutions, which are the homes of research and development. “The universities are institu-

tions of research, that is their core area. So partnering them with enable them to do what they can do and do it best,�

Danbatta said.

Similarly, the Commission’s Director of Research and Development, Ephraim Nwokonneya, highlighted exponential growth recorded in the telecommunications sector since 2001, underscoring the need to deploy research and development to tap enormous potentials in the sector.

According to him, “Telecommunications activities have facilitated enormous growth and development in the information and communications technology (ICT) sector. Subscriber base has grown tremendously from barely half a million in 2001 to over 163 million active subscribers today. Volume of investment in the industry has grown, and the contribution to gross domestic product (GDP), as well as the number

of operators in the industry, have also grown. Direct and indirect employment have been generated. Today ICT has redefined the way we live, work, interact, and socialise, and it had become the catalyst for economic development in our country today.�

But we believe that such growths need to be sustained, we even believe there are more potential that we need to tap. The future looks very bright and we believe that

we cannot do this alone. We believe that a lot of research and development is needed to be able to energise further growth and sustainability in the industry. We believe that there are a lot of potentials in the academia that we can leverage on,� Nwokonneya added.

Vice Chancellor(VC), FUT, Minna, Prof. Abdullahi Bala, thanked NCC for the collaboration and also sought NCC’s partnership for the

Airtel CEO Calls for Increased CSR Initiatives Raheem Akingbolu and Nosa Alekhuogie The Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director, Airtel Nigeria, Mr. Segun Ogunsanya, has called on well-meaning Nigerians and corporate organisations to do more to support underprivileged individuals as well as communities.

He made the appeal at the fifth edition of Airtel’s Corporate Social Responsibility initiative - Airtel Touching Lives.

The CEO explained that the initiative was aimed mainly at impacting lives and to also promote a culture of giving.

According to him, Airtel goes beyond selling recharge cards and is relentless in its vision to empower more underprivileged people as well encourage others. “Airtel Nigeria is committed to creating opportunities that will drive positive impact across the various communities where it operates and also help uplift more underprivileged people. “Airtel Touching Lives is a corporate social responsibility initiative that seeks to offer practical relief hope, opportunities and credible platforms to liberate and empower the underprivileged, disadvantaged

and hard to reach persons in our society.� Ogunsanya said.

He added: “Since we launched the Airtel Touching Lives initiative four years ago, we have achieved remarkable success, having restored hope of despaired individuals and families, saved many from the throes of death and empowered many underprivileged Nigerians. “With the launch of season 5, we remain relentless in our vision to empower more people who are underprivileged.�

He went further to urge the general public to be part of the initiative by nominating projects, persons and communities that require support. “We are calling on Nigerians to nominate causes and persons who require help. The process is simple. Once you nominate an individual or cause, our team will review and assess the situation and determine if a follow-up visit will be required. “Together, we all can make our society a better place if we collaborate to uplift the downtrodden around us,�

Ogunsanya said.

Entries for the nomination window for Season 5 of Airtel Touching Lives would close on Monday, 7th March, 2019.

OPPO to Invest $1.43bn in Smart Mobile Technology OPPO, a global smartphone brand has announced its plan to spend about $1.43 billion on research and development(R&D)in 2019, so as to improve the company’s technological capabilities.

The Founder and CEO of OPPO, Tony Chen, emphasised the company’s commitment to leverage Artificial Intelligence (AI) to develop a wide range of smart devices including smart watches and smart home technologies to explore and meet the increasingly rigid demands of consumers in the age of the Internet of Things (IoT).

OPPO recently completed the world’s first 5G multiparty Video call on a smartphone, as it strives to become the first manufacturer to launch 5G smartphones in the world.

5G is a trend OPPO is already embracing and as a technology company, OPPO plans to fully integrate 5G with applications and user insights, and continuously innovate to provide users with revolutionary, necessary, convenient and seamless experiences. OPPO had established a 5G team as far back as 2015 and have continued

working backstage till a major breakthrough was achieved in October 2018.

To further improve its reputation for creating more personalised experiences through technology, OPPO has applied AI technologies across a wide range of applications including photography, facial recognition and fingerprint identification while introducing many innovative features including an AI-powered beauty camera, 3D portrait lighting and intelligent recognition scenarios.

OPPO envisions a future where smartphones will become intelligent personal assistants.

OPPO said in a statement that it would actively embrace AI while dedicating focus and resources to cutting-edge AI technologies and applications. “The vision is to dare to explore, dare to make breakthroughs and dare to innovate. In the future, OPPO will fully integrate technological innovation with art and humanity, to develop smart devices and smart homes with the smartphone at their core,� according to the statement.

IMPARTING TECHNOLOGY SKILLS

L-R: Chief Executive OďŹƒcer, Orodata, Blaise Aboh; Managing Partner, Exolve Tech, Peter Ogedengbe; President, Institute of Software Practitioners of Nigeria (ISPON), Dr. Yele Okeremi; Program Director, Girl Code Academy, Adeola Haruna; Co-founder, The Nest Tech Park, Oluwajoba Oloba and Admin Secretary, ISON, Paul Uzoechina, at the commencement of the 2019 computer programming training skills for female university graduates, organised by Girl Code Academy in Lagos...recently

Inlaks Integrates Courier Firm to Offer Scholarships on Logistics NIRSAL National MicroďŹ nance Bank Management Studies Courier and Logistics Management Institute, (CLMI) in Nigeria, has partnered Swiss School of Management (SSM) in Italy, Rome and Limburg Graduate School of Business (LGSB) in Netherlands, to offer scholarship programme for Nigerians willing to take up courses in courier logistics management.

CLMI is licenced by the federal government to pursue courier, logistics and transport management courses in collaboration with accredited universities and other international partners.

The Chairman of Council, CLMI, Professor Simon Emeje disclosed this at a one-day ‘SSM Open Day’ conference, which held in Lagos recently.

Emeje stated that SSM has granted about 60 per cent off the tuition fee normally paid in Switzerland for interested Nigerians and Africans in general, as means to boost the continent’s Sustainable Economic Development (SED). “We have taken up the challenge. Our job is to bring this vision to bear in Nigeria and the whole world. We are on a path of rejigging the professionalism in courier, logistics and transport management starting with Nigeria. We are adding value because the electives to be offered cover local content. This is a means to boost the technical competencies of Nigerians to tackle our challenges,� Emeje

said.

According to him, CLMI was borne out of the need to address four cardinal areas: courier, Logistics, Management and Transport, which govern every aspect of human life. “Courier has to do with time element in all human activities.

It is beyond moving parcel from one place to another. Every human has time attached to daily procedures which he/ she consciously or unconsciously alludes to. “Logistics portend the activities of products and services from sourcing of materials to productions and distribution. Management entails control, directing and making adequate decisions that will harness resources for favourable results,� Emeje said.

Speaking on the partnership, Emeje said: “We are happy to partner SSM and LGSB to bring this all important change to Nigeria. CLMI and the partners will work with Nigerian Universities to offer B.Sc, M.Sc, Ph.D in Logistics Management.�

In his presentation, Professor Roberts Goedegebuure, from SSM, described logistics and supply chain management as the management of upstream and downstream relationships with suppliers and customers in order to deliver superior customer value at less cost t the supply chain as whole. Logistics is essential to every organisation.

Inlaks said it has been selected as the implementation partner to host NIRSAL National MFB on the National Association of Microfinance Banks Unified IT (NAMBUIT) platform, which is deployed for micro-finance banks.

The NIRSAL National MFB is an initiative of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) that involves NIRSAL and the Nigerian Postal Service (NIPOST). The purpose of the bank is to compliment the efforts of the CBN towards addressing the needs of Nigerians at the bottom of the pyramid and deepen financial inclusion.

The NIRSAL National MFB is expected commence operation with 10 take-off branches this January and then expand branch operations to all 774 local governments of the federation. All NIPOST outlets nationwide will eventually be used as branches for the bank in addition to other branchless innovations from Inlaks. This is to enable the new bank achieve the required speed in reaching out to Nigerians in rural areas.

Managing Director, Africa Operations at Inlaks, Femi Adeoti explained that the unified platform comprised a core banking system and sub-systems for agent banking, non-interest banking and mobile payment among other

services.

According to Adeoti, “NAMBUIT is a Software as a Service (SaaS) platform and will drive the operations of the proposed National MFB in a way to reduce operational costs as well as improve the Bank’s ability to provide necessary information to agencies such as CBN and NDIC. The Nigeria Police Force Microfinance Bank (NPFMFB) with 28 branches across the country is another nationally rated microfinance bank already live on the platform. In addition, about 50 unit microfinance banks, spread all over the country, have also been on boarded.

The NAMBUIT platform runs on Temenos T24 Inclusive Banking System (IBS) and implementation is being managed by Inlaks in accordance with global best practices, with support from the CBN. The platform has also been integrated into the Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System NIBSS) platform.�

A core benefit of the NAMBUIT platform is the smooth on-boarding of the microfinance banks (MFBs) into the national payment system thus enabling the MFBs to lower their operating costs significantly. The platform boasts of intelligent tools for reporting so that the MFBs can easily transact and switch among themselves.

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LADOL Named among ‘Companies to Inspire Africa’ Hamid Ayodeji The Lagos Deep Offshore Logistic Base (LADOL) has disclosed that it was recently listed by the London Stock Exchange Group’s (LSEG) ‘Companies to Inspire Africa in 2019.’ LADOL, explained in a statement that it achieved the feat having been found to have met the LSEG’s stringent conditions of recording an average compound annual growth rate of 46 per cent, up from 16 per cent last year, and employing at least 350 people with an average compound annual growth rate of 25 per cent.

The LSEG adjudged LADOL and other companies nominated, “as crucial to the future of the African economy capable of driving transformative economic growth in their home countries, Africa and beyond.�

Speaking at a ceremony at the London Stock Exchange, the Chief Executive Officer, LSEG, David Schwimmer said: “London Stock Exchange Group’s ‘Companies to Inspire Africa’ report showcases inspirational and entrepreneurial businesses from across the African continent, representing a wide variety of industries and countries. “It is particularly encouraging to see the increasing influence of women in leadership roles in these fast-growing companies, playing a pivotal role in shaping

the future of African business. “These high growth companies have the potential to transform the African economy and become tomorrow’s job creators. At LSEG, we are committed to helping companies realise that potential and we are pleased to highlight and celebrate the company success stories behind one of the world’s fastest growing markets.�

This was the second edition of this prestigious report which identifies Africa’s most inspirational and dynamic private, high-growth companies.

The report aims to give these companies global recognition and attract foreign investment into the continent.

On her part, the Managing Director of LADOL, Amy Jadesimi said LADOL was honoured to be included in the LSEG’s ‘Companies to Inspire Africa.’ “LSE’s high-profile focus on real indigenous private sector companies across the African continent is an important step in highlighting the fact that Africa is already home to a thriving and growing number of leading companies. “The broad range of companies represented show how shallow investment understanding of our current market is and how many opportunities there are for investment today. We look forward to working with

the LSE and cooperating with the other indigenous companies highlighted,� she said.

She explained that investment in Africa was about the market case, noting that instead of eking out low returns from investments in developed markets, international investors should focus on the many hugely lucrative market opportunities across Africa. “Investing in Africa requires a seismic change in investment strategy – international investors that want to remain relevant and viable need to immediately invest in diverse teams and new financial instruments that will enable them to invest in Africa. “Teams that use outdated and inappropriate bankability definitions will continue to struggle to tap into this highly lucrative market.� “Operating out of LADOL saves IOCs 50 per cent on their costs in deep offshore logistics, saving billions of USD each year. This compelling value proposition was well known for over a decade and a half, yet today LADOL is the only deep offshore support base in Lagos. “A clear example of how international investors are missing out on billion dollar investment opportunities by not investing in market case-based business models in Africa,�

Jadesimi said

Veritas Glanvills Gets New CEO Omolabake Fasogbon Veritas Glanvills Pensions Limited (VG Pensions) has announced the appointment of Godson Ukpevo as its new Managing Director/ Chief Executive Officer.

A statement yesterday disclosed that the appointment takes effect immediately.

According to the firm, Ukpevo qualifies for the new role following his display of excellence after a competitive and meticulous screening process that also involved his approval by the National Pension Commission. “Ukpevo brings with him over two decades of cognate work experience in both public and private sectors that cut across financial services, relationship

management, risk management, business development, change management, financial reporting, and budgeting,� the statement added.

Prior to joining VG Pensions, Ukpevo had served in different capacity in a number of organisations which included Ecobank Nigeria Limited, First City Monument Bank Plc., Citizens International Bank and Clay Grounds Agro Allied Co. (Nigeria) Limited.

He holds a Bachelors Degree in Sociology & Anthropology, from the University of Benin and an MBA in Marketing from Enugu State University of Science and Technology as well as Master Degree in Banking and Finance from the University of Lagos.

Speaking on the development,

the Head of Investment at VG Pensions, Mr. Ugbede Nelson Attah, was quoted to have expressed confidence on the capability of the new MD to lead the company to greater heights. “Godson played strategic and pioneer roles in the reforms of the Nigerian Pension industry, most especially the old Defined Benefit Scheme of the Federal Government, as the pioneer Director and Head of Civil Service, Pension Department of the Pension Transitional Arrangement Directorate, PTAD. “The members of the senior management team and staff are excited to have him on board and are positive that his experience would count in providing strategic leadership for the organization,�

Attah added.

THE ENTREPRENEUR’S BEST FRIEND

DEBBIE LARRY-IZAMOJE

Digital Marketing Trends for 2019 I love what I do. Running a digital marketing agency like Image Boosters with the most formidable team gives us young professionals the ability to work with different businesses in different industries. And although briefs often vary one thing that is constant is that brands want to be seen regardless of how visible you might think they already are The minute brands see that there is some kind of trend online they jump on it, and although this works in their favour sometimes, this isn’t always the case as we have seen severally what the impact of a bad digital marketing strategy can have on a brand. It is therefore important that your brand focuses all efforts on communicating effectively this year as opposed to jumping on different trends. Find a trend that works for you and stick to it.

Below is a list of trends to expect this year digitally; 1. Micro Moments: This simply means telling a captivating story in just a few seconds. With the fleeting attention span of people, storytellers will have no choice but to captivate the audience within seconds. This puts pressure on creatives to help tell a story that will last a lifetime.

2. Personalized Chatbox: Social media managers or business owners that have social media accounts will have the luxury of responding to clients without really being there. This takes the pressure off the owner of the account, you don’t have to worry about unanswered messages anymore, you can reply to them at your convenience. This is an exceptional feature for those of you who sell products via Instagram especially.

3. Personalised Marketing: Have you ever had a discussion with someone about a place you want to go or something you want to buy and the next thing you see is an advert about that exact thing? Spooky right and no search engines aren’t monitoring you, they are just monitoring your interests and tailoring adverts that suit you.

4. Rebuilding trust in social media: Social media is growing strong and so far it is showing no signs of slowing down. In fact, Facebook has more than 2 Billion active users per month.

Talk about mind boggling numbers, however consumer confidence is at an all time low with they sheer amount of unconfirmed and downright strange information that people see on the internet.

Young people have zero chill when it comes to tolerance for marketing or information that comes off as dishonest.

Brands and people will need to look for ways to build trust, this means focusing on ways to highlight their humanity. You will need to connect

with your audience on a meaningful level. It’s like feeding a child vegetable but coated with something sweet.

5. Captivating stories: This works well with micro moments because social media’s popularity is rooted in the fact that it allows people share our different life experiences. Social media is adapting and embracing new ways to allow people tell their stories and share narratives to the world. Different platforms are embracing this and it is changing the way we consume content.

Brands should be encouraged to share more human stories of their own which will inspire consumers to test their products.

6. Quality over Quantity: Creatives usually like to go overboard with content especially when things are trending in hopes of riding the wave. Like I stated previously, nobody has time to sift through voluminous content. Keep it simple and short or else you risk losing the audience.

7. Humanise your brand: Put a human face to your brand, in as much as people like captivating graphics, nothing beats the human factor. I wouldn’t patronise a brand that has no face. Would you?

Exactly! This will naturally connect users to your business. It gives you an edge of brands that do not.

8. Influencers continue to grow their communities: Influencer marketing is still growing strong on all social media platforms. Much like personal branding when done well, it helps to give a human voice to brands. Influencer marketing is less than direct than traditional forms of advertising, but it can effectively create authentic ways of connecting with users and with customers.

About the Author Larry-Izamoje holds a BSc in Information management from the University of Sheffield, United Kingdom. And Msc in management from University College London (UCL). She has also secured certificates in user innovation from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Innovation and strategy from Harvard University.

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

She is the founder of Image Boosters a Communications and strategy agency aimed at assisting SME’s, with core services in social media management and business strategy consultation.

Website: www.imageboosters.com.ng Instagram: @dee_larry @imageboosters_ Email: contactus@imageboosters.com. ng or debbie@imageboosters.com.ng

Ecobank Promises Seamless Remittances Through RapidTransfer App Community Empowers MSMEs,

Nume Ekeghe

The Managing Director, Ecobank Nigeria, Mr. Patrick Akinwuntan, has said the bank’s decision to charge zero fee of (on) RapidTransfer remittances was borne out of the need to ensure Nigerians abroad are able to send home 100 percent of monies made through hard work.

According to him, “Because we are able to do it per scale and because we know that when Nigerians work abroad, close to seven to eight per cent of their sweat is taken as commission when they are sending money home, we decided to make the cost of sending money home free. We want 100 per cent of the money made through the sweat and hard work of Nigerians,

find its way back to Nigeria, to support and develop our economy in Nigeria. This is why we made the RapidTransfer charges zero.�

The Ecobank Nigeria Managing Director, who was speaking during an interactive session with journalists in Lagos, added that “any Nigerian in the Diaspora can download the Ecobank RapidTransfer App from any of the stores, attach his or her card, say in Canada, UK or US and remit $50, $30, ÂŁ30, ÂŁ25 or ÂŁ100 instantly to a recipient in Nigeria. The recipient could have a bank account in Ecobank or any other bank in Nigeria.â€?

He affirmed that Ecobank leverages on the Nigerian Inter-Bank Settlement System (NIBSS), which he said has

done a great job in bringing a common settlement platform for all the banks in Nigeria. “The payment will get to the account of other receiving bank, because Ecobank has put together a global App available for all Nigerians globally to be able to send money home,� stressing that “we offer best exchange rate available. If your relative or friend does that transfer from Canada or Paris today, you will get an equivalent of N360 to a dollar instantly at no charge to the sender. “So, the entire money made by your relation or your friend or yourself abroad finds its way back to Nigeria to support Nigerians back home, which is why most relations go to work abroad,� he said.

Others Hamid Ayodeji

The Eredo Local Council Development Area (LCDA) has organised an empowerment programme for small scale business owners, students within the community so as to boost their income and improve their standard of living.

The counsellor representing Eredo LCDA ward J1, Okesanya Adenola, while speaking during an interview with THISDAY, explained that the disbursement cash to beneficiaries was to support small scale businesses and

also boost employment in the community. “Serving the people is a privilege so I am giving back to them, and this is also one of the dividends of democracy.

Throughout this LCDA, no other counsellor has done such in their ward,’’ he said.

According to a trader Adesonu Motunrayo, who is also a beneficiary, “This is the first of its kind in this ward. There are a lots of us that received the money so we are very grateful for his support and we understand why it could not be so much

more, so we call on the Lagos state government to support such initiatives.�

Meanwhile, the counsellor solicited for more intervention programmes from the government to help facilitate the construction of roads, factories, schools and Agricultural ventures for its residents. “The Eredo Local Council Development Area is urging the state government to assist with agricultural programmes, construction of roads, factories, and provision of employment for the people of Eredo LCDA,’’ he added.

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Phido: Government Needs to Provide Enabling Environment for Businesses The Chief Executive Officer of Elevato, a consulting firm, Marie-Therese Phido, spoke to journalists on diverse issues as they affect sales, marketing and communications in Nigeria and the need for government to provide enabling framework for businesses to thrive. Raheem Akingbolu brings the excerpts:

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hat role do you think government can play in making Nigeria’s operating environment better for businesses?

In many conversations, government is blamed for the poor performance of many businesses. Let me cite an example. I attended the International Real Estate Conference recently, where key stakeholders in the industry and government gathered to discuss the challenges in the ease of doing business, regulation and financing in the sector. In every panel, government was put on the spot. The issue is, if government does not work optimally, by providing an enabling framework it affects everybody’s ability to succeed. It is an ecosystem that cascades down to everybody. This can clearly be seen in America, where the government appears to have gotten its policies right and it is having a booming effect on all aspects of business and employment in the country. In essence, yes, if businesses are deemed not to be performing as well as they can, especially since the situation is pervasive. I will say, government has a strong part to play in ensuring businesses succeed by providing an enabling environment and easing business conditions.

What sales and marketing challenges do you see organisations facing in Nigeria and West Africa?

Many businesses in Nigeria have a myriad of challenges both from a sales point of view and marketing. From a sales point of view, many do not have the fundamental understanding of “what problem am I solving or what are my buyer’s needs?’’. Many do not understand their customers, because they are not doing enough research to first ascertain the viability of a business or product before hitting the market.

Research is the core of sales and marketing.

This is one area that determines the success of any business or product. If you do not get it right, all of your sales and marketing channels will not work. I will advise all businesses, to ensure they do their research well and not be in a hurry to launch. This advice is for both big and small organisations. It is a perennial problem, that if we can spend time conducting a well done market entry or product research, we would be a lot more successful and achieve maximum results on our investments.

Your consulting ďŹ rm, Elevato, is two years.

In retrospect, how has it been running a business?

Prior to setting up Elevato in 2017, my career was shaped in the furnace of two of the four big consulting firms -KPMG and Deloitte. In both firms, I worked with the chief executive officers to develop, drive and implement the strategies of the firms as well as led the sales and marketing functions in Nigeria and the West Africa sub-region. Setting up the company in a period of economic recession came with its challenges. As a young firm, we were not immune to the challenges young firms face.

But, we set out early to differentiate our solutions and institute clear customer orientation processes, where we could add value to our clients’ businesses by helping them with value adding strategic initiatives and creating more attractive selling propositions.

We have been able to retain our clients locally and in the West African region. We plan to expand and deepen our service initiatives across various sectors of the economy, especially in the areas of innovation, sales and marketing.

We notice that a major problem we have in the country is innovation, many of us copy, are not original and even when we copy; we do not localise our offerings. In the last two years, we have added two products to our stable.

Holler! a consumer review market platform and Boundless a thematic business magazine.

Having said that, two years after, can you share with us some of the ďŹ rm’s milestones?

We have been able to achieve heights organisa-

Phido

tions that have been in business have not been able to reach. We have had the opportunity of working across five African countries, helping organisations there to define their strategies and providing business coaching services for them. We have provided strategy services to the foremost hotel in Nigeria, Transcorp Hilton.

We work for the richest man in Africa, several banks, multinationals and companies in Nigeria.

We have also brought in two additional partners to beef up our specialisation in strategy, innovation and human resources. These partners are experienced senior executives with experience from KPMG and Accenture. We are also in the process of becoming a sub-agent to a top 10 global sales and marketing organisation, where we will be given the franchise to provide sales

Research is the core of sales and marketing. This is one area that determines the success of any business or product.

If you do not get it right, all of your sales and marketing channels will not work. I will advise all businesses, to ensure they do their research well and not be in a hurry to launch

and marketing consulting and training services in about 10 West African countries.

What are your niche areas?

Elevato is a company with competencies in strategy, innovation, sales, marketing, business coaching, branding & communication and human resources. Our DNA is working with our clients every step of the way and being committed to their success. Our unique value proposition is handholding our clients to work through and achieve results in business frameworks and models we advise them on. We help our clients to develop creative and innovative solutions to meeting their needs and achieve their strategic plans and growth aspirations. For example, we understand the fact that digitisation is the heart of most business processes. We have put in strong platforms to ensure that our clients weave technology into their offerings so that they continue to remain relevant as well as achieve efficiencies in their businesses.

What challenges are businesses operating in your niche facing?

It’s been tough. As I said earlier, we started our business in the recession and are still hoping for the economy to recover, to enable everybody succeed. What we have found out, is that many organisations have put a lot of their consulting needs on hold. Despite the fact that they realise the importance of having these services to improve their businesses they just cannot seem to afford paying consulting fees. This situation cuts across the big and the small. They have all decided to optimise and restructure their spending. A good consulting firm, can work in adverse economic environment. What it needs do is focus on the needs of its clients at each point in time and proffer the solutions that will solve the problems within each organisation’s life cycle and add value despite the challenging environment. In a nutshell, we aim to provide value at all times.

More foreign companies are entering Nigeria and looking for organisations to work with. Why will they want to work with your organisation?

We understand the terrain, as well as the region. In view of our experience, my partners and I, having worked with global consulting organisations like KPMG, Accenture, Deloitte and multinationals, we have provided solutions and advisory services to many companies who have come into the country and have succeeded. These experiences we can bring to bear on providing bespoke services for our clients and potential clients. We recognise that it is not a one size fits all, and are ready and willing to work to ensure that our clients get a service specifically attuned to meet their precise needs.

Is Elevato engaged in any CSR activities?

Elevato is passionate about the empowerment of women. Hannah’s Handmaiden is an initiative birthed to assist women without privilege.

Our aim is to improve their self-confidence by creating positive change in their economic and social well-being. The initiative has assisted quite a number of women in the acquisition of vocational and IT skills and providing funds as startup capital. The initiative is also involved in mentoring youths and building competencies in them that will make them more employable or set them up on the path of establishing their own enterprises.

Where do you see Elevato in the next ďŹ ve years?

Our objective is to continue to work for the best organisations in Nigeria as well as contribute to the development of SMEs, being cognisant of the critical role they play in the economy of any nation. We will like to expand to other countries and across the globe. In the last two years we have worked for organisations in several countries such as Ivory Coast, Congo Brazzaville, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Togo, etc. We do not see ourselves as a local Nigerian organisation. Our aspiration is to be global and we are taking great strides to ensure that this happens either organically or by collaborating or partnering. We want to be the best in the areas we have chosen. We will do this focusing on human capital development within the organisation and keeping abreast of ground breaking solutions for our clients.

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Strengthening Partnership For their loyalty to Dangote Foods products in 2018, distributors of the products were recently rewarded and reassured of further support, Raheem Akingbolu reports:

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resident of Dangote Group, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, has commended Nigerian consumers and singled them out for their doggedness and loyalty to Made-in-Nigeria goods, despite the challenges.

Specifically, the industrialist who admitted that year 2018 was challenging for manufacturers, distributors and the end users, applauded distributors of various products on the stable of Dangote food for their commitment.

The president, who spoke at the Dangote Food Distributors’ award and dinner in Lagos recently, advocated the need for robust partnership between brand owners and trade partners to enhance symbiotic business growth. He used this to underline the company’s theme: ‘Better. Stronger. Together.’ He stated that the gathering was in honour of the company’s customers and distributors who through their dogged and persistent efforts have earned their spurs in the distribution of our food products’ range.

While appreciating the distributors, for making Dangote Food products a household name in Nigeria, Dangote also showered encomium on the staff at DFM, NASCON and Dangote Sugar for their exemplary contributions in building the Dangote Foods’ brand.

He pointed out that Dangote brand has remained the dominant brand in most of the sectors it plays, adding that in the food sector, its business units; Dangote Flour Mills, Dangote Sugar Refinery and NASCON Allied Industries are clear leaders in their respective fields.

He said: “We are delighted to have you as our partners through thick and thin. You are all aware that we are celebrating 2018 against all odds. Our Foods businesses recorded mixed results in the year with NASCON growing while DSR and DFM had

Dangote

a very difficult year. “Fluctuations in performance are known to occur in the life of businesses but the greater part is that you persevered with us. “My special commendation goes to Dangote Sugarand Pasta customers who, despite the price challenges posed by influx of unlicensed and substandard grey imports stood by us,�

Speaking on why the company took this year’s edition of the reward system seriously, the Chairperson, NASCON Allied Industries Plc, Yemisi Ayeni said her team was delighted that

despite the challenges, a number of distributors didn’t only breakeven but surpassed their target.

While corroborating the submission of the president of the group on last year’s challenges, she appealed to the distributors to remain loyal to the brand and that Dangote Foods has consistently worked on modalities to add value to the businesses of its trade partners. “Let me again congratulate our distributors, who have joined us to celebrate together this evening, especially today’s awardees. You are important to our business because your loyalty drives us.

We rely on you not only to distribute for us but to give us feedback from the end users. You are closers to our customers, you know where they are and the language they understand. On this note, let me reassure you that we will continue to fulfill our own part by giving you quality products and incentive to help your business,� Ayeni said.

This was also the position of Chairman of Dangote Flour, Asue Ighodalo, who stressed need for trade partners’ reward in business. “It is important to encourage and reward wonderful partners by coming together to celebrate and award prizes to outstanding distributors. Over the years, our distributors have displayed a rare love for brand and this has continued to keep us going,�

For distributors and end users of Dangote flour, Ighodalo assured them of the determination of the brand promoters to push it to the driver’s seat of the nation’s flour market in the next five years.

With the award, Dangote Foods clearly demonstrated that of all the tools in its marketing kit, maintaining good relationship with trade partners appear more important to the group.

In the last three years, the company has not only used its annual reward for distributors to strengthen relationship with them but has used

it to win more patrons.

To the management of Dangote Foods, the common saying that ‘Customer is King’ has become a watchword, with which it connects distributors. This was again established as outstanding distributors for the year 2018, were appreciated for their patronage and unwavering loyalty over the years.

Objectives The award ceremony is designed to appreciate the support enjoyed by the company from its numerous customers nationwide and avail the customers of the company’s initiatives aimed at serving them better.

The award, which was spread across 10 categories in Sugar, NASCON and Dangote Flour Mills, had about 80 companies and individuals going home with various prizes.

The peak of the of the event was when 60 year old Alhaji Ali Balarabe, a business tycoon, who has become a household name in trading of sugar, flour, salt and other consumable, emerged from the crowd to pick the apex award for the night. He emerged First Place winner in all the three national categories; Sugar, flour and NASCON. Before then, the businessman had clinched regional and other categories award.

Overwhelmed at his accomplishment and the encomium showered on him by Alhaji Dangote and other management staff, Alhaji Balarabe, expressed gratitude to Allah and the management of the company for the support they have given to his company over the years.

Another winner, Elizabeth Ajibola of the MT Olive Nigeria Limited, who won the award of Best Performing Customer in the South West Region for Sugar, attributed her feat in the business to cooperation she got from Dangote Foods family.

Dealing with Barriers to Financial Inclusion Uche Uwaleke A few days ago, the Central Bank of Nigeria unveiled a revised National Financial Inclusion Strategy with emphasis on best practices in financial inclusion. Having joined membercountries that formed the Alliance for Financial Inclusion Initiative (AFI) to encourage national commitments to financial inclusion following the signing of the Maya Declaration in 2011 at the Global Policy Forum (GPF) in Maya Mexico, Nigeria had adopted, the following year, a National Financial Inclusion Strategy which spelt out objectives, priorities and principles for achieving financial inclusion in the country with the CBN on the driving seat. The revised edition, which is consistent with the Maya Declaration, became necessary owing to the fact that a lot of changes have taken place in the Nigerian socio-economic and technological space since 2012 when the CBN first put together a strategy for improved access, by a significant percentage of adult Nigerians, to a broad range of financial services at affordable costs be they payments, savings, loans, insurance, pension and capital market products.

Indeed, the benefits of financial inclusion cannot be overstressed. Empirical studies have shown strong correlation between financial inclusion and poverty reduction. There is also research evidence to show that countries with high rate of financial inclusion experienced higher macroeconomic stability since monetary policies tend to be more responsive. In fact, access to appropriate financial services at affordable costs can spur aggregate demand, improve household welfare, boost enterprise activity and promote economic growth and development.

Regrettably, these upsides have eluded Nigeria due chiefly to low level of financial inclusion. An analysis of financial inclusion status as at 2016, contained in the revised NFIS report, showed that a total of 40.1 million of Nigeria’s 96.4 million adult population were financially excluded. Whereas about 55 per cent of the excluded population were women, over 80 per cent resided in rural areas. Again, while the South West Geopolitical zone had the least exclusion rate of 18 per cent, financial

EmeďŹ ele

exclusion rates were highest in North East and North West regions at 62 per cent and 70 per cent respectively. Another interesting demographic is the age dimension to financial inclusion in the country which indicates that ‘’the most banked brackets are ages 26 to 35 and 36 to 45 as the percentage of banked stood at 44.2 per cent and 45.6 per cent respectively.

Conversely, the least banked age bracket were 18 to 25 years followed by 56 years and above as they recorded 27.5 per cent and 34.2 per cent banked rate respectively’’. The major goal of the revised NFIS is ‘’to reduce the proportion of adult Nigerians that are financially excluded to 20 per cent in the year 2020 from its baseline figure of 46.3 per cent in 2010’’.

In order to achieve this target, key barriers to financial inclusion, also identified in the report, must be dealt with. These include challenging macroeconomic environment characterized by poor infrastructure that makes the provision of financial services very costly and unprofitable to financial service providers, the insecurity situation in some parts of the country especially in the North East which has adversely affected livelihoods of smallholder farmers in the region who constitute the majority of the population, low or non-patronage of financial products owing to cultural and religious factors, limited agent networks insufcient to allow

for expansion of financial services especially in rural areas as well as the slow off-take of Digital Financial Services as most Micro Finance Banks lack the funds to execute a DFS infrastructure.

Other constraints include insufficient national identity cards making it difficult for many adult Nigerians to access a full range of financial services, inadequate products which are tailored to key excluded groups such as women and micro enterprises, low financial literacy which constrain the ability of MSMEs to make bankable proposal and access finance on favourable terms as well as high unemployment rate of youths which explains, in part, their high rate of financial exclusion. According to the National Bureau of Statistics labour report, 53.3 per cent of the youthful population (ages 15 - 35) are unemployed in Nigeria.

As a key stakeholder, it behoves the government to invest in creating an enabling environment for the expansion of Digital Fianacial Services which have proven to be a low-cost approach to reaching the unserved and underserved population, strengthen digital infrastructure to reduce network challenges especially in rural communities as well as massively deploy resources to tackle the security challenges in the country. The importance of the adoption of cashless payment channels, particularly in government-to-person and person-to-government payments cannot be overstressed.

On its part, the CBN should champion the promotion of branchless banking including through enabling the rapid growth of agent networks (the use of business correspondents to reach customers in rural and remote areas) with nationwide reach. It is gratifying to note that the CBN, in collaboration with Deposit Money Banks, Mobile Money Operators and SuperAgents have designed, according to recent reports, a programme for aggressive rollout of a network of 500,000 Agents (about 476 Agents per 100,000 adults) by 2020 who will offer basic financial services including cash-in/ cash-out, funds transfer, bill payments, airtime sales among others. Equally heartening is the improvement in the regulatory environment with the CBN making available guidelines for agent banking and mobile money operations in the country. Efforts should also be geared towards reducing the Know Your Customer

hurdle to financial inclusion by simplifying KYC requirements for opening and operating accounts/mobile wallets on all financial services platforms. Effective implementation of the three- tiered KYC guideline issued by the CBN will be a step in the right direction.

The revised NFIS recognizes consumer protection as a key enabler that lowers barriers to financial inclusion. It not only ensures that clients are not exploited by service providers therefore boosting consumer confidence, it also enhances the soundness of the financial sector.

To this end, the CBN and other regulatory authorities should strengthen implementation of existing Consumer Protection Frameworks.

What is more, the apex bank should adopt innovative means of conducting financial sector oversight in order to mitigate the risk of fraud and promote confidence. It should equally scale-up efforts aimed at addressing the low levels of financial literacy in the country.

Furthermore, since verifiable ID is a prerequisite for accessing formal financial services, the National Identity Management Commission is challenged to meet its target of rolling out a unique national ID for all Nigerians by 2020 which will be an acceptable identity document for accessing financial services.

On the supply side, financial institutions should continue to innovate and tailor financial product characteristics and distribution methods to meet the needs of the unserved. In view of the high exclusion rates of MSMEs and the large informal sector, the development and delivery of micro savings, credit, pensions, micro and agricultural insurance products for excluded groups will go a long way in on-boarding these groups. In this regard, the plan by the National Pension Commission to commence the micro-pension scheme for the informal sector is laudable. Indeed, dealing with the barriers to financial inclusion is not an easy task. It requires the support of all stakeholders including the government, the CBN, other Regulatory Bodies, Financial Institutions Development Partners as well as all Nigerians Uwaleke of Nasarawa State University Keffi, is Nigeria’s first Professor of Capital Market and the President of the Association of Capital Market Academics of Nigeria

5 ) * 4 % ": t THURSDAY, JANUARY 31, 2019

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BUSINESSWORLD

DEVELOPMENT

Wooing More Investors The Lagos State gubernatorial candidate for the All Progressives Congress, Mr. Babajide SanwoOlu, through his development plan intends to work with both foreign and domestic investors to unlock the immense opportunities in state, writes Oluchi Chibuzor

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agos state remains the economic hub of Nigeria. The state’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is estimated at $91 billion, which is higher than that of 42 countries in the continent and equivalent to that of 19 African countries added together.

With an average monthly Internally Generated Revenue of about N34 billion, how Lagos State manages its resources has national implications in the country.

Therefore, the state must have a holistic plan to remain attractive to investors both at home and abroad.

That is why the Lagos gubernatorial candidate for the All Progressives Congress, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu, through his five pillars development agenda aims to enhance development in the mega city.

For instance, the Lagos gubernatorial candidate who attended the recently held World Economic Forum Davos, Switzerland, at the annual meetings, had highlighted the enormous investment opportunities in Lagos State at an exclusive session with selected Swiss Investors.

At the event, the business interaction triggered commitments of $5 billion investment in infrastructure and capital projects in the state and also provided an avenue for Mr. Sanwo-Olu to further reinforce the investment opportunities in the state.

While the array of investors comprising commodity traders, equity managers, investment bankers, fintech and information technology experts, infrastructure builders, international donors, energy and power companies unanimously agreed that Lagos is fertile ground for investments, they cited political risk as a more disturbing consideration over economic risk.

In reassuring them, Sanwo-Olu told the investors that Nigeria is safe for investment and Lagos State as the economic nerve center of the country presents the best environment for global investments.

Sanwo-Olu said “There is progressive leadership and stability in the governance of Lagos State since 1999. The state has been under the administration of a party, my party, which is the All Progressives Party for more than 16years.

The state has remained a reference point for infrastructural development and economic prosperity in Nigeria and West Africa. “On investors’ protection, I think that should be the least of your worries. Lagos has a comprehensive regulation that protects and shields investors. The scope of the regulation covers disputes resolution and commitment to ease of doing business.�

Earlier in his speech, Sanwo-Olu informed the investors about his determination to transform Lagos into a 21st century economy.

According to him, Lagos economy is adjudged to be the fifth largest in Africa and is not yet a 24-hour economy, where you can do every transaction round-the-clock, do you think we have really maximized the potentials of that economy? “We are saying it is a large and growing economy, and you are not playing in it yet,� he added.

While assuring Sanwo-Olu of investors’ and multilateral institutions’ commitment to Lagos and Nigeria, the Country Portfolio Manager, High Impact Africa 1 Grant Management Division of Global Fund, Ibrahim Faria, pledged the commitment to support health system in Lagos State if Mr. Sanwo-Olu won the election.

He commended the APC Lagos gubernatorial candidate’s economic blueprint that covers cover education, health, infrastructure and strengthening private sector investments in the state. “We have particular interest to support health system in Lagos. Global Fund is an important partner of the Nigerian government where we are funding support for HIV/AIDS, Malaria and other diseases,� Faria said.

Some of the multilateral institutions and private organisations that attended the session were Global Fund, Ford Foundation, HSBC, GENII Capital, International Trade Centre, Actis/CDC among others.

The THEME Agenda Sanwo-Olu and his running mate, Dr. Obafemi Hamzat recently unveiled their development agenda for the state ahead of the March 2nd gubernatorial election.

L-R: Sanwo-Olu and Global Head Citizenship for KPMG International, Dr. Michael Hastings, after an investment forum session at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland‌recently

Tagged project THEME, the five pillars of development is expected to focus on traffic and transportation, health and the environment, education and technology, making Lagos a 21st century economy, as well as entertainment and tourism, among other issues.

Unfolding their plans, both Sanwo-Olu and Hamzat said project THEME, as a strategy was conceived after wide consultations with all stakeholders on the challenges and the future Lagos state. “We didn’t just prepare the THEME documents in our bedrooms or in one hotel or inside a board room. The documents came from our numerous engagements with the people of Lagos State, telling us what their needs are and the immediate intervention they require on any challenge�, Sanwo-Olu stated.

While unveiling of “A Vision for a Greater Lagos,� which was attended by the party leaders, captains of industry, artisans and supporters, Sanwo-Olu further stated that he and his deputy are convinced that in spite of many achievements in governance of Lagos since 1999, there is still much to be done to fully realise the potential of the state.

Speaking on Traffic Management and Transportation, the APC standard bearer said he has identified about 60 traffic gridlocks in the state and that gridlock red spots in some parts of the state such as Third Mainland Bridge and Lekki-Ikoyi/Admiralty Way and Lekki Toll Plaza, among others and that it would be resolved within nine months of his administration, saying “we promised to implement a more effective public transport system, reactivate the rail system, extend water transport services, expand and improve network of roads.�

On Health and Environment, Sanwo-Olu promised to ensure the presence of minimum of three doctors, three nurses and five community health workers in all 354 Primary Health Centre (PHCs) by 2021 and provide 10 new PHCs for riverine and other underserved areas, adding that his government would optimize waste management, improve drainage and disposal of wastewater across the metropolis.

Speaking on “Making Lagos a 21stCentury Economy,� the APC Gubernatorial candidate said the administration will create a conducive business environment to attract investments and industries, support the growth of the local economy, empower the workforce using local talent to drive job and wealth creation, encourage youth development and provide support for key economic sectors like agriculture, housing and security.

On his part, Hamzat, while speaking on the plan for education and technology said the incoming

administration would introduce measures to address three broad issues, namely: students, teachers and school infrastructure, adding that government would invest heavily in developing a strong pool of talented and well-trained young people to drive economic development. “We want to assure Lagosians that there would be increase budgetary allocation for education from 12.07 per cent to 18 per cent during the tenure of our administration if we win the election.

Besides, the state government will collaborate with industry, federal government and academia to update the education curriculum to reflect current and future industry needs,� he said.

As for the Entertainment and Tourism sectors, Hamzat said the administration’s desire is to make Lagos the foremost entertainment and tourism destination in Africa. “As such, our government will work with stakeholders to facilitate the creation of a fully equipped and functional film city that will include an academy to encourage skills training�, he said, adding that their administration will develop sports as a viable economic platform with the introduction of a new sport policy. “We will galvanise grassroots participation in sport and revive periodic community sports competition, street sports championship and community shield periodically to promote wellness, community spirit and generate employment,� he added.

Support for Lagos Already, the International Trade Centre (ITC) has pledged its support for Lagos State.

The Executive Secretary, ITC, Ms. Arancha GonzĂĄlez, made the disclosure during an interaction with Sanwo-Olu in Gevena.

The engagement was an extension of the gubernatorial candidate’s consultations with critical stakeholders and international organizations that could support the attainment of his vision for a greater Lagos.

Specifically, Sanwo-Olu, had stressed that excellent delivery of socio-economic programmes to residents of a cosmopolitan city like Lagos would require more than willingness on the part of the government, but also the support of world-class human-centered organisations in the areas of frameworks, templates, collaborations, trainings and insights are critical to the success of his vision for Lagos. “We have a vision to make Lagos a 21st century economy. This is an exciting aspiration targeted at transforming every aspect of Lagos life. We know that beyond the huge infrastructural requirements and regulatory framework revision, there are also significant human capital development needs that will support the success of this goal. Hence, our

call for support by notable global organizations like the International Trade Centre with impressive track-record of helping growing economies,â€? said Sanwo-Olu. In her response, GonzĂĄlez, said “the ITC’s goal is to help developing and transition countries achieve sustainable human development through exports, adding that it is also a development partner for small business export success.â€? “Lagos is an important city in the world, and because of our commitment to economic development and wellbeing of mankind, we are always inclined to support human-centered programmes.

It is pleasing that health, environment, education and technology are some of the focal areas of your agenda because these elements are major items of discussion in the modern world,� said Gonzålez.

Sanwo-Olu had said Lagos in future would be in a position to host the WEF. “By hosting the WEF in Lagos, business and political leaders from across the globe will see potentials of our state, provide advice and insights into how to transform the state into a 21st century economy, and attract investors through business-friendly policies to the state�, enthused Sanwo-Olu. Accordingly, Lagos State may soon become a convergence point for political and business leaders across the globe following Sanwo-Olu’s quest for rapid socio-economic transformation.

The APC gubernatorial candidate has obtained the commitment of the ITC to facilitate and support the hosting of the World Economic Forum in Lagos in future if he won his election to become the Governor.

In the same vein, the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) has said it will continue to work with developing nations and sub-national governments such as Lagos State to reduce poverty and increase standard of living through support for education, climate change, health and skill development.

Ambassador Ralph Friedlander of the SDC, said Switzerland is a leading country in promoting small businesses through skill acquisition and vocational training and would be ready to work with Lagos State to help develop the right skills for young people to acquire right skills for economic productivity. “I have seen your areas of focus in your development agenda. Education, health and economic opportunities to lift the poor out of poverty through skill development are areas where we have expertise. We will work with you.

Nigeria and Switzerland have solid relationship and we will continue to strengthen that through our work with the central government and we will work with state Lagos State,� he added.

5 ) * 4 % ": t THURSDAY, JANUARY 31, 2019

33

STOP AND SEARCH PROVISIONS IN POLICE (REPEAL AND RE-ENACTMENT) BILL, 2018 One of the proposals in the Police Bill, 2018 seeks to improve the procedure for stop and search of persons and vehicles. The bill generally seeks to repeal and re-enact the Police Act, originally enacted in 1943, to bring the Nigerian Police in line with modern policing practices, clearly outline their duties, ensure adequate protection of citizens’ rights and promote community partnerships.

The Bill was introduced in the Senate by majority leader, Sen. Ibn Na’Allah on 30 May 2018. It passed second reading on 10 July 2018 and was referred to the Senate Committee on Police Affairs who held a Public Hearing on the Bill on 5 December 2018. Both the National Assembly and the Police have expressed their desire and commitment towards review of the Police Act. Below are proposed provisions on Stop and Search in the bill.

or

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T H I S D AY ˾ THURSDAY, JANUARY 31, 2019

HEALTH & LIFESTYLE

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

Revitalising Tertiary Healthcare in Nasarawa Nasarawa State, with only two tertiary hospitals, had before now suffered the burden associated with poor healthcare, leading to increased morbidity and mortality rate. But the revitalisation of the Dalhatu Araf Specialist Hospital, Lafia hopes to bring a glimmer of hope. Emmanuel Ukumba writes

New casualty department

E

ver had a sick loved one who is unable to access healthcare because the hospital has not enough manpower, infrastructure and equipment to treat the sick patient? Well, that was the state of things in Nasarawa State even with two tertiary hospitals available until it’s recent revitalisation.

For instance, before now, Dalhatu Araf Specialist Hospital (DASH), Lafia, struggled with providing effective treatment and management to its patients due to lack of doctors, pharmacists, nurses, and poor infrastructural facilities, as well as equipment.

The hospital could boast of only few consultants, registrar doctors, while the facilities available were overwhelmed by people. On infrastructure, it only had 200 beds for the population of people in Southern senatorial zone of Nasarawa and even part of the Northern senatorial zone of the state.

But the Chief Medical Director, DASH, Dr. Hassan Ikrama says that will be a thing of the past with the revatilisation of the hospital, with a focus on increasing personnel, improving infrastructure and providing necessary equipment for easy running of the tertiary facility.

Bed Space Speaking with THISDAY recently in his office on how he was trying to improve on what he met on ground on assumption of duty, Ikrama said when he came on board, he realised the casualty department could only take 13 patients at a time.

“Before now we put patients on the floor even with bleeding bodies. There was not enough space for them. So the first thing was to expand the casualty department and add 20 more bed spaces. Right now, we have put it to use and it is really taking care of most of the patients that come. Now we hardly see cases of patients being treated.

“In the wards as well, there were not enough bed spaces. We now have additional bed spaces.

So we have doubled the bed capacity, which means it can now take twice as it used to,”he said.

Provision of Offices While lamenting that staff of the tertiary health facility don’t have enough offices,

he said: “There are administrative staff and consultants with no offices at all. So now, we are going to have a whole block of offices for our consultants and our administrative staff. So, imagine we have very senior consultants, they come to hospital and they don’t have where to sit. They just see patients and leave. But now we are going to have offices where it is going to be very conducive for them to work.

“We are also going to have another radiology unit. The one that we have now is grossly inadequate for the need of the hospital. And we are going to have in that new Radiology a CT scan and other sophisticated machines,” Ikrama stated.

Equipment In terms of equipment, the CMD disclosed that the hospital has made its plea to the state government and already the department of obstetrics and genecology has taken delivery of all the equipment they require, adding that the institution was going to get accreditation for West Africa College of Surgeons in obstetrics and genecology very soon.

He said the same treatment has also been given to the surgical department of the hospital, noting that very soon the hospital will also do the same thing to pediatrics department to maintain progress in that regard.

Before now we put patients on the floor even with bleeding bodies. There was not enough space for them.

So the first thing was to expand the casualty department and add 20 more bed spaces.

Right now, we have put it to use and it is really taking care of most of the patients that come

Free Internet Facility One of the unique facets of this revitalisation is the provision of free internet facility for staff.

On this the CMD said: “To make the place more conducive, we have our internets now free for all our staff to help in terms of research and communication. It will also be a means of communication between our doctors here and other places.”

Revamping Security Surprisingly, one of the challenges that once faced the hospital was the issue of theft and it was on a daily basis. According to the CMD, when he came in, the issue of security was a serious thing in this hospital.

“Theft was almost a daily affair. We have revamped the security system and we have provided CCTV in all the nooks and crannies of the hospital consequently, we have not recorded any serious cases of theft since I came to this hospital,” Ikrama stated.

Commencement of SERVICOM He also explained that since the commencement of SERVICOM activities in the hospital, the hospital has made tremendous achievements most specifically in the area of outpatients, adding that before now, the hospital used to see very minimal number of patients, but that with the coming of SERVICOM in DASH, it was now able to see more than 150 outpatients daily.

An Administrative Officer of the hospital, who doubles as Head of the SERVICOM Unit, Yusuf Yakubu, said it was an achievement the DASH was able to do with the commitment of SERVICOM. According to Yakubu, since the inception of SERVICOM, the hospital has made tremendous achievement in service improvement in medical care and other services related to the daily running of the healthcare facility.

He said: “Before my arrival, seeing doctors then was a difficult task because of the mode the system was at then. When I became the head of SERVICOM, I looked at the situation and I said no to it. At that time, it was a very difficult thing for patients to gain access to doctors.

“They (patients) said as at then it was

when you have somebody that you will be able to see a doctor to access medical care.

When I came, I said the hospital is meant for patients. Without patient, there would be no hospital. By such, we devised a means making it simpler for them to gain access to medical services.”

To ease the task before SERVICOM unit in the specialist hospital, the SERVICOM head said that the unit has been able to introduce numbering that had helped the health institution to date.

He explained, “the use of number is based on first come, first serve. When you are able to come, you get number and your number is your doctor. If you have number one, you will be seen first, up to the last number given. That helps us in attending to as many numbers of patients as possible as against the initial system of operation.

Because then, it was not so organised in such a way that people will come and sit down; then it was haphazard, in fact, if you don’t know somebody then, it will be hard to see a medical doctor.”

Ongoing Construction On the visit to the site where construction of new structures was ongoing, the Site Engineer, Aliyu Usman Oboshi, told THISDAY that: “basically, there are four structures as you can see on this site. There are two wards; one for male and the other for female. And the one that is at the foundation level is the clinic and the administrative block. The top is the admin and the ground floor is the clinic.

The other one to the left is the consultants unit; with consultants offices. Consultants will be up; part of it is the administrative block. So basically that is what we have on ground.”

When asked when these edifices would be ready for usage by the hospital, Oboshi said: “By Governor Umaru Tanko Al-Makura’s desire, he wanted to commission this project before he leaves office, and we are looking forward to that. We are on track. We have all the finances. Everything is on ground and we are backed up. He has given us all what we needed, so the ball is actually in our court and we are really working hard to meeting that date.”

T H I S D AY ˾ THURSDAY, JANUARY 31, 2019

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NEWS

‘Cigarettes Sold in Africa More Toxic than Those Smoked in Europe’ r&YQFSUT XBSO EBOHFSPVT CSBOET NBZCF JO DJSDVMBUJPO JO /JHFSJB Martins Ifijeh with Agency Reports Independent investigation has confirmed that cigarettes sold in Africa are more toxic than those smoked in Europe.

However, there are fears that such toxic cigarettes maybe in circulation in Nigeria and are being smoked even by teenagers.

The implication of smoking such toxic cigarettes, according to medical experts, is rise in deaths from respiratory diseases such as lung cancer, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and pneumonia.

Also, despite ban on smoking in public places, people still do it in all the nook and crannies in the country exposing the non-smoker and tender ones to secondhand smoke, which has also been associated with cancer of the lung and other ill-health effects.

Unfortunately, although tobacco sales have fallen by 38 per cent in Europe, over the past 20 years, thanks to preventative campaigns and price increases, the reverse is the case in Africa.

That is why producers are increasingly pushing their new “reduced-risk products”, which supposedly provide consumers with nicotine without the harmful effects of tobacco.

Philip Morris International (PMI) and its competitors especially the British American Tobacco (BAT) have continued to sell cigarettes on a massive scale.

Indeed, emerging markets such as Nigeria are an attractive target, simply because their governments lack the resources to implement proactive health policies, leaving the companies’ path clear. An investigation

by Marie Maurisse, winner of Public Eye’s Investigation Award found that every year, Switzerland exports more cigarettes than it does chocolate.

Also, exclusive tests showed that the tobacco industry has double standards: cigarettes sold in Africa are more toxic than those smoked in Europe.

The results are clear: the cigarettes produced on Swiss soil and sold in Morocco are much stronger, more addictive and more toxic than those sold in Switzerland or France.

The results reveal a double standard – Moroccans smoke cigarettes that are more harmful than those smoked

by Europeans.

For each substance tested, nearly all cigarettes produced in Switzerland and consumed in Morocco contained levels higher than that found in Swiss and French cigarettes.

Researches estimate that 80 per cent of smokers live in lowor middle-income countries.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) estimates that there are 77 million smokers in Africa, namely 6.5 per cent of the continent’s population.

The institution predicts that by 2025, the figure will rise by

nearly 40 per cent compared to 2010 – the steepest increase globally. The number of deaths on the continent will double by 2030 in what the WHO describes as an “epidemic”.

One of the major destinations of the toxic cigarettes, according to the report, is Casablanca in Morocco.

Everywhere, you see men, women and teenagers smoking cigarettes that have been made in Switzerland. They are always the same – Winston, Camel and Marlboro.

According to the report, Switzerland often promotes the fact that it exports its delicious chocolate, or prestigious watches, to the world. Yet there is another Swiss product that is just as successful, but far less vaunted: cigarettes. In 2016, Switzerland produced 34.6 billion cigarettes – nearly two billion packets.

Some 25 per cent were sold on the domestic market. Nearly 75 per cent were exported, providing enough cigarettes for over four million people to smoke a packet a day over the year.

The proportion of exports has been dropping, falling by nearly half since 2011. In terms of revenue, the country is only the world’s fifteenth largest exporter of cigarettes, coming in far behind the United Arab Emirates, Germany and Poland.

Yet it has been a steady business for the Swiss economy.

According to KPMG study published at the end of 2017, “Export income generated by tobacco products, totalling CHF 561 million, is comparable to that of most Swiss commodity exports, such as cheese (CHF 578 million) or chocolate (CHF 785 million).”

Marie Maurisse said: “It’s very difficult to investigate the tobacco industry because it’s very secretive”.

For the companies, Morocco appears to be an excellent gateway into these markets: according to a study carried out by the Moroccan Ministry of Health, 13 per cent of smokers in the country are aged 15 and under. And the proportion of girls who smoke is starting to rival that of boys.

Producers use very aggressive advertising campaigns to attract their new and young customers and to promote their cigarettes.

In July 2017, British newspaper the Guardian revealed that in Kenya and Uganda, British American Tobacco is seeking to prevent the government from taking preventative measures against tobacco.

In Kenya, KETCA, an alliance of Non Governmental Organisations (NGOs) in favour of regulating tobacco, has filed a complaint; the affair is currently in the hands of the Supreme Court.

In Togo, Burkina Faso and Ethiopia, the same producer resorted to official letters to explain that plain packaging had not contributed to a drop in sales.

Absence of NAFDAC at Ports Fueled Drug Abuse- DG Kuni Tyessi, Abuja The Director General of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), Professor Mojisola Adeyeye, has attributed the high rate of drug abuse in the country to removal of the agency from the ports from 2011-2018.

Adeyeye who stated this when she received the Chairman, Presidential Advisory Committee on Elimination of Drug Abuse, Brigadier

General Buba Marwa (rtd), and other members of the committee in her office in Abuja, said it was sad that two generations of Nigerian youths were being wiped out due to drug addiction.

According to her, “when NAFDAC was removed from the ports from 2011-2018 and I asked myself when you remove an agency that is supposed to oversee the importation of illicit drug in the port, then we will get our answer and part of the answer

committee, lamented the high rate of drug addiction among Nigerian youths adding that it is imperative for all stakeholders to fight the menace.

“It is very sad that two generations of our youths are being wiped out, so we must do something urgent.

“President Muhammadu Buhari is really concerned and he wants us to bring about solution to this terrible state of affairs in the country as far as drug addiction is concerned,” he said.

we got is the destruction of Nigerian youths, during that period. “ If we plot the graph, NAFDAC not being at the port in 2011 -2018, we would find out that during that period, the drug addiction among our youths increased.”

The NAFDAC boss however, assured Nigerians that the agency is ready to work around the clock, in order to intercept any illegal drugs being imported into the country.

Earlier, the chairman of the

APPOINTED TO SERVE

L-R: Chief Medical Director, University College Hospital, Ibadan, Prof. Jesse Abiodun receiving letter of appointment from Minister of Health, Prof. Isaac Adewole in Abuja recently

Go Beyond Paracetamol, Flagyl for Treatment, Prisoners Charges FG r"T /(0 TDSFFOT GPS DFSWJDBM DBODFS IFQBUJUJT Kuni Tyessi, Abuja Prisoners at the Suleja Prisons in Niger State have called on the federal government to, as a matter of urgency, go beyond giving inmates paracetamol and flagyl and provide adequate healthcare facility within its premises.

The prisoners who emphasised that they were not animals but humans in which most are awaiting trial before being convicted, said the lack of infrastructure has made it difficult to access adequate healthcare.

They added that only in extreme cases are inmates taken

to a general hospital to see a doctor, after which they use their resources to purchase drugs.

They made the call when a nongovernmental organisation, African Kids and Women Rights Empowerment Initiative, in partnership with the Wife of the Niger State Governor, Dr. Amina Bello and her organisation, Raise Foundation visited the prisons for cervical cancer and hepatitis screening.

One the prisoners, John Johnson (real names withheld), who spoke on behalf of his coinmates, said the basic sanitation of the prisons should also be improved given that there are cases of bedbugs and lice, as well

as other unpleasurable health challenges, which pose as threat to their wellbeing.

He said:”There are not enough facilities in this prison to treat prisoners. Most of the time when prisoners fall sick, no matter the magnitude, paracetamol and flagyl are the only drugs available. “When it becomes so serious, that is the time one is taken to a general hospital or sometimes, we give the warders money to buy the drugs.

“We are not animals but humans and should be treated as such. We are calling that once in a while, the government can come or send medical personnel to observe the health if the

prisoners.

“Since I came here, it is only once that I have seen general hygiene being observed in this environment we live in. There are cases of bedbugs and lice and it’s just terrible,” he added.

Founder and coordinator of the group, Ms. Sherina Okoye, said the screening which is expected to be performed on about 430 male and female inmates, is part of the foundation’s social responsibility towards enhancing the life of the inmates. She added that the prisoners though incarcerated, should know about their status and start treatment if found positive, or get vaccinated to curb the menace.

IPCR Backs Sustained Fight against Spread of Fake Drugs Tayo Olaleye in Abuja The Acting Director General of the Institute for Peace and Conflict Resolution (IPCR), Dr. Bakut Tswah has emphasised the need to sustain the fight against the spread of fake drugs.

Tswah made the call at the launch of a new study titled “The rise of counterfeit pharmaceuticals in Africa”.

He said the action will save lives and improve public health by ensuring availability of

only standard and efficacious medicines in the public domain, in line with the Sustainable Development Goals [SDGs] of the United Nations, which seeks good and safe health for all.

The DG referred to former Minister of Information, the late Prof Dora Akunyili, who lost her diabetic sister to fake insulin (Cheng 2009; Lenonick 2005), as one out of thousands, adding that the disabled and deformed on the streets everyday are, perhaps,

victims of the administration of counterfeit drugs.

He said that the unfortunate menace is taking a heavy toll on African societies, frustrating genuine efforts of national reconstruction and general advancement.

He further stressed that the emergence and growth of illicit economy on which the sales of fake and counterfeit consumables thrive, requires urgent and aggressive joint actions of relevant authorities at domestic and regional

levels.

Speaking at the same event, the head European Union Delegation to Nigeria and ECOWAS, Stephanie Marrone said, with the estimated annual remarks ranging from $1.6 to $2.2 trillion worldwide, the network of counterfeit medicine is a major source of corruption and enormous loss of revenue for the state.

He added that between $200 and $400 billion is believed to be accrued from the illicit market.

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T H I S D AY ˾ THURSDAY, JANUARY 31, 2019

INTERVIEW

Fintan Ekochin: UHC Will Set Enugu State Apart Medical tourism has become as much drain on the economy in the health sector. Fintan Ekochin, Commissioner of Health, Enugu State told Ahamefula Ogbu that a universal health coverage system coming on stream in the second quarter of 2019 would set the state apart as running a globally approved and people-friendly healthcare system. Excerpts: Can we know what your primary healthcare delivery system and approach is like in Enugu State?

The primary healthcare service in Enugu State is quite robust. When I say robust, I stand on the strength of the structures we have. In the 17 local governments of the state, we have 420 primary healthcare centers, rural outposts, health posts and the likes. This large number is a very big base to the pyramid of the primary healthcare. These facilities exist across the three senatorial zones and form the primary level of healthcare in the state. Hitherto, they had been managed by the local government health authorities whereby each local government is headed by a HOD Health in charge of the primary health centers in his or her domain. That is how we met it until when a big change is set to come on board. The local government has run the primary health centers; however things are going to change very soon.

Is the health insurance scheme working in your state?

Enugu State is yet to bring on board its own state-supported health insurance scheme. The prerequisite however is done and we are very proud of it. Rt. Hon Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi has assented to that bill so we now have a health sector reform law. This law is the most important thing in bringing our own self-support health insurance bill on board. In the last quarter of 2018 we were able to renovate a temporary office for the universal health coverage agency which is of course the body that will house the SSHIS. We have seconded staff from the state ministry of health. Currently the NHIS, the national body is doing training of these staff even today; the training has been going on alongside other NGOs who also do training for other staff who we posted there; so with all these on ground we are confident that we will soon roll out our own state- supported scheme.

Can you tell us how soon that would be?

In the first quarter of 2019 we are optimistic that the last and very important staff of our agency will be appointed which is the executive secretary.

Right now we are running with an acting executive secretary but in this quarter we expect that to happen. In this quarter we expect the training to be advanced; we expect the basic healthcare fund provision roll out at the national level to also give us experiences based on the pilot states.

The only pilot state in the South-east now is Abia State, so we are looking at Abia State to see how they fared with basic healthcare provision. So in the second quarter of 2019, I believe everything would be ready for us to take off in earnest.

Before this rollout, what have you on ground to ensure people access healthcare?

Like I said, we have a flagship programme, Free Maternal and Child health which is over 10 years. Infact in 2018 we successfully repositioned it by integrating and expanding the scheme to now include faith-based organisations. These Faith-based Organisations signed MOUs with the ministry of health to render services to pregnant women and children under five years and present their bills as claims for us to approve and reimburse them. It has started in Enugu State but with the expanded reach of this programme, the ground is set for us to transition from free maternal and child health which is nothing but a model of state health insurance whereby government is taking the bill completely to a state whereby formal and informal sector beneficiaries will make a monthly contribution which is the next step, so we are not starting from zero in Enugu State, we already have a successful platform we are building on to deliver that improved service. We are hoping the media will continue to enlighten people about all these things so that let them ask for it, let them clamour for it, let them be happy when His Excellency says this is going to come their way because people don’t really understand what the health insurance scheme is all about, so when they understand it, ask for it and are happy to hear it as part of campaign and part of what the ministry is offering, it will

Ekochin

equally go a long way.

What plans have you to ensure that doctors stay and give services in rural areas?

We have 54 secondary health facilities in Enugu State, we call them general hospitals and cottage hospitals; before now this government met what they call the District Health system, it has been repealed by the Health Sector Reform law, we are now going to run a hospital management board to oversee these secondary facilities and also a Ward Health system so this is the way forward and we will take it to the next level in the second tenure. This brings specialist care to the people.

Cottage hospitals are the first point of specialist contact but in order to accelerate the availability of specialist doctors, this government has done a great and giant stride in that area by quickly bringing specialists on a PPP platform so the ministry of Health got executive council approval to go into this process, advertising, getting expression of interest from specialists from areas of internal medicine, surgery, obstetrics and gynecology and pediatrics for now.

These four areas are the places we got expression of interest from. The specialist doctors we did not care whether they were indigenes or not, we did not care if they were working with the federal establishments or even in states or the private, the important thing is that they were specialist doctors and we are willing and able to key in to the PPP health programme in the state. Now they have keyed into this programme, we have an MOU that is guiding us in our working together, so we have a list of specialist doctors giving services at very modest amount which must for now be paid for by the patient, however they make out time per week to visit general hospitals, see patients there, do surgery as necessary and get paid at the end of the month. It is a successful PPP model and we are proud of it.

Is the government subsidising healthcare delivery apart from the free maternal and child health delivery system?

Sure, it is subsidising it by the fact that we have a drug revolving fund in Enugu State. We are one of the few states in Nigeria that have a very well organised and functioning drug revolving fund by the fact that government runs a central medical store under the ministry of health and has a laboratory that tests drugs and acquires them in bulk from producers. We are able to make these drugs available and affordable price, so that is already a form of subsidy, so whoever visits any of our hospitals and has a prescription is sure to pay much less for drugs than when you visit a private hospital or are sourcing drugs from the open market. Furthermore, take example of these PPP programme; these specialist doctors offer

their services in the rural settings in our general hospitals in the rural settings at a subsidised cost so you pay much less to see a specialist doctor, so that is another form of subsidy that is coming up on board. The teaching hospitals is the tertiary level, a whole number of patients there get services at a very much reduced cost.

If you check the prices paid for services given at the teaching hospitals, compare them to the private sector, compare them to other states and even the federal establishments and hospitals and you see how we are subsiding services.

Yesterday the Governor visited a teaching hospital again and in his usual way, offset the bills of every patient at the emergency room. On the 1st of January the governor’s wife also visited the hospital and offset the bills of every baby that was born in the new year; likewise other stakeholders from the state House of Assembly and other representatives of the constituencies at the green and red chambers have also continued to do so; all these constitute how we subsidise healthcare in Enugu State.

What is the doctor to patient ratio in the state?

I don’t have exact figure for now. Infact it is very difficult to keep that figure because Enugu State among every other state in Nigeria is challenged by brain drain. We have a continued attrition not just by retirement but by brain drain specifically, so it is what the state government along with other states have to come up with a solution. The solution is quite challenging but the first thing to do is to address what is attracting our doctors and nurses; these are the two most challenging areas.

They look over the fence and see a greener pasture out there so we are challenged to pay better like every state but in 2016 because of this ongoing challenge, there was a very large recruitment of medical staff of all cadres at the state teaching hospital. Right now in first quarter of 2019, we have drawn up a list of staff to be employed again into the state hospital management board, likewise in the schools of health technology at Nsukka, Oji River and school of basic midwifery at Awgwu, so we are looking forward now for executive council approval which we hope to get in this first quarter of 2019 and have another mass recruitment, so that will beef up again the staff we have lost to brain drain.

Where did you meet the health ministry, where is it now and where are you taking it to?

I speak for this government, Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi’s tenure and I already mentioned some of the things, this government met a district health system and in the first tenure has dropped it and picked up a hospital management system and a ward healthcare system. This government met the primary health system being run by local governments but has

keyed in to the under one roof model as suggested by the Nigerian Governors forum and the national primary healthcare development agency and has made an enabling law and is already setting up the stage for Enugu State Healthcare Development Agency to run primary healthcare and take it to the next level, so the second tenure is where it is going to start, where the foundation that has been laid would be built upon. This government met the visions and dreams of past governments about state health insurance and has already gotten this law for the universal health coverage. Note that Enugu State is the only state in Nigeria that has taken that bold step of going into universal healthcare coverage and use it as a baptismal name for its own state health insurance . Universal health insurance is larger than health insurance because you are bringing in funding agencies, charities to all participate. State health insurance is simply you contribute monthly and you get a benefit, if you can’t contribute you are out. Universal health coverage says if you can contribute, do so, if you can’t, the system will still take care of you because other stakeholders will still key in, so Enugu State and this government has made that success and we know that the only way forward in the health sector in Nigeria and Enugu State is bringing universal health coverage on board and that is the model the whole world is running.

Out of pocket expenses cannot work. Government driving free health care like the mother and child health has a limit, those are the things.

At the point of rounding off your call of duty in the ministry of health, what would you want to be remembered for?

We all will be in the month of May exiting and I am very satisfied about what we have been able to do. Perfection is a destination that is unattainable perhaps only by the divine so what we do and what we have done we are proud of so far is that we have taken several miles on the journey towards the vision of perfection in the health sector so we are very happy that we have seen to the signing of the state health reform law which is a big achievement. Even before the law was signed, we did all that we could to see to the development of the primary healthcare development agencies structurally, staff-wise, training-wise, we are also very happy that in our time we were able to see to the development of the universal healthcare coverage temporary office setup, secondment of staff and commencement of training. We are very happy that we were able to see to the accreditation of all the schools in the state. This government met a lot of schools lacking accreditation, top on the list was the basic school of midwifery Awgwu that was shut down for lack of accreditation for 12 years. We are proud it is back online and as we speak, 70 students have been admitted back into that school and training is ongoing right now.

Hopefully before we hand over in May, the last and only school which is the school of Nursing, ESUTH Teaching Hospital, Park lane which has not been accredited will been accredited and with that we will have a full package of accreditation successes in the ministry of health. Furthermore we have effectively rebranded the ministry of health, we have a website, signage, new stationery and we have asphalted the premises, repainted everywhere and we have public healthcare operation center also at the ministry headquarters in collaboration with the NCDC, so if you come to the ministry of health we are proud of the rebranding we have done within the short period.

Since you are exiting by May and the universal healthcare coverage is starting by second quarter it means it will be operationalise before the end of this tenure?

Yes it will. The second quarter starts April so we will take a shot at getting achievements in that area but remember government is a continuum, whatever achievement or strides we achieve, we hope government will continue to build on that.

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

38

T H U R S DAY Ëž JANUARY 31, 2019

BUSINESS/MONEYGUIDE

CAC: Passage of CAM Bill Will Boost Ease of Business James Emejo Ă“Ă˜ ĂŒĂ&#x;ÔË The acting Registrar-General, Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC), Azuka Azinge, yesterday commended the National Assembly on the passage of the Companies and Allied Matters Bill by a concurrence.

She said the move represented, “One of the biggest piece of legislative review in the history of the National Assembly.�

According to her, the legislation will ensure the ease of starting and growing businesses in the country, facilitate appropriate regulation for MSMEs; enhance transparency and shareholder engagement as well as align regulatory framework with international best practice for competitiveness.

In a statement by CAC’s spokesman, Godfrey Ike, Azinge

said the bill would further make Nigeria an investment destination of choice within the context of a global economy.

The legislation, among other things, seeks to repeal the extant statute (the Companies and Allied Matters Act, Cap C20, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria 2004) and enact another statute in its place.

The registrar-general further pointed out that since the extant statute was enacted almost 30 years ago, it had not witnessed any significant review.

She described it as testimonial of a partnership that worked, alluding to the collaborative efforts between the commission, government and private sector stakeholders.

The acting CAC boss, however, expressed optimism that the bill will soon receive the assent of

President Muhammadu Buhari The bill which originated from the CAC was passed by the Senate in May 15, 2018 and subsequently passed by the House of Representatives after third reading on January 22, 2019.

Azinge, commended the support of the Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council (PEBEC) through its secretariat, the Enabling Business Environment Secretariat (EBES); the National Assembly Business Environment Roundtable (NASSBER); the technical advisory committee of the Senate; the Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment; the Federal Ministry of Justice (FMJ); the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Nigerian Bar Association through its Section on Business Law (SBL-NBA) among others.

Zenith Bank Eyes More Retail Lending Zenith Bank Plc is increasing its focus on consumer lending as lower oil prices weigh on the economy, hurting its business customers.

The Lagos-based bank is expecting to expand retail loans as a percentage of total credit to about four per cent this year from less than one per cent in 2018, its Chief Executive Officer, Peter Amangbo said in interview with Bloomberg at the bank’s headquarters. It will achieve this by making a bigger push into personal loans, car financing and mortgages, he said. “There is a lot we’re doing on revenue,� Amangbo said. “We expect our retail franchise to grow. Our electronic business, our digital banking is growing.�

Zenith is making the shift as a 30 per cent drop in oil prices since October hinders the nation’s main export and foreign-currency earner, damping demand for

funding.

Nigerian banks are increasingly tapping into digital technology to reach the 50 million unbanked people in a nation of 200 million, while protecting their turf from mobile-phone companies -which have three times as many customers and are bidding to offer money transfers.

The company will probably achieve loan growth of two per cent to five per cent in 2019 after missing its target last year, Amangbo said.

Customer loans declined by eight per cent in the nine months through September to N2 trillion. “We don’t see a very strong growth in the loan book in 2019,� he said. “Demand is still very weak.�

The lender plans to pay off a $500 million Eurobond maturing in April and won’t issue a new one due to the limited scope for dollar lending, Amangbo said.

“If the opportunity comes, we will go to the market, but now we will pay off that.�

Zenith Bank is still trying recover past loans to the oil and gas sector, the CEO said.

The industry accounted for 46 percent of non-performing loans in the third quarter of last year, and nearly a third of its total loan book. “I don’t think there is so much appetite to lend to the oil and gas space,� he said.

Concerns over a devaluation of the naira are also weighing on lenders’ desire to finance the industry, whose survival is tied to the availability of foreign exchange for raw material imports.

Deposits are also not increasing, making funding for lenders expensive in the face of cash reserve ratios of 22.5 percent. “It takes some time for the economy to reset,� he said. “As a bank, you’ll want to be cautious.�

Nosak Group Seeks End to Smuggling The Chairman of the Nosak Group, Dr. Toni Ogunbor, has called on the federal government to checkmate the increase in smuggling activities in the country.

The menace, according to him has continued to result to huge loss of revenue for the government and lack of accountability in the Customs thereby serving as damage to the economy.

He said this during an annual retreat for senior management of the Nosak Group, an indigenous Nigerian industrial conglomerate in Lagos recently. The event was to review 2018 and to chart objectives for 2019 leveraging on the Group’s comparative advantage.

The theme of the retreat, according to a statement, was: “Strengthen the chain through

the customer.�

Ogunbor explained: “Government should put in competent hands who will ensure the right things are done to oversee the border. A secured border will help to put an end to or ameliorate the current unholy price war experienced by local manufacturers.�

Nosak Group operates companies in key economic sectors of Nigeria cutting across agribusiness, financial service, manufacturing, real estate, and retail business with a unifying mission to foster an environment of success that supports each subsidiary in becoming the dominant player in the sector of operation. Ogunbor commended the management team for surmounting the challenging

business environment to achieve results contributing to the growth of the Nigeria economy. “2018 was a more challenging year compared to 2017 but we are happy that the challenges didn’t overwhelm us. This is the result of hard work and dedication,� he said.

In his presentation on the topic, “Executing your next growth agenda – what ERGP has for you,� Senior Special Assistant to the President on ERGP Implementation (Agriculture and Transportation), Dr. Effiong Essien said: “In the execution of your growth agenda, the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP) recommends driving innovations to boost the economy of Nigeria as a collective responsibility of the private sector operators, govern-

AITEO Founder Wins Award The founder of the Aiteo Group, Benedict Peters has been awarded the ‘African Icon of the Year’ at the Foreign Investment Network (FIN) and Federal Ministry of Petroleum Resources Honorary Patrons Dinner and Awards Night held in Abuja recently.

The award was an acknowledgement of Peters’ significant contribution to oil and gas development in Africa, his visionary leadership, distinguished

service and transformational disruption of a sector dominated by international oil companies.

A statement explained that the Aiteo Group’s 20-year evolution through Africa’s oil and gas sector has been exemplary as well as revolutionary – going from a downstream start-up to becoming a leading integrated energy conglomerate with strategic investments in hydrocarbon (or commodities) exploration and production. Speaking at

the award ceremony, the Chief Executive Officer of Foreign Investment Network, Michael Dragoyevich said: “Mr Peters has earned a unique honour to stand out among his peers as winner of the coveted FIN African Icon of the Year Award.�

Dedicating the award to all Aiteo employees worldwide, Peters said “The award by FIN as its African Icon of the Year is awe-inspiring. It’s an honour to receive this type of recognition.

MARKET INDICATORS MONEY AND CREDIT STATISTICS

(MILLION NAIRA)

MARCH 2018 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 TUESDAY, 29 JANUARY 2019

The price of OPEC basket of fourteen crudes stood at $59.71 a barrel on Tuesday, compared with $59.57 the previous day, according to OPEC Secretariat calculations..

The OPEC Reference Basket of Crudes (ORB) is made up of the following: Saharan Blend (Algeria), Girassol (Angola), Djeno (Congo), Oriente (Ecuador), 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), Arab Light (Saudi Arabia), Murban (UAE) and Merey (Venezuela).

SOURCE: OPEC headquarters, Vienna

39

T H U R S DAY ˾ JANUARY 31, 2019

MARKET NEWS

Notore Records N2.9 Billion Operating Profit in First Quarter Goddy Egene Notore Chemical Industries Plc yesterday announced its unaudited results for the first quarter(Q1) ended December 31, 2018, showing resilience and improved performance.

Although revenue fell largely due to plant downtime caused by maintenance programme, operating profit increased significantly.

Specifically, Notore posted a revenue of N4.32 billion Q1

ended December 2018, which is for 2019 financial year, compared with N5.99 billion recorded in the corresponding period of 2018 financial year. Notore recorded an operating profit of N2.99 billion in Q1 2019, showing a jump of 412 per cent over its Q1 2018 operating profit of N0.58 billion.

However, the net finance cost of N3.09 billion in Q1 of 2019, made Notore to end the period with a loss of N93 million, which market operators said is a significant

P R I C E S MAIN BOARD

F O R DEALS

improvement compared to the loss of N1.958 billion recorded in the corresponding period of the previous year. According to the company, the fertilizer market in Nigeria during the period under review was robust as it sold all the urea that it produced during the period into the domestic fertilizer market.

“Notore believes that the domestic fertilizer market is yet to reach its full potential. Furthermore, the demand for urea and compound

S E C U R I T I E S

MARKET PRICE

QUANTITY TRADED

VALUE TRADED ( N )

fertilizers, such as NPK, from the West African markets and neighbouring countries bordering the northern part of the country is also quite significant,” it said.

Notore explained that the maintenance programme built in some reliability into the plant and it expects to enhance its plant reliability further when it carries out its turn-around maintenance (TAM) programme later in the year.

The company has already secured the TAM fund which should be

T R A D E D MAIN BOARD

A S

disbursed this quarter and it has commenced the ordering of critical components of the items under the TAM scope in order to keep with the TAM schedule. The company added that its working capital has improved significantly as a result of the refinanced short term facilities of N49.5billion to long term seven year facilities last financial year.

Looking ahead, Notore said it expects to exceed its 2018 full urea production figures and also work on financial initiatives to

O F

reduce its finance cost.

“The projected cost savings from Notore’s leverage is expected to boost its profitability. Furthermore, Notore believes that the current federal government policies in the fertilizer space and demand for NPK and NPK specialty blends are quite favourable for its business, consequently, Notore will be producing a significant quantity of NPK and NPK specialty blends this full year to boost its revenues,” the firm said.

2 9 / 0 1 / 2 0 1 9 DEALS

MARKET PRICE

QUANTITY TRADED

VALUE TRADED ( N)

˾ THURSDAY, JANUARY 31, 2019

40

Thursday, January 31 2019

THISDAY AFRINVEST 40 INDEX

Thisday Afrinvest 40 Index Shed 11bps Yesterday, the Thisday Afrinvest 40 Index shed 11bps to

Fundamental Performance Metrics for THISDAY AFRINVEST 40 Index

close at 1,513.71 weighed by losses in NESTLE (-0.7%), Ticker

FBNH (-2.0%) and UBA (-Ϭ͘ϳйͿ͘ dŚĞƐĞ ƐƚŽĐŬƐ ĐƵŵƵůĂƟǀĞůLJ account for 16.3% of the index.

Current Price

Price Price Previous Current Change Change Price Weighting YTD Index to Change Date

THISDAY AFRINVEST 40 1,513.71

-1.9%

51.4%

20.7%

7.6%

5.9x

0.8x

5.1%

13.5%

18.3%

-1.3%

-1.4%

34.1%

5.6%

5.1x

1.9x

7.9%

19.7%

23.00

0.2%

11.9%

-0.2%

-0.2%

23.7%

3.4%

3.9x

0.9x

12.0%

25.3%

194.00

0.0%

8.9%

2.3%

4.3%

20.1%

9.8%

20.2x

4.3x

5.4%

4.9%

1,440.00

-0.7%

7.6%

-3.0%

-2.4%

85.8%

26.3%

26.0x

20.3x

3.3%

3.8%

Dangote Cement PLC

Session͙ASI Down 11bps

4

Nestle Nigeria PLC

ĚƌĂŐŐĞĚ ƚŚĞ ůů ^ŚĂƌĞ /ŶĚĞdž ; ^/Ϳ ĚŽǁŶ ϭϭďƉƐ ƚŽ ƐĞƩůĞ Ăƚ ϯϭ͕ϭϰϱ͘ϯϰ ƉŽŝŶƚƐ͘ ,ĞŶĐĞ͕ ŵĂƌŬĞƚ ĐĂƉŝƚĂůŝnjĂƟŽŶ ƐŚĞĚ

Divinden Earnings d Yield Yield

0.6%

2

GUINNESS (-8.5%), NESTLE (-0.7%) and FBNH (-2.0%)

P/BV

34.00

3

ĐŽŶƐĞĐƵƟǀĞ ƚƌĂĚŝŶŐ ƐĞƐƐŝŽŶ ĂƐ ƉƌŝĐĞ ĚĞƉƌĞĐŝĂƟŽŶ ŝŶ

P/E

Guaranty Trust Bank PLC

Market Losses Extend ƚŽ dŚŝƌĚ ŽŶƐĞĐƵƟǀĞ dƌĂĚŝŶŐ

Today, sell-ŽīƐ ŽŶ ƚŚĞ ůŽĐĂů ďŽƵƌƐĞ ĞdžƚĞŶĚĞĚ ŝŶƚŽ ƚŚĞ ƚŚŝƌĚ

ROA

1

Zenith Bank PLC

5

Nigerian Brew eries PLC

6

FBN Holdings Plc

-0.11%

ROE

78.00

0.0%

5.3%

-8.8%

-0.4%

13.8%

6.4%

26.1x

3.7x

4.8%

3.8%

7.40

-2.0%

4.7%

-6.9%

-7.5%

6.6%

0.8%

5.3x

0.4x

3.4%

18.9%

7

Cement Co Northern Nigeria PLC

24.00

0.0%

5.4%

23.7%

23.7%

34.2%

19.6%

5.8x

1.8x

5.3%

17.2%

8

United Bank for Africa PLC

7.25

-0.7%

4.0%

-5.8%

-7.1%

15.4%

1.8%

3.3x

0.5x

11.7%

30.4%

9

International Brew eries PLC

30.25

0.0%

3.4%

-0.8%

-4.0%

-23.8%

-3.2%

10

SEPLAT Petroleum Development C

535.00

2.9%

2.9%

-16.4%

-16.4%

25.9%

15.3%

2.3x

0.6x

3.4%

42.7%

11

Access Bank PLC

6.00

-0.8%

2.9%

-11.8%

-7.7%

14.1%

1.7%

2.5x

0.4x

10.7%

40.1%

2.1%

14.4%

7.4x

-1.2%

12

Ecobank Transnational Inc

15.00

0.0%

3.0%

7.1%

4.9%

12.1%

1.0%

4.7x

0.6x

13

Stanbic IBTC Holdings PLC

47.00

0.0%

2.5%

-2.0%

-2.0%

35.7%

4.6%

7.0x

2.2x

14

Unilever Nigeria PLC

36.55

0.0%

2.3%

-1.2%

-1.2%

24.7%

11.5%

17.0x

15

Lafarge Africa PLC

12.50

0.0%

1.6%

0.4%

4.2%

-53.7%

-7.9%

declined 30.2% to 247.6m units while value traded

16

Guinness Nigeria PLC

65.00

-8.5%

1.2%

-9.7%

-9.7%

8.8%

5.0%

18.2x

1.6x

2.8%

5.5%

advanced by 63.4% to N3.1bn. ZENITH (56.4m units),

17

Okomu Oil Palm PLC

82.00

0.0%

1.4%

7.6%

7.6%

39.3%

29.7%

7.8x

2.7x

3.7%

12.8%

EϭϮ͘ϰďŶ ƚŽ ƐĞƩůĞ Ăƚ Eϭϭ͘ϲƚŶ ǁŚŝůĞ zd ůŽƐƐ ǁŽƌƐĞŶĞĚ ƚŽ Ϭ͘ϵй͘ ĐƟǀŝƚLJ ůĞǀĞů ǁĂƐ ŚŽǁĞǀĞƌ ŵŝdžĞĚ ĂƐ ǀŽůƵŵĞ ƚƌĂĚĞĚ

21.2%

2.5x

1.4%

5.9%

0.8x

11.7%

-50.4%

18

Total Nigeria PLC

223.30

0.0%

1.4%

10.0%

10.0%

34.6%

7.5%

7.8x

2.5x

7.7%

12.8%

ACCESS (36.2m units) and STERLING (32.3m units) led the

19

11 PLC

180.00

0.0%

1.2%

-3.0%

-3.0%

38.0%

16.8%

6.0x

2.0x

4.4%

16.6%

top trades by volume while ZENITH (N1.3bn), NIGERIAN

20

Flour Mills of Nigeria PLC

19.00

-2.1%

0.9%

-17.7%

-14.4%

7.6%

2.3%

8.8x

0.5x

5.3%

5.10

1.0%

BREWERIES (N844.0m) and ACCESS (N218.1m) were the top

21

Oando PLC

1.1%

2.0%

6.3%

10.9%

1.7%

4.2x

0.3x

22

Fidelity Bank PLC

2.25

0.0%

1.2%

10.8%

10.8%

11.3%

1.5%

2.9x

0.3x

4.8%

34.1%

traded stocks by value.

23

Transnational Corp of Nigeria

1.27

0.0%

0.9%

-3.8%

-1.6%

13.6%

3.0%

6.0x

0.8x

1.6%

16.5%

24

Dangote Sugar Refinery PLC

14.10

0.0%

0.8%

-7.5%

-4.7%

32.6%

16.4%

5.6x

1.6x

8.9%

25

Diamond Bank PLC

2.30

0.4%

0.8%

7.0%

-5.8%

-0.7%

11.4% 23.5%

0.2x

17.8% -30.5%

26

FCMB Group Plc

1.94

-3.0%

0.6%

2.6%

7.8%

8.4%

1.2%

2.5x

0.2x

5.2%

27

UAC of Nigeria PLC

8.60

1.2%

0.4%

-11.8%

-9.9%

0.4%

0.2%

67.6x

0.4x

7.6%

1.5%

Performance across sectors was bullish as 4 of 5 indices

28

Sterling Bank PLC

2.35

2.2%

0.6%

23.7%

23.7%

10.6%

1.1%

6.2x

0.6x

0.9%

16.2%

under our coverage closed in the green. The Banking index

29

Presco PLC

60.00

0.0%

0.3%

-6.3%

-6.3%

37.0%

24.8%

2.4x

0.8x

3.3%

42.2%

30

NASCON Allied Industries PLC

17.90

0.0%

0.3%

-0.6%

-0.6%

47.0%

17.5%

9.3x

4.2x

8.4%

10.7%

84.6%

8.3%

12.1x

2.2x

11.2x

0.6x

Bullish Sector Performance

ĂƉƉƌĞĐŝĂƚĞĚ ƚŚĞ ŵŽƐƚ ŐĂŝŶŝŶŐ Ϯ͘ϰй ĚƵĞ ƚŽ ďĂƌŐĂŝŶ ŚƵŶƟŶŐ

31

Forte Oil PLC

29.50

0.0%

0.3%

2.8%

5.4%

in GUARANTY (+0.6%) and ZENITH (+0.2%), trailed by the

32

Union Bank of Nigeria PLC

6.20

0.0%

0.3%

10.7%

10.7%

33

Julius Berger Nigeria PLC

28.00

0.0%

0.3%

39.3%

26.7%

Oil & Gas index, up 1.4% on account of buy interests in SEPLAT

(+2.9%)

and

OANDO

;нϭ͘ϬйͿ͘ ĚĚŝƟŽŶĂůůLJ͕

Insurance and Industrial Goods indices inched higher, up Ϭ͘ϵй ĂŶĚ Ϭ͘Ϯй ƌĞƐƉĞĐƟǀĞůLJ ĨŽůůŽǁŝŶŐ ŐĂŝŶƐ ŝŶ CUSTODIA (+1.5%), LINKASSURE (+8.9%) and BETAGLASS (+7.8%). On

17.3%

1.8%

7.8x

1.2x

39.4%

8.3% 8.9% 3.6%

12.9%

34

PZ Cussons Nigeria PLC

12.15

0.0%

0.2%

0.4%

-1.2%

1.1x

1.2%

35

Chemical and Allied Products P

31.50

0.0%

0.2%

-9.6%

-9.6%

66.2%

30.2%

14.7x

9.8x

6.5%

36

Wema Bank PLC

0.62

-8.8%

0.2%

-1.6%

-1.6%

6.6%

0.8%

7.1x

0.5x

37

Beta Glass PLC

60.00

7.8%

0.1%

-12.2%

-12.2%

17.7%

11.5%

7.3x

1.2x

1.8%

13.7%

38

Dangote Flour Mills Plc

6.00

0.0%

0.1%

-12.4%

-9.1%

13.4%

3.8%

5.9x

0.8x

3.3%

16.9%

6.8% 14.1%

39

Transcorp Hotels Plc

6.10

0.0%

0.1%

0.0%

0.0%

6.9%

3.8%

11.9x

0.8x

2.0%

8.4%

40

AXA Mansard Insurance PLC

1.95

0.0%

0.1%

6.6%

6.6%

10.5%

3.3%

10.2x

1.0x

3.1%

9.8%

ƚŚĞ ŶĞŐĂƟǀĞ ƐŝĚĞ͕ ƚŚĞ ŽŶƐƵŵĞƌ 'ŽŽĚƐ ŝŶĚĞdž ƐŚĞĚ Ϭ͘ϴй ŽŶ T o p 10 T r a d e s b y V o l u m e

T o p 10 G a i n e r s

ƚŚĞ ďĂĐŬ ŽĨ ƐĞůůŽīƐ ŝŶ GUINNESS (-8.5%) and FLOURMILL (T ic k er

2.1%).

/ŶǀĞƐƚŽƌ ^ĞŶƟŵĞŶƚ ^ƚƌĞŶŐƚŚĞŶƐ

P ric e

P ric e C hg %

C OR N ER ST

0.22

10.0%

Z EN IT H B A N K

56.4

0.2%

M B EN EF IT

0.22

10.0%

A C C ESS

36.2

-0.8%

A B CTRA NS

0.34

9.7%

ST ER LN B A N K

32.3

2.2%

LIN KA SSUR E

0.61

8.9%

D IA M ON D B N K

20.2

0.4%

60.00

7.8%

UB A

16.0

-0.7%

R OYA LEX

0.29

7.4%

F ID ELIT YB K

10.8

0.0%

UN ION D A C

0.30

7.1%

NB

10.8

0.0%

C H A M P ION

1.80

5.9%

T R A N SC OR P

7.2

0.0%

6.6

-3.0%

5.7

0.0%

B ET A GLA S

/ŶǀĞƐƚŽƌ ƐĞŶƟŵĞŶƚ ĂƐ ŵĞĂƐƵƌĞĚ ďLJ ŵĂƌŬĞƚ ďƌĞĂĚƚŚ ;ĂĚǀĂŶĐĞͬĚĞĐůŝŶĞ ƌĂƟŽͿ ƐƚƌĞŶŐƚŚĞŶĞĚ ƚŽ ϭ͘Ϯdž ĨƌŽŵ Ϭ͘ϱdž recorded yesterday as 23 stocks advanced against 19 that declined. CORNERSTONE (+10.0%), MBENEFIT (+10.0%) and

H ON YF LOUR

1.30

5.7%

UP L

2.08

3.5%

VER IT A SKA P

T o p 10 L o s e r s T ic k er

9.1%) led laggards. We maintain a bearish outlook on the ŵĂƌŬĞƚ ŝŶ ƚŚĞ ŶĞĂƌ ƚĞƌŵ ĂƐ ŝŶǀĞƐƚŽƌƐ Ŭ ƉƌŽĮƚƐ ĨŽůůŽǁŝŶŐ ƚŚĞ ƉƌŝŽƌ ǁĞĞŬƐ ƌĂůůLJ ŝŶ ƚŚĞ ĞƋƵŝƟĞƐ ŵĂƌŬĞƚ͘

(A Dealing Member of the Nigerian Stock Exchange)

P ric e C hg %

T o p 10 T r a d e s b y V a l u e

P ric e

P ric e C hg %

T ic k er

Value

P ric e C hg %

A IR SER VIC E

6.45

-9.8%

Z EN IT H B A N K

1296.3

0.2%

LA SA C O

0.29

-9.4%

NB

M C N IC H OLS

0.30

-9.1%

A C C ESS

844.0

0.0%

218.1

-0.8%

WEM A B A N K

0.62

-8.8%

UB A

116.0

-0.7%

M EYER

0.54

-8.5%

N EST LE

96.4

-0.7%

GUIN N ESS

Afrinvest Securities Limited (RC 603 315)

Vo lum e

FCM B

ABCTRANS (+9.7%) were the top performing stocks while AIRSERVICE (-9.8%), LASACO (-9.4%) and MCNICHOLS (-

T ic k er

65.00

-8.5%

GUA R A N T Y

93.7

0.6%

N IGER IN S

0.24

-7.7%

ST ER LN B A N K

75.5

2.2%

NP FM CRFB K

1.50

-6.2%

SEP LA T

65.3

2.9%

LEA R N A F R C A

1.26

-5.3%

D IA M ON D B N K

46.5

0.4%

J A IZ B A N K

0.50

-3.8%

D A N GC EM

40.8

0.0%

Investment Research

Brokerage Ayodeji Ebo | aebo@afrinvest.com

Robert Omotunde |

Bolaji Fajenyo | bfajenyo@afrinvest.com

Jolomi Odonghanro | jodonghanro@afrinvest.com

romotunde@afrinvest.com

T H I S D AY Ëž Ëœ ÍťÍšËœ ͺ͸͚͡

41

MARKET NEWS

NSE, SEC Support Emerging Africa Capital to Deepen Capital Goddy Egene In pursuit of its leadership role and its mission to catalyse the emergence of Nigeria and other African markets as leading investment destinations, the Emerging Africa Capital (EAC) Group has enlisted the support of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) to host the launch of an authoritative work on investing in Nigeria written its group chief executive officer(GCEO), Mrs. Toyin Sanni.

The book titled: ‘Riding the Eagle – A Guide To Investing In Nigeria,’ the book would be unveiled on Monday at the NSE in Lagos.

Riding the Eagle aims to provide an insider perspective on the opportunities and risks of investing in Nigeria. The book is a guide for both local and international investors seeking to exploit the unique opportunities in the Nigerian economy, learn from the success stories of leading investors in Nigeria, as well as

A Mutual fund (Unit Trust) is an investment vehicle managed by a SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission) registered Fund Manager.

Investors with similar objectives buy units of the Fund so that the Fund Manager can buy securities that willl generate their desired return.

An ETF (Exchange Traded Fund) is a type of fund which owns the assets (shares of stock, bonds, oil futures, gold bars, foreign currency, etc.) and divides ownership of those assets into shares. Investors can buy these ‘shares’ on the

how to navigate the potential pitfalls and risks.

Commenting, Sanni said:“We are delighted at the support we have received from the SEC and the NSE on this project, demonstrating the commitment of these two institutions to the imperative of providing objective information, incisive analysis and clear guidelines to domestic and international investors interested in the Nigerian market.�

According to her, the book launch will host several

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 28Jan-2019, unless otherwise stated.

distinguished speakers, including the CEO, NSE, Mr. Oscar Onyema, the Director General, SEC, Ms. Mary Uduk; Special Adviser to the President on Economic Matters, Dr. Adeyemi Dipeolu and the Group Chairman, Emerging Africa Capital, Chief Mrs. Onikepo Akande. “Emerging Africa will also present its Economic Report at the event. The Report provides a review of 2018 and outlook for 2019. It x-rays the Nigerian

Investment environment and sheds light on expectations for critical sectors of the economy, with particular emphasis on the renewable energy sector as an area of special focus,� she added.

EAC Group is an African financial services group fully licensed by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), as issuing house/underwriters and trustees.

The EAC Group comprises of Emerging Africa Capital Limited and its subsidiaries –

EAC Advisory Limited, which provides integrated financial solutions covering Advisory and Capital Raising, and EAC Trustees Limited which provides trusts and private wealth management solutions. “We are a provider of financial services aimed to facilitate financing and investment processes for African corporations and individuals and for investors interested in Africa’s attractive investment opportunities,� the firm said in a statement.

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 158.33 158.53 0.03% Afrinvest Plutus Fund 100.00 100.00 11.00% Nigeria International Debt Fund 277.57 277.87 1.65% 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 0.85 0.86 0.83% ACAP Income Funds 0.62 0.62 11.13% AIICO CAPITAL LTD ammf@aiicocapital.com Web: www.aiicocapital.com, Tel: +234-1-2792974 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn AIICO Money Market Fund 100.00 100.00 13.15% AIICO Balanced Fund 2.24 2.26 0.63% 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 16.50 17.00 -0.55% ARM Discovery Fund 356.27 367.01 -0.10% ARM Ethical Fund 28.60 29.46 1.26% ARM Money Market Fund 1.00 1.00 13.10% 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 101.41 102.12 0.22% AXA Mansard Money Market Fund 1.00 1.00 13.31% CHAPELHILL DENHAM MANAGEMENT LTD investmentmanagement@chapelhilldenham.com Web: www.chapelhilldenham.com, Tel: +234 461 0691 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Chapelhill Denham Money Market Fund 100.00 100.00 13.98% Paramount Equity Fund 11.52 11.82 -1.60% Women's Investment Fund 100.96 103.55 -1.56% 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 13.15% Cordros Milestone Fund 2023 96.70 96.99 Cordros Milestone Fund 2028 99.27 99.73 CORONATION ASSEST MANAGEMENT investment@coronationam.com Web:www.coronationam.com , Tel: 012366215 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Coronation Money Market Fund N/A N/A N/A Coronation Balanced Fund N/A N/A N/A Coronation Fixed Income Fund N/A N/A N/A EDC FUNDS MANAGEMENT LIMITED mutualfundng@ecobank.com Web: www.ecobank.com Tel: 012265281 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn EDC Nigeria Money Market Fund Class A N/A N/A N/A EDC Nigeria Money Market Fund Class B N/A N/A N/A 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 NA NA N/A FBN Heritage Fund 143.31 144.53 -0.07% FBN Money Market Fund 100.00 100.00 13.77% FBN Nigeria Eurobond (USD) Fund - Institutional NA NA N/A FBN Nigeria Eurobond (USD) Fund - Retail NA NA N/A FBN Nigeria Smart Beta Equity Fund NA NA N/A 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 1.20 1.22 -1.97% Legacy Debt Fund 3.27 3.27 0.93% Legacy USD Bond Fund 1.03 1.03 0.38% FSDH ASSET MANAGEMENT LTD coralfunds@fsdhgroup.com Web: www.fsdhaml.com; Tel: 01-270 4884-5; 01-280 9740-1 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Coral Growth Fund N/A N/A N/A Coral Income Fund N/A N/A N/A GREENWICH ASSET MANAGEMENT LIMITED assetmanagement@gtlgroup.com Web: www.gtlgroup.com ; Tel: +234 1 4619261-2 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Greenwich Plus Money Market Fund N/A N/A N/A Nigeria Entertainment Fund N/A N/A N/A 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 12.95%

Vantage Balanced Fund 2.15 2.17 -0.10% Vantage Guaranteed Income Fund 1.00 1.00 15.91% Kedari Investment Fund (KIF) 120.65 120.83 -3.43% 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 1.22 1.25 0.95% Lotus Halal Fixed Income Fund 1,080.88 1,080.88 1.08% 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 N/A N/A N/A PACAM Fixed Income Fund N/A N/A N/A PACAM Money Market Fund N/A N/A N/A 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 120.35 120.97 -0.29% 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 1.01 1.01 0.98% 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 2,316.88 2,330.94 2.29% Stanbic IBTC Bond Fund 192.72 192.72 2.67% Stanbic IBTC Ethical Fund 0.94 0.95 -0.53% Stanbic IBTC Guaranteed Investment Fund 249.33 249.38 2.90% Stanbic IBTC Iman Fund 162.05 163.81 -0.68% Stanbic IBTC Money Market Fund 100.00 100.00 12.80% Stanbic IBTC Nigerian Equity Fund 8,341.38 8,442.20 0.02% Stanbic IBTC Dollar Fund (USD) 1.11 1.11 3.20% 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 1.20 1.20 -0.46% United Capital Bond Fund 1.61 1.61 0.87% United Capital Equity Fund 0.69 0.70 -3.62% United Capital Money Market Fund 1.00 1.00 14.32% United Capital Eurobond Fund 107.79 107.79 0.49% United Capital Wealth for Women Fund 1.09 1.09 -0.46% 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 11.09 11.24 5.03% Zenith Ethical Fund 12.34 12.46 2.90% Zenith Income Fund 20.80 20.80 8.05% Zenith Money Market Fund 1.00 1.00 11.59%

REITS NAV Per Share

Yield / T-Rtn

5.95 118.12 51.84

-39.35% 0.06% 0.05%

Bid Price

Offer Price

Yield / T-Rtn

10.55 113.12 87.53

10.65 115.56 89.16

-0.03% -3.55% -1.28%

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

EXCHANGE TRADED FUNDS Fund Name Lotus Halal Equity Exchange Traded Fund SIAML Pension ETF 40 Stanbic IBTC ETF 30 Fund

VETIVA FUND MANAGERS LTD Web: www.vetiva.com; Tel: +234 1 453 0697 Fund Name Vetiva Banking Exchange Traded Fund Vetiva Consumer Goods Exchange Traded Fund Vetiva GrifďŹ n 30 Exchange Traded Fund Vetiva Industrial Goods Exchange Traded Fund Vetiva S&P Nigeria Sovereign Bond Exchange Traded Fund

funds@vetiva.com Bid Price

Offer Price

Yield / T-Rtn

3.97 7.12 14.50 13.09 145.82

4.01 7.20 14.60 13.29 147.82

-0.81% -6.57% -3.02% 5.87% 1.58%

NAV Per Share

Yield / T-Rtn

107.13

17.03%

INFRASTRUCTURE FUND Fund Name Chapel Hill Denham Nigeria Infrastructure Debt Fund

The value of investments and the income from them may fall as well as rise. Past performance is a guide and not an indication of future returns. Fund prices published in this edition are also available on each fund manager’s website and FMAN’s website at www.fman.com.ng. Fund prices are supplied by the operator of the relevant fund and are published for information purposes only.

42

5 ) * 4 % ": t THURSDAY, JANUARY 31, 2019

5 ) * 4 % ": t THURSDAY, JANUARY 31, 2019

43

44

5 ) * 4 % ": t THURSDAY, JANUARY 31, 2019

5 ) * 4 % ": t THURSDAY, JANUARY 31, 2019

45

46

5 ) * 4 % ": t THURSDAY, JANUARY 31, 2019

5 ) * 4 % ": t THURSDAY, JANUARY 31, 2019

47

48

THURSDAY JANUARY 31, 2019 ˾ T H I S D AY

INTERNATIONAL

Death Toll Hits 43 after Migrant Boats Sink off Djibouti The death toll from the sinking of two migrant boats off the coast of Djibouti has risen to 43, the UN migration agency said on Wednesday, with scores still

feared missing.

Two vessels carrying migrants departed from Godaria on the Horn of Africa nation’s northeast coast on

Europe Stands against May’s Bid to Rewrite Brexit European leaders moved on Wednesday to head off British Prime Minister Theresa May’s bid to rewrite the Brexit divorce deal, warning they will not budge.

Having thrown out the exit deal May negotiated with the EU, divided British lawmakers voted Tuesday to send her back to get an Irish border “backstop” clause removed.

May seized on this as a chance to prevent Britain crashing out of the European Union on March 29 without an agreement on the terms of the split, vowing to return to Brussels to demand changes to the text.

But even she admits she faces a formidable challenge convincing Brussels to reopen an accord that took 18 excruciating months to conclude, and European leaders are so far united in dismissing any such manoeuvre.

“It’s an extraordinary situation when a prime minister and a government negotiate a deal and then goes back and during the ratification process

votes against their own deal,” Irish foreign minister Simon Coveney told RTE radio.

“That’s like saying in a negotiation, ‘Well either you give me what I want or I’m jumping out of the window’.”

In Brussels, ahead of a keenly anticipated speech by EU Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker, frustrated officials including Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier insisted the remaining 27 EU members were united.

A spokesman for EU Council President Donald Tusk swiftly insisted the Brexit deal was “not open for renegotiation”.

Echoing earlier warnings from French President Emmanuel Macron and Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz, German leader Angela Merkel’s spokesman said reopening the deal was “not on the agenda”.

And Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar insisted “renegotiation is not on the table.”

The “backstop” written into the negotiated deal is seen by EU leaders as an insurance policy against disrupting the Irish peace process.

Tuesday morning, but sank in heavy seas 30 minutes into the journey, according to the International Organisation for Migration.

The IOM’s chief of mission in Djibouti Lalini Veerassamy told AFP the death toll had

hit 31 on Wednesday.

“This tragic event demonstrates the risks that vulnerable migrants face as they innocently search for better lives,” she said in a statement issued by IOM. Sixteen people were

recovered alive following the sinking, with one survivor telling Djiboutian authorities there were 130 people on his boat.

The number of passengers on the second vessel remains unclear, as do the nationalities

of those onboard.

Located across the Bab elMandeb strait from Yemen and next to volatile Somalia and Ethiopia, Djibouti has in recent years become a transit point for migrants heading to find work on the Arabian Peninsula.

Top EU Court Upholds Regulations on Flavoured Tobacco An EU regulation that phases out the sale of flavoured “roll your own’’ tobacco is valid, the Top EU Court said on Wednesday.

The decision concerns a German firm, Planta Tabak, th6at filed a lawsuit protesting a 2014 EU prohibition on the sale of certain flavoured tobacco products.

The ban was justified on the grounds that the flavour masks the tobacco taste and encourages consumption, thereby posing a health threat.

The EU gave member states two years to implement the rule, and it took effect in Germany in 2016.

But it also granted extra time to

South Africa Probes Minister,Two Others over Pension Fund Scam The South Africa government said on Wednesday it was investigating allegations that four government officials had embezzled funds at the state’s pension fund.

The Public Investment Corporation (PIC) said in Johannesburg that it was investigating the deputy minister of finance and chairman of the state-owned PIC, Mondli Gungubele; its acting CEO and two of its board members.

Gungubele said on Wednesday he had done nothing wrong

after a whistleblower made new corruption allegations at the pension fund.

“I am confident I have done nothing wrong,” he said in a statement.

Matshepo More, the acting CEO, could not be reached for comment.

The PIC deputy chairman Xolani Mkhwanazi said, an email by the anonymous whistle blower, did not name the two other non-executive directors implicated in the allegations.

manufacturers of products with a market share greater than 3 per cent until 2020, so they would have time to sell off their stock.

After this rule took effect in Germany in 2016, Planta Tabak sued on the grounds that this phase-out structure was discriminatory.

Berlin’s administrative court

ultimately referred the case to the European Court of Justice (ECJ).

The Luxembourg judges rejected the firm’s claim, arguing that the phase-out period granted to member states to implement the regulation was sufficient for producers.

THURSDAY JANUARY 31, 2019 ˾ T H I S D AY

49

NEWSEXTRA

I’ll Consider Amnesty for Corrupt Persons Willing to Surrender Loot, Says Atiku Hamid Adedeji The presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, last night said he would consider granting

amnesty to corrupt persons willing to surrender their loot.

Atiku said this while appearing with his running mate, Mr. Peter Obi, at a live town hall programme hosted by ace journalist, Kadaria

Afenifere Rejects President’s Second Term Bid Berates Tinubu for backing Awo’s ‘enemy’ Shola Oyeyipo in Abuja The pan-Yoruba socio-cultural group, Afenifere, said yesterday that it has rejected President Muhammadu Buhari/Yemi Osinbajo’s presidential aspiration, and the political activities of the National Leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Senator Bola Tinubu, ahead of the general election.

Reacting to a purported endorsement of President Buhari’s re-election bid in Ibadan, Oyo State, by a group led by Ayo Fasanmi, under the guise of Afenifere, the National Publicity Secretary of Afenifere, Yinka Odumakin, said the highest Yoruba umbrella body is not supporting the APC candidate due to his actions against the late sage, Chief Obafemi Awolowo.

The body also dissociated itself from Tinubu and Osinbajo, stating that “the godfather of this fake group is of course Bola Tinubu, who was made governor

by Afenifere in 1999, when the real man was not known.”

According to Afenifere, “mainstream Yoruba reject Buhari not only for his humiliation of Awolowo, our founding leader by the Gestapo invasion of his home as a military tyrant and the locking up of his successor, Pa Adekunle Ajasin, even when no corruption was brought against him; but also because his rule has been unmitigated disaster for the Yoruba, who have lost precious lives to Fulani herdsmen. This group of people has Buhari as their grand patron and not one of them has been brought to book.

“Life has become unbearable for Yoruba and all Nigerians under Buhari administration, and his second term (God forbid) will be hell on earth for our people. We are committed to the restructuring of Nigeria, and we shall be naming the candidate we believe can give us a working Nigeria under Federalism in a few days.

“Finally, we tell Tinubu’s followers that we don’t deny them the right to support Buhari.

If they call themselves Southwest Miyetti Allah, it worries us not. They should stop the fraudulent claim to Afenifere.”

The group said it was left with no other option than to publicly denounce those it tagged ‘Tinubu Followers’, who while assembling in Ibadan abused the name of Afenifere the way Yahoo boys do on the internet claiming to be what they are not and engaged in fraudulent activities.

Odumakin added, “We, ordinarily, would not respond

to a gathering of historical renegades but for the sake of the unwary, who may have been confused by the nefarious action of these impostors.

“We say without equivocation that minus Senator Ayo Fasanmi who had a past connection with Afenifere till 2003 and Senator Olabiyi Durojaye, who is presently an employee of Buhari, all the others at the summit, including Prof. Yemi Osinbajo who have never been known in Afenifere.

“If these are Afenifere, they would never have gathered for Buhari’s endorsement in any part of Yorubaland on a day the The Nigerian Tribune, the legacy of Awolowo, who is the founder of Afenifere, was being re-launched.

Afenifere added that the disdain of this group for Awo’s legacy is exemplified by the fact that Vice President Osinbajo was in attendance, saying here is a man married to Awo’s granddaughter; but has absented himself from Awo’s remembrance activities for over three decades.

The group said the vice president had never been at any Afenifere’s meeting for once in his life and has busied himself in recent years, tearing Awo’s thoughts into pieces to impress his masters that he is married into Awo family but did believe in his school of thought.

“That a man who calls himself a Pastor would be found among impersonators for cheap political ends confirms the question mark put on his integrity by Al Jazeera Television in a documentary on his perfidious role in Pfizer’s destruction of scores of lives in Kano in an illegal guinea pig operation.

“Osinbajo got a court order to stop the airing of the documentary by AIT in 2015.

We now know that character deficit cannot be fixed by any court declaration; just as the Pastor’s collar cannot make up for character deficit’’, the pan-Yoruba group further stated.

Talking about Tinubu, the spokesman of the group argued that “since Afenifere asked him to bring his certificates to Pa Onasanya’s house in 2000, which he has not done so till date, following the scandals around him, he has worked overtime to ensure that Yorubaland is not settled to get back to authenticating the false claims around every aspect of his life.

“These are the leaders of Buhari’s backers in South-west today who are claiming to be Afenifere, the way their paymaster claimed schools he never attended from primary to university”, Afenifere added.

Ahmed.

He said he would consider drawing a line during which corrupt former public officials would be allowed to return their loot without prosecution.

According to him, after then, strong policies would be put in place to prevent and fight corruption.

Atiku, according to Premium Times, said it would be more prudent to allow looters return their assets to Nigeria tax-free and

invest them in order to boost the country’s economy.

The host, Kadaria Ahmed, suggested that Atiku’s proposal could be morally problematic, especially since he has faced corruption allegations since leaving office as Nigeria’s vice president in 2007.

“If you are to go and be prosecuting these people, you will still be prosecuting them and would not get the money,” he said.

He suggested that a similar scheme under past administration yielded over $4 billion.

“Whether it is moral rectitude that you want to achieve or you want to see a fast development of your country,” Atiku asked rhetorically.

The position was backed by Atiku’s running mate, Obi, who said it is better than to allow looters keep their plunder just by joining another political party.

Obi’s statement appears a jibe

at President Muhammadu Buhari, who has been repeatedly accused of tolerating corruption amongst his political associates while going after opposition members.

Obi said the Buhari administration has fought elusive corrupt people at the detriment of the Nigerian economy, which he said has been haemorrhaging jobs since the government was inaugurated in 2015.

Buhari has denied going after opposition members.

NEW CITY UNDERWAY...

L-R: Founder/Chief Executive Officer, Rendeavour, Mr. Stepen Jennings; Paramount Ruler of Epe, Oba Kamorudeen Animashaun; Minister of Agriculture, Chief Audu Ogbeh; Lagos State Governor, Mr. Akinwumi Ambode; and Chairman, Rendeavour, Mr. Frank Mosier, at the launch of Alaro Satellite City, Lekki-Epe, Lagos...yesterday ETOP UKUTT

APC Didn’t Conduct Primary Elections in Zamfara, INEC Insists Adedayo Akinwale in Abuja The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), yesterday insisted that having reviewed the two court judgments delivered last week by a Federal High Court in Abuja and the State High Court in Gusau, it still maintained that the All Progressives Congress (APC) did not conduct party primaries in the state.

The electoral body made its stand known in a statement issued late night by INEC’s National Commissioner and Chairman, Voter Education and Publicity, Mr. Festus Okoye.

The Commission also said after reviewing various aspects of its preparedness for the forthcoming

elections, expressed satisfaction with the overall preparations for the elections Okoye revealed that a meeting with all the Resident Electoral Commissioners (RECs) would take place next week to further review the state of preparedness of each State.

He stated: “INEC met today, January 30, 2019 and, among other things, approved the final list of candidates for the Governorship, State Assembly and FCT Area Council elections scheduled to hold on March 2, 2019. On the whole, there are 1,066 candidates for the Governorship elections, 14,583 for the State Assembly elections and 806 for the FCT Area Council elections broken down into 105

Chairmanship candidates and 701 Councillorship candidates.

“The Commission reviewed the situation concerning the All Progressives Congress (APC) fielding candidates for the Governorship and State Assembly elections in Zamfara State. Commission noted that there are two court judgments on the matter – one from a State High Court in Gusau and the other from a Federal High Court in Abuja. The former judgment clearly said the APC conducted primaries in Zamfara State, contrary to the position of the Commission. On the other hand, the Federal High Court in Abuja ruled that the party did not conduct valid primaries and therefore is ineligible to field

candidates for the elections.

“The Commission would like to reaffirm its commitment to obeying all court judgments, even when it disagrees with them. However, these are clearly two contradictory judgments delivered by two courts of coordinate jurisdiction on the same day.

“Consequently, the Commission has decided to maintain its original position that the party in question did not conduct primaries and, therefore, in line with Section 87 of the Electoral Act 2010 (as amended), is not eligible to field candidates for the National Assembly, Governorship and State Assembly elections in Zamfara State,” he said.

US Begins Assessment of Security Status of MMIA Chinedu Eze A three-man United States Transportation Security Administration (TSA) team has started a routine assessment of Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Ikeja, Lagos State.

The Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) said the team’s visit was to observe the implementation of Aviation Security (AVSEC) measures and to also conduct inspection

on recommended TSA security procedures for its air carriers (Delta Airlines).

The Director General of NCAA, Captain Muhtar Usman, explained that once or twice every year, TSA carries out assessment of airports in countries with the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Category One Safety status where indigenous American airlines operate.

NCAA in a statement signed by its spokesman,

Sam Adurogboye, said the assessment is billed for January 28-Febraury 1, 2019.

Members of the TSA team include Laura Loya (team leader), Edward Cloniger and Mitch Mankowski.

NCAA said as a matter of policy, the Transportation Security Administration of United States of America on an annual basis visits countries where American airlines operate.

While welcoming the

team at the Aviation House, Usman promised NCAA’s cooperation and support towards accomplishing their assignment.

He expressed the agency’s readiness to close in real time any open items that may be noticed.

“Safety and security is the most crucial element of civil aviation, NCAA will continue to collaborate with stakeholders in ensuring safe and secure flight operations,” he said.

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Onnoghen: Middle Belt Forum Demands Buhari’s Resignation Kingsley NwezehinAbuja Following his refusal to heed calls for the reversal of the alleged unconstitutional suspension of the Chief Justice of Nigeria

(CJN), Justice Walter Onnoghen, a socio-cultural group, Middle Belt Forum (MBF), yesterday called on President Muhammadu Buhari to resign his position as president.

The group, in conjunction with

Presidency: Why Buhari Didn’t AskVoters to Back APC Candidates in Imo The Presidency yesterday gave reasons why President Muhammadu Buhari did not seek support for the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidates during the party’s rally held in Owerri, Imo State, on Tuesday.

It said the President addressed a mixed crowd of voters across political parties, who were united in endorsing his re-election, despite having their local candidates for other positions.

The Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Mr. Garba Shehu, while speaking to journalists, explained that in such a mixed crowd, the President could not speak of support for the APC candidates alone but must talk about all the parties.

Shehu noted that this did not mean that the President did not want the APC candidates to win elections in Imo State, saying that Buhari was solidly behind his party’s candidates.

“The massive crowd that gathered to welcome President Buhari in Imo State was made up of not only supporters of the APC in the state, but also supporters of other parties who are united by their love for the President and their desire to see him re-elected, despite the local candidates they support,” Shehu told reporters.

The Presidency added that in the circumstances he found himself in Imo, the President could only advise the people who turned out to receive him to vote according to their conscience.

“While President Buhari is fully behind the APC, he welcomes endorsements from those who do not belong to the ruling party but is also sensitive to their support for non-APC candidates at the local level.

“It would have been insensitive of him to offend his non-APC supporters by ignoring their local affiliations,” Shehu stated.

He said by raising the hand of Senator Hope Uzodinma, the APC governorship candidate in Imo State, at the rally, Buhari had shown where his preference was and this did not call for a debate.

Shehu added, “President Buhari is for the APC in every state and there is no doubt about that, despite the immense cross-party support he is enjoying.”

Recall that while addressing the rally, Buhari did not mince word in urging the crowd to “vote for candidates of your choice across parties” to the chagrin of the APC members.

The people reacted by cheering and clapping for the President.

Governor Rochas Okorocha, who does not support Uzodinma’s governorship bid, joined in the cheering.

When the APC National Chairman, Adams Oshiomhole, realised the President’s error, he was seen trying to whisper to Buhari to make a correction.

The President then responded by telling the crowd again to vote for the APC candidates.

US Backs Devt of New $250m City in Lagos Bennett Oghifo The Government of the United States of America has given its full support to Rendeavour, Africa’s largest urban developer, which is in partnership with the Lagos State Government in the development of Alaro City, a satellite community opposite the future Epe international airport in the North West Quadrant of the Lekki Free Zone, Lagos.

The new city is a product of a joint development initiative launched about a year ago by the United States Government and the federal government, known as US-Nigeria Commercial and Investment Dialogue, according to US Commercial Service Counsellor, BrentOmdahl, who represented the US Counsel General in Nigeria, Mr. John Bray, at the project’s ground breaking ceremony at the site, yesterday.

He said, “The dialogue is meant to facilitate key investments like Lagos State and Rendeavour are inaugurating today,” and thanked the Lagos State government and Rendeavour “for being one of

the pioneer investments under the U.S.-Nigeria Commercial and Investment Dialogue. We wish you the best and you have the US government support.”

He said the Ambassador, Counsel General and other officials of the US Embassy track very closely projects and investments that come from the United States into Nigeria, stating that “in discussing this project with them, it became very clear to us that this has all of the classic trappings of the characteristic American investment and project.

He explained this, saying, “first of all a vision is being created for transforming the economy in a very positive way by moving it up the value chain, creating a space where businesses, individuals and companies can come together to make great things happen.”

He also described the new city project as “beautiful example of public-private-partnership. In the United States, we often rely on the private sector to bring solution to government and in partnership with Lagos State Government, Rendeavour is doing that at very high level.”

other groups notably Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Afenifere and Pan Niger Delta Forum (PANDEF) had last weekend called on President Buhari to reverse the “unconstitutional and illegal removal of the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), His Lordship, Honourable Justice Walter Samuel Nkanu Onoghen, and called for the immediate reversal of the suspension”.

In a statement issued in Abuja, the MBF, which represents 14 states of the Middle Belt region of the country, had, following the president’s constitutional

breach, demanded his immediate resignation.

“We the peoples of the Middle Belt region, as true Nigerians, believe in the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, therefore, any person or group of persons who breach the Constitution or act in such a manner that will jeopardise the corporate existence of Nigeria and precipitate a humanitarian crisis of international dimension is an enemy of the Middle Belt and indeed of the Nigeria people.

“That we cannot trust the President of the Federal Republic

of Nigeria, President Muhammadu Buhari, to be fair and just in arrying out his functions as the President and Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces of Nigeria. His conduct is capable of setting this country on the path of anarchy and avoidable civil war.

“We call on the president, having blatantly breached the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria which he swore to uphold and his oath of office to immediately resign. In the event of his refusal to do so, we call on all the peoples of the Middle Belt

and all our allies to reject him at the polls”, it said.

MBF also called on the National Judicial Council (NJC) to immediately remove Justice Tanko Mohammed, who was sworn in by the President after the President after Onnognen’s suspension.

“We call on the National Judicial Council (NJC) to immediately remove Justice Tanko Mohammed from office for presenting himself to be sworn-in unconstitutionally as the Acting Chief Justice of Nigeria when he was never recommended by the NJC.

CONGRATULATIONS...

L-R: Globacom’s Regional Manager, Secondary Sales, Lagos, Mr. Olufolahan Faseyitan; winner of Globacom’s online competition, GLOIN60SECONDS, Mr. Ezuke Stephen; and Gloworld Palms Shop Manager, Miss Udeka Ogbolu, during the presentation of cheque to Stephen, at The Palms Mall, Lekki, Lagos...yesterday

Coca-Cola Completes Acquisition of Chi Limited The Cola-Cola Company has completed the acquisition of Chi Limited.

In a statement issued yesterday, Coca-Cola announced that it has extended its minority investment in the company to full ownership.

In 2016, the company acquired a 40 per cent minority stake in Chi and expressed interest in increasing ownership within three years.

“Coca-Cola is continuing

to evolve as a total beverage company, and Chi’s diverse range of beverages perfectly complements our existing portfolio, enabling us to accelerate expansion into new categories and grow our business in Africa,” the President of the West Africa business unit of Coca-Cola, Peter Njonjo, said.

“We will support the Chi management team in building on the company’s remarkable heritage and achievements while using the

scale of the Coca-Cola system to replicate their success in more markets across Africa.”

Chi Limited was founded in Lagos in 1980. It produces juice under the Chivita brand, Caprisonne and value-added dairy under the Hollandia brand.

In a September 2018 interview, according to The Cable, Njonjo had said that the company’s drive to diversify its product range would give it some flexibility.

“We realise that in certain pack formats you can only go down so low. But once you start looking at pouches and still products, like juice and drinking yoghurts, that allows you to start accessing much lower price points,” he said.

“Affordability will start becoming a bigger issue in this market than it was in the past. As a company, that is what we need to factor in as we are thinking about the future of our business in Nigeria.”

FAAN Allays Fears over False Bomb Scare in Air Peace Flight Chinedu Eze in Lagos and Kasim Sumaina in Abuja The Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), yesterday reassured passengers and all airport users of safety across the nation’s airports, following a false bomb alert at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport (NAIA), Abuja.

Air Peace passengers were yesterday petrified when they received false information a mentally challenged person who was denied boarding of the flight that there was bomb in the aircraft.

When the pilot-in-command of the flight received the information he took immediate action by returning to base, which was the airport of

departure.

The Corporate Communications Manager of the airline, Mr. Chris Iwarah who confirmed the incident, said the crew of Air Peace Flight P4 7121 returned to the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja after receiving information that there was an explosive on board the aircraft.

According to Iwarah, passengers commended the crew of the flight for acting professionally and took the decision to return to the airport as a precautionary measure.

He attributed the false information to an intending passenger who was denied boarding after the crew suspected that he might be mentally challenged.

“We confirm that Air Peace

Flight P4 7121, Abuja-Lagos on Wednesday, January 30, 2019 returned to the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, after the crew received information that there was a dangerous item on board.

“In line with procedures and our high safety standards, the captain-in-command acted professionally, briefed passengers on board and took the decision to return as a precaution. The aircraft landed in Abuja without any incident and passengers disembarked normally to enable security personnel conduct a check.

“The passenger who gave the information has since been taken into custody by security operatives for exhaustive investigation into

the incident.

The Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), in a statement by its General Manager, Corporate Affairs, Mrs. Henrietta Yakubu, also confirmed the bomb scare to be false.

Yakubu, stated that the passenger who raised the alarm reportedly has a history of mental illness and is currently with the security agencies and medical experts for assessment.

“Following the false information, officers of FAAN’s aviation security swiftly evacuated passengers, crew and cargo on board the flight and a bomb squad immediately conducted a thorough check on the aircraft and baggage, which confirmed the information to be false.

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SRGIs: Imperatives of FG’s New Tax Direction Nume Ekeghe The recent launch of the federal government’s Strategic Revenue

Growth Initiatives (SRGIs) has re-invited attention to a major inhibitor of the country’s development: low revenue

Adeyeye: Why Senate Committee isYet to Meet on Minimum Wage Deji Elumoye in Abuja The eight-man Ad-hoc Committee set up by the Senate to look into the National Minimum Wage Bill presented to it by President Muhammadu Buhari, has explained the reason for its inability to meet one week after it was constituted.

The Chairman of the Ad-hoc Committee, Senator Sola Adeyeye, said their inability to meet was due to the involvement of most members in re-election campaigns.

Adeyeye, who regretted the inability of the committee to meet since its inauguration last week in an interview with THISDAY yesterday, said six members of the committee are currently busy in their senatorial districts canvassing for votes to return to the Senate.

Adeyeye representing Osun Central in the National Assembly, added that most of the committee members are contesting in the National Assembly election fixed for Saturday, February 16, saying it has been difficult to mobilise them for the required public hearing session on the bill.

The Senator who is the Senate Chief Whip

emphasised, “I am not contesting for any election; but many of the committee members are contesting, and very busy with electioneering campaigns in their various senatorial districts, making it difficult for us to sit this week.’’

He said the committee will try all possible best “to have the sitting or public hearing next week in line with duration of time given for the assignment by the Senate.”

The Senate had in mandating the committee, gave it a two-week ultimatum to submit its report, which should be ready before Tuesday, February 19, which was fixed for the resumption of plenary.

The six members of the committee, who are busy with their return bids into the Senate in the coming elections are: Emmanuel Adokwe (PDP Nasarawa South); Sam Egwu (PDP Ebonyi North), and Shehu Sani ( PRP Kaduna Central).

Others are the Deputy Whip, Senator Francis Alimikhena (APC Edo North); Adeola Olamilekan (APC Lagos West), Binta Masi Garba ( APC Adamawa North ) and Abu Ibrahim (APC Katsina South).

Gunmen Kidnap Taraba CPS, Expatriate Wole Ayodele in Jalingo The Chief Press Secretary (CPS) to Governor Darius Ishaku of Taraba State, Alhaji Hassan Mijinyawa, has been kidnapped by gunmen.

Also kidnapped along with the CPS, was his driver and an expatriate whose nationality is yet to be ascertained as at the time of filing the report.

The expatriate is believed to be an aid worker.

Mijinyawa was kidnapped yesterday along with his official driver at about 9.00 a.m in Gashaka Local Government Area (LGA), along Bali-Gembu road while going to join the governor’s campaign train at Gembu.

The incident is coming less than 24 hours after the Chief of Army Staff, Lt. General Tukur Buratai was in the LGA to launch ‘Agent Banking’ at the 20 Batallion barracks in Serti, Gashaka LGA. Confirming the incident in a telephone interview, the state’s deputy governor, Alhaji Haruna Manu, told THISDAY that the CPS was waylaid by gunmen numbering over 50 and wielding Ak47 rifles who whisked him and his driver to an unknown destination.

According to him, “his wife called me this morning to inform me of the development. My wife have been staying with her since

in order to calm her down because she is presently traumatised” “I learnt the kidnappers were very many and carrying Ak47 rifles. I want to enjoin all wellmeaning Nigerians to continue praying for him so that nothing bad happens to him and others that were kidnapped” Manu further disclosed that the CPS was also in company of the watchman his residence who is said to be an indegene of Gembu who was lucky to escape from the assailants.

Speaking to Journalists, Mijinyawa’s wife, Hajia Sekina Mijinyawa, said her husband left home at about 7.00 a.m along with the watchman and his driver.

She appealed to her husband’s abductors not to hurt him just as she appealed to the state government and security agencies to ensure his release.

Fielding questions from journalists, the watchman, Yusuf Garba stated that apart from the CPS and his driver, an expatriate who was travelling in another vehicle was equally abducted and taken into the forest along with the CPS. Garba, who spoke fielded questions in Hausa, revealed that the gunmen took over the road for several hours and later led Mijinyawa and other victims into the forest.

generation capabilities.

At the launch of the SGRIs in Abuja last week, the Finance Minister, Mrs. Zainab Ahmed, said though the country is widely lauded as having the largest economy on the continent, it remains a challenge to translate her wealth into revenues.

The minister admitted the situation had hobbled previous administrations and imposes enormous constraints on the present one.

“We have therefore faced difficulty in mobilising domestic funds necessary for human capital development and infrastructure that are both drivers of sustainable economic growth. Our current revenue to GDP ratio of about seven per cent is unsatisfactory and we are keen on exerting all efforts in turning this around,” she said. This indicates that in the current fiscal climate and recent revenue performance (with the realisation of budgeted revenue at about 50 per cent as at the

third quarter of 2018), a gulf exists between the set target of 15 per cent tax-to-GDP ratio contained in Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP). The situation is not helped by the unflattering figures of current contributions of oil and non-oil revenues to the GDP. Contribution from oil revenue stands at 39 per cent, while that of non-oil revenue to non-oil GDP as 4.2 per cent. The contribution of Value Added Tax (VAT) to GDP stands at 0.8 per cent, some tiers below the ECOWAS average of 3.4%.

Figures from excise revenue, at 4.1 per cent, remain way below Ghana’s 15.3 per cent or Kenya’s 19.5 per cent.

In addition to having one of the lowest VAT rates, experts are united in their view that Nigeria has one of the lowest tax-to GDP ratios (about seven per cent), an uncomplicated indication of the systemic inefficiency and failure to adequately mine the tax-generating capacity of the

economy.

It is against this background that the proposed new tax direction, especially the increase in the rate of VAT for luxury items, becomes imperative.

VAT, the world over, is the fastest growing tax type. In Africa, Ghana has a VAT rate of 15 per cent, Egypt 10 per cent, Mauritius 15 per cent, Morocco 20 per cent, Namibia 15 per cent, South Africa 14 per cent, Tanzania 18 per cent and Zimbabwe 15 per cent. France, the United Kingdom, Romania and Ukraine have VAT rates of 20 per cent. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) quoted the minister as saying a request will be made to the National Assembly for an amendment of the VAT legislation.

The proposed increase is thus unlikely to adversely affect vulnerable segments of the society since items like basic food items and medicines are excluded.

A hint of this was given by Mrs. Ahmed in her keynote

address. She explained that excise duties will be introduced in some areas, while taxes will be reduced for small and medium scale enterprises.

“For Small and Medium Enterprises, government would reduce taxes. But there are some special taxes that we will be looking at imposing. If you have a private jet, we will be taxing you specially for that. If you have a yacht, we will be charging you for that and also in terms of excise duties. There are also some new areas where excise duties will be introduced,” she said. To ensure efficiency of the process, the minister stated that there is a will to optimally collect revenues, identify new revenue streams, optimize enforcement in terms of collection from existing revenue streams and ensure inter-agency cohesion as well as equipping them with tools required for modern revenue collection and administration.

LAW REFORM ON THEIR MINDS…

L-R: Second Vice President, Business Recovery and Insolvency Practitioners Association of Nigeria (BRIPAN), Chimezie Victor Ihekweazu; Legal Associates of Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council (PEBEC), Elizabeth Abubakar, Ifeoluwa Ogunbufunmi; BRIPAN Council members, Mike Igbokwe (SAN) and Dr. Edwin Idegwu; at the BRIPAN meeting with Enabling Business Environment Secretariat (EBES) on law reform and policy direction in Lagos…recently

Oando Donates Relief Materials to FloodVictims in N’Delta Peter Uzoho Employees of Oando Plc kicked-off the year by putting smiles on the faces of thousands of people, who were affected by the 2018 floods in Rivers and Bayelsa State, a feat worthy of note and emulation.

Last year, the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) confirmed that flooding across 16 States and 87 Local Government Areas (LGAs) in Central and Southern Nigeria caused 199 deaths and 1,036 injuries.

To this end, Oando employees donated food and non-perishable

items such as bags of rice; cartons of noodles; disinfectant; mosquito treated nets; clothing to over 2,000 displaced families in some communities as well as those in government-approved camps for internally displaced people (IDPs) in their host communities of Rivers and Bayelsa state.

The employee-led initiative is grounded in their realisation and acceptance that the government cannot achieve an inclusive and sustainable society alone.

Speaking on the initiative, an Oando employee, Olayemi Olomo, said, “I believe strongly in helping

people in need. Initiatives of this nature have been my passion for over 5 years, and that’s part of the culture here at Oando.”

In a letter to Oando, Chairman, Bayelsa State Emergency Management Agency, Major Zedekiah T. Isu, appreciated the efforts of Oando employees.

You would recall that in the first quarter of 2018, Oando employees, as part of its ‘Month of Love’ initiative donated school supplies such as educational books to encourage learning and reading,

school bags, school furniture, raincoats in preparation for the rainy season, and other items to aid educational developmentto three public primary schools in Gbagada Schools Complex.

In commemoration of World Blood Donor Day of same year, Oando employees donated blood to save lives in partnership with LifeBank an e-health company connecting blood banks with hospitals. The objective of the blood drive was to bridge the blood shortage gap in Nigeria and dispel myths around blood donation.

PRO-AMBODE PROTESTERS ASK LAGOS LAWMAKERS TO ACCOUNT FOR N28BN bill.

Agunbiade said this at a press conference he addressed last night after an emergency parliamentary meeting by the lawmakers.

According to him, it is only where the infractions continue that the assembly would apply the constitutional provisions.

“Then, we can start talking about

impeachment,” he said.

He debunked claims that the assembly was witch-hunting the governor.

Agunbiade said the assembly decided to correct some wrong information and misconception being bandied around by the House resolutions on Ambode Monday last week.

In reference to the protest earlier held, Agunbiade said the assembly “is not saying that Ambode should end his tenure. Because of issues surrounding the 2019 budget, he is summoned by the assembly.

“The major contention is that he has started spending from the 2019 budget which has not been laid before the House which is

against constitutional provisions.

“The budget is supposed to have been laid before the commencement of another fiscal which has always been the practice in the state, and unless it is laid you can not spend from it but the governor has gone ahead to make expenditure from the budget.

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Group Sports Editor Duro Ikhazuagbe Email duro.ikhazuagbe@thisdaylive.com 0811 181 3083 SMS ONLY

Rohr to Include Best U-20 Player in Eagles Squad for Seychelles, Egypt Olawale Ajimotokan in Abuja As the Flying Eagles’ delegation to the 21st Africa Under-20 Cup of Nations depart for Niamey, Niger Republic today, Super Eagles’ Technical Adviser, Gernot Rohr, has challenged the players to give their very best and qualify for the FIFA Under-20 World Cup. The Franco-German gaffer has also pledged that he would be at the competition venue to pick the best Nigerian player and include him in the senior squad.

“I watched the team’s training session and I see they are good.

They are ambitious and I will be in Niger Republic to see some of the matches.

“I have decided to pick one or two of them, the best ones, to give them a chance when we regroup for the matches against Seychelles and Egypt in March,” Rohr, who watched the Flying Eagles train on Tuesday, told reporters in Abuja.

The Super Eagles, already

qualified for the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations, host the Pirates of Seychelles at the Stephen Keshi Stadium, Asaba on 23rd March, in a mere academic session, and then welcome the Pharaohs of Egypt in a much-anticipated friendly at the same venue three days later.

Meanwhile, the General Secretary of Nigeria Football Federation, Dr. Mohammed Sanusi, has charged the Flying Eagles to take to heart the virtues of discipline, dedication and commitment as they head to Niger Republic.

Speaking during a visit to the team’s training session in Abuja yesterday, Sanusi harped on the importance of imbibing enviable character traits that will take the players to the top faster than even their abilities on the field of play.

“Discipline and character are values that you must not take for granted. You may be the best player in the world, but without discipline and character,

you would sooner find yourself on the scrap heap. Stories of exceptional talents who wasted away before they could climb successfully to the top, as a result of indiscipline, abound. I pray that your story will not be like any of those.

“You are bearing the high expectations of 180 million Nigerians on your lean shoulders, but you cannot afford to

fail. You are Ambassadors of our great country and good character and discipline are key in everything you do in Niger Republic and thereafter.”

Sanusi assured the players that the federation would do everything necessary to support the team to achieve its targets of World Cup ticket and AFCON title at the continental house-party.

“The NFF would do everything it can to support you from every front, and I can assure you that your qualification bonus would be ready for you once you earn the FIFA World Cup ticket.

“Football is the biggest unifying factor globally. Please have that in your mind as you go that the whole country is behind you and will be backing

you to conquer.”

Seven-time champions Nigeria will confront host nation Niger Republic, South Africa and Burundi in Group A of the eight-nation tournament, taking place between February 2nd and 17th February.

The Flying Eagles will take on Burundi in their first match of the championship in Niamey on Saturday night.

Gernot Rohr (2nd left, back row) in a group photograph with Flying Eagles after meeting the squad at training in Abuja…yesterday

CAF Appoints Amuneke on Technical Study Group for U-20 AFCON Confederation of African Football (CAF) has appointed Emmanuel Amuneke on their Technical Study Group (TSG) for the Under-20 AFCON in Niger, which begins this weekend.

Amuneke is currently the Tanzania national team coach.

The 2015 FIFA U-17 World Cup-winning coach with Nigeria’s Golden Eaglets, Amuneke was enlisted to the FIFA Technical Study group

for the 2018 World Cup finals in Russia.

“I’m in Addis Ababa airport as we speak now. I’m on my way to Niamey, Niger Republic, for the CAF U-20 Nations Cup which kicks

CHAN 2020: Home-based Eagles Draw Bye in Opening Round The home-based national football team of Nigeria will face the winners of Benin and Togo as the team draws bye in the opening round of the 2020 African Nations Championship (CHAN) which final matches will be held in Ethiopia.

The draw for the qualifiers held yesterday at the CAF Headquarters in Cairo, Egypt on the sidelines of the Organising Committee of the competition.

Forty-seven teams are engaged in the battle for 15 places to join host Ethiopia for the final tournament of the sixth edition of the tournament designed exclusively for footballers playing in their domestic leagues.

The draw was the highlight of the meeting of the 25-member committee, which saw the format and procedure approved.

The format of the competition

remains unchanged and will be played on a zonal basis to determine the finalists for Ethiopia.The quota for the various zones is as follows; Northern Zone – 2 teams Western A Zone – 2 teams Western B Zone – 3 teams Central Zone – 3 teams Central-East Zone – 2 teams + Ethiopia Southern Zone – 3 teams

NFF Hails AITEO Boss, Peters, on New Award The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) has congratulated the founder of AITEO Group, Mr. Benedict Peters on his award as African Icon of the Year at the recent Foreign Investment Network (FIN) and Federal Ministry of Petroleum Resources Honorary Patrons Dinner and Awards Night.

Peters is the Founder and President of AITEO Group, Nigeria’s leading energy solution company and the Official Optimum Sponsor of the Nigeria Football Federation.

The company also sponsors the annual Federation Cup competition, and picks the bills for the NFF-AITEO Football Awards, another annual event.

The energy company also bankrolls the CAF African Football Awards, yet another an-

nual event for which it recently penned a four –year agreement with the Confederation of African Football, CAF. President of the Nigeria Football Federation, Mr. Amaju Melvin Pinnick, said on Wednesday: “On behalf of the NFF and the entire Nigerian football fraternity, I would like to congratulate Mr. Peters on yet another award. This is another gorgeous feather to his shining cap. It is also the latest in a long and growing list of accolades for an outstanding gentleman, an international business mogul with a difference and a proud son of Nigeria and Africa.

“This award is not a surprise to me as a person, and certainly not a surprise to any member of the NFF Board. It simply underscores the quality and

character of the leading figure of a major partner of the NFF. “Mr. Peters has always been committed to making everyone and everything around him better and we are proud to have him as a partner in progress with Nigerian and African Football,” said Pinnick, who is also 1st Vice President of the Confederation of African Football.

NPFL Rescheduled Match-day 1 Wikki 1-0 Insurance Rivers Utd 1-0 Remo Stars Rangers 1-0 Tornadoes Yobe 1-0 Gombe

off this weekend,” Amuneke told SCORENigeria “No, Tanzania is not playing but I’m going to Niger as a member of CAF Technical Study Group, TSG. “Yes, CAF appointed me

into their technical study and it is the first time I’ll be playing that role for CAF, but previously, I had carried out such assignment for FIFA.” Hosts Niger will take on

South Africa in Saturday’s opening Group A match, while Nigeria’s Flying Eagles will battle Burundi in the other group match same day. Ghana, Senegal, Mali and Burkina Faso are in Group B in Maradi.

FIFA Global Transfer Deals: Spending Surpassed $7bn in 2018 In the new edition of the Global Transfer Market Report, which provides detailed data on global international transfer activity at professional football clubs around the world throughout 2018, FIFA confirmed that spending reached a new high of $7.03 billion, 10.3% more than in 2017 It is the first time the Global Transfer Market report released yesterday is available in two versions: one covering men’s football and one covering women’s football.

A new record was set with 16,533 international transfers, 5.6% more than in 2017, involving 14,186 players of 175 different nationalities Only 31 clubs spent more than $50 million each, but together they accounted for more than half of the $7.03 billion spent globally

78.2% of the entire spending worldwide occurred between clubs in the UEFA region France had the largest positive net balance with $467.2 million. England had the largest negative net balance with $1.05 billion Saudi Arabia climbed to 7th place in the ranking of the world’s biggest spenders, with its clubs spending $173.9 million in 2018 In the women’s report, 2018 was the first year in which all transfers of professional female players had to be processed via FIFA’s International Transfer Matching System A total of 696 international transfers were completed, involving clubs from 74 member associations and 614 players of 72 different nationalities Spending on transfer fees amounted to $ 0.6 million, showing that the market for

female professional players is still in the early stages One in every five transfers involved a player from the USA, by far the most represented nationality in the transfer market The reports also include summary tables with the volume and value of transfers for each of the 211 FIFA member associations, and other information such as transfer types, reasons for contract termination, nationality and age of the players involved, and historical comparisons.

The data published in the FIFA Global Transfer Market Report is extracted from ITMS, which is used by all 211 FIFA member associations around the globe and over 7,000 professional football clubs for the international transfer of professional football players.

Transfer: Bolton Makes Surprise Move for Efe Ambrose Bolton Wanderers have made a move for exHibernian defender Efe Ambrose.

The 30-year-old is available on a free transfer after exercising a clause in his contract though he has been offered new terms at Hibs.

The Scottish club recognised Ambrose was a key

performer for them and want to keep him at the club after the departure of manager Neil Lennon by mutual consent.

Ambrose has vast experience from his time with Celtic, for whom he played between 2012 and 2017.

This season Ambrose has produced some excellent performances, which has

prompted much interest from other clubs.

Bolton are hopeful of reaching agreement but Nottingham Forest, Sheffield Wednesday and Wigan Athletic have all made late enquiries.

The 6ft 3ins centre back has 51 caps for Nigeria but has qualified for British passport

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MISSILE Atiku Abubakar to Presidency “No mission or goal, no matter how noble or well-intended, should be used as a pretext for the subversion of our democratic institutions. To create a condition that allows the Constitution and the rule of law to become secondary to any other agenda is to pave the way for tyranny. History is replete with odious dictators whose path to dictatorship started with statements of good intentions” – PDP Presidential candidate, on the suspension of the CJN by President Muhammadu Buhari.

OLUSEGUNADENIYI THE VERDICT

olusegun.adeniyi@thisdaylive.com

Averting a Needless Constitutional Crisis

O

n Tuesday, the National Judicial Council (NJC) directed both the suspended Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Walter Onnoghen and the acting CJN, Justice Ibrahim Tanko to respond to the petitions against them. Similarly, the petition against the Chairman of the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT), Danladi Umar, was referred to the Federal Judicial Service Commission (FJSC) for consideration. Those decisions by the NJC should help to clear one strand of what has become a constitutional crisis. But it does not resolve the entire problem.

Onnoghen—already subjected to a media trial with details of his alleged offences in the public domain—has now been availed the opportunity to clear his name. Tanko—who once joined colleagues to punish a former Chief Judge of Abia State for doing exactly the same thing he did last weekend—must also explain what he saw in the soup pot, as a Yoruba adage says, that pushed him into packing the locust beans into his palms.

And then Umar, the CCT chairman who sought to bring the chief justice of Nigeria to justice must now show proof that he himself is above board.

However, at the centre of this crisis is President Muhammadu Buhari who took an unprecedented step last Friday by suspending Onnoghen and swearing in Tanko as acting CJN. The questions being posed are not only about whether the president has the powers to do what he did but also his motive. That precisely is the kernel of the interventions by the U.S. Embassy in Nigeria, the UK High Commission and the European Union Election Observer Mission.

The decision to suspend the CJN, according to the Embassy of the United States, “undercuts the stated determination of government, candidates, and political party leaders to ensure that the elections proceed in a way that is free, fair, transparent, and peaceful – leading to a credible result”. The British High Commission felt “compelled to observe that the timing of this action, so close to national elections, gives cause for concern. It risks affecting both domestic and international perceptions of the credibility of the forthcoming elections.” In its own statement, the European Union wondered whether “the timing – just before the swearing in of justices for electoral tribunals, and the hearing of election-related cases” was auspicious.

In a country where it is difficult to sustain any meaningful argument without name calling and where too many are quick to rush to judgement, it is understandable that emotions rather than reason dictate the ongoing conversation. Today, anybody who voices an opinion which suggests that both the president and the suspended CJN have questions to answer (the former, on legality; the latter, on morality) runs the risk of being attacked, especially in the social media. Yet, if there is anything my experience teaches, it is that the president of Nigeria is almost like Horne Fisher, the famous protagonist in Gilbert Keith Chesterton’s collection of stories, ‘The Man Who Knew Too Much’.

President Buhari came to office with a pledge to fight corruption and the office he occupies puts him in a position to understand the linkage between the greed

Onnoghen of a few individuals and the abject poverty of a great majority of our people. Not to take action under such a situation would have been unpardonable. But like Fisher in Chesterton’s novel, President Buhari must have also realised “how darkly and how terribly crime can be entangled with law”.

Resolving that contradiction cannot be easy for the president, even though some of his choices leave him open to attack.

By resorting to extra-judicial means, by being selective in his anti-corruption targets and by violating the principle of due process in dealing with the CJN, the president has cast serious doubt on the real intention behind his anti-corruption war. Now, there are stories that the travails of Onnoghen have more to do with the cold calculations about the role of the court in the coming general election than the efforts to instil transparency and accountability in the judicial arm of government.

Meanwhile, the appointment of Tanko as the acting CJN has further deepened the ethno-religious suspicions that have dogged this administration since inception. Justice and the application of law in a secular state should be blind to the ethnicity or religious

In a country where it is difficult to sustain any meaningful argument without name calling and where too many are quick to rush to judgement, it is understandable that emotions rather than reason dictate the ongoing conversation

leanings of a judicial officer. It should be about the protection of the rights and liberties of citizens and the promotion of the rule of law.

But with his parochial disposition in making appointments, perhaps very few would give the president any benefit of doubt that the elevation of Tanko, albeit in acting capacity, is not another ploy to install ‘one of his own’.

Announcing the suspension of Onnoghen last Friday, President Buhari said Nigeria “... is a constitutional democracy and no one must be, or be seen to be, above the law”.

Yet, with a reputation for disobeying court orders (Sambo Dasuki, Ibrahim el-Zakzaky and others), the president has done so much in the past three years to undermine democracy and the rule of law. No matter the gravity of the allegations against Onnoghen, recourse to self-help in dealing with the head of the judicial arm of government in Nigeria is damaging to the principle of separation of powers.

The presidential system of government that we practice in Nigeria is anchored on that sacred principle in order to safeguard the rights and freedoms of citizens. With the state divided into three organs—executive, legislature and judiciary—and each performing different functions, the design is that no one branch can become so powerful as to control the system completely. Each one of these three arms of government is also expected to serve as a ‘check’ on the others. That was the red line crossed by the president with the suspension of Onnoghen as the CJN. No matter the justification for the action, it is a gross violation of that cardinal democratic principle.

I am well aware of the challenge of corruption within the judiciary in Nigeria.

The problems are legion. In our country today, courts of concurrent jurisdiction often give conflicting orders on the same matter; politicians not only buy ‘justice’ but boast about it to opponents; some senior lawyers are known to write judgements for some judges to adopt, many of our prominent citizens are no longer content having as many SANs as their lawyers, they have their own judges too. These and many more other anomalies do not encourage respect for our judiciary as an institution. When, for instance, a judge has as many as 32 children, most of them schooling abroad, it is a given that the money to fund such indulgent, if not irresponsible, lifestyle cannot be derived from legitimate means. Despite all these, only the law can moderate whatever may be the misgivings of the executive about those who man the temple of justice in our country.

Since we borrowed the presidential system of government from the United States, it is noteworthy that no American president has ever suspended a federal judge. Indeed, the most secure job in that country is the membership of the Supreme Court where no Justice has ever been successfully removed.

The closest to a removal happened in 1805, when Justice Samuel Chase was accused of “tending to prostitute” the court and his position. The House of Representatives passed the articles of impeachment against him, but Justice Chase was acquitted by the Senate so he remained on seat until he died in 1811.

The story of the late Justice Abe Fortas offers interesting insights. Nominated to replace

Earl Warren as chief justice in 1968, the American senate declined to confirm him for the office, on grounds that he received $15,000 as speaking fees for a series of lectures he gave at a University. Since the money for these talks had been raised through contributions from private companies, according to many senators, Justice Fortas might not be objective in the event that cases by these firms were brought before the Supreme Court.

Although Fortas retained his seat as a Justice of the Supreme Court after failing to become the chief justice, he became embroiled in another scandal a year later. It was discovered that in exchange for $20,000 per year for life, Fortas was providing counsel to the Wolfson Foundation, then being administered by Mr Louis Wolfson, a controversial Wall Street businessman who died in December 2007.

Despite public outcry, Justice Fortas said he was not going to resign. When the pressure became overwhelming and the Congress was forced to initiate impeachment proceedings against him, Fortas had little choice left.

He remains till date the only United States Supreme Court Justice who left office not on account of death or of his own volition.

By refusing to call a meeting of the NJC, Onnoghen was behaving like Justice Fortas.

But given the dismissal yesterday, by the court of appeal sitting in Abuja, of a motion seeking stay of proceedings on his ongoing trial at the CCT, it is very clear that the law is capable of dealing with this matter. Therefore, if the presidency had been more restrained and had exercised a little patience, with the damaging information already in the public domain, it was only a matter of time before Onnoghen would be compelled to answer questions about his assets. What that teaches is that the rule of law may be slow but it remains the best way of resolving crisis in a constitutional democracy.

In my piece, ‘Jungle Justice for Chief Justice?’ published two weeks ago, when the crisis started with the filing of charges against Onnoghen, I dealt with the moral, political and legal issues in the matter. By taking an action that has no basis either in law or precedence, those who have described the suspension of Justice Onnoghen as a presidential ‘coup’ are not too far wrong. That is why his reinstatement is important, even when it buys him no comfort. A combination of his (Onnoghen’s) 2013 judgement, affirming the jurisdiction of the CCT to deal with all violations contravening any of the provisions of the Code of Conduct Bureau, the NJC decision of Tuesday asking him to respond to the charges before the CCT and the Appeal Court ruling of yesterday, which declined the relief he sought, has already paved the way for Onnoghen to submit to the law.

Given the foregoing, what the president must understand is that the only bulwark against misconduct in public office is to apply the law, following the principle of due process.

A fight against corruption that is selective, arbitrary and anchored on self-righteousness is not only reprehensible, but a sure route to dictatorship.

All said, since Nigerians are now divided on this matter along partisan lines, I encourage the NJC to be firm and expeditious when they reconvene on 11th February to resolve the logjam.

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