WEDNESDAY 24TH APRIL 2019

APC Governors Rally Support for Lawan, Meet Senators-elect Set up committee to pacify Goje, Ndume Deji Elumoye in Abuja The 22 governors of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) have begun moves to rally necessary support for the

Senate Leader, Senator Ahmad Lawan, towards his emergence as the Senate president of the ninth National Assembly.

Already, the governors had met with APC senators-elect

from their respective states and told them the need to support the ambition of Lawan in line with the directive of the national leadership of APC. A senator-elect from North-

central zone told THISDAY yesterday that his state governor last weekend met with him and his two other colleagues and canvassed for necessary support for Lawan

of anonymity, said his state governor told them at the meeting that he had strict instruction from the APC

in his ambition to become the nation's number three citizen when the ninth Assembly is inaugurated in June.

The ranking senator, who spoke on condition

Continued on page 10

More Discos, MAPs Get Metering Permit from NERC...

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High Demand Triggers Increase in Air Fares... Page 10 Dogara Fires Back, Says Tinubu is Ignorant Shola Oyeyipo in Abuja

BANKING GURUS...

L-R: Director UBA Plc, Ms. Angela Aneke; CEO, UBA Africa, Mr. Victor Osadolor; Director, Mrs. Foluke Abdulrasaq; Chairman, Mr. Tony Elumelu; Group Managing Director/CEO, Mr. Kennedy Uzoka; and Directors, Mrs. Onari Duke and Erelu Angela Adebayo, during the 57th Annual General Meeting of the bank in Lagos… yesterday

The Speaker of House of Representatives, Hon. Yakubu Dogara, has accused the former Governor of Lagos State and National Leader, All Progressives Congress (APC), Senator Bola Tinubu, of manufacturing falsehoods and painting a non-existing picture of his stewardship.

Reacting to reports that he was backing some persons as leaders of the ninth National Assembly because of his alleged interest in the 2023 presidency at the weekend, Tinubu, in a statement by Continued on page 8

S'Court Backs BI-Courtney, AMCON to Pay N132bn Alex Enumah in Abuja

The lingering battle between Bi Courtney Limited and the Assets Management Company of Nigeria (AMCON) over a N132,540,580,304.00 judgment credit was on April 5 decided in favour of Bi Courtney.

The five-man panel of

justices, led by the Acting Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Tanko Muhammad, in a unanimous judgment upheld the appeal of Bi Courtney against the judgment of the Court of Appeal in favour of AMCON. The apex court in its lead judgment delivered by Justice

Amir Sanusi also dismissed the appeal of AMCON for being incompetent and lacking in merit.

The court held that AMOCN’s approach to the appeal was inconsistent with the laws of Nigeria.

According to Justice Sanusi, AMCON's failure to

seek leave at the trial court before approaching the Court of Appeal rendered its appeal incompetent and liable to be dismissed.

He said: “By the provisions of Section 243 (a) of 1999 Constitution, as amended, right of appeal is conferred on applicant from the decisions of

the High Court to the Court of Appeal. This issue of seeking and obtaining leave in order to appeal as an interested party, is the first hurdle to be crossed by such applicant in addition to other conditions.

"AMCON’s application filed before the court below is therefore ab-initio, incompetent

for among other reasons, failure to seek and obtain leave to appeal as party interested.

The failure to seek and obtain that leave therefore deprives the lower court of the requisite jurisdiction to consider and determine the application right Continued on page 10

PDP Rejects Oyewole’s Gov Election Appeal Panel Membership... Page 8

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PDP Rejects Oyewole’s Gov Election Appeal Panel Membership It’s not true, says Appeal Court

Adedayo Akinwale and Alex Enumah in Abuja The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has rejected the inclusion of Justice Joseph Oyewole as a member of the Osun State Governorship Election Appeal Tribunal.

The main opposition party said it has already petitioned the President of the Court of Appeal, objecting to the inclusion of Justice Oyewole in the appeal panel based on the clear likelihood of his being biased against the person of Senator Ademola Adeleke and the PDP, under which he contested the 2018 Osun State governorship election.

The National Publicity Secretary of the party, Mr. Kola Ologbondiyan, while addressing a press conference yesterday in Abuja, said the position of the party was predicated on the fact that Justice Oyewole has strong connections with the All Progressives Congress (APC), which is an interested party in the appeal.

He stated: “As a party, we do not have confidence in Hon. Justice J.O.K Oyewole.

So the PDP vehemently objects to his inclusion, as he is likely to be biased against our party and our candidate, Senator Ademola Adeleke.

“The PDP, therefore,

demands that the President of the Court of Appeal immediately replace Hon. Justice J.O.K Oyewole with another justice of the Court of Appeal, without any affiliation with Osun State, out of the over 90 eminent justices of the Court of Appeal.

“Our party and candidate hold that justice must not only be done, but also manifestly seen to be done in this matter.

Indeed, an insistence on Hon. Justice J.O.K Oyewole’s inclusion in the appeal panel may confirm our fears that his name could have been deliberately included so that he can carry out a special assignment against our candidate and the party in the appeal.”

Ologbondiyan explained that Justice Oyewole (JCA) is an indigene of Osun State and he had served as a High Court judge of Lagos State and had thus served under the administration of Senator Bola Tinubu, the national leader of the APC while he was the governor of Lagos State.

He stressed that when the seat of the Chief Judge of Osun State became vacant, some years back, upon the retirement of Justice G.O Ojo, Tinubu insisted on having his anointed candidate, Oyewole, on the judiciary of Osun State at all cost.

Ologbondiyan noted: “It will be recalled that it took the courageous intervention of the then Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Aloma Muktar, to prevail that the most senior judge of Osun State judiciary should be so appointed.

“When a seat became vacant at the Court of Appeal, the name of Hon. Justice Oyewole was pushed forward by Senator Tinubu, using the slot of Osun State and thus, Justice Oyewole became Justice of the Court of Appeal.”

The party spokesman said it was, therefore, a fact known to the party and members of the public that Oyewole has a strong connection with the APC and its leader, Tinubu, and as such he should not sit as a panel member for a governorship election dispute between the PDP and the APC. According to PDP, “Moreover, Hon. Justice J.O.K Oyewole is from Osun State.

The instant appeal is over the decision of the Osun State Governorship Tribunal. Given his connections with the APC, it will be most unsafe to allow Hon. Justice J.O.K Oyewole to sit on the appeal panel. We are not assured that justice will be done with Hon. Justice J.O.K Oyewole as a member

of the panel.”

Meanwhile, the Court of Appeal, Abuja division last night denied the membership of Justice Joseph Oyewole in the panel hearing the case of Osun State Governor Adegboyega Oyetola and his party, the All Progressives Congress (APC) at the Court of Appeal Abuja.

Oyetola and APC are challenging the decision of the Osun State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal, which sacked Oyetola from office.

The tribunal, in a split decision of two-to-one in its March 22, 2019 judgment, voided the victory of Oyetola and the APC in last year's Osun governorship election.

Dissatisfied with the decision of the tribunal, Oyetola and the APC had approached the Court of Appeal to reverse the decision.

However as the Court of Appeal schedule April 24, for hearing of the appeal, a lawyer and Chairman of the Ilesa branch of the Nigeria Bar Association, Mr. Kanmi Ajibola, protested the alleged membership of Justice Olubunmi Oyewole in the three-member panel to hear

the appeal on alleged bias.

Ajibola in a letter dated April 18, 2019 to the President, Court of Appeal, Abuja, insisted that Justice Oyewole is a benefactor of the appellants and "will find it difficult to dispense justice on the hard matter of Laws and facts of this appeal."

According to him he had it on good authority that Justice Oyewole was part of the team to hear the appeal.

Similarly a group, the Osun Professional Alliance in a statement issued yesterday in Abuja by its Coordinator, Mr. Sanusi Adelegan, warned members of the panel against compromising the appeal.

He said: "The President of the Appeal Court had warned that any panel member who compromised will have himself/herself to blame. She is also warned against yielding to influence peddlers and those hell bent on truncating the wheel of justice.”

Reacting, the appellate court in a statement issued by its Media Officer, Ms. Saadatu Kachalla, yesterday in Abuja dismissed the claims, adding that the Court of Appeal takes the issue of its integrity highly and would not do anything to jeopardize it.

It said: "Hon. Justice Joseph Oyewole, Justice of the Court

of Appeal, Enugu Division, an industrious son of the Osun State, is not a Member of the Osun Governorship Election Appeal Tribunal set up by the President of the Court of Appeal, who had earlier said that the court must always put her integrity on the front burner.

"The members of the public are therefore advised not to be misguided by desperate and jittery individuals whose action is to heat up the polity.

"Time has changed, and it is better for us to change with time. The era of fake news is over."

Meanwhile petitions so far received against the conduct of the 2019 general election has risen to 766 as at April 16 from 736 in April 4, the tribunal has disclosed.

The new figure was released in a statement by the Deputy Chief Registrar, Election Petition Tribunal, Court of Appeal, Mrs. Rabi Abdulazeez.

The breakdown shows: House of Representatives election – 101; Senate – 205; State House of Assembly – 402 and Presidential – 4.

The statement in addition revealed that 77 election petitions tribunal panels have been set up by the President of the Court of Appeal, Justice Zainab Bulkachuwa, to hear the matters.

passed.

Dogara said to compel the executive to lay the budget on time in accordance with the law, the legislature amended the Constitution to provide for a time line for the submission of the budget but that the president vetoed it.

He explained: "As an activist legislature, the National Assembly effected an amendment to S. 81(1) of the Constitution to compel Mr. President to present the budget estimates not later than 90 days to the end of a financial year in order to solve this problem but unfortunately, very unfortunately, Mr. President declined assent to the bill, which was passed by both the National Assembly and over 2/3rds of the State Assemblies.

"The National Assembly made a further attempt to make the budget process much better by improving the institutional capacity of the parliament to process and pass national budgets by passing the National Assembly Budget and Research Office (NABRO) Establishment Bill into law. It was loosely modelled after the American Congressional Budget Office (CBO). Again, Mr. President declined assent to the bill."

The speaker said it is on record that the 8th National Assembly has supported the president’s requests on critical issues of governance, emphasising that the legislature had backed him by resolution on the issue of fuel subsidy, the national minimum wage, even though it was more sympathetic to workers' rights.

He added: “In security matters, we never cut any proposal from Mr. President save our refusal to rubber stamp a clear constitutional

overreach of spending $1 billion in arms purchase without appropriation.

"We have passed more bills than any Assembly before us including bills that are helping the government improve the ease of doing business in Nigeria, and there were times we passed bills within two legislative days. Is Tinubu genuinely ignorant of all these?

"We challenge Asiwaju Tinubu to list out the bills he claimed were not passed by the National Assembly. The oil and gas or petroleum sector is the most important and critical sector of our economy, which accounts for over 70 percent of our earnings, the executive didn’t forward a single Bill to the National Assembly to reform and reposition the sector in the last four years even when repeatedly urged to do so by Mr. Speaker in his first year in office.

"The lawmakers waited in vain and had to take the bold initiative of crafting a bill - Petroleum Industry Governance Bill (PGIB) among others, passed it in record time and transmitted same to Mr. President for assent. This bill was vetoed without an alternative legal framework proposed by the Executive.

Did Asiwaju miss this also?

"Asiwaju Tinubu should mention the so-called bills the Executive sent to the National Assembly and were delayed to show he is a man of honour or forever keep his peace.

"Could someone also challenge Asiwaju to list all the 'noxious reactionary and self interested legislation on the nation?' Can he name the bills that are reactionary and not in the national interest?

“Is this how wayward lust for power blinds the reasoning of people we should

ordinarily respect? Is it not most unfair, unpatriotic and wicked for Asiwaju Tinubu to have resorted to factoids in promoting his known fascist agenda which he mistakenly thinks he is keeping secret."

Reiterating that the 8th National Assembly is not a rubber stamp parliament and reserves the right, working cooperatively with the executive, to interrogate projects unilaterally inserted by the executive branch without the input of or consultation with parliament, Dogara said that the parliamentarians are representatives of the Nigerian people and you don’t expect them to rubber stamp budgets that are heavily skewed and lopsided against most sections of the country.

It’s Not True, Says Appeal Court

DOGARA FIRES BACK, SAYS TINUBU IS IGNORANT his media aide, Mr. Tunde Rahman, had alleged, among others, that Dogara and President of the Senate, Dr. Bukola Saraki, padded the national budgets, in the last three years, with projects that profited them.

Responding to the allegation through his Special Adviser, Media and Public Affairs, Mr. Turaki Hassan, Dogara said Tinubu is "pursuing fascist agenda to control all levers of power in Nigeria."

According to Dogara, "Only the ignorant with dubious academic certificates will say the maker of a document has padded the document that only he can constitutionally make.

"The legislature cannot be accused of padding a budget it has unquestionable constitutional power to review.

The budget is a law and the executive does not make laws.

“Therefore, it's only the ignorant and those who hold dubious academic certificates that say the maker of a document has padded the document that only he can constitutionally make.”

He said the issue of who could pass the budget had been settled by the court.

He said: "In the words of his lordship, Hon. Justice Gabriel Kolawole of the Federal High Court, in suit No.FHC/ABJ/ CS/259/2014, delivered on March 9, 2016, the National Assembly was not created by drafters of the Constitution and imbued with the powers to receive ‘budget estimates,’ which the first defendant is constitutionally empowered to prepare and lay before it, as a rubber stamp parliament.

“The whole essence of the budget estimates being required to be laid before parliament is to enable it, being the Assembly of the representatives of the

people, to debate the said budget proposals and to make its own well informed legislative inputs into it.”

The speaker advised the APC national leader to be circumspect in his use of language, saying he spoke as a spokesperson of depravity.

“Our reaction must, therefore, be seen as a provoked counter-punch.

Anyone can descend into the gutter, if he so wishes, but no one has a monopoly of gutter language. We won't run an adult day care centre anymore on matters like this,” Dogara added.

He said the House doesn’t expect Tinubu to dwell on brazen mendacity, much less murder facts and decorum in his rabid bid to justify his patently clear fascist agenda of controlling all levers of power in Nigeria.

Dogara insisted that Tinubu's nocturnal agenda has no parallel in the history of any democracy and it is more loathsome when he throws caution to the winds and maligns government officials who are doing a yeoman’s job of stabilising the government of President Muhammadu Buhari, even in spite of political differences.

He said: "It is on record that the speaker has done more to stabilise this government more than Asiwaju Tinubu and his ilk whose stock in trade is scheming, manipulation and subversion, especially when they feel they cannot be caught.

“When the history of Buhari's administration is written by those who know the truth of what really transpired in the last four years, Asiwaju's pretentious loyalty to President Buhari will then be exposed.

We won't say more but no matter how long it may last,

the truth will one day overtake lies.”

Dogara explained that the chief cause of delay in enacting the budget is the persistent refusal or neglect of the executive to present it in good time.

He further explained: "For the records, in the last four years, there was no urgency or plan by the executive to achieve a January to December budget cycle. For the avoidance of doubt, we will show the dates the budget estimates were submitted by the executive in the last four years below.

"The 2016 Budget was submitted on December 22, 2015, exactly nine days to the end of the year; 2017 budget submitted on December 14, 2016, just 17 days to the end of the year; 2018 Budget was presented on November 7, 2017, the earliest even though it also fell short of the 90 days stipulated by the Fiscal Responsibility Act. “The 2019 budget was presented on December 19, 2018 exactly 12 days to the end of the year.

"As if the late or delayed submission of budget estimates wasn’t enough, in most cases, ministers and heads of agencies contributed to the so-called delay by consistently refusing to appear before National Assembly Standing Committees to defend their budget proposals in line with the provision of the law.

"At some points, the leadership of the National Assembly had to take up the issue with the president who advised his ministers to honour legislative invitations to defend their budgets.”

He said save the executive, the legislature inserted a clause that enabled the former to spend till the new budget is

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High Demand Triggers Increase in Air Fares Chinedu Eze

Increasing number of passengers, limited number of operational aircraft and high cost of operations have led to a hike in the cost of air fares in the last two months, THISDAY’s investigation has revealed.

THISDAY gathered that the high increase in fares, which peaked during the Easter break as more people travelled for the holidays, is expected to continue, especially on LagosAbuja and Lagos-Port Harcourt routes.

Investigation revealed that Dana Air, for instance, sold one-hour flight ticket for over N50,000; the same with Aero Contractors and Arik Air, while Air Peace sold its highest ticket on economy for N43,700 during the period under review.

Officials of some airlines told THISDAY that the hike was caused by the ticketing system, which reacts to demand by customers.

They insisted that they don’t manually increase airfares, adding that those who buy tickets early usually buy at cheaper fares.

The officials, however, noted that as more people demand for tickets, the fares go up.

The airlines also blamed the hike on the fewer operating aircraft.

THISDAY gathered that the number of aircraft that is airworthy for domestic operations is about 34, which is almost 50 per cent of the available aircraft few years ago.

Currently, Dana Air has two operating aircraft; Arik Air, five; Aero, four; Air Peace, about 13 Boeing B737 and six Embraer ERJ 45; and Overland, about four aircraft, making it a total of 32 aircraft for over 180 million people, which have domestic annual passenger traffic of about 12 million.

Industry consultant and CEO of Aglow Limited, Tayo Ojuri, told THISDAY that fixing of airfares has become scientific.

According to him, the system automatically increases the cost of ticket, depending on demand and also analyses passenger requests by comparing seasonal demands so as to fix fares in response to available data.

Ojuri also added that the cost of operation, cost of doing business in Nigeria and cost of taxes and charges also determine airfares.

“Government has been able to stabilise the naira in relation

Minister of State for Aviation, Hadi Sirika

to the dollar, but the price of aviation fuel is not stable and it has not come down. Aviation fuel is about 30 to 40 per cent of the cost of airline operation and the airlines spend another 25 per cent on aircraft spares, training, maintenance and reinsurance, which are done in foreign currency. That is why it costs the airlines more.

“All these factors affect the cost of tickets and that brings us to the question - what is the true value of the ticket when you consider the fact that airlines also pay taxes, VAT, airport charges, navigational charges and other ancillary charges. When you really look at it you will find that the true cost of the ticket should be in the range of N50,000,”

he said.

Ojuri noted that Nigeria does not have low cost carriers, thus the cost of ticket is determined by the forces of demand and supply.

He added that inadequate number of aircraft is also a significant factor because fewer aircraft means under capacity, which can also lead to higher airfares.

The aviation consultant also said that there is passenger growth, as confirmed by the Nigerian Bureau of Statistics (NBS), which shows that there is upward trend in passenger movement.

“Added to this is the fact that we have few airlines and fewer number of operating aircraft, which also affect the cost of the tickets,” Ojuri also said.

Head of Corporate Communications of Air Peace, Chris Iwarah, said that fares are computed into the system, adding that it increases with increased demand.

He acknowledged that low capacity might have contributed to the high fares.

“Despite the rising cost of operating a flight, we have continued to maintain our fares without any form of upward review. This is a huge sacrifice we are making to

ensure members of the flying public are not discouraged from air travel by fares that are beyond their reach. As you may be aware, traffic during festivities moves towards some destinations depending on the event. What that means is that you may operate a full flight to the destination and return sometimes with an empty flight or a very low passenger load. This notwithstanding, we have kept our fares stable as a way of supporting our customers as well as appreciating and rewarding their loyalty to our brand.

“Air fares are, however, dynamic. You have different classes of fares, ranging from the lowest to the highest. The implication of the fare structure is that those who book early enough get the cheapest class of fares available. Because of the high demand for air travel to certain destinations during the Easter celebrations, the lowest fares were quickly exhausted. What we then did was to schedule more flights to such destinations to ensure a lot more travellers had access to cheap tickets,” Iwarah said.

Also spokesman of Arik Air, Adebanji Ola, spoke in the same vein, saying that demand for airfares pushes

the prices.

He, however, added that the fact that there was Easter holiday did not significantly increase the demand.

He noted that many aircraft are on maintenance, stressing that as airlines bring back their aircraft to domestic routes, it would create more choices for travellers.

THISDAY learnt that due to limited capacity many airlines deploy fewer number of aircraft on the busy routes, which do not even meet the demand, hence the high fares.

But the Head of Communications, Dana Air, Kingsley Ezenwa argued that high traffic demand on some domestic routes is witnessed only on festivities and public holidays, adding that low season steps in after every festivity like Christmas, Idel-el-fitri, Easter and others.

THISDAY also learnt that travel agents around the airport terminals, especially Lagos and Abuja exploit passengers by buying tickets at low fares and selling them at a high cost to “desperate” passengers.

These travel agents, popularly known as protocol officers, always envisage when there would be high demand for tickets.

At 19%, Nigeria's Borrowing-to-GDP Still Low, FG Insists Says no plan to remove fuel subsidy

Ndubuisi Francis in Abuja

The federal government has reaffirmed its position that in spite of the growing apprehension over the nation's mounting debt profile, Nigeria's borrowing still remains low at 19 per cent to Gross Domestic Product (GDP) when compared to Ghana, Brazil, South Africa, Egypt and Angola.

The Minister of Finance, Mrs. Zainab Ahmed, who stated this against the backdrop of reports

surrounding the purported removal of fuel subsidy, said at 19 per cent to GDP, the borrowing is below the threshold permitted by the Fiscal Responsibility Act. In a statement issued by her media aide, Paul Ella Abechi, the minister said: “In the borrowing, we are still at 19 per cent to GDP. Our borrowing is still low.

What is allowed by our Fiscal Responsibility Act is the maximum of 25 per cent of our GDP, compared to other countries like Ghana, Egypt, South Africa, Angola

and Brazil. We are the lowest in terms of borrowing.

However, the minister noted that the challenge facing the country was that of revenue generation.

"What we have is revenue problem and when revenues perform the aggregate rate of 55 per cent. it hinders the ability to operate in our budget," It hinders our ability to service all categories of expenditures including salaries, allowances, capitals as well as debts," she said.

Her ministry, she stated, is not resting on its oars

with regards to boosting the nation’s revenue.

“So what we are doing at the Ministry of Finance is concentrating and enhancing our revenue and collection capacities”, she stated.

On subsidy removal, she maintained that there was no such plan, noting it was just an advice by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) at the just-concluded Spring Meetings in Washington DC, United States of America.

According to her, unlike the previous regimes where subsidy was paid to

marketers, this time around, “NNPC is the sole importer of petroleum products."

"And so, when they import, it is the cost of business and they deduct that cost before they remit the little money to the federation account. So that is completely different. It is more cost effective. It is cheaper and what is being done now is easier to monitor what transpired.”

The minister assured that there is no intention to remove subsidy as reported in some sections

of the media, adding that the government is yet to come up with any plan in that direction.

“We are not there yet and we discuss this periodically under the Economic Management Team, but we have not found a formula that works for Nigeria and you know Nigeria is unique because what works in Ghana may not work in here.

"So it is still work in progress and so there is no intention to remove fuel subsidy at this time,” she assured.

opportunity of the meeting to tell the three aspirants to harmonise their position and work as a team.

The meeting, it was further learnt, will reiterate the stand of the party on the Senate presidency and ask both Ndume and Goje to queue behind Lawan, who is the preferred candidate of the party leadership.

Lawan had a fortnight ago met with some APC governors where he informed them of his ambition and sought the support of the APC governors for the project.

At the meeting attended

by Governors Nasir el-Rufai (Kaduna), Abdulaziz Yari

(Zamfara), Ibrahim Gaidam (Yobe), Lawan engaged the governors and told them why he is the candidate to beat for the position.

Sources told THISDAY that the governors gave an assurance at the meeting to work in line with the position of the leadership of the APC after listening attentively to the presentation of Lawan.

He had also enjoyed the endorsement of APC Youth Wing that visited him last week, while in the last few weeks, Lawan had continued to engage his colleagues on his ambition.

Last week, the governor of Borno State, Alhaji Kashim

Shettima, also openly endorsed Lawan.

Shettima, who is also a senator-elect and governor of the home state of Ndume, main rival of Lawan, said he was endorsing Lawan as a loyal party man since the leadership of the party had endorsed him.

During the Easter break, Lawan made personal telephone calls to the senators-elect across party lines and emphasised the need for them to key into the project by supporting him based on his pedigree having served at both the House of Representatives and Senate in the last 20 years.

lower court.

Bi-Courtney has always maintained that it was not indebted to AMCON. The company had severally asserted that rather than being a debtor to AMCON, it was a net creditor to the Federal Government of Nigeria and AMCON was one of the agencies of the

said Federal Government of Nigeria.

It had also maintained that this was the position as at the year 2012 when the court ordered the setoff of the alleged debt of Bi-Courtney Limited from the judgment credit of N132, 540,580,304.00 When contacted, a

spokesman for Bi-Courtney Limited confirmed judgment of the apex court and asserted that the amount due to BiCourtney Limited from this act was now over N250billion as FAAN continued to breach the terms of the contract upon which the courts had awarded damages to Bi-Courtney Limited.

APC GOVERNORS RALLY SUPPORT FOR LAWAN, MEET SENATORS-ELECT secretariat in Abuja that all senators-elect must work for the realisation of the Lawan project.

Another senator-elect from South-west zone spoke in the same vein when he told THISDAY that his state governor actually met with the two senators-elect from the state shortly before the Easter break last week.

He claimed that the governor informed them that Lawan for 9th Senate President is a task that must be done at the inauguration of the next Assembly in June.

"My governor told us that apart from voting for Lawan as the ninth Senate president,

we must also be involved in the on-going consultations with stakeholders, including senators-elect from opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) towards ensuring that they see reason to accept the Lawan candidacy," the legislator-elect further said.

As part of moves to further rally support for Lawan, the APC Governors’ Forum has set up a five-man committee to meet this week in Abuja with Lawan and two other ranking APC senators, Ali Ndume and Danjuma Goje, who are also eyeing the Senate presidency.

Although Ndume has made his intention to run for the

coveted office known via a two-page letter he wrote to the APC National Chairman, Mr. Adams Oshiomhole, Goje has been working underground but is yet to make public his interest although he is believed to have the support of PDP senators-elect.

The APC governors' committee headed by the Chairman of the Nigerian Governors’ Forum and Governor of Zamfara State, Alhaji Abdulaziz Yari, also a senator-elect, will meet the three gladiators before the week runs out.

Sources told THISDAY that the committee will use the

S'COURT BACKS BI-COURTNEY, AMCON TO PAY N132BN from the outset as required

by Section 243 of the 1999 Constitution.”

It would be recalled that, Bi-Courtney had obtained a judgment against the Federal Government of Nigeria in 2019 wherein the court directed that all revenues due to Bi-Courtney under the concession agreement should

be paid to the company.

The court had in May 6, 2011 assessed the outstanding money to be N132,540, 580,304.00.

Bi-Courtney then approached the court to set-off this amount from any debt owed to any agency of the federal government, including AMCON. However, not satisfied with

the decision of the trial court, the agency then sought leave from the appellate court as an interested party to appeal against this judgment of the Federal High Court.

It was granted leave by the Court of Appeal, prompting Bi-Courtney Limited to approach the Supreme Court to upturn the decision of the

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NEWS

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

Buhari to Inaugurate $70m Oshodi Transport Interchange Today LASG restricts vehicular movement on some roads Gboyega Akinsanmi President Muhammadu Buhari will today inaugurate Africa’s first mega bus terminal, Oshodi Transport Interchange, constructed at a whopping sum of $70 million, according to the Lagos State Government.

The state government also disclosed that the president would inaugurate the 10lane Oshodi-Airport Road; 170-bed ‘Ayinke House’ (Maternity Hospital); Lagos State Theatre at Oregun, and 820 high occupancy vehicles during a one-day state visit.

The Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Mr. Kehinde Bamigbetan who made the disclosure in a statement he issued yesterday, also announced vehicular restriction in Kodesho Road, Obafemi Awolowo Way and Kudirat Abiola Way, among others.

The statement added that other routes to be affected “are Mobolaji Bank-Anthony Way (coming from the Presidential Wing of Murtala Muhammed Airport to LASUTH underbridge), and Ikorodu Road (between the Ojota Intersection and Anthony Interchange) “Also, to be affected are Oworonshoki-Apapa Expressway (between Anthony and Oshodi Transport Interchange), and International Airport road through the local wing to Mobolaji Bank-Anthony Way and back to the Obafemi Awolowo Way. “All the roads highlighted above shall only be cordonedoff when necessary; Obafemi Awolowo Way and portions of Mobolaji Bank-Anthony shall be closed to traffic on three occasions within the specified period, as they are central to the president’s itinerary,’’ the statement added.

The state government urged motorists and commuters “to avoid the listed roads while

those who find it unavoidable to ply the listed roads were advised to be patient and cooperate with traffic managers.”

The statement said the presidential visit would “hold between 9.00 a.m. and 3.00 p.m. during which traffic on some routes will be diverted in order to ensure a free flow of traffic.”

Constructed purely by an indigenous construction firm, Planet Project Limited under the leadership of Mr. Biodun Otunola, the transport interchange was a peopleoriented project that would help at least one million residents commute easily daily.

A statement from Planet Project Corporate Communication Office explained the rationale behind the transport interchange, which it said, was informed by the peculiarity of Oshodi, West Africa’s busiest transport interchange, with over 13 parks and 5,600 buses loading per day.

It said Oshodi “has over 100,000 passengers and 1 million pedestrians daily, with 76 per cent of its land area dedicated to transport and related activities. This leads to serious traffic congestion and other environmental issues.

“Our concept seeks to transform Oshodi into a world-class Central Business District (CBD) with business, travel and leisure activities conducted in a serene, secure, clean, orderly and hygienic environment, comparable with other transport terminals around the world including Stratford and Victoria Bus Station in the United Kingdom.”

The statement added that the transport interchange would consolidate all the 13 city and interstate bus parks into three multi-storey terminals, providing standard facilities including waiting area, loading bays, ticketing stands, drivers lounge, parking areas, rest rooms, accessible walkways

Senate May Pass 2019 Appropriation Bill Today Deji Elumoye in Abuja The Senate may today pass the 2019 Appropriation Bill presented by President Muhammadu Buhari to a joint session of the National Assembly on December 19, 2018.

The Chairman of the Senate Committee on Appropriation, Senator Danjuma Goje who laid the 2019 budget report before the Senate last Wednesday, is expected to formally present the report at plenary today.

After his presentation, the Senate Leader, Senator Ahmad Lawan, will lead debate on the bill before the Committee of the Whole will then consider clause-by- clause report of the bill. Passage of the bill today will however, depend on the content of the budget report but THISDAY learnt that all grey areas had been addressed and the Appropriation bill may

scale through today.

The Senate had last Wednesday received the 2019 budget report from its Committee on Appropriation.

The committee had a fortnight ago been given up till this week to lay the budget before the upper legislative body.

In line with the Senate directive, Goje (Gombe Central), laid the budget report before the Senate at about 3.35 p.m.

Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki, thereafter adjourned plenary to Wednesday, April 24 (today) to consider the report.

President Buhari had on December 19 unveiled a federal budget proposal of N8.83 trillion for the 2019 fiscal year.

The 2019 total budget estimate is N300 billion lower than the N9.1 billion being implemented for the 2018 fiscal year.

and pedestrian sky-walks linking all the three terminals.

According to the statement, other components of the

terminal include 20 lifts and escalators, two sky-walks connecting the terminals to each other, Architectural LED

Lights, passenger concourse, public address systems, bus depot, passenger drop-off areas, taxi and car parks,

passenger lounge for intercity commuters, loading bays, passenger information systems, among others.

WARM RECEPTION ...

L-R: President Muhammadu Buhari ; visiting Emir of Qatar , Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani; and wife of Nigerian President , Aisha Buhari, during the official visit to the Presidential Villa, Abuja ….yesterday GODWIN OMOIGUI

Shiites Lock down Abuja to Celebrate El-Zakzaky’s Birthday, Detention Olawale Ajimotokan in Abuja Members of the Islamic Movement of Nigeria (IMN) popularly known as the Shiites yesterday locked down human and vehicular traffic in the ever busy Central District of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) to mark the 68th birthday anniversary and 224 days of Sheikh Ibraheem El-Zakzaky’s detention.

The group in their usual fashion of filling according to

age grade and sex, trooped out in hundreds chanting war-like songs as they marched through major roads demanding justice for their detained leaders.

Though the procession was peaceful, they accused President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration of trampling on the rights of the members of IMN, especially El Zazaky and his wife that have been illegally kept behind bars for 1,224 days, despite court orders that they should be released.

The spokesperson of the group, Abdullahi Musa, said that IMN will not relent to demand for justice over the Zaria massacre of its members by soldiers.

According to him: “Despite the recommendation made by the report of the Judicial Commission of Inquiry (JCI) of July 2016 for the prosecution of the perpetrators of Zaria massacre, the Nigerian Government under Buhari is yet to prosecute the perpetrators

of these great atrocities.”

Shiites have been having a running battle with security forces in Kaduna and Abuja since December 12, 2015, when the army reportedly killed over 1,000 members of the group in Zaria, Kaduna State.

They claimed the invasion of their procession then was “a planned and systematic attack on Sheikh Ibraheem Zakzaky launched by the Nigerian Army under a hoax of road blockage.

NAFDAC Raises Alert over Fake Anti-hypertension Drug Esther Oluku The National Agency for Food, Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has alerted the public to the circulation of a fake anti-hypertensive drug.

NAFDAC’s Director General, Prof. Moji Adeyeye, in a statement issued yesterday in Abuja said the drug, Hydrochlorothiazide 50mg (containing Glibenclamide) was already on sale in Cameroon.

“NAFDAC is alerting the public, especially healthcare providers, to the circulation of confirmed faked Hydrochlorothiazide 50mg tablets in Cameroun.

“The faked product has been found to contain Glibenclamide instead of Hydrochlorothiazide.

“In March, the World Health Organisation

(WHO) was informed by an NGO in Cameroon that a medicine, presented as Hydrochlorothiazide 50mg tablets, has caused hypoglycaemia (deficiency of glucose in the bloodstream) in patients.

“Confirmatory laboratory analysis has established that the product did not contain hydrochlorothiazide, the stated active ingredient; rather, glibenclamide was instead identified,” Adeyeye said.

She explained that the genuine version of the drug was for treatment of hypertension, while the falsified medicine poses grave danger to patients.

“Hydrochlorothiazide is used as an anti-hypertensive and diuretic medicine, whereas Glibenclamide is an anti-diabetic medicine.

“The falsified medicine presents a risk for patients

who take hydrochlorothiazide for the treatment of hypertension.

“The label on the plastic container of this faked product states Laboratoires Sterop as the manufacturer; however, this company has confirmed to WHO that it did not manufacture or supply the faked product.

“The Falsified hydrochlorothiazide 50mg is presented in plastic containers of 1000 tablets each,” she said.

The NAFDAC DG further said the drug, which had a batch number of 16G04, also carried 16/2017 as its Manufacture Date and 30/05/2021 as Expiry Date.

“The batch number, as well as a number of other features shown on the label of the faked Hydrochlorothiazide 50mg tablets, do not correspond with genuine manufacturing records. The

label is in English and French languages.”

She advised importers, wholesalers, and retailers to avoid illegal importation and sale of the drug in Nigeria as surveillance had been heightened to prevent such.

“Surveillance has been strengthened by NAFDAC at all ports of entry to prevent importation of the faked Hydrochlorothiazide 50mg tablets from Cameroun.

“NAFDAC has also heightened surveillance to prevent distribution and sale of the faked product.

“Healthcare providers and other members of the public are advised to be vigilant and contact the nearest NAFDAC office with any information on the product,” she said.

Adeyeye further advised those already in possession of the drug to submit it to the nearest NAFDAC office.

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COMMENT

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

SOLIDARITY WITH THE SUFFERING

Sonnie Ekwowusi writes about the need to reach out to those who are in pains

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e have a responsibility not to deprive the suffering in our midst the chance to live a dignified life if not for anything to emphasize our common humanity.

We have the obligation not to foreclose the solidarity options open to us in order to hearken to the assistance of the suffering. It is not enough to busy ourselves in many differing human activities. One of the principal errors that has seriously burdened the process of liberation in our modern age is the widely held conviction that it is the progress achieved in the fields of the sciences, technology, economics that should serve as the barometer for measuring progress. This is a misunderstanding of the meaning of progress. If human welfare is not firmly placed at the centre of all our collective concerns then we are simply wasting our time. Therefore we have to convince the men and women of our age that abstractions such as democracy, political party, economy, development and so forth are not end in themselves, but have value only to the extent that they bring the greater welfare to the people. For us in Nigeria, the struggle against misery is crucial to the future of our country. We cannot turn our back on our suffering country men and women. Faith without work, we have been told, is a dead faith. Charity itself is the bond of perfection. As St. Augustine explains, “Everyone can make the sign of the cross of Christ; everyone can answer, Amen; everyone can sing Alleluluia; everyone can have himself baptized, can enter churches, can build the walls of basilicas. But charity is the only thing by which the children of God can be told from the children of the devil. Those who practice charity are born of God; those who do not practise it are not born of God‌.â€?

Turning our back on the suffering is a betrayal of our faith and humanity. “A man or a society that does not react to suffering and injustice and makes no effort to alleviate them is still distant from the love of Christ’s heart. While Christians enjoy the fullest freedom in finding and applying various solutions to these problems, they should be united in having one and the same desire to serve mankind, otherwise their Christianity will not be the word and life of Jesus: it will be a fraud, a deception of God and man�(St. Josemaria Escriva, Christ is Passing By).

Therefore there is the urgent need to reach out to the suffering. The concern for the suffering should flood our hearts and those of our friends. Last week the Friends of the Sick International, an NGO based in Lagos with the sole objective of catering for the sick and the suffering in hospitals, invited me to a visit to the sick. We went to a popular public hospital in Lagos. On getting to the hospital we introduced ourselves to the nurses on duty. They welcomed us and gave us leave to visit the sick persons in the wards. In one of the wards we met a carpenter who was dying. His little daughter sat beside him. She told us that her father fell off a building and was picked up unconscious. She told us that her mother had separated from her father a long time ago. Asked whether she had had any meal that day she answered in the negative. Consequently one of us put his hands in his pocket gave the little girl some money. On leaving the carpenter, we went straight to the bed of a young

TURNING OUR BACK ON THE SUFFERING IS A BETRAYAL OF OUR FAITH AND HUMANITY

man, probably in his 30s. His genitalia was swollen. It looked ruptured.

It was difficult to have a word with him because he was writhing in pains. The other patient we saw was a victim of okada accident. He fell off an okada along a major expressway and smashed his head on the concrete. His two eyes were swollen. His upper and lower jaws were broken. Sitting by his side was his wife. Near the bed of the okada victim was another young man whose left leg was amputated a few days earlier. His major concern was how to settle his huge hospital bills. His wife who sat beside him was making frantic phone calls to raise funds to pay the hospital bills.

We consoled the patients. We told them about the value of human suffering. In fact one of the patients confessed that his suffering has brought him closer to God. He said that unlike before when he rarely remembers God, he prays to God regularly. One of us briefly narrated to the patients the story of Jesus Christ, how he went about healing people only to be arrested and crucified by the Jews. He told them that Jesus taught that suffering has a redemptive value. He himself suffered to redeem mankind. He would have avoided suffering but he chose it in order to redeem man. He told his followers that they must embrace suffering. “If any man would come after me let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel will find itâ€? (Matthew 8: 34-35). Another member of our group also narrated to the patients the Biblical story of Job and his sufferings. Yet another member told the patients about a book written by Rabbi Harold S. Kushner with the title: “When bad things happen to good peopleâ€?. The book tries to provide answer to the mystery of suffering. In this book the Rabbi narrates how his three-year-old son Aaron was suffering from progeria, a rare degenerative disease that causes rapid ageing in children. The Rabbi writes, “Aaron would not grow much beyond three feet in height. He would have no hair on his head and body. He would look like a little old man while he is still a child and would die in early teensâ€?. Feeling dejected about the whole thing the Rabbi woke up one day and said, “If God existed, if he was minimally fair, let alone loving and forgiving, how could he do this to meâ€?? But in the end, the Rabbi accepted the will of God and rejected the notion that suffering is a punishment inflicted by God. “The Almighty God, who, even the heathen acknowledges, has supreme power over all things, being Himself supremely good, would never permit the existence of anything evil among His works, if He were not so omnipotent and good that He can bring good even out of evilâ€? (St. Augustine). And according to St. Thomas, “God permits indeed that evil come about so as to draw a greater good from them. Whence the words of St. Paul to the Romans, “where sin increased, grace abounded all the more‌.â€?

Anyway we left the patients in a happy mood. The hospital social worker thanked us for coming. He hopes that more visitors will continue to come to the hospital to cheer up the patients. The public should not abandon the patients in our hospitals. They need the solidarity, love and affection of the public.

INDIA’S HUGE GENERAL ELECTION

The election will underscore the ethos and values of the country in the coming decades, writes Rajendra Aneja

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he world’s largest democracy India, with a population of 1.3 billion people, is voting in these few weeks to elect a new government. A general election in India is always a milestone, due to the sheer number of people voting, around 900 million. The electoral expenditure is estimated at USD four billion. India is also a functioning democracy where the verdict of the ballot-box rules.

The Indian elections are daunting in sheer numbers too. Over 8,200 candidates from about 450 political parties, compete for 543 seats in Parliament.

There are around 9,27,000 polling stations across the country, with about 20,000 in forests and semiforest areas, since no voter can be more than two kilometres away from a polling booth. Five million government officers and security personnel manage the elections, which deploys 1.8 million electronic voting machines (EVMs).

Elections in India are also important because the country is a crucible of people with varied religions like Hinduism, Islam, Christianity, Sikhism, etc., and an assortment of castes and tribes. Can people of various hues live together harmoniously? Hitherto, India has proved that they can do so, though there are occasional ruptures.

India is growing rapidly at an average GDP of seven per cent. Nevertheless, it is yet a poor country.

About 23.6 per cent of the population lives below the poverty line. Almost 40 per cent of the citizens in the urban areas like Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, etc., survive in slums. In the villages, about 15,000 farmers commit suicide annually, since they are unable to sell their wheat, rice, etc., at remunerative prices and cannot repay their loans. So, can a large nation accelerate economic growth, reduce inequalities and yet continue to be an effective functioning democracy?

India is thus a test-tube democracy for the world to watch. Can a nation with varied religious and cultural hues, political polarisations and economic distresses survive and prosper within a democratic

framework.

The current elections are crucial, for they are not merely about which party will govern India, or which Prime Minister will lead the country, but what will be India’s ethos in the coming decades.

India was governed for many decades by the Indian National Congress party, founded by Mahatma Gandhi, to fight for the independence of the country from the British. The party was ably led by Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, India’s first prime Minister and also by his daughter, Mrs. Indira Gandhi. Subsequently, her son Rajiv Gandhi led the party and the country for a few years, before his assassination. His wife, Mrs. Sonia Gandhi led the party to victory in 2004, but being of Italian origin could not become the Prime Minister. Hence, a professional economist like Mr. Manmohan Singh was elevated as Prime Minister.

As the economy deteriorated, the leading opposition party, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), gained ascendancy. This party has rightist leanings and has the strong support of the Hindu majority in the country. The Congress has always stood for a secular India, where people of all faiths coexist together. Mahatma Gandhi, always believed in a multi-religious society where Hindus, Muslims, Christians, etc., would prosper.

However, over the years, the Congress party got mired in controversies, some unproved corruption scandals and sheer leadership laziness. Perhaps, the Congress party had started taking the voters for granted. The disenchantment with the Congress led to a massive change in the balance of power in the 2014 elections. The BJP contested 427 seats and won 282. The Congress bid for 464 seats, but won a meagre 44 seats. The BJP mustered an aggregate of 336 seats along with its allies and formed the government. Whilst the BJP could form a government with its 282 seats, it had garnered only 31 per cent of the votes polled in the country. Surprisingly, though the Congress party won only 44 seats, it garnered 19.1 per cent of the votes polled. Herein

lies an anachronism of democracies. The number of seats won, does not necessarily correlate with the votes garnered. Thus, though the Congress dropped its number of seats from 206 to 44, it yet retained about 20 per cent of the national vote, making it an important political player.

Mr. Narendra Modi, the Chief Minister of one of the states, Gujarat, was capitulated to the Prime Minister’s job. He and his team had mounted a deafening decibel campaign through the media like press, TV, radio, digital, etc., to paint the Congress as a dynastic party riled by family princes and steeped in corruption. The Congress media managers were sluggish in deploying new social and digital platforms for mass communications. The new Prime Minister Mr. Modi had promised munificently to the poor Indian voters: 100 smart cities, a million jobs every month, “Make in India� foreign investments, free housing for the poor, a return of foreign moneys stashed abroad by rich Indians, etc. His catchphrase was “Acche Din Aayenge� (Good days will come).

Sadly, after five years, the good days have not arrived. Most of the promises are yet pending. It is widely accepted that the currency demonetization in 2017 was an unmitigated economic disaster that led to utter misery, unemployment, loss of livelihoods and cost lives of 106 poor people waiting to withdraw their own monies from their banks. The Goods and Service Tax was poorly executed with small businesses struggling for months to submit their taxes online.

The infrastructure in urban areas is tattered.

Mumbai city has had three bridge collapses in the last two years. The largest airline in the country, Jet Airways, with 26 airplanes and 20,000 employees, has evaporated in the last few weeks, sending Indians scurrying back to rail travel, in this vast country.

Unemployment is at an all-time high, economic statistics dished out by the ministries are soft. The country is being fractured through divisive politics.

The promised 100 smart cities, are not even in

blueprint formats. Moreover, Mr. Modi is also known to act on his own without adequate cabinet consultation. It is widely reported in the Indian press, that he took an important economic decision like demonetization of the currency without consulting the Finance Minister. Mr. Shatrughan Sinha, a movie star and a former Member of Parliament of the BJP, who has now defected to the Congress, christened the Modi government, as a “one-man show�.

Yet, there is no clear alternative before the Indian people. No opposition leader, including Rahul Gandhi, the President of the Indian National Congress, has been able to project himself as a capable leader, who can lead the world’s largest democracy. Rahul Gandhi has not managed any government portfolio, even when his party governed India between 2004 and 2014. He should have taken over a tough economic ministry and delivered results. That would have cemented his image as a delivering leader, in whom people can repose their faith and future.

However, he chose to stay on the sidelines.

Moreover the opposition social media has consistently depicted him as a prince charming, who is blundering through his speeches and actions. Much of the propaganda against him was Photoshopped and contrived. However, Rahul Gandhi did not fight the campaign actively enough. Thus, quite a few people in the country do not take his candidature and leadership seriously.

Rahul Gandhi has been a reluctant enrollment in Indian politics. His grandmother, Prime Minister Mrs. Indira Gandhi was assassinated in 1984 and his father Prime Minister Mr. Rajiv Gandhi was assassinated in 1991. In some private moments, he may wonder whether public life is worth it. Increasingly public life is becoming a 24/7 commitment, constant media scrutiny and little gratitude at the end of the journey.

Aneja, an alumnus of the Harvard Business School, was the Managing Director of Unilever Tanzania. He is the author of a book, “Agenda for a New India.�

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T H I S D AY WEDNESDAY, APRIL 23, 2019

EDITORIAL Fuel Shortages And The Subsidy Question Government should summon the courage to let go of petrol subsidy

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gainst the backdrop of long queues at some filling stations across the country last week, Finance Minister Zainab Ahmed reiterated government’s resolve to retain fuel subsidy.

“There is no plan to remove subsidy now because we have not yet found an alternative package to subsidy,” the minister said. The response was also to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) which is piling pressure on the federal government to cut out fuel subsidies to free resources to build infrastructure and support human capital development. The pressure is not without cause.

A recent World Bank report called the “Nigeria Biannual Economic Update” for 2018, disclosed that Nigeria spent N731 billion to subsidise petrol consumption last year. In addition, the report stated that the Excess Crude Account (ECA), which provides the country some fiscal buffer, was virtually depleted even though prices of Nigeria’s Bonny Light blend was on average $21 per barrel higher than the budget SPENDING A SUBSTANTIAL benchmark price.

SLICE OF THE NATIONAL According to the bank, BUDGET TO SERVICE most of the petrol THE CONSUMPTION OF volumes Nigeria spent money to subsidise ONE SINGLE ITEM IS in 2018 was inflated DETRIMENTAL TO THE as daily consumption DEVELOPMENT OF ANY rose to 54 million litres NATION per day from 40ml/d in 2017.

To be sure, there are compelling arguments to make removal of subsidy at this point very tricky. Those opposed to the idea usually cite its potentially inflationary impact and the multiplier effects that place a disproportionate burden on the poor. This is a legitimate concern especially in an economy with high incidence of poverty, erratic power supply and inadequate public transport system.

As we have argued on this page several times, subsidies can make political and social sense when they allow a government to pursue strategic objectives beyond the remit of the market and are well targeted. However, the

Letters to the Editor

fuel subsidy regime in Nigeria has been largely captured by an importation cartel and is simply unsustainable.

Besides, spending a substantial slice of the national budget to service the consumption of one single item is detrimental to the development of any nation.

Even if all the sharp practices associated with it are discounted, the fact remains that Nigeria does not have the capacity to sustain petroleum products subsidy. For an economy that is getting weaker and weaker due to exogenous factors beyond the control of the country, the “luxury” of sustaining a warped subsidy regime is not only deceptive, it is tantamount to merely postponing the evil day while wasting scarce resources.

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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

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COMMERCIAL MOTORCYCLE OPERATION IN NIGERIA

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ast week, the Minister of Transportation, Mr. Rotimi Amaechi, at the inauguration of Alhaji Samsudeen Apelogun as the Fifth National President of the Amalgamated Commercial Tricycle and Motorcycle Owners, Repairs and Riders Association of Nigeria (ACOMORAN), in Abuja advised the new leadership to work on retraining its members in line with global best practices.

No doubt, there had been lots of worries about the operations of commercial motorcyclists and tricyclists in different parts of the country ranging from recklessness to security challenges and threats, among others. This informed the reason the Lagos State Government under Mr. Babatunde Raji Fashola in 2012 banned their operations on some roads in the state. And a number of state governments had thereafter frowned at the unnecessary loss of life due to the care-free attitude of the commercial motorcycle and tricycle operators.

It is true that you cannot give what you do not have.

As such, the place of training and re-training of members of a reputable organization like ACOMORAN is very important given its over 12 million membership capacity and the influence it wields in the country. Pathetically, it is only in this part of the world that we leave everything to common sense, forgetting that sense itself is not common. Hence, the need for regular training that will serve as a reminder for common sense thereby instilling sanity into the practice.

e are well aware that this decision is not cost-free. But Nigerians should be objective in assessing the policy against the reality on ground. For one, the standards of behaviour at the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) are troubling. The NNPC has a dismal record when it comes to the issue of transparency and accountability.

For decades, there have been efforts to address the legal, institutional and regulatory framework weighing down the NNPC and indeed, the oil industry. Kachikwu had, for instance, said a while ago before the National Assembly that there was a broad consensus that the role of government in the sector needed to be “better clarified” whilst the policy, regulatory and commercial institutions “need to be given a refocused mandate to ensure better sector governance, transparency of regulations and operations”.

Unfortunately, no government has been able to summon the courage to address the impunity and the arbitrariness in the sector with the overall aim of closing the loopholes that breed corruption. But given recent disclosures, there can be no better time than now to fasttrack reforms in the NNPC and make it more beneficial to the Nigerian people. So too is the need to speed up the passage of the Petroleum Industry Governance Bill (PIGB) which aims at strengthening the institutional and governance structure of the oil industry and the promotion of transparency and accountability.

Also, the need to re-brand the association at a time such as this cannot be over-emphasised. Today, whenever a commercial motorcyclist is sighted, the first thing that comes to mind is that this fellow must be a tout or a rough person. This gives credence to the fact that the call of Mr. Amaechi for the re-branding of the association is very timely. That the association has been labeled negatively does not mean that all its operators are rough.

But it is necessary to make dignity, good disposition and friendliness a priority since the job is about relating with the members of the public. Sound ethical conduct can be communicated to members when there are painstaking efforts to rebrand the association.

The new National President of ACOMORAN, Alhaji Apelogun, has an uphill task ahead. However, looking at his track recorded and success recorded in his eight years as the Chairman of the association in Ogun State, one can be confident that he will not disappoint, especially now that he has assured the minister and the general public that he will revitalize ACOMORAN and make it the foremost motorcycle and tricycle association in the country. In Ogun State, under the leadership of Apelogun, the association collaborated with the state government by compelling the riders to use government number plates. This move brought sanity to the operations of commercial riders since they are aware that the hands of the law can easily catch up with them in case of any misconduct or infraction.

Femi Onasanya, Abeokuta, Ogun State

MINIMUM WAGE AND THE FEAR OF INFLATION

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resident Muhammad Buhari last week Thursday signed the national minimum wage bill into law. The bill became law after the National Assembly unanimously agreed with the amount and passed it. Mr President last year constituted a tripartite committee consisting of the Nigeria Labour Congress, organised private sector and government representatives and charged it with the responsibility of working out acceptable national minimum wage. After series of consultations, the committee recommended N30,000 as the new minimum wage.

The national minimum wage by law is reviewed every five years to reflect the economic reality of the country. The last time salary was reviewed and increased to 18,000 was in 2011.With the increased pump price of petrol in 2015 which led to a raise in the price of good and services, Nigerian workers have been groaning. In my article entitled “Nigerian workers deserve living wage” I concluded that the morale and productivity of Nigerian workers have reduced drastically in recent times due to inflation which continued to eat up their little salary. Prior to pump price increase, the price of rice was N8000 and many workers could afford it. Now, the market price of rice is N18,000, beyond the reach of the ordinary workers. You can count as many items as possible that their prices have skyrocketed within the period under review.

There is fear being expressed by Nigerians that the increase in salary might trigger inflation, unless the government would put in place adequate measures to control the price of good and services. However, the recent consumer price index survey has indicated the prices of food items have crashed in the local market. It is reported that the price of local rice and beans hovers between N10,000 and N14,000 respectively. This is a cheering news for Nigerians and the workers who are expecting the implementation of the new minimum wage. If the government can maintain the current petroleum pump price and fix the erratic power supply, our manufacturing companies will not likely jerk up the cost of their goods and services.

Ibrahim Mustapha, Pambegua, Kaduna State

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T H I S D AY ˾ WEDNESDAY APRIL 24, 2019

MIDWEEKPOLITICS

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

NEWSMAKER

There’s Political Axe to Grind in Rivers

Nseobong Okon-Ekong writes that individuals and groups who have been canvassing strong personal opinion on the polity in Rivers State show that they have a political axe to grind

Wike

Amaechi

Abe

Zebulun

A

electoral act.

Effanga’s position is far from the estimation of the Coalition of Governorship Candidates and Party Chairmen, Rivers State, which is urging INEC to immediately release the said Certified True Copy of results declared within 24 hours to enable interested political parties have a view of it for consideration and determination. The coalition said it was compelled to further accuse INEC of a continual unholy intercourse with Gov Nyesom Wike and the PDP in the state, while depriving some governorship candidates and the various political parties of equal opportunities, rights and privileges.

The Coalition of Governorship Candidates and Party Chairmen, Rivers State is not the only the only individual or group that has an axe to grind with INEC. Between the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the state and INEC, there is no love lost.

On the other hand, APC’s misfortune is largely self-inflicted. Lack of cohesion and cooperation within the party exposed its weakness for exploitation by opponents. For instance, Senator Magnus Abe adopted the attitude of if it’s not me, nobody should have it.

His support base was a loud minority with only one motive, to disrupt and perhaps, destroy what they could not keep in the kitty. Rejecting every move for reconciliation and compromise, Abe behaved like a dancing masquerade whose drummers and chorus party were hidden from the public. Apparently he was well-funded by some groups and those who were opposed to Transportation Minister Rotimi Amaechi within and outside the APC. On closer examination, the political crisis in Rivers may be more about an early start towards the race for office in 2023, rather than 2019 national elections. Those who hold this position point to the threat that Amaechi supposedly poses to power blocs in the country. Those working on this strategy are said to find in Abe, a willing tool.

Inside the APC, particularly in the South-west and the North, certain influential persons from these geopolitical zones do not want to see a stronger Amaechi in 2023. The simple reason is that if the presidency is zoned to the South, Amaechi is a possible threat. He is already very prominent without the complement of a state governor. The reasonable assumption is that if he has one, he will become to outstanding and uncontrollable.

It is for this same reason that former governor of Akwa Ibom State and Senate Minority Leader, Senator Godswill Akpabio also had his wings clipped, losing in an election everyone assumed he was poised to win.

Badly bruised from internal wars, the APC in Rivers was open to all kinds of abuses and since they could not speak as one, the party continued to suffer heavy blows. For instance, INEC removed the APC candidate’s names from their list even before they

were required to do so. They obeyed orders they were not party to and ignored the ones they were party to in anticipation of a Supreme Court order that would finally nail APC. The commission ignored our numerous complaints and petitions, and went ahead with the collation in secret and announced results that countered already announced results.

A glaring abnormality that the commission has refused to address is the date on the certificates of return, showing the issuing date as 14th of March. The opposition argue that this supports that their argument that they were all prepared before collation. They also serve to prevent aggrieved parties from getting justice because filing outside the allotted time is a technical ground for striking out any petition.

Unperturbed by these allegations, the Rivers REC has maintained that his team was bound by the provisions of the constitution, the electoral act, other laws and the guidelines for the election. “We were further bound by the pronouncements and decisions of courts.”

Had the INEC team in Rivers not acted the way it did, Effanga argued that there would have a re-occurrence of familiar, but negative cycle of violence-tainted victories or elections and results that have limited input and participation of the voters. He concluded that if the momentum of this new narrative is sustained, Rivers would no longer remain a flashpoint of violence at elections and would no longer risk being left behind by the rest of the country when it comes to the electoral calendar.

Sounding unapologetic, Effanga thumped his chest for the manner his team behaved. According to him, “The duty of the election management body in such a situation is to ensure that participants in the electoral process do not benefit from their bad behaviours aimed at undermining the rights of the electorate to freely choose their leaders. This is what INEC has done in 2019. If the same opportunity. Presents itself again, we shall not hesitate to act similarly, with the hope that politicians would learn to adhere to rules governing elections. For that to happen, the election umpire is required to be strong and courageous.

nother round of confusion appears to have ensued in Rivers State at the beginning of the week, as a vocal stakeholder, the Coalition of Governorship Candidates and Party Chairmen raised an uproar that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in Rivers State has refused to release Certified True Copy of the declared results to the various political parties that participated in the governorship and state assembly elections in Rivers State.

Though the general election in Rivers State was brought to a logical conclusion on April 13, the drama and tension that preceded it has continued.

Representatives of the group, Warigbani Ezekiel Zebulun and Chibuzor Anele drew attention to their predicament, saying they have remained law abiding despite the unlawful collation and announcement of results without the presence of state agents of opposition parties, who were refused entry into the collation centre by INEC and the Nigerian Police. They insisted that these and several other complaints including court actions were ignored

by INEC during the collation process.

The coalition of opposition political parties said, but for their matured and sacrificial disposition, these actions

by INEC was capable of plunging the state into crisis.

However, the Resident Electoral Commissioner in the state, Mr. Obo Effanga completely disassociated his team from the alleged malpractice.

Rather, he commended the conduct of the electoral umpire. He maintained that he did not expect everyone to be happy with the commitment of his staff to maintaining the rules. Stating that they remain resolute and undaunted, he said they deserve commendation for showing true valour in upholding the standards of equity. “We refused to break the rules to please anyone.”

Effanga did not at all touch on the allegation that he went against the provision of the electoral act by recruiting card carrying members of the PDP as collation officers and even after he announced they will be changed, he still accepted the results from their assigned LGAs. The opposition in Rivers also accuse of the REC of suspending the election in the entire state.

Another act they say contravenes the

Had the INEC team in Rivers not acted the way it did, Effanga argued that there would have a re-occurrence of familiar, but negative cycle of violence-tainted victories or elections and results that have limited input and participation of the voters. He concluded that if the momentum of this new narrative is sustained, Rivers would no longer remain a flashpoint of violence

T H I S D AY ˾WEDNESDAY APRIL 24, 2019

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ANALYSIS

Who Blinks First Between Okorocha and Ihedioha Amby Uneze writes on the accusation of usurpation by the outgoing Governor of Imo State, Chief Rochas Okorocha against his successor, Rt. Hon. Emeka Ihedioha, as well as, the alleged looting of government property by officials of the state

Rochas

W

hen the legendary Jamaican reggae musician, Winston Hubert Mcintosh popularly known as Peter Tosh released his hit song in the 70s titled “Glass House: If you live in a glasshouse; don’t throw stones. And if you can’t take blows brother, don’t throw blows. Harm no man; let no man harm you. Do unto others; as they would do to you…You build your word on lies and illusions; but you never know that this is the conclusion,” he never knew that a day of recknoning would come to a man called Rochas Okorocha who would have by May 29, 2019 served out his eight-year term as governor of a state in Nigeria.

Okorocha who may be compared to Hilter subjected the people of Imo state to an unbearable reign of terror. For these years, sons and daughters of the state were in exile and whenever a few of them visited home, such persons would return back with woes of horrifying stories what had effectively become Okorocha’s enclave.

The people were helpless. Their lands were confiscated by force and converted to build Okorocha’s family businesses.

Peoples’ shops and businesses were destroyed and most of them were sent packing to their various villages and communities to rot away. Some were sent to their untimely graves. Pensioners were dying because their pension and gratuity were denied them; while those who were lucky only received less than 40 percent of their pension. Health and judicial workers were hard-hit as their salaries and allowances were owed for several months. Civil servants were made redundant while their salaries were also not forthcoming. Journalists were banned from covering government activities at government house. In fact, Imo State was completely under siege and bleeding profusely.

The governorship election of March 9, 2019 was what the people of the state needed to breed sigh of relief. They collectively voted for the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate, Chief Emeka Ihedoha as their governor-elect. Ihedioha who majority of the people have directly or indirectly benefited something from remains the best choice for the people of the state. Ihedioha has impacted positively on the lives of the people through skills acquisition programme he brought as a deputy speaker of the Federal House of Representatives or the federal and state roads he attracted and supervised to completion or the power projects he

Ihedioha

facilitated, or the employment he created to numerous Imolites.

In addition, Ihedioha as a pro-people and development-oriented legislator had consistently used his position as leader and driver of the budget passage process of the House of Representatives to push for actualization of democracy dividends to his immediate constituency, Imo State and the South-east geo-political zone at large.

These include inter-state and intra city roads, power transmission/injection stations, vocational/training centres, healthcare facilities, schools and sporting facilities. It is noteworthy that in the area of capacity building, Ihedioha had used personal and official contacts to facilitate the aggressive empowerment of several women and youths through skills acquisition, scholarship and trading support.

These achievements made Ihedioha to develop a reputation for competence, a reputation for leadership capacity and a man that can be relied on to deliver on even difficult assignments. He was clearly marked out as a man who could be entrusted with higher responsibilities of State. He epitomizes a rare brand of legislative excellence and is generally seen as a man who would spare no effort to improve the lives and living conditions of the people.

Wikipedia describes him as a leader who placed his constituency at the centre of Nigeria’s political map even as his first duty of representation demanded yet his approach to issues was pan-Nigeria.

Ihedioha had throughout this time became the darling brand of not just the people of Imo State but the entire Nigerian masses.

He had consistently done his best to place his constituency and Imo State at the centre of Nigeria’s political map.

In his usual characteristics as an intelligent leader, Ihedioha while inaugurating a 139-member of the Transition Technical Committee to draw a road-map for his in-coming administration two weeks ago, he reminded the distinguished members of his readiness to involve all Imolites into his administration, adding that their appointment does not mean that he lacked the capacity to formulate a road map for the incoming government but because he wanted a collective blueprint that would eventually be called ‘our own product’.

“On Wednesday 3rd April, 2019, I had the privilege of inaugurating a Transition Technical Committee, an assemblage of some of our best brains who are individually accomplished in their

careers, to help us prepare a road map for governance based on the manifesto and plans we put before our people and feedback we received from our people during rhe campaigns that ensured our victory in the general elections. The unparalleled support and enthusiasm we have received from these eminent Imo sons and daughters have been humbling and indeed challenging. I appreciate the sacrifices they are making as they have since started work in earnest,” he said.

Again, some days later, he set up and inauguated members of the May 29th Inauguration Planning and Handover Committee for a successful inauguration.

As an excellent and intelligent administrator who wants the best for the state, Imo people applauded these moves.

According to him, we took a deliberate decision to separate the Transition Technical Committee from the Inauguration Planning and Handover Committee. The reason is that the Transition Technical Committee is very busy with planning a roadmap for governance so that we will hit the ground running from May 29th. We did not want to burden this very important Committee with the task of organising the inauguration activities which is a statutory prerequisite for any new administration.

“The Inauguration Planning and Handover Committee is charged with the responsibility of liaising with the existing government to ensure a smooth handover of power as has been done traditionally in Imo State. We intend to take off with an Interdenominational Church Service, Inaugural Lecture and other sundry activities specifically designed taking into consideration the sorry state of affairs of the State and the need to reflect the realities on the ground in Imo today. We want a somber ceremony devoid of the usual pomp and pageantry heralding a new administration,” the governor-elect stated.

Ordinarily, one would have expected the out-going government to commend the noble idea of the governor-elect to start on a good note, it however, devised a diversionary method to distract the attention of Imolites to frivolities. The out-going government began to condemn the setting up and subsequent inauguration of the two important committees, but it forgot that in April 2011, the same Rochas Okorocha set up and inaugurated transition committee that was saddled with planning his inauguration and handover ceremonies.

In 2007 also the governor-elect as at the

time, Chief Ikedi Ohakim, did set up and inaugurate the transition/inauguration committee. It was the road map of that committee that assisted Ohakim in his administration. But Okorocha failed to recognize the need to ask the transition committee of his time to fashion out a road map for his administration, hence he continued to operate an unusual administration without focus, road map and due process. The downfall of his government of familiocracy and imberiberism was largely attributed to disregard to intellectual contributions of technocrats and experienced Imolites who would have contributed positively to his now woeful administration.

Governor Okorocha’s tirade on Ihedioha for allegedly trying to usurp his duties for the very fact that he (Ihedioha and governor-elect) visited the Sam Mbakwe International Cargo Airport that was on fire was also another unintelligent and motor-pack comment. Ihedioha as governor-elect who would take over the mantle of leadership of the state from May 29, is by right the one needed to study the challenges of the state and subsequently plan how to solve them, that is why he is a thorough breed and not an accidental leader.

It is still fresh in the minds of Imolites that Okorocha in April 2011 as soon as he was declared governor-elect immediately punctuated the administration of Ohakim from moving forward. Okorocha wrote to all the banks in the state then to freeze accounts of Imo state government to prevent Ohakim from accessing any fund to pay civil servants and run the administrative expenses of the government as at then.

He went further to whisk away the then Accountant General of the State, Paully Ajoko to further frustrate the government of Ohakim from performing until it handed over to him. As if that was not enough, Okorocha aligned with some House of Assembly members at the time led by Chief Amaechi Nwoha to proceed in impeaching the then Speaker of the House, Chief Goodluck Opiah by a kangaroo arrangement.

Recalling the many atrocities Okorocha committed as governor-elect, it would be proper for Ihedioha to embark on a revenge mission, but considering the different clime and up-bringing of the two gladiators, Ihedioha cannot be equated with Okorocha in terms of milestone and pedigree. Therefore, Okorocha should by now know that if one lives in a glasshouse, he should not throw stones.

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FEATURES

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

Changing NAF’s Capacity, Chiemelie Ezeobi writes that as the Nigerian Air Force clocks 55 as a professional fighting force, changing the force’s capacity and delivery narrative

NAF ďŹ rst set of in-house trained UAV pilots

A

Chief of Air Sta, Air Marshal Sadique Abubakar

ir power in history has been a decisive and critical factor in determining the outcome of any war.

It is a fundamental component of military element of national power. The capability of every air force globally is measured by the number of serviceable aircraft in its inventory and the professional competence of its airmen.

For an efficient, effective and functional air force, capacity development is critical and fundamental.

In its 55 years as a professional fighting force, the Nigerian Air Force (NAF) unequivocally has had its fair share of neglect and setback, just like any other sector of the economy.

The level of training in the NAF was at its lowest ebb prior to the coming on board of the current NAF administration and this led to serious decline in the fortunes of the NAF. As such, most of its aircraft were grounded due to lack of spares while it was even more difficult to secure training slots overseas.

Different reasons could be adduced for this. One was political, stemming from the prolonged military rule.

Secondly, sanctions were imposed on the country at the time which made it extremely difficult to procure equipment or train personnel and this adversely affected both local and overseas training.

Spirited efforts by successive NAF administrations to restore the fortunes and the glorious past of the service

did not yield much result. However, in July 2015 luck smiled on the service once again, as the President and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, Muhammadu Buhari appointed Air Marshal Sadique Baba Abubakar as the 20th Chief of the Air Staff (CAS).

Mindful of the key role of training in building the professional competence of his men, the CAS, wasted no time in carving out a vision to support his quest, “to reposition the NAF into a highly professional and disciplined force through capacity building initiatives for effective, efficient and timely employment of air power in response to Nigeria’s national security imperatives�.

Key Drivers The vision was anchored on six key drivers prominent among which was, “human capacity development through robust and result oriented training for enhanced professional performance�.

With the support of the Federal Government in providing required resources, Abubakar immediately embarked on recruitment as well as training and retraining of personnel to meet the emerging security challenges confronting the nation.

Recruitment In the last four years of being at the helms of affairs, the Abubakar-led administration has recruited 7,693 airmen/airwomen while 669 officers have been commissioned. Currently, about 206 Direct Short Service Commission

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FEATURES

Service Delivery Narrative the Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Sadique Abubakar’s key derivatives is continually geared towards

First female ďŹ ghter pilot undergoing training in USA

NAF Special Forces conducting simulation excercise in Kaduna

(DSSC) officer cadets are undergoing training at the Military Training Centre (MTC), Kaduna.

Before now, the number of recruits into the NAF was just 500 per training cycle. However, with the expansion of the training facilities at the MTC, the number of recruits increased to 2,500.

Enhanced Professionalism Aside increasing the manpower due to the new force structure to maintain the integrity of the air space, emphasis is also geared towards enhanced professionalism of personnel. In the last four years, the NAF has trained officers, airmen and airwomen in different categories of air and ground functions.

The service has winged 92 pilots while several other pilots are undergoing various flying training courses. On the whole, about 1,500 re-currency and advanced flying training courses have been conducted for NAF pilots, both locally and abroad, in the last four years.

One of the striking aspects of the NAF manpower development by Abubakar ’s-led administration is the training of young pilots of the ranks of flight lieutenants and below including females, who are not just captains on their respective aircraft types but also instructor pilots, risking their lives and flying day and night missions to ensure the security of Nigeria and Nigerians. The training of these young pilots would undoubtedly add more impetus to the fight against insurgency and other internal security operations

in the country.

Training for Engineers The serviceability of an aircraft is dependent on the effectiveness of the engineers and technicians. To this end, the current leadership has also taken major steps in the area of training and retraining of engineers and technicians both at home and overseas as over 2,255 engineering officers and technicians have received different levels of training since 2015.

The training has not been limited to pilots, engineers and technicians but equally extended to other operational and administrative personnel. More than 15,114 different training courses have been conducted within the same period.

The story is the same across all trades and specialties in the NAF for both commissioned and non-commissioned officers. The NAF now has a much more competent professional force to undertake missions for effective and efficient service delivery.

Regiment Specialty The Regiment Specialty is not left out in the human capacity development effort of the NAF. As part of its efforts to effectively tackle the internal security challenges in the country in fulfillment of its statutory roles, the NAF, in the last four years, has restructured the Regiment Specialty.

The Regiment Specialty, tasked with the responsibility of protecting NAF bases and own assets as well as national assets like airports, was relatively ill-

equipped with inadequate manpower due to years of neglect.

Today, the Regiment Specialty, under the leadership of Abubakar, has not only been reorganised, but adequately equipped and its personnel retrained both at home and abroad to effectively defend NAF Bases and other critical national assets against attacks as well as emerging security threats in the country.

In 2015, the current NAF administration took a bold step to initiate two separate training programmes for the development of the capacity of personnel of the Regiment Specialty. The first, in collaboration with the Israeli Four Troops Team, was for the development of Special Forces (SF) capabilities for the NAF while the second, in collaboration with the British Military Advisory Training Team (BMATT), was for training in Force Protection in Complex Air Ground Environment (FPCAGE).

Aside from the local training, some of the elements of the NAF SF have also been trained in Belarus and Pakistan.

The SF was established to deal with the dynamism of contemporary security challenges whilst ensuring base defence and protection of NAF air assets and critical installations.

So far, the Regiment Specialty has witnessed astronomical increase in its strength from about 1,300 in 2015 to over 4,000 while over 1,000 SF personnel have been trained both locally and abroad. Out of the 1,000 SF personnel, 300 have been deployed for internal

security operations in Zamfara State and another 300 deployed to Benue State under the Defence Headquarters ‘Operation WHIRL STROKE. In the same vein, 3,600 personnel drawn from the Regiment, Intelligence and Air Police specialties have been trained in FPCAGE from 2015 to date.

The regular and advanced training of aircrew and other operational and administrative personnel has reinforced the combat capability of the NAF; which accounts for the significant successes so far recorded in the fight against insurgency and other forms of criminality in the country in the past four years.

The CAS strongly believes that, “a man cannot give what he does not have�. This informed his passion for training and retraining of NAF personnel for effective and efficient service delivery. In his words, “in the race to add value to our society and secure our communities, there is no finishing line.�

For an air force previously beset by significant deficits in funding, equipment, logistics, updated combat doctrine in a new-to-the-nation conflict, Nigeria’s Chief of the Air Staff, Air Marshal Abubakar has moved unrelentingly to change the narrative and reposition the force to better confront and defeat the foe, on multiple fronts.

Significantly, in the heat of conflict, he has also ensured that the NAF continues to remain apolitical, professional and commendably responsive in the discharge of its constitutional roles.

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T H I S D AY ˾ WEDNESDAY APRIL 24, 2019

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BUSINESSWORLD

Group Business Editor Obinna Chima Email obinna.chima@thisdaylive.com 08024557078, 08152447875

ÍŻ ͡ Ëœ Í° ÍŽ ÍŻ ͡ MONEY MARKET OVERNIGHT OBB

REPO 10.57 % 9.86%

CALL 1-MONTH 3-MONTH

10% 12.75% 12.88%

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

͹͜ʹ˛ͳͲϹ -0.08% -0.01%

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

-0.01% 8.28%

EXCHANGE RATE ͹͎ʹ˛͡ͳ˚ͯ ̊ ̊

Quick Takes Huawei Launches 5G Communications

China’s Huawei Technologies has launched what it said was the world’s ďŹ rst 5G communications hardware for the automotive industry, in a sign of its growing ambitions to become a key supplier to the sector for self-driving technology. Huawei said in a statement that the so-called MH5000 module was based on the Balong 5000 5G chip which it launched in January. “Based on this chip, Huawei has developed the world’s ďŹ rst 5G car module with high speed and high quality,â€? Reuters quoted the company to have said. It launched the module at the Shanghai Autoshow, which began last week and runs until Thursday. “As an important communication product for future intelligent car transportation, this 5G car module will promote the automotive industry to move towards the 5G era,â€? Huawei said.

It said the module would aid its plans to start commercialising 5G network technology for the automotive sector in the second half of this year. Huawei has in recent years been testing technology for intelligent connected cars in Chinese cities such as Shanghai, Shenzhen andWuxi and has signed cooperation deals with a swathe of car makers including FAW, Dongfeng and Changan. The company, which is also the world’s biggest telecoms equipment maker, is striving to lead the global race for next-generation 5G networks but has come under increasing scrutiny from Washington which alleges that its equipment could be used for espionage. Huawei has repeatedly denied the allegations.

COURTESYVISIT

L-R: Managing Director, Royal Exchange General Insurance Company, Benjamin Agili; President, Professional Insurance Ladies Association (PILA), Mrs Ose OluyanwoandManagingDirectorRoyalExchangePrudentialLifeAssurance,WaleBanmore,duringacourtesyvisitofPILAPresidenttotheinsurancecompany inLagos‌recently

Expert Seeks Increased Awareness on Multi-fund Investment Structure Ebere Nwoji A Chartered Insurer and former Managing Director of Linkage Assurance Plc, Dr. Pius Apere, has kicked against the multi-fund investment structure introduced last year by the National Pension Commission (PENCOM), stressing that the Pension Fund Administrators (PFAs) have not created enough awareness on the initiative.

Apere, who stated this at a forum in Lagos, also warned that contributors may make inappropriate investment decisions due to the lack of knowledge of the plan.

Fund administrators, he

ECONOMY added, can reduce the risk by providing access to education, advice and/or communication to ensure that contributors understand what is being offered and the potential consequences of the choices that they make.

However, he stressed that doing this would be at a cost to PFAs. Apere also said projections of the future pension benefits would be more complex because of many overlaps between some fund types, “thus, the range of investment options (Fund Types) provided will impact on cost of administration of Pension Fund

Administrators.�

He further noted that for a defined contribution scheme that offers an underpin (a guaranteed minimum pension), there is a risk that members of the Contributory Pension Scheme will choose a more risky investment strategy than they otherwise might have, “since they know they have a minimum benefit promise or members will choose a very safe investment strategy with relatively low expected returns.�

He further noted that a pragmatic approach for allocation of investment returns within a given fund type amongst contributors may be adopted to take into account of each

individual contributor’s asset under management (AUM) and/or duration profile (in years) within the fund type.

Apere concluded that the implementation of the MultiFund Structure for Contributory Pension Scheme under PRA 2014, was expected to maximise the investment returns for Retirement Savings Account (RSA) holders prior to retirement and that this would in turn likely to increase their pension benefits at retirement. He emphasised in the need for involvement of Actuarial knowledge and ideas in the pension fund investment, Continued on page 24

Report Highlights Impact of DigitalTechnologies on Global Value Chains Global value chains (GVCs) have regained momentum in recent years, leading to the creation of new jobs and increased prosperity, especially in developing economies, according to a new report co-published by the WTO and five other institutions.

New digital technologies, such as robotics and big data, are reshaping GVCs and creating new opportunities for the participation of small and medium-sized enterprises, but policymakers would need to ensure the benefits are shared widely.

It noted that while the expansion of GVCs has generally slowed since the financial crisis of 2008-09, the most recent data

ECONOMY showed that complex value chains involving production processes across multiple economies grew faster than GDP in 2017, according to the Global Value Chain Development Report 2019 co-published by the WTO, the World Bank Group, OECD, the Institute of Developing Economies (IDEJETRO), the Research Center of Global Value Chains of the University of International Business and Economics (UIBE), and the China Development Research Foundation.

The report looked at the impact of GVCs on labour markets, finding that trade has

not been a significant contributor to declines in manufacturing jobs in advanced economies and that it has enhanced employment and income in developing economies.

It also pointed to job gains in the services sector in both developed and developing economies as production processes have evolved under GVCs. The report nevertheless recognizes that the structural changes in economies can vary considerably across regions and individuals with different skill levels, particularly in developed countries. It therefore highlighted the need for governments to implement adjustment policies to make sure economic gains are spread more evenly.

The report examined the impact of technological progress on GVCs, finding that digital technologies could help increase the participation of small and medium-sized enterprises in GVCs by bridging distances and reducing trade costs.

As for the length of supply chains, the report noted the impact of new technologies has remained uncertain as innovations could either encourage reshoring of manufacturing production closer to consumers or strengthen the diffusion of production lines by continuing to reduce assembly costs. “Global value chains continue to evolve and play a critical

Facebook Appoints General Counsel

Facebook Inc on Monday named the legal adviser to the United States Department as its general counsel, as the social media giant faces growing regulatory hurdles and privacy concerns.

Jennifer Newstead, who brings government and private sector experience to the role, would succeed Colin Stretch, who decided to quit the company in July 2018, Reuters quoted Facebook to have said in a blog post.

Facebook has come under increasing pressure around the world to stop the spread of misinformation on its platform, while its ad practises have been in the spotlight for two years amid growing discontent over its approach to privacy and user data. The social media company also named John Pinette as vice president of global communications, succeeding Caryn Marooney, who decided to leave the company in February.

S’Africa Set for Eskom’s Bailout

South Africa’s government has had to bring forward the bailout of state power ďŹ rm Eskom, after it rushed 5 billion rand ($355 million) to the struggling utility earlier this month to avert a default and said more cash could be needed soon.

Eskom supplies more than 90 per cent of electricity in Africa’s most advanced economy but is grappling with cashow problems and a debt mountain which it is struggling to service.

The government in February promised Eskom a 23 billion rand a year bailout over the next three years, but it only expected to start giving the cash-strapped utility the ďŹ rst tranche of funds between August and October this year.

But by the end of March, Eskom was experiencing diďŹƒculties raising funding, according to a ďŹ nance ministry report to parliament seen by Reuters, prompting Finance Minister Tito Mboweni to authorise the cash transfer on April 2.

The fact that the ďŹ rst tranche of the bailout had to be brought forward highlights the precariousness of Eskom’s ďŹ nancial position, which has been exacerbated by spiralling diesel and maintenance costs. “In order to avert a default by Eskom on its obligations, on 2 April 2019, the Minister of Finance ... authorised the payment of 5 billion rand,â€? the report to parliament said, adding Eskom could need another government cash injection before April 30.

A ďŹ nance ministry spokesman conďŹ rmed Mboweni had authorised thetransferofmoneytoEskom.Earlythismonth,PublicEnterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan said the highest levels of government were considering a variety of additional ďŹ nancial support measures for Eskom, beyond the bailout announced in February.

“Lagos, like Nigeria, is the epicentre of the energy access crisis across the globe. There is not one person, or business in Nigeria that is not confronted with this crisis. Unfortunately, Lagos is one large city that has suffered much energy crisis, considering its huge location of businesses and massive population�

CEO, ZOLA Electric

Bill Lenihan Continued on page 24

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EXPERT SEEKS INCREASED AWARENESS ON MULTIFUND INVESTMENT STRUCTURE adding that it was traditionally thought that members in defined contribution (DC) schemes bear all the investment risks and rewards and receive benefits (based on whatever contributions and investment returns are produced at retirement), which are adjusted automatically.

According to him, contrary to this, a Defined Contributory scheme such as the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS) operating in Nigeria that forces compulsory contribution according to section 4(1) of PRA 2014) and entails significant tax concessions (section 10 of PRA 2014) should not, under reasonable circumstances, be left to require members to bear all risks over many decades of membership.

REPORT HIGHLIGHTS IMPACT OF DIGITAL TECHNOLOGIES ON GLOBAL VALUE CHAINS role in global trade. This report improves our understanding of their evolution and the role they play in labour markets in developed and developing countries. “GVCs provide new opportunities for countries, sectors and firms to participate in global trade, while also being a potentially disruptive force. Designing domestic policies to enhance the substantial benefits of GVC participation while addressing potential adjustment costs will help ensure trade and GVCs generate inclusive growth that benefits all,� WTO Chief Economist, Robert Koopman said. “Global value chains are critical to poverty reduction because they influence where jobs go, who gets them, and what types of jobs they are. “To take full advantage of opportunities emerging from GVCs, governments need to enhance connectivity by investing in infrastructure and digital technologies and opening to trade and investment,�

World Bank Group Director of Trade, Regional Integration and Investment Climate, Caroline Freund said.

Siemens Diversifies to Non-oil, Gas Sectors Ernest Chinwo in Port Harcourt Siemens Nigeria has said it plan to diversify its power services business to the nonoil and gas sectors to cushion the effect of fluctuations in the oil and gas industry as well as foreign exchange in the country.

Speaking to THISDAY, the General Manager, Power Services Business, Siemens Nigeria, Seun Suleiman, said the company has invested over â‚Ź3.5million to open a fully equipped workshop in Port Harcourt to serve both the oil and gas and non-oil and gas companies.

Suleiman expressed regret that most industry operators saw Siemens Power Services business as limited to the oil and gas sector, adding that the company’s services was beneficial to the food and beverages industry as well as the agro-chemical industry, among others.

Explaining the reason for the diversification, he said: “The oil and gas industry is a very traditional market.

You find people who have been in the industry: they just want to remain in the industry. So, the orientation we are trying to change is that we cannot stay there alone. Everyday cannot be Christmas. We need to move out of that mentality. “If you look at the Nigerian oil industry, during the last few years before this administration, the oil price was a certain level and the Nigerian budget was planned based on those indices. “When the new government took over, it was in the general public that what they sold oil was less than what the previous administration sold it for. They said they did not have much even when they planned to do more. “So, I am also looking at

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it to say the oil market has dropped. It is only trying to pick up. But because it is trying to pick up again, I should be able to say: what are the other areas that I can also diversify because when the oil price crashed, customers were calling us to say they could not pay what they used to pay because of the price slump. So now that the price of crude oil is going back, nobody is trying to talk about it because they don’t want to go back to the old problems. “It is also good to say we that are not an oil and gas company but has people in the industry as our customers will be more impacted because they are only doing services that are only mandatory. Before they could do what was not strictly mandatory but now

they have more stringent control on their finances.

So as a business owner, I have to look for other areas.�

Suleiman added: “I want the non-oil and gas sector public to know that we have a shop here fully equipped with machinery where we can repair pumps and valves.

We are also trying to put together capacity for electric motor. We are also looking at strategy for repair of dry gas seals. “This is not something that is only used by my customers in the oil and gas industry.

It is also used by companies in the non-oil and gas sector.

This way we are creating jobs and technology.�

He said the the workshop was equipped to service, repair, and overhaul of rotating and reciprocating equipment (gas turbines,

compressors, and pumps); service, repair, and testing of valves; Gas and Diesel engine cylinder head overhaul and refurbishment; Shot Blasting; General machine tools (lathe machining, drilling, milling, grinding etc); and general fabrication.

On local content, Suleiman said the power services business of Siemens Nigeria has 60 staff, with only one being an expatriate who would also retire by the end of the month to be replaced by a Nigerian. “For this business that I sit on, we have only one expatriate and he is retiring this April and I have recruited a Nigerian to replace him.

So, the workshop that was run by an expatriate will be run by a Nigerian now. So, we have localised from a manpower perspective. We believe that in a country of

about 170 million people, Nigerians are very good and we can get anybody we need for all positions.

That is one. “For the materials aspect, how are we localising; ensuring that most of the work we do here incorporate the local content? We say we have a turbine, a compressor etc. “You notice that the factories that manufacture these things all sit abroad and there is a limit to the amount of work that we can do here locally. But now, if you go to our workshop here in Port Harcourt, even in our compressor work, we are doing a lot of inspection here, we have the tooling; some jobs we are doing more than 50 per cent of the local work here,� he added.

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UK, AECF Approve ÂŁ16m to Support Solar Power in Nigeria, Four Others Chineme Okafor in Abuja

Obinna Chima

The United Kingdom and Africa Enterprise Challenge Fund (AECF) have approved a fresh round of funding worth ÂŁ16 million to support the deployment of solar generated electricity by small businesses in Nigeria and four other African countries.

Expected to be deployed through AECF’s Renewable Energy and Adaptation to Climate Technology (REACT) Household Solar Round Two Competition, the funds would provide a mix of interest free loans and repayable grants and technical assistance to private sector operators in the solar business.

Apart from Nigeria, solar power operators in Ethiopia, Ghana, Senegal and Somalia, would be

allowed to access the funds as long as they meet the requirements spelt out by AECF, a statement obtained

by THISDAY explained.

Up to 25 solar-based businesses or operators from these countries would be able to access the fund on a matching grant basis. The funds would also be disbursed to successful operators on a milestone process, while repayment would not be immediately.

According to the statement, the funding window was part of AECF’s Africa Clean Energy Programme (ACE). It also seeks to increase the supply of household solar systems to rural markets at affordable costs, facilitated through innovative financing; operating and distribution models such as the PAYGO

and micro-financed solar power interventions. “Renewables provide just 18 per cent of Africa’s current power generating capacity, therefore developing off grid alternatives could create many more opportunities and transform millions of lives,� said the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of AECF, Daniel Ohonde.

Ohonde, further explained: “Solar home systems are a simple solution that do not appear in the macro-economic statistics, yet they have the ability to transform the lives of millions of school children.�

According to him, REACT Two would with its ÂŁ16 million funding pool, “accelerate access to transformative solar home systems to the rural poor households in sub-Saharan

Africa.� “The competition promotes a market-based approach for the delivery of solar home system products and services in five countries namely, Ethiopia; Ghana; Nigeria; Senegal; and Somalia. The additional funding will enable AECF to continue investing in private sector companies to deliver business models which accelerate access to transformative solar home systems to rural markets in sub-Saharan Africa,� he added.

Ohonde, equally noted that the first tranche of the REACT competition in 2017 which funded solar power deployments in Sierra Leone; Zimbabwe; Malawi; and Zambia, was worth ÂŁ8 million, adding, “We are happy to say that within that short period we

are able to demonstrate initial impact of our investments.�

The AECF, he explained, was a $356 million valued development institution that works with the private sector across 26 countries and in two sectors of agribusiness and renewable energy.

The institution, he indicated provides catalytic funding as grants or interest-free loans to businesses in these sectors to have a positive impact on the rural poor in sub-Saharan Africa.

He also said the REACT programme has so far contributed to the generation of 29.7 megawatts (MW) of clean electricity in countries it has supported, while reducing their carbon emission by over one million tonne of carbon dioxide equivalent (tCo2e) cumulatively.

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Dow Separates from DowDuPont Chineme Okafor in Abuja Multinational company, Dow has successfully completed its separation from DowDuPont. This is expected to ensure the entity becomes a more focused and streamlined material science company.

A statement from the company which was sent to THISDAY, indicated that the separation also included the distribution of Dow common stock, with each DowDuPont stockholder of record receiving one share of Dow common stock for every three shares of DowDuPont common stock held as of the close of business on March 21, 2019.

According to the company, with the development, Dow now better positioned to drive revenue growth and innovate for its customers, leveraging three advantaged building blocks of ethylene, propylene and silicones, to power one of the deepest chemistry sets in the industry.

It explained that this would also allow it launch out to become a global leader in three attractive consumerdriven segments of packaging, infrastructure and consumer

care.

Dow, the statement added, has been in West Africa since 2012 with two main locations in Nigeria and Ghana. It also operates 38 manufacturing sites in 15 countries across Europe; Middle-East; Africa and India, and delivered pro forma net sales of $17.4 billion in 2018.

The statement quoted Jim Fitterling, who is the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) to have said that: “Today marks the beginning of a new and exciting chapter for Dow. The changes we have made to Dow’s portfolio, cost structure and mindset are significant.�

Fitterling, further explained that: “The new Dow is a more focused and streamlined company with a clear playbook to deliver long-term earnings growth and value creation for all stakeholders. “Team Dow is well positioned to achieve our ambition of becoming the most innovative, customer-centric, inclusive and sustainable materials science company. “We have all the tools in place to innovate more quickly, to operate more

productively, and to invest more prudently to deliver value creating growth, higher returns and enhanced shareholder value.�

Also in the statement, the President and Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of the firm, Mr. Howard Ungerleider stated: “Today, we celebrate this milestone with our customers, communities, investors, and Team Dow. With our focused portfolio, streamlined cost structure, disciplined approach to capital allocation, and shareholder friendly capital return framework, the new Dow has the right capabilities and team to drive best-in-class operating and financial performance.�

The company’s Managing Director for West Africa, Edosa Obayagbona, equally said with the development, “the new Dow locally translates into a highly focused, more robust material science product portfolio leveraging expertise from the joint heritage of DowDupont, in support of our manufacturing and development aspirations in West Africa driven by customer centricity, collaboration, inclusion and sustainability.�

‘We’ll Electrify More Shops, Markets, Despite Iponri Fire Incident’ Chineme Okafor in Abuja The Managing Director of the Rural Electrification Agency (REA), Damilola Ogunbiyi, has said the agency would keep up with its plan to provide clean electricity to markets and economic clusters across the country, despite a recent fire incident at one of the markets it provided electricity to, the Iponri Market in Lagos.

Ogunbiyi, in a statement from the agency, explained that the plan to get markets in the country go off grid would no go on because the programme initiated by the federal government has impacted on the markets positively. “This unfortunate incident will not deter EEI’s objective to electrify over 80,000 shops, empower over 340,000 micro, small and medium size enterprises (MSMEs), create over 2,500 jobs with the initial 16 economic clusters while serving over 18 million Nigerians. “It is a stark reminder that safe electricity installations

and practices are paramount.

It is a requirement on all EEI projects and a measure we take very seriously,� said Ogunbiyi in reaction to the Iponri Market fire incident.

The statement also noted that while the exact cause of the fire outbreak was yet to be known, it had nothing to do with the solar power installations at the market. However, some of the components of the solar system were burnt by the fire.

It noted: “Regrettably, about 17 shops were affected by the fire but thankfully there was no loss of life. The REA commiserates with the shop owners affected by the incident and is committed to providing the necessary support to the affected traders. “Although the exact cause of the fire is still unknown. It has been confirmed that the fire was not caused by the clean solar system powering many shops within Iponri market. “As a result of the fire, meters and cable networks across some of the affected shops already connected to the Energising Economies solar powered system were destroyed,� it

added.

It quoted a representative of the Iponri Market Energy Solutions Limited (IMESL), Mr. Ademola Adeshina, to have said: “IMESL had to shut down the solar system in order to conduct a comprehensive asset and systems assessment.

We are also working hard to restore electricity to the market in coordination with the Iponri Market Association.�

According to the REA, the federal government through it is implementing the Energising Economies initiative (EEI) which provides clean, safe and reliable electricity to economic clusters across Nigeria working with private sector developers.

It added that Iponri Market is one of the many markets benefiting from the first phase of the initiative.

It also stated that the EEI already has some transformational impacts on businesses in Iponri market as well as other markets across the country through steady power supply, increased economic activity and business growth, job creation and enhancing customers’ experience.

Egypt’s Borrowing to Hit $48bn Egypt expects its borrowing needs to reach 820.7 billion Egyptian pounds ($48 billion) in fiscal 2019/20, a 26 per cent increase from the previous year, the draft budget seen by Reuters showed. The draft showed domestic borrowing would increase by 45 per cent to 725.2 billion pounds, while foreign borrowing would decline by

36 percent to 95.6 billion.

Egypt expects to issue 435.1 billion pounds worth of treasury bills, against 350.8 budgeted for the 2018/2019 fiscal year, a 24 percent increase, the draft showed.

It also plans a 93 percent increase in treasury bond issuance to 290.1 billion pounds from 150.3 billion.

Egypt also aims to review the

general rate of its value-added tax, the draft said, introduced as part of reforms tied to an IMF loan. It will review the list of exemptions in the 2019/20 fiscal year. “There is no intention to adjust the general price of the value-added tax in the coming period at all,� an official at the Finance Ministry told Reuters on Monday.

ELEVATING TO THE NEXT LEVEL Marie-Therese Phido

A String of Broken Promises You cannot begin to imagine the sight I saw a few months ago, when I went to transact business in a service establishment.

I had gone to straighten outstanding issues I’d been talking about to my relationship managers telephonically and by email which had not been resolved.

After concluding my transaction, on the second floor, as I descended the stairs and approached the hall where the generality of customers were attended to, I heard commotion coming from one direction of the hall. A man had stripped naked! It was a sight to behold. I had never seen a thing like that in my life! A grown man naked in all of his glory. The women did not know where to look and were all looking away in embarrassment and so was yours truly.

We were all in askance and I am sure everybody felt violated, because I did too.

We all started berating the man, “why have you removed all of your clothes?

Are you not ashamed? What can possibly warrant this disgraceful behavior?� Despite the commotion and the angst he was causing, he worsened the situation by sitting down naked. The questions continued as everybody wanted to understand why he had to resort to this extreme behavior.

He reeled out a long tale of woe. His pain was that his money had been stuck in the establishment despite several visits and communication with the organization to no avail. He felt he had no alternative but to strongly express his disappointment and give them a show down. Luckily for us, the security guards came and bundled him out. We all heaved a sigh of relief and shared our own challenges with the organization. Many of us sympathized with the naked man. We could all relate with him and understood the frustration he must have felt.

The incident left an indelible mark, that I am sure I will never forget. Can you begin to imagine the man’s challenges with this organization that made him lose all sense of decorum and resort to stripping naked in public? He was driven crazy by the string of broken promises he had endured without tangible results.

An organization currently driving people crazy is a popular domestic airline. They continually break their promises to their customers every day. We have all been shattered by their irresponsible and appalling service. They’ve lost all empathy for their customers and do not care about their brand and how inconveniencing their services have become. Many of us have had to travel with the first flight, irrespective of when our meetings were, because we did not want to miss important appointments.

People are also often left stranded at the airport and flights cancelled or unnecessarily delayed for hours, sometimes very late into the night. I learnt the other day, that some passengers lined up on the tarmac to stop a flight from leaving without them, because they had been waiting for two days without being air lifted. They more or less “hijacked� the plane just to get the service they were entitled to. How harrowing that experience must have been for them.

Many of us have suffered from broken promises from various establishments.

Where we pay for services or products that are subpar. Why do some organizations do this? Once they think they have gotten your custom, they start to behave very badly. When a friend of mine narrated his experience on the airline I mentioned earlier, I told him the only reason the airline has continued to behave in the manner they

are known for, is because they still have demand for their services, and if there is demand, why change? Until Nigerians stop using them and move to competition, they will not change.

Unfortunately organizations like this airline, are killing themselves and may soon become extinct. Historically, organizations that provide poor services and think that their customers do not matter, may be because they enjoy a monopoly at the time, are usually left in the cold once an alternative comes into the markets.

Most of the new entrants get a foothold into the market by cleaning up the mess of the organization they are displacing.

Breaking your promises to your customers has dire consequences for your business and should be avoided at all cost.

Thomson Dawson said “If companies don’t deliver on their promises, it will have far reaching consequences. Promises matter to people. If organizations don’t deliver what they promise, in time, you won’t matter to them. More importantly in our social media crazed world, vetting out broken promises made to customers has instant ramifications to the credibility and trajectory of your brand’s perceived value.�

To continue to remain valuable in the eyes of your customers you need to ensure that your front line representatives keep your organizations promises in their interactions with customers in-person, on the telephone, electronically or through social media as well as ensure your brand’s promises are fulfilled using feedback from customers.

Accenture conducted a survey on broken promises and found that organizations that keep their promises, “promise keepers� held a variety of trump cards starting with enhancing their brand image. These promise keepers are likely to retain their customers and capture new ones, achieve lower cost, cultivate good public relations and their customers will likely be high value ambassadors for the company’s products and services.

How can you become a promise keeper?

- Reinforce your processes, human customer services and implement the enabling technology - Empower friendly knowledgeable customer service representatives with the processes to resolve customer issues promptly and use appropriate offers to salvage broken relationships.

- Leverage technology to meet customers’ expectations across multiple channels.

- Listen to your customers and take action when a service breakdown occurs - Use analytics to understand underlying customer issues and intentions in order to solve underlying problems.

Many organizations know that it is a buyers’ market and some also know that customers are no longer following organizations blindly. Yet, many organizations are not keeping their promises to their customers. Delivering and keeping your brand’s promise is the only way to ensure that your customers keep faith in you.

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

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Nigeria’s Unending Fuel Subsidy Debate Obinna Chima writes on the raging debate over the fuel subsidy regime in Nigeria The age-long debate over fuel subsidy removal in Nigeria has started reverberating.

Once more, there has been divergent views on this policy which appears to be a thorn in the flesh of successive governments in the country.

While those that advocate for fuel subsidy to remain maintain that the country cannot do without the policy until all palliatives to cushion the effects on the poor are fully in place; those who oppose it described it as a colossal waste, stressing that a country that has consistently grappled with low revenue generation cannot continue waste huge resources subsidising fuel consumption.

A leading voice in the call to end fuel subsidy in Nigeria, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) advised the Nigerian government recently to jettison the policy and expend the funds on health, education and infrastructural development.

IMF’s Managing Director, Mrs. Christine Lagarde, said subsidy spending was infringing on other critical areas of capital development, hence the need for the government to refocus.

The IMF chief said it was the monetary institution’s general principle to discourage fossil fuel subsidies because of its consequences on other areas of life and development.

She said: “As far as Nigeria is concerned, with the low revenue mobilisation that exists in the country; in terms of tax to Gross Domestic Product (GDP), Nigeria is amongst the lowest.

A real effort has to be done in order to maintain a good public finance situation for the country and in order to direct investment towards health, education, and infrastructural development.�

Highlighting some of the negative impacts of fuel subsidy, Lagarde said: “If you look at our numbers from 2015, it is no less than about $5.2 trillion that are spent on fuel subsidies and the consequences thereof. And the Fiscal Affairs Department has actually identified how much would have been saved fiscally but also in terms of human life, if there had been the right price on carbon emission as of 2015. Numbers are quite staggering. “If that was to happen, then there would be more public spending available to build hospitals, to build roads, to build schools, and to support education and health for the people. “Now, how this is done is the more complicated path because there has to be a social protection safety net that is in place so that the most exposed in the population do not take the brunt of those removal of subsidies principle. So that is our position,� she explained.

Also, a recent World Bank report showed that Nigeria spent N731 billion to subsidise petrol consumption last year. The report explained that within the year under review, Nigeria’s oil sector declined in productivity, ending on 1.9 million barrels a day (mbd) production mark as against the government’s hope of 2.3mbd.

Additionally, it stated that the Excess Crude Account (ECA), which provides the country some fiscal buffer, was virtually depleted even though prices of According to the Bank, most of the petrol volumes Nigeria spent money to subsidise in 2018 were inflated as daily consumption rose to 54 million litres per day (ml/d) from 40ml/d in 2017, ostensibly due partly to out-smuggling.

It had stated: “The calculations for the fuel subsidy are based on heavily inflated fuel consumption estimates, with the fiscally severely constrained Nigerian government effectively subsidising neighboring countries’ petrol consumption as some of the fuel is informally re-exported through the porous borders.�

But in its reaction, the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) cautioned the federal government against heeding the advice of the multilateral institutions, saying such a move would result in astronomical increase in the pump price of petroleum and cost of other goods and services. However, the President of NLC, Ayuba Wabba, urged the federal government to urgently revamp the country’s refineries which are presently in comatose.

FG’s Response In her response, the Minister of Finance, Mrs. Zainab Ahmed, said the federal government would implement fuel subsidy removal gradually.

Ahmed said fuel subsidy cannot be removed at once. This, was however after she had embraced an earlier advise by the multilateral institutions to completely phase out the policy.

Ahmed, who had earlier described the IMF’s

call on the need to remove fuel subsidy as a good advice, recanted saying: “The advice from the IMF on fuel subsidy removal was good advice but also we have to implement it in a manner that is both successful and sustainable.

We are not in a situation to wake up one day and just remove subsidy. We have to educate the people; we have to show Nigerians what the replacement for those subsidies will be so we have a lot of work to do. “We also need to understand that you don’t remove large amounts of subsidy in one go, it has to be graduated and the public has to be well-informed on what you are trying to do.�

According to her, the government would devise a workable formula to address the situation.

But the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu, pointed out that Nigeria’s continuous subsidising of petrol consumption means the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) will remain unprofitable in for a long time.

Kachikwu, also disclosed that the country’s plan to exit importation of petrol by the end

As far as Nigeria is concerned, with the low revenue mobilisation that exists in the country; in terms of tax to Gross Domestic Product, Nigeria is amongst the lowest. A real effort has to be done in order to maintain a good public ďŹ nance situation for the country and in order to direct investment towards health, education, and infrastructural development

of 2019, was no longer feasible, stating that all the projected measures to achieve this are now off the mark.

Speaking recently on a Channels Televison programme – Hard Copy, the minister noted that with huge petrol under-recovery in the books of the NNPC, it would be difficult for the corporation to record any profit. “It is going to be very difficult. Let me say that first, we faced this same problem when I resumed in 2015. We had accumulated over N1 trillion in subsidy – back arrears to be paid. And, as an ongoing current business model, one of the first things I did was to seek for ways to take away subsidy. “Firstly, through efficiency and contract review, we reduced the amount that was spent every month on subsidy to about N300 million, but then it still didn’t take it away and we went on to the fuel price increase to take away the subsidy element which usually arises when you have differences in landing costs and we began to have over recovery in May of 2016 all the way to late 2016 and price increase happened in 2017. “As soon as prices went up, NNPC went into under-recovery. But can you keep them profitable while they are doing under-recovery? It is going to be a tall order. There is a N40 margin as it were in terms of under-recovery for each litre of petrol that we sell,� Kachikwu, explained in response to a question on the issue.

Speaking on the country’s dilapidated refineries, and how plans to leverage them to exit petrol importation failed, he stated: “I think that if there is one area where I feel sad, it is certainly the refineries because there is a huge gulf between my expectations and the pronouncements that I had made in terms of where I’d like to be and what we have been able to achieve. “The reality is that today, we are still below probably 15 per cent utilisation of those refineries because they need to be maintained and worked.

Completely refurbished, the last Turn Around Maintenance (TEM) was close to 10 years ago and they had question marks.�

Impact on Nigeria’s Fiscal Burden To analysts at the Financial Derivatives Company Limited, the country’s fiscal burden would reduce

by eight per cent if it stops subsidising petrol. The Lagos-based financial advisory and investment firm in a report stressed that although subsidy removal was not without its costs, the potential benefit far outweighs its cost.

It stated that subsidy savings could be utilised in the provision of essential social needs such as access to free education and quality healthcare services. These services, according to the report, are crucial to the improvement of living standard and the quality of life of the average Nigerian.

It stated: “More importantly is the reduction in the fiscal burden by at least eight per cent.

Economic prudence, which emphasises the need to be discerning and forward-looking, has been the clamour for pro-subsidy advocates like the IMF. “The fund is now sounding like a broken record on the call for the removal of subsidies.

In the last three decades, it has become a vicious cycle – IMF recommendation on subsidy removal, followed by fuel queues, adjustment and in some cases the IMF is ignored and then intended and unintended consequences that follow.�

Nevertheless, while it reiterated that subsidy was not disdained in itself, it noted that its abuse and inefficient administration of the incentive, “has made it a fraud that must be checked.�

The Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA) had disclosed that Nigeria’s daily consumption increased by two million litres to 56 million litres in 2019.

This was a 22 per cent surge over 2017 daily consumption of 46 million litres.

This increase, according to the report, was largely not in line with “our consumption pattern during the time.� “There has been a drastic decline in the importation of new cars over the period due to high import duties and levies. “Similarly, the increased traction of diesel engine vehicles and other modes of transportation such as air, water and rail, also do not support the supposed rapid growth in daily fuel consumption. “Another bane of fuel subsidy is the arbitrage and smuggling opportunities across national borders. This means the Nigerian government is indirectly subsidising the petrol consumption of some neighbouring countries and it could CONTINUED ON PAGE 27

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NIGERIA’S UNENDING FUEL SUBSIDY DEBATE

PTAD to Embark on Nationwide VeriďŹ cation of Retirees Stories by Ebere Nwoji The Pension Transitional Arrangement Directorate (PTAD) has said it will embark on a nationwide verification exercise for all pensioners of treasury funded parastatals, agencies and institutions under the Defined Benefit Scheme (DBS).

PTAD said the exercise would cover retirees of federal universities, polytechnics, colleges of education, teaching hospitals, medical centres, the Power Holding Company of Nigeria, Nigeria Railway Corporation, Nigeria Postal Services, research institutes and other treasury of all federally funded parastatals, agencies and institutes.

The Executive Secretary

Buhari

justify the increase in consumption over the last three years,� it added.

Furthermore, the report noted that the impending expenditure cut from the removal of fuel subsidies would free up resources to embark on other social safety nets. But, it pointed out that the fact that there are no guarantees that these savings would be used to improve the quality of life of the economically vulnerable affects the case for subsidy removal. “Reduction of other subsidies will aid fiscal consolidation. Fuel subsidy is not the only item that needs to be priced efficiently. “The government also needs to allow for efficient resource allocation in the power sector and foreign exchange market. “Resource allocation through the interplay of market forces (demand and supply) limits market distortions. The adoption of cost reflective electricity tariffs will help address the power sector’s liquidity issues, improve the capacity of players across the power value chain and eventually output. “Similarly, the gradual convergence of exchange rates will also ease pressure on external reserves, improve transparency and bolster confidence in the forex market. “The reality is that petrol subsidies are being abused and ripping off the people who are the victims of inefficiency and fraud. “Therefore, it is necessary to change the template and tie it to parameters – mainly the price of crude oil, the exchange rate and other costs metrics,� it added Call for Dialogue To the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN), there is need for a dialogue between the federal government and other relevant stakeholders on the matter. MAN stressed that if no efforts were made to carry Nigerians along on such a national issue, any other moves by the government would end up as a recipe for national disaster in the near future.

The Director-General of MAN, Mr. Segun Ajayi-Kadir said: “Now the consideration of fuel subsidy, even though an economic issue and requires deep circumspection and far sightedness, has been infested with social and political considerations. “Whether you retain or remove the subsidy, there are economic, social and political consequences.

So government needs to engage in frank and strategic conversation with the relevant stakeholders in the value chain and be ready to inform the people and carry them along on the choices we have before us as a nation. “We must be interested in the future, the young and future generation. No nation can afford to live for the now, because the future is actually rushing at us.�

He added: “There has to be a plan, with timelines and milestones that must not be missed on the road to removal of fuel subsidy because it is simply unsustainable in the medium to long term.�

On his part, the Director-General of the Nigerian Employers Consultative Association (NECA), Mr. Timothy Olawale said, “it will continue to be a recurring problem of wastage and systemic opportunistic stealing as long as at lasts.�

The Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) described fuel subsidy as the biggest fiscal burden that currently hamstring the growth of the Nigerian economy.

The Director-General, LCCI, Mr. Muda Yusuf said: “Perhaps the biggest fiscal burden on the economy today is the petroleum subsidy regime.

It is a big hole in the finances of government. “It puts tremendous pressure on the foreign reserves and the foreign exchange market, just as it exerts immense stress on the nation’s treasury. “It remains a cause for concern that the subsidy regime had subsisted, especially at a time when the economy is facing unprecedented fiscal challenges; at a time when productivity in the economy is constrained by acute infrastructure deficit; at a time when public institutions are finding it hard to fund their basic obligations.

There cannot be a better example of resource misapplication.�

Additionally, the Nigerian Association of Energy Economists (NAEE) expressed support for the country to end the practice of petrol subsidy.

The association argued that fuel subsidy only benefits the elites in the country.

NAEE’s outgoing President, Prof. Wumi Iledare, explained that Nigeria cannot continue with the practice of subsiding petrol.

Iledare maintained that the practice was wasteful and often done to the detriment of other key sectors of the country such as infrastructure, health and education.

According to him: “The benefits of petroleum subsidy is far less than the cost of petroleum subsidy.

Anytime a government has a policy, there is need for it to be reviewed to see whether the benefits that come from the policy is more than the cost, and all you need to do is look around: the roads are bad, schools are bad, hospitals and infrastructure are bad or not there. “I have not added it together but do a check, when you look at the budget for health, education and defence (they) are not up to the petroleum subsidy in 2018. Is it not time for the government to look at it?�

He said he understood the government may be scared of a public uproar if it decides to end petrol subsidy, but said there was the need to take a bold step. He stressed that most recipients of the scheme were elites that could afford petrol at market-based prices. “I understand the social unrest is scary but it will be for a while especially if there is enough public education on the subsidy. We are losing the capacity that we have because we are actually giving the elites who are capable of paying for their petrol to drive their car, at a giveaway price,� added Iledare. The foregoing shows removing fuel subsidy will be a tough decision for government to make. But clearly, the Nigeria which is weighed down by rising debt service cost and low revenue cannot continue to subsidise the consumption of imported petroleum products and rent-seekers.

Indeed, this policy which is not sustainable has dire consequences on the economy in the long-run and must be phased out. The rising spending on fuel subsidy also means that any shock to government revenue today will have severe impact on the economy.

of PTAD, Sharon Ikeazor, explained in a statement that the exercise would also cover retirees of the defunct/ privatised agencies who are yet to be verified such as the Aluminum Smelter Company of Nigeria, Nigeria Aviation Handling, Assurance Bank, Nigerian National Shipping Line.

According to her, the exercise would cover all 270 agencies under the Parastatals Pension Department. “This verification has been necessitated by the need for the directorate to verify and biometrically capture all bona-fide and qualified pensioners under the Defined Benefit Scheme (DBS), acquire relevant documentation and obtain

service records needed for accurate and timely pension computation and subsequent payment of pension benefits.

The exercise will also help to build a credible database of pensioners of treasury funded agencies under the scheme,�

Ikeazor said.

Furthermore, she explained that the first phase of the exercise commenced in Lagos yesterday and would be on up till Thursday, May 9th 2019, between 8am – 4pm daily.

PTAD listed the verification centres to include the POWA Multipurpose Hall, Police Command, GRA. Ikeja; 3Bees Event Centre, Ikorodu Road, Ketu; Multipurpose Hall University of Lagos, Akoka and the Tafawa Balewa Square, TBS, Lagos Island

FBNGeneralInsuranceLaunchesAlertService The FBN General Insurance Limited, a subsidiary of FBNInsurance has launched a special claims alert service for prompt claims settlement tagged: ‘FBNGI ClaimsAlert Service.’ The com p a n y h a s a l s o a n n o u n c e d t h e re l e a s e of its audited financial statement for the year ended December 31, 2018, with assurance t h a t t h o u g h t h e re s u l t s was impressive its first q u a r t e r 2 0 1 9 re s u l t s showed that the sky was just a stepping stone to the level of financial height it was targeting.

FBN General Insurance Managing Director, Bode Opadokun, who spoke at a re c e n t p re s s b r i e f i n g o rg a n i s e d b y t h e c o m pany to showcase and test run the Claims Alert service said the solution p ro m i s e s to re s o l v e claims of N50,000 and below at the scene of an a c c i d e nt.

According to Opadokun, the service, which is geared towards streamlining claims process for all FBNGI comprehensive auto insurance policy holders comes with some special benefits. These include instant resolution to minor claims, peace of mind to policyholder with

FBNGI Claims representative right there to provide support, ease of starting claims process for quick resolution, resolution of claims at scene of incidence by the claims representatives with no extra cost.

He said the ClaimsAlert Service was designed to provide a responsive service, Monday to Friday, from 8am to 5pm, to all FBNGI Comprehensive Auto Insurance policyholders who have been involved in an accident within the Lagos metropolis where the service is currently active such as Eti-Osa, Lagos Island, Lagos Mainland, Surulere, Kosofe, Shomolu and Ikeja.

Opadokun, however said the company would also extend the service to take care of third party motor insurance if the person is a reliable policyholder.

He explained that in case of accident, all that was needed to be done was to take a picture of the vehicle, contact the company through 08000CLAIMSALERT or send an email. He said a dedicated claim team had been engaged by the company to give advice on actions to be taken anytime even outside Lagos.

According to him, the

idea of the claimsAlert service came as a result of the company’s monthly performance review and feedback on customers’ experience and expectation.

He said the service was an indirect way of rendering corporate social responsibility service to customers.

He said the company was aware that companies are in business to pay claims and strive as much as possible to fulfil its obligation when it arises. “Insurance at the first instance opened shop to pay claims, paying claims is not our selling point but rather how fast and prompt we pay is our own selling point. “We will not because we want to make profit deny our customers their claims right, we pride ourselves as one of the companies that take paying of claims as our major drivers of this business,� he said.

Speaking on the financials for the year ended, December 31, 2018, Opadokun, said FBN General insurance posted N4.389billion premium income against N3.360billion of 2017. Profit before tax for the period stood at N615.58 million, while profit after tax stood at N492.985 million

SovereignTrustPostsN540mProfitin2018 Sovereign Trust Insurance Plc, said it recorded an impressive performance in its results for the year ended December 31st 2018, despite the challenging economic environment.

The Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of the Underwriting firm, Mr. Olaotan Soyinka, while addressing the media in Lagos said: “It is quite interesting to note that the company recorded a leap of 167 per cent in its profit before tax which rose to N540 million as against the N202 million recorded in year 2017. “The Gross Premium written in 2018 stood at

N10.5 billion, compared to the N8.5 billion written in 2018. This represented a 23 per cent increase. “Another outstanding highlight of the 2018 accounts which could be described as very encouraging is the rise in the company’s profit after tax to N344 million, as against the N157 million in 2017, representing a 118 per cent increase.�

He added: “In 2018, a total of N4.2 billion was paid as claims against N1.9 billion that was paid in 2017.

The net claims expenses grew to N1.7 billion, from N1.3 billion in 2017. This in a way underscores the company’s claims paying

ability resulting in a 37 per cent net claims expense. The total assets also grew by a marginal five per cent to N11.3 billion in 2018, from N10.8 billion in 2017.�

Soyinka, said the management of the company was committed to meeting and surpassing the expectations of shareholders and stakeholders alike.

He added: “These performance levels are a confirmation of the management’s determination to effectively and strategically position the company as one of the leading insurance companies in the country while at the same time propel it to a profitable height for shareholders’ delight.�

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Williams: Chams’Restructuring Exercise Has Paid Off TheGroupManagingDirector/ChiefExecutiveOfficer,ChamsPlc,Mr.FemiWilliams,inthisinterview speaks on how electronic voting can be used to address electoral challenges in Nigeria. He also shares the story of the company’s recovery from loss to profitability. Goddy Egene presents the excerpts: the kiosk version which concerns older generation and functions like regular ATM machine are variants of our e-voting solution poised to serve all and sundry.

Recently, you informed the investing public that Chams Plc’s restructuring has put the company on the path of sustainable proďŹ tability. Can you shed more light on this?

Through the restructuring, Chams Plc was able to write off its accumulated losses using our share premium as seen in our year 2018 audited financial statement. We now have a profit of N380 million against the losses of previous years.

What should be the ďŹ rst step in the event that the government is ready for e-voting?

Electronic voting requires a valid database of eligible voters which incidentally can be obtained from INEC Voters Register, NCC Database, Nigeria’s BVN and NIMC database among other sources of digitised data in the country. This database will be leveraged on.

What informed the restructuring?

The need to remove recurring losses in our books, grow shareholders’ funds and lay a foundation for better performance and improve Chams Plc’s competitiveness in its industry. It will also improve the company’s potential to pay dividends to its shareholders and access other funding options available in the future.

What are the components of this restructuring?

We had earlier restructured our operations for global competitiveness, including a change in business model. We now place premium on identity management and we have introduced a good number of innovative products and services.

The repositioning exercise that we carried out, through the injection of seasoned human capital has begun to pay off despite the harsh operating environment in Nigeria. The company’s financial fortune has been turned around to put smiles on the faces of our stakeholders. This can be seen from the result. We recorded a growth of 54 per cent in revenue year-on-year, while we grew profit before tax by 124 per cent. I would like to assure all our investors and shareholders that we would not rest, but shall continue to work assiduously to surpass this performance by the end of the fiscal year 2019. A court approval as well as approval of relevant regulatory bodies were received to achieve our restructuring exercise.

Chams Plc is believed to have blazed the trail as the ďŹ rst home grown information technology (ICT) company to develop some unique products for ease of doing business.

Can you explain them?

Chams Plc is a brand to reckon with in identity management and identity solutions provider. As a result of our experience and expertise garnered over the years, we have built robust, secure and adaptable platforms to further drive the provision of intelligent business solutions to private and public sector. Incorporated on September 19, 1985, Chams started as a computer hardware and maintenance service provider in Nigeria. Between 1987 and 1991, the company pioneered major computer networking in Nigeria with laying of LAN and WAN network connections for various public and private organisations. Over the years, we have evolved into an innovative company providing intelligent business solutions. Chams started smart cards, identity(ID) managment and e-payment systems and solutions in Nigeria. This later gave way for other ID management and e-payment solutions company to come into the industry. In 2011 to 2017, the country witnessed a major surge in Identity related solutions and Chams was a key player to this. During this period, we singlehandedly produced and delivered 70m voters’ card within a very short period for the Federal Government of Nigeria. In fact, former President, Olusegun Obasanjo, who was in power at that time, asked the “Committee of Former Heads of State� to visit our Abuja card plant. It will interest you to know that among the delegates was our General Muhammadu Buhari who is now President of Nigeria and General Yakubu Gowon to mention a few. The project was formerly contracted to a foreign organisation who at the last minute could not meet up, hence, the invitation of Chams to carry out the production and delivery of the cards. The successful commencement of the JAMB Computer-Based Test(CBT) cannot be written without mentioning Chams. We pioneered the first ever CBT for JAMB in Nigeria. At that time, the then head of JAMB, Prof. Adedibu visited each of our centres in Lagos and Abuja and gave satisfactory nod to the professionalism and excellent delivery of the project.

The Bank Verification Number (BVN) project

Government is the biggest spender in Nigeria and ICT is capital intensive. But it appears Chams Plc places premium on the private sector clients rather than government in its service delivery. Why? Well, the experience we had in the past with dealing with government actually brought us to where we are today. The popular ChamsCity was a large digital mall that brought Nigeria into the Guinness Book of Record as a place where the largest digital mall in the world was established. Though Chams still retains that record, the centres had to be closed down as it brought huge losses to the company due to the cancellation of the NIMC project for which we built the ChamsCities as centres where people can walk in and perform their registration for the national ID. This was why we have had to refocus our business on building Intelligent Business Systems that resolves industry issues like we did with the BVN.

Williams

is among others, a highly successful project implemented by Chams across all the bank branches in the 36 States of the Federation. Chams Plc delivered successfully within the timeline stipulated by the Bankers Committee. The BVN project was reported to be a huge success and as you can see, it has transformed financial accountability in Nigeria.

Chams Plc is fast becoming a company to watch after it successfully conducted electronic voting for some reputable organisations, using a new solution. How far is this true?

Chams Plc has successfully deployed its evoting solution (VOTA) for over seven years now to various organisations of national and international repute with commendable results.

This has been tested, can now be trusted at the national level. We have successfully deployed our VOTA for the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) and Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (CIBN) among others. We have the technical know-how, professional competence, skills and track records to handle electronic voting in Nigeria.

What is your appraisal of the e-voting in those organisations in terms of the costbeneďŹ t analysis?

VOTA has been proven to reduce organisational cost of election by at least 50 per cent, because it completely eliminates the travel, accommodation, feeding costs of delegates, stationeries expenses (prints and press), as well as excessive cost on election venue and other logistics .

Does Chams have technical and operational capacity to deploy the solution for Nigeria’s electoral system, especially, with the general complaints that Nigeria’s electoral system is not only expensive and time consuming but highly vulnerable to controversy?

Chams Plc deploys state of the art modern technology to ensure performance and cost is optimised with the most secure technology available, constantly reviewed by standardised processes in conformity to our ISO quality management guidelines. One of such processes put in place to avoid controversies identified over our years of experience is role separation, which clearly defines every stage, tasks and responsibilities to ensure transparency among all the stakeholders.

Electronic voting automatically avoids duplicate and invalid votes by design, these have been proven to be also major sources of election controversies.

Is Nigeria actually ripe for electronic voting against the challenges associated with ICT in the country, notably in the power sector?

There is no better time for Nigeria to cross over to the electronic voting than now, Nigeria has indigenous tier 3 cloud service providers to host the e-voting application successfully with 99.9 per cent availability comparable only to the likes of AWS, Microsoft Azure, and Google. Your question reminds of when we completed our ChamsCities with Guinness Book of records certification and engaged Prof. Dibu Ojerinde on CBT testing for JAMB. We pioneered it, today it is history.

As a good corporate citizen, is there any plan by Chams’ management to contact the government on the option of electronic voting as an antidote to electoral cost, stress, violence and credibility in the nearest future?

Currently, we are putting together our proposition to the Presidency. And we are very ready to carry out a demo of the platform when invited.

What are the beneďŹ ts and challenges of electronic voting?

Electronic voting has a huge benefit of convenience which in turn increases voters’ participation by huge margins. We have had a testimony of voters’ participation increased by 35 per cent while providing e-voting service for some majority of our client using VOTA. Avoidable deaths by election violence, road travel hazards, excessive costs of stationeries and other logistics are eliminated by electronic voting system. Collation of results is instantaneous with electronic voting. In a similar vein, the issues, suspicion associated with Manual collation will be a thing of the past. One major challenge observed generally is user acceptance and migration. A solution is only as good as how widely accepted. However, awareness programme is required to inspire the public on its benefits.

The public has come to accept the Card readers.

This is just a way of saying let us digitize the voting papers and collation processes.

Nigerian youths are generations of ICT. Can the old people who are not computer literate vote seamlessly under electronic voting model?

Chams Plc has variants of VOTA available for ease of usage. The web version to meet general internet user demands that the mobile version should meet up with the younger generations enthusiasm on android and mobile devices. Also,

Are there other things you will to comment about?

Aside our e-voting solution, Chams has also built robust, innovative and intelligent solutions suite that can be integrated into various facets of government’s administrative systems and processes as well as usable for private organisations.

ConfirmMe is a verification solution platform that allows the government to easily verify beneficiaries, - for grants, pensions, bursary, subsidies, for fraud prevention, ghost worker elimination etc. The verification service allows you to check your enrolled wards against the data that has been provided. Payroll Solution – a complete financial solution for managing and engaging your diverse workforce.

Residency & Citizenship Solution – an automated enrolment solution that allows government of a state or a nation have an overview of number of residents for appropriate allocation of funds and resources. Time and Attendance Solution - time and attendance solution allows organisations to effectively manage their employee’s day to day activities for office productivity and efficiency.

CEEDS is a robust solution for automation of school administration for identity verification, time and attendance and management.

Integrated School Register - Identity management portal for all public and private primary and secondary schools with performance evaluations for both pupils and teachers. A platform for all forms of computer aided testing.

Central dashboard for statistics of students’ distribution across the state. Pension Verification Solutions - This is an automated pension solution that provides ease of access to verification of pensioners in their respective geographical locations. It provides headcount convenience to all pensioners for payments and benefits.

IGRH is an Integrated Tax Management System customised to the State Board of Internal Revenue for effective collection, management and consolidation of revenue. Nairaplus is Nigeria’s secure digital financial services ecosystem that enables authorised organisations to provide a wide range of financial and value added services to large numbers verified individuals, businesses and groups through a network of professionally trained and well equipped agents.

PharmT is an electronic data interchange platform where manufacturing, importation, distribution and sales of drugs in Nigeria will be made seamless through the platform accessible to all Pharmacists in Nigeria.

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BEDC Connects Edo Community to National Grid Peter Uzoho It was mass jubilation for the residents of Omozogie in Uteh Community, Ikpoba Okha Local Government Area of Edo State recently as the BEDC Electricity Plc has connected the community to the national grid after years without electricity supply.

The inauguration of the substation which started with a town hall meeting organised by the community, had in attendance BEDC management team led by the Head, Community Relations Officer, Mrs Virginia Osineme;

Business Manager of Ikpoba Hill, Mrs. Ekaete Ntukidem and her Business Head Distribution, Engr. Mamah, the Odionwere electricity committee members and residents of Uteh Omozogie community. The disco used the occasion to brief the residents on need to see the sub-station as a collective responsibility which should be protected against vandalism and all other forms of energy theft.

Addressing the town hall meeting, the Head, Community Relations, Osineme was quoted in a statement to have said: “The

protection of the sub-station is everybody’s business. If there is no light, you know who to meet and talk to. If you see anybody in the substation that is not authorised by BEDC and the electricity committee, he or she is a vandal and should be apprehended.�

Osineme also used the opportunity to educate the people of Uteh Omozogie community on basic safety tips on the need for proper earthing of their premises, the importance of engaging licensed electricians to wire their houses and the need

to avoid substandard electrical accessories. She pleaded with the community leaders to work with BEDC to educate the children, youths and their wives on the importance of electricity safety and also help disseminate the safety tips. Ikpoba Hill Business Manager, Mrs Ekaete Ntukidem, commended the community members for their patience throughout the process of connecting them to the national grid. According to the Business Manager, meters have been properly installed and functional to provide the customers with

fair and transparent billing. “Please, ensure no new wire is connected illegally to the network, we will know because of the check meter attached to the transformer, vend as at when due and don’t allow electricians to tamper with the transformer.�

She advised.

The General Okae-Don, Uteh.

Mr Iyoha Omozogie lauded BEDC for keeping fate with the Community saying, “we thank the management and staff of BEDC for how they have been able to direct us in ensuring Omozogie community

is connected to the national grid. “We also thank the members of the community for their selfless donations and doggedness in ensuring the yearning of the people becomes a reality. We now have light in Omozogie�.

According to Iyoha, the community has also set up an electricity committee that would be working with BEDC in ensuring meters were not bypassed in order to mitigate energy losses, quick response to faults and protection of the newly installed substation.

Speaking during the event, UBA’s Executive Director, Ayo Liadi, expressed satisfaction at the level of response received from customers across the country, adding that the campaign was targeted at rewarding loyal customers and also inculcating in them the habit of saving regularly.

He noted that there was a remarkable increase in the

number of participants in this edition compared to the previous one, adding that the bank’s objective of helping customers’ save for the rainy day is being achieved.

He said: “It is very easy to spend money but to save is a habit all must imbibe. Our key objective is to encourage our customers to save regularly.

UBA Rewards 20 More Customers in Promo The United Bank for Africa (UBA) has rewarded another 20 customers who emerged winners in the second quarterly draw of the UBA Wise Savers Promo with N1.5 million each.

The draw which took place in Lagos, brings the total amount won by 40 customers so far to N60 million.

The electronic raffle draw was

witnessed by the Consumer Protection Council, National Lottery Regulatory Commission and Lagos State Lottery, Board.

Lucky winners who emerged in the second edition, cut across all regions of the country. They included Alli Abiodun Ganiu, Tari E Francis; Onah Joseph, Okwandu Faith Ezinne, Igwedinma Chiedozie Onyekachi,

Mgbakor Edmund Eke, Nwokoye Adeseye Ifeanyichukwu and Achi Sheyin Micheal. Others were Onyekwuluje Christiana Osho; Ibilola U Okeke; Amos Luka, Mukhtar Halima, Musa Abubakar, Olanrewaju Kolade David; Okongwu Hillary Chidinma; Loretta O Okodua; Adeyemo Biodun Adeola; Oyewusi Oyeyinka Abidemi; Adeola O

Adewumi and Anyanwu Vivian.

The promo which commenced in September last year is expected to run till September 30, 2019, and will see another 40 customers from across Nigeria become millionaires, winning N60 million in the remaining quarters of the year. At the end of the promo, a total of N120 million will have been won by 80 customers.

NEPZA Calls for Investigation into Murder Incident at Lagos Free Zone The Nigeria Export Processing Zone Authority (NEPZA) has assured investors, local and foreign operating under the Free Zone Scheme in Nigeria of adequate security of their lives and safety of their investments.

The acting Managing Director, Terhemba Nongo, represented

by the General Manager, Zones Operations (Public), Mr Oyesola Oyenle said this in a statement signed by the Head of Corporate Communications of NEPZA, Mr Simon Imobo-Tswam in Abuja.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), in the statement quoted Imobo-Tswam to have said

Nongo gave the assurance when he led a delegation to pay a condolence visit to the management of LADOL Free Zone in Lagos and the Commandant-General, Mr Abdullahi Muhammadu of Nigeria Security and Civil Defence corps (NSCDC) for the killing

of their staff. Imobo-Tswam said a Korean National, Mr Taekun Kang, a Manager with SHI-MCI Free Zone Enterprise and a Civil Defence Personnel were allegedly shot dead on April 10, by an operative of the NSCDC identified as Mr Innocent Oshemi.

He said that Oshemi was on guard in the free zone at the time of the incident. Imobo-Tswam said while Nongo pledged the agency’s support for full and thorough investigation into the matter, he called for calm to enable the relevant security agencies complete their investigation.

He said that the delegation that accompanied Nongo on the visit included the General Manager, Public Private Partnership (PPP), Alhaji Ahmed Gurin, Head, Lagos Liaison Office, Mr Garba Hayatu and Manager, Free Zones, Mr Aliyu Kachalla among others.

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EDUCATION ‘Govt Must Boost STEM in Schools to Produce More Female Engineers’ Mrs. Felicia Agubata is the President, Association of Professional Women Engineers of Nigeria and Chief Engineer, Nigerian Airspace Management Agency. In this interview with Funmi Ogundare, she explained why the government should encourage Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics in schools across the country, as it would enable the girl-child to aspire to greater heights hat is the objective of your association and what has been your impact in the life of the girl-child?

APWEN is a non-profit organisation. We are actually at the vanguard of ensuring that more girls enrol in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) that will actually lead them to a career in engineering. The end point is to have more engineers in the country especially females because we are gender-based association. The association is 36 years old now. We embark on advocacy and career talk for the girl-child in primary and secondary schools, while in universities we do mentorship programmes to ensure that the girls do not drop out from the engineering courses to another. We encourage them and ensure that they graduate as engineers and practice the profession.

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the local government area after series of experiments. At the programme, we had friends of the president donating laptops to the beneficiaries. The acceptance of the initiative in Kogi was tremendous. They saw a role model in Ali and connected to him because of his achievements. We were able to encourage the girls and tell them that they can also be there only if they do well. The government representatives who were there were impressed that if an association could be doing a thing like this, Nigeria will be a better place. When Ali saw the students coming out in tattered uniforms, he promised to donate new ones to about 457 pupils of the three schools in the locality before resumption.

For each of the events, we are getting better and better, we also gave the girls branded school bags, books and mathematical sets. For the north, we give hijabs, stockings and water bottles.

Your association embarked on and partnered the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) on ‘Invent it, Build it’ initiative, how would you describe your reach and acceptance in Nigeria in the last one year?

We started the initiative in 2018 after our visit to NNPC when we went for a courtesy visit and presented our proposal to them. The management gladly received us and accepted to partner with us on the programme. So far, it’s been successful and impactful for Nigerians at large not just to the girl-child as a result of the impact it has made in the community. We had 61 girls who have received scholarships from different states in the country till date and we are still counting from primary to university. The ‘Invent it, Build it’ programme is targeted at girls between the ages of eight and 10 in primary five to six in public schools in the six geopolitical zones of Nigeria. The initiative is weaved around role models. For each of the state that we launch the programme, we usually have a role model that we have been using their success stories to inspire the girls only if they are diligent in their studies. When we use such role models, the girls can connect faster to them. The person will speak in the local language that they understand, it is easier than when you speak English to them.

We respect the culture of that community including how we are going to dress for the event. We did that in Kano and Bauchi, while Bornu and Akwa Ibom States are yet to benefit. For each of the state that we go to, we have a role model from that state who will take us there to tell their success stories that any girl can aspire to be what she wants. We launched the programme in April 21, 2018 in Sarki Ahmadu Primary School (formerly Central Primary School) Misau, Bauchi State and that was the primary school that the current DMD of NNPC, Maikanti Baru attended.

It was a very beautiful outing for us. That is the only prominent personality in the field of engineering that we could use in that state. In that area, we gave 21 girls scholarships that performed experiments, though we couldn’t do more than three because of the crowd that we had. It was our first outing. They scaled the first test which was a practical experiment using everyday material used at home. The first to finish in terms or accuracy and work performed were adjudged winners and were given the scholarship. Our second outing was in Benin, south-south we had two role models there despite the fact

There seems to be gender disparity in the area of STEM education, what is your view about this trend and what is your association doing to reverse it in the country?

Part of the problem is bravery deficit.

The boys are actually brought up to be brave. That is why they take risks. If the boys meet 50 per cent of the criteria, they will get the job, but for girls if they don’t meet 100 per cent of the criteria, they will not get the job. The girls tend towards perfection. We need to teach the girls early in life that they should work towards what is achievable knowing that they can be whoever they want to be in life. The bravery deficit is the reason we are not fully represented in STEM in the boardroom and a lot of places. When it comes to women inclusion and gender disparity in that area, we should know that we are the same. If they are judging by competence and skills, we should try to be fair. We need to introduce girls to STEM early in life by trying to demystify mathematics and catch them young at the primary school level rather than wait until they get to secondary school. If they are able to imbibe STEM into them in primary school, by the time they get to secondary school, it will not be difficult. That is what we are doing with the initiative and it is yielding result.

Agubata that people think Edo State is all about prostitution. We needed to tell the story to the Nigerian populace. We had the first African female Vice-President of World Female Engineering Organisation (WFEO) with headquarters in Belgium.

Mrs. Valerie Agberagba and Manager International Contract, Exxon Mobil, she was the first president in its network in the organisation and a past president of APWEN. She is from Benin. A total of 10 girls were given scholarship, one of them is an orphan. From there, we went to the south-west, Abeokuta. There, we met the current president of the Nigeria Society of Engineers (NSE), we also had the first female agricultural engineer in Nigeria as role model. However, they didn’t school in Abeokuta but in Ibadan. But since the period was close to the Alake’s birthday, they asked us to use Alake Primary School and that was how the choice of St. Peter Claver Nursery and Primary School, Oke-Itesi, Abeokuta as the venue for the programme came. Ten pupils were given scholarships. For each of the locations, we laid a foundation for the construction of a science and technology laboratory named after the role models. In Misau, the building is 80 per cent completed, which we are going to commission in the next two months. We are also going to construct a laboratory in honour of the 31st President of the NSE, Mr. Adekunle Mokuolu in Abeokuta. The engineering scholarship for girls was named after Dr. Idiat Aderemi Amusu. From there we went to the ancient city of Kano in honour of the first President of NSE from northern Nigeria, Ibraheem Inuwa, who recently turned 70 years. A science laboratory was commissioned in his honour at Kofa Kudu Primary School at the Emir’s Palace where his primary school is located. The scholarship was named after the first female engineer from the north, late Fatimatta

Yelwa, who died three years ago. She is from Kebbi State. We have six states that have so far benefitted from the programme for the first phase.

Who are the notable ďŹ gures honoured by the association?

Before the expiration of my tenure in two years, the role models we are going to honour and the sponsors must be available and that is why most of the events are done on Saturdays. We also went to Anambra State, where I hail from. We had several role models who are females. We had the first female engineer in Nigeria, but she is married to someone from Enugu State, however, we had to take someone who is married to someone from Anambra state. The first female Head of Service in Nigeria is from Anambra, Ebele Okeke, the programme was done in her honour. We had two past presidents of APWEN from the state; Unachukwu Okoli, a retired staff of Exxon Mobil and Nwakego Ojukwu, who also retired from the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA). She was the one that took me to my first APWEN meeting several years ago. Three of them were honoured at the programme held in the primary school I attended. The laboratory was named Engineer Monica Nwakego Science and Technology Lab, while the scholarship was co-named Una Okoli/Nwakego Engineering Scholarship for Girls. Ten girls were awarded.

How would you describe the initiative recently held in Kogi State, where the President, Council of Registered Engineers in Nigeria (COREN), Mr. Kashim Ali was honoured as a role model?

The programme was held in LEA Primary School, Ankpa, his alma mater. We saw a role model in Kashim Ali. Scholarships were awarded to 10 students who are from

What are the unique challenges for girls in the country when it comes to pursuing education in engineering/ science?

For you to pursue education in science and engineering it starts from STEM and you must be in a science class in your secondary school. If you don’t have physics, mathematics and chemistry and further mathematics, you cannot do engineering. You must have the basics and have someone that will mentor you on how to go and ensure that you have the foundation. Building a science and technology laboratory means they must visually imagine things by themselves with a view to providing innovative ideas. These are science things we do as children. For instance, we made kites to fly as children; that was engineering, but we never knew.

But when you tell a girl-child that this is science, then she can be encouraged moving towards being a scientist. This will help in boosting her morale to aspire to greater heights.

What is the way forward?

Government should encourage STEM education in our schools.

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EDUCATION

FCET Umunze: Raises the Bar in Quality Teacher Training David-Chyddy Eleke writes that the new management of the Federal College of Education (Technical), Umunze, Anambra State has raised the hope of producing quality teachers that will make an impact in the country’s education sector of interest. This college runs an established template of academic excellence. “At various meetings of the academic board, the highest body that decides the academic affairs of this college, strong emphasis is laid on maintaining the standard that FCE (T), Umunze is known for. Among other colleges, we have a shining reputation for producing quality students and this administration will not relent

in upholding this tradition of excellence.�

She added: “In pursuit of excellence in academics, I am delighted to inform you that all the academic programmes offered in this college enjoy the full accreditation of the National Commission for Colleges of Education (NCCE), National Universities commission (NUC) and the Teachers’ Registration Council of Nigeria (TRCN). This

administration will build on the legacy to ensure that all college programmes continue to enjoy full accreditation status.�

According to the provost, as the institution continues to push for the training of quality teachers, it hopes that one day it would be approved to run as a full-fledged university of education as that would give it a better boost towards churning out quality teachers that will move

the country’s education sector to a new height. “We are working tirelessly to upgrade some NCE programmes to degree status, in collaboration with our affiliate university (Nnamdi Azikiwe University). I believe that the successful running of degree programmes in this collage would no doubt give a strong boost to our aspiration to become a fullfledged university of education,�

Okoli said.

Okoli

T

here have been arguments about the dearth of quality teachers in the country, resulting in the decline in quality education. Thus the new management of the Federal College of Education (Technical), Umunze, led by the Provost, Dr. Tessy Okoli is determined to reverse the trend with the quality of training it is providing for teachers in the institution.

Recently, the college matriculated over 3,500 students, both in the NCE, PCE and degree programmes. The provost, who addressed the matriculants, said the institution has risen to instil discipline and good conduct in its students with the hope of producing teachers that are worth their salt, in its quest to revitalise education in the country.

She stated some of the rules of the institution that must be strictly adhered to in order to get the best of education in the college. “This year’s matriculation ceremony is very significant. It will be the first matriculation ceremony I am officiating since my appointment as the provost of this college. I must warn you that this college is reputed for setting high academic standard.

In FCET, only the best is good enough. “The college continues to provide the required facilities and resources for academic excellence to thrive. The college has continued to enjoy uninterrupted academic calendar, which enables our students to graduate on record time. In keeping with this tradition, we are lowering our guard to maintain sanity and peaceful environment for learning for all students.

She added: “This college does not tolerate bribe-for-marks, often called sorting. We do not tolerate any form of harassment of students. I hereby implore lecturers and students to apply their hearts unto wisdom and avoid the pursuit of vanities that would only bring misery and regrets at the end. We will continue to guard our reputation jealously and become a model college of education, a fertile ground for young students to blossom in academic and godly character.�

True to Okoli’s words, THISDAY on a later visit found that the college, despite being a higher institution, holds periodic sessions for parents and teachers, a rare practice in tertiary institutions in the country. She said the management frowns at the development where young ladies live together with male students at off campus

residential areas, adding that such development is the major cause of distraction in academic work, and students who indulge in such risk sanction.

Some of the staff, who spoke to THISDAY, said the ability of the new provost is not in doubt as she has been in the college for a long time, from her days as a lecturer.

The college’s Public Relations Officer, Mr. Sam Otti said: “We call her the Mother Theresa of this institution; she has been here for about 26 years, and rose through the ranks. She is the first internal provost we are having. Every other provost has been brought from outside the school. She has also through the period of her appointment, shown that she knows the school well, and has the capacity to move it to a new height.�

Otti said the provost has initiated several developmental strategies in the institution, which involved the welfare of staff, adding that the move has boosted the morale of the members of staff and yielded development for the institution.

Speaking to THISDAY in a separate forum, the provost said: “My staff here know that I don’t take workers’ welfare lightly. Part of the ways we encourage our staff to ensure that they deliver is by listening to them. On assumption of office, this administration reviewed several cases of staff that were stagnated in their position, or wrongly placed. We responded immediately by placing those staff that had acquired higher certificates. I am glad that this college has a vibrant workforce.

This administration will continue to encourage staff and empower them to give their best for the growth of this institution.�

On the ability of the college to produce quality teachers, Okoli said: “To refresh your memory, this college was established by decree 4 of 1986 and commenced full academic programme in 1990.

From inception, this institution was tasked to provide skilled and technically oriented manpower for the country’s education sector and I am glad to state that we have been efficient in the delivery of this mandate. “We understand that teachers are nation builders so our position as a teacher-training institution is well defined. We will remain committed to producing quality NCE, PDE and degree graduates with the requisite competence to work in their chosen areas

L-R: The Creative Arts teacher, Shinning Star College, Mr. Peter Okeke; MD, Toyota Nigeria, Mr. Kunle Ade Ojo; winner of the dream car competition, Miss Moyo Tunji-Akeju; Head, Shinning Star College, Mr.Godson Aloefuna; Admin Director of the college, Ms. Ofe Imomoh; Moyo’s mother, Mrs. Olaide; and Vice-Chairman of the college, Mrs. Victoria Imomoh at the Toyota dream car contest award ceremony in Lagos... recently

WAEC NEC Approves Sanctions for Exam Malpractice Funmi Ogundare The National Examination Committee (NEC) of the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) has approved appropriate sanctions for all established cases of examination malpractice as prescribed by the rules and regulations governing the conduct of the council’s examinations.

At the two-day 67th meeting of the committee held recently in Lagos, it also approved that the entire results of candidates involved in proven cases, which attract Cancellation of Entire Results (CER) be cancelled, while subject results of those involved in proven cases which attract Cancellation of Subject Results (CSR) be similarly cancelled.

The acting Head of Public Affairs of WAEC, Mr. Demianus Ojijeogu said in a statement that in the course of considering the various reported cases of malpractice after diligent deliberations, some candidates will suffer other

sanctions such as barring them from sitting for its examinations for a certain number of years, adding that the decisions of the committee will be implemented without delay and the affected candidates and examination centres duly informed. “However, the results of candidates who were exonerated by the committee will be released.�

The statement read in parts: “The committee considered special cases, clemency cases and restitution cases from the WASSCE for private candidates, 2018 second series and 2019 first series.�

He said the committee received a report on the statistics of entries and results for the WASSCE for school candidates 2018, and also received and considered the general rĂŠsumĂŠ of the Chief Examiners’ reports on the WASSCE for private candidates, 2018 second series. “The committee received and considered reports on the activities of the Aptitude Tests Department

(ATD) for the period between October 2018 to February 2019 and on the activities of the research department of the council for the period between October 2018 and March 2019. “With regard to the general rĂŠsumĂŠ of the chief examiners’ reports on the WASSCE for private candidates, 2018 second series, the committee noted the observation by the chief examiners that the standard of the papers compared favourably with those of previous years and that the clarity and unambiguity of the questions were worthy of note. “They also reported that the rubrics were clear, questions were explicit and the marking schemes were comprehensive.

The committee noted the various shortcomings of the candidates as reported by the chief examiners,�

Ojijeogu said.

He added that the committee observed that there was a decrease in incidence of examination malpractice in the WASSCE for

school candidates, 2018 when compared to that of 2016 and 2017 and commended the council for deploying the virtual digital printing and other innovations to forestall examination malpractice.

It also commended WAEC for initiatives such as electronic marking of selected subjects with its attendant reduction of human intervention during marking; walk-in-candidates option that has expanded access to examination for candidates, that have greatly improved its service delivery to its stakeholders.

They urged the council to keep synergising with relevant stakeholders to reduce the menace drastically, while stressing the need for ministries of education to adopt the WAEC chief examiners’ reports as a handbook for teachers and students in order to improve teaching and learning which will eventually lead to the enhancement of candidates’ performance in the various diets of WASSCE.

NBFT: Book Digitization will Top Discussions at 18th Int’l Book Fair Omolabake Fasogbon As preparations for the 18th Nigeria International Book Fair (NIBF) get underway, the organiser of the fair, Nigeria Book Fair Trust (NBFT) has announced that the programme will focus on enhancing all-inclusive book publishing in Nigeria, which is currently the practice globally.

Announcing the fair at a press conference in Lagos recently, Chairman of NBFT, Mr. Gbadega Adedapo, stated that the programme which will hold from May 6-11, 2019 will provide more opportunities and gains than previous series.

He disclosed the theme of the 2019 edition as ‘Optimizing New

Technology in Book Development and Distribution for the Promotion of Book Trade in Africa’, saying that the theme is apt considering Nigeria’s poor status in electronic publishing and reading.

Adedapo explained that part of the goals of the activity is to promote the reading culture among Nigerians, especially the youths, while lamenting that the presence of social media tools has weakened reading habit in the country.

He expressed hope that reading habit can be improved if Nigeria can upgrade to electronic or digital books whereby books content can be transferred to technology devices that can be easily accessed by the tech savvy population. “It is no gainsaying the fact that

the volume of digital books we produce and distribute in Nigeria is a far cry to the ones produced in other countries, especially the advanced countries. Statistics has revealed that over 60 per cent of adult in USA alone use digital books. “Looking inward in Africa and Nigeria, we are still very behind talking of all-inclusive publishing, whereas, books must be available in all formats. In the next few years, conventional books will be competing with digital ones; hence we must all embrace the theme of the fair so that Nigeria can graduate to another competitive level�

He added that notable speakers locally and internationally will be on ground to discuss the theme,

including the Executive Secretary of the Universal Basic Education Commission, Dr. Hameed Bobboyi; Managing Director of Okada Books, Okechukwu Ofili; and Executive Director of Sidmach Technologies, Mike Olajide, among others.

Also actively involved in this year’s programme, which will hold at the University of Lagos, are the Nigerian Copyright Commission (NCC); the Nigerian Educational Research and Development Council (NERDC); the Minister of Science and Technology, Dr. Ogbonnaya Onu; the Senate Committee Chairman on Environment, Mrs. Remi Tinubu and the Vice-Chancellor of UNILAG, Prof.

Oluwatoyin Ogundipe.

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Greensprings School Awards Scholarships to Two Public School Students Uchechukwu Nnaike Come this September, two students from public schools in Lagos State would resume at Greensprings School, Lekki on full scholarship for being adjudged the best footballers at the recently concluded Greensprings/Kanu Football Camp.

Master Quadri Araromi, from Lahinde Primary School, Oshodi will start primary six at Greensprings, while Master Light Chijioke from Gbaja Boys Junior School, Surulere, will start from junior secondary two, both will complete their secondary education at the school.

The Greensprings/Kanu Football Camp was established in 2012 by Greensprings School and Kanu Heart Foundation to enable children between the ages of five and 17 enhance

their football skills. During the five-day camp, children get first class training by coaches from West Bromwich Abion Football Club, UK and Dutch Football Association, Netherlands, supported by coaches from the Lagos State Football Association. The participants also get a lifetime opportunity to receive direct mentoring and coaching from Nwankwo Kanu.

Speaking at the closing ceremony of the camp, held at the Lekki Campus of the school, the Executive Director of Greensprings School, Mrs. Lai Koiki, said the event is in line with the school’s objective of reaching all Nigerian children so it engages in activities that will extend its reach, including sports.

She said the scholarship, worth over N20 million includes the provision of accommoda-

tion, school uniforms, pocket money and other necessities that will get them immersed in the system, as well as help them to succeed and excel in their academics and sports.

Though they got the scholarship for their prowess in football, Koiki stressed that the school prioritises education and would ensure that the students put their studies first.

In his remarks, a representative of the sponsor, Union Bank, Mr. Emmanuel Essien, restated the bank’s commitment to education, sports and inclusion, as well as its desire to ensure that everyone has the opportunity to be the best that they can be.

While commending the school for the initiative, he said the camp is an example of inclusion because it brought together children from different

backgrounds.

Apart from sponsoring five students to the camp, the bank also presented cash reward of N100,000 each to the most valuable female player and four others.

Also speaking, the Chairman, Technical Committee of the Lagos State Football Association, Mr. Dotun Coker expressed delight that since the inception of the programme, the state team has always produced the beneficiaries of the scholarship.

He said association endorsed the initiative by Greensprings School because it is a way of giving back to the society, adding that the state sponsors 20 students to the camp annually.

He said the Eko Football cuts across all parts of the state and is aimed at creating an effective marriage between education and football.

L-R: The Chairman Technical Committee, Lagos Football Association, Dotun Coker; Light Chijioke and Quadri Araromi, the two scholarship winners and the most promising players of 2019 Greensprings/Kanu Football Camp; the Executive Director, Greensprings School, Lagos, Lai Koiki; the Sector Lead, Education and Religious Institutions, Union Bank, Emmanuel Essien, at the closing ceremony of the Greensprings/Kanu Football Camp, in Lagos... recently

Elizade Varsity Introduces Basic Medical Science Courses James Sowole in Akure The Vice-Chancellor of Elizade University, Ilara Mokin, Ondo State, Professor Olukayode Hamund has said the institution would from next academic session, start running courses in basic medical sciences.

Hamund disclosed this at a news conference on the third convocation ceremony of the institution founded by Chief Ade Ojo. Specifically, he said the university would start running courses like Anatomy,

Physiology, Nursing as prelude to the establishment of full medical courses which the institution has planned to do.

The vice-chancellor added that the institution would also start running courses like Cyber Security, Sociology and Political Science from next session.

He disclosed that 18 of 131 students that would be awarded first degrees during the third convocation ceremony made first class, adding that 73 others made second class upper division;

35 made second class lower division; while five made third class.

The vice-chancellor said the university, which has five faculties, has all its 30 programmes fully accredited by the National Universities Commission (NUC) and relevant professional bodies.

He said the university’s law programme is highly subscribed, adding that the institution emerged the overall best in the National Law Students Debate that held at the Obafemi Awolowo University,

Ile Ife. Other achievements recorded by the university he said include winning of research grants running into millions of naira.

Announcing the highlights of the convocation ceremony, Hamund said a lecture titled ‘The Nigerian University System and the Challenge of Internationalisation’ would be delivered by the Chairman of First Bank of Nigeria Plc, Mrs. Ibukun Awosika, adding that the award of first degree would take place on April 25 at the University Event Centre.

VC Commends NITDA for EstablishingVirtual Library in UNIJOS The Vice-Chancellor, University of Jos, Professor Sebastian Maimako has commended the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) for sponsoring the development of a virtual library project in the university.

Maimako, who described the project as “transformational and would add value to the university library as a repository of academic resources and knowledge generation�, spoke when the Director General of

NITDA, Dr. Ibrahim Pantami visited the university to monitor the progress of work on the project by the contractor.

According to the vicechancellor, the virtual library project was awarded to Microban Standard Investment Limited to install virtual library software with inverters for steady power supply to service the university library complex, saying that the contracting firm has since mobilised to site and work has reached advance stage

of completion.

He described Pantami as a true friend of the university, who without any hesitation approved the request for intervention in the Naraguta Campus Library Complex, which was gutted by fire in 2016.

The NITDA director general, who explained that he was at the institution on an unscheduled visit to monitor and ascertain the level of work on the project, said NITDA has been

deploying intervention funds for several projects across the country and has endeavoured to always monitor the jobs to ensure that they are being carried out to specification.

He commended the university authority for the transformation taking place in the institution, and urged it not to relent in doing its best. He described Maimako as a man of proven integrity, who will leave a track record in UNIJOS at the end of his tenure.

Obong Varsity Secures NUC Accreditation for Academic programmes Okon Bassey in Uyo The National Universities Commission (NUC) has granted accreditation to 10 out of 15 academic programmes offered

by Obong University, a private university based in Akwa Ibom State.

At a pre-convocation briefing held at the institution in Etim Ekpo Local Government Area, the Vice-Chancellor, Professor Udoudo Ekanemesang said the accreditation of the five remaining programmes is being looked into by the NUC. According to him, out of the 10 programmes recognised by the NUC, five have received full accreditation, while five secured interim accreditation.

He said the programmes fully accredited are Computer Science, Economics, Biochemistry, Micro-biology and Sociology while those on interim accreditation are Political Science, Public Administration, Religious Studies, Peace Studies and Accounting.

The vice-chancellor disclosed that a former Governor of the state, Victor Attah would be conferred with a honorary doctorate degree in Administration during the 2016/2017 and 2018 combined convocation of the institution, adding that the university senate approved that Attah should be honoured for his contributions to humanity within and outside the state.

He said the forthcoming

convocation will witness the award of certificates to 298 graduands comprising three first class; 119 second class upper division; and 172 second class lower, while four students will graduate with third class.

He said the university in the pursuit of its programmes would not lose sight of the vision of its founding fathers, which is to produce critical and thinking graduates for the society. “Obong University is marching on in line with the vision and mission of its founding fathers to provide holistic educational experience to our young men and women, to produce graduates who would be thought leaders and critical thinkers with commitment to lifelong learning,� he stated.

Ekanemesang, who expressed concern over the high level of insecurity as a result of militant activities that engulfed the institution leading to abduction of staff and students, thanked Governor Udom Emmanuel for restoring peace to the restive communities and assured parents and guardians of the safety of their wards while in school.

He also refuted claims that private universities are exorbitant and unaffordable to the poor, saying that as the only faith-based university in the state, its objective is to make quality education affordable and accessible to a greater majority of the society.

Corona College Matriculates 82 Students The Corona College of Education (CCED) has matriculated a total of 82 students for the 2018/2019 NCE/PDE programme.

The ceremony involving 70 Professional Diploma in Education (PDE) students and 12 Nigerian Certificate in Education (NCE) students, was attended by the School Bursar, Mr. Adewale Soremi; the Deputy Provost, Mrs. Esther Abakasanga; the Provost, Dr. Martin Obinyan; the Registrar, Mrs. Joan Omole; the Dean, Mrs. Vera James; the HOD ECE/PED, Mr. Opeolu Tells; and the HOD GSE/EDU, Mr. Augustine Mardi “As today’s occasion qualifies you to be addressed as great students of Corona, you must therefore avoid anything that will bring disrepute to the institution,� the provost advised the students.

The CCED is an initiative of the Corona Schools’ Trust Council. The college is a teacher finishing school and has the objective of making teaching an attractive career option by improving and updating the skills of teachers, while broadening and deepening their knowledge base.

The trust set up the college to bridge the gap in quality of teacher training. Thus, the college is scaled up for training the “21st century educator who must use contemporary teaching strategies to ensure quality preparation of today’s children for the future.

With the establishment of and subsequent approval received from the National Commission

for Colleges of Education (NCCE), the college now offers initial tertiary education, providing a platform for teacher qualification which includes the Professional Diploma in Education (PDE), Nigerian Certificate in Education (NCE) and the Postgraduate Certificate in Education international (PGCEi Nottingham UK).

One of the students, Mrs. Peace Osigwe thanked the college for empowering teachers, saying: “Honestly I am excited to be a student of Corona College; the processes are easy and less cumbersome. So far the experiences have been great, I love the classroom experience and teaching skills. “I am going to be a better teacher tomorrow. I will advise private and government primary and secondary schools to learn from the college in training and enhancing teachers’ performance as professionals�, she added.

Another student, Mr. Henry Ejeka said: “I believe that if we are not trained and inspired we will expire. Teachers need more training because the generation is changing every day, so knowledge is dynamic and teachers need to be trained and be competent enough to meet up the challenges of the current generation.�

The college is working in line with its vision to be the best provider of post initial training in Nigeria with quality and standards comparable to the best training institutions worldwide.

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Corruption and the Underdevelopment of Nigeria (II) Apresentationatthe20thBasseyAndahMemorialLecture,heldattheUniversityofCalabarInternationalConference Centre, 26 January 2019 by Professor Sola Akinrinade, Provost, Anti-Corruption Academy of Nigeria

N

igeria’s refineries, as with most of the oil industry itself, have mostly been perceived as conduits for fraud and fleecing of the treasury. According to industry experts, refineries are expected to undergo turnaround maintenance every three to five years to achieve optimal productivity and preserve machinery. Whenever the refineries operate below optimal level, the outcome is operational financial loss. Due to the persistent sharp practices in regard to the turnaround maintenance, the industry has continued to lose billions of Naira and dollars in the process.

In 2015, the refineries recorded N82.09 billion loss; N78.95 billion in 2016 and much more than that in 2017. In August 2018, alone, the refineries posted operational loss of N10.9 billion. Combined utilisation in August 2018 was 3.02%, down from 4.83% the month before. From data provided by the Department of Petroleum Resources, combined average capacity utilisation for year 2017 was 8.17%. Sadly, simultaneously, as the refineries were posting these losses, the country was spending even much more to import what they were supposed to produce and several times, Nigerians have had to endure the consequences of fuel shortage, which are all well known for us to be restating here.

The Group Managing Director disclosed that the NNPC imported 15.87 million metric tonnes of petrol in 2018, 62% higher than the 9.8 million metric tonnes it imported in 2017. The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu, disclosed in June 2017 that Nigeria spent $28 billion of her foreign exchange earnings importing 92% of the petrol it consumed annually. According to the National Bureau of Statistics, in the nine months to September 2018, Nigeria spent N2.58 trillion on this, while N1.14 trillion is estimated to be spent by the Government subsidising petrol imports in 2019. If we put these scandalous developments in the context of the daily living experiences of the average Nigerian, it is easy to appreciate the damage that corruption has inflicted on the Nigerian development process, given especially the critical role of the oil industry in the national economic considerations.

Our second example of the damage of corruption is the defunct Nigerian Airways.

Nigerian Airways was fully owned by the government. It went from operating about 32 aircraft at the peak of its operations to only two aircraft by the time it collapsed.

While the company was operational, its staff strength was bloated with employees to the extent that there were 500 staff to one aircraft, a figure several times the industry average.

In addition, moneys were embezzled, bribes were paid and received, functional aircraft were sold as scrap and the proceeds diverted to private use. Tickets were sold but proceeds were not remitted. Free flights were indiscriminately granted to friends, family and staff. Loans were taken in the name of the airline, but the funds were paid into private accounts. Staff spent inordinate amounts of time staying abroad for apparently private reasons but at the expense of the airline.

Moneys were paid for services not rendered.

Huge monetary deposits were forfeited to contractors, etc. Eventually, the airline became indebted, was blacklisted and collapsed under the heavy weight of corruption.

In this instance, persons in authority took advantage of public funds, goods, services and products for their private benefit or the benefit of third parties. The result is that the entity mutated from having enormous potentials to ceasing to exist. Certainly, corruption kills. The travails of Nigerian Airways were replicated in several other industries including the railways, the Nigerian National Shipping Lines, among others.

The above examples of the damage of grand corruption probably explains our national preoccupation with high profile corruption.

However, in the context of this discussion, we like to highlight the equally or probably more damaging effect of ostensibly low-level petty corruption as manifested in administrative corruption. Without question, most people seated here would have confronted one form or the other of the manifestation of petty corruption in the course of daily transactions with government offices. While attention is usually focused on high profile cases of seasonal politicians accused of high-level abuse of office, petty corruption that affect the daily lives of the average citizen continues to thrive. And by informed accounts, this form of corruption drains public resources to the tune of billions of Naira annually.

The 2017 Report, Corruption in Nigeria: Bribery – public experience and response confirms that almost a third of Nigerian adults (32.3%) who had contact with a public official between June 2015 and May

Akinrinade 2016 had to pay, or were requested to pay, a bribe to that public official. According to the Survey, bribe payers in Nigeria pay an average of some six bribes in one year, or roughly one bribe every two months. The Report estimates that roughly 400 billion Naira was paid as bribes during the period covered by the survey. Guilty public officers include members of the armed forces, police officers, tax/revenue officers, car registration/ driving license agency officers, customs officers, public utilities officers, traffic management officers, immigration service officers, teachers and lecturers, prosecutors, doctors, judges and magistrates, nurses, members of parliament, and land registry officers. These are officers that members of the public including you and I have to deal with on daily basis. But what they extract from us appear so insignificant that we never really bother to reflect on the impact and implications. The Police are reported to receive the largest bribe in terms of volume but the Customs comes first in terms of value.

On the average, 82.3 million bribes were paid to officials during the period covered by the survey, giving an average of 0.93 bribe by every adult Nigerian per year. The average sum paid as cash bribe was approximately N5,300, which translates to 28.2% of the average monthly salary of approximately N18,900.

With bribe payers paying an average of 5.8 bribes a year, 92% of which are paid in cash, an average of N28,200 is spent annually on cash bribes, equivalent to 12.5% of the annual average salary. Such is the problem that after high cost of living and unemployment, Nigerians surveyed for the report consider corruption to be the third most important problem facing the country, well ahead of the country’s infrastructure and health service, which in themselves are major sources of worry.

Public officials show little or no hesitation in requesting for bribes with almost 70% of bribes paid before service is rendered. Such is the situation that it would appear that bribery is an established component of the national administrative procedure. In certain instances, bribery takes the form of sexual services. A large percentage, a massive 42% of bribes paid are meant to speed up or finalise an administrative procedure that may otherwise be delayed for long periods or indefinitely, making bribery the most effective option for facilitating affected service. With bribes being collected for virtually every service being rendered to the public, it is clear that petty corruption perpetrated at the administrative level most probably affect the lives of ordinary Nigerians more than other forms of corruption. Indeed, it has been suggested that the oft-quoted figure of $400 billion stolen from the Nigerian treasury between 1960 and 1999 were mostly stolen by career civil servants with the rest by elected and appointed office holders.

Which way forward?

At this point, we may want to ask: what is the way forward?

In his essay titled “The 4 Pillars of Corruption, and how to Topple them�, Adam Blackwell identified what he considered the four pillars of corruption, namely: The Corrupters, the Corrupt, Impunity and Tolerance.

In the context of this discourse, I consider Tolerance as probably the most damaging pillar. By this, I mean our infinite capacity as a people and as a nation to tolerate aberrant behaviour on the part of our public officers and elected leaders. Tolerance of corruption is

difficult to target and to eradicate, especially as it is a state of the mind and cannot easily be codified; it translates corruption from individual aberration to societal acceptance.

In his book, The Trouble with Nigeria, the late literary icon, Chinua Achebe stated that: “The trouble with Nigeria is simply and squarely a failure of leadership‌ There is nothing basically wrong with the Nigerian character. There is nothing wrong with the Nigerian land, climate or water or air or anything else.â€? On the question of leadership, we probably all will agree that Chinua Achebe spoke very well. But I find it difficult agreeing with his statement that, “There is nothing basically wrong with the Nigerian character.â€? Indeed, there is a lot wrong with the Nigerian character, and which is hindering our development potential as nation.

The character of the average Nigerian is aptly summarised in the song by Fela Anikulapo Kuti released in 1978, Shuffering and Shmiling.

Embedded in the lyrics of that song is a sad commentary on the Nigerian character, that is, our readiness to accept anything without complaining, making us easy to lead, and dare I say, making it easy for those who get hold of power to exploit us without much questioning.

The argument has been even pushed further: that the people not only tolerate but actually encourage their leaders to be corrupt and excuse their behaviour when exposed. It would seem that, as a people, we have become numb to the atrocities being committed by our public officials. Yes, we talk about corruption all the time; we express our hatred, our revulsion for the phenomenon but we acquiesce in its perpetration and perpetuation. We are prepared to condemn others but when one of our own is caught, we turn the blind eye and even accuse the government of partiality in persecuting our own.

In tackling the menace of corruption on a long-term sustainable basis, we need to activate a national strategy. Fortunately, we now have in place a National Anti-Corruption Strategy which addresses all required areas in fighting corruption from prevention to enforcement.

Over the years, various governments have put in place laws to address the problem of corruption in the country. Apart from national laws, there are also international instruments including sub-regional, regional and international legislations to which the country has subscribed. These include the ECOWAS Protocol on the Fight against Corruption, the African Union Convention on Preventing and Combating Corruption (AUCPCC) and the United Nations Convention Against Corruption (UNCAC). All these protocols require State parties to establish adequately funded independent bodies to be in charge of implementing criminal and preventive policies on corruption.

Nationally, Nigeria is one of the countries with the largest number of legislations for combating corruption. Legislations in place to tackle corruption include the Code of Conduct Bureau and Tribunal Act, the Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Act 2000; the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (Establishment) Act 2004, the Public Procurement Act, 2007; the Nigerian Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) Act, 2007, and the Fiscal Responsibility Act, 2007. The existence of multiple acts and agencies to implement the provisions of these acts is evidence of the multidimensional nature of corruption in Nigeria and possibly of the weakness of the legal response to the problem.

Observers of the Nigerian political process will attest to the fact that there has been a lot of investment of efforts during the past several months in the anti-corruption drive, particularly on exposing corrupt officials of the past administration and recovering stolen funds. We have heard stories of former officials of the previous government being accused of stealing huge sums of money that generations yet unborn cannot finish spending. There are official statements that as soon as investigations are completed the alleged crooks would be taken to court.

Certainly, arresting, prosecuting and jailing of offenders cannot be discarded as a means of tackling corruption and deterring others.

Without enforcing the law, there is no basis for condemning corruption. As we cannot stop people from stealing in ordinary life, it is futile to expect corruption to disappear completely in public life. So, the legal route for seeking societal redress must continue.

However, for the fight against corruption to succeed we should transcend the arrest and jailing offenders to prevention. Beyond the legal route, it is time we explored building the structures for a sustainable long-term response that will transcend regimes and administrations in the country. The cost of enforcement including cost of investigation and prosecution, relative to the value of recoveries, point squarely to the need to take prevention seriously. Till today, Nigeria is still struggling to recover the so-called Abacha loots. It is not soothsaying that the country will never be able to recover all that was stolen from its treasury by leaders who betrayed the sacred trust committed to them either directly by the electorate or through appointments to high offices of State.

If history has any message for us, it is that enforcement has never provided a failsafe solution to the challenge of corruption in Nigeria. If it is about anti-corruption laws, Nigeria has one of the largest collections of anti-corruption legislations and anti-corruption bodies anywhere in the world. The question is, why is it that one anti-corruption legislation and body after the other, the phenomenon, rather than abating keeps intensifying?

Nigerians are usually tantalised by stories of former officials and/or their cronies caught and being placed in handcuffs or sentenced to jail. But let us ask ourselves, how many of those paraded in the past have ended up in prison serving jail terms commensurate with their crime?

Conclusion

In the final analysis, the foundation of long-term sustainable war against corruption and development of this country lies in attitudinal change. It is enlightenment or education that promotes attitudinal change that in turn encourages prevention. That is a sustainable way of promoting belief in the future of the nation. First, we need to create a culture that abhors corruption. As a people, even though we mouth commitment to anti-corruption on regular basis, we daily tolerate it when we tolerate corrupt officials who live near and around us and flaunt illgotten wealth without as much as provoking a reaction from us. We promote corruption when we rise to defend officials indicted for corruption, on the basis of primordial connections including ethnic and religious affiliation and claim they are being persecuted as we have seen many times in the past. We promote and tolerate corruption when we encourage corrupt officials to live above their legitimate means by making requests of them that they cannot meet within their legitimate income as public officials. We must assist our leaders to live within their means and our leaders must demonstrate leadership by living above the unethical norms that have become the standards in our society. Leaders should stand out and not fit into the unwholesome culture which we have defined for ourselves as a people.

There is a future and there is hope for this country. Everything is in our hands. At this juncture in our nation’s history and development, we cannot afford to miss it again. It has never been for lack of ideas or options that things have not worked in the past; it was simply the failure to pursue the options to their logical conclusion that would have yielded the desired results. Without doubt, we can perceive a new collective frowning at the corrupt tendencies of those in power and public despise of authority stealing. It is time we put the “public� back into public service in this country. And, truly, if we don’t kill corruption, corruption will one day kill us. We must not allow that to happen.

Your Excellencies, distinguished ladies and gentlemen, I thank you for your attention.

-Professor Sola Akinrinade

T H I S D AY Ëž Í°Í˛Ëœ Ͱ͎ͯ͡

36

CITYSTRINGS

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Anguish of a Host Community Adibe Emenyonu writes that for the Ogua Community, Ikpoba-Okha Local Government Area of Edo State, it’s been one tale of neglect and deprivation despite playing host to a foreign steel company

J

erry Enauna is a native of Ogua, a community at the Benin Bypass in Ikpoba-Okha Local Government Area of Edo State. Enauna was a young school leaver when in 2012, news reached him and other members of the community that a Chinese firm, Yongxing Steel Company, had acquired about 140 hectares of their land to establish a steel company. Their joy knew no bounds because because apart from securing job opportunity, it would boost economic activities of the area. Besides, it would also minimise the idea of going to Europe through Libya via the Mediterranean sea for greener pastures.

Like the youths, the Enogie (Duke) of the community, Ogiesoba Aghahowen, including elders and other indigenes of Ogua community, thought same as they saw the establishment of the firm in their domain as a good omen. The company commenced operation of steel manufacturing in 2014. Asides steel, the company is also into metal fabrication, production of iron rods, square rods, nails, electrode, cool wire, industrial gas oxygen and glass water etc.

MOU

Initially, it was gathered that the community had a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with management of the company on what they are supposed to do for the host community such as provision of electricity, building of schools (primary and secondary), road construction, and jobs for their teeming youths.

Front view of the steel company

Situation on Ground

After the MoU, the community thought an eldorado had come but that was not to be as seven years down the line, there is nothing to concrete on ground apart from the construction of three blocks of open m market and two blocks of lock-up shops already overgrown with weed.

For any visitor to Ogua either from the Sapele road axis or from the Agbor road and Sokponba road flank, the Yougxing firm is at the entrance of the community. Ironically, what welcomes a visitor to the community is the dilapidated road, usually filled with waste from the firm’s junk yard, that is as black as charcoal. There is also a thick smoke that emits from the production plants, which has turned roofs of houses in the community black.

Just as the firm enjoys 24 hours power supply from a dedicated line from the Benin Electricity Distribution Company (BEDC), the community gets partial power supply.

Meanwhile, around the firm is a colony of scrap collectors who are not indigenes of the community but built shanties where they sleep and sell metal scraps to the company at giveaway prices. The shanties erected around the firm are being occupied by over 800 scrap collectors. One of the scrap collectors who gave his name as Musa Mohammadu, said he makes as much as N20,000 monthly from gathering aluminium and other metals around the firm.

Community Reacts

Some elders of community who spoke on the perceived neglect by the company, said some landlords were already making plans to sue the firm for environmental degradation and air pollution.

The elders said the Yongxing Steel has performed below expectation by not living up to their expected Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) in terms of employment provision, scholarships for students in the community, amongst others.

Taking THISDAY to the market built by the firm that has now been overgrown with weeds, they further said it was only during festive period that the firm usually gives them 12 bags of rice to share. According to them, “we cannot buy their product as contractors. They did not give us any license to sell raw materials to them or serve as middlemen for their finished products. Also, the bad smoke from the company is affecting us. We cannot use the rain water again because it is now darkish in colour. The rain water is black like charcoal. They are killing us slowly".

During THISDAY’s visit to the area, the Enogie of the community, said the firm failed to deliver on all the promises made to the community when the land was allocated to them through the Oba of Benin, adding that the blocks of market stall built was abandoned and taken over by weeds because of the non-completion of the toilet facilities .

According to him, “when they came they promised to provide us roads, electricity, and schools in the community. But on our part we provided electricity through communal effort from Sapele road to this place. It cost us N25million, at a point the company was depending on our light, but after they fixed their own they left because now they enjoy 24 hours electricity. “We approached them and pleaded with them to extend the supply to us, that we are ready to pay but they refused. You can also see the dilapidated condition of our roads, anytime they want to grade the roads they bring old excavators and before

The state of the road leading to Ogua Community with shanties by the side, where scrap collectors shelter six months the roads will cave in. “Every December, they bring few bags of rice to us but what we really want from them is good roads and electricity. Landlords are even threatening to go to courts, anytime it rains for about two to three hours, the water turns black like charcoal owing to waste they emit into the atmosphere, it is giving us serious concern. “An environmentalist that visited the community said it is dangerous and a slow killer, so we are worried. Our people know about the danger and are threatening to go to court over the matter. We have approached them on several occasions and nothing has come out of it. In the last five years, they have not addressed these issues and our people are complaining. We have written to them on several occasions but nothing has been done. “Recently, we sent emissaries and we wrote including the MoU we entered and sent through the local government to the governor, as we speak they have reneged on all the agreement we entered. My people are threatening to shut down the company because they are making a lot of money in this community and we are suffering. “The lock up store was built five years ago and as you can see the toilets were blown away by the wind, we have appealed to them to come and fix it but again they also declined. It has been like this in the last three years. The non completion of the toilet has stalled the take-off of the market. “The other day they promised to build a comprehensive school where everybody will be coming to attend, perhaps the land owners may not have access to the school, they want to do it their own way, we asked to enter an agreement that the school is a communal one. They want to build a high standard school where ordinary people cannot afford and that is what we are fighting against for the interest of our people. “We want the government to as a matter of urgency prevail on them because we don’t want to take laws into our hands. We want good roads, schools and constant electricity. Even the community liaison officer that was employed has not been paid a dime since 2015. We have not benefitted anything from them.�

Company Reacts

In a chat with journalists, the company's spokes-

man, Mr. Isaac Olufemi, debunked the allegations and said the firm hoped to do better. Olufemi said the market was built two years ago and has been completed 90 per cent. He maintained that it was the responsibility of the community to clear the bush around the market.

On the power supply, he said the power supply to the firm was not enough and as a result, it would not share any to the community. According to him, “power is expensive. We pay for power at a very high price. We want to build a mini power station for the benefit of the community.

The power we are getting is small. We are not satisfying ourselves and we cannot give power.

We shut down some machines for others to work.

One of our waste product we use to repair the road. We give the community necessary things during festive periods. “The community people do not come to ask for jobs. The job is tedious. If you give the Chinese chance, they will work for 24 hours. It is only meant for strong people. Those that agreed to work are from the North, Delta and other states but the community find it difficult to work. Those that worked there saved money and traveled abroad. It is lie that we sack indigenes of the community. We are six years old in operation. We want to build a secondary school with support from the Chinese government. The governor is aware. Apart from the ground breaking ceremony of the school, they will talk about other business. “We have pollution control system. We filter the emission. The community people do not fall sick.

We still use the underground water. We have done environmental audit on it. Their plants have not stopped growing. Our presence helps to provide security. We allow the community collect rent from stores around the company. The scraps from the metal we buy made over 2000 Hausas earn a living there. We don’t collect anything from them but they contribute money to the community.�

Environmental Implications

However, speaking on the environmental implications within Ogua community, Dr. Edeaghe Ehikhamenor, an environmental activist and founder, Save Accident Victims of Nigeria (SAVAN), lamented that the health condition of communities around the firm may worsen unless

the appropriate authority intervenes to address the complaints.

He said: “I want to say that the emission no doubt is a major pollutant to the community. The emission can affect the respiratory system and as a pollutant there is no way you can organise a proper detoxification programme in the community with that industry there. The Chinese people need to be told in plain language that the black man cannot do that in China what they are doing to us here because they are gradually killing our people here. “Beside the environmental effect, a lot of their staff had been brought to the hospital with cuts, injuries and so on. We have cried out so many times but they don’t want to listen. They don’t have any safety regulation in that place; there is always trauma and injury there. For that alone, it means that they do not have any form of control.

It is a very serious thing, we are always having casualty from that place, we have complained and nothing seems to be done about it. “At a point, I had to call the chief security officer to the governor on this matter. The last patient that was crushed died in less than 24 hours that he was brought to the hospital. I asked them if the Chinese man will allow a black person to run a company like that in their country, it is quite sad?"

Possibility of EIA by Ministry

On her part, the state Commissioner for Environment and Sustainability, Omoua Alonge Oni-Okpaku, said her ministry is already in possession of a petition from the Ogua community which she said had been passed to the State House of Assembly for action.

While noting that management of the steel firm had been invited by the state legislators, she added: “Yes, we got the peoples petition written to us about a month ago and we have forwarded it to the house of assembly. The house has received it and given the firm 14 days to look into all the issues raised. So the 14 days will elapse on April 16, 2019, and we are waiting to see the measure they will take to rectify all the issues so that we as ministry can do an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA). In fact the management of the firm were at the state house of assembly last week�.

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T H I S D AY Ëž Í°Í˛Ëœ Ͱ͎ͯ͡

CRIME&SECURITY

Scorecard for Lagos State Police Command Chiemelie Ezeobi chronicles the series of arrests recorded by the Lagos State Police Command in one month

U

pon assumption of office as the 35th Commissioner of Police, Lagos State Police Command, on February 8, 2019, CP Zubairu Muazu, had pledged round-the-clock security.

While warning criminal elements to change their ways or have the police to contend with, he had also sought the cooperation of all in the fight against crime and criminality.

Despite the rocky start he had with the irascible acts of some of his personnel, who had gone on a killing spree, Muazu has not let that deter him from staying the course in the fight against crime.

Just last week, the CP regaled crime reporters of the arrests made within one month. According to him, with the elections over, fresh security challenges are beginning to resurface in the state.

Notwithstanding, he said their collective resolve in protecting the lives and properties of the people of Lagos remains unshaken.

New Strategies On the new strategies he has put on ground he said the command has evolved in preventing and combating crimes in the state that is aimed at reassuring the people of their safety. He noted that their deployments have been targeted towards combating traffic robbery and easing the free flow of traffic across the state.

Also, he noted that their Tactical units have been repositioned for intelligence-driven approach to tackling the menace of kidnapping, armed robbery, cultism and gangsterism.

On the other hand, he said the Rapid Response Squad (RRS) led by DCP Tunji Disu, which is equipped with the state of the art facilities, is more than ever ready to promptly and effectively respond to distress calls/emergencies in any part of the state.

Vision According to Muazu, his vision is to present to Lagosians a state where everyone is safe to carryout his/her legitimate duties at all time. He added, “a state where no one is harassed or intimidated by anyone. These cannot be achieved without a more humane, professional, courageous and people friendly police officers�.

Some of the arrested suspects

Training Programmes To achieve this, he said they initiated training programmes to police officers in Lagos on ‘Respect and protection of human rights; Arrest procedures; Legal procedures on conducting search; Legal procedure on the use of force; and Relationship building’.

He said: “We are equally in talk with some partners to organise training for our officers and men on Emotional intelligence. Let me use this opportunity to call on the good people of Lagos State to have faith in us. Support the police to serve you better. “We are here because of you and together we can defeat the few criminal elements in the state.

For complaints against police action in Lagos State, the command can be reached through GSM No 09090003792.�

Achievements On the achievements the command has recorded in the past few weeks he said: “Two suspects were arrested in connection with the abduction of the Director Fire Service and six others. “On April 6, 2019 at about 2000hrs, the Director of Lagos State Fire Service Mr. Rasaki Musibau and six others were abducted at Ketu-Ereyun, Ikorodu. They regained their freedom on April 9, 2019 at about 11.45pm. Following a sustained and well-coordinated operations by the command’s Tactical Anti-Kidnapping Unit, two suspects namely; Blessing Bayo, 29 years and Smart Alfred, 32 years, all of Arogbo, Ondo State were arrested on April 10, 2019 at about 0530 hours, at Ibafun along Ikorodu- Ijebu Ode Express Way, a boundary community with Ogun.�

The CP said the duo confessed to the crime, adding that two single barrel guns were recovered from the suspects.

Also, the command also arrested the syndicate that were posing as King Sunny Ade to defraud innocent people. He said: “On the December 31, 2018, Dr. Sunday Adeniyi Adegeye aka King Sunny Ade wrote a complaint letter to the command, that some unknown person(s) opened a fake instagram account and bank accounts in his name, which they used in defrauding members of the public. “A thorough and painstaking investigation

conducted by operatives of our Criminal Intelligence Bureau led to the arrest of the following suspects: Ayoola Zainab, Oyewunmi Abiodun Ridwan, OyedokunLawrence Femi and Oyebode Rebecca and Ayoola Zainab confessed to have opened an account on the instruction of her boyfriend Oyewunmi AbiodunRidwan from whom we recovered the ATM card of the account they used in defrauding 28 innocent victims of the sum of N1,387,000. “Oyebode Rebecca owns an account used in defrauding 33 innocent persons the sum of N1, 454,200.00. Oyedokun Lawrence Femi who is the leader of the syndicate, opened a fake instagram and email accounts, the platform where he placed an information about a non-existing King Sunny Ade USA musical tour through which 33 innocent victims were defrauded of a total sum of N2,841,200.00.

Suspects were charged to court for conspiracy, impersonation and fraud.�

On the March 10, a surveillance team attached to Festac Police Station, while on patrol arrested one Olaniyi Sokunle with a locally made pistol at Alakija under the bridge. On interrogation, the suspect confessed to be a member of the traffic robbery gang. Investigation led to the arrest of two other members of the gang namely: Suleiman Musa and SadiqLawal, at Maza Maza, Mile 2.

Exhibits recovered includes; five wraps of cocaine, 43 wraps of Indian helm cannabis, large quantity of Indian helm dush, six different brands of handset suspected to have been robbed from people.

On April 12 one Rofiat Ayode of No 10 Bale street Satellite town reported at Satellite Police Station that one Chisom Obiora abducted her son, Aliamin Rofiat. Investigation led to the arrest of the suspect and the kidnapped baby was rescued unhurt.

On April 9, a Toyota Corolla saloon with reg No EKY 949 FJ belonging to one Ikechukwu Chukwudi, was snatched at Third Avenue Festac. Immediately, the report was made, a team of policemen from Festac Police Station was drafted to the scene and one Bawa Garuba was arrested with the stolen vehicle.

On April 12, one Femi Murtala was intercepted at Muwo IRA bridge by a team of policemen attached to Ojo Division with one locally made pistol and three live cartridges. He confessed to

Lagos State CP, Zubairu Muazu be a member of Eiye Confraternity and was on his way to attend some cult rituals at the shrine of their priests. The shrine was raided where one locally made gun and one locally made double barrel gun were recovered. The chief priest one John Nkpe was also arrested.

On April 10, Ketu Police Station while on patrol around Ketu bus-stop arrested AyomideAyobami and Taye Onofowokan , both residing at Agboyi Ketu with a handbag. During search, a locally made pistol and a jack knife with three live ammunition were recovered from them.

On April 7, following a sustained monitoring, one Kehinde Olamide popularly known as OBEKE who has been on the wanted list of Police was arrested at Iyana-Ishashi by Ojo Division. He was the alleged mastermind of the attack on Yoruba Loaders in Afolabi Ege market. His gang is notoriousfor robbery and cultism. They operate mostly alongPako Bus stop and Mile Ten area of Ojo. On April 14, 2019, Ogombo Police station received a distress call that rival cult groups had a clash of supremacy along Abraham Adesanya, Lekki-Epe express way where four members of Eiye cult

gang were killed by Aye members. Two suspected Aye confraternity members namely Saheed Lateef and Julius Augulere both of No.13 Obodo street okeira-nla, Langbasa, Ajah-Lagos were arrested in connection with the case and they confessed to committing of the crime. One axe with blood stains was recovered from the suspects.

Also, police officers attached to Dopemu Police Station, while on patrol at No. 13 Oseni street Moricas Agege, arrested four suspects namely; Yusuf Jinaidu, Samuel Timothy, Ibrahim Adetutu and Olumide Taiwo. Two cutlasses and one dagger were recovered from the suspects.

Meanwhile, on April 16, police officers attached to Department of Operation, while on patrol at Ayeteju/Baba Adisa community in Elemoro, IbejuLekki, arrested a group of armed robbers/cultists, namely; Sunday Babatunde, Yusuf Adekoya and Ibrahim Adekoya, all of Alaun, Ibeju-Lekki. One locally made pistol with unexpended cartridges were recovered from the suspects.

On April 17, based on the strength of information received from a reliable source, police officers attached to Festac Division arrested one Sode Femi of 23 road Festac in his possession of 18 bottles of steam injection drugs with 17 syringes, 38 wraps of cocaine, 21 wraps of ice crack cocaine, large quantity of unwrapped Indian helm, one Dell Laptop, seven different brands of handsets suspected to be stolen.

Also the command arrested another set of armed robbery suspects and recovered arms and ammunition. The arrest was on March 19, 2019 by police officers attached to Special Anti-Robbery Squad, Igando Base. They arrested one Francis Obi and Semiu Abiodun, both resident of Imo State. During interrogation, the suspects confessed to have killed one Oboile ObinnaEfenkade in an attempt to rob him. They disclosed that they came from Imo State to operate in Lagos. Three Baretta pistols with five live ammunition and three expended ammunition were recovered.

In another vein, the command on April 21, deployed surveillance teams to tackle the menace of traffic robbery and five notorious suspects were arrested. According to the state Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Bala Elkana, the police patrol team on surveillance along Oshodi /Apapa expressway sighted some armed bandits at Toyota bus stop, under Daleko bridge, taking advantage of the traffic congestion, robbing motorists and other unsuspecting members of the public of their valuables such as laptops, handsets and money.

Three suspects namely; Daniel Ani, Akinbode Muiz and Oluwasegun Emmanuel were arrested.

They confessed to be responsible for traffic robbery along Mushin and environ. They confessed to have stolen numerous phones and bags from different victims as well as a bag containing the sum of N25,000 belonging to one Oyebanji Ibukun before they were apprehended by the Police. Two knives and cutlasses were recovered from the suspects.

In a related development, on April 19, at about 8.00pm, surveillance patrol team attached to Orile Police Station received a distress call that some traffic robbers were operating at Alafia area along Lagos Badagry Express Way. Anti robbery teams were quickly deployed to the scene. Two suspects namely; Olalekan Taoreed of No.20, Sunday street, Ijora Badia and Adeniyi Okunloye of No. 25, Alaba Road, Suru Alaba were arrested. One Samsung Duos handset stolen from one of the victims was recovered from them. One big sharp cutlass which was used in inflicting injuries on their victims, was recovered from them. The suspects confessed to be responsible for traffic robberies along Orile and environs.

Also, the PRO said the command arrested five suspects for gang clash at Aguda. He said the Aguda Police Station received a distress call that a group of youths from Ijesha and Aguda areas engaged themselves in a free for all fight at the boundary between Ijasha and Aguda.

He noted that police patrol teams from Ijesha and Aguda were promptly drafted to the scene and the situation was brought under control. The suspects were identified as Lekan Abiose, Ahmed lsiaka, Aro Rasaq, Gideon Agwu and Temileyin Odulawo.

Bala said preliminary investigation revealed that some members of the two rival groups fought in a get together party organised by one Bulky and Baba Sunday at Ijasha area, where one Ijesha youth was injured. The injured person was said to have mobilised his friends on a revenge mission to Aguda the next morning, which led to the fracas.

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38

T H I S D AY Ëž Í°Í˛Ëœ 2019

BUSINESS/MONEYGUIDE

Olam to Acquire Dangote Flour Mills for N130bn Nume Ekeghe åÓÞÒ Ă‹Ă‘Ă?Ă˜Ă?ĂŁ ĂœĂ?ĂšĂ™ĂœĂž Olam International Limited, a Singaporean agro-allied company, yesterday offered to acquire Dangote Flour Mill (DFM) Plc. Dangote Flour Mills, in a notice to the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), said that the total consideration offered by Olam to acquire its five billion shares was N130 billion.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reported that Olam, through its subsidiary Crown Flour Mills currently, owns over five million shares of Dangote Flour Mills and is bidding to take over the entire company.

It stated that Olam was bidding to acquire all the outstanding and issued shares of DFM that were not currently owned by Olam through its

subsidiary, Crown Flour Mills Limited.

The notice signed by Director, Mr Thabo Mabe, said the transaction would be on the basis of debt free, cash free, payable in cash at the closing of the proposed transaction.

The deal, according to Dangote Flour, would be on the basis of debt free, cash free at the end of the transaction, which means working capital and debt value would be net out at the end of the transaction. “If the conditions of the transactions are satisfied and sanctioned by the court, the company would be delisted from NSE,� it said.

The company said the offer was subject to, amongst other things, shareholders’ approval, regulatory approvals, the sanctions of the Federal

High Court.

DFM said the board would review the offer in the best interest of the shareholders. “The board will keep both the capital markets and the public updated on tangible development in this regard, in line with the applicable regulatory requirements,� it added.

Olam was established in 1989, and now listed on the Singapore Exchange and the bids could be a move by the firm to expand its franchise in Nigeria.

Tiger Brands, a South African firm had in 2012 bought a 63 per cent stake in Dangote Flour and pasta maker, but few years down the line the Dangote Group bought back the company after the new owners sustained losses repeatedly on its operations

Rubber Farmers Lament Exclusion from FG’s Loans Bassey Inyang Ă“Ă˜ Ă‹Ă–Ă‹ĂŒĂ‹Ăœ Hundreds of rubber farmers in Cross River State have lamented what they described as their non-inclusion by the federal government in the list of the category of farmers to benefit from the Bankers’ Committee single-digit interest and moratorium.

Speaking on behalf of rubber estate owners in the state, numbering about 207 farmers, their representative, Mr Hebrew Martins Akpan, said the obvious neglect of the farmers had denied at least 100, 000 people employment in the nation’s rubber industry.

Akpan, who stated this recently in Calabar, during a meeting between the farmers, and a representative of Imoniyame Holdings Limited, in Delta State, Mrs. Ufuoma Obrutse, urged the federal government to take another look at the policy, and ensure the inclusion of the farmers as

part of those to benefit from the loans scheme.

Akpan also urged the federal government to revive the moribund Presidential Committee on Rubber, saying it would contribute in making Nigeria one of the leading producers of rubber in the country.

The spokesman of the rubber farmers said nine states in the southern part of Nigeria, considered as the rubber belt region, can produce the commodity for the entire needs of the rubber industry in Nigeria. “Rubber is a longstanding economic crop which should be accommodated in any incentive consideration. We can generate employment for nearly 100,000 directly and indirectly in the Niger Delta region which can certainly go a long to calm restive youths as well as earn huge foreign exchange.... “Federal government should extend the intervention fund

to rubber if they do not want it to go extinct. We are already facing huge challenges, and to exclude us may mean that the intention is to further dampen us whereas we are a more reliable economic bolster. “Rubber has more challenges yet with greater benefits even though it has about seven years gestation period. Yet, too, it has generational value. So we need more assistance. We therefore call on the federal government to urgently review its statement so that we in the rubber sector can enjoy same incentive,� he added.

Obrutse, who is the Managing Director of Imoniyame Holdings Limited, a leading player in the nation’s rubber industry said the marginalisation of rubber farmers was unfair.

He said the rubber industry can generate huge employment and attract huge foreign exchange, if the federal government support the farmers adequately.

L-R: Head, Brand Management, United Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc. Lashe Osoba; OďŹƒcer, Lagos Lottery Board, Nike Oyebamiji; Head, Lagos OďŹƒce, Consumer Protection Council, Susie Onwuka; Executive Director, UBA, Liadi Ayoku; Head, FMCG, Isiuwe Chike and Mass Retail/Agent Banking Manager, Bolajoko Agunlejika, at the second quarterly draw of the ‘UBA Wise Savers Promo’ held in Lagos‌recently

MARKET INDICATORS MONEY AND CREDIT STATISTICS Money Supply (M3)

31,794,803.44

-- CBN Bills Held by Money Holding Sectors

6,333,064.28

Money Supply (M2)

25,461,739.17

-- Quasi Money

14,773,076.98

-- Narrow Money (M1)

10,688,662.18

---- Currency Outside Banks

1,711,763.59

---- Demand Deposits

8,976,898.59

Net Foreign Assets (NFA)

Banking Tech West Africa Summit, Khalila Baldwin said: “Financial inclusion is a means to an end. It is a catalyst for equitable development and inclusive economic growth.

Our ambition at the summit for Financial Inclusion has always been to improve the capacity of the financial sector to better serve all people in Africa, and to share the lessons learned from those efforts with the global development community. “By working with pioneers of low-cost financial services across the continent to introduce and discuss new technological approaches and innovative business models, we have highlighted both the opportunities and the challenges in furthering financial inclusion.�

According to a statement, field studies showed that access to mobile money services has increased daily per capita consumption levels of households, lifting them out of extreme poverty.

It noted that mobile money services have changed lives – for example, helping women to move from subsistence farming to business occupations and

sustainable livelihoods. “In total, 7.2 million new digital financial services users on the continent, 45,000 new banking agents, and $300 million in monthly transactions. “Africa’s financial services landscape continues its dynamic evolution as the rapid growth of FinTech on the continent drives both the disruption and leapfrogging of legacy systems and further accelerates the digital transformation of financial services. “In Nigeria, the major banks are rapidly ramping-up their own innovation strategies and collaborating with new game-changing start-ups to drive efficiencies, make digital profitable and capture new markets. “A decade after mobile phones began to spread in Africa, they have become commonplace even in the continent’s poorest countries,� the statement added.

It showed that in 2016 twofifths of people in sub-Saharan Africa had mobile phones. Their rapid spread has beaten all sorts of odds. In most African countries, less than half the population has access to electricity.

18,990,400.78

Net Domestic Assets(NDA)

12,804,402.66

-- Net Domestic Credit (NDC)

26,062,986.22

---- Credit to Government (Net)

2,980,229.66

---- Memo: Credit to Govt. (Net) less FMA

7,093,619.43

---- Memo: Fed. and Mirror Accounts (FMA)

-4,144,571.43

---- Credit to Private Sector (CPS)

23,082,756.56

--Other Assets Net

13,258,583.57

Reserve Money (Base Money

6,811,192.37

--Currency in Circulation

2,100,129.91

--Banks Reserves

4,366,259.05

Experts Promote Digital Financial Services The launch and growth of digital financial services has led to an unprecedented increase in the number of people enjoying access to formal financial services, experts have said.

They noted that Africa was becoming home to more digital financial services deployments than any other region in the world, with almost half of the nearly 700 million individual users worldwide.

Mobile money solutions and agent banking now offer affordable, instant, and reliable transactions, savings, credit, and even insurance opportunities in rural villages and urban neighbourhoods where no bank had ever established a branch.

The experts said this at the Future Banking Tech West Africa Summit. The two-day events which is holding in Lagos, ends today.

The summit brought to the fore the voices of Africa’s financial services industry leaders, as well as technology experts to offer deep and thoughtful analysis for everyone working in this area of international development.

The Director of the Future

(MILLION NAIRA)

NOVEMBER 2018

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 Ëœ Í°Í° Ͱ͎ͯ͡

The price of OPEC basket of fourteen crudes stood at $72.44 a barrel on Monday, compared with $70.83 the previous Thursday, 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 I S D AY Ëž Í°Í˛Ëœ Ͱ͎ͯ͡

MARKET NEWS

UBA Shareholders Approve N29bn Dividend, Applaud Performance Goddy Egene Shareholders of pan-African Financial United Bank for Africa(UBA) Plc yesterday approved the N29.9 billion paid for the 2018 financial year, while hailing the consistent strong performance of the group.

The shareholders, who gave the approval at the 57th annual general meeting (AGM) in Lagos, commended the staff,

management and the board on impressive performance of the financial institution.

For instance, the President, Association for the Advancement of the Rights of Nigerian Shareholders, Dr Faruk Umar, said the current management was fulfilling the vision of the founders and past leaders of UBA in creating a truly panAfrican bank. “I want to specially commend the management of UBA

P R I C E S MAIN BOARD

F O R DEALS

under the leadership of the Group Managing Director/ CEO, Kennedy Uzoka, for a selfless commitment and hard-work towards building an enduring institution that we and future generations can be proud of. More so, I am impressed by the tenacity of this management in delivering on the vision of shareholders to create a leading and dominant pan-African financial service institution with global reputa-

S E C U R I T I E S MARKET PRICE

QUANTITY TRADED

VALUE TRADED ( N )

tion and culture. Whilst it may have taken us some time to appreciate the cutting-edge vision of Chairman, Mr. Tony Elumelu, in expanding our group’s operation to Africa, we are today excited by the performance and contribution of these operations to our Group’s earnings,� he said.

Addressing shareholders, Elumelu, disclosed the upgrade of operations in the United Kingdom and formal

T R A D E D MAIN BOARD

A S

opening of the Mali business, adding that the team in both countries were set to change the narrative of banking, and would thus strengthen the earnings growth trajectory of the Group, through their respective positive contribution.

He said: “We are optimistic about the policy environment in most African economies, where we operate, as we expect diligent implementation of fiscal policies to help

O F

stimulate inclusive economic growth, ease macro pressures and lower the cost of doing business. I am very optimistic that we will sustain the strong growth trajectory, as we continue to gain market share across Africa, leveraging our core values of Enterprise, Excellence and Execution.�

On his part, Uzoka, promised shareholders that the team remained poised to do more in the coming year.

2 3 / 0 4 / 2 0 1 9 DEALS

MARKET PRICE

QUANTITY TRADED

VALUE TRADED ( N)

40

˾ WEDNESDAY, APRIL 24, 2019

41

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 24, 2019 ˾ T H I S D AY

MARKET NEWS

Nigerian Stock Exchange Lists 1.354bn Shares of SAHCO Plc Goddy Egene The market capitalisation of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) was yesterday boosted by N6.294 billion following the listing of 1.354 billion ordinary shares of Skyway Aviation Handling Company Plc (SAHCO Plc) at N4.65 per share on the exchange.

Speaking at the Facts behind the listing ceremony at the

NSE, the Managing Director/ Chief Executive Officer, SAHCO Plc, Basil Agboarumi said the company is one of the success stories of privatisation in Nigeria.

According to him, they needed to give Nigerians opportunity to benefit from the success story and also to make the company more feasible, hence the listing, which followed an initial public offering(IPO).

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

“SAHCO Plc’s future strategy seeks to create long term shareholder value through the profitable operation and expansion of its business beyond Nigeria and into other West African markets with vision to become the leading provider of passenger ramp and cargo handling services in the West Africa sub-region,” Basil noted further,” he said.

He disclosed that following

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 18Apr-2019, unless otherwise stated.

the implementation of a number of turnaround initiatives postprivatisation, SAHCO Plc has built strong competence as one of the leading aviation ground handling companies in Nigeria growing its market share from 21 per cent in 2009 to more than 40 per cent in 2017.

The Chief Executive Officer of NSE, Mr. Oscar Onyema said the listing was a promising

development in the country, being that SAHCO Plc was the first company under the Bureau of Public Enterprise(BPE) privatisation programme to successfully finalise an IPO and list its shares on a securities exchange.

“It serves as an example to other similarly situated companies.

And, we encourage more of these companies to explore the different opportunities in

the capital markets for raising long term capital. We believe that increased participation of indigenous companies in the capital markets will increase investors’ confidence (both local and international) and entrench good corporate governance, transparency and sustainability,” Onyema, who was represented by the NSE Executive Director, Regulations, Ms Tinu Awe, said.

Offer price: The price at which units of a trust or ETF are bought by investors. .

Bid Price: The price at which Investors redeem (sell) units of a trust or ETF. Yield/Total Return: Denotes the total return an investor would have earned on his investment. Money Market Funds report Yield while others report Year- to-date Total Return.

NAV: is value per share of the real estate assets held by a REIT on a specific date.

DAILY PRICE LIST FOR MUTUAL FUNDS, REITS and ETFS MUTUAL FUNDS / UNIT TRUSTS AFRINVEST ASSET MANAGEMENT LTD aaml@afrinvest.com Web: www.afrinvest.com; Tel: +234 1 270 1680 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Afrinvest Equity Fund N/A N/A N/A Afrinvest Plutus Fund N/A N/A N/A Nigeria International Debt Fund N/A N/A N/A ALTERNATIVE CAPITAL PARTNERS LTD info@acapng.com Web: www.acapng.com, Tel: +234 1 291 2406, +234 1 291 2868 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn ACAP Canary Growth Fund 0.88 0.89 5.16% ACAP Income Funds 0.63 0.63 12.26% 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 13.23% AIICO Balanced Fund 2.29 2.31 3.09% 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 16.57 17.07 -0.11% ARM Discovery Fund 359.67 370.51 0.85% ARM Ethical Fund 29.56 30.45 4.69% ARM Money Market Fund 1.00 1.00 13.25% 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 100.68 101.39 -0.50% AXA Mansard Money Market Fund 1.00 1.00 12.66% 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 13.78% Paramount Equity Fund 12.14 12.24 2.78% Women's Investment Fund 106.58 107.12 2.86% CORDROS ASSET MANAGEMENT LIMITED assetmgtteam@cordros.com Web: www.cordros.com, Tel: 019036947 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Cordros Money Market Fund 100.00 100.00 12.53% Cordros Milestone Fund 2023 98.79 99.23 Cordros Milestone Fund 2028 100.17 100.06 CORONATION ASSEST MANAGEMENT investment@coronationam.com Web:www.coronationam.com , Tel: 012366215 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Coronation Money Market Fund 1.00 1.00 13.86% Coronation Balanced Fund 0.84 0.84 Coronation Fixed Income Fund 1.18 1.18 4.93% EDC FUNDS MANAGEMENT LIMITED mutualfundng@ecobank.com Web: www.ecobank.com Tel: 012265281 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn EDC Nigeria Money Market Fund Class A 100.00 100.00 12.18% EDC Nigeria Money Market Fund Class B 1,000,000.00 1,000,000.00 12.34% 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 0.00 0.00 -100.00% FBN Heritage Fund 145.73 146.77 1.62% FBN Money Market Fund 0.00 0.00 0.00% FBN Nigeria Eurobond (USD) Fund - Institutional 118.34 118.80 3.91% FBN Nigeria Eurobond (USD) Fund - Retail 118.25 118.71 4.08% FBN Nigeria Smart Beta Equity Fund 147.93 150.05 -1.38% 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 1.18 1.20 -3.41% Legacy Debt Fund 3.36 3.36 3.62% Legacy USD Bond Fund 1.04 1.04 1.40% FSDH ASSET MANAGEMENT LTD coralfunds@fsdhgroup.com Web: www.fsdhaml.com; Tel: 01-270 4884-5; 01-280 9740-1 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Coral Growth Fund 3,000.14 3,032.02 0.56% Coral Income Fund 2,861.21 2,861.21 4.45% GREENWICH ASSET MANAGEMENT LIMITED assetmanagement@gtlgroup.com Web: www.gtlgroup.com ; Tel: +234 1 4619261-2 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Greenwich Plus Money Market Fund 100.00 100.00 12.21% Nigeria Entertainment Fund 108.40 108.80 -0.26% 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 12.56% Vantage Balanced Fund 2.14 2.16 -0.43% Vantage Guaranteed Income Fund 1.00 1.00 15.27% Kedari Investment Fund (KIF) 125.44 125.67 0.43%

LOTUS CAPITAL LTD fincon@lotuscapitallimited.com Web: www.lotuscapitallimited.com; Tel: +234 1-291 4626 / +234 1-291 4624 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Lotus Halal Investment Fund 1.17 1.19 2.27% Lotus Halal Fixed Income Fund 1,085.66 1,085.66 4.07% MERISTEM WEALTH MANAGEMENT LTD info@meristemwealth.com Web: http://www.meristemwealth.com/funds/ ; Tel: +234 1-4488260 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Meristem Equity Market Fund 11.16 11.25 -2.98% Meristem Money Market Fund 10.00 10.00 11.48% PAC ASSET MANAGEMENT LTD info@pacassetmanagement.com Web: www.pacassetmanagement.com/mutualfunds; Tel: +234 1 271 8632 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn PACAM Balanced Fund 1.27 1.29 3.32% PACAM Fixed Income Fund 11.47 11.52 3.05% PACAM Money Market Fund 10.00 10.00 12.37% 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 121.19 121.76 0.38% 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 4.31% 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 2,380.12 2,393.34 2.84% Stanbic IBTC Bond Fund 198.56 198.56 4.43% Stanbic IBTC Ethical Fund 0.96 0.97 1.58% Stanbic IBTC Guaranteed Investment Fund 256.34 256.37 3.71% Stanbic IBTC Iman Fund 165.06 166.88 1.17% Stanbic IBTC Money Market Fund 100.00 100.00 12.70% Stanbic IBTC Nigerian Equity Fund 8,426.41 8,523.79 -0.76% Stanbic IBTC Dollar Fund (USD) 1.13 1.13 1.82% 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 1.21 1.19 0.07% United Capital Bond Fund 1.66 1.66 4.32% United Capital Equity Fund 0.68 0.69 -4.38% United Capital Money Market Fund 1.00 1.00 13.26% United Capital Eurobond Fund 109.82 109.82 2.39% United Capital Wealth for Women Fund 1.11 1.11 1.54% QUANTUM ZENITH ASSET MANAGEMENT & INVESTMENTS LTD service@quantumzenithasset.com.ng Web: www.quantumzenith.com.ng; Tel: +234 1-2784219 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Zenith Equity Fund 11.09 11.26 4.17% Zenith Ethical Fund 12.29 12.37 2.15% Zenith Income Fund 21.56 21.56 11.86% Zenith Money Market Fund 1.00 1.00 11.56%

REITS NAV Per Share

Yield / T-Rtn

5.40 120.06 52.31

-44.85% 1.98% 1.10%

Bid Price

Offer Price

Yield / T-Rtn

10.36 107.21 86.72

10.46 109.50 88.32

-1.76% -8.60% -2.20%

Fund Name FSDH UPDC Real Estate Investment Fund SFS Skye Shelter Fund Union Homes REIT

EXCHANGE TRADED FUNDS Fund Name Lotus Halal Equity Exchange Traded Fund SIAML Pension ETF 40 Stanbic IBTC ETF 30 Fund

VETIVA FUND MANAGERS LTD Web: www.vetiva.com; Tel: +234 1 453 0697 Fund Name Vetiva Banking Exchange Traded Fund Vetiva Consumer Goods Exchange Traded Fund Vetiva Griffin 30 Exchange Traded Fund Vetiva Industrial Goods Exchange Traded Fund Vetiva S&P Nigeria Sovereign Bond Exchange Traded Fund

funds@vetiva.com Bid Price

Offer Price

Yield / T-Rtn

3.84 6.87 14.12 11.47 153.48

3.88 6.95 14.22 11.67 155.48

-3.92% -9.81% -5.56% -7.17% 6.88%

NAV Per Share

Yield / T-Rtn

106.90

17.40%

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

T H I S D AY ˾ WEDNESDAY APRIL 24, 2019

T H I S D AY ˾ ͰͲ˜ Ͱͮͯͷ

43

44

WEDNESDAY APRIL 24, 2019 ˾ T H I S D AY

INTERNA TIONAL

ISIS Claims Responsibility for Sri Lanka Bombings The Islamic State yesterday said its members were behind the Easter Sunday suicide bombings in Sri Lanka, in a statement carried by the extremist group’s mouthpiece Amaq.

“Those, who carried out the attack that targeted the citizens of the coalition and Christians in Sri Lanka the day before yesterday were Islamic State fighters,” Amaq reported on Tuesday.

The statement refers to the

U.S.-led coalition, which has been fighting the extremist group in Iraq and Syria since it took over large areas in the two countries in 2014.

The death toll from multiple suicide attacks at churches and hotels in Sri Lanka over the Easter weekend rose to 321 on Tuesday, the national day of mourning for the victims.

Police said that the increase was due to more people succumbing to injuries.

The bombings in Sri

Lanka were intended as retaliation for last month’s attack against Muslims in Christchurch, according to initial investigations by the Sri Lankan government, the deputy defence minister said.

“We believe [the massacre] was carried out by an extreme Islamist group as a reprisal to the Christchurch mosque massacre in New Zealand,” State Minister for Defence Ruwan Wijewardene said in a statement to parliament.

African Leaders Allow Sudan’s Military Council Three Months to Hand Power African leaders have agreed to give Sudan’s ruling military council three months to implement democratic reforms, Egypt’s official MENA news agency reported on Tuesday.

The leaders reached the agreement during a summit of the African Union (AU), which was chaired by Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi.

“The African countries

agreed to give more time to the Sudanese Military Council to carry out necessary measures with the help of the AU,’’ Sisi was quoted as saying.

Earlier, the AU set a 15-day deadline for Sudan’s Military Council to hand over its power to a civilian government.

The AU threatened to suspend Sudan’s membership

if it fails to transfer power within the deadline.

Now the deadline has been extended to three months as 15 days are not enough for forming a government, said the Egyptian president.

The Sudanese Military Council has ruled the country since President Omar al-Bashir was militarily ousted on April 11.

Saudi Arabia Executes 37 for Terrorism Saudi Arabia has executed 37 people who were convicted in terrorism-related cases, the Ministry of Interior said on Tuesday.

The 37 people were all Saudi nationals, who received the death penalty for charges including adopting extremist terrorist ideology, the formation of terrorist cells, attacking security offices using explosives and killing a number of security personnel.

According to the statement

carried by the official Saudi Press Agency, charges also included provoking sectarian treason and cooperation with hostile parties to harm the country’s interests.

“The charges were upheld by the Court of Appeals and the Supreme Court before a royal decree was issued to carry out the death sentences.

“The Ministry of the Interior made this announcement to affirm that this country will not hesitate to deter anyone who wishes to harm its

security and stability,’’ the statement read.

It did not state how the death penalty was implemented.

Executions in Saudi Arabia are known to be carried out by beheading with sword or shooting, sometimes in public.

Human Rights Watch said that the kingdom executed 139 people in 2018 based on Interior Ministry statements; most of them were executed for murder and drug crimes.

Netanyahu Seeks to Name New Golan Heights Settlement after Trump Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday said he wanted to have a new community on the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights named after U.S. President Donald Trump.

“Israelis were deeply moved by Trump’s decision to recognise Israel’s sovereignty over the Golan Heights,’’ Netanyahu said in a video statement while visiting the area with his family during the Jewish holiday

of Passover.

“Therefore, after the Passover holiday, I intend to bring to the government a resolution calling for a new community on the Golan Heights named after President Donald Trump,’’ he said.

Netanyahu is currently talking to potential coalition partners in order to form Israel’s next government after he won election earlier this month.

The Arab world has

rejected Trump’s March decision to recognise Israel’s claim to sovereignty over the Golan Heights, which Israel seized from Syria in the 1967 Arab-Israeli war.

It annexed the territory in 1981, though this move has not been recognised internationally.

The move followed 2018’s relocation of the U.S. embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, which sparked anger in the Muslim world.

EU Criticises US Move to Tighten Oil Embargo against Iran The European Union “regrets” the United States’ decision to intensify its oil embargo against Iran, a European Commission spokesperson said on Tuesday.

EU foreign policy spokeswoman Maja Kocijancic warned that the move would further undermine the 2015 nuclear agreement with Iran.

On Monday, the U.S. announced that it will not extend waivers to eight countries that had been allowed

to buy oil from Iran in spite of U.S. sanctions that went into effect in November.

The announcement means that the waiver will not go beyond its May 2 expiration.

In the future, those countries, which include China, Italy and Greece, would risk U.S. sanctions if they continue to buy Iranian oil.

“The move risks undermining the implementation of the nuclear deal.

“The EU will continue to abide by [the deal] as long as Iran continues with full and effective implementation,’’ Kocijancic added.

Tehran has repeatedly threatened to withdraw from the deal if Washington tightens its sanctions aimed at Iranian oil exports. The sanctions were imposed after U.S. President Donald Trump decided unilaterally to withdraw the U.S. from the deal.

“This group is known to have links to an organisation named National Thowheed Jamath. We should take immediate steps to ban any such organisation that have links to extremist elements,” he added.

The explosions took place during busy Easter services at Christian churches in Negombo, Batticaloa and Colombo and in three five-star hotels in the capital.

Forty-two people have been arrested and over 20 houses searched in connection with investigations.

Wijewardene’s comments came as security forces and police searched the capital for a lorry and a van fitted with

explosives identified by police in an intelligence report.

“The search is in progress, but nothing suspicious has been found so far,” a police officer said.

Police checked several motorcycles, cars, unattended parcels and other locations.

The UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said in Geneva that 45 children were killed and dozens were injured in the suicide attacks.

“No child should experience such a heartbreaking situation and no parents should lose their child forever under such horrible circumstances,” UNICEF spokesman Christophe Boulierac said.

Three minutes of silence were observed as more funerals of those killed in Sunday’s attacks took place.

Black and white flags were also raised in most towns as symbols of mourning.

The country has been under a state of emergency since late Monday.

High security was being maintained in Colombo and in Negombo, 35 kilometres bombings North of the capital, where a mass burial took place close to a church where more than 110 people were killed.

The state of emergency gives security forces special powers, including the right to search and arrest individuals.

Germany Hopes Resolution on Sexual Violence will Be Adopted by UN Germany hopes its resolution, aimed at tackling rape as a tactic of war, will be adopted at a UN Security Council session on Tuesday.

However, the resolution is facing some resistance from the U.S., which has threatened to veto the text over some of the language surrounding reproductive health.

On Monday, German Foreign Minister, Heiko Maas and Hollywood actor, Angelina Jolie called for further action to punish those who use rape in warfare and to support survivors of sexual violence in conflict.

The joint op-ed was published by the Washington Post as a draft resolution,

urging targeted sanctions for perpetrators and laying out a “survivor-centred approach’’.

The resolution, which is likely to be adopted at a signature event of Germany’s presidency of the UN Security Council, is a “much-needed step toward ending impunity for sexual violence in conflict’’, Maas and Jolie wrote. “It would also send an important message to those who attempt to roll back human rights.

“We don’t take progress for granted and we will fight to keep it alive.’’

The U.S. has previously objected to language around women’s sexual health at the UN, arguing

that such language is a tacit endorsement of abortion.

The UN’s Special Representative on Sexual Violence in Conflict, Pramila Patten, told the Guardian newspaper the text was left “weak” after the removal of the mechanism.

In comments at the UN last week, Patten also stressed that addressing sexual and reproductive health for victims of sexual violence is “critical”.

She billed the resolution as a “moment of truth” for the council and said she hoped it would focus on sexual reproductive health and “holistic multi-sectoral services.”

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CAN Seeks Urgent UN Action against Attacks on Nigeria, Sri Lanka Onyebuchi Ezigbo in Abuja The Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) has asked the United Nations and other global organisations to come to the aid of all the victims in Sri Lanka, France, Nigeria and other countries of the world under the siege of terrorism.

This is contained in statement conveying the sympathy and concerns by the Christian community in Nigeria on terrorist bombing of Sri Lankan churches during Easter Sunday services where no fewer than 300 persons, including children and foreigners were killed and over 405 sustained multiple injuries.

The statement issued yesterday by the CAN President, His Eminence, Rev. Samson ‘Supo Ayokunle and signed by his Special Assistant (Media & Communications), Pastor Adebayo Oladeji, the body said that it stands with the government and people of Sri Lanka, describing the incident as a colossal loss to humanity.

“We urge the UN to take a more aggressive lead in championing a global campaign to stop all forms of terror attacks, not just against Christians, Churches and other worship places around the world, but

it should also improve on its provision of relief supports to the victims of terrorism promptly.

The situation requires immediate action in order not to get out of hand”, it said.

CAN also decried the killing of no fewer than 11 people in Benue State during the Easter celebrations.

According to CAN, there was further reports that 20 other persons died and while some 35 others also sustained injuries in other Easter day attacks on Christians in Adamawa and Gombe states.

CAN said though Sri Lankan officials reportedly said they believed that the local Islamist extremist group, National Thowheeth Jama’ath (NTJ), was behind the attacks, ISIS has already claimed responsibility for the dastardly attacks, according to media reports.

It added that ISIS had gained global notoriety as a terrorist group that derives joy in barbaric persecution of Christians and launching of deadly attacks against them.

“It is a tragic irony that these dastardly acts took place while we were celebrating the resurrection of Jesus Christ who died for the sin of the world, including those terrorists.

North is Under Siege, Shehu Sani Warns John Shiklam in Kaduna The senator representing Kaduna Central at the Senate, Shehu Sani, yesterday urged governments to take more proactive measures to address the overwhelming security challenges facing the Northern part of the country, saying that the geopolitical zone is under siege.

Sani spoke while receiving groups from Birnin Gwari, Chikun Local Government Areas and representatives of Zamfara indigenes resident in Kaduna.

The groups presented a letter of complaint on the insecurity challenges facing them in their various communities for onward submission to the National Assembly.

Sani said the entire Northern region was currently under siege and being faced with various security challenges.

“Today the entire Northern Nigeria is under siege. In the North West it is the armed bandits, the North Central is experiencing Herdsmen attacks and the North East is ravaged by insurgents.

“In Kajuru, it is Muslims and Christians against one another, in Birnin Gwari it is banditry and kidnapping and along Kaduna Abuja Highway, it is kidnapping and raping.

“I have been visiting you regularly and this time you are in my residence. I have listened to your lamentation, tears, cries and appeals.

I believe any conscious Nigerian is aware of what you are facing in Birnin Gwari.

“I must say the issue of

Birnin Gwari reflects the fears and dangers we are facing in North West today.

“Kidnapping is what we used to hear of in Niger Delta.

Today Birnin Gwari, Chikun, Niger and Zamfara States are under siege,” Sani said.

Sani, however, blamed the challenges of the region on the lukewarm attitude of the Northern political leaders.

According to the senator, one of the problems of northern leaders is sycophancy, which is now making the region bleed with overwhelming killings.

He urged residents of the affected areas to rise to face the situation by challenging those in the position of authority to do the needful and tackle the situation.

“The most ideal thing is to face the situation and question those that we have elected into positions of authority,” he said.

Leader of the Coalition of Birnin Gwari Associations, Nasir Khalid, in the protest letter, said several communities had been under attack of bandits since the eve of the general elections to date.

He said no fewer than 40 drivers had been killed in the last three months, while several communities in Kaduna, Zamfara and Katsina were ransacked.

Khalid lamented that the various governments had continued to pay lip service towards addressing the situation.

He appealed to the senator to deliver the letter to the Senate in particular for immediate intervention.

“Our hearts are with the families that are affected and we pray for all those who are recuperating in the hospitals and medical facilities for quick

recovery. Ultimately, we call on the Lord to console and comfort all the bereaved”, CAN stated.

CAN added that Christians are increasingly becoming

endangered species all over the world, saying no fewer than 200 innocent women, including a teenage student, Leah Sharibu, have been kidnapped by the

Boko Haram terrorists in Nigeria.

It wondered why the government appears powerless in rescuing them and protecting the lives of Nigerians.

COURTESY VISIT...

L-R: Group Chief Executive Officer, United Capital Plc, Peter Ashade; Ogun State Governor-elect, Prince Dapo Abiodun; Managing Director/ Chief Executive Officer, United Capital Trustees, Tokunbo Ajayi; and Business Development Executive, United Capital Trustees, Sola Seweje, during a courtesy visit to the governor-elect in Ogun State...yesterday

NAF to Acquire 18 New Aircraft in 2020 The Nigerian Air Force (NAF) is to acquire additional 18 aircraft by 2020 to boost its air assets.

The Chairman, Organising Committee for the 2019 NAF Day Celebration, Air Commodore Nnamdi Ananaba, disclosed this at a news conference yesterday in Abuja.

The brands of the aircraft, according to him, are 4 X A-109 Power and 1 X Mi-35M, 1 X AW139 helicopter and 12 Super Tucano.

Ananaba said: “On acquisition of platforms, the NAF within the last three years has taken delivery of 16 brand new aircraft (10 X Super Mushshak, 4 X Mi-35M and 2 X Bell 412 helicopters).

“Another 18 (4 X A-109 Power and 1 X Mi-35M, 1 X AW139 helicopter and 12 Super Tucano) are either expected soon

or have been paid for and are expected to be inducted into service in 2020.’’

He also said 14 grounded aircraft such as the Falcon 900, ATR-42, Beechcraft, Super Puma, EC-135 Do-228, Mi-35P, F-7 and L-39 had been reactivated.

He said that with hindsight NAF had realised that it had a lot to celebrate and showcase.

Ananaba said NAF had metamorphosed from being a service which, during the civil war, rolled bombs out of aircraft by hand, to one that is highly professional and equipped.

He said that the air force was now equipped with advanced aircraft and Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) capable of precision strikes from as far away as 250 kilometres.

“There has obviously been

a remarkably change, much of which was achieved within the last three and half years.

“The NAF has winged 90 pilots in the last three years, while 68 others are in training both at home and abroad. ‘’ Over 7,000 personnel have been trained in different specialties and these include over 4,000 regiment personnel and 1,000 Special Forces personnel who have been actively involved in combat operations with the army. ‘’ Through all these, there have been operational gains in several internal security operations in the country,” he stated.

Ananaba said government was committed to achieving lasting peace, security and national unity.

He said the priority of the

NAF lay in the consolidation of the gains of employment of its assets in support of internal security, especially at present, a crucial stage in the history of the nation.

The NAF Day celebration 2019, tagged ‘’NAF@55, is scheduled to take place in Abuja from April 27 to April 29.

Ananaba said the anniversary would also enable the air force to show the Nigerian taxpayers what it was capable of doing.

The chairman said the theme of 2019 NAF day was “Building Capability for Defence of Nigeria’s Air Space while Responding to National Security Imperatives.”

He said the highpoint of the celebration would be the ceremonial parade and Order of Battle (ORBAT) flying past at the Eagle Square.

NNPC, Customs, DPR Set up Joint C’ttee to Combat Petroleum Products Smuggling Kasim Sumaina in Abuja In bid to curb the growing incidents of petroleum products smuggling across the nation’s borders, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) and the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR), yesterday in Abuja, resolved to inaugurate a joint committee to tackle the menace headlong The strategic move to tame the malaise was decided at a meeting at the Customs House in Abuja attended by the Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Dr. Maikanti Baru, the Comptroller General of NCS, Col. Hammed Ali (rtd.); and the Director of the DPR, Mr. Mordecai Ladan.

Group General Manager, Group Public Affairs Division

NNPC, Abuja, Ndu Ughamadu, in a statement, noted that the NNPC boss, revealed at the meeting that, “smuggling of petroleum products across the nation’s borders was causing serious loss to the nation’s revenue generation drive and had been subverting government’s efforts to ensure adequate supply of petroleum products in all parts of the country.”

Baru explained that the malaise also denied Nigerians the full benefits of the goodwill of the current administration.

According to him, “the negative economic impact of smuggling is that it is undermining Nigeria’s economic growth as huge amount of money is spent in terms of under-recovery.

“This huge loss is draining the treasury. Remember, these are monies that could be used to develop several critical sectors

of the economy.”

Baru further informed that, “while the corporation had not relented on its efforts to flood the nation’s petroleum products market and avoid shortages at all times, the activities of unscrupulous marketers remained a major concern as diversion and smuggling seem to continue unabated.”

Baru observed: “That available records showed that there was an upsurge in incidents of petroleum products smuggling across Nigeria’s borders in recent months, which is incentivised by high rate of arbitrage, especially considering the high price of petrol in Nigeria’s neighbouring countries”.

While calling for stiffer punitive measures against unscrupulous marketers found diverting and smuggling petroleum products, Baru charged the Customs to

intensify surveillance along the identified border communities and other suspected areas to check the activities of petroleum products smugglers.

Earlier in his remarks, Ali said the joint committee was necessary in order for the three organisations to collaborate and find a lasting solution towards halting smuggling of petroleum products.

Ali stressed that, working with information on real-time basis, “the service would leave no stone unturned to ensure that smugglers of petroleum products are stopped in their tracks.”

According to him, “We have enough men and resources that can manage the nation’s 4,070 kilometres of border-line and address this menace once and for all. What we need however is information on real-time basis,” the customs boss stated.”

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More Discos, MAPs Get Metering Permit from NERC Adedayo Akinwale in Abuja The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) has issued permits to Port Harcourt Electricity Distribution (PHED), Yola Electricity Distribution Company (YEDC), Enugu Electricity Distribution Company (EEDC), Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company (IEDC) and Disco’s Meter Asset Providers (MAPs) as part of effort to close the metering gap, while eliminating the practice of estimated billing in the Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry (NESI).

The General Manager, Public Affairs Department, Dr. Usman Arabi, in a statement yesterday, also said that the commission had directed that the rollout of meters would commence no later than May 1, 2019.

Arabi said customers

of Discos should expect from the commencement of rollout date for meters to be installed in their premises within 10 working days of making payment to MAPs in accordance with section 18 (3) of the MAP Regulations 2018.

He also added that the commission would monitor closely the rollout plan of distribution licensees and overall compliance with the regulation and various service agreements by the MAPs and electricity distribution licensees.

Arabi stated: “The commission has issued permits to Port Harcourt Electricity Distribution Plc, Yola Electricity Distribution Company Plc, Enugu Electricity Distribution Company Plc, and Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company Plc, Disco’s Meter Asset Providers (MAPs), in accordance with section 4(3) of the MAP Regulations-

NERC- R-112 of 2018, to MAPs that were successful in the procurements conducted

by Port Harcourt Electricity Distribution Plc (PHED), Yola Electricity Distribution Company Plc (YEDC), Enugu Electricity Distribution Company Plc (EEDC) and Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company Plc (IBEDC).

“Section 4(3) of the MAP Regulation 2018 requires all electricity distribution licensees to engage MAPs that would assist, as investors, in closing the metering gap and thus eliminating the practice of estimated billing in the Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry (NESI).

“PHED has appointed Armese Consulting Ltd and Holley Metering Ltd; YEDC has Chris Ejik International Agencies Ltd; EEDC appointed Mojec International Ltd; while IBEDC appointed CWG Plc,

Integrated Resources Ltd, Mojec International Ltd, Momas Electricity Meters Manufacturing Company Ltd (MEMMCOL), New Hampshire Capital Ltd, Protogy Global Services Ltd

and Tinuten Nigeria Limited, respectively, to provide meters within their respective franchise under MAPs. “MAPs shall charge an upfront amount of N36,991.50 for single phase meters and

N67,055.85 for three phase meters respectively. These costs of meters are inclusive of supply, installation, maintenance and replacement of meters over its technical life.”

Julius Berger Wins NSITF’s CEO Excellence Award Ogheneuvede Ohwovoriole in Abuja The Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund (NSITF) has presented an award to the doyen of the engineering construction industry in Nigeria, Julius Berger Nigeria Plc, for the company’s excellent staff welfare records and consistent contribution to the country’s Employees Compensation Scheme (ECS).

The event which was tagged “NSITF MD/CE Excellence Awards”, was attended by the board of directors, executive management and managers of NSITF from across the country, Director-General of the Nigerian Employers Consultative Association (NECA), as well as managing directors and chief executives of corporations and institutions.

NSITF said that Julius Berger was honoured with the award for its consistent contribution to the institution.

Executive Director of Administration, Julius Berger, Alhaji Zubairu Ibrahim Bayi, led the delegation to receive the award on behalf of company.

The award was presented to Julius Berger by the Executive Director of Operations, NSITF, Chief Kemi Nelson.

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Soyinka Berates Buhari over Insecurity Nobel Laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka, has berated President Muhammadu Buhari for his “slow response” in dealing with the terror caused by

Fulani herdsmen across many parts of Nigeria.

He said Buhari has failed on the security threat posed by herdsmen, adding that he

Choose Either Court or Media for Your Petition, Buhari Group Tells Atiku

was repeating the mistakes of his predecessor, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan, in not dealing with the Boko Haram menace in a timely and adequate fashion.

“The man dies in all who keep silent in the face of tyranny,” he said.

Soyinka appeared on the BBC’s Hardtalk programme on Monday and anchored by Zeinab Badawi.

Reacting to Badawi’s

question that he backed Buhari in 2015 describing the ex-army general as a “reformed democrat,” Soyinka said Buhari “won by default” in 2015 because it was difficult to back Jonathan and which meant supporting a continuation of the corruption associated with that regime. Nigerians were caught “between the devil and the deep blue sea”.

Soyinka criticised Jonathan’s ineffective response to Boko Haram, but placing the blame for failing to nip the problem in the bud at the feet of Olusegun Obasanjo, who was president from 1999 to 2007.

He said: “Obasanjo contributed to the emergence of Boko Haram by not preventing the first governor in one of the northern states

from establishing a “theocratic state”.

Soyinka said that the president failed to act because he was “compromised” by his ambition to continue in office beyond the second term limit.

He was however silent about why Buhari’s response to the killings of the herdsmen was so inadequate and said little about how the problem could be tackled effectively.

Urges Christian leaders to stop embarrassing Christianity The Buhari Media Organisation (BMO) has accused the Presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Atiku Abubakar of showing disrespect for the judiciary by prosecuting his election petition in the media, rather than at the Presidential Election Petition tribunal.

BMO has also dismissed comments attributed to the National Christian Elders Forum (NCEF) on the conviction of Justice Walter Onnoghen by the Code of Conduct Tribunal as an embarrassment to Christendom.

According to the group, Atiku’s action is targeted at whipping up unnecessary sentiment against the courts.

In a statement signed by its Chairman, Niyi Akinsiju, and Secretary, Cassidy Madueke, BMO alleged that what the former vice president has been doing is prejudicial “We have observed this pattern of disrespect for the judiciary by one of the losers of the 2019 presidential election, Atiku Abubakar, who has embarked on a media hearing of his petition even after his lawyers went to court.

“Nigerians have regularly been fed with snippets from the 139-page document on the pages of traditional media and their online counterparts, to the extent that it seems like the tribunal is about to take a decision.

“We consider it as a deliberate act of contempt for the panel and a disregard for the judiciary

that should not be encouraged or tolerated.

“It shows that he is more interested in whipping up public sentiments through the media than prosecuting the case”.

“The alternative is for him to face his case squarely in court, except he does not trust the members of the panel,” it said.

In another development, BMO has also dismissed comments attributed to the National Christian Elders Forum on the conviction of Justice Walter Onnoghen by the Code of Conduct Tribunal as an embarrassment to Christendom.

The group said the infractions the suspended Chief Justice of Nigeria was found guilty of were not done on behalf of Nigerian Christians.

In a separate statement issued yesterday, BMO said that Solomon Asemota’s claim that it was a jihad against Christianity amounts to an insult to all Christians.

“We are shocked to read a statement issued on behalf of the National Christian Elders Forum by a senior lawyer of Chief Asemota’s calibre, who was bent on whipping up religious sentiment against Justice Onnoghen’s conviction.

“It is a reprehensible attempt by a senior citizen, ostensibly on behalf of other elder statesmen of his ilk, to make it look like Christianity was the target of the conviction when it was clear that the law was followed to the letter.”

DEFENDING THEIR MANDATE…

L-R: Lagos State Deputy Governor-elect, Dr. Obafemi Hamzat; Governor-elect, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu; and chieftain of All Progressives Congress (APC), Lagos State, Mr. Demola Seriki, signing copies of legal documents at the Lagos State Election Petition Tribunal to open defence against the petition filed by the governorship candidates of Alliance for Democracy and Labour Party, challenging outcome of the recent gubernatorial election, in Ikeja, Lagos…yesterday

Lagos Gov-elect Files Defence at Election Petition Tribunal Akinwale Akintunde Winner of the 2019 Lagos State governorship elections, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu yesterday, stormed the state Gubernatorial Election Petition Tribunal sitting in Ikeja to file his defence to two petitions challenging his March 9 election victory.

Sanwo-Olu, who arrived the Tribunal sitting alongside, Deputy Governor-elect, Mr. Obafemi Hamzat, at about 11:14am expressed confidence

in the tribunal.

The candidate of the Alliance for Democracy (AD), Mr. Owolabi Salis and Prof.

Ifagbemi Awamaridi of the Labour Party, have petitioned the tribunal to challenge the victory of the governor-elect as the winner of the elections as declared by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

Sanwo-Olu and Hamzat were accompanied by a former Minister for Defence

and Chieftain of the APC, Chief Demola Seriki.

After filing his response to both petitions, the governorelect also filed his defence.

He noted that although he was confident of victory, it was the tribunal’s duty to determine if the challengers’ petitions had any merit.

“What we came here to do is to put an official deposition to the challenge by two gubernatorial candidates.

“We are certainly confident

because Lagosians have spoken; the people went out on March 9 to cast their votes.

“It was devoid of any form of incident, there was not one incident reported officially. We trust that the tribunal will do its job well and Lagosians will be happy.

“It is a process that all of us must submit ourselves to; that is why we are here today, and we are confident that the tribunal will do its job well”, Sanwo-Olu said.

the University of Lagos, Akoka.

“When you talk about restructuring in Nigeria, you are talking about sharing wealth and power horizontally among states, ethnicity and region. You are not talking about sharing power and wealth vertically, from top to bottom, that is, to the masses. And that is the most critical point if you are talking about restructuring,” he said.

He further stated that the only way the masses can get the desired change is to develop a strategy that will bring about a revolution.

“There has to be unity in struggle because to get change, you have to create an institution that is conducive for the masses.

The constitution we have today cannot give our children better education. Continuous struggle is the solution to our problem, not restructuring.”

Osoba co-authored the book with the late cerebral historian Dr. Yusufu Bala-Usman, about 43 years ago whose son, Attahiru was present at the occasion, alongside former governor of Kaduna State,

Balarabe Musa.

Attahiru said that the presentation of the book is timely given that when it was first written, the military rulers of the time impeded its existence.

“It will add value because there were so many things that were thrown out by the soldiers that forced the 1979 Constitution on Nigerians which we think are relevant. Since nobody is in a position to throw it out, we are bringing it out to the public, let’s talk about it.”

“This is the second time we are presenting this book.

And this was made possible by people like Femi Falana who have struggled for this moment over a long period of time. There is no gainsaying that our country is going through deep crisis. Lagos is like heaven compared to the situation in Zamfara State. The situation is very difficult. Travelling is difficult; lives are wasted; economic activities have come to a halt. Our people have sunk to a very deep level of desperation. But every time we

analyse we go back to these documents, we find acute analysis of the conditions that have led us to this place as clearly stated in this book,” added the Director of Centre for Democratic Development Research and Training, Zaria, Abubakar Mohammed.

In his review, Senior Advocate of Nigeria and Human Rights lawyer,Falana said that the document would elicit a mixture of some regrets and hope for Nigerians being that General Murtala Mohammed who gave the directive to produce a draft constitution for the Second Republic did not live to see the minority report, which was vigorously rejected by the administration of Olusegun Obasanjo.

“As Osoba and Usman rightly put it, the 1979 Constitution is a deliberate effort at the mystification for the selfish interests of the bourgeoisie.”

Falana however expressed optimism that the publication will be useful to those interested in writing the people’s Constitution.

77 Tribunals to Hear 766 Osoba Cautions Nigerians on Restructuring Petitions on 2019 Polls Vanessa Obioha

A total of 766 petitions have so far been filed across the country by politicians aggrieved over the outcome of the last general election.

The President of the Court of Appeal, Justice Zainab Bulkachuwa, has set up a total of 77 election tribunals to hear and determine the petitions.

According to the Deputy Chief Registrar, Election Petition Tribunal, Court of Appeal, Mrs. Rabi Abdulazeez, a breakdown of the petitions revealed that four were filed by four political parties and their candidates in respect of the presidential election.

They include the one marked: CA/PEPC/002/2019, filed on March 18 this year by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and its candidate in the election, Atiku Abubakar, and a second one filed by Hope Democratic Party (HDP) and Ambrose Owuru, who claimed to be the party’s presidential candidate.

The second petition, marked: CA/PEPC/001/2019 was filed

on March 7.

The third petition, marked: CA/PEPC/003/2019, was filed by the Coalition for Change (C4C) and Geff Ojinika, who claimed to be the party’s presidential candidate.

The fourth petition, marked: CA/PEPC/004/2019, was filed on March 19 this year by the People’s Democratic Movement (PDM) and Pastor Aminchi Habu, listed as the party’s presidential candidate.

Data made available by the Court of Appeal’s spokesperson, Mrs. Sa’adatu Musa Kachalla revelead that a total of 54 petitions have been filed for the governorship elections, while 205 petitions have so far been filed in relation to the senatorial elections. For the House of Representatives, 101 petitions have been filed across the country.

The Court of Appeal had, on April 4 put the total number of petitions filed at 736, implying additional 30 have been filed between then and now April 16, 2019.

A former governor of Ogun state, Olusegun Osoba has cautioned Nigeria over what he described as the ubiquitous use of the word ‘restructuring’ by the ruling elites, describing it as a recurring and blatant lie that has been used to deceive Nigerians as the solution to the economic, political and social ills in the country.

“They never define what they mean by restructuring. I have not seen any one of them define what they mean. But if you watch their body language and watch their general behaviour in relation to the Nigerian people, you can guess that what they mean by restructuring is either creation of more states so that anybody can have a state at his backyard and employ to his heart content and to denial of his rival and competitors, or resource control particularly the oil rich states,” Osoba explained during the presentation of the book ‘Minority Report and Draft Constitution for the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1976’ at

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FG Promises Justice for Briton, Nigerian Killed in Kajuru Olawale Ajimotokan in Abuja The federal government has promised to apprehend and bring to justice those who killed a Briton and a Nigerian in Kajuru, Kaduna State last Friday.

The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed gave the assurance yesterday while offering condolence to the families of the two victims.

The victims were Faye Mooney and Mr. Matthew Oguche.

Mooney, a Briton, worked for an NGO, Mercy Corps, while Oguche worked for the international NGO, Safety Organisation.

They died during the attack carried out on Kajuru Resort, frequented by tourists.

Mohammed also described the dastardly attack as a

setback to efforts to promote tourism in the country.

In a statement issued in Abuja, he also stressed that the security agencies were doing everything possible to ensure that the three persons who were kidnapped in the attack are released unharmed. ‘’We commiserate with the families and friends of Mooney and Oguche, and wish to assure that the security agencies will leave no stone unturned in their efforts to apprehend the killers and bring them to justice,’’ he said.

The minister added that the government was responding to the wave of violence and banditry in some parts of the country, through better intelligence gathering and increased collaboration by the security agencies.

According to him, the efforts had started paying off, as the level of violent attacks,

banditry and kidnappings had considerably reduced nationwide.

‘’The government will not relent until all parts of the country are made safe for

all, whether they are tourists, business people or ordinary Nigerians who just want to

live their lives under an atmosphere of peace and security,” he said.

NAF Kills 10 Bandits in Zamfara Kingsley Nwezeh in Abuja Air strikes conducted by the Nigerian Air Force (NAF) yesterday killed 10 bandits at the Sububu Forest area in Zamfara State.

This is coming as the Chief of Army Staff, Lt. General Yusuf Buratai, has said the war against terrorism was a complex war that should not be left for the armed forces alone.

The air interdiction carried out by two NAF fighter jets and an attack helicopter, followed a request for close air support by ground troops of Sector 7 Area of Operation Sharan Daji who had come into contact with armed bandits in Shinkafi Local Government Area (LGA).

An update issued by NAF Spokesman, Air Commodore, Ibikunle Daramola, said the Alpha jets struck locations of the bandits around Sububu and Dumburum forests in Zamfara.

“Accordingly, the ATF dispatched two Alpha Jets and an attack helicopter to provide the needed support and also conduct armed reconnaissance over identified locations in Shinkafi LGA as well as Sububu and Dumburum forests and environs.

“At Sububu forest, one of the Alpha Jets spotted a group of armed bandits, who fired at the aircraft with their rifles, while running for cover.

“The Alpha Jets engaged the bandits, neutralisng no fewer than 10 of them while others escaped with injuries,” he said.

He said “NAF, working in consonance with surface forces and other security agencies, will sustain its operations to flush the bandits out of the North-west of the country”.

Meanwhile, Buratai has said the war against insurgency required concerted efforts.

Speaking at the opening ceremony of 1st quarter Conference/Combat Arms Training (CAT) week and 2nd Infantry Officers Conference held at Ihejirika Auditorium, Jaji Military Cantonment,

the COAS said the Nigerian Army, with the efforts of the Infantry Corps and support from other military formations was able to deal decisively with Boko Haram insurgents in the North-eastern part of the country.

“Today, we have the full initiative and in collaboration with other sister agencies, we are pushing hard to ensure that we finally sanitised the northern Borno and our borders axis with Niger, Chad and Cameroon.

“We know they have plans but we are also planning to counter them and we will deploy maximum intelligence to capture those that are still remaining in the interland”, he said.

Buratai noted that “terrorism is a complex warfare which needs the involvement of every individual in the country, which if we are able to do, will contain the criminals. “It should not be left for the security personnel or governments at all levels, or the traditional rulers; it is a joint responsibility and we are all stakeholders”.

The army chief maintained that “these criminals are not coming from the blues. They live among us in the society.

They go to the markets and buy food stuffs just like the rest of us.

“Some of them go to naming, marriage ceremonies and so on. It is our responsibility to make everybody aware, that we all have a role to play in bringing the activities of these criminal elements to an end”.

Commander, Infantry Corps, Major General Stevenson Olusegun Olabanji, in his welcome address, noted that despite the security challenges the country was faced with, the Nigerian Army under Buratai has received a boost in terms of infrastructural and human development in all its formations across the country, which has made it possible to deal decisively with Boko Haram terrorists and other insurgents.

PROMOTING LOCAL MANPOWER…

L-R: Executive Secretary, Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board, Mr. Simbi Wabote; Social Performance Adviser, Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company (SNEPCo), Hope Nuka; and Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu, at the opening session of the 2019 annual conference and exhibition of Oil and Gas Trainers Association of Nigeria, in Lagos…recently

Two Women Jailed in Kaduna for Improper Dressing A Sharia Court II, sitting at Magajin Gari, Kaduna yesterday sentenced 20-year- old Farida Taofiq, and Raihana Abbas, to two months in prison each for wearing skimpy dresses.

Taofiq and Abbas, residents of Argungu road in Kaduna, were convicted after they pleaded guilty to constituting

public nuisance and indecent dressing.

The two convicts however pleaded for leniency, saying they won’t repeat such crime again.

The judge, Mallam Musa Sa;ad-Goma, however gave the convicts an option to pay N3,000 fine each.

Sa’ad-Goma also ordered them to return to their parents’ homes.

Earlier, the Prosecution Counsel, Aliyu Ibrahim said that Taofiq and Abbas were arrested on April 16, at a black spot along Sabon Gari road, roaming the street in skimpy dresses.

“When they were asked where they were going, they said that they were going to a friend’s house who just put to bed”, the prosecution said.

Ibrahim said the offence contravened the provisions of Section 346 of the Sharia Penal Code of Kaduna State.

Tinubu Mourns Demise of Olowo of Owo A former Lagos governor and All Progressives Congress national stalwart, Bola Tinubu, has commiserated with the Olagbegi royal family, the Olowo-in-Council and the people of Owo over the demise of Olowo of Owo, Oba Folagbade Olateru-Olagbegi.

Oba Olateru-Olagbegi’s demise at 77 was announced on Thursday by the Ondo State Government.

Tinubu also commiserated with Ondo State Governor, Oluwarotimi Akeredolu, over the death, saying the prime traditional ruler died when his wise counsel and peace initiatives not only in ancient Owo town but across

Yorubaland were still required.

In a condolence message released yesterday by his Media Office and signed by Mr. Tunde Rahman, Tinubu said: “I commiserate with the Olagbegi Royal Family, the Olowo-in-Council and the people of Owo over the demise of Oba Folagbade Olateru-Olagbegi. I also offer my condolences to Governor Oluwarotimi Akeredolu.

“Oba Olateru-Olagbegi was a highly respected traditional ruler who contributed immensely to the peace and development of Owo kingdom and Ondo State. He loved his people and the Yoruba race dearly.

“A man of peace and vast knowledge, he was reputed for his peace initiatives and bridge-building efforts. He was also unmistakable in his outward appearance.

Oba Olateru-Olagbegi was distinctively Yoruba in shape and form.

“He carried himself with dignity and grace commensurate with the magnificence of the traditional stool he occupied. For as the capital of Yoruba city-state between 1400 and 1600 AD, Owo occupied an enviable place in Yoruba traditional history. The pioneer Olowo of Owo was the direct descendant of Oduduwa, the

progenitor of the Yoruba race.

“Owo has also produced great sons and daughters, which included the last President of Egbe Omo Oduduwa and Second Republic governor of Ondo State, Chief Michael Ajasin.

“Oba Olateru-Olagbegi’s wise counsel will be deeply missed not only by the Olowo-in-Council and the Owo people but also by the Yoruba across the country and beyond.

“I wish the soul of our late monarch eternal rest. May the Olagbegi family, the people of Owo and indeed all of us find the strength to continue where he has stopped”.

HURIWA Wants Independent Body to Probe Police’s Misuse of Arms Esther Oluku Worried by the inability of the Police Service Commission (PSC) to independently investigate widespread Police misconduct in the misuse of firearms, a call has been made by HURIWA to the National Assembly and President Muhammadu Buhari to establish an Independent Police Conduct Authority (IPCA) to investigate police’s misuse of arms.

In a statement made available to THISDAY, HURIWA said the establishment of an Independent

Police Conduct Authority was necessary to forestall a break-out of popular discontent and mass action against the Nigeria Police Force for the widespread misuse of firearms targeting innocent Nigerians, insisting that in the last two decades over 10,000 Nigerians have died from police extrajudicial executions.

The group maintained that discipline of the Police Service Commission, which as under the auspices of the retired Police Inspector General is not independent and lacks

capacity and skills necessary for determining when police operatives have misused their fire arms against civilians. This, it continued, has made it more than necessary for Nigeria to now establish an Independent Police Conduct Authority just like what obtains in United Kingdom and New Zealand to be specific.

The spokesperson for the organisation said that, “police extra-legal executions are serious crimes against humanity which had even attracted the attention

of the United Nations’ special rapporteur on extrajudicial killings who visited Nigeria and compiled extensive statistics of thousands of suspects murdered by the police illegally.

“Police orderly room trials are not transparent enough.

The court system handling investigation of cases of extralegal killings by the police most times are compromised to mess up the evidence gathering mechanisms and thereby enabling the suspected police killers to escape the long arm of the law.”

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Nigeria Records 95.7m Invalid SIM Card Registration in Eight Years NCC promises to prosecute fraudulent card holders Emma Okonji Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), yesterday disclosed that since the Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) card registration exercise started in 2011, “a total of 151,449,837 registration data of subscribers have been processed, with only 55,749,652 records valid, bringing the total number of invalid SIM card registration to 95,700,185.”

NCC puts the number of invalid SIM card registration from mobile network operators (MNOs) at 63.2 per cent, attributing it to invalid face capturing and fingerprints, which it said, underscored the importance of proper SIM registration.

NCC however, said it would no longer be businessas- usual for perpetrators of fraudulently-registered SIM cards, threatening those indulging in the illegal activity with 25 years of imprisonment, as prescribed by the law.

According to the commission, once an agent engaging in pre-registered SIM cards is arrested, the culpability in such a case will cascade to other players in the SIM registration value chain, including the super agents, the heads of marketing of mobile network operators (MNOs) and possibly the Chief Executives of licensees,

who illegally benefit from such illegal SIM registration activities to meet their marketing targets.

Executive Commissioner, Stakeholder Management at NCC, Mr. Sunday Dare who stated these during the Southsouth regional sensitisation workshop on the dangers of fraudulently-activated SIM cards organised by the commission in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, insisted that the right things must be done by the registration agents and their MNOs to curb the dangers posed by the menace.

According to Dare who was represented at the forum by the Director, Compliance Monitoring and Enforcement at the commission, Mr. Efosa Idehen, the new moves followed eight years of continuously fighting cases of fraudulently-registered or activated SIM cards by the commission starting from 2012, without appreciable compliance by the MNOs, thus constituting threats to national security and geopardising national interest.

“Unfortunately, despite the level of stakeholder engagements, sanction so far imposed, arrests made and prosecutions secured through working with law enforcement agencies, among others, the level of compliance with the SIM registrations rules by the

various players across the SIM registration value chain remains unsatisfactory,” he said.

According to him, the low compliance level has therefore necessitated the need for the sensitisation workshop to, once again educate all players in the

SIM registration value chain on the dangers posed by fraudulently-registered SIM cards to the country’s national security.

“It is no longer going to be business-as-usual for all players in the SIM registration value chain. We will no longer allow some

deviants to jeopardise our national interest and national security.

“Today, cases of fraudulently-registered SIM cards have been aiding and abeting robbery cases, kidnappings, financial frauds and all manners of criminalities where the

anonymity of the registered subscribers makes criminal investigation difficult for the law enforcement agencies.

“That is why we will now be pleading breach of national interest in the prosecution of arrested perpetrators of pre-registered SIM cards,” Idehen said.

FACILITY TOUR…

L-R: Council Member of Nigerian Institute of Public Relations (NIPR), Nkechi Ali-Balogun; President/Chairman of NIPR, Mukhtar Zubairu Sirajo; Group Executive Director, Strategy, Portfolio Development & Capital Projects, Dangote Industries Limited, Devakumar. V.G. Edwin; Chairman, Nigerian Union of Journalists, (NUJ), Lagos State Council, Dr. Qasim Akinreti; during facility tour of Dangote Oil Refinery and Fertilizer project in Lekki, Lagos...yesterday

Speakership: Nkeiruka Buhari University a Disaster, ASUU Tells Aisha Onyejeocha Asks Gbajabiamila Kemi Olaitan inIbadan while speaking with journalists public education, and all we get Aremu, on his part, called in Ibadan, Oyo State. is that the first lady wants to on the wife of the president Aisha, had while speaking at establish a private university to influence policies of her The Academic Staff Union of to Step down for Her Universities (ASUU) yesterday a Town Hall meeting in Yola, in collaboration with some husband to immortalise himself

Strong indications that the ambition of the Majority Leader of the House of Representatives, Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila to lead the House of Representatives as Speaker may face trouble emerged yesterday when a member of the Nkeiruka Onyejeocha, urged him to step down for her in the race for speakership.

The Abia lawmaker appealed to Gbajabiamila to “make due sacrifice” by giving up on his ambition to become speaker “for Nigeria to move forward.”

Onyejeocha and Gbajabiamila are both of the All Progressives Congress (APC), which is expected to produce the next crop of National Assembly leaders having emerged the majority party in the two chambers.

Gbajabiamila has, however, been endorsed by the leadership of the party.

Addressing journalists in Abuja yesterday, Onyejeocha urged the party to have a rethink and zone the speakership to the South-east.

The fourth-term lawmaker said while she respects the party’s decision, Gbajabiamila should “as a leader pay the sacrifice” for Nigeria to get to the next level.

“I respect my party chairman and what the party has said it intends to do but I am appealing to them; it is

not yet late to withdraw their decision and include a woman from the two geo-political zones left out in 2015,” she said.

“I know that the leader of the House, Femi Gbajabiamila, is a good gentleman and good leader but there is a time when any man who is a leader make needed sacrifice and that time is now for the leader of my party in the House of Representatives “This opportunity comes only once when a leader will look at himself and say, ‘it’s not about me, it’s about Nigeria.’ I also believe that Nigeria needs healing and somebody has to pay the sacrifice for us to move to the next level, even if it means deciding that speakership should go to another zone.”

Onyejeocha added that zoning the speakership to the South-east will address the “demand for equity” from the zone.

She said: “As a woman who has distinguished herself and contributed immensely to the development of Nigeria, the APC should use the opportunity of my expression of interest in the position of Speaker of the House of Representatives to fulfill its promise to Nigerians, that it would increase women participation in the governance of the country.”

described the proposed plan by the wife of President Muhammadu Buhari, Aisha, to establish a private university to be named after her husband as a disaster.

The union also said the plan of the wife of the president confirmed why her husband has continued to reduce budgetary allocation to education since he assumed office in 2015.

The Chairman of ASUU, University of Ibadan, Prof. Deji Omole, and former National Treasurer of the union, Prof.

Ademola Aremu, said this

Adamawa State, announced her plan to establish a private university to be named after the president in partnership with some foreigners.

But the duo said the leadership of the country under President Buhari should immortalise itself by revitalising public funded education.

According to Omole, “When I heard about the proposed private university to be named after the president, I just looked at it as a joke taken too far. If we have a president in a country that has simply refused to fund

foreigners, to me, I think it is a disaster for this country and for a sitting president.

“The implication is that Nigerians should know that this leadership does not believe in public funded education.

Nigerians should support the struggle for the government to take education as a core investment upon which this country will be liberated. It is not the children of the rich that will solve the problems of Nigeria but the children of the poor, and the tool they need is quality education.”

by revitalising public funded education.

He said: “I don’t think she is serious. We already have proliferation of universities and they are not being taken care of.

Since they are policy makers, they will now formulate policies that would ground public universities for their interest to thrive. I thought we have actually left that era. I could remember that ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo established Bells University and we condemned it. Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar also established his own.”

Lawyer Drags Buhari, N’Assembly, Others to Court over Acting CJN Alex Enumah in Abuja A human rights lawyer, Chief Malcom Omirhobo, has dragged President Muhammadu Buhari, the National Assembly and five others to a Federal High Court over the appointment of Justice Tanko Muhammad as Acting Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN).

Omirhobo in the suit wants the court to stop the appointment of Muhammad as substantive CJN on the alleged grounds that Justice Muhammad “is not proper and fit” to be recommended for the office of CJN, having

..

accepted the appointment of President Buhari to act as CJN last January without being recommended by the National Judicial Council (NJC).

Other defendants in the suit include the NJC, the Federal Judicial Service Commission (FJSC), the Acting CJN, the Federal Government of Nigeria and the Attorney General of the Federation.

The plaintiff in the suit marked FHC/ABJ/ CS/420/2019, is praying the court to declare that the Acting CJN, Justice Muhammad, having made himself available as a tool that was used in the

violation of the Constitution, especially with regards to the alleged illegal removal of the former CJN, is therefore not a proper and fit person to be recommended for appointment to head the judiciary.

The rights activist further prayed the court to declare that the suspension and/or removal of a CJN from office, is a shared responsibility of the 1st Defendant (NJC), the 5th defendant (Buhari) and 7th Defendant (National Assembly).

He argued that President Buhari lacked the constitutional powers to unilaterally suspend and/or the remove a sitting

CJN from office, as was done in the case of Onnoghen.

Besides, he prayed the court to declare that by combined interpretation of Sections 1(1 ) (2), 231(4), 292(1)(a)(i)(b), 153(1) (i), 158(1) and paragraph 21 (a)(b) of Part 1 of the Third Schedule of the 1999 Constitution, as amended, “it is unlawful and undemocratic for the 4th and 5th Defendants (federal government and President Buhari), to declare the office of the CJN vacant on January 25, 2019 and consequently appoint and swear in the 3rd Defendant as the acting CJN”.

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Adoke Asks Court to Set Aside Bench Warrant Davidson Iriekpen Former Attorney General of the Federal (AGF) and Minister of Justice, Mr. Mohammed Adoke, has asked a Federal Capital Territory (FCT) High Court in Abuja to set aside the bench warrant it issued for his arrest over the Malabu Oil deal.

The court had issued a warrant of arrest against Adoke over the controversial OPL 245 deal executed by the federal government in 2011.

The court granted the order

based on a suit filed by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

But Adoke has asked the court to set aside the order and strike out his name as a defendant in Charge No FCT/ HC/CR/124/17 between the Federal Republic of Nigeria vs Shell Nigeria Exploration Production Company Limited and 10 others pending before the court.

He contended that the bench warrant was issued without jurisdiction and in breach of

House Chief Whip Explains Choice of Gbajabiamila as Speaker Ibrahim Shuaibu in Kano The Chief Whip of House of Representatives, Alhassan Ado Duguwa, yesterday explained the rationale behind All Progressives Congress (APC) choice of Femi Gbajabiamila as the Speaker of the ninth House of Representatives as done against the will of the party in the eighth Assembly arrangement.

Doguwa, who won his fourth House of Representatives seat in the Tudunwada/Doguwa federal constituency, said he was going for the post of the Majority Leader as part of the original arrangement of the ruling party.

According to him, “It is apparent that the party is considering the original zoning formula suggested in the eighth assembly, which had at that time Gbajabiamila from Southwest as Speaker, M.T Monguno, Deputy Speaker, while my humble self as Majority Leader.”

The lawmaker told journalists yesterday that the Northwest region, having got the highest number of elected members at the lower legislative chambers, the ninth House of Representatives should give Northwest the position of the Deputy Speaker as well as the Majority Leader He also noted that public service delivery is not the same as providing privately made goods and services to the market, adding that the public

accountability is not the same as profit margin, because there are different forces involved which must be understood and improved if we must serve the public better.

“I, Duguwa, today understand that the public service delivery, quality of life and economic fortunes of Nigerians are directly at stake, and as a leading figure, I will encourage and ensure a more collaborative relations with the executive arm government to reach equitable and efficient outcomes.”

Duguwa maintained that the ninth National Assembly members needed to use their skills, innovation and ingenuity in taking the country to the next level.

“We must focus our energy and creativity on getting things done, and as leaders, we must be faithful to honour national call, meet the needs of our citizens, schools, water, roads, healthcare and shelter,” the lawmaker said.

He warned that at this level, government, in collaboration with the National Assembly, must ensure that the government delivers dividends of democracy to the citizens.

“But no doubts that our country must always have new challenges, the most important of these challenges is the challenge of sustainable development, and by which a capacity must be built to meet the yearnings of the citizens,” Doguwa added.

‘Alli-Macaulay Will Surpass Predecessors’ Performance in Amuwo-Odofin’ Ugo Aliogo As the inauguration of a new Lagos State House of Assembly draws close, some residents of Amuwo Odofin state constituency 1 have expressed confidence that the lawmaker-elect, Mojisola Alli-Macaulay, will surpass the performance of her predecessors in the state assembly.

Meanwhile the residents applauded the National Leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Bola Tinubu, over the victory of Alli-Macaulay at the recently concluded elections.

Alli-Macaulay, also known as Mama, defeated her arch rival and incumbent lawmaker, Dipo Olorunrinu of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to emerge the

new lawmaker-elect to represent Amuwo Odofin state constituency 1 in the Lagos State House of Assembly.

A group, Women Advancement Network (WAN), in the state described Alli-Macaulay as a seasoned broadcaster with grassroots network capable of advancing the cause of women, widows, children and the vulnerable among other constituents.

Speaking recently in Lagos, the Coordinator of WAN, Priscilla Kuforiji, described the lawmaker-elect as a competent, cerebral and capable woman with character.

“We are so confident of her pedigree, resourcefulness and unblemished records in private and public service which she would bring to the lawmaking tasks ahead,” Kuforiji added.

his judgment to fair hearing as guaranteed under the 36 (1) of Constitution.

The former AGF said he was neither served Charge No FCT/HC/CR/124/17, nor any proof of evidence in respect of the criminal charge pending before the court.

He stated that in suit number FHC/ABJ/CS/446/2017 he secured a judgment of the Federal High Court in Abuja against the AGF representing the Federal Republic of Nigeria wherein he was exculpated with respect to the same facts and circumstances over which he was erroneously charged and the basis upon which the bench warrant was issued against him.

Adoke through his lawyer, Chief Mike Ozekhome SAN, also contended that the exparte application for the bench warrant against him was obtained upon gross misstatements, misrepresentation, concealment and suppression of the material facts.

He concluded where a court of law makes a void order, it reserves the right and power to set it aside.

Recall that in 2017, the EFCC filed charges against Shell Nigeria Exploration Production Co. Ltd, Nigeria Agip Exploration Limited, Eni Spa, Raph Wetzels, Casula Roberto, Pujato Stefeno, Burrato Sebastiano, Duazia Louya Etete

(aka Dan Etete), Adoke, Aliyu Abubakar and Malabu Oil & Gas Limited.

While the charge was pending, Adoke went to court to challenge it. In her judgment, Justice Binta Nyako exonerated him, submitting that all that Adoke executed relating to Malabu Oil deal were based on presidential directives.

The held that since Adoke was an aide of the president, he cannot be held liable for the official assignment given to him. But surprisingly last Wednesday, EFCC’s counsel, Aliyu Yusuf, brought a motion exparte before the FCT High Court praying for a warrant of their arrest, and an order for leave to execute the warrant

outside of the jurisdiction of the court.

Justice D. Z. Senchi of the FCT High Court, after listening to the application, issued a warrant of arrest against Adoke over the controversial OPL 245 deal executed by the federal government in 2011.

The court also granted its prayers for a warrant of arrest against Dan Etete, a former Minister of Petroleum.

Also declared wanted were Raph Wetzels, Casula Roberto, Pujato Stefeno, and Burrato Sebastiano.

Justice Senchi ruled that the Nigeria Police, the INTERPOL and any other law enforcement agency should arrest them anywhere they are found.

ENHANCING EASE OF DOING BUSINESS…

L - R: Senior Associate, Banwo & Ighodalo, Mr. Rahman Oshodi; Chairman, Lagos State Judicial Committee on Small Claims Courts, Justice Yetunde Adesanya; Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment / Vice Chairman, Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council (PEBEC), Dr. Okechukwu Enelamah; Senior Special Assistant to the President on Industry, Trade and Investment / PEBEC Secretary, Jumoke Oduwole; and Assistant Director, Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC), Mr. Tolu Sonaike, at the stakeholders’ forum on ease of doing business reforms in Lagos…recently ETOP UKUTT

Navy Arrests Seven Nigerian Rice Smugglers Okon Bassey in Uyo Seven Nigerians arrested by the Nigerian Navy of the Forward Operating Base (FOB) in Ibaka, Mbo Local Government Area, Akwa Ibom State, were yesterday officially handed over to the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) for further investigation and prosecution.

The suspects were arrested in two separate operations executed by the personnel of the Nigerian Navy stationed in Ibaka community, seizing 470 bags of contraband rice

from them.

While five of the suspects and their wooden boat were intercepted by officials of the navy on retinue patrol on April 22, 2019, and 308 bags of 50kg rice found with them, two other suspects were intercepted on April 21, 2019, with 162 bags of 50kg rice, reportedly brought in from Cameroon.

The Commanding Officer, FOB, Captain Toritseju Vincent, at the public handing-over of the suspects and the seized items to the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), said the navy is committed to ridding the

area of illegal activities on the Nigeria waterways.

“On behalf of the Commanding Officer of Eastern Naval Command, I hand over these five suspects who were arrested on the April 22, 2019, with 308 bags of smuggled rice which we suspect were smuggled in from Cameroon.

“I also hand over a medium sized wooden boat laden with 162 bags of rice arrested near Mbo River by Oron, Calabar channel to the NCS. The wooden boat along with its crew was arrested at 07:30 on April 21 during a routine

patrol by the Navy gunboats,” he said.

Speaking while receiving the suspects and bags of rice from the navy, the Zonal Commander of the Nigeria Customs Service, Assistant Comptroller Kolade Iloyode, lauded the navy for the support in checking smuggling into the state.

The zonal commander was represented at the brief ceremony by Kabir Ogah, Deputy Superintendent of Customs, Comptroller General of Customs Strike Force (CGC), Zone C, Akwa Ibom State.

Katsina Children’s Parliament Seeks Quick Passage of Child Protection Bill Francis Sardauna in Katsina As Katsina State continues to grapple with cases of child rights infringement, the state Speaker of Children’s Parliament, Mubarak Lawan Yantaba, has called on the state House of Assembly to pass the Child Protection Bill into law.

The parliament also advocated for the enactment of another law that will mandate girl-child education and avert early marriage in the state.

THISDAY reports that the Child’s Right Act (CRA) was enacted in 2003 at the federal level to serve as legal document

and protection of child rights and responsibilities in Nigeria.

Yantaba, while in audience with the state assembly Speaker, Tasi’u Zango, said the bill, if sign into law, would hold government and parents accountable on the issues of child molestation and girls’ education.

He explained that the bill, when passed, would ensure that the interest and rights of Nigerian child are properly taken care of “as a protected child serve as the pillar for a prosperous society.”

According to him, “A protected child is a confident

child. A protected child is the joy and pride of every society. The assembly should also enact a law that would ensure retention of children to complete secondary school with special focus on the girl-child.

“The assembly should also create a committee on children affairs to either stand alone or merge with another committee where children related and sensitive issues would take centre stage.”

The children’s parliament leader reaffirmed that for the society to make informed choices and decisions regarding

health and other life issues, “there is need for a proper legislation to guide all gender and adolescent right issues.”

Yantaba, however, called for the involvement of religious and traditional leaders in the fight against drug abuse in the state, saying people with history of drug abuse should not be allowed to pilot the affairs of the society.

The assembly Speaker, represented by the member representing Kafur state constituency, Garba Dankanjiba, said the assembly was aware of the issue, and vowed to address it soon.

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EFCC: How Galaxy Boss Defrauded 27,400 Nigerians of N7bn Kingsley Nwezeh in Abuja The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has arrested the Chief Executive Officer of Galaxy Transportation and Construction Services Limited, Babagana Dalori, who allegedly defraud 27,400 Nigerians to the tune of about N7 billion through fake promises of mouth-watering returns on their investment in his companies.

Dalori, who is currently undergoing interrogation at the commission’s office, had incorporated the firm in 2012 with one tricycle (Keke NAPEP), which through pool investments by members of the public later boasted of 50 tricycles.

A statement issued by the anti-graft agency said “the entrepreneur later diversified into other business ventures while promising mouthwatering returns to investors.

“The commission’s investigators discovered that Dalori initially paid 200 per cent interest on investors’ deposits in the firm and later reduced the interest to 135 per cent before

the scheme crashed in 2018”, it said.

The statement further stated that in a bid “to suck as many unsuspecting victims into his ponzi net, Dalori engaged in massive advertisements on radio and television, including a production of a movie by A-list Nollywood actors, which aimed at convincing members of the public to invest in his companies”.

As a victim stated, “he even went to the extent of organising Nollywood stars to produce a movie for him to further promote public investment into his company. He specifically organised some actors and actresses in Kannywood to act in a movie called “Zero Hour” to show the need for people to invest in Galaxy.

“Unfortunately, his gimmicks paid off as different people took their hard-earned savings, inheritance, pensions and other source of income and invested in Galaxy. Now, the scheme has crashed and investors can no longer get their money.

“At the moment, he has used the investors’ money to

incorporate different entities without getting their consent. He now has Galaxy Global Energy Concept Ltd, Galaxy Miners Concept Ltd, Galaxy Global Farms, Galaxy Computers, Galaxy Block Making Factory, Galaxy Hospital and Galaxy Hotel.”

EFCC said Dalori’s modusoperandi is typical of those of Nigerian wonder banks, by accepting deposits from members of the public when his company is not a licensed financial institution, alleging that the suspect and his company have committed a criminal act punishable by the Banks and Other Financial Institutions Act. “At the moment, all bank accounts belonging to Galaxy have been frozen in order to prevent further dissipation of investors’ funds, pending the conclusion of investigation.

“His media aide, Cletus Onoja, however, blamed Dalori’s inability to honour his obligation to his investors on the loss of one of his companies’ largest dredgers in Jere sand mining site in Kaduna State”, it said.

Rubber Farmers Decry Exclusion from FG’s Loan Facility Bassey Inyang in Calabar Hundreds of rubber farmers in Cross River State have lamented what they described as their non-inclusion by the federal government in the list of the category of farmers to benefit from the Bankers’ Committee nine percent loan interest and moratorium.

Speaking on behalf of rubber estate owners in the state numbering about 207 farmers, their representative, Mr. Hebrew Martins Akpan, alleged that the obvious neglect of the farmers has denied at least 100, 000 people employment in the country’s rubber industry.

Akpan, who stated this recently in Calabar at a meeting between the farmers and a representative of

Imoniyame Holdings Limited in Delta State, Mrs. Ufuoma Obrutse, urged the federal government to take another look at the policy, and ensure the inclusion of the farmers as part of those to benefit from the loans scheme.

Akpan also urged the federal government to revive the moribund Presidential Committee on Rubber, saying it would contribute in making Nigeria one of the leading producers of rubber in Africa.

The spokesman of the rubber farmers said nine states in the southern part of Nigeria, considered as the rubber belt region, can produce the commodity for the entire needs of the rubber industry in Nigeria.

“Rubber is a longstanding economic crop which should

be accommodated in any incentive consideration. We can generate employment for up to 100,000 directly and indirectly in the Niger Delta region which can certainly go a long way to calm restive youths in the region as well as earn huge foreign exchange.

“Federal government should extend the intervention fund to rubber if it does not want it to go extinct. We are already facing huge challenges, and to exclude us may mean that the intention is to further dampen us, whereas we are a more reliable economic bolster.

“Rubber has more challenges yet with greater benefits even though it has about seven years’ gestation period, it has generational value too. So we need more assistance.”

Sterling Bank Partners MACMME to Curb Infant, Maternal Mortality Sterling Bank Plc and the Malaria, Child, Maternal Mortality Eradication (MACMME) project have collaborated to produce a movie titled ‘ANAVE’ in an effort to bring greater awareness to the plight of the less privileged Nigerian child and mother.

The film which was written, produced and directed

by Nicolette Ndigwe had Abubakar Suleiman, Chief Executive Officer of Sterling Bank, and Frank Nweke Jnr., former Minister of Information and Communications, as coexecutive producers.

Speaking at a press conference in Lagos at the weekend, Mr. Lekan Akintemi, Head of Technology and Digital Compliance, Sterling Bank, said the lender committed itself to be at the heart of Nigeria’s accelerated development by focusing on five critical sectors of the economy

namely health, education, agriculture, renewable energy and transport.

“It should not be surprising that we supported the production of Anave, malaria, infant and maternal mortality advocacy movie - because it promotes health and improved access to healthcare for the most vulnerable in the society. In line with our commitment to the health sector, we are continuously developing solutions that would promote preventive health as part of our overall strategy towards making Nigeria a nation that is populated by healthy people.”

Also speaking at the press conference, Ndigwe explained that, “Anave tells the story of an eight-year-old boy whose mother dies from malaria complications at childbirth, leaving him at the mercy of an orphanage. He ends up on the street in a quest for

an education where he faces the struggles of the vulnerable poor and homeless.”

She said the movie campaign would raise a voice for the plight of the underprivileged Nigerian child and mother, 3,000 of whom die daily from preventable diseases and about the need to cooperate in the fight against malaria mortality, the creation of basic health care, as well as housing and education opportunities for the underprivileged Nigerian.

According to her, ANAVE parades some of Nigeria’s most celebrated artistes and actors such as Omawunmi Megbele, Aituaje Iruobe popularly known as Waje, Shawn Faqua, Seun Ajayi, Rita Edwards and many others, adding that it also parades in its crew, internationally acclaimed cinematographer, Adekunle “Nodash” Adejuyigbe, among others.

WEDNESDAY APRIL 24, 2019 Ëž T H I S D AY

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NEWSEXTRA

NCAA Threatens to Demolish 7,000 GSM Masts in Nigeria over Safety Concerns (JWFT OFUXPSL QSPWJEFST EBZT VMUJNBUVN Chinedu Eze The Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) has threatened to demolish over 7,000 telecommunication masts and towers belonging to some Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) providers erected all over the country, saying they constitute danger to safe flight operations.

The agency gave the network providers 30 days’ ultimatum to obtain approval for the masts and towers; otherwise, it would demolish them.

In a statement signed by its spokesman, Sam Adurogboye, NCAA explained that it was compelled to take this line of action when the telecommunication providers blatantly failed to obtain the statutory Aviation

Height Clearance (AHC). “Without Aviation Height Clearance, all these masts and towers constitute danger to safety of air navigation. “Under the Civil Aviation Act, 2006, Section 30(3)(1), the NCAA is empowered to prohibit and regulate the installation of any structure which by virtue of its height or position is considered to endanger the safety of air navigation. “Furthermore, the Nigeria Civil Aviation Regulations (Nig.CARs) Part 12.1.7.1.3.1 stipulates that no person or organisation shall put up a structure (permanent or temporary) within the navigable airspace of Nigeria unless such a person or organisation is a holder of Aviation Height Clearance Certificate granted under this regulation,� the statement said.

Edo NLC, TUC Hail Obaseki The leadership of the organised labour in Edo State has commended Governor Godwin Obaseki on his commitment to the labour movement, noting that the construction of the Labour House Complex, and other labour-friendly policies has endeared him to the unions and their causes in the state.

Speaking yesterday after inspecting ongoing construction of the Labour House Complex at Ikpoba Hill, the Chairman, Edo State Chapter of the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC), Emmanuel Ademokun, said the edifice which is 80 per cent complete, is a dream come true.

He noted that the building

The regulatory authority said consequent upon this provision; the agency requires an Aviation Height Clearance (AHC) approval for every tower installation irrespective of the height and location. “Several letters and entreaties sent to the GSM providers from the authority were not responded to despite that they were duly received by the relevant executives and duly acknowledged. In addition, Letters of Investigation (LOI) were written and delivered to them with no response recorded till date. “It will be recalled that in a meeting with the Director General, early this year, the Association of Licensed Telecommunications Operators of Nigeria (ALTON) members were candidly advised to ensure they obtain Aviation

would be occupied in 3 months’ time, adding, “There will be change of leadership by Thursday, hence the need for the inspection to assess the level of work on the building project. We are happy for what my leadership has accomplished. Those who will succeed us will continue with the rest.�

Height Clearance. This was to reiterate the need for all masts and towers erected in Nigeria to adhere to safety regulation and ensure safety of air navigation,� the statement said.

NCAA disclosed that at the meeting, representatives of the network providers were present and were asked questions concerning their refusal to obtain Aviation Height Clearance

certificate for some of the masts. “In response, the delegates demanded to be furnished with the location of the masts. A booklet containing the coordinates and location of the masts has since been made available to them. As a result of the meeting, some telecommunications providers have implicitly demonstrated considerable compliance by duly

THE CHALLENGE As one of Nigeria’s renowned economists, Dr. Teriba, had argued in the past, the government must carve the country into zones, allow private firms to bid for the rights to build and operate railways under a new regulatory body. That would lead, hopefully, to the emergence of regional railway networks. Again, the Indian example is helpful here. The Indian railway networks, which is one of the most complex in the world, is managed at regional levels, with the complex divided into seventeen zonal railways that are semi-autonomous. In Great Britain, where our current model came from, under its 1993 Railways Act, the

obtaining the requisite height clearance from the authority except for the few defaulters that have over 7000 masts. “It is instructive to note that there are well over 40,000 masts and towers in Nigeria. Statutorily, all telecommunications operators should obtain Aviation Height Clearance (AHC) and ensure their annual validity,� NCAA also said.

OF A NEW NIGERIAN RAILWAYS

old integrated structure was broken up, paving the way for passenger trains to run under either open franchise or an open access basis. And although the Secretary of State for Transport still has overall responsibility for rail transportation within the United Kingdom, neither freight train operators, nor passenger train operators have any contracts with government. Even the Rolling Stock are owned by Leasing companies.

There is work to do here and President Buhari needs to sustain the momentum of the past three years.

But the Transport Minister and his team would also have to do a lot more. The

ultimate objectives must be to modernise the entire rail sub-sector, no matter how long it takes. In the era of speed trains, we should be looking beyond the refurbishment of antiquated narrow gauge trains and the construction ofslow moving Standard Gauge lines. And fast trains are already here with us. We should take full advantage of the latest rail transport technology and be driven by the same objectives that characterise the best prototypes of modern rail travel today: speed, comfort, safety and cost-effectiveness. t %S :FNJ 0HVOCJZJ XIP JT B GPSNFS .BOBHJOH %JSFDUPS PG UIF %BJMZ 5JNFT JT OPX $IBJSNBO PG 5"/64 #PPL -UE

WEDNESDAY APRIL 24, 2019 ˾ T H I S D AY

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WEDNESDAYSPORTS

Group Sports Editor: Duro Ikhazuagbe Email: duro.ikhazuagbe@thisdaylive.com 08111813083

U17 AFCON

Golden Eaglets Tackle Guinea in Fierce S’final Duel Two-time champions Nigeria and West African rivals Guinea will clash at the National Stadium, Dar es Salaam this afternoon in what is a much-anticipated first semi final of the ongoing Africa U17 Cup of Nations.

Nigeria has been victorious at the continental tournament on two occasions, in 2001 and 2007, and are the record winners of the FIFA U17

World Cup (five times). The Golden Eaglets are also taking part in their 9th U17 AFCON. An intimidating pedigree that is bound to send jitters into Guinea’s camp.

However, Guinea also come into the encounter with some recent eye –popping accomplishments. The Junior Syli Nationale are the reason why Cup holders Mali are not in Tanzania, having beaten

the Malians at the WAFU A Tournament in September to earn their ticket.

The Guineans also flaunt victories over Senegal (another team highly respected in youth football) and Morocco in the group phase as they set to trade tackles with the Golden Eaglets this afternoon.

With all four teams in

the semi finals (Nigeria, Guinea, Cameroon, Angola) having secured their places at the FIFA U17 World Cup taking place in Brazil later in the year, there would be no pulling punches as all of them focus on being in Sunday’s final in Tanzania’s capital.

The Guineans are making their seventh appearance

at the Africa U17 Cup of Nations which began in Mali 24 years ago.

Coach Manu Garba is most likely to start with his regular squad, meaning Sunday Stephen in goal, Shedrack Tanko and Ogaga Oduko as wingbacks, Clement Ikenna and David Ishaya at centreback, captain Samson Tijani, Mayowa Abayomi

(or Fawaz Abdullahi) and Olatomi Olaniyan in the midfield, and Akinkunmi Ayobami Amoo, Olakunle Olusegun and Wisdom Ubani at the fore.

In the second semi final, kicking off a few hours later at the same venue, Cameroon and Angola will clash in what is expected to be another enthralling encounter.

MOC for 20th National Sports Festival Inaugurated The Main Organising Committee for the 20th National Sports Festival in Edo State has been inaugurated.

The 19-man MOC has the Permanent Secretary of the Federal Ministry of Youth and Sports, Olusade Adesola as the Chairman and the Deputy Governor of Edo State, Philip Shaibu as Vice Chairman.

On the inauguration, the Minister of Youth and Sports, Solomon Dalung charged the MOC to be committed and let history be repeated through a successful hosting of the 2020 National Sports Festival.

“I am entrusting this mandate in your custody believing that as we wind down, the transition process shall in no way affect the build-up and preparation for the next Festival.

“I challenge you to look at service to humanity and the future and bear in mind the development of this great country.

“It is also the responsibility of the MOC to educate Nigerians with advocacy, to appreciate the significance of the National Sports Festival and sports in National development. Sports

has moved from recreation to big business. We must therefore use sports to promote peace and unity in Nigeria.

“You have been saddled with a National trust of over 200 million Nigerians and the MOC must deliver on this trust. Let us harmonize all our experiences . The success of this Festival lies on synergy, mutual respect and commitment. Wherever I am in 2020, I will come around to celebrate the success of your hard work,” Dalung said.

In his acceptance speech, the Permanent Secretary, Olusade Adesola thanked the Minister on behalf of the MOC for the opportunity to serve.

“With absolute gratitude to God and a very high sense of humility that I, on behalf of the members of the Main Organising Committee of the 20th National Sports Festival Edo 2020, accept our appointment.

“The task is enormous and daunting but nevertheless not insurmountable. We appreciate the sacrifices involved and pledge to do our utmost best to deliver on the responsibilities assigned to us.

Suleiman Scoops IBB Captain’s Cup Gross Prize Olawale Ajimotokan in Abuja Mohammed Suleiman, over the weekend won the IBB Club Captain’s Cup 2019 Best Gross for men by a solitary shot.

Suleiman, who plays off handicap-5, returned 77 to emerge the overall winner of the gross prize.

He edged a close contest at the expense of another single-digit player, Dipo Sanya, who posted 78.

Suleiman is one of Nigeria’s proven low handicap amateur golfers.

And he justified his status at the 18- hole valedictory tournament for the outgoing Captain of IBB International Golf and Country Club, Oseni Ahmed.

Jummai Abdulahi shot 97 to annex the female version, also beating F. Ahmad by one shot.

M. Abdulahi carded 70

to emerge the nett winner in Men Division 1, while Ado Samba shot 71 to claim the Men Division 2 honour.

P.I. Oyewole signed 68 on his scorecard to edge the Division 3 contest at the expense of A.A Idris and G. Udjor, who played 69 and 70 respectively to finish second and third.

Rachel Danjuma shot 78 to beat Amina Wilfred by four shots to win the Ladies Division 1 nett prize.

Mrs Dupe Akinkugbe won the Super Veteran Ladies prize, while Mrs Halima Wada beat Mrs Anne Abimiku on the count back (80) to clinch the veteran ladies prize.

Dipo Sanya compensated for the loss of the gross prize by winning the club singles match play championship for 2019. The handicap 6 player, also combined with Oludare Bello to win the doubles club match play championship.

Golden Eaglets players in their final training session ahead of the semi final clash against Guinea this afternoon

Nigeria Berths Q’finals at All Africa Badminton Championships Top stars Anuoluwapo Opeyori and Dorcas Adesokan were rested yesterday but Team Nigeria still cruised into quarterfinals with a resounding 5-0 defeat of Zimbabwe in the team event of the ongoing All Africa Senior Badminton Championships in Port Harcourt, Rivers State.

Team Nigeria, who won their opening Group D fixture 5-0 against South Africa on Monday, started the Zimbabwe’s rout when the duo of Habeeb Bello and Amin Christopher combined to inflict a 21-7, 21-7 defeat on the pair of Michelle Gazah and Raeffic Alfonso in the mixed doubles.

Clement Krobakpor took to the court to increase Nigeria’s tally with a 21-10, 21-12 win over Mathe Thabane in the men’s singles.

In the women’s singles, Sofiat Obashola trounced Mudzamuri Tritama 21-1, 22-3 while Krobakpor paired with Gideon Babalola in the men’s doubles to beat Dziva Ashely and Paul Kosolo 21-10, 21-10.

Amin Christopher and Chinenye Ibere completed the rout when they defeated Zaza Michelle and Tritama.

South Africa also booked their ticket for the last eight with a 4-0 defeat of Zimbabwe earlier in

the day. Uganda joined Egypt to make it out of Group A after they defeated Congo DR 5-0 who had on Monday slumped to the same margin against the north Africans.

Mauritius and Zambia are also through after they handed separate 5-0 defeats to whipping side Benin Republic in Group B. Ghana accounted for the exit of neighbours Togo with a 5-0 defeat. The Togolese had lost their opening fixture to Algeria by the same margin.

The Algerians also sent Cote d’Ivoire packing with a 5-0 win.

The team event will be concluded today with Nigeria

beaming with confidence.

According to Krobakpor, the country boasts of some of the best players on the continent and should clear the stable at the tournament starting with a gold in the team event.

“Although we have some strong teams in this competition, Nigeria is one of the biggest countries in badminton now.

For me, we are the best in this tournament because we had a better preparation than last championships when we came second behind Algeria. We have qualified for the quarterfinals and I expect us to go all the way,” he said.

Abuja Bubbles as FCV Gladiators Football Camp Begins After the successful staging of the Lagos leg, the FCV Gladiators Camp in Abuja has been beehive of activities as the coaches continued to impact on the participants with the aim of sharpening their skills in the round leather game.

With plans by the organisers – Dynaspro Sports Promotion and Advanta Interactive to select the two outstanding players just like their did in Lagos, the camp holding at Aduvie International School had hundreds of participants

within and outside Abuja taking part.

The two outstanding players selected from Lagos - Kolade Bailey and Al-Ameen Yusuf are expected to embark on a summer training in the United kingdom while the successful candidates from Abuja will also join them in the trip.

For the Director of Dynaspro Sports Promotion, Oluseyi Oyebode, the camp has been an eye opener for parents and guardians. “It has been a tremendous experience

working with the children with FCV Academy, Dynaspro and Adavanta. A lot of great things, skills development; the training methods were fantastic and at the end we got good feedbacks and testimonies from the kids and their parents. This is just the beginning. We have two kids from this week’s camp that will be going to the UK in the summer having emerged the best from the Lagos leg but it was a wonderful performance from everybody and at the end of the day, we can only pick

two that were selected by the FCV team after a thorough process,” Oyebode said.

The Head Coach of UK-based FCV Academy, Russell Fryer was particularly impressed with the turnout.

“The turnout has been great with lots of kids with smiles on their faces and that’s the real essence of it. The kids are great and very well behaved. I think the kids responded very and quite enthusiastic and energetic and that is what we want to encourage.

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WEDNESDAY APRIL 24, 2019 ˾ T H I S D AY

WEDNESDAYSPORTS MANCHESTER DERBY

Old Trafford Holds no Fears for Guardiola Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola said Old Trafford is no longer a “scary” place to visit ahead of tonight’s derby at the home of Manchester United.

Victory for City in the

Premier League clash will keep the reigning champions on course to become the first team in English football history to win a treble of all three major domestic trophies in the same season.

Frappart to Become First Female Ref in Ligue 1 A men’s top flight game in France will be refereed by a woman for the first time this weekend when Stephanie Frappart takes charge of the Ligue 1 game between Amiens and Strasbourg, the French Football Federation (FFF) has announced.

Frappart, 35, makes the step up having been a referee in France’s Ligue 2 since 2014.

She will also referee at the women’s World Cup, which will be held in France in

June and July.

The FFF said the appointment for Sunday’s match followed a request from Fifa to help referees involved in the World Cup “prepare in the best conditions”.

Germany’s Bibiana Steinhaus became the first female referee in one of the top European leagues when she took charge of a Bundesliga match between Hertha Berlin and Werder Bremen in September 2017.

Tiger’s Challenge to End Early for Presidents Cup Travel Tiger Woods, fresh off his Masters victory, said yesterday that he has tweaked the schedule for December’s Hero World Challenge to ease travel issues from the Bahamas to Australia for the Presidents Cup. The 43-year-old American star will host the annual invitational at Albany resort December 4-7, starting on Wednesday and ending on Saturday, so participants will have extra time for the 9 820-mile (15 804 km) journey to Melbourne for the team showdown December 12-15.

“Excited to have a Saturday finish at the Hero World Challenge this year so we accommodate those also traveling to the Presidents Cup,” Woods tweeted.

“The event has grown in many ways since moving to Albany and this year’s unique schedule allows us to continue trying new things.”

Woods completed an epic comeback after spinal fusion surgery and won his 15th major title on April 14 at Augusta National, taking his first major win since the 2008 US Open by capturing his fifth Masters green jacket.

The Hero World Challenge has a $1 million top prize and will be played at Albany for a fifth consecutive year.

“I’m looking forward to

hosting the 2019 Hero World Challenge at Albany and beginning two weeks of international competition,” Woods said.

Woods, who went 0-4 at the Ryder Cup in a US loss last year in France, will serve as captain for the American squad in the Presidents Cup against an Internationals squad of non-European talent to be guided by South African Ernie Els. With his Masters victory, Woods moved to ninth on the US qualifying list for the President Cup, his 3 638 points only 26 behind Tony Finau for the final automatic berth on the American team.

After that, Woods must select four others to complete the line-up.

Points will be compiled through the 2019 Tour Championship in September.

It’s the first time in a captain’s role for Woods, who has been an assistant in past US team events.

The US team is reigning Presidents Cup champion, having won 19-11 in 2017 to seize a 10-1-1 lead in the overall rivalry.

But this year’s event will be staged at Royal Melbourne, where the Internationals collected their only victory in 1998.

The course also hosted the event in 2011.

Man City boast an impressive run of five wins and a draw in their last seven league visits to Old Trafford – a sequence that includes 6-1 and 3-0 victories.

Guardiola, however, refused to use that form guide as a reason for confidence, although he accepted a trip to Old Trafford was not as daunting as in previous years.

“I don’t make theories about what happened in the past for what is going to happen in the future,” Guardiola told reporters yesterday.

“Every game is completely different. The reason why is the fact this club in the last decade grew a lot and it is not scary to go there.

“Before it was maybe more difficult. The players Manchester City had in the last decade made this game a little bit more equal.”

Man City can move one point clear of title rivals Liverpool at the top of the table heading into their final three games of the season with victory over United.

This latest derby takes place against the backdrop of United’s woeful 4-0 loss away to Everton on Sunday, a lacklustre display that was roundly criticised.

Guardiola, however, did not expect the Goodison Park performance to have a major bearing on the derby.

“A little bit, yeah but even a good result, the confidence will be higher,” said Guardiola when asked if United’s defeat by Everton made his task harder.

“It is a derby and all the times we play against United, the derbies are always special games and the players do their best for the fans, the club.”

The Catalan boss added: “I saw the game, I imagine what will happen against

Pep Guardiola

us. The game against Everton is over.”

City will visit Old Trafford without inspirational playmaker Kevin De Bruyne who suffered a hamstring injury in the weekend win over Tottenham Hotspur that came just days after a dramatic Champions League semifinal loss to Spurs ended hopes of a quadruple.

It is the latest problem to hamper the Belgian in a campaign that has seen him plagued by knee trouble and Guardiola said De Bruyne would required a concerted training programme ahead of next season.

“Muscular problems, he had two or three,” recalled Guardiola.

“In England you don’t have time to make a preparation.

“You play every three days that is not the best way. You have to make a good pre-season. Now he

has to pay attention, the little details, see if he can play one or two more games this season and next season make a good pre-season.”

Meanwhile Guardiola denied claims that winger Riyad Mahrez – the club’s £60-million record signing from Leicester last season – is unhappy at his lack of first-team opportunities and keen to move on from City.

“Riyad will be with us for the next season here and the next one and the next one,” he said.

“I don’t need to speak with him. He will be with us next season,” the former Barcelona and Bayern Munich boss added. “He is a player for us. We are delighted with him and the way he plays.

“He is happy we are here. Everyone knows the competition we have here.

He came last season to stay longer. It is not necessary to speak to him.”

Ole Gunner Solskjaer

More Plaudits for Oduduru over National 200m Record Former Sports Minister and Chairman National Sports Commission (NSC) Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi has commended new sprint sensation Divine Oduduru on his impressive performances at the Michael Johnson Invitational where a he ran a 9.94sec in the men 100m, Nigeria’s fastest since 2006 when Olusoji Fasuba ran a time of 9.85 sec to set a new African record.

At the same meet, Oduduru also ran 19.76 sec in the 200m

to erase the former national record of 19.84 seconds set by Francis Obikwelu in 1999 at the World Championships in Seville Spain.

Mallam Abdullahi who was Minister of Sports and Chairman of NSC when Oduduru was discovered at the 2013 African Youth Championships in Warri, Delta State said he followed Oduduru progress since then and he was not surprised by his feats over the weekend.

“I was not surprised by his achievements, I never for a moment stopped following since we discovered him at the Warri 2013 AYAC which we hosted, I knew he was a world beater in waiting”.

Abdullahi posits that Nigerians and indeed the world has not seen the best of Oduduru as he has the potential to run faster and better.

“For him to start the season with such a fantastic time, I know he will get better

and chances that he will make podium appearances at the All African Games in Morocco and the IAAF World Championships in Doha”.

Abduallahi also commend the Delta State Government and for their huge investment in sports and Evang. Solomon Ogba for his uncommon passion for athletics and investment of personal resources in Nigerian athletes irrespective of where they come from.

Ayinor, Randa, Omorogbe, Others Appointed Media Officers

Tiger Woods

The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), has appointed media officers for the various National Teams.

While Mr. Toyin Ibitoye and Miss Jane Nweze have been retained for the Super Eagles and the Super Falcons respectively until after the two teams’ major championships this summer

(the Super Eagles’ AFCON finals in Egypt and the Super Falcons’ FIFA World Cup finals in France), the Federation appointed a senior journalist, Mr. Pius Ayinor as media officer for the Super Eagles B, also known as CHAN Eagles.

Mr. Sharif Abdallah will serve as media officer for the

U23 National Team (Olympic Eagles) while Mr. Andrew Randa will take charge at the camp of the U20 Boys National Team (Flying Eagles).

Miss Cecilia Omorogbe will work with the U20 Girls (Falconets) while Mr. Francis Achi will serve the U17 Boys (Golden Eaglets) and Miss Faith Meremegbunam will

work with the U17 Girls (Flamingos).

Mr. Tobi Adepoju will be media officer of the U15 National Boys (Future Eagles).

All the newly –appointed media officers will serve until after their next major championship before giving way to other persons to also benefit from the experience.

Wednesday April 24, 2019

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MISSILE

Cleric to Buhari

“Since the history of this country, apart from the civil war we have never had the kind of killings under a President like we have in the last four years. So, it is clear, the killings are too many.

And if the strategies they have in place do not work why can’t Buhari change and overhaul the entire security architecture? People have been asking him to overhaul his security chiefs but he doesn’t listen. He doesn’t care.”

– Catholic Bishop of Yola Diocese, Stephen Mamza, saying the unabated killings, violent crimes and conflict across the country indicate that President Muhammadu Buhari has been sleeping on duty as Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces.

YEMIOGUNBIYI GUEST COLUMNIST

The Challenge of a New Nigerian Railways

T

he direct impulse to the writing of this piece came from six separate inspections trips of the new 158.5km, double-track Standard Gauge railway line from Ibadan to Lagos which is about to be flagged off for use in December. Those inspection trips, which were spread out over a one-year period, were in the company of the Minister of Transport, The Rt. Hon. Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi. The construction of the rail project itself, with extensions to Apapa Sea Port and associated railway stations, commenced in March 2017. Those inspection trips, taken together, had a tremendous impact on me and opened up for me vistas of new possibilities in my assessment of the future of our country. To fully understand the impact of thatexperience and put it in proper perspective, we would need to back-step a little into the history of Nigerian Railways Corporation.

When the British decided in 1898 to construct the first railroad in Nigeria, that is, the 32km narrow gauge line from Iddo in the Lagos Colony to Ota in today’s Ogunstate and subsequently to Ibadan, it was conceived purely as a commercial venture designed to ease the movement of goods from the hintherland to the coast for export. It took four years to complete that very first line in 1901. Thereafter, rail construction continued incrementally, with the Ibadan-Jebba line, between 1907 to 1911. Urged by the British Cotton Growing Association, a single track narrow gauge, with a speed of 12 miles per hour, was constructed in 1907 from Baro to Bida, Zungeru, and Zaria to Kano, to ease the evacuation of cotton for export.

Following the discovery of coal in Enugu in 1914, the 243km Port Harcourt – Enugu line was constructed to facilitate export of coal through Port Harcourt. Then, by 1924, several other lines were added, among them the Enugu – Makurdiline, the Kaduna – Kafanchan, and Kafanchan – Jos lines. In the 1920s and early 1930s, the Zaria – Gusau – Kaura Namoda lines were built.

Then two final extensions, Kano – Nguru, and Ifo – Idogo were added by 1930.

In all those years, the Corporation was run efficiently, reaching its peak performance in 1964 when it was said to have conveyed some 11.2million passengers and about 3million tonnes of goods, annually.Then, gradually, the rot set in, compounded by poor infrastructure maintenance, derelict and antiquated rail tracks, outmoded locomotives and wagons and, of course, corruption and poor management. To be sure, there were efforts between the first Obasanjo administration, through the Abacha years to revive the sector, but they came to nothing. Ironically, it was the Jonathan administration that seemed to have done the most by reactivating the rehabilitation of the old narrow lines, while also initiating the construction of the new Standard Gauge lines.

So, when the Buhariadministration came in in 2015, with Rotimi Amaechi as Transport Minister, it wascompelled to build on the gains of the past, while at the same time charting a new, more radical approach to the sector. President Buhari directed his new Minister toimmediately complete all existing abandoned projects, while also embarking on the design, construction and deployment of new Standard Gauge lines.

Accordingly, the Abuja (Idu) to Kaduna (Rigasa) Standard Gauge project which had been crippled for lack of funds and almost abandoned by the previous administrationwas promptly completed and flagged off for commercial operation by President Buhari in July, 2016. As part of this scheme, and under Amaechi’s watch, the Itakpe – Ajaokuta – Warri railway Standard Gauge project, which was first conceived thirty-two years ago, was also completed. In addition, the rehabilitation of a number of existing narrow Gauge lines was speeded up, leading to an upsurge in intra-city

Amaechi and intra-city transportation.

But, perhaps, the two projects in the category of planned railway projects that stand out are the 2163km Port Harcourt – Maiduguri singletrack Standard Gauge rail-line and the Coastal Railway Project, which was mentioned above.

The proposedPort Harcourt to Maiduguri rail-line would traverse major industrial cities along the Eastern corridor, South-South, South-East and the North-Eastern geo-political zones of the country. Due to be completed in three years time, the rail network would pass through Aba from Port Harcourt, to Umuahia – Agwu – Enugu – Otukpo – Makurdi – Lafia – Akwanga – Kafanchan – Jos – Bauchi – Alkateri – Gombe – Bajoga – Damaturu – Maiduguri, with branch lines from Port Harcourt – Owerri – Akwa; Port Harcourt – Bonny; Enugu – Abakaliki; Akwanga – Keffi – Abuja and Gombe - Yola – Jalingo.

This line would not only link the oil-producing South-South regions with the North and the rest of the country, but would also do what rail transportation does effectively, and that is, facilitate the transportation of goods, and support industrial development, while also creating jobs and employment.

But many would argue that the real icing on the cake of the administration’s achievements to date is the almost-completed 156.5km double track Standard Gauge line between Lagos –Ibadan, which, by the way, is a part of the longer Lagos – Kano line. This project is historic for one key reason. It is the first time that a sitting Nigerian government would start from the scratch to completion stagea rail project while in office, since the last time it happened in 1964, and that last time was when the construction of the 302km Bauchi – Maiduguri line was begun in 1961 and completed in 1964. The second key factor of the project is the scope of its beauty and modernity. The sheer joy of watching, before our very eyes, Chinese and Nigerian engineers ploughing through thick and swampy equatorial forests, cutting down giant vegetation, and painstakingly laying state-of-the-art rail sleepers with skill and dexterity, and then proceeding to roll out air-conditioned passenger coaches in a record two year time was a sight to behold.

The raw details of the project, quantities and all, testify to an engineering feat of considerable proportion. The entire project involved some 24.26million square metres of earth work. There are thirty-one different categories of bridges in all, made up of extra-long bridges, frame bridges and steel structure bridges. On its 156 kilometre stretch, it has 207 culverts, 40 other Railway-Crossing bridges and 31 pedestrian overpasses, 708 32m-beams, 168 groups of single drive turnout and one huge 110m tunnel underpass bridge at Abeokuta. Apart from the ApapaHabour Station, there are nine

stations along the line: Lagos, Agege, Agbado, Kajola, Papalanto, Abeokuta, Olodo, Omu-Ado, Ibadan and Apapa Port stations.Although its design capacity is for a 150km an hour speed, it would conveniently travel at 120km an hour.

So fully equipped are the trains that some of the Executive and VIP coaches come with conference rooms and modern counter bars. The specially manufactured refrigerated freight locomotives and livestock locomotives and wagons are as modern as any, anywhere. Other details of the contract include the supply of adequate spare parts for the Rolling Stock, the supply of maintenance equipment for a substantial period of time, the establishment of a Transportation University in Nigeria and the training of young Nigerian undergraduates in Railway Engineering and other important transport-related disciplines in China.

The economic benefits of these programmes, indeed, of rail-road infrastructure are too numerous to be recounted here. As the example of India teaches us, economic miracles come with expansive rail-road infrastructure. Obviously, rails can carry larger volumes of goods, over greater distances, unhindered by traffic jams or even weather conditions, making it more economical than road and even water. In our own unique situation in Nigeria, the savings to be made by radically reducing the carnage on our roads cannot be quantified in naira and kobo.

It is also significant to note that the benefits of rail-road access far outweigh the infrastructure costs. It is even far more significant to note that World Bank studies demonstrate that the arrival of rail roads in many developing nations causes real Gross Domestic Product (GDP), especially in the agricultural sector, to increase by about 20 per cent. Therefore, money expended on the development of rail transportation in Nigeria is money well spent.

But there is a consequential sub-text to the success so far, of the Buhari government’s attempt to radically revamp the rail subsector and that is the RotimiAmaechi factor, which manifests itself in two distinct ways. There is, on the one hand, the palpable synergy at play between the local Nigerian Railway’s team, led by its Managing Director, Mr. Freeborn Okhiria, which is a welcomed departure from previous projects, where the local Railway’s staff were side-lined, often to the detriment of the project. On the other hand, there is the passion with which Amaechi has driven the project from inception.

Relentlessly impelled, at all times, by a desire to make an impactful difference, Amaechi has directed and managed the affairs of the rail sub-sector in a practical, down-to-earth style that has become the hallmark of his exemplary public service. Never a man to drift with the tide, Rotimi Amaechi approaches public service with passionate convictions and a unique style and courage that are a counter to cheap populism.

Under Amaechi’s watch, the Chinese contractors working on the Lagos – Ibadan project openly admit that they have been driven to meet deadlines as never before in the execution of the contract. For instance, barely, months after the commencement of the project, Amaechi initiated monthly inspection tours of the project, with each inspection exercise ending with a Steering Committee meeting, held, not in the cozy confines of the Minister’s office in Abuja, but on the site office at the Ibadan end of the rail track. Throughout the two year construction period of the project, the tour inspections took place every month, without fail. At each of those sessions, thorough reviews of the project were undertaken, with specific references made to targets, timelines and scheduled outputs. During the six sessions where I was present, the issue of capacity building and the effective knowledge transfer recurred again and again. Firmly, but politely, the Minister put

the same question to the Chinese contractors: ‘’Are you sure you are complying with the terms of the contract in the area of technology transfer?’’

“How many more Nigerians have you recruited since we last met?” “Are you making sure that our Engineers are being carried along?” “Are you sure those persons we saw at kilometre 81 site are fully qualified Nigerian engineers and not artisans?” It was clear at these sessions that the Chinese were quite unfamiliar with such direct frontal engagements from a Nigerian Minister!

They seemed usually rattled not only by the Minister’s practical methods and approach to these matters, but also by his grasp of the fine details of the sub-sector!! Apparently, that method seemed to have yielded results, because, (again, by their own admission) the Chinese affirm that that approach practically pushed them to their limits and ensured that the rail line would be completed within the two year schedule. Amaechi, as the Chinese were to learn, never stops pushing!!!

Unfortunately, Rotimi Amaechi’s methods and relentless push for results,sometimes, presents the erroneous image of a man who is abrasive, arrogant or even pugnacious! But the truth is that Amaechi has always been a man of passionate forthrightness and deep convictions. When I first met him some thirty-five years ago, he was a young nineteen-year old at the University of Port Harcourt, where I had been invited by my friend, Dr. Chidi Amuta, to deliver a lecture to his undergraduate Literature class. Although, suffused as he was then in his half-baked leftist ideologies, he stood out, challenging, with almost combative forthrightness, some of the tennets of the literary canons I had thrown at the students!

It is an encounter that I have never forgotten!!

I recall that former Bayelsa Governor, Timipre Sylva was also in that class and reminded me of that lecture a few years ago.

In a society where lethargy and obsequiousness have been elevated to virtues, being a nonconformist, with the courage and conviction to sometimes stand alone, could be equated with recklessness. In such situations, being brutally frank and passionately outspoken are viewed with great suspicion. Professor Wole Soyinka captured this essence of Rotimi Amaechi’s being better than I could ever do. In his Foreword entitled “The Tyranny of Courage”, to a book on Rotimi Amaechi, Soyinka celebrates Amaechi’s courage to stand up, almost alone (at least, so it seemed at the time) to Jonathan’s corrupt-riddled administration, even as some castigated Amaechi for being a ‘reckless spoiler’. Writing about the ‘courage of principled minority’, Soyinka affirms: “In a nation where the meaning of courage is the very act of daily survival, this is perhaps understandable. But it is necessary also to remind the thinking part of any electorate that there exist others in the ranks of leadership who refuse to pander to the lowest denomination of public expectations. They lay the foundation for a viable future, even at the risk of earning the hostility, even of a violent nature of others on their, or other rungs, of the shared ladder of power”.

But back to Rotimi Amaechi and the Railways!

In the end, the real legacy of the onfolding revolution in the rail sector might not merely be in the ability of the Buhari administration to actualise the revolution, but in laying a solid foundation that can sustain the achievements for all time. The future of the sector lies in its full privatisation. The very idea of a National Railways Corporation is archaic and outmoded.

The place of the rail industry in the development of our economy is far too important to be left to the vagaries of politics. And one is not even sure that the proposed Nigerian Railways Authority Bill by this government would go far enough.

Continued on page 51 Printed and Published in Lagos by THISDAY Newspapers Limited. Lagos: 35 Creek Road, Apapa, Lagos. Abuja: Plot 1, Sector Centre B, Jabi Business District, Solomon Lar Way, Jabi North East, Abuja .

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