Survey: Dangote Remains Most Admired African Brand Retains position for second consecutive year Ugo Aliogo Nigeria’s Dangote Group, for the second year running, has emerged the most admired African brand.
A survey of 100 Africa best brands, announced in Johannesburg at the weekend, put Dangote Group ahead of telecommunication giant, MTN.
According to the seventh edition of South Africa-based Brand Africa, in a survey carried out in collaboration with the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE), of 15,000
brands mentioned, Dangote ranked first when consumers were prompted to recall the most admired African brand. In the top 100 list, the United States sports and
fitness mega brand, Nike, a non-African brand, retains the overall number one brand in Africa spontaneously recalled by consumers. South African telecoms
brand, MTN, is the number one African brand spontaneously recalled brand, while surging Ethiopian brand, Continued on page 10
CBN: Low Power Supply, High Interest, Others Constrain Businesses... Page 10 Monday 27 May, 2019 Vol 24. No 8813. Price: N250
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Buhari Meets Northern Govs Today over Worsening Insecurity Violence erupts in Jos, many killed, houses torched PDP blames APC, president for escalating despondency Nigeria dancing on the brink of chaos, says Onaiyekan Osinbajo: The future is bright Iyobosa Uwugiaren, Adedayo Akinwale in Abuja and Seriki Adinoyi in Jos President Muhammadu Buhari will today meet with governors of the 19 northern states in Abuja over the worsening security situation in the region. The region has been enveloped by violence
arising from Boko Haram insurgency, herdsmen killing of farmers, armed banditry and kidnapping. Only yesterday, many were killed and houses torched in Dutse Uku, Rikkos and Cele Bridge areas of Jos, the capital of Plateau State, in a renewed Continued on page 8
FG, Shell Begin Production Sharing Contract Negotiations Ejiofor Alike in Lagos and Kasim Sumaina in Abuja with agency reports The federal government has begun renegotiating Production Sharing Contracts (PSC) on deep offshore oil blocks with Royal Dutch Shell, the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu,
has said. A report yesterday by Financial Times quoted Kachikwu as saying that Shell’s current PSC would expire in 2023, while the PSCs of other international oil companies (IOCs) would expire in 2028. According to him, when Continued on page 8
Anxiety, Uncertainty in Military over Service Chiefs’ Succession Battles... Page 12
HONOUR FOR A BUSINESS GURU... L-R: Public intellectual, Professor Pat Utomi; Miss Temi Otedola, representing her father and business mogul, Mr. Femi Otedola; and former governor of Ekiti State, Otunba Niyi Adebayo, during the conferment of Zik Prize for Business Leadership 2018 on Otedola in Lagos…yesterday
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FG, States Now in Arrears of New Minimum Wage, Says Ngige Warns against clampdown on NUPENG, TUC over breach of law Onyebuchi Ezigbo in Abuja The federal and the state governments are already owing workers arrears of the N30,000 new minimum wage, which was signed into law on April 18, 2019, and its implementation took immediate effect. Minister of Labour and Employment, Senator Chris Ngige, told a select group of journalists yesterday in Abuja that due to the delay in implementing the pay scheme, the arrears would continue to pile up until the federal and state governments do so. He also warned that the Trade Union Congress (TUC) and the National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) risk being proscribed for their delay in rendering annual account on workers' check off dues, in violation of the Trade Unions Act. According to the minister,
the federal government has constituted a committee to work out a new template for the consequential adjustments needed to commence the payment of the N30,000 minimum wage. He said negotiations would soon begin on the template to be used for the payment of the new minimum wage. The template, he said, would be worked out with the Joint Negotiating Council at both the federal and the state levels. "Every state government is now owing workers if they have not started paying N30,000. They are owing workers effective from April 18, a new minimum wage. “We are in a committee working out a new template with which we will adjust upward the consequential adjustment upstairs for those already earning above N30,000. This is what we are doing now," he said. The minister said the emphasis
of the new minimum wage is on the vulnerable and those workers down the ladder, adding that the government has set up a technical committee under the Salaries and Wages Commission to work out how the federal government will pay its workers and then advise the state government appropriately. Ngige said: "You must consequentially adjust for the man on grade level two, grade level three, grade level four and five, because that man on GL 1 step 1 has over taken them with his new payment. "That is what we refer to as consequential adjustment. This consequential adjustment touches more the people on the lower ladder and we are working it out. The negotiation is going to be with the Joint Negotiating Council in both the federal and at the state level.� Ngige said the federal
government was using the Salaries and Wages Commission to work out what it would pay its workers and to advise the states appropriately. On the insistence by some state governments that they would not be able to pay the N30,000 minimum wage, Ngige said that the law on national minimum wage was binding and no state could afford to disobey it. "No, it is a national law and no governor can say he will not pay. The issue of national minimum wage is item 34 on the exclusive legislative list of the Third Schedule of the Nigerian constitution. “The issue of labour is also there and not on the concurrent list. If it is on the concurrent list, then they can make their own state assembly laws on that,� he said. Ngige also denied accusations by the Nigeria Labour Congress
(NLC) that he is frustrating the speedy implementation of the new minimum wage. He accused the NLC President, Ayuba Waba, of employing blackmailing tactics. Rather, Ngige attributed the delay in commencing payment of the new minimum wage to some bureaucratic bottlenecks, which will soon be sorted out. "I am the prime mover of the new minimum wage. If you ask anybody in the Federal Executive Council, they will tell you so and the president will also tell you so; and he has said so many times. So, the president of the NLC is playing politics," he added. He said that going by percentages, the N30,000 minmum wage translated to a 67 per cent increase in workers’ pay, from the former N18,000 minimum wage. "If a state government applies the same 67 per cent increase across board, there will be serious
trouble, the same with the federal government; and when there is that trouble and there will be trade dispute, " he stated. The minister however allayed the fears of state governments, saying that there is an aspect of labour law that allows for dialogue and negotiations on how each state graduate the wage bill to enable it fulfill its obligations to workers. On his recent query to the leadership of the TUC and NUPENG, Ngige said both unions were found to have breached the provisions of the Trade Unions Act. He said both NUPENG and TUC violated section 37(i) of the Trade Unions Act. However, he said while the TUC leadership had since made representation pleading for time to enable it to meet up with the legal provision, NUPENG was yet to give any explanation.
in a different world. He noted that such wide socio-economic disparity has led to anger, tension, violence and outright criminality in the land, adding that all is not well. In his sermon, titled “Let Us Choose Life Not Death,� the Cardinal said: “This is no time for celebration of victory or for lamentation over defeat. Rather, it is time to pull efforts together, with the grace of God, to tackle the serious challenges before us. “At this moment, we would do well to acknowledge our failure to do things in the right way. Here the words of the psalmist should challenge each of us: ‘If you Oh Lord should mark our guilt, who would survive?’ The blame game of pointing accusing fingers at others will not carry us far. “For a positive change to take place, we must all be ready for a sincere change of heart, from the lowest to the highest, but especially at the highest levels. Empty boasts and bare-face denial of the realities around us cannot build a nation. “We are in the house of God, and before God we must tell the truth. The Lord Jesus has told us that The Truth will make us free. The truth is that our nation is not in a state for us to rejoice. “The ranks of the poor are swelling by the day, hopeless and helpless, as they watch in frustration the affluence of the very few cruising in a different world. Such wide socio-economic disparity has led to anger, tension, violence and outright criminality in the land. All is not well. “But all is not lost either. As we embrace a new term of government, it should be for us a new opportunity to change ways and review habits of governance, for a better Nigeria. “We can and we should do this. God has endowed us with adequate resources to achieve this, resources that we unfortunately
turn into crises and problems. Ethnicity and religion are two cases in point.� The cleric described ethnic diversity as God’s will and gift that the nation ought to appreciate and celebrate, advising Nigerians to beware of those who seek to manipulate this in a game of divide and rule, for selfish interests. He added, “In our emerging global world, we should be building on our long experience of living together across ethnic lines, if we are not to allow ourselves to be left behind in our fast developing modern world.� Onaiyekan advised that it is important for the leaders to note that many have already lost hope. Government officials, including, the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Mr. Boss Mustapha; Head of Service, Mrs. Winifred Oyo-Ita; Central Bank Governor, Mr. Godwin Emefiele; Minister of Transportation, Mr. Rotimi Amaechi; Minister of Agriculture, Chief Audu Ogbeh; as well representatives of the military and police chiefs; diplomats; senior government officials and delegations of various churches and Christian denominations across Abuja and the country attended the event.
BUHARI MEETS NORTHERN GOVS TODAY OVER WORSENING INSECURITY orgy of violence that the police said had been brought under control. Reacting to the situation yesterday, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) blamed the president and his party, the All Progressives Congress (APC), for the growing despondency in the country, saying their policies were responsible. The former Catholic Archbishop of Abuja Diocese, Cardinal John Onaiyekan, also expressed his disappointment with the state of the nation yesterday, warning that the country was dancing on the brink of chaos. But Vice President Yemi Osinbajo thought differently, saying the future of the nation is bright and contended that the prevailing situation is a temporary challenge that would be overcome. The Chairman of Northern Governors’ Forum and Governor of Plateau State, Mr. Simon Lalong, disclosed the proposed meeting of the governors and Buhari yesterday during a special church service to mark the inauguration of his second tenure. He said his colleagues in the north were deeply worried by the insecurity and under-development in the region and had decided to meet with the president before the commencement of his second tenure in order to articulate ways of addressing the challenges. Lalong said: "During our meeting under Northern Governors’ Forum, they said let us go and meet with Mr. President. "As the new Chairman of the forum, I said I have not resumed. But they said we must go and meet with him before his inauguration on May 29 so that we will tell him the problems of the north and how we can address the challenges of insecurity, under-development and other matters affecting
the people. That is why we have agreed to meet with him tomorrow in Abuja." Lalong urged the people to pray for the success of the meeting to enable the northern region move forward.
a nation in dire strait.� The PDP, however, called on Nigerians not to despair but stand firm in their collective determination to retrieve, what it called its presidential mandate, at the tribunal.
PDP blames APC, Again Violence Erupts Buhari for Escalated in Jos, Many Killed, Despondency Houses Torched Meanwhile, the PDP in a statement yesterday decried what it described as the escalated despondency, depression and misery in the country since the 2019 presidential election. The main opposition party described as a national tragedy, the rising spate of suicides, slavery mission abroad, child abandonment and other social degeneration occasioned by the worsening economic hardship, poverty, hunger and rising insecurity under the APC administration. The party in a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Mr. Kola Ologbondiyan, lamented that such social ills, which it said was a direct response to bad governance, occur when citizens are overwhelmed by gloom, with no hope in sight. The party stressed that most Nigerians have become downhearted in the face of an administration that wrecked the country's once robust economy and divided the people. It stated: "Banditry, insurgency, marauding, bloodletting and kidnapping with unmentionable ransoms, have almost become daily occurrences. Our citizens are now battling with the worst kind of siege mentality. "Constitutional violations, human rights abuses, arbitrary arrests, extra-judicial killings, assault on perceived dissenting voices and attempt at annexation of our institutions of democracy, particularly the judiciary, signpost
In the meantime, security agencies said yesterday that they had brought under control the violence that erupted in Dutse Uku, Rikkos, Cele Bridge areas of Jos. Confirming the incident, Police Public Relation Officer in Plateau State, Mr. Mathias Tyopev, assured the people that security men have been drafted to arrest the situation. He said: "We have received reports of tension around Dutse Uku, Rikkos, Cele Bridge and we have mobilised our personnel to the area. "As we speak, the Area Commander, Jos Metropolis is there on the ground." A resident of the area, who identified himself as Mr. Paul Musa, said there had been tension in the area since last week when a boy from Angwan Miango was found dead at the boundary between the community and neighboring Rikkos, a community of Hausa extractions in the metropolis. The tension emanating from the killing was, however, doused by the security agents. Again, on Sunday morning, another boy from the same Angwan Miango was allegedly killed when he went to wash at Cele River, a stream that runs between the Angwan Miango and Rikkos community. Angered by the spate of killing, the natives from Angwan Miango took the fight to their Hausa neighbours in Rikkos.
This degenerated into full-blown mayhem with gunshots rending the air and houses set ablaze. Some churches, on getting wind of the crisis, hurriedly wind up their services in order to dismiss worshippers. Meanwhile, the security agents are currently making efforts to control the affected communities and avoid further escalation of the crisis.
Nigeria Dancing on the Brink of Chaos, Says Onaiyekan In a related development, the John Cardinal Onaiyekan yesterday warned that Nigeria is indulging in the risky game of dancing on the brink of chaos, saying that the signs are obvious for all who care to see. He challenged the president to change his leadership habit as he starts a new term, if Nigeria is to recover from its present socio-political and economic crises. But, on his part, Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo urged Christians to take the lead of giving hope to Nigerians, expressing confidence that the country’s future is bright. He said the federal government was committed to resolving all the challenges confronting the nation. On his part, former military Head of State, Gen. Yakubu Gowon (rtd), urged Nigerian politicians to promote governance in the interest of the people and pray for Buhari to succeed. They stated these at the 2019 Presidential Inauguration Inter-Denominational Church Service with the theme: 'Setting the Nation on Higher Levels of Peace and Development in the Fear of God' in Abuja yesterday. Onaiyekan said the ranks between the poor and the rich are swelling by the day, while the poor watch in frustration at the affluence of the very few cruising
FG, SHELL BEGIN PRODUCTION SHARING CONTRACT NEGOTIATIONS negotiated, the Shell’s new PSC model will then be the basis of the negotiation of other PSCs. The opening of renegotiation between the federal government and Shell came against the backdrop of a judgment of the Supreme Court, which had last year decided on a consent judgment brought before it by the
three Niger Delta states – Akwa Ibom, Bayelsa and Rivers. The judgment noted that the IOCs operating in Nigeria’s deep offshore and inland basin are in default of adjusting the revenue accruals in accordance with the provisions of section 16(1) of the Deep Offshore and Inland Basin PSCs Act, Cap D3, Laws
of the Federation, 2004. The crux of the matter was that in 1993, the then federal government entered into a contract with the oil companies to explore oil and gas in the deep offshore and inland basins of Nigeria. The two parties had agreed that if at any point, the price of
crude oil exceeds $20 per barrel; both parties would renegotiate the sharing formula as contained in the law. Since then, the three states argued, oil had soared from nine dollars to above $20. The states in 2016, therefore, took the federal government to court through their respective
commissioners of justice. The court, led by the then Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Walter Onnoghen, gave the order in a consent judgment and adopted it as its judgment. “The AGF is expected to work with the three states to Continued on page 10
TOP GAINERS NGN NGN % ETI 0.90 10.05 9.8 FIDSON 0.45 5.05 9.7 FIDELITYBANK 0.16 1.81 9.7 JAPAULOIL 0.02 0.26 8.3 ABCTRANS 0.02 0.28 7.6 TOP LOSERS NGN % NEIMETH 0.05 0.51 8.9 CHIPLC 0.02 0.23 8.0 ACADEMY 0.02 0.25 7.4 MTNN 9.00 140.00 6.0 NIGBREW 3.70 58.00 6.0 HPE Nestle Nig Plc â‚Ś1,400.00 Volume: 294.065 million shares Value: N6.628 billion Deals: 4,352 As at Friday 24/5/19 See details on Page 37
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CBN: Low Power Supply, High Interest, Others Constrain Businesses Obinna Chima
The May 2019 Business Expectations Survey Report of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has identified insufficient power supply, high interest rate, unfavourable economic climate, financial problems and unclear economic laws as major factors that constrained business activity this month. However, respondent firms expressed optimism on the macro economy in the month under review. The central bank disclosed this in the report posted on its website at the weekend. The survey report showed that respondents’ outlook on the volume of total order, business activity and financial conditions (working capital) were positive during the review period. Respondent firms expected the naira to appreciate in the current month, next month and the next 12 months. In addition, they anticipated that the level of inflation would
moderate in both the next six months and the next 12 months; while borrowing rate was expected to rise in the current month, next month and next 12 months. The May 2019 Business Expectations Survey (BES) was conducted from May 6th to 10th, 2019 with a sample size of 1050 businesses nationwide. A response rate of 97 per cent was achieved, and the sample covered the services, industrial, wholesale/retail trade, and construction sectors. The respondent firms were made up of small, medium and large corporations covering both import- and export-oriented businesses. At 29.7 index points, respondents expressed optimism on the overall confidence index (CI) on the macro economy in the month of May 2019. The business outlook for June 2019 showed greater confidence on the macro economy with 62.7 index points. The optimism on the macro
CBN Governor, Godwin EmeďŹ ele economy in the current month was driven by the opinion of respondents from services (15.7 points), industrial (9.7 points), wholesale/retail trade (2.8 points) and construction (1.4 points) sectors. Whereas the major drivers of the optimism for next month were services (36.6 points), industrial (18.7 points), wholesale/retail trade (4.9 points) and construction (2.5 points) sectors. “The positive outlook by type of business in May 2019
were driven by businesses that are neither import- nor export-oriented (20.8 points), both import- and export-oriented (5.3 points), import-oriented (3.0 points), and those that are export-related (0.7 points). “All sectors expressed optimism on own operations in the review month. Respondents from the services sector expressed the greatest optimism on own operation with an index of 8.7 points, followed by the industrial sector with 3.0 points, the wholesale/retail trade with 0.8 points and the construction sector with 0.1 points, respectively,� the report stated. In terms of financial conditions and access to credit, respondents’ outlook on the volume of total order and business activity in May 2019 remained positive, as both the indices stood at 15 points. Similarly, respondents were optimistic in their outlook on financial conditions (working capital) and average capacity
utilisation as the indices stood at 12.5 and 16.8 index points, respectively. Respondents expressed pessimism on access to credit in the review month, with an index of -1.9 points. “Respondent firms’ opinions on the volume of business activities (68.6 points) and employment (24.8 points) indicated a favourable business outlook in next month. “The employment outlook index by sector showed that the wholesale/retail trade sector indicates higher employment expansion plans with an index of (25.9 points) followed by services sector (25.7 points), industrial sector (24.9 points) and construction sector (5.9 points),� it added. The analysis of businesses with expansion plans by sector in the next month showed that the construction sector indicated higher disposition to expansion with an index of (29.4 points) followed by services sector (26.9 points), industrial sector
(8.3 points) and wholesale/retail trade sector (5.9 points). The surveyed firms identified insufficient power supply (69.3 points), high interest rate (56.4 points), unfavourable economic climate (55.2 points), financial problems (54.3 points), unclear economic laws (51.7 points), unfavourable political climate (48.3 points), insufficient demand (45.4 points) access to credit (44.4 points), competition (44.0 points) and lack of equipment (33.1 points) as the factors constraining business activity in the current month. “Majority of the respondent firms expect the naira to appreciate in the current month, next month and next 12 months as their confidence indices stood at 28.5, 40.1 and 50.1 index points, respectively. “Respondent firms expect borrowing rates to rise in the current and next months, as well as in the next 12 months as the confidence indices stood at 3.7, 2.4 and 6.9 points, respectively,� it added.
per cent), food (four per cent), non-alcoholic beverages (five per cent), personal care (four per cent), sports & fitness (four per cent) and media (one per cent) categories. Founder and Chairman of Brand Africa and Brand Leadership, Thebe Ikalafeng, said of the outcome of survey: “It is disappointing that despite its vibrant entrepreneurial environment, Africa is not creating new competitive brands to meet the needs of its growing consumer market. “These rankings are an important metric of and challenge for creating homegrown competitive African brands that will transform the African promise and change its narrative and image as a competitive continent. African brands have an important role in helping to build the African brand.� Brand Africa 100 was developed by Pan-African branding and reputation advisory firm, Brand Leadership Group, supported by GeoPoll, the leader in mobile-based market research throughout Africa, and strategic analysis and insights by Kantar TNS, the world’s leading data,
insights and consulting company. It is an inter-generational movement to inspire a great Africa through promoting a positive image of Africa, celebrating its diversity and driving its competitiveness. It is a brand-led movement, which recognises that in the 21st century, brands are an asset and a vector of image, reputation and competitiveness of nations. Brand Africa seeks to inspire a brand-led African renaissance. Its ranking of Africa’s 100 Best Brands is an initiative to survey, rank and recognises the best brands in Africa in recognition of the growth of African brands, which are beginning to challenge global brands in Africa or lead global brands in new categories such as telecommunications. The aim of Brand Africa is to identify, acknowledge and promote African and global brands that are catalysts for Africa’s growth, reputation and value. In his reaction, Group Chief Corporate Communication Officer of the Dangote Group, Anthony Chiejina, said the management was not surprised by the ranking because the company has a
long-standing reputation for quality, relevance compliance and social stewardship. He said: "Our mission and vision engage and inspire us to by extension connects us to with both our internal and external stakeholders. "We fervently believe that only Africans can develop Africa, and this gives us stronger sense of relevance in all the countries where we have our operations. we are touching lives by providing their basic needs and empowering Africans more than ever before, creating jobs, reducing capital flight, helping government conserve foreign exchange drain by supporting different industrial infrastructural projects of African government." Chiejina said Dangote Cement had been producing high quality and affordable cement, reducing poverty, engaging in unprecedented philanthropy and above all respecting the laws of the land where it operates. "All these are our credo and we do not compromise it; it is our way. And the ranking is just an acknowledgement of all these by our stakeholders. We keep our brand promise and stay authentic," he said.
edition of the NNPC MFOR, said the export Gas sales amounted to $139.74 million in the month under review. The February 2018 to February 2019 crude oil and gas transactions indicated that crude oil and gas worth of $5.94billion was exported. The report also announced a 40 per cent drop in recorded cases of oil pipeline vandalism in February 2019 when compared with the reported incidents of January 2019. A breakdown of the report indicated that in February 2019, 137 pipeline points were vandalised, which translated to 40 per cent drop from the 230 points vandalised in January 2019. Mosimi-Ibadan petroleum products pipeline accounted for 72 percent of the breaks while Kaduna, Port-Harcourt, Warri and Gombe lines made up the remaining 28 per cent. The report attributed the drop in the pipelines break to efforts by NNPC, the local communities
and other stakeholders to reduce and eventually eliminate pipeline vandalism. To ensure continuous increase in petrol supply and effective distribution across the country, 1.27 billion litres of petrol, translating to 45.53 million litres per day, were supplied for the month. The MFOR explained that in the downstream sector, the corporation has continued to monitor the daily stock of petrol, to achieve a smooth distribution of petroleum products and zero fuel queue across the nation. In terms of natural gas off-take, commercialisation and utilisation, the records indicated that within the period, daily average natural gas supply to gas power plants increased by 8.23 per cent to 819.85 million standard cubic feet (mmscf), equivalent to power generation of 3,336MW. The figure is an improvement from the January 2019 record when an average of 757mmscfd was supplied to generate 3,124MW.
SURVEY: DANGOTE REMAINS MOST ADMIRED AFRICAN BRAND Anbessa Shoes, at number two, swapped positions with Nigerian conglomerate, Dangote, which is the number three most admired brand of African of origin. However, when consumers are prompted to recall the most admired African brand, Dangote retains the number one position. Just last year, Dangote brand was named the most valuable brand among the top 50 brands in Nigeria for 2018 by Brand Nigeria. Further analysis of the ranking indicates that overall, the 2018/19 Brand Africa 100 list, which is calculated from 15,000 brand mentions, illustrates a very diversified range of brands in Africa and shows year-on-year consistency with 80 per cent of the top 100 brands having been in the top 100 Most Admired Brands in previous years. Overall, African brands faltered to an all-time low 14 percent share of the top 100 most admired brands in Africa. However, MTN (South Africa), Dangote (Nigeria) and Safaricom (Kenya) are the most admired highest listed brands on subSahara’s leading bourses, the JSE, Nigeria Stock Exchange and Nairobi Securities Exchange
respectively. Faced with a relentless focus on the African opportunity and investment by non-African brands, Africa’s share of the most admired brands has been rapidly declining over the past three years from a high of 25 per cent in 2013/14 to lows of 16 per cent in 2015/16, 16 per cent in 2016/17 and 17 per cent in 2017/18. “Today at the JSE, at an event with industry leaders from across Africa, hosted by the JSE in partnership with Geopoll, Kantar and Brand Leadership, Brand Africa announced the Top 100 brands in Africa in their seventh annual Brand Africa 100: Africa’s Best Brands. Nike, MTN, Dangote, Ecobank and BBC were recognised as the most admired brands on the continent,� a statement from the Brand Africa said. It added: “Non-African brands have entrenched their positions in Africa, with North American brands, dominated exclusively by United States of America brands (28 per cent), leading with a growth of 17 per cent versus 2017/8. The strength of USA brands was boosted by the entry and/or re-entry of stalwart
American brands such as number 71 Levi’s, number 91 Chevrolet and Pepsi’s Miranda at number 80, who are all among the 20 new entrants. European brands (41 per cent) are up by 2,5per cent and Asian brands (17 per cent) down by 10 per cent, round up the continental spread of brands Africans admire.� The Brand Africa 100 rankings are based on a survey among a representative sample of respondents 18 years and older, conducted in 25 countries across Africa. Covering all African economic regions, collectively these countries account for an estimated 80 per cent of the continent’s population and 75 per cent of the GDP. In a reconfigured category listing where technology and electronics and telecoms categories were separated and new categories of luxury and personal care were introduced or re-introduced, the Top 100 is dominated by technology and electronic brands (18 per cent) and telecoms (seven per cent), consumer (non-cyclical) (16%), auto manufacturers (11 per cent), luxury (10 per cent), automobile (11 per cent), apparel (eight per cent), retail (seven
FG, SHELL BEGIN PRODUCTION SHARING CONTRACT NEGOTIATIONS “immediately set up a body and the necessary mechanism for recovery� of all the lost revenue since August 2003,� the Supreme Court had directed. Also, the apex court ordered that within 90 days, the federal government should put in place the mechanism for the recovery of the lost revenue. The three states had argued that they, along with the federal government, were short-changed to the tune of $20 billion between 2003 and 2015. Speaking further on the commencement of renegotiation between the two parties, Kachikwu said the old agreements favoured the foreign companies, giving them as much as 80 percent of the oil that was produced after costs — known as profit oil — against the 20 percent for the federal government. He said: “That is a non-starter; it’s got to be better. “We’ll be looking to better terms than the previous (production-sharing contracts).
We would like to get better packages. “At the time of renewal, you have an opportunity to review it, and we’ll be looking at it in terms of have you recovered your investment, have you made money out of it?� The minister, however, said the current contracts would be honoured, and renegotiations “must be done as partners trying to find solutions and not government holding a big stick.� The original PSCs stipulated that they had to be renegotiated likely in terms more favourable to the federal government, once oil passed $20 per barrel, which the government did not do. The global benchmark, Brent crude has been above this mark since the early 2000s. Kachikwu said the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), had already entered into renegotiations with Shell, which in 2023 will be the first company to see its PSC expire. Others will expire by 2028.
“The Shell model, when they finish, will then be the basis of what we do with all other PSC contractors,� he added. The new PSC terms will affect Shell’s final investment decision (FID) on developing the new $10 billion Bonga South West deepwater project, for which it issued a tender for contractors in February. The federal government had for years sought to overhaul these contracts and stem the huge revenue shortfall for the country of up to $28.6 billion over the decade to 2017, according to a recent report by the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI). Despite the ongoing efforts by the federal government to ensure that the IOCs refund the shortfalls, Kachikwu said the government did not plan to collect that money from the oil companies. “What’s done is done. We need to go forward and avoid that happening again,� he said. But he said he hoped it would
give it leverage in settling another lawsuit, in which the court ruled that the country owed the oil companies roughly $6 billion for over-collecting oil from the joint ventures.
NNPC Posts $490m Crude Oil, Gas Export Meanwhile, the NNPC said yesterday it posted a total of $490.03 million in export of crude oil and gas in February 2019, indicating a 32.45 percent rise over the previous month’s sale. NNPC Group General Manager, Group Public Affairs Division, Mr. Ndu Ughamadu, in the February 2019 edition of the corporation’s monthly financial and operations report (MFOR), a copy of which was obtained in Abuja, said crude oil export sales contributed $350.29 million (71.48 per cent) of the dollar transactions compared with $240.23 million contribution in the previous month. The report, being the 43rd
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NEWS
Group News Editor Ejiofor Alike Email Ejiofor.Alike@thisdaylive.com, 08066066268
Anxiety, Uncertainty in Military over Service Chiefs’ Succession Battles Kingsley Nwezeh in Abuja As President Muhammadu Buhari winds down the first stanza of his administration, top military officers have begun jostling for the positions of service chiefs. Already, there are reports of a likely shake-up in the military during the second term of the president, which begins on
Wednesday, as the tenures of some of the service chiefs have expired. THISDAY checks at the weekend showed that some of the high-ranking military officers have started lobbying to replace their superior officers. The subterranean succession battles have triggered simmering tensions in the military, sources said.
PDP: Aisha Buhari’s N500bn Fraud Revelation Has Vindicates Us
The unusual situation was triggered by a recent rumour that while Buhari was considering renewing the tenures of the service chiefs, for a record third time, some of his close aides and associates opted for an overhaul of the leadership of the nation’s armed forces to infuse new confidence in efforts in tackling the insecurity in many parts of the country. The president had argued recently that it was unhealthy to change service chiefs when the country was in a state of war with insurgents. But he admitted that there are ambitious officers who were aiming to succeed the service chiefs. The situation has thrown up
lobby groups who are determined to ensure that the service chiefs do not return after the May 29 inauguration. The groups, acting on behalf of senior officers eyeing such positions, have been secretly reaching out to influential government officials, topranking politicians and powerful traditional rulers, among others, to convince the president on the need to appoint fresh hands to run the military establishments. The Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), General Gabriel Olonisakin, who is a member of the Combatant Regular Course 25, is believed to have spent 40 years in service as against the statutory 35 years, having
enlisted in the Nigerian Defence Academy for cadet training on January 3, 1979. The Chief of Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Ibok-Ete Ibas, a member of Course 26, has also spent 40 years in service, having joined the Navy in 1979. His colleague, the Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Sadique Abubakar, a member of Course Cadet Military Training Course (CMTC 5) joined the Air Force in November 1979. He has also spent 40 years in service. The Chief of Army Staff, Lt. General Yusuf Buratai, a member of the Course 29, has spent 38 years in service. In January, 1981, Buratai attended the Nigerian Defence
Academy, Kaduna as a member of the 29 Regular Combatant Course (29 RC) where he was given the prestigious appointment of Cadet Sergeant Major (CSM). The major argument being put forward against the continued stay of the service chiefs has remained that the war against insurgency has persisted owing to the fact that “they have run out of ideas.” “Obviously, they have run out of ideas. They have lost a sense of direction. Why are we losing soldiers every day? Our equipment is purchased and then carted away by insurgents and we still make noise. “Change is a management
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Presidency faults First Lady on Adamawa beneficiaries Adedayo Akinwale in Abuja The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has stated that the recent revelation by the First Lady, Aisha Buhari, that there is humongous fraud in the N500 billion Social Investment Programme (SIP) and the N16 billion Mosquito Net Project of the President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration, has further vindicated its stance that the administration is deceitful and a pretentious citadel of corruption. However, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Social Investment, Mrs. Maryam Uwais, has faulted the president’s wife, insisting that 250,000 people benefited from the scheme in Adamawa State. But the PDP in a statement yesterday by its National Publicity Secretary, Mr. Kola Ologbondiyan, said that more disheartening was the fact that the said funds were meant for the welfare of the poor, whom the President had always claimed to represent in government. The main opposition party added that Aisha Buhari’s revelation has further shown that the PDP has not been crying wolf by insisting that Buhari must account for the trillions of naira stolen under his watch in the last four
years. He added, “Unfortunately, these poor Nigerians have been waiting endlessly for the failed social investments promised by President Buhari only to have their hopes dashed as revelations by Mrs. Buhari, which shown that the money provided for the programme had been stolen. “It is indeed appalling that the Buhari’s administration would be sitting on such colossal corruption and continues to thrive in evil concealment while diverting public attention from their rot by hounding innocent opposition figures on trumpup corruption charges. “Nigerians can now see how the same administration presided over by Mr. Integrity has been using the names of innocent poor Nigerians to loot our national treasury and fritter away billions of naira to finance their wasteful lifestyle while Nigerians wallow in abject poverty.” Meanwhile, Uwais last night disclosed that contrary to Aisha Buhari’s claim, 250,000 people benefited in Adamawa State. According to her, 11,000 graduates were recruited and working on the scheme in Adamawa State, while the school feeding programme also kicked off in the state in October 2018 in 12 local government areas.
Buhari Signs 2019 Budget Today Omololu Ogunmade in Abuja President Muhammadu Buhari will today sign the N8.916 trillion 2019 budget passed by the National Assembly on April 30, 2019. THISDAY learnt last night that the budget would be signed at 11 a.m. this morning in the State House. The budget, presented by Buhari on December 19, 2018, is N86 billion higher than N8.83 trillion proposed by the executive. The budget consists of N4.65 trillion recurrent expenditure, N2.94 trillion capital expenditure, statutory transfer of N502.58 billion, N2.25 trillion for debt servicing. The budget also consists of
N10 billion added to the servicewide votes to support victims of crises in Zamfara State. In his remarks after passing the budget, Senate President Bukola Saraki praised the committee and fellow senators for their contributions to the passage of the bill and tasked executive to ensure its full implementation. He said: “I want to thank our colleagues, particularly for their understanding and for us to be able to meet today’s deadline in passing the bill and (I) thank the Committee on Appropriation too.” “I hope that with this budget passed, the Executive will also ensure the full implementation of the budget for the benefit of Nigerians as a whole.”
PUTTING GOD FIRST…
L-R: Deputy Senate President, Senator Ike Ekweremadu; Vice President Yemi Osinbajo; and his wife, Dolapo, during the presidential inauguration interdenominational service in Abuja…yesterday GODWIN OMOIGU
NAF Kills Scores of Bandits in Zamfara Nigerian Army denies killing of 25 soldiers in Borno Kingsley Nwezeh in Abuja The Nigerian Air Force (NAF) yesterday said scores of bandits terrorising villagers around Doumbourou forest in Zamfara State were killed through air strikes. This is coming as the Nigerian Army has denied reports that 25 soldiers were killed in an attack coordinated by Boko Haram insurgents in Borno State. According to the spokesman of NAF, Air Commodore Ibikunle Daramola, the air component of operation ‘Hadarin Daji’ launched the strikes following intelligence
reports of the presence of the bandits in the forest. He said in a statement that structures belonging to the bandits were also destroyed during the bombardment. Daramola said: “The Air Component of Operation Hadarin Daji has destroyed an armed bandits’ camp and neutralized dozens of bandits in air strikes conducted at Doumbourou Forest in Zamfara State. “The operation was executed yesterday, May 25, 2019, pursuant to human intelligence (HUMINT) reports indicating that some locations within the forest were
being used by the armed bandits as hideouts, including a group of huts belonging to a notorious kingpin named “Dangote”. “Accordingly, following confirmatory Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR), an Alpha Jet aircraft was detailed to attack the armed bandits’ camp leading to the destruction of their structures and neutralisation of close to two dozen bandits. “The NAF, working in consonance with other security agencies, will sustain its operations to flush the bandits out of the North-west of the country.”
Meanwhile, the Nigerian Army has denied reports that 25 soldiers were killed in an attack coordinated by Boko Haram insurgents in Borno State. The Director, Army Public Relations, Col. Sagir Musa, made the denial in a short message (SMS) sent to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Maiduguri, Borno State capital, yesterday. Some reports had claimed that 25 soldiers were killed on Saturday when the insurgents attacked a military convoy evacuating civilians on Damboa-Biu Road. But Musa dismissed the report as “rumour and fake”.
Ambode Hands over to Sanwo-Olu The wife of the out-going governor of Lagos State and Chairperson of the Committee of Wives of Lagos State Officials (COWLSO), Mrs. Bolanle Ambode, has handed over to the wife of the governor-elect, Dr. Ibijoke Sanwo-Olu. At the ceremony held yesterday in Ikeja, Ambode urged Sanwo-Olu to take the committee to greater height. She lauded the vision of the founding mothers of the
committee, which was to complement the efforts of the government in critical areas that were women and children friendly. Ambode remarked that the committee, under successive leaderships had continued to pursue a lofty vision. According to her, this has led to remarkable improvements in the lives of women, girls and children in vital areas of health, empowerment and education. She thanked members of the
committee for their support over the past four years, lauding her predecessors for their advice and words of wisdom. Ambode wished Sanwo-Olu the best and implored members of COWLSO and women in the state to extend same measure of love, support and cooperation to her. “My dear sister, the incoming first lady of our great state; as you settle down to this office, I wish you all the best. “Very importantly, learn to
enjoy the journey you are about to embark upon. “Always remember where you are going but never forget where you are coming from. “I wish you good health, divine protection and guidance for great successes,” Ambode said. Sanwo-Olu commended Ambode for taking COWLSO to an enviable height, promising that she would not deviate from the ideals of the committee.
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COMMENT
Editor, Editorial Page PETER ISHAKA Email peter.ishaka@thisdaylive.com
TCN, GRID COLLAPSES AND THE BLAME GAME
Gabriel Ikesse writes that in its present form, the transmission grid is too large to manage as a single entity
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ithin the first 10 days of May, this year, Nigeria, once again suffered a series of nationwide blackouts due to a collapse of the transmission grid. Nigerians are, unfortunately, becoming accustomed to these highly unpalatable occurrences and each time they happen, they plant a thought in the mind of Nigerians - regular power supply is still a long way from here. This particular incident was caused by a multiple tripping that resulted in the failure of a substation owned by Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) in Onitsha, Anambra State on May 8, at 2:32 p.m. Seemingly, there is a growing trend of such failed or burnt transmission sub-station incidents – Lagos, Calabar, Abuja, Enugu and Benin. Grid collapses occur when there are system disturbances along the transmission grid. Such disturbances could include a massive drop of load from a sub-station that would cause the grid to become unstable. And this is more so in the absence of the spinning reserve that will ordinarily prevent such an occurrence. In 2019, to date, there has been a total of eight transmission grid collapses - five times in January, once in April and twice in May. Post-privatization, there have been in excess of 100 system collapses. What is interesting is that shortly after this latest incidence of grid failure, TCN launched an attack on the Distribution Companies (DisCos), accusing them of rejecting load which eventually resulted in TCN requesting that the Generating Companies (GenCos) ramp down their delivery of energy. TCN, in defence of this failure, stated that the DisCos needed to be recapitalized. It is instructive to note that a host of factors can lead to disturbance in the system, i.e. drop in power generation due to unavailability of gas, disturbances at different points in the transmission infrastructure such as the recent incident in Onitsha, as well as challenges with TCN/DisCo interfaces. Of these causes, the least likely to result in a ‘massive’ load drop is the latter. Of significant note, the Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of TCN, Mr Usman Gur Mohammed, on February 7, 2019, provided a clear pointer to one of the challenges. He stated, “The grid, as it is, is not run with spinning reserves, and this is how it was even before we took over. But for the first time, we have done competitive procurement of spinning reserves and we have forwarded to NERC 260 megawatts spinning reserves. “We are expecting NERC will approve it any time from now because we have done all the consultations leading to the approval. Once NERC approves this and we deploy the spinning reserves, I am going to assure you that system collapse will be a thing of the past.� Another important challenge which the TCN agrees with is its present inability to monitor the transmission grid. Speaking after the last collapse, the TCN CEO stated that, “If we have a functional SCADA (Supervisory Control and Data) system, it will show clearly what happened on the grid, and that is why we in TCN, deployment of SCADA is not an option, we have to deploy it. Because for us to have modern grid you need to have a functional SCADA for management of the grid.� SCADA systems are software packages that are used to control and
IN A BID TO CONTINUE THE EMPIRE SYNDROME ASSOCIATED WITH GOVERNMENT AGENCIES, TCN CONTINUES ITS FAILURE TO IMPLEMENT A CRITICAL SEPARATION, A FUNDAMENTAL REQUIREMENT FOR PROMOTING EFFICIENCY IN THE TRANSMISSION OF ENERGY
monitor and analyze real-time data. They are mostly used in critical sectors of an economy such as electricity. With a large, centralised grid as the one we have, it almost begs belief that the entire grid is still managed manually. Presently, instructions to the DisCos are manually conveyed through a system of ad-hoc communications. The same goes for allocation of available load to generation companies. Such manual operations preclude the efficiency associated with transparency, exactness and consistency of the SCADA. The SCADA basically, ensures that there is real time exchange of information between remote stations and the National Control Centre. Without this kind of bird’s eye view of the whole network, it is almost impossible to apportion culpability or address service and infrastructure-specific issues like load rejection, damaged lines, etc. As the TCN MD/CEO, himself, said in an interview published on August 28, 2018, “Nigeria has failed attempts to have a functional SCADA three times. The last one was between 2006 and 2007, I was in the Project Management Unit (PMU) of TCN when the World Bank financed it and Nigeria spent about $46 million. But the SCADA that was completed had significant deficiencies that it cannot see more than 40 per cent of the network.� Without the benefit of this sight over the network, how was TCN able to arrive at the conclusions of its present blame game? Most analysts agree that the transmission grid in its present form - riddled with aging and obsolete critical infrastructure - is so massive and too large to manage as a single entity and there have been several recommendations that it should be decentralised. In fact, TCN, consistent with international best practices and efficacy, has been licensed into Independent System Operator (ISO) and Transmission Services Provider (TSP). Unfortunately, in a bid to continue the “empire� syndrome associated with government agencies, TCN continues its failure to implement this critical separation, a fundamental requirement for promoting efficiency in the transmission of energy. While searching for possible solutions to our national electricity supply situation, this separation may just be one requirement that should be expeditiously implemented. As it is, all plans of TCN, to date, indicate its interest in becoming bigger. But as we all know, bigger does not necessarily mean better. So, an important question is, “Is TCN, doubling also as System Operator and Market Operator - becoming federal government’s biggest enterprise with associated inefficiencies? And thereby, constituting the weakest link and holding back the power value chain.� When you combine the continuous calls by the TCN for Discos to “recapitalise�, as well as the recent interest by TCN to venture into power distribution, despite not being an electricity distribution licensee, the cause for concern can only be more urgent. The distraction associated with TCN clamouring for Discos access to additional funding, while germane, ultimately, results in TCN taking its eyes off the critical day-to-day requirements necessary for the successful operation of the transmission grid. Indeed, for an entity that has wheeled no more than 4,557MW (7th February, 2016), in its history, TCN rather than talking about a wheeling computer simulation of 8,100MW needs to step up its game and come into the reality of playing the critical role that is required of it along the value chain.
ARE NIGERIAN CEOS UNDERPAID?
Yes, considering what they put in and the operating environment, writes Ruth Sanwo
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t’s impressive that a recent online post on the 2018 list of highest paid CEOs of quoted Nigerian companies, has fuelled young corporates, to aspire to do more. One would think that these numbers would baffle the average Nigerian and be a cause for discussion on the huge disparity between the rich and poor, but, the reverse was the case. The piece which has run in print and on social media has got a lot of traction, and yes people should be encouraged by the sums these CEOs are earning. But it’s surprising that not one person questioned the huge disparity in salaries between companies and countries. It’d be foolhardy to expect the same salary across board, after all there are significant differences in performance and currency, but should the disparity be so significant? As expected, CEOs in the oil and gas sector earn the highest, with the CEO of Seplat coming in first followed by the Group Chief Executive of Oando with packages of N1.7 billion (US$4.86 million) and N568 million (US$1.6 million) respectively. Both companies are leading indigenous companies listed on the Nigerian Stock Exchange, with Seplat having a second listing on the London Stock Exchange. Other big earners were in the FMCG and banking sectors, with the highest FMCG CEO being Baker Magunda of Guinness Nigeria earning N461 million (US$1.3 million) and the highest paid bank CEO earns N384 million (US$1.1 million). The least paid CEO on the list earns a salary of N125 million (US$357,000). A social media influencer posted the news on his handle and asked Nigerians how they felt about the list, excited or angry. One Twitter commented,
“It inspires me as I know I just started and I can go higher than this. Tough times don’t last, tough people do.� Another said, “It makes me happy, it tells me there is alignment in rewards and strong company performance.� On the flip side, another Twitter user pointed out that these CEOs are the very zenith of the corporate ladder in Nigeria and with earnings hovering around the $1 million mark it’s a sad comparison to their international counterparts. The Twitter user rightly noted that it was unlikely that these CEOs would earn up to $20 million within the next 10 years. This is shocking, but a valid concern when you compare the pay packages of the highest paid Nigerian CEO to his counterpart in the United States – the highest earning Nigerian oil and gas CEO earned US$4.86 million in 2018 while his counterparts at Shell earned US$23.79 million (N8.3 billion) in 2018, up from US$10.06 million in 2017 (N3.5 billion) and the CEO of Exxon Mobil US, reported a 2017 pay package of $17.5 million (N6.1 billion). The banking sector is not any better. While the highest earning CEO in the Nigerian banking sector earned approximately US$1.1 million, the lowest earning bank CEO in the UK in 2017 was Ross McEwan of the Royal Bank of Scotland with a total pay of UKGBP3.487 million (N1.6 billion / US$4.6 million). The highest earning UK bank CEO in 2017 and 2018 was Antonio Horta-Osorio of the Lloyds Banking Group with a pay package of UKGBP6.4 million in 2018 (N2.98 billion / US$8.5 million). Even then the British figures pale in comparison to JPMorgan’s Jamie Dimon who made US$31 million (N10.85 billion) in 2017, which is more than UKGBP23 million.
The FMCGs are no better either. In 2017 Ulf Mark Schneider, CEO of Nestle Switzerland took home US$9.5 million (N3.3 billion); Paul Polman of Unilever, UKGBP10.3 million (N4.78 billion) and Ivan Menezes of Diageo UK US$4.4 million (N1.5 billion). The Nigerian numbers seem disproportionately large because they are in the billions but we must ask ourselves are they really so high? In general, CEOs of the largest publicly traded U.S. companies averaged $14.3 million in annual pay, more than double that of their Canadian counterparts, significantly more than their British counterparts and 10 times greater than those in India. So disparity across countries is the norm but how much of a disparity is acceptable? You could argue that being in a developing country with a weaker currency, our CEO pay packages can’t be at par, and thus a huge disparity should be expected. I beg to differ. Shouldn’t the fact that Nigerian CEOs work in a more challenging terrain mean that they should earn considerably more? Not at par or the same as their counterparts abroad but significantly more? The Nigerian CEO is faced with an environment like no other; despite significant work done by the current government in improving our ranking on the World Bank’s Ease of Doing Business, Nigeria still came in at 146 out of 190 economies. Rwanda (29), Kenya (61), South Africa (82), Ghana (114), Uganda (127) to name a few ranked higher than Nigeria. And just in case you need reminding on the local business challenges let’s start with bank interest rates that are double digit figures, epileptic power supply with some companies having to generate their own power, poor infrastructure, corruption, to
name a few. Against this backdrop are Nigerian CEOs who are running profitable businesses, year-on-year profits I might add, who are expanding their global footprint by opening offices outside of Nigeria and Africa and even going so far as listing on international stock exchanges. I challenge any CEO in the UK or US to be able to successfully traverse the landmine that is the Nigerian business climate and consistently come out wining. There is a lesson to be learnt here: CEOs especially in tough operating terrains like Nigeria are paid less than the value they bring to their companies. More concretely, these CEOs capture only about 34 per cent of the value they bring to their organisations. Some could argue that we leave our international counterparts out of this conversation and look inwards; that in a country like ours, with a weak currency, any person earning over half a million dollars annually is already earning too much. But there’s an economic case for the stratospheric level of CEO pay, especially in the developed world, and there’s no reason why that case shouldn’t be applicable to CEOs working twice as hard due as a result of a challenging business environment. The economic case suggests that shareholders, even if they had full say, would not reduce CEO pay packages. In fact, they’re likely to let the CEO pay continue to soar. That’s because of a fundamental shift in the structure of the economy over the last four decades, from oligopolistic capitalism to super-competitive capitalism. CEO pay has risen astronomically over the interval, but so have investor returns.
Sanwo wrote from Lagos
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T H I S D AY MONDAY, MAY 27, 2019
EDITORIAL The Imperative Of Widening The Tax Net VAT should be held back for more people in the tax net
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national consensus seems to have emerged that increasing the Value Added Tax (VAT) rate at this point will deepen the economic misery of the average Nigerian already overburdened by the yoke of broken social infrastructure. For the hard-pressed workers, such proposition will only mean that the government is desirous of retrieving with the left hand what it just gave out, albeit grudgingly, with the right hand by way of the recently approved minimum wage which many states may not even be able to pay. Besides, government, at all levels, has failed to discharge their obligation in the social contract as can easily be seen in collapsed social infrastructure and worsening insecurity across the land. Given the foregoing, the only reasonable idea on the table is to widen the tax net. The idea becomes more plausible against the background of the latest reports by the FedWIDENING THE TAX eral Inland Revenue NET WILL REDUCE THE Service (FIRS) that HUGE BURDEN PLACED it has captured the ON THE NARROW TAX identities of 45 million individual and COMPLIANT SEGMENTS corporate entities. OF THE POPULACE AND The milestone was CORPORATE ENTITIES made possible by the resolve of the federal tax authorities to shift focus this year by putting more energy into the enumeration of taxpayers through TIN (Tax Identification Number) registration exercise. To achieve this feat, the FIRS had to synergise with other government agencies like the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC), Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System (NIBSS), Nigeria Identity Management Commission (NIMC), Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC), among others. This is partly a fulfilment of the original promise of the idea of having an integrated national database. Indeed, the imperative of having to explore other revenue sources cannot be overstated considering
Letters to the Editor
the perennial volatility of the oil price in the international market and the necessity to wean the nation of overdependence on oil revenue for sustenance. The urgency of this need will surely become even more manifest in the times ahead as the already financially stressed federal authorities grapple with the challenge of seeking funds to deliver on the approved N8.9 trillion budget for 2019 and the state governments having to shoulder additional financial burden arising from the new minimum wage of N30,000.
I T H I S DAY EDITOR BOLAJI ADEBIYI DEPUTY EDITOR DAVIDSON IRIEKPEN MANAGING DIRECTOR ENIOLA BELLO DEPUTY MANAGING DIRECTOR KAYODE KOMOLAFE CHAIRMAN EDITORIAL BOARD OLUSEGUN ADENIYI EDITOR NATION’S CAPITAL IYOBOSA UWUGIAREN MANAGING EDITOR JOSEPH USHIGIALE
T H I S DAY N E W S PA P E R S L I M I T E D EDITOR-IN-CHIEF/CHAIRMAN NDUKA OBAIGBENA GROUP EXECUTIVE DIRECTORS ENIOLA BELLO, KAYODE KOMOLAFE, ISRAEL IWEGBU, IJEOMA NWOGWUGWU, EMMANUEL EFENI DIVISIONAL DIRECTORS BOLAJI ADEBIYI, PETER IWEGBU, ANTHONY OGEDENGBE DEPUTY DIVISIONAL DIRECTOR OJOGUN VICTOR DANBOYI SNR. ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR ERIC OJEH ASSOCIATE DIRECTORS PATRICK EIMIUHI, SAHEED ADEYEMO CONTROLLERS ABIMBOLA TAIWO, UCHENNA DIBIAGWU, NDUKA MOSERI DIRECTOR, PRINTING PRODUCTION CHUKS ONWUDINJO TO SEND EMAIL: first name.surname@thisdaylive.com
t is commendable that the FIRS has been able to improve on its performance by automating its processes to not only cut operational costs but also curtail abuses, leakages and wastes in line with international best practices. We see this as one of the reasons for the steady growth in the national tax revenue in the past few years: from N3.3 trillion in 2016 to N4 trillion in 2017 and N5.3 trillion in 2018. What makes the rising graph quite significant is that it happened when the national economy was supposed to be contracting on account of the deleterious effects of the recession that hit the nation, from which it only began to show signs of slight recovery in the last quarter of 2017 after two years. With a unified database, we can only hope that the FIRS will address widespread complaints from the public against multiple taxation and arbitrariness of some of its officials. Added to this is an ethical issue. There have been complaints also by high net worth individuals of being slapped with arbitrary tax demands based on information obtained clandestinely from their bankers. Such complaints are quite legitimate. It is important that FIRS is mindful of such ethical issues while seeking to mobilise revenue for government to fund growth and development. According to the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN), widening the tax net will reduce the huge burden placed on the narrow tax compliant segments of the populace and corporate entities, many of whom are manufacturers. We endorse their position.
TO OUR READERS Letters in response to specific publications in THISDAY should be brief (150-200 words) and straight to the point. Interested readers may send such letters along with their contact details to opinion@thisdaylive.com. We also welcome comments and opinions on topical local, national and international issues provided they are well-written and should also not be longer than (9501000 words). They should be sent to opinion@thisdaylive.com along with the email address and phone numbers of the writer.
NFIU GUIDELINES ON JAC IS AN ABERRATION
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he Nigeria Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU) enforcement and guidelines to reduce crime vulnerabilities created by cash withdrawals from Local Government Funds throughout Nigeria which is to take effect from June 1 is an aberration. It defies logic. It has therefore been rejected by all the 36 governors of the federation at their last meeting of May 22, in its entirety because it is not only revisionist but issued in bad taste. It is revisionist because it portrays the NFIU as an agency that is totally oblivious of the workings of states and local governments in the country and it at once exposes the NFIU as either over-ambitious or trying hard to impress the presidency. In a nutshell, the so-called NFIU guidelines portend imminent danger for the nation’s nascent democracy and if left to flourish may also impede the smooth running of local government administrations throughout the country. For a start, Section 7 (6) (a) and (b) of the constitution confers on the States and National Assemblies the powers to make provisions for statutory allocation of public revenue to the local councils in the Federation and within the states respectively. Similarly, Section 162 (6) of the same constitution expressly provides for the creation of the States Joint Local Government Account (SJLGA) into which shall be paid all allocations to the LGAs of the State from the Federation Account and from the government of the state. Most importantly, S 162 (7) of the constitution goes on to confer on the NASS the power to prescribe terms and manner in which funds from the SJLGA may be disbursed and in
Subsection (8) the constitution empowers the State Houses of Assemblies to prescribe the manner in which the amount standing in credit to the credit of local government councils in the state shall be distributed. Therefore, to observe the NFIU guidelines is to hold the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria in breach. This is because nothing in the NFIU Act 2018 gives the NFIU the powers that it seeks to exercise and in giving those guidelines, the NFIU is acting in excess of its powers and in strict violation and disregard for the constitution of the country. If the NFIU had bothered to confer with the relevant stakeholders of the joint accounts it would have understood the rudimentary aspects of the accounts that make it impossible, incongruent to reason and impracticable for any authority apart from the constitution, to sever states from that account. Essentially, states augment the services of the local governments of the country in areas where the local government finances fall short. A very critical example is teachers’ salaries. If states were to be rusticated from JAC, most local governments in the country would be unable to pay teachers’ salaries. It is the same for healthcare delivery. The Primary Healthcare Under One Roof (PHCUOR) programme, where various programmes for supplementary healthcare is now being provided for the lowest cadre of ordinary Nigerians is heavily dependent on states’ finances. These two critical areas are massively subsidized by various state governments on a regular basis, not minding insecurity and the environment. It may interest the public to know that state governors are not
fighting willy-nilly to keep local government administrations under them. It is the constitution that keeps them there. Besides, instead of accusing state governments and governors of playing around with local government funds, it is the local governments that owe state governments, in most cases. These debts run into billions, which the local council administrations can ill -afford. The general public should also know that binding the local and state government resources together in JAC is not an error of judgment on the part of the originators of the constitution. There are still local government councils in this country that have no bank accounts and only draw from the JAC. So where would the Central Bank of Nigeria or the commercial banks post their allocations to? Local governments anywhere in the world are an appendage of state governments. They may seek to look autonomous in the eye of the public, but their apron strings are inevitably tied to the states, so that they are not over-burdened by responsibilities that they can hardly cope with. For example, hospitals will not function effectively if left in hands of local councils alone. And, so would schools, especially primary and secondary schools which are cardinal foundations of our educational system. Like millions of uninformed critics who cast aspersions on governors regarding local government autonomy and such other expectations, there are many more unaccountable agencies like the NFIU that are surreptitiously creeping into the public space to seek to breach the constitution of the Federal republic. Abdulrazaque Bello Barkindo is Head, Media and Public Affairs of NGF
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Group Politics Editor NSEOBONG OKON-EKONG
POLITICS
Email: nseobong.okonekong@thisdaylive.com 08114495324 SMS ONLY
M O N D AY D I S C O U R S E
Hope Restored from the Brink Nseobong Okon-Ekong writes that the All Progressives Congress in Zamfara State appears to be the architect of its own fate when it failed to substantially comply with the timetable of the Independent National Electoral Commission for the 2019 general election, leading the Supreme Court to upturn its victory in favour of the Peoples Democratic Party
Mahmood
Buhari
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hat had emerged as a signal of great expectation for the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Zamfara State arising from the verdict of the Supreme Court which nullified the All Progressives Congress (APC) primaries appeared to hang in the balance, at first, as the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) was foot dragging. A terse statement from the electoral body’s National Commissioner and Chairman, Information and Voter Education, Mr. Festus Okoye, said the commission was studying the apex court judgement and would act afterwards. To some stakeholders, this was interpreted as a deliberate delay, perhaps to find a way to help the ruling party out of its quagmire. However, the court’s decision did not leave INEC with another choice than to declare the PDP candidates at different strata of the 2019 national elections in Zamfara as winners. The court had clearly stated that the contestants with the second highest votes
QUICK FACTS: r5IF 4VQSFNF $PVSU OVMMJGJFE the All Progressives Congress (APC) primaries in Zamfara State, therefore overturning the victory previously claimed by the APC in the 2019 national elections in favour of the PDP r5IF "1$ GBJMFE UP DPNQMZ TVCstantially with INEC Timetable and Schedule of Activities for the 2019 general election issued since January 9, 2018. Among other activities, the conduct of party primaries was scheduled to take place between August 18 and October 7, 2018. The APC did not conduct its primaries in Zamfara State within this stipulated time and the commission duly informed the party that it would not be in a position to present candi-
be declared winner. In nearly all the 14 local government areas in the state, the PDP came second and its share of the total votes less APC’s squandered votes was over 70 per cent. The voting pattern showed that the PDP had a minimum of 48 per cent across the 14 LGAs of Zamfara State. The Supreme Court announcement was incontrovertible and did not allow any chance for disruption by the APC and INEC. The position was made further intricate by the fact that a new governor must be sworn in on Wednesday. In compliance with the Supreme Court judgment, the commission returned the PDP governorship candidate, Bello Mohammed Matawalle and his running mate, Mahdi Aliyu Gusau, as Governor-elect and Deputy Governorelect respectively. It also returned the three senatorial candidates and seven House of Representatives candidates of the PDP as duly elected. While INEC returned 23 of the 24 PDP House of Assembly candidates as elected, it however declared the candidate of the National Rescue Movement (NRM),
Kabiru Hashimu, as winner for Maru South State Constituency. The Chairman of INEC, Prof Mahmood Yakubu, told journalists in Abuja, that the governor-elect, deputy-governorelect and National Assembly memberselect would receive their certificates of return today (Monday). According to him, the state House of Assembly members-elect will receive theirs from the Resident Electoral Commissioner in the state in Gusau on Friday, May 31. Yakubu explained what looked like the commission’s earlier reluctance. According to him, it was needful for the electoral body to take a studious look at the judgement, particularly concerning the governorship election, which he said was not determined by just majority votes but also spread in accordance with the constitution of the country. He said, “Following the judgment of the Supreme Court, the commission has met in two emergency sessions and taken briefings from our lawyers and staff on the implementation of the Supreme
dates for elections in the state r7BSJPVT JOUFSFTUFE QBSUJFT JOcluding the APC itself, approached the court over the decision of the commission. Just before the election, the subsisting court judgment at the time ordered the commission to include the APC on the ballot for the governorship, National Assembly and state assembly elections, which the commission complied with. However, since the elections were completed, a Court of Appeal judgment and now a Supreme Court judgment have determined that the APC did not conduct valid primaries for the elections r#Z UIF QSPOPVODFNFOU PG UIF BQFY court, PDP candidates at different strata of the 2019 national elections in Zamfara were declared winners. The court had clearly stated that the
contestants with the second highest votes be declared winner. In nearly all of the 14 local government areas in the state, the PDP came second r*O OFBSMZ BMM UIF MPDBM HPWFSOment areas in the state, the PDP came second and its share of the total votes less APC’s squandered votes was over 70 per cent. The voting pattern showed that the PDP had a minimum of 48 per cent across the 14 LGAs of Zamfara State r*O DPNQMJBODF XJUI UIF 4VQSFNF Court judgment, the Commission returned the PDP governorship candidate, Bello Mohammed Matawalle and his running mate, Mahdi Aliyu Gusau, as Governor-elect and Deputy Governor-elect respectively r*U BMTP SFUVSOFE UIF UISFF TFOBUPrial candidates and seven House of Representatives candidates of the
Court judgment. While the legislative elections (Senatorial, House of Representatives and state House of Assembly elections) are straightforward to deal with because they entail first-past-thepost or simple majority of votes, the governorship election is determined not just by majority votes but also spread in accordance with Section 179 (2) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended). “This means that we had to first discount the votes cast for the APC in the elections and then carefully rework the spread by local government areas based on the new valid votes. In compliance with the Supreme Court judgment, the commission has now determined the winners of the elections in Zamfara State.� The PDP said the Supreme Court’s judgment which gave victory to them after voiding the votes of the APC in Zamfara State was the triumph of the will of the people over manipulative forces. The party said the victory was a clear pointer to the fact that no matter how long manipulations and anti-democratic tendencies appeared
PDP as duly elected. While INEC returned 23 of the 24 PDP House of Assembly candidates as elected, it however declared the candidate of the National Rescue Movement (NRM), Kabiru Hashimu, as winner for Maru South State Constituency r5IF HPWFSOPSTIJQ FMFDUJPO XBT not determined by just majority votes but also spread in accordance with the constitution of the country r1SPQFSMZ DPOEVDUFE QBSUZ QSJmaries are cardinal to the proper internal functioning of political parties, the electoral process and our democratic system at large. Therefore, political parties must take very seriously the conduct of primaries according to all extant rules, including the monitoring of the processes by INEC to avoid a repeat of the Zamfara experience
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MONDAY DISCOURSE
Yari
Matawalle
Oshiomhole
Secondus
to thrive, justice and the will of the people always prevailed at the end of the day. According to a statement by the National Publicity Secretary, Kola Ologbondiyan, the PDP assured the people of the state of a purposeful, people-based and result-oriented leadership that would unite and revitalise the state for the greater good, in line with the wishes and aspiration of the people. The party stated that Zamfara was blessed with abundant human and natural resources adding that the incoming administration would direct all energies towards harnessing such resources for the wellbeing of all the people. The PDP, therefore, urged the people of the state to resist all forces of division and unite behind their new leaders to move the state forward. Resigning to fate, Zamfara State Governor, Abdulaziz Yari Abubakar, said his administration and the good loyal APC members in the state have accepted the verdict of the Supreme Court. The Governor said the party members and its supporters in the state have done everything possible to ensure APC did not lose Zamfara State, but as Allah wanted, the party lost the state. But the APC could be said to be the architect of its own fate, as the party failed to comply substantially with INEC Timetable and Schedule of Activities for
the 2019 general election issued since January 9, 2018. Among other activities, the conduct of party primaries was
I wish to seize this opportunity to draw the attention of all stakeholders, but particularly the political parties, to the implications of the Supreme Court judgment on the Zamfara matter. It is clear that properly conducted party primaries are cardinal to the proper internal functioning of political parties, the electoral process and our democratic system at large. Therefore, political parties must take very seriously the conduct of primaries according to all extant rules, including the monitoring of the processes by INEC to avoid a repeat of the Zamfara experience
scheduled to take place between August 18 and October 7, 2018. The APC did not conduct its primaries in Zamfara State within this stipulated time and the commission duly informed the party that it would not be in a position to present candidates for elections in the state. Subsequently, various interested parties, including the APC itself, approached the court over the decision of the commission. Just before the election, the subsisting court judgment at the time ordered the commission to include the APC on the ballot for the governorship, National Assembly and state assembly elections, which the commission complied with. However, since the elections were completed, a Court of Appeal judgment and now a Supreme Court judgment have determined that the APC did not conduct valid primaries for the elections. Yakubu used the Zamfara example to warn political parties to play by the rules. He said, “I wish to seize this opportunity to draw the attention of all stakeholders, but particularly the political parties, to the implications of the Supreme Court judgment on the Zamfara matter. It is clear that properly conducted party primaries are cardinal to the proper internal functioning of political parties, the electoral process and our democratic system at large. Therefore, political parties must take very seriously the conduct of primaries
according to all extant rules, including the monitoring of the processes by INEC to avoid a repeat of the Zamfara experience.� Reacting to the loss of Zamfara, the APC called an emergency meeting of its National Working Committee to discuss the Supreme Court judgement on the contentious Zamfara State elections in Abuja today (Monday). Shocked at the decision of INEC to declare the PDP winner of the elections after the apex court’s ruling, there are hints that the party would sanction some of its members whose actions cost the APC the monumental loss, especially as what happened in Zamfara was avoidable. The APC has become weakened at the National Assembly and the state. Though Governor of neighbouring Kebbi State, Atiku Bagudu has been elected Chairman of the APC Governors Forum, the strength of the party has reduced in the Nigeria Governors’ Forum. The APC ouster in Zamfara will also affect the overall outlook of the party in the North-West, which is a strategic geopolitical zone. With the Supreme Court ruling on Zamfara, the ongoing race to fill principal offices in the National Assembly has been redefined. In the senate, for instance, senators-elect on the platform of the APC are 62, PDP has 44 while Young Progressive Party has one with two outstanding from Imo State.
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FEATURES
Group Features Editor: Chiemelie Ezeobi Email chiemelie.ezeobi@thisdaylive.com, 08152252325 2019 INTERNATIONAL CHILDREN’S DAY
Spotlight on Underaged Street Hawkers In Nigeria, the International Children's Day is marked annually every May 27. This year, Ayodeji Ake, Sunday Ehigiator, and Ozulumba Chiamaka shine the spotlight on underaged street hawkers, who have swapped the classrooms for the streets in a bid to eke a living. Juxtaposing that narrative with the 2006 report on child labour by UNICEF Nigeria, which revealed that a staggering 15 million children under the age of 14 are working across Nigeria, this thus establishes a cycle of child rights violation that must be stopped at all costs
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3-year-old Favour John and seven-year-old Gift John are siblings who on a daily basis, excluding Sundays, hawk groundnut the long distance of Ogba to Ikeja then to Oshodi, Lagos, to support their parent’s finances. If Lady Luck shines on them, their trays would have been empty by their 8pm closing time and if not, they have to at least sell to a reasonable minimum. Their living arrangements, as awkward as it sounds, probably works for them. Favour, the eldest stays with their mum in Omole and attends Omole Junior Grammar School, while Gift stays with their grandmother in Oke-ira, Ogba and is a primary three student of Oke-ira Primary School. The duo meet at their usual joint after school to commence their daily hawking activities. “I am Favour John and I attend Omole Junior Grammar School. I trek to Oshodi everyday to sell my groundnuts. I am 13 years old. We hawk everyday from Monday to Saturday and sometimes I hawk on Sunday. We eat before we start hawking until night when we return home. We close by 8pm. We go to Oshodi and sometimes we go to Allen,� she told THISDAY. Gift’s story was pretty similar to that of Favour, although she added that after trekking to make sales, they board a tricycle from their proceeds to go home. Residents of Ogba hinted THISDAY that the child hawkers are often seen in Ogba everyday. While some hawk groundnuts, others fruit. THISDAY gathered that some of these children do not stay with their parents but guardians who specifically bring them to Lagos to hawk for them to generate income. For Azeezat Jimoh, a primary six student of United Primary School, Garage Ikorodu, she sells 'eko' which is made from corn in the bid to alleviate some of her family's financial burdens, while her mother runs a grinding machine. Together with her two junior brothers Saheed and Tunde, they hawk ‘eko’ everyday after school hours. They each carry a tray laden with ‘eko’ and move from street to street within Igbo-Oluwo Estate Ikorodu to sell. Two wraps of ‘eko’ goes for N50. Azeezat told THISDAY that she loves helping her parents out but she would really love to play with her mates instead of hawking all evening. Two sisters; Aminat and Mariam Adebayo are also underaged street hawkers, but while Mariam who attends Yewa Grammar school as she is currently in primary six, sells tomatoes and pepper, her younger sister Aminat, a primary three pupil of Anglican Primary School sells oranges. Their mother Mrs. Adebayo sells exactly what her daughters hawk but in larger quantities in front of their compound in Erunwen, Ikorodu. She said economic situation of the country led her children to become hawkers after they get back from school. From her expression and countenance, she isn't happy her children are hawkers but has no control over the situation because her children make more sales when they move around different streets than when they sit in front of her stall. Consequences Underaged street hawking is a universal phenomenon that is not only common to Nigeria, as it is practiced in both industrialised and developing countries of the world. However, child labour, of which underaged street hawking features prominently, constitutes a serious problem. From Kano to Anambra, Lagos, Rivers and other states of the federation, the social anomaly seems to be on the increase despite measures put on ground to ameliorate it. Without a doubt, the consequences of underaged street hawking are far-reaching. It has a devastating effect on the education of children who practice it as it distorts government policies on education due to high rate of out of school children. Sometimes, the
Favour, an underaged street hawker at the Ogba area of Lagos
A child hawker at Ikeja along Bus stop selling oranges
Another underaged hawker selling tomatoes
Gift with her groundnuts for sale
underaged street hawkers are drawn into delinquent actions that may even dovetail to petty robbery and then graduate into robbery. Also, majority of such underaged girls who hawk are at the mercy of rapists and traffickers. Sometimes, these child hawkers are exposed to health challenges, accidents, stress, kidnapping, sexual abuse, and even death. Truly, although the money they make from sales helps the family, but it doesn’t rule out the hazards they are faced with daily on the roads. Sometimes, when it rains, they are drenched to the skin. The dry season does not make it easier for them either as the hot rays of the sun often scorch their skin. UNICEF Statistics According to report on child labour, United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) Nigeria, 2006 reveled that a staggering 15 million children under the age of 14 are working across Nigeria. Many are exposed to long hours of work in dangerous and unhealthy environments,
carrying too much responsibility for their age. Working in these hazardous conditions with little food, small pay, no education and no medical care establishes a cycle of child rights violations. While children have always worked in Nigeria, the figures have significantly increased over the years. The end of the oil boom in the late 1970s coupled with mounting poverty has driven millions of children into labour. Traditionally, children have worked with their families, learning skills they would need as adults, but today, children are forced to work for their own and their family’s survival. The money they earn have become a significant part of poor families’ income. According to reports, millions of these children are losing out on education. Generally, working children have no time, money or energy to go to school. About six million working children in Nigeria, equally split between boys and girls, do not attend school at all, while one million children are forced to drop out due to poverty or because of parents’ demand to contribute to the family
income. Over eight million children manage, at least partly, to stay in school and work in their spare time to pay education fees. Due to high demands at work, these children often skip classes. Missing out on education makes it impossible to break the cycle of poverty. From young prodigies like Tomisin Ogunnubi the coding programmer to Marylove Edwards the tennis super star, Emmanuella the comedian, Misimi Isimi the Environmentalist and Gender Equality Advocate, Demilade Adepegba the Saxophonist, Zuriel Oduwole the Activist and Ozzy Bosco the Musician, the fragile but important role education plays in any society, especially a developing one like Nigeria, can never be understated. Little wonder it’s a requirement of the 17 global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) set by the United Nations General Assembly in 2015 for the year 2030. However, without gainsaying, education-wise, the nation hasn’t really fared better given the increasing number of out of school children. According to UNICEF data, one in every five of the world’s
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FEATURES 2019 INTERNATIONAL CHILDREN’S DAY out-of-school children is in Nigeria. This they noted was despite the fact that primary education is officially free and compulsory. Breaking it down further, they said about 10.5 million of children aged five to 14 years are not in school, adding that only 61 per cent of six to 11 year-olds regularly attend primary school and only 35.6 per cent of children aged 36-59 months receive early childhood education. In the North, UNICEF lamented that the picture is even bleaker, with a net attendance rate of 53 per cent. One of the factors that has spiked the increase in out of school children can be traced to underaged street hawking. From the East, to West, North and South. But in 2015, the number of out-of-school children rose from 10.5 million in 2010 to 13.2 million according to a Demographic Health Survey (DHS) conducted by UNICEF and the Nigerian government. UN Declaration of Child Rights The Declaration of the Rights of the Child, sometimes known as the Geneva Declaration of the Rights of the Child, is an international document promoting child rights, drafted by Eglantyne Jebband adopted by the League of Nations in 1924, and adopted in an extended form by the United Nations in 1959. Thus, the UN adopted the Declaration of the Rights of the Child on November 20, 1959 and the Convention on the Rights of the Child on November 20, 1989 which harped on the fact that the child must be given the means requisite for its normal development, both materially and spiritually. Rescue Operations by Lagos Correction Centre When THISDAY visited the Lagos State Correction Centre at Oregun, it was gathered that according to the Child Rights Law of Lagos State, no child is meant to be on the streets especially during school hours because education is free from basic one to nine (primary one to junior secondary school three). This should mean that no parent is excusable in not enrolling their wards in school. The state Ministry of Youth and Social Development has been saddled with the responsibility to exercise that law as social workers that they are. The ministry has a rescue unit, which is one of the means in bringing in such children. They comb all the state to pull such kids off the street. The male underaged that are picked, are brought to the center in Oregun while the females are taken to Idi-Araba. For the home, the second means of admission is through the Lagos State Task Force, who also pick children hawking off the streets. Tagged under the category of ‘care and supervisions’, these are the ones rescued from the street who are either hawking, not going to school, sleeping under the bridge, or wandering around the street. At the home, THISDAY checks revealed that underaged street hawkers are the highest number of kids. This also includes those on the street cleaning windscreen of vehicles for a token. Rehabilitation Process At the correction centre, the rescue process is not where it ends for those underaged street hawkers. It was gathered that when they are rescued and brought to the home, they go through four different trainings. First is the ‘Psycho-social’ training, which is the most important of all. It basically involves consistent counselling. And this counselling isn’t for the children alone, but for the parents also because in most cases, they were sent to hawk by their parents or guardians. The dual counseling is so that when they are returned to their respective homes, they don’t find their way back to the streets. The second part is the ‘Educational Training’ which is carried out in the inbuilt school in the centre, which is staffed by the Lagos State Primary Universal Basic Education. Some of them who have never seen the four walls of a school are taken through the basics. Hence, it’s safe to say that education is used to remould them. Another tool is the ICT training. The last tool is ‘Vocational training’, where they are trained in six different skills; cane weaving, leather works, tailoring and embroidery (they sow the school uniforms under proper supervision), videography and editing, screen processing and photography, and barbing saloon. All this is to enable them integrate better into the society when they return. Release and Integration After they must have been taken through the
Young boys hawking sachet water in Oshodi
Young female selling ďŹ sh in Oshodi four steps and rehabilitated, these street hawkers are released back to their homes and society. According to information from the home, ideally, they are free to be returned to the society after they might have completely gone through all the processes of correction earlier stated and have been observed to have developed social improvement. All these processes are supposed to end within six and nine months. That is how the program is structured. Notwithstanding, several other factors could keep them there longer than the specified duration. For instance, if a ward is rescued on the street, and doesn’t have a parent in Lagos, and the authorities have gone through all the processes of locating the parents but didn’t succeed, since they can’t throw him or her back to the street, they will continue rehabilitation until they find someone that would come for the adoption or fostering. At this point, it would be pertinent to state that while the rehabilitation process worked with some, it failed with others as no sooner was their release effected did they go back to the streets. Lagos Reacts However, in a phone interview with the Director of Public Affairs, Ministry of Education Mr. Adesegun Ogundeji, he begged to differ on the statistics of out of school children who are street hawkers. “I can tell you that Lagos State has a negligible number of out of school children. I won’t say that they don't exist because people move in and out of Lagos everyday, but what I can tell you is that, parents in Lagos State, irrespective of their social status, or economic prowess, strive to put their children in school. You will see some even striving to put their children in private schools and struggling to pay. But I must say that our free education policy in Lagos State have encouraged so many school children to be enrolled in school without paying a dime. All they need is school uniforms, shoes and bags etc, of which
so many people, especially the wife of the Lagos State Governor, Mrs. Bolanle Ambode, have been intervening. “There is also a popular religious organisation located in Oregun, who is also doing a lot. Year in, year out, they donate school utilities to school children and you will see a lot of queues in their premises at around resumption in September, to collect these school items. So that has really encouraged a lot of people to enroll in school. If you look at the statistics of out of school children as last released by UNICEF, and you do the ratio, it is 0.000 something, so I don't think it is a major challenge in Lagos State. “So the Lagos State government is committed to ensuring that no child lives in Lagos without acquiring education to the best of his mental capability. As you also know, our university is the most affordable. Our secondary schools are free and even the model colleges are heavily subsidised. These all efforts to ensure that children have no difficulty whatsoever going to school either because of the economic situation of their parents or whatever. And you can see that our investment in school infrastructure has also been encouraging people to bring students from private schools to public schools. “We have not only increase the number of teachers in the last four years, both in primary and secondary school, we have also built new classroom blocks, improved on the teaching and learning environment, improved on the training of teachers, as security structures around the schools are also being developed and all these are beginning to yield fruits. You see that one of our students; Ekere Frankline came top in the UTME that was recently released, with 347. And there are so many of them who scored above 300, and are from public schools. You see the water beautification contest that the finals would hold in Abuja; five of our products were taken, instead of taking one product from each states. But because of the quality of
the work we presented, five were taking from here. The last Jet competition, we were the state to beat. We came first in the entire country, and we were represented by public schools. “Just recently, our children returned from Thailand to represent Nigeria in the world Robotics Olympia. And we have been winning this Olympia since 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, back to back in the last for years. We are waiting for the 2019. So it is good to say that our schools may not have the best of glamorous infrastructure, but we are encouraged by what we have achieved so far. There is no amount of money that you will bring back from selling groundnut in the street that can guarantee their future, no that of their parents. Because, very soon, the parents will grow old and be helpless. “In the case of children hawking around during school hours, for me, I think their parents should know, that their future and that of the children are at risk. Very soon, they will grow old and can no longer help themselves, these children must be able to help them. But if you don't send them to school, for them to be able to stand on their own, then it's a timeless doom. Even if you hold an ND, and decide you want to be selling groundnut, your branding would be different from the way one who hasn't been to the four walls of school would be. So, they must know this, and these children must go to school to the best of their mental capability, because it is free. Even to WAEC Level. So they should take advantage of it, so that their future to be better.� Solution From all indications, children are often sent to the streets to hawk due to poor standard of living and the high level of inflation. Based on this, the onus lies on the government either at the federal, state or local levels to not just make laws that prohibit street hawking, but to also boost the economy to alleviate the standard of living of Nigerians.
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BUSINESSWORLD
Group Business Editor Obinna Chima Email obinna.chima@thisdaylive.com 08152447875
Í° Ͳ Ëœ Í° ÍŽ ÍŻ ͡ MONEY MARKET OVERNIGHT OBB
REPO 12 % 11.14%
CALL 1-MONTH 3-MONTH
13.50% ͯͰ˛;ͳ Ϲ 12.88%
S & P INDEX INDEX LEVEL 1-DAY MONTH-TO-DATE
395.20% ͎˛͹;Ϲ 2.20%
S & P INDEX 1/4 TO DATE YEAR TO DATE
2.23% ͎ͯ˛;ͯ%
EXCHANGE RATE N306.90/1US DOLLAR* ĚŠ
Quick Takes Wema Expands to Ilorin
STOCK-TAKING
L-R:Director,AccionMicrofinanceBankLtd,Mr.JohnFisher;Chairman,Mr.PatrickAkinwuntan;ManagingDirector/CEO,Mr.TaiwoJodaandCompany Secretary, Edith Omeonu of Aluko & Oyebode, at the 13th Annual General Meeting of the bank held in Lagos‌recently ETOP UKUTT
FGMustSubsidiseHousingtoBridge Deficit,SaysExpert James Emejo in Abuja An investment banker, Prof. Charles Inyangete has advised the federal government to subsidise mortgage financing in order to enable Nigerians have access to affordable housing as well as bridge the current housing deficit. He said this became necessary given that the current environment does not support single digit interest rate. Speaking in an interview with THISDAY at the recent FM Forum 2019, organised by Total Facilities Management Limited, he argued that the only effective means of mortgage financing was through a subsidised arrangement where the “funds are practically given through budget and the funds are not looking at the market.� He wondered that with infla-
ECONOMY tion in the country presently above 10 per cent, “how can you have loans that are lower than 10 per cent?� “It requires government support and innovation in the way we build, we need to use technology to making housing cheaper and we need to look for materials for building, we need to be more local in use of materials,� he added. He added that, “there is no need building massive houses for people who cannot afford them. “The reality is that financing in Nigeria is very expensive, we are looking at interest rates that are double digits - may be 15, 16 even 20 per cent and above. “So if you are going to finance mortgage which is a long term commitment, it goes to reason that the interest rate will be high.
“That is the essence for those government policies for instance, the Federal Mortgage Bank offering things that are cheaper. “But still, when you think of the resources required, it means it needs more than just a mortgage bank need to offer facilities at single digit which is what people want in the long term.� Inyangete, who is the Executive Chairman, Innovative Risks and Investment Solutions (IRIS) Limited said, “even before those loans we need to have the houses, if you have the loans and you don’t have the houses that are affordable, it does not make much difference to your position.� He said there are fewer houses available that are affordable for people at the moment. He explained, “the houses that we have are not affordable. You find empty houses here in Abuja and so we need to build many
more houses that are affordable. “Also, the financing of those houses from the buyer’s point of view, that requires that we have mortgage institutions that are able to deliver more affordable funding for housing.� Also, speaking at the occasion, Managing Director, Total Facilities Management Limited, Mrs. Nwando Chukwurah, bemoaned the current state of facilities management in the country. She said the challenge still bothered on creating awareness, adding that the facility management (FM) space was still not regulated in the country. She, however, expressed optimism the bill seeking to establish a regulatory institution for facilities management in the country, which is before the National Assembly, would Continued on page 24
Telecom Operators Seek Executive Order to Address MultipleTaxation Emma Okonji Worried about the incessant multiple taxes imposed on telecoms operations across the county, some experts in the industry called for an Executive Order. They were of the view that Executive Order from the Presidency on telecoms operations would remove all manners of taxes impeding telecoms growth across the country. They spoke at the maiden edition of the Nigerian Telecom Leadership Summit 2019, which took place in Lagos recently.
TELECOM The experts at the summit organised by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), unanimously agreed that the ongoing negotiations between telecoms operators, telecoms regulator and state governors were not yielding results as the state governors were bent at milking telecoms operators, through multiple taxation. Keynote speaker and former Minister of Communications Technology, Dr. Omobola Johnson, who first raised the suggestion
on Executive Order on telecoms taxes, said four years before she was appointed the minister, the issue of multiple taxes had been on ground, stifling telecoms growth and expansion. According to her, four years after she left as minister in 2015, the issue of multiple taxes still lingers. She therefore advised the NCC to consider alternative resolution in the area of Executive Order to address the issue. Listing the challenges and pains caused by multiple taxes in the telecoms industry, the Chairman of the Association of Licensed
Telecoms Operators of Nigeria (ALTON), Gbenga Adebayo said it had led to closure of telecoms sites severally by state governments and federal government agencies, an action, he said, had always affected the quality of service rendered by telecoms operators. Citing the recent closure of several telecoms sites in Kogi State, on the orders of the state government as a result of the refusal of telecoms operators to pay huge sums of money to the state government as telecoms
As part of its strategic expansion plan, Wema Bank Plc has launched a new branch at 155 IbrahimTaiwo Road, Ilorin, Kwara State.The new branch, designed with innovative features for improved customer experience, would strengthen the bank’s business in Ilorin and also provide local residents and business owners with their banking needs. The 24-hour ATM foyer is available to customers after bank hours. “We are excited to open a new branch which will help us as a bank meet the growing demand for ďŹ nancial products and services by the residents of Ilorin,â€? the Managing Director of Wema Bank, Ademola Adebise said. “For us, it is not about just opening branches, we are targeting communities where there are opportunities.â€? With the new national status, the bank has reopened formerly closed-down branches in the North and South East. Some of the cities with reopened branches include Kano, Kaduna, Bauchi, Minna, Lokoja and Aba. The bank also plans to launch new branches in Gombe, Onitsha and other leading cities in Nigeria. In addition to its expansion, Wema Bank is also providing ďŹ nancial services through digital channels such as ALAT by Wema and *945#. Through these channels, Wema Bank has been able to onboard more customers and provide easy banking services with its digital channels. The bank is also providing agency banking to meet the needs of customers all over the country. Wema Bank remains committed to growing its network to support business owners and other Nigerians with eective retail banking services across the country.
Institute to Reward Corporate Leaders
The African Institute for Leadership Excellence is set to hold this year’s edition of The African Corporate Leadership Excellence Prize, on the 31st of May.This year’s prize tagged “Reinventing Corporate Leadership Excellenceâ€? is aimed at bringing together ideas and strategies for total reinventing of corporate leadership excellence. Over the years, Africa has experienced signiďŹ cant economic growth that has not only put in the spotlight, but has also made it attract foreign direct investment like ever before. The African new growth factor had been attributed to the leadership excellence of some select African corporate organisations that have demonstrated uncommon initiative in the African commercial space, and have made substantial impact in the development of Africa’s economy. By the foregoing, the organisers of the award would spotlight key industry leaders who would further deliver outstanding contributions to the development of the continent. This edition of the award would witness the presence of special guests such as Akinwunmi Adesina, President of the African Developmet Bank; Moussa-Faki Mahamat, Chairman of the AU Commission; Dr. Ibrahim Mayaki, CEO NEPAD Agency; Mr. Strive Masiyiwa, Chairman of Econet, among others. The event would be held in Lagos.
Nigerian Consumer Report Unveiled
CoronationResearchhasjustreleasedits2019ConsumerReporttitled, ‘Power to the Price Point.The report which presents an in-depth analysis of the Nigerian food & consumer industry from data garnered from a detailed market study, is a radical re-interpretation of the developments in the industry and identiďŹ es the possible winners and losers in the sector. In the report, Coronation Research asked the question: if Nigeria’s population is growing at 2.6 per cent per annum and the urban population is growing at 4.6 per cent per annum, shouldn’t food and consumer product sales, in ination-adjusted terms, be growing at between 2.6 per cent and 4.6 per cent per annum? In responding to the above question, the bank stated: “They should, but the sales of the main listed food and consumer productcompanies,whenadjustedforination,arenotgrowinginlinewith Nigeria’s population ďŹ gures. “A close look at some of the players within the sector reveals Nestle Nigeria has shown positive ination-adjusted growth over the past eight years, but the record for Flour Mills of Nigeria, Unilever Nigeria and PZ Cussons Nigeria is open to question. “One could then wonder, if Nigerian consumers are not buying the bulk of their food and consumer products from these companies, then who are they buying from, where, and at what prices? “To answer these questions, Coronation Research devised a model household living on a modest income in Lagos and sent them shopping in outer Lagos. The shopping basket they brought back has not so pleasant news for the main listed companies.â€?
“We will continue to develop policy instruments and device ways of ensuring that an optimal mix of heterodox policies is continually deployed to engender the overall wellbeing and prosperity of the Nigerian economy. Our overall aim remains the concurrent attainment of price stability, real growth, full employment and poverty reduction�
CBN Governor,
Godwin EmeďŹ ele Continued on page 24
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BUSINESSWORLD FG MUST SUBSIDISE HOUSING TO BRIDGE DEFICIT, SAYS EXPERT be passed soon, to address some of the challenges. According to her, funding, awareness and standardisation remained some of the issues confronting the FM sector till date. Chukwurah said: “The bill is trying to get us to own our institution so that we can adapt to our peculiar environment. The bill will help us to create our own profession so we can have facilities managers practice in Nigeria, being aware of our environment and owning our own association. “So, once it is registered and standardised, we can then jump, move and practice.�
TELECOM OPERATORS SEEK EXECUTIVE ORDER TO ADDRESS MULTIPLE TAXATION taxes, Adebayo said some of the taxes were irrelevant to the operators, like ecological tax, generator emission tax, waste management tax, among others. On her part, the Chief Executive Officer, MainOne, Ms. Funke Opeke, said multiple taxes have slowed down telecoms growth in the last ten years. She commended the United State government for protecting indigenous companies by giving them incentives like tax waivers, and therefore called on the Nigerian government to device means of encouraging indigenous companies, rather than stifling them through multiple taxes. Executive Vice Chairman of NCC, Prof. Umar Garba Danbatta, in his welcome address, said NCC had taken a deep and predictive look at the financial health of the telecoms industry; the aspiration of Nigeria in the context of the 4th industrial revolution; the potential of emerging technologies; the demand for expanded frontiers of availability, accessibility and affordability of all the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) drivers and enablers of economic growth like broadband infrastructure and services; the dynamism of growth, among other things, and reached a conclusion that investments are very critical for the future growth of the telecoms sector.
Group Business Editor
Obinna Chima
Capital Market Editor
Goddy Egene
AgriBusiness/Industry Editor
Jonathan Eze
Comms/e-Business Editor
Emma Okonji
Senior Correspondent
Raheem Akingbolu (Advertising) Correspondents
Chinedu Eze (Aviation) Eromosele Abiodun (Maritime) James Emejo (Finance) Ebere Nwoji (Insurance) Chineme Okafor ((Energy) Reporters
Nume Ekeghe (Money Market) Nosa Alekhuogie (ICT)
NEWS
CBN, IFC Harp on Consolidation in MFB Sub-sector Oluchi Chibuzor The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the International Finance Corporation (IFC) have charged microfinance banks (MFBs) to embrace selfregulation and consolidation in order to enhance performance and sustainability of the sector. This is just as the National Association of Microfinance Banks (NAMB) has called for standardised performance measures and requirements for operators in subsector. In her keynote address at the fifth annual symposium of the Nigeria Microfinance Platform held in Ibadan, Oyo State, with the theme, “Self Regulation for Sustainability and Development of the Microfinance sector,� Deputy Governor, Financial Sector Surveillance, Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, Mrs Aisha Ahmad stressed the need for self-regulation in the MFB sub-sector. According to her, a comprehensive oversight mechanism was required for effective supervision of microfinance banks’ activities. Stressing the expectation of the CBN from MFBs in terms of self-regulation, Ahmad, who was represented by Mrs. Tokunbo Martins, Director, Other Financial Institutions Supervision Department (OFISDs) said: “We believe that the effectiveness of self-regulation in driving performance of the microfinance sector depends on an effective and efficient mechanism for addressing non-compliance, standardised performance
measures driven by the best performing operators in the microfinance sector. “It is therefore important that the umbrella associations set the tone right from the onset and clearly communicate their expectations which should be congruent with the regulators’ expectations for the microfinance industry.� Also speaking, the Country Director of IFC, Mr. Eme Essien noted while self- regulation was important, it would not happen immediately but gradually as operators and regulators work together.
She, however, stressed the need for consolidation in the sub-sector, noting that most of the MFBs in the country were small and their viability is fragile. She said: “There must be pursuit of consolidation in the sector. We hope that the smaller banks will look for partnership with other larger ones. “You can join forces, you can grow your network in that way, you can expand your offerings in that way, you can grow the credibility of the sector in that way and you can build trust among customers.
“In fact, overtime we see a very significant benefit in combining businesses. This will also reduce the pressure on the CBN, but broadly it will lead to a high level of sustainability in the sector so that the microfinance sector really has its place in driving financial inclusion in Nigeria.� NAMB President, Mr. Rogers Nwoke, noted that self-regulation has been one of the cardinal objectives of the association since inception, adding that there was huge prospect for self -regulation in the sector.
He noted that self-regulation would also streamline compliance indicators according to size, status and risk framework of the microfinance banks. He added that in addition to the above selfregulation would grossly reduce cost of statutory regulation and promote consumer protection. He said the CBN would also have to make MFB ratings a condition to receiving intervention funds and other incentives, and allow for peergroup differentiation, use of external validation, production of scores and penalties for non-compliance.�
FMDQ OTC LISTING
L-R: Debt Capital Markets, Stanbic IBTC Capital Limited, Mr.Tokunbo Aturamu; ExecutiveVice Chairman/CEO, North South Power Company Limited, Dr. Olubunmi Peters; Associate Executive Director, FMDQ OTC Securities Exchange, Ms. Tumi; Sekoni; Chairman, North South Power Company Limited, Mallam Ibrahim Aliyu; Executive Director and Head, Debt Capital Markets, Stanbic IBTC Capital Limited, Mr. Kobby Bentsi-Enchill, at the listing ceremony of NSP-SPV PowerCorp Plc Debut Green Infrastructure Bond on the FMDQ OTC Securities Exchange in Lagos‌ recently
Minister Meets Wage Commission over NCAA Workers’Welfare Chinedu Eze The Minister of State, Aviation, Senator Hadi Sirika, in fulfilment of his promise to resolve labour issues concerning the welfare of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) has met with the National Salaries Income and Wages Commission (NSIWC) to produce an improved conditions of service for staff of the agency. Sirika, led the leaders of joint aviation unions to the Chairman of the Commission, Chief Richard Egbule, in Abuja at the weekend. He said the move was in a response to the industrial action declared by the unions in the
aviation sector to demand for new conditions of service among other things. The unions had last Wednesday shut down activities at the offices of NCAA nationwide to press home their demands. The unions included the National Union of Air Transport Employees (NUATE), Air Transport Services Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (ATSSSAN), National Association of Aircraft Pilots and Engineers (NAAPE) and Association of Nigerian Aviation Professionals (ANAP). They were demanding among other things, the review of the staff conditions of service, returning to the original organogram of NCAA
and inauguration of the board of the authority. Sirika, told the NSIWC chairman that he came to urge the commission to speed up the process of delivering a new condition of service to the staff. He said the move was necessary because of the essential nature of the services the staff renders to the nation, adding that embarking on industrial action was not good for the industry. The minister explained that he had swung into action immediately on Wednesday by granting two of the three demands put forward by the union. He explained that the issue of the condition of service was
not within the purview of the ministry, hence the visit to the Commission. “The good thing is that they are our workers and we have been working together and since they are part of us, we know their claims, and we know where it pinches because we have been there. “We have dialogued with them and like the chairman of wages commission said, aviation unions are not known to be this restive, it is something uncommon, it is unusual. “We appealed to them on Wednesday that out of the three demands, we would resolve two and that we were working toward the third one.
“They understood and left happily, but we heard that the staff back there in Lagos were unhappy with them and passed a vote of no confidence on them. “We will appeal to them that what they are doing is an essential service,� the minister said.The Chairman of the Commission, Egbule, however, assured the minister that the commission would take proactive measures toward producing a condition of service that would be acceptable. He said that the commission took issues that concerned aviation workers very serious, adding that the unions would be carried along throughout the process.
close the skilled gaps hindering the development of the sector in relation to Nigerian local content policy. “There is always challenges when it comes to compliance, because first and foremost it is not as easy for people to comply to any rule anywhere, but our role as a board is to make it easy for people to comply and that is what we have been doing. The Act provides that Nigerian independent operators shall be given first consideration in the award of oil blocks, oil field licenses, oil lifting licenses
and all projects contracts (Section 3(1)) and also notes that there shall be exclusive consideration to Nigerian indigenous service companies which demonstrate ownership of equipment, Nigerian personnel and capacity to execute contracted work (Section 3(2)). For the purposes of the Act, a Nigerian company is defined as: “A company formed and registered in Nigeria in accordance with the provisions of the Companies and Allied Matters Act with not less than 51 per cent equity shares by Nigerians� (Section 106).
FG Urged to Review NOGIC Act Oluchi Chibuzor and Ezekiel Okpuzor The federal government has been advised to consider reviewing the Nigerian Oil and Gas Content Act. This is expected to enable compliance in other to reflect the current realities of challenges hindering players in the sector. The Oil and Gas Leader, Temitope Samagbeyi, Ernst &Young (EY), disclosed this at a roundtable breakfast session on the Nigerian Content Development Act organised by EY with
the theme: “The Challenges of complying with the Nigerian Content Requirements and Suggested Solutions,� in Lagos. He said the event was organised as part of the firm’s corporate social responsibility and to drive the conversation around the issue. According to him, “Everybody is interested in compliance, which the session we had today has helped to clear some of the doubts in relation to the Act, as we can see a lot of the operator complained about the one percent local content fee been deducted.
“But as it stands now nothing has been done so far, it is good that we are having this session, at our subsequent interaction we want to drive that home better, so that regulators can go back to the legislature and help update the laws in terms of definition and awareness creation.� On his part, the Director, Monitoring and Evaluation, Nigerian Content Development Board and Monitoring Board NCDMB, Mr. Akintude Adelana, was of the opinion that every company should ensure compliance to help
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NSE Market Capitalisation Hits N13.6tr on Sustained Rally Goddy Egene Sustained gains by the two largest companies on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), Dangote Cement Plc and MTN Nigeria Communications Plc, lifted the equities to a new high last week. After six weeks below the psychology benchmark of 30,000, the NSE All-Share Index (ASI) surged 6.96 per cent to close at 30,881.29 per cent. This was the highest weekly gain since January 2018. Similarly, market capitalisation added N885 billion to close higher at N13.602 trillion. While Dangote Cement Plc, which has the highest market capitalisation on the bourse, appreciated 13 per cent, newly listed MTN, which has the second highest market capitalisation rose 28.5 per cent, adding N631 billion to the growth. THISDAY had reported that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission stormed MTN’s office about 4pm on Friday and quizzed top officials of the telecoms company after demanding vital documents, which they were promptly given. THISDAY also learnt that the EFCC visit and questioning of MTN management staff were not unconnected with the alleged share manipulation in the recent MTN listing on the NSE. However, the high demand for MTNN shares after its listing the previous week was sustained throughout last week amidst allegations of price manipulation. Bargain hunting in MTNN and Dangote Cement buoyed the benchmark index, up 1.7 per cent on Monday. The positive trend was sustained on Tuesday and Wednesday as the index rose 2.9 per cent and 3.1 per cent respectively due to sustained price appreciation by MTNN, Dangote Cement and Guaranty Trust Bank Plc. Also, sustained buying interest in Dangote Cement Plc, Nestle Nigeria and GTBank boosted the market on Thursday. However, the market shed 1.9 per cent on Friday following profit taking in Dangote Cement, Nigerian Breweries Plc and Stanbic IBTC Holdings Plc. On sectoral performance two out of three tracked sectors appreciated, while three declined. The NSE Industrial Goods Index led with 6.12 per cent, followed by NSE Insurance Index. Conversely, the NSE Consumer Goods Index led with 2.98 per cent, trailed by the NSE Banking Index with 1.82 per cent, while the NSE Oil & Gas Index shed 0.65 per cent. Commenting on the gain posted by the market, analysts at Cordros Capital Limited said: “Clearly, the gain was not broad-based, at such we reiterate our cautious trading pattern. Meanwhile, we believe that the blend of positive macroeconomic fundamentals and compelling valuations still supports a near term recovery.� Following the allegations of possible violation of some rules in the listing of MTNN, NSE last explained that due process was followed in the admission of the telco on the Nigerian bourse. The NSE explained that its Rule book defined free float as the number of shares that an issuer has outstanding and available to be traded on the exchange. It includes all shares held by the investing public, and excludes shares held directly or indirectly by promoters, directors and their close relatives; strategic investors holding five per cent and above of the issued share capital; or government. NSE noted that its rules for listing on the Premium Board (which is the board in which MTN Nigeria is listed) require a company to have a minimum free float of 20 percent of its issued share capital or that the value of its free float is equal to or above N40 billion on the date the exchange receives the issuer’s application to list.
trading in the shares of companies that list by Introduction, the NSE’s practice is to urge the company to make shares available on the day of listing. “In the case of MTN Nigeria, the NSE had requested the company as part of the listing process to make shares available and The Exchange expects the company to do that. The NSE said it believed it had addressed the concerns raised, “we will like to assure our stakeholders and the general public that the exchange will continue to uphold global best practices in its business operations and will sustain engagement with its stakeholders to continually develop regulatory frameworks that ensure our market completely reflects our values of ambition, fairness and inclusion.� Market turnover The value of trading surged last week on the bank of MTNN shares. Investors staked N57.895 billion on 1.698 billion shares in 24,328 deals, compared with N17.887 billion invested in 1.172 billion shares valued in 18,380 deals the previous week. The Financial Services Industry led the activity chart with 1.121 billion shares valued at N8.708 billion traded in 13,380 deals, thus contributing 66.01 per cent and 15.04 per cent to the total equity turnover volume and value respectively. The ICT Industry followed with 324.332 million shares worth N40.717 billion in 3,330 deals. The third place was Consumer Goods Industry with a turnover of 75.831 million shares worth N2.948 billion in 2,957 deals. Trading in the top three equities namely, MTN Nigeria Communications Plc, Sovereign Trust Insurance plc accounted for 726.103 million shares worth N41.622 billion in 4,972 deals, contributing 42.75 per cent and 71.89 per cent to the total equity turnover volume and value respectively. Also, a total of 7,832 units of Exchange Traded Products (ETPs) valued at N48,890.00 executed in six deals compared with a total of 18,181 units valued at N215,365.64 transacted in four deals the previous week. A total of 1,389 units of Federal Government Bonds valued at N1.440 million were traded in 14 deals compared with a total of 10,366 units valued at N9.783 million transacted two weeks ago. “MTN Nigeria met with the free float requirement of N40 billion. The free float of MTN at the time of listing was in excess of N90 billion,� NSE had said. The NSE added that where a company lists following an Initial Public Offering, shares are expected to be available for
trading on the day of listing, while in a listing by Introduction, no shares have been offered for subscription by the company prior to listing. “Thus, without any intervention, it is possible that there will be no shares available for trading on the listing
date. Indeed, currently, no rule of the exchange compels shareholders in a listed company to tender their shares for trading. “Shareholders are at liberty to trade their shares at any time and price suitable to them. Thus, in order to stimulate
Price gainers and losers A look at the price movement chat showed that 30 equities appreciated in price during the week, higher than 16 in the previous week, while 40 equities depreciated in price, lower than 42 equities of the previous week. Thomas Wyatt Nigeria Plc led the price gainers with 29 per cent trailed by MTN Nigeria Plc, which appreciated by 28.5 per cent. Dangote Cement Plc and MCNichols Plc garnered 13.6 per cent and 10 per cent respectively. Fidson Healthcare Plc and Linkage Assurance Plc chalked up 9.7 per cent and 9.0 per cent in that order. University Press Plc and Beta Glass Plc went up 7.7 per cent and 7.6 per cent respectively. Vitafoam Nigeria Plc and NEM Insurance Plc gained 7.5 per cent and 7.2 per cent in that order. Conversely, Consolidated Hallmark Insurance Plc led the price losers with 20.6 per cent, followed by Sterling Bank Plc with 17.2 per cent. While Academy Press Plc shed 16.6 per cent. Neimeth International Pharmaceuticals Plc went down by 16.3 per cent, just as Livestock Feeds Plc and Flour Mills of Nigeria Plc declined by 12.1 per cent. Other top price losers included: UAC of Nigeria Plc (11.6 per cent); Chams Plc (11.6 per cent); Access Bank Plc (10.0 per cent) and E-Tranzact International Plc(9.8 per cent).
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‘Rise in Internet, Mobile Device Users Impacting eCommerce in Nigeria’ Emma Okonji The latest Jumia Mobile Report 2019 has shown improved growth in internet users and mobile device users. This, according to the report, impacted positively on eCommerce business in Nigeria and the global economy in 2018. Across the globe in 2018, there were over five billion unique mobile subscribers, and 60 per cent of the connection was through smartphones. Internet users peaked at 3.6 billion, that is, almost half of the world population had mobile internet access. In Nigeria, there were over 172 million mobile subscribers, accounting to a penetration rate of 87 per cent of the population. This figure represented a 6.4 per cent growth increase, compared to 162 million subscribers in 2017, the report said. Analysing the report, Head, Growth and Partnerships at Jumia Nigeria, Mr. Stanislaus Martins, said: “Over 112 million Nigerians had access to the internet in 2018, representing 56 per cent of the population. This accounted for an increase of 14.32 per cent year-on-year from 2017. The availability of lower price point phones still remains the major driver of smartphone penetration. At the end of 2018, there were over 36 million smartphone users, representing a penetration of 18.37 per cent. While the number of smartphone users might have increased year-on-year, its penetration is still very insignificant.� Analysing the rise in mobile phone penetration in Nigeria, which is a key factor for the growth in e-Commerce in Nigeria, Head, Vendor Operations and Experience, Jumia Nigeria, Omobola Onasanya, said lower price point smartphones contributed immensely in growing the
eCommerce sector in 2018. According to her: “Asian brands have consistently enjoyed massive patronage because of their Africa-specific strategy of introducing lower price point smartphones into the Nigerian market. “In 2018, Fero, Samsung, Nokia, Infinix and Tecno remained the customers’ favourites and the top-selling mobile brands on Jumia. “The average price of smartphones continues on a downward trajectory, as it dipped to $95 in 2018, from $117 in 2016, and $ 216 in 2014. This development is laudable as again, the major driver of this trend is attributed to the influx of Asian brands specifically targeted for the Nigerian market.� According to the report, telecommunications and information services, which is a sub-sector of the Information Communications Technology (ICT), contributed 77 per cent of the entire sector’s contribution to the GDP. Overall, the mobile telecommunications sub-sector contributed 7.4 per cent to the country’s total GDP in 2018, compared to 5.5 per cent in 2017. Currently, 44 per cent of mobile subscribers in Nigeria are using 3G technology and 4 per cent are using 4G technology as compared to over 18 per cent 4G penetration in South Africa and 16 per cent in Angola. The report further added that Nigeria’s GDP growth leapfrogged from 0.8 per cent in 2017 to 1.9 per cent at the end of 2018, even though the growth was below the projected 2.3 per cent, majorly due to variations in prices of crude oil and its output. The country’s economic growth, for the first time, was hinged on non-oil sectors such as Agriculture, Information and Communications Technology, Manufacturing, and Transport Storage, the report added.
PenCom Invests N8.744tn Pension Assets in 24 Asset Classes Ebere Nwoji The National Pension Commission (PenCom), said it invested the accumulated N8.744 trillion pension assets in 24 different asset classes with federal government securities taking the lion share of 72.91 per cent of the total funds. A breakdown of this showed that federal government bonds which got 51.29 per cent share and investment in treasury bills got 20.40 per cent. PenCom, in a recent publication on its website stated that as at January 31,2019, other asset classes in which the pension
The founder and Chief Executive Officer of Huawei, Mr. Ren Zhengfei, has expressed confidence in the company’s business and capacity. He said the company had been preparing in anticipation of current challenging situation. The United States Commerce Department recently announced it would add Huawei Technologies Company Limited and its affiliates to its so-called “Entity List,� a move aiming to ban Huawei from buying parts and components from U.S. companies without government-approved licences. But Zhengfei said: “We will certainly be able to continue serving our customers. Our production capacity is huge, and adding Huawei to the Entity List won’t have a huge impact on us. We are making progress in bidding worldwide.� He said the company has invested significantly on research and development (R&D) and contingency plan. According to the 2018 EU R&D Investment Scoreboard, Huawei ranks fifth,with steady growth in its
R&D investment. Huawei has a consistent Business Continuity Management System(BCMS) which has been certified by dozens of neutral third parties in Europe. The company has also been vigorously integrating BCMS into it global suppliers’ obligation. Zhengfei, noted that he expected Huawei’s growth to slow down, but expressed confidence in the company’s future prospects. “In the first quarter of this year, our revenue grew 39 per cent over the same period last year. This rate decreased to 25 per cent in April, and may continue decreasing towards the end of this year. But the US ban will not lead to negative growth or harm the development of our industry,� he said. The leaders of Britain, Germany, France, Belgium and the Netherlands, said their governments would not follow suit to ban Huawei from involvement in their networks.
0.29 per cent; infrastructure fund with 0.28 per cent; REITS with 0.18 per cent, foreign money market securities got 0.15 per cent agency bonds (NMRC&FMBN) got 0.1 per cent; while open/ closed-end funds got 0.12 per cent of the assets. Both corporate infrastructure bonds and green bonds got 0.09 per cent share respectively while supra-national bonds got 0.08 per cent. Under investment in federal government securities, the commission, said out of the total N6,375,531.56 pension fund assets, the RSA fund 1, got N6,505.15; fund 11 got
N2,837,532.61 investments; fund 111 got N1,716,313.68 while RSA fund IV got N 523,747.34. This made the total RSA funds invested in federal government securities to N5,084,098.79 and total pension funds assets invested in federal government securities to N6,375,531.56. The total assets value invested in fund one stood at N9,574.29 while total assets value in fund 11 stood at N3,858,996.38. Similarly, Fund 111 got total assets value of N 2,088,377.17; while Fund IV got N704,176.86, bringing the total RSA funds to N6,661,124.70 and total pension fund assets to N 8,744,112.73.
REWARDING CUSTOMER LOYALTY
L- R: Head, Product Insights and Capabilities, Access Bank Plc, Robert Giles; N1,000,000 Winner, DiamondXtra Quarterly draw, Ezeilo Nkechi and Executive Director, Retail Banking, Access Bank, Victor Etuokwu, at the DiamondXtra Season 11, quarterly draw prize presentation ceremony held in Lagos‌ recently
FRC Supports Reps on Electronic Document Management System Hamid AyodejI
Huawei Founder Confident of Company’s Prospects
assets were invested were local money market securities which got 8.40 per cent; banks with 7.31 per cent investments; domestic ordinary shares which got 6.61 per cent, corporate debt securities which got 5.37 per cent, corporate bonds, which got 5.29 per cent, while real estate got 2.65 per cent. In addition, state government securities got 1.62 per cent; commercial papers got 1.09 per cent, Sukuk bonds got one per cent; foreign ordinary shares with 0.69 per cent; cash and other assets with 0.57 per cent; private equity fund with 0.36 per cent; mutual funds with
The Financial Reporting Council (FRC) of Nigeria has partnered with the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of the House of Representatives to digitise the Committee’s operation, using a modern electronic document management system. The Council facilitated deployment of Globodox Enterprise Electronic Document Management Solution (EDMS) to enable the Committee seamlessly carry out its statutory role of ensuring probity and accountability in the nation’s financial system. To this end, the House of Representatives Deputy Majority Leader, Hon. Idris Ahmed Wase,
who represented the Speaker of the House, Honourable Yakubu Dogara, presented a plaque to the Executive Secretary/CEO, FRC, Mr. Daniel Asapokhai, in appreciation of the contribution of FRC at the unveiling of the new digital platform by the Committee in Abuja. A statement quoted Wase to have commended the council for stepping up to the challenge, adding that the system would go a long way to assist in the smooth operation of PAC. He said PAC had taken a giant stride which was unprecedented in the history of National Assembly. According to him, “This great feat will certainly go a long way to simplify your operations,
reduce task time and enhance the efficiency of the committee to engendering probity, transparency and accountability in our public sector�. Earlier, in his welcome address, the Chairman of PAC of the House of Representatives, Mr. Kingsley Chinda, applauded the FRC for its role in ensuring the digitisation of PAC’s documents. He said the consultants engaged by the PAC has completely digitised all existing documents including reports and responses of MDAs dating back to seven years across more than 800 MDAs. Chinda, emphasised that before the implementation of the digital project, “the PAC Secretariat had only three
functional computers, a handful of technical and support staff without requisite skills, lack of competences in report writing and poor modern tools such as computers and laptops to effectively and efficiently deliver their jobs.� He further added that through the project, “PAC now has a fullyinstalled electronic document management and archiving facility. He stressed that, “henceforth, no hard copies of annual report submissions will be accepted from the MDAs; likewise, all the MDAs will receive PAC’s submissions electronically and make their submissions through the newly-opened website for PAC.�
Medina Islamic Finance Boost Financial Inclusion in Africa Medina Islamic Finance, an Africa-focused digital Islamic microfinance platform has announced a strategic partnership with United Labs, a New York-based data science venture studio that focuses on social impact in Africa. The announcement was made by the founder and CEO of Medina Islamic Finance, M. Wagane Diouf, at the 44th Annual Meeting
of the Islamic Development Bank Group. Through the partnership, Medina Islamic Finance would leverage machine learning and data science to further enhance its Microfinance Digital Banking Platform. According to a statement, United Labs would initially provide Medina Islamic Finance with access to Artificial Intelligence technology and automated lo-
cal language customer support systems that will accelerate Medina’s underwriting while improving customer support. “We are excited to collaborate with United Labs and to bring next-generation technology to Islamic finance customers,� Diouf said. About 75 per cent of the African population live on less than $10 a day and only 24 per cent of Africans have a
bank account. “Medina Islamic Finance aims to address these challenges through innovative and ethical solutions.� The Chief Investment Officer and co-founder of United Labs, Bachir Diagne said: “Medina Islamic Finance has created a unique ecosystem including mobile network operators and banking and payment infrastructure.
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Sanwo-Olu: We Will Enhance Infrastructure Development through PPP Lagos State Governor-elect, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu, who will be sworn-in on Wednesday, in this interview speaks about his plan to create a conducive environment to attract more foreign investors to the state. He also gave an insight on how he plans to govern the state as well as ensure that public finance in the state is more transparent. Nume Ekeghe provides the excerpts: It has been 20 years since the progressives have been at the helms of affairs in Lagos, how will you describe the journey so far? I honestly want to agree and say to you clearly that it’s being worth it for us as progressives but more important is that it’s being worth it for Lagosians. Twenty years ago, if you want to be fair, this is not the Lagos that we had 20 years ago. Lagos was not about the sixth largest economy in Africa. It didn’t have 22 or 23 million people. It didn’t have a lot of the things it has now in terms of infrastructure, health, education; and of course you may also say that Lagos didn’t have these many traffic and refuse. But what you see is that Lagos has grown to be one of the biggest megacities and it has come with its huge opportunity and a lot of challenges. So, the progressives have held their turf, they have created wealth for Lagosians, built structures, bridges, all around the city. They have developed people, new schools have been built, new hospitals and the revenue of the state has astronomically been enhanced through quality representation. When they started in 1999, history shows that it was a little over N600 million that was being generated, but tens of billions are being generated now. The question is, is that also enough for today’s challenges? It is not and I’ll come to that later. But in terms of growth, we have seen a leap in growth. People are coming from different parts of this country to live and stay in Lagos as their choice. And in truth, Lagos has been good to all of them. The first government that came in then which was Asiwaju Bola Tinubu brought in technocrats, and you all saw what came out of those technocrats. From all of that team, which I was also part of, has brought up people at the highest level of the country. Some have grown to be governors even in different states. So, it means that, if we can look back and look at all of those small things that have come out of this small Lagos, that is less than half percentage in terms of size of this country, then we will know that the progressives have earned it. But can we do better? That is certainly the reason why I am here. We certainly can do a whole lot better, quicker and faster. What should we expect from you in your ďŹ rst tenure in ofďŹ ce? In the next 90 days, we are hoping that we would have a working government. Meaning, all of the cabinet and major appointments that we need to have, we would have them running very quickly. We should begin to see huge solutions in our traffic management scheme. When I say huge solutions, there would be some, I imagine would have solved and there would be others that would probably still be work in progress, because we are going into a raining season. When you pour concrete, sun has to come before it can dry up so you can put the lay-by. So, some of those issues will come up. But in terms of the designs and in terms of identifying those traffic corridors that would need improvement, we would have done all of that. In terms of places where we need to improve and increase waste management solutions, we would have done all that. In the first three months, we would have rolled out loads and loads of waste management bags where people would see. Like I have mentioned during the campaign, sorting has to start from your kitchen which is where we are going to be looking for various colours of bags that people would need to understand that this is what we need to do. Like I have also said, the solution to Apapa gridlock, I believe that we would have solved it, but sustaining it, if we are not careful, could be the issue. It is going to cost us some money to put people there in a sustainable manner. We would also begin to work around the civil
Sanwo-Olu
service. We understand that all of these things that we are talking about you need professionals who are in the civil service to work with. So in terms of capacity development and skills gap, we need to quickly identify where they are in our public service, so that we can put the right people, develop the right competencies, that will take ownership of all of the solutions that we are talking about. In other areas around health and education, we probably would have rolled out a more detailed plan as in what we need to do to ensure that growth in our education system is improved. Like I said, a strategy would clearly be crafted out that will show us what we need to do as soon as kids are coming back to school in September of 2019. On the health side, there will be a collaboration with the private sector to ensure that healthcare is assessable. Affordability of it might still be challenging in terms of identifying
Infrastructure is wide. It is road, power housing and the rest. And I have said to you that in the next 90 days, we believe that because we are in the raining season, there is not so much of what we can do. But we can do a lot of planning and things like ďŹ xing the drainage, remove all of the things that can block the holes, which are within your control
the vulnerable people, but accessibility would be something that we will quickly deal with. And on the infrastructure side, I believe that within that time, we will have enough plan on what new areas or road we need to build or develop as the case is, because you will certainly need to plan it. In terms of power, I imagine that in 90 days, we should have had a clear cut policy with all the Distribution Companies (Discos) and the Generating Companies (Gencos) on how we must ensure that Lagos gets powered up very quickly. What are your plans to support more micro, small and medium scale enterprises (MSMEs) in the state? While on a campaign train I met quiet a number of very young intelligent Nigerians. Over 7,000 of them at various forums. And one of the things we have said we would be looking out for are the things that are within our control. There are incubator centers that we need to create for them in the tech hub side, we will begin to work on that. On the ones that require financing and support, we would get the Lagos State Employment Trust Fund to quickly identify more beneficiaries, and very much quickly, we would be able to support them with grants and loans. There would be clusters that we would need to develop and industrial estates and work with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) as well, because some of the things you see are not within our own control. The commercial banks have all mentioned things that they want to support SMEs with, how truly well are they going to be supporting them. So, those conversations must come from that angle. For us, if you are just having a small corner tailoring service in your place, it may be difficult for me to say I am going to solve your own immediate solution. Because your problem could be that you don’t have power in your small shops or there are other challenges. But
to say that we are going to have a tailoring section in Obalende for example; those are the kind of innovations that we will do. We will look for a place where they can share resources and house 300 tailors, all clustered around the place and you can develop a power solution for them as against developing for each one of them and looking for how to meet them. So on their own part, those kinds of talks must come together. They must identify players in the same industry and once they come together, then it becomes much easier for government to intervene collectively. And you will begin to see the impact of that solution. On infrastructure, what are the major things we should expect from your ďŹ rst tenure? Infrastructure is wide. It is road, power housing and the rest. And I have said to you that in the next 90 days, we believe that because we are in the raining season, there is not so much of what we can do. But we can do a lot of planning and things like fixing the drainage, remove all of the things that can block the holes, which are within your control. We might not be able to fix all of the portholes within the first 90 days except we are going to be working overnight and you don’t know what time the rain is going to come back again, so that you don’t waste materials you have to be very smart about it. But in terms of infrastructure, before the end of the year, you will see our plan in terms of which roads, bridge that we need to complete in the next two to three years, in our road plan. And we will be working a lot through Public Private Partnership (PPP). We will be using private equity and funds to develop some of those infrastructure. What are you going to do differently to Continued on page 33
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SANWO-OLU: WE WILL ENHANCE INFRASTRUCTURE DEVELOPMENT THROUGH PPP
I think my style would be to remain humble as I have always been. To be very open and transparent, to be very accessible as much as possible, to be very engaging; let people have a voice, let them have a say.You might not necessarily have your way, but you will always have your say ensure the Lagos budget is open? On the budget, the state government still publishes its budget on a yearly. We intend to continue that, but beyond that, we would also do what we call a quarterly review of our budget performance, so that people can ask us questions and we can be accountable. In terms of transparency, you know we have procurement law and agency, it is for people to be able to access them. The ones that need to be published in terms of who gets procurement, we will do it if it is not currently being done. The moment you can let people really know on quarterly basis how you are running your budget, how well you Sanwo-Olu are doing, then the issues around transparency reduces. And aside that, at the end of the year, to come from somewhere. So it is for all of us to before you get into the second quarter of the transparently be able to have that conversation on following year, we would make sure that we what we all intend to do. But we will certainly have done our audited account and we would not do things that will have a negative effect on our people. We will review it positively and in publish it. conjunction with various stakeholders. What about the issue of multiple taxation? What style of government would you run? There is no multiple taxation, it is all about I think my style would be to remain humble perception and we need to change it. There is no tax that doesn’t have a law component to it. as I have always been. To be very open and Tax is a function of the law. If the law is faulty, transparent, to be very accessible as much as then let us go back to the law. Maybe you can possible, to be very engaging; let people have a talk about the people and how they collect them. voice, let them have a say. You might not necessarily Maybe it is the way by which they come about have your way, but you will always have your that we need to change. So we need to correct say. And once you have your say be it in form the narratives and let people know that there of suggestions or opinion, we will all put it on the table and dimension it right away. And if is no multiple taxation anywhere. it is not something that we believe Lagosians Have you been briefed by the outgoing will benefit from, I will have the right to explain government on the list of uncompleted projects that to you and give you reasons why it really in the state and will you give them priority can’t be. But beyond that it is to ensure that as a Yoruba man that I am, I respect my elders and when you are sworn in as governor? Yes, there have been several interactions we have ensure that we keep the cosmopolitan nature had. We have steering and transition committee of Lagos going. I will respect different set of and we have seen some documents in terms of human beings that are here in Lagos because outstanding projects, but not in the way and everybody has a role to play; except you don’t manner that I would have wanted them, that have any business here and you are constituting they were presented. Because we wanted a lot a security challenge for us, that way you will not more detailed information as to how much was be my friend. Other than that, the style will be it, how much has been paid, how long it has to remain a friend and governor to everybody. taken, how much is outstanding and what exactly Can you give us an insight into the ďŹ ndings it is. So, we didn’t get much details on that. But from next week, I will call for those information. of the transition committee? In terms of the things found out by the transiBut in terms of completion, oh yes they will certainly be given priority because, what doesn’t tion process, I would be getting a full detailed get completed doesn’t get done. We will ensure report from tomorrow (24th of May). But given that we do that and we do that very well, and my sense of understanding of government, it is a continuum and we really cannot begin to there wouldn’t be any problem. give excuse to Lagosians. We would just go out How can Lagos harness its rich culture? there to fix it. Whatever it takes, we can get it I mean, you can see also in me the vibrancy better for Lagosians because that is what we and all. It is the same energy we all have. In have promised to do. terms of culture, music and all of that, we know Do you have an idea on the state of the our space; we know where we are globally. But one of the things that is lacking is organisation. treasury? I also don’t know what the numbers are yet, How well can we put all of those energies into positive use, so that we can present ourselves but as some that have idea about finance, we internationally and globally in more informed just have to be very creative because no matter structure? One of the things we have said we how it is, monies will never be enough and we would do is to ensure that in our government, cannot continue to always use lack of money as we would identify real professionals that would an excuse for non-performance. There are creative ways in which we can finance and leverage all be working with us in the cabinet. of the things we want to do. For as long as you Recently Lagosians reacted to the hike in are sincere and people can see this in you, money land use charge by the outgoing governor would move to you. Globally, that is how it is. before it was revised, do you have plans to Monies would move to the people who need it the most, and what they need to do is just do a look into that? We are certainly going to look at it again, but risk assessment of your person, the project they with a lot of consultation. It has to be collaborative need to get into, and of the environment they with a lot of stakeholders’ engagement. We are find themselves. Once you are able to reduce going to look at it with all the players in the and mitigate against some of those risk, funding industry to analyse how best to go about it. I will come. have said to people that you really cannot eat Nigeria as a whole has taken up agriculture an omelet without breaking the egg. So for us to be able to leap-frog all the questions and initia- as one of the means to diversify its economy. tives that they are asking of us, revenues have What are plans for this sector?
We have been a largely mono-product economy, but the federal government has made a few attempt in the last four years or so, and I think those efforts are beginning to yield some result which I must commend the federal government on, especially in terms agriculture. The current government in Lagos state has also taken a bold step in terms of rice production and the Imota rice mill. For me, that project would be very critical in our agricultural value chain. It is left for us to look for money and complete that project very quickly I hear that there are still huge tons of containers littered in the port, but we need to quickly fix that. What that means is that, if we have that mill working, up and running by the end of the year or by next year; 32 metric tons, meaning that we actually can produce the amount of rice that not only Lagos would be consuming, but one or two other states in the South-west. But the feedback of that in the value chain is that, we may now need to produce a lot more paddy. We don’t have the agro areas because of our size and the pressure on our land. So what we would do is to collaborate with our sisters in the north and the South-west and see how we can share boundaries, around giving us 20, 30 or 50 hectares for rice production. And we can reduce cost of transportation; bringing them from up north and have paddies all around so that when we begin to do that, we begin to get at least one of our major stable food and we begin to see level of decency in Lagos and in some states. So we go to the next one which is aqua-agric, fishing and all of it. There is an opportunity at the CBN for financing. We just need to put people in clusters so that they can quickly, access single-digit funding from the central bank and upscale their capacity. Potholes and oods is a major hurdle in Lagos state, what are plans in addressing this? On potholes, flooding and traffic, like I have mentioned, Lagos is below the sea level. Lagos will always have element of flooding. You see, communication is critical. And it is only better when we help ourselves to communicate rightly. Like I said, Lagos is below the sea level, so fundamentally, there are some things that natural nobody has control over. It means it is in a terrain that rain would fall at some point of the year. And we are just entering the rainy season. It is heavy from May, through November. So it is a season in which there is going to be heavy downpour. There is another conversation around global warming an all of that which says we are going to have more rains. So, it will rain, and once it rains, there would be what we call flash flood. And it happens everywhere in the world. There would be flood that you will see for three, four, or five hours, but the question would be, subsequently what would you do? How do you ensure that floods that would be there for just three hours are not there for three, four, or five days? That is the responsibility that you have called us to do. And to solve it, it is to look at all
of the various blockages that happen within the manholes that we have along the roads. Some of those blockages were due to our habits like the kind of refuse that we generate and don’t dispose properly. Everybody drink in can or bottle of water, and they throw them on the streets. So, the communication has to be both ways. You (journalists) have to help me tell Lagosians that we need to change or attitudes in that regards. They should dispose refuse properly so they don’t block our drainage channels. Once they block our drainage channels, water is liquid that need to find its level, and if it can’t it will stay there. That needs to happen and we would be solving that with our environmental solutions. As regard the potholes, the water needs to go down, rain needs to stop before we can be able to work. I know there are problems around public roads bureau and we would quickly ramp up capacity in that area. And I have mentioned it few minutes ago, if working overnight is the solutions we need to design ways and means for them to go and fix some of those little potholes, we will do it and do it very quickly. And on Apapa, I think it is about time we realise that we are all in it together. What happens to me happens to everybody that has a thing to do with that port, and those appeals to the conscience of the federal government. So it is not out of place that Lagosians have been crying. So people need to move into action. And I will tell you that I will give that committee set up by the federal government all of the support required from day one for Lagosians to be relieved. Can you give us an insight into the structure of the cabinet you want to have, would it be a combination of politicians and technocrats and what are the qualities you expect from them? I am committing and I am saying that, with the cooperation of my entire political leadership, I am expecting that I should have my entire cabinet running maximum within the time-lines that I have given to you. As to the quality of members, Lagos has intelligent and smart people. It is for us to identify them. Some could be full time technocrats, some could be part time technocrats, but the bottom line is for us to identify square pegs into square holes, and round pegs into round holes. Secondly, whoever would be working with me and Dr. Hamzat, there is need for them to have a shared vision with us and for us to be on the same page from day one. The moment a politician or technocrat is appointed; he sees himself as a commissioner of special adviser of Lagos, not for a sect, an area or his jurisdiction. Your performance is to entire citizens of Lagos state. So it is not that, because I was born from this area, then I would focus better there, no! We have to have a shared vision and common purpose. The moment we all see the commonality of our vision and purpose, then it will be a lot easier for us to drive a common agenda. And we will certainly not be lacking of idea, and Lagosians will be happy with us when we finally bring out those names.
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Food Security: NSDC Boss Calls for Adoption of Bio-Technology Hammed Shittu in Ilorin The federal government has urged both local and foreign investors in bio-factory sugar manufacturing in the country to avail themselves of the opportunity in bio-technology for agricultural development in the country. This, the government said would go a long way to support food security and provide raw materials for the nation’s agro based industries. Speaking at the official
inauguration of the National Sugar Development Council (NSDC) sugarcane bio-factory in Ilorin, Kwara State, the Executive Secretary, NSDC, Mr. Latif Busari, said such patronage would not only help them get best quality cane seeds, but help the industry and the nation at large to move to next level of development. Busari, who said that application of biotechnology in agricultural development in Nigeria was necessary to achieve food security and provide raw materials for the nation’s agro
based industries, added that the sugar industry was part of the larger picture. He also said government with the facility in Zaria, Kaduna state and Ilorin, Kwara state, were capable of contributing their quota to attainment of national sugar master plan goals. The NSDC boss, who said that both bio-factories could produce one million seedlings annually, added that their facilities and same procedures could be used for rapid multiplication of many other crop seedlings such as
banana/plantain, pineapple, citrus, cut flowers etc. Also speaking, the Minister of State for Industry, Trade and Investment, Hajia Aisha Abubakar, emphasised the need for crop productivity enhancement in order to achieve rapid development of the nation’s local sugar industry. Represented by the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry, Sunday Akpan, the minister said that, “What this means is that if we aim at large scale production of sugarcane we would consequently require large quantity of quality
planting materials. “And for this purpose the conventional system of propagation will not only be inefficient but also less desirable as a result of possible pathogenic infection which affects yields. “Tissue culture techniques (or micro- propagation), a biotechnology approach, can overcome these problems by providing mass uniform, disease-free plantlets within a relatively short time frame. “Adoption of this biotechnology will have positive twin effects
on both our local sugar industry and national economy. “The bio-factory presents an opportunity to solve a critical problem facing sugar estates and sugarcane growers by providing more productive and sustainable planting materials. “It is a proactive approach to alleviating problems of sugarcane production in Nigeria. “The NSDC sugarcane biofactory now employs biotechnological techniques in producing clean sugarcane plantlets to serve its clientele across the country.�
Firm Launches New Products Oluchi Chibuzor The LuLu Panty Liners and Pads, personal care products have been launched for women. Oluchi Onweagba-Orlandi, a model, who unveiled the products, said it is now available in supermarkets in the country. Onweagba-Orlandi who disclosed this in a statement, said the products was launched following the success of LuLu Lingerie, Nigeria’s first innerwear store for wholesale distribution and retailing of multi-brand underwear, sleepwear, and intimate apparel for men, women and children. She added that the products have triple protection against leakages to protect users from stain, adding that the pads and panty liners are comfortable because of their material composition, which limits odours. The 1998 winner of the 1st Mnet Face of Africa, further stated: “The vision is to provide young girls and women with a partner they can trust, that understands them, a product that is made by a woman for women to keep them feeling fresh, free and confident. “The menstrual cycle is where it all really begins for the average woman despite skin colour, income, geography, status. The
product includes flexi-comfort design, super Absorbent and soft against sensitive skin make it easy for everyone. “Following the success of LuLu Lingerie, Nigeria’s first innerwear store for wholesale distribution and retailing of multi-brand underwear, sleepwear, and intimate apparel for men, women and children, Onweagba-Orlandi ventured into a new terrain with the launch of LuLu Panty Liners and LuLu Pads, these products are under the LuLu Personal Care portfolio.� She added: “Both Panty liners and pads are made with soft breathable cotton; the pads have wings to keep you secure and comfortable and the absorbent protect from stain with its triple action against leakages,� she stated. “LuLu Pads and Panty Liners are more than just products that allow women to be their best selves at all times, it is about giving room to conversations surrounding femininity, building confidence, going on a journey of discovery together with young girls who are just coming into their own and also with older women who are in search of a larger purpose.
Halogen Security Nigeria Gets Recognition Sunday Okobi In confirmation of its growing profile, Halogen Security Company Limited has won the 2019 Next Bulls Award by Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE). The Top 25 CEOs and Next Bulls Awards held in Lagos recently, was organised by Business Day Media Group in conjunction with the NSE to recognise CEOs and companies which distinguished themselves by adding value to the investments of shareholders. According to the security firm, in a statement made available to THISDAY, the awards ceremony, the integrated security risk management company was adjudged as an outstanding Nigerian company, “which have imbibed good corporate governance, innovations and raised the bar in service delivery.� The Next Bulls Awards, according to the organisers, was a newly introduced award category in the yearly Top 25 CEOs Awards. It is dedicated to celebrate companies and their CEOs for inculcating good corporate
governance, innovations and raising the standards of their organisations to a point where it would be seamless if they were to be listed on the NSE today. In the statement, the Group Managing Director of Halogen Security Company Limited, Mr. Wale Olaoye, dedicated the award to owners of the Troyka Holdings-the founders of Halogen Security Company Limited and it’s over 20,000 employees. “This is unprecedented in the history of Halogen Security. We are most gratified to be recognised by such an authority as the Business Day Media Group and the Nigeria Stock Exchange,� he added. Also, Halogen’s Executive Director, Mr. Bosun Sosanya, described the Next Bulls Award as “a call for us to be more efficiently than before. Our past is history; we will have to continuously re-invent the wheel of our operations to be ahead of the market in terms of quality service delivery and integrity. I commend all our operations team members and the entire Halogen Group workforce.�
SPECIAL RECOGNITION
L-R: Secretary General, Association of Corporate Affairs Managers of Banks in Nigeria (ACAMB), Rasheed Bolarinwa; Chairman, Education Advisory Board, Nigerian Institute of Public Relations (NIPR), Prof. Emmanuel Dandaura; President/Chairman of Council, Mallam Mukhtar Sirajo; Financial Secretary, ACAMB, Mrs. Lola Egboh; Ag. Registrar, NIPR, Kayode Yeku, and Fellow, Dr. Kunle Ogedengbe, at the induction ceremony of ACAMB members into the institute which held in Lagos‌recently
FG Seeks NSC, NPA Support to Clear Apapa Eromosele Abiodun The Chairman, Presidential Task Force on Apapa gridlock, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, has called on the Nigerian Shippers’ Council (NSC) and the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) to assist in the implementation of the Presidential Order issued for trucks to vacate ports’ access roads within 72 hours. Osinbajo, who made the call in a meeting held at the NSC’s Headquarters, in Lagos was represented by Mr. Kayode Opeifa. He maintained that the task force was set up by the presidency
to proffer lasting solution to the perennial traffic in Apapa and its environs within two weeks. According to him, the new directive mandates the immediate removal of all trucks from ports access roads in which the Nigerian Shippers’ Council and Nigerian Ports Authority are key agencies that would assist the realisation and urged NSC and NPA to rally round the task force. He also expressed readiness to engage the law enforcement agencies to ensure compliance with the federal government’s directive. His Words: “Any truck driver that violate the Presidential’ Order
will face the music.� The Executive Secretary and Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Shippers’ Council, Mr. Hassan Bello expressed the agency’s readiness to give the task force the necessary assistance that would see to the realisation of their mandate. Bello, who was represented by the Director, Legal Services of the Council, Mr. Samuel Vongtau, expressed optimism that the aspiration of the committee would address anomalies that characterise Apapa ports’ access roads. Also speaking, the Director, Inland Transport Services (DITS),
Mr. Akintunde Makinde, said the federal government has commenced moves to engage rail for the movement of containers to hinterland which would assist to address the ports’ congestion. The meeting was attended by Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), Nigerian Shippers’ Council (NSC), Nigeria Police Force, Lagos State Government, National Association of Road Transport Owners (NARTO), Presidential Enabling Business Council (PEBEC), Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA), Federal Road Safety Corp (FRSC) and Apapa GRA Residents Association.
Air Peace Strengthens Board, Set for Next Growth Phase Chinedu Eze Air Peace has brought together eggheads, corporate gurus and renowned entrepreneurs into its board, to chart a new course for the airline, which aims to be a major carrier in the African continent and in the world. This was disclosed by the Chairman of the airline, Allen Onyema. Renowned lawyer, Chief Emeka Ngige (SAN), former Managing Director of Shell Petroleum Development Company, Mr. Mutiu Sunmonu, former acting Director General of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority, Mr. Benedict Adeyileka and other new directors of Air Peace have assured of their readiness to work with Onyema and the Vice Chairman of the airline, Mrs. Alice Onyema to deliver on the airline’s vision to transform air travel and project a positive image for Nigeria in the global aviation community.
The new directors of the airline which also included the Founder/Chief Executive Officer of Topnotch Integrated Concepts Limited, Ekaete Bassey Okoro, Coordinator of the North East Recovery and Stability Programme (NERSP), Mr. Mohammed Danjuma, the carrier’s Chief Operating Officer, Mrs. Oluwatoyin Olajide and Chief of Administration and Finance, Mrs. Ejiro Eghagha, made the pledge at the weekend in Lagos when they were inaugurated as members of Air Peace Board of Directors. In a related development, the Chairman, Onyema has urged Nigerians with means to invest in the country to complement the economic development efforts of the government, saying he set up the airline primarily to create jobs for the people and give the country a place of pride in the global aviation community. Onyema spoke during the inauguration of Ngige, Sunmonu, Adeyileka, Okoro, Danjuma,
Olajide and Eghagha as new members of Air Peace Board of Directors. “The reason I started Air Peace was to create employment opportunities for Nigerians and help in national development, because I know that all the violence and security challenges we are facing will reduce if our youths are positively engaged. I enjoin all Nigerians with means to invest in the country and help to create jobs to complement the efforts of the government,� he urged. The airline, he assured, would make the country proud with its soon-to-start flights to Sharjah, Dubai, Johannesburg, London, Houston, Guangzhou and Mumbai despite the challenges it was facing from unfair competition and aero politics by some of the countries it planned to operate into with its four Boeing 777 aircraft. He said the airline was acquiring more narrow-body and wide-body aircraft to deepen its
no-city-left-behind project, adding that the airline, which recently placed a firm order for 10 brand new Embraer 195-E2 jets and purchase rights for 20 aircraft of the same model, had ordered seven more 50-seater Embraer 145 jets to strengthen its operations under its subsidiary, Air Peace Hopper. The airline had earlier taken delivery of six Embraer 145 jets. Onyema described the new members of Air Peace Board of Directors as Nigerians who are passionate about efforts targeted at developing the country and creating employment opportunities for the people. On their part, the new directors said they agreed to join Air Peace Board because of Onyema’s consistent display of integrity and sincerity. They pledged not to fail in the discharge of their duties as directors of the airline, saying they would work to deepen and sustain the carrier’s success.
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Orjiako: Seplat’s Gas Projects Will Address Nigeria’s Electricity Deficit Seplat Petroleum Development Company Plc has continued to maintain its leading position in the country’s upstream space over the years. The company’s Chairman, A.B.C. Orjiako, in this interview, throws light on the operations of the company and the Nigerian oil and gas industry in general. Eromosele Abiodun presents the excerpts: Your investment in the gas sector is enormous. Are you likely to venture into the midstream soon and are you going to drill more gas wells to support your gas processing plant? We are already in the gas midstream business. Last year, we spoke about two main things in terms of our gas business. We spoke about what we have been able to do in our gas growth, we added the capacity to process that gas and we are able to increase processing capacity to 525 million scf a day and that was phenomenal. This year, you are also conversant that we are taking the first investment decision for our next gas business, which is the ANOH Gas Processing Company, and is more like an addition to our midstream business. That will add another 300 million scf in the first phase. On the question of whether we will drill pure gas well, it is just a function of what we have to do to meet the capacities of what we have installed. Now, the existing gas reserves we have, have a combination of associated gas and non-associated gas. When we have the need, we will drill the wells as the need arises. That is precisely what we will be doing, but we are making sure that we are maintaining our leadership position in being the number one gas supplier to the domestic market. Thirty per cent of gas to power the Nigerian market is a quite significant aspect of what we are doing. How would you assess the security situation in the Niger Delta, are you comfortable with the present situation and what do you think could be done to make things better? Frankly, I must say that overall, the Niger Delta security situation has improved tremendously, but there is always room for improvement and the only thing we can do is that all hands must be on deck; the communities will play their role, and to get them to play their role, the operating companies must play their roles. We will like to see a situation where the relationship continues to improve between the operating companies and the communities. Secondly, the government must also keep to their promises and once you put all of this together, you can only see improvement and more calm in the Niger Delta. Infrastructure development, employment creation especially among the youth, are the key instruments to maintaining long term peace in the Nigeria Delta. When are we expecting the Assa-North Ohaji-South gas project to come on stream and what impact will it create on the nation’s economy? Seplat and NGC have both contributed $100 million each. We are expecting another $50 million each from both parties by mid-year and the final payment of $60 million each by year end. There are five major contract packages to be awarded this year. Guidance is that we’ll have first gas by Q1/Q2 2021. It will have a phenomenal impact and we are expecting that once this comes on track, it will enhance the demand in the western Niger Delta and more importantly, it will create demand in the eastern Niger Delta and we have already began to see that happen. We have seen a lot of people in the eastern states and even the south-south coming to make enquiries about buying this gas and this is a very welcome development. Apart from power, there are also other aspects of the economy that this will impact - the agricultural sector, industries and overall; as well as the manufacturing sector will be impacted. Therefore, when we say that Seplat is a company that is well keyed into the economic development of Nigeria, we mean that we are extremely impactful with employment and empowerment in our operations. So, apart from gas to power, the real trickle-down effect or the real multiplier effect in the economy will be a phenomenon and I am looking forward to the entire country to be extremely happy with
Orjiako
what we are doing and for other companies to emulate. As one of the major suppliers of gas to the Azura Power plant, which other companies are you looking to partner with when the ANOH gas project becomes operational? The best way to describe Seplat, which tallies with a lot that has been spoken about our differentiation, is that we have created a race in this competition that only us are running and frankly, by the time the others come, we will create other races. Our gas development is one of those types. We have demonstrated the ability to do willing-buyer/willing-seller supply of gas and in addition to meeting our domestic supply obligations. There are not many companies that have met this and what I will like to say about Azura is that it is a willing-buyer/willing-seller arrangement
So, apart from gas to power, the real trickledown effect or the real multiplier effect in the economy will be a phenomenon and I am looking forward to the entire country to be extremely happy with what we are doing and for other companies to emulate
and it is a take or pay arrangement. The people around there are happy that Azura has come on stream and it is actually one of the successful Independent Power Projects (IPPs) in the country and we are happy to be associated with it. The truth of the matter is that the demand is high and it is growing, so we are not indeed short of the market. Gas is one market where supply creates demand, but in this case, we have a situation where demand was already existing before the supply. So, we can only do one thing and which is continue to grow that business and if you look at the infrastructure gap in Nigeria for power alone, you can only say that the future is bright and we can only grow that business. It is assumed that the commercial and ďŹ nancial framework for gas-to-power is weak. Is it still cheaper to are gas despite the recently passed law on gas aring? LNG transfer price is below domestic market prices. Nonetheless a lot needs to change with the domestic market to make it more viable including adjusting exchange rate to market rate, achieving prompt payment of invoices transiting from the DSO framework to a liberalised market. In respect to the gas flare, it is really a true statement that anybody who is still flaring gas today, is actually burning petrodollars because the penalty that has been revised will mean that you will pay as much penalty as you would have received revenue for investing in the gas. So, that by itself is an investment for people to invest. From my own perspective, we are not only committed to the gas business just for revenue, because we pride ourselves as a company that keeps very high in our priority, environmental stewardship, and we see that the gas development will not only take away flare from the environment but will also bring cleaner energy in the environment and that is key. The other aspect of this business will include LPG.
In fact, somebody raised the issue in our AGM and one of the things we do with LPG is to take people away from burning bushes and firewood to take cleaner ways of cooking, so it has a very multifaceted advantage to the society and that is why we are doing it. Are you saying the current arrangement under the new law will encourage investors to come into the sector? Yes, that is the point. The core domestic gas price is adequate to attract investments in Nigeria and it is comparable to international gas price and people should be able to invest and that is why we are investing and we are making money. Can’t you see in our report that gas revenue is almost getting to 50 per cent of oil revenue and it speaks for itself? Are you venturing into petrochemicals in the future? Obviously, our business is in the energy sector which is a broadband and we will definitely take one step at a time. Today, we are concentrating in our oil and gas business where we are consolidating our upstream business in production. We have now launched the midstream and will like to see how we progress with that. We consolidate before we take other options and we are very focused. How was Seplat able to recover from the oil slump that happened few years ago? Frankly, our business is not based on the volatility of the oil market. Our business is focused on the effective and efficient delivery of projects and operations. Therefore, we pride ourselves to be a low-cost bio-operating company and therefore, in spite of the volatility and low oil price, our business continues to remain comfortable and that is really what we have demonstrated in the results you are seeing and we will continue to build on that.
36
T H I S D AY Ëž Ëœ Í°ÍľËœ 2019
BUSINESS/MONEYGUIDE
FG Restates Commitment to Special Economic Zones Nume Ekeghe The federal government has assured the strategic investment partners and advisers in the Nigeria Special Economic Zone Investment Company Limited (NSEZCO) of its commitment to the development of special economic zones across the country. The assurance was given by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, at a meeting with the representatives of the investment partners of NSEZCO, including the African Export-Import Bank, Bank of Industry, Nigerian Sovereign Investment Authority, Africa Finance Corporation and the African Development Bank and the legal advisers, Aluko & Oyebode. According to a statement, Osinbajo condemned the recent misrepresentations created
about NSEZCO in certain sections of the media and regretted the embarrassment this may have caused the investors. He reaffirmed the government’s endorsement of the strategies and plans put in place for the actualisation of the SEZs. The VP also assured the investors of the readiness of the Buhari-led administration to offer all the support required to complete their investments in the company. According to Osinbajo, it is the vision and plan of the Buhari administration to be the pre-eminent manufacturing hub in Africa and a major exporter of manufactured products. Osinbajo restated the government’s commitment to Project MINE (Made in Nigeria for Exports), a Presidential Priority Intervention project, using Special
Economic Zones to achieve the objectives of boosting manufacturing’s share of GDP to 20 per cent generating $30billion in annual export earnings and creating 1.5 million new jobs in the exportoriented manufacturing value chain. According to him “the project is fundamental for us as industrialisation is a major pillar of our Economy Recovery and Growth Plan�. The Attorney-General of the Federation, Mallam Abubakar Malami, who was also at the meeting, explained to the investors that the recent investigation into the affairs of the company was to establish the integrity of the federal government and the propriety of its actions in the light of the negative perceptions created in the media.
Auto Mechanic Wins Education Grant in DiamondExtra Promo Nume Ekeghe Access Bank through its DiamondExtra Promo has changed the life of a car mechanic from Kafanchan in Kaduna State, who won an educational grant worth N100,000 every month, for five years. Also, the bank disclosed that the DiamondXtra savings promo which is in its 10th year has given out prizes worth over N5 billion since inception. Mr. Adewale Adekoya; Mrs. Ezeilo Nkechi; Mr. Badmus Morufu and Mr.Chinedu Nwabuife were recipients of N1 million prizes. Also, Mr. Nonso Mmeni;
Mr. Obinna Ariguzo, and Mr. Emmanuel Izuora won N500,000. In addition, Mr. Nwoko Chibuikem won rent for a year worth N1 million, while the star prize of salary for life of N100,000 per month for 20 years was won by Mrs. Nnenna Chukwu and Education Allowance for five years at N100,000 monthly was won by Mr. Aliyu M Umar Speaking at the prize presentation held in Lagos, the Executive Director Retail Banking, Access Bank, Mr. Victor Etuokwu said: “We are rewarding our customers for their loyalty and patronage to the bank. DiamondXtra is the best banking product in Nigeria.
“The product has been rewarding Nigerians of every gaps and there is no way the bank can add value to an economy and people without doing things like this a product of a bank must add value and DiamondXtra adds value every single day. “Over the last 10 and half years, over N5 billion have been given out and today.� Also, Head, Product Insights and Capabilities, Access Bank, Mr. Robert Giles said: “Our business is about our customers and our success. If our customers’ successes are successful and as our customers grow, we grow as well.
Accion MFB Records N1.05bn Profit Ugo Aliogo Accion Microfinance Bank has recorded N1.05 billion profits after tax in its 2018 financial statement, higher than the N809.76 million recorded in 2017. This represented a 30 per cent growth. While the bank’s return on equity closed at 23 per cent, its shareholders’ funds grew to N4.61 billion as against the N3.91 billion recorded in 2017, which was a growth of 18 per cent. Speaking at the Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the bank in Lagos, the Chairman, Accion Microfinance Bank, Patrick Akinwuntan, noted that the growth performance clearly depicted the effective deployment of capital provided by our shareholders.
He also noted that the bank had continued to manage its capital base to cover risks inherent in its business as it closed the year with a capital adequacy ratio of 50 per cent as at December, 2018 as against the regulatory requirement of 10 per cent. In his remarks, the Managing Director, Accion, Mr. Taiwo Joda, said 2018 had challenges characterised by the apprehensions around security and other policy uncertainties in the run-up to the 2019 general elections that slowed down businesses, “nonetheless, the bank was able to weather the storm.� Taiwo, added that the customer deposits maintained a strong growth of 15 percent, from N2.44 billion in 2017, to N2.81 billion, while the number of depositors/
savers and accounts grew by 49 per cent and 44 percent respectively. According to Joda: “In line with our determination to continually provide easy access to financial services to our clients, we deployed various initiatives in this regard during the year. “This also enabled us to onboard new clients using our e-Channels (ATMs and POS) and Agency banking network. Cumulatively, the number of ATM cards issued to our customers closed at 72,768 as at December 2018 while the number of the bank’s active agents closed at 204. “The deployment of the Digital Field Application (DFA) and Electronic digital management system (EDMS) also impacted positively on our service delivery in 2018.
EdFin MFB Commences Operations Nume Ekeghe Ă‹Ă˜ĂŽ Sunday Ehigiator Edfin Microfinance Bank has been launched in Lagos state. The bank is dedicated exclusively to funding the educational ecosystem in Nigeria, with an aim to positively improve the quality of education in Nigeria by providing the much-needed financial support to the sector. Addressing journalists, the MD/CEO EdFin MFB, Mrs. Bunmi Lawson, stressed that the bank specialises in education financing.According to her, “What we do is to finance the education ecosystem. By that we
mean, people who owns schools, teachers, parents, students, who need loan for any aspect of education or supplier to schools could be provided with a loan. “We give the entire aspect of financial services. Also we provide value added services so that schools can transform, grow, increase access to education as well as the quality of education. We are only targeting the education sector.� When asked about the company’s funding, she said, “Our funding is a total mix. First we have shareholders. One of our largest shareholders is Gray Matters Capital which is an international organisation that
has committed about $10 million to this and they have done a similar investment in India. “So we are hoping to replicate it here in Nigeria. I’m a founder, and there is Mrs. John Fishers who is also a co-founder of this bank.� “We are capitalised to the tune of N1 billion and we are expected to expand. We also hope that government dedicates an education trust fund either from Lagos State. “And there is Lagos State employment trust fund as well, there is likewise the CBN NMSDS fund and we are looking at the Development Bank of Nigeria.
L-R: Board Chair AFOS Foundation, Germany, Bruno Wenn; Director, Special Insured Institutions Department, Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation, Joshua Etopidiok; Director, Other Financial Institutions Supervision Department, Central Bank of Nigeria, Tokunbo Martins; Board Chair AFOS Foundation INGO, Nigeria, Tutu Ogunnaike and Africa Director, Guillaume Valence, at the fifth symposium of the Nigeria Microfinance Platform held in Ibadan, Oyo State...recently
MARKET INDICATORS MONEY AND CREDIT STATISTICS
(MILLION NAIRA)
NOVEMBER 2018 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)
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
Ëž Ă™Ă&#x;ĂœĂ?Ă? Ě‹
Money Market Indicators (in Percentage) Month
March 2018
Inter-Bank Call Rate
15.16
Minimum Rediscount Rate (MRR) Monetary Policy Rate (MPR)
14.00
Treasury Bill Rate
11.84
Savings Deposit Rate
4.07
1 Month Deposit Rate
8.82
3 Months Deposit Rate
9.72
6 Months Deposit Rate
10.93
12 Months Deposit Rate
10.21
Prime Lending rate
17.35
Maximum Lending Rate
31.55
Ëž Ă™Ă˜Ă?ĂžĂ‹ĂœĂŁ ÙÖÓĂ?ĂŁ Ă‹ĂžĂ? Ě‹ ͯ͹Ϲ
OPEC DAILY BASKET PRICE AS AT THRSDAY, 23 MAY 2019
Vienna, Austria, 24 May 2019--The price of OPEC basket of fourteen crudes stood at $68.56 a barrel on Thursday, compared with $71.03 the previous day, according to OPEC Secretariat calculations. The OPEC Reference Basket of Crudes (ORB) is made up of the following: Saharan Blend (Algeria), Girassol (Angola), Djeno (Congo), Oriente (Ecuador), ZaďŹ ro (Equatorial Guinea), Rabi Light (Gabon), Iran Heavy (Islamic Republic of Iran), Basra Light (Iraq), Kuwait Export (Kuwait), Es Sider (Libya), Bonny Light (Nigeria), Arab Light (Saudi Arabia), Murban (UAE) and Merey (Venezuela). SOURCE: OPEC headquarters, Vienna
37
T H I S D AY Ëž Ëœ Í°ÍľËœ Ͱ͎ͯ͡
MARKET NEWS
Flour Mills of Nigeria, Mixta Real Estate Shop for N13bn CP Goddy Egene Flour Mills of Nigeria Plc and Mixta Real Estate Plc are raising N12 billion and N3 billion in commercial paper respectively to support their short term funding requirements. While Flour Mills of Nigeria Plc is raising the N12 billion in the series 8 of its N100 billion CP programme, Mixta Real Estate is raising N3 billion in the third and fourth series of its N15 billion
CP programme. The Flour Mills CP has a tenor of 270 days and a yield of 13.1 per cent. The offer opened on Wednesday May 22, and would close tomorrow, May 28, 2019. On the other hand, Mixta Real Estate series six is for 180 days with a yield of 14.67 per cent, just as the series 7 is for 266 days and has a yield of 15.36 per cent. The offer opened on Thursday May 23, 2019 and will close today.
P R I C E S MAIN BOARD
F O R DEALS
Flour Mills of Nigeria has been making efforts to reduce its financing costs. That effort led to an injection of N40 billion equity into through a rights issue last year. That move paid off for the company in its nine months results when finance cost reduced by 34 per cent to N16.5 billion, from N25.2 billion of the same period last year. According to the company, the reduction is due to settlement of overdraft facilities and replacement
S E C U R I T I E S MARKET PRICE
QUANTITY TRADED
VALUE TRADED ( N )
of high interest yielding loans with more favorable loans. Flour Mills of Nigeria Plc last week reported a profit after tax of N7.895 billion for the nine months ended December 31, 2018, down from N13.247 billion recorded in the corresponding period of the previous year. The profit was recorded from a revenue of N400.6 billion compared with N427.508 billion in 2017. According to the company, the drop in revenue was disappointedly related to
T R A D E D MAIN BOARD
A S
the logistic upheavals posed by the traffic challenges in Apapa. Commenting on the result, the Group Managing Director, FMN, Paul Gbededo, said:“The results are largely a reflection of our focus on driving volume growth while improving operational efficiency and ramping up strategic marketing and promotional activities to win over new market segments in our food business. Despite the devastating effect of the traffic congestions in Apapa on our
O F
operations, we are quite positive that we will see improvements across major business segments before the close of the financial year as we continue to focus on delivering on our promise of quality to our consumers.� The company noted that continued strong sales and brand building focus has ensured a further growth in market share and strengthened the group’s market leader position within the flour market.
2 4 / 0 5 / 2 0 1 9 DEALS
MARKET PRICE
QUANTITY TRADED
VALUE TRADED ( N)
˾ MONDAY, MAY 27, 2019
38
Monday, May 27, 2019
ŽŵĞƐƟĐ ƋƵŝƟĞƐ DĂƌŬĞƚ͗ Ƶůů ZƵŶ ŽŶƟŶƵĞƐ͙ ^/
THISDAY AFRINVEST 40 INDEX
ƵƉ ϳ͘Ϭй Building on the momentum from MTNN͛Ɛ ůŝƐƟŶŐ͕ ƚŚĞ ůŽĐĂů ďŽƵƌƐĞ ƐƵƐƚĂŝŶĞĚ Ă ƉŽƐŝƟǀĞ ƉĞƌĨŽƌŵĂŶĐĞ ƚŚŝƐ ǁĞĞŬ ĂƐ ƚŚĞ ůů ^ŚĂƌĞ /ŶĚĞdž ; ^/Ϳ ƌĞĐŽƌĚĞĚ ŐĂŝŶƐ ŽŶ ϰ ŽĨ ϱ ƚƌĂĚŝŶŐ ƐĞƐƐŝŽŶƐ͕
Fundamental Performance Metrics for THISDAY AFRINVEST 40 Index
Ticker
Current Price
THISDAY AFRINVEST 40
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ƚŽ ƐĞƩůĞ Ăƚ ϯϬ͘ϴϴϭ͘ϯ ƉŽŝŶƚƐ͕ zd ƌĞƚƵƌŶ ŝŵƉƌŽǀĞĚ ƚŽ -ϭ͘ϳй ĂŶĚ ŵĂƌŬĞƚ ĐĂƉŝƚĂůŝƐĂƟŽŶ ŝŶĐƌĞĂƐĞĚ ďLJ Eϴϴϱ͘ϬďŶ ƚŽ Eϭϯ͘ϲƚŶ͘ ^ŝŵŝůĂƌůLJ͕ ĂĐƟǀŝƚLJ ůĞǀĞů ƐƚƌĞŶŐƚŚĞŶĞĚ ĂƐ ĂǀĞƌĂŐĞ ǀŽůƵŵĞ ĂŶĚ ǀĂůƵĞ ƚƌĂĚĞĚ ĂĚǀĂŶĐĞĚ ϰϲ͘ϵй ĂŶĚ Ϯϲϱ͘Ϯй ƚŽ Ϯϵϰ͘ϭŵ ƵŶŝƚƐ ĂŶĚ Eϲ͘ϲďŶ ƌĞƐƉĞĐƟǀĞůLJ͘ dŚĞ ƚŽƉ ƚƌĂĚĞĚ ƐƚŽĐŬƐ ďLJ ǀŽůƵŵĞ ǁĞƌĞ DdEE ;ϮϵϬ͘ϭŵ ƵŶŝƚƐͿ͕ ^KsZ E/E^ ;Ϯϴϭ͘ϴŵ ƵŶŝƚƐͿ ĂŶĚ h ;ϭϬϬ͘ϯŵ ƵŶŝƚƐͿ ǁŚŝůĞ DdEE ;ϯϵ͘ϲďŶͿ͕ E' D ;Eϯ͘ϯďŶͿ ĂŶĚ 'h Z Edz ;Eϭ͘ϵďŶͿ ǁĞƌĞ ƚŚĞ ƚŽƉ ƚƌĂĚĞĚ ƐƚŽĐŬƐ ďLJ ǀĂůƵĞ͘
ƚ ƚŚĞ ƐƚĂƌƚ ŽĨ ƚŚĞ ǁĞĞŬ͕ ďĂƌŐĂŝŶ ŚƵŶƟŶŐ ŝŶ DdEE ĂŶĚ E' D ďƵŽLJĞĚ ƚŚĞ ďĞŶĐŚŵĂƌŬ ŝŶĚĞdž͕ ƵƉ ϭ͘ϳй t-o-t͘ KŶ dƵĞƐĚĂLJ ĂŶĚ tĞĚŶĞƐĚĂLJ͕ ƚŚŝƐ ǁĂƐ ƐƵƐƚĂŝŶĞĚ ǁŝƚŚ ŐĂŝŶƐ ŽĨ Ϯ͘ϵй ĂŶĚ ϯ͘ϭй t-o-t ƌĞƐƉĞĐƟǀĞůLJ ĨŽůůŽǁŝŶŐ ƉƌŝĐĞ ĂƉƉƌĞĐŝĂƟŽŶ ŝŶ ŵĂƌŬĞƚ ďĞůůǁĞƚŚĞƌƐ – DdEE͕ E' D ĂŶĚ
'h Z Edz͘ ^ŝŵŝůĂƌůLJ͕ ƐƵƐƚĂŝŶĞĚ ďƵLJŝŶŐ ŝŶƚĞƌĞƐƚ ŝŶ E' D͕
Price Previous Current Change Price Weightin YTD Change g
Price Change Index to Date
ROE
ROA
P/E
P/BV
Divindend Earnings Yield Yield
1,314.05
-0.01%
-10.5%
31.4%
16.8%
6.0%
4.6x
0.7x
6.3%
15.7%
1 Guaranty Trust Bank PLC
31.10
0.2%
19.4%
-9.7%
-9.9%
33.1%
5.3%
4.6x
1.5x
8.8%
21.5%
2 Zenith Bank PLC
19.00
1.1%
11.5%
-17.6%
-8.4%
24.7%
3.2%
3.2x
0.8x
14.7%
31.3%
200.00
-2.4%
10.7%
5.4%
7.5%
40.1%
21.8%
9.0x
3.3x
8.2%
11.1%
1,400.00
2.6%
8.6%
-5.7%
-5.1%
81.2%
27.4%
23.5x
17.6x
4.2%
4.3%
58.00
-6.0%
4.6%
-32.2%
-24.2%
9.5%
4.4%
26.6x
2.7x
4.2%
3.8%
3 Dangote Cement PLC 4 Nestle Nigeria PLC 5 Nigerian Brew eries PLC 6 FBN Holdings Plc
7.05
1.4%
5.3%
-11.3%
-11.9%
10.0%
1.1%
4.2x
0.5x
3.7%
23.7%
14.00
0.0%
3.6%
-27.8%
-27.8%
4.7%
4.3%
4.1x
0.5x
2.9%
24.6%
8 United Bank for Africa PLC
5.75
1.8%
3.7%
-25.3%
-26.3%
15.5%
1.7%
2.4x
0.4x
15.0%
40.9%
9 International Brew eries PLC
20.00
0.0%
2.6%
-34.4%
-36.5%
-23.8%
-3.2%
520.00
0.0%
3.2%
-18.8%
-16.2%
10.1%
6.3%
5.1x
0.5x
3.5%
19.8%
8.6%
7 Cement Co Northern Nigeria PLC
10 SEPLAT Petroleum Development C 11 Access Bank PLC
4.9x
-1.8%
5.80
-0.9%
3.2%
-14.7%
-10.8%
22.2%
2.1%
1.5x
0.4x
12 Ecobank Transnational Inc
10.05
9.8%
2.3%
-28.2%
-29.7%
15.3%
1.2%
2.8x
0.4x
13 Stanbic IBTC Holdings PLC
42.05
-4.5%
2.6%
-12.3%
-9.4%
30.3%
4.6%
6.3x
1.7x
3.5%
14 Unilever Nigeria PLC
31.00
-3.1%
2.3%
-16.2%
-16.2%
12.7%
7.7%
17.3x
2.1x
4.8%
5.8%
15 Lafarge Africa PLC
10.00
0.0%
1.5%
-19.7%
-16.7%
-53.7%
-7.9%
0.7x
14.6%
-63.0%
16 Guinness Nigeria PLC
50.50
0.0%
1.0%
-29.9%
-29.9%
6.8%
3.7%
16.9x
1.3x
3.6%
5.9%
17 Okomu Oil Palm PLC
74.00
0.0%
1.4%
-2.9%
-2.9%
21.0%
16.0%
11.7x
2.4x
4.5%
8.6%
18 Total Nigeria PLC
162.00
0.0%
1.2%
-20.2%
-20.2%
19.3%
4.5%
9.5x
1.8x
10.6%
10.6%
19 11 PLC
175.00
0.0%
1.3%
-5.7%
-5.7%
38.0%
16.8%
5.8x
2.0x
4.7%
17.1%
13.80
-4.2%
0.8%
-40.3%
-37.8%
6.6%
2.0%
6.4x
0.4x
7.2%
4.40
1.1%
1.1%
-12.0%
-8.3%
14.3%
2.5%
2.0x
0.3x
22 Fidelity Bank PLC
1.81
9.7%
1.1%
-10.8%
-10.8%
12.7%
1.4%
2.2x
0.3x
6.5%
23 Transnational Corp of Nigeria
1.14
0.0%
1.0%
-13.6%
-9.5%
16.4%
3.6%
4.3x
0.7x
2.6%
23.5%
24 Dangote Sugar Refinery PLC
13.35
-0.4%
0.9%
-12.5%
-9.8%
22.3%
12.6%
6.7x
1.5x
8.2%
14.9%
26 FCMB Group Plc
1.60
0.0%
0.6%
-15.3%
-11.1%
8.8%
1.2%
2.0x
27 UAC of Nigeria PLC
6.45
0.8%
0.4%
-33.8%
-32.5%
-7.9%
-3.6%
20 Flour Mills of Nigeria PLC 21 Oando PLC
67.8% 35.4% 15.9%
15.7% 50.1% 46.2%
25 Diamond Bank PLC
E ^d> ĂŶĚ 'h Z Edz ůŝŌĞĚ ƚŚĞ ŵĂƌŬĞƚ ŽŶ dŚƵƌƐĚĂLJ ĂƐ ƚŚĞ ^/ ĂĚǀĂŶĐĞĚ ϭ͘ϭй t-o-t͘ LJ ƚŚĞ ĐůŽƐĞ ŽĨ ƚŚĞ ǁĞĞŬ͕ ƚŚĞ ŵĂƌŬĞƚ ƐŚĞĚ ϭ͘ϵй ĚƵĞ ƚŽ ƉƌŽĮƚ ƚĂŬŝŶŐ ŝŶ E' D͕ E/' Z/ E Z t Z/ ^ ĂŶĚ ^d E / ͘
WĞƌĨŽƌŵĂŶĐĞ ĂĐƌŽƐƐ ƐĞĐƚŽƌƐ ǁĂƐ ŵŝdžĞĚ t-o-t ĂƐ ϯ ŽĨ ϲ ŝŶĚŝĐĞƐ ƵŶĚĞƌ ŽƵƌ ĐŽǀĞƌĂŐĞ ĐůŽƐĞĚ ŶŽƌƚŚǁĂƌĚƐ͘ dŚĞ &Z-/ d ŝŶĚĞdž ŐĂŝŶĞĚ ƚŚĞ ŵŽƐƚ͕ ƵƉ Ϯϴ͘Ϯй ĚƵĞ ƚŽ ƉƌŝĐĞ ĂƉƉƌĞĐŝĂƟŽŶ ŝŶ DdEE ;нϮϴ͘ϲͿ͘ /Ŷ ƚŚĞ ƐĂŵĞ ǀĞŝŶ͕ ďƵLJŝŶŐ ŝŶƚĞƌĞƐƚ ŝŶ E' D ;нϭϯ͘ϲйͿ͕ d '> ^ ;нϳ͘ϲйͿ͕ // K ;нϲ͘ϮйͿ ĂŶĚ E D ;нϳ͘ϯйͿ
/ŶĚĞdž ůĞĚ ĚĞĐůŝŶĞƌƐ ĂƐ ŝƚ ĚŝƉƉĞĚ ϯ͘Ϭй͕ ĚƌĂŐŐĞĚ ďLJ ƉƌŽĮƚ ƚĂŬŝŶŐ in >/s ^dK < ;-ϭϱ͘ϲйͿ ĂŶĚ &>KhZD/>> ;-ϭϮ͘ϭйͿ͘ dŚĞ ĂŶŬŝŶŐ ĂŶĚ Kŝů Θ 'ĂƐ ŝŶĚŝĐĞƐ ƐŝŵŝůĂƌůLJ ƐŚĞĚ ϭ͘ϴй ĂŶĚ Ϭ͘ϳй t-o-t ƌĞƐƉĞĐƟǀĞůLJ ĂƐ ^^ ;-ϭϬ͘ϭйͿ͕ h ;-ϰ͘ϮйͿ ĂŶĚ K E K ;ϴ͘ϯdžйͿ ƌĞĐŽƌĚĞĚ ůŽƐƐĞƐ͘
/ŶǀĞƐƚŽƌ ƐĞŶƟŵĞŶƚ ĂƐ ŵĞĂƐƵƌĞĚ ďLJ ŵĂƌŬĞƚ ďƌĞĂĚƚŚ ;ĂĚǀĂŶĐĞͬ
ƉĞƌĨŽƌŵĞƌƐ ƚŚŝƐ ǁĞĞŬ ǁĞƌĞ d,KD ^tz ;нϮϵ͘ϬйͿ͕ DdEE ;нϮϴ͘ϲйͿ ĂŶĚ E' D ;нϭϯ͘ϲйͿ ǁŚŝůĞ ^d Z>/E' ;-ϭϳ͘ϮйͿ͕ Dz ;-ϭϲ͘ϳйͿ ĂŶĚ E /D d, ;-ϭϲ͘ϰйͿ ůĞĚ ůĂŐŐĂƌĚƐ͘ &ŽůůŽǁŝŶŐ Ă ďƵůůŝƐŚ ƉĞƌĨŽƌŵĂŶĐĞ ƚŚŝƐ ǁĞĞŬ͕ ǁĞ ĞdžƉĞĐƚ ƐĞůů ƉƌĞƐƐƵƌĞƐ ŶĞdžƚ ǁĞĞŬ ĂƐ ŝŶǀĞƐƚŽƌƐ ůŽŽŬ ƚŽ ƚĂŬĞ ƉƌŽĮƚ ŽŶ ƐƚŽĐŬƐ
ƚŚĂƚ ŚĂǀĞ ƌĞĐŽƌĚĞĚ ƐƚƌŽŶŐ ŐĂŝŶƐ͘
Afrinvest West Africa Limited
50.0% -30.3%
2.07
-1.4%
0.6%
8.9%
8.9%
9.3%
0.9%
6.4x
0.6x
58.00
0.0%
0.4%
-9.4%
-9.4%
37.0%
24.8%
2.3x
0.7x
3.6%
30 NASCON Allied Industries PLC
17.00
0.0%
0.4%
-5.6%
-5.6%
32.2%
12.9%
11.1x
3.6x
5.9%
31 Forte Oil PLC
27.80
0.0%
0.4%
-3.1%
-0.7%
48.9%
7.4%
32 Union Bank of Nigeria PLC
7.00
0.0%
0.5%
25.0%
25.0%
6.6%
1.2%
12.2x
0.9x
23.00
0.0%
0.3%
14.4%
4.1%
19.9%
2.3%
4.7x
0.9x
34 PZ Cussons Nigeria PLC
15.7%
2.1x
33 Julius Berger Nigeria PLC
43.7% 9.0% -7.6% 8.2%
8.7%
21.5%
8.50
0.0%
0.2%
-29.8%
-30.9%
0.8x
1.8%
34.00
0.0%
0.2%
-2.4%
-2.4%
68.7%
31.5%
11.5x
7.2x
8.5%
8.7%
36 Wema Bank PLC
0.59
-1.7%
0.2%
-6.3%
-6.3%
7.3%
0.7%
6.1x
0.4x
5.1%
16.3%
37 Beta Glass PLC
75.00
0.0%
0.2%
9.8%
9.8%
38 Dangote Flour Mills Plc
16.10
0.9%
0.4%
135.0%
143.9%
-15.8%
-5.1%
39 Transcorp Hotels Plc
5.40
0.0%
0.1%
-11.5%
-9.2%
6.0%
3.2%
40 AXA Mansard Insurance PLC
1.80
0.0%
0.1%
-1.6%
-1.6%
11.0%
3.1%
35 Chemical and Allied Products P
T o p 10 T r a d e s b y V o l u m e T ic k er
1.2x
1.9%
2.5x
1.2%
12.0x
0.7x
2.8%
7.9x
0.9x
8.3%
T o p 10 G a i n e r s
P ric e C hg %
GUA R A N T Y
54.8
0.2%
ET I
10.05
9.8%
UB A
46.2
1.8%
F ID SON
5.05
9.8%
A C C ESS
40.0
-0.9%
F ID ELIT YB K
1.81
9.7%
Z EN IT H B A N K
31.7
1.1%
J A P A ULOIL
0.26
8.3%
FB NH
T ic k er
P ric e
P ric e C hg %
7.7%
18.5
1.4%
A B CTRA NS
0.28
F ID ELIT YB K
9.3
9.7%
A GLEVEN T
0.30
7.1%
F LOUR M ILL
8.5
-4.2%
UC A P
2.24
6.7%
D A N GC EM
7.8
-2.4%
C A VER T ON
2.40
6.2%
M TNN
7.7
-6.0%
C OUR T VILLE
0.22
4.8%
NB
7.1
-6.0%
A IIC O
0.69
4.5%
T o p 10 T r a d e s b y V a l u e
T o p 10 L o s e r s
T ic k er
Value
P ric e C hg %
GUA R A N T Y
1700.9
0.2%
N EIM ET H
0.51
-8.9%
D A N GC EM
1536.2
-2.4%
C H IP LC
0.23
-8.0%
M TNN
1156.6
-6.0%
A C A D EM Y
0.25
-7.4%
Z EN IT H B A N K
603.6
1.1%
413.1
-6.0%
NB
-7.0%
12.7%
Vo lum e
ĚĞĐůŝŶĞ ƌĂƟŽͿ ƐƚƌĞŶŐƚŚĞŶĞĚ ƚŽ Ϭ͘ϳdž ĨƌŽŵ Ϭ͘ϰdž ƌĞĐŽƌĚĞĚ ůĂƐƚ &ƌŝĚĂLJ ĂƐ Ϯϳ ƐƚŽĐŬƐ ĂĚǀĂŶĐĞĚ ĂŐĂŝŶƐƚ ϯϴ ƚŚĂƚ ĚĞĐůŝŶĞĚ͘ dŚĞ ƚŽƉ
8.7% 9.9%
29 Presco PLC
28 Sterling Bank PLC
ĚƌŽǀĞ ƚŚĞ /ŶĚƵƐƚƌŝĂů 'ŽŽĚƐ ĂŶĚ /ŶƐƵƌĂŶĐĞ ŝŶĚŝĐĞƐ ϯ͘ϱй ĂŶĚ ϭ͘Ϯй ŚŝŐŚĞƌ ƌĞƐƉĞĐƟǀĞůLJ͘ KŶ ƚŚĞ ŇŝƉƐŝĚĞ͕ ƚŚĞ ŽŶƐƵŵĞƌ 'ŽŽĚƐ
0.2x 0.3x
T ic k er
P ric e
M TNN
P ric e C hg %
140.00
-6.0%
NB
58.00
-6.0%
ST A N B IC
UB A
262.4
1.8%
42.05
-4.5%
A C C ESS
232.1
-0.9%
UN IT YB N K
0.65
-4.4%
N EST LE
209.2
2.6%
R OYA LEX
0.22
-4.3%
FB NH
129.9
1.4%
F LOUR M ILL
13.80
-4.2%
F LOUR M ILL
118.6
-4.2%
NA HCO
3.30
-3.2%
Brokerage
Asset Management
Investment Research
Ayodeji Ebo | aebo@afrinvest.com
Ola Belgore | obelgore@afrinvest.com
Robert Omotunde | romotunde@afrinvest.com
Adedoyin Allen | aallen@afrinvest.com Oluwarotimi Ashimi | oashimi@afrinvest.com
Jolomi Odonghanro | jodonghanro@afrinvest.com
39
MONDAY, MAY 27, 2019 ˾ T H I S D AY
MARKET NEWS
Berger Paints Pays N188m Dividend, Restructures for Competitiveness Judith Obaze Berger Paints Nigeria Plc has embarked on transformation initiatives to enhance its market dominance for the next 60 years. The transformation, which covers the company’s structure, people, processes and digital operations have been endorsed by the company’s board of directors.
This is coming just as shareholders of the company approved the sum of N188.385 million to be paid as dividend which translates into 65 kobo per share. The shareholders gave the approval at the company’s annual general meeting (AGM) held in Lagos last Thursday. Addressing the shareholders, the Chairman of Berger Paints
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
Nigeria Plc, Mr. Abi Ayida, the company’s revenue grew by 12 per cent to N3.377 billion in 2018 as against N3.013 billion in the previous year while profit before tax stood at N454. 3 million, representing growth of 33.8 percent over N339.5 million recorded in the corresponding year. Ayida explained that on
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 23May-2019, unless otherwise stated.
assumption of office, and after due consultation with the various units of the company and meetings with the relevant stakeholders, it was imperative for the company to re-position for global competitiveness and sustainable increase on return on investment (ROI). “On assumption of office, I solicited views on how
this required journey could be made, and attained unvarnished narrative of what we as employees, partners, stakeholders and leaders were doing well and what not so well .The outcome of these valuable sessions, after Board review and consideration, confirmed that there was significant headroom for improvement in our people,
processes and organisational structure,” he said. Ayida attributed the company’s performance to collective efforts of the board, management and secretariat. He reiterated the company’s commitment towards value creation and assured shareholders of more opportunities for robust engagement with the stakeholders.
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: +234 818 885 6757 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Afrinvest Equity Fund 145.70 147.49 -7.45% Afrinvest Plutus Fund 100.00 100.00 8.11% Nigeria International Debt Fund 277.23 277.23 1.47% 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 N/A N/A N/A ACAP Income Funds N/A N/A N/A 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 13.27% AIICO Balanced Fund 2.30 2.32 3.26% 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 15.51 15.98 -6.51% ARM Discovery Fund 344.98 355.39 -3.27% ARM Ethical Fund 29.13 30.01 3.15% ARM Money Market Fund 1.00 1.00 13.11% 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 96.31 96.99 -4.82% AXA Mansard Money Market Fund 1.00 1.00 12.34% CAPITAL EXPRESS ASSET AND TRUST LIMITED info@capitalexpressassetandtrust.com Web: www.capitalexpressassetandtrust.com ; Tel: +234 803 307 5048 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn CEAT Fixed Income Fund 1.82 1.82 14.74% 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 13.76% Paramount Equity Fund 12.01 12.10 1.64% Women's Investment Fund 105.68 106.22 1.99% 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 12.70% Cordros Milestone Fund 2023 98.91 99.37 Cordros Milestone Fund 2028 98.87 99.18 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 12.31% Coronation Balanced Fund 0.82 0.82 Coronation Fixed Income Fund 1.20 1.20 6.73% 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 12.51% EDC Nigeria Money Market Fund Class B 1,000,000.00 1,000,000.00 12.26% FBNQUEST ASSET MANAGEMENT LTD invest@fbnquest.com Web: www.fbnquest.com/asset-management; Tel: +234-81 0082 0082 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn FBN Fixed Income Fund 1,189.26 1,190.09 6.53% FBN Heritage Fund 143.38 144.34 0.42% FBN Money Market Fund 100.00 100.00 13.15% FBN Nigeria Eurobond (USD) Fund - Institutional 115.80 116.19 4.86% FBN Nigeria Eurobond (USD) Fund - Retail 115.78 116.18 5.10% FBN Nigeria Smart Beta Equity Fund 137.51 139.46 -8.33% 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 Money Market Fund 1.00 1.00 11.28% Legacy Debt Fund 3.40 3.40 4.81% Legacy Equity Fund 1.12 1.14 -7.92% Legacy USD Bond Fund 1.05 1.05 1.88% FSDH ASSET MANAGEMENT LTD coralfunds@fsdhgroup.com Web: www.fsdhaml.com; Tel: 01-270 4884-5; 01-280 9740-1 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Coral Growth Fund 2,967.02 2,996.33 -0.58% Coral Income Fund 2,893.53 2,893.53 5.62% GREENWICH ASSET MANAGEMENT LIMITED assetmanagement@gtlgroup.com Web: www.gtlgroup.com ; Tel: +234 1 4619261-2 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Greenwich Plus Money Market Fund 100.00 100.00 11.74% Nigeria Entertainment Fund 107.00 107.38 -0.28% GROWTH & DEVELOPMENT ASSET MANAGEMENT LIMITED assetmanagement@gdl.com.ng Web: www.gdl.com.ng ; Tel: +234 9055691122 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn GDL Money Market Fund 10.00 10.00 12.98%
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 12.42% Vantage Balanced Fund 2.11 2.13 -1.74% Vantage Guaranteed Income Fund 1.00 1.00 15.88% Kedari Investment Fund (KIF) 130.20 130.28 4.18% 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 1.22 1.25 6.62% Lotus Halal Fixed Income Fund 1,100.11 1,100.11 5.38% 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 10.72 10.78 -6.95% Meristem Money Market Fund 10.00 10.00 12.05% PAC ASSET MANAGEMENT LTD info@pacassetmanagement.com Web: www.pacassetmanagement.com/mutualfunds; Tel: +234 1 271 8632 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn PACAM Balanced Fund N/A N/A N/A PACAM Fixed Income Fund N/A N/A N/A PACAM Money Market Fund N/A N/A N/A SCM CAPITAL LIMITED info@scmcapitalng.com Web: www.scmcapitalng.com; Tel: +234 1-280 2226,+234 1- 280 2227 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn SCM Capital Frontier Fund 120.25 120.63 -0.47% 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 1.02 1.02 5.48% 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 2,359.12 2,372.76 1.94% Stanbic IBTC Bond Fund 201.24 201.24 5.84% Stanbic IBTC Ethical Fund 0.92 0.93 -2.63% Stanbic IBTC Guaranteed Investment Fund 254.60 254.70 5.04% Stanbic IBTC Iman Fund 159.53 161.49 -2.16% Stanbic IBTC Money Market Fund 100.00 100.00 12.67% Stanbic IBTC Nigerian Equity Fund 8,154.32 8,259.14 -3.90% Stanbic IBTC Dollar Fund (USD) 1.11 1.11 2.46% 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 1.19 1.20 -0.15% United Capital Bond Fund 1.69 1.69 6.26% United Capital Equity Fund 0.68 0.69 -3.86% United Capital Money Market Fund 1.00 1.00 13.10% United Capital Eurobond Fund 110.79 110.79 3.29% United Capital Wealth for Women Fund 1.12 1.12 2.41% 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 10.58 10.75 0.37% Zenith Ethical Fund Zenith Income Fund Zenith Money Market Fund
11.93 21.81 1.00
12.08 21.81 1.00
0.00% 13.12% 11.74%
REITS NAV Per Share
Yield / T-Rtn
5.40 120.77 52.38
-44.85% 2.58% 1.24%
Bid Price
Offer Price
Yield / T-Rtn
10.02 98.80 81.96
10.12 100.89 83.47
-5.01% -15.78% -7.57%
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
3.42 6.21 13.32 11.23 155.79
3.46 6.29 13.42 11.43 157.79
-14.52% -18.38% -10.84% -9.04% 8.48%
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.
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NEWS XTRA
50% of Apapa Gridlock Cleared, Says Opeifa Truck owners hail removal of security agencies Esther Oluku The Team Lead of the Presidential Committee on Clearing of Apapa Port and Access Roads, Kayode Opeifa yesterday said the gridlock has been cleared by 50 per cent. This is coming as the federal government’s withdrawal of the Nigerian Naval officers and other military personnel from controlling traffic at the Apapa Port has been lauded as a welcome development by some truck owners. Opeifa said the clearing of trucks on Apapa port and access roads are moving steadily and
the roads would soon be totally cleared of trucks. His assessment came barely 24 hours after the expiration of the Presidential Order issued on Wednesday, ordering the clearing of all trucks from the Apapa port and roads. Opeifa, who was representing the Chairman of the Committee and Vice President Prof Yemi Osinbajo, scored the exercise “as above average” within the first 24 hours of the deadline. He said the cleanup is going on and that most of the roads would be cleared of all trucks by Monday. The president in issuing the
Missing Adewura Bello Found Dead in Lagos Canal Sunday Ehigiator A chartered accountant, Adewura Bello, 26, who was declared missing two weeks ago, has been found dead. Bello had gone missing on May 15 while on her way home from work. She was said to have been on a motorcycle inside Gowon Estate and might have been carried away by flood occasioned by heavy downpour that evening. In the course of her search, residents of the area had posted on social media that a woman about her size and age was washed away by flood through a manhole shortly after the motorcyclist carrying her was advised not to proceed. Shortly after the warning, the flood slept them but the motorcyclist was said to have survived the mishap and was arrested, handed over to Mosalashi Police Station. The writers had asked the family to check with the police station so that the motorcyclist could identify if the woman he carried that evening was
the missing Bello. Following the lead, her family was said to have identified her body yesterday night after it was found in a canal around Iyana Ipaja. Twitter user @OfficiallBmax broke the news on social media, thanking Nigerians for their support and prayers during the search. Although it could not be ascertained if her body was recovered from the canal yesterday or whether there were marks suggestive of abduction and murder as feared by some commenters; the Lagos State Police Command ruled out abduction insisting no ransom was demanded. Spokesman Bala Elkana, a Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) told reporters that it cannot be concluded yet if it was Belo’s body that was recovered since it was already decomposing. He said: “A body has been recovered at a canal in Ipaja, but it cannot be concluded yet if it is hers as the body was already decomposing.
order set up a task force headed by Vice president Yemi Osinbajo to clear the Apapa gridlock and its environs within two weeks. “The Taskforce, which will report directly to the President, has included on its Terms of Reference the development of an efficient and effective management plan for the entire port area traffic, including the cargo, fuel distribution, and business district traffic.” Speaking with journalists yesterday, Opeifa said most of the roads especially the only leading to the port, have been cleared. He said because of the nature of the vehicles, and the huge numbers involved, trucks could still be found on the roads but efforts are being made to clear as much of them as possible
off the road. According to him; “The trucks could not comply fully because of their number, however, we are using a combination of stakeholder engagement, traffic management direction and enforcement to clear up to port road inside Apapa. This is also backed up by a manual call up system by the Nigerian Port Authority (NPA), which has started using the newly deployed empty container return yard at Lillypond Terminal. This is the centre point for empty container return as well as call up stag in deployment point for port access.” Meanwhile, the federal government’s withdrawal of the Nigerian Naval officers and other military personnel from controlling traffic at the
Apapa Port has been lauded as a welcome development by some truck owners. The Lagos State Vice President, National Association of Road Transport Owners (NARTO), Dry Cargo Sector, Mr. Abdullahi Mohammad-Inunwa, gave the commendation yesterday. He told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in a telephone interview that the directive was a welcome development to his members. The federal government had last Wednesday mandated the Nigerian Navy and all other military formations to withdraw from traffic management duties in and around the Apapa axis. It also said that all military and paramilitary checkpoints in front of the ports and environs
should be dismantled. The government said that the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA) should move into Apapa as the lead traffic management agency. It also said that the NPA should commence the immediate use of the Lilypond Terminal and Trailer Park ‘A’ as a truck transit park. He said that the inclusion of the security agencies in the task force had compounded the gridlock in and around the port. He said, “when President Muhammadu Buhari visited Lagos during his electioneering, the trucks were cleared off the roads within hours. “The public then asked what magic was performed by us to achieve it.
AFTER BREAKING FAST WITH MR. PRESIDENT…
L-R: Chairman of Air Peace, Mr. Allen Onyema; Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mr. Godwin Emefiele; Chairman/Chief Executive Officer, Lee Engineering and Construction Company, Chief Leemon Ikpea, and Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Mr. Boss Mustapha, shortly after the breaking of Ramadan fast with President Muhammadu Buhari, at the Presidential Villa, Abuja…weekend
Edo Monarch Urges Obaseki to Settle Rift with Oshiomhole 50% of Power Generated in Nigeria is Stolen by Customers, BEDC Alleges
Shola Oyeyipo in Abuja
Amidst torrents of endorsements for second term and accolades of good performance, Governor Godwin Obaseki of Edo State has been advised to resolve all disagreement between him and his predecessor, the All Progressives Congress (APC) National Chairman, Adams Oshiohmole before aspiring for second term. The Okanlete of Esan Land, Major General Cecil Esekhaigbe (rtd), who gave the advise in a statement titled: ‘Governor Godwin Obaseki and the Cocktail of Endorsements,’ said rather than relying on endorsements, Obaseki should do the needful by immediately reaching out to his predecessor (Oshiohmole), to sort out whatever grievances they may have against each other. According to the traditional ruler, “evidence abound in Edo State and elsewhere, where attempts to replace an existing formidable political structure, with a new self-styled own structure caused a collateral irreparable political damage. “He (Obaseki) should
be conscious and resist the temptation of being misguided by the assumed support of many political soldiers without weapons. It is obvious that the political class in Edo State All Progressives Congress (APC) is yet to realise the need for genuine rapprochement between the governor and his predecessor. Every well-meaning APC stalwart should support the state party chairman towards this rapprochement, as they must be conscious of the fact that Edo State is not a one-party state. This is not the time to play the ostrich and subterfuge is not a virtue.” Esekhaigbe said emphatically that “I enjoin Governor Obaseki to bridge any gap with Adams Oshiomhole and other political leaders before crossing the start-line for the imminent political battle. “This does not connote mortgaging his political authority and freedom of action as governor of our dear state. Such unnecessary political battles remind me of the scotched-earth tactics which naturally leads to Armageddon.
The Managing Director of the Benin Electricity Distribution Company (BEDC), Mrs. Funke Osibodu, has alleged that 50 per cent of power generated in Nigeria is stolen by consumers across the country. Osibodu who made the allegation yesterday during an interactive session with journalists in Benin, said that the act was being carried out through illegal connections and bypassing of meters by customers, especially in BEDC franchise areas. She said that the rising rate
of electricity theft in the country had resulted in huge financial losses in the power sector. “Electricity theft and vandalism of our electrical infrastructure continues to be a major menace and set back which needs urgent intervention in order to sustain the power sector across the country. “ln Edo alone, about 39 transformers have been vandalised in the last four months and so many customers bypass their meters. “We have reported the
upsurge to the security agencies for investigation. It is important that customers and communities continue to to watch over these assets as such vandals end up throwing all parties in the area into darkness,” she said. Osibodu called on all state housees of assembly in the country to domesticate the federal law criminalising electricity theft to reduce the upsurge. “There is a substituting federal law that has criminalised electricity theft with up to
21 years imprisonment for vandalism and electricity theft. “In line with the anticorruption war, various states are now passing their own electricity theft law which is not unique to BEDC areas. There is federal law already that needs to be domesticated. “We are aware that Ekiti has activated the act in the state while Edo State House of Assembly passed the electricity theft law last week, prescribing two years jail term for offenders,” Osibodu said.
NNPC Records $490m from Crude Oil, Gas Export Kasim Sumaina in Abuja The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) at the weekend said it posted a total of $490.03 million in export of crude oil and gas in February 2019, indicating a 32.45 per cent rise over the previous month’s sale. Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Group General Manager, Group Public Affairs Division, Mr. Ndu Ughamadu,
in the February 2019 edition of the corporation’s monthly financial and operations report (MFOR) in Abuja, stated that crude oil export sales contributed $350.29 million (71.48 per cent) of the dollar transactions compared with $240.23 million contribution in the previous month. The report, being the 43rd edition of the NNPC MFOR, explained that the exported gas sales amounted to $139.74million in the month under review, stating that the
February 2018 to February 2019 crude oil and gas transactions indicated that crude oil and gas worth of $5.94billion was exported The report also announced a 40 per cent drop in recorded cases of oil pipeline vandalism in February 2019 when compared with the reported incidents of January 2019. A breakdown of the report indicated that in February 2019, a total of 137 pipeline points were vandalised which translated to 40 per cent
drop from the 230 points vandalised in January 2019. Mosimi-Ibadan petroleum products pipeline accounted for 72 per cent of the breaks while Kaduna, Port-Harcourt, Warri and Gombe lines made up the remaining 28 per cent. The report attributed the drop in the pipelines vandalism to efforts by NNPC, the local communities and other stakeholders to reduce and eventually eliminate pipeline vandalism.
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NAN MD, Onanuga Denies Fraud Allegation, Says He’s Ready to Face EFCC, ICPC Raheem Akingbolu The Managing Director of News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), Bayo Onanuga, has denied allegations of fraud made against him by some unions in the agency. In a letter to the Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, yesterday, Onanuga said he is ready to face the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) or Independent Corrupt Practices and other related Offences Commission (ICPC) over the petition. The petitioners, who signed off as Concern (sic) NAN Joint Union, levelled sundry allegations against
Onanuga, including diversion of fund from the agency to his personal use. But Onanuga dismissed the petitioners as faceless. The NAN boss said the unions behind the petition were an illegal creation of the four unions in the agency. He urged the minister to call the signatories of the petition to a meeting on Monday so that he could confront them with facts. “I was shocked to read the allegations levelled against me by NAN Joint Union, an illegal creation of the four unions in the agency. “More shocking was the description of my tenure by the signatories to the letter as
‘the worst’ and I ‘the most corrupt manager in the history of the agency.’ The descriptions are the most uncharitable, most wicked about my three-year tenure.” Onanuga said he met the agency almost comatose but has run it with financial prudence, “denying myself and my office of my entitlements, brutally cutting costs, all to ensure that it survives and fulfils the mandate for which it was set up 43 years ago. “In all, I see the petitions as an attempt to rubbish the good work I have done in the agency. I am ready for a probe. The EFCC or ICPC should be invited to check
the records. “Since I assumed duty as managing director, I have never dipped my hands into the agency’s coffers. I have demonstrated financial discipline by reducing waste, all because I believe the agency must survive first to fulfill its core business of news gathering and distribution. “All the past three years, the unions have never accused me of financial impropriety. It is painful that at the end of my tenure, they suddenly cooked up the malicious and actionable allegations. All records are available to support my submission and I hope the signatories to the petition will be ready to defend
their libellous allegations,” Onanuga stated. “The lies are designed to block my re-appointment. I wish them good luck. I believe the petitioners are afraid of impending reforms in the agency and are doing everything possible to thwart efforts to make NAN compete favourably with its peers,” he added. “It is simply wicked to accuse me of diverting the income to my personal use. The audited accounts will clear all issues around this. “One of the signatories to the petition, Suleman failed the last promotion exam. He wanted me to promote him, nevertheless. I refused. He now
wants a pound of flesh. As far as I know, all those who passed the tests were promoted. We also promoted those who fell on the borderline. Allegation of intimidation is baseless. “The faceless group that calls itself Concern (SIC) Staff of NAN, accused me of sabotage, alleging that my PMNEWS breaks news before NAN. This is again groundless. PMNEWS subscribes to NAN and had been a subscriber for many years. PMNEWS also gets its news from a variety of sources,” he added. Onanuga was the Managing Director of Lagos-based PMNews and The News until his appointment in 2016 to head NAN.
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Navy Flouting Buhari’s Order to Release 40 Illegal Detainees, Falana Alleges Ugo Aliogo A human rights lawyer and Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Mr. Femi Falana, has accused the Nigerian Navy of flouting the order of President Muhammadu Buhari to release the 40 Nigerians “illegally detained” by the force. Falana had earlier urged the president to order the release of
40 Nigerians who have been in “illegal custody” of the navy. But in a letter written to the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) at the weekend, Falana said Buhari had ordered the naval authorities to either release the detainees or arraign them but alleged that the force refused to heed the president’s order. He alleged that in a bid to
GTBank Improves Access to Education for Children in Rural Communities As the country marks the 2019 Children’s Day, leading Nigerian bank, Guaranty Trust Bank Plc (GTBank), has launched a nationwide initiative, tagged #BeatTheDistance, to improve educational outcomes for children in rural communities by easing the difficulties they face with mobility to school and back. Through the initiative, the bank is providing students in remote parts of the country with bicycles to reduce the time and energy they expend in getting to school while helping to boost their attendance and focus on academics. One of the biggest barriers to education for millions of children in Nigeria’s rural communities is often the physical act of getting to school, which could be as far as 10 kilometres away from home. The challenge of covering such distance twice every day on foot, coupled with the responsibility of doing chores in the morning, significantly curtails school attendance rate, increases the chances of students dropping out, and hampers academic performance. By providing them with bicycles, the bank aims to empower the children most affected by these challenges beat the distance, not just to school, but between their present realities and immense potential. Organised as part of the GTBank CSR Action for Rural Empowerment Scheme (GTBank CARES), the initial stage of the #BeatTheDistance initiative will
focus on children in 20 rural communities across the Taraba, Enugu and Ondo States. Jerry Hannatu, a student of Government Technical Training School, Jalingo, is one of the first beneficiaries of the initiative. Before receiving the bicycle from GTBank, he had to trek for an hour and half to get to school. Now, his 10-kilometre journey to school takes him about a quarter of that time. Jerry and other beneficiaries like him will now be able to spend less time travelling to school and more time in the classroom improving their academic performance and attaining the skills and knowledge to reach their full potential. Commenting on the bank’s #BeatTheDistance initiative, the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Guaranty Trust Bank Plc, Mr Segun Agbaje, said: “Children are our greatest hope for a better future, and it is our duty to ensure that every child has access to quality education regardless of their socioeconomic background or geographic location. “As an institution that is passionate about empowering young people to reach their full potential, this initiative reflects our commitment to building a society where distance is no longer a barrier to education for any child, and in every community.”
SEC Backs FG’s Project ‘Light House’ to Boost Revenue Ndubuisi Francis inAbuja The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has pledged its cooperation with the Ministry of Finance on Project Light House, which its steering committee was inaugurated at the weekend by the Minister of Finance, Mrs. Zainab Ahmed, to help government’s revenue drive. Project Light House is designed to dwell on data mining and analytics techniques to identify tax defaulters, establish their tax liabilities and send notifications to appropriate authorities for necessary action. Already, the initiative which aggregates data from multiple sources, including bank accounts, land registry records, company registration data, tax filings, Customs records and asset ownership records had as at June last year identified a batch of over 130,000 high net worth individuals and companies whose tax records are not up to date
due to detected underpayments. In pledging SEC’s support to the initiative, its acting DirectorGeneral, Ms. Mary Uduk, also commended the minister on the initiative. A statement by the SEC Head of Public Communications, Efe Ebelo, stated that Uduk emphasised the need for collaboration among relevant agencies to assist the government in its revenue generation, adding that Project Lighthouse is a positive step in that direction. “It is clear that data and information will certainly aid the generation of more revenue and in the long run, all agencies will be better for it as there will be more resources for government to carry out development “Data gathering and sharing are the way to go especially in this digital age, as when there is available data, information can be shared, and that will increase compliance level as well as improve revenue generation,” the SEC DG said.
deceive the president, the navy gave a “false impression” that it had transferred the detainees to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for the purpose of charging them with criminal offences. “We have confirmed that sequel to our petition to President Muhammadu Buhari and the National Human Rights Commission over the prolonged detention of 40 Nigerian citizens without trial, the presidency promptly directed the authorities of the Nigerian Navy to either release the detainees or arraign them in appropriate courts,” the letter read. “But in a desperate bid to
deceive the presidency, the naval authorities gave the false impression that the detainees had been transferred to the EFCC for the purpose of charging them with criminal offences at the Federal High Court. “Specifically, on May 23, 2019, the Nigerian Navy paraded 32 detainees before the media and announced that they had been transferred to the EFCC office in Abuja. Barely 24 hours later, the Nigerian Navy claimed to have transferred another group of eight detainees to the EFCC at Warri, Delta State. “It may interest you to know that the 40 suspects purportedly
handed over to the EFCC are not among the 40 detainees named in our petition under reference. “Thus, the Nigerian Navy has confirmed that not less than 80 citizens have been held incommunicado in undisclosed military detention facilities for several months without trial. In any case, the Nigerian Navy has not handed over the 40 suspects to the EFCC. “In fact, the naval authorities have since disclosed that the detainees have not been handed over to the EFCC contrary to the clear directive of the presidency.” Describing the action of the
naval authorities as “provocative impunity,” Falana quoted the Chief of Policy and Plans, Naval Headquarters, Rear Admiral Begroy Enyinna Ibe-Ekwo, as saying that the detainees would not be released from “illegal custody.” The human rights lawyer urged Buhari to call Ibe-Ekwo to order for “making a mockery of the directive of the presidency”. As a deterrent to other public officers, he also asked the commission to recommend the sanctioning of the Chief of Naval Staff, Vice Admiral IbokEte Ekwe Ibas, to the president for gross infringement of human rights of the detainees.
ROYAL BLESSINGS…
L-R:TheDirectorGeneral,NationalCouncilforArtsandCulture(NCAC),ChiefSegunRunsewe(left),andtheOoniofIfe,ObaEnitanAdeyeyeOgunwusi, during the visit of a delegation of National Association ofTour Operators (NATOP) to the palace of the monarch in Ile-Ife, Osun State...recently
Four Years of Buhari Administration Marred by Economic Slowdown, Says LCCI Chris Uba The Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) has released its review of President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration, noting that the greater part of the president’s four years in office, which ends tomorrow, was characterised by massive slowdown in virtually every sector of the economy. This, the chamber said, consequently impacted on virtually every sector of the economy. “The regime came on board with an exceptionally high goodwill and with very high
expectations from the citizens. The expectations weakened soon after as the regime was up to a slow start, from an economic management perspective,” according to the review, which was signed by the Director General of the chamber, Mr. Muda Yusuf. LCCI said, “the appointment of ministers took an unusually long time, about six months into the administration. The key reforms, especially in respect of the petroleum industry and the infrastructure sectors were also slow in coming. “The decline in oil price and the activities of the militants
in the Niger Delta regrettably compounded the economic challenges of the country in the first two years of the regime, culminating in a recession in 2016. However, the economy came out of recession soon after in 2017 following the recovery of oil price.” According to the LCCI review, the Nigeria’s economy grew by about four per cent in the first quarter of 2015. However, in the subsequent quarters, the economy witnessed a downward trend, reaching a low of -2.3 per cent in 2016 third quarter. This, it said, was largely as a result of sharp decline in oil
price and oil production, adding that the economy has since recovered from the recession and now on a growth path even as the annual average growth from the first quarter of 2015 till date is 1.05 per cent. However, the latest GDP report indicates a growth of 2.0 per cent in first quarter. Based on these indices, the chamber averred that, “the growth performance over the past four years has been fragile driven largely by the non-oil sector which is itself grappling with severe productivity issues resulting from the huge deficit in infrastructure.”
Saraki, Bauchi Governor Mourn Lame Deji Elumoye in Abuja and Segun Awofadeji in Bauchi Bauchi State Governor, Mohammed Abubakar, has condoled with the family and people of Bauchi State over the death of one-time Minister of Police Affairs, Mr. Ibrahim Lame. The Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki, has also expressed sadness over the death of Lame, whom he described as a patriot. According to the Press Secretary to the governor, Abubakar Al-Sadique, the governor who attended the
funeral prayer of the deceased in Abuja, prayed Allah to grant the deceased eternal rest and his family the fortitude to bear the loss. “I was in Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria with Ibrahim Yakubu Lame, and had had the opportunity of working with him. We will miss him and will remember him for expressing his views on matters of nation building. May Allah forgive his shortcomings,” the governor was quoted to have said. Meanwhile, Saraki, has also expressed sadness over the death
of Lame, whom he described as a patriot. Saraki in a statement yesterday by his media adviser, Yusuph Olaniyonu, described the late Lame as not only a patriotic Nigerian but an astute educationist and parliamentarian who played leading roles in the socio-political development of the country. “Senator Lame was a man of many parts. He rose from humble beginning into national limelight. His contributions to the upliftment of the nation’s education, party politics and the Nigeria Police
remain legendary. We shall all miss him,” Saraki stated. According to him, the Bauchi-born politician would be remembered for his humility, hard work and philanthropy. He commiserated with the immediate family of the deceased and the government and people of Bauchi State over the painful and irreparable loss. Saraki prayed that the Almighty Allah grant the deceased a place among the righteous in Aljannah firdaus and his loved ones the fortitude to bear the loss.
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Fayemi Won’t Shut Doors against Political Opponents, Says Dep Gov Victor Ogunje inAdoEkiti Ekiti State Deputy Governor, Chief Bisi Egbeyemi, has promised that last Friday’s Supreme Court verdict, which validated Governor Kayode Fayemi’s election won’t make the governor shut his doors against those perceived as members of the opposition figures in the state. Describing the triumph as a “victory for all Ekiti people,” Egbeyemi said nobody will be alienated under the leadership of his principal. Egbeyemi also said the emergence of Fayemi as the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF) Chairman is an opportunity to attract more federal presence to Ekiti. He called on the people in the state, especially politicians across political parties, to join hands with Fayemi in taking the state to an
enviable height. In a statement issued yesterday by his Special Assistant (Media), Odunayo Ogunmola, the deputy governor urged politicians who were still aggrieved with Fayemi’s victory to sheathe their swords saying “politics of bitterness would not take the state to enviable position.” The deputy governor said Fayemi was ready to welcome ideas that could make the state attain a pride of place in the comity of states in Nigeria. The Supreme Court victory, according to him, would afford the APC-led administration in the state an opportunity to sustain its priority to workers welfare, delivering dividend of democracy to masses, as well as security of lives and property. Speaking on the NGF election, Egbeyemi said Fayemi will use his wealth of experience to
integrate the forum and to foster unity among the various ethnic nationalities as represented by the 36 states. Egbeyemi said Fayemi had what it takes to turn around the fortune of the state by using his wealth of experience to attract investors and meaningful economy. He said: “The governor will facilitate the extension of railway lines to the state and this will improve sales of our agric products. “Even the cargo airport will soon be sited here and this will boost economic activities and these facilities will open Ekiti to windows of opportunities.” He also hailed the support of the wife of the Governor, Erelu Bisi Fayemi for meaningful contribution to governance in terms of empowerment to women, students and vulnerable children.
PDP Cautions FG against Release of Bailout to Kogi Opposition party doesn’t want us to pay, says state govt Yekini Jimoh inLokoja The Kogi State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has warned the federal government against the release of bailout funds to Kogi State Government, saying Governor Yahaya Bello has intensified efforts in lobbying the All Progressives Congress (APC) government to secure the release of further N50 billion bailout. The PDP in a statement issued and signed by the state Publicity Secretary, Bode Ogunmola, which copy was made available to THISDAY, yesterday, said the question that needed to be asked was how the government of Bello had utilised past funds released to him. The party noted that the state is hugely indebted and owes workers’ salaries for upward of 38 months after it has taken several loans from banks without any development to show for it. According to the PDP, “: All the administration has embarked upon is reckless looting of state resources”, warning that any
attempt by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to compromise by releasing the fund, would be a great disservice to the suffering people of Kogi State. The PDP disclosed that the bailout itself is not a free fund, but that the money is a loan that will be paid back over a period of time with nine per cent interest. The party also warned that any government that prides itself in probity will ask questions of how past releases were utilised before committing Kogi State into further debt. The PDP explained that it is not against the payment of workers’ entitlements, but wants the CBN to initiate moves to probe past utilisation of earlier releases and make arrangements to pay workers directly. The PDP warned that any further release to Governor Bello would amount to a disservice to the poverty-stricken workers of Kogi State, pointing out that the government is financially reckless, with a penchant for looting state resources without paying salaries. The PDP asked the CBN to
pay Kogi workers directly stating that any attempt to release the balance of bailout to the governor would amount to giving him his pay off because the government has been rejected and would be voted out in November. Meanwhile, in a swift reaction, the Director General, Media and Publicity to the governor, Mr. Kingsley Fanwo, said it means PDP doesn’t want them to pay the few months arrears they owe civil servants despite the fact that it was the PDP government that left many months unpaid before leaving in January 2016. “Their thinking is that if those arrears are not paid, the civil servants won’t support the second term ambition of the governor. “They are free to continue to play politics with the welfare of the civil servants while we continue to work towards ensuring the welfare of workers is taken care of. “The bailout was approved and it will be released so that we can pay workers their entitlement. The workers have cooperated substantially with the policies of our administration.
ANXIETY, UNCERTAINTY IN MILITARY OVER SERVICE CHIEFS’ SUCCESSION BATTLES concept that improves on situations and strategies. “Even if the president ends up renewing their tenures again, it will end up eroding military ethos and tradition thereby creating major problems”, a senior military source told THISDAY. The other contention is that many senior officers who had hoped to reach the peak of their career, including occupying the seat of the service chiefs, were forced to retire prematurely. “So many senior officers were forced to retire up to Course 35. How would they move up when those from Courses 25 to 29 are still in service? “In those days when core military tradition was adhered to, this won’t be the case,” another senior military source said. Another line of argument is that some senior officers who believe they have the panacea to the challenge of insurgency have refused to volunteer such ideas. “If you volunteer such an idea,
somebody who has sat on your career progression would take advantage and take credit for your initiative and effort”, the source said. Efforts by THISDAY yesterday to get the spokesman of the Defence Headquarters, Colonel Onyema Nwachukwu, were unfruitful. He neither picked up calls to his telephone line nor has he replied to the message sent to his WhatsApp platform as at press time. However, Buhari is still at liberty to extend the tenure of the service chiefs, if he still considers them pivotal to winning the war against insurgency. The 1999 Constitution confers on the president the powers to reappoint or extend the tenure of the service chiefs. Based on the Armed Forces Terms and Conditions of Service, the tenure of the defence and service chiefs expired on July 13, 2017. However, the president approved the extension of the
tenure till December 2017. Buhari had on July 13, 2015, appointed the present crop of defence and service chiefs, and ought to have replaced them after the statutory two years. In extending their tenures, Minister of Defence, BrigadierGeneral Mansur Dan-Ali (rtd) had said: “the President and the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, having carefully reviewed the ongoing military operations across the country and the efforts of the Chief of Defence Staff and the service chiefs in the counter-insurgency operations in the North-East coupled with the security situation of the Niger Delta region, has approved the extension of tenure of service chiefs. “This extension is pursuant of the powers conferred on the President by Section 218 (1) and (2) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and Section 09.06 of the Harmonised Terms and Conditions for Service for officers (2012) Revised.”
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House: APC Speakership Candidates Lobby PDP Members Shola Oyeyipo in Abuja Feelers from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) caucus in the House of Representatives have shown that some of the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidates have continued to lobby members of the main opposition party to actualise their speakership ambition. The House of Representatives Minority Leader, Hon. Leo Ogor, gave this hint this at the weekend while congratulating the PDP governor-elect in Zamfara State, saying with the growing strength of his party, APC candidates were taking wise decision by wooing their members for support. According to Ogor, “It is a wise decision for the APC speakership aspirants to enlist the help of their counterparts in other parties, contrary to the unfortunate and illogical order earlier handed down by their unrealistic party leadership”. Though details of the aspirants’ proposals to the PDP are not yet public issue,
a PDP member who confided in THISDAY said: “The APC got it wrong but their members who aspire to become Speaker know better. We (PDP members) have important role to play in who wins. Now we are 144 and if you need 181 to win how can you say that is not important?” Asked if the party had narrowed down on any of the ruling party candidate, he said: “No, we have not taken such decision. We will do that at the appropriate time.” APC candidates, including Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila (APC, Lagos); Hon. Segun Odebunmi (APC, Oyo); Hon. John Dyegh (APC, Benue); Hon. Mohammed Umar Bago (APC, Niger); Hon. Nkiruka Onyejeocha (APC, Abia); and Hon. Jide Olatunbosun (APC, Oyo), last week made appearances before PDP lawmakers to solicit the support of the opposition members and intimate them on their policy directions if elected. Ogor told journalists that the APC candidates met their PDP counterparts to inform them
Yoruba Group Gives Herdsmen Seven-day Ultimatum to Vacate South-west Raheem Akingbola
A socio-cultural group, Yoruba Council of Youths Worldwide (YCYW), has called on the militant Fulani herdsmen in South-west to vacate the region. The group in a communique it released after a meeting of its members at the weekend in Ile-Ife in Osun State, decried the growing insecurity in Yoruba land allegedly precipitated by militant Fulani herdsmen and members of the dreaded Islamic sect, Boko Haram. In the communique signed by the group’s President, Oladotun Hassan, it accused militant Fulani herdsmen and Boko Haram members of killing and kidnapping people of Yoruba stock, and consequently, issued a seven-day ultimatum to the alleged perpetrators to move out of South-west states or risk reprisal attack. The group cited what it described as the “recurrent decimal of flagrant brutal killings by the gun-wielding terrorist Fulani Herdsmen/ Boko Haram, aggressive invasion and violent attacks and alleged kidnapping of innocent Yorubas and Nigerians
domiciled in Yorubaland, gross violation of fundamental rights to human dignity leading to serial and merciless killings of innocent youths, rising wave of insecurity in Lagos around Ojokoro, Ibadan to Ife road, Ibadan to Ijebu Ode/Benin Ore road, Ekiti to Akure and other highways kidnappings and robberies, incessant records of brutal ritual killings to mention a few.” According to the group, its final unanimous resolution was a seven-day quit notice to all Fulani herdsmen/Boko Haram to stay off all our territories, towns, villages and highways in all South-west states.” YCYW berated the federal government over the controversial meeting it had with Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria (MACABAN) and its plan to float a radio station for Fulanis. The socio-cultural group also condemned the presidency for likening Miyetti Allah to apex socio-cultural groups, Afenifere, and Ohanaeze, describing the comparison as “an irresponsible and reckless statement from a government under democratic rule.”
ACSPN Holds Empowerment Programme Tomorrow The annual empowerment series of the Association of Communication Scholars and Professionals of Nigeria (ACSPN), South-west zone, has been slated for tomorrow at the Elizade University in Ilara Mokin, Ondo State. The theme of the empowerment series is: “The Emerging Issues in Research. A statement by the General Secretary, Prof. Nosa OwensIbie, and signed by Mr. Abiodun Ogidan, the Deputy Public Relations Officer, indicates that the Head, Department Of Communication and Language Arts, University Of Ibadan; Professor Ayo Ojebode will be the lead presenter.
He will speak on the topic, ‘Challenge of qualitative research in media and communication studies/ professionalism. The Vice-Chancellor, Elizade University, Professor Olukayode Armund, will be the chief host, while the Dean, Faculty of Social and Management Sciences, Elizade University, Prof. Joseph Fabayo, will be the chairman. The Head, Department Of Mass Communication, Elizade University, Dr. Wole Adamolekun, will be the host at the event which will be graced by researchers, professionals, journalists, academics, consultants, students and other stakeholders.
why they want to be Speaker; what they will do to improve the House and the relationship among the members. In a related development, a North-central group backing another South-west candidate, Hon. Oladije Olatunbosun for speakership, North-central Interreligious Inter-Tribal Political
Forum for Peace, Development and United Nigeria, has urged President Muhammadu Buhari not to endorse the imposition of any candidate on the 9th assembly. A statement by the body’s National Publicity Secretary, Mr. Aaron Mike Odeh reads: “We call on the president to
use his position as the father of the nation to allow democracy take its roots and allow the lawmakers-elect to decide those who will lead them in the 9th assembly in line with the time-tested rules and procedures to be adopted by them.” The body also called on all Nigerians, irrespective
of their religious, tribal and political leanings to say no to imposition, insisting that “let the members decide who becomes their leader.” Odeh said since APC zoned the speakership to the Southwest, they found Olatunbosun equally qualified for the speakership position.
STRATEGIC MEETING…
L-R: Former President Olusegun Obasanjo (left), and vice presidential candidate of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Mr. Peter Obi, during Obi’s visit to the former president in Abeokuta... yesterday
Presidency Tasks Multinationals, Oil Companies on Amnesty Programme Iyobosa Uwugiaren in Abuja The Presidential Adviser on Niger Delta/Coordinator of Presidential Amnesty Programmes, Professor Charles Dokubo, has appealed to the multinationals, agencies and oil companies to assist in the reintegration project of the amnesty programmes so that the ex-combatants would be fully empowered and engaged in gainful endeavours. He said militancy in the Niger Delta region is not purely a Nigerian affair because it affects international oil companies directly, stating that without the Presidential Amnesty Programmes (PAP), oil companies would have relocated out of the country and
the Nigerian economy would have collapsed. The presidential adviser, who stated this while interacting with journalists in Abuja yesterday, said amnesty was declared to stabilise security conditions in the Niger Delta and to contribute to the development of the Niger Delta. ‘’It was meant to help militants drop their weapons and return to civilian life. With the declaration of amnesty, the situation has changed over time. Without the Presidential Amnesty Programmes (PAP), oil companies would have relocated out of the country and the Nigerian economy would have collapsed. ‘’The Presidential Amnesty
Programme started when oil prices had gone down from above two million barrels a day to less than 700, 000. Nigeria’s economy was adversely affected since we depend on oil production for economic sustenance. The Presidential Amnesty Programme was therefore an avenue to create peace in the Niger Delta for oil companies to operate for the good of the Nigerian economy.’’ he added. The presidential adviser stated that in the last one year, the massive training of the excombatants had commenced, saying the PAP is now faced with the rehabilitation and re-integration aspect of the arrangement.
Emphasising that re-integration is a long-term process, Prof. Dokubo explained that the programme had as its goal of ensuring permanent disarmament and sustainable peace, which includes assisting the ex-combatant during the difficult transition to civilian life. According to him, “Reintegration includes provision of jobs for the ex-combatants, engaging them in skills acquisition and rehabilitation programmes. “Re-integration addresses the issue of returning the ex-combatants to normal civil life and creating an atmosphere that will not send them back to militancy. It is a very sensitive approach to the amnesty cycle.
Okorocha Asks NJC, FCT CJ to Ignore EFCC’s Petition against Judge Says he will be president Imo State Governor, Chief Rochas Okorocha, has urged chairman of the National Judicial Council (NJC) and the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court (FHC) in Abuja to discountenance the petition written by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) against Justice Taiwo Taiwo for lack of merit. The Imo State governor has also stated that his current political battles, especially the seizure of his Certificate of Return as the Imo West senator-elect, were only preparing him towards becoming president. In the said petition, EFCC had alleged professional misconduct and abuse of judicial powers against the judge for granting an order enforcing Okorocha’s fundamental human rights.
Okorocha, in the letter to the NJC chairman and FHC Chief Judge titled: ‘Re: EFCC Reports Justice Taiwo to NJC over Restraining Order on Okorocha, Saraki’, stated that “contrary to the impression being created by the EFCC through its chairman, the order granted by Justice Taiwo was made pursuant to two fundamental human rights suits that I filed before the court.” He added that the move against him by the EFCC “smacks of political vendetta and persecution.” The governor stated that EFCC operatives ransacked his house in Jos, Plateau State, in May 2017 with the hope of finding something incriminating against him but they found nothing. He added that EFCC had also arrested almost all his principal
staff “and in every case, insisting that they must make statements to indict me. When they refused, they were kept in custody for two days.” According to Okorocha, the EFCC is persecuting him “to distract, decimate and prevent me from being sworn in as a senator representing the people of Imo West senatorial district on June 6, 2019, when the ninth National Assembly will be inaugurated.” He added: “My political opponents accused me of nursing an ambition to contest for the position of the Deputy Senate President. In their reasoning, they said the position would give me an edge to contest as president in 2023, so everything must be done to get me out of the way.” Okorocha stated that in order to shield himself from
the unwarranted attacks by EFCC, he approached the Federal High Court for the enforcement of his fundamental human rights as guaranteed by the 1999 Constitution. The Imo State governor noted: “Instead of Ibrahim Magu-led EFCC to prove its case before the court, having submitted to its jurisdiction, it has resorted to cheap blackmail, needless name-calling and unwarranted arm-twisting, all in a bid to achieve their sinister motive of decimating me by all means.” Meanwhile, the Imo State governor has also stated that his current political battles, especially the seizure of his Certificate of Return as the Imo West senator-elect, were only preparing him towards becoming president.
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MONDAYSPORTS
Group Sports Editor: Duro Ikhazuagbe Email: duro.ikhazuagbe@thisdaylive.com 08111813083
NPFL… NPFL… NPFL…
Insurance, El Kanemi, Tornadoes, Five Others Relegated as Teams for Playoff Emerge Duro Ikhazuagbe Match-day 22 of the 2018/19 Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL) season
produced twists and turns before defending champions Lobi Stars and another former winner Enyimba joined leaders Rangers International FC of
MATCH-DAY 22
SUPER 6 PLAYOFF
Group A Wikki Rivers Utd Sunshine Katsina Utd Tornadoes Remo Group B Yobe Stars Go Round FC Abia Warriors Delta Force IfeanyiUbah Heartland
1-0 1-0 4-2 2-1 0-1 0-0 1-2 0-1 3-0 0-0 2-1 2-0
Rangers Insurance MFM Enyimba Kwara Utd Lobi Stars Nasarawa Gombe Utd K’ Pillars Plateau Utd Akwa Utd El-Kanemi
Rangers Lobi Enyimba Akwa Utd IfeanyiUbah Kano Pillars
Enugu as the three qualified teams from Group A for the Super Six play off. Sadly, Bendel Insurance who returned from the lower tier of the Nigerian league after several years in the wilderness bid the topflight a good bye yesterday after losing 0-1 to
Rivers United in Port Harcourt. Kwara United, Niger Tornadoes and Remo Stars are the other three teams relegated along with Insurance from Group A. In Group B, Akwa United maintained its hold at the top till the last day despite losing
1-2 away to Ifeanyiubah in Nnewi. The Anambra Warriors and Kano Pillars who lost 0-3 to Abia Warriors in Umuahia are to join the Promise Keepers from Uyo as qualified teams from Group B to contest for the top honour of the season.
Maiduguri will be without topflight football next season as El-Kanemi Warriors went down despite being among the top teams in the group at a time in the season. Also relegated from Group B are; Gombe United, Go Round FC and Yobe Desert Stars.
RELEGATED TEAMS 1. Bendel Insurance 2. Kwara United 3. Niger Tornadoes 4. Remo Stars 5. El Kanemi 6. Gombe United 7. Go Round FC 8. Yobe Desert Stars
U-20 WORLD CUP
Flying Eagles Aiming to Consolidate against USA Another three points that will take them to the championship’s knockout stages is the objective of Nigeria’s U20 boys, Flying Eagles, as they confront Team USA in their second match of the 2019 FIFA U20 World Cup this evening. Venue is the 15,000-capacity Bielsko-Biala Stadium in the city of the same name, a facility constructed on the site of an old facility and which hosted its last international game in March 2018, when Poland tackled England in an U20 match. Coach Paul Aigbogun is banking on the flaming form of his boys, who amassed four goals against Qatar in their first match against Qatar in Tychy on Friday, to consume a desperate Team USA still looking for its first point of the finals. The Americans lost 1-2 to Ukraine also on Friday. “We had a great game against Qatar and we want to stay in that spirit all through the championship. We will not make the mistake of under-
rating any team; our approach remains taking it one game at a time. We go in there and fulfill our game-plan of achieving victory. “It is not going to be an easy match; the Americans are hurt after losing their first game. But we are in good form and we need the three points to assure our place in the Round of 16,” Aigbogun said yesterday. Both countries first met at this level in the semi finals of the 1989 edition in Saudi Arabia, with a high-spirited Nigeria side just coming from a miraculous triumph over old Soviet Union in the quarter finals. The Flying Eagles had come from a 0-4 deficit with 15 minutes left on the clock, to tie the encounter with the Soviets in Dammam and went ahead to win on penalties. On 28th February 1989, goals by Mutiu Adepoju sealed a 2-1 win over USA at the Prince Abdullah Al-Faisal Stadium in Jeddah to send Nigeria into her first –ever Final match of the FIFA U20 World Cup.
ZENITH BANK/IKOYI CLUB TENNIS
Kalada Kienka Leads Charge as Singles Begin Today The Singles event of the annual Ikoyi Club Tennis Tournament sponsored by Zenith Bank Plc begins today at Ikoyi Club 1938 in Lagos. Kalada Kienka, is expected to lead other top professionals in search of glory in the standard tournament of the singles. There are other top contenders as the competition gets tougher in both the male and female cadre. Incidentally, Kalada’s father, Godwin Kienka, the Director of International Tennis Academy, emerged winner in one of the singles category only two years ago. This time the ITA boss has his hands full as his son is expected to compete in the competition. “Kalada is fit and ready but I have so much on my hands.
I expect a great tournament,” Kienka said. The team even with eight teams comprising eight players each was concluded at the weekend in the competition which started on Wednesday in Lagos.Chairman of the Tennis section of Ikoyi Club, Abimbola Okubena, said all was set for the singles category of the competition. “We are all set for this because we have been preparing in the past few months for the event. The scoring system and modalities are clear to the participants. “Many of us are looking forward to the veterans and super veterans categories where club members will compete for honours,” Okubena said. The annual tournament ends on Saturday June 1.
Simon Cheprot (right) helping Kipkemon back to his feet after collapsing heading to the finish line of the 2019 Okpekpe 10km International Road Race last Saturday. For his magnanimity, Cheprot was rewarded with $10,000 Segun Ogunfeyitimi
Cheprot’s Magnanimity Earns Him $10,000 at 2019 Okpekpe Race Duro Ikhazuagbe The biggest winner of the 2019 Okpekpe 10km International Road Race was not the man who breasted the tape first last Saturday but Kenyan Simon Cheprot who finished outside prize money in the 15th position overall. Cheprot’s kindness earned him $10,000 on a day he had failed to place in money winning zone of the seventh edition of the Okpekpe race. The Kenyan who gave up after he was upstaged by most of the top runners from East Africa saw a co-competitor fell on the finish point and abandoned his own race to help that runner, who incidentally happened to be another Kenya,
to regain consciousness before continuing the race to the finish line. That single gesture of magnanimity was not lost on eminent personalities who stormed Okpekpe to be part of the road running fiesta. First, brother of Capt. Hosa Okunbor, chairman of Wells Carlton Hotels and Apartment, partners of Okpekpe Race started the dollar rain on the 2016 champion. Chairman of the All Progresses Congress (APC), Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, also pledged $3000 to salute the courage of the Kenyan. Deputy Governor of Edo State, Rt. Hon. Phillips Shaibu was also moved by that gesture to also pledge $5,000 to Cheprot
to serve as inspiration to others to do good fellow human beings in challenging situations. Fikadu Admasu Dawitt of Bahrain ensured at the weekend that no individual road runner wins a second title yet at the Okpekpe 10km International Road Race clocking 29:03 minutes to pick the top prize of the 2019 edition. Fikadu, a former Ethiopian before switching to Bahrain beat Ethiopia’s Berehanu Tsegu (29:04) at the tape to clinch the top honour of the Okpekpe Race. John Kipsang Lotiang of Kenya (29:17) won the bronze. In the women’s category, Kenya’s duo of Sheilat Chelanga (33:14) and Tuitoek Dorcas Jepchirchir (33:18) won
the first and second positions respectively while Ethiopia’s Kasegn Alemtsehay Getachew settled for the silver. In the Nigerian category, husband and wife road-runners from Plateau State, Emmanuel Gyang Gwon (31:42) and Deborah Pam Badung (38:13) finished first in both the male and female respectively. Speaking at the prize presentation ceremony, Oshiomhole commended the Edo State government for sustaining the partnership which started from his era as governor of the state. He praised organizers of the 10km road race for the good organization that has earned the competition a silver label rating from IAAF.
NTA, HotSports Seal Deal to Bring AFCON 2019 to Nigerian Fans HotSports Media Group, Nigeria’s foremost marketing and production company, has formalised its relationship with Africa’s largest television network, the Nigerian Television Network, as the Official Exclusive Marketers of the 32nd African Cup of Nations which kicks off in Cairo on June 21. NTA will broadcast the matches on terrestrial television channels across Nigeria, while the Super Eagles will be among 24 teams contesting to lift the trophy on July 19 in the showpiece final game. Other tournaments in the
bouquet of the NTA/HotSports marketing partnership include the U23 Africa Cup of Nations (the 2020 Olympics soccer qualifiers that will be hosted by Egypt in November, this year), Africa Women Cup of Nations (Congo Brazzaville 2020), U20 Africa Cup of Nations in 2021 in Mauritania, the U17 Africa Cup of Nations in Morocco also in 2021 and CAF SuperCup 2020. At the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding between NTA and HotSports in Abuja during the week, NTA Director General, Yakubu Ibn Mohammed
assured HotSports that NTA would deploy its immense experience in the coverage and broadcast of international sports competitions to AFCON 2019 and the other tournaments in view and it is determined to deliver exciting moments for Nigerian sports fans through the partnership with HotSports. “NTA has always been known to be the front runner when it comes to the coverage of international sporting activities. NTA has covered various World Cups and has been involved in the coverage of Olympic Games, African
Cup of Nations, and age-grade competitions. This management of NTA is determined to bring back the good old days because NTA pioneered sportscasting in this country and we should always be in the lead,” he stated. Responding, the President/ CEO of HotSports Media Group, Taye Ige said that the confidence that NTA has it his team would not be taken for granted, assuring that the partnership would deliver results that all the partners and the viewing public would be delighted about.
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Monday May 27, 2019
UT H
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Price: N250
MISSILE Aisha Buhari to FG
“So I don’t know where the social investment is. Maybe, it worked out in some states. In my own state, only a local government benefited out of the 22. I didn’t ask what happened and I don’t want to know but for it to fail woefully in Kano, it’s not a good sign and it’s not a good thing� – Wife of the president, Mrs. Aisha Buhari, launching a ferocious attack on federal government’s much celebrated Social Investment Programme (SIP).
BENMURRAYBRUCE MAKING COMMON SENSE
ben.murraybruce@thisdaylive.com
Nigeria Preparing for Yesterday, World Tomorrow
A
nyone thinking they can stop the rise of electric cars by ignoring it or wishing it away is burying his or her head in the sand like an ostrich and hoping that others do not see them. Electric cars are the future. There is no stopping them. It is not enough to be up to date in this game. We have to be up to tomorrow. The era of the internal combustion engine is gone. And it is now a case of if you can’t beat them, join them, because the only way we can beat them is by immediate local production and exportation to the world of petrol cars that are cheaper in the long run and more environmentally friendly than electric cars. I do not see that happening. So we are left with only one viable option, which is to join the world as it transits from petrol cars to electric cars. Take Germany as an example. Germany has gone beyond just electric cars. They now have an electric freeway where cars are charged while driving, without needing to stop. People think I am disappointed that the Senate killed my Electric Car Bill. I am not disappointed as much as I am flabbergasted. You can’t stop the future! And let me tell you, electric cars are the future. The reality in the world today is that electric cars are outselling regular cars. This will continue until those countries that depend on regular internal combustion cars will be isolated. They will be like people who are still using video cassette recorders in a world of streaming apps like Netflix, Hulu and amazon prime. Yet, Nigeria refuses to plan for this inevitability on the pretext that we are an oil producing nation. Norway is an oil producing country. Norway produces 2% of the world’s crude oil and 25% of the EU’s LNG Gas. But beyond oil, Norway is also a sensible nation with sensible leaders. That is why Norway has set a deadline to ban the sale of regular petrol powered cars by 2025. That is why in March 2019, Norway became the first nation on earth were sales of electric cars have overtaken sales of petrol cars. 58% of all cars sold in Norway are electric cars. Who wants to buy something that will be obsolete in 10 years? Electric cars are the future. Any nation that refuses to see that will be stuck in the past. It is a failure of leadership to shield yourself from the future. Yesterday has no letter O in it because there is no opportunity in the past. Tomorrow has three letters Os because it is pregnant with opportunity. As the great Physicist and scholar, William G. Pollard said, “the arrogance of success is to think that what you did yesterday will be sufficient for tomorrow.� Nigeria is preparing for yesterday when we should be preparing for today. 2019 is a pivotal year for the electric
Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu
car industry, not only because it is the first time ever, electric cars are outselling the internal combustion engine cars, also known as gas or petrol powered cars, but because it is the year when other continents outside Europe and North America are accepting this new reality. The Automobile industry is already taking steps to wean itself off fossil fuels with Volvo, Peugeot, Saab and announcing announced plans to stop the production of petrol and diesel cars. I warned about this for years. I tried to encourage the Nigerian government to see the future by driving in an electric powered Kia car on national TV and encouraging the government to promulgate policies to prepare Nigeria for a world without oil. I was not doing this for my benefit.
The reality in the world today is that electric cars are outselling regular cars. This will continue until those countries that depend on regular internal combustion cars will be isolated. They will be like people who are still using video cassette recorders in a world of streaming apps like Netix, Hulu and amazon prime
I was doing this for Nigeria’s benefit. This nation is spending more money paying fuel subsidies than on education and infrastructure combined. Yet, we are rejecting electric cars! We are just like a drug addict. Fuel subsidy is our drug. And those behind it will fight anyone trying to stop their drug supply. With electric cars, Nigeria will free up resources for desperately needed social intervention. Fuel subsidies will be a thing of the past. We can spend the money on free education instead. We can use the money we are currently spending on fuel subsidies to provide free healthcare. What is more, adopting electric cars will finally force us to fix our power infrastructure which will itself have multiplier effects for our economy because it will provide power, which is the lifeblood for a modern economy. Honestly, I am surprised that my colleagues in the Senate and the Executive branch have not seen this potential. Water we do not want to become is a dumping ground for petrol powered cars, which we will soon become if cars is not taken. I have suggested all these privately and publicly before, but those at the helm were not prepared to be forward thinking. They felt that this day would never come. Now it is finally happening. Oil is a relic of the past. Nigeria cannot rely on it. We must start investing in our people as we once invested in oil or not only will we be a debtor nation, we will also become a beggar country. Our population is growing faster than our economy, and with this new revelation about the automobile industry, it is only going to be worse if we do not act now. I look at the 2019 budget for education and it is not even close to what we are spending on fuel subsidy, not to talk of what we are spending on the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation. We are even spending more money prospecting for oil in Northern Nigeria
at a time when the world is phasing out crude oil. Venezuela, the country with the largest crude oil reserves in the world, is bankrupt! Oil cannot save Nigeria. Let Nigeria prospect for knowledge by investing that money on educating Northerners. We must start subsiding education instead of petrol. And we must make a shift from investing in oil to investing in gas. Liquified Natural Gas has a future. Crude oil does not. Which is why I advise the federal government to do Tel things. One, increase the budgetary allocation to education and make our curricular targeted at graduating job creators rather than job seekers. Two, the federal government should complete the final investment decision on the Brass LNG in Bayelsa so that our future income from LNG from Brass will replace what we shall be losing from crude oil. Let us remember that a prudent man sees the future coming and prepares for it, but an unwise man carries on as if the present will continue forever. The future is not something we just await until it comes and then we adjust to it. No. No. No! The future is something that we must anticipate and prepare for. In fact, some people no longer anticipate and prepare for the future. They now create it. By creating inexpensive electric cars, the West has ultimately killed petrol cars. Nigeria is holding on to a corpse and we think we have a living breathing baby. We need to wake up and smell the coffee or the joke will be on us when we are stuck in a 19th century paradigm in a world that is in the 21st Century. As Benjamin Franklin once said, “an ounce of prevention is better than a pound of cure�. Let us prepare now by passing appropriate legalisation to prepare Nigeria for the coming world of electric cars. That is my admonition to the incoming ninth National Assembly. A word is enough for the wise.
Eddie Ugbomah Eddie Ugbomah was my friend and colleague, who shared my deep passion for developing Nigeria’s entertainment industry, particularly the cinema/theatre sector. Eddie was a real Lagos boy, who grew up in the Obalende area of the metropolis, where he set about making friends that cut across social strata, gender and religion. He captured the essence of Nigeria’s national progress long before there was anything like Nollywood, with movies like the Mask, which showcased Eddie’s strong desire to repatriate stolen Nigerian artefacts like the Queen Idia Mask and the Ife bronzes. His movie, Death of a Black President,
was the real attempt at immortalising the late head of state, Murtala Mohammed, on celluloid. Another star is plucked from the firmament of the Nigerian sky. At 78, he lived a long life, but we would have been delighted to have him be with us for a little bit more. Long as he lived, I will still say he was gone too soon. He was a great man and I will miss him. May his soul rest in peace even as his works rest here with us. r#FO .VSSBZ #SVDF JT UIF GPVOEFS PG UIF 4JMWFSCJSE (SPVQ BOE UIF 4FOBUPS SFQSFTFOUJOH #BZFMTB &BTU JO UIF 4FOBUF PG UIF /BUJPOBM "TTFNCMZ
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