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FG Plans N50bn Investment to Reposition Nigeria Commodity Exchange Emefiele heads steering committee on repositioning James Emejo in Abuja President Muhammadu Buhari has approved an investment of N50 billion in Nigeria Commodity Exchange (NCX) as part of efforts to

reposition it.

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor, Mr. Godwin Emefiele, who announced the investment decision at the inaugural meeting of the Steering Committee (SteerCo)

for the repositioning of the NCX yesterday in Abuja, stated that the federal government has also suspended, with immediate effect, the current plan to privatise the exchange.

He added that the decision

to suspend the privatisation followed what he described as the unfortunate arbitrage opportunities which the government had noticed in the private sector arrangement, which had become an obstacle

in moderating food prices.

According to him, the president has also approved a proposal for the repositioning of the exchange in order to consolidate on the government’s efforts aimed at

strengthening the agriculture value chain, part of which includes connecting farmers to markets beyond their immediate environments.

Continued on page 9

N’Assembly Considering Restructuring, Senate Tells Soyinka... Page 9 Friday 29 January, 2021 Vol 26. No 9427. Price: N250

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BRAND NEW ADDITION...

L-R: Chairman of the Senate Committee on Aviation, Senator Smart Adeyemi; Chief Executive Officer, Azman Air Services Limited, Mr. Abdulmunaf Sarina; Nigeria’s Ambassador to South Korea, Mr. Ali Magashi; Chairman, Air Peace, Chief Allen Onyema; Minister of Aviation, Senator Hadi Sirika; Brazilian Ambassador to Nigeria, Mr. Ricardo Guerra de Araujo; an official of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria; and CEO, Capital Oil, Senator Ifeanyi Ubah, during the delivery of Air Peace's first brand new Embraer 195-E2 aircraft in Abuja…yesterday

Buhari Mobilises Int’l Support against COVID-19, Terrorism Warns Nigerians against promoting ethno-religious prejudices NSIA boosts virus fight, donates medical equipment to healthcare institutions Deji Elumoye in Abuja and Obinna Chima in Lagos President Muhammadu Buhari yesterday called for unity among members of the international community to defeat terrorism, corruption,

COVID-19 and other challenges confronting the world.

The president, while receiving letters of credence from new ambassadors of Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Argentina said the second

wave of COVID-19 came with more challenges than from the initial outbreak.

Buhari, on another occasion also yesterday, warned Nigerians against promoting ethnic and religious prejudices so that the nation could

witness rapid development.

In a statement by his media adviser, Mr. Femi Adesina, the president said: “We have common challenges that impact so much on our countries, which include terrorism, insurgency, climate

change, population explosion, human trafficking, corruption, poverty and proliferation of small arms and light weapons.

“On top of all these, the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic has come with different strains that pose

an additional challenge to the initial outbreak. These challenges underscore the need for the international community to work even more in concert to collectively Continued on page 9

Jonathan, Mark, Ibori, Others Console Okowa over Father’s Death...Page 5

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

Jonathan, Mark, Ibori, Others Console Okowa over Father’s Death

Deji Elumoye, Chuks Okocha in Abuja and Omon-Julius Onabu in Asaba

Prominent Nigerians, including former President Goodluck Jonathan; former President of the Senate, Senator David Mark; and former Governor of Delta State, Chief James Ibori; yesterday commiserated with Delta State Governor, Senator Ifeanyi Okowa, over the death of his father, Chief Arthur Okowa.

Others who expressed their condolence were the Deputy Senate President, Senator Ovie Omo-Agege, and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

The older Okowa, a retired educationist, died in the early hours of yesterday at the Federal Medical Centre (FMC) Asaba after a brief illness, THISDAY learnt.

He was 88.

Born in 1932 at Owa-Alero, an agrarian community in Ika North-East Local Government Area of Delta State, the late Okowa was a renowned community leader in Ika nation.

In his condolence message, issued by his spokesman, Mr. Ikechukwu Eze, Jonathan described the death of the octogenarian as a great loss to the family and Delta State, adding that the wisdom and experience of elders like him remain valuable to the nation’s development.

He prayed for the repose of the soul of the deceased and urged the governor and other family members to take solace in the fact that their father led a fulfilled and exemplary life.

“Elder Okowa was a

dedicated patriot who gave his best to the nation. His legacies and ideals will be sustained in the lives of all those he mentored, including Governor Okowa and other respectable members of the society.”

Ibori also condoled with Okowa.

In a statement signed by his Media Assistant, Mr. Tony Eluemunor, Ibori paid tribute to the governor’s father whom he described as a political sage.

“I have known Sir Okowa for decades. He was one of the founding pillars of my political journey and government. I benefited greatly from his profound wisdom. He was an astute political strategist and tactician. We will miss him sorely. His memory will ever remain strong in my heart,” he said.

The PDP has also commiserated with the governor.

In a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Mr. Kola Ologbondiyan, the party described the death as a huge blow not only to the Okowa family, but also to Delta State and the nation at large, saying the older Okowa was a

patriot and a shining example of honesty, hard work, humility and love.

It said he committed his active years to the good of humanity and the service of God. Mark, in a condolence message to commiserate with the governor, the government and the people of the Delta

State, and described the deceased as a pathfinder who trained his children to be patriotic and responsible citizens.

According to him, the success story of the governor and his siblings is a testimony to an ideal father who lived an exemplary life worthy of emulation.

He told the governor to take solace in the fact that his father left his positive footprints in the sand of time.

Omo-Agege noted that Okowa’s father led a fulfilled life and endeared himself to his people.

He said: "As a father to many other than his biological children, Sir Arthur Okowa

meant a lot to the people of Owa Alero in Ika North East Local Government Area of Delta State where he was born in 1932.

“I sincerely commiserate with the family of our dear Governor, Dr. Ifeanyi Okowa and the good people of Owa-Alero over the transition of this great man to eternal realms."

ROYAL VISIT TO THE VILLA...

Pa Arthur Okorie Okowa

Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Muhammadu Sa’ad Abubakar III (left), and Etsu Nupe, Alhaji Yahaya Abubakar, during the visit of a delegation of the Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs to the Presidential Villa, Abuja…yesterday

Buratai Hands over to New Army Chief, Attahiru Says Obasanjo almost retired him 21 years ago Kingsley Nwezeh in Abuja Former Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Tukur Buratai, yesterday handed over command to the new Army Chief, Maj. Gen. Ibrahim Attahiru.

Speaking at the handing over ceremony at the Nigerian Army Headquarters, Abuja, Buratai said he was nearly retired by former President Olusegun Obasanjo, 21 years ago at the rank of major.

He described his attainment of the rank of lieutenant general and Chief of Army Staff as historic.

He said the Army would never

remain the same after his exit.

“Former President Olusegun Obasanjo almost retired me 21 years ago when I was a Major.

My retirement after 40 years of service is historic, hence calls for gratitude,” he said.

He urged the new army chief to ensure that the Nigerian Army remained professionally responsive in the discharge of its constitutional duties.

Buratai said that the army under his watch ensured support for democratic rule while urging his successor to ensure that the army continued to be loyal and

professional.

He also urged Attahiru to remember him for three things notably improved professionalism of the Nigerian army, improved responsiveness of the army in the area of training administration and logistics needs and responsiveness to Nigeria’s democratic imperatives.

“I am proud to say that the Nigerian army has transformed to become professionally responsive in the defence of democracy with utmost loyalty.

“Today we have a professionally responsive army

and we have achieved a lot in many areas over the years as well as inter-agency cooperation", he said.

He commended the principal staff officers, corps commanders, commandants and directors for their cooperation during his time as the army chief.

He also appreciated all the troops serving in all operations both home and abroad most especially the operation Lafiya Dole, Sahel Sanity, Delta Safe among others.

Buratai said as a COAS he was proud to have defended the

nation’s democracy and called on officers and men of the Nigerian army to make it their duty to defend and to protect democracy.

In his response, the new COAS pledged to sustain the giant strides of the Nigerian Army under Buratai, adding that he considered himself lucky to have been given opportunity to succeed Buratai.

Earlier, the Chief of Policy and Plans, Lt. Gen. Lamidi Adeosun, said the Buratai came, saw and conquered, adding that working with Buratai was a rewarding experience.

Adeosun, while extolling the virtues of Buratai said he had achieved so much for Nigerian army in terms of operational efficiency, personnel welfare and establishment of new units and formations.

The new Chief of Army Staff, Major General Ibrahim Attahiru, solicited the support of soldiers and officers to reposition the Nigerian Army.

He thanked President Muhammadu Buhari for finding him worthy, adding he counted himself lucky to be chosen as army chief.

TI Rating: Buhari’s Administration Most Corrupt in Nigeria, Says PDP Chuks Okocha and Kasim Sumaina in Abuja The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has said that the 2020 corruption index report on Nigeria

by Transparency International has further confirmed that the administration of the President Muhammadu Buhari “is a citadel of corruption and the most corrupt in the history of our nation.”

The 2020 Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) released yesterday by TI in Abuja, shows that Nigeria recorded a decline.

Published exclusively in Nigeria by the Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC), the National Chapter of TI, the index

reveals that Nigeria scored 25 out of 100 points, falling back by one point compared to last year.

In the comparison for this year, Nigeria ranks 149 out of 183 countries, three places down compared to 2019 results.

The Executive Director, CISLAC, Mr. Auwal Ibrahim Musa (Rafsanjani), while announcing the results, noted that in the past four years, Nigeria's score has declined on average by 0.8 annually.

He noted that CPI aggregates data from eight different sources that provided perceptions by Nigeria's business community and country experts on the level of corruption in the public sector.

Stating that while the

index does not show specific incidences of corruption, "it is an indication of the perception of the Nigerian public about the state of corruption in the country. The index is completely impartial, objective and globally well respected," Rafsajani said.

He observed that Nigeria's CPI score is just another reminder of the need for a fast, transparent and robust response to the challenges posed by corruption to Nigeria.

He added that it is worrying that despite the numerous efforts by state actors on the war against corruption, Nigeria is still perceived by citizens and members of the international community as being corrupt.

He stressed that CISLAC/ TI and partners suspect a list of key weaknesses to explain why Nigeria may not have improved in the fight against corruption.

While sighting absence of transparency in the Covid-19 pandemic response, nepotism in the public service appointments and promotions, lack of adequate anti-corruption legal frameworks and interference by politicians in the operation of law enforcement agencies among others, he said, "Going forward, we use this medium to call on the government and her supporters to examine the drivers behind Nigeria's deteriorating anticorruption image and consider actions which will tackle systemic

corruption.

Reacting to the report, the PDP asserted that the TI report, “is an incontrovertible confirmation that our nation is more corrupt under President Buhari and the APC, than it was in 2015 when they took office”.

PDP’s National Publicity Secretary, Mr. Kola Ologbondiyan, said in a statement issued yesterday that the descent into the abyss of corruption only goes to show that President Buhari’s anti-corruption stance is a mere swindle used to delude Nigerians while the vaults were laid open for APC leaders and officials of the Buhari’s administration to plunder.

“Indeed, the record of unbroken

decline from 136th in 2016 to 144th in 2018, 146th in 2019 and now 149th in 2020, under President Buhari, the African Union (AU) Anti-Corruption Champion,’ settles the now notorious fact that the Buhari administration and the APC are titleholders in corruption.

“Nigerians can now see what the APC and the Buhari Presidency did, upon assumption of office, was to simulate a holier than thou attitude, deploy the instrument of propaganda to deliberately castigate the PDP with false corruption allegations just to divert public attention and create a safe atmosphere for APC leaders to loot our nation to her knees.”

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NNPC Records N1.95tn from Sale of Petrol, Others

Emmanuel Addeh in Abuja and Peter Uzoho in Lagos

The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) yesterday announced sales proceeds of N1.95 trillion from white products, mainly petrol, between October 2019 and the same period in 2020.

However, THISDAY’s checks showed that compared with the same period between October 2018 and October 2019, revenues from the sale of white products fell by at least N700 billion from N2.64 trillion in the preceding 12 months to N1.95 trillion from October 2019 to October 2020.

But on a month-to-month period, October 2020 recorded a higher revenue stream from white products sales with N158 billion while October 2019 had N125.17 billion.

While a total sum of N143.4 billion was made on the sale of white products by the Petroleum Products Marketing Company (PPMC) in October 2019, compared to N125.17 billion sales in September 2019, total revenues generated from sales of white products between October 2018 and October 2019 stood at N2.64 trillion where petrol contributed about 96.2 per cent of the total sales with a value of about N2.5 trillion.

But in the latest figures from the NNPC, the corporation stated that its downstream subsidiary, the PPMC, recorded a total of N158.04 billion from the sales of white products in October 2020, representing 92 per cent increase over the N80.15 billion sales in September 2020.

A statement by the Group General Manager, Group Public Affairs Division of the Corporation, Dr. Kennie Obateru, stated that the figure was contained in the October 2020 edition of the NNPC Monthly Financial and Operations Reports (MFOR).

The report indicated that the total revenues generated from the sales of white products for the period October 2019 to October 2020 stood at N1.95 trillion, with petrol accounting for about 99.07 per cent of the total sales with a value of over N1.9 trillion.

In terms of volume, the October 2020 sales figure translated to a total of 1.224.54 billion litres of white products sold and distributed by PPMC within the period compared with 603.39 million litres in September 2020.

The NNPC added that this comprised 1.224.20 billion litres of petrol, 0.31 million litres of diesel and 0.033 million litres of kerosene.

“Total sales of white products for the period October 2019 to October 2020 stood at 16.462.50 billion litres and petrol accounted for 16.344.36 billion litres or petro per cent,” the national oil company added.

NNPC explained that in the month under review, 23 pipeline points were vandalised, representing about 10 per cent increase from the 21 points recorded in September 2020.

According to it, of this figure, Mosimi area accounted for 83 per cent of the vandalised points while Port Harcourt Area accounted for the remaining 17 per cent.

In the gas sector, a total of 214.07 billion cubic feet (bcf) of natural gas was produced in October 2020, translating to an average daily production of 6,908.34 million standard cubic feet per day (mmscfd).

The daily average natural gas supply to power plants increased by 8.60 per cent to 745mmscfd, equivalent to power generation of 2,801megawatts.

Compared with gas supply to power, in October 2020, the volume was 5,503 mmscfd while power generated for that month was 2,050mw,

resulting in 64.3 per cent of total generation for that month in 2019.

“For the period of October 2019 to October 2020, a total of 3,018 BCF of gas was produced, representing an average daily production of 7,658.88 mmscfd during the period.

"The October 2020 MFOR also indicated that periodto-date gas production from Joint Ventures (JVs), Production Sharing Contracts (PSCs) and NPDC contributed about 68.18 per cent, 20.12 per cent and 11.70 per cent

respectively to the total national gas production.

“In terms of natural gas off-take, commercialisation and utilisation, out of the 208.96 BCF of gas supplied in October 2020, a total of 118.40 BCF of gas was commercialised, consisting of 38.07 BCF and 88.90 BCF for the domestic and export market respectively.

“This translates to a total supply of 1,269.03mmscfd of gas to the domestic market and 2,870.57mmscfd of gas supplied to the export market for the month,” the NNPC

stated.

This 63rd edition of the MFOR highlighted NNPC’s activities from October 2019 to October 2020.

The corporation noted that the release of the MFOR was in line with its commitment to becoming more accountable, transparent and driven by performance excellence.

“NNPC has continued to sustain effective communication with stakeholders through this report via publications on its website and in national dailies,” it stated.

PROMOTING EXPORT...

L-R: New Consul-General of Nigeria, Atlanta, United States of America, Dr. Amina Sumaila (left), and the Chief Executive Officer, Nigeria Export Promotion Council, Mr. Segun Awolowo, during the ambassador’s visit the Export House, Abuja…recently

IMF Foresees Improved Capital Spending in Nigeria Nume Ekeghe The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has projected that Nigeria’s capital spending will improve this year while anticipating that financing the country’s deficit will remain a challenge with its huge debt servicing burden.

The IMF, in its updated ‘Fiscal Monitor’ report titled: ‘Government Support is Vital as Countries Race to Vaccinate,’ released yesterday, projected overall fiscal balance to be 5.9 per cent and 4.7 per cent for 2020 and 2021 respectively.

The report noted that this was an improvement

compared with the 0.8 per cent and 0.2 per cent it had projected for the country in its October 2020 report.

Having classified Nigeria as a low-income developing country, the IMF said capital spending in 2021 was expected to recover partially in most countries such as Guinea, Haiti, Malawi, Nigeria and Tajikistan, after the temporary cut in 2020.

The average overall fiscal balance was estimated to be lower in 2020 by 1.7 percentage points of GDP, and the average public debt increased by 5.2 percentage points to 48.5 per cent of GDP at end-2020.

It said: “The average

overall fiscal balance is estimated to be lower in 2020 by 1.7 percentage points of GDP and the average public debt increased by 5.2 percentage points to 48.5 per cent of GDP at end-2020.

“Even after accounting for higher external grants and exceptional emergency and concessional financing in many countries (including from the IMF), average revenues fell sharply.

“Expenditures continued to rise in real terms, notably in health spending and social assistance to vulnerable households.

Many governments reprioritised spending for example, by

cutting capital expenditures.”

The IMF stated that in 2021, the average fiscal deficit was projected to decline to five per cent of GDP from 5.7 per cent in 2020.

As economies recover, the multilateral institution expects revenue collection to improve, whereas pandemicrelated spending is projected to decline.

“Capital spending in 2021 is expected to recover partially in most countries after the temporary cuts in 2020 (Guinea, Haiti, Malawi, Nigeria, Tajikistan).

However, deficits are expected to widen in a few countries as revenue-to-GDP

ratios only partially recover while spending and debt service costs are rising (Chad, Kenya, Myanmar).

“Although prospects for market financing are improving in some frontier market economies, near-term debt vulnerabilities remain high in many countries.

Financing large deficits remains challenging, given limited market access and restricted ability to increase revenues in the near term.

“Average debt levels are projected to peak in 2021, with debt service relative to tax revenues exceeding 20 per cent in Ghana, Kenya, Myanmar, Nigeria, and Zambia and an upward debt

trajectory in some, especially oil-exporting countries, such as Nigeria,” it added.

It said actions were taken to provide grants, concessional loans and debt relief to address the steep rise in public debt of lowincome developing countries in 2020, including the 38 countries (out of 70) assessed to be “at high risk” of or in debt distress, according to the IMF–World Bank Debt Sustainability Assessments.

Fiscal adjustments in several countries (Ethiopia, Vietnam) and debt restructuring (Chad, Republic of Congo) were expected to contribute to debt reduction, it added.

Lagos Restricts Movement of Trucks on Oshodi-Apapa Expressway, Others The Lagos State Government has announced the restriction of truck drivers within the state, especially on the OshodiApapa Expressway.

This was contained in a statement issued yesterday by the Gboyega Akosile, Chief Press Secretary to Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu.

According to the statement, truck drivers would ply routes in the state only between 9p.m. and 6a.m. daily.

The statement quoted the Commissioner for Transportation, Dr. Frederic Oladeinde, as saying that the move was crucial to ease the traffic gridlock especially along

the Apapa axis of the state.

The statement read, “The Lagos State Government has proposed the implementation of route restrictions for trailer and truck drivers operating within the State, while their movement periods are restricted to night time.

“The Commissioner for

Transportation, Dr. Frederic Oladeinde, announced that the current administration has mapped out dedicated routes to be plied between 9p.m. and 6a.m. daily.

“He elaborated that the move was necessary as the Apapa in Lagos has been rendered less profitable for

investors due to the gridlock and activities of truck drivers along the axis, appealing to the stakeholders to cooperate with the state government to remedy the situation.

“Oladeinde urged them to put aside their sentiments and think of other motoring public as the policy is not meant to

cause rancour, but geared towards opening up the State for greater economic realities.”

“The commissioner implored the stakeholders to see issues raised as work in progress, while noting that discussions with the unions are ongoing until the grey areas are cleared.”

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N’Assembly Considering Restructuring, Senate Tells Soyinka Deji Elumoye in Abuja The Senate yesterday took on the Nobel Laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka, over his allegation that the lawmakers are ignoring the clamour for restructuring the country, saying that the controversial issue is one of the issues to be considered in the review of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) by the National Assembly this year.

Soyinka, while featuring on a live TV programme on Wednesday, had accused the federal lawmakers of abandoning the clamour for restructuring and struggling for various committees where “goodies are shared.”

He urged the National Assembly to listen to the calls for the restructuring of Nigeria and take steps to make the

demand a reality.

He said the National Assembly has the powers and moral authority to respond to the calls if the presidency is not doing so.

“Very often, they are struggling for those various committees where I think all the goodies are shared. So, they are compromised. But when I speak about this, I’m not speaking about the entirety.

But unfortunately, there are those who are purely for their own interest and who make compromises with the executive simply because they want to fulfil their own personal interest.

“If the presidency is not responding, then the National Assembly has the powers and the moral authority to respond to the desire of the populace,” Soyinka had said.

But the House of Representatives on Wednesday faulted Soyinka’s position, describing it as inaccurate.

It stated that the National Assembly had in recent past sided with the people on several issues of national importance.

Also responding to Soyinka’s accusation, Senate spokesman, Senator Ajibola Basiru, yesterday described as unfortunate the submission of the laureate.

Basiru told THISDAY that at no time did the National Assembly fail in its responsibility to do what is right as representatives of the people.

He stated that the legislature is in the process of amending the constitution, as part of efforts to meet the yearnings of the people.

He said: "The ninth National Assembly has commenced

the process of amending the constitution by setting up constitution review committees in the two chambers last year.

“The committees had since swung into action by asking the populace, including corporate bodies and organisations, to submit memoranda for consideration in areas like state police and restructuring and the response was commendable.”

Basiru added that though the deadline for the submission of memoranda had since closed "but we can create a window for the Nobel laureate to submit his memo on restructuring for consideration by the National Assembly."

He, however, explained that much as Soyinka was entitled to his opinion on restructuring, there are other individuals and groups who have different

interpretations of restructuring and have submitted memoranda to the committees.

He said Soyinka was ill-informed about how the parliament functions, especially in the area of constitutional amendment.

He said: "With all due respect, Soyinka's comments showed that he is not well informed about the workings of the National Assembly. Sub-committees had been set up by the main committees to look into the issue of restructuring as contained in the report of the el-Rufai committee set up by the All Progressives Congress (APC) and another committee to look at the constitution amendments carried out by past National Assembly. All these reports will be collated and there will also be zonal and state public

hearings for the input of the people this year before we can now talk about the changes to be effected in the constitution."

According to him, the legislature will never abdicate its responsibility to the executive, adding that it is incorrect to say that "we are now the appendage of the presidency."

He challenged Soyinka to name members of the National Assembly bought over by the executive "Soyinka should be prepared to name and shame the federal legislators that have compromised; very unfortunate that this was coming from him.

But all I know is that we have not abdicated our responsibility and we will continue to carry out our constitutional roles, including oversight of the executive," he said.

information that may stem the tide of crimes and insecurity in society.”

Buhari also spoke on efforts being made by his administration towards making life better for Nigerians, saying: "We are diversifying the economy and putting appropriate mechanisms in place to reduce poverty and more fiercely combat corruption, regardless of the status of those involved. “Programmes such as N-Power, Conditional Cash Transfer, Government Enterprise and Empowerment Programme and Home-Grown School Feeding are just some of the interventions made to empower Nigerians and cater to their needs.

“The National Social Investment Programme alone has directly benefited four million Nigerians through job training and financial assistance.”

The president called on the leaders to continue to speak to Nigerians and to amplify the message of peace through their tried and tested networks.

He urged them to give full backing to the Alternate School Programme, which he launched on Tuesday.

According to him, the programme was “designed to not only address our high out-of-school rates, but it will boost our levels of girl-child education while also equipping our youth with the right tools in making decisions at every turn of their lives when confronted by peddlers of evil and hateful messages… and also, address the public health crises that the world is currently facing.”

Buhari appealed to Nigerians

to support his government’s efforts on COVID-19.

He said: “As the government continues to work towards managing this crisis, it is also critical that you lend your voices in support of those basic but fundamental protocols that can significantly curtail the spread of this disease – washing of our hands, using face masks and ensuring social distancing as much as possible, as they have been proven to be our first line of defence in the fight against this virus.

“Furthermore and much more important, when the vaccines which we are working hard to procure for the nation arrive, please, please join in the drive to educate people that these vaccines are meant to save lives and protect everyone."

Earlier, the sultan had commended the president for the successes achieved so far in the North-east, calling on the federal government to deal decisively with the banditry ravaging Zamfara, Katsina and Sokoto States as well as some parts of the North-central.

While expressing confidence that security forces, with better synergy among them will overcome present challenges, he solicited the cooperation of all governors with the federal government, irrespective of their political leanings.

He also urged Nigerians to support the new leadership of the armed forces.

The sultan appealed to Nigerians, particularly religious leaders, to refrain from making inflammatory comments that could sow discord in the polity and exacerbating the current

insecurity in the land.

He asked that religious leaders making subversive comments should be called to order.

items, conserving foreign exchange earnings, and spurring economic growth.

He stated that the interventions in agriculture, particularly the Anchor Borrowers’ Programme (ABP) and Commodity Development Initiative (CDI), sought to strengthen key agricultural commodities’ value chains, enable improved productivity in the agricultural sector and increase the sourcing of inputs locally by stakeholders in the manufacturing sector.

He explained that the programmes also helped to improve self-sufficiency in the production of key staple items in line with the government food security objectives.

Emefiele said notwithstanding the gains achieved, there are still challenges within the Nigerian agricultural commodities value chain that would need to be addressed, in order to accelerate investment and productivity in the sector.

He listed poor infrastructure and logistics as impediments

to the movement of produce from farm to market and/or processing centres resulting in massive revenue losses to farmers.

He also identified other challenges to include limited storage and preservation facilities, lack of adequate liquidity to support offtake of agricultural goods, unavailability of pricing information to market participants as well as activities of middlemen who currently aggregate commodities with the sole aim of manipulating prices for selfish gains.

He said these core issues that affect Nigeria’s commodity market must be addressed in order to properly harness the benefits that the agriculture sector could provide to our economy.

He stated that an effective and efficient commodity exchange ecosystem remained critical in achieving the aforementioned objectives, through its provision of an organised platform for farmers to trade products in a transparent and efficient market.

BUHARI MOBILISES INT’L SUPPORT AGAINST COVID-19, TERRORISM identify appropriate ways and means to globally resolve these challenges.”

Buhari also expressed his admiration for the cooperation that Nigeria and the other three countries have enjoyed in other fora.

“All three countries represented here enjoy excellent multilateral relations with us. In addition to the United Nations, the largest multilateral umbrella platform, we are also members of the G-77 and the South-South Cooperation, which Nigeria, Argentina, Egypt and Saudi Arabia have used to advance our collective interests and causes.

“Nigeria is proud to be associated with these platforms, for they have enabled us to work closely together with the principal representatives of these countries,” he said.

The president told the ambassadors about the readiness of Nigeria to work with them to achieve global peace, food security and a sustainable environment.

While wishing the envoys a successful tenure, Buhari urged them to improve on the relationship between their respective countries and Nigeria.

He said: “On behalf of the government and people of Nigeria, I urge you, in the course of your duties in Nigeria, to build on the successes of your predecessors and enhance the existing fraternal relations between our countries."

Responding on behalf of others, the Ambassador of the Arab Republic of Egypt to Nigeria, Ambassador Ihab

Moustafa, thanked the president for receiving them and accepting their letters of credence.

He assured him of their commitment to work his government to further enhance and strengthen their countries’ friendship and partnership with Nigeria.

“We will count on your kind support and guidance to this end,” he told the president.

Besides Moustafa, other ambassadors who presented their letters of credence are Mr Faisal Ebraheem Alajrafi Alghamdi from the Royal Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and Mr Alejandro Miguel Francisco Herrero from the Republic of Argentina.

Buhari Warns Nigerians against Promoting Ethnic, Religious Prejudices Also yesterday, the president warned Nigerians against promoting ethno-religious prejudices so that the nation could witness rapid development.

The president, while hosting a delegation of the Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA), led by its President-General and Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar III, however, gave an assurance that his administration will continue to create the enabling environment for religious freedom as guaranteed by the Nigerian constitution.

Buhari, in a statement issued at the end of the meeting by Adesina, stated that the federal

government does not and will not allow religious prejudice or partisanship to influence any of its decisions and policies.

"It is my solemn decision to be fair and just to all segments of society. The federal government will continue to promote religious freedom as it is a constitutional responsibility. I must thank the Muslim Ummah for promoting inter-religious dialogue in the country. It is self-evident that if the country must work, we must continue to work together in spite of our ethnic, religious and political differences because Nigeria is our collective project," he stated.

The president assured the delegation that the federal government is doing all within its powers to combat insecurity and called on local communities to assist the security forces in enhancing their effectiveness.

He said: “The federal government has worked tirelessly to combat insecurity and other challenges that are confronting the country. Security is a protracted problem but we are not relenting in our efforts.

Not only are we equipping the military, but we are also boosting their morale to perform their constitutional duties without undue interference. We are also encouraging locales to enhance their intelligence gathering and timely remit it to the security agencies.

“I acknowledge that security is the first responsibility of government, but the government cannot do it alone. It requires stakeholders, such as you.

“Therefore, I urge you to lend your support to the security agencies by providing

NSIA Boosts COVID-19 Fight, Donates Medical Equipment to Healthcare Institutions As part of efforts to support Nigeria’s ailing healthcare sector as well as the federal government’s COVID-19 fight, the Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA) yesterday handed over 126 units of Patient Monitors and 63 units of Oxygen Concentrators to 21 tertiary healthcare institutions across the six geopolitical zones of the country.

The virtual handover ceremony had in attendance top government officials, including Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Mr. Boss Mustapha; the Minister of Finance, Budget, and National Planning Mrs. Zainab Ahmed; the Minister of Health, Dr. Osagie Ehanire; and the DirectorGeneral of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), Dr Chikwe Ihekweazu.

In attendance were also the Chief Medical Directors of the 21 medical centres.

The Managing Director, NSIA, Mr. Uche Orji, in his remarks, said the donation was part of measures aimed at supporting the containment of the recent surge in the reported cases of Covid-19 infections in Nigeria.

Orji said the NSIA would ensure that beneficiaries of the Continued on page 10

NNPC RECORDS N1.95TN FROM SALE OF PETROL, OTHERS Emefiele, who chairs the SteerCo, said the federal government’s premier commodity exchange had not been able to catalyse agricultural production due to structural and idiosyncratic challenges.

He identified the bottlenecks to include limited funding and investment, poor financial performance, deficiency in physical infrastructure (warehouses, laboratories, grading capability), inadequate warehouse receipts and logistics infrastructure.

Others included a lack of broad legal framework and standards-setting as well as lack of supervisory clarity and overlapping supervisory mandates, among others.

According to him, the formation of the SteerCo also included representatives from Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA); Africa Finance Corporation (AFC); Ministry of Budget and National Planning; Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment; and Ministry

of Agriculture and Rural Development to oversee the implementation of the strategic plan.

Emefiele, who explained that no timeframe had yet been set for the assignment, added that pending approvals, the first launch involving approvals on repositioning, restructuring, setting up various board structures, board committees and governance committees should happen within 90 days.

Providing more insights into Buhari's approval for the planned reforms in the NCX, the CBN governor said as majority shareholder of the exchange, the apex bank would collaborate with NSIA and AFC under the Infraco structure, to develop and implement a strategic repositioning plan for the NCX to make it an efficient world-class commodity exchange.

Under the proposal, the CBN is expected to engage the Nigeria Postal Service on possible utilisation of its assets to develop model warehouses

across the federation.

The SteerCo may co-opt any other ministry, department and agency of government to see to the effective implementation of the strategic turnaround plan.

Emefiele said when completed, the repositioning drive will open up Nigeria's agricultural sector and bring succour to Nigerian farmers who have suffered in the hands of "people who are arbitraging, people who take their products for peanuts and then sell and make lots of money."

He said: "We believe this would stop by the time this happens and we can on the part of the government see to it that we are able to moderate prices in the way that it is good for our economy."

Emefiele also said the federal government alongside the CBN had implemented intervention schemes in the agriculture and manufacturing sectors, aimed at boosting employment generation and wealth creation, reducing dependence on imported food

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OPS Divided over FG’s Reduction of Automobiles’ Import Levies It will destroy $1bn investment, say MAN, NACCIMA New policy will herald Nigerian-made cars, NECA, LCCI insist Dike Onwuamaeze Members of the organised private sector (OPS) have expressed divergent views on the move by the federal government to begin the implementation of the reduction in the import levies on automobiles as contained in the 2020 Finance Act. The Comptroller-General of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Col. Hameed Ali, had on Tuesday stated that the service would start the implementation next week.

Ali, however, added that the NCS is awaiting official communication from the Ministry of Finance to fully commence the implementation.

According to him, the vehicle tariff reduction is contained in the 2020 Finance Act and initiated by the NCS to ease the cost of transportation in Nigeria.

The new import tariffs, as stated in the Finance Act, provides for a reduction in the import levy on cars from 30 per cent to five per cent, import duty on tractors from 35 per cent to five per cent as well as a reduction of imported duty on mass transit vehicles for the transportation of more than 10 persons and trucks from 35 per cent to 10 per cent.

However, the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) and the Nigerian Association of Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Power (NACCIMA), have kicked against the new policy, saying it will imperil over $1 billion new investments in the automobile industry attracted by the National Automotive Industry Development Plan (NAIDP).

They added that it will create confusion in the automotive sector and dampen investors’ confidence in Nigeria.

The new policy, they said, will also expose the Bank of

Industry (BoI) to loan losses.

But the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) and the Nigeria Employers’ Consultative Assembly (NECA) expressed support for the policy.

LCCI and NECA said the new policy will redirect Nigerian automobile industry on the path of manufacturing Completely Knocked Down (CKD) automobile components in the country and pave the way for the emergence of truly madein-Nigeria vehicles.

According to them, the local auto manufacturers still enjoy 40 per cent tariff protection despite the lowered tariffs, adding that it will be outrageous to continue to defend an industry with 70 per cent tariff.

Opposing the policy, the Director-General of MAN, Mr. Segun Ajayi-Kadir, told THISDAY that the reduction came to the association as a “huge surprise” and described it as an affront to the NAIDP and “avoidable erosion of the traction we have gained in the implementation of the NAIDP.” Ajayi-Kadir noted that the government encouraged investors in the industry as part of the anticipatory approval of the NAIDP to key into importing the CKD and Semi-Knocked Down (SKD) components for assembling of cars, buses and trucks in Nigeria.

This laudable initiative, according to him, improved investments in the Nigerian auto industry to over $1 billion and encouraged the Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) to sign agreements with some Nigerian businesses to commit more funds to the industry.

He stated that there are currently 54 licensed auto assemblers, with 33 of them operational in the country with an installed capacity of about 417, 690 units per annum.

He said they had created about 4,000 direct jobs and 12, 000 indirect jobs.

“So, this section of the Finance Act is an affront to the NAIDP. It is not consistent with the earlier stated objectives of government in this sector that holds so much promise for Nigeria, especially in the West African region.

“As you would have seen, this has created confusion in the automotive sector and brought to question investor confidence in Nigeria,” he said.

Ajayi-Kadir faulted the objectives of the Finance Act, saying that there is nowhere in the world where all the parts of fully built vehicles are manufactured in a single country.

“Rather, what countries that thrive in the industry do is to source components across countries and continents and assemble such in a location,” he stated.

He expressed concern about Nigeria losing investors to other neighbouring countries as was the case with Toyota and Nissan that dumped the country for Ghana while Scania and Mercedes Benz which are waiting to invest in Nigeria might decide otherwise.

He said: “It is capable of exposing the BOI to significant loan losses since some of the investors in the industry have recently obtained huge facilities to develop their lines having keyed into the government initiative in the automotive industry.”

Also, the Director-General of NACCIMA, Ambassador Ayo Olukanni, told THISDAY that the policy on reduction of import levies will not augur well for the nation's local auto industry.

Olukanni said that Nigeria already has some local automobile assembly plants that produce cars and transport vehicles and have

shown potential to satisfy some areas of transport needs of the country.

He added that some of their members like the Innoson Vehicle Manufacturing (IVM) recently launched a new line of vehicles while the Peugeot Automobile is making efforts to bounce back and the Mikano Motors has just made a grand entry into the Nigerian market.

“We must protect these producers and encourage them.

Through their activities, they can and will provide employment and government revenue towards the implementation of the development plan and economic growth.

“On the other hand, increased importation of used vehicles will put further strains on foreign reserves as happened in the 1980s with the mass importation of ‘Tokunbo’ cars,” Olukanni said.

However, the DirectorGeneral of NECA, Mr. Timothy Olawale, urged critics of the new tariff policy to first understand the policy direction of the government and what it intends to achieve with it, which is to embrace a long term policy for the sector.

Olawale said: “What we had before was the importation of SKD components from abroad to be coupled in Nigeria. That generates less employment and less income. What government is trying to do now is to reduce levies to discourage the imports of SKD and encourage the manufacture of CKD components in Nigeria.

This is to stimulate the interest of those who have signified willingness in setting up auto industries in Nigeria to manufacture those components here.

“This will create the opportunity for value addition, jobs creation and more revenue. So the

government is trying to create an enabling environment for investors who will be willing to raise the stake and the bar. We need to treat the policy by understanding the government’s perspective and the direction it wants to go.”

He, however, advised the government to launch a public enlightenment campaign to educate Nigerians on its thoughts, plans and future projections.

He also advised the government on the need to provide the infrastructural base to support the local manufacturing of the CKD by accelerating the reactivation of the Ajeokuta Steel Complex, resuscitating the country’s petroleum refineries for the production of petrochemicals needed to fabricate vehicles parts and improving power supply.

He also urged the government to package a moratorium for those who have invested in the SKD to enable them to rein in their investments and convert to CKD. “Some of them might have imports on the high sea and would be short-changed as it is.

“So, the government needs to give them a period when they would be able to recoup their investments and also support them to transit from the SKD to the CKD dispensation.

“All these issues need to be holistically reviewed to ensure that this policy does not die before the sun rises.

That is why the government needs to work on supporting infrastructure in order to have a holistic approach that will take care of these issues and make a success of the policy.

“With hindsight and knowledge of what the government is trying to achieve I will say that the policy is positive.

“Government wants a return to the 1970s when we have a number of components

being manufactured here.

Having a policy is just the beginning, implementation and providing support to ensure that it succeeds is very critical,” Olawale said.

He added that the implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AFCFTA) might be part of the bigger picture the government is painting to enable the country to use its population to drive maximum benefits from the free trade agreement.

The Director-General of the LCCI, Dr. Muda Yusuf, supported the new policy, saying that there is no need to lament over the downward review of tariffs as the local automobile manufacturers still have 40 per cent tariff protection.

“What the government has done is to reduce the levy component of the tariffs to five per cent from 35 per cent. But the import duty of 35 per cent still subsists.

The implication is that there is still a protective tariff of 40 per cent. If an industry cannot be competitive with a 40 per cent tariff protection, then we should interrogate our industrialisation strategy.

“Meanwhile, the government should give more generous incentives to motor assembly plants following the tariff review,” Yusuf said.

He also justified the review based on the high cost of vehicles and the implications of high transportation costs on inflationary pressures in the economy.

“Food inflation is a major driver of the composite price index. And a major factor in this is the cost of vehicles.

Logistics in the Nigerian economy is highly dependent on road transportation. An estimated 90 per cent of freight is moved by road.

“It is good to protect domestic industries. But a tariff of 70 per cent is outrageous,” Yusuf added.

revamp secondary healthcare in the country to bridge the gap in healthcare,” he said.

Ahmed assured Nigerians that the president and members of his cabinet were doing everything possible to sustain the economy and return swiftly to normalcy.

“While there is a lot of uncertainty, we know that we need to act fast to adapt to our changing reality. Now, more than ever before, our country needs to step up and put the resources that are required to drive fundamental change,” she said, while also highlighting steps so far taken by the government to cushion the impact of the virus on Nigerians.

In his comment, Mustapha said lack of compliance with the non-pharmaceutical measures and the emergence of the second wave compelled the federal government to issue the new COVID-19 Health Protection Regulation 2021.

This, he said, was to bring to the fore the issue of enforcement.

“We have come to the realisation that enforcement has been lacking and the instrumentality of this regulation will give guidance to security agencies and subnational entities to begin the process of enforcement with immediate effect,” the SGF said.

BUHARI MOBILISES INT’L SUPPORT AGAINST COVID-19, TERRORISM equipment receive after-sale support from the original equipment manufacturer in terms of training and maintenance.

“In our opinion, this is the only sustainable model. Aside from this, we also sought to address the economic implication of the pandemic which research has shown has negatively impacted Nigerians,” he added.

He disclosed that the NSIA had collaborated with Global Citizens on Nigeria Solidarity Support Fund.

“Healthcare is a key area of focus for the NSIA. While our mandate is to preserve capital for future generations, we first must ensure that Nigerians

are alive. The authority acknowledges that there are many shortcomings plaguing our healthcare sector and we are not willing to accept them as insurmountable.

“Over the last 24 months, the NSIA has commissioned three fully operational Centre of Excellence to meet specific healthcare needs in the country. The other part of NSIA’s vision is the creation of a pharmaceutical manufacturing company which is one of the things we are working on with the University College London, to develop pharmaceutical manufacturing capacity in the country to ensure that we are able to support our

healthcare sector,” he added.

In his remarks, Ihekweazu pointed out that the pandemic has affected the lives of a lot of Nigerians as well as weakened the economy.

However, the NCDC boss said the pandemic presents an opportunity to build a better and stronger health sector to respond to the present challenges as well as future outbreaks.

“Our colleagues at the NSIA have been passionate about improving healthcare infrastructure in Nigeria.

This support comes at a critical time when we are experiencing an increase in cases in our health system and our health facilities are

increasingly challenged.

“These equipment would enable the provision of specialised care which is a major need in all our facilities,” he said.

Ehanire, who commended the NSIA, said the government was studying the interventions by the agency in the health sector as a model for the way forward.

“The health system as you know in our country is in need of great reforms. It is not where it is supposed to be and it is not where we want it to be. And it is with interventions like that that we are going to find the way forward. We would work with the state governments to

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Stop Misinformation about COVID-19 Vaccines, FG Tells Monarchs NIPRD’s immune booster ready for clinical trials NAFDAC lists drug for general use

Olawale Ajimotokan and Onyebuchi Ezigbo in Abuja The federal government yesterday enlisted the support of traditional rulers to help correct the misinformation being churned out about COVID-19 vaccines.

This is coming as the National Institute for Pharmaceutical Research and Development (NIPRD) has said that it is in the process of carrying out clinical studies on the efficacy of a drug regiment known as Niprimune for the treatment of COVID-19.

The government also said it would want to be on the same page with traditional and religious leaders so that programmes which benefit the people could run smoothly.

The Secretary to the Government of the Federation, (SGF), Mr. Boss Mustapha and Minister of Health, Dr. Osagie

Ehanire, gave the charge during the sensitisation programme on COVID - 19 vaccine for Muslim scholars and Imams in Nigeria, organised by the National Primary Healthcare Development Agency (NPHCDA).

Federal government’s plea came barely 24 hours after the Sultan of Sokoto, Sa’ad Abubakar said that the administration of COVID - 19 vaccine should not be by force Mustapha said: “I believe that we cannot force people to take vaccine. There are myths, people talk of conspiracy theory. The vaccine is meant to kill us; there are so many videos circulating, very negative videos... “The vaccines are free; we are not paying for the vaccine, it is your choice to take the vaccine,” he said.

Mustapha told traditional and religious leaders to change the negative psyche in their subjects.

He said, “A lot of misinformation about COVID - 19 is currently being circulated through various mass and traditional channels. Traditional leaders, who are custodians of the people’s culture and values, must be very discerning to guide our people aright.

Please endeavour to verify any information that you cannot link to any credible source.

“This virus is no respecter of persons. It has affected

every group of persons in our society, including the traditional institution. This is why we must come together as one people with one voice to use our influence to promote both the non-pharmaceutical preventive measures and vaccination.

“Traditional rulers are highly reverend in our society; it is important that we leverage on this divine influence to instill in our people the sense of taking responsibility for themselves and

their loved ones by wearing facemasks, observing hand hygiene, physical distancing avoiding large gatherings and unnecessary travels.”

On his part Ehanire said that federal government recognised the effort of traditional institutions towards stopping the community spread of COVID - 19.

“I believe it has also not been easy for traditional leaders to explain things and provide

comfort to the people in these trying times, when, despite many trials, there is yet no known cure and no sure end to the disease.

“Your Eminence, Your Highnesses, we know that as precious as these vaccines are, there are voices already expressing doubt about it, even before they arrive. Scientists around the world have calculated that, for a country to be free of COVID - 19, 70 per cent of its population must be vaccinated.

Bandits Kill 11 People, Kidnap Five in Katsina Francis Sardauna in Katsina Suspected bandits yesterday killed 11 people and kidnapped five others in fresh attacks on Ungwar Sarki and Sharu villages in Faskari Local Government Area of Katsina State.

The criminals, according to residents of the affected villages, stormed Ungwar Sarki at about 12 o’clock and ransacked the village before moving to Sharu village last Wednesday.

A top government official in Faskari, who confirmed the incident in a telephone interview with THISDAY yesterday, said the hoodlums also injured scores of people and rustled unspecified number of cattle belonging to the residents during the invasion.

He said the mercenaries, riding on motorcycles, first attacked Ungwar Sarki, where they killed nine people, including children and women, and slaughtered two others in Sharu village before abducting five elderly people in the area.

The government official, who pleaded anonymity, said there were concerns the number of casualties in the two adjoining villages may be more than 11, as whereabouts of many residents were still unknown after the deadly invasion.

According to him, “Yesterday (Wednesday) at 12 midnight, some heavily armed criminals (bandits) attacked our two villages (Ungwar Sarki and Sharu). They killed nine people in Ungwar Sarki and injured many people in the village.

“As if that was not enough, they moved to our neighbouring village (Sharu) where they killed two people and abducted five others who couldn’t run during the attack. In all the villages they attacked, they rustled cattle and burnt down many houses.”

The source added: “We are still conducting headcount of the community members, and from what we have so far, there are concerns that more people may have lost their lives during the attacks.

65-year-old Hunter Kills Wife, Son, Self in Anambra David-Chyddy Eleke in Awka A hunter, 65, Mr. Uchechukwu Nweke, from Amanuke community of Awka North Local Government Area of Anambra State yesterday allegedly killed his wife and son, and set their house ablaze.

THISDAY gathered that the hunter also took his life afterwards, even as the reason for his actions was yet to be ascertained.

The spokesperson of the state Police Command, CSP Haruna Mohammed, who disclosed this to journalists, said the incident happened at about 3a.m. yesterday in the community.

Mohammed said: “On January 28, 2021, there was a report from the local vigilante chairman of Amanuke community that on the same

date at about 3a.m., a hunter, one Uchechukwu Nweke, 65, of same address allegedly shot his wife, Patricia Nweke, 55, with a single barrel gun.

“He also burnt his house along with his son, Obinna Nweke, 29, in circumstances yet to be determined. The suspect equally shot himself with the same gun.

“Meanwhile, police detectives attached to the Achalla police station visited the scene and rushed the victims to Uche Hospital in Isuanocha for medical attention, where they were all certified dead by a medical doctor on arrival.”

Mohammed said the corpses of the victims have been deposited in the hospital’s morgue for autopsy, while the command has also commenced investigation.

CHANGE OF BATON…

New Chief of Army Staff, Maj. Gen. Ibrahim Attahiru (left), and former Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Tukur Buratai, during the official handover at the Army Headquarters, Abuja…yesterday

Corruption: Presidency Tackles TI, Says Buhari Deserves Kudos Deji Elumoye in Abuja The Presidency last night rose in defence of President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration on the anti-corruption war, saying that the President deserves commendation for fighting and reducing corruption among public servants since he assumed office on May, 2015.

The Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and

Publicity, Malam Garba Shehu, while responding via a statement to the latest rating of Nigeria by Transparency International (TI) faulted the report, saying the rating was jaundiced without any empirical evidence.

According to him, the Buhariled administration deserves credit for diminishing corruption in the public service and will continue to vigorously support prevention, enforcement, public education and enlightenment

activities of anti-corruption agencies.

The Presidency’s stated, inter alia, in its reaction: “We are currently analysing the sources of data used in arriving at the latest Transparency International (TI) report on Corruption Perceptions Index in Nigeria since by their own admission, they don’t gather their own data.

This report is not an accurate portrayal of the facts on ground.

“In the coming days, the Government’s Technical Unit on Governance Research (TUGAR) will be providing more detailed information on the sources of the TI data. While this is being awaited, the examination carried out on their 2019 report showed that 60 per cent of their data was collected from businesses and other entities with issues bordering on transparency and the ease of doing business at the ports.”

Ohanaeze Lauds Buhari on Selection of New Service Chiefs Laments exclusion of South-east in new appointments Emmanuel Addeh in Abuja The leadership of Ohanaeze Ndigbo yesterday congratulated President Muhammadu Buhari over his appointment of new service chiefs, describing the development as reassuring.

President General of the socio-cultural organisation, Prof.

George Obiozor in a statement he personally signed, said that the

new appointments underscored Buhari’s determination to tackle the emerging security challenges in the country.

However, the group lamented the exclusion of the South-east from the new appointments and urged him to find a way to correct the error, which it noted started during the first term of the current administration.

“The appointment of Major

General Lucky Irabor, Chief of Defence Staff; Major General Ibrahim Attahiru, Chief of Army staff; Rear Admiral Awwal Gambo, Chief of Naval Staff; and Air Vice Marshal Isiaka Amao, Chief of Air Staff, will go a long way to reassure Nigerians that Mr. President is determined to contain and control the nation’s security problems with fresh ideas and strategies.

“We particularly thank Mr. President for the appointment of Major General Lucky Irabor, a tested general and a gentleman,” the body stated.

Ohanaeze called on the president to observe the federal character principle in the appointment to major positions, asking that in subsequent appointments, Buhari should look at considering the zone.

Falana Kicks as Ekiti CP Justifies Dismissal of Pregnant Policewoman Victor Ogunje in Ado Ekiti The Ekiti State Police Command has defended the dismissal of a pregnant Police Constable, Miss Olajide Omolola, “in alleged flagrant violation of the Police Rules and Regulation.”

This is coming as the Women Empowerment and Legal Aid (WELA) led by Mrs. Funmi Falana, wife of human rights activist, Mr. Femi Falana, has rejected the position of the police authorities, insisting that it is discriminatory and unjust to dismiss a police woman for

getting pregnant before marriage.

In a statement issued yesterday, Falana argued that Section 127 of the Police Regulation which discriminates against police women is illegal and unconstitutional.

She noted that policemen who impregnate women before marriage are allowed to remain in the Nigeria Police Force.

“Finally, as it is indisputable that Corporal Omotola is entitled to freedom from discrimination guaranteed by Section 42 of the Constitution and Article 2 of the African Charter on Human and

Peoples’ Rights we request you to use your good offices to order her reinstatement not later than January 31, 2021.

“Take notice that if our request is not granted we shall challenge the dismissal of Mrs. Omotola at the National Industrial Court and pray for the annulment of Regulation 127 made pursuant to the Police Act, 2020,” the statement added.

Omolola, who was attached to the Iye Ekiti Police Station in Ilejemeje area of the state, was dismissed last week by the police authorities, for being pregnant

barely a year after graduating from the police academy.

Speaking with journalists in Ado Ekiti yesterday, the state Police Commissioner, Mr. Babatunde Mobayo, said Omolola violated Section 127 of the police regulation, which carries serious punitive measures against flouters.

Mobayo stated that the rule and regulation was unambiguous that a woman police must undergo post-training experience on the field for at least two years before marriage and three years before childbearing.

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

THE TASK BEFORE BUBA MARWA The NDLEA chief executive has his work well cut out, writes Chuks Akamadu

F

or those of us who have been actively involved in the fight against drug abuse in Nigeria, the recent appointment of Brigadier General Mohammed Buba Marwa (retd.) as Chairman/Chief Executive of National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) was a masterstroke, somewhat, that presents potential for strategic reinforcement and sure more than a faint hope of winning the battle.

With his background as a fine soldier, erudite scholar and an accomplished public administrator as well as the painstaking, rigorous and exhaustive job he did as Chairman of the Presidential Advisory Committee on the Elimination of Drug Abuse (PACEDA), Marwa is, with respect to this appointment, a square peg in a square hole.

As military administrator of Lagos State, Mohammed Marwa literally ran criminals out of town through his administration’s ingenious Operation Sweep initiative, which brought crime and criminality in the nation’s commercial capital to their knees.

It is for these compelling reasons that a broad spectrum of stakeholders in the anti-drug abuse battle in Nigeria are super-excited about this brilliant choice of President Buhari and, quite understandably, breathlessly waiting for the NDLEA, under Marwa’s watch, to commence the urgent task of sweeping Nigeria clean of all narcotic substances and illicit trafficking.

However, while applauding President Buhari for this excellent and timely appointment, I urge him to go the whole hug by urgently releasing and implementing the PACEDA Report in the interest of our nation, whose youths are currently being ravaged by the worsening scourge of drug abuse.

But beyond the retired brigadier general being an excellent choice is the indisputable fact that the job is not going to be a walk in the park for him. It is actually going to be an uphill task and the price that he might be required to pay very steep. Within the agency itself, he has a lot of housecleaning to do, ranging from alleged financial recklessness to low morale of officers and unreliable data. There is also the obvious challenge of inadequate funding.

With all eyes on the new NDLEA helmsman, the expectations are high. Stakeholders cannot wait to see extensive reform undertaken and sanity restored in the agency. The general public, on their part, would also look forward to seeing well-motivated officers who discharge their duties more professionally and with stronger patriotic accent.

Mohammed Marwa has come at a time when the world average in drug abuse is 5% whilst Nigeria’s is alarmingly 15%. Similarly, National Survey on Drug Use conducted in 2019 by National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) in collaboration with the Centre for Research and Information Substance Abuse (CRISA) and sponsored by United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and the European Union (EU) confirmed that Nigeria has about 14.3 million hard drug users aged between 15 and 64. This is not good news!

How the retired army general would go about reversing

MARWA HAS COME AT A TIME WHEN THE WORLD AVERAGE IN DRUG ABUSE IS 5% WHILST NIGERIA’S IS ALARMINGLY 15%.

SIMILARLY, NATIONAL SURVEY ON DRUG USE CONDUCTED IN 2019 BY NATIONAL BUREAU OF STATISTICS CONFIRMED THAT NIGERIA HAS ABOUT 14.3 MILLION HARD DRUG USERS AGED BETWEEN 15 AND 64.

THIS IS NOT GOOD NEWS!

this ugly trend is what history is eagerly waiting to witness and document. He has also inherited an agency with appalling staff strength. Until recently, NDLEA had been struggling to carry out its mandate with 5,000 officers and men nationwide. Things began to look up for the agency when Mr. President not too long-ago approved recruitment of additional 15,000 in phases – and that is yet to materialize.

Among others, the new Chairman/Chief Executive of NDLEA will also inevitably contend with young people and housewives who are far gone in the abyss of drug abuse and a growing number of their peers joining them on a daily basis. This is going to be a tricky one for him because there are quite a number of socio-economic factors that support and sustain this degeneracy which are clearly outside the control of NDLEA. To make matters worse, given the hydra-headed nature of this monster, it’s glaring that “law enforcement” alone would not win the battle. We need the collaborative and complementary efforts of diverse stakeholders to bring out the potency in law and its enforcement. Therefore, every sane, well-meaning Nigerian with an ounce of patriotism should hurry up and head for the battlefront, lest this scourge takes us all into captivity!

But by far the greatest challenge would predictably come from the fortresses of men of means and immense power who are said to be behind the illicit drug trade in Nigeria and in most cases, addicts themselves. They are said to be strategically positioned in high places – political leadership (both executive and legislative arms), commanding heights of the economy, military high command, etc.

Daunting as this task may seem, I am inclined to believe that yes Marwa would soon be walking a minefield, but his experience as PACEDA Chairman must have reasonably exposed him to the depth of the rot and the forces at play.

My guess also is that same exposure must have prepared him adequately for the onerous and thankless job he has accepted to do.

And to think that the war against drug abuse is an extension of the fight against insurgency, banditry, kidnapping, rape and sundry violent crimes, the change of guard in NDLEA should provide a fresh impetus for synergy and resilience on the part of Nigerians, as the nation braces up for a renewed offensive against the menace of substance abuse, under the trusted leadership of the new “War Commander”.

The National Assembly is hereby invited to play an active role, as a matter of urgent national importance, in the impending showdown by realistically addressing the lingering funding gaps in the agency’s operations and administration.

Please let us bear in mind that no cost should be spared in our bid to redeem the future, since we do not have another country to call ours.

Akamadu, M.IoD is President, Centre for Ethical Rebirth Among Nigerian Youths

THE DETERIORATION IN OUR EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM argues for more investment in education

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acmillan School dictionary defines education as “the activity of educating people in schools, colleges and universities, and all the policies and arrangement concerning this.” Down the ages, the African people have been engaged in the enterprise and activity of acquiring education as evidenced by the existence of University of Timbuktu long before Africa and its people(s) came under imperial subjugation and rule.

The acquisition of education by the people(s) of Africa is the light that penetrated and dispelled the pall of darkness that once enveloped Africa. The white people brought western education to us and built schools where knowledge and good morals were inculcated into people. In Nigeria, those educated people helped to put a stop to some obnoxious, vile, and inhuman cultural practices such as the killing of twins. And, many people, who attended schools, built by white people secured employment in the civil service and contributed their quotas to the development of Nigeria.

In the 1960s and 1970s, the post-primary schools and universities in Nigeria offered quality education to students. And, good morals were inculcated into them. Little wonder, then, Nigerian schools became an educational Mecca of sorts for nonNigerian students, who were hungry for qualitative university education. At that time, our universities were truly citadels of learning and bastion of scientific and humanistic knowledge. And, products of our schools could hold their own in their chosen areas of specialization at the global level.

However, sadly, with tempus fugit, the excellence that was associated with Nige-

rian schools was eroded. The diminution of the educational standard in Nigeria was partly caused by the military intervention in our politics. Our military rulers’ enactment of draconian laws to muzzle voices of dissent in the polity compelled our leading intellectuals to leave Nigeria. We do remember that Patrick Wilmot, a lecturer at Ahmadu Bello University, Kaduna, was deported to his home country for flimsy reasons. And the devaluation of our naira currency owing to the mismanagement of our economy caused many a Nigerian professional to seek greener pastures outside the shores of Nigeria.

Again, Ibrahim Babangida’s institutionalization of corruption caused the erosion of family values in Nigeria. Owing to the entrenchment of corruption in Nigeria, many people stopped setting stores by family values. This Machiavellian principle, “the end justifies the means”, became the lodestar and guiding principles of millions of Nigerians.

So, in no time, parents, who wanted their children to study such professional courses as Accountancy, Medicine, Law, and others, would hire surrogate candidates to sit examinations like NECO, SSCE, and NABTEB for their children. “Miracle centres”, which dot the nooks and crannies of the country, are being used to perpetrate large scale examination malpractice to benefit a great number of examination candidates. And, admissions of students into faculties of Law, Medicine, and others are determined by factors of nepotism and inducement. Merit is destroyed and sacrificed on the altar of nepotism, cronyism, and corruption. Not surprisingly, many doctors, accountants, lawyers, and lecturers in Nigeria manifest and display charlatanism while performing their duties.

In contrast to what obtained in the 1960s

and 1970s, when the certificates of secondary school leavers reflected their true academic ability, today’s secondary school leavers are ignoramuses, who known next to nothing in subjects they scored distinctions in examinations like NECO, SSCE, NABTEB, and others. Even among students, the ruling weltanschauung is disliked for scholastic activities and ceaseless pursuit of wealth. So, against this background of pervasive corruption in our school system, can we discover true academic champions, who deserve scholarship for their university education?

While the rot in our school system is deepening and festering, our political leaders at different levels are sitting on their hands and doing nothing. Not only are they insensitive to the plight and welfare of teachers, they also do not equip the schools with modern science and laboratory equipment and computers. Add this to the intractable perennial ASUU and federal impasse, and you will get a graphic and true picture of the deep crisis into which our schools have sunk.

The incessant industrial actions, which are always being embarked on by university lecturers, disrupt our universities’ academic calendars and elongate students’ stay on campuses. Because an idle mind is a devil’s workshop, the idling students do engage in the perpetration of heinous crimes like armed robbery and kidnapping.

And, the female students hawk their bodies for money. Were schools in session, the students would devote their time to studying their books instead of committing sundry heinous crimes.

But is the education obtainable in Nigerian school qualitative? The answer is a categorical no. In our universities, some lecturers seldom engage in researches to produce lecture notes for their students.

Instead, they will dictate 30-year old lecture notes to them. And, most secondary school teachers, who are dispirited and disenchanted, moonlight to earn money to augment their meagre salaries.

However, there is a silver lining in the dark clouds as to the issues affecting our educational system, what with the recent ratification of government policies aimed at improving the living conditions of teachers in our post-primary schools and revamping our school system. When those measures are implemented, they will reduce the financial difficulties, which teachers suffer, and boost their morale.

And, I urge the federal government to settle its recurring face-off with ASUU, and articulate measures that would revamp our universities in order that they can become world-class universities. If our universities become world-class schools, the educational tourism, which children of rich politicians do embark on, will stop as they will start to enroll for academic programmes in our universities. To restore the past and lost glories of our universities should be the top priority of our political leaders, if they are desirous of transforming Nigeria to an economically and technologically developed country.

In today’s world, education is the bedrock of development of countries.

As universities are citadels of learning, and bastion of scientific and humanistic knowledge, they should be well-funded, and lecturers’ morale boosted in order that the university teachers can extend the frontiers of knowledge and put Nigeria on the irreversible path of economic and technological development.

Okoye wrote from Uruowulu-Obosi, Anambra State

15

T H I S D AY ˾ ˜ Ͱͷ˜ ͰͮͰͯ

EDITORIAL

TIME FOR UNIVERSITY AUTONOMY Lack of adequate resources has undermined our public institutions

A

good number of Nigeria’s young people are enrolled to study in public universities owned by both the federal and state governments because they are relatively affordable. Although, some of these universities are not adequately equipped and could be considered mostly unfit for purpose in terms of possessing the right human resources and infrastructure to provide standard higher education, parents still send their wards to them because they are about the only IF WE FAIL TO EDUCATE choices they have, given limited OUR YOUNG PEOPLE resources. There ADEQUATELY, WE WILL is an urgent CONTINUE TO LAG BEHIND need for a more IN AN AGE DRIVEN BY rational assessKNOWLEDGE, INNOVATION ment of the issue of tuition and the AND CREATIVITY surest way to addressing the challenge is to grant full autonomy to the federal universities.

We are aware that some of Nigeria’s political and business leaders had better and far more affordable university education in the past, and that they also enjoyed very good conditions during their studies. But we must also recognise the fact that Nigeria has sadly grown in population without making commensurate plans to either expand or develop the education sector. The country has simply continued to grow without taking into consideration the need to educate this population well. It is therefore difficult to provide free tertiary education under the current circumstance.

As we continue to argue on this page, the crisis in our educational sector is so frightening that nothing short of a well- thought-out strategy will do for any meaningful change to occur. Unfortunately, such a coherent strategy is lacking today. In an ambiguous statement the federal government said two years ago that the policy on non-payment of tuition fees in

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federal universities subsists, while at the same time saying that “various university councils and management should be able to fix what fees students should pay that is affordable and acceptable to the students”. Students in federal universities, according to the statement, could be made to pay “auxiliary fees but not in excess.”

In response to the demand for quality, the last two decades have witnessed the emergence of a vibrant but expensive private education at all levels, especially in the urban areas. These institutions offer relatively better quality, employ more qualified teachers and invest in facilities. But these come at a premium that is out of the reach of most parents. Yet the products of these elite schools will graduate into the same society where they are outnumbered by the less privileged products of our distressed public schools, a testimony to our inbuilt governance of inequality. In this process, we have inadvertently deepened the class antagonism that will haunt the future of our children.

Having considered the potential danger that stares us on the face, we are of the strong opinion that an urgent convocation of a national educational summit to find solutions to the troubles faced by our universities would not be out of place. We feel for instance that such summit could ask pertinent questions about what or how the various education funds in the country have been used by beneficiaries and their managing entities, as well as why the leakages in the financial resources of our universities have not been plugged to ensure maximum utilisation of the budgets approved for them.

We also think that at such summit, solutions like the introduction and implementation of student loans could be looked at and evaluated to support students’ financing for their education.

In doing this, we must keep in mind that education is a fundamental driver of development in any society; and that if we fail to educate our young people adequately, we will continue to lag behind in an age driven by knowledge, innovation and creativity.

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.

JONATHAN, AMAECHI, AKPABIO AND THE EAST-WEST ROAD

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was in primary six in 1977 when for the first time I saw Dumez caterpillars tearing the bushes and forests in Emohua for the purpose of constructing a road. That road was called the East-West road. Then it was a one-lane road, but today it has been dualized but uncompleted. In 2013, the former Minister of the Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs (the government’s ministry that took over the completion of the road) Mr Godsday Orubebe, while quarrelling with the then governor of Rivers State, Rotimi Amaechi gave more details about the road (retrieved from the internet: Daily Post, 2013). It is a 338 km road from Warri in Delta State to Oron in Akwa Ibom State. As of 2013, 125 km of the road has been tarred. This road is important because it connects former Eastern region to the former Western region of Nigeria.

According to him, as of 2013, over N348 billion has been budgeted for the road and that the federal government needs additional N200 billion to complete the road by December 2014. Yet as of today, 44 years after I saw the Dumez caterpillars, the road is still uncompleted. Yet it is in the budget of government every year, like the uncompleted Lagos-Ibadan

expressway.

How does this concern former Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan, former Rivers State governor Rotimi Amaechi and the current Minister Godswill Akpabio?

The road traversed the heart of Niger Delta, the crude oil producing area in Nigeria. Jonathan, Orubebe, Amaechi and Akpabio are all top politicians from the Niger Delta. There is also the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) established mainly for the infrastructural development of the area. The Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs and the NDDC have annual budgets in hundreds of billions of Naira and this critical road is budgeted for every year. One therefore should not expect this important road to suffer for 44 years yet uncompleted. This is the concern of this article.

As the President of Nigeria, Dr Jonathan had the opportunity to clinically complete the East-West road within his five years in office. This was probably Amaechi’s anger to say that Jonathan did not do well for his people of the Niger Delta. To Orubebe, Amaechi has no respect for the President for making that observation. But I think Amaechi was correct in his observation because in politics, charity must begin at

home, and if you don’t, who will?

Since 2015, Amaechi himself has been the Minister of Transport in Nigeria. What has he done to see to the completion of the almighty East-West road? He may argue that he is not the Minister of Works and Hosing, who now is Mr. Babatunde Fashiola from Lagos State, Western Nigeria. Such argument is hogwash and untenable anywhere in the political world.

As a minister in the same government, if truly Amaechi has love for the Niger Delta, he should lobby Fashiola and all the ministers and the vice president and the president to complete that important road. Lobbying is the strongest instrument to achieve important political goals in the world. Recently, Fashola himself was quoted to have eulogized Amaechi for lobbying the federal government to refund N78 billion to Rivers State. Why can’t he also lobby for this all-important East-West road? Doing otherwise and seeing that this road is not completed by 2023 when Amaechi may no longer be in government would mean that he truly does not have the Niger Delta people at heart. That would be a very sad narrative to his credit.

Come to think of it, Fashola as a

Westerner in Nigeria, needs the East-West road for the development of Western Nigeria. He must recall that the former military head of state, Murtala Mohammed stated in his 5th February, 1996 broadcast that Lagos, Kaduna and Port Harcourt must be Nigeria’s special areas for development. Therefore any road linking East and West of Nigeria is an important infrastructure for the realization of that dream. Consequently, it will be a very sad history on the part of Fashola that this road was not completed after he had worked as the Minister of Works and Housing for eight years.

As for Orubebe, history has already credited him with this avoidable narrative that while he was the Minister of the Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs, he failed to complete the road. To avoid such negative judgement of History, one can only advise Akpabio to make haste while the sun shines. For any politician to be credited with the completion of the East-West road will be a monumental achievement and the peoples of the Niger Delta will remain forever grateful.

Okachikwu Dibia, Maitama, Abuja

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FRIDAY JANUARY 29, 2021 ˾ T H I S D AY

NEWS

Afreximbank Disburses $250m in Support of TNOG’s OML 17 Acquisition Peter Uzoho The African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) has disbursed $250 million of the $1.1 billion in support of the acquisition of 45 per cent stake in Oil Mining Licence (OML 17) onshore oilfield

by Trans Niger Oil and Gas Limited (TNOG).

Afreximbank announced this in a statement issued yesterday from its headquarters in Cairo, Egypt.

With the $250-million Reserve Based Lending facility, Afreximbank was the largest lender, underwriting about a quarter of the financing that enabled TNOG to buy stakes

PSC Promotes 20,356 Senior Police Officers Kingsley Nwezeh in Abuja The Police Service Commission (PSC) yesterday approved the promotion of 20,356 senior police officers.

A breakdown of the promotion exercise showed that nine commissioners of police were promoted to the next rank of Assistant Inspector-General of Police (AIG) while nine Deputy Commissioners of Police (DCPs) were promoted to the rank of Commissioners of Police (CP).

A statement issued by the commission said the promotion exercise was one of the decisions of the 11th Plenary Meeting of the Commission held in Abuja on Wednesday, January 25, 2021 and presided over by its Chairman, Mr. Musiliu Smith, a retired Inspector General of Police.

The commission also approved the promotion of three Chief Superintendents of Police (CSPs) to Assistant Commissioners of Police (ACP), 1,577 Deputy Superintendents of Police (DSPs) to Superintendents of Police (SP) and 2,293 Assistant Superintendents of Police (ASPs) to the rank of Deputy Superintendents of Police (DSP).

It also approved the promotion/confirmation of 7,283 unconfirmed Assistant Superintendents (ASP11) to Assistant Superintendents of Police (ASP1), 9,72 Inspectors to Assistant Superintendents of Police (ASP11) and 110 Inspectors promoted to the

rank of senior inspectors.

The new Assistant Inspectors General are Aminu Saleh Pai, former Commissioner of Police Kwara and Bayelsa States Command, former Force Quarter Master General and currently the Executive Secretary, Police Multi- Purpose Cooperative Society, Lagos; Dasuki Danbappa Galadanchi, former Commissioner of Police/ Executive Secretary, Police Multi-Purpose Cooperative Society, Lagos and presently acting AIG Force CID Annex, Lagos; Okon Etim Ene, former Commissioner of Police, Benue and Abia State Commands, CP SARS and currently CP Explosive Ordinance Disposal, (EOD) Force Headquarters and Abang B. John, former Commissioner of Police, Akwa Ibom State Command and presently Commissioner of Police, Anambra State Command.

Others are Joseph Gobum Mukan, former CP, Airport Command, Lagos and currently CP Rivers State; Aji Ali Janga, former CP Kaduna and Kogi State Commands and currently, CP Sokoto; Mukaddas Mohammed Garba, presently CP Benue State Command; Habu Sani Ahmadu, former CP, IGP Monitoring Unit; CP Intelligence, Force Headquarters and CP Bauchi State Command and presently, CP, Kano State and Imohimi D. Edgal, former Commissioner of Police Lagos and Akwa Ibom States Command.

Senate Summons NPA MD over Non-payment of over N1.16bn Gratuity to Retirees Deji Elumoye inAbuja The Senate has summoned the Managing Director of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), Ms Hadiza Bala Usman over the non-payment of N1.16 billion voted for the payment of the retirees’ gratuity in 2018.

It has therefore mandated its Committee on Ethics, Privileges and Public Petitions to investigate the matter and report back to the upper chamber.

Chairman of the committee, Senator Ayo Akinyelure, who spoke with journalists after the committee’s sitting yesterday said the Red Chamber will not condone any act of short changing the retirees of their entitlements.

He stated that the committee has extended invitation to the NPA Managing Director as well as the board members to appear before it by February 4 to explain why they decided to hold back the fund allocated for the retirees.

He said: “The Board Chairman, MD and Board Secretary of NPA and its entire Board members are

to appear before the Committee on the February 4, 2021 at 1p.m prompt at Senate hearing room 120, to come and explain the rationale behind their illegal act to deliberately deny the retirees of their legitimate gratuity entitlements amounting to N1,160,732,309.43 covering the period of January 1 to July 11, 2018”.

Akinyelure further stated “It is highly embarrassing that NPA board will sit in their boardroom and alter a budget, which has already been passed by the National Assembly and signed into law of Federal Republic of Nigeria, thereby shortchanging these helpless retirees with high level of impunity”.

The committee had earlier considered a petition brought before it by one Isa Usman Kunini and three others on behalf of 126 other ex-workers of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) versus Nigerian Ports Authority, over the non-payment of a significant portion of their gratuity by the NPA after their retirement in 2018.

in OML 17 from Shell Petroleum Development Company, Total Exploration and Production Nigeria Limited and ENI. Other participating lenders include: Africa Finance Corporation (AFC), Union Bank, Shell, Hybrid Capital and Schlumberger, with TNOG advised by United Capital Plc. The five-year $1.1 billion facility, which was signed in December 2020, despite the economic headwinds caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, was led, as Mandated Lead

Arrangers, by Afreximbank, Standard Chartered Bank and ABSA. Following the acquisition, TNOG will now operate the OML 17 onshore oilfield on behalf of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), which owns the remaining 55 per cent working interest.

Professor Benedict Oramah, President of Afreximbank, said: The statement quoted the President of Afreximbank, Oramah, as saying that “This transaction further underscores

Afreximbank’s commitment to ensuring that indigenous African companies are able to play a more dominant role in the operations of specialized oil and gas assets in an industry hitherto dominated by the International Oil Companies”.

Oramah added that “TNOG as the Operator of OML 17 will invest in an accelerated production ramp up, thereby boosting foreign exchange earnings and employing more Africans.

“This resonates with our mandate. We congratulate Heirs

Holdings for keeping the Africa flag flying.”

Also, the Chairman of Heirs Holdings, the parent company of TNOG, Mr. Tony Elumelu, said in the statement that the transaction was a testament of the opportunity in Nigeria.

“The transaction is a testament to the opportunity in Nigeria.

Our acquisition of OML 17 and important related assets, significantly advances Heirs Holdings’ strategic vision of creating Africa’s leading integrated energy company.

EFFECTIVE COLLABORATION…

Commissioner for Information, Delta State, Mr. Ehiedu Aniagwu (left), and THISDAY Managing Editor, Mr. Joseph Ushigiale, during the commissioner and his team’s courtesy visit to THISDAY corporate head office in Lagos… yesterday SUNDAY ADIGUN

#EndSARS: IG Presents N160m Cheques to Families of Slain Officers Kingsley Nwezeh in Abuja The Inspector-General of Police (IG), Mr. Mohammed Adamu, yesterday presented 39 cheques amounting to over N160 million to families of officers, who lost their lives during the #EndSARS protest hijacked by hoodlums in some parts of the country in October 2020.

The event which took place at the Force Headquarters, Abuja, had the Minister of Information,

Culture and Tourism, Alhaji Lai Mohammed in attendance.

In his remarks, the IG assured that the Nigeria Police Force would never abandon the families of their fallen colleagues.

“With this ceremony, a clear statement is being made that the Nigeria Police will indeed never abandon the families of colleagues, who have gallantly laid down their lives in the services of our beloved country.

“Today we shall be presenting 39 cheques of Group Life Insurance and the IG Welfare Scheme amounting to N160, 153, 998 to families of officers killed during the #EndSARS protests.

“I do appreciate that no monetary reward can compensate for the lives of loved ones and breadwinners, but our prayers are with families of affected officers,” he said.

The IG further said that “the Force Insurance Unit was able to process and pay the entitlement of the police officers in record time. As unique as policing career is, it is unfortunately a high-risk operation.”

The IG explained that his administration evolved initiatives that would motivate personnel of the force and also strengthen the personnel protection protocol around them.

Ekiti CP Justifies Dismissal of Pregnant Policewoman Victor Ogunje in Ado Ekiti The Ekiti State Police Command has defended the dismissal of a pregnant Police Constable, Miss Olajide Omolola, “in alleged flagrant violation of the Police Rules and Regulation.”

Omolola, who was attached to the Iye Ekiti Police Station in Ilejemeje area of the state, was dismissed last week by the police authorities, for being pregnant barely a year after

graduating from the police academy.

Speaking with journalists in Ado Ekiti yesterday, the state Police Commissioner, Mr. Babatunde Mobayo, said Omolola violated Section 127 of the police regulation, which carries serious punitive measures against flouters.

Mobayo stated that the rule and regulation was unambiguous that a woman police must undergo post-

training experience on the field for at least two years before marriage and three years before childbearing.

The commissioner said: “In the police organisation, we have rules and regulations, which are being carried out within the ambit of the constitution.

Police officers are not even allowed to keep their children that are above 18 years of age in the barracks. Some of these laws were taught in the Police

Colleges before we graduated.

“These laws have been there.

Some stipulated the number of years you must spend before you get married. If you are in a police college, you are not supposed to get pregnant.

When you passed out, you still need basic training, and for your attention not to be distracted, you must spend certain minimum of period before you get married in order to perform efficiently.

I Remain Authentic Chairman of Kwara APC, Bolarinwa Insists Hammed Shittu in Ilorin The embattled Chairman of the Kwara State All Progressives Congress (APC), Hon. Bashir Omolaja Bolarinwa, has insisted that he remains the authentic chairman of the party in the state.

Recently, his Deputy, Samari Abdullahi, took over the party chairmanship after the national leadership of the party reportedly

issued a letter to him to that effect.

Since then, the party in the state has been factionalised into two main camps. One is being led by the state Governor, Alhaji AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq, and other group led by the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed.

Speaking for the first time since the crisis in the party

started, Bolarinwa had a chat with party supporters during a sensitisation and mobilisation programme ahead of the membership registration/ revalidation exercise in Ilorin yesterday, saying there was no petition against him before his purported suspension and removal.

According to him, “I have heard and read a lot about

lies being peddled around the APC chairmanship position in the state. I am here to tell you that I remain the chairman of the APC in Kwara State.

“All their antics with Samari would not take them anywhere. They should bring out the petition written to cause my purported removal. I was never called to any panel, so that cannot hold waters.”

FRIDAY JANUARY 29, 2021 ˾ T H I S D AY

17

NEWS

Air Peace Receives Brand New Airplane from Brazil FG to resuscitate airstrips to tackle insecurity Chinedu Eze in Lagos and Kasim Sumaina in Abuja Air Peace yesterday received the first Embraer E195-E2 aircraft out of the 13 firm orders from the Brazilian manufacturer.

The airplane arrived the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, from Recife airport, Brazil.

This is coming as the Minister of Aviation Senator Hadi Sirika has reiterated federal government’s commitment to resuscitate and ensure functional airstrips all over the country, to combat insecurity and boost commercial activities.

Air Peace is the first African carrier to take delivery of this brand new aircraft type with 30 requests, which include 13 firm orders and 17 purchase right orders, coming second to Lufthansa globally, which ordered 35.

Receiving the aircraft in Nigeria, which landed at 2:00 pm at the Abuja airport, the Chairman of Air Peace, Mr. Allen Onyema has called on the

Brazilian aircraft manufacturer, Embraer to establish Maintenance, Overhaul and Repair (MRO) facility in Nigeria.

Onyema said the airline would not pay VAT and Customs duties on the new planes, describing that as a big financial relief.

Onyema thanked President Muhammadu Buhari for making the delivery of the ordered plane possible.

He also thanked the Minister of Aviation, Senator Hadi Sirika for his tireless support and encouragement to Nigerian airlines, noting that it was in response to his challenge of the airlines to acquire new planes that spurred Air Peace to order the new aircraft.

The Air Peace Chairman also thanked the National Assembly Committees on Aviation for facilitating the passage of the waiver to airlines, adding that the 13 aircraft would create 8,000 jobs for Nigerians.

Speaking, the Minister of Aviation, Senator Hadi Sirika described the aircraft delivery

by Air Peace as a step in the

Bandits Kill Four, Abduct 10 in Kaduna Communities John Shiklam in Kaduna Four people have been killed while 10 others were abducted by bandits in separate attacks on communities in Igabi Chikun and Kajuru Local Government Areas of Kaduna State.

On Wednesday, bandits invaded Pmagbe village, Gidani district, Chikun LGA, at midnight and abducted 10 people with three others injured.

A resident of the area who pleaded anonymity told THISDAY in a telephone interview yesterday that the bandits were shooting sporadically.

He said the gunmen “came to the community around 12 midnight and started shooting.

“They abducted 10 people and injured three others. One person was critically injured.

“The bandits took us unaware because in the night we don’t sleep. We are always

on the watch-out to protect our community,” he said.

Spokesman of the Kaduna State Police Command, Mr. Mohammed Jalige did not respond to telephone calls when contacted about the incident.

Meanwhile, the Commissioner of Internal Security and Home Affairs, Mr. Samuel Aruwan has confirmed the killing of four people in the three villages.

Aruwan, said in a statement yesterday that one person was killed in an attacked on Nasarawa Kalgo community at the outskirts of Jaji, Rigachikun district in Igabi LGA. The commissioner said reports by security agencies indicated that “the bandits stormed the village in dozens, and killed one resident, Harrisu Ibrahim.”

Aruwan said the bandits also attacked Kujama, Chikun LGA, but were repelled by local vigilante.

Agreement between S’West Govs, Miyetti Allah Not Sustainable, Says Shehu Sani Eromosele Abiodun and Nume Ekeghe Senator Shehu Sani yesterday applauded the recent move by governors of the Southwest region and leaders of Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria (MACBAN) to tackle the menace of Fulani herdsmen across the region, saying however, that the agreement is not sustainable.

Sani who described the effort as a move in the right direction, insisted that the agreement is not viable in the long run.

He stated this when he appeared on ‘The Morning Show,’ a breakfast programme on ARISE NEWS Channel, a THISDAY sister broadcast

station.

According to him, “the peace agreement or the dialogue going on between the government of the South-west and Miyetti Allah is a good step forward but is not going to permanently solve the problem. As long as people are allowed to move and roam around with cattle from one state to another, there is bound to be conflict.

The herdsmen crisis in Ondo, Ogun and other parts of the South West region in Nigeria is part of the continuation of the kind of conflict we have been having between herdsmen and farmers. It has happened in Benue, Plateau and most part of the North-West has been under siege by bandits who are herdsmen.”

right direction.

He said the bold step by Air Peace aligned with federal government’s road map for the aviation sector.

The minister said the use of newer airplanes by Nigerian carriers would change the dynamics in airlines’ profitability and sustainability by driving down maintenance and fueling cost.

In a speech, the Brazilian Ambassador to Nigeria, Ricardo Guerra de Araujo, said the feat of Air Peace was remarkable for Nigeria and Africa, as the airline is the launch customer of this aircraft type in the continent.

The ambassador also expressed optimism that Air Peace would consider direct flight between Nigeria and Brazil.

Speaking about the aircraft

type, the President/ CEO, Commercial Business Aviation, Embraer, Mr. Arjan Meija, said “The E195-E2 tagged Profit Hunter aircraft will help Air Peace achieve its ambition of connecting not just all of Nigeria, but the whole of the African continent, while feeding long-haul flights from their Lagos hub.

“Air Peace is also the first airline to configure a premium

cabin with our staggered seat option. Each of the 12 Business Class seats is slightly offset from the other to give more space and privacy. There are three rows of seats arranged two-by-two at 51inch pitch at the 124 seater aircraft.

Passengers by the windows have unobstructed access to the aisle; they don’t need to awkwardly step over their seatmates or ask them to move,” he said.

YOU ARE WELCOME…

Egyptian Ambassador to Nigeria, Mr. Ihab Moustafa Awad Moustafa (left), and President Muhammadu Buhari, during the presentation of letters of Credence to the President at the State House, Abuja. ..yesterday

Ooni Warns against Politicisation of Security Challenges in South-west Emmanuel Addeh in Abuja The Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Ogunwusi, has warned against the introduction of politics into the current security challenges in Yoruba land , cautioning against the push by non-state actors to resort to self-help.

Speaking on ARISE NEWS Channel, THISDAY’s sister broadcast arm, last night, the traditional ruler noted that while it is not advisable to allow individuals in

communities to take the law into their hands, the statutory authorities must also wake up and carry out their duties effectively.

Ogunwusi, who also spoke on his meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari, at the State House, Abuja, stated that the Nigerian leader assured him that everything is being done to combat the insecurity in the land.

He noted that as traditional rulers who should ordinarily

know what is happening in their domains, the president told him that he was willing to work with them to resolve the existing challenges.

According to the Co-Chair of the Traditional Rulers’ Council (TRC) in the country, the government at all levels and the citizenry must work together to fish actual criminals.

The Ooni cautioned against sensationalising the issues at stake, noting that while he and other Yoruba

leaders were not against the attention being drawn to the killings and kidnappings in the South-west, persons like Sunday Adeyemo, popularly called Sunday Igboho must ensure that all their activities are within the ambit of the law.

Ogunwusi who lauded the president for finally sacking the service chiefs noted that the plan to inject fresh blood and ideas into the security apparatus in the country, was highly commendable.

UNILAG Alumni FCT Branch Inaugurates New Exco The University of Lagos (UNILAG) Alumni Association has inaugurated a new Executive Committee for the FCT Branch.

The new Exco, which will serve a two-year tenure, has a former MD/Editor-in-Chief of Daily Times, Alhaji Aliu Akoshile, as Chairman with Princess Dupe Nelson as his Vice.

Leading the Branch

Secretariat is Mr. Wale Balogun as General Secretary, Mr. Oluwafemi Ayodeji Oteyolanu as Assistant Secretary and Ms. Phyllis Chidi-Ebere Nweke as Welfare Secretary.

Other members of the Exco are Mr. Wole Abraham as Financial Secretary, Mr. Ifewunmi Ajiboye as Treasurer and Ms. Julia Davids as Publicity Secretary.

According to a statement

issued yesterday by the new Publicity Secretary, Davids, the immediate past Chairman of Branch and his Vice, Alhaji Tijani Mohammed and Mr. Bola Olaiwola Saliu are ex- Officio members of the new Exco.

In his post inauguration remarks, Akoshile said the new Exco would serve diligently to realise the lofty objectives of the association.

He said the FCT Branch is

honoured to have as members very distinguished Nigerians, including the Vice President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo and the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Mr. Femi Gbajabiamila.

The Chairman said the new Exco is committed to the welfare of Alumni in FCT as well as promotion of the enviable image of University of Lagos.

APC Distributes Membership Registration Materials Adedayo Akinwale in Abuja The All Progressives Congress (APC) yesterday began the distribution of registration materials at the party’s national secretariat in Abuja to all designated registration centres across the states, ahead of the membership registration, and revalidation exercise.

The ruling party has also warned that there would be no membership registration and revalidation by proxy,

insisting that all intended entrants and existing members must be physically present for the registration exercise.

The distribution exercise, which was supervised by the National Secretary of the Caretaker/ Extraordinary Convention Planning Committee (CECPC), Senator John Akpanudoedehe alongside the party’s Director of Administration, Alhaji Abubakar Suleiman and Director of Organisation, Prof. Ussiju Medaner, would be conducted

from Thursday, January 28, to Monday, February 8, 2021.

Meanwhile, APC has warned that there would be no membership registration and revalidation by proxy, insisting that all intended entrants and existing members must be physically present for the registration exercise. The party’s Director of Organisation, Prof. Ussiju Medaner, stated this in Abuja yesterday during a train-thetrainers’ workshop for officials of the APC membership registration

exercise.

The party in a statement issued yesterday said the workshop was supported by the National Democratic Institute (NDI).

Medaner stated: “There is no room for membership registration and revalidation by proxy. That is why we have paid attention to cultural peculiarities and possible restrictions in some parts of the country by ensuring that the composition of the membership registration officials comprises all gender.”

T H I S D AY ˾ FRIDAY JANUARY 29, 2021

18

POLITICS

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

Diri Declares Year of Amazing Prosperity for Bayelsans Benson Agadaga, Chief of Staff to Governor Douye Diri of Bayelsa State amplifies the message of hope from the governor to his people

T

h e N e w Ye a r c o m e s with an aura that p e r m e a t e s t h e h a rd e s t strata of human being. It is one among t h e i r re p l a c e a b l e e v e n t s l e f t i n a n e v e rg re e n g a rd e n o f o u r m e m o r y. We c a n n o t b u t k e e p the flag of hope flying because the human person is majorly characterized by expectations o f g ro w t h ; b o t h p h y s i c a l a n d s p i r i t u a l . T h i s i s t h e re a s o n t h e Bayelsa State government has f i t t i n g l y e x p re s s e d g r a t i t u d e to the good people of the state for their maturity and support f o r t h e p ro s p e r i t y v i s i o n o f t h e state government and given assurances of better days ahead f o r t h i s y e a r 2 0 2 1 . A f t e r c a re f u l consideration and prayerful contemplation, it has pleased t h e g o v e r n o r a n d t h e e n t i re governing body of Bayelsa state to announce the year 2021 as t h e Ye a r o f t h e L o rd , a Ye a r o f Abundant Harvest, a year to re m e m b e r a n d a y e a r o f A m a z i n g P ro s p e r i t y f o r a l l B a y e l s a n s .

M a n i s t h e m e a s u re o f a l l t h i n g s s a i d a p h i l o s o p h e r, a n d without man nothing is meaningful. The government of Baye l s a i n re s p o n s e t o i t s m a n d a t e has enjoined the citizens to stay c a l m a n d f o c u s e d w i t h n o w o rr i e s b e c a u s e j u s t a s t h e p ro p h e t I s a i a h p ro p h e s i e d t h a t t h i s y e a r i s t h e y e a r o f t h e L o rd , a y e a r o f l i b e r a t i o n a n d a y e a r o f f a v o u r.

B u t t h i s i s n o t b a s e d o n m e re wishful thinking. The governm e n t h a s c o n c re t e p l a n s t h a t will boost positive development in the state and enhance the lives of the citizens, the major f o c u s e n c o m p a s s e s , Wo r k s a n d I n f r a s t ru c t u r a l , S p o r t s , To u ri s m , A g r i c u l t u re a n d E d u c a t i o n .

T h e 2 0 2 1 a p p ro p r i a t e l y t i t l e d B u d g e t o f G ro w t h i s s t r a t e g i c a l l y g e a re d t o b r i n g w e a l t h a n d sustainable development to all Bayelsans.

F o l l o w i n g t h e a l re a d y l a i d d o w n s t e p s , t h e re h a s b e e n s e r i ous works going on in the state, f ro m v a r i o u s a n g l e s , w h i c h i n c l u d e m a j o r a c c e s s ro a d s e x p a n s i o n a n d re p a i r s o f i n t e rn a l ro a d s n e t w o r k s . T h i s a re t h e pointers to an administration on a F a s t Tr a c k t o d e v e l o p m e n t .

Sports in our world today is one of the inevitable compani o n s o f m a n , i t re v i v e s t h e s p i r i t a n d re s t o re s j o y. T h e g o v e r n o r has deemed it fit to invest much i n t h e a re a o f s p o r t s , i n o rd e r t o e n e rg i s e a n d a d d m o re m e a n i n g to the life of the youths and t h e s t a t e a t l a rg e , m a k i n g t h e p ro p h e s y o f t h e f ru i t f u l n e s s o f the new year come to actualization. And let the world watch it, Bayelsa youths will conquer the w o r l d i n t h e a re a o f s p o r t s s o o n .

The state is very rich and hospitable, filled with natural re s o u rc e s a n d o t h e r a m e n i t i e s t h a t a re g o o d e n o u g h t o a t t r a c t visitors. The state is blessed w i t h w a t e r a n d i t s c re a t u re s t h a t c a n b e r a re l y f o u n d i n a n y o t h e r place in the country and even beyond, this the government has s h o w n i n t e re s t t o c a l l b a c k t o

The governor has promised that the issue of security in the state should not be tampered. Investors are naturally more inclined to put their resources in territories that will not only guarantee them return on investment, but will not risk their lives

Why Obiano’s Performance as Governor Dwarfs Ngige’s James Eze, Media Aide to Governor Willie Obiano of Anambra State defends the legacy of his principal against derision by Dr. Chris Ngige, Minister of Labour and Employment, a former governor of the state

T

he raging war of words between former governor of Anambra State, Senator Chris Ngige and the incumbent governor on who has served the state better has taken a dramatic turn with the former governor described as an opportunist who rode to power on a tiger ’s back and eventually ended up in its stomach.

Shrugging off Senator Ngige’s endless attacks on his boss, James Eze, the Chief Press Secretary to Governor Obiano observed that “throughout history, great political leaders spoke to the future through solid legacies. They built monuments that neither time nor toxic politics can erode. Leaders who spend enormous time reminding the people about their achievements after leaving office are often some opportunists who rode to power on a tiger ’s back and eventually ended up in its stomach.”

Speaking further, Eze observed that it was unrealistic to expect Ngige to conduct himself like a statesman since he came to power through the back door to rub shame on a highly exalted office.

Said he: “Until governor Obiano assumed office, Ngige was generally considered a pariah in government circles in the state. But Obiano restored his full honours as a former governor in a gesture of brotherhood and love and gave him a place in the official memory of the state. But rather than show gratitude, Ngige has allowed his blind pursuit of vendetta against the traditional ruler of his hometown drive him into an avoidable ego war with the governor.”

Speaking further, Eze said “Decent folks have often wondered why Ngige always conveniently forgets that he is a wrong moral example for democracy. He often forgets that he is a sad reminder of what a people should never allow…a brazen subversion of their will. The only memory Ngige left the people is that of brigandage, the burning of public property and the debasement of the exalted office of a governor.

His misadventure in power remains the darkest chapter in Nigeria’s democratic narrative. It is appalling.

It is something that is best forgotten.

But Ngige wants to reopen it!” he declared.

On the former governor ’s claim that he out-performed Obiano with his stolen mandate, Eze observed that “It would be unfair to attempt to compare Ngige’s achievements which do not go beyond a handful of roads in Idemmili to Governor Obiano’s stellar performance. It is excusable since his presence in office was an accident of history.

However, we must remember that governor Obiano came into office with a blueprint. Obiano’s mission in government is to make Anambra State a socially stable, business friendly environment that would attract both indigenes and foreigners to seek wealth creating opportunities. His vision on the other hand is to make the state the first choice investment destination and a hub for industrialization and commercial activities.

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

l i f e i n o rd e r t o a t t r a c t v i s i t o r s and boost the economic sector of t h e s t a t e t h ro u g h To u r i s m .

Bayelsa state is a land blessed with rich arable land which f a c i l i t a t e s f a r m p ro d u c e a n d sea food that makes the state d i s t i n c t a n d u n i q u e f ro m o t h e r states and the government for t h i s re a s o n h a s d e e m e d i t w i s e t o re v i s i t t h i s a re a i n o rd e r t o better the lives of her citizens.

T h e g o v e r n o r h a s p ro m i s e d that the issue of security in the s t a t e s h o u l d n o t b e t a m p e re d .

I n v e s t o r s a re n a t u r a l l y m o re i n c l i n e d t o p u t t h e i r re s o u rc e s in territories that will not only g u a r a n t e e t h e m re t u r n o n i n vestment, but will not risk their l i v e s . T h e s i g n i f i c a n t i m p ro v e ment in security was manifested i n t h e p e a c e f u l a n d i n c i d e n t f re e Senatorial bye-elections.

T h e g o v e r n m e n t h a s e x p re s s e d its wish to make schools available to all the towns in the state for easy access of every indigene of Bayelsa, this is one of the p ro m i s e s t h a t h a s c o n t i n u o u s l y been pointing to this as a year of divine grace. This is outside plans for significant interventions in tertiary education.

The lack of diversity in the economic opportunities in the state is a concern the governor i s d e t e r m i n e d t o p u t g re a t e r smiles on the faces of our teeming and vibrant youthful population. *(Business is the mother of all our day to day activities, virtually everything we do finds its ro o t i n b u s i n e s s , i t d e t e r m i n e s o u r i n c o m e a n d e x p e n d i t u re , and it also determines the economic statues of the state.

T h e p re s e n t g o v e r n m e n t h a s strategized the economy of the state to be diversified. Business cannot be left out it plays a vital ro l e i n e i t h e r t h e d o w n f a l l o r t h e g ro w t h o f t h e e c o n o m y. T h i s g o v e r n m e n t h a s g re a t i n t e re s t in it and tends to add flesh to t h e a l re a d y e x i s t i n g b u s i n e s s and even bring into existence n e w o n c e . S u m m a r i l y, j u s t a s t h e f a r m e r re j o i c e s d u r i n g h a r v e s t o v e r t h e p ro d u c e , s o a l s o d o w e re j o i c e o v e r t h e N e w Ye a r, because it comes with a lot of blessings, favours, graces and m a n y g o o d t h i n g s . T h e Ye a r o f t h e L o rd t h a t w a s f o re t o l d l o n g a g o i n t h e s c r i p t u re s h a s b e e n fulfilled and it is coming in this N e w Ye a r. T h i s p re s e n t g o v e r n ment headed by the governor e v e r re m a i n s i n d e b t e d t o t h e people of Bayelsa, especially in the just concluded by elect i o n , t h e m a t u r i t y a n d t ru s t t h a t w a s g o t t e n f ro m t h e B a y e l s a n s was indescribable, so on this note, the governor and his t e a m w i s h t o a s s u re a c l e a r a n d u n c o m p ro m i s e d d e m o c r a c y and that they will do anything h u m a n l y p o s s i b l e t o e n s u re t h e w e l l b e i n g o f h e r c i t i z e n s . Wi t h t h i s w o n d e r f u l p ro c l a m a t i o n and commitment, the deaf need not to be told nor the blind to b e s h o w n t h a t t h i s N e w Ye a r i s spirit filled and indeed a year of a m a z i n g o ro s p e r i t y

T H I S D AY ˾ FRIDAY JANUARY 29, 2021

19

PERSPECTIVE

EPISTLES of ANTHONY KILA

Why I love Amanda Gorman Towards a Quantum Leap for Chido Nwangwu, Publisher USAfricaonline.com, Legacy draws attention to an important detail on American President Joe Biden’s recent inauguration-the poetry of Amanda Gorman, the youngest and only presidential youth laureate

O

nce in a long time, someone of extraordinary creative capacity emerges on the landscape of a community, country, continent or all across the world. For many, it takes many, many years of work, upsand-downs, countless setbacks until the rewards of the sacrifices and diligence begin to be noticed or begin to pay off.

Sometimes, for only a few individuals, only a handful, the sweet marriage of early preparation and fitness for strategic opportunities which sometimes come once in a lifetime become the life-changing event.

It’s that consummate unity of opportunity and readiness!

With that synergy of skills and maybe a little bit of introduction, facilitation and blessing/luck, they shoot into this firmament just like the shinning stars they are.

They fly and soar on the wings of intellection and creative flourish. The world becomes their canvas. The social media and the multimedia of communications transport within seconds The power of the ideas, song or algorithm in one person’s head and heart from Washington to Warri, from Boston to Baghdad, from Aba to Albuquerque.

And so it is with the 22 year old AfricanAmerican Amanda Gorman — who is easily the most popular poet in America, possibly in the world, today!

Without any doubts, she has captivated the attention of the American literati, the global network of scholars, young folks, community activists and civic leaders.

Amanda rose to the opportunity on January 20, 2021 with her outstanding performance as the youngest and only presidential youth laureate at President Joe Biden’s inaugural event in Washington DC. In a few days, the content of the production and presentation of another wellknown American tradition will feature Amanda, a graduate of Harvard University. She will read a poem during the 2021 Super Bowl football extravaganza between the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Kansas City Chiefs at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida, on February 7. It will be recited in honor of three individuals who have made a difference in the fight against the corona pandemic. They are educator Trimaine Davis, Nurse Manager Suzie Dorner and U.S Marine veteran James Martin.

It speaks to the power and influence of

Amanda’s voice and skills for the leadership of the American national football league to create such a time for poetry in a game of physical skills, and of course strategic mindset.

Her unique flow of historical and contemporary knowledge elevate her poems to the deserving levels of national and internation discourse. Her poem on January 20 spoke with a striking lucidity and contextual validities.

Although, her immediate, target audience on that fateful, historic day for the young woman who proudly beholds her African heritage is America, she held forth a message that had meaning and challenge to many countries and heritages. From that spectacular work — for its simplicity and profound value, I call the opening chapters of Amanda Gorman’s gospel to America She carries her modest figure with admiral grace and decency. She’s appreciative of all the kindness she’s witnessed — especially from Oprah. Amanda is worthy manifestation of why it’s very important to educate both the boys and girls. Rise and rise, Amanda!

My fav’ excerpt from ‘The Hill We Climb’ presidential inaugural poem by Amanda Gorman: For while we have our eyes on the future history has its eyes on us This is the era of just redemption We feared at its inception We did not feel prepared to be the heirs of such a terrifying hour but within it we found the power To offer hope and laughter to ourselves how could we possibly prevail over catastrophe?

How could catastrophe possibly prevail over us?

We will not march back to what was but move to what shall be A country that is bruised but whole, We will not be turned around or interrupted by intimidation because we know our inaction and inertia will be the inheritance of the next generation Our blunders become their burdens But one thing is certain: If we merge mercy with might, then love becomes our legacy and change our children’s birthright So let us leave behind a country better than the one we were left with Every breath from my bronze-pounded chest, we will raise this wounded world into a wondrous one We will rise from the gold-limbed hills of the west, we will rise from the windswept northeast where our forefathers first realized revolution We will rise from the lake-rimmed cities of the midwestern states, we will rise from the sunbaked south We will rebuild, reconcile and recover and every known nook of our nation and every corner called our country, our people diverse and beautiful will emerge, When day comes we step out of the shade, The new dawn blooms as we free it For there is always light, if only we’re brave enough to see it If only we’re brave enough to be it.”

Anthony Kila, a professor and director at Centre for International Advanced and Professional Studies, Lagos urges the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, Professor Mahmood Yakubu to use the privilege of his second tenure to implement farreaching reforms at the agency

D

ear Prof. Mahmood Yakubu This note addressed to you is coming about six weeks late; the decision to dedicate an epistle to you and for your attention was conceived when on the 1st of December 2020 when we got official news of your confirmation by the Senate of your second and final term. Ordinarily, your confirmation should be a matter of course but, in a system where one needs to learn to expect and manage the unexpected, the announcement was still worthy of news. Events overtook that news but your recent announcement that a draft bill for the repeal of 2010 Electoral Act will be presented before the National Assembly as it resumes from extended Christmas holiday on the 9th of February has made you topical again for this page.

Naturally, we congratulate you and we wish all the very best with your second and final term. And herein lies the rub: What is the very best you can do with your second and final term? My personal but very deliberated and highly held view is that the prerequisite for you to do the very best you can do is to take a quantum leap that will create a legacy for you as INEC Chair. Anything outside that will be at best just marginal improvements like has been done so far in your commission for the past two decades. Marginal improvements are necessary but they are not sufficient in the situation we find ourselves. The issues we have with our electoral system are neither marginal nor just part of the many issue of our democratic existence they go to the core of most of our malaise.

Yes, I agree with the words of Senator Omo-Agege when he says that “once the electoral system was sanitised, every other thing would fall in place.”

Yes, it is not an easy move, I am very conscious of all the inherent and annexed problems that will come with brining radical change into the electoral system but it is the only way you and anyone can solve the problem we have. To sanitise our electoral system, you need to consciously decide to break away from the way and pace with which things are done thus far and look for another mode: The Quantum leap. The good news is that you, Prof.

Yakubu, more that anyone today is in a position to bring the needed tchange to sanitise our electoral system: You have the status, experience and knowledge to make things happen, all you need is the desire to be great and a bit of luck. Your experience at the commission gives you a privileged insight into the issues beleaguering and holding down the commission as well as the ills troubling the electoral system.

Your position as a nonreturnable chairman gives you the privilege of not being beholding to any individual or part. As a chairman in is his second and final tenure, you have the rare privilege of truly being responsible to only the law, your conscience and knowledge.

It is all about the mindset, here are few suggestions for a quantum leap.

Once we agree on the importance of the electoral system in our democratic existence the next thing to do is to take cognisance of the major ills of the system.

The principal function of the electoral

commission is to supervise and ensure free and fair electoral processes that allow the election of men and women chosen by the majority of free discerning registered voters. Factors militating against such principal function are external factors such as rigging, violence, inducement, imposition of candidates, lack of thorough scrutiny of aspirants and candidates and internal factors such as logistics issues.

The commission that wants to take a quantum leap must fully and openly admit as well as underscore the known fact that the sponsors and beneficiaries of rigging, violence, inducement, imposition of candidates, lack of thorough scrutiny of aspirants and candidates are politicians; consequently, rather than pretend that politicians are ladies and gentlemen of honour acting for the purpose of serving the commonwealth, the commission needs to treat politicians like a group with a high propensity for criminal behaviour. Infact, politicians should be treated as guilty until proven innocent. This mindset will probably lead to alienation and or a war of attrition with the political class. When that happens, the commission led by its chairman must then ally with the public. To do so communication must be swift clear and convincing whilst making operations deliberately efficient and user friendly.

The internal factor militating against the success of INEC is largely logistics: Registration of voters, the process of voting, announcement and validation of results. Once the commission develops the mindset of delivering a fraud free, user friendly and efficient operation that at all times understands that voters and potential voters have a life and need to spend time on earning their livelihood and with their families, the next step is to rely on and emulate those who have a track record of delivery, banks and telecoms come to mind they know how to get services to most part of the country: No need to reinvent the wheel. Rather than try to deliver INEC services in first person or via governmental offices INEC should delegate, outsource and regulate delivery.

The mindset should be to intervene only where others cannot efficiently and securely do deliver.

Naturally the more digitalised the system the better for all. The now embraced idea we launched on this page some years back of linking voters’ card to BVN is a good place to start.

FRIDAY JANUARY 29, 2021 ˾ T H I S D AY

20

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PIB: Lawan Laments $30 Per Barrel Oil Production Cost Host communities exchange blows at public hearing

Deji Elumoye and Udora Orizu in Abuja President of the Senate, Dr. Ahmad Lawan yesterday rejected the $30 per barrel production cost of the nation’s crude oil, saying it is too high when compared to what is obtainable in other oil producing nations.

He has, therefore, canvassed a reduction in the crude oil production cost by International Oil Companies (IOCs) operating in Nigeria.

Lawan, who spoke yesterday when he played host to a delegation of Oil Producers Trade Section (OPTS) in his office, declared that the new Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) presently before the National Assembly would accommodate provisions to ensure reduction in the crude oil production cost when the bill is eventually considered and passed by the end of the

first quarter of this year.

This is coming as a coalition of Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) and oil-producing communities in the Niger Delta yesterday rejected the PIB, 2020, currently before the National Assembly.

The host communities also exchanged blows at the public hearing.

Lawan said: “The cost of production in Nigeria is a major concern in the oil industry. My colleagues in the committees that are oil and gas related know better.

“But from the little I understand, when Saudi Arabia maybe spends $5 to produce a barrel, we spend about $30 to produce the barrel in some cases.

“The time has come for us to ensure that the cost of production is beaten down to a more meaningful and profitable production cost” The Senate President also made

case for the host communities saying the welfare of the communities should be paramount in PIB provisions.

His words: “I believe that the Petroleum Industry Bill, making provision for funds to go into the host community funds, would probably this time around get us a better deal with the communities.

“We must do everything possible together to ensure that the host communities benefit wherever they are supposed

to benefit, not only the host community development fund, but in the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) and other areas of government intervention – the Amnesty Programme and Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs “How do the host communities benefit, because we need to stabilise those areas so that we have cheaper production costs”.

Speaking earlier, leader of the OPTS delegation, Mr. Mike Sangster of Total, said the purpose of the visit was to engage the

National Assembly on ways to modify the PIB to ensure its success when passed and signed into law.

While extending the delegation’s support to the ongoing effort to provide a legal framework for the oil and gas industry in Nigeria, Sangster prevailed on the National Assembly to accommodate provisions in the PIB that would protect the existing investments of foreign investors.

Meanwhile, at the public

hearing, some CSOs and host communities said that the proposed legislation does not protect the interest of communities from which the federal government and oil mining companies, extract petroleum resources.

Speaking, the spokesperson of the CSOs and host communities in the Niger Delta, Mr. Botti Isaac accused the House of Representatives’ Adhoc Committee on PIB, of ignoring the interest of host communities.

Cross River Lawmakers Approve Justice Ikpeme’s Nomination as Chief Judge Bassey Inyang in Calabar The Cross River State House of Assembly has confirmed Justice Akon Ikpeme as the substantive Chief Judge of the state.

The House had objected the nomination of Ikpeme by the Governor of Cross River State, Professor Ben Ayade, on two previous occasions, March 2, 2020 and June 2, 2020, on the grounds that she would be a “security threat” to Cross River State, as an indigene of Akwa Ibom who was married to an Efik man from Odukpani Local Government Area of Cross River State.

However, the objection raise by state’s the lawmakers was roundly condemned, especially by senior lawyers in the state and the country in general because it had no place in the selection of a chief judge that is principally anchored on seniority.

Nevertheless, Ayade’s third letter to the lawmakers

requesting the confirmation of Justice Ikpeme, which was dated January 20, 2021, with Ref: SSG/S/300/VOL.XVIX/550, and signed by the Secretary to the State Government, Mrs. Tina Agbor Banku, read in part: “In the exercise of the powers conferred on His Excellency, Senator Professor Ben Ayade, Governor of Cross River State, by Section 271(1) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended), I am directed to forward the name of Hon. Justice Akon Bassey Ikpeme for confirmation by the Honourable House as Chief Judge of Cross River State in the State Public Service.

“The purpose of this letter, therefore, is to request Mr. Speaker and Honorable Members to please grant the consequential confirmation of the nominee for formal appointment as Chief Judge of Cross River State in the State Public Service.”

MEDIA PARLEY...

Plateau State Commissioner for Information and Communications, Mr. Dan Manjang (left), Commissioner for Finance, Dr. Regina Soemlat, briefing journalists during the State Executive Council meeting in Jos ...yesterday

Sule Lamido Accuses Tinubu, Fashola, Ngige of Indifference to Herdsmen Crisis Ibrahim Shuaibu in Kano

Former Governor of Jigawa State, Mr. Sule Lamido, has berated the National Leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Senator Bola Ahmad Tinubu, for being indifferent over the Fulanis’ travails in the South-western region of Nigeria, despite supporting President Muhammadu Buhari to win the presidency in 2015.

Lamido said that Buhari came

to power with the support of Tinubu and other politicians in the south and noted that those who supported him had failed to protect his people when they were in difficult situations.

He told reporters in his office in Kano yesterday that not every Fulani in the northern part of Nigeria supported Buhari and voted for him even though he is a Fulani.

Lamido, who was a former Minister of Foreign Affair, stated

that Fulani have the right to live in every part of the country like every other Nigerian, lamenting that the tribe is now facing persecution.

“They are reading Fulani through Buhari, who is also a Fulani tribe. They failed to understand that not every Fulani that supports Buhari. Even me, I am a Fulani tribe, but did not vote for Buhari.

“But what Fulani are going through in this country is

unfortunate. We are being persecuted, abused, endangered and called names, just because Buhari is from us. This is not fair. This is unjust,” he said.

Lamido has also criticised the Minister of Works and Housing, Mr. Babatunde Raji Fashola, the Minister of Transportation, Mr. Rotimi Amechi and the Minister of Labour and Employment ministries, Senator Chris Ngige, for not defending the Fulanis in the southern region.

Arrest ‘Prophet’ Who Planned to Raise the Dead in Anambra Malabu Oil Scam: EFCC Police in Nkpor, near Onitsha, last had promised to raise seven he was going to resurrect seven David-Chyddy Eleke in Awka night, which was corpses from the mortuary of a dead people from a mortuary Amends Charges against Operatives of the Anambra Wednesday confirmed by the state Police government approved hospital in a hospital in the state, forcing the state ministry of health to State Police Command have Public Relations Officer, CSP in Nkpor.

Adoke, Six Others He became popular for warn that no hospital must confirmed the arrest of the Haruna Mohammed, saying: Founder of Children of “Yes, we arrested Onyeze Jesus sending out viral videos on open its morgue for him.

Alex Enumah in Abuja

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), yesterday amended the criminal charges it filed against a former Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice, Mr. Bello Adoke (SAN), Mr. Aliyu Abubakar and five others over their alleged roles in the multi-billion dollar Malabu Oil scam.

Following the amendment of the charges, the defendants were then re-arraigned before a High Court of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) on a 42 count charge.

Those arraigned alongside Adoke and Abubakar included Mr. Rasky Gbinigie, the Malabu

Oil and Gas Limited, the Nigeria Agip Exploration Limited, the Shell Nigeria Extra Deep Limited and the Shell Nigeria Exploration Production Company Limited.

The anti-graft agency had earlier arraigned the defendants before Justice Idris Kutigi of the FCT High Court in Gwagwalaga, Abuja, on January 23, 2020.

But when the matter came up yesterday, the Prosecuting Counsel, Mr. Bala Sanga, told the court that the EFCC had filed an amended charges dated January 18, 2021 against the defendants and urged the court to allow the charges to be read for them to take their fresh plea.

Light Anointing Ministries in Nkpor, Idemili North Local Government Area of the state, Mr. Onyebuchi Okocha, popularly known as ‘Onyeze Jesus’.

The prophet was rumoured to have been arrested in his house

yesterday (Wednesday).”

The arrest of the cleric came less than a week after the state government issued a statement condemning his activities and warning citizens to be wary of him.

Before his arrest, Okocha

the internet of him taking adults to the river and making them bathe naked, with the claim he was cleansing them of bad luck to prepare them for wealth.

The prophet, who many alleged to be fake, had boasted that on Thursday (yesterday),

Though details of the reason for the arrest of the prophet has not been made known, Anambra State Government had earlier threatened to arrest him for indecent exposure of people’s nude, and for also disrespecting Nigerian currency.

Giving.ng Changes the Game for NGOs in Nigeria Giving.ng, a reputable crowdfunding platform, reveals an upgraded platform that eases the burden of social impact fundraising for NGOs, alumni associations, individuals, and social enterprises across Nigeria.

The crowdfunding platform will be the first in Nigeria and the world to offer free

fundraising services and gives grants up to N1,000,000 to nonprofits and other fundraisers on it. Critical sectors of the economy such as health, education, food sufficiency and renewable energy can benefit from these grants.

Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Sterling One Foundation,

an investor in the platform, Peju Ibekwe disclosed this in a statement issued in Lagos.

She explained that Giving.ng is a secure digital platform that enables well-meaning Nigerians and non-Nigerians across the globe to donate to causes they care about in a bid to benefit society.

According to her, it allows the needy to get helpers through a secure and trusted platform.

The CEO said the platform was designed for fundraisers such as non-profits, alumni associations, social enterprises, and individuals passionate about a cause for which they intend to raise funds.

21

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BUSINESSWORLD

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

Ͱ Ͱ ˜ Ͱ ͮ Ͱ ͯ MONEY MARKET OBB OVERNIGHT

REPO 10 % 10.50 %

CALL 1-MONTH 3-MONTH

7% 8.50 % 10 %

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

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Quick Takes

HFN Seeks Participation in COVID-19 Fight

STRENGTHENING PARTNERSHIP

Managing Director / CEO of NOVA Merchant Bank, Mr. Nath Ude (right), with Chairman / Founder of MIKANO Nigeria Limited, Mr. Mofid Nidal Karameh, at the official unveiling of vehicles assembled in Nigeria by MIKANO in Lagos...recently

EU Moves to Take Control of Maritime Security in Gulf of Guinea Eromosele Abiodun After all efforts by governments around the Gulf of Guinea (GoG) to stop piracy, kidnapping for ransom and organised crime failed, the European Union (EU) has announced the launch of the pilot case of the Coordinated Maritime Presences (CMP) concept in the vast area.

This was contained in a document containing the outcome of proceedings approved by the European Union Council at its meeting held on 25 January 2021, which was seen by THISDAY. The Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) had in 2019 hosted about 30 countries at

MARITIME the Global Maritime Security Conference.

The high-level maritime security conference was meant to facilitate a clearer understanding of the challenges of maritime security in the Gulf of Guinea region and develop tailored solutions.

However, two years down the line, this has not translated into safer maritime environment in the region.

According to the document, the EU said it would henceforth ensure political control and provide strategic guidance West and Central African States in an effort to address the many challenges to maritime security, including organised crime.

Specifically, it stated, “The West and Central African States, which bear the primary responsibility for combating maritime crime in the region, made political commitments already in June 2013 in the Code of Conduct concerning the repression of piracy, armed robbery against ships, and illicit maritime activity in West and Central Africa.

“These commitments have been pivotal in the progressive establishment of the ‘Yaoundé Architecture’ to improve coordination and cooperation on maritime security.

Nevertheless, the Gulf of Guinea continues to face a challenging environment in which piracy, armed robbery at sea, kidnapping of seafarers, illegal,

unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing, smuggling and trafficking of drugs and arms, as well as transnational organised crime pose a major and increasing threat to maritime security, affecting freedom of navigation, thus endangering major trade routes, jeopardising the sustainable development of the entire region and the economic livelihood of the population, and leading to the deterioration of the environment and biodiversity.”

Also, the EU affirmed its commitment to increasing work with the coastal states of the Gulf of Guinea and the organisations of the Yaoundé Architecture, through Continued on page 22

Nigeria Loses W’Africa Air Travel Market to Ghana Chinedu Eze Nigeria has lost the West African air market to Ghana as today no Nigerian airline is operating to destinations such as Accra, Abidjan, Dakar, Freetown, Monrovia and the Gambia.

Industry operatives told THISDAY that the aforementioned routes used to be lucrative for Nigerian airlines, where they generate dollar revenue and were known as low hanging fruits.

Since international flights started on September 5, last year, no Nigerian airline has been operating to any of the aforementioned routes, which are currently dominated by Ghana-based African World Airlines (AWA), Asky, Air Senegal and others.

Along with the loss of these air travel market are also busi-

AVIATION nesses that were dominated by Nigerians but today, with the influx of Chinese into retail trade in the West Coast and the entrance of South African investors, Nigeria has lost huge market in the sub-region.

Travel expert and organiser of Akwaaba African Travel Market, Ikechi Uko, attributed the development to the dwindling of Nigeria’s economy and the loss in the value of the naira.

The travel expert noted that Nigeria started losing its grip in the economic dominance of West and Central Africa from 2016, when the nation’s economy began to nosedive.

“Today Ghana has regional capacity but Nigeria has none.

There used to be when Nigeria dominated the air travel market in West Africa. Nigeria can

rebuild the market because Nigerians travel a lot.

“The downturn of Nigeria’s economy forced the country to scale back its trade in West Africa. China and South Africa entrepreneurs have moved in because of our bad economy, which became noticeable from 2016.

“Before then, Nigeria controlled air travel in the sub-region. Airlines such as Bellview and later Virgin Nigeria Airways in years past and recently Arik Air, Aero Contractors and Air Peace dominated the West African destinations, but some of them are now struggling. Any Nigerian airline that ventures now will do well,” Uko said.

With the economic downturn, Nigerian industry observers argued that the country might not play a major role in the African Continental Free

Trade Area (AfCFTA), which enables all African countries, except Eritrea, to trade under a single market.

But the mission of the AfCFTA, which seeks to accelerate intra-Africa trade and strengthen Africa’s voice in the global market space, would be meaningless unless the Single Africa Air Transport Market (SAATM) framework is fully implemented, experts said.

Ethiopia is Africa’s air travel hub, while AfCFTA is located in Accra, Ghana, which is a growing economic hub in the West Coast.

But Uko noted that there was no correlation between hosting the AfCFTA and having economic dominance, which Nigeria has the capacity to do, considering the fact that Nigeria still has the highest Continued on page 22

TheHealthcareFederationofNigeria(HFN)hasappealedforgovernment toconsiderharnessingthevastexpertiseandresourceswithintheNigerian privatesectorinordertoensureasuccessfulroll-outofCovid19vaccines.

ThisappealwasmadeattherecentlyconcludedNigerianGovernorsForum.

ThePresidentofHFN,Dr.PamelaAjayi,speakingonbehalfoftheFederation urged government to consider the enormous benefits of private sector participation in the task of getting Covid-19 vaccine to the millions of Nigeriansthatneedit. Privatesectorinvolvementcanhelpensuresmooth and effective procurement and roll out of the vaccines while reducing the costto government.

HFN was instrumental in providing critical support during the first phase ofthepandemicbymobilisingtheprivatesectorresponsewhichledtothe setupofisolationcenters,increasingaccesstoPCRtestingandsupporting Stateresponses.HFNiscurrentlyorganisingaprivatesectorroundtable, bringing both the private healthcare and private sectors together and its membershavepledgedtheircommitmenttosupportingboththefederal andstategovernments infightingthepandemic.

HFNmembers,whichspanallfacetsofhealthcare,arekeentosupportat boththestateandfederallevelsinallaspectsfromsupply,totheprovision of critical infrastructure and all other aspects of the vaccine distribution, training, information dissemination and provision of facilities to facilitate lastmileadministration. Theprivatesectoraimstoabsorbandcushionthe complexitiesinvolvedinsuchhugeoperations.Inaddition,shesaidthePrivate sectorcouldprovideinnovativefinancing. Shealsostatedthatstakeholders, includingindividualsandcorporateorganizationsarewillingtopayforthe vaccines,as thesecondwaveofCovid19continues to rise.

NAAPE Holds Symposium

TheNationalAssociationofAircraftPilotsandEngineers(NAAPE)isholdinga one-daysymposiuminUyo,AkwaIbomstatetoday,toaddresslabourmatters asitsconcernsitsmembers.Inastatementtoannouncetheevent,President NAAPE,AbednegoGaladimasaidsomeairlineshaverecalledsomeoftheir sackedmembersandexpressedoptimismthatsomeofitsmemberswho were yet to be recalled by their employers would be reintegrated into the system,stressingthatNAAPEwasalreadydiscussingwiththeiremployers.

“Someoftheairlineshavebeenabletorecallsomeofthestaffwhowereat home.Aswetalknow,mostofthemhavemovedbacktothepre-Covid-19 salariesforourmember.InDecember,mostofthecompaniesreturnedto pre-Covid-19salaries forpilots andengineers.

“Itisastepintherightdirection.Webelievegovernmentcanstilldomore,but withwhatwearewitnessing,theairlineswillbouncebackbetter.Thecapacity isincreasinggradually.Thingswillcometonormalverysoon,”heexplained.

On the symposium proper, he said at least 80 major aviation industry stakeholders and professionals in Nigeria would participate physically in theevent.

He stated that the event would help to bridge the existing gaps between pilots,engineersononehandandairlineoperatorsintheindustry,withthe aim ofpromotingharmonious relationshipbetweenthetwo.

Galadima, said the theme: ‘Labour Relations in a Pandemic: Challenges to EmployersandEmployees,’wouldbeChairedbyMr.AllenOnyema,AirPeace boss while Capt. Ado Sanusi, the immediate past Chief Executive Officer (CEO)ofAeroContractorsandSheriKyariwouldbesomeofthediscussants.

Qatar, Iberia Strengthen Partnership

Qatar Airways said it has further expanding its strategic partnership by signinganexpandedcodeshareagreementwithIberia.

Theagreement,accordingtotheairlines,wouldenhanceconnectivitybetween both airlines’ complementary networks and would offer additional travel optionstocustomerstravellingbetweentheIberianPeninsula,LatinAmerica, Africa, Asia-Pacific and the Middle East via the Best Airport in the Middle East,HamadInternational Airport.

Speakingonthedevelopment,QatarAirwaysGroupChiefExecutive,Akbar AlBaker,said:“Wearepleasedtofurtherexpandourcodesharecooperation withIberia,Spain’slargestcarrierandtheleadingairlineconnectingEurope withLatinAmerica.Despitethechallengesof2020,ithasbeenourpriority to maintainreliableglobal connectivityforourpassengers.

“ThisexpansionofourstrategicpartnershipwithIberiafurtherstrengthens connectivitybetweenthehubsofDohaandMadridensuringmoreflexible travel options forourcustomers.”

Also,IberiaGroupChiefExcutive,JavierSanchez-Prieto,said:“Theextension ofthecodeshareagreementwithQatarAirwaysisverygoodnewsforus.

At Iberia we work so that, when countries eliminate their restrictions, we canofferourclientsthewidestandmostcomprehensivenetworkpossible.”

“We do not want to get it wrong and we do not want to have blood in our hands. The primary responsibility of NCAA is public safety and this is what we must assure through our safety oversight” Director General, Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA),

Captain Musa Nuhu

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BUSINESSWORLD EU MOVES TO TAKE CONTROL OF MARITIME SECURITY IN GULF OF GUINEA greater European operational engagement, by also ensuring continuity, reactiveness, complementarity and synergy between Members States’ actions.

Recalling both the EU’s Maritime Security Strategy and the related Action Plan, as well as the EU’s Strategy on the Gulf of Guinea and its related Action Plan, following the Council Conclusions of 17 June 2020, the Council said it is launching the pilot case of the Coordinated Maritime Presences (CMP) concept in the Gulf of Guinea.

“While being distinct from the CSDP missions and operations, the pilot case of this new EU initiative, reflecting the Union’s growing role as a maritime security provider, can provide a substantial contribution to addressing the security challenges in the Gulf of Guinea.”

NIGERIA LOSES W’AFRICA AIR TRAVEL MARKET TO GHANA number of air travellers in the sub-region and also is still the biggest economy in Africa.

However, the Managing Director, Flight and Logistics Solutions Limited, Amos Akpan said it would be difficult for Ghana to be a hub for SAATM in West Africa despite the temporary dominance of its airline in the sub-region.

“It will be an uphill task to get Accra as hub for Single African Air Transport Market.

Ghana has very limited travel population and cargo. It has one serviceable international runway, one regional airline.

“Accra airport traffic is 50 percent Nigerian, 30 percent other West African countries, and 20 per cent Ghanaian destinations. If Nigerian aviation authorities create flexible and easy conditions for international flights, Accra airport will be starved,” Akpan said.

He also identified the factors that grow a hub, which includes traffic-passenger and cargo, infrastructure, airports, and navigation facilities.

“What makes aviation business thrive in a territory are: traffic - passenger and cargo, infrastructure - airports and navigation facilities. Nigeria has high volume air traffic. The infrastructure is coming up. “

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Obinna Chima

Capital Market Editor

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Comms/e-Business Editor

Emma Okonji

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NEWS

NIMASA, PAP to Tackle Maritime Crimes Eromosele Abiodun The Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) has promised to work in partnership with the Presidential Amnesty Programme (PAP) in the fight against piracy and other crimes in the country’s maritime domain.

Director-General of NIMASA, Dr. Bashir Jamoh, disclosed this during a working visit to the interim Sole Administrator of PAP, Col. Milland Dixon Dikio (rtd.) in Abuja.

Jamoh, underscored the importance of collaboration among relevant agencies and communities in the quest for maritime security.

According to him, “We should be working together in partnership to help us appreciate and evaluate the challenges from our various perspectives and collectively come up with solutions that would work for all of us, and the country at large.

“Security problems more often than not have a local content. So, as the country’s maritime regulatory agency, we want to partner the amnesty programme, which interfaces with the littoral communities, to nip the security challenges in the bud, and stand our nation in good stead for the optimisation

of our huge maritime resources.”

Jamoh added that he has prioritised advocacy for interagency cooperation in the fight against maritime insecurity since his appointment last year.

He said: “We cannot proffer solution to the issues and crisis in the Niger Delta without the collaboration of the Presidential Amnesty Programme.”

The NIMASA boss said a Maritime Intelligence Unit was

recently established by NIMASA to help in the identification of early warning signs in order to prevent security breaches in the littoral areas.

He disclosed that many of the assets being installed and deployed under the Integrated National Security and Waterways Protection Infrastructure (the Deep Blue Project) had intelligence gathering capabilities through air, land and sea

surveillance.

Jamoh, stated that NIMASA was planning to introduce educational, entrepreneurship training, and skills acquisition programmes in the areas of fishing, clearing and forwarding, and legal bunkering, for people in the coastal communities as a way of empowering them and discouraging criminal tendencies.

In his response, Dikio commended Jamoh for his vision

and commitment to maritime security.

He also praised the NIMASA DG for his passion for inter-agency coordination and collaboration in the security of Nigeria’s maritime environment.

He said detecting the early warning signs and engaging early responses to prevent security challenges at their early stages would be vigorously pursued.

FG Provides N30m Grant to Young Farmers for Agric Investment James Emejo and Folalumi Alaran in Abuja The Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Alhaji Sabo Nanono has disclosed that the federal government through the Bank of Agriculture (BOA) had empowered 20 young Nigerian farmers with an initial take off grant of N30 million to support their incursion into agriculture.

He assured that all participants would receive seed capital from the bank and other financial institutions to establish smallholder agribusiness going forward.

This is as the minister also

said the federal government was ready to commence the livestock pilot scheme programme, geared towards improving the livestock sub sector to generate revenue and boost the nation’s economy.

Speaking at the grand finale of the Naija Farmer Reality show, which is a youth empowerment project aimed principally to transform unemployed Nigerian youths to employers of labour, the minister urged the beneficiaries to utilise the opportunity provided by the government to improve their lots and support the economy.

Represented by the Director,

Animal Husbandry Department, FMARD, Mrs. Winnie Lai- Solarin, Nanono, further charged the youths to be good ambassadors and role models to upcoming interested farmers at their various states and communities.

The highlight of the occasion was the presentation of a prize money of N5 million to the best farmer of the reality show, Mr. Simeon Ikechukwu Edoror from Edo State , while other participants went home with N1 million each.

The reality show had 20 housemates selected from the

six geopolitical zones of the country at a located Naija Farmer House in Abuja and they were in the house for period of three months.

However, speaking during a working visit to the Governor of Nasarawa State, Mr. Abdullahi Sule, in Lafia, Nanono said the state is one of the few selected by the federal government for the implementation of the livestock programme.

He said: “The Nigeria livestock sub sector is a national asset worth over N33 trillion that should be encouraged and exploited by Nigerians.”

He pointed out that the livestock pilot scheme programme in the state alone is worth €400,000 for a start, adding that Bauchi and Gombe States are also part of the programme.

Nanono emphasised that agricultural mechanisation was a key driver towards ensuring that the country achieves food sufficiency, created jobs and fast tracked economic growth in the country.

He added that the sector provides the answer to feed the its population including its neighbours and boost internally generated revenue.

‘Kwara Customs Command Remitted N9bn to Federation Account in 18 Months Hammed Shittu in Ilorin

The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) Kwara State Area Command, Comptroller Ahmed Hussain Bello has disclosed that the command remitted over N9 billion to the federation accounts between July, 2019 till date The state area command was created on May 21, 2019, and Bello was posted to the state on the July 5, 2019, as the pioneer

Comptroller of the state area command.

Speaking at a media briefing in Ilorin, recently, Bello said the achievement was due to the commitment and doggedness of the men of the command since assumption of office in the state.

He stated that out of total revenue remitted to the federation account, the command generated N6.906

billion between January and December, 2020.

“This represent 86 per cent of the year annual target as against the N2. 404 billion it realised in 2019.

“From the above record, it shows that there was an increase of N4.502 billion in the year 2020 compared to what was generated in the year 2019”.

Bello added that, “This great

feat was achieved through the re-jigged efforts of my sectional heads for effective performance and measures put in place to get the economic saboteurs apprehended.

“The command is collaborating with other border security agencies in policing our land borders.

“We are not leaving any room for illegality to thrive. I want to use this medium to warn

that tough time awaits smugglers and their sponsors who intend to dare the Command’s operatives. Anyone involved in smuggling activities should have a rethink because the Command will resist their presence”.

Bello stated further that, “apart from the improved revenue generation, the command has recorded remarkable achievement in its anti-smuggling crusade.”

Ex- NIMASA Director to Launch Maritime Book A former Director, Marine Environment Management Department at the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Dr. Felicia Mogo, will today launch an industry book as she celebrates her exit from public service.

The book titled: “Regulating the Marine Environment of Africa for Sustainable Blue Economy – the Nigeria Scenario,” will be presented

by Minister of State for

Environment, Hon. Sharon Ikeazor in Lagos.

During her 34 years of public service, Mogo served in various capacities in agencies, ministries and various international avenues contributing to the protection of Nigeria’s environment and giving the country recognition on the international level.

The ex-NIMASA Director said the book is a product of her wealth of experience over the years in Nigeria’s

marine environment.

“I have had the opportunity to incubate insights about stewarding our resources for sustainable development.

Specifically, I have spent considerable time reflecting on Nigeria’s marine environment which holds enormous potential for our sustainable growth as a nation, and yet remains understated.

“For over 10 years, I have toyed with the idea of documenting my ideas on how

to optimise Nigeria’s marine environment for the benefit of its entire population. I am glad to have finally made this idea a reality via this book,” she added.

Commenting on the book, the President, Strategic Operations and Sediment Management Tipping Point Resources Group, United States, Prof. Eric Stern said: “I must commend the author for how the book succinctly evaluates and proffers practi-

cal solutions on innovatively deploying institutional and regulatory approaches in Nigeria’s marine environment and actualising a pan-African blue economy pathway.”

He advised and urged government, policymakers, legislators, academics, private sector participants, development practitioners and partners, civil society and the media to avail themselves the wealth of knowledge the book offers.

23

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Air Peace Expands, Resumes Suspended Routes Stories by Chinedu Eze

Air Peace has announced the launch of new domestic routes and the resumption routes suspended previously.

The new routes to be launched in February 2021 are: Enugu-KanoEnugu, Enugu-AsabaEnugu, PHC-Kano-PHC, PHC-Kaduna-PHC, Ilorin-Lagos-Ilorin, Ilorin-Abuja-Ilorin and Ibadan-Abuja-Ibadan.

The suspended routes to be resumed are Kano-Owerri-Kano, Kano-Asaba-Kano, Lagos-Yola-Lagos and Abuja-Yola-Abuja.

The airline’s Chief Operating Officer, Toyin Olajide, who revealed this in a statement, explained that the airline would be receiving all its aircraft on overseas maintenance

in February, hence the decision to launch the new routes as well as reactivate suspended ones.

She added that the planned launch of the new routes was a testament of the airline’s commitment to meeting the air transportation needs of Nigerians, driving economic development and fostering unity among various parts of the country.

“As you know, most of our aircraft are on maintenance at different parts of the world but they are all returning in February, 2021. For us, it is great news as this means the launch of new routes and the resumption of routes suspended consequent upon the COVID-19 outbreak,” he said.

Olajide, emphasised that the new connections were also testament to Air Peace’s ‘no-city-leftbehind’ initiative and its determination to provide an affordable access to safe and seamless connectivity across Nigeria and beyond, adding that the airline, ‘is constantly reviewing its route network to reflect the air travel needs of the flying public’.

Air Peace currently operates 16 domestic routes, five regional routes and two international destinations, one of which is South Africa, launched in December, 2020. The airline also boasts of a fleet size of 26 aircraft and is steadily expanding its fleet as it expects to take delivery of its first Embraer E195-E2 aircraft in January 2021.

‘Why We Chose Embraer E195-E2’

Embraer E 195-E2 Chinedu Eze

Ethiopian Appoints New Cargo Manager for Nigeria Ethiopian Airlines has appointed Mr. Solomon Mekonnen as the new Cargo Manager in Nigeria.

Ethiopian said in a statement that the total cargo it transported across its network in 2020, was a 644,000 tonnes and out of that amount in/ out Nigeria during the year was 49,000 tonnes.

To serve Nigeria with this enhanced cargo capacity, Mekonnen would be based in Lagos and would supervise the cargo operations in Nigeria.

Ethiopian Airlines already has daily freight services to Nigeria in addition to the passenger services for which it is well regarded in Nigeria.

The statement also said Mekonnen has worked in various capacities since joining ET in 2006.

He had worked as cargo Supervisor, Cargo Sales Manager in Addis Ababa and Traffic and Sales Manager in Enugu.

“Ethiopian Airlines has an immense capacity for cargo. It has been winning most of the available industry awards in 2020.

It adapted some of its planes to do cargo; it has 576, 800Kg belly hold capacity from 83 passenger aircraft. It has a dedicated freight fleet of 10 B777 and 2 B737.

“With the largest cargo terminal in Africa at Addis Ababa Airport with all cargo capability,

ET has been identified as the first choice for vaccine distribution by most countries. Ethiopian Airlines has been flying to Nigeria since 1960 and has become one of the most reliable airline for Nigerian passengers.

“It uses the most advanced and brand new aircraft for its flights to Lagos and Abuja. It was the first airline to introduce B787 Dreamliner and the Airbus A350 to Nigeria. It was the only international airline to fly to Kaduna when Abuja airport was closed.

“It was the only international airline to serve Enugu Airport until it was closed for runway repairs,” the airline said.

Qatar Expands Africa Network Qatar Airways said it has rebuilt its Africa network to 23 destinations and more than 100 weekly flights.

Qatar Airways Group Chief Executive, Mr. Akbar Al Baker, said: “We are proud to be the leading international carrier connecting Africa with Asia-Pacific, Europe, the Middle East and the U.S., offering more flexible travel options and a global network of flights that passengers, trade and business partners can rely on. “Having launched three new destinations in Africa with Abuja, Accra and Luanda joining our network in 2020, we continue to demonstrate our commitment to the region by adding new routes and steadily increasing frequencies across the continent.

“With the resumption of Alexandria and Cairo, we will operate over 100 weekly flights to and from

Africa with connections via the Best Airport in the Middle East, Hamad International Airport, to our global network of over 120 destinations.

“As global travel recovers in 2021, we look forward to further expanding our network and offering more connections to and from Africa.”

The national carrier of the State of Qatar continues to rebuild its network, which currently stands at over 120 destinations with plans to increase to over 130 by the end of March 2021.

“Qatar Airways has become the first global airline in the world to achieve the prestigious 5-Star COVID-19 Airline Safety Rating by international air transport rating organisation, Skytrax.

“This follows HIA’s recent success as the first airport in the Middle East

and Asia to be awarded a Skytrax 5-Star COVID-19 Airport Safety Rating.

These recognitions provides assurance to passengers across the world that airline health and safety standards are subject to the highest possible standards of professional, independent scrutiny and assessment,” the airline also said.

It stated that passengers could book flights with peace of mind, knowing that Qatar Airways offers unlimited date changes and fee-free refunds for all tickets issued before 30 April 2021, for travel completed by 31 December 2021.

The carrier’s industryleading flexible booking policy also provides the permanent feature of exchanging tickets for a travel voucher with 10 per cent additional value for all customers booking travel via qatarairways.com.

Yesterday Air Peace received the first of the 13 brand new E195-E2 it ordered from Brazil-based aircraft manufacturer, Embraer.

Beyond the celebration, the fanfare and the fact that for over a long time, Nigerian carriers have not acquired brand new aircraft, since Arik Air broke the two-decade old jinx in 2007, the Chief Operating Officer of Air Peace, Mrs. Toyin Olajide explained why the airline chose the new Embraer, E195-E2.

Olajide said Air Peace has been operating Embraer ERJ 145, which has been very useful to the airline, stressing that Air Peace needs bigger equipment for routes that require higher capacity aircraft.

She explained the difference between the ERJ 145, which the airline has been operating and E195-E2, which has about 146 seats.

She said the ERJ 145 is a 50-seater aircraft and the reason Air Peace went for that aircraft type was because the airline wanted to service some routes that may not have the number of passengers that could fill up Boeing 737 at any time. So it acquired the 50-seater aircraft to service those routes.

“When you look at the traffic in those destinations, it is not enough for you to actually deploy a big aircraft like our Boeing 737, which is about 136 passenger capacity. If you do that, you will struggle to sustain that route, which is the reason you see a whole lot of those routes have not been explored by the operators in the country because they don’t have the right equipment,” she explained.

The COO noted that for an airline to survive in the aviation industry, it must understand the market it is operating in, adding that that when the airline understands the market, it would know how to deploy the right equipment so that its operation is sustainable and profitable or it would be dead on arrival.

“Now, why have we introduced the E195E2? The E2 is a brand new aircraft, super efficiency aircraft; it is an aircraft that is for the future and even now, not just for the future. This is because you are going to save a lot of money on the operating cost, you have savings on the fuel and you know fuel cost is very expensive in Nigeria.

For an airline to survive in the aviation industry, it must understand the market it is operating in

“So, those kinds of aircraft coming into the country will be able to help you lower your operating cost. The performance is awesome. We went on the acceptance flight and that was my second time I was flown in the plane.

“I flew it the first time before we actually decided to buy this aircraft. And one of the beauties of this plane is even when you are flying through turbulence you will not feel it because of the advancement of the fly by wire system in the airplane.

So, it adjusts itself through turbulence in such a way that you won’t even feel it,” Olajide said.

She explained that in choosing the E195-E2, Air Peace wants Nigerians to enjoy the comfort and beauty offered by the new aircraft, which is adjudged the best in its segment.

“A lot of Nigerians that are scared of travelling, this is the plane for you. Because when you are inside this aircraft you will feel nothing. That peace that we represent, this is the plane that is going to give you the height of it because it is just super.

“The interior is excellent. The staggered seats that we have in the business class are one to die for. Not just that, even in the business class, there is an innovation with the table that the passengers use, it has an ipad holder.

“So, when you are even sitting on the plane, you don’t even need to be holding your Ipad, you can actually just clip it to the table and then you work. This is the first in the industry; no other aircraft in the industry has this kind of innovation.

So, it’s an awesome aircraft.

“It is also an aircraft that is able to land even on a very short runway. Like in some airports where the Boeing 737 cannot go to, for instance, like NAF base in Port Harcourt, the B737 can’t land there. Even, our ERJ 145, if we have a full load on it, it cannot land in the NAF base but this plane can land there with 124 passengers. Those are part of the improved performance on this plane and that is the reason we went for it,” Olajide said.

Embraer’s President and CEO, Francisco Gomes Neto described the new aircraft type acquired by Air Peace thus, “The E2s are really fantastic airplanes. Your engineering people are going to love the technology. Your crews are going to love flying them.

“Your accountants are going to love the operating economics. And your passengers are going to love the stunning interior, especially those sitting in business class with the staggered seat layout. That innovation is an industry first, and we’re so pleased that Air Peace will showcase it to the world and, of course, that you’re the first airline in Africa to fly an E-Jet E2.”

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BUSINESSWORLD

ANALYSIS

Between COVID-19 Vaccination and Air Travel The introduction of COVID-19 vaccine may have raised hopes that air travel may rebound in 2021, even though there are doubts about the efficacy of the vaccines, writes Chinedu Eze

I

n 2020, many stakeholders in air travel were counting the days when drug manufacturers would announce the production and distribution of COVID-19 vaccine.

So, the world was elated when pharmaceutical companies announced the development of the vaccine and currently some countries are on the race to obtain the injection as much as possible to ensure that majority of their citizens are vaccinated.

In aviation circles it is believed that the vaccine will restore confidence in air travel, but the second phase of the virus appears to be more devastating with attendant lethal strains, which has left more people dead, petrified governments and led to selected lockdown in some countries.

Efficacy Indications show that there is still doubt over the efficacy of the vaccine and questions are being asked about how long the vaccine would last in the body, whether the person who had taken it would be exposed to the virus in future?

But the World Health Organisation (WHO) believes that widespread vaccination for the coronavirus means that the virus would not infect as many people. This, the body said would limit spread through communities; as both Pfizer and Moderna reported that their vaccines showed approximately 95 per cent efficacy at preventing both mild and severe symptoms of COVID-19.

In Nigeria, the federal government has maintained its policy on air travel; that it would leave the borders open, saying that there is no restriction yet on air travel.

The federal government declared the resumption of international flights on September 5, 2020. International flights in and out of Nigeria are operating with appropriate safety protocols in place; and passengers traveling to and departing from Nigeria are required to log on to http://nitp.ncdc.gov.ng to complete a pre-registration form.

Principal Managing Partner, Avaero Capital Partners, Sindy Foster, told THISDAY that the COVID-19 vaccine is yet to provide succour and enhance air travel, stating that there was so much hype about the vaccine and many believed that once it was introduced it would bring back confidence in air travel.

This, he argued has not happened because the efficacy of the vaccine has not been guaranteed.

Foster observed that since the vaccine was introduced there have been different mutations of the virus and the hope that it would open air travel is dissipating as issues about the vaccines come to the fore.

“The West have oversubscribed for the vaccines and there is political shenanigans over the country that secures more vaccines for its citizens in Europe. Different vaccines have different efficacy so the decision to introduce vaccine certificate for air travel will be political.

So it would take a long time before travel will begin to improve. We have a long way to go,” she said.

Foster noted that in the long run, some countries would insist that before anyone would travel the person must be vaccinated and some would even insist on particular vaccine.

“There are a lot of questions coming up.

How efficacious is the vaccine? How long will it last? Will one brand of vaccine protect a person from different strains of the virus?

We are not sure that the vaccine will prevent different mutations of the virus.

“There has been unsuccessful effort to develop vaccine for the flu, because flu has different variants, vaccine cannot prevent it. So we are not going to see improvement in air travel.

A lot of people overestimated the efficacy of the vaccine,” she said.

Foster regretted that during the lockdown in Nigeria there was really no lockdown because flights were leaving and coming into the country.

“Nigeria has porous borders. When government closed the border, it did not really close the border. They closed the border to poor people because private jets were operating; some were even operating commercial flights.

“There should be rule of law. It is easy to control the citizens who are law abiding. We need three months of complete isolation of no

Emirates cabin crew movements and the virus will burn out. Since the vaccine was introduced they seemed to have stopped testing. They should do more testing along with the vaccine,” Foster said.

Businesslive.com has reported that South Africa President, Cyril Ramaphosa has called on rich nations that have bought and hoarded more Covid-19 vaccines than they need to release their excess supply for poorer nations, warning that failure to distribute them fairly risks prolonging the health and economic crisis battering the globe.

During his virtual address to the World Economic Forum (WEF) annual meeting on Tuesday, Ramaphosa kept to a similar theme as Chinese President Xi Jinping the previous day, stressing the need for global co-operation in tackling challenges from Covid-19 to the climate crisis.

Countries acquiring doses of vaccines up to four times what their populations need undermines the principle that nations needed to co-operate for their mutual benefit, he said.

Restrictions Some countries have introduced levels of restriction in areas where there are high cases of coronavirus, as they double efforts to vaccinate as many of their citizens as possible.

Some of these countries and even airlines are considering introducing policies that would insist that inbound passengers must obtain COVID-19 vaccination certificate. There is growing resistance to this planned policy and some countries that have made such considerations obvious are being persuaded to drop the idea.

According to simple flying, Germany is thought to be considering a near-total shutdown of air travel, according to multiple reports.

It comes as concern continues to grow with regards to new variants of the COVID-19 virus that are springing up around the world.

Germany is currently in the midst of its second lockdown, designed to deal with the second COVID-19 wave being spread around the country. While the number of cases is beginning to drop, the country’s lockdown is set to continue until at least the middle of February. The fear is that the UK’s COVID-19 mutation could soon become the dominant form of the virus in Germany.

Opposition A report recently released by SchengenVisaInfor.com quoted WHO as saying that while many countries are planning to implement “vaccination passports” to facilitate the movement faster, ‘the Emergency Committee of the World Health Organization Committee (WHO) has stressed that the impact of vaccines on reducing transmission is not yet known and current vaccine availability is too limited, urging countries to refrain from imposing such requirements.”

WHO also called on the governments not to introduce vaccination or immunity requirements as a condition of entry for international travel, as according to the organisation, there are still some uncertainties regarding the effectiveness of vaccination.

“Being vaccinated should not exempt international travellers from complying with other travel risk reduction measures,” the WHO committee stressed during its meeting held on January 14.

However, the President of the European Union Commission Ursula von der Leyen has recently supported the idea to establish such document, which could be used by the EU Member States as a joint certificate to identify all persons who have been vaccinated against the Coronavirus pandemic and make their life easier.

Also a recent report by Reuters stated that the head of a global travel organisation opposed making COVID-19 vaccinations a requirement for travellers in the fight against the pandemic, despite scepticism about reaching herd immunity this year.

Several health experts said during the Reuters Next conference that the mass rollout of coronavirus vaccines would not result in enough people having immunity to be able to effectively stop COVID-19 from spreading.

Some policymakers have proposed immunisation should be compulsory for air travel as the world steps up the battle to curb the spread of COVID-19, and Australia’s Qantas Airways has said it plans to introduce such a requirement.

But, the chief executive of the World Travel and Tourism Council, Gloria Guevara said such moves would be similar to workplace discrimination.

In aviation circles it is believed that the vaccine will restore confidence in air travel, but the second phase of the virus appears to be more devastating with attendant lethal strains

“We should never require the vaccination to get a job or to travel,” Guevara, whose organisation represents a sector accounting for as much as 10 per cent of global employment, told a panel at Reuters Next.

“If you require the vaccination before travel, that takes us to discrimination.”

Free Travel Also the International Air Transport Association (IATA) urged all branches of the European Union to support an initiative from Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis to agree a common digital European COVID-19 vaccination certificate that would enable those who are vaccinated to travel freely within Europe without COVID-19 testing.

In an open letter to Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, and copied to key policy-makers across the EU, IATA Director General and CEO Alexandre de Juniac called on EU States to coordinate a policy that would see Europe safely gain the economic and social benefits of renewed freedom of movement, beginning with those who are vaccinated. ”Prime Minister Mitsotakis’ initiative should be urgently adopted by the Commission and all member states. Vaccination is a fundamental key to safely reopening borders and stimulating economic recovery. A pan-European mutually recognised vaccination certificate would be an important step towards giving governments the confidence to safely open their borders, and passengers the confidence to fly without the barrier of quarantine,” said de Juniac.

As the virus comes eventually under control, testing capacities improve and the vaccinated population grows, de Juniac stressed the need for governments to prepare for re-establishing the freedom of movement with well-coordinated planning. That planning should use the most effective combination of vaccination and testing capabilities.

“We are in very dark days of this pandemic.

But the tough measures taken combined with accelerating vaccination programs must give us hope that we can safely re-establish the freedom of movement. That will save jobs, ease mental anguish, re-connect families and revive the economy. To do this safely and efficiently, planning is key. Prime Minister Mitsotakis’s proposal for vaccine certificates will be a key enabler.

“Progress on eliminating or reducing quarantines can be made with testing protocols.

But what we need now is for governments to start working together much more effectively.

Unilateral government actions were able to quickly dismantle global connectivity. Re-building will need coordination,” said de Juniac.

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MARITIME

As NPA Deploys Eto Eromosele Abiodun writes that the deployment of electronic call-up system by the Nigerian Ports Authority is expected to address the menace of truck congestion around Apapa and its environs

F

or residents and Nigerians why ply their trade in Apapa, the only thing close to hell is the protracted gridlock that has sent many to the grave. Due to long neglect, Apapa has become Nigeria’s signpost of incompetence, mismanagement, and lack of vision. The roads leading to Nigeria’s premier ports, Apapa and Tincan, became totally impassable, source of untimely death to businesses and people alike.

Many Apapa-based companies have gone under while some managed to relocate with the inevitable result of massive revenue loss for the government itself, importers and other operators whose livelihood depends on the ports.

In 2019, Africa’s richest man, Aliko Dangote, joined numerous port users and businesses to echo the daily suffering and the revenue loss by businesses and government.

Dangote had estimated that the country was losing about N140 billion weekly to traffic gridlocks on Apapa-Oshodi Expressway, Lagos, the access road to Nigeria’s main seaports.

“The economy loses more than N20 billion daily and N140 billion weekly.

It affects businesses across the country.

All our operations in the hinterland in Ilorin, in Kano are operating at 40 per cent maximum capacity,” Dangote had said, Lamenting the state of roads in the country, he had noted that: “Today there is no linkage road going from South West to the North. You have to go all the way through Ajaokuta, Obajana, Lokoja and you have to go by that uncompleted road former President Olusegun Obasanjo started 13 years ago.”

In the last few years, Apapa has become a no-go area for visitors, hellish for those who reside and work there, and traumatic for business owners and those exporting or importing goods.

Cost of doing business at the ports has risen so high manufacturers are abandoning their cargo at the port. The call on government to fix the ports access road has, however, been heeded by government as work has since commenced on the roads. But like everything Nigeria, security personnel sent to maintain traffic turned the problem into an enterprise.

As a result of extortion by security officials, haulage cost from Tin Can to any other part of Lagos has risen by more than 1,000 per cent from about N100,000 a year ago to about N1.2 million.

Recently, truckers raised the costs to move a container from the Tin Can Island Port, Lagos, to any other part of the city by 50 per cent, from N1.2 million to N1.8million.

As a result of the blockage of the roads, millions of containers are trapped in the ports and shipping companies have had to stay at several anchorages for between three to four months incurring all manner of surcharges.

On average, 100,000 containers carrying various cargos are discharged in Lagos ports monthly, with shipping companies now charging $6000 to ship a container to Nigeria, it costs shippers in Nigeria $600 million (N234 billion) every month to transport 100,000 containers to Nigeria.

In the first half of 2020, it cost $1,000 to ship a 20-foot container to Nigeria from the Far East.

Today, the cost charged by shipping lines for the same service is between $5,500 and $6,000.

Due to the massive congestion at Tin Can and Apapa ports, many shipping lines have started diverting Nigeria-bound cargoes to neighboring ports in Cotonou and Ivory Coast. Importers, THISDAY learnt pay N25, 000 as demurrage per container a day and another N15,000 as storage fees to terminal operators excluding 7.5 per cent value added tax (VAT).

This amounts to N12.5 billion daily demurrage charges on 500,00 containers and N7.5 billion storage fees.

Bala-Usman

NPA deploys technology In a bid to find a permanent solution to the Apapa gridlock, the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) last year collaborated with a private firm to deploy technology and remove human interference.

After several months of planning, the NPA last week announced that it would next month deploy technology tomanage traffic in Apapa in the form of electronic call-up system known as ETO. The electronic call-up system, it stated, would address the menace of truck congestion around Apapa and its environs.

The effort, which was financed by a private company, Trucks Transit Parks Limited under a public private partnership (PPP) arrangement with the NPA will cost N7 billion to deploy.

Sources at the NPA told THISDAY that when fully operational, the electronic call-up system would save Nigeria a whooping N140 billion weekly economic loss and another $10 billion annual loss of agro products.

According to the source, “The company presented a business case for regulated truck traffic regime, which shows that the system will save the country N140 billion weekly economic loss, 40 per cent of businesses that have left Apapa, will return, there will be an end to 7-14 days cargo reception delay; consequent damage to perishable export products and reverse the $10 billion annual loss of agro products.

“That is not all, this effort will also save our bridges around Lagos mainland, which are old and fragile and can no longer support abuse by trucks. This will also put an end to unavailability of public funding for shared common infrastructure.”

NPA’s Assistant General Manager, Corporate and Strategic Communications, Ibrahim Nasiru, said henceforth, management of truck movement and access to and from the Apapa and Tin-Can ports would be guided by ETO. According to the NPA, “As part of efforts aimed at finding a permanent solution to the problem of truck congestion around Apapa and its environs, the authority is pleased to announce the commencement of ETO, the electronic truck call-up system designed for the management of truck movement and access to and from the Lagos Ports Complex and the Tin Can Island Ports, Apapa, Lagos.

“All trucks doing business at the ports

will be required to park at the approved truck parks until they are called up into the port through the ETO application.

The ETO application will be responsible for the scheduling, entry and exit of all trucks into the ports with effect from 27th February 2021,” the agency said.

It added: “Therefore, all transporters, trucks owners and truck drivers will be required to download the ETO App from Google play store or sign up at http:// eto.ttp.com.ng before the commencement date to enable them register accordingly.

“In addition to this, cargo owners should please note that empty containers can only be returned to the ports through the approved holding bays of shipping companies using the ETO Platform. It is the responsibility of the shipping company to move empty containers from their holding bay to the Port.

“All cargo owners have to do is drop their empty containers at the holding bay of the shipping company. The shipping company will then make the necessary bookings on the ETO platform to return empty containers to the Port.”

The NPA solicited the cooperation of transporters, truck drivers, cargo owners, clearing agents shipping companies and all port users in the implementation of the project, which it promised will bring order and sanity to the ports access roads.

Non-compliance to the use of ETO and its guidelines, it added, would result in denial of access into the ports, impounding of trucks and withdrawal of registration/ operating license.

Transforming Apapa In a chat with THISDAY, the Managing Director of Trucks Transit Parks Limited, Jama Onwubuariri, said the effort will transform Apapa and make the port city thriving again.

“Our company, Trucks Transit Parks Limited (TTP) has partnered with NPA to provide solutions to the truck traffic challenges in Nigeria. TTP aims to decongest Apapa, improve traffic flow and ultimately facilitate the efficiency and productivity of the ports. TTP will do this through the use of technology.

“Our operation is based on an electronic call up system called Ètò, through which trucks movements will be scheduled from the originating points of the trucks to a park, then to a holding bay/pre-gate

and then programmed in batches (on a first-come-first-served basis) to access the ports. Thus, all trucks are expected to remain within approved parks until they are scheduled to access the ports or are moving from one park to another. The idea is to prohibit illegal or indiscriminate parking of trucks along the roads.

“Therefore, law enforcement agents have been set up to enforce compliance and tow or fine offending trucks/truckers. Hence, an electronic call-up system that will drive the check in and checkout of trucks from each location has been put in place to achieve this. In addition to batching and scheduling of trucks movement, TTP would also offer add-on or ancillary services such as truck wash, tyre change, truck service, accommodation etc at designated parks.”

He added that the main objectives of the company’s operations is to improve ports efficiency, decongesting traffic gridlock, improving traffic flow within Apapa logistics ring, improve accountability and eliminate extortion and improve ease of doing business.

On how it intends to achieve it, he said: “We will deploy electronic truck scheduling, park, truck and traffic management platform called Ètò, provide modern truck parks and holding bay facilities with hub amenities, use of ICT hardware such as access control, law enforcement/traffic agents to enforce compliance and registration of all ports bound trucks and drivers on Ètò.”

The affected stakeholders, he said, are: truck drivers, truck owners, truck drivers unions, truck owners unions, truck park operators, terminal operators, shipping companies, clearing agents.

Others, he added, are: Apapa residents, workers and companies, government agencies –Police, Customs, LASTMA, Road Safety, Nigerian Shippers Council, Lagos State Government (Ministry of Transport and Ministry of Environment) and Apapa Local Government.

NPA’s General Manager, Corporate and Strategic Communication, Adams Jatto, had recently confirmed the plan when he told journalists in Lagos that the system would go a long way in addressing the traffic gridlock in Apapa.

Jatto said: “We have concluded the procurement process to be able to engage our investors to manage the truck park.

So with this, I believe we should be able to have something on ground for people to be proud of. Call-up system is not just the areas we are looking at, for us to ease the congestion along ports access roads.

“It is a kind of temporary measure for us to ensure that we have a free flow on the axis that lead to the ports. The call-up system is for us to be able to have truck parks along ports area and some of the truck owners have assured us that they have truck parks, where they can park their trucks.

“A call-up system is to ensure that in each of the areas where there are truck parks, the trucks are there and when it is time for them to come to the ports, we have to adopt the call-up system to call them. On the basis of this, we will be able to streamline the trucks coming into the ports, to ease congestion.”

Jatto said the management of NPA led

by Bala-Usman has always been desirous to address issues of the port access roads in Apapa, through sustainable road construction.

“A truck terminal park had been constructed at Tin-Can Island port, but the shoreline protection was not done. The Federal Ministry of Works had re-awarded the contract for completion. Our MD/CEO Bala-Usman had taken a bold step to ensure that the truck terminal will be managed

by Public Private Partnership (PPP).

“That is where we are having real automation of call-up system. The management of NPA is working toward ensuring that Lillypond terminal is converted to a truck transit park for easy flow of traffic, along ports access road in Lagos,” he stated.

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Alimosho Residents to Benefit from Free Healthcare Stories by Hamid Ayodeji CarePoint Hospitals has announced plans for its maiden open week exercise for residents of Alimosho, the largest Local Government Area in Lagos State, Nigeria.

The event which is slated to commence on February 3, 2021, aims to provide an array of free healthcare services to over 1,000 visitors over a five-day period.

The raging second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic has necessitated increased efforts pertaining to health awareness and education among government bodies, corporate organisations and

individuals.

Therefore, healthcare providers are at the heart of this crusade, assuaging the healthcare needs of Nigerians living in both urban and remote locations of the country.

Speaking at a media parley recently, the Chief Executive Officer, CarePoint Hospitals, Dr. Ademolu Owoyele, said, “There’s a long journey ahead of us in our efforts to curb the alarming mortality rates in Nigeria and thereby bolster life expectancy levels. The journey isn’t without its unique challenges.

“But as stakeholders, we must play our respective roles if we’re to attain and

sustain optimised healthcare outcomes. That is one of the reasons why we’re putting this initiative together for the benefit of Egbeda residents in Lagos, where one of our hospitals is located.”

Some of the services to be provided include general and expert medical consultation, diabetes and hypertension screening, eye test, family planning services, free medication and general body checkups, drug prescriptions all for free. The event partners include DKT International, GlaxoSmithKline, mPharma, Fidson Healthcare and Junior Chambers International (JCI).

Olam Nigeria Named ‘Employer of Choice in Africa’ Olam Nigeria Limited has been named the ‘employer of choice in the African region’ for 2020. The company emerged with a strong score during a Human Resources Best Practice survey conducted by Top Employers Institute.

The survey conducted by the institute covers 600 people’s development practices across ten topics comprising talent strategy, workforce planning, talent acquisition, onboarding, learning and development, performance management, leadership development, diversity and inclusion, career and succession management and culture.

Congratulating recipients of the human resource excellence award, Chief Executive Officer, Top Employers Institute, David Plink said, “Recognising our regional Certified

Top Employers 2020 is an extremely proud moment for us all. This level of certification showcases the dedication to the consistent application of HR excellence on a regional level and an impressive commitment to enriching the labor market.”

Jaideep Biswas, who doubles as Regional Human Resource Head and Global Business Partner FMCG Business, Olam International, in a statement made available to THISDAY recently noted that the organisation prioritises the implementation of robust people development strategies.

“The recognition by the Top Employers Institute demonstrates the effectiveness of our organisation’s strategic approach to our employees’ wellbeing and overall career aspirations,” he added.

In the same vein, Talent

Acquisition Lead, Halima Akintola stated, “This recognition as an employer of choice in the African region is simply a validation of our commitment to driving a workplace experience that matches the aspiration of our employees.

“This is because we focus on enriching the lives of our employees in line with global best practices in all our approaches to talent acquisition, onboarding, learning and strategic implementation of capacity development procedures, career progression plans, compensation and benefits including employee value propositions.”

Consequently, Olam joins SAP, Sanofi, DHL, NTT, Orange, Novartis, Takeda, and BAT on a list of over 1,500 organisations that had been certified by the Top Employers Institute over 25 years in 118 countries.

JCI Pledges to Support Female Entrepreneurs The Junior Chamber International (JCI), Ikeja, an affiliate of Junior Chamber International has revealed that it remains dedicated towards empowering Nigerian female youths with its ‘SKILL for HER’ project.

The initiative is an upscaling mentorship program where they would be attached to firms to learn and develop skills on leadership, technology and entrepreneurship.

This would equip them to emerge as quality leaders in the society and generate solutions to the nation’s challenges, whilst also reducing the rate of hunger and poverty within the ecosystem.

The organisation also disclosed that the initiative was launched following its adoption of the second United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), zero hunger aimed at ending poverty by 2030, as experts warned that two billion people could be ex-

pected to be undernourished by 2050.

Meanwhile, a recent estimate by UN showed that nearly 690 million people are hungry, up by 10 million people in one year and by nearly 60 million in five years.

Owing to this, the world is not on track to achieve zero hunger by 2030, and if recent trends continue, the number of people affected by hunger would surpass 840 million by 2030.

The President, Junior Chamber International, Ikeja Tricia Inalu, during the organisation’s annual general meeting held recently in Lagos, said it would also be leveraging on digitalisation and technology driven innovations with its programming and coding technology capacity building campaigns.

Furthering more, she explained that JCI Ikeja, as part of its efforts to contribute towards the recovery of the volatile economy and ensure sustainable development

would be including the coordination of seminars focused on supporting and mentoring MSMEs, which would eventually increase the gross domestic products of the nation.

JCI, Ikeja is made up of a team of dedicated young active citizens who are committed to inspire, engage and take responsibility in their local communities with a lineup of various programmes and projects to execute during the course of the year.

“We develop leaders for a changing world as our mission is to provide development opportunities that empower young people to create positive change, whilst our vision is to be the leading global network of vibrant and socially active youth,” Inalu stated.

In addition, JCI would also be developing her members through courses and trainings designed to equipping all-round effective leadership skills.

THIS WEEKEND WEEKLY MAGAZINE

NEWS METRO THISLIFE ART WEEKEND ENTERTAINMENT Group Features Editor: Chiemelie Ezeobi chiemelie.ezeobi@thisdaylive.com 08038901925

Perez Tigidam: Inside the Mind of Corporate Nigeria’s New Darling

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COVER

Perez Tigidam: Inside the Mind of Corporate Nigeria’s New Darling Perez Tigidam wears many shoes as an advertising guru, brand strategy consultant, as well as the Chief Executive Officer and Creative Director ofArden & Newton BMC. In this interview with Nume Ekeghe, the new darling of the advertising and corporate world shared how they evolved from just being a brand strategy consultancy into a full service, integrated communications agency with in-house capabilities across brand management, public relations and reputation management, digital transformation, corporate communications, and content marketing focused integrated brand, marketing and communications agency based in Lagos

L

ast year, your company was named the most outstanding young creative agency in Nigeria. In fact, you also seem to be the topic of conversation in both industry and corporate circles these days, what is it you’re doing differently?

I’d respond to this in two ways- the first part of that question will be about what I do and then we talk about the difference or the how. I am a trained and practicing brand strategy consultant, Chief Executive director and creative director of Arden & Newton brand management company, a budding Pan-Africa focused integrated brand, marketing and communications agency based in Lagos. I think this helps establish the context of what I do.

Now, about what I do differently, I’d love to think it is about our positioning as a strategy-first consultancy, a delicate route we took into a highly competitive industry. When we started out, we identified an obvious gap in the industry and decided we were going to step up to the task.

While this was first a business strategy for us, it was also about honor for the local industry.

Something was missing or maybe I should say dying, and we wanted to resurrect it. It was the cherished practice of corporate brand strategy development, it is an intellectual sweet spot of our practice that was in comatose and we sought to revive it and perhaps play a leading role in defining the future of our industry.

At the point we were entering the market, it seemed like brand strategy development as a service could only be gotten overseas from global brand consultancies. The practice for large companies in Nigeria carrying out a rebranding exercise would usually be to outsource the strategy component of this exercise to international agencies and upon completion, local agencies where then engaged, only to execute the creative campaigns. Brand strategy is a hugely intellectual exercise and it doesn’t come cheap, especially with some of the global agencies in New York, London and South Africa.

A few years ago, if you went through the web portfolios of most South Africa and UK based brand consultancies, you’re sure to find brand strategy case studies done for four out of five of some of the biggest local brands in Nigeria.

We began to ask ourselves a lot of questions, we wondered if corporate Nigeria did not trust our local players to bring intellectual capacity to the table? Why? Why not? We asked all manner of questions, but you see, problems don’t solve themselves, people do so we decided to step in and like Robert Shuller rightly puts it, “problems are not stop signs, they are guidelines.”

This insight became a guideline and roadmap for what we wanted to do and how? We studied the Landors, Wolf Ollins, and interbrands of this world and built our internal competencies accordingly, this helped shape our outlook and the difference we bring to projects we’re engaged in. Perhaps, if you say we’re the topic of several conversations, this is why. I believe we’re a breadth of fresh air in an industry to is going through rapid changes and chanllenges.

Since your emergence into the scene, can you give us some highlights of some of the brands you have worked with?

There are quite a lot of projects we’ve worked on, while they are all unique, none is more important than the other as every project is focused on solving specific problems. What I’d love to do is to rather mention the most recent,

Tigidam

timely, and concluded project as there are some others still running after several months.

I think we were fortunate enough to have been the lead brand strategy consultants at the forefront of two of the major corporate acquisitions in Nigeria in recent times.

One of which is the transformation of Forte Oil PLC into Ardova PLC. After billionaire oil magnate Femi Otedola decided to sell the controlling shares of the company to a new management, we were brought in from the onset as brand strategy consultants to work with the new management in the entire corporate transformation process with specific focus on brand and culture transformation, the project was quite complex, yet interesting to work on as it was at the heart of an industry that the Nigerian economy is wired around.

Part of our strategy was to future cast the industry and design models upon which the company can re-emerge with a new identity. We had to device a strategy for coming up with a new name, sustainability strategy for the company, brand identity and service culture redesign.

While this was ongoing, we were also tapped to as lead brand consultants for the rebrand of Mainstreet Bank Capital, a foremost investment bank in Nigeria, this came on the back of our experience working with several other companies in the financial services sector.

We also happen to have a steady portfolio of clients that are pioneers in their industry, we’ve worked for Kian Smith, Nigeria’s first gold refinery and also PitStop Lagos, Nigeria’s first fitness & wellness themed restaurant, something only previously seen in places like London.

There is so much disruption in the market space globally in the last one year, which has changed the style of communication, what has been the impact on the local marcom industry?

I really would love to sound modest in responding to this question, but at the risk of blowing our own trumpet, I would want to say that we are fortune tellers and foretold most of what is happening in our industry today.

A few year ago, we took a critical look at the industry and began to reinvent ourselves in line with where we believed the industry was headed.

We We were convinced that what we know today as communications practice across its different expressions is radically evolving, in the not so distant future of our industry, dichotomies will disappear, lines will blur, and the only constant

thing will be creativity, not just in approach, but in delivering measurable results. Bygone will be the days when practitioners said “our agency was focused on traditional media or digital, or we are a PR agency not an advertising agency”.

We knew this will happen but didn’t see it happening so soon until the 2020, the year of the pandemic unravelled everything.

When the pandemic broke and cities around the world were shut down, the world stopped selling, the world stopped convincing, the world stopped trying to keep up an image, the only thing that mattered was empathetic storytelling.

Most practitioners realised that it took more than any one specialisation to ‘communicate’. For the first time, we realised that the strategy was a people-first approach and not a company or product-first approach to message development which we’ve all known.

Secondly, technology is rapidly reshaping the industry like a hurricane on a small island. While technology is empowering most agencies to do more without the usual delineation, to some it is diminishing the power of big marketing idea and replacing the role of humans in shaping outcomes. The machines are taking over, and depending on the prism through which you look at this, most agencies will go out of business.

Today, using facial tracking technology and genetics-based algorithms, we have situations where posters are rather looking at humans instead of the opposite. Posters that are able to read human expression and change messaging based on how you reacted. Is the local industry ready for this?

Marketing budget is always the first target during a recession, is it possible for brand owners to do away with Advertising at this time when companies need to rebuild after the lockdown?

So you’ve interconnected two things here, an economic recession and the lockdown which happened as a result of the pandemic globally.

On the side of the lockdown and pandemic, it was absolutely necessary that companies stopped advertising, there was no case for it, the world just wanted to survive another day and consumerism was the least of our worries. It’s a no brainer not to stop all forms of advertising and rather find a way to humanise the brand and become a part of our shared humanity.

About advertising during a recession, (assuming this isn’t related to a pandemic and the lockdowns) this is sort of a chicken and egg question and tricky to answer. It’s not an

either or situation here and context and nature of business must be applied when reaching a decision on this.

From the side of the table where the CFO sits, the first reaction for most, is to cut off all marketing and advertising related budgets. Their decision is understandable but not without flaws.

It is usually a knee-jerk reaction for many and in most cases some have found it to be harmful to their brands while for some, it presents them with an opportunity, I’d explain as I move on.

There’s a popular advertising adage that says “when times are good you should advertise.

When times are bad you must advertise.” This will be hard for most Nigerian executives to agree with but it is what it is. During good times, you have a market environment saturated with cutthroat advertising and what we’d refer to as noise, everyone trying to outspend the other to get top of mind awareness. However, a period of economic slowdown can present you with diverse advertising opportunities.

During periods of slow down, the noise levels reduces as the competition reduces advertising budget, this presents an opportunity for your brand to take centre stage with the possibility of repositioning, re-introducing a new product.

The most important thing to note here is that cutting back during a period of slow down reduces share of mind for advertisers.

Now let’s go personal, can you give an overview of your company?

I am the founder and creative director ofArden and Newton brand management company. A We like to call ourselves the brand experience design company for an Africa-first world, a local company with a global outlook. We have a deep passion to build and grow local brands through purpose-driven and meaningful creativity. This Africa-first passion and focus has seen us build presence and executed Africa facing projects within West and East Africa and a global media relationship for our reputation management clients all within a short period of our existence.

We look at communications differently and all the projects we’ve ever worked on are there to prove this point. Also to note, we are currently one of the only few young agencies with full service capabilities, a rarity in the industry today, especially for young agencies. Arden & Newton works offers services that cut across brand management, marketing and corporate communications, PR & reputation management, content production etc.

I think it was on the back of this versatility that we won the award of the most outstanding young creative agency in Nigeria 2020 at the Marketing Edge Awards. Our work for local clients have also been recognized on major international publications.

How can you rate the growth of advertising in Nigeria today?

I think it has come a long way from where it used to be but I honestly do think that the industry is grappling with the rate of disruption caused by technology. The challenge is one that is beyond the industry, it is hinged on the state of education, exposure and enlightenment among the populace. You see some exceptionally executed campaigns elsewhere around the world and all you can do is admire, reason being that their advertising practice has been elevated to the level of their enlightenment of their populace while we are still grappling with some basic and mundane issues that people have to worry about and understanding a highly conceptual advertising campaign becomes the least of their worries.

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Home Products Giant, Aspira, Launches Viva Plus Laundry Sanitiser Detergent Stories by Mary Nnah Leading manufacturer of home products, Aspira Nigeria Limited, last week, unveiled a new product, Viva Plus Laundry Sanitizer Detergent Powder to the members of the public in the commercial city of Kano.

The grand launch, held at Tahir Guest Palace in the state capital, attracted customers, traders, key market drivers and the media.

In his welcome address, Head of Marketing, Aspira Nigeria Limited, Mr. Santhosh Kumar Nair disclosed that the latest product had undergone all the necessary checks and was carefully manufactured to bring about a more hygienic and healthier society.

He further said that the product was a result of the endless desire of the company to serve the society in better ways adding, “Our commitment to the society and to health care has expanded our product range to sanitisers, dish washers and dental health care products.”

Nair recalled that Aspira Nigeria Limited has an unblemished reputation as the flagship of a number of market leading brands such as Viva, Sabil, Chic, Family Care Baby and Me amongst others while assuring that the new product would offer a fulfilling productexperience to customers.

Aspira Nigeria Limited is one of the largest manufacturers and distributors of personal health care and laundry products in Nigeria. Located in the Northern commercial city of Kano, the company began operations in Nigeria in 2009, with the production of various ranges of detergents and

Dr. Olufemi Rasheed Akeem of UNICARIBBEAN Business School presenting leadership award to Mrs. Bridget Otobo

Unicaribbean’s Honour for Bridget Otobo L-R Head-Marketing & Advertising, Aspira Nigeria, Santhosh Nair; Celebrity & Brand Ambassador, Aspira, Alhaji Sani Danja; Chairman-Aspira Nigeria, Alhaji Haruna Danzago; CEO, D’Gallery TV, Mercy Alexander and HeadSales, Aspira Nigeria, Haider Attar

bathing soaps. The Chairman, Aspira Nigeria Limited, Alhaji Ahmadu Danzago, said that the product couldn’t have entered the market at a more auspicious time, given the present global push for improved personal care and hygiene, including the need for a cleaner and safer environment.

He appreciated the people of Nigeria, the company’s customers in particular, for their unshaken patronage and loyalty to their various range of products, while promising them a happy and prosperous relationship in the years to come. The Brand Ambassador, Aspira Nigeria Limited, Alhaji Sani Musa Danja, expressed profound delight at the unveiling of the new product, stating that the product launch was in line with the tradition of the company to break new grounds and deliver high- quality products to their customers.

Danja, a leading celebrity in Nigeria and beyond, implored the people of the state and Nigerians in general to go for the latest product from the portfolio of Aspira Nigeria Limited as it

is the best in the market.

He assured them of a thrilling experience as the new product, in his words, “has been tested and proven to be of world class standard.”

The Product Manager,Aspira Nigeria Limited, Mr. Ali Jammal revealed that in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic in the country, the company decided to develop a detergent that could reduce the risk of spreading ill-causing bacteria, in addition to keeping clothes stain-free. He said that Viva Plus Laundry Sanitiser was the result of that courageous initiative.

“The new Laundry Sanitizer was developed under multienzyme and eco- friendly technologies and contains zero percent bleach. It is gentle on fabrics and works even in cold water”, he added.

Viva Plus Laundry Sanitiser Detergent Powder, Jammal said contains an advanced formula that removes tough stains and leaves a long-lasting fragrance while stating that, “It is specially designed to keep clothes bright and vivid,

wash after wash”, adding that that the new product is available in four different variants, namely 51x85gm, 27x180gm, 13x380gm and 9x900gm.

Speaking during the launch, Personnel Manager of the company, Alhaji Bala Adamu held that Aspira Nigeria Limited has since emerged as one of the fastest growing companies in Nigeria, becoming a market driver in the state, in the North and in some of the countries bordering Nigeria.

“Aspira was established in 2009, since then we have expanded to 12 manufacturing facilities as of today. As I speak, we have created over 3000 jobs, and with our upcoming facilities, we hope to create more job opportunities with a vision of youth empowerment and to reduce unemployment rate,” Adam noted.

The company’s huge success story, he added, could not have been possible without the support of the state government, partners, customers and members of the public.

Freesia Wellness Centre Opens Saturday As part of its effort to curb the increase of unemployment rate occasioned by COVID-19 pandemic, the Chairman of Pilot Property, Goddy Amezechi is set to open another venture, Freesia Wellness, Beauty and Spa Centre, to give back to the society.

The beauty, fitness and wellness outfit which grand opening is scheduled for Saturday, January 30, at 10am in Ikeja GRA, Lagos, Amezechi said, is a unique sex outfit that provides services that includes weight loss, skin care among others focusing on positive reconnection to the inner and outer beauty.

Freesia Wellness Centre

Amezechi who has engaged in several humanitarian activities in his community and environs where he lives, especially on healthcare services and distribution of food, felt another way to engage people was to create the outfit as well

as provide services that can encourage wellness for clients who can afford it.

Speaking at the press briefing heralding the grand opening of the beauty and wellness outfit, he said the firm is a unique blend that provides all the

services at a spot when it comes to beauty, fitness and wellness.

“We stepped in to meet the challenges of today’s major skin and its crisis. Today’s man/woman is one who is mindful of not just how they appear but also their health, fitness and sexual lifestyle.

“Therefore, the outfit would offer curated beauty, grooming, and wellness services to help you look and feel your best.

“It is a place where our customers can find inner peace, talk to certified professionals about ways to improve their lifestyle while escaping the stress of work or personal life.”

BasketMouth,MaltaGuinness’BrandAmbassadorSharesJourneytoGreatness Malta Guinness, Africa’s number one premium nonalcoholic adult malt drink, is still in a celebratory mood as it continues to air its Journey to Greatness Series, one of its exciting activations to showcase core brand values by spreading goodness, energy, and fuelling the CAN-Do spirit of Nigerians.

A six-part Journey to Greatness series tells the stories of inspiring Nigerians who have defied odds and excelled in their chosen fields.

The series spotlights the career journey of these talented individuals and highlights them telling their stories of

trials and truths as well as the significant role Malta Guinness played in their growth, development and career.

The fifth episode features Bright Okpocha, also known as Basket Mouth, who shared a chronological story of how

he started as a comedian to where he is right now, holding, Comedian,Actor, Producer, Brand Ambassador etc. under his belt.

His inspiring story where he said “I couldn’t afford show tickets, so my friends will

buy them for me”, “ I always knew I had greatness in me” and a lot more inspiring notes, will motivate you to believe in hard work and consistency as well as the need to create opportunities for other people and lift them up. Hislatestwork PapaBenjihasbeenthe talk of the town for months now. Basket Mouth’s unique Journey to Greatness follows stories from; actress, Chy Nwakanma; Malta KOB Challenge winners, Tope Olowoniyan and Jide Onyegbile; multi-talented creative, Toyosi Opanubi; and Comedian Xtreme.

In what can be termed a well-deserved accolades and gesture by the Unicaribbean Business School, Lagos, the highly revered institution last Saturday decorated the Proprietress of Dorato Royal International School, Deaconess Bridget Obariri Otobo for her continued dedication to the education sector as a seasoned professional.

The honour which was bestowed on her and couple of other women by the management of Unicaribbean School, during its 8th year anniversary of the school’s education conference, held inside the Guest House of University of Lagos, with the Theme, “Quality of Education in the Time Of Covid-19 Pandemic”.

With almost two decades as a professional, the Masters holder in Educational Administration from National Open University, Nigeria, who has transverse various educational sectors including as a top-shot at Caleb British International School, giving her best, hence, she was honoured with 2020 Outstanding Leadership Award for her unique and dedicated service to humanity & society

NengiHampson: NewFaceofGuinnessNigeria In what can be termed a well-deserved accolades and gesture by the Unicaribbean Business School, Lagos, the highly revered institution last Saturday decorated the Proprietress of Dorato Royal International School, Deaconess Bridget Obariri Otobo for her continued dedication to the education sector as a seasoned professional.

The honour which was bestowed on her and couple of other women by the management of Unicaribbean School, during its 8th year Nengi Hampson anniversary of the school’s education conference, held inside the Guest House of University of Lagos, with the Theme, “Quality of Education in the Time Of Covid-19 Pandemic”.

With almost two decades as a professional, the Masters holder in Educational Administration from National Open University, Nigeria, who has transverse various educational sectors including as a top-shot at Caleb British International School, giving her best, hence, she was honoured with 2020 Outstanding Leadership Award for her unique and dedicated service to humanity & society

Pa Ogbonna Herbert for Burial Friday 29 The Herbert family of Isiala- Ahaba, Autonomous Community, Abia State, has announced the burial arrangement of late Chief Ogbonna Ogbuji Herbert, who passed away at the age of 85 on December 1,2020 after a brief illness.

Late Herbert worked with UTC Nigeria Limited, Lagos Late Pa Ogbonna Herbert and rose to top managerial position before retirement.

On Tuesday 12, January 2021, was a Requiem Mass for the deceased at Holy Family Catholic Church, 22 Road, Festac Lagos.

According to his first son Mr. Enyinnaya Herbert, the deceased’s body will on Friday, January 29, leave Madonna Mortuary in a motorcade to Alaribe’s compound, his maternal home in Ahaba Ukwu, Abia State for a brief lying in state and also 30-minute commendation ceremony by 8:30am.

Burial service/interment follows immediately at Herbert compound, Isiala Ahaba, Abia State while outing service would take place on Sunday 31, 2021 at the United Evangelical Church, Ahaba.

Survived by a wife, Roseline Chiaka Herbert, five children and grandchildren, Late Herbert was born November 28, 1935 as first son to late Pa Herbert Ajagba Herbert of Isiala-Ahaba Autonomous community and late Mrs Mgbafor Herbert nee Alaribe.

Soft spoken Herbert was an active community builder. He was secretary, Ahaba Development Association, Lagos Branch, Vice President Oloko Community Development Union, among other key positions held before his demise.

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E-TRENDS

MUSIC SHOWBIZ

…Your weekly entertainment delight

NOLLYWOOD

DJ Khaled’s Opportunity to Show Love to MAMAs Africa Stories by Vanessa Obioha In less than one month, American hip-hop sensation DJ Khaled will be hosting the 2021 MTV Africa Music Awards (MAMA) from his lavish home in the United States. It will be the first time the award will be streamed globally as countries race to get vaccines for the deadly coronavirus.

The capricious virus which battered the global entertainment industry affected the in-person gathering of the award that is returning after a four-year hiatus.

“The pandemic made industries radically push the boundaries of creativity and innovation to survive. And I think that’s never been more relevant than with the MAMAs and the way it is reimagined,” said Senior Vice President and General Manager of ViacomCBS Networks Africa, Monde Twala during the virtual unveiling of the awards last year.

The MAMA this year will be held in Kampala, Uganda and the American record executive and disc jockey, Khaled will be joined by other African co-emcees for the star-studded event.

“MTV has always been a great partner so I

DJ Khaled

jumped at the opportunity to host this year’s MAMAs,” said DJ Khaled. “I can’t wait to celebrate the incredible music that comes out of Africa,

which has inspired me throughout my career.”

As the countdown begins, plans are underway to ensure the event is not only glamorous but

memorable. Already voting has begun in earnest.

African talents across 20 award categories are vying to emerge winners in the different categories they are nominated in as fans across the continent put in their votes for their favourites. The winners will be unveiled at the awards, holding February 20.

Voting in all categories closes on January 31, 2021.

Meanwhile, Nigerian megastar Wizkid, Uganda’s Sheebah Karungi, Tanzanian Diamond Platnumz, South Africa’s Nasty C, Kenya’s Khaligraph Jones, Suspect 95 from the Ivory Coast, Cape Verde’s Soraia Ramos, and São Tomé and Príncipe’s Calema are part of the line-up acts that will perform at the event.

“The MAMAs are a global spotlight on African music and artists, and this line-up of incredible talent speaks to the tremendous power of music on our continent. This year’s show is dedicated to the youth of Africa, and we are committed to amplifying social change through music and culture and to elevating youth voices across our platforms,” said Twala.

More performers will be announced in the coming days, as well as finalists for the MAMA Generation Change Award, which will recognize youth change-makers on the continent.

Mmzy Talks Having Seun Kuti on New Single Up and coming Nigerian singer, Akachukwu Emmanuel Uche, known popularly as Mmzy in a recent chat, explained why he featured Afrobeat star, Seun Kuti in his new single titled ‘Animal’.

The single which dropped on January 15, addressed several ills in the society occasioned by bad and inept leadership while calling on the Nigerian government to be proactive in their duty to the citizens of the country.

According to the singer, Seun Kuti was the best person to interpret the message of the song. “He has a long history of activism. He is unapologetic about his stand on social justice and good governance. He is a voice of the oppressed and a thorn in the flesh of the government because of their history of bad leadership. Moreover, he comes from a family with a long history of standing up to the government.

The fight against oppression, maladministration and corruption in the land is in his DNA as the son of the legendary Fela Anikulapo Kuti who created Afrobeat.”

He added that he loved the artiste’s mastery of the saxophone.

“I wanted a feel of sax on the song and he was the perfect answer. I think for the song to get the Afrobeat sound right I needed someone like him.”

Mmzy who is signed to Kerae Records revealed that he recorded the single right after the #EndSars protest and the Lekki Tollgate killings, saying it was impossible not to be disturbed by the state of the nation at the time.

The Abia state indigene started his music career while in secondary school. He attended the University of Lagos where he studied French and Integration Studies.

His music career officially leapt in 2012 when he released the single ‘Amoureux’.

The video was shot in Cotonou, Benin Republic the same year. Other singles of the artiste include ‘Tonight’, ‘Wildin’ and ‘Social Distance’, a collaborative effort, featuring Citiboi, Aboki-ibile and Sevn.

Adekunle Gold Thrills at Unity Bank Concert At the recent Unity Bank virtual concert, musician Adekunle Gold stole the spotlight with his presence and performance. The bank’s brand ambassador took fans and customers on a musical ecstasy as he performed popular hits that got the viewers begging for an encore.

The maiden virtual concert held on Instagram rewarded five winners from the #UnityBankJingleChallenge including the duo of Oyatoki Omolola and Olaoluwa Bayonle Emmanuel who delivered the jingle in a sign language – becoming the first to ever do so. His participation is a good pointer to inclusivity and Nigeria’s unity that the Bank represents.

The other four winners were all upcoming artistes who used the opportunity to promote their talents and interacted with Adekunle Gold.

The concert was a bold statement to Unity Bank’s advocacy for increased investment in the creative sector.

Adekunle Gold

“At Unity Bank, our resolve is to continue to create initiatives that will enable us to always reinforce Nigeria’s unity. This virtual concert, therefore, reaffirms that resolve and commitment. Also, at a time that the global pandemic has disrupted normal life, we feel that an activity like this can help to lift spirits and spread joy in the midst of uncertainties,” said DeVoe Okorie, the bank’s Head of Corporate Communications.

Apart from the winners of the jingle challenge, 24 winners also smiled home with cash prizes in a trivia question session.

Mmzy

FoodbayTV Beats the Odds with StreetFoodz Naija Second Season Despite the constraints of the pandemic, FoodbayTV, organisers of Street Foodz Naija competition recently announced that the second season of the edition will hold. The event premiered last year and had 13 chefs displaying their skills on street food cuisines.

Christopher Omowa was crowned the winner of the maiden edition.

For the second season, the winner will be smiling home with a N5 million grand prize which consists of a cash prize, a scholarship to attend a culinary school, a renovated workplace and an SME toolkit. First and second runners-up will receive N2 million and N1 million worth of prizes respectively.

Femi Ogundoro, the Managing Director of Maxima Media Group, owner of FoodbayTV explained that the competition is more than just a TV show.

“StreetFoodz Naija is not just a TV show, but a docu-reality series that would allow the street foodpreneurs to get on a journey of empowerment. A journey that

would inspire them and for the audience, a journey that would also make them learn a lot more about ourselves and appreciate what street food in Nigeria is all about.”

For Devon Kings, the lead sponsor of the event, it is a way of encouraging the food vendors whose businesses have been upended by the pandemic “While we understand the challenges faced by the street foodpreneurs as a result of the pandemic, and the possible impacts on their businesses, we hope that this season is one that provides them with the needed support and encouragement. It is why we have chosen the theme, ‘beating the odds’ for this season.

It is our belief that together and with the support of everyone, we will do just that,” said the Managing Director of PZ Wilmar Nigeria Limited, Ipsit Chakrabarti.

A call for entry has already been announced and chefs blessed with culinary skills are encouraged to send their entries online.

Showmax Partners MTN in New Data Deal Streaming provider Showmax and MTN Nigeria have launched a special data deal for Showmax Mobile subscribers that includes the monthly subscription and 2.5GB data.

A Showmax Mobile subscription gives access to the full Showmax catalogue on a data-enabled mobile device and is available for N1250, including MTN data. Sports fans can get Showmax Pro Mobile and MTN data for N2100.

“Keeping up with our digitally savvy, always-on-the-go customers is an exciting challenge that is made easier with partners like Showmax,” says Chief Digital Officer, MTN Nigeria, Srinivas Rao. “This alliance could not have come at a better time.”

“Mobile streaming is an important consideration throughout Africa,” says Yolisa Phahle, CEO for General Entertainment and Connected Video at MultiChoice Group, “which is why Showmax offers mobile-only versions of Showmax subscriptions. We’re

Ivie Okujaye ‘Enakhe’

on

Showmax

proud to have an extensive collection of the continent’s most-loved original African content to share with MTN’s customers and to introduce them to the world of streaming on Showmax.”

Showmax also includes Nigerian series and Africa Magic movies like telenovelas ‘Riona’ and ‘Enakhe’. Showmax’s first Nigerian Original series, ‘I AM LAYCON’, starring BBNaija S5 winner, rapper and songwriter Olamilekan “Laycon’’ Agbeleshe will debut on the platform in February.

The deal is available from January to March 31, 2021.

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ART WEEKEND

…For pure art enthusiasts

Heralding the Black History Month Yinka Olatunbosun argues that Africans in Africa are not keeping pace with the Black history month celebrations that has spread across the globe

Stevie Wonder at FESTAC ‘77

A

US Delegates on Parade at National Stadium at FESTAC ‘77

lthough the Black History Month celebrations started in the United States, it has gained momentum in many countries in Europe and North America. Also known as the African-American History month, it is marked by a series of activities that include black rights advocacy, black film screenings, black-themed exhibitions, book readings in honour of black authors, black music playlist on radio and music streaming sites, black-centred conversations on the social media.

The month of February had been set aside to mark the black history celebrations but for some strange reasons, it is not so popular in Africa as much as it is in the west where the issue of racial identity is still very dominant in every day discourse.

There is no question that Africans in Africa have their own unique roles to play in this cultural phenomenon. You can be sure that profiteers would see the economic value of these celebrations as many Africans in diaspora would buy anything African just to feel connected to their roots. South Africa is perhaps the only African country where there is a constant engagement in black conversations owing much to their history of apartheid policies. Africans

in Africa prefer to celebrate Africa Day. The last time that Nigeria had ever contributed to the global celebration of Black was at FESTAC 77. It was the second World Black and African Festival of Arts and Culture that had remained unprecedented in the annals of history. At that time, some of the Africans in diaspora that came to Nigeria did not want to return to their homes. They felt that Africa was their true home.

Today, Africa is becoming unattractive to visitors even before the pandemic. As rich as our cultural life is, the reality of our daily lives such as insecurity, political instability, corruption and poverty have made it difficult for cultural exchange initiatives that would celebrate black

A Look At Liminality in Infinite Space Yinka Olatunbosun Curated by Azu Nwagbogu, this Pan-African exhibition titled “Liminality in Infinite Space’’ will be wrapped up this weekend.

Organised and hosted by African Artists’ Foundation, Victoria Island, Lagos, the exhibition spotlights 23 artists that form part of the new vanguard in the field of contemporary African figuration.

In an age where the various media available to artists are varied and undefined, this exhibition arches back to more traditional art-making practices including painting, collage, tapestry, and woodcuts. Each artist in turn appropriates these materials totransmit their individual perspectives.

The black figurative painting is central to this show.

Black portraiture has always been presented in fanciful depictions that have little semblance of the real lived bodies of black and brown from the African continent and beyond. ‘Liminality in Infinite Space’ attempts to fill in the gaps and chart a new course for African visual history.

“Liminality in Infinite Space elevates the everyday experiences of the black and brown peoples and chal-

A work by Adegboyega Adesina

lenges hypervisibility of survival existence that domi-

nates mainstream media,’’ states the curator in its online

catalogue. “The art on view unveils many facets of Black existence that encompasses a full range of human emotion from solitude to play.

The artistic approaches deployed here veer away from fetishized representations of blackness that enforce damaging tropes. It is Blackness without burden. Black portraiture has often tended towards fanciful depictions that have little semblance to the real lived experiences of Black and Brown bodies, from the African continent and beyond. Liminality in Infinite Space attempts to fill in the gaps and chart a new course for African visual history. The new imaginings presented move away from narratives which alienate normative Black existence, and rather mediates an unconstrained existence.’’

The exhibiting artists include Adegboyega Adesina, Chiderah Bosah, Ekene Emeka-Maduka, Oluwaseyi Eniwaye, Joshson Ezeifula, Nelly Guambe, Tosin Kalejaiye, Sthenjwa Luthuli, John Madu, Manyaku Mashilo, Nabeeha Mohamed, Cinthia Sifa Mulanga, Mookho Ntho, Collins Obijiaku, Emma Odunmade, Norman O’ Flynn, Peter Ojingiri, Michelle Okpare, Talia Ramkilawan, Katlego Tlabela, Zandile Tshabalala, Wonderbuhle, and Barry Yusufu.

history and international relations within blacks in diaspora to be part of government’s agenda. Meanwhile, the corporate world in America is investing in Black History Month celebrations because of its growing fan base.

What African artists can do is to make huge contributions to these celebrations with their works, exhibitions, films, virtual music concerts, workshops, webinars and more. It defies logical reasoning that Africans in Africa will be so detached from this celebration, elevating Valentine celebrations that originated from Rome above the one that is deeply connected to their identity. It may be a good month to demand for stolen arts and artefacts to be returned to Africa.

Jelosimi Art Center Hosts Author Today Yinka Olatunbosun Mr. Anote Ajeluorou, author of one of the best children literature from Nigeria, ‘Igho Goes to Farm’, will be today’sguest writer at Jelosimi Art Center, Oshodi, Lagos. Jelosimi Art Center is an arm of Sobayo Abolore Art Foundation (SAAF), a non-profit organization aimed at building an enabling environment for creativity and artistic growth in young people.

At the venue, Mr. Ajeluorou will read and mentor young people. He will inspire them to see the beauty in reading and writing and how the two activities can change their lives for good.

While commending the founder of the foundation, Mr. Abolore for his bold initiative in locating his arts centre in Oshodi, the author observed that the initiative would give young people in the area positive alternative platform to expend their youthful energy away from crime and other unwholesome activities that Oshodi has gained notoriety for in the past few decades.

Ajeluorou also tasked other public-spirited individuals to toe the path Mr. Abolore

has paved in order to give young people in underprivileged communities across the platforms to exercise their creative energies.

Indeed, a weekend of engaging artistic events looms at Jelosimi Arts Center. After Ajeluorou reads on Friday, Pottery Workshop with Ato Arinze with hold the next day, Saturday January 30while on Sunday, an art exhibition featuring Nurudeen Popoola’s works will also hold.

Mr. Abolore expressed his delight at hosting this author and journalist at the centre.

“It becomes a social responsibility for every community to better equip their youths with necessary tools to think creatively,’’ he said. “Helping our youth through art programmes may be one of the most important steps we can take as individuals and as a society.

“With the Jelosimi Art Center, we hope to engage children and youth both in school and out of school with the teaching of moral values, self-discovery, life skills development, leadership, team building, history of our past heroes, goal actualization, monitoring and evaluation.”

T H I S D AY ˾ Ͱͷ˜ ͰͮͰͯ

ͱͰ

METRO

…Your city life in print

Modular Refineries to the Rescue Nigeria needs as much fuel as it can refine. With the roaring into life of modular refineries, the nation’s journey to self-sufficiency has begun, Nume Ekeghe reports

W

hen President Muhammadu Buhari performed the virtual inauguration of the National Oil and Gas Excellence Centre on January 21, 2021, on one of the issues he spoke about was modular refinery.

He mentioned the completion of the 5,000 barrels per day Waltersmith Modular Refinery.

The refinery is near the Ibigwe marginal field flowstation in Imo State. It is the biggest commissioned modular refinery in Nigeria. The African refinery project is being developed in phases by Waltersmith Refining and Petrochemical Company, a subsidiary of Nigeria-based Waltersmith Petromen Oil. The phase one of the refinery started operations in November 2020. The company was granted a license by the DPR to establish the refinery in June 2015 and received the construction approval in March 2017. The final investment decision (FID) on the phase one refinery project was reached in September 2018.

The ground-breaking ceremony for the expansion of the refinery to 50,000bpd capacity took place in November 2020. The modular refinery is intended to reduce Nigeria’s import of petroleum products.

The Waltersmith modular refinery comprises a crude distillation unit, tank farm, and other related facilities.

The modular refinery is expected to deliver 271 million litres of refined petroleum products a year. The crude oil storage capacity of the refinery is approximately 60,000 barrels.

Subsequently, the refinery is planned to be expanded in phases to have a 20,000bpd crude oil refining facility and a 25,000bpd standalone condensate refining facility taking the total processing capacity to 50,000bpd.

The refinery receives feedstock from the Waltersmith-operated Ibigwe marginal field.

The petroleum products produced in the refinery include diesel, naphtha, heavy fuel oil, and kerosene.

Africa Finance Corporation agreed to provide debt finance of approximately £26.5m ($35m) for phase one refinery development in July 2018.

Velem, a joint venture between US-based VFuels and Nigeria-based Lambert Electromec, was awarded an engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) contract for the initial 5,000bpd modular refinery project in April 2018.

There are indications that the project will be a success. Already, President Buhari has instructed the Ministry of Petroleum Resources, Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) and Nigerian National Petroleum Corp. (NNPC) to provide all necessary support in securing oil and condensate feedstock for the second phase.

The commissioning of the refinery also received the support of other stakeholders. Imo State Governor Hope Uzodinma and Ministry of State for Petroleum Resources Timipre Sylva cut the tape on the President’s behalf. Also in attendance at the ceremony was NNPC’s head Mele Kyari, Nigerian Content Development & Monitoring Board (NCDMB)’s executive secretary Simbi Wabote and Waltersmith chairman Abdulrazaq Isa. Commercial operations began on November 3, last year. Seplat Petroleum has a working agreement with Waltersmith on processing.

The company will build the second phase in two parts. One is a 25,000 bpd standalone condensate refinery. The company aims to complete this by 2023. The second part will be another 20,000 bpd crude processing plant.

Buhari presiding over the virtual ribbon cutting at the Waltersmith modular refinery

Another example of Nigeria’s strides in modular refining is the Edo Modular Energy refinery which is set to increase crude oil production from 6,000 barrels per day (bpd) to 60,000 bpd.

The project, being developed by two Chinese firms; AIPCC Energy Limited and the Peiyang Chemical Equipment Company Ltd, is expected to commence operations between September and mid-October. The first phase will produce 1,000 bpd, while the second phase will produce 6,000 bpd; with a long-term goal of producing 60,000 bpd.

Phase one – which is almost complete – will target a production ratio comprising 55 per cent diesel, 38 per cent fuel oil and less than 10 per cent naphtha. If the firm’s projections are anything to go by, some of its products will be exported to boost foreign exchange earnings and by the time it extends operations into different phases, the firm would be able to take care of more than 80 per cent of diesel requirement in Nigeria.

The investment is also expected to benefit Edo people through job creation, increased revenue and ease of pressure on other refineries.

According to Sylva, another modular refinery – the Atlantic Modular Refinery on Brass Island, Bayelsa State – will begin this year.

The key objectives of the modular refinery initiative include to promote availability of petroleum products in the country, conserve foreign exchange utilisation for the importation of Petroleum Products, promote socio economic development in order to stop restiveness, criminal and illegal refinery activities thereby sustaining peaceful coexistence in the Niger Delta Region and mitigate or eliminate environmental degradation associated with illegal refinery activities, crude oil theft and pipelines vandalism.

The signs, so far, is that the government, or if you will, Nigeria, is on course to achieve the same.

There are often two sides to the modular refinery debate. On the one hand, there is the argument that profit margins in the oil and gas drilling industry are so low that most modular refineries may not be economically viable.

As of January 2020, the average net profit margin for the industry was 6.8 per cent, according to data from NYU Stern School of Business.

Competition from shale oil, excessive supply, generous financial markets and the coronavirus

Timipre Sylva

pandemic also have a deleterious effect on the sector’s net profit margins.

But there is a silver lining on the horizon for the industry in Nigeria which, among others, makes the case for modular refineries easy to argue.

Africa currently has a deficit of 87 million metric tonnes per annum between demand and refining capacity in Africa. According to the International Energy Agency, this deficit may increase to over 200 million metric tonnes by 2030. This provides very significant opportunities for installation of more refining capacity on the continent.

Some analysts have observed that the countries in the best position to take advantage of this opportunity are those that have access to crude oil within their borders, access to a large market for the finished refined products and access to experienced personnel who can operate the assets.

Nigeria, with inadequate refining capacity, meets all the criteria, hence the opportunities for modular refineries - simple, fast to start up and usually operating at optimal capacity.

A modular refinery generally refers to a simple or complex refinery whose parts are fabricated or constructed in several component parts or units called modules. These modules can then be assembled easily to form the plant.

Furthermore, they can be transported in modules across distances and put together at the location desired.

Theoretically, this is an advantage over larger refineries. It can also commence production with a small capacity of 5,000BPSD or 10,000BPSD, and grow its capacity over time by adding more modules. A modular refinery may therefore be composed from skid-mounted modules of small capacities, put together to achieve a refinery of even up to 100,000BPSD. Unlike previous administrations, this federal government has been quick to support moves to establish modular refineries as a way to boost the country’s refining capacity.

As part of its strategy to reposition the oil & gas industry, President Muhammadu Buhari in 2016 launched a roadmap of short and medium term priorities aimed at developing a stable and enabling the oil and gas landscape with improved transparency, efficiency, stable invest-

ment climate and a well-protected environment, tagged “7big wins”.

The fourth initiative in the roadmap, “Refineries and Local Production Capacity” seeks to transit Nigeria from being an import dependent nation into a net exporter of refined petroleum products.

Thus, presenting huge investment opportunities in the mid-downstream sector that will result in GDP growth and jobs creation.

A key component of this initiative is government support for the establishment of third party financed Greenfield and modular refineries for in-country petroleum products sufficiency that will stimulate products export.

Part of the plan is that the refineries should be scalable and located within refinery clusters for effective operations and minimal environmental footprint.

Buhari, during the virtual commissioning of the Waltersmith Modular Refinery, said progress in Nigeria’s refining sector would eliminate imports and increase local availability.

He noted that the commissioning held after many years of previous administrations giving licenses for the establishment of modular refineries without any coming on stream.

The president had named modular refineries as one of the four elements in the government’s refinery roadmap, launched in 2018.

He noted that there was increased momentum in the other three focus areas under the roadmap covering the rehabilitation of existing refineries, co-location of new refineries, and construction of Greenfield refineries.

Buhari also spoke in support of the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB), which bought a 30 per cent stake in the plant in 2018.

The process for establishing a Petroleum Refinery in Nigeria is regulated by the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) through Polices and Regulations promulgated by the Ministry of Petroleum Resources and Minister of Petroleum Resources respectively.

In 2018, the federal government granted licences for 13 modular refineries. Thirty-five expressions of interest were declared. When nothing came out of this, six fresh modular refineries licences were issued and work started on the sites.

33

T H I S D AY ˾ Ͱͷ˜ ͰͮͰͯ

POLSCOPE MiyettiAllah, CowsandTheRestofUs

Akeredolu

President of Miyetti Allah , Bello Abdullahi

S

Indeed, many southern communities have lived with Fulani herdsmen over the years without any clash. In Warri, the Hausa quarter, right in the middle of the city, near Igbudu market, has remained a standing settlement of the Hausa/ Fulani men and women, without any tension.

Their (herdsmen) trademark were just the long slim sticks they held, to control their herds and sometimes catapults. Not anymore. These days, herders have AK 47 and other lethal weapons sometimes tied to the back of one of their cows.

With these, they have raped, and ripped many lives apart.

The south west “summit” on cows and their owners became an imperative following the expiration of the deadline given by the Ondo State governor, Rotimi Akerodolu to Fulani herdsmen to quit the Ondo forests.

He had asked them to be registered and be known if they wanted to continue to graze their cattle in Ondo State.

But the presidency, too soon, intervened harping on the constitutional provisions that allows any Nigerian to live anywhere within the country to do his/her legitimate business.

The presidency failed to understand that the legitimacy of the business to be done is important. The kidnappers have seen the business of abduction as great business as they harvest millions of Naira every week from their victims who do not want to be killed. Yes, it is business, But how legitimate is it?

Can non-Muslims, in exercise of their constitution-guaranteed freedom, begin to trade openly in alcohol in a state like Zamfara, for instance?

So why would Miyetti Allah refuse to adhere to local guidelines issued by state governments, especially as such guidelines are aimed at securing and protecting human lives?

So, if a governor elected to secure and provide for his people sees that his people are being threatened and killed on a daily basis by certain people, wont such a governor need to take action? That was what prompted Gov Akeredolu to issue the quit order to those who would not come out of the government reserved forests and get registered by government.

It is the failure of some governors (especially in Oyo) to rise to the defense of his people that produced the Yoruba activist called Sunday Igboho, who had led some youths to chase out Fulani men in some parts of Oyo State. That had sent disturbing signals as it was bound to trigger negative and worrisome reprisals from other parts of the country. Thankfully and hopefully, the summit has quenched that ire.

Seye Makinde, the Oyo State governor had denounced the Igboho strategy, stressing that we cannot tackle criminality with another criminality. Perhaps as a measure of the fire he ignited, his (Sunday Igboho’s) house was set ablaze in Ibadan on Tuesday morning. He claimed that he lost properties worth N50 million.

Beyond the understanding reached at the “South west cattle summit”, the Miyetti Allah members must realize that Nigeria does not belong to any particular ethnic group. Nigeria is healthier and stronger when we stay united and tolerant of our various differences, be it cultural or religious. Miyetti Allah must respect the values and lores of their host communities.

Any attempt to flex muscle with natives of the land will always lead to tension and trouble.

Provocative utterances like the “Fulani owns every land in Nigeria”,, credited to the President of Miyetti Allah, Bello Abdullahi Bodejo, are just what they are: incendiary provocations.

We must eschew such utterances to foster unity and peace.

ometime in early January 2019, the presidency, I think, sent some top government officials to meet with the Editors of various Newspaper houses in Lagos. There were two ministers: Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi (Transportation) and Chris Ngige (Labour and Productivity); a serving governor, Nasir El-Rufai (Kaduna); and a few other officials.

The meeting was to explain what they described as the “misconceptions” in the public domain. Predictably, the issue of security was one of the major concerns that engaged the meeting that night.

Like many others at the meeting, I was shocked when Gov El-Rufai, in his explanations, declared that the typical Fulani man values his cattle much more than human being. The Fulani cattle rearer, according to him, has nothing else in the world but his cows, and so will defend the welfare and life of the cows with all he’s got, even if it means laying down his own life for the safety and preservation of the cows.

But beyond El-Rufai’s prognosis, I sense some feeling of pride and undue arrogance, predicated on the altar of entitlement, on the part of the Miyetti Allah, who seems to be flaunting the fact that the President is a Fulani man. Thus, they seem to be saying, albeit quietly, that “if the president be for us, who can be against us?” Were it not so, even the association of cattle rearers itself (now upgraded to Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria-- MACBAN ) which was little known until the advent of President Muhammadu Buhari, suddenly became a frontline association in Nigeria seizing the headlines most of the time, albeit for the wrong and heinous reasons.

Government concedes so much and too much to the association, which I am not sure even pays tax. I recall that, perhaps in a bid to please his boss, the former Agriculture Minister, Audu Ogbeh, was contemplating importing certain type of ‘special grass’ that can quickly grow the local cows.

There is profound evidence of bias on the part of the presidency in favour of Miyetti Allah and its members. Were it not so, by now, not only would so many members of the Cattle rearers have been arrested, prosecuted and jailed, the association itself would have long been proscribed with a steely seal. We have not forgotten the irredeemable havoc they wreaked in Benue State. The picture of those 73 coffins lined up for mass burial in Benue, January 2018, still rankles me, Nobody was arrested. Nobody was prosecuted. Nobody was jailed. Not even a rebuke. We simply carried on as if nothing happened.

There is hardly any part of the country which has not suffered deadly attacks in the hands of the so-called Fulani herdsmen. It is either they are engaging in banditry in the North west or kidnapping and killing in the south.

But it is gratifying that last Monday, when the Southwest governors met with the leaders of the Miyetti Allah, along with two governors from the north— Mohammed Abubakar (Jigawa) and Abubakar bagudu (Kebbi), the MACBAN was not only declared as a peaceful organisation, both sides agreed to flush out the criminal elements in MACBAN as well as the criminals hiding under the auspices of MACBAN to be committing havoc. And great has the havoc been. Many lives have been lost. Huge sums have been collected as ransom to secure the freedom of those kidnapped by these criminals masquerading as herdsmen.

áÓÞÒ ÎÎã ÎÓàáÜÓ ÏÎÎã˛ÙÎÓàáÜÓ̶ÞÒÓÝÎËãÖÓàÏ˛ÍÙט ͸΀͸ͽ ͻ͸; ΁ͻͽ;

Canticles….

Do the New Service Chiefs Have the Magic Wand?

Maj Gen Lucky Irabor

I

told you that Mr President is a listening leader, but some of you will never agree, preferring to always see the bottle as half empty instead of half full

What are you talking about?

What else can it be? Did you not hear the big news?

Big news? Which big news? What happened?

Are you in this country? What has become the subject of serious conversations across board? Did you not see the screaming headlines last Wednesday? Are you not in this country?

Ok, I have not been in the country. Tell me what you are so ecstatic about.

Did you not hear about the change of service chiefs? (long hiss) Is that what you are doing this skelewu dance for? Nigerians had given up on the appointment of new service chiefs. Nigerians had shouted themselves hoarse over the service chiefs. National Assembly, public commentators, security experts, market women, just everybody has been clamouring for their removal for over two years now. But Mr President stubbornly refused to listen. In his New Year broadcast, he had promised to rejig and revitalize the security architecture. And it took another one month to do that. In fact, many Nigerians think that it is like administering ‘medicine after death’; so much damage has been done. Too many lives have been lost on all fronts.

Can you imagine that Lt Gen Tukur Buratai, the outgone COAS stayed longest by staying in office for 66 months? Not even late Gen Sani Abacha, as COAS stayed as long. Abacha was there for 60 months; Azubuike Ihejirika was there for 40 months, David Ejoor was there for 56 months, and T.Y Danjuma was there for 51 months.

Hardly does any day pass that you don’t hear/ see news headlines: Gunmen kill 23 in… , Bandits kill 45 in Zumuje, Gunmen kidnap family of 6 in Southern Kaduna. Gunmen burn 50 houses in Zamfara village; or Gunmen kidnap wife of MD XYZ company. How bad can it get?

So why are you reading from the Book of Lamentation? Nigerians wanted the change of service chiefs. Now it is done, and you are still whining. What is wrong with you?

Nothing is wrong with me. It is probably you that something is wrong with if you are over the moon with this so-called Change of Guards. It was long over due. In military warfare, timing is everything. President Buhari has long lost the momentum by sticking to his so-called principle of not working according to popular clamour.

Everybody has been groaning. Nigeria has been under siege. Not even army generals are bold enough to travel on some of our roads.

Women can’t go to farms. Farmers are being beheaded. School children are being herded into forests of captivity, people cant even sleep with both eyes closed in their homes….. and he brings these new service chiefs when the criminals have dug deep into the crevices of the nation. What can they do now? What do they have? Do they have the magic wands to turn the table against the criminals that are almost over running us?

I thought as a patriot, you should be praying for the new service chiefs so they can raise the notch of the battle against terrorists, bandits, kidnappers and regular criminals higher than their predecessors left it. Pray for them. It is not an easy task. Don’t think there is metaphysics to it. It is pure warfare.

They need the co-operation of everybody including the market women and even you to succeed. There is no magic wand anywhere.

They are young and energetic. They hold so much promise. The new Chief of Defence Staff, Maj Gen Lucky Irabor is an experienced warlord. He was the theatre Commander of Lafiya Dole.The war recorded huge successes during his time.

The new Chief of Army Staff, Maj Gen Attahiru was also in the frontline some few years ago. They are all vibrant. And with our co-operation, they will achieve much more.

They need our prayers and our support.

But those who know, say Maj Gen Irabor should have been the Chief of Army Staff having shone brilliantly at the war front while he commanded the troop. He is believed to have very strong and polished character, and a strong determination to succeed at all tasks he is given. Above all, he is believed to be a very tough military gentleman.

Go and ask those who are saying Gen Irabor should have been the COAS whether they are the President and C-in-C. Mr President has exercised his prerogative by appointing his men into positions he thinks fits them.

Let all contestations cease forthwith. All that is left is for them to succeed. And how well they go about their duties, depends on how well we collaborate with them. (bursts into an old Children Rhyme) Mr President has changed Service Chiefs Hum… ha…, changed service Chiefs Old service chiefs stayed too long Hum… ha… stayed too long Many thought they bewitched the president Hum… ha… bewitched the president Now all eyes are on the new kids on the bloc Hum…. Ha…, new kids on the bloc They are coming at a time so much water has passed under the bridge Hum…. Ha… , under the bridge Nigerians are expecting them to be magicians Hum….. ha…., to be magicians Who will wave their AK47 and Boko Haram will fall and die Hum…. Ha…. Fall and Die And when they launch their rockets from the sky bandits will turn to birds forever Hum….. ha…. turn to birds forever They will not spare criminal Fulani herdsmen Hum…. Ha….. Fulani herdsmen They will spray special crimi-cide into our forests to chase away all kidnappers Hum…. ha…. chase away all kidnappers And Nigerians will at last heave a long sigh of relief.

Hum… ha… long Sigh of relief

34

T H I S D AY ˾ Ͱͷ˜ 2021

BUSINESS/MONEYGUIDE

Rockefeller Foundation Offers $12m Grant to Support COVID-19 Testing in Africa Hamid Ayodeji The Rockefeller Foundation has announced a new grant of $12 million to the Africa Public Health Foundation to help expand testing and to strengthen contact tracing for COVID-19 in Africa through the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC).“Equitable access to testing and tracing is essential to rapidly identify and respond to COVID-19 outbreaks until a vaccine is widely available to all,” a statement quoted the President of The Rockefeller Foundation, Rajiv Shah to have said.

“One year into the COVID-19 pandemic, too many people still do not have access to the tools that they need to keep themselves, their families, and their communities healthy and safe. “We’re pleased to work with the Africa Public Health Foundation and Africa CDC to catalyse a more efficient and inclusive response to and recovery

from the COVID-19 pandemic across the continent,” he added.

According to the statement, the funding would support a broader effort to accelerate equitable access to testing technologies, increase testing of asymptomatic persons, and reducing community transmission of SARS-CoV-2 in the sub-Saharan Africa region.

“Until date, more than three million COVID-19 cases have been reported in Africa, with the current daily average of new cases in the second wave surpassing that of the first wave.

“Testing and tracing remain two of the strongest public health interventions for containing COVID-19 on this continent of about 1.3 billion people. Yet, only a little above 30 million tests have been reported since the beginning of the pandemic.

“By scaling up testing and tracing, health authorities on the continent will have access to more reliable epidemiologic data to advise governments, businesses and the public on how

to better manage the pandemic and mitigate its socioeconomic impact,” it added.

“Testing is the number one tool to fight this pandemic because without testing we will be fighting blindly,” Dr. John Nkengasong, Director of Africa CDC, said.

“We also need to trace people who are infected, isolate them and treat them. By supporting African Union Member States to do more testing and tracing to identify and isolate infected persons, we will be able to control the virus and limit transmission,” he added.

Through the Partnership to Accelerate COVID-19 Testing (PACT), an initiative rolled out in August last year, Africa CDC is establishing partnerships across the globe to mobilize technical, material and financial resources to support African Union Member States in expanding testing, tracing and treatment for COVID-19. This grant will contribute to the implementation of PACT across the continent.

Mba

MARKET INDICATORS

SEPLAT Appoints Mba Managing Director for ANOH Seplat Petroleum Development Company Plc has appointed Mr. Okechukwu Mba as the new Managing Director of ANOH Gas Processing Company (AGPC) Limited, the Incorporated Joint Venture (IJV) between Seplat and the Nigerian Gas Company (NGC), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).

The ANOH Gas Processing Company (AGPC) Limited is a midstream gas company committed to processing Gas from OML 53 for distribution to the local market.

According to a statement yesterday, the appointment took effect from January 1, 2021.

Mba has over 20 years of experience with a diversified background covering Commercial, Planning, Finance and Operations.

Before his appointment, he held the position of General Manager Gas business.

“In that capacity, Okechukwu

transformed SEPLAT’s Gas business into an Industryrecognized leading supplier of gas into the domestic market up to 400MMscfd of gas to a diversified portfolio of customers.

He was responsible for delivering new Gas projects, domestic and regional Gas Sale Agreements (GSA), new Gas business development, GSA operations, revenue collection, customer relations and overall implementation of Board-approved Gas strategy.

“Before that role, Okechukwu served as SEPLAT’s General Manager, Commercial. In that capacity, he led the successful delivery of several commercial agreements and managed Treasury, Tax, and Insurance functions,” the statement revealed.

Furthermore, it stated that before SEPLAT, Mba worked with Mobil Producing Nigeria and BG (British Gas) Nigeria, managing the Planning and Budget function. He started his career with Arthur Andersen as

a Tax Consultant.

In addition, it explained that the new MD plays an active role in the oil and gas industry and recently served as the OPTS Gas Sub-committee’s elected Chairman.

“He has a keen interest in the gas to the Power value chain. As a trusted advisor to key industry stakeholders, Okechukwu is regularly invited to domestic and international conferences to share his unique perspectives on the gas to the Power value chain. He has a strong passion for developing people and spends time coaching and mentoring young professionals,” it added.

He has a first-class degree in Accounting and is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN). He has taken a post-graduate course in Finance from Manchester Business School and an executive study from Harvard Business School on a continuous quest for development.

FirstBank Supports Schools with Educational Solutions First Bank of Nigeria Limited said it is supporting schools with an array of educationalbased products and solutions targeted at enabling the acquisition of various facilities to boost the continuous expansion and improvement of the educational sector.

In addition, the bank said it has bespoke products which empowers parents and guardians to meet the educational needs of their children.

According to a statement, the bank’s educational products and solutions include the FirstEdu Loan, Operational Vehicle Loan, Term Loans for constructing new sites and extension of existing sites, Personal Loan Against Salary (PLAS) and FirstAdvance which enhances Parents/Guardians’ capacity to pay their wards’ school fees.

It explained: “The FirstEdu loan offers short-term finance to private pre-primary, primary and secondary schools/ registered A level educational institutions with

steady flow of income.

“The product offers opportunity for private schools to access flexible funding to meet urgent cash flow needs, replace old furniture and equipment or assets, purchase of fairly-used school buses, as well as refurbishing dilapidated buildings and classroom blocks.

“This product helps school owners/proprietors in bridging the “no-income” gap between school terms, and to enhance diverse assets acquisition.

“It allows schools access up to N20 million with no tangible collateral required apart from the domiciliation of school fees with the bank.”

According to the statement, schools with CAC registration that are yet to get Ministry of Education approval can access up to N2 million without collateral for up to 90 days.

In a bid to cushion the effect of covid-19 pandemic, the bank is in partnership with Lagos State Employment Trust Fund (LSETF)

to finance low-cost private schools at a single digit interest rate where schools can access up to N5 million.

The bank said it is also in partnership with the apex association of private school owners in Nigeria, National Association of Proprietors of Private Schools (NAPPS) to finance member schools at a highly competitive rate.

This, it stated reduces the cost of borrowing to the customer and eliminates the challenges posed by the provision of additional demanding collaterals.

“The Operational Vehicle Loan is targeted at registered businesses. It allows the entrepreneur to acquire brand new vehicles for the day to day operation of the business. “Organisations can take advantage of this facility to purchase school buses in the case of school proprietors and even upscale their staff welfare schemes through provision of staff buses. The product terms and conditions is competitive.”

MONEY AND CREDIT STATISTICS

(MILLION NAIRA)

JULY 2020 Money Supply (M3)

36,822,751.47

-- CBN Bills Held by Money Holding Sectors

3,476,121.25

Money Supply (M2)

33,346,630.22

-- Quasi Money

120,764,479.02

-- Narrow Money (M1)

12,582,151.19

---- Currency Outside Banks

2,002,026.89

---- Demand Deposits

10,580,124.31

Net Foreign Assets (NFA)

7,637,137.23

Net Domestic Assets(NDA)

29,185,614.24

-- Net Domestic Credit (NDC)

39,711,115.95

---- Credit to Government (Net)

19,521,851.08

---- Memo: Credit to Govt. (Net) less FMA

0.00

---- Memo: Fed. and Mirror Accounts (FMA)

0.00

---- Credit to Private Sector (CPS)

-130,189,264.87

--Other Assets Net

3,472,017.70

Reserve Money (Base Money

13,421,827.07

--Currency in Circulation

2,395,917.03

--Banks Reserves --Special Intervention Reserves

11,025,910.04 317,234.17

˾ ÙßÜÍÏ ̋

Money Market Indicators (in Percentage) Month Inter-Bank Call Rate

March 2018 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

˾ ÙØÏÞËÜã ÙÖÓÍã ËÞÏ ̋ ͯͱϱ

OPEC DAILY BASKET PRICE ˜ Ͱ͵ ͰͮͰͯ

The price of OPEC basket of thirteen crudes stood at $55.31 a barrel on Wednesday, compared with $54.87 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), Zafiro (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

35

T H I S D AY ˾ Ͱͷ˜ ͰͮͰͯ

Successful Rights Issue Sign of Confidence, Says Transcorp Hotels MD Goddy Egene The Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of Transcorp Hotels Plc, Mrs. Dupe Olusola, yesterday commended shareholders, regulators, stockbrokers and other stakeholders in the capital market for the successful completion of the company’s recent N10 billion rights issue.

The company had offered rights issue of 2.642 billion ordinary

shares of 50 kobo each at N3.76 per share, which was 99.3 per cent subscribed.

Speaking during the digital Gong Closing ceremony to commemorate the listing of the shares on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), Olusola commended and expressed appreciation to regulators, market operators and the exchange for the support in the successful completion of rights issue.

“I commend our sharehold-

P R I C E S MAIN BOARD

F O R DEALS

ers for 99.3 per cent successful subscription at a time like this.

It is no small feat and indeed it is an indication of your belief in our company which we are confident and optimistic that we will continue to deliver on,” she said.

According to her, over the last one year, the hospitality sector has been one of the worst hit by the COVID-19 pandemic with many hotels shutting down never to reopen globally.

S E C U R I T I E S

MARKET PRICE

QUANTITY TRADED

VALUE TRADED ( N )

However, she noted that Transcorp Hotels Plc has not only survived the trying period but is on the path to recovery, adding it is a testament to the initiatives they put in place and their ability to quickly innovate and adapt to this new normal.

Olusola disclosed that all initiatives have paid off as the hotel has began to witness a remarkable recovery in occupancy and revenue.

“Moving forward, we are

T R A D E D MAIN BOARD

A S

optimistic about 2021 and have begun the new year in a strong position, having learned valuable lessons through the turbulence of the previous year. Our key strategy is to continue to deepen our share and expand our market by deploying various asset light strategies, leveraging best in class technology, and continuously providing the highest service standards,” the MD said.

“We will continue to build on our team of exceptional people,

O F

customer-focused strategy, sustainable business model and disciplined approach to financial management, to grow as a business as we continue to deliver value to all our stakeholders,” she added.

The Chief Executive Officer of the NSE, Mr. Oscar Onyema and Doyen of stockbrokers, Alhaji Rasheed Yussuf hailed the resilience of Transcorp Hotels Plc in the midst of the challenging operating environment.

2 8 / 0 1 / 2 0 2 1 DEALS

MARKET PRICE

QUANTITY TRADED

VALUE TRADED ( N)

36

˾ FRIDAY, JANUARY 29, 2021

Friday, January 29, 2021 Thisday Afrinvest 40 Index Rose 1.0% dŚĞ dŚŝƐĚĂLJ ĨƌŝŶǀĞƐƚ ϰϬ /ŶĚĞdž ƌŽƐĞ ϳϰďƉƐ ƚŽ ƐĞƩůĞ Ăƚ

THISDAY AFRINVEST 40 INDEX

1,895.02 points. This was on the back of buying interest in GUARANTY (+2.4%), ZENITH (+3.0%), and WAPCO

Fundamental Performance Metrics for THISDAY AFRINVEST 40 Index

;нϮ͘ϳйͿ͘ dŚĞƐĞ ƐƚŽĐŬƐ ĐƵŵƵůĂƟǀĞůLJ ĂĐĐŽƵŶƚ ĨŽƌ ϮϬ͘ϰй ŽĨ the index.

THISDAY AFRINVEST 40

1,895.02

0.74%

29.1%

89.5%

19.1%

3.6%

5.7x

930.00

0.0%

31.9%

9.2%

9.2%

7.7%

2.8%

16.2x

79.00

0.0%

10.7%

2.1%

2.1%

34.00

2.4%

9.1%

5.1%

5.1%

The Bulls Sustain Dominance͙ ASI up 0.6% ƚ ƚŚĞ ĐůŽƐĞ ŽĨ ƚƌĂĚĞ͕ ŐĂŝŶƐ ŝŶ ďĂŶŬŝŶŐ ƐƚŽĐŬƐ -

3 Guaranty Trust Bank PLC 4 Zenith Bank PLC

- pushed the NSE- ^/ ŝŶĚĞdž ŚŝŐŚĞƌ ďLJ ϱϳďƉƐ ƚŽ ĐůŽƐĞ Ăƚ 42,169.41 ƉŽŝŶƚƐ͘ ŽŶƐĞƋƵĞŶƚůLJ͕ ƚŚĞ zd ƌĞƚƵƌŶ ŝŵƉƌŽǀĞĚ ƚŽ ϰ͘ϳй ǁŚŝůĞ ŵĂƌŬĞƚ ĐĂƉŝƚĂůŝƐĂƟŽŶ ĂĚǀĂŶĐĞĚ േ124.9bn

Price Change Index to Date

Current Price

1 Airtel Africa PLC 2 BUA Cement Plc

STANBIC (+5.9%), ZENITH (+3.0%) and GUARANTY (+2.4%)

Price Previous Current Change Price Weightin YTD Change g

Ticker

5 Dangote Cement PLC 6 MTN Nigeria Communications PLC 7 Nestle Nigeria PLC

ROE

ROA

27.9%

4.7%

P/E

P/BV

Divindend Earnings Yield Yield

0.6x

4.9%

7.3%

1.2%

6.2%

44.1x

7.4x

2.2%

2.3%

4.9x

1.4x

8.2%

20.3% 25.4%

27.20

3.0%

6.9%

9.7%

9.7%

22.8%

3.1%

3.9x

0.8x

10.6%

236.00

0.0%

5.4%

-3.6%

-3.6%

30.8%

14.6%

15.8x

5.0x

6.8%

6.3%

175.00

0.0%

4.6%

3.0%

3.0%

189.4%

11.9%

18.1x

30.3x

3.8%

5.5%

1,505.00

0.0%

3.7%

0.0%

0.0%

83.0%

20.5%

29.3x

28.5x

4.7%

3.4%

30.30

2.7%

4.4%

43.9%

43.9%

6.5%

4.6%

21.1x

1.4x

3.2%

4.7%

9.35

0.0%

2.9%

10.7%

10.7%

16.8%

1.5%

3.0x

0.5x

7.0%

33.0%

8 Lafarge Africa PLC 9 Access Bank PLC 10 United Bank for Africa PLC 11 FBN Holdings Plc 12 Nigerian Brew eries PLC

9.05

0.6%

2.6%

4.6%

4.6%

13.9%

1.3%

3.8x

0.5x

10.7%

26.0%

7.60

0.0%

2.4%

6.3%

6.3%

13.5%

1.3%

3.7x

0.4x

5.1%

27.0%

63.00

3.3%

2.1%

12.5%

12.5%

6.6%

2.5%

46.7x

3.1x

2.8%

2.1%

46.60

5.9%

2.0%

5.8%

5.8%

25.8%

3.8%

6.0x

1.4x

5.2%

16.8%

traded rose 2.2% to 555.3m ƵŶŝƚƐ ǁŚŝůĞ ǀĂůƵĞ ƚƌĂĚĞĚ

13 Stanbic IBTC Holdings PLC 14 International Brew eries PLC

6.00

-0.8%

1.5%

0.8%

0.8%

1.1x

34.70

2.1%

dipped 21.3% to േϱ͘ϴďŶ͘ dŚĞ ŵŽƐƚ ƚƌĂĚĞĚ ƐƚŽĐŬƐ ďLJ ǀŽůͲ

15 Flour Mills of Nigeria PLC 16 SEPLAT Petroleum Development C

1.3%

33.5%

33.5%

0.9x

4.0%

ume were TRANSCORP (76.2m units), UBN (75.9m

17 11 PLC 18 Okomu Oil Palm PLC

to ƐĞƩůĞ at േ22.1tn. ĐƟǀŝƚLJ ůĞǀĞů ǁĂƐ ŵŝdžĞĚ ĂƐ ǀŽůƵŵĞ

units) and ZENITH ;ϯϱ͘Ϯŵ ƵŶŝƚƐͿ ǁŚŝůĞ ZENITH (േ936.8m), WAPCO (േ726.7m) and GUARANTY (േϳϬϴ͘ϳŵͿ ůĞĚ ďLJ ǀĂůͲ ue.

21 Dangote Sugar Refinery PLC 22 FCMB Group Plc 23 Sterling Bank PLC 24 NASCON Allied Industries PLC 25 Transnational Corp of Nigeria

Mixed Sector Performance Performance across sectors under our coverage was ŵŝdžĞĚ ĂƐ ϯ ŝŶĚŝĐĂƚŽƌƐ ĂĚǀĂŶĐĞĚ͕ Ϯ ůŽƐƚ ĂŶĚ ƚŚĞ &Z-ICT ŝŶĚĞdž ĐůŽƐĞĚ ŇĂƚ͘ dŚĞ ĂŶŬŝŶŐ ŝŶĚĞdž ůĞĚ ƚŚĞ ŐĂŝŶĞƌƐ͕ up Ϯ͘ϭй ĨŽůůŽǁŝŶŐ ďƵLJŝŶŐ ŝŶƚĞƌĞƐƚ ŝŶ STANBIC (+5.9%), ZENITH (+3.0%) and GUARANTY ;нϮ͘ϰйͿ͘ ^ŝŵŝůĂƌůLJ͕ ƉƌŝĐĞ ƵƉƟĐŬ in

19 Fidelity Bank PLC 20 Ecobank Transnational Inc

NIGERIAN

BREWERIES

(+2.4%),

DANGSUGAR

26 Presco PLC 27 Unilever Nigeria PLC 28 PZ Cussons Nigeria PLC 29 United Capital PLC 30 Guinness Nigeria PLC 31 Custodian and Allied Insurance 32 AIICO Insurance PLC 33 Total Nigeria PLC 34 Julius Berger Nigeria PLC 35 Wema Bank PLC 36 Union Bank of Nigeria PLC 37 Oando PLC

(+1.2%) and WAPCO (+2.7%) pushed the Consumer and

38 Notore Chemical Industries Ltd 39 Beta Glass PLC

/ŶĚƵƐƚƌŝĂů 'ŽŽĚƐ ŝŶĚŝĐĞƐ ŚŝŐŚĞƌ ďLJ Ϭ͘ϵй ĂŶĚ Ϭ͘Ϯй ƌĞƐƉĞĐͲ

40 Transcorp Hotels Plc

ƟǀĞůLJ͘ ŽŶǀĞƌƐĞůLJ͕ ƚŚĞ Kŝů Θ 'ĂƐ ĂŶĚ /ŶƐƵƌĂŶĐĞ indices ĚĞĐůŝŶĞĚ 1.8% and 0.6% ƌĞƐƉĞĐƟǀĞůLJ ĚƵĞ ƚŽ ƐĞůů-ŽīƐ ŝŶ MOBIL (-8.6%), ARDOVA (-2.8%), NEM (-7.6%) and AFRIN-

NP FM CRFB K

/ŶǀĞƐƚŽƌ ^ĞŶƟŵĞŶƚ tĂŶĞƐ /ŶǀĞƐƚŽƌ ƐĞŶƟŵĞŶƚ ĂƐ ŵĞĂƐƵƌĞĚ ďLJ ŵĂƌŬĞƚ ďƌĞĂĚƚŚ ;ĂĚǀĂŶĐĞͬĚĞĐůŝŶĞ ƌĂƟŽͿ ǁĞĂŬĞŶĞĚ ƚŽ ϭ͘Ϯdž ĨƌŽŵ ƚŚĞ ϭ͘ϳdž ƌĞĐŽƌĚĞĚ ƉƌĞǀŝŽƵƐůLJ ĂƐ Ϯϳ

P OR T P A IN T J B ER GER

SUR (-7.7%).

stocks

gained

NPFMCRFBK ;нϵ͘ϳйͿ ǁĞƌĞ ƚŚĞ ƚŽƉ ŐĂŝŶĞƌƐ ǁŚŝůĞ ACADEMY (-10.0%), SOVERNINS (-9.7%) and COURTVILLE (-9.1%) ǁĞƌĞ ƚŚĞ ƚŽƉ ůŽƐĞƌƐ͘ tĞ ĂŶƟĐŝƉĂƚĞ ƚŚĂƚ ƚŚĞ ŵĂƌŬĞƚ ǁŽƵůĚ ĞŶĚ ƚŚĞ ǁĞĞŬ ŽŶ Ă ƉŽƐŝƟǀĞ ŶŽƚĞ͘

1.2%

21.8%

21.8%

-0.3%

-0.2%

0.4x

7.8%

-2.8%

0.7%

0.0%

0.0%

16.4%

7.6%

12.4x

1.9x

3.6%

8.1%

93.00

0.0%

0.8%

2.2%

2.2%

24.6%

16.0%

11.3x

2.6x

2.76

0.7%

0.7%

9.5%

9.5%

10.7%

1.1%

3.1x

0.3x

7.2%

32.5%

5.2%

13.5%

6.40

0.0%

0.7%

6.7%

6.7%

0.5%

0.0%

62.0x

0.3x

20.85

1.2%

0.6%

18.5%

18.5%

30.8%

15.6%

7.4x

2.1x

8.9%

1.6%

3.30

-1.2%

0.5%

-0.9%

-0.9%

10.3%

1.2%

3.1x

0.1x

4.2%

31.9%

2.00

1.5%

0.4%

-2.0%

-2.0%

8.8%

0.8%

5.6x

0.5x

1.5%

18.0%

16.20

0.0%

0.4%

11.7%

11.7%

18.4%

5.8%

10.6x

3.5x

2.4%

9.5%

1.10

4.8%

0.4%

22.2%

22.2%

-3.5%

-0.8%

0.7x

1.0%

-5.3%

74.50

0.0%

0.3%

5.0%

5.0%

18.5%

7.7%

2.4x

2.7%

13.50

0.0%

0.2%

-2.9%

-2.9%

-2.4%

-1.6%

5.60

0.0%

0.2%

5.7%

5.7%

-12.2%

-5.6%

5.90

0.0%

0.2%

25.3%

25.3%

85.7%

8.7%

19.20

3.8%

0.2%

1.1%

1.1%

-16.2%

-8.4%

14.2x

1.2x

2.3x

0.7x

1.8%

1.8x

8.5%

0.6x

6.00

0.0%

0.2%

2.6%

2.6%

13.9%

4.8%

5.6x

0.8x

5.4%

0.2%

21.2%

21.2%

25.0%

3.3%

2.9x

0.6x

143.00

0.0%

0.2%

10.0%

10.0%

10.7%

2.1%

21.6x

1.8x

4.7%

4.6%

22.65

10.0%

0.2%

27.2%

27.2%

3.2%

0.4%

8.4x

0.8x

7.4%

11.9%

0.68

-2.9%

0.1%

-1.4%

-1.4%

6.8%

0.5%

4.0x

0.5x

6.1%

0.0%

-100.0%

7.4%

7.1x

3.20

0.0%

0.1%

-13.5%

-13.5%

14.5%

2.6%

62.50

0.0%

0.1%

0.0%

0.0%

-21.3%

-6.4%

55.40

0.0%

0.1%

0.0%

0.0%

10.3%

7.2%

3.60

0.0%

0.0%

0.0%

0.0%

-10.4%

-5.0%

1.4x

7.8x

5.9%

25.3%

4.1%

14.1%

0.2x

72.6%

1.8x

-13.3%

0.8x

3.1%

12.8%

0.5x

1.9%

-20.8%

T o p 10 T r a d e s b y V o l u m e

P ric e

P ric e C hg %

Vo lum e

P ric e C hg %

3.19

10.0%

T ic k er T R A N SC OR P

76.2

4.8%

22.65

10.0%

UB N

75.9

6.1%

1.92

9.7%

Z EN IT H B A N K

35.2

3.0%

9.7%

D A N GSUGA R

31.7

1.2%

UA C N

25.3

1.9%

F ID SON

6.05

9.0%

UB A

24.1

0.6%

WA P IC

0.57

7.5%

WA P C O

23.6

2.7%

UB N

6.05

6.1%

A C C ESS

21.9

0.0%

46.60

5.9%

UN ILEVER

21.3

0.0%

0.78

5.4%

FB NH

21.2

0.0%

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 P ric e

P ric e C hg %

T ic k er

Value

P ric e C hg %

Z EN IT H B A N K

936.8

3.0%

A C A D EM Y

0.36

-10.0%

SOVR EN IN S

0.28

-9.7%

WA P C O

726.7

2.7%

C OUR T VILLE

0.20

-9.1%

GUA R A N T Y

708.7

2.4%

GUIN EA IN S

0.20

-9.1%

D A N GSUGA R

660.3

1.2%

N IGER IN S

0.21

-8.7%

UB N

432.8

6.1%

228.00

-8.6%

UN ILEVER

288.3

0.0%

0.22

-8.3%

UB A

217.2

0.6%

204.7

0.0%

VER IT A SKA P R EGA LIN S

0.35

-7.9%

A C C ESS

A F R IN SUR E

0.24

-7.7%

UA C N

203.9

1.9%

-7.6%

FB NH

158.9

0.0%

N EM

17.9% 34.1%

9.3%

T ic k er

44.4%

1.37

2.83

UA C -P R OP

-157.8%

-33.9%

2.00

ST A N B IC

7.0% -2.1%

C A VER T ON

M OB IL

Afrinvest West Africa Limited

0.0% -8.6%

C H A M P ION

against

22 ůŽƐĞƌƐ͘ PORTPAINT (+10.0%), JBERGER (+10.0%) and

490.00 228.00

T o p 10 G a i n e r s T ic k er

-28.9%

2.20

Brokerage

Asset Management

Investment Research

Adedoyin Allen | aallen@afrinvest.com

Robert Omotunde | romotunde@afrinvest.com

Abiodun Keripe | AKeripe@afrinvest.com

Taiwo Ogundipe | togundipe@afrinvest.com Christopher Omoh | comoh@afrinvest.com

Adedayo Bakare | abakare@afrinvest.com

37

FRIDAY, JANUARY 29, 2021 ˾ T H I S D AY

MARKET NEWS

NSE, IFC Promote Gender Equality among Listed Firms Goddy Egene

in partnership with the International Finance Corporation (IFC) will host a workshop to promote gender

The Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) 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

equality among listed companies on Tuesday, 2 February 2021.

According to the NSE, the

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 27Jan-2021, unless otherwise stated.

virtual event will bring together chief executive officers (CEOs) and executives of NSE 30 Index

companies to a roundtable discussion to highlight outcomes of a recently conducted survey,

“Gender Implications of COVID-19 on Private Sector Companies” under the Nigeria2Equal Programme.

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 N/A N/A N/A Afrinvest Plutus Fund N/A N/A N/A Nigeria International Debt Fund N/A N/A N/A Afrinvest Dollar Fund N/A N/A N/A ALTERNATIVE CAPITAL PARTNERS LTD info@acapng.com Web: www.acapng.com, Tel: +234 1 291 2406, +234 1 291 2868 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn ACAP Canary Growth Fund 1.08 1.10 20.49% ACAP Income Funds 0.63 0.63 -12.96% 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 0.57% AIICO Balanced Fund 3.57 3.72 0.27% ANCHORIA ASSET MANAGEMENT LIMITED info@anchoriaam.com Web:www.anchoriaam.com, Tel: 08166830267; 08036814510; 08028419180 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Anchoria Money Market 100.00 100.00 0.58% Anchoria Equity Fund 139.35 139.82 4.03% Anchoria Fixed Income Fund 1.23 1.23 -8.13% 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 19.06 19.64 5.10% ARM Discovery Balanced Fund 401.98 414.10 0.40% ARM Ethical Fund 35.77 36.85 6.11% ARM Eurobond Fund ($) 1.22 1.22 -0.24% ARM Fixed Income Fund 1.09 1.10 -2.22% ARM Money Market Fund 1.00 1.00 0.70% AXA MANSARD INVESTMENTS LIMITED investmentcare@axamansard.com Web: www.axamansard.com; Tel: +2341-4488482 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn AXA Mansard Equity Income Fund N/A N/A N/A AXA Mansard Money Market Fund N/A N/A N/A CAPITAL EXPRESS ASSET AND TRUST LIMITED info@capitalexpressassetandtrust.com Web: www.capitalexpressassetandtrust.com ; Tel: +234 803 307 5048 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn CEAT Fixed Income Fund 2.12 2.12 -22.52% Capital Express Balanced Fund(Formerly: Union Trustees Mixed Fund) 2.27 2.32 32.44% CHAPELHILL DENHAM MANAGEMENT LTD investmentmanagement@chapelhilldenham.com Web: www.chapelhilldenham.com, Tel: +234 461 0691 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Chapelhill Denham Money Market Fund 100.00 100.00 2.00% Paramount Equity Fund 16.97 17.29 6.13% Women's Investment Fund 137.61 139.23 3.41% CORDROS ASSET MANAGEMENT LIMITED assetmgtteam@cordros.com Web: www.cordros.com, Tel: 019036947 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Cordros Money Market Fund 100.00 100.00 1.25% Cordros Milestone Fund 2023 133.29 134.21 Cordros Milestone Fund 2028 N/A N/A Cordros Dollar Fund ($) 108.44 108.44 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 1.38% Coronation Balanced Fund 1.20 1.22 0.39% Coronation Fixed Income Fund 1.59 1.59 0.15% EDC FUNDS MANAGEMENT LIMITED mutualfundng@ecobank.com Web: www.ecobank.com Tel: 012265281 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn EDC Nigeria Money Market Fund Class A N/A N/A N/A EDC Nigeria Money Market Fund Class B N/A N/A N/A EDC Nigeria Fixed Income Fund N/A N/A N/A FBNQUEST ASSET MANAGEMENT LTD invest@fbnquest.com Web: www.fbnquest.com/asset-management; Tel: +234-81 0082 0082 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn FBN Fixed Income Fund N/A N/A N/A FBN Balanced Fund 189.81 191.25 1.13% FBN Halal Fund 110.94 110.97 -0.53% FBN Money Market Fund 100.00 100.00 1.09% FBN Nigeria Eurobond (USD) Fund - Institutional 123.06 123.45 1.21% FBN Nigeria Eurobond (USD) Fund - Retail 123.20 123.60 1.20% FBN Smart Beta Equity Fund 157.52 159.81 4.19% FCMB ASSET MANAGEMENT LIMITED fcmbamhelpdesk@fcmb.com Web: www.fcmbassetmanagement.com; Tel: +234 1 462 2596 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Legacy Money Market Fund N/A N/A N/A Legacy Debt Fund N/A N/A N/A Legacy Equity Fund N/A N/A N/A Legacy USD Bond Fund N/A N/A N/A FSDH ASSET MANAGEMENT LTD coralfunds@fsdhgroup.com Web: www.fsdhaml.com; Tel: 01-270 4884-5; 01-280 9740-1 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Coral Growth Fund N/A N/A N/A Coral Income Fund N/A N/A N/A FSDH Treasury Bills Fund N/A N/A N/A GREENWICH ASSET MANAGEMENT LIMITED assetmanagement@gtlgroup.com Web: www.gtlgroup.com ; Tel: +234 1 4619261-2 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Greenwich Plus Money Market Fund 100.00 100.00 0.81% Nigeria Entertainment Fund 130.02 130.55 20.48%

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 N/A N/A N/A INVESTMENT ONE FUNDS MANAGEMENT LTD enquiries@investment-one.com Web: www.investment-one.com; Tel: +234 812 992 1045,+234 1 448 8888 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Abacus Money Market Fund 100.00 100.00 0.19% Vantage Balanced Fund 2.88 2.94 -0.39% Vantage Guaranteed Income Fund 1.00 1.00 4.50% Kedari Investment Fund (KIF) 155.82 156.35 0.29% 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 1.46 1.48 1.38% Lotus Halal Fixed Income Fund 1,129.76 1,129.76 0.61% MERISTEM WEALTH MANAGEMENT LTD info@meristemwealth.com Web: http://www.meristemwealth.com/funds/ ; Tel: +234 1-4488260 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Meristem Equity Market Fund N/A N/A N/A Meristem Money Market Fund N/A N/A N/A PAC ASSET MANAGEMENT LTD info@pacassetmanagement.com Web: www.pacassetmanagement.com/mutualfunds; Tel: +234 1 271 8632 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn PACAM Balanced Fund 1.65 1.68 7.11% PACAM Fixed Income Fund 12.32 12.43 9.66% PACAM Money Market Fund 10.00 10.00 1.50% PACAM Equity Fund 1.65 1.67 PACAM EuroBond Fund 108.73 111.25 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 136.56 139.42 11.23% SFS CAPITAL NIGERIA LTD investments@sfsnigeria.com Web: www.sfsnigeria.com, Tel: +234 (01) 2801400 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn SFS Fixed Income Fund 1.01 1.01 0.51% 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 2,521.35 2,532.80 1.72% Stanbic IBTC Bond Fund 210.33 210.33 0.27% Stanbic IBTC Ethical Fund 0.88 0.89 2.54% Stanbic IBTC Guaranteed Investment Fund 273.87 273.95 0.33% Stanbic IBTC Iman Fund 154.92 156.64 1.38% Stanbic IBTC Money Market Fund 100.00 100.00 0.28% Stanbic IBTC Nigerian Equity Fund 7,674.15 7,756.30 0.51% Stanbic IBTC Dollar Fund (USD) 1.23 1.23 0.39% Stanbic IBTC Shariah Fixed Income Fund 111.37 111.37 0.26% UNITED CAPITAL ASSET MANAGEMENT LTD Web: www.unitedcapitalplcgroup.com; Tel: +234 803 306 2887 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn United Capital Balanced Fund N/A N/A N/A United Capital Bond Fund N/A N/A N/A United Capital Equity Fund N/A N/A N/A United Capital Money Market Fund N/A N/A N/A United Capital Eurobond Fund N/A N/A N/A United Capital Wealth for Women Fund N/A N/A N/A 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 12.50 12.63 5.41% Zenith Ethical Fund 13.87 13.99 13.53% Zenith Income Fund 24.11 24.11 0.57% Zenith Money Market Fund 1.00 1.00 1.93%

REITS NAV Per Share

Fund Name SFS Skye Shelter Fund

Yield / T-Rtn

120.97

0.19%

52.50

0.19%

Bid Price

Offer Price

Yield / T-Rtn

13.47 128.35 101.42

13.57 128.35 103.33

1.91% 5.43% 2.07%

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

funds@vetiva.com Bid Price

Offer Price

Yield / T-Rtn

4.25

4.29

11.93%

Vetiva Consumer Goods Exchange Traded Fund

6.02

6.10

5.76%

Vetiva Griffin 30 Exchange Traded Fund Vetiva Money Market Fund Vetiva Industrial Goods Exchange Traded Fund

18.18 1.00 20.69

18.28 1.00 20.89

10.96% 0.97% 0.82%

190.46

192.46

-14.29%

NAV Per Share

Yield / T-Rtn

108.05

13.11%

Fund Name Vetiva Banking Exchange Traded Fund

Vetiva S&P Nigeria Sovereign Bond Exchange Traded Fund

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.

38

FRIDAY JANUARY 29, 2021 ˾ T H I S D AY

24 HOURS...

24 HOURS...

COVID-19: Nigeria Exempted as UK Imposes Travel Ban on 30 Countries Chinedu Eze The United Kingdom Government has exempted Nigeria from a list of 30 countries that have been banned

from entering the UK over rising COVID-19 cases.

According to a statement at the government website, gov.uk, countries, including Angola, Argentina, Bolivia,

Botswana, Brazil, Cape Verde, Chile, Colombia, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ecuador, Eswatini, French Guiana, Guyana, Lesotho, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique,

Namibia, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Portugal (including Madeira and the Azores), Seychelles, South Africa, Suriname, Tanzania, Uruguay, Venezuela, Zambia, Zimbabwe,

have been banned by the UK Government.

With over 3.7 million cases and more than 100,000 deaths, the UK is one of the top five countries with the highest

number of confirmed infections.

Nigeria has recorded over 124,000 cases with more than 1,500 deaths, according to a statement on the government website.

Saraki: Decayed Infrastructure, Lack of Policy, Bane of Maritime Sector Eromosele Abiodun The Minister of State for Transportation, Senator Gbemisola Saraki, has stated that unworthiness of indigenous

CHANGE OF NAME I, formerly known and addressed as WAHAB FATAI ALABI now wish to be known and addressed as ATUNBIOLU OLUFEMI ALABI. All documents remain valid. The general public should please take note.

I, formerly known and addressed as ADEYEMI BOSEDE RUTH now wish to be known and addressed as ATUNBIOLU BOSEDE RUTH (NEE ADEYEMI). All documents remain valid. The general public should please take note.

I, formerly known and addressed as MISS CHINEMENUM AMAH, now wish to be known and addressed as MRS CHINEMENUM AMAH-OBI. All documents remain valid. The general public should please take note I, formerly known and addressed as ABIODUN ELIZABETH SUBUSOLA, now wish to be known and addressed as ELIZABETH SUBUSOLA EFUNBAJO. All former documents remain valid. The general public should take note.

I, formerly known and addressed as MISS VENESSA AGU, now wish to be known and addressed as MRS VENESSA CHRIS-OBAZE. All documents remain valid. The general public should please take note I, formerly known and addressed as MISS CHIZOBA CECILIA OKAFOR, now wish to be known and addressed as MRS. CHIZOBA CECILIA EKWEONU. All former documents remain valid. The general public should take note.

I, formerly known and addressed as ADEREMILEKUN SILFAT ADEFOLABI, ADEREMILEKUN ADEFOLABI, ADEREMILEKUN SILIFAT ADEFOLABI and ADEREMILEKUN AYOOLA ADEFOLABI, now wish to be known and addressed as ADEREMILEKUN SHEILA ADENIRAN. All former documents remain valid. The general public should take note.

I formerly known, called and addressed as MRS. HART BLESSING SOMINA. I now wish to be known, called and addressed as UCHEGBO BLESSING. All former documents remain valid. The general public should take note.

I, formerly known and addressed as HELLEN LEELEEBARI TAMBARI now wish to be known and addressed as HELLEN PIUS BEEKUE. All documents remain valid. The general public should please take note I, formerly known and addressed as MISS HAPPINESS BASSEY UDO now wish to be known and addressed as MRS HAPPINESS INIOBONG FRIDAY. All documents remain valid. The general public should please take note

vessels, insecurity, collapsed and inadequate infrastructure occasioned by lack of policy document are challenges that have stunted the growth of the maritime sector.

She stated this while speaking at a stakeholders’ validation forum on the draft National Maritime Transport Policy in Lagos yesterday.

Saraki said the challenges have constrained the contribution of the sector to the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

Represented at the event by the Permanent Secretary of the Federal Ministry of Transportation, Mrs. Madgalene Ajani, she said while numerous opportunities to enhance the contributions made by the maritime environment to sustainable development in the country abound, lack of National Maritime Transport Policy makes it difficult to harness.

CHANGE OF NAME I, formerly known and addressed as ORANUSI EMMANUEL ORANUSI now wish to be known and addressed as ORANUSI EMMANUEL MADUABUCHI. All documents remain valid. The general public should please take note

I, formerly known and addressed as ADESUGBA ANUOLUWA now wish to be known and addressed as DANIEL SUNDAY ANUOLUWAPO . All documents remain valid. The general public should please take note I, formerly known and addressed as MABEL EWERE AGHOLOR now wish to be known and addressed as MABEL EWERE CHINWEOKWU. All documents remain valid. The general public should please take note I, formerly known and addressed as BLESSING INNOCENT UDOH now wish to be known and addressed as BLESSING TOMI OLATUNJI. All documents remain valid. Chrisland Schools Limited and the general public should please take note

I formerly known as UZOALU IFEOMA EWOMAZINO now wish to be known as GBENGAADESOJI IFEOMA EWOMAZINO. All documents remain valid. The general public should please take note I, formerly known and addressed as OLUWABUKOLA OMOWUNMI ADEBIYI now wish to be known and addressed as ABDULMUMUNI BUKOLA OMOWUNMI. All documents remain valid. The general public should please take note

CORRECTION OF NAME I, OLUMUYIWA SEYI ELIJAH, my name was wrongly written as OLUMUYIWA OLUWASEYI ELIJAH instead of OLUMUYIWA SEYI ELIJAH. All my former documents remain valid, the general public should please take note.

NEW CATCH...

L-R: Leader of All Progressives Congress (APC) in Kogi State, Alhaji Umar Bababida; former member of the state House of Assembly, Ambassador Friday Sani; and Ambassador of Attah of Igalaland, Mr. Tijjani Musa, during the visit of the PDP defectors to the APC national headquarters in Abuja … yesterday ENOCK REUBEN

Amosun’s Seven Loyalists in Ogun Assembly Dump APM, Return to APC Kayode Fasua in Abeokuta Seven lawmakers in the Ogun State House of Assembly, who were loyalists of serving senator representing Ogun Central, former Governor Ibikunle Amosun, yesterday night dumped their party and returned to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).

They were representing the Allied Progressives Congress (APM), which is Amosun’s pet political party, at the state assembly.

Amosun had objected to the choice of now Governor

Dapo Abiodun during the 2019 governorship election.

The discord led Amosun into forming the APM where he fielded Adekunle Akinlade to run as governor, but Abiodun won at the poll.

Abiodun, while receiving the seven APM members of the assembly into the APC, urged them to be loyal to the party and work towards realising “the Building the Future Together” agenda of the state government.

Speaking while receiving the defecting lawmakers, who were led to him by the

Speaker of the House, Hon. Kunle Oluomo, in his office at Oke-Mosan, Abeokuta, Abiodun stressed the need for all members to be loyal and contribute to the development of the state.

Abiodun who described the lawmakers’ move as “home coming”, said, “it is a thing of joy to have a member of the family that had left home as a result of disagreement, to return home”.

“You have not come back through coercion or by force.

Remember you will be criticised for coming back. In line with our

inclusive and participatory policy, we welcome you.

“You will recall that we have not discriminated against you in the past 18 months even while you were not with us. We will ensure you enjoy all the benefits that our members enjoy”, he promised.

The governor expressed the hope that by welcoming back into the fold of the party, would not regret the inclusiveness policy of his administration, urging the defectors to work hard to strengthen the party in the State and the administration to deliver on its mandate to the people.

Out-of-court Settlement Collapses in Ortom’s N10bn Suit against Oshiomhole George Okoh in Makurdi The out-of-court settlement sought by the former National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Mr. Adams Oshiomhole in the N10billion libel suit filed against him by Governor Samuel Ortom of Benue State has collapsed.

At the resumed hearing of the matter yesterday, Governor Ortom asked the Makurdi High Court presided over by Justice Augustine Ityonyiman to fix a date for definite hearing in the

suit signalling a collapse of the negotiation.

The former APC Chairman had sought for an out-of-court settlement with Ortom, a move which was communicated to the court on October 13, 2020.

The presiding judge upon receipt of the notice consequently adjourned the case to October 29, 2020 for a report on the out-of-court settlement.

After two adjournments, with the last being on December 16, 2020, the case resumed yesterday for report on the out-of- court

settlement earlier canvassed by Oshiomhole.

Ladi Achibong, who held the brief for Ortom’s counsel, Mr. Samuel Irabor, told the court that the out-of-court settlement had failed, adding that it appeared that the defendants were not serious with the settlement.

She submitted: “I have the express instruction of Mr. Irabor to ask the court to fix a date for the definite hearing of the N10billion libel suit against Oshiomhole and the APC.” On his part, Mr. Titus

Akuha who held the brief for the counsel to Oshiomhole and the APC, Festus Jumbo, opposed the submission of Ortom’s lawyer.

He said all the terms of settlement had been met, except one issue that was pending, “so, the settlement cannot be said to have failed,” he said.

Justice Ityoyiman after listening to counsels to the parties adjourned the case to February 26, 2021 for report on the out-of-court settlement or definite hearing.

One Killed, 56 Kidnapped by Bandits in Niger Laleye Dipo in Minna At least one person was yesterday confirmed killed while 56 others were kidnapped when suspected bandits raided communities in two local government areas of Niger State.

The communities raided were Avu in Lapai Local

Government Area and Bassa in Shiroro LGA in the state.

The invasion of Avu community yesterday morning was the first of such incident in the area.

It was learnt that the bandits in their large numbers stormed the community around 1a.m. and started shooting sporadically, thereby causing

confusion among the villagers.

In the confusion, six villagers (all male) were kidnapped and taken to unknown destination.

A report from the area said the local security men tried to avert the attack by the bandits but were incapacitated by lack of sophisticated weapons.

“Some of the local security

men only have Dane guns; they don’t even have torchlights but the bandits were carrying sophisticated weapons,” a community leader said.

It was also gathered that some of the villagers were still hiding in the bushes for fear of being attacked or kidnapped if they came out.

FRIDAY JANUARY 29, 2021 ˾ T H I S D AY

39

FRIDAYSPORTS

Group Sports Editor Duro Ikhazuagbe Email duro.ikhazuagbe@thisdaylive.com 0811 181 3083 SMS ONLY

Tomori Targets Place in AC Milan History after Leaving Chelsea Fikayo Tomori has said he is determined to enter the pantheon of AC Milan defensive greats and

Fikayo Tomori...hoping to join Milan’s greats

encouraged more English players to move abroad after joining the Serie A side from Chelsea.

The 23-year-old centre back has joined league leaders Milan on loan for the rest of the season with an option to make the deal permanent.

Stefano Pioli’s side are currently two points clear at the top of the Italian Serie A table, but Tomori pointed to the club’s long line of great defenders as key to the move, including current Sporting Director, Paolo Maldini.

“So many great defenders have played at Milan, like Maldini, Alessandro Nesta and Franco Baresi,” Tomori said at a news conference yesterday.

“I want to be part of Milan’s history, from the first day here

I’ve breathed in the tradition of this club. I’m convinced I’ve made the right decision by coming here.

“Maldini was one of the greatest defenders ever. It was a surprise when he called me, but I didn’t have to think for long before saying yes to him”.

Tomori departed Stamford Bridge after making just one

Premier League appearance this season, but sounded out Chelsea’s Thiago Silva, a former Milan player, before making the move.

“I spoke to him, but also with other players who have played in Italy like Jorginho, Emerson Palmieri and Mateo Kovacic,” Tomori said.

“Thiago reassured me, he told

me great things. The others also told me positive things about Serie A and Milan.”

Tomori also said he is encouraged by the number of British players heading overseas to find regular game time.

English trio Chris Smalling, Ashley Young and Ronaldo Vieira currently ply their trade in Italy, as well as Welshman

Aaron Ramsey and young Scot Aaron Hickey.

“It’s a positive thing,” Tomori said.

“In England they’re starting to realise that not only the Premier League exists.

“Before British players didn’t tend to go abroad, but it can be important to have an experience overseas.”

FIFA Council Candidate, Pinnick, to Pick up Special Recognition Award Candidate for a seat on the venerable FIFA Council, the highest decision-making organ in football in the universe, Amaju Melvin Pinnick will on Saturday be honoured with a Special Recognition Award at the maiden edition of the Sportsville Awardsin Lagos.

Chairman of Sportsville Communications (organizers of the Awards), Hon. Frank Ilaboya, said the award is in recognition and appreciation of the tireless efforts of the President of Nigeria Football Federation towards putting Nigeria in a prominent place of pride in world football both on the field and in the boardroom.

“Sportsville Communications is not unaware of the boundless energy and the unflagging enthusiasm with which Mr Pinnick has been pursuing the issue of uplifting Nigerian football to a higher pedestal on the field and in the boardroom, since he was first elected as President of NFF in September 2014.

“He scores high in aggressive marketing and is matchless in seeking high visibility for Nigeria in football’s high table,” stated Ilaboya.

Amongst prominent Nigerians to be honoured at the awards ceremony holding at the Ibis Royale Hotel on Saturday are; Edo State Deputy Governor, Philip Shaibu; NOC President and IOC Member, Habu Ahmed Gumel; NBBF President, Musa Kida; Nigeria Women Football League boss, Aisha Falode;

Amaju Pinnick...to be honoured

NFF Executive Member and Enyimba FC Chairman, Chief Felix Anyansi-Agwu; foremost media entrepreneur and owner of Radio Brila, Dr Larry Izamoje; Mr Ebi Egbe of Monimichelle Ltd and; foremost Supporters Club boss, Dr Rafiu Olalere Oladipo are the others.

“We have put in place measures to ensure full compliance with COVID-19 protocols and guidelines at the Awards. All the measures and protocols as outlined and instructed by the Federal Ministry of Health, Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and the Federal Ministry of Youth and Sports will be observed at the event,” Ilaboya added.

Pinnick, who is both Member of the Executive Committee of the Confederation of African Football and Member of the influential Organizing Committee for FIFA Competitions, was on Tuesday issued a clearance letter by world governing body, FIFA, as being eligible to contest for a seat on the 37-member FIFA Council.

Clearance for committee appointments or candidacy for positions in FIFA usually come after rigorous eligibility checks and thorough scrutiny of the social, moral and political credentials, as well as public service records of the individuals concerned.

Pinnick has now passed the tough tests on three occasions: for appointment into the Organizing Committee for FIFA Competitions, for election into the CAF Executive Committee and for the forthcoming FIFA Council election.

The FIFA Council elections come up in Rabat, Morocco on Friday, 12th March 2021 during the 43rd Ordinary General Assembly of the Confederation of African Football, and on the eve of the commencement of the U17 Africa Cup of Nations in that country.

Only two Nigerians have sat on the world’s supreme football –decision making organ previously: Etubom Oyo Orok Oyo and Dr Amos Adamu.

Leicester paramedics attending to injured Wilfred Ndidi during Foxes Wednesday night clash with Everton at Goodison Park

Leicester Coach, Rodgers, Allays Fears over Ndidi’s Injury Femi Solaja with agency report Leicester City Manager, Brendan Rodgers, has reassured teeming fans of the club that Super Eagles midfielder, Wilfred Ndidi, would soon be back to action.

The update aside being a good one to the club’s faithful, is also a cheering news to Nigerian fans as they will expect Ndidi to be fit and available for the next round of AFCON 2022 qualifying matches in March.

The Nigerian midfielder was handed his 11th Premier League appearance of the season as he played for only 42 minutes before suffering a hamstring setback at Everton

on Wednesday night.

He was replaced in the 42nd minute by former France youth international of Senegalese descent Nampalys Mendy to avoid infuriating the problem.

In his absence, the Foxes picked up a point at ambitious Everton’s ground after Youri Tielemans cancelled out James Rodriguez’s first-half strike in the 67th minute.

But Rodgers, in an interview with the club’s website has however, allayed fears that Ndidi would be on the sidelines for so long as the 24-year-old is only ‘tightened up’.

“Wilf was tight, it was the back of his hamstring, so we’ll see how that goes in the next couple of days,” the Northern

Irish manager said after the game on Leicester City website.

“It’s just tightened up. He doesn’t think he’s overstretched or tore it. We’ll just have to assess that. We couldn’t risk it.”

However, it is likely that the talented Nigerian would be available for Sunday’s league showdown versus Marcelo Bielsa’s Leeds United at the King Power Stadium.

With the 1-1 score line on Wednesday night against Carlo Ancelotti’s men, the 2015–16 English kings extended their unbeaten run to nine across all competitions.

Also, they sit in third place in the English topflight log having accrued 39 points from 20 outings – two points below

leaders Manchester City.

Since the start of the 2020-21 campaign, the former Genk man has been battling with several degrees of injuries which reduced his playing time to 15 games so far.

Ndidi recently returned from a groin injury – a setback suffered in September 2020 – and as a result was out of action for over three months.

Since moving to England from the Belgian elite division, the midfielder has grown into an essential part of the team.

Having impressed in his maiden season, he was named the club’s best young talent in 2016-17. He retained the prize the next season, beating Ben Chilwell and Demarai Gray.

Ada, Ibadan to Host Oyinlola @ 70 Golf Tournaments The President of the Nigeria Golf Federation (NGF), Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola, who will be 70 years old on February 3, is to be honoured with golf tournaments across the country.

Already, two events have been slated to hold at the Miccom Golf Club in Ada, Osun State and another at the Ibadan Golf Club in the Oyo State capital to mark the birthday of the former Governor of Lagos and Osun states.

The tournament at Ada is scheduled to hold on Sunday, February 6while the Ibadan event is billed for Saturday, February 13.

However, words from the celebrant indicates that another event could hold at the IBB Golf Club in Abuja right after the Ibadan show.

Expectedly, both the Ibadan and Ada games are fully booked with over 350 golfers from across the country expected to be in attendance

in each of the events.

It was also gathered that invited professionals could feature in both Ada and Ibadan games.

Prince Oyinlola has since expressed gratitude over intentions of club captains to honour him with birthday tournaments.

He reasoned that the Captains did not show such interest just because he is the President of the Golf Federation but they are doing so because

they cherished absolute friendship he had shared with golfers across the country over the years.

Hear Oyinlola: “I keep saying it that we don’t play golf just because we want to play. But we play because the game affords us room to share absolute friendship and camaraderie. This is evident in the manner several tournaments that are coming up to honour my day. I indeed thank ‘Golfers All’.

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Senate to Soyinka

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“With all due respect, Soyinka’s comments showed that he is not well informed about the workings of the National Assembly”

‘COVID’ TO 58123

– Senate taking on Nobel Laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka, over his comment that the lawmakers are ignoring the clamour for restructuring the country.

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OKEYIKECHUKWU

EDIFYING ELUCIDATIONS

okey.ikechukwu@thisdaylive.com

Tale of Oreh and Two Other Women T he other week, the Sirleaf Johnson Presidential Centre recognised three Nigerian Women for professional achievements. It was no political recognition, or some hollow award for attending some nebulous international forum on “moving African women forward.” A day will come when we shall raise questions regarding the “moving forward” of all sorts of things in Nigeria; including elite myopia and leadership incompetence. But since that is not our concern today, let us not digress. The essential point being made in these perambulatory remarks is that the three women under reference are among the few recognised by the Centre in fields ranging from politics, medicine, law and economics. The other point is that they were not recognised because they were part of a government delegation; or just because they were women, no! The honour was not thanks to any affirmative action, or some other presumably emancipatory programme of a concert of overdressed First Ladies, no! They got the recognition because of who they are.

That makes a world of difference.

Dr Adaeze Oreh, Ejumola Abisoye, and Ifeyinwa Maureen Okafor stood out, above their peers of exceptional pedigree, to clinch unusual recognition because of their demonstrated capacity for excellence and impressive performance in their respective fields. As these women were announced as part of the 2021 Cohort of Amujae Leaders by the Ellen Sirleaf Johnson Presidential Centre for Women and Development, consternation descended on many who were not familiar with the incredible profile and sustained professional dedication of the women in question. To earn such recognition from a Centre established to catalyse “…political and social change across Africa by helping unleash its most abundant latent power — its women” is no mean feat.

The beauty of it all includes objectivity on the part of those who selected and assessed nominees, streamlined the short-listing, kept to the stipulated paradigms and criteria for outstanding performance.

No, it was not like the many plaque-andcertificate wielding women groups here. Such groups always manage to recognise mostly women in elective or appointive positions, as well as the wives of political office holders. These distinguished personages of no particular value coloration are then help up as epitomising the best in Nigerian women. Meanwhile, it is all nothing but a grand swindle, not going much further than sowing of uniforms and provision of paltry transport allowances for a hoodwinked majority of women, who get herded from one place to another on the pretext of driving the interests of Nigerian women. It is sad, pitiful in fact, that most of the discussions about women empowerment, women development and protection of women rights today revolve around the elite aspirations of urban Nigerian women. Many of the latter still do not see the need to change the profile of women in political parties from uniform-wearing, low-quality dancers and entertainers at political rallies to substantive political actors, who can become critical variables for positive social change.

Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, who is the founder of the Ellen Johnson Sirleaf Presidential Centre for Women and Development, was the first democratically elected woman President in Africa. The Centre’s flagship programme, the Amujae Initiative, set out to prepare identified

Oreh women leaders in Africa. The objective is to create a concentrically expanding circle of capacitated women who have the skills, passion and inclination to play critical leadership roles, and excel in them. It is about focusing on, and enabling, women who can be at the peak and still have the presence of mind to understand and address the need for continuous mentoring of new waves of both younger and older women across all spheres and professions.

This 2021 cohort, which threw up Oreh and the others, is as yet the second cohort to have been announced. It cuts across a broad spectrum of African women, out of which a final number of accomplished women emerged from all over Africa. Countries like Ghana, Ethiopia, Kenya, South Sudan, Botswana, Sierra Leone, Democratic Republic of Congo, Gambia, Egypt and Liberia were not left out in the Centre’s searchlight.

Dr Oreh’s recognition came as no great surprise to those who knew her well. She has over 17 years of private and public healthcare experience.

She is a woman dedicated to her profession in every sense of the word. Her ability to combine mature personal sophistication, dedication to her family life and genuine concern for the pains of others with an astonishing avidity for knowledge expansion and the breaking of the new grounds, has remained one of her selling points. She is currently a Consultant Family Physician and Country Head of Planning, Research and Statistics for Nigeria’s National

Blood Transfusion Service. But hers has never been a desk-bound, “let us do it the way our forefathers did it” professional orientation, no! Her reputation for working with cutting edge policymakers at the highest levels is well known. She has always been a strong advocate of blood policies that reduce maternal and child mortality rates. Her commitment to reducing the transmission of infectious diseases through unsafe blood transfusions is a matter of record.

Check out her profile among those who are unrepentantly committed to improving the distribution of safely-screened blood to remote and conflict-affected communities.

Curiously Dr Oreh is a passionate and prolific writer on prevalent health and development issues in Africa. Her publications in international, national, and local media outlets speak for her in this regard. She was handy during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, when her risk communications expertise helped drive several components of the communication template for handling the health challenge. On that alone, Oreh took part in some 30 interviews. She also published more than 50 relevant public guidance materials, to help educate the public on the pandemic and how to escape it worst threats. Perhaps her Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery degrees from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka explain her professional skills. These may have been further enhanced by her Master of Science degrees in International Health Management from Imperial College London and in Public Health from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. Of note, too, is her Leadership, Management and Public Policy certifications from Oxford Saïd Business School, Harvard School of Public Health, Harvard Kennedy School of Government, and the University of Washington. But it was “who she is and what she has done with her education” that got her the recognition we are talking about today.

There are hundreds of medical professionals of equivalent, or even higher, academic certificate.

But how many of them were named one of 25 recipients of the Aspen Institute’s New Voices Fellowship, in 2019? Why was Oreh among the few women in the world singled out by this initiative, which recognises only “changemakers in global health and development.” Oreh is a Fellow of the West African College of Physicians, the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, and the Royal Society of Public Health and sits on the Governing Council of Nigeria’s first private university of Medical Sciences. As they

It is sad, pitiful in fact, that most of the discussions about women empowerment, women development and protection of women rights today revolve around the elite aspirations of urban Nigerian women. Many of the latter still do not see the need to change the profile of women in political parties from uniformwearing, low-quality dancers and entertainers at political rallies to substantive political actors, who can become critical variables for positive social change

would say in Warri pidgin English: “No be for dash person de take get 100% for mathematics.”

Oreh’s co-winner of the Centre’s recognition, Abisoye, is not some unknown quantity with government connections. She is a lawyer with great and confirmed experience in development finance, project management, and monitoring and evaluation. She has a track record of impressive performance over the years and is currently the Chief Executive Officer and Executive Secretary of Lagos State Employment Trust Fund (LSTEF).

In that capacity, she coordinates the design and implementation of programmes that address youth unemployment in Lagos State. The creative endeavour she has brought to bear on her current watch has provided support for over 15,000 small businesses. As a result, more than 100,000 jobs have been created and sustained. This is in addition to the training of over 5,000 youths.

Abisoye also “went to school,” as our local pallance would say. Besides her LLB Law from the University of Ibadan, where she graduated best in the Department of Private Business Law, Abisoye has an LLM in International Trade and Investment Law from the University of Pretoria.

She is also an alumnus of Yale University’s Women’s Leadership Program. All of this, in addition to concrete experience when compared with other equally high profile women, landed Abisoye the recognition we are talking about today. It is an honour well deserved.

The other star of the Centre’s recognition, Okafor Essien-Akpan, attended the University of Bradford in the United Kingdom, where she graduated with a first-class degree in Law. She is a Chartered Accountant and Governance Professional. She is a former Managing Director of International Packaging Industries of Nigeria Plc, who spent the first fifteen years of her career in banking and financial services. Her record of service in several professional associations, including as Treasurer and Member, Governing Council, Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators of Nigeria, and Training Coordinator and Member, Nigerian Association of Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture Business Women Group, speak well for her. She was also a Commissioner on the Imo State Judicial Commission of Inquiry into Contracts from 2011-2019.

All said, this is an exciting tale of three Nigerian women, in a new year that offers us very little to be happy about. Security, roads, electricity, education, health and possibly even the weather, are all against the Nigerian people.

That is only to be expected, when unintelligent spending, unmitigated corruption, unproductive consumption and refusal to learn are the Four Cardinal Points of statecraft, as it is in Nigeria today. But let us not dwell too much on all that for now.

Let us note, instead, that the EJS Centre is using its work to ensure that more voices are heard, greater talents unleashed, and leaders groomed (or encouraged) to launch themselves and push for a better world. The Centre envisages that one way of doing this to prioritise the aspirations of women towards greater, all ground, fulfillment.

Its mission of championing women’s ascension to the highest levels of leadership presents a challenge to systemic and other barriers to girls’ and women’s holistic advancement. All good. But the Centre may need to turn its gaze also to the distinction between womanhood motherhood. The two are worlds apart.

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