MONDAY 21TH FEBRUARY 2022 by THISDAY Newspapers Ltd

From $380bn Loss in 50 Years, Nigeria’s Oil Industry Begins In-country Annual Retention of $8bn 50,000 jobs created since creation of NOGICD Act, says Wabote Local oil firms now produce 60% of Nigeria’s domestic gas Emmanuel Addeh in Abuja From a whopping $380 billion loss in capital flight due to the

absence of an enabling law for retention of capital in the oil and gas industry, Nigeria currently has an annual in-country retention

of $8 billion under the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry Content Development (NOGICD) Act. Executive Secretary of Nigerian

Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB), Mr. Simbi Wabote, stated this in Lagos during a meeting with editors.

Wabote revealed that about two million jobs were also lost during the 50 years that the country’s oil and industry operated without a

capital retention law. But he said at least 50,000 jobs had so far been Continued on page 12

Airlines Hike Fares as Aviation Fuel Rises to N420 Per Litre... Page 47 Monday 21 February, 2022 Vol 27. No 9813. Price: N250

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Queen Elizabeth Tests Positive for COVID-19... Page 8

How Presidency’s Intervention Speeded up Kyari’s Arrest Micheal Olugbode in Abuja Fresh facts have emerged on the process leading to the arrest of “super cop” Deputy Commissioner

of Police (DCP) Abba Kyari and his subsequent hand over to the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) last week. In a dramatic move on February

14, NDLEA at a world press conference declared wanted Kyari, who had been suspended from his duties months ago following his indictment by the United States

Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) for alleged involvement with Internet fraudster, Hushpuppi, in cyber-criminal activities. The move became necessary

following the reluctance by the police high command to accede to the request by the anti-drug agency to release Kyari for interrogation. “But for the direct intervention

by the presidency after the press conference questioning the delay in arresting and handing over Kyari Continued on page 12

Buhari May Sign Electoral Bill Today, Seeks Lawmakers’Assurances to Amend Clause 84 Ruling party's governors meet tonight in Abuja ahead of meeting with president tomorrow

Deji Elumoye, Chuks Okocha and Adedayo Akinwale in Abuja All things being equal, President Muhammadu Buhari, has agreed to sign the reworked Electoral Act Amendment Bill and may in fact sign the bill today but on the condition that the National Assembly would amend the contentious Clause 84, which infringes on the constitutional rights of certain category of people. The contentious aspect bars political appointees from contesting elections and voting as delegates, either at conventions or congresses, after assenting to it. The president, who already met with the leadership of the two chambers of the National Assembly was awaiting assurances from the leadership of the National Assembly to amend the bill after signing it into law. "The President wants to put this behind us but simply wants assurances so as not not to allow this to continue to be a distraction on the country. He doesn't want other good aspects Continued on page 12

WHEN PRESIDENTS LAUGH... L-R: Rwandan President, Paul Kagame; German Chancellor, Olaf Scholz; President, African Development Bank, AfDB, Mr Akinwumi Adesina, and Tanzanian President, Suluhu Samia Hassan, in a rare collective laughing moment at the EU-AU Summit in Brussels ... recently

Tinubu: No Amount of Intimidation Can Stop My 2023 Presidential Bid... Page 49

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NEWS

Group News Editor: Goddy Egene Email: Goddy.egene@thisdaylive.com, 0803 350 6821, 0809 7777 322

IN PURSUIT OF HIS LIFELONG AMBITION... APC National Leader, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu (l) and Alaaﬁn of Oyo, HRH Oba Lamidi Olayiwola Adeyemi III, when Tinubu paid a courtesy call on the Royal father in Oyo State ...yesterday

Sylva Blames Regulatory Failure for Imported Adulterated Fuel Appeals for patience, cautions against blame game Emmanuel Addeh in Abuja The Minister of State, Petroleum, Mr. Timipre Sylva, yesterday blamed regulatory failure for the current petrol shortage in the country, leading to loss of man-hours by Nigerians in long fuel queues across the country. The minister in a statement signed by his Senior Special Adviser on Media and Communication, Mr. Horatius Egua, appealed to Nigerians to exercise patience while the mess caused by the development was being cleaned up. Sylva stressed that all concerned stakeholders were currently battling to ensure that the supply chain was restored to its default settings,

and cautioned against embarking on any blame game. In addition to disrupting the country’s fuel supply chain, the product which led to the damage of several cars, the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Ltd., had disclosed, was imported from Antwerp in Belgium. Sylva said it was regrettable that Nigerians were going through unwarranted pains to get the product, explaining that the situation called for collective action. He said: “In the last weeks, Nigerians have grappled with fuel scarcity, not because of the absence of supply of products but due to inspection failure, which

allowed adulterated products into the country. “This is regrettable, and the federal government sympathises with the citizenry over the unforeseen hardship, occasioned by the inevitable scarcity. Let me once again appeal to Nigerians to be patient with government in finding lasting solutions to the crisis. “We appreciate the NNPC for showing so much concern to the plight of Nigerians by coming forward with an apology. This is unprecedented and shows that we on the government side are not afraid to take responsibility. “The Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) has been

out on the streets, filling station by filling station to ensure that the situation normalises quickly and we are beginning to see the fruits of their efforts. “This is a time that calls for collective action to save a situation that was not foreseen. It is not a time to trade blames as is customary in Nigeria. It is therefore not a time to query anyone but a time to come together to salvage the plight of the average Nigeria,” he stated. According to the minister, after the storm settles, there would be time enough to investigate and get to the bottom, so that the situation will not repeat itself. He added: “Mr. President’s charge to all parties and agencies

PSCs Take Lion’s Share as NNPC Pumps 665m Barrels of Oil in One Year Emmanuel Addeh in Abuja Production Sharing Contracts (PSCs) took the lion’s share of Nigeria’s hydrocarbons output between March 2020 and March 2021, with the country pumping a total of 665 million barrels of crude for the period, latest data from the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC), has shown. Releasing the details of its activities for August 2021, the national oil company noted that of the entire barrels drilled for the period, PSC contracts yielded 264 million barrels in the period under review. Nigeria produces its oil through various arrangements, including through Joint Ventures (JVs), PSCs, Alternative Funding (AF), through the Nigerian Petroleum Development Company (NPDC), a subsidiary of the NNPC and through Independent/Marginal Fields. PSCs are a contractual arrangement for exploration and production of petroleum resources

where the contractor undertakes all the financial, technical and operational risks associated with petroleum operation in return for a share of profit oil after payment of royalty, cost and tax oil. The arrangement became effective on January 1, 1993, after it was considered that certain incentives were necessary to encourage activities in the deep offshore which requires significant investment and technology. But although a period marked by the virulent Covid-19 pandemic, the daily average production per day for the period spanning March 2020 to March 2021, stood at 1.68 million compared to the current situation where the country is struggling to meet its quota of world oil production. Aside the PSC, according to the NNPC data, JVs produced 210 million barrels for the period under review, while under AF, 70.6 million barrels were produced while the NPDC as well as the independent and marginal fields produced 67.6

million and 52.6 million barrels respectively. According to the data, in March 2021, a total of $1.23 million barrels of crude oil & condensate were produced, representing an average daily production of 1.65 million barrels. This translated to an increase of 12.94 per cent of production compared to February 2021 performance. Of the March 2021 production, the NNPC document detailing its operations for the period ending in August, stated that JVs and PSCs contributed about 30.58 per cent and 41.70 per cent respectively. In the same vein, AF, NPDC and independents accounted for 9.95 per cent, nine per cent and 8.77 per cent respectively. “The NPDC March 2020 to March 2021 cumulative production from all fields totalled 67,612,393 barrels of crude oil translating to an average daily production of 170,738 barrels per day. “Comparing NPDC performance to national production, the

company’s production share is 10.16 per cent. NPDC is projected to ramp-up production level to 250,000 bpd in the near future. “From March 2020 to March 2021, a total volume of 672 million barrels of crude oil and condensate was lifted by all parties,” the national oil company stated. In addition, production from NPDC wholly operated assets amounted to 27.6 million barrels, or 40.89 per cent of the total NPDC production, with Okono Okpoho (OML 119) alone producing 18.43 per cent of the company’s operated assets and 7.54 per cent of the total NPDC production. Also, on the NPDC operated JV assets, in which NPDC owns 55 per cent controlling interest, crude oil production amounted to 28.15 barrels (or 41.64 per cent of the NPDC total production). Of the 14.34 million barrels lifted on the account of NNPC in March 2021, 7.55 million barrels and 68 million barrels were for domestic and export markets respectively.

concerned is to work together to ensure that normalcy returns quickly. “The Nigerian people deserve the best and President Muhammadu Buhari’s government is determined to set the country on the right path of petroleum products availability and sustainability, as demonstrated in the award of the contracts for the rehabilitation of all our refineries and the acquisition of stake in the Dangote Refinery. “Let us as Nigerians stand shoulder to shoulder in our shared

quest for a greater country.” Speaking in Abuja, the NNPC Group Managing Director, Mallam Mele Kyari, had said had stated that supply of petrol would normalise across the country in "a few days”, assuring that by the end of February, it was expecting at least 2.3 billion litres of the product to berth in Nigeria. At the weekend in Abuja, a number of filling stations had started selling the product although long queues still remained in all the centres.

Don't be Used by Selfish Politicians in 2023, Kaigama Tells Youth Onyebuchi Ezigbo in Abuja The Archbishop of Abuja, Most Rev. Ignatius Kaigama has admonished the youth not to allow themselves to be used by politicians to achieve their selfish political interests. Speaking to delegates of the National Executive of the Catholic Youth Organisation of Nigeria (CYON) at their 96th National Executive Council Meeting/Seminar held at St. Louis-marie De Montfort’s Pastoral Area, Abuja, Kaigama cautioned that young people should not be used negatively. "Dear young people, this is the time when leaders pursuing their selfish political interests use young people negatively. Don’t allow yourselves to be used even in the midst of social lack," he said. He urged them to participate actively in politics and to also perform their civic responsibility actively with courage. "Participate actively and honestly in politics and perform your civic responsibility with great courage and conviction in the spirit of patriotism, with the hope that the conscience of political leaders will be touched and they will be able to sacrifice their comfort, and temper their greed with mercy, to provide for

you and your future. “Keep the light of faith aglow and don’t relent in praying and working for peace and progress. I urge you to be more involved as positive key drivers of the church and civil society. I commend your great enthusiasm and the use of your different gifts and talents to work for God. "Please, continue to make yourselves available for voluntary service in the church and society, despite the numerous challenges of unemployment, poverty, insecurity, and the epileptic educational system that makes you sometimes graduate in seven years instead of four," he said. Kaigama further enjoined the young ones to avoid engaging in violence and electoral malpractice. "Jesus calls you to reject any recourse to violence, because violence dehumanises us, especially when we hunt, maim, capture and kill fellow human beings. The call to love our enemies is not a call to passivity in the face of wrongs and evils, but it is the most eloquent moral response that can be given. “Two wrongs never make one right. Reprisal attacks or revenge may hurt one even more than it will hurt one’s offender," he said.

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NEWS

LAGOS FIRST LADY BOY CHILD INITIATIVE... L-R: Mental Health Consultant, Dr. Bolanle Ogunnubi; President, United States Government Exchange Alumni Association, Mr Mike Okwoche; First Lady, Dr. Ibijoke Sanwo-Olu; Principal, Model College, Badore, Mrs Ajoke Ajikobi; Director, Vocational Education, Ministry of Women Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, Mrs. Omotola Popoola; and Software Developer, Mr. Daniel Odigbo, during the 3-day residential workshop for boys organized by the Office of the First Lady as part of the Boy Child Initiative of the Office, held at Lagos State Model College, Badore, Ajah at the weekend.

CSOs to Buhari: Keep to Your Words, Sign Reworked Electoral Bill Deji Elumoye in Abuja Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) in the country have called on

President Muhammadu Buhari to keep to his words and sign the Electoral Act Amendment Bill which was reworked last

month by the National Assembly without further delay. According to the CSOs, the president was emphatic in a

national television interview in January, 2022, that he would sign the bill if the National Assembly rework the proposed legislation

Ford, UK Minister, Visits Nigeria to Support Businesses, Strengthen Economic Partnership Michael Olugbode in Abuja The United Kingdom’s Minister for Africa, Latin America & Caribbean, Vicky Ford, will be visiting Nigeria for the first time this week with a promise to announce millions of pounds of new UK investments in the country. Her visit follows the UKNigeria Security and Defence Partnership Dialogue in London

earlier this month, where the UK and Nigeria agreed to strengthen cooperation in a range of areas including military cooperation, counter terrorism, civilian policing, protecting human rights and recognising the important role of women in achieving sustainable peace. According to a statement yesterday, from British High Commission in Abuja, the visit would take forward ongoing

Queen Elizabeth Tests Positive for COVID-19 Queen Elizabeth II yesterday tested positive for COVID-19 was experiencing mild, cold-like symptoms, Buckingham Palace said, adding that the 95-yearold monarch would carry on working. The palace said the queen would continue with “light” duties at Windsor Castle over the coming week. “She will continue to receive medical attention and will follow all the appropriate guidelines," the Associated Press quoted the palace to have said in a statement. People in the UK who test positive for COVID-19 are required to self-isolate for at least five days, though the British government had said it plans to lift that requirement for England in the coming week. The queen has received three doses of coronavirus vaccine. Both her eldest son Prince Charles, 73, and 74-year-old daughter-in-law Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall recently contracted COVID-19. Charles has since returned to work. Senior politicians sent get-well messages, with Health Secretary

Sajid Javid tweeting “Wishing Her Majesty The Queen a quick recovery.” Opposition Labour Party leader Keir Starmer wished the queen "good health and a speedy recovery. Get well soon, Ma’am.” Britain’s longest-reigning monarch, the queen reached the milestone of 70 years on the throne on February 6, the anniversary of the death in 1952 of her father King George VI. A fixture in the life of the nation, Elizabeth has been in robust health for the majority of her reign. In the past year she has been seen using a walking stick, and in October she spent a night in a London hospital for unspecified tests. The queen's doctors ordered her to rest, and she was forced to cancel appearances at several key events, including Remembrance Sunday services and the COP26 climate conference in Glasgow, Scotland in November. This month she returned to public duties and has held audiences both virtually and in person with diplomats, politicians and senior military officers.

efforts by both countries to build on the UK- Nigeria partnership and strengthen strong security, anti-corruption and economic ties. While in Nigeria, Minister Vicky Ford, would have meetings with the federal government of Nigeria, state governors as well as faith leaders, civil society and business leaders. The statement added: “The Minister looks forward to announcing millions of pounds of new UK investments including in support of Small and Medium Sized Enterprises. The Minister will sign an MoU related to anticorruption, which will further strengthen the UK-Nigeria partnership in this area. “Through meetings with civil society, government, the media and political leaders, Minister Ford will explore a range of topics from electoral reform, to climate change following COP26 and human rights. The minister will also promote efforts to educate girls, empower women and end gender based violence

and address humanitarian needs in North-East Nigeria.” Ahead of her visit Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Minister for Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean), Ford said: “I am looking forward to being in Nigeria for the first time. Nigeria is a valued friend and partner of the UK; a country with whom we want to forge still closer ties, including on trade, development, economic, environmental and security issues.” Ford was appointed Minister for Africa at the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office in September 2021 and became the Minister for Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean in December 2021. Previously she was the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Children and Families at the Department for Education from February 2020 to September 2021. She was first elected as the Conservative MP for Chelmsford in 2017.

and expand the procedure for nomination of candidates. The CSOs under the aegis of Civil Society Partners on Electoral Reform recalled that on January 31st, 2022, the National Assembly had transmitted the Electoral Bill 2022 to the President for assent after expeditiously reworking the proposed legislation to meet the president's expectations. The CSO partners, therefore, believed that it had become expeditious for the president to assent to the Electoral Bill 2022, on or before February 22, 2022, if the dates fixed for the 2023 general elections by INEC must be met. The partners in a statement yesterday by the Executive Director, Adopt A Goal for Development Initiative, AriyoDare Atoye, and endorsed by Centre for Liberty, Raising New Voices and Youth and Students Advocates for Development Initiative (YSAD), said they were praying that the president woul break the deadlock on the electoral bill and reckon with history. According to the CSOs: “We hope that the President Buhari and his aides have seen the trending video of the commitment he made to sign the electoral bill based on conditions that have been met by the National Assembly. “We hope that the president will rise above sentiment, petty politics and the misadvice of his Attorney General, to honour his

words and protect his name. We make bold to say that the two clauses on Consensus and Resignation of Political Appointee are in tandem with best practices and Nigeria’s evolving political economy.” The groups emphasised that the executive has the prerogative to propose further amendments to the Electoral Bill 2022, after assent has been granted, like he did in the case of the Petroleum Industry Act and 2022 Appropriation Act. The CSOs also advised the president to allow his bitter experience for approaching the courts on three consecutive occasions over faulty elections to propel him to sign the electoral bill and leave the country’s electoral process better than he met it. “While the president has been condemning the activities coup plotters in other countries, we sincerely hope that here in Nigeria he will sign the electoral act and help to avert those things that made democracy to become distasteful in those countries. “Democratic watchers home and abroad may not be wrong to interpret the failure of the president to sign electoral bill as a plot to supplant the democracy in Nigeria. There is no longer any excuse tenable enough to prevent the signing of this bill. “The president must not allow the enormous resources invested by the lawmakers and the people in producing this bill to be wasted,” the statement added.

PenCom Retirees Seek Inclusion in New Pension Bill Amby Uneze in Owerri Retirees under the contributory pension scheme have asked the National Assembly to include them in the Pension Reform Act 2014 (Amendment) Bill, 2022, now before it. The new bill, due for second reading, seeks to make funds in the contributory pension scheme more accessible to pensioners by increasing the lump payment from 25 to 75 per cent. It was sponsored by Senator Aliyu Wamako, representing Sokoto North under the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).

However, the pensioners, under the aegis of the National Association of PenCom Retirees, are asking that those of them that retired and were paid only 25 per cent be included in the proposed 75 per cent lump payment. In a statement signed by the Interim Coordinator, Mr. Jude Owuamanam, and made available to newsmen in Owerri, yesterday, the pensioner said it would amount to injustice if they were not paid the balance of 50 per cent. According to them, some of them were paid peanuts as 25 per cent lump payment that could

barely solve the basic needs after retirement while some were paid more than 25 per cent, but less than 75 percent. Owuamanam added: “When some us retired, our entire contributions were so small that the 25 per cent lump payment amounted to nothing really. Some of us could not meet the basic needs after retirement. For instance, some of us were building retirement homes and had hoped to use the lump payment to complete it, but you find out that the money could not do much. What a retiree needed most is where to retire

to and that is shelter. “Again the monthly payment can hardly last for few days. But if we get enough lump payment, we can deploy to starting some business or any other use. “We have more than N13 trillion in pension fund assets and it makes no sense that owners of this money live in penury while the pension fund administrators live big. They are using our money for their own business while we starve. We are therefore pleading that that not only the amendment be passed, we should also be included in the new bill,” the statement added.

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PAGE TWELVE B U H A R I M AY S I G N E L E CTO R A L B I L L TO DAY, S E E KS L AW M A K E R S ' AS S U R A N C E S TO A M E N D C L AU S E 8 4 of the bill to continue to suffer." Also, the president is expected to meet with governors elected on the platform of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) tomorrow at the State House, Abuja, to address concerns relating to the proposed February 26 national convention of the party. But this is not going to be before a meeting of the APC governors tonight in Abuja, where they want to take a final look at the situation and issues relating to the convention before engaging the president tomorrow, and ultimately a decision. Buhari, last night, decided to lay the issues stalling the Electoral Act Amendment Bill to rest, when he seized the initiative and met with the leadership of the National Assembly with a view to finding a middle ground and closing the deal once and for all. The president was said to have earlier met with the Deputy Speaker, House of Representatives, Hon. Ahmed Idris Wase, and the Deputy Senate President, Ovie Omo-Agege, who is the Chairman of the amendment committee, deputised by Wase, on how to resolve the controversial Clause 84 of the new amendment. According to sources, the

president had only asked if they would be willing to expunge the contentious aspect after he signs the bill so that the political turf could be cleared of the electoral bill crisis. According to a source with knowledge of the ongoing conversation, the president is seeking comfort and assurances that the aspect that infringes on the constitutional rights of Nigerians would be brought in conformity to the constitution through an amendment after he has signed to avoid further delay to the take off of the bill." But as at last night, THISDAY could not glean from the leadership of the National Assembly if they had agreed to the president’s proposal, but feelers from the Villa, indicated that once the Buhari gets the assurance of the the legislative leadership to address the grey area, he would move swiftly to sign the bill, possibly today. There had been misgivings about the new amendment, which had also fuelled speculations on whether or not the president would sign it into law. The latest speculation was stoked by rumours that some governors, especially, those of the ruling APC, were not comfortable with the new amendment and had planned to

prevail on the president to also veto it, as he did in the last one. This is because the harmonised version of the Electoral Bill recently passed by the legislature and considered the final agreed version by both Senate and House of Representatives, had inserted a controversial Clause 84 into the amendment bill. The implication of the Clause 84 was that all political appointees in President Buhari’s government would no longer be eligible, either as voting delegates or aspirants during the conventions or congresses of their political parties. Also, by the provision at issue, political appointees were further barred from voting as delegates in a convention or seeking nomination in the primaries of their political parties. Unlike what was obtainable in the past, when most APC ministers and commissioners took leave of absence to contest their party’s primaries and later went back to their jobs after they lost, that grace was no longer available with the new proposal. According to Clause 84 of the recommitted bill, “No political appointee at any level shall be a voting delegate or be voted for at the convention or congress of

any political party for the purpose of the nomination of candidates for any election. “Where a political party fails to comply with the provisions of this Act in the conduct of its primaries, its candidate for election shall not be included in the election for the particular position in issue. “Notwithstanding the provisions of this Act or rules of a political party, an aspirant, who complains that any of the provisions of this Act and guidelines of a political party have not been complied with in the selection or nomination of a candidate of a political party for election, may apply to the Federal High Court for redress. “Nothing in this section shall empower the courts to stop the holding of primaries or general election under this Act, pending the determination of a suit.” Unfortunately, there was a lacuna in the new law, which encouraged infringements on the inalienable rights of citizens to vie for elective offices. The Supreme Court had pronounced at different times that any law inconsistent with the provisions of the constitution is ultra vires and, to that extent, null and void. Sources, however, believed

FROM $380BN LOSS IN 50 YEARS, NIGERIA’S OIL INDUSTRY BEGINS IN-COUNTRY ANNUAL RETENTION OF $8BN created with the implementation of the NOGICD Act. Over the past 11 years, Wabote stated that the level of Nigerian content in the oil industry, which was about five per cent before the enactment of the act in 2010, had increased to 26 per cent in 2016 and 42 per cent as at December 2021. He explained, “Before now, there was revenue focus with little emphasis on in-country value addition, with massive capital flight of over $380 billion and an estimated two million job loss over a 50-year period, while the local content in the oil and gas industry was less than five per cent.” Wabote explained that NCDMB launched a Nigerian content 10year strategic roadmap in 2017, with the target to achieve 70 per cent Nigerian content by 2027. As part of this goal, the board, he noted, would catalyse the creation of 300, 000 direct jobs in the oil and gas industry and linkage sectors and enable the retention of $13 billion out of the estimated annual $20 billion spend in the oil and gas industry. The NCDMB helmsman hinted that a pointer to the marked improvement in Nigerian content implementation was that the local economy used to retain little or nothing from the annual

oil industry spend of $20 billion before the Act. The $8 billion incountry retention per year was possible, according to him, due to the development of critical capacities and assets by local oil and gas service companies and increased domiciliation and domestication of industry operations. Wabote said Nigeria had also moved from near zero participation in the operations side of the oil and gas sector to the point where indigenous operators, such as Seplat, Aiteo, Eroton, and others, were now responsible for 15 per cent of the country’s oil production and 60 per cent of domestic gas supply. Other major accomplishments of Nigerian content implementation included the establishment of two world-class pipe mills and five pipe coating yards, enabling Nigerian firms to fabricate more than 250,000 tonnes of steel per year, and ownership of more than 40 per cent of marine vessels used in the industry, he stated. Wabote added that over 10 million training man-hours had been delivered via the board’s human capacity development programme, thereby enabling the indigenous workforce to sustain oil production at the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown. Providing details of the board’s

credit facilities to the oil and gas industry, Wabote said NCDMB had inaugurated a $50 million Nigerian Content Research and Development Fund to drive basic research, commercialisation of research breakthroughs, establishment of research centres of excellence, and sponsorship of university endowments. He added that the board floated a $50 million special loan product for women in the oil and gas business to enable empowerment of the womenfolk in the industry, managed by Nexim (Nigerian Export-Import) Bank, and established another $30 million working capital fund to support oil and gas service companies. The NCDMB executive secretary announced that the agency recently secured the approval of its Governing Council to set up a $50 million fund for a manufacturing product line, to be dedicated to companies that would operate in the Nigerian oil and gas parks. He said this was being constructed by the board in Bayelsa and Cross River states, explaining that the beneficiaries of the fund would have to be engaged in the manufacturing of equipment components used in the oil and gas industry and linkage sectors. Wabote stated that NCDMB convened the breakfast meeting

with the managements of the media organisations to enable senior members of the media understand the importance of Nigerian content to the economy. He added that the COVID-19 pandemic made humanity realise that every economy needed to develop local capacities and capabilities in the core sectors, hence, all hands must now be on deck to push the local content narrative. He charged media practitioners to uphold the ethics of the profession, noting that Nigerians depend on the media for many decisions. However, Wabote regretted that some online media platforms were undermining the federal government’s intentions of bringing in technocrats and professionals to serve as appointees through targeted and unwarranted attacks. Speaking at the event, Manager, Corporate Communications, NCDMB, Mr. Esueme Kikile, noted that media practitioners were key partners in the implementation of the NOGICD Act. Kikile solicited the support of the media to curb the incidence of fake news and libellous publications. He assured the media of the board’s continuous partnership and support.

that the clause was meant to clip the wings of the governors, who, through appointments, often controlled those who became automatic delegates and determined the outcome of congresses. Sources further claimed that the idea was originally from the House of Representatives, pushed by a principal officer from Lagos as an agenda to serve some interests. The senate was said to have concurred, just to keep the “one house” impression by the National Assembly. But the fear being expressed by many was that, with a clause that clearly breached the provision of the constitution, the president might be forced to veto the electoral act amendment bill again, and that if that happened, a new electoral law might not be ready for the 2023 elections, hence the new rapprochement by the president. Buhari had declined assent to the first amendment bill over the provision of direct primary as the only mode of choosing candidates by political parties. The bill earlier passed by the National Assembly on November 18, 2021, provided: “A political party seeking to nominate candidates for elections under this bill shall hold direct primaries for aspirants to all elective positions, which shall be monitored by the commission.” But Buhari, in declining assent, disclosed that he would only give assent to the bill if the lawmakers provided options for the conduct of primaries by political parties. The president also cited several disadvantages of the provision to the system, including security and possible manipulation by incumbent officeholders, who might be seeking re-election, as well as political parties’ inability to muster funds for it.

Buhari Meets Governors Tomorrow However, the president’s meeting with governors over the national convention tomorrow, was initially scheduled to hold last Tuesday but was called off shortly before the president proceeded on a four-day official visit to Brussels, Belgium, to attend the EU-AU Summit. Sources told THISDAY at the weekend that the rescheduled meeting, which is at the instance of President Buhari, is to look at the national convention of the party fixed for Saturday, February 26, 2022. Some stakeholders have been pushing for a postponement of the convention citing logistical challenge and planning issues.

They pointed out that the February 26 date was no longer feasible. Ultimately however it is the President's decision to make whether to go ahead or not. And as at this early morning he had not made that call. The meeting with the President, which will be led by the Chairman of the Interim Committee of the party and Governor of Yobe State, Mai Mala Buni, with 20 other APC Governors in attendance, would now table another possible date and other logistics for approval by President Buhari. The interim leadership of the party was said to be pushing for the convention to be moved by two weeks to mid March but it will have to seek the approval of President Buhari in his capacity as the National leader of the APC. This was the same step Buniled interim committee took last December, when it approached the President to approve the February 26 date, which President Buhari gladly did. The same scenario may play out as the President might accede to the extension of the date for the convention being proposed by some of the party leaders.

APC Governors Meet Tonight Worried by the turn of events over the national convention of APC, governors elected on the platform of the party are billed to meet tonight in Abuja, to take a final stand on the matter as well as decide whether to go ahead or shift the date of the convention. Some of the governors, whom THISDAY gathered were unhappy with both the president and party leadership, hinted that the meeting tonight would be the final one on the convention and that the outcome may be unpleasant as a majority of them were ready to go all out. Party sources, who also hinted at some of the happenings in the APC, however, pointed at the Imo State Governor, Uzodinma and his Kogi State counterpart, Yahaya Bello, as the arrowheads of those pushing for a postponement of the convention. According to party sources, the duo of Uzodinma and Bello, were the ones orchestrating the postponement, because they were said to be comfortable with the current caretaker committee through whom they’ve been able to push many agenda and were therefore striving hard to ensure they stall the convention. “Isn’t it unfortunate that people, who had no idea how this party Continued on page 47

HOW PRESIDENCY’S INTERVENTION SPEEDED UP KYARI’S ARREST to the NDLEA, the police high command would probably have continued to dither on the request to hand him over for interrogation," a presidency source said. Having assembled a watertight case, with graphic video evidence, photographs, audio recordings, WhatsApp chats, etc., against Kyari and his men, NDLEA, it was gathered, briefed the president and other persons that needed to know in the presidency of the depth of Kyari's involvement in the drug ring. After securing the nod of the presidency to move against Kyari, the drug agency approached the Inspector General of Police. The source revealed, “The NDLEA chairman, Mohammed Buba Marwa (retd), went ahead to brief the IGP, who by this time was unaware that the president had been briefed. The IG was presented some of the damning evidence gathered against Kyari and his co-conspirators, urging him to release Kyari to the agency for interrogation. “The IGP promised the NDLEA that Kyari was going to be handed over to them on Thursday, February 10, but that did not happen. Friday also came and went, and nothing

was done. The drug agency waited all through that weekend, but nothing happened. And Kyari who, apparently, had become aware of the request suddenly became unreachable to the agency. “Meanwhile, Kyari had started calling everyone in the presidency he thought could do something to put pressure on NDLEA to back off from arresting him.” THISDAY checks revealed that the press conference by NDLEA was a pre-emptive move following a tip-off to checkmate an alleged plot by the police high-ups to shield the wanted cop from arrest by the anti-drug agency, according sources briefed on the matter. Presidency sources told THISDAY, “The NDLEA got intelligence that the police were planning to change the narrative by parading some persons as suspects over the matter. It was when they (NDLEA) got wind of the move that they knew the police wanted to turn the case around. That was why they hurriedly addressed that world press conference last Monday. “And immediately after the media briefing and reactions were pouring from across the world, the presidency called the IGP and directed him to

ensure that Kyari was released to the NDLEA immediately. At this stage, the police high-ups who had been shielding Kyari all along knew the game was up and had to arrest him immediately.” The erstwhile Commander of Intelligence Response Team (IRT) at the Force Intelligence Bureau of the Nigeria Police was subsequently arrested and handed over to the drug law enforcement agency that Monday evening about 5 pm. Kyari has been accused by the drug-fighting agency of being a member of a drug-dealing cartel that operates the Brazil-Ethiopia-Nigeria illicit drug pipeline. Alongside Kyari, four other suspects in the matter, namely, Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Sunday Ubua; Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Bawa James; Inspector Simon Agirgba; and Inspector John Nuhu are presently being interrogated and further investigation being carried out on their alleged involvement in cocaine dealings, at the headquarters of NDLEA in Abuja. John Umoru, also a key member of the Abba Kyari gang, who goes by the nickname “Too much money", is presently at large. The Police Service

Commission had directed the IGP, Usman Baba, to ensure Umoru’s arrest. THISDAY gathered that the drugfighting agency has watertight case backed with solid evidence against Kyari and the others. Kyari, despite being on suspension, was said to have still carried on with his despicable acts. The source disclosed that there were more than 10 audio evidences, five video evidences, and pictures, stressing that what the NDLEA did was a “clean job.” The source stated, “The fact is that Kyari was being shielded from being extradited to the US by the police leadership, which was terrible enough case and worse for a senior police officer to be dealing in cocaine. “The modus operandi of Kyari and his men was that once they get information about banned drugs that were imported, such as tramadol, they would impound the items from the importer that brought them into the country and sell them to another cartel. That is, they take from one cartel and go and sell to another. “He is a billionaire and we learnt that in his confessional statement he revealed that he owns properties

in choice locations in Lagos and Abuja. He owns an estate in Lekki, in Lagos, he has a house in Victoria Island, he has an estate in Asokoro in Abuja, and another estate at Guzape, Abuja, that is to let you know how corrupt this young man, who was on his way to becoming the IGP of the NPF, was.” THISDAY checks also revealed that the anti-drug agency last week filed an ex parte action in court to detain Kyari and his men for two weeks to allow it more time to conclude its investigation. He and his conspirators may be charged to court in the next two to three weeks. Meanwhile, more trouble appears imminent for Kyari, as NDLEA launches a probe into the seizure of a large consignment of Tramadol, an illegal drug, in Lagos. Sources close to NDLEA said Kyari and other had been linked to the alleged seizure of a large consignment of Tramadol in a warehouse at the Amuwo-Odofin area of Lagos. It was gathered that someone who claimed to be a pharmacist imported the consignment worth N3 billion into Nigeria. It was learnt that the Inspector General of Police Intelligence

Response Team (IRT), allegedly, got information on the consignment and stormed the warehouse where the illegal drug was stocked, leading to the seizure. Sources at NDLEA said the agency ought to have been told of the seizure, which allegedly took place last year, but the Kyari team kept the information from the agency. “What this means is that the IRT may have sold the consignment of Tramadol to a cartel after storming the Amuwo Odofin warehouse and seizing the Tramadol,” a source said. “We have launched a probe into the case with a view to getting to the root of the matter,” the source added. Spokesman of NDLEA, Mr. Femi Babafemi, said no stone would be left unturned in ensuring that all suspects already in custody and those that might still be indicted in the course of investigation faced the full weight of the law. Babafemi said the war by the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari against drug was uncompromising, adding that the on-going case “showed a sordid connection between law enforcement agents and the drug underworld.”

MONDAY FEBRUARY 21, 2022 • T H I S D AY

T H I S D AY • MONDAY, FEBRUARY 21, 2022

COMMENT

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

NYSC TRUST FUND AND NATIONAL ECONOMIC GROWTH The NYSC Trust Fund holds much hope for the youth, contends Emeka-Rems Mgbemena

ecently, the management of the National Youth Service Corps, (NYSC), under the leadership of Maj. Gen. Shuaibu Ibrahim, an Associate Professor of Military History and Fellow, Historical Society of Nigeria, advocated for the establishment of the National Youth Service Corps Trust Fund (NYSCTF). The trust fund is expected to among other things, address the infrastructural deficits besetting the scheme, as well as provide start-up capitals for interested corps members to drive their business initiatives under the scheme’s Skill Acquisition and Entrepreneurship Development programme (SAED), in addition to expanding the quality and scope of the training. It is trite to rehash the whole philosophy behind the establishment of the NYSC, an interventionist agency that came as a child of necessity to fast track the healing of a nation just recovering from the throes of an unnecessary civil war. In almost 49 years, the scheme has remained a beacon of national unity -- one of the objectives behind its birthing, as so many inter-tribal marriages have been contracted, while a good number of ex - corps members have continued to settle down after service in their respective communities and states of deployment, thus, fostering national unity and integration. Gratifyingly, successive batches of corps members have continued to leave indelible imprints in the spheres of education, health, agriculture, national assignments such as conduct of general elections, census, immunization, among others. I hasten to posit that education will go comatose in many states of the federation if the services of corps members are withdrawn from secondary schools. Likewise, in some rural communities, corps doctors are the only doctors the rural populaces have ever known. Unarguably, the centrality of the scheme in overall national development cannot be over-emphasised, which demands an all- round protection of this important national asset. Indeed, one of the greatest achievements of the scheme in recent times is the prioritisation of the skill acquisition programme, with a department established to coordinate its activities. There is no gainsaying the fact that this programme

THE PROPOSED TRUST FUND, WHILE ADDRESSING THE CHALLENGES OF INFRASTRUCTURE, WILL PROVIDE STARTUP CAPITALS TO A BROADER SPECTRUM OF CORPS ENTREPRENEURS TO DRIVE THEIR BUSINESSES

which has been well driven and coordinated by NYSC management has become a veritable gateway to self reliance for corps members. Interestingly, Bank of Industry, Central Bank of Nigeria, Access Bank, Unity Bank, NYSC Foundation, in addition to others are in collaboration with the scheme, providing start-up grants, as well as loans to interested corps members that meet the requisite criteria to fund their businesses. It is very heartening to note that the skill acquisition programme has become an integral part of NYSC Orientation course content. It comprises both in-camp and post - camp training. Evidently, so many corps members that keyed into the activity are today business owners, employing other Nigerians, thereby, contributing to the country’s GDP. However, the number of corps members that receive grants and loans from the financial bodies as start-up capitals is infinitesimal compared with the number of youth mobilised every year for service. The proposed trust fund, which has gained traction, while addressing the challenges of infrastructure will provide start-up capitals to a broader spectrum of corps entrepreneurs to drive their businesses. NYSC mobilises an average of 350,000 youths yearly for service; even if just 30% of them get funded by the trust fund yearly, the multiplier effects the establishment of cottage industries by the corps members will have on our economy cannot be over-stated. Doubtlessly, millions of Nigerians will be lifted from poverty; with a concomitant mitigating effects on youth restiveness and other unwholesome practices. The NYSC holds a stake in the march towards economic diversification if given the requisite support by government. Indeed, the NYSC Trust Fund holds so much hope for the youth. In conclusion, as the House of Representatives holds public hearing on the bill to establish the trust fund, Thursday, 24th February, it behoves all stakeholders and patriotic Nigerians to rally support for the fund, given the fact that it is a critical need that will not only empower the youth, but also accelerate economic growth and diversification. Mgbemena wrote from Abuja

WHAT’S GOING ON IN ZAMFARA? Awaal Gata writes that Zamfara’s governor and lawmakers should worry more about the state’s mounting debts than their political maneuvering

hen Mahdi Mohammed Aliyu Gusau began to make the news in 2019 as the youngest Deputy Governor in Nigeria, it drew awe among Nigeria’s marginalized young population and was celebrated as a victory of the “Not Too Young To Run” movement, which has been the slogan of a generation in search of inclusion in governance and influence in politics. What promised to be an inspirational story of the youth revolution is, unfortunately, being frustrated by his refusal to compromise on his political principles. In June 2021, when Mr. Gusau’s principal, Governor Bello Matawalle, announced his defection to the All Progressives Congress (APC), which was a predictable move for those who had sensed his quests for political survival beyond 2023, the fate of the former became a subject of public concern. But when asked about his future as a card-carrying PDP member in a government that had switched partisan allegiance to the APC, Mr. Gusau said rather optimistically, “It’s not a new thing in Nigeria politics for governor and his deputy to belong to different political parties and complete their constitutional mandate together and I hope this too shall come to pass in Zamfara.” But his intention towards the government, of whom he said “I have a good working relationship with the governor,” wasn’t reciprocal. Barely a month after hoping for a smooth relationship with the governor, Mr. Gusau was forced to take to his Instagram page to share a screenshot of his correspondence with the Zamfara State Commissioner of Police who had barred his convoy from entering Gusau, the state capital.

The Police Commissioner was acting under instruction to stop what he took to be a PDP rally in the state. He said the state was unsafe for a rally, but Mr. Gusau spelt it out in the text message he sent: “I am in a convoy with my family to my house and using the route I always take,” he wrote to dispel the notion of a rally, and that “If the well-wishers wish to follow me home, it’s their right. If the youths choose to escort me home, it’s their right. If all political platforms deem me fit and decide to watch me as I drive home, it is their constitutional right.” Even if Mr. Gusau had attempted to host a rally that day, that position of the Police Commissioner was utterly hypocritical and sycophantic. The same Police had, a few weeks earlier, allowed Mr. Matawalle to organize a grand ceremony to declare his defection to the APC at the Gusau Trade Fair Complex, and had about 10 APC governors in attendance, along with serving ministers and the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Boss Mustapha. The irony of the event was, the governors who appeared on Gusau to attend the declaration ceremony were also from states at the mercy of bandits. The fact that the Police commissioner authorized that mega rally of the APC and suddenly developed sensitivity to security when he sensed the PDP too were about to hold their rally, even though that was not the case, was enough proof that Mr. Matawalle had finally secured the federal backing he had been yearning for to move against and neutralize his perceived enemies. When he was in the PDP, the same Matawalle had been in the media, day in, day out, crying out that the APC had been frustrating his fights against banditry and accused the Police in Abuja of being used to undo the arrests he

authorized. On September 14, 2020, Premium Times reported how, in the space of 10 days, two chieftains of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Zamfara State were arrested by the state’s police command over alleged links to bandits, and that, in both instances, “higher authorities of the police directed the release of the suspects citing ‘orders from above.’” Mr. Matawalle was disappointed that he couldn’t secure the freedom to hound those he perceived as threats based on his partisan sentiments, most of whom were associates of his political opponents like Abdulaziz Yari, while he’s in the PDP, and that inspired his defection to hobnob with the same people he used to single out as sponsors and abetters of banditry in the state, and getting the Police Commissioner to do his bidding. The difference this time is, Mr. Matawalle has the backing of the powers that be in Abuja now, which once frustrated his bids to have his opponents summarily arrested and neutralized. This explains the audacity of the Police Commissioner to harass the Deputy Governor, and allowed himself to be an agent of a glaring partisan agenda. The claim that the APC could hold a well-attended and loud rally in the state capital while the deputy governor’s convoy was perceived as a security threat by the same Police isn’t democracy. It’s conscious partisan agenda to crack down on any structure and presence of the opposition in Zamfara State. And the same legislature, which ought to protect the deputy governor from such serial harassment, has jumped on the partisan bandwagon to appease the vengeful governor. The threats of impeachment, which began almost immediately the deputy governor made it clear he won’t be joining

the governor in the APC, has gathered storm now and, tragically, Mr. Gusau is being fought from all fronts for choosing to remain in the party that offered them the platform to occupy the offices. As the election year approaches, it’s easy to see why Governor Matawalle and his APC allies want Mr. Gusau out by all means. The sheer desperation is simply for political survival, and it’s insane that a state being overrun by bandits is more worried by the principled refusal of the deputy governor to defect to the APC. The irony of this charade is, if Mr. Gusau suddenly announces his decision to join Mr. Matawalle in the APC, these ridiculous allegations being parroted by the State House of Assembly to impeach him would be instantly discarded. It’s a comical scenario! But what’s rather sad isn’t just that the scarce resources of the state are being wasted in the pursuit of such wild partisan vendetta. It’s more tragic that even Zamfara State Chief Judge, Kulu Aliyu, who ought to be the voice of reason, is dragging the judiciary into this sham while the Speaker of the State House of Assembly, Hon. Nasiru Muazu Magarya, who’s similarly youthful and expected to see through the charade, prioritizes personal political gains over the state’s interests. However, with Zamfara State’s domestic debt stock, in a September 20, 2021 data from the Debt Management Office, standing at an alarming N100.7 billion, much more than the debt profiles of Kaduna and Jigawa States combined, one would expect Zamfara State’s lawmakers and governor to have much more worries than their political survival beyond 2023. Awaal Gata, a media practitioner and public affairs analyst, writes from Abuja

T H I S D AY • MONDAY, FEBRUARY 21, 2022

EDITORIAL REVISITING NIGERIA’S POPULATION PROBLEM The recent drive aimed at managing the country’s population is welcome

ince promulgating its first comprehensive population policy in 1988 during the military government of General Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida, Nigeria’s responses to the increasing demographic pressure have levered on controversies across successive governments. President Muhammadu Buhari’s recent inauguration of the National Policy on Population for Sustainable Development as well as the National Council on Population Management, came as no surprise. With an estimated population of 213 million, about 45% of which live below the poverty line, Nigeria ranks 150th among 157 countries in the World Bank’s 2020 Human Capital Index. This growing pressure on decreasing national resources has instigated, beyond the socio-economic realities, disparaging profiling of what was once promoted as the “Giant of Africa.” Declared as the poverty capital of the world in a 2018 Brookings Report and serially hounded for THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT having 13 million MUST BE WARY OF THE out-of-school kids MISTAKES OF PAST roaming its streets, Nigeria is overdue POPULATION POLICIES, for a reality check. WHICH WERE DRIVEN As the global BY ASSUMPTIONS THAT price of crude oil, THE DISPUTED FERTILITY which accounts for CONTROL COULD INSTIGATE about 86% of NiA DEMOGRAPHIC DECLINE geria’s total exports revenue, falls—and the leaders of the developed world gravitate away from the commodity—revising Nigeria’s exploding population to fit into its economic size is a stitch in time. President Buhari, therefore, bears the burden of a country with no more luxury to trivialise the adverse effects of overbreeding. It has long been clear that a large population offers two outcomes—a dividend or a disaster. But the revised policy, which is designed to guide the nation towards maximising its demographic potential, must consider the setbacks that hindered past attempts at population control, especially the cultural and religious resistance in parts of the country averse to family planning or the government’s interest in altering the reproductive behaviour of citizens.

Letters to the Editor

The difference, this time, is the implication of neglecting past population policies, which has led the country to this crossroads. President Buhari’s version is set to be implemented in a country more disadvantaged than it was in the past, and with communities in the North, where the fertility rate has been alarming, at the mercy of rampaging terrorists and bandits. To redeem these demographic potential, the government must deploy strategies to develop existing human capital along with the studied birth control measures.

T H I S D AY EDITOR SHAKA MOMODU DEPUTY EDITORS WALE OLALEYE, OBINNA CHIMA MANAGING DIRECTOR ENIOLA BELLO DEPUTY MANAGING DIRECTOR ISRAEL IWEGBU CHAIRMAN EDITORIAL BOARD OLUSEGUN ADENIYI EDITOR NATION’S CAPITAL IYOBOSA UWUGIAREN MANAGING EDITOR BOLAJI ADEBIYI THE OMBUDSMAN KAYODE KOMOLAFE

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

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

APGA WON ON OBIANO’S ACHIEVEMENTS

. Obi Oguejiofor’s angry protest of the APGA’s resounding victory in the November 6, 2021, Anambra State governorship election was long expected. The only surprise about his grudges conveyed in: “Vote - buying in Anambra Governorship Election” was that it did not come the next minute following declaration of APGA’s victory. It may well be the case that in the intervening period the writer agonised between accepting the clear verdict of the people and holding on to his jaundiced opposition to the APGA - Obiano government. If he admitted the widely acknowledged merits of APGA’s renewed mandate, would that not self - discredit the earlier demarketing of the APGA - Obiano governorship? Surely, it takes uncommon humility to admit wrong judgement, to respect democratic will in conflict with our desire. Notwithstanding the facade of a broad criticism of our electoral environment in which the article is deceptively clothed, the writer’s plot to diminish the APGA - Soludo mandate, is obvious. Consistent with this agenda, treatment of the subject matter switches from detachment on peripheral, general areas to judgmental outbursts on arguments involving APGA, Obiano and Soludo. In the prelude to the governorship election, Oguejifor was engrossed in a futile campaign against the zoning principle in determining Willie Obiano’s successor. The APGA, the foremost political party in the southeast in a regime of free and fair elections, had since 2010 consistently flown the flag of rotating the governorship in Anambra State among the three senatorial zones. Consequently, Oguejifor was simply trying to derail APGA from the governorship contest with his activism against zoning the ticket to Anambra South Senatorial District. With Anambra’s great human capital, first class governorship

t the top of the agenda before Nigerian policymakers must be the forecast that the country’s population would double by 2050, and this would make it the third most populous country on the planet. To overcome this, the government must intensify its efforts towards creating employment opportunities and granting citizens access to first-rate education and training and supporting them to take the lead in adopting the fast-evolving technologies of the future, particularly digital skills, and with painstaking attention to the widening social inequalities. The federal government must be wary of the mistakes of past population policies, which were driven by assumptions that the disputed fertility control could instigate a demographic decline. It must adopt multi-sectoral solutions that respond to existing demographic overflow, with a focus on school enrollment, health facilities, housing, infrastructure, jobs and, very tellingly, security and safe environment for agriculture to stop the fast-growing influx of Nigerians from the rural areas to urban centres. To ensure demographic dividend, therefore, President Buhari must set in place a strategy to neutralise the politics and politicisation of population sizes by ensuring the accuracy of data and building an institutional framework for the management of national databases. Nigeria’s clashing cultures and beliefs have left policymakers from the South and the North polarised over the decades, and with the questions of birth control seen as sectional agenda to subdue each other. The political representatives of the regions and religions, along with cultural influencers and clerics, must be engaged to sensitise the public on the essence of birth control.

materials can be found in each of the 21 local government areas of the State. Consequently, the writer’s position that zoning would be at the expense of merit was rather insensitive to public sensibility. Where is the critic’s sense of equity? In the attempt to devalue the APGA’s triumph, the writer declared: “Vote - buying, in fact, enabled the turnout to reach 10 percent, since many ‘hungry’ voters came out to take advantage of the ‘chicken change’ doled out at the polling booths.” The porosity of the above claim is laid bare when the matter is put in perspective. Voter turnout for Anambra State 2010 governorship poll was 16 percent of registered voters. The 2013 governorship election recorded 25 percent voter participation. For the 2017 governorship poll, it was 22 percent. Given the precedents, a situation of high voter inducement, as alleged, would have resulted not in 10 percent but in significantly higher voter turnout. The argument that vote - buying triggered increased voter turnout when voter turnout actually reduced from an average of 21 to 10 percent is ridiculous. This is another pointer to the stuff of the referenced ‘ ‘petition.’ But because there is a specific target to be nailed, the rubbishing attempt continues: ‘As for the impact of vote - buying on the outcome of the election, it must be said that, given its spread and high sums expended for votes, it was perhaps the most potent factor that determined the outcome of the election.’ And finally, the long - readying killer punch. If other electoral variables had prevailed, the writer pontificates, ‘it would be near impossible for APGA to win.’ IfeanyiChukwu Afuba, Special Assistant, Media, to the Governor of Anambra State

TIME TO STAND UP “Honesty and transparency make you vulnerable. Be honest and transparent anyway.” - Mother Teresa elling the truth is the expected and usual way for most people even when it may not be the best option for them personally. This applies especially for our leaders who guide us and set the standards to follow. If only it was that simple though. There have been two recent cases, ex-President Trump, and ex-Prince Andrew and in both cases they have faced court challenges. Former President Trump and two of his children must testify in court into an investigation by the New York state attorney general into their business practices. He has also been investigated in relation to the January 6th Capital Hill riots although in both cases he has claimed his innocence, and this must be presumed correct unless there is more information made available that creates doubt. The recent court appeals to stop the investigation seems odd if there is nothing to be hidden and surely he would want the truth to be out there. With ex-Prince Andrew the matter has been into the courts, but a private and unknown settlement has resolved that matter. He has been accused of horrible things and has also always maintained his innocence as is his right although an open court procedure would have given him the opportunity to clear his name publicly. When people are honest, and their word is true then the best approach is to confront their doubters openly and resolve it in the court of public opinion rather than use a lawyer to attempt to stop legal court actions. Everyone should be brave and honest and stand up to defend what they have done and what they believe in. Dennis Fitzgerald, Melbourne, Australia

MONDAY FEBRUARY 21, 2022 • T H I S D AY

T H I S D AY ˾MONDAY, FEBRUARY 21, 2022

DISCOURSE UK-Nigeria: A Partnership Built on Mutual Respect and Cooperation

igeria is one of the UK’s most important relationships and I am excited to be here for my first visit. Our two countries have a partnership built on mutual respect and deep and longstanding cooperation across a wide range of areas, underpinned by strong peoplepeople ties. I am pleased to be here just a year away from Nigeria’s seventh presidential election since the return of democracy in 1999. As the largest democracy in Africa, what happens in Nigeria matters across the continent and Nigeria can set a democratic example for others to follow. As President Buhari said in Brussels last week, “Free, fair, credible, and transparent elections remain crucial elements in ensuring peace and security and promoting constitutional order, democracy, and inclusive governance on the continent”. I very much agree. During my visit, I am looking forward to seeing at first-hand how institutions and civil society partners are working to ensure the 2023 elections are peaceful, free, and fair. With these partners, we are supporting, amongst other things, increased political representation and participation for young people and women in Nigeria. I will review the support the UK has provided and see what more we can do. My visit follows the UK-Nigeria Security and Defence Partnership Dialogue in London earlier this month, at which we agreed to strengthen cooperation in a range of areas including military cooperation, counter terrorism, civilian policing, human rights and recognising the important role of women in achieving sustainable peace. Our cooperation to tackle insecurity and its effects is wide-ranging. For example, in relation to the ongoing conflict in North-East Nigeria and the Lake Chad Basin, where millions of people are in need of life-saving humanitarian assistance, the UK and international partners are working closely together to provide humanitarian aid to affected people and communities. Overall, the talks in London left me optimistic about the future of the UK-Nigeria bilateral relationship, and with a high level of ambition to expand ties across the board. For example, I want us to do more on bilateral trade. In 2020, UK-Nigerian trade totalled £3.2 billion, made up of £1.9 billion in UK exports and £1.3 billion in imports. As I have discussed with Nigeria's High Commissioner to the UK, H.E. Ambassador Sarafa Tunji Isola, I firmly believe we could do better and I am committed to increasing bilateral trade, investment and economic cooperation. In light of this, I read with interest President Buhari’s article in the British press last month on the need for the UK to trade more with Africa. I am looking forward to exploring this topic in my discussions this week with the Nigerian government, including by discussing how to remove barriers to greater trade and investment. We are using all the UK’s strengths, bringing together UK aid, British firms, UK Export Finance (UKEF), and British International Investment (BII). Through our UK aid portfolio, we are working to promote and facilitate investment in Nigerian businesses, enabling them to

Ford

grow and provide additional revenue and jobs. The UK intends to be the honest and reliable investment partner that African countries want. By promoting a liberal free trade approach, we will help create conditions that support businesses in all parts of the UK and across the African continent – and that includes our work to tackle corruption and illicit finance. When in Nigeria, I will sign an agreement related to anti-corruption, further strengthening the UK-Nigeria partnership and demonstrating a zero-tolerance approach to companies and people who bend the rules to gain unfair advantage. This will build on commitments the UK and Nigeria made last year following the signing the MoU between our two countries on the return of stolen assets. In my view, investing in Africa is the future. By 2040, African countries will have the largest youth population in the world. With the right investments, young people can realise their potential and be Africa’s greatest resource, driving economic growth across the continent. Education is key to this. This week, I will discuss how the UK and Nigeria can work together to improve access to education in Nigeria, which has the highest

number of primary aged children out-of-school in the world. The UK has already invested significantly in advancing the education of girls and boys in Nigeria. Over the last decade, UK support to basic education has contributed to significant enrolment gains and enabled improved systems for 11 state governments, reaching approximately 8 million children. Whilst here, I will cover a range of other priorities. I will announce new investments worth millions of pounds, including in support of low carbon-energy projects, and Small and Medium Sized Enterprises. I will meet people working on some of the new technologies that will help drive economic growth and help meet the challenge of climate change. Following the COP26 summit in Glasgow last year, we are working together with the Nigerian Government to support energy transition away from oil and gas whilst ensuring energy access for all, in line with Nigeria’s international climate commitments. I am looking forward to engaging on all these areas and more during the next few days.

NOTE FOR READERS: r 7JDLZ 'PSE XBT BQQPJOUFE .JOJTUFS for Africa at the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office in September 2021 and became the Minister for Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean in December 2021. r 1SFWJPVTMZ TIF XBT UIF 1BSMJBNFOUBSZ Under Secretary of State for Children and Families at the Department for Education from February 2020 to September 2021. r 7JDLZ 'PSE XBT GJSTU FMFDUFE BT UIF Conservative MP for Chelmsford in 2017. See here for more background: IUUQT XXX HPW VL HPWFSONFOU QFPQMF WJDLZ GPSE r 0O %FDFNCFS .JOJTUFS GPS "GSJDB 7JDLZ 'PSE TQPLF BCPVU IFS priorities in the role for 2022 in a speech she gave at Chatham House called “Africa and the UK: Priorities for engagement in 2022 - Minister for Africa speech at Chatham House”

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T H I S D AY ˾ MONDAY FEBRUARY 21, 2022

Group Politics Editor NSEOBONG OKON-EKONG

POLITICS

Email: nseobong.okonekong@thisdaylive.com 08114495324 SMS ONLY

M O N D AY D I S C O U R S E

How Aregbesola Was Cut to Size by Oyetola in Osun Governorship Primary

Yinka Kolawole reports that Governor Adegboyega Oyetola of Osun has picked the ticket at the All Progressives Congress governorship primary in Osun State, having thoroughly thrashed Alhaji Moshood Adeoti, candidate of the Minister of Interior, Rauf Aregbesola

Oyetola

s the Osun All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship primary election has come and gone, also it is believed the wave of crises and factions in the APC must have been reduced by the defeat of the Minister of the Interior, Rauf Aregbesola’s candidate, Alhaji Moshood Adeoti by the incumbent Governor Gboyega Oyetola. On Saturday, February 19, members of the APC Osun State, filed out to elect a governorship candidate. At the end of the exercise, Osun State Governor, Gboyega Oyetola emerged the winner of the primary election conducted in all the 332 wards of the state. Two aspirants contested alongside Oyetola. They include the former Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Lasun Yusuff and a former Secretary to the State Government, Moshood Adeoti. Announcing the result in the early hours of Sunday at the state’s APC secretariat in Osogbo, Osun APC Primary Election Committee, led by Governor Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq of Kwara State said accredited voters were 247,207 while the total vote cast was 235,550. Governor Gboyega Oyetola beat the Minister of Interior, Rauf Aregbesola’s candidate, Adeoti with a wide margin of 222,169 votes to 12921, while Lasun polled 460 votes. Speaking on this historic occasion on the peaceful conclusion of the primary election and his emergence as the candidate of the APC in Osun, Oyetola gave glory to the Almighty God for making it possible. He said, “Once again, our great party has spoken as a beacon of democracy and strong and united channel of development. “ He remarked that with the outcome of the contest, “we have jointly made a resolve to continue to redefine governance and re-entrench sustainable democracy.” According to him, “Today’s victory is made possible by the members of our great party who gave us another opportunity to face the people of Osun to seek re-election. The outcome of this primary election is victory for our party and members who have spoken loudly through their votes. “ “It is victory for our people who trooped out in large number during our strategic tour of the State to inform them of our intention to seek a second term. It is a restatement of their confidence in our development agenda which hope delivered in 2018 and performance sealed in 2022. It is evidence of their believe in sustainable development which we brought into governance and preached every inch of the way.” “l thank you all our party members for your constant support, and especially for speaking eloquently today with your massive votes in

Aregbesola

Adeoti

favour of our administration’s restoration and consolidation agenda.” Oyetola said “With this primary election now concluded, I invite us all to rededicate ourselves and the party to delivering an overwhelming victory at the gubernatorial polls holding on Saturday, 16th July, 2022.” “For me, we are all winners. I, therefore, extend my hand of fellowship to the other two aspirants to join me as we prepare for the July election. We are all brothers. Let’s join hands to build the Osun of our dream.” He cautioned that, “Let us close ranks and eschew bitterness in whatever form. Therefore, may I use this opportunity to also ask all our aggrieved members to have a rethink and join hands with us to further strengthen our party and deliver outstanding results at the gubernatorial poll.” “l thank my brother Governor and Chairman of the Osun Governorship Primary Election Committee, His Excellency, Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq and all members of his team for conducting a hitch-free exercise. I pray God return them to their various destinations in peace. “ He equally thanked all the security agencies for living up to expectation and for helping us to guard jealously our enviable status as the most peaceful State in Nigeria. “To all our citizens, we thank you for standing by us in the journey of these three years plus. I promise not to let you down in the years ahead.” “As we commence the electioneering campaigns, I urge all contestants across party lines to perform this exercise with utmost decency and not jeopardize the peace and tranquillity our State is noted for. This is the least our people deserve and the beauty democracy requires.” Also in his remarks the APC Chairman, Prince Gboyega Famodun commended the committee saddled with the respon-

sibility as well as the National electoral commission for the performance leading to the success of the exercise. Governor AbdulRazaq hailed the peaceful conduct of the exercise. The Kwara Governor thanked APC members for the huge turnout and their peaceful conduct. He said the happenings have contradicted the expectations of many over the exercise. AbdulRazaq spoke with reporters after monitoring the primary in Iragbiji, the hometown of Governor Adegboyega Oyetola. He said: “Let me congratulate the people of Osun State and members of the All Progressives Congress (APC). What is happening here shows that the party is alive and strong. You can see that from the huge turnout. “If you open the pages of newspapers today, it was painted was a picture of the war in Osun. But the primaries election have been peaceful. I congratulate the people of Osun and all the aspirants. They have all done well.” As the entire members of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) cast their votes for their preferred aspirant in Osun, Governor Adegboyega Oyetola expressed confidence that he would emerge victorious in the ongoing primary election of the party. The Governor who applauded the members of the party for turning out in large number said, “losing was not an option for a man commissioned by God for an assignment.” Oyetola spoke shortly after he cast his vote at Ward 1, Boripe Local Government Area, Iragbiji on Saturday. He lauded Osun people for conducting themselves peacefully, saying the peaceful conduct of the election has testified to the fact that Osun remains the most peaceful State in the country. The Governor noted that news of violence making the rounds were mere

The embattled factional leader of the APC, Rauf Aregbesola lost in his ward to the incumbent Governor Gboyega Oyetola of Osun State during governorship primary election in the state. The primary which was conducted under peaceful atmosphere in Ilesa showed that the incumbent Governor polled a total number of 309 votes while Moshood Adeoti who was the candidate of Aregbesola polled 146 votes at Ward 8, Ilesa East

Lasun

speculations. This followed rumours in the build-up to the state’s primary election of the All Progressive Congress of possible onslaught by the members of the splinter group within the party called TOP. The group, comprising loyalists of immediate past governor and current Minister of Interior, Rauf Aregbesola, had produced two aspirants Alhaji Moshood Adeoti, who was a former Secretary to the State Government, and Hon. Lasun Yusuff, a former Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives. But Adeoti was preferred by Aregbesola. Oyetola however appealed to citizens across the state to maintain peace and decorum, adding that elections should not be a battle. “By the grace of God I will emerge victorious. To us, losing is not an option for a man commissioned by God for an assignment. “I just want to appeal to all our people across the state to maintain peace. Election process should not be a battlefield or a do-or-die affair. Let everyone exercise his/her tight to choose in determining who represents them at the party level and ultimately at the general elections. “So far so good, I think this process has gone well contrary to the speculation of violence. We have been in contact with a number of places and we have received positive signals of peace. “Really, I don’t see why choosing a candidate to represent the party should be a thing of violence”, he said Oyetola Beats Aregbesola in his Ward The embattled factional leader of the APC, Rauf Aregbesola lost in his ward to the incumbent Governor Gboyega Oyetola of Osun State during governorship primary election in the state. The primary which was conducted under peaceful atmosphere in Ilesa showed that the incumbent Governor polled a total number of 309 votes while Moshood Adeoti who was the candidate of Aregbesola polled 146 votes at Ward 8, Ilesa East. However, Aregbesola who was not visible in the state for the primary election, was said to have left Ilesa for Abuja on Saturday morning for an unspecified unofficial duty. Consequently, stakeholders as well as supporters of APC were visibly angry for Aregbesola absence during the primary election. Some APC supporters contended that Aregbesola must have left the state to avoid humiliation because it was visible that he was going to fail in his ward. Also, the supporters added that what happened at the primary election in Ilesa would was a painful disgrace for the factional leader because he had boasted before the election that Continued on page 19

T H I S D AY ˾ MONDAY FEBRUARY 21, 2022

MONDAY DISCOURSE

Okunnu: The Elder Statesman Who Loves Lagos and Nigeria Nseobong Okon-Ekong writes that Alhaji Femi Okunnu, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria and a former Federal Works and Housing Commissioner, at 85 years, retains an unparalleled love for his home state, Lagos and for Nigeria

t 85 years, Alhaji Lateef Olufemi Okunnu, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria and political activist has the good fortune of enjoying excellent health and retaining a sharp mind that continues to postulate didactic views on national issues. But he did not happen on the national scene by chance. He deliberately cultivated a pan Nigerian outlook which he has retained since the late 1950s when he co-founded the Nigeria Youth Congress as a student and young professional lawyer. He was frequently involved with protests to alert Nigerians about issues from his UK base. His commitment to one Nigeria; free and strong remains intact till today. The country and his home state, Lagos, have rewarded him handsomely for his diligence and commitment. He was appointed as Leader of the Federal Government Delegation to the Organisation of African Unity Consultative Committee on Nigeria Peace Talks to end the Civil War in 1968 and in 1969, he was appointed Leader of the Nigerian Delegation to the O.A.U. Ministerial Conference. In 1980, he was member of the Nigerian Delegation to the General Assembly of the U.N.O. He was later appointed as pro-chancellor of the University of Agriculture, Makurdi in 1982 Indicating that the fire of nationalism is still burning in his bones, Okunnu, who became a Federal Works Commissioner in the administration of Gen. Yakubu Gowon (retired) at the age of 34 years, showed solidarity with the EndSARS protesters in an interview on ARISE News channel, by saying he would have stood with them at the Lekki Tollgate if age did not restrict him. Always acting on his conviction which is driven by a deep sense of nationalism, Okunnu actively participated in the politics of the Second Republic. He was the Deputy National Adviser of the National Party of Nigeria (NPN), that held power at the centre, but not in his home state, Lagos, where the Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN) was in control. However, partisan leanings cannot alter his love for Lagos State and for Nigeria. Okunnu is not one of those Nigerians who is persuaded by religious or ethnic consideration. To him, there is no North or South, no Muslim North or South. We are all in different states. He told a national daily in an extensive interview, “I don’t care if all members of Nigeria Olympic team come from Awka or Oturkpo as long as they are Nigerians. I don’t care who succeeds who as long as he is true and genuine. If Ekwueme was alive and wanted to contest for presidency, as my senior in Kings College, I would come out for him. I support the youths in their 30s, 40s, 50s to come out for elections, this is their time, let power return to the states. What we are running today is military government

Okunnu

wearing the garb of federalism. I want those that would genuinely serve Nigeria and have the interest of the country at heart, people who are not ethnic-minded. I don’t want Igbo or Yoruba or Hausa but a true Nigerian. I want less power at the centre and more power to the states.” Okunnu’s spouse served as a former Deputy Governor of Lagos State. Today, his daughter, Khadijah Okunnu-Lamidi has shown interest in the 2023 presidential race, apparently to the admiration of his father, a thorough-bred Nigerian statesman. The country has rewarded him with him deserving assignments and honours at different times He was appointed as Leader of the Federal Government Delegation to the Organisation of African Unity Consultative Committee on Nigeria Peace Talks to end the Civil War in 1968 and in 1969, he was appointed Leader of the Nigerian Delegation to the O.A.U. Ministerial Conference. In 1980, he was member of the Nigerian Delegation to the General Assembly of the U.N.O. He was later appointed as pro-chancellor of the University of Agriculture, Makurdi in 1982. He is a Commanderof the Order of the Republic of Niger (CON), Commanderde I, Ordre National Du Dahomey and Commander National Order of Togo.. He

was awarded with an honorary doctorate degree during the 50th convocation ceremony of the University of Lagos. Apart from a street in his honour in the Lekki part of of Lagos, there is a sprawling Femi Okinnu Estate named after him by the Lagos State Government. For Lagos State, Okunnu has fought many battles including the obnoxious land decree signed by military President Ibrahim Babangida in 1993; which he challenged and won against the Federal Government, a few years later when the late Gen. Sani Abacha was in power. That decree stated that all the lands beginning from the Ocean or Lagoon whether the land belongs to state governments, such land belongs to state governments, corporate organisations or individuals, the title of such land belongs to the FG and it cannot be challenged in any court. You can’t challenge or argue that it is unconstitutional that decree operates in all the coastal states, not Lagos State alone but Lagos, Ogun, Ondo, Rivers, now down to Bayelsa, Calabar and down to the South-East. Okunnu believed the decree was targeted at Osborne Road-Ikoyi, majorly. Using his locus as a Lagosian, he went to court against the Federal Government and got victory that other states, not Lagos alone,

has benefitted from. According to him, “The FG has stolen many functions of the governors, like housing and other things like lands. The FG has stolen many Lagos State lands, for instance, Osborne and Banana estates. These are not federal lands but Lagos State lands by the constitution. Even when judgement was given against the FG on Osborne Estate by Justice Odunowo, the judgement was against the FG that Osborne road is not the property of the FG and cancelled all allocations by the FG but up till now, the FG is in violation of the federal high court on Elegushi case. “ From some of his views expressed in the public space, it may look like Okunnu is trapped in a time bubble that compels him to see the good only in his active years on the national scene. For instance, he would like Nigeria to go back to 1963 Constitution with the 12-state structure which was introduced by General Yakubu Gowon on May 27, 1967. Incidentally, the Gowon government followed the 1963 constitution. The oil-producing states: Mid-West, and Rivers State were receiving 50% of the oil revenue from Lagos and the Federal Government. It was in 1970 that the Federal Government passed a decree that oil from the offshore belongs to the whole country, otherwise, General Samuel Ogbemudia received 50% and Diette Spiff received 50% of the oil revenue as enshrined in the constitution from Lagos and FG as enshrined in the constitution. Police should be as it was in 1963. It was not 100% federal. The court of Justice, that is high courts within the regions have jurisdiction over all matters within the regions. The FG was not appointing judges or paying them under the 1963 Constitution. The chief judge of each region and the judges were appointed by the governors of the regions. On Okunnu’s 85th birthday, President Muhammadu Buhari, in a statement issued by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Mr Femi Adesina, in Abuja, noted with delight Okunnu’s foundational contributions to the infrastructural growth of the nation, and its developmental strides. Buhari affirmed that Okunnu was among the first administrators to set Nigeria on the path of physical growth. He said the elder statesman did this by patriotically ensuring a plan and implementation of network of roads for the country in the 60s, that had become the landmark routes after more than half of a century. The President extolled Okunnu for his nationalistic position and views at critical moments in the nation’s existence, especially the legendary role he played during the mediatory meetings after the Nigerian civil war. He also noted his contributions to structuring the “nation’s legal architecture as the country continues to develop.”

How Aregbesola Was Cut to Size by Oyetola in Osun Governorship Primary he was going to beat the incumbent Governor hands down, but the reverse was the case. Meanwhile, one of Aregbesola’s aide who does not want his name mentioned told THISDAY that his boss was on official assignment to Abuja. When asked if his absence will result to a low morale to Adeoti’s supporters, he retorted that Aregbesola’s presence may not stop his victory or stop him from defeating the incumbent. Meanwhile Governor Gboyega Oyetola has described the governorship primary election as a good turnout and meaningful. He said “ I thank God that we were able to do it peacefully. All the members of the party have the opportunity to decide who will carry the flag of the party...I happened to be one of the aspirants as well and I don’t expect anything less”. According to him “I want to appeal to all our people all over the state to please maintain peace. This election process should not be a battle field. It’s should not be a do or die affair. There should be no violence. Let everybody have the opportunity of participating in his choice of who should be the candidate of our party. I think that’s the process and I think it has gone very well contrary to the speculation.”

He said he “ i called (on the phone) some places in the state, I think it’s been peaceful conduct of the process.: At many of the Polling Units, there was noticeable absence of the Polling agents of other aspirants. This may not not be unconnected with the threats of violence widely promoted by loyalists of all the contestants. Oyetola said, “That’s not my job, it’s their choice. I mean we had the stakeholders meeting, we are all expected to have our agents around here, perhaps for whatever reason they decided not to be part of it, so I’m not bothered at all. God is always in control, absolutely in control. Why should there be violence on the question of picking a candidate for the party?” After casting his vote on the day of the primary election, Oyetola expressed that he will emerge victorious. “I’ll win by the grace of God. I want to appeal to all of us to see this issue as a family affair. It’s APC all through. We should brace up for the challenge ahead. We are going to face another party in this campaign we don’t know yet. I want to

appeal to them to ensure that we have opportunity for reconciliation. It’s a family thing Deputy Governor Also in his remarks the Deputy Governor, Benedict Alabi said “We are having a peaceful and we’ll organised election here. Ward 06 of Irewole Local Government Area of the state, it has been orderly and people have assembled since 8am. He remarked everybody” here seems to be agog. I am happy we are having a peaceful, free and fair election. The fact is that there is only one candidate that is contesting the primary in Osun and that’s the incumbent Governor.” “We have the other factions with other two aspirants. They are not even visible in this community. The chairman of Alhaji Monshood Adeoti is the only one in this Ward standing for accreditation and election and that tells you that Governor Oyetola is the candidate to beat.” Senator Ajibola On his part Senator Ajibola Basiru representing Osun Central said when asked

his impression of the turnout and expectations form the exercise said, “From what you have seen yourself, have you not seen that people are happy to participate in this exercise? This is the third ward I have been aside doing accreditation in my own ward. I have been to Ward 10 and now in Ward 9 and we have seen people ready and willing to vote and everything so far has been very peaceful and it is contrary to the impression that some people have given that there will be atmosphere of violence and I believe that at the end of the day, the person that enjoys the most support of our party members will emerge and you see the beauty of direct primary. The party members have taken over the control and will determine who will be their flag-bearer. I only appeal to those that would lose to accept in the spirit of democracy, unity, cohesion and development of our party to accept that in good faith and ensure that we join hands together to ensure the success of our party in the July election NOTE: Interested readers should continue in the online edition on www.thisdaylive.com

T H I S D AY ˾ MONDAY FEBRUARY 21, 2022

FEATURES

Group Features Editor: Chiemelie Ezeobi Email chiemelie.ezeobi@thisdaylive.com, 07010510430

Fuel Scarcity: A New Hydra Rises and Nigerians are Feeling the Heat While fuel scarcity in the past has often revolved around increased pump price or subsidy removal, the latest scarcity biting Nigerians hard sees a new entrant: adulterated fuel or off-thespecification petroleum products. Vanessa Obioha and Iyke Bede report that like the previous fuel crisis, this current fiasco is still a game of finger-pointing without any clear thought out process to ameliorate the situation

Fuel scarcity queues at petrol stations

or the past two weeks, Nigerians have been subjected to the tiring and distressing experience of sourcing for premium motor spirit (PMS), also known as fuel. Except if you own a private fuel dispensing outlet permanently installed in your abode, you may have been saved from the long queues and the burning sun. To be sure, it is not an adventure anyone wants to embark upon. The petrol scarcity imbroglio that has lasted for about a fortnight now is not a new experience in Nigeria. From time to time, Nigerians move out en-masse, jerry cans in hand, or behind the steering wheels to source fuel at all cost. In some recorded cases in the past few years, many have been compelled to roll out their generating set to stations that refused to sell to them in their cans, citing a preference to exclusively service motorists. A Tale as Old as Time Despite being an oil-producing country, once in a while, Nigerians face fuel shortages. In most cases, a prospective change in pricing caused by the removal of fuel subsidies is usually the culprit. The first recorded fuel scarcity reportedly happened during the Civil War when Gowon increased the pump price. Under the military rule that stretched between the 80s and 90s, Nigerians also bore the brunt of fuel scarcity, particularly during the late General Sani Abacha's regime. He was said to have increased the pump price but later reduced it. However, the 2012 fuel scarcity during the tenure of the former president, Goodluck Ebele Jonathan is notable for the protests that accompanied it. Jonathan had announced the removal of subsidy with the implication of increasing the pump prices. Although the move was to reroute the funds to other aspects of the economy that need revitalisation, the idea was not welcomed, with many citizens saying it was the only incentive they are aware of receiving from the government. To harden the blow, the rollout was not the best of timing. The removal of the fuel subsidy was implemented on the first day of January 2012. This series of actions led many to tag the action as the government's 'New Year Gift.' It was a heavily criticised move that bore many consequences.

Cars queuing up at petrol stations

To that effect, the #OcuppyNigeria campaign was launched as a form of protest against the government. Aggrieved protesters shut fuel stations down, further obstructing the free flow of petroleum products to the masses. Also, major labour unions embarked on indefinite strike action to reaffirm their commitment to protecting the masses interests. This cascade of events translated to a thriving black market ecosystem where fuel was being sold at exorbitant prices that showed a marked price increase. It was between a 300 to 500 per cent increase in the pump price of N145 (adjusted from the original pump price of N67). Similarly, in 2014, as part of its plans to reduce the subsidy paid, the initiative of lowering the number of licences to importers and independent marketers was introduced, yet it worsened the situation as inadequate amounts of fuel went into circulation. Reportedly, the said importers and marketers had quoted that a low supply of fuel was a delay in the license approval process by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation(NNPC). On their part, the NNPC countered the claims by insisting that marketers had ulterior motives of hoarding fuel to cause a hike from unavailability and increase profit for them. This back and forth between marketers, importers, and labour unions, in one way or another, has led to fuel scarcity at different times, with the most notable years being 2003, 2005, 2008, 2012, and 2013. A New Hydra Rises: Adulterated

Fuel While fuel scarcity in the past has often revolved around increased pump price or subsidy removal, the latest scarcity biting Nigerians hard sees a new entrant: adulterated fuel or offthe-specification petroleum products. This time around, the new parameter has created a massive ripple that halts many processes. After carrying out a thorough investigation, the NNPC announced that the current scarcity of the PMS is reportedly tied to a recall of supplied products that had high quantities of a gasoline additive, methanol. This additive ensures optimal performance of the motor engine and is attributable to the presence of oxygen and high octane that helps fuel burn more efficiently. While this appears to be a favourable characteristic of methanol in the refinement of PMS, an excess of it results in undesirable effects for motorists. For over four decades, the Nigerian government has, without providing straightforward reasons, imported petroleum products despite being one of the biggest producers of crude oil globally. Daily, it produces about 2.4 million barrels but imports over 70 per cent of its gasoline. The economics behind these processes may be foggy to the layman but the illogicality of the export-import mechanism that provides zero jobs for its citizenry while rendering it unable to extract, keep, and use every bit of crude oil distillate is not lost. For a long time now, the existing four refineries installed by the federal government either work below their

"While fuel scarcity in the past has often revolved around increased pump price or subsidy removal, the latest scarcity biting Nigerians hard sees a new entrant: adulterated fuel or oﬀ-the-speciﬁcation petroleum products. This time around, the new parameter has created a massive ripple that halts many processes"

intended capacity or don't work at all. However, millions of dollars go into maintaining them yearly. This has caused many to question the said 'maintenance', with many concluding that it is a front for corrupt government officials to line their pockets with money. And as for those who aren't involved in the practice, they stay mute to maintain a grasp on power. In a recent release shared by NNPC, it announced that it has augmented fuel supply, claiming it has one billion litres of petrol in stock, a quantity it expects can close the gap created by the shortages in the supply chain. "As of today, NNPC has over one billion litres of certified PMS (petrol) stock that is safe for use in vehicles and machineries," the company said. "As part of NNPC's strategic restocking, over 2.3 billion litres of PMS (petrol) is scheduled for delivery between now and end of February 2022 which will restore sufficiency level above the national target of 30 days." As reassuring as those words may sound towards instilling the confidence back in Nigerian, there is a lot left to be desired from their effort that comes days after the adulterated fuel hit the market. Who is Responsible? The first cases of scarcity can be traced back to MRS Nigeria. To clear their name, they categorically stated that the petroleum products were not imported by them directly, and claimed to have sourced the products from NNPC. “Due to the current subsidy regime, NNPC is the sole importer of all PMS in Nigeria. Consequently, NNPC, through their trading arm Duke Oil, supplied a cargo of PMS purchased from international trader Litasco and delivered it with the Motor Tanker (MT), Nord Gainer,” MRS said in the statement. The said product was reportedly traced to a cargo delivered by Litasco, the Swiss trading arm of Russia’s Lukoil. At first, there were no clear answers as to how the fuel got into the country, as NNPC struggled its way to explain, stalling, and creating a panic in the market that eventually led to a higher demand for the product. According to the CEO of NNPC, Mele Continued on page 21

T H I S D AY ˾ MONDAY FEBRUARY 21, 2022

FEATURES

Minister of Petroleum Resources, President Buhari

Kyari, reports reached the corporation as early as January 20, alerting them of unusual emulsion particles in the shipment from Antwerp, Belgium. Based on the quality certificate issued at load port in Belgium following an inspection carried out by AmSpec, it was revealed that the gasoline complied with Nigerian standards. Likewise, further tests carried out by the GMO, SGS, GeoChem and G&G before discharge into the Nigerian markets also verified that it met with Nigerian standards. But if all these tests were carried out, how come there was seepage of excess methanol into the cargo? And despite observing an unusual emulsion in the product, it still gave it a green light without more complex tests. In NNPC's defence, Kyari said: "It is important to note that the usual quality inspection protocol employed in both the load port in Belgium and our discharge ports in Nigeria do not include the test for per cent methanol content and therefore the additive was not detected by our quality inspectors." He noted that methanol discovery was made by its inspection agents who noticed the emulsification at the filling stations and after several investigations, NNPC moved swiftly to trace all the affected products and quarantine them to forestall further damage. Name-calling? This lack of communication or miscommunication as the case may be between Nigerians and the apex petroleum company doesn't inspire confidence. Despite the initial warning that made its way to NNPC on January 20, 2022, they paid a blind end, with hopes that their vindication lies with the routine tests carried out. From all indications the NNPC is responsible for the distribution, exploring, refining, and producing petroleum products. It would take days until it remits any useful information to the public, listing one of its subsidiaries, Duke Oil, as playing a role in disbursing methanol-laden fuel nationwide. In total, the NNPC named four companies (including MRS), with the remaining two being Emadeb Energy Services Limited, and Oando. A recent press release by Emadeb Energy Services Limited dated February 10, 2022, absolved itself of any responsibility or repercussions that may arise from the circulation of the adulterated fuel. "We hereby state that the said importation of the contaminated PMS was executed by a member of the consortium, to wit: Brittania-U," the company stated. "Therefore, the blanket claims made against the consortium by the NNPC are misleading and contradict the actual events that happened; they do not fully reflect and/or represent what transpired. It is important to inform the public of these facts and provide clarifications relating to the delivery of the said contaminated

Minister of state for Petroleum Resources, Chief Timipre Marlin Sylva

PMS to the country. We also deem it necessary to protect our image as we have invested a lot in building our respective brands in the industry." Damaging Effects With just four companies mentioned, one would assume that the effect would not be profound, at least on paper. On the weekend that marked the start of the fuel scarcity, a video report of an MRS attendant disbursing fuel in a plastic water bottle revealed something unusual. Normally, the colour of fuel ranges from colourless to light amber. However, the fuel being disbursed was a muddy brown, indicating that something is amiss. For a start, a few people reported having their vehicles sustain some level of damages. The Chairman of the Major Oil Marketers Association of Nigeria (MOMAN), Olumide Adeosun, revealed that 136 reported cases of damaged vehicle engines were discovered as a result of the contaminated fuel. “We were aware of this and have been working to ensure that the product received was separated, so it does not contaminate others, leading to destruction of consumers’ engines. Yet, some bad cases were recorded, including the Ardova PLC case, which led to 136 reported cases of vehicle engines damaged," he stated. The impact on the economy has also been overwhelming as every part of the economy, directly and indirectly, depends on fuel. As early as Monday, February 13, 2022, long queues have crystallised across fuel stations in Nigeria's leading cities: Lagos, Abuja, and Port Harcourt. The frustration experienced by Nigerians was palpable from the look on their faces: tired and stretched to their limit before official working hours, and these were just a handful of those who could afford to own and maintain a vehicle. To the commercial drivers, the rat race to secure fuel became a bona fide reason to hike fares by over 300 per cent, ultimately placing the average nine to five workers in a situation where they had to pay through their teeth for the recklessness of those they had very little influence on.

NNPC GMD Mele Kyari

Those who could not afford the hiked price in their meagre earnings, trekked to their offices just to retain their jobs. Within this short period, coupled with existing inflation, the prices of goods have slightly risen. But above all, the main profiteers of this fuel scarcity brouhaha are the black market merchants. "To ensure my business runs smoothly, I had to source the black market merchants to secure fuel speedily," Obong Emmanuel, a hairstylist along Apapa Road, Ebute-Metta, Lagos, told THISDAY. "Of course, I must cover the cost for the extra expenses that I have made. I normally charge a base fee of N500 for haircuts, but because I am buying fuel at an exorbitant price, I have increased the base fee to N700. "It would have been a different case if there was constant power supply. As you can see, it is not my fault, I set up my business for profit-making," concluded the stylist whose makeshift barbing salon was constructed from a container. A young man who pleaded anonymity lamented on the irregular power supply that coincided with the fuel scarcity. He showed a text circulated by the Eko Electricity Distribution Company (EKEDC).l explaining the recent drop in the amount of power supply. It reads: "Dear Customer, the reduction in power supply you have been experiencing for the past three weeks is due to the drop in power generation from an average of 3,700MW to 2,000MW per hour caused by gas limitations arising from vandalism, and more recently an issue affecting TCN line from the Egbin Power Plant. "We apologise for the inconvenience this may have caused and assure you that we are working with our generation and transmission partners to ensure stable supply is achieved within the shortest possible time. "We equally commenced major network rehabilitation and relief projects within our network two weeks ago that will significantly improve our services to our dear customers." He revealed that the supply in the area had decreased to a point where the expected accumulated power

"As early as Monday, February 13, 2022, long queues have crystallised across fuel stations in Nigeria's leading cities: Lagos, Abuja, and Port Harcourt. The frustration experienced by Nigerians was palpable from the look on their faces: tired and stretched to their limit before oﬃcial working hours"

supply daily was below five hours. He however says the drop isn't reflected in the exorbitant bills they received each month. "I have no choice as I work from home permanently. I can't give my boss the excuse of low power supply, I have to deliver on my deadlines. So, getting fuel is imperative at this point." With so many people making it down to the various fueling stations, it becomes a situation of survival of the fittest. Mr Ezekiel John, a motorcyclist who operates in the Ojo area of Lagos State, bemoaned the long queues in filling stations. "I spent half of my day at the filling station just to get fuel at the rate of N300 per litre. And I have to still beg before I was attended to." Segun, a motorist who plies the Orile/ Mile 2 axis openly admitted to securing fuel easily. It has become a culture with motorists and fuel attendants, where the latter is encouraged with bribes so that they can jump lines. For others who refuse to 'roger' these attendants, they risk spending hours in line, losing precious time. A common practice by most petrol stations during fuel scarcity is to abruptly halt sales when the queue is too much. For instance, a black market merchant complained that Total which was the only petrol station selling at the rate of N250 close to Iyana-Isashi bus stop along the Lagos/Badagry Expressway planned to stop selling for no reason. "I usually take my gallons at night so that I could buy for the other day, but the attendant told me not to bother because the manager asked them to lock up," said the woman. However, some of the black merchants have resorted to selling to individuals who can pay higher than the stipulated price. Nollywood actor Gideon Okeke made this known in a post on Instagram. The post partly read: "It is bad enough that black market sells one litre for N5,000. Worse off, the fact that the black market dealer vehemently brags about only selling to Yahoo boys. Because dem no dey prize market. Anything you tell dem, dem go pay!" A dead-end? In a way, from the apex petroleum body to the ordinary attendant, we observe how scarcity of a commodity with which Nigeria is richly blessed, exposes a matrix of corrupt practices. From NNPC listing names of companies involved with the disbursement of adulterated products, to said companies countering claims made by NNPC, to the motorist and barber who feel justified for their actions, the current fuel scarcity, just like the previous ones, is a game of finger-pointing without any thought out process to better approach the situation in the future. As expected, Nigerians will move on with their life as soon as the supply chains are restored.

T H I S D AY ˾MONDAY, FEBRUARY 21, 2022

INTERVIEW

EU’s VP, Vestager: Success of Nigeria’s Democracy, Not for Europe to Judge Last week, Margrethe Vestager, Executive Vice President of the European Commission, was in Nigeria holding talks with the government and other stakeholders on ongoing EU projects in Nigeria. In this exclusive interview with THISDAY, she stressed the importance of Nigeria to Europe while stating that Nigerian democracy is for Nigerians to determine. Michael Olugbode brings the excerpts: Can you tell us the reason for your visit to Nigeria? First, I was travelling with my president, the president of the European Union, to Senegal. She wanted to announce the funding of what we call the bill gateway, which is a European proposal for partnership on solid and soft infrastructure. And the announcement was 150 billion euros over seven years. And then I thought, I want to go in order to learn in order to see what is really interesting here, the obvious choice was Nigeria. This is a giant. It’s a country of big potential. The youth, the young generation, the talent of the young generation is so promising, and for us, for the European Union, it’s really important to partner up not only with the African Union but also with individual countries. And Nigeria is it, a running global player, just as well as, of course, already a strong regional player. So for me, it was an obvious choice to come here to discuss digitalisation, investment, facilitation, cooperation, in general, also on energy. Nigeria is a strong and long partner in the export of liquefied gas. So quite a number of important discussions were enabled by being here. And I’ve been here for four days. And obviously, the impression has been created. I think I was right to come here. This is a great country,

a very direct relationship between those votes and those who then become elected, they have responsibilities. When I became the commissioner seven years ago, for the first time, I had to leave the Danish Parliament. I was no longer a directly elected servant of my constituency. I was indirectly elected by my government and by the European Parliament. And that was really difficult. Because the relationship between you as a politician and your voters must be direct and strong, because you are trusted, and because of that, you have a responsibility, and this is, of course, why it’s so important that there is no interference in that discussion, that lead up to the very important, I think, most crucial thing in citizenship, that you can actually cast your vote.

You must have spoken with some people while in the country. What are the responses like? Well, I think that, as I said, there is a sense of partnership. Nigeria and Europe have been working together for a long time. There is also a sense of the talent that I see here of the ownership of the future of Nigeria. People coming back from having lived or studied abroad, people here building their businesses, I think a lot have confidence in being able to build an idea in future. And as I found out, this is really attractive for our partnership.

What is your take on military coups in Africa? This should be condemned. I was really happy with the very strong reaction within the African community against the coups. And I think it’s really important that the international community supports whatever sanctions the African community themselves are imposing against those who execute the coup d’etat. Because this is not a way for prosperity. This is not a way obviously for democracy to be enabled.

What challenges and opportunities do you see in the digital ecosystem of Nigeria? What is the EU doing to support this? The interesting thing for me is to see that actually, we share both the same problems, but also the same opportunities. The first one is connectivity. The second is skill. The third is digitisation of public services and utilisation and businesses. Connectivity, in particular, it’s really interesting to see that the high level of connectivity in Nigeria, but it is highly likely that it can be improved. We also have strong investment programmes in Europe for connectivity. So we would want to partner up here, and both with a submarine cable of West Africa to connect both to Europe but also to South America and the Bella cable, which is coming out of Portugal. And also on 4G, so the mobile infrastructure for that to be enabled. So I’ve had really interesting discussions about connectivity, because without connectivity, well, obviously no digitalization, second on skills to enable people to have both basic skills and of course expert skills. And here, we would also want to partner up. It’s part of our proposal of a programme to partner up also on skills. It’s interesting to see that as we hear, legislation on privacy is moving forward in the parliamentary processes, as well as in work on e-identity. And this is very much in parallel as to what we have been doing in Europe. We see the possibility to identify yourself as one of the things that can create trust online so that you know that the person that you’re dealing with, even if not physically present, is actually the person who says that he or she says that they are. That is also still a work in progress in Europe, but we see that strongly here. So these government services, also discussing digitisation of customer services, of course, that will pave the way for digitisation of businesses. And being in last, in particular, feeling that energy that busts of businesses being built was really impressive. Can you share with us what you think

What should be the expectations from the EU in terms of support like ﬁnancing and perhaps assistance to the female politicians to get more of them elected? But I think here, we are in your hands. And it is glaring from all the programmes that we do, we have a special focus on women and young people, as job creators, as entrepreneurs, as business creators, as agents for change also in European businesses. So if there was something specific, then you would tell us, then we would come, you know, rolling out the programmes.

Executive Vice President, European Commission, Margrethe Vestager Nigeria needs to do to be ﬁt for the digital age? For me, I had to think about it quite a lot when I got that assignment. Because for me, being fit is usually that you change yourself to do something. Actually, I think the most important thing is that we master technology for technology to serve us as people. Because one of my fears is that if we do not master technology, both in legislation and in skills, it will not be to the benefit of people. And that is our main focus, to make sure that it’s always with the human in the centre. It’s always the citizens who own the data. It’s the citizen who gets the site how the data should be used. And that I feel mirrored here, that fundamental respect of the individual, the integrity, the respect of the individual. I think that is key to successful digitisation. Considering the exchange rate of euros to naira, which has made equipment from Europe expensive in Nigeria and many parts of Africa, why should Nigeria look toward Europe? I think you are right to ask because there is a choice. There is an obvious choice. And really, these choices are being presented here. And I think the European proposal on the European approach is a package because it comes with these fundamentals of the human being at the centre, while at the same time, connectivity products. Fibre skill provision is a very high quality. And I think that is quite a unique combination that you get in that respect, then, of course, it’s a choice. But I think it’s for me. It’s really important also to present it as a choice that there is a deep-rooted policy decision to be made here as to what kind of society you would want to be. If you are Nigerian, and you are presented

with the decision of buying this rather expensive technology from Europe and the alternative of getting cheaper ones elsewhere, where would you turn? I am not the right one to answer that question. Because for me the obvious choice is Europe. Because we are next-door neighbours. We have known each other for so long. And we share some of the fundamentals. And that is that, for me, I think the best possible foundation for something that will really work for both parties. Looking at the huge resources the EU has invested in Nigeria’s democratic process since 1999, over €100 million, is the EU satisﬁed with the progress made so far? I don’t think it’s for me to judge. I think it is for the Nigerians to judge over their own democracy. There is an election coming up, and that is what I think we should be happy about. Because the point of democracy is that the voters are in charge, I am proud that there has been this solidarity between European democracy and Nigerian democracy for so long. I am proud it is seen as helpful because for me, democracy is the way of governing that can really deliver, but it is for the Nigerian voters to decide and to judge how they see things. One year from now, Nigerians will go to the polls to elect new leaders. What should we expect from the EU? Well, this should be the other way round. What are the expectations from you? Of course, if asked, I think, as in any election, there is an international community. But there’s not a specific European angle to this because an election in a democracy is for the voters who participate in that election. And for the candidates who put out their candidature for the voters. Because there is

But, it seems that coups are reactions to the governments not meeting the expectations of their people. What are you doing to make the leaders meet the expectations of their people and, in effect, make it hard for any military misadventure? It’s difficult for me to answer in general. But I think as an example, you can look at the partnership that we have here. A partnership that enables young people to start their own business, to get a head start with a private business, could be a European business. Because if you want change, then you should give people opportunities. And I think, for instance, the thing we do with the Tony Elumelu Foundation, you know, it’s a grant in US dollars, it’s a business education’s mentorship. I think that kind of opportunity is very critical. What we signed yesterday, the Nigerian Jubilee Fellows Programme to enable a one year paid employment in a private or public business and some of the businesses that would sign up, they are indeed European businesses. I think that kind of opportunity should be created. And I think the partnership between Nigeria and Europe is a very good way, how we can help each other to do that. One year after Brexit, how has it been with the EU? Oh, is it a while being here? I haven’t thought about it for four days. It’s my colleague who’s doing all the concrete negotiations. And one can say that things are not fully settled yet. There continue to be discussions about how to put into real-life the agreements that were signed, so it remains to be seen what will be the next thing for us. It is really important that we get Brexit done in the way agreed. And the way we agreed, obviously, is a bit complex because Northern Ireland needs an open border with the rest of Ireland, which means that they have de facto direct access to the single market, and that, of course, tends to complicate matters a bit. And I think that is the reason why things are not settled, but they’re not settled for quite good reasons. I think it will still take some time.

T H I S D AY ˾MONDAY, FEBRUARY 21, 2022

INTERVIEW

Prof. Gideon Christian: Canadian Visa Officers Reject Nigerians’ Applications Based on Discrimination A study commissioned by the Department for Immigration Refugee and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) to assess the success rate of study visa applicants in its consular offices across ten countries in its report made public recently identified bias and discrimination as primary reasons why Nigerians and Africans achieve only 12 per cent success rate in their visa applications. In this emailed interview with Joseph Ushigiale, Gideon Christian, a Professor of Artificial Intelligence and Law at the University of Calgary, explains the stereotyping and why Canada’s consular officers call Africans ‘Dirty 30’ Tell us about your current efforts alongside other Nigerian professionals to get fair treatment for Nigerians and Africans in the Canada study visa application process? I am an assistant professor at the University of Calgary Faculty of Law and the president of the African Scholars Initiative (ASI-Canada) – a registered Canadian charity that seeks to mentor bright future scholars of African descent who intend to pursue graduate education in Canada. We basically seek to identify bright graduates from Africa and then assist them to come to Canada to pursue further education. We assist them through the admission process and the study visa process. We have had tremendous success in the admission processing stages. But it is sad then, after successfully going through the admission process, most of these bright graduates cannot make it to Canada because of visa refusals at Canadian visa offices in Africa. Since 2017, I have been tracking the Canadian study visa approval rate for applicants from Africa. The rate has consistently been plunging. The situation became very alarming when I received the statistics for the Canada study visa approval rate for Nigeria, which showed a dismal approval rate of 11.8 per cent. Nigeria is among the top 10 source countries for the Canadian study visa. At this point in time, other top 10 countries like Korea and Japan had 95 per cent and 97 per cent approval rate. Shortly after I got hold of this data, a report that was commissioned by the Immigration Refugee and Citizenship Canada (the Canadian government department responsible for immigration) was released. The report specifically cited Nigeria as a country that was adversely impacted by racism in the processing of immigration applications by this government department. Christian With the data and the report in hand, I realised that I had the evidence to body of registered immigration consultants act. I quickly coordinated some group in Canada. Nigeria is the number three of Nigerian professors and graduate source country for the Canadian study students in Canada. We wrote a letter visa. So, these Canadian immigration to the Canadian immigration minister consultants deal with a large Nigerian drawing his attention to the report and client-base. The consultants became the data and requesting that steps be alarmed that most of the applications they taken to address the unfair treatment filed for their Nigerian clients came back of Canadian study visa applicants from refused. So, the body had to commission Nigeria. We got a cursory and unsata study. I believe they were reasonably isfactory response from the Canadian concerned by the very poor study visa immigration minister. So, in my capacity outcome from the Canadian visa offices as president of the African Scholars responsible for processing study visa Initiative (ASI-Canada), I wrote a letter for Nigerian applicants, as compared to the Canadian House of Commons to the outcome from other visa offices. Committee on Citizenship and Immigration, drawing their attention to You can imagine that Nigeria’s sucthe report and requesting a hearing to cess rate when it comes to study visa address the issues raised in the report. approval is just 12 per cent, while This culminated in a hearing by the China, Japan, Vietnam score above committee in which I was invited as 50 per cent. Did they mention the one of the witnesses to appear before criteria used? the parliamentary committee. To be clear, Japan actually had 97 per cent. That is close to 100 per cent What must have informed the Canadian success rate. The reason why Nigeria Association of Professional Immigration had such a dismal rate is evident in Consultants to commission this study the IRCC report – systemic bias and on declining visa approval rates? discrimination. The report noted that The Canadian Association of Professional the visa officers stereotype Nigerians as Immigration Consultants is an umbrella particularly corrupt and untrustworthy

ing because Canadian universities waive English language proficiency examinations for Nigerian admission applicants. So, if the Canadian schools waive it, you wonder why the visa office would demand it. This is an unjustifiable visa application requirement that has no rational objective. It only enriches third-party organisations like the British Council and IDP IELTS Australia while impoverishing the Canadian study visa applicants. Worse yet, the IELTS exam expires after two years – as if your English proficiency has a two-year life span. What’s your overriding objective in this struggle? The overriding objective is to ensure that Africans (including Nigerians) are treated fairly and equitably by the Canadian immigration officers, especially the Canadian visa officers in Africa. I find myself in a difficult position where I have to champion this struggle. This is a task that should be best undertaken by the various foreign ministries of African countries and their high commissions or embassies in Canada. But since they are not doing that, someone has to do it. If that person has to be me, so it be. Also, I have a sort of personal attachment to this struggle. I came to Canada as an international student. On completing my LL.M and PhD, I was called to the Bar here. I spent six years working as a lawyer for the Canadian government at the Department of Justice before leaving some three years ago to take up a position as a professor of Artificial Intelligence and Law at the University of Calgary. What I am trying to say is that this systemic bias and discrimination by these Canadian visa officers in Africa do not really represent Canada. Canada is a great country, a land of opportunities that is welcoming to immigrants. So, the objective of this struggle is to offer bright future scholars in Africa the same opportunity this country offered me many years ago. and refer to African countries as ‘the dirty 30’. Apart from perceived bias and perhaps racism, could it be that they are using Nigerians for revenue generation from payments gained from visa processing even when your visa application does not succeed? I think the system is more designed to keep Nigerians away. Nigerians are known for their resiliency; the more you try to keep them away, the more they continue to try hoping that things will change. That vicious cycle of refusal and reapplication results in some form of financial loss to one party and financial benefit to another. Another contentious issue is the insistence that Nigerians should compulsorily pass the IELTS though they’re from a commonwealth and English-speaking country? We did raise this issue in our letter to the Canadian immigration minister. This is very disturbing because Nigeria is an English-speaking country, and the language of instruction in its educational system is English. It is even more alarm-

Why do you think Nigerians and Africans are speciﬁcally targeted? Because we are easy targets. Africa lacks the kind of responsible government that is willing to stand up for their citizens when they are subjects of ill or biased treatment by foreign governments or their agents. You also have a government that thinks (and wrongly) that it is not in their national interest that their youths should be leaving their home country to travel and reside abroad. What’s the response you’ve received so far? Is there any indication of light at the end of the tunnel? Getting the Canadian House of Commons Committee to conduct a hearing on this matter is a huge success. I seized the opportunity of my appearance before the committee to make a strong case for Nigeria and Africa. We are hoping the committee will come up with a strong recommendation to address these issues. But whatever the outcome, the African Scholars Initiative will continue to champion the cause of bright future scholars of African descent in their quest to obtain a quality education from Canadian academic institutions.

T H I S D AY ˾ MONDAY, FEBRUARY 21, 2022

FOCUS

2023: Goodluck Jonathan and A Nation in Search of National Healing

Danjuma Zuru An elder statesman recently spoke in confidence to a group of younger generation bon the state of the nation recently. He was said to have asked very patriotic rhetorical questions: “Do Nigerians want former President Goodluck Jonathan for nothing? The taste of pudding is it not in the eating?” The worries of Nigerians on the current perilous state of the nation can never be emphasised enough on any platform. As a matter of fact, the level of national disillusionment from the North to South is being captured in the streets, at homes, in the markets, offices, farms, cities and rural areas. Economically, the country has never been this hungry and thirsty since Nigeria’s Civil War. Politically, the country has never been more polarised or divided; in short, the level of regional sessionist agitation has reached a near brwaking point for the fragile peace and unity of the country. In terms of security, the country has never known peace since 2015. Granted that the present administration inherited national security problems, but the government has fallen far short of the promise it made regarding securing the country and it’s over 200 million population. The state of national security has been going from bad to worse and to worst. There is unending insurgency in the North-East, banditry and kidnapping in the North-West, farmers versus herders clashes in the North-Central, kidnapping and highway robberies in the Southern parts of the country. It is a fact that many Nigerians now do not feel safe travelling from state to state, even in intra-city travels. These are indeed not the best of times for the country. The biggest of these is the grave general concern that, how can the country go into a crusial transition with all these excess baggages? That is why the coming 2023 Presidential Election is most crucial for the survival of our country’s democracy. Most importantly, that is why the choice of who becomes the next president to succeed President Muhammadu Buhari comes in. The answer(s) to the above questions, as many ethnic nationalities in the country have rightly noted, is President Jonathan. The country needs to rebuild it’s national confidence and pride which only GEJ has the credentials to deliver. There is however a recent development which indicates thatt the North is not ready to allow the presidency to rotate back to the

Jonathan south after President Muhammadu Buhari completes his second tenure in 2023. This should not be taken as the truest feelings in the North. The truth is that we on the North are tired of the crop of leaders the region has produced in recent times, in fact more than the perception in other parts of the country. It is very obvious that the way an average Northerner feels about the present governance system is that of exclusion. The fact that President Buhari is from the North

has not made the region fared better or given the region any socio-economic advantage in any way. All the economic and social development indices are there for all to see. In other words, the North actually benefits more from the president of Southern extraction than from the North and it is a historical fact. It is very obvious that since democracy returned to Nigeria in 1999, the North has been playing wrong politics by default and the most unfortunate thing is that it has

made the region look like a public enemy to the rest of Nigeria. Obviously, the present administration of President Muhammadu Buhari has given the rest of Nigeria and the global audience watching the events going in the country reasons to believe that we the core North are the problems of Nigeria. From economic, political and religious perspectives, we have wrongly projected ourselves, defaced our values because we corrupted it with greed, arrogance and inordinate quest for power at all cost. The value that is currently being advanced by the new leaders of the region is disruptive, haughty and does not encourage any fair union among multi-cultural and social structures like Nigeria. It is an established fact that under the Buhari administration, the North has squandered its good will that Nigerians overwhelmingly gave it and it needs urgent remedy. This has resulted in inestimable collateral damage to its political fortunes in the Nigerian project. Under the present circumstance, it is important to buttress the fact that the North - and indeed the entire country - will benefit more from a Nigerian President of Southern descent if it takes a deep reflection on the current cracks as a result of deep-seated mistrust in its hyped monolithic “United North”. Besides, there are several other minority groups within the far Northern states whose voices are scarcely heard. There is a growing mass awareness among these marginalised ethnic groups in the region that they understand that the time they are referred to as a United North is during elections where their votes are needed after which they are forgotten again. In other words, they are only good at being used during elections and any time the Hausa-Fulanis need the support of the ethnic groups within its monolithic structure where regional interest is at stake; they are not invited to partake in the spoil of war. In the North, we have been rather selfish, proud, arrogant and pretentious. We didn’t manage Obasanjo politics well when he opted for President Umaru Yar’adua. We ought to have allowed President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan to continue by having his second tenure but we played bad politics and ended in the Buhari fiasco. Now, we are thinking of returning to GEJ because he is presently our best option in the mess we have created in the present Nigeria. This - and many more - is why 2023 matters to the North, and the reason why GEJ matters even more above other considerations. r;VSV XSPUF GSPN ,BEVOB 1PMZUFDIOJD ,BEVOB

NEWS

2023: CNPD Seeks Buhari’s Support for Jonathan’s Return Under APC 7PXT UP NPCJMJTF FJHIU NJMMJPO WPUFST GPS FY QSFTJEFOU Sunday Aborisade, Abuja A group of professionals and business entrepreneurs under the aegis of Citizens Network for Peace and Development (CNPD), has urged President Muhammadu Buhari to support former president Goodluck Jonathan to emerge as Nigeria’s president in 2023 under the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC). The group urged former president Jonathan to dump the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and join forces with Buhari in the ruling APC, so as to return to power next year. The National Coordinator of CNPD, Mr. Raphael Okorie, stated these while addressing journalists in Abuja, yesterday.

Okorie said the group was ready to mobilise at least eight million citizens to return Jonathan to Aso Rock, Nigeria’s seat of power. He said the group was pleading with the former president to accept the offer to serve and rescue Nigeria at this crucial moments because of his track records in office. The CNPD said it was lending its voice to, “the increasing calls by various groups on the need for former President Jonathan to run for office.” He said, “We call on none other than our father and incumbent President Muhammadu Buhari who has done so much in his few years in office to throw his

support behind the candidature of Goodluck Jonathan, should he accept to vie for the office of President. “Coming at the heels of the end of his tenure, we are confident that Jonathan more than any other candidate will ensure continuity, stability and fair play across the polity. We say to Mr. President that you have sacrificed so much for this nation. “We are ready to mobilise no less than 8 million Nigerians towards the 2023 polls. We say so with all sense of responsibility. “Barely a year from now an opportunity to go to the polls to vote beacons. Nigerians will once again be presented with the chance to choose from the

usual political class or from a tested, trusted and responsible leader. “Nigerians will be accorded the opportunity to decisively address the security and economic challenges of our dear nation. “Taking the right step forward towards returning Nigeria to the path of peace, growth and development that is what the Citizens Network for Peace and Development pursuits vigorously. “The Citizens Network for Peace and Development has always been an active, impartial and largely apolitical entity made of members drawn across religions and ethnic nationalities and regions of the country.”

He added: “Our vision is to promote peace and development in Nigeria which is hinged on two principles, mutuality and inclusivity geared toward a strong and virile nation. “Nigeria at this point in Nigeria’s history, good leadership is very crucial to sustain the strides achieved by the previous presidencies. “The leadership requirement to move Nigeria forward is nothing short of a nationalist, knowledgeable, one who is tested and trusted, one who is visionary, strong and committed to the Nigerian Project. “Nigeria deserves a leader who is respected even beyond our borders. One who is passionate and one who puts

the interests of the citizenry above his own.” Speaking further, he said, “we have carefully scanned the political firmament in search of a credible, knowledgeable, selfless, trusted and patriotic candidate to occupy the exalted position of President of Nigeria. “It is not in doubt that Nigeria is at a crossroad between discontent, fear and suspicion and the propensity for peace, reconciliation and hope. “Our searchlight has fallen on none other than former President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan. His antecedents speak volumes. His compassion and passion for peace and Nigeria’s development cannot be overlooked.”

T H I S D AY ˾ MONDAY, FEBRUARY 21, 2022

BUSINESSWORLD R A T E S MONEY MARKET

A S

A T

REPO

Group Business Editor Eromosele Abiodun Email oriarehu.eromosele@thisdaylive.com

08056356325

F E B R U A R Y

S & P INDEX

1 8 , 2 0 2 2

S & P INDEX

EXCHANGE RATE

OBB

9.00%

CALL

INDEX LEVEL

564.02%

1/4 TO DATE

5.82%

N413.03/ 1 US DOLLAR*

OVERNIGHT

10.75%

1-MONTH

1-DAY

–0.17%

YEAR TO DATE

– 15.85%

*AS AT LAST FRIDAY

3-MONTH

10%

MONTH-TO-DATE

0.19%

Buoyed by CBN Policies, Financial, Insurance Subsectors’ Annual Growth Rate Reached 10.07% in Q4 2021

Kayode Tokede As Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) grew by 3.4 per cent in 2021, financial and insurance subsectors hit a new annual growth of 10.07 per cent at the end of last year, data released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) has revealed. The Finance and Insurance Sector consists of the two subsectors, Financial Institutions and Insurance. According to the latest report by

the National Bureau of Statistics, both subsectors recorded annual growth of 9.37 per cent in 2020 as against 2.03 per cent in 2019. Further analysis of the NBS data revealed that financial and insurance annual growth in 2018 and 2017 were 1.26 per cent and -4.54 per cent respectively. However, the NBS numbers showed that the finance and insurance subsector annual growth far behind annual growth in the

Information and communication sector. The insurance sector moved from -15.30 per cent to 6.24 per cent in 2021, while the financial institutions’ annual growth was at 10.53 per cent in 2021 from 13.34 per cent reported by NBS in 2020. The NBS numbers revealed that the finance and insurance subsectors contribution to real GDP totalled at 3.66 per cent, higher than the contribution of 3.07 per cent recorded

in the fourth quarter of 2020 by 0.59 per cent points, and higher than 3.16 per cent recorded in third quarter of 2021 by 0.50 per cent points. Finance experts attributed the growth in financial and insurance subsector to numerous policies by the federal government-driven by Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC), among other stakeholders. Commenting, the Vice president, Highcap Securities Limited, Mr.

David Adnori stressed that the annual growth in the finance and insurance subsector was driven by the policy of the National Insurance Commission (NAICOM). According to him: “The banking sector in 2021 did not perform impressively enough to drive growth in GDP, unlike the insurance sector. Such growth in the financial and insurance subsector is expected because the nation’s economy opened up in 2021 after the COVid-19 of 2020.

“Some of the credit that on hold in 2020 started performing the following year and it has it positive impact in the financial sector. The capitalisation of the insurance companies by NAICOM played a critical role in that sector and it reflected on the listed NGX Insurance index. Mind you, some financial companies played in the foreign exchange market and they generated a lot from the devaluation Continued on page 26

Flour Mills, Dangote Kick over Sugar Scarcity Allegation by BUA Foods Kayode Tokede Two major sugar producers, Flour Mills Of Nigeria Plc (FMN) and Dangote Sugar Refinery Plc have debunked allegations by BUA Foods Plc of creating artificial scarcity of sugar amid decision to suspend sales. BUA Foods had published a disclosure distancing the company from every arrangement to create

artificial scarcity of sugar in the country. Reacting BUA Foods claims Company Secretary, FMN, Umolu Joseph in a statement on the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) said: “In reference to the publication in some dailies, the assertion by BUA Foods on the supposed suspension of sugar sales by FMN based on compliance issues is incorrect and indeed capable

of creating a false impression in the market, which is contrary to the interest of consumers.” He reassured customers and consumers across the country that FMN has no outstanding compliance issues with the National Sugar Development Council (NSDC), as confirmed by the council’s latest raw sugar allocation for 2022. “On the contrary, we have been

adjudged as the best performing Backward Integration Program (BIP). As one of Nigeria’s leading foods and agro-allied groups, with over 61 years of operations in the food industry, we want to reassure Nigerians hat we understand that millions of Nigerian families trust us for our quality, nutritious, and affordable foods. “To safeguard that trust, FMN will

continue to expand its investments in backward integration and the sustainable development of the critical aspects of the food value chain, including Grains, Starch, Feeds and Proteins, Oils and Fats, and Sugar. To demonstrate our commitment to the success of the National Sugar Master Plan, we will continue to uphold the tenets of the National Sugar Master Plan

and expand our investments for the sustainable development of the Sugar industry, ”he said. Also, Company Secretary, Dangote Sugar Refinery, Mrs. Temitope Hassan in a statement on the NGX said: “In compliance with the requirements of the Rulebook of the Nigerian Exchange Limited, DSR wishes to Continued on page 27

M A R K E T D ATA A S AT F R I D AY, F E B R U A R Y 1 8 , 2 0 2 2 FGN BONDS DESCRIPTION 12.75 27-APR2023 14.20 14-MAR2024 13.53 23-MAR2025 12.50 22-JAN2026 16.2884 17MAR-2027

Price

Yield

BILLS Change (%)

MATURITY

OTC FX F U T U R E S

Discount Yield Change (%)

106.80

6.67

-0.01

NTB 10-Mar-22

2.98

2.98 0.00

111.08

8.25

0.00

NTB 28-Apr-22

4.00

4.03 0.00

112.16

8.93

0.00

NTB 12-May-22 3.13

3.15 0.00

106.43

10.45 -0.01

NTB 9-Jun-22

3.67

120.54

10.90 -0.58

NTB 14-Jul-22

4.30

CONTRACT TENOR (MONTH) 1

Contract

Current Rate ($/₦)

NGUS MAR 30 2022 428.93

NGUS APR 27 2022 430.63

NGUS MAY 25 2022 432.32

3.71 0.00

NGUS JUN 29 2022 434.02

4.38 0.00

NGUS JUL 27 2022

435.71

C Ps MATURITY

Discount Yield

Change (%)

UNCP CP VI 2-MAY-22 NEVE CP I 24MAY-22 DANC CP II 25MAY-22 TRBH CP V 26JUL-22 FSDH CP VI 1-AUG-22

9.30

9.48

0.44

16.82

17.59 0.54

9.31

9.54

12.29

12.98 0.13

9.06

9.45

0.53

0.09

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 21, 2022 ˾ T H I S D AY

BUSINESSWORLD

NEWS

CAREER FAIR ENGAGEMENT…

L-R: Human Resources Director, Reckitt, Sub-Saharan Africa, Mr Abel Idonije; Dean, School of Management and Social Sciences - Pan-Atlantic University, Dr Sola Oni; General Manager, Reckitt, Sub-Saharan Africa, Mr Akbar Ali Shah; Registrar - Pan-Atlantic University, Mr. Kingsley Ukaoha, and Marketing Director, Reckitt, Sub-Saharan Africa, Mr Tanzim Rezwan, at Reckitt Career Forum with Pan-Atlantic University in Lagos… weekend

FG to Urged Turn to Portfolio of National Assets to Unlock Liquidity Ugo Aliogo Nigeria’s surest path to full and effective funding of annual budgets as well as long term strategies can only happen if it turns to her portfolio of national assets to unlock liquidity and focus on increasing its revenue base. According to economic experts who spoke at the National Association of Microfinance Banks (NAMB) Lagos state chapter in Lagos, Nigeria’s economic outlook for 2022 can be positive only if it deploys effective policy instruments, adjust and reconnect its economy with unfolding global realities and stop borrowing in the “wrong” way. Speaking on the theme; “The importance of Microfinance in revamping the Nigerian economy; Roles, Impacts and Prospects,” and the 2022 outlook of the nation’s economy, the Chief Executive Officer, Economic Associates, Dr. Ayo Teriba, said opportunities to move the economy forward remains abound but the narratives run contrary to the reality. He added that China, Brazil and India who were once in the poverty bracket has gone on to become super powers in the global economy. Teriba added that for Nigeria to get away from the poverty bracket, it needs to strategically reposition itself for global trends, become proactive in seizing opportunities ahead of others, adjust and connect its economy to the unfolding global realities in 2022. He stated that increasing taxes in a recession will not bring more revenue, as revenue aspirations might not be met and added that the wide disparities between outcomes and official pronouncements, undermines fiscal credibility of the government. “Trying to grow tax revenue in a recession is a dead end, non-tax revenues are more promising and Nigeria’s plethora of assets

that offer huge non-tax revenue potentials remain unexploited. Hence, deficits will most certainly be more than budgeted once revenue disappoints. This is why we need to

Reporters Nosa Alekhuogie (ICT) Peter Uzoho (Energy) Ugo Aliogo (Development)

increased government revenues from economic transactions at a time that global operating margins are dwindling is a mirage, and that means that funding shortfalls mean

budgets get tossed to and fro by economic conditions they are meant to guide, ”Teriba explained. On his part, the Chairman, NAMB and Managing Director,

Accion Microfinance Bank, Taiwo Joda, stated that the nation’s savings culture remains fragile owing to low drive of financial inclusion in some regions.

FG to Generate N5bn from Fishery Concession Project James Emejo and Folalumi Alaran in Abuja The Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission (ICRC) has said the federal government hopes to generate over N5 billion through the fisheries coastal terminal concession project currently being finalised. The project is expected to further create jobs and boost foreign exchange earnings among other benefits to the economy. The commission, in a state-

ment by the acting Head, Media and Publicity, Manji Yarling, said project aims to boost fish exports, and ensure the rehabilitation and upgrade of the terminal and operation of fishing trawlers. The Federal Executive Council (FEC) last week approved the rehabilitation of the Federal Fishery Coastal Terminal in Ebughu Mbo Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom State. The project was proposed by Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, and

domiciled therein. The brownfield project is to be carried out using the Finance, Rehabilitate, Operate, and Maintain PPP Model with Messrs Alfin Fisheries Limited as the concessionaire, the statement added. The move is part of the efforts by the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari towards economic diversification, food security, and foreign exchange earnings among other benefits. The ICRC noted that primary

objective of the concession is to develop and upgrade the fishery terminal facilities to a world class standard through private sector financing and operation. The concession will span an 11-year period, with the upgrade and rehabilitation work expected to have been completed in the first year while the facility will be operated by the concessionaire for the next 10 years. The terminal provides onshore services to fishing vessels,

underwater vessels and offers repair and maintenance facilities. It is also equipped for vessel handling, dry dock fishing/ landing, processing and storage, among others. The commission explained that the project is part of moves by the federal government to reform the fisheries industry into an engine of economic growth as it is expected to create more jobs around the value chain and empower the youths within the host community.

IATA Confirms Increase in Air Travel as Restrictions are Lifted Chinedu Eze The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has released data showing growing momentum in the recovery of air travel as restrictions are lifted. IATA reported a sharp 11 percentage point increase for international tickets sold in recent weeks (in proportion to 2019 sales). “During the period under review, from about February 8, 2022 (seven-day moving average) the number of tickets sold stood at 49 per cent of the same period in 2019 and in the period around

25 January (seven-day moving average) the number of tickets sold stood at 38 per cent of the same period in 2019, “it stated. It noted that the 11-percentage point improvement between the January and February periods is the fastest such increase for any two-week period since the crisis began. IATA stated that the jump in ticket sales came as more governments announced a relaxation of COVID-19 border restrictions. IATA said these numbers reflect a spate of relaxations announced around the world, including in Australia, France, the Philippines,

the UK, Switzerland Sweden among others. “Momentum toward normalizing traffic is growing. Vaccinated travelers have the potential to travel much more extensively with fewer hassles than even a few weeks ago. This is giving growing numbers of travelers the confidence to buy tickets. And that is good news! Now we need to further accelerate the removal of travel restrictions. While recent progress is impressive, the world remains far from 2019 levels of connectivity. Thirteen of the top 50 travel markets still do not provide easy access to

all vaccinated travelers. That includes major economies like China, Japan, Russia, Indonesia, and Italy,” said IATA’s Director General, Willie Walsh. “To further boost air travel IATA has continued to call for removing all travel barriers (including quarantine and testing) for those fully vaccinated with a WHO-approved vaccine; enabling quarantine-free travel for non-vaccinated travelers with a negative pre-departure antigen test result; removing travel bans, and accelerating the easing of travel restrictions in recognition that travelers pose no greater risk for COVID-19 spread than already

exists in the general population. “Travel restrictions have had a severe impact on people and on economies. They have not, however, stopped the spread of the virus. And it is time for their removal as we learn to live and travel in a world that will have risks of COVID-19 for the foreseeable future. This means putting a stop to the singling out of the traveling population for special measures. In nearly all cases, travelers don’t bring any more risk to a market than is already there. Many governments have recognized this already and removed restrictions. Many more need to follow, ”Walsh said.

112 Emergency Number Will Enhance Implementation of NEMSAS, Says NCC Emma Okonji

Group Business Editor Eromosele Abiodun Comms/e-Business Editor Emma Okonji Aviation Editor Chinedu Eze Asst. Editor, Money Market Nume Ekeghe Senior Correspondent Raheem Akingbolu (Advertising) Correspondents James Emejo (Finance) Ebere Nwoji (Insurance) Chineme Okafo (Energy) Emmanuel Addeh (Energy)

start unlocking liquidity assets and stop borrowing in the “wrong” way. “This is the time to offer equity opportunities to the private sector and enable wealth creation. Seeking

The Nigerian Communication Commission (NCC), has said the National Emergency Number 112, which the Commission instituted and superintends, is the most critical infrastructure necessary for the successful implementation of the National Emergency Medical Service and Ambulance Systems (NEMSAS), recently launched by the Federal Ministry of Health. The NEMSAS is established as a programme implementation unit in the Office of the Honourable Minister of Health. The project aims to establish an Information

and Communication Technologyenabled emergency medical service that is effective, efficient, timely and in partnership with the private operators in the health sector. The objective of this new project is to increase access to healthcare, and to reduce mortality and morbidity rates in order to improve health care outcomes to all Nigerians. According to NCC, by integrating disparate Emergency Medical Services (EMS) resources available in Nigeria, the scheme would coordinate the national roll-out of EMS, enabling services to be provided through relationship with other entities and organisations. In essence, NEMSAS

would rely on many organisational partners to perform its EMS service delivery functions and the NCC’s 112 Emergency Number is going to drive the communication element of the project. Speaking at the public signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on the NEMSAS project between the Federal Ministry of Health, other relevant agencies and development partners, at the Shehu Umar Musa Yar’Adua Centre in Abuja recently, the Executive Vice Chairman of NCC, Prof. Umar Garba Danbatta, said the Commission was delighted to provide the technology platform that will link the NEMSAS

partners with those who require emergency health services. Danbatta, who was represented at the forum by the Director, Public Affairs, NCC, Dr. Ikechukwu Adinde, said: “As the national telecoms regulator, the NCC is providing the communication ingredient for the initiative through its 112 Emergency Number, thereby allowing those in health-related emergencies to be able to reach out to stakeholders that are involved in the NEMSAS project.” According to Danbatta, “The NCC has been at the forefront of deploying Information and Communications Technology (ICT) to drive the implementation of various

government projects and initiatives. The 112 number is at the heart of this initiative to provide a national number to Nigerians who are in need of health-related emergencies to be able to call Emergency Response Agencies (ERAs) or organisations in life-threatening situations.” The CEO of NCC also expressed the unwavering commitment of NCC to supporting NEMSAS’ implementation as well as similar governmental initiatives as part of the strategic programmes of improving Nigeria’s digital culture through policies instituted by the Federal Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy.

FLOUR MILLS, DANGOTE KICK OVER SUGAR SCARCITY ALLEGATION BY BUA FOODS strongly refute the allegations and assertions in their entirety as these false allegations may mislead the market and may give an undue competitive edge to BUA. “We believe this behaviour exhibited by BUA is worrisome and appears to conflict with the anti-competition rules. Last year, just

before the commencement of the Ramadan (the Islamic holy month of fasting), BUA made similar false allegations against the Company that it was engaged in ‘price-fixing’ and not honestly pursuing the Backward Integration Project. “In response to this, we published a Press Release (published on the

Issuers’ Portal on April 14, 2021) to refute the false allegations and made a formal complaint to the AntiCompetition Commission. “Another formal complaint was made to the Commission on February 14, 2022 and we await their actions to address the situation. “In line with our plan, we have

continued to supply Sugar to meet the market’s demand and have made the necessary supply chain and logistics investments/ arrangements to ensure there are no risks to our ability to meet the current market demands.” Hassan said Dangote Sugar Refinery remains the highest Sugar

supplier in the market today, with over 1.44million metric tonnes installed capacity at our Apapa Refinery, stressing that Dangote Sugar Refinery is the only company producing sugar from its own grown sugarcane under the Nigeria Sugar Master Plan (NSMP) at the Numan operations in Yola, Adamawa State.

T H I S D AY ˾ MONDAY, FEBRUARY 21, 2022

BUSINESSWORLD

STATUS REPORT

Cost of Sales, FX Loss Weaken Nigerian Breweries Profit

Kayode Tokede

hile Nigerian Breweries Plc grew its profit and dividend for shareholders in audited result and accounts for period ended December 31, 2021, the company was faced with hike in costs of sales and net loss on foreign exchange transactions during the period under review. The deprecation of Naira and double-digit inflation rate played a critical role in Nigerian Breweries 2021 audited result and accounts, coupled with tax expenses that nearly tripled that of 2020 results. In May of 2021, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) devalued the naira from N379 to N411.00 per dollar after adopting the Investors and Exporters (I&E) window rate and this contributed to Nigerian Breweries Plc’s performance. In the year under review, Nigerian Breweries reported about 27 per cent increase in cost of sales to N276.87billion as against N218.36billion reported in prior year results, while net loss on foreign exchange transactions grew significantly by 47.6per cent to N7.04billion in 2021 from N4.77billion reported in 2020 financial year. The group’s overall operating expenses that include cost of sales, marketing & disturbing expenses, and administrative expenses rose by nearly 30 per cent to N400.42billion in 2021 from N308.02billion reported in 2020. Most of the key drives of Nigerian Breweries overall operating expenses are hike in raw materials and consumables, advertising & sales promotion, employee benefits and repairs & maintenance. Specifically, Nigerian Breweries recorded 38 per cent increase cost of raw materials and consumables to N197.8billion in 2021 from N143.39billion reported in 2020, while advertising & sales promotion grew significantly by 59 per cent to N39.5billion in 2021 from N24.9billion in 2020. In addition, employee benefits grew by 21 per cent to N49.61billion in 2021 from N40.98billion in 2020. Recently, however, Nigeria’s manufacturing sector has been experiencing great operational difficulties. This is the direct consequence of the fall oil global oil prices due to COVID-19, resulting in the devaluation of Naira and increased difficulties for manufacturing companies to source the foreign exchange they require to import raw materials required for operations. Nigerian Breweries had announced that it achieved 57 per cent of its 60 per cent 2020 target for local sourcing of raw material for production. The company uses maize, rice as brewing adjuncts (sources of starch) in addition sorghum and cassava in the production of its products. Meanwhile, the top-line performance, revenue for the group rose by nearly 30 per cent to N437.3billion in 2021 from n337.05billion in 2020, mostly driven by revenue generated in Nigeria. In the 2021 audited result and accounts, the Group

recorded N437.16billion sales in Nigeria from N336.9illion recorded in 2020, while sales from export dropped by 11per cent to N128.12million in 2021 from N143.9million in 2020. Remarkably, Imported bought in materials and services that contributed to revenue grew by 84 per cent to N71.84billion in 2021 from N39.05billion in 2020, while locally sourced bought in materials and services closed 2021 at N240.74billion, an increase of 19 per cent from N201.72billion reported in 2020.

OPERATING EXPENSES/ REVENUE

Consequently, the over operating expenses/ revenue grew from 91.38per cent in 2020 to 91.57 per cent in 2021. Nigerian Breweries has a rich portfolio quality brands: Star larger that was launched in 1949, followed by Gulder lager beer in 1970. Maltina, the nourishing malt drink that was introduced in 1976, followed by Legend Extra Stout in 1992 and another malt drink, Amstel Malta in 1994. Henieken lager beer was re-launched into the Nigerian market in 1998. Fayrouz, the premium non-alcoholic soft drink, was launched in 2006, while Climax herbal energy drink was launched in 2010. Following the acquisition of Sona Systems and Life Breweries in 2011, Goldberg lager, Malta Gold malt drink and Life Continental lager, were added to the brand portfolio. In 2014, it merged with Consolidate Breweries, producer of “33” Export lager beer, Willams dark ale, Turbo King dar ale. More lager beer and a malt drink, Hi Malt became part of the company’s product. In 2020, the company further expanded its portfolio of brands with the launch of two variants of the Maltina brand, Maltina pineapple and Maltina Vanilla. Other brands launched in 2020 were Amstel Malta Ultra, an extension of the Amstel Malta brand, Star Ralder Red Fruits, a variant of the Star Radler brand and Desperados, another international premium beer brand with a distinctive tequila flavor. From the company’s loss and profit figures, gross profit grew by 35 per cent to N160.4billion in 2021 from N118.69billion in 2020 to position gross margin at 36.68per cent in 2021 from 35.22per cent in 2020. The company was able to drive its other income that grew significantly by 459 per cent to N4.63billion in 2021 from N828.1million in 2020. The increase in other income was primarily driven by sales of scrap that moved from N729.44million in 2020 to N1.45billion in 2021, and gained N2.95billion from gain on right-of-use de-recognition in 2021.

Other operating expenses revealed that Nigerian Breweries in the year under review reported about 38 per cent increase in marketing and distribution expenses to N97.3billion in 2021 from N70.7billion reported in 2020, while administrative expenses grew by 37 per cent to N26.24billion in 2021 from N19.21billion reported in 2020. As a follow-up, profit from operating activities closed 2021 at N41.49billion from N29.61billion in 2020. While interest income on bank’s deposits grew by 27.3per cent to N313.5million in 2021 from N246.28million in 2020, finance cost that included interest expenses on loans borrowings, among others dropped by 18per cent to N11.07billion in 2021 from N13.5billion in 2020. The breakdown of in finance cost revealed that interest expenses on loans and borrowings moved to N1.12 billion in 2021 from N5.55billion in 2020, while interest expenses on overdraft gained 102per cent to N3.58billion in 2021 from N1.78billion in 2020. In addition, unwinding of discount on employee benefits dropped to N873million in 2021 from N2.01billion in 2020. In all, net finance costs dropped to N17.79billion in 2021, a decline of 1.31per cent from N18.03billion reported in 2020.

PROFIT & DIVIDEND PAYOUT

Amid operational challenges faced by Nigerian Breweries in 2021, its profit before tax gained 105 per cent to N23.7billion in 2021 from N11.6billion in 2020. The reported N23.7billion profit before tax is the second highest declared since 2019 when a profit before tax of N23.5 billion was reported by Nigerian Breweries. The company reached had reported N46.6billion profit before tax in 2017 on the heels of favorable operating environment. Tax grew significantly by 162.1 per cent to N11.03billion in 2021 from N4.21billion in 2020, as income tax using the statutory tax rate that grew by per cent to N7.21billion in 2021 and tax on Right On-Use-Act that closed 2021 at N4.38billion impacted on tax expenses. So, profit for the year increased by 72 per cent to N12.67billion in 2021 from N7.37billion reported in 2020, driving the group Basic Earnings per share to N1.57 per share in 2021 from N0.92 per share in 2020. The management of Nigerian Breweries proposed a final dividend of N1.20 kobo per share in 2021 as against N0.69 kobo per share base on the issued share capital of 8,075,831,900 ordinary shares of 50kobo each subject to approval by shareholders. The management of Nigerian Breweries recommend to shareholders a total dividend of N12.9 billion that is, N1.60 kobo only per ordinary share of 50 kobo each. In 2020, the management had declared

The total dividend of 2021 financial year is comprised of an interim dividend of N3.23billion, that is, 40 kobo per share, which was declared in October 2021, and a final dividend of N9.69 billion kobo per share.

TRADE & OTHER RECEIVABLES

Nigerian Breweries grew total assets by nearly nine per cent to N485.5billion in 2021 from N445.9billion reported in 2020, driven by growth in trade & other receivables and property, plant and equipment in non-current and current assets. About 21 per cent increase in property, plant and equipment in non-current assets to N257.22billion in 2021 from N213.4billion impacted on total assets. The company reported 72.3 per cent increase in inventories to N62.19billion in 2021 from N36.09billion reported in 2020 to increase current assets to N120.17billion in 2021 from N93.2billion in 2020. The group reported nearly seven per cent increase in total equity to N171.9billion in 2021 from N161.08billion in 2020. The growth in total equity was driven by 8.4 per cent increase in retained earnings from N83.09billion in 2020 to N90.09billion in 2021. However, total liabilities that rose by 10.2 per cent to N313.61billion in 2021 from N284.7billion in 2020 was driven by 63 per cent increase in trade and other payable to N226.42billion in 2021 from N139.2billion in 2020. From the balance sheet position, current liabilities that comprises of Trade and other payables moved to N272billion in 2021 from while non-current liabilities dropped by 45 per cent to N41.08billion in 2021 from N74.2billion recorded in 2020. Nigerian Breweries total loans and borrowings n 2021 was N31.37 billion as against N91.45 billion reported in 2020. This simply means that the company’s loans and borrowings contributed about 6.5 per cent to total assets in 2021 as against 20.5 per cent in 2020.

A GOOD YEAR

Nigerian breweries in 2021 had a wonderful year but its performance at reducing the cost of sales and net loss on foreign exchange should be a major concern. The company continued to grow amid adverse impact of competition with other breweries companies operating in the country. All through 2019, the operating environment remained a challenging one as the year witnessed reduced consumer purchasing power and increased cost of doing business mainly due to inflation. Notwithstanding, the company is focused on maintaining cost leadership and market Leadership supported by Innovation, which has helped to maintain strong results and deliver a good return on investment to shareholders. The future outlook depends on the commitments and choices made by the board and management in terms of attracting more liquidity and increased business operations.

BUOYED BY CBN POLICIES, FINANCIAL, INSURANCE SUBSECTORS’ ANNUAL GROWTH RATE REACHED 10.07% IN Q4 2021 of naira in 2021.” He noted that the real sector is expected to perform better than the sector adding that, “The financial sector is a service sector serving the real sector. It is expected that the real growth is going to come from the real sector.

“It should not be a surprise that the information and communication sector is doing better than the financial and insurance sector but they play a critical role in economic development.” Speaking from a different perspective, an analyst at PAC

Holdings, Mr. Wole Adeyeye noted that an increase in financial inclusion is playing a critical role in GDP annual growth of the financial and insurance subsector. “The agency banking growth is massive, adding to electronic banking. I am sure by the time

MTN Nigeria and Airtel Africa commenced financial services, the annual growth of the financial sector will increase significantly.” Analyst at InvestData Consulting Limited, Mr. Ambrose Omordion said the slowdown in the global economy due to COVID-19 lockdown in 2020,

drove the financial and insurance subsector annual growth in 2021, projecting that the trend might be sustained. According to him: “Financial and insurance subsector recorded 10.07 per cent in annual GDP in 2021 because of increasing online transac-

tions and as local & international economies were recovering, government were disbursing funds through the financial sector. Anywhere in the world, the banking sector is the engine room of economic growth and it is reflected in the growth in 2021.”

T H I S D AY ˾ MONDAY, FEBRUARY 21, 2022

BUSINESSWORLD

NEWS

Samsung Heavy Industries Appoints Kim as New MD of Nigerian Subsidiary Gilbert Ekugbe To continue its long-term operations in Nigeria while sustaining its positive contribution and investment to the Nigerian economy, the global shipbuilding giant, Samsung Heavy Industries (SHI) of Korea has appointed Mr. Jongseok Kim as the new Managing Director of its Nigerian subsidiary, Samsung Heavy Industries Nigeria (SHIN) Limited. Kim takes over from Mr. Jejin Jeon, who has been appointed to take further responsibilities in SHI Korea as Head of Marketing Planning Team, which oversees all sales strategy of SHI’s shipbuilding and offshore oil and gas business. Jeon, who had played pivotal role in bringing Samsung Heavy Industries operation into Nigeria in 2011, had achieved many great feats, including the successful completion of Egina Project, construction of the world- class fabrication and integrated yard in Nigeria as well as the delivery of the EGINA FPSO. SHIN recently celebrated its 10th year in business and has remained tenacious even in the face of adversity.

Kim In a statement to employees, Jeon stated his confidence that Kim, the new Managing Director of SHIN would lead SHIN to next stages of growth and ultimately benefit Nigeria as a whole. As a professional expert in the oil and gas industry with a Bachelor of Science in Naval Engineering, Kim had occupied key positions in the operations, planning, execution, and completion of Samsung Heavy Industries’ wide variety of shipbuilding and offshore projects as Project Director, Contract Manager, and Warranty Engineer for over 26 years. He also recently held position as the Project Director of widely celebrated ‘Coral FLNG Project’Africa’s very first Floating FLNG

Facility that was entirely built and executed by SHI for the Italian oil and gas company, Eni. According to a statement issued by the company, Kim started his career at SHI in 1995 and served as topside project manager and contract manager for Front End Engineering Design (FEED) and EPCI executed in Floating LNG offshore plant project (Shell Prelude). Kim was especially lauded for conducting an impeccable project management as the Project Director of the Coral FLNG Project for achieving sail-away in contractual

milestones, despite COVID-19 pandemic situation. In his opening remarks to employees, Kim stated his excitement and joy for coming to Nigeria. He explained the need to operate as ‘One team’ with everyone contributing to the success of the company in Nigeria. He pointed out that the recent settlement with the joint venture partner, LADOL, is a new beginning for the company and that the future seems promising for SHIN and its joint venture company SHI-MCI with many potential projects in line.

“Samsung’s commitment and investment in Nigeria is ongoing and I intend to remain focused in resuming full operation at SHIMCI Yard, to carry out various business activities in not only offshore fabrication, but also FPSO repair/alterations and other potential businesses. This will also ensure SHIN is able to continue to make positive contribution to the Nigerian economy and the society,” Kim explained. He also stated that in order to achieve the goal, the support of the relevant ministries and its regulatory agencies is crucial. He

further went on to thank the Federal Government of Nigeria and its agencies who played a decisive role in the settlement with their joint venture partner and for their continued invaluable support, emphasizing his belief that the relationship will only grow stronger. SHIN expressed its eagerness to begin the new phase of SHIN under Kim’s leadership paired with his experience, expertise, drive, and passion. The new Managing Director of SHIN, Kim indeed will be a key asset in the Nigerian oil and gas industry.

Stanbic IBTC Chairman Advocates Adoption of Clean Energy Kayode Tokede The Chairman, Stanbic IBTC Plc, Basil Omiyi, has urged organisations to migrate to cleaner energy sources for their operations because of the capacity to reduce the impact of emissions on the environment. Acknowledging that the economy and society are wholly owned subsidiaries of the environment, he stated that the use of green energy will help keep the environment stable to support economic and social activities. He noted that for development in Nigeria to be sustainable, there must be a balance that guarantees that the environment and society are not negatively affected by economic activities now and in the future. “Green energy is devoid of carbon emissions (unlike fossil fuel energy sources which harm the environment) and is one of the major contributors to climate change. Corporates can shift to cleaner energy sources for their operations. Financial institutions can help advance this shift by facilitating funding (in line with their risk appetites) which will be necessary to achieve growth in the green energy space, ”he said. He also revealed that his organisation was committed to creating a greener environment across its operational locations. He said: “At Stanbic IBTC, building environmental resilience is one of our four sustainability pillars. This pillar demonstrates our focus on environmental footprint management. In this regard, the Stanbic IBTC has continued to implement and expand on programmes to reduce its carbon emissions. “Some of the ways include reduction of energy consumption in office locations using energyefficient fittings; adoption of cleaner energy sources across the office locations, as well as the Go-Green programmes across some branch locations to reduce energy and paper consumption and improve water efficiency. The organisation

has also adopted tree-planting programmes to help with carbon sequestration. Already, over 300 trees have been planted across the country and the number will grow significantly in the near future.“ He added that most developing economies do not possess the capacity to implement green energy due to the technical and financial requirements while, conversely, the developed world is responsible for the bulk of carbon emitted into the atmosphere. He added, “As you saw at COP26 (Conference of Parties 26), the world is attempting to obtain the commitment of Nation States to the Net-zero emission world. The developed world, which is disproportionally responsible, on both gross and per capita basis for the bulk of carbon emission into the atmosphere, is unwilling to drastically cut their energy consumption, as they wish to maintain the standard of living of their people. Therefore, there is a need for a just energy transition strategy that is fair to all and affordable to all.” “Knowing the urgency in halting climate change, Stanbic IBTC is working with vendors and customers to provide solutions that can help address climate change issues. This is reflected in one of our seven focus SEE Impact Areas – Climate Change and Sustainable Finance – where the Group seeks to provide financial solutions to support climate change mitigation and adaptation measures. We also continue to advance awareness around climate change amongst the general public; leveraging our social media platforms and webinars, for instance, the recently concluded Net Zero Webinar. Similarly, our parent company, the Standard Bank Group hosted a Climate Summit in partnership with University of London’s School of Oriental and African Studies. We continue to take awareness communication initiatives by sharing practical tips that people can adopt to help address climate change,” he said.

L-R: Lead, Strategy and Operations, Brands & Brooks Media,Olufemi Ajao; Products Group Manager, Vitafoam Nigeria Plc, Moses Mogbolu; Orthopedic Sleep Consultant and Trauma Surgeon,Dr. Charles Uzodinma and Customer Service Executive, Vitafoam Nigeria Plc,Paul Nkiri during Vitafoam’s Valentine Experience 2022 to amplify, ‘We Are Good in Bed,’ Campaign at Ikeja City Mall, Lagos… recently

Xiaomi Restates Commitment with Redmi Note 11 Series Launch in Nigeria Nosa Alekhuogie As part of its commitment to bring the very best smart technology into Nigeria, Xiaomi has launched its Redmi Note 11 series for the Nigerian markets, pushing forward the legacy of Redmi Note series. The smartphone company released Redmi Note 11 Pro, Redmi Note 11S and Redmi Note 11, during the launch which held in Lagos, recently. The newest addition is part of the smartphone company to bring even stronger specs and features, which the Redmi Note 11 series defines, thus

making flagship-level smartphone performance more accessible than before. Speaking about the device, Marketing Communications Manager, Xiaomi Technology, James Ikpe, explained that the flagshiplevel camera was setup to deliver outstanding photography. According to him, “Raising up the flagship camera experience, Redmi Note 11 Pro, and Redmi Note 11S, features 108MP primary sensors, allowing its users capture and share moments of their lives in high resolution and true-to-life

details.” Additionally, the 2MP depth camera on Redmi Note 11 Pro, Redmi Note 11S and Redmi Note 11 allows users to create a natural bokeh effect for their portrait shots. The front of Redmi Note 11 Pro and Redmi Note 11S features a 16MP front camera that can capture clear, natural-looking selfies,” Ikpe explained The Redmi Note 11 is equipped with a Snapdragon 680 processor built using flagship-level 6nm process to deliver superior performance while conserving power while the Redmi

Note 11 Pro and Redmi Note 11S rises to the challenge with advanced octa-core MediaTek Helio G96 processor and up to 8GB of RAM. Additionally, all three Redmi Note 11 series devices is equipped with a 5,000mAh large-capacity battery. Alongside this exceptional battery capacity is Xiaomi flagship-level 67W turbo charging in Redmi Note 11 Pro, which take as little as 15 minutes to fill 50 percent of battery. Redmi Note 11S and Redmi Note 11 feature 33W Pro fast charging, allowing you to charge to 100 per cent in around an hour.

Sterling Bank Exposes Youths to Investment Opportunities on NGX Kayode Tokede Sterling Bank Plc has unveiled a gift of investment opportunities for 50,000 Nigerian youths in 14 blue chip companies listed on the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX). Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) of Sterling Bank, Mr. Ibidapo Martins, who disclosed this in a statement over the weekend, said the gifts comprise equities from top-performing companies from the telecommunications, financial services, manufacturing, consumerpackaged goods, pharmaceuticals verticals of the Nigerian economy. He added that: “these equities

have been curated with careful thought based on the equities’ proven records of outperforming the market and delivering value to shareholders, regardless of economic conditions over the years.” Some of the equities in the bouquet include shares from, Dangote, MTN Nigeria, AXA Mansard, Fidson Pharmaceuticals, Unilever, Cadbury, UAC Nigeria, R.T.Briscoe, Julius Berger and Sterling Bank. He said, “This is why Sterling Bank has chosen to give something much like true love that grows every day, appreciating in value

for the receiver with each passing day. This gift lays a foundation for a life of value; by starting the young customer on a path for continuous earnings tomorrow and beyond with an investment in today’s best stock options. “The first 50,000 youths to open the new accounts and complete the application process by having their BVNs validated will receive the equities within 48 hours after their BVNs have been validated and will be free to transact in the equities once their portfolios are set up. Like most opportunities that come knocking, some will embrace it and commence a

lifetime of saving and investing, ultimately leading to their financial freedoms and goals while others will squander the gift.” Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of I-Invest, a leading tech-based investment firm and creators of Nigeria’s first treasury bills investment mobile app, Mr. Seye Olusoga, commented that the selected companies have a combined valuation of over eight trillion Naira on the NGX as of 11 February 2022, with recipients of these special gifts given the opportunity to create a better future by making the right choices today.

T H I S D AY ˾ MONDAY, FEBRUARY 21, 2022

BUSINESSWORLD

NEWS

NIMASA Renews MoU With WMU, to Set Up Regional Maritime Safety, Security Research Center Eromosele Abiodun The Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), has renewed its Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), with the World Maritime University, (WMU) Malmo, Sweden. The move, according to NIMASA, is aimed at enhancing capacity development; to grow the Nigerian maritime sector. Speaking shortly after the signing of the MoU virtually, the Director General of NIMASA, Dr. Bashir Jamoh noted that there is no substitute to

education. “The Collaboration with the World Maritime University by NIMASA is to advance maritime interest while addressing the changing needs of the maritime industry based on sustainable capacity development; aseducation, training and capacity building play a major role in developing shipping in any nation”, he said. Jamoh used the opportunity to disclose that the Agency is at an advanced stage in setting up a Regional Maritime Safety and Security Research Center to enhance research works.

FCCPC Partners NERC to Address Electricity Consumers’ Complaints James Emejo and Folalumi Alaran in Abuja The Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory commission (NERC), to resolve the incessant complaints by electricity consumers in the country. The agreement seeks to establish a single dedicated channel to which consumers can make their complaints and expect prompt response. The Executive Vice Chairman/ Chief Executive of FCCPC, Mr. Babatunde Irukera, at the occasion,

pointed out that the move was aimed towards preventing inter-agency conflicts. He said the approach would also seek to modify structures of operation in the sector to reduce customers’ grievances. Irukera, who noted that the commission was resolving more consumer complaints than before adding that consumer dissatisfaction had been on the increase. He told THISDAY, “That people are complaining a lot more now is actually an indication of a vibrant resolution mechanism and a confidence in it. The bad side is that we continue to have repeated complaints about the same issues.

The centre is to take care of capacity development in 25 African countries. On her part, the President of the WMU, Dr. Cleopatra Doumbia- Henry noted that NIMASA is playing a leading role in developing capacity for the maritime industry in the Gulf of Guinea region.

She commended Nigerian students who have passed through the University, welcomed the agreement and added that NIMASA is one of the first supporters of WMU. Accordingly, she stated that the initiative also supports the WMU’s commitment to the UN Sustainable Development

Goals (SDGs). “Nigeria leads, others follow. WMU is delighted to be associated with NIMASA and its work, which extends beyond national boundaries, and has a significant effect on the whole region. We are also pleased to have such a successful and warm relation-

ship with NIMASA and its staff – it is a perfect example of international cooperation for sustainable growth. I look forward to the fruitful outcome of our collaborative efforts as articulated in the Memorandum and based on the principles of equity, reciprocity and mutual benefit.”

IBMN to Focus on New Brand Strategies in 2022 Awards Leveraging new brand strategies for success in 2022 will form a major focus of discourse at the eleventh West Africa Brands Excellence Awards hosted by the Institute of Brand Management of Nigeria (IBMN), the organisers have said. The leading West Africa Brands Excellence Awards will be held on the February 24, 2022 in Lagos

with the theme: “Leveraging New Brand Strategies for Success in 2022.” According to the Institute’s Deputy Registrar, Event Mrs. Ifeoma Emeka, “The West Africa Brand Excellence Award is aimed at identifying, recognizing and rewarding companies that apply branding culture and branding management policies, designed

to achieve corporate objectives in both profit and non-profit organization in west countries like Nigeria, Ghana, Burkina Faso, Niger, Mali, Senegal, Gambia, Sierra Leone, Guinea, Togo, Benin, Liberia, Cameroon, Mauritania and Upper Volta.” Emeka said that IBMN is a professional membership organization for Brand Manage-

ment and Brand experts. Since inception in 2007, the Institute has been at the forefront of developing Brand Management and Brand professional in the country assisting executives and their organization to improve their performance and achieve success through knowledge, education and professional development.

LASU Vice Chancellor Calls for Immediate Use of Web-based Software Emma Okonji In a bid to ensure that the research outputs from the Lagos State University (LASU) are novel as expected, its Vice Chancellor, Professor Ibiyemi OlatunjI-Bello, who has supported the plagiarism checker project of the university, has directed the commissioning and immediate usage of the Lagos State plagiarism detector named Getitright.

The web-based software has passed through several levels of testing, penetration and validation both internally and externally, and it comes with different modules such as: Plagiarism Checker, Grammar Corrector, PDF Converter, and Text Reader. The system according to the university authority, has been modelled to enable that each document passage is matched against billions of

internet document sources from top libraries and repository internationally band locally. The solution can scan multiple application formats from DOCX, DOC, PDF to TXT. Users of the application can copy and paste for a faster process if they so desire. Giving details of the web-based software, the Director, Information and Communications Technology (ICT) at LASU, Dr. Toyin

Enikuomehin, said: “Highlight of the application is on the report presentation which are provided in two basic formats vis a vis similar content and unique content. A score is calculated based on the level of similarity determined by the application. For content that are similar, they are highlighted in yellow for quick notification. Non-highlighted text shows the unique content.”

MONDAY FEBRUARY 21, 2022 • T H I S D AY

T H I S D AY ˾ MONDAY, FEBRUARY 21, 2022

HOMES&DESIGN

Cerulean Towers Inspired by Sculpted Beauty of Seashells

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 21, 2022 ˾ T H I S D AY

HOMES&DESIGN

Skyscrapers Wrapped in Luxury, L i fe s t y l e a n d L o n g e v i t y Nature inspires creativity in humans, which is the reason Grenadines Homes looked closely at the beauty of seashells for the concept of its iconic Cerulean Towers. Bennett Oghifo writes

he Cerulean Towers’ story is unfolding. The high-profile structure is a beauty set to redefine the skyline of Lagos State. This edifice is situated on Water Corporation Drive, off Ligali Ayorinde, Victoria Island. The towers consist of mixed-use and residential blocks of luxury homes. Grenadines describes Cerulean Towers as a revolution that Nigeria wants – a modern mixed-use development of the commercial and residential resort in Lagos that befits the country’s ambitious vision. It is an icon of the future. Cerulean Towers, the firm said, is “architecturally inspired by the sculpted beauty of seashells, which punctuate

the shores of Victoria Island, as well as the artful personality of colonial houses of Ikoyi.” “Outfitted with state-of-the-art fixtures, amenities and systems – befitting their Grade A status, The Cerulean Towers allow you to own your own luxury home in the heart of Victoria Island (the business and financial hub of Lagos). The Cerulean Tower is designed with the impeccable function to inspire through innovation, with specially designed residences, unique offices, luxury retail and boundless recreation opportunities. Residents, workers and visitors alike will enjoy an unrivalled

360-degree experience– one that is yet to be seen in the region and a match for its global mixed-use counterparts. Whether overlooking the blue expanse of the Atlantic Ocean or the extensive greenery of Victoria Island – this is a community with an innate connection to Lagos, encouraging business synergy and convivial community. The project is a plus to Lagos’ posture as the centre of excellence that encapsulates Nigeria’s evolution – it is an engine room behind the country’s drive towards the future. As the largest city on the African continent, with a population of about 21 million people, Lagos is

a diverse and electric city that acts as a powerful business hub in the region and is one of the fastest-growing cities in the world. The Grenadines Homes’, a member of Palton Morgan Holdings, is dedicated to reinventing the concept of luxury living in Nigeria and beyond. Founded on the precept of integrity and uncompromising focus on quality over volume. Grenadines Homes lays down your unique home with utmost attention to detail. “From the preliminary sketching concept, down to the ‘key turning’, we ensure every Grenadines Homes is aesthetically pleasing and functional,” the company said.

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 21, 2022 ˾ T H I S D AY

BUSINESSSPECIAL

Editor: Obinna Chima obinna.chima@thisdaylive.com 08024557078

Marbury: Nigeria’s Creative Industry Has Trem e n d ous Opportunities

Leslie Marbury is the Acting Chief Operating Officer, Prosper Africa, a United States government initiative that connects US and African businesses with new buyers, suppliers, and investment opportunities. Marbury joined Prosper Africa in July 2021 as the Acting Chief Operating Officer. Most recently, she completed a tour as the US Agency for International Development Mission Director in Rwanda and Burundi, where she led the development of a new Country Development Cooperation Strategy, established a leadership initiative to empower staff to achieve greater development results, and led the response to COVID-19. In this interview, she speaks about the initiatives and why she is visiting Africa. Obinna Chima brings the excerpts: The African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA) has the potential to boost growth, reduce poverty, and broaden economic inclusion across sub-Saharan Africa. In what ways is the United States government helping to achieve many of the AfCFTA’s objectives? fCFTA offers terrific opportunities, both for Africa and the United States and we look forward to engaging the African Union Secretariat and countries in Africa, on how we can make US companies come in an engage Nigerian companies. The Biden-Harris administration is ready to held harness economic gains that we see from the AfCFTA and we are committed to providing technical assistance to support cross-border trade and investments, whether at the country level, at the regional, economic or communities level, working with the AfCFTA secretariat.

to support the expansion of fibre optic cable across the country. Women entrepreneurs in Nigeria are a growing market force, serving as a critical source of innovation and job creation and fueling economic growth. How does the US government seeks to support women’s inclusive participation in the economy in Africa? Absolutely, when the Biden-Harris administration kicked off and relaunched Prosper Africa, they wanted to make it as inclusive as possible and wanted to focus more on women, engaging the diaspora and small and medium scale enterprises. We know that female entrepreneurs have a lot of potential and on this trip, we have sat down with a number of female entrepreneurs to know how they feel in receiving some support from the US government and what additional support they may need.

What is the US government doing to ensure that Africa is not left behind as economies all over the world try to recover from the negative impact of COVID 19? In many areas. But I would speak to the Prosper Africa Initiative, especially the trade and investment aspect of it. I am coordinating the Prosper Africa Initiative, which is a US government initiative to increase trade and investment between African nations and the United States. We know that economies across the world were impacted by COVID-19 and the Biden-Harris administration has committed to helping to build back better from COVID. We have to leverage some of the opportunities that COVID created and we are focused on unlocking economic growth. So many of the initiatives and work under the Prosper Africa Initiative seeks to grow economies and help them recover from COVID. Under this initiative, what kind of support are you giving to African businesses? The Prosper Africa is a commitment to strengthening mutually beneficial relationship towards trade and investment. This includes trade and investment flows from the United States to Africa and also includes from Africa to the United States. So, we are trying to provide more competitive and comprehensive packages and support to both US and African companies. Particularly, we are helping African companies to attract investments. So, how is this different from other programmes we had in the past such as the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA)? The Prosper Africa Initiative brings together the full suit of the US government trade and investment support services and it has added new and improved areas. So, the Prosper Africa Initiative is private sector led and it is to respond to the needs of the private sector by providing things like market insights, technical assistance, financing and more. So, it is different from previous initiatives in that we are taking a continent-wide approach, so that we can engage with companies and investors who are looking for viable sectors across countries. Are there speciﬁc sectors the Prosper Africa Initiative is focusing on? We are looking at sectors that are responding to Africa’s priorities; that are contributing to rebuild the economies from COVID and in areas where the US government has comparative advantage. Where we see opportunities are in digital, healthcare, climate, value-adding

Digital technologies are creating exciting new opportunities particularly for a young, entrepreneurial, and innovative population like Nigeria’s. The Nigerian FinTech ecosystem has maintained its growth trajectory producing ﬁve out of the seven unicorns on the continent. How do you think tech start-ups and digital ecosystems can help drive sustainable economic growth in Nigeria? Fintechs in Africa are doing tremendously and showing how Africa can create solutions to global problems. You can see that the amount of venture capital coming into Nigeria is quite impressive and the way the Prosper Africa Initiative may support the fintech players could be by providing advisory support and in helping them to attract finance.

Marbury

manufacturing. So, on this trip, we are looking at the creative sector and the digital sector and we are visiting Nigeria, Kenya, South Africa and Namibia, as part of our Prosper Africa economic diplomacy trip and we are focusing on the creative industry and digital. Nigeria’s creative industry has tremendous opportunities to create jobs and for partnerships between the US and Nigeria. The creative industry also provides an opportunity to change some of the negative narrative about Africa, by focusing on more diverse stories. So, specifically, in this trip we have engaged people in the film and music industries generally. Can you share some of the success stories of the Prosper Africa Initiative since it commenced in 2019? There are many, but let me choose the ones that would resonate with you. Since 2019, the US government has helped to close 800 Prosper Africa deals across 45 African countries for an estimated value of $50 billion. Part of what we are doing here is to look at how we can attract more businesses so that we can build on this momentum. Specific examples from Nigeria is the Tomato Jos. They used Prosper Africa advisory

“We provide support to American businesses and investors to export and invest in Africa and provide African businesses opportunities to export to the US. And we do that in few ways – providing market insights, deals’ support and financing.” support from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) to raise over $4 million in investment. The company works with local farmers in producing tomato sauces and they recently opened their factor. Another example is ipNX. It is an innovative women-led digital infrastructure company based here in Nigeria. They are using funding from the US Trade and Development Agency

It is often said that Africa’s fast-growing population and markets present tremendous long-term growth opportunities. What are the greatest opportunities that the United States sees on the African continent today and how committed is the US government and its private sector to deepening economic and commercial engagement on the continent? First, Africa is the place of opportunity and the areas we are seeing tremendous opportunities are in key sectors such as digital economy, creatives, healthcare and in the energy space. With Prosper Africa, we are connecting the US and African businesses and helping to facilitate transactions. We provide support to American businesses and investors to export and invest in Africa and provide African businesses opportunities to export to the US. And we do that in few ways – providing market insights, deals’ support and financing. What is your trip to Nigeria and other African countries all about and what do you seek to achieve and categories of business leaders and policymakers did you meet with? This is the first Prosper Africa Economic Diplomacy visit. It is led by the Deputy Assistant Secretary for African Affairs, Akunna Cook. I am also here as the Chief Operating Officer of Prosper Africa and we have someone from our Development Finance Corporation. We are visiting Nigeria, Kenya, South Africa and Namibia and the focus is to look at how we can increase trade and investment opportunities in the US and Africa, to look at opportunities we can promote and where we can make connections. We have been sitting down with business leaders, entrepreneurs, group of creative entrepreneurs and we also visited Abuja to meet some government officials.

T H I S D AY ˾ MONDAY, FEBRUARY 21, 2022

BUSINESS SPECIAL

ANALYSIS

Positives of Sustained CBN Policy in Agric Sector Kelvin Gilbert

s part of efforts to revamp and enhance the agro-processing business in Nigeria, the Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefiele, early in his administration, came out with a policy that denied 43 items access to official foreign exchange window. The response of a section of the public to that bold step was, initially, that of consternation essentially because such informed economic radicalism was scarce in the nation’s policy formulation and implementation. In designing the policy, Emefiele was convinced that it will encourage local production of those items and, in the process, achieve the ultimate aim of boosting local agricultural production, create jobs, save the foreign exchange hitherto wasted on food importation and give a boost to the nation’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Putting in place that policy framework implies that those who import those items can no longer buy foreign currency from the official window to pay their overseas suppliers. For those who were used to getting things so easily, those who can only survive by milking the public till, who are always taking undue advantage of the loopholes in the economic structure, it was a bitter pill to swallow. It was genuinely intended to significantly grow the local economy. According to Emiefele, Nigeria does not need to keep importing things she can produce. Ever since that measure was put in place, there has been a quantum leap in the production of agricultural crops like rice, wheat, maize, millet, yam, tomato, cotton and many more. The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), in line with its developmental function, established the Anchor Borrowers’ Program (ABP) which facilitated the provision of farm inputs in kind and cash (for farm labor) to small holder farmers (SHFs) to boost production of these commodities, stabilize inputs supply to agro-processors and address the country’s negative balance of payments on food. At harvest, the SHFs supply their produce to the Agro-processor (Anchor) who pays the cash equivalent to the farmer’s account. CBN’s decision to ban the import of some products and the subsequent economic policies that followed has indeed stimulated the local economy. There is a growing sense of the need to produce

Emefiele

what we eat, not only because it is economically reasonable but because it is possible and much more beneficial in the short to long term. Emefiele believes in the potential of Nigeria to be a leading export country rather than one dependent on others. From the beginning of his tenue as CBN Governor, there has been a felt need on his part to shift from concentrating only on price, monetary, and financial system stability to act as a financial catalyst in specific sectors of the economy particularly agriculture, in an effort to create jobs on a large scale, improve local food production, and conserve scarce foreign reserves. The N220 billion Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Development Fund was to finance agricultural projects at a single-digit interest rate of nine per cent. The aim was to create economic linkages between over 600,000 smallholder farmers and reputable large-scale processors with a view to increasing agricultural output and significantly improving capacity utilisation of integrated mills across the agriculture value chain. The bright ideas the CBN under Emefiele practicalised and which have returned agriculture to its pride of place on the economic discussion table include

using, as instruments, the Nigeria Incentive-based Risk Sharing System for Agricultural Lending (NIRSAL); Real Sector Support Facility (RSSF); The Nigeria Electricity Market Stabilization Facility (NEMSF); Entrepreneurship Development Centres (EDCs). Others are Youth Entrepreneurship Development Programme (YEDP); Export Stimulation Facility (ESF); Agribusiness/Small and Medium Enterprises Investment Scheme (AGSMEIS), Paddy Aggregation Scheme (PAS); Accelerated Agricultural Development Scheme (AADS); and the very successful Anchor Borrowers Programme (ABP) which has made an outstanding impact in terms of reducing the nation’s food import bills, boosting the income levels and financial capacity of local farmers. All these have helped in no small measure in revamping the economy with agriculture shifting from a way of life where people practice it for sustenance to a business enterprise that is generating employment opportunities in quantum not to mention economic empowerment to the local people who now see themselves as key players in the drive to add value to primary products. Before this time, Nigeria spent a huge sum on the importation of food items that could be produced locally. At the

peak of that senselessness, N1trillion was recorded as importation bill which obviously was not sustainable. The above efforts have helped to increase the contribution of the agriculture sector to the nation’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP). According to data from the Nigeria Bureau of Statistics, NBS, agriculture sector’s contribution to GDP rose to 22.35 per cent in Q1’21, from 19.79 per cent in 20215. Most notable is the 2.2 per cent real growth recorded by the agriculture sector in 2020, when the economy as a whole contracted by 1.92 per cent. Significant in this regard is the 3.4 per cent real growth recorded by the sector in Q4’2020, the highest growth since 2017. According to analysts, the robust growth recorded by the agriculture sector in Q4’2020, helped the economy to record its first growth in three quarters, and also eased it out of recession, following the contractions recorded in Q2’2020 and Q3’2020, which sent Nigeria into its second recession in five years. Citing the role of the apex bank’s intervention as a factor in the growth recorded by the sector in Q4’2020, analysts at Vetiva Capital Management Limited stated that: “the agricultural sector maintained a clean sheet in 2020, supported by intervention efforts of the Federal Government and the development finance activities of the Central Bank of Nigeria powerfully pursued by the Emefiele momentum. This was despite the interruptions to farming activities and food transportation, caused by floods, lockdown measures and the security challenges experienced during the year. Similarly, analysts at FBNQuest, gave a graphic detail of the effects of the CBN policy on agriculture. In its report, it averred that “our expectation was a slowdown in contraction to -1.95 per cent and was undone by robust growth of 3.42 per cent for agriculture, the sector’s best showing since Q4 ’17. Several times we have made the point that Nigeria’s performance would be more muted than that of most emerging markets due to the protection its large informal economy enjoys from global headwinds (such as COVID-19). The argument still holds but it could now be that the credit interventions of the CBN, state development banks and others are starting to have an impact.” t (JMCFSU JT BO "CVKB CBTFE FDPOPNJD BOBMZTU

How FG’s N2.3trn Stimulus Package Contributed to Economic Growth Dike Onwuamaeze

he Centre for Promotion of Private Enterprises (CPPE), has ascribed the 3.40 per cent economic growth rate recorded by Nigeria in 2021 has been attributed to factors such as the N2.3 trillion Economic Stimulus Programme of the federal government that was meant to contain the impact of the COVID-19 on the economy. The CPPE further attributed the economic growth recorded in 2021 to the strong base effect resulting from the fact that 2020 (the reference year) was a year of recession when the economy contracted by -1.92 per cent. Other factors, according to the CPPE, were the rebound in economic activities across all the sectors of the following the lifting of lockdown imposed in 2020, aggressive roll out of vaccines in 2021 and rebound in crude oil prices. These were contained in the statement yesterday by the Chief Executive Officer of CPPE, Dr. Muda Yusuf, in which he advised the government to prioritise key development indicators that impacts positively on citizens’ welfare productivity in the economy in order to accelerate employment and reduce poverty. Yusuf said: “According to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), Nigeria’s GDP grew by 3.40

per cent in 2021, year on year. This marks the highest GDP growth rate since 2015. This growth performance is higher than projections by the IMF (2.6) and the World Bank (2.7). “The quarterly GDP figures indicated that the economy grew by 3.98 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2021. This was also the fifth consecutive quarterly GDP growth recorded in the economy. “Economic Stimulus Programme of the government, encapsulated in the Economic Sustainability Plan also played a role in accelerating the recovery of the economy in 2021. The government introduced quite a number of interventions which impacted positively on those who benefitted from those interventions. Projected spending under the stimulus plan was N2.3 trillion. “In other words, being a year and year comparative analysis, comparing 2021 with 2020 naturally resulted in a strong improvement in comparative performance. 2020 was the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic and the associated disruptions in the economy. The year ended with an output contraction of 1.8 per cent.” The report added: “The rebound of economic and business activities across all sectors of the economy as the pandemic effects progressively dissipates. There was a relaxation of restrictions,

lockdowns and reduction in the supply chain disruptions. These naturally impacted on domestic economic activities and global economic recovery. “There was an aggressive rollout of vaccines in 2021 especially in the advanced economies which significantly boosted the sentiments of investors globally. This of course boosted investment and consequential growth both domestically and globally. “Rebound in crude oil price: being an oil producing country the rebound of crude oil price in 2021 impacted positively on growth performance. Average crude oil price was $70/barrel in 2021 as against $42/barrel in 2020. Historically, there is a strong and positive correlation between oil price and economic growth in the Nigerian economy. The rebound of oil price was a key driver of 2021 growth.” He, however, observed that recording laudable growth performance was one thing while translating the growth to improved welfare, job creation, poverty reduction and economic inclusion is a completely different matter. He said: “The last few years was characterised by worsening poverty situation, high inflationary pressures, massive erosion of purchasing power, high energy prices, escalating production cost, sharp currency depreciation and many more.

These are critical developmental metrics on the basis of which the performance of the economy should also be measured. Therefore, going forward, policy makers should prioritise these key development indicators. Citizens’ welfare and investment productivity in the economy matter even more than the GDP numbers.” Yusuf also highlighted the sectors that recorded positive growth rate during the period under review, which included agriculture, food and beverage, cement and chemical and pharmaceutical and the vehicle assembly subsectors at 2.13, 5.73, 6.6, 8.13 and 2.3 per cents respectively while trade and rail transport and pipelines grew at 8.0 and 36.95 per cents respectively. Sectors and sub-sectors that experienced decreased economic growth rate were crude oil production, 8.30; oil refining, 47.94; textile and apparel, 1.27; wood and wood products, 1.54 and puld and paper industry, 0.32 per cents. He attributed the decline in crude oil production to, “intractable oil theft and vandalisation of pipelines; divestment by oil majors from the upstream oil sector; lack of political will on the implementation of the Petroleum Industry Act, which weakened investors’ confidence and rapidly evolving global energy transition, making it difficult for fossil fuel investments to attract funding.”

MONDAY FEBRUARY 21, 2022 • T H I S D AY

T H I S D AY ˾ MONDAY FEBRUARY 21, 2022

CITYSTRINGS

Group Features Editor: Chiemelie Ezeobi Email chiemelie.ezeobi@thisdaylive.com, 07010510430

Quest for Nigeria to Attain Self-sufﬁciency in Food Production The President and Chief Executive Officer of Erisco Foods, Mr. Eric Umeofia, is determined to help Nigeria attain self-sufficiency in food production, writes Nume Ekeghe

Tomato processing plant

ocal production of basic goods such as rice is one of the hallmark policies of the Muhammadu Buhari administration. And few industrialists epitomise the spirit of local sufficiency better than the Chief Executive Officer of Erisco Foods, Eric Umeofia, an indigenous food product manufacturer incorporated in Nigeria in 2004. For years, Mr. Umeofia has railed against the unnecessary importation of basic necessities such as tomato paste. But he hasn’t just talked. Since 2009, he has worked to build a local foods company that can match the best in the world producing items such as tomato paste, seasoning cubes, and basmati rice. In 2016, the First Lady, Aisha Buhari, commissioned Erisco’s 450,000 tonnes tomato paste factory in Lagos. At the time, the factory was adjudged to be the biggest of its kind in Africa and the fourth largest in the world. His focus on local production has created thousands of jobs for many Nigerians, helped to conserve scarce foreign exchange resources, and provided higher-quality food products to the local population. He has achieved these feats despite difficult conditions like poor power supply and restrictive government policies, especially in the area of sourcing foreign exchange to purchase heavy machinery. Mr. Umeofia believes that Nigeria can be a manufacturing behemoth if all hands are on deck. “When we started producing tomatoes in can here they said it was not possible, but today we are doing it,” Mr Umeofia said in 2016 during the launch of the tomato factory. “Some people are still deceiving Nigerians that it is still not possible all in a bid to continue importing. “I pray God gives us the power to produce everything about tomatoes here from planting to packing very soon. We are going into tractor projects now as you cannot do agriculture without tractorisation". Umeofia got his start in business by trading spare parts in Sokoto during the early 1980s. As the business grew, he diversified into safety equipment and fire extinguishers. Frustrated by what he describes as “the lack of standard and foreign influence in our own country” the entrepreneur expanded his business abroad to countries like Angola and UAE. But he wasn’t satisfied with foreign success alone. “After about 10 years we thought of coming

Chief Eric Umeoﬁa back to Nigeria to do something for our country despite our initial frustration,” he said in 2016. “We . . . invested in Erisco Foods Limited to produce tomato paste with the aim of changing the face of the tomato farming system in Nigeria.” However, returning to Nigeria wasn’t a tea party. According to Umeofia, all the banks he approached refused to provide support because of the massive profit they were making from financing tomato imports. He couldn’t understand it. Many Nigerians were unemployed and most people were not interested in investing in a business that would create jobs. “As a matter of fact, backward integration of tomato paste alone can create a minimum of three million jobs, both direct and indirect,

in a short period of about 18 months because they require about 15,000 hectares to supply one plant,” Mr Umeofia says. “So, by the time you add up farmers and those who will work in the factories you see that a lot of jobs will be created in Nigeria. But that does not happen today. "We are creating jobs in China while our people are impoverished every year because of the corrupt system, especially from past administration to private sector businesses.” The entrepreneur has acknowledged that attention to local manufacturers has improved under the Muhammadu Buhari administration but he was almost tempted to move his factory from Nigeria to China in late 2016 due to difficulty in sourcing

"As a matter of fact, backward integration of tomato paste alone can create a minimum of three million jobs, both direct and indirect, in a short period of about 18 months because they require about 15,000 hectares to supply one plant"

foreign exchange to purchase factory equipment. The issue was resolved and Erisco Foods has continued to thrive locally. Umeofia has strong business interests in states like Sokoto, Kano, and Katsina, where he sources raw tomatoes from. In Jigawa, Erisco has a 460-hectare tomato plantation with more planned in other parts. “If you give me anything to import for N20 billion and make a profit of N18 billion, I will tell you no, let us produce here,” he says. “That is why I am going back to Sokoto . . . to start production of 20-30, 000 tractors per year. The government of Sokoto is willing to assist us and we are also doing tomatoes there.” As the Erisco business continues to flourish, Umeofia hasn’t forgotten to give back by disbursing scholarships, business grants, and even improving public infrastructure - he has built churches and mosques, and roads. In 2020, as the COVID-19 pandemic tanked the global economy, he launched an N100 million endowment targeted to lift people in his native Amichi community in Nnewi Local Government of Anambra State from poverty. But he is adamant that the greatest corporate social responsibility is running a business that provides employment to thousands and nourishes millions. In a recent interview, the manufacturer noted that agriculture processing isn’t being supported in Nigeria. “I’ve been saying it time and time again. If you don’t support processing and manufacturing in agriculture, all that you do is just a waste of time.” He hasn’t also stopped his criticism of foreign investors who come into Nigeria to benefit from government loans and cart away the proceeds to their home country. He wants more attention to be paid to local manufacturers who take the risk of making things in Nigeria and creating valuable jobs. “Manufacturing is by gift and interest,” he says. “Every genuine manufacturer isn't fixated on just making money, but we need money to advance our businesses, to extend help to more people.” Mr Umeofia’s long-term ambition is to take Erisco Foods to the stock exchange so that “every Nigerian will benefit from it. “In ten years' time, our vision is to be in more than one country, to be a Nigerian multinational company,” he says. “We want Nigerians to have breakfast, lunch, and dinner from Erisco".

T H I S D AY ˾ MONDAY FEBRUARY 21, 2022

CRIME

Western Naval Command Gets New FOC

CRIME SITUATION REPORTS

FIRE MANAGEMENT: PREVENTION, DETECTION, AND RESPONSE TECHNICS/APPROACHES (3) Gbolahan Samuel Moronfolu

The outgone FOC, Rear Admiral Gbassa and his successor, Rear Admiral Wambai

Senior naval oﬃcers and members of the Nigerian Naval Wives Association

Rear Admiral Wambai Chiemelie Ezeobi

he Western Naval Command (WNC) has gotten its 41st new Flag Officer Commanding (FOC) in the person of Rear Admiral Yakubu Wambai. Wambai took over Rear Admiral Jason Gbassa, earlier this month, who was redeployed as Chief of Administration, Naval Headquarters, Abuja. During the brief handover ceremony, the new FOC, who promised he would not fall below the standard already set by his predecessor, urged officers and men to work together as a team to achieve the common goal of the Nigerian Navy. After the handing and taking over ceremony, Rear Admiral Gbassa had a colourful farewell parade organised in his honour at the parade ground of Nigerian Navy Ship (NNS) BEECROFT, Apapa, Lagos. Reminiscing on his tenure as the 40th FOC WNC, Gbassa said he initiated series of operations to combat the menace of piracy, illegal oil bunkering, drug trafficking and other related crimes within the command’s area of responsibility. He said, “We conducted EX OMI MIMO (CLEARWATER) to enhance the security of the command’s maritime domain, EX OLUSO, a harbour defence exercise aimed at working up the ships and Operation OKUN ALAFIA to consolidate the gains of enhanced security in the nations maritime environment and maintain a credible presence at sea with over 7,000 hours of patrols amongst others.

“We successfully hosted 11 foreign naval ships from countries like the United Kingdom, United State of America, France, Brazil, Spain, and Portugal amongst others. We conducted several joint/combined exercises to enhance the operational capabilities of our men. “Cumulatively, these efforts resulted in the command recording the lowest number of incidences of pirate attacks and sea robbery in the last 28 years and by extension, the Nigerian maritime domain and the Gulf of Guinea in general as attested to by the International Maritime Bureau Report of 2021. “Further to this, the command arrested several high-profile vessels and persons involved in drug trafficking. " Specifically, the arrest of MV CHAYENEE NAREE and MT KARTERIA conveying cocaine from Brazil to Nigeria thereby effectively disrupted the international illegal trade on the route. “Similarly, under, JTF SW Op AWATSE, we emplaced a series of measures that led to the arrest and disruption of activities of various notorious pipeline vandals particularly of those operating at Baruwa Area of Alimosho LGA of Lagos.” While expressing his appreciation to President Muhammadu Buhari, the Chief of Defence Staff and Chief of the Naval Staff for allowing him to serve in the premier command, Gbassa also commended the Principal Staff Officers, commanders, and commanding officers of units and establishments for ensuring teamwork was sacrosanct.

EXTINGUISHERS The most critical aspect of deciding if you are going to attempt to extinguish a fire is to determine if you can do so without serious risk to your own safety or the safety of others. Make no mistake, fighting a fire is dangerous. By its very nature, this activity requires that you intentionally remain within, or move within close proximity to a highly hazardous environment. Care should be taken to ensure that the responder understands the dangers, the equipment to be used, as well as its limitations. The purpose of fighting a fire is to save lives and property; not to risk them needlessly. When working in an environment with an extinguisher that one may have not used before, it is recommended that a test unit be obtained, even in a group setting, so that the area of effect and limits of range and duration of use can be explored. When deciding if it is appropriate to attempt to extinguish a fire, it is important that the equipment selected matches the fire type. Mismatching the extinguisher and fire type may result in a marked increase of the fire. With this in mind, some of the more common extinguisher types and the class of fire they can be used for are as follows: Dry Chemical: These utilize a powder that is expelled from the nozzle in a stream of pressurized, non-flammable gas. Dry chemical extinguishers are usually classified as usable on Class A, B, and C fires, as it will be both effective and relatively safe in those applications. These extinguish the fire by coating the fuel of the fire making it unavailable for combustion. Carbon Dioxide: These units produce a cloud of ‘snow-like’ particles that quickly evaporate to a carbon dioxide layer. This layer reduces the available oxygen and cool the area, breaking the fire triangle commonly classified as B and C type extinguishers. Water-Based: Water is a good extinguishing agent for Class A fire, but can aggravate other types if used on burning liquids. For Class B, it can spread the fuel thus enlarging the fires. Class C - it can cause serious harm to the responder as it may conduct electrical charge causing a shock to the holder of the unit, or others standing in the runoff from it. Halogenated Units: These are referred to as “Clean agent “ extinguishers because they contain a chemical that leaves no residue upon evaporation - the cool and smoother fire making them typically unusable on Class A, B, and C fires. These are the ideal types of unit if responding to fires in computers and other delicate electrical equipment, as they are far less likely to cause damage to that equipment in the process of extinguishing the fire. Foaming Agents: These units produce a foam layer that blocks the flow of oxygen to the fire area. As such, this is very effective against Class A and B fires. Unfortunately, these often utilize a water-based agent and should not be used on Class C fires. Extinguishers should also be checked and inspected on appropriate basis. If there is high traffic in a certain area, especially open to the public, checking these daily or even on 8-hour shift might be in order. Ensure that they have been discharged or tempered with so that they will be available for use if a fire is discovered. PERMANENT EXTINGUISHING HARDWARE In addition to extinguishers that may be used by possible responders, there are more elaborate extinguishing devices that are installed into buildings. Automatic Sprinklers: These operate through a spring loaded valve that opens when exposed to certain minimum temperatures. These valves called “sprinkler heads” are located at regular intervals throughout the entire building. Once the valve opens, the feed pipe that it is attached to will continue to supply water until the control valve for that area is closed or the sprinkler head is replaced. In most systems, the feed pipe has a sensor attached to it to activate the alarm system if the water begins to flow toward an activated sprinkler head. Range Hood Systems: In kitchen areas, there are specialized systems designed to be highly effective on grease fire and other common kitchen fires but are relatively easy to use and clean. These systems can be triggered manually by anyone who observes a fire. Stand Pipes: Based on application of fire codes, most buildings have a stand pipe system that allows for the connection and supply of fire hoses. Like an extension of a fire hydrant, these allow the fire department or in-house fire brigade an available source of water. It is widely accepted that even under the best of circumstances, these types of automatic or large-scale systems usually slow or contains a fire but often do not extinguish them. As a

result, it is essential that all activations are investigated with the fire department involved to ensure that the hazard is eliminated properly. CONTAINMENT In addition to the actions of responders and the utilization of various systems and equipment, there are items designed to aid the containment of fire. In most jurisdictions and within many companies, there are specific design and construction requirements with regards to the use of fire resistant building materials. Such items as fire resistant doors designed to prevent the spread of fire for a certain period of time help greatly in containment of a fire. However, to be effective, they must be placed in the proper position and work in accordance with their original design. METHOD OF FIRE EXTINCTION Fire can be extinguished by four methods namely:1. Cooling: Is the removal of heat from the burning substance, thereby extinguishing the fire. The extinguishing agent used is water. 2. Smothering: Oxygen is removed from the immediate surroundings of then materials on fire, hence the fire is extinguished. Smothering can be achieved through the application of the following extinguishing medium over the surface of the burning material. a. Foam compound b. Fire blanket 3. Starvation: It is the removal or limitation of fuel from fire. Starvation may be difficult to accomplish but seems to be the only option in some cases to achieve fire extinction. 4. Inhibition: This could be achieved by restraining the chemical reactions that result that result from flash over point from taking place. The application of D.C.P, water or other extinguishing medium is ideal to stop the process of chemical reactions. FIRE PLANS Designing a fire plan prior to an actual event is the most effective step in any fire prevention, fire detection, and fire response program. It is through this program that all of these factors would be addressed and in terms of the structure and detail. Developing such a plan must be a collective effort with those expected to execute the plan. Without them, the final plan may become unrealistic and difficult to implement. The written plan should include the following as a basic guide: r&NFSHFODZ DPOUBDU OBNF BOE UFMFQIPOF numbers r" GPSNBM DIBJO PG DPNNBOE r%FUBJMFE FYQMBOBUJPO PG UIF SFTQPOTJCJMJties of each person or department in response aspects. r"O FYQMBOBUJPO PG UIF USBJOJOH UIBU QFSTPOnel receive, the frequency of retraining, and the specific responsibilities bestowed as result of this training. r $IBUT BOE EJBHSBNT PG UIF QSPQFSUZ EFUBJMing equipment locations, evacuation meeting locations, and similar fixed points. It is essential that senior management review and support the program. It is also essential that the fire marshal have a chance to review the fire plan and approves it prior to implementation. As part of a formal plan, alarm systems should be regularly inspected and tested to ensure that the components function properly. This should include activation of every sensor with the collaboration of a qualified/certified inspector or installer including the presence or approval of the fire officer. Above all, the response portion of a fire plan must be realistic in its assignments and expectations. It should be written with the following limits in mind. r"TTJHO EVUJFT POMZ UP TUBGG UIBU BSF BMXBZT on duty. If it becomes necessary to work in an area where a patrol officer is the only one on duty most times, the response plan should assume that he will be the only person for its critical assignments. It is easier to assign an extra person for a vacant function. r8SJUF FBDI QIBTF XJUI UIF QSPUFDUJPO PG lives as the primary focus while salvaging of property becomes a secondary motivation. r8SJUF UIF QMBO CBTFE PO FYJTUJOH FRVJQNFOU and supplies. The most important point about fire plans is that they must be put into use. What good is a plan that is exhaustively researched, designed by a security committee, approved by every member of the team and then placed on the shelf without implementation? -Moronfolu is a seasoned security consultant with many years of security and policing experience. FELLOW, Fourth Estate Professional Society (FFPS), he has also partaken in peace keeping operations within and outside the country and has flair for general security education.

T H I S D AY ˾ ˜ Ͱͯ, 2022

BUSINESS/MONEYGUIDE

Agropartnerships Reaffirms Commitment to Agri-businessValue Chain Development in Nigeria Agrictech platform, Agropartnerships, a subsidiary of a value chain development firm Farmforte, has restated its commitment to the sustainable development of the Agri-business value chain in Nigeria. The company made this known while assuring investors of the total safety of their investments in the business, amidst new pay-out cycle timelines. Restoring investor confidence in a statement, Co-founder and Co-CEO, Agropartnerships, Uyi Osayimwense assured that the company will not waver from

its vision to foster collaborative development in the agri-business ecosystem, leveraging innovation to enable progress for everyone across the value chain. “We take full responsibility for the unexpected, delayed cycle pay-outs, experienced by many of our partners in recent weeks and we have taken all the necessary measures to ensure that we do not see a repeat of this incident, while ensuring everyone gets their payout eventually. We appreciate the huge trust and confidence reposed in us and want to assure every investor that their funds are safe with the business, while we

work on achievable timelines to clear all pending and outstanding payouts” said Uyi. Commenting on the impact of the challenge and the commitment to satisfying all partners, co-CEO Agropartnerships, Osazuwa Osayi described the period as a challenging phase that the company has learned from to be better. “The team of experts that we have brought on board, our critical analysis of major gaps alongside the unflinching loyalty that you have shown through this period, have strongly helped us navigate this season, “he said.

A-Z Petroleum Products Limited Gets “BBB”Rating DataPro, the Technology-Driven Credit Rating Agency (CRA) has assigned A-Z Petroleum Products Limited a long-term rating of “BBB” with a Stable outlook for the year 2022/2023. A statement signed by DataPro’s Client Services Manager, Kehinde Rasheed and which was made available to THISDAY at the weekend explained that the “BBB” rating indicates slight risk. “It shows fair financial strength, operating performance and business profile when compared to the standard established by DataPro. “This company, in our opinion, can meet its ongoing obligations,

but its financial strength is vulnerable to adverse changes in economic conditions.” The statement pointed out that the DataPro Rating Committee approved the rating after the assessment of A-Z Petroleum Products Limited’s financial performance, capitalisation, asset utility, corporate governance, risk factors as well as the operational and regulatory environment. “The company continuously increased its revenue over the last five years. In the year 2020, the company’s revenue rose by 8 per cent while gross profit margin improved from 13% (Yr. 19) to 15% (Yr.20). The rating

also factored in the significant market share of A-Z in 3 out of 6 geopolitical zones in Nigeria. Other major rating considerations of A-Z Petroleum Products Limited include the company’s experience Management Team and its Very Good Financial Performance. A-Z Petroleum Products Limited is said to have a Short-Term Rating of “A2” which indicates fair credit quality and adequate capacity for timely payment of financial commitments. DataPro notes that the rating carries a maximum shelf life of 12 calendar months, in line with international best practices.

‘Leatherback Fully Regulated for Global Transactions’ The CEO of Leatherback, Ibrahim Toyeeb has said thatfintechs have leveraged their position as disruptors in the market, promoting their ability to offer more agile services at lower prices. Toyeeb added that while there is no doubt that fintechs have disrupted the financial services market, the word ‘disruption’ has been over-used in the fintech field. “Technology, innovation, regulation and experience should go side-byside. It should not be a matter of one or the other. The ability of fintechs to sidestep regulation has created distrust amongst consumers, who are increasingly voicing their need to be assured that their money is safe. “That is why – when we started Leatherback – we decided to view regulation as our friend, rather than our enemy. From the beginning, our model was always to get licenses in the countries we operate in, ”he said. Despite the onerous processes involved in obtaining licenses, Toyeeb said Leatherback is also Electronic Money Institution (EMI)-licensed in the UK, which allows it to offer electronic money services in the country.

“At the same time, we obtained a license in Canada as a money service business, a move that was aimed at making our Canadian clients feel comfortable with our platform and providing them with the same level of comfort they get from their banks and other financial services providers,” he added. Leatherback is currently licensed – or in the process of being licensed – in 13 other countries it operates in. “Every regulator expects us to meet specific technological requirements and partnership standards. We are going through all of these regulatory processes and applications to make sure when consumers hear the name Leatherback, they feel comfortable hearing it. They know they are working with a properly structured and fully regulated organisation that will keep their money safe and give them the best possible service,” says Toyeeb. The technology company is being licensed in developed and frontier markets. While regulators in some of these markets may not be up to date, Leatherback has liaised with regulators to ensure that it offers the best services to its clients. By becoming licensed, Leatherback

does not have to leverage third party providers. “Because we are licensed, we can tap directly into the local infrastructure in every country, which means we are able to offer first-layer services to our clients. This means not having to look to a local party, with its own layer of pricing. Licensing helps us offer more affordable services to our clients, which is why our global accounts are free. Nobody does that in the market today,” notes Toyeeb. Leatherback has, however, joined hands with recognised and reliable solutions providers such as Currency Cloud, which provides account solutions in the United States and parts of Europe, ClearBank, one of the largest banks in the UK. It has also partnered with 4Stop, a Know Your Customer (KYC), compliance and anti-fraud solution provider, and Yes Bank in India. Today, Leatherback has more than 40 partners globally, and partnerships with about three banks in each country it operates in. “We understand that regulation, in one way or another, has to catch up with innovation, but we are happy to help play a meaningful role in bridging the gap with various regulators in the sector, ”concludes Toyeeb.

LASAA Launches e-Sticker Verifier App for Mobile Advert Registration The Lagos State Signage and Advertisement Agency (LASAA), the agency responsible for the regulation and control of all forms of signs and outdoor advertisement displays in Lagos State, has launched a dedicated e-Sticker Verification Application (app) for mobile avert registration by its clients. The app, which according to the agency, is available on Google and IOS store will help clients to authenticate the mobile advert Quick Response (QR) code issued to them by LASAA. Speaking on the new app during the launch at the Agency’s head office recently, Managing

Director of the Agency, Prince Adedamola Docemo explained that the LASAA e-Sticker Verification App is a reliable platform that allows LASAA field officers or law enforcement agencies to verify the authenticity of brand publication on automobiles in Lagos State. “This innovation from the Lagos Signage Advertising Agency is a user-friendly interface that detects the brand registration information on stickers generated by LASAA to organisations and individuals respectively,” he said. Docemo added that having registered brand information

for automobiles on the LASAA sticker web platform and stickers generated, a field officer only needs to have the LASAA QR Code reader, which will decode the registration information of the branded publication. Speaking further on the details of the application, LASAA’s Head of Corporate Communication & Strategy, Mr. Temitope Akande noted that information regarding the organisation or individual name, plate number (where applicable), brand type, vehicle type and branding type will be displayed seamlessly to verify the authenticity of the sticker.

MARKET INDICATORS MONEY AND CREDIT STATISTICS

(MILLION NAIRA)

JANUARY 2021 Money Supply (M3)

38,779,455.43

-- CBN Bills Held by Money Holding Sectors

1,039,129.55

Money Supply (M2)

37,740,325.88

-- Quasi Money

21,779,302.69

-- Narrow Money (M1)

15,961,023.19

---- Currency Outside Banks

2,364,871.13

---- Demand Deposits

13,596,152.06

Net Foreign Assets (NFA)

7,414,275.50

Net Domestic Assets(NDA)

31,365,179.93

-- Net Domestic Credit (NDC)

42,916,586.63

---- Credit to Government (Net)

12,304,773.44

---- Memo: Credit to Govt. (Net) less FMA

0.00

---- Memo: Fed. and Mirror Accounts (FMA)

0.00

---- Credit to Private Sector (CPS)

30,611,813.19

--Other Assets Net

3,892,112.74

Reserve Money (Base Money

13,264,585.14

--Currency in Circulation

2,831,167.19

--Banks Reserves --Special Intervention Reserves

10,433,417.96 317,234.17

˾ ÙßÜÍÏ ̋

Money Market Indicators (in Percentage) Month

March 2018

Inter-Bank Call Rate

15.16

Minimum Rediscount Rate (MRR) Monetary Policy Rate (MPR)

14.00

Treasury Bill Rate

11.84

Savings Deposit Rate

4.07

1 Month Deposit Rate

8.82

3 Months Deposit Rate

9.72

6 Months Deposit Rate

10.93

12 Months Deposit Rate

10.21

Prime Lending rate

17.35

Maximum Lending Rate

31.55

˾ ÙØÏÞËÜã ÙÖÓÍã ËÞÏ ̋ ͯͱϱ

OPEC DAILY BASKET PRICE AS AT THURSDAY, OCTOBER 7

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).

T H I S D AY ˾ ˜ Ͱͯ˜ ͰͮͰͰ

United Capital Record 50% Increase in PBT, Proposes N1.50 Dividend Kayode Tokede United Capital Plc has announced its audited financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2021 with profit before tax increasing by 50 per cent to N11.92billion as against N7.95billion reported in 2020. The audited result and accounts on the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) revealed 44.14 per cent increase in profit after

tax to N11.26billion in 2021 as against N7.8billion in 2020. Key factors that contributed to growth in profits are 40 per cent increase in gross earnings to N18.07billion in 2021 from N billion reported in 2020, while fee and commission income significantly gained 77.4 per cent to N6.16billion from N3.47billion in 2020. With the impressive performance, the management of United Capital proposed 114

P R I C E S MAIN BOARD

F O R DEALS

per cent increase in dividend to N1.50 for every 50 kobo ordinary share, amounting to a total of N9billion. The leading investment bank and foremost Pan-African financial services group also reported 44 per cent increase in Earnings Per Share to 188 kobo in 2021 as against 130kobo in 2020. From the financial position, total assets of United Capital grew by 104per cent year-on-

S E C U R I T I E S MARKET PRICE

QUANTITY TRADED

year to N453.60 billion while Shareholders’ Funds rose 25 per cent year-on-year to N30.55 billion from N24.43 billion. Speaking on the audited financial results, the Chairman of the board, Professor Chika Mordi, in a statement stated that: “We are proposing N1.50 dividend for every 50 kobo ordinary share, up 114per cent over 70 kobo dividend paid last year. This affirms our commitment to wealth creation

T R A D E D

VALUE TRADED ( N )

MAIN BOARD

A S

for our shareholders.” Commenting on the Group’s performance, the Group Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Peter Ashade, in a statement said: “Our strong performance was driven by exponential growth in business activities across all the market segments that we serve as we successfully navigated a volatile operating environment to create best-in-class solutions for our clients. “United Capital is on a

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progressive path as witnessed in our strong earnings growth, and superior value delivery to shareholders over the years, amongst other metrics that are reflective of high performing organizations. “All stakeholders can be assured of our commitment to sustain our organizational growth trajectory well into the foreseeable future as we navigate the tough operating terrain.

/ 0 2 / 2 0 2 2 DEALS

MARKET PRICE

QUANTITY TRADED

VALUE TRADED ( N)

MONDAY, ͺ͹˜ ͺ͸ͺͺ ˾ T H I S D AY

MARKET NEWS 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

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 17Feb-2022, unless otherwise stated.

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 174.38 175.53 4.49% Afrinvest Plutus Fund 100.00 100.00 9.03% Nigeria International Debt Fund 308.65 308.65 -0.14% Afrinvest Dollar Fund 95.01 96.16 -3.46% 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 9.74% AIICO Balanced Fund 3.52 3.58 -0.64% 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 7.89% Anchoria Equity Fund 145.58 147.41 4.94% Anchoria Fixed Income Fund 1.19 1.19 3.78% info@anchoriaam.com 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 21.09 21.72 3.96% ARM Discovery Balanced Fund 474.70 489.01 5.22% ARM Ethical Fund 39.57 40.76 1.57% ARM Eurobond Fund ($) 1.07 1.08 -0.52% ARM Fixed Income Fund 1.02 1.02 0.68% ARM Money Market Fund 1.00 1.00 8.30% AVA GLOBAL ASSET MANAGERS LIMITED info@avacapitalgroup.com Web: www.avacapitalgroup.com Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn AVA GAM Fixed Income Dollar Fund 108.81 108.81 6.98% AVA GAM Fixed Income Naira Fund 1,079.84 1,079.84 7.98% AXA MANSARD INVESTMENTS LIMITED investmentcare@axamansard.com Web: www.axamansard.com; Tel: +2341-4488482 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn AXA Mansard Equity Income Fund N/A N/A N/A AXA Mansard Money Market Fund N/A N/A N/A CAPITAL EXPRESS ASSET AND TRUST LIMITED info@capitalexpressassetandtrust.com Web: www.capitalexpressassetandtrust.com; Tel: +234 803 307 5048 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn CEAT Fixed Income Fund N/A N/A N/A Capital Express Balanced Fund (Formerly: Union Trustees Mixed Fund) N/A N/A N/A CARDINALSTONE ASSET MANAGEMENT LIMITED mutualfunds@cardinalstone.com Web: www.cardinalstoneassetmanagement.com ; Tel: +234 (1) 710 0433 4 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn CardinalStone Fixed Income Alpha Fund 1.02 1.02 1.21% CHAPELHILL DENHAM MANAGEMENT LTD investmentmanagement@chapelhilldenham.com Web: www.chapelhilldenham.com, Tel: +234 461 0691 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Chapelhill Denham Money Market Fund 100.00 100.00 9.22% Paramount Equity Fund 18.46 18.78 9.66% Women's Investment Fund 146.12 147.69 5.04% CORDROS ASSET MANAGEMENT LIMITED assetmgtteam@cordros.com Web: www.cordros.com, Tel: 019036947 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Cordros Money Market Fund 100.00 100.00 8.27% Cordros Milestone Fund 137.69 138.59 4.16% 111.14 111.14 0.63% Cordros Dollar Fund ($) CORONATION ASSEST MANAGEMENT investment@coronationam.com Web:www.coronationam.com , Tel: 012366215 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Coronation Money Market Fund N/A N/A N/A Coronation Balanced Fund N/A N/A N/A Coronation Fixed Income Fund N/A N/A N/A EDC FUNDS MANAGEMENT LIMITED mutualfundng@ecobank.com Web: www.ecobank.com Tel: 012265281 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn EDC Nigeria Money Market Fund Class A 100.00 100.00 6.44% EDC Nigeria Money Market Fund Class B 1,000,000.00 1,000,000.00 6.66% EDC Nigeria Fixed Income Fund 1,145.50 1,149.64 -2.01% assetmanagement@emergingafricafroup.com EMERGING AFRICA ASSET MANAGEMENT LIMITED Web:www.emergingafricagroup.com/emerging-africa-asset-management-limited/, Tel: 08039492594 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Emerging Africa Money Market Fund 1.00 1.00 8.50% Emerging Africa Bond Fund 1.01 1.01 3.86% Emerging Africa Balanced Diversity Fund 1.05 1.05 3.77% Emerging Africa Eurobond Fund 101.34 101.34 0.48% 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 1,414.89 FBN Bond Fund 1,414.89 10.88% 182.11 FBN Balanced Fund 183.47 3.91% 117.00 FBN Halal Fund 117.00 8.86% 100.00 FBN Money Market Fund 100.00 8.61% FBN Dollar Fund (Retail) FBN Nigeria Smart Beta Equity Fund FCMB ASSET MANAGEMENT LIMITED Web: www.fcmbassetmanagement.com; Tel: +234 1 462 2596 Fund Name Legacy Money Market Fund Legacy Debt Fund Legacy Equity Fund Legacy USD Bond Fund FSDH ASSET MANAGEMENT LTD Web: www.fsdhaml.com; Tel: 01-270 4884-5; 01-280 9740-1 Fund Name Coral Balanced Fund Coral Income Fund Coral Money Market Fund

122.74 153.38

122.74 3.86% 155.37 1.91% fcmbamhelpdesk@fcmb.com

Bid Price 1.00 3.98 1.82 1.21

Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn 1.00 7.55% 3.98 -0.55% 1.86 4.56% 1.21 0.58% coralfunds@fsdhgroup.com

Bid Price N/A N/A N/A

Offer Price N/A N/A N/A

Yield / T-Rtn 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 N/A N/A N/A Vantage Balanced Fund N/A N/A N/A Vantage Guaranteed Income Fund N/A N/A N/A Kedari Investment Fund (KIF) N/A N/A N/A Vantage Equity Income Fund (VEIF) - June Year End N/A N/A N/A Vantage Dollar Fund (VDF) - June Year End N/A N/A N/A 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 1.55 1.58 3.14% Lotus Halal Fixed Income Fund 1,150.15 1,150.15 1.18% 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 12.46 12.56 5.72% Meristem Money Market Fund 10.00 10.00 8.49% NORRENBERGER INVESTMENT AND CAPITAL MANAGEMENT LIMITED enquiries@norrenberger.com Web: www.norrenberger.com, Tel: +234 (0) 908 781 2026 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Norrenberger Islamic Fund (NIF) 101.17 101.18 8.91% Norrenberger Money Market Fund (NMMF) 100.00 100.00 8.42% 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 1.63 1.66 1.56% PACAM Fixed Income Fund 11.59 11.58 3.53% PACAM Money Market Fund 10.00 10.00 7.38% PACAM Equity Fund 1.52 1.53 5.17% PACAM EuroBond Fund 115.05 117.46 -0.16% 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 131.29 132.92 8.26% 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 1.08 1.08 10.03% 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 3,515.56 3,552.70 2.09% Stanbic IBTC Bond Fund 236.54 236.54 0.34% Stanbic IBTC Ethical Fund 1.33 1.35 3.08% Stanbic IBTC Guaranteed Investment Fund 315.43 315.43 0.67% Stanbic IBTC Iman Fund 246.41 250.03 1.77% Stanbic IBTC Money Market Fund 100.00 100.00 6.48% Stanbic IBTC Nigerian Equity Fund 11,340.74 11,496.28 2.07% Stanbic IBTC Dollar Fund (USD) 1.30 1.30 0.56% Stanbic IBTC Shariah Fixed Income Fund 117.47 117.47 0.43% Stanbic IBTC Enhanced Short-Term Fixed Income Fund 107.57 107.57 UNITED CAPITAL ASSET MANAGEMENT LTD unitedcapitalplcgroup.com Web: www.unitedcapitalplcgroup.com; Tel: +234 01-6317876 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn United Capital Equity Fund 0.97 0.99 4.43% United Capital Balanced Fund 1.41 1.43 3.74% United Capital Wealth for Women Fund 1.14 1.16 4.68% United Capital Sukuk Fund 1.08 1.08 1.00% United Capital Fixed Income Fund 1.98 1.98 0.93% United Capital Eurobond Fund 123.19 123.19 0.70% United Capital Money Market Fund 1.00 1.00 7.91% 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 Balanced Strategy Fund 13.41 13.54 1.71% Zenith ESG Impact Fund 15.33 15.50 4.95% Zenith Income Fund 22.26 22.26 1.24% Zenith Money Market Fund 1.00 1.00 6.54%

REITS NAV Per Share

Yield / T-Rtn

124.98 54.65

10.62% 8.10%

Bid Price

Offer Price

Yield / T-Rtn

14.11 134.97 106.57 19.67 23.05

14.21 138.34 108.92 19.77 23.15

1.04% 2.55% 2.85% 0.00% 0.00%

Fund Name SFS REIT Union Homes REIT

EXCHANGE TRADED FUNDS Fund Name Lotus Halal Equity Exchange Traded Fund SIAML Pension ETF 40 Stanbic IBTC ETF 30 Fund MERGROWTH ETF MERVALUE ETF

VETIVA FUND MANAGERS LTD Web: www.vetiva.com; Tel: +234 1 453 0697 Fund Name Vetiva Banking Exchange Traded Fund Vetiva Consumer Goods Exchange Traded Fund Vetiva Grifﬁn 30 Exchange Traded Fund Vetiva Money Market Fund Vetiva Industrial Goods Exchange Traded Fund Vetiva S&P Nigeria Sovereign Bond Exchange Traded Fund

funds@vetiva.com Bid Price

Offer Price

Yield / T-Rtn

4.45 5.81 18.50 1.00 21.21 162.65

4.55 5.91 18.70 1.00 21.41 164.65

18.04% 14.09% 7.63% 7.78% 9.36% 3.07%

NAV Per Share

Yield / T-Rtn

107.28

10.80%

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.

MONDAY FEBRUARY 21, 2022 • T H I S D AY

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 21, 2022 ˾ T H I S D AY

FOREIGN DESK

COMPILED BY BAYO AKINLOYE

Ukraine Crisis: Russia Extends Troop Drills in Belarus

Russia on Sunday extended its military drills in Belarus, along Ukraine’s northern border, after two days of sustained shelling in eastern Ukraine between Russian separatists and Ukrainian forces. The Russian exercises with Belarusian forces had been scheduled to end Sunday. They were extended amid Russian President Vladimir Putin’s show of force along the Ukrainian border with the massing of some 150,000 troops, accompanied by naval exercises in the Black Sea to the south of Ukraine. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken told CNN’s “State of the Union” show that the sharp increase in Russian troop deployments in recent weeks, cyberattacks on the Ukrainian defence ministry and major banks last week and now the new outbreak in fighting in eastern Ukraine that killed two Ukrainian soldiers, signal that Moscow is “following its playbook” ahead of large-scale warfare. “Everything leading up to the invasion is already taking place,” Blinken said. The separatists in eastern Ukraine have claimed Kyiv’s forces are planning an attack there, which Ukraine denies. Iran Lawmakers Want Guarantees on Revived Nuclear Deal Iranian lawmakers have urged President Ebrahim Raisi to obtain guarantees from the United States and three European countries that they won’t exit the nuclear deal being renegotiated in Vienna, Iranian state media reported on Sunday. In a letter to Raisi, they stated that the United States and European parties to the nuclear deal — Britain, France, and Germany — should also guarantee that they would not trigger the “snapback mechanism” under which sanctions on Iran would be immediately reinstated if it violates nuclear compliance. “We have to learn a lesson from past experiences and put a red line on the national interest by not committing to any agreement without obtaining necessary guarantees first,” lawmakers said in the letter. The statement was signed by 250 out of 290 Iranian parliamentarians. It comes as negotiators from Iran and the remaining parties to the agreement — Britain, France, Germany, Russia, and China — are working to revive a 2015 deal, which granted Iran sanctions relief in exchange for curbs on its nuclear program. The United States has participated indirectly in the talks because it withdrew from the deal in 2018 under then-President Donald Trump. President Joe Biden has signalled that he wants to rejoin the agreement. Queen of England, Elizabeth II, Catches COVID-19 Queen Elizabeth, 95, has tested positive for COVID and is experiencing mild symptoms but expects to continue light duties this week, Buckingham Palace said on Sunday. “The queen has today tested positive for COVID,” the palace said. “Her Majesty is experiencing mild cold-like symptoms but expects to continue light duties at Windsor over the coming week.” “She will continue to receive medical attention and will follow all appropriate guidelines,” the palace said. Earlier this month, Charles, 73, the heir to the throne, pulled out of an event after contracting coronavirus for a second time. A palace source said he had met the queen just days before. The queen’s health, the world’s oldest and longest-reigning monarch, has been in the spotlight since she spent a night in hospital last October for an unspecified ailment and then was advised by her doctors to rest. Elizabeth on Wednesday quipped to members of the royal household that she could not move much as she carried out her first in-person engagement since Charles

Porsches, Audis and Bentleys, some electric with lithium-ion batteries, caught fire in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean on Wednesday. The 22 crew members on board were evacuated on the same day. “The intervention [to put out the blaze] has to be done very slowly,” João Mendes Cabañas, captain of the nearest port in the Azorean island of Faial, told Reuters late on Saturday. “It will take a while.” Lithium-ion batteries in the electric vehicles on board are “keeping the fire alive,” Cabañas said, adding that specialist equipment to extinguish it was on the way. It was not clear whether the batteries sparked the fire. Volkswagen, which owns the brands, did not confirm the total number of cars on board and said on Friday it was awaiting further information. Ship manager Mitsui O.S.K. Lines Ltd did not immediately respond to a request for comment. tested positive. Nepal Police Tear-gas Protesters of US-Funded Projects Police in Kathmandu fired teargas and water cannon to disperse protesters opposed to a U.S.-funded infrastructure program that was set to be presented in parliament for ratification on Sunday, witnesses and officials in Nepal’s capital said. Some protesters were injured in the clashes, they said. The Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC), a US government aid agency, agreed in 2017 to provide $500 million in grants to fund a 300-kilometre electricity transmission line and a road improvement project in Nepal. Government officials said the grant will not have to be repaid and comes with no strings, but opponents say the agreement would undermine Nepal’s laws and sovereignty as lawmakers would have insufficient oversight of the board directing the infrastructure project. Major political parties, including members of the ruling coalition, are split over accepting or rejecting the US grant money. The US Embassy in Nepal described the $500 million MCC grant as “a gift from the American people and a partnership between our nations that will bring jobs and infrastructure to Nepal and improve the lives of Nepalis.” North Korea Releases Thousands of Prisoners to Mark Ex-leader’s Birthday North Korea released several thousands of prisoners as part of a celebration for a major holiday, a move that prompted joyful family reunions but also alarm about the abuse many former inmates appear to have suffered while in captivity, sources in the country told RFA. The holiday on Wednesday marked what would have been former leader Kim Jong Il’s 80th birthday. After his death in 2011, his son and successor, Kim Jong Un, declared his father’s birthday to be a national holiday called the “Day of the Shining Star,” elevating it to the same level as the “Day of the Sun,” the birth anniversary of the progenitor of the Kim dynasty, national founder Kim Il Sung. The North Korean prison system is well known to be incredibly brutal. Former inmates who have escaped the country have said prisoners are poorly fed, live in crowded cells, and are subjected to torture, backbreaking labour and sexual abuse. Being released from a North Korean prison is a reason to celebrate for the inmate and his or her family. But a resident of the northeastern province of North Hamgyong told RFA’s Korean Service that many of the prisoners released ahead

of the Day of the Shining Star had suffered so badly that they appeared to be near death. Tear Gas Fired at Sudan Anti-coup Protest Amid UN Expert Arrival Sudanese security forces on Sunday fired tear gas at protesters demonstrating against last year’s military coup, an AFP correspondent said, as a United Nations human rights expert arrived in the country. Thousands rallied in the capital Khartoum, carrying the Sudanese flags and posters of people killed during anti-coup demonstrations in recent months. The correspondent said that security forces fired tear gas and wounded several protesters heading toward the presidential palace in central Khartoum. “We are ready to protest all year,” said one demonstrator, 24-year-old Thoyaba Ahmed. Regular protests have rocked the northeast African country since army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan led a military takeover in October, sparking international condemnation. The move derailed a transition painstakingly negotiated between military and civilian leaders following the 2019 ouster of President Omar al-Bashir. “We want to rectify our country’s situation to have a good future,” demonstrator Wadah Khaled told AFP. According to an independent medics group, at least 81 people have been killed and hundreds wounded in a violent crackdown on the protests. “We need to make sacrifices to resolve the country’s issues,” 25-year-old demonstrator Arij Salah said. Meanwhile, UN human rights expert Adama Dieng is visiting Sudan until Thursday on a trip initially planned for last month but postponed at the request of Sudanese authorities. “Dieng will meet with senior Sudanese government officials, representatives of civil society organizations, human rights defenders, heads of UN entities, and diplomats,” the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights said in a statement. Fireﬁghters Struggle to Douse Fire on Luxury Cars Vessel Firefighters are struggling to put out a fire that broke out on Wednesday on a vessel carrying thousands of luxury cars, which is adrift off the coast of Portugal’s Azores islands, a port official said, adding it was unclear when they would succeed. The Felicity Ace ship, carrying around 4,000 vehicles including

UNICEF Announces Aid for Afghan Teachers UNICEF announced Sunday an emergency cash support effort for all public education teachers in Afghanistan for January and February, saying the move will allow continued access to education for all school-age girls and boys. The European Union-funded payment, amounting to the equivalent of $100 a month per teacher, will benefit an estimated 194,000 male and female teachers across the country who have not been paid for six months. UNICEF said in a statement that the agency and partners had taken the initiative to recognise the “crucial role” these teachers in Afghanistan are playing in the education of around 8.8 million enrolled in public schools. “Following months of uncertainty and hardship for many teachers, we are pleased to extend emergency support to public school teachers in Afghanistan who have spared no effort to keep children learning,” said Mohamed Ayoya, UNICEF’s country representative Ayoya said UNICEF would need an additional $250 million to be able to continue supporting public school teachers and called on donors to help the agency fund the initiative. Since militarily taking over the country in mid-August, the Taliban have allowed women to resume work in health and education and opened private and public universities to female education, while secondary school girls are also back in school in about a dozen of the 34 Afghan provinces. Finland Beats Russia to Win First Olympic Hockey Gold Finland’s men’s ice hockey team finally reached the top of the Olympic podium on Sunday by beating the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) 2-1 to claim the final gold medal on offer at the Beijing Winter Games. Ville Pokka and Hannes Bjorninen each had a goal, while Harri Sateri was rock solid in the net when called upon, facing 17 shots as the inspired Finns capped an unbeaten run to gold by overcoming the Russian defending champions. Finland have made regular appearances on the Olympic podium, returning home with a medal from five of the previous seven Games, but until Sunday had never reached the top step. The Finns contested the final at the 1988 Calgary Games and 2006 Turin Olympics twice before and came up short, but the third time proved the lucky charm. Slovakia, with the help of two goals from teenage sensation Juraj Slafkovsky, beat Sweden 4-0 on Saturday to claim the bronze and their first-ever Olympic medal in men’s ice hockey.

MONDAY, ͺ͹˜ ͺ͸ͺͺ ˾ T H I S D AY

NEWSXTRA

INVESTITURE CEREMONY... L-R: Executive Secretary, Nigerian Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers, Mr, Isibor Simon, Incoming National Chairman of the Institute, Mr. Akan Michael, and Outgoing National Chairman, Mr. Kings Adeyemi, during the institute's investiture ceremony in Abuja.. weekend KINGSLEY ADEBOYE

Airlines Hike Fares as Aviation Fuel Rises to N420 Per Litre

Chinedu Eze

Less than 10 days after domestic airlines lamented that oil marketers have increased price of Jet A1 (aviation fuel) to N400 per litre, the price of the product has increased to N420 per litre in Lagos and

N450 per litre at other airports outside Lagos and Abuja. This has prompted domestic airlines to increase base fare to over N50, 000 per flight. THISDAY learnt the price of aviation fuel increased to N420 per litre yesterday, as against the

N400 per litre it was on Thursday, without prior notice to the airlines. But depending on the city where the airport is located, the price hovers around N420 and N450 per lire, especially in northern part of the country, where it is predicted that the price could rise to N500

per litre in few days. THISDAY also learnt that as the price is now subject to the exchange rate of the naira against the dollars, until when the country begins to refine the product locally. “As at today (Sunday), a litre of fuel goes for N420 in Lagos and

Osinbajo Bemoans Delay in Justice Delivery in Nigeria VP canvasses considerable developmental gains for Niger Delta Deji Elumoye in Abuja The Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo has bemoaned the delay in the delivery of justice in the country, describing it as one of the cankerworms eating up the judicial system in the country. Osinbajo said this at the 20th Memorial Anniversary Symposium of Bankole Olumide Aluko (SAN), who died on 18th February, 2002, held in Lagos, at the weekend. The theme of the symposium was: "Administration of Justice: The Ideal Standard, The Nigerian Reality and our Potential." In his keynote address, Osinbajo,

was quoted in a statement, to have given conditions for the maintenance of law and order as well as governance. He explained: “The administration of the justice system is the foundation of law and order, commerce as well as democracy. When the system of administration of justice fails, these pillars of governance and orderly society also collapse. “Investor hesitancy or reluctance is also a reflection of the inefficiency and lack of confidence in the integrity of the commercial dispute resolution process, delay is disastrous.” The plenary session discussed

the possibility of Nigeria’s system of justice rising to become one of Africa’s international litigation powerhouses. The vice president of Nigeria, showered encomiums on the late Bankole. He said: “Every once in a while, a truly iconic figure comes by this way, usually one who excels in the accumulation of unique talent who we would describe as an icon. But not often is it the case that the icon is multi-talented and gifted in several ways. We had one of such icons 20 years ago; Bankole Olumide Aluko (SAN)." The memorial was organised by Aluko & Oyebode, a top law

firm of which the late Bankole Olumide Aluko (SAN), was a co-founder. In his opening remarks, the co-founder of Aluko and Oyebode, Gbenga Oyebode, expressed gratitude to the vice president, for honoring the invitation. Oyebode described Bankole as one who had respect for ethical standards and a particular love for his profession. One of the panelists, A.B. Mahmoud (SAN), emphasised the need to establish a strong regulatory framework that would elicit the appropriate values and culture among lawyers in the judicial system.

it is between N430 and N450 in some northern states. The fact is that the price of the product may go higher as aviation fuel is scarce in the country. “About three weeks ago, the product was scarce in all the airports in the country and this contributed to some of the delayed flights we experienced at that period. The government needs to arrest the situation before it goes out of hand,” a source told THISDAY. Defending the increase in airfares, a spokesman of one of the major domestic airlines told THISDAY that the new fares were a response to the increase in the price of aviation fuel, the increase in the cost of handling rates by aviation handling companies and also the exchange rate. The official said airlines had to increase fares in order to survive, insisting that without that, most of the airlines would not continue to operate in the next three months, adding that until now, airlines have been subsidizing the base fare. “We increase fare in reaction to the cost of aviation fuel, which is increasing daily without prior warning to airlines. We sell tickets at lower price but we airlift passengers at the new aviation fuel prices, which means we are incurring heavy losses. If we do not increase fares, many of us will not last three months. “We are batting with poor

infrastructure, exchange rate depreciation, high price of aviation fuel and increase in the price of handing by aviation handling companies. If you go to market to buy to resell and find out that prices have suddenly gone up will you sell at the same old price? No! We are feeling the economic pinch together. “We should put the blame where it should be and these are forex, aviation fuel, which is biggest reason for the hike,” the spokesman said. But reacting to the increased fares by airlines, the former CEO of Aero Contractors and former Managing Director of the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA), Capt Ado Sanusi, condemned the decision of Airline Operators of Nigeria (AON) to increase fares, saying that such decision was against free economy and against anti-trust laws. “I am not against the increase in airfares in response to high cost of operation, increase in the price of aviation fuel, but AON cannot come out and fix prices of tickets. That is against the law and against free economy. “Every airline should look at its own costs and decide the fares. When you fix fares, some airlines will be affected negatively and it could lead to them going under because airlines have different financial models and so should fix their own fares,” he said.

B U H A R I M AY S I G N E L E CTO R A L B I L L TO DAY, S E E KS L AW M A K E R S ' AS S U R A N C E S TO A M E N D C L AU S E 8 4 came about are the ones causing the current commotion in our party? Can you imagine Hope and Bello holding the party to ransom over completely self-serving reasons, which do not even align with collective interest. “I hope the meeting of the governors tonight is not going to be where they would throw it all out through the window, because this is absolutely ridiculous. What is the sense in the postponement of the convention, when we can actually tidy up everything in two or three days? “Really, what do we need to get this done? With a unity list, the convention would be over in no time, because we’d be going only to ratify the list. So, why stalling the entire party and by extension the country? “Why is the chairman acting as if he is not in charge? The whole

thing is just disappointing and honestly, I’m ashamed how the governors allowed two people without a stake in the party to drive them to this shameful station,” said the party source.

Stakeholders Insist Convention Must Go on as Planned Already, many stakeholders of the APC had claimed that except the president said otherwise, the proposed national convention of the party was unlikely. THISDAY further gathered at the weekend that although some members of the party, who were opposed to the convention holding as scheduled, had begun to shop for an injunction to stop the exercise, the caretaker committee leadership of the party was also ready to go ahead with convention

plans nonetheless. This is as the youths of the party, under the aegis of Progressive Youth Movement (PYM),had declared their readiness for the APC national convention on February 26, if the caretaker committee could not carry out the task. At the same time, some stakeholders in party had listed a few of the factors believed should guide the choice of the new chairman of the party, citing particularly, a corruption-free individual without cases with any of the anti-corruption agencies. However, with the convention not likely to hold again, THISDAY gathered that the only person, who could have approved that the exercise goes on or be postponed at this stage was President Buhari, who unfortunately, has remained quiet about it until the Tuesday

meeting was slated. While some members of the party had expressed concerns over the level of preparedness for an exercise that is scheduled to hold this weekend, including the zoning of offices and the sales of nomination form that have yet to take off, THISDAY gathered that all of those would be resolved in no time the moment Buhari gives a direction on the convention. But whether or not the president agrees to go ahead with the convention as scheduled for this weekend after tomorrow’s meeting, some members of the party were alleged to have started shopping for an injunction to stop the exercise from holding.

APC Youths Offer to Assist with Convention Meanwhile,

leader

the

Progressive Youth Movement, Mustapha Audu, in an open letter to Buhari, the Caretaker Extraordinary Convention Planning Committee (CECPC) and the Progressive Governors Forum (PGF), lamented that overriding personal interest had made it impossible to conduct the national convention of the ruling APC. He, however, maintained that, "The country is watching, and Mr. President has been promised a date of February 26th, 2022, for the APC National Convention. Any attempt to move this date shows that there is no regard for honesty or integrity, and this dents our image in the eyes of all Nigerians." According to him, the convention date was decided over two months ago and the caretaker committee has had more than enough time to put its house in order.

"We want to reassure Mr. President that we, as young stakeholders, stand ready to conduct the National Convention come February 26th 2022 if the current CECPC cannot carry out the task," the APC youth said, decrying that the schedule of activities released by the caretaker committee for planning towards the conduct of the convention had all been violated. He said these included the February 14 sale of forms date, release of zoning arrangements, the return of completed forms, which was supposed to be the deadline date. His words: "Holding a convention is not a difficulty as we carried out the previous ward, local government, state congresses and national convention within 12 days in 2018 between May 2nd and May 14th, 2018.

MONDAY, ͺ͹˜ ͺ͸ͺͺ ˾ T H I S D AY

NEWSXTRA

WHEN ROYALTY MEETS ART... L-R: Managing Director/CEO, Nike Art Gallery, Mrs. Nike Davies Okundaye; wife of the Olu of Warri, HRH, Olori Atuwatse III; Olu of Warri, HRM, Ogiame Atuwatse III; and Nike's husband, Chief Reuben Okundaye, when the Olu of Warri paid a courtesy visit to Nike Art Gallery in Lagos…recently

Groups Call on Emefiele to Join Race for Presidency in 2023 John Shiklam in Kaduna Two separate groups, The Mass Interest Project (TMIP)and The Youth For Transparency Initiative (TYTI) have called on the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefiele, to contest for the 2023 Presidency. The Mass Interest Project, has prevailed on Emefiele, to throw his hat in the ring and contest the 2023 presidential election. In a statement, titled, ''The Charge 2023'', issued weekend, TMIP, said the country's next president should be an experienced entrepreneur and or a business leader, adding that the person the

cap best fits to take over the mantle of leadership in the country was no other than the CBN governor. On his part, President, TYTI, Koko Umar, in a statement yesterday, in Kaduna,said the CBN governor was one of the great Nigerians who had demonstrated competence and capacity in public service and should be trusted with the leadership of the country. The group said, as the governor of the CBN, Emefiele has made tremendous achievements that qualifies him to run for the presidency in 2023. “One of the great Nigerians who has contributed to the development of country is the

Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Dr. Godwin Emefiele,” the group said. According to TMIP, ''As expected, there is already tension across the country. From East to West, North to South, Nigerians are beginning to feel the heat as the political gladiators go on the hustings, perfecting their art to play the game to know how tom play with ruthless efficiency. ''These are men and some women who are well versed in political deception, intimidation, blackmail and are also experts in the arts of violence which they readily deploy to exact vengeance or force compliance to their will

and desire. ''They are also adept at making promises they cannot keep or are not capable of supporting. They have been there from the beginning, from the First Republic, Second Republic, Third Republic, Fourth Republic and continued to rule the coast, even up to the present political dispensation. ''We, the people, work to manifest the Nigeria of our hope on our way to greatness! We march, fiercely guarding the vision and liberty to build a Nigeria we believe in, not a career politicians but as citizens with an equal stake in this Republic. ''Yes, we are on the march,

250,000 Young Nigerians Undergoing Sexual, Labour Exploitations in Mali NAPTIP rescues 15 females, three years old boy Alex Enumah in Abuja A Non-governmental Organisation (NGO), Network Against Child Trafficking, Abuse and Labour (NACTAL) has raised the alarm that over 250, 000 young Nigerian boys and girls are currently undergoing various forms of exploitations including sexual and labour in different places in Mali. The National President of the network, Mr. AbduGaniyu Abubakar who made the disclosure yesterday, in Abuja, however called on the federal government and other relevant authorities including civil groups to do everything humanly possible to rescue them. He was speaking shortly after the arrival of 15 females and a three years old boy, who were victims of human trafficking rescued from Mali arrived the Abuja International Airport. The victims who were sexually exploited in various mining sites in Mali were between the ages of 18 and 25 years and have spent around five years in captivity until their rescue recently. According to the NACTAL President, the victims had escaped from their captors and took solace in the shelter of some NGOs working against human trafficking, sexual, child abuse

and labour in Mali. Meanwhile, the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Person (NAPTIP), who brought the children back to the country, reassured that the agency would continue to do its best to rescue Nigerians trafficked for sexual and labour exploitations wherever they may be in the world. Head of NAPTIP's Intelligent and International Cooperation

Unit, Angela Agbayekhai, warned that Mali is not a greener pasture, adding that the country is fast assuming the status of a destination country for sexual exploitation and child labour. According to her the agency was pursuing the rescue of over 20,000 trafficked to Mali for sexual exploitation. Meanwhile, one of the victims (names withheld), while lamenting their ordeals in Mali

advised young girls to be wary of big promises of prosperity outside Nigeria. She claimed to have been deceived by a friend to embark on a greener pastures journey not knowing that she was being taken captive into sexual exploitation. The three years old boy belonged to one of the victims. The child was born there in Mali and she had to carry him along while escaping from her captors.

in search of the next leader of our country. Behold we have found a man with a proven track record of loyalty, patriotism and understanding for sustainable development. A man, whose name connotes a date with destiny. ''Godwin Ifeanyichukwu Emefiele, would you lead our people on this march for a better Nigeria? Would you lead The Charge 2023? Similarly, the TYTI maintained that since his appointment as CBN governor in 2014, Emefiele has been relentless in building a strong financial system to strengthen the nation’s economy. “His unrelenting efforts at the apex bank has helped to navigate the Nigerian economy through turbulent economic challenges to growth and inclusiveness in policy development and implementation. “Under Emefiele the (CBN) is more people focused, as its policies and programmes are tailored towards supporting small businesses and job creation. “Under his leadership, the CBN introduced various interventions, which aimed at growing the economy, job creation and lifting people out of poverty. “Under him, the CBN introduced 37 intervention funds targeted at stimulating the economy and addressing the issue of unemployment. “Through the development finance initiatives, the bank granted N756.51 billion to 3,734,938 small holder farmers of which

N120.24 billion was extended for the 2021 Wet Season to 627,051 farmers under the Anchor Borrowers’ Programme (ABP)”, the group enumerated. According to the group, this has revolutionised rice production in Nigeria, saving the country from spend over N356 billion annually on rice importation which had hitherto affected local production negatively. “The rice pyramid recently showcased in Abuja is a proof that we have broken the chains of rice importation,” it said. The statement further noted Emefiele’s achievements in implementation of the National Youth Investment Fund (NYIF), in which the CBN released N3.0 billion to 7,057 beneficiaries, of which 4,411 were individuals and 2,646 SMEs. “In the creative industry, N3.22 billion was disbursed to 356 beneficiaries across movie production, movie distribution, software development, fashion, and IT verticals, under the Creative Industry Financing Initiative (CIFI) “Also the CBN under the N1.0 trillion Real Sector Facility, released N923.41 billion to 251 real sector projects, of which 87 were in light manufacturing, 40 in agro based industry, 32 in services and 11 in mining. In the health sector the CBN disbursed N98.41 billion for 103 health projects under the bank’s Healthcare Sector Intervention Facility (HSIF).

Judiciary Open to Capacity Building Initiatives, CJN Tells US Alex Enumah in Abuja The Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Ibrahim Muhammad, at the weekend said the Judiciary was open to initiatives aimed at improving and strengthening the capacity of judicial officers in the handling of cases on emerging crime trend in the country. The CJN made the statement while playing host to a visiting delegation of US officials led by the Ambassador to Nigeria, Ms. Mary Leonard. The CJN in a statement by his media aide, Ahuraka Isah, identified some of the emerging crimes, to include cybercrime, cross-jurisdictional infringement of Intellectual property rights,

and cases related to cybersecurity and espionage. The CJN added that judges in the country required training on block technology and online dispute resolution as it affects e-commerce which is becoming a challenge due to inadequate awareness of technology and technical abilities and capacity. He accordingly requested for workshops that would border on Copyright Law in the new digital environment for judicial officers and enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards relating to intellectual property disputes. “Capacity building for our judicial officers is our priority, while the development of the capacity of our Research

Assistants and other staff of the National Judicial Institute, who are fully involved in these training programmes, is also very important. “Your Excellency, without taking the cat out of your bag, I want to assure you that our doors are always wide open to welcome proposals that will be beneficial to the development of the Rule of Law and the overall growth of the Judiciary of this country. "The National Judicial Institute will never relent in its efforts to serve as the principal focal point of judicial activities on issues relating to the promotion of efficiency, uniformity and improvement

in the quality of judicial services in our courts,” the CJN stated. In his remarks, the US Ambassador stated that the visit was an opportunity to encourage the Nigerian Judiciary to continue collaborating with the United States Mission, including in raising the profile of intellectual property (IP) protection which is essential for Nigeria’s development and international partnerships. She disclosed that her country was planning to increase its capacity-building engagement on cybersecurity issues, adding that the United States of America was interested in continued collaboration with the Judiciary and courts through

its International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs Office (INL) and Office of Overseas Prosecutorial Development, Assistance and Training (OPDAT). Leonard hinted that the US was exploring how best to support Nigeria's judicial processes during the 2023 elections. The Justices of the Supreme Court, who accompanied the CJN to receive the US delegation were Justice Olukayode Ariwoola, Inyang Okoro, Amina Augie, Ejembi Eko, Uwani Abba-Aji, Mohammed Garba, Helen Ogunwumiju, Abdu Aboki, Adamu Jauro and Emmanuel Agim.

MONDAY, ͺ͹˜ ͺ͸ͺͺ ˾ T H I S D AY

NEWSXTRA

20TH MEMORIAL ANNIVERSARY SYMPOSIUM... L-R: Aisha Muhammed Oyebode; Founding Partner, Aluko & Oyebode (A&O), Gbenga Oyebode; Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo; wife of late Bankole Olumide Aluko, Dr. Biodun Aluko; Chairman, A&O Management Board, Kofo Dosekun, and Senior Partner, A&O, Babatunde Fagbohunlu, at the 20th memorial anniversary symposium held in honour of Bankole Olumide Aluko held in Lagos…recently

Tinubu: No Amount of Intimidation Can Stop My 2023 Presidential Bid Kemi Olaitan in Ibadan National Leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC),

Senator Bola Ahmed Tinubu, yesterday, took consultations in view of his presidential aspiration to the Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Lamidi Adeyemi and Olubadan-

designate, High Chief Lekan Balogun, where he vowedthat no amount of intimidation could halt his determination to become Nigeria’s next president.

N51bn UBEC Funds: Pay Counterpart Funds or Face Legal Action, SERAP Tells Governors Udora Orizu in Abuja The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has urged the 36 state governors to redirect public funds budgeted to pay ex-governors undeserved pensions and other retirement benefits towards paying the counterpart funds that would allow poor children to enjoy access to quality basic education in your state. SERAP said the 36 states had reportedly failed to pay the counterpart funds to access over N51 billion matching grants earmarked by the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC) for basic education in the country, as at July 2019. In the letter dated February 19, 2022, and signed by SERAP’s Deputy Director, Kolawole Oluwadare, the organisation said the report by UBEC that several states failed to access N51.6 billion of matching grants suggested that they were doing little for poor children. The letter, sent to each of the 36 governors, read in part: “We would be grateful if the recommended measures are taken within 14 days of the receipt and/or publication of this letter. If we have not heard from you by then, SERAP shall consider appropriate legal actions to compel your state to comply with our request

in the public interest. “The enjoyment of the right to education for millions of poor children remains a distant goal. In several states, this goal is becoming increasingly remote. The persistent failure to pay counterpart funds has hugely contributed to denying poor Nigerian children access to quality basic education, opportunities and development. “State governors are clearly in a position to invest more toward the progressive realisation of the right to quality education for poor children within their states. “Rather than spending public funds to pay exgovernors undeserved pensions and other retirement benefits and apparently using security votes for patronage and political purposes, governors should prioritise investment in education by immediately paying up any outstanding counterpart funds to UBEC. “SERAP is separately seeking information from UBEC about the details of counterpart funds that have been between 2019 and 2022. In the meantime, SERAP urges you to clarify if your state has paid any counterpart fund between July 2019 and 2022. States should prioritise paying their counterpart funds over and above spending

on life pensions and other misallocation of scarce resources. “Immediately paying your counterpart funds for basic education in your state would be a major step forward for children’s rights, and show your commitment to ensure the rights and well-being of all children, regardless of their socio-economic backgrounds.”

Tinubu, while speaking at the palace of Alaafin in Oyo and the residence of the Olubadandesignate, said the country was at crossroads and was ready to get dirty, stating that he was all out to become the president of the country. He added that his visit to both Oyo and Ibadan was borne out of his respect for the royal stool and as well to seek for their blessings, cooperation and prayers to lead the country come 2023. Tinubu at the palace of Alaafin said, "I cannot embark on a project of such magnitude without seeking prayers and cooperation of the traditional rulers. "I am here today to inform our fathers of my decision to run for the position of the president

of this country in 2023. What I need from our highly referred traditional rulers is their prayers and cooperation. "Today, by the special grace of God, in Yorubaland, unlike before, we have Vice President, Minister of Works, Interior and Sports but we still need more," he said. Oba Adeyemi, in his remarks, while invoking the spirits of his fore-bearers, said his request has been granted, assuring Tinubu that all the ancestors of Yorubaland would work in his favour and answer his prayers. He then asked the 10 Oke-Ogun traditional rulers in attendance at the meeting whether they were in support of his decision, and their response was: "We are fully in support."

At the event, the retired Arch Bishop of Methodist Church Nigeria, Ayo Ladigbolu, also prayed for the fulfilment of his ambition. At the residence of Olubadan designate, the monarch said, "We have known you and we know your antecedents. We know your antecedents as a progressive. You laid a foundation of Today Lagos. You are the leading light of Nigeria. You contributed to make Nigeria what it is today. "Without Yoruba, Nigeria will not be what it is today. Nigeria is badly divided. We are looking forward to a Yoruba president, who will unite this country. We need a leader that will have a national focus and national acceptability. The road may be rough but by His grace, you will triumph."

Uromi Community Endorses Late Anenih’s Son for House of Reps Adibe Emenyonu in Benin City Oseyili Anenih, one of the sons of Late Chief Tony Anenih, has received the endorsement of his father's kinsmen, the Uzenema community, in Uromi, to run for the Esan North-East/South-East Federal Constituency seat, Edo State. The approval sealed a critical customary blessing for the junior Anenih, which is crucial to not only to strengthen his political base to contest the House of Representatives seat, but is also a condition precedent to any declaration by an Esan politician. As a mark of support, the Uzenema community Elders

led by Jonah Agumelen, the Odionwele (the oldest man in the village) vowed that, “no one else after this endorsement of Ose, will come from Uzenema for the Reps seat.” “As a community, we will all vote for Ose Anenih because we have given him our blessings and prayers. He is a good man; and he is our own.” “He is from a good home, and his family has contributed enormously to this community, Edo State and Nigeria at large,” the elders said. In the same vein, the oldest man in the Anenih clan, Akiohiamen Robertson, has also blessed the aspiration of Ose, describing him as a

worthy son who will continue to serve the community as selflessly as his father did. Over 400 hundred community leaders, elders, and youth groups attended the ceremony convened by the first son of the late PDP leader, Tony Anenih Jnr, which held at the Anenih family compound in Uzenema on Thursday. The immediate family of the late strongman of Edo politics, popularly known as Mr Fix-it, Late Chief Tony Anenih, were also in attendance. Endorsements from political leaders, elders, youth and women groups have continued to pour in for Ose Anenih from his immediate community, the federal constituency, the state

and across the country. Responding, Oseyili Anenih said he was humbled by the support he received from his people; and pledged to protect and promote the interests of his community to the best of his ability. He said “Politics is about consultations and consensus building. I have gained the trust of my community, and now I have to do the same across the entire constituency. “This marks the beginning of what is still a long journey. I look forward to engaging with the wider constituency so I can present to them my plans and ideas that I believe will make Esan North East/ South East Constituency even greater than it currently is.”

MONDAY, ͺ͹˜ ͺ͸ͺͺ ˾ T H I S D AY

NEWSXTRA

HAPPY CENTENARY ANNIVERSARY... R-L: Edo State Governor, Mr Godwin Obaseki; Mrs Bernadette Emumwen, and Rev. Father Victor Emumwen, during a church service to mark Lady Bernadette Emumwen’s 100 years birthday, on Saturday

NAFDAC Alerts Nigerians on Imported Harmful ‘Ponmo’ Arrests seven merchants

Onyebuchi Ezigbo in Abuja The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has advised Nigerians to exercise caution when buying animal hides, popularly known as Ponmo. The agency said it intercepted large quantities of dangerous ‘ponmo,’ disclosing that seven merchants of the deadly product have been arrested. The Director General of NAFDAC, Prof. Mojisola

Adeyeye warned the general public, particularly consumers of ponmo against the activities of some unscrupulous businessmen and traders who were selling industrial animal hides as food articles. She said the hides were pretreated with industrial chemicals which are not food grade and would be toxic and injurious to human health. He stressed that health hazards inherent in the consumption of such animal hides included

risk of liver, kidney and heart damage, increased risk of aplastic anemia, central nervous system toxicity, cancer, amongst several others. Adeyeye said: "NAFDAC wishes to advise consumers and retailers of ponmo not to patronise importers of hides and skins for consumable animal skins. “The general public is hereby encouraged to be very vigilant and exercise discretion when purchasing animal hides ponmo

and indeed other food items. NAFDAC is fully alive to her responsibilities of assuring the safety, wholesomeness, and quality of processed foods offered for sale to the public." Adeyeye, in a statement issued by the Resident Media Consultant to NAFDAC, Sayo Akintola, in Lagos, yesterday, disclosed that NAFDAC’s Investigation and Enforcement officials swiftly carried out intelligence gathered around certain locations where the

NDLEA Intercepts $4.7m Fake Dollars Michael Olugbode in Abuja An attempt to push $4.7 million fake dollars into circulation in Nigeria has been foiled by the operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA). This would have done a damage of over N2.7 billion to Nigeria’s economy, which was the estimated value of the fake dollars. A statement yesterday by the spokesman of the anti-narcotics agency, Femi Babafemi, to have disclosed that the operatives had in the early hours of last Friday, intercepted a consignment sent from Lagos to Abuja at Abaji area of the Federal Capital Territory, adding that a controlled delivery of the parcelled counterfeit US dollars totalling $4,760, 000.00 led to the arrest of a principal suspect, 52-year-old Abdulmumini Maikasuwa. He said the seizure followed intelligence received by the FCT Command of the NDLEA detailing the movement of the cash and the vehicle conveying

it. According to Babafemi, the Chairman/Chief Executive of NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Buba Marwa (Retd) has directed that both the cash and the suspect in custody be transferred to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for further investigation. The agency in other clampdown in Kwara State, barely three weeks after a nursing mother, Mrs. Rashidat Adebayo, 38, was granted administrative bail following her arrest for dealing in illicit drugs, operatives have again arrested her in Offa with assorted drugs such as Tramadol, Swinol, Diazepam and Pentazocine injection ampules. Babafemi said before her latest arrest last Thursday, the nursing mother had been arrested and granted bail on January 24, 2022 for dealing in similar drugs. The operatives of NDLEA also arrested two drug dealers: Sani Isa (aka Bilaz) and Bala Yerima in Hong, Adamawa State with 239 blocks of

cannabis sativa weighing 209 kilogrammes, just as operatives of the Bauchi State Command have intercepted a truck marked FFF 422 XB coming from Lagos to Maiduguri, at Azare, Bauchi. A total of 164.8kg of cannabis sativa concealed in peak milk cartons was recovered from the truck. Meanwhile, Marwa has

commended the officers and men of the FCT Command for their vigilance in preventing the counterfeit $4.7 million sneaking into the streets. He, however, charged them as well as their counterparts in Adamawa, Kwara, Bauchi and other Commands across the country not to rest on their oars.

alleged products were being warehoused and sold. The statement noted that the raid was in response to several complaints received from members of the public pertaining to alleged sale and distribution of imported hides and skins meant for use in leather industries and which had already been processed with industrial chemicals. "These hides and skins are then sold to unsuspecting public as consumable animal skin products, otherwise called Ponmo. "Monitoring was also extended to some buyers who patronise the sellers and custodians of the warehouse, she said, adding that preliminary investigation revealed that some of the hides and skins were imported illegally and sometimes diverted to some merchants of death who re-process the hides and skins and further sell them as consumable ponmo to the public,” she added. In the light of these

discoveries, she said that the agency recently conducted investigative raids upon some identified locations in Lagos State where market women and men were found clustered for purchase of leftovers from the warehouses. She disclosed that large quantities (120 tons) of the products were intercepted at six different locations, stressing that seven suspects who were alleged to be involved in the acts are currently under investigation. The NAFDAC boss further explained that samples of the products have been sent to the laboratory for testing so as to ascertain the products quality and unwholesomeness. According to her, the intervention would help the agency deal with the interaction and the dangers associated with the consumption of these products. She explained that the street value of the product currently intercepted was estimated to be around N25.330 million only.

Yewande Sadiku Appointed Flour Mills’ Director The immediate past Executive Secretary and Chief Executive Officer of Nigerian Investment Promotion Commission (NIPC), Yewande Sadiku, has been appointed to the board of Flour Mills of Nigeria Plc as a non-executive director. The appointment became effective from February 16. “In her banking career, spanning 23 years, Ms. Sadiku handled assignments for clients in virtually every sector of the Nigerian economy, providing strategic financial advice, while ensuring strict legal and

regulatory compliance,” Flour Mills, Nigeria stated. “Ms Sadiku’s executive leadership experience of more than 20 years in investment banking and the capital market will be of tremendous value to Flour Mills as we continue to position the group to take advantage of the ever-changing consumer landscape in the foods and agro-allied sectors,” the CEO of Flour Mills, John Coumantaros said. “Her appointment represents our determination to ensure that we have a diverse mix of gender,

skills and viewpoints on the FMN board as we continue to fulfil our purposeof feeding the nation, every day,” he added. Sadiku was the Executive Secretary of the NIPC from November 8, 2016, to September 24, 2021. In her five-year tenure, devoted to institutional reforms, Sadiku was faced with petitions that saw her being investigated by seven agencies of government, which are the Code of Conduct Bureau, the Independent Corrupt Practices Commission (ICPC),

the Accountant General of the Federation, the Auditor General of the Federation, the Department of State Services (DSS), the Bureau of Public Procurement and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC). She also had petitions investigated by the Presidential Villa, including those from some staff of NIPC against her. But the ICPC in a letter dated December 16th, 2021, and addressed to the CEO, NIPC, cleared her of all the allegations levelled against her and the ICPC closed the case.

MONDAY FEBRUARY 21, 2022 • T H I S D AY

NEWS

Military Air Strikes Kill ISWAP'S Top Commanders, 21 Insurgents Kingsley Nwezeh in Abuja

Military air strikes at the weekend decimated top commanders of the Islamic State for West African Province (ISWAP) and 21 insurgents around Lake Tchad Tumbun area. The air interdiction, which was carried out by the air component of Operation Hadin Kai killed a top ISWAP commander, Mallam Buba Danfulani and 21 terrorists in the strike. THISDAY gathered that prior to the execution of the mission, intelligence had established that terrorist training camps were located at Tumbun Kaiyowa and Tumbun Allura and the locations were believed to be the most active with ISWAP/ Boko Haram activities. This became evident after it was further established that projectiles fired on Nigerian Army locations in Mallam Fatori emanated from the two locations. Consequently, the air component of Operation Hadin Kai deployed some aircraft to the location to degrade the insurgents’ capabilities in order

to prevent future attacks on troops and friendly location while ensuring success of ongoing operations. Security sources said the aircraft were deployed

for air interdiction at the locations and attacked the target at Tumbun Kaiyowa with bombs after which the location was observed to be in flames while few survivors

were seen scampering for safety. Another aircraft was redirected to attack Tumbun Allura with rockets and cannons. Although the mission was

adjudged successful and 21 terrorists eliminated, there was uncertainty as to the rank and status of terrorists killed in the operations. "However, intelligence

intercepted of late revealed that the air strikes took out 21 terrorists, including a top Commander, Buba Danfulani, along the fringes of Lake Tchad in Borno State.

VOICE OF NIGERIA SEASON FOUR…

L-R: Head, Brand Marketing Development, Elizade, Franklyn Okotie; Marketing Director, Airtel Nigeria, Seun Soladoye; Chief Commercial Officer, Airtel, Goofrey Efeurhobo; Chief Operating Officer, Fame Studios, Uzoma Onwuchekwa; Executive Producer, Voice Nigeria, Akin Salami; Head, Sponsorship and Event , First Bank Nigeria Limited, Abimbola Meshinoye; and Head, Brand and Stakeholder Management, First Bank Nigeria, Olayinka Ijabiyi at a press conference on the 4th Season of the Voice Nigeria in Lagos...yesterday SUNDAY ADIGUN

A'Ibom Explains Rising Boundary Olawepo-Hashim: Those Who Destroyed Crises among Communities Nigeria Should Stay off 2023 Race Okon Bassey in Uyo

The Akwa Ibom State Government has said that boundary crises in the country escalate due to the failure of communities to channel their grievances and misunderstanding early to the appropriate quarters to address. The Deputy Governor of Akwa Ibom State, Mr. Moses Ekpo, made the observation during a sensitisation campaign on boundary issues for the people of Ikot Ayan Itam in Itu and Ikot Udo Uruan in Uruan local government areas of the state. Ekpo, who was represented by his Permanent Secretary, Mr. Nkopuruk Ekaiko, said destruction of lives and property during communal crisis was not the best way to resolve disputes by communities. He explained that governor Udom Emmanuel's

administration has established a benchmark in the use of dialogue in peaceful resolution of disputes and misunderstanding, rather than destruction of lives and property. He admonished the people from both communities to report any grievance or threat to peace in their areas to the respective traditional rulers or local government chairmen for prompt action to avoid breakdown of law and order. The deputy governor assured that government was working assiduously to ensure all boundary disputes in the state were resolved in good time. Ekpo said: "In a renewed effort at sustaining a peaceful atmosphere in the state, the Udom Emmanuel administration has established a benchmark in the use of dialogue in peaceful resolution of disputes and misunderstanding, rather than destruction of lives and property."

Emmanuel Addeh in Abuja

A Chieftain of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Mr. Gbenga Olawepo-Hashim, has counselled those he said messed up Nigeria to stay away as candidates for positions in the 2023 general election. In a statement, the politician stated that those who put the country in ruins cannot suddenly start parading themselves as the solution to the rot holding the nation down. The former presidential candidate argued that those who he accused of pillaging the country, including their bankers, business fronts, partners, media handlers and enablers cannot be grandstanding as pathfinders of a new Nigeria. “Corrupt people and their allies cannot midwife the birth of a new Nigeria and those who messed up the country

and pushed the nation into the hole cannot come and present themselves as the light to get us out of the dark tunnel we find ourselves. “Only people of proven integrity, unquestionable patriotism , with clarity of vision and courage should be allowed by the good people of Nigeria in the next rounds of elections if the country will not become irreversibly ruined,” he said. According to him, it will be an unfathomable tragedy to allow those whom he said have stolen Nigeria blind to plan the future of the country. He added that a good step in winning the battle to reduce corruption, if not to kill it totally, is to ensure that corrupt people with unexplainable wealth do not get elected at any level. “Those who have explanation to make to anti-graft agencies and are aspiring for public

offices, must be put to task about their integrity question,” he noted. The businessman and energy executive maintained that though the fight against corruption was a major plank of the Muhammadu Buhari administration, corruption has become one of the major reasons for the slow progress in the polity. In his opinion, it also remains at the underbelly of some of the security problems being faced in the country, such as banditry and kidnapping. "Nigeria loses a lot to corruption. According to PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC), a global consulting outfit, if not arrested by 2030, corruption will be costing Nigeria 37 per cent of her Gross Domestic Product (GDP), that is $200 billion, a whooping N100 trillion, about 10 times our national budget. "This will translate to $1,000

per capita; N500,000 by each Nigerian. The significance of this on our lives, in terms of avoidable death is staggering,” he argued. Two years ago, the Human and Environmental Development Agenda (HEDA), a frontline anti-corruption advocacy group in Nigeria, OlawepoHashim recalled, published a compendium of 100 high profile corruption cases in Nigeria. He noted that the revelation of stolen monies ran into billions of naira and foreign currencies perpetrated by mostly political office holders and politicallyexposed persons. Olawepo-Hashim, therefore concluded that corruption in Nigeria is in various dimensions, adding that it is eroding ethics as well as values and was breeding a feeling of impunity, wherein it is believed there will be no consequence for wrongdoing.

2023: Ex-minister Signfies Enugu Never Zoned Governorship Seat, Group Replies Nnamani the people of Enugu State reminded the former governor Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, Intention to Contest Chuks Okocha in Abuja zoned its governorship. that gang-up politics does not “affirming the zoning principle The group warned those work in Enugu. as well as the turn of Enugu political pressure group, Senatorial Position in Kwara AEnugu Nnamani had in a statement East zone to produce the next Rescue Group (ERG) preparing to bandy a purported

Hammed Shittu in Ilorin

Former Minister of Youths and Sports, Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi, has signified his intention to run for the Kwara Central senatorial district under the platform of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)come 2023. Already, the former minister yesterday visited his Ubadanwaki ward in Ilorin West Local Government Council Area of the state to inform the members of the ward on his intention. Abdullahi, a former Editor with THISDAY newspaper and fondly called by his political supporters in the state, "Omoluabi" was accompanied by his teeming supporters during his visit to his ward.

Also, the aspirant will today submit his letter of intention to the state secretariat of the PDP, in Ilorin before further consultations in the ambition. The former minister, who was beaming with smiles told the gathering that, he possessed outstanding qualities that can make him represent the people of the Kwara Central senatorial district at the red chamber come next elections. He said that he would also provide qualitative representation for the senatorial if given the mandate. Abdullahi, however, said that the people of the senatorial deserve good representation so as to bring more dividends of democracy to the doorsteps of the senatorial.

has faulted former Governor of Enugu State, Dr. Chimaroke Nnamani, on his claims that a purported zoning arrangement had knocked former Deputy President of the Senate, Senator Ike Ekweremadu, off the 2023 Enugu governorship contest, saying there was never a time

zoning document to remember that forgery remains a serious offence under Nigerian laws. While describing the purported zoning agreement as fictitious and elites conspiracy to grab power to deny the people of Enugu state quality governance, the group

he personally signed on Sunday commended what he claimed to be “principled stand” of some political leaders like former governors Sullivan Chime, Dr. Okwesilieze Nwodo, Senator Jim Nwobodo, and former Senate President, Senator Ken Nnamani and

governor.” “This position of Enugu elders may have put paid to the governorship ambition of the former Deputy President of the Senate, Senator Ike Ekweremadu from Enugu West Senatorial Zone”, Nnamani clearly stated.

Resettlement of IDPs: We are Largely Misunderstood, Says Zulum Michael Olugbode in Maiduguri Borno State Governor, Prof. Babagana Zulum, has said the resettlement of internally displaced persons (IDPs) to their ancestral homes was largely misunderstood by many, insisting that at no time has his government forced anyone to relocate from IDP

camps. The governor made the clarification at the weekend during a visit to Muna Elbadawy IDP camp, which was affected by inferno. Zulum had during a visit to the camp situated at the outskirts of Maiduguri, where the fire disaster claimed one life, and injured17 others with over 100 shelters destroyed,

said it was sad that “many do not understand why Borno State Government is trying to resettle IDPs back to their ancestral homes.” He said there was never any point the state government forced any IDP back to their homes. The governor, while paying sympathy visit to victims of the fire disaster, directed

the Borno State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA) to list and submit details of the number of affected households for proper intervention by the state government. Muna Elbadawy IDP camp, situated on the outskirts of Muna-Maiduguri road, accommodates more than 10,000 households, consisting of 50,000 individuals.

MONDAY FEBRUARY 21, 2022 • T H I S D AY

NEWS XTRA

Politicians Stockpiling Arms, Ammunition, Osun Monarch Alleges Yinka Kolawole in Osogbo

The Olowu of Kuta, Oba Adekunle Makama, Tegbosun III, has raised the alarm on the alleged infiltration of non-state actors stockpiling arms and ammunition at the behest of some politicians in Osun State. In a statement personally signed by him, the Olowu at the weekend in Osogbo, the state capital, said he’s disturbed by the activities of criminals who have infiltrated the state in order to perpetrate violence. The monarch maintained that despite his security consciousness, some criminals have infiltrated the state with arms and ammunition to foment trouble. According to him, “The member representing Ayedire federal constituency in the House of Representatives and party executives in the local government area were having a sensitisation programme when some hoodlums wielding dangerous weapons started shooting sporadically at the defenseless people without any provocation.” The Oluwo admonished politicians and their supporters to eschew violence, adding that

it’s an ill wind that blows no one any good. He, therefore, called on law

enforcement agencies in the state to double their effort and ensure that there’s no breakdown of law

and order as the state election draws nearer. The traditional ruler, however,

urged well-meaning citizens of the state to join in the crusade so that those bent on perpetrated

violence would be fished out and made to face the full wrath of the law.

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Court Issues Bench Warrant Military Probes Killing of Seven Children in N10.7bn Ponzi Case by Fighter Jet Targeting Terrorists Wale Igbitage

The Federal High Court in Lagos has issued a bench warrant for the arrest of one Joshua Adeyinka Kayode, 22, a defendant, who is standing trial for allegedly defrauding over 170 investors of N10.7 billion through a sham investment scheme. The Nigeria Police Force had last August arraigned Kayode before Justice Tijjani Ringim of the Federal High Court. The defendant was arraigned alongside his company, Quintessential Investment Company Limited, on a 170-count charge of conspiracy

and obtaining money by false pretence. However, when the matter came up last Friday before Justice Nicholas Oweibo, the defendant was absent, and this led the Justice to issue a bench warrant for the arrest of the defendant. The matter was, however, adjourned to March 25, 2022. Justice Oweibo had admitted the defendant to bail in the sum of N2 billion with two sureties in the like sum. The sureties must be a landed property owners within the court's jurisdiction and were to depose to affidavit of means.

Ondo Confirms 125 Cases of Lassa Fever

Fidelis DavidinAkure

Ondo State Government has confirmed 125 cases of Lassa fever in six local government areas in the state between January 1 and February 18, 2022. Lassa fever, an acute viral hemorrhagic disease, is transmitted to humans through contact with food, household items contaminated by infected rodents or contaminated persons. The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) situation report for January 17 to January 23 shows

that Ondo State topped the list of states with 28 new infections, followed by Edo and Bauchi State with 18 cases each. Also, the World Health Organisation in its latest report published on February 14, 2022, in Nigeria for January 3 to 30 2022, stated that 211 laboratory confirmed Lassa fever cases, including 40 deaths (case fatality ratio: 19 percent) in 14 of the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory(FCT), while three states of Ondo (63), Edo (57) and Bauchi (53) account for 82 percent of confirmed cases.

Senator Goje Distributes Foodstuffs to Physically Challenged The senator representing Gombe Central Senatorial District at the National Assembly, Senator Muhammad Danjuma Goje, has launched distribution of foodstuffs to over 4,000 People Living With Disabilities (PLWDs) in his constituency. The project tagged; ‘Zero Hunger,’ was meant to alleviate poverty among the vulnerable and people

living with disability in the constituency, comprising Akko and Yamaltu/Deba LGAs. Flagging off the distribution yesterday at his Gombe residence, Senator Goje, represented by Secretary of the Zero Hunger Scheme, Abubakar Sadiq Kurba, said over 4,390 PLWDs from the two LGAs are targeted to benefit from the exercise.

Kingsley Nwezeh in Abuja

Military authorities weekend launched an investigation into the killing of seven children during a bombing raid in the Madari region of Niger Republic which shares border with Kano State. Competent sources told THISDAY that the military high command had ordered a probe into the incident so as

to unravel the circumstances surrounding the killing of the children during the bombing raid. A Nigerian fighter jet targeting terrorists mistakenly killed children playing in neighbouring Niger Republic, killing seven and injuring five others, according to AFP Chaibou Aboubacar, Governor of the Maradi region, which shares boundary with

Nigeria’s Kano State, made the disclosure on Sunday. "There was a mistake with the Nigerian strikes on the border that resulted in victims on our territory in the village of Nachade. “The victims are 12 children, seven of them dead and five wounded,” Governor Aboubacar said. Four children died instantly and three others succumbed

“to their injuries while being transported to hospital,” he said. He added that “the parents were attending a ceremony and the children were probably playing when the strikes hit them.” Aboubacar believes the planes were targeting “armed bandits” in the border areas, but “missed their target”, hitting Nachade instead.

Yoruba Youths Insist on Zoning of Presidency to Southern Region Sunday Okobi Various prominent Yoruba youth groups under the umbrella of Yoruba Youths Assembly (YYA) have called on major political parties in Nigeria to ensure they zone their presidential tickets to the Southern region of the country, in the projection of patriotic spirit, “for a firm establishment of equity and fairness in the Nigeria polity.” The coalition, which

demanded the total restructuring of the Nigerian state, also stated that for democratic values to be holistically demonstrated, “we canvass that political parties should give priority to democratic balance in their internal electioneering engagements, by ensuring that they don't compromise equity and fairness in the process of zoning their presidential tickets.” The YYA stated these in a

communique issued at the end of their general meeting yesterday which was attended by the president and the coordinators of the 38 memberunions of the Assembly in Osogbo, Osun State with the theme: ‘Reflection on the State of Nigeria, Southern Nigeria and the 2023 Presidency’. In the communique signed by the President, Yoruba Youth Assembly, Hon Olarinde Thomas, the coalition said: In 2007, the Peoples Democratic

Party (PDP) characterised its presidential ticket zoning with equity and fairness, by zoning it to the northern region, as the presidency was to leave the southern region then. This is the sort of democratic character that should be emulated by all major political parties in Nigeria for the 2023 presidency. We should all uphold this, as a tool of objectivity for democratic advancement in Nigeria.

Court Upholds Ononogbu as Abia APC Chairman An Abia State High Court sitting in Aba, Abia State, has declined the request of one Mr. Acho Obioma, to set aside the election and swearing-in of Dr. Kingsley Ononogbu as Abia State Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC).

The court first delivered ruling in respect of the preliminary objections by the claimant challenging its jurisdiction over the matter as it assumed jurisdiction to hear the case for which Abia APC accepts to appeal. The oral application by

the Counsel to Obioma, Mr. Eligwe Uwa, SAN, to set aside the swearing-in of Ononogbu as the Abia State APC chairman was declined by the court and the case was adjourned to Wednesday, February 23, 2023, for hearing of the other pending motions

or application which has not been dealt with. The issue of jurisdiction will now move to the Court of Appeal. Ononogbu was elected State Chairman of the APC in Abia State following the death of Mr. Enyinnaya Habor in October 2021.

ACAMB Celebrates Pioneer President, Dangogo The Association of Corporate Affairs Managers of Banks (ACAMB), the umbrella association of marketing communications, public relations, media and creative professionals working in Nigeria’s banking sector, has paid glowing tributes to veteran public relations guru and founding president of the association, Mallam Kabir Dangogo, on his birthday today

Monday, February 21, 2022. In a congratulatory and goodwill message to Dangogo, ACAMB in a statement, eulogised him as the doyen of public relations in Nigeria, one of the most-celebrated communication strategists, a through-bred professional and an astute manager whose brilliant exploits across the broad spectrum of communication are

legendary and unparalleled. The President of ACAMB, Mr. Rasheed Bolarinwa, in tributes on behalf of the executives and members of the association, commended the visionary and leadership qualities of the veteran communicator and other founding members of ACAMB, saying their foresight, 26 years ago, gave birth to what has become a formidable

professional platform in the Nigerian banking industry today. ‘‘Mallam Kabiru Dangogo is a living legend. He is and remains a respected and go-to authority on public relations as far as the theory and practice of financial public relations and reputation management as a discipline, is concerned, not only in Nigeria but globally.

MONDAY FEBRUARY 21, 2022 • T H I S D AY

MONDAY, ͺ͹˜ ͺ͸ͺͺ ˾ T H I S D AY

MONDAYSPORTS

Group Sports Editor: Duro Ikhazuagbe Email: duro.ikhazuagbe@thisdaylive.com

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Okagbare to Appeal 10-year Doping Ban at CAS Decision, a denial of fair hearing, says her lawyer

Olawale Ajimotokan in Abuja Nigerian track star, Blessing Okagbare will head to the Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS), to challenge the 10-year ban slammed on her over the weekend by the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU), for out of competition doping violations. The sprinter’s counsel, Chinedu Udora disclosed this yesterday while speaking on THISDAYLIVE, an interview segment of Arise News Network. Udora said Okagbare’s team would appeal the decision of the tribunal and is considering several options, in addition to looking at things they believed were not right. He said some of the evidence used by AIU in handling a ban on 33- year- old Okagbare, who owns the Commonwealth Games record of 10.85 secs in the women’s

100m for use of Human Growth Hormone (HGH) were not right. “There are evidences that even though went against us but that we feel that they were not properly evaluated. For instance, while we were in it, we had opportunity to call for, as you know, the deadline of all these charges went on scientific interpretation and evaluation. So at the onset, we set out to get a scientist to look at the charges to look at the test result because our client- Blessing Okagbaremaintained her innocence. So we had to look at it to see what is in the result. We reached out to several WADA Accredited labs to see if any assistance could come so that the result could be properly evaluated and interpreted,” Udora asserted. He faulted the AIU for not looking at the result of other

laboratories that were not from World Anti- Doping Agency (WADA) accredited laboratories. He also accused the panel that looked at the expert evidence presented by Okagbare during the trial of not having the requisite expertise in that field and taking the evidence from only the WADA accredited lab. “What I want to note here is that WADA accredited lab failing to assist an athlete that has been charged for anti-doping offence, for me, I think it is an implied denial of fair hearing,” Udora said. Apart from incurring five-year ban for doing violation, AIU had also imposed an additional fiveyear sanction on Okagbare for her refusal to cooperate which AIU claimed it prevented it an opportunity to discover evidence of possible further rule violations by her as well as possible violations

of the rules by others. The Head of AIU, Brett Clothier, had in a statement said the decision of the Disciplinary Tribunal to hand the Nigerian athlete a 10- year ban

was welcome as it would send a strong message against intentional and coordinated attempts to cheat at the very highest level of athletics. “This is an outcome that was

driven by our intelligence-led target testing as well as our commitment to investigate the circumstances behind a positive test,” Clothier said.

....Nigerian Faces Fresh Four-year Ban for Evading Test Blessing Okagbare's travails seems an unending one as the 33-year-old sprinter may be charged by the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) for further anti-doping rule violations (ADRVs) following the revelations in the ongoing case between the Federal Bureau of Investigations, FBI and Eric Lira. On 12 January 2022, the US Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York issued a press release concerning the filing of criminal charges publicly against Lira.

Those charges relate to the distribution of prohibited substances to two athletes for the purpose of cheating at the 2020 Olympic Games held in Tokyo in the summer of 2021. The FBI Complaint sets out highly incriminating text and voice messages by “Athlete 1' who the AIU believes is Okagbare with a contact named “Eric Lira Doctor” in 2020 and 2021. The messages included: Okagbare asking Lira for vials or doses of EPO and hGH and querying the quantity of drugs she would need for herself

Nigeria’s Opeyori Claims Surprise Gold at All Africa Badminton Championships Nigeria’s Anuoluwapo Juwon Opeyori secured unexpected title yesterday at the All-Africa Individual Badminton Championships in Kampala, Uganda. It is Nigeria’s first major win since the crisis in the administration of badminton ensued late last year. Opeyori was Nigeria’s sole entry as his doubles’ partner; Godwin Olofua failed to show up having travelled unexpectedly to Qatar. Due to lack of funding, Nigeria was to present the three-man team that went for the Olympics comprising of Opeyori and Godwin Olofua in both the singles and doubles men’s event while Dorcas Adesokan had to be excused on account of preparation for her wedding. That left only Opeyori as the sole competitor and was at the brink of not attending owing to the funding challenge.

Anuoluwa Opeyori... won gold at Ugandan tournament last night

There is no executive board of the Badminton federation in the country at the moment and the leadership of a caretaker committee had to get Opeyori a flight ticket to attend the championship. Not featuring in competitions had already taken its toll on the ranking of Nigerian players. Opeyori had to attend alone without any coach or support staff. It was a gamble that paid off. He avenged his loss in the 2020 final with a thrilling 21-14, 23-21 win over Brian Kasirye of Uganda.

and “Athlete 2” (beleived to be a Nigerian male sprinter). The messages also included Okagbare sending to Lira a list of drugs that she wanted, including hGH and EPO. On 13 June 2021, Okagbare queried in a message sent to Lira whether she was safe to take a test following a particular dosage, and because she was not sure, she “just let them go so it will be a missed test.”

Blessing Okagbare...to appeal ban at the Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS)

NPFL: Rivers Utd Regain Top Spot, End Rangers Away Runs Rivers United yesterday reclaimed the Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL) top spot but Plateau United who will play their game on Wednesday against Gombe United have the capacity to reclaim the position. Rivers United ended the six game unbeaten away run of Enugu Rangers in Port Harcourt on Sunday while Akwa United and Sunshine Stars returned to winning ways before their fans as the league season entered MatchDay 14. At the Adokiye Amiesimaka Stadium, Port Harcourt, Rivers United put an end to Enugu Rangers' unbeaten run to assume

the leadership of the league table. The Pride of Rivers people now have 29 points from 14 games after the 1-0 win. Both teams were placed second and third spots on the league table before the tie but the Rivers United notched the all important goal in the 61st minute through Nyima Nwagua who tapped in from close range after Morice Chukwu's free kick hit the woodwork and fell to his path. Rangers remain in top spot with 23 points but the position may change at the conclusion of Monday rescheduled MatchDay 14 games.

At the Otunba Dipo Dina Stadium in Ijebu Ode, Sunshine Stars bounced back to winning ways after a slim 1-0 win over Kwara United. The Owena Whales had lost by a lone goal to Niger Tornadoes on Wednesday by virtually the last kick of the game in Abuja but they showed they were more businesslike when Abdul Taofeek shot them ahead in the second minute of the tie. It was the only goal of the game and it also ended a run of four games without a victory. Sunshine Stars are 11th on the table with 17 points from 13 games but Kwara United have slipped

South-southWinsDoubleatPwCNationalCricketU-17Championship Both Male and Female teams representing the South-south region at the 3rd PwC National Cricket Championship won their categories to emerge double champions at the event. The South-south boys ran over the South-east boys by 41 to checkmate their bowling attack that was led by Udekwe Chiemelie. Representative of Sponsor of the Championship, Tolu Adeleke, said the performances demonstrated in the five-day finale of the event at the MKO Abiola Stadium Abuja surely justifies the investment that his firm has put in the organization of the event. According to him, “none of the teams that participated was a write off. They all showed brilliant skills here and we are glad to have seen different players from same region work together to achieve

Prosper Useni (left), receiving his MVP Boys Category trophy from an unnamed PwC oﬃcial at the just concluded PwC National Under-17 Championship, in Abuja at the weekend national honour.” He emphasized that in as much as this year’s final duel in the boys’ category between the

South-east and the South-south was the high-point of the event. “The South-south team that won comprised of the players

from Edo, Delta, Rivers, AkwaIbom and Bayelsa states and that was key for us as their working together to achieve a coming purpose was the ultimate for us.” He said the participation of a team from the North-east that include Borno, Gombe and Taraba states represented an important feat for the event in just its third year. “This year we had thousands of student who got screened to make the state team and 784 participated competitively at the regional finals before being narrowed down to the 168 kids that were camped for this event for the five days that the championship," he also said. Prosper Useni, with twelve wickets, won the Most Valuable Player of championship for boys while Agboya Peculiar from the South-south Girls team won the MVP earlier in the day.

to the sixth spot with 21 points. The Qua Iboe derby produced five goals between Akwa United and Dakkada FC with the home team securing their first win in Uyo after four games since January 16th, 2022 when they beat Katsina United 2-0 in a MatchDay 6 tie. They had suffered three successive home draws with Sunshine Stars, Kwara United and Heartland with the latter tie leading to the disengagement of former boss, Kennedy Boboye.

RESULTS Enyimba 1-1 MFM FC Rivers Utd 1-0 Rangers Akwa Utd 3-2 Dakkada Sunshine 1-0 Kwara Utd Shooting 0-0 Wikki

TODAY Katsina Utd v Lobi Stars v

Heartland Remo Stars

Kano Pillars v Abia Warriors Nasarawa v

Tornadoes

WEDNESDAY Gombe Utd vs Plateau Utd

PREMIER LEAGUE Leeds 2-4 Man Utd Wolves 2-1 Leicester

LALIGA Valencia 1-4 Barcelona Espanyol 1-1 Sevilla Real Betis 2-1 Mallorca

Monday February 21, 2022

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Afenifere to FG “Where do monies generated from local and foreign sources go? What about several billions recovered from corrupt public officials? Most of the major projects are being financed by loans. But the quantum of debts incurred by this administration does not reflect in the quantity and quality of infrastructural development in the country. Neither is it reflecting in the living standard of Nigerians’” – Afenifere National Publicity Secretary, Jare Ajayi, knocking the Federal Government for lack of transparency and poor performance.

MAHMUDJEGA VIEW FROM THE GALLERY

Anointing Seldom Works Here

hy did Interior Minister Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola spend so much precious time at the weekend, ultimately to no avail, trying to wrest Osun State APC’s re-election ticket from Governor Gboyega Oyetola and in his place anoint Moshood Adeoti for the governorship election coming up in June? Having been in politics for decades now, Aregbesola should know by now that in Nigerian politics, anointing is often a path to heart ache, disappointment and ruination. Aregbesola himself was up in front in anointing Oyetola as his successor at the State of Osun Government House four years ago. He now says it was Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, “playing God,” who rammed Oyetola down his throat. Since that anointment miserably failed to achieve its purpose of remaining in power by other means, what makes him think the same thing will not happen if Adeoti were to become the next governor? Won’t Ogbeni come back four or eight years from now Aregbesola and tell us that it was someone else who in Anambra State in 2004 when godfather rammed Adeoti down his throat? Across the rivers from Osun, Governor Chris Ubah kidnapped Governor Chris Udom Emmanuel of Akwa Ibom openly Ngige. Who can do more for an anointed appointed his Commissioner of Lands successor than what outgoing Abia State Umo Eno as his anointed successor. This Governor Orji Uzor Kalu did for his chief very measured ex-banker apparently forgot of staff, Theodore Orji in 2007? Kalu formed former President Obasanjo’s admonition years a brand new political party, PPA, made Orji ago that, “In Africa, we don’t have a Crown its candidate and got him elected governor Prince because rivals will make sure he dies even though Orji was cooling his heels in prison on election day. Can you beat that? before the King.” But Orji rebelled against Kalu once he was There are plenty of examples all over the country to convince Ogbeni that he should ensconsed in Umuahia Government House. spare his energy, resources and health and Perhaps godfather Kalu’s attitude did not forgo this anointing business. Tinubu that he help matters when you remember that Ikedi is accusing of master minding Oyetola’s rise Ohakim, another PDP defector who rode to to the governorship, was he not the same the Imo State Government House on Kalu’s person who anointed Aregbesola to the PPA ticket in 2007, also rebelled against him. Osun governorship in 2010? Tinubu made Maybe former Imo State governor Owelle Aregbesola a commissioner in Lagos State Rochas Okorocha should thank his stars when he was governor, only to send him because if he had succeeded in installing back to Osun, make him ACN’s governorship his son-in-law Uche Nwosu as his successor candidate and ultimately the governor. Is it in 2019, there was no guarantee that things will end well. now he started playing God? In 2011, soon after he secured a full Osun politicians should learn from what happened to their east, in Edo State. What presidential term on his own steam, President did Governor Adams Oshiomhole not do in Goodluck Jonathan forcibly denied reelection 2016 to ensure that his anointed man Godwin ticket to Governor Timipre Sylva of his home Obaseki succeeded him in Edo Government House? We saw Oso Baba eating corn in the market, sweeping streets with APC broom, acrobatically running up flights of stairs at rallies and doing double break dance, all for Obaseki. It all ended in one of the bitterest fights in Nigerian politics. Even Tinubu that Aregbesola is crediting with trans-border anointing, did it always end well in his own backyard? By the time his former chief of staff and anointed successor Babatunde Raji Fashola ended his tenure in 2015, there was no love lost between them. Not to mention the man that Tinubu chose to succeed Fashola, namely Akinwunmi Ambode, whom he ousted after only four years. Nor is failed anointment strictly Western Nigerian. The most celebrated case of failed anointment in Nigerian politics was

state of Bayelsa. The man the Jonathans plucked from House of Representatives and installed as Sylva’s successor, Seriake Dickson, soon fell out with Mrs. Patience Jonathan and was on his way to being denied reelection ticket if not because the Jonathans lost the presidency in 2015. Look, one would have thought that Rotimi Amaechi and Nyesom Wike should be the best of friends. Wike was Governor Amaechi’s chief of staff in Rivers. As far as we know, Amaechi had a hand in making Wike Minister of State for Education in Jonathan’s cabinet. Wike soon developed wings, cashed in on Mrs. Jonathan’s dislike for Amaechi and soon succeeded him at Rivers Government House. No man in Nigerian politics had so much serial disappointment with anointed governors than the late Kwara strongman, Senator Abubakar Olusola Saraki. Governors Adamu Attah, Cornelius Adebayo, Shaba Lafiagi and Mohammed Lawal all entered Ilorin Government House on Oloye’s wings in three different Republics, only to turn around and rebel. People alleged that Oloye was overbearing, but he denied it when I interviewed him in Kaduna in 2001. He explained in great detail what happened in each case. Senator Muhammadu Danjuma Goje of Gombe is probably next to Oloye in failed anointing. Ibrahim Hassan Dankwambo, whom Goje anointed in 2011, soon rebelled against him. Goje’s former Finance Commissioner and current Governor Mohammed Inuwa is doing the same right now. Their quarrel has already spilled into street brawls. In 2006, Goje himself deserted his original mentor, Atiku Abubakar when President Obasanjo/ Ahmodu Ali initiated PDP’s “membership re-registration” exercise in order to weed out Atiku loyalists. In Kaduna State in 2007, folks loudly complained that Mohamed Namadi Sambo entered the PDP race very late in the day but made off with the ticket, and ultimately with the governorship, because outgoing Governor Ahmed Makarfi anointed him. It didn’t end well; their close associates soon got into a bitter public row. Before it became the Ground Zero of banditry, Zamfara State was Nigeria’s first

Across the rivers from Osun, Governor Udom Emmanuel of Akwa Ibom openly appointed his Commissioner of Lands Umo Eno as his anointed successor. This very measured ex-banker apparently forgot former President Obasanjo’s admonition years ago that, “In Africa, we don’t have a Crown Prince because rivals will make sure he dies before the King”

laboratory of failed political anointing. In 2007 when members of the first set of Fourth Republic governors were leaving, every deputy governor in Nigeria wanted to succeed his boss. In the end, the only deputy governor that succeeded his boss was Zamfara’s Mamuda Aliyu Shinkafi. President Obasanjo praised it at one occasion in Abuja. Within six months Shinkafi fell out with Ahmed Sani, Yariman Bakura. Yarima however learnt his lesson. When next he anointed Abdulaziz Yari Abubakar in 2011, he kept well to the background and thus avoided another public fall out. In 2019 when Yari finished his second term and wanted the Senate seat that Yarima was sitting on, he quietly left it for him. Zamfara episode should have been an eye opener for Rabi’u Musa Kwankwaso in Kano who, as his second [broken] tenure ended in 2015, anointed his two-time deputy Abdullahi Umar Ganduje to succeed him. The fight between Kwankwasiyya and Gandujiyya, which began within six months, soon became one of the hottest in the country. In my native Kebbi State, the same thing happened in 2007 when Governor Mohammed Adamu Aleiro picked Sa’idu Nasamu Dakingari, out of the blues, and rammed him in as his successor. Within a very short time they were bitterly fighting. It might not be correct, as some Aleiro supporters are saying, that he anointed current Governor Atiku Bagudu in 2015 since they arrived together into APC as PDP refugees on the same day. They remained very close political allies for many years. Right now they control bitterly feuding parallel APC factions in the state. In Sokoto State, Governor Aliyu Magatakarda Wamakko anointed then House Speaker Aminu Waziri Tambuwal as his successor in 2015. By 2017 they had fallen out, with Tambuwal defecting to PDP. In Borno State too, Governor Ali Modu Sheriff anointed Kashim Shettima as his successor in 2011. Accident had a hand in it because Boko Haram shot Sheriff’s first pick, his cousin Modu Fannami Gubio after nominations closed. He picked Shettima as replacement. By 2013 they had fallen out and Sheriff left APC for PDP. Anyway, there are a few glimmers of hope within the thick dark clouds of political anointment. In Kwara, Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed remained loyal to Dr. Bukola Saraki to the very end. So far, Tinubu and Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu are getting along fine. And in Borno, Governor Babagana Zullum and the man who anointed him, former governor Kashim Shettima, are getting along very well. There were beautiful pictures of them visiting the border town of Gamboru Ngala last week. We will yet see what happens in Anambra when Professor Charles Soludo’s anointing by Governor Willy Obiano is complete. Ogbeni’s candidate lost woefully in weekend’s APC primaries. Oyetola must however be very careful because his 2018 run for governor at first ended inconclusively. Failed godfathers could still do real damage in the main election.

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