THURSDAY 5TH MARCH 2020

Again, Nigeria Overtakes S’Africa as Africa’s Largest Economy APC hails Buhari’s policies Adedayo Akinwale in Abuja and Dike Onwuamaeze in Lagos with agency report Nigeria has overtaken South Africa as the continent’s largest economy, a report by

Bloomberg has shown.

Nigeria’s re-emergence as Africa's biggest economy followed South Africa’s slump into its second recession in two years, as severe rolling power blackouts frustrate President

Cyril Ramaphosa’s attempt to revive growth.

The ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) welcomed Nigeria's new dominant economic status, which it attributed to the policies

of President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration to stimulate growth.

The South African economy contracted 1.4 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2019, according to official statistics

released on Tuesday, far outpacing analysts' forecast of a 0.2 per cent decline.

The latest gross domestic product (GDP) figures, released

by Stats SA, showed that the economy contracted by 1.4

per cent in the fourth quarter of 2019, which followed a contraction of 0.8 per cent in the third quarter of last year.

In addition to the shrinking Continued on page 10

Stakeholders Hail NSE on Demutualisation, List Benefits... Page 6 Thursday 5 March, 2020 Vol 25. No 9096. Price: N250

www.thisdaylive.com TR

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& RE A S O

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Buhari Taps Bashir Jamoh as New NIMASA DG... Page 12

APC Cracks Widen, Tinubu, Governors Lock Horns as Court Suspends Oshiomhole Appeal Court receives appeal Obaseki celebrates Ibrahim Mohammed in Lagos and Alex Enumah, Adedayo Akinwale in Abuja An Abuja High Court ruling yesterday, ordering the party’s National Chairman, Mr. Adams Oshiomhole, to obey his suspension by his ward in Edo State, opened the fault lines of the ruling party, pitching its governors against their National Leader, Senator Bola Tinubu.

Tinubu is known to have installed Oshiomhole and has been his back bone, shielding him from the party's ambitious state chief executives who see the national chairman as a stumbling block to their 2023 presidential aspirations.

With the court ruling, believed to have been procured by proxy by the governors, analysts close to the power Continued on page 10

With Two New Coronavirus Cases, Senegal Now Has Total of Four Iwu’s ‘isolated compound’ for the virus cure undergoing test in US, says FG

Omololu Ogunmade, Ndubuisi Francis, Adedayo Akinwale in Abuja, Chinedu Eze, Martins Ifijeh and Nume Ekeghe in Lagos Senegal yesterday confirmed two new cases of coronavirus bringing the country’s tally to four. A statement by the country’s Ministry of Health

said the two cases had been confirmed by the Institut Pasteur de Dakar.

This development is coming as an ‘isolated compound’ considered to be capable of curing COVID-19, which was reportedly discovered by a former Chairman of the Continued on page 10

DISCUSSING MATTERS OF STATE...

Minister of State for Environment, Mrs. Sharon Ikeazor (left), and Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Mrs. Zainab Ahmed, during the Federal Executive Council meeting in Abuja...yesterday godwin omoigui

US Renews N2.52bn Bounty Offer for Boko Haram Leader, Shekau...

Page 8

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THURSDAY MARCH 5, 2020 •T H I S D AY

GUARANTY TRUST BANK PLC STATEMENT TO THE NIGERIAN STOCK EXCHANGE AND THE SHAREHOLDERS ON THE EXTRACT OF AUDITED IFRS RESULTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2019 ‘The Board of Directors of Guaranty Trust Bank Plc is pleased to present the summary financial information of the Group’s audited results for the year ended 31 December 2019. The summary financial information disclosed were derived from the full financial statements of Guaranty Trust Bank plc (“the bank“) and its subsidiaries (together “the group�) for the year ended 31 December 2019 and cannot be expected to provide a full understanding of the financial performance, financial position and financing and investing activities of the bank and the group. The bank’s auditor issued an unqualified opinion on the full financial statements for the year ended 31 December 2019 from which these summary financial information were derived. The bank’s auditor made a report under section 359 of the Companies and Allied Matters Act. The full financial statements from which these summary financial information were derived would be delivered to the Corporate Affairs Commission within the required deadline. An electronic copy of the full financial statements can be obtained at www.gtbank.com

Statements of Financial Position as at 31 December 2019

Restated

Restated

Restated

Restated

Group Dec 2019

Group Dec 2018

Group Jan 2018

Parent Dec 2019

Parent Dec 2018

Parent Jan 2018

N'million

N'million

N'million

N'million

N'million

N'million

Restated

Income Statements for the year ended 31 December 2019 Interest income calculated using effective interest rate

ASSETS Cash and bank balances

593,551

676,989

641,974

Financial assets at fair value through profit or loss

73,486

11,315

23,946

Derivative financial assets

26,012

3,855

2,839

396,916

457,498

455,296

44,718

8,920

16,652

26,012

3,855

2,839

– Fair Value through Profit or Loss

33,084

2,620

-

33,084

2,620

-

– Fair Value through Other Comprehensive Income

585,392

536,085

517,493

495,732

459,629

453,090

– Held at amortised cost

145,561

98,620

96,467

2,003

2,003

2,007

58,037

56,777

58,976

57,791

56,292

58,962

Assets pledged as collateral Loans and advances to banks

Restricted deposits and other assets

1,514

2,995

750

72

46

43

1,500,572

1,259,010

1,448,533

1,300,821

1,067,999

1,265,972

577,433

508,678

444,947

552,106

494,970

433,529

Investment in subsidiaries Property and equipment

-

-

-

55,814

55,814

46,207

141,775

111,826

98,670

122,633

96,301

84,980

20,245

16,403

14,835

9,546

5,636

4,501

2,257

2,170

1,667

-

-

-

3,758,919

3,287,343

3,351,097

3,097,248

2,711,583

2,824,078

-

-

-

-

939

851

Intangible assets Deferred tax assets

Assets classified as held for sale and discontinued operations TOTAL ASSETS

3,758,919

3,287,343

3,351,097

3,097,248

2,712,522

2,824,929

107,518

82,803

85,431

15

736

42

2,532,540

2,273,903

2,062,048

2,086,810

1,865,816

1,697,561

LIABILITIES

Deposits from customers Financial liabilities at fair value through profit or loss

1,616

1,865

2,647

1,616

1,865

2,647

Derivative financial liabilities

2,316

3,753

2,607

2,315

3,753

2,607

233,426

140,448

224,116

205,817

122,179

205,148

20,597

22,651

24,147

19,748

22,511

24,010

Other liabilities Current income tax liabilities Debt securities issued Other borrowed funds

-

-

92,132

-

-

92,132

163,000

178,567

220,492

162,743

177,361

210,671

Deferred tax liabilities TOTAL LIABILITIES

10,568

7,076

17,438

12,294

7,179

12,176

3,071,581

2,711,066

2,731,058

2,491,358

2,201,400

2,246,994

Liabilities classified as held for sale and discontinued operations TOTAL LIABILITIES

-

-

-

-

936

848

3,071,581

2,711,066

2,731,058

2,491,358

2,202,336

2,247,842

CAPITAL AND RESERVES Share capital

14,716

14,716

14,716

14,716

14,716

14,716

Share premium

123,471

123,471

123,471

123,471

123,471

123,471

Treasury shares

(6,532)

(5,584)

(5,291)

-

-

-

Retained earnings

119,248

107,249

123,256

78,111

78,012

108,104

Other components of equity

422,705

323,992

352,404

389,592

293,987

330,796

Capital and reserves attributable to equity holders of the parent entity

673,608

563,844

608,556

605,890

510,186

577,087

13,730

12,433

11,483

-

-

-

TOTAL EQUITY TOTAL EQUITY AND LIABILITIES

687,338

576,277

620,039

605,890

510,186

577,087

3,758,919

3,287,343

3,351,097

3,097,248

2,712,522

2,824,929

N'million

N'million

N'million

N'million

291,658

303,436

238,303

255,888

3,527

2,875

2,123

(84,530)

(51,859)

(69,655)

Net interest income

231,363

222,433

189,319

188,356

(4,912)

(4,906)

(2,221)

(1,504)

226,451

217,527

187,098

186,852 36,111

Loan impairment charges Fee and commission income

62,419

52,368

44,919

Fee and commission expense

(2,975)

(1,898)

(1,788)

(958)

Net fee and commission income

59,444

50,470

43,131

35,153

Net gains on financial instruments held at fair value through profit or loss

20,890

24,584

9,971

16,652

Other income

55,793

50,784

54,859

45,606

Net impairment (charge)/reversal on other financial assets Personnel expenses Right-of-use asset amortisation Operating lease expenses

100

(650)

362

120

(37,284)

(36,856)

(23,331)

(23,681)

(2,114)

-

(922)

-

-

(2,085)

-

(664)

Depreciation and amortization

(22,692)

(17,629)

(18,641)

(14,255)

Other operating expenses

(68,880)

(70,558)

(52,349)

(55,812)

/QNÆSÄADENQDÄHMBNLDÄS@W

231,708

215,587

200,178

189,971

Income tax expense

(34,843)

(30,876)

(25,053)

(23,218)

Profit for the year from continuing operations

196,865

184,711

175,125

166,753

(16)

-

-

-

196,849

184,711

175,125

166,753

195,382

183,923

175,125

166,753

1,467

788

-

-

196,849

184,711

175,125

166,753

Group Dec-2019

Group Dec 2018

Parent Dec 2019

Parent Dec 2018

Loss for the year from discontinued operations /QNÆSÄENQÄSGDÄXD@QÄÄ /QNÆSÄ@SSQHATS@AKDÄSN Non-controlling interests

Statements of other comprehensive income for the year ended 31 December 2019

/QNÆSÄENQÄSGDÄXD@Q

N'million

N'million

N'million

N'million

196,849

184,711

175,125

166,753

.SGDQÄBNLOQDGDMRHUDÄHMBNLDÄMNSÄSNÄADÄQDBK@RRHÆDCÄSNÄOQNÆSÄNQÄKNRRÄ HMÄRTARDPTDMSÄXD@QR Net change in fair value of equity investments FVOCI Remeasurements of post-employment benefit obligations Income tax relating to remeasurements of post-employment benefit obligations

54

71

54

71

(2,094)

(239)

(2,094)

(239)

628

72

628

72

(7,323)

11,698

-

-

.SGDQÄBNLOQDGDMRHUDÄHMBNLDÄSNÄADÄQDBK@RRHÆDCÄSNÄOQNÆSÄNQÄKNRRÄHMÄ RTARDPTDMSÄXD@QR - Foreign currency translation differences for foreign operations - Income tax relating to foreign currency translation differences for foreign operations

2,197

(3,510)

-

-

- Net change in fair value of financial assets FVOCI

4,796

(7,270)

4,258

(7,692)

- Income tax relating to net change in fair value of financial assets FVOCI

(1,438)

2,104

(1,277)

2,230

.SGDQĂ„BNLOQDGDMRHUDĂ„HMBNLDĂ„ENQĂ„SGDĂ„XD@Q Ă„MDSĂ„NEĂ„S@W

(3,180)

2,926

1,569

(5,558)

193,669

187,637

176,694

161,195

Profit attributable to: Equity holders of the parent entity - Total comprehensive income for the year from continuing operations - Total comprehensive loss for the year from discontinued operations Non-controlling interests Total comprehensive income for the year

REPORT OF THE INDEPENDENT AUDITOR ON THE SUMMARY CONSOLIDATED AND SEPARATE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

Parent Dec 2018

4,547

Total comprehensive income for the year

Non-controlling interests in equity

Restated

Parent Dec 2019

(64,842)

Equity holders of the parent entity

Deposits from banks

Group Dec 2018

Interest expense

Net interest income after loan impairment charges

Investment securities:

Loans and advances to customers

Interest income on financial assets at fair value through profit or loss

Group Dec 2019

192,301

186,140

176,694

161,195

192,317

186,140

176,694

161,195

(16)

-

-

-

1,368

1,497

-

-

193,669

187,637

176,694

161,195

$@QMHMFRÄODQÄRG@QDÄENQÄSGDÄOQNÆSÄ@SSQHATS@AKDÄSNÄSGDÄDPTHSXÄGNKCDQRÄ NEÄSGDÄO@QDMSÄDMSHSXÄCTQHMFÄSGDÄXD@QÄ DWOQDRRDCÄHMÄM@HQ@ÄODQÄRG@QD – Basic

6.96

6.54

5.95

5.67

To the members of Guaranty Trust Bank Plc

– Diluted

6.96

6.54

5.95

5.67

1DONQSÄNMÄSGDÄRTLL@QXÄBNMRNKHC@SDCÄ@MCÄRDO@Q@SDÄÆM@MBH@KÄRS@SDLDMSR

Gross Earnings

435,307

434,699

350,927

356,380

Opinion The summary consolidated and separate financial statements (the “summary financial statements�), which comprise the summary consolidated and separate statements of financial position as at 31 December 2019 and the summary consolidated and separate statements of other comprehensive income for the year then ended are derived from the audited consolidated and separate financial statements (the “audited financial statements�) of Guaranty Trust Bank Plc (“the Bank�) and its subsidiary companies (together the “Group�) for the year ended 31 December 2019.

Dec-2019

Dec-2018

Dec-2019

Dec-2018

Total impaired Loans and Advances (N'million)

102,453

99,445

83,498

83,581

6.53%

7.30%

6.15%

7.21%

In our opinion, the accompanying summary financial statements are consistent in all material respects, with the audited financial statements, in accordance with the requirements of the Companies and Allied Matters Act, the Banks and Other Financial Institutions Act and the Financial Reporting Council of Nigeria Act. 2TLL@QXÄÆM@MBH@KÄRS@SDLDMSR The summary financial statements do not contain all the disclosures required by the International Financial Reporting Standards, the Companies and Allied Matters Act, the Financial Reporting Council of Nigeria Act, the Banks and Other Financial Institution Act and other relevant Central Bank of Nigeria circulars applied in the preparation of the audited financial statements of the Group and Bank. Therefore, reading the summary financial statements and the auditor’s report thereon, is not a substitute for reading the audited financial statements and the auditor’s report thereon.

3GDĂ„@TCHSDCÄÆM@MBH@KĂ„RS@SDLDMSRĂ„@MCĂ„NTQĂ„QDONQSĂ„SGDQDNM We expressed an unmodified audit opinion on the audited financial statements in our report dated 28 February 2020. That report also includes the communication of key audit matters. Key audit matters are those matters that, in our professional judgement, were of most significance in our audit of the financial statements of the current period. #HQDBSNQRiĂ„QDRONMRHAHKHSXĂ„ENQĂ„SGDĂ„RTLL@QXÄÆM@MBH@KĂ„RS@SDLDMSR The directors are responsible for the preparation of the summary financial statements in accordance with the requirements of the Companies and Allied Matters Act, the Banks and Other Financial Institutions Act and the Financial Reporting Council of Nigeria Act. Auditor’s responsibility Our responsibility is to express an opinion on whether the summary financial statements are consistent, in all material respects, with the audited financial statements based on our procedures, which were conducted in accordance with International Standard on Auditing (ISA) 810 (Revised), ‘Engagements to Report on Summary Financial Statements’.

Total impaired Loans and Advances to Gross Loans & Advances (%)

Reports on the Resolution of Customers’ Complaints Below is a breakdown of Complaints received and resolved by the Bank during the year ended 31 December 2019 pursuant to CBN circular dated August 16, 2011 Description

Number

Pending Complaints brought forward from prior year

iii.

the Bank paid penalties in respect of contraventions of certain sections of the Banks and Other Financial Institutions Act and relevant circulars issued by the Central Bank of Nigeria during the year ended 31 December 2019.

-

Received Complaints

49,553

173,026

-

Resolved Complaints

49,587

173,282

282,014

-

-

-

53

328,758

-

Unresolved Complaints escalated to CBN for intervention Unresolved Complaints pending with the Bank carried forward

A.I Adeniyi FRC/2013/ICAN/00000004318

$MF@FDLDMSĂ„/@QSMDQ Ă„.AHNL@Ă„4A@G FRC/2013/ICAN/00000002002

(Chief Financial Officer)

H.H Musa

For: PricewaterhouseCoopers Chartered Accountants Lagos, Nigeria

(N'000)

329,014

//1.5$#Ă„!8Ă„3'$Ă„!. 1#Ă„.%Ă„#(1$"3.12Ă„.-Ă„ Ă„%$!14 18Ă„

we did not report any exceptions under the sixth schedule of the Companies and Allied Matters Act; the Bank has disclosed the information required by the Central Bank of Nigeria circular on insider related credits;

Amount Refunded

(N'000) 87

Report on other legal and regulatory requirements In accordance with our full audit report, we confirm that: i. ii.

Amount Claimed

FRC/2017/CIBN/00000016515

(Executive Director)

J.K Agbaje

28 February 2020 FRC/2013/CIBN/00000001782

(Group Managing Director and Chief Executive)

The above summarised statements of financial position, income statements and statements of comprehensive income and reports of the independent auditor are published in accordance with the requirements of S.27 of Banks and Other Financial Institutions Act (BOFIA)

THURSDAY MARCH 5, 2020 • T H I S D AY

3

4

THURSDAY MARCH 5, 2020 •T H I S D AY

5

THURSDAY MARCH 5, 2020 • T H I S D AY

CORONATION MERCHANT BANK LIMITED RC 207138 AUDITED REPORTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED DECEMBER 31, 2019 The Board of Directors of Coronation Merchant Bank is pleased to announce the Bank’s audited results for the year ended December 31, 2019

CORONATION MERCHANT BANK LIMITED CONSOLIDATED AND SEPARATE STATEMENT OF COMPREHENSIVE INCOME

CORONATION MERCHANT BANK LIMITED CONSOLIDATED AND SEPARATE STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL POSITION

BANK 31 Dec. 2019 ₦’000

BANK 31 Dec. 2018 ₦’000

GROUP 31 Dec. 2018 ₦’000

Cash and balances with banks

8,956,378

3,211,035

3,537,509

Due from financial institutions

57,473,891

36,914,556

37,035,896

Non pledged trading assets

11,408,065

8,101,708

8,101,708

Interest expense

2,410,142

1,388,676

1,388,676

Net interest income

60,307,880

87,626,086

88,633,134

Pledged assets

16,326,798

10,168,280

10,168,280

Loans and advances to customers

72,683,949

54,312,459

54,762,067

BANK 31 Dec. 2019 ₦’000

BANK 31 Dec. 2018 ₦’000

GROUP 31 Dec. 2019 ₦’000

GROUP 31 Dec. 2018 ₦’000

16,496,901

16,352,501

16,496,901

16,352,501

7,117,057

6,673,663

7,117,057

6,673,663

1,479,057

1,260,656

1,479,057

1,260,656

(20,664,692)

(17,291,460)

(20,664,692)

(17,291,460)

4,428,323

6,995,360

4,428,323

6,995,360

(90,521)

(85,559)

(90,521)

(85,559)

4,337,802

6,909,801

4,337,802

6,909,801

1,351,031

1,700,352

1,351,031

1,700,352

Interest income at amortised cost

Assets

Derivative financial assets Investment securities

Other assets

10,745,065

7,845,696

Investment in subsidiaries

-

4,614,711

-

Investment properties

-

-

1,903,592

Intangible assets Right of use assets Property and equipment Deferred tax assets Asset classified as held for sale Total Assets

76,861

-

7,213,746

-

Interest income at FVTOCI Interest income at FVTPL

Net impairment (charge)/ writeback on financial assets Net Interest income after impairment charges Fee and commission income Net gains on investment securities

4,011,964

1,661,263

4,011,964

1,661,263

Net foreign exchange income

314,810

129,349

314,810

129,349

Other operating income

357,995

179,616

357,995

179,616

706,412

622,503

1,323,531

Personnel expenses

(1,404,905)

(1,433,036)

(1,404,905)

(1,433,036)

6,472,233

2,974,252

3,591,631

Other operating expenses

(3,944,813)

(3,951,598)

(3,944,813)

(3,951,598)

5,023,884

5,195,747

5,023,884

5,195,747

(257,172)

(711,375)

(257,172)

(711,375)

4,766,712

4,484,372

4,766,712

4,484,372

331,119

-

4,727

92,327

5,097,831

4,484,372

4,771,439

4,576,699

1,239,893

(1,013,107)

1,239,893

(1,010,010)

175,520

-

136,901

-

1,415,413

(1,013,107)

1,376,794

(1,010,010)

6,513,244

3,471,265

6,148,233

3,566,689

94

89

94

89

7

-

-

2

5,777,715

4,998,887

5,006,661

5,000

-

-

253,350,389

222,778,849

222,666,431

Profit before tax Taxation Profit for the year from continuing operations Discontinued operations: Profit from discontinued operations

Liabilities Due to financial institutions

25,978,923

12,159,545

12,159,545

Due to customers

138,087,891

126,896,867

126,190,780

Non pledged trading liabilities

523,876

8,169,494

8,169,494

Commercial paper liabilities

12,610,440

18,053,345

18,053,345

Derivative financial liabilities

2,420,349

1,373,716

1,373,716

280,971

520,248

545,298

38,712,890

24,457,369

24,658,400

166,220

-

2,577

218,781,560

191,630,584

191,153,155

Current tax liabilities Other liabilities Deferred tax liabilities Total liabilities Equity Share capital

5,050,546

5,050,546

5,050,546

Share premium

3,655,348

3,655,348

3,655,348

Statutory reserve

7,608,741

6,844,066

6,844,066

Fair value reserve

870,146

(545,267)

(506,647)

Regulatory risk reserve

2,460,504

1,403,384

1,403,384

Retained earnings

14,923,544

14,740,188

15,066,579

34,568,829

31,148,265

31,513,276

253,350,389

222,778,849

222,666,431

Total equity Total equity and liabilities

Profit for the year Other comprehensive income (OCI) net of income tax:

Items that may be reclassified subsequently to profit or loss Items that will not be subsequently reclassified to the income statement: • Fair value changes on equity investments

Items that may be subsequently reclassified to the income statement: • Fair value changes on debt investments during the year Other comprehensive profit / (loss), net of related tax effects

TOTAL COMPREHENSIVE INCOME FOR THE YEAR Earnings per share for profit attributable to equity holders - continuing operations Basic (kobo) -discontinued operations Diluted (kobo)

The statement of financial position, statement of comprehensive income, report of the independent auditor and specific disclosures are published in compliance with the requirements of S.27 of the Banks and Other Financial Institutions Act. The information disclosed have been extracted from the full financial statements of the bank and the group and cannot be expected to provide as full an understanding of the financial performance, financial position and financing and investing activities of the bank and the group as the full financial statements. Copies of the full financial statements can be obtained from the Bank In line with Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) circular referenced FPR/DIR/CIR/GEN/01/020, the Bank received, processed and resolved fourty-two (2018: fifteen) customer complaints during the year The Bank paid nil (2018: two hundred and twenty thousand Naira) penalty to CBN.

The financial statements were approved by the board of directors on 17 January 2020. Signed on behalf of the directors by:

Babatunde Folawiyo CHAIRMAN FRC/2014/NBA/00000006371

Abubakar Jimoh MANAGING DIRECTOR FRC/2013/ICAN/00000001481

Additional certification by:

Chukwukadibia Okoye CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER FRC/2016/ICAN/00000014293

REPORT OF THE INDEPENDENT AUDITOR ON THE SUMMARY CONSOLIDATED AND SEPARATE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS To the members of Coronation Merchant Bank Limited Report on the summary consolidated and separate financial statements Opinion The summary consolidated and separate financial statements (the “summary financial statements”), which comprise the summary statements of financial position as at 31 December 2019 and the summary consolidated and separate statements of comprehensive income for the year then ended are derived from the audited consolidated and separate financial statements (the “audited financial statements”) of Coronation Merchant Bank Limited (“the Bank”) for the year ended 31 December 2019.

In our opinion, the accompanying summary financial statements are consistent in all material respects, with the audited financial statements, in accordance with the requirements of the Companies and Allied Matters Act, the Banks and Other Financial Institutions Act and the Financial Reporting Council of Nigeria Act. Summary Financial Statements The summary financial statements do not contain all the disclosures required by the International Financial Reporting Standards, the Companies and Allied Matters Act, the Financial Reporting Council of Nigeria Act, the Banks and Other Financial Institution Act and other relevant Central Bank of Nigeria circulars applied in the preparation of the audited financial statements of the Bank. Therefore, reading the summary financial statements and the auditor’s report thereon, is not a substitute for reading the audited financial statements and the auditor’s report thereon.

The audited financial statements and our report thereon We expressed an unmodified audit opinion on the audited financial statements in our report dated 4 March 2020. That report also includes the communication of key audit matters. Key audit matters are those matters that, in our professional judgement, were of most significance in our audit of the financial statements of the current period.

Directors’ responsibility for the summary financial statements The directors are responsible for the preparation of the summary financial statements in accordance with the requirements of the Companies and Allied Matters Act, the Banks and Other Financial Institutions Act and the Financial Reporting Council of Nigeria Act.

Auditor’s responsibility Our responsibility is to express an opinion on whether the summary financial statements are consistent , in all material respects, with the audited financial statements based on our procedures, which were conducted in accordance with International Standard on Auditing (ISA) 810 (Revised), ‘Engagements to Report on Summary Financial Statements’.

Report on other legal and regulatory requirements In accordance with our full audit report, we confirm that: I.

we did not report any exceptions under the sixth schedule of the Companies and Allied Matters Act;

II.

the Bank has disclosed the information required by the Central Bank of Nigeria circular on insider related credits; the Bank did not pay penalties in respect of contraventions of the Banks and Other Financial Institutions Act and relevant circulars issued by the Central Bank of Nigeria during the year ended 31 December 2019.

III.

For: PricewaterhouseCoopers Chartered Accountants Lagos, Nigeria 04 March, 2020 Engagement Partner: Chidi Ojechi FRC/2017/ICAN/00000015955

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

Stakeholders Hail NSE on Demutualisation, List Benefits

Goddy Egene

Capital market stakeholders have hailed the final approval given by members of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) to demutualise the exchange to become a profit-making and limited liability company, saying it will benefit the market and the economy.

Members of the NSE, who are mostly stockbroking firms, had on Tuesday assented to proposal of the council to demutualise the exchange and appointed a board of directors that will steer the affairs of the organisation.

Some market stakeholders told THISDAY that the demutualisation of the exchange will improve its corporate

governance structure, service delivery and lead to better market regulation, while creating more liquidity for the market operators.

A former Council Member of the NSE and Managing Director/CEO of APT Securities and Funds Limited, Mallam Garba Kurfi, said the demutualisation would lead to greater investor participation in the governance of the exchange and unlock capital for stockbrokers who may decide to trade their shares for liquidity. “The demutualisation of the NSE would make the exchange to function better like its peers such as the Johannesburg Securities Exchange (JSE) and Nairobi

Buhari, Jonathan, Atiku Felicitate with Obasanjo at 83 Omololu Ogunmade and Chuks Okocha in Abuja President Muhammadu Buhari, former presidents Dr. Goodluck Jonathan, and former vice president, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, yesterday felicitated with former President Olusegun Obasanjo on the occasion of his 83rd birthday, coming up today, March 5, 2020.

Buhari, in his message, congratulated the former president for what he described as a life of courage, dedication and service to Nigeria, Africa, and humanity in general.

A statement by the president's media adviser, Mr. Femi Adesina, said Buhari joined family members, friends and associates of Obasanjo in celebrating this milestone, saying the former president's commitment to Nigerian nationhood remains outstanding and commendable.

The president acknowledged his sacrifices for the continent, including standing up for democracy in many countries.

"As the former president celebrates the auspicious occasion, President Buhari prays that the almighty God will grant him longer life, good health and strength to keep serving the nation and the continent," the statement added.

In a goodwill message Jonathan praised Obasanjo for his distinguished record of service and loyalty to the country. “I join your family and Nigerians from all walks of life to celebrate you as you mark another birthday. You are an elder statesman and patriot with a distinguished record of service, loyalty and love for our country Nigeria.

As a President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, you built bridges of love and unity across the land. As you celebrate, my family prays that God will bless you with more years of glory, honour and sound health.�

Atiku said Nigeria owes Obasanjo a lot for his selfless service to the country.

He said: "It is not an

exaggeration to describe you as the preeminent political colossus in Nigeria, a nation that owes so much to you.

Indeed, many Nigerians would read about your birthday on their GSM devices, which are one of your legacies to the Nigerian people.

"As you turn 83 today (March 5), my family and I felicitate with you and thank God for your life. No individual living or dead, has bestrode the Nigerian political space as positively and purposefully, as you have done, for good and better, in peace time and war, in times of austerity, and times of prosperity".

He said that Obasanjo's love for Nigeria and commitment to her unity, good governance and stability had prevented him from retiring, a sacrifice that his family and him deeply appreciated.

Atiku in his commendation of Obasanjo said, "From The Congo, to South Africa, to Angola, to Liberia and SĂŁo TomĂŠ and PrĂ­ncipe, your democratic finger prints on the African continent is indelible.

You have served and still serve as a beacon of democracy and a guardian of constitutionality.

"Nigeria owes you a debt that we cannot pay because you led us to pay the foreign debts that we could not imagine paying.

By that singular action, you planted trees for generations yet unborn."

The former vice president said that Obasanjo, his former boss, holds the enviable and esteemed record of being the first African military ruler to have voluntarily, and without internal and external pressure, restored power to the government democratically elected by the Nigerian people.

Atiku told Obasanjo: “It was not your will to be in office, but it was your will to bequeath democracy to Nigeria."

Atiku argued that after 21 years of the Fourth Republic, Nigeria had cause to celebrate Obasanjo's democratic credentials.

Securities Exchanges that have already undergone the process.

It will bring global best practice.

In all, it is a good thing and all of us are going to be happy at the end of the day because it is going to unlock more capital for the market. For instance, if I place shares as collateral, I can trade and make money.

We are pleased this is coming after so much delay,� he said.

Another stockbroker, Mr. Samuel Ayo Oguntayo, said as a profit-making company, the exchange would be restructured to become more agile and improve on its innovativeness and capitalise on new income opportunities in order to create value for shareholders. “Apart from the fact that members who would be allotted their shares can trade these shares on over-the-counter (OTC) and make money, the benefits of the demutualisation

will trickle down to ordinary Nigerians and every other participant in the market. Given the fact that the exchange will be restructured, there will be room for recruitment of new hands to man the new areas to be created. “When it is a non-profitmaking organisation, there was little motivation to make more money. But now that it is going to be a profit-making organisation, it has to make sure more money is made so as to end up with profit to share among the shareholders. The corporate governance principle governing other corporations will come into play and this means transparency. Besides, there will be more products and services in the market and this could be other streams of income for operators,�

Oguntayo said.

An investor and shareholder

activist, Mr. Boniface Okezie of Progressive Shareholders Association of Nigeria, said the demutualisation would bring benefits to all stakeholders in the market. “It is going to be a healthy competition in the capital market because the platform will become a listed entity at some point. And so as everyone among its staff will put in their best to make sure people who invested reap their fruits of their investment because they will now compete with those other companies also listed in on the platform.

Even foreign companies who want to do business here will take us serious going forward,� he stated.

Okezie noted that the exchange will also become more business-oriented and as a private-driven organisation, interference from the Securities

and Exchange Commission (SEC) for instance, would reduce. “That is the beauty of demutualisation of exchange all over the world. Take a look at the New York Exchange that is one of the best in the world today. Part of the money they will make from those trading on its floors, will be paid as dividend to some of those people and investors using the facilities. And that is a very good one and I believe the NSE will get to that level one day,� he added.

The Chief Executive Officer of the NSE, Mr. Oscar Onyema, had said the demutualisation was particularly important to the Nigerian capital market and the wider economy, noting that the exchange to serve the capital market ecosystem and economy more effectively than it has done in the past.

WELCOME ON BOARD...

Head of the Civil Service, Mrs. Folasade Yemi-Esan (left), and President Muhammadu Buhari during the inauguration of the new Head of Service in Abuja‌yesterday godwin omoigui

I’m Not Nursing 2023 Presidential Ambition, Says Fayemi Victor Ogunje in Ado Ekiti Ekiti State Governor, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, has said his efforts to build bridges across party lines and geopolitical zones have nothing to do with any presidential ambition in 2023.

Fayemi, in a statement yesterday in Ado Ekiti by his Senior Special Assistant on Public Communications, Mr. Segun Dipe, cautioned against alleged misrepresentation of his efforts.

He added that he was not working clandestinely towards building structures to prosecute his rumoured presidential ambition in 2023.

The statement described such insinuation as a fallacy and a misrepresentation of Fayemi’s personality and conduct.

It said the proponents of such rumour must have been studying Fayemi from afar and must have misread his relationship with President Muhammadu Buhari, thus taking his reconciliatory efforts

for an ambition-driven one.

The statement explained that although Fayemi is eminently qualified and a sellable personality from the South-west, he would rather prefer his intention to be understood as playing a crucial role of bridge-building among state governors, whose forum he chairs at present, and not of any subterranean moves towards 2023. “Fayemi is a sitting governor and he chairs the Nigeria Governors’ Forum. He enjoys these roles and he is playing them to the best of his ability.

His objective is that of engaging in processes such as negotiation, mediation, conciliation, and arbitration in order to move a seemingly violent conflict into non-violent dialogue, where differences are settled through conflict transformation processes or through the work of representative political institutions,� it stated.

The statement said if Fayemi was seen as commanding respect among his colleagues

across parties, it was because of his commitment to promoting peace among them. “He is interested in what is happening in every part of the country and, like he himself once stated, anything that affects the peace of any state governed by a member of the NGF would surely affect the solidarity of the forum,� it added.

The statement said Fayemi was not a stranger to bridgebuilding and peacemaking, adding: “As a Doctor of War Studies with specialisation in civil-military relations, he once worked as a director of the Centre for Democracy and Development, peace-building and human security in Africa. He is also a Fellow of the Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies at the African Centre for Strategic Studies, National Defense University, Fort Mcnair, Washington DC, U.S.A, among other roles that are synonymous with ensuring that there is peace in the society.

“People like Fayemi bring people together. You find them in all kinds of places and in all kinds of circumstances.

They are very lovable people who wish the very best for other people. Despite that his action as a peacemaker and reconciliator means a lot to other people, the governor is a modest person and he is focused on other people’s happiness. “As a bridge builder, Fayemi is never pushy; he just wants everyone around him to find peace and achieve happiness. The governor no doubt knows a lot of people and doesn’t fail to bring everybody together; he listens carefully and is sincerely interested in how everyone is doing.

"Like any other bridgebuilder in the world, Fayemi likes to help to connect people, he is quick at recognising what someone else needs and his mind starts searching for ways to help the other person move ahead.�

THURSDAY MARCH 5, 2020 • T H I S D AY

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US Renews N2.52bn Bounty Offer for Boko Haram Leader, Shekau DHQ: We've also declared him wanted

Ejiofor Alike in Lagos, Adedayo Akinwale and Kingsley Nwezeh in Abuja

The United States Department of State has renewed its $7 million reward, about N2.52 billion, for information that can lead to the arrest of the leader of Boko Haram, Abubakar Shekau, whose fighters have waged war against Nigeria and other neighbouring countries.

The renewal was made yesterday on the French version of the official Twitter account of the US State Department Rewards for Justice Programme.

The US reward is said to be the biggest placed on all the terrorists declared wanted by the United States government.

In a swift reaction to the bounty placed on Shekau, the Defence Headquarters (DHQ) said the Nigerian military had also declared the terrorist leader wanted.

The US Department of State had in June 2012, designated Shekau as a "Specially Designated Global Terrorist" under Executive Order 13224.

In 2013, the Boko Haram leader was declared a wanted man by the US and it went further to place a $7 million bounty on Shekau for anyone who could provide information leading to his arrest or killing. “Every government and every citizen has a stake in bringing terrorists to justice and in preventing acts of terrorism,� the US State Department said.

The notice also provided the contact details for anyone who is interested in collecting the bounty as #Whatsapp: +1 202 975 9195 and #Telegram: @RFJ_Francais_bot.

The involvement of many French-speaking countries in the war against Boko Haram may have accounted for the use of the French version of the US Department of State’s Twitter Accounts to declare Shekau wanted.

In the English version of the Twitter account, which was opened February 27, 2020, the Reward for Justice Programme also offered $5 million reward for information on three ISIS leaders and another $6 million on another terror group, AQAP’s leaders. “Up to $5 million for information on ISIS key leaders Hajji ‘Abdallah, Hajji Hamid and Hajji Taysir. Justice never sleeps, and never stops looking for ISIS terrorists. If you have information ISIS, please submit a tip. 100% confidential. http://rewardsforjustice.net #RFJ,� the tweet said.

Meanwhile, the DHQ yesterday stated that the Nigerian military had since declared Shekau a wanted criminal for committing acts of terrorism against the Nigerian state.

Spokesman of DHQ, Brig.

Gen. Onyema Nwachukwu, told THISDAY that Shekau has been wasting the lives of his followers in a bid to escape the military onslaught. “That is the reason he is constantly on the run and callously surrounding himself with innocent and vulnerable people as human shield. He is a coward very much afraid of death, but pushing his senseless followers to die,�

Nwachukwu added.

Shekau is the leader of Jama’atu Ahl as-Sunnah il-Da’awati wal-Jihad, better known as Boko Haram. The objective of the group is to establish caliphates and overthrow the Nigerian government.

The group also seeks to establish a government based on Islamic law.

Boko Haram has links with al-Qaida in the Lands of the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), al-Shabaab and al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula.

Until 2010, when he claimed leadership of the group, Shekau was the group’s second-in-command.

Akeredolu Signs Amotekun Bill into Law

James Sowole in Akure

Ondo State yesterday emerged as the first state in the Southwest to sign the Amotekun Bill into law as the Governor, Mr. Oluwarotimi Akeredolu, signed the Ondo State Security Network and Amotekun Corps Bill into law with a clarification that the corps has nothing to do with politics.

The Houses of Assembly of the six states in the region had all passed the security outfit bill into law and are awaiting assent by the governors.

While signing the document at the Executive Council Chambers, Akeredolu warned against any political colouration of the outfit even as he reiterated that the Amotekun Corps shall be complimentary and not independent of the operations and efforts of Nigeria's security agencies.

He said: "We wish to

reiterate that the Amotekun Corps is a child of necessity and was purely borne out of the need to explore other means of securing our forests and protecting all those who do legitimate business within the South-west region.

"For the umpteenth time, the Amotekun Corps is not an independent regional outfit but a complimentary effort by the governors of the South-west to engender unity, peace and security.

"Most importantly, the corps shall not be allowed for political purposes; it has no business at political rallies just as the police must continue to discharge its obligations and responsibilities to the people."

He thanked the House of Assembly for the promptness in the handling of the bill, saying their speed and thoroughness underscored the importance attached to the bill.

In July 2010, Shekau publicly claimed leadership of Boko Haram and threatened to attack Western interests in Nigeria.

He had threatened the United States.

It gained global influence when on August 26, 2011, it attacked the United Nations headquarters in Abuja, killing over 20 people and injuring several others.

The military had claimed on many occasions that it had killed Shekau but he disproved

these claims by appearing in videos.

In his latest video, Shekau issued a threat to the Minister of Communication and Digital Economy, Mr. Isa Pantami.

The insurgent leader directed his men to go after Pantami for threatening to block the communication lines of the sect members.

Shekau also threatened journalists, warning them to be cautious about how they report the activities of his group.

He told the minister that his group killed a famous Kano cleric in 2007, saying a similar fate could befall Pantami if he did not repent.

In another video released earlier last month, Shekau threatened President Muhammadu Buhari and also gave a condition for the release of the remaining Chibok schoolgirls in captivity.

In the video, which was released a day after Buhari visited Borno State, Shekau said the schoolgirls would

be freed if the federal government should release the sect members in detention.

Shekau also asked Buhari not to return to Borno, saying the sect is fully on the ground in the North-east.

He stated that the insurgents would attack the president if he returns to Borno.

But the military dismissed his threat, saying that it is on the ground to protect the president in any part of the North-east.

MINISTERS AT WORK...

L-R: Minister of State for Education, Mr. Emeka Nwajiuba; Minister of State for Federal Capital Territory, Ms. Ramatu Tijani; and the Minister of State for Foreign Aairs, Mr. Zubairu Dada, during the Federal Executive Council meeting in Abuja‌yesterday godwin omoigui

FG Approves $2.571bn Loan Facility for Gas Pipeline Omololu Ogunmade in Abuja The federal government yesterday approved the issuance of $2.571 loan facility classified as a sovereign guarantee to fund what it described as engineering procurement and construction (EPC) contract for the Ajaokuta-Kaduna-Kano gas pipeline project.

Briefing journalists at the end of the weekly Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting in the State House, Abuja, the Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Mrs. Zainab Ahmed, said the approval was sequel to the presentation she jointly made with the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Chief Timipre Sylva, which sought the council's approval for the facility said to have been earlier approved by FEC in 2017.

According to her, yesterday's approval was a revised lower cost of the facility with 10 per cent discount from the initial sum of $2.89 billion approved in 2017 by FEC. She explained that only 15

per cent of the sum would be paid by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) while the balance of 85 per cent would be footed by a Chinese company, China Shure.

She said an extensive review of the project had been done and it had been found that the project would have the capacity to repay the loan, adding that the facility will only attract 3.7 per cent interest rate with 12 years repayment period and three years moratorium.

"The memorandum was seeking council’s approval for the issuance of a sovereign guarantee to the tune of 85 per cent of the engineering procurement and construction (EPC) contract for the Ajaokuta-Kaduna-Kano project which we call AKK. "This is not a new contract.

It was previously approved by council in 2017 in the sum of $2.89 billion. The memo of today is at a revised cost of $2.571 billion equivalent to a 10 per cent discount of the original sum.

"The previous contract was a contractor financing model. The contract that has

been approved today is an EPC lump sum contract with the NNPC required to pay 15 per cent of the contract amount while the 85 per cent will be provided by China Shure of China in the form of loan facility with a sovereign guarantee.

"This is a facility that has an interest rate of plus 3.7 per cent with a 12 years repayment period and three years moratorium period. We have done an extensive review of this project and we are satisfied that the cash flows from the Ajaokuta-KadunaKano gas pipeline project is sufficient to pay the facility itself," she said.

Ahmed who described the project as one of the cardinal policies of the federal government, added that it is strategic for national development with a lot of prospects that will be beneficial to the country.

Enumerating the prospects of the project, Ahmed said it would boost industrialisation, spur industrial growth, create employment, increase revenue, encourage export and reduce import.

She also said the project

would be environmentally friendly, eradicate gas flaring, and reduce carbon footprint, among other benefits.

"It will also improve the health of the communities of the oil producing areas where gas flaring currently takes place. It will also reduce the carbon footprint and comply with the climate control treaties that Nigeria has committed to," she added.

Responding to a question on the possible impact of the current fall in the prices of petroleum products as a result of the outbreak of Coronavirus on the 2020 budget, the minister said the government was studying the situation.

She said a midterm review would be carried out later, and if the revenue target is negatively affected, "we will have to do some revisions in the budget by way of budget adjustment."

She added that crude oil production is now 2 million barrels per day and some times, 2.1 million barrels per day production volume is recorded, which she said would cushion the effect of the price fall.

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THURSDAY MARCH 5, 2020 • T H I S D AY

Birthday Felicitations to a

Great Patriot Your Excellency, May this day bring you immeasurable joy and the blessings of a life dedicated to the service of God and humanity.

Your passionate, unflagging crusade for a strong, united and economically prosperous Nigeria is a great source of inspiration to my generation.

Happy 83rd birthday sir.

Senator, Dr. Ifeanyi Okowa

Governor, Delta State

CHIEF

OLUSEGUN OBASANJO G C F R

PRESIDENT OF NIGERIA (1999 - 2007)

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PAGE TEN AGAIN, NIGERIA OVERTAKES S’AFRICA AS AFRICA’S LARGEST ECONOMY economy, seven out of 10 industries in South Africa contracted in the fourth quarter as well. Only finance, mining and personal services grew, but not enough to prevent the country from falling into an inevitable recession.

The main sectors that hindered economic growth included the transport and the communications industry, which shrunk by 7.2 per cent and contributed to the 1.4 per cent fall in GDP. The largest sector to contribute to South Africa’s recession was construction, which has declined for six consecutive quarters.

However, agriculture also proved to be the economy’s main drag in 2019. “The manufacturing industry dipped by 1.8 per cent and agriculture fell by 7.6 per cent, owed to late rains and heat waves. The electricity, gas and water supply industry also boomed in the fourth quarter. Mining experienced a

slight growth of 1.8 per cent, which contributed just 0.1 of a percentage point to economic growth in the fourth quarter. “The finance industry grew by 2.7 per cent, contributing 0.6 of a percentage point to South Africa’s overall growth,� a statement by South Africa’s statistics agency stated.

According to the Financial Times, the contraction came after a 0.8 per cent drop in economic output during the previous quarter, leading to South Africa’s second recession — defined as two quarters of negative growth — since 2018.

Owing to this, Bloomberg, in a report, noted that “to the question of whether South Africa or Nigeria, the two countries that account for almost half of sub-Saharan Africa’s gross domestic product, is the biggest economy on the continent has long depended on which exchange rate you use for the West African nation.

“But now both the official naira rate of N306 per dollar and the weaker market exchange rate of around N360 that almost all investors use put Nigeria on top. “Nigeria’s economic growth beat forecasts in the fourth quarter, helping its economy to expand the most in four years in 2019 as oil output increased and the central bank took steps to boost credit growth. “GDP in the West African country stood at $476 billion or $402 billion, depending on the rate used. South Africa’s economy went in the opposite direction.�

On the other hand, for South Africa, its full year expansion was 0.2 per cent, the least since the global financial crisis and even less than the central bank and government estimated. Based on an average rand-dollar exchange rate of 14.43 for the year, GDP was $352 billion. “South Africa’s weak growth adds to pressure on the central

bank to lower the benchmark interest rate at its Monetary Policy Committee meeting March 19, especially after the U.S. Federal Reserve’s emergency rate cut Tuesday amid risks from the spread of the Coronavirus. “Projections show Nigeria’s economy will continue to grow faster than South Africa’s. While the International Monetary Fund cut its forecast for Nigeria’s 2020 growth to two per cent, from 2.5 per cent last month, due to lower oil prices, South Africa’s GDP is forecast to expand only 0.8 per cent,� the report said.

APC Hails Buhari's Economic Policies Meanwhile, the APC has hailed the economic policies of the Buhari-led administration following the re-emergence of Nigeria as Africa's biggest economy.

The National Publicity Secretary of the party, Mallam

Lanre Issa-Onilu, in a statement yesterday, said since the Nigerian economy exited recession in 2017, the country's economic growth has not been a fluke but a result of deliberate practices and policies of the Buhari administration.

This, he said, has increased transparency in governance, diversification of the economy away from oil, improved fiscal management and a healthy protectionist approach which has aided the growth and increased the capacity of domestic producers and in turn, created jobs.

"This is not a small feat and should be celebrated by all.

The All Progressives Congress (APC) congratulates the president, the APC family and indeed all Nigerians. Those expecting the worst and wishing the country ill-fortune should now give up.

The task of developing a nation is a collective one. Politics should not drive Nigeria apart; it should unite us when the interest of our nation is involved.

"Of course, there are still a lot of challenges on the way. The journey is not going to be a walk in the park. That is not unusual, considering the level of decay our nation has sunk into under the watch of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the current efforts of the PDP leaders to slow down our progress as a nation.

However, this government, under the capable hand of President Buhari, is single-minded and courageous enough to lead our country to the promised land," the party added.

According to APC, the hugely successful anti-corruption efforts such as the implementation of a Treasury Single Account (TSA) that allows the government to better track and manage its resources and a more transparent government payroll and personnel system that eliminated duplication and "ghost workers" have alleviated poverty and made more cash available for critical infrastructure projects.

APC CRACKS WIDEN, TINUBU, GOVERNORS LOCK HORNS AS COURT SUSPENDS OSHIOMHOLE play in the party, say the stage is set for an epic battle with the national leader, believed, however, to have the ears of President Muhammadu Buhari.

The party, however, quickly moved to avert a power vacuum that the court ruling would have created, announcing the approval of nominations into vacant positions in the National Working Committee.

According to a statement by the National Publicity Secretary, Malam Lanre Issa-Onilu, the nominations approved on January 14, 2020 are Deputy National Chairman (South), Senator Abiola Ajimobi; National Secretary, Mr. Waziri Bulama; and National Auditor, Mr. Paul Chukwuma.

The officers, he said, would hold their positions in acting capacity pending confirmation by the National Executive Committee (NEC).

With the development, Ajimobi, who was the immediate past governor of Oyo State, would step into Oshiomhole’s shoes as acting national chairman, being the most senior officer of the party.

He would mount the saddle based on Article 14.2 (iii) of APC constitution, which states that: “Deputy National Chairman, North/South shall act as the National Chairman in the absence of the National Chairman.�

However, Oshiomhole said last night that he had proceeded to appeal the ruling, insisting that he remained the national chairman of the party.

The embattled chairman in a statement issued by his Chief Press Secretary, Mr. Simon Ebegbulem, said that he had appealed the ruling and filed for a stay of its execution.

He said: "We have filed for a stay of execution and appealed the ruling. With those processes currently before the Appeal Court, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole remains the National Chairman of the party."

But Oshiomhole was immediately countered by his main adversary in the NWC, Mr. Mustapha Salihu, the party’s national vice chairman (North-east), who said the fresh appointments announced on the

prompting of the suspended national chairman could not stand, opening another window of crisis for the ruling party.

THISDAY analysts in the know of the power game last night said the court ruling only ventilated the fault lines of the party and appears set to open windows of opportunities for contending forces to reengage and realign in the bid to grab the soul of the APC for the 2023 presidential fight.

Although Oshiomhole’s instant problem arose from his quarrel with the Edo State Governor, Mr. Godwin Obaseki, it was learnt last night that the suspended national chairman might have unwittingly allowed the local affair to be taken advantage of by national forces, which see him as a stumbling block to their presidential aspirations in 2023.

Obaseki was joyous last night, saying the court ruling had brought peace to Edo State.

Addressing APC members during the Edo South senatorial rally of the party in Benin City, the state capital, Obaseki stated that when they planned the rally last week, they did not know that God had a plan for them yesterday. “No man is God. God is God. No man can play God. With what God has done today‌ what we should do now is to just thank Him,â€? he said, adding: “The meaning of what happened today is that peace has now finally come to our party. The purpose of God for Nigeria in our party will now be fulfilled.â€?

According to him, “My problem with Comrade Oshiomhole is that when people started saying that they were Edo Peoples Movement (EPM), I called him and urged him to denounce them. “I told him (Oshiomhole) to come out and say something. I told him, Comrade, denounce them, you are the National chairman; disassociate yourself from these people that are destroying our party. Up till today, he did not denounce them. “But the court has taken the right decision today‌ It does not make me a happy person because it would not have come to this.

“So, my message today is when a child put his hands in faeces, you do not cut off that hand, you take that hand and wash it.�

The police had beefed up security at the national secretariat of the APC following the order

by Justice Danlami Senchi that Oshiomhole should step aside as the party's national chairman.

A team of policemen arrived at the party's secretariat about 5 pm in nine trucks and one Armoured Personnel Carrier (APC) to reinforce those already stationed there.

The police personnel restricted access into the party's secretariat.

The party, however, pledged to respect all lawful court judgment as a law-abiding party.

Justice Senchi had ordered Oshiomhole to step aside while ruling in an interlocutory injunction filed by one Mustapha Salihu and five others.

The order is pending until the hearing and determination of the substantive suit seeking Oshiomhole's removal from office as the national chairman of APC. Justice Senchi also ordered Oshiomhole to stop parading himself as the national chairman of the APC until the issues challenging his leadership of the party are resolved.

The plaintiffs in the application filed on January 16, 2020 and argued by their lawyer, Mr. Oluwole Afolabi, had urged the court to declare Oshiomhole's continued stay in office as illegal having been suspended from the APC. The other plaintiffs in the suit are: Hon. Anselm Ojezua, Alhaji Sani Gomna, Mr. Oshawo Steven, Mr. Fani Wabulari and Mr. Princewill Ejogharado.

The respondents alongside Oshiomhole include: APC, Inspector General of Police (IG) and Department of State Services (DSS).

Arguing the motion yesterday, Afolabi told the court that Oshiomhole has up till now failed to challenge his suspension from the party.

According to him, Oshiomhole's right as a member is currently abated and cannot continue to act as chairman of the party as well as continue to

enjoy benefits from the APC, despite his suspension as a member of the party.

The Ward 10 executives of the APC had late last year suspended Oshiomhole from the APC. The suspension was ratified by the Etsako West Local Government Executive Committee and was subsequently upheld by the State Executive Committee of the party.

The plaintiffs accordingly prayed the court for an interlocutory order restraining Oshiomhole from parading himself or performing any function as the national chairman of the APC. They also prayed the court for another interlocutory order restraining the APC from recognising or continue to recognise Oshiomhole as the national chairman of the APC, including giving effect to any of his decisions.

In addition, they prayed for another interlocutory order directing the police and the SSS to deploy their staff to prevent Oshiomhole from continuing to occupy the office of the national chairman of the APC and from having access to the office.

Delivering ruling in the interlocutory application, the judge held that the plaintiffs have been able to show that Oshiomhole was suspended by his ward, Etsako West Ward 10 in Edo State.

Justice Senchi added that political parties must be bound by their constitution and having been suspended by his ward, Oshiomhole is restrained from functioning as the national chairman of the party pending the hearing and determination of the substantive suit.

The court also ordered that Oshiomhole should stop parading himself as the chairman of the party and for APC to desist from acknowledging him as its chairman.

The court has also given the APC orders not to grant Oshiomhole access to the party secretariat.

Hearing has been fixed for April 7 and 8, 2020.

The APC in Edo State had last year suspended Oshiomhole over his role in the crisis rocking the state chapter of the party.

The decision followed the vote of no confidence passed on him by the chairmen of the APC in the 18 Local Government Areas (LGAs) of Edo State.

A statement signed by Edo APC Chairman, Mr. Anselm Ojezua, and Assistant State Secretary, Mr. Ikuenobe Anthony, said: “Consequent on the development, the State Executive Committee has adopted the vote of no confidence passed on him and the subsisting suspension order from the organs of the party in the state."

They said the decision was necessary to prevent a repeat of what happened in Zamfara State, where the party was unable to field any candidate in elections.

APC Pledges to Respect Court Judgment Reacting to the court ruling, the APC stated that it would respect all lawful court judgment as a law-abiding party.

The acting National Secretary of the party, Chief Victor Giadom, while addressing a press conference in Abuja, confirmed that the party had received a copy of the court order, adding that the ruling party would respect the court judgment.

He also said the party's NWC would soon meet to deliberate on the matter.

"As a party, we are aware of the injunction. As a law abiding party, we will respect all lawful court orders. Very soon, the National Working Committee will meet and you will hear further from the party.

I am trying to say that the All Progressives Congress will respect all lawful court orders. We will soon do that."

He explained that there is a court injunction, adding that it is binding on the party to respect all court injunctions.

On the security beef-up at the party's secretariat, Giadom said there was nothing new about it, adding that there had always been security at the national secretariat of the party.

The team of policemen had told the staff to go into their offices and those that decided to go outside the premises were told they would not be allowed

WITH TWO NEW CORONAVIRUS CASES, SENEGAL NOW HAS TOTAL OF FOUR Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Professor Maurice Iwu, is currently being subjected to scientific test in the United States.

Minister of Science and Technology, Dr. Ogbonnaya Onu, who confirmed the testing of the drug yesterday while answering questions from State House reporters at the end of the weekly Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting in Abuja, explained that Iwu did not say he had discovered the cure for

Coronavirus but only said he had "an isolated compound" on the disease, which drew American interest.

Besides, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has said Angola has reversed the travel ban placed on Nigerians as a result of Coronavirus outbreak in the country.

The Lagos State government has also said the Italian patient who tested positive to Coronavirus

was fast recovering from the disease The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has, however, cautioned against the spread of the virus in Africa.

One of the new patients in Senegal is connected with the second confirmed case.

The 68-year-old French national is the wife of the patient diagnosed on Tuesday, while the other patient is a 33-year-old English national who arrived in Dakar on

February 24 from London.

On Monday, Senegal announced the first case of coronavirus in the country, becoming the second in subSaharan Africa after one was confirmed in Nigeria last week.

The country’s Minister of Health, Abdoulaye Diouf Sarr told journalists that the index patient was a French man who lives in Senegal and came back from a skiing holiday in France on February

26 on an Air Senegal flight, However, the man has since been quarantined at Dakar’s Fann Hospital. North African countries -Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco and Egypt have also confirmed cases of the virus.

Meanwhile, Onu said following Iwu’s claim, experts from the United States came to Nigeria and took the product made from Nigerian herbs away.

Continued on page 42

in again.

THISDAY also gathered that it was the leadership of the party that called for security to be beefed up at the headquarters of the party because of the presence of some political thugs.

More Intrigues Ahead With Oshiomhole insisting yesterday that he remained in office in view of his appeal, and Salihu contending that the national chairman could no longer parade himself as an official of the party, THISDAY learnt that the National Executive Committee of the party might be called to resolve all outstanding issues.

The fear, though, is that if care is not taken, the party might fall apart. It was learnt that governors opposed to Oshiomhole are already mobilising for a NEC meeting where they hope to do their national chairman in.

But he is said to be fighting back by reaching out to powerful forces, which hitherto had been on his side but he had alienated in recent times. This, it was learnt, was responsible for the announcement of the approval of the nominations for the vacant positions in the party yesterday.

For instance, the National Leader of the party, Senator Bola Tinubu, is said to have been taken aback

by Oshiomhole’s vacillation over the announcement of Ajimobi as the acting deputy national chairman in the South. Also, Borno State Governor, Prof.

Babagana Zulum, is said to be aggrieved that despite his moderating influence on his brother governors in favour of Oshiomhole, he dillydallied in the announcement of Bulama as the acting national secretary.

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NGN NGN 0.17 1.87 0.02 0.22 0.15 1.68 0.50 5.65 0.50 5.90 NGN 1.70 15.30 0.03 0.33 0.02 0.25 CHAMSPLC 0.01 0.20 LAWUNION 0.04 0.96 HPE Nestle Nig Plc â‚Ś1,080.00 Volume: 307.721 million shares Value: N2.805 billion Deals: 4,419 As at yesterday 04/03/2020 See details on Page 39

% 10 10 9.8 9.7 9.2 % 10 8.3 7.4 4.7 4.0

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THURSDAY MARCH 5, 2020 โ ข T H I S D AY

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THURSDAY MARCH 5, 2020 ˾ T H I S D AY

NEWS

Buhari Taps Bashir Jamoh as New NIMASA DG Alike Ejiofor President Muhammadu Buhari has appointed the Executive Director of A and Administration at the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Dr. Bashir Jamoh as the new Director General of the agency.

Jamoh takes over from Dr. Dakuku Peterside whose tenure will expire on March 10, 2020.

Peterside was appointed in 2016.

The incoming NIMASA boss, who has a PhD from the University of Port Harcourt, specialising in logistics and transport management, is also the current President of the Chartered Institute of Transport Administration of Nigeria (CIoTA).

He holds membership and fellowship attainments in several prestigious national and international professional bodies The 56-year-old maritime

expert joined NIMASA in 2003 as Assistant Chief Commercial Officer in charge of Eastern and Central Zones.

Jamoh, who hails from Kaduna State, also holds a Master’s degree in Management from Korea Maritime and Ocean University.

He also attended Bayero University, Kano 1993; Institute of Administration, 1986 Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria; and Kaduna Teacher’s

College, Kaduna 1983, where he obtained Post Graduate Diploma in Management, Diploma in Accounting, and GII Teacher’s Certificate, respectively This seasoned administrator and maritime expert, has also attended several leadership and management courses at the Harvard University US, Oxford University UK; Cambridge University UK; International Training Centre of

ILO Turin Italy; and Institute of Public Private Partnership Washington DC. Others include: International Law Institute, USA; and Institute for Leadership and Development for the Public Good, USA; Royal Institute of Public Administration UK; and World Maritime University, Sweden, amongst others.

He is also the author of the book, Harnessing Nigeria’s Maritime Assets – Past, Present

and Future The consummate administrator and trainer, who has 32 years of professional and technocratic experience in the transportation and maritime sectors of the Nigerian economy, has organised and facilitated leadership training and manpower development programmes in several countries including UK, USA., UAE, South Africa, Brazil, Malaysia and Sweden, among others.

IG Declares Bandits in North-west as Boko Haram, ISWAP Members The Inspector-General of Police (IG), Mr. Mohammed Adamu, has declared that bandits in North-west are Boko Haram and ISWAP members.

He made the declaration in Kaduna during a meeting with top Police Commanders over recent attacks in the state.

The IG stated that the reinforced attacks need new war strategies geared towards eliminating the bandits from their hideouts in the nook and crannies of the zone.

The police boss said it is important to ensure that peace and security are restored while imploring the officers to show commitment in the fight against criminality in the region.

The IG’s meeting with top police commanders follows

Sunday’s attack by bandits in five villages in Giwa and Igabi local government areas of Kaduna State where no fewer than 51 people were killed and several others injured.

Channels Television reported that during a visit to some of the affected villages, Governor Nasir El-Rufai vowed to wipe out bandits in Kaduna Sate.

He insisted that his administration will not succumb to granting the bandits amnesty.

Governor el-Rufai apologised to the villagers on behalf of his government for failing to protect them, while assuring them that troops of the Nigerian military will be stationed in the villages to provide adequate security.

Military Inflicts Heavy Casualties on Boko Haram in Borno Michael Olugbode in Maiduguri Boko Haram insurgents yesterday suffered heavy losses during their push for Damboa town in Borno State.

The audacious insurgents have threatened the people of the town in a letter that they were coming to capture it.

This facilitated their defeat as the soldiers and the Civilian JTF had marshaled out a watertight security plan before their invasion.

A source in the town, said the insurgents were prepared as they brought 30 gun trucks to invade the town.

He said they however met their match in the military/ Civilian JTF alliance, which responded with heavy military might.

The source said though the insurgents were heavily armed but there undoing was the lack of surprise which was the hallmark of their attacks.

Their letter had made the alliance of the military and Civilian JTF well prepared.

A source said though the insurgents who attacked the town at about 5am initially had an edge pushing back the equally battle-ready soldiers and Civilian JTF, but the advantage swung when the

air reinforcement came down heavily on the insurgents.

The source said they had to retreat when the battleground was too hot for them with many casualties suffered.

Speaking to THISDAY, a reliable security source who did not want his name mentioned, said the attack was massive but “we are grateful to God that the military was able to withstand and repelled the insurgents.”

He said the insurgents attacked Damboa between 5 a.m. and 6a.m and exchanged gunfire with the military and the Civilian JTF. He said though few men of the Civilian JTF were lost but the insurgents suffered heavily and had to flee back into the bushes.

He disclosed that three gun trucks among those brought by the insurgents were destroyed and 18 were seized.

He added that about 40 people both combatants and non-combatants were injured in the attack.

All attempts to get confirmation from the military were unsuccessful as calls to the phone of the spokesman of Operation Lafiya Dole (the military counter-insurgency operation in the Northeast), Col. Isa Ado were not picked.

WITH DEVELOPMENT PARTNERS…

L-R: Health specialist, Dr. Eghe Abe; Delta State Governor, Senator Ifeanyi Okowa; Chief of Field Office, UNICEF Nigeria , Dr. Guy Yogo; and Social Policy Officer, Ms Annie Ekanem, during a courtesy call on the governor by the UNICEF group in Government House, Asaba... yesterday

Gunmen Kill Two Policemen, Civilian in Delta Two mobile policemen were reportedly shot dead early hours of yesterday by yet-to-be identified hoodlums in Ekete, Udu council area of Delta State.

An unidentified civilian was also killed in the attack that reportedly saw a gun exchange between the late policemen and the gunmen.

It was gathered that the riot police officers, whose identities could not be ascertained were attached to one Club 316 by Old Ekete Junction in the area.

It was gathered that the armed men carted away riffles belonging to the policemen.

In early February, one Onovughe Jovi was waylaid,

alongside the mother and shot dead by suspected assassins around the area.

It will also be noted that insecurity in the council area has been on the rise for a long time, given series of reported cult clashes and robbery attacks perpetuated by unknown

hoodlums.

Efforts to get response from the Delta State Police Command proved futile as the time of filing this report.

The Commissioner of Police, Mr. Hafiz Inuwa, did not respond to a call and message put across to his mobile number.

Confusion in Senate as Adeyemi Hails Military Rule The Senate was yesterday thrown into confusion wehn the All Progressives Congress (APC) member representing Kogi West senatorial district, Senator Smart Adeyemi, hailed military rule and condemned the current democracy being practised in Nigeria.

But his colleagues opposed his opinion, describing his statement as anti-democratic.

Adeyemi spoke while contributing to the debate on the Bill for the Establishment of a National Electoral Offences Commission, sponsored by Senator Abubakar

Kyari.

The President of the Senate, Dr. Ahmad Lawan, however said Adeyemi’s opinion of the personal and did not represent the position of the Senate.

Other senators like James Manager and George Sekibo also disagreed with Adeyemi by insisting that democracy was better than the military government.

Adeyemi noted with anger, that the way democracy was being practised in Nigeria, particularly the electoral process, is nothing but a charade.

He said, “To say without any fear of contradiction that there cannot be democracy in any nation where we do not have a free and fair election.

“There will be a misrepresentation, bad governance, misappropriation of funds and all the shortcomings that we have witnessed over the years of the democratic rule.

“As a result, people of questionable character find their ways to elective positions.”

At that stage, the Senate President interjected and reminded the Kogi West senator that Nigeria is currently

in a democracy.

Obviously unperturbed, Adeyemi continued, “What I am saying is that having people rigged into executive position is the worst thing that can happen.

“I have said it over the years that military government is the worst but (the situation) is even worst now when you have people that are forcing themselves on the people.”

Also speaking on the issue raised by Adeyemi, Senator George Seikibo, said it was wrong for a Senator to express a preference for the military rule

THURSDAY MARCH 5, 2020 • T H I S D AY

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T H I S D AY Ëž Ëœ ÍłËœ 2020

COMMENT

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

DIASPORA HORIZONS AND VISIONS Okello Oculi writes that a more ambitious Pan-African diaspora is in the making

R

ecent migration out of Africa began in 1500. For over 400 years it rolled as a commercial venture which fed economic production by African captives. This included mining, agriculture, labour in factories, inventions, and providing sexual indulgences. For Nigeria, footprints of this horrendous drama includes descendants of peoples from today’s Akwa Ibom living in Honduras; Fulani bloodlines in Puerto Rico; Yoruba lines in Jamaica and Brazil; Hausa footprints in Mexico, etc.

In the ‘’Second African Migration’’, official American policy awarded scholarships to Nigerian students to study in American universities.

Ambassador Lawrence Ekpebu recalls in his autobiography how he sold to officials at Harvard University a program of organising inflows of Nigerian students. Other American universities joined the enterprise.

The Rockefeller Foundation and Ford Foundation gambled in breeding future Nigerian leaders with ideological eyeglasses tainted with pro-American appetites.

Following Nigeria’s Civil War, both the United States and Britain harvested refugees. Scientists with records in inventing weapons were lured by agents hunting for talents. Those seeking for education which also promised new citizenship added to this brain-flow. As scholars on immigrants entering the United States have noted, these immigrants and those from other African countries tend to have higher educational training than their age-mates among white Americans. Like immigrants from Asia, they bless the American economy with brilliant inventions.

There is more work by scholars to do a census of bloodlines in North America, the Caribbean Islands, and South America as a result of these processes. Despite this arithmetical deficiency, this sector of Nigeria’s Diaspora enjoys higher access to technology; rich library resources, and intellectual productivity by academics than their counterparts all across Africa.

Nigeria’s Diaspora in Africa have been directly linked to political convulsions. The largest pool is in Sudan. Their largest flow consisted of leaders and their followers from the Sokoto Caliphate following the capture of their political bases by British military invaders from 1900 onwards. Using the model of Prophet Mohammed’s ‘’Hijra� (search for security in Christian Ethiopia), they trekked and settled in Omdurman on the banks of River Nile. With a long tradition of Muslims from as far back as Senegal trekking to Mecca in pilgrimage; and later taking rests in Sudan on their return journey, it is likely that the Sokoto Caliphate political trekkers found welcoming arms in a territorial space stretching from Darfur to Omdurman.

A RECENT MASS OUTFLOW FROM NIGERIA HAS BEEN OF A FLIGHT FROM POVERTY TOWARDS A MORE INDUSTRIALIZED POSTAPARTHEID SOUTH AFRICA

In the early 1970s, Professor Ibrahim Mukoshy estimated that about six million inhabitants of Omdurman would trace their roots to Sokoto.

He recalled, as a teenager, riding his bicycle and dropping cigarette packets on specified sites to be picked up by individuals he was not able to see and identify. The Sudanese Communist Party was one of the organisations operating underground during a military regime.

Dr Sule Bassi estimates that the figure is now 10 million. The 1880s revolution which expelled Turkish colonial despotism from Sudan had left a favourable cultural environment for the Hijra inflow from Sokoto perceived as combatants against British invasion.

A recent mass outflow from Nigeria has been of a flight from poverty towards a more industrialized post-apartheid South Africa.

Long before Mandela became President, Nigerian academics had ended their graduation from American and European universities and responded to job advertisements by universities in new ‘’countries’ known as ‘’BANTUSTANS’’. Their education in high quality EuroAmerican universities ensured high quality inputs for a people starved of education.

These pioneers constitute the over 600,000 Nigerians who, the South African Minister of Foreign Affairs told the global media were not fleeing from South Africa during the 2019 ‘’xenophobia’’ episode.

In 2008, the ‘’xenophobia’’ which erupted was blamed on Nigerians running cocaine trade; allegedly using young women from Zimbabwe and Mozambique as couriers. Others were carriers of vigorous tradition of retail trade by market women and men: a retail trade officially prohibited for ‘’Bantus’’ in South Africa‌ Unlike the ‘’Hijra’’ migrants to Sudan, the second flow of Nigerians into Euro-America compete with those to South Africa in repatriating earnings back to families and personal businesses in Nigeria. Unlike Switzerland, Scandinavian countries and Israel, Nigeria has been slow in establishing offices in Boston and San Francisco areas to tap new inventions from graduate students who are conducting research in the complex of universities and research institutes in these areas.

A new Pan-African Diaspora is germinating. On 10th December, 2018, students drawn from Anglican Girls Grammar School and Olumawo Secondary School, in Abuja, simulated an Assembly of Presidents and Heads of Governments of the African Union. Their audience included anti-corruption activists drawn from 50 African countries. Trained by Africa Vision 525 Initiative, their orientation is to export political ambitions and become presidents of other African countries at the Presidential Villa. The MacArthur Foundation funded the project through The Presidency.

COVID-19: AND HERE WE GO AGAIN‌ The Coronavirus emergency is a wake-up call to put in place a robust response capability, writes Olusegun Adeniyi Continued from the backpage

N

ow turning to the full audience while Terrorism was still laughing hysterically, Death snapped his fingers and a big projector was turned on: “That is the victim of our friend here, the unfortunate Liberian. You can see the kind of attention he got. Did you see the elaborate preparation to dispose of the body after I took his blood? Is that not funny, especially in a country where I take life just like this?� (snapping his fingers). “However, Nigerians may be a funny lot but there is also a method to their madness. They know that with Ebola right now, there is no place to hide. Its initial symptoms can resemble those of other illnesses, especially Malaria, but by the time they know what it is, the damage would have been done. Ebola walks in a stealth manner. An odd kiss, a harmless handshake, an innocuous peck and before they know it, his victims have me to contend with.

And the Nigerian big men know too well that with Ebola, they cannot run to America or Germany or United Kingdom with their Private Jets because once the authorities there hear the name of Ebola, they would not let them land.� “What about India?� Cancer interjected. “You know the real big people in Nigeria hardly go to India for their medicals and in any case, those who patronise Indian hospitals would not even be allowed to take off at Murtala Muhammed Airport. If they try, Ebola will simply finish the job before they complete their immigration formalities.�

Now that he has the attention of his audience, Death continued: “How many of you ever read James Hadley Chase?� With a few hands up, he further asked, “do you know the character called Poke Tohola? Well, go and read the Chase novel, ‘Want to Stay Alive?’ There is a memorable line in that novel which says ‘fear is the key that unlocks the wallet and handbags of the rich...’ In Nigeria today, the fear of Ebola is the beginning

of wisdom...�

As this point, an aide walked in to announce that it was time for Death to take blood. Death stood up and as all his Agents prostrated in obeisance, he pointed his spectre in the direction of Terrorism who stood up and followed as they walked into the inner chamber. Ebola also stood up and wanted to follow but two guards prevented him. Shocked, he asked: “Don’t you know who I am?�

It was now the turn of Terrorism to laugh, again hysterically, before he said: “You are new here so you don’t know the rule. That was just your initiation but you believed all that drama, thinking you are really important. Since you are a JJC from Liberia, let me give you a brief about Nigeria. Yes, you can kill many of their people in the villages and in some remote areas of their major cities where I have also operated but after a few weeks, Nigerians will move on. They always do; as nothing catches their attention for long. In any case, there will be other drama for them to follow and they will ignore you, no matter the number of lives you take. You will become just another story...� “What if I kill a big man, a very big man; a political leader or top government official?�

Ebola asked. “That will never happen. You cannot kill a big man, not in Nigeria�, said Terrorism. “But I can�, Ebola insisted and he was shocked as the guards handcuffed him and were leading him out of the door. Shortly before the door was closed on him, Death delivered the final message: “Ebola, you are still naive about Nigeria. You can kill as many of the poor people as you like because in that country, the citizens have left the solutions to practically all their problems (including those self-inflicted) to God, the One you and I know help only those who help themselves. But you can never kill a real Nigerian big man because even if you do, such feat would never be attributed to you. Such a person would be deemed to have either been

poisoned by his political opponent or another story would be invented...� “They would say he was hit by spiritual arrow sent by his enemies�, Ritual interjected to draw applause from the crowd.

Looking straight at Ebola, this time in a menacing manner, Death continued: “You see, nobody will ever credit you with killing a Nigerian big man so you need to wise up. Now, let me share a secret with you. I operate all over the world and to be honest, I probably kill less people in Nigeria than I do in several other countries but what I like about Nigeria is that as much as their people fear me, they do practically nothing to deter my operations. I have never seen a more suicidal society than Nigeria. That way, they make my job rather easy. You see Terrorism here. He has paid his dues and still paying it. He nearly took out two prominent Nigerians last week but have you been following their discussions? Nobody gives Terrorism the credit for what happened and for that reason, there is no unity of purpose and they are not looking for ways to fight him. In fact, many enjoy making unsolicited excuses on his behalf. As far as Nigerians are concerned, all that matters now is their so-called election coming up next year and while they are doing all their permutations either to capture power or retain it, Terrorism is also planning his next target...�

To that, Ebola interjected: “But I understand Nigeria will fight Terrorism when they finally secure some foreign loan...�

That elicited a roaring laughter and Ebola was pushed out of the Kingdom of Death.

ENDNOTE: The clear signal that has been delivered to Nigeria by the Coronavirus epidemic, as with previous global epidemics, is that a nation of our demographic magnitude must remain on perennial alert for such public health emergencies in an interconnected world.

Somehow, Nigeria has been relatively lucky by a curious irony. Our success in combatting Ebola and hopefully COVID-19 has been a triumph

of Adhocism rather than the reward of careful advance planning. But the message must be clear: No nation survives by luck and untidy preparation.

While that is a lesson that will serve us in all areas of our national life, we should use the Coronavirus emergency as a further wake-up call to put in place a robust infectious diseases emergency response capability. In this regard, we need to fund research and the production of various vaccines, especially for Lassa fever that has become a perennial scourge. Even more urgently, to support the efforts of Dr Chikwe Ihekweazu, we require a well-funded and better-equipped NCDC with trained emergency care personnel at a level commensurate with our large and highly mobile population and expansive geography.

As an aside, it is very instructive that the World Health organisation (WHO) Director General, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on Monday that “Stigma, to be honest, is more dangerous than the virus itself. Let’s really underline that. Stigma is the most dangerous enemy.� Against the background that Ebola got its name from a tributary of River Congo while Lassa fever was named after a Nigerian town, we can see how racism defines the world we live in by the fact that Coronavirus was not named after Wuhan, the Chinese city where the disease originated but rather after the month and year of its first index case.

At the end, the management of Nigeria’s encounter with yet another global epidemic may be salutary, but no serious nation can afford to protect its citizens with measures driven by panic and untidy haste. To change this narrative, we must begin to see every life – ours or anyone’s – as very important and for which those in authority must be held accountable. That we have consistently failed to do this explains why Nigeria is what it is. In any society where lives do not matter, it goes without saying that nothing else will matter!

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T H I S D AY ˾ THURSDAY, MARCH 5, 2020

EDITORIAL WHAT MANNER OF IMMUNITY? The bill on immunity for principal legislative officers is uncalled for

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bill seeking to amend section 308 of the 1999 Constitution to provide immunity for presiding officers of the National Assembly including the Senate president, speaker, deputy senate president and deputy speaker has scaled the second reading. Sponsored

by Hon. Olusegun Odebunmi, the justification for the bill is that immunity from prosecution would protect the presiding officers from distraction and make them to fully concentrate on their legislative duty. But as we have argued in the past, there can be nothing more self-serving than this proposition and we hasten to urge the lawmakers to perish the idea.

We recall that the 7th National Assembly introduced the immunity clause for legislators in the proposed amendment to the 1999 Constitution. While it was defeated during the public hearing, the lawmakers nonetheless still smuggled the clause into the amendment bill. But the story ended when President Goodluck Jonathan withheld his assent. During the 8th National Assembly, the then THERE CAN BE NOTHING Minority Leader of the MORE SELF-SERVING House of RepresentaTHAN THIS PROPOSITION tives, Hon. Leo Ogor, AND WE HASTEN TO URGE brought back the idea.

THE LAWMAKERS TO He argued that “If the head of the executive PERISH THE IDEA arm, the president and his vice should enjoy immunity, the heads of the other two arms of government, the legislature and the judiciary, should also benefit from the immunity.” By Ogor’s warped logic, immunity “would reduce distractions and crisis in the National Assembly”.

Sadly, it is this same argument that Odebunmi is rehashing as justification for conferring immunity on National Assembly presiding officers. We note with dismay that this is coming at a period in history when the law has continued to whittle down immunity for heads of government across the world. As things stand today,

under international law, a sitting president cannot plead immunity with respect to involvement in allegations of crimes against humanity and genocidal activities. In the particular case of Nigeria, apart from the president, no other public officer is covered by immunity of any sorts outside the country. That perhaps explains why the late DSP Alamieyeseigha and Joshua Dariye, then sitting governors of Bayelsa and Plateau States respectively, were arrested in the United Kingdom some years ago on charges of money laundering.

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

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

ven at that, a sitting president or governor does not enjoy immunity with respect to petitions challenging his/her election or eligibility to contest elections while public officers who enjoy immunity can be investigated and indicted by the police and anti-graft agencies. An independent counsel may also be appointed by the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN) to conduct an inquiry into allegations of corruption involving public officers who are protected by the immunity clause. So, we fail to understand what Odebunmi and fellow travellers are talking about.

If it is about their work as lawmakers, the Legislative Houses (Powers and Privileges) Act of 1957 already confers immunity by defining the powers and privileges of the legislative houses established under the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. In fact, Section 3 of the act states: “No civil or criminal proceedings may be instituted against any member of a Legislative House – (a) in respect of words spoken before that House or a committee thereof; or (b) in respect of words written in a report to that House or to any committee thereof or in any petition, bill, resolution, motion or question brought or introduced by him therein.”

However, the immunity being sought by the lawmakers is the one that would place their presiding officers above the law of the country. Unfortunately for them, since such move requires a constitutional amendment, the Nigerian people would have to mobilise against such patently irresponsible idea if and when it is eventually brought up. It must not pass!

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DELTA 2023 GUBERNATORIAL RACE

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he 2023 governorship race is three years away, yet they are already angling from within and outside urhobo nation for the number one position in the state.

In all the subterranean moves outside Urhobo for the position, the most orchestrated campaign is from the Ijaw ethnic nationality of Delta south senatorial district.

If the structure of rotation is among constitutional senatorial districts created by the constitution of the country, a prior ari , the agitation by the Ijaw nationality is of no consequence. However, if the constitutional structure were to be set aside and the more primordial tribal architecture were to be used then, there is substance in the clamour by Ijaw political pundits.

But there is nothing empirical lending credence to the ingenious arguments by our kith and kins from Ijaw ethnic nationality. Am therefore tempted to counsel them to align their ambition within the framework of the constitutional structures so that they do not harvest a backlash gang up when it falls within their legitimate right to push for the position and seek the support of Urhobo nationality which is of no consequence to them today by reason of their vantage positions in the present government.

Although Urhobo nation falls mainly within Delta Central senatorial district and composed of

three distinct federal constituencies , the argument for equity and fairness applies in the same measure in the choice of which federal constituency within the central senatorial district should produce the governorship candidate in 2023 The homogeneity of the Urhobo nation will not be questioned and cannot be questioned, however, the nuances that inheres in Urhobo nation must be recognized and strengthened . In this regard, I take it for granted that no worthy urhobo son or daughter who acknowledges the preponderance of occupants of prime political offices to the disadvantage of the Okpe/ Sapele/Uvwie Federal constituency since 1999, will unconscionably throw his hat into the 2023 governorship race against candidates from the disadvantaged federal constituency aforementioned. Also in the spirit of fairness and equity, aspirants from Udu Local Government, a local government that has been afflicted by as many iniquities as the federal constituency, \ the subject of this discourse is as eminently qualified to throw their hat into the race.

For now, I might restrain myself from the full thesis of the merit of the treasured position of descendants of Umogu, which we shall upload subsequently when the need arises.

Patrick Ighomrore(PHF) Publicity secretary, Umogun Descendants Union

WHY BILLIONS ARE CIRCULATING AMONGST A FEW HANDS

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t least the “corruption” of PDP was not entirely bad because folks could expect “government crumbs” to fall down from the “high tables” of federal, state, and local government bureaucracies so that hardworking masses can get a modicum of “morsel” to eat. The sign that Nigerians have missed the “good times” are those endless seizures of cash and properties from and prosecutions of ex-PDP “big men.” What it really means is that these “big men” chose not to launder Nigeria’s money abroad because they desired to boost the local economy by investing nearly all their cash holdings at home. But could we say the same about this APC government? Nah. The truth at the present time is that the “corruption” of APC is truly counter-productive to Nigerians and the economy. Wasn’t it under this APC government that an 80-year old unelected presidential influential peddler went to London with some 30

family members or so to celebrate his four-score birthday? Would this sheer waste of government money happen under the PDP? Nah. The celebrant had rather celebrate in-country so that that cash would necessarily circulate.

Again, did the PDP head honcho back then (Goodluck Jonathan) spend so much hard currency to school his children abroad? Nah. Goodluck’s family size was even a plus for the economy. No doubt about it that these days Nigeria’s billions only circulate amongst a few hands: you can tell them apart from other Nigerians by picking up a couple of national dailies and see how they openly schmooze with the Presidency and all the functionaries associated with that Presidency. You can also tell them by their chubby cheeks and their fat backsides. You could now surmise that all the state governors and federal ministers belong here.

Sunday Adole Jonah, Department of Physics, Federal University of Technology, Minna, Niger State

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POLITICS

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

‘We Need to Spend More to Secure Our Country’ Udora Orizu holds a conversation with the member representing Ikorodu Federal Constituency and the Chairman, House Committee on Defence, Hon. Babajimi Benson who explains why defence should be top priority to the government

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think the National Orientation Agency should also live up to expectation, should also dominate and promote the good deeds that our armed forces are doing.

We always don’t have empathy on our armed forces because a lot of them are the ones on the frontline and they are like our family. Because if the Nigerians are detached they feel that it is the armed forces that is at the brink of war or at war with insurgents. They forget that armed forces belong to us. They are paid by tax payers. They have family members like us. I think communication should be in a way that will embolden our armed forces that will not undermine them.

There has to be a critical forum where how to effectively communicate should be agreed upon.

he defence budget has taken the lion share of Nigeria’s national budget over the years with very little to show for it, should the country continue to devote more resources to defence?

The constitution says that the protection and the welfare and security of lives and property are the hallmark of government so no amount is too much to spend on security because if you have security you may likely have prosperity. The basic thing private investors are looking at is if you have security as a country. We have a lot of challenges, as we speak.

The budget they are even talking about is still not enough to satisfy our defense needs. It is not enough to adequately secure us. If you compare our budget to other emerging economies, you will find out that our defense spending is still not enough. Besides a lot of people look at the budget and think every amount on that budget goes to buying weapons.

No, about 70 or 80 percent of it is on paying personnel and stuff like that, only a small fraction goes into purchase of equipment. And if you know government doesn’t release 100 percent of monies budgeted for. Last year, only 40 percent was released and if you release 40 percent, you don’t release it at a go. It is released when other allocations are made.

Although there are other interventions that come the way of the military, but I believe it’s still not enough. We need to spend to make our country safe.

Several lawmakers that expressed their support for the special funds for Armed Forces bill that you recently presented to the House, however, queried how the previous security funds were spent. Were the funds well spent?

The money, to the best of my knowledge have been spent. But we are carrying out our oversight functions as well to see where there are inefficiency or loopholes, for instance we looked at USD1 billion intervention that was done a while back.

We saw that about USD500 million of it was transferred upfront to America for the purchase of the Tokano jets which we believe will be arriving next year.

Our investigation are still on going to look at where and how the remaining of those funds were spent. The remaining half has been transferred to various manufacturers as well. You don’t buy military hardware as if you’re buying stuff from the supermarket, it takes time to manufacture, so we are told a lot of them are still under manufacture and some are already being shipped so we are also about going to oversight these things. In the fullness of time, our proper report will show if the money was well spent or not.

Again, other lawmakers wonder why the Armed Forces would need more funds after claiming to have decimated Boko Haram. What do you have to say about this?

Yes, it was claimed that Boko Haram was decimated but you and I know that Boko Haram has not been decimated, I see a resurgence in their activities. I see the crisis in Libya has further emboldened them, I see that the Libya, Chad, Mali, Nigel routes where insurgents or ISWAP can easily come into Nigeria we need to constantly upscale our inventory because as the saying goes, “show me a strong armed forces, I will see their inventory.” We need to constantly buy arms ammunitions, technology, retrain our armed forces so that they are bold

Why has Nigeria not signed the control of small arms and light weapons treaty?

I think there’s a seminar going on which is spearheaded by the Vice President, they are looking at the issue very critically and I’m sure in the fullness of time a decision will be taken that will be to the benefit of Nigeria.

Benson

and strong, that fear factor for the enemy still comes in, if you see a soldier, if you see how kitted he is, it will make the enemy a bit frightful, if you don’t do that they see them as boys scouts and they can role over them easily.

Your Nigerian Armed Forces Support Fund Bill just passed second reading, what happens if it’s not assented to by Mr President?

I feel that insecurity is taking a toll on Nigeria and I believe that anybody that has the interest of Nigeria at heart will look at those bills positively, as bills that will add value to security architecture of Nigeria. I really don’t envisage a situation where Mr President won’t sign it. It’s a bill that will enhance the capacity of the armed forces and make Nigeria safe.

Since much of what goes on in defence and security are restricted and top secret, how should critical information that the public needs to know be managed in order to give the public a sense of what is going on?

In Nigeria, we have not been very mindful of what you call strategic communication. Everyday we scream Boko Haram have done this and that, I believe we are further emboldening them, because their sponsors wherever they are will be happy, saying their money was well spent. It will be a catalyst for them to pump in more money to these insurgents to be able to cause damage. In other countries activities of insurgents are grossly under reported, so that they do not get that the balls to do more and their financiers will see that their money is not well spent so they will think of channeling it elsewhere. So I

Everyday we scream Boko Haram has done this and that, I believe we are further emboldening them, because their sponsors wherever they are will be happy, saying their money was well spent. It will be a catalyst for them to pump in more money to these insurgents to be able to cause damage. In other countries activities of insurgents are grossly under reported, so that they do not get that the balls to do more and their financiers will see that their money is not well spent so they will think of channeling it elsewhere. So I think the National Orientation Agency should also live up to expectation, should also dominate and promote the good deeds that our armed forces are doing. We always don’t have empathy on our armed forces because a lot of them are the ones on the frontline and they are like our family. Because if the Nigerians are detached they feel that it is the armed forces that is at the brink of war or at war with insurgents

On the call for resignation of Service Chiefs, it’s beginning to look like mere talk, nothing has been done about it yet. Does it mean that they don’t have any regard for the parliament?

I will say that the bulk of appointing and firing service chiefs lies on the desk of the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, Mr President. Don’t forget that President Buhari is a General who has fought many battles and understands military strategies. If we as parliamentarians see that the security situation is spiraling, our job is to scream out on behalf of our constituents who come and meet us. Our members have been doing that, particularly members from Borno, Kaduna, Adamawa, Yobe, Zamfara states, the affected areas, they have been bringing these issues to the front burner. They have been screaming from the rooftop. Mr. President has heard clearly that Nigeria is not as safe and secure as they have presented to him.

I’m sure as a general has listened to our cries, he has a big decision to take and so in the fullness of time I’m sure he will do what’s right, I’m sure he’s using them now for some strategic reasons that we don’t know. Also I will always say that the height of insecurity in the country it’s due to institutional failures, Nigeria is greatly under policed, more recruitment and inventory are needed as soon as possible. The population of Nigeria is approximately 200 million and we cannot boast of 400,000 policemen.

We need to ramp up on our recruitment, we need to ramp up on inventory like guns, ammunitions and we need it as soon as possible so that we can end this war in the shortest possible time, it’s embarrassing it has lasted for over ten years. All hands need to be on deck so that we can wipe out this insurgency.

What’s your view on the bill to sponsor repentant Boko Haram members to receive foreign education?

I don’t agree with it, I believe that rather the victims of such actions and attacks of Boko Haram should be looked at critically, rehabilitated, resettled, be given proper education so that the Nigeria state doesn’t fail them. Boko Haram people should be treated as terrorists because lives have been lost, investments have been lost, I think it should be the other way round.

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T H I S D AY ˾ THURSDAY MARCH 5, 2020

POLITICS DISSENTING VOICE...IN HIS OWN WORDS ‘Uzodinma Can’t Run ‘OPC’s Agitation for Sovereign Away From Engaging Conference Was Not Different Groups in Imo’ National Meant to Break Nigeria’

Nseobong Okon-Ekong dialogues with Chief Longers Anyanwu, a chieftain of the All Progressives Former President, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo Congress on expectations from Governor Hope traces the history of the Oodua Peoples Congress at the first anniversary to honour the memory of Uzodinma of Imo State its founder, Dr. Frederick Fasehun

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Anyanwu

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s an insider of the APC decision-making clique are you aware of pressure on Governor Hope Uzodinma to extract certain compromise from him?

The so called pressure to extract special considerations by some power cliques from Governor Uzodinma is a common knowledge to all and sundry in the state. It has become a common knowledge to the people. I guess that’s why the new governor is being careful in who and whom to associate with in order not to allow them infest him with the virus of public opprobrium.

But I can truely confirm to you that there are some powerful clique here and there determined to arm twist the governor to bow to their whims and caprices without consideration to the wishes and aspirations of the overall Ìmo people. The governor should not fall for such heinous trap.

How would you advise the Imo State Governor to engage the contending interests like the former Action Alliance (AA) candidate, Uche Nwosu and Godwin Araraume of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) who could have played the spoiler but allowed him a relatively smooth sail?

In a complex state like Ìmo, there’s no way the governor will run away from engaging with different with groups no matter their colour and shape. But he has to be at his best having the fear of God and in respect to the overriding sensibilities of Ìmo people. All the political parties and leaders you mentioned are all members of APC who left in pursuit of their individual ambitions as a result of the ‘macabre’ dance that ensued as a result of the implosion in APC before the gubernatorial primaries and elections. He has to accommodate all particularly those who genuinely

want reconciliation.

Managing the different blocs within the APC in Imo State may be a major headache for the Governor, would it better for him to face governance squarely and allow the party chieftains to manage the intrigues within the party?

I totally agree with you. Politics and party intrigue is over. People should allow him concentrate on good governance delivery.

Imo State will now have an off-season governorship election, is that some kind of comforting news to the APC? Can this be exploited to an advantage?

No matter what season you fix elections it’s only God that’s the final arbiter. It doesn’t matter really the only thing is that it removes some pressure from the governor. However, it has its own attraction of eliciting national attention.

I think the only panecea is to give people good governance. Simple.

What does the APC need to do to retain its winning edge?

APC under Governor Hope Uzodinma is sure-footed in Ìmo state now with his emergence. Senator Uzodinma, the governor is a consummate politician. You ignore him to your own peril. He is a party man per excellence. The greatest advantage APC will enjoy under his leadership is a generic growth of APC in the entire South-east. Watch out Igbo politicians will now join APC under his leadership because Uzodinma is a leader who knows how to work with everyone.

As you can see in the State House of Assembly, upon the emergence of Sen Uzodinma as governor all the members defected to APC. The PDP state chairman resigned.

he remote cause for the establishment of OPC was the annulment of June 12, 1993 election and the immediate cause was Abacha’s heavy boot actions to actualise his permanent succession plan and programme.

Frederick put it thus, “A people as numerically strong, educationally powerful and legendarily sophisticated as the Yorubas lost out in the game of evils… It occurred to me that a recurrence must be pre-emptively countervailed”. The idea was to establish a socio-cultural organisation as a pressure group. His first meeting was with three market leaders in Mushin – Mrs. Ogunbowale alias Iya Ijebu, Alhaji Ibrahim alias Baba Oja, and Mr. Taiwo.

An unpretentious personality and good mixer, he quickly immersed himself into the community. His proclivity towards Yoruba culture stood him out. Though he was learned and well-travelled, he thought nothing of freely associating himself with artisans and people, who were beneath his social status.

He stood out as a beacon of hope for the less-privileged in that neighbourhood, at first.

As his community engagement increased, a greater responsibility of taking up the fight for the larger Yoruba nation was thrust on him. Two weeks later, he had another meeting to bring more market women and men on board and, on that occasion, popular vote chose Oodua Peoples Congress, OPC, as the name of the new organisation.

The first difficulty of the organisation was the membership process which initially hit the brick wall but was somehow surmounted.

Some more educated individuals who wanted to join felt discouraged by the low literacy of the pioneer members. With Frederick and Beko Ransoke-Kuti both of Campaign for Democracy working together, more educated people like Barrister Omodele, Baba Omojola and Barrister Femi Falana in addition to some students from University of Ife (now Obafemi Awolowo University, OAU) joined the Congress.

Apart from seeking to protect, to defend and to promote Yoruba interest, OPC, as established by Frederick had no subversive, violent or treasonable programmes or plans, rather it expanded its demands to include issues like Sovereign National Conference and change in revenue allocation formula to embrace derivation principle. It was surely not an insurgent organisation. With such noble and attractive objectives, important personalities like Kudirat Abiola, Alhaja Kudirat Alao Aka-Bashorun and Tunji Braithwaite joined.

OPC was thriving and with Frederick as a vocal member of Campaign for Democracy, a member of NADECO, founder of OPC, refusing to serve in Abacha’s Committee which Professor Sam Aluko, a distinguished economist, chaired, he was marked out for destruction.

After a Lecture titled, “Nigeria, Party Politics and Agenda for the Fourth Republic” at Ilorin in 1996, Dr. Fasehun’s hospital was stormed and he was taken away for interrogation on December 18, 1996. He had anticipated that it would come to that especially with Obasanjo, Shehu Yar’Adua, Beko Ransome-Kuti, Christ Anyanwu and Shehu Sani already put in jail.

After ransacking the hospital, the SSS boys took him away for interrogation. After that, they put him in the Intercentre, a special SSS detention outfit at Ikoyi, the experience of which I had in 1995. His detention went from one month to two and from two to three. And no end yet, rather he was taken before Zakari Biu, an Assistant Commissioner of Police, who showed him a bit of police brutality before he was asked to write all he knew about NADECO, Wole Soyinka, Alani Akinrinade

Obasanjo and Chief Enahoro.

By the time the detention was over after the death of Abacha, damage has been done to the detainee’s property, psyche, and whatever he was supervising or over-sighting which have been left unattended or left in wrong hands. That was my own personal experience and situation as well when I was imprisoned

by Abacha. With Frederick, OPC suffered from his detention. Taiwo, who was one of the pioneer members, tried his best to run the outfit but he was overwhelmed. During that period, Ganiyu Adam joined up and under him, a brand of young hot-heads came together to form a youth wing in the OPC. Quality has been sacrificed for alloy.

Disorder pervaded instead of orderliness.

Gani Adam cashed in and Frederick came home to a divided OPC between Taiwo and Ogunbowale group and Gani Adam group.

As Frederick saw, “Both groups wore the toga of illiteracy for different reasons... Discussions revolved on what charms to wear to confront law-enforcement agents, how to wear them, how to hold them in place and so on.”

Frederick precisely described the OPC that I found when I became elected President in 1999 and I kept my distance from them. I would have nothing to do with such a group.

And that remained my position until Prince Osibote came to me about the end of 2019 to tell me that it is now a new OPC which is following the objectives and programmes of Dr. Fasehun. Frederick could not accept and live with what he met of OPC when he came back from detention and he was not able to change and reform it before he died, although he tried to seek employment for some of them. As a Christian, he abhorred what he met which was not in line with his objectives and purposes. But I must say that there is still room and need for the type of OPC that Dr. Fasehun originally established with relevant modification of objectives in light of present day Nigerian situation.

Dr. Fasehun made three cogent political points about OPC. One, agitating for Sovereign National Conference is not meant to break Nigeria up but to strengthen its unity on the basis of justice, equity, mutual respect and healthy competition among the constituent units. Two, with MKO Abiola’s death in detention, the agitation by OPC for Abiola to be released to take office as elected President was buried. Three, he also alleged that Chief Gani Fawehinmi working in collaboration with Dupe Onitiri-Abiola made contribution to the fractionalisation of OPC. NOTE: Interested readers should continue in the online edition on www.thisdaylive.com

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FEATURES

Group Features Editor: Chiemelie Ezeobi Email chiemelie.ezeobi@thisdaylive.com, Tel: 08038901925

Succor from Redemption Flyover in Ondo Relief came the way of motorists plying Ore Junction in Ondo as President Muhammadu Buhari recently inaugurated the interchange flyover to mark Governor OluwatotimiAkeredolu’s three year in office, writes James Sowole

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hen Chief Alowonle Ojukotimi and his friend Mr Adewale Oluwafemi set out of Akure, the Ondo State capital on Wednesday, July 4, 2012 to attend an important political meeting scheduled for Okitipupa, the headquarters of Okitipupa Local Government area of the Sunshine State, they never had primonition that any or both of them will never return to the state capital alive.

The journey, which started on smooth note in a chauffeur-driven Toyota Camry car, turned tragic at Ore Junction on the ever busy BeninIjebuode-Lagos Expressway.

As the driver was trying to cross the expressway to Ore-Okitipupa Road, an articulated lorry from Benin end of the expressway crushed the car and Ojukotimi died on the spot while his friend sustained injury, which later led to his death few days later.

About two weeks later, the story was almost the same for a couple, Mr Adegoke Adewale and wife Olufunke, who escaped death by whiskers as a Lagos-bound lorry hit their car while they were driving on the expressway from Ore township to continue their journey to Ondo Town.

The couple had gone to Okitipupa to attend a wedding ceremony. The couple's vehicle was badly damaged to the level that people around the area were wondering about the fate of occupants of the Nissan Primera car. It was a miraculous escape for the couple.

For many other travellers on the Benin-Lagos Expressway, plying the road was a nightmare because of the traffic congestion often caused by the gridlock at Ore junction particularly at the weekends or on Ore market days most especially before the reconstruction of some very bad sections of the expressway at Showboy area.

Attempts by some motorists to escape the junction sometimes lead to elongation of their journey by about two additiinal hours because they have to divert from Showboy Junction to Ore township and road through Okitipupa before coming out at Akinfosile junction to continue their journey towards Ijebuode.

The case was also the same for Benin-bound travellers from Lagos, as they drove through Akinfosile junction to Okitipupa and to burst out at Showboy junction enroute Benin.

These were some of the traumatic experiences of travellers that have to cross the expressway to Ondo South from Ondo Town and those travelling on the expressway. Though, the situation improved tremendously at the junction after the reconstruction of some bad portions on the expressway, the junction remained accident prone due to absence of a link bridge from Ondo Town end to Ore Township end across the ever busy expressway. It can never be an overstatement that construction of a structure to link one end of the road to the other across the expressway, was long overdue. This was the conviction of many stakeholders including political leaders and governments, both at the state and federal levels over the years.

However, concrete action to ensure construction of the link bridge was not taken until February 2018 when Governor Oluwatotimi Akeredolu was celebrating his second year in office as the chief executive of the Sunshine State.

Therefore, motorists, residents, indigenes of Ondo South and other stakeholders , who for one reason or the other must pass through Ore Junction, of heaved a sigh of relief on February 24, 2018 when Akeredolu flagged off the construction of an Interchange flyover across the expressway as part of activities to mark the second year anniversary of his administration.

Two years down the line, the bridge, which Akeredolu christened "Redemption Bridge" was inaugurated on Tuesday, February 25, by President Muhammadu Buhari at an event attended by Governors Kayode Fayemi of Ekiti State; Dapo Abiodun of Ogun State; Godwin Obaseki of Edo State; and the Minister of Trade and Investment, Otunba Niyi Adebayo. Other notable personalities in attendance were some traditional rulers in Ondo State, top politicians, community leaders and other stakeholders.

The Ore Interchange Flyover across Benin-Ijebuode-Lagos Expressway

President Muhammadu Buhari inaugurating the Interchange Flyover at Ore, Ondo State

According to Akeredolu, a lot of discussions and intrigues were involved before the federal government could allow the state to embark on the construction of the Interchange flyover.

Speaking at the inauguration of the Interchange flyover, Buhari said the federal government would sustain massive investments in the provision of infrastructure across the country, adding that the interchange would boost economic activities in the state, ease traffic congestion as well as reduce accidents often experienced on the major road.

The president promised that the federal government would meet its obligations to the state on the construction of this Interchange Flyover in due course. Buhari said the re-designing and construction of the road to accommodate Interchange Flyover was overdue as a result of the growing population in Ore. ''During the civil war and during my campaigns since 2002, I have become familiar with the terrain of Ore which is a connecting city between the South-west and the Eastern parts of our country.

As a result of this, the city has a cosmopolitan population that is in the neighbourhood of 300,000.

This is a city that can be described as a miniNigeria as almost all ethnic groups of our country are happily represented here. ''Let me commend Governor Akeredolu and his team for their great efforts and professionalism in putting this project in place. This project was executed in line with the spirit and drive of the federal government which puts great emphasis

on infrastructural development across our country, especially in the area of transportation, '' he said.

Buhari praised a consortium of Nigerian engineers for the design and supervision of the impressive-flyover of international standards. “We are proud of you and we want to assure our people that we would continue to utilise the expertise and experience of local consultants who are competing favourably with their counterparts globally. Let me also advise that a maintenance system should be in place to safeguard road users throughout the lifetime of this very impressive fly-over, '' he said.

Commending the impactful performance of the current Ondo State Administration, the president affirmed that the Akeredeolu administration had cleared six months out of the seven months arrears of salaries/pensions owed by the previous administration.

He also lauded the state government for being up-to-date in payment of salaries and pensions. ''You have been able to achieve these feats in spite of limited available resources. I am not surprised at this because available records show that Ondo State has recorded the highest percentage leap in Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) among the states, due to the effort of the APC government here, '' he said.

Reaffirming the resolve of the federal government to continue to invest heavily in the provision of infrastructure, the president announced that his administration has expended more on the

provision of railway services, rehabilitation and construction of roads and bridges, adding that they are confronting the infrastructure deficit head on. ''At the inception of our administration, we were faced with decayed infrastructure on our road network and railways, because of long years of neglect and lack of investment. However, our administration, as a result of our commitment to bridge this deficit, decided to source funds and address the issue. ''Let me commend the collaborative efforts between the federal government and Ondo State Government in respect of this project. I commend this type of collaboration between the federal government and other state governments. No one tier of government can on its own achieve the overall development of our dear country, '' he said.

While addressing the gathering, Akeredeolu told the president that the commissioning of the star projects were part of activities to commemorate the third year anniversary of the All Progressives Congress (APC)-led administration in the state.

While thanking the president for honouring the state with his esteemed presence, the governor requested the refund of state funds spent on federal roads in the state.

He specifically appealed to the Minister of Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola, to facilitate the approval of the president, for the funds expended on all federal government projects in Ondo State, including the Interchange totaling about N10.89bn.

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T H I S D AY Ëž Ëœ ÍłËœ Í°ÍŽÍ°ÍŽ

#THISISNIGERIA - Akubeze Okocha

Social Development or Social Destruction? Hajiya Safiya Umar and FCT Social Development Secretariat (SDS)

O

On 16th April 2019, 19 children were allegedly abducted from their church in Jiwa, Gwagwa, a small community in the forgotten suburbs of Abuja, by officials of the Social Development Secretariat (SDS), a department of the Federal Capital Development Authority, (FCDA). The children were held in the Unity Orphanage Home and Youth Support Centre in Gwagwalada and remained separated from their parents for almost 3 months, until our intervention in June 2019 The significance of this case was appreciated immediately it was mentioned by an officer from the Anti Human Trafficking Unit of the FCT Criminal Investigation Department on 13th June 2019. The officer recalled that they had been put on the case in April 2019, upon a complaint from the SDS, about children who were being trafficked out of an illegal orphanage at Jiwa. However, after investigating, the officer discovered that the children were actually in church with their parents and that no crime had been committed. The officer, however, felt the need to refer the case as a result of the attitude of the Acting Secretary of the SDS, Hajiya Safiya Umar, as she kept stalling and suggesting that the kids had been given out for adoption.

Upon hearing about the case, I met with the pastor of the church, Prophetess Deborah Osho who explained how on the evening of 16 April, a group, including Hajiya Safiya Umar of the SDS, officials of the Nigerian Police Force, some NTA videographers and other pressmen, stormed into her church and carried everyone in attendance to the Chief’s Palace, on allegations that she was running an Orphanage out of which children were being trafficked. After an interview at the Chief’s palace, the children were taken to the Orphanage and Prophetess Deborah and her brother were kept in police custody for three days. On the third day, the case was transferred to C.I.D. shortly after which they were released on bail.

From April till June 2019, the pastor, the parents and the police had been going back and forth with Hajiya Safiya Umar of the SDS trying to reunite the children with their parents. Some of the parents even claimed that they had gone to SDS office and to the Unity Orphanage but that they were stopped from seeing their children by the officials. So, Amara Nwakpa, Jennifer Ogbogu and I decided to pay an undercover visit to the Orphanage in Gwagwalada. We took two parents with us, but our cover was quickly blown as one parent spotted two of her children and began bawling. We beat a quick retreat out of the Orphanage, but we had our first confirmation that the parents’ story was credible, so we proceeded to visit the community. We interviewed the pastor and the parents. They were all so broken as they shared how helpless and afraid, they were. One 42-year-old man said he had considered killing himself as his wife had died six months earlier and now his only children were gone. By the time we finished interviewing all the parents, it was clear that we had gathered real evidence that the children had parents and that they were unjustly taken from the care of their families.

The following Monday, we scheduled a meeting with the FCT Social Development Secretariat (SDS), the police and the parents.

Acting Secretary Hajiya Safiya Umar showed

up for the meeting, with the Director of Gender, Agnes Hart. They had a brief private meeting with the police, after which the police invited us into the room, released the children to their parents and asked the parents to thank Madam SDS and promise

to mind their kids better. This was no happy ending, but rather a sad realisation of the shameful and destructive operations of the SDS. In post-release interviews, the children testified that they were subject to poor and

hazardous living conditions while they were kept in the Unity Orphanage. They complained that they were made to wear the same underwear and that they all had to share one bathing sponge throughout their stay. They also complained about their diet as they ate noodles and rice every day and their access to education as they were kept out of school. The children also noted that they were subject to corporal punishment and neglect. One child recalled how she dislocated her arm when she fell off a bunk bed and she was not given proper medical care. At present, the arm is still dislocated, and numerous other children are suffering from infections and various other illnesses.

Prophetess Deborah complained that the incident which happened on the 16th of April was a personal attack on her and her church by the Chief of Jiwa. She alleged that she had been having issues with some of the neighbours who are predominantly Muslim after she started building the church, especially after some of her neighbour’s children started coming to play in the church. She also noted that the man she bought the land from tried to reclaim it from her on the grounds that he did not know she would use the land to build a church. Prophetess Deborah and some of the other parents have also complained that they are now afraid of living and practising their religion in that area. They fear that the Chief will still come after them and their children again. When I went to visit the church on 7 July 2019, a random churchgoer said that he heard some of the Chief’s boys say that they were planning something for two people in the church.

Considering all this, we reached out to Save the Children to request intervention and also Samuel Ogundipe and Nike Adebowale of Premium Times. Save the Children connected us to the Child Protection Network (CPN) who accompanied us back to visit the community post-reunion. After this visit though, they became unresponsive and it was revealed that the SDS that was responsible for the abductions was also a member of the CPN. The SDS was reported in some news outlets as the rescuers of the children when in reality they were the ones endangering the children, exposing them to diseases, abuse and neglect. A further investigation into the SDS Unity Orphanage by Nike Adebowale of Premium Times produced a more credible report which confirmed how children are subject to poor treatment and substandard living conditions in the home.

If you follow human rights news then you would recognise that it is the same SDS that masterminded the arbitrary abduction and oversaw the abuse of women on the streets of Abuja, calling them prostitutes.

The same SDS that caused us to pour out on the streets in protest. The same SDS that is now the subject of an NHRC hearing on the #AbujaRaids. Yes, the same SDS that was involved in the violation and denigration of women is the same body involved in the violation and denigration of children and it appears that the SDS uses these arbitrary abductions of women and children to make money. Women and children are the bedrock of any society and so the Social Development Secretariat must be mindful that it appears to have turned into a vessel for Social Destruction! t"LVCF[F 0LPDIB JT B -BXZFS 7MPHHFS BOE "EWPDBUF GPS (FOEFS &RVBMJUZ BOE )VNBO 3JHIUT

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T H I S D AY ˾ MARCH 5, 2020

BUSINESSWORLD R A T E S

A S

MONEY MARKET OBB OVERNIGHT

A T

REPO 3% 3.83 %

CALL 1-MONTH

3% 4%

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

F E B R U A R Y S & P INDEX INDEX INDEX LEVEL 1-DAY

2 1 , 2 0 2 0 S&P

505.18 % 0.59 %

1/4 TO DATE YEAR TO DATE

EXCHANGE RATE 4.99 % 4.99 %

N307/1US DOLLAR* *AS AT LAST FRIDAY

Quick Takes Firms Announce New Partnership

The organisers of the annual Nigeria Corporate Services Conference (NiCoS), TenticP Communications Nigeria Limited has announced a partnership agreement with Think Big Freelance Consulting for the 2020 and the second edition of the programme. The partnership was announced during the signing of a memorandum of understanding by themanagementofbothorganisations.

AccordingtotheFounderandtheLeadStrategist,TenticPCommunications,NahimahAjikanle-Nurudeen,thepartnershipwouldformasynergy betweenbothorganisationsforhitchfreeconference.

She said NiCoS conference 2020 rides on the success of the maiden edition of the event held in May last year where the Director General, LagosChamberofCommerceandIndustry,LCCI,Mr.MudaYusufgave thekeynoteaddressonthetheme:“Buildingasustainableeconomicgrowth through quality corporate services delivery” while the immediate past ChairmanoftheFederalInlandRevenueServices,FIRS,Mr.Babatunde Fowlermadeapresentationonasub-theme:“Duediligence,bestpractices inrevenuegeneration.

Ajikanle-Nurudeendisclosedthattheconferencewouldsetconversation onduediligenceandbestpracticesthatcouldguaranteequalityservice deliveryinbothprivateandpublicsectorsoftheNigerianeconomy.

Shesaid,“TheNiCoSconferenceisaplatformdesignedtoenhancebusiness and economic growth, foster best practices and due diligence to drivesustainabledevelopmentinNigeriathroughcorporateservices.”

NITRA Conducts e-Voting Exercise

CLOSING GONG CEREMONY

Chief Executive Officer, Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), Oscar Onyema, (left), presenting a replica of closing gong to the Group Managing Director, Courteville Business Solution Plc, Dr. Adebola Akindele, during a courtesy visit to NSE in commemoration of 15th anniversary celebration of the company, at the NSE in Lagos…recently

FG Urged to Establish Strategy to Address Insecurity Stories by Emma Okonji Citing the rising cases of insecurity, coupled with the growing unemployment rate in the country, a group of software experts called the National Software Think Tank, has called for a partnership with the federal government to establish a national software strategy.

The initiative, according to them, would help address the country’s rising insecurity and unemployment rates.

The Group made the call in Abuja, during a recent courtesy visit to the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Dr. Isa Pantami, led by its chairman.

Mr. Chris Uwaje.

In his presentation, Uwaje

TELECOM blamed government for not harnessing the power of technology enough in addressing the insecurity challenges facing the country, as well as the rising unemployment rate.

The National Software Think Tank, therefore called on government to establish a special National Software Strategy as a critical framework to address the challenges and national security risks observed in the software development ecosystem and the implications for Nigeria.

The software developers also called for the endorsement of the proposed Five-Year Software Strategic Plan to accelerate the adoption and patronage of

Nigeria developed application software and maximize the opportunities and benefits presented by the digital era.

“We have come to seek partnership with the office of the Honorable Minister on how the software ecosystem can be strategically harnessed and deployed for mass employment of our youths, add valuable contributions to the GDP, promote sustainable development goals, national security and wealth creation,” Uwaje said in his presentation.

In his welcome speech, the minister commended the National Software Think Tank for their concern in ensuring speedy development of the Nigerian economy to better the lots of Nigerians, and promised

to look at the issues raise at visit.

Other members of the National Software Think Tank that visited the Pantami, include the former CEO of CWG Plc, Mr. James Agada; Business Director in charge of Government Affairs at CWG Pls, Mr. Udukheli Izebuno; CEO, Union Systems Software Services, Mr. Chuks Onyebuchi; Group Chief Executive, Fasyl Group, Mr. Jude Obiakor; Group Managing Director, CHAMS Plc, Mr. Olufemi Williams; and CEO, BSSL Technologies Limited, James Emadoye. Others are Nkemdilim Begho; Emeka Okoye; Olusola Adenuga; Bimbo Abioye; Tunji Durodoye; Inye Kemabonta; Uche Mbanaso; and Chinenye Mba-Uzoukwu.

The National Software Think Continued on page 24

Actis Acquires Majority Stake in Rack Centre Actis, a leading investor of private capital into global emerging markets, has acquired a majority stake in Rack Centre, one of Nigeria’s leading provider of data centre colocation and cloud services.

Actis’ decision to invest was taken after a detailed assessment of the players in the African market and selected Rack Centre with the most significant potential to grow and expand in Africa.

Rack Centre was established and wholly owned by Jagal, a Nigerian conglomerate holding that operates leading energy businesses and manages a diverse portfolio of investments.

Since commencing operations in Lagos in 2013, Rack Centre

TELECOM has consistently set the quality bar in the industry in Africa, being the first on the continent to be Tier III Constructed Facility Certified in April 2017 with a global reputation for excellence and consistently, winning multiple global awards.

Rack Centre has the largest installed capacity in West Africa with a range of over 80 blue chip international, multi-national and local clients. With over 35 carriers, Internet Service Providers, Mobile Network Operators present, and hosting the Internet Exchange Point of Nigeria, it is regarded as the most connected, carrier neutral, Tier III certified data

centre in sub-Sahara Africa, with every country on the Atlantic coast of Africa directly connected.

Commenting on the acquisition, Head of Real Estate at Actis, David Morley, said: “We have been tracking the data centre market in Africa closely, building relationships with key operators and customers. Africa is at an inflection point and we expect to see an explosion in growth of demand for hosting capacity in independently owned data centres across the continent.

“We are excited about this new partnership with Rack Centre and its parent company Jagal.

Together they have built a strong business of international repute, hosting a compelling mix of

customers ranging from leading Nigerian corporates to global cloud majors.”

Also, the CEO of Jagal, Maher Jarmakani, added, “Jagal is excited with its new partnership with Actis. Rack Centre has developed into a leading and respected African brand and it is now at a critical stage for investment and growth.

Actis understands global and emerging markets and will be a fantastic partner for the next phase of the Rack Centre journey.”

The Managing Director, Rack Centre, Dr. Ayotunde Coker, said it was a great honour to lead the Continued on page 24

Inanelectionconductedthroughelectronicvoting(e-Voting),theNigeria InformationTechnologyReporters’Association(NITRA)haselectednew officialstomanitsaffairsforthenextthreeyears.

Theelection,whichwasconductedinLagos,sawthreeofthepastexco membersreturned.

TheelectionalsosawtheemergenceofChikeOnwuegbuchiofCommunications Week as Chairman and Chidiebere Nwankwo of E-BusinessLife MagazineasSecretary.

Onwuegbuchi(CommunicationsWeek)polled92.6percentofvotescast; FinancialSecretary,Mr.JustusAdejumoh(DailyIndependent)polled88.9 percent;AssistantSecretary,BukolaOlarenwaju(BusinessRemarks)got 92.6percentandtreasurer,Mrs.ChiomaObiora-Ezike(FRCN)got96.3 percentofvotes.TheSecretarypolledatotalof70.4percentvotet9win.

However,theElectoralCommitteevoidedthepositionoftheViceChairman duetonon-adherencetoECguidelines.Rerunelectionsintotheposition andthatoftheInternalAuditorwererescheduledforMarch,2020.

Speakingontheelectionprocess,theChairmanoftheElectoralCommittee,Mr.AaronUkodie,notedthattheCommitteedecidedontheuseof e-VotingbecausetheAssociationshouldbeattheforefrontofpromoting digitalprocessesinNigeria.

“Wewereabletoputatechnology-basedprocessinplace;andastechnology people, we had to make sure that we set the pace,” Ukodie noted.

According to the Chairman, although there were challenges in the process, the use of e-Voting system proved to be the best process in this eraofdigitizationasitensuredthatnomember,presentorabsent,was disenfranchisedduringtheelection.

Airtel Supports 8-Year Old

ThefifthepisodeoftherealityTVprogramme,AirtelTouchingLives,was recently showcased. It showed the story of Godspower, an eight-yearold HIVpositive boy from Rivers State, who had lost his parents to the devastatingillnessandlefttothecareofhisstrugglinggrandmother,Mary Pinwa. Godspower was only six months old when his mother died from HIV/AIDSandhisfatherdiedshortlyafter,leavinghimorphanedatareally youngage.Hisgrandmotherwhodoesmenialjobscouldbarelyprovide forhisnutritionalandmedicalneeds,causingtheboytobemalnourished andvisiblyemaciated.

His educational needs also suffered as financial support for his school fees was not forthcoming, causing him to miss school on several occasions. The story of Godspower caught the attention of Airtel after a public health worker, Evelyn Tabu, discovered him and took interest in hisheart-rendingstory.

Evelyn found out Godspower’s family was in desperate need of assistanceashisanti-retroviraldrugswereinshortsupplyowingtofinancial constraints, leaving the boy’s health in decline as his immune system graduallydeteriorated.

“We are in a world where data is everything, and developed countries use these data to analyze, predict, and respond to ever changing demand of its citizens. There is an urgent need to move with technological trend to prevent massive data setback in the future” CEO, Secured Records Management Solutions,

Dr. Sam Nwosu

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FG URGED TO ESTABLISH STRATEGY TO ADDRESS INSECURITY

Experts Move to Bridge Digital Skill Gap

Tank is a convergence of ICT Expert Group setup by the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) and the National Office for Technology Acquisition and Promotion (NOTAP) in 2019 to drive software development in the country.

Recognising the enormity of challenges faced by the Nigerian software ecosystem as critical national infrastructure for the economy, the group said there was urgent need for legal protection of the country’s software industry.

The group, which made its recommendations in the short term, medium term and long term strategies, urged the federal government to issue an Executive Order requiring and directing all software companies indicating intent for corporate registration with the Nigerian Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC), to comply and ensure that 51 per cent of the company ownership is

by Nigerians resident in Nigeria.

It also called for Executive Order requiring and directing the mandatory adoption and usage of Open Source Software Model by all Federal, State, Local Government Areas and education institutions based on national cybersecurity concerns, and by extension, the software must be designed, developed, deployed and supported by Nigerian companies, ensuring that no foreign exchange remittance is required for the purpose.

Stories by Emma Okonji

ACTIS ACQUIRES MAJORITY STAKE IN RACK CENTRE growth of Rack Centre to become one of the most respected carrier neutral data centre brands in West Africa; a household name with global recognition. “Rack Centre is now at a key juncture and my team and I are excited with being part of the future growth. With over 750kW of installed capacity, it is now doubling capacity to 1.5MW of IT power at the current location on a trajectory to 10MW,� Coker said.

With a growing portfolio of investments across Asia, Africa and Latin America, Actis has raised over $15 billion since inception, and deployed capital across the real estate, private equity, energy and infrastructure asset classes.

Group Business Editor

Obinna Chima

Capital Market Editor

Goddy Egene

Comms/e-Business Editor

Emma Okonji

Senior Correspondent

Raheem Akingbolu (Advertising) Correspondents

Chinedu Eze (Aviation) Eromosele Abiodun (Maritime) James Emejo (Finance) Ebere Nwoji (Insurance) Chineme Okafo (Energy) Reporters

Nume Ekeghe (Money Market) Nosa Alekhuogie (ICT)

younger generation, even after they must have left the university. “Youths should be trained on technologies that would prepare them ahead for the future of work.With the Internet, there is so much the young ones can learn, even without formal education. “The truth is that we have to start thinking of what education really means to us as individuals, corporate, training schools, government and as a nation,� she said.

Begho said global research data shows that 60 per cent of children under age 12 today, would grow up to work in jobs that don’t exist yet, and it is not different on the

continent.

She said Nigeria already had a huge unemployment rate and a growing youth population, noting that we could either prepare our youth for the future or potentially face a major crisis.

Founder of Univelcity, Joseph Agunbiade, said the technology sector was demanding new talents, noting that Nigeria was not bridging the skill gap yet. “The challenge is that as Nigerians, we are still stuck to the traditional ways of doing things, and that narrative needs to change so that we can compete with other countries in terms of technology and education.

“We need to compress the education curriculum; for example, there are some fields of medicine that would be eradicated by artificial intelligence very soon,� Agunbiade said.

Also, the Managing Director, Edo State Skills Development Agency, Ukinebo Dare, said government needed to dismantle the current process for approving courses in the universities to be able to meet up with where the world is going.

According to her, parents should take it upon themselves to train and educate their children from the age of five on technology and coding.

On the part of Edo

State Government, Dare said the state government had been doing a lot of awareness and training on technology. “The Edo government has partnered Mainone to have access to high speed broadband internet at the location we use for training residents. “We see a lot of tech jobs coming to Edo and we have trained over 22,000 people in different areas cutting across the technology sector,� Dare said.

According to her, it was time to transform our educational system across the continent in readiness for the jobs of the future, which will require digital and 21st-century skills.

Participants at the just concluded Social Media Week Forum in Lagos, have pledged their support to bridge the digital skills gap among Nigerian youths, which they said would help the country attain its digital transformation goals.

They equally called on the federal government to as a matter of urgency, develop sustainable models that would help bridge the digital skills gap among Nigerian youths.

According to them, majority of the youths lacked the requisite industry skills needed for the labour market, even after graduation from the university, adding that something urgent must be done to address the situation.

They said the call become necessary to enable Nigeria prepare her youths for digital transformation in today’s digital era.

Country Managing Director, Oracle Nigeria, Mr. Adebayo Sanni, had earlier decried the dearth of industry-based skills among youths and called for retraining of Nigerian youths in line with the demands of today’s digital era.

Speaking during a panel session with the theme: “Edtech and the Future of Work: Building Sustainable Models to Close the African Skill Gapâ€?, the Chief Executive Officer of Future Software Resources Ltd., Nkemdilim Begho, said to achieve a sustainable model that could close the skill gap, the government needed to catch up on closing the L-R: Accountant-General of the Federation, Alh. Ahmed Idris; Director-General, Bureau of Public Procurement, Mamman digital divide by invest- Ahmadu, and Minister of Transportation, Hon. Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi, at the 2020 Public Procurement retreat for Federal ing more in training the Permanent Secretaries, held in Kano State‌recently

PUBLIC PROCUREMENT RETREAT

MTN Records 6.1m Mobile Subscribers in One Year MTN Nigeria achieved the highest turnover in mobile subscriber number for voice calls on its network in 2019, despite the challenges it passed through in the past two years.

The recent telecoms operators’ statistics released by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), showed that MTN recorded 6.1 million mobile subscribers for voice calls in one year, which was the highest it had ever recorded since the commercial rollout of its services in 2001.

The closest to 6.1 million mobile subscribers it recorded in 2019, was a little above 5.2 million, which it recorded in 2013, about seven years ago.

Aside the high turnover in mobile subscriber number, the statistics also showed that MTN Nigeria recorded high volume in data subscriptions in 2019, to reach an active data

subscription number of 25.2 million, which is an increase by 6.5 million.

The increased figures in voice and data subscriptions, placed MTN Nigeria as the largest telecoms operator in Nigeria, with a total number of 68.7 million mobile subscribers as at December 2019, a position it has maintained since the rollout of GSM services in Nigeria in 2001.

Globacom, the third entrant into the Global System for Mobile Communication (GSM) space, was the second largest telecoms operator by subscriber number in the last three years.

The recent NCC’s statistics, which was published on its website, showed that Globacom had 51.7 million mobile subscribers as at December 2019, making it the second largest telecoms operator after MTN, which has 68.7 million

mobile subscribers. Airtel was ranked the third largest telecoms operator, with mobile subscriber number of 50.1 million, followed by 9mobile, which has 13.7 million mobile subscribers on its network.

As at December 2019, the total number of mobile subscribers across all telecoms network, is put at 184.7 million, according to NCC statistics.

MTN, had last year and penultimate year, faced a lot of challenges that threatened its continued operation in Nigeria. It had a running battle with the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) over tax issues and repatriated funds respectively. In 2018, the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC), forced MTN to close offices nationwide, when it picket MTN offices across the country for breaching

labour laws, local content law and for security issues. Despite these challenges, MTN came out stronger to achieve 6.1 million mobile subscriber number in 2019, which is the highest since its inception in delivering telecoms services in Nigeria in 2001.

Speaking about the strategies used in attaining the feat, Chief Executive Officer of MTN Nigeria, Mr. Ferdi Moolman, said: “In the third quarter, we focused on several initiatives to enhance coverage and drive data usage penetration.

These initiatives include optimising frequencies, expanding our 4G network coverage with over 6,000 additional sites leveraging 800MHz spectrum and repositioning our commercial data offerings.�

Our enterprise business segment continued to deliver solid results,

with revenue growth of 20.3 per cent, Moolman added.

According to him, “Despite a challenging operating environment, we continued to deliver double-digit growth in service revenue in line with our medium-term guidance. Voice revenue growth remained healthy, and data revenue continued to accelerate, supporting a 12.6 per cent increase in service revenue with an acceleration in growth to 14.0 per cent year-on-year (YoY) in Q4 2019.�

He further said: “Following the completion of the SIM re-registration exercise in Q3 2019, we recorded 2.7 million net additions in Q4. In total, we added 6.1 million new subscribers to our network in2019. Although the last quarter is usually seasonally strong, service revenue growth of 14 per cent in Q4 outpaced the

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ANALYSIS

Leveraging Emerging Technologies The adoption of emerging technologies in strengthening governance across all levels, among other technology innovations that are driving digital transformation, were the focus of this year’s Social Media Week Forum, which ended in Lagos last week, writes Emma Okonji

T

he use of technology to strengthen governance processes is increasingly growing in Nigeria. Federal, state governments and chief security officers(CSOs) of organisations have led this process via the creation of mobile Apps, SMS platforms, websites, among others. At the just concluded annual Social Media Week Forum in Lagos, the organisers used the occasion to engage technology experts at different panel sessions, to discuss the benefits of adopting emerging technologies for effective governance and sustainable business growth among organisations.

The power of data and data analytics for improving government services and make them more effective, including how women could harness the power of emerging technologies to compete with the menfolk and to put an end to gender-based violence, were part of the exciting discussions at the one week long event, alongside exhibitions of emerging technologies.

Technology in education, health Experts in the field of education and health, who featured at this year’s forum, have resolved to be more innovative by adopting emerging technologies like Artificial Intelligence (AI), Machine Learning (ML), Augmented Reality (AR), to improve the country’s education and health sectors. They have therefore called on the Federal Government to invest more in education, health and exports in preparedness for the digital era.

The experts, who spoke as panelists in one of the sessions at the just concluded Social Media Week (SMW) 2020 with the theme: Nigeria 2050: Shifting Gears, noted that the earlier the country began to prepare for the digital era, the better in realizing her potential.

Senior Economist at Nigerian Economic Summit Group, Wilson Erumebor, said the United Nations projects that Nigeria’s population would double in size by 2050 and only a competitive private sector economy could help achieve a rising standard of living. He noted that the Nigerian government needed to start implementing policies and making investment in the right places to cater to an additional 250 million people by 2050. Erumebor said the population was expected to be about 400 million and the majority would be under the age of 35. “To prepare ahead of that time, our indicators of progress must include poverty, income inequality, health and wellbeing, gender gap, jobs and industry ready skills. “An extra 250 million people would need food, jobs, a health care system that works and education among others. Ending poverty in Nigeria would entail improving the country’s economic productivity and opportunities for its citizens. This will mean investing in human capital potential and creating jobs for women and young people, increasing financial access and opportunities for those groups in rural communities,� Erumebor said.

According to him, “Government hasa huge role to play in the area of building infrastructure to increase the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the country.� He noted that three scenarios should be expected by year 2050: Either Nigeria remains at status quo or regains position as giant of Africa and the world or deteriorates.

Founder of Flying Doctors Nigeria, Dr. Ola Brown, said the country had a huge problem when it comes to infrastructure and it was vital for the government to resolve the issue as fast as possible.

She said to prepare for 2050 policy makers should start thinking of how to increase the productivity of the economy.

Brown said Nigeria had to improve in the area of exports to boost the economy. “Most times we consume what we do not produce. It is high time we start doing more of exports than import. “Under normal circumstances a country’s population could be cited as a strength in Nigeria’s case, population growth outpaces public infrastructure. To change this narrative improvement is needed in the area of health care, productivity, investment and increased government spending,� Brown said.

Special Adviser to the Governor on SDG’s Lagos State, Solape Hammond, said the state was preparing ahead in the area of partnering with private sector to provide security for citizens through its Lagos State Security Trust Fund.

Hammond said that to curb unemployment the Lagos State government had provided funds for small businesses. “The government set aside about N7.5 billion for 10,000 businesses, which shows that Lagos is improving with a lot of potential, “ she added.

Technology in ďŹ nancial inclusion One area of interest to Nigerians that came under discussion at the forum was the importance

of technology in achieving Nigeria’s financial inclusion strategies, which among others, target a 20 per cent reduction of financially excluded adult Nigerians in year 2020.

Experts, who spoke at one of the panel sessions sponsored by Stanbic IBTC Bank, shed light on insights and challenges on Nigeria’s financial inclusion journey, and highlighted new technology trends that would further help to achieve the country’s financial inclusion strategies.

Chief Executive Officer, Future Software Resources, Mrs. Nkemdilim Uwaje Begho, one of the panelists, explained the role of FinTechs in offering new technology solutions that would drive banking operations in achieving the 20 per cent reduction target of financially excluded adult Nigerians. She called for more collaboration between FinTechs and the banks in accelerating technology innovations that would further drive financial inclusion in Nigeria.

Executive Director, Personal and Business Banking, Stanbic IBTC Bank, Mr. Wole Adeniyi, said the role of technology in financial inclusion drive, was meant to democratise access to financial services, and that Stanbic IBTC Bank, would continue to help in democratising that access, through the offering of demystified banking solutions that would help customers carryout banking transactions with ease within couple of minutes, thereby reducing the time spent in most banking operations.

According to Adeniyi, “The massive investments in banking solutions by FinTech and the banks, are actually driving financial inclusion in a more faster and more convenient ways.

Our role as banks is to bring more Nigerians on board and offer them opportunities to be financially included, and we have solutions that give customers access to broader financial services at affordable rates. Our EasyCash for instance, enables customers to experience faster time in accessing loans and other financial services, especially with micro lending services.�

He further explained that Stanbic IBTC also support small agro businesses through its Mobile Wallet and the Founders Factory channels, where the bank offers easy access to loans to small businesses in the agricultural sector.

Another panelist, and Head of Information at EFInA, Dayo Odulate Ademola, while citing the 2018 data on financial inclusion that was released

by EFInA, said although, the number of adult Nigerians that were financially included was on the rise, the growth rate is not proportional to the growth of the country’s population, as about 36.6 per cent of adult Nigerians are still financially excluded. She said the fastest way to match financial inclusion growth with population growth, was to apply technology solutions, which according to her, have helped Nigeria to leapfrog her infrastructure challenges as a nation. “Technology has enabled us to have access to financial services in recent times, using technology as a bedrock,� Ademola said, adding that between 2016 and 2018, about 9.4 million Nigerians relied solely on informal financial services, but that technology has helped in reducing such gap.

Speaking about government regulation on financial services, Ademola said there was need to put regulation in place for the protection of consumers but that such regulation must not stifle technology growth. She called for

harmonisation of different data that are sitting in silos at different ministries of government, to enable Nigeria boost her financial inclusion drive with the right identity of adult Nigerians.

Technology and media collaboration This year’s Social Media Week also looked at the need for collaboration between traditional and digital media. Participants agreed that if the media must remain productive and enjoy wider reach, traditional and digital platforms must collaborate.

During one of the sessions with the theme: “Will Traditional Media Survive in the Digital Age,� panelists suggested a more robust, coordinated and centralized activities between traditional and digital platforms.

Founder, Arcadia Mobile TV, Akintunde Marinho, said content providers should collaborate with traditional media to drive synergies.

Marinho said most government owned media in the broadcasting sector, have powerful tools that should be leveraged by other broadcast media for wider reach.

Chief Operating Officer, Envivo, Uzoma Onwuchekwe, stressed on the need for collaboration among private and government owned media in order to foster better and wider spread, using the appropriate technology.

Executive Director, Media Investment, Yinka Adebayo, called for merger and acquisition among media houses, just like what happened in the banking sector some years ago.

Technology and SDGs Citing technology as key driver to attaining the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the forum encouraged the federal and state governments to invest in relevant technologies that would help the country attain the UN SDGs. Globally, countries are expected to attain the SDGs by 2030. The SDGs are 17 in number, which include poverty eradication, zero hunger, good health and well being, quality education, gender equality, clean water and sanitation, affordable and clean energy.

Others are decent work and economic growth, industry, innovation and infrastructure, reduced inequality, sustainable cities and communities, responsible consumption and production, climate action, among others.

A study conducted by Impact Investors Foundation (IIF) and Ford Foundation have found that the impact investing market grew from $1.9 billion in 2015 to $4.7 billion in 2019. The report defines impact investing as investments made into companies, organisations, funds, with the intention to generate social and environmental impact alongside a financial return. ‘Impact Investing and Funding of SDGs in Nigeria’, which is the theme at one of the sessions sponsored by BusinessDay, looked at how private sector involvement would be central to achieving any meaningful impact in that regard.

Special Adviser to President Muhammadu Buhari on Social Investment, Maryam Uwais, decried the challenge of getting private sector participation in government’s social programmes.

According to her, “The private sector wants to see immediate return on investments but social enterprise takes time. We need to develop

the economic value chain of these enterprises before bringing in the private sector.�

Academic Director, Lagos Business School, Prof.

Olayinka David-West, noted that broadening the scope of impact investing and de-emphasising the concept as mere charity, would go a long way to meeting the targets.

She said the emphasis should be about what impact is the investment going to create. “To achieve the SDGs, we need interventions.

Interventions cost money. And these interventions must be sustainable even after the funding stops,�

David-West said.

Technology in Agriculture Participants at the SMW forum, also discussed the importance of deploying emerging technologies in agriculture.

At the Agritech Youth Empowerment session, participants noted that with the deployment of emerging technologies, the country’s Agricultural sector could be adequately reformed.

Consultant to Ogun State Governor on Agriculture, Angel Adelaja-Kuye, said for many countries, the youths were already embracing agriculture, based on the integration of emerging technologies. “I am an Agritech promoter and will want to see more young people driving agriculture through technology,� she said.

Adelaja-Kuye added that the sector was an area where young people should key into, noting that Africa’s next billionaires will come from the agricultural sector. She said Agrictech remained the fastest growing sector when it came to investment finance. “The sector is a gold mine that our youths need to delve into as it offers a lot of career opportunities.Small holder farmers can also buy into agribusiness using simpler technologies not necessarily high tech to boost their produce,�

Adelaja-Kuye said.

Digital Farming Project Lead at Bayer Middle Africa Ltd., Segun Oworu, said agriculture remained the frontier for human survival in the face of dwindling resources and increasing population.

Oworu said developed countries such as Brazil, US, Germany and parts of Europe, were spearheading the race for digital agriculture and data-driven agrobusiness. “Digital agriculture refers to tools that collect, store, analyse and share economic data or information along the agricultural value chain before and after farm production. “In the race for digital agriculture, we as Nigerians and Africans need to know and identify our comparative advantage and focus rather than competing with developed economies.

This is based on the fact that we have special needs and challenges that fraught our system and economies,� Oworu said.

Head of AgriBusiness, Stanbic IBTC Bank Plc, Wole Oshin, said Nigeria has potential and that what the nation needed to do was use the right tools to drive Agritech business. “The government has started deploying technologies to support agricultural production.

We are beginning to use emerging technologies such as satellite monitoring devices that enables farmers to check the progress of their crops without necessarily going to the farm. “Other forms of technologies are also being developed to monitor and count the number of birds and eggs at the poultry,’’ he said.

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Ě“

Firm Launches Services 9mobile Expands 4G Technology to to Bridge Finance Gap Lagos Community for Women Stories by Emma Okonji

HerVest, a major player in the FinTech space has launched its services to help women better access financial services. With a mission to improve women’s lives through greater access to and use of financial services, HerVest said its services would give women greater access to participate in investments through easy to use platforms and a guided approach to investing.

The FinTech Startup, in a statement, said: “It is almost impossible to overlook SDG5 with its call for gender equality and reducing inequalities in the 17 action points of the Sustainable Development Goals(SDGs), which is the most comprehensive global roadmap to shared human progress. “This is even more true for Nigeria, where the gender bias is not only keeping women down, but also restraining the country from nearing its massive potential.� It quoted McKinsey report the McKinsey report, which says that Nigeria’s gross domestic product (GDP) could grow by 23 per cent or $229 billion by 2025 if women participated in the economy to the same extent as men.

The platform, which is currently in beta-phase is goal-based savings in addition to annualised interests up to 15 per cent, which HerVest offers users free, specialised, one-on-one support to ensure goal actualisation and balance in areas that affect their finance vice-versa.

Product Management Lead at HerVest, Aminat Alegunleye,said: “We are a growth community beyond savings. We offer absolutely free support from women professionals in areas that affect

wealth creation and sustainability.

These areas include; financial literacy, healthcare, career, entrepreneurship, insurance, continuing education and more.�

She also assured users of fund safety, saying: “We invest your savings in low-risk, principalguaranteed financial instruments with only regulated investment portfolio managers.�

HerVest seeks to bridge existing money gender gaps from stereotyped pay gaps and other social cultural norms. As a result, the application was built with tailored features to help women set long term investment goals by creating different and specific plans through their investment wallet in-app. Also embedded in the platform’s technology is a finance mentorship hub to allow female users discuss basic and extensive money matters with dedicated finance experts in a judgement free ambience.

Users can also discuss other lifestyle related issues like career, entrepreneurship, healthcare and insurance with certified experts on the platform.

The application, which is currently available on android with iOS is backed by a co-operative multi-purpose license and guarantees the safety of investors capital through a partnership with a trust company. Legal Director and Board Member at HerVest, Philip Itimitang-Idiok, said: “We are currently in partnership with the trustees who act in the capacity to serve as custodian of our pool of investment, we are also compliant with all regulatory guidelines and procedures in order to return competitive returns to our women.�

MTN Restates Commitment to Boost SMEs’ Operations MTN Nigeria has restated its resolve to support technology solutions that will enhance the operations of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs).

With over 65 million customers in Nigeria and 30 million data subscribers, MTN Nigeria said its goal is to help small Nigerian businesses to scale up.

Senior Manager, SME Segment, MTN Nigeria, Damilola Runsewe, reiterated the company’s commitment to drive growth for small businesses in Nigeria with the innovative products and service offerings available to entrepreneurs and other MSMEs during the Techpoint SME Clinic in Iganmu, Lagos, recently.

The first edition of the SME Clinic was designed to equip SMEs with the tools they need to accelerate their businesses leveraging the power of technology. Business process automation, social media marketing, data analysis for small businesses, selling online and customer relations, were some of the topics discussed.

Notable business leaders and Startup experts such as the Director, Lagos Chapter, StartUpGrind, Uwem Uwemakpan; Partners Lead, Google

Nigeria, Tolulope Akinyele; and Founder, NaturaGlow by Abby Jo, Tope Olofin, also shared insights.

The event saw some entrepreneurs and small business owners receive grants for scaling their businesses. It was a gathering to build networks, share ideas, seek financing opportunities and learn more about tech products and services that could aid their operations.

At the event, MTN Nigeria showcased select MSME products and services, which it currently offers, as well as those being developed.

According to Runsewe, “We understand some of the pain points of small businesses and have developed products and platforms to suit the distinct needs of these businesses to help them turn it up. The Hynetflex and CallAssist are a few from our bouquet of offerings that cater to small businesses. “MTN Nigeria continues to support and collaborate with other organizations (private and public) that share the same aspirations of providing cost-efficient solutions to individuals and businesses.�

Telecommunication company, 9mobile, took its expanded 4G-LTE coverage awareness campaign to the vast Low Cost Housing Estate in Abesan, Ipaja, Alimoso Local Government Area of Lagos State recently, where the residents were thrilled by the economic benefit that 4G LTE would bring to the community.

Multi-talented Nigerian rapper, hip-hop artiste and music producer, Jude Abaga popularly known as ‘MI’, was on ground to further thrill the residents.

Green Field Playing Ground, Abesan Estate, was lit up in frenzy as MI and other local acts like ‘Mr Real’ dished out lyrical renditions to the delight

of the crowd including new and existing 9mobile customers, fun seekers and residents, who came to enjoy the fun at the weekend gig under the auspices of 9mobile Funfair.

Activities at the event included raffle draws, fun games and dance competition in which participants went home with fantastic prizes including a 220-volt power generating set as the grand prize.

The funfair was put together to sensitize customers of the deployment of 9mobile 4G LTE now in 16 cities and towns across Nigeria and also to empower customers and residents alike through the presentation of gifts.

Speaking at the event, Manager, Data Services, 9mobile,

Godswill Nnaji, said: “This 4G LTE launch from 9mobile is another way of redefining customer experience and restating our service delivery mantra of listening to our wonderful customers and putting their interest first at the core of our operations. “Our customers are key to us hence, we have listened to them. The customers said they wanted more, which is why we have brought 4G LTE to their neighborhood to ensure fast and seamless browsing experience.

The customers said they wanted us to bring fun, and that is what we have done, we have brought fun, games and music, from Nigeria’s hip-hop icon ‘MI’ and hip-hop crooner Mr. Real, to ignite our communities.�

Nnaji added that, in alignment with its reputation as an innovative and caring network, 9mobile was set to rollout exciting offers to reward customers for their continued loyalty to the brand over the past 11 years.

The grand prize winner of a 220-volt generating set, Mrs. Dupe Adeyemi, disclosed that it was her daughter, Ireti Adeyemi, that encouraged her to attend the show. She said with excitement: “9mobile thank you o!, I am very grateful. I didn’t know that I will win, it is my daughter who convinced me to go and enter for the raffle.

I believed my number would win and now I am a winner of a generator. I am so grateful.

Thank you to 9mobile.�

COURTESY VISIST

L-R: Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Dr. Isa Pantami; Chairman, National Software Think Tank Group, Dr. Chris Uwaje, and President, Institute of Software Practitioners of Nigeria, Dr. Yele Okeremi, during a courtesy visit of the Group to the minister in Abuja...recently

Google, Flutterwave to Train 5,000 SMEs in Nigeria Google Nigeria, in partnership with digital payments company Flutterwave, will this week, kick off a series of business clinics aimed at helping 5,000 merchants across Nigeria acquire the skills and tools needed to leverage the Web for growth.

Called the ‘Digital Business Compass’, the first clinic sessions will be run from 3 - 5 March in Lagos, and will focus on equipping businesses with the tools, technologies and insights needed for them to grow in the digital age.

The sessions will include case

studies and live sessions to give attending businesses hands-on experience of how Google and Flutterwave’s products can be leveraged, and will be followed by consultations with Digital Business Managers and support teams who will give attendees personalised advice on how they can use Google and Flutterwave’s tools and solutions to grow their businesses.

Quoting the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment, which said Nigeria has over 37.07 million micro, small and medium-scale enterprises

(MSMEs), which account for more than 84 per cent of jobs in the country, Google Partners Lead, West Africa, Tolulope Akinyele, said: “Many of them lack the skills and tools to take advantage of the Web to grow their businesses, but working with Flutterwave, our goal for holding these clinics is to provide a platform for SMEs to learn skills and master tools that will help them better utilise the Web to grow their businesses.�

CEO of Flutterwave, Olugbenga Agboola, said: “We have always been passionate

about inspiring a new wave of prosperity across Africa. In partnership with Google, we are looking forward to empowering SMEs across Africa to scale and drive up revenue.�

Helping these businesses grow is a net positive for all parties including Google, Akinyele said, adding: “Beyond contributing to the growth of the country’s digital economy, when these businesses better learn about online tools, they join a community of businesses and users that are leveraging Google’s tools to further drive their growth.�

Amazon Confirms First Coronavirus Case among US Employees Online retailer Amazon.com Inc said on Tuesday an employee in the United States tested positive for the coronavirus. “We’re supporting the

affected employee who is in quarantine,� a company spokeswoman said in an email to Reuters. The spokeswoman confirmed a report

by Bloomberg News that all co-workers in contact with the employee, who worked at Amazon’s South Lake Union office complex in Seattle, had

been informed.

The company said on Sunday two employees in Milan, Italy, had been infected with the virus and were under quarantine.

Facebook to Revamp Digital Currency Plans Facebook Inc. will revamp its plans for digital currencies amid regulatory scrutiny, The Information reported on Tuesday.

According to Reuters, the company would offer digital versions of government-backed currencies including the dollar

and euro, as well as its proposed Libra currency, when it launches its digital wallet, the report added, citing people familiar with the matter.

The Information earlier reported that Facebook would not make Libra available on its

own services but later corrected its article.

A Facebook spokesman confirmed to Reuters that the company was working on digital versions of government-backed currencies and said it was still planning to offer the proposed

Libra token as well.

Facebook announced in June last year a plan to launch Libra in partnership with other members of the Libra association, but the project quickly ran into trouble with skeptical regulators around the world.

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Gerbino: There is Room for Enhanced Italy-Nigeria Trade The Italian Trade Agency Director for West Africa, Alessandro Gerbino, in this interview, speaks on the trade imbalance between Nigeria and Italy and emphasises the need for both countries to collaborate in the area of raw material and technology to boost their economies.

Raheem Akingbolu provides the excerpts:

F

ew years ago, Nigeria witnessed an economic recession and two years ago, Italy witnessed the same thing, which affected both local and international trading activities in business and economy. What role do you think the recent opening of the Italian Trade Agency in Lagos will play in advancing the economy in both countries?

Italy is a very export oriented economy.

Foreign trade generates 30% of our GDP and it has been the most dynamic part of our economy, always been growing at a faster pace than our economy. So it is the driver of our economy. We have suffered the weakness of the Italian demands, but the foreign demands, despite it varies in intensity due to the World Economic cycle, has remained important. The Italian growth drive and exports have always been faster than that of the National economy, and that proves that even in harder times, our companies have been able to continue to sell and sell more in all the clients markets where they are playing because they have been very constant in delivery, quality and in assistance to clients.

The Italian Trade Agency has been in Ghana for quite a while, and now it has come to Nigeria. What informed the time of the inauguration?

Actually, we are not moving, the Accra office is the headquarters for West Africa and now we are developing our network in West Africa.

This is why we came up as soon as we could with opening a branch in Nigeria because it is a priority to be in Nigeria as it is the biggest economy in Africa. The size of the economy requires our direct presence here.

Looking at the trade balance between Nigeria and Italy, what is the agency going to do to balance the trade differences?

Closely related to that would be what areas can the Nigeria businesses explore?

I think that at this stage, the trade between Italy and Nigeria is at a point where it still offers an ample emergence for growth. On the other hand, we rely on raw materials supply from Nigeria to Italy, while we export from Italy to Nigeria mostly technology and other goods that are typical from Italy, such as furniture, building construction materials etc.. but still, the market share we have in Nigeria is below the average market share we can enjoy by the market. Because of the dynamics of Nigeria, we want to catch the growing demands that are in Nigeria for quality finished products.

Nigeria is seeking to rebalance its economy gaining independence from Oil and Gas and diversifying into other industries and putting value to its raw material. Putting value to raw materials is what Italy does best and Italy has developed technology to do it. So, I suppose such technology will be of interest to Nigeria so as to be able to produce for itself high-level goods not only for the Nigerian Market that is going to grow in size but also for exporting to meet the demands for other markets in sourcing for quality. You need to have the equipment to match the standards that are required from the industries overseas starting from the European ones.

The Opening of the Trade Agency is taking place at a very strategic time when the Nigerian government is striving towards backward integration. How do u want to key into this?

It is a very understandable policy from the Nigerian Government, to adopt these measures that have the objective to develop the local industry. What we offer is to serve such development with our technology and possibly with our investments as well and

Gerbino

we act on both directions but our companies can bring both technology and capital.

From the feedback you have gotten from Italian companies in Nigeria, what is your view about their operations and performances?

There is a large community of Italian companies in Nigeria that has been working here for a long time but the feedback I

Putting value to raw materials is what Italy does best and Italy has developed technology to do it. So, I suppose such technology will be of interest to Nigeria so as to be able to produce for itself high-level goods not only for the Nigerian market that is going to grow in size but also for exporting to meet the demands for other markets in sourcing for quality

got is that we need to bring both countries together. They are here because they believe in the Italy-Nigeria relationship, they believe in the success of this strategic partnership.

However there is still too little knowledge about Italy / Nigeria business opportunities on both sides, and that is a area that need to be addressed vigourously. Considering the fact that information is the basis of business, this should be taken seriously. You don’t build a business relationship without proper information. We need to build information infrastructure because information is key to decision.

Can we now say the agency is coming to Nigeria to build the communication gaps?

We will do everything we can to bridge the communication gap. Our number one priority is to establish a network so we can convey messages about opportunities and possibilities. That is the very first thing but of course, we do not want to limit our activity to bring only information. We want to bring people to have experiences about what we can do in Italy. We offer them experiences in the sense of Italian exhibitions and bring them to our production sites to see how things are done. We are also bringing more Italian companies here for the first time and this I would like to highlight is a lot because it is also very important news from us. For us, we will have the first National Pavilion at the Plastprintpack Exhibition that is taking place in March in Lagos. The ITA in partnership with the Italian Industry Association of the machinery producers is going to be there along with a group of Italian companies to display and offer the equipment that eagerly produces and is for the plastic processing industry and for the printing industry. It is also worth mentioning that Italy is certainly

a world leader for the recycling industry technology.

With Nigeria’s intention to diversify from oil, the country is serious about exploring the agricultural sector with everyone seeing it as the way to go. What role do you think the agency and Italy as a whole can play to further deepen agricultural development?

I mentioned that Italy is very famous in the world for fashion, food, and furniture, but in fact, we are stronger in technology and with our power in technology, there are areas where we are an undisputed leader and agriculture machinery is one of them. and if I have to name the number one priority for us, it is exactly all the technology related to the agricultural processing from the field, to harvesting, storage, transformation, everything along the value chain of the agro-industry is what Italy can say a lot about. We have already sent a delegation last January to an exhibition in Italy. Another one just came back on Saturday from another exhibition in Italy and it is an exhibition plus side activities and more to come.

What is the signiďŹ cance of the Italian Trade Agency Launch to both countries’ economies?

I think the key thing is to create a platform for Nigerian and Italian companies to engage to trade with each other and I think it will create more opportunities for both sides in terms of identifying new clients, new industries, new markets. But also, for Nigerian Companies, it will provide additional opportunities as it would present an alternative; another option in terms of sourcing technology, sourcing equipment etc. So, I think it’s very beneficial to both sides and it will also allow to better support the business partnerships with financial support.

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BUSINESSWORLD

INTERVIEW

Ekpedeme: There is Need for Sensitisation on the New Visa Policy Ekpedeme King, recently retired as Comptroller of Nigeria Immigration Service, Lagos State Command. In this interview a day before he stepped out of service, stressed the importance of digital technology to the immigration service. Dike Onwuamaeze brings the excerpts:

W

Working at the international airport was one of the high points of my carrier. It was quite an experience to me. People believe that once they have a visa on their passports they will be admitted into the country of their destination. But it is not like that. You can leave your country with a valid visa and get to the point of entry and still be denied entry for several reasons, which you may not be able to understand. But the simple reason might be that you do not know the type of visa you were granted because an agent or someone else gathered the documents and processed the visa for you. For instance, a person said he is going to China. Good. But what is he going to China to do? Maybe he is going to buy textiles from Company C. Because the immigration officer there was not the person that issued the visa in Nigeria, he will ask you where you are going to and for what reasons. You may answer that you are in China to buy tires while what you have on your visa is textile. So, once you create that doubt at any point is enough to send you back. This is one of the challenges that have to be dealt with. I am happy that there are certain developments in the country right now in which people have found out that when they make claims, they have to make accurate claims because every claim can be verified now, even your age declaration. And once they have found out that it is not correct you will be denied that facility.

hat does the future hold for the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS)?

The service has been better placed under the current Comptroller General of NIS, Mr. Muhammed Babandede, who understands that the future of the NIS is digital technology and has improved the capacity of officers along that line. So, the way to go is digital technology. Everybody must be prepared to join the train now or be left out.

Many Nigerians seems not to understand what the visa on arrival policy is all about?

It is a quality decision and in the coming months there will be a lot of sensitisation and everyone will get to understand what it is all about.

How will you describe your experience in the service?

It has been a beautiful outing in the NIS. I served as a spokesman of NIS for five comptroller generals. The service that I met in 1987 cannot be compared to the operation we have now in the NIS. The one I met was analogue with tedious manual means of verification of features on someone’s passport and visa. The suspect index then was a big book you have to turn page by page to make your verification. But all these can now be accessed electronically. Now there have been changes that I am happy to be part of.

What will be your advice to young Nigerians that want to migrate to Europe at all cost?

The campaign of the government is well thought out and is yielding results. And I think with the sensitisation by relevant government agencies like NIS our youths are beginning to see that what they are scrambling to go abroad for is here in the country. There are more opportunities being a citizen of a

King

country than going out to be a foreigner. As the sensitisation continues I hope that more of our youths will see the futility of traveling abroad to look for greener pastures. Even Europe is downsizing its workforce because of the application of artificial intelligence.

People are losing their jobs and the best for our youths is to try and catch up with what is going on now in the modern world and that is using systems to process whatever they are doing. That is the way to go for

our youths.

What are the challenges faced by the NIS? There will always be challenges and that is why people are there to provide solutions.

But the good thing is that the service has been progressing along the line of seamless operation in spite of these challenges.

What are the high points of your career?

What was your experience working with journalists as a former spokesman of NIS? It was very beautiful. It is easy to work with journalists. When journalists approach you they want you to tell them whether a story is true or false. But even if it is not palatable, once you explain to the journalists the circumstance surrounding that event, they are Nigerians and love their country, so they will know how to handle the news.

ITU Targets 45% Greenhouse Gas Emission Reduction By 2030

‘Our Focus is to Spotlight Innovation in Digital Space’

Emma Okonji

Ugo Aliogo

A new ITU standard highlights that compliance with the Paris Agreement will require the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) industry to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 45 per cent from 2020 to 2030.

The standard will support ICT companies in reducing GHG emissions at the rate necessary to meet the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Paris Agreement’s goal of limiting global warming to 1.5°c above pre-industrial levels.

The recommended emissionreduction targets are the first targets specific to the ICT industry to be approved by the Science Based Target Initiative (SBTi).

The ITU standard – ITU L.1470 “GHG emissions trajectories for the ICT sector compatible with the UNFCCC Paris Agreement� – was developed in collaboration with the Global Enabling Sustainability Initiative (GeSI), GSMA and SBTi. It is supported by associated Guidance for ICT Companies setting Science-Based Targets.

ITU L.1470 puts forward

emission-reduction trajectories for operators of mobile networks, fixed networks and data centres.

The standard and associated guidance will support operators in setting targets aligned with the latest climate science, the ‘science-based targets’ recognised

by SBTi. According to ITU SecretaryGeneral, Houlin Zhao, “This new ITU standard offers authoritative guidance on the pathway towards net zero emissions for the ICT industry. The standard is an example of what can be achieved with good collaboration between key partners. “It represents a significant contribution to the international effort in pursuit of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.�

29 operator groups representing 30 per cent of the mobile connections worldwide are already committed to science-based targets, reports GSMA. ITU L.1470, according to Zhao, would support many more operators in the shift to renewable and low-carbon energy that is expected to account for the majority of the ICT industry’s GHG emission reductions over the 2020-2030 timeframe.

“ICT companies will also continue to achieve greater energy efficiency, incentivized by associated cost savings as well as revenue-generation opportunities stemming from ICTs’ increasing ability to improve energy efficiency in other industry sectors,� Zhao said.

ITU L.1470 is under the responsibility of the ITU-T standardization study group for ‘environment, climate change and circular economy’, ITU-T Study Group 5.

The ninth edition of ITU Green Standards Week in Valencia, Spain, in October 2019, brought together governments, city leaders, businesses and citizens to share their experiences in driving the behavioural change required to achieve smart city objectives.

Participants adopted a ‘Call to Action’ urging city stakeholders to accelerate the transition to Smart Sustainable Cities.

According to the Director of ITU Telecommunication Standardization Bureau, Chaesub Lee, “Our cities are powerful engines of economic growth. But they are also the main source of GHG emissions and the main driving force behind our consumption of energy.�

The convener of the Gage award, Johnson Anorh, has expressed his desire to use the award to spotlight innovation in the digital space.

Anorh, who disclosed this recently in Lagos, during the maiden edition of the awards, with the theme: ‘Celebrating the Good of the Web’, said the internet has been the channel where most of the innovative activities in the society took place, therefore noted that the organisers, “decided to use such as important award as a standard to access some of the breakthrough efforts taking place on the internet.�

He stated that the award provided a platform to access the progress that the youths are making in the internet space and reward such efforts. “Don’t forget that we are in the jet age, and technology is a key driver and the youths are making a lot of progress in that space. Moreover, we are looking at how to channel the energies of the youths for good. The gage awards is a veritable platform, I believe,� he said.

Some the winners at the event

were, Guaranty Trust Bank who won the Best Banking App of the year, the Best Data Service Provider went was won by- Airtel Nigeria, the Special Recognition Award was won by the Chief Executive Office of the Nigerian Communications Commission, (NCC), Prof Umar Danbatta and the Online Personality of the year was Segun Awosanya and others.

Anorh, who is also the founder of the Oakland and Johnson, added: “We had five audience choice awards. The audience choice award allows the audience to determine who wins the award. Then we have 19 categories that are based on judges because the audience don’t have the information that will help to win that category such as the website of the year. “But the professional knows that there is user interface, and structure navigation, therefore those types of categories we have given to the professionals to judge. While for the banking app of the year, the breakout app of the year, and others, we are aware of the bank that renders the best services especially in making banking transaction easier. “These categories are audience

driven. So the gage awards have come to stay. This is the maiden edition and we hope to improve what we are seeing presently. This is the beginning of a calendar, and we hope to see a lot of things planned. We are looking at organising the gage room which is going to be an event in University campuses.�

Furthermore, he said: “The event will be aimed at engaging tech hubs on campuses and access the innovations that they are doing. We are going to be busy all year round before the next gage awards. “The word gage is coined from the word “engage� most of what we do online is engage.

The parent company of gage awards is 18 years old. We have a sister company WN2 Africa.

Once any discovery is on the spotlight, it is easier for people to beat such discovery. “Therefore, gage awards are set to spotlight some of the innovative works taking place in the internet space. For instance, GT bank won the banking App of the year, the award will challenge other brands to work hard next time to win. The key focus for us is to drive competition across the value chain.�

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Adegbite: There is Need for Policy Review on Gender-based Issues The low representation of women on corporate boards remains an issue affecting the upward mobility of women in the workplace. In this interview, the Executive Director, Women in Management, Business and Public Service, Hansatu Adegbite, suggests measures to improve representation as well as the role of her organisation in addressing the challenge. Ugo Aliogo brings the excerpts:

W

omen in Corporate Governance in Nigeria. What progress do you think we have made as a nation in terms of the number of women in the corporate leadership?

I guess over the years, the progress we have made in that space has been very slow.

But I would like to assert here that we have made a bit of progress. If you look at Nigeria 20years ago, it was unheard of, to have a female as the chairman of a bank. That glass ceiling has been destroyed because today, we have four female chairmen of banks. This is a huge achievement for Nigeria and it shows that we have made some progress though it has been slow and it has taken a long time.

Presently, I think the representation of women is less than eight per cent and Nigeria is not ranked among the top 20 worldwide. But I think in Africa, we have made some leeway, maybe being among the top 20, certainly not the top three. Countries such as Rwanda, Kenya, and Senegal, are doing better than Nigeria in the issue of women representation in corporate boards. However, for Senegal, it might be in the realm of politics. While for Nigeria, I think the awareness on gender inequality on corporate boards is increasing.

As an organisation, we are doing a lot in that space. But it is very important to state that Nigeria has a lot of barriers when it comes to leadership for women. Not just on corporate boards, but across sectors.

Most of these barriers are around religion, culture, patriarchy and others. Then we also have family barriers, women go into the workforce and have to make some sacrifices based on family obligations and child bearing stages of their lives. Having said that barriers are there to be broken and some women have successfully shattered some of these ceilings that have been set. Just this year, we have celebrated a lot of women on social media. Transcorp group is a case in point. Women are heading three groups within the Transcorp industry. The Chief Executive Officer of Siemens is a woman.

First time in the history of this country, the Chief Executive Officer, is a woman. Last year, the Chief Executive Officer Unilever resigned and a woman was placed on an acting capacity. All those progress shows that women are actually proving themselves in the corporate space of the country. In the Nigeria Stock Exchange (NSE), WIMBIZ has been involved in a lot of advocacy efforts.

The NSE never used to have women on the board, but through advocacy efforts, they have three. I think this year, they are introducing more women in the corporate board they are setting up. For us, it took almost 15years or more to see an increased representation of women in the financial sector board in comparison to other sector. If you look at the Dangote group, women are heading the foundation and other leadership positions in that organisation. If you go to some of the banks, such Access Bank, UBA and First bank, women are at the helms of affairs. For instance, First Bank is very gender sensitive when it comes to corporate governance. Slow movement is better than no movement, so Nigeria is actually moving in that direction.

Gender parity is one of the cardinal goals of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG). What is your view about that and how do you access the progress we have made in that space in comparison to other Africa countries such as Senegal, Kenya and South Africa?

To answer this question, I will mention three things because there are so many reasons.

But when you see best practices anywhere, there are certain things they have put in place that has made their practice work.

First is policy. There are certain policies that have been introduced in some countries that are increasing the representation of women in corporate boards. Secondly, some organisations and some countries have quota systems. Those countries have realised that the issue of gender inequality cannot move forward unless there is a quota system in place. For instance, Senegal is an Islamic State. But they have been able to put in place laws and quota systems that are working for them. In advocacy efforts, you need to have people that are willing to champion gender parity. If we have leaders that are

We have women that visit CEOs monthly just to advocate for increased representation of women on boards.

Despite, these efforts, we are not satisfied in terms of the number. We have seen some few progresses which in my opinion are less than two percent increase in that regard.

Again, it is better than nothing. Yearly, we go back to the drawing board and strategise on how to improve and do more.

Adegbite

open to gender parity issues; they would put measures in place to drive progress in that space, this is why the UN has started the ‘He for She’ campaign. But I have realised that as a man, if you are heading any type of organisation within the country, your belief system is very critical. I believe that a country as complex as Nigeria will require policies and quota system to move forward without it, it will continue to be talk and no action.

There is a need for policy review. I feel the policy we have is not tackling the issue. The challenge we have in this country is not we don’t have enough policies. Policies have been discussed at so many levels. Various reports have been given to government over the years. The challenge we have is implementation of those policies. Even in reviewing some of these policies, we should focus on reviewing for implementation. Last year, we were with the Speaker of the House of Representatives also pushing for increased representation of women even in the political space going forward, and looking for ways to assist government to achieve that. The Speaker brought a lot of concerns around our constitution. He said were certain things in the constitution that will not permit a gender bill going forward. Even though he has made a commitment that they do look at the constitution and try to pass the gender bill, it is still a process and it will take time. I think if we have a leadership that is willing, to begin the process with the mind of implementation, then the policies we will have in place will not just be what is on paper. But actions that a lot of us can hold unto as tangible results. Implementation is on different levels. There is need for implementation from a government perspective, in the government; I think we need to start with regulatory bodies. Various sectors have regulators and some of these policies need to start from there. Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has done it, they did for the financial sector and it is working. So if you can take a cue from that you will begin to target the regulators. The government has to do it from a national perspective through the legislature. Coming to corporate organisations, organisations have to put in place, the necessary corporate governance policy. As every leadership body is being built, from all levels, from middle management to the board level, there has to be a percentage that is allocated for gender balance and parity. I will like to state here that irrespective of how large or small the organisation might be we need to start from all levels, from the Small Medium Scale Enterprise (SME), corporate, legislative and multi-national levels. It has to be something that everybody sees as an

urgent need.

What is the role of WIMBIZ in promoting increased participation of women in corporate governance?

This is WIMBIZ’ 19th year of existence.

November this year will be our 19th conference. When WIMBIZ started, it wanted to see women attain leadership positions by inspiring them. Our founders realised that we had gaps. These gaps existed when we were having our inspirational, empowerment, connecting and networking programmes.

Each time a gap was identified, a programme was created to address it. The gap affecting Nigeria women on boards was also identified.

The founders began to reach out to Chief Executive Officers of organisations to request for increase in women representation on boards and the CEOs on their part sort for the qualified women to serve on boards.

WIMBIZ on their part took it as a challenge; they went back to the drawing board and developed the women on boards programme.

In developing that programme, we looked at four areas that were of major concern, for women to serve on boards. The first was that we needed a database of women that are ready to meet the specification and requirements of CEOs. The second thing we realised was that there was a need to prepare women so that they would be board ready.

What WIMBIZ focused on is that you don’t have to be a member to benefit from these initiatives. The thing important is that we just want to drive growth and progress in this area. Therefore, we partnered with the IE Business School in Spain to start training some of these women on boards. But after running that programme for about three years, we began to realise that a lot of these women also wanted local content because as much they were being offered international training.

There are certain things that are peculiar to Nigeria as a country; therefore, we decided to develop a curriculum for Nigeria women on boards programme that is more localised.

We organised some test runs towards the latter part of last year and it was a huge success. We will build on that because it is about preparing women to serve on boards.

We have a third aspect which is mentoring.

We have women who have been on boards and they have realised that serving on boards requires much commitment and focus. So, these women who have been on boards are discovering new ways to mentor those that have been trained or already existing on boards in areas of growth so that they will continue to expand territories in that respect. The advocacy still continues. We have developed plans to carry advocacy to CEOs.

What are the challenges that confront women upward mobility in the workplace?

First is family demands and responsibility.

You realise that a lot of women when they go into the workforce, they have the same opportunities as men. When they start getting committed to their marital responsibilities, some give up their careers, while others cannot cope with the demands of motherhood and the workplace. Therefore, their upward mobility in the workplace suffers. The second factor is that women sometimes don’t know how to project themselves, they tend to play safe.

When men begin to break new grounds in their careers and other endeavours, women are very much focused on their work.

Most might women might be diligent in their careers, and qualified for a particular role, but they don’t have the desire to push themselves due to certain factors such as mental limitations, fear and others. Some are not interested in being on platforms of attention, they prefer their safe spaces.

Sometimes, women don’t want to be exposed to the social stigma because of the society they belong to. What I mean here is that some people believe that for a woman to rise to certain enviable positions in career they might have compromised their values and principles. People may not see the hardwork she has put in order to attain such enviable positions. There are a lot of women who have worked hard to reach the peak of their careers. Also, most women don’t have the opportunity for the kind of exposure that is needed to build their leadership capacity. Some women cannot afford to invest in opportunities that would build their leadership capacities; therefore, they cannot make it a priority area because they are trying to joggle some many things at the same time. Within organisations and companies, there are some organisations that don’t encourage women to rise to the top echelon either because of their culture or organisational structure.

Gender inequality has been termed a cultural problem. Some school of thought view this as a cultural problem, while others feel women have a role to play in addressing this challenge. What is your take on this?

There are people (both men and women) that are just satisfied with their career growth and don’t bother to aim higher. They are not so ambitious. There are circumstances whereby women are not eager to aim higher because they feel that the lives of certain individuals (male and female) who attain top leadership positions are always in the public domain such as the pages of newspapers and social media. So you cannot blame them. Having said that I do think that the percentage of women who are ambitious is rising by the day. There are competitions where women come tops. I think it is also happening in organisations, gone are the days, when you enter an organisation and you don’t see women push themselves forward.

So I think on both sides, there have been efforts to move forward, but each argument is justified in its own way.

Is there level playing for men and women in the corporate world?

For me, I will like to go back to the organisation. For instance in WIMBIZ, there is no disparities between male and female, we pay all our staff equally and based on the level that they are on. However, I know that some persons in our network do have disparity of payment in their various organisations. I cannot speak for some organisations because I have not been exposed to research in that area. But I know that it is a serious problem and I also know that there is a gap in terms of having a level playing field between men and women. Apart from advocacy, women need to keep proving themselves in anything they are doing.

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BUSINESSWORLD

DEVELOPMENT

How ‘Tiny’ Netherlands Feeds the Enhancing Child Nutrition World: Why Lagos Can Take a Cue

Hamid Ayodeji

C

Sanwo-Olu

S. J. Samuel

T

he population of the Netherlands as a country is similar to the population of Lagos as a government at state level. The Netherlands population stood at 17.18 million (2018) Eurostat with a land mass of 41,543 km2 while that of Lagos state is estimated at 17.5 million (2019) (though the Lagos population has been subjected to dispute recently) with a land mass of 3,577 km2, which is about 0.4 per cent of the total land area of Nigeria.

Also, both the Netherlands and Lagos have a few similarities in terms of geographical landscape, particularly the land and the coast.

Lagos state has a coastline of 180 km long while the Netherlands stands at 451 km.

According to the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF), the economy of the Netherlands is the 17th largest in the world in 2019 while its Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita was estimated at $53,228, $4,428, a development that was higher than $48,800 in 2018, which also makes the Dutch people one of highestearning countries in the world.

While the GDP of Lagos state is currently standing at $136 billion, nominal GDP of Nigeria reached $123.4 billion (Sep 2019).

Incredibly, the Netherlands economy is 1.5 times the economy of Nigeria, despite its small size in comparison to Nigeria. According to the Dutch Minister of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality, Carola Schouten, the Dutch agriculture was valued at over 90 billion euros.

It is amazing that despite the fact that the Netherlands is a small, densely populated with more than 1,300 inhabitants per square mile, the country is the world’s number two exporter of food as measured by value, a development that is second to the United States, which has 270 times the Netherlands’ landmass. It means that Netherlands exports more food than any other European country, even larger neighbouring countries like Italy, Germany and France.

How on Earth did the Dutch become a topdog in exporting agricultural products and food? Wageningen University & Research (WUR), which is ranked as the top agricultural university in the world, is the brain behind the astounding global achievement. “WUR is the nodal point of Food Valley, an expansive cluster of agricultural technology start-ups and experimental farms.�

The highly reputable university does not only serve as a research institution for technological advancement in agriculture, but also drives entrepreneurial in agriculture, especially “technologies as autonomous tractors, scanning drones, animal vaccinations, etc.

Between 2016 and 2017, the Netherlands agriculture rose to seven per cent in value, ranking in a huge sum of 5.5 billion euros extra to the country’s economy. In 2017, the Netherlands exported nearly $92 billion worth of agricultural produce. In 2019,

agricultural exports generated a huge sum of 45 billion euros for the Dutch economy.

It is also reported that the Research and Development expenditure of Dutch companies has increased by nearly 11 per cent. “Companies in the agricultural sector grew by around 19 per cent from 728 million euros to 864 million euros, marking a huge boost in productivity. The Netherlands earns most from horticulture (6.0 billion euros), dairy and eggs (4.7 billion euros), meat (4.1 billion euros) and vegetables (3.8 billion euros) while cereals, flour and milk, drinks, fruit, live animals and fish and seafood also yielded billions of euros for the Dutch economy while its remains the world’s top exporter of Tomato.�

The Dutch’s global dominance in agriculture is not unconnected to its decades of “refining and improving farming methods and limiting waste in the agriculture sector.�

One of the innovative ways in which the Netherlands has been able to thrive at the cutting edge of innovation in all aspects of technological agribusiness is through its network of huge industrial greenhouses.

It has been projected that the world population would reach 9 billion people by 2050. Such alarming projection calls for global concerns if humanity would be saved from unprecedented hunger. Therefore, the need for an inclusive and aggressive production in food in order to match the impending global population explosion cannot be overemphasised. In the next four decades, the world would need to produce more food than world’s farmers have ever produced in the last two decades. The next wave of feeding a fast growing population lies in extensive services in the “promotion of scientific research, and the creation of specific types of agricultural education.�

It is high time the Nigerian government, particularly Lagos state, maximised its agricultural potentials through massive funding, especially for small-medium enterprises (SMEs), and programmes in the agrarian sector. The Lagos state government should further extend its drive in promoting scientific research and specific categories of agricultural education. The government should partner with private sector by creating the enabling environment for the sector where the real development comes from, just as the Netherlands does. If ‘tiny’ Netherlands could feed the world, surpassing its bigger neighbouring countries, despite its meager natural resources, how much more a state like Lagos with its huge natural endowment. This will not only bring in huge revenue for the state, but it will also create massive employment opportunities for its fast growing youth population. If the Dutch agriculture could be valued at over 90 billion euros, it is obvious that Lagos could surpass such figure if the huge resources at its disposal are harnessed.

-Samuel is the Principal Partner, Sensale Research Group

urrent realities in Nigeria necessitate a new approach to the issue of breastfeeding as well as infant and young child nutrition. Recent figures indicate poor Breastfeeding practices leading to malnutrition are too alarming to be ignored.

Fewer than three in 10 babies (NDHS2018) are exclusively breastfed for six months, which is far below the global target of 50 per cent.

Exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months of life means that a baby receives only breastmilk—no water, infant formula, nor other liquids.

Breastmilk contains all the water and nutrients a baby needs during the first six months of life—even in hot, dry climates.

The benefits of exclusive breastfeeding in the first six months are significant.

It aids cognitive development, especially since mental faculties are developed in the early years of infancy. It also helps a child develop immunity against diseases that contribute to high infant mortality rates.

Optimal exclusive breastfeeding practices could prevent up to 103,742 child deaths annually in Nigeria, which could drastically reduce underfive deaths in the country, which are reported as 132 deaths per 1,000 live births, according to a report on the Cost of Not Breastfeeding by Alive and Thrive and UNICEF. It can also help prevent over 10 million cases of diarrhea and pneumonia amongst children. Exclusive breastfeeding can save up to N6.93 billion in health care system treatment costs related to inadequate breastfeeding and eliminate up to N11 billion spent by households annually on Breast Milk Substitutes. Many families in Nigeria could easily find better uses for the money they are spending on infant formulas.

In view of the enormous benefits individuals, families, communities and the country stand to derive from exclusive breastfeeding, there is an urgent need for governments at all levels in Nigeria to match words with action by stepping up awareness on exclusive breastfeeding, regulating practices that threaten adoption by mothers and following through with increased budgetary funding for infant and young child nutrition initiatives. Investing in breastfeeding benefits women and children and generates significant economic gains for communities and nations. An analysis by the World Bank found that “every N360 invested in supporting breastfeeding generates N12,631 in economic returns.�

Nigeria is making concerted efforts to increase exclusive breastfeeding but more needs to be done. Figures show that federal allocations directed at addressing infant and young child nutrition have always fallen far short

of what is needed.

The National Strategic Plan of Action for Nutrition assumes that the federal government will allocate N3,603,450,000 annually for 2014 – 2018 for this purpose. However, budgetary allocations under the infant and young child nutrition interventions were 228.29 million in 2018, up from the 121 million allocated in 2017. Allocation in 2014 and 2016 were N73.64 million and N211.3 million, respectively, according to Budget Office of the Federation.

It is imperative for governments at all levels to do more through increased budgetary allocations, improving release of allocated resources as well as fiscal monitoring to ensure that interventions that reach the greatest number of mothers and provide an enabling environment in communities to improve breastfeeding are prioritized.

Priority attention should be placed on monitoring and enforcement of the Marketing of Infant and Young Children Food and Other Designated Products Regulations 2019 in line with the Abuja Breastfeeding Declaration.

This declaration calls for key actions including: the need to review the Nutrition policy and provide six months maternity leave; supportive workplace breastfeeding policies for nursing mothers as requested by the vast majority (72%) of working mothers surveyed in a 2019 National Maternity Entitlements Research conducted by the FMOH, Alive and Thrive and UNICEF; conducive workplace environments for mothers to breastfeed exclusively, which will increase the number of children’s lives saved.

Also, government at all levels should strengthen the capacity of the health system through adequate investments and initiatives to provide support for programs on Breastfeeding. Such programs include counseling of mothers, scaling up of the baby friendly hospital initiative and strengthening programmes that protect, promote and support breastfeeding.

We must do more to support breastfeeding in Nigeria! The benefits are simply too important to take for granted. State Governors and members of the National Assembly should increase budgetary allocations to programs that support breastfeeding and support laws that expand maternity protections.

Every N360 invested in supporting breastfeeding generates N12,631 in economic returns

THURSDAY MARCH 5, 2020 • T H I S D AY

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IMAGES

L-R: Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu; Commissioner for Education, Mrs. Folashade Adefisayo; Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Education, Mrs. Modupe Adeloja; Chairman, Lagos State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB), Hon. Wahab Alawiye-King during the Education Public-Private Partnership Dialogue at Eko Hotel and Suites, Victoria Island, Lagos...recently

L-R: General Manager, Business Development, Sales and Distribution, MTN Nigeria, Valentine Izuchukwu; Chief Customer Services Officer, MTN Nigeria, Ugonwa Nwoye; Chief Marketing Officer, MTN Nigeria, Rahul De and Chief Sales and Distribution Officer, MTN Nigeria, Adekunle Adebiyi during the launch of MTN Topit, the new electronic airtime recharge platform in Lagos abiodun ajala

The New Cuba Ambassador to Nigeria, Clara Margarita Pulido Escandell. inspects parade of guards during the presentation of letters of credence to President Buhari in Abuja..recently state house

T H I S D AY Ëž ÍłËœ Í°ÍŽÍ°ÍŽ

Photo Editor ĂŒĂ“Ă™ĂŽĂ&#x;Ă˜ ÔËÖË Email Ă‹ĂŒĂ“Ă™ĂŽĂ&#x;Ă˜Ë›Ă‹Ă”Ă‹Ă–Ă‹ĚśĂžĂ’Ă“Ă?ĂŽĂ‹ĂŁĂ–Ă“Ă Ă?Ë›Ă?Ù×

President Muhammadu Buhari (left) and the New Ambassador from Greece to Nigeria, H.E Monsieur Ioannis Plotas during the presentation of letters of credence to Buhari in Abuja...recently state house

L-R: Commercial Director, Vitafoam Nigeria Plc, Mr Bamidele Owoade; Company Secretary/Legal Adviser, Mr Olalekan Sanni; Chairman, Dr Bamidele Makanjuola; Group Managing Director, Mr Taiwo Adeniyi; and Finance Director, Mr Joseph Alegbesogie, during Vitafaom’s 58th Annual General Meeting in Lagos...recently

Ogun State Governor, Prince Dapo Abiodun (right), and an official of World Health Organisation, Prof. Bola Olayinka sanitizing during a sensitisation visit by the joint WHO and Federal Government teams on Coronavirus to the Governor’s office in Abeokuta...recently

L-R: Minister of Health, Dr Osagie Ehinare; Minister of State Health, Senator Olorunibe Mamora and Permanent Secretary of the Ministry, Alhaji Abdullahi Mashi when they appeared before the Senate leadership for an update on Corona Virus held in Abuja...recently julius Atoi

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L – R; First Vice President, The Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), Mr. Abubakar Balarabe Mahmoud, SAN; Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Oscar N. Onyema; President of Council, NSE, Otunba Abimbola Ogunbanjo; Council Secretary, NSE, Mrs. Mojisola Adeola, and Ex-Officio, NSE, Aigbojie Aig-Imokhuede, during a Court Ordered Meeting (COM) and an Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM) at the Civic Center, Lagos...recently

.L-R: Emir of Doma Kingdom, Nassarawa State, Ajhaji, Ahmadu Aliyu and Director General, NYSC, Brigadier General, Shuibu Ibrahim, during his visit to the emir’s palace in Nassarawa...recently

Kwara State Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq (left) receiving a cheque of N263m looted funds from the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) Zonal Head Isyaku Sharu at the EFCC office in Ilorin...recently

FCT Minister, Malam Muhammad Musa Bello (Right) and the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Dr Folshade Yemi Esan (Left) during the courtesy visit by Mrs Esan to the Minister in Abuja..recently

L-R: Head of Service, Mr Hakeem Muri-Okunola; Consultant, SI.SA Plc (Studio Imagine Simply Architecture), Arch Seun Oduwole; Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu; his deputy, Dr. Obafemi Hamzat; Commissioner for Tourism, Arts and Culture, Pharm Mrs. Uzamat Akinbile-Yussuf and Special Adviser to the Governor on Works and Infrastructure, Engr. Aramide Adeyoye, during an inspection of ongoing construction at J.K Randle Centre for Yoruba Culture and History in Onikan, Lagos, recently

Minister of State for Budget and National Planning, Prince Clem Ikanade Agba(right) and the Japanese Ambassador to Nigeria, Mr Yutaka Kikuta at the signing of Japanese $18.2m Grant Agreement/exchange of note for the project to strengthen the capacity of the network laboratory of Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) held in Abuja...recently

L-R: Chief Transformation Officer, MTN Nigeria, Olubayo Adekanmbi; CEO & Founder, Summitech Computing Limited, Adekunle Kunle-Hassan; Digital Transformation Specialist, Banke Alawaye; VP, Consumer Business Group, Cars45, Mayokun Fadeyibi and Head, Digital Transformation, Coca-Cola West Africa, Toyosi Odukoya during the Beyond Demographics: The Marriage of Data, Insights & Intuition panel session at the 2020 Social Media Week in Lagos...recently

T H I S D AY ˾ , MARCH 5, 2020

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HEALTH & LIFESTYLE

ÜÙßÚ ÏËÞßÜÏÝ ÎÓÞÙÜ˝ ÒÓÏ×ÏÖÓÏ äÏÙÌÓ ×ËÓÖ chiemelie.ezeobi@thisdaylive.com, Tel: 08038901925

Can Nigeria Defeat Coronavirus?

While the presence of Coronavirus in Nigeria has no doubt caused anxiety among Nigerians, the authorities say they are doing their best to ensure it doesn’t become a full-fledged epidemic. Should it snowball, does Nigeria have the capacity to manage and defeat it? Martins Ifijeh queries

Is Nigeria ready for the next big outbreak?

I

t is no longer news that Nigeria has become one of the countries presently affected by the dreaded Coronavirus disease which started in Wuhan city in China since December 31, 2020, and has spread to at least 71 countries, with over 3100 persons killed so far and over 89, 000 infected across the globe.

By standard global health prediction, disease outbreaks are only 36 hours away from potentially entering any nation of the world irrespective of how farther apart the index country and the receiving nations are geographically placed. No thanks to technologies like aircrafts and drones.

It however took Nigeria 59 days to get its first confirmed case of the Coronavirus outbreak despite the country’s high trading partnership with China, the epicenter of the outbreak.

On specifics, Nigeria announced the presence of the outbreak in the country in the wee hours of last Friday, detailing how a 44-year-old Italian, who flew in from Milan via a Turkish Airline, tested positive to the virus after the company he had gone to in Ewekoro, Lafarge Africa, had immediately initiated a protocol for his sample testing following the signs he manifested.

Now that it is a dawned reality that the virus is already in the country, how prepared is Nigeria in managing its spread? Will it nip the virus in the bud better than it did during the Ebola outbreak in 2014 where the index case, Patrick Sawyer infected eight persons including Dr. Stella Amayo Adadevoh who ensured Sawyer never left the hospital despite his insistence?

The former Chairman, Senate Committee on Health, Senator Lanre Tejuoso told THISDAY that the authorities were so far doing very well

in managing the virus, starting from when Lafarge Africa reached out to the government, and the proactive measures that followed.

When the Italian complained of symptoms, Lafarge had reached the government, who upon confirmation of his status quarantined him.

So far, the government, with support from the company, has identified 39 contacts from Ewekoro, while several other have been identified in Lagos and placed under self-isolation in a bid to prevent the outbreak from snowballing.

Should Lafarge not have immediately done the needful, the outbreak would have been a full-fledged one today.

What Next?

Should this outbreak, which has only been confirmed in one person in the country, snowball into a full-fledged outbreak, does the government have the capacity to curtail it? Does the country have what it takes to manage outbreaks of this magnitude as seen in China, Iran, South Korea Japan and in Italy?

While China has the second biggest economy globally, its healthcare facilities started shrinking within the first month of the Coronavirus outbreak in Wuhan city, with all health facilities in the city and Hubei province overloaded with patients infected by Coronavirus; a move that necessitated the country’s leader to order for the immediate building of emergency hospitals with thousands of beds.

Despite this move by the Chinese government, it again turned to stadia across several provinces and converted them to temporary hospitals where thousands of beds were laid side by side in a bid to have all patients access treatment.

Although China has the second biggest economy in the globe, it is still being over-

whelmed by the Coronavirus outbreak; a situation that suggests the outbreak will be challenging for many developing countries to curtail if high priority is not given to strengthening health security.

Nigeria’s healthcare strength is nowhere near that of China, and other countries currently experiencing several bouts of the spread still complain of their healthcare resources depleted.

With this scenario, will the federal government, 36 state governments of the federation and private institutions priotise health security and disease preparedness to ensure the country collectively address the outbreak.

Although the Minister of Health, Dr. Osagie Ehanire and the Director General, Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), Dr. Chikwe Ihekweazu have at different times mentioned that the government was more than ready to face Coronavirus outbreak, the reality on ground shows that national health security has not been funded the way it should.

Ihekweazu had told THISDAY that said: “Our primary challenge is that NCDC is still funded the same way all other agencies are funded. What we should advocate for is a special status enabling first line funding to ensure stability of funding with appropriate controls similar as for police.”

Ihekweazu recently told Channels Television that in the face of the Coronavirus outbreak, state governments should invest in health security, adding that the federal government cannot tackle issues around disease outbreaks alone. Ihekweazu said if we tackle disease outbreaks, especially Coronavirus, we will end up keeping the nation safe “We commend the Minister of Health, Dr. Osagie Ehanire who has been very supportive,

even with funds. We actually did needed little bit of extra funds to buy personal protective equipment, build capacity of our port services, and expansion of isolation centres.

“Nothing demonstrates our investment in health security more than this outbreak. The impact this will have on the economy of Nigeria is what we have been saying all along. The best time to prepare for war is not after it has started. We really need to invest in our health security. This is a marathon and not a sprint.

“We are grateful for resources available to us, but this is really a plea to state governments.

Let this be the time we ask ourselves, how much are we investing in our health security.

No better time to prepare for epidemic than now,” the DG said.

If this present outbreak in the country unfortunately snowballs into a full-fledged epidemic, the lean Nigerian health sector will bear the brunt of the spread, especially since the country has not enough facilities to carter for the myriads of healthcare challenges bedeviling millions of Nigerians presently, not to mention when there is an a disease epidemic.

But experts believed Nigeria can only be prepared for the next big outbreak, which perhaps is already in the country, through political will to prioritise resources for national health security.

While no doubt epidemic preparedness should be given the special status it deserves, especially in the face of jaw dropping outbreaks, first from Ebola, the recurrent bouts of Lassa fever and then Coronavirus outbreak, it is important government, along with stakeholders understand that a country is only as strong as its weakest link; without adequate funding to tackle disease outbreaks, the country is only as strong as its weakest link.

T H I S D AY ˾ , MARCH 5, 2020

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FG Budgets 8 Naira for Disease Prevention of Each Nigerian in 2020 Martins Ifijeh Despite the recurrent bouts of disease outbreaks in Nigeria and the looming threat from Coronavirus, the Nigerian government has deemed it fit to budget a paltry eight naira (2.1 cents) for prevention, diagnosis and management of diseases of each citizen in 2020.

Data exclusively obtained by THISDAY shows that only a meager N1, 673, 486, 127 was allocated to the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), the country’s national public health institute, responsible for epidemic preparedness, detection and response to infectious disease outbreaks and public health emergencies for over 200 million Nigerians.

This implies that the allocated amount (if entirely released) will be spent on preventing and managing Lassa fever, Ebola, Coronavirus (Covid-19) Yellow fever, cholera, meningitis, measles; building, equipping and maintaining of specialised laboratories; administration and human resource for 213 staff; surveillance and epidemiology; emergency disease response; and a host of other mandates of NCDC. On the surface value, when divided against the 200 million

populations, it means the Nigerian government will spend eight naira per person yearly, which amounts to 66 kobo per month, an unrealistic amount it magically hopes will prevent Nigerians from contracting or dying from the myriads of epidemics currently being battled or lurking around the corner.

Meanwhile, NCDC’s counterpart in the United States, the Centre for Disease Control (CDC) will spend $6.594 billion on epidemic preparedness this year, which is about N2.34 trillion, an amount that exceeds Nigeria’s entire Federal Ministry of Health allocation for five years.

This means, if the CDC budget is spread across the population, the centre will spend at least 20 dollars (N7, 200) on epidemic preparedness for every American resident, while Nigeria, a country which prides itself as the giant of Africa and the economic hub of the black continent, will spend eight naira on same disease prevention and management in a full year per citizen.

This perhaps explains why the country has continued to battle with disease outbreaks, including Lassa fever, which has, since January 2020, killed

Coronavirus: Lafarge Debunks Closure of Production Lines Martins Ifijeh Contrary to reports that the production lines of Lafarge Africa in Ewekoro, Ogun State has been closed down over Coronavirus scare, the management of the firm said it was untrue as cement production was ongoing.

While Lafarge Africa and its host, Ogun State government confirmed that the n-COVID-19 contacts, including the driver who picked the concerned individual from a hotel in Ikeja and those who served him food and drinks are 39 from the 28 contacts earlier reported in the media, they however said that the production lines were not shut as the guest house where the Italian was lodged was five kilometres away from the manufacturing plant.

Speaking at the Lafarge Africa facility in Ewekoro during an on-the-spot-assessment

by Ogun State team, Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) and World Health Organisation (WHO), the Industrial Director Lafarge Africa, Segun Soyoye, stated that the Italian came to Lafarge’s facilities in Ewekoro for a kick off meeting and his movement around the premises was not beyond the Lafarge guest house at Ishofin estate.

“Right after, the man was evacuated when he developed abnormal temperatures as initial vital signs indicated that he had developed symptoms

of Coronavirus.

“The concerned individual came for a business visit. He was in Lagos on Monday (and slept at a hotel in Ikeja. While at our facility the following day, we observed abnormal temperature and symptoms.

“We quickly instituted an Emergency Response Team led by the Country CEO and subsequently had to analyse and identify not only the Italian but also other individuals who made contact with him.

“The contacts are now 39 and they have been quarantined. We have equally isolated the house, the clinic as well as the vehicles. We have a database showing their biodata and other information.

We have a resident doctor who checks them on a regular basis.

So far everybody is stable, they are not symptomatic and we are providing everything they need.”

He added that “we have equally resumed operations in our in-house clinic, initially used by the concerned individual following its closure.

The clinic was disinfected and all the healthcare officials have been quarantined.”

Speaking on behalf of the Government, the Ogun State Commissioner for Health, Dr. Tomi Coker commended Lafarge Africa’s management for the quick and proactive measures taken so far, reiterating the importance of the commitment of the state and federal governments to contain the spread of the deadly disease.

47 Nigerians with hundreds of persons infected across 19 states of the federation.

Covid-19, which started from Wuhan city in China has killed at least 1100 persons, infected over 4400 persons and has spread to 27 other countries, with Nigeria listed by the World Health Organisation (WHO) as a high risk country for the spread. It is unclear if the Nigerian government considers international public health threats when budgeting for epidemic preparedness.

When THISDAY reached the Chief Executive Officer, NCDC, Dr. Chikwe Ihekweazu to get his thought on this, he said the centre has continued to work optimally to ensure effective prevention, detection and management of disease outbreaks across the country, but the public health institute will achieve its mandate more if given a special status because of its importance to the nation.

Ihekweazu said: “Our primary challenge is that NCDC is still funded the same way all other agencies are funded.

What we should advocate for is a special status enabling first line funding to ensure stability of funding with appropriate controls similar as for police.”

He described the method as 3s; substantial, stable and sustainable funding.NRecords

have shown that many developed countries give their disease control agencies the special status they deserve, especially because of their roles to health, security and economy. NCDC is responsible for Nigeria’s national health security.

Like NCDC, like the Health Ministry.

The Nigerian government’s poor financial allocation for the health of its citizens is not limited to budget for epidemic preparedness. The entire health sector is also battling with poor government funding, a decision that has played out in the health indices of the country.

The health sector generally has had one of the lowest budget allocations in the country, even far lower than sectors relatively not as crucial as the health sector.

This is despite the pledge made by the country in April 2001 during the ‘Abuja Declaration’ where it, along with other heads of state under the African Union platform, declared to increase health budget allocation to 15 per cent of the entire national budget every year.

Unlike the big brother clout which Nigeria used in bringing these countries together to make the now famous ‘Abuja Declaration’, where

the agreement was made, the country quickly made a volte face and has since then refused to honour an agreement it played host to 19 years ago, resulting in the poor health indices, high mortality rate and reduced life expectancy rate currently experienced in the country.

Since the Declaration, the highest health allocation for Nigeria was in 2012 where 5.95 per cent was allotted to the sector. In 2014, it allocated N216.40 billion to healthcare, representing 4.4 per cent. In 2015, it was N237 billion, which represents 5.5 per cent of the entire budget, same with 2016 (4.23 per cent), 2017 (4.16 per cent), 2018 at 340.5 billion (3.9 per cent), and 2019 at N315.6 billion (4.1 per cent).

Like a habit which has now been considered normal, the Nigerian government, again in 2020, followed the same trend with only 4.14 per cent of the entire budget allocated to the health sector, amounting to N427 billion; an allocation less than 25 per cent of what CDC alone will spend on epidemic preparedness.

But the World Health Organisation (WHO) says for Nigeria to be seen to have prioritised healthcare, it must at least spend a minimum of N6, 908 per Nigerian in a year,

which when multiplied by 200 million people will amount to N1.38 trillion, which is around 12 per cent of Nigeria’s entire budget for 2020.

The WHO, in its wisdom, also recommended a minimum of 13 per cent of annual budget for health.

Between African Union’s 15 per cent and WHO’s 13 per cent, the Nigerian government has tilted towards none.

Thankfully, some countries have started raising their health budgetary allocations towards fully keying into the WHO recommendation of 13 per cent or the Abuja Declaration of 15 per cent.

For instance, Rwanda reportedly devoted 18 per cent of its total 2016 budget to healthcare.

Botswana budgeted 17.8 per cent to health; Malawi, 17.1 per cent, Zambia, 16.4 per cent and Burkina Faso, 15.8 per cent. But Nigeria still lags behind in this regard, which has had direct consequences on the funding capacity of the Health Ministry and its affiliated agencies and parastatals, thereby making the fight against poor healthcare very unrealistic.

This puts Nigeria as one of the nations of the world with the least healthcare spending per head when compared with other countries, especially in Africa.

TheCommissionerforHealth,LagosState,Prof AkinAbayomi;ChiefIncidentCommanderagainstCoronavirusOutbreakinLagosState,Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, and Deputy Governor, Femi Hamzat during a facility tour of the Isolation Centre in Yaba recently

Coronavirus: Bauchi Extends Surveillance to Airport, Motor Packs Segun Awofadeji ÓØ ËßÍÒÓ As part of efforts to prevent the spread of Coronavirus (COVID-19) in Bauchi State, the authorities have extended surveillance to airports, motor parks, Yankari Game Reserves and mining areas.

The State Commissioner for Health, Dr. Aliyu Mohammed Maigoro, who disclosed this recently, said the state government immediately swung into action following the outbreak

of the COVID-19 in Nigeria last week.

According to him, the government took some measures including strengthening and expanding the current Lassa Emergency Preparedness Response Team (EPR) at the Emergency Operation Centre to include COVID-19; improving the standard of the state Isolation Centers at ATBUTH, IDHE and creating additional hold

rooms at the Specialist Hospital Bauchi in case of any eventuality.

“These also include prepositioning of drugs and other consumables, daily coordination meeting at the state’s EOC and an ongoing plan to intensify awareness creation in the state,” he added.

Maigoro also assured that the state government was always ready to partner all persons, groups and organ-

isations in its determination towards providing quality healthcare services in the state.

The commissioner then appealed to the people in the state not to abuse social media by spreading misinformation about the disease, adding that this can cause panic.

He said suspected cases should be reported to the nearest health facility in the state or call any of the following hotlines, 08032717887, 08038320977 and 08028618516.

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HEALTH

Unveiling Abuja’s Medical Research Institute With the establishment of a first-of-its-kind medical research centre in Abuja by the Institute of Human Virology, Nigeria, the country’s health sector is one step closer to addressing some of its research challenges. Martins Ifijeh writes Amid the growing fears in our interconnected world where new diseases are emerging at an unprecedented rate, the Institute of Human Virology, Nigeria (IHVN), in its bid to promote public/ private partnership for quality health services, capacity building and research in Nigeria and West Africa at large is set to unveil a new N5 billion medical research centre in Abuja, Nigeria.

The facility, named International Research Center of Excellence (IRCE), is located along Airport Road in the Federal Capital Territory of Abuja, will be a combination of laboratories, offices, training facilities, and lecture halls on 2.5 hectares of land.

The Chief Executive Officer, IHVN, Dr. Patrick Dakum explained that one of the key objectives of IRCE was to provide training and engage new researchers in its mentorship programme, as part of plans to conduct biomedical research focusing on HIV/AIDS, malaria, tuberculosis and non-communicable diseases. He also stated that IHVN builds the capacity of healthcare providers and ancillary workers across all implementation and research activities.

The public health expert disclosed that the IRCE which would be commissioned on June 26, 2020, is one of the three centres of IHVN that has conducted trainings and mentoring on global health education, laboratory and research methodology, statistical methods in epidemiology, scientific and medical ethics, and the principles and practice of clinical trials in collaboration with the faculty members of the University of Maryland, Baltimore and other international faculty.

He continued: “The IRCE would provide a common world-class platform for the implementation of research and clinical trials at the international standards as part of global networks. It will also foster collaborations and synergism between Nigeria’s finest researchers and their counterparts at international research institute and universities and also provide safety net that protects IHVN and its collaborators from liability by proactively ensuring that research conducted at IHVN is under the highest scientific and ethical standards.”

Dakum further stated that the IRCE would provide opportunities for young Nigerian researches to develop and execute research projects being mentored by more experienced investigators at IHVN, Nigerian Universities, the Diaspora, and international research institutions and universities.

“In addition to a clinical trial unit, IRCE will host seven laboratories in one building for the diagnosis of infectious diseases like HIV, drugresistant tuberculosis, Ebola, Lassa fever. These laboratories are bio-repository, molecular diagnostics, chemistry, hematology and microbiology, clinical pathology, immunology and vaccinology, genomics resource centre and proteomics and metabolic laboratories,” he said.

He opined that the institute was also involved in more of implementation science research. “By

Dakum

that, we are looking at best ways to carry out proven science, how we can scale up the best practice in delivering services that we already know. Using HIV as an example, how do you deliver care to the patients that are in remote areas? So we came up with research related to looking at how to decentralise services and whether services would be easily delivered at a lower level other than teaching hospitals only.”

The expert continued: “we look at how we as an institute can properly establish to continue to partner with the government in delivery of healthcare in Nigeria. Implementation with the government and other partners is something we want to be indigenous with. Routine implementation should not be carried out by implementing partners but by the government. So our role is to strengthen them to be able to do that.

“We will continue to be technical support and also participants in the research field. The goal of the IRCE is to be a partner with the Nigerian government and to research institutes around the country, especially in universities to support them in areas where they lack capacity in diagnostic and also in tools. We also bring together world-class scientists that will work alongside other scientists here in Nigeria in partnership to advance the frontier of science as far as health care is concerned in Nigeria.”

Meanwhile, while speaking on how to proffer

lasting solutions to epidemic of viral diseases in the country, Dakum, said viruses are the next epidemic and pandemic that is expected because a lot of them do not have a cure yet. He said that the country has been hit with avian influenza, Ebola and in between, Lassa fever in addition to other viral diseases that are coming, but the main concern is the Lassa fever that recorded quite a number of mortality.

Dakum said it is important to come out with a strategic response plan, though the national level has a clear plan that needs to be domesticated by the states. The CEO reiterated the need to sustain the efforts put in place especially at the state level, which should also be supported with a clear budget, “when the coronavirus busted out in China, they allocated billions of dollars to fight it, this is the type of thing we need to hear from the government. For us as an institute with the limited availability of fund, what we do is to respond in the context of prevention, capacity building of the healthcare workers,” he said.

The public health expert said it is important to note that these diseases are preventable and also highlighted the need to go back to old-time public practice being prevention. He continued: “Prevention is so simple that people do not believe it. They prefer to hear some complicated ways of avoiding these diseases that are leading to mortality.

But, it is simple personal hygiene that you should

Honeybols Organises Free Cancer Massive Turnout at 2020 Shoprite Breast Screening for Lagosians Cancer Awareness Campaign Ezekiel Okpuzor Honeybols Foundation has taken another great step in fighting cervical and prostate cancer by providing free screening exercise for Lagosians.

The foundation celebrated World Cancer Day by screening over 400 women and 100 men across the state in an exercise titled ‘early detection is the key’.

Speaking on cancer awareness, the Convener, Honeybols Foundation, Mrs Adebimpe Akinfolajimi described cervical cancer as the most common genital cancer and one of the leading causes of cancer death among the female population.

“Cervical cancer kills 26 women everyday in Nigeria, that means a woman dies by cervical cancer every 55 minutes, and this can be completely prevented by early

detection.

“Cancer kills over 9000 women every year in Nigeria while more than 75 per cent of patients are diagnosed at advanced stages leading to poor prospects of long-term survival and cure.

This can be significantly reduced by vaccination and regular screening.”

She added that one in nine men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer during their lifetime, which is usually Prostate cancer, which has become a global health challenge because of its rising morbidity and mortality rates in males. In her remarks, Nollywood actress, Wumi Toriola, commended the Honeybols Foundation for service to humanity.

Wumi added that: “public and private sectors should key into this great step that honeybols has taken.

Mary Nnah The 2020 Shoprite Breast Cancer Awareness campaign yielded a massive turnout in six geopolitical zones with over 3,127 women participating in the first quarter of the 2020 campaign.

The project is in partnership with Run For a Cure Africa (RFCA) which gave them free access to this service.

The event themed ‘the big pink fight’ kicked-started in the early weeks of February and provided women the opportunity to undergo clinical breast examinations, ultrasound scans and mammograms.

Four of the six screening stations were located at Shoprite supermarkets including Shoprite Asaba mall (Delta State), Shoprite Onitsha Mall (Anambra State), Shoprite Novare Gateway mall

(Abuja) and Shoprite Ado Bayero Mall (Kano).

“As a result of Shoprite’s partnership with RFCA, which dates back to 2014, more than 8000 women have now undergone screenings,” said Shoprite Nigeria’s Kunle Abiola.

Abiola, who expressed satisfaction at Novare Gateway Mall Abuja during the event said, “We’re thrilled about the great turnout this year and we plan to roll this initiative out to more communities where we trade”.

According to Dr. Ebele Mbanugo, Founder/Executive Director of RFCA, “Nearly a 100per cent of the time, women with breast cancer survive if the cancer is discovered early on, but unfortunately this number is reversed in Nigeria because of late detection.”

promote starting from the family. Keep the house clean. Ensure the environment is neat and you would not see rodents coming, and where they are already put measures to control it.

“Community hygiene, house hygiene and personal hygiene for individuals, cleanliness, washing of hands are really important in containing these viral diseases. If you already have the virus, make sure people do not get it. After every contact with human and object, clean your hands and keep these simple measures and save a life.”Also as part of efforts to contain viral diseases, Dakum disclosed as an institute, they promote health education among the communities, within the healthcare space they work with and provide them with personal protective equipment.

He further stated: “We train lab scientists in terms of diagnostics of these diseases. Across the sites we work in, we provide them with adequate training. We are also working in conjunction with the Nigerian Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) as a technical partner. Our contributions towards the mitigation of Corona and Lassa are also capacity building and technical support and also by extension, training of lab scientists all over the country.”

Furthermore, the medical expert said the institute, a nongovernmental organization, was established in 2004 to address the Human Immuno-deficiency Virus (HIV)/Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) crisis in Nigeria through developing infrastructure for treatment, care, prevention and support for people living with HIV/AIDS. According to him, IHVN has expanded its services to other infectious diseases like tuberculosis, malaria and noninfectious diseases including cancers and also structured to develop and, maintain linkages within and outside the country in collaborative ways that support the government of Nigeria’s health sector strategic plans.Dakum noted that the institute’s key technical and funding partners include the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, the Global Fund to fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria while the Achieving Control of HIV/AIDS Epidemic through Evidence (ACHIEVE) project is funded by the United States President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR).

“ACHIEVE focuses on Anti-retroviral Treatment (ART) for adult and children, including pregnant women, laboratory diagnosis and tracking of patients’ status, care and support for people living with and affected by HIV/ AIDS as well as monitoring and evaluation of patients programme progress. Other focus areas include Prevention of Mother-to-Child Transmission (PMTCT), HIV Testing Services (HTS), support to Orphans and Vulnerable Children, and Gender-Based Violence. As of September 2019, 432,905 patients received care and support for HIV/AIDS, AND 314,975 received ARV drugs and treatment under the project,” Dakum noted.

Reddington Implements Policy to Checkmate Potential COVID -19 Martins Ifijeh The Reddington Hospital has announced that it has put in place surveillance team across its facilities in Nigeria in readiness to contain any outbreak of the dreaded Coronavirus (COVID-19) especially with a reported case now in Nigeria.

Addressing a press conference in Lagos recently, the hospital management announced that all staff at its facilities have been sensitised and a special surveillance team with requisite training is already in place to detect any potential carrier of the virus.

Group Medical Director, Reddington Hospital, Dr. Tunde Lalude said that for effectiveness of its operation, the hospital team was presently working in consonance with the National

Center for Disease Control and the Lagos State Ministry of Health.

The Medical Director, The Reddington Hospital, Ikeja, Dr. Balogun Olafisayo said at about 5:30 am on Thursday, February 26, a Chinese presented with a case of mild fever, upper respiratory symptoms and sore throat at the Ikeja medical facility, and having implemented a surveillance team over the past three weeks given the outbreak of the virus, the medical team present at the facility immediately quarantined him.

“We also asked for his travel history. He traveled back from China January 6, 2020. He resides in Chadom province in China and he flew into Nigeria from Beijing and had a transit stop at Addis Ababa before he arrived Nigeria.

T H I S D AY ˾ , MARCH 5, 2020

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Coronavirus: NAFDAC Predicts Increase in Price of Drugs r$BMMT GPS FTUBCMJTINFOU PG /*) /4' Ayodeji Ake Following the outbreak of Coronavirus in Nigeria, the Director General, National Agency for Food and Drugs Administration and Control (NAFDAC), Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye has predicted increase in price of drugs, as importation from China has been stopped.

Speaking during an interview on Channels TV, which was monitored by THISDAY, Adeyeye said 70 per cent of drugs were imported from China and India, but that in reaction to Coronavirus outbreak, Nigerian manufacturers may conserve drugs which consequently may result in price hike.

She said: “We import about 70 per cent of our medicines from India and China. Right now we cannot get anything that is manufactured from China as we speak, therefore a little bit of increase may happen for medicines because whatever manufacturers have will have to be conserved. “Thank God nothing is happening in India health-wise so we can still get some things from there but God forbid that this crisis deepens,

we are going to be in a big mess.”

Speaking further, Adeyeye said she was worried over the lack of investment on research, adding that government should establish the National Institute of Health (NIF) and National Science Foundation (NSF) to champion research and enable conversion of research into products.

She said: “In Nigeria, we need to invest in manufacturing of Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (API). We need to be active in manufacturing of non-ingredients that goes with drug formulation. We need to wake up our universities to get more proactive in terms of research. “ Tetfund is supposed to facilitate research. We do a lot of research in the universities but to translate it into reasonable product is a problem we must address. “To convert research findings into products, we have to put a premium on research.

Again I want to refer back to United States where I was for over 30 years; there is what we call National Institute of Health, National Science Foundation.

NUC Circular will Kill Healthcare in Nigeria, Says MDCAN Kemi Olaitan ÓØ ÌËÎËØ The Chairman, University College Hospital (UCH), Ibadan chapter of the Medical and Dental Consultants’ Association of Nigeria (MDCAN), Dr. Dare Olulana, has raised an alarm that the National Universities Commission (NUC) will collapse the nation’s health sector with its circular on doctorate degree for clinical lecturers in universities.

Olulana who gave the warning while addressing journalists in Ibadan recently, said any attempt to insist on compulsory acquisition of PhD by clinical lecturers in medical schools will sound the death knell of the health care system in Nigeria.

Members of the association all over the country last week Wednesday embarked on an indefinite strike action after

its ultimatum to the NUC to withdraw the circular on PhD had elapsed.

Olulana who was flanked by other officials of the association, said with the circular, the number of clinical lecturers which presently stands at about 50 per cent of requirement in the medical schools would further reduced, noting that this would ultimately lead to brain drain of senior lecturers who are Fellows but without PhD. He maintained that as in other civilised parts of the world, the residency training programme culminating in the Fellowship of the Postgraduate Medical Colleges, is the minimum requirement to practice as a specialist and to teach clinical medicine, insisting that the medical system prioritises safe patient care over academic and purely

theoretical knowledge.

According to him, “the PhD alone is insufficient qualification to assume responsibility for patient care, or to teach clinical medicine. For this reason, the universities require clinical lecturers to have the Fellowship of the postgraduate colleges, as well as to practice as specialists ( Honourary Consultants) with the teaching hospitals in order to be able to teach as lecturers in clinical medicine in the university.

“Whereas the PhD is useful to those individuals that have chosen a voluntary career path in research (where research infrastructure exists), it does not significantly translate into improved patient care skills, nor better ability to teach clinical medicine.

“Patient care is the overriding focus of medical education both at undergraduate and postgraduate levels, from the inception

of medical education by the founding fathers of medicine till date, a target that the country is nowhere near meeting currently.

“The structured residency training programme of a minimum duration of six years, is a mandatory requirement for the employment of clinical lecturers by the universities, a condition not imposed on other lecturers.

To add to this the burden of compulsory acquisition of PhD is simply superfluous.”

Olulana however assured that the over 300 members of the association in UCH like their other counterparts all over the country will continue to render professional clinical services to patients in the teaching hospitals and medical centres, warning that the association should not be pushed to the point where it will have to escalate its action.

NGO Trains Bauchi Journalists on Child Birth Spacing Segun Awofadeji ÓØ ËßÍÒÓ Journalists in Bauchi State have been urged to sensitise families on the importance of child spacing.

The call was made by the Coordinator, DevComm, Akinlolu Akinpelumi, recently during a three-day training for journalists in Bauchi State. Stressing that as critical stakeholders in creating enabling environment and disseminating useful information to community members, he said journalists should be up and doing. Akinpelumi said the role of journalists cannot be overemphasised, adding that the training was to equip them on the rudiments of reporting family health issues in order to create

positive awareness.

He said: “Use your platform to discuss family health matters, especially child spacing methods in order to make it accessible and acceptable to the targeted audience.”

Also, the Bauchi State Programme Coordinator, The Challenge Initiative (TCI), Rabi Ekele said the training was aimed at creating a synergy between the journalists, DevComm and TCI on how to take the message of family health to the targeted audience in the state.

Ekele said: “TCI has been in Bauchi for few years now engaged in creating awareness on issues of child spacing in order to correct the misconceptions and myths attached to the issues.”

Nigeria Records 4% Improvement on Babies Delivered by Skilled Birth Attendants Kuni Tyessi ÓØ ÌßÔË With just 10 years away from achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) target of 2030, Nigeria has recorded four per cent improvement in the number of babies being delivered by skilled birth attendants.

However alarming is the disclosure of two per cent being recorded from 1990- 2018 in the number of children who have completed their vaccination which is expected to be 90 per cent being the benchmark.

This was revealed by UNICEF monitoring and evaluation specialist, Ms. Maureen Zubie-Okolo in Port Harcourt, Rivers State during a media dialogue on National Demographic Health Survey (NDHS), SDGs, Data

and solution journalism.

The latest 2018 NDHS is the sixth demographic and health survey conducted in Nigeria since 1990.

She said education for every mother could not be over emphasised and has become a necessity, as education has been discovered to be one of the indices which enables women to take the right decisions as it concerns maternal and child health from conception to birth.

“The proportion of births assisted by skilled birth attendants has increased over the past decade, from 30 per cent in 2008 to 43 per cent in 2018.

The proportion of deliveries attended by traditional birth attendants has declined during the last five years from. 22 per cent in 2013 to 20 per cent in 2018.

L-R: Medical Director, Reddington Hospital Ikeja, Dr. Balogun Olafisayo; Group Medical Director, Reddington Hospital Group, Dr. Tunde Lalude; and Occupational Health Physician, Reddington Hospital Group, Dr Tokunbo Babajide at a press conference to refute claims of Coronavirus patient at Reddington Hospital, held in Lagos, recently

Medical Laboratory Profession is Indispensable in Healthcare, Says Osinbajo Martins Ifijeh The Vice President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo has stated that medical laboratory profession is an important part of healthcare provision.

He urged the West African Postgraduate College of Medical Laboratory Science and the Nigerian Medical Laboratory Scientists to ensure peaceful laboratory environment in the West Africa region in the line of duty.

Osinbajo who declared open the 2020 Congress of the West African Postgraduate College of Medical Laboratory Science (WAPCMLS) and induction/ investiture of its Fellows in Lagos recently, noted the importance of accurate and reliable laboratory diagnosis in the prevention and control of diseases.

Represented by the Minister of state for Health, Dr. Olorunnimbe Mamora, he noted that medical laboratory services were a vital component of quality healthcare system and that they have continued to play a vital role in disease prevention, detection, surveillance and patient management.

He said: “They are indispensable partners in providing and ensuring optimal healthcare. As this new cadre of laboratory professionals is birthed in the country, I am expecting it will not only ensure availability of highly skilled professionals, but I also expect them to ensure the laboratory environment is peaceful.”

While commending West African Health Organisation (WAHO) for the establishment

of West African Postgraduate College of Medical Laboratory Science, he added that it would harmonise the development of medical laboratory human resources across the ECOWAS region and Cameroon.

The theme of the Congress was: “The role of Medical Laboratory Professionals in the Successful Implementation of Universal Health Coverage in the ECOWAS region.”

In his address, the Director General, WAHO, Prof. Stanley Okolo said Nigeria and other African countries should intensify efforts to make medical laboratory services accessible through public-funded health insurance schemes, as the countries move towards universal coverage of health services.

He added that with a strong political will, the combination

of diagnostic capacity, access to essential healthcare services will become available in low and middle-income countries like ours.

On his part, the DirectorGeneral of the Ghana Health Service, Mr. Lawrence Lawson said without quality laboratory services, no health system can be resilient.

“A health system without adequate and quality laboratory service is like a tree without root and a hospital without a well-equipped laboratory is incomplete and cannot be considered a hospital.

“There can be no universal health coverage without the appropriate investment in quality laboratory service, and that includes investing in the human resource, their liberty and independence to be innovative.”

38

T H I S D AY Ëž ÍłËœ 2020

BUSINESS/MONEYGUIDE

CBN Unveils Draft Guidelines for MFBs Nume Ekeghe The Central Bank of Nigeria has released an exposure draft guideline for the regulation and supervision of the microfinance banks (MFBs).

The document was posted on the central bank’s website yesterday.

The Bank had set April 1, 2020, as deadline for MFBs to meet the first stage of the new minimum capital base. CBN Director, Financial Policy and Regulation, Kevin Amugo, in the circular, stressed that the need to reposition and strengthen MFBs towards improved performance had become apparent as revealed from the report of a recent review of the subsector.

The circular stated: “The 2012 Guidelines have been reviewed to strengthen and complement other on-going reform in the MFB

subsector.�

The guideline for regulation and supervision of MFBs was last reviewed in 2013.

Under the new capital base structure, the CBN categorised MFBs into four, as against the three - Unit, State and National contained in the 2012 Guideline.

But with the new capital base which takes effect next month, MFBs would be categorised into Tier-1 Unit, Tier-2 Unit, State and National.

The CBN had in 2018 reviewed the capital base of MFBs raising that of Unit MFBs from N20 million to N50 million for Tier 2 and N200 million for Tier 1 MFBs. The two categories were expected to meet N35 million and N100 million capital base by the first day of next month.

Also, the capital base of state MFBs had been raised from N100 million to N1 billion by 2021 and

they are expected to have N500 million capital base by April 1, 2020 while the National MFBs are expected to have N3.5 billion by next month and shore it up to N5 billion by April 2021 from a previous requirement of N2 billion.

According to the draft guideline, Tier 1 Unit MFBs, “shall operate in the banked and high-density areas, and is allowed to open not more than four branches outside the head office within five contiguous local governments areas, subject to the approval of the CBN.�

Also, Tier-2 Unit MFB with rural authorisation shall operate only in the rural, unbanked or underbanked areas, and are allowed to open one branch outside the head office within the same local government area, subject to the approval of the CBN.

MARKET INDICATORS

Sekibo Advocates Increased MSMEs’Lending The Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of Heritage Bank Plc, Mr. Ifie Sekibo, has called for increased support for micro, small and medium scale enterprises (SMEs) in the country.

This, he said, would enable the country achieve its quest for double-digit economic growth.

Noting the improvement in the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth rate to 2.27 percent in 2019, from 1.91 percent in 2018, Sekibo said that increasing support to MSMEs, given their dominant role in the economy, would help to leapfrog Nigeria to double digit GDP growth rate.

Highlighting the importance of MSMEs contributions to the na-

tion’s economy, he said: “Nigeria has 41.5 million MSMEs which contributed about 48 percent of the GDP in the last five years.

With a total number of about 17.4 million, MSMEs account for about 50 percent of industrial jobs and nearly 90 percent of the manufacturing sector, in terms of number of enterprises in the country.�

According to him, there are lots of opportunities for the country in MSMEs and Heritage Bank is taking the lead through various initiatives such as its youth entrepreneurship development program which is aimed at increasing the contributions of the MSME segment to the economy. Speaking in a chat, Sekibo said for Nigeria to achieve

its aim as giant of Africa or as an economy to be reckoned with in the world, a lot of mileage needs to be covered in the SMEs subsector.

He stated, “The contribution of the MSMEs to the Nigerian economy cannot be undermined. So if the MSMEs are supported financially and they take their rightful place in the economy of Nigeria, it will create a lot of middle class income earners which is very vital to the economy of any nation. “Heritage Bank is collaborating with relevant operators of MSMEs to help them grow into big and sustainable businesses because we believe some of these businesses are critical to the survival of the nation.�

Coronation Appointed Customs Revenue Collecting Bank Coronation Merchant Bank has been appointed as a designated bank for the collection and remittance of all Revenue Payments (i.e.

Import, Excise and other duties) by the Nigeria Customs Service.

According to a statement, since its inception in 2015, Coronation Merchant Bank has successfully differentiated itself by delivering value to several companies across Nigeria and enabling them to achieve their business objectives.

Commenting on the appointment, the Acting Managing Director, Banjo Adegbohungbe, said: “This is another important milestone on our journey to

become a leading bank in Nigeria and an important enabler of our capacity to support the aspirations of our customers.We are grateful to the Nigeria Customs Service for the opportunity of a partnership that will be mutually beneficial to the partners and our customers.�

Coronation Merchant Bank was established in 2015 to provide wholesale banking to a long-underserved market.

The bank offers; Investment and Corporate Banking; Private Banking/Wealth Management and, Global Markets/Treasury Services to its niche clientele.

It presently has two branches

located in Abuja and Port Harcourt with its Head Office in Lagos, Nigeria. The bank has been the recipient of numerous International and National awards for product innovation and sound corporate governance practices.

Some of the international awards it received in 2019 include Best Investment Bank in Nigeria by Global Finance, Best Investment Bank in Nigeria by World Finance, Best Investment Bank in Nigeria

by Global Banking & Finance Review, Best Investment Bank

by Global Business Outlook and Best Investment Bank in Nigeria

by International Finance.

NOVA Records N1.65bn Profit Nova Merchant Bank Limited has released its audited 2019 full year financial results which showed that its profit after tax increased by 44 per cent, to N1.65 billion, compared to the N1.15 billion recorded the previous year.

According to the results made available to THISDAY yesterday, the bank’s profit before tax also grew by 56 per cent, to N1.5 billion in the year under review, up from the N0.96bn realised the previous year. Its gross earnings also jumped by 113 per cent, to N5.87 billion in 2019, as against the N2.76 billion recorded in 2018, just as its operating expense was N1.95 billion in 2019, compared to N1.42 billion in 2018.

Nova Merchant Bank’s cost-

to-income ratio was also at 55 per cent. While its total assets increased by 155 per cent to N63.8 billion in 2019, compared to N25 billion in 2018; loans to customers also increased significantly by 1121 per cent, to N29.3 billion in 2019, compared to N2.4 billion in 2018. In the same vein, customer deposits grew by 533 per cent, to N40.5 billion in 2019, compared to N6.4 billion in 2018.

Commenting on the financial performance, the Managing Director, Nova Merchant Bank, Mr. Anya Duroha stated: “Our full year 2019 performance resonates our resilience and commitment to excel and succeed despite being a fairly new Merchant Bank and macroeconomic headwinds that persisted in 2019. “Going into

2020 we will continue our resolve to be the best merchant bank in Nigeria as we will leverage our track record of trust, to deliver on operational efficiency through digital innovation while proffering customer centric solutions to our existing and new customers.�

In the same vein, speaking on the results, the Chairman, Mr Phillips Oduoza, said: “I am particularly delighted that the key ratios are trending in the right direction, we are beginning to see the results of our distinct and impactful business model as exhibited in the strong figures across all key indices. A notable reference that we recorded zero per cent non-performing loans in 2019.

MONEY AND CREDIT STATISTICS

(MILLION NAIRA)

SEPTEMBER 2019 Money Supply (M3)

35,029,779.72

-- CBN Bills Held by Money Holding Sectors

7,374,356.91

Money Supply (M2)

27,655,422.82

-- Quasi Money

116,533,891.21

-- Narrow Money (M1)

11,121,531.60

---- Currency Outside Banks

1,625,047.69

---- Demand Deposits

9,496,483.91

Net Foreign Assets (NFA)

13,911,335.83

Net Domestic Assets(NDA)

21,118,443.89

-- Net Domestic Credit (NDC)

35,918,179.45

---- Credit to Government (Net)

10,452,199.38

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

11,007,422.79

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

25,465,980.07

---- Credit to Private Sector (CPS)

-14,799,735.56

--Other Assets Net

7,000,253.07

Reserve Money (Base Money

2,005,600.83

--Currency in Circulation

4,677,530.81

--Banks Reserves

317,121.43

Ëž Ă™Ă&#x;ĂœĂ?Ă? Ě‹

Money Market Indicators (in Percentage) Month

March 2018

Inter-Bank Call Rate

15.16

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

14.00

Treasury Bill Rate

11.84

Savings Deposit Rate

4.07

1 Month Deposit Rate

8.82

3 Months Deposit Rate

9.72

6 Months Deposit Rate

10.93

12 Months Deposit Rate

10.21

Prime Lending rate

17.35

Maximum Lending Rate

31.55

Ëž Ă™Ă˜Ă?ĂžĂ‹ĂœĂŁ ÙÖÓĂ?ĂŁ Ă‹ĂžĂ? Ě‹ ͯ͹Ϲ

OPEC DAILY BASKET PRICE Ëœ Íą Í°ÍŽÍ°ÍŽ

The price of OPEC basket of fourteen crudes stood at $52.65 a barrel on Tuesday, compared with $51.65 the previous day, according to OPEC Secretariat calculations.

The OPEC Reference Basket of Crudes (ORB) is made up of the following: Saharan Blend (Algeria), Girassol (Angola), Djeno (Congo), Oriente (Ecuador), ZaďŹ ro (Equatorial Guinea), Rabi Light (Gabon), Iran Heavy (Islamic Republic of Iran), Basra Light (Iraq), Kuwait Export (Kuwait), Es Sider (Libya), Bonny Light (Nigeria), Arab Light (Saudi Arabia), Murban (UAE) and Merey (Venezuela).

SOURCE: OPEC headquarters, Vienna

39

T H I S D AY Ëž ÍłËœ 2020

MARKET NEWS

Stock Market Sustains Gain on Bargain Hunting, NSE Demutualisation Goddy Egene The stock market appreciated for the second day as investors reacted positively to decision of the members of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) to demutualise the exchange for better performance. Also some investors are embarking on bargain hunting as many stocks hit low levels last week.

The NSE All-Share Index rose 0.6 per cent to close at 26,415.54 while market capitalisation added

N83.6 billion to close at N13.8 trillion. Market operators said the capital market community is eagerly waiting for the demutualization of the exchange, noting that the success court-ordered meeting and extra-ordinary general meeting held on Tuesday reassured operators that the process would soon be completed.

At the meetings, the NSE members assented to: the registration of the exchange as Nigerian Exchange Group; the transfer of its securities exchange

P R I C E S MAIN BOARD

F O R DEALS

licence and other assets required to carry out the securities function to Nigerian Exchange Limited and the establishment of a separate subsidiary company to be charged with the regulatory functions of the exchange post-demutualisation to be called NGX Regulation Limited. The members equally approved the transfer of the assets of NSE Consult Limited, NSE Nominees Limited and Coral Properties Limited – existing subsidiaries of the NSE – to the Nigerian Exchange Group Plc.

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

QUANTITY TRADED

VALUE TRADED ( N )

They also approved that the exchange will have a total share capital being N1,250,000,000 comprising 2,500,000,000 ordinary shares of 50 kobo each to be registered with the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC). The members equally assent to the allotment of 1,964,115,918 ordinary shares to Dealing Members and Ordinary Members on the basis of a ratio of 78:22, respectively.

A broker said these were positive indications that the demutualisation process would

T R A D E D MAIN BOARD

A S

be completed soon and give the market a new lease of life. Hence, the market reacted positively after the meetings on Tuesday and was sustained yesterday.

In all, 22 stocks gained while 10 stocks depreciated. The price gainers were led by NEM Insurance Plc and Royal Exchange Plc with 10 per cent each, trailed

by FBN Holdings Plc with 9.7 per cent. Ecobank Transnational Incorporated with 9.2 per cent, while UAC of Nigeria Plc and Wema Bank Plc garnered 8.6 per

O F

cent each. Other top price gainers included: Unity Bank Plc(8.1 per cent); Access Bank Plc (6.5 per cent); Linkage Assurance Plc (5.2 per cent); Sterling Bank Plc (4.9 per cent); Nigerian Breweries Plc (4.4 per cent). Conversely, Ardova Plc led the price losers with 10 per cent, trailed by Deap Capital with 8.3 per cent. Consolidated Hallmark Insurance Plc shed 7.4 per cent, while Chams Plc and Law Union & Rock Insurance Plc depreciated 4.7 per cent and 4.0 per cent in that order.

0 4 / 0 3 / 2 0 2 0 DEALS

MARKET PRICE

QUANTITY TRADED

VALUE TRADED ( N)

THURSDAY, MARCH 5, 2020 ˾ T H I S D AY

40

MARKET NEWS

Vitafoam Explains Impressive Performance, Pays N525m Dividend Goddy Egene

to the company’s impressive declined from N1.377 billion outstanding performance to N1.049 billion, while profit The board and management despite the inclement operating after tax stood at N2.386 billion compared with N602 million in of manufacturer of flexible, environment.

The company’s revenue rose 2018. The company declared a reconstituted and rigid foam products, Vitafoam Nigeria from N19.534 billion to N22.283 cumulative dividend of N525.354 Plc, has attributed leadership billion. Operating profit grew million an increase of 102 percent ingenuity, innovation and from N2.092 billion to N4.444 over N260.518 million in 2018, passion of its young managers billion. Net financing cost translating to 42 kobo per share.

A Mutual fund (Unit Trust) is an investment floor of the Nigerian Stock Exchange. vehicle managed by a SEC (Securities and A REIT (Real Estate Investment Trust) is an Exchange Commission) registered Fund Manager. investment vehicle that allows both small and Investors with similar objectives buy units of the large investors to part-own real estate ventures (eg.

Fund so that the Fund Manager can buy securities Offices, Houses, Hospitals) in proportion to their that willl generate their desired return. investments. The assets are divided into shares that An ETF (Exchange Traded Fund) is a type are traded on the Nigerian Stock Exchange. of fund which owns the assets (shares of stock, bonds, oil futures, gold bars, foreign currency, GUIDE TO DATA: etc.) and divides ownership of those assets into Date: All fund prices are quoted in Naira as at 03shares. Investors can buy these ‘shares’ on the Mar-2020, unless otherwise stated.

Speaking at the annual general but ingenuity of the company’s meeting (AGM) in Lagos, the leadership. Vitafoam is blessed Chairman of Vitafoam Nigeria Plc with level headed, innovative Dr. Bamidele Makanjuola, said: and passionate youths that form “ Our outstanding performance the core of our managers. The is not just because we utilised board also comprises wise elders the loans we took from the Bank who are always willing to assist of Industry and other banks to the management.” create value for shareholders Reviewing the company’s 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.

business performance Makanjuola said the remarkable improvement in performance reflected the effectiveness of improved funding efficiency gains, and impact of the strategic initiatives implemented to address the protracted challenge of low margins in the business.

DAILY PRICE LIST FOR MUTUAL FUNDS, REITS and ETFS MUTUAL FUNDS / UNIT TRUSTS AFRINVEST ASSET MANAGEMENT LTD aaml@afrinvest.com Web: www.afrinvest.com; Tel: +234 818 885 6757 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Afrinvest Equity Fund N/A N/A N/A Afrinvest Plutus Fund N/A N/A N/A Nigeria International Debt Fund N/A N/A N/A ALTERNATIVE CAPITAL PARTNERS LTD info@acapng.com Web: www.acapng.com, Tel: +234 1 291 2406, +234 1 291 2868 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn ACAP Canary Growth Fund 0.88 0.89 5.02% ACAP Income Funds 0.76 0.76 34.19% 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 6.14% AIICO Balanced Fund 2.45 2.48 -1.02% info@anchoriaam.com ANCHORIA ASSET MANAGEMENT LIMITED Web:www.anchoriaam.com, Tel: 08166830267; 08036814510; 08028419180 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Anchoria Money Market 100.00 100.00 5.67% Anchoria Equity Fund 97.97 98.30 -4.04% Anchoria Fixed Income Fund 1.22 1.22 6.56% 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 14.75 15.19 -3.71% ARM Discovery Fund 339.51 349.75 -1.72% ARM Ethical Fund 29.80 30.70 2.45% ARM Money Market Fund 1.00 1.00 6.48% AXA MANSARD INVESTMENTS LIMITED investmentcare@axamansard.com Web: www.axamansard.com; Tel: +2341-4488482 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn AXA Mansard Equity Income Fund 96.15 96.82 0.07% AXA Mansard Money Market Fund 1.00 1.00 6.09% CAPITAL EXPRESS ASSET AND TRUST LIMITED info@capitalexpressassetandtrust.com Web: www.capitalexpressassetandtrust.com ; Tel: +234 803 307 5048 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn CEAT Fixed Income Fund 2.01 2.01 25.68% 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 N/A N/A N/A Paramount Equity Fund N/A N/A N/A Women's Investment Fund N/A N/A N/A 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 6.45% Cordros Milestone Fund 2023 102.42 102.99 Cordros Milestone Fund 2028 111.28 111.96 CORONATION ASSEST MANAGEMENT investment@coronationam.com Web:www.coronationam.com , Tel: 012366215 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Coronation Money Market Fund 1.00 1.00 5.44% Coronation Balanced Fund 0.92 0.92 -1.24% Coronation Fixed Income Fund 1.41 1.41 6.24% 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 5.47% EDC Nigeria Money Market Fund Class B 1,000,000.00 1,000,000.00 4.64% EDC Nigeria Fixed Income Fund 1,204.18 1,206.18 3.62% FBNQUEST ASSET MANAGEMENT LTD invest@fbnquest.com Web: www.fbnquest.com/asset-management; Tel: +234-81 0082 0082 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn FBN Fixed Income Fund 1,348.21 1,349.40 4.43% FBN Balanced Fund 146.23 147.31 -0.40% FBN Money Market Fund N/A N/A N/A FBN Nigeria Eurobond (USD) Fund - Institutional 119.96 120.25 0.60% FBN Nigeria Eurobond (USD) Fund - Retail 120.71 121.00 0.73% FBN Nigeria Smart Beta Equity Fund 119.03 120.51 -8.53% FCMB ASSET MANAGEMENT LIMITED fcmbamhelpdesk@fcmb.com Web: www.fcmbassetmanagement.com; Tel: +234 1 462 2596 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Legacy Money Market Fund 1.00 1.00 8.06% Legacy Debt Fund 3.70 3.70 1.25% Legacy Equity Fund 1.07 1.09 -5.30% Legacy USD Bond Fund 1.09 1.09 0.74% FSDH ASSET MANAGEMENT LTD coralfunds@fsdhgroup.com Web: www.fsdhaml.com; Tel: 01-270 4884-5; 01-280 9740-1 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Coral Growth Fund 3,021.21 3,054.63 1.29% Coral Income Fund 3,130.09 3,130.09 14.19% FSDH Treasury Bills Fund 100.00 100.00 6.81% GREENWICH ASSET MANAGEMENT LIMITED assetmanagement@gtlgroup.com Web: www.gtlgroup.com ; Tel: +234 1 4619261-2 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Greenwich Plus Money Market Fund 100.00 100.00 5.26% Nigeria Entertainment Fund 117.34 117.12 8.33%

GROWTH & DEVELOPMENT ASSET MANAGEMENT LIMITED assetmanagement@gdl.com.ng Web: www.gdl.com.ng ; Tel: +234 9055691122 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn GDL Money Market Fund N/A N/A N/A INVESTMENT ONE FUNDS MANAGEMENT LTD enquiries@investment-one.com Web: www.investment-one.com; Tel: +234 812 992 1045,+234 1 448 8888 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Abacus Money Market Fund 100.00 100.00 5.12% Vantage Balanced Fund 2.17 2.21 0.77% Vantage Guaranteed Income Fund 1.00 1.00 10.65% Kedari Investment Fund (KIF) 141.00 141.52 12.99% 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 1.18 1.20 1.13% Lotus Halal Fixed Income Fund 1,120.29 1,120.29 1.99% 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 9.06 9.16 -7.50% Meristem Money Market Fund 10.00 10.00 4.33% 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 1.39 1.41 13.56% PACAM Fixed Income Fund 12.43 12.54 10.16% PACAM Money Market Fund 10.00 10.00 7.00% PACAM Equity Fund 1.07 1.09 PACAM EuroBond Fund 100.37 102.28 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 123.26 125.82 4.66% SFS CAPITAL NIGERIA LTD investments@sfsnigeria.com Web: www.sfsnigeria.com, Tel: +234 (01) 2801400 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn SFS Fixed Income Fund 1.02 1.02 1.75% STANBIC IBTC ASSET MANAGEMENT LTD assetmanagement@stanbicibtc.com Web: www.stanbicibtcassetmanagement.com; Tel: +234 1 280 1266; 0700 MUTUALFUNDS Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Stanbic IBTC Balanced Fund 2,521.35 2,532.80 3.30% Stanbic IBTC Bond Fund 210.33 210.33 1.16% Stanbic IBTC Ethical Fund 0.88 0.89 1.69% Stanbic IBTC Guaranteed Investment Fund 273.87 273.95 1.56% Stanbic IBTC Iman Fund 154.92 156.64 -0.39% Stanbic IBTC Money Market Fund 100.00 100.00 5.32% Stanbic IBTC Nigerian Equity Fund 7,674.15 7,756.30 0.13% Stanbic IBTC Dollar Fund (USD) 1.16 1.16 1.03% Stanbic IBTC Shariah Fixed Income Fund 118.18 118.18 0.00% UNITED CAPITAL ASSET MANAGEMENT LTD Web: www.unitedcapitalplcgroup.com; Tel: +234 803 306 2887 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn United Capital Balanced Fund 1.14 1.16 -5.09% United Capital Bond Fund 1.76 1.76 1.84% United Capital Equity Fund 0.65 0.66 -7.95% United Capital Money Market Fund 1.00 1.00 7.17% United Capital Eurobond Fund 113.24 113.24 1.24% United Capital Wealth for Women Fund 1.07 1.07 -1.90% QUANTUM ZENITH ASSET MANAGEMENT & INVESTMENTS LTD service@quantumzenithasset.com.ng Web: www.quantumzenith.com.ng; Tel: +234 1-2784219 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Zenith Equity Fund 10.06 10.21 -2.00% Zenith Ethical Fund 11.48 11.56 -1.33% Zenith Income Fund 23.15 23.15 4.14% Zenith Money Market Fund 1.00 1.00 3.20%

REITS NAV Per Share

Yield / T-Rtn

3.15 120.17 52.41

-67.35% 0.90% 0.69%

Bid Price

Offer Price

Yield / T-Rtn

8.80 88.73 70.17

8.90 90.63 71.49

1.11% -4.04% -4.81%

Fund Name FSDH UPDC Real Estate Investment Fund SFS Skye Shelter Fund Union Homes REIT

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

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

funds@vetiva.com Bid Price

Offer Price

Yield / T-Rtn

3.26 4.39 12.19 11.39 181.48

3.30 4.47 12.29 11.59 183.48

-8.06% -25.58% 0.48% 9.49% -3.47%

NAV Per Share

Yield / T-Rtn

108.69

17.60%

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.

THURSDAY MARCH 5, 2020 ˾ T H I S D AY

41

INTERNATIONAL

Covid-19: Italy Shuts down Schools as Death Toll Hits 107 Italy on Wednesday closed all schools and universities until March 15 as the number of deaths from the new coronavirus in the Mediterranean country hit 107.

The measure is the most restrictive response to COVID-19 of any European nation and tougher than the closure of schools – but not universities – taken by fellow Group of Seven (G7) member Japan.

Italy reported 28 more deaths on Wednesday, the highest singleday total to date. The nation of 60

million people has now recorded over 3,000 cases and only trails China in terms of total fatalities.

Other measures discussed by top ministers and reported

by Italian media include what promises to be an unpopular plan to play all football matches without fans for a month.

Italy has borne the brunt in Europe of a disease that is now spreading across the world faster than it is in the central Chinese region where it was first detected late last year.

...Saudi Arabia Suspends Umrah Pilgrimage for Foreigners, Residents Saudi Arabia, on Wednesday, temporarily halted citizens and foreign residents from carrying out the Umrah pilgrimage in Makkah to prevent coronavirus spread, the Saudi Press Agency (SPA) reported.

According to SPA, the suspension is part of the precautionary measures the government has taken to reduce the spread of the coronavirus.

The measure is coming after

Riyadh banned people from travelling to Saudi Arabia to complete the Umrah pilgrimage to Makkah or to visit the Prophet’s Mosque in Medina.

Millions travel to Saudi Arabia every year to perform Umrah, a smaller pilgrimage than the Hajj, and it could be undertaken at any time during the year.

However, the 2020 bigger Hajj was expected to commence in July.

The problem for the Italian government is that existing restrictions – including quarantine of 11 towns with 50,000 people in the north – have failed to stop the outbreak.

The overwhelming majority of the fatalities have occurred in Milan’s Lombardy region and the neighbouring northern area around the cities of Bologna and Venice.

But 21 of the 22 regions have now had cases and infections are slowly reaching Italy’s less wealthy and developed south.

The government reported the first death south of Rome on Wednesday. It came in the Puglia region that surrounds the city of Bari in the heel of the Italian boot on the map.

Top government minister spent hours huddling Wednesday to chart a way out of a health crisis that threatens to tip Italy’s wheezing economy into recession and overwhelm hospitals.

Most of the steps being considered involve ways to avoid crowds and keep people from coming in contact with each other outdoors.

Media reports said people will be advised to stay at least a metre (three feet) apart and to avoid crowded places whenever possible.

The traditional greetings of kissing on the cheeks or shaking hands are strongly discouraged.

Exhibits and shows are set to be rescheduled – a measure that will be especially painful for

Italy’s already hard-hit hotel and restaurant industry.

Some of the government’s more mundane and common-sense measures include instructions to cough and sneeze in a handkerchief to avoid hands coming in contact with “respiratory secretions”.

Italians will also be urged to avoid sharing bottles and not to drink from the same cups and glasses.

The crowd-control measures will most directly affect football matches and could cause the most resentment in the sports-mad nation.

Italy’s Serie A has already been thrown into disarray by two weeks of postponements that have seen some clubs not play at all and

others play multiple matches in a week.

Fans will even be prohibited from attending the training sessions of top teams such as Cristiano Ronaldo’s Juventus in Turin.

The government will also recommend to those over 75 to stay indoors and to avoid public places. The advice extends to those who are at least 65 and suffer from other ailments.

A top civil protection official told AFP that most of those who have died in the past few days were in their 80s and 90s and were already suffering from other pathologies.

All these measures are meant to stay in place for a month and be reviewed and possibly fine-tuned after two weeks.

US Election: Bloomberg Withdraws from Presidential Race, Endorses Biden US media tycoon Michael Bloomberg said Wednesday he was quitting the Democratic primary race and instead endorsing frontrunner Joe Biden for the White House after being snubbed by voters on Super Tuesday.

“Three months ago, I entered the race for president to defeat Donald

Trump. Today, I am leaving the race for the same reason: to defeat Donald Trump – because it is clear to me that staying in would make achieving that goal more difficult.”

“I’ve always believed that defeating Donald Trump starts with uniting behind the candidate with the best shot to do it. After

yesterday’s vote, it is clear that candidate is my friend and a great American, Joe Biden,” Mr Bloomberg said in his statement.

The billionaire former mayor of New York spent hundreds of millions of dollars on his presidential run, but failed to win any of the 14 states on offer on Super Tuesday

— the most important day in the Democratic primary season.

He spent $409m up to the end of January, according to filings with the Federal Election Commission, but is believed to have also spent heavily during February ahead of Super Tuesday.

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Ondo Court Sentences Man to Life Imprisonment for Kidnapping James SowoleinAkure The Ondo State High Court 9, sitting in Akure, the state capital, has sentenced a 32 year-old man, Akinola Michael to life imprisonment over the kidnap of one Mrs. Adeyeye Ehizogie on December 5, 2015 in Owo Local Government Area of the State.

Akinola Michael was sentenced to life imprisonment over three-count

charge of conspiracy, aiding and abetting kidnapping.

The court which was presided over by Justice Williams Rotimi Olamide held that the mere fact that the victim identified the accused as the person feeding her in the forest while in the custody of kidnapping gang has the weight to determine judicial decisions.

The Judge noted that at the conclusion of trial-within-trial,

FG to Review 2020 Budget The Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Mrs. Zainab Ahmed yesterday disclosed that the federal government will carry out a mid-term review of the 2020 Budget.

The minister, who gave this indication while addressing State House Correspondents on the outcome of the week’s Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting, was responding to questions over the effect of the outbreak of the COVID-19 in Nigeria and how it had affected economies across the globe.

The minister said government had also been concerned about the effect it would have on the 2020.

She revealed that there was plan for mid-term review, adding that should the review indicate a significant impact on plans, a revision of the annual budget would be needed.

According to the Minister, the $53 per barrel price of crude oil is below the budget’s benchmark.

She however noted that in some days, the crude production went beyond the

2 million projected in the budget to 2.1 million, thus providing a bit of cushion for the shock for the drop in oil prices.

“We are concerned because it does have an impact on revenue and at the current crude oil price of $53 per barrel is below the budget bench mark. What we are doing is that we are studying the situation and when the budget was passed we committed to do a midterm review.

“We will do the midterm review and if the revenues are so significantly affected, we will have to do some revisions in the budget by way of budget adjustment.

“I will want to inform that the crude production is now at 2 million barrels per day and in some days it has moved up to 2.1 million barrels per day, so that in itself will be a cushion.

“All the same we are not taking any measures now until we have a reasonable period we make a review and then we may need to make an adjustment of budget through working together with the National Assembly,”she said.

Protest in Kano over Alleged Blasphemous Song Hundreds of aggrieved youths stormed Kano Hisbah office yesterday to protest alleged blasphemy song of portraying the Holy Prophet Muhammad in bad light.

The protesters displayed various placards, alleging that the state government and the security agents in the state were reluctant to handle the alleged case, which informed their action.

Convener of the protest, Mr. Idris Ibrahim (known as Baba Idris), said they came to notify the government to do the needful otherwise they take the law into their hand.

He, however, disclosed that similar incidents occurred in the state but the issue died without any action from the state’s authorities. He said they will not allow the latest incident to go unpunished.

One Yahaya Sharif-Aminu allegedly composed a song containing derogatory verses attributed to the Holy Prophet Muhammad (PBUH), which prompted violence against the members of the musician who fled the area.

But the family house of the singer located at Sharifai

quarters in Kano Municipal Local Government was set ablaze by irate youths who invaded the area in protest against the blasphemy’s song.

The singer is said to be a follower of Tijjaniya sect and Faidha group who are known for their preference of Ibrahim Nyass (a famous Senegalese Islamic Scholar) over Prophet Muhammad (SAW).

While addressing the protesters, the Kano Hisbah Commander, Harun Ibn-Sina, said officials in the state are on top of the situation, adding that the parents of the musician have been arrested and are currently under police custody.

Also addressing the protesters was the representative of the state Police Commissioner, Mr. Habu Sani, who told the protesters that the police are making efforts to arrest the fleeing singer.

The representative of the police chief urged the protesters to be law-abiding citizens by allowing the security agents to do the needful.

He assured the gathering that the musician would not go unpunished.

the court overruled the objection by defence counsel charging the court to dismiss the case.

Justice Olamide pointed out that there were three ways to prove a case, noting that it could be by direct eye witness evidence, by circumstantial evidence and by confessional statement.

The Judge read that the accused was arrested through phone tracking by the police, thereby linking him to the kidnapping.

He however, added that efforts

by Police to arrest other members of the gang proved abortive.

Justice Olamide convicted the accused of the offence of conspiracy, aiding and abetting kidnapping, charged under the Anti-kidnapping Law of Ondo State 2010 and sentenced him to life imprisonment.

In her reaction, the Director of Public Prosecution, Olowoporoku Grace said the judgment will ultimately serve as deterrent to others, stressing that all hands are on deck to ensure that there

is no hiding place for kidnappers and other criminals in Ondo State.

Justice Olamide had in April 2017 sentenced seven men who were involved in the kidnap of a former Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Chief Olu Falae, to life imprisonment.

The seven men were found guilty of kidnapping the elder statesman in his farm in Ilado Village, Akure North Local Government Area of the state in September, 2015.

In his judgment, Olamide had

held that the seven accused persons were guilty of the kidnapping charge brought against them by the Ondo State Government.

He said the recovered ransom, call logs, and identification of the suspects by Falae himself, indicted the convicts of complicity in the crime and subsequently sentenced them to Olokuta prison, Akure for life, without an option of a fine.

He however discharged them of two of the counts, conspiracy and armed robbery.

EFFECTIVE COLLABORATION…

L-R: Member of House of Representatives, representing Lagos Island Constituency 1, Hon. Adedolapo Badru; Speaker, Lagos House of Assembly, Hon. Mudashiru Obasa; Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu; and Chairman, Lagos State Chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Hon. Tunde Balogun, during the 15th Executive/Legislative Parley in Lekki... yesterday

WITH TWO NEW CORONAVIRUS CASES, SENEGAL NOW HAS TOTAL OF FOUR Onu said when Iwu expressed concern that the product might be hijacked from him by the United States if found capable of curing Coronavirus, he drew the attention of the Minister of Health, Dr. Osagie Ehanire, to it and also invited the President of the Academy of Science to ensure that the credit is not taken away from Iwu. He said consequently, America entered into an agreement with him, noting, however, that if the US did not find Iwu’s isolated discovery promising, it would not have cared to enter into any agreement with him.

The minister also said the ministry was working on what he described as voting solutions which would make it possible for all Nigerian elections, ranging from local government, state assemblies, governorship, National Assembly and presidential elections to be conducted in one day.

According to him, this “voting solution” won’t be done on paper and hence, would give no room for ballot snatching and would be powered by solar energy to avoid any disruption by power failure.

Onu added that the ministry was conducting a research aimed at finding solution to breast cancer, which he described as the major cancer disease affecting women, as well as another research seeking cure for prostate cancer and epilepsy using natural herbs in the country.

He also said the ministry was carrying out another study meant to evolve a food supplement with the capacity to help the patient of sickle cell to effectively manage his ailment and avert sinking into crisis.

Onu also said a project called third eye navigator was

being researched upon with the intention of helping the physically challenged to move.

Ehanire explained that the index case of Coronavirus was not discovered at the airport last week when an infected Italian visited the country because the ailment could not be easily discovered until its symptoms manifested.

He said if the victim had come the following day when the symptom first manifested, it would have been easily detected at the airport.

On why the identity of the Italian, whom he said is currently stable, has not been disclosed, he said it is unethical to do so.

Angola Reverses Travel Ban Placed on Nigerians Meanwhile, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has said Angola has reversed the travel ban placed on Nigerians as a result of the Coronavirus outbreak in the country.

A senior officer from the Crisis Communication Department of the ministry, Mr. Kimiebi Ebienfa, in a statement yesterday, said: “Grateful be informed that the Government of Angola has reversed the travel ban earlier placed on Nigerian nationals over the case of Coronavirus in Nigeria.”

Italian Patient Fast Recovering from Coronavirus The Lagos State government also yesterday gave an update on the condition of the index case, saying the Italian patient is fast recovering from the disease.

The Commissioner for Health, Lagos State, Prof. Akin Abayomi, said apart from him, there was no suspected case currently isolated at the centre.

He said: “We test the Italian

patient every day to ascertain whether the virus is still in him or not. This gives us the indication whether he is still contagious or not.

“Sometimes, there is a little bit of rebound in the virus’ pattern before it finally goes away. The tests that we are performing are extremely sensitive. So far, he is doing well and recovering.”

Abayomi identified one of the difficulties the state is having in tracking down persons who travelled via Turkish Airlines with the index case into Nigeria was the inaccurate contact details in their forms.

“Some of the travellers didn’t provide accurate figures, so we are unable to get them.

“Of the 159 passengers that boarded the aircraft with the index patient, 84 resides in Lagos and only 49 have been contacted, while the remaining 35 are still unreachable.

65 people have left Lagos either to other states or other countries. We have contacted the World Health Organisation (WHO) and state epidemiologists to reach out to them because they are no longer in our jurisdiction.

“The young man that was on Ethiopian airline tested negative to the virus. So that means we no longer have a suspected case in our centre,” he added.

He said the state’s priority was to stop the virus from spreading within the country, adding that the major focus was at the airport.

IMF Cautions against Spread of Coronavirus in Africa

IMF, however, has cautioned against the spread of the Coronavirus in Africa.

The Managing Director, IMF, Mrs. Kristalina Georgieva, said yesterday during a joint media briefing with

the World Bank, held in Washington DC that as part of the IMF and World Bank’s contribution towards tackling this disease, the Fund has made available $10 billion to low income countries at zero per cent.

Georgieva said: “We have done a quick assessment of countries of highest risk, because of combinations of four factors, week health systems, exposure to price shocks because of commodity export orientation, vulnerability due to spill over impacts from other countries and limited fiscal space.

“It is unfortunately clear from this analysis that Sub-Saharan Africa presents a particularly area of focus. We do have up to $10 billion available for low income countries to tap in with zero interest rates and obviously we would prioritise countries especially in Africa that have already been faced with difficulties.

“And we have a trust fund that allows the low-income countries to pay their obligations to the IMF so they can use this fiscal pace to fund priority investments.”

World Bank Pledges $12bn in Emergency Aid The World Bank Group has also confirmed that it is making available an initial package of up to $12 billion in immediate support to assist countries coping with the health and economic impacts of the global outbreak.

This financing is designed to help member countries take effective action to respond to and, where possible, lessen the tragic impacts posed by the COVID-19.

Through this new fast-track package, the World Bank Group will help developing countries

Cont’d on page 44

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Lawan: Coronavirus Isolation Centres Not Ready in Abuja Laments non-release of N620m to NCDC Deji Elumoye in Abuja The Senate President, Dr. Ahmad Lawan, yesterday expressed concern that the two isolation centres meant for the treatment of Coronavirus patients in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) were not ready.

Lawan has also decried the non-release of N620 million earlier approved by the federal government for the emergency response to Coronavirus (COVID -19) outbreak.

The Senate President, who spoke after inspecting facilities at the two isolation centres at the University of Abuja Teaching Hospital in Gwagwalada, stated that the isolation centres were far from being ready going by what he saw.

He stressed that “from our inspection here, the temporary

isolation centre is really not in good shape; it doesn’t look ready to receive any patient, and I believe that this is something that we need to fix between now and tomorrow.

“We are in an emergency, even if we don’t have people who are affected; we shouldn’t just rest on our oars. We have to do everything and anything possible to fix that temporary isolation centre to be prepared to receive anyone who falls sick in this respect”.

Lawan further lamented that Nigeria, despite being a country with the largest economy in Africa, is yet to have a completed Isolation centre in any of the geo-political zones that would provide emergency response to disease outbreak in the country.

He charged those saddled with leadership responsibilities in the country to live up to expectations

through timely discharge of their mandates and duties.

“There’s no way that Nigeria, the largest economy in Africa, with a population of 200 million, and yet the Federal Capital and

six surrounding states of the North Central, you don’t have one room that you can call an isolation centre, where anyone who unfortunately falls into this crisis will be taken to. This is not

acceptable.

“I also believe that we should have a replication of the permanent site; we should be able to complete this and then have five others across the remaining geo-political

zones of the country.

“The contractor said by the end of this month this should be ready, we pray it should be faster, but by the end of tomorrow, that temporary site must be ready.

Banknotes Can Spread Coronavirus, WHO Warns As the coronavirus assumes pandemic proportion globally, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has warned that banknotes could aid the transmission of the infectious disease.

The United Nations body, therefore, counselled people to rather go cashless when making purchases.

In the event where they handle money, people should make it a regular habit to wash their hands immediately, the global health body added.

The WHO warned that coronavirus could be on the surface of banknotes for several days, hence the need for people to refrain from using money for transactions as much as possible.

WHO spokesman was quoted as saying that: “To stop the spread of the disease, people should use contactless payments where possible and wash their hands after handling cash.

“We know that money changes hands frequently and can pick up all sorts of bacteria and viruses.

“We would advise people to wash their hands after handling banknotes, and avoid touching their face.

“When possible, it would also

be advisable to use contactless payments to reduce the risk of transmission,” WHO said.

A study involving a total of 1280 bank notes obtained from food outlets had shown that bacteria species often crawl across bank notes.

The study titled “dirty money: an investigation into the hygiene status of some of the world’s currencies as obtained from food outlets”, was carried out in 10 different countries including Australia, Burkina Faso, China, Ireland, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Nigeria, Mexico, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

It revealed that the “presence of bacteria on banknotes often influenced the material of the notes”.

Coronavirus disease has spread through 64 countries with a total of 88,948 confirmed cases and 3,043 deaths.

It may be recalled that, in February, Chinese and Korean banks embarked on the disinfection and isolation of used banknotes as part of efforts to stem the spread of the virus.

Buhari Commends Dangote Foundation for N200m Donation to Fight COVID-19 Omololu Ogunmade in Abuja President Muhammadu Buhari yesterday in Abuja commended Aliko Dangote Foundation (ADF) for donating N200 million to assist in combating the influx of Covid-19 into the country.

The president recalled that the organisation had in the past donated N1 billion to fight Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) in Africa, challenging other well-to-do individuals and groups to emulate the foundation.

In a statement, the president’s media adviser, Mr. Femi Adesina, quoted Buhari as saying, “Hand in hand, standing shoulder to

shoulder, we can confront our challenges as a country. This is a path for us all to follow as a people.”

The statement said the president reiterated his earlier charge to Nigerians to take the necessary hygiene precautions, rather than panic about the disease as a result of the discovery of the index case in the country last week.

It added that the president said governments at various levels had the responsibility of ensuring that the country and her people remain safe from the virus, which he said is spreading rapidly in many parts of the world.

A NEW MEGA DEAL SIGNED…

L-R: Chairman of Shell Nigeria Gas Limited, Mr. Hans Nijkamp; Managing Director of Shell Nigeria Gas (SNG), Mr. ED Ubong; Executive Secretary, Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB), Mr. Kesiye Simbi Wabote; and Coordinator, Legal Services, NCDMB, Mr. Mohammed Umar, after signing lease agreement for the development of pressure reduction and metering station, Polaku, Bayelsa State, in Abuja…yesterday

NCDC Faults House on Planned Suspension of Plenary over Coronavirus Lawmakers may reverse planned suspension Martins Ifijeh in Lagos and Udora Orizu in Abuja The Nigerian Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) has described as needless the decision by the House of Representatives to suspend plenary for two weeks over Coronavirus.

The lawmakers may reverse their decision after Nigerians took to Twitter and other social media platforms to condemn their intention to adjourn plenary for two weeks.

In an interview on Channels

Television yesterday, the Director General, NCDC, Dr. Chikwe Ihekweazu said this could cause panic and send the wrong signal to Nigerians.

He said: “I have all the respect for the honourable members. They represent Nigerians, they express the anxieties of Nigerians across the country but I think the time has not come to suspend plenary.

“If they respond by suspending sessions, everyone else will begin to think ‘should I close my business; should I close my office?;’‘should I close my

school? It is disproportionate at this time. I think what the honourable members should do is supporting the work we are doing; the technical work that the experts are doing. Give us your support; give us a sustainable budget so that we can develop the expertise.

“Ask us for advice so that we can advise you on what to do. If I were asked, I would tell them that it is too early to carry out a measure like that. They need to express by their actions and words, confidence in the government

institutions that they have set up and which is their mandate to fund.”

The NCDC boss who has been in self-isolation since his return from China last week as part of measures to ensure he does not spread the virus should he be exposed in the course of the trip, said it was only a precaution as he has tested negative to the disease.

Meanwhile, the House of Representatives yesterday resumed plenary, indicating that the adjournment will likely not to take place.

Bauchi Govt Activates Surveillance Strategies against Coronavirus Segun Awofadeji in Bauchi Bauchi State Primary Healthcare Development Agency in collaboration with the state Ministry of Health has activated a surveillance strategy at Abubakar Tafawa Balewa International Airport in Bauchi as part of efforts to prevent any outbreak of the deadly Coronavirus in the state.

Addressing newsmen at the

airport yesterday, Bauchi State Commissioner for Health, Dr. Aliyu Mohammed Maigoro, said the aim of the activation of a surveillance strategy at the airport was to ensure that no person with the virus gain access into the state.

He explained that the surveillance team members were trained on how to examine passengers’ temperature, travel

history and other vital information to enable them detect any possible symptoms.

“The surveillance strategy at the airport is part of the state government’s efforts in combating the spread of the deadly Coronavirus in the state.

Already, we have trained the surveillance team members on how to detect any person with the virus coming into the state.

They have been trained on how to check people’s temperature, travel history and other necessary information,” he said The commissioner emphasised the need for people to embibe the culture of regular hand washing and keep the environment clean as well as avoid contact with wild animals which are dangerous.

Anambra Assembly Summons Commissioners over Coronavirus David-Chyddy Eleke in Awka Anambra State House of Assembly has summoned the state Commissioner for Health, Mr. Vincent Okpala, and his Information and Public Enlightenment counterpart, Mr. C. Don Adinuba, to appear

before plenary to explain the state readiness to contain the rapid spread of Coronavirus.

The resolution followed a motion moved under matters of urgent public importance, which was raised by Majority Leader of the Assembly, Nnamdi Okafor, on March 3.

The Speaker, Uche Okafor,

therefore stated that the commissioners were to appear before the Assembly on March 5.

Okafor, who presided over the plenary, read out the resolution while lawmakers unanimously adopted it through voice votes.

Nnamdi Okafor, who represents Awka South 1,

said there was need to ensure adequate preparation and robust response in the event of any emergency.

He said: “The Health Commissioner would brief us on the ministry’s preparedness, action plan and preventive measures against the disease in the state.

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Suspected Herdsmen Kill Four Persons in Benue State govt, Army disagree over military operation Four persons were yesterday killed in Waya, Moon district of Kwande Local Government Area of Benue State when marauding herdsmen launched an attack on the area.

Confirming the report, Public Relations Officer, Benue State Police Command, DSP Sewuese Anene, said the incident occurred on Tuesday when the herdsmen attack the local community by the river bank and shot sporadically killing four people while many others sustained injuries.

The renewed attack has generated hot argument between Benue State Government and the military special operation in the state.

The member of the House of Representatives from Kwande/ Ushongo Federal Constituency in Benue State, Hon. Bob Tyough, condemned the attack, saying he was unhappy that the Commander of Operation Whirl Stroke (OPWS), Major General Adeyemi Yekini, claimed in an interview with journalists that his team has ended insecurity in Benue State while the killings continued unabated.

“While not taking anything away from the commitment

and gallantry of the military in our state, particularly troops of OPWS, I wish to raise objection to the swooping claim by Major General Yekini which tends to sell the impression that total peace has returned to Benue State,” Tyough added.

He pointed out that Yekini’s claims that Benue people are no longer under attacks was not true and maintained that four persons were killed and many others injured at Waya community in Jato-Aka, Kwande Local Government Area on Tuesday.

“The OPWS Commander’s assertion that his job does not include arresting cows on the streets is also misleading, because herdsmen invade our communities with sophisticated weapons and kill innocent people,” Tyough noted.

Tyough, in a statement, observed that if attacks did not fall within the mandate of the military operation, then, he wondered what else was their mandate.

The lawmaker stated that he read the comments credited to Governor Samuel Ortom to which Major General Yekini reacted, saying he saw nothing strange in what the governor said other than the

Kano Assembly Receives Two Fresh Petitions against Emir Sanusi Ibrahim Shuaibu in Kano Kano State House of Assembly yesterday read two petitions sent to the lawmakers by a civil society organisation and a Kano resident, calling for the investigation of Emir of Kano, Muhammad Sanusi ll.

The Chairman of Assembly Committee on Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, and member, representing Sumaila Constituency, Hamza Massu, read one of the petitions which was signed by the Chairman of Society for the Promotion of Education and Culture, Mohammed Bello, while the other was signed by Muhammad Mukhtar.

The petitions called for the investigation of the Emir over his non-challantt attitudes which they alleged were against the religion, culture and traditions of Kano people.

“Apart from the written petitions, the petitioners have also presented some video tapes which contained contents that will serve as a prove to their petitions,” Massu said.

The petitioners prayer before the Assembly is that the lawmakers should investigate the Emir and take necessary actions on the issue.

However, legislators deliberated and ordered the standing committee of the Assembly on petitions to take appropriate action.

The Deputy Speaker of the Assembly, Engr. Hamisu Chidari, was co-opted into the committee to lead the investigation and the committee was given one week to present its report.

Also, the Assembly Majority Leader, Kabiru Hasaan, and the Chief Whip, Labaran Ayuba ,were added as supporting members of the committee.

Kano House of Assembly directed the committee to commence the investigation, while a member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) representing Dala Constituency, Lawal Hussain, suggested that the content of the pettition should be made public.

FCT Impounds 33 Commercial Motorcycles Olawale Ajimotokan in Abuja Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Ministerial Task-team on Traffic Management has impounded 33 commercial motorcycles 24 hours after it began the clampdown on operators plying the AYA-Nyanya Expressway.

The chairman of Task-team, Ikharo Attah, who gave the statistics at a press briefing in Abuja, said 11 vehicles were impounded on Monday evening with another 22 on Tuesday morning.

At the briefing were the Special Assistant (Media) to the FCT Minister, Abubakar Sani, and the Deputy Director of Directorate of Road Traffic Services, Dele Yaro.

Attah said: “The commercial motorcycles are to work in the

suburbs. But it is worrisome that they drive against traffic and on high speed. The misbehaviour of the commercial motorcyclists is reaching the roof top and it is high time we took a decisive action.”

He added that the enforcement would begin on the Southern parkway linking the FCTA, Area 8 and the Goodluck Jonathan Expressway among others on March 9.

Yaro said no fewer than 300 persons had been arrested for offences ranging from answering or making phone calls while driving, to driving against the traffic. He said only 19 of them were discharged and acquitted.

He said five magistrates had been posted to the mobile courts for quick trial and judgement.

well known fact that the security agencies needed support.

He explained that the governor’s statement implied that as much as the military

operation has done well, a lot more needed to be done to ensure that Benue communities were safer and people could return to their ancestral homes.

“In my opinion, Major General Yekini ought to have seen Governor Ortom’s call as a voice of support; and his team has no doubt done

a commendable job even as the personnel are also aware that their capacity needs to be strengthened to enable them do better,” he added.

COURTESY VISIT…

L-R: Emir of Doma Kingdom, Nasarawa State, Alhaji, Ahmadu Aliyu (left), receiving National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) publication from the Director General of NYSC, Brigadier General Shuaibu Ibrahim, during his visit to the emir’s palace in Nasarawa State…recently

Fayose’s Spokesman Docked for Alleged Stealing, Fraud Victor OgunjeinAdoEkiti Mr. Lere Olayinka, a 47-year-old media aide to former governor of Ekiti State, Mr. Ayodele Fayose, was yesterday arraigned before an Ado-Ekiti Chief Magistrates’ Court over alleged stealing and fraud.

The defendant was standing trial on a three-count charge of abuse of office, stealing and fraud.

The prosecutor, Inspector Johnson

Okunade, told the court that the defendant committed the offence between 2014 and 2018, while serving as the Director General of Broadcasting Service of Ekiti State at Ilokun in Ado-Ekit under Fayose.

He alleged that the defendant as a public officer allegedly abused his office when he failed to remit a commercial revenue accrued to the Broadcasting Service of Ekiti State totalling N13.5 million to the coffers of the government.

He also alleged that the defendant also abused his office when he authorised travelling allowance totalling N7 million in his name for journeys not embarked on.

Okunade added that the defendant also converted a sum of N13.5 million belonging to the Broadcasting Service of Ekiti State to his own personal use.

He also alleged that the defendant obtained a sum of N7 million under false pretext as travelling allowance

from the Broadcasting Service of Ekiti State.

The prosecutor noted that the offences contravened section 104, 390(5) and 419 of the Criminal Code, Laws of Ekiti State, 2012.

He asked the court for adjournment to enable him study the case file and present his witnesses.

However, the defendant pleaded not guilty to the charges.

His counsel and former Attorney

WITH TWO NEW CORONAVIRUS CASES, SENEGAL NOW HAS TOTAL OF FOUR strengthen health system, including better access to health services to safeguard people from the epidemic, strengthen disease surveillance, bolster public health interventions, and work with the private sector to reduce the impact on economies.

The financial package, with financing drawn from across International Development Association (IDA), International Bank for Reconstruction (IBRD) and the International Finance Corporation (IFC), will be globally coordinated to support countrybased responses.

The COVID-19 support package will make available initial crisis resources of up to $12 billion in financing — $8 billion of which is new — on a fast track basis.

This comprises up to $2.7 billion new financing from IBRD; $1.3 billion from IDA, complemented by reprioritisation of $2 billion of the Bank’s existing portfolio; and $6 billion from IFC , including $2 billion from existing trade facilities.

It will also include policy advice and technical assistance drawing on global expertise and country-level knowledge.

“We are working to provide a fast, flexible response based on developing country needs in dealing with the spread of COVID-19. This includes emergency financing, policy advice and technical assistance, building on the World Bank Group’s existing instruments and expertise to help countries respond to the crisis,” said World Bank Group President, David Malpass.

Airlines Face Revenue Drop on Reduced Passenger Traffic The Coronavirus epidemic has weakened demand for air ticket in the world and travel experts have projected that the impact of the disease will hurt airlines’ profitability.

As at February 20, 2020 the InternationalAir TransportAssociation (IATA) had projected that airlines had lost over $29 billion, but passenger traffic has continued to drop since then and airlines have cut back their operations to some destinations.

Confirming this development, the Director of Consumer Protection, the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), Mr. Adamu Abdullahi, said there was a significant drop in passenger traffic on international

routes, adding that there is no statistics to know the exact figures yet, till the end of the month.

“So many international meeting that usually attract high passenger traffic have been cancelled, so airlines just fly about with empty seats. Of course this will have adverse financial effect on the airlines,” he said.

Also the Managing Director of Air France/KLM, Mr. Benjamin Smith, said losses being incurred by airlines due to the Coronavirus would force the carrier to go into merger because of competition, especially airlines that are already weak.

But the World Health Organisation (WHO) has advised against suspension of flights, saying that it is a wrong strategy to end the spread of the virus.

We Will Pay Contractors for Only Verified Jobs, Says NDDC Boss Ernest Chinwo in Port Harcourt Acting Managing Director of Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), Prof.

Kemebradikumo Pondei, has warned that the commission would not pay any project that’s not fully verified.

NDDC Chief Executive Officer stated this when a delegation from Ogboin-Ebe Unity Forum in Bayelsa and Delta states, led by their President, Ambaiowe

Betebekurogha, paid him a courtesy visit at the commission’s headquarters in Port Harcourt.

Pondei said: “We are aware that a lot of contractors are being owed for work they have done. Verification is on-going, the Acting Executive Director of Projects just returned from projects site assessments. When the budget is passed, we will start to pay those that deserve to be paid.

“We are going to attend to only those jobs that have

been duly verified and found to have met specifications because, the days of cheating our people has passed. Any contractor who has not completed his project will not be paid.”

The NDDC boss lamented that some “ghost jobs” had been discovered, while others did not meet the specifications of the commission. He, however, assured that efforts were being made to right the wrongs of the past.

He observed: “I know that

Amassoma has quite a number of jobs, I can assure you that some of them are receiving attention. I am aware that other communities have projects as well. I can assure you that we will give equal attention not just to Ogbein-Ebe community but to the entire Niger Delta region.”

Pondei said the marginalised communities of the Niger Delta region would henceforth receive equal attention and given opportunities to develop.

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24 HOURS...

24 HOURS...

Senate Passes South West Development Commission Bill for Second Reading Deji Elumoye and Chuks Okocha in Abuja The Senate yesterday passed for second reading a bill for the establishment of South West Development Commission (SWDC) sponsored by former Governor of Ogun State, Senator Ibikunle Amosun.

The Senate has referred the bill to its committee on Establishment and Public Service chaired by Senator Ibrahim Shekarau for further legislative action within four weeks.

This was sequel to the passage of the bill for second reading after the lead debate presented by the sponsor, Senator Amosun, as well as contributions by some other senators.

Amosun, while leading the debate, stated that the push for the establishment of the South West Development Commission is aimed at addressing the dwindling

fortunes of the South-west region “by implementing a regional development plan, taking into consideration the region’s unique endowments, natural advantages and capabilities.”

He said the bill, if passed into law, would enhance regional integration as well as act as a catalyst to develop the geo-political zone by providing legislative backing to address some of these challenges in the region.

The bill, Amosun further explained, seeks to resolve issues of underdevelopment by redirecting the federal attention to the development challenges of the region which comprises Ekiti, Lagos, Ogun, Ondo, Osun and Oyo States. Issues which include, “but are not limited to, agriculture, transportation, health, infrastructural decay, education, environment, housing, industrialisation, water supply, electricity, commerce among

others, which when addressed, would have a multiplier effect of great proportions not only for the South-west region but Nigeria in general.”

In their contributions, Senators Teslim Folarin, James

Manager, Emmanuel Bwacha, Ayo Akinyelure and Obinna Ogba spoke in support of the bill, saying the establishment of the Commission will lead to the development of the South-west zone.

Two senators namely: Adamu Bulkachuwa and Peter Nwaoboshi, however, spoke against the bill.

On his part, Bulkachuwa stressed that “this chamber shouldn’t be a place where the disintegration of Nigeria should

be discussed. The NDDC was a product of circumstance, the livelihood of the people there has been devastated.

The North East Development Commission is as a result of devastation.

House Condemns Military FOR PRAYERS… Invasion of Bayelsa Community TIME Former Vice Chancellor of the University of Ilorin and chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Prof. Shuaib Oba AbdulRaheem Udora Orizu in Abuja

The House of Representatives has condemned the alleged military invasion of Bilabiri community in Bayelsa State by men of the Joint Military Taskforce on January 18, 2020, urging the Chief of Defence Staff to immediately halt any further aggression by soldiers.

This followed the adoption of a motion moved by Hon. Agbedi Yeitiemone Fredrick, titled: ‘Military Invasion of Bilabiri Community in Ekeremor Local Government Area of Bayelsa State’ at plenary yesterday.

According to Fredrick, the men of the Joint Military Taskforce allegedly stormed Bilabiri community in reprisal following an earlier killing of four Naval personnel on January 2, 2020, at Sterling Oil Exploration and Energy Production Company site at Agge by unknown gunmen.

He noted that recently, there had been several invasions of various communities in the Niger Delta area by men of the Nigerian army who claimed to have

been on security operations in such communities.

The lawmaker expressed concerns that the socio-economic lives and wellbeing of the people living in and around the affected areas could also be adversely affected as people would vacate the area in search of safety and other conducive business environment.

Fredrick called for a prompt and immediate cessation of hostilities by the Joint Military Taskforce in Bilabiri and any other community in the local government area to avert further hardship on the innocent people for the crimes of a few miscreants.

He admonished that a globally respected military force such as the Nigerian army cannot afford to exhibit such “uncivilized and reckless behaviour even in the face of the provocative and mindless killings of members of the armed forces,” adding that rather, it should have used efficient defence intelligence to conduct thorough investigation to bring those miscreants to justice.

Bwacha Wants Amotekun in North-east States Chuks Okocha and Deji Elumoye in Abuja The Senate Deputy Minority Leader, Senator Emmanuel Bwacha, has called on states in the North-east geo political zone to consider adopting Amotekun security model of the South-west region.

This, he said, would curb the increasing security threats from the Boko Haram insurgents as the military seems to be over stretched.

Bwacha, who represents Taraba South senatorial district in the Senate, explained his ordeals in the hands of the insurgents, and the need for the states in the zone to emulate the Amotekun security network as obtained in the Southwest.

According to him, “The matter I want to explain before my colleagues is topical and unique in a way. Officials in the Federal Ministry of Works went to my senatorial district, and I advised

them to go with security men.

“As they were going, they ran into a huge crowd of bandits on motorcycles armed with AK47 rifles. Why am I saying this, Mr. President, it’s because insecurity is a topical challenge that we know.

On whether the insurgents are everywhere now is a matter not known to the public yet.”

He explained that the bandits upon sighting the security agents, ran away while two of them who were caught unaware abandoned their motorcycles and ran away, explaining that the soldiers exchanged gunfire with them and took their motorcycles unto their vehicles.

This incident, he said, had heightened fears among the people of Taraba State and its environs, giving credence to speculations on the social media that they have been planning attacks on communities around Yoro and Jalingo, the state capital of Taraba State.

(left), exchanging pleasantries with the Kwara State Governor, Alhaji AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq, when the governor attended the Fidau (funeral prayers) for a prominent Muslim scholar, Sheikh Waliyi AbdulQaadir Alaaya in Ilorin…recently

Bandits Kidnap Pastor, Three Female Church Members in Niger Laleye Dipo in Minna The Pastor of Kauna Baptist Church in Danazunmi near Grigori in the Rafi local Government Area of Niger State, Reverend Genesis Zaka, and three female members of the church have been kidnapped by bandits.

The names of the abducted female church members are Tabitha Luka, Liatu Nuhu and Rahila Luka.

The cleric and the female church members were said to have been abducted by the bandits during last Sunday morning service.

An eyewitness, who narrated how the incident happened, told THISDAY that during the service, the bandits came in a large number on motorcycles and surrounded the church.

He said a stampede occurred with many of the worshipers

running for their lives.

It was in the confusion that the pastor and the three female church members were kidnapped and taken away.

The source stated further that last Monday the bandits contacted the church secretary for N30million ransom before those kidnapped will be released.

The church reportedly pleaded that they could only raise N40, 000 which the bandits reportedly

rejected but promise to get back to the church.

When contacted, an official of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) in Rafi LGA, who did not want his name in print, confirmed the story, saying he has informed both the Rafi LGA chairman, the Divisional Police Officer of the area and the state chairman of CAN about the development.

Kidnapping: House Wants Joint Security Task Force on Lokoja-Abuja Highway Udora Orizu in Abuja With the alarming rate of kidnappings occurring on the Lokoja-Abuja highway, the House of Representatives has called on the federal government to set up a wellequipped and properly motivated Joint Security Task Force to address the crimes on the highway.

The House, after adopting a motion, titled ‘Need to address the incessant kidnappings in Kogi Local Government Area of Kogi State’, moved by Hon. Isah Ibrahim, urged the Federal Ministry of Works

and Housing to clear the bushes on the highway to prevent criminals springingout from there to attack motorists.

It also urged the Federal Roads Maintenance Agency (FERMA) to urgently commence the repair of bad spots on the road especially between Abaji and Gegu.

Presenting his motion, Ibrahim noted that ensuring security and welfare of the people is the primary purpose of the government.

He said the House is aware that as a result of the alarming rate of

kidnappings, killings and armed robberies in that area, more than 45 people were gruesomely murdered in over 84 cases reported between March 17 and December 5, 2019.

He lamented that there are spots on the highway that are terribly bad and have become dens for kidnappers to flourish because motorists must slow down in such spots, thereby making themselves easy targets.

The lawmaker worried that if repairs are not carried out immediately to allow free flow of vehicular traffic, the dastardly

acts would continue, a situation which could result in famine in the affected communities which are largely agrarian.

According to him, “Kogi LGA is situated on the ever busy Lokoja-Abuja highway which is very strategic by virtue of the status of Abuja as the Nigerian capital city.

As about 25 people were reportedly kidnapped between Ahoko and Adabo on the highway, and in January 2020 alone, more than 96 people were kidnapped and 12 people out of the number lost their lives, including a teenager.”

Clean-up: Lagos Impounds 38Vehicles, Arrests 42, Including Commercial Sex Workers Segun James In its bid to sanitise the state, especially the highbrow areas, of filthiness, the Lagos State Special Committee on Cleanup Ikoyi and Victoria Island took its campaign to restore sanity to Obalende area of Ikoyi as operatives dislodged illegal parks, garages, vehicles operators and traders who converted the green areas and Obalende under bridge to bus parks.

The operatives also eased traffic as several commercial vehicles, which

parked on Obalende Road were towed away.

The operation, which involved all the enforcement teams in the state, visited Odoo Street, Ojo Street, Obalende Road, Passport Road and Keffi Road, where illegal structures were dismantled and items on sale confiscated.

At the Obalende roundabout, close to the Police Force Headquarters Annex, an illegal market was sealed up with all the items on sale seized.

The team also sealed several shanties acting as brothels, and

arrested several prostitutes who resided in the shanties which also serve as abode to people with questionable characters.

As the enforcement lasted for several hours, all illegal structures that seemed to have harboured miscreants as well as shanties were dismantled while the team ensured that the wreckage were carted away

by LAWMA trucks as the operation progressed.

According to the Director of Operations of the Committee, Mr.Ayo Williams, a total of 42 people were

arrested for various environmental offences and 38 vehicles impounded.

He said that those arrested for environmental offences were immediately prosecuted accordingly by the Lagos State Special Offences Mobile Court at the premises of transfer-loading station in Sura, Lagos Island.

He emphasised that as the Clean-up exercise continued, the team would secure all the cleared open spaces to prevent the return of the miscreants within IKoyi and Victoria Island axis.

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THURSDAY MARCH 5, ͺ͸ͺ͸ ˾ T H I S D AY

THURSDAYSPORTS

Group Sports Editor Duro Ikhazuagbe Email duro.ikhazuagbe@thisdaylive.com 0811 181 3083 SMS ONLY

AFCON 2021 QUALIFIERS

Iheanacho, Ndidi, Omeruo, Others Return for Leone Stars Duro Ikhazuagbe

After playing himself back to reckoning at English Premiership club, Leicester City, Kelechi Iheanacho has been recalled to the Super Eagles ahead of Nigeria’s quick-double 2021 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying fixture against the Leone Stars of Sierra Leone this month.

The Foxes forward was recalled along with captain Ahmed Musa, vice captain William Ekong and veteran defender Kenneth Omeruo in Coach Gernot Rohr’s 24-man roster released yesterday by the NFF. Also in the list is in-form South

Africa-based Kaiser Chiefs’ safe hands goalkeeper Daniel Akpeyi, defenders Leon Balogun and Olaoluwa Aina, midfielder Wilfred Ndidi and forwards Alex Iwobi and Victor Osimhen in the list of three goalkeepers, eight defenders, five midfielders and eight forwards.

Germany –based defender Kingsley Ehizibue, on the books of FC Koln, and Holland –based forward Cyril Dessers have been called up for the first time, while England –based former U17 World Cup winner Kelechi Iheanacho returns to the fold.

Nigeria, on maximum six points from her first two matches of the campaign and

in somewhat comfortable lead in their pool, host the Leone Stars at the Stephen Keshi Stadium in Asaba on Friday, 27thMarch, before flying to Freetown to confront the Stars at the Siaka Stevens Stadium in the return four days later.

According to the Director of Communications of NFF, Ademola Olajire, “All invited players, as well as technical and administrative officials, are to report in the Delta State capital on Monday, 23rd March.”

Victory in both games will virtually guarantee Nigeria a spot at the 33rd Africa Cup of Nations scheduled for Cameroon early next year, ahead of Eagles away clash to Benin Republic in Porto Novo in June and home tie against Lesotho early September.

INVITED 24 SUPER EAGLES Goalkeepers: Daniel Akpeyi (Kaizer Chiefs, South Africa); Ikechukwu Ezenwa (Heartland FC); Maduka Okoye (Fortuna Dusseldorf, Germany) Defenders:Kenneth Omeruo

(CD Leganes, Spain); Leon Balogun (Wigan Athletic, England); Chidozie Awaziem (CD Leganes, Spain); William Ekong (Udinese FC, Italy); Olaoluwa Aina (Torino FC, Italy); Jamilu Collins (SC Padeborn 07, Germany); Oluwasemilogo Ajayi (West Bromwich Albion, England); Kingsley Ehizibue (FC Koln, Germany) Midfielders: Abdullahi Shehu (Bursaspor FC, Turkey); Etebo Oghenekaro (Getafe FC, Spain); Wilfred Ndidi (Leicester City,

England); Joseph Ayodele-Aribo (Glasgow Rangers, Scotland); Ramon Azeez (Granada FC, Spain) Forwards: Ahmed Musa (Al Nassr, Saudi Arabia); Alexander Iwobi (Everton FC, England); Victor Osimhen (Lille OSC, France); Moses Simon (FC Nantes, France); Samuel Chukwueze (Villarreal FC, Spain); Cyril Dessers (Heracles Almelo, The Netherlands); Kelechi Iheanacho (Leicester City, England); Samuel Kalu (Girondins Bordeaux, France)

Buhari to Declare Open 2020 National Sports Festival in Edo Shaibu gives assurance on maintenance of Ogbemudia stadium facilities The President Muhammadu Buhari has been scheduled to declare the 2020 National Sports Festival in Benin City, Edo State open on March 22.

Edo State Deputy Governor, Philip Shaibu, announced this in Benin City on Tuesday after leading sportswriters to inspect facilities at venues for the national sporting fiesta.

“We have put everything in place for an unprecedented National Sports Festival. I’m happy to inform you that President Muhammadu Buhari will declare the Games open on March 22, while Vice President Yemi Osinbajo will draw curtain on the events,” Shaibu announced.

The deputy governor revealed that the state was working hard towards ensuring that Edo 2020 was the best Games ever in the history of the NSF, which was first held at the National Stadium, Lagos in 1973.

“We are going to have about 17 centres that the events will take place in because like we’ve always said, we want to redefine how the Games are being hosted, so that at the end of the day, Edo will be a reference point. For us, Edo is the home of sports,” Shaibu recalled.

The deputy governor, an acclaimed footballer on the domestic scene, who featured for Insurance FC in the Nigerian top flight League, hinted that Edo was hosting to win the competition.

He stressed that the state’s athletes have been given the necessary exposure and training to bring glory to the state.

“We are hosting to win and win clean,” Shaibu stated with optimism.

“We’ve since started work; since we got the nod to host the festival, our athletes have been going for all national games. We’ve exposed them to compete with majority of the athletes that they would meet at Edo 2020. We also ensured that they competed recently in Akure (AFN’s All-comers Track and Field competition), with most of the athletes that would be going for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. We’ve given them the necessary exposure.

“They will move to camp this week, so what we need to

build now is team spirit. We are conscious of not keeping them too long in camp. I was an active sportsman and I know that when you overstay in camp, you hit form and lose form. By the time you get to the tournament proper, you become rusty.”

Meanwhile, fears that the state of the art facilities being put in place at the Samuel Ogbemudia Stadium in Benin for the 2020 National Sports Festival may not be properly maintained have been allayed by the state government.

The Deputy Governor of Edo state, Shaibu Tuesday revealed on Tuesday that the government will send a bill on Asset Management Agency to the Edo State House of Assembly to ensure that the maintenance of the facilities are guaranteed.

He said that the law on their maintenance was necessary to ensure that any government that comes after the present one that is not interested in sports would not allow the facilities to deteriorate.

“I can assure you that an Asset Management Agency will be set up and it will backed up by law. We are going to take the bill to the House of Assembly for its legislation, “ he said, adding that,”that way when a government that doesn’t like sports like the present one, the facilities will not become worse than we met it.”

The Deputy Governor who is also the Chairman of the Edo 2020 Local Organizing Committee said that the government will go into partnership with the private sector in this direction.

He disclosed that the contractors working on the facilities will deliver on time before the opening ceremony on March 22as they are working round the clock to meet the deadline.

“When the Sports Minister (Sunday Dare) visited last week, some of the facilities had not reached the stage they are in now. The workers are on a 8-hour shift and work 24 hours and we are sure they will meet the deadline we gave them”, he stressed.

Kenneth Omeruo (left) and Kelechi Iheanacho were listed in Coach Gernot Rohr’s squad to play Leone Stars of Sierra Leone later this month in an AFCON 2021 qualifier

Kenya Open: Odoh to Become First Nigerian on European Tour in 20 Years Olawale Ajimotokan in Abuja Andrew Oche Odoh is set to become the first Nigerian male professional golfer on the European Tour in two decades at the Magical Kenya Open, scheduled to tee off from March 12 through 15.

The record for the maiden appearance was set by the late Christian Godfrey, when he featured at the 2005

Omega European Masters at the Crans-sur-Sierre Golf Club in Switzerland.

Odoh, who has been Nigeria’s top-rated golfer in the past 10 years, will be one of the players that will vie for the Euro 1.1 million purse when the tournament holds at the Karen Country Club outside Nairobi.

The Kenya Open, which

is on the Safara Tour series, is considered the East and Central Africa’s premier annual golf event.

The tournament is in its 52nd year. It is also part of the PGA European Tour by virtue of first being listed on the European Challenge Tour in 1991. For the second time, it is also one of the European Tour’s “Race to Dubai’’ scoring events.

The entry list will feature

144 top golfers drawn from all over the world. Some of the top players expected at Karen include five former champions.

They include Hayden Porteous (South Africa), 2015; Sebastian Soderberg (Switzerland), 2016; Aaron Rai (England), 2017; Lorenzo Gagli (Italy), 2018 and last year’s defending champion Guido Migliozzi (Italy).

Chioma Ajunwa Shines in Football Event of Police Games in Awka Nursing mother wins 5000m silver The 1996 Atlanta Olympics Games long jump gold medallist, Chioma Ajunwa, is the cynosore of all eyes in the football event of the ongoing 12th Police Games taking place in Awka. Anambra State.

Representing Zone 2 made up of Lagos and Ogun states, Ajunwa, who won an olympic gold medal for Nigeria in Long Jump in Atlanta, USA and was also at the World

Cup in the colours of Falcons in 1991, is playing in the football event at the Police Games.

Earlier, Ajunwa scored a goal for Zone 2 in their opening game but the crowd that trooped out to the Otuocha Stadium to see her on Tuesday went home disappointed as she took ill and was advised by the medics to rest for the day.

She was however at the venue

and watched her Zone 2 side beat the Police Headquarters 1-0 in a keenly contested group encounter.

Ajunwa is also expected to return to action with Zone 2 in another group encounter.

In the male football semifinals decided earlier on Tuesday, Federal Headquarters defeated Zone 7 2-0 while Zone 9 defeated Zone 6 1-0.

Meanwhile, a nursing

mother Mary Joseph was the toast of fans at the Rojenny Stadium, Oba, venue of the athletics events when she braced all odds to claim a silver medal.

Joseph, who entered the tracks cuddling her baby, a two-month old infant, finished with a time of 22mins 58 seconds behind Mamman Helen who won the gold medal at a time of 20.32 seconds.

THURSDAY MARCH 5, 2020 • T H I S D AY

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Thursday, March 5, 2020

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Price: N250

MISSILE Justice Centus Nweze to S/Court Colleagues “There were over 129,340 votes in excess of accredited voters. The court can redeem its image by setting aside its judgment. If not, this will continue to haunt our electoral jurisprudence. It is awkward and embarrassing to the court. He (Hope Uzodinma) misled the court. When the appellant presented his table of exhibit, he mischievously excluded the votes of others and the court declared him winner. I am of the firm view that this court should set aside the initial judgment and restore the judgment of the lower court” – Dissenting judgement in Imo gubernatorial case.

OLUSEGUNADENIYI THE VERDICT

olusegun.adeniyi@thisdaylive.com

COVID-19: And Here We Go Again...

“F

rom 1 January through 9 February 2020, 472 laboratory confirmed cases including 70 deaths have been reported in 26 out of 36 Nigerian states and the Federal Capital Territory. Of the 472 confirmed cases, 75% have been reported from three states: Edo (167 cases), Ondo (156 cases) and Ebonyi (30 cases) ...Fifteen confirmed cases have been reported among health care workers with one death among a confirmed case and one among a probable case. Lassa fever is endemic in Nigeria and the annual peak of human cases is usually observed during the dry season...”

The foregoing is a report card on Nigeria in last Friday’s (20 February 2020) ‘Disease outbreak news’ on the website of the World Health Organisation (WHO).

But losing 70 lives to Lassa fever is no big deal in a nation where dozens have died from an unknown disease in Benue State in the past few weeks, men of a special branch of the Police called SARS casually take innocent lives on a daily basis, bandits are routinely terminating lives of villagers in the North-west (51 were brutally massacred last Sunday in Igabi local government of Kaduna State) while Boko Haram and the Islamic State’s West Africa Province (ISWAP) continue their bloody business in the North-east.

It is perhaps due to the foregoing that presidential spokesman, Mallam Garba Shehu tweeted on Sunday: “This morning’s newspapers, all of them have Coronavirus as the lead, cover story. When will they bring spotlight to bear on 822 who are killed every day in Nigeria?” While I fail to understand the import of that question and what purpose it was meant to serve, it nonetheless speaks to the value we place on human lives in Nigeria. Which then explains why the hoopla about Coronavirus is hypocritical. But the main concern is that it is easier to deal with the epidemic of any disease in Nigeria than its ‘rumourdemic’. The danger is now compounded by the spread of ‘panic-virus’ which, when combined with fake news, has no cure. And there can be no greater way of sending panic in the system than the decision by the House of Representatives to suspend plenary at a period they ought to infuse hope in the people.

Meanwhile, I must commend both the Lagos and Federal authorities for the manner in which they have handled this health emergency thus far. With the current leadership at the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) and Emmanuel Akin Abayomi—a globally respected emeritus professor of medicine who has always focused on emerging infectious diseases and developing laboratory and clinical capacity to tackle them—as Health Commissioner in Lagos, I have no doubt that Nigeria will defeat Coronavirus in the same manner we defeated Ebola. And that is something some more advanced countries may not even be able to accomplish. But the current public hysteria about Coronavirus reminds me of my column of six years ago about Ebola titled, “And Then, Finally, Death Spoke…”

Lagos Health Commissioner, Abayomi Before I make my observations on the Coronavirus epidemic, let me take readers back to what I wrote on 31st July 2014… ================================= Heralded in by drummers, it was clear to all those already seated, important dignitaries in their own rights, that the new entrant was a class above them. That was because for the first time, the master of the house, the great Death himself, stood up to receive a visitor whom he allowed to sit on the throne beside his.

Apparently worried that he might have lost his preeminent place in the Kingdom of Death, Terrorism stood up to speak: “Your Majesty, High Chief Priest Death, Grand Commander of the Earth and all things beneath, I salute you. As all my colleagues here are quite aware, since 2009 when I scaled up my operation in Nigeria, nobody has given you as much blood as I have done yet I have never received the kind of attention you gave this JJC. While I am not aware of the area of expertise of this agent who just came in, one thing I am sure of: In the territory called Nigeria, nobody has served your interest as diligently as I have done in the last couple of weeks...”

“Point of Information my Lord, Your Majesty”, someone interjected. It was Strike. With Death turning the spectre he was holding in his direction, Strike knew he had the permission to speak. “I have a word for Terrorism. Yes, he has killed many Nigerians in recent days; I concede that to him. I even understand that he is now gradually turning one section of the country against another such that at the end of the day the people themselves would begin to do his job for him on a massive scale. That is very clever. But if he is talking about the amount of blood made available to Your Majesty in the last two weeks, I deserve commendation.

Now that I have medical doctors working in public hospitals on my side, I supply more blood to this kingdom. Terrorism may kill with guns, knives, cudgels etc.

but the fact that he helps editors to sell their newspapers doesn’t mean he has done more harm in Nigeria than me. Unlike him, I do my work quietly and I do not inflict needless pains; I simply allow Nigerians to die on the hospital beds and they do so in droves without their people paying much attention. My formula in Nigeria today is simple: From the hospital ward to the mortuary—a seamless journey!”

At this point Disease stood up and having been allowed to speak he said: “I think I am the most injured person here Your Majesty, because the nonentity you now honour so lavishly is my new creation called Ebola Virus. Yes, I designed him to kill fast but he has not even killed a single Nigerian before he is being celebrated here...”

The revelation that the agent being celebrated had not even brought in the blood of a Nigerian led to commotion in the Kingdom of Death. Cancer, Malaria, HIV/Aids, Ritualist, Kidnapper, Assassin and others stood up in protest. Knowing he had to restore a measure of order, Death commanded all his agents to sit down and keep quiet. They complied immediately.

Turning to where Disease sat with all his principalities, Death paused and pointed to Strike, “Join them because I want to address all of you together.”

And then Death spoke: “Yes, you are all diligent in what you do in Nigeria and I can attest to the fact that you bring much blood every day. But ask yourselves, what has been the response to you by Nigerians?

Do you command enough attention to cause tremor from Lagos to Abuja?” Turning to Cancer, he asked: “With all the people you have killed, has it compelled Nigerians to build specialist hospitals and diagnostic centres to fight you back? Even you, Mr Malaria, since you have been killing their children, was it not one busybody computer man from America who has more money than he can possibly spend in a thousand lifetimes that is fighting you back? Is that a sign that Nigerians take you very seriously?

And you Strike that has been running

your mouth, did you hear the sarcastic remark from the Nigerian government?

They said the doctors hiding behind you are wasting their time: they will not print money because of them...”

At this point Terrorism interjected, “But I understand that this new agent also works for Disease. And if you say Disease is wrong, how many people has this agent killed?”

Waving his spectre, Death smiled and said: “But I never said Disease was wrong; his figure is quite accurate, Ebola has taken just one life in Nigeria.”

“One life?” many in the hall exclaimed in unison and Terrorism, who could not contain his anger said: “So all that he did was to take the life of one miserable Nigerian and you gave him this attention!

By the way, who is this Nigerian whose life he took? A Governor, Minister or has he penetrated Aso Rock?”

Terrorism waited for an answer and Death smiled again before responding: “The victim of his operation is not even a Nigerian but a Liberian. He just took him on Nigerian soil”. Apparently sensing dissension, Death decided to cut to the chase: “Gentlemen, this guy that you see here is called Ebola Virus; he is not only deadly but more importantly very swift in his action, unlike some of you that spend years when I send you on errands”, pointing in the direction of Cancer, HIV and others. “Ebola delivers my message with immediate effect and you know in a society like Nigeria where carelessness is the order of the day, that is special.”

“But you said he has not taken any Nigeria life”, Terrorism interjected again.

“Yes”, Death responded, “But he has already created the kind of attention and drama that you no longer create...” He paused and invited Terrorism to come over.

He whispered in his ears and Terrorism roared with laughter. He took a bow and said “Your Majesty, you are too much.”

NOTE: Please see the conclusion on page 14

A Day for Women In a move that speaks to the oppression of women in Nigeria, the Cross River House of Assembly on Monday rejected the confirmation of Justice Akon Ikpeme as substantive Chief Judge (CJ) of the state.

Within 24 hours, Governor Ben Ayade who orchestrated the sordid fiasco swore in another Judge in her stead. What is Justice Ikpeme’s offense? She hails from the neighbouring Akwa Ibom State, even though she distinguished herself on the bench in Cross River where she has lived her entire adult life with her husband who is from the state. In the week when the world is set to mark International Women’s Day, it is a shame that such blatant discrimination could still be happening in Nigeria. Sadly, that is not the only challenge women and girls face in a society where patriarchy is deeply entrenched and power too often used (and abused) against them.

Meanwhile, the public presentation of my book, ‘NAKED ABUSE: Sex for Grades in African Universities’ will hold at the Yar’Adua Centre in Abuja on 31st March under the chairmanship of Senator Daisy Danjuma. The First Lady of Kaduna State (and ‘Head Mistress’ of #KadunaLanguageClass on Twitter), Mrs Hadiza Isma El-Rufai will present the book after a review by Ms Maupe Ogun-Yusuf of Channels Television. The First Lady of Ekiti State, Mrs Bisi Adeleye-Fayemi, who wrote the foreword to the book, will also be in attendance along with renowned educationist, Mrs Yoyinsola Makanjuola and several other eminent women. Aside the education minister, Mallam Adamu Adamu who will deliver the keynote speech, it promises to be a day for women as we begin a conversation on how to create safe spaces for female students on African campuses.

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