FRIDAY 17TH APRIL 2020

Moody’s Affirms Nigeria’s ‘B2’ Ratings, Negative Outlook Obinna Chima Moody's Investors Service yesterday affirmed Nigeria's ‘B2’ long-term issuer ratings and senior unsecured rating, its ‘(P)B2’ senior unsecured programme rating and maintained its negative outlook

on Nigeria.

The global rating agency explained in a statement that the negative outlook reflected the material downside risks to Nigeria's credit worthiness identified when the outlook on the country’s rating was changed to negative in

December 2019.

However, it noted that risks in the country have increased since then, exacerbated by the oil price shock and the financial and economic implications of the COVID-19 outbreak.

According to Moody’s, the

rapid and widening spread of the outbreak and related price shocks were creating an unprecedented credit shock across a wide range of regions and markets.

“For Nigeria, these shocks amplify existing credit vulnerabilities both over the

immediate and longer term. In the near term, the significant drop in oil revenues will reduce an already extremely low tax base, undermining fiscal strength.

“Combined with possible capital outflows, pressure on the fragile balance of payments

may intensify, threatening external stability. “In the longer term, the impact of the coronavirus on growth, particularly in the large informal sector, may weaken economic strength.

Continued on page 9

Major Oil Marketers Seek Law to Back Deregulation... Page 5 Friday 17 April, 2020 Vol 25. No 9139. Price: N250

www.thisdaylive.com TR

TODAY'S WEATHER

ABUJA 25°C-33°C

MAIDUGURI 31°C-31°C

UT H

& RE A S O

ENUGU 25°C-28°C

N

KANO 27°C-33°C

LAGOS 24C-27°C

PORT HARCOURT 20°C-30°C

FG Warns Private Hospitals against Treating COVID-19 Patients without Approval Says recalcitrant facilities risk shutdown Warns pandemic may spread to 36 states Shortlists two airlines for evacuation of Nigerians abroad Cases rise to 442 with 152 discharged, 13 deaths Ken Saro-Wiwa’s son, Menegian, dies of pandemic in UK Virus can kill over 300,000 in Nigeria, others, says UN WHO projects Africa’s cases to hit 10m, to spend $300m Gboyega Akinsanmi, Martins Ifijeh, Nume Ekeghe, Peter Uzoho, Ayodeji Ake in Lagos Olawale Ajimotokan, Onyebuchi Ezigbo in Abuja and Segun Awofadeji in Bauchi The federal government yesterday warned that it would henceforth close any private hospitals and other

health facilities that treat COVID-19 patients without authorisation.

THISDAY had reported yesterday mounting concerns about the danger to public health, the growing number of private health care providers managing infected persons without accreditation.

Minister of Health, Dr. Continued on page 9

Govs Express Worries over Closure of Businesses

Chuks Okocha in Abuja

Nigeria Governors' Forum (NGF) has expressed concerns about the closure of businesses during the lockdown and promised to take measures to ease their operations within the period.

The governors, in a communique issued yesterday

at the end of their virtual meeting, which was signed by the NGF Chairman and Ekiti State Governor, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, said they recognised the importance of ensuring the continued existence of businesses during the lockdown and promised Continued on page 9

ECONOMY AFTER COVID-19...

L-R: Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Chief Niyi Adebayo; Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Mrs. Zainab Ahmed; and Vice President Yemi Osinbajo during the meeting of Economic Sustainability Committee in Abuja…yesterday

Police Arrest Alleged Killers of Afenifere Leader’s Daughter... Page 8

2

FRIDAY APRIL 17, 2020 •T H I S D AY

FRIDAY APRIL 17, 2020 • T H I S D AY

3

4

FRIDAY APRIL 17, 2020 •T H I S D AY

5

FRIDAY, ͹Ϳ˜ ͺ͸ͺ͸ ˾ T H I S D AY

NEWS

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

Major Oil Marketers Seek Law to Back Deregulation Advocates floating of fuel price Peter Uzoho Marketers of petroleum products under the aegis of Major Oil Marketers Association of Nigeria (MOMAN) have called on the federal government to enact a legislation to fully liberalise the pricing of petrol, rather than using a price modulation method to determine prices.

MOMAN Chairman, Mr. Tunji Oyebanji, in a statement yesterday in Lagos, said fullprice deregulation would bring about long term stability in the downstream sector.

Oyebanji said it has become necessary for the association to state its position, adding that recently, the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Chief Timipre Sylva, had announced in a statement that the government would implement a policy of “price modulation,” which means it would give effect to existing legislation enabling it to set prices in line with market realities through the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA) as provided in its Act. According to him, the clear and obvious risk is that the country has never been able to increase pump prices under this law, leading to high and unsustainable subsidies and depriving other key sectors of the economy of necessary funds.

Oyebanji said: "Our current situation, laid bare by the challenges of Coronavirus to the health of our citizens in particular and economy of our country in general, demands that we are honest with ourselves at this time. A fundamental and radical change in legislation is necessary.

"When crude oil prices go up, the government has always

been unable to increase pump prices for socio-political reasons leading to these high subsidies and we believe the only solution is to remove the power of the government to determine fuel pump prices altogether by law.

"Purchase costs and open market sales prices should not be fixed but monitored against anti-competitive and trust abuses by the already established competition commission and subject to its clearly stated rules and regulations.

"There is no country or economy where governments do not have the power to influence prices. Nigeria is no different with respect to any other commodity or product.

Governments use economic tools such as taxes or interventions on the demand side or the supply side of the market and other administrative interventions to influence prices where it needs to.

"The problem here is that the government has retained for itself by law the power and the responsibility to fix pump prices of petrol, which is what puts it under so much pressure, and costs the country so much in terms of under-recoveries or subsidies when it cannot increase prices when necessary to do so."

He, however, urged the federal government to stop fixing petrol prices during this period that crude oil prices are low and resort to influencing prices of petrol using the same parameters as applied to any other commodity or item in the market.

"We want the market to determine the price. There should be a level playing field.

Everybody should have access to foreign exchange to be able to import and sell petrol at a pump price taking its landing

and distribution costs into consideration.

"Government should no longer fix petroleum prices.

Health and educational sector should be given a higher priority than paying for subsidy on petroleum. We support the pronouncement of the Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Malam Mele Kyari, which said subsidy or under-recovery must be things of the past," MOMAN chairman siad.

Oyebanji added that operators in the petroleum downstream sector were advocating a marketbased philosophy based on the sustainability of the petroleum industry, which encompasses free-market competition where

equal access to foreign exchange at competitive rates to all market players must be guaranteed.

He explained that this would mean the discontinuation of the Direct-Sales-Direct-Purchase (DSDP) programme, noting that all foreign exchange proceeds from all sales of crude are paid into the same pool from which all importers could access foreign exchange at the same rate.

He stated that fuel import would, however, enjoy priority access in the allocation of foreign exchange and also through a transparent auditable and audited process of open bidding.

Oyebanji explained that conditions for accessing foreign exchange should be streamlined, adding that specific delays before access imposed unilaterally on

the downstream oil industry should be discontinued as being inequitable.

He noted that MOMAN recommended a legal and operational framework comprising of a downstream industry operations regulator, the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) or Competition Commission (for pricing issues) and the interplay between demand and supply, which would ensure a level playing field, protect the Nigerian consumer and curb any market abuse or attempts to deliberately cause inequities in the system by any stakeholder.

He said the pricing system should allow internal equalisation by marketers which would be

both competitive and equitable.

Oyebanji added: "MOMAN recommends that the Price Equalisation Fund mechanism should be discontinued and its law repealed as the cost of administration of equalisation has become too high and the unequal application of payments by marketers distorts the market and creates market inequities and unfair competition.

"Internal equalisation has been the practice with diesel distribution and sales since 2010 when diesel was fully deregulated. In line with change management principles, consultation, and engagement with market players should clearly spell out the path and final destination which is full price deregulation."

MINISTERS AT WORK...

Minister of Works and Housing, Mr. Babatunde Fashola (left), and Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, Hajia Sadiya Farouk, during a meeting in Abuja...yesterday

Sanwo-Olu Meets CEOs, Mulls Lockdown Review in Seven Days To hold talks with CBN, NPA on easing operations for private sector Dike Onwuamaeze Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu, has expressed the intention of his administration to review the lockdown of the state, as part of measures to curb the spread of COVID-19 in the next seven days.

The governor, at the second virtual meeting with Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) on the COVID-19 Business Challenges and Support on Wednesday, assured them that “strategic relaxation of the lockdown may be implemented.”

The minutes of the meeting, which was convened under the aegies of the Nigeria Employers’ Consultative Association (NECA), and attended by 28 managing directors/CEOs of organised businesses and companies in Nigeria, was obtained by THISDAY yesterday.

The virtual meeting was coordinated by the NECA Director-General, Dr. Timothy Olawale.

The state government's team to the meeting was led by Sanwo-Olu and supported by the Commissioner for Finance, Dr. Rabiu Olowo.

Sanwo-Olu also promised the CEOs that he would speak to the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mr. Godwin Emefiele, to address the issues of charges on cash deposits and cheque clearing, especially during the lockdown.

The governor would also

speak with the Managing Director of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), Ms. Hadiza Bala Usman, to facilitate the fast-tracking of clearance of essential raw materials from Lagos ports as well as speaking with his colleagues in the Nigeria Governors’ Forum to enhance the ease of access to passage for businesses in their states.

“More assistance will be given to (business) organisations involved in packaging to enable them to support other essential sectors,” Sanwo-Olu said.

The governor, however, sought the assurance of the captains of business community that supply and distribution of essential goods and products would continue in the state. He urged them “to ensure stability of prices during this critical period and post COVID-19 period as the purchasing power of the masses would likely be weakened and adversely impacted by the scourge."

Sanwo-Olu also urged businesses to “endeavour to ensure that job security is guaranteed.”

He assured them that his office would “be open to further collaboration and suggestions in writing from organised businesses on how to drive growth and development in Lagos State."

“The government has set up the Post-COVID-19 Economic Stimulus Agenda with the view of fast-tracking economic recovery,” he said, adding that he “will invite organised businesses

to a breakfast or lunch session within one month after the COVID-19 pandemic to discuss and review how to strengthen the collaboration.”

Sanwo-Olu also addressed the security challenges threatening the distribution of food products in the state and assured the members of the Organised Private Sector (OPS) that “from today (Wednesday) there will be additional deployment/ presence and patrol (24/7) of mobile policemen, the military and paramilitary personnel in Lagos State.

“The security architecture is being led by an Assistant Inspector General of Police.

The security agents have been briefed to act professionally and responsibly while businesses were encouraged to be more securityconscious and take pro-active steps to protect their staff and properties.”

The OPS members commended the governor for the proactive steps he has taken to address the challenges facing businesses in the state and briefed him on emerging threats to business continuity during the lockdown.

The issues brought to the governor’s attention included security, the stimulus for businesses, the need for banks to scale up/increase operation scope and the fact that “most of the police checkpoints are now extortion points.”

According to the CEOs, businesses in the state are faced with the worsening problem of

security situation and the risk of escalating civil disturbance.

They noted that “risks of attacks on the branded company trucks by hoodlums in highly populated” have dwindled supply to retail malls and outlets.

“For the retail markets, the inability of suppliers to transport supplies to shopping malls and retail outlets have remained a big concern in view of the worsening security situation,” the CEOs said.

They also called on the state government to intensify the publicity of the 28 emergency markets set up in different schools to boost patronage.

The CEOs asked the state government to consider specific stimulus and palliatives for businesses, noting the need for banks to scale up their services instead of the current skeletal services they are rendering during the lockdown, which has hindered smooth business operations.

“Also, with the volume of cash transactions that is ongoing, it will be necessary for the state governor to speak to the governor of the CBN to suspend the charges on cash deposit and also relax the embargo on cheque clearance,” the CEOs said.

The CEOs added that companies in need of packaging materials, especially pharmaceutical, were facing a paucity of materials as all the companies producing the packaging materials were not allowed to operate by the lockdown order.

“It is important for the Nigeria Customs Service to give priority to the clearing of foods raw materials, drugs, pharmaceuticals.

This is presently not the case.

“There have been reports of frustration of company trucks and delivery vans by the police, even when necessary means of identification are provided. There is an urgent need to stop the excesses of the police.

“As most of the markets are closed, there is the need to assist wholesalers to take their products from warehouses in the closed markets to the retail outlets.

“There is the need for Lagos State governor to assist in reaching out to other state governments on the lockdown to ensure free movement of essential goods and provision of security for organisations,” the CEOs said.

They also expressed concern about whether the foods and materials donated by corporate organisations and individuals would reach the targeted group of most vulnerable and elderly people.

The governor, however, assured them that there “is ongoing engagement with over 200 local food vendors in Lagos to provide at least one meal a day to people in densely populated neighborhoods.

He added: “Government has identified religious and political leaders in all Local Government Areas (LGAs) and the Local Council Development Areas (LCDAs). They will serve as

distribution points for bulk food stuff. This is to decentralise the food distribution activities of Lagos State Government and also complement the efforts.

“Data collection is ongoing using the telcos and other means with the view of facilitating cashtransfers to youths and residents of Lagos State. Interest waiver for three months for all the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises under Lagos State Employment Trust Fund.

“All arrested and impounded vehicles during the period of the lockdown will be released at the end of the lockdown without payment of any penalty/free of charge,” adding that “dayto-day food delivery to the most vulnerable and elderly is still on-going.”

NECA director-general, in his concluding remarks, appreciated the governor and his team for providing leadership and supporting the organised businesses in this critical time.

The director-general, however, “noted that the business community will be willing to host the governor rather than him hosting the business community."

"This is to allow for a more inclusive attendance/for other CEOs that could not attend the meeting to participate in the breakfast or lunch meeting,” he said.

He also appreciated the management of the Nigerian Breweries Plc for its support that made the virtual meeting possible.

6

FRIDAY APRIL 17, 2020 •T H I S D AY

FRIDAY APRIL 17, 2020 • T H I S D AY

7

8

FRIDAY, ͹Ϳ˜ ͺ͸ͺ͸ ˾ T H I S D AY

NEWS

Police Arrest Alleged Killers of Afenifere Leader’s Daughter Kingsley Nwezeh in Abuja Nigeria Police Force yesterday confirmed the arrest of the killers of Mrs. Funke Olakunrin, daughter of Afenifere Leader, Chief Reuben Fasoranti.

The Inspector-General of Police, Mr. Mohammed Adamu, has also declared the principal suspect, Tambaya (other names unknown) wanted for his alleged involvement in the death of Olakunrin.

Olakunrin was attacked and killed by the suspects while travelling between Kajola and Ore along Ondo-Ore road in Ondo State on July 12, 2019.

Her killing provoked national outrage.

A statement by Force Public Relations Officer and Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP), Frank Mba, said the arrest followed the deployment of the Commissioner of Police in charge of the Federal Special Anti-Robbery Squad (FSARS), Fimihan Adeoye, to coordinate the team of police special forces and seasoned investigators from the Force Criminal Investigations Department (FCID), Federal SARS, Intelligence Response Team (IRT) and the Technical Intelligence Unit (TIU) from the Force Headquarters in Abuja to carry out the massive manhunt for the killers with the aim of arresting and bringing them

to justice.

The arrested suspects are: Lawal Mazaje ‘male’ 40 years from Felele area of Kogi State; Adamu Adamu 'male' 50 years from Jada area of Adamawa State; Mohammed Shehu Usman 'male' 26 years from Illela area of Sokoto State; and Auwal Abubakar 'male’ 25 years from Shinkafi area of Zamfara State.

According to the statement, investigations so far revealed that the operation that led to the killing was carried out by eight fully armed kidnap/robbery suspects led by Tambaya who is currently at large.

Four of the identified suspects are in custody while efforts are being intensified to arrest four others still on the run.

"The eight-man gang has its operational base and membership spread in the South-western part of the country and Edo State.

"Investigations have also revealed that they are responsible for series of highprofile armed robbery and kidnap operations in the region.

They also attack, vandalise and steal components of critical national infrastructure such as electrical and telecommunication installations," the statement said.

It added that the police team, on March 4, 2020, during a follow-up action on a case of

FIRS Revises Q1 Revenue Collections to N1.20tn

James Emejo in Abuja

Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) yesterday revised its total collections for the first quarter (Q1) of 2020) from N1.11 trillion to N1.20 trillion, representing 15 per cent increase or N156 billion higher than the N1.04 trillion recorded in the corresponding quarter of 2019.

Earlier this month, the service had reported that it generated a total of N1.11 trillion in the review period before issuing a final computation yesterday.

FIRS, in a statement yesterday by its Director, Communications and Liaison Department, Mr. Abdullahi Ahmad, attributed the improvement in revenue generation to widespread policy reforms and institutional reorganisation initiated by the agency's Executive Chairman, Mr. Muhammad Nami, since assuming office in December 2019.

"Traditionally, Q1 collection results have been notoriously low as a result of limited economic activities within the period, which business analysts trace to the festive hangover of the New Year celebrations, delay in budget presentation, which was a New Year ritual in the country for decades under the military, limited clarity about government policy directions after the budget had been presented and consumer spending caution and limited liquidity following lavish festivities of preceding December month and January 1 New Year celebrations," the statement said.

It noted, however, that the historic final performance in Q1, 2020 was particularly remarkable as the period coincided with two adverse global developments on individuals, businesses, and nations - a global fall in the price of crude oil price, which

is the country's foremost cash cow, and the shutdown of the global economy by the COVID-19 pandemic.

However, performance in the review period showed an astronomical increase in collection trends as Capital Gains Tax (CGT) recorded a 568 per cent increase to N643,935,849.06 compared to N96,408,740.90 in the corresponding quarter of last year.

Also, Gas Income Tax rose by 420 per cent from N2,977,345,332.31 in Q1,2019 to N15,489,264,736.92 in Q1,2020 as Petroleum Income Tax (PPT) further increased by nine per cent.

Other taxes, including Companies Income Tax (CIT), increased by 152 per cent to N102,610,369,777.73 in Q1 compared to N40,696,980,658.52 in the preceding quarter of 2019, while the Value Added Tax (VAT) increased by 27 per cent at the customs level and 13 per cent at the non-import level.

Stamp Duty tax increased by 40 per cent from N3,386,648,663.85 in Q1 2019 to N4,750,893,578.48 in Q1, 2020.

The statement, however, added that the passage of Finance Act 2019 led to a drop in Withholding Tax rate from five per cent to 2.5 per cent in some sectors.

"The Act also tinkered with pre-operational levy (levy paid by taxpayers to obtain TCC) thereby resulting in a five per cent collection in Q1, 2020, a drop from seven per cent in Q1, 2019.

"With the full takeover of PAYE and PIT in the FCT by FCT-IRS, the FIRS lost all FCT collection, which led to the fall in both Pay As You Earned (PAYE) and Personal Income Tax (PIT) for Q1, 2020," the statement added.

a high-profile armed robbery and kidnap for ransom that occurred in Ogun State, arrested one Auwal Abubakar 25, for being an accessory after the fact of the crime, along Sagamu-Ore Expressway in Ondo State.

The arrest of Abubakar led to the arrest of two other members of the gang, Mohammed Shehu Usman and Lawal Mazaje in Benin, Edo State from whom a cache of ammunition was recovered and one other Adamu Adamu in Akure, Ondo State.

"Having established sufficient physical and forensic evidence

linking the suspects to the killing of Mrs. Funke Olakunrin, the investigators, determined to clear all doubts relating to their findings, on April 8, 2020, conducted an identification parade at the Federal SARS Headquarters, Lagos which led to the positive and physical identification of three suspects, Adamu Adamu, Lawal Mazaje and Mohammed Shehu Usman by a survivor of the earlier crime.

"The survivor gave a clear description of the roles each of the identified suspects played in the killing. At this point,

the suspects capitulated and voluntarily offered a no-holdsbarred confession on how Mrs Funke Olakunrin was killed," the police said.

Giving more details about the fleeing gang leader, it said Tambaya, a Nigerian, speaks Hausa, Fulfulde, and pidgin English languages.

"He is fair in complexion and in his late 20s between the age of 27 and 30. His last known address is Isanlu, Kogi State. He has visible scar from stitches on his forehead down to his nose and mouth," the statement said.

The IG stated that the suspects would be prosecuted on completion of investigations and the police would not relent until every member of the gang is arrested and brought to book.

The Publicity Secretary of Afenifere, Mr. Yinka Odumakin, had on April 7, issued a statement commending SARS for the arrest.

However, when asked to confirm the claim by the Afenifere spokesman, Ondo State Commissioner of Police, Mr. Undie Adie, had told THISDAY that “it is not true, please.”

ISOLATING PANDEMIC...

L-R: Kwara State Commissioner for Health, Dr. Raji AbdulRazaq; Governor Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq; and Special Adviser on Health Matters to the Governor, Prof. Wale Sulaiman; during the governor's visit to the state's isolation centre in Ilorin...recently

FG Blames States for Delay in Disbursement to the Poor Says $233m disbursed in four years Eromosele Abiodun and Nume Ekeghe The federal government has blamed what it described as structural issues and the failure of some states to abide by the terms of the agreement with it for the slow implementation of the conditional cash transfer scheme for the poor and vulnerable in some of the states.

The federal government, under the scheme, has disbursed $233 million (N83.88 billion) in the past four years.

National Coordinator, National Social Safety Nets Coordinating Office (NASSCO), Mr. Iorwa Apara, spoke on the issue yesterday when he appeared on the 'The Morning Show,' a programme monitored on ARISE News Channel, a sister broadcast arm of THISDAY Newspaper.

NASSCO is under the supervision of the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, Sadiya Umar Farouq.

No fewer than five states were missing from the list of states currently benefiting from the federal government’s N20,000 conditional cash transfer scheme to the poor and the vulnerable to cushion the hardship posed by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Apara also dismissed the allegation that the federal government has focused on the northern part in the distribution of the cash.

He said the federal government signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with all the 36 states and the FCT in 2016 that mandated the state governments to establish the state operations offices to handle the scheme, alleging that some states were slow to do so.

“There is no focus on any region in the country.

We signed a memorandum of understanding with all 36 states and the FCT in 2016 that mandated the state governments to establish the state operations offices that would handle this.

“There were a number of states that went ahead to not only extend support but buy the tablets, the electronic devices to collect the data in the field. Some even went ahead to even provide further logistics to the teams in the local governments to collect this data. Some, because of transitions of government and all of that, some issues were left out.

“There were some states where the offices were not established on time; there were some states where there were structural issues. And by the terms of the agreement, there were certain standards they were supposed to meet; some states moved faster and some states didn’t,” he added.

He described the process as fair, transparent and equal across the federation.

“When you talk about

poverty figures, the absolute poverty index of Nigeria puts us at about 60 per cent, the total population in Nigeria below the poverty line. When you take 60 per cent and compare against individual state population, you will also see that the numbers will be different.

“For instance, Abia State with its population against Katsina State, the figures would not be the same. It is the same thing with Lagos State against another state.

The southern states are doing very well. We met with all the governors last week. I was with Imo State governor and we discussed and I said to him this is your work and he agreed that the data will be very useful for him.

“The social register does not only give you information on the number of poor people, but it also gives you information on the proximity of this poor population to social amenities like good roads, electricity, water, schools and health clinics - same with Ogun State governor who has supported the establishment of the team in his state. Our team has trained its officials and is now putting the local government team together.

“Katsina State Government has launched a statewide training for enumerators, while Kaduna State Government has approved funds for the team to go statewide. They are being proactive and on board with this.

“But it is a process; it is also work in progress. We have data from 35 states, involving 47,000 communities. In all of these communities, we have the register for 2.6 million poor and vulnerable households that President Muhammadu Buhari quoted in his last national broadcast, made up of 11 million individuals. This was as of March 29, 2020, we closed the register in March.

As I speak to you, a number of states have sent in their data that we have validated,” he explained.

According to him, the scheme is not a cash handout but a strategic investment by government to stimulate consumption and enhance economic growth.

He said the federal government had disbursed $233 million (N83.88 billion) in four years through NASSCO. “Since inception to date, the cash transfer programme has paid over $233 million on the cash transfer in the last four years, ”he said.

On claims by the International Centre for Investigative Reporting (ICIR) of disparities in data released by his office, he said the state registers were developed by the state governments at the office of the state coordinating units in the ministry of planning in each state.

He added that the figures were compiled by states, adding that the federal government is working with the data collated by the states.

9

FRIDAY, ͹Ϳ˜ ͺ͸ͺ͸ ˾ T H I S D AY

PAGE NINE FG WARNS PRIVATE HOSPITALS AGAINST TREATING COVID-19 PATIENTS WITHOUT APPROVAL

Osagie Ehanire, responded to these concerns yesterday in Abuja during the media briefing by the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19, saying the federal government would come down heavily on any unauthorised facility offering treatment to infected patients.

He added that the focus now is to carry out more community testing and social mobilisation at the grassroots to ensure physical distancing.

It has also shortlisted two airlines for the evacuation of Nigerians stranded in foreign countries with high cases of COVID-19.

Incidences in the country, however, rose to 442 yesterday with 152 patients discharged and 13 dead.

The government also assured the nation that part of its efforts at combating the virus included budgetary provision for research into finding a vaccine.

However, it warned that without strict adherence to the guidelines it had rolled out to contain the virus, the pandemic would spread to the 36 states of the federation.

Also yesterday, a total of 11 patients were discharged in Lagos, Ogun and Bauchi states after being treated and tested negative for the virus.

Ehanire appealed to Nigerians not to cast aspersion or deride people infected with the pandemic, noting that such behaviour was capable of derailing efforts of the government to curb the spread of the virus.

He said the government would push out more messages and advisories on the use of masks or improvised face coverings like handkerchiefs or scarves over the mouth and nose, to reduce the risk of transmission.

"I shall use this opportunity to again strongly advise health professionals

against private or secret management of people who have COVID-19 outside of accredited health facilities.

We cannot afford avoidable morbidity and mortality,” he said, warning: "Private facilities must obtain accreditation to treat this highly infectious disease.

Practitioners engaging in unauthorised treatment of COVID-19 run the risk of being shut down for decontamination.”

The minister described the latest COVID-19 fatality that occurred in Lagos, which claimed the life of a medical doctor, as unfortunate.

He said to avoid such an incident in the future, the federal government has been appealing to health workers to adhere to all instructions and regulations and to always utilise personal protective equipment (PPE) while maintaining a high index of suspicion for COVID-19.

According to him, the target this week is to increase the 3,000 national testing capacity.

In a bid to achieve the target, two more laboratories are scheduled to be opened in Borno and Sokoto states.

On concerns about stigmatisation, Ehanire said COVID-19 outbreak had provoked social stigma and discrimination against anyone thought to have been in contact with the virus as well as people of certain backgrounds.

He regretted that those with the disease, their caregivers, family, friends, and communities, were often labelled, stereotyped, discriminated against and treated poorly because of a disease.

The minister said stigma could prompt social isolation of persons or groups and drive people to hide the illness, thus preventing them from seeking health care immediately.

"This could cause a situation where the virus is more likely to spread and increase the difficulty of controlling the COVID-19 outbreak. We must not stigmatise persons who have recovered from COVID-19," he said.

Pandemic May Spread to 36 States, Says FG The Director-General of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), Dr. Chikwe Ihekweazu, warned that the pandemic might spread to the 36 states of the federation and urged Nigerians to prepare for the transmission of the virus to more states.

Ihekweazu, who appeared on Sunrise Daily, a live programme on Channels Television, yesterday, noted that though there were bound to be more cases, the goal was to build a more efficient public health infrastructure.

“We are responding to something, at the moment, across 22 states. But it will grow to almost every state in Nigeria. There is no reason it won’t. It is a respiratory virus.

“So, what we are trying to achieve right now, in the short term, is not to stop transmission because we know that will be very difficult to do. No country in the world has achieved that,” he said.

Ihekweazu, at the task force’s press conference, also said NCDC has so far tested 7,000 persons since the epidemic erupted.

He added that the centre would be issuing weekly totals every Friday to keep Nigerians updated on the progress made to test all suspected cases of COVID-19 infection and their contacts.

Also speaking during the media briefing in Abuja, the National Coordinator of

MOODY’S AFFIRMS NIGERIA’S ‘B2’ RATINGS, NEGATIVE OUTLOOK The sovereign's very low institutions and governance strength is likely to constrain the effectiveness of government measures to buffer the impact of the economic and financial shock.

“The risk of such stresses materialising is rising, while the negative outlook also encompasses longer-term challenges, downward pressure may materialise relatively early on in the outlook horizon,” it added.

The agency stated that its affirmation of Nigeria's B2 ratings also took into account the government's relatively low debt burden in relation to Gross Domestic Product (GDP), commensurately

low annual borrowing requirements, its low external debt service needs over the next few years and the capacity of the large banking sector to absorb more government debt.

These credit features, according to Moody’s, lowered the probability of imminent and severe liquidity or balance of payments stresses relative to some 'B'-rated peers.

But Nigeria's country risk ceilings remained unchanged at their current levels: the foreign-currency bond ceiling at B1, the foreign-currency deposit ceiling at B3, and the local-currency bond and deposit ceilings at Ba1.

“As a result of the oil price

fall in the face of depressed oil demand and a slow supply response, Moody's now assumes that oil prices will average $40-$45 per barrel in 2020, and $50-$55 by 2021, around $20 and $10 below previous expectations in each year.

“Risks to that forecast are firmly to the downside.

Beyond 2021, Moody's currently assumes that oil prices will return in a medium-term range of $50$70 per barrel, as demand recovers and supply adjusts further,” it added.

As a large oil exporter, Nigeria heavily relies on the oil sector which accounts for around 50 per cent of government revenues and

GOVS EXPRESS WORRIES OVER CLOSURE OF BUSINESSES

necessary measures to support the same.

The governors also pledged their continued support to the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19 and other related agencies to states’ responses to the pandemic through the delivery of essential health equipment and the distribution of palliatives to vulnerable persons.

They commended the Coalition Against the COVID-19 Committee, headed by President, Dangote Group, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, for its support.

"The forum received

briefing from the National Coordinator of the Presidential Task Force (PTF) on COVID-19, Dr. Sani Aliyu, and the Director-General of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), Dr. Chikwe Ihekweazu, on activities of the PTF, including the current partnership with the Coalition against COVID-19 (CACOVID) to support states’ response to the pandemic through the delivery of essential health equipment and the distribution of palliatives to vulnerable persons," the

communique said.

The governors commended the presidential task force and NCDC for ramping up the country’s testing and contact tracing capacity during the first stanza of the two-week lockdown in many parts of the country.

They called for greater collaboration with all the states of the federation, which were described as the primary stakeholders of the COVID-19 response.

NGF said the governors were working to improve their logistical and operational efficiency for

the Presidential Task Force (PTF) on COVID-19, Dr. Sani Aliyu, said the committee was concerned about reports of people being smuggled in trucks out of Lagos.

Aliyu said inter-state travels were leading to community spread of the disease.

He appealed to Nigerians to limit their movements if the disease must be curtailed.

of the UK Prime Minister showed that 94 per cent of Nigerians were aware of COVID-19, while six per cent said it was not real.

FG Shortlists Two Airlines to Evacuate Nigerians Abroad

The Minister of Interior, Mr. Rauf Aregbesola, urged Nigerians living in 17 border states to be alert and report illegal land crossing by foreigners to the officers and men of the Nigeria Immigrations Service (NIS) so as to prevent the transmission of COVID-19 through the borders.

He listed the states as Lagos, Ogun, Oyo, Kwara, Niger, Kebbi, Sokoto, Zamfara, Katsina, Jigawa, Yobe, Borno, Adamawa, Taraba, Benue, Cross River, and Akwa Ibom.

According to him, it's in their collective interest to prevent the spread of the virus through the land borders by taking maximum advantage of the gains already made.

Aregbesola's counterpart in the Ministry of Information, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, faulted allegations that the federal government was not doing enough to enlighten the people on the virus.

He said the result of the independent poll conducted by the West Africa-based NOI Poll on the level of awareness of Nigerians about the virus did not substantiate the allegation.

He said the poll result sent to the federal government by the communications department of the office

At the press conference, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Godfrey Onyeama, said the federal government had shortlisted two airlines for the evacuation of Nigerians stranded in foreign countries with high cases of the virus.

He did not, however, disclose the identity of the airlines.

It's believed that about 1,000 Nigerians have approached the federal government through the country’s foreign missions to evacuate them as the contagion continues to spread globally.

Onyeama said the ministry was already collating names of those to be evacuated and was also in touch with Nigerian embassies abroad.

He added that both National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) and the Ministry of Health would be part of the engagement.

“We are in touch with our various embassies around the world and we are already collating names. We have also selected the two airlines that will be responsible for the evacuation. The numbers of those to be brought are high and the places where we can isolate them are not enough for the travellers, so we will have to do it in a staggered fashion and together with NEMA and the Ministry of Health. We will have to go with an agreement to be bringing them according to the number of beds and so forth that are available. We are almost ready to go,”

more than 80 per cent of merchandise exports proceeds.

Lower oil prices in the next two years, according to the rating agency, would weaken Nigeria's credit profile by negatively affecting the government's public finances and the country's external position, exacerbating the near- and longer-term downside risks to the B2 rating already identified when its outlook on the country’s rating was changed to negative in December 2019.

It noted that while the fiscal and external implications of the COVID-19 outbreak manifest immediately, in the current

environment, the downside risks to Nigeria's rating also relates to the longerterm implications for the sovereign's economic strength, should the economy not recover fully once the epidemic subsides.

“Nigeria's public finances are increasingly fragile.

Given the already extremely low government revenue base (at around eight per cent of GDP pre-shock), the significant loss of oil-related fiscal revenue will exacerbate the persistent (at around eight per cent of GDP preshock), the significant loss of oil-related fiscal revenue will exacerbate the persistent fiscal deficits and raise the debt burden,” it stated.

sample collection and care, stating that most states have established COVID-19 hotlines and would ensure that emergency services are integrated into the operations of their Task Force on COVID-19.

They added that infection prevention and control committees would be set up in states to support the role of health workers who are at the frontline of the pandemic.

"Following a briefing from the CACOVID led by Messrs Aliko Dangote and Herbert Nwigwe and the Governor

of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mr. Godwin Emefiele, on the delivery of healthcare equipment and distribution of palliatives to the most vulnerable persons across states, the governors commended the group for their commitment and collaboration on the COVID-19 response," the communique added.

It explained that the governors recognised the importance of ensuring the continuous existence of businesses during the lockdown and would take steps to support it.

Govt Moves to Curb COVID-19 Spread via Land borders

Onyeama said.

Budgetary Vote for Vaccine Research Also speaking at the press briefing, the Chairman of the PTF on COVID-19 and Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Mr. Boss Mustapha, stated that the federal government had a budget for research into a possible discovery of a vaccine for the virus.

Mustapha said the federal government was carrying out the research through a partnership with the Nigerian Institute for Medical Research.

He explained that all countries, including those from the West, are also joining the effort to seek a cure for the virus.

He said: “Every country is mixing whatever they can mix. Here in Africa and in Nigeria in particular, we would use a little bit of the Nigerian sense, like the Minister of Aviation said here that in his part of the country where he comes from, people are saying they can eat some fruits, they can swallow some things. But that is not scientifically proven.

We would do the needful in terms of proper medical research to see if Nigeria can have a leeway or headway in getting to a creation or invention of a vaccine or a combination of drugs that can be curative in dealing with coronavirus.

“But as of now, there is no cure that is proven scientifically; there is no vaccine in the market that can be administered. All we are doing is to put in place a non-pharmaceutical initiative and the medical cure that can be given to those that have been infected.”

He also urged the police to be polite and to stop harassing people as well as denying access to people covered by the government's exemption from the restriction of movements.

He noted that since civility is reciprocal, the police would command respect if they are civil in their approach.

"But the security agents are not expected to be overzealous in dealing with our people. I understand Continued on page 10

TOP GAINERS NGN NGN % NESTLE 83.00 913.20 10 NIGBREW 2.65 29.45 9.8 CONOIL 1.40 15.85 9.6 CORNERSTONE 0.05 0.59 9.2 CHAMPBREW 0.08 0.96 9.0 TOP LOSERS NGN % ACCESSBANK 0.70 6.30 10 STERLBANK 0.15 1.35 10 NAHCO 0.23 2.12 9.7 ZENITHBANK 1.55 14.35 9.7 JOHNHOLT 0.05 0.51 8.9 HPE Nestle Nig Plc ₦830.20 Volume: 397.11 million shares Value: N4.33 billion Deals: 5,985 As at yesterday 16/4/2020 See details on Page 29

FRIDAY, ͹Ϳ˜ ͺ͸ͺ͸ ˾ T H I S D AY

10

NEWS

Nigeria Not Indebted to IMF, Says FG Obinna Chima The federal government has clarified that Nigeria is not indebted to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and hence should not have been among the 25 countries granted debt relief by the global body.

The clarification followed insinuation that the delay in the federal government securing financial support from IMF was because the country was indebted to the multilateral institution.

Responding to enquiries

by THISDAY yesterday, the Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Mrs. Zainab Ahmed, said Nigeria’s application for new IMF financing was under consideration and receiving attention.

Ahmed had last week said

the country was seeking $3.4 billion from IMF as part of measures the government was taking to reflate the economy, due to the disruptions caused

by COVID-19.

The fund on Tuesday approved immediate debt relief for 25 countries, most of them in Africa, but Nigeria was not on the list.

In addition, IMF said it was set to provide $11 billion to 32 countries in Africa that had requested for assistance in fighting the pandemic without disclosing the beneficiaries.

But Ahmed said: “It is true that Nigeria is not a beneficiary of the recent IMF debt relief for 25 countries.

This is because as stated in the IMF Executive Board statement the relief provides grants to our poorest and most vulnerable members

to cover their IMF debt obligations for an initial phase over the next six months.

“Since Nigeria is not indebted to IMF, there is no outstanding debt obligation to be forgiven. Nigeria’s current financial position at IMF is public information on the IMF website.

“Nigeria’s application for new IMF financing is under consideration and receiving attention."

According to her, the new application by the federal government is for financing under the IMF’s Rapid Financing Initiative (RFI).

She added that Nigeria was entitled to access up to 100 per cent of its quota under the RFI. Nigeria’s financial position in IMF as of March 31, 2020, seen on the Washington-based

institution’s website showed that the country has no outstanding purchases and loans with IMF. Ahmed had said Nigeria would have to take tough measures as a result of the harmful impact of COVID-19 on the economy.

“So, we need to do things that are very radical, and very bold and very different and maybe, even unusual so that we don’t slip into a recession.

“It worries me that our economy is in crisis. It worries me that when we did an assessment, our own assessment is that we could go into a recession in 2020 and the numbers we have from the NBS (National Bureau of Statistics) is a -3-4 and that is very disturbing.

The multilateral institutions placed us on a much higher

number,” she stated.

The minister had explained that the collapsing demand for crude oil was giving Nigeria concern because of the projected crude oil price of $57 per barrel in the 2020 Budget had become unrealistic.

“Now, we have to work with an average of $30 per barrel. We also have to adjust the volume from 2.1 million barrels per day to 1.7 million barrels per day because the market is low," she said.

IMF had on Wednesday advised Nigeria not to spare any resources in curbing the spread of COVID-19.

IMF’s Director, Africa Department, Mr. Abebe Selassie, had said the Nigerian economy was among those to be hard hit by the pandemic.

He urged the federal and

state governments to roll out more fiscal measures to fight the virus, which has continued to spread in the country.

“In the near term, no resources should be spared to put the health crisis threat that Nigeria faces from the COVID-19 pandemic. So, we see scope for more supportive policies on the fiscal side.

“There is also scope for having an exchange rate policy framework that would be supportive of this fiscal stance. So, we look for those policies to be adopted to support Nigeria to put this crisis behind it,” he said.

IMF had on Tuesday predicted a negative Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of -3.4 per cent for Nigeria in 2020, due to the ongoing disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Nigerians to Enjoy More Electricity as Supply Hits Historic High FG purchases three-month gas stock upfront Emmanuel Addeh in Abuja The federal government yesterday said Nigerians would continue to enjoy better power supply during the current lockdown as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, following its intervention in the payment of N220 billion for the supply of gas to the country’s electricity generation platforms.

The government disclosed

that apart from settling all outstanding debts to gas suppliers, it had also paid at least three months upfront, thereby eliminating the challenges occasioned by the persistent shortage of the product.

Minister of Power, Mr. Sale Mamman, in a statement in Abuja, signed by his Special Adviser on Media, Aaron Artimas, said the breakthrough was achieved

after he initiated another round of crucial talks with some major stakeholders in the power sector, describing the outcome as highly positive.

The minister said the latest resolution of the gas issues has pushed the nation's power generation output to a “new historic level” after the Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Mr.

Mele Kyari, made the announcement on behalf of the federal government.

He said: “The meeting which was convened to discuss the worrisome and intractable problems of gas supply to the sector recorded a major breakthrough as the Managing Director of NNPC, Mr. Mele Kyari, announced the immediate approval of N220 billion for payments to companies supplying gas

to the power sector.

“The amount was enough to off-set all outstanding debts including three months payment upfront.

Mr. Kyari further promised that henceforth, NNPC will give particular attention to the supply of gas to the power sector to ensure better power supply to the country especially during this coronavirus lockdown.”

According to Mamman,

who expressed delight at the feat, the latest generation figures exceeded all former ones with about 507.22MWH. He added: “Following this development, for the first time ever, the country recorded a daily energy generation output of 111,591.83MWH of electricity, yesterday Wednesday, April 15, 2020.

This historic record was about 507.22MWH more than any previous generation level.”

FG WARNS PRIVATE HOSPITALS AGAINST TREATING COVID-19 PATIENTS WITHOUT APPROVAL that having been locked down for two weeks, there is anxiety and apprehension, but this is the time to exhibit patience and endure excesses,” Mustapha said.

35 New Cases as Lagos, Ogun, Bauchi Discharge 11 Patients There were 35 new cases reported yesterday by NCDC from four states - Lagos 19, FCT nine, Kano five, and Oyo two.

However, 11 more COVID-19 patients have been discharged in Lagos, Ogun, and Bauchi states.

Five patients were discharged in Lagos, while three were discharged in Bauchi.

Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu, and his Bauchi State counterpart, Senator Bala Mohammed, announced the discharge of the patients via their Twitter handles yesterday.

In Lagos, three females and two males were discharged after testing negative twice for the virus.

Lagos has recorded 251 cases of COVID-19. Of that figure, 90 persons have now been discharged, 154 are active and seven patients have died.

Ogun State Government yesterday said three patients were discharged from its isolation centre after they had tested negative and completed the mandatory 14-day quarantine period.

The state Commissioner for Health, Dr. Tomi Coker, at a press briefing in Abeokuta, said: “I have good news.

In the last 24 hours, three individuals have been given a

clean bill of health in the state and discharged from one of our isolation centres to join their families and resume their normal life, thus bringing the total number of discharged individuals to six."

She added: “We have only three active cases and they are being treated by our doctors and other healthcare workers in one of our isolation and treatment centres.

“In addition, so far, we have identified 210 persons who had contacts with the positive cases, out of which 110 underwent the required 14 days quarantine period.

Only two of this number tested positive, the remaining 108 tested negative on completion of the quarantine period.

“One hundred others are, however, still observing the quarantine period and are being observed and monitored by our specialist doctors and other healthcare workers.”

Pandemic Can Kill over 300,000 in Nigeria, Others, Says UN In a comprehensive cost-effect analysis of COVID-19, the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) yesterday raised the alarm that the pandemic could claim between 300,000 and 3.3 million lives in Nigeria and other African countries if adequate protection measures were not taken.

UNECA, one of the regional commissions the UN created to promote the development of its member statesk, also warned that the impact of COVID-19 could, on

aggregate, lead to a 2.6 per cent contraction of African economies in addition to the cost of human lives.

The commission gave the warning in a 48-page report THISDAY obtained from its Corporate Communications Office yesterday, recommending that Africa, as a whole, would need $100 billion as a health and social safety net response and another $100 billion as an emergency economic stimulus.

The report, which is titled; “COVID-19: Protecting African Lives and Economies” would be unveiled in Addis Ababa today by UNECA’s Executive Secretary, Dr. Vera Songwe and Director, Regional Integration and Trade Division, Dr. Stephen N. Karingi.

According to the report, anywhere between 300,000 and 3.3 million African people could lose their lives as a direct result of COVID-19, depending on the intervention measures taken to stop the spread.

It justified its forecast on the ground that Africa “is particularly susceptible because 56 per cent of the urban population is concentrated in overcrowded and poorly serviced slum dwellings (excluding North Africa) and only 34 per cent of the households have access to basic handwashing facilities."

It said 71 per cent of Africa’s workforce “is informally employed, and most of those cannot work from home. Close to 40 per cent of children under five years of age in Africa are undernourished.”

Of all the continents, the report observed that Africa

“has the highest prevalence of certain underlying conditions, like tuberculosis and HIV/ AIDS."

WHO Projects Rise in Africa’s COVID-19 Cases to 10m Meanwhile, COVID-19 cases in Africa could shoot up from thousands now to 10 million within three to six months according to a provisional modeling, a regional World Health Organisation (WHO) official said yesterday.

But Head of Emergency Operations for WHO Africa, Michel Yao, said that was a tentative projection which could change and noted worst-case predictions for the Ebola outbreak had not come true because people changed behaviour in time.

“This is still to be finetuned,” he told a media teleconference.

“It’s difficult to make a long-term estimation because the context changes too much and also public health measures when they are fully implemented, they can actually have an impact.”

Africa has seen more than 17,000 confirmed cases of the COVID-19 disease and about 900 deaths so far - relatively little compared to some other regions.

But there are fears that it could balloon and overwhelm shaky health services.

“We are concerned that the virus continues to spread geographically, within countries,” said Director for WHO’s Africa Region, which comprises 46 subSaharan nations and Algeria, Matshidiso Moeti.

“The numbers continue to increase every day.”

WHO Plans to Spend $300m in Africa WHO has also said it planned to spend $300 million to help curtail the spread of the pandemic in Sub-Saharan Africa.

It unfolded the plan during an online media briefing with experts from WHO, the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) and the World Economic Forum on COVID-19 in Africa.

WHO Regional Director for Africa, Moeti, said: “The situation currently in Africa is that we have now reported over 17,000 cases and we know that around 900 people have lost their lives due to COVID-19.

“With regard to the budget for the COVID-19 support by WHO, it is about $300 in Africa and we have 47 countries and each of the African offices has developed a plan of how they are going to work with the government locally and then we have the regional offices working on this and overall we would be needing $300 million for the next four to six months to support what countries are doing.”

Dangote-led Flood Committee Donates N1.5bn The Presidential Flood Relief and Rehabilitation Committee set up in 2012 by the federal government and led by the President of Dangote Group, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, has announced a donation of

N1.5 billion to curtail the virus spread.

Announcing the donation on Wednesday after an emergency meeting, Dangote said it had become imperative for all well-meaning Nigerians to help the federal government in fighting the virus.

He said: "The reality of the pandemic has set in now in Nigeria and all hands must be on deck to save our country from its attendant crisis. So far, so good, we need to sustain the momentum and ensure that we curtail the spread."

The mandate of the committee was to provide support for flood victims, and by extension, similar related disaster relief situation in the country.

Ken Saro-Wiwa’s Son Dies of COVID-19 in UK Meanwhile, Menegian, one of the children of the late environmental and Ogoni activist, Mr. Ken Saro-Wiwa, has died of COVID-19 at a London hospital.

Menegian was 50 at the time of his death.

Sister to the deceased, Noo, made the announcement in a Facebook post yesterday She wrote: “We said goodbye to my brother, Gian, on Monday.

“He had COVID-19 combined with underlying health conditions.

“Gian was the smartest and most talented out of all of us: a champion sprinter at school, a poet, an artist, budding engineer, a self-taught guitarist, and pianist. But mental health issues limited his life from age 16 onwards.”

FRIDAY APRIL 17, 2020 ˾ T H I S D AY

11

NEWS

House, Other Stakeholders to Inaugurate Committee on Free Electricity Supply Udora Orizu in Abuja The House of Representatives and stakeholders in the power sector have agreed to set up a joint implementation committee on the proposed two-month free power supply to the poor and vulnerable Nigerians as part of the stimulus package aimed at alleviating the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.

In his remarks at the meeting, the Speaker of the House, Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila said the joint panel’s mandate is to work out modalities for the proposed two-month bill waiver for the most vulnerable people in the country.

He also said the panel is

expected to identify the group of Nigerians to benefit from the free power supply, the number of households connected to the national grid as well as find the way forward for regular power supply to Nigerians after the COVID-19 crisis.

According to Gbajabiamila, “we are here to find out how we go about it. I’m happy that in my previous engagements with the NNPC GMD, he was very interested. Whatever the issues are within the power supply chain, they have to be dealt with and set aside, but how we deal with the issue at stake is why we are here today. This is not about technicalities or blaming any part of the power supply

value chain; it is just about how we find a solution.”

“The objective is very simple: we are asking people to stay at home for several days or weeks, so we need to make their stay at home comfortable.

We need to help the poorest

of the poorest at this time in Nigeria. How we go about it is why we are here today. So, the mandate is very simple with all the stakeholders here. I believe that the best stimulus that we can give our people right now is the supply of electricity to the

very vulnerable households.”

“Even if we agree that this proposal as an investment scheme according to the power sector stakeholders, I think we need to keep our eyes on the ball. What is that ball? Get to the end-

user, who is the beneficiary of that investment scheme. I wouldn’t want to look at it as the DisCos or GenCos or even the Transmission Company as the beneficiaries. For me, the ultimate beneficiary is the Nigerian people.

Fire Kills 14 at Borno IDPs Camp Fourteen people were reportedly killed yesterday in a fire at a camp housing tens of thousands displaced by terrorists’ violence in northeast Nigerian, security and rescue sources told AFP. The blaze broke out midmorning in a camp holding some 70,000 people in the town of Gamboru, close to the border with Cameroon, the head of a government-backed militia told AFP. “We recovered 14 burnt bodies from the gutted shelters and another 15 who sustained varying degrees of burns from

the fire,” militia leader Umar Kachalla said.

More than 200 shelters were destroyed, rendering 1,250 people homeless, said a rescue official, who asked not to be named.

“The fire killed 14 people, six from the same family, and left 15 with injuries, seven of them critically,” said the official.

It was not clear what caused the fire but residents blamed it on arson after a suspect was arrested with a lighter in his pocket, another militia member Shehu Mada said.

Afenifere Leader, Adebanjo Insists on True Federalism Elder statesman and Afenifere leader, Chief Ayo Adebanjo has renewed his call for a return to true federalism to correct what he described as “the imbalance and injustice” on the present political arrangement.

Adebanjo stated this while featuring in a special interview on the Oyo State-owned television, Broadcasting Corporation of Oyo State (BCOS TV) yesterday.

According to him, most problems affecting the nation are rooted in a distorted constitution crafted by the military, adding that things will never take the right path until the anomaly is addressed.

The elder statesman said “the beginning of our problem in this country was the military coup of 1966. The people who want to do mischief, particularly our brothers from the North are

cheating us under the present structure imposed on us by the military in 1966.

“As long as that constitution exists, those of us in the South who took part in the founding of this nation under our constitutional democracy will not accept.”

He also frowned at lopsidedness and slack of openness in the creation of local governments which he said was in favour of the North, “This constitution created local governments which they use to distribute resources.

The North is in an advantaged position.

“This is a country where a section is imposing its will on the rest. They are using false population to get majority in the parliament.

The return to the genuine federal structure is imperative to free the rest of the country from servitude.”

Lagos-Ibadan Rail Project 90% Complete, Says FG Federal government has stated that the Lagos-Ibadan standard gauge rail project is 90 per cent complete.

Outgoing Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Transportation, Mr. Sabiu Zakari, said this at the ministry’s headquarters in Abuja yesterday, while handing over to a new Permanent Secretary, Mr. Hussaini Adamu.

Presenting his stewardship at the ministry, Zakari expressed happiness that it was during his tenure that cardinal projects such

as Abuja-Kaduna light rail train service was completed and put to use.

Zakari, in a statement issued by the ministry, stated that the Lagos-Ibadan standard gauge railway was 90 per cent completed, adding that what remained was the point linking the rail line to Apapa ports.

He said the Itakpe-Warri rail line, which was abandoned for over 30 years, was completed while he worked at the ministry, adding that test runs were currently ongoing on the facility.

CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY…

L-R: Category Manager, Olam Sanyo Foods Limited, Mrs. Ebere Ejidike; Human Resources Manager, Mr. Lawal Adeola; Special Assistant to the Commissioner of Agriculture, Lagos State, Mr. Oyebola Akinola; and Warehouse Manager, Mr. Rotimi, during the donation of 132,000 servings of Tasty Tom Instant Noodles to the Lagos State Government in the efforts to address the COVID-19 pandemic in Lagos...recently

Police: People Spread Rumours about One Million Boys The Deputy Inspector General (DIG) of Police in charge of South-west region, Mr. Babatunde Ogunyanwo, has advised residents of Lagos and Ogun states not to panic over rumours being spread about a gang of criminals popularly called ‘One Million Boys’.

Speaking on Channels Television on Wednesday night, Ogunyanwo, said though there have been reported cases of robbery, rape and assault in the two states in the last few days,

the police do not differentiate or classify criminals.

According to him, a criminal is a criminal, regardless of the gang he or she belongs to.

When asked about the operations of the ‘One Million Boys’ gang in the two states, he said, “I think we need to advise ourselves that Nigerians should not be apprehensive over rumours. A lot of these things are just based on rumours.

We need people to confirm information before they start

spreading rumours around.

“People just pass information based on hearsay and not actually confirming the incident.

That is why we are trying to get everybody to know their DPOs.” Ogunyanwo, who said over 200 arrests have been made in connection with the recent attacks, noted that the suspects would be charged to court.

He, however, said that the rate of banditry in the two states during the lockdown is “not in

the magnitude that the nation is being made to believe”.

“We have a few cases and a few arrests made. In Ogun State and Lagos State, of late, we have over 200 arrests and they will be charged to court “I don’t know about One Million Gang but you know Nigerians can always create names for a group of people but anybody who is running foul is a criminal. I don’t know what society means by One Million Gang.

Jonathan, Alaibe Mourn Okoko Former President Goodluck Jonathan and a former Managing Director of Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), Mr. Timi Alaibe have commiserated with the family of Professor Kimse Okoko, and the people of Bayelsa State over the sudden death of Pastor Keniebi Okoko, describing his passing as shocking and most painful.

Okoko, a successful businessman and politician, died suddenly in a Lagos hospital on Tuesday April 14, 2020, aged 42.

In a condolence message to the father of the deceased, Professor Kimse Okoko, the former President noted that Okoko died in his prime,

adding that there was still so much he could have offered towards the progress and development of Bayelsa State and Nigeria, given his great ideas and lofty dreams.

In the message, Jonathan wrote: “Keniebe was an enterprising businessman and politician who dedicated his life in service to God and humanity.

“His death is shocking and most painful as he was in his prime.

Without a doubt, Keniebe still had a lot to offer to the progress and development of Bayelsa State and Nigeria as he was a young man full of great ideas and lofty dreams.

“As we all grieve over his death, I urge us to take solace in the fact

that he lived a short but glorious life worthy of emulation.”

On his part, Alaibe described his death as sad, horrifying, unimaginable and shocking.

“These words are not sufficiently weighty to maximally describe my state of mind as I receive the news of the death of a younger brother and a friend, Keniebi Okoko. The unthinkable incident is said to have happened at a hospital in Lagos during a surgery, on Tuesday.

“At 42 years, life was just beginning for Okoko; and his purpose for living was just unfolding. Smart in intellect and shrewd in business acumen, Okoko embodied the strength and focus

that runs in his family and in Ijaw nation. He was an inspiration to the younger generation who certainly admired his character and the never-give-up spirit.

He was a true son of his f ather.

“But now he is no more. Death has claimed one of our best upcoming stars. Death has again shocked us to a state of numbness.

It has raised more questions than answers. We wish Keniebi was sleep and would soon wake up.

But what an eternal nightmare!

We wish he was on one of those business trips to wrap up a deal and will soon return with news of another breakthrough”.

One Person Killed, Properties Destroyed as Fire Razes Bauchi Market Segun Awofadeji in Bauchi A five-year-old boy has been reportedly killed in a fire outbreak while properties worth millions of naira were also destroyed at Muda Lawal market, one of the popular markets in Bauchi metropolis, Bauchi State.

The Chairman of Muda Lawal Market, Baba Maigaji, who confirmed the incident, said although the actual cause of the fire could not

be ascertained at the moment, eyewitness reports stated that the fire was caused by a spark triggered by an electrical fault from a tricycle that was parked close to a truck carrying mattresses.

He said a section of the market was destroyed, adding that the incident happened at the heart of the market where there are a lot of trading activities.

According to him, the fire was eventually put out by the

officials of fire service in the state, who came to the scene of the incident as security agents were equally deployed in the area to maintain law and order.

“The fire started from a truck carrying mattresses that was parked in the market since yesterday. Most of the eyewitnesses said there was a Keke Napep parked closed to the truck, which started the fire as a result of an electric spark.

“We recorded huge losses in the fire outbreak; a five-year-old

boy, who was sleeping in one of the shops in the market during the fire incident, died.

“So far, 17 shops, eight cars, 11 motorcycles and one Keke Napep were burnt in the inferno. Also, some of the youths were throwing stones at the vehicle of the fire service because they were angry that they came late to the scene of incident. It took the intervention of the security agents to calm the situation down,” he said.

FRIDAY APRIL 17, 2020 ˾ T H I S D AY

12

COVID -19 UPDATE...

COVID -19 UPDATE...

UN Donates 10,000 Test Kits, 15 Oxygen Concentrators to Nigeria Kuni Tyessi in Abuja The United Nations has donatded 10,000 test kits and 15 oxygen concentrators to the federal government in support of the government’s fight against the spread of COVID-19 pandemic.

The government also received donations of vaccines and various personal protective equipment (PPE), IEHK/PEP kits and other vital health supplies from the European Union (EU), the Iesus Hominum Salvator (IHS) (Jesus Saviour of Mankind) Nigeria and the Nigerian subsidiary of IHS Towers.

A statement released by the UN Resident Coordinator in Nigeria, Mr. Edward Kallon and the UNICEF’s Communications

Department’s Oluwatosin Akingbulu, promised that the donors would also support the federal government, through the National Center for Disease Control (NCDC), to prevent and respond to the pandemic in affected states across the country.

Kallon said that more COVID-19 response supplies would be delivered to Nigeria in the coming days by the UN. He added that the personal protection equipment (PPEs) would protect medical personnel and ancillary staff who are the first responders in the frontline and providing care and treatment to people affected by the virus.

“We know that to limit the spread of the virus, it is important to test as many

people as possible, especially those with recent travel history and those who came into contact with travelers. These test kits will support Nigeria’s drive to control the transmission of COVID-19 infections and support the government’s ongoing strong efforts to protect the country from an escalating pandemic.

“The supplies, made up of 10,000 test kits, 15 oxygen

concentrators, and various personal protective equipment (PPE), vaccines, IEHK/PEP kits, and other vital health supplies, will support the Nigerian Government’s COVID-19 Response Plan and UNICEF’s work with children and families in Nigeria,” Kallon said.

He said the UN has been supporting the federal government to respond

to the pandemic through risk communications and community engagement, infection prevention and control, epidemiology/ surveillance and management of positive cases since the outbreak of COVID-19 in Nigeria in late February.

“Working with government and other partners, the UN is developing and disseminating

messages, infographics, and audio-visual material informing the public about the risks of COVID-19 across the country, and how to protect one self,” he said.

Kallon noted that working closely with the government and other partners in the private sector, is the surest way of preventing and containing the COVID-19.

Lagos Records Three Deaths The Lagos State Commissioner for Health, Prof. Akin Abayomi, yesterday, announced the death of three coronavirus patients.

Abayomi via his verified Twitter account said, the deceased are three males, who are 51, 52 and 62 years old.

He said, “Unfortunately, Lagos recorded three additional deaths from #COVID-19 related complications. The deceased are males aged 51, 52 and 62.

“One of the dead; a medical

doctor had contact with an infected person who recently returned to the country.

“Other victims have no travel history or record of contact with any infected person. Total #COVID-19 related deaths are now 10. I hereby urge Lagosians to remain vigilant and report any concern about #COVID-19 infection in our communities.”

This brings the total number of fatalities in Lagos to 10.

FEEL YOUR PAINS… Afenifere Donates N3m ICaretaker Chairman, Ibadan North West Local Government Area, Hon. Rahman Adepoju (left), and Oyo State Governor, Mr. Seyi Makinde, Yinka Kolawole in Osogbo A Yoruba socio-political group, Afenifere, has lauded the governors of the South-west states on their efforts at containing the spread of the deadly Coronavirus pandemic in the region.

Afenifere made the commendation when it members donated N500, 000 to each government of the six states of the region.

Addressing journalists at his Osogbo residence yesterday evening, the National Leader of the group, Senator Ayo Fasanmi, stated that the group was delighted with the various

measures taken by the six governors since the first recorded case in the country.

Fasanmi urged citizens to cooperate with the governments and adhere to the measures put in place by their respective governors to ensure that the virus is rid of in the region.

The nonagenarian enjoined the governors in the region to ensure that adequate palliatives are provided for the citizens to ease the hardship caused by the COVID-19.

He also called on the governors in the region to work together and not allow political affiliations to hinder them from working as one in combating the virus.

Armed Robbers Allegedly Kill PoS Operator in Lagos Sunday Ehigiator A Point of Sales (POS) machine operator at Iyanera Bus Stop, along Lagos-Badagry expressway in Lagos State was allegedly killed after he was robbed by some suspected armed robbers.

According to an eyewitness, the incident happened at 9a.m. last Wednesday at the shop of the victim after he resumed business for the day.

The robbers, who came on motorcycles, were said to have shot the victim in the stomach after robbing him, and fled.

“They shot him on the stomach and escaped with his bag containing money, POS machine and other things.

“The DPO of the area visited the shop immediately.

Unfortunately, the man died

yesterday evening,” an eyewitness said.

Attempts to contact the state Police spokesperson, DSP Bala Elkana, proved abortive as he neither returned calls made to him nor replied the text message sent to his phone.

When THISDAY contacted Area K Police Commander to confirm the report, he, however, discredited the report, tagging it as “fake news aimed at causing confusion in the state.”

He said he and his team have been patrolling the area since the lockdown, to keep the area secure.

The police commander, however, warned the public to “desist from spreading fake news as it is capable of causing unnecessary apprehension among residents.”

during the governor’s visit to Dugbe market, Ibadan…yesterday

Kano Records First Death Ibrahim Shuaibu in Kano Kano State Government has confirmed that one person has died of COVID-19 pandemic in the state.

The state government disclosed this yesterday morning.

However, the identity of the person is not made public, but

the state ministry of health, confirmed that “as at 11:55 p.m. of Wednesday, one death of coronavirus has been recorded in Kano State.”

Recall that last Wednesday morning, additional five confirmed case of COVID-19 was recorded, making the number of infected persons in the state nine. Also, the state

ministry of health said on its twitter handle that it has 21 new cases, with one death.

The state government had last Tuesday ordered a complete lockdown of the state for initial seven days.

During the lockdown, there will be no movement in the state and the security agencies have been ordered to arrest

anyone violating the order.

It is noteworthy that a former diplomat was the first person to be confirmed of coronavirus in the state, and was said to have travelled to Lagos and Abuja.

He was also said to have attended a wedding ceremony and a Juma’at prayer last week in Kano State.

Refugees Commission Delivers Palliatives to IDPs in Katsina Udora Orizu in Abuja The National Commission for Refugees, Migrants and IDPs has presented truckloads of food and household items to the poor in Dutsinma and Safana Local Government Areas of Katsina State.

In a statement issued yesterday by the Head, Media and Public Relations of the commission, Mr. Abdul Onu, the agency said that the ceremony

was performed at the Dutsinma Local Government Secretariat by the Federal Commissioner for Refugees Commission, Senator Bashir Garba, who reiterated the concern of President Muhammadu Buhari, especially in this trying period occasioned by the outbreak of the COVID-19.

The materials, according to the statement, include food items such as bags of beans and rice, assorted household

items for cooking, drugs and mats, among many others distributed to the beneficiaries on household basis, supported by security agents.

He urged them not to sell the items, but use judiciously for the well-being of their families.

At the Internal Displaced Persons Camp, Garba while urging all agencies in the humanitarian space to pay special attention to the IDPs, assured the readiness of Buhari’s

administration to continue to better the lives of the people.

According to the commissioner, over 290 camps are existing in the country with huge population of about 2.3 million people.

He said that the federal government cannot do it alone with its little resources, promising that the commission would next week be in Kwara, Kogi and Benue states for similar events.

Kwara Discharges Two Patients Hammed Shittu in Ilorin Kwara State Governor, Alhaji Abdulrahman Abdulrasaq, yesterday said the state government has discharged two of its four COVID-19 patients after they both tested negative twice.

THISDAY investigations revealed yesterday in Ilorin that one of the two patients who tested negative was the wife of the United Kingdom returnee that died at the University of

Ilorin Teaching Hospital two weeks ago due to COVID-19 infection.

The governor, who stated this in Ilorin at a press briefing, said two cases were discharged with five members of their families who were also at the state isolation centre, and have equally tested negative twice.

According to him, “I’m glad to announce to you that we are discharging a total of seven persons from our isolation facility.”

“Among these are our first two index cases (a male and a female) who have tested negative for COVID-19 twice.

“The remaining five are members of their families who were on quarantine and have also tested negative twice to the virus.

“With the exit of the seven persons, we now have 11 persons left in the facility.

Two of these 11 are COVID-19 patients while the remaining nine are people with varying

contacts with them.”

He added: “We commend our health workers for their professionalism and commitment. We assure them of our support now and always.

We are working out incentives for every health worker at this facility to deepen their confidence in the system that we will always look after them.

“Our two remaining patients are in best spirit and are doing pretty good. We wish them quick recovery.”

FRIDAY APRIL 17, 2020 • T H I S D AY

13

14

T H I S D AY ˾ ˜ ͯ͵˜ 2020

COMMENT

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

HEALTHCARE WORKERS IN MEDICAL WAR ZONES Cosmas Odoemena writes that doctors should be well equipped to fight the viral disease

T

he other day, the CNN showed the intensive care unit of the University Hospital Medical Centre in New York. The ICU is at capacity, patient beds line the hallways of the emergency department, and the morgue is overflowing. Dr Arabia Mollette, an emergency room physician attending to the Covid-19 patients, said the Brooklyn-based hospital was now “a war zone”, a medical war zone. She said “Every day I come, what I see on a daily basis is pain, despair, suffering and healthcare disparities.”

This is the true picture of many hospitals across the world where healthcare professionals attend to patients suffering from the coronavirus.

The gloomy statistics run from the United States to the United Kingdom, to Italy, to Spain and slowly creeping alarmingly to every part of the world. Healthcare workers want people to understand that the situation is dire for them who attend to these patients, and they continually ask their governments to supply them with resources especially personal protective equipment to help to continue to fight the virus.

“The hope that we have is that if people be more socially responsible and stay at home and do what they can do to flatten this curve, it will help alleviate the pressure off the emergency department,” Mollette said.

“I can say that every corner, every part of the hallway, every room, every space has been filled up to capacity with our patients.”

Inside the ER, a staccato of coughing fills the room as a nurse goes from one bed to another while attending to patients. “It’s not easy coming here when you know what you’re getting ready to face,” she added. Healthcare workers feel like ‘lambs to the slaughterhouse.’

Lab technician, Andrei Legoun, works dozens of COVID-19 tests in the hospital. Legoun said he is not nervous about working on such samples – the samples are first deactivated by placing them in a water bath. And he adds, “I have a mask.” Yet, Legoun said he had been away from his family for more than two months and had avoided face-to-face meeting with anyone including his family.

“In case I’m a carrier for some reason, I don’t want to pass it along to them,” he said.

For months too, Mollette hasn’t seen her family. And so for many such healthcare workers. “I’m going to be honest with you: I don’t really sleep that well at night,” she said. “I’m worried about my family, I worry about my safety. I’m worried about my colleagues. I worry about if a family member is going to come and be patient as well.”

So, healthcare workers not only think about themselves but also about their families. Doctors staying in the garage, rental apartments or hotels instead of going back home so they don’t accidentally infect a family member. Healthcare workers avoiding small children when they come home until they can shower and change out of their work clothes. A nurse who had recently given birth decided to quarantine out of concern she might infect her newborn. She pumped breast milk and kept it outside her door for her husband to feed their baby.

Now, there are reports describing the significant psychological distress healthcare workers are experiencing. Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is well-known. But less appreciated is the moral injury, something described as “a trauma wrapped up in guilt”.

It is said that moral injury occurs when “a person commits, fails to prevent or witnesses an act that is anathema to their moral beliefs.”

IT’S INFURIATING TO SEE POLITICIANS WEARING RESPIRATORS WHEN HEALTHCARE WORKERS WHO DIRECTLY CONFRONT THE VIRUS BEG FOR SURGICAL MASKS

It’s further described as psychological trauma involving “extreme and unprecedented life experience”, that can lead to “haunting states of inner conflict and turmoil.” This can happen to healthcare workers confronted with the COVID-19 outbreak.

A doctor told the BBC the stress was intense. “Seeing people die is not the issue. We’re trained to deal with death… The issue is giving up on people we wouldn’t normally give up on.”

There are the long shifts with little break and sleep before returning to the job. When all this is over and life is now normal for the rest of society, that’s when healthcare workers will sit down to ask: “What happened?” That’s also when some medical personnel go into depression and may take their lives because of moral injury, having been “crushed by decisions they had to make, swamped by unrelenting grief, consumed by fury and humiliation at the authorities who failed them.”

If healthcare workers in countries with advanced healthcare system are experiencing this, imagine then what Nigerian healthcare workers in a decrepit healthcare system are then going through.

With COVID-19, surgical masks, gloves and other personal protective equipment became scarce even in public hospitals in Nigeria. And where available, the price sky-high. Still many healthcare workers have to get masks for themselves somehow.

Even with the lockdown, Nigerians have continued to move about, putting healthcare workers and they themselves at risk.

Outpatient departments in most public hospitals in Nigeria remained open and few if any observing social distancing. Now, the term “frontline” is being erroneously used in Nigeria to refer to healthcare workers in the isolation centres. But get it clear: frontline healthcare workers include those who work in the ER and even outpatient departments confronting potential coronavirus patients.

Paradoxically, the isolation centres are now relatively safer! They are provided with full personal protective equipment.

But for some of us who chose to remain in the ER, it is not so. We are not as protected as those in the isolation centres. The more dangerous patient is the asymptomatic one. Who then infects others who may end up having severe symptoms.

People must get this clear too. Nigerian healthcare workers are not scared of coronavirus or any other pathogen for that matter. All we want is to be given the things to protect ourselves so we don’t become sitting ducks. It’s infuriating to see politicians wearing respirators when healthcare workers who directly confront the virus beg for surgical masks. Yes, doctors and nurses took oaths. But our families did not take these oaths. And perhaps they, like the person in charge of our health ministry, are not aware that our hazard allowance is N5,000!

Just a few days ago, a suspected coronavirus patient died at our hospital. Initial test carried out on the patient came out negative. And we all cheered. But a few days after, another information came out to say a second test was now positive.

Meanwhile, the ER had been disinfected. Work had continued almost immediately in the ER. And it’s been business as usual in the outpatient departments since then.

My colleagues who worked that shift are being tested. It’s a long wait. Even for us who took over from them!

Dr Odoemena, a medical practitioner, wrote from Lagos

WORK VERSUS FANTASY IN AKWA IBOM The government of the state is prudent with public funds, writes David Ufot

W

e are not in an age where we should be careless with words. The internet has given immortality to utterances in a way that no age till now can rival. Not in the age of the telegram or telegraph, or in the age of fax machines.

The very air around us bears witnesses to our slips and errors, even our heroisms.

Hence scandals are easier to spread today, and misunderstandings are easier to fester. In Akwa Ibom State- a great State where the Governor, Udom Emmanuel is working hard to reposition the State as an industrial hub in the Gulf of Guinea, we are seeing some of that sort of quick tongue and loose allegations. It is all about 2023, and it is a very seedy partisan affair.

They are saying the present Akwa Ibom government is stingy, and if it were not stingy, they will be sharing the money, and giving the husbands and wives good reason to abide by the admonition of Apostle Paul in the Holy Bible: “The marriage is honourable, the bed undefiled.”

With no evidence to accuse the government of not delivering the dividends of democracy to the people of Akwa Ibom State, they have to go prurient, and resort to base and salacious gossip. They are doing it through the agency of a woman who lost woefully to the PDP at the polls in 2019 to be a member of the State House of Assembly.

She has not offered any proof. She and her backers are not believed to be able to give evidence of this sex-for-money scandal. But anything with so much of a reference to a rollicking bedroom of adulterous liaisons are sure to trigger public interest.

So, for some in the state, it is a form of entertainment in this Covid-19 era. It entertains because we have no movie theatres to attend, no public events to draw our attentions. So much social distancing also means an absence of social activities. And absence of social activities also means less romantic imperatives.

The men are also portrayed as weak and conniving effeminates who know that their wives have slept with mister A, so he can get contract C, or just some bales of cash. This sort of scenario is ridiculous when you imagine the household in which the husband will know that he is not really the bread winner but that the bread was won by the woman by giving away the intimate treasure of their relationship.

In that instance, the man is not the man. As a man from Akwa Ibom, I know that is not done, and it is beneath us. To now escalate this into a story of a whole class of ambitious politicians is such a stretch, and it is unacceptable. And without evidence. That is why the rumour has generated a backlash among the people in the state.

Radio talk shows have waded in, and what many are saying is that the woman is not acting alone, and it is about launching baseless attacks, and distracting attention from the government programmes, which should be their focus in the first place.

The allegations said during the era of Godswill Akpabio, money was flowing like milk and honey.

He was busy sharing the money. So, the present government should just share the money and not engage in developmental programmes.

First, this is a call to return to the time of oil money when the price of crude oil topped 100 dollars per barrel. Today, the price of oil has plummeted

and is so slow, and with the Covid-19 pandemic, it is struggling to stay at $20 dollars per barrel. This means that allocations to the state should dip steeply.

Two, the cost of projects with spiraling inflations has risen, and this means to import gears and pay people will be at a higher cost.

Three, the government is involved in projects.

They should look at the 28- kilometer road from the airport to Oron; the 29.5 kilometers road from Etinan to Onna; the 55.1 - kilometer road, a superhighway from Ibom deep sea port into town, the 25- kilometer road from Uyo to Ikot Ikpene. And more.

Unlike the distraction of the woman who is fronting for the APC party big men in the state, the state government has spent quite a fortune empowering many people, men and women, including in her constituency, in agriculture loans and grants, and this is the highest such empowerment anywhere in the county.

Can anybody forget that as the aviation industry gets all sorts of challenges, the Ibom Air that charts Lagos and Abuja routes is the most efficient so far in the country with the best aircraft in this part of the world?

Where does the APC want the Governor, Udom Emmanuel, to spend the money? On frivolous and lazy men who think little of the masses of the Akwa Ibom people? I would urge the government to ignore them, and focus on what he has christened his “completion agenda.”

What they want the government to do is to pay corruption with corruption. If the government gives people money in order to do nothing, it is rewarding indolence. It is indulgence for indolence.

That is what has been described in the Nigerian

political lexicon as stomach infrastructure. We saw that happen in Ekiti State and it became a major issue during the election that removed Governor Kayode Fayemi in his first advent as governor. It does not last anywhere. Because there will be roads to construct, hospitals to build, houses to erect, schools to raise the literacy levels with. Stomach infrastructure comes back to haunt an indulgent society. As it has done in Ekiti State. We don’t want that in Akwa Ibom State.

Governor Emmanuel would rather focus on the biggest syringe factory in Africa, the metre factory, the coconut refinery, the toothpick factory, etc. They are bringing jobs and have the potential to look beyond the era of crude oil that is receding into the background as the world looks to other sources of energy.

Those plotting scandal are cowards and never-dowells. They rather should engage the governor in his dividends of democracy, vision and projects. They should desist from salacious stories that are no more than figments of decadent imaginations. They have no evidence for their allegations. That is because the government of Emmanuel has overwhelming evidence of work in progress in the state and the people of the state are solidly behind the governor.

Today, the people of the state are enjoying peace, security and development which were scarce commodities in the years of the man they hail as throwing public funds recklessly around. There are no kidnappings or politically motivated killings; the people can go to sleep with their eyes closed, which didn’t happen in those years when public funds were thrown at people without showing them the means to make the money themselves.

15

T H I S D AY ˾ FRIDAY, APRIL 17, 2020

EDITORIAL INSURGENCY AND THE CHAD ULTIMATUM The military is now well placed to end the protracted war against Boko Haram

T

he April 22 ultimatum to Nigeria

by Chad, a member of the Multinational Joint Task Force (MNJTF) fighting Boko Haram and the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) is yet another indication that all is not well with the war against insurgency. “Our troops have died for Lake Chad and the Sahel. From today, no Chadian soldiers will take part in a military mission outside Chad,” said Chadian President Idris Deby who led his troops in a counter-attack that led to the death of many of the insurgents.

After the episode, he granted several self-promoting interviews where he tried to put down Nigeria and the efforts of our military.

It is therefore no surprise that Chad is being hailed internationally while Nigeria is being ridiculed in the social media. Meanwhile, with many of the insurgents said to have melted into some Nigerian communities in the North-east, the job of our military troops is now well cut out for them. It would be most tragic to alTHE CHAD OFFENSIVE low the Boko Haram THAT HAS PUT THE insurgents that had INSURGENTS ON THE RUN been flushed out by INDICATES VERY CLEARLY the Chadian soldiers THAT THIS DOES NOT HAVE to regain foothold on Nigerian territory.

TO BE AN ENDLESS WAR That is the challenge of the moment.

The relocation of the Chief of Army Staff, Lt General Tukur Buratai to the main theatre of the war, though desirable, is not enough as modern warfare is not fought with bare chests and hands. This is the time to boost the morale of the soldiers and their officers by providing for them the needed arms and logistics in the onslaught against the insurgents. The recent deployment of the commanding officer, Major General Olusegun Adeniyi, for bringing to the public the frustrations of his fighting troops is a pointer

to some lingering operational issues. He merely reaffirmed what most Nigerians have been saying that our soldiers are squared against well-armed insurgents. The issues he raised should be addressed.

W

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

hat is particularly worrying is that the same military which ended the Nigerian civil war within 30 months, and later led ECOMOG to end civil wars in Liberia and Sierra Leone, etc., has been stranded by a rag-tag collective of untrained sectarian zealots for more than a decade. Quite clearly, something is wrong in terms of doctrine, training, morale, strategic orientation and more crucially, leadership. Yet, despite strong indications that senior military officers and the fighting troops have lost trust in the current service chiefs, President Muhammadu Buhari has refused to make changes.

We have stated on this page on several occasions that the policy put in place to defeat the insurgency has become ineffective and it is draining the army of the goodwill of most Nigerians. For the past one year, Boko Haram terrorists and their ISWAP counterparts have, through daring raids, attacks and seizures, put a lie to the much-touted view that the war against insurgency is ‘technically over’. In fact, the insurgents have exacerbated their asymmetrical warfare and executed successful attacks, and in the process killed hundreds of civilians and military personnel.

We have consistently commended the men and officers of the armed forces for their gallantry and sense of duty. Many of them have paid the ultimate sacrifice. But the Chad offensive that has put the insurgents on the run indicates very clearly that this does not have to be an endless war. With greater motivation and a new commitment, our military can defeat the insurgents. We hope Buratai who has talked down Boko Haram on several occasions will now walk his talk from Maiduguri. Nigeria will not take any excuse from him this time.

TO SEND EMAIL: first name.surname@thisdaylive.com

Letters to the Editor

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

BETWEEN GOVERNOR NYESOM AND SIRIKA

N

igeria careens from one crisis to another. Public officials are always rapier tongued, reacting immediately to national issues instead of allowing reason to prevail, challenging people and asking them to defend themselves instead of seeking to clarify issues. The gutsy upper-class must tyrannize, forgetting lessons from

Attila the Hen. Is this not a lurking piranha, an unvarnished preferential treatment, same as the poignant specter of an unwilling captive?

I watched the drama, the arrest of the two Caverton pilots in Port Harcourt, the woes-and thrills of the office of governor of Rivers State and Minister of Aviation; the clash of bureaucracy, the intrusion of our private lives in the face of a deadly pandemic, the huge task around executive offices which calls for quick wits, and shook my head.

In my cocoon, I thought that the governor overreacted although I had sympathy for him; I thought he suffered from a crisis of followership and needed direction at a crucial moment but his hangers-on failed him. His supporters not only asked him to arrest the Caverton pilots but also coached him to say that the federal government planned to people Rivers State with patients with the dreaded COVID-19. How farcical. He went too far. What the governor needed to have done was to have collaborated with the federal government. A simple phone call might have solved the problem.

The minister appeared arrogant, he spoke like a Czar and his attitude on this issue portrayed him as someone who does not have a mark of respect for the Rivers State governor. The governor is an elected official but he is a governmental aide and he should have reverted to his principal and the relevant agencies to handle the embarrassing situation properly.

The leaders in Nigeria overplay their cards and make disorder a state policy. Process drives everything.

Policy experts bend over backwards to explain policy of state to everyone unmindful of class for the common good, they do not talk outside the script, but fight for the masses.

Public officers should use their offices to pursue and enforce policies the way most statesmen do with dignity. I watched the press releases of both the governor and minister on television and I wondered if those came from these respected people, so combative and did not show a healthy respect for Nigeria especially at this testy moment. The governor appeared to love Rivers State more than Nigeria, he forgot the history of Rivers State and how same federal government created Rivers State by decree before the civil war and the minister appeared to love his principal more than Nigeria and forgot the crucial role Rivers State plays in the national economy.

I wished they took the stage to promote economic policies to make Nigerians survive the hard times as predicted by the IMF and World Bank and not bore us with unnecessary rant and supremacy battle.

It’s left for them and their conscience. Nigeria would be a beautiful country if there are patriotic national establishment players in public offices, establish players who will choose principles over nothingness, and journey to evolve for the national good.

These needless problems aren’t necessary especially in a fragile nation like Nigeria. Crisis threatens Nigerians, engulfs the nation, and cripples economic life of states and the country.

I agree that the governor needs to secure the safety of Rivers people at all costs; but he needs to maintain a cordial relationship with the federal government for the good of the Rivers people.

Simon Abah, Abuja

NIGERIAN ARMY: FIGHT, SOLDIERS, FIGHT

O

h, dear! Lt.-Gen. Buratai, let ‘em loose. Let the boys fight. That’s why they exist.

President Idris Derby of Chad has cut a swath and cleared a pathway that has made it quite easy for our “boys” to finish off Boko Haram. What’s Buratai doing in the Northeast? Uh? Now that Abubakar Shekau and his henchmen are in retreat, what’s Buratai doing in the northeast? How come our soldiers have not fired off a shot in anger against the retreating Boko Haram elements? How come? The Nigerian Army and the Nigerian establishment cannot be more religious than Chad, that country with three-fifth Muslim population. Yet Chad is willing to fight back against the religious Boko Haram and Nigeria is still playing the “religious card” by letting Boko Haram go loose and slaughter our soldiers. What the hell!

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

16

FRIDAY APRIL 17, 2020 •T H I S D AY

FRIDAY APRIL 17, 2020 • T H I S D AY

17

T H I S D AY ˾ FRIDAY APRIL 17, 2020

18

POLITICS

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

Interrogating Tinubu’s Politics and Ideas Olusanya Awosan, former Special Assistant to President Goodluck Jonathan on Public Relations and Chair of National Action Group salutes the National Leader of the All Progressives Congress, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, who, according to him, best symbolizes creative value added politics

P

olitics is defined by many scholars as the struggle for the acquisition, control and utilization of state power. Experience has shown that majority of seekers of this state power, politicians and their comrades in arms within the public service, are faithful subscribers to the network of Machiavellian philosophy-the end justifying the means; no matter how reprehensible such means.

Against this situation, it is no wonder that a large number of citizens perceive politics as a dirty game, which decent people should be weary of getting involved in. This is a mistaken notion of politics which, unfortunately tends to leave this all too critical sphere of public life to rudderless scavengers, selfseeking opportunists and indolent political entrepreneurs, who pursue state power only to obscenely accumulate wealth, without concern about public good. This is really the bane of politics in Nigeria. Our civil rule, aka ‘democracy’, rather than being a vehicle for national development, has remained an effective flying jet for poverty and underdevelopment in, ironically, one of Africa’s most resource-endowed countries.

There are those politicians who are attracted to the intrigues, manipulations, subterfuges and betrayals that tend to characterize the pursuit of power. Those in this category seek power just for its own sake and for the glamour, pleasure, fame, wealth and opportunity to exercise dominion over others. These politicians expend considerable time, energy and resources in pursuing, achieving and retaining power without giving much thought to the higher purpose that power can be utilized for.

On the other hand, there is another class of politicians, and late Chief Obafemi Awolowo is the best model I can think of in this regard. For this category, the overriding purpose of politics and power is to help elevate the society to incrementally higher levels of development. That is why Awo defined politics as “the art of selfless service to humanity”. I remember vividly that in launching his campaign for the presidency of Nigeria in 1979, Papa Awo famously declared that the presidency of Nigeria was not an office of pleasure but one that would demand the greatest discipline, commitment, hard work, diligence and sacrifice from anyone privileged to be given the mandate by Nigerians.

As a result of this philosophical disposition to the acquisition and utilization of power, Awo saw politics first and foremost as an intellectual enterprise; a vocation that demanded ceaseless and most rigorous pursuit of the best developmental ideas for the transformation of Nigeria. Thus, his contributions to public discourse and the policies and programmes of the political parties that Awo belonged to, always showed evidence of someone who committed time and energy to deep thinking about Nigeria’s problems and continually seeking workable and viable ideas for the country’s progress.

In the very polluted water and seemingly bankrupt and deceptive present political era and among his contemporaries, it appears to me that the National Leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, best symbolizes in many respects commitment to what I like to call creative value added politics and ideas.

One always gets the impression on listening to or reading his views that Asiwaju has developed passion for critical thinking and relentless search for transformational ideas and policies that power will be utilized to actualize.

Reading through Asiwaju Tinubu’s statement to mark his 68th birthday has further strengthened my view of Asiwaju as a mind that thinks profoundly and rigorously about

the country’s challenges and which comes up with suggestions and ideas to promote public good. You may not agree with some of his proposals but it will be difficult to deny that his suggestions could not have

been arrived at without hard thinking, time -consuming and rigorous brainstorming with some of his associates. It is instructive to know that Asiwaju’s associates are in categories for different purposes and

Why the Executive-Legislature Collaboration is Not Yielding Economic Results Mon-Charles Egboh, Print Media Aide to Senate President, Dr. Ahmad Lawan holds the strong view that the National Assembly under Lawan has shown commitment to revamp the economy

B

efore COVID-19 became a compelling global discourse, Nigeria’s economy had gone south, implying that the Federal Government has not meaningfully impacted the country. Both the National Assembly and the executive are rather classic examples of ‘motion without movement’.

But ironically, there is a ‘valid’ reason for this unfortunate situation.

The doctrine of separation of powers is not only defective but inhibitory to good governance, albeit unintentional. While the legislature makes laws and formulate policies for good governance, the judiciary interprets and enforces the laws, with the executive solely implementing the policies and other initiatives flowing from those laws.

Then curiously, irrespective of the good governance implications of legislative outputs, they are of no effects whatsoever, if the executive, rightly or wrongly, chooses not to put them into action.

Although there is a window for the legislature to override the executive when necessary, such an extreme condition only dramatizes hostility in relationship which in itself as well stifles governance.

Evidently, it this faulty configuration that undermines the concerted efforts of the national assembly at tangibly reinventing the economy.

The National Assembly chairman, Senator Ahmad Lawan, is unquestionably as passionate about Nigeria’s economic recovery and prosperity as he is determined to provide pragmatic leadership for its actualization. Beyond being intellectually-equipped and with competitive prerequisites, he is disposed

to making the necessary sacrifices typical of a liberal leader, in the masses’ interest, without of course undermining the independence of the legislature.

Among his strategies: the National Assembly has to collaborate with the other arms, especially the executive, for seamless dispensing of good governance; there must be a systematic approach driven by unity of purpose and devoid of partisan sentiments; and importantly, the people must be consciously-integrated, for deepened participatory democracy.

Towards economic rebirth primarily, the legislative agenda highlighted as key priority areas; insecurity, wealth creation as well as general development of infrastructure, with profound interest in power generation, among others.

And as one well-versed in the dynamics of development, Lawan recognizes education as a veritable tool for socioeconomic rehabilitation. He canvassed that, “today’s economy is about what capacity your citizens have. Many countries don’t have more resources than the kind of resources we have but they have been able to develop the capacities of their people. India and China have done that...... We must face the reality of making our economy work for the people.

We need our graduates, both in the universities, polytechnics, and colleges of education to actually be graduates that have some functionality. Either they can engage themselves in some productive activities or when they are employed, they should be able to perform if we want our economy to function.”

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

assignments. These range from serious and rigorous intellectual matters like research and documentation, to less mentally involved acts like political dancing,praise and worship rhat come as ‘salt’ to political mobilization. His birthday this year coincided, unfortunately, with the coronavirus pandemic currently ravaging humanity.

The popular Bola Ahmed Tinubu annual colloquium could not hold. But Tinubu’s rich public statement on the occasion remains a veritable intellectual feast with a cornucopia of suggested policies to help the country cope with the unprecedented challenge. It is unlikely that the run of the mill politician whose overriding motivation is ego-driven pursuit of power, would invest so much mental resources in the generation and dissemination of transformational ideas, even with higher degrees of some of these Lilliputians .

Let me make it clear that to me, his party APC, cannot be taken as an ideal political party in the true sense of the word and neither do I see him or any other person as a perfect being; nor do I write as an uncritical adulator of his political philosophy and ideas. All those with whom I worked and related while I served in the government of amiable President Goodluck Ebele Jonthan (GEJ) can testify that I was always telling those who would listen that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) had a lot to learn from Tinubu’s approach to politics particularly party organization and commitment.

It is instructive that my former boss, Dr Goodluck Jonathan, in his birthday message to Asiwaju acknowledged that it is difficult to rival in this dispensation, Asiwaju’s contributions to Nigeria’s democratic development. In His Excellency Dr Goodluck Ebele Jonathan’s words: “As a patriot, politician and leader, you have contributed so much to the advancement of our nation’s democracy and nurtured many individuals to greatness.

I wish you more years of sound health, peace and glory as you celebrate.”

The truth of the matter is that Asiwaju Tinubu’s political influence and appeal today transcend party, ideological and even ethno-regional boundaries. Reading through his policy prescriptions on the coronavirus pandemic proposals, for instance, it is difficult not to admire the compassion that drives his welfare-oriented policies; even though those of divergent ideological disposition may not agree with what they perceive as the over-extended welfare state that he advocates. Quite apart from the cost of the welfare state, which may be unsustainable in the long run, the bureaucracy it tends to spawn, some argue, tends to breed inefficiency and provide avenues for corrupt enrichment.

But then, given the depth of poverty and misery in our land and the corresponding sharp inequality, is there really any alternative now to overwhelmingly deploying society’s resources to invest in the most vulnerable and incidentally most populous segments of the populace with a view to actualizing their potentials and transforming them into developmental assets rather than liabilities? This requires massive investment in education, health, infrastructure, and poverty alleviation as Tinubu advocates in his statement. Of course, the question arises as to where the resources to do this on the advocated scale will come from especially in the light of the drastic fall in oil revenues, that has already gravely distorted the 2020 budget, and the fact that the coronavirus crisis is hitting at a time when the economy is only being gradually weaned away from unhealthy dependence on oil.

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

T H I S D AY ˾ FRIDAY APRIL 17, 2020

19

PERSPECTIVE

Why Buhari Should Dissolve IMC of the NDDC Damian Chukwukelu posits that the Niger Delta Development Commission has been turned to a private estate of contract deals and selective payments run by the Minister, Senator Godswill Akpabio

T

he reaction of the Interim Management Committee (IMC) of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) to the allegations of fraud leveled at it by some Niger Delta groups in the last few weeks is the clearest indication that the committee, which several lawyers and stakeholders in the region have labeled illegal on account of the fact that it is not provided for in the Act governing the Commission, has been exposed for what it is – a smokescreen for illegal payments and withdrawals from the agency’s accounts under the guise of supervising a forensic audit. When confronted with the allegations of billions of naira paid out for fraudulent contracts without due process, the commission could not deny them; rather, all it could say is that the allegations were targeted at the Niger Delta Minister Chief Godswill Akpabio.

Indeed, Niger Delta stakeholders have asked President Muhammadu Buhari to sack both the Minister and his IMC and constitute the Governing Board for the Commission because the arguments that were used to sell the IMC have proven to be fraudulent. I cannot agree less.

The allegations of fraud made by Niger Delta groups including the Niger Delta Ijaw Development and Response Assembly (NDIDRA) have exposed the raw underbelly of the current NDDC interim management and the unsustainable lies that the Commission was undergoing a reform when in actual fact the minister, Godswill Akpabio, is using his handpicked IMC members to settle his favoured contractors and award emergency contracts running into several billions of naira. Rather than address pointedly the issues of these illegal payments influenced by the minister, the IMC in its response was specious and vague, resorting to sentiments.

The people of the Niger Delta will not be hoodwinked by such sentiments, which are meant to mask the ongoing fraud while desecrating the legal instrument on which the agency was founded and which should guide its actions.

In the words of NDIDRA, “NDDC is in this current state of quagmire and indebtedness because monies are being looted and syphoned using three forms of phoney contracts, namely: Clearing of Water Hyacinths, Emergency Jobs and River De-silting, the payment of various sums of money for bogus emergency contracts by the IMC. Emergency contracts are unbudgeted for and, while they are useful in times of emergencies, they are opaque and often abused. In fact, they are clearly advised against by the office of the Auditor General of the Federation. Yet these payments have persisted since Akpabio brought in the IMC in October 2019, with several billions of naira going to contractors for phony jobs such as river desilting, supply of lassa fever equipment and clearing of water hyacinth. While many have been paid for jobs not done, the full payment for the uncompleted NDDC headquarters building on the direction of Akpabio is scandalous even by the basic rules of payment for government jobs. For instance, NDIDRA claims that: “The amount to complete the permanent Headquarters of the NDDC located along Eastern By-pass, Port Harcourt, was pegged at N6b by the NDDC Engineers empanelled to cost the project but the contract was awarded to Rodnab Construction Ltd at the cost of N16b.

Does this not amount to contract inflation?

The whole N16b has been paid to Rodnab Construction Ltd while the project is less than 70% complete. Does government make full payment of a contract that is yet to be completed? Since 2016 under the leadership of Nsima Ekere as the Managing Director, the Commission has been awash with contracts for clearing Water Hyacinths,

Emergency Projects and River De-silting.

Chief Godswill Akpabio is a major beneficiary of these contracts. The sum of N65b has been paid for clearing of Water Hyacinths.

Chief Godswill Akpabio (authorised the payment of) N1.9b and N700m within two weeks interval on assumption of office and is processing additional N30b payment for the same non-existent jobs. Chief Akpabio (authorised) N4b payment for supply of Lassa fever equipment that was never supplied.” Like NDIDRA noted, “The NDDC spokesperson was silent on Emergency contracts in his response to our publication.

80% of recent payments were for Emergency Jobs, one of the three ways the Commission is defrauded. The other two are Water Hyacinth and River De-silting. 20% of recent payments made by the present IMC cover this two fraud infested areas.”

Rather than answer the allegations, the IMC through the spokesman simply said, rather offhandedly, that: “The attacks are obviously targeted at Senator Godswill Akpabio, the Minister of the Niger Delta Affairs, who is driving the forensic audit ordered on the Commission by President Muhammadu Buhari.” Meanwhile, no forensic audit has been done six months after the appointment of the IMC. The response by Rodnab Construction to the allegations has been less than satisfactory. While the company claims that it has done no wrong, the fact that it has been paid its full contract value when the job is not yet done raises eyebrows. As NDIDRA explains, “Rodnab Construction Ltd received roughly N10.4b before Chief Godswill Akpabio became the supervising Minister of the NDDC. Upon assumption of duty, Chief Akpabio hurriedly visited the project site and ordered the Commission to pay N2.6b, giving March, 2020 as project completion dateline. From reliable sources, the project is currently about 70% complete, implying that Rodnab’s input to the project is just about 5%, after collecting a total of N13b. Yet, late last month, (March, 2020) the current Interim Management Committee (IMC) paid Rodnab N3b, bringing the total sum received by Rodnab to N16b, representing the total contract sum.”

From the current state of affairs, the cold reality is that the NDDC has been turned to a private estate of contract deals and selective payments run by the minister and even the so-called forensic audit, which Niger Delta stakeholders fought for before Akpabio and the Governors latched onto it, is nowhere to be seen. It has become a convenient excuse for the minister and his co-travellers to continue to control the Commission directly for their own selfish ends.

-Chukwukelu writes from Port Harcourt, Rivers State NOTE: Interested readers should continue in the online edition on www.thisdaylive.com

EPISTLES of ANTHONY KILA

COVID-19 Stardust Dear Fred Amata, Students and lovers of history have a peculiar habit: Whilst the rest of the world consume daily news looking for survival tips, opportunities and for items for entertainment or elements to foster their tribal or partisan unity and division, students and lovers of history tend to be look out for big items that stand out during an event. They look for what is termed as the big stories, these are normally deeds, pronouncements, events and characters that standout enough to make history generally or textbooks in particular.

Let’s face it though, the world has changed, for better or for worse? It is not for me to judge but for all to see. Fact is that, save for moments of crises, history, science and text books don’t matter much to most like they used to in the slow old analog days. In our times times, it is fiction led by films and then other forms of entertainments that matter to most people in the world. In good times popularity and jocularity matter more than content, wisdom or principles. These days the new historians and custodians of information are the storytellers.

So, Dear Olorogun Fred Amata, once the pandemic is over, those of us lucky enough to be alive and those that will come after us will be looking up to you and your colleagues in Directors Guild of Nigeria to tell us the story of what happened during the COVID-19 pandemic.

To help you and your colleagues in writing and staging the days of the Convid-19 pandemic, I have put together for you some characters that you might want to consider for your future scripts and films. In choosing them the criteria considered are their originality and a few other factors you will notice as we go along.

It will be unfair to write or screen the

It will be unfair to write or screen the days of this pandemic without creating a role for the Nigerian President. At time when leaders of the world from London to Washington, Tel Aviv to Canberra were busy panting and wasting time to interact with insidious journalists giving day-byday account and exposing themselves to criticism and some like Boris Johnson even falling ill., our own great president stayed calm and above the daily frays and worries of common mortals. With his mode of communicating with Nigerians and dealing with daily issues he has invented a new style of governance understood and described, defended and even praised by those with refined taste; the style seems to be lost on the plebes but most are now getting used to it

days of this pandemic without creating a role for the Nigerian President. At time when leaders of the world from London to Washington, Tel Aviv to Canberra were busy panting and wasting time to interact with insidious journalists giving day-by-day account and exposing themselves to criticism and some like Boris Johnson even falling ill., our own great president stayed calm and above the daily frays and worries of common mortals. With his mode of communicating with Nigerians and dealing with daily issues he has invented a new style of governance understood and described, defended and even praised by those with refined taste; the style seems to be lost on the plebes but most are now getting used to it. Though it has not been given a name, there is something clearly imperial about it. Buharistic is a suggested working title.

Two other members of the Federal Government have earned their place in a future narrative of COVID-19 and I think it would be unfair to exclude them.

One is the Health Minister, Dr. Osagie Ehanire, an outstanding surgeon of international repute, the other is the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Mr. Boss Mustapha, a lawyer, management consultant, politician, businessman and boardroom guru of considerable repute.

The appearance of these two stars must be crafted and presented using nondiegetic and introspective techniques.

A good episode can made out of trying to see what goes on in the mind of Dr. Ehanire in seeing the world applaud health workers as heroes instead or mere temperature controllers.

Another good episode can come out examining the world of Boss Mustapha who candidly admitted that he never knew that our entire healthcare infrastructure was in the state in which it is until he was appointed chairman of the Presidential Task force (PTF) on COVID-19. It would be a delight to explore Boss Mustapha’s life before and after his discovery.

Man is a product of his environment a good director must take us through what papers do these people read, which WhatsApp groups do they belong to if any.

At the state level the big star is Governor Okezie Ikpeazu of Abia State. A gentleman per excellence. It is difficult to be more original than a Governor who holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Clinical Biochemistry, a Masters in Biochemical Toxicology and a PhD in Biochemical Pharmacology who then goes on to declare that since his, “Abia is the only state that is mentioned in the Bible, “we have been promised by God that none of these diseases will get to us. We saw Ebola, even this one (Coronavirus) it won’t get to us.”

Makeup artists and costume designers will be glad to note hear that Prophet T.B. Joshua made the list ahead of many pastors. Directors have enough materials from our churches but I think it will be wrong to leave out an episode or film called “the rain that didn’t fall”.

At least the men leading our faith sector tried something. What shall we say about our scientists? Well, given that the professors are on strike and the laboratories are ill equipped maybe we can call their own episode “The invisible ones”.

Olorgun Amata, these are just some ideas for you and your colleagues, in the meantime please stay safe and tell others to keep safe too.

-You may reach Prof Kila, Centre Director at CIAPS, Lagos at @anthonykila

20

FRIDAY, APRIL 17, 2020 ˾ T H I S D AY

MARKET NEWS

FBNQuest Advises Investors on Investment Opportunities Goddy Egene FBNQuest Asset Management, a subsidiary of FBN Holdings, is offering investors guidance on investing opportunities considering the impact of the COVID-19 on financial markets. The firm seeks to serve as a

partner that helps investors achieve their goals in a time of heightened uncertainty in the financial markets.

The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated the impact of a price war between leading oil producers on the price of crude oil in the international market. Oil exporters like Nigeria

A Mutual fund (Unit Trust) is an investment vehicle managed by a SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission) registered Fund Manager.

Investors with similar objectives buy units of the Fund so that the Fund Manager can buy securities that willl generate their desired return.

An ETF (Exchange Traded Fund) is a type of fund which owns the assets (shares of stock, bonds, oil futures, gold bars, foreign currency, etc.) and divides ownership of those assets into shares. Investors can buy these ‘shares’ on the

have not been excluded from the economic impact of a drop in oil revenues, which has sparked volatility in the prices of other assets.

But the Managing Director of FBNQuest Asset Management, Mr. Ike Onyia said uncertainty should motivate investors think more

floor of the Nigerian Stock Exchange.

A REIT (Real Estate Investment Trust) is an investment vehicle that allows both small and large investors to part-own real estate ventures (eg.

Offices, Houses, Hospitals) in proportion to their investments. The assets are divided into shares that are traded on the Nigerian Stock Exchange.

GUIDE TO DATA: Date: All fund prices are quoted in Naira as at 15Apr-2020, unless otherwise stated.

carefully about their investment objectives.

“These are critical times, as the volatility in local and global markets tends to unsettle many investors. We are of the view that the uncertainty should motivate investors to think more carefully about their objectives

and not make hasty decisions.

Through this BeyondToday campaign, we seek to show our clients that we are here to help them keep an eye on the big picture - their goals - and work with them to achieve those goals,” Onyia said.

According to him, the campaign

highlights the skills and products offered by the fund manager to investors with diverse investment objectives. It showcases six mutual funds designed to cater to the unique investment profiles and objectives of both individuals and corporates in the Nigerian market.

Offer price: The price at which units of a trust or ETF are bought by investors.

Bid Price: The price at which Investors redeem (sell) units of a trust or ETF. Yield/Total Return: Denotes the total return an investor would have earned on his investment. Money Market Funds report Yield while others report Year- to-date Total Return.

NAV: Is value per share of the real estate assets held by a REIT on a specific date.

DAILY PRICE LIST FOR MUTUAL FUNDS, REITS and ETFS MUTUAL FUNDS / UNIT TRUSTS AFRINVEST ASSET MANAGEMENT LTD aaml@afrinvest.com Web: www.afrinvest.com; Tel: +234 818 885 6757 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Afrinvest Equity Fund 109.26 112.91 -25.37% Afrinvest Plutus Fund 100.00 100.00 4.11% Nigeria International Debt Fund 306.09 306.09 -2.10% ALTERNATIVE CAPITAL PARTNERS LTD info@acapng.com Web: www.acapng.com, Tel: +234 1 291 2406, +234 1 291 2868 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn ACAP Canary Growth Fund N/A N/A N/A ACAP Income Funds N/A N/A N/A AIICO CAPITAL LTD ammf@aiicocapital.com Web: www.aiicocapital.com, Tel: +234-1-2792974 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn AIICO Money Market Fund 100.00 100.00 7.07% AIICO Balanced Fund 2.53 2.58 2.67% 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 6.69% Anchoria Equity Fund 91.01 91.29 -11.99% Anchoria Fixed Income Fund 1.17 1.17 2.56% 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 13.40 13.81 -12.51% ARM Discovery Fund 320.68 330.35 -7.16% ARM Ethical Fund 26.83 27.64 -7.75% ARM Money Market Fund 1.00 1.00 5.87% 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 90.05 90.68 -6.27% AXA Mansard Money Market Fund 1.00 1.00 5.78% CAPITAL EXPRESS ASSET AND TRUST LIMITED info@capitalexpressassetandtrust.com Web: www.capitalexpressassetandtrust.com ; Tel: +234 803 307 5048 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn CEAT Fixed Income Fund N/A N/A N/A 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 0.07 0.05 6.92% Paramount Equity Fund 10.21 10.40 -18.41% Women's Investment Fund 104.78 105.48 -5.20% 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 6.25% Cordros Milestone Fund 2023 95.96 96.39 Cordros Milestone Fund 2028 104.33 104.87 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 4.54% Coronation Balanced Fund 0.87 0.88 -6.61% Coronation Fixed Income Fund 1.36 1.36 2.50% EDC FUNDS MANAGEMENT LIMITED mutualfundng@ecobank.com Web: www.ecobank.com Tel: 012265281 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn EDC Nigeria Money Market Fund Class A N/A N/A N/A EDC Nigeria Money Market Fund Class B N/A N/A N/A EDC Nigeria Fixed Income Fund N/A N/A N/A FBNQUEST ASSET MANAGEMENT LTD invest@fbnquest.com Web: www.fbnquest.com/asset-management; Tel: +234-81 0082 0082 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn FBN Fixed Income Fund 1,329.76 1,332.47 3.00% FBN Balanced Fund 137.34 138.31 -6.46% FBN Money Market Fund 100.00 100.00 6.28% FBN Nigeria Eurobond (USD) Fund - Institutional 109.33 110.09 -8.31% FBN Nigeria Eurobond (USD) Fund - Retail 109.89 110.65 -8.30% FBN Nigeria Smart Beta Equity Fund 109.22 110.53 -16.07% 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 6.64% Legacy Debt Fund 3.73 3.73 2.10% Legacy Equity Fund 1.00 1.02 -11.80% Legacy USD Bond Fund 1.10 1.10 1.33% FSDH ASSET MANAGEMENT LTD coralfunds@fsdhgroup.com Web: www.fsdhaml.com; Tel: 01-270 4884-5; 01-280 9740-1 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Coral Growth Fund N/A N/A N/A Coral Income Fund N/A N/A N/A FSDH Treasury Bills Fund N/A N/A N/A GREENWICH ASSET MANAGEMENT LIMITED assetmanagement@gtlgroup.com Web: www.gtlgroup.com ; Tel: +234 1 4619261-2 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Greenwich Plus Money Market Fund 100.00 100.00 4.94% Nigeria Entertainment Fund 117.60 117.98 9.00%

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 5.02% Vantage Balanced Fund 2.16 2.20 -1.48% Vantage Guaranteed Income Fund 1.00 1.00 11.87% Kedari Investment Fund (KIF) 141.28 141.82 -1.49% 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 1.15 1.17 -1.42% Lotus Halal Fixed Income Fund 1,113.05 1,113.05 3.30% MERISTEM WEALTH MANAGEMENT LTD info@meristemwealth.com Web: http://www.meristemwealth.com/funds/ ; Tel: +234 1-4488260 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Meristem Equity Market Fund N/A N/A N/A Meristem Money Market Fund N/A N/A N/A PAC ASSET MANAGEMENT LTD info@pacassetmanagement.com Web: www.pacassetmanagement.com/mutualfunds; Tel: +234 1 271 8632 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn PACAM Balanced Fund 1.30 1.32 6.74% PACAM Fixed Income Fund 11.49 11.53 2.27% PACAM Money Market Fund 10.00 10.00 3.50% PACAM Equity Fund 0.96 0.97 PACAM EuroBond Fund 87.33 89.39 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 111.19 113.00 -9.85% 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 1.00 1.00 3.11% 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 -2.90% Stanbic IBTC Bond Fund 210.33 210.33 2.08% Stanbic IBTC Ethical Fund 0.88 0.89 -10.67% Stanbic IBTC Guaranteed Investment Fund 273.87 273.95 2.33% Stanbic IBTC Iman Fund 154.92 156.64 -10.30% Stanbic IBTC Money Market Fund 100.00 100.00 5.81% Stanbic IBTC Nigerian Equity Fund 7,674.15 7,756.30 -10.06% Stanbic IBTC Dollar Fund (USD) 1.16 1.16 1.67% 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 N/A N/A N/A United Capital Bond Fund N/A N/A N/A United Capital Equity Fund N/A N/A N/A United Capital Money Market Fund N/A N/A N/A United Capital Eurobond Fund N/A N/A N/A United Capital Wealth for Women Fund N/A N/A N/A QUANTUM ZENITH ASSET MANAGEMENT & INVESTMENTS LTD service@quantumzenithasset.com.ng Web: www.quantumzenith.com.ng; Tel: +234 1-2784219 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Zenith Equity Fund 9.65 9.77 -6.07% Zenith Ethical Fund 11.21 11.32 -3.48% Zenith Income Fund 23.32 23.32 4.88% Zenith Money Market Fund 1.00 1.00 5.09%

REITS NAV Per Share

Yield / T-Rtn

3.15 113.96 52.75

-67.35% 1.81% 1.34%

Bid Price

Offer Price

Yield / T-Rtn

7.28 79.90 59.94

7.38 81.58 61.05

-16.25% -13.61% -18.70%

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

N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A

N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A

N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A

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.

21

T H I S D AY Ëž

ÍŻÍľ, 2020

BUSINESSWORLD

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

͡ Ëœ Í° ÍŽ Í° ÍŽ MONEY MARKET OBB OVERNIGHT

REPO 12.17 % 13.67 %

CALL 1-MONTH 3-MONTH

12.50 % 15 % 15 %

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

482.72 % 1.01 % 3.66 %

S & P INDEX 1/4 TO DATE 3.66 % YEAR TO DATE 0.32 %

EXCHANGE RATE ͹ʹͯ˚ͯ ̊ ̊

Quick Takes Paga Selected for China Programme

ACCESSING IMPACT OF COVID-19

L-R: Group Managing Director, SIFAX Group, Adekunle Oyinloye; Executive Director, Marine & Operations, Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), Onari Brown; Managing Director, Hadiza Bala-Usman and Group Executive Vice Chairman, SIFAX Group, Dr. Taiwo Afolabi, during the NPA MD’s tour of all terminals in Lagos to assess the impact of the COVID-19 lockdown on port operations in Lagos...recently

Stakeholders Decry Non-provision of Scanners by NCS Since 2017 Eromosele Abiodun Stakeholders in the Nigerian maritime industry and port users have bemoaned the failure by the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) to provide scanners at the nation’s seaports to facilitate ease of clearing goods despite the promise made by the Comptroller General of the NCS, Col Hameed Alli (Rtd) in February 2017.

The NCS boss had during an inspection tour of the ports in Lagos, February, 2017, promised that cargo scanners would be provided in the first quarter of 2018.

Specifically, he had said: “New cargo scanners to arrive in Nigeria next year. The new

MARITIME scanners would arrive the ports by the first quarter of 2018, to make cargo examination easier, faster & Surer.�

Responding to stakeholders’ demand for the audit of N9.2 billion scanners at the ports, the CGC had noted that: “After examining the scanners, only two can be immediately repaired and put to use, but the others will be repaired over time.�

At another forum on October 4, 2017, the CGC again promised, saying: “Hopefully, before a couple of months from now, we will have scanners at the ports.�

However, three years after his

first promise, no single scanner has been acquired by the NCS, fueling speculation that the NCS boss’ promise was just a political statement.

Some Customs agents who are at the receiving end of lack of scanners at the port told THISDAY that the development was hindering trade facilitation and fuels corruption.

The National Publicity Secretary of Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA), Adumaza Joe Sanni, said customs agents are bemused about the development. “How can one explain the fact that it is no rocket science to enter into a Public Private Partnership (PPP) to procure, install and train Customs

officers on the use of digitalised, tropicalised and rugged industrial scanners to facilitate trade across International borders and ensure the security of lives and property? “When scanners were in operation at our ports and border stations, managed

by Cotecna, SGS, Globascan, Bureau Veritas, etc, a deliberate and conscious effort was not made for the eventuality of the extinction of the contract, and to deliberately prepare NCS personnel to manage, maintain, repair and, source for spares parts of the scanners. “Some conspiracy theories postulated that Customs never Continued on page 22

‘Post COVID-19 Palliatives for Businesses Inevitable’ Chinedu Eze To enable business organisations retain their workforce and to stimulate economic activities, the federal government must adopt strategic ways to provide palliatives to these businesses through the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

The Chief Operating Officer of Dana Air, Obi Mbanuzuo, stated this to THISDAY in Lagos. He explained that this would be the only way airlines would save jobs and not push teeming youths into the unemployment market, which is already saturated.

He observed that airlines in scheduled commercial operation and general aviation employ

AVIATION over 4000 workers, which may shade about 50 per cent of the workforce in order to survive; unless government provides palliatives through soft loans, grants and waivers.

Mbanuzuo said it was not likely that any airline would become bankrupt if government supports the carriers, just as it would support other businesses in order to kick-start the economy after the devastation of coronavirus. “If the economy shuts down there is no alternative for the workforce in the aviation industry. It is not like the airlines will not fly so they can go and work in the ports, for example,

so there is not alternative. “Really, what we are looking for is what other Nigerians are looking for. We are still appealing to the government to provide palliative for the entire population of the country because what affects the country affects us. “Everybody is sitting at home hungry now. You don’t know whether the person works for an airline or works for a bus company, everybody is hungry. “As it is right now, the airline cannot afford to pay anything apart from what they have paid already. We paid March salaries and that was what we could do; unless the government makes something available,� he said.

Mbaduzuo, noted that this is a global challenge, saying

every country was tackling it in its own way to kick-start their economies.

According to him, the United States and the United Kingdom have already started providing bailout for their airlines and other businesses. “Nigeria might not have that kind of financial clout right now but it is possible that there might be some indigenous ways that we can try and help the public at large. “Of course, when the public is helped then our own workforce is also helped, they are one and the same, there is no difference; you cannot separate them. “But it will be a difficult thing Continued on page 22

Pagahasannouncedthatithasbeenselectedforthefourthcohortof the ‘Ping An Cloud Accelerator,’programme in China.

The five-month program was created by Ping An Group, one of the world’slargestinsuranceandfinancialinstitutionswithheadquarters in Shenzhen, China.

GeneralManagerofthePingAnCloudAccelerator,JerryQuan,said,“We areexcitedtohavePagaaspartofourcurrentcohortfortheprogram. “Theirgoalofbuildingformidableemergingmarketsfocusedpayments businessresonateswithus,andweareimpressedwiththeirprogress to date. “TherearemanyopportunitiestobuildsynergieswithPingAn’stechnology subsidiariesandexternalcorporatepartners,andourengagementwith thePagateamthusfarhasbeengreat.Iexpectthatthisisthestartof larger collaborations to come between our organisations.�

Paga was selected alongside 10 other companies from across the worldincludingChina,theUnitedStates,Spain,andIsrael.Theprogram focuses on: finTech, healthtech, auto tech, real estate tech and smart city. Participating companies in the Ping An Cloud Accelerator are growth-stage businesses that will explore collaborations with Ping An subsidiaries.

Co-founder and Director of Business Development, Paga, Jay Alabraba said, “We are proud to be chosen to be part of the Ping An Cloud Accelerator. Our relationship with the Ping An Group offers us the forum to experiment with cutting-edge tools within their global portfolio. The program, which focuses on companies with already strong traction also presents the opportunity for our team to work closelywithotheremergingleadersintechnology,finance,health,and other sectors. We are proud to have been selected for the program.

The timing is also great, given our expansion to new markets and the introduction of more services on Paga.�

Qatar, StanChart Seal Deal

Qatar Airways and Standard Chartered have signed a $ 850 million financinginrespectofsevenBoeing787-9aircraft.Theairlinesaidthe transactiondemonstratestheconfidencethatthebankingmarkethas in Qatar Airways and also highlights the relationship between Qatar AirwaysandStandardChartered.

QatarAirwaysGroupChiefExecutive,Mr.AkbarAlBakerstated:“Iam grateful to Standard Chartered for their continued support to Qatar Airways.ThebankhasbeenaclosepartnerofQatarAirwaysformanyyears andhaveproventheirsupportfortheairlinebyclosingthistransaction duringdifficulttimesresultingfromCOVID-19. “QatarAirwaysfocusremainsonfindingsolutionstogetasmanypeople backtotheirhomestobewiththeirfamiliesandlovedonesduringthese difficulttimesandthisismadepossiblebythesupportwehavefromso manypeopleincludingourclosepartnerssuchasStandardChartered.�

Ontheotherhand,StandardCharteredChiefExecutiveMr.BillWinters said,“WevalueourpartnershipwithQatarAirwaysandareverypleased toclosethislandmarkdealatthisdifficulttime. “AtStandardCharteredwecontinuetosupportourclientsandcommunities despite the ongoing challenges with COVID-19 and are proud to have beenabletoprovideQatarAirwayswiththisfinancing.�

FAA Warns Pilots against Chloroquine

TheUSFederalAviationAdministration(FAA)hasdirectedpilotsnotto flyiftheytakethecontroversialmalariapillpushedasatreatmentforthe coronavirus.Accordingtobusinessinsider.com,Hydroxychloroquine, an antimalarial medication that can also be used to treat rheumatoid arthritis, had been touted by President Donald Trump as a possible treatment for the novel coronavirus, or COVID-19. However, doctors havearguedthatanyevidencethatthetreatmentwaseffectiveagainst COVID-19wasanecdotal,withnoclinicaltrialsshowingefficacy.Doctors alsowarnedofpotentiallyserioussideeffects.

FAAsaiditwouldbarpilotsfromflyingiftheyhavetakentheantimalarial drughydroxychloroquinewithinthepast48hours.

HydroxychloroquinehadbeentoutedbyTrumpasapossibletreatment forCOVID-19.Themedicationhasnotbeenproveneffectiveorsafefor treatingthevirusinclinicalstudies.

AspokespersonfortheFAAconfirmedtheactioninanemailtoBusiness Insider. “Aswithalldrugs,theFAAtakesaconservativeapproachwhenevaluating how a particular substance interacts with aviation professionals and theabilitytodotheirjobssafely,�thespokespersonsaid.

“I am a central part of the Federal Ministry of Finance and agencies under it, and l take full responsibility if we don’t do well, but the credit is to all of us, when we do well�

Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning,

Zainab Ahmed

22

T H I S D AY Ëž

ÍŻÍľ, 2020

BUSINESSWORLD STAKEHOLDERS DECRY NONPROVISION OF SCANNERS BY NCS SINCE 2017 wanted the scanners to work in the first place, and therefore they deliberately guided it to the non-functional states they are now, for reasons best known to them, “he said.

A maritime expert Mr. Lucky Amiwero, blamed poor organisation and low capacity development for slow pace of maritime industry growth making Nigerian ports less competitive Amiwero, who is the President of National Council of Managing Directors of Licensed Customs Agents (NCMDLCA), decried the poor state of the scanners in the nation’s seaports adding that unlike in the past, scanners in the nation’s seaports, airports and international borders were no longer functional.

Meanwhile, THISDAY checks revealed that the last time the ports had functioning scanners was in 2013, when the contract of three service providers contracted by the federal government to manage scanners expired.

The three service providers were awarded a seven-year contract that commenced in January 2006 to supply cargo scanning machines on a build, own, operate and transfer basis (BOOT) as well as train NCS officers on risk management, valuation and classification.

‘POST COVID-19 PALLIATIVES FOR BUSINESSES INEVITABLE’ for everybody. I am talking to you right now and I am the COO of an airline and it is difficult for me actually. I am sitting at home thinking of how things will go. But by the end of this month, I have my fingers crossed and I am hoping that the NCDC (National Centre for Disease Control) and the people who are looking at this situation from the health perspective are doing things right, and we still encourage everybody to just follow the directive so that this doesn’t extend too much past this month of April,� he said.

Mbanuzuo, dismissed the fears that Nigerian airlines may go under on resumption of operations, saying that airlines have drastically reduced their cost and needed injection of funds in form of grant or bail out to secure operational funds and continue with business.

Group Business Editor

Obinna Chima

Capital Market Editor

NEWS

Onne Customs Collects N23bn Revenue in First Quarter Stories by Eromosele Abiodun The Nigeria Customs Service, Area II Command Onne Port, has announced that it made a total revenue collection of N22.95 billion between January and March 2020 with seizures of seven containers worth total Duty Paid Value (DPV) of N215.38 million.

In terms of export, the command said it recorded 1,053,531 metric tonnes with Free on Board (FOB) value of $87.13 million and total Nigeria Export Supervision Scheme (NESS) value of N132.39 million respectively, in the quarter under review.

Customs Area Controller of the Command, Aliyu Galadima Saidu, who gave a breakdown of the revenue figures, seizures and export statistics, in a statement revealed that the sum of N7.65 billion was generated in January; N7.58 billion in February and N7.70 billion in March 2020. “In the same vein, the seven seizures of containers comprised 1,225 bales of used clothing, 35 sacks of used shoes, 86 bales of used hand bags and other the miscellaneous goods such as foreign detergent, lightings, foreign parboiled rice, perfume, body spray and others, all valued at N215.38 million,� he explained.

The above seized items, according to Saidu, were brought

into the country in contravention of the Customs and Excise Management Act and extant import prohibition list. “For the NESS Fee, which is a statutory payment to the federal government on all legitimate goods exported from the country, 377,985 metric tonnes were processed through the port in January; 455,987

metric tonnes in February and 219,559 metric tonnes in March,� he disclosed.

The Area Controller thanked officers and men of the command for their resilience, commitment and diligence to work in the face of Corona virus pandemic, while urging them to keep safe and continually be uncompromising.

He added: “I want to commend our officers and port users for keeping the tempo of activities going in Onne port without compromising basic rules of hand washing, usage of sanitizers and strict maintenance of the social distancing rules. “Let us continue to be health and safety conscious this period and beyond, while shunning

any attempts at making us compromise on our duties of revenue collection, trade facilitation and suppression of smuggling Our stakeholders are advised to utilise all Customs modernisation options available to them to reduce human contacts as much as possible while conducting businesses in the ports.�

INDUCTION CEREMONY

L-R: Member, Investiture Planning Committee, Chartered Institute of Tax of Nigeria (CITN), Ikeja and District Society, Mr. Olaoti Bolarinwa; Chairman, Planning Committee, Mr. Austine Ngozika; New Chairman, CITN, Ikeja and District Society, Mr. Funsho Olutayo Abidakun, and Member, Planning Committee, Mr. Adewale Olatunde, at the investiture ceremony of Abidakun as the ninth district Chairman/inauguration of new exco of CITN, Ikeja district society, held in Lagos‌ recently PHOTO: ETOP UKUTT

SGF Applauds NIMASA’s Contribution to Covid-19 Fight The Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) and Chairman of the Presidential Task Force (PTF) on COVID-19, Mr. Boss Mustapha, has applauded the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) for its contribution towards the fight to halt the spread of the pandemic.

Mustapha stated this in Abuja while receiving, on behalf of the federal government, volunteer personnel, ambulance, buses, and some medical equipment, including ventilators donated

by NIMASA to the PTF on

COVID-19. He said the federal government requires the cooperation of all and sundry, corporate bodies and individuals, in the fight against the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic that is ravaging the world.

He described the fight against COVID-19 as a collective responsibility.

The materials donated included ventilators, oxygen concentrators, personal protective equipment, rapid test kits, and hand sanitisers, as well as a cash donation of N30 million.

Mustapha advised other organisations and well-meaning

Nigerians to emulate the Agency and support the efforts to curb the spread of the pandemic, so that Nigerians could live their normal lives again.

According to the SGF, “I wish to restate that this is a war on Nigeria and the Federal Government, in conjunction with other stakeholders, will continue to do all it takes to win this war as we are more prepared than ever before to ensure we protect the lives of our citizens. “Let me encourage Nigerians to endure this lockdown order as it is not intended to trample on their fundamental human rights,

rather it is to assist Government trace infected persons and curb the spread. In no distant time, we will all go back to our normal lives.�

Speaking at the presentation of the materials, the DirectorGeneral of NIMASA, Dr. Bashir Jamoh said the agency was deploying its existing facilities, such as fast intervention vessels, ambulances, and buses, among others, to support the efforts by the Federal and State Governments to solve a national medical emergency that required all hands on deck.

Jamoh praised the federal

government’s proactive steps to contain the pandemic. He declared that COVID-19 was a challenge Nigeria must overcome, saying he is satisfied to see that the Agency’s existing facilities are coming in handy in the attempt to contain the outbreak.

The Director-General, who was represented by Coordinator, Abuja Zonal Office of the agency, Mr. Zailani Musa Attah, added: “We at NIMASA have decided to deploy our extant capacities and facilities in the fight against this pandemic. We did not invest new funds in purchasing these ambulances and buses.

PTML, Grimaldi Donate N150m, Nose Masks to FG, Lagos Nigeria’s largest roll-on-roll-off (RORO) terminal, Ports and Terminal Multiservices Limited (PTML) and its parent company, Grimaldi Nigeria have collectively donated a total of N150 million, 10000 nose masks and 5000 hand gloves to various arms of government in support of the fight against the spread of COVID-19 in the country.

The company in a statement explained that while PTML donated N100 million to the federal government’s COVID-19

Relief Fund Account created by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Grimaldi Nigeria donated N50million to the Lagos State Government.

PTML also donated 10,000 nose masks and 5,000 hand gloves to Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) Tin Can Island Port to support NPA’s effort to check the spread of the virus at the nation’s seaport.

The Managing Director of PTML, Mr. Ascanio Russo, in the statement, said the firm deemed

it necessary to identify with the efforts of the federal government, Lagos State Government and Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) in strengthening measures towards containing the spread of the global pandemic in Nigeria, and particularly the port industry. “In addition to these donations, we have at our company level, as part of our contribution to stem the scourge, implemented all the safety guidelines prescribed by the World Health Organisation (WHO), the Nigeria Centre

for Disease Control (NCDC), the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Port Health Services and others. “Our terminal has remained fully operation as directed by the Federal Government with regards to the continuity of port operations. We also ensure the use of nose masks and hand gloves by all categories of workers, including contractors at our facility.

“We have intensified the use of assigned personal protective gears at all terminal work locations, while ensuring social distancing by of crowd reduction at all our customer service points and reduction in the number of biometric access cards per agency, �Russo said.

The PTML MD also said that port users are being encouraged to use the company’s electronic platforms in all business transactions, “such that customers only come to the terminal for physical

Goddy Ogene

Comms/e-Business Editor

Emma Okonji

Senior Correspondent

Ă‹Ă’Ă?Ă?Ă— Ă•Ă“Ă˜Ă‘ĂŒĂ™Ă–Ă&#x; (Advertising) Correspondents

Ă’Ă“Ă˜Ă?ĂŽĂ&#x; äĂ? (Aviation) ĂœĂ™Ă—Ă™Ă?Ă?Ă–Ă? ĂŒĂ“Ă™ĂŽĂ&#x;Ă˜ (Maritime) James Emejo (Finance) Ebere Nwoji (Insurance) Chineme Okafor (Energy) Reporters

Ă&#x;Ă—Ă? Ă•Ă?Ă‘Ă’Ă? (Money Market) Ă™Ă?Ă‹ Ă–Ă?Ă•Ă’Ă&#x;ÙÑÓĂ? (ICT)

NiMet Training Centre Elected into World Meteorological Panel Kasim Sumaina in Abuja The Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMet) Regional Training Centre, Oshodi, has been elected as member of the World Meteorological Organisation’s Executive Council Capacity Development Panel (WMO-CDP).

This feat, according to the Director-General /CEO NiMet, Prof. Sani Abubakar Mashi, was worth mentioning as it provides a veritable and pleasant distraction from the COVID 19 problem.

Mashi, in a statement made available to journalists by the General Manager, Corporate

Communications, NiMet, Muntari Yusuf Ibrahim, said: “The WMO has just elected the Agency’s Regional Training Centre (RTC) to join the Organization’s Capacity Development Panel.�

Describing this as a milestone, Mashi said out of the 24 Meteorological

Regional Training Centres in the world, four from each of the six continents, NiMet is the only one elected by WMO into the 12-member panel to represent all the Regional Training Centres in the world.

He observed that this was worth celebrating, saying it was a clear and positive

indication of the aggressive reforms the Hon. Minister Sen. Hadi Sirika has been championing in the Nigerian Aviation sector.

The Director of the Meteorological Regional Training Centre, Prof. Peter Odjugo is to serve as the representative of the Centre at the panel.

23

T H I S D AY ˾

ͯ͵, 2020

BUSINESSWORLD

NEWS

IATA Predicts 55% Drop in Airlines’ Revenue Stories by Chinedu Eze The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has released updated analysis showing that the COVID-19 crisis is estimated to see airlines’ passenger revenue drop by $314 billion in 2020, a 55 per cent decline compared to 2019.

This is just as IATA said government’s financial relief for airlines would be critical policy measure to safe the airlines.

On March 24, IATA had estimated $252 billion in lost revenues (-44 per cent vs. 2019) in a scenario with severe travel restrictions lasting three months.

The world body said the updated figures reflected a significant deepening of the crisis since then and reflected parameters which included: severe domestic restrictions lasting three months, some restrictions on international travel extending beyond the initial three months, worldwide severe impact, including Africa and Latin America (which had a small presence of the disease and were expected to be less impacted in the March analysis).

IATA said full-year passenger demand (domestic and inter-

national) was expected to be down 48 per cent compared to 2019. It also identified the two main elements driving this, which included overall economic developments and noted that the world was heading for recession.

“The economic shock of the COVID-19 crisis is expected to be at its most severe in Q2 when GDP is expected to shrink by 6 per cent (by comparison, GDP shrank by 2 per cent at the height of the Global Financial Crisis).

“Passenger demand closely follows GDP progression. The impact of reduced economic activity in Q2 alone would result in an 8 per cent fall in passenger demand in the third quarter,” IATA said.

The global body explained that travel restrictions would deepen the impact of recession on demand for travel and the most severe impact is expected to be in Q2.

IATA disclosed that as of early April, the number of flights globally was down 80 per cent compared to 2019 in large part owing to severe travel restrictions imposed by governments to fight the spread

of the virus.

Domestic markets, IATA said could still see the start of an upturn in demand beginning in the third quarter in a first stage of lifting travel restrictions.

International markets, however, would be slower to resume as it appears likely that governments will retain these travel restrictions longer.

According to IATA’s Director General and CEO, Alexandre de Juniac, “The industry’s outlook grows darker by the day. The scale of the crisis makes a sharp V-shaped recovery unlikely.

Realistically, it will be a U-shaped recovery with domestic travel coming back faster than the international market.

“We could see more than half of passenger revenues disappear.

That would be a $314 billion hit. Several governments have stepped up with new or expanded financial relief measures but the situation remains critical.

“Airlines could burn through $61 billion of cash reserves in the second quarter alone. That puts at risk 25 million jobs dependent on aviation. And without urgent relief, many airlines will not survive to lead the economic recovery.”

S’African Govt Withdraws Support for National Carrier The South Africa government has denied its state owned airline, South Africa Airways funding request of

about R10 billion, bringing the ailing airline very close to bankruptcy. This is coming after the company had

been placed under the hand of voluntary business-rescue operators since December 5, 2019.

‘Trans-Forcados Pipeline Back in Operation’ Sylvester Idowu in Warri Heritage Energy Operational Services Limited (HEOSL), the operator of the Trans-Forcados Pipeline said the pipeline is back in operation.

The Heritage’s statement issued yesterday was in response to a recent report by Reuters, wherein Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Ltd had declared force

majeure over the shutdown of Trans-forcados pipeline by HEOSL. According to HEOSL, the pipeline was shut down between April 4th and 9th for repair and maintenance works on the pipeline.

The company also clarified that these repairs and maintenance works are routine given the age of the pipeline which is 50 years old.

“In line with the standard practice of the company, planned repairs are always communicated to all stakeholders who inject into the pipeline, along with Shell at the Forcados terminal. Nothing was different this time around and due notification was given.

“The repair works have since been completed and the pipeline is back in operation”, the company said.

Ecobank Promotes Instant Account Opening Ecobank Nigeria is encouraging unbanked and underbanked Nigerians which include artisans such as mechanics, carpenters, electricians, small scale retailers, transporters and others who depend on daily earning for survival, to open bank accounts instantly simply by dialing the its USSD code*326#.

According to a statement from the bank, owning bank accounts would enable them save easily and access micro loans (Xpress Loan).

This, it stated will also enable them easily receive monetary support from friends and family members as the need arises, especially during the period of the COVID-19 lockdown, while maintaining social distancing via digital transactions, in a

bid to check the spread of the virus.

“The bank’s mobile channels- Ecobank Mobile and *326# make it easy to open the Ecobank Xpress account, an end to end digital account instantly. With this account, customers are able to receive funds, send money, buy airtime and carry out basic banking transactions from the comfort of their homes.

“No paperwork or documentation is required, everything happens on mobile. In addition, Ecobank had since last year, waived the USSD session fees, thereby making it possible for users of the bank’s USSD, *326# to transact at zero session charges,” the statement added.

Head of Consumer Banking, Ecobank Nigeria, Mrs.

Olukorede Demola-Adeniyi, was quoted to have added: “Every Nigerian should as a matter of necessity have bank accounts that can aid them to save quickly, access loans and other financial support when the need arises.”

Furthermore, she reiterated that “Ecobank Mobile and *326# bring easy, affordable and convenient financial services to the youth and members of the public who hitherto had no access to formal banking services.

“Ecobank Nigeria had earlier announced a zero charge for digital money transfers below N5,000 for its customers until April 30, 2020 as part of the bank’s initiatives to encourage affordable, safe banking during the lockdown.”

Virtual Conferencing Seen Limiting Air Travel Post COVID-19

Dana Air new aircraft

Chinedu Eze Before the global lockdown of socio-economic activities due to coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, corporate organisations and other businesses often engage in virtual conferencing, where officials connect to each others through the internet and hold virtual meetings.

Some of the officials could be at different parts of the world but connected together through the virtual platform.

This used to be alternative choice for organisations, but it became inevitable for some businesses since the COVID-19 lockdown because there is restriction on movement and there are no scheduled international flights, so internet conferencing has become the choice.

Aviation experts have predicted that this method of meeting would continue after the pandemic and it would cut down air travel, which would over time affect passenger traffic, as business travel constitute high percentage of total passenger movement both for domestic and international scheduled air services.

Aviation industry consultant and Principal Partner, Etimfri Group, Amos Akpan, said the industry cannot ignore the effect of virtual platforms as the alternative to travels for physical meetings.

“Recently the USA Supreme Court made public the use of video conference to present a critical judgment without physical meeting. OPEC just concluded a meeting that decided on cut of oil production and it was by virtual platform. “Bankers are moving funds and closing transactions from their homes using virtual platforms. Classes, projects and tests are ongoing in most universities by virtual platforms. Stores are selling by virtual platforms while the logistics chain key in for physical delivery.

“Prior to COVID-19, airlines could fill seats on a flight without seeing people queue on their counter. They just required physical security checks at boarding/embarkation.

The issue to analyse is how this development will affect the industry after covid-19 lockdown,” Akpan observed.

He said an airline could and would still do virtual order and receipt of spare parts by involving the logistics chain. They could and would still carry out repairs and maintenance diagnosis on aircraft by virtual platforms between manufacturer, workshop, and operator’s technicians.

“Flight planning, weather, and clearances could and would be done by virtual platforms.

Payments for services in the industry will continue to be by virtual platforms. If virtual platforms become very relevant and success-

ful in all spheres of business transactions, the physical meetings and contacts would be less frequent.

“This implies less travels, which also translates to lower demand for seats on intercity flights,” he said.

He noted that airlines would have to rethink the provision of flight services, remarking that the strategy of conducting business would have to adapt to the emerging narrative.

“For instance, there will be need to adjust the capacity provided on intercity flights which will be determined by realities of the new demands. There will be need to provide aircraft types suitable for logistics chain. There will be need for airlines to start acquiring drones for mapping, for aerial photography and for farm spraying. The business modules have to change to fit the emerging dynamics,” the industry consultant said.

He said for airlines to survive, he would recommend a robust business module that would be able to take “our domestic environment into consideration.”

“We certainly do not want a total collapse of our local airline industry. Let us watch, plan, re-plan and adjust. Above all, let us look inwards and prepare because COVID-19 is one lesson for other issues that are coming.

“Check the current rate people are conducting businesses successfully without physical meetings. It shows a paradigm shift. It will not go away soon.

“Comedians, presentation of new products by corporate bodies, military situation rooms, high-ranking commands, and scientists use virtual platforms to disseminate information amongst themselves. It has come to stay as a new way of life.

“The COVID-19 lockdown presents the opportunity to accelerate its spread of usage. If I were the business strategist for an airline, I would package business portfolios that captures this new phenomenon from 2021,” he said.

Speaking in the same vein, the Chief Operating Officer of Dana Air, Obi Mbanuzuo, said post COVID-19 would witness essential travel and virtual conferencing would become very popular, so airlines would lose seats to these Internet conferences.

“The rest of this year will witness essential travel, that business travel that needs to happen. People will just stay for one place for now and look at what is happening and how things happen.

“Hopefully by next year that is when traffic will come back again. This year will just be the essential travel; maybe I will have to go somewhere because I must be physically present to go sign something,” Mbanuzuo said.

24

T H I S D AY Ëž

ÍŻÍľËœ Í°ÍŽÍ°ÍŽ

Akpan: We Expect Low TrafďŹ c When Airlines Resume Aviation industry consultant and Principal Partner, Etimfri Group, Amos Akpan, in this interview, says Nigerian airlines are likely going to face huge debts, which they may not be able to pay, when they resume after the COVID-19 lockdown. Chinedu Eze brings the excerpts:

H

ow do you think management of airlines would get pay to settle immediate bills like fuel, allowances, salaries, inight catering upon resumption of ights, because you have advocated that they should not be given cash?

Flight operations fuel must not be cash and carry. Fuel bills are paid by the airlines’ bankers directly to the fuel company upon reconciliation between the field operations managers of the fuel and the airline companies. The invoices are submitted to the bank at the end of an agreed period. This eliminates fraud and enhances the credit rating performance of the airline. Same procedure will apply to suppliers of allied services like inflight catering and handling companies.

The real issue is for the commercial banks to grant working capital overdraft facilities to the airlines based on the size of each airline’s operations. This is where the federal government needs to assist the industry by instructing the removal of collateral on such overdraft requests, except that sales must be domiciled in the bank granting the overdraft. Also, the interest rate must be at maximum of five per cent in the first twelve months at resumption of operations.

How do you see the domestic airlines surviving post covid-19?

It will be difficult for most domestic airlines to survive the way they were operating before the COVID-19 break. It is economically unviable to purchase/lease and deploy B737 aircraft on the Lagos - Benin, Lagos - Asaba, Lagos - Port Harcourt and other routes. It takes 90 passengers to breakeven at N25, 000 per seat on an hour’s flight with a B737 in Nigeria. On the contrary, it takes 45 passengers to break even at N25, 000 per seat on an hour’s flight with (Embraer) EMB -145 or a (Bombardier) DASH - 8.

Nigerian airlines have to address the issue of right equipment for the environment. If we add above to multiple taxation, high cost of foreign currency, high cost of fuel, and cost of maintenance abroad, then we can safely predict that airlines with low investment capital will not survive except the government is determined to stop all existing operators from going bankrupt.

Here again, the government itself needs help with very low oil prices and collapsing small and medium scale industries. It is a tight call for the management of the aviation industry. My direct answer is that some airlines will collapse while some will survive with government’s support. In this COVID-19 shutdown, airlines earn nil income but their fixed expenses are still running.

Fixed expenses are the costs airlines bear whether they are flying their aircraft or not. Just before the lockdown the traffic was low causing the airlines to operate at a loss; that is, income per flight was less than the cost of operation. We expect very low traffic when operation resumes because people and corporations will be apprehensive to travel; therefore, flights will operate at less than 50 per cent of capacity. There will be redundancy for the machines and the human resources.

What do you think will happen to other aviation agencies and corporate organisations?

Travel and cargo agencies, handling companies, the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), Accident Investigation Bureau (AIB), the College of Aviation Technology (NCAT), Zaria and the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA) will also make very low income. The reason is because the primary

on airlines. The time to remove most of the taxes is now. Payments of interest on loans should be frozen for one year. The offer terms for new loans from all banks should not exceed five per cent interest rate with a minimum tenor of five years.

You know training takes a large chunk of airlines fund. How are the operators going to deal with training?

I am aware that NCAT through the Minister of Aviation has been in the process of acquiring Boeing B737 simulator. This is very good news but we need to move quickly and rightly. From enquiries it takes six months, from date of commitment, to design, build, ship and install a simulator.

Therefore, within 10 months of Post COVID-19, NCAT and NCAA should be enabled financially to deliver Boeing 737-classics and EMB-145/190 simulator in Nigeria. These two aircraft types are commonly used in Nigeria and our pilots need to do training on them every six to nine months.

Akpan institution for which they derive their function is the airline. If the economy of the airline is poor to the extent that it threatens their survival, their income will certainly receive the fallout. Very large portion of the income earned by NCAA is from the five per cent sales tax of passengers and cargo paid by airlines. NCAA shares this income with AIB, NAMA, and NCAT. In addition, NAMA earns income from navigational fees paid by airlines. Travel and Cargo agencies earn income when airlines operate flights. Handling companies exist to handle passengers, cargo and aircraft for airlines. In summary, airlines will not be able to pay fixed and operational cost bills upon resumption of flights as a result of the effects of COVID-19. They will be confronted with more bills than their income can meet. Consequently, all other service providers to the airlines will take the hit. They will reduce tariff and charges, while some out standings will be out rightly cancelled. Every organisation and everybody in the industry will be affected.

What will the industry do to survive the post COVID-19 era?

The industry will have to hit the ground running with solutions timely enough to avoid delay and catch up with global recovery trends. This is our time to document our postulations and templates applicable to various scenarios. I hope my elementary and basic practical suggestions, which are not new because they have been mentioned before now, would be stored by aviation policy makers in government and in corporate institutions; they may need to recall from the various commentaries within the industry to add to their collection of strategic inputs.

My position on bailout is that government should not create funds and invite aviation operators to apply and be granted money.

Instead, the airlines should be given grants and incentives through existing institutions that aviation companies transact business with.

Do not give airlines money. How? Nigerian Customs should set up a program on the instruction of CBN and Minister of Finance.

They should publish a list of equipment and parts that will not be paying duty for

airlines, handling companies, and service providers like NAMA, FAAN, and NCAT. The period covered for duty free for the items on such list should be a minimum of two years. The companies will liaise with the Minister of Aviation to send in the list of items. There is a difference between political waiver and technical exemption from duty for a list of items. There currently exists political waiver on duties for aircraft and aircraft spare parts. By way of illustration, if you go to any of our border posts and ask for the release of your aircraft tyres and brakes, the Customs duty officer will open his tariff schedule booklet. He will search for aircraft tyres and brakes, and whatever is documented as the tariff for those items is what he will apply. He cannot authorise for release without duty items that are dutiable by their tariff book. The Customs work by their gazetted Customs and Excise Duty handbook. The situation where an airline will have to write to the Minister of Aviation, who will write to the Minister of Finance, who in turn would direct the Comptroller General of Customs, just for waiver on that specific request may be defined as political waiver. We have to carry out a technical procedure and document it in whatever regulated guidebook used by customs in field operations.

What of payment of aircraft insurance?

The CBN and Ministries of Aviation and Finance should collect the list of aircraft and equipment insurers and determine the exposure of each equipment and company to each insurer. The government should underwrite 50 per cent of the premium on all existing aircraft and equipments, whether out rightly purchased or leased, provided it is the responsibility of the Nigerian Company to pay the insurance premium. The CBN, Ministries of Finance, Aviation, and FIRS (Federal Inland Revenue Service) will ensure aviation companies do not pay or collect VAT. In addition, they should be granted 20 per cent wavier on every tax returns filed by the company for the initial one year. Our Minister of Aviation had mentioned that he is working to reduce the multiple taxations

How will localising the maintenance of their aircraft help to save huge funds for the airlines?

The Ministry of Aviation, AMCON (Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria), CBN, and NCAA should meet on Aero Contractors.

The purpose is to increase their capacity to handle maintenance of more numbers of aircraft for Nigerian airlines. Obviously the space they currently use is too small, they therefore need to acquire more space.

Also, recruit more personnel and bring in more MRO equipment. Aero is NCAA certified for category A to C maintenance on B737, Bombardier and helicopters. Let us use the opportunity that post COVID-19 recovery offers to grow maintenance. Many aircraft will reschedule their maintenance by calendar or by hours of utilisation coming out of storage. The facility built in Uyo

by Akwa-Ibom State government should be visited. It may be cheaper for Aero Contractors to move into that facility. It may cost movement of machineries and personnel but that hangar in Uyo is big and not used as designed. The speed at which Aero can fix aircraft and release back to service is key to our airlines performance.

They need space, infrastructure and personnel.

They already have the capability and have demonstrated so. Let us get past the politics of ownership and use its area of strength to our advantage. Aero is better now as a maintenance organisation than as a flying company from my personal perspective.

What is your position on airlines’ plan to cut workers salary in order to survive the hard time?

The duration of COVID-19 before it clears out is critical in this case. Also, the issue of sacrifice by employees for companies whose employers do not share profit, or run an open financial reporting system makes it difficult. But there will be no profit in this situation. The first recommended step is that no staff should be laid off due to COVID-19. The second is that salary cuts should start with the directors, the general managers and other senior management staff, at least 50 per cent. The rest of the staff should take maximum of 25 per cent cut.

We must all accept the need to make room for survival of the industry post COVID-19.

This should be a maximum of nine months from the date of resumption of flights. The union should discuss and settle this matter now. If the incentives are implemented, the companies will survive. It would be very unwise to go in and disrupt flights during the recovery period.

25

T H I S D AY ˾ APRIL 17, 2020

BUSINESSWORLD

MARITIME

Bello: Nigeria Must Change from Primitive Cargo Clearance The Executive Secretary/CEO of the Nigerian Shippers Council, Mr. Hassan Bello, in this interview with THISDAY sister broadcast station, Arise TV, stressed the need for Nigeria to have a national single window and move away from primitive clearance of cargo. He also spoke about what the council is doing to ensure the ports do not become the source of the spread of Covid-19 and other critical issues. Excerpts:

W

hat has been the impact of COVID-19 on the maritime industry in Nigeria?

The maritime industry has been affected naturally by disruption in international logistics chain.

Things will not be the same. It is important to have our ports operational, however, the operations must be within the guideline prescribed by health authorities. We must maintain social distance, and sanitisation.

We can’t crowd the ports, and that’s why it is only when one has essential things to do, like if you have cargo to clear from the port, that one should be there.

It is a delicate balance; the ports must open to fuel our economy. We must maintain this supply of essential cargos, medicine, foods, and raw materials for our factories to maintain employment and general running of the country.

However, we have prescribed and observed that this must be within the limits already prescribed.

We have gone round the terminals several times, and have observed that, the terminal operators are up to their responsibilities. They have kept all the pledges to abide by the instructions. And I think cargo is flying now.

It cannot be optimal, because the existence or operations of the port, depends on other factors outside the port. For example, public transport, which is limited, and Nigerian Shippers Council (NSC) has been able to provide transportation to essential port workers. However, if we are fighting for sitter bus, it’s only 17, would be the capacity to maintain social distancing and to abide with health authorities. So, why the port is operating, for these two weeks, which we were already in the second week (second week of the first lockdown order by President Muhammadu Buhari), I think we have done well, and we have to look at it and review the whole thing over again.

What are these guidelines of operations and how are we maintaining them?

The ports are manned by Health Port, which is an authority concerning this. They have been extremely active. We have been working with them to make sure that all the guidelines are strictly observed. I have been to the terminals to see what they have in place. And the Ports Health would be there. Besides, NIMASA has issued marine notice to see to the arrival, stay and departure of ships. That would take care of containment and prevention of the COVID-19. I think what is needed is for the ports community to come together and realise that the government main preoccupation is to contain this virus. And for us to do that, every agency in the port would have its own responsibility. That is why the NSC, and the economy regulator, has assembled almost all the agencies, and we are having a task team, and one of the priorities is, while the port is opened, we must also abide by the health guidelines. And I think this has happened, we have done well so far.

What are some of the issues raised during the recently held sensitisation forum for port stakeholders and the solutions?

One of the issues is, people being at the ports when they have no business there.

Naturally, even when the situation was normal, one shouldn’t be at the port unless one has something to transact, it’s even more so now.

Secondly, we provide transportation to port workers and forwards. Thirdly, is operation of the banks. Banks must operate so that transactions, especially the payment of custom duties would be done, without which cargo would not exit the port. We have been able to convince

The last time we were at the port, we had to wait for them because they had just boarded a vessel that arrived. So, there are international protocols, international conventions that take care of all that. It is important to check the health of all crews and vessels, especially now.

Bello some banks to open their branches especially within the vicinity of the Port. And this has aided the transactions. Nigeria customs has been extremely cooperative. What we want is a relaxation of their assessment or clearance procedures, so that we could have the cargo out of the Port as soon as they come, and then, enlightenment continues. We are also thinking of having the Ports opened on public holidays.

And this we have gotten the cooperation of all the actors and stakeholders.

How about the seafearers, what legal implication would this lockdown have on carriage demurrage, and storage?

First the seafearers observe some protocols about their safety. It is very important, I am sure their unions are up to that responsibility to take care of the sea fearers, so that they are protected from this virus. As to contractual obligations, no doubt, there have been some disruptions, and parties to contract of appointment or contract of carriage would not be able to perform some of their obligations for reasons beyond their reasonable control. It is global, total, and universal. So, we have to accommodate certain things, and that’s why mediation would come into play. If we are going to go through legal issues, that would of cause be going technical because, who are the parties to the contract, who declare the impossibility about performing obligations.

This virus has made parties not being able to perform their obligations, therefore, rights must be in a compromise. I have seen for example, in India, where the insurance companies are saying, the life insurance would not cover death under this virus, and the authorities are saying, this cannot be possible. So, we have our way of dealing with this, frustration of contracts is ruled by unforeseen circumstances, and I think this circumstance is certainly unforeseen.

The NSC has done this before when there was general strike and we were able to make the settlement. That is, bring the users and providers together, and find a compromise.

What is the logistical interplay from the ports to all the people necessary for the performance and optimum delivery

of the ports?

It is quite a challenging time for which we have to learn a lot of lessons. Traffic management is of importance to port operations, so is the efficiency of the terminals, so is education, professionalism of forwarders. The port is layers and layers of interest; each one has to be perfect.

There must be unity, and uniformity. And I think, this has really shown how important it is for people to come together within the port community. The truckers may bear most of the burden of the economy transporting cargo.

They have come under our view, and we have done some sensitisation about how they can observe safety guidelines and still carry out their responsibilities. At this particular time, the traffic situation in Apapa must be handled extremely well. And we are having the task team, under the Vice President, as part of our operational headquarters. Because we have where we monitor the progress at all time.

From today as a matter of fact, we would be on the field, looking at the traffic, directing it appropriately, having traffic management, the call-up system, and so many other things. We are also encouraging the barging of containers. So we don’t only have one more of transportation or exit from the Port, because this seems to be the problem. But for the disruption, we would add rail services to the port also, when we have all these together, then you would see and ease of the chaos on the gridlock at Apapa. However, we are conscious of the fact that we need modern traffic management and we are doing our best to see that this is achieved within the circumstances we are.

Bring us up-to-date on the current realities of the six confirmed cases of COVID-19 patients found on vessel?

There are the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) guidelines. NIMASA has issued a marine notice on arrival of these ships, and the crew. This is well taken care of.

What can be done in terms inter-agency collaboration to ensure screening of vessels?

The Port Health is very important. They are the first to board the vessel to determine the health or otherwise of the cargo and crew.

What are the challenges you have noticed so far, and how much of cargo cancelations have we seen?

There will certainly be a drop in cargo throughput. Certainly, some factories were not working largely, and we cannot fulfill contract.

Disruption of logistics is universal as I said, hence some contracts of carriage cannot be optimised, and therefore we have a fall in the revenue of the government. However, we hope, as we have done in Nigeria, things would pick up. The Nigerian economy, even though stumbling, could be made strong, especially through the ports. We have to spike up the revenue, maintain the factories to be working, maintain employment and you would see us out of this. The layers of isolation the government has put that is to isolate Nigeria from the spread of this virus has been commended internationally, and I think we are doing well.

But lessons have been learnt even at this early stage. First, is synergy between port operators and stakeholders. We must stick with one another every time. There must be electronic platforms. We cannot do the primitive cargo clearance that we are using now. Cargo could be cleared from the port without anybody going to the port itself. And that is what is giving us problem at this moment. We need to clear cargo by automating the Port. We need electronic handling of cargo clearance.

First, we have to have the national single window(NSW), which is very important in clarity in the speed of clearance of cargo. We must have the cargo-tracking note, which means, every cargo coming into Nigeria is well known even before it arrives. I think these lessons are well taken, and the NSC would soon set up the necessary machineries to ensure we divorced from primitive clearance of cargo.

We have to work with other agencies.

What kind of intervention is required at this time and after this crisis for the maritime industry to take its rightful place as the mainstay of the Nigerian economy and tell us about the NSC’s Trucks Transit Parks (TTP)?

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has taken the lead for bringing palliatives or for providing interventions. This is done all over the world. I am impressed with what the CBN has done, and I think it should look at the transport sector, because apart from the oil, which is not a good friend for any economy, the transport sector is the second largest earner of revenue. Actually, transport drives the economy, so CBN should, come and focus on areas of interventions, either with this disruption or even without. The transport sector has qualified to be concertedly and consciously looked at, so that, there would be direct intervention. The details could be worked out. Our truck transit parks, like many other projects, we have some certain disruptions. The Ogbolafo truck transit park, we have gone through the negotiations, we are about writing the agreement when this issue came. But, I think, it is just for a while.

Trucks transit parks is for faster delivery of cargo. It is often the road, instead of parking all the busses, and trailers on the street, we find a place where they could be parked. We would have a restaurant, and other modern amenities at the TTPs. It would provide employment and revenue stream for the state government and for everybody else.

THIS WEEKEND WEEKLY MAGAZINE

NEWS METRO THISLIFE ART WEEKEND ENTERTAINMENT Group Features Editor: Chiemelie Ezeobi chiemelie.ezeobi@thisdaylive.com 07010510430

Adesuwa Onyenokwe: Kachi’s Patience, Rosie’s Honesty Made Them Winners of Ultimate Love

27

T H I S D AY ˾

ͯ͵˜ ͰͮͰͮ

COVER

Adesuwa Onyenokwe: Kachi’s Patience, Rosie’s Honesty Made Them Winners of Ultimate Love Adesuwa Onyenokwe, who has carved a niche for herself in the media as a distinguished TV personality and editor-in-chief of TW Lifestyle magazine, was “Aunty” on the recently ended Ultimate Love reality television show. In this interview with MARY NNAH, she went down memory lane about the show and why the duo of Kachi and Rosie, popularly tagged Roksie, emerged the winning couple

W

hat do you think about the concept behind Ultimate Love?

The Ultimate Love reality show is an idea whose time has come.

Every human needs love and association and once there is a platform for that, it will bloom. Aunty’s love pad created the perfect opportunity for this to happen. In our fast paced world the dating game is getting increasingly difficult and complicated. Being closeted in one space free of the daily hustle and bustle, selected couples could focus on exploring a meaningful relationship with the help of experts.

Add to that the fact that they stood the chance of walking away with gifts that would help them on their forever journey. You can’t top that as the perfect antidote for a crumbling family system: Help the primary actors, men and women, find each other even as they compete in a game that tests their wits, to win valuable prizes, ultimate of which is, true love. It is even more interesting because for once, Africa has the chance to present to the world, something totally original. The Ultimate Love Show format is not a copy of any existing reality show in the world. For example, the inclusion of Aunty is purely out of an African tradition. On this continent relationships involve family. Family matters, and MNET has proven, through this show, that it cares.

You helped the love guests through their journey of selfdiscovery and the desire to find love. How did you prepare for these one-on-one sessions with the love guests?

I have spent over three decades as a reporter/interviewer, been a wife for 33 years, and a mother for 32, I would say I came prepared for this.

And then of course coupled with the fact that I have life coaching skills, I was able to listen in on and to the youngsters, while guiding them to a better understanding of themselves. I led them to explore their background, emotions and motives, to assist them in the process of coupling. A listening non-judgmental ear got them relaxed and ready to open up, enough to take advice too, when it came.

What would you say was your biggest challenge and win during the show?

Convincing the Love Guests that I had no favourites was quite a challenge, especially when I had to save a nominated couple weekly. Though there were set criteria, every couple saved always felt I did them a favour, which implied to the rest that favouritism could have set in. I get that from my kids all the time so I could

Onyenokwe

handle it.

The biggest win was the fact that a number of true relationships were formed. Even though there was obvious chemistry, the Love Guests stayed focused on the emotional rather than the physical. I didn’t think they could.

It says a lot for what the human can do to gain a prize it considers worthwhile.

What do you think of the Sunday nominations and the drama it caused among the Love Guests?

That was a big deal and some! The Love Guests spent the first couple of weeks in the Love Pad cavorting happily, as they picked their partners and began the process of getting to know each other, so the first nominations took them by surprise! It was a shock reminder that they were not in the pad

to ‘play’. Eventually the drama of the Sunday live shows, elicited a tension that hung in the air for a couple of days till they relaxed and then bam, once another week ended, the cycle continued. Though with time couples fashioned individual strategies to go about their nominations, those eviction nights remained tension soaked keeping them on tenterhooks, each not knowing who would go or stay.

Roksie became the first Ultimate couple of the show. What are your thoughts on their journey?

Interestingly Roksie was the only couple that stayed the entire eight weeks in the Love Pad! They never got to go out on a mission or win a spot in the love nest. Their coupling was incidental, (they were not each other ’s first choice), then hesitant, but when

it picked up it just raced on to the end.

Kachi’s patience paid off and Rosie’s honesty won her the viewer ’s hearts, and their votes propelled Roksie to the end. The icing on the cake was the proposal and acceptance! Even the best of producers couldn’t have written a better script.

This is what reality is all about. Just like with food, when love unfolds naturally and organically, it is strong, rich and enduring. I believe that will be Roksie’s story even out of the Love Pad. Going by the feedback I get from enthusiastic viewers across Africa, most of who are ‘panting’ for more, this is a good testimonial for a show that surpassed everyone’s expectations in just its first season. My phone hasn’t stopped ringing. Kudos to the show owners!

28

T H I S D AY ˾ ˜ ͯ͵˜ ͰͮͰͮ

ANALYSIS

For AfDB, One Good Term Deserves Another In recognition of the performance of Dr. Akinwumi Adesina in his first term as the President of the African Development Bank, there is need to support his candidacy for a second term at the Bank, writes Obinna Chima

I

n the past few years, Africa has been the focus of global investors because of its growth prospects and high return on investments.

Prior to the advent of the COVID-19 pandemic which has brought about severe disruptions to economies in the continent, Africa was seen as the land of opportunities.

With a population of 1.2 billion people that is expected to rise to 2.5 billion by 2050, a rising middle class, rapid urbanisation and a labor force that will rise from 705 million today, to well over one billion in the next 10 years, Africa offers huge market and investment opportunities.

Unlocking the inherent opportunities in the continent has been the focus of the African Development Bank (AfDB) under its President, Dr. Akinwumi Adesina, since his election in 2015.

The Bank under Adesina has continued to provide support to countries as well as private sector organisations in the continent, in a bid to ensure that Africa remains attractive.

For instance, as part of its ‘Jobs for Youth in Africa’ strategy, the Bank had launched the establishment of Coding for Employment Program, designed to develop young digital entrepreneurs.

The expectation was to develop 130 centers of innovation over the next five years to help create nine million direct and indirect jobs.

Experience so far from the ongoing programs in Rwanda, Nigeria, Kenya and Senegal has been impactful as about 2,000 youth (46% women) were trained in just three months, between March and June 2019.

In addition, given the fast pace of changes, driven by the fourth industrial revolution - from artificial intelligence, to robotics, machine learning, quantum computing, the Bank’s focus under Adesina has been that Africa must invest more in re-directing and re-skilling its labor force, and especially the youth, to effectively participate.

Since he assumed the position of the President, the AfDB has connected 16 million people to electricity, provided 70 million people with improved agricultural technologies to achieve food security, given nine million people access to finance from private sector companies, provided 55 million people with access to improved transport, and 31 million people with access to water and sanitation.

In all 181 million people have directly benefitted from the Bank’s investments.

Adesina is the eight President of the Bank.

He was elected to the position on May 28, 2015 by the Bank’s Board of Governors at its Annual Meetings in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire.

He is the first Nigerian to serve as President of the Bank Group.

During his first term, the Bank’s shareholders approved a landmark $115 billion capital increase last October. The increase in the capital base, from $93 billion to $208 billion, signaled strong support from the Board of Governors in the continent’s foremost financial institution.

Adesina is a renowned development economist who had held a number of highprofile international positions, including with the Rockefeller Foundation, and as Nigeria’s Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development from 2011 to 2015.

“The youth must be prepared for the jobs of the future - not the jobs of the past. Especially critical is training in science, technology, engineering and mathematics. The Bank is already working on this, with our support to build scientific centers of excellence, such as the African universities of science and technology – all part of the Mandela Institute of Science and Technology.

“We have invested in the Kigali Institute for Science and Technology that is providing world-class training in ICT at the Masters level in collaboration with the Carnegie Mellon University. Without any doubt, there is need to expand financing for education at all levels, primary, secondary and tertiary.

“The educational system must adequately prepare the youth for the labor market.

“Today, Africa has only 375 pharmaceutical companies, for a population of 1.3 billion people. China has almost 7,000 pharmaceutical companies, India almost 11,000.

“So, you can see that Africa doesn’t have the capacity to produce pharmaceutical products.

We cannot continue importing pharmaceutical companies. As a Bank we are looking at how we can support a big time effort of building Africa’s pharmaceutical industry to protect lives,” he said.

Adesina Priority must be placed on improving access to vocational skills training, reducing the mismatch between training and needs of the labor market, and providing greater incentives for the private sector to support young people with on-the-job training opportunities, as well as entrepreneurship.

“At the end of the day, it is not GDP growth that matters. Nobody eats GDP. Growth must be visible. Growth must be equitable. Growth must be felt in the lives of people. It is the people of Africa who motivate us to keep doing what we do best: making prosperity a reality for all,” Adesina said recently.

Fighting COVID-19 Pandemic In what has been described as a proactive move to cushion the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on the continent, the Board of the AfDB recently approved a $10 billion for Coronavirus Response Facility for Africa countries.

A breakdown of the distribution of the sum given by Adesina showed that $5.5 billion would be to support, the AfDB countries.

“That is countries that can access the window of the Bank or the non-concessionary window of the Bank,” he explained.

In addition, $3.1 billion would be to support countries those he termed the African Development Fund countries.

“These are loan income and fragile state countries that have access to the concessional resources of the Bank and basically grants that we give. Also, we would provide $1.4 billion to support the private sector,” he added.

He explained that the facility would support countries to have rapid cost-effective and targeted emergency budget support as well as offer liquidity to countries that are facing fiscal and balance of payment challenges, so that they can stabilise their economies.

“It would also support the private sector and private support for sustainable efforts to avoid debt burdens for countries.

“It is also not going to add to the debt of countries. We would help Africa to manage this crisis and we would support Africa to mitigate the knock-on economic impact of this health crisis on the rest of the economies and we would save lives. Every single country matters and nobody would be left behind,” he said.

The former Nigeria’s Minister of Agriculture stressed that if the pandemic was not effectively managed in the continent, it could lead to a food crisis.

Speaking further, the AfDB boss said the timely approval of the facility demonstrated the seriousness with which the AfDB takes the pandemic.

“As we talk of numbers in terms of monies, let us also bring to mind what is happening in terms of lives. Every time that I wake up in the morning, the most distressing thing that I see is listening to global news and the number of people that have been affected by the virus and the number of people that have died.

“It is like announcing number of deaths as if we are announcing some kind of gold medal in an Olympics. It is so sad. Therefore, it is a time for serious action.

“We must move massively and aggressively to give Africa maximum support to quickly contain this epidemic,” he said.

The AfDB recently went to the international capital market to raise a Social Impact Bond of $3 billion called the Fight Coronavirus Bond.

It debt instrument was regarded as the largest social impact bond launched ever in the world, at 0.75 per cent coupon rate.

“So, this is cheap money that we can make available to our clients. I am also happy to announce that the $3 billion bond of the Bank has just been listed on the London Stock Exchange and it has been oversubscribed,” he said.

Speaking further on the $1.4 out of the $10 billion to be set aside for private sector, Adesina, pointed out that a lot of private sector operators would need emergency liquidity facility to help them with the liquidity constraints that they face due to the pandemic.

“It is to support and protect the SMEs. As you know, SMEs form 75 per cent or 85 per cent of all the businesses we have in Africa. So, we want to protect these businesses and jobs.

“The third of course is that we are going to be deferring debt payments for the private sector that are our clients and we would be providing trade finance and guarantees to the private sector under this facility,” he added.

According to Adesina, the pandemic has exposed the poor state of healthcare in Africa.

To this end, he said the Bank was planning to build quality healthcare infrastructure for Africa.

“We want to build quality healthcare infrastructure to support Africa. In essence, Africa needs a healthcare infrastructure defense system. Today, we have the coronavirus, but we need to prepare because there might be another thing that is worse than this. Therefore, we need to be well prepared.

Wave of Endorsements Considering Adesina’s positive contribution to the Bank since 2015, President Muhammadu Buhari, the Economic Community of West Africa States (ECOWAS) as well as the African Union (AU) have all endorsed him for re-election for another term of five years, which is due this year.

For the AU, its Executive Council gave the endorsement at its 36th ordinary session held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Also, in December 2019, ECOWAS also endorsed Adesina for a second term.

Apparently, some elements within the Bank are scared of Adesina’s rising endorsement waves, which saw them, in an 18-page petition made efforts to block his approval for a second term.

The said whistleblowers had alleged that he violated the code of conduct of the institution.

The former Nigeria’s minister has since described as spurious and unfounded the allegation by the group that described itself as concerned staff members of the Bank.

Adesina said following the publication of the allegation in a foreign magazine, Le Monde, he was overwhelmed by the tremendous show of support and solidarity he had been receiving.

He stated that the Bank had a very high reputation for good governance and rated as the fourth most transparent institution in the world by Publish What You Fund.

He noted that he had strong confidence in the governance systems of the Bank put in place by its Board of Governors.

According to him, the Ethics Committee of the Board of Directors is following its internal review systems and should be allowed to complete its review and work without interference from anyone or the media.

The bank’s president said: “I am 100 per cent confident that due process and transparency, based on facts and evidence, will indicate that these are all nothing more than spurious and unfounded allegations. I would like all our highly dedicated bank staff, shareholders and partners not to be moved or shaken by any of these blatantly false allegations. I will stay calm and resolute. I will not be distracted. No amount of lies can ever cover up the truth.

Soon the truth will come out.”

Adesina promised to continue to discharge his duties and responsibilities “with the highest level of professionalism, dedication and unshaken resolve, to lead and support the bank’s bold mission for Africa’s accelerated development, and to help protect the continent at this time of the COVID-19 pandemic.”

Nevertheless, earlier this week, the whistleblowers were reported to have withdrawn the petition.

It was gathered that the petition was spearheaded by an elected staff member to discredit Adesina’s candidacy for re-election.

“This denunciation is made in accordance to (with) the whistle-blowing and complaint handling policy of the African Development Bank,” the whistleblowers stated.

Therefore, in order to help rebuild African countries from the damage the coronavirus pandemic is going to inflict on the continent, entrepreneurship and youth employment, support countries in tackling the rising waves of insecurity in some countries in the continent, continue to support investment-friendly policies in the region as well as the promotion of greater participation of private sector, there is need to support the re-election of Adesina for a second term as the President of the AfDB.

29

T H I S D AY ˾ ˜ ͯ͵˜ 2020

MARKET NEWS

NSE Hosts First Digital Closing Gong Ceremony, Commits to Access to Market Goddy Egene The Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), Mr. Oscar Onyema, yesterday restated the Exchange’s commitment to providing corporates and investors access to market in meeting their financial and investment needs during this period and beyond.

Onyema said this during the first-ever digital closing gong ceremony hosted via Instagram Live, in honour of the contribu-

tion of Sterling Bank Plc to the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic in Nigeria.

“Following the activation of our Business Continuity Plan and our transition to remote working and trading, The exchange has been resolute in its commitment to ensure that there are no disruptions to operations for any of our stakeholders.

“We have leveraged our existing digital assets to ensure there is continuous flow of information

P R I C E S MAIN BOARD

F O R DEALS

and activity in the market and are now looking at how we can deploy creative solutions to enhance our stakeholders’ experience during these unprecedented times,” he said.

According to him, the sounding of the closing gong to mark the end of the trading day as a treasured tradition of the NSE that has been impacted by the temporary closure of the trading floor was one that presents an opportunity for digital engagement.

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

QUANTITY TRADED

VALUE TRADED ( N )

“It has been our pleasure to rekindle the tradition of sounding the closing gong albeit digitally with Sterling Bank Plc. It would be remiss of me not to thank the Mr. Abubakar Suleiman (chief executive officer of Sterling Bank) for joining us to achieve this milestone and commend him for the notable efforts Sterling Bank is making to curb the spread of COVID-19 in Nigeria and support the Nigerian economy at this time,”Onyema said.

On his part, Suleiman, com-

T R A D E D MAIN BOARD

A S

mended the NSE for leading the digital transformation of the market.

“These are interesting times we live in with the outbreak of Coronavirus changing the way we live and work. While we all come to terms with these new realities, I urge everyone to identify and leverage the opportunity we have been given to reset our nation and our businesses.”

He said the bank was offering a range of solutions to

O F

help Nigerians manage through temporary or extended periods of reduced or lost income as a result of the Coronavirus outbreak.

“We have reduced the restructuring fees on all new and existing loans by up to 50 percent; issued an extension of the repayment of loan obligations that are due; and suspended the penal charge for late minimum repayment on customer credit cards during this period; to name a few,” Abubakar said.

1 6 / 0 4 / 2 0 2 0 DEALS

MARKET PRICE

QUANTITY TRADED

VALUE TRADED ( N)

30

FRIDAY APRIL 17, 2020 ˾ T H I S D AY

COVID -19 UPDATE...

COVID -19 UPDATE...

Gates Foundation Donates Extra $150m to Fight COVID-19 Eddie Alegbe The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has invested a further $150million in the global response to the raging COVID-19.

This latest donation brings

the total of the philanthropic organisation gesture to $250million.

After the United States, the Gates Foundation is also the second biggest sponsor of the global health body World Health Organisation (WHO).

Enugu Discharges Second Patient

According to a statement from the Co-chairperson of the Foundation, Melinda Gates, “We have a responsibility to meet this global crisis with global solidarity.

In addition to contributing to the development of diagnostics, therapeutics and vaccines, these funds will also support efforts against

COVID-19 in low-and-middleincome countries, where local leaders and healthcare workers are doing heroic work to protect vulnerable communities and slow the spread of the disease.”

In this latest donation by the Foundation, four areas are included, and the most pressing is the need to develop

products, such as vaccines and reliable treatments.

Chief Executive Officer of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Mark Suzman, told journalists that: “It’s very clear that this is a pandemic of a global proportion, and the only solutions will work if they are globally applied.

“In the end, we need

everyone on the planet to be vaccinated. But that is more than a year away.

So in the meantime we’re looking at what we can do to minimise the loss of life and socio-economic destruction.”

A vaccine for the coronavirus is still 12 and 18 months away, according to most estimates.

Suspected fraudsters hack Ugwuanyi’s phone line Christopher Isiguzo in Enugu The Enugu State Government last night discharged the remaining COVID-19 patient from Treatment and Isolation Centre in the state.

This is coming as the MTN Cell Phone line of the state governor, Hon. Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi has been hacked by suspected fraudsters.

In a statement by the state Commissioner for Information, Mr. Chidi Aroh, the state government said the hackers have already used the line to call members of the public, including government officials.

He therefore urged members of the public to disregard any call or message emanating from the said phone line.

He said the security agencies and the Telecom Service Providers have been duly notified and are working round the clock to apprehend the culprits.

“We most sincerely regret any embarrassment or inconvenience that these fraudsters may have caused unsuspecting members of the public,” he said.

Meanwhile, the state had discharged the first COVID-19 patient on Wednesday after testing negative for the virus.

A separate statement by the state Commissioner for Health, Prof. Ik Obi, noted that the second and the only remaining patient at the isolation centre had tested negative and accordingly discharged.

He recalled that the NCDC had announced two cases of COVID-19 in the state who were in isolation and receiving care.

“Yesterday, the Enugu State Ministry of Health announced that one patient had been discharged.

“Two of them are now negative for the Coronavirus and have been discharged,” the statement noted.

“We encourage our people to continue to stay home, try not to touch your face without having washed your hands, maintain strict hand and respiratory hygiene, wear a facemask in line with the NCDC’s advisory and maintain physical distancing”.

Lagos Govt Warns Health Officials against Collecting Money for Tests Segun James Lagos State Commissioner for Health, Prof. Akin Abayomi has said that COVID-19 tests in all approved testing centres in Lagos State are now free.

Abayomi stated this following reports alleging that patients pay N30,000 for COVID-19 test at the centres approved by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) in Lagos.

He stressed that no designated testing centre in the state is allowed to collect money for the COVID-19 tests.

“I want to state unequivocally

that there is no designated COVID-19 testing centre in Lagos that collects or is allowed to collect money for the test.

COVID-19 tests at the designated testing centres are free of charge,” Abayomi affirmed.

The Commissioner maintained that the State Ministry of Health is not aware of any health worker at any of the testing centres that collects money for the COVID-19 test, urging residents to be wary of misleading reports targeted at discrediting front-line health workers who are committed to ensuring that COVID-19 is contained.

Benue Slashes 2020 Budget by N70bn George Okoh inMakurdi Owing to the current economic realities and the impending recession caused by coronavirus pandemic, the Benue State Government has cut down the 2020 budget from N189 billion to N119 billion.

The state Governor, Samuel Ortom, disclosed this recently at the Benue Peoples House in Makurdi while briefing journalists shortly after a meeting of the State

Executive Council which also had in attendance members of the state Action Committee on COVID-19.

He explained that the downward review of the budget which is to be forwarded to the state House of Assembly became necessary following International Monetary Fund (IMF) projection of a recession in Nigeria that would force a contraction of the country’s economy by 3.4 percent and states of the federation would be adversely affected.

DISPLACED PERSONS ON HIS MIND…

Federal Commissioner, National Refugees Commission, Senator Bashir Garba, delivering palliatives to people at the IDPs camp in Katsina… yesterday

ADC Rallies Support for Buhari The African Democratic Congress (ADC) has called on all Nigerians, especially leaders of opposition parties to come together, at this critical point in the world’s health history, and rally round the President Muhammadu Buhari’s government in the struggle to contain the spread of COVID-19 in the country.

The party said Nigeria, like what happened in the thick of the Ebola emergency, had taken bold and calculated steps to ensure that the country “records very few casualties, though there are still wide gaps to be filled.”

A statement by the National Publicity Secretary of ADC,

Yemi Kolapo, however, noted that those in charge of the COVID-19 palliative strategy needed to do more research on how best to go as they were clearly doing more harm than good in that regard.

The party observed that the President’s first and second speeches on the pandemic were well put together, and addressed the major areas that should be addressed if sound minds were to reason objectively, noting that the opposition should play responsible politics in these trying times.

The statement said, “Don’t forget, Nigerians have never complained of not having

enough well- constructed speeches, which, most times, end up as empty rhetoric. The bones of contention have been implementation, sincerity and ultimate beneficiaries of otherwise good policies. All we need to do now is chase Government for sincere and thorough implementation, and ensure they don’t play politics with the lives of citizens.

“Everyone knows the unfortunate limitations of the current government in terms of driving the economy. But what we have in our hands now, regardless of what some may think, is not a joke. Oppositions, the world over, are building bridges to

save lives first, and leaving normal political tussles for normal days.

“When we argue, we must do so constructively, and ask: if we were confronted with a situation that had never happened before, with no certain solution, where a little error could cause the death of thousands of our dear people, how exactly would we handle it?”

According to the party, Nigerians should focus on letting the government know where exactly they are going wrong, “and this is clearly in the area of communication as regards palliatives and their distribution.”

BEDC Kick-starts Embedded Power Process Peter Uzoho The Benin Electricity Distribution Company (BEDC) Plc, has said it has commenced the process of augmenting the power available to its customers through actualising its proposal for embedded power under the willing buyer, willing seller arrangement with independent power generators outside the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) national grid.

BEDC disclosed this in a statement, explaining that the numerous applications from prospective parties had gone

through the first stage of screening whilst the next stage of selection process would commence soon.

According to the statement, “those deemed successful will be created into clusters where power generated and upgraded infrastructure could be connected to customers.

“This will be under the willing buyer and willing seller arrangement on a full cost pass through commercial basis with 24/7 power availability at premium pricing.”

In a related development, BEDC said it has recorded significant increase in power

supply to several of its customers in Delta, Benin, Ekiti and Ondo States --its franchise states, as a demonstration of its sensitivity to the customers currently on lockdown due to the COVID--19 pandemic.

The Disco assured its customers that it shall continue to do its best to provide quality service across all its touch points by improving the availability of electricity supply to cushion the inconveniences on its esteemed customers whilst ensuring the safety of its workers.

According to the statement, in the latest move which began last

week, the company has tacitly suspended the rotational load management schedule for power supply to some of its customers.

The statement said: “In Delta State, BEDC has extended power supply improvement to customers in some locations in the state including the state capital, Asaba where areas like GRA, Anwai Road, Summit Road, Okpanam Road, NTA and Nnebisi Rdad are all now enjoying improved electricity supply, commercial, and James Hope/Agbor feeders who continue to enjoy 24 hours electricity supply.

NSCDC Foils Escape Attempt By COVID-19 Patient in Kaduna An attempt by a COVID-19 patient undergoing treatment at the Infectious Disease Control Centre, Down Quarters, Kaduna South to escape from the isolation centre yesterday was foiled by operatives of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC).

The Media Assistant to the Commandant General of the

NSCDC, Ekunola Gbenga, who confirmed the development, said the patient engaged officers of the NCDC on duty in a scuffle.

According to the statement, the patient had grabbed the entrance key to the isolation centre before the patient was overpowered by the NSCDC operatives.“It has emerged that a COVID-19 positive patient attempted to

escape from isolation center in Kaduna without authorisation.

“The suspected COVlD-l9 patient tried to leave the Centre for morning prayers without the permission of doctors.

“A confrontation ensued between our personnel and the patient who forcefully picked the keys of the gate of the Center and tried to open the gate to

escape.

“The patient was arrested by Corps Assistant Joshua Philip who was among the officers on duty at the isolation center.

“The COVID-19 index is said to have engaged the Civil Defence Officer Joshua Philip in serious fracas after he stopped him from leaving his quarantine ward at the isolation center.

˜ ͹Ϳ˜ ͺ͸ͺ͸ ˾ T H I S D AY

31

FRIDAYSPORTS

Group Sports Editor Duro Ikhazuagbe Email duro.ikhazuagbe@thisdaylive.com 0811 181 3083 SMS ONLY

Quadri, Omotayo Drop in ITTF Ranking The rating of Nigeria’s duo of Aruna Quadri and Olajide Omotayo in the April 2020 ranking released by the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) has dropped but Quadri still maintains his status as the highest rated African player in the world.

Quadri who is recuperating from the thigh injury he sustained during the African Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Tunis last

February, dropped by two steps to occupy the 20th spot in the men’s rating, while Omotayo who is the only Nigeria male athlete to have secured his place at Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games also slide to 79th in the world rating.

Quadri who is yet to taste action since the injury he sustained on February 28, is yet to resume full training in his base in Lisbon, Portugal, following the COVID-19

AFN Ordinary Congress Postponed Due to COVID-19 Due to circumstances caused by the global outbreak of Covid-19, the ordinary congress of the Athletics Federation of Nigeria (AFN) scheduled for Friday April 24,2020 has been postponed indefinitely.

In a media statement signed by its Secretary General, Prince Adeniyi Adisa Beyioku, the AFN regrets the postponement of the congress convened to among other things discus and approve the training plans for the now postponed 2020 Olympics.

The Congress was also convened to ratify certain decisions taken by the board of the federation at its last meeting in Abuja in January as well as a review

pandemic that has forced the Portuguese Government to lockdown major cities in the European nation.

The Oyo State-born athlete has however started light indoor training which he said would aid his quick return when things normalizes in Portugal.

Like Quadri, Omotayo who has been stranded in Italy since the pandemic dropped down the ladder by one step to be rated 92 in the world.

Also, Egypt’s Omar Assar dropped to 38 from 35 while among the biggest movers in

the world is Senegal’s Ibrahima Diaw who rose to 69th in the world after moving up by six steps.

The Senegalese has also secured a place at Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.

In the women’s rating, Egypt’s Dina Meshref maintains her position as the African champion still occupies 32nd place in the world.

Despite dropping by eight steps to 120 in the world rating, Offiong Edem remains the highest ranked Nigeria female player in the world.

Olufunke Oshonaike occupies

174th place in the rating.

At the peak of the men’s ranking is China’s Fan Zhendong, who replaced compatriot Xu Xin to top the rating.

China’s Chen Meng continues her reign as the women’s world number one.

Japan’s Mima Ito shot up to second place in the women’s singles list - her highest ever position as she reaped the reward for consistent displays so far in 2020, which saw her take the crown at the Hungarian Open, in between reaching

the semi-final of the German Open and final of the Qatar Open.

Following the current suspension of ITTF events in light of the COVID-19 pandemic, the latest ITTF Rankings released on April 16, 2020, will be frozen until activities resume.

The decision to freeze the world ranking was taken at the ITTF Executive Committee meeting held on April 1, 2020, following the recommendations from the World Ranking Group and the Athletes Commission.

of its constitution.

“We are compelled by the severe situation surrounding the covid-19 pandemic to shift the date indefinitely,’ said Beyioku in the statement and assured a new date will be announced as soon as it is safe to do so.

“There is a notice issued in February in line with the relevant section of the AFN constitution and the notice still subsists,” said Beyioku.

The AFN also advised all stakeholders in sport to stay safe and follow all medical and social regulations issued by relevant authorities as Nigeria battles to fight the scourge that has so far claimed 12 lives with over 400 confirmed cases in the country.

Anthony Joshua Challenges Tyson Fury Aruna Quadri and Olajide Omotayo have dropped in ITTF ranking released yesterday in Unification Battle Eto’o Vows to Help 100,000 Cameroonians Tackle COVID-19 Anthony Joshua has thrown down the gauntlet for a heavyweight title showdown with Tyson Fury as the WBO, WBA and IBF champion made his case for an all-British unification bout.

All heavyweight belts reside in the UK, with Joshua recapturing his three belts after avenging his shock defeat by Andy Ruiz Jr in December, while Fury blitzed Deontay Wilder in February to win the WBC belt.

It means that, should Joshua and Fury face off in the ring, the victor will be the first unified champion of the division since Lennox Lewis.

And Joshua has made his case for the all-British showdown.

‘If you really want to say you’re No 1, come fight me.

Let’s get it on,’ he told Sky Sports. ‘I’ve got the rest of the belts so it only makes sense.

‘I’m the unified heavyweight champion of the world, he’s the WBC champion. What it will prove, me and him fighting? There will be one dominant figure in the heavyweight division that will have all of the belts and become undisputed.

“Logically to prove yourself as No 1, I have to fight Tyson Fury. He has to fight Anthony Joshua.”

While both fighters have expressed their desire to fight as soon as possible, some obstacles stand in the way

of the fight happening. Wilder has triggered a rematch clause to face Fury for a third time while Joshua is to defend his belts against Kubrat Pulev.

Speculation has been rife that Bob Arum, the promotor of Fury and Pulev, could arrange for the pair to skip their bouts so Joshua and Fury can fight.

Joshua fired shots at Wilder, who has for some time obstructed the path to a unification bout with a series of farcical negotiations between his and Joshua’s teams.

“It would be amazing to tell Pulev ‘I think it’s best if you step aside for now’ and to tell Wilder “we have bigger fish to fry”,’ he added. ‘”Enjoy your Alabama chicken while we get cracking in the UK!” That fight needs to happen because there will never be another time like this again.’

Former Barcelona forward Samuel Eto’o is doing his bit to tackle the coronavirus, promising supplies to 100,000 people in his home country of Cameroon.The retired 39-year-old will donate face masks, hand sanitisers, soaps and food through his Samuel Eto’o foundation.

The vital supplies will be sent to 50,000 households across four cities in the African

nation - Douala, Buea, Yaoundé and Bafoussam.

Additionally, 50,000 face masks will be provided for taxi drivers who are at increased risk of catching the disease.

A statement from the foundation read: ‘This is a serious humanitarian crisis and only via proper sanitisation and the distribution of health kits can we curb the coronavirus.’

All sporting activities have been suspended in Cameroon while the country deals with the virus, and its borders have been closed.

Eto’o picked up 118 caps for Cameroon, scoring 56 times and featuring at four World Cups.

He last played professionally for Qatar SC in the 2018-19 season for one season before calling time on his 22-year football

career. At the peak of his powers he was considered as one of the best forwards in the word, as he won back-to-back Champions League titles with Barcelona and Inter Milan ten years ago.

He started his career with Real Madrid and played in the Premier League towards the end of his career with Chelsea and Everton.

Soname Kick-starts Athletes’Trust Fund with N10m The proposed Athletes Trust Fund, a brainchild of Youth and Sports Development Minister, Mr. Sunday Dare has been given a boost with the donation of N10m by owner of Remo Stars FC, Hon. Kunle Soname.

With this gesture, Nigerian athletes will soon enjoy a new lease of life when Dare officially floats the athletes’ relief fund.

Soname said he was

donating the money in his individual capacity as a mark of his commitment to lifting the morale of Nigerian athletes.

The scheme when officially unveiled would be funded by the proceeds from the National Lottery Trust Fund, partner agencies, corporate bodies and individuals.

Part of the reason that led to the introduction of the scheme is to take care of the welfare of

athletes, finance their training, pay for their preparation and participation in major international competitions.

Dare has commmenced talks with agencies and other partners to provide seed money for the intitial take-off of the initiative.

The money will serve as huge source of support to Nigerian athletes whose source of earnings had ceased as a result of the Covid-19

pandemic, resulting in the suspension of all major sporting events.

The modalities for the disbursement of the funds to the athletes is expected to be worked out with guidelines provided by the sports ministry.

Dare has always insisted that the welfare of athletes remains the cardinal objective of the Sports Ministry under his leadership.

Super Eagles 2018 Jersey Ranked Fifth

Anthony Joshua

The Super Eagles’ 2018 kit has been voted fifth among the iconic football shirts worldwide across all generations. That is the outcome of the 24-hour poll conducted by BBC sports website.

The shirt was beaten by those of Brazil (1970); Netherlands (1988); West Germany (1990) and England (1966) in the top four places.

The Nigerian shirt had nine per cent of total votes cast whereas the winning shirt, that of Brazil, had 14%. England in the fourth place had 10%, just one to pip Nigeria to the fourth place.

The result also revwealed that on-field results, rather than the appearances of the shirts, were the major determinants. The shirts of the winning teams of the competitions won the

top four shirts.

Brazil, which topped, had a milestone third victory of the World Cup in 1970.The shirt is very similar to most other Brazil kits, but this one is a retro classic. Worn by one of the greatest, if not the greatest international team the world has ever seen.

The kit was worn by the legendary 1970 World Cup-

winning side and was the last shirt Pele sported before retiring from international duty.

In the second place is the shirt of Netherlands, which the team put on to win the European Championship for the first time. In the third position is the shirt won by the then West Germany to win the World Cup at Italia ’90.

Friday April 17, 2020

TR

UT H

& RE A SO

N

Price: N250

MISSILE

NHRC to Security Agencies “Whereas COVID-19 has led to the death of about 11 patients to date (Tuesday), law enforcement agents have extra-judicially executed 18 persons to enforce the regulations. This speaks volumes of the protocols and rules of engagement for our law enforcement as well the eďŹƒciency level and capacity of law enforcement agents to deal with the civil populationâ€? – National Human Rights Commission revealing the level of unprofessionalism of security operatives in dealing with civil population as well as their reckless disregard for human lives.

MAGNUSONYIBE GUEST COLUMNIST

Emefiele’s Post Covid-19 Marshall Plan for Nigeria: Trick or Treat?

W

hen under the auspices of the federal Govt of Nigeria, the CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele influenced the banning of 45 items/products that he reckoned could be produced locally in Nigeria from being imported and pilling needless pressure on the foreign exchange reserve , he became the butt of the jokes of prominent Western media organizations, particularly the Economist magazine of London , Time magazine of New York and Wall Street Journal, WSJ which stopped short of labeling Nigeria’s CBN Governor, a demagogue for banning items , as ridiculous in their estimation, as tooth pick from receiving foreign exchange allocation from the CBN for its importation.

But following the current lockdown of an estimated 90% of planet earth as a cautionary measure against the threat of the coronavirus pandemic that has already infected over 2 million people and sent to their early graves, lives in excess of 130, 000 worldwide and still counting, Emefiele , the unsung hero of the sickly Nigerian economy , seems to be having the last laugh, as the entire world is currently adopting his much derided policy of restricting the import of goods that can be locally produced.

With this sudden turn of events whereby it is now the best-in-class strategy to restrict import/export, who can we say has been tricking Nigerians into importing everything on earth, thereby creating the existential threat capable of depleting our hard earned foreign exchange income ; and who has been treating us to a new and improved way of conserving our forex income sourced mainly from hydrocarbon, so that Nigeria can have enough to invest in infrastructure such as hospitals and schools ?

You be the judge!

It is such a paradox that the phenomenon of global trade which launched China into the global market arena and subsequently earned the Asian country the enviable status of being the most prolific and biggest factory of the world, is about to become the acheel’s heel of the same China, because that’s where the deadly Covid -19 pandemic now shutting down planet earth is believed to have emanated.

Obviously , the simple principle of what goes up must come down is at play in its starkest reality.

So what an irony that, China that has been the greatest beneficiary of global trade would end up being the biggest loser of global trade , if the global wave of import/export restrictions become the new normal according to the prognostications of Nigeria’s CBN Governor and other economists around the world.

It is not as if nobody anticipated that global trade as we currently know it would not have eventually come to an end. But no one in their wildest imagination reckoned that the end could be so dramatic and would be caused by an invisible enemy such as a deadly virus as opposed to the several protests staged by anti global trade activists against global leaders during their annual World Economic Forum, WEF talk shops in Davos , Switzerland.

Worst still, no one dreamed that a seemingly ordinary virus would so dramatically end trade, which not even the world war l and ll was able stop and which has waxed stronger since the founding of WTO in 1995 , in replacement of the General Agreement on Trade and Tariff, GATT, established in 1948.

But the events of the last four or so months when the coronavirus was believed to have sprung from an animal to man in an innocuous live animal market in Wuhan, Kobe province of China has stunned the best of scientists in the entire world who did not see it coming.

Not even Bill Gates, Microsoft founder and the

EmeďŹ ele world’s second richest man whose business ventures had some five years ago made a prognosis of a virus warfare and started preparing against the threat , has been able to halt the spread.

Obviously, Mr Gates anticipatory investment in the firm Global Good , Intellectual Venture with the aim of embedding chips in humans, have proven not to be a match for the highly stealthy coronavirus pandemic now invading and ravaging mankind.

Until the opening up of China by one of it’s leaders considered to be the father of modern day China, deng Xiaoping whose policies culminated into China’s entry into the World Trade Organization, WTO in 2001; an initiative which opened up the market of the estimated 164 member countries of the organization to Chinese products/services; and transformed the previously autarkic Chinese communism driven economy into an open factory for the world, global trade wasn’t such an attractive proposition.

Since founding the WTO , ‘export or die’ became a major global trade mantra.

And the establishment of the private sector driven World Economic Forum , WEF in 1971 gave verve to the inevitability of global trade, as the most powerful in Govt and the wealthiest businessmen/women all over the world started taking time yearly to bask in the splendor of the alpines of the snow capped resorts/villas in Davos, Switzerland, while holding aloft the flag of global trade and promoting its values as immutable , to the consternation of the powerless and poor who detest the phenomenon and therefore hold equally striking protects against it. Fortuitously, the anti global trade activists who entertain the fears that globalization enables the rich to crowd out the poor, seem to be wining the contest as Covid-19 has upended the concept of trade by compelling practically all the leaders of the free world to start coming up with trade policies that make them appear more like North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un , the world’s leader in autarky.

According to Emefiele’s position in the report under review, “As of 10 April 2020, an updated count of total export restrictions by Global Trade Alert Team at the university of St. Gallen, Switzerland suggests a total of 102 restrictions by 75 countries�.

Really? So the concept of export restrictions for which Emefiele received hard knocks has become the new ‘sexy’?

Continuing, the CBN Governor avers that “Vietnam the world’s third largest exporter of rice , suspended granting rice export certificates until the country ‘reviews domestic inventories�

Imagine that the CBN under Emefiele’s leadership did not have the foresight of advising president Muhammadu Buhari to ban rice importation into our country and encourage Nigerians to eat locally grown and milled rice of which the authorities now claim our country is self sufficient ? Nigerians would not only be scrambling around the world for

Covid-19 test kits and Personal Protection Equipment, PPEs, being horde by the hitherto high minded advanced economies that now prefer to satisfy their local markets first , our country would also be desperately searching for the favorite staple food- rice in countries like Vietnam and India to feed our people .

After successfully intervening with massive funds infusion into the agricultural sector , as reflected by the drastic reduction in rice import and its current intervention in cotton production as well as in other food value chain which are also looking good, the CBN might have convinced itself that it now has a proof-of-concept that money works when used to intervene in some critical sectors of the economy wisely.

Presumably, that’s what has emboldened Emefiele to offer to plough another N3.5 trillion into critical growth areas that would facilitate a more self reliant Nigerian economy.

But are all or most Nigerians aligned on this quest for food security / sufficiency, the CBN style ?

That’s yet to be seen.

And given the anger and hunger on the streets of Nigeria, stemming from the Covid -19 pandemic compelled shelter-at-home order that has left most Nigerians stranded, since quite a lot of us usually eke out our living based on the odd jobs that we can do to earn about N2,000 to N5,000 on a daily basis to feed ourselves , Emefiele needs to go beyond the bold declaration in his deeply thought through and inspiring proposition “Turning The Covid-19 Pandemic Tragedy Into An Opportunity For A New Nigeria�.

Besides the CBN, the other critical agencies of Govt responsible for mobilizing Nigerians into action and galvanizing their belief in the common good and survivability of our country seems to be missing in action .

In this period of high level of despondency, owing to the compulsory social distancing policy which seems to be the only proven panacea to Covid-19 in the industrialized and advanced society, how do we make more Nigerians share the CBN vision when they are practically starving and unhappy in light of the fact that majority of those who earn their living solely in unstructured system of daily income of a couple of thousands of naira are now without income ? Why are we in Nigeria adopting Western solution to the Covid-19 pandemic hook-line and -sinker ? Would what works in the industrialized economies , work for us in the developing world, given the different local dynamics at play?

In an April 2, 2020 report by the pair of Zachary Barnett-Howell and Ahmed Mushfiq Mobarak of Yale School of Management, USA , titled “Should Low-Income Countries lmpose The Same Social Distancing Guidelines As Europe & North America To Halt Spread of Covid-19 “?, it was revealed that the benefits of social distancing between rich and poor countries differ.

Below are some of the eye opening conclusions from the Executive Summary of the report: “Social distancing has become the primary policy prescription for combating the COVID-19 pandemic, and has been widely adopted in Europe and North America. We combine country-specific economic estimates of the benefits of disease avoidance with an epidemiological model that projects the spread of COVID-19 to analyze whether the benefits of social distancing and suppression varies across rich and poor countries. This modeling exercise yields the following key insights: 1. Populations in rich countries tend to skew older, and COVID-19 mortality effects are therefore predicted to be much larger there than in poor countries, even after accounting for differences in health system capacity.

2. Social distancing measures are predicted to save a large number

of lives in high-income countries, to the extent that practically any economic cost of distancing is worth bearing. The economic value generated by equally effective social distancing policies is estimated to be 240 times larger for the United States, or 70 times larger for Germany, compared to the value created in Pakistan or Nigeria. The value of benefits estimated for each country translates to a savings of 59% of US GDP, 85% of German GDP, but only 14% of Bangladesh’s GDP or 19% of India’s (read Nigeria ) 3. The much lower estimated benefits of social distancing and social suppression in low-income countries are driven by three critical factors: (a) Developing countries have smaller proportions of elderly people to save via social distancing compared to low-fertility rich nations.(Nigeria’s youth population is estimated to be in excess of 60%. (b) Social distancing saves lives in rich countries by flattening the curve of infections, to reduce pressure on health systems. Delaying infections is not as useful in countries where the limited number of hospital beds and ventilators are already overwhelmed and not accessible to most.(typical situation of Nigeria) (c) Social distancing lowers disease risk by limiting people’s economic opportunities. Poorer people are naturally less willing to make those economic sacrifices. They place relatively greater value on their livelihood concerns compared to concerns about contracting coronavirus.

Not only are the epidemiological and economic benefits of social distancing much smaller in poorer countries, (like Nigeria) such policies may also exact a heavy toll on the poorest and most vulnerable� (obviously the case in Nigeria now) Given the expert analysis above, is the 28 days lock down of Lagos state, Ogun state and the Federal Capital Territory, FCT , the economic power houses of Nigeria, the most optimal strategy for our country to deal with the coronavirus pandemic or a mere copy and paste by our lazy technocrats?

Did the members of the presidential advisory team make any input into the decision to lock down major economic centers and states in Nigeria for a whopping 28 days at a period that crude oil price is selling for less than $20 per barrel in the international market and when budget 2020 was predicated on $57 per barrel ?

In light of the decision to shut down our economy which obviously was not put through the crucible of very rigorous test as it should , are our civil/ public servants truly enthusiastic to help President Buhari lift our country out of economic doldrums; or would they be constituting a drag by creating bureaucratic bottle necks on the path of those who choose to respond to the CBN’s clarion call?

Why is the star studded presidential economic advisory team absent in this critical period, that l would imagine that such a formidable team is most needed? Questions! questions!! questions!!!

For the avoidance of doubt, l’m not by any means discountenancing the benefits of social distancing in combating a pandemic , but l’m making a case that our technocrats could have tweaked with the industrialized world’s template and come up with what’s most suitable for our peculiar circumstances, since the socioeconomic environment in Nigeria differs significantly with what obtains in Europe, North America or Asia.

Some would argue that such granular details would be the focus of the implementers of what for lack of a better phrase, l would like to refer to as Emefiele’s Post Covid-19 Marshal Plan For Nigeria.

So, l rest my case. t.BHOVT POZJCF B EFWFMPQNFOU TUSBUFHJTU BMVNOVT PG UIF nFUDIFS TDIPPM PG MBX BOE EJQMPNBDZ UVGUT 6OJWFSTJUZ .BTTBDIVTFUUT 64" BOE B GPSNFS DBCJOFU NFNCFS PG EFMUB TUBUF (PWU TFOU UIJT QJFDF GSPN MBHPT

Printed and Published in Lagos by THISDAY Newspapers Limited. Lagos: 35 Creek Road, Apapa, Lagos. Abuja: Plot 1, Sector Centre B, Jabi Business District, Solomon Lar Way, Jabi North East, Abuja .

All Correspondence to POBox 54749, Ikoyi, Lagos. EMAIL: editor@thisdaylive.com, info@thisdaylive.com. TELEPHONE Lagos: 0802 2924721-2, 08022924485. Abuja: Tel: 08155555292, 08155555929 24/7 ADVERTISING HOT LINES: 0811 181 3085 0811 181 3086, 0811 181 3087, 0811 181 3088, 0811 181 3089, 0811 181 3090. ENQUIRIES & BOOKING: adsbooking@thisdaylive.com