WEDNESDAY 27TH MAY 2020

Barkindo Cautions against Flouting OPEC Production Cuts Shell shuts Bonga oilfield for maintenance Ejiofor Alike in Lagos and Emmanuel Addeh in Abuja with agency reports Secretary-General of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC),

Mr. Mohammed Barkindo, has urged member countries not to flout last April’s deal to cut their crude oil production quotas, despite recent noticeable improvement in the international market.

However, to ensure that statutory activities that would guarantee continuous optimum operations at the Bonga export terminal are executed, Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company

(SNEPCo) has shut down the terminal used to evacuate crude oil from the 225,000 barrels per day capacity Bonga deepwater oilfield for routine maintenance.

Barkindo, who spoke with

Energy Intelligence, according to the international oil cartel yesterday, also advised OPEC+ members to remain committed to the pact, triggered by a number of factors, including the COVID-19 pandemic, not

to “take their foot off the gas,” now that things appear to be picking up.

Nigeria announced in April that it will join OPEC+ to cut Continued on page 9

Capital Importation Rises by 54% to $5.85bn in Q1... Page 5 Wednesday 27 May, 2020 Vol 25. No 9179. Price: N250

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NAFDAC Disagrees with WHO on Chloroquine Clinical Trials Says data shows drug effective in early stages of COVID-19 Tests end in September Jonathan asks Africa to look inward for solutions FG increases testing laboratories to 28 276 new infections raise tally to 8,344 with 2,385 persons discharged, 249 dead US company begins clinical trial of vaccine Martins Ifijeh Notwithstanding the decision of the World Health Organisation (WHO) to suspend clinical trials of Hydroxychloroquine and Chloroquine for the treatment of COVID-19, the National Agency for Food and Drug

Administration and Control (NAFDAC) will continue the experiment in Nigeria, the agency's Director-General, Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye, has said.

She said yesterday on a Lagos-based private broadcast Continued on page 9

INEC Rules out Electronic Voting until Constitution is Amended Chuks Okocha in Abuja

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) yesterday clarified that there cannot be any electronic voting in Nigeria until the 1999 Constitution as amended is further amended to authorise it.

The commission also said the COVID-19 pandemic had increased the cost of elections

in the country and conversely reduced sources of government revenue.

It, however, promised to find a balance between the increased cost of elections and reduced revenue to conduct the Edo and Ondo States governorship elections.

Reacting to reports that the commission will introduce Continued on page 9

RAGE OF FIRE...

Delta State Governor, Senator Ifeanyi Okowa, during his inspection of Ogbeogonogo Modern Market, Asaba, gutted by fire…yesterday

Presidency Dismisses Alleged Cancellation of Kyari's Memos by Buhari... Page 5

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

Capital Importation Rises by 54% to $5.85bn in Q1 James Emejo in Abuja The total value of capital importation into the country rose to $5.85 billion in the first quarter of the year (Q1 2020), representing an increase of $2.05 billion when compared to $3.80 billion in the preceding quarter, according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).

This represented an increase of 53.97 per cent compared to Q4 2019 and a contraction by 31.19 per cent when compared to the $8.50 billion recorded in Q1 2019.

According to the Nigerian Capital Importation - Q1 2020 report released yesterday, portfolio investment accounted for the largest share of capital importation with 73.61 per cent of $4.30 billion of total inflows, followed by other investment, which accounted for 22.73 per cent of $1.33 billion of the total share.

On the other hand, Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) represented 3.66 per cent of

$214.25 million of total capital imported in Q1.

The United Kingdom emerged as the top source of capital investment in Nigeria in Q1 with $2.90 billion, representing 49.68 per cent of the total capital inflow.

By sector, capital importation by the banking sector dominated Q1, reaching $2.99 billion of the total capital inflow.

Standard Chartered Bank Nigeria Limited emerged at the top of the capital investment in the country with $1.65 billion, representing 28.30 per cent of the total capital inflow in the period under review.

Also, Lagos State emerged as the top destination of capital investment in the country with $5.13 billion, which accounted for 87.72 per cent of the total capital imports.

According to figures by the NBS, only seven states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) accounted for the $5.85 billion capital importation in Q1.

The FCT recorded $706.81

Govs Meet Today over Financial Autonomy for States’ Judiciary, Legislature Chuks Okocha in Abuja Governors of the 36 states of the federation will today in their ninth teleconference discuss the Executive Order No. 10 of 2020 issued by President Muhammadu Buhari, compelling the implementation of financial autonomy for states’ judiciary and legislature as enshrined in Section 121 (3) of 1999 Constitution as amended.

The meeting, which is taking place at 2 p.m., will have in attendance, all the state governors.

According to the Head of the Nigeria Governors' Forum (NGF) Media and Information Unit, Mr. Abdulrazak Barkindo, the invitation which was issued by the Director-General of the NGF, Mr. Bayo Okauru, also disclosed that the meeting will discuss issues arising from the last NEC meeting.

He said among the issues to be reviewed are a number of critical national questions that revolve around the financial autonomy for the states’ judiciary and legislature code-named Executive Order 10, 2020.

Buhari had Friday last week signed the executive order to facilitate the implementation of financial autonomy for the legislature and the judiciary across the 36 states of the country.

The order mandates the Accountant-General of the Federation to deduct from source

amount due to state legislatures and judiciaries from the monthly allocation to each state for states that refuse to the provision of the constitution on the matter.

The governors will also discuss issues around the NLNG ownership.

A delegation of the NGF had told the president that it was wrong for the federal government to appropriate dividends from the NLNG Limited without remitting it to the Federation Account.

The governors had during a virtual meeting with the president, argued that the company was a national asset and proceeds from it like oil revenue, ought to be remitted to the Federation Account for distribution to the three tiers of government.

According to NGF’s Head of Media, the controversial Infectious Diseases Control Bill, the restructuring of states’ loans and the FAAC deductions, which have been a recurring decimal on the governors’ table, would be discussed at today's meeting.

As usual, he said that the governors will be given an update on the COVID-19 pandemic in the country and also review a letter from the National Coordinator of the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19 as it relates to the COVID-19 draft regulations.

He further stated that there would also be a general update on the efforts of the Coalition Against COVID-19, CACOVID.

Presidency Dismisses Alleged Cancellation of Kyari’s Memos by Buhari The presidency last night dismissed as fake news media reports that claimed President Muhammadu Buhari had cancelled some memos and appointments signed by the late Chief of Staff to the President, Malam Abba Kyari.

A statement by the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Mr. Garba Shehu, said there was no truth in the report, explaining that the president had never outsourced his powers.

Titled, ‘Presidential Directive on 150 Memos is Fake,’ the statement said: “The attention

of the Presidency has been drawn to media reports alleging that President Muhammadu Buhari has cancelled a number of memos and appointments signed off by his former Chief of Staff. Not surprisingly, these reports have quoted unnamed sources. “There is not a grain of truth in these reports and Nigerians should please ignore the insinuations behind them. “President Buhari was duly reelected by Nigerians in February 2019. He has not and will never cede to anyone else, that power and trust given to him by the Nigerian people.�

million; Kaduna $1.98 million; Lagos $5.13 billion; Niger $4.96 million; Ogun $1.70 million; Sokoto $2.50 million; Kano $700,000 and Akwa Ibom $240,000.

However, quarter-on-quarter, FDI grew by 16.71 per cent and 13.39 per cent year-on-year.

Portfolio investment also grew by 128.79 per cent compared to the preceding quarter and 39.36

per cent year on year.

Investment in bonds recorded 388.23 per cent growth quarterly, but grew by 59.23 per cent when compared to Q1 2019.

Also, investment in money market instruments increased by 131.93 per cent compared to 41.55 per cent year on year.

In 2018, the total value of capital importation into Nigeria stood at $16.81 billion compared

to $12.22 billion capital imported in 2017.

NBS had said the figures represented 37.49 per cent growth year-on-year.

However, the bureau said Nigeria recorded a decline in the total value of capital importation into the country in the fourth quarter, 2018 which stood at $ 2.14 billion.

According to the report, the

total capital value represents a decrease of 25.05 per cent compared to the third quarter, 2018 and 60.24 per cent decrease compared to the fourth quarter of 2017.

Capital importation can be divided into three main investment types: Foreign Direct Investments (FDIs), Portfolio Investments and Other Investments.

PAYING HOMAGE...

L-R: Okigwe zone apex leader, Chief Tony Chukwu; Speaker, Imo State House of Assembly, Hon. Chiji Collins; Imo State Governor, Hope Uzodimma, and HRH Eze Oliver Ohanwe, after a courtesy visit to the governor in Government House, Owerri... yesterday

Military Deploys More Troops, Equipment to Rout Bandits in North-west Onuminya Innocent in Sokoto The military has deployed more troops and equipment in the special operation approved by President Muhammadu Buhari to flush out bandits and kidnappers in the North-west, THISDAY has learnt.

THISDAY gathered that before the take-off of the special operation, the Nigerian Army’s Operation Hadarin Daji in the North-west region was battling to tackle the incessant attacks by the bandits.

The operation, in conjunction with air support from the Nigerian Air Force (NAF), was said to have initially paralysed the activities of the bandits terrorising some parts of Katsina, Zamfara and Sokoto States.

However, as the amnesty programme initiated by some states in the zone failed, the attacks continued unabated, fuelling public outcry for the military to change tactics.

Following Buhari’s order to the military to set up a special

operation in Katsina State, the Senate had urged the president to extend it to other north-west states.

In line with the Senate’s request, the president approved the special military operations to cover Kaduna, Katsina, Zamfara, Sokoto and some parts of Kebbi States.

Speaking to THISDAY on the special operation, the Public Relations Officer (PRO) of 1 Brigade of the Nigerian Army in Gusau, Zamfara State, Capt.

Yahaya Ibrahim, stated that what made it different from the old military operation in the zone was that more troops and equipment were deployed.

Ibrahim said while more equipment was given to the troops, more military personnel were also deployed to strengthen those on the ground.

He said already, the bandits had been weakened by land troops in conjunction with air operation by the Nigerian Air Force. “From the mode of their operations now, you can attest

that their operation has been restricted to only the border towns where they usually hit and run,� he said.

He added that banditry has been restricted to Zurmi and Shinkafi Local Government Areas of Zamfara State, which share borders with Niger Republic.

He appealed to the residents of the affected areas to provide the military with useful information to help them wipe out the bandits.

Another military officer, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the old military operation in the North-west lacked weapons and equipment to combat the bandits as the attention of the federal government was concentrated on fighting the insurgency in the North-east.

He described the special military operation in the region as a welcome development, stressing that “with more troops and weapons deployed in the region, the bandits would be defeated sooner or later.�

He berated Senator Abdullahi Gobir, representing Sokoto East

Senatorial District, for claiming that the region is living at the mercy of Nigerien Army. “The comments of the revered senator were uncharitable. We, the Nigerian Army, have done our best; some of our colleagues have paid the supreme price by laying down their lives in this fight. “If not for the efforts of the Nigerian Army, the 2019 election that returned the senator would not have been possible,� he said.

Gobir, at the plenary last week, had said Sokoto State relied on Nigerien Army for protection against bandits.

According to him, no fewer than 5,000 people in the affected areas have migrated to Niger Republic for safety.

Gobir said the Sokoto attacks had been worse than in any other parts of the country, adding that within the last three months, “no fewer than 300 people in Sokoto East Senatorial District have either been killed or kidnapped by the rampaging bandits on a daily basis.�

PDP Asks Buhari to Dissolve FEC over Internal Wrangling Chuks Okocha in Abuja The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has called on President Muhammadu Buhari to dissolve the Federal Executive Council (FEC), saying it has “become cancerous, disorganised, chaotic, and incapable of driving an organised, result-oriented system.�

PDP said its position was based on the hostilities among officials in the presidency, including presidential aides, ministers, and heads of agencies.

It said the infightings had exposed a breakdown of the administration's central command system.

The National Publicity Secretary of the party, Mr. Kola Ologbondiyan, in a statement,

said: "Our party asserts that this situation is a mark of failure by the Buhari presidency and the All Progressives Congress (APC) to provide organised leadership for our nation."

The PDP accused the presidency officials of being “constantly at daggers drawn among themselves in unending clashes, backbiting, betrayals, leakage of sensitive documents and internal bickering over pecuniary and political interests, in manners not different from street skirmishes of common cult groups,� adding that “such is unacceptable to the nation.�

PDP explained that it was shocking that the acrimony had sunk to a situation where the Minister of Communication

and Digital Economy, Dr. Isa Pantami, reportedly evicted staff of the Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NIDCOM) from their allocated office with guns while the Chairman of the commission, Hon. Abike Dabiri, was on an official assignment with Buhari.

PDP also cited the alleged rift between the Chief of Staff to the President, Prof. Ibrahim Gambari, and the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Mr. Boss Mustapha, who were said to be at each other’s throat, over the sacking of the former Managing Director of the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN), Mr. Usman Mohammed, as another evidence of the dysfunction in the Buhari

administration.

"Nigerians can recall the bitter wrangling, wherein the National Security Adviser (NSA), Maj. Gen Babagana Monguno (rtd), earlier this year, alerted that presidential responsibilities, including presiding over sensitive security matters, have been hijacked by the late Chief of Staff, Mallam Abba Kyari, thereby frustrating the fight against insurgency and acts of violence ravaging our country," the party stated.

PDP said the power sector was still under the stress of the squabble between the SGF and the Minister of Power, Mr. Sale Mamman, after the SGF reinstated some officials who were sacked by the minister in December last year.

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N’Assembly, NDDC’s Fight Worsens as Commission Raises Fresh Allegation We won’t be intimidated, say legislators Ernest Chinwo in Port Harcourt, Adedayo Akinwale and Udora Orizu in Abuja The feud between the National Assembly and the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) deepened yesterday as the Interim Management Committee (IMC) accused some lawmakers of mounting pressure on it to pay for 132 jobs worth N6.4 billion without proof of execution.

The Executive Director, Projects (EDP) at NDDC, Dr. Cairo Ojougboh, had on Monday while featuring on The Morning Show on ARISE News Channel, the broadcast arm of THISDAY Newspapers, accused the National Assembly of inflating its 2019 budget by injecting new projects to the tune of N85 billion, while removing all the regional projects initiated by President Muhammadu Buhari.

But in a reaction, the Senate said the commission was exhibiting ignorance about the constitutional power of the National Assembly to perform oversight functions over all entities that expend national funds, particularly to prevent or detect corruption.

However, in a new twist, the acting Managing Director of NDDC, Prof. Kemebradikumo Pondei, told journalists in Port Harcourt, Rivers State capital, yesterday that some of the lawmakers were mounting pressure on the commission to pay for unexecuted projects, amounting to N6.4 billion.

He also accused some members of the National Assembly of mounting pressure on the commission not to send certain files to forensic auditors.

According to him, the probe being initiated by the lawmakers is an attempt by some members to arm-twist the IMC to do their bidding.

He described allegations of reckless spending against the

IMC as deliberate, unfounded and spurious accusations aimed at derailing the commission from carrying out the forensic audit.

He stated that the integrity of the forensic audit would be compromised if the commission succumbs to the pressure from the National Assembly.

Pondei said: "The National Assembly has right to probe NDDC. In normal times, we would welcome that probe and wish it had come earlier.

The issue now is that the IMC is focused on delivering on the president's forensic audit

by December when its tenure ends.

"We suspect that the probe being trumpeted by the National Assembly is not for an altruistic reason but an attempt by some members to arm-twist the IMC. "We have faced so much pressure from some members of the National Assembly not to send certain files to the forensic auditors. We fear this will compromise the integrity of the exercise and have refused to do their bid.

"We have also faced pressure from some members of the National Assembly to pay for 132 jobs, which have no proof of execution. We have refused to pay out N6.4 billion for those jobs. We believe that an IMC set up as a cleansing structure cannot become part of the old story of rot."

The NDDC boss, who accused the Senate and the House of Representatives Committees on NDDC of putting the National Assembly in bad light, said 50 per cent of the commission's inability to deliver its mandate was as a result of interference by the National Assembly.

Pondei said: "Since this IMC came to make NDDC better and has a limited mandate till December, we can as well summon the courage our

predecessors did not summon to tell Nigerians the truth; 50 per cent of NDDC's inability to deliver its mandate is as a result of the stranglehold of the National Assembly on the commission.

"I don't want to go into what has gone on between the commission and two committees of the National Assembly.

Those two committees have put the National Assembly in a bad light. They know that majority of the people in the Senate and House of Representatives have no knowledge of what these two committees were doing to them.

"All the faults lay in those two committees which operate as one-man committees because even members of the committees are not aware of all these efforts that are being done to rape the destiny of the Niger Delta people, to set the Niger Delta people

backward."

N'Assembly Won't Be Intimidated, Blackmailed, Says House However, the Chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on the NDDC, Hon. Olubunmi Tunji- Ojo, has denied the allegation that National Assembly members got a contract to the tune of N3 trillion from the commission, describing the allegation as blackmail.

Addressing journalists in Abuja yesterday, Tunji-Ojo said he was shocked when Ojougboh went on air to say that the two chambers sat on the commission's budget, when the commission had not fulfilled its own part by presenting the performance report.

The lawmaker stated

that the House was still investigating the commission, adding that as chairman of the committee, he should not have come out to speak or say anything.

He added that he had to come out to speak because the integrity of his committee was under attack.

Tunji-Ojo stated: "We are not here to throw tantrums. People can always throw stones at you, but what is important is to remain focused. As an institution of the National Assembly, we are focused on doing what is just and what is right. We want to put this on record that we will not be intimidated and no blackmail will stop us from doing the job to the delight of all Nigerians."

On the N3 trillion contracts allegedly awarded to the two committees of the National Assembly, Tunji-Ojo said: "It's unfortunate that these

allegations are coming.

These allegations are forms of blackmail and it is surprising.

I became chairman of this committee in September last year when we were inaugurated; and between September and now, I can say that not a kobo of contract has been awarded as an emergency, and so I don’t know how that assertion came about. “It is laughable because the Interim Management Committee (IMC) themselves came into place in September last year, a month after I became chairman of the House committee.

"I can say it categorically that we are more determined to work for the people of the Niger Delta. I can say there is no one trillion, two trillion anywhere because it does not exist. Maybe, it only exists in the figment of their own imagination."

LAND FOR BUSINESS...

A representative of BUA Group's LaďŹ agi Sugar Plantations, Mr. Labaran Sadu (left), and Kwara State Governor, Alhaji AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq, during the presentation of CertiďŹ cate of Occupancy to the company in Ilorin‌yesterday

Analysts Predict Passengers’ Surge for Airlines Chinedu Eze Analysts have projected that there will be passengers' surge after flight resumption as entrepreneurs, top government officials and strategic decisionmakers whose activities were disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic move to recover lost grounds in their businesses and work-related activities.

THISDAY gathered that with insecure rail and road transport, business and economic leaders will rely on air transport to revamp businesses that suffered during the lockdown.

Within the nine weeks the airlines stopped domestic flights, their projected loss has been estimated to be about N4.7 billion revenue to be earned from ferrying about 2,250,000 passengers and other ancillary services.

International Air Transport

Association (IATA) has said the lockdown would endanger 91,380 jobs and $650 million in contributions to the Nigerian economy.

The Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) has hinted that when the ban on air travel is lifted, domestic flights would be allowed first while the government reviews international air travel, which would also be lifted over time.

The CEO of Aero Contractors, Captain Ado Sanusi, told THISDAY that passengers would turn up massively at the airports, adding that NCAA and airlines would sensitise the public and assure them that air travel is safe. “We will go on a road show to sensitise the people. The measures NCAA and the airlines have taken will ensure that everyone is protected both at the airports and while

onboard flight. We want to make everybody know that it is safer to be in the aircraft than to be in a supermarket or in the bank. This is because the air inside the aircraft is regulated and filtered. The aircraft will be decontaminated every day and the air inside the aircraft is not stagnant; it is continuously filtered at all times. The engines continuously pump fresh air into the aircraft. So, there is a high degree of filtration of the cabin. “Also, anybody that manifests the symptom of coronavirus will not be allowed to board flights. That is why airlines will carefully check the temperature of passengers, use sanitisers and as flights resume, airlines would notify passengers that they would not be allowed to travel if they manifest symptoms of COVID-19,� Sanusi said.

He said IATA and the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) were striving to protect air travellers while countries and airlines will domesticate those regulations, directives and standards to ensure that people travel by air before the vaccine is approved and made available.

A senior official of NCAA told THISDAY that two weeks before resumption of flights, the regulatory authority would embark on a sensitisation campaign to draw travellers back to the airports.

Before then, he said NCAA would ensure that flights are safe and passengers are protected from being infected while travelling by air, adding that the agency is concentrating on ensuring that airlines abide by its regulations as they prepare to take back to the skies.

“Passengers will love to hear what is being done to protect them. They would rather hear from the regulator than from the airlines. We are coming up with PR campaign to woo passengers back to air travel.

We are looking at domestic air travel first and we will start with few airports like Lagos, Abuja, Kano and Port Harcourt before we add more airports.“Right now we are monitoring the airlines. We are looking at how they maintain their aircraft to make sure it conforms with our directives and how they stored the aircraft during the period of lockdown. So, we will issue them certifications for their aircraft and personnel before they fly,� the official said.

However, industry consultant and CEO of Belujane Konsult, Mr. Chris Aligbe, said there were many things to be done for flights to

resume properly, adding that every stakeholder, including the aviation agencies, must show commitment to ensure that travellers go back to the airports. “NCAA should make sure that all the protocols are laid out under its supervision.

NCAA has the responsibility to convince the passengers that flying is safe. Passengers need to be convinced and encouraged. Airlines can advertise but NCAA has the responsibility to the passengers’ health and safety; so they will have to assure them. I am sure that the NCAA is on top of it,� Aligbe added.

He suggested that all airlines should not start at the same time because if they do, it would take a longer time for them to have good load factor, noting that if the resumption are staggered, it would be better for the operators.

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PAGE NINE NAFDAC DISAGREES WITH WHO ON CHLOROQUINE CLINICAL TRIALS station, TVC, programme, that there were proven records that Hydroxychloroquine had been effective in the treatment of COVID-19 patients, especially those at the “mild stage� of the virus.

The virus infected 276 more Nigerians yesterday, bringing the total infections to 8,344 with 2,385 persons discharged and 249 deaths spread across 34 states and the Federal Capital Territory.

The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) reported last night that the new cases were reported from 15 states, including Lagos 161, Rivers 36, Edo 27, Kaduna 19, Nasarawa 10, Oyo six, Kano four, Delta three, and Ebonyi, three.

Gombe, Ogun, Ondo, Borno, Abia and Bauchi had one each.

However, as the pandemic continues to ravage the world, former President Goodluck Jonathan has asked African countries to look inward for remedies.

WHO on Monday announced the temporary suspension of the clinical trials of Hydroxychloroquine as a potential drug for the treatment of COVID-19.

It said the decision followed a study that using the drug on patients could increase their chance of dying. “The Executive Group has implemented a temporary pause of the Hydroxychloroquine arm within the Solidarity Trial while the safety data is reviewed by the Data Safety Monitoring

Board,� Director-General of WHO, Dr. Tedros Ghebreyesus, had said.

He stressed that Hydroxychloroquine and Chloroquine “are accepted as generally safe for use in patients with autoimmune diseases or malaria,� noting that the suspension was a temporary measure.

But Adeyeye disagreed with the WHO's position, saying: “There is data to prove that Hydroxychloroquine worked for many COVID-19 patients.

Therefore, we would continue our own clinical trials in Nigeria. Hydroxychloroquine has been proved to work at a mild stage.

"So the potency depends on the severity of the disease in the patient’s body.�

According to her, Lagos State has already begun Hydroxychloroquine clinical trials and depending on the speed of work, the clinical trials should be concluded within four months. “If medical doctors, research scientists, pharmacists, herbal experts work together, we should conclude the clinical trial in three to four months. The narrative might change afterwards but for now, we believe in Hydroxychloroquine,� she stated.

Jonathan Urges Africa to Look Inward for Remedies Former President Goodluck

Jonathan has urged African countries to look inward for home-grown solutions.

Jonathan also stressed the need for the boosting of economic activities and co-operation in Africa, noting that increasing trade within the continent would significantly improve the economies of African nations.

He spoke during a teleconference organised by the Universal Peace Federation (UPF) to mark Africa Day 2020.

The conference, which is part of UPF’s peace talks webinar series, focused on the theme: “creating an interdependent and prosperous Africa in a world in conflict at the time of the COVID-19 crisis� had panellists drawn across different countries, especially from Africa.

Jonathan spoke alongside former Vice President of Zambia, Dr. Nevers Mumba; President of the National Assembly of Republic of Sa Tome and Principe, Mr. Delfim Santiago das Neves; former Minister of Family, School Affairs and Microfinance, Benin, Ms Marie -Laurence Sranon and Chairman of UPP International, Dr. Thomas Walsh.

Jonathan urged Africa to seize this challenge to look inward, adding that such efforts would produce homegrown solutions. “Those who are managing the crisis must look at the circumstances of their nations.

The issue of lockdown, for

example, should be enforced in consideration of the peculiar circumstances of African nations,� he said.

FG Increases Testing Laboratories to 28 The federal government has added two new molecular laboratory centres to the country’s testing facilities, thus increasing the number from 26 to 28.

The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) tweeted yesterday that the laboratories include the Afriglobal Medicare Laboratory in Ogun State and the Sahel Centre for Molecular Diagnostics and Research in Katsina State.

It said: "This brings the total number of molecular laboratory network with COVID-19 testing capacity in Nigeria to 28."

US Company Begins Clinical Trial of Vaccine An American biotechnology company, Novavax, has commenced human trials of COVID-19 vaccine in Australia.

The firm said yesterday that it was hopeful that the vaccine could be available to the public by the end of the year.

The Research Chief, Dr. Gregory Glenn, said during a virtual press conference in Melbourne from Novavax’ Headquarters in Maryland,

INEC RULES OUT ELECTRONIC VOTING UNTIL CONSTITUTION IS AMENDED electronic voting with the Anambra State governorship election in 2021, the Chief Press Secretary to the INEC chairman, Mr. Rotimi Oyekanmi, said in a statement that INEC had no such plans. “What the policy says under “ICT and Voter Registration� (Roman figure v - page 12) is that INEC will pilot the use of electronic voting at the earliest possible time (not Edo and Ondo), but work towards the full

introduction of electronic voting in major elections starting from 2021.

"The key words here are pilot, work and towards,� he stated.

He said these connoted a different meaning from the headlines in some media reports yesterday.

A section of the media while reporting the release of guidelines for the Edo and Ondo States' governorship elections later this year, had

said INEC would test run electronic voting for election in 2021.

"As we all know, INEC cannot unilaterally introduce electronic voting because our constitution does not allow/recognise it. That’s why we said we will work towards the full introduction of e-voting," he added.

The commission said it was unfortunate that some newspapers gave a different interpretation to the particular

aspect of the guidelines.

Also, INEC National Commissioner in charge of Voter Education and Public Information, Mr. Festus Okoye, told THISDAY that the COVID-19 pandemic had increased the cost of elections and reduced government revenues.

He said: "No doubt, this pandemic has increased the cost of conducting elections.

There are additional costs in terms of responsibilities.

the United States that the firm had commenced the first phase of the trial in which 131 volunteers would be tested.

He added that the volunteers will be from Melbourne and Brisbane and the test would look for early signs of the vaccine’s effectiveness.

He said: “We are in parallel making doses, making vaccine in anticipation that we’ll be able to show it is working and be able to start deploying it by the end of this year."

Many experimental vaccines are in early stages of testing or will begin testing across China, US, Europe. Vaccines are being created with different technologies and work in different ways, which give a possibility of at least one to succeed.

"Most of the 'tested' vaccines aim to train the immunity system so that it recognises the spike in the protein that studs the coronavirus' outer surface, instructing the body to react if it ever encountered the real infection.

While other companies are making vaccines that are made using just the genetic code for that protein, and others use a harmless virus to deliver the protein-producing information.

"Still, other vaccine candidates are more oldfashioned, made with the killed whole virus," he said.

According to him, Novavax has made another addition to the list of 'types of vaccines' as it has introduced the 'recombinant vaccine.'

"In these vaccines, Novavax has used genetic engineering to grow harmless copies of the coronavirus spike protein in giant vats of insect cells in a laboratory. Scientists extracted and purified the protein, and packaged it into virus-sized nanoparticles," he said.

Wuhan Conducts over 6.5m Tests in 10 days The Chinese city of Wuhan, where the virus broke out in December 2019, has conducted 6.5 million COVID-19 tests in 10 days.

Wuhan reportedly embarked on a citywide nucleic acid testing drive, which came after six new cases emerged in a residential community earlier in the month.

The nucleic acid tests are said to function by detecting the virus genetic code, which then detects the infection, particularly in its early stages.

Health officials reportedly went into construction sites, markets and local communities to obtain swab test samples from more than nine million residents from May 15 to 24.

During the period, booths were set-up across the city’s neighborhood with residents lining up for their samples to be taken.

On Friday alone, Wuhan reportedly conducted 1.47 million tests.

According to Worldometer, China has confirmed 83,000 cases of COVID-19 with over 78,000 recoveries and 4,000 deaths.

During elections, a coaster bus carries up to 40 electoral personnel, but now it has to reduce to seven and this is an additional financial burden.

We have to provide protective equipment to election staff and hand sanitisers as well as facial masks. All these mean extra funding.

"But much as we recognise that there is extra funding, we are going to use electronics services; this will reduce some costs.

National

commissioners go for electoral duties by air; this time around, they may use electronic devices to do some of the works.

"Doing the works electronically could reduce the high cost of the elections.

Like in the proposed meetings with stakeholders, the commission could conduct some of the scheduled activities electronically and this would reduce the expected cost of the election."

after a source at the port earlier told Reuters that the FPSO would be closed for two weeks.

Nigerian companies and subsea professionals are expected to play key roles in the maintenance, which involves inspections, recertification, testing and repair of equipment as well as engineering upgrades.

The major focus of the maintenance is the Bonga FPSO vessel, which is at the heart of Bonga operations.

The production facilities of Bonga consist of one of the world’s largest FPSO vessels and deepwater subsea infrastructure.

Its initial 16 subsea oilproducing and water injection wells were connected to the two-million barrel storage capacity FPSO by production flowlines, risers and control umbilicals.

The maintenance exercise will also take off a significant chunk from Nigeria crude oil exports, as SNEPCo exports significant volume of crude from the 225,000 barrels per day field, which it operates under Production Sharing Contract (PSC) for the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).

However, Bonga was scheduled to load four cargoes in June, or 127,000 barrels per

day (bpd), up slightly from the 123,000 bpd loaded in May. The implication is that Nigeria will have to defer producing up to 127,000 barrels of oil per day for as long as the field remained closed for the repair works.

This slash in oil exports, coupled with the output cuts imposed on the country by OPEC will impact heavily on Nigeria’s oil revenues.

Located in Oil Prospecting Licence (OPL) 212, the 60-square-kilometre oilfield situated in water depths of over 1,000 metres, is Nigeria’s first deepwater development project.

It is also located 120 kilometres offshore Nigeria.

SNEPCo had used cutting edge technology to make the world-class oil and gas find the offshore Bonga, which commenced production in 2005.

The use of Inconel clad Steel Catenary Risers in Bonga was the first time such facility was used on any FPSO anywhere in the world.

SNEPCo operates Bonga in partnership with Esso Exploration and Production Nigeria (Deep Water) Limited, Total E&P Nigeria Limited, and Nigerian Agip Exploration Limited under a PSC with the NNPC.

BARKINDO CAUTIONS AGAINST FLOUTING OPEC PRODUCTION CUTS global supply by 9.7 million barrels per day between May and June 2020, 8 million bpd between July and December 2020 and 6 million barrels daily from January 2021 to April 2022, respectively. “Based on reference production of Nigeria of October 2018 of 1.829 million barrels per day of dry crude oil, Nigeria will now be producing 1.412 million barrels per day, 1.495 million barrels per day and 1.579 million barrels per day respectively for the corresponding periods in the agreement. “This is in addition to condensate production of between 360,000 and 460,000 bpd of which are exempt from OPEC curtailment,� Minister of Petroleum, Mr. Timipre Sylva, had said.

But Barkindo expressed optimism that with China gradually opening up its economy and countries easing lockdown and implementing stimulus packages, it was only a matter of time before the oil market rebounds.

He said: "There are tentative signs of recovery; we do believe that the worst is behind us.

"Nevertheless, we also realise that we cannot lose our laser focus on helping bring supply and demand back into balance and providing a more stable

market in the coming months. “This is not the time to stand back and admire what has been achieved over the past weeks.

We will not take our foot off the gas."

According to the secretarygeneral, the OPEC Secretariat was closely monitoring the gradual pickup in demand.

"Indeed, some of the demand contraction in 2020 may also be mitigated sooner, if the extraordinary government stimulus packages around the world accelerate a faster economic rebound," he added.

However, he expressed confidence that OPEC nations and their non-OPEC allies will comply with the agreement, which at the time called for combined production cuts, culminating in lower volumes before April 2022.

Barkindo noted that members of the group were talking “on an almost daily basis� as they implement and monitor the cuts.

"There is also widespread recognition that there is no short-term fix. The OPEC+ agreement's scale and scope underscore the fact that this is also a platform for recovery and future growth," he said.

With a decent recovery in the last couple of days, there are early signs that members of the alliance are reducing

their output and getting close to their targeted levels, including some countries that have failed to comply with past agreements.

In addition, Saudi Arabia recently announced an additional voluntary cut of 1 million b/d for June, with the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait and Oman also agreeing to chip in with additional voluntary reductions in crude oil production.

Barkindo who applauded the move said it "underscores the leading role that these countries are playing in helping expedite the rebalancing process."

He, however, declined to comment on what might happen at the next meeting of senior OPEC+ officials, which is scheduled for June 10 to review new developments in the market.

As the agreement currently stands, the alliance's combined production cuts are set to fall to 7.8 million b/d in the second half of this year, although there are indications that the current cut volumes may prevail till the year end.

Barkindo added that if the current industry slump leads to an extended period, it could potentially have harmful effects on oil supply and prices and reduce upstream investment.

"Investments are the

lifeblood of the oil industry.

A lack of investments today and in the near future could have major implications for both producers and consumers in the medium and longer term," he said.

Shell Shuts Bonga OilďŹ eld for Maintenance The Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company (SNEPCo) has shut down the terminal used to evacuate crude oil from the 225,000 barrels per day capacity Bonga deepwater oilfield for routine maintenance.

The oil giant told Reuters yesterday that the export terminal has begun routine maintenance, adding that it aimed to have the work done in “record time.�

SNEPCo said in an email that maintenance on the Bonga Floating Production Storage and Offloading unit (FPSO) began on May 21. “The scope includes statutory recertification and critical asset integrity activities and will run until July during which there will be a few days of total shutdown,� SNEPCo said.

SNEPCo said it was working to complete the maintenance “safely and in record time�

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WEDNESDAY MAY 27, 2020 ˾ T H I S D AY

NEWS

N’Assembly Cuts Sallah Break to Consider Budget Amendment Bill Deji Elumoye and Udora Orizu in Abuja The two chambers of the National Assembly has brought forward their resumption from the Eid-el-Fitr to attend to the Appropriation (Amendment) Bill, 2020 transmitted to the National Assembly last week by the executive.

Instead of resuming from the recess on June 2 as earlier

scheduled, the National Assembly will now resume tomorrow.

Both the Senate and the House of Representatives members on May 19, had proceeded on a twoweek Sallah break to reconvene on Tuesday.

But a letter dated May 26, signed by the Clerk of the National Assembly, Alhaji Mohammed Sani-Omolori, and addressed to all senators and House members stated that the lawmakers would

resume plenary tomorrow to consider the Appropriation (Amendment) Bill, 2020.

The one-page letter read in part, ‘’This is to inform all distinguished senators and honourable members that resumption of plenary session earlier scheduled for Tuesday, June 2, 2020, has been rescheduled to Thursday, May 28, 2020, to

enable members to consider the Appropriation (Amendment) Bill, 2020. ‘’All distinguished senators and honourable members are expected to resume in plenary by 10.00 am on Thursday, May 28, 2020, please.’’

But some senators and House members told THISDAY yesterday

that they have not been given copies of the revised 2020 budget document.

A senator told THISDAY on condition of anonymity that “as I speak with you, no copy of the new Appropriation Bill has been given to any known senator because I spoke earlier with some of my colleagues across party lines

who told me they have not seen the new budget details.”

He, however, expressed hope that the budget details will get to the offices of the lawmakers by today “for us to study ahead of the resumption of plenary on Thursday if not there won’t be any need to reconvene without the budget details with members.”

Again, Lagos Extends Deadline for Filing of Annual Returns to June 30 As part of its efforts to provide relief to tax payers, the Lagos State Government, through the state Internal Revenue Service (LIRS) has further extended the deadline for filing of Annual Tax Returns to June 30, 2020.

By this extension, annual returns for individuals - both employees and self-employed persons that were initially due on May 31, 2020 can now be filed on or before June 30, 2020.

According to a statement issued yesterday by the LIRS, the Executive Chairman of the agency, Mr. Ayodele Subair, stated that “as the Lagos State Government keeps abreast of global best practices in containing

the COVID-19 pandemic and eases the effects of an economic downturn on taxpayers and residents of the State, LIRS had initially extended the deadline for filing annual tax returns for two months, from the statutory March 31 of every fiscal year to May 31, 2020.

“We constantly debated what other measures could be taken as an organisation to support individuals and businesses at this time, hence, the additional one-month extension from June 1, to June 30, 2020.

“It is our sincere hope that taxpayers take advantage of this new extension to duly file their returns,” he explained.

You Are Not Welcomed in PDP, Fayose Tells Oni Chuks Okocha in Abuja The former Governor of Ekiti State, Mr. Ayo Fayose, has stated that former Governor of the state, Mr. Segun Oni, is not welcome to the Ekiti State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), “because he is a paperweight.”

Fayose stated this yesterday while reacting to a declaration letter dated May 24, 2020, which was addressed to the PDP Caretaker Committee by Oni, who is a former deputy national chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), indicating his interest to return to the PDP. Oni’s decision to return to the

PDP seems to have reawakened the longtime rift between the two former governors, Fayose and Oni respectively, as Fayose flagrantly discarded the Oni’s intentions owing to “his political irrelevance.”

Describing Oni and his group as paperweights, Fayose, who forwarded the Oni’s letter to the official PDP WhatsApp platform, said Oni and his group are not welcomed in PDP. Fayose said: “Majority of these Oni’s fellow returnees is nothing but known or no ‘weight’, whose names are simply to fill the gaps in desperation for recognition. They are not welcome.”

WE IDENTIFY WITH YOU...

L-R: Auxilliary Bishop of Owerri Archdiocese, Most Rev. Dr. Moses Chikwe; Bishop of Okigwe Diocese, Most Rev. Dr. Solomon Amatu; Archbishop of Owerri Archdiocese, His Grace, Most Rev. Dr. Anthony Obinna; Governor of Imo State, Senator Hope Uzodimma; Bishop of Umuahia and Ahiara Dioceses, Most Rev. Dr. Lucius Ugorji; Bishop of Orlu Diocese, Most Rev. Dr. Augustine Ukwuoma; and Emeritus Bishop of Orlu Diocese, Most Rev. Dr. Gregory Ochiagha, during the Catholic Bishops’ solidarity visit to Uzodimma at the Government House, Owerri...Monday

Air Passengers Should Expect Flight Delays, Higher Fares, Says FAAN The Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) has said it has put arrangements in place on passenger facilitation ahead of resumption of flights.

Speaking at an aviation webinar organised by Women in Aviation (WIA) Nigeria with the theme: “Aviation: The New Norm in the post COVID,” the General Manager Corporate Affairs of FAAN Mrs. Henrietta Yakubu said passengers should expect

delays and long hours of checks and re-checks right from when they arrive the airport and depart.

She said escorts of VIPs would no longer be allowed to follow their principals into the terminal, adding that such principals would be subjected to all health checks.

To this end, she said passengers are expected to leave their home early hours before their flights to go through the various checks before entering the terminal and

after.

“We are going to expect flight delays; flights will experience delays from checks and re-checks.

If you are travelling, I will expect a potential traveler to leave home hours before his flight. Why do I say this? ”Because there is going to be a lot of checks in the front of the terminal we have been told that some may activities and procedures will take place

Gbajabiamila Celebrates Nigerian Children Udora Orizu in Abuja The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila, has advocated for concerted efforts towards the betterment of lives of the Nigerian children as he felicitated with them across the country.

Gbajabiamila, in a goodwill message signed his Special Adviser

on Media and Publicity, Lanre Lasisi, to commemorate the 2020 Children’s Day, said the children must be given all the necessary care and attention, especially quality education that they require to attain their goals in life.

The Speaker said the children have a lot of potential that must be carefully harnessed through good education and training.

He noted that he would always champion the cause of the Nigerian children both in the parliament and outside.

He said all policies, including legislative framework, must be put in place to give qualitative education to Nigerian children in order to reduce the number of out-of-school children.

According to him, “In

support of the age-long maxim that children are the leaders of tomorrow, concerted efforts must be done by all well-meaning Nigerians to achieve a better tomorrow for Nigerian children.

The country cannot set aside May 27 every year to celebrate its children without taking decisive action to better their lives.

The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has called on the federal government to declare a state of emergency in the education sector and raise funds to tackle the rot, just as it did to contain the COVID-19 outbreak in the country.

The National President of

ASUU, Prof. Biodun Ogunyemi, said the effect of poor funding of education became glaring when COVID-19 broke out in the country, adding that most of the nation’s teaching hospitals did not have ventilators to help keep patients alive.

Ogunyemi noted that China,

where the disease broke out, was able to quickly tackle the scourge by resorting to public tertiary teaching hospitals because they were well funded by the state.

“Look at how much money has been raised to fight COVID-19 pandemic. This is

because it is seen as a health emergency. We can do same for the education sector. The poor funding of the sector has deep damaging effects on our national life. A poorly trained medical student would end up being a great danger to the health of the people.

I’m Due for Retirement in June 2021, Says Clerk of N’Assembly ASUU Urges FG to Raise Funds for Education Chuks Okocha in Abuja Ahead of the expected probe of the tenure controversy of the Clerk of the National Assembly (NASS), Sani Omolori, by the National Assembly Service Commission (NASC), the embattled Chief Executive Officer of the National Assembly has opened up on his service, stating that he is due for retirement on June 7, 2021, if he does not want to enjoy the five years tenure elongation.

Omolori was reacting to the tenure elongation crisis in the National Assembly that he and other senior staff of the immediatepast National Assembly Service Commission (NASC) ought to have retired.

THISDAY gathered that the

condition of service for the National Assembly staff was amended close to the end of the eigtht National Assembly, following the passage of a bill titled: ‘Retirement age and conditions of service’.

The bill, as passed, shows that the years of service for civil servants in the National Assembly was adjusted from 35 to 40 years while the mandatory retirement age was upped from 60 to 65 years.

But the Director of Public Affairs for the National Assembly, Jerry Uhou, who said he has the Clerk of National Assembly permission to speak on the crisis said: “For the avoidance of doubt, the record is clear. Omolori joined the service of the National Assembly in February 1991 as a fresh employee from the defunct NEPA.

in front of the terminal. So air travelers are expected to leave home very early so that they can get to the airport on time.”

The FAAN spokesperson also explained that passengers should expect that airlines would charge more in terms of airfare, adding the International Air Transport Association (IATA) said that there would be 45 per cent increase in fares.

Lawan, Sanwo-Olu, Omo-Agege,Tinubu Mourn Saturday Telegraph Editor Deji Elumoye in Abuja President of the Senate, Dr. Ahmad Lawan; Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos State; Deputy President of the Senate, Senator Ovie Omo-Agege, and National Leader of All Progressives Congress (APC)

have mourned the death of the Editor of The New Telegraph on Saturday, Mr. Waheed Bakare.

In separate condolence messages issued yesterday, the Senate presiding officers commiserated with the professional colleagues of Bakare on the demise of the promising senior journalist who

died on Sunday in Lagos after a brief illness.

Lawan, in his message, commiserated with the Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ) and Nigerian Guild of Editors (NGE) on the death of one of their colleagues.

He also condoled with

Bakare’s family, and the management and staff of the New Telegraph newspapers where Bakare worked as the Saturday editor.

On his part, Senator OmoAgege expressed shock and sadness over the demise of Bakare.

WEDNESDAY MAY 27, 2020 • T H I S D AY

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T H I S D AY ˾ WEDNESDAY MAY 27, 2020

MIDWEEKPOLITICS

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

A N A LY S I S

Born on Nigeria’s Democracy Day Lanre Alfred pays tribute to Governor Dapo Abiodun of Ogun State whose birthday is tied to Nigeria’s Democracy Day

A

mong friends and associates in the exclusive circle of Prince Dapo Abiodun, Governor of Ogun State, the word ‘Osele’ needs no explanation except you don’t fall into either category. Those who know – know that it is a favourite slogan of Prince Abiodun (before he became governor), which means ‘It happened.’ Every accomplishment or acquisition was heralded with a gleeful ‘O Sele’.

So, to God be the glory, May 29th, 2019, happened. For over five decades, however, the date held a different kind of significance for him. It is his birth date. This year’s May 29th is even more symbolic because Prince Dapo Abiodun turns 60 on the same day he would be celebrating his one year anniversary as the Governor of Ogun State.

Indeed, he could not have got a greater and more befitting 59th birthday gift in 2019 than his inauguration as the democratically elected governor of the Gateway State - a fitting denouement to an episodic political journey which began about three decades ago.

Governor Abiodun’s life offers interminable lessons on the beauty and benefits of resolve, compassion, unpretentious generousity and family values. I know.

“A man is nothing without his virtues”, he argues. Thus, he endeavours to do good. But his deeds are done not as an apology or extenuation of his fortune and citizenship of the world.

While many a rich man propagates virtues as penances for the inactions of the world’s privileged divide, he imbibes and perpetuates the culture of goodness not out of a frantic zeal to apologize or expiate the perceived frailties of his rich, privileged divide; he does his thing because it is an intrinsic part of his humanity.

Since I made his acquaintance about 12 years ago, our relationship has blossomed into a bond emblematic of the best form of filial devotion and affection. I met him first through a senior colleague and later, more intimately through a mutual friend. I would discover that beneath the glitz and glamour of being a successful businessman with all the accoutrements of fame and fortune at his beck and call, he is humane and humble. He is imbued with nonpareil intelligence, a clearthinking, analytical mind, quick wit and sheer oratorical skills. Governor Abiodun is one of the very few people I know that can never be blindsided or fazed by any eventuality. His calmness and infinite optimism even in the face of life’s greatest odds are inspiring and worthy of the respect and aspiration of coming generations.

As a young businessman, DA, as he is fondly called, was elected a Senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria on the platform of the defunct United Nigeria Congress Party (UNCP) in 1993. He was just 33years old. However, the military incursion of that year led by the despotic General Sani Abacha truncated that democratic process. The Iperu Remo Prince never gave up. While succeeding in business, he never abdicated politics. Circa 1998, he joined other like-minded Nigerians to start the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Ogun State. In 2002, he lost the governorship primary of the PDP to his bosom friend, Otunba Gbenga Daniel who went on to govern for two terms. Prince Dapo bade his time.

When he contested to represent Ogun East Senatorial District in 2015, I worked closely with him and came to the conclusion that but for passion and genuine humaneness, he didn’t have any business in the dog-eat-dog game of politics. He lost the election but never lost the passion to make life better for humanity.

Some years after, when he told me that he would be contesting for the governorship, I did not hesitate to buy into his clear-cut vision to make Ogun State a primus inter pares and build a better future for its people and posterity.

I formed a group called the Dapo Abiodun Alliance Group, DAAG, with some brilliant

Abiodun young minds who also share his vision. We combed the nook and cranny of Ogun State, propagating the ideals of Prince Dapo Abiodun.

Even when it became too hot for us, we were motivated by a shared belief in his mission. It was quite an experience. Thankfully, he won the election!

That relentless spirit has, indeed, paid off. It is the same spirit that has guided him through the bittersweet, cut-throat world of global commerce until he emerged unscathed and undaunted in spirit and resolve like a champion.

His story is indeed worth telling and retelling for posterity. And I am honoured for the rare privilege to pen this timeless tribute to a man of substance and immeasurable worth.

Unlike other billionaires that one met in the course of life’s peregrination, the very sociable and likeable Prince never treats anyone as a minion or stranger hence, his friendly disposition to everyone, which makes people feel very comfortable in his company. I have travelled with him within and outside Nigeria; enjoyed his hospitality and bonhomie, and benefitted immensely from his well of wisdom. I felt welcomed in his company at all times in those early days of our acquaintanceship. Apart from giving you a sense of true belonging whenever and wherever your path crosses with his, he never shies away from introducing you to his high profile contacts. And he always has good words to say about one.

Being the governor of a State like Ogun has further shown and convinced me that he is a very focused and driven leader and that those personal attributes are inherent, not superficial. He can be described as a ‘good headache’ because he will push and drive you while bringing out the best in you. I would come

to understand that what Governor Abiodun envisions for Ogun State drives his pursuits while his yearning for progress pits him against the odds that he inherited. Therefore, he is focused on making the remaining years of his stewardship the best for the people of the state.

To actualise his goals, the governor is exploring every avenue to attract growth and progress for Ogun State; and, he has been hands-on and virtually omnipresent in all areas of the state’s life with laudable schemes and visible projects dotting the landscape of the state.

Born in Sagamu, Ogun State, he started his early education in the rustic township. His parents were teachers who taught in the same community. As a kid, he learnt a lot from his parents. From his father, Elder Abiodun, he learnt humility, sacrifice, tact, wisdom and patience. Whatever he learnt from his father was reinforced by his mother. Both parents schooled and fed him on a diet of tough love and inexorable compassion. They taught him to value every human life and relationship.

Even now, he relives the sparks of magic and tufts of grace wrought in his psyche by his exceedingly principled and loving parents.

His life as a child was brilliant with sunshine.

As the sun emblazons the sky in beams of gold and brightens the earth with brilliant spokes, his parents’ love radiated all over him and imbued him with something of the fabled beauty of Eden and the charm of Neverland.

But His parents had no trust fund to bequeath to him. The only fortune he inherited from them was character.

One star-spangled night many years ago, in his baronial Banana Island, Ikoyi, Lagos home, he recalled, “I must tell you that I come from a very humble background and my parents are

Revered at home and recognised abroad for his protean productivity and impeccable business foresight, spotting goldmine where many see landmines, he also understands that politics is far too precious and fundamental to be left to the wiles and exploits of villainous characters. Thus, his belief that the doctrine of altruism and love must be preached as a counteraction to the doctrine of hate and greed that has overtime become the norm in political circuits

still living. My parents were teachers and I did not inherit any money from anybody. My story is such that let me say, if I can be where I am today, anybody can be here, I mean, anybody.

And it goes a long way to show that you don’t have to have been born by a rich father or mother to be successful in life. My grandfather never believed that he would have a grandson who would be where I am today. “Where I am today is just by the special grace of God. God just wanted to change the situation of my family and I think that is why he has raised me to be a blessing to my home.”

In the pursuit of glory, Prince Dapo learnt to thrive like a lily in unimaginable valleys. Like white rose growing on concrete slabs or the daring mushroom that pierces the motionless eternity of earth, pushing clearly but obstinately, through faint form, till the hour of fertility strikes, he sought to flourish where many had cowed to defeat. He knew quite early in life that his humble roots should inspire him to success rather than become a burden and impediment to his spirited strides to success.

He understood that to learn even the quarter of a breeze, he must hold up a wet finger. Hence, he pursued knowledge to his advantage.

However, his ascent on the steep slope of entrepreneurial success and acclaim didn’t lie out in flat miles. It was replete with rigours and daunting challenges. But he towered above all odds to become a successful magnate with vested interests in the global oil and real estate sectors. His success is attributable to hard, valuable lessons from his parents. Among other things, he learnt that there was no wisdom in waiting to see asters bloom on barren land.

He understood that foresight in moving out of his comfort zone in search of greener pasture.

Guided by the priceless wisdom of the aged, he left home to seek his fortune elsewhere - he knew perfectly well that only an oyster remains forever at the old homestead. He proceeded to establish himself and started Heyden Petroleum Limited (HPL) with a vision to become a leading global energy and services company. He also sought to create an effective corporate structure to consolidate on growth and his core interest in energy, power and construction.

Revered at home and recognised abroad for his protean productivity and impeccable business foresight, spotting goldmine where many see landmines, he also understands that politics is far too precious and fundamental to be left to the wiles and exploits of villainous characters. Thus, his belief that the doctrine of altruism and love must be preached as a counteraction to the doctrine of hate and greed that has overtime become the norm in political circuits. Virtues, according to him, should be in the popular estimate, the rule guiding human conduct in business, social and political circuits rather than the exception.

At a time when it is generally believed that one has to be a lowbrow, an incorrigible liar and a bit of a murderer, to be a politician, he ventured into politics to improve lives yet unwilling to see people sacrificed and slaughtered for the sake of his ambition. In the estimation of many friends and associates, he is cut out for greater roles in the affairs of the country but rather than get high on the wings of the lofty hopes about him, he has chosen to begin his humble ascent in the corridors of power by connecting with his people from the grassroots.

Many people have benefitted in no small measure from the benevolence of his heart and sipped from the fountain of his experience, it is only expedient to extol the virtues of this great man without any recourse to sophistry or gratuitous ornamentation. In politics, Governor Abiodun has been a roaring success and the people of Ogun State can attest to this. In the business world, you cannot question his place in the clan of Nigeria’s successful business tycoons. And his domestic felicity will continue to make younger people run to him for tips.

Happy birthday, The Special One!

WEDNESDAY MAY 27, 2020 • T H I S D AY

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T H I S D AY Ëž Ëœ Í°ÍľËœ Í°ÍŽÍ°ÍŽ

COMMENT

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

ALMAJIRI CHILDREN BEG FOR JUSTICE The children deserve more in Kano, writes Victor C. Ariole

“Pumping money into school feeding programme while the schools are not open (and Almajiri who are in makarantar centres are deported to nowhere) is a little absurd‌.â€?

-Olabode George

M

akarantu, whether Ilmi or Allo—as explained in Sulaiman, 2013, the makarantar Ilmi is the school of advanced learning which covers the whole range of Islamic literary, theological and legal education and according to Abdullahi Adamu, Makarantar (school) and Allo (slate) are two Hausa language words put together to refer to a traditional Islamic institution of learning particularly, for the Muslim children—relate to schools meant for Almajiris ( Almajiri is a word borrowed from Arabic for someone who leaves his home in search of knowledge in Islamic religion). And Nigeria had signed, for long, the United Nations’ bill for the rights of the child. Basically, education is one of such rights. On UBEC platform (Universal Basic Education Commission), it is recorded that total number of children in preschool is slightly above three million, while Kano has the highest figure of 269,000, Lagos has 67,312. Logically, it creates an impression of manipulation to see that at primary school level, the total is slightly above 24 million pupils. It turns out that at that level, it is Kano and Kaduna dominating while Lagos is slightly above 500,00. In effect, whether at pre-school or primary level, Kano State lays claim to harbouring 10% of the Nigerian children that ought to be in school and in deed UBEC allocates resources on that basis.

While ASSU is fighting for the Ilmi side, no one seems to be fighting for the Allo side, and it is seen in the way the Almajiris are treated by Nigerian government that is supposed to protect them.

Hence, the need to hold the Kano State government responsible for the abuse of child’s rights in Nigeria without which the Nigerian government must be called out to take the blame and face supra- national justice.

Twenty-four million pupils are quite above 10% of Nigerian population and their behavioural characteristics would be sampled out of what Kano, Kaduna and Lagos project. Almajiri pupils are in all these three states also. However, what Kano claims to have done with them as per over 5000 centres for pupils and 1,700 for pre-school children is worth investigating. Assume each of the 5000 centres accommodate 400 pupils and it is quite manageable for the expected 9-3-4 system where at most 60 pupils would be in a class at the “9� segment of the 9-3-4. Though not of international standard that requires less than 40. It is still acceptable for Nigeria’s poor standard. By the 157 prototype model built to create sameness of interest for the Almajiri, the Kano government should account for resources deployed to fit into making 5000 centres in Kano com-

KANO STATE LAYS CLAIM TO HARBOURING 10% OF THE NIGERIAN CHILDREN THAT OUGHT TO BE IN SCHOOL AND IN DEED UBEC ALLOCATES RESOURCES ON THAT BASIS

ply to standards, and why at the peak of pandemic, the children would be thrown out of Kano to the vagaries of virus assault.

Somehow one wonders whether the members of House of Representatives numbering also 10% of Nigeria’s honourable members, who are from Kano State, are not concerned about the fate of their children. Legislation in effect is valued on what it adds to the value of life of those who vote to get such people to represent them as it was also seen that 10% of the votes garnered by the current government came from Kano.

When you check how much is spent to keep a child in school in South Africa and how much each representative earns, there’s some correlations dictating that it is indeed the project upon which the earning of the representative is deduced. Almost 19% of the budget goes for education and the 460 members do not take that percentage of money in the budget compared to what Nigeria with 7% of the budget assigned to education, which could make the primary school and secondary school budget where the Almajiri would belong to have less than 3% , which could not match the over 120 billion appropriated for the National Assembly’s recurrent budget. And UBEC prides itself of spending only about N2.7 billion to improve on facilities in some schools as if it is a great achievement.

For the lives of the Almajiri pupils, no fewer than three million of only Kano and Kaduna figures could serve as representative samples; 10% of the allocation of the current expenditure of the National Assembly would keep them out of Covid-19 dangers or be “absorbed� by the dangers as recorded in recent deaths in Kano. It was also reported that billions of naira goes for allocation to the Emirs in Kano, and if their offices are to serve as preservers of traditional heritages, then the Almajiri are entitled to such allocation hence, the need to save their lives. It is indeed absurd to be talking of humanitarian ministry as no fewer than three million children suffer in an avoidable situation.

For Kaduna State to accept to take over their own Almajiri indigenes in Kano, and as cerebral as Kaduna governor is, there must, definitely, be a cover-up that is not meant to be overblown.

Nigerians need to know if those in Makarantar Allo are not part of what the UBEC should care for as UBEC allocates resources to the 36 states of the federation based on the number they supply; funds accessed or not accessed, the funds still remain funds meant to cater for Nigerian children who must not suffer stunted growth so as to have a country that could still remain competitive in the future. The future starts today as it starts with the value of the manpower trained today. The Almajari children are part of the expected future. Kajiko!

Ariole is Professor of French and Francophone Studies, University of Lagos

VOX POPULI VOX DEI

Sonnie Ekwowusi Ă‹ĂœĂ‘Ă&#x;Ă?Ă? ÞÒËÞ ÞÒĂ? Ă˜Ă?Ă?Ă?ÞÓÙĂ&#x;Ă? Ă“Ă?Ă?Ă‹Ă?Ă? Ă“Ă–Ă– Ă“Ă? Ă&#x;Ă˜Ă˜Ă?Ă?Ă?Ă?Ă?Ă‹ĂœĂŁ

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ou may be well aware that two bills are presently pending before the National Assembly, Abuja. The first bill is the Infectious Diseases Bill 2020 pending before the House of Representatives.

This bill is solely being sponsored by House Speaker Femi Gbajabiamila. The second bill is the Nigerian Emergency Health Bill, 2020 pending before the Senate. This bill is sponsored by 104 out of the 109 Senators at the Senate. The two bills are being given expeditious hearing by both chambers of the National Assembly. It is instructive that the two bills pending before the two Houses are substantially similar. One wonders what informed the duplication in the two chambers. Besides, American multi-billionaire and African population controller, Bill Gates, has been fingered as bankrolling the Infectious Diseases Bill 2020. Paradoxically, the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) is vehemently opposed to the Infectious Diseases Bill 2020. The NCDC says it is not privy to the bill. In fact, the Director-General of the NCDC, Dr. Chikwe Ihekweazu, recently said that it is unwise to sponsor such a bill at this time of the coronavirus pandemic when Nigerians are still preoccupied taking precautions to avoid being infected by the virus. In his own words, �I am personally not in favour of drafting a bill in the middle of a crisis�.

Now, if the NCDC and Dr. Ihekweazu are objecting to the bill, why is the National Assembly bent on processing a bill that would empower NCDC and Dr. Ihekweazu? We gather that the COVID-19 Vaccine would be produced in 2022. So, why is the National Assembly in a hurry to pass in 2020 a law that would regulate COVID-19 Vaccine that would be produced in 2022 or may never be produced at all?

Aside the above slur, the entire bill is replete with multiple draconian sections that infringe on your

fundamental human rights as enshrined in our 1999 Constitution and African Charter on Human and People’s Rights. This is why yesterday more than 84 Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) in Nigeria formally lodged their protest in Abuja asking for the bill to be withdrawn. Also yesterday, about 15 CSOs in Lagos organized a Press Conference at Ikeja, Lagos demanding for the immediate withdrawal of the bill. Apart from fragrantly violating the right to private and family life, right to freedom of conscience and religion, right to peaceful assembly, right to freedom of movement, right to dignity of human person as enshrined in our 1999 Constitution and the African Charter, the CSOs argue that sections 4, 5 and 6 of the bill violate the right to privacy, confidentiality between doctors-patients. Can you imagine the bill granting nebulous and arbitrary powers to the Health Minster, health officers, diseases control agents and enforcement officers to arrest any person, demolish buildings which in their views are helping to spread infectious diseases?

Section 15(1) (2) (3 a-d) of the bill empowers the health minister to declare any premises isolation area; and the DG of NCDC to impose movement restriction within the area. Section 20 empowers the DG of NCDC to stop any meeting or gathering likely to lead to increase in the spread of infectious diseases. Section 24 of the Bill empowers any enforcement officer to arrest you in the street if he thinks that you are suffering from COVID-19 or any infectious diseases. Section 25 empowers any enforcement officer to obtain a court order to destroy any building in which he thinks a case of COVID-19 or infectious disease has occurred. So, the bill is in favour of the kind of jungle justice recently wrought by Rivers State Governor Ezenwo Wike when he ordered the demolition of some hotels for allegedly violating the lockdown order. Section 47 of the bill stipulates that parents must vaccinate their

babies. Sections 48, 49, 51 stipulate that in the event of outbreak of infectious diseases such as COVID-19 or other diseases in an area or whenever you can be arrested anywhere and be given compulsory vaccination with or without your consent. Above all, the Bill is a surplussage. It is aimed at duplicating many existing laws in Nigeria. Our challenge in Nigeria over the years is not lack of laws: it is the enforcement of existing laws.

More importantly, the Infectious Diseases Bill 2020 was copied verbatim from Singapore. Commenting on this, the London Times, May 18 2020 writes that the Infectious Diseases Bill 2020 is 98% carbon copy of the Singapore’s Diseases Act 1977 which was enacted 43 years ago. The questions are: Are the social realities in Singapore same with that of Nigeria? No. So, why must our legislators ignore the social realities in Nigeria and proceed to Singapore to copy their Diseases Act 1977? What stops our lawmakers from brainstorming and producing a bill that conforms to the social realities in Nigeria?

What is even baffling is that despite the London Times indictment, Gbajabiamila is rationalizing the plagiarism.

Ostensibly in reaction to the aforementioned drawbacks of the bill, the Joint Committees on Health Services, Health Institution and Justice of the House of Representatives has recently advertised that a Public Hearing on the bill shall hold on Wednesday 10th June 2020 and 11th June 2020 respectively at the National Assembly, Abuja.

However, nothing has been heard on when the Senate will conduct its own Public Hearing on the Nigerian Emergency Health Bill, 2020. The public is encouraged to actively participate in the said public hearing to ensure that this bill is defeated. The 1999 Constitution stipulates that “sovereignty belongs to the people of Nigeria from whom government through this Constitution derive all its power and

authority�.

Therefore the National Assembly must exercise its law-making function in line with the aspirations of the Nigerian people. Vox Populi Vox Dei (The voice of the people is the voice of God). Section 4 (1) (2) of the 1999 Constitution empowers our National Assembly to make good laws for the people of Nigeria. Therefore neither Bill Gates nor Gbajabiamila should pressurize or coerce the people of Nigeria to endorse the Infectious Diseases Bill 2020. Only recently an Italian lawmaker Sara Cunial delivered a speech on the floor of the Italian parliament passionately appealing to her fellow Italian legislators to reject any plans for compulsory vaccination against Covid-19. She told them that Bill Gates is one of the main culprits behind the vaccination drive, if not the pandemic itself. She accused Bill Gates of sterilizing millions of women in Africa and paralyzing hundreds of thousands of children in India.

Also recently the US Supreme Court delivered a landmark judgment in the case against the America Centre for Disease Control, Bill Gates, Anthony Fauci and some multi-billion Pharmaceutical Companies that there is no proof that the federally-approved vaccines have been tested and safe for human beings. The court also ruled against compulsory vaccination for everybody. I would like to commend the aforesaid Cunial speech and the US Supreme Court judgment to Nigerian federal legislators. They should allow the Nigerian people to freely assess the Infectious Diseases Bill 2020 in the light of the socio-cultural, political and economic and religious realities of the Nigerian people. No attempt should be made to impose the Bill on the Nigerian people. After all, government exists to serve the citizens not vice-versa. Therefore the people have a right to reject the Infectious Diseases Bill 2020.

15

T H I S D AY ˾ WEDNESDAY, MAY 27, 2020

EDITORIAL HEALTH WORKERS AND COVID-19 The relevant authorities should engage local manufacturers to scale up production of equipment

T

he recent alarm by the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) that about 300 doctors and other health workers in the country have been diagnosed with COVID-19 should worry the authorities.

More troubling is that these health professionals were infected while caring for patients who had contracted the highly contagious disease. This, according to the NMA, is chiefly because the workers lacked the necessary personal protective equipment (PPE) needed to guard them from being infected when interfacing with patients.

Interestingly, the Minister of Health, Dr. Osagie Ehanire has put the blame elsewhere. He said recently that the high rate of infection among health workers was due to lack of adequate knowledge by the frontline personnel on how to protect themselves when in contact with patients. He argued that majority of infected workers were from private health facilities, stressing that only few doctors, nurses and other workers from FOR EVERY COVID-19 the various governFRONTLINE WORKER ment-owned health INFECTED WITH THE facilities and isolaVIRUS, HUNDREDS OF tion centres have PATIENTS IN DIRE NEED OF had such problem THEIR EXPERTISE WOULD because they have been trained on how GET LESS CARE THAN to handle COVID-19 ORIGINALLY EXPECTED patients, even during emergencies.

We agree with both the NMA and the Federal Ministry of Health that the high COVID-19 incidence among frontline workers is caused by a combination of these two factors: Lack of PPE and poor training of many of the health workers at the frontline of fighting the pandemic in the country. But this is a serious challenge that must be addressed because of its implications. According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), for every COVID-19

frontline worker infected with the virus, hundreds of patients in dire need of their expertise would get less care than originally expected, adding that the rate of infection was slowing down the battle against the virus across the globe.

F

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

or Nigeria, which is one of the countries with the least amount of health workers per population, it is high time the factors responsible for the high exposure of frontline personnel were addressed. As things stand, the country is in short supply of workforce, and the infection rate has the capacity to further deplete the lean human resources in the sector thereby hampering the fight against the rapidly spreading disease. No doubt, PPEs are in short supply in Nigeria, as it is the case all over the world. But many countries are looking inwards. Authorities in the health sector should engage local manufacturers as well as encourage those who are already producing the medical supply in small quantity to scale up as the country is fast running out of time with the increasing number of COVID-19 cases recorded daily.

Recently, some local manufacturers in Lagos and Aba said they have the capacity to produce all the PPEs needed by health workers to fight the pandemic. The Nigerian Air Force also said it can produce PPEs in large quantity. Government should engage these institutions to see which has the best idea on PPEs as this will help in reducing the high number of infections by the frontline workers.

The minister of health has identified lack of knowledge as one of the major reasons why health workers are contracting the infection. Henceforth, government should ensure that only those trained and approved by it are allowed to interface with COVID-19 patients. It should also ensure workers in general health facilities take precautions when attending to patients, irrespective of the medical condition of such patients. Health workers are the country’s number one army against COVID-19, and government must protect them at all costs.

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The Adams And Obaseki Power Tussle

Poverty Is The Problem, Not Almajiri

P

overty, hardship and pain will always produce ancillary results of fear and instability. This was evident in the 1800s in England where the societal level of poverty and squalor was evident and Charles Dickens chronicled it in characters like Oliver Twist and David Copperfield. Poverty was mammoth and it characterized the consciousness of Britain when Benjamin Disraeli called Britain two nations with no intercourse or sympathy.

Nigeria is in that phase now with massive poverty and perceived instability. The economic indices are not looking good with the poverty rate estimated at 40% of the population, inflation at over 12%, plummeting prices of crude oil, reduction in productivity and rising job losses all contributing to unemployment estimated to be well over 23% at the last count, and a high import bill that is steadily eroding the nation’s foreign exchange reserves.

The present economic phase has left a gulf between the rich and poor. Poverty has become brazen in Nigeria and it constantly mitigates the hopes and aspirations of many Nigerians.

The number of Nigerians that subsist on less than a dollar a day have been estimated at 82.9 million. This was revealed in the latest poverty and inequality report released by the National Bureau of Statistics.

According to the report, the Northern states in

Nigeria rank poorest with nine of the top 10 poorest states in the country. The conundrum of Northern Nigerian has set off a lethal cocktail comprising the Boko Haram insurgency and banditry, massive unemployment, low access to healthcare services, and millions of out-of-school children – all which have been compounded by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The economic misfortune in the region has led to a dispersal of the economically disadvantaged in the north to Southern Nigeria, be it homeless children, locally known as the Almajiri, and able-bodied, young men. But the migration has caused anxiety and suspicion among residents in the south, irrespective of the provisions in the Nigerian Constitution permitting citizen to live in any part of the country with let or hindrance. This anxiety is triggered by concern, real or imagined, that there is a Fulanisation agenda on the cards by the north section to take over the lands and resources of south.

But it has to be said that the central theme is the audacity of poverty that now fans the embers of insecurity and suspicion. Rather than peddle fears of attack on the south by the north, rather than call on local security outfits such as Amotekun to be battle ready, it is time to collectively tackle the problem of poverty or else it will tip the balance of national unity and might lead Nigeria into an abyss.

Rufai Oseni, rufaioseni@gmail.com

I

lorin is arranged in compound. An average Ilorin family has a compound name and head. The compound name is coined from the family name. And the compound head, also known as Mogaji, are the aged members of each family. If there is a dispute between two or more members of the family, the compound head or Mogaji does mediate on time, and ensure that the rift doesn’t escalate for outsiders’ consumption. That’s why you can’t see any Ilorin family washing its dirty linen in public.

Party leadership plays this role in Nigerian politics.

The power tussle between the All Progressives Congress (APC) National Party Chairman, Adams Aliyu Oshiomhole, and the Executive Governor of Edo State, Godwin Nogheghase Obaseki, is still messy. Adams and Obaseki are not ready to let the sleeping dogs lie. Unfortunately, both are steadily digging their party’s grave. The APC, Edo chapter, will conduct its primary election June 22 to pick the party candidate ahead 2020 governorship election amid Obaseki and Adams power tussle. The results of the election can’t be easily predicted. If we recall, early this year, thugs

attacked Adams Oshiomhole, and he claimed it was masterminded by Governor Obaseki.

Obaseki took to the media and faulted Adams’ imputation. Imagine, the primary is few weeks away and one party had alleged the other party of sponsoring his attack. No doubt, if there is no enough security on ground, there would be bloodbath at the scenes of the primary on that scheduled day. Thugs would definitely visit some of these places as instructed by their paymasters.

So we should be expecting electoral violence in the absence of uncompromising men of the Nigerian military and paramilitary. If Adams and Obaseki continue to cross swords, they’ll pave the way for the opposition parties, especially the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), to feast on their misfortune and clinch the governorship stool. I think that will be a good lesson for the two men who aren’t ready to reconcile for the progress and victory of the party in the forthcoming election.

Revolution doesn’t work where evolution is needed. I’ve never seen where a house divided against itself stands.

Aremu Lukman Umor, aremulukmanumor@ gmail.com

16

WEDNESDAY MAY 27, 2020 •T H I S D AY

WEDNESDAY MAY 27, 2020 • T H I S D AY

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18

FEATURES

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

How Inter-state Travels Aid COVID-19 Spread in Nigeria Despite the ban on inter- state movement of vehicles and humans by the federal and state governments, travelers are working out new means to sneak to restricted states, thus aiding the spread of COVID-19 in Nigeria, Omolabake Fasogbon reports

Passengers at some distance away from the Ogun State border waiting to reconnect with the truck conveying them after gaining entry to Ogun State via the bush

Defaulting passengers alighting from a trailer to connect to the bush in order to evade security check at Ogunmakin, the border between Oyo and Ogun states

F

out by enforcement agents to prevent smart drivers. The gridlock was also a blessing in disguise for daring travellers who seized the opportunity to carry out their plan. In the midst of the gridlock, this reporter sighted trucks in their numbers loaded with human beings that are closely and tightly seated as against the social distance rule. Just as the gridlock maintained a standstill, drivers were spotted offloading human beings like goods, while the travelers quickly found their way to a nearby bush and came out at the main express road to connect back to their vehicle that had been cleared at the entry point and crossed border to Ogun State.

Hearing them speak as they rushed at one of the trucks, one of the travellers said, “They think they are smart�. Another passenger cried out to the driver thus, “Driver please drive fast before they catch us�.

A lot of people have also taken advantage of the movement permitted by the eased lockdown to trek into neigbouring state.

Hinting THISDAY, a roadside orange seller who identified herself as Iya Ajoke at Berger, the boundary between Ogun and Lagos state, disclosed that travellers have devised a means of crossing the border on foot. This they do by taking intra state vehicle to the border and cross on foot.

She said that this is common with people living in Ibafo area of Ogun State and working or needed to carry out an activity in Lagos.

True to Iya Ajoke , this reporter contacted a friend living in Mowe, Ogun state and working in Ogba, Lagos to find out how she has been managing to get to office, her response was not different from the revelation of Iya Ajoke.

Already, there have been much talks on how people living close to the entry point of another state can access neighboring state especially if there business is resident there.

While this situation was not addressed in the president’s directive, this set of people have devised convenient means.

A top police officer in Ogun state who chose to be anonymous told THISDAY that the governor of Ogun was aware of the plight of residents living close to or working in Lagos but could not help the situation. “The governor gave a clear and stern order that such people should be denied exit or entry to the state. He said such people should choose to stay in either Ogun or Lagos�, the police officer told THISDAY. In the wake of this anomaly, security

ollowing federal and different state governments directive banning or restricting inter-state movement of vehicles and human to curtail the spread of COVID-19 in Nigeria, border security in the country has since doubled-up in order to ensure compliance.

This has however not stopped inter-state movement of non-essential workers or services, not because enforcement agents are not doing their work or underperforming (even though some are compromising).

Travelers are on a daily basis upgrading their tactics to gain entry into another state, that is asides hiding in a laden or unladen truck, thus outmaneuvering security checks and aiding the spread of the virus in the country.

It would be recalled that on March 29, 2020 when COVID-19 cases in the country was yet 97, President Muhammadu Buhari announced a lockdown in Lagos, Abuja and Ogun States to curb the spread of the virus while some states like Osun also followed suit. Despite this step, the number of cases in the country has continued to surge and spread to other states hitherto with no cases.

This unfortunate development has prompted federal government to opt for more stringent measures. As at April 27,2020, Nigeria had 1273 cases across 32 states including the FCT, which also included 40 deaths. As a result of this, the president in his national broadcast of April 27, put an outright ban on all interstate movement except for vehicles conveying essential goods and essential workers.

The president in his broadcast said, “In line with the recommendations of the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19, the various federal government committees that have reviewed socio-economic matters and the Nigeria Governors Forum, I have approved a phased and gradual easing of lockdown measures in FCT, Lagos and Ogun States effective from Monday, 4th May, 2020. “Furthermore, new nationwide measures are to be introduced as follows: There will be an overnight curfew from 8pm to 6am.

This means all movements will be prohibited during this period except for essential services; there will be a ban on non-essential interstate passenger travel until further notice; partial and controlled interstate movement of goods and services will be allowed for the movement of goods and services from producers to consumers�.

Strengthening border security has been one

of the measures adopted by central and state authority to combat COVID-19, in addition to other health care, fiscal and monetary policies.

Inspite of FG directive and boundary closure, desperate Nigerians have in defiance of the president’s order, still sneaking into choice states via their created and irregular routes with a lot of them escaping security checks.

Essential workers have also taken advantage of their job to move freely and even transport people across the nation. A case in point was the late Deputy Commissioner of Police, Francis Bisong who shuttled Edo and Ondo States not knowing he had contracted the virus and unintentionally exposed a lot of people to it. Another case as reported

by Ondo State Governor, Rotimi Akeredolu, was a police officer who tested positive in Lagos but found his way to Ondo State for treatment, thus increasing the figure of cases in the state.

At the initial stage of the lockdown, most travellers use to smuggle themselves to another state by hiding in a container or van conveying essential items like livestock or food items. This method was soon known to security operatives who became more conscious and stricter at borders. Upon this discovery, defaulters came up with new antics to execute their mission.

Consequent to this, the federal government ordered vehicles conveying essential goods not to accommodate more than five people including driver and those to unload the goods. Not too long after, reports on how travellers hide underneath goods loaded inside trucks flooded the media space and therefore compelled enforcement operatives to tighten noose on non-complying travellers. In Lagos recently, police intercepted a truck-load of cattle with 42 passengers hidden in it. The truck was said to be coming from Zamfara State.

Also in Rivers state, police were reported to have arrested 14 persons who hid inside two trailers conveying cattle from Adamawa State to Port Harcourt. Given this discovery, defaulters have graduated their tactics to finding a route to another state through bushes.

This was the picture at Ogunmakin, the boundary between Oyo and Ogun States when this reporter embarked on a monitoring trip from Oyo to Lagos to check the level of compliance to the president’s directive banning inter-state movement.

At the Oyo State boundary inward Ogun was a thick gridlock towards the border. This was as a result of a scrupulous checks carried

agents have been looked up to pull out all the stops and continuously up their game to prevent cunny defaulters from maintaining the status quo.

Director General of Nigeria Centre for Disease Control, NCDC, Dr Chikwe Ihekweazu claimed that the upsurge in the number of cases recorded in the last few weeks was due to unauthorised inter-state travels. He advised defaulting travellers to desist from their antics in the interest of themselves and Nigerians.

He said, “The last few weeks have recorded an upsurge in cases of people travelling from one state to another and testing positive to COVID-19. This has further led to the spread of the virus in states that had previously recorded no case or few cases. By travelling from one state to another, there is an increasing pressure on an overstretched health system .New contacts have been identified and traced in difficult circumstances, more people are put at risk and limited resources are spent confirming and responding to more cases that could have been avoided.�

He added, “these are difficult times for countries across the world and in the absence of solutions such as a vaccine, we have to adhere to non-pharmaceutical interventions.

Interventions such as movement restriction and ban on inter-state travel for non-essential activities may seem difficult but are critical for us to fight this virus�.

He further urged voluntary compliance to guidelines and regulations which he maintained that it will be central for the success of COVID-19 response. “Notwithstanding, the Presidential Task Force for COVID-19 is also working with relevant agencies to ensure compliance by citizens. To contain the virus and not risk exacerbating societal conflict, our security actors have been advised to adopt measures and non-violent approaches that respect the rights of individuals�, he assured.

When contacted for comment , the Force Public Relations Officer, DCP Frank Mba explained that the police are already aware of irregular routes like bush that defaulters are exploring to sneak into another state. He added the days ahead will be tougher for irregular travelers. “The IG has ordered the deployment of police mounted troop (police horses) to patrol identified bush and footpaths and other irregular routes being used by some travellers to evade law enforcement agents�.

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BUSINESSWORLD

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

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‘How Underinvestment in Power Sector Hindered Nigeria’s Growth’ Emmanuel Addeh in Abuja

on

The Managing Director of the Rural Electrification Agency (REA), Mr Salihijo Ahmad, has said the country lost about N71 trillion of its Gross Domestic Product (GDP) to the poor power infrastructure in the country between 1999 and 2015.

Speaking during a webinar titled: “How Do We Ensure a Clean Recovery,� which was also attended by the Minister of State, Environment, Sharon Ikeazor, Ahmad stressed that Nigeria must fix challenges in the electricity sector in order to boost the economy.

He said the REA, which is the agency responsible for the supply of power to the unserved and underserved, especially in the rural areas, was determined to explore clean energy sources to power the country and ensure that beneficiaries put it to productive use, with emphasis on agriculture.

He said once the Nigerian market is opened for such investment in solar energy, the current price of buying and installation of equipment would fall drastically, noting that it remains the future

ECONOMY of clean energy supply in Nigeria.

The managing director also said analysis showed that Nigeria would require about $1.5 billion investment in its power sector yearly.

He said: “We understand the importance of electricity to economic activities in Nigeria.

According to the World Bank African Infrastructure Diagnostics Report, African countries are losing one percent of their GDP per annum to poor power infrastructure. “Nigeria’s estimated GDP loss from 1999 to 2015 due to under-investment in power infrastructure is N71 trillion.

Furthermore, analysis shows that Nigeria power sector will require investment of about $1.5 billion annually, going forward which will enable diversification of economy and its estimated to drive 29.3 billion investments annually.�

Ahmad maintained that the private sector was critical to the success of the plan to provide clean and sustainable power supply in the country, explaining that

the collaboration has the capacity to transform the economy. “Over 80 million Nigerians do not have access to power. This is why at REA we encourage the private sector participation.

Public sector money is not going to be enough. That’s why we are working to sell power to the rural areas at reasonable tariff. “We have a fund of about $550 million from the World Bank and the AfDB which funds electrification programmes with other development partners for the REA to provide power for the underserved,� he disclosed.

He said when completed, the grid extension and mini-grid programme would allow farmers to practice irrigation and productive use of appliances, stressing that it would further enhance income, jobs and balance of payments. “With power we are looking at impact of it on economic growth.

Taking it to rural areas, will make them more productive. Improved lighting for security, taking lights to campuses enhances security also,� he added.

On the relative high prices of solar energy, he said: “Having local production and manufacturing will ensure there’s growth

in the market and also by sheer economies of scale by bringing these pieces of equipment in. “Once the market is open, the prices will fall because of the sheer volume in the system. “If the private sector takes ownership, with a lot of competition, you will find that the prices will come down. Some of these equipment now, compared to five years ago, are a lot cheaper.

If the government continues to drive policy towards it, it I’ll come down� he noted.

In her comments, the minister said that the federal government was working hard to encourage the use of renewable sources of power supply. “We are still working on our policies, especially reduction of emission from cars and trucks. We are finalising that.

The climate change policy is on. The political will is there. “We are encouraging renewable sources of energy, for example, LPG. And we have started the clean cooking stove initiative which we want to upscale to a broader scale to improve our response to pollution, particularly in communities in Nigeria.

Onyema Highlights Nigeria’s Capital Market Resilience Goddy Egene The Chief Executive Officer, the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), Oscar Onyema, has said since the Exchange transitioned to seamless remote trading in response to COVID-19, the market has seen a lot of activity across diverse asset classes.

Speaking on the impact of pandemic on Nigeria’s capital market ecosystem, Onyema said: “Investors have enjoyed dividend payouts in double digits in the equities market; attained relative safety in the fixed income market; and are reaping strong returns in alternative asset classes like the Newgold ETF. “On the part of the issuers, while there continues to be activ-

CAPITAL MARKET ity in the primary market, we foresee an increased inclination from governments and corporates to raise capital in the domestic market, particularly through bonds and secondary market issuances.�

The NSE boss shared some of the efforts of the NSE in this regard during the African Stock Exchanges panel session at the Brand Africa 100 Launch in commemoration of Africa Day 2020, organised by IC Events, Brand Leadership and Africa Practice held recently.

Onyema, alongside the CEO, Johannesburg Stock Exchange, Dr. Leila Fourie and CEO, Nairobi Securities Exchange, Geoffery

Odundo, discussed the impacts of COVID-19 on their respective economies.

The panelists expressed similar experiences in terms of volatility of the market, future expectations of issuers and the critical need for partnerships across Africa to boost productivity and project the continent’s best brands.

In line with their robust business continuity management framework, the NSE had reassured stakeholders that they have put in place measures to ensure their operations and trading activities continue seamlessly throughout this period.

Onyema had said: “As an Exchange, we will ensure that all relevant information continues to flow into the market to ensure the pricing of risk assets remains

transparent and reliable across asset classes to allow investors to value their portfolios and make informed investment decisions under these volatile conditions. ‘Dealing members are, therefore, encouraged to continue to trade remotely via our electronic platforms such as FIX protocol and XNET, and reach out to their Compliance Officer if any support is required. “Please note that we will provide manual support to members without remote access during this period. Issuers who have any business to conduct with The Exchange can reach out to their Relationship Manager for guidance. You should continue to submit all regulatory filings via Issuers’ Portal (X-Issuer).�

Global Finance has named Ecobank as the most innovative bank in Africa. The announcement was made at the eighth Global Finance annual awards, the Innovators 2020, honoring entities that regularly identify new paths and design new tools in ďŹ nance. At the virtual awardsannouncement,EuropeanEditoratGlobalFinanceandLead, Global Finance Awards evaluation team, Anita Hawser, noted that companies recognised stood apart.

In his remark, Ecobank Group CEO, Ade Ayeyemi, said: “We are pleased to be recognised as the ‘Most Innovative Bank in Africa’

by Global Finance. “Thisatteststothestrengthofourbrandinmultiplecountriesacross Africa, our unique pan-African platform, and our innovative banking products and solutions made possible by the success of our digital transformation journey. “With a larger African footprint than any other bank operating in West,Central,EastandSouthernAfrica,Ecobankistheonlybankthat has banking operations that spans 33 African countries, operating a truly integrated African network. “That is one uniďŹ ed integrated Ecobank Mobile Banking App, that works seamlessly across all 33 operating countries in Africa; one Ecobank Omni and omni lite serving multinationals and SMEs in Africa; one Rapidtransfer app that breaks down country borders and allows the diaspora community send money directly to their loved ones, instantly and aordably across Africa; one Ecobank online banking platform that can be easily accessed across 33 African countries.â€?

Konga Partners NBC

Konga, an e-commerce company has signed a partnership deal with Nigerian Bottling Company (NBC), which will see the latter leverage Konga’se-commerceengineinreachingmillionsofconsumersacross the country with the various products in the Coca-Cola stable.

NBC is the manufacturer of coca-cola brands in Nigeria. The partnership with Konga represents Coca-cola’s commitment to consumer protection, as well provides an avenue for the companies to encourage consumers to practice social distancing by making online purchases of consumables convenient and more aordable.

SpeciďŹ cally, NBC will target new and potential consumers through Konga’s online platform which boasts a growing army of digital shoppers while also leveraging the e-commerce ďŹ rm’s network of physical stores across Nigeria to cater to walk-in customers or shoppers who wish to personally pick up their orders.

The Commercial Manager for Coca-Cola Nigeria, Phoebe LarryIzamoje, said: “Our mission is to refresh the world and make a dierence. We continually seek ways to bring people brands and beverages that make life’s everyday moments more enjoyable. “This is one of such ways we fulďŹ l this purpose. We are conďŹ dent that the partnership with Konga will conquer new grounds for us as a company.’’

Huawei Hosts Online Summit

The Huawei Enterprise Business Group (EBG) will host the Huawei Southern Africa FSI Summit online 2020 on Friday.

The theme of the summit is: “Accelerating Digital Transformation, Enable Business Growth Again.â€? The online summit would include presentations from Chen Lei, President of Huawei Southern Africa Region,andChenKunTe,HuaweiChiefDigitalTransformationOďŹƒcer.

Speaking on Huawei’ experience in working with corporate leaders on their digital transformation, Lei said “The world is still battling againstthecoronavirus.Thepandemicnotonlythreatensthehumanity but the global economy.This transformation is happening when the banking sector is shifting from phase 3.0 to 4.0, where Banking is Everywhere, Never at a Bank.�

The COVID-19 pandemic is a global black swan which has severely impacted the global economy.The banking sector is also undergoing challenges from sharply declined economic activities, decreased deposits and loans, as well as higher unemployment rates and non-performing loan ratios. In the crisis, banks will quickly shift from oine operations modes, such as branches and merchants, to online modes including mobile banking.

“Government doesn’t even have the resources.

That is why the government has to create an enabling environment to allow the private sector to thrive so as to stimulate growth�

Co-founder, CardinalStone Partners,

Mr. Mohammed Garuba

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Task Before Yuguda As the capital market community awaits the coming of Lamido Yuguda as the substantive Director General of the Securities and Exchange Commission, Goddy Egene, writes on what the management team must do to regain investor confidence and reposition the market for better performance

D

espite the challenges brought by the COVID-19 pandemic, the Nigerian capital market community is gladdened by the decision of President Muhammadu Buhari to appoint a new Director-General of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). SEC, which is the apex regulatory body for the nation’s capital market, has been led by an acting DG, Ms. Mary Uduk, for over two years following the suspension of Mournir Gwarzo.

Although Uduk and her team ensured that the market was well regulated, many stakeholders believe their efforts did not yield the desired results because they were in acting capacity.

This development, they said, affected investors’ patronage of the market in spite of huge opportunities. While some discerning investors took advantage of the opportunities and have been reaping significant benefits, many of they stayed away for fear of loss of their investment due to weak regulatory environment.

However, the appointment of Yuguda as the substantive DG and other commissioners, has been hailed as a positive development that would help to position the market for postCovid-19 recovery.

The new DG The new SEC boss, Yuguda, is an economist, banker and investment manager and has over 30 years’ experience in financial services. Yuguda began his career with Central Bank of Nigeria in 1984, after he graduated from the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria. He was employed as a Senior Supervisor of the Foreign Operations department, which manages Nigeria’s external debt records. He moved to the Banking Supervision Department and had the task of handling bank licensing and prudential regulations in 1985. And in 1988, he was moved to the Debt Conversion Committee Secretariat to manage the Nigerian Debt Conversion Programme together with the pioneer staff in the secretariat.

Yuguda moved back to the Foreign Operations Department in 1992, and soon after became the Senior Manager of the Investment Office.

There he was responsible for managing Nigeria’s external debt service, as well as managing the investment of the CBN’s external reserves in a liquid portfolio of cash, fixed-term deposits, and foreign government treasury bills. In 1997, he joined the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in Washington DC, the USA, as an economist in the Africa Department, following a secondment.

In this position, Yuguda assessed the economic policies and management of balance of payment support programmes in IMF member countries.

In 2001, he returned to the CBN to lead a team of staff to restructure and diversify the CBN’s growing forex reserve portfolio. Together with this team, a new investment policy was adopted with the introduction of new asset classes, the appointment of a reputable global custodian and asset managers. The incoming SEC boss successfully upgraded the CBN’s in-house fixed-income trading and settlement capabilities and left a state-of-the-art portfolio management system as his legacy.

In 2010, he became Director of the Reserve Management Department and was credited with the strong risk-aware investment culture in the department, and also instilled a disciplined approach to investment evaluation.

He voluntarily retired in 2016 after 32 years at the apex bank. He was appointed to the board of SEC last June as a non-executive commissioner. However, President Buhari last week appointed him the substantive DG of the commission. Yuguda has a Bachelor of Science in Accounting from Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, having graduated in 1983.

He later obtained a Master’s degree in Money, Banking, and Finance from the University of Birmingham, UK, in 1991.

He has attended leadership training at notable business schools like Harvard, INSEAD, IMD, said, Wharton, Haas, and London.

He is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN), a CFA charter

Yuguda holder, and also holds a Certificate in Financial Asset Management and Engineering from the Swiss Finance Institute, Geneva, Switzerland.

Stakeholders react From the above, the new SEC boss is a wellqualified financial expert capable of playing the new role, which is very onerous considering the importance of the capital market to the life of the economy of any nation. To stakeholders, what Yuguda needs most is to be a team player, engage all stakeholders and build consensus.

The Chairman, Association of Securities Dealing Houses of Nigeria (ASHON), Chief Onyenwechukwu Ezeagu said: “There is a compelling need for the SEC’s new DG and the management team to engage all stakeholders and build consensus. They should revisit and rejig the capital market master plan and be focused on the mandate to make the Nigerian capital market to be best in class, deep, resilient and capable of inspiring and sustaining confidence among all investors both locally and internationally.�

Also speaking, President, Chartered Institute of Stockbrokers (CIS), Mr. Tunde Amolegbe, said Yuguda is clearly a consummate professional with outstanding pedigree and will be overseeing an industry that has been in transition, essentially, since the global financial crisis in 2008. “It will be useful for him to engage with relevant stakeholders to come up with suggestions and plausible solutions that can see the industry play its expected critical role in the economic revival of the nation as had happened in other jurisdictions. And with COVID-19 pandemic re-defining the way business is done, the financial market should be more innovative in outlook.

We at the CIS are looking forward to working with him and his team to achieve this and other laudable objectives,� Amolegbe said.

In his opinion, a Professor of Finance and Capital Market at the Nasarawa State University, Keffi, Uche Uwaleke, said Yuguda should ensure effective implementation of the master plan.

Uwaleke said the incoming SEC DG should continue from where his predecessor stopped in the implementation of the master plan.

The Chief Operating Officer, InvestData Limited, Mr. Ambrose Omordion, said the appointment of a substantive DG would boost investor confidence.

Omordion, however, advised Yuguda and

SEC board members to solidify plans already put in place to drive transparency and effective regulatory agenda aimed at deepening the market.

He said Yuguda should increase participation of Nigerians in the market to reduce dependency on foreign investors that made the market unstable and volatile.

He noted that the commission should decentralise its investment education programme to attract new entrants to the market and educate those scared to return to the market as a result of past bad experiences in the market.

Mr. Moses Igbrude of Independent Sharesholders Association of Nigeria, said investor protection should be Yuguda’s priority.

According to Igbrude, he should be ready to work with all the stakeholders in the Nigerian capital market, by adopting a collaborative approach in handling investor-related matters. “The SEC’s major role is to protect investors.

That should be his focus, especially this period of the coronavirus pandemic. Yuguda should make economic managers of the country to understand the importance of the capital market to the growth and development of the economy,�

Igbrude explained that proper understanding of the capital market would propel the federal government to formulate policies that would enhance the growth of the market. “His strategies should be on how to assist companies to improve their performances. The capital market as of today is grossly undervalued.

One of his objectives should be how to reverse this trend. The issue of unclaimed dividends in the capital market should be tackled vigorously by him and he should make sure the demutualisation of exchange is complete in a transparent way for the good of the market in particular and Nigerian economy in general,�

Igbrude said.

Some operators said as countries begin to open up their economies, post lockdown, the new SEC boss and his team should clean up past messes and ensure that avoid victimisation of companies or players in the market.

Yuguda should make that SEC adopt structures that resolve issues amiably and privately, without eroding shareholder value and confidence.

Importance of continuity Having been on the board since last year, Yuguda has the advantage of an insider and the

opportunity to continue to implement initiatives already planned for 2020 and beyond.

For instance, the commission had said it would continue to implement Risk Based Supervision, to ensure its monitoring effort is more efficient. “We will upgrade of identity management on investor accounts to include Bank Verification Numbers and verifications against the Nigerian Interbank Settlement Systems Limited (NIBSS) BVN validation portal. SEC will also be moving from transition to Deemed Approval Regime for debt securities. Following the introduction of the checklist regime and upon confirmation of satisfactory compliance, a deemed approval regime will be adopted for issuances of debt securities by which proposed issuances will be deemed approved upon filing of the transaction documents with a duly completed and executed checklist. This is expected to reduce the time within which approval is given to not more than five working days,� SEC noted.

Also as part of its implementation in 2020, the commission had said it would be driving a harmonised regulatory agenda by working with other regulatory agencies to create clear and specific licensing regimes for different FinTech businesses in Nigeria.

The commission will also seek to operationalise the framework for the regulation of Crypto-currencies, Virtual Financial Assets, ICOs and Crowdfunding. According to Uduk, the commission will complete the Capital Market Master Plan Review started last year. We will continue the implementation of the introduction of Capital Market studies into secondary school curriculum. We are presently at the stage of development of Teachers’ guides. Work has also begun on developing a capital market curriculum for Nigerian Universities, developing content for infusion into general studies (GS) courses across the Universities. SEC will continue to coordinate the Federal Government Work Group assignment on the National Savings Strategy. The commission will drive CIS as the main entry point for retail investors. We will Integrate CIS distribution framework with the capital market Financial Inclusion strategy,� the commission said.

SEC had also pledged to partner with FMAN to implement the CIS roadmap which was designed by the CIS Roadmap Committee set up to conclude the implementation of the five-year Strategic Master Plan and Roadmap to elevate the level of professionalism and operations in the Nigerian fund management industry. Also, in a bid to foster economic development and deepen the market, a proposed rule is being considered to provide a regulatory framework permitting private companies with the required structure and mechanism in place to raise capital from the public through crowdfunding. “There is a proposed Rule to enable the commission bring all Nominee Companies under proper regulation and make provision for registration requirements, ownership structure, code of conduct and other matters incidental thereto. There will be an amendment in the margin lending rules geared towards mitigating/tackling market abuse practices by dealers or member companies by restricting the excessive use of credit for purchasing or transacting in securities by dealers or member companies,� SEC said.

While these are laudable plans capable of taking the market to the desired level where it can play its role of economic development, it is believed that SEC can only succeed when it has the requisite technical manpower. Hence, some operators have said Yuguda must look into possibility of empowering the staff of the commission better.

He should encourage staff to go on Sabbatical to other African regulators and the private sector or create a secondment programme for staff to equip themselves and bring such experiences to bear on the commission especially now that there are new issues such as crowdfunding, fintech and Cryptocurrencies among others.

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Temie: FG, Private Sector US-based Nigerians Give Partnership Vital in Health Sector Palliatives to Lagos Communities Temie Giwa-Tubosun is the Founder and CEO of Life Bank, a medical distribution company, that works with hospitals and other stakeholders by supplying lifesaving medical products, across some states of the country. Since inception about four years ago, Life Bank has successfully moved 21,608 medical products to 1,085 hospitals from 5,902 blood donors and, consequently, saved the lives of 8,025 patients. In this interview she speaks about her partnership with Sterling Bank Plc. Hamid Ayodeji brings the excerpts: What inspired your decision to set up Life Bank?

What inspired us is our commitment to save lives in our community and solve critical health problems in Nigeria and on the African continent. We are first of a kind but there are similar companies like us that use drones to deliver medical supplies.

Why did you choose to work with Sterling Bank on the project?

We chose to work with Sterling Bank in our Lagos COVID-19 testing centre because it has shown itself as a business that is interested in the community where it works and not just interested in extracting value and spending it on itself. We are happy to partner with it on this project.

How has your partnership experience with Sterling Bank been?

It has been really excellent and we are quite surprised that it has been able to execute payments and all the things we needed. So, it has been a rather useful experience of working with a big institution that acts quickly.

What is your take on the plan by the bank to extend the intervention to other parts of the country following the rise in number of cases in states like Osun,

As part of their contributions to cushion the excruciating effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on vulnerable persons in Nigeria, Nigerian citizens in the United States of America under the aegis of the Nigerians in Diaspora Organisation America (NIDOA), have distributed variety of food items to residents of three communities in Lagos State.

NIDO America through its implementing partner, Organisation of Women in International Trade (OWIT) Nigeria, recently visited Ajegunle, Mile 12 and Orisunmibare communities of Lagos and handed out food items worth over N1 million to beneficiaries. A total of 202 beneficiaries were captured at the three locations and each went home with four packs containing

some kilograms of rice, garri, beans as well as other staple items.

The project was carried out under the US-based organisation’s WeCare Project, which is its humanitarian arm.

Speaking to THISDAY during the distribution exercise at Orisunmibare, Ayobo, Lagos, the Director of Strategy and Programmes, OWIT Nigeria, Mr. Kennie Adenugba, said OWIT partnered NIDO America to give palliative and support to the less-privileged and vulnerable in the society. “So far it has been a good run for everybody and we believe that the people have actually gone home happy or rather happier than they came here this morning. So we trust that going forward, the partnership between the two organisations will become stronger and at the

same time NIDO America will also be encouraged to actually put funding behind charity work across Nigeria. “We shared five kilogrammes of rice, three kilogrammes of beans, three kilogrammes of garri, and then we did full pack of maggi seasoning (100 cubes in one), we did Indomie Noodles as well as a bottle of oil. So that’s what we actually gave them. We believe that these are items that would help them,� Adenugba added.

He, however, added that the partnership between NIDO America and OWIT Nigeria was coming out stronger in the community care project, saying, “they call it ‘WeCare’ because they are saying that they care for the people. So it is the WeCare project that we are actually here for on behalf of NIDO America US and OWIT Nigeria in partnership.

Wapic Insurance Posts N15.2bn Gross Written Premium

Looking back, are you satisfied with the images on your table and the future you dreamt of?

The goal we have is to expand across Nigeria and being able to serve every Nigerian by scaling to every city in the country and delivering medical supplies to save lives. We are presently operating in Abuja, Lagos and Port Harcourt and we plan to open in Kaduna and a few other states soon. Our main concern is to expand across Nigeria and really be of use to hospitals.

What are the challenges you have encountered in the course of this work?

We have encountered a couple of challenges because of the capital intensive nature of our business but we will continue to solve the issue of capital by speaking to different investors who may be interested in our business. Other problems are low purchasing power of the citizenry and issues around infrastructure.

Why did you choose this project in spite of the current economic situation in the country?

We chose to build Life Bank because it was a problem that no one was interested in fixing and we know we have the best model to solve the problem across the country.

Absolutely, we have seen a lot of growth in terms of where we are going. In our COVID-19 work, we have done quite a lot.

We have two testing centres and we are expanding access to oxygen. In just four years of operation, we have been able to go to some places and have been of value to some people and it is something we are proud of.

Peter Uzoho

Temie Oyo and Akwa Ibom, among others?

It is a positive development. Let all hands be on deck. We all have our part to play in the fight against the Coronavirus pandemic.

How many beneficiaries did you target in this project or what are your success metrics?

We targeted 2,000 beneficiaries and we are on course so far.

What is your take on the Nigerian health care industry?

I feel positive about the industry. Although, we have lacked investment for so long, we are beginning to see a lot of private sector participation. Also, hospitals and pharmacies are growing and a lot of innovations are springing up such as Flying Doctors Nigeria Limited, among others. For instance, Premium Health and others have just completed fund raising from investors. Our goal is to be able to convince the federal government to partner with private operators in the industry so that we can scale up.

I also think the government has realised how much investment is needed in the sector now. The goal is to ensure that the idea remains post-COVID-19 so that the federal government can partner with companies and institutions that have the know-how to solve some of the problems of the industry. For instance, in Nigeria today, Life Bank has experience in how to deliver every medical supply from hand gloves, blood plasma and oxygen, among others, to hospitals but there is room to partner with institutions that can solve this problem.

WAPIC Insurance Plc said its Gross Written Premium (GWP) in its audited financial results for the period ended 31 December 2019, increased by nine per cent to N15.2 billion, compared to same period in 2018.

The insurer’s which disclosed this in its full year results posted on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), stated that the GWP was buoyed by its enhanced underwriting capabilities. The results showed that Wapic paid N4.1 billion in gross claims in 2019, stating that the gross claims to GWP ratio closed at 27 per cent. This was a reduction when compared with the 36 per cent recorded in 2018. The Group’s underwriting profit grew to N2.9 billion, a 36 per cent year-on-year growth from the N2.1 billion recorded in the preceding period of 2018. The growth in premiums and decrease in net claims expense during the review period had a positive impact on this position, it stated. The Group, however, recorded an 87 per cent decline in profit before tax to close at N24 million. “The drop in investment and

other income, and the growth in underwriting and operating expenses for the period negatively affected the bottom-line position,� it explained.

But its subsidiary, Wapic Life Assurance Limited recorded a 52 per cent year-on-year increase in GWP to N3 billion, from N1.97 billion in the prior year. Its gross claims paid increased slightly by two per cent to N1.27 billion for the period ended December 2019, compared to N1.25 billion in the corresponding period of 2018.

Its underwriting profit had an impressive growth of 150 per cent from the prior year’s position of N330 million to N825 million in 2018, while its profit before tax climbed to N267 million, a commendable 943 per cent from the 2018 position of N25 million.

In addition, another of its subsidiary, Wapic Insurance (Ghana) Limited’s gross premium income decreased slightly year on year by five per cent to N1.41 billion in 2019, from the N1.48 billion recorded in the prior year.

Commenting on the results, Managing Director WAPIC Insurance, Yinka Adekoya, said:

“Wapic delivered a commendable performance in the financial year 2019 despite a sluggish macroeconomic and business landscape which didn’t pick up until the latter part of the year. With a combination of an intensified underwriting capacity expansion, and the focused execution of our business plans, the Group’s GWP for the period grew by nine per cent year-on-year to close at N15.2 billion surpassing the average Nigerian insurance market growth rate. “Positive improvements were recorded in the Group’s underwriting profit position for the period, which grew to N2.9 billion, a commendable 37 per cent year-on-year growth from the N2.1 billion recorded in the preceding period of 2018. “The Group also recorded a profit before tax of N23.4 million from N187 million and a profit after tax of N214 million from N315 million recorded in the previous year. Our total assets grew by 1.3 per cent to N30.7 billion from N30.4 billion in 2018. Our shareholders’ funds stood at 18.5 billion for the period from N17.1 billion in 2018.�

Olam Group Contributes N1bn to CACOVID Relief Fund, Others Oluchi Chibuzor Olam Group, one of the country’s largest food and agri-business companies has contributed N1 billion in cash and in- kind to support the fight against the COVID-19 in Nigeria.

A statement from the company in giving the breakdown of its intervention explained that a cash donation of N600 million was made to the private sector-led Coalition Against COVID-19 (CACOVID), N300 million of foodstuffs to states across the country and N100 million of medical supplies to the Nigerian Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), the Nigeria Institute for Medical Research (NIMR) and the Lagos State Government.

Olam said the donation, through its group companies, was an expression of its commitment to contributing to the national efforts to cushion the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic through support of health facilities and medical equipment particularly in the area of testing, isolation and treatment, as well as the provision of food supplies.

Country Head of Olam Group Nigeria, Mukul Mathur, in announcing the donation, said: “We believe as a major private sector agro and manufacturing player in Nigeria for the last 31 years, we need to educate and create awareness among the indigent and vulnerable in our society by complementing government

efforts. Our donation of cash and food relief will support the collaborative response to combat COVID-19 which has altered our health, well-being and food security.�

The statement added: “CACOVID has acknowledged Olam’s contribution as being very significant and timely saying that it will boost CACOVID’s efforts to put together an effective national response to the pandemic in Nigeria. “The cash donation to CACOVID builds on support already provided to states across the country with food supplies ranging from Mama’s Pride Rice, Crown Pasta, Tasty Tom Noodles, Eggs and OK Biscuits amongst others.

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Understanding FMBN’s Mortgage Loan Products Terhemen Ikyaave Worldwide, mortgages take the lead as the preferred means for owning a home. In countries such as the United Kingdom, USA, France, and other OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) countries, it is rare to see people paying outright for homes using savings, loans from friends, family members or cooperative societies.

In Nigeria, the widescale adoption of mortgages as a popular path to owning homes is still extremely low. This situation needs to change. It explains in part, the country’s high housing deficit that is estimated by experts to hover between 17 to 22 million housing units with trillions needed to make any significant dent on it. Fact is that housing is a capital-intensive venture.

A combination of low wages and high cost of living give millions of Nigerians little room to save towards purchasing or building their homes. For Nigeria to properly house its citizens, greater efforts need to be made to bolster access to affordable housing finance to enable them to own their homes.

To tackle the problem of access to affordable housing finance, many countries across the world have promoted the adoption of mortgages as the preferred path to homeownership. The mortgage process entails the granting of monies to obtain a home with good faith that the debtor will repay the loan with interest attached to life of it.

Both the debtor and lender benefit if nothing goes wrong.

Over many years, the borrower repays the loan, plus interest, until she or he owns the property free and clear. Mortgages have helped millions of people all over the world buy homes. Even if you do not have N5,000,000 cash, you can buy a N5,000,000 home using a mortgage and pay gradually over time till you defray the loan.

So, essentially, a mortgage is a loan that a lender, which could be a commercial or mortgage bank, gives to a potential homeowner to purchase a house or other real estate. Before mortgage lenders give loans, they check to see if you meet certain requirements such as your income level, your financial ability to pay back the loan. The lender can take ownership of, or foreclose on, the property you have mortgaged if you do not repay the money borrowed, plus interest.

High mortgage adoption leads to high homeownership levels. In the United States it the proportion of households that are occupied by the owners is over 65.1 percent.

In the United Kingdom, homeownership rate is above 67.69 percent and 90 percent and 84 percent in Singapore and Indonesia, respectively.

As expected, the situation is different and worrisome in Nigeria. We boast a homeownership rate of about 25 percent, which is much lower than even Kenya – 73 percent, Benin Republic – 63 percent and South Africa 56 percent.

Longer Term, Single-digit Interest Mortgages It is against this backdrop that the role of the Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria (FMBN) in boosting access to affordable housing finance is so significant. Established as a wholesale mortgage finance institution the FMBN provides primary mortgage banks with low-cost funds to provide affordable mortgages to Nigerian workers. Notable features of FMBN mortgage loans include zero equity requirements for loans less than N5 million, and 10 per cent equity down payment for loans ranging from N5 million to N15 million. Others include single digit interest rates ranging from six to nine per cent per annum and long payment tenors of up to 30 years.

FMBN’s housing products are available to contributors to the National Housing Fund (NHF) Scheme, a social savings scheme designed to mobilize long-term funds from Nigerian workers, banks, insurance companies and the government to boost access to affordable housing finance.

The Bank also has a rich and impressive portfolio of social housing products that target a key and dominant segment of the Nigerian

launched the National Cooperative Housing Scheme starting with the North Central and North Eastern geopolitical zones in Abuja and Gombe on 17th and 20th February 2020, respectively.

The FMBN CHDL enables a cooperative society that has acquired a plot of land to develop houses for allocation to its members.

Key features include tenors of up to 24 months with a moratorium of 12 months and interest rate of 10 per cent. Up to N500 million is accessible by qualified cooperative societies under the facility.

To strengthen collaboration and confidence of workers who are the main contributors to the NHF scheme, the bank approved and is currently executing a National Affordable Workers’ Housing Scheme in partnership with the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Trade Union Congress (TUC) and the Nigeria Employers Consultative Association (NECA), to deliver affordable houses for Nigerian workers. The first phase of the scheme was launched in October 2018 aimed at delivering about 1,400 units. Analysis show that a significant number of the sites are advanced levels of completion and commissioning. Upon completion, FMBN will provide mortgage loans to beneficiaries to enable them to own those houses.

Dangiwa population: low to medium income earners.

Consider the FMBN NHF Mortgage Loan and its unique structuring to serve the ordinary Nigerian worker. FMBN leverages funds from the NHF scheme to grant concessionary loans to its accredited Primary Mortgage Banks (PMBs) at a four per cent interest rate. The mortgage banks in turn use these funds to give loans to qualified workers that contribute to the NHF scheme at 6 percent interest per annum with payment tenors of up to 30 years.

Loans under N5 million attract zero equity down payment while loans ranging from N5 million-N15 million attract. Subscribers are qualified to apply after only six months of continuous contributions to the scheme. The terms and features of the NHF Mortgage loan are highly affordable and reduce the financial pressure on the meagre incomes of beneficiaries.

For comparison, interest rates on housing loans in the open market range from 18 per cent to 25 per cent per annum, while maximum loan repayment tenors hover between 10 – 20 years. Most commercial banks and mortgage lenders also require that applicants provide between 30 percent to

A combination of low wages and high cost of living give millions of Nigerians little room to save towards purchasing or building their homes.

For Nigeria to properly house its citizens, greater efforts need to be made to bolster access to affordable housing ďŹ nance to enable them to own their homes

50 percent equity contribution before loans are processed and possibly approved for disbursement.

Balancing Housing Products and Workers’ Financial Capacity Besides the NHF Mortgage Loan, FMBN has been innovating to ensure a proper match between its housing products and the financial capacity of an average Nigerian worker looking to own a home. In the past three years, under the dynamic leadership of Arc. Ahmed Dangiwa, the bank developed and introduced two creative housing products.

The first is the individual Home Construction Loan. The loan enables NHF contributors with unencumbered land, appropriate land titles and approved building plans to undertake self-construction. The loan provides up to N15 million to contributors to the NHF scheme at seven per cent interest rate. Beneficiaries can pay back over a period of up to 30-years depending on their age and number of years left in service. The second product is the FMBN Rent-To-Own Housing Scheme. The scheme offers an easy and convenient payment arrangement towards homeownership for Nigerian workers. It makes it possible for a Nigerian worker to instantly move into an FMBN-owned housing property as a tenant and conveniently pay towards ownership of the property in monthly or annual instalments over as long as 30 years at an interest rate of nine per cent.

Another equally interesting and workercentric affordable home ownership product that FMBN has upscaled significantly within the past three years is the home renovation loan. The loan provides up to N1 million to enable beneficiaries who already own their homes to carry out improvements. In the past three years alone, about 43,000 Nigerians have benefitted from this facility.

FMBN has also revamped its legacy Cooperative Housing Development Loan (CHDL) in line with the initiative of the Minister of Housing, Babatunde Raji Fashola to adopt cooperative societies as the channel for the aggregation and delivery of houses to members of cooperative societies. The Minister

Bold Policy Actions Required to Reverse Trend To reverse the housing deficit in the country, bolder and more aggressive policy actions are required by governmental authorities to strengthen both the demand side of housing in the country as well as the supply side.

This entails supporting existing institutions such as the FMBN to scale their operations for greater impact. The recent announcement by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) that it plans to inject about N500 billion into the housing sector is a right step in the right direction.

One sustainable way to guarantee judicious usage of the funds and ensure direct impact on those who really need homes in the country is leveraging the institutional framework that the FMBN already provides and increasing the capacity of the bank to give more affordable loans to Nigerian workers.

For one, the bank has the largest registry of potential homeowners in the country. As at April 2020, FMBN had recorded over five million contributors to the NHF Scheme, that the bank manages on behalf of the government.

The list of subscribers includes civil servants, workers in the private sector, self-employed persons, traders etc with comprehensive information about their income levels and financial capacity to pay back mortgage loans.

Deploying part of the CBN stimulus funds to enhance FMBNs’ ability to provide loans to subscribers to the NHF scheme will be a good start point for any housing intervention.

Housing Products that Target LowMedium Income Earners Another related point is sustainability and affordability. Interventions must be anchored on institutions and proven systems with track record of delivery and improvements over the years. FMBN has maintained a trajectory of high performance over the past three years under the Dangiwa-led management with key reforms that are gradually improving service delivery and creating historic impact. Overall, to achieve high mortgage penetration levels in the country and increase homeownership rates, especially within the low-medium income segments of the economy, there is of course the need to think outside the box giving the perennial stagnation of growth in the sector. But re-inventing the wheel is not an attractive option. A low hanging fruit is to empower strong institutions and systems that have shown capacity to deliver affordable housing to do more. FMBN presents one such platform as the CBN seeks to stimulate growth in the sector. The current board and management should, therefore, be encouraged, and its finances bolstered to enable it to create greater impact as the foremost government tool for social housing delivery. t*LZBBWF JT B QVCMJD QPMJDZ BOBMZTU CBTFE JO "CVKB

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

Chairman of Post COVID-19 Economic Team/Vice President Yemi Osinbajo left) and the Speaker of the House of Representatives Femi Gbajabiamila, during the Speaker’s visit to the Vice President in Abuja...recently

L-R: Commissioner for Health, Edo State, Dr. Patrick Okundia; Wife of the Edo State Governor, Mrs. Betsy Obaseki and Chairperson, Victim Support Fund (VSF), COVID-19 Emergency Task Fund, Mrs. Toyosi AkereleOkunsiji, during an inspection of the ongoing refurbishment of the Stella Obasanjo Hospital in Benin City... recently

Edo State Governor, Mr. Godwin Obaseki (left), and Obasogie of Benin Kingdom, Chief Eduwu Ekhator, during the inauguration of the state Community Policing Advisory Committee (SCPAC) at the Government House, Benin City‌recently

Delta State Commissioner for Information, Mr. Charles Aniagwu (left), and Secretary to the State Government, Chiedu Ebie, during a press brieďŹ ng on security situations in the state and other sundry issues in Asaba... recently

BeneďŹ ciaries of Household and homegrown school feeding progamme sponored by Federal Government through the ministry of Humanitarian in Abuja...recently

National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) Coordinator in Plateau, Caroline Embu and Divisional Police OďŹƒcer in Bukuru, Mr Umar Giade during the presentation of COVID-19 palliatives to the Police D Division in Bukuru, Jos South Local Government Area of Plateau by the corps members...recently

Deputy Director, Planning Research and Documentation, National Commission for Refugees, Migrants and Internally Displaced Persons, Mrs Mama Edet (right), presenting some items to one of the 18,891 Cameroonian refugees in the settlements in Cross River. State...recently

L-R: Company Secretary/Legal Adviser, Momas Electricity Meters Manufacturing Company (MEMMCOL), Yahaya Yahaya; Chairman, Powerline Community Development Association (CDA), Orimerunmu, Mowe, Ogun State, Pastor Obajemu Joseph and Executive Assistant to the Chairman, Momas Electricity Meters Manufacturing Company (MEMMCOL), Oluwakemi Baruwa, during the presentation of COVID -19 Palliatives to Orimerunmu Community by the company in Ogun State ..recently PHOTO: SUNDAY ADIGUN

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EDUCATION ‘Girls Can Succeed in STEM if Determined’ Rose Madaki is the first female Chairman of the Nigeria Society of Engineers. In this interview with Funmi Ogundare, she explained how girls can make it in the area of STEM, saying with determination, they could produce optimal results better than their male counterparts. She also highlighted efforts her administration took to ensure that women are well represented in the society which enhanced their exposure and learning

A

s the ďŹ rst female Chairman of Nigeria Society of Engineers (NSE), Victoria Island Branch, what were your impacts on female engineers in the country?

We created a tracker for our gender focused initiatives hence it is easy to recall specific impact areas for our primary constituency. In this regard, I can state clearly that we improved awareness for gender gap and worked assiduously to close it. We ensured that women are represented in every activity we carried out. This led to improved female representation. Under my watch, the number of females in the executive council rose from one to five. The gender ratio improved to 5:8 from a previous ratio of 1:13.

Also, under my leadership, we produced 12 NSE fellows out of whom six were women; two fellows of NiMechE, out of whom one was a woman, only one fellow of the Chemical Society of Engineers NCheE who is also a woman.

We raised our branch membership from 800 to 1,200 members from 2017 to 2019.

You were also the ďŹ rst female to become the chairman of ďŹ ve branches of Lagos zone comprising Ikeja, Lagos, Apapa, Egbin and Victoria Island branches, what were your contributions to NSE Lagos Zone?

We made substantial contributions to the fortunes of NSE Lagos Zone and raised the profile of the branch by attracting more members. In collaboration with GIZ a German-based company, we trained over 100 engineers, of which about 20 women benefitted. We held talk shows to encourage more engineers to develop interest in politics. Our talk show was aptly captioned ‘Engineers in Politics talk show’ held at NSE Lagos Secretariat. We also held an international conference and exhibition in collaboration with G5 Construction, Dubai here in Lagos, with a woman as the coordinator. It was a very good experience and served to motivate and give exposure to engineering professionals.

You were also the ďŹ rst female to become the chairperson of all Nigerian chairman constituting 78 branches of NSE, what lessons did you learn from this and what effort did you make in bringing on board more women into the society?

In NSE council during my tenure, there were only four women in the council at that time.

We ensured that all the women in the council were involved in the available committees. We also worked hard to ensure that a woman was elected as the chairman of Business and Rule Committee of NSE. This made for involvement, exposure and learning. We also motivated and supported women aspirants for the vice chairmanship of two branches. The idea is that they are positioned to become the chairperson of those branches at future dates. Their success will inspire and motivate other women to aspire to leadership positions. Under our belt, we had GIZ training of 23 engineers with 10 women trained and certified as auditor on energy management system. Some of the lessons I learnt while in this leadership as a woman in a male dominated profession were: first I love and appreciate myself as a woman that I had the opportunity to without disappointing the women fold by bringing in more women to the position of leadership. Every woman must deliberately create opportunity and avenue of growth for her fellow woman, we must be seen loving ourselves, wish us well in all our endeavours. We must not give room for divide and rule by our male counterparts.

What effort did your administration make in enabling innovation and technological advancement for the beneďŹ t of the country and members in general?

We collaborated with Ornament Engineering and authored, published and launched ICT

awarded and engineers across the country were shortlisted for the Job. We established and built strong collaboration with Bank of Industry for SME opportunity of our young engineers who need financial support, while the branch would serve as a collateral. We also partnered with Defence Institute Corporation of Nigeria for the recruitment of engineers and it is work in progress. As it is, the branch has signed an agreement with Oriental Hotel Lagos for all engineers across the country to have 10 per cent discount payment fees each time they want to use the facility. We organised job fair for Nigerian engineers where employers were invited to meet prospective employees for job engagement. About 3,457 persons across the country participated in the interview with about 15 NSE members gained employment through this exercise.

Madaki books for primary one to six scrutinised by curriculum then finally approved by Lagos State Government for use. We embarked on community development programmes where we donated some ICT books, laptop and desktop computers, computer chairs and tables, office cabinets to selected rural schools at Iwerekun Primary and Secondary Schools and Bogije Primary School, Ibeju Lekki for free. Also we donated 70 units of pupils’ chair and table to over eight classes and refurbished the broken ones in the schools as well. With the support of some our partners, we donated these ICT books to school in Ogba-Lagos, Yelwa Primary School Maiduguri, Borno State, LGEA Primary School Ankpa, Kogi State, Benue and Niger States. We also initiated a very strong Innovation team who organised vocational Skill acquisition (VoSAT) for engineers and their spouses. Some of which were solar panel installation, laptop/ phone repairs, plumbing, generator repairs, soap/detergent/perfume/bleach /liquid soap making, fascinator making, make over, gele tieing, interior dÊcor and shoe/bag making for two weeks and today the participants are making a living out of these vocational trainings. We partnered with Total PLC for job opportunity for engineers. The contract was

Engineering seems to be losing its grip especially in the rural areas, what effort did your administration make in reactivating it in schools in such areas and how would you describe the response and impact?

During my administration, there was a very serious gap identified in our educational system right from the foundational level. I had to institute career talk in secondary schools. We visited some government schools in Lekki (Maroko Junior and Senior Secondary Schools) and sensitised them on the importance of engineering activities and profession. We organised technical training on piping engineering, 3D printing training, cost engineering, among others, with facilitators invited from within and outside of the country.

We embarked on international industrial trip with Nigerian engineers to expose them to new and modern technology that could be useful to their communities. Places visited so far were Italy, in November 2018, Italy, Spain, Germany in April 2019, and Italy, France and Netherlands in November 2019. These visits really added value to the participants.

Research and Development (R&D) constitute a crucial ingredient in the search for the development of a nation, what did your administration do to galvanise this among members?

Under my leadership, I developed an engineering hub for engineering research, specifically on information technology. This quest was channelled

to the headquarters for financial support. They promised to collaborate with my leadership to expand the module to other branches. I was the first to initiate that. We partnered with Nigerian Army of Engineers for knowledge exchange (Research and Development). Training has commenced based on this collaboration.

Aside these, we created a functional SSL secure website to position the branch both locally and internationally. We have a well established and active website. We created a registration number for all Victoria Island branch members. It means every member has a registration number. We purchased and created customised emails for all EXCOs for effective communication. We published a paged mini-magazine called the ‘Island Engineers’, to showcase the branch activities which is done monthly. We also have developed a quarterly newsletter of the branch activities. We have deployed a central collaborative reporting tool for branch activities and gave opportunities for student engineers for IT placement. Also allotted a slot for an engineer to come for national youth service annually.

We organised an annual meeting with young engineers to discuss their challenges tagged ‘Young Engineers’ Forum’. The branch now has a designed prototype of a proposed VI secretariat which plan to generate funds for the development has been initiated. We have also instituted regular industrial visits to relevant engineering companies and organisations, instituted career-engineering talks to schools on quarterly basis, as well as quarterly courtesy visits and distinctive annual lecture in honour of the President of NSE, Babagana Mohammed.

What will be your advise to girls aspiring for a future in Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics (STEM)?

To educate a man is to educate an individual, but to educate a woman is to educate a nation, what that means is a woman is a nation builder.

The best country that managed COVID-19 is Taiwan and the President is a woman. She has fewer victims with fewer deaths.

There is no leadership position that a woman cannot do much better because she is known to be a good manager even by nature because she can multi-task and produce optimal result.

Engineering is not by size or gender, but by the substance in the brain. We can rule the world, yes we can, hence go and occupy.

Provost Solicits Police, DSS Support in FCET Umunze Uchechukwu Nnaike To strengthen the security framework at the Federal College of Education (Technical) Umunze, Anambra State, the Provost, Dr. Tessy Okoli, has solicited the support of security agencies in the state. She said the security of lives and property remains crucial in order to achieve the development agenda of the institution.

Okoli stated this during a recent visit of the college management to the Commissioner of Police, Anambra State, John Bassey Abang and the Director, Department of State Services (DSS), Alex Agada.

In attendance was the Chairman, Governing Council, FCET Umunze, Hon. Philips Tatari Shekwo, who was represented by the Chairman, Committee of Chairmen, Governing Council, Federal Colleges of Education in Nigeria, Hon. Tony Obi. Addressing the Commissioner of Police, the provost explained the security challenges facing the institution and expressed confidence in the command’s ability to secure lives and property.

CP Abang described the appointment of the provost as a demonstration of the gender sensitiveness of the present administration, stressing that women have proved to be good managers.

He assured the college management of the command’s readiness to work closely with the institution to prevent crime and secure lives

Anambra State Commissioner of Police, John Abang presenting a security plaque on behalf of the Command to the Provost, Federal College of Education Technical, Dr. Tessy Okoli, during the visit... recently and property. “We are here for service. Our duty is to prevent crime and secure lives and property. I maintain an open-door policy. The police station is supposed to be accessible to every citizen. We are not a restricted area. I always tell people to come to us and complain anytime they have a challenge,� he said.

He explained that when he took over office in Anambra, he discovered that cultism was the

biggest security threat in the area, adding that some of the cultists were underaged, between 15 and 16 years. He frowned at the situation where children are initiated and equipped with locally made pistols.

He called for strong advocacy in tertiary institutions in the state in the fight against cultism, adding that the State Police Command would partner with institutions in the state to rid them of cultism.

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COVID -19 UPDATE...

COVID -19 UPDATE...

Kaduna Extends Lockdown By Two Weeks John Shiklam in Kaduna The Deputy Governor of Kaduna State, Dr. Hadiza Balarabe, yesterday disclosed that the state government has extended the lockdown in the state by another two weeks.

Balarabe, who made the announcement in a broadcast to residents, said the lockdown will begin on June 1.

“After 60 days, the state government has reviewed the Quarantine Orders. The governor,

Malam Nasir El-Rufai, has approved the recommendation to extend the partial lockdown regulations for two weeks, with adjustments to permit the reopening of certain sectors.

“These measures are intended to preserve the state’s ability to protect citizens, empower citizens to lead the fight against COVID-19, and make necessary adjustments to the partial lockdown to permit the safe resumption of the pursuit of livelihoods in more sectors.

“The Kaduna State Government

is conscious of the sacrifices that citizens have made and the many challenges that remain in keeping them safe from COVID-19 “This week, the relaxation of movement will be effected on

Wednesday and Thursday.

“From Monday, 1st June 2020, the revised regulations will come into effect. Until otherwise stated, the lockdown-free days are Tuesday,

Wednesday, and Thursday.

“Temporary neighbourhood markets will continue to operate from 10am to 4pm on these three days, but citizens can move from 6am to 6pm

on these lockdown-free days.

“Informal markets are not allowed and those flouting regulations by turning streets into markets are advised to stop.

NHIS Releases Pandemic Guidelines for HMOs The National Health Insurance Scheme (NHS) has developed guidelines to tackle the spread of In a statement issued yesterday, NHIS said, as part of its response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the scheme had ensured the “immediate release of funds for payment of capitation and fee-for-service for April to June 2020 to accredited HMOs to guarantee uninterrupted access to healthcare services for enrollees”.

The scheme said, consequent upon the protocols of the Federal Government and similar directives by various state governments in order to curtail the spread of COVID-19, it had directed all NHIS accredited healthcare facilities to comply with its guidelines.

The guidelines read in part, “Ensure the safety and protection of their personnel against

COVID-19 infection. Provide timely and appropriate level of care for all NHIS enrollees as may be required. Ensure that no NHIS enrollee is denied access to care.

“Note that all NHIS and HMO call centres are open 24 hours daily to ensure issuance of authorisation codes and resolution of all other issues. Ensure prompt report to NHIS of all cases of denial of authorisation codes by HMOs. “Maintain high index of suspicion and promptly report suspected cases to Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and/or state ministries of health. NHIS will monitor the situation and may revise these guidelines as may be considered appropriate.

We encourage all NHIS accredited healthcare facilities to adhere strictly to local, state, and federal public health recommendations.”

Abe Restates Commitment to Nigeria’s Unity Peter Uzoho A former representative of the Rivers South-East senatorial district at the National Assembly, Senator Magnus Abe, has declared that he is irrevocably committed to a united and inclusive Nigeria, built by Nigerians.

Abe made the declaration yesterday in his appreciation message to family members, and friends who reached out to him on the occasion of his 55th birthday on Sunday.

In the message titled: “Fifty-Five Years, and a Memorable Day”, which was contained in a statement signed by his Spokesperson, Mr. Parry Saroh Benson, the fromer senator said great nations and cities were not created or made, but were built by the sweat, sacrifice, hard work, and cooperation of their citizens.

While comically recounting how his initial birthday plan was scuttled due to the crashing

of his cell phone and how he rose to the challenge, the senator however urged Nigerians to imbibe the habit of never giving up on the country notwithstanding the opinion of naysayers.

According to him, “the absence of my phone changed the trajectory of my day instead of being a couch potato; I became an active vibrant birthday boy. It proves that things can happen but we still have a choice. We choose how we react.

“Nigerians can do the same. No matter what happens, no matter what the naysayers say, my resolve is that we have a country and it is our responsibility to make it our own paradise on earth.

“We cannot afford to do otherwise. If we fail, it will simply be because we could not find enough believers to build Nigeria. Every other reason for failure is a lie. We should never give up on our country or give in to naysayers. If others can do it and are still working hard to build their country, so can we.”

DISTRIBUTING PALLIATIVES...

Field team of the Private Sector Coalition Against COVID-19 (CACOVID) distributing 5,000 loaves of bread and locally made face masks to Itire community in Lagos ... yesterday KUNLE OGUNFUYI

Delta, Anambra Resolve to Allow Traffic Flow on Niger Bridge David-Chyddy Eleke in Awka Delta and Anambra State governments yesterday agreed to work together to ensure free flow of traffic on River Niger bridge.

The decision was reached at a meeting between officials of governments of both states at their border at the Asaba end of the bridge Briefing journalists on the

outcome of the meeting, the Secretary to Anambra State Government, Prof. Solomon Chukwulobelu in company with his Delta State counterpart, Mr. Chiedu Ebie, said that both governments decided to work together on the enforcement of the lockdown as it concerned movement at the bridge, in the interest of the suffering masses.

He said that it was intended to

free the bridge of heavy trucks, adding that the strategy was to ensure that the integrity of the bridge was not compromised.

According to the SSG, both states resolved to push back their processing points a bit further from the bridge in order to ensure that heavy vehicles do not get stuck on the bridge.

He said that there would be exchange of personnel from

both states to ensure the integrity of the screening being conducted on human and vehicular traffic at the border post.

Chukwudebelu said: “On behalf of Anambra and Delta states’governments, we are very pleased to have met at the foot of the bridge on the Delta side this morning to see for ourselves and to hear from those who are impacted by the lockdown.

Again, Kebbi Receives 83 Almajirai Repatriated from Kano Onuminya Innocent in Kebbi Kebbi State Government last Monday received 83 additional Almajiris who were repatriated to the state by the Kano State Government.

The children, who were all hale and hearty, were received by the Chairman of the state Task Force on COVID-19, Alhaji Jafar Mohammed, on behalf of the Kebbi State Governor, Senator Abubakar Atiku Bagudu.

The chairman of the taskforce on

COVID-19 disclosed that the children hailed from seven local government areas of Birnin Kebbi, Kalgo, Dandi, Argungu, Maiyama, Jega and Yauri, while one of them was a citizen of the neighboring Niger Republic.

Muhammed said all the children would be handed over to the chairmen of their respective local government areas, who were all physically present at the event.

Similarly, he explained that the

child from Niger Republic would be taken back to his country, through the protocols laid down by the federal government.

Muhammed lauded the Kano State Government for earlier testing and isolating the children at the isolation centre in Kano.

According to him, “Happily, all the children had been declared coronavirus-free, as they had tested negative to the virus.

“They are therefore ready to be

reunited with their families as well as the general society.

“Our top most priority now is the continuation of their both Quranic and Western education, but with their own biological parents.”

The Kebbi State chairman of the task force on COVID-19, who is also the state Commissioner for Health, pledged the state government’s commitment to fully protect the fundamental human rights of the children.

Katsina Extends Lockdown Order after Eid-El-Fitr The Katsina State Government has extended the COVID-19 lockdown order in Katsina, Daura and Batagarawa which have been the most affected Local Government Areas of the state.

According to Governor Aminu Masari, the lockdown is effective from 7:00 am on Wednesday.

He announced this yesterday at the General Muhammadu Buhari Government House while highlighting the progress made so far in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic in the state.

The development comes days after the relaxation of the lockdown for Muslim faithful to

celebrate the Eid-El-Fitri Sallah festival.

Giving an update on the COVID-19 situation in the state, Governor Masari there are currently 337 active cases.

According to him, 294 of the cases are from Katsina, Daura and Batagarawa, while

the remaining 43 cases were discovered from the remaining 32 LGAs in the state that now have zero cases of the virus.

He further revealed that of the 337 cases, 18 patients have lost their lives, while 51 have recovered and been discharged.

Buhari Felicitates with Clark at 93 Bauchi Procures 350 Tricycles to Replace Banned continued to command the respect Omololu Ogunmade in Abuja and admiration of Nigerians from Commercial Motorcycles President Muhammadu Buhari different walks of life. yesterday felicitated with elder statesman and former Federal Commissioner for Information, Chief Edwin Kiagbodo Clark, on the occasion of his 93rd birthday.

Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Mr. Femi Adesina, said the president thanked God for bestowing the gift of long life and sound mind on Clark.

Adesina said the president noted that the nonagenarian had

According to him, Buhari urged the Niger Delta leader to continue to work for the cohesion and progress of the country that he had served to the best of his ability for many decades.

“The grand old man marches on, and we pray God to continue to strengthen him for the good of the country, and to serve as a beacon for all those who admire him,” the president said.

Segun Awofadeji in Bauchi

Three hundred and fifty tricycles have arrived in Bauchi State out of the 1,000 planned to be distributed to those affected by the ban on commercial motorcycle operations in the state.

The state Governor, Senator Bala Mohammed, while inspecting the tricycles yesterday, said they were bought to cushion the effect of the ban of commercial motorcycle

on the beneficiaries.

He said already, the state government had released N250 million out of the amount budgeted for the project.

Mohammed said 300 tricycles would also be distributed to members of the NURTW and NARTO as part of the government desire to ensure the advancement of transport sector in the state.

According to him,” As you are aware, we have pledged to

provide the necessary tools and ingredients for the people of our state as part of the ongoing fight against the COVID-19 pandemic to enable the citizens exercise social distancing.

“We have since stop the operations of ‘Achaba’ (commercial motorcycles), and these 350 ‘Keke Napep’ is among the 1,000 we planned for distribution to our people who were affected by the suspension. This tricycle would be

distributed under hire purchase scheme.”

The governor said the World Bank has supported the state government for the actualisation of the project as well as for women and youths empowerment.

He added: “Whatever we are doing in Bauchi is planned, and we have got support from World Bank for some sectors, and we are grateful to them.”

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Traders Count Losses as Okowa Visits Burnt Ogbeogonogo Market Omon-Julius Onabu in Asaba Delta State Governor, Dr. Ifeanyi Okowa, has commiserated with victims of the fire incident that

gutted a section of the popular Ogbeogonogo Modern Market in Asaba metropolis yesterday.

Traders were still wailing about their huge losses when

Dangote, MTN Emerge Most Admired African Brands For the third time in a row, Dangote Group has emerged as the most admired African brand, of African continent origin, paired by consumers with the telecommunications giant, MTN in a survey of 100 Africa best brands announced in a novel global virtual event that incorporated the market openings of Kenya, South Africa and Nigeria.

GTBank returns to the top spot in financial services and the United Kingdom’s BBC retains its media category ranking as the most admired media brand in separate category sub-surveys of the most admired financial services and media brands in Africa. African brands only occupy 13 of the 100 entries, seven less from last year.

Established 10 years ago, to coincide with the 2010 FIFA World Cup, the world’s biggest single sporting event, the Brand

Africa 100: Africa’s Best Brands survey and rankings have established themselves as the most authoritative survey, analysis, and metric of brands in Africa.

African brands only occupied 13 of the 100 entries, seven less from last year’s outcome.

In his reaction, Group Chief Corporate Communications Officer of the Dangote Group, Mr. Anthony Chiejina said, “to the management, the ranking was not unexpected because the company has a long standing reputation for quality, relevance compliance and social stewardship. Our mission and vision engage and inspire us to by extension connect us to with both our internal and external stakeholders.

“We fervently believe that only Africans can develop Africa, and this gives us stronger sense of relevance in all the countries where we have our operations.

the governor visited the market to ascertain the extent of the damage caused by the morning fire, promising that the state government will look into ways of assisting the traders who were affected by the fire to get back to their businesses.

The cause of the fire at the market located on the ever-busy

Nnebisi Road, which is the biggest market in the state capital, could not be ascertained as at the time of filing this report, but no life was reportedly lost in the infeno.

The fire, which reportedly started at about 7a.m., consumed a section of the market, including the livestock and tailoring materials sections.

Chickens, goats and other livestock were roasted while sewing machines, tailoring items and other goods worth millions of naira, were lost to the raging fire on a day the market is officially closed on account of the COVID-19.

Attention of members of the public was drawn the burning

section of the market following social media posts of videos and pictures of the huge flames billowing from the market, a situation that apparently attracted sympathisers and fire fighters to the scene, even as drivers made detours from the Ogbeogonogo Market area.

FLOUTING SOCIAL DISTANCING ORDER...

A cross-section of 83 Almajirai repatriated from Kano State to Kebbi State, during their arrival at Kebbi State Government House, Birnin Kebbi...yesterday YUSUF INNOCENT ONUMINYA

Wike: I‘ve Never Taken Unilateral Decision on Pandemic Fight IMF Urges Banks to “I don’t take decisions alone in down their activities because some Association, Rivers State Suspend Dividend Payment Ernest ChinwoinPortHarcourt Hotel Chapter paid him a courtesy the fight against COVID-19. All cases of COVID-19 were recorded The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has urged commercial banks to retain their earnings by suspending payment of shareholders’ dividends during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The IMF Managing Director, Kristalina Georgieva, made the call in an article entitled ‘Halt bank dividends and buybacks now,’ which was posted on the organisation’s website.

Georgieva said retaining earnings through suspension of dividend payments would provide banks with enough capital to serve as a buffer against the adverse effects of the pandemic.

She disclosed that after the 2008 global financial crisis, regulators required banks to increase their prudential buffers of high-quality capital and liquidity.

The development strengthened the resilience of the financial system.

The IMF boss said, “As we brace ourselves for a deep recession in 2020, and only partial recovery in 2021, this resilience will be tested.

“Having in place strong capital and liquidity positions to support fresh credit will be essential.

“One of the steps needed to reinforce bank buffers is retaining earnings from ongoing operations.”

Pointing out that the resources available to banks were substantial, she disclosed that the IMF staff calculated that ‘the 30 global systemically important’ banks distributed about $250bn in dividends and share buybacks in 2019.

Mass Support from Music Stars as AU, AFRIMA Fight Pandemic The commemoration of the 2020 Africa Day organised by the African Union, AU in partnership with All Africa Music Awards, AFRIMAheld on Monday, May 25 as a virtual live Solidarity Concert for the African Union COVID-19 Response Fund drawing participation and performances from diverse African music talents across the continent and the diaspora.

Broadcast on multiple electronic and digital media channels in Africa, the Concert, staged under the theme: “Health Security in the Context of COVID-19” and featuring electrifying and inspiring live performances from more than 20 African music superstars, also conveyed motivating messages to viewers using the tag #StrongerTogether #StrongerthanCovid.

The concert opened with the official anthem of the African Union, followed by addresses by the African Union Chairperson, His Excellency, Moussa Faki Mahamat, Commissioner for Social Affairs, African Union Commission, Her Excellency, Mrs. Amira El Fadil during which they appealed for donations in cash or in kind to the Africa COVID-19 Response Fund to aid the AU’s fight against the CoronaVirus. Other speakers included the Director, Africa Centre for Disease Control, Dr. John Nkengasong; the President & Executive Producer of All Africa Music Awards, AFRIMA, Mike Dada and the African Union Youth Envoy, Ms. Aya Chebbi who respectively reiterated the importance of collective action and donations to defeat the COVID-19 pandemic in Africa.

Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, has stated that the State Security Council takes all decisions in the prosecution of the fight against COVID-19 pandemic in the state.

He has also announced the relaxation of the lockdown of Port Harcourt and Obio/Akpor Local Government Areas.

Speaking yesterday when the executive of the Nigeria

visit at Government House, Port Harcourt, Wike stated that he has never taken any unilateral decision.

He said all decisions taken by the state government were for the overall good and interest of the Rivers people as no right thinking government would deliberately take decisions that would negatively affect the lives of the people.

decisions are taken by the State Security Council and they are for the overall interest of Rivers people.

“You know people applaud government decisions when it suits them but when it does not favour them they say it is politically motivated.

“Rivers State Government does not have anything against hoteliers in the state, but decided to shut

in hotels,” he stated.

He blamed the hoteliers for failing to assist government in providing relevant information regarding those that test positive for the coronavirus in their hotels.

Earlier, the State Chairman, Nigeria Hotel Association, Mr. Eugene Nwauzi commended Wike for leading the fight against coronavirus in the country.

MURIC Seeks Removal of Govs Who Allowed Congregational Eid Prayers Following the violation of the social distancing order in some northern states during the celebration of Sallah, the Director of Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC), Prof. Ishaq Akintola has stated that the governors who allowed congregational Eid prayers committed impeachable offences.

Akintola said in a statement that the actions of the governors ran contrary to directives by the federal government, Jama’atu Nasril Islam (JNI) and the Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA).

He asked lawmakers of the states to “do the needful

as the governors committed impeachable offences”.

“It is a shame that governors can play to the gallery even when it has to do with human life. This is not Islam. It is articulated religiousity,” Akintola said.

“There must be consequences when people in positions of authority gamble with the lives of their citizens. This singular action has put the whole country in danger and we only have to wait for the next two weeks as the virus incubates for us to know the impact of the governors’ intransigence.

“This is how not to worship Allah. Neither is it about the right to celebrate a festival. MURIC as a human rights body will not defend the indefensible. Islam is a religion of justice. Therefore we will not bend the rules or change the goal post after the game has already started just because Muslim governors are involved this time around.

“The fact that we vowed to promote Allah-given fundamental human rights of Muslims does not mean that we would look away when Muslims do the wrong thing.

Afterall we were all here when

Christians marked Easter without fanfare, pomp and pageantry.

So why can’t we as Muslims control ourselves?

“We have not seen the end of this incident if we have conscious lawmakers in the state assemblies. Any lawmaker worth his salt will know that the action of the erring governors stand in contra-distinction to the provisions of Article 14 Section 2(b) of the1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria which stipulates that the security and welfare of the people shall be the primary purpose of government.

APC will Not Participate in Cross River LG Election, Says Chairman Bassey Inyang in Calabar The All Progressives Congress (APC) has stated that the party will not participate in the Cross River State local government elections slated for May 30, 2020.

The state chapter of the APC made the disclosure in a statement signed by the state Chairman of the party, Mr. John Ochala.

The Cross River State Independent Electoral Commission (CROSIEC), through a ‘notice of

polls’ signed on May 22, 2020, by its Chairman, Dr. Mike Ushie, had announced that the local government elections which was postponed from March 28 will now hold on May 28.

However, the APC has faulted the processes adopted by the CROSIEC in announcing a new date for the elections, describing it as ridiculous and irresponsible.

The APC said at the moment, its interest remains the pursuit of its case in court against the CROSIEC

and the state government for what it described as their subversion of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and other relevant laws that govern the conduct of local government elections in the country and the state.

The statement entitled: ‘Conduct of Local Government Elections in Cross River State’, read in part: “The CROSIEC has fixed May 30, 2020, for the conduct of elections for councillors and chairmen/vice

chairmen for local government areas in the state.

“Ab initio, the processes leading to the conduct of this election have been fraught with gross irregularities and deliberate subversion of basic constitutional requirements guiding the conduct of the election.

“Giving a two to three-day notice for the conduct of an election of this magnitude is not only ridiculous but very irresponsible.

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39

WEDNESDAYSPORTS

Group Sports Editor Duro Ikhazuagbe Email duro.ikhazuagbe@thisdaylive.com 0811 181 3083 SMS ONLY

LMC May Adopt Super 6 to Conclude 2019/20 NPFL Season Duro Ikhazuagbe

There are strong indications that the 2019/2020 Nigerian Professional Football League (NPFL) may be concluded with a Super 6 play off in Benin City any time the Federal Government decides for sports to return.

Six teams, namely Plateau United, Enyimba, Rivers United, Lobi Stars Rangers and Kano Pillars are believed to have been selected for the Super 6 based on the points-per- game calculation system.

It was the same system that was adopted in France, Scotland and all other places around the world where their leagues have either been cancelled or slated for similar play offs.

Although there is no official confirmation on this format to conclude the topflight domestic league from the League Management Company (LMC), a club chairman who spoke with THISDAY on condition of anonymity admitted to have been informed of the plan.

Former Chairman of Lagosbased MFM FC, Godwin Enakhena also spoke about this play off in Benin to complete the season during his sports programme on Top Radio FM yesterday morning.

The winner and the runner up of the Super 6 will represent the country in next CAF Champions League while Kano Pillars and Niger Tornadoes are reported to have been selected to repeat their continental tickets of representing Nigeria in the Confederation Cup. Tornadoes that performed woefully in their campaign in the continent last term are no longer the topflight after their relegation to the lower division in the 2018/2019 season.

However, Chairman of the LMC, Shehu Dikko who was guest on Channel Television sports programme on Monday did not speak on which of the four options available to the league organizers to conclude the season.

He was however emphatic that the lower division league, including the Women’s topflight, may have to wait till later in the year to restart afresh. “We have been in discussion with the NFF and every body involved.

We have looked at possibility of what is going to happen to all those (lower) leagues based on this (Covid-19) circumstances. “You can see even most of the developed countries are more focused on finishing the elite leagues because of the finances involved. “May be at the end of the day the decision will be whether to have a fresh start (of the lower leagues)and see if they can move ahead to the next season based on circumstances on ground, pending when the country will be opened up. “That is our conversation which is on the table of the NFF to be decided by the federation.�

Dikko was emphatic that

“The Women League has not started, the NLO has not started, the NNL has just started with few games. Having fresh logistics, fresh funds injection and we are

considering having a fresh start of those leagues at this time is not 100% sure, Most countries have canceled the lower leagues and looking at possibility of

pushing the elite league to the end,� concludes the LMC Chairman who also doubles as the Second Vice President of the NFF.

Bayern Munich players celebrating their 1-0 defeat of Borussia Dortmund...yesterday

Bayern Beat Dortmund to Close in on Retaining Bundesliga Title

Shehu Dikko...LMC Chairman

Man Utd, Shanghai ‘In Dialogue’ to Extend Ighalo’s Loan Deal Manchester United are “in dialogue� with Shanghai Shenhua to extend the loan deal of striker Odion Ighalo, says manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.

Ighalo, 30, joined United in January and will return to China on 31 May unless an agreement can be reached to keep him until the end of the season. “At the moment nothing’s been agreed yet,� Solskjaer told MUTV. Meanwhile, Marcus Rashford and Paul Pogba will be available for selection when the Premier League season resumes.

Striker Rashford and midfielder Pogba were both out with long-term injuries when the campaign was suspended because of the coronavirus pandemic in March.

Both players returned to small group training with the rest of the United squad last week. “They’re looking good,� said Solskjaer. “They’ve joined training now and they’ve done

Nigeria cannot be different from many other countries that have canceled their lower leagues but concentrated only on concluding the elite leagues.

everything the other boys have been doing. No reaction so far, touch wood. “When we get started, it looks like we can have a full squad to choose from.�

England international Rashford had been out with a back injury since January while France’s Pogba had missed most of the season with a foot problem.

Former Watford striker Ighalo was brought in as cover for Rashford on transfer deadline day in January and has impressed by scoring four goals in eight appearances.

Solskjaer added: “The loan deal went to the end of May now, so obviously he’s supposed to be going back. “We’re in dialogue and hopefully [he can stay].

They’ve been great towards us, his club, and allow him to play for his dream club. “It’s been been a dream for him and hopefully he can finish off what he started, maybe with a trophy or two. “Their league is going to start soon so we are just waiting to see.�

Leaders Bayern Munich took a big step to retaining their Bundesliga title on Tuesday evening by winning away from home at second-placed Borussia Dortmund.

Joshua Kimmich’s wonderful chip from 20 yards gave Bayern the lead just before half-time after both sides had efforts cleared off the line.

Dortmund brought on England’s Jadon Sancho in the second half, but he could not inspire a fightback from his side.

Bayern’s win puts them seven points clear of Dortmund with six games left.

Robert Lewandowski nearly doubled Bayern’s advantage late on but shot against the

post. Minutes later, he and the rest of the Bayern players were celebrating what could prove to be a big three points in the title race.

Before the game the buildup focused on Lewandowski and Dortmund’s Erling Braut Haaland, with both strikers having scored 41 goals in 35 domestic games this season

- putting them level as top goalscorers in Europe.

Haaland nearly got his 42nd domestic goal of the campaign inside the opening 35 seconds when he shot through the legs of Bayern goalkeeper Manuel Neuer - making his 400th Bundesliga appearance - but Jerome Boateng was well placed to hack the ball off the line.

Amokachi Donates Food Items to Kaduna Residents Nigerian Football Ambassador and Former Super Eagles forward, Daniel Amokachi, has brought smiles to faces of thousands of residents of Kaduna by distributing food items and other provisions to wade off the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The distribution which was done under the aegis of the Amokachi Foundation, saw more than 1,100 families given packs of food items and provisions.

According to the Former Everton of England marksman, “This is my little contribution to help the needy in this Covid-19 period. I normally do this between four and five times in a year to assist people who are in need. “I consider it a special honour and priviledge by God to assist the less priviledged in our society.

I will continue to do this as long as God grants me the grace,� stressed the Atlanta ‘96 gold

medalist with the Nigerian Under-23 Dream Team. ‘The Bull’ as Amokachi is fondly called by fans, further said that the gesture was extended to both male and female, but mostly to women since ‘mothers are responsible for the catering of the family.’ The distribution was done round the Kaduna metropolis in an orderly manner.

The beneficiaries thanked

Amokachi for the gesture, declaring it as timely and special.

Amokachi has cult followership in Kaduna where he was born. He cut his football teeth with local club Ranchers Bees of Kaduna before blossoming into stardom with the Super Eagles, playing in two World Cups in 1994 and 1998.

He was an influential member of Nigeria’s gold winning Atlanta 1996 Olympics team.

Nigerian Nightmare, Kamaru Usman, Blasts McGregor ahead of Challenge Nigerian born USA-based Kamaru Usman has stoked the fires ahead of a potential fight with Conor McGregor, claiming it would be so one-sided that he would be able to ‘s**g’ the Irishman if he wanted.

Talks surrounding a showdown between the two have intensified over the past week despite the significant weight difference between the reigning 170 pound champion

and former featherweight title holder McGregor.

With No 1 welterweight contender Jorge Masvidal seemingly more interested in a rematch with Nate Diaz, Usman’s manager Ali Abdelaziz challenged the Notorious on Twitter on Monday.

Abdelaziz tweeted: ‘It looks like #1 contender wants to fight Nate Diaz now. Good for him.

Conor McGregor hey you want

a title shot? Come to daddy, Usman will give you one and he promise first two rounds without takedowns only slaps.’ And now Usman himself has had his say on the proposed match-up, tweeting: ‘I really don’t understand why you all want this man DEAD!!! I’d s**g him in there and he’d ‘DO NOTHIN’ FOH.’ The majority of fans agree that Usman would be able to have

his way with McGregor in the octagon, with the Nigerian’s size and wrestling skills making him a nightmare opponent.

McGregor, also a former lightweight champion, has fought twice at welterweight, most recently dispatching Donald Cerrone in 40 seconds in January.

A victory over Usman would see him make history by claiming a UFC title in a third division.

Osimhen Set for Napoli Switch There are reports in Italy and France that Nigeria and Lille forward, Victor Osimhen has agreed personal terms with Serie A giants Napoli.

Italian media, namely Footmercato, Telefoot and Sport

Mediaset claimed last night that Osimhen who is in Nigeria to mourn his father who died last Saturday has made Napoli his primary objective and worked out personal terms with Director of Sport Cristiano Giuntoli.

Although Lille are asking for â‚Ź80m, similar to the Nicolas Pepe sale to Arsenal a year ago, transfer market sources insisted that the more realistic price-tag for Osimhen is in the region of â‚Ź55m.

The Nigeria international was snapped up from Charleroi last summer for â‚Ź12m and made a big impact in France.

He scored 18 goals with six assists in 38 competitive games for Lille.

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Wednesday May 27, 2020

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Price: N250

MISSILE PDP to FG

“Nigerians can now see how vulnerable our nation has become and why it is extremely difficult for our country to witness any progress under the Buhari presidency, which has also ruined all the gains achieved under the PDP. Indeed, no nation can achieve meaningful development under a rancorous and shambolic federal executive council as currently constituted” – PDP lambasting the President Muhammadu Buhari-led Federal Executive Council for becoming too quarrelsome, disorganised and chaotic.

SEGUNSENBANJO GUEST COLUMNIST

Abiodun’s Great Strides in One Year

W

hen my friend, Dr. Dapo Abiodun, told me he wanted to stand for office as Governor of Ogun State I have to admit I was very concerned and said as much to him. I didn’t understand why someone who had achieved his level of success in the oil and gas industry would want to move into politics. Anyone who was familiar with the Ogun State political landscape at the time knew that he had a very difficult fight ahead of him. Almost two years later, I have to doff my hat to Governor Dapo Abiodun.

As I had envisaged at the start, the road to the governorship was indeed a difficult and rocky one but in hindsight, I am pleased that he embarked upon it. Some would say that the fact that he was sworn in as governor on his birthday speaks to the fact that he was destined for the role. Unsurprisingly, when I expressed my concerns about his political ambitions to him he stood his ground firm based on his strong conviction on the role he believed he could play in the development of his beloved Ogun State. I now take it as a lesson to us all that where the vision is compelling, the fight is undoubtedly worth it.

A year after being sworn into office, I am very pleased to see that the drive and the determination that took Abiodun into office is slowly bringing transformation to Ogun State. As we all know from bitter experience, getting into office is one thing; executing on promises, however, is quite another matter.

A key pillar to Abiodun’s transformation strategy is Ogun State’s proximity to Lagos State, the economic capital of the country. Due to the gradual urban sprawl, there are areas of Ogun state already wrongly seen as being part of Lagos State. Instead of sulking, the governor is seeking to capitalise on this by working to position Ogun State as a second economic hub. The five-year Ogun State Economic Transformation Project (OGSTEP) developed by the governor and his team is a comprehensive effort that is designed to propel the state into a high-income one that is both inclusive and sustainable.

The programme is expected to lift Ogun State’s gross national income and raise per capita income, meeting the World Bank’s threshold for high income states. A key anchor of OGSTEP is to foster greater private sector participation in the State’s economy with a particular focus on improving the business-enabling environment, strengthening agri-food value-chains and upgrading the skills development and capacity building sectors.

I strongly believe that the current COVID-19 pandemic has brought to the fore the fact that “government alone cannot do it.” The only way that Nigeria as a whole, and Ogun State specifically, will make the necessary progress is for government, private sector and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) to work collaboratively together to drive things forward. With this in mind, the intention is that OGSTEP will also be used to implement reforms to the public sector in order to facilitate the smooth implementation of the state’s social and economic plans.

OGSTEP is still in its implementation

Abiodun

phase (full-blown project implementation is expected to commence in October 2020) but it’s clear that the governor and his team have already started making good progress on the key focus areas - infrastructure, social development, education, youth empowerment & employment, and agriculture.

On the infrastructure front, the Ogun State government has commenced the construction of some major state roads; the roads from Owode to Idiroko, Osi Otta to Ikola, and Ijebu-Ode to Epe, to name a few. Also, given the importance it holds to the state’s economy, it has also undertaken palliative repair works along the Lagos-Sango-Abeokuta dual carriageway. Given his stated strategy of benefiting from the state’s proximity to Lagos, it only makes sense that there is easy access between the two capital cities.

Still on infrastructure, the government has also successfully restored portable water supply by the Water Corporation to Abeokuta and 14 other communities, including Ikenne.

This effort has added 7,000 more homes to the state’s water supply system. I think this is particularly timely given the current pandemic. We’ve all heard so much about the importance of hand-washing to reduce

the spread of the pandemic but this becomes “grammar” when people have no access to water. The state still has a way to go to achieve 100% water connectivity but this has definitely been a big step in the right direction.

The second key focus area of social development is a hydra-headed beast; one that cannot be tackled in just a year.

Again, for me, the key thing is ensuring that the state is on the right trajectory; not just showing intent but actually beginning to take concrete steps to address the myriad of issues.

First and foremost, especially at a time like this, we must look at healthcare. In the recent past, the governor has installed a molecular lab at Olabisi Onabanjo University Teaching Hospital (OOUTH) as well as commissioning five well-equipped isolation centres in the state. I hope to God that not all the isolation centres will end up being required but this is definitely one area where it is better to be safe than sorry. I read a quote mid-March as the pandemic started spreading aggressively across the globe that, “Only time will tell whether you over-reacted or under-reacted but better to find you did the former than the latter.” With this in mind, Abiodun also increased the payment to health workers by 200%, and provided a special risk allowance and life insurance for personnel treating COVID-19 patients.

To bolster the fight against the pandemic, qualified private hospitals have also been identified and enrolled as incident centres to widen the coverage of COVID-19 support at this time. On the side of the populace, the government has been donating protection masks and distributing palliatives to the people to reduce the risk of contagion and to alleviate the suffering caused by the pandemic.

From a security standpoint, the governor has procured 100 ‘4X4’ patrol vehicles and 200 motorcycles to aid the security officers in their work. The reality is that there can be no serious policing without mobility. We all know someone (even if not our own personal experience) who has called out the

A year into his tenure as the executive governor of Ogun State, I am pleased with my dear friend, Governor Abiodun, because not only did he succeed in winning the hearts and minds of his Ogun State brothers and sisters, he is also making good progress in transforming their lives.

My prayer for him is that just as he has achieved great success in his first year, may God grant him the wisdom and strength to continue to do right by his people

emergency services only to be left waiting for an inordinate amount of time as they make their way to the incident location.

Thankfully that narrative is slowly changing in Ogun State.

In response to the highly contentious farmer/herdsman issue, the state has inaugurated cattle herders and farmers’ conflict resolution and peacekeeping committee.

This rightly moves the conversation away from the usual blame game, to resolving the arising issues on both a holistic and a case by case basis.

Regarding education, Abiodun and his team have also successfully rehabilitated 236 schools over the year - one school per ward, across the state. Given the current social distancing realities, the state has also collaborated with Microsoft to design a remote learning system for its education sector, Ogun Digital Classroom, for primary and secondary schools on OGTV, DSTV and GoTV from Mondays to Fridays. We are all fast reaching the conclusion that aside from the loss of lives, one of the saddest outcomes of the pandemic is the significantly increased number of out-of-school children.

Rather than whining about the situation, we need to focus on developing practical and sustainable solutions to the problem.

As a step towards addressing the lingering unemployment issue (which we all know eventually leads to a security issue), the governor approved the absorption of over 1,000 Administrative Staff College of Nigeria (ASCON) 2018 entrants into the civil service and the payment of nine months’ salary arrears. The state also successfully negotiated a new minimum wage with minimal contention; no mean feat. In addition, the state has undertaken a series of youth empowerment programmes including a graduate unemployment youth scheme and the distribution of palliatives.

Last, but by no means least, is the governor’s work in the agricultural sector. I for one have read with increasing concern, several articles about food security over the last few weeks. With everything going on in Nigeria in particular, and the world as a whole, the country can simply not afford a food security crisis. The human and economic cost is unthinkable. It was, therefore, a huge relief to learn of the various programmes that the state has undertaken in the agriculture sector in the last year. The initiatives include the commissioning of Ogun State Agricultural Technology and Innovation Centre, the facilitation and distribution of funding and inputs to 3,500 cassava farmers, and putting frameworks in place to attract private sector investment to the sector, amongst others.

So a year into his tenure as the executive governor of Ogun State, I am pleased with my dear friend, Governor Abiodun, because not only did he succeed in winning the hearts and minds of his Ogun State brothers and sisters, he is also making good progress in transforming their lives. My prayer for him is that just as he has achieved great success in his first year, may God grant him the wisdom and strength to continue to do right by his people. t4FOCBOKP XSJUFT GSPN *KFCV 0EF

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