THURSDAY 21ST NOVEMBER 2019

CBN Report: Nigeria Recorded $10.89bn Forex Inflow in October Obinna Chima The aggregate foreign exchange (forex) inflow into the Nigerian economy amounted to $10.89 billion in October, according to data from Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). The amount, according to

the central bank’s economic report for October obtained yesterday, showed a decline of 0.9 per cent below the level at the end of the preceding month. It, however, was an increase of 48.4 per cent relative to the level at the end of the

corresponding period last year. The report attributed the marginal decline to the 1.1 per cent and 0.7 per cent fall in inflow through the bank and autonomous sources respectively. On the other hand, it stated that aggregate foreign

exchange outflow from the economy, at $5.14 billion, fell by 10.3 per cent and 1.9 per cent, below the levels in the preceding month and the corresponding period of 2018 respectively. The development was attributed mainly to the 12.1

per cent decline in outflow through the bank. “Accordingly, foreign exchange flows through the economy, resulted in a net inflow of $5.75 billion in the review period, compared with $5.25 billion and $2.10 billion at end-September

2019 and end-October 2018, respectively,” it explained. The report showed that aggregate foreign exchange inflow into the CBN, at $4.10 billion, declined by 1.1 per cent, below the level in the Continued on page 8

Buhari: Jonathan’s Sacrifices for Democracy will Inspire Future Generations... Page 6 Thursday 21 November, 2019 Vol 24. No 8991. Price: N250

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FG Rejigs Strategy, Moves to Quash P&ID Contract, $9.6bn Award To file more suits against company, accomplices Calls first witness in suspected accomplice’s trial Iyobosa Uwugiaren and Alex Enumah in Abuja The federal government has taken fresh steps to set aside the entire $9.6 billion arbitral award a British arbitration panel granted a British Islands company, Process

and Industrial Developments Limited (P&ID), over Nigeria’s alleged breach of a Gas Supply and Processing Agreement (GSPA) with the company. Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mr. Abubakar Malami (SAN), said yesterday that

the government, which had started implementing the new strategy to free Nigeria from the contractual obligations that it had insisted was fraudulently secured by the company, was pursuing with dogged determination its desire to get the court to

quash the GSPA. Under the GSPA between P&ID and the federal government consummated in 2010, Nigeria was to supply wet gas up to 400 million standard cubic feet per day to a gas processing plant P&ID was supposed to

build in Cross River State, for the generation of electricity for the country. However, the alleged breach by Nigeria to supply the gas triggered a legal battle between the company and the country, leading to the hefty fine against Nigeria.

Malami, in a statement by his spokesman, Dr. Umar Gwandu, in Abuja, said part of the reviewed strategy included the beefing up Nigeria’s legal team with lawyers who have Continued on page 8

Hold Executive Responsible for Failed Constituency Projects, House Tells Buhari Explains 50% of funds released Says ICPC report breaches legislative privilege Deji Elumoye and Adedayo Akinwale in Abuja The House of Representatives yesterday replied President Muhammadu Buhari on his statement that Nigeria wasted N1 trillion on funding of constituency projects in the last 10 years without commensurate trickle-down effect on the generality of Nigerians. It said contrary to the figure cited by the president, which he extracted from a report on constituency projects following an investigation by the

Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), that only 50 per cent of the appropriated N1 trillion, amounting to N500 billion, was actually released to fund the projects backed by the lawmakers within the period. Besides, it said, the projects were executed by agencies of the executive in whose departments the funds were domiciled. Unlike the House of Representatives, which Continued on page 8

NO TO VIOLENCE... L-R: Peoples Democratic Party Senate Caucus members, Senator Matthew Orogide, Senator Philip Aduda (Minority Whip), Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe (Minority Leader), and Senator Sahabi Yau (Deputy Minority Whip), during a press briefing to condemn killing of PDP woman leader in Kogi State in Abuja…yesterday julius atoi

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

Despite Public Outcry, Social Media Bill Scales Second Reading in Senate Deji Elumoye in Abuja A bill to regulate the use of social media in Nigeria, entitled, Protection from Internet Falsehood and Manipulations Bill, 2019 (SB.132), yesterday scaled second reading in the Senate, despite the public outcry that greeted its introduction. The bill was, therefore, referred to the Senator Opeyemi Bamidele, All Progressives Congress (APC), Ekiti Central-led Committee on Judiciary, Human Rights and Legal Matters to report back at the plenary in four weeks. The bill, according to its sponsor, Senator Mohammed Musa, in his lead debate, proposes a framework and system of regulation, control and conduct on the use of the internet and various social platforms in the transmission of information in Nigeria. He said: “The bill is not an attempt to stifle free speech or dissenting views; it is rather an opportunity to address a growing threat which, if left unchecked, can cause serious damage in our polity and disrupt peaceful coexistence.� He stated that much as the internet has numerous benefits, it is also used to manipulate information and spread falsehoods.

The sponsor said state and non-state actors engaged in geopolitical interests and identity politics, use internet falsehood to discredit governments, misinform people and turn one group against another. “Individuals and groups influenced by ideologies and deep-seated prejudices in different countries use internet falsehoods to surreptitiously promote their causes,� he added. He stated that while the phenomenon of internet falsehood and manipulation is a serious global challenge, countries like Singapore have taken measures to curb the proliferation of fake news and disinformation with the passage into law of the Proliferation from Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Act 2019. Contributing to the debate, Senators Abba Moro and Elisha Abbo, while supporting the bill, described its introduction as timely, adding that the fallout of fake news can consume the country if not curbed. But Dr. Chimaroke Nnamani, who spoke against the bill, was, however, cut short by a point of order raised by Senator Bala ibn Na’Allah who quoted the provision of Section 39(1)(3) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended), to justify the introduction of the

bill by the Senate. Section 39(1) of the 1999 Constitution provides that "Every person shall be entitled to freedom of expression, including freedom to hold opinions and to receive and impart information without interference." Na’allah’s point of order was sustained by the President of the Senate, Dr. Ahmad Lawan. The bill, which was overwhelmingly supported by senators after a voice vote called by Lawan, was referred to the Senate Committee on Judiciary, Human Rights and Legal Matters for further legislative input and is to report back to plenary in four weeks. The Senate had on November 6 passed the bill which stipulates a maximum penalty of three years jail term for offenders for first reading. The provisions of the bill include penalties like “if

anyone runs foul of the law, he coughs up between N150,000 to a maximum imprisonment of three years or both. And if it is a corporate organisation that refused to block that false information despite the fact that they have been alerted by authorities not to disseminate that information for public interest and they still go ahead to do it, refusing to do that blockage will be penalised between N5 million to N10 million for those organisations. A similar anti-social media bill introduced by the Eighth Senate, sparked outrage across the country, and was later withdrawn. The old bill titled: “A Bill for an Act to Prohibit Frivolous Petitions and other Matters Connected therewith� was sponsored by the then Deputy Senate Leader, Senator Bala ibn Na’Allah, and sought to compel critics

to accompany their petitions with sworn court affidavit, or face six months imprisonment upon conviction. The Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) had earlier cautioned the federal government on its plan to regulate social media. NUJ’s position came after the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, challenged the NUJ to lead the campaign to rid the social media of fake news and hate speech by supporting the social media bill. Receiving the national executive of the NUJ led by its President, Chris Isiguzo, on a courtesy visit to his office on Monday, the minister said it was in the interest of the NUJ and other media professional bodies to be in the vanguard of the campaign. �As a matter of fact, the NUJ and other media professional

bodies should take the lead in sanitising the social media space, because they will be the first victim when the people lose confidence in the media due to the reckless actions of non-journalists and purveyors of fake news and hate speech,� he said. But Isiguzo cautioned against further destruction of the gains the nation had recorded in the quest for true progress and development, decrying the recurring impunity that has threatened the safety of journalists and journalism profession. “The safety of journalists is deteriorating. Safety implies freedom from danger, and in the newsgathering context, safety implies protection from a range of threats journalists encounter, including arrest, imprisonment, kidnapping, intimidation, murder among other others,� the NUJ boss said.

PDP: We Will Challenge the Outcome of Bayelsa, Kogi Gov Elections in Court Says no issue with Jonathan Chuks Okocha in Abuja The National Working Committee (NWC) of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) yesterday said it would challenge the outcome of last Saturday’s governorship elections in Bayelsa and Kogi States in court. The party’s candidates, Senator Duoye Diri (Bayelsa) and Mr. Musa Wada (Kogi) lost to All Progressives Congress’ (APC) Mr. David Lyon and Governor Yahaya Bello in an election widely reported to have been marred by widespread violence and electoral malpractices. The party also refuted speculations that it had issues with former president, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan, over the loss in Bayelsa. Speaking on the outcome of the NWC meeting, the National Publicity Secretary, Mr. Kola Ologbondiyan, said: "We deliberated on the elections in Kogi and Bayelsa States and the highest level of the party lead by the national chairman, will formally address the world. "We have not done a post mortem of the election, we have only weighed the circumstances that surrounded the election. We have also looked at the global condemnation of the elections as held on Saturday. “We have reviewed the role of INEC and the role played by security agencies. Formally the party will come up with a position. But whether we have

done anything internally within the party, we have not gotten there. "We have taken the decision of going to court even long before but beyond that we are going to take other measures which the national chairman will address tomorrow." On speculations that some chieftains of the party in Bayelsa state wanted Jonathan sanctioned for his perceived role in the election, Ologbondiyan said the matter was not discussed. "The issue of President Goodluck Jonathan did not come up at this meeting and it was not discussed,� he said, adding: “You must know about the procedure and processes in our party. If we do not have a report or an issue before us, we cannot delve into it. As we speak now, we do not have any matter concerning President Jonathan before the party". On perceived pressure on the National Chairman, Prince Uche Secondus, the PDP spokesperson said: "The National Chairman is not under any pressure except the fact that we believe that democracy is gradually being killed by this government and we believe that as the main opposition party we have a responsibility to salvage democracy. That is the main issue concerning the national chairman, it is not correct. Talking about division within the NWC, all of us are here. Virtually everybody was here and we discussed freely."

MINISTERS ON DUTY... L-R: Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed; National Security Adviser, Maj. Gen. Babagana Monguno (rtd); and Minister of Defence, Brig. Gen. Bashir Magashi (rtd), during the Federal Executive Council meeting in Abuja...yesterday

Electoral Act Amendment Bill Passes Second Reading in Senate Deji Elumoye in Abuja The Electoral Act Amendment Bill 2019, sponsored by Deputy Senate President, Senator Ovie Omo-Agege, yesterday passed through second reading. The bill, which has 26 clauses and co-sponsored by Senator Abubakar Kyari, seeks to amend the Electoral Act to strengthen and protect Nigeria’s democracy, as well as cure specific mischiefs plaguing the nation's elections and electoral processes. A key aspect of the bill is its provision for electronic voting as section 52(2) of the bill, which seeks to introduce a new subsection reads: “The commission may adopt electronic voting or any other method of voting in any election it conducts as it may deem fit." Leading the debate on the bill, Omo-Agege said though the process under the Eighth Senate was fraught with mutual suspicions and bitterness, electoral reform for the Ninth National Assembly remains a priority in its legislative agenda. He added that the bill to amend the Electoral Act seeks to enact a new Section 87 on

the Nomination of Candidates by Parties for Elections by prescribing maximum fees payable by aspirants and restricting nomination criteria strictly to relevant provisions. The bill, according to him, also seeks to make clarification under Section 38(1)(a) of the principal Act which states that “a person shall be deemed to be qualified for an elective office and his election shall not be questioned on grounds of qualification if, with respect to the particular election in question, he meets the applicable requirements of Sections 65, 107, 137 or 182 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999.� "In compliance with Order 77(3) of our Standing Rules, I state that this bill has no financial implications. Accordingly, there is no accompanying financial compendium. For the greater good of this great republic, I hereby humbly move for the second reading of this bill to be taken." Contributing to the debate, Senator Ibikunle Amosun noted that improving on the nation’s electoral experience required serious amendments to the

electoral law. The bill also compelled INEC to operate an electronic database into which all results in an election should be transmitted. It also stipulates that data of accredited voters must be transmitted to the central data base upon the conclusion of the accreditation of voters, which would be done through the use of the card reader. “At the end of accreditation of voters, the presiding officer shall transmit the voter accreditation data by secure mobile electronic communication to the central database of the commission kept at the national headquarters of the commission. “Any presiding officer who contravenes this provision shall be liable, on conviction, to a minimum of imprisonment of at least five years without an option of fine,� the bill also stipulates. It prevents INEC from shutting down the central data base until all petitions arising from the elections are determined by a tribunal or court. “In respect of data of accreditation of voters, including polling unit results, for an election, the commission shall not shut

down its central database kept at its national headquarters until all election petitions and appeals pertaining to that election are heard and determined by a tribunal or court.� Senate President, Dr. Ahmad Lawan, after the general debate on the bill, referred it to the Senate Committee on INEC headed by Senator Kabiru Gaya for further legislative work within one week. The Eighth National Assembly had attempted to amend the law but failed to get the presidential approval at the end of the day. President Muhammadu Buhari, had while refusing to sign the bill, said: “I am declining assent to the bill principally because I am concerned that passing a new electoral bill this far into the electoral process for the 2019 general election, which commenced under the 2015 Electoral Act, could create some uncertainty about the applicable legislation to govern the process. “Any real or apparent change to the rules this close to the election may provide an opportunity for disruption and confusion in respect of which law governs the electoral process,� the president had explained.

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Buhari: Jonathan’s Sacrifices for Democracy will Inspire Future Generations Atiku, Gbajabiamila, Wike, others eulogise former president Chuks Okocha, Olawale Ajimotokan, Adedayo Akinwale in Abuja and Ernest Chinwo in Port Harcourt Tributes poured in yesterday for former president, President Goodluck Jonathan, on his 62nd birthday, with his successor, President Muhammadu Buhari, describing him as an inspiration to future generations

of Nigerians for his humility and sacrifices to stabilise democracy. House of Representatives Speaker, Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila; former vice president, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar; Rivers State Governor, Chief Nyesom Wike; former Minister of Aviation, Chief Femi Fani-Kayode, and a former senator, Senator Ben

Murray-Bruce, also showered encomiums on the former president. Buhari, in a statement by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Mr. Femi Adesina, said the sacrifices made by Jonathan for the stability of democracy and the promotion of sustainable development would continue to inspire future generations.

He joined the nation in praying for good health and strength for Jonathan to keep serving the nation. According to the statement, the president rejoiced with family, friends and political associates of the former president and lauded him for good counsels to leaders within and outside Nigeria since he left office, sharing

WHEN MINISTERS GATHER... L–R: Minister of State, Power, Mr. Goddy Agba; Minister of State, Mines and Steel, Dr. Ikechukwu Ogah; Minister of Agriculture, Alhaji Sabo Nanono; and Minister of State, Labour and Employment, Mr. Festus Keyamo SAN, at the Federal Executive Council meeting in Abuja‌yesterday godwin omoigui

his experience of serving at different levels of governance. The president wished his predecessor and his family more years of joyful celebrations. Gbajabiamila described Jonathan as a gentleman, saying the former president has become a role model for many Nigerians for being a statesman. In a congratulatory message issued yesterday by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Mr. Lanre Lasisi, the speaker said as a statesman, Jonathan should continue to be a good example and father to all. "I wish the former president, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan, more years in good health," Gbajabiamila said. Celebrating him, Atiku wrote in his verified tweeter handle: “Happy 62nd birthday, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan, @ GEJonathan – an evergreen face of democracy, peace and freedom. I wish you continued good health and wisdom" and signed off –AA Wike described Jonathan as a selfless leader and a beacon of light for the growth of democracy in Nigeria. He said as a statesman, Jonathan had continued to nurture the ideals of unity and peaceful co-existence. Wike prayed that God would grant the former president good health and the divine enablement to continue to serve the nation and humanity. Murray-Bruce in his verified

tweeter handle congratulated the former president, saying, "I wish you, Dr. @GEJonathan, a happy 62nd birthday. The Nigeria we have today may not have existed without your selfless endeavour towards our nation. "You remain the father of modern-day democracy, and it is my prayer that history remains kind to you." While also paying tribute to Jonathan, Fani-Kayode described him as a profoundly good man, a kind-hearted and selfless leader, a man of peace, compassion and a man that history has already vindicated. He said: "You have been as constant as the northern star in all your endeavours; in standing for decency and truth and in refusing to react to the vile provocations and insults of your numerous detractors. "You, sir, are the quintessential gentleman: considerate, restrained, calm even in stormy waters, faithful to the cause of justice, freedom and our nation, inspirational and exemplary in all your ways, kind to a fault and confident and focused about the future of our people. "You still have so much to offer Nigeria and I know that you will still play a key role sometime in the future. I am proud to be associated with you. I regard you as my leader and I count you as one of my most trusted and loyal brothers and friends."

Court Decides Fate of 10,000 House Urges CBN to Police Constables Dec 4 Review Monetary Policy Rate

Alex Enumah in Abuja

Justice Inyang Ekwo of the Abuja Division of the Federal High Court, yesterday adjourned to December 4, 2019 to give his verdict in the controversial recruitment of 10,000 police constables by the Inspector General of Police (IG), Mr. Adamu Mohammed. Justice Ekwo, announced the date for judgment shortly after counsel to parties in the suit challenging the recruitment, adopted and argued their brief of arguments. The Police Service Commission (PSC) had dragged the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) to court over the recruitment of 10,000 constables as approved by President Muhammadu Buhari. Sued along the NPF is the Inspector General of Police (IG), Mohammed Adamu and the Minister of Police Affairs, while the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) later applied to be joined as a party in the suit. In arguing his brief, counsel to PSC, Kanu Agabi (SAN), submitted that the constitution makes recruitment of police

personnel except that of the IG the responsibility of the commission. According to Agabi, "There is no single place in the constitution where the name of the IG is mentioned as regards recruitment". He said once such provision is not in the constitution any action taken in that respect is null and void and subjected to nullification. He urged the court to grant the reliefs sought so that the matter can be laid to rest. Responding, counsel to the first to third defendants, Alex Izinyon (SAN), said that the PSC Service rule does not apply to the Nigerian Police Force. According to him, Section 46(b) of the Police Act, provides that the president may make regulations or recommendations of, with respect to appointment to offices in the force, promotion, transfer and that it is under this section that the PSC is given the power to recommend to the president to formulate policy. He further stated that under Section 6 of the 1999 Constitution as amended, the judge has jurisdiction to deal with the matter between

government and government, government and individuals and not between organs of government or agencies of government. Izinyon urged the court to dismiss the suit as most frivolous, scandalous and an abuse of court process. On his part, the lawyer to the AGF, Terhemba Agbe, while urging the court to dismiss the suit, said the PSC rule is a general rule while the police rule is specific. After listening to the arguments of the lawyers, Justice Ekwo fixed December 4 for judgment and added that there shall be no gallery for either of the parties involved in the matter. In the motion on notice filed on September 24 and brought pursuant to order 28 rule 1, the commission is praying the court for an order of interlocutory injunction restraining the defendants/ respondents, their officers and representatives including anybody or person acting on their behalf from appointing, recruiting or attempting to appoint or recruit by any means whatsoever any person into any office by the NPF pending the hearing and determination of the substantive suit.

Adedayo Akinwale in Abuja

The House of Representatives has called on the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to review the Monetary Policy Rates (MPR) to curb high lending rate, while also helping to usher in a new interest rate regime to support enterprise development in Nigeria. The House made the call yesterday following the adoption of a motion brought by Hon. Fatoba Olusola, on the need to investigate banks’ lending practices, protect borrowers from exploitative interest rates and promote economic development. Fatoba said the current lending rate of commercial banks were as high as 30 per cent, making Nigeria one of the countries with the highest lending rates in Africa, and probably the world. He explained that the lending rate is largely determined by the MPR set out by the CBN, hence, the higher the MPR, the higher the interest rate charged by commercial banks. Fatoba noted that the MPR is held at 14 per cent while that of South Africa, the longtime economic rival of Nigeria is at 6.5 per cent, making Nigeria one of the top five countries in Africa with the highest interest rates. He expressed concern that

the lending rate of banks restrict lending, particularly to Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs), manufacturers and industrialists, all belonging to a sector which employs a large percentage of the workforce in Nigeria. The lawmaker lamented that the lending rate impede economic growth as it impact negatively on the performance of the manufacturing sector due to the difficulty of accessing loans from banks. He stated that the resolve of President Muhammadu Buhari to lift 100 million Nigerians out of poverty might be difficult to achieve if high lending rate and the challenges of having access to loans are not critically addressed. He said with high interest rate, investors and banks were more willing to invest in government securities only, which pay high returns, a phenomenon known as crowding out, adding that high interest rate on government securities draw investments away from other areas of the economy. According to him, high interest rate cannot both contain inflation and stimulate economic growth at the same time, while in reality citizens, small, medium enterprises, manufacturers and investors

are bearing the brunt of the "cut throat" lending rate where the banks and their directors remain the major beneficiaries of the high lending rates. After the debate, the House called on "the Central Bank of Nigeria to review the Monetary Policy Rates (MPR) and its implementation, putting into consideration the cost of doing business by banks; "Urge the National Economic Council to critically consider how to reduce the cost of doing business in Nigeria in a manner that the common man will feel the impact; mandate the Committee on Banking and Currency to interface with commercial banks to ascertain the justification for the big gap between the MPR and the lending rates." The House also mandated the Committees on Banking and Currency, Finance, and Industry to organise a round-table session with the CBN, Banks, the Nigerian Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC), Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs), the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN), industrialists and industry experts with a view to finding immediate, sustainable and lasting solutions that would help usher in a new interest rate regime that would support enterprise development in Nigeria.

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PAGE EIGHT HOLD EXECUTIVE RESPONSIBLE FOR FAILED CONSTITUENCY PROJECTS, HOUSE TELLS BUHARI discussed the president’s allegation at plenary yesterday in Abuja, the Senate claimed ignorance of it, saying senators only read it in the media as Buhari has not communicated his concerns about the matter to the Red Chamber. But the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) caucus in the Senate described the president’s statement as erroneous. Citing the ICPC report, Buhari had on Tuesday at a national summit on corruption in the public service, held in Abuja, said the federal government appropriated N1 trillion for constituency project in the last 10 years without corresponding impact on the lives of the people. While discussing the matter yesterday, the House also described as a breach of its privilege, the ICPC’s probe and report that National Assembly members received N1 trillion for constituency projects. It expressed concern about the unintended consequences of the statement. The Speaker of the House, Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila, while commenting on the matter following a point of order raised under privileges by the Minority Leader, Hon. Ndudi

Elumelu, said it was a breach of the collective privilege of the House. He said: "I think it is a breach of our collective privilege as a House and not one person. My concern is the unintended consequences of words spoken. These are words emanating from a report by ICPC. There could be unintended consequences that could come out of it. You put people’s well-being at risk. "I feel it is okay to use the National Assembly as the weeping boys. The fact is that there is the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act. The ICPC could easily invoke their power of investigation and look at releases as compared to what was budgeted. The ICPC that made the report, I don't think they will appreciate if the House, in discharge of its constitutional responsibilities, did an oversight on ICPC based on what was budgeted as opposed to what was released to them. When you break an egg, it is going to be difficult to put it together." Gbajabiamila, therefore, called on ICPC and other anti-graft agencies to carry out a proper investigation on it, stressing that there is a difference between

money budgeted and money released. Earlier, while raising the point of order, the minority leader had said since the president made the statement, he had been inundated with calls from his constituents asking him to give account of the money. "I had so many calls and it was difficult for me to explain. My worry and why I am bringing this up is that, yes I got N100 million budgeted but actual releases were not up to 50 per cent. In actual sense, even this year, we never got release more than 40 per cent. I can conveniently tell you that only about 30 per cent has been released," he added. Elumelu cited Section 4 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) that says that budget should be made and if passed in the House, the onus lies on the executive to implement and award contracts, stressing that he doesn't know of any member who is a member of the tender’s board. According to him, the National Assembly has nothing to do with the execution of any contract and it is painful that the agency that generated that information failed to state that.

He said while it was true that N1 trillion was budgeted in the last 10 years, the total money was not released. Elumelu expressed concern that the information could give him a bad name before his constituents. He lamented that the ICPC that wrote the report failed to tell the truth of how much was actually released, adding that if N1 trillion was budgeted like the president said, if that money was released completely, there would be value commensurate to the money. The Deputy Minority Leader, Hon. Toby Okechukwu, said about 50 per cent of that money had been released in the last 10 years and attributed the reason for so many abandoned projects to paucity of funds due to nonrelease of total budgeted votes for constituency projects. He said: "You award contract and you pay 50 per cent. What happens to the remaining 50 percent? How can you complete them? In the 2019 Budget, about N220 billion was budgeted for roads and what was released was N45 billion. If you are expecting the value of N220 billion when you give N45 billion, I don't

know what you will see.�

Senate Not Aware of Allegation, Says Spokesman However, unlike the House, the Senate yesterday claimed ignorance of the Tuesday's verbal attack on the federal lawmakers by Buhari. Senate spokesman, Senator Godiya Akwashiki, told journalists after plenary that the upper chamber was not aware of what the president was quoted to have said about constituency projects. "I just read it in the dailies this morning but officially the Senate is not aware of this and we can't react to what we don't know about," he said. He added that there were official channels of communication between the executive and legislature, which in this case had not been exploited. "Mr. President has not written to the National Assembly officially on this matter. We have channels of communication and I want to believe if he has anything, he will write to us. The president is the president

of this country. He spoke as the chief executive but you people (journalists) sometimes you can be funny," he said. Senate Minority Leader, Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe, however, said the PDP caucus in the upper legislative chamber was not worried by the president's remarks over constituency projects. "The reason why our caucus is not worried is because we know that it was a statement that was erroneous as somebody must have written a speech and then put false information in the speech,� he stated. Abaribe said the president should know better as the execution of the constituency projects were carried out by government agencies. “We have always said the constituency projects are not done by the senators or members of the House of Representatives. They are domiciled in the executive who execute them. If the president said he has not seen anything, he should ask his ministers and the agencies under him as the executive as they are the people who have been executing these projects," he said.

FG RE JIGS STRATEGY, MOVES TO QUASH P&ID CONTRACT, $9.6BN AWARD specialised skills. His statement came on the same day trial resumed at the Federal High Court, sitting in Abuja, in a case of a British citizen, James Nolan, accused of having links with P & ID. The accused applied to the court for a variation of his bail conditions. The statement quoted the minister as saying that under the new strategy, “no lawyer was replaced, but more lawyers with specialised skills are locally and internationally engaged to support the existing capacity and initiate fresh suits with a view to achieve the desired result.� Explaining what he meant by the desired results, the minister said: “This time around it is not limited to a challenge on enforcement proceedings, but extended to setting aside the entire liability and probably the nullification of the contract on the basis of which the award was hinged.� He repudiated the allegation of replacement of the Nigerian legal team handling the P&ID case, saying: “Our lawyers originally engaged have proven to be versatile, competent and effective and constitute our winning team. They have such capacity, which we do not doubt in their ability to deliver. “There was no change of counsel, but enhanced strategy commonly agreed upon which was targeted at getting overall success.� Malami, once again, described the P&ID contract as a well-

organised scam “consciously, deliberately and intentionally orchestrated by some dubious and well-placed Nigerian government officials at the time with some shrewd foreign collaborators to defraud Nigeria and inflict heavy economic and financial loss on Nigeria and its people.â€? He vowed that the federal government would not sell out the interest of the country and the Nigerian people to satisfy some elements who are consciously out to extort Nigerians for their selfish aggrandisement. “We will not allow fraudulent local and foreign collaborators to rip off the resources of Nigeria for no just cause but merely to be seen as being nice or ‘investor-friendly,â€? he stated. The federal government had appealed the $9.6 billion judgment and also paid ÂŁ250,000 to P & ID as ordered on September 26 by Justice Christopher Butcher of the Commercial Court in London. Nigeria had also appealed against the order of the same court which asked that a $200 million security payment be made into its account within 60 days as a condition for a stay of execution of the $9.6billion judgment. Justice Butcher had at the September 26 proceedings granted Nigeria leave to appeal against the $9.6 billion award. In granting the leave, the court had ordered Nigeria to

pay the £250,000 cost to P&ID within 14 days. The court had also approved the Nigerian government's application for a stay of execution; which would prevent P&ID from seizing the nation’s assets while the case is on appeal. But the judge ordered Nigeria to pay $200 million as security to maintain the stay of execution. However, the federal government did not pay the $200 million but appealed against it.

Briton Asks Court to Vary Bail Conditions Meanwhile, Nolan yesterday applied for the variation of his bail conditions at the Federal High Court. Nolan was on October 21, arraigned alongside another Briton, Adam Quinn (at large), over their alleged complicity in the activities of P&ID. The arraignment of the two British nationals is coming weeks after two P&ID directors were convicted over the deal. The defendants, both directors of Goidel Resources Limited, a Designated Non-Financial Institution (DNFI) and ICIL Limited, were arraigned on a 16-count charge bordering on money laundering. Justice Okon Abang on November 7, admitted Nolan to a bail in the sum of N500 million. Justice Abang, who granted the bail in an application filed by Nolan, ordered that the applicant

must produce “a surety in like sum, who must be a Nigerian and a serving senator not standing any criminal trial in any court in Nigeria.� At the resumed trial yesterday, counsel to the defendant, Mr. Paul Erokoro (SAN), prayed the court to favourably grant their application for bail variation. The lawyer also told the court that he was not prepared for the commencement of trial due to inability to have adequate access to his client. The EFCC had informed the court that it was ready to commence the trial earlier slated for today. However, in a short ruling, Justice Abang agreed with the prosecution that the court at its last sitting adjourned to commence trial yesterday. The court held that the defendant who is yet to meet the conditions of his bail granted last month has been given enough time to prepare for his defence. Justice Abang said the commencement of trial of the defendant would not be adjourned based on oral application or on the grounds that he had filed an application for the variation of bail conditions. The judge, however, ordered officials of the correctional centre where Nolan is being remanded to grant access to his lawyer to visit and to receive brief from defendant. He subsequently ordered the prosecution to call its first

witness, an official of Guaranteed Trust Bank (GTBank). Testifying, Mr. Adewale Akinseye, an account officer with the GTBank, Abuja, said Nolan's two companies namely; Goidel Limited and ICIL Limited operated six separate accounts with the bank. Led in evidence by prosecution counsel, Mr. Iheanacho Ekele, the witness said both companies were registered with Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) but he was not sure whether the operator of the companies provided evidence of Special Control Against Money Laundering (SCUAML) at the time the company account was opened. Akinseye said the bank received a request in August from EFCC to provide account documents in respect of the companies. The court admitted as exhibits the companies opening bank accounts and EFCC letter to GTBank dated September 26, in respect of the investigation activities. The witness said that Nolan and Isaac Ebubuotu were signatories to both accounts and either of them could sign. According to transactions in the bank statement in one of the Account with number: 0154696733, the sum of $127,000 was credited in February 1 ,2018. On May 2, 2019 the sum of $47,975 was paid into the account from Industrial Consultant International.

CBN REPORT: NIGERIA RECORDED $10.89BN FOREX INFLOW IN OCTOBER preceding month. It, however, showed an increase of 44.1 per cent over the level at the end of the corresponding period of 2018. According to the monthly report, the fall in aggregate foreign exchange inflow into the CBN, relative to the preceding month’s level, was attributed, largely, to the fall in oil receipts. “Aggregate outflow of foreign exchange from the bank fell by 12.1 per cent and 3.2 per cent to $4.77 billion, below the levels at the end of the preceding month and the corresponding period of 2018, respectively. “The development, relative to the preceding month’s level, was attributed, mainly, to 0.5 per cent and 13.0 per cent decline in interbank utilisation and other official payments, respectively. “Overall, foreign exchange flows, through the bank at the end of October 2019, resulted in a net outflow of $0.67 billion, compared with a net outflow

of $1.27 billion and $2.08 billion in the preceding month and the corresponding period of 2018, respectively,� it stated. The report showed that CBN has continued to intervene in the forex market to further sustain improved liquidity and relative stability in the market. Owing to this, it sold a cumulative sum of $2.79 billion to authorised dealers in October, compared with $2.80 billion supplied in September. This indicated a decline of 0.5 per cent and 16.3 per cent relative to the levels in the preceding month and the end of the corresponding period of 2018, respectively. A breakdown of the central bank’s forex intervention showed that interbank sales fell by 2.8 per cent to $0.10 billion, in contrast to the increase of 5.8 per cent in the preceding month. But, Bureau De Change (BDC) sales and swaps transactions, however, rose by one per cent

and 27.9 per cent to $1.07 billion and $0.03 billion, above the preceding month's levels of $1.06 billion and $0.02 billion, respectively. In addition, the report said Nigeria’s crude oil production, including condensates and natural gas liquids, was estimated at 1.93 million barrels per day (mbd) or 59.83 mb in the review month. This, it stated, represented a marginal decline of 0.02 mbd or 1.0 per cent, compared with 1.95 mbd produced in the preceding month. Also, crude oil export was estimated at 1.48 mbd or 45.88 mb, representing an increase of 1.4 per cent, compared with 1.46 mbd recorded in the preceding month. “The allocation of crude oil for domestic consumption was 0.45 mbd or 13.95 mb in the review month. The average spot price of Nigeria’s reference crude oil, the Bonny Light (37° API) at end-October 2019, decreased

to $61.10/b, compared with $65.28/b recorded in September 2019. “This represented a decline of 6.4 per cent relative to the level in the preceding month. The fall in crude oil price was due, largely, to low demand for crude oil, as fallout of the trade war between the US and China. “The UK Brent, at $60.33/b and the Forcados, at $61.42/b, and the WTI, at $54.72/b, exhibited similar trend as the Bonny Light. “The average OPEC basket of 15 selected crude streams was US$59.93/b in October 2019. This showed a decrease of 3.9 per cent and 24.5 per cent below the levels recorded in the preceding month and the corresponding period of 2018,� it added. It also showed that at N894.09 billion, the estimated federallycollected revenue (gross) in October 2019 fell below both the monthly budget estimate of N1.246 trillion and the preceding

month’s receipt by 28.2 per cent and 0.9 per cent, respectively. The decline, relative to the monthly budget estimate, was attributed to shortfall in both oil and non-oil revenue. “Oil receipts, at N577.30 billion or 64.6 per cent of total revenue, was below the monthly budget estimate of N798.83 billion by 27.7 per cent. “However, it exceeded the receipt of N467.58 billion in the preceding month by 23.5 per cent. The decrease in oil revenue relative to the monthly budget estimate was attributed to shut-ins and shut-downs at some NNPC terminals due to pipeline leakages and maintenance activities. “Similarly, at N316.79 billion or 35.4 per cent of total revenue, non-oil receipt was below the monthly budget estimate of N447.24 billion and the preceding month’s earning of N434.52 billion by 29.2 per cent and 27.1 per cent, respectively,� it added.

He said on account with number: 01728629, the sum of N50m was transferred on December 15 , 2015 from Box Design to Goidel Ltd while on Nov 6, 2016 the sum of N6m was transferred into the same account. Another sum of N11million from Lurgi Consult Ltd was said to have been transferred to Goidel Ltd on May 6, 2016. Other transactions according to Akinseye, include N10 million transferred in February 1, 2018 from Eclate Plethora Limited to Goidel Limited. On Account with Number: 0024024414-, the witness said $350,000 was paid on September 1, 2014 from Basale Enterprises while the sum of $80,000 paid to Ahmed Usman in September 4, 2014. Also, on September 4, 2014 $40,000 was paid to Neil and Elizabeth while on September 8, the sum of $700 was paid to one Ahmed Usman. Under cross-examination by Erokoro, the witness said Goidel's account was open on May 20, 2014/while ICIL account was opened November 2006. He said the companies operated corporate accounts and met the requirements for operating them. The cross-examination continues today.

TOP GAINERS CHAMSPLC LEARNAFRICA CONOIL CORNERSTONE NPFMFB TOP LOSERS NASCON LASACO WAPIC

NGN NGN 0.03 0.33 0.11 1.27 1.60 18.50 0.06 0.70 0.10 1.20 NGN 0.85 14.00 0.01 0.27 0.01 0.34 UNITYBANK 0.02 0.70 AIICO 0.02 0.71 HPE Nestle Nig Plc â‚Ś1,150.00 Volume: 267.314 million shares Value: N3.053 billion Deals: 4,074 As at yesterday 20/11/19 See details on Page 41

% 10 9.4 9.4 9.3 9.0 % 5.7 3.5 2.8 2.7 2.7

THURSDAY NOVEMBER 21, 2019 ˾ T H I S D AY

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NEWS

Govs Reject Death Penalty for Hate Speech Chuks Okocha in Abuja The Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF) yesterday rejected the proposed death penalty for hate speech in the bill at the National Assembly. The governors also resolved to conclude negotiations with labour unions on the

implementation of the N30,000 minimum wage before the December 31 deadline. The governors spoke to journalists last night at the end of their seventh meeting in Abuja, which was presided over by the Vice Chiarman of the NGF and Governor of Sokoto State, Aminu Tambuwal.

Gunmen Abduct DPO in Adamawa Daji Sani in Yola The Spokesperson of the Adamawa State Police Command, DSP Suleiman Yahaya has confirmed the abduction of the Divisional Police Officer (DPO) in charge of Mubi North, Mr. Ahijo Mujeli. The spokesman told THISDAY yesterday, that the DPO was abducted by gunmen on Tuesday night, along Mubi-Maraba road while he was driving in his personal car around 7 p.m. Yahaya stated that the gunmen shot into the air to scare residents of the area where he was abducted

Tambuwal urged the National Assembly to conduct a public hearing on the hate speech bill to aggregate the views of Nigerians. “I’m not sure I have heard any governor come out to say he is in support of the death penalty for hate speech. “I believe that the National Assembly should hold a public

hearing on that bill, so that due process of lawmaking is followed. “This is so that the views of Nigerians, not just the governors, will be well captured on that bill and they (National Assembly) should respect the views of Nigerians in whatever may be the direction of debate and the eventual passage or

otherwise of that bill.” Tambuwal pledged the commitment of states to the implementation of the minimum wage and improved welfare of workers. “Before December, all the states must have finished working out the details on the issue of the minimum wage across the federation.

At the meeting, the governors committed to working with the Independent Verification Agent to ensure that the APA process did not experience delay. The forum, among other resolutions, also expressed commitment to the initiative to advance value added activities in agriculture, access to finance and women economic development.

“On hearing the gunshots our men rushed there but met an empty car identified as his own. The police state commissioner has ordered anti-kidnapping unit and Intelligence Response Team (IRT) of the Inspector General of Police (IG) to swung into action and track down the kidnappers and rescue the DPO,” he said He appealed to the public with relevant security information about kidnappers to avail the police to aid them track down these criminals. Yahaya said he was optimistic that the police will track them down and rescue the DPO

FAAC: FG, States, LGs Share SCRUTINISING BUDGET ESTIMATES… L-R: Public Finance Manager, Centre for Social Justice (CSJ), Mr. Fidelis Onijejegbu; Lead Director, CSJ, Mr. Eze Onyekpere; and Programme Officer, CSJ, Mr. Charles Ofomata during the press briefing organised by CSJ on the review of the 2020 federal appropriation bill and N702.058bn for October estimates in Abuja...yesterday

The Federation Accounts Allocation Committee (FAAC) yesterday shared a total of N702.058 billion to the three tiers of government for the month of October. This was announced in a communique read by Accountant General of the Federation, Mr. Ahmed Idris after the FAAC meeting in Abuja. Idris said that the N702.058 billion comprised revenue from Value Added Tax (VAT), Exchange Gain and Gross Statutory Revenue. He explained that the federal government received N295.7 billion; the states got N192.697 billion, and the local governments received N144.9 billion. He stated that the oilproducing states received N49.1 billion as 13 per cent derivation revenue and the revenue generating agencies got N19.472 billion as cost of revenue collection. He, however, disclosed that the gross statutory revenue for the month of October 2019 was N596.041 billion. He added that it was lower

than the N599.701 billion received in the previous month by N3.660 billion. He said the revenue from VAT was N 104.910 billion as against N92.874 billion disbursed in the preceding month with an increase of N12.036 billion recorded. According to him, the exchange gain yielded a total revenue of N1.107 billion. He said as at November 20, the balance in the Excess Crude Account was $324 million. He further stated that from VAT, the federal government received N15.107 billion, the States got N50.357 billion, the local governments received N35.250 billion , while the revenue generating agencies had N4.196 billion. He acknowledged that for the month of October, revenues from Companies Income Tax (CIT), VAT and import duty increased remarkably, while Royalties, Petroleum Profit Tax (PPT), and Excise Duty decreased significantly. Idris noted that the committee was glad with the increase in revenue and expressed hope for its sustainability.

PDP Govs Set to Hold Summit on IGR Chuks Okocha in Abuja The PDP Governors Forum is set to host the 2019 edition on how to improve Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) in all the states controlled by the party. According to a statement released yesterday by the Summit Organising Committee and signed by Patrick PA Okon on behalf of the forum; the summit will hold at the BON Hotel Stratton, (formerly Protea Hotel), Asokoro, Abuja, on November 27-28, 2019. The statement in part reads: “The current economic reality in the country has more than

ever informed the need for the forum’s initiative to escalate same for public discourse at the upcoming summit. It added that: “The challenge of declining internally-generated revenue and the need to boost alternative sources of income for the PDP-governed states outside reliance on the monthly federal government allocation will be receiving adequate attention at the converge. “It will also strive to define the extant possibilities and proffer fresh initiatives to increase revenue for economic growth and development in the states.

ENOCK REUBEN

UN Seeks Collaboration of Sahel Countries over Security Threats Kingsley Nwezeh in Abuja The United Nations (UN) yesterday called for regional partnership and robust continental collaboration among key stakeholders to address emerging security threats bedevilling the Sahel region and Africa. Speaking at the graduation lecture organised by the Nigerian Army War College for participants of Course 3/2019, in Abuja, the Special Representative of the Secretary-

General and Head of the United Nations Office for West Africa and the Sahel (UNOWAS), Mohamed Ibn Chambas, who spoke on “Emerging NonTraditional Threats in the Sahel and Implications for National Security,” said the killing of Libya’s Muhammar Gaddafi and the subsequent breakdown of law and order in the North African country were the major contributors to the instability plaguing the larger part of the Sahara region. The diplomat said the

flow of weapons from looted Libyan military stockpiles into the surrounding countries “galvanised existing political opposition, separatist movements, transnational militant groups and human trafficking”, among other security challenges. He lauded the college for producing the leadership of several peacekeeping missions in Africa, saying the real impact of the war college was visible in the Nigerian Armed Forces. While commending the

leadership of the Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Lt. General Tukur Buratai, Ibn Chambas, described the giant strides of the War College as a positive force multiplier in the search for global peace and security. Buratai, while felicitating with the course participants on their graduation, also underscored the need for effective synergy among nations of the Lake Chad and Sahel region, in order to address the lingering crisis of insecurity and violent militia groups.

Sagay Backs Magu’s Appointment as Substantive EFCC Chair The Presidential Advisory Committee Against Corruption (PACAC) has made a case for the appointment of the Acting Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Ibrahim Magu, as the substantive chairman of the commission. The endorsement of Magu by PACAC was made yesterday, by PACAC’s Chairman, Professor Itse Sagay, when he led his team on solidarity visit to the EFCC boss at the commission’s headquarters. While declaring that Magu

deserves appointment as the substantive chairman of the EFCC, Sagay said “when something is good; when you see high quality, merit, dedication, and somebody who is courageous in the fight against corruption, I think it will be stupid to say you are looking for something outside. “This is not a turn -by-turn thing. It is a thing of merit. You must work for it and achieve it. In our view, the Acting Chairman deserves everything, including his being given a substantive

appointment. It is true one man cannot make a forest, but it takes a good man, a man of quality to bring out the best in any organisation, and that is what he represents-an uncompromising person. “As far as corruption is concerned, no one have the courage in this country to offer him a bribe, because he or she knows the result will be a disaster. We are solidly behind Magu and the EFCC.” Speaking further, Sagay expressed optimism that the ninth Senate will do the right

thing by confirming Magu when his name is forwarded to it by President Buhari, saying there would not be any reason for the legislators to reject Magu’s confirmation. Magu, who thanked the President Muhammadu Buhariled administration for giving him every support he had required to achieve the successes recorded by the EFCC, assured the PACAC delegation that he and the EFCC team will continue to give their utmost in the fight against corruption.

IMF: 40% of African Countries in Debt Crisis The Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Kristalina Georgieva, says 40 per cent of African countries are in debt distress. According to The Cable, Georgieva described Africa as a continent of opportunities and one with many troubles, noting that the focus was to help countries have sound macroeconomic policies, improve the

investment climate and show it to the rest of the world. “Africa is a continent of opportunities and what we are looking for is for this opportunity to be harnessed to the maximum. It is also a continent with many troubles; so, we have to be mindful of these risks especially security risks,” she said. Commenting on the debt

levels of countries, the newly appointed IMF MD said, “Are we worried about debt levels in Africa? Yes, because 40 per cent of the countries have gone into debt distress levels. “In some cases, we are concerned about that but in other cases, we see that investment is going to pay off over time. “Take the case of Kenya, we advise Kenya to be more

cautious in building debt but we have seen good macroeconomic policy in Kenya. “In cases where debt is dangerous like Zambia, we do say you need to get a handle on your debt. In Ethiopia, we say you need to renegotiate some of your debts because it is non-concessional for things that should be on a concessional basis.

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THURSDAY NOVEMBER 21, 2019 ˾ T H I S D AY

NEWS

Fayemi Visits US, Insists on Restructuring Victor Ogunje in Ado Ekiti Few days after a widespread rumour that he was denied visa to the United States of America, Ekiti State Governor Kayode Fayemi, has visited the US where he insisted on the restructuring of the country to address the imbalances in the federation. He also urged Nigerians to always hold their leaders accountable to strengthen Nigeria’s democracy. Fayemi pointed out that democracy goes beyond the right to choose leaders through the ballot, but stimulating civic engagement to better the lives of the citizens. A statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Yinka Oyebode, quoted the governor of stating this yesterday while delivering a paper at the United States Institute of Peace (USIP), Washington DC, United States. Fayemi’s lecture was entitled: “Twenty Years of Democracy in Nigeria: Successes and Challenges,” and the theme of the event was : ‘Deepening Democratic Governance in Nigeria’.

In attendance were Benue State Governor, Samuel Ortom; former Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Martin LutherAgwai; former INEC Chairman, Prof. Attaahiru Jega and a member of House of Representatives, Hon Aishatu Dukku; as well as officials of the US Department of State, scholars and members of the civil society. While noting that Nigeria has made significant progress as a democracy since returning to civil rule in 1999, Fayemi opined that “democracy is a journey and not a destination” hence the need to address imbalances in the Nigerian federation. He maintained that a fundamental restructuring of the Nigerian federation is an “unavoidable step for the creation and sustenance of a participatory, consensus oriented, accountable, responsive and equitable national governance based on respect for the rule of law. The Chairman of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF) explained that his party, the All Progressives Congress (APC) included restructuring

in its 2015 and 2019 manifestoes and has been working towards it in a bid to use its platform to address the perceived structural imbalance. The restructuring, Fayemi said, must address issues like writing the people’s

constitution and the question of constitutional governance, the fundamental precepts of authorising principles of national togetherness, citizenship and national question, the political economy of federalism including the allocation of public revenue,

security sector governance, human rights, social justice, electoral system, type of government-parliamentary or presidential, among others. While urging the Nigerian populace to show more interest in governance and hold their

leaders accountable, Fayemi stated that “ an indifference might be dangerous for democracy” as Democratic institutions cannot be strengthened in a climate of apathy and “clinical disengagement.”

FIGHT AGAINST AIDS… Senate Gives FIRS, 24 L-R: Country Director, UNAIDS, Dr. Erasmus Morah, Chairman Senate Committee on Health Primary Care, Senator Chukuka Utazi; Director General, National Agency for the Control of AIDS, Dr. Gambo Aliyu; and National Coordinator, Network of People Living with HIV/AIDS in Others Ultimatum to Nigeria, Mr. Abdulkadir Ibrahim, during the 2019 World AIDS Day Press Conference in Abuja...yesterday Submit Audited Accounts Crisis Looms as FG Directs ASUU Members directive, the affected agencies Deji Elumoye in Abuja The Senate has accused the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN); Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS); Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN); and 22 other federal agencies of failing over the years to submit their audited reports to the legislative body. It has therefore given the 25 affected federal parastatals one-week ultimatum for them to turn in their duly audited account statements. Chairman of the Senate committee on Public Accounts, Senator Matthew Urhoghide, who spoke to reporters yesterday evening, warned the 25 agencies not to toy with the directive of the committee on the need for submission of their audited accounts encompassing their income and expenditure operations from 2017 to 2019. He stressed that by the

were given the last opportunity to respond to the call for submission of their audited accounts. “In view of the fact that some agencies have already defaulted in their submission deadline, notice is hereby issued to defaulting MDAs and other organisations of government, to without further delay, make submissions within seven days that is , November 27 , 2019 on their responses to the issues raised by the committee in its various correspondences regarding their income and expenditure operations from 2017 to 2019.” According to him, making public the accounts of the agencies is necessary in order to ensure accountability and transparency in the management of public funds as well as guarantee economy, efficiency and effectiveness.

Buhari Signs Executive Order to Check Open Defecation President Muhammadu Buhari yesterday in Abuja signed Executive Order 009 entitled, “The Open Defecation-Free Nigeria by 2025 and Other Related Matters Order, 2019”. The President’s Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Mr. Femi Adesina, confirmed this development in a statement in Abuja yesterday. The Order declares as follows: “That by this Order, Nigeria is committed to being open defecation free by 2025. “That the National Open Defecation Free (ODF) Roadmap developed by the Federal Ministry of Water Resources with support from other key sector players across Nigeria be put into effect. “a. There is established in the Federal Ministry of

Water Resources a National Secretariat called “Clean Nigeria Campaign Secretariat”. “b. The Secretariat is authorised on behalf of the President to implement this Order by ensuring that all public places including schools, hotels, fuel stations, places of worship, market places, hospitals and offices have accessible toilets and latrines within their premises.” All Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) of government are also mandated to cooperate with the Clean Nigeria Campaign Secretariat. “The National Assembly and the State Houses of Assembly shall enact legislation on the practice of open defecation with appropriate sanctions and penalties.”

to Enroll into IPPIS Ejiofor Alike The federal government and the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) are heading to collision, which may disrupt academic activities in the universities as the Accountant General of the Federation, Mr. Ahmed Idris has directed the university lecturers to enroll in the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS). The academic union had

vowed not to enroll into the scheme, alleging that it violates university autonomy. But in an advertorial yesterday, Idris informed the union that the enrollment of federal universities and colleges of education into the scheme would commence on November 25 and end of December 7. The Office of the Accountant General of the Federation, directed all staff of federal universities and colleges of education “to present themselves for enrolment for the Integrated Payroll and

Personnel Information System.” “All staff of federal universities and colleges of education in Nigeria are by this notice called upon to present themselves for enrollment into the Integrated Payroll and Personal Information System (IPPIS),” said the advertorial. The notice added that the staff should among, others, bring their letters of first appointment, letter of last promotion, evidence of transfer of service (if any), birth certificate/declaration of age, educational qualifications,

evidence of change of name (if any), copies of their bank statement. According to the notice, officers of the IPPIS department in the office of the AGF would be in the institutions to conduct the exercise. ASUU had opposed the IPPIS scheme, saying the platform does not capture the peculiarities of the structure of the university system, which is flexible and pragmatic. ASUU President, Prof. Abiodun Ogunyemi, had told THISDAY that the union would resist the scheme.

Court Fixes Jan 16 for Hearing of Ambode’s Suit against Lagos Assembly Akinwale Akintunde The Lagos State House of Assembly has filed a preliminary objection challenging the suit filed by former Governor Akinwunmi Ambode seeking to stop the probe of his administration over procurement of 820 buses for public transportation. A Lagos High Court in Ikeja yesterday fixed January 16, 2020 for hearing of the suit filed by Ambode, to challenge the constitutionality of the probe of his administration by the House of Assembly over procurement

of the buses. The House had suspended the probe following an order of the court which directed parties to the suit to maintain status quo. Aside the House, other defendants are the Speaker, Mudashiru Obasa; House Clerk, Mr. A.A Sanni; Chairman of the Ad hoc Committee set up by the House to probe the procurement, Fatai Mojeed and members of the Committee. They are Gbolahan Yishawu, A.A Yusuff, Yinka Ogundimu, Mojisola Lasbat Meranda, M.L Makinde, Kehinde Joseph, T.A

Adewale and O.S Afinni. At the resumption of the matter yesterday before Justice Y.A Adesanya, a team of lawyers to the defendants led by Lawal Pedro (SAN) and Olukayode Enitan (SAN) informed the court of the counter affidavit filed in opposition to the motion for interlocutory injunction and a notice of preliminary objection challenging the jurisdiction of the court to entertain the matter. Already, Pedro said he had been served with claimant’s (Ambode’s) written reply on point of law to the counter

affidavit with a written address. He, however, asked for time to react to the process served on him in court by the claimant’s legal team. In response, the claimant’s counsel, Tayo Oyetibo (SAN) confirmed the receipt of the preliminary objection but informed the court that the defendants were yet to file a defence to the suit. At the instance of both counsel especially the need to put in all necessary processes, the matter was adjourned to January 16, 2020 for hearing.

Sultan Pledges Support for Child Right Act Onuminya Innocent in Sokoto The Sultan of Sokoto Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar 111 yesterday said he would support the passage and implementation of Child Right Act that would improve the welfare of children in the country. He stated this in his palace when a team of United Nation

Children Fund (UNICEF), UN Women and some nongovernmental organisation (NGOs) paid him a courtesy call as part of activities to mark the World Children Day. The paramount ruler explained that some years back when the National Assembly attempted to pass the bill, he called traditional rulers, Ulamas and team of lawyers to look at the bill and report back to him.

He added that after a thorough scrutiny of the bill, it was discovered that there were some clauses in it that contravened Islamic beliefs. The traditional and religious leader advocated abolition of harmful practices against children and women such as rape, girl-child marriage, out-of-school children, child labour and trafficking. He directed the district heads

and Council of Ulamas to go home and go through the new draft and report back within one week. In his remark, the Field Officer of UNICEF, Sokoto Office, Muhammadeen Fall, said they were in the palace of the paramount ruler to solicits his support for the passage and implementation of the new draft of Child Right Act in the state.

THURSDAY NOVEMBER 21, 2019 ˾ T H I S D AY

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NEWS

Dickson: 12 PDP Loyalists Killed in Nembe Violence Emmanuel Addeh in Yenagoa Bayelsa state Governor, Seriake Dickson, yesterday said that the death toll in last Saturday’s governorship election violence that engrossed Nembe Local Government Area of the state, had risen to 12, while the figures of those injured had increased to 93. Dickson who stated this during the State Executive Council meeting in Government House, Yenagoa, maintained that the election was a coup

against the country’s democracy. To this end, a minute’s silence was observed at the Executive Council in memory of those killed during the electioneering period in the area. On the preparations for the transition programme, Dickson noted that regardless of the outcome of the guber poll, it was incumbent on his administration to work towards handing over the baton of leadership come February 2020. “In view of the fact that many Bayelsans in different

places but most particularly, in Nembe were mowed down even before the election. Twelve of them have been confirmed dead. The Commissioner for Health was telling me the number of those injured has increased to 93 and some of them are in critical conditions. “You have seen how it has all ended. You have seen how what was supposed to be an election turned out to be a charade and what has been done to our people. “I want to thank you all

NNPC to Automate Downstream Facilities The Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Malam Mele Kyari has said the corporation is poised to automate its downstream facilities such as depots, pump stations and measurement systems across the country. Kyari said this in a statement signed by the Acting Spokesman for the corporation, Mr. Samson Makoji in Abuja, yesterday. Kyari spoke during a tour of the state-of-the-art products loading facility and lubricants

manufacturing plant of MRS Oil Nigeria Plc, an indigenous oil company based in Lagos. He added that the move would align with the corporation’s commitment to accountability, transparency and efficiency in the sub-sector. He said the visit was a follow-up to the recently launched Operation White initiative, which was aimed at taking stock of every drop of white products in every NNPC’s location nationwide, particularly petrol. He said that as a control

mechanism, the Operation White had so far produced significant results as the corporation now clearly knows the areas of losses as well as reliability and integrity status of each and every facility under its control. “As you can see, those control measures have produced results. The evacuations from many of the depots have drastically gone down. “We shall go further on this and ensure that the evacuation issues are brought to the nearest level possible,” Kyari said

Amnesty International Declares Sowore, Bakare, Jalingo Prisoners of Conscience International human rights watchdog, Amnesty International, has declared three detained Nigerian activists and journalists as prisoners of conscience. The organisation in a statement issued yesterday announced the declaration of Omoyele Sowore, Olawale Bakare and Agba Jalingo as prisoners of conscience. Sowore and Bakare are being prosecuted for calling for a revolution against poor governance. They are being detained by the Department of State Services (DSS), despite meeting their bail conditions.

Jalingo, a journalist, is being detained in Cross River State for writing an article critical of the state government. The statement signed by Seun Bakare, said: “We consider Sowore, Jalingo and Bakare to be prisoners of conscience detained solely for exercising their human rights.” According to the organisation, “The Nigerian authorities at both federal and state levels have repeatedly targeted human rights defenders, activists and journalists including by stifling dissenting voices and passing repressive legislation to restrict

the civic space.” “Omoyele Sowore, Olawale Bakare and Agba Jalingo have been in detention since August 2019 simply for expressing views critical of the government. Despite meeting the stringent bail conditions, Nigeria’s DSS has continued to refuse to obey a court order to release Omoyele Sowore and Olawale Bakare. Agba Jalingo’s bail applications have been repeatedly and unjustifiably rejected. “We consider Sowore, Jalingo and Bakare to be prisoners of conscience detained solely for exercising their human rights.”

Aremu Hails Buhari’s Industrial Policy Nneka Emeghara The General Secretary of National Union of Textile Garment and Tailoring Workers of Nigeria (NUTGTWN), Issa Aremu, has stated that Nigeria is witnessing a renewed activism in the promotion of industrial development under President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration whose creative industrial policies are promoting value addition, making labour and capital operate with ease, to create mass decent jobs.

Aremu stated this during the celebration of African Industrialisation Day (AID), which was marked in Calabar, Cross River State in appreciation of the industrialisation drive of Cross River State Governor, Benedict Ayade, setting up of a garment factory that has the potential of employing some 5,000 workers. The theme of this year’s observation of AID is: “Positioning African Industry to Supply the ACFTA Market.” It would be recalled that The United Nations, through its Resolution of 22 December

1989, proclaimed November 20 as Africa Industrialization Day. AID was set up to create global awareness regarding the industrialisation challenges faced by the continent to mobilise African leaders and international organisations to create partnerships, and advocate South South and triangular cooperation towards an accelerated and sustainable industrialisation of the continent According to Issa Aremu, Governor Ayade has made the point that government indeed has business in business.

APC Condemns Post-election Violence, Killing in Kogi Adedayo Akinwale ín Abuja The All Progressives Congress (APC) has condemned the post-election violence reported in Kogi State, which led to the death of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) woman leader, Salome Abuh and destruction of property in the state. The National Publicity Secretary of the party, Mallam Lanre Issa-Onilu, in a statement issued yesterday condoled with the family of the deceased

and others affected by the post-election violence. He stated: “The APC abhors violence and other criminalities which sadly continue to plague our electioneering process. We urge partisans to see election as a democratic contest and not a do or die affair that we pay with our lives. We pray that the culprits are caught and the full weight of the law is brought to bear on them. “While the Kogi State Police Command says the killing was

as a result of a reprisal attack, we urge the Kogi people to ensure this does not escalate. We are aware that the Kogi State Governor Yahaya Bello has already directed law enforcement agencies to fish out the perpetrators.” The ruling party noted that President Muhammadu Buhari had advised partisans that are not satisfied with the results of governorship elections in Kogi and Bayelsa states to seek redress in court and shun violence.

for showing the example of peace in all the areas that you functioned. The difference between a democracy and a dictatorship is that in our own system, there’s a definite terminal date. “So, irrespective of the outcome, irrespective of the way and manner the election

went, even when the outcome was not what we deserved, we have a duty as an Executive Council to prepare the state for transition.” He therefore charged members of the council, particularly Chairman of the Transition Committee to work hard in documenting the achievements of the restoration

government including proposed programmes for the next government to capture them in next year’s budget. Dickson who urged Council members to work till the terminal date of the present administration, said their contributions would be recorded in history.

Suspended Ize-Iyamu Dumps PDP Adibe Emenyonu in Benin City The Edo State 2016 governorship election candidate of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Pastor Osagie IzeIyamu, has formally resigned from the party and is set to defect to the All Progressives Congress (APC). The state chapter of the PDP had last week suspended Ize-Iyamu, from its activities until further notice. The party, in a statement by the Publicity Secretary of the party, Chris Nehikhare, had said that the temporary suspension was informed by his unwillingness to confirm or refute his rumoured defection to the ruling APC. PDP had explained that the suspension remained until he “acknowledges, accepts and addresses the issue of his decamping to APC.” But in his resignation letter dated November 21, 2019, which was addressed to the state chairman of the PDP, Chief Dan Orbih and made available to journalists

in Benin City, capital of Edo State, Ize-Iyamu said he appreciated the leadership of the PDP for the opportunity. He said that his departure from the party with his teeming supporters is without malice or bitterness. The politician cum pastor

of Redeem Christian Church of God (RCCG) was a former Secretary to the Edo State Government (SSG) under the administration of Chief Lucky Igbinedion and the South-south zonal vice-chairman of the APC.

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COMMENT

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

VIOLENCE IN THE KINGDOMS OF KOGI/ BAYELSA

Oludayo Tade writes that if the violent takes the mantle of leadership by force, repressive administration should be expected

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espite the huge investment into securing democracy and ensuring that the electorate is able to speak with their votes freely and fairly without fear, threat or intimidation, the kingdoms of Kogi and Bayelsa hosted demons in hooded attires on November 16, 2019 during which the integrity of the gubernatorial elections was undermined. The hooded demons came to intimidate, steal, kill and destroy. They moved around despite the restriction of movement and the deployment of 66, 240 policemen (35,200 for Kogi and 31,040 for Bayelsa) complemented by counter-terrorism unit, special protection unit and police mobile force. When we add the army and other security agencies to the figure, we should cry that stakeholders’ compromise continue to undermine true representation, and thereby block the genuine road to growth and development. Through the instrumentality of violence, there is enthronement of unconcerned and anti-democratic characters holding the levers of power. Of course, the consequence of this is the sustained recession being witnessed in all areas of our national life. As soon as I read of the happenings, I went back to get inspiration from late Fela Anikulapo Kuti’s song entitled “Teacher don’t teach me nonsense�. In this song, Baba 70 characterised our type of democratic practise as pure demonstration of ‘craze’ or crazy demonstration. If we mobilised all state resources and the ideological state apparatuses for just two out of the 36 states and this is the best we could get, then the situation has worsened. In Fela’s words, ‘Babanla nonsense’ aptly describes the elections’ which lacks the global accepted standards of free, fair and credible polls. Just like Baba 70, ‘as time dey go, things just dey bad, dey bad more and more. Poor man dey cry, rich man dey mess...demonstration of craze, crazy demonstration...democracy!� It is sad to hear the Police Service Commission say that security agents were overwhelmed by hooded demons that unleashed terror on peaceful voters. While violence is not limited to Nigeria the crass display of superior aggression by APC and PDP call into question their genuine development agenda for the country beyond the instrumentalisation of violence on the polity. Violence has become a political strategy in Nigeria where the unpopular anti-democratic elements impose themselves on the people by force. Consequently, Nigeria’s brand of democracy has become government of the rich, through the manipulation of the poor for the service of the few and exploitation of the majority. Violence is dysfunctional to representative government and draws back the hand of development. How can a person who mounts the leadership rostrum by violence and bloodshed listen to the yearnings of the people? Violence is used to attack the strongholds of opponents, intimidate the electorate from coming out to cast their votes in order to reduce the chances of a more popular opponent. As in the cases in point, violence has resulted in bloodshed, burning and destruction of properties and casts doubt on the legitimacy of those pronounced winners at the polls. This is because violence undermines electoral integrity. In his 2019 convocation lecture at the University of Ibadan, former INEC Chairman, Professor Attahiru Jega noted that “deeply embedded unwholesome practices such as use of money, violence, incumbency

IT IS IMPORTANT TO ANALYSE IF THERE IS A RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN HEAVY DEPLOYMENT OF SECURITY AGENTS AND ENTHRONEMENT OF VIOLENCE WHICH UNDERMINES ELECTORAL INTEGRITY

powers and a range of electoral malpractices and fraudulent activities in the electoral process grossly undermine its utility as a vehicle for democratic development�. Violence is embraced by dominant political classes to access power for self-actualisation rather than for the betterment of their states and Nigeria. Jega averred that “ritualised elections which lack integrity merely serve to legalize, if not legitimize, access and control of power into executive or legislative arms of government by people unconcerned with or indifferent to, the requirements of sustainable democratic development�. The implications are that such elections do not produce responsive and representative leadership. While the citizens who sold their votes in Kogi and Bayelsa for short term gain should be ready to suffer long term pains and join the millions of Nigerians who populate the poverty clan in Nigeria, the security agents who look the other way as bandits ruled failed in their primary responsibility. The implications of allowing hoodlums to enthrone monsters are grievous only for the discerning mind. The crime statistics of kidnapping, armed robbery and other forms of violent crimes in the two states might have gone down because the criminals have been contracted by political actors. Now that the elections are over, and the boys have been adequately equipped, it will be difficult not to see such crimes grow. It means the security agents who failed to arrest criminals in the convoy during campaign may themselves be killed by the same bandits later. It also means that the politicians who used and dumped them after elections would become victims of kidnapping. If they are recruited from campuses, trying out of new weapons in cult clashes should be expected. Then, the same government that enthroned violence will be claiming to fight the seed of violence it sowed. According to Fela, Babanla nonsense (Utter nonsense)! Moving forward, it is important for the government of the day to review elections conducted under their reign and see how much we have progressed or regressed. It is important to analyse if there is a relationship between heavy deployment of security agents and enthronement of violence which undermines electoral integrity. If we consider how much we continue to budget for security in Nigeria, we would see that it will be wise for a government not to allow violent characters reign for a moment. If we continue to allow violence as a national culture, we would see its spiral effects in all sectors and that is showing with the growing incidence of insurgent citizenships. Bayelsa and Kogi States have shown how superior aggression and social network of manipulation dethrones and enthrones. Security agents must be true with their security threat assessment and ensure that future elections meet security standards devoid of loyalty to the manipulative power of influential people. The tragedy is that the poor (vote traders and thugs) is used to undermine the future of the masses for the benefit of the few exploiters in the corridors of power. The poor kills the poor to the benefit of the rich. They unleash violence on themselves and kill one another for those who care less about them. If the violent takes the mantle of leadership by force; then repressive and oppressive administration should be expected. Dr Tade, a sociologist, sent in this piece via dotad2003@yahoo. com

THE MOST POWERFUL CUSTOMS’BOSS The growth of any society depends on strict adherence to rules, writes Eric Teniola

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f all the chief executives of the Nigerian Customs Service to date, none has been more powerful than Colonel Hameed Ibrahim Alli (rtd.), the 64- year- old criminologist from Dass Local Government Area of Bauchi State. On November 21, 1994, General Sani Abacha, GCFR, appointed him along with Justice Ibrahim Nadhi Auta, a Federal High Court Judge in Lagos and Justice Etowa Enyong Arikpo, a Judge in Cross River State High Court to try Ken Saro- Wiwa, Ledun Mitee, Barinom Kiobel, John Kpaniene and Baribor Berai in the aftermath of the Ogoni crisis in Rivers State. On August 22, 1996, the same General Abacha appointed him as the Military Governor of Kaduna State. He served as governor till August 1998 when General Abacha died. On August 27, 2015, President Muhammadu Buhari, GCFR, appointed Colonel Alli, as the Comptroller General of Customs Service. His predecessors from the colonial era till now Mr.T.A. Wall, Mr. Nicol, Mr. E.P.C. Langdon, Mr. S.G. Quinton, Mr. Ayodele Diyan, Mr. Henry Etim Duke, Alhaji Shehu Musa, Mr. Oyebode Oyeleye, Alhaji Abubakar Musa, Dr. Bello Haliru Muhammed, Major General S.O.G. Ango, Alhaji Ahmed Aliyu Mustapha, Mr. David Akintayo Ogungbemile (acting), Jacob Gyang Buba, Bello Hamman, Dr. Bernard-Shaw Nwadialo and Dikko Inde Abdullahi, never had the kind of power and influence that Col. Hammeed Alli, now has. To prove the extent of his power, I refer to the circular dated November 6, 2019 and signed by Chidi A. (Deputy ComptrollerGeneral) for Comptroller-General of Customs, titled “Suspension of petroleum products supply to filling stations within 20 kilometres to all borders�. It read,

“The Comptroller-General of Customs has directed that henceforth no petroleum product no matter the tank size is permitted to be discharged in any filling station within 20 kilometres to the border. Consequently, you are all to ensure strict and immediate compliance, please.� In government, there is what we call schedule of responsibilities. I want to believe that Nigeria has not graduated to a fictitious country adapted by Henry William Sydney Porter (1862-1910) called Banana Republic. Obeying the law is one way of ensuring stability in the society. Have you ever wondered what would happen in our society if there were no rules and regulations? Anyone could just get up and do anything but you cannot complain because there is no defined behaviour for people in the society to follow. It is interesting how we are socialised to believe a particular way is the best way of doing something and we insist that things be done that way. Sometimes we do not even know the reason(s) why we are told things should be done this way or the other. If we were taught as we were growing up that it is best to greet people with our left hand, I am very sure we would have been emphasising on that and felt insulted anytime someone greets us with the right hand. Or if we were brought up to understand that slapping each other was the best way to say hello, we would have guarded this value jealously. Ironically, what is acceptable in one society may not be acceptable in another society because different societies across the world have varying beliefs, values, rules and regulations. The reason why rules and regulations are made in our society is to help maintain peace and order in the society. The directive in that circular should have been issued by President Buhari who is also the Minister

of Petroleum or the Minister of State for Petroleum, Chief Timipre Sylva or the Minister of Finance, Zainab Shamsuna Ahmed or the Minister of Internal Affairs, Ogbeni Adesoji Rauf Aregbesola or the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Mr. Boss Mustapha or the Group Managing Director of the NNPC, Mallam Mele Kyari or the Director of the Department of Petroleum Resources, Mr. Mordecal Ladan. The sale of petroleum products either within or outside the borders is not part of the schedule of the Comptroller- General of the Nigeria Customs Service. As of today, the Minister of Finance is still the Chairman of the Board of the Nigeria Customs Service while the Comptroller General of Customs is the Vice-Chairman of the board. At present the Nigeria Customs Service is run by the Comptroller-General who oversees the work of six deputy comptroller generals in the following departments: Corporate Support Services; Tariff & Trade; Enforcement, Investigation, and Inspection; Modernization, Research and Economic Relations; Excise, Industrial Incentives and Free Trade Zone; Human Resource Development. The circular is talking about the sale of petroleum products along the border. The circular is not talking about the closure of border, an issue that must have been discussed at the Federal Executive Council presided over by the president and I am sure the president must have seen the merits and demerits on the need to close our borders. Even if the president gave such a directive to Alli to execute, the circular did not say so and there is nothing negative in the circular saying so. I am aware that the untouchables in Nigeria of today get away with anything. A pronouncement in the circular that Col. Alli was carrying out the directive of the president could have

given the circular more weight. We are discussing about the powers of the Comptroller-General of the Nigeria Customs. The sale of petroleum products is still under the NNPC and no law has taken that responsibility from the NNPC. According to the Nigerian constitution, all minerals, gas, and oil the country possesses are legally the property of the Nigerian federal government. The NNPC is the oil corporation through which the federal government regulates and participates in the country’s petroleum industry. The Nigeria Customs Service was formerly under the Ministry of Finance before 1985. General Ibrahim Babangida, GCFR, placed it directly under the Ministry of Internal Affairs and that lasted from 1985 till 1992. He later transferred the customs back to the Ministry of Finance in 1992 and that arrangement is still on till date. I have read and reread the decrees of the Nigeria Customs Service especially the post of the comptroller general, I never came across where the comptroller general of customs will execute the directive in that circular. I am equally not undermining the success of Col Alli since he became the comptrollergeneral of Customs. For example, the Nigeria Customs Service has generated about N1.002 trillion from January to September. The service recorded the highest revenue of N123.6 billion in July, followed by N118.6 billion in May. Let’s take a look at the legal framework of the Nigeria Customs Service. The Customs & Excise Management Act (CEMA) Cap 45, Law of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004 vests legal authority in the Nigeria Customs Service to act on behalf of the federal government of Nigeria in all customs matters.

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EDITORIAL ENDING OPEN DEFECATION The provision of water and toilets will ensure a healthier environment

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n a bid to curb the unhygienic practice of open defecation, President Muhammadu Buhari yesterday signed Executive Order 009, aimed at making the country “Open Defecation-Free” by 2025. “There is established in the Federal Ministry of Water Resources a National Secretariat called ‘Clean Nigeria Campaign Secretariat’,” proclaimed the order. “The Secretariat is authorised on behalf of the President to implement this order by ensuring that all public places, including schools, hotels, fuel stations, places of worship, market places, hospitals and offices have accessible toilets and latrines within their premises.” Defecating in open fields, bushes and bodies of water, is widely practiced in Nigeria. The country reportedly has over 46 million people defecating in the open, making it the second largest in the world. A recent poll conducted by NOIPolls acknowledged the prevalence of the practice and the challenge of access to sanitation THE PROVISION OF facilities. Indeed, WATER AND TOILETS ARE Nigeria is one huge VERIFIABLE MEASURES IN field, where people FIGHTING POVERTY AND defecate without taking into considDISEASES eration the impact of their actions on their health and that of others. In many rural communities, people still build houses without provisions for toilets, or as the case may be, latrines, where waste can be emptied without others coming into contact with it. In the urban centres, such cases are also pervasive. In many of our so-called modern cities, people use the outdoors as bathrooms and toilets. Many walkways and nearby bushes reek of urine and decaying faecal matter. Yet experts have consistently warned that when large numbers of people are defecating outdoors, it’s extremely difficult to avoid ingesting human waste, either because it has contaminated the food or water supplies or because it has been spread by flies and

Letters to the Editor

dust. According to the joint UNICEF and the World Health Organisation report previously published on the issue, the absence of toilets remains one of the leading causes of illness and death among children. The report said that diarrhea, a disease often associated with poor sanitary conditions, and respiratory infections resulting from poor hygiene, kills about 400,000 children under the age of five annually. These deaths are largely preventable with improvements in water, sanitation and hygiene.

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

ccording to experts, every seven women out of 10 had no access to a safe toilets, and millions of other women and girls lacked safe and adequate sanitation. Every year, over 85,000 mothers in Nigeria lose a child to diarrhoeal diseases caused by lack of adequate sanitation and clean water,” said Dr. Michael Ojo, one- time country representative of WaterAid in Nigeria. “Women and girls living in Nigeria without toilet facilities spend 3.1 billion hours each year finding a place to go to the toilet in the open.” The provision of water and toilets are verifiable measures in fighting poverty and diseases. Even the modest efforts in the campaign against open defecation in some communities in Ekiti State sometimes ago are yielding good results. “We have brought improvement to 250 towns and communities in Open Defecation- Free by providing 10 toilets per public,” said Mohsena Islam, UNICEF/EU water sanitation and hygiene specialist. “We have also provided technical supports in 313 communities for them to know various ways to build and take ownership of low cost latrines and how to repair them in case of damage.” That is why levels of government, as proclaimed by the new order, should invest more in the provision of water and public toilets, and create awareness on the dangers of open defecation. As Ban Ki-moon, former United Nations secretary general once declared, sanitation is a vital tool for improving the lives of millions of the poorest people.

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

THE SECOND COMING OF GOV BELLO

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ne of the greatest wonders of the world is the recent ignoble return of the controversial and underperforming governor of Kogi State, Yahaya Adoza Bello. To the ruling party, it is a fait accompli; but to the teeming helpless ordinary people of Kogi State, there’s the palpable fear of another four years of political buffeting, emasculation, impoverishment, workers agony, governmental grandiloquence, youthful arrogance and juvenile tactlessness. On whose interest does the return of GYB serve? Is the Party ego more paramount and important than the cry or well-being of the generality of the Kogi people? It is obvious that the meaning of the ambivalent of a mantra called Change is gradually coming home. Is this a change for the better or a change for the worse? What should we expect from GYB, this time around? These are the tilting questions pivoting the mind of the average political watcher, especially in Nigeria. This writer is permanently bothered about the negative connotations and the wrong signals GYB’s emergence as his party flag bearer, in the first place, and his final return to power, is sending to our overall political system and posterity. GYB’s return makes it practically correct to assert that leadership recruitment in our clime has got nothing to do with capacity, intelligence, tact and performance. It has everything to do with the power bloc and the camp of the philosopher king one belongs to. Above all, it represents the collective ego, desire and desperation of a

privileged party to insert her claws continually on the pie not minding her hungry contemporaries. The feelings and wishes of the people have become inconsequential as long as the desires of party kingpins are adequately satisfied. This is the reality of today’s party politics in Nigeria. Gov. Bello may be the metaphor for today’s discourse, but looking beyond him to the unforeseeable political future where excellence, competence and patriotism is placed above primordial considerations should be the concern and the focus of every true Nigerian. While many may call my postulations and position here a diatribe, it should be noted that evil prevails and dominate when good men say or do nothing. I may not be from Kogi State, yet the scenario in Kogi is but a microcosm and a statistical representation of the general woe bedeviling the Nigerian state on one hand, and the dangerous precedence it has set for the political future of our dear nation, on the other. Let someone help me tell GYB that he’s the luckiest youth on the face of the earth today and as such, has the unique and rare opportunity to right every wrong that history has written about him. Let the celebration be short-lived and let him get down to business immediately. He must not only be seen as hitting the ground running, but hitting the sky flying. To stumble twice upon the same stone given the same circumstances is a proverbial disgrace. Austen Akhagbeme, Abuja

OUT- OF- SCHOOL CHILDREN IN NIGERIA

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hildren who have never been to school and may never see the four walls of a school continue to be a painful reality in the world and particularly in Nigeria. With over 13 million “out-of-school” children in Nigeria alone, alongside overcrowded classrooms in public schools and varying exorbitant school fees rates in private schools, primary school education is bound to elude many children in Nigeria. The pressures on the “Affordable Educational Institutions” in Nigeria continue to mount, particularly with the skyrocketing rise in the Nigerian population. Family planning is a topic that is usually taken with kids’ gloves because of religious beliefs and the ubiquity of sex-related themes and addicts. Until every adult becomes more responsible in bedroom matters and conscious that every copulation could be a child in the making; the problem of out- of -school children remains. Bidemi Nelson, CEO, Shield of Innocence Initiative

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POLITICS

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

‘The Biggest Problem in Nigeria is the Failure of Government Bureaucracy’ Nseobong Okon-Ekong was among a group of journalists who interacted with Governor Godwin Obaseki on the sideline of the recent Edo Summit

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budget at best is about $500 million a year. So, here is a government that is spending $500 million, but in that same economy, private individuals bring in five times what government has to spend. Any smart government would create a platform where it can continuously interact and understand what those people want such that that $3 billion that’s in that economy can quickly be grown and utilised for investment to drive economic growth. That’s the thinking. The summit helps us to throw more light, create that communication, that bridge between what we are doing as government and the rest of the society. Our plan is to work before we begin to talk; because a typical model is that you you just keep talking and begin to commission things, so that people would say ‘he is working’. For us, we said no politics for the first three years. After three years, when election is ahead of you, you can begin to make the noise and play the politics.

hat would you say is your greatest achievement? You can split them in two broad categories. In education, we have been able to pull back a system we thought was lost. Within a short period of time, we recovered our education system. This has huge life implication across the board. It helps us with social policy and many things. Number Two is the institutional reorder, where we’re now able to say, ‘look, first, this is our reality: we are only earning N100, therefore we cannot spend N200. With this N100, we will distribute based on the promises we made when we were campaigning.’ We’re going to put so much in education, we are going to put so much in health and get the system to work. It’s the biggest challenge. The biggest problem Nigeria has today is the failure of government bureaucracy. That’s why you say, ‘I want to build a road, you can’t because there are all sorts of interests’. Everywhere else in the world, they have interests, but they get things done.

What didn’t you know about governance that you only got to know when you became governor? I had some kind of pre-knowledge of government having worked as the Chairman of the Economic team. I knew a lot. What I didn’t know is that at the end of the day, people in the society really know what is going on. If they see sincerity of purpose, they will support. The fear was, ‘oh, everything is bad’, no, it’s not true. The reason you are having this push back is that when you talk to anybody, they would say this governor is working; because they know how much money the state earns. They saw how governments had behaved in the past. It’s really a pleasant surprise that as long as you’re doing things in the interest of the people, they really know that you are working. What didn’t you know about Oshiomhole that you only found out after becoming the governor – considering how both of you started? This is someone who had been the President of the Nigerian Labour Congress (NCL) and governor two terms, why would being the chairman of a party make you play God? I hope it’s not true, but the evidence is strong – I never knew he would be involved in anything related to compromising on the will of the people. I would have fought anyone who told me he could compromise to influence decisions otherwise. But everybody is complaining. That is the greatest disappointment. As part of the old Bendel State, Edo was famous for cash crops like cooca, rubber and oil palm. Why have you not taken pragmatic measures to re-enact that era in the agricultural sector? We have lost the culture of agriculture in the South, particularly the South-south. With the advent of crude oil, everybody just left. For two generations, people haven’t really farmed on a scalable basis. What we are doing is working very closely with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), taking all the initiatives; rather than just be tokenistic and just mouth agric. What are the real issues? Agric is business and in every business there are risks. The first thing you want to do is to understand those risks and try and reduce those risks. What we’ve done with the CBN with commercial agric, is the anchor borrower programme. We put together a team, let’s do maize; let’s start from the short term; let’s do the

Obaseki grains. Let’s do maize, let’s do rice, let’s do soybeans. We’ve gone in; some of the old farm settlements we had, we cleared them, mechanised them. We’ve some of the young men, you want to do agric. We’ll cluster you and give you lots of five hectares each. And some of the young men have picked up; we’ve seen some traction, particularly in areas in the north, where we are doing rice. Today, we have about 12,000 hectares which we are working on across the three senatorial districts but the big elephant in the room are the cash crops, particularly crops like oil palm, cocoa and

In Edo, next to crude oil, remittances account for a large chunk of our inflow as a country, right? Last year, reports have it that about $25 billion came into Nigeria as remittances. Given the size of our Diaspora, we (Edo) will easily account for 10 per cent of that inflow. So, about $2.5 billion would have come into Edo. How much is my total budget? Total budget at best is about $500 million a year. So, here is a government that is spending $500 million, but in that same economy, private individuals bring in five times what government has to spend

rubber. What we noticed is that a lot of our forest reserves have been badly degraded. We have about 630,000 hectares of reserves that were being handed over to the state. Today, less than 135,000 hectares are real forest. What we’ve done is that we have to save our environment. We go to a place that used to be a forest reserve and all you see there is elephant grass; that will never be a forest again. We decided to de-reserve and make about 120,000 hectares of such land available for oil palm. We are doing it in a structured manner; we’ve gone out, we’ve done all the work we need to do. The goal is that within the next 18 months, we’ll have about 120,000 hectares of fresh land under cultivation, either for oil palm, rubber or cocoa. We have the largest plantations in Nigeria today; besides Cross River. What would you say are the gains of the Edo Summit so far? This never used to happen. Edo people now look forward to something every year. Everybody comes together to talk about the state, talk about issues, to look ahead and try and understand what government is doing. It’s a platform to help us communicate with our people. More than that, it’s a platform we’re trying to utilise to engineer governance; because most times, government seems to exist on its own as government. We have realised that it can’t work. Government now wants to partner with the private sector. Our educational revolution, Edo-BEST, is working because we have a private sector partner. On our own, we couldn’t do it. To make the kind of impact we did, we need to have constant collaboration and communication with the rest of society. That old paradigm of government said, then it happened’ doesn’t work anymore. In any case, how much money does government have? If you look at the financial structure of Edo, next to crude oil, remittances account for a large chunk of our revenues or inflows as a country, right? Last year, reports have it that about $25 billion came into Nigeria as remittances. Given the size of our Diaspora, we (Edo) will easily account for 10 per cent of that inflow. So, about $2.5 billion would have come into Edo. How much is my total budget? Total

When you win your second term, what and what should we expect from you? We’ve laid a very solid foundation for growth. The country is in search of models that work. Lagos has worked, but people look at Lagos as an aberration: 16, 19 million people, port, a lot of private investment; so, it’s not like the rest 36 of us. But if Edo works; if we are able to drive IGR to be three, four times our receipt from Abuja; if we’re able to have a self-sustaining economy, it will be an example to many other states. You might find another 10 or 12 states that would say if Edo could do it, we should be able to do it. What I’m hoping is that we’ve made some significant investment in people (education), infrastructure; we’re building an industrial park down Sapele Road; it’s bigger than Agbara (in Ogun State). What is significant about it is that the energy you need is already there. We’re working with the Chinese to build a river port. Hopefully, by the time we get the final things in place, Lagos is about five hours by water; so, on the Benin River, you can go into Lekki. And that would be the closest port to the belly of the country. Once you land, rather than truck goods 300 kilometres from Tin Can Apapa, you can barge them and move them here. Then, from Benin, you’re one hour from Onitsha, three hours from 70 million people. So, my second term is to consolidate on what we have achieved. By my second term, these children (current primary school pupils) will be going into JSS; so, next year I want to start by strengthening my junior schools, making them lift the hopes of the people who redesigned our educational system; for we’ve moved from the 6-5-4 system to the 6-3-3-4 system; but that has never really been implemented in real terms. My aspiration is that by the time a child goes through the first nine years of learning in Edo, you’re ready for life. Even if you don’t have an opportunity to continue, you would have picked out something from your schooling system; because your first six years will consolidate your ability to learn. Then the next three years in junior school will expose you to life. And you must leave school with a vocation. Even if you don’t have the opportunity to continue to senior school or technical school, you don’t end up being a tout as the situation was here. At the end of the day, it’s about human capacity. Once you build the human beings, they make things happen. NOTE: Interested readers should continue in the online edition on www.thisdaylive.com

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T H I S D AY ˾ THURSDAY NOVEMBER 21, 2019

POLITICS

‘Zoning Should Not Be Selective’ Igwue Chijioke Nwankwo is the traditional ruler of Nawfia in Njikoka Local Government Area of Anambra State, recently spoke with some journalists including Iyobosa Uwugiaren on national issues, advising the people of the state to go all out for a candidate who can bring the state back to the path of development

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ecently, there were reports that traditional rulers of Anambra South insisted that the governorship position be zoned to Anambra-south. As a traditional ruler in the state, do you share that view? No. I challenged the grounds upon which Governor Willie Obiano emerged in 2014. I almost had problems with the then governor, Peter Obi, for challenging that position. That position is constitutionally illegal. The Nigerian constitution prohibits zoning. If zoning must be done, it cannot be selective. It cannot be for only the governorship position. If we must adopt zoning, it must be across board. If we must zone, it must go round including Senate, House of Representatives, State House of Assembly and even the traditional ruler. It is not about who can afford it. My position is for the best candidate, the most credible candidate. It must be said that Anambra South Senatorial zone has produced at least two governors. As it is, every zone of the state has produced the governor. However, we must note that in places where there is mutual agreement on zoning, there must be a section that has been cheated. I believe that there has been equitable and just distribution of political power in Anambra State. I don’t see any part of Anambra State that is a minority. No part of Anambra State is marginalised. Anambra North was said to have been cheated in the past. But with Governor Obiano, they are having eight years in power and he has developed the place and given more appointments to Anambra North than any governor in the history of Anambra State. So, I totally reject zoning. It is constitutionally illegal. If they must do it, without any malicious intention to disenfranchise anybody, then, it must go round and also be done in the council of traditional rulers, in the town unions, in the State House of Assembly, Senate, House of Representatives, Councillorship and so on so as to make it equitable and just. Was there any time in the history of Anambra State when either traditional rulers or the political class met and agreed that there would be zoning of the governorship? Well, we met when the Ohanaeze people came and suggested the idea of zoning, and I have this in writing. They brought a lot of professors to discuss it. At that meeting, I rejected zoning. All the professors that came there told us that zoning is illegal and continues to be illegal, but if all the people have an understanding, they can do what they want. However, the way Anambra is today suggests that we must bring someone who is eminently qualified to govern us. We must stop the idea of a few cabals bringing someone and insisting that he should govern us. We must stop that. Our problem, if you recall, Peter Obi asked ‘are we the cause or are we cursed’? At the end of his tenure, he said, we are the cause. But we know that it is how you make your bed that you lie on it. We must stop all these gang-up that impose anybody on us. Let us go for our best candidate to fix Anambra. If you are scared that without zoning that you will not win, then, you are not qualified. Anambra has grown since 1999 and the people are mature enough to know what and who they want without rigging. With seven local governments in each of the three senatorial zones, do you think the state lacks quality persons to manage its affairs? I believe that many of the people running for the office of governor are qualified. But I think what they are looking at is a consensus on zoning. Anambra has people who are eminently qualified, from all the zones, to work for the common good. So, the answer is that we have qualified people to do the job and there is no need for zoning. If you look at it historically, you will know that Anambra

you don’t like the Igwe. They must integrate and incorporate Anambra people into what they are doing whether they are APGA or not. There is no need to create division. You need to take advantage of the diversity and bring both those who voted for you and those that did not vote for you together for the good of the state because the resources, the money, are theirs regardless of their vote. What you are essentially saying is that APGA has divided Anambra people the more… As at today, there is more problem between the town unions and the traditional institution. You know that when there is a problem with the father of the house, it affects the children.

Nwankwo South has produced two governors. Remember also that I challenged the argument that the North had not produced leaders of the state. Where did Nnamdi Azikiwe and Ukpabi Asika come from? They were both from Anambra North. I said what we ought to be looking at is if Anambra North had been cheated of anything that rightly belongs to it from the state budget? I warned that we should not create more problems while attempting to cure one. That was before Willie Obiano became governor. Do you think that all the political parties can be persuaded to select their candidates from only one zone? I don’t think so because the PDP had made it clear that it is not going with zoning. APC has also spoken in same direction that it will not go with zoning. Among the three strong

The marginalisation that the Igbos talk about is real and there is no similarity with what is happening to the Igbos in Nigeria and what is happening in Anambra. No zone of Anambra State is marginalised the way the Igbos are marginalised in Nigeria. No one is marginalised here. There has been a civil war in Nigeria against the Igbos and the Igbos have not been properly re-integrated, since after that war, to make them feel like they are part of same country; and that is what is fueling all the agitation

political parties in Anambra today, it is only APGA that is insisting on zoning. However, I believe that if the party goes over that decision again, it will see that the best it can do is to throw its doors open and let the people make their choice. Don’t you think that the argument against zoning in Anambra will make nonsense of the clamour of the South-east for the presidency? Let me illustrate this with a corporate organization. The law protects the minority in every corporate organization especially at shareholder meetings. The reason I talk about equity is that if the Igbos are the minority, then, the law must protect them. However, if proper census is conducted, the Igbos will be shown to be the majority in Nigeria. If you go round Nigeria, you will discover that everywhere you go, after the indigenes, the next population is the Igbo. Therefore, the marginalisation that the Igbos talk about is real and there is no similarity with what is happening to the Igbos in Nigeria and what is happening in Anambra. No zone of Anambra State is marginalised the way the Igbos are marginalised in Nigeria. No one is marginalised here. There has been a civil war in Nigeria against the Igbos and the Igbos have not been properly re-integrated, since after that war, to make them feel like they are part of same country; and that is what is fueling all the agitation. Nothing of such has ever happened in Anambra State. Would you say that the ruling party in Anambra has given people of the state the kind of governance they expect? The scorecard is yet to be completed. At this juncture, we are still waiting. There are two more years for us to see what will happen. But the way it is today, if you are not in APGA or you don’t agree with what they do, you become an outcast. A father must embrace all his children. He may give some more but he cannot exclude. I once told a commissioner in the state that they must change how they work because their policy is about exclusion and not inclusiveness. There must be equity even when there is no equilibrium. The difference cannot be much. You cannot run a state on the policy of divide and rule and divide the state along APGA and non-APGA especially in this Nawfia, where you have two presidents-general because the Igwe is outspoken. Elections were held and you cancel it and impose your own choice because

How do you mean that there is problem between town unions and traditional institution? I call it divide and rule. There is not enough investigation when something is reported before action is taken. For instance, I once received a letter from the state government about the vigilante group. They asked me to nominate 10 members and that Town Union leadership will nominate 10 members. I refused to do that. I said I will not do it. The law is very specific and unequivocal. The Anambra State Vigilante Law 2014, amended 2015, stated that the Igwe is the Chief Security Officer of the town. I asked them to follow the law. Theirs is to enforce the law. After so many squabbles, they eventually listened to me. But there are still issues. I have repeatedly told the governor that there must be division of labour. The Igwe has his job and the town unions have their jobs. That is the only way to move forward. You can only stay in office as governor for four years, at most eight years, but the problems you create can last for years if not centuries. Don’t you think that your position on issues, especially against zoning, will pitch you against the political power in the state at the moment? If you look at Egypt, only one person stood out in the square and there was a revolution which led to the Arab Spring. Sometimes, we have to sacrifice even at the point of death. Look at the life of Gani Fawehinmi. He stood alone till he died. I ask people to challenge me if what I am saying is false. I will keep saying the truth, God help me. I have been pitched against so many powers. I challenged Peter Obi. He was my schoolmate at CKC Onitsha. I was ahead of him by one year. Many people thought we were going to kill ourselves but he realized what I told him. You must look after your people. They are the people that put you there. Today, my primary function is the protection of the custom and tradition of Nawfia. If I don’t like the job, I resign from office. It does not have to be about me. Our people must know why they have a government. It is not for your pocket and not for your family. The people put you there. There was something you told the people that made them vote you ahead of others. You must achieve that thing. How are you coping with issue of herdsmen in your domain and what is your take on the idea of resettling them whether through Ruga or other means? I entirely don’t like the idea of Ruga. They say that Igbo people are settled all over Nigeria. Yes, look at Computer Village in Lagos, the Trade Fair complex (ASPAMDA) etc., I agree the Igbo developed them. But they spent their money to buy spaces and developed them. It is a free country. If you want to rear cattle, buy a piece of land and develop your business on it. Otherwise, you should as well give Igbo people land where they would do business. Nobody gave Igbo traders the space they developed as markets. Yet, they are taxed heavily.

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FEATURES

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

Driving Industrialisation in Edo Chiemelie Ezeobi writes that the drive by the Edo State government to industrialise the state is a testament to the vision to see beyond the present and build for the future

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espite what seem an unending political hullabaloo to outlanders in Edo State, an indubitable facet that has kept the Edo State Governor, Mr. Godwin Obaseki endeared to the people, is his visionary leadership acumen, especially his ability to see, plan and build beyond the present. This is in addition to his transformational and developmental achievements in the state, which have continued to earn him accolades and recognitions. Unperturbed by the distractions, the governor in less than three years in office, has not only repositioned Edo State economy to be viable and globally competitive, but has been able to set a pace for future growth and massive industrialisation. While the state’s industrialisation is yet to boom, the governor is already nurturing and training the skilled manpower required for the later hay days. Imagine a time when Edo State would have attained a degree of large-scale production and manufacturing, summed in advanced technical enterprises and other viable economic activities without a relatively skilled manpower with the technical know-how to sail the ship. The worrying impact is the importation of skilled labour from various parts of the world to drive the course, which ordinarily indigenes should have spearheaded. In exact terms, the yearn for job creation and local content development of the Godwin Obaseki-led administration would have been defeated. This explains why the governor is leveraging on technical education to prepare Edo indigenes for the industrial revolution and technological switch-over that his administration is strategically repositioning the state for. Assiduously, the State Government has wittingly invigorated technical and vocational education with the revamp of the Government Science and Technical College (GSTC), formerly Benin Technical College. The project, funded by World Bank, which is as a leading model hub for Technical and Vocation Education and Training (TVET) in Edo State, officially opened its improved facility to students in the 2019/2020 academic session. Several other models are currently still being developed for the state’s TVET programme and will be replicated in other sectors. Already, the new look of the college has caused Edo residents to take interest in the school, causing student enrolment to spike. The GSTC will serve as a centre for technical skill training for Edo youths ahead of the Obaseki-led administration’s industrial revolution boom. Since 2017 till the date the facility has continuously witnessed massive rehabilitation, with projects still on-going at the college. The school boasts of world-class and up-to-date laboratory and workshop equipment. Expectedly, the college has commenced the production of chairs for other schools in the state. It will produce part of the N2b worth of chairs to be used in primary schools across Edo State. Applaudably, key infrastructure interventions for the state-of-the-art institution include a dedicated 33kv line from the Benin North electrical sub-station which draws power from the NIPP Ihonvbor/Azura Power complex and a 45mbps fibre optic cable serving the college. Its facility is also networked with a sitewide fibre optic system, backup power from generators, off-grid renewable energy (solar power), rainwater harvesting and an integrated sitewide potable water system. Here, unlike other institutions of learning across the country, electricity is never a cause to ponder. One would begin to wonder the expectations of the Governor Obaseki-led administration of the college’s graduates if not to be equipped with skills and expertise to compete favorably with other industrialised nations.

Edo State Governor, Mr. Godwin Obaseki (middle); Senior Special Assistant to the Edo State Governor on Skills Development and Job Creation, Mrs Ukinebo Dare (left), and Team Lead, Government Science and Technical College Benin Rehabilitation Programme, Giles Omezi, during the governor’s inspection tour of the College in Benin City, Edo State capital

Newly revamped blocks of classrooms at the Government Science and Technical College (formerly Benin Technical College), during Governor Godwin Obaseki’s inspection tour of the college

The computer room

Interestingly, the state government has concluded plans to establish a commercial production hub in the GSTC. The hub will serve as alocation for design and production of machines so as to create opportunities for students to work with those in the industry and translate what they learn to the real world. Also, the state government has finalised talks with foreign partners for exchange programmes, which will make provision for experts to train teachers on technical subjects. The government also employed over 104 new staff to strengthen the college’s staff strength for the new session. Obaseki, during a tour to the school’s facility recently, said: “We need more teachers that can teach technical subjects and we need to train them. We are considering different options as

we are talking to foreign partners to provide technical support and assistance on how to bring people who have done this before to accelerate the training of our teachers.� Specifically, the National Board for Technical Education (NBTE) hailed the Governor Godwin Obaseki-led administration on the wholistic revamp of the GSTC built over 40 years ago by the Canadian Government, noting that the new learning environment has set a new standard for technical education in the country. The Deputy Director, NBTE, Mallam Samaila Tanko, when he led an NBTE Accreditation Team to GSTC, in Benin City, for resource inspection/assessment of the structures, curricula, and equipment urged other state governments to borrow a leaf from the

transformational strides of the Obaseki-led administration. Having completely changed the face and fortunes of the former Benin Technical College, the Governor Godwin Obaseki-led government also instituted the Edo Innovation Hub, a cluster for technology innovators and inventors to strengthen the state’s nascent technology innovation scene. The hub was commissioned on June 14, 2018 by the Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo and hosts the South-South Innovation Hub, a regional cluster for technology entrepreneurs in the Niger Delta. Tagged Edo Innovates, it provides a range of beginner, intermediate and advanced training in business and technology innovation, providing youths the opportunity to learn a wide array of employability and entrepreneurial skills. Specifically, some of the offerings at the hub include digital skills, business support services, start-up incubation and business acceleration, mentorship, co-working spaces, and entrepreneurship training. Asides the South-south Innovation Hub, the facility has two halls, five training rooms, six fully-furnished co-working spaces, conference rooms, outdoor workspaces, offices, four rooms with a total of 100 computers, among others. More than 10,000 youths have been trained at the facility since inception, with not less than a quarter of them being females. Some of the organisations with presence at the hub include Microsoft, Tech4Dev, LinkedIn, Curators University, Hotels.NG, Siemen’s Impact Hub, Makers Academy, Pan Atlantic University’s Enterprise Development Center, among others. The Hub has recently proven to be a resource center for the state’s government plans to build an internationally competitive locally-trained labour force in partnership with reputable organisations working to mitigate the menace of human trafficking and illegal migration. This has attracted investment from the World Bank-assisted State Employment and Expenditure for Results project (SEEFOR) Project, United Kingdom (UK) the Market Development in the Niger Delta (MADE), a number of Chinese companies, among others, at the hub. Amidst others, locally and internationally, who have continued to commend the governor, Edos in Diaspora applauded Obaseki for his relentless effort to spur industrialisation in the state. Speaking with journalists in Benin City, an indigene of Edo State and Staff Sergeant with the Toronto Police in Canada, Mr. Bassey Osagie, said the Governor Godwin Obasekiled administration has shown commitment to drive sustainable development in the state. He said he was impressed with the initiatives of the governor in creating wealth and providing opportunities for youths to learn skills to improve their livelihoods, noting, “What impresses me about the governor is when I hear that he opened the GSTC, formerly Benin Technical College. It impresses me when I hear that there is a factory opening up in Benin. I am impressed when I hear businesses are opening in Benin. When people are getting jobs and I hear that Edo State creates 1000 or 2000 jobs.� He said for Nigeria to move forward, there is need for governments across all levels to use public funds to improve livelihood and create avenues to generate wealth, which will discourage people from depending on handouts from the government. Such initiatives would discourage people from being idle, drive productivity and assist more young people to get jobs and develop the state. I watch him speak and I think we need an intellectual like that to continue to lead our state. We need somebody who is visionary and put Edo project above everything else and exposes whoever that is trying to stop the state from progressing, while working on plans to improve the wellbeing of the people.�

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FEATURES

Empowering Entrepreneurs with Skill Set Sunday Ehigiator writes that the Alakija Skills Acquisition Centre recently empowered 67 trainees with free startup kits

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ith an aim to drastically eradicate poverty and unemployment in Nigeria, the Alakija Skills Acquisition Centre in its maiden graduation ceremony recently held in Lagos, graduated 67 fresh entrepreneurs in different skills sets, with most receiving free startup kits. The centre which is located within the premises of College of Technology Yaba, was launched a year ago by the Founder, Rose of Sharon Foundation, Mrs. Folorunso Alakija, with an aim to empower the youth, and widows in the society. In her address, the Coordinator of the centre, Dr. (Mrs.) Stella Mofunanaya said the centre was realising its goals and objectives. According to her, “Since its, establishment, the centre has made tremendous efforts to realise its goals and objectives in accordance with the set vision and mission of ‘nurturing lively, inquiring, and discerning individuals that will be self-relevant in the spheres of life’. “Today, we are graduating 67 trainees who have acquired various skills at this centre of knowledge. In the course of the training exercise, the trainees have showed high sense of responsibilities and commitments. “Today, startup kits would be given to trainees that were very exceptional both in learning and in character. This will encourage them to practice the skills that they have acquired. “We hope and believe the trainees will keep up the good work and always be good ambassadors of this great centre.� In an interview with THISDAY, Alakiija highlighted electricity as the major problem entrepreneur’s face in Nigeria. According to her, “the problem of entrepreneurs in Nigerian is majorly electricity as far as I am concerned. It is not money, because we have seen the likes of a woman who started her company with N1000 and can now boast of millions of naira in her account as a result of starting small, and building on where she started. “So it is not the money, but electricity, because there is hardly any businesses you are going to do as an entrepreneur that you don’t need electricity. We all need electricity. “The federal government should give us electricity; however they are going to do it. That is what the people need. We need it so badly because it is affecting our economy. “When outsiders and investors from other parts of the world think of which country to go and invest in, they would stop to think about electricity, it is a hindrance, so the federal government should give us electricity.� On the ripple impact the 67 graduands and her skill acquisition center would have on the country and lives of her citizenry, she said, “This is an opportunity that God has brought their way. And they have to realise that it is a one-off opportunity that many prayed for but never get at times. And they have been privileged, and because they have been privileged, they have to make the most of it by focusing on what they have learnt and putting it in good use. “This is how they are going to earn their bread and butter to be able to feed their families in future. So they mustn’t take it likely. And because it was handed to them on a platter of gold doesn’t mean that they should squander it. “Now it is time for them to begin to use those tools and everything they have learnt to make money from it. So, the ball is in their

Coordinator, Alakija Skills Acquisition Centre Dr. (Mrs) Stella Mofnanaya; Founder, Rose of Sharon Foundation, Mrs. Folorunso Alakija, and Rector, Yaba College of Technology, Engr. Femi Omokungbe in a group picture with some graduands

Some of the graduands

court, they can be whoever they desire to be from now on, depending on how much they are willing to put to it. “Naturally, these are things I refer to as cottage industries. And you find that there are more cottage industries than the huge industries in any nation. So, it is part of nation building. The more there are, the better the economy, because whatever they are earning from it, they plough it back into the economy. And as their lives are getting better and better, they would be raising more whose lives are getting better, and no longer dependent on the government�. Also speaking at the occasion, the Rector,

Yaba College of Technology, Engr. Femi Omokungbe said one major means of solving the problem of unemployment in Nigeria is skill training and youth empowerment. According to him, “these 67 trainees have been trained in photography and photo editing, IT and web design, hospitality and home management, cake making, auto servicing, fashion design and tailoring, welding and fabrication, braiding and wig production, plumbing technology, makeup and gele tying. “I congratulate the trainees on the successful completion of your programmes. The training is to make you self reliant and it

is our hope that the skills and knowledge that you have acquired will be deployed to improve your status and self confidence. One major means of solving the problem of unemployment in Nigeria is skill training and youth empowerment. “The training programme of the college is designed to provide opportunity for the teeming unemployed youth to acquire skills that will enhance their self-sustenance and ultimately promote national growth. A skilled population is the basis for national growth. If we must join the developed nations, we must pay more attention to skill and entrepreneurship training of our youth.�

LASU VC, Fagbohun Faults Publication on University System The Vice Chancellor of Lagos State University (LASU), Prof. Olarenwaju Fagbohun, has denied a report in THISDAY published Thursday, October 31, 2019

alleging mismanagement, high handedness and disrespect of extant rules. In a letter through his solicitors, Olatunde Adejuyigbe & Co, the renowned scholar

described some portions of the report which was used to illustrate a story titled: ‘The Nigeria University System Under Siege – The LASU Experience,’ as false and

fabricated and misleading. The law firm added that Fagbohun is a renowned scholar and an acclaimed Professor of Law with global reach and a Senior Advocate

of Nigeria (SAN) who could not have been involved in the allegations. It faulted the report, which was based on an investigative report by an online newspaper, Premium

Times, describing it as reckless and ill-conceived offence. It noted that the report was meant to portray the revered scholar and senior lawyer in bad light.

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

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Quick Takes Buhari to Attend e-Nigeria Confab

REALIGNING BUSINESS STRATEGIES

L-R: Chairman, NBA-SBL, Seni Adio; Company Secretary, Cadbury Plc, Fola Akande; Chairman, former CEO, Access Bank Plc/ Moderator of the seminar, Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede; Chairman, NBA-ABL Law Practice Management Committee, Anire Kanyi, and former Chairman, Olumide Akpata, at a seminar organised by the NBA-SBL Law Practice Management Committee and the association of Law Firm Administrators, held in Lagos‌recently PHOTO: KOLAWOLE ALLI

Report Reveals Rising Cases of Cyber-attacks, Ransomware Globally Stories by Emma Okonji A report has highlighted the rapidly evolving cyber-threat landscape across the globe. The Sophos 2020 Threat Report, showed how cyberattackers were raising the stakes in ransomware, increasing stealth in malicious Android apps, exploiting misconfiguration in the cloud, and abusing machine learning. The report which was released recently by SophosLabs researchers, explored changes in the threat landscape over the past 12 months, uncovering trends likely to impact cybersecurity in 2020. The Senior Security Advisor at Sophos, John Shier,

TELECOM said: “The threat landscape continues to evolve – and the speed and extent of that evolution is both accelerating and unpredictable. The only certainty we have is what is happening right now, so in our 2020 Threat Report we look at how current trends might impact the world over the coming year. “We highlight how adversaries are becoming ever stealthier, better at exploiting mistakes, hiding their activities and evading detection technologies, and more, in the cloud, through mobile apps and inside networks.

“The 2020 Threat Report is not so much a map as a series of signposts to help defenders better understand what they could face in the months ahead, and how to prepare.� The SophosLabs 2020 Threat Report, focused on six areas where researchers noted particular developments during the past year. It listed some attacks expected to have significant impact on the cyber-threat landscape into 2020 and beyond to include: Automated active attacks; Unwanted apps; Misconfiguration and Machine Learning. Ransomware attackers, according to the report, would continue to raise the stakes

with automated active attacks that turn organisations’ trusted management tools against them, evade security controls and disable back-ups in order to cause maximum impact in the shortest possible time. The Threat Report highlighted how these and other potentially unwanted apps like browser plug-ins, were becoming brokers for delivering and executing malware and fileless attacks. It stated that the greatest vulnerability for cloud computing was misconfiguration by operators. “As cloud systems become more complex and more Continued on page 26

‘Technology Will Enhance SMEs’ Operations’ The 2020 World Bank Doing Business report, which was recently released, has shown that the overall business climate in sub-Saharan Africa was steadily improving. The report, however, insisted that technology deployment would enhance Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) business in Africa. Analysing the report, the Head of Strategic Partnerships at Microsoft 4Afrika, Soromfe Uzomah, said: “Looking at the ease of starting and maintaining a business, the region as a whole improved one percentage point over the last year, with a few standout countries. “Mauritius and Rwanda rank among the top 20 coun-

TELECOM tries globally, while Nigeria and Togo are among the top global improvers.� According to him, last year, countries across the region implemented 73 reforms, removing certain red tapes and obstacles for SMEs. “While this is positive development, sub-Saharan Africa is still classified as a weak-performing region overall, with an average ease of doing business score of 51.8, which is below the global average of 63.0.� He added: “Small businesses continue to battle with challenges including unreliable electricity, property registration,

tax payment and debt management. But one trend is clear: As levels of internet access, technology adoption and digital innovation improve, so do many of these challenges.â€? Addressing the enabling power of technology, Uzomah said the use of online systems for tax filing, for instance, improved the ease of doing business scores in CĂ´te d’Ivoire, Kenya, Mauritius and Togo. “Nigeria also introduced the e-payment of trade fees, reducing the time to import and export, and an online platform for registering businesses, strengthening its ranking. “Globally, markets that scored the highest in the

report all have widespread use of electronic platforms. “Digital platforms are able to more quickly process and streamline administrative tasks, giving SMEs back precious time and money to focus on doing, and growing, business. “Removing the burden of paperwork and long queues also has an incredible motivating factor. When the Kenya Copyright Board worked with Microsoft to develop an online, automated platform to help SMEs register intellectual property (IP), registrations increased by 100 per cent. “Additionally, one study found

PresidentMuhammaduBuharihasacceptedandapprovedtheinvitation oftheMinisterofCommunicationsandDigitalEconomy,DrIsaPantami toserveasspecialguestofhonour,atthe2019e-Nigeriaannualconference.The President conveyed his acceptance and approved the event throughaletter. Theconference,whichisscheduledtoholdfromThursday,28thtoSaturday, 30thNovember2019,withthethemecentredaround:‘DigitalEconomyfor aDigitalNigeria,�istobedeclaredopenbythePresident,withtheMinisterof CommunicationsandDigitalEconomyastheChiefHostandChiefConvener, whiletheDirectorGeneralNationalInformationTechnologyDevelopment Agency(NITDA),Mr.KashifInuwaAbdullahi,isthehostandconvener.All theChiefExecutiveOfficers(CEOs),ofagenciesandparastatalsunder theMinistrywouldserveasco-hosts.Theseinclude:theExecutiveVice Chairman(EVC)NigerianCommunicationsCommission(NCC),Professor UmarGarbaDanbatta;ManagingDirectorGalaxyBackbonePLC,Architect Yusuf Kazaure; Managing Director Nigeria Communications Satellite (NIGCOMSAT),DrAbimbolaAlale;ActingExecutiveSecretaryUniversal ServiceProvisionFund(USPF)MrAyubaShuaibu;andthePostMaster General,NigeriaPostalServices(NIPOST)BarristerAdebisiAdegbuyi. Thehighlightofthisyear’sevent,whichispartoftheEconomicRecovery andGrowthPlan(ERGP)ofthepresentadministration,willbetheformal publicpresentationforreview,inlinewiththePresident’sdirectives,the draftdocumentontheNationalDigitalEconomyPolicyandStrategy,in accordancewiththeMinistry’smandate.TheMinisterhasalsoconstituted Central Working Committee (CWC), for e-Nigeria chaired by him, with NITDAasitssecretariatandcoordinator,whiletheChiefExecutiveOfficers (CEOs)ofParastatalsundertheMinistry’ssupervisionserveasmembers.

PoS Innovation Summit Holds December

GlobalAccelerex,issettohostthe7theditionofitsPoSInnovationSummitinLagosonDecember11,2019.Thethemeoftheevent,‘TheAfrican Continental Free Trade Agreement: Driving Borderless Trade through Fintech,’seekstohighlighthowAfCFTAcouldchangethefutureofdigital paymentsacrossAfricaandprovidestakeholdersintheNigerianpayment systemwithinformationonhowtomaximisetheboundlessopportunities itpresents.Expertsinthedigitalpaymentecosystemconsiderthemoveto accentuatethistopic,whichisonthefront-burnerofcontinentaldiscourse, aboldstep.Inastatementreleasedbythecompany,theManagingDirector, TundeOgungbade,statedthatsummitwouldhelptoboostintra-African tradesignificantly,makingAfricaasinglemarketof1.2billionpeopleand acumulativeGDPofover$3trillion. According to Ogungbade, “AfCFTA provides a framework for trade liberalisation in goods and services. With this liberalisation comes an overarchingneedfortradesettlementsacrossdifferentAfricancountries, making payment an integral part of the process. It therefore behoves digitalpaymentcompaniestodesigninnovativepaymentplatformsand solutionsthatwillfacilitatethesetradeactivities.GlobalAccelerexisalready takingtheleadinthisregardandsomeofourinnovativeproductswillbe hittingthemarketsoon.�

Western Digital Harps on Public Safety

TheWesternDigitalCorphasstressedtheneedtooptimisestoragefor video and AI analytics at the network edge.The increased use of smart cameras and ever-rising video resolutions are driving the requirement for on-camera storage. Western Digital introduced the WD Purple SC QD101UltraEndurancemicroSDcarddesignedspecificallyforequipment makers,resellersandinstallersinthemainstreamsecuritycameramarket. In addition, the company announced a compelling new addition to the hard disk drive portfolio, WD Purple 14TB HDD for surveillance, which iscompatiblewithwiderangeofsecuritysystems. AccordingtoIHSMarkitTechnology,globalprofessionalvideosurveillance camerashipmentsareexpectedtogrowfrom140millionto224million between2018and2023,andthosewithonboardstorageareexpectedto growbyanaverageofapproximately17percentperyear. 4K-compliant camerasareexpectedtogrowfrom3.6percentofallnetworkcameras shippedin2018toover24percentby2023,andtheupto5.7Xincrease inbitsgeneratedby4Kvs.1080pvideoillustratesafast-growingdemand formorestorage.

“e-Government is all about digital economy and that is why the Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy and its parastatals have been mandated to implement e-Government in Nigeria and the Federal Executive Council has approved e-government master plan for the country� Minister of Communications and Digital Economy,

Dr. Isa Pantami Continued on page 26

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BUSINESSWORLD REPORT REVEALS RISING CASES OF CYBER-ATTACKS, RANSOMWARE GLOBALLY flexible, operator error is a growing risk. Combined with a general lack of visibility, this makes cloud computing environments a readymade target for cyber-attackers,� it added. It also explained that Machine learning designed to defeat malware found itself under attack.

‘TECHNOLOGY WILL ENHANCE SMES’ OPERATIONS’ that the knock-on effect of increased IP registration is economies that are 26 per cent more competitive and twice as likely to produce and export complex, knowledge-intensive products. “SMEs are eager to adopt these digital services to improve their productivity. In South Africa, The State of Small Business report found that 78 per cent of small businesses surveyed choose accounting software to manage their financial records,� Uzomah said. He, however, explained that the same report found that more than half of SMEs list internet access as their principal obstacle to adopting technology. “The accessibility and success of these digital platforms depends on reliable access to electricity and the internet. “In terms of connectivity, many African countries are still below the 20 per cent critical mass necessary to achieve improved efficiencies and information flows for economic growth and innovation. “To tackle this, more investments into reliable infrastructure are needed. However, while infrastructure develops, innovation can help to bridge the gap. “In Nigeria, ICE Commercial Power has introduced an off-grid, solar-powered solution to connect 10,000 SMEs to electricity. The solar grids are linked to a Microsoft cloud-computing platform, which enables remote maintenance of the equipment, thus reducing downtime and allows SMEs manage and pay for their electricity use as they go.�

Group Business Editor

Obinna Chima

Capital Market Editor

Goddy Egene

Comms/e-Business Editor

Emma Okonji

Senior Correspondent

Raheem Akingbolu (Advertising) Correspondents

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

Nume Ekeghe (Money Market) Nosa Alekhuogie (ICT)

NEWS

Sanwo-Olu Highlights BeneďŹ ts of Science, Technology for National Devt Stories by Emma Okonji The Governor of Lagos State, Mr. Babajide Olusola Sanwo-Olu has highlighted the importance of science and technology related courses in redefining students’ creativity and innovation for national development. The Governor who spoke during the celebration of the World Science Day for Peace and Development in Lagos, organised by the Lagos State Government, urged students in primary, secondary and tertiary institutions to embrace science and technology courses that would help them in critical thinking towards creativity and innovation in addressing individual and community challenges. The Governor who was represented by the Commissioner of Science and Technology, Mr. Hakeem Popoola Fahm, said: “Science is the bedrock of technology and we must promote science and technology skills in schools in order to create critical thinking and innovative skills among students who must rise up to the challenges of the state and the nation, by using technology to address issues and solve challenges.â€? He added that science and technology remained burning issues in the global economy and are gaining the attention of the non-scientific communities, since they have the potential to significantly increase collaboration and discovery, with the potential to enhance technological advancement of a nation. “Our goal to achieve technological advancement can only be realised if we encourage the study of science subject in our schools. “Through our science

curriculum, we will equip every child with the skills and knowledge they will need in their next stage of education whilst also supporting them to see how much science has changed our world and also understand how connected it is to their future,� Sanwo-Olu said. He reiterated that the World Science Day for Peace and Development highlighted the important role of science in society and the need to engage the wider public in debates on emerging scientific issues. According to him, the annual celebration was introduced by the United Nations Education, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) to promote Science, Technology,

Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) in schools, designed to address societal challenges, while creating support for learning of sciences and technology courses in schools. The Commissioner of Education, Mrs. Folasade Omobola Adefisayo, while speaking on the theme of this year’s celebration: ‘Open Science, Leaving No One Behind’, said the state was determined to develop students with science and technology skills without leaving anyone behind. She advised students to think science, think technology, and develop skills in science and technology, irrespective of their disciplines, in order to solve societal challenges. “Students must be critical thinkers and

must be determined to innovate through science and technology for national development,� Adefisayo said. The Chairman House Committee on Science and Technology, Hon. Olanrewaju Afinni, said World Science Day aimed at encouraging young scientists to get involved in the field of science. The guest lecturer and head of Computer Science Department, Lagos State University, Dr. Olutoyin Enikuomehin, in his paper on ‘Artificial Intelligence- The benefit, The Fears,’ said Artificial Intelligence had become a part of the modern society and has ushered in new standard in terms of the skill-set that is required of Nigerian professionals in science, technol-

ogy and engineering fields. He added that Artificial Intelligence (AI), remained a revolutionary feat of computer science, set to become a core component of all modern software over the coming years and decades. In his goodwill message, the Head of Service Mr. Hakeem Muri-Okunola, urged stakeholders to continue to maintain the objectives of World Science for Peace and Development by strengthening public awareness on the role of science for peaceful and sustainable society. Highlight of the celebration was the presentation of awards to the best science and technology students in each of the 57 Local Government Areas of Lagos State.

ENTREPRENEURIAL DEVELOPMENT

L-R: Group Founder & Executive Chairman, Econet, Strive Masiyiwa; Founder, Alibaba Group, Jack Ma; Chairman, First Bank of Nigeria Limited & Founder, The Chair Centre Group, Ibukun Awosika, and Executive Vice Chairman, Alibaba Group, Joseph Tsai, at the grand ďŹ nale of Jack Ma Foundation Africa Netpreneur Prize held during the Netpreneur Africa Summit in Accra, Ghana‌ recently

‘Tech Startups Key to Nigeria’s Economic Growth’ The Managing Director, SystemSpecs, John Obaro has said that the future of Nigeria lies with technology startups, especially with small and medium scale businesses. Obaro, therefore called for full support from government and the private sector for small businesses that are tech savvy, noting that it will create growth opportunities for the economy. He made this known at the Founders Institute Velocity

Conference held recently in Lagos. According to Obaro, “The future of this country lies with small businesses that are innovative with strong passion for technology. It is what we are able to do with the small businesses that will create growth opportunities for the economy. Many people can’t fit into the large organisation of government structures but can operate as smaller units and that

is where the importance of small businesses lies.� He added, “I believe that with the right level of support, they will be able to go farI was invited to come and share experience with a new generation of start-ups. We have been around for about 27 years and it was a great time to brainstorm with the younger generation, who are the next phase of growth for the industry.� Obaro, therefore urged the

federal government to provide security and infrastructural amenities, leaving the rest for entrepreneurs to provide. “Government should focus on only what government can provide and we will sort out the rest ourselves. Government should provide things like security, infrastructure such as road, rail and broadband, and if that is achieved, many of the other things will be done by the entrepreneurs, which of

course will not prevent government from from spending and developing other sectors of the economy,� Obaro said. As a tech-startup, SystemSpecs, which is a wholly Nigerian company, developed Remita, an accounting and payroll system that is currently driving the country’s Treasury Single Account (TSA) that has save the Nigerian economy of financial corruption in the public sector.

FG to Boost Local Capacity with e-Government Training Centre In a bid to fulfill its promise to develop local capacity skills among Nigerian youths, the federal government has launched an e-Government Training Centre in Abuja and a brand new 36 seater Hyundai bus as well as a 260 KVA generator set to provide uninterrupted electricity to the centre. The centre, which is located at the premises of the Public Service Institute of Nigeria (PSIN), was built and donated to Nigerian government by

the Korean government through the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) for the capacity building of e-Government in Nigeria. The Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Dr. Isa Patanmi, performed the launch ceremony recently at the Public Service Institute of Nigeria in Abuja. Pantami conveyed President Muhammadu Buhari’s appreciation to the Republic of Korea Government and

her Ambassador to Nigeria, H.E Major Gen. Lee In-tae (Rtd.) for this intervention, adding that the e-Government Centre would go a long way in bridging the gap in the training and retraining needs of Civil Servants in Nigeria. The minister reiterated that President Muhammadu Buhari on October 17, 2019 re-designated the Ministry of Communication to Federal Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy to allow for the expansion of the

scope of the Ministry and it’s Parastatals toward changing the perceptions of Nigerians about the role and mandate of the Ministry in alignment with global best practice and the federal government’s Economic Recovery Growth Plan (ERGP). He noted that retaining the former name would mean that, “the Ministry was more on how to provide ICT but with the new nomenclature, the Ministry will now convert ICT and utilise it for economic

benefits for both individual level and official purposes,� adding that, “ICT today is not just about socialisation or conveying a message but how we can utilise it to promote our economy.� Patanmi, said e-Government was all about digital economy and that is why the Ministry and its Parastatals have been mandated to implement eGovernment in Nigeria and Federal Executive Council has approved e-government master plan for the country.

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Building Africa’s Entrepreneurial Skills The Jack Ma Foundation’s $10 million cash prize for 100 African entrepreneurs in 10 years is a huge opportunity for the development of Africa entrepreneurial skills to address local challenges and Nigeria is already grabbing a large of this opportunity, writes Emma Okonji

F

ounder of Jack Ma Foundation and the Alibaba Group, Mr. Jack Ma, has through its Jack Ma Foundation, set aside a whopping $10 million cash prize for 100 Africa entrepreneurs in 10 years, where 10 African entrepreneurs with best ideas and solutions to solve African challenges, will win $1 million each year in a competition that will run for 10 consecutive years. Known as the Africa Netpreneur Initiative, the competition started this year, with entries from across African countries, which produced 10 finalists that were announced at the Netpreneur 2019 Conference, which held in Accra, Ghana, at the weekend. Nigeria, aside clinching the first position among the 10 finalists, which attracted a cash prize of $250,000 (N90 million), also won additional three slots, making four slots from among the 10 finalists that were announced as winners of the 2019 Africa Netpreneur Initiative. Temie Giwa-Tobsun of LifeBank from Nigeria emerged the first winner, Omar Sakr from Egypt emerged the second winner, while Christelle Kwizera from Rwanda emerged third winner. All contestants at the 2019 Netpreneur Prize Award Initiative, showcased their solutions to a great audience, which included the President of Ghana, Nana Akufo-Addo; the 8th UN Secretary General, Ban Ki Moon and Jack Ma, among others. While the top 10 winners got a collective $1 million prize, the first winner went home with $250,000, the second winner got $150,000, and the third winner got $100,000. The remaining seven winners among whom were three Nigerians, went home with $65,000 each. Pleased with the competition, which was adjudged by international and renown judges, Jack Ma, said the initiative was meant to encourage and support young entrepreneurs who are the hope of Africa.

Ideas that won the prizes The first prize, which was won by Temie Giwa-Tobsun of LifeBank from Nigeria, is about an idea and solution that have to do with collection and distribution of blood from donors, which are supplied to hospitals on request, to save lives of patients who are in critical need of blood to survive an operation, especially in child delivery. Gina-Tobosun is already supplying treated blood to various hospitals in Lagos and Abuja, with a plan to upscale her business and expand to other cities in Nigeria and beyond Nigeria. During her presentation, she said she was already using drones to supply blood to hospitals in other to achieve faster delivery time, in order to save lives that could be in critical condition. According to her, most hospitals lost their patients for either scarcity of blood that matches their blood group or for delay in getting blood supply to the hospital. She explained that LifeBank has saved several lives in Nigeria and that she needed financial support to upscale the business with more technology innovation, to more cities in Nigeria and beyond Nigeria, hence she entered for the competition. “It was an incredible honour to be named Africa’s Business Hero. I was truly inspired by my fellow winners at today’s Netpreneur Summit. The Africa Netpreneur Prize will give me the resources to grow LifeBank and expand our presence in Nigeria and throughout the rest of Africa. I look forward to continuing my journey to solve problems and make a significant impact on the future of Africa,� Giwa-Tubosun said. Omar Sakr from Egypt, who emerged as the second winner, has his company name as Nawa-Science, with speciality

in building research laboratory to tackle the Africa research challenges. According to him, Africa lacks quality research laboratories with well equipped instruments for academic research. Giving cost as a major barrier to building modern and well-equipped laboratories in schools, Sakr said he decided to build modern laboratories in designated areas, where schools could bring their students to have practical experiences in science and technology related courses. According to him, he entered for the competition in order to get additional funds to build more laboratories in different cities and communities in Egypt and the rest of Africa. Christelle Kwizera from Rwanda, who emerged third winner, has her company as Water Access Rwanda, which provides clean water to rural communities in Rwanda. During her presentation before the judges, Kwizera said her company provides clean water to people in rural communities to keep them healthy at all times. The people pay little amount of money to access clean water from Kwizera’s company and she uses the money for repairs and maintenance of hand-held pumps that her company installed in various communities, through which they access clean water. She asked the judges and the Jack Ma Foundation that she needed the money to expand her business fo more communities within and outside of Rwanda, while providing more hand-held pumps and more access to clean and potable water to rural communities. The first winner went home with $250,000, the second winner got $150,000, and the third winner got $100,000. Other prize winners The other seven finalists, who received $65,000 each, include: Waleed Abd El Rahman, CEO, Mumm, from Egypt; Ayodeji Arikawe, co-founder, Thrive Agric, from Nigeria; Mahmud Johnson, founder and CEO, J-Palm from Liberia; Kevine Kagirimpundu, co-founder and CEO, UZURI K&Y from Rwanda; Dr. Tosan J. Mogbeyiteren, founder, Black Swan from Nigeria; Chibuzo Opara, co-founder, DrugStoc, from Nigeria; and Moulaye Taboure, co-founder and CEO, Afrikrea, from Cote D’Ivoire. The other three Nigerians that won $65, 000 each, had different ideas and solutions that attracted and convinced the judges. Mogbeyiteren has a solution that is

addressing immunisation and healthcare delivery in children, while Chibuzo Opara, has a technology driven platform for drug distribution. The platform gives pharmacists and hospitals, access to quality drugs. The judges The finale event, called “Africa’s Business Heroes,� was held in Accra, Ghana, where the top 10 finalists pitched their businesses directly to four prestigious judges including Jack Ma; Founder and Executive Chairman of Econet Group, Strive Masiyiwa; Chairman of First Bank of Nigeria and Founder/CEO of The Chair Centre Group, Ibukun Awosika; and the Executive Vice Chairman of Alibaba Group, Joe Tsai. The four-man judges for the 2019 Netpreneur Prize Initiative, were carefully selected to get the best of ‘Africa’s Business Heroes’, based on their wealth of experiences. Jack Ma said:“The finalists who competed in ‘Africa’s Business Heroes’ should be an inspiration for Africa and for the world. Each of these entrepreneurs looked at big challenges facing their communities, and saw them as opportunities. It is my strong belief that entrepreneur heroes, like these finalists, will change the world – creating companies that drive inclusive growth and opportunity for the continent. Everyone is a winner tonight.� According to Masiyiwa, “The competition demonstrates the overwhelming entrepreneurial talent that exists across Africa. I am very excited about the future of industry and entrepreneurship for this continent. The top 10 truly showed the limitless potential of African business.� Awosika said: “What really struck me about the finalists was that they each addressed specific African problems with a specific African solution in a fresh way, leveraging technology that wasn’t available previously. If this is an indication of the future of entrepreneurship on the continent, then Africa’s future looks bright.� The initiative of Jack Ma to produce Africa’s Business Heroes through the Netpreneur competition, is to develop Africa’s entrepreneurial skills, which he said, remained innate in them. The essence is to host a pitch competition where 10 finalists from across the African continent will compete for $1 million in total prize money every year through 2028. All entrepreneurs across Africa,

are encouraged to apply. Entries for next year’s prize will open in the first half of 2020, according to Jack Ma Foundation. Addressing participants in Accra Jack Ma said: “Entrepreneurs are problems solvers who always challenge the things that people do not believe will work for them. There are lots of challenges and opportunities in Africa, which only tech entrepreneurs who are the heroes of Africa can address, and we need to support entrepreneurs in Africa.� According to him, good entrepreneurs open the radar, search for challenges and create opportunities out of challenges for others. He listed the four ‘Es’ which African entrepreneurs must stand on to include: education, eGovernment, e-Infrastructure and entrepreneur skills. He encouraged young African entrepreneurs to continue to innovate and called on African governments to support and empower young African entrepreneurs. In his welcome address, the President Akufo-Addo, thanked the Alibaba Foundation, especially its founder, Jack Ma, for believing in the Africa growth and for sponsoring the Netpreneur competition among African entrepreneurs. He said Africans must take entrepreneurs very seriously and support them to promote development in the African continent. According to him, the population of Africa remained huge and should be seen as opportunity for growth in entrepreneurship programmes. “Entrepreneurship is a vital component of economic growth that will enhance economic development and Ghana will continue to support technology innovation and promote the growth of technology entrepreneurs in Africa,� Akufo-Addo said. Ban Ki Moon, who, along with his wife, graced the competition and award night said failure drives opportunity for success. He encouraged African entrepreneurs not to give up when they experience some sort of initial failures, but to continue to innovate in order to come up with solutions that will not only address African challenges, but also global challenges. He said Africans must empower their youths, including females to drive the technology development in Africa. He commended the Jack Ma Foundation for its initiative to develop Africa through the Netpreneur competition, which he said, would spur young African entrepreneurs to innovate and change the face of Africa with technology.

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Expert Urges FG to Introduce ArtiďŹ cial Intelligence in School Curriculum Stories by Emma Okonji In order to enhance technology development among students, the Founder, Data Science Nigeria, Dr. Bayo Adekanmbi has called on the federal government to formalise Artificial Intelligence (AI), one of the global emerging technologies, in school curriculum across the country. Adekanmbi made this call at a formal book launch on AI, which held in Lagos recently. The founder said it would help expose the students and the entire country to opportunities that AI presents. According to him, “One of the ways the government can come in is to formalise Artificial Intelligence as an integral part of the school curriculum. This is because when it becomes part of the curriculum, the students will know that they are going to be tested for it because it pushes them to want to learn it. In addition to the fact that the government can also support the effective production of this book.â€? He further said: “Data Science Nigeria is a non-profit and what we are trying to do is to democratise Artificial Intelligence in schools. Let every Nigerian child be exposed to the possibilities of Artificial Intelligence and let us make our nation ready for the possibilities and the opportunities that Artificial

Intelligence present.� He said that the knowledge of AI would prepare the youths of what to come in the nearest future. “Nigeria has a population of 200 million people, with a median age of 18 years, but the question to ask is that are these young people being given the right insight on their readiness of the reality of the future especially knowing that most of the jobs we see today will go in extinction in the next five, 10, or 20 years. So, the question is what becomes of our country with so much young people without the right job to do and that is why the whole idea of Artificial Intelligence becomes a mandate. “That is why we at Data Science Nigeria said we would expose the children of both the affluent and less affluent, such that every child wherever they are in the country, will have access to the same knowledge with their counterparts in advanced countries by writing a book on AI that will be distributed freely. “That is why we are distributing the book freely beyond the traditional model of buying for your child, community, or school,� Adekanmbi said. Addressing the issue of partnership with government in distribution of the books, Adekanmbi said it would be done through collaboration with the Lagos

Smile Incentivises Customers Nigeria’s 4G LTE broadband service provider, Smile Communications Limited, is now offering double the value on their existing 30 days data plans at more affordable prices, which comes as 100 per cent increase in data volume. Courtesy of the new ValuePlus data offerings, the broadband service provider has assured new and existing customers of the best bargains in service quality and rendition. According to Smile Communications, customers on the Smile network will instead of the old offer of 2GB at N2,000 will now have 5GB at N3,000. For 3GB that was priced at N3,000 consumers will now get 7GB at N4,000. Similarly, instead of 5GB at N4,000 customers will now get 11 GB at N5,000 and in place of 7GB at N5,000 Smile now offers 15GB at N6,000. There are also other packages that have transformed the old 10GB at N7,500 to 21GB at N8,000 as well as 15GB at N10,000 to 31GB at N11,000. The Ag Managing Director of Smile Nigeria, Akin Alayoku, who made the disclosure in a statement, said the main objective of the ValuePlus data plans was to give double value at more affordable prices to its customers. According to Alayoku, the offerings were unprecedented in the range of

the data plans on offer and unsurpassed in the value that will accrue to the customers who will take advantage of the offerings. Applauding the initiative, Alayoku explained that the new improved data plans as a package were as robust as they are versatile. Each of the offering is tailor-made for both the individual and corporate users. He urged forward-looking customers and prospects alike to embrace any of their preferred offerings and savor the benefits of double value. Alayoku assured that Smile would continuously innovate to beat existing market benchmark all in a bid to provide products that would serve customer’s best interest in the present turbulent market landscape. He restated that Smile’s vision and mission is to be the broadband provider of choice and to enable its customers to benefit fully from the internet world for data and voice. “Smile will continue to bring value to its users as a long term strategy and bring explosive growth in mobile data usage. We will continue to innovate to meet the demands of users where mobile data is becoming a must-have that impact our daily lives and continuously exceed customers’ expectations,� he said.

State Government in training its teachers on AI. He explained that it would make them to infuse the right skills into the students.

“We are working the Lagos state government to train the trainers where we equip the teachers to also know because you can only

give what you have. “We are going to train the teachers on Artificial Intelligence and after we have trained them, we will

give the copies of the book. The training will commence in December and it is going to be on a rolling basis,� Adekanmbi said.

BOOSTING DATA CAMPAIGN

L-R: Chief Marketing OďŹƒcer, Smile Communication, Abdul Hafeez; Ag. Managing Director, Akin Alayoku; Chief Finance OďŹƒcer, Abhulime Ahigwina, and Head, Brands and Communication, Lotanna Anajemba, at the launch of ‘More Value, More Aordable Data Plans’ campaign by the company in Lagos...recently

OPPO Unveils New Smartphone OPPO has launched the new Reno2 Series in the Nigerian market, designed to enhance creativity among smartphone users. The Reno2 and Reno2 F models are the latest of OPPO’s popular Reno series that will change the boundaries of users’ creativity, coming packed with photography-enhancing features. The Reno2 series unique multiperspective capabilities enable users to see things differently, inspiring OPPO to launch the “Challenge Your Perspective� campaign, calling on creators to boldly defy conventional Instagram photography by capturing new, fresh perspectives behind the lens. Speaking at the launch in Lagos, Public Relations Manager of OPPO Nigeria, Joseph Adeola, said: “Inheriting the already rich creative spirit of the Reno Series, this latest iteration presents our users with even more creative possibilities, empowering them

to discover new perspectives. “Its advanced camera technology performs superbly in a range of environments and scenarios, from busy cities to natural landscapes to broad daylight to dark nightlife.� Speaking on the camera features, he said OPPO would continue to be dedicated to pushing the boundaries of mobile photography. The Reno2 will come equipped with four cameras that provide a full focal length imaging system; offering a 5x Hybrid Zoom, Ultra-Wide Angle lens and more. Three lenses of varying focal lengths work in unison to create a unique 5x Hybrid Zoom effect from the ultrawide-angle to telephoto, which also fuses image technology to ensure a smooth, seamless zoom transition. With a 48MP primary lens equipped with Optical Image Stabilization, F1.7 aperture, and a 1/2-inch sensor along with Quad Bayer

technology, Reno2 can achieve better performance in low light. The Reno2 Series’ Ultra Dark Mode covers an entire range of different night scenes via a powerful NPU, and OPPO fine-tuned algorithms. Even if light levels measure below 1 lux, it elevates your photos beyond naked eye through hardware network-optimized AI noise reduction. According to him, a single photo can’t tell a whole story, and with social media users increasingly shooting video, OPPO is paying more attention to Videography than before. Speaking on the features of user-centric design, Adeola said: “The Reno2 is also equipped with a 6.5� dynamic AMOLED screen, 2400x1080 resolution, and a screen-to-body ratio of 93.1 per cent, made from durable 6th Generation Corning Gorilla Glass. The Reno2 Z and Reno2 F feature a slightly smaller 6.5’’ AMOLED screen, with

2340x1080 resolution, and a screen-to-body ratio of 91.1 per cent made from toughened 5th Generation Corning Gorilla Glass. The Reno2 comes with the improved Dynamic AMOLED Screen, which offers sufficient brightness even in bright outdoor environments while extending screen service life by 50 per cent and reducing power consumption by 6 per cent.� For its cutting-edge hardware and software that delivers superb performance, Adeola said the smartphone runs on the latest version of Android Pie 9.0, featuring a smoother and more enjoyable user experience, powers the Reno2 Series. It provides a brand-new visual experience, including wallpaper designs that better match the phone’s exterior design. Other features include a complete gaming experience, with optimised features like Touch Boost 2.0, Frame Boost 2.0 and game space.

Experts Call for Proactive Measures for Talent Development Judith Obaze Stakeholders who gathered at the Open Forum Day, organised by Tek Experts Nigeria in Lagos recently called for proactive interventions on how to develop citizens’ talents in view of the fourth Industrial revolution that is currently sweeping across globe. The stakeholders stressed the need for the Nigerian workforce of over 85 million to be turned into huge assets. Speaking on the theme: ’Preparing for the Future of Work’, the Country Manager, Tek Experts Nigeria, Lars Johannisson, explained that with a workforce of 85 million people, Nigeria is home to an enormous labour market and the talent must be upskaled

and honed in order to compete successfully in the Fourth Industrial Revolution. He said: “The future of work is upon us and we must take urgent action at all levels, including government, industry and individual, to ensure the Nigerian workforce always has the right skills and the ability to adapt in real time and succeed in the direction that work is going. Work as we know it is currently being disrupted and the advent of Artificial Intelligence (AI), and other technology innovations has changed the way we work and at Tek Experts we recognise that this is the direction the world is taking thus the need for adequate preparations to be made.� “We currently hire over

1,000 young IT talent, which makes us one of the largest and fastest growing IT company in Nigeria. Therefore, we have a massive responsibility as a business to train our staff and we recognise the need to upskill our talent, reinvigorate their work experiences and trainings so they can not only deliver top-notch customer experiences, but also operate optimally in the place of work.� The forum provided an opportunity for IT support services from across the world, to gather key Information Technology (IT) and Human Resources (HR) professionals to discuss the future of work, examine the challenges that lie ahead in the world of work and identify credible, effective

solutions. The event also analysed Nigeria’s preparedness for the future of work and touched on several areas including what changes are in store for the workplace, the workforce, and the nature of work itself, and discussed if Nigerian workers have the necessary skills prepared to take Nigerian organisations to the next level of work. Guest speakers at the forum included; CEO, Future Software Resources, Nkemdilim Begho; the Senior Manager, People and Organisation, PwC, Aruosa Osemwegie; Head of Start-Ups, Lagos State Employment Trust Fund, Tosin Faniro-Dada, and Executive Director, mindthegap. ng/Author of Youthnomics, Tayo Olosunde.

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Beuvelet: We are Providing Solution to Nigeria’s Problems

Jumia Shuts Down Cameroon Operation, Records Losses

The Acting Managing Director of 9mobile, Stephane Beuvelet, in this interview, speaks on the company’s commitment to enhancing customer experience. Emma Okonji brings the excerpts:

E-commerce giant Jumia, still smarting from its ill-fated listing at the New York Stock Exchange, has again shocked Africa e-commerce watchers when it on Monday folded up its operations in Cameroon without prior information to the public and workers. The development means Cameroon becomes the third African country in which Jumia has shut down operations. The earlier two being Gabon and Congo Republic. Before the Cameroon closure, there had been market speculation that Jumia was going through a bad patch in its market expectations. The company which released recently its Q3 financial report saw its operational loss increase to $55 million from the $45 million recorded in the same quarter last year. According to Jumia, the closure is necessary as its current model is not suited for the country. “We came to the conclusion that our transactional portal as it is run today is not suitable to the current context in Cameroon. We wanted to see how business evolved. We can come back, but for now we’re closing (to have) time to study the market.� It did not state when and how it will return to the Cameroon market. However, recent developments surrounding the company

I

t has been almost a year that the new executives of 9mobile took over the company. What have you been up to in the past few months? Basically, what has happened for almost a year now, since the takeover on November 12, 2018, is that we have done a lot of things. We had a full strategic plan in place and one of the achievements we have recorded is mainly about resuming communications because the company has been silent for about quite a long time. We are ready to start again to engage our customers. You have probably seen some of the campaigns we did earlier around the magic promos; the partnership we had with WhatsApp, and we did some expansion of the network. We have also launched a couple of innovative services. Recently, the company secured a loan of $230 million from the African Finance Corporation (AFC). What are your plans regarding this loan, and how do you intend to use it to improve network capacity? The first result of the injection will happen in the next couple of weeks. We are almost set to start massive rollout of our infrastructure; we are planning to roll out 4G at a minimum of 16 cities, some existing and other new cities. For example, we are going to launch 4G in Enugu, Sokoto, Owerri and Eket among others. Our focus is to help the company to renew its coverage, network extension and continue to improve our quality of service. What were the criteria for the selection of these cities? We believe that these are cities where there is much demand for data. We believe that 4G is an enabler for doing business, for entertainment and for solving problems for Nigerians. There is a long list of cities where we don’t have 4G, and this is really good news for the company to be able to start again and be able to offer superior quality of service to our customers. 9mobile is partnering Reanna Nigeria Limited to carry out a pilot of smart off-grid technologies. What do you intend to achieve with the project? This is part of our innovation for financial inclusion. What we found out is that in the past, there was no economical way to provide coverage in rural areas, so we found this partnership to be very effective in providing coverage in rural areas. This is a proof of concept for the company to provide innovative solar-based satellite solutions, which is low-cost and will allow for coverage in remote areas. Your company has lost a lot of subscribers. How do you hope to regain these subscribers and add new ones to the network? There are two reasons why we lost our subscribers. The first one was because of lack of investment and that is being corrected. We see that this is one of the main killers of the company and some of the rollout examples that I gave you will definitely restore the trust and confidence of our customers in our capability to expand and sustain this operation. I think that is one thing that is very necessary. The second thing we are going to do is to intensify the communication because as you know, customers are very sensitive to what they see. They need to know what the latest offer is. A combination of aggressive rollout and aggressive communication will allow us to resume growth. Like I said earlier, innovation is very important. 9mobile is very focused on providing services, which are close to our core values, especially quality of service of our products. We want every customer that comes onboard to have an ultimately good experience. Also, we want to make sure that we can serve all our customers; so, customer service is equally important. We want to understand the need of the customer; we want to be able to provide solutions. We are not providing services, we are providing solutions to the problems of Nigerians. I believe

Beuvelet that innovation is an enabler for everybody, there is a lot of disruption coming from technology and I think we want to give all these innovations at the fingertips of the customers. How is 9mobile tackling poor quality of service? There are two major things when it comes to quality of service. The first one is the environment. A lot of disruption of the network, which is not specific to 9mobile, is due to continuous destruction of infrastructure. Road construction is always destroying our fibre and we have to manage this problem. We also encounter unstable power supply. We need to know that this is a very expensive country to operate in as a telecom company because most of our sites are powered with generators. First of all, you have to manage the environment. Secondly, you need a lot of resilience, which has a cost to get the best quality of service, which is what we are working on at 9mobile. We have actually created a very resilient network. The reason 9mobile has the best internet quality of service is because we are expanding the bandwidth to the maximum as much as possible and we have fast access and low-latency, among other factors, which are contributing to the quality of service. Are there other innovations that you are looking at deploying to improve your network? There are a lot of them. 9mobile is known for its innovations, that has been one of our key values. We have a programme called the QIC meaning Quality of service, Innovation and Customer service that we are trying to drive right now. We have introduced some innovations this year and some are planned for the future. We launched the first e-commerce called e-shop and you can find basically all our products and services there. It has a very innovative financing offering where you can buy smartphones with 12-month instalments and we believe that it would be very interesting for some of our customers. There is also one where we enhanced our financial technology capabilities. There is a product called 9pay. We are already using artificial intelligence. This year, we launched at least two initiatives on artificial intelligence. One is the chatbot, which Nigerians can use with 9mobile; they can interact directly on WhatsApp with our customer care. Also, for the farmers, we have the new service called Iska weather service. With a shortcode, you can find out what the weather would be like in the next couple of days and it is a quite popular service, which uses artificial intelligence as well. What are your plans for 5G technology? 5G is part of our roadmap. There are two main things to help us get to 5G in this country. The first is access to spectrum, which is still being debated at the regulatory level. After that there is no reason 5G cannot come into this country anytime soon. I think there are some operators including 9mobile that are thinking and starting to look at 5G.

Emma Okonji

suggests this move may be an attempt by Jumia to cut back on its operational cost, having been suffering losses since inception. “Jumia shut down its Cameroon operations this morning, firing its entire staff, no public announcement, no special word from the group or its CEO. The brutality of the news to the staff echoes their management style and is, I believe, one of the reasons for its collapse, “, twitted Rebecca Enonchong, a tech entrepreneur and Founder CEO @AppsTech @iospaces. “You cannot continue to treat your workers and a whole country with such disdain. Jumia has a history of not having regard for its workers. How can you shut down operations without the courtesy of telling your workers ahead of time so they can prepare their mind. Now you have thrown hundreds of people into the labour market and some of them have families,� fumes Mrs. Salome Njoya, a housewife who claims her family had been negatively impacted by the development. Jumia became the first African tech stock to list on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in April 2019. Its shares tumbled in the months that followed despite a high after listing due to exposure of fraudulent claims made by Jumia ahead of the listing. Jumia Technologies AG is a German-based e-commerce outfit.

It operates an online marketplace for African consumers to buy and sell goods. The company offers a number of products which includes dresses, leggings, skirts, polo shorts, belts, watches, sunglasses, health and beauty products, a range of kid products etc. Its operations spans different regions of Africa. It operated in 14 countries as at April 2019 with Nigeria, Africa’s most populous nation, being its largest market, reports Africanews.com. A Quartz Africa report said Jumia was recently immersed in some operational challenges in Nigeria. “The company has disclosed it recently uncovered instances of improper orders placed and subsequently cancelled on its marketplace platform wrongly inflating its order volume.� Some of the improper sales practices, the company admitted, were carried out by its own personnel in “Jumia Force (J-Force),� its network of commissioned agents. The alleged fraud, purportedly running into billions of naira, was also said to have attracted the attention of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC). Confidential sources reveal that some staff of Jumia may have been picked up for questioning by the anti-graft agency. This was after some of the agents involved began to petition the Commission.

E-Tranazct, Accounteer Partner Open Banking for Improved Service Oluchi Chibuzor E-Tranzact International Plc, one of Nigeria’s payment processor and Accounteer, a cloud accounting solutions provider have announced their partnerships with Open Banking Nigeria. This would support the drive for adoption of non-partisan standard for stakeholders in Nigeria’s financial services ecosystem towards the provision of improved, customer-focused and tailored services. In a statement issued to THISDAY in Lagos recently, the Chief Executive Officer of eTranzact, Niyi Toluwalope, said the partnership was a reflection of the company’s readiness to contribute to the advocacy efforts, provide technical review for API specifications, and directly engage other industry stakeholders for the collective good. He also said the firm was committed to the implementation of its Application Programming Interface (APIs) and gateways

in line with the Open Banking API standard. According to him; “As a stakeholder within the Nigerian financial and payments ecosystem, we are aware of the opportunities for growth that come from innovation and financial inclusion. We are also aware of the challenges that fintechs face when integrating with banks using APIs, and we are excited about the efforts of the Open Technology Foundation. “APIs have become the world’s most popular means of integrating software systems. However, the beauty of APIs is only appreciated when companies agree on common standards.� he said. A similar instance where such standards have driven innovation and exceptional ease for consumers concerns debit card, which irrespective of the issuing institution, are universally accepted at ATM/ PoS terminals around the world because issuers abide by a global

standard. Commenting on the partnership, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Accounteer, Merijn Campsteyn, said, “Accounteer would like to contribute to the Open Banking community because we work with banks across different use cases and would love to leverage some of your APIs to drive more value for our customers,� said, the Chief Executive Officer of Accounteer.� The Open Bank Nigeria representative, Ope Adeoye, said, they were delighted to have eTranzact and Accounteer join the group driving the adoption of unified API standards for financial services in Nigeria. “Because among other benefits, they both would facilitate the attainment of a system that allows enhanced cross-industry collaborations which would immensely increase the number of product and service offerings available to consumers of financial services in the country,� he said.

Alibaba Raises $12.9bn in Hong Kong Listing Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group raised up to $12.9 billion in a landmark listing in Hong Kong, the largest share sale in the city in nine years and a world record for a cross-border secondary share sale. The deal will be seen as a boost to Hong Kong following more than five months of anti-government protests and its recent slide into its first recession in a decade. Alibaba said in a statement

it had priced the shares at HK$176 ($22.49) each, a discount of 2.9% to its New York closing price, confirming information earlier reported by Reuters. The price means Alibaba will raise at least HK$88 billion ($11.3 billion) - a symbolic total because the number 8 is associated with prosperity and good fortune in Chinese culture. Alibaba has also chosen the stock code 9988 for its listing,

which for Chinese speakers combines two of the luckiest numbers, together symbolizing long-lasting prosperity. The total raised from the deal could eventually reach $12.9 billion if a so-called ‘greenshoe’ over-allotment option were exercised. Alibaba shares closed in New York on Tuesday at $185.25. One of Alibaba’s New Yorklisted American Depositary Shares (ADS) is worth eight of its Hong Kong shares.

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ANALYSIS

Reinvigorating Nigeria’s Agric Sector Chris Uba

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art of the policy plank of the present administration in Nigeria is to reinvigorate agricultural sector to enable it contribute maximally to the economic growth and development of the country. This policy idea is borne out of the belief that increased agricultural production would make the country self-sufficient in food and reduce food importation currently put at $22 billion (N7.92trillion) each year, provides employment for Nigerians, and serve as a source of foreign exchange. The Agricultural Transformation Agenda (ATA), a vision of the present administration, demonstrates this move. Specifically, its objective is to increase, on a sustainable basis, the income of smallholder farmers and rural entrepreneurs that are engaged in the production, processing, storage and marketing of the selected commodity value chains. It is predicated on the belief that the government will work with key stakeholders to build an agribusiness economy capable of delivering sustained prosperity by meeting domestic food security goals, generating exports, and supporting sustainable income and job growth. Truly, in Nigeria, agriculture is one of the key sectors of the economy. It provides employment for about 40 per cent of the population just as it serves as source of food and raw materials for the country. Before 1970, this sector was the mainstay of the economy of the country. For instance, between 1960 and 1969, it accounted for an average of 57 per cent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and generated 64.5 per cent of export earnings. But unfortunately, the sector’s contribution began to decline from 1970, when revenues from the petroleum sector began to flow -in in large volume. From 1970 to late 2000s, the sector’s contribution to the GDP and export earnings steadily declined as emphasis was shifted to the petroleum sector. Over the past five years, the sector has contributed an average of 23.5 per cent to GDP and generated 5.1 per cent of export earnings. What this translates to is that, regrettably, agriculture took a back seat and the petroleum became the main source of foreign exchange for the country. Ever since then the sector has yet to return to its position, paving way for the importation of all manner of food items into the country. The Nigerian GDP Report for fourth quarter (Q4) and full year of 2018, released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), showed that agricultural sector grew marginally by 2.12 per cent in 2018. It grew by 18.58 per cent year-on-year in nominal terms in Q4 2018, indicating a minuscule increase of 8.45 per cent points from the same quarter of 2017, and 0.26 per cent points increase from third quarter (Q3) of 2018. According to the NBS report, crop production was the major driver of the sector, accounting for 89.84 per cent of nominal agriculture GDP. On an annual basis, agriculture GDP grew by 14.27 per cent, higher than 11.29 per cent registered in 2017. The sector contributed 23.08 per cent to nominal GDP in Q4 2018, which is higher than its contribution in Q4 2017 (21.93 per cent) but lower than it was in Q3 2018 (25.52 per cent). On an annual basis, the sector contributed 21.42 per cent to nominal GDP in 2018. In real terms, according to NBS report, the agricultural sector grew by 2.46 per cent (year-on-year), a decrease by –1.78 per cent points from the corresponding period of 2017, but an increase of 0.55 per cent points from the preceding quarter. Annual 2018 growth was 2.12 per cent, which is lower than the 3.45 per cent recorded in 2017. In the second quarter (Q2) of 2019, the sector registered 1.79 per cent growth compared to the 3.17 per cent in the first quarter of the year. As in the previous year, with 88.56 per cent of the overall nominal growth of the sector in the second quarter of 2019, crop production was the major driver of the sector.

Indeed, since 2016 (as part of the effort to actualize ATA), the administration has continued to profess agriculture as part of the cardinal plank of its economic policy. But as the figures on the ground have shown, the results have not been encouraging, meaning that the government still needs to take drastic measures to reposition the sector as a key sector in the nation’s economy. While oil remains, agriculture should form part of the ongoing diversification effort of the government to reduce dependence on the petroleum sector. It means that agriculture should contribute meaningfully to the nation’s economic development. Recently, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, President Muhammad Buhari announced to the world that “new investments and reforms in the agricultural sector hold the key to his administration’s quest to lift 100 million Nigerians out of poverty in the next 10 years�. The President, who spoke at a panel discussion at the Future Investment Initiative (FII) conference, resolved to walk-the-talk in a plenary session to discuss “What’s next for Africa? How will investment and trade transform the continent into the next great economic success story?� He said that the “vigorous implementation of key reforms� in the farming and agriculture sector, including soft loans to farmers, availability and affordability of farming inputs and restrictions on food imports grown locally, as some of the measures that have encouraged agricultural revolution in the country. Said the President: “We have vast arable land in Nigeria. We have encouraged the young men and able-bodied persons, especially the uneducated ones, to go back to the land. We have encouraged them by giving soft loans to farmers through the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and by making fertilisers available and selling at half the price of the product.� Interestingly, Nigerians have yet to feel the positive impacts of these measures outlined by the President. With a population of over 200 people, Nigeria is the most populous country in Africa, with an urban population growing at an exponential rate (about 3.5 per cent). So, the government’s objective of achieving food self-sufficiency is a major challenge. This goal is not unrealistic but will require a great deal of effort including commitment and sincerity in policy implementation. Sustaining policy with all sincerity to logical conclusion is required; all the loopholes to should be discovered and addressed. While the government efforts towards reinvigoration of the agriculture in the country can be appreciated, what is still lacking is linking agriculture with manufacturing industry-creating agro-allied

industries. Agro based industries are those industries that depend upon the agricultural products - as raw material. These industries fully depend upon the crop production in order to manufacture their products. Example is sugarcane industry. Vice Chairman of Nigeria Agric-Business Group (NABG), Emmanuel Ijewere, pointed out this recently in an interview when he said that all branches of agro-allied industry are very important because they increase industrial products, provide employment, earn foreign exchange, increase income level and also provide employment to women and provide base for development for backward areas. Cotton is a major raw material for textiles just as sugarcane and vegetable oil industries are based on agricultural raw materials. Therefore, government should encourage the establishment of agro-allied industries across the country. The will serve as encouragement to farmers even as it will spur more investments to agricultural sector. The government expects that agricultural products from the country will be exported to other parts of the world to earn foreign exchange. This is indeed a good idea but exporting agric-products without adding value to them may not bring much from exports. Adding value to a product means changing its current place, time and from one set of characteristics to other characteristics that are more preferred in the marketplace. For instance, instead of exporting raw cocoa beans, they should be processed by adding value to them before export. This will enhance their export values. The government should also be mindful of the agriculture products meant for local consumption and exports. The European Union (EU) has banned some Nigeria’s agricultural exports on the ground of lack of the required quality or not meeting the required standards. This is where the Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) should come in. The appropriate standards should be ensured before exports. This will also have the effect of adding value to Nigeria’s agricultural products and thereby attract more investment. This also becomes very necessary, now, that Nigeria has signed the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA). AfCFTA will engender fierce competition. Additionally, government must create an enabling environment for agriculture to thrive in Nigeria. A good environment will boost agriculture productions and attract investment both within and outside the country. The government should promote agricultural development through rehabilitation of feeder roads, which are the major links between the rural communities and the urban centers to promote the effective transportation of farm produce to the urban centers where the harvested farm

produce are in high demand. Also, the spate of insecurity in the country should be urgently addressed. To encourage agriculture in the country, the government may consider reestablishing the Directorate of Food, Roads and Rural Infrastructure (DFRRI), which was established in 1986 to tackle the issue of rural development and rural transformation. The objective of DFRRI was to open up the rural areas for economic activities. There should be link between the rural communities and cities. This will have the effect of encouraging youths to stay in the rural areas for engagement in agricultural production Funding is still a serious gap in Nigeria’s agricultural sector. Currently, the investment on the sector is still very low when viewed against the backdrop of the optimism being professed by the government. Sometime in 2003, African countries signed the Comprehensive Africa Agricultural Development Programme ( CAADP), setting the goal of investing 10 per cent of their national budgets on agricultural sector in pursuit of a six per cent agricultural growth rate each year. The Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO) recommends 25 per cent of national budget to the sector. However, budget allocations to the sector in Nigeria, when compared with other sectors, over the years, are still very low. There is a need for proper funding of agriculture for optimal results. In addition to this, there is the need for provision of credit facilities through agricultural banks among other institutions. However, the loans granted to farmers are repayable but they are being accessed because stringent conditions. The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) is already doing this but farmers say the banks are not making credit available to them. Subsidies are a form of credit facilities, which also form part of the assistance given to the farmers by the government as exemplified by what obtains in the EU countries and the United States. This should also be explored. The organized private sector wants the government to always live by its word. The Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) says government statements on agriculture should be “matched with required commitment so that the enormous potentials and opportunities in the Nigerian agricultural sector can be brought to reality,� just as former president of International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), Kanayo Nwanze, said the youth can be encouraged to embrace agriculture if the government makes it attractive as an economic activity and money-making business. Enough of grandiloquence and rhetoric; government should work-the-talk.

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ANALYSIS

Jaiz Bank: Between Perception and Reality Jaiz Bank has begun a subtle but committed move to change its narrative and win more patrons, writes Raheem Akingbolu

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erhaps because of the level of religious and ethnic biases in the country when Jaiz Bank entered the market, most banking public were apprehensive about its brand promise. Considering the fact that perception establishes the meaning about a brand when a consumer makes initial contact with it, the toga of being referred to as a core Islamic institution, has since remained with the Jaiz Brand. After overcome the teething stage and got the brand well rooted in the market, the top management staff of the bank , including its Managing Director/CEO, Hassan Usman, came out of their shell to share the organisation’s success story as well as allay the fear of millions of Nigerians, who still believe the bank was in the market to serve only the interest of the Muslims. To brand and marketing experts, the move was the first major repositioning move ever made since the entrant of the financial organization few years ago. At a press briefing in Lagos, Usman and his team made some startling revelation which stunned many journalists. Among other things, the Managing Director revealed and introduced top management staff who are Christians, he gave the ratio of non-Muslims, who have chosen the bank as their trusted financial experts and he shared what he described as ‘Jaiz success story’ in Nigeria. Bank for everybody To clear the air about the misconception of whether it was meant to address only the needs of the Muslims, the Managing Director explained that the workings and offerings of the bank are available to all customers regardless of their religious beliefs and ethnicity. He admitted that though the bank operates based on Islamic tenets which are hinged on ethical and non-interest banking; the bank products are open to all Nigerians without religious bias. The Jaiz bank boss further explained that the bank offers products like other commercial banks, but operates on the Islamic business principle of partnership, risk and profit sharing, unlike the interest-based operation model of other commercial banks. Explaining the operations of the bank, he said: “We are the face of a new concept in banking. One important point we will continue to emphasize is that Jaiz Bank products are not religious products. They are open and available to all, irrespective of their faith or religion. We do everything other banks do and we are regulated by the same regulator; The Central Bank of Nigeria. The only thing that separates us from conventional banks is that there are ethical principles which we believe that bank and customers must meet before transacting business. “For instance, Jaiz bank will in no way open an account or transact business with a beer-brewing company or a manufacturer that is into pig rearing or gambling business.� On the partnership model of Jaiz Bank, Usman explained that “it is a mode of

Usman

financing that tries to address human needs directly by providing goods and services on a payment basis different from conventional banking that we know. Literarily, that is what non-interest or Islamic banking is doing anywhere in the world. It is about providing financing to people who cannot afford to buy directly with their own resources at a time. So, rather than give money, we provide the services and goods people are looking for to meet their consumption needs or businesses. We have seen from our operations so far that all manner of persons come to us and we do business with them. This, I believe, is what we have been doing.� CSR commitment As a responsible company that believes in giving back to the society, Usman said the bank has so far spent N2. 5 billion on corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives since its inception in Nigeria. While pointing out that most of the money spent on CSR was in the north-east of Nigeria which had been ravaged by insurgency, Usman stated that part of the funds was derived from penalty on loan default which in the real sense is an interest and as such can’t be included in the bank’s business funds. “Since inception in 2011, we have invested

over N2.5bn in Corporate Social Initiatives in Nigeria. Part of the funds was from penalty on loan defaulters. We consider proceeds of the penalty as interest so such funds can’t be included in the banking operations. We therefore divert the funds to CSR activities. “This penalty was put in place so that people won’t take advantage of the privileges. In a situation where the defaulter was able to give evidence of genuine reason for the default, the penalty will be relaxed,� he said. To confirm that that the bank is a panNigeria institution, he was quick to add that one key focus of the bank in 2020 is to establish more branches in the Southern part of Nigeria to refute the perception that it’s a regional bank. Non-interest model Speaking on Jaiz Bank’s Business Partnership Model, he maintained that its Non-interest banking model was based on partnership, risk and profit sharing is crucial for financial inclusion and achievement of the much-desired economic development in Nigeria. He said unlike the conventional banking model which is profit-oriented; Jaiz Bank’s ethical banking is profit-based and as such crucial for MSMEs who are the major drivers

of the Nigerian economy. According to him, instead of giving out interest-based loans to Entrepreneurs, Jaiz Bank work with them as partners for business growth, while sharing the risk and profit at an agreed ratio. “We are the face of a new concept in banking. Jaiz Bank’s mode of financing tries to address human needs directly by providing goods and services on a payment basis different from conventional banking that we know. Literarily, that is what non-interest or Islamic banking is doing anywhere in the world. “It is about providing financing to people who cannot afford to buy directly with their own resources at a time. So, rather than give money, we provide the services and goods people are looking to meet their consumption needs or businesses,� he said. Usman further explained that contrary to the popular belief, Jaiz Bank offers products like other commercial banks, and the bank’s products and services are available to all Nigerians irrespective of their religious beliefs and affiliations. He stated that Jaiz Bank operates on the Islamic business tenets which prevent it from partnering with businesses in line of gambling, alcohol and pig rearing. “The important point we will continue to emphasize is that Jaiz Bank products are not religious products. They are open and available to all, irrespective of their faith or religion. We do everything other banks do and we are regulated by the same regulator; The Central Bank of Nigeria. “The only thing that separates us from conventional banks is that there are ethical principles which we believe that bank and customers must meet before transacting business. For instance, Jaiz bank will in no way open an account or transact business with a beer-brewing company or a manufacturer that is into pig rearing or gambling business,� Usman said. The Jaiz Bank boss also disclosed that the bank has so far spent N2. 5billion on Corporate Social Responsibility initiatives in Nigeria since it commenced operation in 2011. He added that one key focus of the bank in 2020 is to establish more branches in the Southern part of Nigeria to refute the perception that it’s a regional bank The bank chief however stated that the rapidity of Jaiz Bank Plc’s earnings growth in last four five years is unprecedented, which he said has made it one of the largest Non-Interest Banks in West Africa. Meanwhile, analysts have attributed the Bank’s success amid a tough and unpredictable macroeconomic environment to a talented workforce, excellent risk management strategy, friendly commercial and corporate products, and good leadership. Considering the fact that non-interest banking is a profitable growing global phenomenon practiced in nearly 70 countries across the world including the United Kingdom, Canada, the United States of America and the United Arab Emirate, Malaysia, China, some analysts are of the opinion that Jaiz may be a succour for Nigerian startups, who are craving for trusted financial partners.

Academy Makes Case for Collaborations to Build Brands, Marketing Raheem Akingbolu As the world continue to move towards adjusting to artificial intelligence (AI), which is fast dominating all aspects of human life, experts have said that the only thing that would last into the future are principles and laws. At the recent Marketing Research Academy’s Masterclass on the mechanics of data science and AI in business, the experts spoke about the best approach to growing

brands, the intersections between AI and consumer understanding and what it takes to survive. According to them, a lot of brands have started using AI in their marketing strategy. They argued that brands are already making shopping experience more interactive with AI, adding that it does not only give product recommendations, but also analyse what customers will like more as well as creating an engaging and entertaining contact with the brands.

CEO, Kainos Edge Consulting, Prof. Doyin Salami, while speaking on the intersection between economics and consumer understanding, said brands must seek better understanding of the consumer to survive in a competitive market. He said the brands must take advantage of technology, which gives the capacity to easily understand the consumer. He added: “Nigeria is a multiplicity of markets, hence the need to create a

superior, sustainable brand because the nexus between the consumer and the brand is understanding.� For Dr. Harry Benjamin, the planet, people, profit and purpose would define the future. He said, “We must ensure profit in everything we do and work towards collaborative profit. We all don’t need to be doctors, lawyers, engineers, success means healthy body, good relationships and profitable business.�

The programme’s convener, Seyi Adeoye told THISDAY that the programme, which started last year, looks at topics that are important to people across brands and marketing. “We seek to create a common safe zone where professionals and academic communities can come together and stimulate conversations, challenging themselves on achievable goals.� Adeoye, while reacting to how collaborative profit

could work in Nigeria, said there was need for a complete mental shift. Adding, “Let us start thinking collaborations instead of struggling to make it on our own. This is why MRA sees the need to imbibe this in the younger generation, especially university students that they can be in healthy competition where everybody wins. We hope that in another two years, we will be targeting to have a national platform, as we

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IMAGES

L - R: Senior Associate, PWC. Oluwatosin Adebayo - Begun: Chief Executive OďŹƒcer, Korporatekarpenters, Kolawole Adebari: Regional Manager, Access Bank Plc. Kaduna, Kuburat Amodu; Principal, Begold Trainers, Yusuf Leinge: and Manager, Access Bank Plc Kaduna, Kelechi Opurum during the Access Business Community Forum held in Kaduna.. recently.

L-R: Executive Director, Environmental Rights Action/Friends of the Earth, Dr. Godwin Uyi Ojo; Zonal Head, National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency, Cyrus Nwankangwung and Executive Director, Keen and Care Initiative, Josephine Alabi, during the Environmental parliament and the need for National Assembly to exercise oversight functions on the clean up process in Abuja...recently

L-R: Kwara State Governor, AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq, presenting car keys to the Kwara State Head of Service, Mrs Suzan Oluwo , during the presentation of vehicles to Government House, Civil Service, Fire Service and Kwara United at Government House in Ilorin...recently

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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×

L-R: Borno State Governor, Professor Babagana Umara Zulum, presenting a souvenir to World Bank’s development manager for Africa, Mrs Senait AsseďŹ a when a delegation of the bank visited the Governor for a midterm review of multisectoral crisis recovery projects... in Maiduguri...recently

L-R; Founder, Nigeria and Entrepreneurship: Summit & Honors (NESH), Emeka Ugwu-Oju; Executive Chairman, Harrods Group, Vice Admiral Dele Ezeoba (Rtd); MD, Fradan Iquoson Services Ltd, Rear Admiral FD Akpan (Rtd) and President, Ship Owners Association of Nigeria (SOAN), Dr MkGeorge Onyung during the unveiling of the book “Maritime Security, Imperatives for the Economic Development of the Gulf of Guinea� written by Ezeoba at the 2nd NESH Maritime Roundtable in Lagos...recently

L-R: Minister of State for Budget and National Planning, Prince Clem Ikanade Agba; Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Mrs Zainab Shamsuna Ahmed; and Chairman of the Senate Committee on Finance, Senator Olamilekan Adeola, at the send-forth party organized by Chevron Nigeria Limited (CNL) for Prince Agba to mark his retirement after 29 years in the service of the company before his appointment by President Muhammadu Buhari as a minister in Lagos..recently

L.R: Director,Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP), Babatunde Kuye; Director, Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) Lagos Liason OďŹƒce Dr Folasade Caiafas;General Manager, Lagos State Public Procurement Agency (PPA) Mr. Onafowote Idowu; Director,Investigation, Intelligence and monitoring, Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB) Dr. Gwimi Peters; and Director, Compliance, CertiďŹ cation and Monitoring, BPP, Ishaq Yahaya , during the 2019 second batch conversation training/programme to procurement Cadre for Federal Parastatals and Agencies in Oshodi, Lagos.. recently

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L-R; Principal Economist, International Investment Corporation, Mr. Volker Treichel; Representative of Vice-President of Nigeria, Dr. Jumoke Oduwole, Osun State Governor, Mr. Gboyega Oyetola and Minister of Youth and Sport, Mr. Sunday Dare, at the opening ceremony of Osun Economic and Investment Summit: Partway to Economic Growth and Prosperity for State of Osun in Osogbo...recently

L-R: Managing Director/Chief Executive OďŹƒcer, Africa Prudential Plc, Obong Idiong; Chief Executive OďŹƒcer, First Registrars and Investor Services Limited, Bayo Olugbemi; Divisional Head, Business Development, Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc, Adeyinka Shonekan; Divisional Head, Shared Services, CSCS Plc, Onome Komolafe and Managing Director/Chief Executive OďŹƒcer, Unity Registrars Limited, Dele Ikotun during CSCS’ oďŹƒcial launch of Regconnect Solution to the Capital Market in Lagos...recently

L-R: Secretary to Ogun State Government, Mr.Tokunbo Talabi and Leader, British Deputy High Commission delegation to Ogun State, Mr.Guy Harrison during the MOU signing ceremony on Future Cities programme for Ogun State. in Abeokuta...recently

L-R: Chelsea London Dry Gin Rae Draw Winner, Nasirudeen Muhammed; Assistant Brand Manager, Chelsea London Dry Gin, Mr. Celestine Anyawu; Chelsea London Dry Gun FELABRATION Ambassador; Elizabeth Alabi and Chelsea Activation member/ Nigerian Comedian , Omo Baba, at FELABRATION 2019 held in Lagos...recently

L-R; Chief Executives OďŹƒcer/Co Founder, Retina Specialist, Mr. Stephen Odiabo; wife of the Convener, Mrs. Toyin Adekanmbi; the Convener, Data Science Nigeria, Dr. Bayo Adekanmbi; representatives of Lagos State Commissioner of Education, Mrs. Adebamigbe Esther and emeritus professor of computer science at Oregon State University, Prof. Thomas G. Dietterich at the Unveiling of Beginners ArtiďŹ cial Intelligence and Python Programming by Data Science Nigeria, held in Lagos...recently SUNDAY ADIGUN

L-R: Global Development Manager, Southampton Academy Football Club, Mathew Sanger; Director, School Sports Directorate, Lagos State Sports Commissions, Dr. (Mrs.) Oluyomi Oluwasanmi; Project Coordinator, Saints Lagos Football Academy, Anthony Ashiwe and Director, Goal Center, Tosin Osunkoya, during a press conference on the introduction of Saint Lagos Football Academy in Lagos...recently

L-R Consultant, Brooks and Blake Nigeria Limited, Miss Temitope Oyebanji; Asociate Director, Brooks and Blake Nigeria Limited, Mr. Dare Ogunyombo and Corporate Communications Manager, Lafarge Africa Plc, Mrs. Ginikanwa Frank-Durugbor, during the courtesy visit by Lafarge team to ThisDay Corporate Headquarters, Apapa, Lagos...recently MUBO PETERS

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INTERVIEW

Yusuf: Manufacturers, Service Sector Will Benefit from AfCFTA The Director General of the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Mr. Muda Yusuf, in this interview reviewed Nigeria’s chances in the proposed African Continental Free Trade Area agreement and advised the government to fix infrastructure and carry out more economic reforms to position the Nigerian economy to compete favourably. Dike Onwuamaeze brings the excerpts:

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hat do we expect the African Continental Free Trade Area agreement to offer Nigeria as a country? The African Continental Free Trade Area agreement offers a lot of opportunities but it also presents some challenges. Opportunities in the sense that it will offer companies and businesses that are competitive at continental standards access to much bigger market. We are talking about a market of at least $3 trillion. That is a huge market for any business that is competitive by continental standards. We are also talking of a population of 1.2 billion people. So, that is one big advantage for businesses. It will enable firms to source their inputs at lesser cost from other countries within the continent than their domestic sources. For the citizens, competition protects consumers more than any other thing. It will bring down the problems associated with monopoly and the citizens will be better for it once it happens because uncompetitive practices and abnormal profits cannot thrive where there is competition. Now, the challenges arise from the issue of competitiveness of those who are in the manufacturing sector of the economy because our environment is still a very difficult environment. Those who are likely to be worse hit are those in the categories of micro, small and medium enterprises because they do not have the economies of scale that can bring down their cost. The challenge now is how the Nigerian government can move fast enough to create a competitive environment for these industries so that we do not have a situation whereby we will regret being part of this AfCFTA. What will the government do to protect MSMEs? You know that a committee was set up before we signed the AfCFTA to advise government on what needs to be done. That committee made very robust recommendations on how government can fix these problems so that by the time we are in the AfCFTA, the pressure of competition will not be that much on local industries. If you pick up that report you will find in it quite a lot of what the government needs to do, especially in the area of infrastructure, which is the biggest issue. Talking about roads, rail system and power and maybe the policy environment and things like that. Government needs to give investors the confidence that what it promised in terms of creating a better environment that will position our industries

from reforms, we have to ensure that we manage our macro-economic space well. What transforms the economy of a nation is the amount of capital it is able to attract from outside, especially private investments. If we have the free trade agreement and the reforms do not take place, we will continue to perpetuate policies that will be creating privileged opportunities for few and the economy will continue to suffer for it. How do you see the textile industry? The Nigerian textile industry is suffering the same challenges other manufacturers are suffering from. They are not competitive. That is why I said that we should fix the fundamentals first. My view is that the starting point when you want to transform an economy is to go and rebuild your infrastructure. We need also to reform our fiscal operations. We cannot build infrastructure by spending almost 80 percent of the budget for recurrent expenditure. Moreover, because our policies are not consistent some of those who will bring in money to our infrastructure space are scared because they think that the political risk is too high. We do not have any success story about PPP infrastructure investment.

Yusuf to be more competitive will be done before the AfCFTA become fully operational. Do you think we are ready for the opportunities to be offered by AfCFTA? Well, I will say that some industries are ready. Some big companies are ready to take advantage because of their size, network, capital base, the resources that they have and because they can take the advantages of economy of scale easily. You can say that those ones are ready. You can also say that in the service sector our people are ready. Because the challenges you face in the service sector are not the same that you face in the real sector. We have our people in fashion, creative industry, entertainment, ICT, financial service, legal service, advertising, trading, that are ready to lash on the opportunities. These are areas our people will take advantage in. But when it comes to manufacturing, especially with the SMEs, I cannot say that we are ready. Do we need further reforms to reposi-

tion the economy? Yes, of course. There is always need for reforms. It should be an ongoing thing for an economy that is progressive. We need to reform so that we can attract more investments. This economy is big and if we have the right kind of policies a lot of investments will come here. But we have not put the right policies in place to strengthen our infrastructure and areas that we have comparative advantage like the oil and gas. By now, if we had had the right policies over the years, we should have practically flooded the entire continent with petroleum and gas products, with fertilizer, petro-chemicals. All the oil producing companies should have set up refineries long ago if we had created the right kind of environment for them. But we haven’t done much. We tried it with the Petroleum Industry Bill and for more than 10 years we have been going back and forth just to pass that bill. That sector is like the locomotive that can drive other sectors of the economy because of the resources that can be gotten there. Aside

What does the AfCFTA demands from government? It calls for a disciplined government. It calls for the right kind of policies. And more importantly, it calls for very serious commitment to infrastructure development. These factors are very important. Many businesses are lamenting the current tax regime, what is your take on that? Well, businesses are crying because they feel that the focus of taxation is too much on those who are investing. And I do not think this is the way it is in many other countries. There are so many taxes apart from the regular conventional taxes. There are also levies, registration fees, licensing fees from the local, state and federal governments. It is a lot of problem. And there is a lot of regulatory pressure, too many regulators for some sectors. Some sectors have up to 15 regulators coming to inspect on thing or the other. A businessman told me that he spends more time attending to regulators than running his business because as one is going another one is coming in. And because all of them are brandishing one form of law or legislation he has to attend to them.

Firm Targets 36m Unbanked Nigerians, Launches App Ugo Aliogo An Africa-focused fintech firm, PalmPay has expressed its desire to target 36 million unbanked Nigerians as part of commitment to support the financial inclusion drive. The Global PalmPay, Chief Executive Officer, Greg Reeve, disclosed this recently in Lagos, during the launch of the company’s new an app. She said the new app would not only reward its users for making payments, but give Nigeria’s excluded population access to secure and easy to use financial services. Reeve, hinted that the mobile wallet would offer

customers a platform to top up funds electronically or via offline access points, with the ability to make and accept individual and merchant payments. According to Global PalmPay CEO, consumers could access a range of digital services through the PalmPay mobile app, including P2P transfers, airtime and bill payment. She added that the company was seeking to carve out market share by positioning itself as the payment app that rewards you. “Our Unique Selling Point (USP) of offering cash backs and discounts to users has caught on in the price-sensitive Nigerian

and Ghanaian markets. “In Nigeria, PalmPay is offering 10 percent cashback on airtime purchases and bank transfer rates of N10 with free deposits and withdrawals to its mobile wallet. Over a million transactions have been made on the platform within its first two months of pilot operations and the company is now eyeing rapid expansion. “Recent data by EFInA put Nigeria’s financial inclusion rate at 63.2 percent, meaning that as much as 36.6 million adults still lack access to financial services. Therefore, PalmPay’s strategy to achieve nationwide reach is to offer a platform where both banked and unbanked

consumers can access financial services. “To do this, the company has obtained an Approvalin-Principle to operate as a Mobile Money Operator (MMO) from the Central Bank of Nigeria. This will allow it to build an agent network to facilitate inperson cash in and cash out to its mobile wallet. “This ecosystem approach by the Africa Fintech firm is key to help it achieve its goal of becoming the continent’s largest payments platform. We want to provide the best choice and value in the market to consumers so that PalmPay becomes a one-stop financial hub, online and offline.

“Through its partnerships with TECNO mobile and Visa, PalmPay is building out a very reliable payment network that will soon reach millions of users. We also welcome other companies to join forces with us so we can work together to deliver the best choice and value for consumers.� It was learnt from the event that the company’s announcement included a $40 million seed round that was led by smartphone brand Tecno mobile, which it plans to invest to build out its payment infrastructure in Nigeria and other African countries. The Tecno is also supporting PalmPay with an

exclusive pre-install deal, which will see at least 20 million phones come with the app out of the box from next year. In her remarks, the General Manager of TECNO Mobile, Stephen Ha, said Tecno had helped expand access to smartphones among the Nigerian population, adding that as a brand it was making effort to leverage the infrastructure to further improve people’s lives, “we see a huge growth opportunity in mobile payments and financial services on the continent and are looking forward to working together with the PalmPay team to help shape the future of payments in Africa.�

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AGRIBUSINESS

TAK Agro Raises N15bn via Bond Offering to Expand Operations Stories by Oluchi Chibuzor As farmers continue to adapt technology to mitigate losses, TAK Agro Plc has raised a N15 billion bond. The company intends to acquire 250 trucks to improve logistics and enhance end-toend agro value chain, with the fresh capital. The initiative was part of the company’s efforts to reduce up to 50 per cent post-harvest losses, through the 16.49 per cent fixed rate secured bond to be due 2026, under a N50 billion medium term note programme. Speaking with journalists, the Chairman, TAK Agro Group, Mr. Thomas Etuh, said the company was building inte-

grated agriculture solutions to farmers as government policy encourages backward integration. He said they it has acquired silos storage capacity across the country in Abuja, Kaduna, Jigawa, Kwara and Kebbi states respectively of 261,000 metric tonnes(MT) to store grains and 150,000MT warehouse. According to him, “We have wastages in Nigerian farms across the country, 50 per cent of what the farmers produce are wasted because of lack of storage; and what causes this problem is logistics to storage facilities in the rural areas. “They get good harvest but to move it from farm gate to the silos centre is always difficult because there is no enough

transportation. But if the farmer is losing he is not going to buy input the following year, so our business decline. “But to put a lock on the value chain, we carter for their input in terms of seed, agrochemical fertilizer which is what TAK is doing; So we have to also look at what ways to safe farmers from these losses and that is why a lot of them stops farming,� he noted. The bond was oversubscribed by 110 per cent. The signing also witnessed the presence of financial institutions, regulatory bodies and was financed by Planet Capital. On his part, the Managing Director, TAK Agro Limited, Mr. Valentine Nwandu, said the group was putting in place

infrastructure by providing NPK fertilizers to farmers all the way to storage of grains for produce that comes from yield enhancement. “We are building a panAfrican agricultural platforms starting from fertilizer application to working with a lot of Agric-techs companies in terms of agronomy to doing aggregation of the yields and delivering to our Silos complexes. “For us to do all these, it was clear to us that we need to control our logistics and to control ends of the chain. So we are coming out with the first bond to buy 250 trucks, from our calculation we require about 1000 for our immediate operations to support the activities of the group,� he said.

CAPITAL RAISING

L-R: Co-CEO/Director, Planet Capital Limited, Dr. Tony Anonyai; Partner, OAKE Legal, Kenechi Ezezika; Chairman, TAK Agro Group, Thomas Etuh, and Managing Director, TAK Logistics Limited, Chuma Maduekwe, during the signing ceremony of the N15 billion bond issued by the TAK Agro Group in Lagos‌recently

Lagos Assures of Imota Rice Mill Completion The Special Adviser to the State Governor on Agriculture, Ms. Abisola Olusanya has promised that the Imota rice mill will be completed as promised by the current administration. She, however, expressed satisfaction with the progress of work being done at the 32 metric tonnes per hour capacity rice mill. Olusanya, who visited the

facility recently to assess the progress of work, noted that when completed, it would be the fourth largest in the world and the largest in Africa. She pointed out that agriculture and food security were important components of the THEMES developmental agenda of the State Government of making Lagos a 21st century economy thus the commitment of

the State Government to complete the rice mill in order to meet the rice demand of the state and indeed the nation. “The mill which is situated on a land mass of 8.5 hectares of land will produce 650 bags of 50kg rice per hour and has two lines to produce 16 metric tonnes each. “The mill was designed, constructed and has equipment

installed by local contractors underscores the State Government’s confidence in the capacity of indigenous engineers,� she said. The Special Adviser added that over 250,000 direct and indirect jobs would be created from the mill when completed while increased economic activity is also expected at Imota, Ikorodu and Lagos State in general.

Winners Emerge in Accelerators Programme A total of 30 winners have emerged in the MetroWoman 2019 accelerator conference. The initiative was part of efforts to developing Young Female Entrepreneurs operating as small, medium and enterprises (SMEs) startups across different sectors in the country. This, according to the organisers would avails the selected participants mentoring opportunities, working loan capital of about two million naira and hand-holding by successful entrepreneurs in the twelve months programme. Speaking at the maiden edition of the accelerator competition,

the convener, and Founder, MetroWoman Empowerment Foundation, Mrs. Chinenye Nnoli, said, Nigerian women possess the potential to grow the economy, if properly guided. She said each member of the accelerators would be exposed to different aspect of business ranges from strategy, human relations, accounting and investors to leverage other platforms like the Access Bank Hub and CreditPRO advisory services company. According to her; “It is just us trying to support young businesses, because I was at

this stage before and needed this support to upscale and people gave it to me. “The economy is not very friendly to business, so for us is a give back mechanism to encourage these young women that have been selected from over 500 applications. To use Access Bank training facilities for free is a rare opportunity.� She added that by next year agribusiness enterprises would be considered in view of the government’s policy direction to feed the nation. In a panel session, experts advised SMEs to embrace

personal development, saying it remained critical characteristics of 21st century entrepreneurs. They equally reiterated that only when entrepreneurs give value to customers that it turns to profit; but were of the opinion that today’s business owners must leverage technology and identify the gap in their sector. On his part, as part sponsors of the event, the CEO, CreditPRO, a business support services limited, Sola Adeyiga, said many businesses do not last more than five years in the country, because capital is not enough for SMEs to survive.

FAO Calls for New Vision for Fisheries The Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), Director General, Qu Dongyu has called for a renewed clear vision for the fisheries sector in the 21st century as the world fisheries are facing an important crossroad. He disclosed this at the opening ceremony of the UN agency’s international symposium on Fisheries sustainability, holding in Rome, Italy, recently. He stressed that, “With the world’s population to rise to nearly 10 billion by 2050, land alone will not feed us - we also need aquatic food production. But we need to do so without compromising the health of oceans and rivers, and while improving the social conditions of those dependent on fisheries - often the poorest in society. “Millions of people worldwide depend on fish for food and for their livelihoods. A person gets 20.3 kilograms (average per capita figure) of top-quality protein and essential micronutrients from fish every year. Globally, over one in ten people depend on fishing to make a living and feed their families. “But with the state of the oceans now a grave concern due to plastic pollution, the impacts of climate change, habitat degradation and overfishing. One in every three marine fish stocks is overfished - compared to just one in ten some 40 years ago - whilst the growing demand for fresh water fish is affecting the sustainability of inland fisheries.� The FAO said it has noted a dangerous trend - fisheries in developed regions were increasingly sustainable, rebuilding stocks and improving the conditions of those working in the sector, but fisheries in developing regions are not improving as fast. “This is creating a dangerous sustainability divide. We need to reverse this trend if we are to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals,� said the FAO chief. In the technical keynote address of the symposium’s opening, FAO Director of Fisheries and Aquaculture Manuel Barange pointed out the following: “While human population has been growing at 1.5 percent per year since 1960, animal protein consumption has grown at 2.5 percent, and fish consumption at 3 percent.�

Succession Plan Central to Business Sustainability, Say Experts In view of the failures of most businesses to exist beyond its founders, experts have called for clear succession plan strategies in firms. Speaking at his book launch, tithed; “Legacy of Succession Planning in Management�, Mr. Lawrence Okpako, said the failure of most business owner to integrate succession plan beyond managerial activities remained a barrier for companies to move to next generation as seen in developed countries. He said the practice of grooming employees for more senior roles, typically referred to as replacement planning was not enough, but a smart planning to make sure organisation can continue to grow and move forward. He said: “Succession plan must be a deliberate effort plan to include; proper employment procedures, motivation, training for the person that understand the operations of the business and has flair for the job. “Centrality of the book is for business continuity in the sense that without the leader the business cannot continue, because every business is a going concern for the owners and for the next generations,� he added. The book defined succession planning as a systematic approach to ensuring leadership continuity in an organisation by recruiting, or encouraging individual employee growth and development. It also explained that succession planning was also process of identifying and developing new leaders who can replace old leaders when they leave. On his part, the book reviewer noted the inability of most businesses to outlive the owners was mostly tied to poor or lack of succession planning, especially family owned companies.

T H I S D AY ˾ THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2019

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Group Features Editor: Chiemelie Ezeobi

HEALTH & LIFESTYLE Pneumonia: Nigeria’s Grim Reaper

Email chiemelie.ezeobi@thisdaylive.com, Tel: 08038901925

It is not a good time for the Nigerian child. Every hour, 18 of them die due to pneumonia, amounting to 443 deaths per day and at least 162, 000 deaths every year despite the scourge being a highly preventable and curable disease. The scenario can be likened to having a Boeing 737 crash everyday with all passengers dying on board. Martins Ifijeh writes on need to reverse the ugly narrative

I

f there is one disease that has been killing Nigerian children under five years in their hundreds of thousands due to non-vaccination, misdiagnosis or self-medication, it is pneumonia. When it strikes, it leaves sorrows, tears and blood. Talk about the grim reaper. In a moment you may assume your child is only down with cold, cough and catarrh, and in another moment, he or she is gone. It is the kind of pain a sane society and parents cannot come to terms with. Surprisingly, this is a highly preventable and curable disease. One of several parents that have had to undergo the pain associated with losing a child due to pneumonia is Mr and Mrs Reuben, whose fifth child, J, a two-year-old, paid the supreme price for their ignorance and lack of government’s intervention on immunisation. J came down one afternoon with cough. By the next day, he had a running nose, and then cold and bouts of fever. It was the ‘normal’ type of illness children have, so they thought. It was no big deal to them. As typical with Nigerian parents, they were sure they knew what his discomfort was. They assumed the job of a laboratory scientist and that of a doctor. They ‘diagnosed’ it must be normal fever. They prescribed vitamin c for the cough and catarrh, and paracetamol for his fever. This was what they offered the little boy all week until they started noticing what could be termed a fake sign of recovery, and then they stopped. But what they didn’t know was that a viral infection was comfortably incubating in him while silently damaging his organs. By the second week, his bouts of fever had become severe. He started having laboured breathing. He suddenly became pale and week. “I took him to the chemist nearby where he was given drugs for malaria,” said Mrs. Reuben. But this made his case worse. Just a day after, the little boy had started gasping for breath. It was the scariest thing the parents have seen. But like a remedy too late, he was rushed to the hospital where the doctor examined his heart beat and lung function, and concluded that he had severe pneumonia. Two hours later, J died from a disease that is largely preventable through pneumococcal conjugate vaccine, and 100 per cent treatable through medications. The Grim Picture J is just one among several thousands of children of under five in Nigeria who have died from a disease they need not die from. On specifics, 162, 000 Nigerian children of under five years old died from pneumonia in 2018, if figures from the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) are to go by. This shows that, like J, at least 443 children die in Nigeria every day due to pneumonia. This amounts to 18 Nigerian child every hour, and one child every 3.2 minutes in Nigeria. By the time you are done reading this article, be sure at least five children must have breathed their last breath because they couldn’t be protected from pneumonia by their parents and Nigeria; a country that swore to give every child the right to life under the 1999 Constitution as amended. On many occasions, Nigeria is often just behind India on many healthcare indices, but for pneumonia, Nigeria leads the pack. India is second with 127,000 deaths, while Pakistan has 58,000, with the Democratic Republic of Congo trailing behind at 40,000, and then Ethiopia at 32,000. These five countries alone were responsible for more than half of the lives pneumonia claimed in 2018 worldwide. The Nigerian Representative, UNICEF, Pernille Ironside said of the entire child deaths in Nigeria in 2018, a whopping 19 per cent alone was due to pneumonia, and that it was the biggest killer of Nigerian children of under five years in 2017.

Mayoclinic

It believed children who are poor were less likely to be vaccinated, less likely to be taken for treatment when they develop pneumonia symptoms, and more likely to die as a result. The report also suggests that a child from a wealthy household in Nigeria was 15 times more likely to be fully immunised than a child from a poor household.

Minister of Health, Dr. Osagie Ehanire

He said: “Pneumonia is a deadly disease and takes so many children’s lives – even though this is mostly preventable. And yet, this killer disease has been largely forgotten on the global and national health agendas. We can and must change this.” A Disease of Poverty, Gender A recent report by the Save the Children International described the public health concern as a disease of poverty and gender, adding that while boys are more likely to contract the disease for physiologic reasons, girls were more unfortunately likely not to be treated. The report, tagged: Fighting for Breath, said: “Equity is at the heart of the crisis. Pneumonia today is overwhelmingly a disease of poverty, as it has been throughout history. The risks of contracting the it are heavily skewed towards the poorest children, while the prospects for receiving accurate diagnosis, effective treatment and appropriate care are skewed towards those who are better off.”

Gaps A major survey finding from the 2016 Multiple Indicators Cluster Survey/National Immunization Survey Coverage (MICS/NICS) reveals that 77 per cent of children aged 12 – 23 months in Nigeria have not received all the routine vaccinations as recommended, while 40 per cent of children in this age group did not receive any vaccinations putting it to be far below the 90 per cent national target that has been set by the country. According to the World Health Organisation, children immunised with the pneumococcal conjugate vaccine are prevented against pneumonia. Another major factor currently fueling the needless deaths from pneumonia has been fingered to be the country’s lack of access to quality and affordable healthcare. While the Nigerian government has put steps in place to push for UHC, indications show the country was still far from achieving it. The Save the Children report believes pneumonia cannot be treated in isolation. “Most fatalities occur because the parents of the children affected are excluded from health systems as a result of cost or distance, or because they see health providers as ineffective, unresponsive and unaccountable. Tackling pneumonia requires a properly financed health system that reaches the most disadvantaged children, delivering effective care through a trained and supported workforce. Not many Nigerian parents are also aware of what to do when their children come down with signs of pneumonia, which then calls for

awareness.” Risks, Symptoms A Public Health Physician, Dr. Samson Ogbejiele told THISDAY that children have a high susceptibility to contacting the bacteria or virus because of their lowered immunity, adding that people above 65 years of age were also at a higher risk for it. He said: “Other risk factors could include asthma, diabetes or heart disease. Those recovering from surgery, those with low vitamins and minerals, those who smoke, and drink too much alcohol are also prone to it.” He said symptoms can come on fast or slow depending on the person’s immune system. “Among symptoms are cough, tiredness, labored breathing, high fever up to 105F, low appetite, among others.” Prevention, Treatment Ogbejiele believes if every child is immunised with the pneumococcal conjugate vaccines, the incidents and deaths occasioned by the disease in Nigeria will be drastically reduced, adding that early diagnosis and treatment with recommended antibiotics could cure it. “For adults, it is dangerous smoking or drinking when taking the antibiotics for its cure,” he added. UNICEF’s Henrietta Fore said only costeffective, protective, preventative treatment, which are able to reach children where they are will be able to truly save millions of lives from the disease. Way Forward The Save the Children report called on government to give the fight against pneumonia the priority it deserves through increased funding, improved healthcare system, including accessible and affordable healthcare, as well as Universal Health Coverage. It called for an immunisation structure so as to be able to reach the most marginalised children across board.

T H I S D AY ˾ THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2019

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NEWS

Diabetes, Hypertension are Two Commonest NCDs Seen in UBTH, Says CMD Martins Ifijeh The Chief Medical Director, University of Benin Teaching Hospital (UBTH), Prof. Darlington Obaseki has stated that diabetes and hypertension were the two commonest noncommunicable diseases seen in the tertiary hospital. Speaking during the commemoration of the 2019 World Diabetes Day (WDD) in Benin recently, with support from Sanofi, a global healthcare company focused on human health, the CMD said more than half of those who have

the two diseases are unaware that they have them and were often present for medical care too late. He said: “The screening exercise is necessary so as to detect the disease early and take necessary medical intervention to avoid complications. We are using this opportunity to create awareness about diabetes, which is one of the commonest we see here. This is a measure to prevent or effectively manage it.” He commended the Iyase of Udo Dukedom, HRH Patrick Igbinidu and his council of chiefs for mobilising the people in their

large numbers to participate in the disease awareness sessions and screening exercise. He also commended Sanofi for their support. The WDD event, which had the theme “The Family and Diabetes”, also saw the launch of a diabetes and hypertension clinic (DHC) – a public-private partnership initiative between UBTH and Sanofi aimed at effective management of the diseases by bringing healthcare to the primary level of care and closer to people in underserved communities. Sharing her thoughts,

the General Manager Rx and Country Chair, Sanofi Nigeria-Ghana, Pharm. Folake Odediran said the growing burden of diabetes was a major public health concern and a development challenge because the disease forces many people and families into poverty due to catastrophic expenditures on treatment. Odediran said: “Barriers to effective management of diabetes include low level of disease awareness, inability to access health workers or health facilities, poorly equipped health centers, inadequate

number of health workers and inability to afford the cost of treatment. “To remove the barriers of access to healthcare, our purpose is to understand the healthcare needs of people in places where we serve and to help in solving those needs. At Sanofi, we recognise that diabetes is a growing public health issue in Nigeria and we are taking definitive steps in tackling the disease burden through collaboration with stakeholders, such as UBTH.” She reminded that the commissioning of the DHC was in

fulfilment of the terms of the memorandum of understanding that the company signed with UBTH in July this year. The DHC project, she said, is a social responsibility project of Sanofi to help strengthen the health system and remove some of the barriers of access to healthcare by promoting public disease awareness about diabetes and hypertension, upskilling healthcare practitioners through training and providing easy access for people in underserved communities to check their health status and receive appropriate medical care.

World Mental Health Day: Bet9ja Advocates for Responsible Gambling Martins Ifijeh Following increased incidence of mental health issues in Nigeria, including suicide cases, one of Nigeria’s leading betting company, Bet9ja has called on Nigerians to engage in responsible gambling. Stating this during the commemoration of the 2019 World Mental Health Day in Lagos recently, the Managing Director, Bet9ja, Ayo Ojuroye said addiction in gambling may lead to mental health issues, hence the core strategy of the company to ensure Nigerians engage in responsible gambling, which it tagged: More Than Just A Bet. He said: “We are calling for mental health and addiction treatment, awareness and support to make the society a better place for all. “This year, the World Federation for Mental Health (WFMH) has decided to make suicide prevention the main

theme for this year. Suicide is a global public health problem that deserves the attention of all the actors in the field of mental health, including scientific and professional mental health users and their families, universities, among others. “It deserves attention of everyone, and government should craft policies and directives aimed at establishing strategies to prevent suicide and promote the public’s mental health.” He said getting people to talk about a subject that tends to be taboo and about which many holds mistaken, and prejudiced ideas will help people to learn about the risk factors so that they can identify and learn to address them. The conference called for everyone’s help, to be advocates of mental health in their capacity no matter how little to reduce and eventually eradicate the rising issues of suicide in Nigeria especially among the youths.

Diabetes: Nigeria Has Only 100 Specialists to 4M Patients, Expert Says

Martins Ifijeh

A Professor of Medicine, Olufemi Fasanmade has stated that Nigeria has only about 100 highly trained specialists to treat and manage over four million Nigerians living with diabetes. Stating this during the Diabetes Demystified Symposium in Lagos recently, he said the widening access to diabetes treatment in Nigeria will require deliberate government effort to address the deficit of specialists and technological infrastructure available in hospitals, according to experts. He said: “With about four million Nigerians living with diabetes and less than 100 highly trained specialist in the disease management, there is an overwhelming human capital gap which needs to be fixed to enhance life expectancy. “Patients will not be able to see doctors more than three times in a year for regular checkup. And when emergency cases arise, some degree or tendency for

delay might be inevitable due to the shortfall in manpower and overwhelming number of patients. “To bridge the untended gap, we are trying to train more and more people so that even if you are not a diabetes expert, you can have sufficient knowledge to handle patients.” The Convener and Founder, Wellness Patron, Daniella Akpakwu called for increased awareness on the illness, considering the growing rate of detection and its role as a catalyst for other health complications to build on. Akpakwu, who veered into public education on lifestyle disease in 2017, laid emphasis on inculcating lifestyle habits that prevent the occurrence of diabetes and tackle the disease to a standstill. She said: “The more diabetes cases increase, the more the need for awareness on lifestyle measures and changes. Nutrition is a cornerstone in tackling diabetes and I think Nigerians don’t really know much.

L-R: Vice Chairman, Ovia South East LGA, Hon. Frederick Aimienwanwu; Iyase of Udo, HRH Patrick Igbinidu; Chief Medical Director, University of Benin Teaching Hospital, Prof. Darlington Obaseki; General Manager Rx and Country Chair, Sanofi Nigeria-Ghana,Pharm. Folake Odediran; External Affairs Director, Sanofi, Pharm. Oladimeji Agbolade; and Head of Medical, Sanofi Nigeria-Ghana and Sub-Sahara Africa, Dr Philip Ikeme, at the commissioning of diabetesandhypertensionclinicatComprehensiveHealthCentre,Udo,signingofMoUbetweenUBTHandSanofiinEdoStaterecently

Canadian Govt Demonstrates Commitment to Fight Polio in Nigeria Mary Nnah To further demonstrate commitment of Canadian government to the fight against polio virus and strengthen routine immunisation (RI), the Director General West and Central African Bureau, Global Affairs Canada, Mr Tarik Khan, joined the Niger State Primary Healthcare Development Agency (SPHCDA) and WHO staff during the polio house-to-house vaccination exercise recently. The delegation made a first stop at the home of Mrs Miriam Shuaibu, whose one-year-old son received a follow-up dose of Oral Polio Vaccine (OPV). Expressing her joy, she said, “I’m happy you came to my house to vaccinate my son, Mohammed”. Khan reiterated that reaching every child with lifesaving vaccines, as well as strengthening surveillance and routine immunisation across Nigeria and the African region, will be essential to sustain the progress against wild polio and other strains. Since the last wild polio case was detected on 21 August 2016 in Nigeria, the Nigerian

government has organised more than a dozen supplementary immunisation campaigns with oral polio vaccine, intensified efforts to increase routine immunisation coverage, improved its polio surveillance networks and deployed innovative strategies (market vaccination, cross-border points and outreach to nomad populations) to reach more children with polio vaccines. For this sub national vaccination campaign, preliminary data show that at least 2.6million children have been immunised across all 25 LGAs of Niger, a state at risk of polio virus. Actively participating in the vaccination campaign, Khan expressed satisfaction with WHO’s support to the community towards polio eradication and strengthening RI. “It was very enlightening to see how WHO is supporting routine vaccination and how there is a lot of public awareness and definitely an increase in the number of young children being vaccinated. “ We are very hopeful that the government of Nigeria, with support from WHO working with

local authorities, will be able to eradicate polio completely by 2020”, he said. During a visit to the Suleja LGA Secretariat, the Executive Director of the Niger State PHCDA said: “The support from Canada has been very instrumental to the progress we have recorded so far. WHO has been so helpful and they’re always on ground to help us anytime.” The Government of Canada has been one of the major contributors in the fight against polio since the global initiative was launched in 1988. This includes Nigeria, where Canada is currently providing financial support through WHO to help eradicate polio and strengthen routine immunisation. Expressing gratitude to the people of Canada and the Niger State government, WHO Nigeria Team Lead for the Expanded Programme on Immunisation (EPI), Dr. Fiona Braka, said, “We wish to use this medium to greatly appreciate Canada and the Niger State Government for all their efforts. “The strong leadership of the

Federal and State Governments, with the support from donors such as Canada, has been instrumental to the significant achievements in the fight against polio virus in Nigeria.” She cautioned that, “as we edge closer towards polio-free certification in the Africa Region, we need to remain vigilant and sustain the high quality of vaccination campaigns and surveillance, while aiming for higher routine immunisation coverage.” Other members of the delegation to Suleja LGA, Niger State consisted of Niger State Government officials, the Acting High Commissioner of Canada to Nigeria, Mrs Amy Galigan and the Counsellor/ Head of Cooperation, Mr Kevin Tokar, as well as health team officers - Ms Kibeza Kasubi and Mr Martin Osubor. The team paid a courtesy call to His Royal Highness the Emir of Suleja, Mallam Muhammad Awwal Ibrahim, to express appreciation for the support of the traditional institutions in promoting polio eradication and broader primary health care delivery.

IESL Empowers EmployeesThrough Wellness Program Vanessa Obioha Inspired by the need to improve overall efficiency of its workers, International Energy Service Limited (IESL) has encouraged employees to lead a healthy lifestyle using its health and fitness initiative designed to improve wellness.

The event, which was recently held in Lagos recently, tagged ‘Fitness Groove’, employed various facilities to test the physical and mental wellbeing of participants using a series of games and medical screenings. It also employed the help of health professionals to discuss on health trends. Participants were

enlightened on basic health tips like food diets, sleep and exercise routines, and the ways in which they can incorporate these values into everyday life to attain proper body functioning and longevity. The General Manager, (Engineering), IESL, Bayo Ige said the organisation likes to give back to the community where it operates,

as well as create awareness on fitness. “The last time, we organised cancer screening. Today, we did screen people for blood pressure and diabetes.” Participants, who did a five kilometres jog as part of activities to mark the event, collectively contributed to the welfare of underprivileged children in various orphanages.

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T H I S D AY ˾ THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2019

HEALTH

How Good is Quality of Oxytocin in Nigeria? The World Health Organisation maternal mortality indices has continued to increase with Nigeria making a contribution of 23 per cent, the highest in the world. This is mostly through bleeding after birth which can be stopped by oxytocin. Although, its availability is sometimes not in doubt, but its quality calls for concern. KuniTyessi writes

Y

emi’s delivery had some complications as the baby preferred to lie transverse. This had occurred few days to her delivery and doctors warned that the safer option was to go through cesarean section. A traditional birth attendant, a member of her church had opted to check her after Yemi had narrated the hospital’s advice. She told Yemi that contrary to what doctors had said, it was possible for her to have a vaginal birth, assuring that like the Hebrew women in the Bible, her delivery will be successful. This was not to be as Yemi died two days after being handed over to a nearby hospital and leaving behind a healthy baby and tales of controversies. She had died from complications resulting to severe bleeding and even though oxytocin had been ceaselessly administered, it was found out to be of low quality. Oxytocin is a hormone released by the pituitary gland that causes increased contraction of the uterus during labour and stimulates the ejection of milk into the ducts of the breasts. However, in the third stage of labour when the placenta separates from the mother’s uterus and is delivered following the birth of the baby, previous studies have shown that when given to a woman during or immediately after the vaginal birth of her baby, it is effective in reducing excessive bleeding which often leads to death. This is not peculiar to just Yemi, but has become an everyday occurrence which is not limited to the poor, unschooled, or even child marriages with women who are first timers and so inexperienced in what to expect from healthcare facilities. The above scenarios are not peculiar to just Yemi and her colleague, but are an everyday occurrence which is not limited to the poor, unschooled, or even child marriages with women who are first timers and so inexperienced in what to expect from healthcare facilities and in Yemi’s case, the TBAs. At the future of health conference 2019 and with the theme “Time to focus on quality in healthcare: Improving outcomes” which was organised by Nigeria Health Watch, reports indicate that according to the latest 2018 National Demographic and Health Survey (NDHS) data, 67 per cent of pregnant women commenced antenatal visits, while only 56.8 per cent completed four visits. The most common cause of maternal deaths in Nigeria has been attributed to heavy bleeding post-childbirth due to postpartum haemorrhage (PPH), which accounts for 23 per cent of all maternal deaths, followed by infections following childbirth (sepsis) at 17 and unsafe abortion at 11 per cent. Chief of party, Promoting the Quality of Medicine (PQM) programme, United States pharmacopeia, Dr. Chimezie Anyakora during the conference seconded the above claims, stating that most cases of maternal mortality is as a result of bleeding after birth. He said while oxytocin is a handy dose with a WHO charter endorsed on it, to curtail bleeding, its

Nigeria still has a high maternal, infant and child death rates

poor quality has continued to be a nightmare in the country’s healthcare system. He emphasised that depending on the manufacturer, oxytocin products should be stored at either controlled room temperature which is often 25°C or less, or in refrigerated storage of 2°- 8°C in order to ensure quality and comply with the labelled storage conditions. “Death by heamorage should be cut short by at least 75 per cent and oxytocin can curtail this. Medicine quality is an important aspect especially in Nigeria. 95 per cent of oxytocin is of poor quality. Poor quality medicine is a global issue but in Africa, it is acute. Many don’t have a clear route to how medicine are preserved.” It is pertinent to note that some of the efficacious interventions to tackle these causes are still not reaching women, especially the poor, disadvantaged and most vulnerable. There is a significant gap in the numbers in the North-Eastern region, with maternal deaths at 1, 5 47 per 100, 000 live births, compared to the national average of 560 deaths per 100,000 live births. Ongoing studies has revealed that injectable ergometrine, methylergometrine and oxytocin should be stored under refrigeration as much as possible with all products clearly marked with “keep under refrigeration” and ergometrine and methylergometrine should additionally

be marked with “protect from light”. Another stakeholder, DG/CEO, Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission, Engr. Chidi Izuwah, said delivering quality maternal healthcare in Nigeria should involve collaboration between all stakeholders in the healthcare sector, both private and public healthcare providers, practitioners, public and private suppliers, health maintenance organisations (HMOs), pharmaceutical companies, and government, bearing in mind that the goal of these collaborations must always put the patient first. “Let’s move from statistics and analysis and move into action. Enough of the rhetorics. Maternal and child health should be priority number one. There should be an annual state of mother and child report as this is bound to attract attention.” In the drive to achieve the three arms of universal coverage, access, affordability and quality: a greater focus is needed on quality in healthcare in order to improve patient outcomes and experience, ensuring that all patients have access to quality healthcare. The Chief Medical Director, Lagoon Hospitals, Lagos, Dr. Olujimi Coker, in his analysis of the situation is of the opinion that in as much as quality has to be the bedrock of every health care, what is missing in the Universal Health Coverage is quality, stressing that so much

resources is not needed in the provision of quality healthcare. Stressing that maternal care protection is a good indication of how good a country’s healthcare is, solutions are multi-factorial and the possibility to have a society where no woman has to die is feasible and possible. “There are cases of medication mismanagement and the misuse of antibiotics with processes which are not properly in place. You don’t need a lot of money to provide quality healthcare. “Currently, efforts to improve quality in healthcare are not consistent across all healthcare providers, leaving many gaps in the system. There needs to be a greater effort to improve quality in healthcare in order to increase confidence in the healthcare sector, with the use of quality measures to access service delivery.” Quality in maternal healthcare is not yielding improvement in health indices as expected in Nigeria, so it is imperative to consider the standard of healthcare being received. The availability of electricity for the preservation of oxytocin and other medical equipment, especially in healthcare and storage facilities needs to be improved, and with a reduction in the delays women face in receiving care as well as maximising resources to avoid wastage. After all, pregnancy is not a sickness but a state of being and no woman must die while giving life.

NigerianYouths Demand Improved Healthcare, Education from FG Martins Ifijeh As Nigerians join the rest of the world to mark the Child Right’s Convention (CRC) @30, young persons have demanded from the federal government, improved healthcare and quality education. The youths said for Nigeria to achieve Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030, the government should create opportunities needed

for young persons to develop in a safe environment. Stating this during a youth dialogue supported by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) in Lagos State recently, a participant, Mmesoma Okonkwo lamented how difficult it was in accessing healthcare in the rural areas where health seekers travel long distances to reach service providers, as well as pay exorbitant amount for

treatment. She said: “Our government should build health centres that are closer to the people which will make it easier to receive quality healthcare services. Private sectors can also use their platforms to educate young people as well as support good health provision which is also a part of SDGs.” A youth representative, who spoke on education,

Onche Samuel said, “I thank the government for what they have done, but we still have a long way to go. Look at the public schools, whenever you hear the name public school, the first thing that comes to mind is; one broken window, children sitting on the window, sitting on the ground, and no quality education.” He urged the government to be steadfast, buckle up and

oppose any issue affecting quality education in the country, adding that the government can do better if they work together. On her part, the Lagos State Field Officer, UNICEF, Muhammad Okorie said: “The children have told us how they feel about the healthcare delivery, education situation in Nigeria, as well as employability and skills. These are the

three key areas they have discussed. “Naija Youth Talk is viewed live and people are watching it from all over the world, both government, private sector organisations, development partners, UNICEF and others are also listening to the children, so that key policy makers now take into cognisance what these children say to redesign their programmes.”

THURSDAY NOVEMBER 21, 2019 • T H I S D AY

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T H I S D AY Ëž Í°ÍŻËœ 2019

BUSINESS/MONEYGUIDE

Brazil Proposes $1bn Support for Nigeria’s Agribusiness Dike Onwuamaeze Brazil said it has set aside $100 million for the promotion of agribusiness finance in Nigeria and is ready to increase it to $1 billion in the next three years. This was disclosed yesterday by Brazil’s Ambassador to Nigeria, Mr. Francisco Carlos Soares Luz, during a symposium on agribusiness finance, with the theme: “Making Agribusiness Bankable: Lenders and Investors Expectations,� which was organised by the Financial Services Group (FSG) of the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI). Luz, said the fund was meant to enable Nigerian farmers to access agro machineries from Brazil. He said Brazil would assist Nigeria in cassava and sugar cane production. “These are more than food products. We generate 8000 megawatts of electricity and ethanol for fuel from sugar cane

in Brazil,� he added. The Nigerian agriculture sector, according to President of LCCI, Mr. Babatunde Paul Ruwase, attracted$169.37 million foreign direct investment between April and June 2019. He said: “Research conducted locally and internationally confirmed a positive correlation between agriculture finance and agriculture development. Nigeria need to scale up investments in improving agriculture yield and integrating the value chain over the next decade to effectively capture a significant share of the market.� Also, the Chairperson of the FSG, Mrs Mojisola Bakare, said the focus of the symposium was to discuss the issue of providing sustainable financing for agribusiness in across the entire value chains and to come up with practical outcomes. Bakare said: “Agriculture holds the key to the economic transformation and diversifica-

tion of the Nigerian economy and given the current state of the Nigerian economy, at no other time is the handshake between financial industry and the agriculture sector more appropriate than now as we work to move our economy from being import dependent on agricultural products including staple food to a non-oil export one.� In his contribution, the Managing Director of NIRSAL Plc, Mr Aliyu Abdulhameed, said NIRSAL was established to de-risk agriculture lending in the country and encourage the flow of finance to the sector. He said Nigeria was suitable for agribusiness finance due to its 84 million hectares of arable land, favourable government policies and rapid growing population. He also said the Nigerian agriculture was in need of finance capital, technology capital, equipment capital and human capital to translate its potentials to reality.

Ownership Tussle Delays Abuja Disco’s Board Meeting for Three Years Chineme Okafor Ă“Ă˜ ĂŒĂ&#x;ÔË Board members of the Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC) have not had their statutory meetings in the last three years, a statement from a shareholder of the Disco – CEC Africa Investment Limited has disclosed. CEC Africa in the statement signed by its Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Emmanuel Katepa, and made available to THISDAY, stated that a lingering legal dispute over majority shareholding in the Disco had held back the board meeting for this long. Katepa, however said that this development has not affected the operations of the Disco which supplies electricity to Nigeria’s federal capital territory, Abuja, and neighbouring states, Kogi, Niger and Nasarawa. The statement detailed how CEC and its partner, Xerxes Global Investments Limited, acquired the Disco, as well as how their business relationship gradually broke down. It also stated that court actions had been taken in this regard with the situation yet to improve. “Our attention has been drawn to certain recent reports making the rounds in the Nigerian media sphere regarding shareholders’ dispute at KANN Utility

Company Limited (KANN), the majority shareholder of the Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC). “We are greatly concerned about some of the issues raised in the media. We will like to be clear that we do not wish to contend any matter that is currently the subject of legal proceedings. We are only addressing the specific issues raised in the various media reports to set the records straight,� said the statement. Katepa, explained that CECA, and not Xerxes paid $81 million cash to the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) and raised $123 million loan from the United Bank of Africa to acquire the Disco. According to the statement, both parties agreed to jointly bid and acquire the Disco’s 60 per cent shares with shared obligations, but Xerxes reportedly failed to accomplish its obligation in the partnership. It added that they executed a joint development agreement in 2012 to incorporate and become shareholders of KANN in the acquisition of the Disco, with each of them agreeing to own and hold 50 per cent of the shares of KANN. “The purchase price of AEDC was $164 million and it was agreed by XerXes and CECA that this would be funded 25

per cent ($41 million) by cash contributions from Xerxes and CECA and KANN would borrow the remaining 75 per cent of the acquisition costs ($123 million) from a third party lender (which ended up being the United Bank for Africa (UBA). “When the initial 25 per cent ($41 million) was demanded by the Bureau of Public Enterprises as an upfront payment, Xerxes could not raise its equity contribution, leaving CECA to wholly fund the initial 25 per cent equity payment. CECA paid for that portion of the acquisition amount in full being $41 million in March 2013. XerXes did not fund any of this equity payment,� the statement claimed. It further said the additional 75 per cent balance payment of $123 million to be funded through a loan from UBA was also solely backed by CECA with a mandatory debt service reserve account of $40 million, adding that at this point CECA had funded the Disco’s acquisition with $81 million alone. The statement further noted that XerXes subsequently pledged 25 per cent out of its 50 per cent shareholding to CECA to secure the repayment, but eventually began to contest CECA’s decision to affirm its status as the core investor in the Disco.

Lafarge to Organise Community Day Hamid Ayodeji Lafarge Africa Plc is set to organise a Community Day event in all of its host communities in Nigeria. The event comes after the Lafarge Africa National Literacy Competition (LANLC) organised by the company, which saw David Emmanuella and Barikpoa Prosper, from Community Primary School, Rivers State, emerging as winners. The Business Engagement Communications Manager, Lafarge, Ginikanwa FrankDurugbor, said this during a visit to THISDAY’s corporate head office in Lagos on Tuesday. She said the initiatives were

part of the company’s corporate social responsibility as well as its contributions to communities in Nigeria. According to her, “we are a building and construction solution firm which is situated in the three major regions of Nigeria, catering for the nation, continent and globe as a whole.� Frank-Durugbor explained that Lafarge, “is still committed to providing its consumers across the globe with building materials that meet local and international standards.� She added: “As a firm we understand the importance of giving back to communities and

institutions that have supported us from the beginning up until this point. “Hence, the development of initiatives that help us perform our corporate social responsibilities effectively as we impact lives, communities and the economy as a whole. “In addition, I would like to use this medium to state the obvious, which is the need for the nation to continue to promote the consumption of local content which would eventually enhance the local production as well as transform the country from a major importing nation to an exporting economy.�

Former Acting Managing Director/CEO and Executive Director, Small and Medium Enterprises, Bank of Industry (BOI), Dr Waheed Olagunju, (right) and Dr Harvey Floyd of the University of Pennsylvania, after Olagunju’s keynote presentation at the Wharton Africa Business Forum held at the University of Pennsylvania, United States of America... recently

MARKET INDICATORS MONEY AND CREDIT STATISTICS

(MILLION NAIRA)

SEPTEMBER 2019 Money Supply (M3)

35,029,779.72

-- CBN Bills Held by Money Holding Sectors

7,374,356.91

Money Supply (M2)

27,655,422.82

-- Quasi Money

116,533,891.21

-- Narrow Money (M1)

11,121,531.60

---- Currency Outside Banks

1,625,047.69

---- Demand Deposits

9,496,483.91

Net Foreign Assets (NFA)

13,911,335.83

Net Domestic Assets(NDA)

21,118,443.89

-- Net Domestic Credit (NDC)

35,918,179.45

---- Credit to Government (Net)

10,452,199.38

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

11,007,422.79

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

25,465,980.07

---- Credit to Private Sector (CPS)

-14,799,735.56

--Other Assets Net

7,000,253.07

Reserve Money (Base Money

2,005,600.83

--Currency in Circulation

4,677,530.81

--Banks Reserves

317,121.43

Ëž Ă™Ă&#x;ĂœĂ?Ă? Ě‹

Money Market Indicators (in Percentage) Month

March 2018

Inter-Bank Call Rate

15.16

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

14.00

Treasury Bill Rate

11.84

Savings Deposit Rate

4.07

1 Month Deposit Rate

8.82

3 Months Deposit Rate

9.72

6 Months Deposit Rate

10.93

12 Months Deposit Rate

10.21

Prime Lending rate

17.35

Maximum Lending Rate

31.55

Ëž Ă™Ă˜Ă?ĂžĂ‹ĂœĂŁ ÙÖÓĂ?ĂŁ Ă‹ĂžĂ? Ě‹ ͯ͹Ϲ

OPEC DAILY BASKET PRICE Ëœ ͯ͡ Ͱ͎ͯ͡

The price of OPEC basket of fourteen crudes stood at $62.51 a barrel on Tuesday, compared with $63.44 the previous day, according to OPEC Secretariat calculations. The OPEC Reference Basket of Crudes (ORB) is made up of the following: Saharan Blend (Algeria), Girassol (Angola), Djeno (Congo), Oriente (Ecuador), ZaďŹ ro (Equatorial Guinea), Rabi Light (Gabon), Iran Heavy (Islamic Republic of Iran), Basra Light (Iraq), Kuwait Export (Kuwait), Es Sider (Libya), Bonny Light (Nigeria), Arab Light (Saudi Arabia), Murban (UAE) and Merey (Venezuela). SOURCE: OPEC headquarters, Vienna

41

T H I S D AY Ëž Í°ÍŻËœ Ͱ͎ͯ͡

MARKET NEWS

SEC Chairman Seeks More Cooperation from Stakeholders Goddy Egene The Chairman of the Board of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Mr. Olufemi Lijadu, yesterday called for more cooperation among stakeholders for the overall interest of the capital market and the economy generally. Speaking at a meeting between the board and stakeholders in the capital

market in Lagos, the SEC board Chairman said there was need for all to work together. “Operators and the apex regulator have the same interest and expressed the need for all to work together in the overall interest of the market and the economy. ] We need money to develop our economy and to get the money we need to attract investors both local

P R I C E S MAIN BOARD

F O R

DEALS

and foreign. To be able to attract them, our markets need to have the basic rules that are obtainable anywhere else in the world by aligning ourselves with best practices internationally,� he said. Lijadu said the board was ready to listen and be accessible to market operators, saying, “You are there in the market and can give us that sensitivity of what

S E C U R I T I E S

MARKET PRICE

QUANTITY TRADED

VALUE TRADED ( N )

the market is feeling and can give us that direction to frame our policies in the interest of the market,� He expressed confidence about the level of knowledge and professionalism of stakeholders in the market, adding that by the time views and suggestions from the interaction were put together the market would arrive at some solutions. “We are key pillars in the ability of our country

T R A D E D MAIN BOARD

A S

to find solutions to its developmental needs by attracting relevant funding, together we can make our country great� he added. In a welcome address, Acting Director General of SEC, Ms. Mary Uduk commended the stakeholders for the support they extended to the commission in the period the SEC operated without a board and urged them to continue

O F

with the support. “You are the ones that provide us with guidance as to the direction the market should go because you are the ones at the forefront and know it firsthand. We are happy that we have agreed to be with us here today. We are here today to rub minds with you and further solicit your co-operation in all that we intend to do to deepen the market,� she said.

1 5 / 1 1 / 2 0 1 9 DEALS

MARKET PRICE

QUANTITY TRADED

VALUE TRADED ( N)

42

˾ THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2019

Thursday, November 21, 2019

THISDAY AFRINVEST 40 INDEX

Thisday Afrinvest 40 Index Up 1.5% Yesterday, the Thisday Afrinvest 40 Index advanced 1.5% to ĐůŽƐĞ Ăƚ ϭ͕Ϯϰϴ͘ϱϭ͕ ĚƵĞ ƚŽ ƉƌŝĐĞ ĂƉƉƌĞĐŝĂƟŽŶ ŝŶ GUARANTY

Fundamental Performance Metrics for THISDAY AFRINVEST 40 Index

(+0.2%), ZENITH (+1.6%) and NIGERIAN BREWERIES (+6.1%). dŚĞƐĞ ƐƚŽĐŬƐ ĐƵŵƵůĂƟǀĞůLJ ĂĐĐŽƵŶƚ ĨŽƌ ϯϱ͘ϱй ŽĨ ƚŚĞ ŝŶĚĞdž͘

The Bulls Defeat the Bears Again͙ ASI Up 0.1%

Ticker

Current Price

THISDAY AFRINVEST 40

(+8.2%) and UBA (+7.6%), the ASI rose 14bps to 26,776.15 ƉŽŝŶƚƐ͘ ŽŶƐĞƋƵĞŶƚůLJ͕ zd ƉĞƌĨŽƌŵĂŶĐĞ ƐŽŌĞŶĞĚ ƚŽ -14.8% ǁŚŝůĞ ŵĂƌŬĞƚ ĐĂƉŝƚĂůŝƐĂƟŽŶ ŝŶĐƌĞĂƐĞĚ Eϭϳ͘ϳďŶ ƚŽ EϭϮ͘ϵƚŶ͘ ŽŶǀĞƌƐĞůLJ͕ ĂĐƟǀŝƚLJ ůĞǀĞů ĚŝƉƉĞĚ ĂƐ ǀŽůƵŵĞ ĂŶĚ ǀĂůƵĞ ƚƌĂĚĞĚ ĚĞĐůŝŶĞĚ ďLJ ϯϮ͘Ϯй ĂŶĚ ϱϯ͘ϯй ƌĞƐƉĞĐƟǀĞůLJ ƚŽ Ϯϲϳ͘ϯŵ ƵŶŝƚƐ

Price Change Index to Date

ROE

ROA

P/E

P/BV

Divindend Earnings Yield Yield

1,248.51

1.50%

-14.9%

24.9%

17.0%

6.0%

5.5x

0.7x

6.9%

1 Guaranty Trust Bank PLC

29.05

0.2%

19.1%

-15.7%

-15.8%

32.9%

5.4%

4.4x

1.4x

9.5%

22.8%

2 Zenith Bank PLC

18.80

1.6%

12.0%

-18.4%

-18.4%

24.3%

3.4%

2.9x

0.7x

14.9%

33.9% 15.7%

3 Dangote Cement PLC

Following gains in NIGERIAN BREWERIES (+6.1%), FBNH

Price Previous Current Change Price Weightin YTD Change g

4 Nestle Nigeria PLC

144.00

-0.6%

8.1%

-24.1%

-22.6%

47.8%

23.1%

6.4x

2.9x

11.1%

1,150.00

0.0%

7.5%

-22.6%

-22.0%

82.9%

26.3%

19.5x

16.1x

5.3%

5.1%

52.00

6.1%

4.4%

-39.2%

-33.6%

10.2%

4.6%

24.3x

2.5x

4.5%

4.1%

5 Nigerian Brew eries PLC 6 FBN Holdings Plc 7 Cement Co Northern Nigeria PLC 8 United Bank for Africa PLC 9 International Brew eries PLC 10 SEPLAT Petroleum Development C

16.0%

7.30

8.1%

5.7%

-8.2%

-8.8%

10.2%

1.2%

4.6x

0.4x

3.7%

21.9%

20.00

0.0%

5.5%

3.1%

3.1%

5.8%

5.4%

13.2x

0.8x

2.2%

7.5%

7.75

7.6%

5.2%

0.6%

-0.6%

0.5x

11.4%

9.40

0.0%

1.3%

-66.4%

-70.2%

-48.8%

-4.0%

549.70

0.0%

3.6%

-14.1%

-14.1%

13.7%

8.7%

3.6x

0.5x

6.8%

27.7%

10.20

3.6%

6.0%

50.0%

56.9%

22.7%

2.2%

2.6x

0.6x

5.0%

39.0%

11 Access Bank PLC

4.7x

-14.9%

12 Ecobank Transnational Inc

6.90

0.0%

1.7%

-50.7%

-51.7%

13.8%

1.0%

2.2x

0.3x

ĂŶĚ Eϯ͘ϭďŶ͘ dŚĞ ŵŽƐƚ ĂĐƟǀĞ ƐƚŽĐŬƐ ďLJ ǀŽůƵŵĞ ǁĞƌĞ ACCESS

13 Stanbic IBTC Holdings PLC

39.00

0.0%

2.6%

-18.7%

-18.7%

27.0%

4.0%

6.0x

1.4x

5.1%

16.8%

14 Unilever Nigeria PLC

18.50

0.0%

;ϲϯ͘ϱŵ ƵŶŝƚƐͿ UBA ;ϰϰ͘ϵŵ ƵŶŝƚƐͿ͕ ĂŶĚ ZENITH (24.1m units)

1.4%

-50.0%

-50.0%

3.4%

2.2%

40.2x

1.4x

8.3%

2.5%

15 Lafarge Africa PLC

14.50

-1.0%

2.3%

16.5%

20.8%

50.3%

23.4%

14.6x

0.7x

16 Guinness Nigeria PLC

31.00

0.0%

0.7%

-56.9%

-56.9%

4.8%

2.6%

15.9x

0.8x

5.2%

6.3% 11.3%

while ACCESS ;Eϲϰϯ͘ϳŵͿ͕ ZENITH ;Eϰϱϭ͘ϲŵͿ ĂŶĚ GUARANTY ;Eϰϳϱ͘ϳŵͿ ůĞĚ ďLJ ǀĂůƵĞ͘ Stellar Sector Performance Yesterday, sector performance was largely bullish as 4 of 6

indices under our coverage advanced. The Banking and Consumer Goods indices gained the most, advancing 1.8% and ϭ͘ϯй ƌĞƐƉĞĐƟǀĞůLJ͕ ĚƵĞ ƚŽ ďƵLJŝŶŐ ŝŶƚĞƌĞƐƚ ŝŶ FBNH (+8.2%), UBA (+7.6%), NIGERIAN BREWERIES (+6.1%) and PZ (1.0%). Also, gains in NEM (+5.0%) and CONOIL ;нϵ͘ϱйͿ ďƵŽLJĞĚ ƚŚĞ Insurance and Oil & Gas indices, up 0.2% and 0.1% respecƟǀĞůLJ͘ DĞĂŶǁŚŝůĞ͕ ƐĞůů-ŽīƐ ŝŶ WAPCO (-1.0%), DANGCEM (0.6%) and MTNN (-Ϯ͘ϯйͿ ĚƌĂŐŐĞĚ ƚŚĞ AFRI-ICT and Industrial 'ŽŽĚƐ ŝŶĚŝĐĞƐ ĚŽǁŶ ϭ͘ϯй ĂŶĚ 0.5% ƌĞƐƉĞĐƟǀĞůLJ͘

/ŶǀĞƐƚŽƌ ^ĞŶƟŵĞŶƚ ZĞďŽƵŶĚƐ /ŶǀĞƐƚŽƌ ƐĞŶƟŵĞŶƚ ĂƐ ŵĞĂƐƵƌĞĚ ďLJ ŵĂƌŬĞƚ ďƌĞĂĚƚŚ

17 Okomu Oil Palm PLC

top performing stocks were CHAMS (+10.0%), LEARNAFRCA ;нϵ͘ϱйͿ ĂŶĚ CONOIL ;нϵ͘ϱйͿ ǁŚŝůĞ NASCON (-5.7%), LASACO (-ϯ͘ϲйͿ ĂŶĚ WAPIC (-Ϯ͘ϵйͿ ǁĞƌĞ ƚŚĞ ƚŽƉ ůŽƐĞƌƐ͘ tĞ expect ƚŚĞ ƌĞŶĞǁĞĚ ŝŶƚĞƌĞƐƚ ŝŶ ƚŚĞ ŵĂƌŬĞƚ ƚŽ ĐŽŶƟŶƵĞ ĂůƚͲ hough, it may be short-lived.

50.00

0.0%

1.0%

-34.4%

-34.4%

18.3%

13.2%

8.9x

1.6x

4.0%

110.90

0.0%

0.8%

-45.4%

-45.4%

1.0%

0.2%

138.7x

1.5x

15.5%

0.7%

19 11 PLC

147.90

0.0%

1.2%

-20.3%

-20.3%

22.5%

10.6%

6.8x

1.4x

5.9%

14.6%

6.7%

20 Flour Mills of Nigeria PLC 21 Oando PLC

16.25

0.0%

1.0%

-29.7%

-26.8%

3.6%

1.3%

12.6x

0.5x

3.54

-1.7%

1.0%

-29.2%

-26.3%

14.5%

2.6%

1.5x

0.2x

7.9% 65.6%

22 Fidelity Bank PLC

2.02

3.6%

1.3%

-0.5%

-0.5%

12.4%

1.4%

2.3x

0.3x

5.4%

44.2%

23 Transnational Corp of Nigeria

1.04

1.0%

0.9%

-21.2%

-19.4%

11.7%

2.6%

5.3x

0.6x

2.9%

18.8%

24 Dangote Sugar Refinery PLC

12.25

1.2%

0.9%

-19.7%

-17.2%

19.6%

11.6%

7.3x

1.5x

9.0%

13.8%

26 FCMB Group Plc

2.03

4.6%

0.8%

7.4%

12.8%

9.2%

1.2%

2.4x

0.2x

7.1%

41.5%

27 UAC of Nigeria PLC

7.10

0.7%

0.5%

-27.2%

-25.7%

-6.9%

-3.3%

7.9x

0.4x

9.0%

12.6%

25 Diamond Bank PLC

2.12

0.0%

0.7%

11.6%

11.6%

8.1%

0.8%

7.1x

0.6x

29 Presco PLC

34.60

0.0%

0.2%

-45.9%

-45.9%

6.3%

3.8%

12.8x

1.3x

6.1%

7.8%

30 NASCON Allied Industries PLC

14.00

-5.7%

0.3%

-22.2%

-22.2%

23.4%

8.6%

14.0x

3.3x

6.7%

7.1%

31 Forte Oil PLC

28 Sterling Bank PLC

16.60

0.0%

0.2%

-39.6%

-40.7%

49.7%

8.1%

32 Union Bank of Nigeria PLC

7.10

0.0%

0.5%

26.8%

26.8%

7.0%

1.1%

11.3x

0.9x

33 Julius Berger Nigeria PLC

18.55

0.0%

0.3%

-7.7%

-16.1%

21.8%

2.5%

2.7x

0.7x

100.6%

37.1%

34 PZ Cussons Nigeria PLC 35 Chemical and Allied Products P

5.25

1.0%

0.1%

-56.6%

-57.3%

24.30

0.0%

0.2%

-30.3%

-30.3%

14.2%

1.2x

-1.6% 8.8% 10.8%

37.7%

91.6x

0.5x

2.9%

1.1%

8.4x

8.5x

11.9%

11.9%

36 Wema Bank PLC

0.74

5.7%

0.3%

17.5%

17.5%

9.0%

0.9%

6.0x

0.5x

4.1%

16.7%

37 Beta Glass PLC

53.80

0.0%

0.2%

-21.2%

-21.2%

17.8%

12.5%

5.0x

0.8x

2.4%

20.2%

38 Dangote Flour Mills Plc

22.25

0.6%

224.8%

237.1%

-33.1%

-9.4%

39 Transcorp Hotels Plc

5.40

0.0%

0.1%

-11.5%

-11.5%

3.6%

1.8%

20.0x

0.7x

40 AXA Mansard Insurance PLC

1.65

0.0%

0.1%

-9.8%

-9.8%

9.4%

2.6%

5.7x

0.8x

T ic k er

4.0x

-10.1% 3.0%

P ric e

P ric e C hg %

CHA M S

0.33

10.0%

LEA R N A F R C A

1.27

9.5%

C ON OIL

18.50

C OR N ER ST

0.70

T ic k er

Vo lum e

P ric e C hg %

A C C ESS

63.5

3.6%

UB A

44.9

7.6%

9.5%

Z EN IT H B A N K

24.1

1.6%

9.4%

FB NH

16.8

8.1%

14.3

0.2%

NP FM CRFB K

1.20

9.1%

GUA R A N T Y

FB NH

7.30

8.1%

WA P C O

8.6

-1.0%

C UT IX

1.47

8.1%

LIN KA SSUR E

6.9

0.0%

NB

7.75

7.6%

FCM B

6.9

4.6%

52.00

6.1%

UA C N

6.8

0.7%

0.53

6.0%

T R A N SC OR P

6.4

1.0%

LIVEST OC K

5.0% 17.5%

T o p 10 T r a d e s b y V o l u m e

T o p 10 G a i n e r s

UB A

T o p 10 T r a d e s b y V a l u e

T o p 10 L o s e r s P ric e

P ric e C hg %

T ic k er

Value

P ric e C hg %

N A SC ON

14.00

-5.7%

A C C ESS

643.7

3.6%

LA SA C O

0.27

-3.6%

Z EN IT H B A N K

451.6

1.6%

T ic k er

WA P IC

0.34

-2.9%

GUA R A N T Y

UN IT YB N K

0.70

-2.8%

M TNN

M TNN

414.1

0.2%

345.9

-2.3%

0.71

-2.7%

UB A

338.6

7.6%

119.05

-2.3%

D A N GC EM

228.3

-0.6% -1.0%

A IIC O

OA N D O

3.54

-1.7%

WA P C O

125.3

J A IZ B A N K

0.75

-1.3%

FB NH

119.3

8.1%

WA P C O

14.50

-1.0%

N EST LE

79.6

0.0%

144.00

-0.6%

D A N GSUGA R

52.4

1.2%

D A N GC EM

Afrinvest West Africa Limited

6.9%

18 Total Nigeria PLC

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44.8%

Brokerage

Asset Management

Investment Research

Ayodeji Ebo | aebo@afrinvest.com

Ola Belgore | obelgore@afrinvest.com

Abiodun Keripe | AKeripe@afrinvest.com

Adedoyin Allen | aallen@afrinvest.com

Oluwarotimi Ashimi | oashimi@afrinvest.com

Adedayo Bakare | abakare@afrinvest.com

43

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2019 ˾ T H I S D AY

MARKET NEWS

FBNQuest Asset Management Promises Investors Better Service Delivery Goddy Egene The Managing Director of FBNQuest Asset Management, Mr. Ike Onyia has promised that the company would continue to provide strategic investment advice to discerning individuals and institutions who will be well served

through a broad range of solutions comprising, capital preservation, capital growth and other bespoke strategies. FBNQuest Asset Management, a subsidiary of FBNQuest Merchant Bank and part of FBNHoldings Plc, which is one of the leading financial services groups in

A Mutual fund (Unit Trust) is an investment vehicle managed by a SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission) registered Fund Manager. Investors with similar objectives buy units of the Fund so that the Fund Manager can buy securities that willl generate their desired return. An ETF (Exchange Traded Fund) is a type of fund which owns the assets (shares of stock, bonds, oil futures, gold bars, foreign currency, etc.) and divides ownership of those assets into shares. Investors can buy these ‘shares’ on the

Nigeria, emerged winner of the Money Market Fund of the Year category at the recently concluded BusinessDay Banks & Other Financial Institution Awards(BAFI) in Lagos. Speaking on the award, Onyia said it was in recognition of the strong performance track record of

floor of the Nigerian Stock Exchange. A REIT (Real Estate Investment Trust) is an investment vehicle that allows both small and large investors to part-own real estate ventures (eg. Offices, Houses, Hospitals) in proportion to their investments. The assets are divided into shares that are traded on the Nigerian Stock Exchange. GUIDE TO DATA: Date: All fund prices are quoted in Naira as at 19Nov-2019, unless otherwise stated.

the FBN Money Market Fund. According to him, since 2017, the Fund has outperformed its benchmark, inflation as well as other funds within its category, by achieving a cumulative return of 53 per cent from January 1 2017 to September 30, 2019, while the benchmark, the 91-dayTreasury

bill rate and inflation rate were 48 per cent and 44 per cent, respectively, during the same period. “In the past three years and based on our strong fundamental and quantitative research capabilities, our portfolio management team’s performance has remained

consistent and our clients have benefited immensely from exposure to our solutions, including the FBN Money Market Fund. It was gratifying to see our firm recognised for providing investors with value-adding solutions and for contributing to the industry,” he said.

Offer price: The price at which units of a trust or ETF are bought by investors. Bid Price: The price at which Investors redeem (sell) units of a trust or ETF. Yield/Total Return: Denotes the total return an investor would have earned on his investment. Money Market Funds report Yield while others report Year- to-date Total Return. NAV: Is value per share of the real estate assets held by a REIT on a specific date.

DAILY PRICE LIST FOR MUTUAL FUNDS, REITS and ETFS MUTUAL FUNDS / UNIT TRUSTS AFRINVEST ASSET MANAGEMENT LTD aaml@afrinvest.com Web: www.afrinvest.com; Tel: +234 818 885 6757 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Afrinvest Equity Fund N/A N/A N/A Afrinvest Plutus Fund N/A N/A N/A Nigeria International Debt Fund N/A N/A N/A ALTERNATIVE CAPITAL PARTNERS LTD info@acapng.com Web: www.acapng.com, Tel: +234 1 291 2406, +234 1 291 2868 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn ACAP Canary Growth Fund 0.89 0.90 5.76% ACAP Income Funds 0.76 0.76 34.21% AIICO CAPITAL LTD ammf@aiicocapital.com Web: www.aiicocapital.com, Tel: +234-1-2792974 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn AIICO Money Market Fund 100.00 100.00 11.89% AIICO Balanced Fund 2.41 2.45 8.84% ARM INVESTMENT MANAGERS LTD enquiries@arminvestmentcenter.com Web: www.arm.com.ng; Tel: 0700 CALLARM (0700 225 5276) Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn ARM Aggressive Growth Fund N/A N/A N/A ARM Discovery Fund N/A N/A N/A ARM Ethical Fund N/A N/A N/A ARM Money Market Fund N/A N/A N/A AXA MANSARD INVESTMENTS LIMITED investmentcare@axamansard.com Web: www.axamansard.com; Tel: +2341-4488482 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn AXA Mansard Equity Income Fund 95.01 95.68 -6.11% AXA Mansard Money Market Fund 1.00 1.00 10.54% CAPITAL EXPRESS ASSET AND TRUST LIMITED info@capitalexpressassetandtrust.com Web: www.capitalexpressassetandtrust.com ; Tel: +234 803 307 5048 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn CEAT Fixed Income Fund 1.94 1.94 13.81% CHAPELHILL DENHAM MANAGEMENT LTD investmentmanagement@chapelhilldenham.com Web: www.chapelhilldenham.com, Tel: +234 461 0691 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Chapelhill Denham Money Market Fund 100.00 100.00 11.83% Paramount Equity Fund 12.32 12.43 4.34% Women's Investment Fund 110.23 110.90 6.44% CORDROS ASSET MANAGEMENT LIMITED assetmgtteam@cordros.com Web: www.cordros.com, Tel: 019036947 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Cordros Money Market Fund 100.00 100.00 11.22% Cordros Milestone Fund 2023 98.00 98.71 Cordros Milestone Fund 2028 100.04 100.93 CORONATION ASSEST MANAGEMENT investment@coronationam.com Web:www.coronationam.com , Tel: 012366215 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Coronation Money Market Fund N/A N/A N/A Coronation Balanced Fund N/A N/A N/A Coronation Fixed Income Fund N/A N/A N/A EDC FUNDS MANAGEMENT LIMITED mutualfundng@ecobank.com Web: www.ecobank.com Tel: 012265281 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn EDC Nigeria Money Market Fund Class A 100.00 100.00 11.26% EDC Nigeria Money Market Fund Class B 1,000,000.00 1,000,000.00 10.82% EDC Nigeria Fixed Income Fund 1,174.28 1,179.76 17.76% FBNQUEST ASSET MANAGEMENT LTD invest@fbnquest.com Web: www.fbnquest.com/asset-management; Tel: +234-81 0082 0082 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn FBN Fixed Income Fund N/A N/A N/A FBN Balanced Fund 141.73 142.68 -0.74% FBN Money Market Fund 100.00 100.00 11.60% FBN Nigeria Eurobond (USD) Fund - Institutional N/A N/A N/A FBN Nigeria Eurobond (USD) Fund - Retail N/A N/A N/A FBN Nigeria Smart Beta Equity Fund 126.95 128.58 -15.37% FCMB ASSET MANAGEMENT LIMITED fcmbamhelpdesk@fcmb.com Web: www.fcmbassetmanagement.com; Tel: +234 1 462 2596 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Legacy Money Market Fund 1.00 1.00 11.03% Legacy Debt Fund 3.61 3.61 11.37% Legacy Equity Fund 1.07 1.09 -12.46% Legacy USD Bond Fund 1.08 1.08 4.49% FSDH ASSET MANAGEMENT LTD coralfunds@fsdhgroup.com Web: www.fsdhaml.com; Tel: 01-270 4884-5; 01-280 9740-1 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Coral Growth Fund 3,024.05 3,055.05 1.34% Coral Income Fund 3,059.19 3,059.19 11.62% FSDH Treasury Bills Fund 100.00 100.00 12.65% GREENWICH ASSET MANAGEMENT LIMITED assetmanagement@gtlgroup.com Web: www.gtlgroup.com ; Tel: +234 1 4619261-2 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Greenwich Plus Money Market Fund N/A N/A N/A Nigeria Entertainment Fund N/A N/A N/A GROWTH & DEVELOPMENT ASSET MANAGEMENT LIMITED assetmanagement@gdl.com.ng Web: www.gdl.com.ng ; Tel: +234 9055691122 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn GDL Money Market Fund N/A N/A N/A

INVESTMENT ONE FUNDS MANAGEMENT LTD enquiries@investment-one.com Web: www.investment-one.com; Tel: +234 812 992 1045,+234 1 448 8888 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Abacus Money Market Fund 100.00 100.00 11.16% Vantage Balanced Fund 2.17 2.19 0.53% Vantage Guaranteed Income Fund 1.00 1.00 13.41% Kedari Investment Fund (KIF) 141.07 141.22 12.90% LOTUS CAPITAL LTD fincon@lotuscapitallimited.com Web: www.lotuscapitallimited.com; Tel: +234 1-291 4626 / +234 1-291 4624 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Lotus Halal Investment Fund 1.15 1.17 4.86% Lotus Halal Fixed Income Fund 1,111.97 1,111.97 11.62% MERISTEM WEALTH MANAGEMENT LTD info@meristemwealth.com Web: http://www.meristemwealth.com/funds/ ; Tel: +234 1-4488260 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Meristem Equity Market Fund 9.53 9.62 -10.62% Meristem Money Market Fund 10.00 10.00 10.87% PAC ASSET MANAGEMENT LTD info@pacassetmanagement.com Web: www.pacassetmanagement.com/mutualfunds; Tel: +234 1 271 8632 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn PACAM Balanced Fund 1.35 1.37 9.26% PACAM Fixed Income Fund 12.26 12.32 9.54% PACAM Money Market Fund 10.00 10.00 12.12% PACAM Equity Fund 1.05 1.06 PACAM EuroBond Fund 102.44 104.46 SCM CAPITAL LIMITED info@scmcapitalng.com Web: www.scmcapitalng.com; Tel: +234 1-280 2226,+234 1- 280 2227 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn SCM Capital Frontier Fund 127.72 129.17 6.14% SFS CAPITAL NIGERIA LTD investments@sfsnigeria.com Web: www.sfsnigeria.com, Tel: +234 (01) 2801400 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn SFS Fixed Income Fund 1.02 1.02 12.29% STANBIC IBTC ASSET MANAGEMENT LTD assetmanagement@stanbicibtc.com Web: www.stanbicibtcassetmanagement.com; Tel: +234 1 280 1266; 0700 MUTUALFUNDS Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Stanbic IBTC Balanced Fund 2,450.65 2,461.79 5.83% Stanbic IBTC Bond Fund 208.87 208.87 12.22% Stanbic IBTC Ethical Fund 0.84 0.85 -11.05% Stanbic IBTC Guaranteed Investment Fund 271.65 271.74 11.94% Stanbic IBTC Iman Fund 145.03 146.40 -11.18% Stanbic IBTC Money Market Fund 100.00 100.00 10.99% Stanbic IBTC Nigerian Equity Fund 7,452.27 7,531.24 -12.27% Stanbic IBTC Dollar Fund (USD) 1.15 1.15 6.43% Stanbic IBTC Shariah Fixed Income Fund 101.58 101.58 0.00% UNITED CAPITAL ASSET MANAGEMENT LTD Web: www.unitedcapitalplcgroup.com; Tel: +234 803 306 2887 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn United Capital Balanced Fund 1.17 1.18 0.76% United Capital Bond Fund 1.72 1.72 16.20% United Capital Equity Fund 0.66 0.67 -9.83% United Capital Money Market Fund 1.00 1.00 11.42% United Capital Eurobond Fund 111.03 110.94 8.23% United Capital Wealth for Women Fund 1.07 1.07 5.89% QUANTUM ZENITH ASSET MANAGEMENT & INVESTMENTS LTD service@quantumzenithasset.com.ng Web: www.quantumzenith.com.ng; Tel: +234 1-2784219 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Zenith Equity Fund 10.03 10.18 -11.13% Zenith Ethical Fund 11.45 11.60 -8.63% Zenith Income Fund 22.66 22.66 12.10% Zenith Money Market Fund 1.00 1.00 10.51%

REITS NAV Per Share

Yield / T-Rtn

5.40 118.22 53.38

-44.85% 6.36% 3.17%

Bid Price

Offer Price

Yield / T-Rtn

7.95 88.96 70.15

8.05 90.89 71.48

-19.80% -21.38% -18.23%

Fund Name FSDH UPDC Real Estate Investment Fund SFS Skye Shelter Fund Union Homes REIT

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

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

funds@vetiva.com Bid Price

Offer Price

Yield / T-Rtn

3.57 4.88 11.80 10.90 160.64

3.61 4.96 11.90 11.10 162.64

-10.69% -35.81% -19.19% -11.74% 20.83%

NAV Per Share

Yield / T-Rtn

108.40

17.40%

INFRASTRUCTURE FUND Fund Name Chapel Hill Denham Nigeria Infrastructure Debt Fund

The value of investments and the income from them may fall as well as rise. Past performance is a guide and not an indication of future returns. Fund prices published in this edition are also available on each fund manager’s website and FMAN’s website at www.fman.com.ng. Fund prices are supplied by the operator of the relevant fund and are published for information purposes only.

44

THURSDAY NOVEMBER 21, 2019 ˾ T H I S D AY

INTERNATIONAL

London Summons China Envoy over Torture of Hong Kong Consular Official British Foreign Secretary, Dominic Raab, on Wednesday said he had summoned the Chinese ambassador to protest the brutal and disgraceful treatment of a former Hong Kong consular employee. Simon Cheng Man-Kit, who alleged that he was tortured by Chinese police, wrote that

he was accused of spying and subjected to torture, threats and coercion. He said including being handcuffed to a tiger chair, during 15 days of administrative detention in southern China in August. “Cheng was a valued member of our team.

Vatican Joins Global Criticism of US’ U-turn on Israeli Settlements The Vatican on Thursday added its voice to the global chorus of criticism of the United States’ decision to no longer consider Israeli settlements in the West Bank illegal. A statement pointed to the US stance by referring to “recent decisions that risk undermining further the IsraeliPalestinian peace process and the already fragile regional stability.” In that context, “the Holy See reiterates its position of a two-state solution for two peoples, as the only way to reach a complete solution to this age-old conflict,” the statement said. It added: “The Holy See supports the right of the State of Israel to live in peace and security within the borders recognised by the international

community and supports the same right that belongs to the Palestinian people, which must be recognised, respected and implemented.” US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced the change in policy on Monday, one of several pro-Israel moves by the Trump administration, including the relocation of the US embassy to Jerusalem and recognition of Israel’s claim to sovereignty over the Golan Heights. There are more than 600,000 Israelis living in more than 200 settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. With the expansion of settlements, Palestinians see the chances of finding a twostate solution dimming, as they want these areas for a future state.

“We were shocked and appalled by the mistreatment he suffered while in Chinese detention, which amounted to torture,’’ Raab said in a statement. “I summoned the Chinese ambassador on Tuesday to express our outrage at the brutal and disgraceful treatment of Simon in violation of China’s

international obligations,” he said, Adding that Britain expects Beijing to investigate and hold those responsible to account. Cheng was a trade and investment officer at the British consulate in Hong Kong. He said he traveled to the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen, which borders

Hong Kong, on Aug, 8. for a business trip. Police stopped him at a border railway station as he was about to return to Hong Kong. Cheng said he was taken to several police stations and detention centres, where he faced threats, blindfolding and shackling during repeated

interrogation by uniformed police and plainclothes state security officers. The police accused him of spying and helping to organise anti-government protests in Hong Kong. Cheng said he was forced into a confession for soliciting prostitution, a charge he denied.

At Least 10 Killed in Eastern DR Congo By ADF Militia At least 10 civilians were killed in two attacks by militia gunmen in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, where government forces have vowed to root out armed groups, sources said on Wednesday. Seven people were killed in the city of Beni and between three and 14 were killed near Oicha, 30 kilometres (18 miles) away, according to the UN radio Okapi, which quoted the military, and local civil society. The attacks late Tuesday were blamed on the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), a militia of Ugandan origin targeted by an army campaign to restore peace to DR Congo’s troubled east. Around 10 people were also kidnapped, sources in the local NGOs said. In Oicha, “a Catholic church and 14 houses were burned down,”

said civil society worker Teddy Kataliko. “There’s been non-stop firing of heavy- and lightcalibre weapons,” a Catholic cleric in Beni told AFP during the night. “I don’t know if we are going to get out alive.” It is believed that at least 60 people have been killed by the ADF since the offensive in North Kivu province began on October 30. Commentators see the massacres as warnings to the local population against collaborating with government forces. Beni, a trading hub of around 100,000 people, lies in an area that has long been troubled by the ADF. It also sits in the heart of DR Congo’s Ebola zone, and is the site of a base used by the UN’s peacekeeping force. The latest attacks sparked

an exodus in the Beni district of Boikene and in the Mavete district of Oichi. Protests erupted against poor security, and members of the UN peacekeeping force, MONUSCO, were advised not to go out on the streets of Beni. The force’s base is at the airport, around 10 kilometres (six miles) from the city centre. Kataliko said the authorities had been tipped off by local people as early as last Friday about the presence of armed men near Oicha. “The public are afraid of the ADF infiltrating towns in the region,” he said. “You can sense when they are in the town. They are in disguise.” Anger has been building since the start of the army’s campaign over the choice of tactics. The offensive has focussed on the area around Beni rather

than on the so-called “triangle of death” farther north around Oicha, where the ADF has its reputed stronghold. The ADF’s historical roots lie in Islamist Ugandans opposed to Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni. The group has plagued the North Kivu region bordering Uganda since the Congo Wars in the 1990s, although its membership has since broadened to non-Ugandans and it has not carried out an attack on Uganda for years. Hundreds of deaths have been attributed to the shadowy organisation since 2015. The so-called Islamic State group has claimed some of the attacks ascribed to the ADF this year, but there is no clear evidence of any affiliation between the two groups.

45

THURSDAY NOVEMBER 21, 2019 ˾ T H I S D AY

24 HOURS...

24 HOURS...

Melaye Submits Petition to INEC, Seeks Cancellation of Kogi West Election Chuks Okocha in Abuja A former Chairman, Senate Committee on Aviation , Senator Dino Melaye yesterday submitted a five-page petition and 20 copies of DVD containing electoral malpractice to the headquarters of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in Abuja, demanding the cancellation of the Kogi West Senatorial election. Also in a swift response, the INEC national commissioner and chairman of Voters Education

and Information and Publicity, Festus Okoye told Melaye that the commission would study his petition and take action where necessary. INEC had declared the results of Kogi West senatorial election as inconclusive. The Returning Officer, Prof. Olayide Lawal, who made the declaration, said supplementary elections will be conducted. He said 53 polling units and 46,127 registered voters were affected, adding that INEC will announce the new date for the supplementary polls soon.

Melaye who was received by INEC Secretary, Rose Orianran-Anthony and National Commissioner/Chairman of Information and Voter Education Committee, Festus Okoye, came with some of his supporters. The senator submitted alongside the five-page petition, 21 video clips disclosure of detailed violence and indiscriminate shootings by alleged agents of Kogi State government He told reporters of his determination determination to retrieve the stolen mandate,

FG Approves 500m Euro Credit Suisse Sovereign Guarantee Olawale Ajimotokan in Abuja The federal government has approved the issuance of Euro 500 million sovereign guarantee from the Credit Suisse AG London Branch and a syndicate of international lenders. Minister of State for Budget and National Planning, Clement Agba, told State House correspondents yesterday after the weekly Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting presided over by President Muhammadu Buhari. He said the international lenders will serve as collateral for the Euro 500 million facility, to be extended to the Bank of Industry. He explained that the purpose of the loan is to finance major industrialisation projects and Micro-Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) values chains in the country for up to five years tenure at affordable rates. The rates are at single digit rates. The federal government will serve as the guarantor of the loan which is to be executed through the Ministry of Finance Budget and National Planning The main objective of the loan, according to the Minister, is to support industry; revitalise agroindustrial processing zones and to facilitate the creation of new jobs. “We do believe that about 1.2 million jobs will be created through this facility; increase the income of farming communities and promote the inclusion of SMEs and small holder producers in the industrial value chain and the deployment of transportation infrastructure that connect farming communities to processors and market. The loan will be swapped to naira by the CBN to mitigate the foreign exchange risk and the fund will therefore be available to Nigerian enterprises at a more affordable rate and in local currency,” Agba said. Also the council approved a memo from the Ministry of Power seeking the approval of President Buhari to release $2 million as Nigeria’s contribution to the West African Power Project (WAPP). Also the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, told reporters that the ministry bought before the council two memo which were approved.

saying it “is a battle of no retreat, no surrender.” The petition by Melaye dated

November 18, 2019 and entitled: “A call for cancellation of the Election for Kogi West Senatorial

District held on November 16 2019 in certain areas”, was filed by his lawyer, Tobechukwu Nweke.

NFIU, EFCC, Others Move against e-Fraud Oghenevwede Ohwovoriole in Abuja Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) in collaboration with anti-corruption agencies like the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), telecom operators and other stakeholders yesterday inaugurated a multi-sectoral committee on e-fraud. The committee members include: Aisha Isa-Olatinwo (CBN), Olufumi Fadairo, Wumi

Faiga (NIBBS), Olusola Dawodu (First Bank), Oluwatoyin Ogunleye, Atinuke Nansel-Nanshap (Sterling Bank), and Yetunde Mosunmola, Wole Iyenu of the Independent Corrupt Practices Commission (ICPC). The committee was given mandate to develop a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on the resolutions from the stakeholders’ forum on the financial frauds committed via telecommunications platforms held earlier in the year. The proposed MoU was one of

the resolutions reached at that the Stakeholders’ Forum of Financial Fraud using Telecoms Platforms, which took place on January 29, 2019. Speaking in an event to inaugurate the committee, NCC Executive Vice Chairman, Prof. Umar Garba Danbatta, said with the attainment of 35.4 per cent broadband penetration, cyber criminals, hackers and other unscrupulous elements are exploiting the platform’s vulnerabilities to gain illegal access to bank accounts.

46

THURSDAY NOVEMBER 21, 2019 ˾ T H I S D AY

24 HOURS...

24 HOURS...

Labour Leaders Demand Social Justice for Workers Onyebuchi Ezigbo in Abuja Labour leaders, who attended the fourth Ordinary Congress of the International Trade Union

Congress (lTUC-Africa) in Abuja yesterday, demanded an improved working and living conditions, creation of decent jobs and real democracy as a

Edo APC Crisis: Ganduje Heads APC’s Fact-finding Committee Adedayo Akinwale ín Abuja The National Working Committee (NWC) of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has appointed the Governor of Kano State, Dr. Abdullahi Ganduje to head the party’s fivemember fact-finding committee as the party commenced move to amicably resolve the crisis rocking the Edo State chapter. Its National Publicity Secretary, Mallam Lanre IssaOnilu, in a statement issued yesterday, said other members of the committee inlcided: Governor of Katsina State, Aminu Masari; former governor of Oyo State, Abiola Ajimobi;

former governor of Borno State and serving senator, Kashim Shettima and Hon. Ahmed Wadada as Secretary. He said that the committee is expected to meet with all disputing interests and present its findings to the party. According to him, “You would recall that the party took a decision earlier in the week to constitute a committee of prominent party leaders on the lingering crisis in our party in Edo State. “This marks another step in our party’s efforts to find a lasting solution to the crisis and ensure our party comes out of it even stronger.”

Caleb University Observes Acting VC for One Day Initiative Ngozi Jibulu and Gift Soronnadi The maiden edition of the Acting Vice Chancellor for One Day Initiative, introduced by the new Vice Chancellor of Caleb University, Prof. Nosa OwensIbie, for members of the pioneer set of the University’s Graduate Development Scheme, to act monthly as Vice Chancellor for One Day, has been held at the University Campus, Imota, Lagos. The Assistant Lecturer, Department of Microbiology and Biotechnology and graduate of the institution, Mrs Chiamaka Joyce Ehizenagah became the first acting VC of the University under the initiative. Ehizenagah who presided over various activities during her one day reign, was introduced to a team from the Lagos State Ministry of Science and Technology who

were on a visit to the school. Discharging her duties in her one day in power, she gave remarks at the inauguration of the Business Committee of the school’s Senate, visited different departments, held meetings with Deans and Head of Departments, met with Student Representative Council executives, and finally met with the Vice Chancellor and his team, for debriefing. The Caleb Graduate Development Scheme is an initiative to develop critical personnel for institutional advancement, with the products of the university. According to her, “it was an experience I will never forget in my life. This indeed has impacted positively on my managerial experience, and l remain eternally grateful to the institution for the opportunity to act as One Day Vice Chancellor.”

Imperial College Alumni Meets Today The Imperial College Alumni Association, a fully registered entity geared towards meeting the needs of the present and future alumnus of the prestigious Imperial College, London, will today (Thursday) meet in Lagos. The meeting scheduled between 7.30 pm -9.30pm, will provide opportunity for alumnus based in Nigeria to have an evening with the Senior International Relations Officer for the Imperial College Alumni, Clare Turner. In a statement by the President of the College Alumni Association in Nigeria, Olugbenga Adelana, and Chairman, Board of Trustees of

the association, Mr. Edet Amana, the association said the event, tagged: ‘An evening with Clare Turner’ will provide an avenue for the alumni body to meet, network, interact and help each other and also help Nigeria. Part of the goals of the association is to assist in the area of promotion of education, aid in student recruitment and retention, foster a spirit of fellowship among the former students of the institution, to encourage financial support for the College and to promote linkage between the College and Nigerian institutions with similar objects.

means of ensuring social justicein the country. The concerns of the labour leaders cane just as President Muhammadu Buhari said the federal government has done a lot to show that it has workers’ interest at heart. The labour leaders, who will spend two days in Abuja to deliberate on the way forward to resolve various issues relating to challenges facing workers, said the struggle for the welfare and decent work environment for

workers have become a common thing around the world. Speaking on the theme of the conference: ‘Unite and Make a Difference’, President of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Ayuba Wabba, said the event could not have come at a better time than now that most workers across the world are engaged in the struggle for social justice and better wages. Wabba, who is also the President of the International Trade Union Congress (ITUC),

said the conference was calling for diligent investigation and prosecution of those who used excessive force to quell peaceful protesters. He said: “This Congress is also taking place at a time when popular protests have for the past few months been rife in many parts of the world. The common denominator in these protests is the resolute will of the people to resist low wages and pensions, adverse labour laws reforms,

and punitive austerity robes sewn by international financial institutions. “The voice of the working people of the world through these protests is very loud and clear-we demand improved working and living conditions, real democracy, real social progress through the creation and sustenance of decent jobs. In the struggle of the past few weeks, we draw a useful lesson that “a people united can never be defeated.”

RAISING FUND FOR MANKIND… L-R: Past Assistant District 9110 Governor, Rotary International, Tunji Ola; District 9110 Governor, Dr. Jide Akeredolu; Past Asst. District 9110 Governor, Dipo Onabanjo; his wife, Similola Onabanjo; wife of President, Rotary Club of Ikeja, Mrs. Taiwo Fagbola; and her husband, Olumuyiwa Fagbola, at the Club’s Rotary Foundation Fund Raising Dinner held in Lagos … recently

Katsina Proposes N249bn Budget for 2020 Francis Sardauna in Katsina Katsina State Governor, Aminu Bello Masari, has presented a budget proposal of N249,463,829,250.00 for the 2020 fiscal year and reiterated his administration’s determination to reposition the state to attain economic growth. The draft, which the governor presented on the floor of the state House of Assembly for consideration yesterday, comprised a recurrent expenditure of N75,579,865,990.00 representing

30.30 per cent and a capital outlay of N173,883,963,260 with 69.70 per cent. Tagged: “Budget of Reflection and Progress,” the governor said the budget was prepared in tune with the desired needs of the citizenry, hence the increment over the 2019 budget with N48,721,868,505.00. Masari assured that he was determined to steer Katsina State to a new foundation for sustainable economic growth, adding that the restoration plan of the present administration

comprised programmes, projects and policies to be implemented under education, health, water, agriculture, environment, works, housing and transport sector. He said: “As a result therefore, the 2020 budget has provided adequate allocation of funds to the priority sectors, including: Education N24,509,368,255; Health N23,020,086,250; Water Resources N13,624,000,000; Agriculture N13,115,509,500; Roads N23,414,464,410 and Environment N30,149,885,405.” Masari affirmed that the

state government has designed actionable plans to fast track the implementation of the projects and programmes to ensure speedy infrastructural development in the state. “In other words, we are making all the necessary arrangements to ensure that all the promises are fulfilled,” he said. He explained that his focus was to change the economic development template of the state, adding that strategic partnerships would form the fulcrum and main driver of the vision for the year 2020.

AMCON Vows to Recover N12.97bn Debt

Esther Oluku

As litigations brew over the ownership of Victory Park Estate, Lekki, Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) has vowed to recover N12.97 billion debt in line with court judgment and foreclosure of property rights in favour of the agency. This is coming as an occupier of the estate, Mr. Muminu Shittu, has approached the Lagos High Court to obtain a letter of injunction against AMCON.

Speaking with journalists yesterday, the solicitor on behalf of AMCON, Mr. jide Olatise, said that AMCON in accordance with a judgment by the Federal High Court on June 25, 2019 owned 100 per cent share of the property of the parent company of Victory Park Estate, Knight Rook Limited. This, he said, gave AMCON possession to the property. “The court made an order forfeiting all the rights of those debtors to AMCON. And as being procedure, the Receiver Manager, which was already

holding the assets of the debtor, was served with the judgment of the court. “In compliance, he handed over all the assets of Knight Rook Limited, including Victory Park Estate to AMCON. AMCON has a judgment, which has been confirmed for the sum of N12.97 billion in debt owe by Knight Rook Limited, which must be recovered.” Olatise also noted that the sum is the result of a debt which was acquired from the acquisition and development

of land owned by Knight Rook Limited and known as Victory Park Estate from a consortium of banks made up of Sterling Bank, Skye Bank, Wema Bank, and Unity Bank, pursuant to the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria Act, 2010. While adding that upon court ruling of June 25, 2019, AMCON enforcement department had initiated possession, he said that occupants had duly signed the inventory showing that execution of the court judgment had taken place.

House Directs NUC to Abolish Payment of Acceptance Fees Adedayo Akinwale in Abuja The House of Representatives has directed the Ministry of Education and the National Universities Commission (NUC) to immediately abolish the payment of acceptance fees in tertiary institutions in the country. The directive followed the

adoption of a motion brought by the Hon. Chinedu Martins at the plenary yesterday, calling for the abolishment of acceptance fee in tertiary institutions. He said education as a necessary tool to unlock human potential and drive national development, adding that the advancement or otherwise of

any nation is directly dependent on the number of its citizens who have access to education, especially up to the tertiary education level. Martins noted that recent data from the NUC showed that out of a population of over 180 million, only about two million people are enrolled

in the universities nationwide, representing one percent of the population. This, the lawmaker said, clearly indicated that the proportion of the population attending tertiary institutions in the country is low when compared to other advanced countries.

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Ëœ ÍşÍšËœ ͺ͸͚Π˞ T H I S D AY

THURSDAYSPORTS

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

C O N T R ACT R E N E WA L

Sports Minister Throws Decision on Rohr’s Future Back to NFF Femi Solaja With uncertainty surrounding the contract renewal of Super Eagles Head Coach, Gernot Rohr, Minister of Youth and Sports Development, Sunday Dare, yesterday insisted that the issue of extending the stay or not of the Franco-German gaffer lies with the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF). The tactician’s contract with the Glass House is to expire next June and there are indications that the relationship between him and NFF appears frosty at the moment and it is unlikely he may be given the nod to continue

on the job. Rohr qualified Nigeria to the last World Cup finals in Russia and AFCON 2019 last summer in Egypt. But yesterday, the Sports Minister who met with the coach in his office said the decision to renew or terminate the relationship lies at the door step of NFF. “The issue of contract (with Rohr) will be best handled by the NFF. I understand the need to work the fine lines. “I understand there is a contractual arrangement with the NFF, I will allow the NFF to work through its process, � the minister insisted after the

The Supersand Eagles Set for Portugal at Beach W’Cup Two-time African champions Nigeria will begin their campaign at this year’s FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup finals in Paraguay when they clash with world number two Portugal in Asuncion tomorrow. This year’s finals will hold at the ‘Los Pynandi’ World Cup Stadium – named after the Paraguayan national beach soccer team - and located at the headquarters of the Paraguayan Olympic Committee in Greater Asuncion. Nigeria earned a ticket to feature at the 16 –team World Cup finals after finishing second at the CAF Beach Soccer Cup of Nations held in Egypt in December 2018. Champions Senegal is the other team flying Africa’s flag in Paraguay. This year’s finals will kick off today and end on Sunday, 1st December. Nigeria’s delegation of players and team officials flew out of the country on Friday, 8thNovember, in order to participate in an eight-nation pre-competition tournament that took place in Asuncion, 12th – 16th November.

The Supersand Eagles defeated the Tahiti national team 9-4 during the pretournament event, after losing 3-7 to host Paraguay. On Monday this week, Coach Audu ‘Ejo’ Adamu and his wards moved into their Dazzler Hotel World Cup accommodation in Asuncion, and have been training hard as they countenance an interesting encounter with the world number two team on Friday. Nigeria, winners of the African title in 2007 and 2009, and quarter –finalists at the World Cup in 2007 and 2011, will campaign in a fierce Group D that also has world number one team, Brazil and Oman, ranked number 14 in the world. Nigeria is ranked 21st in the world. Host nation Paraguay will tackle Japan in the tournament opening game on Thursday. After their first game against Portugal on Friday, the Supersand Eagles take to the beach against Oman on Sunday, 24th November and then against Brazil two days later.

African Ultra Runners President Commends Gov. Abiodun on Remo Race The President of the African Association of Ultra Runners, Chief Solomon Ogba, has commended the Executive Governor of Ogun State, Mr. Dapo Abiodun, for his giant strides towards sports development in just a few months after getting into office. The former president of the Athletics Federation of Nigeria (AFN), was full of plaudits for the governor for accepting to host the first ever African Ultra Race Championship in Ogun State. “The Ogun State government has been so supportive and has given us all the cooperation to ensure a successful hosting of the African Championship on December 7, 2019. “Dapo Abiodun, showed us great understanding of his knowledge about sports development. This has spurred

us on to strongly believe that, the Valuejet Remo 50km Ultra Race would in a very short time become one of the best in the world, especially as Ogun state is hosting the very first edition in the African continent.� Ogba, who is currently a board member of the AFN, noted that, the success of the first edition of the JAC Motors Abeokuta 10km Road Race on November 2, 2019 was a great indicator that the December 7, 2019 Valuejet 50km Remo Ulta Race will be a huge success. “The president of the International Association of Ultra Runners, Nadeem Khan, came from the United States of America to witness the Abeokuta 10km Road Race, and he was marvelled at the commitment of the Ogun State government towards sports development.

meeting. Dare however charged the coach not to be distracted but intensify efforts to take Nigerian football to the pinnacle. “Are we happy about where our football is at the moment, not exactly but we know there’s an ongoing process that will make this country a better football nation. That process is on and you are part of the process�,he remarked. Interestingly, the current contract will expire in the middle of the ongoing AFCON 2021 qualifying round of matches with Nigeria leading Group L with maximum six points after wins against Republic of Benin and Lesotho last weekend. Sierra Leone is the fourth team in the group. Dare, however stressed that the ministry will continue to give the coach all the necessary support as the NFF finalises its meeting

on the contract talks. He also tasked the coach on working with stakeholders to develop the Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL) in line with international best practices. � More importantly, your knowledge and support for the domestic league will be very important because you can share your experience with our local coaches,� the minister said. Earlier, Rohr congratulated the minister on his appointment and efforts to reposition Nigerian sports. He pledged to work more closely with the minister going forward as the Super Eagles strive to pick the AFCON 2021 ticket. High point of the event was the presentation of an autographed Super Eagles jersey by the coach to the minister. In a related development, NFF has concluded plans to replace all the national team coaches due to the free fall of

Nigeria’s teams in age grade international competitions in recent time. The decision appears a follow up to NFF’s meeting with the Sports Minister on Monday where Dare demanded a written explanation on why Nigerian football teams can no longer perform as expected in international competitions. The Head of Communications, Ademola Olajire gave this this hint after the meeting with the minister. “The NFF has gone ahead to map out strategies for better results going forward, including but not limited to a revamp of the NFF Technical Department; improved supervision of the teams by the NFF Technical Committee; open and transparent process to select new head coaches for the teams affected; early preparation and prioritization of tournaments; synergy between the Ministry

and the NFF to get approved funds released early enough for adequate preparation of teams participating in major matches and competitions and; to work even harder at securing partners and sponsors to support the programmes of the National Teams,� he stated. THISDAY recalled that coach Paul Aigbogun-led Flying Eagles crashed out in the second round of the 2019 FIFA U2O World Cup; the Falcons were eliminated by Cote d’Ivoire in the 2020 Olympic qualifier, the Golden Eaglets failed at the just concluded FIFA U17 World Cup in Brazil and the Imama Amapakabo tutored U23 national team similarly failed to pick one of the tickets to the 2020 Olympic at the ongoing U23 African Cup of Nations in Egypt. The team failed at the WAFU tournament as well as the CHAN final qualifying tournament.

Sports Minister, Sunday Dare (left), receiving an autographed Nigerian home jersey from Super Eagles Head Coach, Gernot Rohr in his oďŹƒce in Abuja...yesterday

NESG, Sports Ministry Summit to Chart Roadmap for Devt Begins in Abuja Ugo Aliogo

The first inter-ministerial technical session on sports industry powered by the Nigeria Economic Summit Group (NESG) and the Federal Ministry of Youth and Sport Development is scheduled to begin today at the VIP Lounge of the Moshood Abiola Stadium, Abuja. The two-day programme is expected to give direction to a new lease of life in the sector to ensure increasing in participation in sport. The partnership is also

expected to enable the creation of jobs, promote greater employment of youth, generate revenues from sport related activities. “We are targeting a Gross Domestic Product (GDP) contribution of between 2 and 3 % to the economy within a five to 10 years period,� observed a statement from the NESG. The statement added: “The outcome of the inter-ministerial technical session and the proceedings of the breakout sessions will form an integral part of the ongoing reform

process towards a new national sports industry policy that will accommodate objectives of all stakeholders in the public, social enterprise and private sectors for a vibrant sport industry, capable of contributing to the growth of the socioeconomic indices of the Nigerian economy. “In addition to the honourable ministers of the six ministries identified above, the event will also have in attendance, heads of their relevant departments and agencies as well as selected chieftains from various economic

sectors, multilateral agencies, social enterprise organisations and experts in both academic and practice of Sports. “The inter-ministerial technical session is jointly hosted by the Ministry and the Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG) and is a part of the NESG’s Sports Industry Thematic Group 2019/2020 Work Plan. This is expected to dovetail into the National Sports Industry Policy Dialogue which will be held next year as part of the events marking the National Sports Festival (Edo 2020).�

Z E N I T H / D E LTA P R I N C I PA L S ’ C U P

Coaches of Final Teams in War of Words The coaches of the two teams that made it to the finals of the Zenith Bank/Delta Principals’ Cup, have come out to brag of their ability and readiness to emerge win the coveted trophy next week. Zappa Mixed Secondary school will be locking horns with School of Commerce in the final of the 2019 edition tourney, which is the 4th in the series.

Accordingto the coach of School of Commerce, Kingsley Emarievwe, his wards are intensifying preparations against their opponents, Zappa Mixed Secondary School. “We are training very well to maintain our good run in the final. We cannot afford to lose this point after a good run in the competition so far. Winning our semifinal 5-0 was no fluke and

Zappa Mixed cannot stop us at this stage,� he bragged. As for the Zappa Mixed School, Coach Dare Ajayi, his team will not be intimated by the results posted by school of commerce in the past. “In the final, we won’t be intimidated our opponents, we know they are good and we are working hard to be at our best that day. People already gave the

final to them but we will be all out to win the trophy on the final day� he assured The final of the Delta Principals Cup for secondary schools is billed to take place at the Stephen Keshi stadium, Asaba on November 28. Some former Nigerian footballers like Uduka Ugbade, Ifeanyi Udeze and Victor Agali are expected to be at the event.

Thursday, November 21, 2019

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MISSILE Justice Georgewill to Police/EFCC “In a civilised society, you don’t arrest, detain and investigate. You investigate, arrest and detain. That is the problem we have in this country. Security agencies arrest before investigation. You are supposed to investigate preliminarily before you arrest somebody. It’s so unfortunate. The police and the EFCC: You have to stop coming from the answer to the question” – Appeal Court Justice Biobele Georgewill, on the perversion of rule of law in Nigeria.

OLUSEGUNADENIYI THE VERDICT

olusegun.adeniyi@thisdaylive.com

Notes from Kogi/Bayelsa Polls W

hat do you think will happen in Bayelsa and Kogi States this coming Saturday? The question was posed to me last week Monday by a prominent citizen who considered my political opinion to be of some value. “Let’s start with Kogi,” I replied. “If performance in office dictates incumbent election results, Yahaya Bello should lose badly. But we all know this is not the case in Nigeria. Therefore, if I were a betting man, I would put my money on him. The governor has left no one in doubt that he is a politician for whom only the end justifies the means. So, I expect Yahaya Bello to deploy the entire arsenal at his disposal to rig himself back to power. I don’t think anybody or anything can stop him.” While the body bags are still being counted in Kogi State, and fresh killings even after the results have been declared, Yahaya Bello is back as I predicted. I watched him on television yesterday and he couldn’t even spare a word to condole the families of those who died. So to the people of Kogi who will have to endure another four years of purposeless government, please accept my commiserations. “What about Bayelsa?”, asked the man who appeared unsurprised by my take on Kogi. Here, I hesitated a bit before I made my call. “Bayelsa is a bit tricky for me. All the big shots I have spoken to in recent weeks from the state would love to see Governor Seriake Dickson humiliated. The election is not going to be about PDP or APC. Rather, it is more a referendum on the outgoing governor who is bent on installing a successor of his choice, regardless of who his party men want. Dickson, who was railroaded to power in 2011 by President Goodluck Jonathan, now sees himself as the ultimate godfather in Bayelsa and has practically told the man who provided him the ladder and other PDP leaders to go to hell. While many of them are secretly working against their party’s candidate in favour of the APC, I am not sure how that will eventually go. But I will not be surprised if PDP loses the state on account of Dickson’s hubris.” In the end, Dickson, who was plotting to install a governor and then go to the Senate as the icing on his political cake, ended up with 100 percent of Nothing last Saturday. To the people of Bayelsa State, I say congratulations! Following conclusion of the gubernatorial elections in Kogi and Bayelsa States, the battle has now shifted to the courts, but there are important lessons we should draw. Last Saturday, especially in Kogi, all the ugly things that make politics such a dirty enterprise in Nigeria were on full display: Systematically orchestrated violence with the connivance of those responsible for enforcing the law; open purchase of votes and a complete hijack of the electoral process by a desperate incumbent. The situation was different in Bayelsa only to the extent that the eventual outcome approximated popular sentiment. In its post-election analysis appropriately titled, ‘Gunpoint Democracy’, the Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD) which put the number of deaths in Kogi at 10, highlighted malpractices that marred

Yakubu the elections. They include “the hijack of electoral materials by thugs, the kidnap of INEC ad hoc staff, vote buying, attacks on observers, intimidation of voters, under-aged voting, widespread stuffing of ballot boxes, ballot snatching and multiple voting.” Urging Nigerians to reclaim our electoral system from the grip of partisan outlaws, CDD alleged “a direct complicity of security services in giving leeway to hoodlums to disrupt the elections.” Since both signatories to the report, Ms. Idayat Hassan and Professor Adele Jinadu are respected citizens who have for decades been involved in monitoring elections in our country, this is a weighty allegation that must be taken very seriously. Sadly, in the aftermath of elections like this, no serious interrogation is ever done by critical stakeholders since the usual retort is for the loser to put all blame on the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). But while officials of the commission may be complicit in some of the malpractices, the reality is that INEC itself is often a victim. I have read several reports of how commission officials were brutalised in Kogi last Saturday while two national electoral commissioners were caught in the violence at Ganaja, Ajaokuta local government area of the state. Forced to take refuge at the campus of Salem University, it took several hours before they were later rescued by the police. Conducting credible elections in Nigeria has always been a challenge. In my book, ’Power Politics and Death’, I recalled the attempt to deal with the problem by my late boss, following a meeting held on 16th January, 2008 with state governors, leadership of political parties that won elections in one or more states in the 2007 elections, leadership of the National Assembly and heads of various security agencies. The summation of the late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua was that no matter the legislation, nothing would change until political actors were ready for genuine reform. More than eleven years after that session, nothing seems to have changed. While we will come back another day to deal with the issue of electoral violence and associated malpractices, of considerable concern to the

future of our democracy is the bad behavior of the political class, made worse by our judicial environment. Instead of advancing electoral jurisprudence, many court judgments confuse even matters long settled by case law (in many cases by the Supreme Court). Increasingly, our elections are no longer determined through votes cast by citizens at polling units but by decision of Judges, often on the basis of technicality. Some rulings are also bizarre. We have been told over the years by many judges in Nigeria that because a court cannot play Father Christmas, it can’t give what applicants never seek. Last week, despite the closed borders with Nigeria, Santa Claus still managed to arrive at a Federal High Court sitting in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State. Former Minister of State for Agriculture, Heineken Lokpobiri, was handed a gift he never sought: the primaries of his party were declared cancelled by Justice Jane Inyang! And with that she restrained INEC from “accepting, recognising, dealing with or putting the name” of the man who is now governor-elect. The situation in Kogi State was no better. A suit filed by the Young Progressive Party (YPP) against the validity of the nomination of its candidate for the governorship election with attempt to substitute was dismissed with cost in favour of INEC. Ten days later, a similar case in every detail, filed by the Social Democratic Party (SDP) in another Federal High Court went against INEC. Yet, these are courts of coordinate jurisdiction. As I wrote in January this year, our democracy is becoming increasingly imperiled because many of our prominent citizens are no longer content having as many SANs as their lawyers, they now opt for their own judges too, to our collective detriment as a nation. At a consultative meeting he held with stakeholders in Lokoja last week Tuesday, 12th

November, INEC chairman, Prof Mahmood Yakubu lamented: “…with four days to the governorship elections, two more cases challenging the decision of the commission on the validity of candidates’ nominations have been reserved for judgement in Bayelsa and Kogi States. In addition, there are twelve (12) cases of intra-party disputes filed by aspirants from different political parties challenging the conduct of their own primaries and nomination of candidates, some of which have been reserved for judgement in the next few days. I must admit that the plethora of court cases and conflicting judgements delivered on the eve of elections in Nigeria are stressful to the commission and costly to the nation.” At the bottom of all the foregoing shenanigans is a regrettable failure to cultivate a truly democratic culture. Our political actors are a mixed bag of persons who have hardly succeeded in any other meaningful venture. This inchoate army of desperados will stop at nothing to win elections that have become virtual wars with political opponents seen as enemy forces that must be crushed. To worsen matters, official security agents are now rentable contractors at the disposal of the highest bidder. That then explains why the free deployment of violence has become the means to a despicable end. In turn, recourse to the judiciary for redress of electoral grievances transfers the decision that should have been made by the electorate to a handful of judges who feel entitled to earthly reward. In the end, the transactional ethos of our corrupt society has been allowed to overrun the national political leadership selection process and the way we are governed. For the health of our democracy, there is an urgent need for reforms at the heart of which is a re-examination of the role of critical institutions, including the judiciary.

The Women Are Coming On Tuesday, I was at the Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library in Abeokuta, Ogun State, to chair a ‘Youth Governance Dialogue’ session. Participants were drawn from across West Africa, including the guest speaker, Mr Moussa Kondo from Mali, who spoke to the issue of transparency and accountability and the role of young people. The director of the youth centre, Mr Damien Oyibo and chairperson, Mrs Bisi Kolapo dwelt on the same theme. The premise of my brief intervention was on the powers held by young people today with all the tools that have been provided by technology to ask questions. And challenge erroneous assumptions. Incidentally, this was the second time in five days that I shared a platform with President Obasanjo, though with roles reversed. Last Friday in Lagos, he chaired the African Initiative for Governance (AIG) Advisory Panel session which preceded interviews of shortlisted scholarship candidates for a Masters of Public Policy at the Blavatnik School of Government, Oxford University. On Tuesday, I chaired the Abeokuta youth session where he actively participated as the

chief promoter. While the youth conference was quite engaging, I found that the female contributors distinguished themselves in their display of intelligence and the manner they spoke to the issue of integrity and character. This is not an isolated experience for me because in most of my interactions with young people these days the women seem to not only be brilliant but uphold stronger values. Last Saturday in Lagos, shortly after the round robin interview with 24 candidates for the Oxford scholarships, AIG chairman and promoter of the scheme, Mr Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede asked me, “Did you notice how strong the female candidates are?” For a society where patriarchy is still dominant, it is little surprise that so few women hold corporate or political leadership positions in Nigeria. But things have to change. If we are to develop as a nation, we must allow opportunities for women to take their place at the top. Because our women have proved to be as good, if not better, than the men, they may just be the catalyst Nigeria needs to take off.

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