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Anyaoku Marks 90th Birthday, Regrets Nigeria's Decline, Hopeful 2023 Polls Will Bring Change Obasanjo: He's an ambassador of ambassadors Former Secretary General of the Commonwealth, Chief Emeka Anyaoku, yesterday, expressed disappointment

in Nigeria’s deterioration, and regretted the alarming number of poor people in the country. Anyaoku made

the comments yesterday in Lagos during his 90th birthday celebration.

However, the diplomat said he

was optimistic that the forthcoming general election will produce leaders that would help reset the country.

He also thanked God that he was born in Nigeria, saying, “Very few countries are as blessed as Nigeria.”

Anyaoku said the worsening state Continued on page 10

I Scored Zero in APC Primary But Have True Identity, Integrity Intact, Bakare Replies Tinubu... Page 35 Thursday 19 January, 2023 Vol 27. No 10144. Price: N250

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Ahead of National Elections, Buhari Extends IG Baba’s Tenure Corruption among police personnel at lowest ebb, says minister Deji Elumoye in Abuja

L-R: Anambra State Deputy Governor, Dr. Onyekachukwu Ibezim; wife of Lagos State Governor, Dr. Ibijoke Sanwo-Olu; her husband, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu; celebrant, Chief Emeka Anyaoku; representative of the President, Prof. Ibrahim Gambari; celebrant’s wife, Mrs. Bunmi Anyaoku; former President of Nigeria, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo; wife of Ogun State Governor, Mrs. Bamidele Abiodun and former Governor of Ogun State, Chief Olusegun Osoba, during the 90th birthday celebrations of the former Commonwealth Secretary General, in Lagos... yesterday

President Muhammadu Buhari has extended the tenure of the Inspector Continued on page 10

NNPC Road Tax Scheme: FEC Approves Additional N1.9trn to Reconstruct 44 Roads National oil company’s intervention hits N2.52trn FG to procure 31 vehicles worth N1.35bn for Ogoni project monitoring

Okays police institutions bills

Deji Elumoye and Emmanuel Addeh in Abuja The Federal Executive Council (FEC), at its first meeting in 2023 yesterday, approved the proposal by the Federal Ministry of Works and Housing for the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) and its subsidiaries to invest N1.9 trillion for the reconstruction of 44 selected federal roads across the country.

Yesterday’s council, chaired by the vice president, Professor Yemi Osinbajo, also endorsed the sum of N1.35 billion for the procurement of 31 vehicles for the use of the Federal Ministry of Environment. Minister of Environment, Muhammed Abdullahi, told newsmen that the vehicles would be deployed for the monitoring of Continued on page 10

ENDORSED FOR SECOND TERM...

L-R: Turaki of Ilorin and APC Senatorial Candidate for Kwara Central, Mallam Saliu Mustapha; APC presidential candidate, Bola Ahmed Tinubu; Governor Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq; APC National Chairman, Alhaji Abdullahi Adamu, and vice presidential candidate, Senator Kashim Shettima, during a presidential rally and handing over of party's flag to AbdulRazaq in Ilorin, Kwara State…Tuesday

I am More Qualified Than Peter Obi, Says Kwankwaso at Chatham House... Page 11

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Group News Editor: Goddy Egene Email: Goddy.egene@thisdaylive.com, 0803 350 6821, 0809 7777 322, 0807 401 0580

NEWS

SYMPOSIUM OF APC PROFESSIONAL FORUM...

L-R: Chairman, Board of NNPC, Senator Margaret Okadigbo; Former APC national women leader, Mrs. Stella Okotete; Chairperson, Diaspora Commission, Abike Dabiri-Erewa; Youngest APC presidential aspirant Dr. Nicolas Felix and Director General, National Women Development Center, Mrs. Asabe Bashir, during the second edition symposium of the APC Professionals Forum, on ‘Dissecting the PHOTO: ENOCK REUBEN Asiwaju Manifesto’ in Abuja ...yesterday

CBN Steps Up Nationwide Awareness Campaign on Naira Redesign Project Insists there is enough new banknotes to go round Maintains no going back on January 31 deadline as Ondo residents call for extension Nume Ekeghe in Lagos, Fidelis David in Akure, Okon Bassey in Uyo and Ibrahim Shuaibu in Kano The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) yesterday continued with its nationwide sensitisation and public enlightenment exercise on its naira redesign project as the January 31, 2023 deadline for the retirement of the old N200, N500 and N1,000 draws closer.

It also stressed that it has enough new banknotes to go round. It urged Nigerians to report banks that don’t dispense new notes on their Automated Teller Machines (ATM).

It reiterated that it would begin to sanction banks that fail to comply with its directive.

CBN Governor, Mr. Godwin Emefiele who was represented by the Director of the Legal Services Department, Mr. Kofo Salam-Alada said this during a sensitisation event at the popular Computer Village market in Lagos.

He emphasised that the January 31, 2023 deadline remains sacrosanct, adding that the central bank was continuously monitoring activities across Nigeria to ensure compliance.

Salam-Alada, while noting that he had gone round to some ATMs in Lagos and discovered that some were still dispensing old notes, said the apex bank would soon announce sanctions for banks that failed to comply with the directive to load

and dispense the new notes through their ATMS. "I can tell you today that the CBN on daily basis issues out the new notes. As we speak, banks are with the CBN taking money. We are actually begging banks to come and take money from the central bank. We have these new naira in our vaults and we are begging banks to come and take it.

"We found out that a lot of things are happening that we need to checkmate, so we stopped withdrawals of the new notes over the counter to ensure that everyone can have access to it and not one chief who is known to the manager walks in and carts away all the new notes in a particular branch.

That is why we said it should be at the ATMs which cannot distinguish people.

"We also have monitors going around banks now. I have been to some ATMs this morning and i have done the reports. We are not mobilising the masses against the banks, because the banks are there to serve you, but be rest assured that they will serve you now that they know that the CBN is on them to serve you with the new naira notes.

"What we are experiencing now will actually ease up very soon, because the banks now know that there will be a penalty for failure to come and pick money from the CBN and failure to dispense through the ATM. Tell your members that

if they have problems accessing the new naira notes, they can call the CBN to report," he stated.

Responding to questions from traders in the market that some persons were already hawking the new notes, stressed that anyone caught would face the full wrath of the law.

Speaking on the new notes, the President of the Coalition of Associations in Computer Village, Timi Davies, said the naira redesign project was a good initiative, "but unfortunately the new notes is not well circulated within our market.

The ATM machines are not dispensing the new notes and only a few priviledged ones seem to be having access to the new notes.

"We want to encourage the CBN and the government to enforce the deadline on the banks. There should be no bank that should not be giving the new naira from their ATMs. “All ATMs should load the new notes. As we are giving the old notes we should be able to get the new notes. If the ATMs are not dispensing, the new notes will not flow around."

On his part, the Olukosi of Ikeja Land, Chief Lateef Oluseyi, assured the CBN of the support of the traditional ruling house in educating the community.

Also, in Ondo State, the central bank took the sensitisation on the newly redesigned naira notes to Oja Oba market, and other markers

in Akure, the Ondo State capital, urging traders to deposit their old banknotes before January 31.

Speaking during the event, the CBN Acting Branch Controller, Ondo State, Mr. Giwa Samuel Ademola said the message was to inform the public about the newly redesigned naira notes and also to inform them on the need to deposit the old notes before the deadline.

He said: "The benefits of the currency redesign to the Nigerian economy are enormous given that: This policy will help to control

trade must also prioritise inclusivity.

As many countries prioritise national security in their trade policy, there was a risk that “friend-shoring” would distribute the gains of economic growth unequally. “When we talk of ‘friend-sharing,’ I don’t know who is a friend,” she added.

“I don’t ever hear countries in Africa mentioned.”

Creating a trade agenda that prioritises inclusivity and decarbonisation would be a major priority.

Many European governments have welcomed the recent embrace of sustainability in US economic policy.

Moreover, concerns about national security had caused many nations to question their over-reliance on certain countries for critical goods and services, such as European

dependence on Russian energy.

“For the United States, Mexico is likely to be a major beneficiary of the US reconfiguration of supply chains, given Mexico’s educated workforce, low wages, railway transport and pro-business political climate, noted Chairman and CEO of BlackRock, Laurence D. Fink.

“But Mexico is not going to be the sole beneficiary of that change,” he added, citing Eastern Europe, Turkey, Indonesia and other parts of South-East Asia as well.

“The world can only be happy that the United States has moved to the right side of the aisle” on climate, Prime Minister of Belgium, Alexander De Croo said.

He noted that European leaders have concerns over the specifics of

shows that 84.71 percent of currency in circulation are outside the vaults of commercial banks, with only 15.29 percent in the central bank and commercial banks’ vaults.”

Reacting, the Eyelaje of Oba Adesida Market, Mrs. Emilia Adedeji Adesida called on the apex bank to extend its deadline for the phasing out of the old N1,000, N500 and N200 notes.

Others who spoke complained that some of the banks operating in the state were still dispensing Continued on page 12

Emefiele Appeals against Summon in $53m Judgement Debt Suit Alex Enumah in Abuja The Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mr. Godwin Emefiele has appealed against the judgment of a Federal High Court, Abuja, which compelled him to appear before the court in a $53 million judgment debt suit.

Justice Inyang Ekwo of the trial court had in a ruling last year, summoned the CBN governor over his alleged refusal to obey the order of the court for the payment of the judgment debt in favour of a legal

At WEF, Okonjo-Iweala Says Future of Trade is ‘Digital, Green and Inclusive’ The World Trade Organisation (WTO) and others have warned that deglobalisation would negatively impact the world and especially emerging economies.

Speaking at the ongoing World Economic Forum (WEF) Annual Meeting 2023 at a session on trade, growth and investment, the Director General, WTO, Dr. Ngozi OkonjoIweala said: “We say the future of trade is services; it’s digital; it’s green.

And it should be inclusive.”

According to a statement from WEF, many nations have seen a push to relocate manufacturing closer to consumers’ demand, after supply shocks associated with port blockages, the war in Ukraine and the pandemic.

Okonjo-Iweala said the future of

inflation as the exercise will bring the hoarded currency into the banking system, thereby making monetary policy more effective, it will also help with better design and implementation of monetary policy as we would have much more accurate data on money supply and monetary aggregates.

According to him, "statistics showed that N2.72 trillion out of the $3.26 trillion currency in circulation as of June 2022 was outside the vaults of commercial banks across the country, and supposedly held by members of the public. This statistic

the recent US legislation but, overall, the positive step gives Europe the opportunity to focus on its specific advantages, such as research facilities and long-term investments in wind energy. Without such coordination, there is a risk that Europe and the US simply compete to provide more subsidies and tax breaks for business.

Industrial policy has become a major focus for many nations rethinking their approach to trade.

“Five years ago, [industrial policy] was not a very sexy topic. Today it’s top of the agenda,” said De Croo. Medical products, solar panels, silicon chips and digitization infrastructure are among the industries being overhauled due to new pressures to increase resilience and national security.

practitioner, Joe Agi. Although the court had ordered Emefiele to appear before the court on January 18, proceedings could not go on as scheduled when the matter was called and the court subsequently adjourned till March 20.

The judgment summons, now a subject of appeal, was in respect of suit NO: FHC/ABJ/CS/1193/2017, between Mr. Joe Agi, against Linas International Ltd, the Minister of Finance and the Central Bank of Nigeria.

However, Emefiele in his notice of appeal predicated on three grounds submitted that the trial judge erred in law and occasioned a miscarriage of justice when it made an order compelling his attendance in court for the $53 million debt.

The CBN governor told the appellate court that the appeals marked CA/A/476/2018 between CBN V Joe Agi, SAN, & 2 others and CA/A/23/2020 between CBN V Joe Agi, SAN,& 2 others which were appeals against the judgment sought to be enforced by the judgment summons have been entered before the Court of Appeal.

In the appeal filed on January 13, 2023, Emefiele through his lawyer, Damien Dodo, observed that the proceedings to compel his appearance after appeals have been entered, places the trial court in a position where it was exercising concurrent jurisdiction with the Court of Appeal over same subject

matter.

He equally submitted that the trial judge erred in law which occasioned a miscarriage of justice when it compelled and ordered him to personally appear in court without determining one way or the other, his application challenging the jurisdiction of the court.

On this ground, he drew the attention of the appellate court to his application filed on January 27, 2020, challenging the jurisdiction of the court as well as the service of form 13 and 15 on him for noncompliance with the mandatory provisions of section 56, part IV, of the Sheriff and Civil Process Act. In addition, he submitted that on February 22, 2022, the appellants jointly filed an application seeking a setting aside of the issuance and service of form 13 and 15 on him, on the basis that same ought not to have been issued during the pendency of the two mentioned appeals and the pending motions on notice for stay of execution dated March 26, 2018 and July 11, 2019 respectively.

The appellant further contended that the lower court erred in law occasioning a miscarriage of justice when it made an order compelling his appearance in court on January 18, 2023, when he is not a party to the suit before it.

He therefore prayed the appellate court to allow his appeal and set aside the orders made by the Federal High Court.

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ACCESS CORPORATION’S 5-YEAR CORPORATE STRATEGY...

L-R: Group Chief Financial Officer, Access Corporation, Morounke Olufemi; GMD/CEO, Access Corporation, Herbert Wigwe; MD/CEO, Access Bank, Roosevelt Ogbonna; Group Executive Director, Risk Management, Access Bank, Gregory Jobome; Executive Director, Access Corporation, Bolaji Agbede, Executive Director, African Subsidiaries, Seyi Kumapayi, during the presentation of Access Corporation’s 5-year Corporate Strategy (2023-2027) in Lagos…yesterday

FG: N120bn Spent on Subsidising Electricity Consumers in 2022 Begins repayment of N100bn debts owed Discos by MDAs Says next phase of 4m meters distribution to commence in Q1 Tariff collection rises to record N80bn in December Emmanuel Addeh in Abuja The federal government yesterday said it paid N120 billion in 2022 subsidising electricity consumers in selected bands, including C,D and E, down from a N552 billion peak before the Muhammadu Buhari administration took over.

The Special Adviser to the president on Infrastructure, Mr Ahmad Zakari,

who spoke during a programme on Channels Television, while defending the state of the sector, maintained that it was in a coma when Buhari assumed office in 2015.

But the new disclosure varies significantly from comments by the Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed, on March 11, 2022, that the federal government had ‘quietly’ removed

'all' subsidies in the power sector.

“We have been able to quietly implement subsidy removal in the electricity sector and as it is, as we speak, we don’t have subsidies in the electricity sector,” Ahmed had revealed.

But in what appeared like a contradiction, the presidential aide noted that although the sector needs to be built to be commercially viable,

government paid N120 billion as subsidy last year targeted at the lower bands.

According to him, the subsidy has remained as a buffer for not just the poor and vulnerable but to ameliorate the impact of gradual increases in the electricity tariffs.

“The government actually continues to subsidise citizens in bands, C, D and E which is where

FG Awards N2.2bn Contract for Local Assemblage of Magnus Training Aircraft Two to be ready before May Increases cost of instrument landing system at three airports by N546.1bn Deji Elumoye in Abuja The federal government has finalised arrangements towards local assemblage of Magnus aircraft in the country within the next 18 months.

Already, a N2.2 billion contract has been awarded for the aircraft assembly to be sited in Zaria, Kaduna State, with two of such aircraft expected to be ready before the end of the present administration in May, this year.

Aviation Minister, Senator Hadi Sirika, made this known yesterday, while speaking with newsmen after the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting presided over by the Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo at the State House, Abuja.

He disclosed that his ministry presented two memoranda bordering on the local assemblage of Magnis aircraft and review of the cost of Instrument Landing System (ILS) in three airports by additional N546.1 billion.

According to Sirika: "We had two memoranda in Council. The first one is the procurement and assemblage of Magnus Centennial aircraft and stimulator in Zaria.

"So I'm happy to announce today is the reality. We will indeed assemble the Magnus aircraft and will continue to do so and not too distant future by God's grace, the industry of civilization will begin to manufacture right here in the country aircraft. But why beginning by assembling these training aircraft, it will happen very soon.

"So, the memoranda have been passed in Council. The manufacturer of the airplane is based in Hungary, and has local company called ingenious to be done in Zaria. And the total contract sum is N2,296,897,404 with the completion period of 18 months.

"I need to explain this airplane. So the world of civil aviation, stopped in

its Training Program. The spin and spin recovery, spin literally means to spin something in an unusual altitude that our club go through.

“And therefore students are taught to identify when they get into spin situation, and how to recover out of the situation before it becomes a disaster.

"We were all trained like that as pilots. But because airplanes become more and more technologically advanced, the need for spin and spin recovery didn't arise, because they're becoming more and more sophisticated. But again, they all

realise that we still get into spin or there is a need for this skill to be developed for recovery out of spin situation.

"So most of manufacturers stopped producing trainers for that purpose.

And so there are not many people now that do that manufacture.

“And the company in Messrs Maganus, realised that gap started to produce airplanes that can get into spin and out of it, so that students can be trained on that. And because of our maximum attention to safety, we believe that this should come back into training in Nigeria, even

the United States of America who, at some point stopped now are back to training students on this spinner spin recovery.

"So this airplane is fully aerobatic, goes into aerobatics. And I think the Nigerian Air Force and the Air Force around the region will be interested and excited by this development, we are taking the lead in civil aviation.

It is our intention to produce them here, assemble them here and in the future, sell them out to where we're interested around the world.

Continues online

most of our areas that don't receive power and our less affluent ones are. “ I think some people have tried to ‘weaponise’ tariffs politically. We must have a electricity sector that's built on commercial pragmatism and we must use our limited resources to subsidise the citizens that need that subsidy. And we continued to do that last year. We spent N120 billion last year subsidising our lower bands,” he stated.

Zakari noted that when the APC government assumed office, there was no national scalable metering programme and policy on renewable energy, which he said are now in place.

“When the All Progressives Congress (APC) administration came, the sector was in a coma. We had ballooning subsidies of N552 billion at its peak and it was approaching N1 trillion,” he contended.

He added that before Buhari, there was what he described as ‘crony capitalism', where Distribution Companies (Discos), as well as other assets were either sold to people that were not capable to manage them, or contractors that couldn't execute them.

But now, Zakari noted that over 4 million meters will be distributed in the next phase of the ongoing National Mass Metering Programme (NMPP), even with 1 million units already deployed in the initial phase of the programme.

“President Buhari actually withheld some funding that was available from the World Bank for a short period of time to allow us to restructure the Discos and we have a World Bank facility that will fund another 1.25 million metres.

“So, what I would say is we know the gap when we started was about 9.8 million meters. One million has been done by the first phase of the national mass metering programme.

“Another 4 million will be done by the second phase, which should commence shortly. Then another funding for 1 million has been secured and procurement will commence. It should start this first quarter before March,” he explained.

Still on the state of the sector, Zakari said eight out of the 11 distribution companies that were sold to 'incapable' investors have now been restructured by the current administration.

According to him, in December the sector recorded its largest collections in the history of the Nigerian power sector whereby N80 billion was received.

He explained that the ongoing local production of meters was to make sure new build meters were manufactured in Nigeria, as 41 companies are now in the process , thereby creating thousands of local jobs.

Continues online

Dogara’s Team, ECWA Disagree on Presidential Choice Report The delegation of former vice president and presidential candidate of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar, to the 2023 extraordinary General Church Council (GCC) of Evangelical Church Winning All (ECWA), held in Jos recently, yesterday, insisted the statement credited to the president of ECWA, Dr. Stephen Baba Panya, that the church would soon announce it presidential preference was true. But it alleged that the church was under pressure to deny the statement.

A delegation led by former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Yakubu Dogara, had Tuesday issued a statement, where it quoted Panya as saying at the GCC in Jos that the church would evaluate the presidential candidates and take a decision soon.

However, ECWA, in a refutation by its Public Relations Officer, Rev. Romanus Ebenwokodi, stated, “At no time did it make the alluded resolution, neither did the president at any time during the proceedings of the council make the statement

credited to him by the newspapers in question.”

The statement read, “ECWA as a denomination has its members across all political parties and the leadership of ECWA respects that. Therefore, we need the teaming members of ECWA, the Church in Nigeria, and the general public to understand that the said publications are absolute falsehood that have never been contemplated, and are meant to cause unnecessary tension that is capable of dragging the good name of ECWA to the mud.

ECWA, therefore, strongly demands the newspapers "to herewith publicly withdraw the said publications and tender public apologies to ECWA within twenty-four (24) hours beginning 12:00 noon, 18th January 2023.”

However, in a counter-statement, spokesman of the Atiku delegation to the occasion, Hon. Golu Timothy, said a lot of pressure was on the church to recant its stand on announcing the choice of a presidential candidate soon.

The statement by Timothy, who is a former member of the House of Representatives, insisted the church's president made the comment, and wondered why such an innocent remark could suddenly become controversial.

The statement said, "Our attention has been drawn to a statement credited to Rev. Romanus Ebenwokodi, the spokesperson of the Evangelical Church Winning All (ECWA) who denied part of the remarks of the ECWA President regarding what members may do ahead of the 2023 general election.

"As the spokesperson of yesterday's delegation led by the former Speaker, Rt Hon. Yakubu Dogara, I want to say with absolute respect to ECWA President, Rev Dr. Stephen Baba Panya, and the entire leadership that no statement written was mischievous and malicious and intended to create unnecessary tension. At no point did the statement say the church has endorsed and named its own presidential candidate.

"What the ECWA president said

was that they will ponder and pray for guidance of the Holy Ghost as they make their decision. The decision, of course, will be those of its members who belong to different political parties to choose from the many candidates.

"All members of the delegation who represented the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential candidate, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, are hopeful that majority of such individual decisions will favour us as a party.

"We believe that there is nothing wrong with the statement as reported, as the same remarks can be said to all the presidential candidates, who are seeking votes from members of the church.

"We believe that the pressure from fellow politicians of other political parties who felt outsmarted must have created and prompted the press statement from the church.

"We are aware that politicians who failed to honour such a distinguished gathering will naturally feel jealous of the hospitable reception accorded

the Rt. Hon. Yakubu Dogara and his delegation on behalf of Atiku and can raise the stakes to seek to fill the vacuum created by their deliberate absence.

"We urge the church not to be worried by the antics of other politicians, who would go to any extent to pile pressure and sometimes seek to blackmail to score cheap political gains. Let them also visit the church to pass their message to the people instead of assuming negative analysis of what others said.

"As Christians, we have no reason to cast aspersions or create stories for any political objective. It is what we understood from the brief remarks of the ECWA president that we communicated the media.

"We want to restate our high respect to His Lordship, the President of ECWA, Rev Dr. Stephen Baba Panya, the distinguished GCC and the entire membership of the church and will never ever contemplate any form of disrespect. Some members of the delegation are also members of ECWA."

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MEETING OF SOUTH-SOUTH MONARCHS...

L-R: Bayelsa State Deputy Governor, Senator Lawrence Ewhrudjakpo; Governor Douye Diri; and Delta State Governor and Vice Presidential Candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, Dr. Ifeanyi Okowa, arriving for the opening of an extraordinary meeting of South-south Monarchs Forum at the DSP Alamieseigha Banquet Hall, Government House, Yenagoa…yesterday

NESG: Only Comprehensive Reforms Will Change Nigeria’s Economic Trajectory, Deliver Shared Prosperity Dike Onwuamaeze The Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG) has called for comprehensive and system-driven economic reforms that would change Nigeria's economic trajectory and create economic value and shared prosperity.

The NESG made this call yesterday, when it unveiled its 2023 Macroeconomic Outlook Report titled: "Nigeria in Transition: Recipes for Shared Prosperity," in which it addressed pertinent questions relating to policy design, processes, and framing in creating economic prosperity for all. The report forecasted a real GDP growth of 2.98 per cent; inflation rate of 20.5 per cent; foreign reserve of $34.9 billion; unemployment rate of 37 per cent and poverty headcount of 45 per cent for Nigeria in 2023.

The Chief Executive Officer of the NESG, Mr. 'Laoye Jaiyeola, said 2023 remains a transition year that offers the country a chance to reassess and adjust its growth strategy to implement effective and efficient reforms that would benefit the entire population.

Jaiyeola said: “In the NESG Macroeconomic Outlook for 2023, we stressed the importance of reforms in achieving shared prosperity in Nigeria. The report outlines the key factors that will support the two specific goals identified and provides policy recommendations to drive the economy towards a prosperous future for all.”

He said Nigeria must take advantage of, “this opportunity to realign its growth strategy and make the necessary reforms to improve the well-being of its citizens and create a more equitable and sustainable future.”

The NESG economic projections for Nigeria in 2023 assumed that crude oil future would average US$85 per barrel, which suggested that the effect of the Russia-Ukraine crisis on the energy market would remain subdued and that elevated demand for crude oil, “will sustain price at a level relatively higher than the US$70 per barrel proposed in the 2023 budget.”

It also projected that, “crude oil production will average 1.35 million barrels per day (mbpd) in 2023. This represents an improvement over 1.15mbpd in 2022 but is 20 per cent lower than the 2023 budgetary oil production of 1.69mbpd.”

The NESG further projected that real GDP growth was expected to moderate to 2.98 per cent as, “economic growth will be subdued in 2023 due to strains on investment and

low productivity in critical sectors.”

It stated that, “the services sector will drive economic growth, but this growth will not be strong enough to generate significant jobs. As a result, unemployment will remain unabated.”

In addition, it projected that inflation rate would average at 20.5 per cent in 2023.

It said: “Inflationary pressure is expected to remain elevated, driven by structural, cost and monetary factors. Food inflation will remain the fundamental driver of inflation due

to the enduring impact of flooding, increased production costs due to increased cost of credit, insecurity and displacement.

“The unemployment rate will increase to 37 percent and the poverty headcount will amplify to 45 percent due to weak performance in the job-elastic sectors, low labour absorption of sectors that will drive growth, and population growth estimated at 3.2 percent will lead to a decline in real per capita income.”

The NESG also projected that foreign capital inflow would

decline in 2023 even though the “trade surplus will be sustained albeit lower, the foreign reserve will deplete further, and exchange rate pressure will persist.

“Due to political risks and a negative yield on investment, investors will take a flight to safety in other emerging and developed economies. An improvement in crude oil production will sustain the trade surplus.”

It said the Central Bank of Nigeria’s intervention in the FX market and shortage in FX inflow

would culminate in a decline in foreign reserve to US$34.9 billion at the end of 2023 while monetary policy tightening would continue and the lending rate would remain high, and investment would be constrained.

“This could heighten financial risk and increase Non Performing Loans (NPL) in the banking system.

“Monetary tightening in 2022 has signaled an upward trend in interest rates. In addition, a faster increase in credit to the government will reduce credit availability to the

private sector, “thereby supporting further increases in the cost of borrowing,” adding that “Nigeria’s sovereign risks are expected to amplify in 2023.”

The Chief Economist of NESG, Dr. Olusegun Omisakin, who commented on the report said, “these projections, along with the implementable policy framework provided in in the report, will guide policy-makers in addressing the challenges faced by the Nigerian economy and moving towards a path of shared prosperity.”

PDP: SPV Fraud Allegations against Atiku Diversionary Says Tinubu should apologise to former VP Atiku to Nigerians: APC has failed, don't return them to power Win your polling unit to get benefits, Atiku tells PDP members Ruling party worried it will lose power, says Ayu Adedayo Akinwale in Abuja and James Sowole in Abeokuta The allegations and counter allegations between the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) over the Special Purpose Vehicles (SPV) saga continued yesterday as the main opposition party described the allegation against its presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar as diversionary.

This was just as Atiku, speaking in Ogun during a rally yesterday, said the APC-led federal government has failed Nigerians and as such they must not be returned to power.

Atiku charged members of the party to work hard to ensure its victory at the forthcoming election, saying winning one's polling unit was a pre-condition to benefit from his administration.

Also, the PDP PCC insisted that the allegations against Atiku was a plot by the presidential candidate of the ruling party, Bola Tinubu to divert attention from his litany of atrocities with unfounded controversy of corruption.

A whistleblower, Mr. Michael Achimugu recently alleged that both the former Vice President and former President Olusegun Obasanjo used SPVs to siphon public funds during their tenure.

It was based on his allegations that the Presidential Campaign

Council (PCC) of APC had called for the arrest and prosecution of Atiku and also demanded that he immediately withdraw from the presidential race.

But addressing a press conference yesterday in Abuja, the spokesperson of the Atiku/Okowa Campaign Organisation, Kola Ologbondiyan, said no matter how much falsehood appears to thrive, the truth would always prevail at the end of the day.

He stressed that Tinubu has not only failed in this mission to tarnish the clean image of Atiku, but in the process also exposed himself as the real "Mr. SPV." Ologbondiyan stressed that Nigerians now know of how Tinubu has been desperately trying to divert attention from his alleged use of Alpha Beta Consulting Limited and Alpha Beta LPP, companies he reportedly owned by proxy, to allegedly divert tax money belonging to Lagos State.

He said: "Like the age-long aphorism states, those who dig pits for the innocent always fall into them. This is the case in the vexatious plots by Asiwaju Tinubu to divert attention from his litany of atrocities by seeking to impugn on the impeccable character of our Candidate, Atiku Abubakar, with unfounded controversy of corruption."

Ologbondiyan challenged Tinubu to explain to Nigerians how billions

of naira belonging to Lagos State and meant for the welfare of the people, reportedly found its way into Soft Alliance and allegedly ended in bits and pieces in foreign currencies into domiciliary accounts allegedly owned by him in commercial banks.

He stressed that the APC presidential candidate should come out clean and speak to the damning money laundering allegations against him.

Ologbondiyan added: "In the days ahead, our campaign will not hesitate to furnish Nigerians with a compendium of corrupt practices as well as the list of SPVs used by the APC candidate to loot public funds in key government agencies thereby depriving Nigerians the benefit of our national patrimony.

"Now that Tinubu’s evil diversionary scheme against Atiku Abubakar has failed and Nigerians have seen that there is no iota of truth in his allegation against Atiku Abubakar, our campaign demands that Tinubu should tender an unreserved apology to Atiku Abubakar, he should listen to the voice within and withdraw from the Presidential race."

Ologbondiyan stated categorically that If anyone was to be arrested and disqualified from the presidential race on account of corruption, certainly, that person ought not to be Atiku, but Tinubu.

He assured Nigerians that the PDP campaign council would not

be distracted in this task of rescuing the nation from misrule, but would continue to rally with Nigerians in its collective desire to restore the nation to the path of purposeful leadership and prosperity for all.

Atiku to Nigerians: APC Has Failed, Don't Return them to Power Meanwhile, Atiku has said the APC-led federal government has failed Nigerians and as such they must not be returned to power.

The former Vice President stated this yesterday during the presidential rally of the party in Abeokuta, Ogun state.

He said: “We want to appeal to you to come out and vote and make sure that your votes are counted and also protect your vote. The APC government has failed us and therefore, it is our responsibility to make sure that we don’t return them to power.”

Atiku promised to devolved more powers to states and to the local governments if elected president.

According to him, “we have promised to ensure the industrialisation of Ogun State because Ogun State is endowed with so many mineral resources and in order to create jobs and prosperity, the federal government under the PDP government make sure that the exploitation of those mineral resources and industrialisation of Ogun is made a priority.”

The PDP presidential candidate

also charged members of the party to work hard to ensure its victory at the forthcoming election, saying winning one's polling unit, was a pre-condition to benefit from his administration.

Atiku said nothing would get to any party member if their candidates, either presidential, governorship, senatorial, House of Representatives or House of Assembly, do not win election.

He said member of the party interested in joining his cabinet or getting a contract in his administration must win his or her polling booth at the February 25 election.

In Atiku's entourage were: the National Chairman of PDP, Iyiocha Ayu; former Senate President, Bukola Saraki; former Vice President, Namadi Sambo; former governor of Osun state, Olagunsoye Oyinlola; Osun state governor, Ademola Adeleke.

Others were: Sokoto state governor, Aminu Tambuwal; Akwa Ibom State governor, Udom Emmanuel; former governor of Cross River State, Liyel Imoke; former governor of Jigawa state, Sule Lamido; governorship candidate of Ogun state, Hon. Ladi Adebutu and the governorship candidate of Lagos state, Jide Adeniran (Jandol).

The former Vice President said, if members of the party want PDP Continued on page 35

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FAAC: NNPC Used Lower FX Rate for Crude Oil Revenue in Seven Years

Says national oil company underpaid by N185bn Statutory revenue, PPT, VAT, others pushed December allocation to N990bn, highest in 2022 Excess crude account balance now $473,754

Ndubuisi Francis and Emmanuel Addeh in Abuja A new Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) document has indicated that the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC) used an exchange rate lower than the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) official rate for the sale of domestic crude oil between

2015 and 2022.

The committee disclosed this in a report signed by the Chairman of its Post Mortem Sub-committee (PSMC), Kabir Mashi, a copy of which was seen by TheCable.

It stated that the report was presented to the sub-committee at FAAC’s monthly plenary meeting held on Tuesday, January 17, 2023.

The FAAC sub-committee said

it observed some underpayments of N185.45 billion to the federation account as a result of the low exchange rate applied by the NNPC. “On the exchange rate application by NNPC on domestic crude, FIRS PSC crude and NUPRC royalty crude sale values, the sub-committee observed some underpayments of N185,458,842,270.76

to the federation account as a result of NNPC using exchange rate lower than the CBN official rate on domestic crude sale for the period 2015 to 2022,” the report read.

FAAC also said the CBN has confirmed that, “NNPC did not use the rate advised,” by the bank. It added that the national oil firm has not yet responded to

the matter after, “several months of being given the analysis to review.”

It added: “Despite the concerns of FIRS, NUPRC and other stakeholders, NNPC Limited has continued to use a different exchange rate in remittances to the federation account till date.”

The FAAC sub-committee therefore recommended that the plenary should take a decision on

institutions across the country and not to build new ones.

According to him, "It is worth it to note that as part of Mr. President's reform of Nigeria Police ecosystem, the ministry is championing police reforms with the strong backing of the presidency, and stakeholders to address observed gaps in the training and retraining of police officers.

“They have rehabilitated and upgraded available police training institutions and facilities nationwide,

tackled lack of funding to take care of the training institutions, and created a robust structure for effective management and administration of the institutions.

“In consideration of the above, the Federal Executive Council has today graciously approved the draft bill for an act to establish Nigeria Police Force College Training Schools and Institutions to serve as centres for professional training of officers, Nigerian Police Force and other related matters.”

AHEAD OF NATIONAL ELECTIONS, BUHARI EXTENDS IG BABA’S TENURE General (IG) of Police, Usman Alkali Baba. The extension, which was contained in a letter to the relevant authorities, put paid to speculations about his likely retirement before the general election, starting February 25.

Speculations had been rife that Baba might retire before the elections, But Minister of Police Affairs, Mohammed Dingyadi, clarified the issues yesterday while speaking to newsmen after the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting presided

by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, at State House, Abuja.

Dingyadi said the IG would not be retiring midway into the general election, as earlier expected, as his tenure had already been extended

by Buhari.

The minister explained that the Police Act 2020 had changed the rules for the IG’s retirement.

Answering questions from newsmen on whether or not the IG would retire after clocking the mandatory retirement age of 60 years on March 1, 2023, Dingyadi said, “I don’t know where you got your record, but let me say that by the provisions of the Police Act 2020, the IG is now supposed to have a kind of four-year period and Mr. President has already given him letter of appointment in that regard. So, the issue of IG going out during this election period does not arise.”

Buhari appointed the then Deputy Inspector General (DIG) of Police Baba as the acting Inspector General of Police on April 6, 2021, while the Police Council confirmed

him as the substantive Inspector General of Police in June 2021.

There had been concerns over the expected retirement of the IG, three Deputy Inspectors General of Police (DIGs), many Assistant Inspectors General of Police (AIGs), Commissioners of Police (CPs), and 290 other policemen in the first quarter of this year.

The minister also affirmed that the level of corruption within the rank and file of Nigeria Police had reduced drastically as a result of

the reforms initiated by the All Progressives Congress (APC) federal administration.

He said, “I must say that even before this police proposal or bill, our findings have shown that levels of corruption have drastically reduced because of this government’s reforms."

Dingyadi disclosed that FEC approved a draft bill for an Act to establish Nigeria Police institutions, which he said was to give legal backing to the existing training

the appropriate exchange rate to be used by NNPC Limited on remittances to the federation account to avoid underpayments to the federation account.

The committee also said the plenary should engage a third party forensic auditor to validate the established underpayments to the federation account by the NNPC. Also, the FAAC sub-committee said it observed that within the post-mandated period, the issue of non-application of mandated rates by the CBN for the months of March, April, and May 2020 resulted in the underpayment to the forex equalisation account by N67. 1 billion.

It stated that it had earlier submitted its report to FAAC and now awaits its investigation with CBN to ascertain why mandated rates were not used during the period.

Meanwhile, a significant rise in Continued on page 35

ANYAOKU MARKS 90TH BIRTHDAY, REGRETS NIGERIA'S DECLINE, HOPEFUL 2023 POLLS WILL BRING CHANGE of insecurity in Nigeria, which he noted had made travelling by road dangerous, should be a source of concern to everyone in the country.

He also stated that the country’s green passport was being despised at many international airports.

The octogenarian said, "An undeniable truth at the moment is that our country has declined, insecurity has made traveling by road dangerous.

"The green passport is disdained in many international airports. Our economy is such that most of our young people and increasingly a great number of our professionals are going abroad for greener pastures.

Nigeria now has one of the greatest concentrations of people living below the poverty line.

"There is hope that this year's national elections will be the beginning of a change for the better."

Reflecting on his age, the elder statesman pointed out that “90

is an age of reflection,” just as he acknowledged the grace and goodness of God in his life.

He paid tribute to his late parents, adding that the highlight of his life was his wife, whom he described as “a great blessing that I was fortunate to marry".

Anyaoku also thanked his children for coming down from the United States and the United Kingdom to attend his birthday ceremony.

He thanked God for his career and achievements, saying God has been gracious in preserving him through his travels to more than 100 countries.

President Muhammadu Buhari congratulated Anyaoku on his birthday celebration and wished him good health. Buhari, whose goodwill message was read by his Chief of Staff, Professor Ibrahim Gambari, acknowledged Anyaoku’s contributions to the country's development, starting as a young foreign official and reaching the pinnacle of his career as

Commonwealth Secretary General.

Buhari had on Tuesday felicitated Anyaoku on his 90th birthday.

In a letter he personally signed, the president stated, “It gives me great joy and delight to warmly rejoice with a seasoned diplomat and administrator, Chief Emeka Anyaoku, on his 90th birthday, January 18, 2023.

“I acknowledge the worthy contributions you have made to the development of the country, starting out as a young Foreign Service Officer, and reaching the pinnacle of your career as Secretary-General of the Commonwealth, through vision and diligence, and consistently projecting Nigeria as a great nation.

“Thank you for your statesmanship, and for using your extensive network of international friends to support the country’s efforts in deepening good governance, democracy and sustainable development.

“As you hit the milestone of 90, we give glory to God for the

grace of longevity, in good health and sound mind, and rejoice with you, your family and loved ones.”

“Happy birthday.”

In his remarks at the birthday celebration, former President Olusegun Obasanjo said he got close to Anyaoku when he was at the Commonwealth, describing him as, “An ambassador of ambassadors.”

Obasanjo stated that Anyaoku contributed to the end of apartheid.

In his toast at the ceremony, a renowned administrator and economist, Dr. Gabriel Soyoye, noted that Anyaoku had rendered service internationally, nationally, at state and community levels. He said the octogenarian also received the highest national honours of South Africa, Namibia, Lesotho, and Cameroon.

Soyoye said of Anyaoku, “He gave teeth to the Commonwealth making it an active agent in promoting democracy in member countries, promoted peace and played a seminal role in the transition of apartheid

South Africa to democracy. In 1983, he returned to Nigeria to serve as Foreign Minister but returned to his position as Deputy Secretary General after the Shagari government was toppled.

“Since he retired he's been Chairman, PAC on Foreign Affairs for 14 years. A conscience of the nation.”

Other dignitaries that attended the ceremony included the Editorin-Chief/Founder, THISDAY and Arise News Channel, Prince Nduka Obaigbena; Deputy Governor of Anambra State, Dr Onyekachukwu Ibezim; wife of Ogun State governor, Mrs. Bamidele Abiodun; former Chief of Army Staff, Theophilus Yakubu Danjuma and his wife; Chief Ayo Adebanjo; Chief Subomi Balogun; Professor Anya O. Anya; Chief Olusegun Osoba; Mr. Sam Amuka; Atedo Peterside; Obi of Onitsha, Igwe Alfred Achebe; Dr. Yemi Ogunbiyi and his wife; Prince Adesuyi Adeluyi; and Oba Otudeko.

N N P C R OA D TA X S C H E M E : F E C A P P R OV E S A D D I T I O N A L N 1 . 9 T R N TO R E C O N ST R U CT 4 4 R OA D S power and remediation projects in some polluted areas of Ogoniland, in Rivers State.

The council equally approved the draft bill for an Act to establish Nigeria Police Force College Training School and Institution to serve as centre for professional training of officers of the Nigeria Police, and other related matters, according to Minister of Police Affairs, Maigari Dingyadi.

Osinbajo stood in at yesterday’s meeting for President Muhammadu Buhari, who was attending an African Peace Conference in Nouakchott, Mauritania.

The government approved the recommendation by NNPC to invest in the reconstruction of selected federal roads under the Federal Government Road Infrastructure Development and Refurbishment Investment Tax Credit Policy, phase two.

The approval came 15 months after NNPC expressed interest in investing in the reconstruction of selected federal roads in order to sustain a smooth supply and distribution of petroleum products across the country.

Buhari had on January 25, 2019 signed Executive Order 007, which was the instrument that brought about the scheme. The objective was to unlock funding from the private sector to critical road infrastructure in the country.

Executive Order 007 was designed to empower private companies to finance construction or refurbishment of federal roads designated as “eligible roads” under the scheme and recoup their investments through deduction of the approved total costs expended

on the project from their annual Companies Income Tax (CIT).

Speaking on the N1.9 trillion approved to be expended on 44 federal roads by NNPC Limited, media assistant to the vice president, Laolu Akande, told newsmen at a post-FEC media briefing that the memo was presented by Minister of Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola.

Akande said the ministry also got approval for concession of nine road corridors under the pilot phase of the Value Added Concession of the highways development and management initiative following the issuance of the requisite full business case compliance certificates by the Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission (ICRC) for a period of 25 years.

According to Akande, the minister also got council's approval for the augmentation of contract for the rehabilitation of the OshogboIlesha Road in favour of Messers Orizon Construction Company in the sum of N1.2 billion, thereby revising the subsisting contract sum from N3 billion to N4 billion, representing an increase of 33 per cent of the original sum.

He stated, "The Minister for Works and Housing also presented a couple of memos. The council approved the recommendation to invest in the reconstruction of selected federal roads on the federal government road infrastructure development and refurbishment investment tax credit policy, phase two, by the NNPC and its subsidiaries.

"So the council approved the proposal by the Ministry of Works

and Housing for the reconstruction of 44 proposed federal roads with a total length of 4,554 kilometres in the total sum of N1.9 trillion.”

Akande added, "In other memo, the Minister of Works and Housing also got approval of the council for concessionaires for nine road corridors under the pilot phase of the value added concession of the highways development and management initiative, following the issuance of the requisite full business case compliance certificates by the infrastructure concession regulatory commission for a period of 25 years for each road corridor as follows: "The roads that will be under this first phase are the Benin-Asaba corridor; Abuja-Lokoja-OnitshaOwerri-Aba-Shagamu-to Benin; Abuja-Keffi-Akwanga-LafiaMakurdi; Kano-Maiduguri, that is the Kano Shauri; Enugu-Port Harcourt; Lagos-Ota-Abeokuta; and Lagos-Badagry-Seme.”

The road infrastructure scheme is a public-private partnership intervention that enables the federal government to leverage private sector capital and efficiency for the construction and refurbishment of critical road infrastructure in key economic areas in Nigeria Under the initiative, the private participants of the scheme provide the funds for the construction or refurbishment projects and, in exchange, the participants are entitled to recoup the funds provided as a credit against the Companies Income Tax they are expected to repay.

Under the initial programme, NNPC is currently constructing a total of 1,804.6 kilometres of

roads at a total cost of N621, 237,143,897.35 A breakdown of the project funding showed that North-central geo-political zone got the highest chunk of N244.87 billion for the construction of 791.1 kilometres of road North-central is made up of Benue, Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Kogi, Kwara, Nasarawa, Niger, and Plateau states.

South-south geo-political zone emerged the second highest beneficiary of the NNPC Road Infrastructure Development and Refurbishment project with the sum of N172.02 billion for a total of 81.9 kilometres of road. The zone is made up of Akwa-Ibom, Bayelsa, Cross-River, Delta, Edo, and Rivers states.

South-west followed with a total allocation of N81.87bn for the construction of 252.7 kilometres of road. The region is made up of Ekiti, Lagos, Osun, Ondo, Ogun, and Oyo states.

Similarly, NNPC allocated the sum of N56.12 billion to the North-east for the construction of 273.35 kilometres of road under the scheme. The states expected to be covered under this zone are Adamawa, Bauchi, Borno, Gombe, Taraba, and Yobe.

For South-east geo-political zone, the sum of N43.28 billion was earmarked for the construction/ rehabilitation of 122 kilometres of road. The zone is made up of Abia, Anambra, Ebonyi, Enugu, and Imo states.

A further breakdown of the NNPC schedule showed that the North-west geo-political zone, which is made up of Kaduna,

Katsina, Kano, Kebbi, Sokoto, Jigawa, and Zamfara got the least allocation. The zone was allocated the sum of N23.05 billion for the rehabilitation of 283.5 kilometres of road.

The road projects are being funded by NNPC, and the equivalent amount is deducted by the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) from the national oil company’s tax obligations.

Through the scheme, NNPC has been serving as an enabler for building the Nigerian economy, and it is collaborating with key stakeholders, such as the Ministry of Works and the FIRS, on the execution of the initiative.

This is in response to the difficulty faced by petroleum products marketers in transportation, which affects nationwide distribution.

Currently, engagements are ongoing with unions and other stakeholders to ensure smooth delivery of projects according to standards and specifications.

Speaking during an inspection tour of some of the projects being funded by NNPC, the company’s Group Chief Executive Officer, Mallam Mele Kyari, said in December that NNPC understood the importance of road infrastructure to the development of the Nigerian economy. Kyari said this was why the national oil company was committed to the scheme to fund more roads.

The projects visited by Kyari were the Agbara-Badagry road project in Lagos State and the Bida-Lambata road project in Niger State.

He said NNPC had disbursed N15 billion for the reconstruction

of the Lagos-Badagry Expressway under the RITC Scheme.

The N15 billion represents a 100 per cent payment of the funding of the Lagos-Badagry road rehabilitation under the tax credit funding of NNPC Limited.

Kyari said NNPC will continue to commit massive investments in critical projects in the country for the benefit of Nigerians.

He described the tax credit scheme, an initiative of the Buhari administration, as a game changer in the federal government's quest to scale up infrastructure projects in the country.

Kyari expressed satisfaction with the progress of work at the project sites visited, adding that NNPC has done its part in releasing all the funds needed for the projects’ execution.

He stated, "We are very happy about the state of this road development. We are very happy with this intervention across the country, not just in this place.

"We are doing 1,800 kilometres across the country. We believe that this tax credit system, which Mr. President has put in place, is the game changer for our country.

"We believe that in the next 24 months, there will be massive change to the entire road network in this country, and this is why NNPC is your company and working for all of us. We think that it is the best way to intervene and bring up our infrastructure."

Kyari said the projects were being implemented with the consultant, which Buhari used when he was chairman of the Continued on page 36

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CAMARADERIE AT FEC MEETING...

L-R: Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Niyi Adebayo; Minister of State for Labour and Employment, Festus Keyamo and Minister of State for Industry, Trade and Investment, Maryam Katagum, PHOTO: GODWIN OMOIGUI at the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting held at the Council Chambers of the Presidential Villa, Abuja…yesterday.

I am More Qualified Than Peter Obi, Says Kwankwaso at Chatham House Juliet Akoje in Abuja The presidential candidate of the New Nigeria Peoples

Party (NNPP) yesterday said he was more qualified than the presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Mr. Peter Obi.

Speaking at Chatham House in London, yesterday, also said he withdrew from a previous discussion on a

possible alliance with the Labour Party because the party was “carried away by media hype,” and built

Olanipekun: Powers Arrogated to INEC Chairman in Section 65 of Electoral Act Dangerous Gbenga Sodeinde in Ado Ekiti Legal luminary, Chief Wole Olanipekun has kicked against Section 65 of the Electoral Act, describing it as a very dangerous act in the country’s electoral system, which empowers the Chief Returning Officer of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), to return and also review his decision.

Olanipekun, made the remarks yesterday when he paid a private visit to Governor Biodun Oyebanji, in his office in Ado-Ekiti yesterday.

Olanipekun, said: “To me is a very dangerous section, so novel in the sense that, here you have a section that empowers a returning

officer after returning to review his decision within a period of seven days” According to the Senior Advocate of Nigeria, “the returning officer is not a court of law, not a tribunal, not vested with jurisdiction to exercise quasi- decision or to assume jurisdiction over any matter that is judicial in nature.”

According to the former NBA President, “that section of the electoral act, you are giving a returning officer, and by extension INEC, the power to do and undo.”

He pointed out that he was not aware of any similar section in previous electoral acts of any country in the world.

“When you now invest in a returning officer of INEC, the power to do and undo, the power to return and review his decision is dangerous to the polity.

“The Chief Returning Officer, is the Chairman of INEC, meaning you can return someone as President today, and tomorrow, when there are agitations here and there, he may withdraw his decision, saying, ‘I am revising myself and am now returning somebody else” Olanipekun, said he was so surprised that the National Assembly allowed that section to creep into the electoral act which they submitted to Mr. President for signing.

Elect Patriotic Leaders with Integrity, Catholic Bishops Advise Nigerians Gbenga Sodeinde in Ado Ekiti The Catholic Bishops of Ibadan Ecclesiastical Province have called on Nigerians to vote for leaders who would be true patriots and servant of the people, responsive to the security and welfare needs of all Nigerians without discrimination.

The advice formed part of a communique issued by the Bishops made of Ibadan Archdiocese, Ilorin, Ondo, Ekiti, Oyo and Osogbo Dioceses, after their meeting at the Jubilee Conference Centre Oke Ado, Ibadan.

The communiqué was signed by the President, Most Rev. Gabriel Abegunrin and Secretary, Most Rev. John Oyejola, and sent to newsmen in Ado-Ekiti yesterday by Most Rev. Felix Femi Ajakaye, titled: ‘Nigeria: Now is the time of Grace.’

It stated: “We Bishops fully identify with the suffering and pains of all Nigerians over these years while enduring numerous threats to security of life and property, crippling economic downturn

and bad political leadership.

“We therefore urged all eligible Nigerians to secure their permanent voters cards, (PVC), and vote in the elections according to their conscience, without fear, in order to secure their own future and that of their children.”

On insecurity in the country, the Bishops stated that it was with deep sorrow that they learnt of the dastardly murder of yet another priest, Rev. Fr. Isaac Achi, of the Catholic Diocese of Minna.

They, however, commended governors of the South-west for setting up and sustaining the Amotekun Corps and others for the relatively improved security situation in the Southwest.

The Bishops added: “For government, more work need to be done,” saying authorities should bolster existing security measures to safeguard life and property, to add new technology and apprehend and decimate those who engage in such criminal activity in the region and all over the country.

“Nigerians have a right to enjoy free and safe movement wherever they live and go and it is the sacred duty of government to make this possible.

“It is never too late to do the right thing because adequate security of life will have an impact on the integrity of the forthcoming general elections.”

The clergymen exhorted all Nigerian politicians and electoral umpires from the federal to the grassroots levels to ensure nobility and fairness in their speech and actions towards free, fair and peaceful elections in February.

The Bishops noted that to succeed, Nigerians must be disciplined, obey the law and work and pray, encouraging the youths “who are working hard to deliver free and fair elections next month, to persevere.”

“Hope does not fail us, we call on all Nigerians to sustain hope by relying on the unchanging promise of God, which says “Do not be afraid” for I am with you,” they added.

He said the lawmakers could still remove that proviso and called on all stakeholders, particularly the political parties to “shine their eyes”, to monitor INEC, the returning officers, so that nothing untoward happens to any party, any candidate returned to be unreturned again.

on “ethnicity and religion.”

Kwankwaso while citing his qualifications also said he was ready for a discussion with any presidential candidate who has better qualifications than him.

“I’m a PhD holder in civil engineering. Check your candidate for what he has. I have been in the system for over 30 years now. I was a civil servant for 17 years. I wasn’t a trader.

“I was deputy speaker of the house in 1992, I was in the constitutional conference elected delegates. I was governor of Kano state for eight years.

“I was in the senate. If anyone wants Kwankwaso to withdraw, let’s bring criteria and select the best," he said.

Speaking further, he said: "If you have a party which is based on ethnicity and religion — that is the difference between the Labour Party and our party, which is a national party."

However, many believed the alliance between Kwankwaso who has a large followership in the northern part of the country and Obi who is largely supported by the youth would have been a game changer in the coming general election.

Obasanjo: Baptist Boys High School Made Me What I Am James Sowole in Abeokuta

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo yesterday declared that his alma mater, Baptist Boys High School (BBHS), Abeokuta, made him what he is today.

He noted that he would not have been what he is without moral virtues and sound education impacted on him by the school, which had also produced other notable leaders, both living and the dead.

Obasanjo specifically, noted that the school moulded the late sage, Obafemi Awolowo, the presumed winner of the June 12, 1993 Presidential election, MKO Abiola, former Judge of the International Court of Justice (ICJ), Prince Bola Ajibola, among others, into what they all became in life.

The former President spoke in Abeokuta, Ogun State, while delivering a lecture, “Eyin Ni Iwe Wa: You Are Our Epistle,” at the centennial anniversary of the BBHS organised by its Old Boys Association.

Awolowo was at BBHS in 1928; Ajibola graduated in 1955; Abiola was among the 1956 set, while Obasanjo left the school in 1957.

Obasanjo noted that aside education, the 100-year-old school had at different times inculcated

godly virtue on all its products.

He said, "Without BBHS, I would not have been what I am.

Apart from me, the BBHS would have had MKO Abiola as another former President, but ‘bad belle’ prevented him from becoming president.

"Today, there are distinguished old boys in all walks of life, that is private sector, academia, military and paramilitary, civil society, traditional rulership, etc. Such is the present President of Old Boys Association of BBHS, Prof.

Kayode Oyesiku.

"I believe that I must not be too forgetful to leave out yours truly, the son of Obasanjo, a modest war-victorious General and former Military Head of State and former President of Nigeria. Chief M.K.O. Abiola, the first communication industry millionaire in Nigeria and the acclaimed winner of the 1993 Presidential election who was in a class by himself.”

He added: "If not for Nigerian bad belle, M.K.O. Abiola would have been President and with me as President, we would have needed one more old student of BBHS to be President for us to permanently locate it in BBHS after three times. And that is a challenge for up-and-coming generations of old boys."

He urged the new generation to preserve the moral virtues and discipline impacted on them by the school, and pass it on in perpetuity.

The former president said, "What all these great products of BBHS have in common is godly virtue inculcated in them by the School. That was education plus.

We carry it to anywhere we go as epistle written by BBHS to our families, our communities, our States, our country, and our continent of Africa and indeed our world.

"We must impact with humility, honesty, integrity, wisdom, courage, competence and fear of God – these must continue to be our characteristics and our attributes to make a change for good wherever we are. We must be different.

"In conclusion, the class of 1979/84 had beautifully constructed the gate and road into the School.

They also granted me the pleasure of making financial contribution to that laudable effort. They had offered to name the road after me for which I thanked them but I had craved their indulgence and to which they have agreed to name the road after E. L. Akisanya and the road becomes E. L. Akisanya Road and the gate E. L. Akisanya Gate."

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ABIODUN AT CAMPAIGN RALLY IN ODEDA LGA...

L-R: All Progressives Congress Ogun State House of Assembly candidate, Oludaisi Elemide; the party's House of Representatives candidate, Olumide Osoba; the Ogun Central Senatorial District candidate, Salisu Shuaib and Governor Dapo Abiodun at the campaign rally for Odeda Local Government Area …yesterday

Nigeria is in Intensive Care Unit, Under APC, Says Ex-NHIS Boss Declares next elections referendum on Buhari’s administration Insists Tinubu cannot absolve himself of alleged APC failures Emmanuel Addeh in Abuja A former Executive Secretary of the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS), Prof. Usman Yusuf has said Nigeria is presently in an intensive care unit, even as he maintained that the 2023 elections would be a referendum on the eight-year stewardship of the President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration.

Yusuf, who spoke during an interview on Arise News Channel, THISDAY’s broadcast arm, also maintained that the All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential candidate in next month’s election, Bola Tinubu, cannot distance himself from the failures of the current government.

“The next election will be nothing but a referendum on the eight-year stewardship of the APC. They came on the back of three things: That they are going to improve the economy, they are going to improve security and they are going to fight corruption.

“On all three counts, they have failed, not only failed, they have failed woefully. And we will say it again, we'll continue to say it, APC's Bola Ahmed Tinubu is the grandfather of APC. Nobody in APC will absolve himself or herself from the mess that APC has put us through,” Yusuf a staunch Abubakar Atiku supporter said.

According to him, Nigeria at the moment requires a rescuer, one who

is experienced and not a rookie, given the bad state of the country.

“These are very serious times and Nigeria is in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU). It requires a good physician. I'm a doctor of 41 years and counting. When you have a patient in the ICU, it requires an experienced doctor, not a rookie.

“You request somebody who is healthy, who is visionary, who has been there, who understands Nigeria and Nigerians. That person, undoubtedly for me is Atiku Abubakar,” Yusuf opined.

Still on the alleged mismanagement of the country by the current administration, Yusuf added that Buhari has borrowed massively for which Nigeria’s future generations will continue to pay.

According to him, while Buhari inherited a debt of N7.8 trillion in 2014, his administration would be leaving the country indebted to the tune of over N77 trillion.

“This government is leaving us with our children and grandchildren indebted to the tune of over N77 trillion. Now we are servicing our debt by more than we get. So Nigeria is broke,” he argued.

Yusuf maintained that the government also failed in its constitutional responsibility to secure Nigerians and ensure their welfare.

The former NHIS boss stated that the president has been promising the same thing, that is, to take a 100 million Nigerians out of poverty in

10 years, but has instead thrown more people into poverty.

“The president has inserted these in several of his speeches; the vice president will be reading it over the teleprompter, but they have just been talking. They have failed as far as the economy is concerned.

“For me this is real, I go back to Katsina where I come from and I see poverty. In many villages, if

you take out a N1,000, go to the village square and ask for change, nobody can give you change. Our people are poorer today than they were before the APC government came in. Anybody associated with APC cannot absolve himself,” he posited.

Today, he stressed that Katsina has become a huge Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camp, with bandits

legal tender currencies every five to eight years to ensure effective currency management and achievement of monetary policy objectives.

The Branch Controller of CBN maintained that the existing series of currencies in Nigeria had not been redesigned in the past 15, 19 and over 20 years.

The CBN Branch Controller insisted that the redesigning of the naira was to help deepen the drive for a cashless economy, as it would be used alongside the e-naira and other digital payment platforms.

"It will enhance the security features of the currency to curb counterfeiting and reduce access to large volume of cash for illegal activities such as terrorism, banditry, kidnapping etc.

story not only in Katsina. From Adamawa to Zamfara, we are still counting our dead every day.

“This is security. We are talking about farming and agriculture. Our people cannot go to the farm because of insecurity, bandits are occupying their land. Even if they go to the land, they have to pay levies. In some places in Zamfara, they burn farm products.

Tinubu’s St. Paul Aroloya Pry School Never Existed, Group Tells Court Gets nod to commence process compelling police to investigate, prosecute APC’s presidential candidate Alex Enumah in Abuja A civil society group, the Incorporated Trustees of Advocacy for Social Right Advancement and Development Initiative (ASRADI) has told a Federal High Court in Abuja, that the St. Paul Aroloya Primary School, Lagos, the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Bola Tinubu, claimed to have attended was never in existence, hence he (Tinubu) should be tried for perjury.

The group has also secured an order from the court to bring an

application seeking to compel the Inspector General (IG) of Police to investigate Tinubu over allegations bordering on perjury.

Justice Mobolaji Olajuwon of a Federal High Court, Abuja, made the order while ruling in the ex parte application brought by the group against the IG. ASRADI had in an exparte motion marked: FHC/ABJ/CS/2197/2022, sought for leave of the court to bring an application for an order of judicial review, compelling the Inspector General of Police to investigate

C B N ST E P S U P N AT I O N W I D E AWA R E N E S S C A M PA I G N O N N A I R A R E D E S I G N P R O J E CT the old notes through their ATMs. In Akwa Ibom State, officials of the apex bank yesterday met with the stakeholders and traders at the popular Akpan Andem market along Udoudoma street, Uyo, the State capital on the sensitisation exercise.

At the gathering, the traders were counselled on the currency redesign project and various monetary policies of the bank.

The Branch Controller of CBN, Akwa Ibom State, Mrs. Mercy Itoham Ogbomon-Paul stressed that the CBN was determined to ensuring that the currency redesign policy succeed in the country.

According to her, the global best practice was for central banks to redesign, produce and circulate new

pillaging the land.

“We had never seen IDPs before this government came in. Today, my city is filled up with IDPs. We gave Buhari 1.2 million votes in 2019, and Lagos gave him half of that. What we have to show for that are death and destruction.

“Our villages have been plagued, women raped, cattle rustled and our people killed. And this is the

"It will also minimise the hoarding of the banknotes by members of the public, which has led to a shortage of clean/fit banknotes," she added.

Also, the Dutse branch of the CBN yesterday monitored ATMs of commercial banks in the state to enforce the directive on dispensing of the new banknotes.

This was disclosed by the branch controller, Hajiya Sa'adatu Ibrahim Aminu, during the sensitisation of stakeholders on the currency redesign project, which was held at Dutse Ultra Model market.

Aminu explained that the apex bank provides redesigned currency to all commercial banks in the state, "and we ordered them not load old currencies in their ATMs anymore."

According to her, "we made very

good arrangements for quick supply of the redesigned currency to all the bank branches across the 27 local government areas."

She also advised members of the public and traders in particular to accept the old currencies, saying it was still valid till January 31st.

“Do not panic, the currency is safe and valid for now," she added, saying, "there is no limit to how much a customer can deposit between now and January 31, 2023, as CBN has suspended bank charges."

She called on the public to explore other payment channels, such as the eNaira, POS, electronic transfer, USSD, internet banking and mobile money operators and agents for their economic activities.

Tinubu in respect of his educational qualification claims submitted to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in 1999.

In the motion dated and filed November 25, 2022, the group stated that the legal action was necessitated by the failure of the IG to investigate allegations of perjury brought against the APC presidential candidate.

According to the applicant, up till the time of coming to court, the respondent has, “willfully refused to investigate and / or prosecute Bola Ahmed Tinubu for the offence of perjury where he is found culpable.”

The applicant in its letter dated November 1, 2022, and signed by the ASRADI’s Executive Director, Mr. Adeolu Oyinlola, had asked the IG to, “cause an investigation into this allegation of ours within two weeks of the receipt of this correspondence, and initiate prosecution if it is established that he swore to an affidavit – knowing full well that what he stated therein was and is false.”

The applicant in the letter titled: ‘Investigation of Bola Ahmed Tinubu for Lying on Oath,’ told the court that its findings revealed that the APC presidential candidate “lied on oath in every material particular. As a matter of fact, St. Paul Aroloya (Lagos) has never existed”.

According to the group, documents it obtained from the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) regarding Tinibu’s form CF 001

submitted in aid of his qualification to contest the position of Governor, Lagos State in 1999 listed St. Paul Aroloya (Lagos), Children Home School, Ibadan and University of Chicago as institutions Tinubu attended.

The applicant however argued that the non-disclosure by Tinubu in the INEC Form CF 001 of the qualification he got in respect of the primary school he attended after stating he attended St. Paul Aroloya, Children Home School Ibadan, 1958 – 1964 is a gap that needs to be investigated by the police because the said school never existed at the time he claimed he attended same or at any time for that matter.

While stating that the respondent was under constitutional and statutory obligation / duty to investigate Tinubu for the alleged offence of perjury, the applicant submitted that it will be in the interest of justice to compel the police to investigate the presidential candidate for the alleged crime.

According to the group, due to the actions / inactions of the police over the matter, Tinubu “is walking free without answering to his past deeds and is contesting for the presidency of Nigeria with dubious educational qualification claims”, adding that the police had no justification for refusing to investigate Tinubu for the alleged crime.

Continues online

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T H I S D AY ˾ THURSDAY JANUARY 19, 2023

POLITICS

Acting Group Politics Editor DEJI ELUMOYE Email: deji.elumoye@thisdaylive.com (08033025611 SMS ONLY)

Faleye: Tinubu’s Experience, Can Do Spirit Stand Him Above Other Presidential Candidates Lagos-based Public Policy Analyst and member of the All Progressives Congress, Oluwaseun Faleye, in this interview speaks on the forthcoming General Election and the people-oriented programme of the APC Presidential Candidate, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, among other issues. Udora Orizu brings excerpts:

H

in more power to our homes very soon.

Asiwaju has also promised to continue the reforms that will keep improving the power sector so that is a very good thing.

He promised that there shall be no more estimated billings which means that Nigerians will only pay for the power they consume which is very important and you know how impactful that is to the ordinary Nigerians.

Also important are his plans to support domestic manufacturing of meters, cables and other crucial elements in delivering power so that Nigerians can also take advantage of the opportunities in the power sector and create more direct and indirect job opportunities within and outside the sector.

Another great initiative of the APC and Asiwaju’s Action Plan is also to deepen reforms and bring forth policy framework to grow the renewable energy sector, looking at alternative sources such as solar panels to bring power to millions of Nigerians who are outside the national grid.

Of course, also worthy of mention are his plans to reinvigorate the rural electrification programmes of this present administration and he has given his commitment to mobilize both public and private capital for the delivery of electricity to our rural communities.

ow are the campaigns across the country going for Asiwaju Tinubu in terms of driving the message of renewed hope?

A - I imagine for the candidate that it is not easy to be all over the country but I am sure it is fulfilling for him and his team, dedicated men and women making things happen behind the scene. The logistics has to be right, making travel plans and all of that but essentially, we are buoyed by the message of hope that Asiwaju is delivering to people at these campaigns and very happy at the reception that he is getting across the country from Kano, to Lagos, to Benin, to Jos, to Enugu, to Minna and all of the parts of the country that he has been to. The reception of our renewed hope at every place he has been must have made the difficult task of organizing the campaigns and rallies much more bearable and fulfilling for everyone involved.

What qualities do you think Asiwaju Bola Tinubu has that other contestants do not have that makes him stand out and will possibly make him the winner?

There are so many qualities that he has that set him apart from other candidates vying for the same post. First is his deep knowledge of the issues that we face as a country and his unyielding commitment to deal with them.

I am not sure any of the other candidates have that level of commitment to resolving our security and economic issues to be honest.

Second is his compassion. Asiwaju Tinubu is a very compassionate leader and the Nigeria of today needs nothing more than a strong, committed and compassionate leader to lead her in a fair and equitable manner.

But very key is his great determination and can-do spirit that he has exemplified all through his life in private and public service. I believe these qualities set him apart from others. Indeed, his experience in establishing much needed public institutions that has now been replicated all over the States in Nigeria, delivering life changing public infrastructure in Lagos under a financially challenged circumstances given that Lagos State funds were withheld by ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo at that time as well as his ability to marshal intelligent men and women of expertise to action as a formidable team to tackle our developmental challenges certainly set him apart from other contestants.

You and your friends recently held a Business Lunch with Asiwaju Tinubu in Lagos. What was that about and what did you seek to achieve at the meeting with the candidate?

To us the conveners, it was an intellectual engagement between the business community and the political stakeholders in Nigeria, setting the stage for what should be a sustainable collaboration between the public and the private sectors for collective benefit in the form of accelerated growth of the Nigerian economy.

Represented at the event were dynamic individuals playing leading roles in key economic sectors such as the healthcare, insurance, legal, mining and solid minerals, construction and housing, entertainment, technology space, finance, education, oil and gas, power and energy, infrastructural development and finance, sports, creative industry among others.

And it was in recognition of their rich background in economic activities in different sectors that we invited them to come and give their practical insights to the candidate on policies that will move their respective sectors forward and unleash the economic potentials of Nigeria.

For the participants and invited guests, it was to provide useful insights, inputs and feedback gained from their practical experiences to better enrich the APC Action Plans under Asiwaju’s leadership.

And for the candidate it was a listening session, to receive well-intentioned and well-informed

Tinubu

feedback from those operating the engine room of our economy such that policy formulation and regulations becomes all-inclusive and undertaken with extensive collaboration of key stakeholders. In response to some of the participants’ comments, Asiwaju made a lot of bold policy statements such as his commitment to remove oil subsidy and use the funds saved from the removal on social programmes and providing infrastructure, to his commitment to increasing our gas utilization and monetization by targeting the African and European markets with his plan to continue building the necessary evacuation infrastructure to these markets, as well as his commitment to increase our power generation, transmission and distribution capacity including his commitments to public private partnership to delivering public infrastructure. He made a lot of policy commitments that Nigerians can hold on to, so, we are happy about that.

By and large, we achieved our objectives as we brought the busi-

ness community to share innovative and novel ideas with the leading frontline candidate that will be sworn in as the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria come May 29, 2023 with the support of the mass of Nigerians and it is important to note that this sort of engagements will be continued leading to the election and sustained during the administration of Asiwaju Tinubu.

Given the importance of Power to businesses and productivity, can you please tell us how Asiwaju Tinubu will solve the protracted challenge of power in Nigeria?

Asiwaju Tinubu has indicated that he will make sure that Nigerians have the energy requirement to excel in their different endeavors and that is a bold policy statement. And he intends to do this by continuing with the huge investment that has gone into improving our transmission lines to making sure that all of the power that is currently being generated is getting to our homes.

If you are observant, you will see the various transmission components that are required as part of the deal struck with Germany and Siemens to improve our transmission and distribution capacities being transported to various locations across the country. I have seen a couple of them on our roads and we will begin to see the benefit

Tinubu has stated it clearly that the safety, freedom and prosperity of all Nigerians shall be his highest priorities at all times. His commitment in that regard is not hollow. His commitment is borne out of his past experience. We know he sanitized the security situation in Lagos during his tenure as Governor using creative policies and interventions to tame violent crimes.

He has promised very radical changes to our security architecture and this is very key because as a country we must redefine our military doctrines and practices using both kinetic and non-kinetic means to respond to our security challenges.

Asiwaju is promising to restructure our economy, grow the GDP by 10% by 2027, and cut the unemployment rate by half within four years. Where is this growth going to come from? How does he intend to achieve these promises?

Thank you for the question and it is important to bring clarity to these issues so that Nigerians can make better and informed decisions.

Asiwaju’s economic plan is to restructure our national economic model by leading us towards a production and export-led growth rather than be an import dependent nation.

This economic model restructuring is hinged on enhancing our national productivity by increasing our agro-allied activities, encouraging and increasing local manufacturing and industrial revolution as a substitution for the things we import, particularly the everyday items that we use as a people. Asiwaju also intend to intensify Nigeria’s grand national infrastructural campaign to reconstruct and expand the numbers of our highways, railways, airways, supply portable water and renovate our old dams and new ones that will provide irrigation for agriculture and power generation.

We see a nexus between our national economic growth and increased agro-allied productivity, the enablement of agro-allied value adding local manufacturing as well as our national infrastructural campaign focusing not only on major highways but also prioritized rural roads that will serve as conduit of agricultural produce from farm to market and food processing factories.

The combined efforts of increasing our agroallied productivity, enabling and increasing local manufacturing and undertaking a national infrastructural campaign will be a panacea for his job creation endeavours such that our unemployed population including the very youthful ones will begin to see and take opportunities in agro-allied businesses.

The mandate to increase our arable land for cultivation from the present 35% to 65% will come with increased productivity in the sector and that will also be a catalyst for job creation.

The local manufacturing entities will be employers of labour and the national infrastructural campaign will be done on the back of the labour of our youthful population so you can begin to see where the jobs will come from when he said he will half the youth unemployment numbers in four years.

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

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T H I S D AY ˾ THURSDAY JANUARY 19, 2023

POLITICS

Omo-Ikirodah: Nigerians Will Reject APC at the Polls The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) House of Representatives candidate for Etsako Federal constituency in Edo State, Moses Omo-Ikirodah, in this interview with Adedayo Akinwale and Sumaina Kasim, speaks on the chances of the PDP reclaiming power at the federal level and why he is eyeing the federal parliament. Excerpts:

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ow has the campaign been?

The campaign has been going well, and we thank God for his Grace; God willing, we will be victorious.

What are your chances of winning?

My chances of winning are very high because the people are sick and tired of the APC’s inept leadership, which has only brought Nigerians sorrows, misery, and pain.

To top it all, the current National Assembly Representative for Etsako Federal Constituency, who is a product of APC has not really done well representing the people. He has only succeeded in occupying space in the green chambers with nothing tangible to take home; he is essentially a minus to the constituents of Etsako federal constituency.

What are the chances of PDP re-claiming power at the federal level?

Our chances are very good because Nigerians have read between the lines that the APC has nothing to offer Nigerians, that they have failed miserably in improving our lot, and that the people will reject them at the polls. Monitoring the mood of the people across the 36 states demonstrates unequivocally that the driver of the vehicle must be replaced. The people of Nigeria have clearly rejected the APC, so the PDP’s chances of regaining power at the centre are secure.

Omo-Ikirodah

of which I am capable and trusted.

Now is the time to harness the power of our youthful population and offer them a better future; they deserve the best, and I am willing and committed to providing them with the best services at the National Assembly.

Why are you contesting for the House of Representatives?

It is true that the House of Representatives is the most vibrant of the two chambers of the National Assembly; it is where representatives can freely express themselves and advocate for their constituents; it allows you to meet and network with fellow Nigerians from various backgrounds and competencies, as well as across gender and age groups.

Looking around, all I see are the faces of our youth, who have been neglected by their elected representatives for years. It is clear that my people do not have the basic necessities to make their lives easier. There is a glaring need for excellent representation everywhere you turn.

The people of Etsako Federal Constituency have suffered for a long time, and it is past time for people like me to take the mantle of leadership in representing the people and giving them the much-touted dividends of democracy,

How do you assess the APC-led federal government?

They have dashed the hopes of more than 200 million Nigerians and set us back, making them a colossal failure that is out of touch with reality. The fact that the leaders we put our faith in to improve Nigerians’ lot have instead turned into locusts, gnawing deeply into our shared resources and bringing Nigerians even more misery, is quite sad.

Some are of the opinion that the PDP cannot be trusted following its decision to jettison it’s zoning arrangement, how do you react to this?

This is a democracy, and the party delegates have decided that Atiku is their candidate. The zoning formula was never rejected in the first place because the PDP, a democratic party, offered its presidential ticket to candidates from all regions. The PDP did not act alone; all other political parties allowed candidates from all regions to run. Of course, the decision was made by a majority of party members, and we have accepted that it was democratic.

Recently, there have been several attacks on INEC offices in the country, are you worried?, don’t you think it can affect the 2023 elections?

A - It is a very sad development that no one in his right mind would applaud, but we have had cases of unrest and insurgencies in the past and they never stopped or affected the outcome of the elections. I urge the security agencies to be more proactive and put a stop to all these senseless activities to assure Nigerians that they

are safe and can come out to vote for the right candidates of their choice across board.

This is the time for Nigerians to correct this anomaly and reclaim their country. I am confident that nothing will derail the elections and that the PDP will emerge victorious in both the state and federal elections.

There’s a certain feelings among quarters in South-Ibie Clan that you recognised only your village, Ugiekha. They are asking for your plans for them. How do you address these issues to allay their fears?

Of course, this is not correct; I have focused my attention not only on Ugheikha but also across Etsako federal constituency, and I have done a lot for our youths, women, and elders; it is incorrect to say that I favour only my people; my constituency encompasses every village in Etsako federal constituency. So many communities within the federal constituency can attest to this well known fact.

With the total of 93 million eligible voters released by INEC last week, do you expect an increase in voter turnout in the forthcoming election compared to 2019 which recorded 35 per cent turnout?

Yes, there will be a tremendous increase due to the electorates’ increased awareness that the elections are widely respected to be free and fair, owing largely to the reverred Electoral law that saw the political high and mighty barred from voting in duly conducted National conventions to elect presidential candidates of their respective parties for the first time in Nigerian political history.

Furthermore, the average Nigerian yearns for genuine change, not the APC’s deceit and lies, which have resulted in nothing tangible for Nigerians.

Itubo: We’ll End Era of Slavery in Rivers Civil Service Governorship candidate of the Labour Party in Rivers state who also doubles as the Chairman of the Nigerian Labour Congress in the state, Mrs Beatrice Itubo, in this interview with Blessing Ibunge promised to end the era of slavery in civil service by improving the lives of civil servants and pensioners in the state, if elected during the gubernatorial poll on March.

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an we have a brief about the governorship candidate of Labour Party in Rivers state?

My name is Mrs Beatrice Itubo, the Rivers state Guber Candidate of the Labour Party, and still the Chairman of the Nigerian Labour Congress, here in the state. I am married and have grown-up kids.

In less than two months, you will be going in for the governorship election, how prepared are you for the poll?

We are very prepared, some people are defecting from their party to join us because they have seen that the wave is really strong.

In terms of campaign, we started sensitisation before now until I got this accident that slowed us down.

But by next week we are starting a full blown campaign. I think we are 100 percent ready.

What have you done to garner Rivers people’s support for your victory in March this year?

People have already known that Labour Party is the party that can’t be beaten in the election: people that we didn’t call are coming to us.

As we speak now we have gone to about 16 local government areas prior to this time and in all that theircacceptance was mind blowing, people have really come to identify with Labour Party.

Our support base is growing everyday.

We can see that the state governor, Nyesom Wike is working hard to see that his preferred PDP choice, Siminialaye Fubara succeed him in May 2023. What are you

Itubo

doing to unseat the PDP ruling party?

Good market sells itself. It is not the effort you make at trying to push someone that really works.

Yes, they have the money, they are presently in government, but we are talking to people and they really following us, they are assuring us of their votes. Most time you can see monetary inducement but in this case we don’t have, but they have seen in us that we will be able to deliver the dividends of democracy, so they are coming to associate with us and come May 29, we will be sworn in because we know Rivers people will vote for Labour Party.

Talking about money in politics, how financially are you ready or do you have sponsors?

That is an erroneous impression. To put it right first and foremost, that is why they are holding us captive because of using the money to deliver the dividends of democracy, they will starch this money and wait till election period when they can start giving people cups of rice and some items in the name of helping them.

So we are saying enough is enough. Yes, we will release money for logistics for our campaign but talking about huge expenses, that is corruption because you want you to go out and borrow money, we will not do that.

I am not doing that, we do not have any sponsor or godfather, we want to shift from paradigm of godfatherism because that is what is spoiling the state. But if they try to induce anybody with money we tell them to collect but they should vote for Labour Party on the election day.

Why do you want to be the governor of Rivers state?

It is really obvious that we have had bad leadership in the past and that is why Rivers state is static, not growing. Before now, when I was growing up, we have seen misrule leadership.

Moreso, I am coming from the part of Labour, I am the current Chairman of Nigerian Labour Congress, Rivers state chapter and know what has been happening: the workers from this party has been mistreated, the pensioners have been mistreated.

For seven years running, pensioners have not been paid gratuity and years arrears, workers

have not been promoted, no employment.

If you go to public institutions, people are retiring by the day no replacement. So we saw all these things and decided to come and create some changes. So we cannot continue this lamentations but to get into the position to begin to implement all these that are implementable.

I promise that within my 100 days in office, I will clear all the gratuity, promote every worker to the position they are supposed to be because I have the knowledge, the connections needed to make these things come to pass.

You have just listed some of the failures of the present government, can you tell us the major failure you will tackle first if you are elected?

I want to run an all encompassing government.

That is to say, every part of the state should be included in governance. We don’t want lopsided development, yes, some people will say they are building bridges everywhere, but what happens to my own local government, it is these days because of politics they want to commission all the internal roads, this is few weeks to the eight years, all these time you don’t know you are supposed to repair the internal roads in the rural areas. People are now wiser, so we run an all inclusive government and also I will respect traditional institutions, I want to bring them into the framework of governance, I want to bring them into the security architecture of governance because they are the people that are directly in the grassroot, do know these people.

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

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T H I S D AY ˾ THURSDAY, JANUARY 19, 2023

FEATURES

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

Edo Train Attack and Need for Citizens' Protection Adibe Emenyonu reports that the recent attack and subsequent abduction of 32 persons at the Tom Ikimi sub-station at Igueben, in Igueben Local Government Area of Edo State, has brought to the front burner the worrisome increase of kidnapping in the state and need for citizens to be protected at all costs

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t was a sad moment, Saturday, January 7, 2023 for travellers waiting to board a train at the Tom Ikimi, sub-station at Igueben, in Igueben Local Government Area of Edo State. Hoodlums, suspected to be herdsmen laid siege at the station, waiting like a hawk hunting for prey, before it struck at about 4:00pm.

Eyewitness Account According to eyewitness account, the hoodlums disguised themselves as passengers waiting to board the expected train coming from Warri, Delta State to Kogi State. He said while some of abductors came by vehicles, others were by the bush paths when they abducted their victims and escaped into the bush.

He identified some of those abducted among 32 persons as the Train Station Manger, Godwin Okpe; Head of Security, simply called Ikhayere; an Igueben community resident known as Victor Osarobho and the Station Ticket Clerk, also identified as Akhere.

The witness who preferred anonymity, disclosed that during the attack, the hoodlums, who were armed with AK 47 rifles, while invading the train station, shot sporadically into the air before herding unspecified number of intending travellers into the bush.

It was also gathered that after the victims had been successfully abducted, the kidnappers released two children. "It is believed that they felt the children will slow down their movements.

They dropped them in an abandoned petrol station and called the family of the mother of the children that they should go and pick the children from the place they dropped them."

"One woman also escaped with her little baby.

The woman escaped and found herself in Opoji which in Esan Central local government area," said a witness who refused to give his name for security reasons," the witness noted.

Edo Police React Immediately the incident happened, the Edo State Police Command, earlier in a statement by signed by the Public Relations Officer, Chidi Nwabuzor, issued late Saturday night, noted that during the attack, some of the passengers, sustained bullet wounds.

The text of police statement reads: "This is to inform the gentlemen of the press that today, 7th of January, 2023 at about 1600hrs, unspecified number of Herdsmen armed with AK 47 riffles attacked the train station at Igueben, Edo State and kidnapped unspecified number of passengers who were waiting to board the train to Warri.

"The kidnappers who shot sporadically into the air before kidnapping some passengers left some persons with bullet wounds. The Area Commander Irrua, DPO Igueben Division, and men have visited the scene of crime with members of Edo State Security Network, local vigilante, and hunter with a view to protect the lives and property of the remaining passengers.

"Bush Combing operations have commenced in order to rescue the victims and arrest the fleeing kidnappers. Further developmen will be communicated", the PPRO stated.

Then, the police could not give account of the exact number of persons abducted. However, at a Media briefing the following day Sunday, the Edo State Government said a total of 32 persons was abducted.

Government's Resolve However, in the cause of the briefing the state Commissioner for Communication and Orientation, Mr. Chris Nekhihare, stated that while 32 persons were confirmed to have been kidnapped, one of the kidnapped victims escaped He also gave a cheering news that one of the suspects have been apprehended and is now helping the police in their investigation.

According to him, a combined team of the Military, the Police, men of the state vigilante network and hunters are currently on the heels of the kidnappers that attacked the train station at Igueben, Igueben local government area of the state, on Saturday and abducted 32 passengers of which one escaped.

Nekhihare who gave further update on efforts of the Edo State Government to rescue the kidnapped passengers in Benin on Sunday, said: “At the moment, security personnel made up of the military and the police as well as men of the vigilante network and hunters are intensifying search and rescue operations in reasonable radius to rescue the kidnap victims. As at 3pm Sunday, one suspect has been captured and is helping Police with their investigation.

Kidnapped former Edo Assembly member, Festus Edughele who represented Esan South East State Constituency “One victim out of the 32 people kidnapped escaped from the hands of the abductors. We are confident that the other victims will be rescued in the coming hours.”

He also said that “the Deputy Governor of the State, Mr. Philip Shaibu has visited the Igueben Train Station for an on-the-spot assessment of rescue efforts and to throw government’s weight behind the security operations.”

He said the Edo State government condoles with the families of the victims for this unfortunate occurrence.

Nehikhare appealed for calm and urged citizens to assist security personnel with information of suspicious movements in and around their neighborhoods, particularly in the area where the rescue operation is taking place.

Temporary Measure by NRC Apparently as a temporary measure, the Nigeria Railway Corporation (NRC), has announced the indefinite shutdown of sub-station located at a place called Ekehen.

In a message shared on the passengers’ WhatApp Group, the Corporation said, “Public Announcement: This is to inform our general public and most especially our esteemed passengers, that Ekehen Station has been temporarily closed due to security issues, till further notice.

“Another notice reads, “Due to the incident at Ekehen station on Saturday, WITS 01/ 02 will no longer stop at Ekehen Station.

Please advise our customers," a development that was confirmed by the Edo Police Public Relations Officer.

According to a resident in the area, Mr. Odia Benson said, “The train normally arrives by 5 pm so as at about 20 minutes to that time, bandits just came through the bush part and invaded the place, and took away the station manager, took away the booking clerk and about 30 other passengers made up of males and females.

Also speaking on the development, the Liaison Officer to the Igueben local government area, Best Oseh, confirmed that security agencies and paramilitary organisations are combing the forests within in the area to get clues for possible rescue of victims and arrest of those behind the dastard act.

He said “As I speak, people are in the field all over the place, vigilante, security agencies and other people. Everybody is concerned but we have to be careful with what we divulge so that we won’t jeopardize the processes of what we are doing.

“As for the category of people kidnapped, some of them are from Igueben while others are passengers from other places and as for the number for now we are looking at over 32 but we can only give comprehensive number when preliminary investigations are concluded.”

“As I speak with you, the Deputy Governor of the state, Philip Shaibu, left the place about an hour ago, the Commissioner of Police and his men are here, men from Brigade Nigerian Army Commander are

Kidnapped Magistrate, Mrs. Precious Aigbonoga

here, the Director of the Department of State Services (DSS) and some of personnel and many paramilitary representatives are all here, including: the DPO Igueben and his men, the Esan Akatakpa Security network, the hunters association have been in the forest since last night doing bush combing. We are hoping that by the end of today, the victims will be rescued.

“The railway station is surrounded by forest, and there is no security, no police, no vigilante and they are at the mercy of God. The station is in Igeueben town, just about 1.2 km away from Igueben General Hospital.

“I think about only three of the victims are from Igueben; one of them is from Ward 8. We also had another who is married to an Igueben man but based in Warri while others are from Ekpoma, Uromi, Ubiaja, and elsewhere outside Edo State.

Traditional Ruler's React Moreover, the traditional rulers of Igueben, HRH Ehizojie Eluojierior I, Onogie of Igueben and Okaigun of Esanland, has described the incident as appalling, adding that the entire community was thrown into "unwanted silence" as the people were yet to come to terms with the kidnap.

The Enojie who confirmed the incident, added that many of such incidents had taken place in the past without being reported in the media.

He said the the mood and activities in the town are quiet but have been activated because the police, vigilantes, and the hunters are working together on the issue. "They combed the bush till midnight on Saturday and have resumed on Sunday morning.

"I hear there has been similar attempt in Delta State by bandits from other part of the country, which was repelled.

The attack took everyone by surprise and it happened at about 4pm when the train was being expected", the Onogie said.

Resolve to Rescue Victims Nevertheless, the state government has said it is not in slumber; that efforts are on to rescue the victims and at the same time, arrest the perpetrators.

In view of this, it announced through the Commissioner for Communication and Orientation, Chris Nekhihare that six more persons out of the 31 in custody of kidnappers in the Saturday abduction, have been rescued by a combined team of security agencies.

The government spokesman who reiterated his principal resolve to rescue the remaining hostages, said Obaseki, assured that the train passengers would be released soon. According to him, those rescued are a 65 year-old man, a mother and her baby, two sibling another person, adding that two more of the abductors have been arrested making the figure three so far in connection

with the kidnap saga.

“Our Governor, Mr Godwin Obaseki, spoke with me this morning to share the latest information on the efforts being made by the military, police and personnel drawn from other security agencies, including the vigilante and hunters who know the bushes like their backyards to ensure the kidnapped passengers are released soon," the Commissioner declared However, while reeling out the success so far achieved to ensure rescue of the remaining persons still in the kidnappers dean, information filtered in on the kidnap o three persons: a serving Magistrate, former lawmaker of the state assembly within the same axis the 32 persons were hauled away into a vehicle and bush path.

The three kidnapped persons were identified as Festus Edughele, former member, representing Esan South East constituency, in the Edo State House of Assembly; a Customary Court Magistrate, Mrs. Precious Aigbonoga; and another person who is said to be with the kidnapped lawmaker. The three new victims were whisked away Monday morning Investigations revealed that while Mrs Aigbonoga was around Ugoneki on her way to court in Igueben, Festus Edughele with his co-traveller were also kidnapped by suspected gunmen in Ubiaja while on their way to Benin.

Incidentally, Mrs Precious Aigbonoga is the wife of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate for Etsako West Constituency I, Mr. Afebu Aigbonoga.

NBA Condemns Worrisome Kidnapping In a statement, Publicity Secretary of the Nigeria Bar Association (NBA), Benin branch, Festus Osagie, Usiobaifo, said the Edo Chairman of NBA, Chief Nosa Francis Edo-Osagie and members are deeply sad by this development and condemns, in strong terms, the worrisome insensitivity of these bandits in kidnapping Mrs Precious Aigbonoga; an easygoing, gentle, and hardworking judicial officer.

He said the NBA is working in league with the state Commissioner of Police, Mohammed Adamu Dankwara, adding that by the grace of God Almighty, the kidnapped Magistrate shall be rescued unhurt, and the bandits brought to book.

The abduction of Edughele, and the man with him was said to occured while they were travelling from Ubiaja to Benin to board a plane to Abuja. A former deputy Speaker of the state House of Assembly, Festus Ebea, who confirmed the incident said his former colleague intended earlier to board the now suspended train service from Ubeaja to Abuja but changed his mind after the news of kidnap broke out Ebea said, "He was kidnapped this morning in Ubiaja on his way from Orhionmwon to Benin to board a plane. He had intended to take the train for Ubeaja but he could do so since the train services has been suspended. The family is aware of his kidnap, the police division in that area has been informed and we hope action will be taken to rescue him."

As at last Wednesday, the joint security teams have rescued the remaining two Igueben train station kidnap victims, while they arrested seven persons in connection to the crime, including two village chiefs and others.

THURSDAY JANUARY 19, 2023 • T H I S D AY

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20 T H I S D AY THURSDAY JANUARY 19, 2023 TR

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Thursday January 19, 2023 Vol 27. No 10142

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opinion@thisdaylive.com

www.thisdaylive.com

FOR JAHMAN OLADEJO ANIKULAPO: THE MUSIC NEVER STOPS NIYI OSUNDARE pays tribute to Anikulapo, journalist, committed artand-culture activist, at age 60

See page 21 ANTHONY ANI, CALABAR OBONG AND PALACE DEMOCRACY The tussle over the Obong of Calabar holds lessons for all, writes OLUSEGUN ADENIYI

See page 21

EDITORIAL

PSYCHOTROPIC DRUGS AND INSECURITY

22

1

The recent increase in power tariffs is yet another affront to the endurance of Nigerians, writes MONDAY PHILIPS EKPE

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What have Nigerians done to deserve this sort of crude treatment? Is this the price we pay for complacency and cowardice? One dilemma we’re faced with today is that nobody seems to protect anybody from anything

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Dr Ekpe is a member of THISDAY Editorial Board

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THURSDAY JANUARY 19, 2023

NIYI OSUNDARE pays tribute to Anikulapo, journalist, committed artand-culture activist, at age 60

FOR JAHMAN OLADEJO ANIKULAPO: THE MUSIC NEVER STOPS 1LJHULD·V $UWV DQG &XOWXUH FRPPXQLW\ announcing.

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The tussle over the Obong of Calabar holds lessons for all, writes OLUSEGUN ADENIYI

ANTHONY ANI, CALABAR OBONG AND PALACE DEMOCRACY Continued from the backpage Notwithstanding, Ani entered the UDFH VHHNLQJ D VSHFLDO GLVSHQVDWLRQ E\ introducing the strange concept of ‘micro ]RQLQJ· +LV FODLP ZDV WKDW LQ :HVWHUQ &DODEDU LW ZDV WKH WXUQ RI KLV ,NRQHWR homestead to produce the Obong hence he RXJKW WR EH JLYHQ ULJKW RI ÀUVW UHIXVDO +LV request had no precedent and was turned GRZQ E\ WKH (WXERPV ZKR ZHQW RQ WR HOHFW $EDVL 2WX DV 2ERQJ :LWK WKDW $QL OHIW WKH PDWWHU LQ WKH KDQGV RI KLV ODZ\HU RQH RI WKH best in the country: Joe Agi, SAN. ,Q -DQXDU\ $QL VHFXUHG D MXGJHPHQW

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whatsoever among the Kingmakers.”

The statement was signed by its then chairman, Etubom Micah Archibong, and secretary, Etubom Okon Etim Okon Asuquo.

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Adeniyi is Chairman, THISDAY Editorial Board

22 4

T H I S D AY

THURSDAY JANUARY 19, 2023

EDITORIAL

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

PSYCHOTROPIC DRUGS AND INSECURITY All the stakeholders must do more to check the menace

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T H I S D AY ˾ THURSDAY, JANUARY 19, 2023

23

BUSINESSWORLD R A T E S MONEY MARKET

A S

A T

REPO

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

08056356325

J A N U A R Y

S & P INDEX

1 8 , 2 0 2 3

S & P INDEX

EXCHANGE RATE

OPR

11.25%

CALL

10.25%

INDEX LEVEL

613.31%

1/4 TO DATE

-0.85%

N416.86/ 1 US DOLLAR*

OVERNIGHT

11.50%

1-MONTH

9.56%

1-DAY

0.16%

YEAR TO DATE

7.64%

*AS AT LAST FRIDAY

3-MONTH

10.52%

MONTH-TO-DATE

0.44%

Report: Weak Responses to Cybersecurity, Obsolete Computing Resources, Others Will Heighten Threats in 2023

Emma Okonji The latest report released by Cyber Security Experts Association of Nigeria (CSEAN), has forecasted increase in cyber threats in 2023 in Nigeria, which is an election year.

CSEAN, an advocacy group on all matters relating to information security in Nigeria, said although the expected rise in cyber threats would cut across globe in 2023, it however said Nigeria became peculiar, owing to government’s weak responses to cybersecurity issues, outdated

government computing resources, upcoming 2023 general elections, the economic situation in the country, lack of transparency in reporting security breaches, increase in the emigration of cybersecurity professionals, and a lack of coordination among organisations within the same sector.

The report said cyber security experts, in 2022, saw a significant increase in the complexity and impact of cyber threats worldwide, including Nigeria, which formed the basis for CSEAN’s collection and analysis of data from various sources, to present

its forecast of cyber threats for 2023.

Analysing the report, one of the team members, Oluwafemi Osho, said the cyber threats were categorized under two sections: Election-related threats and Regular and emerging threats.

According to Osho, “I the area of 2023 elections and the deluge of cyber threats, it is expected that there will be a significant amount of misinformation and disinformation circulated through social media platforms in the run-up to, during, and after the 2023 general elections.

We are very likely to experience the weaponizaon of manipulated information to influence people’s perceptions and behaviours in relation to the elections. This can seriously affect the integrity of the electoral process and undermine public trust in democratic institutions.

Disinformation, specifically related to the elections, is likely to increase, with political parties potentially hiring foreign actors to create and disseminate false or misleading information.”

Osho therefore advised social

media platforms and government agencies to take steps to address the spread of misinformation and disinformation, such as through fact-checking efforts and public education campaigns.

Another team member, John Odumesi, explained that in the past, Nigerian elections have been marred by instances of hate speech and threatening expressions by politicians. “This trend is highly likely to continue as the 2023 general elections draw closer. Hate speech language can incite violence and

create a toxic political environment.

Political actors need to refrain from using hate speech and promote a respectful and peaceful campaign.

It is also the responsibility of the government and relevant authorities to take action against hate speech and ensure that the elections are conducted in a fair and peaceful manner,” Odumesi said.

Other team members from CSEAN, Hamzat Lateef and Hassanat Abdulraheem, were of the view that Continued on page 25

‘Wide Data Analytics Required for Nigeria’s Companies to Deepen Economy’ Raheem Akingbolu Core Investment in wide data analytics, which can help clients make informed decisions are necessary in this era of turbulent economy in Nigeria, a former President of Experiential Marketing Association of Nigeria, Kehinde Salami, has said.

Speaking to THISDAY on the urgent need for marketing agencies to strengthen their practice, Salami, who is also the Chief Executive

Officer at Ideas House Limited, a marketing activation firm, called for full and extensive collaboration between business owners and agencies alike.

He also proposed shared learning and structured training programs with measurable KPI’s to drive revenue.

He said: “Yes, the global economy is currently troubled but supporting firm that are relied upon for advisory services, strategies and sometimes marketing should go

extra mile to boost the fortune of their clients. Among others, we must encourage data analytics because it helps businesses optimise their performances. Implementing it into the business model means companies can help reduce costs by identifying more efficient ways of doing business and by storing large amounts of data. This will also help analyze customer trends and satisfaction, which can lead to new—and better—products and services. The bottom line is that

it will guide business owners to out their resources where it would add value.”

While pointing out that EXMAN was leading the charge in this area for an industry wide data and insights analytics, the expert added that experiential practice needed to get to a point where it becomes scientific and that this could only happen with proper data framework and mining.

“As far as strengthening agencies is concerned, effective financial

capacity, training, and internal process improvement / investment are great starting points,” Salami added.

The expert, who urged service providers to stop hyping the possible marketing revenue that 2023 general election could bring, said the year is already overwhelmed by various challenges already staring businesses. Though he admitted that the first quarter would be hugely impacted by political activities, he was quick

to add that economic environment is tougher than was previously the case hence advertising budgets for campaigns have been affected.

“If 2022 is anything to go by, I expect 2023 to be a remarkable year for the marketing communications industry. From my personal experience, election years are traditionally recordbreaking years particularly for those in Experiential Marketing.

Continued on page 25

M A R K E T D ATA A S AT W E D N E S D AY, J A N U A R Y 1 8 , 2 0 2 3 BONDS DESCRIPTION Price ^14.20 14MAR-2024 ^13.53 23MAR-2025 ^12.50 22JAN-2026 ^16.2884 17MAR-2027 ^13.98 23FEB-2028

10.362, 00 10.459, 00 10.287, 00 11.168, 00 10.386, 00

Yield 10.82 11.11 11.35 12.60 12.92

Change Updated Time (%) -0.01 January 6, 2023 -0.71 January 6, 2023 0.00 January 6, 2023 0.00 January 6, 2023 0.00 January 6, 2023

BILLS MATURITY

Discount

Yield

NTB 26-Jan23 NTB 9-Feb23 NTB 9-Mar23 NTB 27-Apr23

3.01

3.01

3.01

3.02

2.21

2.22

3.20

3.23

NTB 11May-23

3.23

3.27

OTC F X F U T U R E S

CPS

Change Updated Time (%) 6, -0.01 January 2023 6, 0.00 January 2023 6, -1.71 January 2023 6, 0.00 January 2023 6, 0.00 January 2023

MATURITY FDHP CP III 17-MAR-23 VHPL CP III 1-APR-23 MREP CP VI 11-APR-23

Change Updated Time (%) 6, 9.26 9.43 0.00 January 2023 6, 14.15 14.64 0.00 January 2023 6, 10.52 10.81 -0.01 January 2023

Discount Yield

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CONTRACT TENOR Contract (MONTH) NGUS JAN 25 1 2023 NGUS FEB 22 2 2023 NGUS MAR 29 3 2023 NGUS APR 26 4 2023 NGUS MAY 31 5 2023

Current Rate Updated Time ($/₦) January 6, 469.87 2023 January 6, 472.05 2023 January 6, 474.23 2023 January 6, 476.42 2023 January 6, 478.60 2023

24

THURSDAY, JANUARY 19, ͰͮͰͱ ˾ T H I S D AY

BUSINESSWORLD

BRANDS & MARKETING

Food Industry Excited as New Offering Enters Market Raheem Akingbolu examines the recently introduced food solutions by Freddy Hirsch Nigeria and its likely impact in the market

2

022 has been a difficult year for many people across the world.

Several contending external factors including the Russia/Ukraine war among many others have created a multiplier effect which continues to impact considerably on food availability and food prices in Nigeria as in many parts of the world. In Nigeria, food availability and pricing is further worsened by insecurity in some parts of the country.

To make matters even much worse, in the latter part of 2022, the country was shocked to witness large scale destruction of farmlands across more than 20 states of Nigeria, on account of flooding. Even though the floods have now receded, the impact of the destruction of farmlands will reflect negatively on food availability and cost in the coming year.

It is in the light of these developments, among others, that one must welcome every genuine effort towards value addition in food especially by way of preserving it or enhancing it. With much of the world tottering on the edge of a food crisis, individuals and organizations alike, in the food value chain must now put on their thinking caps in order to help guide the world through what is clearly a difficult stint for many especially the world’s poorest people.

It is perhaps in the light of this, that there appears to be quite some excitement in food industry circles about the recent introduction of texture and stabilizer solutions into the Nigerian market by Freddy Hirsch, a company best known as a producer and distributor of spices, ingredients and flavours for the food, dairy and confectionary industries.

A food stabilizer, by the way, helps to preserve food as well enhance the natural texture, taste, presentation of the food as well as the feel-in-the-mouth, among others. As Kojo Brifo the company’s Managing Director pointed out while introducing the texture and stabilizer solutions, “Freddy Hirsch texture and stabilizer solutions help to preserve food and minimize wastage.” He added: “They help to optimize value for every Naira spent on food.”

Beyond preserving food, the food texture and stabilizer solutions also help to make the food considerably more enticing and therefore more appetizing. Of course, the end-result here once again, is that with a greater likelihood of consumption, food wastage is minimized.

The improvements that have been heralded by the food texture and stabilizer solutions have been very well received in key industries in the food value chain. In bakeries for instance, operatives are enthused by the fact that the texture and stabilizer solutions help to preserve bread, keeping the texture, soft for longer and also improving the taste and looks. A baker, Adekunle Adebisi, who spoke with this reporter acknowledged that his company only just started using the texture and stabilizer solutions but added that the impact so far has been impressive. According to Adebisi, “even though we haven’t used it over a long time, we are seeing an improvement in the rate at which people buy our bread. The quality of our bread has improved.”

Another baker, Raheemot Subair, said she was initially hesitant to try out the texture and stabilizer solutions when they were introduced to her bakery.

“But about a month ago, we tried it and the result was very good. Our bread looks nicer and tastes even better than before,” she said. But even more importantly, she added, “people tell us that the bread remains fresh for a longer time and that it tends to last longer than before.”

In the ice-cream segment, the feedback from companies which have adopted the texture and stabilizer solutions is similar to that of their bakery counterparts.

According to Juliet Sagbama, who runs an events company, Everything Entertainment, “we make ice-cream for dessert by our clients. It’s something we do ourselves, so we are very particular about the quality because our brand name is at stake.” She added that the Freddy Hirsch texture and stabilizer solutions “have actually helped us to create better-tasting ice-cream. Even we ourselves can tell that the ice-cream has become much better now that we use the texture and stabilizer solutions, than before.”

In the dairy industry, the story is no different. Operatives are witnessing considerable improvement in product shelf lives as well as generally improved products.

Freddy Hirsch was founded in 1956 and has in the years since that time, steadily entrenched a reputation in the food industry as an innovator that, among others, caters to authentic African tastes.

According to Brifo, “As a company founded in Africa and firmly rooted in Africa, we understand the African taste bud better than anyone else and are wellpositioned to be the partner of choice to global and indigenous beverages, bakery, dairy, confectionary, meat, snacks and other food-affiliated industries.”

Continuing, Brifo said that the company was actually behind the most ‘flavourful experiences’ in many West African dishes, snacks and sweet goods. “As an indigenous producer of extracts for spices, ingredients and flavours, we know the diverse tastes and needs across Africa and are able to leverage our understanding of the unique taste requirements of Africans to preserve and create new innovative options aligned with their choices,” Brifo said.

Emphasizing on the importance of the new texture and stabilizer solutions, Brifo said that the solutions have emerged from the crucible of years of diligent research and development. The company, he stated, is innovation-driven and will not rest on its laurels but will continue to innovate in order to deliver value to all its stakeholders. “Our vision is to emerge as an indispensable intermediary in the food value chain in Nigeria and the rest of West Africa, providing end-to-end solutions for the entire food industry,” Brifo further said.

“The current food situation in globally and in Nigeria in particular, makes it imperative for the food industry to be increasingly innovative, if we are to achieve the major objectives of the Sustainable Development Goals especially as they pertain to hunger and eradication of poverty,” Brifo added

Benchmarking Excellent Delivery in Care Service Industry The management of the Arrows Care Solutions is deploring various marketing techniques to give it a top of the mind awareness in the market, writes Raheem Akingbolu

T

he submission of a former dot.com executive and bestselling author, Seth Godin’s definition of what a brand is has always fascinated many brand managers.

According to Godin, “A brand is the set of expectations, memories, stories and relationships that, taken together, account for a consumer’s decision to choose one product or service over another.”

When people talk about brands, they think primarily of the visual representations like logos, colours and all those outward elements put together by brand and marketing experts. But in the real sense of it, the essence of a brand is far beyond those attributes.

Perhaps this explains why Arrowshot Care Solutions stands out as a vibrant and dynamic brand with strong focus on professionalism, quality standards and training to the growing care sector in Nigeria As found on the brand’s profile, Arrowshot maintains strong adherence to global standards. The standards it aims to achieve and maintain are at the levels of the UK’s 15 Fundamental Standards of Care set by the UK’s Care Quality Commission (CQC). These are standards that have been developed over

professional approach, best quality training and continual knowledge update in the cares service sector.

The brand also focused on integrity by ensuring ethical standards is followed. The company conducts background checks on its staff prior to employment.

The need to provide Care is the utmost focus of Arrowshot care solutions. The company provides care naturally for the people as Care is the attitude to deliver service to clients’ .This also makes the brand acts in the best interest of the clients.

Arrowshot care solutions is also constantly uploading the knowledge in the sector .The brand focuses on best practices and can match services provided anywhere in the world. Arrowshot is indeed a brand that personifies quality service and professionalism. It exemplifies the values of superior service delivery in order to showcase the fact that Nigerians can deliver cutting edge services that can compete favorably THE VALUES The Arrowshot brand is synonymous globally.

The arrow shot is poised to raise with its core values which further exemplify the brand. Professionalism the bar of service delivery and ensure makes the brand stand out for its strict adherence to ethical standards. time as the care sector developed in the UK. This is the level of training Arrowshot care service us providing for staff.

The CEO Arrows care solutions; Dapo Olugbodi. believes professionalism is the hallmark of the care industry. With technical knowhow and expertise, services can be provided in the care sector acceding to acceptable global standards. The care service providers are required to provide everyday care, providing support and caring for the clients. Arrowshot care solutions bring on board high level technical knowhow and expertise.

In essence, Arrowshot care solutions believe in professionalism and best practices in the discharge of its professional service. He emphasized the need for best quality training in order to differentiate the care industry in Nigeria. The need for huge investment in human capital development is desired to accelerate the growth of the care industry in Nigeria.

CORE MESSAGE Arrowshot care solutions offer value for clients in the industry. Nigerians should demand top notch services that can be provided across the globe. Care services are about professionalism and trustworthiness .Clients should be treated with utmost dignity and respect. The service provided in Nigeria can compete favorably with others globally.

Human capital development provides the basis for productivity and expected outcome of quality service delivery.

BRAND FOCUS The arrowshot care solutions brand is strongly focused on excellent customer service. It should be stated that clients should expect accountability through our services. We have developed a system that promotes accountability and utmost sense of responsibility. We indeed have a consciousness of the standard that should be achieved.

To enhance qualitative service delivery, Arrowshot care solutions is poised to collaborate with the government in developing the Care Service sector and helping in bringing regulations that will foster innovation and accountability while ensuring the industry is not hamstrung with bureaucracy and red tape.

T H I S D AY ˾ THURSDAY, JANUARY 19, 2023

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BUSINESSWORLD

NEWS

CELEBRATING 20TH ANNIVERSARY…

L-R: Chief Executive Officer, Interswitch eClat, Dr. Wallace Ogufere; Executive Vice President, Marketing and Corporate Communications, Interswitch Group, Cherry Eromosele; Governor of Edo State, Mr. Godwin Obaseki and Founder/ Group Managing Director, Interswitch, Mitchell Elegbe, at the Interswitch 20th Anniversary Ball which held in Lagos… recently

Google Restates Commitment to Safer Ad, Releases Latest Data Emma Okonji Google has restated its commitments to protect and support people about their privacy online.

At the Africa Ads and Privacy immersion for Africa press in Nigeria, South Africa and Kenya, which held online on Tuesday with the theme: Rethinking the Digital Future to Enhance the Ads-supported Web, the Managing Director, Google Africa, Nitin Gajria, said there was need to earn people’s trust by building responsible, private advertising to secure a future for the adsupported web that is safer for

people, stronger for businesses, and successful for publishers.

According to Gajria, “For generations, ads have funded our favourite content, from newspapers, magazines, and entertainment to the web. Today 66 per cent of the world is online.

The ad-supported internet model has become a remarkable resource for humanity, putting an explosion of tools, information, and content at our fingertips. As people manage more of their lives online, their concerns over how personal data is gathered, used, and shared have grown. In the last five years, search interest in private browsing increased by

over 60 per cent in Nigeria, over 30 per cent in South Africa, and over 110 per cent in Kenya. Kenya is the 15th country in the world that searched most for private browsing in the last five years and the African country that searched most for the topic. 2022 was the year Kenya, South Africa, and Nigeria searched most for private browsing since 2012.”

Gajria however said it could also be surprising how damaging a bad privacy experience online could be.

“Users view bad privacy experiences as almost as damaging as a theft of their data. It’s enough to make many of them switch to another brand, and it’s almost

impossible to recover from. The impact of a negative privacy experience outweighs that of a positive one, so once the damage is done, it would be hard to bring customers back,” Gajria said.

Trust and Safety Director for EMEA at Google, Brian Crowley, who gave details of the number of bad ads pulled down by Google over the years in order to protect online users, said: “In 2018, a total 2.3 billion bad ads were removed, with 734 thousand publisher terminations and one million bad advertiser accounts actions. In 2019, 2.7 billion bad ads were removed with 1.2 million publisher terminations and 21

million publisher pages ads were removed. In 2020, 3.1 billion bad ads were removed with 1.6 million publisher site-level actions and 1.3 billion publisher pages ads were removed. In 2021, 3.4 billion bad ads were removed, and 5.6 million advertiser accounts suspended.”

In October last Google launched My Ad Center globally, that enables people to see and control how their data is used to show them ads on Search, Discover and YouTube.

WEMA Bank Deploys Kachasi Trade Finance Software

Emma Okonji

Customs Intercepts Hard Drugs, Military, Po l i ce Hardwa r e At Lagos Air p or t The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), has announced the interception of hard drugs, Military and Police hardware at the cargo section of the domestic wing of the Muritala Muhammed Airport (MMA), Lagos.

Customs Area Controller of the Muritala Muhammed Airport Command (MMAC), Compt. Sambo Dangaladima, who disclosed this in a chat with newsmen said the drugs consist 162 cartons of banned Tramadol hydrochloride 225 & 250mg, Military and Police hardwares which were intercepted at the Skyway Aviation Handling Company (SAHCO).

According to him, the hard drugs originated from India and Pakistan and were routed through AddisAbaba, had an estimated Duty Paid Value (DPV) of N13.8billion which include 92,387 packs, 929,970 sachets and 9,299,700 tablets.

He said, “these milligrams (225&250mg) are above allowable thresholds as contained in the extant laws. The hard drugs originated from India and Pakistan and they are routed through Addis-Ababa to Lagos. In summary we have a total of 162 cartons/92,387 packs/929,970 sachets /9,299,700 tablets of Tramadol Hydrochloride with a DPV of N13.8billion which will be handed over to NDLEA by this Command. We are also handing over the suspect by name, Samson Olayiwan Tantolohun of 29 Okejide Street, Ejigbo, Lagos.”

On the Military and Police hardwares, Dangaladima said 309 pieces of military helmets; 106 pieces of Military Armless Jackets; 352 pieces of ballistic body armored pads and 119 pieces of Police Badges were intercepted.

Other intercepted contraband

are five pieces of bullet proof jackets; 33 pieces of body side ballistic pads and 105 pieces of ballistic chest plates.

He stated that a suspect, Olaolu Marquis, was arrested for inability to provide End Users Certificate, saying the service is empowered by section 46B of the Customs Excise and Management Act. He said, “We intercepted and detained some Military hardware and uniforms from two AWBs,11811860343/3 and118-18860332/5, with the following 309 pieces of military helmets; 106 pieces of Military Armless Jackets; 352 pieces of ballistic body armored pads and 119 pieces of Police Badges.

“Others are five pieces of bullet proof jackets; 33 pieces of body side ballistic pads and 105 pieces of ballistic chest plates.

The suspect connected to this

importation could not provide the end user certificate, which is the lawful prerequisites for such Importation. We have detained the suspects, Mr Olaolu Marquis, and the military wares while investigation is ongoing.

“We are very much mindful of the fact that 2023 is an election year in Nigeria, the inflow of traffic of this hard drugs that induce our youths to do extraordinary things (when taken) are bound to increase.

I can assure the unscrupulous importers that MMAC is the most dangerous routes for their illicit trade, because we are always here to catch them and ensure that they face the wrath of the law.”

The CAC, however, stated that the command generated N69.77billion between January to December, 2022.

They can choose to see less of the ads they don’t want to see, and this works for both users and advertisers.

In addition to giving people control of how their data is used now, Google introduced the Privacy Sandbox, which is a Google opensource initiative in partnership with the global advertising industry to find solutions for a more private internet, both for the web and on mobile apps.

Wema Bank Limited, a financial services provider, has gone live on Kachasi Trade Finance Software in order to achieve full automation of the trade finance operations.

Union Systems Limited, who made the disclosure in a recent statement, said the bank went live on the software on August 15, 2022.

According to the statement, the journey began in March 2022 when WEMA Bank chose Union System’s Kachasi over all other international trade finance software in the market.

Kachasi is the first indigenous trade finance software application built to automate the entire lifecycle of international and domestic trade finance operations, and it is the result of over 20 years of experience implementing and customising various international trade finance software applications for banks across Africa. The software is the first of its kind, light years ahead in terms of its intuitive design and functionalities.

Divisonal Head of Operations and General Service at WEMA Bank, Tajudeen Bakare, said as Africa’s first

fully digital bank, WEMA Bank was again at the forefront of providing innovative digital solutions to its customers, following the successful deployment of the software.

According to Bakare, “We are pleased to be joining the league of banks around the world that are using technology to transform trade finance operations. This project will significantly reduce turnaround time, improve operational efficiency, and unlock new revenue streams for the bank. It will also improve the bank’s ability to respond quickly to regulatory policies and updates” Speaking on the project, Divisional Head, Client Service, Union Systems Limited, Seun Adeleye, said: “Our enterprise project delivery methodology, superior domain expertise, and the Wema Bank team’s matching determination, dedication, and support resulted in the project being completed in a record time of four months. This has been a model implementation, demonstrating what can be accomplished through effective collaboration between African financial institutions and competent indigenous technology vendors.”

It’s unfortunate that political advertising which should be a big part of what our industry

contributes and benefits from to is fast going extinct for several reasons,” Salami further said.

‘WIDE DATA ANALYTICS REQUIRED FOR NIGERIA’S COMPANIES TO DEEPEN ECONOMY’ And the reasons for this are not far-fetched. As election fever kicks in, money flows and trickles

down the value chain. With this, consumers are able to buy more and do more albeit temporarily.

With increased confidence and appetite for spending, Fast Moving Consumer Goods

(FMCG) companies particularly enjoy improved sales and sound business performance.

REPORT: WEAK RESPONSES TO CYBERSECURITY, OBSOLETE COMPUTING RESOURCES, OTHERS WILL HEIGHTEN THREATS IN 2023 the public has the right to accurate and reliable information to make informed decisions about their leaders. “Regrettably, we have seen reports of private information being made public to malign individuals or groups. There have also been instances where true information was shared out of context in an attempt to mislead the public. Over the next year, we will witness more of such occurrences in the lead-up to the elections. Such behaviours

are unethical and can create a toxic political environment. Politicians have the responsibility not only to provide accurate and reliable information to the public but also to refrain from sharing private or true information out of context to mislead the public,” they said.

In the area of regular and emerging threats, the report envisaged an increase in the exploitation of computing resources of government establishments for malicious use. The

report further explained that more government-related data would be ex-filtrated.

“Based on the data gathered this year, we found threat actors ex-filtrating critical information and maliciously leveraging government computing resources, including mining cryptocurrency and setting up Internet Relay Chat (IRC) platforms. Findings also revealed activities related to credential the and backdoor setup. Threat actors

leverage outdated and vulnerable internet-facing applications in most of these identified facilities. Government establishments need to be aware of these potential threats and take steps to secure their computing resources and protect them against data ex-filtration. This may involve regularly updating and patching internet-facing applications and systems to ensure they are not vulnerable to exploitation,” the report said.

As one of the most common attacking tools preferred by cyber threat actors, malware will continue to be relied on by the actors in 2023.

If they want to be secure from malware infection, individuals and organizations will do well to keep their operating systems and software up to date, adopt a strong password policy, ensure periodic backing up of data, and be cautious with clicking links, the report further said.

The report explained that small

and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) suffered increased password stealing, Internet and Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) attacks in 2022, compared to 2021, and that the trend would likely to continue in 2023. The report therefore advised that SMEs must be aware of the cyber risks associated with their business and take necessary steps to protect their systems, since SMEs may be easier targets for cyber threat actors for several reasons.

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THURSDAY, JANUARY 19, ͰͮͰͱ ˾ T H I S D AY

BUSINESSWORLD

NEWS

Lagos Hosts Nigeria’s Top 50 Digital Economy Enablers Nosa Alekhuogie

Lagos, Nigeria’s commercial capital, is hosting the opening edition of Nigeria’s Top 50 Digital Economy Enablers February 14, 2023 at the Sheraton Hotel and Towers.

Nigeria’s Digital Economy is evolving positively in spite of a diversity of challenges for organisations in the public and private sectors.

Inspired by the need to express both the challenges and the iconic actors that have emerged to drive Africa’s fastest growing digital economy, the continent’s major tech-biz publication, published since 2007, IT Edge News Africa and its Partners will be focusing on Nigeria’s Leading Lights referencing Nigeria’s Top 50 Digital Economy Enablers at an Industry Colloquium and Award Ceremony this February

just before as the country goes to the poll to elect new political leaders. The one day industry event is featuring Nigeria’s Top 50 Digital Economy Enablers Recognition Ceremony; an Industry Networking Lunch; Nigeria Digital Economy Special Report; and the forum on ‘Nigeria’s Digital Economy – Myth or Fact?’

According to the Project Team Lead, Dr. Sola Afolabi, The event is “a platform for industry Recognition, Industry Stock-Taking & Industry Insights with a view to provide a guide as to what direction Nigeria’s entire spectrum of ICT ecosystem will take as the transition for a new government begins.”

He further said: “This event is driven by collaboration of stakeholders within and outside the media to ensure a wide, and more inclusive selection

of the sector’s leading lights as well as to offer a broader understanding of the challenges and the inspirations that drive Africa’s largest ICT market. Event partners include TechEconomy; ITPulse; TechandBiz.com; and TechTV (NTA).

Also, while the event is focusing on the leading lights within the rank of CEOs/ Director Generals across corporate Nigeria, the Nigeria’s Top 50 Digital Economy Enablers team recognises the great efforts by certain members of management in helping to drive the agenda of their organisations’ at advancing Nigeria’s digital economy agenda.

The event will be specially recognising the commitment of certain individuals in being not just their organizations’ voices but also articulate purveyors of themes of progress around Nigeria’s Digital Economy.

Bullseye Digital Manpower to Drive Tech Education, Empowerment Emma Okonji Recent graduates of higher institutions, secondary school leavers with intermediate technology knowledge, professionals in the early years of their careers or even those more advanced in their careers desirous of a career switch to technology can now sign up for Bullseye Digital Manpower.

Bullseye Digital Manpower is a technology-focused job placement and career management brand, set to launch in Lagos, to empower millions of Nigerians with highly sought-after digital technology competencies such as software development, software quality assurance, UI/UX design, data science, and digital marketing within six or 12 months.

With courses spanning six or 12 months and classes held on weekdays or only weekends, Bullseye will empower people with ample opportunities to gain hands-on experience during their programme, after which they would be placed in technology jobs with organisations across different industries in Nigeria and beyond.

Already, the institution is set to admit the first stream of students into its software development programme. In the coming weeks, other courses would be introduced in addition to the software development courses and would also follow Bullseye’s robust curriculum which is guaranteed to set them on the right path to achieving their career goals and life ambitions Students also have the option of making one-off payment, in installments, or access a friendly facility payable within three years after their post-graduation job placement when they would already be earning.

Its Founder, Lare Ayoola, a serial entrepreneur who doubles as Chairman of Tranter IT, said: “Bullseye will address some of the major challenges in the technology and human capital management industries, including the high attrition rate of talent, the increasing lack of specialised skills in technology, and the rising global demand for local talent, among others.”

With Bullseye, recruiters will have a ready pool of trained and experienced talent to fill openings; well-meaning organisations like NGOs, international organisations, professional bodies and governments at all levels can also support the national quest

towards capacity development, by sponsoring interested enrolees of their choice; while other training

institutions can leverage Bullseye’s talent placement proposition to secure jobs for their trainees.

Interswitch Hosts 20th Year Anniversary Grand Finale Nosa Alekhuogie

Africa’s leading integrated payments and digital commerce company, Interswitch, has wrapped up its 20th anniversary celebrations with the Interswitch Ball event which took place recently at Eko Convention Center, Victoria Island, Lagos.

The event, which drew top government functionaries, representatives from the financial services sector, captains of industry, customers, employees, and other wellwishers, was an evening of good speeches and entertainment.

Members of the Board of Directors of Interswitch, led by the Board Chairman and Lord Lieutenant of Greater London, Sir. Ken Olisa OBE were also present to add pomp and pageantry to the celebrations.

In his goodwill message, which was broadcast during the event, the Vice President of Nigeria, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, commended the payment company’s pivotal role in shaping and growing Nigeria’s payment system over the past two decades. Speaking about Interswitch, he said: “It’s incredible that what began as a noble idea, has in barely two decades, become something

of an icon of technology and innovation, literally pioneering Africa’s ongoing fintech revolution.”

Governor of Edo state, Mr. Godwin Obaseki, who was present to celebrate the milestone, congratulated the organization on the milestone and applauded Interswitch for being a laudable example of the good that can come out of Nigeria.

The anniversary celebrations, which kicked off in August 2022 with the launch of a campaign themed, ‘Never Stop’, has amplified Interswitch’s innovative milestones in the digital payment ecosystem, designing products and solutions that have, for two decades, continued to drive prosperity across Africa.

The theme ‘Never Stop’, has resonated across all of the Group’s activities; from Interswitch Connect, which featured the launch of innovative tech solutions, to the launch of the Payment Innovation Jury report, and the commemorative editions of the biggest fitness event across Africa - VerveLife and InterswitchSPAK National Science Competition.

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THURSDAY, JANUARY 19, 2023 • T H I S D AY

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

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

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

floor of the Nigerian Stock Exchange.

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

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

GUIDE TO DATA: Date: All fund prices are quoted in Naira as at 17Jan-2023, unless otherwise stated.

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

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

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

DAILY PRICE LIST FOR MUTUAL FUNDS, REITS and ETFS MUTUAL FUNDS / UNIT TRUSTS AFRINVEST ASSET MANAGEMENT LTD aaml@afrinvest.com Web: www.afrinvest.com; Tel: +234 818 885 6757 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Afrinvest Equity Fund 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 Afrinvest Dollar Fund N/A N/A N/A AIICO CAPITAL LTD ammf@aiicocapital.com Web: www.aiicocapital.com, Tel: +234-1-2792974 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn AIICO Money Market Fund 100.00 100.00 13.00% AIICO Balanced Fund 3.81 3.87 12.33% ANCHORIA ASSET MANAGEMENT LIMITED info@anchoriaam.com Web:www.anchoriaam.com, Tel: 08166830267; 08036814510; 08028419180 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Anchoria Money Market 100.00 100.00 10.29% Anchoria Equity Fund 151.60 153.31 4.25% Anchoria Fixed Income Fund 1.24 1.24 0.59% info@anchoriaam.com ARM INVESTMENT MANAGERS LTD enquiries@arminvestmentcenter.com Web: www.arm.com.ng; Tel: 0700 CALLARM (0700 225 5276) Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn ARM Aggressive Growth Fund 22.78 23.46 12.29% ARM Discovery Balanced Fund 536.04 552.20 18.81% ARM Ethical Fund 46.12 47.51 18.38% ARM Eurobond Fund ($) 1.13 1.13 4.30% ARM Fixed Income Fund 1.12 1.12 9.89% ARM Money Market Fund 1.00 1.00 11.18% ARM Short Term Bond Fund 1.04 1.04 106.94% AVA GLOBAL ASSET MANAGERS LIMITED info@avacapitalgroup.com Web: www.avacapitalgroup.com; Tel 08069294653 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn AVA GAM Fixed Income Dollar Fund 99.67 99.67 4.81% AVA GAM Fixed Income Naira Fund 1,132.44 1,132.44 0.53% AXA MANSARD INVESTMENTS LIMITED investmentcare@axamansard.com Web: www.axamansard.com; Tel: +2341-4488482 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn AXA Mansard Equity Income Fund N/A N/A N/A AXA Mansard Money Market Fund N/A N/A N/A CAPITAL EXPRESS ASSET AND TRUST LIMITED info@capitalexpressassetandtrust.com Web: www.capitalexpressassetandtrust.com; Tel: +234 803 307 5048 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn CEAT Fixed Income Fund 2.10 2.10 2.36% Capital Express Balanced Fund(Formerly: Union Trustees Mixed Fund) 2.36 2.40 8.12% CAPITALTRUST INVESTMENTS AND ASSET MANAGEMENT LIMITED halalfif@capitaltrustnigeria.com Web: www.capitaltrustnigeria.com; Tel: 08061458806 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Capitaltrust Halal Fixed Income Fund N/A N/A N/A CARDINALSTONE ASSET MANAGEMENT LIMITED mutualfunds@cardinalstone.com Web: www.cardinalstoneassetmanagement.com; Tel: +234 (1) 710 0433 4 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn CardinalStone Fixed Income Alpha Fund 1.05 1.05 0.39% CHAPELHILL DENHAM MANAGEMENT LTD investmentmanagement@chapelhilldenham.com Web: www.chapelhilldenham.com, Tel: +234 461 0691 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Chapelhill Denham Money Market Fund N/A N/A N/A Paramount Equity Fund N/A N/A N/A Women's Investment Fund N/A N/A N/A CHD Nigeria Bond Fund N/A N/A N/A CHD Nigeria Dollar Income Fund N/A N/A N/A CORDROS ASSET MANAGEMENT LIMITED assetmgtteam@cordros.com Web: www.cordros.com, Tel: 019036947 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Cordros Money Market Fund 100.00 100.00 10.62% Cordros Milestone Fund 140.52 141.56 2.11% Cordros Dollar Fund ($) 113.33 113.33 5.57% CORONATION ASSETS 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 11.25% EDC Nigeria Money Market Fund Class B 1,000,000.00 1,000,000.00 11.99% EDC Nigeria Fixed Income Fund 0.00% EMERGING AFRICA ASSET MANAGEMENT LIMITED assetmanagement@emergingafricafroup.com Web:www.emergingafricagroup.com/emerging-africa-asset-management-limited/, Tel: 08039492594 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Emerging Africa Money Market Fund 1.00 1.00 13.21% Emerging Africa Bond Fund 1.07 1.07 7.44% Emerging Africa Balanced Diversity Fund 1.10 1.10 51.83% Emerging Africa Eurobond Fund 104.96 104.96 -0.40% FBNQUEST ASSETS MANAGEMENT LIMITED invest@fbnquest.com Web: www.fbnquest.com/asset-management; Tel: +234-81 0082 0082 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn FBN Bond Fund 1476.9 1476.9 35.08% FBN Balanced Fund 204.58 206.00 2.45% FBN Halal Fund 123.59 123.59 12.71% FBN Money Market Fund 100.00 100.00 14.01% FBN Dollar Fund 120.67 120.67 6.70% FBN Smart Beta Equity Fund 172.04 174.57 3.89% FBN Specialized Dollar Fund 104.39 104.39 9.74% 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 10.54% Legacy Debt Fund 3.53 3.53 -11.83% Legacy Equity Fund 2.05 2.09 17.86% Legacy USD Bond Fund 1.26 1.26 4.44% 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 Balanced Fund Coral Income Fund Coral Money Market Fund

4,322.54 3,726.41 100.00

4,354.08 3,726.41 100.00

58.47% 8.27% 13.86%

FSDH Dollar Fund 1.13 1.13 5.81% GUARANTY TRUST FUND MANAGERS LIMITED enquiries@investment-one.com Web: www.investment-one.com; Tel: +234 812 992 1045,+234 1 448 8888 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Abacus Money Market Fund N/A N/A N/A Vantage Balanced Fund N/A N/A N/A Vantage Guaranteed Income Fund N/A N/A N/A Kedari Investment Fund (KIF) N/A N/A N/A Vantage Equity Income Fund (VEIF) - June Year End N/A N/A N/A Vantage Dollar Fund (VDF) - June Year End N/A N/A N/A LOTUS CAPITAL LTD fincon@lotuscapitallimited.com Web: www.lotuscapitallimited.com; Tel: +234 1-291 4626 / +234 1-291 4624 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Lotus Halal Investment Fund N/A N/A N/A Lotus Halal Fixed Income Fund N/A N/A N/A MERISTEM WEALTH MANAGEMENT LTD info@meristemwealth.com Web: www.meristemwealth.com/funds/; Tel: +2348028496012 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Meristem Equity Market Fund 12.66 12.70 2.67% Meristem Money Market Fund 10.00 10.00 11.57% NORRENBERGER INVESTMENT AND CAPITAL MANAGEMENT LIMITED enquiries@norrenberger.com Web: www.norrenberger.com, Tel: +234 (0) 908 781 2026 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Norrenberger Islamic Fund (NIF) 101.07 101.07 8.45% Norrenberger Money Market Fund (NMMF) 100.00 100.00 11.67% 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 1.61 1.66 2.79% PACAM Fixed Income Fund 11.48 11.65 3.36% PACAM Money Market Fund 10.00 10.00 11.05% PACAM Equity Fund 1.49 1.51 4.85% PACAM EuroBond Fund 123.69 126.60 8.57% 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 128.73 130.99 0.05% SFS CAPITAL NIGERIA LTD investments@sfsnigeria.com Web: www.sfsnigeria.com, Tel: +234 (01) 2801400 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn SFS Fixed Income Fund 1.00 1.00 11.05% STANBIC IBTC ASSET MANAGEMENT LTD assetmanagement@stanbicibtc.com Web: www.stanbicibtcassetmanagement.com; Tel: +234 1 280 1266; 0700 MUTUALFUNDS Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Stanbic IBTC Balanced Fund 3,726.89 3,756.87 9.94% Stanbic IBTC Bond Fund 245.57 245.57 4.25% Stanbic IBTC Ethical Fund 1.47 1.49 17.46% Stanbic IBTC Guaranteed Investment Fund 333.47 333.47 6.50% Stanbic IBTC Iman Fund 271.27 274.62 16.16% Stanbic IBTC Money Market Fund 1.00 1.00 12.91% Stanbic IBTC Nigerian Equity Fund 12,727.71 12,867.05 16.50% Stanbic IBTC Dollar Fund (USD) 1.37 1.37 5.97% Stanbic IBTC Shariah Fixed Income Fund 121.32 121.32 3.77% Stanbic IBTC Enhanced Short-Term Fixed Income Fund 115.47 115.47 8.55% Stanbic IBTC Absolute Fund 4,586.59 4,586.59 7.81% Stanbic IBTC Aggressive Fund 3,347.41 3,389.38 20.40% Stanbic IBTC Conservative Fund 4,308.28 4,323.71 13.16% UNITED CAPITAL ASSET MANAGEMENT LTD unitedcapitalplcgroup.com Web: www.unitedcapitalplcgroup.com; Tel: +234 01-6317876 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn United Capital Equity Fund 0.98 1.00 2.91% United Capital Balanced Fund 1.41 1.44 3.15% United Capital Wealth for Women Fund 1.18 1.19 1.59% United Capital Sukuk Fund 1.11 1.11 9.60% United Capital Fixed Income Fund 1.96 1.96 7.64% United Capital Eurobond Fund 125.67 125.67 5.59% United Capital Money Market Fund 1.00 1.00 14.48% QUANTUM ZENITH ASSET MANAGEMENT & INVESTMENTS LTD service@quantumzenithasset.com.ng Web: www.quantumzenith.com.ng; Tel: +234 1-2784219 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Zenith Balanced Strategy Fund 14.23 14.36 7.91% Zenith ESG Impact Fund 16.33 16.49 11.68% Zenith Income Fund 23.63 23.63 7.62% Zenith Money Market Fund 1.00 1.00 11.36% VETIVA FUND MANAGERS LTD funds@vetiva.com Web: www.vetiva.com; Tel: +234 1 453 0697 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Vetiva Banking Exchange Traded Fund 4.31 4.41 7.39% Vetiva Consumer Goods Exchange Traded Fund 6.29 6.39 7.58% Vetiva Griffin 30 Exchange Traded Fund 19.27 19.47 8.95% Vetiva Money Market Fund 1.00 1.00 11.42% Vetiva Industrial Goods Exchange Traded Fund 24.57 24.77 22.83% Vetiva S&P Nigeria Sovereign Bond Exchange Traded Fund 142.91 144.91 -9.36% REITS NAV Per Share

Yield / T-Rtn

122.19 52.92 101.31 9.91

7.68% 3.98% -13.22%

Bid Price

Offer Price

Yield / T-Rtn

14.31 137.43 107.80 17.40 16.40

14.41 139.82 109.66 17.50 16.50

2.30% 7.69% 7.81% 1.50% 4.09%

NAV Per Share

Yield / T-Rtn

106.75

0.00%

Fund Name

SFS REIT Union Homes REIT Nigeria Real Estate Investment Trust UPDC REIT EXCHANGE TRADED FUNDS Fund Name Lotus Halal Equity Exchange Traded Fund SIAML Pension ETF 40 Stanbic IBTC ETF 30 Fund MERGROWTH ETF MERVALUE ETF

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.

28

THURSDAY JANUARY 19, 2023 •T H I S D AY

29

T H I S D AY ˾ THURSDAY, JANUARY 19, 2023

HEALTH & LIFESTYLE Doubling Capacity of DASH

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

Igbawase Ukumba writes that the development of infrastructure to improve service delivery at the Dalhatu Araf Specialist Hospital, DASH, Lafia is almost doubling the capacity of the Nasarawa State owned specialist hospital

T

hat Governor Abdullahi Sule had given the state owned Dalhatu Araf Specialist Hospital (DASH), Lafia the attention it deserved through the provisions of more equipment and structures needed for the smooth functioning of the hospital, has become a subject of discourse among people of Nassarawa State.

Possibly, the development could be attested in the last three years of the governor’s spending of billions of naira in buying of more equipments and building of more structures in the specialist hospital.

The Chief Medical Director (CMD) of the DASH, Dr. Ikrama Hassan, therefore explained during an interaction with journalists in Lafia that the state government had in the last three years spent billions of naira in buying more equipment and building more structures, which include: ventilators, Computed Tomography (CT) Scanner, Data and Mobile X-ray Machines, Echo Machine, among others.

This was even as Dr. Hassan continued that DASH had adopted the Public Private Partnership (PPP) initiative in the health sector to enhance efficiency in service delivery in Nasarawa State, due to its enormous benefits. He explained that DASH had entered into the partnership and had allowed private investments in its Radiology and Laboratory departments.

The CMD further explained: “The partnership in the two departments is a pilot one and will be extended to other departments for the overall development of the hospital. Due to limited machines in the laboratory, some investigations in the hospital take two to three days for the results to be ready because of the number of people on the waiting list.

“But with the initiative, the partners will supply more equipment and machines thereby making it possible for results that usually take two to three days will now be ready within few hours,’’ Hassan assured.

He, however, stated that the state government had provided state-of-the-art facilities and structures in the hospital, but wanted more investment from the private sector for efficiency in service delivery. Dr. Hassan was optimistic that the PPP would work because it had worked in other states and was working in other sectors in Nasarawa State.

“A lot of private investors have indicated interest but the government, through the management of the hospital, selected those with quality and affordable services. We want to ensure that the hospital has the machines to carry out all tests and investigations that were hitherto referred to other hospitals,’’ he said.

At a time, the state government employed about 200 health workers at once, just to mitigate that effect of health worker/patient ratio which was abysmally low. Fatigue was setting in and the hospital was increasing the capacity of its facilities hence needed more healthcare workers.

Speaking when he led Management of the DASH to reward some of its deligent hardworking workers who had worked tirelessly for the state to be able to fight COVID-19 and Lassa fever in the state, CMD Hassan Ikrama said:

Dalhatu-Araf-Specialist-Hospital “We needed equipment, and government provided brand new units in the Radiology.

Our ICU is completely different from where it was many years ago. Our casualty more than double the capacity.

“In terms of training, we were able to get accreditation in five departments from just one department. And in the last two examinations, we were able to produce six consultants. Another area that we also did very well was in terms of research which was almost non-existent. But we were able to get some fundings for research for the first time. A few of our doctors, nurses, pharmacists; infact it cut across all the departments, were into the research. 15 papers have been published from that effort in the hospital.”

In another development, the hospital has been given full accreditation for Residency Training in Family Medicine. With the accreditation, doctors are now being trained in the hospital to become consultants in family medicine. Thus, the achievement to that current transformation in the DASH is to be attributed to the improved facilities and personnel in the hospital.

Dr. Hassan, therefore, explained that four other departments were awaiting full accreditation from the various colleges in the hospital which include: Obstetrics/ Gynaecology, Surgery, Paediatrics and Internal Medicine. Hence, he said a team from the West African College of Physicians paid a visit to the hospital recently with the view to granting full accreditation to the four departments.

He said: “The accreditation team, led by Prof. Isaac Kofi, made some observations and suggestions, which the hospital’s management has started addressing for the provision of standard health services to the people. It is

the management’s commitment, with the support of the state government, to ensuring that DASH stands out as one of the best tertiary health institutions in the country.”

It is conspicuous that DASH had improvement in its infrastructure and in manpower. Therefore, it needed to improve in service delivery efficiency of the service delivery.

How to achieve that, the Chief Medical Director explained: “One of the things that we have done recently is that we set up a committee called reorientation committee that trained 1,800 people in DASH; from the cleaner up to the consultant in the hospital, on our way of working in the hospital.

“We are hoping that going forward, we are going to see new attitudes to work. A new attitude to service delivery. A new attitude with ourselves and with our patients. We are also putting things in place to see how we can improve efficiency in the different departments.”

By and large, one of the problems DASH had been having complaints about was the laboratory and physiology, which Dr. Ikrama said the hospital management had taken measures to that effect. One of the measures, according to Ikrama, was the Public Private Partnership (PPP) that the hospital had gone into. And today the DASH had, as part of it, one of the best laboratories in the country partnering with the hospital .

“So, the turn around time for investigation in DASH today has reduced remarkably and it is long that I heard complaints coming from the lab section. And we are doing the same with radiology department. We

have just taken delivery of a generator that is almost N25 million, because some of the machines we have required for the use of only generators,” he disclosed.

Suffice to state that the Nasarawa Specialist Hospital had overshot its Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) target by N56 million this year. The hospital generated over N187 millon as revenue in six months. The DASH Chief Medical Director disclosed this when management of the specialist hospital appeared before the Nasarawa State House of Assembly Committee on health to explain the hospital’s 2022 budget performance.

According Dr Hassan, “our approved revenue is N262 million and so far, what we have acrued is N187 million in six months as we have overshoot our revenue target by N56 million.”

Speaking on behalf of the assembly committee on health, chairman of the committee, Usman Labaran Shafa, lauded management of the DASH for generating N187 million from January to June, 2022 which was above average of the hospital’s approved revenue target of N262 million for the fiscal year.

Nevertheless, the Nasarawa State House of Assembly, has approved the ceding of the Dalhatu Araf Specialist Hospital, Lafia to the federal government to serve as a teaching hospital for the Federal University of Lafia (FuLafia). Speaker of the state House of Assembly, Ibrahim Balarabe, announced the ceding during the House proceedings in Lafia. ”We have agreed and approved the request of His Excellency, Governor Abdullahi Sule for the ceding of the DASH to serve as Federal University Teaching Hospital, Lafia. We have also agreed and approved that all assets and liabilities including personnel in the specialist hospital be ceded to the federal government,” Speaker Balarabe said.

HFN Calls for End to Violence on Health FG Commissions Employee Wellness Centre Workers in Delta Olawale Ajimotokan in Abuja

Rebecca Ejifoma Following the gruesome murder of a medical doctor, Uyi Iluobe at Olivet Clinic last December 29 in Oghara Delta State, the Healthcare Federation of Nigeria (HFN) has condemned the increase in violence against healthcare workers.

Iluobe was allegedly silenced by yet-to-be-identified gunmen who disguised as a patient’s relative to pay medical bills at the hospital.

Describing his death as utterly unacceptable and the need for the incessant violence to end, the President of HFN, Dr Pamela Ajayi said “It is impossible to condone these acts of mindless violence against persons who

The late Dr Iluobe are performing their duty of care”.

Calling on the Delta State Commissioner of Police and the IG of police, she said what matters is that the perpetrators of this heinous crime are identified, caught and brought to book.

“They cannot be allowed

to get away with it. Doctors and other healthcare personnel must be able to practice their profession without fear of being killed.

A hospital should be a place of safety and security, not a battleground,” she added.

In a letter of condolence signed by the president, she commiserates with the family of the deceased doctor. “Our prayers and thoughts are with you at this time. And we pray that God will comfort you as only He can.”

According to HFN, it has since developed communications to combat the growing scourge of attacks on healthcare workers. It is a simple message to encourage people to think about how much they do for them.

The federal government has opened the Employee Wellness Centre at the Federal Secretariat Complex, Abuja, to curb the rise in work-related diseases, sudden deaths and other health challenges that impact negatively on the overall wellbeing of workers.

The Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Dr Folasade Yemi-Esan, yesterday commissioned the centre set up by the Occupational Health, Safety and Environment Department of the Office Head of the Civil Service of the Federation.

The HoS said the International Labor Organisation (ILO) estimated that about 2.3 million women and men around the world succumb to work-related accidents or diseases every year, adding

from available data, around 160 million victims of work-related illnesses are recorded annually.

She also lamented that most Nigerian civil servants die of preventable diseases after retirement because they eat what they are not supposed to eat.

“We don’t know we should drink lot of water and of what quantity. Our mental health is very important because we find it difficult to make ends meet because of the situation around us,” Yemi-Esan.

She described the establishment of the Employee Wellness Centre as one of the proactive responses by the federal government to the critical need of mitigating many preventable medical conditions which have become prevalent in our society in general, and among civil

servants in particular.

“For this reason, it is important to emphasize the need for every one of us to seek useful, adequate and accurate information on common health conditions and how to prevent or successfully manage them. The need to comprehensively pay attention to our health status is more crucial, especially due to the sedentary nature of our jobs as civil servants coupled with the tendency to be solely committed to the demands of office and neglecting one’s physical well-being,” she said.

In her remarks, the Permanent Secretary, Service Welfare Office, Dr. Ngozi Onwudiwe, said sedentary lifestyle among civil servants was leading to development of obesity and health issues.

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T H I S D AY ˾ THURSDAY, JANUARY 19, 2023

NEWS

FERTILITY

With Dr. Kemi AILOJE drkemi@lifelinkfertility.com www.lifelinkfertility.com +2348033083580

AXA Mansard Health Reaffirms Commitment to Quality Healthcare in Nigeria Female Hypogonadism Part 1 Rebecca Ejifoma " MFBEJOH IFBMUI JOTVSBODF DPNQBOZ "9" .BOTBSE Health, has promised continuous quality healthcare to its customers and the growth of its service providers across the healthcare value chain in the country.

5IF $&0 PG "9" .BOTBSE )FBMUI 5PQF "EFOJZJ OPUFE this as the company took stock of its business operation in 2022.

"EFOJZJ IJHIMJHIUFE UIBU the contributions of its organisation are over 4,000 service providers including hospitals, eye care centres, dental practices, and pharmacies among others.

He added that quality healthcare would have been a mirage without a burgeoning healthcare provider sector.

"DDPSEJOH UP UIF $&0 "9" .BOTBSE XJMM SFNBJO committed to the growth of UIF TFDUPS i0VS OBUJPO T healthcare sector has been making steady strides in accessibility, sophistication, and availability.”

While as a nation, the firm says it still has some way to go to ensure that affordability, quality, and accessibility are improved.

“We must commend the efforts of all stakeholders who have brought us this GBS "OE GPS VT BU "9" .BOsard, our provider network is top on that list.” i8F BSF B $VTUPNFS 'JSTU

organisation, but we recognize that this value can only translate when the service providers share in this core value. So, our approach has been to work with them to complete that experience for our customers,” says "EFOJZJ "EFOJZJ TBJE UIBU UIF ZFBS came with a lot of challenges, CVU "9" .BOTBSE BOE JUT service providers were able to work together to weather the storm. i"T XJUI UIF DPTU PG B lot of other things, the cost of healthcare also went up significantly this year and the increasing awareness of health insurance also impacted some company fundamentals.

“But despite these challenges, we worked together with our providers to ensure that customers are given the best of care,” he emphasised.

"9" .BOTBSE JT QSPVE to have invested heavily in technology to help mitigate the pressure on JUT QSPWJEFST JOGSBTUSVDture and provide quick and easy access to its customers.

The organisation has features including a telemedicine app that provides access to its customers anywhere and BOZUJNF UIF .:"9" "QQ which provides a onestop shop to all medical records of its customers and its increased investment

wellness programme such as gym subscriptions, mental health services, and many more. i" IFBMUIZ OBUJPO JT B prosperous one. This is at the core of our purpose to act for human progress by protecting what matters.

So the fact that health management organisations like ours and service providers need to work together for the prosperity of our nation is not lost on us,” he highlighted.

Speaking also, the .BOBHJOH %JSFDUPS PG Lagoon Hospital in Ikoyi, %S 0MVCJTJ 0ZFEJSBO TBZT IJT àSN IBT FOKPZFE DPMMBCPSBUJOH XJUI "9" .BOTBSE )FBMUI )F EFTDSJCFE "9" .BOTBSE BT BO ).0 UIBU QSJPSJUJTFT DVTUPNFST XFMM being, without neglecting providers. He continued, i"9" .BOTBSE JT LOPXO for prompt authorizations and payment of services.

They continue to set the pace for the industry.”

5IF .BOBHJOH %JSFDUPS PG Ultimate Specialist Hospital, %S 0MVXBHCFNJHB "EFXBMF outlined Ultimate Specialists )PTQJUBM T NJTTJPO UP FOTVSF patients get quality healthcare all the time. i*U T CFFO B EFMJHIU XPSLJOH XJUI B QBSUOFS MJLF "9" .BOTBSE XIP CFMJFWFT JO the administration of quality healthcare and puts customers first at all times. That has made our work a lot FBTJFS u "EFXBMF FYQSFTTFE

46-Year-Old Egbinola Oluyinka Anthony Needs N25m For Kidney Transplant Mary Nnah " ZFBS PME NBO &HCJOPMB 0MVZJOLB "OUIPOZ B 1SJOUpreneur and Photographer OFFET / . GPS B LJEOFZ transplant. He is a native of Ire-wole in Ikire Local (PWFSONFOU "SFB PG 0TVO State and is currently battling kidney disease.

"OUIPOZ IBT CFFO EJagnosed with end-stage kidney disease; a chronic kidney disease for about four years.

He told the reporter that he was advised to do a kidney transplant but he DPVMEO U BGGPSE UIF / N required for the surgery.

Speaking during an interview where he was struggling with so much difficulty speaking he said: i* BN BO &OE 4UBHF ,JEOFZ Failure Patient undergoing %JBMZTJT UXJDF FWFSZ XFFL as a means of temporary treatment. I have been battling with this ailment TJODF 3JHIU OPX * have been advised to go for a Kidney Transplant which was estimated at between Twenty to Twenty-Five .JMMJPOT /BJSB UP DBUFS GPS the treatment, donor and post-treatment and other related cost.

He, therefore, appealed to the public from his hospital bed in a short video, saying “God will show you mercy.

I am pleading with you to

Egbinola Oluyinka Anthony

assist me.” )JT XJGF .ST "OUIPOZ also noted that the family had no wherewithal to continue his treatment and seeks financial support.

She said, “Please, help VT /P BNPVOU JT TNBMM We are a young couple with three kids, and they are still very small also, we can no longer foot his bills.” please, we need your assistance. " NFEJDBM SFQPSU GSPN Gbagada General Hospital BOE %JBMZ[FS .FEJDBM $FOUSF 0TIPEJ TJHOFE CZ %S #VTBSJ " " JOEJDBUFE UIBU "OUIPOZ DPVME OP longer afford the huge amount expended on his weekly dialysis, hence the need to consider a kidney transplant.

Busari stated that "OUIPOZ T EJBMZTJT IBE been twice a week, after a clinical and biochemical investigation on October 6, 2018. He has maintained his health condition through dialysis. He cannot continue the regular dialysis due to financial constraints and needs to urgently undergo a kidney transplant rather than dialysis.

"OUIPOZ TUBUFE UIBU IF has been on maintenance hemodialysis and other nephrology care since 2018.

I have three kids and a wife. I am a Printpreneur, I equally do photography to keep my home before the ailments crippled things.

“The average cost of LJEOFZ USBOTQMBOU JO /JHFSJB SBOHFT CFUXFFO / N BOE / N XJUI UXP NPOUIT PG medications post-transplant.

The cost of dialysis together with medications weekly is BCPVU / )F OFFET financial support.”

I am calling on State governors, Politicians, captains of industries, XFMM NFBOJOHGVM /JHFSJBOT to support me. I can only appeal to save my life. .POFUBSZ EPOBUJPOT DBO be sent to account numCFS &HCJOPMB 0MVZJOLB "OUIPOZ XJUI UIF account name domiciled in Guarantee Trust Bank. His mobile contact details:0802 772 7775

F

emale hypogonadism, also known as gonad deficiency, is a failure of the female reproductive organs, especially the functioning of the ovaries. The sex glands, also called gonads produces sex hormones (oestrogen and progesterone) that regulates secondary sex characteristics, such as breast development in females, menstrual cycle, testicular development in men, sperm production and pubic hair growth in both male and female.

In female hypogonadism, the disorder between the coordination of the pituitary gland, the hypothalamus in the brain and the female sex organs may lead to an obstruction in the release of the female hormones which are follicle stimulating hormone (FSH) and luteinizing hormone (LH) by the ovaries or a complete lack of these hormones. This lack of coordination is also called hypogonadotropic hypogonadism (HH).

months or the cessation of irregular menses for 6 months (secondary amenorrhea), night sweats, palpitations, sleep disturbance, irritability, depression, anxiety, fatigue, loss of libido and vaginal dryness. r 0UIFS DMJOJDBM GFBUVSF JODMVEFT m JOGFSUJMJUZ JOáBNNBUPSZ EJTFBTFT TVDI BT UVCFSDVMPTJT obesity or rapid weight loss.

CAUSES OF FEMALE HYPOGONADISM The main cause of female hypogonadism is as a result of a disruption in any part of the hypothalamic-pituitary-ovarian axis QBUIXBZ "U UIF POTFU PG QVCFSUZ UIF IZQPthalamus produces gonadotrophin-releasing IPSNPOF (O3) JO B QSPQFSMZ GVODUJPOJOH hypothalamic-pituitary-ovarian axis pathway.

(O3) UIFO TUJNVMBUFT UIF QJUVJUBSZ HMBOE UP secrete follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) and luteinizing hormone (LH). FSH and LH then stimulate the ovaries to produce oestrogen TYPES OF HYPOGONADISM and progesterone.Both primary and secondary The female hypogonadism can be classified typeof hypogonadism may either be present into two types which are: at birth (congenital) or acquired.

1. Primary Hypogonadism – this is characterUnderlying cause of primary hypogonadism ized by a lack of sex hormones in the body includes: from the sex glands. It simply means that the r (FOF BCOPSNBMJUJFT PS CJSUI EFGFDUT TVDI BT sex glands are still receiving messages from Turner syndrome (45,X karyotype), Klinefelter the brain to produce hormones, but they are syndrome (47 XXY), ovarian dysgenesis and unable to do so because they are dysfunctional. agenesis (inability of the organ to develop during Primary hypogonadism is an ovarian condition embryonic development) and galactosaemia also known as Primary Ovarian Insufficiency/ (inability to process the sugar galactose) Hypergonadotropic Hypogonadism). r "VUPJNNVOF EJTPSEFST TVDI BT "EEJTPO T disease (adrenal insufficiency) 2. Secondary or Central Hypogonadism–this r -JWFS BOE LJEOFZ EJTFBTFT type of hypogonadism is situated in the r 3BEJBUJPO UIFSBQZ GPS CSBJO DBODFS USFBUNFOU brain. That means, the hypothalamus and r 4VSHFSZ PO TFYVBM PSHBOT pituitary gland which regulates the sex glands r &YDFTTJWF JSPO TUPSBHF JO UIF CPEZ are not functional. Secondary hypogonadism Underlying cause of secondary hypogonadism is caused by hypothalamic or pituitary gland includes: failure. It is also known as Hypogonadotropic r " UVNPS PS JOKVSZ UP UIF QJUVJUBSZ HMBOE Hypogonadism. or hypothalamus r &YDFTTJWF NJML JOEVDUJPO CZ UIF QSPMBDUJO SIGNS AND SYMPTOMS OF HYPOGO- hormone r /VUSJUJPOBM EFàDJFODJFT NADISM r $ISPOJD JOGFDUJPOT PS JOáBNNBUJPO Female hypogonadism is characterized by r &YDFTTJWF XFJHIU MPTT the following signs and symptoms: r &YDFTTJWF QIZTJDBM BDUJWJUZ r -BDL PG EFWFMPQNFOU PG TFDPOEBSZ r 6TF PG TUFSPJET PO SFHVMBS CBTJT sexual characteristics, such as breasts and pubic r %SVH BEEJDUJPO hair r .FOUBM TUSFTT r "CTFODF PG QVCFSUZ DIAGNOSIS OF FEMALE HYPOGONADr "CTFODF PG NFOTUSVBM QFSJPET ISM r 4UVOUFE HSPXUI JO IFJHIU "GUFS B UIPSPVHI IJTUPSZ BOE FYBNJOBUJPO r -PTT PG CPEZ IBJS .PPE TXJOHT XFBLOFTT IFBEBDIFT for hypogonadism, the following investigation r route may be taken. r )PU áVTIFT 1.

Physical examination of the sexual r -PTT PG TNFMM XIFO IZQPHPOBEJTN organs, body hair, and muscle mass to ensure is inherited (Kallmann syndrome) proper sexual development at the appropriate r .JML EJTDIBSHF GSPN UIF CSFBTUT age. r 3FEVDFE TFY ESJWF 2. Initial investigations – this should include CLINICAL FEATURES OF HYPOGONADISM the following: r )VNBO DIPSJPOJD HPOBEPUSPQJO I$( The clinical manifestations of hypogonadism differ depending on the age at presentation. to rule out pregnancy. r 'FNBMF SFQSPEVDUJWF IPSNPOF UFTU '4)BOE r 1SF QVCFSUZ PFTUSPHFO EFàDJFODZ – symptoms of low oestrogen levels are not LH). r 4FSVN QSPMBDUJO common in pre-puberty hypogonadism. Features r 5IZSPJE TUJNVMBUJOH IPSNPOF 54) UFTU include lack of menstruation, absent pubertal development (reduced growth and absence of in cases of amenorrhoea (caesation of menses) as thyroid issues can cause symptoms that pubic hair). are similar to hypogonadism. r 0FTUSBEJPM UFTU t 1PTU QVCFSUBM PFTUSPHFO EFmDJFODZ o after r 1SF QVCFSUBM QFMWJD VMUSBTPVOE TDBOT puberty, there is a lack of oestrogen. Some clinical features observed during this stage (USS). includescessation of regular menses for 3

T H I S D AY ˾ THURSDAY, JANUARY 19, 2023

31

HEALTH

Clina-Lancet Deepens Health Knowledge among Girls in Lagos Rebecca Ejifoma The United Nations has remained intentional about its Sustainable Development Goals 3, 4, and 5. These goals focus on good health and well-being, quality education and gender equality.

With a time horizon from 2015 to 2030, organisations like Clina-Lancet Laboratories, an ultramodern technologically advanced and independent pathology laboratory is developing various strategic activities to contribute to this course through corporate social responsibility.

One such initiative is “A Girl Child School Support Programme”, which was held at the Aunty Ayo Secondary School in the Ikoyi area of Lagos for over 400 girls recently.

“Today’s initiative was driven by our commitment to promoting healthcare and

well-being in the communities we operate,” says Dr Olayemi Dawodu, the MD/CEO of Clina-Lancet Laboratories Nigeria.

As an organisation, ClinaLancet prides itself on being skewed and interested in having social impacts in communities where it runs its businesses.

Just like last year when they put together a maternal and child care activity at Makoko, distributing materials, and drugs and did a health check, they thought of carrying the girl child along.

This year, however, the laboratory thought of aligning with the SDGs in promoting and educating the girl child on menstrual health, the significance of knowledge and aspiring to become whatever they wish in life.

Dawodu emphasised: “Knowledge is power.

Hence, in knowing all these, these girls will be able to

apply them and function optimally as well as the boys in school.”

The Head of Business Development for ClinaLancet, Temitope Ambrose describes CSR as a tradition at Clina-Lancet.

“This year, we are aligning with SGD 3, advocating for the wellbeing of the girl child.

We are advocating for gender equality on our Clina-Lancet team,” he echoed the words of the CEO. In doing the talk, Ambrose noted that Clina-Lancet has a female CEO and several females in strategic positions.

“We are trying to instil the same thing in the girl child so that they know they can be whatever they want to be.”

Meanwhile, the head of business development lauded his firm for the drive. “When you speak of clinical laboratory testing that guarantees diagnostic excellence one name that comes to mind

is Clina-Lancet.

“When doctors need to make those critical decisions on their patient’s treatment or care and they want the best and most reliable result the right place to go is Clina-Lancet.”

He further recounted that before now, their growth and expansion strategy has been around planting new branches in new locations.

With a presence in 11 locations in Nigeria, Ambrose admitted that it is a strategic direction for Clina-Lancet in 2023 to drive their growth and expansion game plan through partnerships.

Instead of setting up a stand-alone laboratory in a new location, Clina-Lancet is gearing up to identify a new opportunity whether with the government or existing private organisations for the operational takeover of their labs to reduce a lot of cost and more.

Dr Olayemi Dawodu, the MD/CEO of Clina-Lancet Laboratories Nigeria (middle) flanked by students of the Aunty Ayo Secondary School during the girl child support programme

Edo Govt. Raises The Alarm over Rising Cases of Lassa Fever, Records 18 New Cases Ayodeji Ake Edo State has recorded 18 new cases of Lassa fever last week, raising the total number of persons who are currently on admission in the state to 23.

In a press release made available to newsmen, the Edo State Commissioner for Health, Prof. Akoria Obehi, said the persons, including 17 adults and six children, are currently receiving care at the Irua Specialist Teaching Hospital (ISTH).

Reassuring the government’s commitment to ensuring the health and well-being of every Edo resident, Prof. Obehi said the government has stepped up surveillance, sensitization, and other measures to stop the spread of the disease and protect residents across all Edo communities.

Lamenting the unprecedented rise in the number

of infections, the health commissioner called for the support and collaboration of every Edo resident to control and eliminate Lassa fever in the state.

According to her, “Edo State, over the past week, has recorded 18 new cases of Lassa fever, bringing the cases of Lassa fever patients currently on admission in the state to 23.

“The 23 patients, including 17 adults and six children, are currently receiving care at the Irua Specialist Teaching Hospital.”

Prof. Obehi listed the local government areas in the state most hit by the disease tincludingEsan West, Etsako West, Esan North East, Esan Central, Etsako Central, Esan South East, and Etsako East.

Speaking on the government’s efforts to curb the spread of the disease and protect Edo citizens, she noted, “The Emergency

Operation Centre for Lassa fever has been activated in Edo State on the 5th of January and they have had three meetings. The various pillars of the Emergency Operation Centre have been activated.

“The Infection, Prevention, and Control pillar is currently working on contacting the Diseases Notification and Surveillance Officers in the various local government areas to beef up infection control. We have stepped up communication with messages being developed and disseminated to sensitize people in their local languages.

‘We will also be meeting with local council stakeholders today in Edo Central. We will be meeting with the Head of Local Government Administration (HOLGA) of the seven affected

LGAs, as well as the market women, EEnergies, and the healthcare practitioners in the LGAs, among other stakeholders.”

Lamenting the rise in the number of infections, the Commissioner said, “This is an emergency, and we want people to be aware that cases of Lassa fever are on the rise.

“While the government is implementing several measures to prevent the spread of the disease in the state, we urge everyone to support the government’s efforts in curbing the spread of Lassa fever by complying with guidelines to stay healthy and safe.”

She charged, “Wash your hands frequently with soap and water; avoid contact with rat urine or feces; avoid consuming contaminated food or water and seek medical attention immediately if you experience any symptoms of Lassa fever, such as fever, headache, muscle pain, and weakness.”

CMUL Seeks Fund for Medical Education Rebecca Ejifoma The College of Medicine of the University of Lagos (CMUL) is seeking financial support from alumni, parents, stakeholders, and friends of the college to support its medical education.

The college made this known at the Medilag Fundraising and Award Night

in the Victoria Island area of Lagos, the Deputy Provost, Prof Osaretin Ebuehi.

He said the college was soliciting the support of multinational organisations, organised private sector, foundations, philanthropic individuals and wellspirited Nigerians for this course.

According to Ebuehi, the $20m fundraising and

award night is to raise the funds for the CMUL in infrastructure, manpower training, research and teaching among other essential services.

He emphasised: “Our college is currently 60 years old and there are quite a lot of things we need to do to bring back the past glory of the college.”

Over the years, he re-

called that a lot of research and teaching equipment they use for teaching, and providing services have become obsolete.

The deputy provost further harped on their pressing need for the funds to acquire modern equipment for high-quality research, teaching and training of their students in departments in the college.

Asmau Ali Foundation Uses Art Exhibition to Raise Funds for the Blind

Olawale Ajimotokan in Abuja

The Asmau Ali Foundation has organised an art exhibition to create awareness towards the plight of the disabled, particularly the blind.

The holiday art exhibition held in Abuja on the eve of the Christmas, which gathered family members, friends and art connoisseurs from all walks of life, Asmau was sponsored by Kpakpando Foundation and Ovation Magazine.

The host of the exhibition, Asmau Ali, said the proceeds from the art exhibition would be used to buy Braille books for the blind. She described the Asmau Ali Foundation as an NGO which exists strictly for helping the disable community.

The auctioned art works were part of the collections she sourced from different parts of the world during her travels.

“The Art Exhibition is all the arts around me. And it’s taken in different places of the world because I like to travel and all the proceeds that people send on the art go to Asmau Ali Foundation in order to raise fund to buy Braille books for the blind because Asmau Ali Foundation is a disability foundation all for helping the disable community,” she said.

She stated that the disable community is her target because it always pierces her heart and hurts her feeling that someone is blind. She also lampooned the federal government for not doing enough to assist the disable community while urging other foundations to come together and work towards same purpose of serving the interest of the needy.

One of the guests at the exhibition, Anthony Ubani, said most of Asmau Ali’s works were inspired by her personal experiences and from places visited.

Ubani, who is the Executive Director Fix Politics Initiative, lauded the creativity in the work in addition to wonderful use of colours, coupled with her ability to turn around ordinary situations and events into an art exhibition.

“It is noteworthy that a young lady could find the time to take these photographs and turn them into art and come to put them up in an exhibition not for the purpose of making money, but to generate revenue for her foundation and use the proceeds to purchase Braille for the blind and doing a whole lot of other charity activities. I think that is outstanding,” Ubani said.

FG Urged on PPP, Invest in Technology to Strengthen Healthcare Rebecca Ejifoma With technology accelerating access to healthcare globally, healthcare experts in Nigeria have urged the federal government to invest in technology while leveraging public-private-partnership (PPP) to further strengthen the nation’s healthcare infrastructure.

This was part of the focus at the EY Annual Healthcare Conference 2022 on the theme, “Accelerating Access to Quality Healthcare in Nigeria”.

The Senior Partner and Head of Markets, Ernst & Young (EY) West Africa, Mr Ashish Bakhshi told newsmen that the PPP would help to deliver more joint ventures, more hospitals and better healthcare delivery outcomes for Nigerians.

“Healthcare is very important to Nigeria. EY globally believes every country needs to have a good healthcare system and as a consulting firm we try to help both public and private organisations,” Bakshi added.

According to the senior partner developing her healthcare infrastructure can curb medical tourism in the country, afford Nigerians easy access to healthcare services and the value-chain of the healthcare ecosystem in the country.

In his keynote address, the MD and CEO of First Cardiologist, Adeyemi Johnson highlighted the need for political will to transform the nation’s health sector. “Investment in health technology is the sure way to bridge gaps between Nigeria’s health sector and the developed world.

“Nigeria can leverage technology for healthcare delivery as advocated by stakeholders in the sector that the country adopts a mobile phone-type initiative with the capacity to accommodate everybody,” he emphasised.

In the words of the seasoned interventional cardiologist technology now helps to do surgeries among other life-saving procedures. He added, “In most cases, you don’t have to be there to deliver care. Though expensive, it can get us there.”

The EY annual conference, which featured healthcare experts, distinguished practitioners and stakeholders, focused on trends, challenges, solutions, and opportunities in the nation’s healthcare sector.

“The conference aims to create awareness on the challenges facing the country, find ways to revert them and how the country can ensure sustainable financing for healthcare as well as achieving self-sufficiency in pharmaceutical products,” says Damilola Aloba the Partner, Strategy & Transactions/CIGA Leader, EY West Africa.

While Aloba said that EY would ensure that some of the key actions the panellists noted, including how health providers can access funding among others, can be implemented, he assured newsmen, “We will also prevail on government to take the sector from its present challenges by adopting the practical initiatives to address brain drain, dearth of infrastructures among others”.

T H I S D AY ˾ AY, JANUARY 19, 2023

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BUSINESS/MONEYGUIDE

LCFE Onboard Imota Rice Receipts for Trading Gilbert Ekwugbe As part of its organic growth strategy, Lagos Commodities and Futures Exchange (LCFE), has concluded arrangements to onboard the trading of electronic receipts of rice and its derivatives of Imota Rice Mill.

Imota Rice Mill, promoted by the Lagis State Government, is the largest in Africa and the third largest in the world, with installation capacity of 32 Metric Tonnes per hour. It is located at Imota area of Ikorodu division owned by the Lagos State Rice Company Limited to drive development of the Rice Value

Chain and meet the rice demand needs of the nation.

The Mill requires about 200,000 Metric Tonnes of Paddy Rice annually, to produce head rice of about 120,000 metric tonnes and other derivatives. It is estimated to generate 1, 500 direct jobs and 254, 000 indirect jobs.

“Our Exchange is proud to partner with Imota Rice Mill to fulfil its objectives for the development of the commodities ecosystem to meet demand for rice in Nigeria and drive the country’s Gross Domestic Products (GDP) through the Commodities ecosystem. This partnership will promote an

enabling environment for the alignment of all stakeholders in the rice production value chain and the capital market.”, says the LCFE’s Managing Director, Akin Akeredolu-Ale. He said the onboarding of Imota Rice Mill on the Exchange will drive steady flow of Paddy to the Mill and ensure effective trading of rice contracts on the Exchange.

The Pan African Commodities Exchange, LCFE, was established for structured, standardized and certified trading of electronic receipts of commodities and allied products as well as their derivatives.

SMEs Owners Smile as Diri Disburses Another N50m Grants Olusegun Samuel iØ ÏØËÑÙË In continuation of it’s financial grants to Small Scale Enterprises (SME) to enable to boast the state economy, the Bayelsa state government on Tuesday again disbursed N50 million grant to a fresh batch of 210 small and medium scale enterprise owners in the state.

The disbursement of the N50m grant was for the December, 2022 beneficiaries, with each beneficiaries going home with N200,000 each.

As part of activities marking Governor Douye Diri’s second year in office anniversary last year, the administration kick-started a monthly financial support for SMEs in the state, tagged: ‘Women and Youths Empowerment Programme with benefitting individuals cutting across the 105 wards

of the state.

Advising beneficiaries, the State Commissioner for Women, Children Affairs, Empowerment and Social Development who also doubles as Chairman of the disbursement committee, Mrs Faith Opene hinted that in compliance with the extant fiscal policies of the Central bank of Nigeria, the N200,000 grants would be transferred into beneficiaries bank accounts.

She warned beneficiaries against squandering their grants, noting that the programme which commenced during the second year in office anniversary of the governor Douye Diri led ‘prosperity’ administration is intended to last to the end of the Governor’s time in office.

The Committee Chairman averred that from the incep-

tion of the empowerment programme, the state government has been releasing N50m monthly for it, saying that no person would benefit twice from it, as according to the her it is difficult to manuevre the system.

“This Government’s baptismal name is ‘Prosperity’.

Governor Douye Diri is here to make sure that our people prosper in their businesses. Do you know that the economy of our state is not in the hands of we as Bayelsans? Just imagine that with this N200,000 you’re able to grow your business, and with time you have one or two other persons working for you.

And within a few years you’ld see yourself having empowered others too. By so doing our state Bayelsa would be better for it, it would prosper, “the Commissioner said.

Polaris Bank Partners NYSC, NerdzFactory to Build Capacity of 5,000 Corps Members In line with its Corporate Social Responsibility(CSR) drive, Polaris Bank in partnership with the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) and NerdzFactory has commenced a high-impact capacity-building workshop on digital skills for 5,000 National Youth Service Corps members across 12 states in Nigeria.

The bank explained that her action is intended to equip young Nigerians with relevant work-ready digital skills, which is focused on building the youth’s self-sustenance in innovation, creativity, digital skills, business acumen, and relevance in the 21st-century economy and workplace.

According to Polaris Bank’s Group Head, Product & Market Development, Mrs. Adebimpe Ihekuna, “This partnership is part of Polaris Bank’s commitment to Youth development and empowerment in Nigeria which aligns with the Bank’s strategic CSR pillars.

“We see the need for a work-ready and digitally equipped youth which has informed Polaris Bank’s partnership with NerdzFactory to make a difference and provide 5,000 NYSC members with digital skills needed to start a successful career in paid employment or create their own businesses as entrepreneurs,”.

Additionally, Mrs.

Ihekuna noted that “As an enterprise poised to meet the financial needs of Nigerian Youths in the digital age, especially in post-COVID-19 era with its attendant challenges, we want to equip as many young Nigerians as possible, with requisite digital skills to give them a good head-start and help them achieve economic stability.

“The training which will run across two quarters comprises courses such as: basic digital literacy; cyber security; data science; product design; software development (back end); product management; blockchain technology; mobile app development; 3D and virtual reality.”

Wema Bank’s Season Two ‘5 for 5’ Promo Holds Grand Finale Draws The second edition of the ALAT 5for5 promo, a six-month-long mega reward programme, is set to witness an all-action finale this month that will see both new and existing customers in attendance in Lagos.

The Promo, which commenced on June 1st, 2022 is set to come to a fitting conclusion on Friday, January 20th, 2023-the day of the live draws, after an exciting season marked by monthly rewards, account activation events, incentives for app downloads, and other unmatched deals for new and existing account holders across all Wema Bank branches.

The event, the bank said, will

excite customers, stakeholders, and interested parties in Lagos, as it ushers in the last group of millionaires during the final month of the promo. Abuja customers were the first to receive the 5for5 goodies in July 2022, when the first two millionaires, in the second season, were created.

Speaking about the grand finale that is set to take place in Lagos, the Divisional Head, Retail Business, at Wema Bank, Dotun Ifebogun, said, “We introduced the first season of this promo in 2021, to reward our loyal customers, foster healthy customer relationships,

and help them develop a better savings culture. And we have been able to achieve these and much more. The feedback from customers and businesses has been impactful, and we’re pleased to know that we are positively impacting lives.”

Speaking about the activities lined up for the grand finale, Ms. Temitope Ogundeji, Head, Liability Products, Wema Bank, stated, “We have various exciting events and offers for customers during the grand finale of the 5for5 promo, so we urge them to come to witness the promo draw live or follow the event on Instagram live.”

L-R: Special Assistant to Lagos State Government on Rice, Dr Olurotini Fashola; Permanent Secretary , Lagos State Ministry of Agriculture, Mrs. Olatokunbo Emokpae; Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Lagos Commodities and Futures Exchange (LCFE), Akin Akeredolu-Ale; Commissioner for Agriculture, Lagos State, Abisola Olusanya and Group Chief Executive Officer, Dominion Trust Limited, Dr Wale Oshinowo, during interactive session on the proposed onboarding of electronic receipts of Imota Rice on LCFE in Lagos... recently

MARKET INDICATORS MONEY AND CREDIT STATISTICS

(MILLION NAIRA)

AUGUST 2022 Money Supply (M3)

49,356,443.6

-- CBN Bills Held by Money Holding Sectors

50,601.36

Money Supply (M2)

49,305,842.3

-- Quasi Money

27,869,678.3

-- Narrow Money (M1)

21,436,164

---- Currency Outside Banks

2,680,236.81

---- Demand Deposits

18,755,927.2

Net Foreign Assets (NFA)

5,074,909.92

Net Domestic Assets(NDA)

27,869,678.3

-- Net Domestic Credit (NDC)

61,195,142.4

---- Credit to Government (Net)

21,001,401.5

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

0.00

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

0.00

---- Credit to Private Sector (CPS)

40,193,740.9

--Other Assets Net

6,785,979.22

Reserve Money (Base Money

14,040,351.9

--Currency in Circulation

3,210,664.98

--Banks Reserves --Special Intervention Reserves

10,829,686.9 390,557.8

˾ ÙßÜÍÏ ̋

Money Market Indicators (in Percentage) Month

July 2022

Inter-Bank Call Rate

13.00

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

14.00

Treasury Bill Rate

2.76

Savings Deposit Rate

1.42

1 Month Deposit Rate

3.64

3 Months Deposit Rate

4.96

6 Months Deposit Rate

5.87

12 Months Deposit Rate

5.76

Prime Lending rate

12.10

Maximum Lending Rate

27.61

˾ ÙØÏÞËÜã ÙÖÓÍã ËÞÏ ̋ ͯͱϱ

OPEC DAILY BASKET PRICE ͰͲ ˜ ͰͮͰͰ

The price of OPEC basket of thirteen crudes stood at $92.17 a barrel on Monday, compared with $92.09 the previous Friday, 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), Zafiro (Equatorial Guinea), Rabi Light (Gabon), Iran Heavy (Islamic Republic of Iran), Basrah Medium (Iraq), Kuwait Export (Kuwait), Es Sider (Libya), Bonny Light (Nigeria), Arab Light (Saudi Arabia), Murban (UAE) and Merey (Venezuela).

33

T H I S D AY ˾ AY, ͯͷ˜ 2023

NGX, IFC to Tackle Gender-based Violence, Harassment in Workplace Kayode Tokede The Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) has partnered with the International Finance Corporation (IFC) to conduct research on gender-based violence and harassment (GBVH) in Nigerian workplaces.

A statement from the bourse disclosed that the study is being conducted as part of the Nigeria2Equal initiative, which

aims to address GBVH in the private sector and provide evidence-based recommendations for prevention.

According to the Exchange statement, “The research will focus on several key areas, including the development of a business case for creating respectful workplaces, the estimation of the cost of GBVH to participating businesses in Nigeria, and an understanding

P R I C E S MAIN BOARD

DEALS

F O R MARKET PRICE

of employee perceptions and experiences of the current level of GBVH. “It will also identify best practices offered by businesses, government bodies, and the community, as well as inform the design of GBVH policy and training for Nigerian companies, based on existing IFC respectful workplace tools.

The Divisional Head of Business Support Services and

S E C U R I T I E S QUANTITY TRADED

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General Counsel at NGX, Irene Robinson-Ayanwale in a statement said, “We are committed to fostering a culture of respect and inclusion in the workplace and are honored to be part of this important initiative.

“Through this study, we will gain valuable insights into the causes and effects of GBVH, as well as the best practices for preventing it. We are confident that the findings will help us,

T R A D E D MAIN BOARD

and other organizations in the private sector, to create safer and more equitable workplaces for all.

Robinson-Ay a n w a l e added, “The research is also expected to inform the adoption and eventual implementation of the International Labour Organization (ILO) Convention 190 on how to address GBVH in the world of work, and provide recommendations for the private

AS O F

sector and relevant ecosystem stakeholders on how to address GBVH in the world of work.”

NGX has called on other organizations to join the research and actively participate in creating respectful workplaces. With the rising awareness of the issue of GBVH in the workplace, this research is expected to play a crucial role in developing solutions and best practices for addressing it in Nigeria.

1 8 / 0 1 / 2 3 DEALS

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QUANTITY TRADED

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THURSDAY, ͹΁˜ ͺ͸ͺͻ ˾ T H I S D AY

PERSPECTIVE

The Future of Healthcare in Africa

By Obinna C. Oriaku

Introduction:

H

ow much does Africa spend on healthcare? By all accounts, healthcare in Africa remains the worst in the world. Per capita expenditure by African countries fall woefully short of the minimum WHO recommendations of $44.00 per person.

Brain drain complicates the situation by denying Africa the human capital necessary to build out a robust system. Conversations are ongoing about the best way to mitigate this challenge. We propose one solution to this vexing problem.

The Problem:

In their recent article, the International Finance Corporation (IFC), a World Bank Group, estimated that in the next decade, sub Saharan Africa would need up to $25 - $30 Billion in new investments to meet its healthcare needs. This money, they believe would be needed to go towards building out hospital beds; production, storage & distribution of pharmaceuticals as well as training and hiring tens of thousands of doctors and nurses. They also state rather bleakly that “ health care in Sub-Saharan Africa remains the worst in the world, with few countries able to spend the $34 - $40 a year per person that the World Health Organization considers the minimum for basic health care.”

Let’s juxtapose this assertion with the reality on the ground in Africa, using Nigeria as an example. Since the 1980’s, there has been a constant migration of highly qualified professionals out of Nigeria seeking greener pastures abroad.

This so-called brain drain, initially a mere trickle, has become a veritable exodus as the political and economic realities in Nigeria have worsened. The reality today is that most (if not all) young doctors and nurses complete their training with one eye on the lookout for the next opportunity to immigrate to the west where there is a promise of both a more fulfilling career and a more comfortable lifestyle. To demonstrate, according to a 2021 report, there are over 10,000 Nigerians in the NHS, England.

The Human Resource for Health in their article published in 2017 stated that in the last decade, about one Africa-educated doctor was migrating to the USA per day.

Between 2005 and 2015, International Medical Graduates (IMGs) from Africa increased by 27%. That number is estimated to be more than 17,000 today. The Association of Nigerian Physicians in the Americas, (ANPA) has over 4000 doctors and other healthcare professionals in its ranks.

Attempted Solutions: At present, a lot of groups organize medical missions at great personal cost to help alleviate the healthcare needs in their home countries. These missions serve a great purpose and bring a lot of hope and relief of suffering to many. However, by the very nature of these trips, the impact, though profound, may not be sustainable in the long run. These dedicated healthcare professionals at great personal expense, leave their jobs here to answer the call to serve the motherland. One of our colleagues actually died of a heart attack while on one of these missions because when he needed it, the resources to save him from a massive heart attack was not available to him.

The international donor community and philanthropic organizations (Bill Gates Foundation, the World Bank, et al) have played an important role in reducing the impact of such communicable diseases as HIV/AIDs, polio, malaria and tuberculosis.

A new crop of healthcare facilities are also springing up in major metropolitan centers

Source: (https://researchbriefings.files.parliament.uk/documents/CBP-7783/fullflags.pdf)

Source: https://rdcu.be/cPwCN in Nigeria such as Lagos, Abuja and Port Harcourt that have been designed, built and run with western standards in mind. These however only serve the very well heeled who would otherwise travel abroad for their care. These hospitals have in mind the thriving medical tourism industry in Nigeria, estimated to be about $1.2B - $1.6B per year. Unaccounted for are the millions of Nigerians that cannot afford this rarified access. In 2019, Nigeria’s healthcare expenditure per capita was $71.00. This is as compared to the per capita expenditure of Australia ($5,187.00), Canada ($5,418.00) and South Africa ($547).

A New Dawn:

The recent rapid acceptance of telemedicine, which was boosted by the Covid 19 pandemic, is an opportunity to deliver quality healthcare to sub-Saharan Africa in a predictable and cost effective manner across geographies at the fraction

of its present cost. The ability to eliminate travel and security costs alone, not to talk of lost productivity from the healthcare professional’s primary job all portend a new way of doing things that would benefit both the giver and receiver of care. We have designed SocratesMD with this solution in mind. We are leveraging Nigerian born or Nigeria affiliated healthcare professionals to bring care to our loved ones on the continent at a fraction of the cost of traditional care. We can also extend our services to provide after hours specialty coverage to large hospitals in Nigeria, taking advantage of the 5 - 6 hour time difference (depending on time of year) between the USA and Nigeria. Our physicians come from all specialties including internal medicine, cardiology, gastroenterology, oncology etc.

In the meantime, we are also developing a network of affiliated hospitals, pharmacies and diagnostic labs to help deliver the last mile of care to our patients.

Conclusion:

The challenge of delivering quality healthcare across the teeming population of Africa is daunting. No one solution addresses all aspects of the problem. As economic and security challenges worsen across the continent, or for that matter, if another pandemic were to shut the world down, medical missions to Africa and reverse migration of African born experts become wishful thinking. The high level of adoption of mobile technology across Africa for communication, social media interactions, banking etc provides opportunity to leverage this technology to reach a greater number of people with quality healthcare at an affordable price point. SocratesMD is uniquely positioned to bring about this change by harnessing the brain trust of the African diaspora to effect change in Africa.

Obinna C. Oriaku, MD, MBA, FACP, CPE SocratesMD 4500 South Tryon St, Charlotte, NC 28217

35

THURSDAY, ͹΁˜ ͺ͸ͺͻ ˾ T H I S D AY

NEWS

SOUTH-SOUTH REGIONAL CONFERENCE IN BENIN...

L-R: Bayelsa State Commissioner for Education, Dr. Gentle Emelah; Permanent Secretary, Rivers State Ministry of Budget and Economic Planning, Mrs. Titilola Cline, Senior Special Assistant to the President on Employment and Job Creation, Mrs. Matilda Mmegwa, Edo State Governor, Mr. Godwin Obaseki; National Coordinator, Core Working Group on Human Capital Development, Ms Yosola Akinbi, and Edo State Head of Service, Anthony Okumbowa Esq., during the South-South Regional Conference, at the Government House in Benin City... yesterday

I Scored Zero in APC Primary But Have True Identity, Integrity Intact, Bakare Replies Tinubu Segun James The Serving Overseer of the Citadel Global Community Church, Pastor Tunde Bakare, has hit back at critics of his position on the state of politics in the country and politics of entitlement, saying it had nothing to do with primordial sentiment.

Bakare had responded to those who wrote criticized and condemned him that, “A man who got zero votes at primary election deserves no serious attention. He is a political paperweight whose utterances should not be given a serious thought,” saying, “Why are they then giving any thought to

what I said? May be their alleged ‘paper weight’ is too heavy for them to carry.

“Can someone tell these people that scoring zero in a primary election with one’s true identity and integrity intact as well as having original credentials from well-known schools – primary, secondary, col-

leges and universities – within and outside of this nation are a veritable badge of honour, absolutely legit and unquestionable.

“Please tell them that in the words of Michel De Montaigne, ‘There are some defeats more triumphant than victories.’ One of the special advisers that I thought

PDP Alleges Ebubeagu Behind Attack on Ugochinyere’s House, Others Urges NSA, IG to review state security architecture Udora Orizu in Abuja Following last weekend's attack on the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate for Ideato North/South Federal Constituency of Imo State, Ikenga Ugochinyere at his residence where four persons were killed including his uncle, the party has alleged that most attacks and killings in the state were being done by the Ebubeagu militia loyal to the ruling All Progressive Congress, Imo government.

PDP Imo Chairman, Charles Ugwuh, in a statement claimed that the state government under Senator Hope Uzodinma, which has a primary responsibility to protect lives and property, was not only incapable of securing the state, but also appears complicit in the escalation of insecurity The party state Chairman called for the immediate arrest and questioning of the Governor's aide Mr. Chinasa Nwaneri following evidence of his threats to Ugochinyere before the attack.

He said since Uzodinma claimed to have knowledge of the agreement between Ugochinyere and the unknown gunmen, he should release the agreement and names to security agencies for arrest and immediate prosecution.

He appealed to the National Security Adviser, Babagana Monguno; Inspector General of Police, Usman Baba and the Director General of the Department of State Security, Yusuf Bichi to review the entire security architecture and security personnel deployed to Imo State with a view to tackling the fostering insecurity in the State.

Ugwuh warned that if the insecurity in Imo State persists, the President and Commander

in Chief, Muhammadu Buhari should declare a state of emergency in the state.

The state chairman added: "We draw your attention to the worsening insecurity in Imo State, and to the growing threat it represents to our party’s preparations for and voters’ participation in the impending general elections.

‘Over the past three years, there has been a steady degeneration of the security situation in the state characterised by kidnapping, arson, attacks and gruesome killing of innocent citizens. Imo people have been traumatised by this unending reign of terror, which has created widespread fear and anxiety in the state, threatening to paralyse social and economic activities.

"In response to the people’s concern for safety, and to complement the efforts of the regular Security Agencies, the Ebubeagu Vigilante Initiative was evolved.

Unfortunately, rather than deploy the Outfit to address the security challenges in the State, it is being abused as an instrument of suppression and vengeance against perceived enemies of the State Government. “It is worrisome that Ebubeagu, which appears currently positioned as a hit-squad under the DSS, represents a worse nightmare to the people of Imo State, than the organised network of bandits and kidnappers it was established to confront.”

He further said, "While still in shock over the missed attack, news of the brutal and fatal attack on the country home of our House of Representatives Candidate for Ideato South/ Ideato North Federal Constituency in Akokwa on 14th January 2023 by over 50 gunmen hit the airwaves.

‘The combined effect of all of

these threats and attacks, is that the fear for personal safety they have created may disable political parties from openly canvassing for votes, and also discourage

voters from coming out to vote on election day which appears to be the aim of the purveyors of insecurity and their sponsors in the state."

had some semblance of nobility had to utter outright lies and falsehoods to satisfy his paymaster. He said I did a video asking members of our church to vote for their candidate and then turn around to ask them not to vote for him.

“Unfortunately, there is no such video containing such falsehood.

The abridged video these people are sending around is from a message preached here (Citadel Global Community Church) in 2020 with the title: ‘An idle man’s brain is the devil’s workshop.’ I made it clear in the video that I did not endorse their candidate’s lifestyle, business or type of politics.

“In the said video, I never asked our members to vote or not vote for their candidate or any other candidate. By the way, our members

are not zombies. They, by the grace of God, have their minds and will decide who to vote for on Election Day. “As for those whose stock in trade is lying against others and fabricating stories that are not true about them, our strong consolation is that their DNA and the final destination are spelt out in the Bible.

See Psalm 58:3-8. ‘The wicked are estranged from the womb; they go astray as soon as they are born, speaking lies.

“Rest assured, I will take the vicious attacks of these political merchants in my stride, because I know that according to Voltaire: ‘Many are destined to reason wrongly, others not to reason at all and some to persecute those who do reason.”

PDP: SPV FRAUD ALLEGATIONS AGAINST ATIKU DIVERSIONARY to return to power in May 29, they must all go back to their constituencies and work for the party to win the election.

Atiku said, "The fact that you (party members) are following the gubernatorial candidate or the Senatorial candidate or the House of Representatives candidate or the presidential candidate to campaigns is no qualification that you will get an appointment, it is not qualification that you will get a contract whether at the local government level, state or the federal level.

"The only way, as far as I'm concerned, if I am president, if you come and say you want a job or you want a contract, I will ask you let me have the result of your polling booth and that is what

I'm going to direct to everybody because unless we do that, we will not win the elections.

"You are all members of the PDP and supporters of the PDP, you want PDP to return to power, please I beg of you make sure you win your polling booths.

"You cannot be following the governor all the place or the senator all the place and then you don't win your polling booth and you come and say you want to be a Minister or you want to get this contract.

"So please, as members of our party let us make sure that we go back to our constituencies and make sure that we deliver our polling units."

Speaking at the rally, Tambuwal

said Atiku was the only candidate that has identified and proffered ways and means through which he was going to restructure Nigeria.

He added, “There will be more powers to the state, there will be more powers to local government, there will be more resources, there will be more devolution of powers and devolution of resources for the development of our country.”

According to Tambuwal, if Nigerians elect Atiku, they are would be guaranteed of a Chief Executive Officer that would drive their interests and engender good governance in Nigeria.

On his part, Ayu said in most of the states where they have been for campaign, they were denied venues. This, he said showed that

the ruling party was afraid.

He said, “Anywhere we go and they don’t give us a venue, it shows that APC is afraid. They were afraid of us in Osun state, they refused to give us the stadium, we did our rally on the road and we won. Anywhere we go and it is an APC controlled government, they make sure that we don’t get a venue.

“They are worried that they are going to lose power. We were in Ekiti, they refused to give us the appropriate venue, they closed all filling stations, there were no buses, that is to tell you that PDP is bouncing back. We are stronger than ever and because of that, nobody should worry about whatever obstacle they put in our way.”

FAAC: NNPC USED LOWER FX RATE FOR CRUDE OIL REVENUE IN SEVEN YEARS Statutory Revenue, Petroleum Profit Tax (PPT), Companies Income Tax (CIT) and Value Added Tax (VAT), among others, pushed distributable revenue among the federal, state and local governments to N990.189 billion for December, indicating the highest monthly allocation in 2022.

The N990.189 billion total revenue distributable for the month of December was drawn from Statutory Revenue of N707.756 billion, N233.277 billion VAT Exchange Gain of N24.841 billion, and N24.315 billion from Electronic Money Transfer Levies (EMTL).

This translated to N88.136 billion increase over the sum of N902.053 billion shared in the preceding month of November.

The second highest allocation in 2022 was N954.085 billion, shared

in July.

Citing a communique issued after the first FAAC meeting in 2023, where the December 2022 allocations were distributed, the Director (Information/Press), Federal Ministry of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Phil Abiamuwe-Mowete, in a statement, said the committee shared a total sum of N990.189 billion to the three tiers of government.

A breakdown showed that the federal government received N375.306 billion, the states received N299.557 billion, while the local government councils got N221.807 billion.

The oil producing states got N93.519 billion as 13 per cent Mineral Revenue under the Derivation Principle.

The gross revenue available from VAT for the reference month was N250.512 billion from which the sum of N7.215 billion was allocated to the North East Development Commission (NEDC) Project while N10.020 billion was for cost of collection to the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) and the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS).

The remaining sum of N233.277 billion which was distributed as N34.992 billion, N116.639 billion, and N81.647 billion to the federal, state and local governments respectively.

The sum of N24.315 billion from the Electronic Money Transfer Levies (EMTL) was distributed to the three tiers of government as follows; the federal government, N3.648

billion; states, N12.157 billion, and local government councils, N8.510 billion.

It also emerged that N24.841 billion from Exchange Gain was shared in the proportion of N11.562 billion, N5.864 billion, N4.521 billion to the federal, state and local governments respectively while N2.894 billion was for 13 per cent Mineral Revenue.

However, while Petroleum Profit Tax (PPT), Companies Income Tax (CIT) and Value Added Tax (VAT) recorded significant increases in the reference month, Import Duty decreased considerably while Oil and Gas Royalties and Excise Duty increased marginally.

The balance in the Excess Crude Account (ECA) as at January 17, 2023 stood at $473,754.57

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NEWS

NDLEA ACHIEVEMENTS IN TWO YEARS...

L-R: Special Assistant to the Chairman, National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) Mr. Lanre Ipimiso; Secretary NDLEA, Haruna Shadrach; Chairman/ Chief Executive NDLEA, Brig Gen. Buba Marwa (rtd); Special Assistant PHOTO: ENOCK REUBEN to the Chairman, Haruna Ikpiki and Director, Media and Advocacy NDLEA, Mr. Femi Babafemi, during a media briefing on the NDLEA achievements in the last two years in Abuja... yesterday

Diri, Okowa Restate Support for INEC’s Use of BVAS Advocate constitutional role for monarchs Olusegun Osahon in Yenagoa Bayelsa State Governor, Senator Douye Diri, and his Delta State counterpart, Senator Ifeanyi Okowa, who is also the presidential running mate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), have restated their support for the introduction of the

Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) into the Nigerian electoral system by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

They also canvassed constitutionally defined roles for traditional rulers to ensure peace in the country.

The governors spoke in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State, yesterday during the

South-south Monarchs Forum’s Extraordinary General Assembly with the theme: “Entrenching Grassroots Security and Peace in the South-south Region’ during and after 2023 general election.”

Diri said the importance of BVAS could not be over-emphasised as it would go a long way in reducing

UN Seeks Urgent Action to Save Children from Acute Malnutrition in 15 Countries Nigeria, Kenya, Ethiopia among vulnerable countries Onyebuchi Ezigbo in Abuja The United Nations agencies have raised the alarm on the need for urgent action to protect the most vulnerable children in the 15 countries hardest hit by an unprecedented food and nutrition crisis.

The affected countries are Afghanistan, Burkina Faso, Chad, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Haiti, Kenya, Madagascar, Mali, the Niger, Nigeria, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan and Yemen.

In this regard, five UN agencies – the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the World Food Programme (WFP) and the World Health Organisation (WHO) – called for accelerated progress on the global action plan on child wasting.

According to the UN agencies conflict, climate shocks, the ongoing impacts of COVID-19, and rising costs of living were leaving increasing numbers of children acutely malnourished while key health, nutrition and other life-saving services are becoming less accessible.

The UN bodies said currently more than 30 million children in the 15 worst-affected countries suffer from wasting – or acute malnutri-

tion – and eight million of these children are severely wasted, the deadliest form of undernutrition.

They described the situation as a major threat to children’s lives and to their long-term health and development, the impacts of which are felt by individuals, their communities and their countries.

According to the UN group, the plan was to prevent, detect and treat acute malnutrition among children in the worst-affected countries.

A joint statement issued by Executive Director, UNICEF, Catherine Russell; Executive Director, WFP, David Beasley and WHO, Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, stated that: " More than 30 million children are acutely malnourished across the 15 worst-affected countries."

They said the world must act together now to save the situation.

"It is critical that we collaborate to strengthen social safety nets and food assistance to ensure Specialised Nutritious Foods are available to women and children who need them the most.”

The UN agencies said that the global action plan will focus on the need for a multi-sectoral approach and highlights priority actions across maternal and child nutrition through the food, health, water and sanitation,

and social protection systems.

In response to increasing needs, the agencies identified five priority actions that will be effective in addressing acute malnutrition in countries affected by conflict and natural disasters and in humanitarian emergencies.

"Scaling up these actions as a coordinated package will be critical for preventing and treating acute malnutrition in children, and averting a tragic loss of life," they said.

electoral fraud.

He lauded President Muhammadu Buhari for his insistence on free and fair elections, saying the country was relying on him to match words with action and deliver a credible 2023 general election.

Describing democracy as a government of the people, Diri called on politicians and Nigerians in general to allow the electorate make their choices without molestation.

While advocating constitutional role for monarchs as custodians of culture, the Bayelsa helmsman cautioned politicians against the use of youths for violence and called on all hands to be on deck to ensure a violence-free election.

"You are the custodians of our culture and traditions and generations of our people have depended on you for their existence. We cannot pretend to be oblivious of the fact that our security architecture needs attention.

“With the discovery of oil and gas, we were all hopeful that the discovery will make us happy but the reverse has proved to be the case with several economic and

are going to inspect on a regular basis, experts from outside the country, there is a need to provide project vehicles so that they can effectively inspect, supervise and monitor the remediation exercise.

"So, FEC today approved the sum of N1, 354,016,250 only in favour of Messrs. Mujav automobile Nigeria Limited to provide 31 number of vehicles for the project.

“These include one 18-seater Toyota Hiace bus, one 30-seater Toyota coaster bus, they're all supposed to be 2022 models.

Then 11 Toyota Hilux double cabin four-wheel drive also of 2022 model, diesel engine.

against a technology that would promote credible elections and improve the image of Nigeria even before the international community.

"I thank our royal fathers for inviting governors of the Southsouth and their counterparts from the South-east. The topic is wonderful because it is best to find ways to stop electoral violence to help us prepare the ground for a peaceful election.

"There is no doubt we have had a lot of sentiments in this country and we have allowed it to define us. But the question is, why all these sentiments? We must try to improve on our governance system and make it all inclusive.

"As custodians of culture, traditional rulers have a great role to play but they need to be empowered and given constitutional roles to play their part effectively to promote peace in their domains and the country at large,” he said.

Earlier, Chairman, South-south Monarchs Forum and Amanyanabo of Nembe, Dr. Edmund Daukoru, said the aim of the organisers of the meeting was to achieve peaceful elections in the country.

Delta Monarch Writes Police Over Alleged Murder, Faults Exoneration of Suspect Emmanuel Addeh in Abuja The King of Otulu-Ugo in Aniocha South, Delta state, Francis Medolunwa, has written the Inspector General of Police, Alkali Baba, over the summary exoneration of alleged suspects in a fatal shooting in the community.

In the petition sighted by THISDAY, the monarch urged the police boss to reopen investigation into the circumstances that led to the

killing of a youth in the community in 2021.

The monarch insisted that all those involved in the incident that led to the shooting to death of one Cletus Okpala should be investigated and brought to book.

In the petition, the king alleged that the decision by the police to charge only one suspect in connection with the crime was unsatisfactory to the community.

According to him, there had

NNPC ROAD TAX SCHEME: FEC APPROVES ADDITIONAL N1.9TRN TO RECONSTRUCT 44 ROADS Petroleum Trust Fund (PTF).

The environment minister, while briefing newsmen, said the council approved N1, 354,016,250 for the procurement of 31 vehicles for the monitoring of power and remediation projects in some polluted areas of Ogoniland.

Abdullahi stated, "In view of this development and because of the desire to ensure effective supervision of these projects, particularly the five water schemes and the 16 upcoming water schemes and the proposed shoreline remediation, and also the proposed centres of excellences to be built within Ogoni land and in view of the fact that we

health losses for our people.

“Let me take the liberty of this event to remind us of what we have to advocate for. In the forthcoming elections, we must do our best to prevent our youths from being used as tools of violence by selfish politicians.

"I also endorse the introduction of BVAS as I believe it will reduce electoral fraud. We rely on Mr. President to match words with action and make the 2023 elections transparent."

Okowa, on his part, said it was crucial for all stakeholders to find ways to ensure peaceful elections, stating also that traditional rulers play important role as custodians of culture and that they needed to be empowered to play more active roles in ensuring peace in the country.

He also expressed gratitude to Buhari, INEC and all stakeholders playing various roles to ensure that Nigeria had a credible election, adding that with more efforts in that direction, there was hope for the country.

Okowa hailed the introduction of BVAS and wondered why some persons and political parties were

“Then 15 numbers Toyota Hilux double cabin four-wheel drives, diesel and petrol engine, also 2022 models. Then one Toyota Land Cruiser twin turbo 2022 model and, lastly, two units of Land Cruiser V6 Prada for the projects.

"Only 31 vehicles were approved for the hydrocarbon pollution remediation project to ensure effective supervision of the project, particularly, delimitation sites. This is what we presented and was approved by FEC." The Minister of Police Affairs, who also addressed journalists on the approvals by the council, said, "It has also directed the Attorney General the Federal Minister of

Justice, to transmit the draft bill to the National Assembly for enactment into law."

Dingyadi said the passage of the bill was to give legal backing and financial autonomy to the institutions and to mobilise the much-needed technical and financial support from within and outside the country for the modernisation of police training facilities.

He added that this was geared towards improving the quality of officers produced for deployment, in furtherance of the federal government's agenda on police reforms for effective policing in the country.

been a dispute between Otulu-Ugo community and Ogwashi-Uku community, in Aniocha which led to a court case marked No 0/38/2021.

Bur while the suit was still pending, he noted that the king of the other party to the matter wrote a letter to “our community giving us seven days to meet with his community , knowing full well that both communities had a matter still pending in court.”

The king pointed out in the petition that even before the expiration of the seven days, the other party encroached on Otulu-Ugo to perform certain rites and allegedly destroyed some buildings, which drew the ire of the youths.

“When the youths felt angry and tried to caution them, then one of the vigilante members shot Cletus Okpala to death. His corpse presently lays in the mortuary at the Specialist Hospital in Asaba,” he added.

He faulted the police legal department's decision to charge only the man who is suspected to have directly shot the late Okpala, appealing to the Inspector General to revisit the legal advice.

“It should be possibly assigned to a neutral person to review and

charge all the suspects involved as there is clear evidence before him so that the court can determine whether they committed such act or not,” the Delta monarch maintained.

“We are crying to the Inspector General of Police to let him know about the biased legal advice rendered by the Commissioner of Police, Legal at the Force Criminal Investigation Department (CID) , Abuja,” the petition read.

With the suspect having allegedly confessed to the crime and mentioning all the persons involved and recovery of a pump action weapon, the monarch called for a revisiting of the matter.

“On Tuesday 10 January, 2023, I visited the DIG FCIID to complain about the delay in rendering legal advice...only for the legal advice to be out the next day exonerating all the principal suspects involved, except the suspect arrested in possession of the pump action,” he alleged.

While appealing to the Inspector General of Police to revisit the legal advice rendered by the legal department and possibly assign a neutral person to review and charge all the suspects involved, the monarch stated that there was clear evidence before the police to do so.

THURSDAY JANUARY 19, 2023 ˾ T H I S D AY

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NEWS

AWARD FOR FLOUR MILLS OF NIGERIA…

L-R: Company Secretary/Group Director, Legal, Flour Mills of Nigeria Plc (FMN), Mr. Umolu Joseph; Advertising Manager, BusinessDay, Queen Nkwocha; Group Director, Strategy and Stakeholder Relations, FMN, Mr. Sadiq Usman; Managing Director, BusinessDay, Dr. Ogho Okiti; Head, Corporate Communications, FMN, Modupe Thani, and the Assistant Manager, Conferences, and Events, BusinessDay, Adesakin Folasayo, at the official presentation of the 2022 Nigerian Business Leadership Award (NBLA) to FMN, in Apapa, Lagos… recently ETOP UKUTT

Group: Rising Insecurity, Attacks on Priests, Portend Crisis in the Polity Segun James

The Resource Centre for Human Rights and Civic Education (CHRICED), a human rights group, has condemned the rising wave of violence and insecurity that has resulted in the loss of lives in the country, saying such development portends crisis in the polity.

The group specifically condemned the killing of a

Catholic Church priest in Niger State, saying that the country cannot continue to shed blood unnecessary.

CHRICED, in a statement signed by its Executive Director, said: “It is unfortunate that despite the start of a new year, many families and communities across the country continued to grapple with the country’s existential crisis. Not only are the Nigerian people burdened

Why Fayose, Others Boycotted Atiku’s Rally in Ekiti GbengaSodeinde inAdoEkiti Former Ekiti State Governor, Ayo Fayose, seven National Assembly candidates, many House of Assembly candidates and other prominent chieftains of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Tuesday, boycotted the party’s presidential campaign rally in the state, because of the clashes among factions within the party.

While the state PDP Publicity Secretary, Mr. Raphael Adeyanju believed that the Atiku campaign in Ekiti “was a huge success,” another chieftain of the party loyal to Fayose, Mr. Omotoso Okeya, said the rally “was nothing to write home about.”

The duo, who spoke on yesterday on a political radio programme, the New Cruse FM,

admitted that there were factions within the party and also agreed that a house divided against itself could not stand.

Okeya, who pooh-poohed Adeyanju’s claim that the rally was a success, revealed that Fayose, seven National Assembly candidates and many House of Assembly candidates boycotted the rally, because of the belief that they were not important in the party.

Okeya also disclosed that many party faithful especially, those in Fayose’s camp, shunned the rally, because they were shortchanged by the national leadership of the party in arriving at the choice of the Presidential Campaign Committee (PCC) members and the way and manner funds were disbursed for the exercise.

by the country’s severe economic situation, but many also have to live with the reality of total security collapse.

“The situation has not changed despite President Muhammadu Buhari’s directive to security

agencies to immediately restore peace to the troubled areas. It is also unacceptable and worrisome that, with less than four weeks to the 2023 general elections, various sorts of criminality have engulfed different regions of Nigeria.”

CHRICED lamented that in the face of the criminals’ lethal activities, the victims are left to nurse their wounds, mourn, and bury their dead, while life goes on.

“The audacious and criminal

assault on human lives has now reached industrial proportions, while the government, which has the constitutional obligation to protect lives and property, continues to demonstrate its lack of capacity to act.

Ezeagu LGA to Play Critical Role in Enugu’s Economic Blueprint, Says Mbah The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governorship candidate in Enugu State, Dr. Peter Mbah, has said that Ezeagu Local Government Area of the state will play a pivotal role in the actualisation of his master plan and economic blueprint for the state, if elected the next governor in the forthcoming elections.

Mbah stated this yesterday at Mgbagbu Owa and Umuna, both headquarters of Ezeagu Central and Ezeagu South Development Centres in the council area at town hall meetings which attracted stakeholders from different communities, professions and associations.

Reacting to the presentations and demands made by the people of

the development centres, Mbah said the local government was blessed with abundant resources that have been laying dormant over the years, stressing that his administration would activate and operationalise those assets for the benefits of the state.

According to him, his government will harness the arable agricultural potential in the area for revenue drive and massive employment of both the youths and women. Mbah insisted that the state has the capacity to feed itself and other states with the deployment of technology to migrate the agricultural sector from subsistence to agro-allied processing sector which will commercialize the sector.

Pledging to declare war on hunger and poverty in the state, the governorship hopeful maintained that his government will achieve food security for the state and become a major export hub in the country.

In order to achieve the laudable projects of tapping into other resources in the area, Mbah underscored why his manifesto prioritises infrastructure which included 10,000 kilometers of roads across the state within the next eight years, partnering with major investors and engaging the youth productively.

The governorship candidate, who is an industrialist, reassured the people that all the sectors that will serve as catalyst for revenue

generation, economic boom, wealth creation, employment, and development will be optimally explored and exploited to move the state to enviable heights.

He noted that the Okpoko River Picnic centre in Ihuezi Obinofia Ndiuno, Heneke Lake in Obinofia Ndiuno, the Premier Cashew industry in Oghe with about 2,000 hectares of land, the Ebechukwu Cave in Ihuezi Obinofia Ndiuno, and Igwuetiti Amansiodo Oghe oil well will all be activated and turned into productive assets that will make the state one of the top three states in Nigeria in terms of gross domestic product (GDP), standard of living, job creation, and industrialisation.

Peter Obi’s Victory, ‘ll be a Breath of Fresh Air for Nigeria Segun James

The Labour Party(LP) in Lagos State has said that a win by the party’s presidential candidate in the February 25th election would be a breath of fresh air for the nation.

This position was made during the inauguration of 25-member Caretake Committee

of LP in Lagos at its office, Allen, Ikeja, Lagos.

Until recently, the party at the state level had been embroiled in internal wrangling but with the inauguration of Dayo Ekong Committee by the national body, the party leadership believes in making surprises in the presidential and gubernatorial elections

in Lagos.

Aside the representatives of the national body of the party, representative of Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) also attended the inauguration.

Some of the newly inaugurated members are: Chairman, Pastor Dayo Ekong, Pastor Lanre Adenuga

(Deputy Chairman), Sam Emeka Okpala (Secretary), Lady (Pst.) Funke Awolowo (Deputy Zonal Chairman), Hon. Dauda Kayode Yusuf (Deputy Zonal Chairman), Lady Jennifer Ukachi (Treasurer), Barr. Abass Ibrahim (Legal Adviser), Hajia Amina Agnes (Woman Leader), Olubena Abiodun (Youth Leader), among others.

standing trial for corruption and alleged involvement in drug dealings, offered him N10m and a visa to travel out of the country to implicate a former Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki, in the celebrated robbery case.

He said Kyari promised to give him a visa to any country of choice if he supported the move to implicate Saraki, but

claimed to have turned down the offer.

Five suspects: Ayoade Akinnibosun, Ibikunle Ogunleye, Adeola Abraham and two others were charged to court by the police for criminal conspiracy to rob the banks, murder of nine policemen and other citizens, and illegal possession of firearms.

During the incident, about 10

persons were reportedly killed while other residents of Offa sustained serious injuries.

However, during a crossexamination at the court by the Defence Counsel, Mr Mathias Emeribe (SAN), Akinrinbosun said he was offered N10m to claim that Saraki asked them to carry out the bloody robbery operation.

Unemployment: FG to Launch Job Statistics System, Ngige Reveals Offa Robbery: Kyari Offered N10m, Visa to Implicate Saraki, Says Principal Suspect Department of Labour issues Onyebuchi Ezigbo in Abuja As part of efforts to address the high rate of unemployment in Nigeria, the federal government has disclosed plan to launch a labour statistics system to enable unemployed Nigerians at home and abroad, apply for available jobs.

The Minister of Labour and Employment, Senator Chris Ngige who disclosed this at a media parley with journalists in his office, lamented that unabating child labour practices in the country was being caused by poverty.

In a statement signed by the Head, Press and Public Relations, Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment, Olajide Oshundun, the Minister noted that in the United States of America, the

labour statistics, which is a very vital statistics needed for tackling unemployment.

He said, “But over time, we have been here, it is not funded. You don’t also blame them. Everybody wants to build bridges and airports and go.

But they forget that with labour statistics and matching, you can fight unemployment.

“With that you know who is where at any given time. And people abroad, especially those with specialties, who want to come back, can enter that system to know where to apply to for jobs,” Ngige said.

Ngige assured that the initiative would come up in the next few months at the Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment.

Hammed Shittu in Ilorin

One of the principal suspects in the resumed trial of the Offa Bank Robbery case at the Kwara State High Court sitting in Ilorin, Mr. Ayoade Akinrinbosun, yesterday, regaled the court with exclusive details of how a former Commander of the IRT Squad, ACP Abba Kyari, who is currently

Group Urges North to Reject Tinubu, Says Aspiration Not Good for Region

A pan-Northern group, Arewa Democratic Watch (ADW) has called on voters in the region not to vote for the candidate of the ruling All Progressives Congress(APC), Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu in next month’s presidential election.

The group in a statement

issued by it s national coordinator, Mallam Ali Komo Musa, yesterday said the former Lagos State governor had in the past demonstrated his disdain towards the region, saying that Tinubu’s the current efforts are part to woo the region for votes seems very hypocritical.

According to ADW voters in the North need to be wary because of some anti-North sentiments that Tinubu had espoused in the past.

Musa said: “I am using the opportunity provided by this statement to draw the attention of Northerners to their responsibilities

ahead of the forthcoming general election scheduled to commence next month.

“The call has become so pertinent and auspicious at this time to enable us as a people to make the right and informed choice that would eventually serve our interest in the long run.”

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THURSDAY JANUARY 19, 2023 ˾ T H I S D AY

NEWSXTRA

THANKS FOR VISITING…

Ekiti State Governor, Mr Biodun Oyebanji (right) with legal luminary, Chief Wole Olanipekun,SAN, when Olanipekun visited the governor in Ado-Ekiti...yesterday

NDLEA: We Arrested 26,458 Persons, Jailed 3,733 in Two Years

Michael Olugbode in Abuja

The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has disclosed that it arrested about 26,500 drug traffickers among which included 36 drug

The Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of the agency, Brig. Gen. Buba Marwa (Retd), said this yesterday, while giving account of his stewardship in the last two years since his appointment.

Marwa said: “In these two years, we arrested 26, 458 drug traffickers, among them,

34 barons. In 24 months, we successfully prosecuted 3,733 offenders who were convicted and handed various jail terms in court.

“Of the conviction figure, 2,346 were recorded in 2022 alone, which is the highest in the history of the agency and almost doubled the highest

ever recorded in the 33 years of NDLEA.” He warned drug traffickers and barons to look for profitable ventures as they cannot continue to hide forever.

He promised that unrepentant drug barons and cartels would face tougher times in 2023 if they failed to back out of the illicit drug business.

Marwa, while addressing the press on the successes of the NDLEA to rid the country of illicit substance abuse and drug trafficking, said: “Last year, I issued a New Year appeal to them and also warned that those who refused to heed the warning will find themselves in a difficult situation.

which increased their number from KJohn Shiklam in Kaduna eight to 15 out of the 31 members.

According to him, “By the grace Six people have been killed while of God, the state Governor, Bala several others were injured in an Mohammed will not win the attempt to apprehend kidnappers contest alone but all the party’s who abducted two residents of standard bearers are going to Zonkwa, headquarters of Zangon emerge victorious at the end of Kataf Local Government Area the February and March general of Kaduna state.

The incident, according to a election.”

The Speaker, who was speaking statement signed by Media Aid during the governor’s tour in Jama’are Local Government Area of the state yesterday said Governor Mohammed EmmanuelUgwu-Nwogoin has done tremendously well to Umuahia warrant being re-elected.

The traditional rulers counil of Ikwuano/Umuahia political bloc in Abia State yesterday affirmed their decision to endorse the governorship candidate of the All Progressives at exactly 8 a.m. at Oojo Congress (APC), Ikechi Emenike.

Roundabout, Ibadan, headed towards Sango through Bodija, Total Garden, Mokola, Beere, and eventually terminated at the historical Mapo Hall, where the party supporters were addressed. UdoraOrizuinAbuja The walk was led by prominent leaders of the party, The House of Representatives has including the vice presidential called for the beefing up of security candidate of the party, Mr. Yusuf formations in Edo State so as to Salisu Buhari; the South-west prevent kidnapping, armed robbery, Chairman, Chief Alani Silas; herdsmen attacks and other acts of the state party Chairman, Mr. criminality.

The lawmakers specifically called Michael Okunlade; the deputy governorship candidate, Alhaji Abdul Rahman Aloyinlapa, and other candidates of the Ibrahim Oyewale in Lokoja party.

to Council Chairman of Zangon Kataf LGA, Yabo Ephraim, occurred on Tuesday at about 8pm.

The statement said the kidnappers broke into the residence of one Mr. Calistus Eze and abducted him along side one Mrs. Amos.

The statement said the bandits were shooting sporadically as they

made their way out of Eze’s residence, escaping through an adjoining village.

Ephraim said the residents, in a bold move, confronted the kidnappers and in an attempt to rescue the victims.

However, in an attempt to ease their escape, the criminals shot Eze and five others to death while escaping with Mrs. Amos.

Ephraim said the council chairman, Francis Sani, yesterday paid a condolence visit to the families of the victims.

The statement reads: “Yesterday (Tuesday) 17th January 2023 at about 8 pm, kidnappers numbering about four made their way to the residence of Mr. Calistus Eze and took him alongside one Mrs. Amos.

barons, in the last two years.

The anti-narcotics agency said it also successfully prosecuted 3,733 offenders and seized property and wares of offenders worth N500 billion within the same period of time.

Bauchi Speaker Optimistic PDP ‘ll Emerge Majority in Assembly Kidnappers Kill Six, Injure Several Others in Kaduna Segun Awofadeji inBauchi

The Speaker of the Bauchi State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Abubakar Sulaiman, has expressed optimism that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) will emerge as the majority in the forthcoming general election in the state.

Sulaiman, who is also the chairman, Conference of Nigerian Speakers of Houses of Assembly, pointed out that due to the governor’s good leadership qualities, some of the APC lawmakers defected to the PDP

Abia Monarchs Rally Community Leaders to Affirm Emenike’s Endorsement

2023 : Oyo SDP Guber Candidate, Lana, Confident of Victory Kemi Olaitan in Ibadan The Social Democratic Party (SDP) gubernatorial candidate in Oyo State, Mr. Michael Lana, has expressed confidence that the party would defeat the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and other parties in the 2023 elections and deliver dividends of democracy to the people of the state.

Lana gave the assurance while addressing a crowd of party’s stakeholders and members from across the state at Mapo Hall in Ibadan, who staged sensitisation rally across the state capital.

The rally, which took off

The Ondo State Government uesterday announced the extension of maternity leave from three to six months as part of efforts to ensure total child development.

The state Head of Service, Mr. Kayode Ogundele, stated this while receiving members of the Federation of Women Lawyers (FIDA), Ondo State chapter, in his office in Akure.

Ogundele said the move was to build a society where children raised have all that was required

It was at the close of last year that the Ikwuano/Umuahia royal fathers adopted the governorship candidate of Abia APC at a meeting held at Ajata na Igu in Ikwuano Local Government. In keeping to their resolution, they went back and mobilised other levels of leaderships in their domains to

affirm their choice of Emenike.

At the expanded meeting of the Council of Ndi Eze yesterday at Abam, Ubakala, 69 royal fathers were in attendance. They were joined by 120 village heads and all the President-Generals of the town unions in Ikwuano/Umuahia communities.

Lawmakers Demand Security Formations in Edo to Forestall Herdsmen, Armed Robbery Attacks on the Inspector General of Police, Usman Alkali Baba and the Chief of Army Staff, Lt Gen. Farouk Yahaya to deploy more personnel and set up a Nigerian Army Barracks and a Police Mobile Force Base respectively in the state.

The resolution of the House was sequel to the adoption of a motion

sponsored by Hon. Sergius Ogun and Hon. Joseph Edionwele.

Moving the motion, Ogun expressed concerns about the spate of kidnappings, armed robbery attacks and other forms of criminality and insecurity in the country, especially in Edo Central Senatorial District of Edo State, that led to the loss of

lives, properties, saying it was causing palpable fear and apprehension among residents.

He noted that on Monday, January 9, 2023, an Area Customary Court President, Mrs. Precious Aigbonoga was kidnapped on her way to court, around Ugoneki, in Igueben Local Government Area of Edo State.

Kogi Denies Stopping Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan’s N5m Grant for WAEC Fees

Ondo Approves Six Months Maternity Leave for Nursing Mothers

Fidelis DavidinAkure

The affirmation took place at the expanded meeting of the royal fathers held at Abam, Ubakala in Umuahia South local government where they also brought on board all the other levels of leaderships in their various domains to support the governorship project of Emenike.

in terms of maternal care.

The HoS said the decision was to enable mothers to give their newborn babies adequate attention during the leave period, stressing that medical experts affirm that breast feeding should be exclusive in the first six months.

According to him, “Such mothers would be more focused and productive when they resume work as all the initial child-raising challenges would have been addressed sufficiently during the leave period.

Disturbed by the frivolous allegations against the Kogi State Government, the executive chairman of the state parastatal, STETSCOM, has reacted to the allegation of stoppage of WEAC fees by Natasha Okpoti-

Uduaghan campaign council against the state government over imaginary stoppage of the fees.

This was contained in a statement signed by Mrs. Cecilia E. Cook, a copy of which was made available to journalists in Lokoja yesterday.

He said: “Our attention has been drawn to reports making the round in the media that Kogi State Governor, Alhaji Yahaya Bello, allegedly stopped the payment of N5million WAEC and NECO grant by one Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan for students in Kogi Central

senatorial district.

“We wouldn’t have condescended so low to reply her cooked lies, but for the interest of innocent Nigerians, particularly residents of Kogi State and the Central senatorial district, we will like to set the record straight.

A Man of Integrity, our Preferred Presidential Candidate, Says Wike BlessingIbungeinPortHarcourt

Governor Nyesom Wike has restated that soon he and his allies will unveil their preferred presidential candidate, saying that the person must be a man of integrity.

He said that who they will support is someone who keeps his

word and will not renege on any agreement brokered.

The Rivers State governor stated this yesterday, at the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) flag-off campaign held at Rumuji-Odegwe, Emohua Local Government Area of the state.

Governor Wike urged some

leaders of the state like Sergeant Awuse, who declared that party stalwarts were are anxiously waiting for directive on the presidential election, to continue to exercise patience while the decision on their preferred presidential candidate will be concluded soon.

He said: “Chief Awuse has said,

“ we are tired of waiting.” Indeed we are tired of waiting. But don’t worry. You’ve been patient. Your being patient will not be taken for granted. The bell will soon ring.

When you hear the bell, listen to where the bell is coming from and go and do what you have been told to do.

39

THURSDAY, ͹΁˜ ͺ͸ͺͻ ˾ T H I S D AY

THURSDAYSPORTS

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

0811 181 3083 SMS ONLY

NPFL: Abia Warriors Consolidate to Go Top of Group A

Duro Ikhazuagbe Abia Warriors have maintained their great start of the new abridged Nigerian Premier Football League (NPFL) season with a second 3-1 victory against Bayelsa United on Match-day 2 at the Umuahia Township Stadium.

Warriors consolidated their leadership of the Nigerian topflight now on six points from two games.

After picking all three points in their opening match clash with Enugu Rangers at the new Awka Stadium, Abia Warriors returned to their fortress in Umuahia after

three years absence to reward their loyal home fans with the victory against the visitors from Yenagoa.

Kalu Nweke gave the Warriors the lead barely two minutes into the game while second half goals from Bello Lukman (65th minute) and Henry Udezuka (87th min-

ute) ensured maximum points for the Abia State owned team.

Elsewhere in another Group B clash, Rangers lost a second consecutive match of the abridged season after going down 0-1 to Lobi Stars at the Makurdi team’s adopted home ground in Jos. Joseph Atule’s late 82nd minute

goal won all three points for Lobi.

The result leaves Rangers coach Abdul Maikaba under serious pressure having won just two of their last 10 NPFL matches from last season.

Also in another Group B fixture, it was good news for Dakkada FC fans as their darling team chalked their first win of the season with victory against Wikki Tourists of Bauchi 2-1 at the Godswill Akpabio Stadium in Uyo. The Tourists stormed to an early 2nd minute lead thanks to a goal from Ismalia Maiyaki but Kufre Ebong equalised for Dakkada in the 30th minute before Aniekan Ekpe completed the come back for the host when he scored after 70 minutes.

In the only game in Group A, Enyimba International and 2021 champions Akwa United played out a disappointing 0-0 draw at the Enyimba Stadium in Aba.

The People's Elephant moved to the top of the table temporarily as other Group A matches will be played this evening.

RESULTS Enyimba 0-0 Akwa Utd Lobi Stars 1-0 Rangers Dakkada 2-1 Wikki Tourist Abia War’ 3- 1 Bayelsa Utd

TODAY Group A El Kanemi v Nasarawa Bendel v Plateau Utd Gombe v Remo Stars Shooting v Kwara Utd Group B N’Tornadoes v Doma Sunshine v Rivers Utd

Olise’s Stunner Deny Man Utd Victory at Crystal Palace Crystal Palace's Michael Olise scored a stunning last-minute free-kick to deny Manchester United a victory that would have taken them second in the Premier League.

United were on course for their 10th successive victory after Bruno Fernandes scored just before half-time when he finished well following Christian Eriksen's pull-back.

PREMIER LEAGUE But Olise struck in dramatic style with a brilliant curling free-kick to ensure a point apiece.

The draw does take United above Newcastle into third but keeps them behind rivals Manchester City, who play at home to Tottenham this evening.

Flying Eagles to Play Zambia’s U20 in Two Friendlies

Michael Olise (centre) and his Crystal Palace teammates celebrating his last minute free kick goal that deny Manchester United victory at Selhurst Park...last night

4TH PwC-NCF NATIONAL U-17 CRICKET

Akpata: 1000 Kids to Begin Journey to Cricket Stardom this Weekend The President of the Nigeria Cricket Federation, Uyi Akpata, has said more than 1,000 kids will begin the fight for a place to represent each of the six geo-political zones of the country at the finals of the 4th PwC-NCF National Under- 17 Cricket Championship starting from Friday, January 20th, 2023.

“Nigeria’s cricket is negotiating a critical cusp in its history and the National Under-17 Championship is a major factor in that. This weekend, over 1,000 kids would begin their journey to stardom as the 4th edition of the event kicks off in Ibadan, Oyo State,” hinted the NCF president.

Boys and girls representing Lagos, Ogun, Ondo, Osun, Ekiti, and Oyo states will assemble at the Liberty Stadium and Government College Ibadan Cricket pitches to kickstart the race to the finals.

Akpata said that the event has now become the cornerstone for developmental cricket in Nigeria.

He admitted that in the few years of staging the tournament, it has produced some brilliant players, some of whom have had national team call-ups.

“This event forms the natural

selection process for the National Under-19 teams and we have seen some players graduate to the senior national teams from here. So, this event means a lot to the federation, and thanks to our sponsors, PwC Nigeria, uLesson, and Bento Africa, we now have reasons to deepen our search for more talents courtesy of their support,” he added.

The states in the South East will assemble for their zonal elimination event at St. Patrick’s College, Emene, Enugu from Tuesday, January 24th to Sunday 29th, 2023, where Ebonyi, Imo, Anambra, Abia and host Enugu states will vie for places to represent the region at the National Finals later in February.

The North-East and North-West will run their elimination events from January 26th to 29th and 26th to 31st respectively.

The North-East teams will lock horns at the Pantami Stadium in Gombe, where Borno, Taraba will join the host state to vie for slots.

In the North-West, competing states include Kano, Kaduna, Kebbi, Jigawa, Sokoto, and Zamfara and the venue will be the Abdu Haliru Stadium in Kebbi.

Defending Champion in both categories, the South-South have scheduled their qualifiers to run between January 29th and February 2nd where, Akwa-Ibom, Cross River, Delta, Rivers, Bayelsa, and Edo will be competing for slots for the National Finals from Edo Boys High School in Benin City, Edo State.

The Chairman of the Organising Committee of this year’s edition, Tayo Sowole confirmed that best practices for the game will be

maintained in terms of officiating and the conditions for the kids arriving from different places to participate.

“We don’t have another chance to make a first impression of how accountable we are to the kids when they show up for this event.

So our plans to have the best of the game and a fair measure of hospitality extended to the players across the region is our key objective. And we hope to treat all players, winners or losers equally.”

Seven-time African champions, Flying Eagles of Nigeria will take on their Zambian counterparts in two friendly games in Abuja as part of preparations for this year’s Africa U20 Cup of Nations.

The tour has been consummated following a request letter from the Nigeria Football Federation on 13th January, and which met with the ready acceptance of the Football Association of Zambia.

Through a letter dated 14th January 2023, Adrian Kashala, FAZ’s General Secretary, said the Zambia football-ruling body was agreeable to the proposal. The proposal for the tour includes FAZ flying the Junior Chipolopolo to Nigeria while the NFF will bear the cost of accommodation, feeding and other logistics for the Zambia delegation.

The two matches will take place on Friday, 27th Januaryand Monday, 30th January 2023respectively.

Free-scoring Flying Eagles have scored a total of 10 goals in two friendly games since resuming camp after the yuletide period

– the latest being a 5-1 mauling of Galadima FC in Abuja on Wednesday.

Champions of the WAFU B U20 Championship held in Niger Republic in May 2022, the Flying Eagles have been drawn to play hosts Egypt, Senegal and Mozambique in Group A of the Africa U20 Cup of Nations taking place 19th February – 11th Marchthis year.

Zambia, champions of the 2017 Africa U20 Cup of Nations which they hosted, reached the quarterfinals of the FIFA U20 World Cup in Korea Republic the same year, before losing to Italy after extra time in Suwon.

In Egypt, Zambia will be up against Tunisia, Benin Republic and The Gambia in Group C, while Uganda, Central African Republic, South Sudan and Congo battle things out in Group B. All four semi-finalists in Egypt will qualify to represent Africa at the 23rd FIFA U20 World Cup finals slated for Indonesia 20thMay -11 Junethis year.

AFN Reads Riot Act to Road Race Organisers All existing and intending road race organisers in Nigeria must henceforth register with the Athletics Federation of Nigeria (AFN), as a pre-condition to get their races sanctioned.

AFN Vice President, Tafida Gadzama, who is also the head of the federation's road race subcommittee insisted yesterday that this has become necessary following complaints over non-payment of prize monies and uncertified measurement of race courses.

“The AFN received a letter from World Athletics warning that the federation will be held responsible for non-payment of prize monies. This is unacceptable going forward and to ensure our athletes get rewarded for participating in any road race, all road race organisers must annually register with the AFN and will be issued with licenses certifying them as such,” said Gadzama.

The AFN said that registration as a road race organiser is just

the first step towards getting any race sanctioned.

“The other conditions to be met will be attached to the licenses that will be issued upon registration,” he further said.

The AFN, through its road race sub-committee will also send technical and medical delegates to all registered road races in Nigeria.

“We have seen races where World Athletics competition rules are not strictly followed and where world records are set when we, for now

know the level of our athletes.

Like World Athletics have been doing to protect the integrity of road races worldwide especially with the label road races, the AFN, as an affiliate of the world body cannot do otherwise hence the decision to send technical and medical delegates.

“The technical delegates will ensure all World Athletics rules are strictly applied before, during and after a race and all race courses are properly measured.”

TR

Thursday, January 19, 2022

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Price: N250

MISSILE

Wike to Traditional Rulers “You are sabotaging your own growth, and those of you who call yourself traditional rulers, you talk to the gods of the land. Now, what are the gods doing?

Are your gods sleeping? Are they not seeing this thing that is happening?

Every day, you pour libations. Tell the gods to wake up. If they don’t, I’ll go and bulldoze where you put all those things”—Rivers’ Governor, Nyesom Wike on the kidnappings of workers on road projects in the state

OLUSEGUNADENIYI THE VERDICT

olusegun.adeniyi@thisdaylive.com

Anthony Ani, Calabar Obong and Palace Democracy

C

elebrations at the palace of the Obong of Calabar, Édidem Ekpo Okon Abasi-Otu V, following his dethronement by the Supreme Court last Friday, caught the attention of curious Nigerians. Most are oblivious to the interesting subtext. The judgement was well received by a majority of Efiks and the people of Calabar but there is also broader relief that the 15-year legal battle for the Obong stool has finally been resolved on the side of commonsense and public good. At the end, the loser is Chief Anthony Ani, the controversial Minister of Finance under the late General Sani Abacha.

I watched the video of members of the Conclave of Etuboms, or more appropriately Etuboms Traditional Council (kingmakers of the Efiks), dancing to the private residence of the dethroned Obong in a colourful procession. Since they will soon sit to select a new Obong as directed by the apex court, the outcome is already predictable. But before I highlight the substance of this development and its lessons, I want to take readers back to what transpired a decade ago.

In June 2013, a ruling by the Court of Appeal affirmed nullification of the processes through which Abasi-Otu was crowned Obong of Calabar and disqualified Anthony Ani from the contest.

Following the ruling, the Etuboms’ Traditional Council released a strongly worded statement, signed by council chairman, Okor Bassey Duke, asserting that being capped was a mandatory requirement for eligibility to contest for the post of Obong of Calabar.

“Consequently, the entire Efik community and all well-meaning people welcome the decision of the court that Chief Anthony Ani is not traditionally qualified and eligible to contest to be the Obong of Calabar,” they stated.

The appeal court ruling, according to the Etuboms, had firmly put paid to “his (Ani’s) spurious and vexatious claims to the position that he knows he is not fit for. This simple truth is what we have been insisting on and we shall continue to maintain it till the end of time”. The Etuboms’ Council added that since Abasi-Otu was not excluded from participating in the re-ordered selection of Obong, the appeal court “vindicates our earlier stance and voting pattern where Anthony Ani with all his resources scored only one vote against the then Etubom Ekpo Okon Abasi Otu”. Without mentioning any name, the Etuboms ended their statement with this sledgehammer: “Those who have gotten access to tremendous wealth through dubious means should seek forgiveness of God by using such wealth charitably and not be tempted to use such wealth to destroy ancient traditions and culture”.

Now, the story. There are 12 ruling houses in Calabar, each headed by an Etubom who is eligible to be Obong, provided such a person has been ‘capped’ by a sitting Obong. This simple but rather significant ceremony involves the Obong in Council placing the traditional woven cap on the Etubom so chosen by a ruling house as a formal initiation.

In November 2001, following the death of Edidem Boco Ene Nkpang Cobham, a problem arose. One of the Etuboms, the late Etubom Bassey Ekpo Bassey, a respected journalist and politician, announced that “A new Obong of Calabar has been installed.

He is Edidem, Professor Nta Elijah Henshaw VI.” Although eminently qualified for the throne on which five of his forebears (Henshaws) had sat, the emergence of the first West African Professor of Dentistry as the Obong went against the grain of rotation arrangement between Western and Central Calabar for the stool. With the deceased Obong Cobham from Central Calabar, expectation was that Western Calabar would produce his successor.

Henshaw hailed from the Nsidung ruling house in Central Calabar. But as the then Governor of Cross River State, Mr Donald Duke explained to me at the weekend, Western Calabar at that time had no candidate to match the intimidating credentials of Henshaw, even though he (as Governor) supported their claim to the throne. Eventually, the crisis was resolved by Duke who secured a compromise that

Édidem Ekpo Okon Abasi-Otu V

Chief Anthony Ani

Henshaw would be allowed to retain the Obong throne but whenever the stool became vacant, it would rotate back to Western Calabar.

When Henshaw died in 2008, then Governor Liyel

Imoke expressed no personal interest in the matter.

So, the Etuboms decided to honour that agreement by ceding the position of Obong to candidates from Western Calabar. The most prominent personality

from Western Calabar happened to be Ani, who had returned from self-exile abroad. While he coveted the Obong throne, there was a lacuna. Ani was not an Etubom. That was quickly resolved with the then Etubom of the Ikoneto ruling house relinquishing his position to Ani. But another problem arose: The process of ‘capping’ had to be done. Without that, Ani would never be qualified to become an Obong.

Since there was no Obong alive to do that, Ani’s aspiration ‘had K—leg’ to borrow a famous expression

by President Olusegun Obasanjo. Notwithstanding, Ani still put his hat into the ring since in Nigeria, there are a thousand ways to get to the market if you have the financial means.

I understand that in deference to Ani, AbasiOtu (who had in 2004 been capped and officially inducted into the Council of Etubom by Obong Henshaw) initially campaigned for the fellow of chartered accountant and former minister. But the more Abasi-Otu presented Ani’s case among the Etuboms, the more he was asked, “What stops you from becoming Obong? Why are you promoting a man who is not qualified for the throne?” Apart from the issue of capping, I understand that most of the Etuboms considered Ani too arrogant for the throne. With time, it became clear to Abasi-Otu that the Etuboms would rather have him as Obong and that he was selling a candidate who could not fly.

That was how Ani’s promoter became the most preferred for the throne.

Continued on page 21

Anyaoku: 90 Garlands to a Global Statesman

I

n his memoir, ‘Audacity on the Bound: A Diplomatic Odyssey’, the late Ambassador Olusola Sanu tells a compelling story of our country in the years preceding independence and the years after, from the perspective of a diplomat.

He detailed the critical roles played by George Dove-Edwin, John Ukegbu, Sam Ifeagwu, Adedokun Haastrup, Isa Wali, Olu Adeniji, Emmanuel Odogwu, Akporode Clark, Emeka Anyaoku and others in the first set of what is now a vanishing generation.

But I recall that in the eighties at the Department of International Relations, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Anyaoku was the reference point for many students given his visibility as one of the most notable Africans on the global stage at the time. Interestingly, I had just graduated in October 1989 when he became the Secretary General of the Commonwealth in Kuala Lumpur, the Malaysian capital. In a remarkable election that pitched him against a former Australian Prime Minister, Malcom Fraser, the Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) voted overwhelmingly in Anyaoku’s favour. And in that role, he was central to the resolution of many crises in the last three decades of the 20th century.

For instance, Anyaoku was involved in the process that led to the release from prison of the late Nelson Mandela, the independence of Namibia and Zimbabwe and ultimately, the dismantling of the apartheid regime in South Africa. Between 1 November 1991 and 17 November 1993, Anyaoku undertook eleven trips to South Africa in the efforts to break the deadlocks in the protracted negotiations that eventually culminated in majority rule. But even though he acted as Commonwealth Secretary General, his interest went beyond the call of duty.

As a junior officer in the Nigerian Permanent Mission to the United Nations, Anyaoku had first met the late African National Congress (ANC) former president, Oliver Reginald Tambo in 1963. From that time, the duo became close friends. Tambo would later introduce Anyaoku to his Personal Assistant, Thabo Mbeki who succeeded Mandela as South African President. It is a testimony to how much Anyaoku was revered for the critical role he played that he was given the rare honour to address a joint session of the South African

Anyaoku National Assembly in 1998 by then sitting President Mandela who remarkably wrote the foreword to Anyaoku’s personal memoir and another foreword to Anyaoku’s authorized biography by a Canadian journalist, Phyllis Johnson.

In the first to Anyaoku’s memoir, ‘The Inside Story of the Modern Commonwealth’, Mandela wrote: “I am well aware of the need to avoid exaggerating the role of the individual in history. On the other hand, history is replete with examples of individuals intervening in situations and making all the difference.

Emeka Anayoku’s intervention in South Africa’s transition from apartheid to non-racial democracy was a decisive contribution which history, if properly nursed, will come to acknowledge.”

Before I get to Mandela’s second and more personal reflection on Anyaoku, let me also acknowledge

that I have had the privilege of close interactions with the highly revered diplomat who treats me like a son. Since he returned to Nigeria almost two decades ago, I have benefitted from his intellect and generosity of spirit. In his strict adherence to discipline, Anyaoku was one of the first to arrive the venue (before the slated 10am) when I presented my book, ‘Against the Run of Play: How an incumbent president was defeated in Africa’ in Lagos in April 2017. And he stayed till the end.

Three weeks ago, he called to inform me about his birthday and that he would be hosting a select audience for lunch to mark the occasion. He said he would appreciate my presence. He followed up by sending, through courier, a non-transferable invitation card to me in Abuja. Regrettably, I could not make yesterday’s lunch date in Lagos, but I sent him a congratulatory message.

I cannot say more for Anyaoku than what his friend, the late Mandela wrote in Phyllis Johnson’s ‘Eye of Fire’, after recalling how they first met at Pollsmoor prison in May 1986 at a period Anyaoku was Commonwealth Deputy Secretary General and had visited South Africa as a member of the Eminent Group. “In what has grown to be a warm personal friendship, two qualities of the Chief have consistently struck me: his unwavering commitment to democracy and justice; and his quiet personal style for achieving these objectives. Never seeking the limelight for himself, Emeka Anyaoku’s most enduring strength is his ability to win the trust of different peoples, at different times, and in different places” Mandela wrote. “Master of quiet diplomacy, the Chief also brings to the international arena that great African tradition of consensus building that has positioned him in a key role as a builder of bridges across peoples and nations.”

We are fortunate in Nigeria to be blessed with remarkable human capital of Anyaoku’s stature.

While he and a few others in his class may have helped to shape our past, we need them even more desperately now that we are literally challenged to reinvent our nation through the process of democratic renewal. I wish the Ichie Adazie of Obosi happy birthday, long life, and good health as he joins the elite Nonagenarian Club.

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