THURSDAY 3RD FEBRUARY 2022

Ladol, Samsung Reach Settlement, Truce May Unlock $300bn Investments NEPZA, NPA, stakeholders hail truce

James Emejo in Abuja

The Lagos Deep Offshore Logistics Base (LADOL) Group and Samsung Heavy Industries (SHI) Nigeria, yesterday signalled an end to their five-year hostility, which

had cost the economy substantial fortune in jobs and revenue. The historic truce, achieved through the Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) mechanism, is expected to unlock over $300 billion in Foreign Direct Investments (FDIs) to the

country.

Respite came following the formal signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on the sub-lease in terms of settlement and service agreement between both parties. This brought to an

end the conflict that arose between Samsung and Ladol in 2018.

Present at the landmark ceremony were stakeholders in the nation’s economic zones, including Managing Director/Chief Executive, Nigeria Export Processing

Zones Authority (NEPZA), Professor Adesoji Adesugba; acting Managing Director, Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), Mr. Mohammed Bello Koko.

Others were Executive Chairman/Founder, LADOL, Chief Ladi

Jadesimi; erstwhile Managing Director, Samsung Heavy Industries (SHI) Nigeria, Mr. Jejin Jeon; and Chairman, Nigerian Economic Zones Association (NEZA), Chief Continued on page 10

NESG: Fuel Subsidy Payments Rose 477% to N3.64trn in Seven Years… Page 6 Thursday 3 February, 2022 Vol 27. No 9795. Price: N250

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CNN President, Jeff Zucker Resigns over Sexual Relationship with Key Lieutenant, Allison Gollust… Page 42 FEC Okays $329m for Railway Consultancy Supervision Services Nationwide Approves N115bn to dualise Katsina road Deji Elumoye in Abuja

L-R: Former Head of State, Gen. Abdulsalami Abubakar (rtd); his wife, Fati Lami Abubakar; President, African Development Bank (AfDB), Dr. Akinwumi Adesina; his wife, Mrs. Grace Adesina and Group Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Nigerian National Petroleum Company Ltd (NNPC), Mallam Mele Kyari, during the award of honorary doctorate to Abubakar, the NNPC Ltd GMD and AfDB president, during the Federal University of Technology, Minna 38th Founders’ Day and 30th Convocation ceremony of the university held in Minna…yesterday

The Federal Executive Council (FEC) has approved contracts worth $328.87 million in consultancy Continued on page 10

Our 2023 Presidential Ticket Open to All, Says PDP Insists no zone will be denied opportunity to contest Northern group reechoes party’s position Chuks Okocha and Adedayo Akinwale in Abuja Unmoved by loud agitation for a presidential candidate from the southern part of Nigeria, the leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), yesterday, said unequivocally that its presidential ticket was open to all the six geopolitical zones of the country. The party stated this position when it received a letter from a group, Northern Advocate for Good Governance (NAFGG),

which advocated a presidential candidate of northern Nigeria origin in the 2023 presidential election.

It was the first time the main opposition party would be stating its position on the presidency clearly ahead of the next general election.

PDP maintained that no zone would be denied the opportunity of contesting in the election.

NAFGG echoed PDP’s position, saying all the geopolitical zones, Continued on page 10

Buhari Foresees End to Insurgency ... Page 8

BILL AND MELINDA GATES FOUNDATION AT MARINA...

R-L: Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu presents plaques to President, Global Development, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Mr. Chris Elias and the Foundation's Director in Nigeria, Mr. Jeremie Zoungran, during a meeting with the Governor, at the Lagos House, Marina ... yesterday

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

NEWS

DEVELOPMENT BANK VISIT HEIRS HOLDINGS...

L-R: Executive Director, United Bank for Africa (UBA), Chuigo Ndubisi; CEO, Tony Elumelu Foundation, Ifeyinwa Ugochukwu; Chief Operating Officer, Development Bank of Nigeria (DBN), Bonaventure Okhaimo; Chairman, Heirs Holdings, Tony Elumelu, and MD/CEO, DBN, Tony Okpanachi, during a courtesy visit by DBN to Heirs Holdings’ head office in Lagos…. yesterday

NNPC 'll Take Nigeria out of Energy Poverty in Four Years, Says Kyari Peter Uzoho The Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC), Mallam Mele Kyari, has expressed optimism that with the various initiatives being implemented by the company in the oil and gas industry, Nigeria would be out of energy poverty in the next three to four years.

Kyari stated this yesterday in his acceptance speech, shortly after he was conferred with an honorary

Doctorate Degree by the Federal University of Technology, Minna, for his contributions to national development.

The award recognises the achievements of Nigerians that have demonstrated outstanding leadership in their organisation and the economy.

The NNPC boss said the company would continue to serve Nigerians in an accountable and transparent manner that will deliver value to the country.

Kyari who stated that 50 per cent of Nigeria’s population does not have access to energy, added that the NNPC was about to change that narrative with its enormous energy, particularly gas resources.

He said gas resources have the capacity to deliver the country and build the infrastructure that can stimulate economic prosperity.

He told the gathering that no country could become prosperous without energy, adding that the NNPC was the only vehicle that

Nigeria has today to get to the position of economic development and prosperity.

He said: “The only way this company can serve Nigerians is to be accountable to them, transparent to them, and make them know that everything we are doing is to make this company deliver value to the country.

“You may also recall that energy is everything. There is no country can develop economically and have prosperity except you have energy.

Aig-Imoukhuede Foundation Opens Applications for 2022 Public Leaders Programme The Aig-Imoukhuede Foundation has disclosed that it is presently accepting applications for the second class of its AIG Public Leaders Programme which is being offered in partnership with the Blavatnik School of Government, University of Oxford.

A statement yesterday explained that the call for applications, which opened on January 27, 2022, was targeted at exceptional leaders working in the public sector across Africa.

The Chairman of the AigImoukhuede Foundation, Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede explained: “Our mission at the Aig-Imoukhuede Foundation is to transform public sector delivery in Africa and one of the ways we do this is by building capacity in the public sector workforce.

“With the AIG Public Leaders Programme, we are offering public servants across Africa a unique opportunity to access a world

class training programme that will enhance their professional skill set and leadership abilities and empower them to be more effective in their roles. It gives us enormous pleasure to be able to offer scholarships to exceptional public sector leaders who are committed to building a better Africa.”

The Dean of the Blavatnik School of Government at the University of Oxford, Professor Ngaire Woods said: “We are delighted to see the AIG Public Leaders Programme run again after such a successful first year as part of our longstanding partnership with the Aig-Imoukhuede Foundation.

“The Blavatnik School specially designs executive programmes for public leaders to ensure that participants learn from world-renowned scholars, outstanding practitioners, and from one another, taking into account the current context for public sector leadership in Africa and the challenges of an increasingly complex and dynamic world.”

Buhari Departs for Four-day AU Heads of Govt Meeting in Addis Ababa Today Deji Elumoye in Abuja President Muhammadu Buhari will today depart Abuja for a four-day trip to the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, for the 35th Ordinary Session of Assembly of the African Union Heads of State and Government.

According to a release issued yesterday by his Media Adviser, Femi Adesina, the president will join other African leaders in finding solutions to political, economic and social challenges facing the continent, guided by the theme, “Building Resilience in Nutrition and Food Security on the African Continent: Strengthen Agriculture, Accelerate the Human Capital,

Social and Economic Development.”

On the sideline of the AU meetings, President Buhari will hold bilateral meetings with some leaders, with shared interest in improving trade relations, partnering to tackle security challenges, and maintaining relations with multilateral institutions for sustainable development.

The president is being accompanied on the trip by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama; Minister of Health, Dr Osagie Ehanire; Minister of Agriculture, Mohammed Abubakar and Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, Sadiya Umar Farouk.

The programme aims to strengthen the skills that rising senior public servants need to build cultures of excellence, effectiveness, and integrity throughout the institutions they lead and across the public sector.

It comprises seven weeks of world-class training led by an excellent faculty from the University of Oxford, who through a blend of online sessions and classroom discussions, simulations, real-world exercises, and group work, provide participants with an unparalleled opportunity to develop the concep-

tual frameworks and practical tools they need to meet the challenges of today’s rapidly changing and complex world.

The programme alumni have nothing but praise for their experience.

“I was deeply engaged, interrogating both personal and professional assumptions across a wide range of public service subjects,” Assistant Director and Head of Policy and Strategy at the Pension Transitional Arrangement Directorate in Imo State, Nigeria, Ada Phil-Ugochukwu said.

“Therefore, this company is the only vehicle that we have today that can help us get to the position of economic development and prosperity.

“As we speak today, there is abject energy poverty, and of course over 50 per cent of our population do not have access to energy.

“But this can change because we have enormous energy particularly gas resources that we can deliver into our country and build the infrastructure that we are trying to build so that in another three to four years, this country will not be in a position of poverty.

“While recognising that there are issues around energy transition that is going on, the first challenge that we have is to resolve the issue around energy poverty that we have to deal with.”

Kyari commended President Muhammadu Buhari for the privilege of appointing him as the GMD of NNPC, stating that the president has never interfered in the decision-making process of the company.

“I'm grateful for this opportunity by the president to be appointed as the CEO of NNPC Ltd. It's a privilege because the president didn't just appoint me, he allowed me to make decisions without any

interference.

“And that will explain how we are able, with my team, to do the best that we can, so that this company that belongs to the 200 million Nigerians serve the 200 million Nigerians,” he added.

According to the organisers of the award, since Kyari's appointment as the 19th GMD of the NNPC in July 2019, the industry has recorded outstanding achievements.

They noted that in the last two years, Kyari had spearheaded the automation of the NNPC's processes and systems; reduced its costs of operations and reposition the company to the path where it will deliver value to Nigerians, in line with his management vision.

He was also instrumental in the enactment of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA), which has placed huge responsibility on the NNPC to do things differently and be much more accountable to its shareholders -the over 200 million Nigerians.

Kyari has continued to seamlessly transform the operations of the NNPC, including deepening domestic gas utilization, rehabilitation of the nation’s refineries and public disclosure of NNPC accounts, the first in NNPC’s 44 years of existence.

Stakeholders Reject Bill to Confer Tax Regulation Power on ICAN Udora Orizu in Abuja Major stakeholders in the accounting profession yesterday rejected some contentious clauses in a bill seeking to amend the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN) Act, 1965.

The stakeholders at a public hearing on the bill organised by House of Representatives Committee on Finance rejected Sections 21 and 28 which seeks to define tax practitioners as accountants and confer the power of regulating tax practice in the country on ICAN. In his presentation, Legal Adviser to Chartered Institute of Taxation of Nigeria (CITN), Chukwuemeka Eze, said though they support amendment of ICAN Act, they however have reservations with the law defining tax practitioners as accountants and conferring the power of regulating tax practice in the country on ICAN. He said allowing a second body to regulate tax practice in the country would be an aberration, adding that with section 28 of the proposed law providing that the

Council of the institute shall be made up of 30 accountants, it showed that ICAN would be regulating both accounting and tax practitioners in the country.

He said if the provisions were allowed to pass by the National Assembly, ANAN which is the second regulatory body for accounting practice in Nigeria would also want to regulate the practice of taxation in the country.

He added that CITN had been in court with ICAN over issues of regulations with the Supreme Court set to deliver judgment on the matter any moment from now, hence the House should step down consideration of the section 21 and 28 of the proposed law.

Similarly, Chairman, Board of Trustees Association of Forensic Accounting Researchers (AFAN), Prof. Mohammed Maimuna was of the view that allowing provisions of Sections 21 and 28 would be injurious to the profession.

He said: "Since we have bodies pursuing this line of argument, they should be allowed to do that.

The two sections should not be considered as they are injurious

to the profession. A professional should have freedom to play within his field of expertise."

On his part, the Chief Executive Officer of Association of National Accountants of Nigeria (ANAN) Dr. Nurudeen Abdullahi objected to the proposed amendment contained in Clause 27 of the bill, which provides that, "the Principal Act is amended by inserting immediately after the new section 21, a new Section 22 that; this Act supersedes the provisions of any other Act, which purports to diminish, undermine, subjugate or otherwise superintend over the provisions of this Act." According to him, ANAN and ICAN are the two professional accountancy bodies recognised by law, hence the proposed amendment, if passed into law would be inimical, not only to ANAN, but to any other professional body, including future ones that may be statutorily recognised.

Earlier, while declaring the hearing open, the Speaker of the House, Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila said the public hearing was an effort to update and improve the

statutory foundations of one of the country’s oldest and most important professional institutions.

He expressed optimism that the final version of the bill would be of the highest quality, fix existing problems and ultimately advance the best interests of Nigeria.

In his opening remark, Deputy Chairman of Finance Committee, Hon. Saidu Abdullahi said amendment of the ICAN ACT 1965 was long overdue, saying it would address contemporary economic realities in Nigeria.

"The current amendment proposed by the House of Representatives permeates Sections 1, 2,3,4,6,8,11,12,14,15,16 and 18 of the Principal Act and the insertion of new Clauses 20 and 21 and more interpretation Clauses. The above are to address contemporary economic realities in Nigeria. The amendment of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India in 2012 revolutionized the practice of the profession in India.

As lawmakers we are committed to the discharge of this legislative assignment with dexterity, and professional expertise," he added.

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STATE OF THE NATION...

L-R: Minister of Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola; Minister of Transport, Chibuike Amaechi; Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed; Minister of State for Environment, Sharon Ikeazor, and Minister of State for Health, Olorunimbe Mamora, briefing State House correspondents after the Federal Executive Council (FEC) weekly meeting at the Presidential Villa in Abuja... yesterday PHOTO: GODWIN OMOIGUI

NESG: Fuel Subsidy Payments Rose 477% to N3.64trn in Seven Years Insists economic, social reforms in 2022 non-negotiable Dike Onwuamaeze A new report by the Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG) has disclosed that the federal government spent a total of N3.64 trillion on fuel subsidies between 2015 and 2021.

The report also stated that the amount spent by the government on payment for petrol subsidy grew from N307 billion in 2015, to N1.77 trillion in 2021. This represented a 477 per cent increase within seven years.

These were contained in the 2022 NESG Macroeconomic Outlook titled “The Last Mile: Reforms toward Significant Improvement in National Economic Outcomes,” which stated categorically that the burden of fuel subsidy cost on public finance would increase substantially in 2022 with the current upward trend being experienced in the crude oil price.

The federal government last week approved N3 trillion for subsidy payment between July and December 2022. Implementation of

the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA), which stipulates the removal of petrol subsidy, was initially meant to commence in February 2022, but it was later shifted to July 2022.

However, due to pressure and threat of protest by the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC), subsidy removal was deferred by 18 months.

But the NESG noted in the report that many of the challenges encountered in 2021, would become amplified in 2022 and

have telling adverse impact on business productivity and citizens' welfare if the federal government failed to initiate critical reforms that would achieve a paradigm shift in governance and policy design in Nigeria. It however projected that the economy might grow by 3.2 per cent this year under the best scenerio.

It said: “From the government fiscal position, between 2015 and 2021, Nigeria has spent a cumulative sum of N3.64 trillion on fuel subsidies, rising from N307

Despite Growing Pressure, OPEC Sticks with 400,000bpd in March Nigeria gets Additional 527,000 barrels Emmanuel Addeh in Abuja Despite the tightening oil market, the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and its allies, OPEC+, yesterday agreed to a measured 400,000 barrels per day increase in production output for March.

The international producers’ group also allocated an additional 527,000 barrels of oil to Nigeria for the entire 31 days in the month, broken into 17,000 barrel per day. For months, Nigeria has been unable to meet its required share of the OPEC quota, being 1.683 million bpd in December, 1.701 million bpd in February and now 1.718 in March.

Poor upstream infrastructure, sabotage, oil theft as well as lack of investment have been blamed for the ongoing default.

However, in spite of the increasing demand pressure, OPEC countries and their allies agreed to continue feeding a modest amount of additional oil into the market.

Oil prices are currently hovering at seven-year highs of $90 a barrel, prompting expectations from high consuming nations on OPEC to wet the market and bring down rising prices.

But the oil ministers at the 25th OPEC and non-OPEC Ministerial Meeting (ONOMM) decided to stick with a plan set in July 2021, to increase production next month by the relatively modest figure, even though it had fallen short of its targets in recent months.

If conflict over Ukraine escalates

this month, it could threaten a disruption to energy flows and send shudders through the markets and even tighten supply the more.

It would be the eight month the group would decide to adhere to its production quota even as some countries have been struggling to keep up with the monthly increases in output in a plan agreed last year to gradually replace output cut at the start of the pandemic.

Large oil consumers including the US, India and Japan have regularly called on OPEC+ to increase production at a more rapid rate, fearful that energy cost inflation could derail their economic recovery. But Nigeria, Saudi Arabia and other large members of the group have consistently stuck with the plan to increase output more slowly despite the pressure.

However, the gradual rise in production has helped oil rally strongly in 2022, surpassing a seven-year high in January to trade at more than $90 a barrel for the first time since 2014.

It’s still uncertain, however if the international cartel will even be able to pump the 400,000 bpd extra oil, as it in December, only managed to increase output by about 250,000 bpd, according to data from the International Energy Agency (IEA).

Aside Nigeria, Angola and Malaysia have all under-produced while Russia also pumped less than its quota for the first time since the 2020 cuts were introduced.

As at yesterday’s afternoon, Brent crude, the international benchmark, was up 1.1 per cent at $90.16 a

barrel, while United States crude was 1.2 per cent higher at $89.28.

A statement released after the meeting, regarded as one of the shortest in the history of the Sanusi Barkindo-led organisation, stated: “Following the conclusion of the 25th OPEC and non-OPEC Ministerial Meeting (ONOMM), held via videoconference on Wednesday, 2 February 2022, and in view of current oil market fundamentals and the consensus on the outlook, the OPEC and participating nonOPEC oil-producing countries in the Declaration of Cooperation (DoC) decided the following.

“To reaffirm the decision of the 10th OPEC and non-OPEC ministerial meeting on 12 April 2020 and further endorsed in subsequent meetings, including the 19th ONOMM on 18 July 2021.

“To reconfirm the production adjustment plan and the monthly production adjustment mechanism approved at the 19th ONOMM and the decision to adjust upward the monthly overall production by 0.4 mb/d for the month of March 2022.

“To reiterate the critical importance of adhering to full conformity and to the compensation mechanism, taking advantage of the extension of the compensation period until the end of June 2022.”

The cartel further stated that compensation plans should be submitted in accordance with the statement of the 15th meeting of the ministers and fixed the 26th meeting of the organisation for March 2, 2022.

Earlier in the week, Goldman Sachs had expressed the view that

OPEC+ might decide to announce a larger production increase for March than the usual 400,000 bpd, considering the oil price rally to $90 and the potential for renewed discontent from major oil importers at the high price levels.

OPEC+, however, confirmed the 400,000 bpd increase in record time, lasting about 16 minutes and declined to hold a press conference after the meeting as has been its tradition.

billion in 2015 to N1.77 trillion in 2021 – representing a whopping increase of 477 per cent.

“However, with the current rebound in the crude oil price, the burden of fuel subsidy cost will increase. On the other hand, the private sector argued that without a fair pricing system that comes with deregulation, expected inflows of investments would be hard to achieve; meanwhile, the average citizens considered the inflationary pressure that would come with subsidy removal and the impacts on the cost of living and welfare.”

The Chief Executive Officer of the NESG, Laoye Jaiyeola, stated in the report that, “the year 2022 presents opportunities to initialise critical reforms to achieve a paradigm shift in governance and policy design in Nigeria.

“If we miss these opportunities for critical reforms, many of the challenges encountered in 2021 will become amplified, leading to an adverse impact on business productivity and citizens' welfare.

“In the NESG Macroeconomic Outlook for 2022, we highlight the need for reforms that will sustain the recovery of output and ensure improved social inclusion

in Nigeria. We believe that the role of government is to ensure reforms translate to a friendly business environment and better welfare conditions for households in the country.”

The NESG acknowledged that the country was faced with daunting challenges, but insisted that 2022 presented the government with a unique opportunity to initiate tough economic reforms that would propel sustainable economic growth and inclusive development.

The reforms required, according to the NESG, would address the long-standing issues of deregulation of the downstream sector, foreign exchange scarcity and lower investment into key sectors must be given the utmost attention in 2022.

It said: “The deregulation of the downstream oil and gas sector, for example, is needed at this critical time when massive investments are required to fix the deteriorating state of the existing refineries.

“This will address the predicament of huge importation of refined fuel products that deprive the country of the foreign exchange required to meet other important obligations.

Rivers: Court Hears Alleged $130m Fraud Case against Saipem Today Blessing Ibunge in Port Harcourt Rivers State High Court sitting in Port Harcourt has adjourned till today the commencement of hearing on the alleged $130 million fraud filed against Saipem Nigeria Contracting Limited by the Rivers State government.

Parties in the matter registered in Suit No: PHC/3106/CR/2021, include the Rivers State Government (Prosecution), Saipem SPA (1st defendant), Saipem Contracting Nigeria Limited (2nd defendant), Mr. Walter Peviana (3rd defendant), Kelechi Sinteh Chinakwe (4th defendant), Giandomenico Zingali (5th defendant), Vitto Testaguzza (6th defendant) and Davide Anelli (7th defendant).

The state government had dragged the defendants to court

over an alleged conspiracy to cheat and with intent to defraud the state government the sum of $130 million, being advanced payment for the construction of the OCGT power plant in Port Harcourt.

At the resume hearing yesterday, after the last adjournment, on January 18, 2022, court fixed today and tomorrow (Friday) for hearing of the matter.

During the hearing, counsel for first, second, third and sixth defendants, Odein Ajumogobia, told the court that he had preliminary objection to the continuation of the trial.

Ajumogobia told the court that an objection was filed on January 31, 2022, and served on Tuesday, February 1.

Earlier, counsel for the state

(prosecution), Godwin Obla, had argued that the first and second defendants (Saipem SPA and Saipem Nigeria Contracting Limited respectively), were not represented by anybody in any capacity.

Prosecution wanted the court to have it on record that, not having been represented by their representatives, but being represented by counsel, put them (first and second defendants) in category of persons that should be tried in absentia, stressing that it is the position of the law.

Others to be tried in absentia alongside first and second defendants included the fifth, sixth and seventh defendants.

Obla told the court that the practice was that the prosecution has about seven days to respond.

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NEWS

A COMPENDIUM OF ACTIVITIES OF THE FIRST LADY AND WIVES OF GOVERNORS...

L-R: Wife of Kwara State Governor, Olufolake Abdulrazaq; wife of the Speaker, House of Representatives, Salamatu Gbajabiamila; wife of the Vice President, Mrs. Dolapo Osinbajo, who represented the First Lady, Aisha Buhari; Chairman, Wives of Governors Forum, Bisi Fayemi and wife of Ogun State Governor, Mrs. Bamidele Abiodun, at the unveiling of a compendium of the activities of the First PHOTO: GODWIN OMOIGUI Lady and Wives of Governors in Nigeria 2015-2023, held at the Presidential Villa, Abuja... yesterday

Buhari Foresees End to Insurgency, Senate Wants President to Deploy Fighter Jets to Flush out Terrorists Abdulsalami Abubakar laments worsening insecurity Boko Haram killing of 32 farmers, 11 security men in Niger, disheartening, says Senator Deji Elumoye, Adedayo Akinwale, Sunday Aborisade in Abuja and Laleye Dipo in Minna As Nigerians continue to lament killings by bandits and terrorist groups in the northern part of the country, President Muhammadu Buhari yesterday assured those living in the north-eastern part of the country that in the months ahead, they would witness a change from the protracted insurgency to peace and development in their respective communities.

The president made the pledge at the State House, Abuja, while inaugurating the Presidential Committee on the Repatriation, Return and Resettlement of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in the North-East, shortly before the commencement of the weekly virtual Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting.

However, former Head of State, General Abdulsalami Abubakar (retd) has lamented the worsening security situation in the country describing it as "frightening."

This was just as the Senate has urged the federal government to as a matter of urgency, send fighter jets to flush out terrorists who are behind the killings and kidnappings in the country from their hideouts.

According to Buhari, at the advent of his administration in 2015, he had pledged to Nigerians that he would restore peace in the north-east and return it to the path of development and growth.

“I remain committed to this promise. To the people of the north-east, particularly the children and future of the north-east, we will never forget you and your courage, sacrifice and endurance has been exemplary. ''I pledge to you that in the coming months you will begin to witness a shift away from a protracted insurgency to peace building, stabilisation, and ultimately development in your respective communities as we embark on a revised approach to addressing this conflict- A Return to Normalcy," he added.

Stressing the seriousness of the task assigned to the committee, the president warned its members that failing to deliver its specific terms of reference was not an option.

He announced that his ad-

ministration was embarking on a revised approach to addressing the 13-year conflict and insurgency in the region and would not relent in efforts towards a return to peace and normalcy.

On the terms of reference for the Committee, the president emphasised that it entails a shift from managing the situation to activating a permanent solution for effective and practicable restoration.

He said the Committee, among others, was expected to develop a concise three-year action plan by the end of March 2022, that incorporates national and state level plans, providing a clear pathway for the restoration of peace and development in the north-east.

The Committee, he said, would also develop and implement a phased plan for the repatriation, returns, resettlement of IDPs and restoration of livelihoods, incorporating global best practices that give dignity to the affected populations.

According to the president, they would also be responsible for the development and implementation of a coordinated peace building and reconciliation programme that is culturally appropriate and community driven.

The Committee is also saddled with the responsibility of strengthening collaboration with key donors, development partners and private sector organisations that are critical to the mobilisation of resources and implementation of programmes.

Buhari charged the Committee members to adopt the guiding principles of accountability, delineation of duty and community-driven methods to address issues.

He said: ''Members will dedicate more time to the conduct of field visits to regularly engage with state government, communities and key stakeholders. ''Due to prevailing fiscal constraints, Ministries, Departments and Agencies will utilise existing budgetary resources and repurpose funds to programmes approved under this initiative."

Buhari directed the committee to submit monthly progress report while the first progress review meeting would be held in the first week of March 2022.

Underscoring the enormous task ahead of the Committee, the president said: ''History beckons and

Nigeria calls on you to be the team that finally charts this new path to the restoration of sustainable progress in the north-east and I strongly believe this could lead to the birthing of a template for addressing insurgency and instability in other parts of our country and across the world. 'Failure to deliver on this task you have been assigned is not an option.''

Buhari also commended Governor Babagana Zulum of Borno State, who was present at the inauguration with his Gombe state counterpart, Inuwa Yahaya, for his unparalleled commitment to his people and exemplary leadership.

The president further expressed appreciation to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) for support in the area of coordination of humanitarian actors and UNDP regional stabilisation facility, which is providing support in the area of security and the rule of law.

Members of the Presidential Committee on the Repatriation, Return and Resettlement of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in the North-East included Ministers

of Finance, Budget & National Planning; Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice; Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management & Social Development; Interior; Foreign Affairs and Defence.

Others are the National Security Adviser, Inspector- General of Police, Chief of Defence Staff, Director General, State Security, Director-General, National Intelligence Agency, Director-General, North-East Development Commission, Federal Commissioner, National Commission for Refugees, Migrants & Internally Displaced Persons, Director-General, National Emergency Management Agency and Chief of Defence Intelligence.

Speaking after the inauguration of the committee, Zulum said states in the Northeast region would give the required support to the committee so as to bring about the desired result.

According to him: “Indeed, we are so much happy, especially those of us that are in the north-east because thousands of people were displaced, some are taking refuge in the Republic of

Chad, in the Republic of Niger, Cameroon and this is the time that the federal government of Nigeria, in collaboration with the state government of the Northeast, will facilitate the repatriation of the internally displaced persons that are living in our neighboring countries to Nigeria.

“The committee is also to look into the management of the repentant Boko Haram members.

So indeed, we are so grateful and the entire north-eastern government will give maximum support to this committee.

“We will provide the necessary support to the federal government under the distinguished leadership of Mr. President, we shall provide on support and Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and others and the military to ensure that this process yields the desired result.”

Abdulsalami Abubakar Laments Worsening Insecurity

Abubakar expressed concern about the security situation in the country when he spoke at the

Federal University of Technology Minna Niger state where he and the President of the African Development Bank ADB Dr Akinwunmi Adeshina and the Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Malam Mele Kyari were conferred with honorary doctorate degrees as part of activities marking the 38th founders’ day and 30th convocation of the university.

“We are facing a very hard time in this country. We are fighting a war without any morality, without any force. Let us all join hands with security agencies by providing useful information on how to secure the territorial integrity of this nation,” Abubakar said.

He also encouraged the citizens to monitor their immediate environments for aliens with evil intents saying: “As we move towards 2023, I appeal to politicians across all three tiers of government to desist from using our children, our grandchildren and our youths as tools for self-destruction".

Abubakar also told politicians Continued on page 43

UNODC: Boko Haram Has Recruited About 8,000 Children in War against Nigeria Michael Olugbode in Abuja United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), has disclosed that about 8,000 children had been recruited in fighting war against Nigeria since the start of the Boko Haram crisis in the North East in 2009.

The UN agency, while calling for a step-up of effort to protect child victims and witnesses in terrorism-related proceedings in Nigeria, said reports had shown that some boys and girls were increasingly being used as human shields and to detonate bombs.

A statement yesterday said: “According to United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime’s (UNODC) report from the Handbook of children recruited and exploited by terrorist and violent extremist groups, since 2009, about 8,000 children have been recruited and used by Boko Haram in Nigeria.

“Some boys have been forced to attack their own families to demonstrate loyalty to Boko Haram, while girls have been forced to marry, clean, cook and carry equipment and weapons.”

The statement added that the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (UNHCR) received consistent reports that some boys and girls were increasingly being used as human shields and to detonate bombs, citing that in May 2015, for example, a girl about 12 years old, was used to detonate a bomb at a bus station in Damaturu, Yobe State, killing seven people. Similar incidents were reported in Cameroon and Niger Republic.

The statement further said the recently released propaganda video

by ISWAP, showing children being taught military skills to train them for fighting and the latest attack on the Chibok community in Borno

State by ISWAP are a reminder of the importance to step up the efforts aimed to protect children from terrorist groups.

The statement revealed that UNODC, working closely with national counterparts, have recently started to provide support aimed at preventing and responding to violence against children by terrorist and violent extremist groups, under a new European funded project called “STRIVE Juvenile.”

Project Manager of STRIVE Juvenile, Bianca Kopp, said UNODC acknowledged during the opening of a recent capacity building workshop that, “We have all sadly become familiar – unfortunately – with the phenomenon of child recruitment and exploitation by terrorist groups.

“Indeed, the kidnapping of the Chibok girls was probably the first event that brought global attention to the brutality of these groups towards children and, even more crucially,

it showed how children play a key role in their criminal tactics.

“Thousands of children have since then been recruited, exploited as servants, cooks, spies, in hostilities, and even used to carry out suicide attacks. When these children exit the groups, they have experienced prolonged violence, their bonds to the communities have been severed, and their personal development has been warped. As thousands of people, including children, are currently leaving the ranks of the groups to rejoin society, the urgency of appropriate responses increases.”

The statement quoted Doctor Ifeakandu, from the Nigerian Institute of Advanced Legal Studies Nigeria, to have said: “Terrorism remains one of the most potent challenges to Nigeria,” adding that, “Children are disproportionately affected by it and we need to find responses in line with their best interests.”

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SenateConfirmsSevenNomineesasINECCommissioners Sunday Aborisade in Abuja

The Senate yesterday confirmed seven nominees appointed by President Muhammadu Buhari as national commissioners and resident electoral commissioner of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

The confirmation followed the consideration of a report by the

Senate Committee on INEC. Those confirmed included Mal. Mohammed Haruna (Niger - North Central, National Commissioner); Mrs. May Agbamuche-Mbu (Delta - South South, National Commissioner); Ukeagu Kenneth Nnamdi (Abia - South East, National Commissioner); and Major General A. B. Alkali (Rtd) - Adamawa (North East,

National Commissioner).

Others were (Prof.) Rhoda H. Gumus (Bayelsa - South South, National Commissioner); Mr. Sam Olumekun (Ondo - South West, National Commissioner); and Olaniyi Olaleye Ijalaye (Ondo - South West, Resident Commissioner).

Chairman of the Committee, Senator Kabiru Gaya, recalled that the confirmation request was made

by President Muhammadu Buhari.

He explained that the Committee received a petition from the Taraba Elders Forum against the nomination of Maj. Gen. A. B. Alkali (Rtd.) over, “the seeming inconsistency in the rotation of the nomination.”

According to Gaya, the Taraba Elders Forum stated that the nomination started from Taraba

(2003 - 2008), Adamawa (2008 2015) and Gombe (2015 - 2021).

He added that petitioners observed that it was the turn Taraba State to produce the nominee against the backdrop of the principle of rotation.

Gaya, however, explained that the Committee resolved that all the states (Taraba, Adamawa and Gombe) had been nominated

Jonathan: May 29, 2010-May 29, 2015; and Muhammadu Buhari: May 29, 2015 till date.

However, in the letter to National Chairman of PDP, National Coordinator of the northern group, Mallam Mahmoud Mohammed Katun, called for priority to be given to zones in the north that had not had the opportunity to govern Nigeria to guarantee equity, fairness, and justice.

However Katun said, "But, even more importantly, it is our considered position that political parties should prioritise experience, competence, and capacity in choosing or zoning their presidential tickets.

"Both the North-east and Northcentral parts of the country have very distinguished and eminently qualified people to run for the president of Nigeria in their various political affiliations. In fact, we dare any group to suggest a candidate that can rival the likes of Atiku

Abubakar, Bukola Abubakar Saraki, and Bala Mohammed, all eminent and qualified aspirants from the aforementioned zones.

"We are of the view that if the principle of zoning is to be observed to the latter, both the North-east and North-central should be considered, as they represent two out of three zones that have not produced the president of Nigeria as things stand.

"We further call on political actors in Nigeria across party divides to look deeply and come up with a more holistic approach to zoning, in order to produce the best hands, who can rescue Nigeria from its current abyss.

"We wish to state unequivocally that as a group, the Northern Advocates for Good Governance seeks equity, fairness and justice in zoning the presidency of Nigeria in 2023, so that this can bring about good governance to Nigerians at all levels.”

OUR 2023 PRESIDENTIAL TICKET OPEN TO ALL, SAYS PDP including those that had produced the president before, should be eligible to vie for the presidential ticket.

Receiving the report from the group on behalf of the national chairman, Deputy National Publicity Secretary of PDP, Abdullahi Ibrahim, commended NAFGG for taking the initiative to support equal opportunity for all the geopolitical zones.

Ibrahim stated, "This is a commendable initiative. We are doing the best we can in that regard, if Nigerians like you find it pertinent to assist us in achieving that objective.

“The new National Working Committee (NWC) under the leadership of Senator Iyorchia Ayu has already resolved this is exactly what it would pursue as an objective in ensuring that the six geopolitical zones of Nigeria were given equal opportunity to bid for the available offices to rescue and rebuild Nigeria.”

Ibrahim further expatiated the party’s position while speaking with THISDAY. He said, “For the opportunities that are available, you heard the convener talking about providing equal opportunity for Nigerians to bid for the available political offices. Those who are interested in pursuing the presidency, we are opening it for every Nigerian to pursue and many other offices that are national in outlook, Nigerians are free to pursue."

When asked if he meant that

the presidency should be thrown open, he responded, “Of course!", adding, “Yes, that is what it implies.

As we speak, every Nigerian is bidding from the South-east, from the South-west, and from the North. No section of Nigeria will be denied an opportunity to contest or aspire. It is left for Nigerians to decide where they want to allow the presidency go."

Ibrahim insisted the opposition party believed in equity and fairness.

Asked if PDP might zone its presidential ticket to the South-east, in deference to former vice presidential candidate and ex-governor of Anambra State, Peter Obi’s demand, Ibrahim stated, “What Peter Obi said was, if it favours the South-east and as one Nigeria, who comes from that zone, he will contest.

But it’s a question of allowing everyone to bid; it’s a platform that is opened to all Nigerians on equal and justifiable process.

If you think you are suitable, come and throw your cap in the ring and the remaining will be story.

“We will not condone twisted and half-baked conclusions. From 1999 to 2023, the south would have ruled Nigeria for 14 years, while the north for 10 years. Why should we then prioritise the south to take over when the north has a shortfall?”

Unfortunately, Ibrahim has deliberately left out the fact that, of Nigeria’s 62 years since independence, the north has ruled cumulatively for 41 years and six months, while the south has only been in power for 20 years and six

months, thus making his argument disingenuous.

The list below on power sharing since 1960 suffices: Abubakar Tafawa Balewa: 1960-1966; Azikwe Nnamdi: October 1, 1963-January 16, 1966; Johnson Aguiyi-Ironsi: January 16, 1966-July 29, 1966; Yakubu Gowon: August 1, 1966-July 29, 1975; Murtala Mohammed: July 29, 1975-February 13, 1976; Olusegun Obasanjo: February 13, 1976-October 1, 1979; Shehu Shagari: October 1, 1979-December 31, 1983 and Muhammadu Buhari: December 31, 1983-August 27, 1985.

Also, Ibrahim Babangida: August 27, 1985-August 26, 1993; Earnest Shonekan: August 26, 1993-November 17, 1993; Sani Abacha: November 17, 1993-June 8, 1998; Abdusalami Abubakar: June 8, 1998-May 29, 1999; Olusegun Obasanjo: May 29, 1999-May 29, 2007; Umar Yar’Adua: May 29, 2007-May 5, 2010; Goodluck

FEC OKAYS $329M FOR RAILWAY CONSULTANCY SUPERVISION SERVICES NATIONWIDE services for the supervision of the various railway projects in the country. FEC also approved N115.4 billion for the dualisation of Kano-Kazaure-Kongolam highway in Katsina State.

These were disclosed to newsmen yesterday in Abuja

by Minister of Transportation, Rt. Hon. Chibuike Amaechi, after the weekly virtual FEC meeting, which was presided by President

Muhammadu Buhari at the State House.

Giving a breakdown of his ministry’s presentations at the meeting, Amaechi said he presented two memoranda, one of which was in respect of the consultancy services, adding that the second one was for the concessioning of the Onitsha River Port.

The minister said, “Ministry of Transportation presented two

LADOL, SAMSUNG REACH SETTLEMENT, TRUCE MAY UNLOCK $300BN INVESTMENTS Oluwatoyin Elegbede.

Adesugba said the dispute had shut out investments worth over $7 billion and 3,000 jobs, adding that the peaceful resolution would also provide direct employment opportunities to over 10,000 Nigerians.

He said, “We are very happy that we have been able to actualise Mr. President's directive that we must as a matter of national urgency ensure that this dispute is arrested.

“We are celebrating that investments worth this quantum is being unlocked into the Nigerian economy and we hope that we will continue to monitor what is happening between Samsung and LADOL to ensure that they live up to the spirit of what they have signed today.

“We expect that we shall start seeing visible results within the next couple of months, not up to a year; we will start seeing employments and different projects coming into the country.

“We were in Seoul, and they promised us that if we can resolve this, Nigeria is going to have more companies coming from South Korea to invest in the Nigerian economy. We are very optimistic that this is going to be a win-win situation for both the investors and Nigeria.”

He also attributed the resolution of the five-year commercial conflict to the setting up of ADR unit on his assumption of office, in collaboration with the National Dispute Resolution Centre at the Abuja Chamber of Commerce (ACCI).

Adesugba said, “What NEPZA has done is that as soon as I resumed office last year, we set up the NEPZA Alternative Dispute Resolution Centre. And you can see, this is the outcome of what we did.”

He commended President Muhammadu Buhari for his

insistence on unlocking investments in the country as well as the Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Mr. Niyi Adebayo, for his role and leadership to ensure the success of the intervention.

Speaking at the occasion also, Koko said the conflict, which had previously defied multiple attempts towards a resolution, had led to loss of jobs and revenue to government.

He stated, “In the past three years, no activities have been taking place there (economic zones).

There's been loss of economic values and loss of jobs. So we are happy that has been resolved today. Both parties have agreed to work together and going forward, if there are any disputes, NPA will be involved in it.

“We want to thank President Muhammadu Buhari who had taken the action that has led to the resolution of this dispute. Today is a happy day and is good for the nation and this would ensure that confidence of investors improve in term of foreign direct investment in Nigeria.”

Amid the imbroglio in 2020, Buhari had issued a directive to NPA to return the land taken away from Ladol to the company, but the order was not implemented.

“Today, we are formally implementing that directive.

And the essence of this is to ensure that both parties resolve their problem and activities at the yard in Ladol actually starts,” Koko added.

In an interview with THISDAY, Jadesimi confirmed that the disagreement between LADOL and Samsung had finally been laid to rest in the interest of the Nigerian economy.

He said, “The meeting today is to bring an end to a dispute between the Ladol Group and SHI, which has been lingering for a little while and which became critical that it be sorted out. And now it

between 2003 and 2021, therefore, it was the prerogative of the President to pick his nominee from any of the three states.

Lawmakers, including the Deputy Senate President, Ovie Omo-Agege and Senator James Manager, spoke highly of the competence and credibility of president’s nominees.

The Senate President, in his remarks after the nominees were confirmed, congratulated them while noting that the 2023 General Election would be a “baptism of fire” to test their efficiency.

He added that the National Assembly would support the electoral body to ensure the conduct of free and transparent elections in 2023.

Lawan said: “They (confirmed nominees) would have a baptism of fire because 2023 is just by the corner.

“In fact, the process has already started, as INEC may soon announce the dates of elections and then the subsequent process. We expect nothing less than excellence from our electoral body.

“This Senate has confirmed National Commissioners and Resident Commissioners before.

We have done this today, and INEC now has full complement of the people that need to do the work.

“INEC also gets the support of the National Assembly through appropriations and, therefore, it would have no reason not to perform.

has been completely resolved.”

“The key thing is to be able to resolve it peacefully for a far stronger joint venture going forward. It was a commercial dispute but the key thing is that it had been completely resolved in the interest of the Nigerian economy.”

On his part, Jeon said the resolution of the crisis would foster greater collaboration with all parties towards achieving better performance in the industry.

He said the dispute had further strengthened and reinforced SHI’s relationship with its partners.

Jeon added, “Based on that experience and enforcement, I am sure both Samsung and Ladol under the leadership of relevant government agencies, we will continue our collaboration for the growth of the industry and our business.

“Our assignment will not damage any relationship with the Nigerian government and our industry.

“So based on our 10 years of experience, good and bad experience, including those disputes but I think through those disputes, our relationship with our partners have been far more strengthened and reinforced.”

Jeon also expressed regret over what transpired over the past decade, expressed confidence that, God helping, the industry will witness better improvement going forward, adding that Samsung will be part of Nigeria’s development.

Chairman, Nigerian Economic Zones Association (NEZA), Chief Oluwatoyin Elegbede, said, “The Nigerian Economic Zones Association is very happy for the resolution of this problem because this is a problem between two of our members, Ladol and SHI. It's been on for a decade and we just thank God that this has been resolved today.”

Essentially, the dispute over

land lease between the LADOL, an indigenous firm, and SHI, a Korean firm, started in 2018, with NPA’s purported unilateral revocation of the presidential 25-year lease approval granted to Ladol and its replacement with a Direct Lease in 2019.

NPA, by that action, claimed to have taken a portion of land from Ladol and leased to Samsung.

The controversy led to the closure of business activities in the zone by both firms with over 3,000 job losses, halting of economic value chains and other losses that have stifled free flow of revenues to government and further investments.

In view of the unabated dislocation the dispute made on the country’s industrialisation process, another presidential directive was issued in 2020 to reaffirm the 2018 presidential approval of the land to Ladol.

However, the latest presidential directive was also jettisoned.

Concerned by the prolonged dispute, Minister of Transportation, Mr. Chibuike Ameachi, waded in. Amaechi instructed Koko to ensure the presidential directive, as communicated by the AttorneyGeneral of the Federation (AGF), was implemented without further delay.

But two other resolved issues hinged on SHI MCI FZE’s sublease agreement with a LADOL affiliate, Global Resources Management Limited (GRML) and SHI MCI’s operating licence as a free zone enterprise within the LADOL free zone.

By this settlement, all the cases filed in various courts by the two parties have been withdrawn with the stage set for full-scale operation to begin in that business ecosystem.

The terms of settlement were agreed in January and both the lease and sublease agreements were formally signed yesterday.

memos and the first one has to do with the contract for consultancy services for the supervision of the various railway projects. Remember that we have about three railway projects that are yet to start construction and they include the Port Harcourt-Maiduguri, Kano-Maradi and then the Abuja-Warri.

“For the consultancy services, the following contractors were approved, with the total cost of $183.7 million: GIX Engineers Infrastructure Excellence/Yaroso & Partnership Ltd, Core Consulting Engineering Plc. That's for Abuja to Warri.

“For the consultancy services for supervision of Port HarcourtMaiduguri railway, with branch lines to Bonny Deep Seaport and Port Harcourt Industrial Park, and, then, to Owerri, we have Kyari Consults SDMBHD/Jamood Global Services Limited at $97.5 million.

The first one is $38.4 million.

“The last one is consultancy services for the supervision of Kano-Katsina-Jibia-Maradi Rail-line to TEAM (Technics Engineering Architecture Marketing Nigeria Limited) and that is for $47,670,000 million. All of them are for a period of 36 months. That’s the first.

“The second one is that the cabinet approved a concession agreement for the Ministry of Transportation to concession the Onitsha River Port to a company, called Inversal Elysium Consortium.

They are to manage the river port for 30 years.”

On why the federal government was abandoning the agreements signed with China on construction of railway in the country, Amaechi explained, “Actually, that is why there is a delay. We were waiting on the Chinese to give us the loans we applied for and till today they've not replied. They kept delaying us – will the delay extend our tenure? The answer is no.

“We've gone to Standard Chartered Bank and while they've done financial closure, they've approved some level of funding. We are also pursuing Port Harcourt-Maiduguri line with Standard Chartered Bank.

The Lagos-Kano, part of it will come from Standard Chartered Bank, and part of it will come from some commercial banks in China.”

Speaking at the briefing, Minister of Works and Housing, Mr. Babatunde Fashola, said the council approved a contract for the dualisation of the Kano-KazaureKongolam Road at the cost of

N115.4 billion. Fashola explained that the project, which covers 131.4 kilometres, was expected to be completed within a period of 48 months.

Fashola said, “Ministry of Works and Housing presented one memo for the dualisation of the Kano-Kazaure-Kongoland highway, 131.4 kilometres, from a single carriage way to dual carriage way. So, council approved that proposal at a cost of N115,425, 896,907.15 kobo (in billion) over 48months.

“The instructive thing is that the financing will be done by the Tax Credit Scheme of Bua International Limited. And they will use Messrs PW Construction Nigeria limited, a company in which they have acquired some interest, to undertake the construction.”

Briefing newsmen also, Minister of State for Environment, Sharon Ikeazor, said FEC approved an Energy Transition Plan for the country.

"This memo was presented as a plan for Nigeria to achieve net zero carbon emission,” the minister said, noting, "this will clearly set out the pathway for Nigeria in achieving this.”

Ikeazor further said FEC also approved a second memo to aid the Waste Battery Management Policy for Nigeria.

This policy, according to her, "Will create a lot of jobs in the circular economy for Nigeria and at the same time protect the health of Nigerians to make sure that hazardous waste, like waste batteries, are properly disposed of with regulations, including recycling in Nigeria as well.”

She said her ministry also presented to the council a report on the last COP 26 (the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference), which Nigeria attended, and the country's plans for COP 27 going forward.

On his part, Minister of State for Health, Dr. Olorunimbe Mamora, said council, during a closed-door session, also approved the award of contract for consultancy services to facilitate the building of the corporate headquarters of National Health Insurance Scheme in Abuja.

Mamora said, “The need has become inevitable to expand what is on ground to improve the operational efficiency of that agency, which is the National Health Insurance Scheme and happily, the council considered the memo approved same."

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COMMENT

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

2023 AND JONATHAN’S CANDIDACY

Shehu Umar writes that Goodluck Jonathan will strengthen the north-south alliance

I

t is safe to say that keeping Nigeria United under stable democracy requires building dependable block alliance across the Niger. This also reminds me of the popular statement made by the Plateau State-born statesman and Nigeria’s war time Head of State, General Yakubu Gowan who said that, “keeping Nigeria one is a task that must be accomplished”.

The 30 months Nigerian civil war which ended on 15th January 1970 with the popular aphorism, “No victor no vanquished,” gave birth to modern Nigeria unity, and peaceful co-existence amongst the heterogeneous groups and ethnic nationalities that make up the country.

This quest for a united Nigeria and healthy political system and unbiased interest inform part of the criteria that king makers across ethnic divides and political parties in Nigeria consider before choosing a candidate that will fly the flag of their party in general elections. This unwritten norm has continued to play a prominent role in deciding who the democratically elected President of Nigeria becomes.

In 1999, when the country returned to civil rule after over three decades of military rule, the leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), decided to elect Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, a Yoruba man to compensate for the death of Chief MKO Abiola who died in detention after the annulment of 1993 election, of which he was the acclaimed winner.

This singular decision by a major political party led to the gradual healing of the wounds thrown up by the annulment of 1993 elections and eventual demise of the winner of the election, which was annulled by the then President Ibrahim Badamosi Babangida.

Before the end of President Obasanjo’s two terms of office in 2007, the militant Lagos press dominated by Yorubas and the civil rights activists, as well as political actors, sheathed their swords.

Unfortunately, President Musa Yar’Adua’s which succeeded Chief Obasanjo’s administration died in office. His emergence as the PDP candidate and eventual winner of the 2007 Presidential elections was in line with power sharing arrangement or understanding between North and South as is the practice in a plural society like Nigeria.

Following a doctrine of necessity invoked by the National Assembly to rescue Nigeria from impending constitutional crisis thrown up by a lacuna in the nation’s legal framework, the then Vice President Goodluck Jonathan had to be made to complete the remaining tenure of his principal. He also contested the 2010 election and won. His presidency was, however, cut short by President Muhammadu Buhari’s overwhelming victory in the 2015 Presidential election.

Though that was the first time the opposition party was winning a presidential election after the return of Nigeria to democratic rule in 1999, former President Jonathan congratulated the winner and peacefully exited office on May 29, 2015.

Since then, he had kept a low profile except for his role in ensuring that the Malian military junta returned the country back to civil rule. As the ECOWAS Special Envoy and Mediator for Mali, he has however, remained visible within the sub-region as a proven and dedicated pan-Africanist.

Former President Jonathan is not only an apostle of one Nigerian and solid bridge between the North and South but a man of peace that Nigeria needs now to rescue the country from imminent collapse.

It is on the premise of these towering attributes of peace and bridge building that Nigerians of all shades of opinion, political persuasion, religious and ethnic affinity as well as cultural background are clamouring for his return as President Buhari approaches the end of his

JONATHAN IS NOT ONLY AN APOSTLE OF ONE NIGERIAN AND SOLID BRIDGE BETWEEN THE NORTH AND SOUTH, BUT A MAN OF PEACE THAT NIGERIA NEEDS NOW TO RESCUE THE COUNTRY FROM IMMINENT COLLAPSE

constitutionally guaranteed two terms of office.

Some Nigerians strongly believe that Nigeria as a country does not need a new comer who would learn on the job but an experienced person who would hit the ground running so as to reunite the country, revitalize the economy, create jobs for the teeming unemployed youths and bring an end to the rampaging terrorists, bandits and secessionist agitators. Nigeria needs a man whose hands of fellowship would be accepted across the Niger.

There are, however, toxic opinions amongst former President Jonathan’s political detractors that the only interest of the northern strategist is hinged on the fact that he can only do one term, in which case the hope of power returning to the North is guaranteed in a shortest possible time.

However, this lame argument is easily drowned by his popularity with a track record of integrity and statesmanship, which is a glaring reality that Nigerians from every divide, North or South, Christian or Muslim, Kanuri, Ijaw, Yoruba, Igbo, Fulani or Tiv, longs for.

Former President Jonathan is a person with wide public acceptance cutting across religious, ethnic and regional divides. It is obvious that from the current political firmament in the country, Jonathan fits this mould from the South.

In an article titled, “The Post-Presidential Legacy of Nigeria’s Goodluck Jonathan,” which was published on the blog of Council on Foreign Relations, it was also posited that “Since his concession, the former President is experiencing something of a renaissance as a senior statesman, at least in certain circles.

“He has been honored with international awards and invited to deliver keynote remarks at global conferences on everything from peace-building to improving educational opportunities. He is particularly sought-after as a champion of democracy, and recently led international election observation teams for the National Democratic Institute in Liberia and the Electoral Institute for Sustainable Democracy in South Africa”, the article read in part.

His solemn tweets on respect for the rule of law in Ethiopia were also given wide publicity. He was known to have favoured the North when he was at the helm of affairs in Nigeria between 2011 and 2015 when he handed over to the incumbent President Buhari.

In his appointments up to personal aides, former President Jonathan was known to have somehow favoured the North more. The construction of Almajiri schools across the North is also something that has endeared him to many northern elites that see him as a better version of Northern visionaries.

On infrastructure development, former President Jonathan would be remembered by the northerners for such infrastructural developments like the Dry Season Fadama Farming. He was reported to have approved the release of a whopping N26 billion for the 2015 dry season farming.

The scheme launched in 2012 provided thousands of jobs to teaming unemployed Nigerians, especially in the north where the dry season farming is mostly practiced. According to the former President, ‘’not only is food produced, we are now processing food. Food production is rising rapidly and thousands of jobs are being created for our young people’’.

Also of note is the Great Green Wall Project which curtailed desertification in the area. The project was launched in Kebbi State by the former president himself.

Dr Umar wrote from Kano

A NEW BEGINNING

Uzodimma has set himself on the path of re-building Imo, writes Livinus Ozurumba

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ny visitor to Imo State would likely experience traffic in some parts of the state, especially along some busy streets in Owerri. Reason is not farfetched. Governor Hope Uzodimma is remodeling the state, renewing infrastructure and constructing new ones.

Imo is currently one huge workshop with many ongoing road constructions and makeovers. While some of the roads have already been completed and commissioned, a good number of them are at various stages of construction and renewal. It was the promise the governor made at inauguration of his government in January 2020. He pledged to restore the glory of the state. In infrastructure, healthcare, education, commerce and industry, and others, Imo was an epitome of development in the glorious years of Dee Sam Mbakwe.

The magic touch of the phenomenal leader and deft manager of men and resources spawned a verdant of industries and created a conducive atmosphere for enterprise nurturing, quality education, accessible and affordable healthcare. The Mbakwe Imo thus became a reference point and a model for many states across the country. Military intrusion interrupted that momentum of development and Imo has never been the same again.

Uzodimma is well aware of the place of Imo in the south east. He is aware of its rich history and in his word, he is determined to rebuild the broken walls, restore the lustre of education for which the state was famed; rekindle commerce and industry

through well-thought through public-private partnerships; upskill human capital by infusing ICT into the workplace and schools and reviving the state’s agro-economy. The recent resolution of conflict with Roche Group which has invested a chunky N350 billion in AdaPalm, a once thriving flagship equity of the state, shows the governor’s commitment to his word to create wealth and jobs among Imo people.

Leadership in contemporary Nigeria has been all talk and little action. Some governments at all levels have deployed the power and compelling allure of the media, both social and traditional media, to create an illusion of an effective leadership with landmark achievements in the minds of people. But such achievements remain audio accomplishments often captured in 3-D presentations just to beguile and deceive. Some governors, past and presents, are only remembered for their sterling performance only presented by graphical illustration but in reality, they are monstrous failures. Some almost stole their entire states, converting public funds, assets and land to private pockets as part of their family estates.

Until January 2020, Imo was a grazing ground for greedy leadership, a festering sore of public assets stripping and misappropriation. One of the former governors, Rochas Okorocha, was lawfully investigated by a Judicial Commission of Inquiry.

And the panel’s findings have tilted from the bizarre to the ridiculous. The setting up of the Judicial Commission of Inquiry by former governor Emeka Ihedioha and the emergence of Hope Uzodimma as governor is therefore a blessing to the state and to

Okorocha family. Imo is lucky to have Uzodimma who, by popular will and desire of the people, has begun the process of recovery of most of the annexed properties.

But no matter the circumstance and pressure to act otherwise, Uzodimma should stick to his mission of Reconstruction, Rehabilitation and Recovery. He should stay the course of infrastructure development. What Nigeria needs now are infrastructure leaders, whether as president, governors and local government chairmen. Uzodimma inherited roads in terrible and horrifying conditions. Many roads done by previous governments were eroded as soon as they were constructed because the jobs were poorly delivered, and with substandard materials far below standard structural engineering specifications.

It’s heartwarming that Uzodimma is giving priority to building infrastructure especially rebuilding the many failed roads of previous governments and new ones. It’s unfair to blame Governor Uzodimma for the bad roads in Imo. It’s either out of mischief or out of a poor grasp of the rudiments and structural behaviour of asphalted roads. Uzodimma is not the cause of bad roads. He inherited them and like the Biblical Nehemiah, he has rolled up his sleeves to re-do them because that’s what he promised: good governance evidenced by dividends of democracy.

And true to his word, he has been bullish with road construction, remodeling and makeover with no fewer than 90 roads either under construction, completed or about to be completed. It’s the governor’s bell ringer and perfect strategy to arrest

the inexorable decay in road infrastructure. And the governor has, ipso facto, answered the many questions of the irreverent mob of critics. The uniqueness of the Uzodimma model of development is that they are evenly distributed among the three senatorial zones. The roads, for instance, cut across the urban and rural areas spread in the three senatorial zones of the state. Of these roads, 32 had been fully completed and commissioned. The infrastructure of the Uzodimma era includes the flood-control system at Chukwuma Nwoha road, also known as the balloon - driven tunnel. This has been a standout intervention by the governor because over the years, property owners and dwellers within the vicinity had been forced to abandon their homes to escape the destructive fury of the floods. But today, they are no longer on the run. Many have returned to reclaim their homes.

There’s also the on-going construction of Owerri Orlu and Okigwe – Owerri dual carriageways. They are critical components of the grand vision of the governor to reset the state to its default state as the south east hub for tourism, commerce and industry.

Imo needs roads and Uzodimma is building roads, albeit quality roads, not the ‘wash-wash’ roads he inherited their carcasses. The governor is building roads not only to boost socio-economic activities in the state but to also prove that the state can build quality roads that can outlive many administrations, an obvious reference to the strong and absorbent roads built by the late Dee Sam Mbakwe.

Ozurumba wrote from Owerri

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EDITORIAL THE OKPANAM CHURCH COLLAPSE Regulators should enforce building codes and standards

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he collapse of a building housing the Salvation Ministry in Okpanam, Oshimili North Local Government Area, Delta State, and the attendant death of 10 worshippers and injury to many is another tragedy that is representative of what has become a trend in the country.

The worshippers, said to be holding the first New Year 21-day fasting and prayer service, were on the verge of receiving the Holy Communion when the rented apartment suddenly caved in. In the process many of the victims, including children and women were trapped in the rubble. Although the Delta State Government has constituted a panel of enquiry to probe the immediate and remote causes of the collapse, we note that this tragedy is very familiar.

Indeed, building collapse has been a worrisome trend in many THERE IS A GLARING parts of the FAILURE OF THE country. But as REGULATING AGENCIES has been outlined TO PROPERLY PERFORM on several occaTHEIR SUPERVISORY ROLES, sions, some of the GIVING RISE TO A SITUATION causes vary from poor enforcement WHERE QUACKS HAVE TAKEN OVER THE BUILDING of regulations, building with SECTOR substandard materials, quackery, and official compromise in the system, especially where influential developers are involved. It is quite unfortunate that scores of lives have continued to be needlessly lost from the prevalence of this malaise.

The case of the collapsed Ikoyi Tower was ascribed to regulatory failure as the developer was said to have defied official approval by erecting a 21-floor structure in apparent violation of the 15-floor approved limit. It was also the case when 116 lives were lost when a six-storey guest house belonging to the Synagogue Church of All Nations in Lagos, collapsed on 12th September 2014.

A probe report by the Lagos State government established that there was no approval for the

Letters to the Editor

ill-fated building in stark contravention of Section 75 of the Urban and Regional Planning Lagos State 2010. In its report, the Council for the Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria (COREN) said the building lacked adequate foundation. In addition, it noted there was no evidence it was supervised by a structural engineer.

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T H I S D AY EDITOR SHAKA MOMODU DEPUTY EDITORS WALE OLALEYE, OBINNA CHIMA MANAGING DIRECTOR ENIOLA BELLO DEPUTY MANAGING DIRECTOR ISRAEL IWEGBU CHAIRMAN EDITORIAL BOARD OLUSEGUN ADENIYI EDITOR NATION’S CAPITAL IYOBOSA UWUGIAREN MANAGING EDITOR BOLAJI ADEBIYI THE OMBUDSMAN KAYODE KOMOLAFE

T H I S D AY N E W S PA P E R S L I M I T E D EDITOR-IN-CHIEF/CHAIRMAN NDUKA OBAIGBENA GROUP EXECUTIVE DIRECTORS ENIOLA BELLO, KAYODE KOMOLAFE, ISRAEL IWEGBU, IJEOMA NWOGWUGWU, EMMANUEL EFENI DIVISIONAL DIRECTORS SHAKA MOMODU, PETER IWEGBU, ANTHONY OGEDENGBE DEPUTY DIVISIONAL DIRECTOR OJOGUN VICTOR DANBOYI SNR. ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR ERIC OJEH ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR PATRICK EIMIUHI CONTROLLERS ABIMBOLA TAIWO, UCHENNA DIBIAGWU, NDUKA MOSERI DIRECTOR, PRINTING PRODUCTION CHUKS ONWUDINJO TO SEND EMAIL: first name.surname@thisdaylive.com

hile we recommend sanctions for those who may be found guilty of the criminal negligence that led to many of the fatal collapse of buildings in recent years, government should do a complete overhaul of the nation’s building and construction regulations. Several reasons are responsible for the incessant collapse of buildings in Nigeria. These causes range from violation of safety measures when erecting the structures to the use of untested products and materials as well as lack of adequate regulations and sanctions against offenders. More worrisome is the rate at which places of worship collapse.

All over the country, there is a glaring failure of the regulating agencies to properly perform their supervisory roles, giving rise to a situation where quacks have taken over the building sector. Quite naturally, most of these characters seem interested only in how to cut costs, even if it means circumventing laid down regulations. Such a state of affair can only breed the kind of disaster we experience from time to time.

It is therefore important that there be a synergy between government and professional bodies to minimise the occurrence of these tragedies. This can be accomplished through the imposition of regulatory control and enactment of laws to guarantee that buildings are designed and constructed in such a way that is conducive to public safety and welfare. From the architectural design stage to civil and structural engineering, actual construction and completion of a project, efforts must be made to ensure that stipulated regulations are strictly adhered to and there are no shortcuts aimed at minimising costs.

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

NIGERIA AND THE HATCHET OF HUNGER

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hat does it really mean to be hungry? Over the world, the privation of man`s most primal need has often let loose a chilling anguish – one so intimate that it is almost impossible; one so utterly lacking in respect that it serves children as well as centurions the same rude awakening.

Hunger is something every human being can relate to. In the course of every day that passes by, one is bound to become famished at some point. When the inevitable comes, there is sweet revenge to be had on one of man`s most ancient tormentors when healthy food is handy and when the building blocs that bring up a balanced diet abound.

But this is hardly ever the case. As the world continues to edge towards the precipice pushed by conflicts and climate change, hunger has become a grim reality for countless people around the world especially children who have unfortunately come to know the universal scourge that gnaws at every intestine from time to time.

During the Nigerian Civil War of 1967-70, countless children in the Southeast died from starvation as the Nigerian government laid a siege that swept thousands of innocent children into the suffocating embrace of hunger. Today, hunger continues to weave itself into the daily reality of Nigeria`s poorest children especially those caught up in the conflicts which are rapidly and rapaciously eating up large swathes of the country.

So many rural children who are fortunate to enjoy the normalcy that going to school every week day brings have to walk long distances and back on practically empty stomachs. Such children

have tales to tell of the sheer brutality of hunger. Unfortunately, this has become the lot of many children in Africa and across much of the developing world.

On January 27, 2022, the World Food Programme and the Food and Agriculture Organization released the Hunger Hotspots Report in which they highlighted soaring food insecurity across 20 countries and regions where conflict, economic shocks, natural hazards, political instability, and limited humanitarian access are putting millions of lives at risk.

Unsurprisingly, lairs of human misery like Ethiopia, South Sudan and Yemen made the unenviable group of countries of highest concern. Nigeria, the Giant of Africa, completed the ugly quartet.

That the most populous black country on earth and the Africa`s largest oil producer is not only on the list but made the very bottom must greatly alarm all those who work round the clock to ensure that hunger is stamped out and all those in whose best interest it is that hunger ceases to be endemic not just to Nigeria but to every country of the world at all.

In 2011, South Sudan, the world`s youngest country, came to historic independence after about half a century of brutal marginalization and oppression from Sudan. Teething problems have continued to convulse the country as it comes to grips with the challenges of becoming a nation.

Yemen has been embroiled in a brutal civil war for years. Images of starving children from the country which has become a battleground in the proxy war between Saudi Arabia and Iran continue to feature in the nightmares of millions of people around the world.

At the hands of their Nobel-winning prime minister who has since brought his darkest side to the fore, Ethiopia, the seat of the African Union, continues to descend into chaos. The war in the Tigray region of the country continues to turn up atrocity after atrocity including the rape of toddlers.

But it is the improbable presence of the Giant of Africa on the list that is raising the most eyebrows. The Giant of Africa should ordinarily have no business being on the list. However, as per the report, insecurity and high inflation rates are aggravating acute food insecurity in the country. In conflict-scarred Borno State around 13,500 people are projected to slide into cataclysmic acute food insecurity if humanitarian and livelihood-building interventions are not sustained.

As things stand, a painful paradox stares Nigeria squarely in the face. How and why should it be that a country blessed with such an embarrassment of riches is jostling for space on the list of the world`s hungriest enclaves with countries devastated for years by unconscionable conflicts?

As with everything else that is not working in Nigeria, it is children that are bearing the brunt of hunger. Efforts to rebuild those areas scarred by conflict in Nigeria continue but the fear is real that enough is not being done to speedily rescue families from the clutches of huger.

As it stands, more has to be done until every family in Nigeria has enough to eat. The Giant of Africa cannot continue to stand by while hunger continues to hack its children.

Kene Obiezu, keneobiezu@gmail.com

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POLITICS

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

Benjamin-Laniyi: My Utmost Concern for the Nigerian Girl-Child is That She May Attain and Live the Life of Her Dream Nseobong Okon-Ekong holds a conversation with media entrepreneur and an event-profiled global enterprise communicator, Mrs. Dayo Benjamins-Laniyi, the executive director of Doxa Group- (Doxa Digital Nig., Doxa Conference Management Bureau, Doxa Prints & DBL/Doxa; Nigeria’s foremost complete corporate brand that is tested and proven in the market place providing total event design, management and sequencing, conference hall design, configuration and installations of technical and innovative enterprise for prestigious occasions and ceremonials of various government, social, diplomatic and corporate reference; both national and international. She is an ordained deaconess and the wife of Pastor Tunde Benjamins-Laniyi of the Throneroom RCCG Abuja that meets at Transcorp Hilton.

An English [Honors] graduate of the University of Ibadan, Dayo is a public speaking entity and an experiential consultant who has honed a reputation as one of Nigeria’s most recognized and sought-after Master of Ceremony (MC), with a stellar background spanning media, entertainment, events design and architecture, hospitality, culture/ tourism and CEO branding. DBL celebrity compere has planned and masterfully executed a significant number of high-profile events, both locally and internationally. DBL is Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Management Consultants and Certified Management Consultant. She is so inspired by nature and environment around her that she develops personal relationship with her plants; and they are named deliberately according to their place in her heart. The African Culture Transformation (ACT) Initiative is an NGO/Cultural rejuvenation engine, which she has initiated to restore, strengthen and redefine African pedigree for women advocacy and entrepreneurship. Dayo is also working on an Agro-Transformation project for African Women. This project is primarily concerned with the integration of African women as global ‘Agro-preneurs’.

She is a relationship and entrepreneurship mentor/counselor to youth and women of all ages, and the host of a popularly known TV series with Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN) called Ask Aunty D on Living The Life Series.

She is the CEO of the annual DBL Bold & Beautiful that celebrates women in commemoration of the International Women’s Day (IWD). The program is an intentional initiative that inspires a vibrant networking and mentorship platform for women across all ages, race, experiences, purpose and pursuits - using the power of personal stories.

DreamGirlsAfrica (DBL-DGA) is the inspired initiative and African Girlchild advocacy of its founder and convener `Dayo Benjamins-Laniyi (DBL). It is dedicated to the global empowerment of the girl child in Africa, through a project-based appraisal of her academic, physical, psychological, and emotional vulnerabilities; using the founder’s home nation, Nigeria as it’s geopolitical Polaris. Through creativity and innovation, DBL DreamGirlsAfrica provides mentorship, guidance, support, global leadership and entrepreneurship skill sets which radically transform the emotional profile and mindset of the African girlchild and positioning her in strength and happiness for the future she truly deserves.

Dayo is the brand ambassador for The Nigeria Social Media Summit and the Vice-Chair of the Nigeria-Trinidad & Tobago Chamber of Commerce, Abuja Nigeria. She is happily married with four children.

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wara State has taken the lead in women inclusion in governance by making a law that demands 35 percent gender inclusion in appointment to public offices, is this any comfort to women?

Kudos to the Kwara state governor and his formidable team. Empowering women and promoting their political participation, especially at this time in Nigeria, is more than just a comfort, it is also a wise political decision. It will be difficult to erode this feat by another political party that comes into power. Beyond statistics and numbers, it is about people. It is about giving critical opportunities to a critical mass of people who make up a critical part of our economy, and of our future. Beyond comfort, it is a significant strike in the right direction for women and for all.

What can be done to increase the percentage of women parliamentarians in the country?

It is already happening. We just made reference to the success of the Kwara state example .

Also, the APC Women conference, coordinated by caretaker Woman Leader Hon. Stella Okotete, had an incredible lineup of profile, with the Vice- President of Liberia as the Keynote Speaker, Dr. Jewel Taylor. The whole subject matter was women participation in politics.

It had an impact on women from all spheres of political influence, appointment, and participation, as well as women from all spheres.

In conclusion, the Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo encouraged women to go for 50%

Benjamin-Laniyi

rather than just 35% . A charter of action for implementing the pivotal points discussed and the outcome of all the contributions made by wives of presidents, wives of governors, women in leadership positions, and women in grass roots communities. concluded the conference. It is going

to be an intentional decision by the individual, the women themselves, to rise up and become not just a voice and a vote, but a valuable contributor to the political architecture of Nigeria’s elections and other political events.

What life experiences have you had that have led you to seek representation of the

FCT in the Senate so passionately?

Rather than a vast array of experiences that have brought me to this place, it is really a realization (Eureka) for me. I’ve been in politics for so long, but I’ve never been a registered member of a political party. This is not a quantum experience but a quantum realization. My life in Abuja over the past 30 years has prepared me for this. I believe I was destined for this. I love Abuja. I have always viewed myself as the human City Gate of Abuja. My Abuja projects have always come from the heart of my desire to use the opportunities Abuja gave me to create opportunities for others in Abuja. Abuja is me and I am Abuja. In so many ways, Abuja has blessed me and this is my turn to be a blessing.

My representation of Nigeria at global fronts such as Davos and the United Nations is a collateral dividend of being trained in Abuja.

I want to become a visible voice for voices speaking. Violence Against Women (VAW) is very real. In politics, there’s Violence Against Women in Politics (VAWiP). In school, there is sexual harassment of female students at all levels – primary, secondary and tertiary. The Bill

by Sen. Omo-Agege, Deputy Senate President, on sexual harassment in tertiary institutions is a welcome development. We note that the Gender Equality Bill has been rejected thrice! More Bills need to come on board for the protection of disadvantaged groups – women, children, PLWDs and the aged.

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

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POLITICS

Imansuangbon: Atiku Abubakar Remains PDP’s Winning Card School Proprietor, politician, and former governorship aspirant in the Edo 2020 guber race, on the platform the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Mr. Kenneth Imansuangbon in an interview with Adibe Emenyonu harps on the merits of having former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar as the Peoples Democratic Party presidential in 2023

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t is a near consensus that since the north under President Muhammadu Buhari, has ruled for eight years, it is the turn of the south.

But recently, you were quoted as having sympathy for a northern candidate in the person of former Vice President Atiku Abubakar even when you party, the PDP has zoned the party chairmanship to north which is currently being occupied by Dr. Iyorchia Ayu. What informs your support for Abubakar?

Zoning or no zoning, Atiku remains the only winning card PDP has to turn the table around against the lackluster leadership of the APC-led federal government under President Muhammadu Buhari. Atiku remains the best choice as candidate of the party among the several aspirants of the PDP to defeat the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) if the party is desirous of winning.

Atiku has the prerequisite experience, contacts across the country and has impacted on many lives through his many humanitarian works.

Imasuagbon

Here you are talking in favour of Akitu, but many Nigerians including some members of your party do not share the same sentiment. Some of them are of the opinion that age is not on his side for a man that will be almost 80 years by 2023. What is your defense?

How on earth can someone argue that Atiku should not be given our party’s ticket on account of his age? Age is not a curse but a blessing. For example, it is on record that the founding father and former President of Singapore, late Lee Kuan Yew, became President at a very old age and he led his country into

But he is not the only Nigerian politician with a good record of benevolence.

Although I agree with you on that, but he is unique. Unique in the sense that he is not selfish with his wealth both material and knowledge. He has used his numerous enterprise to create employment for the teaming youths of this country. That is what stands him out among others.

economic prosperity. Same with former President Ronald Reagan of the United State. So what are they talking about?

Of recent, President of United States of America, Joe Biden who was elected last year was about two years shy of 80. Age should not be a barrier to determine who should preside over the affairs of Nigeria because human beings are not created with the same physique.

What I want PDP members to understand and focus on is winning the election. We cannot field a candidate Nigerians do not know and trust. Those using the issue of age and zoning against the former Vice President are doing so for selfish and parochial reasons. Besides, Atiku is well known across the country. He is the best option to defeat the APC. Talking about fairness, do you think the North with the choice of Atiku is better than a Southern person either from South-east, South-south or South-west?

If we should talk about fairness, equity and justice, power should remain in the North. And if it goes to the North, Atiku is the most qualified in the North and don’t forget that the North-east has not produced a President. Even if you leave the presidency open he is the most qualified and his presidency will usher in prosperity for the country.

From 1999, the South has done 14 years while the North will have 11 years by the time Buhari completes his tenure next year.

There is a four years deficit for the North

to balance up.

From calculation, the PDP which I belong to, the North has not finished its tenure.

Obasanjo did eight years, Yar’Adua did two years and Jonathan did six years. In fairness they should take it to the North The PDP governors from the look of things are not looking towards the direction of Atiku as candidate of the party but one of their own. How do you react to this?

I want to appeal to my party governors and other members to support Atiku aspiration to take the party to victory in 2023. I am passionately appealing to them to look at the merit of winning rather than what people regard as a gang up. They (PDP) governors should thread with caution and call their supporters to order and refrain from casting aspersion on Atiku.

That notwithstanding, I can see the handiwork of the APC-led federal government in all this controversy of zoning or no zoning. Because they are afraid of Atiku, the APC wants to force PDP to tow their line.

The reason why they want PDP governors to zone their ticket to the South is because they know their own ticket will be in the South. And if that happens, God forbid, they will side with a northern candidate from any other party and tell their subjects to vote along religious lines.

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

Abiru: Nigeria Needs State Police Now Member of the Lagos State House of Assembly, Hon. Rotimi Abiru shares his views on state police and the worsening security situation in the country with Segun James

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tate police has been a thorny issue in the country, what is the position of the LAHA on the issue?

This is one thing that we have been clamouring for before the insurgency started. We have been to other countries, and we know how security is considered very important over there. And beyond state police, there is also community policing. The people can police their state better because they understand as well as have better knowledge to police their community than anyone the Nigerian Police may deploy to maintain law and order within the community. Some of these officers do not understand the community where they are posted. Although they will claim to be professionals unlike when you have people that live within. The community police can easily identify visitors and nip in the bud any plan that could result in a crisis. Nothing can be better than the federal government granting the state the full autonomy to set them up. Even in some states, they have had reasons to set up internal mechanisms to boost security within their state. In some parts of the country, we have Ebube Agwu in the East, the South-west has Amotekun while Lagos has the Neighbourhood Watch and others. And it has indeed helped to protect lives and property.

What is your view on the claims that some states may not be able to fully fund the operation of such a state police and that some governors may use it to oppress their opponents?

Irrespective of any teething problems in individual states. I believe that the governors will not be there forever.

They will serve their tenure and move on. We cannot start complaining now when we have not tried it. Right now,

Abiru

some states are empowering vigilante groups and paramilitary groups. And since then, these local security groups have complemented the role of the federal security agencies. I am not sure that the Nigerian Police have enough men to police the country. Yes, I agree that the concerns are genuine but again I do not think that should be sufficient to stop the establishment of state police. More states have realized that it is the best solution to improve security within their state and that will also give the governors the sense of responsibility to know that the security of the state lies with them. This will change the current narrative because now when they give out instructions to the police and the IGP gives counter instruction, the law enforcement officer will

do what the IGP says. But you need to understand that Lagos State Government has often been supporting the police and other law enforcement agents across the state through the State’s Security Trust Fund with arms and ammunition as well as boosting their morale. In spite of that, none of the law enforcement agencies or any individual can say that the government has used the agencies against them.

I think it is better for all of us to think through it and understand that it is a necessity that must be done to protect lives and property across the country.

Thank God there is peace in Lagos, and this is because we have not rested on our achievements over the years. And during our engagement with the Commissioner of Police, he indeed disclosed that the state recorded about four cases of kidnapping, and the way they dealt with the supposed perpetrators has sent warning signals to others that they will not find it easy here.

We understand that no one can compel the other person not to commit a crime; it is left for the law enforcement officers to be active and nip such in the bud. I am sure that anyone living in Lagos can attest to the improvement in security and I believe that it should be sustained.

Setting up a state police for Lagos, will that not affect the state’s fund considering the number of policemen that will be required to man every part of the state?

I do not believe that there is much more to spend on the issue of policing Lagos state even if we take responsibility. I have an idea of how much the state spends on law enforcement. We give glory to God for the establishment of the Lagos State Security Trust Fund (LSSTF). The funds provided by the LSSTF were not totally from the government. They are

funds from both the government and the private sector because they all know that business can only thrive in a peaceful environment. They support the funds, and they all see what the funds is used for. Security cannot be left for the government alone; it is what everyone needs to get involved in. We need to understand that the LSSTF does not draw a budget from the government. Although the state has a way that it supports it but it is not solely run on governments fund.

The LSSTF annual account rendering has earned the trust of everyone that contributes into it. With the funding of the law enforcement agency, hardly will there be bank robbery within the state and its security network would not catch up with them. The criminals too, they will prefer to operate in areas where they can have an easy ride. Right now, the waterways are secured, so I can reason that these criminals are thinking about going outside Lagos for their nefarious activities.

Recently, oil has been discovered in the state, has there been any discussion on the need to include Lagos among the oil producing states?

No doubt, I think that status has since been achieved. I want to believe that the state has started realizing income from that although it may not be so much for now. It is been trapped. I think that we have been recognized as such, but I cannot say for a fact how much the state has realized from the sector. I think that has been done with some private firm. I believe that it would soon add up to the revenue of the state.

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

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BUSINESSWORLD R A T E S MONEY MARKET

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S & P INDEX

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Despite Perceived Challenges, More Countries Push for 5G Adoption as Rollout Begins in Nigeria February

Emma Okonji More countries in Africa, Asia and Europe are pushing for the adoption and rollout of 5G network, despite perceived fears in some quarters that 5G technology will cause so much interference to aviation signals and even health hazards to humans, even though such fears are not known to any scientific studies.

In Africa, countries like Nigeria, South Africa, Kenya and Uganda have carried out trial-test on 5G technology in preparation for rollout.

Nigeria, which has even gone beyond trial testing of

5G technology, had concluded the auction of its 5G spectrum license, and the spectrum winners, MTN Nigeria Plc and Mafab Communications Limited, are expected to pay the 5G spectrum licence fee this February to enable them commence 5G network rollout.

In Asia, countries like Taiwan and India are also making plans to rollout 5G network. Last year, Taiwan government set aside $555 million to speed up the process of 5G rollout in the country.

Just this week, Indian telecoms operators said they were set to get the spectrum they needed to proceed with commercial 5G service

launches after the nation’s Minister of Finance and Corporate Affairs, Nirmala Sitharaman, unveiled plans for an auction later this year and set a target for the launch of 5G services in the next 14 months.

In India’s annual budget statement, Sitharaman announced the provisional timeline for its next spectrum auction alongside an industrial scheme, which she said would deliver design-led manufacturing and build a strong 5G ecosystem.

Operators are expected to launch 5G services commercially in the fiscal year ending March 2023.

Indian operators have conducted limited trials of 5G in various

cities in preperation, though all three major providers called for allocations in the next auction to be priced in a way which ensures they have enough cash to finance full deployment.

The country previously tried to sell 5G-suitable spectrum in the 700MHz band alongside various other frequencies, but failed to attract bids due to high reserve prices as cash-strapped operators focused on 4G. A number of structural reforms were however introduced in 2021 to speed up further investment in 5G, which is the next generation technology, in order to relieve the pressure on the financially

struggling operators.

Despite the push from various countries of the world to rollout 5G, some school of thoughts are of the view that 5G rollout will not only cause health hazards to humans through its electromagnetic emissions from base stations, but will also cause serious obstruction and interference to aviation signals around the airports since modern aircraft could be so highly sensitive to 5G technology.

Recently, international airlines threatened to cancel scheduled flights to most cities in the Unites States, for fear of 5G network interference on aviation signals around most US cities.

The flight cancellation was based on perceived fears that 5G deployment in some cities in the US, will cause serious disruption to aviation signals around the airports.

Dubai’s Emirates airline and the British Airways had also announced that it would suspend flights to several destinations in the United States as of January 19, 2022, until further notice because of concerns over 5G mobile network deployment.

The move, according to a statement from the airlines is “due to operational concerns associated with the planned deployment of 5G Continued on page 31

UK Remains Africa’s Investment Partner of Choice, Says UK’s Trade Secretary Emma Okonji UK’s Secretary of State for International Trade, Anne-Marie Trevelyan has stated that the United Kingdom (UK) has always been the Africa’s investment partner of choice for green transition.

She said this, while hosting a

one-day virtual event, which aimed to unlock millions of pounds of new investment, especially in clean energy industries in both the UK and across Africa.

The virtual conference was the second virtual Africa Investment conference, held recently to boost economic cooperation with African

nations and enhance its role as the continent’s investment partner of choice for greener, climate-friendly projects.

In a ‘virtual fireside talk’ with the Director General of World Trade Organisation (WTO), Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, the Trade Secretary said sustainable trade and investment

were crucial for reducing global inequality, improving economies, raising incomes and creating jobs.

According to Trevelyan, “Two years on from the inaugural UK-Africa Investment Summit, the UK’s ambition to be Africa’s investment partner of choice has never been stronger. The continent

has huge economic potential, and our continued partnership will help businesses capitalise on investment opportunities, supporting high value jobs and boost enterprise in every part of the UK. “This year’s conference focuses on the importance of resilient, sustainable investment to support

Africa as it pivots towards a more environmentally-friendly growth trajectory, and I look forward to working with leaders from the continent as they continue on this path to a greener future.”

Her Majesty’s Acting Trade Continued on page 29

ATA AASS AT AT WWEEDDNNEESSDDAY, AY, FAEUBGRUUSATR Y1 12, , 22002212 MMAARRKKEETT DDATA ONNDDSS FFGGNN BBO DESCRIPTION 11.668 FGNSB 12.75 27-APR15-AUG-2021 2023 10.301 FGNSB 14.20 14-MAR16-AUG-2021 2024 11.150 FGNSB 13.53 23-MAR11-SEP-2021 2025 12.364 FGNSB 12.50 22-JAN12-SEP-2021 2026 12.175 FGNSB 16.2884 1710-OCT-2021 MAR-2027

BILLS

OTC FX F U T U R E S

100.09 106.80

3.16 6.87

Change Change (%) (%) 0.00 -0.01

100.10 110.28

3.16 8.75

0.00 -0.01

9-Sep-21 NTB 10-Mar-22

3.10 2.98

3.11 0.00 0.00 2.99

100.67 108.94

3.13 0.13 0.00 10.12

16-Sep-21 NTB 28-Apr-22

3.15 4.00

3.16 0.00 0.00 4.04

100.80 103.94

0.00 3.12 0.24 11.24

30-Sep-21 4.00 3.25 NTB 12-May-22

3.08 0.00 11.64

NTB 9-Jun-22 14-Oct-21

Price

101.47 117.51

Yield

MATURITY

Change(%) (%) Discount Yield Change

26-Aug-21 NTB 10-Feb-22

3.00 4.00

3.00 0.00 0.00 4.00

3.35 3.67

CONTRACT TENOR (MONTH) 1

Contract

Current Rate ($/₦)

AUG23 252022 2021 427.24 420.93 NGUS FEB

2

SEP 29 422.38 NGUS MAR 302021 2022 428.93

3

OCT 27 2022 2021 430.63 423.83 NGUS APR

3.26 0.00 0.00 4.04

4

NOV 25 24 2022 2021 432.32 425.28 NGUS MAY

3.37 0.00 0.00 3.72

5

DEC29 292022 2021 434.02 426.73 NGUS JUN

CCPs Ps MATURITY

Discount Discount Yield Yield Change Change(%) (%)

XXXI MREP CP XXXVI 13-AUG-21 11-FEB-22 III 27UNCP CP VI AUG-21 2-MAY-22 VAAG CP I 2427NEVE AUG-21 MAY-22 TTNG CP II 2531DANC AUG-21 MAY-22 .SIBP CP I 2-SEP21

9.02 7.77

9.03 7.79

0.00 0.01

4.26 9.64

4.27 9.87

0.00 0.00

10.20 16.96

10.25 17.88 0.00 0.00

4.59 9.54

4.60 9.82

0.00 0.00

.

4.13

.

4.14

.

0.00

28

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 3, 2022 ˾ T H I S D AY

BUSINESSWORLD

NEWS

LCCI VISITS LAGOS…

L-R: Deputy President, Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI), Mr. Knut Ulvmoen; Deputy President, LCCI, Mr. Gabriel Idahosa; President and Chairman of Council, LCCI, Dr. Michael Olawale-Cole; Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu; Past President, LCCI, Dr. (Mrs) Nike Akande; and Director General, LCCI, Dr. Chinyere Almona, during a Courtesy Visit PHOTO: ETOP UKUTT by the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry to the Lagos State Governor at the Lagos State House in Marina, Lagos… yesterday

Mail Operators Tackle NIPOST over N200m Debt to Indigenous Contractors Olawale Ajimotokan in Abuja Local operators of National Mail Route Delivery Services (NMRDS) have appealed to the Nigerian Postal Service (NIPOST) to indemnify their members to the tune of over N200million in respect of services rendered.

Spokesperson for the operators, Senator Usman Liman demanded that their invoices in the past eight months be paid by NIPOST for mail delivery services in the country before a Chinese company, Speedaf Logistics Nigeria Limited, could be engaged.

He also questioned the propriety of the engagement of the Chinese company in mail delivery segment at the expense of indigenous

companies, even after NIPOST had reneged in paying the local operators since May 2021.

Liman described the action as a betrayal of confidence and a contravention of the local content

policy of the federal government.

He said the action could worsen the state of unemployment in the country as the operators were facing difficulty in paying their workers.

He also alleged that NIPOST has

also been deducting taxes from the indigenous operators in the past five years, without remitting to the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) as demanded by law.

He therefore appealed to

relevant authorities in the country to investigate the issue to avoid pushing more Nigerians into poverty.

The anger of the operators was triggered by the action last week

Federal Government Puts Passport Booklets Printed in 2021 at 1.3 Million Raheem Akingbolu Minister of Interior, Rauf Aregbesola has disclosed that a total of 1,350,000 passport booklets were printed and distributed by the federal government in 2021, almost double of the output achieved in 2020.

The Minister made the disclosure at a Lagos Business School Forum

themed, “Nigeria in Challenging Times: The Contributions of the Ministry of Interior and Opportunities for Private Sector Participation,” held in Lagos.

The virtual event is part of LBS Public Sector Engagement designed to promote more public-private sector dialogue and partnership to enhance Nigeria’s inclusive and sustainable

economic growth and development.

Providing an update on passports issued to date, Aregbesola said: “1,350,000 passport booklets were produced and distributed worldwide as at December 31st 2021, against 764,293 booklets in 2020.” The minister said there is increasing demand for passports, which is

mounting pressure on processing structure and resources.

He said the ministry is aware of challenges faced by applicants and is working tirelessly to alleviate them.

He stated that the ongoing passport reforms across the different passport offices in the federation will be a continuous process until all Nigerians can seamlessly and

Connectivity Solutions Key to Competitive Varsity Education, Says Ericsson Emma Okonji Private networks can play an important role in the connectivity solutions for higher education institutions as data demands and stress on networks grow, Ericsson, a connectivity solution company has said.

The Director, Business Development Enterprise and Emerging Markets at Ericsson, Ray Sabourin, who made the disclosure in a recent statement, said: “Universities are hotbeds for ideas and innovation and also have a nearly insatiable need for connectivity.

From labs to classroom equipment,

Group Business Editor Eromosele Abiodun Comms/e-Business Editor Emma Okonji Aviation Editor Chinedu Eze Asst. Editor, Money Market Nume Ekeghe Senior Correspondent Raheem Akingbolu (Advertising) Correspondents James Emejo (Finance) Ebere Nwoji (Insurance) Chineme Okafo (Energy) Emmanuel Addeh (Energy) Reporters Nosa Alekhuogie (ICT) Peter Uzoho (Energy) Ugo Aliogo (Development)

by Minister of Communication and Digital Economy, Prof Isa Pantami, who launched 27 Courier Service vehicles, to enable NIPOST and its partner, Speedaf Express, compete favourably in the industry.

student cell phone coverage to sports arenas, there are growing host of demands on the networks of these facilities.”

Universities have many different Information Technology (IT) needs and have to take a holistic view of connectivity, in order to deliver a seamless performance on both public and private networks. Fixed connections and Wi-Fi alone won’t be enough to meet the demand. The latest generation of mobile wireless in 5G, with its fast speeds, low latency and superior security, can be the missing piece, Sabourin further said.

He added that private 5G network could serve as an extension of a school’s Internet Protocol (IP) network, untethering applications from hardwired connections and

students from Wi-Fi signals that ebb and flow in strength depending on what corner of the quad they are standing in.

“College IT administrators also need to stay ahead of the coming wave of connected devices. To a great extent, they’re already here, since a 2018 Center for Digital Education (CDE) survey showed that more than three-quarters of college campuses at the time were either “smart” campuses or on their way to becoming so. Internet of Things (IoT) applications on campus can include everything from emergency notification systems to building HVAC control, to smart ID badges for students and faculty. The COVID-19 pandemic also rapidly accelerated the use of online portals

connecting students both on and off campus,” Sabourin said.

He is of the view that to power all those devices, a school needs a wide coverage network that gives every inch of campus reliable connections, adding that in outdoor environments, 5G networks powering a “Fixed Wireless Broadband” solution can provide strong, secure coverage with far less access points than a traditional Wi-Fi setup.

Giving details of mobile broadband, Sabourin said it could power use cases from the everyday to the cutting edge, and he gave one example of how 5G private networks could help university campuses meet their needs.

“5G equipment allows network slicing, meaning that different

functions (arena security, POS for food vendors, tablets on the sidelines, etc.) all have their own dedicated network resources. A single Wi-Fi network may be too congested or too weak in spots to meet all these needs.

And this can also apply inside the building, for things like smart whiteboards, or equipment beaming in an expert to a classroom. A mobile broadband connection gives the security and speed of fixed Ethernet while allowing equipment to be moved from room to room. This can also be applied to public safety technology—things like wireless cameras that can be redeployed during an event, or drones for autonomous patrols of outdoor areas,” Sabourin said.

effortlessly apply and get their passports.

He said, “The current experience will soon be a thing of the past. We are working very hard to reform the passport application and issuance process. This reform is going to be a continuous process. We want to significantly enhance the integrity of the Nigerian Passport by ensuring that non-Nigerians are not able to obtain it. We also want to bring passport service closer to the people as much as possible and eliminate touting and corruption in the process.”

He added that the ministry is working to identify unscrupulous elements within the Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS) and has initiated a whistleblowing and mystery shopping process to catch such officers unawares.

He also stated that the Nigeria Visa Policy launched in 2020 has expanded the visa category from 6 to 79 and simplified the application process.

He said the policy is leading to the adoption of best practices and ensuring that Visas are granted to fit the main purpose of travel.

Speaking on recent attacks on correctional facilities in the country, he said the ministry is doing everything possible to arrest escapees and will soon launch a Taskforce for this purpose.

IoD Worries over Non-passage of Charter Bill by National Assembly Raheem Akingbolu The Institute of Directors (IoD), has expressed its concern over the reluctance of the National Assembly to pass a Bill for an Act to establish the chartered institute of directors of Nigeria to serve as a regulatory body for persons serving as directors in both public and private sectors, to determine the standards of knowledge and skills.

IoD also called on the federal government to support the institute in ensuring economic development and engendering social stability across the country.

President and Chairman,

Governing Council, IoD, Dr. Ije Jidenma, made the call in Abuja, when she led the institute on a visit to the Minister of Industry, Trade, and Investment, Adeniyi Adebayo.

Jidenma noted that IoD Centre for Corporate Governance (IoDCCG), which was founded in 2006 is committed to improving and promoting good corporate governance in Nigeria through advocacy, research and high-quality training for board members and senior management in the public and private sectors of Nigeria economy.

She called on the minister to approve all the 17 parastatals and agencies under his ministry’s

supervision to join the IoD Centre for Corporate Governance.

She said, “The Bill is proposed to make the Nigerian Institute of Directors a Chartered Institute to acquire all the recognitions, benefits and technical support needed to make it effective in the provision of capacity development services for directors in the private and public sectors in Nigeria and the rest of the world.

“Let me reiterate our appreciation of your Ministry’s support for the Charter Bill of the Institute, which was brought to the attention of the Ministry, by the Presidency, in 2019.

The Bill was not signed into law at that time by the President, due

to some challenging clauses, which were pointed out by the Corporate Affairs Commission.”

“I am, however, happy to inform you that these clauses have been straightened out with the CAC and the National Assembly has again passed our Bill for transmission to the President for assent. We therefore again solicit your support for the Bill so that the IoD Nigeria can eventually become a Chartered Body. With this, the much-needed professionalisation of Directorship in our country will gain full force.

“Again, the IoD centre for corporate governance plans to organise a national corporate governance in July with the

focus of the summit to create an unprecedented awareness towards creating a sustainable basis for the nation’s economy, ”she added.

While receiving the team, the minister assured the institute of his support to enable them to build a standard to boost the national economic investment in Nigeria.

Adebayo said: “We have very good collaborations, and we have been working together in a good manner. All these issues before us will be looked at one by one.

I appreciate you for coming and assure you that all issues will be addressed as we will continue with good relationships for the development of Nigeria.”

29

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 3, 2022 ˾ T H I S D AY

BUSINESSWORLD

INTERVIEW

Ogunwede: Crypto Education Vital to Attract Investors The Chief Marketing officer of Patricia Technologies, Mr. Rotimi Ogunwede speaks about the cryptocurrency market, the effect of the ban in Nigeria as well as the success of e-Naira. Nosa Alekhuogie presents the excerpts: Tell us a bit about Patricia Technologies. or Patricia, we’ve set out to make crypto easy for humanity, and understanding the actual needs of our customers and meeting them where essential is the first step towards that. We also look at the market, make predictions and take the best bets to find a way to reduce the gap and be the bridge between traditional finance and Blockchain technology, which is how we introduced the first crypto debit card in Africa.

The services that shaped us are the use cases we were able to innovate around cryptocurrencies.

Trying to bring real-life use cases, where people can use their crypto to buy airtime, buy data, pay for utility bills, as well as the introduction of Africa’s first-ever crypto debit card. These were the innovations that changed the game, as well as the narrative of what Patricia represents.

that despite the volatility, investors can still make profit?

We see that the crypto market exhibits a form of volatility; however, this is peculiar with most high-risk investments. It is pertinent to understand that crypto isn’t a get-rich-quick scheme; you must do your research, understand the market by studying trends, and only invest what you’re willing to lose.

Due to this, we understand that crypto education is vital and cannot be overemphasised, and that is one gap Patricia seeks to bridge today.

F

What effect did the ban on Cryptocurrency transactions in Nigeria have on your business?

The ban created initial fear and confusion amongst the populace due to the suddenness of the decision. However, the market has adjusted well, and from widespread reports, many people who were not paying attention are paying more attention to the market now than ever. The first thing we thought of when it happened was the safety of customers’ funds. We anticipated a lot of panics.

Our first step was to deploy educational materials to inform our customers what the policy meant and how it affected them. There was uncertainty, but I would say the market has adjusted to the current realities. Stakeholders’ conversations are ongoing within and outside the corridors of the authorities, and we are confident of a seamless resolution at the end of it all.

About 60% of Nigerians still don’t understand cryptocurrency or how it works, with the infiltration of the process by scammers in top gear, what should be done to build their trust and get more people on the platform?

The lack of crypto-education amongst the mass majority is one major limiting factor worthy of note. However, we understand that crypto is here to stay and what crypto platforms can do to overcome these issues as well as ushering Africa into a new crypto era would be; Acknowledging that Africa is still at its infancy stage in terms of development and trying not to bore users with a lot of the crypto lingo regarding crypto education.

That way, we can go local and use our technology and interactions to drive the message home.Another thing will be building simple, convenient, efficient products and services on platforms that users can easily navigate.

There are a multiplicity of gift cards and cryptocurrency platforms. How do you distinguish between the genuine and fake ones?

Once you step into the crypto space, you have to do a lot of research, as it would do you a lot of good. You would understand what platforms to use, tokens with significant use cases and solving real-life problems to invest in, trends to study, and areas to be considered risky. We have many fake platforms, which have been set up to take advantage of people, but there are also genuine platforms. The bulk of the work is you doing your research and staying well informed always.

Ogunwede Also, driving mass Crypto adoption by promoting “usage” and this can be done with unique products such as Refill which is a solution that allows people buy airtime and pay for bills globally. It is the first way Patricia ensures that we move from a speculative store of value. Most people see crypto as a necessity for everyday transactions.

What segment of the population is crypto targeted at, and are there particular people who should trade on the crypto platform?

At Patricia, we see all of the possibilities, and it’s something we are preparing for actively. In contributing our quota, we asked ourselves the following questions; How do we get people to adopt and listen, prepare for the smart contracts, and get more people into the Non-Fungible Token ( NFTs) space? The answer to questions is that our solution and strategy are evident in our payo, “Cypto Made Easy”.

I’d given you an example of when a 53-year-old woman who uses Patricia walked into our then Lagos office to fix an issue with her account at the customer service

UK REMAINS AFRICA’S INVESTMENT PARTNER OF CHOICE, SAYS UK’S TRADE SECRETARY Commissioner (HMTC) for Africa, Alastair Long, said: “In 2020, at the UK-Africa Investment Summit, the Prime Minister set out the UK’s ambition to be Africa’s investment partner of choice. Two years on from the UK-AIS, we continue to bring life to this ambition. Last year, we launched an online Investment Deal Room to provide a platform for African projects to be showcased to UK investors. The Deal Room has already published over £350m of vetted and investable opportunities to date.

“Clean growth is at the heart of the UK’s trade agenda, and with Egypt hosting COP27, the second Africa Investment Conference is an opportunity to explore inclusive, sustainable and resilient investment opportunities that can serve to help Africa transition to a cleaner and greener growth trajectory.”

Following the UK’s hosting of COP26, this year’s conference explored how investment could serve to help Africa transition to a cleaner and greener growth trajectory.

As a sign of the growing partnership between the two regions in the clean growth space, UK sustainable battery technology firm Aceleron has secured an investment deal with Mobility 54 Investment SAS, a subsidiary of Toyota Group, as part of its £5 million Series ‘A’ funding round to accelerate the development and use of sustainable batteries in Africa.

As a priority market and investment partner, Nigeria

showcased three projects to potential investors: The Eko Atlantic Group showcased their planned development covering infrastructure, healthcare, education and tech; Lagos State Waterways Authority discussed utilising Lagos waterways (for passenger and freight transport) and; the project developers for the 255 hectare Abuja Industrial Park Project highlighted opportunities for manufacturing, agricultural and consumer goods distribution companies and their plans to create 40,000 new jobs.

To enhance UK-Africa partnerships, the UK launched on January 22nd, a new Growth Gateway - a digital tool to link African and British businesses to UK Government trade, finance and investment services and opportunities.

The service provides practical online support to businesses in Africa that want to export to and invest in the UK, and businesses in the UK that want to export to and invest in Africa, backed up by a team of trade and investment specialists.

It follows an increased effort across government to facilitate UK-Africa trade, including that of UK Export Finance (UKEF).

The UK’s export credit agency has significantly increased support for markets in Africa in the past year from approximately £600 million in 2018-19 to over £2.3 billion in 2020-21, supporting a range of infrastructure projects in West

Africa. The agency helps to build major roads and bridges as well as providing medical and Information Technology (IT) equipment, design services and environmental and social work.

UKEF has capacity to provide further support for UK trade in West Africa, with up to £3 billion available in Senegal, £2 billion in Cote D’Ivoire, and up to £2 billion in Nigeria.

UK’s Minister for Africa, Vicky Ford, said: “The UK is deepening our economic ties with countries across Africa. This conference is a fantastic opportunity to bring British and African businesses together to unlock millions of pounds of new investment, especially in clean energy industries in both the UK and across Africa.

“There is so much more that the UK and African countries can do together. Growth Gateway will make it easier than ever for African and British businesses to access the support they need to boost two-way trade and investment.”

UK’s Minister for Investment, Gerry Grimstone, said: “We want more British firms to sell to the world, taking advantage of new opportunities that present themselves in growing markets like this. The potential is huge. This government has the finance available to back British firms going global in West Africa, supporting growth and development in the region and helping communities and local economies to thrive.”

desk. I was just stepping into the office that day and saw her at the experience centre.

I introduced myself and asked if she uses Patricia; she said yes to my surprise. She buys Bitcoin from Patricia and sends it to her two sons studying in the United States of America, who trade it for fiat and use the money for their upkeep.

It made me marvel at how versatile crypto has become and how it helps solve cross-border payments issues.Crypto is for anyone and everyone; it has come to stay, and the world will get to understand this in years to come.

The cryptocurrency market is a riskdriven market because of the volatility in that market. What are the indications

Beyond a method of payment, what are the other functions of cryptocurrency?

There are a lot of things you can do with crypto; The first would be facilitating remittances and Cross border payments as this always leaves room for transparency. With blockchain, you can always track and see what transactions are happening on the blockchain network. There has been a lot of chatter about open banking; cryptocurrency gives an excellent answer to that. The Decentralisation, transparency, and convenience of Blockchain have been some of the hallmarks that have driven crypto adoption.

What crypto has done in cross-border remittances has firmly put control in the direct financier’s hands.

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

30

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 3, 2022 ˾ T H I S D AY

BUSINESSWORLD

NEWS

LET THERE BE LIGHT…

L-R: MD/CEO Niger Delta Power Holding Company, Mr. Cheidu Ugbo; Chief Technical Officer, FGN Power Company, Engr. Idowu Oyebanjo; Chief Commercial Officer, FGN Power Company, Mallam Dahiru Moyi; Siemens Presidential Power Initiative Project Director, Sean Manley;. Minister of State for Power, Goddy Jedy-Agba; Minister of Finance and Board Chairman, FGN Power Company, Mrs. Zainab Shamsuna Ahmed; , MD/CEO, FGN Power Company, Kenny O. Anuwe; Chief Financial Officer, FGN Power Company,Umar Waziri; DG, National Power Training Institute of Nigeria, Mr. Ahmed Bolaji Nagode; Head Business Development and Government Relations, Siemens Energy and Fabrice Yamgoue Hakoua, Senior Consultant and Trainer, Distribution Networks Planning, Siemens AG, Oladayo Orolu, at the official kickoff of the first Network Development Studies training under the Presidential Power Initiative (PPI) in Abuja… yesterday

Wrongful Termination of Appointment: Mobil Appeals Court’s Refusal to Stay Proceedings Alex Enumah Exxon Mobil Corporation has filed an appealed against the decision of the National Industrial Court, Lagos, which had refused to stay its proceedings in an alleged wrongful termination of appointment suit filed by one Mr. Paul Arinze.

Arinze, had dragged Mobil Producing Nigeria Unlimited and Exxon Mobil Corporation before the industrial court to challenge what he claimed was a wrongful termination of his appointment with the oil firm.

Meanwhile, trial judge Justice N. M. Esowe, in a ruling delivered on January 25, 2022, refused Exxon Mobil Corporation’s application to halt proceedings in the matter, pending the hearing and determination of an appeal it had filed at the Court of Appeal.

The pending appeal filed by his team of lawyers led by Professor Fabian Ajogwu, SAN was against

an earlier ruling of the lower court delivered on September 29, 2021, whereby the court elected to exercise jurisdiction over Exxon Mobil Corporation.

Exxon Mobil Corporation had challenged the jurisdiction of the National Industrial Court on the grounds that its contract with Arinze was a simple contract and not an employment contract, governed by the laws and subject to the jurisdiction of the courts in the United Stated of America where Exxon Mobil Corporation is domiciled and carries out its operations.

In their response, claimant’s lawyers argued that their client was co-employed by Mobil Producing Nigeria Unlimited and Exxon Mobil Corporation thus vesting the National Industrial Court with jurisdiction over both defendants.

By its application to stay the National Industrial Court’s proceedings, Exxon Mobil

Corporation contended that the continuation of the trial before the National Industrial Court would lead to a premature determination of its rights before the appellate court

had the opportunity to consider its appeal.

The appeal of Exxon Mobil Corporation is centred around the fact that it never had an employment

relationship with Mr. Arinze by itself, nor through its relationship with Mobil Producing Nigeria Limited.

Furthermore, Exxon Mobil Corporation has stated that the

reliefs sought by Arinze against it cannot be granted since it was neither incorporated in Nigeria nor carried out its business in the country.

TD Africa to Empower 10m Nigerian Women by 2025 Emma Okonji The sub-Saharan Africa distributor of tech, lifestyle and cutting-edge solutions, TD Africa, has unveiled plans to engender a mindset shift and contribute to harnessing the latent potential of Nigeria’s female population by empowering over 10 million women by 2025.

The Chief Executive, TD Africa, Mrs. Chioma Ekeh, who disclosed the initiative in Lagos recently, said the first group of beneficiaries of the women empowerment initiative would be the wives of junior employees drawn from TD Africa and other companies in the Zinox Group. To flag off the project, the women had earlier toured the office facilities in Gbagada followed by

another elaborate tour of the stateof-the-art Tech Experience Centre located in Yudala Heights, Victoria Island, Lagos.

Mrs. Ekeh, while receiving the first set of beneficiaries at Yudala Heights, charged them to channel their minds with positive thoughts and be courageous to take firm actions, regardless of the circumstances. She used the peculiar traits of the TD Africa brand symbol – depicted by a lion head known as Simba, as staff of the company are addressed – as an analogy to buttress her point.

“Women must remain strong, courageous and tenacious, just like the Simba. As the bedrock of the society, they should never allow their past experiences, no matter how bad, dictate their future. They must

take learnings from the experiences and rise above their challenges,’’ she advised.

Further, Mrs. Ekeh urged the women to steer clear of unnecessary distractions and unhealthy competition with no one.

“Continually work on improving yourself, all the time. That is enough.

The results will show in good time too. It is also important to have the ‘I can do’ mindset. It is only in the doing that the deeds get done. So, get up and go. Go do it. As important as money is, empowerment is not all about that. Sharing ideas, sharing authentic stories, training, mentoring are some other more enduring ways to empower,’’ she said.

Speaking on the objectives and vision of the project, Mrs. Ekeh stated

it would positively affect millions of women in the coming years, while urging them to take advantage of the numerous opportunities that abound from the initiative.

Citing the research report from Knoema global data platform, which indicated that in 2021, the female population for Nigeria stood at about 104 million, and that over the last 50 years, the female population in Nigeria grew substantially from 29.3 million to 104 million persons, rising at an increasing annual rate that reached a maximum of 2.98 per cent in 1978 and then decreased to 2.54 per cent in 2021, Mrs. Ekeh is of the view that the foregoing makes a conscious effort to engage Nigerian women.

last year opening up its platform with 381 million Monthly active users and 172 million premium subscribers worldwide.

The Nigerian audience will enjoy the content loved by millions of teeming consumers.

Airtel said the partnership with Spotify would empower Nigerians to connect with their favourite artists and the music that inspire and motivate them whether they are in traffic, working out, partying, sharing moments with loved ones or just relaxing.

The partnership will offer Airtel customers complimentary data that

can be used exclusively on the Spotify platform whenever they purchase data bundles.

Commenting on the partnership, Airtel Nigeria’s Chief Commercial Officer, Godfrey Efeurhobo, said the company’s partnership with Spotify was yet another demonstration of its commitment to creating opportunities that will entertain, excite, delight and reward customers on its network.

“Airtel is positioned as the network of first choice for music, youth culture and innovation and we are delighted to partner with Spotify to deliver sheer happiness

at the fingertips of our esteemed customers across the country. We believe this partnership will not only empower and reward our customers but will also enable them to enjoy themselves thoroughly as they connect to the artists and songs they cherish,” Efeurhobo said.

Director Freemium Partnerships at Spotify, Fergal Walker, said: “We are excited to announce our first partnership in Africa. Airtel, one of Nigeria’s leading mobile network, is a natural choice and shared our vision to enable Nigerians to access great audio and music wherever they are for free.”

Paradigm Initiative Harps on Data Protection Airtel Partners Spotify, Offers Nigerians Free Data to Access Songs for Online Users Emma Okonji Paradigm Initiative is joining stakeholders within the digital sphere to empower individuals and businesses to respect and safeguard the privacy of online users.

Stressing that digital rights are human rights, Paradigm Initiative called on stakeholders, policymakers, governments, academia, businesses, and the general public to be intentional in sensitising the masses and cautiously considering measures to ensure that the right to privacy is given due consideration in the way data is collected and stored.

Paradigm Initiative said it would persist in its efforts to monitor and support the rightful use of data collection, and its protection.

“We have also kept a watchful eye on the policy landscape of data protection in Africa as well the authorities in charge of this mandate. We have drafted several policy briefs, carried out workshops and research to best evaluate data protection situations in Africa, as well as developed several tools to help curb the malaise within the continent.

“Some of our recent publications include the DPA report that maps out the state of data protection legislation and authorities in Africa, Assessing Data Protection in Nigeria and Towards a Data Protection Legislative Framework in Nigeria, which highlights the impact and effectiveness of the Nigerian data protection regulatory framework across different thematic areas, and Nigeria’s legislative and regulatory journey towards enacting comprehensive data protection legislation. These reports offer some great conclusions and recommendations to ease data protection and privacy,” Paradigm Initiative said in a statement.

CEO, Paradigm Initiative, Mr. Gbenga Sesan, said its tools of impact such as ripoti.africa, a platform that enables online users to report digital rights violations in Africa including breaches of online privacy, and ayeta.africa, a proactive toolkit for African digital rights actors, are all aimed at addressing the growing need to safeguard digital rights defenders, journalists , whistleblowers, and others working with sensitive information in the global South.

Emma Okonji Airtel Nigeria has announced a partnership with global audio streaming service, Spotify to provide music lovers across Nigeria with daily complimentary data to access the Spotify platform.

Under the partnership, Airtel’s over 54 million customers who purchase weekly and monthly data bundles will get bonus data to enjoy Spotify with its over 70 million songs, including local favourites and Premium content without worrying about additional data costs.

Spotify launched in Nigeria early

Eko Disco Launches Energy Club in Lagos Schools Ugo Aliogo Eko Electricity Distribution Company (EKEDC) on Monday, launched Energy Clubs in selected schools within its network, to encourage young girls to take opportunities in the power sector.

A statement by the Team Lead, Brand and Communication, Oluwasesan Raji, said the club activities were expected to promote the interest of female students in

Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) disciplines, to achieve gender diversity and equity in the Power Sector and other related technical sectors.

The statement also noted that the programme launch, which was held at Government Secondary School Ikoyi, is in partnership with the United States Agency for International Development, (USAID).

The statement noted that the

participating schools in the first phase of the year-long programme include Akande Dahunsi Community Secondary School, Ilado Community Junior Secondary School and Wahab Folawiyo Junior High School.

The EKEDC’s Head Talent Management and Development, Alero Olayiwola, noted that the Club activities would run concurrently in the participating schools, for a period of 12 months.

The statement disclosed that

during the period, the company would provide the guidelines, curriculum and support the activities of the club before handing over to the participating schools for sustainability.

She disclosed that the Programme would sustain the interest and commitment of students in STEM subjects and expose them to the knowledge, possibilities and opportunities that abound in the power and other technical sectors.

31

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 3, 2022 ˾ T H I S D AY

BUSINESSWORLD

NEWS

How Tech Helps People Get on Track with Resolutions Emma Okonji The new year is only few weeks old, but for many, the optimism for fresh opportunities and goal setting that informed their new year’s resolutions may be starting to disappear.

According to Google, adopting technology could help ensure that people achieve their goals, using seven tech ways, even though they have already gone off track. Google listed the seven ways to include: Stay Motivated and Ask Google Assistant; Set reminders and be punctual; Eat

healthy, count calories; Keep in touch, meet friends; Learn something new; Fitness goals, workout devices; and Explore new destinations.

To stay motivated and ask Assistant, Google said one way to make sure that people stay on track with their set goals is to stay consistently motivated. Using your mobile device or phone, simply ask Google Assistant: “Hey Google, how do I stay motivated?” You will get a list of suggestions from how to regularly review your goals, how to find mentors, how to surround yourself with positive people and

how to exercise among other motivational tips.

In setting reminders and be punctual, Google said If you’re looking to be more punctual this year, set reminders so you don’t lose track of time. You can easily create reminders with the help of Google Assistant. Using your mobile device or phone, simply say, “Hey Google, set a reminder”, or “Hey Google, remind me to attend a meeting at 7am.” Google Assistant will go on to set a reminder and send you a notification when it is close to the time. This way, you can be sure that you will always be on time.

For Eat healthy, count calories,

Google said you can search for healthy diet recipes for satisfying meals. You can also watch a variety of videos on YouTube to learn how to make healthy foods at home.

Also, you can check the amount of calories in single ingredient foods by simply asking Google Assistant. For instance, you can say, “Ok Google, how many calories are in bananas?”

This way, you are conscious about what you eat, whether you are trying to lose weight, gain weight or simply maintain a healthy lifestyle.

In keeping in touch and meeting friends, the Covid-19 pandemic limited social activities like travelling, seeing friends

and going out. Even with the recommendations now to ease Covid-19 travel restrictions, connecting virtually is still the adopted norm to keep in touch with friends. If you vowed to be more sociable this year, you can connect with friends and family using Google Meet. Just set up a time to meet and share the link with your friends to join. Using Meet allows you to save time and the hassle of planning actual physical hangouts. Most of all, it is flexible as you can join meetings on the go from your mobile devices, on the Meet app or Gmail.

In learn something new, Google

said if your goal for 2022 was to increase your knowledge on a subject matter, learn new interesting things or develop a skill, YouTube videos are a treasure trove of knowledge. For instance, you can watch videos that teach you how to play an instrument, cook like a pro, learn video editing or photography. There are lots of videos on YouTube that can help you take the initiative to learn without the assistance of anyone. If you plan to accelerate your digital skills as well, for your business or career, the Google digital skills for Africa program offers free online training.

Ugo Aliogo

hypertensive and diabetic and had suffered a heart attack prior to undergoing the surgery, which made it almost impossible to be a candidate for the surgery. Dr. Vaja Harish and Dr. Augustine Olugbemi, our in-house Cardiothoracic and Vascular Surgeons were the Lead surgeons amongst the team of caregivers who assisted in the surgery. We also had support from the Anesthesia and Critical Care Consultants (A3C) led by Dr. Ade Talabi, with oversight by A3C’s founder Dr. Seyi Oyesola MBBS.” One of the surgeon’s Dr. Vaja Harish said performing the hospital’s first ever Coronary Artery Bypass Graft in the hospital (CABG) was a huge privilege for him.

He also noted that the medical breakthrough further re-emphasizes the fact that there is collaborative effort among their team of caregivers, delivery of medical excellence as well as providing exceptional patient care through outstanding

medical outcomes remains the goal at Evercare.

The statement added: “Also in November 2021, Dr Serge Rasskazoff, a double trained and board-certified neurosurgeon in North America and Europe, performed spine surgeries at the hospital which included a Lumber Open Spine Fusion (3 Level and 1 Level), and an Anterior Cervical Discectomy and Fusin Plus Bone Graft. According to Rasskazoff, with the prevalence of lower back pain in Africa ranging from 28 per cent to as high as 74 per cent in some African countries, which is equally comparable to other developed countries, there is a need to advocate and bring awareness to the resident community that quality Neurological care and treatment can be gotten locally here at Evercare Hospital.”

Evercare Hospital Lekki also recorded another ground-breaking moment in the hospital on December 30, 2021, as they conducted the

first Laparoscopic Thoracoscopic Repair of Oesophageal Atresia with Tracheoesophageal fistula on a 3-day old infant in the country.

According to the Lead Paediatric Surgeon, Dr. Arua Igwe, “When the 3-day old arrived at Evercare, his history presented severe respiratory distress, foaming of saliva in the mouth since birth, and he already had 3 episodes of cardiac arrests requiring resuscitation.

Upon proper diagnosis and preparation, we were then able to successfully perform a laparoscopic thoracoscopic repair of an Oesophageal Atresia with Tracheoesophageal fistula.

The Chief Executive Officer, Evercare Hospital, Rajeev Bhandari, said: “As a multi-specialty and tertiary care facility, at Evercare, our healthcare standards are driven by innovation in ensuring quality healthcare delivery and accessibility, clinical excellence, and outstanding clinical outcomes.

NGO Calls for Child Protection in Schools Evercare Hospital Begins Open-heart, Spine Surgeries

Ugo Aliogo

As the world marks the International Day of Education today, an international non-governmental organisation, Plan International has made a call for the protection of children and schools.

The Country Director of Plan International Nigeria, Charles Usie in a statement, expressed concerns over increasing violence on children at school across the country in recent time, with particular reference to the kidnap and murder of five-year-old Hanifa in Kano by her school proprietor and the slashing of the throat of a student in Maiduguri, Borno State by a fellow student.

“The school is hallowed ground for children and learners that must never be allowed to be desecrated,” he said.

“The rising attacks on schools and innocent children by mean spirited people should never be allowed to take root,” Usie emphasised.

The statement also noted that the United Nations General Assembly proclaimed 24 January as International Day of Education in commemoration of the role of education for peace and development.

The statement also stated that without inclusive and equitable quality education and lifelong opportunities for all, countries would not succeed in achieving gender equality and breaking the cycle of poverty that is leaving millions of children, youth and adults behind.

According to the statement, “The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural (UNESCO) estimates that some 258 million children and youth still do not attend school globally; 617 million children and adolescents cannot read and do basic math; less than 40% of girls in sub-Saharan Africa complete lower secondary school and some four million children and youth refugees are out of school.”

Evercare Hospital in Lekki, Lagos State has commenced open-heart surgeries, and spine surgeries since November last year. The hospital has also carried out advanced paediatric surgeries, which is first of its kind.

In a recent statement release by hospital, it noted that the hospital, which was commissioned in March 2021, has quickly become one of the foremost hospitals in Nigeria with top-tier expertise in various surgical subspecialties, and providing quality and accessible care to patients.

The statement also noted that on November 30, it carried its first open-heart surgery (Coronary Artery Bypass Graft), adding that the patient was a 56-year-old male who was diagnosed of Triple Vessel Disease (TVD) which is an extreme form of coronary artery disease (CAD).

According to the statement, “The patient was also diagnosed to be

Hackers Release New SMS-based Android Malware, TangleBot Emma Okonji The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), has again alerted the public of a new highrisk, critical and Short Messaging Service-based malware, TangleBot, infecting Android mobile devices.

NCC said it was informed that TangleBot would employ more or less similar tactics as the recentlyannounced notorious FlutBot SMS Android malware that targets mobile devices.

TangleBot equally gains control of the device but in far more invasive manner than the FlutBot malware. The disclosure on TangleBot was made in a recent security advisory made available to the Commission’s New Media and Information Security Department by the Nigerian Computer Emergency Response Team (ngCERT).

TangleBot Android malware is installed when an unsuspecting user clicks on a malicious link disguised as COVID-19 vaccination appointment-related information in an SMS message or information about fake local power outages that are due to occur.

The aim behind both or either of the messages (on COVID-19 or impending power outages) is to encourage potential victims to follow a link that supposedly offers detailed information. Once at the page, users are asked to update applications such as Adobe Flash Player to view the page’s content

by going through nine dialogue boxes to give acceptance to different permissions that will allow the malware operators initiate the malware configuration process.

The immediate consequence is that TangleBot gains access to several different permissions when installed on a device, allowing it to eavesdrop on user communications. The malware then

steals sensitive data stored on the device and monitors almost every user activity, including camera use, audio conversations, and location, among other things.

According to NCC, the malware would take complete control of the targeted device, including access to banking data, and could reach the deepest recesses of the Android operating system.

UNAUDITED CONSOLIDATED RESULTS FOR THE PERIOD ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2021

The Board of Directors, (‘’the Board’’), of Caverton Offshore Support Group, (‘’the Group), hereby announces the following Unaudited Results for the Period, ended 31 December 2021:

Operatives Nabs Another High-profile Trafficker in India, Rescue Three Ugo Aliogo Joint operatives of the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP), Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Nigeria High Commission in New Delhi, India, the New Delhi Police as well as activists from the New Delhi based – Anti-Human Trafficking Organisation known as Vihaan-WMS, have arrested a notorious foreign –based human trafficker, Joy Shandy Okah in a deliberate operation targeting big time traffickers outside Nigeria.

A statement issued by the NAPTIP Press and Public Relations Officer, Adekoye Vincent, said the successful operation also led to the rescue of three Nigerian victims of forced prostitution (names withheld) in New Delhi, India.

The Director General of NAPTIP,

Dr. Fatima Waziri-Azi, on assumption of duties, had vowed to ensure that high profile human traffickers across the World identified, arrest, prosecuted and the proceed of their ill-gotten wealth confiscated and forfeited as restitution to victims of trafficking.

The statement also noted that in order to realize this mission, the Director General has embarked on a strategic advocacy to expand the pool of the Agency and enhance operational relationship with critical partners within and outside Nigeria.

The statement stated that foremost among partners that have demonstrated unconditional commitment to work with the Agency is the International Police Organization (INTERPOL) of which the India police is a member.

DESPITE PERCEIVED CHALLENGES, MORE COUNTRIES PUSH FOR 5G ADOPTION AS ROLLOUT BEGINS IN NIGERIA FEBRUARY mobile network services in the US.” Discarding such perceived fears, the Chairman, Association of Licensed Telecoms Operators of Nigeria (ALTON), Mr. Gbenga Adebayo, told THISDAY that it was strange to read that international airlines were

CAVERTON OFFSHORE SUPPORT GROUP

cancelling flight to some cities in the US, because of perceived fears that 5G network would cause obstruction to aviation signals.

According to him, “There are no known report that 5G would could cause obstruction to aviation signals. Nigeria is

about to deploy 5G network and there should be no fears about perceived 5G network disruption to aviation signals in Nigeria. All these are part of the conspiracy theories originating from those campaigning against 5G deployments.”

Comments: The results show a loss of N5.9B. This result came due to the serious negative impact that the Covid-19 pandemic continues to have on business operations in Nigeria and the rest of the world, which has caused significant reduction in activities by International and Local Oil and Gas companies who are the major clients of Caverton, which, in turn, rubbed-off our Caverton operations and profitability.

Furthermore, the loss was also caused by the significant reduction in revenue due to several mitigating factors because of the covid pandemic which resulted in drop in oil production and net foreign exchange loss due to Naira devaluation against the dollar. As a result of this our direct costs increased significantly in 2021.

Notwithstanding the loss reported in 2021, Caverton has robust reserves to accommodate this loss and a bulk of the reported loss is a one-time charge on our accounts which arose from high start-up costs of our most recent helicopter contract with Chevron.

To further boost revenues, the Group has been exploring further opportunities within and outside the oil and gas sector. In addition to growing our market share in the oil and gas logistics sector, our primary focus for the year will be on third party training and maintenance. Our Maintenance Repair and Overhaul (MRO) facility and our Caverton Aviation Training Centre (CATC), both in Lagos, officially commenced business operation in the 2nd half of 2021. Prospects for training and maintenance is extremely positive as we are in advanced contract negotiations with a number of government and private institutions across Sub-Saharan Africa.

Caverton Aviation Training Centre (CATC) full flight simulator gained full certification by EASA, (European Union Aviation Safety Agency), in October 2021. The EASA’s mission is to promote the highest common standards of safety and environmental protection in civil aviation. The Agency develops common safety and environmental rules at the European level. With global certification by an internationally recognized body CATC is now suitably qualified to undertake simulator training on the AW139 helicopter for Pilots from Nigeria and any part of the world and we expect this to not only boost the Group’s revenue in the coming year, but also reduce capital flight from Nigeria.

Dated the 31st day of December 2021.

By order of the Board Amaka Amaka P. OBIORA Company Secretary 1, Prince Kayode Akingbade Close, Victoria Island, Lagos.

The detailed Financial Statements for the period are available on the company’s website, www.caverton-offshore.com

32

T H I S D AY ˾ , FEBRUARY 3, 2022

HEALTH & LIFESTYLE

ÜÙßÚ ÏËÞßÜÏÝ ÎÓÞÙÜ˝ Chiemelie Ezeobi ×ËÓÖ chiemelie.ezeobi@thisdaylive.com, Tel: 07010510430

Surviving Cancer and Its Many Traumas Beyond the nerve-wracking pain of cancer of any form, not much has been said about the many traumatic experiences cancer patients pass through. Rebecca Ejifoma, who spoke to two survivors, sheds light on their tales of woe including a divorce suit occasioned by the disease

B

reast cancer, according to research by GLOBACAN, is the first leading cause of death in women in Nigeria and globally. It is estimated that about 9.6 million people die of cancer. Estimates also show that each year of the over 200,000 women diagnosed with breast cancer, more than 40,000 will die.

However, some women continue to combat the illness and live their best lives despite the many hurdles.

A Survivor’s Tale One of such women is Mrs. Kola Ade, a young mother of two boys, aged 10 and five. Regaling THISDAY with her story on a certain Saturday afternoon at Care Organisation Public Enlightenment (COPE), a breast cancer awareness network, she jubilated alongside about 20 other women and survivors who shuffle life and career with either a single or double mastectomy.

While she has learnt to forge ahead without her feminine assets - breast - she reminisced about how the page of her tragic diary began when she was diagnosed with cancer in May 2013. It was at that point she conceded that her world had fallen apart while doubting that the centre may never hold.

She recalled: “I was diagnosed in May 2013.

When I was told I felt I was going to die. I thought I was alone. I was depressed. I would go and sit down in an isolated place.” Lost in the forest of her thoughts, Ade bumped into Care Organisation Public Enlightenment (COPE), a breast cancer awareness network. “I told the president and CEO, Mrs. Ebunoluwa Anozie, about my ordeal and she promised to help. She gave me a call and said she had found a sponsor for my treatment.”

Role of Mentorship Like many others who seemed depressed, Anozie counselled Ade and introduced her to older and more affluent women who were fulfilling dreams as breast cancer survivors home and abroad. “When I came here and saw other women, everything about me changed. The belief I had about cancer changed and that gave me hope that I was not going to die,” the mother of two explained.

Soon, Ade went in for lumpectomy (removed lump) and mastectomy (removed breast) in May 2013. “So I did my chemotherapy that same year and everything has been fine since then.”

Everything fell perfectly into place for Ade until last year when she started having pains on the same spot she had surgery. “I went to the hospital and was told to do another operation. After the operation, I went for toxicology and I was told it was a recurrence of that cancer. So I had to start treatment all over again,” she sobbed.

As a business woman, Ade had chemotherapy for at least six sessions. “The cost of chemotherapy can’t be predicted because the drugs can be changed at any time for the radiotherapy. I think the only place they have it in Nigeria is in LUTH and it costs N1m.”

Spousal Abandonment Sadly, while many survivors have their partners staying true to matrimonial vows, for better or worse in sickness and in health, Ade’s husband has filed for a divorce. In his words, “I didn’t bargain for this”. Despite being shattered Ade chose to go down swinging. She pressed on and solicited financial intervention.

And indeed, fortunes smiled on her. At the COPE end of the Year party, Ade received a cheque of N1.680m. “I don’t know if you know the sponsor.

I’d still like to know the sponsor, but she didn’t tell me I’d like to pray for her. She doesn’t even know me, she just told her about my story and what I’m going through and she decided to help me in less than ten minutes.”

New Lease of Life For many survivors battling the global pandemic and cancer simultaneously, depression and rejection have become their trademarks. Only true families and friends continue to shoulder their burdens.

So when Funmi Ola turned 40 in 2006, the doctors gave her just six months as her last days on earth. She was in stage two of cancer.

“I’m 55 years old now. I was only given six months to live and now it has been 15 years.

So that is medical practitioners failed because it’s God that is on the throne. But I didn’t stop taking my treatment.

“It all started when I observed a lump in my left breast. Then I sought medical help. Unfortunately none of them could get it until I took my own fate in my hands and I decided to live because

NjǃNJǏNJ NJNJǂLJLJǀ

I know this is a death sentence. First thing I did was to go to a private hospital where I worked before and I invited my doctor friend working in LUTH,” she recalled.

As a practising nurse, Ola insisted there was a lump despite reports from three doctors showing there was no lump. “I went ahead to remove it. I filled in the histology form myself. I took it to the lab and three weeks later the doctors gave me a negative answer that I have six months to live if I waste time.

“Of course I didn’t waste time. I had to quickly go see who is necessary. I went to the oncologist first and they told me I’ve come to the right place and that they need to give me a shot of chemotherapy, a kind of injection that kills the cancer cells. Afterwards, I went to see the professor that did the surgery, it was professor Wole Atoyebi so he said “madam will you be ready for this surgery”.

Soon, Ola proceeded for chemotherapy - one shot, then the surgery followed by 11 shots altogether at three weeks’ interval. Afterwards, she had radiotherapy in University College Hospital in Ibadan (UCHI).

In her words, “I had to go there for my radiotherapy for six weeks and since then I tried to live and continue to encourage others.

Throughout the 11 shots of the chemotherapy I didn’t have a single pint of blood. God really helped me and I really took care of myself too.”

Lessons Learnt While being a source of inspiration to others, Ola reminisced about her many depressing nights. “The lessons I learnt were big ones,” she highlighted. “I learnt that God overall.

I also learnt in a big way that if there’s no money one can’t really survive cancer.

Averagely, to treat cancer is to say majorly chemotherapy is over N20 million, not at a go but in divided doses in bits.”

was cheaper.”

Sadly, according to the survivor, she spent over N3 million. “One bad thing about cancer treatment is not that when you have money you will go and do it. By the time you have money to go and do it one would have been buried then.

“I practically went begging for money, borrowed, and collected money from cooperatives. I was determined. Even with the financial aspect, I backed it up with prayers thanks to friends and families.”

Suicidal Thoughts In the words of Ola, cancer is synonymous with depression. “Going through chemotherapy and all those treatments, even the breast is being removed the body is somehow shapeless when you stand in front of the mirror.

“You don’t want to even stand in front of the mirror because you’ll want to close your eyes when you see your body in front of the mirror because you’re battered. As a nurse, battering is not the intention of your surgeon but for you to live. So for most people it’s a mental challenge, most people go through depression and depression will eventually end in suicide.”

Call to the Government To the leadership of the country, Ola recommended radiotherapy machines be put in place and that the government should subsidise the treatment of cancer because once there’s no money there’s a problem.

“For treatment of cases like HIV, they supply their drugs for free. Cancer too should be something like this, it’s expensive though but the government can do it for people to survive,” she hinted.

Word for Other Survivors For Ola, her nuclear and extended families stood by her. Hence, she has a word for others living with cancer. “Hope on God, and find a support group. So I will say you shouldn’t go through it alone because it’s like committing suicide.”

Cancer Care and Treatment The 55 years old had the first seven shots for about N70,000. Ola added that she took C.O.P.E as Hope Bringer one last drug for N1.2 million. “Then I did Anozie has been the brain behind COPE, the radiotherapy in a government setting so it inspiration these survivors see, the counsel they hear and the hope they hold on to.

Sharing her opinion she said: “If you look at education, what sort of education do we have now? Do they teach these things in school, do they teach the girl child that when she attains puberty she is supposed to check her breast?

That is what we should let the children know in Biology.”

The CEO also insisted that schools should inculcate into students the habit of checking their breasts once they start menstruation.

She appealed: “We have many young girls in secondary school, who have benign lumps but not cancer. I was in primary school when my brother’s colleague had breast cancer, yes luckily she’s still alive I guess. So I’m just appealing that the government should do the needful, equip our hospitals. It’s very sad.”

“Radiotherapy machines be put in place and government should subsidise the treatment of cancer because once there’s no money there’s a problem. For treatment of cases like HIV, they supply their drugs for free.

Cancer too should be something like this, it’s expensive though but the government can do it for people to survive”

T H I S D AY ˾ , FEBRUARY 3, 2022

33

NEWS

FERTILITY

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

Avon HMO Rewards Infants, Trichomoniasis And Infertility (Part 1) Parents in Photo Contest For the fourth year running, leading health maintenance organisation, Avon Healthcare -JNJUFE "WPO ).0 IBT reaffirmed its commitment to maternal and child health with its just concluded baby photo contest.

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This novel twist was warmly received on social media. The campaign reached over 2 million users over the course of the campaign and successful participants were full of praise for the initiative.

"DDPSEJOH UP 0LPZFPEPHXV Eucharia, mother of the first prize winner, her excitement was boundless when her 3-month-old baby came out tops.

“This is my daughters first

DPNQFUJUJPO BOE JU T BNB[JOH UIBU TIF XPO 5IF SBDF XBTO U FBTZ BOE * UIBOL (PE GPS NZ DMPTF friends and family who motivated me to keep campaigning for her in moments I wanted to give up.”

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The win brings a whole new dimension of passion for my child, and I believe this feat XJMM VTIFS #BCZ .P UP HSFBUFS levels of opportunities in life.”

When asked about the recently concluded edition during the QSJ[F HJWJOH DFSFNPOZ UIF $&0 PG "WPO ).0 "EFTJNCP 6LJSJ said that increased participation in the contest over the years is a QPJOUFS UP UIF CSBOE T SFMFWBODF UIF DPVOUSZ T IFBMUIDBSF TQBDF i'SPN XIFO XF MBVODIFE UIF "WPO #BCZ DBNQBJHO JU IBT continued to grow in leaps and bounds, with each edition turning out to be more successful than the previous one. “ This contest is our way of re-

minding Nigerians that maternal and infant health is a key focus BSFB GPS VT BU "WPO ).0 BOE BMM our family plans provide cover for antenatal services, delivery and immunisations.”

-JDFOTFE JO "WPO )FBMUIDBSF -UE "WPO ).0 JT B MFBEJOH health management organisation providing healthcare plans and other healthcare services to all Nigerians - individuals, families, groups, companies, and communities.

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Should you fall ill, suffer an accident or are diagnosed with a health condition, Avon ).0 TUFQT JO UP DPPSEJOBUF your care and pay the bills; ensuring the delivery of quality healthcare services that will enable you to get better.

"WPO ).0 JT B QBSU PG UIF )FJST )PMEJOHT (SPVQ an African proprietary investment company driving "GSJDB T EFWFMPQNFOU UISPVHI long-term investments in key sectors.

Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer Avon Healthcare Limited, Adesimbo Ukiri; mother of the winner for the Avon Baby 2021 Photo contest, Okoyeodogwu Eucharia; and winner of the contest, Orabueze Annabelle Ifeoma at the prize collection at the Avon HMO Lagos Office

EVERCARE Hospital Lekki Commences Open-Heart, Spine Surgeries Ugo Aliogo Evercare Hospital has commenced open-heart and spine TVSHFSJFT JO /PWFNCFS BT well as carried out advanced first of its kind paediatric surgeries.

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He also noted that the medical breakthrough further re-emphasises the fact that there is collaborative effort among their team of caregivers, delivery of medical excellence as well as providing exceptional patient care through outstanding medical outcomes remains the goal at Evercare.

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Dr Serge Rasskazoff, a double trained and board-certified neurosurgeon in North America and Europe, performed spine surgeries at the hospital which JODMVEFE B -VNCFS 0QFO 4QJOF 'VTJPO -FWFM BOE -FWFM BOE an Anterior Cervical Discectomy BOE 'VTJO 1MVT #POF (SBGU According to Rasskazoff, “with the prevalence of lower back pain in Africa ranging from 28 per cent to as high as 74 per cent in some African countries, which is equally comparable to other developed countries, there is a need to advocate and bring awareness to the resident community that quality Neurological care and treatment can be gotten locally here at Evercare Hospital.” &WFSDBSF )PTQJUBM -FLLJ also recorded another groundbreaking moment in the hospital PO %FDFNCFS BT UIFZ DPOEVDUFE UIF 'JSTU -BQBSPscopic Thoracoscopic Repair PG 0FTPQIBHFBM "USFTJB XJUI Tracheoesophageal fistula on a three-day old infant in the country.

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richomoniasis is a sexually transmitted disease (STD) that affects both men and women. Trichomonas Vaginalis is a protozoan parasite that causes this condition. This infection is not spread through casual contact, so you cannot get it from sharing food or drinks, kissing, hugging, holding hands, coughing, sneezing or sitting on toilet seats. It is easily disseminated during sex since it is carried in sexual fluids such as the pre-cum and vaginal fluid. About 70% of affected people do not have symptoms when infected and so spreading this disease is very easy. When symptoms occur, they typically begin between 5 to 28 days after exposure, and about 20% of people get infected again within three months of treatments. Trichomoniasis produces a foul-smelling vaginal discharge, itching in the genital area, and painful urination in women.

Trichomoniasis is a treatable disease. Although symptoms of the disease may vary, so most people cannot tell if they are infected.

Trichomoniasis can be spread through: r 7BHJOBM PSBM PS BOBM TFY *U DBO CF TQSFBE even if there are no symptoms. This means you can get trichomoniasis from someone who has no signs or symptoms. r (FOJUBM UPVDIJOH " NBO EPFT OPU OFFE to ejaculate (cum) for trichomoniasis to spread. It can also be passed between women who have sex with women.

RISK FACTORS Risk factors include having: r .VMUJQMF TFYVBM QBSUOFST r " IJTUPSZ PG PUIFS TFYVBMMZ USBOTNJUUFE infections r " QSFWJPVT FQJTPEF PG USJDIPNPOJBTJT r 4FY XJUIPVU B DPOEPN SIGNS AND SYMPTOMS OF TRICHOMONIASIS .BOZ QFPQMF XJUI USJDIPNPOJBTJT NBZ OPU IBWF any symptoms, but they can still spread the infection to others, so using condoms and having safer sex is the best way to prevent trichomoniasis, even if you and your partner seem totally healthy. It is common for the symptoms to come and go, but that does not mean the infection went away. .PTU JOGFDUFE XPNFO BOE NFO XJUI USJDIPNPniasis have no symptoms. If they do get symptoms, they might appear 5 to 28 days after exposure.

Symptoms may include the following: r (FOJUBM SFEOFTT TXFMMJOH CVSOJOH BOE itching. r #MPPE JO ZPVS WBHJOBM EJTDIBSHF r 5IJO PS GSPUIZ EJTDIBSHF XJUI BO VOVTVBM foul odor that can be clear, white, yellowish, or greenish. r 1BJO PS EJTDPNGPSU EVSJOH TFY r -PXFS BCEPNJOBM QBJO UIJT JT SBSF r *SSJUBUJPO JOTJEF UIF QFOJT r #VSOJOH XJUI VSJOBUJPO PS BGUFS FKBDVMBUJPO r %JTDIBSHF GSPN UIF QFOJT r 5IF VSHF UP QFF NPSF UIBO VTVBM

COMPLICATIONS OF TRICHOMONIASIS If Trichomoniasis is left untreated, it may lead to damage throughout the body. It may also increase the risk of HIV infection and can cause problems during pregnancy. Treatment can help prevent future damage but cannot repair or reverse damage that have already occurred.

1SFHOBOU XPNFO XIP IBWF USJDIPNPOJBTJT NBZ r )BWF IJHIFS SJTL PG B QSFNBUVSF CJSUI (babies born before 37 weeks of pregnancy). r 5IJT JOGFDUJPO NBZ DBVTF B XPNBO UP deliver a low birth weight which may raise the risk of health and developmental problems at birth and later in life. r 5SBOTNJU UIF JOGFDUJPO UP UIF CBCZ BT he or she passes through the birth canal. r )BWJOH USJDIPNPOJBTJT JODSFBTFT UIF SJTL of transmission and infection of Human Immune Deficiency Virus (HIV), the virus that causes AIDS. r 5IJT JOGFDUJPO JT BMTP LOPXO UP CF B cause of cervical cancer and may be associated with co infection with high risk strains of Human QBQJMMPNBWJSVT )17 r 5IJT JOGFDUJPO JO NBMFT DBVTFT BTZNQtomatic urethritis and prostatitis which leads to chronic inflammation and hence, prostate cancer.

EFFECT OF TRICHOMONIASIS ON FERTILITY Trichomonas vaginalis is a common parasite of the male genital tract. In men, this has been associated with urethritis (swelling of the tube that connects to the urinary bladder for the removal of urine), prostatitis (inflammation of the prostate gland), epididymitis (inflammation of the tube that connects the testicle to the vas-deferens), and inflammation is associated with oxidative stress which is known to impair sperm function. The proteinases released by this trichomonas vaginalis can also inhibit sperm motility. In the male reproductive tract, this microorganism is found in the urethra and the sub-preputial sac, and the infection can cause lesions in the penis. It may also lead to deficit of sperm cell quality and function due to physical damage.

In women, trichomoniasis has been related to infertility due to pelvic inflammatory disease that compromises tubal patency. In female, this microorganism is found in the vagina, urethra, and para-urethral glands. In women, trichomoniasis vaginalis has been linked to vaginosis(a condition results from an overgrowth of bacteria in the vagina), vaginitis (infection or inflammation of the vagina or vulva), endometritis (endometritis is an inflammation of the inner lining of the uterus or endometrium), Adnexitis (adnexitis is an inflammatory diseases that is generally affecting the fallopian tubes and ovaries) and can trigger inflammatory responses in the mucosal genital tract, increasing the risk of pelvic inflammatory disease TO BE CONTINUED

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T H I S D AY ˾ , FEBRUARY 3, 2022

NEWS

WHO Alerts on Threat of Tropical Disease Epidemic in Nigeria Onyebuchi Ezigbo ÓØ ÌßÔË World Health Organisation (WHO) has asked Nigerian government to take urgent and decisive measures to end the silent epidemic of Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs) currently ravaging the rural populace.

It said that more than one million neglected tropical diseases new cases are being detected yearly with about 50 million persons at risk of infection yearly.

While giving a goodwill messageat the event to commemorate 2022 World NTD Day, WHO Head of Mission and Representative, Dr Walter Kazadi Mulombo, warned that Nigeria is presently occupying the second position in the lather of high burdened countries which might degenerate further if nothing concrete is done to arrest the situation. e said that currently, the health challenge posed by the neglected tropical diseases in Nigeria far outweighs that of COVID19.

“More than one million neglected tropical diseases new cases are still being detected yearly, while around 50 million persons are at risk of infection yearly,” he said.

Mulombo however said that Nigeria remained important in the global NTD eradication road map and has made significant progress in treatment and control of NTD. “I want to encourage individuals, communities, and local governments to encourage surveillance, testing and treatment for NTD and to learn more about these diseases, to end the silent epidemic it causes,” he said.

Speaking on this year’s theme, “Achieving health equity to end the neglect of poverty related diseases”, the WHO scribe said there is the need for increased collaboration by all stakeholders.

According to him, health inequities triggered by COVID19 have undermined economic, societal, and developmental progress in Nigeria.

He said that focusing on NTDs will be a step forward in addressing diseases of poverty, adding that NTD programmes contribute to stronger health systems by enhancing capacity, bringing communities together and contributing to universal health coverage.

Mulombo stated that WHO is working with countries including partners and NGOs to address NTDs towards health systems strengthening and universal health coverage.

Mulombo urged countries to adopt some of approaches used in responding to COVID-19 pandemic towards eradicating tropical diseases, especially the quick response with scientific innovations to check COVID-19 spread across the world.

He added that WHO is also committed to facilitating the donation of all essential medicines for NTD as it has always done each year.

Minister of state for Health Senator Olorunmibe Mamora said the world NTDs Day was an opportunity to re-energise the momentum to end the suffering from these 20 diseases that are caused by a variety of pathogens including viruses, bacteria, parasites, fungi and toxins.

He said the day will help the

government to focus on millions of people who have limited or no access to prevention, treatment and care services.

The minister of state described NTDs as a group of diseases associated with poverty and prevalent in areas that have poor sanitation, poor safe water supply and substandard housing condition, in some areas which are totally lacking.

“The diseases are “neglected” because they are almost absent from the global health agenda, enjoy little funding, and are associated with stigma and social exclusion.

They are diseases of neglected populations that perpetuate a cycle of poor educational outcomes and limited professional opportunities,” he said.

Mamora explained that most of these diseases are of public health importance in Nigeria and impact negatively on socio-economic development.

He listed examples of NTDs to include diseases such as Lymphatic Filariasis, Onchocerciasis, Schistosomiasis, Soil Transmitted Helminthes, Buruli Ulcers, ,Leisnmaniasis, Dengue, Guinea Worm Disease, Trachoma, Leprosy, Rabies, Noma, Yaws and Macetoma.

According to him, the WHO in June 2017 also included Snakebites as one of the NTDs. On the achievements made in tackling the diseases, Mamora said the ministry has been collaborating and working with all relevant stakeholders particularly Non-Governmental Development Organisations (NGDO) partners to tackle the menace of NTDs in Nigeria.

LASG Unveils Bone Marrow Transplant Centre for Sickle Cell Patients

BATTLING OVER 100 TYPES OF CANCER WORLDWIDE Chronicled by Rebecca Ejifoma Despite how life-threatening and financially sapping cancer is perceived globally, not many people know that there are over 100 types of cancer bedeviling humanity from diagnosis to treatment through to recovery.

First off, the World Health Organisation (WHO) says cancer is a large group of diseases that can start in almost any organ or tissue of the body when abnormal cells grow uncontrollably, go beyond their usual boundaries to invade adjoining parts of the body and/or spread to other organs.

100 TYPES OF CANCER

Here is a chronological list of the over 100 commonest types of cancer known globally.

Bladder cancer, Breast cancer, colon and rectal cancer, endometrial cancer, kidney cancer, Leukemia, liver cancer, lung, melanoma, Non-Hodgkin cancer, lymphoma cancer, pancreatic cancer, prostate thyroid, acute lymphoblastic leukemia, acute myeloid leukemia, adolescents cancer, adrenocortical carcinoma, AIDS-related cancers, kaposi Sarcoma (Soft Tissue Sarcoma), AIDS-Related Lymphoma (Lymphoma), Primary CNS Lymphoma, anal cancer.

Appendix cancer (Gastrointestinal Carcinoid tumors), Astrocytomas, Childhood (Brain Cancer), Atypical Teratoid/ Rhabdoid tumor, Childhood, Central Nervous System (Brain Cancer), Basal Cell Carcinoma of the Skin - see Skin Cancer, Bile Duct Cancer, Bladder Cancer, Bone Cancer (includes Ewing Sarcoma and Osteosarcoma and Malignant Fibrous Histiocytoma) Brain Tumors.

Breast cancer, Bronchial Tumors (Lung cancer), Burkitt Lymphoma - see NonHodgkin Lymphoma, Carcinoid Tumor (Gastrointestinal), Carcinoma of Unknown Primary, Cardiac Tumors, Childhood Central Nervous System, Atypical Teratoid/Rhabdoid Tumor, Childhood (Brain cancer), Medulloblastoma and Other CNS Embryonal tumors, Childhood (Brain cancer) Germ Cell Tumor, Primary CNS Lymphoma Others include Cervical cancer, Rare Cholangiocarcinoma, Bile Duct Cancer, Chordoma, Bone cancer, Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia, Chronic Myelogenous Leukemia, Chronic Myeloproliferative Neoplasms Colorectal cancer, Craniopharyngioma, Childhood (Brain cancer), Cutaneous T-Cell Lymphoma, Lymphoma (Mycosis Fungoides and Sézary Syndrome), Ductal Carcinoma In Situ (DCIS).

Embryonal Tumors, Medulloblastoma and Other Central Nervous System, Endometrial (Uterine cancer), Ependymoma, Esophageal Esthesioneuroblastoma (head and neck cancer), Ewing sarcoma (Bone cancer), Extracranial Germ Cell tumor, Childhood Extragonadal Germ Cell tumor, Eye cancer, Intraocular Melanoma, Retinoblastoma, Fallopian Tube cancer, Gallbladder cancer Gastric (Stomach) Gastrointestinal Carcinoid tumor.

Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumors (GIST) (Soft Tissue Sarcoma), Germ Cell Tumors Childhood Central Nervous System Germ Cell tumors, Childhood Extracranial Germ Cell tumors, Extragonadal Germ Cell tumors

Dignataries at the inauguration of the Bone Marrow Transplant Centre Rebecca Ejifoma The Lagos State government has unveiled the Bone Marrow Transplant (BMT) Centre to address the burden constituted by sickle cell disease in the state and the country.

The State Commissioner for Health, Prof. Akin Abayomi congratulated the Sickle Cell Foundation of Nigeria for the comprehensive BMT Centre in

sub-Saharan Africa, which he described as first-of-its kind.

According to Prof. Abayomi, who represented the State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu at the opening, the centre is a bold step towards battling the disease. The commissioner, however, bemoaned the high rate of children living with sickle cell in the country.

“The statistics of sickle cell cases in Nigeria is alarming,”

he lamented. “One in every four Nigerians is believed to have sickle cell gene.

“About 150,000 children are born yearly in Nigeria with sickle cell disease with about 100,000 of them unlikely to live beyond 5th birthday.”

Hence, Prof. Abayomi said it is indeed significant that the facility incorporates the entire bone marrow transplantation process.

Ovarian Germ Cell tumors, Testicular cancer Gestational Trophoblastic Disease, Hairy Cell Leukemia, Head and Neck cancer, Heart tumors, Childhood Hepatocellular (Liver), Histiocytosis, Langerhans Cell, Hodgkin Lymphoma, Hypopharyngeal cancer (Head and neck cancer), Intraocular Melanoma Islet Cell tumors, Pancreatic Neuroendocrine Tumors.

Kaposi Sarcoma (Soft Tissue Sarcoma) Kidney (Renal Cell) cancer, Langerhans Cell Histiocytosis, Laryngeal Cancer (Head and Neck Cancer) Leukemia, Lip and Oral Cavity cancer (Head and Neck cancer), Liver cancer,

Lung cancer (Non-Small Cell, Small Cell, Pleuropulmonary Blastoma, and Tracheobronchial Tumor), Lymphoma.

Melanoma, Intraocular (Eye), Merkel Cell Carcinoma (skin cancer), Mesothelioma, Malignant, Metastatic cancer, Metastatic Squamous neck cancer with Occult Primary, Midline Tract Carcinoma With NUT Gene Changes, Mouth cancer (Head and Neck Cancer), Multiple Endocrine Neoplasia Syndromes, Multiple Myeloma/Plasma Cell Neoplasms, Mycosis Fungoides (Lymphoma) Myelodysplastic Syndromes, Myelodysplastic/Myeloproliferative Neoplasms, Myelogenous Leukemia, Chronic (CML), Myeloid Leukemia, Acute (AML), Myeloproliferative Neoplasms, Chronic.

Nasal Cavity and Paranasal Sinus Cancer (Head and Neck Cancer), Nasopharyngeal Cancer (Head and Neck Cancer), Neuroblastoma, Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma, Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer, Oral Cancer, Lip and Oral Cavity Cancer and Oropharyngeal Cancer (Head and Neck Cancer) Osteosarcoma and Undifferentiated Pleomorphic Sarcoma of Bone Treatment Ovarian Cancer.

Pancreatic Cancer, Pancreatic Neuroendocrine Tumors (Islet Cell Tumors) Papillomatosis (Childhood Laryngeal) Paraganglioma, Paranasal Sinus and Nasal Cavity Cancer (Head and Neck Cancer), Parathyroid Cancer, Penile Cancer, Pharyngeal Cancer (Head and Neck Cancer), Pheochromocytoma, Pituitary Tumor, Plasma Cell Neoplasm/Multiple Myeloma, Pleuropulmonary Blastoma (Lung Cancer), Pregnancy and Breast Cancer, Primary Central Nervous System (CNS) Lymphoma, Primary Peritoneal Cancer, Prostate Cancer.

Rare Cancers of Childhood, Rectal Cancer Recurrent Cancer, Renal Cell (Kidney) Cancer, Retinoblastoma Rhabdomyosarcoma, Childhood (Soft Tissue Sarcoma), Salivary Gland Cancer (Head and Neck Cancer) Sarcoma Childhood Rhabdomyosarcoma (Soft Tissue Sarcoma), Childhood Vascular Tumors (Soft Tissue Sarcoma), Ewing Sarcoma (Bone Cancer), Kaposi Sarcoma (Soft Tissue Sarcoma), Osteosarcoma (Bone Cancer), Soft Tissue Sarcoma,Uterine Sarcoma, Sézary Syndrome (Lymphoma), Skin Cancer, Small Cell Lung Cancer, Small Intestine Cancer, Soft Tissue Sarcoma, Squamous Cell Carcinoma of the Skin, Squamous Neck Cancer with Occult Primary, Metastatic (Head and Neck Cancer) Stomach (Gastric) Cancer.

T-Cell Lymphoma, Cutaneous - see Lymphoma (Mycosis Fungoides and Sèzary Syndrome), Testicular Cancer, Throat Cancer (Head and Neck Cancer), Nasopharyngeal Cancer, Oropharyngeal Cancer, Hypopharyngeal Cancer, Thymoma and Thymic Carcinoma, Thyroid Cancer, Tracheobronchial Tumors (Lung Cancer).

Others include Transitional Cell Cancer of the Renal Pelvis and Ureter (Kidney (Renal Cell) Cancer), Carcinoma of Ureter and Renal Pelvis, Transitional Cell Cancer, Uterine Cancer, Uterine Sarcoma, Vaginal Cancer, Vascular Tumors (Soft Tissue Sarcoma), Vulvar Cancer, Wilms Tumor, and Other Childhood Kidney Tumors.

However, five types of cancers are undeniably the deadliest and most common worldwide. Research shows. They are: Breast cancer, cervical, prostate, liver, and non-Hodgkin lymphoma.

GLOBAL STATISTICS FOR FIVE DEADLIEST CANCERS In 2017, the World Health Organisation (WHO) showed that 2.26 million cases of breast cancer were recorded; lung cancer had 2.21 million cases; colon and rectum cancer had 1.93 million cases; prostate had 1.41 million cases; skin (non-melanoma) had 1.20 million cases; and stomach cancer 1.09 million cases.

STATISTICS IN NIGERIA In its five years prevalence in 2020, Globacon revealed that Nigeria recorded 14,274 deaths to breast cancer; Prostate had 8,517 deaths; Cervix uteri had 7,968; NonHodgkin lymphoma had 4,732; Liver had 5,046; and 2,504 people died to Leukaemia.

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T H I S D AY ˾ , FEBRUARY 3, 2022

FEATURES

Denise Ejoh: Building a Thriving Cancer Awareness Community Dr. Denise Ejoh is the CEO of Cormode Cancer Foundation, an NGO championing awareness on cancer. Having lost her mother to the same disease and as a cancer survivor who tenaciously fought the ailment for five turbulent years, she birthed CCF with the aim to build a thriving cancer awareness community across Nigeria using experienced medical professionals in different facets whilst ensuring the key change drivers are cancer survivors. In this virtual interview with Rebecca Ejifoma, she shares her experience and plans for CCF

D

and a YouTube channel with videos of different discussions they have had over the last one and half years. It continues to create awareness to nurses, patients, medics, everyday family, and friends.

Ejoh, like many other Nigerians, are not oblivious about the World Health Organisation (WHO) statistics showing that breast cancer is currently the most common type of cancer worldwide, with 2.26 million cases recorded in 2020 (WHO, 2021) and 14,274 deaths recorded according to a Globacon survey in 2020. Hence, her drive to power more Enlightenment campaigns.

enise Ejoh (PHD) is the founder and CEO of Cormode Cancer Foundation (CCF). As a survivor of the disease with long term treatment plans, Denise works with a directorate team to create and champion Cancer Awareness in Nigeria.

According to information on its website, CCF aims to reach out across Nigeria and bring together experienced medical professionals in different facets whilst ensuring the key change drivers are cancer survivors, with the need to build a thriving cancer awareness community, Ordeal with Cancer Since her diagnosis in 2016, Dr. Denise Ejoh, the CEO of Cormode Cancer Foundation (CCF) willfully rolled up her sleeves to help other cancer survivors realise that cancer brought them to their feet not knees. She narrated: “I was diagnosed with cancer in 2016 and I already just had my mother die of cancer. I was less than 50 years old and didn’t know what I was going to face, especially as I still had a child going to JSS2.

“That tells you already that for me I understood I may or may not make it. It had to bring home a lot of realities ranging from what could happen if I didn’t make it, and if I was going to fight the journey, how was I going to go about it. Was my personal and spiritual innermost side of me going to carry me through the journey knowing full well that the journey on this cancer route can be quite hard,” she soliloquised.

As her ordeal became a wild reality, the soft spoken CEO began to lose her hair coupled with two brain surgeries with cuts and excess.

She also had nine tumors removed from her brain. “I still take chemo because I have to get past it to be able to live,” emphasising, “I had a HER2-positive diagnosis of a brain metastasis which means that the cancer had moved.”

Her diagnostic journey, in her words, was anything but pleasant, a memory she never wishes to relive. From the perspective of first knowing she had cancer she got her head grounded. “I have very strong Christian values; they helped me because I was very quick to accept what would be. So, I turned and said something very clear to my head. I looked at the walls and cried out just like Hezekiah in the Bible because I had a child under age 12.

“So from there we had to do the first surgery, which I reacted to. I didn’t know that’s the standard: my head swelled up, it was twice its current size because of steroids (I had five tumors removed in two different operations within six months) between August and December. I started chemo in January 2017.”

At one point, Ejoh, who was an educator until the illness, couldn’t walk very well anymore.

Although she came out of that, she was still on active treatment. “After six months, the tumors had grown again. I had to have another surgery called the Gamma Knife and had another four tumors removed from my brain”.

In 2019, Ejoh’s world came crumbling, as the cancer grew yet again. To weather this storm, she had to eliminate it. “Throughout this period I learnt how to manage food, eat whatever you can, you can’t because of treatment, not eat specific foods because your taste buds are very wide.

“You have a metallic taste for some people.

Lots of things are not just right. You don’t like how you look. You don’t like how you feel.

You’re quite sick a lot of the time, but at the end of it all having a positive mindset was one of the things I strongly had going for me and I went for that.”

Power of a Positive Mind Honestly, she acknowledged, a positive mindset is the only way out. Her reasons are not unconnected to the fact that as a cancer patient there will be good times and bad times, you live in a lot of pain, you lose friends along the way, people don’t associate with you, you really don’t know who is with you anymore.

Hence, “My goal is to touch even if it’s one life it’s enough, that’s ready to fight and live”.

Mental Health and Chemo Every Three Weeks Despite employing optimism, Ejoh couldn’t comprehend how she fell flat into the traps of mental health. “After the phases of all the terrible parts of it, I got almost five year long and found that I faced a lot of mental health

Truth for Survivors For the CCF boss, going on this journey meant automatically she needed to start the foundation.

That was because she wanted to help people understand that cancer can but doesn’t always have to be a death sentence. Also, she wants to help people see the ability to be resilient but always seeking medical advice along their journey.

“Then I realised very quickly that cancer is a form of stigmatisation which people run away from with cultural backgrounds telling us, ‘It’s not my portion. God forbid and all that kind of stuff and also understanding that if we didn’t accept the fight to cross the line we were more likely never going to make it.

“So coming from that vision I create awareness on all cancers. I’m not a specialist, I refuse to be.

I just create awareness by trying to tell people to do their tests, do what you’ve got to do, go to the doctor’s. I’m not saying you shouldn’t trust God because I strongly trust God in everything I do and I actually make that very clear every time. But I’m also very realistic so please try not to give up.”

Dr. Ejoh counselling.

“The rule states that most people don’t cross five years. And for someone like me who takes chemo every three weeks for the last five years I started to think maybe I wasn’t going to cross the line. Going through all of that, the emotional roller-coaster and all having to now learn to put a few things and having to understand that I have to take care of myself.”

Forced Retirement upon Diagnosis Unfortunately, Ejoh was made to take a bow from the stage of teaching. “I was forced to retire immediately I was diagnosed with cancer. I’m a teacher and educator and you can’t go to school and say you’re going for treatment every two weeks or every other day; it’s not possible.

Changing the Narrative Following the involuntary retirement, the teacher had to learn how to change my lifestyle to make sure life was worth it. “And CCF has filled that vacuum because now I’m able to use the journey to reach out to people who are going through it. I talk them through why they need to follow the medical diagnosis and advice, seek and understand there’s a mental part that comes with it.

“They have to understand when to stop listening to negativity and focus more on positivity, understand that whatever the journey is we have to remember we will not, we cannot get past this journey without knowing what we want to achieve and not knowing that we are not on this journey

alone. We have each other and we will cross it eventually.”

Birth of CCF Consequently, her agonising ordeal in the cold claws of cancer paved the way for CCF in 2019, which consciously took effect in 2021 during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic in memory of her late mum, who died of breast cancer. Its fundamental goals included creating awareness on cancer from the perspective of a survivor.

According to the founder, CCF came about because of her experience. She recalled: “My mother died of cancer and I then went through the journey of cancer. Cormode is my mother’s middle name and she was one of the staff of Queen’s College.”

Ejoh admitted that she and others have come from a place of experiencing the cancer journey as against the medics telling them everything.

She emphasised: “So basically I’m not a medical doctor, I’m an academic. However, it comes from me as a person who has lived with cancer for over five years, with a diagnosis of breast cancer metastasising in the brain, and still remaining in active treatment - I still have chemo every three weeks.”

At CCF, there is a series of cancer awareness programmes ranging from its zoom titled, “Let’s Talk about Cancer”, where the CEO speaks to people of different backgrounds, all the different varied roles or organisations that are influenced by cancer. “So a cancer patient experiences from the diagnostic, mental health to the treatment plans all the way to whether we make it or we don’t make it,” she expressed.

Today, the NGO has a social media presence

“We want to make sure we get more people hearing the messages through different strands of the cancer journey not just oncologist but the surgeons, patients themselves, survivors like me, families of survivors, oncology nurses, mental health doctors, cancer doctors...”

Funding, Sponsorships In its partnership, CCF is now trying to create a digital awareness. Early this year, the foundation says it is seeking funding to get billboards in every state.

“We are collating all the government centres in the country that have facilities for cancer patients because we don’t have enough in Nigeria. I think we’ve now got a machine, a few scanning machines that can help but they’re far between each other.”

According to the CEO, they are currently working with their partners to find the names of all the private hospitals that have the equipment.

“However, we are also very mindful that there are less than 100 qualified oncologists in Nigeria and we have a population of over 200 million.

“So we are aware of the challenges and we have to be honest. We have video recordings in Igbo, Yoruba, and Hausa for cancer. There’s another for breast cancer and we are trying to get more for prostate cancer because those are the three main ones in Nigeria. Unfortunately we can’t get men to do that but hopefully we will find that.”

While noting that this year they are sure to get every cancer translated in Igbo, Yoruba and Hausa languages into radio space by the end of the year, Ejoh highlighted that they are making small and steady strides as a small NGO. Part of their quest is staying focused on their primary goal which is cancer awareness. In her words, they are trying to develop a partnership with BDVH to get an app where if you’re not well you can go through a link, tick some boxes and it can navigate you to the nearest hospital to get help if needed.

She emphasised: “We want to make sure we get more people hearing the messages through different strands of the cancer journey not just oncologist but the surgeons, patients themselves, survivors like me, families of survivors, oncology nurses, mental health doctors, cancer doctors (if we can get the communities) to start making sure the narrative is the correct one and stop the negative narrative, so we want to push the positive narrative this year.”

Ultimately, Ejoh hopes to go above the 20 minutes programme every two weeks. For her, if they can get 20 minutes of awareness every week on television channels in the country, then cancer would be brought to the forefront. “That will make my year. That’s my wish list,” she divulged.

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

36

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 3, 2022 ˾ T H I S D AY

BUSINESS/MONEYGUIDE

Osinbajo Asks Govt Regulatory Agencies to Change Orientation Towards Business Deji Elumoye ÓØ ÌßÔË Vice President Yemi Osinbajo has charged all federal government regulatory agencies to change their orientation towards doing business.

He therefore stressed the need for a complete reorientation on the exercise of regulatory authority in the country in order for businesses and investors to thrive in Nigeria.

The VP stated this at the State House, Abuja, while receiving a report of an Ad-Hoc Committee of the Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council (PEBEC) on Agro-Export and the presentation of a National Action Plan 7.0.

Osinbajo who presided over the first PEBEC meeting this year noted that there is a problem if people who want to export cannot export due to what seems like too many regulations.

According to him: “There are

too many regulatory requirements.

Too many regulations kill output.

We have to take a second look at how we regulate. Over-regulation is killing businesses. It kills investments. An agric exporter can’t export perishable produce after months.”

He lamented that there are also processes of product certifications that take so long on the regulatory queues in Nigeria, while businesses from outside the country with swift regulatory regimes will then bring the same products into the country to sell.

“Because our certification processes are slow, others from outside nations (from neighbouring countries based on an ECOWAS agreement) with faster processes can bring their products and sell here, while our own businesses are still on the queues of regulatory agencies,” the VP observed.

Earlier, the PEBEC Secretariat had presented a report of the AdHoc Committee of the Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council on Agro-Export where it was revealed among others that: *The exportation flow as regards payment and verification is extremely cumbersome. The exporters’ complained about the “imposition of the NAFEX rate on export proceeds, which limits their access to foreign exchange and their inability to utilise their export proceeds. (For instance, dollars domiciled in exporters accounts cannot be utilised for freight payment for export). *There were “multiple physical cargo examinations by Preshipment Inspection Agencies.

There were also “multiple and sometimes overlapping documentation requirements” from government regulatory agencies, “he said.

Osinbajo

BEDC Commends Illah Community over Vandals’ Arrest

MARKET INDICATORS MONEY AND CREDIT STATISTICS

Ȋ ȱ ȱ ȱ Ȭ ȱ The Management of BEDC Electricity Plc (BEDC) has commended Illah Community in Oshimili North Local Government Area of Delta State for its role in the arrest of electricity vandals stressing the rising cases of vandalism across its franchise areas which it says aside being an economic crime is an act of sabotage against the good purpose and intents of the company.

The management said, the power sector has been the most hit in the most devastating manner and the effect of vandalism cannot be over emphasized as residential customers, industries, small and medium scale businesses are being starved of power as a result of the activities of vandals.

It will be recalled that the anti-cult group of illah community had assisted BEDC in apprehending vandals who vandalized transformers in the community. Present at appreciation ceremony organized to honour the members of the anti-cult group who caught the vandals and handed them over to the police for prosecution at the Ogbeleani Palace are BEDC Man-

agement team led by the Head, Community Relations, Mr. Simple Ugherakpoteni and members of the Asaba business unit technical team while the community was represented by His Royal Majesty, Obi Sylvester Jugai, the Ogbelani of Illah, Chairman Illah Electricity Committee, Ogbuenyi (Chief) George Ofuokwu, the Odogwu of Illah, Secretary to Ogbelani and Illah Electricity Committee, Eddy Ojidoh , members of the anti-cult group and community youth leaders Simple Ugherakpoteni, who spoke on behalf of MD/CEO, Mrs. Funke Osibodu commended the community for its vigilance over BEDC network, saying vandalism of electricity distribution network and other forms of electrical thefts are serious threats to power sector sustainability and economic growth, insisting that increasing vandalism will force the company to spend money meant to improve electricity infrastructure to repair or replace damaged and stolen installations. “the fight against electricity vandals is a collective responsibility that can only be sustained through collective effort and increased partnership.” he said.

The Head, Community Relations while appreciating the effort of Illah Community, presented a life insurance policy for 5 members of the anti-cult group and cartons of energy saving bulbs saying it will help them pay less for power usage and also enjoined other communities to emulate and take ownership of BEDC assets in their various localities, “since they are the direct users of these facilities.”

The Ogbelani of Illah, HRM, Obi Sylvester Jugai thanked the management of BEDC for its gesture and reiterated the community’s commitment in ensuring the electricity facilities and equipment are well secured and protected to avoid being thrown into blackout, insisting on improved community and neighbourhood relations with BEDC staff in order to collectively fight against electricity vandals.

Efforts by BEDC at curbing the menace of vandalism on its network will be recalled, received a boost with the sentencing of one David James to three years imprisonment by a Benin Magistrate Court 6 in Egor Local Government area of Edo state recently.

Money Supply (M3)

38,779,455.43

-- CBN Bills Held by Money Holding Sectors

1,039,129.55

Money Supply (M2)

37,740,325.88

-- Quasi Money

21,779,302.69

-- Narrow Money (M1)

15,961,023.19

---- Currency Outside Banks

2,364,871.13

---- Demand Deposits

13,596,152.06

Net Foreign Assets (NFA)

7,414,275.50

Net Domestic Assets(NDA)

31,365,179.93

-- Net Domestic Credit (NDC)

42,916,586.63

---- Credit to Government (Net)

12,304,773.44

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

0.00

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

0.00

---- Credit to Private Sector (CPS)

30,611,813.19

--Other Assets Net

3,892,112.74

Reserve Money (Base Money

13,264,585.14

--Currency in Circulation

2,831,167.19

--Banks Reserves --Special Intervention Reserves

10,433,417.96 317,234.17

Month

March 2018

Inter-Bank Call Rate

15.16

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

14.00

Treasury Bill Rate

11.84

Savings Deposit Rate

4.07

Sunday Ehigiator

1 Month Deposit Rate

8.82

3 Months Deposit Rate

9.72

6 Months Deposit Rate

10.93

12 Months Deposit Rate

10.21

Prime Lending rate

17.35

Maximum Lending Rate

31.55

Purplemaryland has said Marketsquare would open its outlet at the mall following the exit of Shoprite.

According to a statement

by Purple Group, owners of Purplemaryland, the opening would allow customers access to a variety of bakery, groceries household, office and personal care products from trusted domestic and international brands at the best prices. It said the grocery retailer is a trusted and dependable strong partner delivering a modern and relevant retail shopping experience for Nigerians and a more convenient way for people to get their everyday needs.

“Marketsquare, a member of the Sundry Group shall

maintain our vital contribution to the standard and quality of living in the area.

Purplemaryland, formerly known as Maryland Mall, is a refreshing lifestyle hub in the Maryland area of Kosofe/Ikeja in Lagos providing premium shopping, leisure, and entertainment experience.

Dubbed ‘’The Big Black Box’’, this masterpiece is home to over 40 shopping outlets, banks, restaurants, a supermarket and a state-of-the-art cinema facility all carefully selected with your leisure, entertainment and shopping needs in mind. Since its official opening in June 2016, Purplemaryland has welcomed over six million visitors boasting about 98 per cent occupancy from strong domestic and international retailers.

˾ ÙßÜÍÏ ̋

Money Market Indicators (in Percentage)

Marketsquare Replaces Shoprite at Purplemaryland assume Grocery Anchor position and commence trading at Purplemaryland with immediate effect. Purplemaryland’s decision is to adopt strategies and synergies earmarked on the need for continuous growth and performance of its current and future group assets. Our partnership with Marketsquare showcases a depth of synergy across Purplemaryland and Purplelekki, both Grade A landmark mixed-use assets. We will continue our approach of developing strong homegrown domestic alliances,” the statement noted.

With Marketsquare at Purplemaryland, the mall is able to consistently offer a wellrounded retail and entertainment experience, thereby ensuring we

(MILLION NAIRA)

JANUARY 2021

˾ ÙØÏÞËÜã ÙÖÓÍã ËÞÏ ̋ ͯͱϱ

OPEC DAILY BASKET PRICE AS AT THURSDAY, OCTOBER 7

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), Basra Light (Iraq), Kuwait Export (Kuwait), Es Sider (Libya), Bonny Light (Nigeria), Arab Light (Saudi Arabia), Murban (UAE) and Merey (Venezuela).

37

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 3, 2022 ˾ T H I S D AY

MARKET NEWS

Stock Market Down N98bn onSell-off in MTN, Zenith Bank, 31 Others Kayode Tokede Investors’ profit-taking in MTN Nigeria, Zenith Bank Plc, 31 other stocks down the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) by N98billion.

The overall market capitalisation value yesterday lost N98 billion to close at N25.289 trillion from N25.387trillion it opened for trading.

Consequently, the NGX AllShare Index declined by 180.5

basis points or 0.38 per cent, to close at 46,930.66 basis points from 47,111.21 basis points.

Sector performances were relatively mixed yesterday with the Banking (-1.39per cent) and Industrial (-0.17per cent) sectors closing southwards, while the Oil and Gas (+0.62per cent) sector closed positive and the Consumer Goods sector closed flat.

As gathered by THISDAY, Zenith Bank yesterday dropped by 3.11 per cent to close at 26.50,

P R I C E S MAIN BOARD

F O R DEALS

while UBA depreciated by 3.41 per cent to close at N8.50 per share. MTN Nigeria also down by 1.23 per cent to N200 as GTCO dropped by 1.07 per cent to close at N27.70 per share.

As measured by market breadth, market sentiment was negative as 33 stocks lost relative to 21 gainers. Ikeja Hotel recorded the highest price gain of 10 per cent to close at N1.43, per share.

Conoil followed with a gain of 9.96 per cent to close at N26.50,

S E C U R I T I E S MARKET PRICE

QUANTITY TRADED

VALUE TRADED ( N )

while Academy Press up by 9.71 per cent to close at N1.13, per share.

R.T. Briscoe Nigeria rose by 8.33 per cent to close at 26 kobo, while Linkage Assurance gained 6.52 per cent to close at 49 kobo, per share. On the other hand, Associated Bus Company led the losers’ chart by 8.33 per cent to close at 33 kobo, per share.

Courteville Business Solutions followed with a decline of 6.90 per cent to close at 54 kobo, while

T R A D E D MAIN BOARD

A S

Caverton Offshore Support Group lost 6.17 per cent to close at N1.52, per share.

May & Baker Nigeria declined 5.95 per cent to close at N4.27, while FTN Cocoa Processors shed 5.26 per cent to close at 36 kobo, per share.

However, the total volume traded increased by 27.36 per cent to 434.946 million units, valued at N6.260 billion, and exchanged in 5,878 deals. Transactions in the shares of Fidelity Bank topped

O F

the activity chart with 47.738 million shares valued at N136.724 million. Transnational Corporation of Nigeria (Transcorp) followed with 35.585 million shares worth N40.869 million, while Courteville Business Solutions traded 32.456 million shares valued at N17.749 million.

Zenith Bank traded 30.055 million shares valued at N799.515 million, while GTCO transacted 24.625 million shares worth N680.806 million.

0 2 / 0 2 / 2 0 2 2 DEALS

MARKET PRICE

QUANTITY TRADED

VALUE TRADED ( N)

38

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 3, 2022 • 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 1-Feb-2022, 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 N/A N/A N/A AIICO Balanced Fund N/A N/A N/A 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 7.71% Anchoria Equity Fund 142.51 144.30 4.28% Anchoria Fixed Income Fund 1.17 1.17 2.64% 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 21.05 21.69 3.79% ARM Discovery Balanced Fund 474.63 488.94 5.20% ARM Ethical Fund 39.25 40.44 0.76% ARM Eurobond Fund ($) 1.08 1.08 -0.09% ARM Fixed Income Fund 1.02 1.02 0.47% ARM Money Market Fund 1.00 1.00 8.53% AVA GLOBAL ASSET MANAGERS LIMITED info@avacapitalgroup.com Web: www.avacapitalgroup.com; Tel: 08069294653 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn AVA GAM Fixed Income Dollar Fund 108.53 108.53 6.71% AVA GAM Fixed Income Naira Fund 1,077.54 1,077.54 7.75% AXA MANSARD INVESTMENTS LIMITED investmentcare@axamansard.com Web: www.axamansard.com; Tel: +2341-4488482 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn AXA Mansard Equity Income Fund N/A N/A N/A AXA Mansard Money Market Fund N/A N/A N/A CAPITAL EXPRESS ASSET AND TRUST LIMITED info@capitalexpressassetandtrust.com Web: www.capitalexpressassetandtrust.com; Tel: +234 803 307 5048 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn CEAT Fixed Income Fund N/A N/A N/A Capital Express Balanced Fund (Formerly: Union Trustees Mixed Fund) N/A N/A N/A CARDINALSTONE ASSET MANAGEMENT LIMITED mutualfunds@cardinalstone.com Web: www.cardinalstoneassetmanagement.com ; Tel: +234 (1) 710 0433 4 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn CardinalStone Fixed Income Alpha Fund N/A N/A N/A CHAPELHILL DENHAM MANAGEMENT LTD investmentmanagement@chapelhilldenham.com Web: www.chapelhilldenham.com, Tel: +234 461 0691 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Chapelhill Denham Money Market Fund 100.00 100.00 9.47% Paramount Equity Fund 18.67 19.01 10.95% Women's Investment Fund 144.67 146.28 4.02% CORDROS ASSET MANAGEMENT LIMITED assetmgtteam@cordros.com Web: www.cordros.com, Tel: 019036947 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Cordros Money Market Fund 100.00 100.00 9.70% Cordros Milestone Fund 138.07 138.98 4.45% 110.92 110.92 0.43% Cordros Dollar Fund ($) CORONATION ASSEST MANAGEMENT investment@coronationam.com Web:www.coronationam.com , Tel: 012366215 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Coronation Money Market Fund 1.00 1.00 8.09% Coronation Balanced Fund 1.30 1.32 4.29% Coronation Fixed Income Fund 1.43 1.43 0.52% EDC FUNDS MANAGEMENT LIMITED mutualfundng@ecobank.com Web: www.ecobank.com Tel: 012265281 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn EDC Nigeria Money Market Fund Class A N/A N/A N/A EDC Nigeria Money Market Fund Class B N/A N/A N/A EDC Nigeria Fixed Income Fund N/A N/A N/A assetmanagement@emergingafricafroup.com EMERGING AFRICA ASSET MANAGEMENT LIMITED 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 8.76% Emerging Africa Bond Fund 1.01 1.01 -0.62% Emerging Africa Balanced Diversity Fund 1.02 1.02 -9.00% Emerging Africa Eurobond Fund 104.94 104.94 0.31% FBNQUEST ASSET MANAGEMENT LTD invest@fbnquest.com Web: www.fbnquest.com/asset-management; Tel: +234-81 0082 0082 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn 1,408.59 FBN Bond Fund 1,408.59 11.06% 182.25 FBN Balanced Fund 183.58 3.99% 116.59 FBN Halal Fund 116.59 8.86% 100.00 FBN Money Market Fund 100.00 9.13% FBN Dollar Fund (Retail) FBN Nigeria Smart Beta Equity Fund FCMB ASSET MANAGEMENT LIMITED Web: www.fcmbassetmanagement.com; Tel: +234 1 462 2596 Fund Name Legacy Money Market Fund Legacy Debt Fund Legacy Equity Fund Legacy USD Bond Fund FSDH ASSET MANAGEMENT LTD Web: www.fsdhaml.com; Tel: 01-270 4884-5; 01-280 9740-1 Fund Name Coral Balanced Fund Coral Income Fund Coral Money Market Fund

122.59 154.49

122.59 3.85% 156.56 2.55% fcmbamhelpdesk@fcmb.com

Bid Price 1.00 3.99 1.82 1.21

Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn 1.00 7.67% 3.99 -0.28% 1.86 4.59% 1.21 0.39% coralfunds@fsdhgroup.com

Bid Price N/A N/A N/A

Offer Price N/A N/A N/A

Yield / T-Rtn N/A N/A N/A

INVESTMENT ONE FUNDS MANAGEMENT LTD enquiries@investment-one.com Web: www.investment-one.com; Tel: +234 812 992 1045,+234 1 448 8888 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Abacus Money Market Fund 100.00 100.00 6.96% Vantage Balanced Fund 2.93 3.00 2.64% Vantage Guaranteed Income Fund 1.00 1.00 4.50% Kedari Investment Fund (KIF) 142.36 142.42 -8.51% Vantage Equity Income Fund (VEIF) - June Year End 1.29 1.34 2.82% Vantage Dollar Fund (VDF) - June Year End 1.07 1.07 4.40% 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: http://www.meristemwealth.com/funds/ ; Tel: +234 1-4488260 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Meristem Equity Market Fund 12.55 12.67 6.60% Meristem Money Market Fund 10.00 10.00 9.88% 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) N/A N/A N/A Norrenberger Money Market Fund (NMMF) N/A N/A N/A PAC ASSET MANAGEMENT LTD info@pacassetmanagement.com Web: www.pacassetmanagement.com/mutualfunds; Tel: +234 1 271 8632 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn PACAM Balanced Fund N/A N/A N/A PACAM Fixed Income Fund N/A N/A N/A PACAM Money Market Fund N/A N/A N/A PACAM Equity Fund N/A N/A N/A PACAM EuroBond Fund N/A N/A N/A 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 129.72 132.17 6.73% 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 1.08 1.08 10.03% 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 3,526.13 3,564.18 2.40% Stanbic IBTC Bond Fund 236.39 236.39 0.28% Stanbic IBTC Ethical Fund 1.34 1.36 3.85% Stanbic IBTC Guaranteed Investment Fund 314.61 314.61 0.41% Stanbic IBTC Iman Fund 246.00 249.66 1.61% Stanbic IBTC Money Market Fund 100.00 100.00 6.84% Stanbic IBTC Nigerian Equity Fund 11,373.05 11,532.16 2.37% Stanbic IBTC Dollar Fund (USD) 1.30 1.30 0.36% Stanbic IBTC Shariah Fixed Income Fund 117.28 117.28 0.27% Stanbic IBTC Enhanced Short-Term Fixed Income Fund 107.19 107.19 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 0.97 0.99 4.00% United Capital Balanced Fund 1.42 1.44 4.49% United Capital Wealth for Women Fund 1.14 1.16 4.69% United Capital Sukuk Fund 1.08 1.08 0.66% United Capital Fixed Income Fund 1.97 1.97 0.60% United Capital Eurobond Fund 122.91 122.91 0.47% United Capital Money Market Fund 1.00 1.00 8.10% 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 13.45 13.58 2.00% Zenith ESG Impact Fund 15.27 15.44 4.49% Zenith Income Fund 22.20 22.20 1.01% Zenith Money Market Fund 1.00 1.00 6.82%

REITS NAV Per Share

Yield / T-Rtn

124.98 54.65

10.62% 8.10%

Bid Price

Offer Price

Yield / T-Rtn

13.71 135.75 106.62 19.12 22.38

13.81 139.14 108.97 19.22 22.48

-1.80% 3.14% 2.90% 0.00% 0.00%

Fund Name SFS REIT Union Homes 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

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

funds@vetiva.com Bid Price

Offer Price

Yield / T-Rtn

4.46 5.71 18.47 1.00 20.74 160.56

4.56 5.81 18.67 1.00 20.94 162.56

18.33% 12.01% 7.49% 0.00% 6.94% 1.76%

NAV Per Share

Yield / T-Rtn

107.28

10.80%

INFRASTRUCTURE FUND Fund Name Chapel Hill Denham Nigeria Infrastructure Debt Fund

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

THURSDAY FEBRUARY 3, 2022 • T H I S D AY

39

40

THURSDAY FEBEUARY 3, 2022 •T H I S D AY

41

THURSDAY, ͻ˜ ͺ͸ͺͺ ˾ T H I S D AY

NEWS

OGUN/OYO JOINT SECURITY MEETING...

R-L: Ogun State Governor, Dapo Abiodun; Oyo State Governor, Seyi Makinde; Akarigbo of Remo Land, Oba Babatunde Ajayi; Alake of Egba Land, Oba Adedotun Gbadebo and Olu of Ilaro, Oba Kehinde Olugbenle during the Ogun/Oyo Joint Security meeting held at the Presidential Lodge, Abeokuta, Ogun State.

Report: Nigeria, Other African Start-ups Raised $477m Across 91 Deals in January Emmanuel Addeh in Abuja A report by Renaissance Capital yesterday indicated that Nigeria, South Africa, Egypt and Kenya regarded as the “Big Four” accounted for over 50 per cent of the $477 million raised by African start-ups in January this year.

Some of the hugest investors on the continent, the report stressed, included Instadeep, operating in the deeptech space, with $100 million, Copia in the retail sector with $50 million, mPharma in the health technology segment invested $35 million, while Asaak in the Fintech start-up space invested $30 million.

“African start-ups raised a total of $477million, up 35 per cent month-on-month and 116 per cent year-on-year, across 91 deals, also up 60 per cent m-o-m in January,” it noted.

Across verticals, the report stated that Fintech accounted for 27 per cent of the funds raised but faced stiff competition from Deeptech, buoyed by Tunisia-based Instadeep’s $100mn Series B and Retail-tech, which accounted for 21 per cent and 18 per cent of

total funds raised YtD, respectively.

On a geographical basis, the big four (Nigeria, South Africa, Egypt and Kenya), the report said, saw their perennial leadership position challenged, as they combined to account for a little over 50 per cent of the funds raised.

This happened even as Tunisia saw its largest singular fundraise ever, giving it a 21 per cent share.

The report also examined global changes in the price of cash and implications for tech/fintech valuations, stating reasons why it expects deal-making to remain frenetic.

The firm stated that as it noted in its 2022 Africa tech/fintech outlook note, the compression in public market valuations was already feeding into private market valuations —at least in developed markets.

“We think it is important to contextualise what is happening - the cash pile remains high (the global dry powder in private equity, VC and SPACs as at mid-December 2021 exceeded $900bn, with 1 per cent focused on Africa).

“But the price of that cash is

Buhari Seeks Senate Confirmation for Petroleum Regulatory Authority, NDIC Nominees Sunday Aborisade in Abuja

The Senate yesterday received a formal request from President Muhammadu Buhari to confirm five nominees as executive directors of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority.

The request was contained in a letter dated January 31, 2022, and read by the Senate President, Ahmad Lawan, during plenary.

The letter reads in part, “In accordance with the provision of section 41(2) of the Petroleum Industry Act 2021, I am pleased to forward for confirmation by the Senate, the appointment of the under-listed five (5) nominees as Executive Directors of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority.”

Those listed by the president included: Francis Alabo Ogaree, Executive Director, Hydrocarbon Processing Plants, Installations and Transportation Infrastructure; and Dr. Mustapha Lamorde, Executive Director, Health, Safety, Environment and Community.

Others were Mansur Kuliya, Executive Director, Midstream and Downstream Gas Infrastructure Fund; Bashir Sadiq, Executive Director, Corporate Services and Administration; and Dr. Zainab Gobir, Executive Director, Economic Regulations and Strategic Planning.

The president added that the request for the “expeditious” confirmation of the nominees was made, “in order to fast track the effective takeoff and decision making in the newly established Regulatory Authority.”

In a related development, the president in another letter requested the confirmation of Mrs. Chidinma Osuji as an Executive Director of the Nigerian Deposit Insurance Corporation.

The letter was also read by the Senate President on the floor at the start of plenary.

The president explained in the letter that the request for the confirmation of the nominee was made in compliance with Section 5(4) of the Nigerian Deposit Insurance Corporation Act, 2010.

what is rising, hurting valuations across public and private markets as access to cash potentially becomes tighter over time,” it said.

It added: “Considering the above, we expect deal-making to remain frenetic and, in an African context, to see more investor sensitivity towards actual business delivery versus targets.

“This is with more pressure on larger and later-stage funding

rounds, as valuation sensitivity tends to be much lower at earlier stages,” it pointed out.

The African tech ecosystem, it stated, is also still relatively nascent in its development, with only eight unicorns as of FY21, representing less than 1 per cent of the 959 global unicorn count.

“That said, in line with our 2022 expectations, January saw the continuation of Africa-focused VC

fundraises, including TLcom Capital and Norrsken22,” the firm said.

Quoting Prequin, a Londonbased financial research and intelligence firm, Renaissance Capital, said that as at October 2021, there were 120 Africa-focused private capital funds in the market looking to raise $17.6 billion, with VC representing $2.8 billion.

Also, it noted that more global VC funds are increasingly paying

more attention to Africa, as for example Fintech VC, QED investors, recently announced two senior hires to focus on Africa. “ In Nigeria, we continue to hear that after a two-year stall, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has been issuing more licences to Fintechs over the past few months, which implies an even more competitive dynamic in the year ahead,” it added.

Saudi Arabia Opens Opportunities for Nigerian Techpreneurs with Startup Passport Emma Okonji in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia African tech startups, including those from Nigeria, will benefit from the recently launched Startup Passport initiative by Digital Cooperation Organisation (DCO), a Saudi Arabian-based organisation.

Startup Passport makes it quicker, easier and less expensive for startups to do business across borders, opening up potentially lucrative markets in Africa.

DCO launched the initiative yesterday in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, the venue of the maiden edition of LEAP, a technology conference and exhibition organised by the Ministry of Communications and Technology, Saudi Arabia.

During the launch, DCO Secretary-General, Deema Al-Yahya, explained that the Startup Passport would provide expedited entry and support in the markets of eight DCO countries.

Al-Yahya said the initiative would be rolled out first in Saudi Arabia and Nigeria before extending it to other African countries.

The founding member nations of DCO are Bahrain, Jordan, Kuwait, Nigeria, Oman, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia.

The DCO is focused on 10 areas (access to connectivity, cross-border data flows, ethical use of technology, digital identity management, data pooling and user privacy, mobility of skilled ICT labour, accelerating startups and SMEs, adoption of emerging technologies, alignment on digital taxation and cooperation on Research and Development (R&D) and innovation).

Al-Yahya said the initiative would reduce administrative and financial burdens and accelerate corporate registration and other processes for entrepreneurs.

“Through this passport, they

will be able to enter the markets of other DCO member states. This will further our mission of coordinating efforts and sharing expertise to grow the digital economy for the benefit of all nations,” she said.

She explained that during LEAP 2022, the DCO also endorsed Elevate50, an initiative launched to support 50,000 small to mediumsized enterprises over the next three years to sell their products online.

The DCO secretary-general noted that the inaugural LEAP was set to become the world’s largest debut technology platform, spotlighting the entire innovation ecosystem, connecting pioneers and disruptors with business and government leaders, entrepreneurs, investors, and more experience and learn about the technologies of the future.

About 10 Nigerian startups are billed to pitch with others from other regions for the $600,000 startup support grant.

On the sideline of the event, Aramco Ventures, the venture capital arm of Saudi Aramco, announced the formal launch of its $1 billion diversified growth fund, called Prosperity7.

The fund backs exceptional entrepreneurs, across the globe, including Nigeria, to build transformative companies and solve some of the world’s toughest problems.

Prosperity7 provides its portfolio companies with the funding and connections to scale and enter new markets to attain global reach.

President and CEO of Saudi Aramco, Amin Nasser, said: “Prosperity7 will connect the dots through big ideas, top talents and disruptive technologies from around the world as we look beyond the energy value chain to areas like healthcare, education and blockchain, for viable solutions to the world’s most pressing challenges.”

With Saudi Arabia’s technology

sector said to be worth more than $40 billion, the new investments announced at LEAP 2022 are part of the kingdom’s ongoing plans to transform into an innovation-based economy.

Saudi Minister of Communications and Information Technology Abdullah Alswaha said: "Investments and initiatives are manifestation of the kingdom’s push toward the growth of the digital economy for the greater good of people, the planet and the prosperity of the MENA region.

They mark the next level of growth for the digital economy in Saudi Arabia, the MENA region’s largest technology and digital market.”

Alswaha said Saudi Arabia remained the regional leader for technology talent, creating over 318,000 jobs in the technology sector in the kingdom and encouraging participation of women in the ICT workforce that has jumped to 28 per cent in recent years.

In Gun Duel, Combined Security Operatives Kill Three Kidnappers along Benin-Ekpoma Road Adibe Emenyonu in Benin City Security operatives comprising police, army and local vigilante men yesterday killed three kidnappers along the Benin/Ekpoma road, in Edo State.

The incident occurred at Okhuo, a community close to Ehor, headquarters of Uhunmwode local government area of the state.

The rampaging kidnappers had reportedly taken over the ever busy highway on Tuesday morning, but were driven into the forest by security operatives who engaged them in gun battle.

Travellers plying the road were held for several hours while the security operatives engaged the hoodlums.

It was gathered that in the cause of the gun duel, an unidentified man who was driving a Lexus SUV was hit by stray bullet on his shoulder.

Not deterred, the gunmen were said to have appeared on the highway yesterday morning, laying ambush for travellers plying the road but met a combined team of security operatives who came to the rescue of the motorists, as they engaged the hoodlums.

The hoodlums however succumbed to the superior power of the security men who neutralised three of them, while others escaped into the forest with gunshot injuries.

The State Police Command Spokesman, SP Kontongs Bello, confirmed the incident in a phone interview.

He said: “It's true sir, it happened yesterday (Tuesday) at 0620hrs, Okhuo in Ehor area, but the combined team of the police and the military foiled the attempt, nobody was kidnapped, one person, a young man driving Lexus 350 was hit in his car in his shoulder.

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COURTESY VISIT TO OSADEBE HOUSE...

L-R: Edo State Commissioner for Education, Dr. Joan Oviawe; Chairman of Council, National Commission for Colleges of Education (NCCE), His Royal Highness Prof. Aduwa Ogiegbaen; Edo State Governor, Mr. Godwin Obaseki; NCCE Executive Secretary, Prof. Paulinus C. Okwelle, and the Director, College of Education, Mrs. Anyaoku Onyeka, during a courtesy visit, at the Government House in Benin City... yesterday

CNN President, Jeff Zucker Resigns over Sexual Relationship with Key Lieutenant, Allison Gollust CNN Worldwide President, Jeff Zucker, the influential news executive who reshaped the iconic network yesterday announced his resignation from his position with immediate effect.

Zucker's stunning announcement came less than two months after he fired prime time anchor Chris Cuomo for improperly advising his brother, then-New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, about how to address sexual misconduct allegations.

"As part of the investigation into Chris Cuomo's tenure at CNN, I was asked about a consensual relationship with my closest colleague, someone I have worked with for

more than 20 years," Zucker told employees in a memo.

CNN quoted him to have added: "I acknowledged the relationship evolved in recent years. I was required to disclose it when it began but I didn't. I was wrong.

As a result, I am resigning today."

Zucker did not name his colleague, but the relationship was with Allison Gollust, his key lieutenant for the last two decades. Gollust is remaining at CNN. Zucker and Gollust began working together at NBC in 1998.

They rose through the ranks at the network together, and when Zucker joined CNN, Gollust was among

his first hires.

Just before coming to CNN Gollust had worked briefly as communications director for Andrew Cuomo.

She is currently executive vice president and chief marketing officer at CNN. In a statement of her own, Gollust said, "Jeff and I have been close friends and professional partners for over 20 years. Recently, our relationship changed during COVID. I regret that we didn't disclose it at the right time. I'm incredibly proud of my time at CNN and look forward to continuing the great work we do every day."

News of Zucker's resignation sent shockwaves inside CNN and across the industry. CNN employees had no idea what was coming before Zucker's email landed in their inboxes shortly after 11 a.m. ET. WarnerMedia is in the process of merging with Discovery. Many media observers thought Zucker was in line for a promotion once that deal was complete.

That was not the only reason this was a pivotal time for the network: CNN plans to launch an ambitious streaming service, CNN+, in the spring, and it also needs to roll out a new 9 p.m. program to replace Cuomo.

In an email to staff Wednesday afternoon, CEO of CNN parent WarnerMedia, Jason Kilar, said three senior executives would lead CNN until the merger with Discovery is complete: Michael Bass, Amy Entelis, and Ken Jautz.

"I have full confidence that Michael, Amy and Ken, as interim heads for News, will provide the leadership this organization needs during this time of transition," Kilar said, adding that employees will "hear more" from the three executives "in the coming days."

Michael Olugbode in Abuja

foundational literacy, numeracy, and social and emotional learning skills.

According to a statement yesterday, the skills would enable children and youth affected by crisis and conflict to progress to higher levels of education, training, or engagement in the workforce.

The statement revealed that

USAID awarded the $25 million activity to the International Rescue Committee, leading a consortium comprising Plan International, the American University in Nigeria, Inclusive Development Partners, and Restoration of Hope Initiative.

In her remarks, USAID Acting Mission Director, Katie Donohoe, said: “The programme will

strengthen the ability of education authorities in Borno and Yobe states to meet the challenge of rebuilding a ravaged school system and provide learners with a chance for a quality future.”

The education crisis in northeast Nigeria remains an obstacle to strengthening resilience, development, and peace in the region.

Children and youth in Borno and Yobe face protracted conflict, forced displacement, economic uncertainty, food insecurity, and the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.

These factors contribute to widespread poverty, lost livelihoods, and years of education loss. According to the National Bureau of Statistics, the vast majority of the 10 million out-of-school children live in Borno, Yobe, and Adamawa states. More than half of them have not received any formal education.

Chinedu Eze

Zucker, with Gollust on his leadership team, took over CNN in 2013, at a time when industry observers said the network was facing an identity crisis.

Zucker revamped the network's programming. A veteran of NBC, where he climbed from a producer on the "Today" show to president of the entire network, Zucker brought an eye for news and talent. He also brought a hands-on management style and gained the trust and respect of talent and staffers throughout the network.

Emirates to Resume Flights USAID Launches $25m Programme in Borno, Yobe to Nigeria from February 5

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has launched a $25 million Opportunities to Learn Activity in Borno and Yobe states.

This was to ensure that outof-school children and youth in north-east Nigeria are able to gain

#EndSARS: FG, Duke, Imoke, Others Lost N45bn in C/River, Says Senate Panel Sunday Aborisade in Abuja The Senate Joint Committee on National Security and Intelligence, Defence, Police Affairs,Judiciary, Human Rights and Legal Matters, disclosed yesterday that some private individuals and the federal government lost properties worth over N45 billion during the 2020 #EndSARS protests in Cross River State.

This was contained in a 69-page report of the joint panel on the mayhem, which was visited on the ancient city of Calabar during the #EndSARS Protests between October 23 and 24, 2020, obtained

by THISDAY. The Joint Committee disclosed that the financial value of the vandalised property and items submitted by the affected persons and verified by the Committee set up by the Governor Ben Ayade, was among the total sum of N73bn lost by the victims of the mayhem, including federal agencies in the state.

The Senate after considering the panel's report, however,

resolved to transmit the cost of N34,255,427,822.44bn and the N10,927,321,757.50bn to the Cross River State Government as amount to defray the cost of rebuilding and reconstructing vandalised and looted property belonging to the private individuals and federal government agencies, respectively.

The individual beneficiaries were former governors Donald Duke (N200m) and Lyel Imoke (N506.9m), Senator Victor Ndoma-Egba SAN (N1.5bn), Senator Bassey Henshaw (N9.3bn), Senator Gershom Bassey (N4bn), Hon Eta Mbora (N150m) and other victims (N12bn).

The Senate, after considering the panel's report, advised the federal government to evolve and implement holistic reforms in the Nigerian Police Force.

The upper chamber said employing more able-bodied personnel, and injecting more financial resources for the purpose of procuring arms, ammunition and other policing gadgets, as well as undertaking regular training would ensure efficient policing in the country.

Chairman of the Joint Committee, Senator Ibrahim Gobir, said investigative hearings by the committee revealed that the violence in Calabar metropolis during the protest led to the looting and destruction of private and government-owned properties.

Emirates has announced that it would restart flights from Dubai to Nigeria from February 5 2022.

The airline stated that it would operate to and from Abuja and Lagos with daily flights, providing more choice, comfort and enhanced connectivity for travellers connecting to Dubai and over 120 destinations.

Emirates in a statement made available to THISDAY said it would operate to Abuja with EK 785 and 786. EK 785 would depart Dubai at 1100hrs, arriving in Abuja at 1540hrs (3:40 pm). The return flight, EK 786 would take off from Abuja at 1900 (7:00 pm), arriving in Dubai at 0435hrs the next day.

Emirates flight EK 783 to Lagos would depart Dubai at 1030hrs, arriving in Lagos at 1540hrs (3:40 pm). The return flight EK 784

would depart Lagos at 1810hrs (6:10 pm), arriving in Dubai at 0415hrs the next day.

All flights can be booked on emirates.com via travel agents.

“All passengers travelling from Nigeria with Dubai as their final destination require a 48-hour PCR test.

“Passengers must present a valid negative Covid-19 PCR test certificate with a QR code for a test conducted at an approved facility, and validity must be calculated from the time the sample was collected. Upon arrival in Dubai, passengers will undergo an additional Covid-19 PCR test and remain in self-quarantine until the results of the test are received.

“Passengers travelling from Nigeria and transiting in Dubai are required to follow the rules and requirements of their final destination,” the airline said.

FG Launches Nigeria Integrated Energy Planning Tool Today The federal government will today launch The Integrated Energy Planning Tool in collaboration with Sustainable Energy for All (SEforALL).

According to a statement signed by SEforAll’s Director of Communications, Sherry Kenny, the launch, which would be performed

by Nigeria's Vice President, Prof.

Yemi Osinbajo, would be held with support from the Global Energy Alliance for People and Planet and The Rockefeller Foundation.

The new data-driven, interactive platform, the statement explained, would support the country’s ambi-

tion of achieving SDG7 – universal energy access – by 2030.

The Nigeria Integrated Energy Planning Tool, powered by extensive geospatial modeling and layers of data, is the first truly integrated energy planning platform that incorporates the requirements for universal residential electrification, institutional electrification, powering of productive uses, and access to clean cooking.

Highlighting the importance of The Tool, the statement stated, would promote a holistic approach to achieving SDG7 and energy development while also supporting

local manufacturing, expanding local solar technology value chains, and potentially creating thousands of new jobs in Nigeria’s energy sector.

The interactive Tool, which gives energy developers and investors the data-driven information they need before entering the market, could also provide a blue print for other African countries to follow ultimately helping to ensure that everyone on the continent has access to affordable and sustainable energy.

The interactive platform would provide low-cost, dynamic and

data-driven intelligence for a range of stakeholders, including the Government and private sector, to identify the mix of technologies and spending required to achieve universal energy access Alongside the Vice President, there would also be other global speakers at the virtual event, including the United Nations Deputy Secretary-General, Amina Mohammed; CEO, Special Representative to the UN Secretary-General for Sustainable Energy for All, Damilola Ogunbiyi and President of The Rockefeller Foundation, Dr. Rajiv J. Shah.

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COURTESIY VISIT TO ABDULRAZAQ...

L-R: Flight Lieutenant Ata Uwuite; Civil Military Coordinator Adeniyi Mathew Tunde; Commander 303 Medium Airlift Group (MAG) Ilorin Air Commodore Garba Ibrahim Jibia; Kwara State Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq; Commanding officer base service wing Flight Lieutenant Benjamin Edoeje Shuaib; and Senior Special Assistant on Security Alhaji Muyideen Aliyu; during a courtesy visit by the Commander 303 MAG to Government House, Ilorin, on Tuesday.

Collective Responsibility Can End HIV Transmission, Says Wigwe The Group Managing Director, Access Bank Plc, Dr. Herbert Wigwe has said ending HIV in the country was possible if Nigerians took responsibility collectively.

Wigwe said this at the launch

of $100 million HIV Trust Fund of Nigeria in Abuja.

He urged the private sector to rise up to the occasion by working in collaboration with government in area of ownership in sustaining

the HIV response.

"However, the original emergency Plan to fight AIDS must transform into a Sustained Response that prevents new infections and ensures those on

treatment stay on treatment.

"The era of sustainability demands that Africans take responsibility and ownership for the end of AIDS in Africa," he said.

Wigwe who said Nigeria cur-

Ayu Vows to Deal with Petition Writers Chuks Okocha in Abuja The National Chairman, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Iyorchia Ayu has vowed to deal with petition writers within Osun State PDP whom he accused of spreading falsehood and disinformation about contenders for offices in the state.

Ayu, who was visibly angry over the activities of those he called saboteurs said the party would henceforth treat such conduct as anti-party activities

adding that perpetrators would face disciplinary action.

The party Chairman noted that the said petition writers put up reports to witch-hunt, adding that most times such petition are largely without foundation.

He vowed to enforce discipline within the party.

“We are going to be firm in dealing with petitions writers whose stock in trade is to falsely de-market other aspirants. We will inaugurate disciplinary committee of the party at all levels and we

will ensure displine is enforced henceforth", Ayu said.

The party Chairman said Osun PDP has all the chances to win the upcoming governorship election and would therefore not allow some few self-serving individuals to destroy the chances of the party at the poll.

He noted that the party had treated many petitions during the screening process but found them to without merit, adding that it is unacceptable for party members to deceive party leadership all in

a bid to damage the names of opponents in a political contest.

The Governor of Delta State , Senator Ifeanyi Okowa told the meeting that the Osun Congress was approved by the National convention while the National Legal Adviser denied assertions that a court order at Ile Ife nullified the Osun Congress held under Hon Sunday Bisi.

But at the end of the meeting, the NWC set up a special committee to address all issues raised at the meeting.

rently has the third largest HIV epidemic statistics worldwide, said over 80 per cent of the funding had been mainly from international donors.

According to him, the Nigerian private sector currently contributes about two per cent of total funds allocated to HIV. He urged the private sector to collectively join hands in the ownership of the funding to eradicate HIV in Nigeria, asserting the readiness of Access bank to supporting improved health system.

"Access Bank is not known for complacency. We are known for our drive for financial and economic growth, for leadership in national health issues.

"Particularly the national response to COVID, and we are known for our commitment to sustainability, especially relating

to strengthening our national health system.

"With less than half of people living with HIV have access to treatment or adequate care, Access Bank partnered with other private sector organizations here from the Nigerian Business Coalition Against AIDS (NiBUCAA) "To educate our staff, raise public awareness and support individuals living with HIV/AIDS." Wigwe explained that the bank had also conceived of the national HIV Trustfund, as a N50 billion private sector-led mechanism to pool our resources to provide significant sustainable inputs required to scale up the impact of the AIDS response in Nigeria.

He expressed the commitment of Access Bank and other private sectors to ensuring that mothers were tested and drugs provided to end mother to child transmission.

BUHARI FORESEES END TO INSURGENCY, SENATE WANTS PRESIDENT TO DEPLOY FIGHTER JETS TO FLUSH OUT TERRORISTS to avoid acts capable of building undue tension and destroying the country and her citizenry in the march towards 2023 general elections.

Abubakar advised politicians seeking election into political offices at all levels to, "adhere strictly to the rules of the game," adding that they should refrain from the deployment of youths who are the future leaders to serve as their political thugs," which he said would amount to destroying the future leaders of the country.

The former Head of State charged the youths not to, "accept the offer by personal gain seeking politicians to engage in self-destruction," but seek for better opportunities which can be provided if they worked towards choosing or voting for leaders who would work for the collective interest of all Nigerians not minding their religious, tribal or political inclinations.

Send Fighter Jets to Flush Out Terrorists from Hideouts, Senate Urges FG

The Senate has urged the federal government to, as a matter of urgency, send fighter jets to flush out terrorists in their hideouts who are behind the kidnappings and killings of Nigerians.

The call was made yesterday during plenary in resolutions

reached following a point of order raised on the “Urgent need for the federal government to take drastic actions to bring to an end the act of banditry and kidnapping in Faskari Local Government Area.”

The point of order was raised

by Senator Bello Mandiya (Katsina South) Relying on Order 41 and 51 of the Senate Rules, Mandiya noted that the act of banditry and kidnapping had become a daily incidence in Katsina with huge consequence of loss of lives, means of livelihood and displacement of communities.

The lawmaker recalled that, “on Sunday, 31st January, 2022, gunmen struck Ruwan Godiya a Community in Faskari Local Government Area of Katsina State where 38 members of the community were kidnapped.”

He stated that the federal government had made frantic effort in curbing the menace by setting up Operation Sharan Daji and Inter-Agency Task Force to tackle cases of banditry, cattle rustling and kidnapping in Katsina States.

“Worried that the continuous security challenges and related attacks by bandits on towns, villages and communities in Faskari Local Government Area have meted untold hardship on the people and have subjected the affected areas under serious survival threat; and further worried that if this menace is not drastically and promptly addressed, the consequence is going to be huge on food sufficiency since

the affected communities are mostly farmers,” Mandiya said.

In his contribution, Senator Kabir Abdullahi Barkiya (Katsina Central), faulted the inability of the military to contain the situation despite several calls for it to act.

The Senate President, Ahmad Lawan, in his remarks said the repeated cases of kidnappings and killings makes it imperative for the military to, “wake up” to protect Nigerians.

He wondered why full scale action was yet to be carried out by the military in spite of increased funding for security in the 2022 budget by the Executive and National Assembly.

He said: “The expectation of the Senate is that there is supposed to be a remarkable difference in success in terms of the fight against insurgence, banditry and militancy in Nigeria.

“The military is getting better funding from the government and what we expect is to see an improvement in output. I know the resources are not enough, but recently for one and a half years, government has upscaled the level of funding for our military.

“Secondly, when we declared the bandits as terrorists, my understanding was they are going to be dealt with ruthlessly now. I wonder whether that is the case.

“The military like some of our colleagues have said, need to wake up. We want to see a difference because we have made a difference

in terms of funding. I know funding alone will not be enough, but funding can make a difference and we expect a difference in outcome.

“Thirdly, we need to mobilise our citizens, because when a hundred people are kidnapped and abducted, they are not taken by aircrafts, they are taken by motor bikes, pass through the villages and possibly towns, how come do we then say that nobody has seen something?

“We need our citizens to be part and parcel of our security architecture. In fact, there’s no way we can achieve better security for this country without the participation of the citizens in the fight against insecurity.”

Accordingly, the Senate urged the security agencies to comb all known hide outs of the kidnappers in a bid to rescue the 38 persons abducted by the gunmen in Ruwan Godiya.

It also called on the federal government to send enough military personnel and fighter jets to apprehend the bandits and restore normalcy in the affected areas.

Senator Laments Boko Haram Killings of 32 Farmers, 11 Security Men in Niger

Also yesterday, the Chairman, Senate Services Committee, Senator Sani Musa condemned the separate attacks on Shiroro and Paikoro local government areas of Niger State between Friday and Saturday

last week. The All Progressives Congress, Senator representing Niger East, said the fresh attacks carried out by elements of Boko Haram and the Islamic State in West Africa, led to the killing of 11 security agents and several peasant farmers.

He said they were attacked and wounded with wanton destruction of property, just as residents of the areas said at least 32 persons were killed overall across the affected communities.

In a statement in Abuja, Musa who described the massive killing and wanton destruction of property as too many, disheartening, sad and unfortunate, called on the armed forces to re-strategise and double their operational methods.

The APC National Chairmanship aspirant reiterated his call on the Federal Government to come to the rescue of the state.

He also called on residents of the affected communities in Galadiman Kogo and Kuchi in Shiroro and Munya local government areas to always provide security agencies with credible information in order to nip the menace in the bud.

Musa urged the federal government, security agencies and the state government should not leave any stone unturned in their efforts at ridding Niger State of crime.

Musa also called on the Inspector General of Police, Usman Alkali and other security agencies to intensify their efforts by investigating the masterminds of the killings and

make them face the full wrath of the law in order to serve as a deterrent to others.

Meanwhile, the Concerned Shiroro Youths of Niger State has rejected the claim by the Niger State Government that villagers' complacency and lack of pro activeness was the reason behind the Galadima Kogo massacre describing governments position as, “an outright insult to our collective sensibilities."

A statement jointly signed by Sani Abubakar Yusuf Kokki and Bello Ibrahim Co- Conveners of the Concerned Shiroro Youths said the claim by government was also, "a futile attempt to cover up the visible mess perpetrated by Government officials."

Insecurity: Nigeria Heading Towards System Collapse, Say Northern Media Owners

In a related development, the Northern Broadcast Media Owners Association (NBMOA) has decried the deteriorating security situation in the north, warning that the country was heading towards a system collapse.

The acting Chairman of the association, Abdulahi Yelwa disclosed this yesterday, at a press conference in Abuja, where he announced that the association would commence media advocacy and crusade against some of the ills confronting the north and the nation.

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Suspected Gunmen who Robbed 96 Houses Nabbed in Ekiti Victor Ogunje in Ado Ekiti The Ekiti State Police Command has arrested two suspects who belonged to a five-man criminal gang of armed robbers that had robbed about 96 houses in Ado Ekiti metropolis as well as raped and killed innocent citizens.

The some members of the criminal gang that was paraded yesterday at the Command’s headquarters in Ado Ekiti.

They included , Giwa Tosin and Adegoke Joshua while Solomon Noah, Oguntoye Tajudeen and Olatuyi Tunde escaped from the scene with the gang’s operational guns.

While being paraded, the Police Public Relations Officers, Ekiti Command, Sunday Abutu, stated that the suspects allegedly confessed that they formed the gang and started robbing with arms immediately after the disbandment of Special Anti-Robbery Squad in October, 2020.

“They stated that they were responsible for the armed robbery incidents on innocent citizens of Ekiti State

in about 96 houses within AdoEkiti and its environs such as Embassy Inland, Ado-Ekiti in 2021, Ajebamidele Area in 2021.

“At Niran students hostel,

along Poly road, Ado-Ekiti in 2021, they raped two female students, at Agogo Community in Ilupeju Avenue, Ado-Ekiti in 2021, they killed one Joseph

Blessing who was a night guard.

“They confessed that in Ilawe-Ekiti in December 2021, they killed one Apata Olabode

Francis, a POS operator. In Ajebamidele Area of Ado-Ekiti on January, 2022, they raped a lady. “The confessions of the suspects led to the arrest of

Ayo Odeyemi in Ijare town, Ondo State who made and sold four locally made pistol barrel guns to them for their operations.”

WELCOME TO ENUGU…

L-R: Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi of Enugu State, and the Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of Fidelity Bank Plc , Nneka Onyeali-Ikpe, when she visited the governor in Enugu…yesterday

Zulum: Over 90% of Repentant National Social Security Commission Bill Boko Haram Terrorists Have Scales Second Reading in Senate Turned over New Leaf Sunday Aborisade in Abuja

Deji Elumoye in Abuja Governor Babagana Zulum of Borno State has disclosed that no fewer than 90 per cent of terrorist elements who had a change of heart and repented from the life of crimes in the State have actually turned over new leaf.

Zulum stated this yesterday while speaking with newsmen after the inauguration of the Presidential Committee on the Repatriation, Return and Resettlement of Internally Displaced Persons, by President Muhammadu Buhari at the State House, Abuja.

Kaduna State governor, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai, had late last year stressed that terrorists do not genuinely repent from their ways, advising that terrorists must be forcefully dealt with and be eliminated.

The Borno Governor, however, was of different opinion as he said Boko Haram and ISWAP terrorist groups that have so far come out to surrender to government have genuinely shown sign of remorse. he repentant terrorists are already giving the government the necessary support.

Asked if he was confident that the terrorists were truly repentant, Zulum said: “Hundred per cent confident. Yes. While no process is perfect in the entire world, so far, so good, the process has yielded positive results.

“I believe, over 90 per cent of those that have surrendered are doing well and have given the government the necessary support. They are also calling their colleagues in the bush to come out and join the process of peacebuilding.

A Bill seeking to empower vulnerable Nigerians with social security benefits passed second reading in the Senate yesterday. It was sponsored by the Deputy President of the Senate, Senator Ovie Omo-Agege.

The bill sought to establish the National Social Security

Commission.

The agency would regulate, manage and administer social security benefits to eligible Nigeria.

Tagged: ‘”Nigerian Social Security Commission (Establishment, etc.) Bill, 2022 (SB 899)’”, the proposed legislation would provide safety net for poor, weak and vulnerable Nigerians.

Omo-Agege said the bill would help Nigerians with medical conditions, those incapacitated to work, and the unemployed citizens.

He also said that senior citizens above 70 years, families that had lost their breadwinners, and widows who are incapable of selfsupport among others, would receive periodic social security

benefits from the Commission.

The Delta Central lawmaker added that the National Social Security Commission bill aims to reduce poverty.

He said, NASSCOM would provide a strong social safety net for vulnerable groups and serve as a model of governance reform anchored on the principles of transparency and accountability.

NSCDC Withdraws Personnel from Lawmaker for Sponsoring Bill to Scrap Agency Michael Olugbode in Abuja The Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC)has withdrawn attached officers to Hon. Shina Abiola Peter following his sponsoring a bill at the National Assembly seeking the scrapping of the paramilitary agency.

The lawmaker representing lseyin/ltesiwaju/ Kajola/lwajowa Federal Constituency in Oyo State at the House of Representatives,

Shina Peller, has proposed scrapping of the NSCDC and the taking up of its responsibilities by the Nigeria Police Force. The lawmaker made the proposal to the House via the National Security And Civil Defence Corps (Repeal and Transition) Bill 2022, which passed first reading on Tuesday.

The bill seeks to repeal the National Security and Civil Defence Corps (Amendment) Act 2007, establish a transition

management committee to superintend over the NSCDC, develop regulations and implement procedures for the transfer of assets and personnel of the corps to the Nigeria Police Force, and other related matters.

In the bill, Peller noted that “fragmentation of security resources across multiple competing agencies is counterproductive.”

The lawmakers also noted that

the mandate of the NSCDC “has now become a duplication of the Nigeria Police Force,” adding, “this has led to avoidable conflicts.”

Peller stated: “Every single function of the NSCDC can be done or is being done by the Nigeria Police Force,” while citing “waste of scarce resources,” stressing that the annual budget of the NSCDC is almost N100 billion.

and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) has paid a total of N22.7 billion bridging fund, an element of petrol subsidy, to transporters of petroleum products since its establishment.

The Chief Executive Officer of NMDPRA, Mr. Farouk Ahmed, disclosed this yesterday in Lagos,

stakeholders for the discussion of relevant issues affecting the sector.

Aside the N22.7 billion already paid from December till date, Ahmed said additional N30 billion would be paid to the transporters this week.

He said the bridging fund claim was one of the major

the agency had surpassed the whole payment made in 2021 before it took over.

Ahmed explained: “Another area of concern is the transporters and payment of their bridging funds and since the last meeting of December, we have paid about N12.7 billion to the transporters.

“Last week Monday, we paid

bid to give them respite because of the difficulties they are facing with the economic realities.

“When we came in, we wanted to ensure that we do our due diligence before payment was done. What we paid in December has surpassed the whole of the payment made in 2021.”

2023: Nigeria Needs Tried, Pays Petroleum Products Transporters N22.7bn Tested Individual as President, NMDRA at the end of the quarterly issues that were discussed and another N10 billion and this Peter Uzoho meeting of the oil and gas addressed at the meeting, adding week, we are paying another Says Atedo Peterside The Nigerian Midstream midstream and downstream that the money paid so far by N30 billion to transporters in a Alex Enumah in Abuja

The Founder of Stanbic IBTC Bank Plc, Mr. Atedo Atedo Peterside, has said that for the nation to move forward, the people need to ensure that they elect individuals who have been tried and tested into public office.

According to Peterside, it is high time Nigeria emulated developed nations like the United States of America who carry out a thorough background checks on all those seeking public office, particularly, the exalted office of president.

The retired banker spoke yesterday night while responding to questions on zoning on the ARISE News Channel.

He said: “It is important you

have people who are tried and tested, people who understand that there is more to Nigeria than their own personal interest or ethnic group.”

According to him, if Nigeria must avoid a situation where elected officials get into office only to get surrounded by their own people alone and make the nation more disunited and tensed up, then the people must carry out a background check on contenders of public office.

“When we are talking of the kind of leaders we need, we have to go to the basic, we must do background checks, there should be no surprises,” he said, adding that the people need to ensure that only people who have shown capacity, competent and integrity, as well as people who have identified leadership style are elected into office.

Makinde, Abiodun Meet, Say Security Critical to Socio-economic Devt Governor of Oyo State, ‘Seyi Makinde has vowed to work with his Ogun State counterpart, Prince Dapo Abiodun counterpart to end banditry and kidnapping in boundaries shared by the two states. This followed the inaugural joint security meeting held by the two states in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital yesterday.

The two governors, who first spoke while flagging off the joint meeting, emphasised the centrality of security to the achievement of socio-economic development.

Governor Makinde, while speaking maintained that the two states decided to initiate the collaborative effort because of the growing rate of crimes such as kidnapping and banditry.

Makinde said: “We came here to initiate a collaborative effort between our two states because it is the right thing to do and absolutely important we do it. In recent times, we have seen cases of kidnapping. So, if it is not a big concern to the leadership of the two states, then we won’t be here also with our service commanders because we have quite a bit

to do.

“My brother and I have an absolute commitment to the security of lives and property within the two states. We have experiences across the states and what this meeting will do for us is to be able to share these experiences and look at those decisions we can take jointly to improve the security situation in our states.”

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THURSDAY FEBRUARY 3, 2022 ˾ T H I S D AY

NEWSXTRA

PSC, Police, Reach Truce on Recruitment of 10,000 Constables

Kingsley Nwezeh in Abuja

The Police Service Commission (PSC) and the Nigeria Police yesterday agreed to work together to ensure the success of the 2021 recruitment of 10,000 police constables “in the national interest.”

The two agencies were involved in litigations over whose role it is to recruit constables.

The Police won at the Federal High Court sitting in Abuja while the PSC secured a favourable judgement of the Court of Appeal affirming the constitutional role of the commission to conduct recruitment of constables.

Staff of the commission, had, last week embarked on a three-day warning strike, accusing the management of conniving with the police management to frustrate the implementation of the appeal court judgement.

A statement issued by the commission, however, said the commission would participate in the recruitment exercise.

“The PSC will participate in the on- going 2021 screening of applicants for employment into the constable cadre of the Nigeria Police Force.

“The commission, after a tripartite meeting with the leadership of the Nigeria Police Force and the Commission’s staff union leadership, chaired

by Permanent Secretary and Secretary to the Commission,

Chief William Alo, decided to deploy its staff to the 36 states of the federation and the Federal Capital Territory for the exercise”, it said.

The statement signed by the commission’s Spokesman, Mr.

Ikechukwu Ani, said: “The commission’s offices shut down in the wake of the three- day sit-at-home order by its two unions were opened on Tuesday, February 1 at the expiration of the order.

“The commission had the same day received in audience a delegation of the leadership of the Nigeria Police Force led by the DIG in charge of training, Mr. Mohammed Danmallam, while the PSC team was led by

the Permanent Secretary and Secretary to the Commission, Chief William Alo, where the two parties resolved some and other contending issues that led to staff unrest in the commission”.

DEEPENING THE CAPTIAL MARKET…

L - R: Chairman, Investments and Securities Tribunal (IST)Mr. Amos Azi; Chairman, House Committee on Capital Markets, Hon. Ibrahim Babangida; Chief Executive Officer, Nigerian Exchange Limited, Mr. Temi Popoola; Director General, Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Mr. Lamido Yuguda, and Vice Chairman, House Committee on Capital Markets, Hon. Makwe Livinus Makwe, at a capital market stakeholders’ forum in Lagos… recently DAN UKANA

Bayelsa APC Alleges Plots by PDP House Passes Bill Stipulating 20 Years Imprisonment to Scuttle National Convention for Fraudulent Bank Staff for Second Reading

Olusegun Samuel in Yenagoa

Aggrieved members of the All Progressive Congress (APC) in Bayelsa State have raised an alarm over an alleged plot by the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) to use the unresolved crisis in some states, particularly Bayelsa, to scuttle the Febuary 26 national convention of the party.

The members, in a letter sent to the Yobe State Governor and National Caretaker Chairman of the APC, Mr. Mai Mala Buni, warned that the refusal of the Minister of State for Petroleum

Resources, Mr. Timipre Sylva, to convene a stakeholder meeting to resolve the factional crisis may be bobby trap to truncate the convention.

They said the party leaders in the state have refused to convey a meeting as recommended by the reconciliation committee.

The Abubakar Adamu reconciliation committee after a meeting with leaders of the party in Bayelsa State resolved that the state leader of the party, Timipre Sylva, should convene a meeting of stakeholders of the APC in the state.

Former Gombe APC Governorship Aspirant, Gwamna, Resigns from Party Segun Awofadeji in Gombe

A former Governorship Aspirant and “Powerful” Chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Gombe State, Mr. Jamilu Isiyaku Gwamna, has resigned his membership of the party.

Similarly, the Special Adviser on Social Investment to Gombe State Governor, Mrs. Dijatu Bappa, has resigned her position with immediate effect.

Gwamna, who is nursing governorship ambition in the oncoming 2023 general elections,

tendered his resignation letter to the Jekadafari Ward Chairman of APC on Tuesday.

Gwamna explained in the resignation letter that he made the decision after wide consultation with his family, political associates and supporters.

Although he did not state reasons for dumping the party, his supporters who spoke with our correspondent alleged that APC leadership in the state has taken side with the incumbent Governor of Gombe State, Mr. Muhammad Inuwa Yahaya.

Oando Sets Date for Release of its Q1 2022 Financials Oando, Nigeria’s leading energy solutions provider, yesterday said it will release its 2019 audited financial statement at the end of Q1 2022. The company explained in a statement that its financials were delayed as a result of the then indefinite suspension of its 2018 Annual General Meeting (AGM) by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on June 10, 2019, thus preventing the company’s shareholders from appointing an auditor for its 2019 financials.

To the delight of shareholders, Oando resolved its dispute with the SEC in July 2021, and subsequently

held its 42nd Annual General Meeting (AGM) in August of the same year.

At the AGM, the shareholders appointed Ernst & Young as auditors of its 2019 financials.

Consequent to the audit and filing of its 2019 financials, Oando has explained that it will hold its 43rd AGM where it will propose that shareholders appoint an auditor for the filing of its 2020 and 2021 audited financial statements rather than having two separate AGMs for this purpose, all towards mitigating any further delays in the release of its financials.

Udora Orizu in Abuja

The House of Representatives has passed for second reading a bill seeking impose 20 years imprisonment on banks staff that are involved in fraudulent activities on customer’s account.

The bill, when it becomes law, would allow for forfeiture of the excess asset or its equivalent in money to the federal

government, upon conviction.

The proposed legislation titled, “an Act to Amend the Bank Employee ETC (Declaration of Assets) Act Cap B1 LFN 2011 and for Related Matters 2020,” is sponsored by Hon. Francis Ejiroghene Waive.

Leading the debate on its general principles, Waive said that the bill sought to make the punishment for fraud

perpetuated by bank employees more punitive so as to serve as deterrent to other bank staff members.

Waive said: “Be it enacted by the National Assembly, The bank employee etc. (declaration of assets) Act CAP Bl LFN 2011 on this bill referred to as the principal Act is hereby amended as follows: Section 5 of the principal Act is amended in

subsection (1) by substituting the existing words with the following words instead thereof “The Chief Executive of every bank shall once in every year, but not later than 7th January submit to the appropriate authority a list of all employees who joined or left the employment of the bank in the immediate preceding 12 months expiring on 31 December of the preceding year.

Osun APC Faction Alleges Arrest, Arraignment of Leaders after Attacks by Hoodlums The leadership of Hon Rasaq Salinsile-led faction of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Osun State has condemned the midnight arrest of the Chairman of the party in Ifelodun Local Government, Hon Siji Alatayo by the Police.

The party, in a press statement by its Publicity Secretary, Comrade Abiodun Agboola, also condemned what it described

as gestapo like manner of arrest of one of the APC leaders on its side, Hon Siju Oyewumi in his Eko Ende home in the middle of the night.

Agboola noted that the midnight hunting of the party leaders and members by the Police in Ifelodun local government portends great danger to the nation’s fledgling democracy and critical

insecurity.

He wondered what could have been the offences of the arrested persons that could warrant their midnight arrest.

Agboola said the arrest of the APC leaders might not be unconnected with the federal constituency meeting held on Monday which was disrupted by armed political hoodlums sent by Governor Adegboyega

Oyetola-led IleriOluwa faction of the party.

The publicity secretary stated that the ‘IleriOluwa thugs’ attacked members of the party at the meeting with guns, cutlasses and other weapons.

He said it was clear from beginning that Governor Oyetola was not happy that the federal constituency meeting would be held in his domain.

Hanifa: Prosecution Files Charges Before Kano High Court Ibrahim Shuaibu in Kano Kano State Director for Public Prosecution, Barrister Aisha Mahmoud, yesterday, informed the Magistrate Court trying three suspects in connection with the murder of a five-year-old, Hanifa Abubakar, that it would terminate the trial following the successful filing of a fresh case before a Kano

High Court.

Mahmoud, who also doubled as the prosecution counsel, told the Magistrate that, “We filed the charges, because the offence alleged to have been committed by the defendants is not triable by this court.”

She further explained that already, “The Kano Chief Judge, has directed the case to High

Court Number 5. We apply for another date to terminate the First Information Report (FIR) before this court.”

Following this, the Chief Magistrate adjourned sitting to February 9, 2022, in a criminal trial against Abdulmalik Tanko and his two other accomplices over the alleged murder of the five-year-old.

The Chief Magistrate, Muhammad Jibril, subsequently ordered the remand of the defendants in a correctional centre.

Tanko alongside Hashimu Isyaku, 37 and Fatima Musa, 26, have been docked on a four-count charge of culpable homicide, conspiracy, kidnapping and concealing/keeping in confinement a kidnapped person.

UNILAG Debunks Rumour of Attempted Kidnap on Campus Uchechukwu Nnaike

The management of University of Lagos (UNILAG) has debunked the rumour of attempted kidnap within its campus.

Some social media reports stated that two yunidentified men were caught attempting to kidnap a lady at the second gate of the university on

Tuesday, February 2, 2022.

According to the reports, the men were trying to woo the lady as she was walking along a path and when she turned them down, they forced her into their car and hit her head with a stone.

“She screamed for help and security personnel were able to apprehend the suspects.

They have been carted away

for further investigation.”

However the university management said the incident was a case of social misconduct and physical assault between students, in which one party attempted to flee the scene and was apprehended by the university security towards the Onike Gate axis of the institution.

It said the case is being handled by the security unit and Division of Students Affairs.

“The vice-chancellor and university management wishes to assure our dear students, parents and the public that the security and safety of all students remains a priority at the University of Lagos.”

THURSDAY, ͻ˜ ͺ͸ͺͺ ˾ T H I S D AY

46

WEDNESDAYSPORTS

Group Sports Editor: Duro Ikhazuagbe Email: duro.ikhazuagbe@thisdaylive.com

0811 181 3083 SMS ONLY

Surgeon Confirms Osimhen Recovery Well, Gets New Lighter Mask Victor Osimhen...gets new, lighter face mask.

PHOTO: Football.Italia.net

CAF Rejects Plans by Ghana to Change Venue for World Cup Playoff with Nigeria Duro Ikhazuagbe The Confederation of African Football (CAF) has rejected Ghana Football Federation’s plans to move the 2022 World Cup playoff first leg between Super Eagles and the Black Stars to the Baba Yara Sports Stadium in Kumasi.

The Ghana FA had submitted two home venues that is the Cape Coast Sports Stadium and the Accra Sports Stadium for the World Cup playoff with Nigeria.

But because of the Ghana’s Independence Day celebrations slated for March 6 at the Cape Coast Stadium, sports authorities directed GFA to contact CAF on the need to move the game to the Baba Yara facility.

CAF however turn down the request, insisting that the match be played at the Accra Sports Stadium and not the Baba Yara Stadium.

Below is the statement from CAF on why it turn down the request: "The FIFA World Cup 2022 preliminary competition regulations in its article 21 venues, kick-off times and training sessions stipulates that “The venues of matches shall be set by the host association and/or by the confederation, as applicable, and the matches may only be played in stadiums that have been inspected and approved by the confederation concerned. The opponents and the FIFA general secretariat shall be notified by the host association and/or by the confederation, as applicable, at least three months before the match in question is due to be played."

"24th of December 2021 was the deadline set by CAF for the participating national associations to select and communicate to CAF their preferred venue for the playoff round of the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 African qualifiers.

"On the 23rd of December 2021, GFA informed CAF that Cape

Coast Stadium was the venue selected for the playoff round of the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 African qualifiers.

"Based on the venue selection received from each of the participating national association, CAF has timely concluded the assessment of the selected stadium(s) and communicated to FIFA the venue decisions for the upcoming FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 African qualifiers playoff round.

"Considering that matchday is in less than 30 days, CAF is not in a position to delay any further the confirmation of the match venue.

As you are aware, the selection of the venue, respective date, and time of the match, has to be set well in advance having a direct impact on the preparation of match logistics and operations by all the concerned parties.

"Besides, please note that Kumasi Sports Stadium is currently non-homologated by CAF to host international matches, since it has been under renovations and no CAF inspection was conducted to the stadium to re-assess the level of stadium compliance.

"Considering the above, the request of change of venue is

not accepted, hence the match Ghana Vs. Nigeria for the playoff round of the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 African qualifiers should be maintained at Cape Coast Stadium.

"In case your association reiterate the position to change the venue since there is no other approved venue in Ghana, your national team will be requested to play its upcoming FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 African qualifiers playoff round match in an approved stadium outside its territory, and the venue must be selected from among the stadiums approved by CAF."

Mane Helps Senegal Reach Final in Cameroon Senegal are through to their third Africa Cup of Nations final with Sadio Mane on target to help them overcome Burkino Faso.

In an eventful game, VAR chalked off two Senegal penalties, with Burkina Faso goalkeeper Herve Koffi injured during the events of the first semis which ended 3-1 in favour of the Senegalese.

Abdou Diallo and Idrissa Gueye put Senegal in charge before Blati Toure narrowed the deficit late on.

But Mane chipped in to settle victory for the tournament favourites.

It was Mane's 29th goal for his country, taking him level with Henri Camara at the top of their all-time scorer list.

Senegal will face Egypt or hosts Cameroon in Sunday's final.

Burkina Faso will take part in the third/fourth-place playoff, which has been brought forward a day to Saturday.

AFRICA CUP OF NATIONS

Victor Osimhen has received a new and lighter protective mask as his recovery is going even better than first hoped.

The Napoli striker found the first mask he wore after surgery for facial fractures irritating and that it affected his vision.

Today he had a check-up with surgeon Gianpaolo Tartaro, who performed the original operation, and a lighter mask was created.

“We have already begun to reduce the protective mask, which he will wear from this weekend’s game with Venezia,”

Tartaro toldRadio Kiss Kiss.

“The mask is certainly causing him some difficulties, but it’s the only thing allowing him to play. He will certainly wear it until the end of February, then after more tests we’ll decide if he can take it off or continue to wear it in March.

“Osimhen no longer has scarring or swelling, his biological response to the fractures is better than expected.

Every time, he manages to recover quicker than we thought.”

Regional Winners Emerge in PwC National U-17 Cricket Championship The Regional Qualifiers for the 2022 PriceWaterhouse Coopers (PwC) National Under-17 Cricket Championship held at the weekend with close to 800 kids on parade across six centres.

The Championship, run by the Nigeria Cricket Federation had its highest number of entrants this year with 31 states entering male teams while 25 female teams participated.

President of the Nigeria Cricket Federation, Uyi AKpata, said the event has become one of the key development indicators for cricket in the country, especially on the measure of recruitment, engagement of young players, national spread and gender balance.

“We are very particular about the level of growth we are pursuing.

The PwC National Under- 17 Championship helps the federation model it to the respective states,” he stressed.

At the South West regional event held in Ibadan, the Lagos male team dethroned perennial regional power house, Oyo State.

Other teams that featured at the South West Qualifiers included, Ekiti, Ondo, Ogun and Osun Uyi said the model for the event is such that irrespective of the winning state, only regional

teams compete at the national finals.

“The best players are selected from the participating states and of course with emphasis on exceptional talents across the teams in the regional qualifiers, and led by the coach of the winning team,” he added.

Gombe State emerged winners in the North East Regional Qualifiers, edging Borno and Taraba states.

In the North-West edition which held in Kaduna State, the host dominated proceedings, lifting both male and female regional tittles.

The contenders in the region included, Jigawa, Kano, Katsina, Kebbi, Zamfara and Sokoto states.

Kwara State extended her dominance in North Central, where Kogi, Niger and Plateau states competed. Kwara lifted the honours in both categories.

The Kwara State Coach, Yusuf Awobola said the state owes the victory to the support to from the state’s Cricket Association and the dedication of the players.

The South East region produced a mixed winning side, with Imo lifting the male’s trophy and Ebonyi girls stomping their way through the regional qualifier.

Enugu, Anambra and Abia also took part in the event.

PECOS Who Renamed Red Devils Joins His Ancestors

Senegal players celebrating defeating Burkina Faso 3-1 to reach the final of AFCON 2021 in Cameroon.

PHOTO: CAF Images

Former Nigerian journalist and football administrator, Peter Osugo is dead.

Osugo as Editor of Sunday Times in 1975 renamed the Nigeria national team from Red Devils to Green Eagles.

An official statement signed

by Leo Osugo on behalf of the family announced PECOS' passage at 92 years on January 24, 2022.

PECOS as Osugo was known, wrote incisive stuffs on Nigerian

current affairs and global sports.

He was an elite athlete in his younger days.

Apart from managing the national team as Team Manager, he also helped the late Israel Adebajo to manage the Stationery Stores in the club's glorious years.

He was a native of the UmuObi Osugo Royal family of Ase Community in Ndokwa East Local Government Area of present day Delta State.

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THURSDAY, ͻ˜ ͺ͸ͺͺ ˾ T H I S D AY

SPORTS

Hosts Cameroon, Egypt in Bruising Battle for Final Ticket Hosts Cameroon and record champions Egypt face each other in Yaoundé tonight for a place in the Africa Cup of Nations, Cameroon 2021 final.

After the mind game between former Cameroon international and now FECAFOOT President,

Samuel Eto’o and Head Coach of the Pharaohs, Carlos Queiroz, 90 minutes will settle their differences on the pitch tonight.

Queiroz was angry with Eto’o for describing the game as ‘War’ for the Indomitable Lions.

The semi-final match between

AFRICA CUP OF NATIONS the two African heavyweights is scheduled to be played at the Stade Omnisport Paul Biya in Yaounde.

The Indomitable Lions

of Cameroon reached the semi-finals after defeating tournament debutants, The Gambia’s Scopians 2-0 in the quarter-final clash on Saturday.

Egyptian Pharaohs’ Captain, Mohamed Salah (left), training along with other teammates ahead of tonight’s semi final clash PHOTO: CAF Images with hosts Cameroon.

Cameroon are hoping to book their place in the final for the eighth time having participated in the 1984, 1986, 1988, 2000, 2002, 2008, and 2017 finals.

Vincent Aboubakar (six goals) and Karl Toko Ekambi (five goals) are the leading goalscorers in this year’s tournament and they could be key to the Indomitable Lions’ win over Egypt.

However, Egypt who progressed to the semi-finals after securing a 2-1 win over Morocco in extra-time of their quarter-final encounter which was played on Sunday will also be hoping to reach the final just like they did at the 2017 edition.

The Pharaohs are targeting a record-extending 10th appearance in the final having appeared in the 1957, 1959, 1962, 1986, 1998, 2006, 2008, 2010, and 2017 finals.

Mohamed Salah is in top form at the moment having scored the decisive spot-kick against Ivory Coast in the quarter-finals, before scoring and providing an assist in their win over Morocco.

The last meeting between Cameroon and Egypt was on 5 February 2017.

Cameroon secured a 2-1 win over Egypt in the 2017 AFCON final which was played at the Stade d’Angondjé in Gabon.

FACT FILE :

CAMEROON v EGYPT This will be the 11th Africa Cup of Nations encounter between Egypt and Cameroon, no two teams have met on more occasions in the competition’s competition s history.

Egypt E t have h won three th off their th i last l t four Africa Cup of Nations games against Cameroon (L1), scoring nine goals, this after netting just twice across their previous six encounters against the Indomitable Lions in the competition (W1 D2 L3).

Cameroon C have h progressed d from f seven of their nine semi-final matches at the Africa Cup of Nations, only opponents Egypt (8) have made it through this round more often in AFCON history.

The Th Africa Af i Cup C off Nations N ti hosts h t have been eliminated in three of their last five semi-final matches in the competition, with Egypt the last such team to progress from this round (2-1 against Senegal in 2006).

Since Si the th beginning b i i off 2017, 2017 no player has been directly involved in more goals (9) at the Africa Cup of Nations than Egypt’s Mohamed Salah (six goals, three assists) or Cameroon’s Vincent Aboubakar (seven goals, two assists)

Roger Milla Tips Aboubakar to Become One of Africa’s Legends

TRANSFER DEADLINE DAY FALLOUT

Aubameyang Sends Emotional Farewell to Arsenal Fans Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang has admitted he has been left ‘hurt’ and ‘sad’ at the manner of his Arsenal exit.

Barcelona yesterday confirmed the signing of Aubameyang on a free transfer from Arsenal. The 32-year-old Gabon striker signed a contract on Monday evening although it was not announced until Wednesday.

Aubameyang's deal runs until 30 June 2025 and includes an option to agree a departure in June 2023, plus a buyout clause of 100 million euros (£83.4m).

But Aubameyang spoke his mind in an emotional farewell message he sent to Arsenal fans yesterday via his social media channels.

The striker was frozen out of the first-team by boss Mikel Arteta after his latest brush with ill-discipline, and managed to secure an escape route to Catalonia after jetting out to Spain and agreeing to reduced wages.

The move saw him terminate his contract at the Emirates, a sour end to his career in north London.

“To the Arsenal fans,” he wrote on Instagram. “Thank you for making London home for myself and my family for the past four years.

“We went through ups and downs together and your support meant everything to me.

Having the chance to win trophies and the honour of being the captain of this club is something I will forever keep in my heart “I have always been 100% focused and committed on doing

everything I can for this club which is why leaving without a real goodbye hurts – but that is football.

“I’m sad I did not get the chance to help my teammates in the last few weeks, but I have nothing but respect for this club and truly wish all my guys and the fans all the best and many successful years in the future!

“Love, Auba.”

Aubameyang became one of the top earners in the Premier League after signing a lucrative new deal just 18 months ago, having helped Arsenal secure their FA Cup triumph and then posed with Arteta in the celebrations.

However, their relationship worsened, with his late arrival back from a pre-agreed trip forcing the head coach to drop the frontman entirely.

This stance saw him able to search for a new club, although it took until the final hours of a dramatic final day of the window for him to seal his exit.

Vincent Aboubakar...gets good commendations from Roger Milla

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang...sends emotional farewell to PHOTO: PA Arsenal fans

Former Cameroon star Roger Milla believes current captain Vincent Aboubakar could become one of Africa's greatest ever players.

The 30-year-old has scored six times at this year's Africa Cup of Nations finals, which is the best tally by any player since 1998 - when Benni McCarthy (South Africa) and Hossam Hassan (Egypt) got seven apiece.

Saudi Arabia-based Aboubakar netted Cameroon's winner against Egypt in the 2017 finaland will lead the Indomitable Lions into Thursday's semi-final against the North Africans.

The all-time top goalscorer at a single Nations Cup is Ndaye

Mulamba,who struck nine times for eventual champions Zaire (now Democratic Republic of the Congo) in 1974.

"Aboubakar could be one of the greatest African footballers," Milla told BBC Sport African yesterday.

"Unfortunately, two years ago he suffered a very serious injury which sidelined him for four months.

"I'm very happy for him because he came into AFCON in good form. When he's playing, it's as if the whole country wants to make up for lost time and they want him to win.

"I hope he gets a goal against Egypt - and why not in the final?"

Omidiran Distributes Sports Kits to Schools in Osun The Chairman of the Women Football Development Committee of the Nigeria Football Federation, Alhaja Ayo Omidiran, has distributed sports materials to some selected schools in Irewole Federal Constituency in Osun State.

Honourable Omidiran, a former Member of the House of Representatives, said she distributed the sports items

to encourage the students to embrace sports.

High quality sports items like football jerseys, boots, balls, bags and many more were distributed to the delight of the school authorities and the students.

She noted that the gesture was made to help broaden the exposure of the students in extra-curricular activities.

Omidiran however urged

the authorities of the schools to judiciously make use of the sports items as she promised it would be a continuous programme.

A total of 10 schools benefited from the sports kits distributed

by Alhaja Omidiran.

Some of the schools were; Ayedaade Grammar School, Fatimah College, Muslim High School, Ikoyi, St Anthony Grammar School and others

across Irewole Federal Constituency in Osun State.

The top football administrator who is also the Chairman of the South West Agenda for Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu presidency, charged the students to work hard and combine education with sports effectively.

She said: “This is one of the ways I give back to the community. I am glad to be

putting smiles in the faces of these kids who are interested in sports but have little or no resources to get the kits.

“I believe it will also help the school to also be serious with sports and bring out talents in the state that could represent Nigeria in international events in future. This is not the first time and it won’t be the last,” she concluded.

Thursday, February 3, 2022

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Price: N250

MISSILE

Chukwuma Soludo to Political Class

“Much of the existing social order is founded on competition for, and distribution of, rents. Oil and the easy money that came with it destroyed the social fabric and the elite created new institutions and political structures to maximize their gains. As the noose tightened globally on other rentier/criminal enterprises such as drug trafficking or internet scamming, many of the barons flocked into politics as the next easy alternative. Appointment or election into public office is seen largely as an opportunity to ‘eat’ rather than a call to selfless service.”

OLUSEGUNADENIYI THE VERDICT

olusegun.adeniyi@thisdaylive.com

Nigeria and the Coup Epidemics P

resident Umaro Cissoko Embaló survived Tuesday’s “failed attack against democracy.” But the situation in Guinea-Bissau remains unclear. That the fragile West African country is the fifth to catch the military coup bug in recent times should be disturbing to leaders within the sub-region.

Only two weeks ago, President Roch Kabore was toppled in Burkina Faso. Before then, Mali, Guinea and Chad had fallen into the hands of military usurpers, confirming the long-held proposition that democracy may be too frail a plant to survive the African climate.

Emerging reports from Guinea-Bissau suggest that the coup bears resemblance to what happened in Haiti on 7th July 2021 when President Jovenel Moïse was assassinated.

The fact that the country is effectively a transit point for the Latin American narcotic trade makes the comparison even stronger.

The “well prepared and organised” attack, according to the embattled president, could have been “related to people involved in drug trafficking.” Even if this proves to be true, the socio-economic situation in GuineaBissau lends itself to political upheaval in a sub-region where internal wrangling among politicians, economic deprivation of citizens and worsening insecurity present clear warning signals that civil rule is under severe pressure.

Predictably, both the African Union (AU) and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) have made the usual feeble statements. I doubt if anybody is taking them seriously. Certainly not the military strongmen in Mali, Guinea, Chad, and Burkina Faso who are digging in. But I am more worried for our country. In a response to concerns raised by the chairman of the Nigerian Governors Forum, Kayode Fayemi of Ekiti State, regarding implications of these military takeovers within the ECOWAS sub-region, President Muhammadu Buhari took a narrow view. He stated that ‘‘Nigeria has passed through that stage for good.’’

The president perhaps offered a politically correct statement as the occasion may have demanded. But I hope he doesn’t believe what he said. I have argued in the past that the philosophy of ‘it can never happen here’ is responsible for our lack of preparedness in emergencies. On 1st September 2011, I borrowed the title of a piece once written in the eighties by the late Chike Akabogu, then on the National Concord editorial board, to drive home that point. In the piece, Akabogu wrote that Nigerians like to delude themselves that they are different; that the bad things that occur elsewhere cannot happen in our country. While hoping this is not the thinking that informed the president’s response to what is a clear and present danger, I crave the indulgence of readers to rehash some of what I wrote eleven years ago: “I remember when the wave of terrorism heightened at the beginning of the last decade, it was considered too distant a phenomenon to worry about in Nigeria even when there were explosions at the United States’ embassies in Kenya and Tanzania. When Farouk Muttallab was caught trying to blow up a Delta Airlines flight in December 2009 and the United States’

President Umaro Sissoco Embaló of Guinea Bissau

government wanted to link our nation with terror, we easily wriggled out by claiming that Farouk caught the bug abroad; afterall, he was not schooling in Nigeria…For us to develop, we must accept that whatever

happens in other countries can happen in Nigeria. For instance, our leaders must accept that the ’Arab Spring’ which has consumed several leaders from Egypt to Tunisia and has now birthed at Muammar Gaddafi’s shores in Libya can happen here…As pessimistic as all these may sound, that is the way most serious countries now think by building negative scenarios and working to ensure they do not happen; while also planning towards mitigating such occurrences in the event that they do. But by living in denial of anything and everything, we prevent ourselves from learning useful lessons. That is why we were surprised that we now have suicide bombers in our midst. Because we never came to terms with the fact that if it could happen elsewhere, it can also happen in Nigeria…”

I wrote the foregoing in 2011, following the bombing of the UN House in Abuja. As things stand, what has happened in Mali, Guinea, Chad, Burkina Faso and now GuineaBissau has once again placed West Africa and the entire Sahel within the gunsights of military adventurists. “We don’t need to rape Guinea anymore, we just need to make love to her,” says Colonel Mamady Doumbouya who last September ousted President Alpha Condé, in a nation where most people believe political leaders are there to serve only their own interest. The problem for ECOWAS is that the situation in Guinea is like what obtains in most others, including Nigeria: Weak institutions, distrust of politicians,

growing insecurity aided by insurgency and a worsening economic situation for most of the people. The case of Nigeria is worsened by the audacity of sundry criminal cartels that now carve territories for themselves, collecting taxes and killing innocent rural dwellers at will.

Nothing illustrates the challenge at hand better than a map published in the 1st February report by the research firm, SBM Intelligence. Titled, ‘An Epidemic of Failure’, the report reveals that in the last 10 years, there has been a coup in every country in the Sahel. More disturbing is that this epidemic runs through the west coast (Mauritania) to the East coast of the continent (Sudan).

Instructively, two of these countries, Chad and Niger, border Nigeria.

All factors considered, the 2023 general election becomes even more consequential for Nigeria. The political class must therefore make sure they get everything right and that begins with ideas on how to tackle the various challenges confronting us as a nation. Conventional wisdom teaches that in situations like this, leaders must hope for the best and prepare for the worst. At a period in history when democracies as strong as that of the United States suffer so much stress that some pundits can even predict coups, nobody should be under any illusion that Nigeria is immune to what is happening elsewhere in the sub-region.

Eternal vigilance, as the old maxim teaches, is the price of liberty.

‘How Do You Bury Your Son?’

T

he video on social media of a Kenyan mother, Jacqueline Matere, speaking to a group of young people about her 20-year-old son’s depression and eventual suicide brings to fore the way we ignore mental health in Nigeria. Incredibly, the Lunacy Law of 1958 still governs the nation’s mental health regime. First enacted in 1916 as the ‘Lunacy Ordinance’, the amended 1958 Act, which is still in force, empowers medical practitioners and magistrates to detain any individual suffering from mental illness. The law not only criminalises (and stigmatizes) victims, but it also makes it unattractive for our doctors to specialize in the much-needed field of practice. Sadly, the Mental Health Bill has been with National Assembly since 2013.

But our lawmakers have little understanding of its importance, even though many of them carry the fanciful title of Dr and may have studied medicine. In fact, when the bill was first introduced in 2003, it was immediately thrown out by the lawmakers!

Going by statistics from the World Health Organisation (WHO), as many as a million people commit suicide annually, the second leading cause of death in young men and women between age 15 and 29. While there may be no credible data to work with in Nigeria, facts on ground suggest that an extraordinary number of our people are taking their own lives. Unfortunately, there is yet no official response as to how to tackle the challenge of mental health.

A recent book, ‘The Morning After’, is the only

available literature I have seen on suicides in Nigeria, although its focus is more on the issue of sensitivity in reporting the illness as well as its prevention. Co-authored by a Nigerian-born United Kingdom-based psychiatrist consultant, Dr. Olufemi Oluwatayo and a THISDAY journalist, Martins Ifijeh, who is currently on study leave in the United States. It is one I will gladly recommend to our health authorities and policy makers. As someone who relates with teenagers, I am aware that mental health is an issue that we live in denial about. Yet, there are people around us who may need help without knowing where to turn. I leave readers with excerpts from what the Kenyan mother said. Perhaps it may nudge us to begin to deal with the problem: “…my son committed suicide on my veranda and my two small children were the ones that found him.

They kept telling me, “Mummy come and see…” [speaks Swahili] and it was a Sunday evening when we were just having supper and I thought it was just one of his antics because he was a difficult boy.

He became very difficult after he failed his Form four exams. When I went outside, I found my son hanging on my veranda and the most wicked sight in my life, was to see his tongue hanging out almost up to his chest (sobbing]. I screamed and climbed up immediately, I collected him, and I put him down.

We rushed him to the hospital but when we reached there, nobody was doing anything. I told them to put him on Oxygen because he was lacking Oxygen and his fingers had become grey. I walked out and I told God, ‘please help me’. So, I went back, and they were still not doing anything. I asked, ‘why are you

not doing anything?’ Then, it dawned on me that it was over. There was no need for oxygen, and there was no need for anything else. So, we had to wait there until we reported to Bakassi Police. We waited until about 3 o’clock when the police vehicle came to take my son to the mortuary.

“That was the most wicked, hateful thing you’d ever need to see [speaks Swahili]. Youths, there is nothing so hard that cannot be discussed. Whether it was sexual violence, (because I became aware that he had been Sodomised), whether it was bullying in school, whether it was peer-pressure, whether it was failing his exams, these are things that can be discussed. He had depression. He would come to the sitting room, dressed in his underwear. He wouldn’t care. He wouldn’t come out of bed. I used to insist he comes and eat with us. He became very difficult when depression hit. Please, recognise when somebody starts shutting down, there’s a problem. This boy had grown up as a very healthy, loving – fun-loving boy, full of love, full of laughter, full of jokes. But something happened along the line, and he just started withdrawing. I kid you not, within six months, he had committed suicide.

“Youths, I want to tell you something. You can think you are the one in the problem, there is a place you will reach, and you will be unable to pull yourself out again. So, before you reach that pit, before you reach that bottom, please ensure you have talked to somebody. Please ensure that you’ve shared with somebody. There is nothing too hard. The Bible says “there is nothing new under the sun” so, anything that you’re going through is not new, it has happened to somebody else, and they can be solved…”

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