WEDNESDAY 9TH FEBRUARY 2022

Adulterated Fuel: Buhari Angry, Orders Query of NMDPRA Head 371m litres in six cargoes, not 100m litres of petrol affected Regulatory agency admits high sulphur content in contaminated product Bad fuel withdrawn from circulation, say independent marketers Emmanuel Addeh in Abuja President Muhammadu Buhari was said to have yesterday expressed

anger over the contaminated petrol in circulation across the country, a development that has disrupted the nation's fuel supply chain for

several days.

The president was said to have therefore ordered that the Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian

Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), Mr. Farouk Ahmed, should be queried immediately.

Buhari, who was said to be visibly worried over the situation, leading to the return of long fuel queues in parts of the country,

especially in Abuja, Lagos, Ogun, Port Harcourt and others, instructed Continued on page 10

N189bn Education Tax: TETFund Questions FIRS' Low Remittance... Page 5 Wednesday 9 February, 2022 Vol 27. No 9801. Price: N250

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High Court Affirms Matawalle as Zamfara Gov, APC Hails Ruling... Page 50

Nigeria Drags UK’s Crime Agency to Court over £150m Abacha Loot US, UK oppose move

Emmanuel Addeh in Abuja with agency report

The Nigerian government is locked in a court battle with Britain’s

National Crime Agency (NCA) over control of €180 million (£150 million) that was stashed abroad

by Nigeria's former Head of State, late Gen. Sani Abacha.

By yesterday’s official exchange rate of the British Pounds Sterling at N563, as seen on the website of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), the money in contention is about

N84.5 billion.

The United Kingdom’s The Telegraph reported that the case was again poised to spark fresh questions about dirty money flowing

through the City of London.

In the latest legal tussle over the money, generally known in Nigeria as “Abacha loot”, the report stated that Nigeria wanted

the crime-fighting agency, NCA, to release funds that it froze at the request of US authorities.

Continued on page 10

Osinbajo: S'Court Seems to Be Exceeding Constitutional Limit in Election Matters Says legal interpretations must bow to people’s wish Cites Zamfara’s case in 2019 polls Visits Hanifa’s family in Kano, prays for the repose of her soul Ibrahim Shuaibu in Kano Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, yesterday, expressed worry about judicial interventions in election matters, concurring with rising calls for interrogation of the role of the judiciary, especially, the Supreme Court, in electoral issues, specifically, whether it has not been exceeding its remits.

Osinbajo spoke at the 53rd Conference of the National Association of Law Teachers, held at Bayero University, Kano (BUK).

The conference had the theme, “Law, Democracy and the Electoral Process.”

The vice president said legal interpretation must always bow to the wish of the people, citing what he viewed as the unfortunate outcome of the 2019 elections in Zamfara State.

Osinbajo visited the family of the Continued on page 10

A RENEWED PARTNERSHIP DEAL SEALED...

L-R: Managing Director of LADOL, Dr. Amy Jadesimi; Outgoing Managing Director of Samsung Heavy Industries Nigeria Limited (SHIN), Mr. jejin Jeon; Chairman of LADOL, Mr. Ladi Jadesimi; and new Managing Director of SHIN, Mr. Jongseok Kim, during the signing of the agreement for final settlement of the dispute between the companies in Lagos...yesterday

2023: Ayu Leads PDP Top Notch to Visit IBB in Minna, Discuss Raging Issues... Page 48

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

NEWS

RETREAT FOR SENIOR POLICE OFFICERS...

L-R: Chairman, House Committee on Nigeria Police Affairs, Hon. Bello Usman; Chairman, Nigeria Governors’ Forum/Ekiti State Governor, Dr. Kayode Fayemi; Representative of Mr. President/Minister for Police Affairs, Mohammed Maigari; Akwa Ibom State Governor, Udom Emmanuel; Inspector General of Police, Usman Alkali Baba, and Chairman, Senate Committee on Nigeria Police Affairs, Sen. Abdullahi Adamu; during the opening ceremony of a conference and retreat for Senior Police Officers in Uyo …yesterday

N189bn Education Tax: TETFund Questions FIRS' Low Remittance Seriki Adinoyi in Jos

The Executive Secretary of Tertiary Education Fund (TETFund), Prof.

Suleiman Bogoro, has decried the poor remittance of N189 billion to its coffers by the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) as education tax collected for the year 2021.

The TETFund boss noted that the agency "wants to presume from reports and available data that the FIRS met and surpassed its target for the Year 2021 tax revenue," expressing concerns why the EDT collection "for the same was far below the target set for the year."

Bogoro said: "Interestingly, we want to presume from reports and available data that the FIRS met and surpassed its target for the Year 2021 tax revenue. It is therefore worrisome that the EDT collection for the same was far below the target set for the year."

He warned that the current amount below previous remittances would endanger the provision of critical infrastructure in the nation's tertiary institutions if allowed to continue.

Bogoro stated this in Jos on Tuesday during a joint interactive

forum between TETFund and FIRS officials to enhance education tax collection and the agencies' relationship. He was represented by the agency's Director of Strategic Planning, Mr. Erivwo Inene.

"In 2021, the Fund received an Education tax collection of N189 billion, which was considerably lower than the previous year collection. The Fund is equally aware that economic activities seriously slowed down, and in some cases, halted from March when the lockdown was imposed and movement within the restricted," Bogoro explained.

He added that it affected the performance of industries and companies, "which affected education tax collection for the year."

He described the situation as a wake-up call to improve and deploy new ways to ensure the efficient and timely collection of EDT in 2022.

He noted that despite the negative effects of the COVID-19 pandemic in the education sector, TETFund made modest achievements providing essential infrastructure, including equipment and instructional materials, training and development programme,

research and funding of other critical activities directed by the Federal Government.

“It might interest you to know that while the Fund has made a significant impact on infrastructural development, it has also made remarkable improvement in the content-based component of its interventions," added Bogoro. "The repeated increase in the National Research Fund intervention from N5 billion, to

N7.5 billion in 2020 to N8.5 billion in 2021 is a case in point. The funding and establishment of 12 centres of excellence in selected beneficiary institutions each in 2020 and 2021 is another notable achievement."

Last year, the agency started Capacity Building Programme for institutions with the objective of improving the global competitiveness and visibility of our universities, Entrepreneur-

The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has once more expressed disappointment over the refusal of the federal government to honour the agreements it freely entered into with the union in December 2020, saying Nigerians should hold the government responsible if they embark on another industrial action.

The Lagos State Zonal Coordinator of the union, Prof. Adelaja Odukoya, who briefed journalists yesterday, called on the federal government to go through the document of the agreement signed with the union, saying failure to do so may force ASUU to embark on another strike.

The agreements according to the union included the implementation of the renegotiated 2009 ASUU/

FGN agreement, approval of the deployment of UTAS as a payment platform, as well as funding of state universities yet to get the desired attention from owner government and visitors to those universities.

According to him, "they (government) should let us know if they have any problem on the agreement signed and if there are issues, we will sit down on the round table and resolve the issues. As we speak, the federal government has adamantly done nothing to ensure that the renegotiation agreement is signed and implemented.

"We are perplexed that the states and federal government are not responding to our consistent appeal or listening to bring about genuine transformation by highly motivated human capital in the education sector for our university system.

"Embarking on strike is not in

Coordinating Director (Compliance Support Group), Dr. Dick Irri, said the tax agency was doing its best to improve tax collection in the country, including deploying inhouse tax administration software.

He stressed the need for TETFund and FIRS to collaborate more to achieve their various mandates.

According to him, the synergy between the agencies is vital to the transformation evident in public tertiary institutions across Nigeria.

House Bill Seeks 15 Years Imprisonment, N25m Fine for Bank Staff over Non-disclosure of Assets Introduces proposed legislations on gun control, victims' restitution

Udora Orizu in Abuja The House of Representatives has introduced a bill seeking an amendment to Bank Employees (Declaration of Assets) Act, 2004 to reflect current realities and provide stiffer punishment for non-compliance by Bank staff.

The proposed legislation titled, 'Bank Employees Etc.(Declaration of Assets) Act (Amendment) Bill,

2022, which scaled through first reading, was sponsored by Hon. Ademorin Kuye.

According to the bill's draft, every employee of a bank shall, within seven days of the commencement of the law, make a full disclosure of all his assets.

Specifically, the proposed legislation stipulates that a bank employee who fails to make full disclosure of his or her assets and liabilities as

Again, ASUU Warns of Imminent Strike Funmi Ogundare

ship and Skills Development for Polytechnics, and Pedagogy Skills and Curriculum Development for Colleges of Education.

Commenting on the outgone year, the Executive Chairman of FIRS, Muhammad Nami, explained that 2021 was challenging. He, however, admitted that FIRS was able to hit 100 per cent of its target of N9.5 trillion despite the pandemic.

Nami, represented by the FIRS'

our character nor is it in our nature, however, our union should not be pushed to the wall, we only go on strike as a last resort. We are in a position where the government is not doing the needful."

He expressed concern about the neglect of conditions of service of academics saying lecturers have made sacrifices over the years than any other segment of the society to ensure that universities in the country were globally competitive, “but despite that, they are poorly remunerated.”

"We are producing lecturers and manpower for other parts of the world so we must be paid remuneration that are globally competitive. We are calling on all Nigerians to prevail on the federal government to do the needful, "he said.

Emphasising on the issue of

IPPIS, Odukoya alleged that the Accountant General of the federation seemed to have made a business of it, saying that those found culpable in fraudulent practice, should be arrested by the EFCC. On the funding of state and federal universities, the zonal coordinator said politicians are interested in creating new universities as constituency project rather than funding existing ones, adding that academics are underpaid.

"We say this must stop. Go to several of our universities, particularly our state universities, they are TETfund universities because the state government has nothing doing there. They don't even fund them.

Our union has continued to bring up issues about the governance of our universities because it forms part of our professional and moral responsibility," the don stressed.

required in the Act, on conviction is liable to imprisonment for a term of 15 years or N25 million fine.

It stated, "Bank Employees, Etc.(Declaration of Assets) Act, 2004. (hereinafter called “the Principal Act”) is amended as set out below. Section 1 of the Principal Act is amended to read thus, every employee of a Bank shall, within seven days of the commencement of this Act, make a full disclosure of all his assets.

In the case of a new employee, he shall within seven days of assuming duty with the Bank make a full disclosure of all his assets at the time of his assuming duty; and for the purpose of this subsection, a transfer or secondment from one Bank to another shall be treated as a new employment "Insert a new section 5 and re-numbering of the subsequent sections. 5 (1) A bank employee shall not maintain or operate a personal bank account in any country outside Nigeria. In the case of an existing account before his employment, he shall notify the appropriate banks, in writing, of closure of the account and a copy attached to his assets declaration form.

“Section 8 of the Principal Act now Section 9 is amended to read thus; Offences relating to assets declaration, Any employee affected by this Act who knowingly fails to make full disclosure of the assets and liabilities required to be

made under this Act; or knowingly makes a declaration that is false, knowing same to be false in part or in whole; or fails to answer any question contained in the appropriate form under this Act; or fails, neglects or refuses to make a declaration or furnish information as required by the provisions of this Act, commits an offence under this Act and shall be liable on conviction to imprisonment for a term of fifteen years or a twenty five million naira fine."

Also at the plenary, the House passed for first reading a bill seeking control of small arms and light weapons, and compensation for victims of abduction, kidnappings and banditry.

The proposed legislation titled, 'Control of Small Arms, Light Weapons and Restitution of Victims of Abduction, Kidnappings, Banditry Bill, 2022 (HB. 1839),' is sponsored by Hon. Tajudeen Adeyemi Adefisoye.

Other Bill that scaled through first reading is, 'Pension Reform Act (Amendment) Bill, 2022,' sponsored by Deputy Speaker Hon. Ahmed Idris Wase Meanwhile the House, dissolving into the Committee of the Whole, considered and approved recommendations of the report for a bill for an Act to make comprehensive provisions for the prohibition and punishment of sexual harassment of students by educators in tertiary educational institutions.

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NNOM HONOURS THREE PROMINENT NIGERIANS...

L-R: 2020 Award Winner, Nigerian National Order of Merit (NNOM), Late Prof Charles Ejike Chidume, who was represented by his son, Dr. Okechukwu Chidume; 2022 Award Winner, Prof Oluyinka Olutoye who was represented by his father, Oba Olufemi Olutoye; Award winner for 2021, Prof Godwin Ekhaguere; President Muhammadu Buhari; Secretary to Government of the Federation, Mr. Boss Mustapha; Minister of Special Duties, Sen. George Akume, and Chairman, NNOM, PHOTO: SUNDAY AGHAEZE Prof. Shekarau Yakubu Aku, during the awards’ presentation at Abuja... yesterday

Samsung, LADOL Reaffirm Truce, Partnership, Shareholders' Agreement Peter Uzoho Samsung Heavy Industries Nigeria (SHIN) Limited and LADOL Integrated Logistics Free Zone Enterprise have reaffirmed their partnership and shareholders’ agreement. The development followed the recent final settlement of a dispute that had lasted for three years.

In a joint statement issued yesterday in Lagos, after signing the final settlement agreement, the two companies reaffirmed the existing shareholding structure in their joint venture, where SHIN owns 70 per cent equity while LADOL holds 30 per cent.

The two partners also stated that they had resolved the outstanding issues that were subject of litigations in Nigerian and foreign courts.

The joint venture between SHIN

and LADOL was established when SHIN was awarded the $3.3billion Egina FPSO project, which required the construction of the fabrication and integration yard to carry out the in-country aspect of the Egina project.

However, the friction between the two parties, which began in 2018, led to a total breakdown of communications and engagements, resulting in court proceedings in Nigeria and UK. SHIN and LADOL also thanked the Nigerian and South Korean governments for their assistance and interventions.

The statement explained, “This landmark agreement, which demonstrates SHIN’s on-going commitment to its subsidiary, SHIMCI and Nigeria, and LADOL’s commitment to consolidating and continuing the development of LADOL Free Zone to help ensure

that Nigeria becomes an African hub for industrialisation, ensures that SHIN and LADOL can work together as shareholders in SHI-MCI.” SHIN and LADOL also welcomed the settlement agreement, which had been approved by the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) and the Nigerian Exports Processing Zones Authority (NEPZA), and would also be registered as judgement in the High Court in London, and courts in Nigeria.

The statement added, “The settlement agreement confirms that the Shareholders’ Agreement between SHIN, SHI-MCI, and MCI FZE Yard Development Limited (MCI), dated July 1, 2014, remains valid, and the current shareholding of SHI-MCI is held in the following proportions: SHIN controls 70 per cent and MCI, 30 per cent.

“The settlement agreement also

provides for a new sublease agreement which has been executed between SHI-MCI and Global Resources Management Limited (GRML), with the NPA as the head-lessor to GRML. “Importantly, the new sublease agreement is long term and is one day less than the term of the head lease between the NPA and GRML.” The terms of the settlement also provided that NEPZA, as part of its statutory duties and role as administrator of all NEPZA free zone areas in Nigeria, shall continue to be responsible for the issuance and renewal of SHI-MCI’s Operating Licence.

NEPZA had previously issued an Operating Licence to SHI-MCI in the form of a National Operating Licence dated October 4, 2021 valid for three years.

Chairman of LADOL, Mr.

FPSO Explosion: Environmentalists Call for Urgent Clean-up of Affected Communities Sylvester Idowu in Warri A Niger Delta environmentalist, Chief Mulade Sheriff, has called on relevant oil and gas authorities to urgently clean-up the border riverine communities in Delta and Ondo states impacted by the explosion that rocked the FPSO vessel, Trinity Spirit, at Ukpokiti, near Escravos, in Warri South West Local Government Area of Delta State.

Right activist, Austin Ozobo of Ijaw People's Development Initiative (IPDI), also said the urgent clean-up of the surrounding communities close to the scene of the incident had become imperative to prevent pollution to distant communities capable of crippling socio-economic activities of people in the area.

The duo, in separate statements yesterday, sympathised with the management of Shebah Exploration and Production Company Limited (SEPCOL) over the loss of the vessel. But they lamented the recurring pollution and degradation of the Niger Delta environment through gas flaring and other

oil activities in the region.

Mulade, who is also the chief executive of Centre for Peace and Environmental Justice (CEPEJ), an environmental sustainability organisation, faulted the incessant pollution of the region’s environment by the oil prospecting operators, saying the development has affected the growth of the ecosystem in the region.

The environmentalist stressed that the exploration and exploitation activities of oil companies had resulted in pollution and reduced life span in the region, adding that it is the price that the oil rich region has been paying for feeding the nation.

According to him, “Recurring oil pollution has destroyed the environment and the traditional occupation of the people, leading to high rates of poverty unemployment, criminality and violence in the Niger Delta Region.’’

On his part, Ozobo, described the incident as unfortunate.

He said, “We sympathise with the company operating the vessel.

We heard several persons are missing. It is so sad.”

But he observed that the waterways and air had been polluted, with the incident causing serious environmental damage in the area.

Ozobo stated, “The fishermen and women have been affected, as fishing expeditions in the sea are threatened. The entire environment has been destroyed. The implication is that the incident may equally cause serious health

challenges in the area.

“It is a setback to the dwindling oil economy in the country. The machines are multi-billion. It is a great loss. Of great worry, however, is the plight of the affected crew members.”

Ozobo stressed the need to rescue every worker involved in the incident, adding that adequate attention should be given to the affected communities.

Ladi Jadesimi, confirmed that the disagreement between LADOL and Samsung was laid to rest in the interest of the Nigerian economy.

Jadesimi said, “This settlement brings to an end the dispute between the LADOL and SHI Groups, which has been lingering for a little while and it became critical that it be sorted out. Now it has been completely resolved.

“The key thing is that we have been able to come back together peacefully cementing a far stronger joint venture going forward.

“LADOL will continue to invest in and support a range of developments and industries in LADOL Free Zone, from agriculture to green energy, ensuring Nigeria becomes a sustainable industrial Hub in Africa.“ Commenting on the successful resolution of the dispute, also, Managing Director of SHIN, Mr. Jejin Jeon, disclosed that after many years of legal proceedings that hindered SHIN’s ability to operate in Nigeria and threatened its contribution to the Nigerian economy, the settlement became a definitive statement in favour of SHI-MCI’s right to operate in the LADOL Free Zone.

“In recognising that Samsung Heavy Industries (Nigeria) lawfully holds 70 per cent of the shares in SHI-MCI, the settlement acknowledges our extraordinary contribution to the LADOL Free Zone and its role in the economic development of Nigeria,” Jeon said.

Jeon noted that before the Egina project, most maritime constructions for African oil and

gas projects took place outside of Africa, stressing that Nigeria did not have the capacity to fabricate and integrate an FPSO locally.

He stressed, “Thanks to our investment in the SHI-MCI yard, we have established Nigeria as a fabrication and integration hub on the African continent. Over six years, SHIN has trained 600 Nigerians from disadvantaged backgrounds in a comprehensive welding qualification programme, in one of the most advanced welding academies in Nigeria.

“This has contributed to 560,000 man-hours of training in total.

In addition, SHIN has directly employed 2,500 Nigerians with a further 5,000 employed by our suppliers, working in highly specialized skills and roles. This has moved the dial in practical terms – with the local contribution rising from one per cent to over 25 per cent.”

He reaffirmed SHIN’s commitment to Nigeria, its people and economy.

According to Jeon, SHIN’s focus remains executing the plan to make Nigeria the hub for fabrication and integration works supporting the oil and gas industry and infrastructure development and ensuring SHI-MCI’s participation in future fabrication and integration projects.

“SHIN is deeply committed to on-going and future projects in Nigeria and as part of SHI-MCI, we plan to invest in future projects in the coming year and remain focused on creating and delivering mega deep offshore projects for Nigeria,” he added.

NCP Okays OENPL's Takeover of Coal Mines for Power Generation Ndubuisi Francis in Abuja The National Council on Privatisation (NCP) has granted approval to Orbit Exploration and Natural Products Limited (OENPL) to take over the mineral titles of Ogboyega North and South Coal Blocks, 769 and 772 mining lease (ML) from Western Metal Products Company (WEMPCO).

By this approval, OENPL has indicated readiness to generate electricity with coal from the mines.

NCP's approval was conveyed at its meeting in Abuja, which was presided over by the Chairman

and Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo In granting the approval, the NCP noted that due diligence by the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) on OENPL indicated that it was capable of providing the financing and technical expertise required to successfully operate the coal mines.

The BPE in a statement issued by its Head, Public Communications, Ibeh Uzoma Chidi, explained that the NCP observed that WEMPCO had requested for privatisation agency's approval

to transfer the mineral titles of the two coal blocks to OENPL in line with the provisions of the Asset Share Purchase Agreement (ASPA).

On its part, OENPL had proposed to spend N112 billion to procure equipment for operationalising the two coal blocks and go into power generation.

Ogboyega North and South Coal Blocks were sold to WEMPCO in 2007, at a fee of $7.378 million and $7.678,250 million, respectively.

However, 15 years after the transaction, the two coal blocks have not been fully operationalised.

Consequently, WEMPCO requested BPE's approval to transfer the mineral title to OENPL. This necessitated the Bureau to review the provisions of the ASPA executed with WEMPCO which confirmed that the request conforms with the provisions therein, particularly Article 18.6 which allows such transfer of shares, subject to the consent of NCP/BPE. Having studied the business plan and financial position of OENPL, the BPE recommended to the NCP that it was capable to operate the mines.

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CERTIFICATES FOR TWO NEW UNIVERSITIES...

L-R: Special Adviser to the Governor on Education, Mr. Tokunbo Wahab; Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu, and Executive Secretary, National Universities Commission (NUC), Prof. Abubakar Rasheed, during the official recognition and collection of certificates for the two new Lagos state universities recently signed into law, at the NUC’s Office, Maitama, Abuja ...yesterday

Judiciary Replies Malami, Says We Can't Be Blamed for Delays in High-profile Cases Alex Enumah in Abuja Barely 24 hours after the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) Mr. Abubakar Malami, heaped the blame of delays in the trial of political persons on the Judiciary, the third arm of government has in a swift response faulted his claim, stating that such allegation "appears to be one-sided."

The third arm of government in a statement, while noting that it may not be perfect as an institution, expressed hope that the various allegations being made against it by the federal government were, "not just a way of giving a dog a bad name so as to then hang it."

The statement signed by Ahuraka Yusuf Isah, Senior Special Assistant (on Media) to the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Ibrahim Muhammad, claimed that the judiciary has continued to give its best despite the very harsh conditions under which it is operating.

"The Nigerian judiciary is not here to lay claim to be perfect but when the political and economic conditions under which it is operating is compared with its counterparts in other climes, it would be adjudged a prized model.

"The judiciary by its constitutional position does not have criminal investigation unit or ‘’Fraud Detective Squad’’ to detect and investigate

criminal involvement of any person, neither does it have a garrison command to fight its cause or enforce its orders and decisions", the statement read.

It added that more often than not, the federal government's prosecution sector files more charges than it could prove or provide witnesses to prove, ostensibly at times for the prosecution to even fail.

In addition, the judiciary stated that the Administration of Criminal Justice Act ( ACJA), 2015, under reference, "is infected with sores in some parts, making speeding adjudications improbable in some instances, in addition to high volume of cases, limited number of judges, poor infrastructure or archaic equipment."

On the allegation of not being

transparent, the Judiciary claimed it operates in line with the budget call circular and ceiling of the federal government, while at the same time defends its budget before the National Assembly.

The statement noted that the judiciary does not intend to join issues with the federal government, but would state the facts as they are.

It stated: "Apart from the internal

audit units of the Judiciary, the Federal Audit Department maintains offices in all the courts and judicial bodies that monitor spending in the Judiciary. If the Federal Audit raises a query on any transaction and it is not well defended, it sends such to the Public Account Committees of the National Assembly. Officials of the Judiciary would be invited to explain themselves.

FG to Set up Another White Paper Committee to Review Oronsaye Report Olawale Ajimotokan in Abuja The federal government has said it would set up a White Paper Committee to review the report of the Committee on Parastatals, Agencies and Commissions created between 2012 and October 2021.

The Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Mr. Boss Mustapha, disclosed this yesterday, during the submission of the reports of the Committees on Review of White Paper on the Restructuring and Rationalisation of Federal Government Parastatals, Agencies and Commissions and Review of Parastatals, Agencies and Commissions Created after the Conclusion of Report on Restructuring and Rationalisation.

The committees were constituted in relation to the report of a

committee headed by Stephen Oronsaye in 2011.

Mustapha said government would also make its position known as soon as possible on the report of the Committee.

He assured that all outstanding actions to finalise the issue of restructuring and rationalisation would be addressed in the shortest possible time.

He said government was conscious of the fact that, irrespective of reforms in the other sectors, if the public sector reform was not sustainable and internalised, governance would lag from delivering effective and efficient services to the people.

The SGF noted that the daily galloping recurrent expenditure which was 40.3 per cent (N6.9 trillion) as against 31.9 per cent

(N5.471trillion) for capital expenditure in the year 2022 appropriation has further placed enormous burden on the administration to deal with the matter of cost of governance.

The Chairman of the Committee on Review of Parastatals, Agencies and Commissions Created after the Conclusion of Report on Restructuring and Rationalisation, Ms. Amal Pepple, noted the committee expanded its work to cover the period immediately after

the release of the original report and left out parastatals, agencies and commissions created between 2012 and 2014. She said the recommendations of her Committee were strictly guided by the Terms of Reference and focused on reducing cost of governance, improving cost efficiency, eliminating duplication or overlapping functions of government funding professional associations.

The committee said if government was desirous of addressing

The Senate yesterday passed a bill seeking the establishment of seven additional law schools in the country.

The decision of the Senate followed the consideration of report of its Committee on the Judiciary, Human Rights and Legal Matters chaired by Senator Opeyemi Bamidele.

The proposed legislation, sponsored by Senator Smart Adeyemi, was titled: "A bill for an Act to amend the Legal Education (Consolidation etc.) Act.' It seeks to establish campuses for the Nigerian Law School, in all the geopolitical zones across the country.

The bill, seeks seven additional campuses in Kabba, Kogi State and Jos, Plateau State (North Central); Maiduguri, Borno State (North East), Argungu, Kebbi State (North West): Okija , Anambra State (South East); Orogun, Delta State (South South), and Ilawe, Ekiti (South West).

The existing law school campuses are located in Lagos (South West), Abuja (North Central, Yola - Adamawa - (North East), Kano (North West), Enugu (South East) Port Harcourt and Yenogoa - Bayelsa State (South South).

The Council for Legal Education had also obtained approval for the establishment of a campus in Port-Harcourt, Rivers State.

The passage of the bill followed the adoption of the recommendation

of the Senate Committee on Judiciary, Human Rights and Legal Matters that considered the bill.

According to the bill, “There shall be established a minimum of two campuses in each of the six geopolitical zones, as specified in the schedule to the Bill.

“Subject to the provision of sub-section three, of this section, creation of additional campuses of the Nigerian Law School shall be approved by the National Assembly through legislation whenever the need arises.”

The Senate further resolved that the Bwari Law School should be for the Federal Capital City, while the proposed campuses in Kabba, Kogi State and Jos, Plateau state, would take care of the North Central zone.

high cost of governance, it must place moratorium on creation of new federal parastatals, agencies and Commissions and must direct the National Salaries, Income and Wages Commission to adhere strictly to the Act establishing it and henceforth desist from approving salaries.

It also recommended strict adherence by political office holders to the terms of their engagement especially in relation to appointment of aides.

Senate Confirms Omotayo as DG, NIPSS Sunday Aborisade in Abuja The Senate yesterday confirmed the appointment of Prof. Ayo

Omotayo as the Director-General of the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPSS) Kuru near Jos in, Plateau State.

Senate Okays Establishment of Seven Additional Law Schools

Sunday Aborisade in Abuja

"The question to ask is who else should the Judiciary open its account books to, and who among these organs had raised exceptions which were not defended by the Third Arm? The answer is none.

"One only hopes that these allegations against the judiciary by the federal government is not just a way of giving a dog a bad name so as to then hang it".

The committee in its observation and findings, stated: “That in view of the exponential increase in the number of law graduates from our universities and even foreign universities, coupled with the backlog that existed over the years, this legislative intervention measure is not only apt and timely but paramount; that without prejudice to the establishment of the Law School Campus in Port-Harcourt, the provision for additional campuses in the sixgeopolitical zones of the federation in this Bill is appropriate as it has not tampered with the seven existing campuses p, established by administrative responsibilities of the Council of Legal Education.

It added: “That the existing

campuses are overstretched and the infrastructures are not enough to accommodate thousands of law students graduating from the universities; that apart from the statutory requirement for the creation of additional campuses, it should be strictly on the basis of need assessment and fulfillment of other indicators, such as, convenience, and accessibility by lecturers, staff and students, availability of office, lecture theater and hostel facilities, proximity to courts and law offices; and that the federal government should, as a matter of priority, provide adequate resources for the funding of the infrastructural needs of the Law School campuses, across the country.”

Omotayo’s confirmation was sequel to the consideration of a report by the Joint Committee on Establishment and Public Service Matters; and Federal Character and Inter-Governmental Affairs.

The Vice Chairman of the Committee, Senator Danjuma La’ah, in his presentation on behalf of the Chairman, Ibrahim Shekarau, described the nominee as an, “asset” who possessed the requisite legal requirements specified under sections 3(2b) and 5 of the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies 2004.

He disclosed that there was no adverse security report against the nominee and his appointment as Director-General of the NIPSS. “Both the DSS and Police reports submitted to the Committee on the life of the nominee to date did not reveal any iota of crime or wrong doing against him”, La’ah said.

The nominee was thereafter confirmed by Senate.

WEDNESDAY FEBRUARY 9, 2022 • T H I S D AY

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WEDNESDAY, ΁˜ ͺ͸ͺͺ ˾ T H I S D AY

TEN OSINBAJO: S'COURT SEEMS TO BE EXCEEDING CONSTITUTIONAL LIMIT IN ELECTION MATTERS five-year-old Hanifa Abubakar, who was killed by proprietor of Nobel Kids Academy, Kwanar Dakata, Nasarawa Local Government Area of the state, Abdulmalik Tanko.

He condoled with the family and prayed God to give them the courage to bear the painful passing of their daughter.

Delivering his lecture at the conference, Osinbajo insisted that appropriate interpretation of the law should always bow to the will of the electorate, because the idea of democracy was for the people to determine their leaders.

Citing the 2019 elections in Zamfara State, he said, “The decision of the Supreme Court in the case of APC and Marafa, and that is a case, where the Supreme Court nullified the elections of all candidates of the APC and gave judgement in favour of the party, who were resoundingly defeated in the same election.

"In that election in 2019, the trouble at the Supreme Court game was that the APC primaries that produced candidates that were voted for were invalid.

"And without recourse to the elections that had in the polls rejected all the other candidates in the other political parties, the Supreme Court declared candidates of parties other than the APC as winners of the various offices that were contested, as winners in that February 23rd and March 15 general election.

"The court held that the APC votes cast by the Zamfara State electorate to select their preferred candidate to governor, senators, members of the House of Representatives, members of the House

of Assembly were all, and I quote, ‘wasted votes’. Why? Because according to the court, APC did not conduct any valid primary elections and as such, had no candidates for any elections in the state.

"So, here is a situation, where the party that lost every seat, from governorship to House of Assembly, was given all those seats on judicial pronouncements. For the voter, this decision must have at best been puzzling.

“First, the voter had no idea that the candidates of their preferred party were disqualified before voting. Indeed, at least, one court had declared the primaries valid and it was on that basis that INEC gave the go-ahead to the candidates to contest.

"Secondly, rather than giving seats to those that the electorate have rejected, ordering a rerun would probably have yielded a fairer result in the opinion of many of those, who went to the polls on that day. And I agree with my brother A.B Mahmoud SAN, that there is a real issue of whether the courts have not assumed a larger duty in election cases than was constitutionally intended.”

The vice president, who maintained that the judiciary remained the pillar of democracy, said, "In other words, are our courts going beyond constitutional expectations in election cases? And it is important to emphasise this, because the whole idea of democracy is that the people determine who their leaders will be, the law, electoral processes – everything must bow to the will of the people.”

Recalling his teaching experience at the University of Lagos in 1981

as Lecturer II, with a salary of N620, Osinbajo, who is believed to be nursing presidential ambition, reiterated, "The appropriate interpretation must always bow to the will of the people. I am certain that these views will add to the deliberations at the conference."

While declaring the conference opened earlier, Prof. Osinbajo noted that democracy and social justice are closely linked, in his prepared speech titled; The pursuit of Justice is What Helps Build a Good Society, Osinbajo stated that the cornerstone of democracy is the insistence that “our society must be governed by the rule of law and not the whim of man.”

“As law teachers and legal practitioners, we are custodians of this truth. However, democracy cannot endure without social justice,” he said, noting that “the pursuit of justice lies at the heart of the quest for the good of society.”

He continued, “This makes the legal profession one of the cardinal vocations upon which civilization rests. Indeed, law is an instrument of pacific social engineering, the end of which is justice. When it is rooted in this postulate, it follows that the law and therefore democracy, are meant to serve beneficial social ends.”

According to the VP, “a society in which an increasing number

it get past them into circulation?

It is their job to know. They are the police which should stop bad fuel from coming into the country.

“So, the NNPC has not been queried for now. The question now is who certified the product clean enough to come into the country?

“When the investigation is done, then the federal government will know where the blame lies, but for now, the NNPC is just a company and doesn’t necessarily owe allegiance to government as it were, because it’s now just like every other company with a profit motive.

“On the other hand the authority is the regulator, they are supposed to flag any adulterated product so that it doesn’t come into the country. For now , the question the government is asking is: How did it come into the country. Who gave the permission or go-ahead?

That is the question for now, then other steps will follow.

“It is on the basis of that the presidency can then apportion blames and sanction other culpable operators accordingly,” the presidency source added.

According to the source, the affected volume of products in circulation was more than the 100 million litres being bandied about, adding that it came in six cargoes.

“The actual figure is 317 million litres that came in six cargoes. So, the argument that it is isolated does not hold water,” the source alleged.

The current problematic supply of petrol has for days grounded movement in Abuja, Lagos and some other parts of the country, made worse by the shortage of inventory released from the sole importer, the NNPC. The prevailing condition has ensured that in Abuja, especially, a majority of filling stations were shut even as motorists spent hours in the sun struggling to buy from the few that were open, causing serious traffic jams in parts of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

The particular cargoes with the issue were said to have high sulphur content, while marketers have been advised not to sell to consumers.

In addition, it was learnt that the queues returned partly because the gap which existed when depot owners started hoarding products before the announcement of retention of subsidy by the federal government

“The degree to which citizens are in possession of their social and economic rights has a direct impact on the degree of their access to legal services and, thence, to justice. Our concern as teachers and practitioners of the law, therefore, must extend beyond the courtroom, beyond the precincts of our legal institutions, to the social reality in which these structures exist.”

Speaking on government’s role in ensuring growth of democracy and social justice in society, the Vice President noted that “the principle of the dignity of the human person implies that governments must be considerate, egalitarian and Continued on page 48

NIGERIA DRAGS UK’S CRIME AGENCY TO COURT OVER £150M ABACHA LOOT In May 2020, the federal government confirmed the receipt of $311 million looted by a late dictator, Abacha, repatriated from the United States and Island of Jersey.

According to Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, “The amount increased significantly from over $308 million to over $311 million because of the interest that accrued from February 3, 2020, to 28th April, 2020, when the fund was transferred to the CBN.” It came after the recovery of $322 million from Switzerland in 2018.

At the time, Malami noted that the government had committed that the asset would support and assist in expediting the construction of three major infrastructure projects across Nigeria, namely, Lagos – Ibadan Expressway, Abuja – Kano Road, and Second Niger Bridge.

It was estimated that from 2007 to 2020, about $1.5 billion had been

returned to Nigeria from different parts of the world.

According to the latest report, American prosecutors said the money could be traced back to a suspected $2.2 billion (£1.6 billion) or more that was plundered by Abacha and his associates during the dictator’s five-year reign.

In the complex issues surrounding the repatriation of the funds, the authorities in the US sought to return the money to “the people of Nigeria”, under the so-called Kleptocracy Initiative.

But the Nigerian government was said have sought to “sidestep” the process and obtain the funds directly through an application to the High Court, in a move opposed by UK and US authorities, documents seen

by The Telegraph and SourceMaterial showed.

Although Abacha died more than 20 years ago, the piles of treasure he looted from Nigerian coffers have

ADULTERATED FUEL: BUHARI ANGRY, ORDERS QUERY OF NMDPRA HEAD the Minister of State, Petroleum, Mr. Timipre Sylva, to ask Ahmed to explain how the product came into the country.

An impeccable presidency source told THISDAY that Buhari felt that the first point to begin to unravel how the product came into the country and invariably began circulating should be the agency, which by law acts as the “police” of the downstream and midstream sector.

The Authority was created in August 2021 in line with the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) and encompasses a merger of three defunct regulatory agencies: Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA), Petroleum Equalisation Fund (Management) Board (PEFMB), and the Midstream and Downstream Divisions of the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR).

It is responsible for the regulation of the midstream and downstream petroleum operations in Nigeria which includes technical, operational, and commercial activities.

According to the source, who asked not be named, the minister who was at the Presidential Villa to brief the president, following the growing outrage over the issue, was directed to, in a short while, send the query to the CEO of the agency.

“This matter has become an embarrassment to this government. There’s no question that these cargoes of petrol were bad, so he (Ahmed) is being queried over how the fuel came into the country and the president has so instructed,” the presidency source explained.

When THISDAY sought to know why the midstream/downstream should be issued a query while the likely importer, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) was seemingly being let off the hook, the source said while investigations were ongoing, the response of the agency would determine which other government agency or private individuals would be sanctioned.

“The reason the midstream/ downstream authority is being queried first is that for now the bulk stops at its desk. They are the first port of call. Ordinarily, they are expected to know how it came into the country.

“This is because they are the police of the industry. How did

of people consider themselves alienated from legal institutions or perceive these legal institutions to be incapable of delivering justice for all cannot be stable and prosperous.”

Without social justice, legal justice is ultimately unattainable, Prof. Osinbajo stated, adding that “our idea of social justice also refers to the social and economic rights of the people.”

He said these rights, according to the Constitution, include the right to food, shelter, employment, education and a reasonable national minimum living wage, care for the elderly, pensions, unemployment benefits and welfare for the physically challenged.

had not smoothened.

This has challenged the lifting of products to, especially Abuja and other parts of the north from Lagos, THISDAY gathered.

In a statement on the matter yesterday, the Authority admitted that “limited quantity of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), commonly known as petrol, with methanol quantities above Nigeria’s specification was discovered in the supply chain.”

While stressing that methanol is a regular additive in petrol and usually blended in an acceptable quantity, the NMDPRA stated that to ensure vehicular and equipment safety, the limited quantity of the impacted product has been isolated and withdrawn from the market, including the loaded trucks in transit.

“Our technical team in conjunction with NNPC Ltd and other industry stakeholders, will continue to monitor and ensure quality petroleum products are adequately supplied and distributed nationwide,” it added.

According to the agency, the “source supplier” has been identified and further commercial and appropriate actions shall be taken by the Authority and NNPC Ltd. In addition, it noted that the NNPC Ltd and all oil marketing companies had been directed to sustain sufficient distribution of petrol in all retail outlets nationwide.

Subsequently, the NDMPRA stated that the NNPC has intensified efforts at increasing the supply of the product into the market in order to bridge any unforeseen supply gap.

Meanwhile, in separate interviews on Arise Television, THISDAY’s broadcast arm, National President of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN), Mr. Chinedu Okoronkwo and the Vice President of the union, Mr. Abubakar Maigandi, confirmed that the bad products were being withdrawn from circulation.

While trying to play down the seriousness of the situation, Okoronkwo who absolved his members of any complicity in the matter, noted that “in any given situation, business-wise, sometimes you might have ups and downs”.

He added: “This time, we must let the world know that the Independent Marketers Association of Nigeria has never been part of

any scarcity or whatever you may call it.

“Our own duty is to ensure that we get products and take to our station and retail to the masses. So moving forward, on the issue of this contaminated product, it is no more a hidden thing, but we have got an assurance from the NNPC that the fuel has been removed.

“And they have brought in new one now that we are now using. You know any ripples in the system for one or two days might exaggerate (extend) into one week,” he posited.

According to him, the hope was that the national oil company has now gotten its act together and had taken inventory of the contaminated product which had been withdrawn from circulation.

He argued that the complaints of vehicles breaking down had markedly subsided, meaning that good product was now in circulation, reassuring that the situation will normalise in days.

“If you look at the market, you know that people are still buying now, which means the good one is coming into the system,” he said.

Also in his remarks, Maigandi assured that: “By God's grace, today or tomorrow, the product will be available nationwide.”

On the source of the bad fuel, he said: “All the marketers as you know, heavily depend on the NNPC. So we buy this product through the NNPC and private depots.

“That is the source of our getting this product. But, you know, in every business, sometimes there must be an issue. And this issue has already been understood without much damage.

“And NNPC is working seriously to see that they get the correct product so that the marketers will continue loading. Already, we have told all our marketers to stand by and we have started receiving decontaminated products. “ You will see that the product will be available in most of our filling station nationwide. Normally we take precautionary measures immediately we bring the product into our filling stations,” he explained.

A day earlier, the South-West Zonal Chairman of IPMAN, Mr. Dele Tajudeen, had lamented that members of the association had suffered severe losses and may ask for damages from the authorities.

kept cropping up, with at least $2 billion being thought to have stolen during his five years in power.

The former dictator’s spoils have been linked to dozens of offshore bank accounts over the years, as investigators unravel the intricate web he and his associates spun across the globe.

British and American authorities have been locked in talks over tens of millions of pounds of cash that investigators say can be traced to Abacha’s plundering, the investigation found.

The case, which involves a serving Nigerian politician who was one of Abacha’s top henchmen, includes cash in British bank accounts that has been frozen by the National Crime Agency.

However, the Nigerian government has brought its own legal action against the NCA in a bid to end the tussle, it has emerged.

The report stated, “It is a complicated story with many twists and turns. But the on-going struggle for ‘Abacha’s loot' reveals the difficulty in recovering stolen funds, the frustrations of law enforcement, and the way people accused of corruption have relied on respectable law firms to argue their cases in court.”

On the modus operandi used by Abachi to execute the looting, the report stated that after seizing power in a 1993 coup, Abacha set about using his position as Nigeria’s head of state to place himself above the law and skim vast sums of money from the oil-rich nation.

In perhaps the most brazen example, he would tell advisers to make spurious requests to him for money to deal with national “emergencies”, according to US court documents.

Signed letters would then be sent to the CBN, which would provide cash, travellers’ cheques or arrange a wire transfer.

The report added, “Money was stuffed into boxes or bags and transported to Abacha’s house, before associates arranged for it to be sent abroad.

“At least $2 billion is thought to have been stolen this way, using more than 60 letters to the central bank.

“Abacha also arranged for the government to sell bonds to a company controlled by his allies before buying them back at vastly inflated prices, generating an illicit windfall of $282 million.”

Separately, the report stated that Abacha and his associates extorted French engineering firm, Dumez Group, of $97 million and used his spoils to live a luxurious lifestyle.

“Inside his many sprawling homes, he kept piles of glittering jewellery, including gold necklaces and rings, and at one stage as much as $100 million in cash,” the report noted.

However, the money Abacha and his associates plundered became the subject of an international search after the dictator’s sudden death in 1998, aged 54.

The report stated that weeks after his death, Abacha’s widow was caught trying to flee the country with 38 suitcases packed with money and his family later forfeited nearly $1 billion.

“Yet the only clues hinting at where other stashes of money could be found were a few details of secret offshore bank accounts discovered by authorities,” it said.

“Since then, the Nigerians have sought foreign help to recover as much as possible, with more than

$1 billion eventually returned from Switzerland alone,” it added.

The effort has been hampered by the sheer complexity of Abacha’s dealings as well as marathon legal battles that have dragged on for years, some involving former associates.

One of the remaining cases, brought by US prosecutors, aims to recover more than $480 million, the report stressed. In just one example of the web of transactions criss-crossing the globe, they outlined in court filings how money was laundered by Abacha and his associates through bank accounts in Lagos, London, New York, Paris, Zurich, and Geneva.

The assets were stashed in banks, including Deutsche Bank, HSBC, and Banque SBA, according to the lawsuit, although there was no suggestion that the banks were involved in any wrongdoing.

The Telegraph stated, “This legal action eventually resulted in a 2020 deal to repatriate about $321 million, which had been laundered through the US banking system and then held in accounts in Jersey under the name of Doraville Properties Corporation, a British Virgin Islands company, and Abacha’s son, Mohammed.”

Meanwhile, the new development comes as Britain fights claims that it has been very tolerant of dirty money flowing through the City of London.

US officials said last month that they were concerned that deep links between the UK and several Russian oligarchs meant that sanctions issued against Moscow if it invades Ukraine could be rendered ineffective.

Last Sunday, Briish Labour MP David Lammy accused ministers of doing too little to deal with corruption in Britain.

Lammy said, "We have to fix the dirty money problem we have, this huge problem of money laundering in London, of corruption and fraud.

"There's so much that (ministers) are not doing. Joe Biden knows it and he's concerned."

But simultaneously, another court tussle in the UK is happening in parallel. At stake is more than €90 million, some of which came from Abacha’s security votes fraud, according to a High Court judgement issued in 2014.

The money is said to be controlled by a Singapore-based trust set up for the benefit of the family of Abubakar Bagudu, the serving governor of Kebbi State, who is accused of playing an “instrumental role” in many of Abacha’s corrupt schemes by US prosecutors.

Bagudu has always denied any wrongdoing. His office did not respond to a request for comment, the report said.

His brother, Ibrahim, is a director of two companies known as Blue Holdings that are owned by the Singapore trust.

According to the Pandora Papers, a leaked cache of documents obtained by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists last year, the Bagudu brothers enlisted Farrer & Co, an elite London law firm that has advised the Queen, to help them set up these businesses.

They moved €98 million from a British Virgin Islands trust to a new structure spanning Singapore and the Cook Islands.

Farrer & Co said it carried out “extensive due diligence” on Bagudu and that it obtained approval from the Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA), the precursor to the NCA, Continued on page 49

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NEWS

Gunmen Release Kidnapped Kaduna Catholic Priest John Shiklam in Kaduna The abducted Catholic Priest of St.Monica’s Catholic Church, Ikulu Parish in Kauru Local Government Area, Kaduna State, Rev. Fr. Joseph Shekari, has been released after 24 hours in captivity.

Shekari was abducted on Sunday night when gunmen invaded his residence and killed his cook before taking him away.

Chancellor, Catholic Diocese of Kafanchan, Rev. Fr. Emmanuel

Okolo, confirmed Shekari’s release in a statement yesterday, saying the priest was freed at about 10:30pm on Monday.

The statement prayed for the repose of the soul of the cook killed during the attack and the release of all those in captivity by terrorists.

The statement reads: “With hearts filled with joy, we raise our voices in a symphony of praises as we announce the return of our brother, Rev. Fr. Joseph Danjuma Shekari, who

Gunmen Kill Traffic Warden in Anambra David-Chyddy Eleke in Awka

An official of the Anambra State Traffic Management Agency ( ATMA), a state traffic agency was yesterday shot dead by gunmen in Ekwulobia in Aguata Local Government Area of Anambra State.

The gunmen were said to have invaded the town in two different vehicles and had shot intermittently, killing the official at the ever busy junction.

An eyewitness said the traffic warden was shot from behind, with the bullet shattering his

brain.

A source said: “Few minutes ago, gun shots at Ekwulobia roundabout appear to have cost the life of a traffic warden.

The gunmen were said to be travelling in two vehicles. Similar gunshots were heard at Oko.” The state police command’s spokesperson, Ikenga Tochukwu confirmed the incident, saying the hoodlums shot in the area in attempt to disarm a Mobile Police officer on patrol. He, however. said the officer quickly returned the fire which made the gunmen flee the scene.

was abducted by armed persons from the Rectory at St. Monica’s Catholic Church, Ikulu Parish in Kauru Local Government Area, Kaduna State, on Sunday 6th February, 2022.

“Fr. Shekari was released

around 10.30pm on Monday, 7th February, 2022.

“As we pray for the repose of the soul of his cook who was killed during the attack, we want to thank all those who have offered prayers and

entreaties for the quick release of our Priest and others who are still in the dens of their kidnappers.

“We pray God to hasten the release of those who are still in the hands of their captors.

“All our Priests are directed to kindly celebrate Mass of Thanksgiving to God for the quick release of Fr. Shekari as well as Mass for the dead for the departed cook of Fr. Shekari.

APC, PDP, Others Sign Peace Accord for FCT Area Council Election Chuks Okocha in Abuja The leadership and candidates of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and the main opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) as well as other 12 political parties participating in this Saturday’s area council election in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) have signed a peace accord.

The political parties’

leaders and their candidates, who performed the ritual at the enlarged stakeholders’ meeting on the 2022 FCT area councils election in Abuja on Monday, pledged to ensure peaceful, credible and hitch-free polls.

No fewer than 473 candidates, comprising 110 (chairman and vice chairman) and 363 flag bearers sponsored by 14 political parties are contesting

the six chairmanship and 62 councillors positions in the FCT. INEC Chairman, Mahmood Yakubu, in his address disclosed that sensitive materials for the election will be delivered by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to the Commission’s FCT Office in Garki, Abuja on Thursday.

Yakubu said party agents, observers and the media will be invited to inspect the

materials before they will be moved to the Area Councils on the same day, adding that all non-sensitive materials have already been delivered to the Area Councils.

He assured all stakeholders that security personnel will provide escort to the Area Councils and protection of the materials until they reach the polling units on election day, been Saturday.

Criticisms Trailing Emmanuel’s Chosen Successor Worry A’Ibom Govt Okon Bassey in Uyo

Akwa Ibom State Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Ini Ememobong has expressed worry over criticisms trailing the recent unveiling of the State Commissioner for Lands and Natural Resources, Pastor Umo Eno as the preferred successor to Governor Udom Emmanuel

in 2023.

At a press briefing in Uyo, the Commissioner pleaded that those condemning the choice of Pastor Eno as the preferred choice of the governor should sheathe their sword and stop vilifying the governor.

The commissioner insisted that leaders have always been interested in who should

succeed them, therefore the recent unveiling of Pastor Eno as Governor Emmanuel’s preferred successor come 2023 was just a normal phenomenom.

He stressed that the development position should never call for the abuse of the Governor or divide the state along nonexistent tribal, ethnic

or religious lines.

According to the commissioner, the desire to have a successor have always been a source of concern to every leader, thus it was not out of place for the Governor to disclose his preference after enduring months of humongous pressure to do so from all the quarters.

2023: Group Urges Akpabio Former Plateau APC Chairman, 12,000 Others Defect to PDP Nanpon Tom and former State the state in 2023, calling on all elections, and Plateau people Seriki Adinoyi in Jos to Join Presidential Race Assistant Secretary of the “right thinking APC members” will begin to say bye-bye to Bennett Oghifo

A group of professionals, with membership drawn from all over Nigeria, has called on former Akwa-Ibom State Governor, who is currently the Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Godswill Akpabio to step out and run for the presidency of Nigeria.

The group, known as the Godswill Akpabio Uncommon Transformational Support Organisation (GAUTSO), noted that with what Nigeria is experiencing today, only a proven leader and an accomplished performer like Senator Akpabio can take the country out of the woods and calls on the popular politician to throw his hat into the ring.

In a statement signed by the group’s spokesperson, Chief Bennett Akar, GAUTSO noted that Nigeria had reached a stage where it could no longer gamble with its future.

Akar said: “We have looked at all the people who have so far declared their interest in the presidency and we have come to the unimpeachable conclusion that there is none that has Akpabio’s political profile and record of achievements. Nigeria needs an experienced, tested and steady hand

as its pilot at this point in time.”

According to Akar, apart from being energetic and focused, Akpabio has exhibited uncommon courage.

“One of the biggest challenges Nigeria is facing at the moment is insecurity. Nigeria needs a tested and proven man of courage to manage its security architecture and rid the nation of these criminal elements.

“When the Niger Delta militancy was at its peak, Akpabio was one of those patriotic Nigerians who braved the odds, stepped into the ring and found this win-win solution that has held the region at peace till today. He has demonstrated his political sagacity in recently meeting with a Niger Delta warlord and finding a peaceful way to calm frayed nerves. Nigeria needs a leader who is proactive and has problem-solving skills.

“Still speaking about courage, we know how he followed through the forensic audit at the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC). He rose above stiff opposition to get the job done. In addition, under his leadership, NDDC moved to its permanent headquarters after many years, saving the nation millions of naira.”

Former Plateau state chairman of the All Progressive Congress (APC) Hon. Latep Dabang, with his over 12,000 supporters, have defected to the opposition party, the People Democratic Party (PDP) in the state.

Among the defectors are a former member of the Plateau State House of Assembly, Hon.

APC, Hon. Binkur and their supporters.

They were received into the PDP during the Langtang mega rally of the party tagged, ‘The Great Movement, 2022.’

Speaking to newsmen shortly after receiving PDP flag at the Langtang township stadium, Dabang said PDP will take over

in the state to return home to the PDP. Latep said: “By the grace of God, PDP will win the Pankshin South State constituency and Jos North/ Bassa Federal constituency by-election slated for 26th February, 2022.

“I have full assurance that PDP will win the two by-

APC.” He said he was prepared to give all necessary support to PDP to flush out APC in 2023 general elections.

Receiving the defectors, the state chairman of PDP, Hon. Chris Hassan said that the party has received over 12,000 APC members to PDP.

Communities Lament Poor State of Infrastructure in Edo

Esan Okpa Initiative (EOI), a recently formed socio-cultural organisation concerned with the advancement of the Esan people, has strongly decried the poor state of infrastructure in Esanland, saying it has not only compounded the insecurity crisis in the area but may imperil its economy.

Calling for urgent intervention by federal and Edo State Governments to redress deplorable roads littering Esanland that it says, have become “death traps,” EOI asserted that “dilapidated roads and gully erosion have made it difficult to move blissfully from one point to another. The worse

hit are farmers who now find it arduous to move their produce to the markets, thereby worsening the food crisis in Esanland.”

The organisation in a statement signed by its President, Rt Hon Mathew Egbadon and the Public Relations Officer, Mr. Tony Iyare, said the roads in Esanland comprising the five

local governments in Edo Central, “have become craters and death traps.”

This it notes, has “compounded the insecurity crisis bedeviling the communities massed in Esanland, making it impossible for the people and particularly farmers to move their products to the markets.”

PREGSOSA Alumni Celebrate 50th Anniversary, Commit to School Devt Sunday Okobi Old students of the Premier Grammar School, Abeokuta, Ogun State, also known as the Glorious 8th Set of 1967/71, have commemorated their 50 years out-of-school anniversary with gift presentations to their alma mater and commitment to bring development to the school.

The old boys association stated that the occasion, which was held recently at the school premises, provided an opportunity for members of the class to reconnect after more than half a century, and also integrate with the national body of Premier Grammar School Abeokuta Old Students Association (PREGSOSA).

In his welcome address,

the Anniversary Committee Chairman, Pastor B. A. Adesina, expressed appreciation to God for making the occasion possible after such a long time of passing out of the school.

While acknowledging the roles of some departed colleagues, he emphasised the roles of the old students’ association in the development of aged institutions.

According to him, “Nowadays, major developments in schools are anchored by the Alumni because of the inadequate funding from the government. Ours is not different.

“Celebrating 50th anniversary of leaving the school is one of the ways we have designed to critically intervene in her development.”

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T H I S D AY • WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 9, 2022

COMMENT

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

WAITING FOR INFRACOS TO BRIDGE THE DIGITAL GAPS Infraco services may take some time to arrive their sites, writes Sonny Aragba-Akpore

A

part from the city centres and semi-urban areas of Nigeria, Internet connectivity and voice calls in the rural areas are a nightmare.

While the urban centres have 3rd-generation (3G) and fourth generation coverage in most instances, the rest part of the country makes do with 3G or third generation. A possible reason why connectivity remains poor most of the time.

Although Mobile Network Operators (MNO) have nearly 40,000 base stations in parts of the country, these are not enough to create a robust networks that will ensure seamless coverage in the rural areas.

This perhaps explains why the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) came out with Open Access Model for Next Generation Optic Fibre Broadband Network Initiative in 2014.

This initiative led to the introduction and licensing of infrastructure companies (Infracos) to provide last-mile services in the six geopolitical zones with Lagos standing alone for its peculiarity being the commercial hub of the country.

Main One Cable Company Limited and IHS Limited got the first two licenses to cover Lagos and the North Central zone including the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) respectively.

But for reasons not too far from bottlenecks for commercial roll-out of its services, IHS declined the license a few years later and as we write no new license has been issued for the North Central Zone.

The NCC has however named five companies to cover North East Zone (Brinks Integrated Solutions Limited) North West (Fleek Network Limited) South-South (Raenna Nigeria Limited) South West (Odua Infraco Resources Limited) and Southeast (Zinox Technology Limited).

The Infracos were expected to cover access gaps especially in underserved and unserved areas of the country and provide a wholesale layer to transmission services on a non-discriminatory open access price regulated basis.

They are also expected to provide layer 1 metro dark fiber services on a commercial basis, and deployment of metropolitan fibre to provide transmission services of point of access to seekers.

They are to leverage existing inter-city fibre to deploy their services, connect with the intercity regional fibre to provide seamless connectivity to access seekers.

But curiously, none of the licenses has shown good fate in the deployment of service. Although the NCC had put in place or promised subsidies to the regulator says disbursement of subsidy will depend on the milestones attained by each operator. And that is where we are right now.

Conscious of the government’s position to develop a digital economy, the Executive Vice Chairman (EVC) of NCC Prof Umar Danbatta said recently that the NCC was working on sustainable funding options for effective implementation of the national fibre project.

And as part of the fallout from the 2020 – 2025 National Broadband Plan (NBP), 10 more Infracos may be licensed soon when (NCC) gets the nod of the Federal Executive Council (FEC) When Danbatta hosted a delegation of officials of the United States Trade and Development Agency (USTDA) on March 19, 2019, he told the visitors about the plans for the Infracos citing it as a Public-Private Partnership (PPP) to address the Capital Expenditure (CAPTEX) of the licences and government involvement will be predicated on the milestones recorded by each licencee.

THE INFRACOS WERE EXPECTED TO COVER ACCESS GAPS ESPECIALLY IN UNDERSERVED AND UNSERVED AREAS OF THE COUNTRY AND PROVIDE A WHOLESALE LAYER TO TRANSMISSION SERVICES ON A NONDISCRIMINATORY OPEN ACCESS PRICE REGULATED BASIS

“We are trying to build intra-city and intercity networks to connect citizens all over the country irrespective of wave they live and whatever their circumstances.

But nothing significant has taken place since then even when the NCC gave a five-month deadline to the infracos to move to site and commence roll out activities by May 2022. This matching order issued in December 2021, maybe the answer to the long-awaited commencement of Infraco services.

But the Infracos may still be plagued by a number of challenges that will hinder smooth, deployment of services.

In no particular order, Lagos has 841km to be covered by the licence, Main One Cable while the Odua Infraco is expected to cover 7,480km in the South West and Raeana will cover 3,144km in South South.

Zinox Technology has 1,314km to cover the South East while Blinks Integrated 6,342km for North East and Fleek Network 9,781km for North West.

The licence for Northcentral which is yet to be named will cover 9,392km. Apart from the issue of funding one of the delays in release of counterpart funding approval, the Infracos are expected to face the hydra headed right of way issues with state governments. There are also issues of multiple taxation and regulations awaiting them in the zones.

Besides the vandalism of telecom infrastructure has not abated and so the issues of delay in the ports for customs clearance even after coping with Foreign Exchange scarcity.

But there are other active connected lines, and other angles to this crisis. With a population of over 200million paucity is still there. 204m and a tele density of 103%, coverage is still a far cry from being robust because dwellers in this coverage are predominately in the urban centres.

Rural communities and parts of the country are plagued by crises of banditry, kidnapping, armed robbery, vandalism of equipment, poor road networks and electricity. Some are even war-torn states like Zamfara, Katsina, Borno, Kaduna, and Sokoto have had network shut down to contain banditry.

Without sounding a death knell, the truth is that Infraco may take a longer time to arrive their sites.

Perhaps the NCC may quietly commence the review of the infraco project to fast-track approval for counterpart funding.

The NCC may also reopen its engagement with the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF) in line with the Resolution of the National Economic Council (NEC) on multiple taxations, levies, and charges on ICT infrastructure of March 21, 2013.

The law enforcement agencies in this process may be approached to address the challenges, especially in the North East and North West if the Infraco deployment may be realized. Between 2001 and 2003, the federal government initiated the National Rural Telephony Project (NRTP) and over $200m disbursed to approved companies for the project. It ran into a hitch. It was designed to reduce rural-urban drift, and this perhaps explains why the NCC is slow in taking the decision to release the counterpart funds to the infracos. So what becomes of the licence if the proposed beneficiaries do not have access to funds to actualize the project?

Will this end up as a failed project?

Aragba-Akpore is a member of THISDAY Editorial Board

DRUG ABUSE: RUBBING MINDS WITH A CHILD Chuks Akamadu urges children to stay away from drugs

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efore proceeding with this conversation, I would like to respectfully request those parents and guardians who are still living in denial as it relates to how vulnerable children and wards have become to the scourge of drug abuse to cease forthwith, in their individual interest. The menace is here with us, raging like wildfire; and if care is not taken, we might all be gutted by it.

Whilst it makes loads of sense to continue to pray that our children and wards are not found anywhere near the perimeter of drug abuse, I think that it would be smart-parenting on our part to presume that they are actually facing drug use and abuse threat at present. This, in my view, would be a proactive way of shielding them from an epidemic on the prowl.

Here’s a society that is battling with the anxiety occasioned by the sad reality that its drug abuse prevalence rate is 14.4% – almost thrice the world’s average of 5%. As if that is not enough, the nation has also come under the attack of demons in human skin whose preferred business is the supply of drugged cookies and pastries to primary school pupils and secondary school students!

It therefore was not altogether shocking when an 11-year- old lad named “Chibuihie” recently disrupted an adult discussion between me and some community leaders on drug abuse, and the following conversation ensued: Chibuihie: Uncle, do children have anything to do

with this your drug abuse talk?

Me: Yes, son.

Chibuihie: How? Me: It is because children being a source of pride to the family and assets to the society, should not be found having anything to do with drugs – and the abuse of it.

Chibuihie: Meaning what really?

Me: You are very precious and deserve to know basic facts about drug abuse, so as to ensure that you do not wilfully or unknowingly become a victim.

Chibuihie: What is drug abuse?

Me: It is the unauthorized use of drugs or prescription or over-the-counter drugs as the case may be for purposes other than those for which they are meant to be used, or in excessive quantities.

Chibuihie: What are the consequences?

Me: Drug abuse could lead to complicated mental, social, physical, emotional, and job-related problems.

Chibuihie: How? Me: The basic impacts are that it necessarily reduces one’s productive capacity, endangers one’s health and ultimately distorts family harmony.

Oftentimes, it predisposes one to unintended sundry crimes and acts of criminality including domestic violence, stealing and terrorism.

Chibuihie: Are there other adverse effects?

Me: Oh, yes! One’s physical health can deteriorate. The truth is that different drugs have varied and serious direct physical and psychological

consequences such as anxiety, depression, psychosis, abnormal body sensation, seizures, suicidal behaviors and even sudden death – in extreme cases.

Chibuihie: Are there peculiar effects of drug abuse among young people?

Me: Yes and Yes! It’s been scientifically proven that young people who abuse substances are at higher risk than those who do not for mental health problems, including depression, conduct problems, personality disorders, suicidal thoughts, attempted suicide and suicide Chibuihie: What are the causes of drug abuses, especially among youths?

Me: The causes include: boredom, peer pressure, parental negligence, physical and sexual abuse, early exposure to drugs, curiosity, stress, and lack of parental guidance can greatly affect a person’s likelihood of drug use, dependency and addiction.

Chibuihie: Is any of these factors reasonable?

Me: No! No!! No!!!

Chibuihie: Why? Me: It’s simply because, every young person has an inherent willpower to rise above those and become a global reference point in professional and/ or career accomplishments. Moreover, drug abuse ultimately wrecks whoever that gets hooked on it.

Chibuihie: What are the specific health effects of drug abuse?

Me: It causes long term and short-term changes in the brain, which result in mental health concerns such as depression, paranoia, aggression, anxiety

and hallucination. It can also cause or worsen cancer, heart disease, liver function, lung disease, mental disorders and infectious diseases like HIV/ AIDS, tuberculosis and hepatitis.

Chibuihie: What are the hidden benefits of drug abuse?

Me: Non- at all.

Chibuihie: So, in this particular context, which substances should I stay away from?

Me: Any substance that makes you feel “high”.

The “highness” is actually a certain route to your destruction. Please run away from any substance that contains narcotic (sedative), psychotic (recreational drugs, alcohol and smoking) or psychotropic (antidepressants, antianxiety medications, stimulants and mood stabilizers). The substances one should stay away with include Marijuana, Skonk, Loud, Arizona, Colorado, Flakka, alcohol, heroin, ketamine, DMT, Cocaine, Crack, Steroids, Salvia, Codeine, Mescaline, Hashish, etc. But really, the name they are called by do not matter that much because their street names oftentimes differ and the list is inexhaustible.

Chibuihie: What is the advantage I have over those who do drugs?

Me: You are the one living SMART (not the ones claiming to be “high on substance”): unlike them, your health is intact, your family is at peace, your future is secured, your God is pleased with you and your success in life guaranteed.

Akamadu, M.IoD is President, Centre for Ethical Rebirth Among Nigerian Youths

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EDITORIAL CONFLICT OVER POLICE RECRUITMENT The authorities should put an end to the needless bickering between the PSC and the IGP in the interest of national security

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he Police Service Commission (PSC) workers union recently declared a three-day warning strike over the reported takeover of the recruitment of 10,000 constables by Force Headquarters. It is a continuation of the power tussle that has for the past four years pitched the commission against the office of the Inspector General of Police (IGP). In 2019, the National Industrial Court (NIJ) had denounced the recruitment list of constables released by the police, describing it as an act of Illegality. But the then IGP ignored the court order. His successor has continued to toe the same line as friction continues at a period when we need a synergy of positive mix of ideas between the IGP office and the PSC to tackle insecurity in the country.

Ordinarily, the PSC is in the same line of order and authority with WHILE NOT BELITTLING the Federal Civil THE ROLE OF THE PSC, Service CommisADDRESSING THE sion, Federal SAFETY AND SECURITY Judicial Council, CHALLENGES CURRENTLY and the National Assembly Service CONFRONTING NIGERIA Commission.

IS THE FUNCTION OF THE MEN AND OFFICERS OF THE Basically, they have similar constituPOLICE tional powers and duties in the areas of welfare, recruitment, discipline, and promotion of all categories of staff. Going by the PSC establishment amendment act of 2001, some of the basic duties include, but not limited to, being responsible for the appointment and promotion of persons and functions to offices (other than the office of the IGP) and exercise disciplinary control over persons (other than the IGP).

The commission is also expected to formulate policies and guidelines for the appointment, promotion, discipline, and dismissal of police officers; identify factors inhibiting or undermining discipline in the Force; and implement policies aimed at the efficiency

Letters to the Editor

and discipline. It is also empowered to perform such other functions which in the opinion of the commission may be required to ensure the optimal efficiency of the Police Force. The commission, according to the law, “shall not be subject to the direction, control or supervision of any other authority or person in performance of its functions other than as is prescribed in this Act.”

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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

hat the foregoing suggests is that the powers to recruit, discipline and promote all cadres of officers of the police, except the IGP, reside with the PSC. It is on the strength of these constitutional powers being allegedly infringed upon by the IGP that the PSC has been fighting in the public space. That the presidency has not deemed it fit to intervene by calling the parties to order has only compounded the problem.

Police typically are responsible for maintaining public order and safety, enforcing the law, and preventing, detecting, and investigating criminal activities. These functions make it difficult for the institution to whimsically disobey the law as the IGP has done. But we also cannot understand the present situation where the powers to recruit and discipline reside outside the Force. While not belittling the role of the PSC, addressing the safety and security challenges currently confronting Nigeria is the function of the men and officers of the police. That should make the IGP more than a ceremonial head.

As chairman of the Police Council, President Muhammadu Buhari should intervene on this sordid crisis that has gone on for years. First, he must call the IGP to order on the need to avoid self-help. And then the president should send to the National Assembly an amendment to the PSC Act that currently gives the commission omnibus powers. This rivalry is not helped by the consistent appointment of retired IGPs to chair the PSC. The president should also investigate that convention that has become rather unhelpful.

Overall, we must put an end to the needless bickering between the PSC and the IGP in the interest of our national security.

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 CHOLERA CHALLENGE

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t was certainly made chilling news that in 2021 Nigeria had the dubious distinction of emerging as the country with the highest number of cholera cases globally. As per revelations by the NCDC, data showed that the country reported 111.062 cases of the disease with 3,604 deaths recorded across 34 states of the Federation.

The states included Abia, Adamawa, Akwa Ibom, Bauchi, Bayelsa, Benue, Borno, Cross River, Delta, Ebonyi, Ekiti, Enugu, FCT, Gombe, Jigawa, Kaduna, Kano, Katsina, Kebbi, Kogi, Kwara, Lagos, Nasarawa, Niger, Ogun, Ondo, Osun, Oyo, Plateau, Sokoto, Taraba, Yobe, Rivers, Zamfara. The report also revealed that children between the age of five and 14 were the most affected group.

Alarming statistics were also apportioned to states in the North. Four states – Bauchi (19.558 cases), Jigawa (15,141 cases) Kano (12,161 cases) and Zamfara (11,931 cases) account for 53 percent of all cumulative cases. Eleven Local Government Areas (LGAs) across five states: Bauchi (four) Zamfara (four) Kano (one), Katsina (one) and Borno (one) reported more than 1,000 cases each.

Cholera is a diarrheal disease that can kill within hours if it is not treated. It is endemic in Nigeria and outbreaks were reported as far back as the 1970s.The disease spreads through contaminated food and water, reappearing periodically in countries unable to secure access to clean drinking water and adequate sanitation like Nigeria.

As if life in Nigeria was not hard enough as it is, it is utterly alarming that every now and then, cholera breaks out across sections of the country, sickening many, killing some and endangering others. There is no doubt that each time there is an outbreak, it shoves Nigeria`s public health system into the dock.

Many Nigerians had long suspected that their creaking healthcare system could be easily overrun by severe public health challenges. When in 2020, Covid-19 raced through western capitals spreading death and panic with unprecedented fury, many Nigerians feared for themselves and their families.

Thankfully, though the disease made its way to Nigeria and stubbornly stuck around, the casualty figures have not gone over the rooftops as many predicted.

In the devastation it wrought to rural communities, cholera has proven as much a formidable opponent as Covid-19 even if it has predominantly remained a disease most in its element among the poor in disadvantaged communities where poor hygiene is rife unlike Covid-19 which takes no prisoners.

As per apocalyptic statistics from the NCDC, children are firmly in the eye of the storm whipped up by cholera`s choleric fury. The logic is painfully simple: children are particularly endangered because they are decidedly the most vulnerable demographic in Nigeria.

In Nigeria, it is poor sanitation, contaminated food and water and generally poor hygiene that stoke the wildfires that cholera quickly flare into. Overcrowded neighbourhoods, a lack of access

to clean drinking water and poor sanitary facilities all make contributions.

Thus, every year, the country rakes in deaths, especially the deaths of women and children from a disease that is entirely preventable. This is disturbing beyond words. The question of access to clean water for example has always been at the core of Nigeria`s most pressing social issues. That so many Nigerians do not have access to clean water for their daily use remains one of Nigeria`s great scandals. Every day, in ways big and small, it continues to scar Nigerians and Nigeria as a country, putting shame to aspirations to become a developed country where citizens can at least boast of unfettered access to the basics of life.

The ignoble placing of the Giant of Africa atop the sickening pile of countries most affected by cholera was certainly helped by the urgency of the response to the Covid-19 pandemic. It certainly helped cholera`s cause that critical energy and attention were diverted from a disease that ensures it picks off a good number of Nigerians every year.

Nigeria is getting better but there can be no excuse. A public health system that is robust, responsive and responsible is one which ensures that it is always ready with the tools which make for a combative response to any disease or health challenge that threatens public life. That of Nigeria continues to be found wanting. As long as this remains the case, children will continue to die needlessly.

Kene Obiezu, Keneobiezu@gmail.com

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T H I S D AY ˾ WEDNESDAY FEBRUARY 9, 2022

MIDWEEKPOLITICS

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

For Amaechi, the Wait is Over Contestants for the National Chairmanship of the All Progressives Congress, aspirants for various offices in Katsina state and loyalists of Transportation Minister, Rt. Hon. Rotimi Amaechi, who was honoured with the Dan Amanar Daura title, turned the palace ground of the Emir of Daura and its environs into a campaign arena with publicity materials and praise-singing supporters, writes Nseobong Okon-Ekong

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uch doubt with regard to whether Transportation Minister, Rt. Hon. Rotimi Chinuike Amaechi will play a prominent role in the All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential selection process and the subsequent 2023 national elections were erased last weekend as grand meetings were organized to celebrate him in Daura, Katsina State and Kano. While many tried to pass it off as a socio-cultural event, the political undertones were so glaring.

First is the fact that Amaechi’s title of Dan Amanar Daura (Trusted Son of Daura) was coming from Daura Emirate, home of President Muhammadu Buhari. The President’s relationship with Amaechi is deep, cordial and affectionate. Before the Emirate found the Transportation Minister as reliable, it would, most definitely be based on Buhari’s strong recommendation.

Even his most ardent critics concede that the President is truthful. While they may not readily agree that he is intelligent, everyone knows Buhari is straightforward. Having found one who shares this trait of honesty, Amaechi and Buhari have become very close to the chagrin of many in the President’s inner circle, who would have loved that the Transportation Minister be kept at an arm’s length.

It may be widely discussed that APC National Leader, Senator Bola Tinubu was instrumental to Buhari’s emergence as Presidential flag-bearer in the 2015 national elections, but stakeholders in the APC know that Amaechi was the financial pillar that carried the weight of the Buhari presidential campaign. Therefore, allowing him to run the day-to-day activities of the battle to upstage the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) from a 16-year reign was no mean feat. As the presidential train moved round the country to canvass for votes, it was in Amaechi’s direction that everyone looked as the Director-General of the campaign; more than that he also put his money where his mouth was.

The Transportation Minister is largely credited with the courage to follow his conviction and work for Buhari against former President Goodluck Jonathan, his supposed kinsman.

More than any other political revolt of that time, Amaechi’s decision to become the arrowhead for PDP governors and national assembly members who dumped the then ruling party and joined the APC stabbed Jonathan like a dagger in the heart. For this singular sincerity and for providing much of the money for the presidential campaign, Amaechi endeared himself to the president. After Buhari constituted his cabinet, Amaechi was given the free hand to nominate his associates into several key MDAs. The Niger Delta was virtually left to him to do as he pleased, including appointment into the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC). Midway into Buhari’s first tenure, Amaechi’s troubles began as other ambitious politicians from the Niger Delta like the Deputy Senate President, Senator Ovie Omo-Agege and Senator Godswill Akpabio began to conceptualize schemes to diminish Amaechi’s rising profile. In his home state, Senator Magnus Abe became a thorn in his flesh. The latter was a willing tool in the hands of Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State who openly hates Amaechi’s guts and is determined to wreck his political ship, by any means possible.

The fear of a politically stronger Amaechi in the central government made him a common enemy to prominent Niger Deltans who connived to work against his interest. His accusers have brought all manners of indicting reports to the President against him. He has been accused of impropriety in handling the affairs of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), the Nigerian Maritime Administration Safety Agency (NIMASA) and the Nigeria Railways, but these have not subtracted from Mr. President’s love for him. The battle that many thought was going to consume him was the face-off with Hadiza Bala Usman, former Managing Director of the NPA. Many are still wondering how he emerged from

L-R: Rotimi Amaechi, Tukur Buratai and Tonye Cole at a dinner in Kano in honour of Amaechi”s turbaning as Dan Amanar Daura

Amaechi

Photo: Kunle Ogunfuyi

that bitter fight unscathed. Rather than treat him with distrust; the President appears to have strengthened his hand by supporting him with everything he needs to career out his tasks, including taking as much loans as possible for the singular goal of delivering an efficient and functional rail transportation system around the country. Majorly for his visible excellent performance by reviving the country’s railways, Amaechi is regarded as one of the best in the Buhari cabinet.

Incidentally, it is for this same reason that his critics, particularly in his home region and Southern

Nigeria in general fire fiery salvos at him for using his position to serve the interest of the north to the detriment of his own people. The accusation becomes even more relevant for the fact that it was adduced by the natural ruler of Daura, Alhaji Farouq Umar Farouq to explain why Amaechi was honoured with the title of Dan Amanar Daura. “We are gathered here to reciprocate the kind gesture done to us by Rotimi Amaechi. And as Allah has made it mandatory we have to acknowledge this wholehearted love. He initiated the ongoing building of the University of Transportation here in the Daura Emirate, which is expected to be completed before the end of the President Muhammadu Buhari administration,” the monarch said. Emir Umar also cited the extension of rail services to Daura, equally spearheaded by Amaechi, as another laudable effort of the minister. He noted this would have positive impact on the lives of the people.

A close ally of Amaechi, Prince Tonye Princewill, who is a chieftain of the APC in Rivers State responded to attacks on the Minister. He said, “Today is not about politics. Yes, some of us want to loan him to Nigeria to run for President, because we know that he will give Nigerians results. As our Speaker, he was the Chairman of Speakers; as Governor, he was Chairman of Governors and as Minister, he has been arguably the best performing Minister by far. Add to that his role as two time DG. So we have a good case, but now is not the time to make that case. Amaechi still has a Ministry to run, politics is timing. Today, we came to celebrate the Daura Emirate who found him

Midway into Buhari’s first tenure, Amaechi’s troubles began as other ambitious politicians from the Niger Delta like the Deputy Senate President, Senator Ovie Omo-Agege and Senator Godswill Akpabio began to conceptualize schemes to diminish Amaechi’s rising profile. In his home state, Senator Magnus Abe became a thorn in his flesh. The latter was a willing tool in the hands of Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State who openly hates Amaechi’s guts and is determined to wreck his political ship, by any means possible. The fear of a politically stronger Amaechi in the central government made him a common enemy to prominent Niger Deltans who connived to work against his interest

worthy of this honour. If you observe, we are in Daura, having flown to Katsina or in my case Kano, before driving on to Daura. None of us here got here by train. Yet they are celebrating what is coming. Think about it. Maybe those of us in other parts of the country are in a position to learn from their faith. I know after Amaechi leaves office as Transport Minister, no region would have been left out. So those saying he hasn’t done anything for his region, they speak of what they don’t know. Forgive them.”

Although Amaechi feigned ignorance of the throng of his supporters-men and women in special outfits, bearing his image and advertising his interest in the presidency, there were more publicity materials announcing his presidential interest. Some of those who were openly happy to be associated with him include Prof. Nelson and Dr. Anna Brambaifa and promoters of the Data Inland Dry Port.

There was Amaechi’s Agenda, Hon. Danjuma Fachiwe Gwoza, National Coordinator Amaechi Support Group, Frontiers for Peace and Unity, Northern Grassroots Mobilization for Amaechi 2023, Mission Accomplished, Bring it On by Ghazali Mohammed Mijjnyawa, Amaechi Support Organization led by Dr. Abubakar Tsanni, Engr. Goddy Chukwu’s Sign of Abundance, Mr. Asher Okekeme and Comrade Shadrack Omah Nwosa’s Best on All Sides, Amaechi Relatives in Egeda Community, Emuoha LGA of Rivers State, Prince Benson Babatope David, Abraham Georgewill and Nigeria First powered

by Nasir Yusuf.

Also, contestants for the National Chairmanship of the APC like Saliu Mustapha, George Akume and Senator Sani Musa had their campaign materials displayed everywhere.

Aspirants for various offices in Katsina state were not left out as they turned the palace ground and its environs into a campaign arena with publicity materials and praise-singing supporters.

Alhaji Nasiru Haladu Danu was also turbaned as the new Tafida Babba Daura at the event.

The celebration continued later with a dinner in Kano at Afficient, a magnificent events place which attracted the Managing Director of NIMASA, who said the opening prayer. The opening remark was made by the Chairman of the Solid Mineral Development Fund. In attendance also were the likes of former Army Chief, Lt. Gen. Yusuf Buratai (rtd.), Mr. Tonye Cole and the Deputy Governor of Anambra State. Music was supplied by leading Hausa entertainers led by Aminu Ladan, the generalissimo of Hausa music.

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POLITICS

Celebrating Nigeria’s Foremost Political Amazon

GOVERNANCE IN PHOTOS

Ekundayo Asaju holds up the exemplary achievements of Mrs. Kemi Nelson, a leading female politician in Lagos State

From left, former Senator Iyiola Omisore; wife of the deputy Governor of Osun State, Mrs Funke Alabi; her husband, Mr. Benedict Alabi; Osun State Governor, Gboyega Oyetola and his wife, Kafayat, arriving at Odo Otin Grammar School, Okuku, for the strategic tour of Odo Otin, Boripe, Ifelodun Local Government Areas

Nelson

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hile some people are born great, others achieve greatness through tenacity of purpose and dints of hard work.

For Chief (Mrs.) Kemi Nelson; Nigeria’s foremost political amazon, nothing can be too much to give to one’s fatherland, especially those who occupy positions of authority.

Nelson, a renowned political figure and administrator, has not only achieved greatness in life, she has used her life to affect millions of people directly and indirectly in the cause of her service to the state, her progressives political family and even her fatherland as a holder of a sensitive national public office.

Nelson, a chip off the old block, is dependable and reliable, ever ready to offer help whenever such is needed and she evinces joy and gladness each time she meets with people who need her attention over any kind of issue.

At 66, this woman of virtue keeps showing that she is ready to serve, ready to affect lives and make things better for her generation and the coming generations.

Indeed, her absence in the social radar in recent times has created a vacuum and she has promised to fill the gap as soon as she resumes, while promising not to be left behind “in this project of moving Nigeria and Lagos State forward under the able leadership of the progressives.”

People nostalgically recall her days as a Commissioner in Lagos State, and no one can forget in a hurry her activities as the women leader of the Lagos State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC).

Just last year, as Nelson was celebrating her 65th birthday, Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu of the state referred to her as an all-round paragon: of fashion, of politics, and of just causes.

For the records, Chief (Mrs.) Kemi Nelson was born on February 9, 1956 to the illustrious Tinubu-Meredith/Laja families, and she is well known in the social circle for her low-cut hairstyle, her unique headgear and her dancing prowess.

Kemi Nelson is married to Mr. Adeyemi Nelson and they are both blessed with wonderful children.

Nelson had her secondary school education at Anglican Girls Grammar School, Ijebu-Ode and her tertiary education at the University Teaching Hospital (UCH), Ibadan, where she trained as a nurse

and mid-wife.

She attended Lagos State University (LASU), Ojo, where she had a diploma in law and a masters’ degree in business administration.

She is a fellow of the National Institute of Marketing, a member of the Institute of Directors and chairman, School Leadership Project Development Committee (Nigerian Institute of Leadership) amongst many other professional organizations.

As a firm believer in continuous capacity development and the economic empowerment of women, Chief (Mrs) Kemi Nelson has attended many local and international trainings programmes/ conferences including the 62nd United Nations Commission on the Status of Women in New York, USA – 2008; National Programme and Systems of Occupational Safety and Health (ITCILO –Turin, Italy) – 2017; and Women in Leadership Summit in San Francisco, USA amongst others.

Olukemi Nelson has received numerous awards such as the Accomplished Women in Politics Award by the Association of Professional Women Engineers of Nigeria 2001; Commissioner for Employment of the Year 2000 by the Chartered Institute of Marketing of Nigeria and Distinguished Florence Nightingale Fellow (DFNF).

Others are the Dynamic Millennium Manager of LASUMBA 2001 Award; the Most Dynamic Female Commissioner in Nigeria Year 2001 by the National Association of Women Journalist (NAWOJ); and Good Governance Award 2003 by Lagos State AD Lawyers Forum as well as the Award for Meritorious Service for the cause of women by the African Women Summit held in New York, USA. Kemi Nelson is an A-list progressive politician in Lagos State and a front-row member of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s political establishment.

She served as the Lagos State Commissioner for Women Affairs and Poverty Alleviation between 1999 and 2003.

She had also served as the women leader of Lagos State chapter of APC and later made the South-west women leader of APC. She is the only female member of the influential Governor ’s Advisory Council (GAC) of Lagos State.

However, the profile of Chief (Mrs.) Kemi Nelson has continued to rise as many of her admirers are wishing her many happy returns of her birthday as she continues to offer selfless services to mankind and her fatherland.

Show of strength as over 30,000 youths converge on the grounds of Liberty stadium, Ibadan for Progressive Youth Festival organised by the South West Lobby Committee of the All Progressives Congress (APC) at the weekend

L- R: Prince Tonye Princewill; Wari Pepple; Hon. Minister Rotimi Amaechi; George Tolofari and Dagogo Green during a reception in honor of Amaechi’s turbaning as Dan Amanar Daura in Kastina State... recently Photo: Kunle Ogunfuyi

Speaker, House of Representatives, Rt. Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila (right) and President, Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Olumide Akpata after the signing ceremony of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on law reform between the Office of the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the NBA at the National Assembly

T H I S D AY ˾ WEDNESDAY FEBRUARY 9, 2022

22

FEATURES

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

Raising Young African Entrepreneurs Charles Ajunwa writes that the ongoing registration for Tony Elumelu Foundation Entrepreneurship Programme offers yet another opportunity to African young entrepreneurs to realise their dreams

T

he Chairman of United Bank for Africa (UBA), Mr. Tony Elumelu, has consistently advocated that Africa’s private sector can and must play a leading role in the continent’s development. To this end, Elumelu is focused and determined to achieve his set out goal of producing Africa’s finest entrepreneurs.

Even with the worsening economic outlook occasioned by the COVID-19 pandemic which is still ravaging the world, the Tony Elumelu Foundation – the brainchild of Elumelu has started the registration process that will give opportunities to young African entrepreneurs to win a seed capital of $5,000 each.

This is coming after the Foundation had disbursed $24.75m to 5,000 African Small and Medium Entrepreneurs (SMEs) for the TEF2021 Programme.

The Tony Elumelu Foundation since its inception has funded a total of 15,847 entrepreneurs who have created more than 400,000 direct and indirect jobs and counting.

Through TEFConnect, the foundation’s proprietary digital platform, it has provided capacity-building support, advisory and market linkages to over 1.5 million Africans.

TEF originally set out to support 1,000 entrepreneurs every year for 10 years. But development partners across the world have seen the need to partner with the foundation, leveraging on its structure and systems to empower more African entrepreneurs. Now, more than 5,000 entrepreneurs are being empowered every year.

Established in 2010, The Tony Elumelu Foundation (TEF) is an African private-sector-led philanthropy in Africa championing entrepreneurship and entrepreneurs across the continent.

The foundation’s long-term investment in empowering African entrepreneurs is emblematic of Tony Elumelu’s philosophy of Africapitalism, which positions Africa’s private sector, and most importantly entrepreneurs, as the catalyst for the social and economic development of the continent.

The foundation’s flagship initiative, the TEF Entrepreneurship Programme, is a 10-year, $100 million commitment to identify, train, mentor and fund 10,000 entrepreneurs, capable of changing the face of business across Africa.

Key Pillars The seven pillars of TEF entrepreneurship include: Mentoring, 12-week business management training, Knowledge Resources on TEFConnect.net, Meetups, Annual TEF Entrepreneurship Forum, Seed Capital Funding and TEF Entrepreneurship Programme Alumni Network. The pillars have been designed to address the essential needs to ensure success for an African entrepreneur.

Requirements The Tony Elumelu Foundation Entrepreneurship Programme is open to Africans from all 54 African countries with scalable business ideas or a business that has been operational for no more than five years; All businesses must be business ideas or an early stage company, in the range of 0 to 5 years old; Applicants must be 18 years of age and above; Application must focus on one business only; Applicants may register on TEFConnect.net; The programme is not open to research institutions, faith-based organisations, value adding trading companies, government contractors and businesses not located in Africa; and Businesses must not adversely affect the environment, lives and property. Existing businesses or business ideas must be for profit, and must be the original work of those making the submission.

Training/Selection Process The TEF training content called the start-up enterprise toolkit is a bespoke programme tailored to support young and dynamic entrepreneurs through their business journey with focus on the successful execution of their business plans and ideas.

The TEF training programme is self-paced for each entrepreneur, allowing the necessary flexibility for participants to attend the training course whilst carrying on their usual activities.

Elumelu addressing African young entrepreneurs Although the training phase of the programme last for 12 weeks, some intervention programmes could be modified to last for four weeks or six weeks.

While selection of the applicants only takes place after applicants completed all stages of the training and take part in the pitch.

Past TEF editions At its 5th edition that held at the Transcorp Hilton Abuja which attracted over 5,000 participants from 54 African countries, including representatives of the 7,522 beneficiaries of the Tony Elumelu Foundation Entrepreneurship Programme, more than 60 global speakers from the public and private sectors across three continents participated in interactive masterclasses, plenary sessions and debates geared towards generating ideas and defining concrete steps Africa must take to empower its youths and accelerate the continent’s development.

At the event, guests interacted directly with African young budding entrepreneurs from across who exhibited their innovative products and solutions at the UBA Marketplace.

Elumelu said to the cheering crowd: “As I’ve often said, the future of Africa is indeed in your hands.

The journey has indeed begun. You are more educated, you are more exposed, you are more socially connected.

"That is why today is a rare moment and opportunity; we are privileged to be among first ladies.

Tomorrow we are going to have five Presidents. Let our presidents who are here know what you need as African entrepreneurs to survive. I believe that if our leaders understand the rationale for you to succeed, they will do everything within their power.”

He also reiterated the role of technology as a key enabler in accelerating development, citing

TEFConnect, the digital networking platform for African entrepreneurs launched by the Tony Elumelu Foundation in 2018.

With over 500,000 registered users, the hub provides a platform for entrepreneurs to network and forge business partnerships regardless of their location.

The public sector leaders on the panel included H.E. Paul Kagame, President, Republic of Rwanda; H.E. Macky Sall, President, Republic of Senegal; H.E. Félix Tshisekedi, President, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC); H.E. (Prof.) Yemi Osinbajo, Vice President, Federal Republic of Nigeria; and Hon. (Dr.) Ruhakana Rugunda, Prime Minister, Republic of Uganda, representing the President of Uganda, H.E. Yoweri Museveni.

Giving the keynote speech, Osinbajo commented on the impact of the Tony Elumelu Foundation: “By birthing this particular intervention, Tony Elumelu has compelled us to focus on what really matters, our youth and their dreams. The message to Africa’s emerging business giants is a clear one: How and what can you contribute, like Tony Elumelu, to empowering the next generation, helping them to realise their own dreams?

At the fourth edition of the Tony Elumelu Foundation Entrepreneurship Forum held at the Federal Palace Hotels, Victoria Island, Lagos, Elumelu reiterated his commitment to championing Africa’s economic development by supporting and training a new generation of entrepreneurs, whose successes could transform the continent, delivering opportunity, job creation and social impact.

One of the highlights was the unveiling of TEFConnect, a revolutionary digital community that brings together the complete entrepreneurship ecosystem across Africa and beyond, including entrepreneurs, investors and the broader business community on one platform, connecting them digitally with three vital elements for success – capital, market and business tools.

Africa is riding a wave of rapid technological driven change in payment systems, education, agriculture and infrastructure and TEFConnect fulfills a critical role in linking entrepreneurs across the continent.

“Our Foundation and its unique approach of training, mentoring and funding has proven that entrepreneurship is the key to unlocking the economic transformation of our continent.

"As I’ve often said, the future of Africa is indeed in your hands. The journey has indeed begun.

You are more educated, you are more exposed, you are more socially connected"

I believe so strongly that success can be democratised and if we can match ambition to opportunities, this extraordinary generation can achieve anything,” Elumelu said.

He added that “With TEFConnect, we have created a tool that provides a digital platform to host ideas, champion success and demonstrate Africans ability to use the most advanced technologies to take charge of their economic destinies.”

At the second edition of TEF in 2016 which took place in Lagos, enthusiastic and ambitious young entrepreneurs were unable to hide their joy for seeing someone in the person of Elumelu, help them to pursue their destinies.

Testimonies Mr. Emmanuel Olabisi, a Nigerian entrepreneur who specialises in providing professional accounting and allied services to entrepreneurs, said “I’m highly excited because this is what Nigerian and African youths have been waiting for a long time-somebody that will draw the youths up and follow them up with training and all other resources that are needed to make one grow.

In fact, this is a very fantastic opportunity for Nigerian youths. They’ve trained us for twelve weeks on various business processes and how to administer a business successfully. They’re still supporting us with $5000 seed capital.

Apart from that, the networking opportunity they provided for us has been awesome.”

On his part, Prince Joshua Oyeniyi, CEO of Amborion Media Global Enterprises, a company involved in event planning and management, designing, branding and general logistic management, said “I’m amazed and really thrilled to be here, I’ve been excited all the way since yesterday. I must say that the Tony Elumelu Foundation Forum for entrepreneurs has broadened my mind. It has really introduced me to a lot of things-making me understand the very intrinsic and intricate part of my business.

So I’m really grateful to the Foundation for such an unusual opportunity.”

Adarsh Bholah from Mauritius, who is into medical tourism, said: “Well, it has been an awesome experience being here as a young entrepreneur. Everything about the programme is so helpful to us. The seed capital we’re going to obtain is really going to help our businesses. The mentoring programme that is set up for us is also going to be helpful to us. The networking is another value addition to us and our business. The Founder of this Foundation, Mr. Tony Elumelu is doing a great job and I hope that he will continue to embrace young entrepreneurs in Africa. I think other African personalities in the calibre of Mr. Elumelu should join forces with him to increase funds for this programme so that other people will have the same opportunity that is given to us.”

23

T H I S D AY ˾ WEDNESDAY FEBRUARY 9, 2022

PERSPECTIVE

Remote Payments Have Evolved and Cash is no Longer King Ope Adeoye

secure credit, then coming back to pay with it.

In these two instances of web based payment and possibility of getting credit, there is often a common denominator before one can transact; a debit or credit card.

L

ooking back at the “value exchange” landscape in Nigeria over the years, you will see a significant shift happening - in multiple iterations. Let’s look backward to see and understand these iterations, current trends and safely predict where things are going next.

“Cash is king” has always been a dominant expression for much of our existence, a term that consistently emphasised the importance of money you can touch and feel over almost every other thing. However, while money has not become any less important than it was from the days of cowries and silver coins, cash as a concept and means of value exchange is increasingly becoming unpopular.

Think about it, the corner shop lady with the charcoal-inscribed ‘No credit today, come tomorrow’ at the entrance of her shop, does not like money any less than she did a decade ago. What has changed, however, is she has moved from needing you to pay cash, but now collects payments even with a PoS device. When she does not have ‘transfer-phobia’ out of fear of fake alerts, she would even let you make a bank transfer. And yes, she really won’t mind giving you credit if it would make you buy more and she is guaranteed to get her money back.

Quick clarification on what we mean by “remote payments”: It’s payment to a business that is not happening at the physical location of receiving value. In simple terms “put the money in the bank, I will know and give you value”. How this need has been met over time is what this article is about.

Iteration #1 - The first phase Let us take it back a bit and follow what could be a personal experience with the evolution of payments, at least for a generation of us. To pay school fees - either primary or secondary - there was a time you had to get to your school, collect a bank teller, which you would take to the bank to make payment. You would then return to the school after making the payment to also submit that bank teller.

This was how non-cash payment was done. The end.

At that time, not giving the school a copy of your teller could have unimaginable consequences, most prominent being ‘you haven’t paid tuition for that term’. A very inconvenient situation that could take several visits to the Bursar’s office to rectify.

After being embarrassed at the school assembly.

In Nigeria, this was one of the earliest iterations of “remote payments”..

Then things evolved.

Iteration #2 - The second phase Still on the school example, things improved to a point where schools started building websites, apps etc and with the eCommerce rave, there was a new revelation of sorts that, ‘maybe we don’t need to send people off to pay in banks anymore’, and importantly, ‘maybe we can put that payment experience inside our school website’. With this, payments became integrated into digital experiences.

The customer did something on the school’s website, money left the account of the customer, the money appeared in the account of the school at some point. Good for everyone. At times it’s integrated card payments, or virtual accounts, or some USSD magic. It became the norm for a while as more businesses went digital and ecommerce became a thing just a little over a decade ago.

The inefficiencies with the card networks and payment infrastructure forced several businesses to take things to another level.

Adeoye

Iteration #3 - Wallets With the card networks, payment success rates can be as low as 60%. That’s potentially a 40% opportunity loss! At some point, businesses started to introduce wallets - their own store of value - as a way to smoothen payment experiences as a way to deal with these issues.

In this iteration, you sign up on a website, they tell you that you have a wallet with them, they create all sorts of ways (and incentives) to get you to put some money in that wallet. Then when they need to take money from you, they can simply display the balance in this wallet and ask you to pay from that in one click.

The challenge? These wallets all had a single utility (usually).

And it didn’t make a lot of sense to most consumers to keep money with a business which they can not use for anything else. Coupled with the regulatory question mark on such businesses. If they added more utility to such wallets to solve the consumer problem, they would be deemed to be holding deposits and have to deal with the regulatory overhead to do that. So, we have a catch 22.

Some of the more prominent e-Commerce players were able to evolve to address this by spinning off regulatory compliant product lines like JumiaPay and KongaPay. Not everyone could move in this direction.

Iteration #4 - Integrated

lending From businesses just accepting payments, the landscape evolved even further into a phase where lending is now integrated into the payment experience. While this phase is still not fully formed in Nigeria, it is more common in the American and European markets and has made it possible for people to make purchases and pay later. Some available providers may not be used by people because they are not so aware of this service, or even out rightly put off by the interest rates.

One great example here is Afterpay, a service where you can shop on your favourite stores and at checkout; you select it (Afterpay) as your payment method.

You then have up to six weeks to spread your payment, and there is even a claim on its website that it would be interest free.

The point here is that the business has not only made it possible for you to pay, but as part of the payment experience, it has also become possible for you to apply a credit system to aid that purchase. This is especially important when you either cannot, or do not want to pay in full at once. How it benefits the business is that you may end up spending more with them on things you could have forgone.

Part of the new payment experience is flexibility over how you pay for goods and services, putting you in better control of how your funds are deployed, and not having to go out to

"When the individual is able to pay with more ease, the person making it possible for them to ‘easily part with money’, also stands to gain more.

A win-win situation yet to be fully explored"

Where things are going Several global players are starting to take things to the next level. A fusion of #2, #3 and #4.. A business offers their customers a full blown bank account with a card and a credit line linked to it! In this scenario, you are able to “keep” your money on a non-banking platform, from where you can then spend it as though it were domiciled with a traditional financial service provider. Walmart has a product called Go2Bank, Uber has Uber Cash, etc.

At the point of payment, they are then able to create much deeper integrated and frictionless experiences that include one-click payments if you have the balance, buy now pay later if you don’t have the balance, etc.

What makes this iteration interesting is that, the brand effectively wants to become the consumer’s bank, making them able to do more with money, beyond options their actual banks would typically provide.

Let’s localize this.

As a GOTV customer, imagine that a bank partnered with GOTV so that your IUC number could become an account number or have an account number linked to it, which you can keep topping up like you do a regular account. And then imagine that GOTV provided you with a digital experience through which, you can do everything your normal bank account can do, while still paying for GOTV services and even sending payment anywhere else you use a service, including bills, cash withdrawals and utility payments. Good enough, there is a GOTV app already, which can be taken further to feature embedded finance, offering users financial products and an opportunity to carry out financial services.

You can receive and send money from that account provided by a cable TV company, and the activity on that account could form part of your credit history. Heck, you could even pay another cable TV service provider from that same GOTV wallet. Isn’t that incredible? More so, without the need for a banking license!

The benefits to the consumer would include the fact that as a corporate entity, the company behind GOTV would have negotiated commissions or corporate pricing which they can pass to consumers in the form of discounts and benefits that serve as a reward for remaining a consistent user. The customer gets benefits, the business gets seamless payment experiences and customer loyalty, and the bank gets increased digital transaction volumes. And when credit kicks in, the bank can underwrite and better drive their LDR requirements and financial inclusion objectives.

This is the future. Businesses will embed banking. And it will benefit everyone.

These trends in the evolution of payment and the endless possibilities are not about to stop. As people turn financial services into something they fuse into their own experiences, embedded finance providers with a partnership and ecosystem mindset such as OnePipe remain the most realistic vehicle in pushing that agenda forward and faster too.

When the individual is able to pay with more ease, the person making it possible for them to ‘easily part with money’, also stands to gain more.

A win-win situation yet to be fully explored.

-Adeoye is Chief Plumber, One Pipe.

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WEDNESDAY FEBRUARY 9, 2022 • T H I S D AY

T H I S D AY ˾ WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 9, 2022

25

BUSINESSWORLD R A T E S MONEY MARKET

A S

A T

REPO

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

08056356325

F E B R U A R Y

S & P INDEX

8 , 2 0 2 2

S & P INDEX

EXCHANGE RATE

OBB

14.00%

CALL

4%

INDEX LEVEL

565.29%

1/4 TO DATE

6.06%

N412.08/ 1 US DOLLAR*

OVERNIGHT

14.50%

1-MONTH

6%

1-DAY

–0.11%

YEAR TO DATE

– 15.66%

*AS AT LAST FRIDAY

3-MONTH

10%

MONTH-TO-DATE

0.41%

Low Yield Environment: PFAs Shun T-Bills as Investment in Stocks Rise by 51.4%

Kayode Tokede On the back of a low yield environment, Pension Fund Administrators (PFAs) in the country shifted investments to stocks listed on the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX), among other Exchanges in 2021, as their exposure increase by 51.4 per cent in 11 months.

Analysts have expressed that the moves by the PFAs was in a bid to escape the unattractive yield environment that prevailed in the Treasury Bills (T-Bills) market in 2021.

THISDAY investigation revealed that PFAs investment in stocks

between January and November of 2021 was N9.48trillion, an increase of 51.4 per cent from N6.26trillion reported by the National Pension Commission (PenCom) between January and November of 2020.

The aggressive investments by the PFAs in the stock market impacted significantly on listed blue-chips companies and local investors outshining foreign investors on the bourse.

For instance, the stock market in 11 months of 2021 had gained N1.5trillion to N22.567 trillion from N21.063trillion it opened in 2021, while the NGX All-Share Index or

ASI appreciated by 7.4 per cent to 43,248.05basis points to close at 40,270.72 basis points it closed in 2020.

The stock market had closed at N22.30trillion in 2021 after appreciating by N1.24trillion.

The All-Share Index of the Exchange closed 2021 at 42,716.44 basis points, up from 40,270.72bps at the end of 2020.

According to NGX’s domestic & foreign portfolio participation in stock trading in 11 months of 2021, out of the N1.74trillion total trade, domestic investors traded N1.34tillion or 77.07 per cent while foreign investors

traded N399.18billion or 22.93 per cent in the period under review.

The latest data obtained by THISDAY from PenCom revealed that PFAs exposure in the stock market reached its second peak in November 2021.

PFAs exposure in domestic shares dropped by 3.1 per cent Month-on-Month (MoM) to close at N876.45billion in November 2021 from N904.74billion reported by PenCom in October 2021, while exposure to T-Bills dropped to N274.99billion in November 2021 from N642.03billion in November 2020.

However, PFAs investment in T-Bills depreciated by 52.6 per cent to N5.49 trillion in 11 months of 2021 from N11.6trrillion in 11 months of 2020.

THISDAY checks revealed that the real return on the short-term instrument, (T-bill interest rate minus inflation), in 2021 stood at – 10.5 per cent, better than the -14.54 per cent reported in 2020.

After crashing to a four-year low of near-zero per cent in 2020, yields on the FG’s risk-free T-Bills jerk up to more than 17-month high of 9.75 per cent around May 14.

The rate, however, plunged to

an 11-month low of 4.9 per cent at the last auction of 2021, as compiled from T-Bills’ primary market auction results for December 29, 2021.

Further analysis of the T-bill auction result for 2021 revealed that while interest rates on the 91-day and 182-day bills were mostly constant at about 2.49 per cent and 3.45 per cent, respectively in the review year, the longer 364-day reported the most decline, ending the year at 4.9 per cent.

According to analysts, investors’ interest in T-bills and consequently, Continued on page 27

To Cut Waste, ARCN Reduces Research Institutes’ Board Membership by 89% James Emejo in Abuja Worried by their sheer waste of time and scarce resources without commensurate output, the membership of boards of agricultural research institutes in the country has been drastically slashed by about 89.41 per cent, THISDAY has learnt.

It was further gathered that before

the landmark purge, each of the 32 agricultural research agencies had 15 individuals on their respective boards, bringing the total to about 480 members.

This is in addition to the board membership of the Research Council of Nigeria (ARCN), the apex regulatory body, which had 30 individuals piloting the affairs of the council.

As a result of the excessive manpower, which is largely redundant, huge amounts of money were believed to be spent on their sitting allowances and other entitlements amidst funding gaps to these institutions.

However, troubled by the development, the ARCN under the leadership of Prof. Garba Sharubutu, had moved for the amendment of

the council’s establishment Act to correct inherent anomalies as well as reposition the research agencies under its supervision towards living up to their primary mandates of ensuring food security among others.

After several attempts, the breakthrough finally came on October 8, 2021, when President Muhammadu Buhari signed the Agricultural Research Council of

Nigeria (Amendment) Bill 2021 into law.

Among other things, the amendment is expected to aid the council in playing a crucial role in coordinating research efforts in the agricultural sector towards achieving food sufficiency and security in the country as well as help actualise the present administration’s efforts to diversify the economy.

The new law effectively altered the boards’ ineffectual numeric size and paving the way for proper repositioning of the institutes.

Essentially, the law has now reduced the number of board of the ARCN to about nine members made up of technocrats extension agents who will be able to drive Continued on page 27

M A R K E T D ATA A S AT T U E S D AY, F E B R U A R Y 8 , 2 0 2 2 FGN BONDS DESCRIPTION 12.75 27-APR2023 14.20 14-MAR2024 13.53 23-MAR2025 12.50 22-JAN2026 16.2884 17MAR-2027

Price

Yield

BILLS Change (%)

MATURITY

OTC FX F U T U R E S

Discount Yield Change (%)

CONTRACT TENOR (MONTH) 1

Contract

Current Rate ($/₦)

C Ps MATURITY

Discount Yield

Change (%)

7.90

7.90

0.00

9.47

9.68

0.00

16.94

17.81 -0.15

9.49

9.76

-0.16

.

.

.

2

NGUS MAR 30 2022 428.93

3

NGUS APR 27 2022 430.63

3.72 0.00

4

NGUS MAY 25 2022 432.32

MREP CP XXXVI 11-FEB-22 UNCP CP VI 2-MAY-22 NEVE CP I 24MAY-22 DANC CP II 25MAY-22

4.38 0.00

5

NGUS JUN 29 2022 434.02

.

106.80

6.80

-0.01

NTB 10-Mar-22

2.98

2.99 0.00

110.95

8.38

-0.01

NTB 28-Apr-22

4.00

4.03 0.00

108.65

10.21 0.00

NTB 12-May-22 4.00

4.04 0.00

104.05

11.20 0.00

NTB 9-Jun-22

3.67

118.07

11.50 0.00

NTB 14-Jul-22

4.30

NGUS FEB 23 2022 427.24

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WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 9, 2022 ˾ T H I S D AY

BUSINESSWORLD

INSURANCE

DIPLOMATIC LUNCHEON…

L-R: Head, Chancery, Second Secretary, Political, Commerce and Information, Office of the High Commission of India, Lagos,Mr. Rachit Rawat; Consul General of the kingdom of the Netherlands in Lagos,Mr. Michel L.H. Deelen; Director General, Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI), Dr. Chinyere Almona; President, LCCI, Dr. Michael Olawale-Cole; Deputy President, LCCI, Mr. Gabriel Idahosa; and Acting Head of Mission, Consul General of the Federal Republic of Germany in Lagos, Dr. Bernd von Munchow-Pohl; at the Diplomatic Luncheon PHOTO: ETOP UKUTT organised by the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Lagos… recently

IBTC Pension Leads Top Five PFAs in Control of Pension Market Ebere Nwoji

The National Pension commission (PenCom) in its recent report on the overall performance of Pension Fund Administrators (PFAs) in terms of market share of contributors into the Contributory Pension Scheme from inception up to September 30, 2021, said that five high performing PFAs have continued to hold their lion share positions of the entire market with the Stanbic IBTC Pension Managers maintaining the lead.

According to the PenCom third quarter 2021 report, Stanbic IBTC Pension Fund Managers from inception to last quarter 2021, out of a total of 9,461,173 contributors into the scheme registered 1,912,891 contributors to control 20.2 per cent of the entire market.

Currently, there are 22 licensed PFAs operating in Nigeria.

ARM Pension fund Managers followed the lead registering 845,303 to control 8.2 percent market share.

Trust Fund Pension ranked third, registering 772,830 contributors to be in control of 8.2 percent share of the market.

Premium Pensions ranked fourth with 748,374contributors having 7.9 percent of the market share on its side. Sigma pensions ranked fifth registering743,522 contributors to be in control of 7.9 percent of the market.

According to the PenCom report, these top five ranking PFAs received 65.12 per cent of the total N13 trillion pension assets, which is the total pension fund generated by the entire 9,461,173 contributors into the scheme from inception of the scheme in 2004 to September 30th, 2021.

The bottom three PFAs namely Radix Pension Managers which registered 37,275 contributors to control 0.4 percent of the market, Tangerine Pension Ltd which registered 92,698 contributors to be in control of 1.0

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)

percent of the market and Nigeria University Pension Managers Ltd with 24,275 contributors to control 3.4 percent of the market perhaps due to the peculiar nature of its market.

These accounted for 3.98 percent of the N13 trillion total pension assets.

The report further said that the aggregate pension contributions of the public sector increased from

N3.65 trillion to N3.82 trillion as at the end of Q3 2021. Similarly, the aggregate pension contributions of the private sector also increased from N3.46 trillion to N3.56 trillion as at the end of Q3 2021.

Ranking the PFAs by the Amount of Contributions, the report said The ranking of PFAs by cumulative pension contributions received

from the inception of the CPS to the end of Q3 2021 indicated that the top five ranked PFAs received 65.12 percent of the total contributions as at the end of Q3 2021. Similarly, the top ten ranked PFAs accounted for 86.63 percent of the total contributions. In comparison, the bottom five and bottom ten PFAs accounted for 3.98 percent and 11.98 percent of the total

pension contributions, respectively.

The report attributed the increase to an increased level of compliance by the public and private sectors.

It said the ranking of PFAs by the number of registered contributors as at the end of Q3 2021 showed a significant increase in the market share of the bottom three PFAs from 1.60 percent in Q2 2021 to 4.50 percent

as at Q3 2021. Similarly, the bottom five PFAs recorded a slight decrease in the number of registered RSAs from 4.20 percent in Q2 2021 to 4.10 percent in Q3 2021.

In the same vein, the report said the bottom ten PFAs also recorded a marginal decrease from 15.30 percent in Q2 2021 to 15.25 percent in Q3 2021.

NSIA Insurance Holds Project Act Together Initiative Ebere Nwoji NSIA Insurance has initiated a special project aimed at improving working relationship among its workforce and customer tagged Project Act Together.

Speaking on the project, the company’s Managing Director, Ebelechukwu Nwachukwu, stated that it was a great initiative that would improve working relationships and promote cohesion among NSIA

group.

She said NSIA Insurance deliberately kicked off the year 2022 on a high note with the special project tagged Project Act Together, which according to her aligns with the African Free Trade Agreement initiative.

She said the goal of the project was to develop a consistent mindset across all NSIA Group businesses, ensuring that each subsidiary would be well-positioned for success.

She said in driving the project, individuals and subsidiaries within NSIA Group would combine their distinct talents to propel the business which is also aimed at fostering relationships between NSIA people (employees and management), improving working conditions and atmosphere.

According to the NSIA Insurance boss, Project Act Together initiative aligns with the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA) goal

of promoting inter-African trade.

She said with the project, Customers could now freely conduct business in any of the twelve (12) African countries where NSIA subsidiaries exist, regardless of their home base.

She said the project began with a message from the Group President, Jean Kacou Diagou, to which NSIA subsidiaries across Africa tuned in to listen to and learn about the 2021 accomplishments and 2022 goals.

Nwachukwu, in her address to the

firm’s staff in Nigeria, extended her thanks to the brokers working with the company for their unwavering support.

NSIA Insurance also held a brunch session, in which employees of the company across the region gathered in small groups in compliance with COVID-19 rules.

A session of the programme tagged the Champions Day brought the projects month-long series of activities to a close.

AXA Mansard Opens New Office in Ibadan AXA Mansard insurance has opened a new office in Ibadan, Oyo State.

The company said this was part of its effort in driving insurance penetration in Nigeria.

The new office, according to the Chief Customer & Marketing Officer of the company, Jumoke Odulami, is another demonstration of AXA Mansard’s commitment to drive penetration of insurance in Nigeria by

bringing services closer to the people.

Odunlami noted at the grand opening of the Ibadan office recently that growing the company’s footprint nationwide with offices and welcome centres was part of it’s phygital strategy.

“Our vision as an organisation is to move from being a payer to a partner of our customers. We understand that to make good this promise, we must

stay closer so we can always be there when our customers need us. So, in addition to our continued investment in digital and technology to serve our customers, our network of offices nationwide are designed to give our customers a personal touch”, she said.

Also, speaking, Head, Retail Solutions Division of the underwriting firm, Adeola Adegbanjo, said the opening of the office and others

like it nationwide would help AXA Mansard support, interact and engage with its customers better.

‘This location will bring us closer to our esteemed customers in Ibadan and its environs and beyond that, is that it will make insurance products available, accessible and contribute to driving penetration of insurance in Nigeria.

Our goal is to through initiatives like this increase the confidence of our

customers to take on opportunities for progress, while we take care of the uncertainties that come with life on their behalf”.

He added that the new office was open to walk in customers on weekdays between the hours of 8 am and 5 pm and has created an enabling environment for customers to interact with the company’s team of highly qualified staff.

Linkage Assurance Grows Premium by 34% Underwriting firm, Linkage Assurance Plc in the 2021 financial year recorded a 34 percent growth in gross premium written (GPW).

The company said it achieved this despite the challenging business environment.

The underwriting firm grew its GPW from N8.33 billion in 2020 to N11.16 billion in the 2021as contained in its unaudited financial statements for the period ended 31 December 2021 made available to the Nigerian Exchange Group (NGX).

Its gross premium income was N10.57 billion as against N7.95 billion in 2020, a 33 percent increase.

Linkage Assurance during the review period sustained efforts at growing its balance sheet, as total

assets grew to N34.85 billion, as against N33.88 billion in 2020.

The year under review was challenging in terms of technical underwriting, pushing net claims ratio up to 71 percent from 31 percent in 2020 largely due to major claims paid during the period such as claims arising from End-SARs protests and catastrophic losses in Oil & Gas and Manufacturing sectors.

Management of Linkage Assurance led by Daniel Braie said it would continue to refine its strategy in line with the political, economic, sociological and technological changes in the industry particularly the impact of Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic on the business landscape.

“We will also continue to develop

innovative products, alternative channels of distributions and strategic initiatives that will enable us achieve our corporate goals and objectives. With a medium-to-long term perspective, we believe that we will benefit from growth in these initiatives, Daniel Braie, MD/CEO of Linkage Assurance Plc stated.

Linkage has continued to expand its retail market with tailor made products that meet the needs of her teaming customers. Some of the products include the Linkage Third Party Plus, which is a budget friendly motor insurance that provides not only the compulsory Third party protection but also an additional own damage protection to the tune of N250, 000. This product is only

available from Linkage Assurance Plc. Others are the Linkage SME Comprehensive, Citadel Shield (which provides compensation as a result of injuries from accident for pupils and students in recognized academic establishments); Linkage Events Xclusive Insurance, Linkage Shop Insurance, Purple Motor Plan (comprehensive motor cover exclusively for women), and the Linkage Estate Insurance.

“We have continued to make efforts to enhance our online portal to make our products and services available to our customers especially the digital savvy customers and enterprises, Braie stated.

“In line with the vision statement, we have embarked on extensive

digital transformation, this is expected to be one of the major drivers of operational efficiency as it will improve our business process, eliminate wastages, and positively impact our performances,” he also said.

On Agric Insurance, the company said that in line with its strategic focus, it has developed a bouquet of Agricultural Insurance products as risk management initiatives for both small, medium and large-scale farmers and agribusiness. These include Livestock Insurance Solution, Multiperil Crop Insurance Solution, Fish Farm & Fisheries Insurance, Poultry Farm Insurance, Area Yield Index Insurance and Farm All Risk (Material Damage).

Sovereign Trust Insurance Gets GCR A Rating International Credit Rating Agency, Global Credit Rating Limited (GCR) has confirmed Sovereign Trust Insurance Plc as an A rated underwriting firm.

The agency gave the confirmation at its 2021 rating exercise carried out recently.

Spokesman of Sovereign Trust, Mr Segun Bankole said Sovereign Trust Insurance was rated A- due to its high claims paying ability amongst other

requisite considerations for the rating.

He said the current rating from A-to A, according to GCR is based on the company’s renewed financial position and stable outlook from a statutory solvency perspective in the last three years.

Sovereign Trust in 2019 increased its shareholders’ funds from N4.1b to N5.6b through the Rights Issue that was carried out in that year,

Bankole reported the rating agency as stating that the company’s solvency margin improved remarkably, and that it was very much in compliance with the proposed regulatory capital requirement for the industry.

He said, “despite the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on businesses and the fallout of the nationwide protest in FY20, the impact on underwriting performance was well absorbed by

an improvement in the insurer’s scale efficiencies.

He said with operating expense ratio registered at 37.0 percent in FY20 against the 53.19 recorded in FY19.”

Also, investment income maintaining an upward trajectory over the review period, thereby supporting return on revenue at 10.5 per cent in FY20 as against 8.5 percent recorded in FY19.

GCR expects STI’s liquidity metrics

to remain sound on the back of conservative asset allocation and the planned additional capital injection.

Bankole quoted the rating agency and said that Sovereign Trust Insurance has a strong direct business generation capacity, which has over time stimulated retail segment penetration.

The premium mix is considered well diversified and can still be improved upon in the years ahead.

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ECONOMY

Economic Impact of Fuel Subsidy, Borrowing, Interest Rate Hike Nume Ekeghe posits that inflationary pressure, budget deficit due to continued fuel subsidy, will have adverse effect on the Nigerian economy

N

igerian government is planning to increase its borrowing to be able to finance the over N6 trillion budget deficit in 2022.

The borrowing is however expected to be beyond what was initially planned as the federal government recently announced that it would be suspending the initially intended removal of fuel subsidy.

The government has initially planned to commence the removal of fuel subsidies this month but had been shifted the plan to July 2022 with the implementation of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA). However, last month, the government reneged on its words, shifting the finishing-line for fuel subsidy by 18 months.

The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC) had mounted pressure on the government with threats of embarking on a nationwide protest if the removal of subsidy was not suspended.

While the government had said the suspension of the removal was due to the fact that the timing was not right, the deferment is expected to further add not less than N3 trillion to the current deficit woes of the country.

COST OF SUBSIDY FOR 2022

Minister of Finance, Zainab Ahmed had noted that only N443 billion had been provided for in the 2022 budget to accommodate subsidy from January to June, but taking the prevailing economic realities, both locally and globally, into consideration, Federal Executive Council (FEC) proposed a year-long provision for the subsidy.

“The Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) has presented to the ministry a request for N3 trillion as fuel subsidy for 2022. What this means is that we have to make an incremental provision of N2.557 trillion to be able to meet the subsidy requirement, which is averaging about N270 billion per month.

“In 2021, the actual under-recovery that has been charged to the federation was N1.2 trillion, but in 2022, because of increased crude oil price per barrel in the global market, now at $80 per barrel and also because an NNPC’s assessment is that the country is consuming 65.7 million litres per day, now we’ll end up with the incremental cost of N3 trillion in 2022.” She stated whilst noting that there were plans to scale down the spending.

Meanwhile, the Senate President, Ahmad Lawan had pointed out the burden, which the suspension would put on government finances. Lawan in a statement issued by his media aide, Ezrel Tabiowo, said; “The position of everyone in government today is that admittedly, subsidy administration and management are flawed because of so many reasons. Admittedly, the burden is huge and massive and there is need at one point to do away with the subsidy.”

IMF DRIVE AGAINST SUBSIDY

The IMF in its latest Executive Board 2021 Article IV Consultation with Nigeria had further pressed on the government to lift the suspension on removal of fuel subsidies, with compensatory measures for the poor and transparent use of saved resources. They stressed the importance of further strengthening social safety nets.

The Division Chief, Research Department, IMF, Mr. Malhar Nabar, earlier at the World Economic Outlook media briefing ad said, “In terms of subsidy, we have for long not just for Nigeria, but for many low-income countries that have these programme of subsidy schemes

in place, called for scaling back of poorly targeted subsidies to create fiscal space that can then be repurposed for meeting vital health and social spending needs. That recommendation applies in the case of Nigeria.”

INCREASED FISCAL DEFICIT

Commenting on the development, Senior Research Analyst at FXTM, Lukman Otunuga, noted that, “the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has urged Nigeria on repeated occasions to drop the fuel subsidies because it remains a key driver of significant fiscal deficits and evaporating public finances.

“Indeed, Nigeria exports crude but imports all by-products of the resource, including premium motor spirit (petrol). With the country consuming more than it refines, it depends heavily on importations for its energy needs. Interestingly, rising global oil prices will enforce more pressure on Nigeria’s foreign exchange while the revenues from oil sales will be sapped by fuel subsidies.

“According to data from the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), petrol subsides jumped to N1.43 trillion in 2021. This will certainly impact the government’s ability to fulfill its financial obligations in 2022.”

Speaking on the suspension of the removal of fuel subsidies, the managing director of Parthian Securities, Oluseye Olusoga said this would certainly lead to more borrowing by the government and thus affect interest rates.

“My view of 2022 is that interest rates are going to end up higher but I think that could be controlled.

There was a budget and with this comes two sides,

there is the cost side and the revenue side. And when you think about it, there are some components in the budget that always have to be paid. So, things like salaries, recurrent expenditure and so on.

“But when it comes to things like subsidies, the real problem is the contribution of Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) to Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) would be significantly depressed because of the subsidy issue.

“Yes, the lack of removal of subsidy is going to lead to an increase in rates. This would mean that there would be a controlled cap on how much money NNPC can contribute meaning that the government is going to borrow more. And by borrowing more, it means rates would go up. But I’m saying that they are not going to go as high as people might actually think because government has other tools, which they can use to manage that amount of borrowing.

Even though I think rates would go up, I am not that bearish that they would go significantly higher beyond 200 to 300 basis points, ”he said.

To analysts at Agusto & Co, “The rhetoric of Nigeria’s fiscal policy managers over the last decade has been one that downplays the risks around a widening fiscal deficit that has been largely funded by borrowings. Initial defence of the borrowings harped on Nigeria’s benign Debt to GDP levels albeit with less focus on debt service to revenue levels.

“At Debt to GDP ratio of 30 per cent, Nigeria seems to have what genuinely looks like a benign ratio. But with 76per cent of the Federal Government’s revenue going into debt service alone in 2021, the country genuinely has a debt sustainability crisis

that should lead to new thinking.”

They added, “In 2022, we estimate that the debt to revenue ratio will cross the 80 per cent mark and hover between 85 per cent - 90 per cent as election induced spending ramps up. While we do recognise the initiatives to grow fiscal revenues, Agusto & Co is of the opinion that these efforts will not be enough without due consideration to the expenditure element of the fiscal balance equation.

“Plans to more than double the non-debt recurrent expenditure to about N6.9 trillion in 2022 from about N3.5 trillion last year, indicates an absence of fiscal discipline to rein spending largely financed by borrowings. We also believe that this administration will not pursue other deficit financing options particularly disposal of assets in 2022. In 2021, the federal government estimated revenue projections from privatisation at N205 billion but ended the year without any proceeds from divestments of state- owned enterprises. In 2022, the Federal Government has budgeted N90 billion from the same source. We believe this will also not materialise.”

On his part, the Group Managing Director, Cowry Asset Management Limited, Mr. Johnson Chukwu added, “If they achieve their budgeted revenue expectation, we are going to have N9.6 trillion deficit. Nothing has changed in the economy structurally as to enable us to generate from N6 trillion to N10 trillion.

“If we give it a benefit of doubt and increased government revenue to N7 trillion and you spent N19.7 trillion. Go and note it that Johnson Chukwu said it that we are going to end 2022 with N12.6 trillion deficit.

“So, what follows next is that we will have to borrow.

The Monetary Policy Rate is 11.5 per cent and so they are giving 13.5 per cent to Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to be borrowing.”

TO CUT WASTE, ARCN REDUCES RESEARCH INSTITUTES’ BOARD MEMBERSHIP BY 89% the desired change, especially at a period when research institutions have been blamed for not doing enough to respond to the issues affecting food production.

Sharubutu, in an exclusive chat with THISDAY explained that

the various research institutes have had their respective board membership reduced to only about three, amounting 54 members across the country and consisting of highly technical individuals from the Manufacturers

Association of Nigeria (MAN), and the All Farmers Association.

Commenting on the former structure, which he described as unsustainable, the ARCN boss said, “These board members are expected to meet quarterly,

and take a decision on the way forward. If you calculate that, you will know the humongous amount of money that is being spent; you may take it as welfare, you may take it as employment.

“But they are still eating deep

into the meager resources that are being budgeted for the purpose of research. It doesn’t happen anywhere in the world. Go to China, Brazil, Egypt, it doesn’t happen where you have a humongous number of people

that are supposed to deliberate on policy issues.”

He insisted that one of the primary objectives of the amended law was to reduce the cost of running the agricultural research agencies.

He noted that PFA exposure in the stock market minimal with the regulatory 20 per cent threshold.

According to him: “PFAs have 20 per cent of their asset invested in equity but most of them have refused to meet the target because of the risk involved. If they can invest the 20 per cent requirement by PenCom Act, it will make the capital market more bullish. However, these are pensioners contributing funds and PFAs are taking cautions investing in short-term and long-term investment.”

Analyst at PAC Holdings, Mr. Wole Adeyeye explained that most PFAs positioned and invested in undervalued stocks on the Exchanges, stressing that the yield

on short-term instruments was not attractive.

“In the second of last year, the yield on most fixed income instrument decline and in the same period, there was migration from fixed income market to stock market.

It was in the same period MTN Nigeria and Airtel Africa were given approval to operate as PSP, ”he said.

He noted that the contribution of PFAs is responsible for surge in domestic investors’ participation in the stock market compared to foreign investors in lately.

He said: “The PFAs always commanded volume and it is expected to impact on domestic investors’ total trade on the Exchange.”

LOW YIELD ENVIRONMENT: PFAS SHUN T-BILLS AS INVESTMENT IN STOCKS RISE BY 51.4% the lower interest rate, has been largely due to their unwillingness to take a risk on longer-term instruments due to expectation of higher interest rates in 2022.

Further analysis showed that PFA’s total investment in FGN securities that include FGN Bonds, T-Bills, Agency Bonds (NMRC), Sukuk Bonds, Green Bonds and State Govt Securities rose by 11.8 per cent to N91.47trillion in 11 months of 2021 from N81.81trillion in 11 months of 2020.

Analysts, however, have expressed mixed feels over the penetration of PFAs in the domestic stock market.

The regulation on Investment of Pension Fund Assets of February 2019 stated that: “A PFA may invest

the pension fund assets of any one Fund in the ordinary shares of a listed company, subject to a maximum limit of 7.5 per cent of the issued share capital. Cumulatively, in the six (6) Funds under the Multi-Fund Structure, a PFA shall not hold more than 20 per cent of the issued share capital of a listed company.”

Commenting on why the PFAs are not meeting regulatory guideline, CEO Pension Fund Operators Association of Nigeria (PenOp), Mr. Oguche Agudah said: “The target is a guild not by force for PFAs to meet the 20 per cent requirement set by PenCom. I can decide to do five per cent and beyond but it is not necessary I meet the 20 per cent.

“So, it depends on the individual PFAs business strategies and what equities are available for them to buy.

PFAs can’t just invest in any stocks.

Their investment in equities is still huge relatively to other institutional investors in Nigeria.”

He explained further that: “PFAs were looking for higher yields and balancing their portfolios.”

Commenting, the Vice Executive Chairman, Highcap Securities Limited, Mr. David Adonri argued that average PFAs exposure to stock market last year 7 per cent, stressing that PFAs average exposure limit under the Pension Fund Assets by PenCom Act was 20 per cent.

He said, “It means the PFAs under performed by 13 per cent

investment in the stock market in 2021. The PFAs are not patronizing the stock market up to the expected threshold.”

Speaking with THISDAY on why PFAs were aggressively investing in stocks last year, the Chief Operating Officer of InvestData Consulting Limited, Mr. Ambrose Omordion said: “The returns on stocks on the Exchange was higher compared to T-Bills despite the risk-free investment.

“When the reward is high amid the risk, investors will always want to invest. PFAs were moving from higher risk to higher reward because at the end of the day, they will want to grow account of their contributors.”

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WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 9, 2022 ˾ T H I S D AY

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NEWS

Agusto & Co: Debt to Revenue Ratio Will Cross 80% Mark in 2022 Nume Ekeghe Analysts have predicted that Nigeria’s debt to revenue will dip further and may cross 80 per cent mark and could depress further to 90 per cent in 2022 as a result of heightened electioneering spending ramps up.

This was highlighted in Agusto & Co. January economic newsletter titled, “Neutralising Covid-19, Defining Legacy and the Clanging Cymbals of Politics in 2022.”

Agusto & Co. stated that the country genuinely has a debt sustainability crisis that should lead to new thinking.

“The rhetoric of Nigeria’s fiscal policy managers over the last decade has been one that downplays the risks around a widening fiscal

deficit that has been largely funded by borrowings. Initial defence of the borrowings harped on Nigeria’s benign Debt to GDP levels albeit with less focus on debt service to revenue levels. At Debt to GDP ratio of 30%, Nigeria seems to have what genuinely looks like a benign ratio. But with 76% of the Federal Government’s revenue going into debt service alone in2021, the country genuinely has a debt sustainability crisis that should lead to new thinking.”

“In 2022, we estimate that the debt to revenue ratio will cross the 80% mark and hover between 85% - 90% as election induced spending ramps up. While we do recognise the initiatives to grow fiscal revenues, Agusto & Co is of the opinion that these efforts

will not be enough without due consideration to the expenditure element of the fiscal balance equation. “ “Plans to more than double the non-debt recurrent expenditure to about N6.9 trillion in 2022 from about N3.5 trillion last year, indicates an absence of fiscal discipline to rein spending largely financed by borrowings. We also believe that this administration will not pursue other deficit financing options particularly disposal of assets in 2022. In 2021, the federal government estimated revenue projections from privatisation at N205 billion but ended the year without any proceeds from divestments of state- owned enterprises.

In 2022, the federal government has budgeted N90 billion from the same source. We believe this

will also not materialise.”

It added that overall, they estimate a budget deficit of about N6 trillion in 2022 that will be funded largely by domestic 70 per cent and foreign borrowings 30 per cent.

Furthermore, it added: “COVID-19 has defined the global economy over the last two years with the pandemic pushing Nigeria into its second recession in just five years. In 2022, we believe that COVID’s capacity to effectively paralyse

the Nigerian economy – like it once did in 2020 will be limited, albeit it still has to remain on the radar of businesses and the country’s economic managers.

This prognosis implies that COVID will still possess the capacity to trigger uncertainties that can lead to temporary distortions in economic activities particularly in supply chains and travel plans. With the Nigerian local supply chain strongly dependent on imports, this risk can become embellished if or

when this scenario materialises.

“Businesses that will win in 2022 will have to critically plan on how to navigate the unorthodox. Nigerian FX markets and the country’s high inflationary environment. These twin factors will provide some of the most elevated risks in the business environment. The insecurity in flashpoints will also have some negative effects on local supply chains. Thus, businesses will have to forge ways to navigate these issues.”

APM Terminals Apapa Graduates 175 Lean Practitioners One hundred and seventy-five employees of APM Terminals Apapa have graduated as Lean Practitioners since the start of the Lean Academy in 2019.

Lean thinking is a transformational framework that provides a new way to organising human activities to deliver more benefits to society and value to individuals while eliminating waste. Derived from Toyota’s 1930 operating model “The Toyota Way”, the philosophy is based on a Lean manufacturing method aimed primarily at reducing times within the production system as well as response times from suppliers and to customers.

Apapa’s Lean practitioners are expected to take the lead in introducing innovative solutions to terminal operations with the goal of improving efficiency and customer service. APM Terminals Apapa is transformed by re-tooling and re-educating employees to eliminate waste, boost productivity and promote innovation every day.

Martin Kjeldsen, Way of Working (WoW) Project Manager, says “Our employees play a central role in

our transformation. They are the ones who will make Apapa a great place to work through involvement and engagement within our Way of Working, through high level of Lean education, a Lean mindset and Kaizens – for immediate, real results and long-term sustainable impact.”

In the past years, the terminal worked extensively on identification of talent at Apapa to support the future Lean journey and building relations within the Apapa team to ensure cross functional collaboration.

Looking back at 2021, Jan Jensen, Way of Working (WoW) Project Manager, reflects on the Apapa progress, “The end of 2021 showed that we are on the right Lean path in Apapa. Lean training and coaching are now showing more engagement and more willing to learn how to use the Lean tools to improve our daily work-life balance. We are beginning to see the result around the terminal where employees start and execute their own team Kaizens to improve their processes and the way they perform their daily work.”

Martin Kjeldsen adds, “Practicing

Lean requires a changed mindset from running the business to improving the business, helping us preventing fire-fighting in our day-to-day job. It’s not easy, but it is manageable if we set our minds to it. If we invest heavily in WoW and celebrate our successes.”

A major milestone in the terminal’s Lean journey is the introduction of Practical WoW Coaches. This is a dedicated stand-alone role with the objective of strengthening APM Terminals Apapa’s Lean capabilities and knowledge of WoW tools.

The introduction of Practical WoW Coaches has been a dream for Martin since he joined APM Terminals in 2018. “If you can dream it, you can do it,” says Martin. A practical WoW Coach, Victor Enegide, describes Lean as a systematic way of eliminating waste while focusing on individual development. He says, “To us, as employees, it gives a better understanding of what we do on a day-to-day basis. It also makes us understand that we shouldn’t let good get in the way of better.

NBS, NACOTAN Lament Paucity of Data in Cotton Production James Emejo in Abuja The National Bureau of Statistic (NBS) and the National Cotton Association of Nigeria (NACOTAN) have signed a partnership to build a credible, robust and reliable database for the country’s cotton industry.

The lack of credible data is considered a setback for the cotton, textile and garment (CTG) sector.

But the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed by both parties in Abuja, will focus on building and warehousing the database to ultimately drive a market oriented cotton industry in Nigeria.

The Statistician General/Chief Executive of NBS, Dr. Simon Harry and President of NACOTAN, Mr. Anibe Achimugu endorsed the MoU on behalf of their respective organisations.

Harry, however, pointed out that despite the identified efforts in reviving the sector, cotton production in Nigeria remained remarkably low compared to other African countries including Burkina Faso and Mali.

He added that Burkina Faso, Benin, Mali, and Côte d’Ivoire, the leading producing countries, had seen their volumes expanding due to area expansion and government support.

He said there was need for collection of data to determine current trends in the industry.

The NBS boss said, “However, data to measure the impact of all these interventions are in most cases not available, and where available are not adequate or not up to date. Not only this,

accessing them in most cases is very difficult because of the way they are kept.”

On his part, however, Achimugu said the agreement will facilitate the rapid revival of the cotton industry.

He said, “We are looking to grow and compete better, with adequate and quality data.

We used to be the number two employer of labor in Nigeria, second to the public sector. The MOU will benefit other sectors and

Nigeria’s Economy in general. With better data, we can make informed decisions, identify our strengths and weaknesses, strategize for the future and make sustainable policies.

“In NACOTAN, we have enormous data coming in continuously. NBS are specialists in data collection and management.

This is a wonderful union for the development of the economy of this country.”

Medview Absolves Self from Alleged $900,000 Hajj Scam Chinedu Eze Medview Airline management has said there was no scam or diversion of funds meant for the 2019 Hajj airlift, as alleged.

The airline also said the funds were utilised for necessary preparations including aircraft maintenance and payment to service providers.

The airline waa reacting to reports on allegation of scam following the invitation of the CEO, Alhaji Muneer Bankole by Economic and Financial Crimes Commission ( EFCC ) to shed light on the airline Hajj Operations contract with National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON).

In a statement signed by the Director of Business Development, Mr. Isiaq Na-Allah, the airline pointed to the much touted $900,000, saying NAHCON

paid the money directly to two service providers in Saudi Arabia namely General Authority of Aviation ($400,000 and Taibah Airports Development Company ($500,000) on July 5, 2019.

“In spite of deft moves by some highly placed persons to frustrate the airline from the operations with late release of funds, Medview Airline airlifted 4,387 pilgrims from Kaduna, Yobe and Ogun States. The Pilgrims Boards in those states are living witnesses of the operation”.

It explained further that in line with the terms of the contract with NAHCON, a Presidential committee was raised to reconcile the differences in payment to Medview Airline and the number of pilgrims airlifted, and this later metaphorized into a Ministerial Committee, where all issues were resolved.

ISPS CODE COMPLIANCE…

L-R: Executive Director Operations, Nigeria Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Mr. Shehu Ahmed and Deputy Head, International Maritime Security Operations Team (IMSOT), United Kingdom, Mr. Jim Hamilton at a debriefing for a peer review exercise by IMSOT to ascertain Nigerian ports compliance to ISPS Code implementation in Lagos… recently

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BUSINESSWORLD

NEWS

FG Must Unlock Dead Assets, Others to Stimulate Economic Growth, PwC Insists Kayode Tokede Financial Services Leader and Chief Economist at PwC Nigeria, Mr. Andrew Nevin has stated that the federal government must unlock dead assets across the country that are not producing returns and also focus on service export growth to sustain the Nigerian economy.

Nevin noted that despite the positive news emanating from Nigeria’s economy lately, the country is not getting enough investment.

According to him: “So it is an urgent question for Central Bank government. This is the biggest economy opportunities in Africa and the question is why Nigerians not investing and why those in the diaspora are not investing.”

Speaking at the Nairametrics Economic Outlook webinar, themed, “Your Money, The Economy and Government Policies,” during the weekend, he maintained that the federal government has a lot of work to do as regards ease of doing business.

“There are some forces opposing the business environment progress.

For me, there have been some progress in the last five years and I wanted to think we have made some progress but we are not there,” he said.

He expressed that PwC had advocated for unification of currency as investors are confused over different exchanges, stressing that it has impacted negatively on investment and Nigeria needs private sector investment.

He noted that Nigeria is ahead

of the rest of the world’s economy in understanding that GDP do not translate into wellbeing, disclosing that, “What really captures us is the shifting from GDP lens to SDG lens.”

He said that the federal government should also seek to move more sectors from informal to formal, and also improve invest ratio by GDP. He stated that what PwC Nigeria thinks is important for Nigeria’s economy is unlocking the value of dead assets, stating that, “Nigeria is a very wealthy country, with enormous amounts of assets that are not producing returns.”

He noted that many of those assets are in real estate, which could be beneficial for the government.

“For example, Kaduna state is implementing property tax that will enable the state to solve its IGR problem. Assets like the national theatre and the three refineries that are not only dead but producing zero returns, “he said.

He said that stakeholders and foreign investors would like to see Nigeria focus on export services, partly because the industry is not very good.

“Nigeria needs to get movement from the informal to the formal sector, lots of pockets of economic activity not covered by statistics, the problem with the informal sector is that productivity is low because by definition it’s hard to invest a significant amount of money into it. So the [issue] is how [to] entice people to move, from the informal to formal, ”Nevin added.

Earlier, Partner, Ta, Regulatory & People Service at KPMG, Mr.

IATA Welcomes ICAO Health Master List Chinedu Eze

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) said it welcomed the creation by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) of a global directory of public keys required for authentication of health credentials.

The world body said the directory—called the Health Master List (HML) would make a significant contribution to the global recognition and verification (interoperability) of government issued health credentials.

It noted that a public key enables third parties to verify that a QR code displayed on a health credential is authentic and valid. The HLM is a compilation of public key certificates signed by ICAO and regularly updated as more health proofs

are issued and new public keys are required. Its implementation will ease the global recognition of health credentials outside of the jurisdiction in which they were issued.

“For international travel today, it is critical that COVID-19 health passes can be efficiently verified outside of their country of issuance.

While the keys for verification are available individually, the creation of a directory will significantly cut complexity, simplify operations and improve trust in the verification process. We encourage all states to submit their public health keys to the HLM,” said IATA’s Director General, Willie Walsh.

The sharing of public keys used to perform this verification does not involve any exchange of or access to personal information.

Cormart, Big Dutchman to Produce Sandwich Panels

Ugo Aliogo

Cormart Nigeria Limited has recently announced a strategic partnership with Big Dutchman for the production of sandwich panels in Nigeria. The focus is on the agricultural sector, specifically on closed pen houses in the poultry industry.

The group in a statement made available to THISDAY said the partnership allows Big Dutchman to provide the technical specifications to produce top-quality panels, while Cormart manufactures the panels at its facility in Ogun State.

The Cormart’s General Manager, Dr. Johannes Flosbach said: “We are excited to partner with one of the world’s market leaders in the industry. Big Dutchman is

an anchor partner with a huge pipeline of projects in the poultry industry, which all require sandwich panels,” he said.

The Managing Director Big Dutchman, Thomas Ogundiran, noted: “Investments in the Nigerian poultry industry are booming but importing equipment is a challenge. Therefore, local production of equipment at global standards is the solution. We are happy that we can partner with Cormart to achieve this project. Cormart is a sister company to Chi Farms, which will further add agricultural know-how to the project.”

On his part, the Cormart Managing Director, Martin Middernacht, commented on the company’s preparation and the economic impact of the partnership.

Olufemi Babem highlighted increased taxes imposed by the Federal Government through the Finance Act with effective rate of tax on corporate profits by 0.6 per cent.

During the session titled, “Economic Impact of Government’s Tax Revenue Drive,” he said key expected fiscal changes in the act

for investment include taxation of capital gains on disposal of shares and exemption of dividend and rental incomes received by Unit Trusts, (including Real Estate Investment Trusts) from corporate tax.

He stated that with the percentage of deficit to the total 2022 budget expected at 37per cent, the FG’s focus would be on “tax revenue”,

stating that Nigeria expanded the Finance Act to expend tax revenues.

He stated that the potential impact of tax drive to include economy competitiveness, increased government revenue, business competitiveness, increased government revenue and target GDP growth.

Commenting on the possible impact of taxes on investment

into the country, the Head, Fixed income, currencies & treasury FBNQuest Merchant Bank, Adetoun Dosunmu expressed that the foreign exchange liquidity is a major setback on investment inflow into the economy. She advised investors to consider mutual funds that are still tax exempt by the government.

NEW EXECUTIVES…

L-R: Publicity Secretary, Advertisers Association of Nigeria (ADVAN), Kenneth Iruonagbe; Ex-Officio, Omolara Banjoko; President, Osamede Uwubanmwen; Ex-Officios, Tolulope Olanipekun and Otega Ogra, during the 19th Annual General Meeting/election of new officers of ADVAN in Lagos… recently

Chi Farms Expands Partnership with Hendrix Genetics Ugo Aliogo Chi Farms Limited has recently announced its partnership expansion with Hendrix Genetics, which will increase the production of layer day-old chicks in Nigeria.

According to a statement by the Company, the Managing Director, Chi Farms, Dr. Tunji Olaitan,

commented on the expansion.

He said: “Our strategic expansion programme will respond to demand forecasts in the short, mid and long term by providing both breeder chicks and commercial layer chicks in response to market demands.

We are also committed to developing our pen houses and

hatchery capacities. Upgrades on the existing infrastructure in line with continuous technical improvements are being carried out for world-class poultry management.”

The Area Manager Africa, Hendrix Genetics, Peter Arts, remarked: “We are excited to expand the scope of our

partnership with Chi Farms to continue to improve breed quality, increase production volume to meet market demands, and provide technical training through our breeding programs.”

Martin Middernacht, Executive Director - Chi Farms, commented on the commitments towards capacity building.

‘Financialisation of National Assets Vital for FG’s Five Year Devt Plan’ Gilbert Ekugbe According to the Chief Executive Officer, Economic Associates, Ayo Teriba, the federal government’s plan to shape the country’s development between 2021 and 2025 will only be achievable except it turns to portfolio of its national assets to unlock liquidity to achieve an all inclusive economy.

According to thim, seeking increased government revenues from economic transactions at a time of dwindling global operating margins is a mirage, advising that the surest path to full and effective funding of annual budgets and the five year plans tasked government to to realign its focus on unfolding global trends by financialising national wealth for capital gains over exploiting transactions for profits.

Teriba stated this at the NigerianAmerican Chamber of Commerce (NACC) February breakfast meeting with the theme: “Nigeria Economic Outlook 2022: Implications for the

Real Estate Sector,” held in Lagos.

He said the advice was in line with growing global preference for exploiting assets as portfolios for capital gains than outputs as transactions for profits.

He said this could be achieved by valuation, securitisation, liberalisation, and commercialisation of these physical, intangible or corporate assets.

Teriba said it now is the right time to rely more on finacialisation targets critical to agriculture, industry and services more than on Gross Domestic Product (GDP) figures.

“Seeking increased government revenues from economic transactions at a time of dwindling glocal operating margins is a mirage. The surest path to full and effective funding of annual budgets and five-year plans is to turn to our portfolio of national assets and unlock liquidity from them now,” he said.

He added: “Spending a tiny fraction of the time, energy, and other resources we currently expend

on transaction-centric finance acts on portfolio-centric investment acts will have bigger liquidity payoffs.”

“This will boost government revenue, ease debt burden, and create adequate foreign reserves to stabilize the naira as well as accelerate growth, employment, and prosperity,” he said.

The president, Nigerian Institution of Estate Surveyors and Valuers, Mr. Emma Wike, said the year 2022 would witness an uptrend in real estate investment and development with assurances of high return on investment.

He noted that the real estate sector would play an integral part in the nation’s economy as is in the United States of America where real estate business and investment provides a source of revenue and housing for millions of people.

Wike said the real estate market in Nigeria was filled with lots of opportunities for profitability given the country’s population growth of over 200 million

“Before this time, we have observed that the sector is witnessing an emerging market characterized with investment in residential, hospitality and commercial properties, with private developers playing key roles.

Real estate is a reliable route to revamp the economy and it can drive growth and job creation if harnessed with the right enabling environment by the different levels of governments,” he added.

Earlier, the National president, NACC, Dame Adebola Williams, said the theme of the breakfast meeting will no doubt, be a good discourse to kick off the year, given the key role the Real Estate sector plays in this economy.

“This breakfast has thus been put together by the Chamber’s Property, Construction & Infrastructure Business Group as a follow up to their webinar late last year on Property Taxation as a Veritable Source of Government Finance, “she said.

Foundation to Educate 500,000 Nigerians on Constitutional Literacy Gilbert Ekugbe The Prince Ade Ajayi Foundation (PAAF) has announced plans to preach and educate 500,000 Nigerians home and abroad in two years.

The Foundation stated that the move is part of its first phase of its

training for a new Nigeria using constitution and building love towards nation building with the aid of a book that would change the perception and behavioural approach of the citizenry.

The Convener, Adeyemi Ajayi, PAAF, at the Nigerian Icon Patriots awards and book/app launch of

“I love Nigeria my country and translation of Nigeria constitution to indigenous languages (Hausa, Igbo and Yoruba), said when all Nigerians are educated about the country and its constitution, the citizenry will be able to vote well informed legislators through local, state and federal government in order

to make very necessary amendments that are instrumental for development without war.

Also speaking, the Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Dr. Lamidi Olayiwola Adeyemi III, commended the initiative by the convener for translating the constitution into the three indigenous languages.

T H I S D AY ˾ WEDNESDAY FEBRUARY 9, 2022

IMAGES

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Photo Editor Abiodun Ajala Email abiodun.ajala@thisdaylive.com

Kwara State Governor, AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq (middle), performing the ‘bonfire’ ceremony during the West African Social Activities (WASA) 2021 at Sobi Cantonment in Ilorin...recently

L-R: Director, Public Health Laboratory Services, Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), Mrs. Nwando Mba; COO of 54gene, Delali Attipoe; Director-General, NCDC, Dr. Ifedayo Adetifa; CEO, 54gene, Dr. Abasi EneObong; and Head of National Reference Laboratory, NCDC, Mrs. Olajumoke Babatunde, during a courtesy call by 54gene executive team to the NCDC DG in Abuja…recently

L-R: Chairman, Northern Traditional Rulers’ Council (NTRC)/Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar; Plateau State Governor, Simon Lalong; and Emir of Kano, Alhaji Aminu Ado Bayero, during the Northern Stakeholders’ Security Summit in Abuja...recently PHOTO: ENOCK REUBEN

L-R: President, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Chris Elias; Nigerian Vice President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo; President, Dangote Foundation, Alhaji Aliko Dangote; and Minister of Health, Dr. Osagie Ehanire, during Elias’ visit to the State House, Abuja…recently

L-R: Aare Onakakanfo of Yoruba land, Iba Gani Adams; Ajagunla Aare Onakakanfo of Yoruba land, Chief Akin Oshuntokun; Ooni of Ife, His Imperial Majesty Oba Enitan Adeyeye; and Gbonka Aare Onakakanfo of Yoruba land, Mogaji Adejumo Gboyega, during the 2022 Oodua festival at Ile-Ife, Osun State...recently

L-R: Amuludun of Shomolu, Chief Bunmi Ugo; Community Leader, Abule Oja Community Development Association (CDA), Mrs. Husna Shabi-Chapman; CDA Chairman, Odi-Olowo, Otunba Adebayo Adekunle; CDA Chairperson, Abule-Oja, Mrs. Morenike Ajose; Board Chairman, Ikeja Electric, Mr. Kola Adesina; Chief Executive Officer, Ikeja Electric, Mrs. Folake Soetan; and, Director of Power, Lagos State Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources, Hafeez Momoh, during the unveiling of the new ultra-modern Shomolu Business Unit in Lagos…recently

L-R: Chief Operating Officer, Silverbird Communications, Mr. Bola Salako; Chief Creative Officer, Silverbird Communications, Mr. Jacob Akinyemi- Johnson; Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu; President, Nigerian Guild of Editors (NGE), Mr. Mustapha Isah; and National Head of News and Current Affairs, Silverbird TV/Rhythm FM, Mr. Charles Kalu, during the presentation of the formal letter of award as ‘Silverbird Man of the Year’ to the Lagos State governor at Lagos House, Marina…recently

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T H I S D AY ˾ WEDNESDAY FEBRUARY 9, 2022

EDUCATION Addressing Discrimination against NCE Certificate, HND Graduates Following the creation of two additional universities by Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu’s administration, the Special Adviser on Education, Mr. Tokunbo Wahab, explained why Lagos is addressing the discrimination against the NCE and HND graduates in the workplace, among other issues. Funmi Ogundare reports

L

ast Wednesday, Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos signed the bills to establish additional two universities; Lagos State University of Education (LASUED) and Lagos State University of Science and Technology. He assented to the bills transmitting Lagos State Polytechnic in Ikorodu, Isolo and Surulere campuses to the University of Science and Technology, as well as Adeniran Ogunsanya Colleges of Education, Ijanikin and Michael Otedola College of Primary Education, Epe to Lagos State University of Education.

The signing ceremony was held at Lagos House, Marina and was witnessed by the Special Adviser to the Governor on Education, Mr. Tokunbo Wahab, Commissioner for Justice and Attorney General, Mr. Moyosore Onigbanjo, members of the governing council and management staff of the tertiary institutions.

After signing the bills, the governor said his administration would take the law to the National Universities Commission (NUC) that would do due diligence.

Wahab told journalists how his office had to engage consultants two years ago after research was conducted, and they discovered that enrolment into the institution was dwindling.

The subvention and the running cost were going up.

“We need to bear in mind the fact that NCE as a certificate is no longer commanding respect in the market, for the polytechnics, our findings showed us even in public service if you want to go into the House of Assembly, for instance, you must do a conversion programme for two years into masters in a place like LASU,” Wahab explained. “There is discrimination against HND holders in the market. It’s something we need to address and do it holistically.”

He commended Speaker Mudashiru Obasa for his leadership, cooperation and understanding in record time when his office approached the house with the two bills.

Asked if new students would be admitted into the schools for the 2020/2023 academic session, the special adviser emphasised the transition clause in the law establishing the institutions, saying that the students who are already admitted are allowed to graduate, but they cannot admit new ones.

“There is what we call transition clause in the law which states that they are allowed to graduate for the courses they applied for,” he added. “For instance, if you are in year one or two in Adeniran College of Education, what it states is that the school cannot admit new students for the NCE programme. So the structure will be phased out in the next two or three years, to allow the last students to graduate.”

He noted that the school, in conjunction with JAMB, would determine the school’s admission cut-off mark. For the lecturers in

Wahab the polytechnic and colleges of education becoming universities, he disclosed plans are underway to recalibrate the system to suit what is obtainable in the universities, adding that chief lecturers which obtained in those schools will be converted in tandem with the new provisions of the law and nobody will be sacked.

“Nobody will be asked to go because there will be a transition period to meet up with the obligations which will be discussed between the management, technical committee and them. A new structure will be put in place at the schools. We will not also hesitate to employ the best of hands to help us berth the vision of the governor,” he said.

Asked about the deliberate steps his office is taking to avoid the crisis

that usually consumes institutions in the process of conversion, Wahab said, “That is why we have a technical committee in place. We are not out there to witch-hunt anybody or ask anybody to go. No. That is not where the governor stands. If you are not qualified to lecture in the university, that should not be the end of the world. There will still be a transition period where you will still be lecturing in the school because we have students there before we became a university. So we give you three years or thereabout when you will need to meet the minimum requirement to lecture in the university. That is our plan.”

Speaking further, he explained: “The schools are ready for it. In fact, the colleges have been on this for years and even the polytechnics. That the governor

has achieved this is to the glory of God. I believe with what we are putting in place so far and the cooperation we are receiving from every stakeholder, we should be able to cross the Ts and dot the Is without much crisis in our hands.”

In the last year, he said his office has been able to restore peace at the Lagos State University (LASU) and ensured a fair and transparent level playing field for everybody concerning the vice-chancellorship.

“We are going to raise a visitation panel to look at the institution. The extant law says every five years, the visitation panel headed by the former Vice-Chancellor of OAU, Ife, Prof. Bamtale Omole, will look at the school,” he noted. “That panel will be submitting its reports to the governor on the outcome of the VCship.”

Wahab said tertiary institutions have begun to attain a great stride in infrastructure deficit through ramping up capacity and budgetary allocation.

“As we speak, the Public-Private Participation (PPP) hostel template for LASU is ongoing, and its about 40 per cent. There are about 8,252-bed spaces that alone is a major landmark. At the same time, we are going to duplicate that in Lagos State Polytechnic, now Lagos State University of Science and Technology. In Lasu, the governor approved a 6.6km lighting to cover the perimeter fence of LASU,” he added. “We are also doing the same for LASPOTECH, Ikorodu, where the project is at 50 or 60 per cent completion now. The construction of the administrative building will be befitting of a university. We are also seeking to complete the building for Adeniran Ogunsanya College of Education.

I will thank the governor for the completion of the students’ arcade.”

Reacting to the issue where children now go into ritualism with social media, the special adviser regretted that with the global challenge, the misuse of technology by kids is very sad.

He said there has to be a benchmark regulation on the use of technology concerning age, adding that parents should stand up to their responsibilities and talk to their children.

“Even in developed climes, as much as we can have access to social media, there has to be a restriction with respect to age.

Those in charge of our communication and information at the federal level need to look at the NCC act viz-a-viz what we can do because there is a breach of trust between government and citizens. When they say they want to regulate social media activities, the first thing that comes to mind is that they want to gag the press. It goes beyond the press. People go on social media to post some funny stuff, lies, falsehood and pornography, and they have kids who see these and start having funny thoughts,” Wahab further stated.

Our Education Reforms Not Targeted at Anyone, Says Gov Oyetola Yinka Kolawole ÓØ ÝÙÑÌÙ

Governor Adegboyega Oyetola of Osun says the reforms made by his administration in the education sector are not targeted at anyone.

“As I have always reiterated, education is the backbone of our administration’s Development Agenda. We are therefore committed to the provision of quality, affordable, equitable and functional education,” Oyetola added.

According to him, the reforms

are to set the right direction for education in line with the desires and aspirations of the people, including the restoration of the 6-3-3-4 system, in conformity with the National Policy on Education.

Oyetola reiterated that education remained the backbone of his administration’s development agenda.

Oyetola spoke at the inauguration of the newly-renovated block of six classrooms at Ilesa Grammar School.

The project was undertaken and funded by members of the

1966-1970 set of the school as part of their social responsibility and community service to mark the 50th anniversary of their graduation from the school.

Speaking at the inauguration ceremony, the governor said the decision to review some extant policies in the education sector was in response to the demands of the Osun people and relevant stakeholders, including the old students’ association of Ilesa Grammar School.

Oyetola said the decision was arrived at having painstakingly

assessed the popular demands of individuals and critical stakeholders who also kicked against the merger of schools and change of uniforms.

He added that citizens’ needs and demands drive his administration’s policies and programmes.

While applauding old students for giving back to their alma mater, Oyetola said the renovation of the classrooms would contribute to the quality of teaching and learning in the school.

Earlier in her remarks, the Chairman of the association,

Alhaja Nusirat Bakare, commended Oyetola for allowing reason to prevail and for restoring the glory, grace, honour and foremost position of the school.

“Our presence in this hall today is a testimony and a manifestation of the new positive narrative that gladdens our heart,” stated Bakare. “As a result of the change in the policy of education in the state by the Oyetola administration and subsequent reversal of some of the actions of the previous administration, our school resurrected.”

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T H I S D AY ˾ WEDNESDAY FEBRUARY 9, 2022

EDUCATION

HDI: Teachers’ Emotional Intelligence, UNILAG Director Key to Developing Education Sector Advocates ICT Platform Kuni Tyessi in Abuja

The Executive Director of Human Development Initiative (HDI), Olufunsho Owasanoye, has recommended teachers’ emotional intelligence in developing Nigeria’s education sector.

Other factors, according to Owasanoye, are teach-

ers’ motivation, conducive environment, employment of adequate and qualified teachers.

“Teachers need to be motivated, and quality teachers need to be employed.

We need adequate teachers and conducive learning environment,” he explained.

“With this, I don’t mean

structured alone, but the emotional state of teachers. As a teacher’s, what is your behaviour? What is your attitude towards the children? What is your level of emotional intelligence?”

Owasanmi, who stated this in Abuja during the National Education Summit

by HDI in collaboration with

MacArthur Foundation, said corruption had adversely affected the sector.

“Fighting corruption starts from the home. It starts with parenting. How do you mentor your child?

What do you say to your child? What do you do in the presence of the child?” he added.

for Distance Learning

Uchechukwu NnaIke

The Director, Distance Learning Institute (DLI), University of Lagos, Prof. Uchenna Udeani, says distance learners are isolated, so they need to be focused and be determined to succeed from the beginning.

“Distance learning is ICTenabled learning, so without a robust ICT platform, you are not doing anything in open distance learning,” Udeani said.

She said this recently at the matriculation of 4,215 DLI students for the 2021/2022 academic session.

According to her, the outbreak of COVID-19 contributed to the increased enrolment into distance learning because the number of students recently admitted is the highest at the institute for the past three years.

She said people were aware

and taking advantage of the flexibility of blended learning.

In terms of infrastructure, she said with the continued support of the university management, the institute has refurbished all its ICT platforms and is getting positive results.

In his remarks, the ViceChancellor, Prof. Oluwatoyin Ogundipe, said in terms of distance learning, UNILAG is far ahead of so many universities in Nigeria, even at the global level.

He urged the new students to keep the flag of the university flying by aligning themselves with its vision.

“You are expected to distinct yourself as well-grounded students. The university takes discipline as a serious issue, we shall not condone any act of indiscipline, misconduct, violence and other social vices,” Ogundipe said.

24 Pupils Receive Nigerian Tulip International Colleges Scholarship Sunday Aborisade in Abuja

L-R: Father of the celebrant, Mr. Peter Opaluwa; the celebrant, Dr. Ejiga Opaluwa, his wife, Oluwaninsola; celebrant’s mother, Mrs Janet Opaluwa and former Dean, Faculty of Environmental Sciences, University of Lagos, Prof. Olaniyi Okedele, during a thanksgiving service for Ejiga, who bagged Doctorate Degree in Architecture from University of Lagos... recentty Photo: Funke Olaode

Human Capital Africa Seeks Urgent Response to Africa’s Learning Crisis Following a World Bank report which states that nine out of 10 children in Sub Saharan Africa (SSA) do not achieve basic reading and numeracy skills by the age of 10, the Board of Advisors of Human Capital Africa (HCA) has called on policymakers across the continent to take note and respond to the alarming learning crisis.

The HCA described the statistics as shocking, especially when compared to developed economies where only one out of 10 children do not achieve basic literacy and numeracy skills at the

same age.

It said in Nigeria alone, 83 per cent of children enrolled in grades two or three cannot read and understand simple texts. The World Bank predicts that because of COVID-19, learning poverty has been made worse by at least 10 per cent.

It said foundational literacy and numeracy are critical skills children need for success throughout their school careers and to participate gainfully in employment in their adult years.

HCA’s advisors include Dr. Joyce Banda, Trevor Manuel,

Kennedy Odede, Kah Walla, Adama Gaye, Sangu Delle, N’Diaye Ramatoulaye Diallo, Erastus J. O. Mwencha and Rosa Whitaker.

According to the Board Chair, Banda, former president of Malawi, “this is a wakeup call for heads of states, ministers, donors and other partners” to prioritise learning for children.

The board urged policymakers to recognise the challenge by reviewing the current state of foundational learning in their countries, prioritising the issue at all levels of government, collecting, reporting,

and using data on student learning and the overall education system.

The policymakers were also told to learn from evidence and other countries, implement what works, and hold themselves and others accountable by taking regular stock of progress.

HCA, spearheaded by Nigeria’s former Minister of Education, Dr. Obiageli Ezekwesili, was launched in October 2021, alongside the Nigerian Economic Summit (NES27), in the presence of African dignitaries and education experts.

New Anchor Varsity VC Pledges Global Competitiveness Funmi Ogundare

The newly appointed ViceChancellor of Anchor University, Lagos, Prof. Samuel Bandele, has expressed his readiness to ensure that the institution is globally competitive through an idea and research-driven innovation.

Speaking at the handover ceremony at the Senate Chamber, he noted that he plans to focus on a threepoint agenda; enrollment,

enrichment and engagement for the university to move to the next level, while pleading with the management and other academic staff to support him in achieving his objectives.

He recalled his experience in some institutions in the US and UK, saying that Anchor towers high in infrastructure and environment.

The VC commended the vision of the founding fathers saying that it is not just about academics but

spirited excellence that must be pursued with vigour.

Bandele, an erudite scholar in Mathematics Education, Computer Science Education and Tests, Measurement and Educational Evaluation, took over the mantle of leadership of Anchor University from Prof. Joseph Afolayan.

Afolayan, who reeled out his achievements in the last five years, congratulated Bandele while praying for God’s continuous wisdom, understanding, guidance,

stable health and renewed vision as he assumes duty.

The Chairman, BoT, Pastor Obinna Nkemjika, advised him to ensure improvement in academic performance, saying that when there is a larger number of students, the competition will be higher.

He expressed optimism that his appointment would attract value to the university and raise the bar.

“Our NUC rating should require focus,” he said.

Twenty-four mathematics enthusiasts in primary five, six and junior secondary schools across Nigeria would enjoy full secondary school scholarships at any Nigerian Tulip International Colleges in the country.

The Managing Director of NTIC, Fevzullah Bilgin, stated this at the 19th Annual National Mathematics Competition, organised in conjunction with the National Mathematics Centre with support from Access Bank.

The first round was held recently across the 36 states of Nigeria, including the Federal Capital Territory.

Bilgin explained that the ANMC aims to give 24 exceptional pupils a 100 per cent scholarship covering their entire secondary school year at any NTIC school branch.

He said, “For 19 years, NTIC has been promoting effective teaching and learning

of mathematics at the primary levels and developing greater capacity through its Annual National Maths Competition.”

He said over the years, ANMC had only been for primary five and six pupils going into JSS1, but this year’s edition comes with the maiden edition of JSS3 ANMC. He said this year’s edition has about 15,000 participating students “as we have decided to limit the number of participants due to Covid-19 protocol.”

The MD also revealed that the competition, which started in 2003, is now a nationwide prestigious competition, responsible for churching great talents in mathematics.

“After the second round, the top three positions will be awarded a full-tuition scholarship at NTIC plus cash prizes that range from N100,000 to N200,000. The mathematics teachers of such students will also receive cash prizes of up to N100,000,” he explained.

OOU Sets up E-Transcript System James Sowole in Abeokuta

The Vice-Chancellor of the Olabisi Onabanjo University (OOU), Ago-Iwoye, Prof Ganiyu Olatunde, has disclosed that the institution has revamped the Transcript Office with the setting up of the e-Transcript Request System.

With the new system, he said university’s graduates could request their transcripts from anywhere in the world without passing through any agent or coming to Ago-Iwoye.

Olatunde stated this during the combined 30th and 31st convocation ceremonies for graduands of the 2019/2020 and 2020/2021 sessions.

The outgoing VC used the

occasion to highlight some of the landmark achievements recorded by the institution while in office and part of which centred on intervention on ICT. Olatunde said the OOU was the first university in the country to conduct a computerbased test (CBT) examination for admission of applicants without them having to be physically present on campus.

The VC said that N20.5 million had been expended on scholarships for 446 indigent students in the last four sessions.

He disclosed that necessary approvals had been given to execute the 2021/2022 session’s scholarship scheme.

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T H I S D AY ˾ WEDNESDAY FEBRUARY 9, 2022

EDUCATION

Bauchi Govt Partners FPTB to Address Ghost Workers Problem Segun Awofadeji ÓØ ËßÍÒÓ

The Bauchi government has challenged the Federal Polytechnic Bauchi to develop software that will provide a solution to the ghost workers syndrome in the state.

It also wants the institution to come up with technical initiatives to enhance entrepreneurship development and add value to human capital

development.

Governor Bala Abdulkadir Mohammed, gave the charge when he received the management team of the polytechnic at the Government House.

He said if the polytechnic is capable of the task, the state government would leverage the technology through the establishment of a mutual working relationship to ad-

dress the persistent challenges and improve productivity.

The Rector of the polytechnic, Sunusi Waziri Gumau stated that the school could collaborate with the state government in managing several projects, as well as training and promoting civil servants, among others In another development, the governor has met with the Zonal Office of the

National Drugs Law Enforcement Agency NDLEA where he charged them to identify and profile names of drugs dealers to allow the government to take effective measures.

He also assured of his administration’s readiness towards addressing the menace of drugs and substance abuse for the attainment of a better society.

NSE President Tasks APWEN on Innovation Oluchi Chibuzor

The President of the Nigeria Society of Engineers (NSE), Tasiu Sa’ad Gidari-Wudil, has called on the Association of Professional Women Engineers of Nigeria (APWEN) to redefine their role in the engineering industry through ensuring innovative research development and professionalism to solve national problems.

Gidari-Wudil who said

this recently at the inauguration of Dr. Elizabeth Eterigho as the 17th president of the association in Lagos affirmed that the country needs an economy that is sustainable for the execution of the national Development plan as more women are needed in the engineering profession in the country.

He also urged all institutions to prioritise capacity building and build

expertise so as ensure the advancement of students in their chosen fields of specialisation.

The NSE president said he believed that her emergence meant they are embarking on a mission that will define their fate as a division of NSE in the next two years.

In her remarks, Eterigho said the entire mission of APWEN is centred on capacity development and

professional enhancement, noting that girls deserve to access an education that prepares them for the job of the future and is equipped to participate in the fourth industrial revolution.

In her keynote, Dr. Ajoritsedere Awosika said there was “a clear need “for women engineers to play critical roles in various sectors like mines and steel, infrastructure development, digital, and technology.

L-R: Vice-Principal, Eko Akete Senior Grammar School, Lagos, Mr. Sobanke Rafiu; student of the school, Miss. Rahman Pelumi; Chief Executive Officer, Lagos State AIDS Control Agency (LSACA), Dr. Monsurat Adeleke; Peers Educator on HIV/AIDS, Miss. Rahimi Mistura; and another student of the school, Master Yusuf Qudus, at the commencement of Lagos State wide peer education session for adolescents and young persons, at Eko Akete Senior Grammar School... recently ˝

SMEDAN Boss Laments Students’ Poor Reading Culture Francis Sardauna ÓØ ËÞÝÓØË

The Managing Director of the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN), Dr. Umar Dikko Radda, has lamented the declining rate of reading culture among Nigerian students.

Radda, who spoke in Katsina, while donating 5,000 textbooks to public and private secondary schools in Batagarawa Local

Government Area of the state, said reading culture among youth was abysmally low in the country.

The textbooks donated were on Basic Technology, Comprehensive Mathematics and English, National values, Comprehensive Economics, Islamic Studies, Agricultural Science, Brilliant English, Biology, Business Studies, Food and Nutrition, Fundamental of Cultural and Creative Art, Physics, among others.

He said the trend poses a potent catalyst for the distortion of societal norms and values, as the youth are the heart of development in any human society.

“The problem fencing the education sector is because of a lack of reading culture among Nigerian students.

If we want to succeed in education, we must improve the reading culture among our children,” he stated.

He explained the government alone couldn’t tackle

the challenges besetting the education sector because of the mono-economic system of the country, hence the need for stakeholders to support the government’s effort in revamping education.

The Commissioner for Education, Lawal Badamasi Charanchi, who received the textbooks on behalf of the state government, warned principals of the benefiting schools against selling the textbooks to their students.

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Teacher’s DIARY KEHINDE OMORU

www.kayomoru.com

WORK WHAT’S LEFT

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he power of what you haven’t yet lost can take you through hard times - if you will work it. The beauty of this fact is that it is applicable to any kind of depletion; be it job-loss, bereavement, breakdown in relationships, disability. Trust me; it stuck a cord in the mind of a lady who recently checked in for Cognitive Behaviour Therapy sessions. It became her mantra, significantly quietened her intrusive thoughts and progressively healed her self-esteem.

“Help I’m losing my hair!” she wailed every day of her first week in therapy. She is definitely not alone on this; alopecia is often times the silent cry of the middle aged woman (or man). It knows no gender, social, religious or racial barriers.

It is also the cry of the chemo-riddled patient. It is also the cry from persons living with thyroid dysfunctions, polycystic ovary syndrome, lupus or malnutrition, to list a few.

So what do you do when you begin to bald? What do you do when losses come? Firstly bring yourself to accept the situation.

Cultivate a positive attitude to it. Make the most of the hair (or resources) left. Enhance what’s there and what’s left. Think your responses and behaviour through, as the CBT sessions re-taught lady afore-mentioned.

With regards to your hair, you must accept that it WILL change in appearance and shape as you approach menopause and during menopause. You might find that: Your erstwhile straight hair becomes curlier or vice versa Your hair falls out faster creating patches of hair on your scalp Your hair does not or may not grow back Your hair thins progressively leaving you with a weightless hair volume You lose your hair at your hair-line or in the inner aspects of your scalp You are making more grey hair Accentuate all your features that you still consider to be great. This would draw attention away from your thinning hair to your stronger attributes. Study your eyebrows, your eye lashes, your lips, your neck, your shoulders, your bosom, your torso, your waist, your hips, your knees, your legs, your feet, your nails your skin…. Make a list of all your strong attributes, direct your energy to celebrating these and lovingly care for each of these parts. Do this and see how stunning you could look! Whatever you do, don’t lose your self-confidence!

Many women consider hormone replacement therapy (HRT) to combat the uncomfortable symptoms of menopause which affect women from around the age of 40. Some women even begin to experience premenopausal symptoms from age 30. A cessation of your monthly periods, hair loss, stress incontinence, hot flushes, and night sweats, mood swings, loss of libido vaginal dryness are menopause markers.

Hair loss is a big issue in any woman’s life. Your hair growth is controlled by your hormones which unfortunately operate at a lower level as you approach your menopause. HRT may minimize further loss but might not stimulate hair growth.

Therefore do not be too taken in by therapies and hair formulas that promise wonder hair replacements. Many simply don’t work at all or do just a little to help!

Thinning eyebrows concern maturing women a lot! Your eyebrows thin with age just like all your body hairs do. Rather than wallow in self-pity and worry, do something! You need to salvage this area of your body because it has immense power to project you positively.

Your eyebrows define your face; your eyebrows protect and shield your eyes from foreign bodies; your eyebrows support effective communication; your eyebrows beautify your face.

If you feel you don’t have enough hair at your eyebrows, compensate for this by making an effort to remedy the issue cosmetically. Artistically apply eye pencil between existing hairs in your eyebrow and hold the hair in place with eyebrow gel or by using cream based eye pencil. You may wish to tattoo eyebrows along the natural ridge of your eyebrow for a more permanent solution. You could also consider applying growth stimulating serum or rather permanently or temporarily tint your eyebrow using a suitable shade.

Correct, trim or remove “wildly” growing hair at your brow by threading, tweezing or gently plucking. Some concerned women get innovative and clone eyebrows in with eyebrow transplant. In the same vein, for a more youthful and feminine appearance, other women opt for an eyebrow lift as part of a facelift or eye lift cosmetic surgery. To achieve a temporary eyebrow raise, yet others would have their eyebrows injected with Botox.

Whatever you do, don’t give in to self-pity and despondency.

Hair loss is an unavoidable reality that occurs as we all grow older. Your attitude to your hair loss impacts a lot on your health, your self-image and the way other people perceive and treat you. Take a grip on the way you view your thinning hair! Care for what is left so you do not lose them too quickly.

-Omoru is a freelance writer, education, health and social care advocate

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T H I S D AY ˾ WEDNESDAY FEBRUARY 9, 2022

EDUCATION

UNIBEN Alumnus Challenges Academia University Lecturer Recommends Conflict on Industrialisation Adibe Emenyonu in Benin City

An alumnus of the University of Benin (UNIBEN), Mr. Doyle Edeni, says plans have reached an advanced stage to establish a centre for Advanced Research in the university.

He challenged the academia to proffer solutions to the countless problems in Nigeria and push for industrialisation of the country.

Eden, who graduated from the Department of Biochemistry, is the manag-

ing director, Blue Seal Energy Group Inc, Helotes, Texas, US. He said this in Benin City while delivering the Distinguished Alumnus Lecture Series of the Faculty of Life Sciences, with the theme ‘Bridging The Gap Between the Academia and Industry: an Alumnus Perspectives’.

“University is a centre of debate. The responsibility of the academia is to support the industrial growth of any nation,” he noted.

According to him, the

university is the centre of research, learning and debate.

“But I wonder: how could people keep quiet, and things are going wrong?

We have concluded a plan to establish a centre for advanced research in this university,” he said.

The Vice-Chancellor, Prof.

Lilian Salami, represented by the Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Ekenwan campus, Prof. John Oghene, said the university, with over 350,000 graduates in her 51-year history, ranks high not only in Nigeria but

across the world, amongst reputable institutions that are contributing significantly to human capital development.

“Our products, including the guest speaker who is an engineer, have continued to distinguish themselves in their various fields of human endeavour,” explained Salami. “This high success rate lays credence to our claim as UNIBEST of the universe but also a high level of intellectual discipline and character building to which our students are exposed to while in school.”

Resolution to End Insecurity

Kuni Tyessi in Abuja

The importance of Peace and Conflict Resolution, a relatively new course in Nigeria’s tertiary institutions, is one way to end insecurity, says Dr. Jackson Nkem Amayo.

Amayo stated this in Abuja during the promotion of academics from associate professors to full professors and the graduation of doctoral students from the Metropolitan International University.

He added that another way forward is for the federal government to

publish the sponsors’ identities of the heinous attacks, which will serve as a deterrent to some who already see it as lucrative.

“A few days ago, the federal government revealed that they know the identities of the sponsors of the terror attacks. The best they can do is to publish such names in the national dailies so that Nigerians can know them.,” Amayo added. “If the world can know them these people, there will be a better approach to remedying the security issues in the country.”

PREGSOSA Alumni Celebrate 50th Anniversary Sunday Okobi

A cross-section of new students of the Distance Learning Institute, University of Lagos, during their matriculation ceremony recently

Aisha Buhari Appoints Kashim Shettima Chairman of Schools for Orphans Michael Olugbode in Abuja

Nigeria’s First Lady, Aisha Buhari, has appointed exGovernor Kashim Shettima of Borno as Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Future Assured College, Maiduguri.

The college was built by the Aisha Buhari Foundation in Maiduguri to cater for the educational needs of

victims of the Boko Haram insurgency in the state.

Inaugurating the Shettima-led 11-member governing board of the college at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, the first lady charged members to shoulder the responsibility with utmost dedication and selflessness.

She said: “I carefully chose you as members of

the board to oversee the management of the college.

The task is huge, but I believe it is surmountable.”

She thanked the government and the people of Borno for their support and cooperation.

Mrs Buhari also thanked the TY Danjuma Foundation and other development partners for the support toward the project’s suc-

cess.

In his acceptance speech, Shettima, the senator representing Borne Central at the National Assembly, thanked the president’s wife for finding him worthy of the appointment.

He promised to deliver on the mandate by ensuring that the school’s standard is maintained to benefit orphans.

Igbobi College Old Boys Association Celebrates 90th Anniversary Igbobi College Old Boys’ Association (ICOBA) recently held a fundraising dinner for the college’s infrastructural renewal as part of year-long activities marking its 90th anniversary.

The programme, held at the Eko Hotel and Suites, Victoria Island, Lagos, aimed to raise N1 billion to revitalise the standard of education at the college and ensure that the students have better facilities, extracur-

ricular development and more curriculum options.

The event was attended by its prominent old boys, including Vice President Yemi Osinbajo and Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, industrialists, among other dignitaries.

In his remarks, Prof.

Yemi Osinbajo said a strong nexus between the kind of education students receive in school and what they turn out

to be later in life.

Gbajabiamila commended the school’s alumni for its efforts at raising standards. He said the various interventions by the older students would uplift the school and impact education.

In his remarks, ICOBA President, Mr. Muyiwa Kinoshi, said the fundraiser was organised as part of efforts to improve infrastructure in the school and enhance teaching and learning, adding

that his association is irrevocably committed to the progress of the school and would continue to do its best to improve teaching and learning.

Also speaking at the event, the Chairman, Board of Governors, Igbobi College Yaba, Mr. Foluso Phillips, appealed to all the old students of different schools to explore the concept of endowments, which ICOBA is spearheading with this fundraiser.

Old students of the Premier Grammar School, Abeokuta, Ogun State, have commemorated their 50th out-of-school anniversary with gift presentations to their alma mater and commitment to bring development to the school.

The old boys association stated that the occasion, which was held recently at the school premises, provided an opportunity for members of the class to reconnect after more than half a century and integrate with the national body of Premier Grammar School Abeokuta Old Students Association (PREGSOSA).

In his welcome address, the Anniversary Committee Chairman, Pastor B. A. Adesina, thanked God for making the occasion possible after such a long time of passing out of the school.

While acknowledging the roles of some departed colleagues, he emphasised the roles of old students’ associations in the development of aged

institutions.

He noted that the set would renovate the SS3 block and refurbish benches and chairs to mark their anniversary.

Adesina stated that the infrastructures in the school were inaugurated by the former Permanent Secretary, Ogun State Governor’s Office, Alhaji Nurudeen Oyedele, who is also an alumnus of the school.

At the event, anchored by the National President of PREGSOSA, Elder Olusina Ajayi, he reiterated the need for constant support to develop the school.

He highlighted the efforts of other alumni sets, including the ongoing needs such as extra security personnel in the school and the plans to commercialise one of its water projects.

The Committee Patron, Soetan, a former president of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN), was specially recognised by his classmates for excellent performance and meritorious services to the nation and humanities.

ALAT Commences Tech Competition, Hackaholics 3.0 ALAT by Wema Bank has announced the 2022 edition of its hackathon programme tagged #Hackaholics 3.0 - Building The Future.

The acceleration, which is aimed at helping tech enthusiasts and innovators scale and gain entrance into the market, is targeted at young Nigerians who will put their coding, product curation, and pitching skills to work, by solving interesting problems.

Hackaholics 3.0 is aimed at solving some specific challenges across multiple sectors, with a broad focus on the limitless possibilities in the future of technology, like NFTs, Web 3.0, Metaverse, Blockchain, AR, VR, AI, IoT. Most importantly, giving young Nigerians the enabling environment in solving societal

issues across financial inclusion, health, entertainment, lending, SME, while they stand the chance to win a total prize of N5 million.

According to ALAT, the programme is also aimed at discovering and nurturing at least 50 tech-hirable talents across Solutions Engineering, Data Science, Product Management, Product Design across identified university communities.

The Head of Innovation, Wema Bank, Solomon Ayodele said, “the tech space is filled with emerging technological advances that hold so many possibilities and we want to key into that by raising the next generation of tech giants who will use their creativity and talent to change the course of society.”

38

T H I S D AY ˾ WEDNESDAY FEBRUARY 9, 2022

CITYSTRINGS

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

A Promise Kept for Doma Community Governor Abdullahi Sule of Nasarawa State recently kept to another of his promises by flaggingoff construction of the 42-year-old neglected Idadu - Agbashi road in Doma Local Government Area, reports Igbawase Ukumba

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indings had that the Idadu - Agbashi road which links Agbashi, the headquarters of Ekye Development Area in Doma Local Government Area of Nasarawa State to the outside world, was last graded in 1979, about 42 years ago.

This was despite the fact that the Ekye axis has been a mini food basket of the state where crops like Sesame seeds, melon (egusi), yam, cassava and rice are being produced in commercial quantities. Despite these, the road has been bedeviled with the tripartite menace of kidnapping, armed robbery and petty theft.

Three years ago, Governor Sule's desire to govern the "Home of Solid Minerals State" made him traverse the most interior of Nasarawa where he had had first hand experience of what people of such areas were passing through in life.

It was in this vein that Sule, who had never been to Agbashi town, embarked on the Agbashi adventure. He took a ride and drove actually from Doma to Idadu where he thought initially was a very bad road in that part of the state.

But the Nasarawa State governor, when flagging-off construction of the 42 years neglected Idadu - Agbashi road awarded to a Chinese company, Road & Bridge International Nigeria Ltd, lamented that when his campaign team started driving from Idadu to Agbashi, some of the vehicles broke down along the way and couldn't make it.

However, he continued that the few vehicles that were still on the entourage, they kept changing them until he (Sule) went to Agbashi himself.

He said: "When we started driving from Idadu to Agbashi, some of the vehicles broke down along the way and we couldn't make it. But the few vehicles that we had, we kept changing vehicles until I went their myself. And when I went there, I made a commitment. I said by the grace of God, if I become a governor I will fix your road. And by the grace of God today, I am fixing that road."

The governor also reminded that he had felt similar experience when he took the road from Sisinbaki to Farinruwa about three years ago in continuation of his quest to become the governor of Nasarawa State.

"It was also exactly like the road we have here, and I made that commitment. We thank Almighty God Sisinbaki - Farinruwa is history, you can zoom in 15 minutes from that angle. I made a similar commitment when we also travelled from Malaraba to Udege. When I saw that road, I almost cried for the people. Today is history. In less than 20 minutes you can go from Malaraba all the way to Udege," Sule narrated.

He added: "This 24 kilometers road (Idadu - Agbashi) is going to cost N3.2 billion, but the money means nothing as far as the happiness of the people is there.

After doing all that, I discussed with the contractor and I had to extract the commitment from him that: I need quality job to be done and I want this job to be done in 12 months time, and the contractor promised me that he will do that.

"The only thing he asked for is my cooperation about his payment, about security and about the cooperation of the people there. I said one of the payment I could promise you is in Lafia because I did not start engaging this work, or any other work whatsoever, until I know I have the money for it."

Governor Sule therefore assured the contractor that he had the money for the work, hence the contractor shouldn't be worried about payment.

"That is why I am taking them one after another because I wouldn't want to make a promise and fail that promise. I don't want to start a project and abandon it," Sule

Gov Sule flagging off construction of Idadu - Agbashi road

explained. Secondly, he (contractor) asked me if I could help him with security.

I told him I knew the area and the challenges of security we are having in this area when I was coming in.

"Today he (contractor) can see clearly that we have soldiers on motorcycles, soldiers in vehicles, police who are actually stationed in some places and we have a lot of air surveillance in this whole area. Because, just like the other places I have mentioned, the life of the people is very important than any amount of money for security," Governor Sule maintained.

For the Chairman of Doma Local Goverment Area of the state, Architect Ahmed Sarki Usman, it was a moment of giving all gratitude to God Almighty that the state has a governor who keeps to his words.

According to him, "people of the state now have a leader whom God in his infinite mercy bestowed them with.

A leader who is humble and indeed, a leader who loves his people.Today, we are witnessing the flag-off of the construction of the road from Idadu, down to Agbashi.

"Your Excellency, the prudent man you have been, I know you can not start anything you can not finish. You have demonstrated that in the various projects you have commissioned in the state. Even the projects that were left behind by your predecessors, you have ensured that those projects are in history.

"Your Excellency, today is another day you are writing in gold in Nasarawa State, and Doma Local Government Area in particular. The interior cliff of

Doma will forever be gratitude to God Almighty, and will forever pray for you that indeed you have come to our plight," the Doma Local Government Area chairman concluded.

Similarly, the state Commissioner for Works, Engr. Idris Mohammed Idris, when giving his remarks at the flag-off ground breaking of the Idadu - Agbashi road, corroborated that people of the state were not surprised because since the inception of the Governor Sule led administration, the administration has done so many wonderful projects.

"You have commissioned some, some are completed. You have even completed some other ones which your predecessors started. We are happy that today is the turn of Idadu - Agbashi road construction. And by the grace of God, just as what you have done to other roads and places, this one, as we are commissioning today, we are going to complete it at the stipulated time," the state works commissioner expressed optimism.

For Road & Bridge International Nigeria Ltd, great honour and privilege enveloped them for being awarded the contract for the construction of the Idadu - Agbashi 24 kilometers road.

Deputy Managing Director of the Chinese construction company, Mr. Wang Zendxiang, expressed gratitude of the company known during the Governor Sule's flag-off of construction of the road project at Idadu village.

He said: "Today shall be an important milestone in the Road & Bridge International Nigeria Ltd's premier life as Nasarawa State opened its hands and gave us a work to do. We are honoured

"When I went there, I made a commitment. I said by the grace of God, if I become a governor I will fix your road. And by the grace of God today, I am fixing that road"

by this chance to make contributions to Nasarawa State.

"Therefore, I present the promise on behalf of the company that we will, on the direction of Your Excellency, to join hands with the state ministry of works not only to deliver quality job on the agreed date for the benefit of these communities, but also initiate a promising future for Nasarawa State in general."

Concluding, Mr. Wang Zendxiang pleaded for maximum cooperation from the LGA and the local communities on Governor Sule's direction. Finally, the company also pleaded to have security support from the locals so as to guarantee smooth construction of the Idadu - Agbashi road.

It would not be out of place to describe the whole of Ekye axis as so important to the heart of the Emir of Lafia and chairman of the Nasarawa State Council of Chiefs, Justice Sidi Bage (rtd).

This was exhibited by the Lafia Emir at Idadu village during the ground breaking of the Idadu - Agbashi road saying: "Your Excellency I want to thank you most sincerely for doing this because what you have done to our people has been saved and would ever be remembered by all of us. May God continue to bless and help you carry on with the good work you have been doing for the benefit of our people."

The Nigerian ambassador to Sierra Leone and an indigene of the area, Mr. Henry Omaku, drew Sule's attention during the flag-off of ground breaking of the road project that the fallen heroes of those neighbourhoods, including his (Henry) late mother, that that had been their dream.

But, the Ambassador regretted that it was quite unfortunate that his mother was not at Idadu village to witness the event.

Omaku said: "Your Excellency, so many people came as governors, but God did not allow them to conquer. But you came, you saw, and by the special grace of God Almighty, you have conquered. We want to thank you for that. Your Excellency, you have left an indelible mark in the life of the people of Ekye, as well as in the life of the entire people of Doma Local Government Area."

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T H I S D AY ˾ WEDNESDAY FEBRUARY 9, 2022

CRIME&SECURITY

Ensuring Security of the Nigerian Child Given the numerous dangers children face ranging from kidnapping, bullying, domestic accidents to even death, Becky Uba Umenyili writes on the prevailing need to ensure their safety

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hildren have become victims of severe and even fatal attacks in recent times in various degrees across the nation which calls to question the security of the Nigerian child.

Several years ago, the Chibok girls’ saga swept like a raging storm across the nation with its feverish reports rocking international airwave.

Several protests and civil unrest followed that onslaught with the federal government and various bodies intervening to bring the issue to book and rescue the poor girls but those efforts yielded half-measured result.

Then came the era of intensification of Boko haram assaults in various degrees cutting across all sexes, age and tribe. As its dust is yet to settle, it gradually metamorphosed into another level by gaining international dimension. This was just as another crisis orchestrated by the rise of herdsmen conflict arose.

In all of these, children have become central figures, taking the image of the grass suffering the combat of the big elephants.

Most sadly, in very recent developments, cases of child(ren) abuse rocked the air again with reports of maltreatment meted out to them in various areas viz life threatening incidents that led to their deaths.

The most recent case of the fatal road accident in December, 2021 at the Grammar School bus stop in Ojodu Local Government Council involving a big truck conveying goods of detergent, which killed two school children at the spot and injured several others, has led to the big question of the loophole in the welfare of children, both within the homes, schools and every other area they may be.

That accident led to mob action and civil unrest as most people around the scene of the accident, burnt the affected truck with all the goods inside it and stormed the police station to cause more havoc on properties and infrastructure when the police tried to intervene to save the life of the driver of the truck. The driver was accused of reckless driving when he was allegedly being chased by the staff LASTMA at the check-point of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC).

However, the Divisional Police Officer of the Ojodu Police Station, CSP Akinola in an exclusive interview, stated categorically that the driver (name withheld) was not being chased by any member of the force. This was to counter allegations of surreptitious connivance of security forces who tried to accost the driver due to his recklessness while entering Lagos from Ibadan.

The driver was said to have lost control due to anxiety and hit the children who had just closed from school at that moment. He purportedly never stopped until some bikemen

Securing the Nigerian child is paramount

Photo: GOOGLE

furiously chased him to a halt and with other enraged passers-by, attacked his truck.

This sad incident was coming on the heels of the case of the demise of 12 year-old Sylvester Oromoni of Dowen College who died as a result of alleged accumulated bouts of physical assault; another loophole, one may mention.

The school has been closed for further investigation and possible prosecution, however the point remains that the boy has died and preliminary reports reveal that there have been cases of bullying in the same school in earlier years but the death of Sylvester burst the lid open.

One recalls in rue, the collapse of the building near Itafaji market on Lagos Island in March, 2019 which housed a school and caused death of some people with many children trapped in the building.

It was indeed a sordid sight as many people, (even before the arrival of Red Cross officials and staff of the Lagos State Emergency Management Agency, SEMA) began to remove debris of the collapsed building in order to rescue survivors; most of whom were badly injured.

As usual, this ill report hit the international media, with many observers decrying the debased state of affairs as even the then Head of LASEMA, Adesina Tiamiyu complained sadly on Al Jazeera TV that “dozens of children were trapped inside the building because a school was on the third floor of the building which

also housed offices, shops and residential units. Really I doubt whether the Lagos state government would have approved a school in a building like this”, he lamented.

It is not clear whether the collapsed building failed to meet safety standards during its construction. Meanwhile, as thousands of people swarmed around the accident site and pulled from the rubble, school bags, toys, clothes and other items could be seen among the piles of rubble as a bulldozer tried to clear a path through some of the wreckage. “It’s common to find schools in residential areas and in other locations that were not meant for educational institutions”, cried some observers.

Similar catastrophe has affected children in different dimensions in remote cases; this is not to mention the possible incidents that might be recorded in homes against children’s welfare and security; a snag that needs to be addressed urgently.

Repeatedly, Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babajide Olusola Sanwo-Olu with his executive members have expressed dire concern on issues of security and general welfare of children in the state, especially since the outbreak of the COVID-19 virus.

However, the state government should step up efforts made towards improving the security of children by instituting specific helpline numbers that anyone, even children can call to report cases of abuse of any sort or security risk of whatever manner that will be announced

and published widely for easy reach.

Already reported cases must be handled with utmost objectivity and due process observed to reproach erring parties and met out penalties where need be. This will serve as a deterrent to erring parties and a warning to prospective ones. In the light of this, the Dowen case should be handled with utmost dexterity.

Other government’s commissions and related bodies, including NGO’s and community relations departments of mega firms should also co-operate to offer publicity and other services that can enhance security –friendly environment for children.

The legal system should be revisited to examine existing laws against child abuse of any kind against the trend of the moment in the light of recent developments, while new bills that may serve better protective means should be considered.

The most common cause of action in child upbringing is to send every child to school. The various ministries of education, in association with quality assurance and schools’ management board must ensure that mushroom buildings are not used to house children for academic learning/purpose.

Apart from the physical structure being standardly constructed, a school should be located in an ambiance of conducive learning.

The road havoc of last December has also called for an urgent need to revisit and possibly renew existing rules guiding traffic regulations viz location of schools and timing crowd movements.

It’s not uncommon to see few privatelyengaged traffic wardens control traffic at very busy hours of the day, however, this function should properly be undertaken by trained security personnel who could call for back up force that may use sirens, in the case of possible danger to avert massive damage and fatal incidents.

The health risk should not be undermined; COVID-19 has developed other tentacles that are equally contagious and fatal. The Delta variant is here with us as well as Omicron (not to mention other flu related health hazards).

Most people seem to have relaxed since the easing of the lock-down, following the spread of the corona virus. The point still remains that all protocols are still very necessary and caution must be applied irrespective of this present (seemingly) calm.

The homeward shouldn’t be overlooked; more abuses occur at home than outside. It is pertinent therefore to step up lessons on rights of a child as well as set up reformatory centres where abused children can receive socio-therapeutic treatment to restore their dignity.

Commandant Commends Army's Crime Fighting Efforts in 81 Division AOR r ...As division holds WASA Rebecca Ejifoma

C

ommandant of the Nigerian Armed Forces Resettlement Centre, Air Vice Marshal Idi Lubo, has commended the efforts of ‘Exercise Still Water’ in curbing crime and insecurity in Lagos State and the country last year.

He made this remark at 81 Division’s edition of the West Africa Social Activities (WASA), which was held at Bonny Camp in Victoria Island area of the state.

While hinting on security challenges confronting the nation and the roles everyone has to play to improve the level of insecurity, Lubo conceded that the Nigerian Army had been actively involved in the fight against all forms of insecurity.

“The Army has made substantial gains in this fight and this is possible by your dedication, commitment, sacrifices and synergy with other security agencies.

He continued that the conduct of this exercise, which was carried out in Lagos and Ogun States simultaneously, led to the arrest of several criminal elements among others within and outside both states.

Lubo, therefore, specially applauded officers and soldiers of the 81 Division for working tirelessly and collaborating with other security agencies.

He, however, implored them not to rest on their oars. "Continue working assiduously with other security agencies toward maintaining and

AVM Idi Lubo (middle) flanked by Maj-Gen Lawrence Fejokwu and his wife Mrs. Oghenerukevwe Fejokwu (left) and other senior military personnel and special guests at WASA improving the security in Lagos state and the country".

Meanwhile, the General Officer Commanding (GOC) 81 Division of the NA, Major General Lawrence Fejokwu, said Exercise Still Water is in tune with the vision of the Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Lt.-Gen. Faruk Yahaya, which is to have “A Professional Nigerian Army ready to accomplish assigned missions within a joint environment in the defence of Nigeria".

He said it is intended that the successes achieved will be leveraged. "I

am delighted to say we have cause to celebrate and thank God for the success of 81 Division and the Nigerian Army".

He went ahead to pay tribute to the fallen heroes of the NA and the Nigerian Armed Forces, who he said paid the supreme sacrifice to keep the nation as one.

“May their gentle souls rest in peace and may God in His infinite mercies grant their families the fortitude to bear the loss,” he said.

Fejokwu further charged officers and soldiers to remain dedicated, focused, and committed in discharging their collective responsibilities, which include ensuring peace and stability

across the country.

“I thank the COAS for his continued efforts in repositioning the Nigerian Army through his vision,” Fejokwu said.

As an annual display of rich cultural heritage aimed at strengthening family values, fostering the spirit of peace and harmony among officers, soldiers and their families, several mind-blowing performances thrilled the audience at WASA. They comprised groups from Command Day Secondary School Ikeja, Calabar troupes, Hausa 65 Battalion, Ohafia dancers, Tiv dancers from Benue 65 Division, and Onigbogbo Cultural Heritage among others.

40

T H I S D AY ˾ WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 9, 2022

BUSINESS/MONEYGUIDE

Greenwich Merchant Bank Supports FGN to Raise N250bn for Infrastructural Projects Nume Ekeghe Greenwich Merchant Bank Limited (GMB), mandated Issuing House to the N250 billion FGN Sukuk Series IV issuance along with other advisers, has assisted the Federal Government of Nigeria to successfully close the largest Sukuk issuance by the FGN via the Debt Management Office Nigeria (DMO).

The merchant bank in a statement said the Sukuk issuance elicited significant interest from both retail and institutional investors, evidenced by its oversub-

scription of 346 per cent.

The Sukuk program, it added, is designed to support the construction and rehabilitation of key economic infrastructure such as roads across the six geopolitical zones in Nigeria and to diversify the sources of government funding.

The Managing Director of Greenwich Merchant Bank, Mr. Bayo Rotimi, highlighted that GMB’s participation as a Joint Issuing House aligned with the Bank’s strategic focus of arranging bespoke long-term funding solutions for the FGN, Sub-Nationals, and large Corporates.

“GMB is immensely happy to have contributed to the successful issuance of the FGN Sukuk Series IV through its core objective of creating value for both government and private sector. The achievement of this milestone shows that investors have confidence in Nigeria’s path to economic recovery, stability, growth, and development. Since the first Sovereign Sukuk issuance in 2017, the Sukuk program continues to catalyze infrastructural development across the country for the socio-economic well-being of Nigerians”, Rotimi said.

Kwara Revenue Agency Generates over N26.5bn in 2021 Hammed Shittu ÓØ ÖÙÜÓØ The Kwara State Internal Revenue Service (KW-IRS) has said that it has generated a total revenue of over N26.5billion for the year 2021.

In a statement issued in Ilorin by the executive chairman, KWIRS, Mrs. Shade Omoniyi, a copy of which was made available to THISDAY said the total revenue generated for the year 2021 represents 95.61% achievement of its annual budgetary target of N28,199,910,200.00. She said that, “The feat is the highest target hit since the agency was founded in 2016. The year 2021 started on a good note, with an IGR collection of N9.6Billion, in the first quarter, the highest in the history of Kwara State Internal Revenue Service since its establishment without introduction of new taxes and or any extraordinary item.

“The revenue collection across board dipped in quarters 2, 3, and 4 of 2021, owing to challenges associated with general apathy in the adoption of some

newly introduced revenue collection processes, non-remittance, as well as the seasonal collections.”

She added that, “Year 2021 had a remarkable revenue achievement of N26,961,014,485.76, an improvement of 37.34% over the total IGR of N19.638Billion generated in the year 2020.

“This achievement is attributable to the gradual recovery of the economy after the pandemic, continuous consolidation, and digitization of all revenue lines of the State, both of which are helping to reduce revenue loss, leakages, and diversion of revenues accruable to the State Government.” The chairman noted that, “The Kwara State Internal Revenue Service (KW-IRS) is not relenting in its efforts of provision of seamless tax administration, continuous tax advocacy through various mass media platforms and stakeholders’ engagement to ensure tax compliance, prompt payment and remittance of tax arrears, eradication of under deductions and non-remittance of taxes due on income.

“For KW-IRS, the focus in the year 2022 are among others consolidation of the Digitization Process, which aims at achieving taxpayers’ convenience, as some of our major structural improvements include the SelfService Portal where taxpayers could perform basic tasks in the comfort of their locations such as: Request for Kwara Residence Identification Number (KRIN), make all forms of revenue payment Remittance of PAYE, Upload PAYE Schedule, view payment history, generate Tax Assessment, file Tax Returns, request and Print Tax Clearance Certificate, request Citizenship Certificate, make payment for Hajj & Pilgrimage, get Notification of Assessment and carry out other tax related activities.”.

Integration of all existing subsystems to our platforms as well as Tertiary Institutions payment platforms. This is possible with the improved business relations and engagements between the Service and the relevant MDAs and various stakeholders in the State.”

CRC Credit Bureau Announces New Group Structure CRC Credit Bureau Limited has commenced its conversion to a group of companies to lead its growth journey effective January 1, 2022.

The company in a statement stated that in line with this new group structure, it intends to lead the evolution of enhancing decision making using data analytics and artificial intelligence-driven products and services for businesses operating in Africa.

“The key changes are outlined below; CRC Credit Bureau Limited shall retain its name as the Holding Company, and will continue to diversify its scope of business operations by assisting financial and nonfinancial institutions from all economies in Africa, in making critical decisions regarding their customers and businesses.

“The introduction of a new subsidiary, CRC Data and Analytics Limited, with a mission to accelerate data-driven outcomes across lines of businesses, developing faster results, deeper insights, better decisions, and ultimately, business development through self-service analytics and data science. Consequent upon this, CRC Credit Bureau Limited has also implemented a Groupwide management structure and named executives that will drive its leadership, “it said.

Group Managing Director/ CEO, Dr ‘Tunde Popoola stated

that, “as a Group of Companies, CRC Credit Bureau Limited will offer our customers more value beyond credit reporting. With the new Group Structure, we are now able to go past our previous limits to play a deeper role in unlocking hidden avenues of incremental revenue, optimized costs, and free cash flows for businesses. Our transition to a group structure will have no adverse effects on our existing operations in any way, and you will continue to have access to all our products and services as you did before the transition.”

It added, “The group will be led by the Group Managing Director/CEO, Dr. Ahmed ‘Tunde Popoola. He has been the Managing Director/CEO of CRC Credit Bureau Limited since its establishment in 2008. Prior to this, he was also the pioneer CEO of the Abuja Enterprise Agency (AEA). Before then, he was in the banking industry where he rose to the position of the Chief Finance Officer (CFO) and General Manager of a publicly listed bank. He is in the forefront of the development of the nascent credit reporting system in Nigeria and Africa with over thirty years of cumulative work experience in economics, banking, accounting, finance, risk management, taxation, business development, management and leadership.

“Mrs. Jelilat Kareem has been named as the Group Chief Operating Officer and in this capacity she will oversee the Finance, Enterprise Wide Services, Operations, and Technology of the Group. Jelilat Kareem has over 21 years of vast and vital experience in start-up management, accounting and finance, treasury management, credit & risk management, strategy, human resources management, governance & corporate services including systems/policy formulation and analysis. She was until this appointment, the Head of Finance and Corporate Services of the Company.

“The new subsidiary, CRC Data Analytics Limited, will be led by Mr. Ademola Adesalu as the Managing Director to provide institutions the means of using data analytics and artificial intelligence to make informed decisions. Mr. Ademola Adesalu is a seasoned expert with over twenty-eight (28) years in the field of Consulting (Strategy and Business Process Design), Technology (Design, Implementation & Management), Financial Auditing, Business Development and General Management working making him the best person to occupy this position. Before this new role, he was the Head of Operations and Information Technology of the Company.

L-r: Chairman Buraq Capital Limited, Alhaji Mohammed Bintube; MD, Greenwich Merchant Bank, Bayo Rotimi; Director-General, Debt Management Office (DMO), Ms. Patience Oniha; MD, Vetiva, Chuka Eseka and MD, Stanbic IBTC Capital, Funso Akere during the Symbolic Cheque Presentation ceremony of the N250bn FGN Sukuk Series IV issuance in Abuja recently

MARKET INDICATORS MONEY AND CREDIT STATISTICS

(MILLION NAIRA)

JANUARY 2021 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

˾ ÙßÜÍÏ ̋

Money Market Indicators (in Percentage) Month

March 2018

Inter-Bank Call Rate

15.16

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

14.00

Treasury Bill Rate

11.84

Savings Deposit Rate

4.07

1 Month Deposit Rate

8.82

3 Months Deposit Rate

9.72

6 Months Deposit Rate

10.93

12 Months Deposit Rate

10.21

Prime Lending rate

17.35

Maximum Lending Rate

31.55

˾ 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).

41

T H I S D AY ˾ WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 9, 2022

MARKET NEWS

Stock Market Down N79bn on Profit-taking in BUA Food, Others Kayode Tokede The stock market of the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) yesterday sustained the down trend of prior day as profit-taking witnessed in BUA Foods Plc and 20 others caused a N79billion decline in the market capitalisation.

The overall market capitalisation value lost N79 billion to close at N25.357 trillion, while

the NGX All-Share Index declined by 146.15 basis points or 0.31 per cent, to close at 47,057.24 basis points.

The stock market negative performance was driven by price depreciation in large and medium capitalised stocks which are; BUA Foods, MTN Nigeria Communications (MTNN), Unilever Nigeria, Fidson Healthcare and United Capital.

Market sentiment, as

P R I C E S MAIN BOARD

F O R DEALS

measured by market breadth, was negative, as 21 stocks lost, relative to 18 gainers.

Presco recorded the highest price gain of 10 per cent to close at N104.50, per share.

NEM Insurance followed with a gain 9.97 per cent to close at N3.31, while Ikeja Hotel gained 9.77 per cent to close at N1.46, per share.

SUNU Assurance went up by 9.09 per cent to close at 36

S E C U R I T I E S MARKET PRICE

QUANTITY TRADED

kobo, while AIICO Insurance appreciated by 5.80 per cent to close at 73 kobo, per share.

On the other hand, Courteville Business Solutions led the losers’ chart by 7.27 per cent to close at 51 kobo, per share.

UACN Property Development Company (UPDC) followed with a decline of 5.66 per cent to close at N1.00, while University Press lost 5.41 per cent to close at N2.45, per share.

T R A D E D

VALUE TRADED ( N )

MAIN BOARD

A S

Unilever Nigeria lost 4.36 per cent to close at N13.15, while BUA Foods shed 4.04 per cent to close at N61.80, per share.

The total volume traded declined by 16.56 per cent to 238.216 million shares, worth N5.085 billion, and traded in 4,826 deals.

Transactions in the shares of Guaranty Trust Holding Company (GTCO) topped the activity chart with 32.354 mil-

O F

0 8

lion shares valued at N887.764 million. Zenith Bank followed with 24.325 million shares worth N653.468 million, while Fidelity Bank traded 22.295 million shares valued at N63.932 million.

Transnational Corporation of Nigeria (Transcorp) traded 21.397 million shares valued at N24.845 million, while nigerian Exchange Group (NGXGroup) transacted 17.231 million shares worth N426.631 million.

/ 0 2 / 2 0 2 2 DEALS

MARKET PRICE

QUANTITY TRADED

VALUE TRADED ( N)

42

WEDNESDAY, ΁˜ ͺ͸ͺͺ ˾ T H I S D AY

Wednesday, February 9, 2022

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THISDAY AFRINVEST 40 INDEX

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Fundamental Performance Metrics for THISDAY AFRINVEST 40 Index

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THISDAY AFRINVEST 40

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5 Zenith Bank PLC 6 Dangote Cement PLC 7 Nestle Nigeria PLC

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4.8%

KƵƚůŽŽŬ

/ŶǀĞƐƚŽƌ ^ĞŶƟŵĞŶƚ ^ƚƌĞŶŐƚŚĞŶƐ

11.0%

24.3% 27.3%

2.9%

0.7x

11.3%

5.3x

5.8%

7.3%

1,435.00

0.0%

3.1%

-7.8%

-7.8%

106.8%

15.6%

27.8x

32.8x

4.2%

3.6%

8 FBN Holdings Plc 9 Lafarge Africa PLC

11.00

0.0%

3.1%

-3.5%

-3.5%

8.4%

0.8%

6.5x

0.5x

4.1%

15.4%

26.50

0.0%

3.4%

10.6%

10.6%

11.6%

8.4%

9.9x

1.1x

3.8%

10.1%

10 Access Bank PLC 11 United Bank for Africa PLC 12 Stanbic IBTC Holdings PLC

10.20

-1.0%

2.8%

9.7%

9.7%

17.0%

1.4%

2.9x

0.5x

8.3%

35.0%

8.60

-0.6%

2.2%

6.8%

6.8%

19.5%

1.8%

2.2x

0.4x

6.4%

46.3%

35.00

0.0%

1.5%

-2.8%

-2.8%

15.1%

2.1%

7.9x

1.2x

11.7%

12.7%

48.00

0.0%

1.4%

-4.0%

-4.0%

5.3%

1.9%

44.2x

2.3x

2.3%

2.3%

866.00

0.0%

2.0%

33.2%

33.2%

3.4%

1.9%

19.9x

0.7x

4.8%

12.00

-0.4%

1.8%

37.9%

37.9%

2.8x

5.05

1.0%

1.1%

2.0%

2.0%

-10.3%

-3.9%

0.0%

0.9%

-10.0%

-10.0%

36.5%

23.3%

8.7x

2.9x

29.95

2.6%

1.0%

5.6%

5.6%

15.9%

4.5%

4.6x

0.7x

5.5%

21.8%

2.88

0.3%

0.7%

12.9%

12.9%

13.3%

1.3%

2.2x

0.3x

7.7%

45.7%

1.0x

-11.3% 11.5%

2.44

0.0%

0.6%

5.2%

5.2%

9.3%

3.0%

7.5x

0.7x

9.0%

13.3%

17.55

0.0%

0.5%

0.9%

0.9%

15.3%

6.3%

11.5x

1.7x

8.5%

8.7%

3.00

0.0%

0.4%

0.3%

0.3%

10.3%

1.1%

0.2x

5.0%

23 United Capital PLC 24 Guinness Nigeria PLC 25 Transnational Corp of Nigeria

11.05

-1.3%

0.4%

11.6%

11.6%

2.5x

6.3%

48.55

0.0%

0.4%

24.5%

24.5%

13.3%

6.0%

10.2x

1.3x

1.0%

9.8%

1.16

0.9%

0.4%

20.8%

20.8%

11.1%

2.3%

6.2x

0.6x

0.9%

16.2%

26 NEM Insurance PLC 27 Presco PLC 28 NASCON Allied Industries PLC

3.31

10.0%

0.2%

-26.4%

-26.4%

35.6%

18.5%

5.2x

0.9x

5.5%

19.4%

104.50

10.0%

0.3%

19.0%

19.0%

2.2x

1.0%

13.25

0.0%

0.3%

0.4%

0.4%

21.3%

6.9%

12.5x

2.5x

3.0%

8.0%

0.73

5.8%

0.3%

4.3%

4.3%

7.2%

1.1%

405.6x

0.7x

241.00

0.0%

0.3%

8.6%

8.6%

48.0%

9.5%

4.9x

2.0x

1.7%

20.4%

29 AIICO Insurance PLC 30 TotalEnergies Marketing Nigeri 31 Custodian and Allied Insurance 32 Vitafoam Nigeria PLC 33 Unilever Nigeria PLC

0.2%

7.90

0.0%

0.2%

0.0%

0.0%

19.5%

5.5%

4.6x

0.9x

7.3%

21.5%

24.40

0.0%

0.2%

8.4%

8.4%

38.7%

16.0%

6.3x

2.2x

6.3%

16.0%

13.15

-4.4%

0.1%

-9.3%

-9.3%

7.8%

4.9%

29.2x

1.1x

25.95

-0.2%

0.2%

16.1%

16.1%

18.9%

2.4%

3.9x

0.8x

1.5%

25.5%

5.85

0.0%

0.1%

-0.8%

-0.8%

7.1%

0.8%

6.6x

0.7x

4.3%

5.02

5.7%

0.0%

13.6%

13.6%

14.5%

2.6%

2.2x

0.3x

3.4%

0.87

2.4%

0.1%

20.8%

20.8%

14.1%

0.8%

3.8x

0.5x

4.8%

1.70

0.0%

0.1%

12.6%

12.6%

9.4%

0.9%

2.2x

0.4x

2.9%

62.50

0.0%

0.1%

0.0%

0.0%

-28.3%

-6.1%

5.38

0.0%

0.0%

0.0%

0.0%

2.4x 0.9x

P ric e

P ric e C hg %

T ic k er

P R ESC O

Vo lum e

P ric e C hg %

104.50

10.0%

GT C O

32.4

-0.4%

N EM

3.31

10.0%

Z EN IT H B A N K

24.3

0.2%

IKEJ A H OT EL

1.46

9.8%

F ID ELIT YB K

22.3

0.3%

SUN UA SSUR

0.36

9.1%

T R A N SC OR P

21.4

0.9%

0.73

5.8%

N GXGR OUP

17.2

1.8%

OA N D O

5.02

5.7%

A C C ESS

10.2

-1.0%

ǁĞĂŬĞŶĞĚ ƚŽ ͲϬ͘ϭdž ĨƌŽŵ Ϭ͘Ϭdž ƌĞĐŽƌĚĞĚ ŝŶ ƚŚĞ ƉƌŝŽƌ

M ULT IVER SE

-0.6%

ƐĞƐƐŝŽŶ ĂƐ ϭϳ ƐƚŽĐŬƐ ŐĂŝŶĞĚ͕ Ϯϭ ůŽƐƚ ǁŚŝůĞ ϭϬϱ ǁĞƌĞ ĨƌŽŵ ϭ͘ϯdž ƌĞĐŽƌĚĞĚ ŝŶ ƚŚĞ ůĂƐƚ ƚƌĂĚŝŶŐ ƐĞƐƐŝŽŶ ĂƐ Ϯϰ ƐƚŽĐŬƐ ƵŶĐŚĂŶŐĞĚ͘ /Ŷ ƚŽĚĂLJ͛Ɛ ƚƌĂĚŝŶŐ ƐĞƐƐŝŽŶ͕ ǁĞ ĞdžƉĞĐƚ ƚŚĞ ĂĚǀĂŶĐĞĚ ǁŚŝůĞ ϭϱ ƐƚŽĐŬƐ ĚĞĐůŝŶĞĚ͘ DZ^ ;нϵ͘ϵйͿ͕ D zͲ

WEM A B A N K N GXGR OUP

ǁŚŝůĞ dZ E^ ;Ͳϴ͘ϯйͿ͕ > ^ K ;Ͳϲ͘ϳйͿ͕ ĂŶĚ >/s Ͳ ƐĞŶƟŵĞŶƚ͘ ^dK < ;Ͳϰ͘ϴйͿ ůĞĚ ůŽƐĞƌƐ͘ WƌĞǀŝŽƵƐ ĚĂLJ͕ ǁĞ ĞdžƉĞĐƚ ƚŚĞ ŵĂƌŬĞƚ ƐĞŶƟŵĞŶƚ ƚŽ ƌĞŵĂŝŶ ŵŝdžĞĚ͕ ĂƐ ĞĂƌŶŝŶŐƐ ƐĞĂƐŽŶ ŐƌĂĚƵĂůůLJ ǁŝŶĚƐ ƵƉ͘

T ic k er C OUR T VILLE UP D C

5.0%

UB A

9.7

2.6%

A IIC O

8.1

5.8%

0.87

2.4%

FB NH

7.8

0.0%

24.95

1.8%

UP D C

5.5

-5.7%

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

P ric e

P ric e C hg %

0.51

-7.3%

1.00

-5.7%

UP L

2.45

-5.4%

UN ILEVER

13.15

-4.4%

B UA F OOD S

61.80

-4.0%

M B EN EF IT

0.25

-3.8%

C UT IX

2.40

-3.6%

C A VER T ON

1.45

-3.3%

F ID SON NP FM CRFB K

Afrinvest West Africa Limited

0.21 29.95

T o p 10 L o s e r s

ďĞĂƌŝƐŚ ƉĞƌĨŽƌŵĂŶĐĞ ƚŽ ůŝŶŐĞƌ ĚƵĞ ƚŽ ǁĞĂŬ < Z ;нϵ͘ϴйͿ͕ ĂŶĚ ,KEz&>KhZ ;нϵ͘ϴйͿ ůĞĚ ŝŶǀĞƐƚŽƌ ŐĂŝŶĞƌƐ

45.0%

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

T ic k er

F LOUR M ILL

26.4%

-13.8%

A IIC O

;ĂĚǀĂŶĐĞͬĚĞĐůŝŶĞ ƌĂƟŽͿ͕ ƐƚƌĞŶŐƚŚĞŶĞĚ͕ ƐĞƩůŝŶŐ Ăƚ ϭ͘ϲdž

15.2% 46.3%

/ŶǀĞƐƚŽƌ ƐĞŶƟŵĞŶƚ͕ ĂƐ ŵĞĂƐƵƌĞĚ ďLJ ŵĂƌŬĞƚ ďƌĞĂĚƚŚ͕ /ŶǀĞƐƚŽƌƐ ƐĞŶƟŵĞŶƚ͕ ĂƐ ŵĞĂƐƵƌĞĚ ďLJ ŵĂƌŬĞƚ ďƌĞĂĚƚŚ

5.0% 36.3%

127.80

T o p 10 G a in e r s

ƟŽŶ ŝŶ E' D ;нϯ͘ϯйͿ͘

1.0x

3.7x

ŽŶǀĞƌƐĞůLJ͕ ƚŚĞ /ŶĚƵƐƚƌŝĂů 'ŽŽĚƐ ŝŶĚĞdž ǁĂƐ ƚŚĞ ůŽŶĞ ŐĂŝŶͲ ϭďƉ ƌĞƐƉĞĐƟǀĞůLJ ĚƌŝǀĞŶ ďLJ ƐĞůů ƉƌĞƐƐƵƌĞ ŽŶ ^^ ;Ͳ

4.1x

13.7x

40 Transcorp Hotels Plc

ĂƉƉƌĞĐŝĂͲ

7.5%

2.8%

ŽīƐ ŝŶ K E K ;ͲϬ͘ϴйͿ͕ E/d, ;ͲϬ͘ϮйͿ͕ ĂŶĚ 'd K ;ͲϬ͘ϮйͿ͘ ĂŶŬŝŶŐ ĂŶĚ /ŶĚƵƐƚƌŝĂů 'ŽŽĚƐ ŝŶĚŝĐĞƐ ĨĞůů Ϭ͘Ϯй ĂŶĚ ƉƌŝĐĞ

3.9%

6.4%

5.3%

6.4x

16.7%

ŝŶŐ ŝŶĚŝĐĞƐ ĨĞůů ďLJ Ϭ͘Ϯй ĂŶĚ ϮďƉƐ ƌĞƐƉĞĐƟǀĞůLJ ĚƵĞ ƚŽ ƐĞůůͲ ĚƵĞ ƚŽ ƉƌŝĐĞ ĚĞĐůŝŶĞ ŝŶ DdEE ;Ͳϭ͘ϬйͿ͘ ^ŝŵŝůĂƌůLJ͕ ƚŚĞ

ďLJ

24.8%

-0.4%

20.7x

34.0x

20.9%

38 Sterling Bank PLC 39 Notore Chemical Industries Ltd

ĚƌŝǀĞŶ

4.8%

27.25

13.4x

40.4%

ůLJ͕ ƚŚĞ &ZͲ/ d ŝŶĚĞdž ƚŽƉƉĞĚ ƚŚĞ ůĂŐŐĂƌĚƐ͕ ĚŽǁŶ Ϭ͘ϱй ĂŶĚ D E^ Z ;ͲϮ͘ϮйͿ͘ ^ŝŵŝůĂƌůLJ͕ ƚŚĞ Kŝů Θ 'ĂƐ ĂŶĚ ĂŶŬͲ

ϭ͘ϴй

11.2%

16.7%

7.4%

36 Oando PLC 37 Wema Bank PLC

ƵƉ

14.1%

19.1%

1.4%

6.9%

&>KhZD/>> ;нϮ͘ϲйͿ͕ ĂŶĚ /Ed Z t ;нϭ͘ϬйͿ͘ ŽŶǀĞƌƐĞͲ ϵ͘ϭйͿ͕ hE/> s Z ;Ͳϯ͘ϱйͿ͕ >/E< ^^hZ ;Ͳϲ͘ϰйͿ͕

Ğƌ͕

134.7%

6.8%

5.2%

7.4%

34 Julius Berger Nigeria PLC 35 Union Bank of Nigeria PLC

ϭ͘ϬйͿ͕ h ;ͲϬ͘ϲйͿ͕ ĂŶĚ hd/y ;Ͳϯ͘ϲйͿ ͘

0.0% 5.5%

7.7%

0.0%

0.8x ot Applicable

6.9%

ĐƌŽƐƐ ŽƵƌ ĐŽǀĞƌĂŐĞ ƐĞĐƚŽƌƐ͕ ƉĞƌĨŽƌŵĂŶĐĞ ǁĂƐ ŵŝdžĞĚ

ĐƌŽƐƐ ƐĞĐƚŽƌƐ ƵŶĚĞƌ ŽƵƌ ĐŽǀĞƌĂŐĞ͕ ƉĞƌĨŽƌŵĂŶĐĞ ǁĂƐ

0.0% 5.5%

-1.0%

70.75

5.4x

6.0%

21 Dangote Sugar Refinery PLC 22 FCMB Group Plc

ĞĂƌŝƐŚ ^ĞĐƚŽƌ WĞƌĨŽƌŵĂŶĐĞ

#VALUE!

4.4%

DŝdžĞĚ ^ĞĐƚŽƌ WĞƌĨŽƌŵĂŶĐĞ

/ŶƐƵƌĂŶĐĞ ŝŶĚĞdž ůĞĚ ŐĂŝŶĞƌƐ͕ ƵƉ Ϯ͘ϰй ŽŶ ƚŚĞ ďĂĐŬ ŽĨ

#VALUE!

0.2%

19 Fidelity Bank PLC 20 AXA Mansard Insurance PLC

ĂƐ ϯ ŝŶĚŝĐĞƐ ŐĂŝŶĞĚ ĂŶĚ ϯ ŝŶĚŝĐĞƐ ƌĞĐŽƌĚĞĚ ůŽƐƐĞƐ͘ dŚĞ

3.5%

33.1%

197.00

17 Okomu Oil Palm PLC 18 Flour Mills of Nigeria PLC

15.0%

33.1%

Divindend Earnings Yield Yield

P/BV

0.0%

15 Ecobank Transnational Inc 16 International Brew eries PLC

E' D ;േϭϰϱ͘ϬŵͿ͕ ĂŶĚ 'd K ;േϭϯϰ͘ϴŵͿ ůĞĚ ďLJ ǀĂůƵĞ͘

P/E

27.00

ƚƌĂĚĞĚ ƌŽƐĞ ďLJ ϴϴ͘ϱй ƚŽ േϯ͘ϭďŶ͘ dŚĞ ŵŽƐƚ ƚƌĂĚĞĚ ƐƚŽĐŬƐ ƟǀĞůLJ ƚŽ Ϯϯϴ͘Ϯŵ ƵŶŝƚƐ ĂŶĚ േϱ͘ϭďŶ͘

ƵŶŝƚƐͿ͕ ĂŶĚ K E K ;ϳ͘ϯŵ ƵŶŝƚƐͿ ǁŚŝůĞ E ^d> ;േϮ͘ϮďŶͿ͕

ROA

9.5% 103.1%

0.0%

38.5%

ROE

274.80

sŽůƵŵĞ ĂŶĚ ǀĂůƵĞ ƚƌĂĚĞĚ ĨĞůů ϭϲ͘ϱй ĂŶĚ Ϭ͘ϵй ƌĞƐƉĞĐͲ ƚƌĂĚĞĚ ĚĞĐůŝŶĞĚ ďLJ Ϯϭ͘ϲй ƚŽ ϭϭϬ͘ϴŵ ƵŶŝƚƐ ǁŚŝůĞ ǀĂůƵĞ

-0.05%

1,271.00

3 BUA Cement Plc 4 Guaranty Trust Holding Co PLC

13 Nigerian Brew eries PLC 14 SEPLAT Energy PLC

ďLJ ǀŽůƵŵĞ ǁĞƌĞ dZ E^ KZW ;ϭϭ͘ϵŵ ƵŶŝƚƐͿ͕ & E, ;ϭϭ͘ϭŵ

2030.50

1 Airtel Africa PLC 2 MTN Nigeria Communications PLC

Price Previous Price Current Change Price Change Weighting Index to Change YTD Date

7.85

-3.0%

2.05

-2.4%

T ic k er

Value

P ric e C hg %

GT C O

887.6

-0.4%

SEP LA T

687.2

0.0%

Z EN IT H B A N K

653.5

0.2%

M TNN

572.7

-1.0%

N EST LE

473.8

0.0%

N GXGR OUP

426.6

1.8%

P R ESC O

277.8

10.0% 0.0%

NB

204.2

A C C ESS

103.8

-1.0%

FB NH

86.2

0.0%

Brokerage

Asset Management

Investment Research

Adedoyin Allen | aallen@afrinvest.com

Robert Omotunde | romotunde@afrinvest.com

Abiodun Keripe | AKeripe@afrinvest.com

Taiwo Ogundipe | togundipe@afrinvest.com

Christopher Omoh | comoh@afrinvest.com

Damilare Asimiyu| dasimiyu@afrinvest.com

43

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 9, 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 07Feb-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 171.77 172.92 2.59% Afrinvest Plutus Fund 100.00 100.00 9.03% Nigeria International Debt Fund 321.61 321.61 3.26% Afrinvest Dollar Fund 99.52 100.67 -1.47% AIICO CAPITAL LTD ammf@aiicocapital.com Web: www.aiicocapital.com, Tel: +234-1-2792974 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn AIICO Money Market Fund 100.00 100.00 10.05% AIICO Balanced Fund 3.50 3.56 -1.17% 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 7.74% Anchoria Equity Fund 144.24 146.05 3.96% Anchoria Fixed Income Fund 1.17 1.17 2.92% 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 N/A N/A N/A ARM Discovery Balanced Fund 473.14 487.40 4.87% ARM Ethical Fund 39.26 40.44 0.77% ARM Eurobond Fund ($) 1.08 1.08 -0.29% ARM Fixed Income Fund 1.02 1.02 0.49% ARM Money Market Fund 1.00 1.00 8.32% AVA GLOBAL ASSET MANAGERS LIMITED info@avacapitalgroup.com Web: www.avacapitalgroup.com; Tel 08069294653 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn AVA GAM Fixed Income Dollar Fund 108.63 108.63 6.80% AVA GAM Fixed Income Dollar Naira 1,076.93 1,076.93 7.69% AXA MANSARD INVESTMENTS LIMITED investmentcare@axamansard.com Web: www.axamansard.com; Tel: +2341-4488482 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn AXA Mansard Equity Income Fund N/A N/A N/A AXA Mansard Money Market Fund N/A N/A N/A CAPITAL EXPRESS ASSET AND TRUST LIMITED info@capitalexpressassetandtrust.com Web: www.capitalexpressassetandtrust.com; Tel: +234 803 307 5048 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn CEAT Fixed Income Fund N/A N/A N/A Capital Express Balanced Fund(Formerly: Union Trustees Mixed Fund) N/A N/A N/A CARDINALSTONE ASSET MANAGEMENT LIMITED mutualfunds@cardinalstone.com Web: www.cardinalstoneassetmanagement.com; Tel: +234 (1) 710 0433 4 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn CardinalStone Fixed Income Alpha Fund 1.02 1.02 0.99% CHAPELHILL DENHAM MANAGEMENT LTD investmentmanagement@chapelhilldenham.com Web: www.chapelhilldenham.com, Tel: +234 461 0691 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Chapelhill Denham Money Market Fund 100.00 100.00 9.40% Paramount Equity Fund 18.52 18.85 10.04% Women's Investment Fund 146.23 147.86 5.14% CORDROS ASSET MANAGEMENT LIMITED assetmgtteam@cordros.com Web: www.cordros.com, Tel: 019036947 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Cordros Money Market Fund 100.00 100.00 N/A Cordros Milestone Fund 137.85 138.75 4.28% Cordros Dollar Fund ($) 111.01 111.01 0.52% CORONATION ASSETS MANAGEMENT investment@coronationam.com Web:www.coronationam.com, Tel: 012366215 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Coronation Money Market Fund N/A N/A N/A Coronation Balanced Fund N/A N/A N/A Coronation Fixed Income Fund N/A N/A N/A EDC FUNDS MANAGEMENT LIMITED mutualfundng@ecobank.com Web: www.ecobank.com Tel: 012265281 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn EDC Nigeria Money Market Fund Class A 100.00 100.00 7.07% EDC Nigeria Money Market Fund Class B 1,000,000.00 1,000,000.00 7.89% EDC Nigeria Fixed Income Fund 1,142.63 1,146.02 -2.29% EMERGING AFRICA ASSET MANAGEMENT LIMITED assetmanagement@emergingafricafroup.com Web:www.emergingafricagroup.com/emerging-africa-asset-management-limited/, Tel: 08039492594 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Emerging Africa Money Market Fund N/A N/A N/A Emerging Africa Bond Fund N/A N/A N/A Emerging Africa Balanced Diversity Fund N/A N/A N/A Emerging Africa Eurobond Fund N/A N/A N/A FBNQUEST ASSETS MANAGEMENT LIMITED invest@fbnquest.com Web: www.fbnquest.com/asset-management; Tel: +234-81 0082 0082 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn FBN Fixed Income Fund 1,411.06 1,411.06 11.07% FBN Balanced Fund 180.81 182.15 3.17% FBN Halal Fund 116.72 116.72 8.86% FBN Money Market Fund 100.00 100.00 8.91% FBN Nigeria Eurobond (USD) Fund - Retail FBN 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

122.64 152.37

122.64 3.85% 154.34 1.32% fcmbamhelpdesk@fcmb.com

Bid Price 1.00 3.99 1.81 1.21

Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn 1.00 7.65% 3.99 -0.25% 1.85 4.13% 1.21 0.42% 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 6.94% Vantage Balanced Fund 2.93 3.00 2.69% Vantage Guaranteed Income Fund 1.00 1.00 4.50% Kedari Investment Fund (KIF) 142.29 142.34 -8.56% Vantage Equity Income Fund (VEIF) - June Year End 1.28 1.33 1.81% Vantage Dollar Fund (VDF) - June Year End 1.07 1.07 4.03% LOTUS CAPITAL LTD fincon@lotuscapitallimited.com Web: www.lotuscapitallimited.com; Tel: +234 1-291 4626 / +234 1-291 4624 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Lotus Halal Investment Fund 1.54 1.57 2.55% Lotus Halal Fixed Income Fund 1,147.61 1,147.61 0.96% 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 12.50 12.63 6.19% Meristem Money Market Fund 10.00 10.00 9.54% 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) 100.85 100.86 8.67% Norrenberger Money Market Fund (NMMF) 100.00 100.00 8.89% 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 131.00 133.51 7.20% 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 N/A N/A N/A Stanbic IBTC Bond Fund N/A N/A N/A Stanbic IBTC Ethical Fund N/A N/A N/A Stanbic IBTC Guaranteed Investment Fund N/A N/A N/A Stanbic IBTC Iman Fund N/A N/A N/A Stanbic IBTC Money Market Fund N/A N/A N/A Stanbic IBTC Nigerian Equity Fund N/A N/A N/A Stanbic IBTC Dollar Fund (USD) N/A N/A N/A Stanbic IBTC Shariah Fixed Income Fund N/A N/A N/A Stanbic IBTC Enhanced Short-Term Fixed Income Fund N/A N/A N/A 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 0.95 0.98 2.73% United Capital Balanced Fund 1.39 1.42 2.48% United Capital Wealth for Women Fund 1.14 1.15 4.51% United Capital Sukuk Fund 1.08 1.08 0.78% United Capital Fixed Income Fund 1.97 1.97 0.73% United Capital Eurobond Fund 123.02 123.02 0.56% United Capital Money Market Fund 1.00 1.00 7.51% 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 13.38 13.50 1.44% Zenith ESG Impact Fund 15.16 15.33 3.76% Zenith Income Fund 22.23 22.23 1.10% Zenith Money Market Fund 1.00 1.00 6.25%

REITS NAV Per Share

Yield / T-Rtn

124.98 54.65

10.62% 8.10%

Bid Price

Offer Price

Yield / T-Rtn

14.06 134.77 106.76 19.65 22.51

14.16 138.14 109.11 19.75 22.61

0.65% 2.40% 3.03% 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

4.43 5.64 18.46 1.00 21.27 160.98

4.53 5.74 18.66 1.00 21.47 162.98

17.63% 10.67% 7.43% 7.53% 9.65% 2.02%

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.

44

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 9, 2022 ˾ T H I S D AY

FOREIGN DESK

COMPILED BY BAYO AKINLOYE

US Steps Up Military Support to UAE after Houthi Attacks The US military is stepping up support to the United Arab Emirates after a series of missile and drone attacks launched by Yemen’s Houthi rebels. US General Frank McKenzie, head of the US Central Command overseeing American forces in the Middle East, has been in the UAE to bolster defences.

Analysts say the attacks on the Gulf nation could hurt its reputation as a stable business and tourist hub with tough security.

Speaking from the United Arab Emirates, US General Frank McKenzie said battlefield setbacks in Yemen by Iran-backed Houthi rebels may have prompted recent attacks on the UAE capital, Abu Dhabi, where a military base also hosts US troops. The seven-year Yemen war has pit Houthis against government forces backed by Saudi Arabia and an Arab coalition, including the UAE. The conflict, viewed as a proxy war involving Iran, has killed tens of thousands of Yemenis, sparking one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises.

US and United Nations officials have documented Iran smuggling high-end weapons to the Houthis. “Medium-range ballistic missiles that were fired from Yemen and entered UAE were not invented, built, designed in Yemen,” McKenzie said. So, I think we certainly see the Iranian connection to this.”

Iran Nuclear Talks to Resume with Deal ‘In Sight’ Talks to revive a deal with Iran on its contested nuclear program were set to resume on Tuesday in Vienna after both Washington and Tehran signalled their willingness to clinch an agreement as soon as possible.

The negotiations — attended by Britain, China, France, Germany, Iran, Russia and indirectly the United States — were halted at the end of last month.

The resumption of talks came after parties in recent weeks cited progress in seeking to revive the 2015 accord that was supposed to prevent Iran from acquiring an atomic bomb, a goal it has always denied pursuing.

“A deal that addresses all sides’ core concerns is in sight, but if it is not reached in the coming weeks, Iran’s ongoing nuclear advances will make it impossible for us to return to the JCPOA,” a US State Department spokesperson said on Monday, referring to the 2015 framework agreement.

Since last year, parties have been negotiating in Vienna with indirect US participation.

A source close to the discussions told AFP that the delegations had arrived in the Austrian capital. The discussions were set to resume in the afternoon at the upmarket Coburg Palace hotel.

Prime Minister: France, Europe Want to Divide Mali Mali’s interim prime minister has accused France of using its military mission against Islamist militants to divide the African country.

Speaking to diplomats late Monday, Interim Prime Minister Choguel Kokalla Maiga said Mali would always be grateful to French soldiers who died in the fight against Islamist militants. But he added that the French mission to help Mali was aiding the terrorists.

He said the French people, some who have children who have died in Mali, do not know that it was their government that cut Mali in two.

“France created a sanctuary for terrorists to regroup and reorganize for two years, so that they could come back and invade our country,” he said.

Maiga has in the past accused the French military of training terrorists and supporting Tuareg separatists when the French intervention began in 2013. He has not offered evidence to back up those accusations or those made during his speech Monday. There was no immediate reaction from the French government or the embassy in Bamako.

A French military operation known as Serval helped take back northern Mali from Islamist militants.

The operation ran from 2013 until 2014, when it was replaced by Operation Barkhane,

an ongoing anti-insurgent mission.

Macron: Putin Talks Deescalate UkraineRussia Crisis Fresh off a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, French President Emmanuel Macron travelled to Kyiv for talks Tuesday with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy as leaders and diplomats work to deescalate tensions along the Ukraine-Russia border.

Macron told reporters Tuesday that in his discussion with Putin, he met his objective of preventing the escalation of the crisis.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba tweeted Monday that his country seeks “diplomatic solutions, but won’t cross Ukraine’s red lines.”

He said Ukraine would not make any concessions on its sovereignty or territorial integrity, will not hold direct negotiations with “Russian occupation administrations” in the eastern provinces of Donetsk and Luhansk, and that only the people of Ukraine have the right to choose the country’s foreign policy course.

After the Monday meeting with Macron, Putin said Russia would do its best “to find compromises” in the crisis with the West over Ukraine and said, “As far as we are concerned, we will do everything to find compromises that suit everyone.”

He said there would be “no winners” if war broke out on the European continent.

Spanish Firm Fined $6m for Ghana Blast That Killed 13 The Spanish company in charge of a truck that exploded and killed 13 people last month en route to an internationallyrun gold mine in Ghana violated storage and transport laws and has been fined $6 million, the lands ministry said on Tuesday.

The truck was transporting explosives for Madrid-based Maxam Corp to the Chirano gold mine, run by Toronto-based Kinross Gold Corporation. It caught fire and exploded when it collided with a motorbike, levelling a roadside village injuring at least 100 people.

In its first statement since the January 21 disaster, Maxam denied responsibility, blaming a local contractor.

Ghana’s Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources said in a statement: “The Ministry

has established regulatory breaches on the part of Maxam ... in respect to the manufacture, storage and transportation of explosives.”

It did not provide specific details about which laws were broken or how they contributed to the accident.

The government gave Maxam a $1 million administrative fine for breaching regulations and imposed a $5 million fee for damages, to be paid out in monthly instalments.

According to a statement, Maxam said it had contracted a local company called Arthanns Logistics to transport the explosives.

Sudan Arrests Three BBC Journalists The BBC said authorities in Sudan briefly arrested three of its journalists in the capital Monday as thousands of Sudanese were in the streets across the country in the latest anti-coup protests in the African nation.

In a report, the news outlet said the journalists working with its Arabic service were taken to an unknown location in Khartoum. The BBC said authorities released the three journalists late Monday.

There was no immediate comment from the authorities.

According to the pro-democracy movement, thousands of Sudanese marched in the streets of Khartoum and its twin city Omdurman.

Security forces fired live ammunition, rubber bullets and tear gas to disperse the protesters, especially around the presidential palace in Khartoum, activist Nazim Sirag said.

Social media swarmed with images showing tear gas clouding rallies in Khartoum and protesters hurling stones and throwing back empty gas canisters at security forces.

Sirag said about 200 protesters were injured, including at least 12 who sustained gunshot wounds across the capital. There were no deaths reported.

Protests also took place elsewhere in the country, including the eastern city of Port Sudan.

UN: 13m People Face Severe Hunger in Horn of Africa Drought conditions have left an estimated

13 million people facing severe hunger in the Horn of Africa, according to the United Nations World Food Program.

People in a region including Somalia, Ethiopia and Kenya face the driest conditions recorded since 1981, the agency reported Tuesday, calling for immediate assistance to forestall a major humanitarian crisis.

Drought conditions are affecting pastoral and farming communities across southern and south-eastern Ethiopia, south-eastern and northern Kenya, and south-central Somalia. Malnutrition rates are high in the region.

WFP said it needs $327 million to look after the urgent needs of 4.5 million people over the next six months and help communities become more resilient to extreme climate shocks.

“Three consecutive failed rainy seasons have decimated crops and caused abnormally high livestock deaths,” it said in a statement. “Shortages of water and pasture are forcing families from their homes and leading to increased conflict between communities.”

More forecasts of below-average rainfall threaten to worsen conditions in the coming months, it said. Others have raised the alarm over a fragile region that also faces sporadic armed violence.

Winter Olympics: American-born Eileen Gu Wins Historic Gold Medal for China American-born skier Eileen Gu made history Tuesday at the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics with a gold medal win for China in the debut of the women’s freestyle big air competition.

The 18-year-old Gu landed a 1620 — four-and-a-half full spins in midair — on her final jump of the competition, earning a 94.50 score in big air. It was the first time the event has been staged at the Winter Olympics, which requires athletes to throw their biggest tricks off a single, large jump.

Gu has become a sensation in China, her mother’s homeland, drawing millions of followers on China’s social media website Weibo. Among those in attendance for her performance was Chinese tennis star Peng Shuai, a day after denying she had accused a former Communist Party official of sexually assaulting her in a post on Weibo last November.

WEDNESDAY FEBRUARY 7, 2022 • T H I S D AY

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WEDNESDAY, ΁˜ ͺ͸ͺͺ ˾ T H I S D AY

NEWS

YOU'RE WELCOME TO THE VILLA...

L-R: President Muhammadu Buhari receiving Governors of Kebbi, Senator Atiku Bagudu Abubakar and Jigawa State, Alhaji Muhammad Badaru Abubakar at the State House, Abuja... yesterday

PHOTO: SUNDAY AGHAEZE.

2023: Ayu Leads PDP Top Notch to Visit IBB in Minna, Discuss Raging Issues Party leaders agree to suspend zoning debate for now Laleye Dipo in Minna The National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party PDP, yesterday, led some prominent members of the main opposition party to meet with former Military President, General Ibrahim Babangida, in Minna, the Niger State capital, where they reviewed the state of the party, ahead of next elections, including how to get round the controversial zoning of PDP’s presidential ticket.

Ayu, who flew into Minna, was in accompany with the state chairman of PDP, Mr Tanko Beji and other top executive members of the party in the state.

Also, former Niger State governor, Dr. Muazu Babangida Aliyu; former Minister of Internal Affairs, Alhaji Abubakar Tanko; former Minister of Information, Professor Jerry Gana and Senator Zaynab Kure, were on the delegation.

Another significance of the visit was that, for the first time, it brought together the PDP warring factions in the state.

Ayu and Babangida later met behind closed doors.

A source close to one of the two

leaders, informed THISDAY that the meeting centered principally on the zoning of the presidency ahead of the 2023 polls.

According to the source, the meeting reportedly agreed that the issue of zoning should be suspended for now and allow all

ing agreed to watch very closely, steps being taken by the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), before a decision would be taken.

However, immediately after the meeting, Ayu drove straight to the Minna International Airport, from where he returned to Abuja.

Former JAMB Registrar, Ojerinde, Opts for Plea Bargain in N900m Fraud Charges Alex Enumah in Abuja A former Registrar of the Joint Admission and Matriculation Board (JAMB), Prof. Dibu Ojerinde, yesterday opted for a plea bargain with the Independent Corrupt Practices and other related offences Commission (ICPC) in respect of his ongoing alleged N900 million fraud trial at the Abuja Division of the Federal High Court.

Ojerinde, at his resumed trial yesterday, pleaded with the trial Judge, Justice Obiora Egwuatu for a very short adjournment to enable him reach an understanding with the ICPC through plea bargain instead of formal trial.

According to his new lead counsel, Ibrahim Ishyaku, the defendant prefers an out-of-court settlement known as plea bargain

to resolve the matter, adding that the trial could commence if after 24 hours, the matter could not be resolved.

"My Lord, our plea is that we be given 24 hours to explore the possibility of plea bargain to resolve this matter and we ask that the trial be adjourned for the period

Prof. Osinbajo observed.

He noted that the Electoral Bill now in process is testament to the Administration’s commitment towards improving Nigeria’s electoral process.

“The Bill itself has been the subject of robust engagement between the government and civil society. While some have expressed reservations about the time it is taking to enact the new law, we should remember that a truly inclusive democratic, deliberative process often takes time. I am confident that the legislation that emerges will be one that reflects a broad consensus between all the stakeholders,” he said.

The Vice President added that “while INEC continues to improve its capacity to conduct credible elections, particularly through the deployment of technology; we recognize that democracy is about much more than voting.

It is also about constitutionalism, rule of law and respect for civil liberties. We must diligently work to uphold these principles.

“Our progress as a democracy must therefore also be prosecuted

to enable us come up with our terms of settlement," he said.

The Independent Corrupt Practices and other related offences Commission’s (ICPC) lawyer, Mr. Ebenezer Sogunle did not object to the request but insisted that the trial would proceed in case the plea bargain fails.

The ICPC had on July 8, 2021 arraigned the former JAMB Registrar on an 18 count charge bordering on diversion of public funds to the tune of over N900 million.

He was said to have committed the offense during his tenure as Registrar of the National

Examination Council (NECO) and JAMB. Ojerinde however pleaded not guilty to all the charges and was later admitted to bail in the sum of N200 million.

Meanwhile, Justice Egwuatu has fixed February 9, for report of the plea bargain to be presented.

FG Recruited 40,000 Police Officers in Four Years, Says Buhari Okon Bassey in Uyo

No fewer than 40,000 police officers have been recruited by the federal government in the last four years in an effort to reenergise and improve the force in order to tackle increasing security challenges in the country.

President Muhammadu Buhari

OSINBAJO: S'COURT SEEMS TO BE EXCEEDING CONSTITUTIONAL LIMIT IN ELECTION MATTERS universal in the sense that they must serve everyone.”

Again, he stated that this cardinal principle was a major reason for the Federal Government’s Social Investment Programmes.

The VP said the Administration will continue to ramp up its efforts in social welfare and expanding universal health insurance to ensure "that our most vulnerable citizens are not abandoned to the vicissitudes of fate.”

Also speaking on the essence of democracy and the need to preserve democratic institutions in Nigeria and other parts of Africa, the Vice President noted that even as Nigeria has enjoyed 22 years of unbroken democracy, the country is still a young democracy.

“We have witnessed a series of peaceful transitions of power. This is a huge credit to the democratic sensibilities of our people. Along the way, we are learning valuable lessons that can only make us better practitioners of liberty.

“Many of our institutions are still in their infancy, and we must carefully guide them into maturity. We recognize that the price of liberty is eternal vigilance,"

those interested to campaign and mobilise Nigerians after which a decision would be taken.

It was also learnt that the meet-

in terms of the struggle to reduce the basic problems of ill-health, malnutrition, illiteracy, and famine which daily afflict our people.

Where social and economic rights are unsecured, people are unable to fully maximize their civil and political rights.”

In his own speech, Governor Abdullahi Ganduje commended members of the judiciary for organising the conference at Bayero University, Kano, which focused on the role of the judiciary in the development of democracy across the country.

Osinbajo, who used the opportunity of his engagement in Kano to visit Hanifa’s family, condoled with the girl’s parents.

Ganduje and other government officials accompanied Osinbajo on the condolence visit.

Hanifa was kidnapped last December by her school proprietor, Tanko, who later killed her and buried her in the school compound.

He is currently standing trial along with two other suspects at a Kano court on a four-count charge. Tanko was arrested while trying to collect part of a ransom he had negotiated after killing Hanifa.

yesterday in Uyo, while declaring open a two-day retreat for senior police officers, adding that he also granted accent to the Nigerian Police Trust Fund and carried out an upward review of salaries and allowances of rank and file in a bid to boost the morale of the Force.

Buhari, who was represented by the Minister of Police Affairs, Dr. Maigari Dingyadi, said other efforts aimed at improving service delivery in the force initiated by the federal government included a taskforce on need evaluation of the Nigerian Police headed by Vice President Osibanjo as well as accent to the Nigerian Police Regulatory Bill 2020.

The president lauded the two arms of the National Assembly for their support to the force assuring that the federal government would continue to accord priority to efforts aimed at re-engineering and re-equipping the police to tackle increasing and complex security challenges of the country.

"An opportunity for a professionally driven police force is critical to national cohesion and socio economic development.

It is in recognition of this that this administration has prioritised the reforms, re-equipping and re-engineering of the Nigerian Police, being the lead agency in the internal security architecture of our dear country," he stressed.

The president commended the Nigerian Governors Forum for their support to the Police, Akwa Ibom State government for hosting the conference and expressed belief that the conference would

engender a new policing focus and project a new united front against elements threatening the unity and corporate existence of Nigeria.

Earlier, the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Usman Alkali Baba in his remarks said the second conference and retreat for Senior Police Officers was borne out of leadership focus which emphasised capacity building as a pathway to re-invigorating strategic leadership capacity towards the enhancement of optimal police service delivery.

Baba said the senior police officers would utilise the forum to review policing vision, mission and strategies as laid out following his appointment as the 21st indigenous Inspector General of Police as well to assess the police reform initiatives of the federal government and the force leadership.

According to him, any organisation without a vision was bound to fail, saying the retreat would align the officers with the current and evolving policing and internal security realities.

The IGP said the conference would also avail the senior police officers an opportunity to broaden their knowledge on the cotton edge technology on new policing strategies.

"The 2022 edition is the second in the series and it is a followup to the first edition which was hosted by the Lagos State government in 2019.

"The programme could not hold in 2020 and 2021 due to

the COVID-19 pandemic. The retreat and conference for strategic police managers was borne out of our leadership focus which emphasises capacity building as a pathway to re-invigorating our strategic leadership capacity towards the enhancement of optimal police service delivery.”

On his part, Governor Kayode Fayemi of Ekiti State urged the security agencies to do away with rivalry, collaborate and synergise to ensure effective and efficient security architecture.

Fayemi who doubles as the Chairman of Governors' Forum advocated for what he described as a multi-level policing to ensure efficiency. He, however gave the assurance that the governors were ready at all times to support the police to enable them accomplish the task of securing the country.

Akwa Ibom State Governor, Mr. Udom Emmanuel urged participants to evolve more proactive ways of addressing the security challenges in the country especially as the nation prepares for the general elections next year.

Emmanuel also urged participants to look into reasons why more young people in the country were involved in criminality now than before so as to firmly address the menace in order to safe the future since the youth are future leaders.

Emmanuel expressed optimism that the conference would bring out a fertilised ideas that would enhance better policing, given the arrays of resources persons to the Retreat.

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WEDNESDAY, ΁˜ ͺ͸ͺͺ ˾ T H I S D AY

NEWS

ADVISORY COUNCIL TO SAVE LIVES...

L-R: Oyo State Deputy Governor, Rauf Olaniyan; Governor, Seyi Makinde and State Sector Commander Federal Road Safety Corps, Commander Uche Chukwurah, and others, during the inauguration of Oyo State Road Safety Advisory Council held at Ibadan... yesterday.

House Calls for Regulation, Arrest of Unlawful Online Drugs’ Advertisers

Udora Orizu in Abuja

The House of Representatives has called on the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) to arrest and prosecute unlawful online advertisers of drugs and enlighten members of the public against the dangers of purchasing unregistered and non-prescribed drugs online.

The lawmakers also urged the Pharmacists Council of Nigeria to sanction and prosecute individuals engaging in the sales and promotion of medicines online without the requisite authorisation in line with the law establishing the Council.

It further urged the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) to take necessary action towards protecting consumers of online drugs.

The green chamber called on Advertising Practitioners Council of Nigeria (APCON) to liaise with online advertising companies like Google, Facebook, Twitter, etc, to effectively monitor, control, and enforce advertising standards against online drug advertisers

and vendors.

The resolutions of the lawmakers were sequel to the adoption of a motion sponsored by Chairman House Committee on Federal Judiciary, Hon. Onofiok Luke, at plenary yesterday.

Moving the motion, Luke expressed concerns that online vendors had capitalised on free access to the internet and social media platforms to advertise and sell unregistered and sometimes fake drugs to unsuspecting members of the public, thereby endangering their health and wellbeing.

He said the House was aware that given the false, exaggerated media and online advertisement of drugs, members of the public are usually enticed into buying drugs ranging from dietary supplements, cholesterol-lowering medicine, analgesics such as tramadol and aspirin to viagra and other sexenhancement drugs, some of which are unregistered and purchased without doctor’s prescription or the advice of a pharmacist.

He said the House was also aware that the law prohibits the

NIGERIA DRAGS UK’S CRIME AGENCY TO COURT OVER £150M ABACHA LOOT to move the funds.

According to sources familiar with the case, the amount controlled by the Singapore trust may now have grown to as much as €180 million.

It is kept in accounts at Waverton Investment Management and James Hambro & Partners, both based in London.

The NCA has been working with American authorities in a bid to confiscate the funds and return them to “the people of Nigeria,” the report stated.

However, the Nigerian government wants them to be returned directly to the country and the parties, including lawyers for Bagudu, have been holding negotiations about a possible settlement, court filings in the US show.

Bagudu struck a deal with the Nigerian government in 2003, in which he agreed to return a sum of money but made no admission of wrongdoing, and the agreement was reaffirmed by Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari in 2018. What this means, according to the report, is that almost 70 per cent of the UK money could be handed to Bagudu if returned.

Court filings showed the Nigerian government subsequently sought to unlock the funds and repatriate them in legal action against the NCA – a move that was opposed by the UK

and US. The country hired Kingsley Napley, the London law firm famed for representing a host of celebrities, including Rebekah Vardy, to represent it. The firm and the NCA both declined to comment, the report noted.

The report quoted Spotlight on Corruption, a non-profit campaign group, as saying that the case raises questions about whether, “law enforcement is being paid and resourced enough to get its act together”.

It accused the NCA of having effectively “cleaned” the money by approving the transfer to Singapore and warned against returning cash to Bagudu.

However, Jonathan Benton, a former NCA senior detective who now runs consultancy Intelligent Sanctuary, said the case also underlined the sheer complexity of efforts to reclaim Abacha’s loot.

Benton stated, “I care passionately about tackling corruption and it is important we hold people to account.

“But it can be a challenging and drawn-out process and sometimes you have to be pragmatic. In those situations, the law allows you to negotiate. It is repugnant. But Nigeria desperately needs the money that Abacha stole.”

advertisement of drugs or related products without registration and without the advertisement having the pre-clearance and approval of a relevant government agency.

He expressed concern that some of the drugs are sold without

an indication or warning of the side effects, and members of the public who purchased them have complained of developing symptoms of vomiting, stooling, body weakness, severe body pains, swelling, shortness of breath, faint-

ing, erectile dysfunction among other things.

The lawmaker also expressed concern that most drugs and related products advertised online do not meet the requirements and standards set by the law and the

non-compliance thereof exposes the public to grave health risk and danger.

Adopting the motion, the House mandated its Committees on Healthcare Services and Information Technology to ensure compliance.

Atiku: FCT Council Polls will Signpost What 2023 will Look Like Rallies support for PDP Chuks Okocha in Abuja Ahead of the council election in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) this Saturday, former Vice President of Nigeria, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar has urged residents and members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the nation’s capital to come out en masse and exercise their franchise in the election.

Atiku, in a statement signed by his Media Adviser, Paul Ibe yesterday, said this weekend's council election should be a referendum on the performance of the incumbent APC administration in the country.

The former Vice President noted that the people of the FCT, with their closeness to the seat of power, represent a good sampling of Nigerians about the current government

and, therefore, should use, “their ballot to tell the APC government how its administration has made life difficult for the common man.”

“The records of performance between the PDP and APC administrations should provide a guide for the way the people of the FCT should cast their ballot on Saturday. I expect every member of the PDP to be proud of the party at this election and even mobilise their families and friends to vote for PDP's candidates across all the FCT councils on Saturday,” Atiku said.

The 2019 presidential candidate of the PDP also called on all officials, including security agents who would be involved in the conduct of the FCT election to ensure that it was conducted in line with all relevant provisions that would make the

process hitch-free and credible.

Meanwhile, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), at a stakeholders' meeting in Abuja, pledged free, fair and credible elections in the February 12 FCT elections.

INEC Chairman, Prof. Yakubu Mahmood, said the commission was going to deploy three National Commissioners and six Resident Electoral Commissioners (RECs) for the election.

"Our eyes are on all our officials, be they ad hoc or regular staff, to ensure that they strictly abide by the rules. All parties, candidates and their supporters should do the same.

"No one will benefit from the disruption of the process or other acts of bad behaviour. Let the voters

in the FCT choose their leaders in a free, fair and peaceful contest," Yakubu stated.

He reminded political parties and their candidates that voter inducement, including vote-buying at polling units, was a violation of the law, adding that the ban on the use of mobile phones and other photographic devices in the voting cubicles was still in force.

The INEC Chairman disclosed that the commission would deploy, "assistive devices such as Braille ballot guide and magnifying glasses for the physically challenged voters.

"We had several meetings with the security agencies in the area councils, the FCT and the national level on how to address potential threats to the election and secure the election."

Bill to Raise Academic Qualification for President, Governors, Other Elective Offices Passes Second Reading Proposed legislation for vaccine devt centre also scales second reading Udora Orizu in Abuja The House of Representatives at plenary yesterday passed for second reading, a bill seeking to amend the 1999 Constitution to raise the academic qualification for office of the President, Governors, State and National Assembly members from school certificate to university degree or its equivalent.

The proposed legislation titled: ‘A Bill for an Act to alter the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999, Cap. C23, Laws of the Federation, 2004, to Review the Required Educational Qualification for Election into Certain Political Offices and for Related Matters’, was sponsored by Hon. Adewunmi Oriyomi Onanuga, (APC, Ogun).

Leading the debate on its general principles, Onanuga said the bill

was not targeted at stifling the interest of Nigerians in politics, explaining that rather, it would help Nigerians to sufficiently prepare for the humongous task of political leadership.

She opined that it was unfair to demand a university degree and National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) certificate from a graduate or anyone applying for strategic position in a company, while those seeking for political offices would be allowed to have only school certificate.

Onanuga said: "As we have begun to see, the race for elective offices at both states and national level have become increasingly competitive. This can be counterproductive if people who are not sufficiently prepared educationally gets into these elective offices.

“All the political offices affected by this amendment are very strategic in their own right, the office of the governor is the highest political office in the state, the federal legislators are important for making laws in the interest of the nation.

"The office of the president is the highest political office in the country. If a managing director who holds an equally strategic position in a company within this country, cannot be employed without a university degree or its equivalent, while should political offices be held by people without a university degree or its equivalent?"

When put to a voice vote by the Deputy Speaker, Hon. Idris Wase who presided over the session, it got the support of majority of the lawmakers.

In a related development, the House of Representatives yesterday passed for second reading a bill seeking to establish Nigeria Centre for Vaccine Research and Development.

The proposed legislation sponsored by Hon. Kasimu Bello Maigari received the unanimous support of the lawmakers who took turns to contribute on the importance of the bill.

Leading the debate on its general principles, Maigari noted that there were so many diseases unknown to other nations existing in Nigeria, hence the need for the nations to develop their specific vaccines.

He said if the bill was passed into law, it would help researchers in terms of developing vaccines to ensure diseases existing in Nigeria are taken care of.

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NEWS

UNVEILING OF THE 2021/2022 SEASON JERSEY FOR BENDEL INSURANCE...

L-R: First Vice President, Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), Seyi Akinwumi; Chairman, Sterling Bank, Asue Ighodalo; Edo State Deputy Governor, Philip Shaibu; Governor Godwin Obaseki; Executive Director, Sterling Bank, Tunde Adeola, and Interim Technical Adviser and Super Eagles Coach, Eguavoen Augustine, during the unveiling of the 2021/2022 season jersey for Bendel Insurance Football Club of Benin and Edo Queens Football Club, at Benin City... yesterday

High Court Affirms Matawalle as Zamfara Gov, APC Hails Ruling Adedayo Akinwale in Abuja The Federal High Court, Gusau Division in Zamfara State, has affirmed Bello Muhammad Matawalle as the Governor of Zamfara State.

The news, however, excited the leadership of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), which has since hailed the judgment.

National Secretary of Caretaker/ Extraordinary Convention Planning Committee (CECPC) of the party,

Senator John Akpanudoedehe, issued a statement, commending the judiciary.

The statement read: "On behalf of the National Chairman of the APC National Caretaker Committee, Governor Mai Mala Buni, the party hails the Judiciary for again defending the Constitution and the popular mandate of Alhaji Bello Muhammad Matawalle, as the Governor of Zamfara State.

"The Federal High Court (Gusau

Judicial Division) in dismissing the suit challenging Bello Muhammad Matawalle Governorship of Zamfara State, upon his defection from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Progressives Congress (APC), said the whole case was devoid of merit."

Akpanudoedehe noted that based on the judgment, the Court held there was no provision in the 1999 Constitution (as amended), which stated that a governor would lose

his seat whenever he defected to another party other than the political party upon which he was elected.

He added: "That Governor Bello Muhammad Matawalle has the right to assembly and association with respect to joining or belonging to a political party. In exercise of his right of freedom of association guaranteed under section 40 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended), he can defect to any party of his choice and still maintain his seat

Obaseki, Shaibu Unveil New Jersey for Bendel Insurance, Edo Queens, Recommit to Sports’ Devt The Edo State Governor, Mr. Godwin Obaseki, and his deputy, Rt. Hon. Comrade Philip Shaibu, on Tuesday, unveiled the 2021/2022 season jersey for Bendel Insurance Football Club of Benin and Edo Queens Football Club.

Obaseki during the unveiling ceremony at the Government House in Benin City, said the government will continue to harness the sporting potentials of the state to positively engage youths and create economic opportunities for Edo people.

The governor, who hailed Sterling Bank for supporting Bendel Insurance with the sum of N50 million, urged other corporate organizations and well-meaning Edo indigenes to partner with the government to maximize the gains inherent in sports development.

Obaseki noted, “I am sure that with the performance of Bendel Insurance this season and that of Edo Queens, we will have our friends that will do the same thing as Sterling Bank is doing for Bendel Insurance.

"But as a government, we are very clear that our emphasis is on our people. We are lucky that sports is not on the exclusive list in this country, so we are not going to wait for anybody to develop sports or develop our sportsmen to become global sportsmen.”

"We will continue to invest our hard-earned money in sports and will monitor that those investments yield the required results,” he reassured.

On his part, Shaibu, while

reaffirming the government’s commitment to the development of football, urged the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) to sanction any football club that fails to abide by the rules that guide the game.

He charged, “I want to challenge our NFF to make our teams in Nigeria professional teams; sanction any club that does not follow your rules; that is the starting point.

“We can no longer win

the champions league or the Confederation of Africa Football (CAF) trophy, not because we don't have the talent, but because of bad administration. I am challenging the NFF today. We have a governor who loves sports and is ready to assist.

"When we were sworn in, we promised to make sports our number one priority and return Edo to its number one sporting position in Nigeria. We started by

rebuilding the Samuel Ogbemudia Stadium and other sports facilities in the state,” Shaibu noted.

Earlier, a representative of the NFF and its first Vice President, Seyi Akinwumi, hailed the government’s sustained investment in sports, reassuring that the football regulatory body will look into the activities of the management of the Nigeria National League (NNL) to ensure that the right thing is done.

as the Governor of Zamfara State."

The ruling party, therefore, congratulated Matawalle on his affirmation by the High Court, saying the development would undoubtedly buoy Matawalle's

Terrorists Ransack Katsina Village, Kill 11, Abduct Village Head, Others

Francis Sardauna in Katsina

Gunmen suspected to be terrorists, yesterday, ransacked Guga village in Bakori Local Government Area of Katsina State, where they killed 11 persons and abducted five others,including the village Head identified as Alhaji Umar.

Also, a number of the villagers were said to be missing after the Tuesday morning attack while several others fled to neighbouring communities in the local government for safety.

A leader of vigilante groups in the area, who craved anonymity, told THISDAY in a telephone interview that the assailants

Lawan Meets NUC, NBTE, Others over Moves to Hike Fees

Sunday Aborisade in Abuja

The President of the Senate, Dr. Ahmad Lawan, yesterday, made specific moves to halt the proposed plans to increase tuitions in some schools in the northern part of the country.

He held a meeting with heads of regulatory agencies in the education sector on the issue in his office.

The meeting was meant to douse the brewing tension over an alleged hike in registration fees in some tertiary institutions.

In attendance at the meeting were the Executive Secretary of the National University Commission (NUC), Professor Abubakar Rasheed; Executive Secretary of the National Commission for Colleges of Education (NCCE), Professor Paulinus Chijoke Okwelle and Hajia Bilkisu Salihijo Ahmad, representing the National Board for Technical Education( NBTE).

The heads of the regulatory agencies at the forum, pledged to

meet with the authorities of the higher institutions soon to address the issue.

Lawan told his guests that he convened the meeting as a follow-up to an earlier engagement,which he had last week with the Coalition of Northern Groups, the students' wing, which brought a complaint of a plan by some tertiary institutions to hike registration fees.

He said, "We felt that we actually owe it a duty to listen to our students and of course, also hear from you, because we need to establish beyond reasonable doubt what the situation is."

The Senate President cautioned that "whatever situations we find ourselves, we must not do anything that will jeopardise the position of our students particularly, at a time that is so difficult.

"We understand that our tertiary institutions have need for more resources but we equally understand that our students are mostly from very poor background and we must

do everything possible to protect those who are so vulnerable.

"The finances for their education must never be hurdles between them and actualising their dreams. So, we have to find out how this situation is and we take the appropriate measures.

"Because you represent the supervising bodies for our tertiary institutions, we felt that we should start with you, listen to you and then we can now find a way out of this."

He assured the students that the National Assembly and indeed the government, would always work to protect and support them to continue with their education.

Responding on behalf of his other colleagues, the NUC Executive Secretary, Professor Rasheed commended the Senate President for his timely intervention.

"Your concern is shared by all of us. It will, at this point, be difficult to know exactly, which universities are violating or not. But after this

administration to continue implementing socio-economic development plans for Zamfara as well as contribute towards efforts to tackle security challenges in the North West.

meeting, we shall consult all the universities with a template to complete and tell us exactly what charges they have.

"We shall advertise. If we are misled, we shall be able to get to know.

We understand that the universities cannot be forced to charge uniform fees across the country, because they have different demands and they come from different situations.

"Possibly a university in Lagos or Port Harcourt may charge slightly more than universities in some rural areas. But there should be a baseline.

"One University cannot charge 20,000 naira while the other charges 150,000 naira to Nigerian students, where tuition has been free since 1978 at the undergraduate level.

"We are happy that you have now raised this alarm on time and I will go back immediately, consult vice chancellors and if possible, we shall bring them to a meeting to discuss whatever resolution we arrive at, at the end of this meeting," Rasheed said.

numbering about 50, stormed the village at about 1:00am, when most of the residents were asleep.

"The terrorists came to this village at about 1:00am, when some people were still sleeping and started shooting sporadically.

We tried to repel the attack but we couldn't. So, they killed 11 people and kidnapped our village head, Alhaji Umar and four others," he added.

He said the hoodlums also injured many residents, looted homes, shops and rustled dozens of animals during the attack, which he said, lasted several hours before the intervention of the "inadequate security personnel”.

He, however, appealed to the authorities to beef up security in the area as hardly a day passed without gunmen kidnapping a person or two, in the Bakori communities.

Police Public Relations Officer in the state, SP Gambo Isah, while confirming the incident to journalists, said the hoodlums killed eight people and kidnapped many others including the village Head, Umar.

According to him, the terrorists numbering over 40 armed with sophisticated weapons upon their arrival on motorcycles at about 1:00am started shooting sporadically to disperse the residents.

He explained that the terrorists, who were on rampage killed four persons at Guga village, four at Galadima community and abducted four during the attack that lasted many hours.

"The Divisional Police Officer of Bakori in response mobilised his men to the area but before getting there, the hoodlums had already committed their atrocities.

We are making effort to identify the gunmen," he said.

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21 Rights Groups to Monitor Implementation of Police Act, Trust Fund Kingsley Nwezeh in Abuja

Following concerns about the implementation of the Police Act 2020 and the Police Trust Fund 2019, 21 civil society groups yesterday launched an observatory group to promote accountability and police reform.

The observatory which was launched in Abuja covers the North-central zone and the Federal Capital Territory.

The membership of the observatory includes the Rule of Law And Accountability Advocacy Centre (RULAAC) and over 20 other Civil Society Organisations (CSOs).

The event also featured the inception meeting and capacity building for CSOs in the Northcentral zone of the country and FCT and was attended by over 30 participants drawn from the CSOs, the media, as well as representatives of the management of the Police Trust Fund (NPTF), the National Human Rights Commission(NCHR) and the Police Service Commission

(PSC).

Speaking at the occasion, the Executive Director, RULAAC, Mr. Okechukwu Nwanguma,

while welcoming participants at the event explained that RULAAC was a member of a consortium implementing

different activities under a Police Reform Project supported

by MacArthur Foundation.

Nwangwuma listed other

members of the consortium as CLEEN Foundation, the consortium lead, NOPRIN, the National Human Rights

Commission, and the Rule of Law Unit in the Office of the Vice President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

WE WELCOME YOU...

Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi of Enugu State (left), and the new Air Officer Commanding GroundTraining Command, Enugu, Air Vice Marshal I.O. Daramola, when Daramola paid a courtesy visit to the governor in Enugu…yesterday

PDP Primary: Olujimi’s Lagos Gets Clearance Certificates from NUC for Two New Universities Loyalists to Decide on Defection Sunday

Victor Ogunje in Ado Ekiti

As a faction of the People’s Democratic Party in Ekiti State loyal to Senator Representing Ekiti South Senatorial District, Mrs. Biodun Olujimi, has expressed disgust over the conduct of the party’s primary and warned that their members would take decision on Sunday on whether to dump the party or retain their membership.

Olujimi, who wanted to contest the shadow poll, but withdrawn midway over alleged irregularities, said the faction had constituted a committee

under the chairmanship of the former Acting Governor, Mr. Tunji Odeyemi, to consult widely with her loyalists in all the 16 local government areas and turn in its report.

She said: “Well, we just came to hold a meeting with few of our people whereby we could brief them about happenings in the party. You know there was erroneous belief over the time on having being betrayed by the leadership of the group.

So we needed to clear air on that and we have cleared the air so that they got know what was really on ground.

2022 UTME: JAMB Shifts Registration Commencement Date to Feb 19 Benjamin, Head, Public Affairs Kuni Tyessi in Abuja The Joint Admission and Matriculation Board (JAMB) says the 2022/23 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination(UTME) and Direct Entry(DE) registration exercise earlier scheduled to start on Saturday, February 12, has been postponed to Saturday, February 19.

The one-week postponement is to allow for more fine-tuning of the upgraded and more user-friendly procedures for candidates’ registration, Fabian

and Protocol at JAMB stated in a statement issued on Tuesday.

The process, which will be concluded within the one-week extension period, is also aimed at accommodating feedbacks from candidates and other stakeholders alike, he explained.

The statement indicated that the registration exercise will end on Saturday, March 26.

“The Board wishes the general public to note that the Board is ever-ready to provide world-class services to Nigerians.”

The National Universities Commission (NUC) yesterday gave Lagos State Government clearance certificates of operations for the two newly approved State-owned universities; Lagos State University of Education (LASUED), Ijanikin and Lagos State University of Science and Technology (LASUST), Ikorodu, 3 9years after the first stateowned University, Lagos State University(LASU) was established.

The certificates were handed over to Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu by the NUC Executive Secretary, Prof. Abubakar Rasheed

at the commission’s headquarters in Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Abuja.

With the Clearance Certificates of Operation by NUC, LASUED is now the 56th State University and 204th University in Nigeria, as well as the second university of education in Nigeria while LASUST), is 57th State University and 205th University in Nigeria.

The two universities, which are expected to kick start operations any moment from now are in addition to the existing Lagos State University (LASU), Ojo, established in 1982 by the first

Civilian Governor of Lagos, late Alhaji Lateef Jakande. Lagos State now has three state-owned universities.

Sanwo-Olu last week assented to the bills transmitting Lagos State Polytechnic, Ikorodu to the University of Science and Technology as well as Adeniran Ogunsanya Colleges of Education, Ijanikin and Michael Otedola College of Primary Education, Epe to Lagos State University of Education.

Speaking on the development, Sanwo-Olu, who commended the commission for granting the

operational certificates said the creation of the two universities by his administration is not about being ambitious but doing what is proper for the people of Lagos State.

He commended the Speaker of the Lagos State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Mudashiru Obasa and state lawmakers for working with the executive arms of government and other stakeholders toward passage of the law setting up the two universities.

He also appreciated the leadership of the legacy tertiary institutions for their understanding.

Gbajabiamila Seeks End to Youth Unemployment Udora Orizu in Abuja The Speaker of House of Representatives, Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila, yesterday called on all Nigerians to contribute their quota to defeat youth unemployment in the country.

Gbajabiamila made the call while declaring open a three-day workshop on entrepreneurial development, leadership and reorientation for NYSC corps members in the National Assembly, organised by Gbaja

Professional Volunteer Network.

Represented by his Chief of Staff, Mr. Sanusi Rikiji, the speaker said that it was vital to defeat unemployment among youths who represent over 60 per cent of the population.

He said: “We strongly recognise that all hands must be on deck to actualise the quantum of positive impact we all desire in our country.

Over the last two and a half years, we have successfully carried out direct interventions

on education, healthcare and welfare, impacting tens of thousands of pupils, children, women and families, across the country.

“In the next two days, we will be advancing entrepreneurial development through capacity building, encouragement, enlightenment of the youth population, through your good selves here. This remains a vital ingredient toward defeating the rising scourge of unemployment, poverty and lack of productivity

in the country, especially among youths. In the same token, it is worthy of note, the veritable platform the NYSC scheme has provided for our youths to be pooled to contribute to national unity.”

The speaker said having identified the general huge gap in the knowledge base of youths in creating wealth, driving the economy and shaping the polity, the programmers were designed to be handled by seasoned experts.

2023: Anyim ‘ll Make Nigeria Giant of the World, Says Group Chuks Okocha inAbuja As politicians strategise ahead of 2023 general election, a political pressure group known as United for Better Nigeria Initiative (UNBI) has said that Senator Anyim Pius Anyim has the competence and capacity to restore the country and transform Nigeria into the giant of world.

The group comprising 84 civil society groups which cuts across

the country made the disclosure yesterday in Abuja during the public adoption of former President of the Senate, Pius Anyim as the Presidential candidate of the group.

In her opening remarks, the Coordinator General of the group, Hon. Nkoli Nkparu, described Senator Anyim as an intelligent and courageous leader who has gathered all the requisite experience both as former Senate President and Secretary to the Government

of the Federation (SGF) to map out the right policies and strategies needed to govern a complex country like Nigeria.

According to her, the group which has been in existence for over five years and working for emergence of South-east president in collaboration with Southern and Northern coalition groups for South-east President with other 84 civil society groups took a deep examination of all

the presidential aspirants from the South-east and decided to adopt Sen. Anyim because of his outstanding qualities and towering experience.

“We have many candidates from South eastern Nigeria. As a matter of fact, we have good candidates across the nation but what we are asking the country to do is to support in electing a president from the South-east for inclusiveness and fairness.

Flour Mills of Nigeria (FMN) Plc, Nigeria’s leading integrated food and agro-allied group, has partnered with the END Fund to tackle prevalent neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) in eight locations across the country.

The investment by FMN into improving health in the country will specifically support the END Fund in delivering tens of thousands of treatments to those most affected

by onchocerciasis, lymphatic filariasis, schistosomiasis and soil-transmitted helminthiasis, providing relief from the suffering, disability and poor health caused by these diseases enabling more children to stay in school, and considerably enhancing the quality of life of people receiving the treatments.

The partnership with the END Fund was announced on World NTD Day 2022, themed

‘Achieving health equity to end the neglect of poverty-related diseases.’ This day is marked on the 30th of January, annually.

Commenting, Company Secretary and Director, Legal Services, FMN, Joseph Umolu, said: “The collaboration with the END Fund is significant in many respects and of course aligns with our intervention strategy on health, which is one of the five pillars of our

corporate social investments targets for the year. We are positive that this initiative will help reduce the prevalence of NTDs and improve Nigeria’s public health indicators.”

“The type of support that this partnership will provide is urgently required to enable Nigeria to achieve the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 3.3 on ending neglected tropical diseases by 2030.”

Hijab: Govt Urged to Rename Funded Schools to End Crisis Flour Mills, END Fund Partner to Tackle Neglected Tropical Diseases

Hammed Shittu in Ilorin

Against the backdrop of violence that greeted the wearing of hijab at Oyun Baptist High School at Ijagbo in Kwara State, a NonGovernmental Organisation, Kwara Must Change (KMC), has called on the state government to rename all government funded faith based schools to end

ownership tussle in the schools.

One person was killed at Ijagbo during the protest that greeted the wearing of hijab at Oyun Baptist High School at Ijagbo last week Friday.

The state government has closed down the affected school as the state police command has commenced full investigations into the dastardly act.

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NEWSEXTRA

2023: Any Party with Northern Candidate will Lose, Akeredolu Warns

Fidelis David in Akure

Chairman of the Southern Governors’ Forum and Ondo State Governor, Oluwarotimi Akeredolu (SAN), yesterday warned that any party that fields a northern candidate in the 2023 Presidential election will lose.

Akeredolu disclosed that governors in the Southern part of the country, under the auspices of the Southern Governors Forum are determined to ensure that next President comes from the south.

In a statement made available to Journalists yesterday, the governor was quoted to have spoken in his office during a courtesy visit by members of a group, Power Rotation Movement, led by the Chairman, Dr Pogu Bitrus, who also doubles as the Chairman, Middle Belt Forum.

Other members of the group include the Co-chair, Rtd. General Collins Ihekire, representing the Ohaneze Ndigbo; National Organising Secretary of Afenifere, Abagun Kole Omololu;

representative of Yoruba Council of Elders, Hon. Ayodele Oni; National Publicity Secretary of Afenfere, Comrade Jaye Ajayi; National Publicity Secretary of PANDEF, Hon. Ken. Robinson;

and Comrade Kennedy Iyere, National Coordinator of Powershift Movement & Forty Million Ballots ( a movement being driven by the Youth) among others.

The statement quoted Akeredolu, saying those pushing against the power rotation in the country are tinkering with the existence of Nigeria, adding that he believes in one fair and

equitable Nigeria.

“In about two or three meetings, we have come out and declared that power must move to the south.

“Only a party that is

determined to lose will field a northern candidate. You are now a movement of members of political parties coming together.

What we stand for is fair and equitable power rotation.”

PROMOTING SMALL BUSINESSES…

L-R: Chairman, Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises(MSME), Nigerian-British Chamber of Commerce(NBCC), Dr. Joe Dada; Acting Head, Business Banking, Nigeria, Standard Chartered Bank, Mrs. Bisi Oke; President and Chairman of Council, NBCC, Mrs. Bisi Adeyemi; Divisional Head, Managed SMEs, Fidelity Bank Plc, Mr. Osaigbovo Omorogbe, and Director-General, NBCC, Mrs. Olajide Ayomide, during the chamber’s first MSME Expert in Residence programme in Lagos…recentl y ABIODUN AJALA

Gunmen Abduct Edo IPMAN Galaxy Backbone Apologises to Customers over Service Chairman, Kill Driver Emma Okonji

Adibe Emenyonu in Benin City The Chairman of the Edo State Chapter of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN), Mr. AbdulHamid Egele, has been kidnapped by unidentified gunmen.

The gunmen were said to have shot dead Egele’s driver in Jattu, Etsako West Local Government Area, home of the IPMAN chairman.

Egele, popularly known as Baba Petrol, was said to have been abducted at about 7.00 p.m.

The Edo State Police Command has, however, said that it was yet to get the report of the incident.

The Command’s Spokesman, Mr. Bello Kontongs, said he was not aware of the incident and promised to confirm from the Divisional Police Officer (DPO), of Jattu Police Division.

“The command is not aware. I will find out from the Divisional Police Officer (DPO) of Jattu,’’ Kontongs said.

But an eyewitness, who pleaded anonymity, said that the incident happened at about 7 p.m. on Monday.

According to the source, the IPMAN chairman was returning home after the day’s business, when he was accosted by the gunmen.

Enugu Gov Commended for Supporting Military, Other Security Agencies The Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Isiaka Oladayo Amao, has commended Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi of Enugu State for his administration’s continued support to the Nigerian Air Force and other military formations and units within the state.

The Chief of Air Staff’s commendation was conveyed by the new Air Officer Commanding Ground Training Command, Enugu, Air Vice Marshal I.O. Daramola, when he paid a courtesy visit to Gov. Ugwuanyi in Enugu yesterday.

Air Vice Marshal Daramola was

at the Government House, Enugu, to formally inform Gov. Ugwuanyi of his assumption of office as the Air Officer Commanding Ground Training Command, Enugu and reassure the governor of “our commitment of the security and development of Enugu State”.

Stressing the supportive role of Gov. Ugwuanyi in ensuring internal security in Enugu State and beyond, Daramola appreciated the governor “for the support that you continue to provide to the Military in general, the Army, Police and to us the Nigerian Air Force.”

As telecoms subscribers continue to experience difficulties in carrying out NIN verification process, a situation that is also affecting network connectivity and data hosting services across the country, Galaxy Backbone, has apologised to its customers for the service outage.

Galaxy Backbone, the government agency hosting the data of most

government agencies, including that of the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC), yesterday, issued a statement apologising for the service disruption and assured customers of addressing the challenges soon.

In the statement, which was signed by its Head of Corporate Communications, Mr. Chidi Okpala, Galaxy Backbone assured customers that the management was working hard to resolve the challenge.

Although NIMC had since confirmed the challenge and has asked subscribers to use the alternative process called Tokenisation to verify their NIN, THISDAY gathered that the challenge is coming from a link connecting NIMC and Galaxy Backbone, the government agency hosing the data of most government agencies and also providing them with data services.

The challenge, which is not only

affecting the NIN verification process, is also affecting network connectivity and data hosting services across the country.

Part of the statement issued yesterday by Galaxy Backbone reads: “The Management of Galaxy Backbone Limited (GBB) regrets the temporary outage of some of its services and the inconvenience being experienced by some of its customers across the country.”

Delta to Recruit 1,500 Teachers, Construct 14km Asaba Airport Perimeter Road Omon-Julius Onabu in Asaba Delta State Government has approved the recruitment of 1,500 teachers to shore up the academic staff strength for secondary schools in the state.

This was one of the resolutions reached at Tuesday’s State Executive Council meeting presided over by Governor Ifeanyi Okowa at the Government House Asaba, the state commissioner for

information, Mr Charles Aniagwu, said at a post-EXCO media briefing.

Aniagwu said that the figure was to make up for the shortfall in the number of teachers in some public post-primary schools ocasioned by retirements, deaths and a number of new schools established across the state.

While assuring that the recruitment process will be devoid of political colouration, he said that the selection process will involve computer-based test

that is relevant to each applicant’s area of training or qualification.

The commissioner also reeled out a list of roads approved for construction by EXCO in the state capital, Asaba, and some local government areas across the three senatorial districts of the state, which he said was in line with the urban renewal initiative of the Okowa administration.

However, he noted that the approval of the about 14.04 kilometers perimeter road at the Asaba International Airport

was for improved security surveillance and in line with safety requirements of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) for all airports in the country.

The information commissioner also noted that construction of the airport perimeter road by the state government was beside the concession agreement on the Asaba facility between the Delta State Government and the consortium of concessioneers reached in 2021.

Osun 2022: We are Open to Genuine Reconciliation, Says Oyetola Yinka Kolawole in Osogbo The Oluwo of Iwo, Oba AbdulRasheed Adewale Akanbi; Olu of Ile-Ogbo, Oba Abeeb Adetoyese Agbaje; Olubode of Bode-Osi, Oba Nureni Abioye, and other prominent traditional rulers in Iwo, Ayedire and OlaOluwa Local Government Areas in Osun State have backed the re-election bid of the state Governor, Adegboyega Oyetola.

The royal fathers said their decision was in recognition and reciprocation of the achievements recorded by the Oyetola-led administration in the last three years.

This is even as the governor extended the olive branch to the aggrieved members of his party, All Progressives Congress (APC), noting that the state party is open to genuine reconciliation and return of the splinter group.

Oyetola made the statement while addressing his party loyalists who assembled at different locations during the continuation of his strategic engagement tour to Iwo federal constituency after he paid homage to the palaces of the traditional rulers in the constituency.

The constituency was agog as residents, majorly loyalists and sympathisers of the party,

trooped out en masse to receive the governor and his entourage to their domains.

The residents of Iwo in particular who were full of enthusiasms were seen lined up on the road sides with bunches of brooms from popular Odoori junction to Araro vis-a-vis Omosan’s area to Oja Oba and down to Oluwo’s palace to demonstrate their love to the governor.

Ndili, his wife Njide and their company, Lionstone, were charged before the Lagos Special Offences Court, Ikeja, over a civil business dispute between their company, Lionstone Offshore Services Limited and Hercules Offshore Nigeria Limited.

According to the police, the defendants were alleged to have fraudulently converted the sum of $4.6 million said to belong

to Hercules Offshore Nigeria Limited to their personal use.

But, Ndili explained that despite the clear stand of the law and judgments of superior courts that the Nigerian Police has no business in adjudicating on business disputes, or recovering of civil debts, the police still consistently interfere in civil cases.

According to him, the dispute arose from a joint

business agreement signed by his company, and the American company, Hercules Offshore Nigeria Limited, to work together on the tender of a specific contract in the oil sector as a servicing that could be won from a major Oil company.

He said that Lionstone with the assistance of Hercules bid on this contract, which they did not eventually win.

Abia APC Inaugurates State Exco, $4.6m Fraud Allegation: Lionstone Chairman Accuses Police of Witch-hunt to Evict PDP from Govt House

Emmanuel Ugwu-Nwogo in Umuahia

The Abia State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) yesterday inaugurated members of its state executives committee and local government chairmen with a mandate to plan an effective strategy to evict the Peoples Democratic Party(PDP) from the Government House in 2023.

The state chairman of APC,

Dr. Kingsley Ononogbu, who inaugurated the 27 member SEC, charged the party leaders to hit the ground running because of the enormous task ahead and the limited time frame for its accomplishment.

He said: “This is the time for work. We have to tell the people that we have genuine alternative and that all those good things we see in other states are possible in Abia State.”

Wale Igbintade

The Chief Executive Officer of Lionstone Offshore Services Limited, Mr. Amaechi Ndili, has described the allegation of fraud leveled against him by the Nigerian Police as baseless.

Ndili, who denied any wrongdoing, also accused the Nigerian Police of clamping down on him and his businesses for no just cause.

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NEWS XTRA

Prepare to Receive APC Defectors, Tambuwal Tells Sokoto PDP Ismail Adebayo in Kebbi Presidential aspirant under the platform of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) and Governor of Sokoto State, Mr. Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, has called on the leadership of the PDP in the states to be prepared to receive decamping members of the All Progressives Congress (APC).

Tambuwal, who is on a consultation visit to PDP stakeholders in Kebbi State for his presidential ambition, said that the ongoing crisis in the APC would break into fragments and many of the party’s supporters from the states would soon be decamping to the PDP. He said: “There is confusion in the APC. We knew it will soon break up and they will come to the PDP so we should be ready to receive them.

“With what I saw, the PDP in Kebbi is united and strong.

Let us make sure we prepare to receive those who will soon come from the APC. “We have seen what APC has done to the country. There is high rate of insecurity, poverty and corruption. Let us work together to make sure the PDP return to power for a better Nigeria.”

While addressing the PDP executives and supporters in Birnin Kebbi, Tambuwal said he was in Kebbi to consult the

party leaders in the state on his presidential ambition for 2023 election.

A former Governor of Sokoto State, Mr. Attahiru Bafarawa, who was on the entourage of Tambuwal, said they came to Kebbi to present him as their

presidential aspirant and to consult with people in the PDP in kebbi State.

Bafarawa said: “We are counting on your delegates support. You can see there are three of the former presidential aspirants in 2019 in his entourage,

they are now supporting him.”

He explained that Tambuwal has what it would take to be a good president. “He is a lawyer.

He was once a Speaker of the House of Representatives, now a governor. This put him ahead of his opponents for the job of

the president of Nigeria.

“We are not following him blindly. We are following him because of his experience and capability to govern Nigeria and we owe him a duty to support him because he cannot do it alone.”

In his response, the State Chairman of PDP, Mr. Usman Suru, assured Tambuwal that all delegates in the state would support his ambition. “We assured you of our support for your presidential ambition”’ he said.

WOMEN IN FINANCE…

L-R: Partner/Chief Operating Officer, Verod Capital, Ms Nieros Oyegun; Vice President, Africa Finance Corporation, Ms. Taiwo Okwor; Founder, ARUWA Capital Management, Mrs. Adesuwa Okunbo-Rhodes; Chief Executive Officer(CEO), ARM Harith, Ms. Tariye Gbadegesin; and CEO, 100 Women in Finance, Ms. Amanda Pullinger, during the launch of 100 Women in Finance in Nigeria in Lagos…yesterday ETOP UKUTT

Kogi Denies Allegation of Oromoni: Pathologist Clarifies Autopsy Demand for Gratification Result of Septicaemia as Cause of Death for COVID-19 Vaccination Chiemelie Ezeobi because The Lagos State University listed persons on the Post Mortem Lobar Pneumonia caused the Teaching Hospital (LASUTH) Ikeja, Report.

Ibrahim Oyewale in Lokoja

The Kogi State Primary Health Care Development Agency (KSPHCDA) has denied the allegation that COVID-19 administrators in the state demanded for gratification from clients before administering the vaccine in the state.

KSPHCDA disclosed that the purported allegation was untrue and could be substantiated.

A Non-Governmental Organisation, the Centre for Information Technology and Development (CITAD), in a press briefing in Bauchi State, had alleged that vaccine administrators in Kogi State were demanding money from clients before vaccinating them.

In a swift response by the Executive Director of the KSPHCDA, Dr. Abubakar Yakubu, yesterday in Lokoja, said the purported report

was misleading and far from the realities on COVID-19 vaccination in the state.

He stressed that the report was highly unlikely to be true as the NGO failed to back up its purported findings with facts.

Yakubu claimed that the agency had been sensitising and mobilising communities in the state to have an uptake of the vaccine. ‘’How can something we are practically persuading the people to take, will now be the same thing to be demanding for money before administering?’’ the executive director queried.

He emphasised that the agency had closely monitored the activities of the administrators vis-a-vis enlightenment to persuade the people across the state to take the COVID-19 vaccine, since the commencement of its administration in the state.

Lagosians Express Support for Sanwo-Olu’s Continuity as Gov An independent online survey has revealed that many Lagosians are in support of a second term agenda for Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu. As revealed through the online survey which, was conducted

by FREDDAN Continental Consultancy, a team of development experts and international poll analyst, a larger percentage of the respondent showed their readiness to support a second term bid of Governor Sanwo-Olu in Lagos State.

According to the figures derived from the survey, which was divided into two parts, Online and SMS Survey, 64.68 per cent of the respondents were against a second term bid.

It was deduced that the respondents, which were below

40 per cent per cent still hold the governor responsible for the EndSARS debacle while the SMS Survey which targeted respondents over 40 years, 71.40 per cent expressed their readiness to support a second term agenda from the Governor.

According to the information gathered, they stated that the proactive and frontal management of the COVID-19 pandemic, his giants strides in the infrastructural sector as well as his easy going nature are part of the qualities which has continued to endear them to him.

The survey covered all the local government areas of the state with a total number of 77,605 respondents being recorded.

At the inquest into the death of 12-year-old Sylvester Oromoni, a student of Dowen College, the Chief Pathologist, Dr. S.S Soyemi, has clarified his autopsy report that cause of death was Septicaemia.

The pathologist said although the cause of death was septicaemia

Septicaemia.

In the written deposition sworn under oath at the Lagos State Magistrate Court Registry, Ogba Lagos, on January 31, 2022, Dr. Soyemi, who is a Consultant Pathologist of the Department of Pathology and Forensic Medicine,

Lagos, listed out the processes he undertook for the autopsy.

The deposition read thus:”That on the 14th of December 2021, I performed a second post mortem examination on the body of one Oromoni Sylvester at the LASUTH Morgue in the presence of the

“That at the conclusion of the postmortem examination, I issued a post mortem report dated the 31st of December, 2021.

“That attached and marked as Exhibit A to this deposition is a copy of the said postmortem report.

House Urges FG to Conduct Customer Service Training for Health Workers Juliet Akoje in Abuja The House of Representatives has urged the Federal Ministry of Health to conduct mandatory periodic customer service training in all public hospitals and health facilities in the country.

It also urged the Federal Ministry of Health to develop a system that

would track patient’s satisfaction, complaints and outline punitive measures for service failure and incentives for excellent customer care performance.

These resolutions followed the adoption of a motion on the need to retrain workers in public medical facilities in Nigeria by Hon. Chinedu Emeka Martins, at plenary

on Wednesday that was presided by the Deputy Speaker, Hon. Ahmed Idris Wase.

Martins noted that Nigeria’s health sector is currently burdened with challenges of funding, lack of facilities, manpower shortages, brain drain, and medical tourism out of the country resulting in the loss of millions of dollars.

“Quality of service delivery is crucial in healthcare management, especially in government hospitals,” he said.

He expressed concern that cases of negligence, obsequiousness, and impoliteness have been reported in government hospitals, leading to loss of confidence in the public hospitals.

Stop Chasing Away Contractors, Investors, VC Warns Land Owners Victor Ogunje in Ado Ekiti The Vice Chancellor of the Federal University Oye Ekiti (FUOYE), Prof.

Abayomi Fasina, has expressed sadness over the alleged harassments being meted out to developers and those handling various federal government projects in the university

by landowners.

Fasina said the incident had stalled the completion of some of the government projects and driven away investors, who showed interests in building structures that could have shored up FUOYE’s facilities, but for the harassment being suffered in the hands of those he described as ‘Omo Onile’.

Also, the vice chancellor disclosed that the university had secured the full accreditation for the 48 courses being offered by the institution, saying it had built confidence and patronage for admission in the university.

Speaking at a press conference held at FUOYE yesterday to mark the beginning of activities lined

up for the one year anniversary of his appointment, Fasina urged the community leaders to warn those driving away contractors and developers under the facade of land ownership.

He said: “Let me appeal to land owners to stop harassing contractors working with the federal government on this campus.”

Soldier Shot Trying to Repel Attack on Gombe Community Segun Awofadeji in Gombe Hostilities may have returned in remote communities bordering Gombe and Adamawa States in Northeast Nigeria following a fresh outbreak of violence in Nyuwar, Gombe State.

Tension had continued to mount from Tuesday afternoon following the shooting of a soldier while trying to repel an attack on Nyuwar community by neighbouring

Waja community, THISDAY has gathered.

An eyewitness in Nyuwar confirmed to newsmen in Gombe, through a phone call that the soldier was injured while trying to repel attacks on Nyuwar Community by neighbouring Waja community which carried out similar attack on Nyuwar and Jessu in April last year.

It was also gathered that even when the soldier was rushed to an undisclosed hospital for treatment, the

attack on the community continued unabated as the combine team of security operatives stationed in the community was reportedly outnumbered by the attackers.

Several houses were said to have been touched while women, children and the aged were forced to escape to neighbouring communities for refuge.

In Jessu, a neighbouring community to Nyuwar, panicking residents were reported to be hurriedly

trooping out of the town for safety.

Nyuwar and Jessu, the two Lunguda communities were reportedly attacked in April last year by the Wajas forcing many residents to relocate to neighbouring communities for safety.

Efforts by our correspondent to get police reaction on the latest incident proved abortive as calls made to the command’s Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Mary Obed Malum (SP), were not answered nor returned afterwards.

WEDNESDAY, ΁˜ ͺ͸ͺͺ ˾ T H I S D AY

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WEDNESDAYSPORTS

Group Sports Editor: Duro Ikhazuagbe Email: duro.ikhazuagbe@thisdaylive.com

0811 181 3083 SMS ONLY

The MKO Abiola National Stadium in Abuja gets CAF’s approval to host Ghana in 2022 World Cup playoffs next month

MKO Stadium in Abuja Confirmed to CAF for Final Playoff with Ghana Olawale Ajimotokan in Abuja

Eight years after Super Eagles last played a competitive game at the MKO Abiola National Stadium in Abuja, the facility has been confirmed to host the 2022 World Cup second leg playoff against Ghana’s Black Stars on Sunday, March 27, 2022.

2022 WORLD CUP The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) yesterday confirmed the date of the reverse leg to the Confederation of African Football (CAF), with the Ghana Football Association now to confirm whether the

first leg inside the Cape Coast Stadium will be on Wednesday, 23rd March or Thursday, 24th March.

The final leg encounter will be the 59th clash at senior level

between both West African giants in a chequered 71 –year rivalry, and will also be the first game involving the Super Eagles at the country’s premium sporting arena since the Eagles defeated

Sudan’s Falcons of Jediane 3-1 in an Africa Cup of Nations qualifying match on 15th October 2014.

Nigeria reached the playoff round after topping a

qualifying pool that included Cape Verde, Liberia and the Central African Republic while Ghana emerged from the section that had South Africa, Zimbabwe and Ethiopia.

Golden Alchemy in Impressive Start, Defeats Stratabase Solotone

Sporting Lagos FC to Debut against Go Round FC on Saturday

NPA/GTCO LAGOS INT’L POLO

N I G E R I A N AT I O N A L L E AG U E

The much-anticipated 2022 NPA/ GTCO Lagos International Polo Tournament galloped off Tuesday with Golden Alchemy from Kano defeating Stratabase Solotone of Port Harcourt 13 - 6 1/2 in the first game of this edition.

Six-goaler Tom De Bruin was the star of the Stream 2 encounter, as he accounted for six of his team's goals. The highlight of the match was the backhand flip he scored in the second chukka to make the scores 4 1/2 - 4.

Stratabase formed by Abubakar Kollere, Kabire Seidu, Ibrahim Mohammed and Ahmed Umar) started the match on a 3 1/2 handicap goals advantage, but were roundly beaten by the Kano-based team.

With two highly-rated Lagos teams, Leighton Sao Polo and TBD also in the same stream, any losing team has its chances of progressing to the knockout stage hanging on the balance.

South African De Bruin opening goal was canceled out by three-foaled Umar but he got on the score sheet again to close the scores.

There was no looking back for Golden Alchemy as they went on a scoring spree from the second chukka till the end of the match with Baba Dantata and Idris Badamasi each bagging a couple of goals to take total control of the match.

Armed with full points in the opening game, Golden Alchemy will look forward to their second game with lots of optimism.

Wednesday schedule will see Dangote from Lagos and Petrogas Almat of Abuja tussle in the first match of Day 2.

Lagos STL and Malcomines of Jos are expected to wrap up the day's action, as the campaigns for the Open Cup hots up at the foremost Ribadu Road polo ground in Ikoyi, Lagos.

Yusuf Ali, Ilaboya, Akpata, Others Appointed into Edo Sports Commission Board Edo State government has reconstituted the board of Edo State Sports Commission with Yusuf Ali as chairman.

The former Team Nigeria Captain and national long jump record holder is leading the seven-man board that also have Hon Frank Ilaboya, Uyi Akpata, Asue Ighodalo,

Emmanuel Igbinosa, Osayaba Osareren and Mrs Anehita Emeya as members.

A statement by the state government signed by Secretary to Government, Osarodion Ogie said the names of the Sports Commission board have been sent to the state’s House of Assembly for confirmation.

Beginning from this weekend, new entrant to the country’s football scene, Sporting Lagos FC will start journey in the second-tier Nigeria National League (NNL).

They are playing hosts to Go Round FC of Omoku, Rivers State at the Teslim Balogun Stadium on Saturday, February 12 with Uche Okagbue as Head Coach.

Sporting Lagos FC, the brainchild of Paystack payment platform founder, Sola Akinlade, has promised to redefine how club football should be managed.

With the involvement of former MFM FC Chairman, Godwin Enakhena; Colin Udoh, one of Nigeria’s brightest football writers; Fola Olatuniji-David, Uzo Okonkwo, as general manager and Yemisi Cole as the secretary, it appears Sporting Lagos is set to give other teams in the league a run for their money.

“This is a new baby that is here to change the narrative of how to manage club football. We have software engineer, Akinlade, as our motivator. He made a success with Paystack and we are hoping to do same with Sporting Lagos FC. We also have a tested businessman, Uzo Okonkwo as our general manager,” stressed the sports journalist turned football administrator.

“Sporting Lagos FC was conceived because we want to employ our knowledge to create a 360-degree experience in football management. We want to create a family-oriented club which will offer more than just football to fans.

We want a club where the whole family can come and enjoy the entertainment,” Enakhena further hinted of the motive driving the project.

“Akinlade is a youngman, who grew an idea from his brain and built Paystack, which is one of the biggest solution providers in Africa.

“Now, he wants to create a football club that will introduce innovations to the match-day experience. We will have vendors, concessions, food and entertainment on matchdays so that fans will look forward to good football and wonderful entertainment on match-days.

“The long-term plan is to build a family-friendly club with the best possible players and coaches” To give supporters of the club the

feeling of being a part of running the club, Enakhena disclosed that season tickets will be sold while branded jerseys will be part of the bargain.

“The club is throwing its membership/ownership open to interested investors, who will become part owners of the enterprise,” he noted with enthusiasm.

Unlike the common practice of clubs owing players and coaches salaries, the promoters of Sporting

Lagos pledged that nothing of such will happen in this new baby of NNL. “One thing we can guarantee is that no player or official will be owed a day of his wages. Every player or coach in Sporting Lagos FC will have proper contracts and will earn market value based on each individual player’s talent,” he noted with pleasure.

Sporting Lagos FC made foray into Nigerian football scene at the just concluded Eko NNL Pre-season tournament, where they finished third.

Peseiro: I Did Not Conclude Talks on Finance, some Clauses in Nigeria’s Contract Femi Solaja Jose Peseiro, the Portuguese coach the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) wanted as replacement for sacked Gernot Rohr has explained that breakdown in negotiations over financial maters and some clauses in the proposed contract was responsible for why the offer didn’t pull.

Speaking yesterday on social media, a day after the NFF retained Augustine Eguavoen as Interim Technical Adviser of the Super Eagles with Emmanuel Amuneke drafted to reinforce the technical bench, Peseiro said in his post in Portuguese that: “after several weeks of negotiations, during which there were several news, from the Nigerian Football Federation, that I would be the coach of their team, from the end of the CAN 2021, a fact that I never confirmed, and these did not materialize due to disagreement regarding contractual clauses and financial matters,”the

Jose Peseiro...explains why contract with Nigeria fell through former Saudi Arabia coach wrote on Instagram.

NFF’s General Secretary, Dr Mohammed Sanusi while confirming the end to talks with Peseiro said in a

statement on Monday said: “ In view of the positive performance of the Super Eagles at the just-concluded Africa Cup of Nations which has given hope to Nigerians and boosted the team’s confidence in the present coaching crew to qualify the country for the World Cup in Qatar, we have decided to accept the recommendation of the Technical and Development Committee to retain the Eguavoen-led coaching crew and strengthen it with the addition of Emmanuel Amuneke.”

The NFF decided to stick with Eguavoen for now despite the team's early elimination from the tournament.

“We acknowledge and appreciate the interest that Mr Jose Peseiro showed in Nigeria’s football during our very cordial discussions and have absolutely no doubt about his capacity.

“We believe that perhaps in the future, there could be an opportunity to work with him, Dr. Sanusi said in the statement on Monday.

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SPORTS

Augustine Eguavoen (left) has been retained on interim basis with Emmanuel Amuneke drafted to support him as Head Coach/ First Assistant

Wanted: A Professionally Managed NFF

S

ome years ago, in frustration, Deji Tinubu, then a member of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) Board, called me up one early morning.

“Egbon, I have an axe to grind with you. I don't like the way you seem to enjoy bashing the FA. It's like you have a grudge with the body.

We never do anything right as far as you are concerned...” Deji went on to explain some curious decisions of the NFF to me. At the end of our discussion, he asked me to contest to join the Board of Nigeria’s football ruling body. He assured me I would

only understand how the NFF works as an insider. I went on to inform him that from my observations, it was obvious our football governing body was not being professionally run. More importantly, information about what they do or don't do was not usually readily available.

Today, as I remember my discussion with Deji Tinubu (now of blessed memory) and the other accusations hurled at me by different NFF officials, I wonder why things have continued to get increasingly bad. At a time, the NFF was going to take me to court (I don't know why they could

not follow up on their threat).

Today, my intention is not to bore you with my quarrels with our football governing body. My view today is that our football has grown beyond the incompetence of the present NFF board and management.

Let me illustrate: Three weeks to a major tournament, our German head coach, Gernot Rohr, was sacked. After dilly-dallying for a couple of days, the NFF appointed its Technical Director, Augustine Eguavoen, to take charge of the team on a temporary basis. A week later, we were told that a ‘magician’ had been appointed

to correct the perceived ills in the way our national football team plays. Please note that this ‘magician/coach’ was appointed after due consultation with and recommendation of the “two best coaches in the world” Arsene Wenger and his nemesis, Jose Mourinho.

(Please be kind enough to ignore the fact that these two gentlemen have diametrically opposed views on coaching a football team). We were told that this ‘Magical’ Jose Peseiro was so good and detailed that he knows the type of agbo each player in the Super Eagles takes. The President of the

NFF, Amaju Pinnick, was so impressed with Peseiro's resume that he originally wanted him to take over the Super Eagles immediately. Remember Pinnick once branded Sunday Oliseh the “Guardiola of Africa”?

Well, Nigerians later got to know that Mr Peseiro was a mere itinerant coach who has not been able to stay on a job long enough to be effective.

Eguavoen, against all expectations won his first match, then the second one. By the time he won his third match, our NFF suddenly realized that Cerezo as Eguavoen is fondly called, had once coached the Super Eagles with near superlative results. He was undefeated in 16 of the 18 matches he played. What was more, he once won a bronze medal at AFCON! Now, the questions won’t stop. Why was Gernot Rohr not sacked immediately after the last World Cup in Russia where he did poorly? Why wait till three weeks to a major competition to ask him to go?

Why was Peseiro employed when his track record is so grossly inferior to that of Eguavoen? I think the answers lie in the power structure in NFF’s Sunday Dankaro House in Abuja. It is either that its President Amaju Pinnick has too much power or others have simply surrendered authority

to him. Pinnick should realise that the head of the NFF is not necessarily the most intelligent.

He was elected to lead a body of near equals saddled with the onerous task of moving Nigeria’s football forward, not keeping it stuck in medieval times.

Now, we have the Black Stars hurdle before us and while we are disrupting our preparations, the Ghanaians are doing all they can to better us to a World Cup ticket. What should we do? Leave the coaching staff under Eguavoen alone. Give them all they need to succeed.

Drop this diversionary talk of bringing in Emmanuel Amuneke to join the coaching crew. Too many cooks spoil the broth. Let Eguavoen be the one to request for whoever he needs to succeed.

We should plan to win both matches in Ghana and Nigeria.

We must put plans in place to turn the Moshood Abiola National Stadium into the 13th player after we have ensured that the fans at the stadium are the 12th. Our NFF must also use its connection to ensure that the referees for the two matches in Ghana and Nigeria have impeccable credentials. If we do these, we will surmount the Ghana hurdle. I wish my country well and want Sunday Dare to succeed in this as our Sports Minister.

How Sadio Mane Rescued Boy with Life-threatening Injuries at AFCON Liverpool forward Sadio Mane proved his class both on and off the pitch once again at the just concluded Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) in Cameroon as Senegal were not only crowned champions, he also saved a soul by paying an entire hospital bill for a young boy with lifethreatening injuries.

The 29-year-old Liverpool star, who seemed to briefly lose consciousness following a collision with Cape Verde goalkeeper Vozinha, recovered enough to score in the 2-0 win before being substituted. He was there after taken to hospital for checks.

As Mane was being treated for concussion in the Cameroon hospital, he noticed the pains in the face of a family nearby

whose child was having a lifethreatening injuries but didn’t have the required funds to do so.

Mane promptly paid the CFA 400,000 hospital bill.

“I think I told you about the generous gesture that Sadio Mané made in Bafoussam in favour of a family,” declared a guest on the set of a Cameroonian channel, Equinoxetv, after the coronation of Senegal last Sunday.

“The family was in distress because a motorcycle had hit their child who had broken bones and injuries all over his body; he was close to death and his parents could not afford to pay for treatment.

Sadio, who was in this hospital (because he was being treated there after his shock against Cape Verde) finds this grieving family

and asks them what is going on.

“We explain the situation to him and he gave them 400,000 FCFA which relieved this family.

“I believe that this blessing was rewarded today by GOD (winning the AFCON trophy,” observed the guest.

Mane is known for his talent on the pitch and his work in his hometown Bambali where he has previously paid to help a school being built back in 2019.

The Premier League star also previously donated £41,000 to the FCFA, a health body fighting coronavirus in Senegal.

Therefore, it appears he was not only the stand-out player on the pitch after being named the player of the tournament, but also away from it, with his generous actions.

Ighalo May Play in Club World Cup Final if Al Hilal Beat Chelsea Tonight Nigerian international, Odion Ighalo and his new Saudi Arabian club Al Hilal may play in Saturday’s final of the FIFA Club World Cup if they succeed against Chelsea tonight in the second semi final.

Ighalo switched from another Saudi Arabian side Al Shabab for city rivals Al Hilal who are Asian Champions League winners on an 18-month deal last month.

He was an instant hit, scoring in Al Hilal’s 6-1 defeat of hosts

and fellow Asian side Al Jazira 6-1 to set up the clash with Chelsea.

Yesterday, Brazilian Palmeiras defeated Egyptian Al Ahly whose star players were in the Pharaohs that lost the AFCON 2021 title to Senegal in the first semi-final. Raphael Veiga fired home Dudu's flick-on to give the Brazilian side the lead six minutes before half-time.

Winger Dudu settled the outcome in the UAE with a

powerful 49th-minute finish from a tight angle. The Egyptian outfit Al Ahly had Ayman Ashraf sent off in the 81st minute for a dangerous challenge on Rony.

The Club World Cup features the winners of the continental cups in FIFA’s six confederations and the league champions from the United Arab Emirates.

The tournament was due to be played in Japan in December but was postponed and moved to the UAE.

Sadio Mane...heart of gold

Wednesday, February 9, 2022

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MISSILE ASUU to Federal Govt

“The President and the government should respect the highest religious body in the nation, the NIREC; they should honour the organization and implement the agreement we reached with it in line with the intervention of NIREC. This is also in the interest of our children; all their children are abroad, but our children are here on the streets”--ASUU National President, Prof. Emmanuel Oshodeke, warning the government to honour their agreement, or be ready for another indefinite strike.

KAYODEKOMOLAFE THE HORIZON

kayode.komolafe@thisdaylive.com

0805 500 1974

Nigeria in Pursuit of Global Goals T he electoral season in Nigeria is usually a riot of agendas. Beginning with the party primaries, some politicians display their programmes in a manner similar to those of traders showcasing their wares in the market. They often call these random promises agendas. The packages could range from one-point agenda to a 10-point agenda. Some of these programmes are poorly articulated while others suffer severely from clarity of purpose.

To start with, it is the political parties that should own programmes and strategies of development.

The candidates contesting elections on the platforms of the parties should articulate the policies. The candidates should be committed to implementing the programmes if elected into office.

The programmes themselves are supposed to be formulated by the parties on the basis of their loci on the ideological spectrum. After all, on the day of election, it is the name of the political party (and not that of the candidate) that appears on the ballot paper for voters to thumbprint.

The choice would be clearer, for instance, if in 2023 some parties are defined by social democratic programmes while others are associated with neo-liberal policies or conservative strategies of development. Unfortunately, that is not the case in Nigeria as the parties are ideologically indistinguishable. This lack of ideological boundaries, of course, makes it easy for politicians to move forth and back into different parties.

This trend in politics probably explains why a recent piece of news could not compete with the “hot’ political stories for headlines. It was, of course, not an exciting news item.

The story was that President Muhammadu Buhari signed a global agreement to end open defecation in Nigeria by 2025. The renewal of the commitment to put an end to open defecation was in the presence of the minister of water resources, Engineer Suleiman Adamu.

This was, in fact, a sequel to an Executive Order entitled The Open Defecation - Free Nigeria by 2025 and other Related Matters, which was signed by the President on November 20, 2019 .

The content of the important order was as follows: “That by this Order, Nigeria is committed to being open defecation - free by 2025. “ That the National Open Defecation Free (ODF) Roadmap developed by the Federal Ministry of Water Resources with support from other key sector players across Nigeria be put into effect.

“There is established in the Federal Ministry of Water Resources a National Secretariat called “Clean Nigeria Campaign Secretariat”.

“The Secretariat is authorized on behalf of the President to implement this Order by ensuring that all public places including schools, hotels, fuel stations, places of worship, market places, hospitals and offices have accessible toilets and latrines within their premises.

“All Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) of government shall cooperate with the Clean Nigeria Campaign Secretariat.

“The National Assembly and the State Houses of Assembly shall enact legislation on the practice of open defecation with appropriate sanctions and penalties.

“All development projects shall include construction of sanitation facilities as an integral part of the approval and implementation process.

“The Secretariat shall terminate when Nigeria is declared Open Defecation Free.

Buhari “All enforcement authorities are hereby directed to diligently collaborate with the Federal Ministry of Water Resources in implementing this Order.”

The spirit and letters of this order constitute another crucial barometer for gauging the level of Nigeria’s development: the country is still grappling with the problem of open defecation almost at the end of the first quarter of the 21st Century!

The diminished human dignity of persons who are still left with only the option of open defecation in the society is indeed a central issue of development. So also is the enormous danger and indignity faced by members of the female gender who are compelled by material circumstances to engage in open defecation.

It is, however, remarkable that in announcing the signing of the executive order on January 25, 2022, the government was honest enough in the statement to admit the shame that Nigeria ranked second in the league of nations with the highest number of people practising open defecation. After all, It is said that a problem is half-solved when it is honestly defined. It is estimated that 46million out of the 494 million human beings who still practise open defecation live in Nigeria. This practice was one of the reasons why the country failed to meet the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

Before the executive order, the President had expressed commitment to the implementation of the National Water Supply, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) Action Plan which is really the focus of the SDG Number 6. Buhari had also declared a State of Emergency in the water sector. The health implication of failure in this sector is obvious. The prevalence of water-borne diseases could simply be avoided by making clean water available to all.

On a positive note, the executive order against open defecation is a significant step towards the realisation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) proclaimed by the United Nations.

These fundamental targets of development

are also known as Global Goals.

These goals towards human progress were set in 2015. And all countries are expected to work towards the achievement of the goals by 2030. In sum, the objective is to secure a better future for humanity.

In taking steps towards 2023, politicians are expected to proclaim their agendas and experts would also discuss development. They should do so within the context of these Global Goals.

The pursuit of the Global Goals would lead Nigeria to the road of genuine development in the interest of the poor people. In any case, in the absence of a revolution, these goals constitute the irreducible minimum for socio-economic justice in any society. The aspect of the goal that directly relates to ending open defecation is the Goal Number 6: Clean Water and Sanitation.

The other goals are an end to poverty; zero hunger; good health and well-being; quality education; gender equality; clean water and sanitation; affordable and clean energy; decent work and economic growth; industry innovation and infrastructure; reduced inequalities; sustainable cities and communities; responsible consumption and production; climate action; life below water; life on land; peace, justice and strong institutions; and partnership for the goals.

The Office of the Senior Special Assistant, to the President on SDGs, Mrs. Adejoke Orelope - Adefulire, has coordinated interventions in parts of the country in pursuit of these goals especially in the areas of healthcare , education and sanitation. In order to further demonstrate commitment to the attainment of these universal goals, such interventions should be intensified in the remaining months of the Buhari administration.

Indeed, all the ministries, departments and agencies relevant to the attainment of the SDGs should be active in policy implementation till the end of the administration despite political activities. For instance, to meet the target of farewell to open defecation by 2025, the next 15 months should not be lost.

Open defecation is, among other things, a consequence of the lack of access to clean water and poor sanitation. It is axiomatic that you cannot put an end to open defecation in a state of underdevelopment in which access to clean water is still a luxury to millions people. The Buhari executive order has made it compulsory that construction of buildings should include provision of water closets. Therefore, as the name goes, clean water must be made available to all.

The campaign for the use of toilets would become facile without adequate provision of clean water to all parts of the country - rural and urban. There should be a synergy of purpose between the federal ministry of water resources and the state governments for a coordinated implementation of the policies on water. The water resources of

“Reflections on the SDGs should feature in the build-up to the choices that will be made in 2023”

the river basins should be optimally harnessed.

One policy obstacle, however, is the perception of our neo-liberal policymakers for whom water should be just another commodity. It would be difficult especially in the rural areas for the poor to access water if it is made available only at an expensive rate. The federal and state governments should rather increase their investments in massive water schemes in the interest of the people. In fact, an international organisation led by the former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev once proposed that water should be universally declared a human right.

Such a proposition will, of course, sound utopian in the ears of our neo-liberal economic managers and their experts. Meanwhile, the experts are busy with the calculation of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and other statistics of development. However, in the graphs and charts often displayed during their power-point presentations at numerous fora, the material conditions of the 46 million people still condemned to open defecation are hardly captured.

Indeed the GDP hardly tells the story of the failures or successes recorded in the pursuit of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in clear terms. Take a sample. Does the expansion of the GDP automatically mean a reduction in the number of people who are materially compelled to practise open defecation? In any case, that does not seem to be the focus of the experts who are fixated on GDP instead of the well-being of the people in their economic thoughts. Indeed, not enough attention is paid in the public sphere to the economic thoughts informing policies in this country. All you see on display is a repetition of neo-liberal shibboleths, not minding if they are working in practical terms or not.

Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) economists, Abhijit Banerjee and Esther Duflo, won the 2019 Nobel Prize in Economics for their anti-poverty works The couple shared the prize with Professor Michael Kremer. Below is what Professors Banerjee and Duflo, who are called “anti-poverty fighters,” say about GDP in their 2019 book, Good Economics for Hard Times: “The key ultimately is not to lose sight of the fact that GDP is a means and not an end. A useful means, no doubt, especially when it creates jobs or raises wages or plumps the government so that it can redistribute more. But the ultimate goal remains one of raising the quality of life of the average person and especially the worst-off person. And quality of life means more than just consumption… Most human beings care about feeling worthy and respected, they suffer when they feel they are failing themselves and their families. While better lives are indeed partly about being able to consume more, even very poor people also care about the health of their parents , about educating their children, about having their voices heard, and about being able to pursue their dreams. A higher GDP may be one way in which this can be given to the poor, but it is only one of the ways and there is no presumption that it is always the best one.”

So much for the fetishisation of the GDP and other figures!

To be sure, the people who are left with only the option of open defecation in matters of sanitation cannot feel “worthy and respected” regardless of the growth of GDP as the Nobelists put it in the foregoing.

Reflections on the SDGs should feature in the build-up to the choices that will be made in 2023.

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