MONDAY 2ND MAY 2022

Anyim: South-east’s Most Important Demand is Reintegration Says agitations will die with Igbo presidency Chuks Okocha Former Senate President and presidential hopeful on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Senator Anyim Pius Anyim, has said the ongoing agitations in

some parts of the South East of Nigeria, was a reflection of the level of frustration by people of the zone, whose most important single demand was nothing but reintegration into the country.

Speaking exclusively to

THISDAY in the third of a presidential interview series, Anyim, who responded to a question on how to reconcile his presidential bid with the heightened and violent agitation for Biafra by some people from the South-east, however,

said with an Igbo presidency, the agitations would die naturally.

“Those agitating are frustrated, young, South-easterners, and I tell you, maybe I will put it this way, somebody asked me once, what is the single most important demands

of the south east? And I replied, the most important single demand of the south-east from Nigeria is reintegration.

“Once they feel that they Continued on page 6

Nigeria's Stock Market Sustains Positive Momentum, Gains N4.5trn in Four Months... Page10

Anyim

Monday 2 May, 2022 Vol 27. No 9883. Price: N250

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RenCap: With Oil Prices above $100 Per Barrel, Impact on Budget will Be Negligible Emmanuel Addeh in Abuja

L-R: NLC President, Ayuba Wabba; Former President NLC, Adams Oshiomhole; Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo; APC National Chairman, Abdullahi Adamu; SGF Boss Mustapha, and Minister of Labour and Employment, Chris Ngige, during a march past for the May Day Workers' Day Commemoration held at Abuja...yesterday

A new report by Renaissance Capital (RenCap), a frontier market investment company, has stated that despite crude oil prices at over $100 Continued on page 5

2023: Two Groups Move to Stop PDP Convention over Power Rotation, Zoning Party appeals ruling to show cause why primary should not be suspended Second aggrieved group says party can only rotate candidacy, not presidency Chuks Okocha and Alex Enumah in Abuja Two Groups have moved to stop the presidential primaries of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) over the party's silence on the issue of rotation of power and zoning.

One of the groups is led by one of its presidential aspirants and a former Deputy Speaker of the Abia State House of Assembly, Mr. Cosmas Ndukwe, moved to stop the presidential primaries of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) over the party's stand on the issue of rotation of power and zoning.

The kernel of their cases are

that the PDP over the years had a tradition of power rotation and zoning.

The group argued that the only office the opposition party has to offer was the presidential candidate, which they argued should rotate between the north and the south They cited the fact that since the return of democracy in 1999, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, from southern Nigeria was the first to govern the country, followed by the late Umaru Musa Yar'Adua from the northern part of the country.

This was followed by Goodluck Continued on page 5

GRAND FINALE OF GLO BREAK DANCE...

Breakdance Crew winners of the Glo Battle of the Year Nigeria, 619 crew, with Bisi Kolesho, Globacom Deputy Chief Operations Officer (second top left); and David Maji, Globacom’s National Sales Coordinator (second top right), at the grand finale of the dance competition on Saturday in Lagos.

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ASUU Strike: NANS Vows to ‘Frustrate’ APC, PDP National Conventions

Ngige, Nwajiuba have abandoned negotiation with lecturers for their presidential aspirations, students insist Osinbajo urges dialogue to end industrial action Nigerian workers suffer, bear burden of political corruption, says university lecturers Ex-OAU registrar blames strike on proliferation of public varsities Labour decries high inflation rate, insecurity, varsity crisis Onyebuchi Ezigbo in Abuja, Victor Ogunje in Ado Ekiti, Kemi Olaitan in Ibadan The National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) has advised the two biggest political parties – the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) – to discontinue with plans for their national conventions to select their respective presidential candidates in Abuja this month.

This is just as Vice President Prof.

Yemi Osinbajo has pleaded with ASUU to embrace dialogue as a means of resolving the lingering dispute between it and the federal government.

NAN specifically vowed to

“frustrate all the activities leading to the selection of party candidates if we remain on strike.”

The students’ body warned the two political parties to either ensure that the industrial action was called off or forget about holding their presidential primaries in Abuja.

In a statement titled, “End ASUU Strike or Forget Political Activities in Abuja,” signed by its President, Sunday Asefon, the association said: “Politicians have shown no concern to the plight of the students but are only busy in their selfish and inordinate ambitions to become the next president.

“Let me say without mincing words, the two major political parties should forget any political gathering in Abuja or elsewhere

except there is a solution to the lingering ASUU strike.

“We will frustrate all the activities leading to the selection of party candidates if we remain on strike.”

“We also want to advise the government and the politicians who are busy campaigning to be president to either resolve the ASUU crises or give direct orders to the security operatives to shoot us at the site during party conventions to select a presidential candidate. If we remain on strike, they should just forget it.”

NANS also expressed displeasure over what they called the abandonment of negotiations with ASUU by the Minister of Labour, Dr. Chris Ngige and the Minister of State for Education, Emeka

Nwajiuba, for presidential ambition.

Ngige and Nwajiube recently purchased APC Nomination and Expression of lnterest forms at a whopping cost of N100 million each.

“We have also in the past weeks seen those saddled with great responsibility in the education sector and those saddled with responsibilities of resolving labour crises declaring interest to contest for the seat of the President come 2023.

“We are surprised by their effrontery and total disrespect to the Nigerian people for having the courage to even mute the idea of contesting talkless of picking up the N100 million presidential forms while students languish at home because of their collective failures,”

NANS added.

Osinbajo Urges Dialogue to End ASUU Strike Meanwhile, Osinbajo has pleaded with ASUU to embrace dialogue as a means of resolving the lingering dispute between it and the federal government.

He also urged the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC) to help facilitate a resolution of the dispute with the University workers through dialogue.

Osinbajo's appeal came just as the organised labour lamented the rising inflation, insecurity and total shut down of federal government

RENCAP: WITH OIL PRICES ABOVE $100 PER BARREL, IMPACT ON BUDGET WILL BE NEGLIGIBLE per barrel, the impact on Nigeria's fiscal position would remain negligible due to petrol subsidy payments and falling oil production by the country.

It also predicted that Nigeria would make a gross revenue of $25 billion from oil sales this year, although this would also have very insignificant impact on the country’s fiscal position.

In the report titled, “Nigeria’s Budget: Does it benefit from high oil prices?” the firm, which also provides institutional research and financial advisory services, noted that on the fiscal front, the petrol subsidy and falling oil production undermines gains on the government revenue side. It estimated that subsidy cost could increase by $1.5 billion to $2 billion for a $10 per barrel change in the oil price, while net oil revenue could rise between $4 billion and $5 billion, without factoring in other externalities.

“This implies that Nigeria has a $3 billion net benefit for every $10 per barrel change to the oil price (Brent),” it stated.

But explaining that Nigeria’s fiscal position would not benefit from high oil prices in 2022, the report noted that the swelling of the petrol subsidy as oil price increased and

the fall in oil production due to theft and underinvestment would combine to hobble any gains from rising oil prices.

The federal government recently increased the 2022 subsidy budget from N443 billion to N4 trillion, after it shifted the planned removal of what it terms under-recovery by 18 months.

RenCap said in the report, “An 80 per cent increase in the oil price, from $41/bbl to $72/bbl, reduced the budget deficit by about 1 ppt only. 2021 was an outlier.

We attribute the widening of the deficit in 2021, despite the high oil price, to the fall in production that countered the price effect.

“Our ‘trendline’ suggests that if we assume an average oil price of $100/bbl for 2022 and production at pre-2021 levels, then the FGN’s budget deficit would come in at about 3.5 per cent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP). We are forecasting a deficit of 4.7 per cent.”

At the year-to-date average Brent crude price of about $100 per barrel, the Nigerian government, the report stated, took 45 per cent to 50 per cent of gross oil sales in the form of taxes and royalties. The remainder, it added, went to the contractor as cost recovery and profits.

It stressed, “In 2022, at $100/

bbl Brent, we estimate that gross oil revenues to the government, mostly taxes and royalties, will be $24.8 billion/N10.3 trillion, that is 4.9 per cent of GDP, assuming the current FX rate of NGN415/$1, and net oil revenues at $17 billion/ N7.1 trillion (3.4 per cent of GDP).

“Of this, 80 per cent stems from onshore/shallow water oil fields and the remainder from deepwater oil fields.”

Still at $100 per barrel, in 2022, it also estimated petrol subsidy to be 34 per cent of the government's gross oil revenue and 50 per cent of net oil revenues.

At the current N415 official rate of the naira to the dollar, on an accruals basis, RenCap estimated that the subsidy ranged between 23 per cent and 27 per cent of gross oil revenue for $60 110/bbl Brent.

But it added that the impact of a naira devaluation on the numbers at N500/$ and N600/$ and assuming that the pump price did not change, would raise subsidy to between $10 billion and $11.3 billion.

According to the organisation, that is based on the assumption that Nigeria consumes 23 billion litres of petrol a year (400kbpd), taken from the most recent 12-month consumption data, forecasting that subsidy would only be wiped off

when oil prices are below $45-$50 per barrel.

“Below this price,” it stated, “the government's take of oil proceeds is fully remitted and not undermined by petrol subsidy deductions.

The reinstatement of the petrol subsidy in January partly explains the revision of the FY22 budget targets and assumptions, including the widening of the deficit target,” In April, the federal government revised its budget deficit target to four per cent per cent of GDP in 2022, as against its initial target of 3.4 per cent, on the back of new developments, including the Russia/ Ukraine situation.

President Muhammadu Buhari had written to the National Assembly calling for an amendment to the budget, to account for the wider deficit and increase in borrowing.

Buhari said the new developments included the reinstatement of the petrol subsidy, the sharp increase in oil prices, and significantly lower crude production, mainly due to production shut-ins because of massive crude theft between the production platforms and terminals.

The president also proposed adjusting the government's budget assumptions to include the increase

in the oil price benchmark to $73 per barrel, from $62/bbl previously, lower projected crude production to 1.60 mbd, from 1.88mbd previously, and an increase in the estimated provision for the petrol subsidy for 2022 to N4 trillion.

According to the report, “This is also an increase when compared to the N3 trillion that the NNPC called for in January, soon after it was announced that the subsidy would remain in place.

“Due to the adjustments, the federation account revenue pool for the three tiers of government is projected to fall by N2.4 trillion (1.1 per cent of GDP, by our estimate), and the FGN’s share by N1.2 trillion (0.6 per cent of GDP).”

The document projected Nigeria's 2022 oil production to be within the 1.5 bpd to 1. 7 million bpd range, with 1.6 million bpd as midpoint, comprising one million onshore and shallow water production as well as 500k bpd for deepwater.

It explained that after deductions related to the oil and gas sector, including federally funded upstream capex, contributions to the 13 per cent derivation fund for the Niger Delta oil-producing states and other items, Nigeria's net oil revenue could be $17 billion in 2022.

owned universities in the country.

Speaking at the May Day celebration yesterday, held at the Eagles Square arena in Abuja, Osinbajo told the workers to always pursue the path of dialogue in resolving differences.

"We both want the same thing – a country that works for all and offers each citizen a fair deal – even if occasionally we differ on how to achieve this goal. But at all times, we have through dialogue found a path forward.

"It in this spirit that I call on ASUU to embrace dialogue with the government and I call on the NLC and the TUC to help facilitate a resolution of this dispute through dialogue. I believe that we can find a path forward in good faith. And this is what we will do," has said.

On the welfare of workers, Osinbajo said regardless of the challenges of low revenue, COVID-19 and others global economic stress, the administration has been steadfast in tackling the issues facing Nigerian workers.

He said the president had implemented an increase in the national minimum wage in 2019.

The vice president also said the federal government recently increased the retirement age of teachers so that they can spend more years in service educating our children.

In addition, Osinbajo said the government had implemented an upward review of the salaries and wages of the men and women of the Nigeria Police Force, “as part of our broader commitment to improving the welfare and service conditions of those charged with safeguarding our lives.”

In his May Day address to workers, Minister of Labour and Employment, Senator Chris Ngige pleaded with Nigerian workers to exercise some restraint in embarking on strike.

Ngige said both employers and employees are important stakeholders in the economy of any country, hence the need to work harmoniously to build a strong economy.

2023: TWO GROUPS MOVE TO STOP PDP CONVENTION OVER POWER ROTATION, ZONING Jonathan from the southern part of the country and now Muhammadu Buhari from the north.

Justice Donatus Okorowo of the Federal High Court, Abuja, had last Thursday, ordered the PDP to appear before it on May 5, to show cause why the request of one of its presidential aspirants to stop the scheduled primary election for the selection of the party’s flag bearer in the 2023 presidential election should not be granted.

The PDP had fixed May 28, for the conduct of its presidential primary election and to that effect screened the 17 aspirants who obtained the presidential form to run in the 2023 election.

In the suit marked: FHC/ABJ/ CS/508/2022 are the PDP, National Chairman of PDP, Dr. Iyorchia Atu, Senator Samuel Anyanwu and the Independent National Electoral Commission ( INEC) as 1st to fourth respondents respectively.

Rather than grant the request, the judge ordered that the PDP should appear before it and show cause why the court should not accede to the plaintiff’s demand.

In the suit filed by his lawyer, Mr Paul Erokoro, Ndukwe also challenged the scheduled presidential primary on the grounds that it

breached its own constitution on zoning.

According to him, the PDP has a rotation of elective offices in place, and by that arrangement, it ought to be the turn of the south to produce the president.

As of last week, it was obvious that the PDP was not considering zoning its Presidential ticket to the south as being clamoured by southern governors and other leaders in the zone.

Also, a member of the other group challenging the party over the issue of zoning, who pleaded to remain anonymous, pointed out that, "the presidency is not for the PDP to give; the only thing the PDP can give is its presidential ticket and that must be rotated.

But the PDP has challenged the jurisdiction of a Federal High Court to summon it over the issue which the party described as its internal affairs.

This emerged just as former Minister of Police Affairs and member of the zoning committee of the party, Adamu Maina Waziri has called on the National Executive Committee (NEC) of the party to allow the 4,200 delegates expected at the presidential convention decide who would fly the ticket of the party.

The PDP in a Notice of Preliminary Objection filed on Friday, by its lawyer, Mr Mahmud Magaji, submitted that the subject matter of the case which borders on whether to zone its presidential ticket to any part of the country was not an issue that the court has the mandate to decide.

The PDP asked the court to strike out the suit for want of jurisdiction and also dismiss it for being “statute-barred”.

According to the defendants, “the cause of action in the suit relates to the internal affairs of a political party and therefore falls within the doctrine of political questions which are non-justiciable” and as such the court lacks jurisdiction to entertain it.

On the issue of statute-barred, the PDP noted that the cause of action arose from the PDP National Zoning Committee Communique of April 5 whereas the plaintiff’s suit was filed on April 19 (15 days after) in violation of Section 285 of the Constitution which provides for 14 days to file such cases.

While arguing further that the plaintiff lacked the necessary legal right to initiate the case, the PDP submitted that no civil right of the plaintiff has been wrong pursuant to section 6(6) of the Constitution.

The party, therefore, urged the court to uphold its objection and dismiss the case of the plaintiff, adding that the plaintiff would not be prejudiced or suffer any hardship if the case was dismissed.

Meanwhile, the 3rd defendant in the suit Senator Anyanwu had approached the Court of Appeal to set aside the order of Justice Okorowo on the defendants to show cause, arguing that the trial judge erred in law when it arrived at that decision without according to them a fair hearing.

Among other complaints against the judgment of the lower court was that while the originating summons of Ndukwe was not ripe for hearing, the time for appellants to respond to the suit has also not lapsed, adding that respondents have taken steps to file counter affidavit against the suit.

“The learned trial judge erred in entertaining an ex parte motion which seeks to stop the presidential primary election of the appellant without hearing notice”, adding that the court further erred in law when it failed to “aver its mind to section 84(15) of the Electoral Act, 2022, before making an order to show cause”.

The appellant in the Notice of Appeal dated April 29, further urged

the court to allow the appeal and set aside the ruling of Justice Okorowo asking the PDP to show cause why its scheduled primary election should not be halted.

PDP Presidential Ticket: Let Delegates Decide, Ex-minister Tells Party Leaders Meanwhile, Waziri who called on the NEC of the party to allow the 4,200 delegates expected at the presidential convention decide who would fly the ticket the of the party, also alleged that the issue of zoning in the party was being fuelled by external influences who are not members of the party.

The ex-minister claimed that at no time did the PDP mandate General Ibrahim Babangida and Prof.

Ango Abdullahi to help it find a consensus candidate for the party He said the PDP was not obliged to zone its presidential ticket for the 2023 presidential election, saying the party was preoccupied to use any legitimate method to win the presidential election.

"We are a party in opposition, our concern at the moment is to use any legitimate process to get

back to power. It is the ruling party that should be concerned with zoning, but not the PDP. Ours as an opposition party is to win through Democratic measure.

"Our concern is to allow the delegates to the presidential convention to the analysis and know who out of the cleared presidential aspirants has the competence and strength of character to win the presidential election for the party " The former Minister of Police Affairs stressed that Babangida and Abdullahi have no mandate of the party to conduct any consensus for the presidential candidate to emerge.

According to the former minister who is also a member of the 37-man think tank on zoning, who spoke on Arise News Channel, the broadcast arm of THISDAY, " it is not true that zoning is tearing the PDP apart.

It is all about media creation and external influences that are creating the media controversy within the party.

"Did you not hear what two frontline presidential aspirants, Peter Obi and Emmanuel Udom said the position of the PDP on zoning is supreme as the party decision on this is final. We will enthrone the best method that would be in the interest of the party and democracy."

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T H I S D AY • MONDAY, MAY 2, 2022

SALLAH CELEBRATION

In Sallah Message, Buhari Says Battle against Terrorism over Soon Assures military of adequate funding to fight insecurity CAN: policy on surrendered criminals counterproductive Police deploy 5,000 personnel at praying grounds in Nasarawa Govs, Atiku, Saraki, senators, others identify with Muslims Deji Elumoye, Chuks Okocha, Onyebuchi Ezigbo, Kingsley Nwezeh, Sunday Aborisade, Udora Orizu in Abuja, Igbawase Ukumba in Lafia, Ibrahim Shuaibu in Dutse, Hammed Shittu in Ilorin, Michael Olugbode in Damaturu President Muhammadu Buhari, yesterday, appraised the security situation in the country and claimed that the battle against terrorism in some parts of the country had begun to yield fruitful result and would soon be over. Buhari stated this in his Eid-el-Fitri message.

The president assured the military that necessary funds would be made available to them to aide their fight against security challenges facing the country.

But the leadership of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) queried the federal government’s policy on arrested and surrendered terrorists, saying it is counterproductive. CAN, however, rejoiced with the Sultan of Sokoto and President-General, Nigeria Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA), Alhaji Sa'ad Abubakar III, and all Muslims as they celebrated this year's Eid-el-Fitr.

That was as Nasarawa State Police Command, yesterday, said it had deployed over 5,000 police personnel to provide security at Eid prayer grounds across the state today.

Commissioner of Police in the state, Mr Adesina Soyemi, disclosed this in a statement issued to journalists in Lafia by the command's Police Public Relations Officer, ASP Ramham Nansel.

Prominent politicians, including governors; Senate President Ahmed Lawan; Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila; former Vice President, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar; and former Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki, have identified with Muslims across the world as they marked the end of Ramadan.

Buhari directed increased coordination and cooperation among security agencies for effective operation in the face of mounting challenges to the government’s effort to secure the lives and property of Nigerians.

In a release by his spokesman, Mallam Garba Shehu, Buhari said, “After a period of fasting and reflection, this year, we have cause to welcome the occasion in hope.

The battle waged against terrorists, who falsely masquerade under the name of Islam, is approaching its conclusion. The fight has been long and hard. Final victory is within sight. Boko Haram and its offshoots’ final embers are now fading.

“Last month, the leader of ISWAP was killed in an airstrike. Since the New Year, thousands of fighters have surrendered to enter rehabilitation programmes. The territories they used to occupy are now seeing the return of those, who were forced to flee their barbarity. Normality is finally beginning to return to the North-east. It is a long process.

Yet, it is one we are, together, now embarking upon.

“With the designation of bandit groups as terrorists, the challenges of banditry and kidnapping are being tackled differently in the North-western and North-central states, where the latest military acquisitions and the Armed Forces are being fanned out across the region to thwart acts of terror.

“The administration is equally getting impressive reports of the special operations to curb crude oil theft and illegal oil bunkering in the South-south, with millions of illegally refined products being impounded and illegal refineries destroyed. While we are making progress cleaning the environment, some evil people are busy causing more pollution and destruction.

“In response to the disturbing rise in criminal attacks targeting law enforcement and public facilities in the South-east, concerted military operations to rid the region of Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) and Eastern Security Network (ESN) elements, have in recent weeks, led to the overrunning of IPOB/ESN bases, the seizure of weapons and the arrest of a large number of suspects.”

Shehu also spoke on the ongoing war against drug abuse in the country, stressing that the reinvigoration of the war against drug abuse and illicit drug trafficking is showing positive results. He said this was demonstrated by the arrest of over 12, 300 offenders, including seven drug barons, conviction of 1,400, counselling, and rehabilitation of about 8,000 drug users.

CAN urged the federal government to reconsider the de-radicalising and rehabilitating of the arrested and surrendered terrorists, as the policy appeared to be counterproductive.

In a statement signed by its General Secretary, Joseph Bade Daramola, CAN, while congratulating Muslims on the end of the Ramadan, also told the federal government, "Since the month, among other things, aims to purify the soul and bring the individual closer to God, we urge you all to abide with the teaching and the principles of Ramadan in your daily activities.

"We know that it is those who fight and kill on religion basis that are largely responsible for the unending killings and abductions in the country.

It is these pseudo-Muslims, who are slaughtering fellow human beings and who burn down worship and market places, all in the name of God, who is peace personified. We are praying for their repentance.

"The CAN leadership will not cease having dialogues on peace and unity with the leadership of NSCIA at the forum provided for us by the Nigeria Inter-Religious Council (NIREC).”

It called on the federal government to “reconsider the de-radicalising and rehabilitating of the arrested and the surrendered terrorists, simply because it seems the programme

considered laudable is becoming counterproductive."

Nasarawa State Police Command, aside deploying over 5,000 of its men to the prayer grounds across the state, added that Explosive Ordinance Disposal Unit has also been deployed to sweep all the Eid grounds before prayer commences.

Govs, Atiku, Saraki, Senators, Others Identify With Muslims Ahmed Lawan President of the Senate, Ahmad Lawan, urged adherents of the Islamic religion to pray for the security and peace of Nigeria as they celebrate the Eid-el- fitr. Lawan made the appeal in a statement by his media aide, Ola Awoniyi, in Abuja on Sunday. He stated, "We should also continue to pray for security and peace in our beloved country, Nigeria, and in the world at large. As Nigerians, let us engage in what is right and avoid whatever is forbidden by our faith, and be good representatives of our faith.”

Atiku Abubakar

In a statement by head of Saraki’s media office, Yusuph Olaniyonu, the former senate president said Ramadan was Almighty Allah’s way of teaching humanity the attitude of living a virtuous life, where people kept away from all forms of impurities and experienced denial of several forms of comfort to appreciate what the less privileged experienced as they suffered deprivation.

“While all of us seek to stay away from activities that are injurious to our health, our nation, and our fellow human beings and seek to live a decent life during the fasting period, we should make this solemn and God-fearing way of life a permanent thing,” he said.

Chibuike Amaechi Minister of Transportion and presidential hopeful, Rt. Hon. Chibuike Amaechi, wished for answered prayers to all of Nigeria’s problems as Muslims celebrated Eid el Fitri. Amaechi, who commended Muslims in his message, said, “We pray for answers to prayers offered for our country and all families during the Ramadan season. Let us also reflect on its significance as we go about the Salah celebrations; and continue to pray for peace, security and the economic growth of Nigeria.

“To all our Muslim brothers and sisters, may the blessings of the Ramadan season be your present reality. Congratulations and Happy Eid el Fitri.”

Former Vice President and presidential aspirant on the platform of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar, called on Nigerians to strengthen the bond of love despite their religious differences, saying love is the prerequisite for binding unity in any diverse society.

In his Eid-el-Fitr message, the former vice president appealed to Nigerians to develop the spirit of tolerance and respect towards one another, despite their ethnic and religious differences.

Atiku stressed, "We should use religion as an instrument for creating unity, love and harmony rather than using it to feed hate and intolerance, which usually results in needless conflicts. Let's not allow selfish politicians and people of bad faith to divide us and use us as fighting tools for their own sinister agendas."

Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu, congratulated Nigerians, especially, Muslim faithful in the country, as they celebrated Eid-el-Fitri, marking the end of the 30 days of Ramadan fasting and prayers.

Sanwo-Olu, in a message by his Chief Press Secretary, Mr. Gboyega Akosile, enjoined Muslims in Lagos State to continue on the path of spirituality and peaceful co-existence, and remain tolerant of other religious denominations in the state, saying Lagos is noted for religious harmony.

Anyim Pius Anyim

Abubakar Badaru

Former President of the Senate, Anyim Pius Anyim, while felicitating with Muslims, thanked Almighty Allah for "granting our Moslem brothers and sisters" the grace to fulfil the important religious obligation this year.

In a statement signed personally, Anyim expressed strong belief that the Almighty God would accept the sacrifice of Ramadan, and bless the adherents and Nigeria.

Bukola Saraki Former Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki, advised Nigerians to support the numerous prayers they had made during the holy month concerning the nation with positive attitudes necessary for nation building.

Babajide Sanwo-Olu

Jigawa State Governor, Alhaji Abubakar Badaru, urged Nigerians to imbibe the spirit of brotherhood and peaceful coexistence in their relationship during the Sallah celebration and beyond.

Badaru, in a statement by his Senior Special Assistant (Print Media), Ahmad Danyaro, further enjoined Nigerians to increase their charitable endeavours, perseverance, and spiritual intercession for the nation.

Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi Enugu State Governor, Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, called on Muslims and, indeed, all Nigerians, to continue to pray fervently to God for the peace, security, unity and progress of the country, even as he wished

the Muslim faithful the blessings and guidance of Allah.

While urging Nigerians to embrace peace, love, tolerance and sacrifice, which are the exemplary virtues of the Holy Prophet Mohammed, Ugwuanyi prayed for a peaceful and pleasant celebration, stressing that the significance of the Islamic event towards the enhancement of peace, security, unity and progress of the nation is enduring.

Ben Ayade Cross River State Governor, Professor Ben Ayade, urged Muslims to imbibe the teachings of Prophet Muhammed (SWA) on the essence of the religious obligation, insisting, "This is the time, more than ever before, to connect to the virtue of love, compassion, unity and generosity, which Prophet Muhammed (SWA) symbolises and which the holy month of Ramadan taught us".

Ayade, whose charge was contained in an Eid-el-Fitri message by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Mr Christian Ita, appealed to the Muslim Ummah, particularly in Cross River State, to shun divisive tendencies capable of drawing back the country’s wheel of progress and development.

Abdullahi Sule Nasarawa State Governor, Abdulallahi Sule, called on the Muslim faithful to pray for the country's leaders to govern with the fear of God, adding that the faithful should also pray for the leaders to govern with the virtues of justice, humility and service for the good of humanity.

Sule called on the people of the state to continue to accommodate each other’s beliefs and values in order to sustain peace, harmony, socio-cultural and economic prosperity. "In this regard, I wish to assure our brothers from other regions in the country that Nasarawa State is a miniature society that accommodates all and sundry, irrespective of tribe, region, religion or any other creed,” the governor said.

AbdulRahman Abdulrazaq Kwara State Governor, Alhaji AbdulRahman Abdulrazaq, enjoined Muslims and the political class to allow the message and spirit of the Ramadan fast reflect in their lives.

Abdulrazaq added, "Ultimately, power belongs to God and He gives whomsoever He so wishes."

In his Sallah message, Abdulrazaq described the days and nights of the month as a period like no other during which the Muslim faithful proudly competed to outdo one another in good deeds.

Dapo Abiodun Ogun State Governor Dapo Abiodun enjoined the Muslim

faithful to continue to hold on to the piety and spiritual elevation attained during the fasting, noting that though the country Is passing through challenges, Muslims deserve to celebrate the end of the month of mercy and forgiveness.

Abiodun, however, urged the people to celebrate with moderation and ensure they share with the less-privileged.

He urged them to pray for peace in the country and the state, assuring the people that his administration would continue to create conducive atmosphere to enhance economic development and growth.

Mai Mala Buni Yobe State Governor, Alhaji Mai Mala Buni, called on Muslims to inculcate the virtues of patience, devotion, self-control, humility, kindness, forgiveness, altruism, and other virtues of Islam during the Holy month of Ramadan and beyond the season.

The governor, in his Eid-el-Fitri message, reminded the people on the tenet of Zakatul Fitr, which instructed the giving out of foodstuff to the needy at the end of the fasting period, to give them a sense of belonging during the festive period.

Tokunbo Abiru Senator for Lagos Central, Tokunbo Abiru, appealed to Muslims to eschew vices and imbibe godly virtues in obedience to the commandment of the Almighty Allah during the holy month of Ramadan.

Abiru urged them to endeavour to continue on this glorious path after the fasting.

On Nigeria’s protracted challenges, particularly, insecurity confronting the nation, he urged the citizens to join hands with the government in its bid to eliminate all forms of violent extremism, banditry and kidnapping, adding that at this point in history, “Our dear nation urgently needs bi-partisan and patriotic efforts at rescuing the country from the cliff.

We must all come together in unity to strengthen national cohesion, tolerance and peace.”

IPCR Prays for Peace, Stability The Institute for Peace and Conflict Resolution (IPCR) called on Nigerians to pray for peace and stability as Nigeria joined the rest of the world to mark this year workers' day and Eid-el-Fitr celebration.

IPCR, in a statement yesterday, reminded Nigerians that development was a product of peaceful coexistence. It urged Nigerians to stand on the side of peace and remain law-abiding in the face of the challenges, stressing , “As patriotic citizens, who truly believe in the destiny of this country, we should rise up to the occasion to take up this civic responsibility in moving the nation forward.”

ANYIM: SOUTH-EAST’S MOST IMPORTANT DEMAND IS REINTEGRATION have been fully reintegrated into Nigeria, all agitation will naturally be extinguished. So, my position is that if you give them a sense of belonging, and maybe expand opportunities for everybody, and they feel equal as citizens of Nigeria, those agitations will simply be extinguished.”

Pushed further if his aspiration would not make the South East quest for secession a lot easier, Anyim, who was Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), explained that the agitations were not new, but has only been given life, because the issues have not been addressed at all.

“The agitation for Biafra is neither isolated nor new. I remember during the June 12 crisis, there were such huge agitations in the South-west,

that it is either they are part of this country, or they are not. And eventually, when one of them became the president of the country, that agitation died out.

“I also know that the militancy in the Niger Delta was so bad that if not for the way President Olusegun Obasanjo managed it, it would have led to agitations like this, and it was at a time everybody was so scared that if you allow somebody from South-south become president of Nigeria, they will graduate that agitation to secession.

“Immediately, President Goodluck Jonathan became president of Nigeria, that agitation died. In fact, not when he became president, immediately he became vice president of Nigeria, that agitation died out. IPOB agitation is not the only one in the country today.

“There are a number of them across the country like the Boko Haram insurgency, like Sunday Igboho's agitation in the South-west. I believe that if a South-easterner becomes the president of Nigeria, that agitation will die,” he said.

Asked what his take on restructuring was and the recent suggestion by a legal luminary, Chief Afe Babalola, that government should try out an interim government that would allow for a period of time to come up with a more viable constitution, Anyim said restructuring meant different things to different people.

His words: “I avoid getting into the controversy of the definition of restructuring, but one thing I know is that the structure the country assumed at independence was extensively

negotiated, extensively canvassed and extensively agreed on.

“There were negotiations, there were constitutional conferences, and even at the last lap, the minorities raised issues or fears and the colonial masters set up the Willink’s Commission to look into their fears. They didn't just decree a structure for the nation.

No, they did not at all.

“So, if we for any reason think that the present structure we have is not working, we have to sit down discuss it and build a consensus going forward, not anybody waking up to say, this is my definition of restructuring.

If you throw in anything by your own definition, it will not work, because other components of the polity will not accept it.

“But I agree that we could present a platform for dialogue, for negotiations, for discussions and build a consensus. Based on that consensus, if we need to make an adjustment, we'll make an adjustment as agreed by all and such adjustment everybody will commit to it in building the nation.

“So, I don't want to go into the meaning of anybody's definition of restructuring. But I want to believe that if all of us feel that the structure we have today is not what we want, we will all sit over and agree on the structure that works for all of us and now carry on from there.”

To Babalola, the Ebonyi-born politician said, “I am surprised that Afe Babalola made that suggestion, because one, he is a seasoned

lawyer and two, more particularly, because that is unconstitutional. And certainly there can't be a vacuum. So, what provision of our constitution will authorise interim government?

“So, you can’t preach the rule of law and step outside the law to set up a structure that cannot work.

So, because it's unconstitutional, it has no space in our system. That cannot work.

“But I also know that under any government, that the country can still have discussions. The country can still have negotiations and dialogue, and arrive at a consensus, that will be acceptable to everybody and we’ll build our nation on that.

So, certainly, that has no space in our system.” *See full interview on pages 19 – 21

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Group News Editor: Goddy Egene Email: Goddy.egene@thisdaylive.com, 0803 350 6821, 08074010580

ICAN 2022 ANNUAL DINNER AND AWARDS...

L-R; The 57th President, The Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN), Mrs. Comfort Olu Eyitayo FCA; Managing Director/CEO, Bank of Industry (BOI), Mr. Olukayode Pitan; his wife Dr. Funmi Pitan; and the former Bank’s Executive Director, Dr, Waheed Olagunju at the ICAN 2022 Annual Dinner and Awards ceremony held at Oriental Hotel in Lagos...yesterday SUNDAY ADIGUN

Nigeria's Stock Market Sustains Positive Momentum, Gains N4.5trn in Four Months Outperforms other African exchanges Kayode Tokede The stock market segment of the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) has gained N4.46 trillion in its year-to-date (YtD) performance, outperforming the Egyptian Exchange, the Johannesburg Stock Exchange, the Ghana Stock Exchange, among other of its peers in the continent.

Specifically, the market capitalisation of the NGX in the first four months of 2022 appreciated by 16.21 per cent to close on April 29, 2022 at N26.761 trillion from the N22.297 trillion it closed on the last trading day of 2021 Also, the NGX All-Share Index, an indicator used to track the general market movement of all listed equities on NGX, including those listed on the growth board, regardless of capitalisation, opened 2022 at 42,716.44 basis points and closed on April 29, 2022. at 49,638.94 basis points.

This also represented an increase by 16. 21 per cent.

However, data compiled from the website of other stock exchanges in the continent revealed that the Financial Times Stock Exchange (FTSE)/ Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) in its YtD performance dropped by 1.72 per cent, just as the Egyptian Exchange’s EGX 30 Index in its YtD performance also dropped by 7.54 per cent.

Further findings revealed that the Casablanca Stock Exchange’s MASI Index in its YtD performance depreciated by 1.66 per cent, while the Ghana Stock Exchange Composite Index contracted by 3.52 per cent to 2,691.19 index points as of April 29, 2022.

Similarly, the Uganda Securities Exchange’s (USE) All Share Index was down by 12.23 per cent YtD performance to 1,246.99 basis points as of April, 2022.

On the flipside, the Lusaka Securities Exchange’s All-Share Index recorded an impressive performance with a gain of 14.27 per cent to 6,924.34 in its YTD growth just as the Namibian Stock Exchange’s NSX overall

Index appreciated by 10.64 per cent to 1,738.93 points as of April 29, 2022.

However, for the Nigerian bourse, the NGX, the major indices that drove its performance in the first four months of 2022, were the banking, oil & gas, industrial and consumer goods companies sectors.

The growth in stock prices were strongly bullish as all the indicators closed in the green between January and April of 2022.

For instance, the NGX Oil & Gas index appreciated the most by 51.99 per cent in its YtD growth; the NGX industrial goods index followed with a gain of 8.81 per cent, while the NGX Banking Index rose by 7.08 per cent YtD.

Capital market analysts attributed the growth of the NGX to steady increase in global oil price and listed companies’ impressive earnings post-covid-19.

They explained foreign analysts' projections of Nigeria’s economy pre-election also played a critical role in foreign investors' increased participation in fundamental stocks listed on the bourse.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) recently raised Nigeria’s 2022 economic growth forecast marginally from the 2.7 per cent it had previously estimated to 3.4 per cent.

Additionally, the fund reviewed upward the country’s 2023 growth prediction upward from 2.7 per cent to 3.1 per cent.

The multilateral institution had also noted that the non-oil sector played a pivotal role in increasing Nigeria’s growth prospect as it observed that the globally only 86 per cent of countries saw a downward revise of its growth projection indicating Nigeria is amongst the 14 per cent of countries who are expected to grow.

Nigeria’s growth prospects were stated in latest World Economic Outlook (WEO) released recently by the IMF. Also, the World Bank had released a forecast on Nigeria’s economy for 2022, raising the country's growth projection to 3.8 per cent, up from the 2.5 per cent projected earlier in the year.

Speaking with THISDAY, the doyen of the Nigerian capital

market, Mr Rasheed Yusuf, said the increasing global oil price played a role in the growth of the capital market in four months of 2022.

According to him, “The current global oil price that is above $100 per barrel has translated into more revenue for the federal government and more spending.

"Since there is more revenue for the government, there will definitely be more spending and more business opportunities for individuals and companies listed on the NGX. “Everybody was thinking Nigeria will be in an economic crisis but with oil revenue above $100 per barrel over the UkraineRussia crisis, the government has been able to manage the subsidy.

“The global oil price has breathed a new life into companies in the country and investors' expectation is that these companies will make good profit and it has contributed to growth in their stocks.

“Most of them recently released the 2021 financial year, first quarter results and we have seen impressive corporate earnings. The performance of these companies has reflected in their corporate earnings."

Yusuf, who is the Chief Executive Officer of Trust Yield Securities, further said the Nigeria economy had surpassed analysts’ expectation.

“It is not as boom but at the same time, it is not catastrophic Continued on page 12

Pay Our Salary Arrears, Ondo Workers Tell Akeredolu Fidelis David in Akure Workers in Ondo State under the umbrella of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress have called on the state governor, Mr Oluwarotimi Akeredolu (SAN) to pay its salary arrears from December 2021 till date.

They made the call yesterday, the 2022 workers' day celebration, held at Akure.

The State Chairman,Trade Union Congress of Nigeria, Mrs Hellen Odofin said part of their demands included outstanding leave bonuses.

She said: " I would like to, on behalf of all of us at TUC, applaud the Ondo State Government under the leadership of Oluwarotimi Akeredolu on its giant strides towards good governance in the State. Efforts towards advancement of education, security and infrastructures are duly acknowledged. The government is also doing well in the timely promotion of workers in the state. We urge you to keep on with the good work.

"However, we would like to appeal to the government to

do more in the following areas: Salary Payment: Payment of salary arrears from December 2021 till date including outstanding leave bonuses, should be given a serious thought, as every labourer deserves his wages.

"I want to draw the attention of government to the following shortfalls: Lack of utility vehicles for the headquarters and the field offices for monitoring and evaluation dilapidated structures of secondary schools, inadequate, and gross shortage of Teachers in our schools especially, the secondary schools.

"Delay in the payment of salary; arrears; delay in the release of Inspection votes; and unconducive working environment," she added On his part, the State Chairman of the NLC, Oluwole Sunday Adeleye said workers in the state were determined to continue the struggle through scientific and result oriented interrogation of government policies and actions using constructive engagement mechanisms as laid down by Labour conventions, treaties and legal instruments whenever the need arises.

Adeleye, represented by his

Vice, Mr Victor Amoko said: "Our nation Nigeria is faced with terrible and heartrending issues ranging from banditry, kidnapping, ritual killing and the seemingly unending herdsmen attack on innocent citizens and massive destruction of farm lands.

"The sickening effect no doubt, has caused great fear, trepidation and hunger in the land as no one dare go to farm anymore.

The fear of the herders now is the beginning of wisdom!

"To ensure Ondo State Workers are at peace in their respective domains, Labour as a progressive partner and concerned body recently supported our home made security arrangement, Amotekun Corps with 30 motorcycles for effective patrol and curbing of criminal activities in the 18 Local Government areas of the State. " It was indeed novel and a clarion call to all well intentioned citizens of the State to make meaningful contributions in support of the Ondo State Security Trust Fund. No doubt, the security outfit has extremely done well beyond our collective imagination".

He also called on the government to create room for useful and gainful employment for teeming youths, through agriculture, e-commerce and entrepreneurial opportunities.

In his address, Akeredolu, while appreciating the workers for their tireless support for his administration, also charged public servants to adopt a new attitude towards the business of governance by showing high sense of productiveness and creativity in carrying out their duties.

"I salute our workers’ resilience and commitment to service in spite of the obvious economic challenges confronting the country. " I thank you for your support and show of understanding with our administration, I wish to say, with all sense of modesty that our government has been doing its best for the public service of Ondo State," he added.

Akeredolu, represented by the state Commissioner for Finance, Mr Wale Akinterinwa, said his administration does not only believe in the welfare of the workers but has also

demonstrated it, through the formulation and implementation of policies designed to improve their conditions of service.

He said: " Since February 2017, when our administration came on board, we invested heavily In our human capital development.

I can assert, with all sense of responsibility, that our career officers rank among the best trained anywhere in Nigeria.

"The facts speak for themselves.

In spite of the daunting economic challenges, a good number of our workers have benefited from both overseas and local courses and we assure you that this would be a continuous exercise.

"Meanwhile, in our continued quest to reposition and strengthen the service for positive and progressive service delivery to the people of Ondo State, about 4,279 personnel had been recruited into various critical sectors of the Public Service from 2017 to date. Over 3,532 eligible workers of different categories have been slated for promotion this year 2022. We have also ensured the regular release of Vehicle and Housing Loans to deserving officers", the governor stressed.

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AMA BREWERY EXPANSION...

L-R: Chief Financial Officer, HEINEKEN, Mr. Harold van den Broek; Chairman, Nigerian Breweries Plc, Chief Kola Jamodu; Secretary to the Enugu State Government/Representative of Enugu State Governor, Prof. Simon Ortuanya; Chief Executive Officer, HEINEKEN, Mr. Dolf van den Brink and Director Trade & Exchange, Central Bank of Nigeria/Representative of the CBN Governor, Dr. Ozoemena Nnaji and Managing Director, NB Plc, Mr. Hans Essaadi, during the civil works inauguration ceremony for Ama Brewery Expansion in Enugu State..... recently

Discos Deny Rejecting 2,495MW of Electricity Supply from TCN Emmanuel Addeh in Abuja The electricity Distribution Companies (Discos) operating in the country yesterday denied a report that they rejected about 2,495 megawatts of power, despite the erratic electricity supply across the country.

In a statement signed by Executive Director, Research and Advocacy, Association of Nigerian Electricity Distributors (ANED), the umbrella body of the power distributors, Sunday Oduntan, the Discos stated that the statistics in the report were incorrect.

The report had stated that the said quantum of power was neither utilised nor distributed by the power distribution companies in one week, despite the demand for electricity nationwide. It alleged that from April 2 to April

8, some Discos failed to deploy the electricity during the period, despite the fact that they were nominated for the electricity load.

The 11 Discos in Nigeria, namely the Abuja, Benin, Eko, Enugu, Ibadan, Ikeja, Jos, Kaduna, Kano, Port Harcourt, and Yola Discos, stated their position under the aegis of ANED. ANED said there was no way they would have rejected such quantity of load when the Discos did not even get the entire quantum they requested.

The association explained that although there were significant periods of low or reduced energy supply nationwide, leading up to the month of April, the factors were not attributable to load rejection.

The Discos referred Nigerians to the various factors stated by Minister of Power, Mr. Abubakar

Group Seeks Legislation to Reserve Deputy Governorship Seats for Women Hammed Shittu in Ilorin.

A women group based in Kwara State, SpaceForHer at the weekend urged the National Assembly to make a law reserving deputy governorship seats automatically for women in the 36 states of the federation.

It also advised the federal lawmakers to reconsider all the gender bills that they rejected during the voting on constitutional amendment on March 1, 2022.

Speaking at a news conference in Ilorin, during the unveiling of fellows of the group, the Project Lead of the group, Mrs. Tolulope Gbenro, said, "there are about five of these bills that seek to promote and establish opportunities for women in politics, governance and the society at large."

SpaceForHer is the flagship programme of Brain Builders Youth Development Initiative (BBYDI), civil society organisation based in Ilorin.

According to her, "It may interest you to know that in the past few years, different local and international bodies have invested energy and resources to advocate for and support women’s participation in politics and governance.

"But despite all efforts put in place, we are yet to meet the 30 per cent and 35 per cent affirmative action for gender inclusion as contained in the Beijing Declaration and National Gender Policy respectively."

She added, "You will all agree with me that, having enjoyed more than two decades of democratic rule, Nigeria has come a long way in its democratic journey and we hope that it will, going forward, take the issue of gender inclusion/ women participation in politics and governance seriously, both at the national, state and local levels.

"We are therefore proposing that: Political parties should encourage and give room for active participation of women, rather than using them for campaigns only.

"The 35 per cent slot should be approved and used at the level of government for both political and appointive offices.

"There is a need for the creation of a safe and enabling environment that allows women to engage meaningfully in decision-making and take part in high-profile activities.

"The cost for forms of interest should be largely subsidised for female aspirants in all political parties.

"Denying women the opportunity to take active part in politics and governance is a violation of their fundamental human right and also violates the principle of democracy that provides for fair representation of all interest groups in the society. We must note that women’s participation in politics and governance is key to building a strong democracy and an inclusive society."

Aliyu, in his press briefing of March 16. They said as such, the energy supplied to the distribution end of the value chain had been constrained.

Aliyu had blamed the power outages experienced nationwide on gas shortage, vandalism, and other factors, which he said were being addressed.

“However, our review of the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) System Operator (SO) report, relative to the Discos’ rejection of 2,495.3 MW in the

period of April 2nd through 8th, as specified in the article, would indicate an inconsistency of information.

Oduntan stated, “The Discos nominated a total of 31,825.88MW for the specified period and received 22,188.54 MW or 70 per cent of the nominated amount, thus, the Discos did not receive the full value of their nomination.

For the same period, only 668 MW of energy was unutilised by the Discos.

“A further review of the report,

for the same period, would indicate that 8,038.70MW was unutilised or constrained due to gas supply limitations (7,443 MW) and water management issues (595.70 MW).”

He added that the Discos remained committed to continually improving on electricity supply services based on the energy made available to them on the grid on a daily basis.

He noted that the Discos believed that the challenges of

the Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry (NESI) could best be resolved with collaboration and alignment of the interests of the stakeholders instead of “finger-pointing or sensationalist reporting.”

ANED stated, “As such, it is important that the reporting of issues in the power sector must be both factual and contextual.

It is very easy for the right data to be interpreted within the wrong context, leading to wrong conclusions.”

NDLEA Intercepts N1.1bn Travellers’ Cheques, 10.89kg Cocaine at Lagos Airport Michael Olugbode in Abuja Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, have intercepted travellers’ cheques in different foreign currencies with a total value of over N1.1 billion.

A statement yesterday, by the spokesman of the NDLEA, Femi Babafemi, revealed, “Travellers’ cheques in different foreign currencies with a total value of N1, 157, 670,469.92 have been intercepted at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, MMIA, Ikeja, Lagos by operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA.” Babafemi disclosed that a suspect, Oguma Uchenna, was arrested in connection with an

attempt to export the cheques, which he said were neatly concealed inside four bound hardcover books disguised as academic project literatures, to the United Kingdom.

He said the financial instruments suspected to be counterfeits were discovered last Wednesday at the NAHCO export shed of the Lagos airport during cargo examination of some consignments meant for exportation to the UK on a cargo flight.

Babafemi disclosed that a breakdown of the cheques showed they had monetary values of $287, 623.31; $1,456,300 and €1,297,800.

He said also at the Lagos airport, operatives of NDLEA foiled attempts by drug traffickers to smuggle into Nigeria 10.89 kilogrammes of cocaine through a Qatar Airways flight. He said the illicit drug was hidden in seven

children's duvets packed in an unaccompanied bag from Brazil.

According to him, raid operations in Kaduna, Ondo and Akwa Ibom states led to the seizure of about 2,000 kilogrammes of tramadol, codeine, cannabis and heroin.

In Ondo State, 401 kilogrammes of cannabis were recovered and two suspects – Julius Dapo, 56, and Emeka Ikebuaku, 32 – were arrested at Ipele forest in Owo area on Sunday 24th April.

On same day, a transborder drug trafficker, Chigbo Chinonye, 42, was arrested with amphetamine weighing 2.5 kilogrammes and heroin weighing 0.5 kilogramme during a stop and search operation conducted along Oron- Ibaka road, on his way to Cameroon. He was said to have concealed the drugs using false bottom packaging.

In Kaduna, also, Babafemi revealed that a total of 47 cartons of suspected fake tramadol, comprising 2,350,000 tablets, weighing 1222 kilogrammes were seized in Zaria on Monday, April 25, while a dealer, Chinedu Asogwa, was arrested the following day, April 26, along Abuja-Kaduna express road, with 2919 bottles of cough syrup with codeine, measuring 291.9 litres with a gross weight of 396 kilogrammes.

Chairman/Chief Executive of NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Buba Marwa (rtd.) commended the officers and men of MMIA, Ondo, Akwa Ibom, and Kaduna commands of the agency for the seizures and arrests in the past week.

He charged the officers and their compatriots across the country to remain steadfast and vigilant in their areas of responsibility.

NIGERIA'S STOCK MARKET SUSTAINS POSITIVE MOMENTUM, GAINS N4.5TRN IN FOUR MONTHS as projected by analysts and that is what is driving the optimism," he added.

On his part, the Chief Operating Officer (COO), Supra Commercial Trust Limited, Mr. Charles Fakrogha, noted that the steadfastness of the quoted companies boosted the capital market growth in four months of 2022.

He also alluded that the increasing global oil price contributed to stock market performance as the government has more revenue to execute some infrastructural projects.

According to him, “These companies have sustained growth in revenue and profit despite challenges.

“With the improved performance, of course the market will react and the reason why investors trading on the NGX stock market gained over N4 trillion in four months.”

He projected that the stock market would sustain the growth in May 2022.

He said, “The listed companies have device methods to overcome harsh operating environments and of course, they still have

some challenges.

"We expect the stock market to perform better in the remaining months of H1 as the government is expected to do its part in tackling the security situation in the country.”

In his contribution. the Chief Operating Officer, InvestData Ltd, Mr. Ambrose Omordion noted that most listed companies were undervalued as covid-19 affected their performance, stressing that local & foreign investors in the first four months of 2022 took advantage of the low-priced

stocks.

He added, “Most companies have engaged in aggressive revenue growth when the lockdown was eased and we have seen the impact on profit.

“The global trend is also playing its role in what is happening in Nigeria. In the USA, most big companies are posting negative results and it is reflecting in their GDP. “However, Nigeria’s big companies on the NGX have reported positive performance and it is likely to show in GDP projection for Q1 2022.”

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Group Politics Editor NSEOBONG OKON-EKONG

POLITICS

Email: nseobong.okonekong@thisdaylive.com 08114495324 SMS ONLY

M O N D AY D I S C O U R S E

Is APC Ready to Take the Bull by the Horn?

Segun James writes that President Muhammadu Buhari is subtly fighting some political battles with politicians and that this may have consequences on the 2023 permutations of the ruling All Progressives Congress

Buhari

T

here is no denying that the race towards 2023 presidential election is already on, but what is unclear is whether or not President Muhammadu Buhari has realized this.

Hardly has a day passed without Nigerians waking up to yet another negative headline in the media suggesting that they are facing an existential crisis. If the nation is not fighting terrorists masquerading as Muslim fundamentalists in the North-east, it is engaging economic saboteurs claiming to be liberators in the Niger Delta.

At the same time, Biafran agitators are still pushing their agenda; and as all these go on, the dollar-naira exchange rate continues to confound the government.

All these are disheartening to the citizenry who, feeling the pangs of poverty, are blaming it on the Buhari government, either rightly or wrongly. At no other time has Nigeria being so unpredictable, polarized.

This is the situation in the country when the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) announced that it is yet to determine if it will honour or jettison the time held gentlemen’s agreement that presidency will rotate between the north and south, the system that herald the coming of Buhari as President of the Federal Republic.

Condemnations have continued to trailed the claim by the APC that it had not decided on where to zone its presidential ticket for the 2023 elections. The politicians are sure to fight back and this is reflective in some first of its kind actions seen lately.

Governor Nasir el-Rufai of Kaduna State had before the party’s March 26 National Convention, stated that even though the ruling party had not decided on zoning the presidential ticket, the swapping of national offices was an indication of where its presidential candidate would come from.

The APC swapped its national offices between North and South, leading to the emergence of Senator Abdullahi Adamu from the Northcentral as the National Chairman in March.

The emergence of Adamu from the North is a strong indication that the presidential candidate of the party will automatically come from the South.

But Adamu, who spoke on the controversial zoning issue after presenting the party’s candidate in the forthcoming Ekiti State governorship election, Biodun Oyebanji, to President Muhammadu Buhari at the State House, Abuja, said the party had not taken any zoning decision.

He said such a decision would be the job of the entire party, which he said was bigger than himself as chairman. “I am today privileged to be the Chairman of the party. The party is greater than me. The party has not made a decision and I cannot preempt what the party’s decision will be.”

But in a swift reaction, the apex Igbo socio-

Osinbajo

cultural organisation, Ohanaeze Ndigbo; Pan Niger Delta Forum (PANDEF), Arewa Consultative Youth Forum (ACYF), and the SouthSouth Elders’ Forum (SSEF) have condemned the indecision.

This is coming as the Minister of Transportation, Hon. Rotimi Amaechi, said he would support President Muhammadu Buhari and APC’s preferred candidate for the 2023 presidential election.

In its reaction to APC’s indecision on zoning, PANDEF described Adamu’s claim as careless and illconsidered. “How can he (Adamu) make such a remark? Do they mean well for this country at all? This is a man who emerged as National Chairman of the party through the instrumentality of zoning,” Robinson said.

He noted that all the positions in the party had been switched between the South and North.

“It is an established political stratagem of political parties in the country that any time the national chairmanship position of a party goes to the South, the presidency goes to the North and the other way round.

In 2014, the APC zoned its national chairmanship position to the South, and the presidency went to the North; therefore, in 2023, the presidency of the APC, and indeed, any serious political party in Nigeria must go to the South. Anything otherwise would be more than an overture to undesirable cataclysms in the country,” he explained.

Also reacting, the SSEF warned that any attempt to deny the South the position of the presidential candidate of the APC would be an invitation to anarchy.

According to the National Leader of the SSEF, Chief Anabs Sara-Igbe, such a decision will give ethnic na-

Jonathan

Tinubu

tionalities in the South a sense that they are not wanted in the country.

Sara-Igbe expressed the fear that any attempt to jettison the unwritten gentlemen’s agreement between the North and the South would lead to a catastrophic reaction, the end of which nobody can predict.

On its part, the ACYF has called on the National Chairman of APC, Adamu, to withdraw his statement that the party had not taken a position on zoning.

The ACYF, in a statement yesterday, said the statement credited to Adamu was capable of heating the polity and spelling doom for the party if not quickly withdrawn.

The group said it was worrisome that the party chairman could come up with such an inflammable statement when all critical stakeholders are already on the same page on the need for the presidency to return to the South in 2023.

“The unfortunate statement credited to Senator Adamu is regrettable just as it is demeaning of his status as the chairman of a ruling party. Even a political novice is aware that the consensus from critical political stakeholders is that the presidency must return to the South in 2023. .“His statement that no agreement had been reached on zoning is not in the best interest of the party. The statement is capable of leading to electoral defeat for our great party if not quickly withdrawn.

“It is a statement that can confuse, overheat the polity and eventually lead to electoral defeat.

Leaders must learn to weigh their words and also feel the pulse of the people when making statements on issues as important as this,” AYCF explained.

In its reaction, Ohanaeze Ndigbo yesterday asked President Muhammadu Buhari to demonstrate strong courage and leadership by prevailing on his party to zone the 2023 presidency to the South-east.

Speaking through its National Publicity Secretary, Chief Chiedozie Alex Ogbonnia, the organisation said those who came up with the issue of dividing the country along zonal structures were not wrong.

“Some patriots tried to create six zones for

the country and this was done to ensure equity, justice and fairness. That singular action has helped to stabilise the country.

“It is the same wisdom that made President Olusegun Obasanjo to ensure the emergence of a northerner in 2007 even when the odds strongly favoured the then Governor Peter Odili. Since then, power has been moving from North to South.

“This time around, Buhari has to decide and ensure that nothing truncates this process to maintain peace, unity and corporate existence of Nigeria. As the leader of the country and the leader of the APC, President Buhari must demonstrate strong courage by ensuring that power is moved to South-east after him,” the organisation noted.

The organisation, however, warned that anything outside zoning the presidency to the South-east zone would not only boomerang but threaten the nation’s very existence.

“The way APC prevaricates over this issue of zoning is troubling. We however believe that the onus lies on the president; but if he chooses to play the ostrich, he should also bear in mind that history will not be kind to him.

He must sail this ship to safe harbour.

“If they fail to do the needful, let them bear in mind that restiveness, insecurity and cries of marginalisation will never cease and those championing such will be right. The President must write his name in gold by doing the right thing,” Ogbonnia explained.

But not surprising, the Minister of Transportation, Mr Rotimi Amaechi insisted that “I will Support Whoever is Buhari, APC’s Choice.”

Amaechi who expressed his loyalty to President Buhari and the APC. Amaechi, in a statement, said this at a consultative meeting with executives, delegates and another party faithful at the Rivers APC Secretariat at the weekend.

The minister indicated that in his bid to become the President of Nigeria, which he is thoroughly qualified for, he was neither desperate nor disloyal.

The two terms governor of Rivers said it was sad that many politicians do not understand the concept of loyalty.

“Loyalty is not when you are not chosen, you become disloyal, loyalty means you follow the man that leads you, that you have surrendered to his leadership.

“If you don’t follow, it means you are not loyal, you are only benefitting from the man politically and economically. The day he’s not able to give you that economic reality, is the day you become disloyal.

“I am a very loyal person, and those who are disloyal, I wish them well, those who want to do whatever they want to do, I wish them well,” he said.

In its reaction to APC’s indecision on zoning, PANDEF described Adamu’s claim as careless and ill-considered.

“How can he (Adamu) make such a remark? Do they mean well for this country at all? This is a man who emerged as National Chairman of the party through the instrumentality of zoning,” Robinson said. He noted that all the positions in the party had been switched between the South and North

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

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PRESIDENTIAL INTERVIEW SERIES III

“

It is clear to us now that Goodluck Jonathan was blackmailed out of office, and the blackmailers are the very people looking for him to return and take over from them

“

Pius Anyim: Without Zoning, PDP Will Lose 2023 Elections

S

enator Anyim Pius Anyim, former President of the Senate and erstwhile Secretary to the Government of the Federation, is one of the few presidential aspirants of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), who boasts requisite knowledge of the system, government and governance, and he does not waste time leveraging this strength, which, without a doubt, confers rare advantage on him. With a good understanding of the issues and clear insights into how they could be tamed, Anyim comes to the ring prepared, perhaps, to the shock of his opponents. In this interview with THISDAY, he took his time breaking down the issues and situating them in context. Excerpts: Continued on page 20

T H I S D AY • MONDAY, MAY 2, 2022

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PRESIDENTIAL INTERVIEW SERIES III

I Understand Nigeria and Its Problems Better country, overseeing allocation of resources, allocation of appointments, observing federal character and managing our diversity in a very efficient and effective manner.

So, having gone through this, it is only patriotic of me, that I deploy this experience to give this country a direction, to give this country a focus, to rescue Nigeria from where we are today.

You have been very vocal in insisting that the PDP must respect zoning. Is that the only hope you have of becoming Nigeria’s next president?

Certainly not. If you still remember when I declared, I was clear that I will run whether there’s zoning or not. And some people asked me, does it mean that if it is zoned against you, you will disobey the party’s policy or its constitution. And I said no. The truth of the matter is that if it is zoned, it is going to favour me, because it’s going to be zoned to the south, but if it is not zoned, it simply means they are leaving it open. So, the two options are whether to zone to the south or not.

For me, sometimes I make personal allusions to the issue of zoning on principle and the truth of the matter is that any organisation that does not respect its constitution, is actually, as I have said in several places, going to enthrone chaos. Why? Democracy is a system of rules and order, so if you have set a rule for yourself, you are bound to follow that rule. You cannot, midway, because you have a strong group, strongmen and all that, now breach your rules and trust. That actually will haunt the organisation in the long run.

And my conclusion is usually that it will weaken the institution and it will breed strongmen and once the institution is weakened, in the long run, it will not have capacity to protect anybody, and everybody will suffer for it, including the institution itself.

It’s on this principle that at times, I allude or raise the issue of zoning, but apart from zoning, I am running, because I have the experience, I have the exposure, the competence, I have the capacity. In fact, I always qualify my experience, that of all the people in the race, I have the most cognate experience to lead the country, at this point in our history.

Some of your fellow aspirants in the PDP, particularly, those from the Northern part of the country, are arguing that what PDP needs now is to win the presidential election and return the party to power and not zoning. What do you make of this argument?

But the only thing that can make them (PDP) win the presidential election is zoning. The crisis we have today is simply bad governance occasioned by inequality and inequity. Once you respect zoning, that is equitable, and people will be committed to the system.

Part of our problem today is that we don’t give people the opportunity to have a stake in the system.

So, what will make PDP win is actually zoning, because APC has as well zoned to the south. So, if you have the two candidates from the south, now you are building a nation, where equity, fairness, and justice reign.

It is only in that circumstance that you can win. If you bring another candidate just to satisfy personal interest with disregard for what is equitable, what is fair, what is right, what is just, that will represent inequity, then we are bound to lose the election Do you think coming from the South-east, usually with the least votes, presents the PDP any chance to win the 2023 presidential election?

Check your statistics. Maybe, because it is not usually defined on records. The South-easterners are the second-highest population in almost every state of Nigeria after the indigenes. In Lagos, Kano, Kaduna, Rivers and right across the federation, you need to check it out. When you talk about the south-east as a people, you are talking about the most mobile population in the country, they are all over the place.

So, when you’re talking about those who are in the south-east, voting or not voting, that’s not really where the concentration of south-easterners is. So, the votes in other places are also determined and decided by south-easterners. If you ask me, giving a south-easterner an opportunity will ignite a voter turnout across the country beyond your imagination and I think that is the winning vote.

While PDP’s Committee on zoning was yet to submit its report, some presidential aspirants in your party first from the Northern part, namely Senator Bukola Saraki, Governor Aminu Tambuwal, Governor Bala Mohammed and Alhaji Mohammed Hayatudeen started visiting different states together, pushing for a consensus northern candidate. Similarly, yourself, Mr. Peter Obi, Sam Ohuabunwa and Dr. Nwachukwu Anakwenze, from the South-east, have also met. What is this about?

Well, I can draw a slight difference between the two meetings. One, the meetings among the northern aspirants were to achieve consensus amongst themselves, but the meeting of the south-eastern aspirants was to work together to make sure that the presidency goes to the south-east where it naturally should go now.

And if you look at what we put out, the communiqué we issued after the meeting, we avoided the word consensus. We said our commitment is to work together to make sure that somebody from the South-east emerges as standard-bearer of the PDP and then proceed to win the election come 2023.

This is different from consensus. Consensus might be a second leg of it. So, what we are saying is that look, it is the turn of the South-east and the fact that a number of us are aspiring does not diminish that right.

It does not diminish that turn. So, we are prepared as a zone to come together, to work together, irrespective of our personal interests, to be sure that the zone takes its turn in the country.

But the other aspirants from the north are saying,

What do you think qualifies you to be Nigeria’s president in 2023 at such a time that almost everybody agrees is one of the most challenging in its history?

I can put it this way: all through my working life, I have been in Abuja and if you like, I’ve been around the presidency. I understand the country, I understand the problems, I understand the challenges and I have clarity on what the solutions could be. Short of these experiences and understanding, nobody can effectively run this country at a time like this. And I think I am equipped by my experience, by my exposure; I am equipped by my training, I am equipped by my knowledge of the country to be in the best position to redirect this country on the path of growth, peace and prosperity.

look, let us get together and produce one person, so that if the south produces a whole lot of aspirants, then, we will be in a position to defeat the south.

It is simply a strategy to take from the south what rightly belongs to it. My plea to them is, please let them get together and support the south-east to produce the next president.

Are you people not by that action inadvertently promoting ethnicity and sectionalism to the detriment of national cohesion?

If you look at the constitution of Lebanon, a multi-ethnic, multi-religious country, they zone even ministerial positions in their constitution.

In multi-ethnic societies, you adopt the principle that will bring everybody on the table every time so that suspicion is reduced, distrust is reduced, and unity is enhanced.

In Lebanon, under their constitution, they zone the position of prime minister, presidency, president of the parliament, minister of justice, minister of finance – they are zoned in their constitution and perhaps that’s what has kept them together.

In Switzerland, till today, they still rotate the leadership of the country among the Cantons.

That’s what has kept them together. The principle of zoning is not necessarily to breed ethnicity or sectionalism, it is to put everybody on the table, because Nigeria is a multi-ethnic society.

It is to be sure that every component of the polity is on the table per time. Now, the complaint of marginalisation, the complaint of deprivation, the political complainants all over the place, had always been when all sections of the polity are not part of the decision-making process of the country.

And what we are saying is that at no time

should any part of the country be out of the table in decision making. Let me also say secondly, that when you talk about the federal system, it means first and foremost, you recognise the multi-ethnic nature of the polity, and the federal system must be structured in such a manner that every part of that federation has access to national decisions. So we are saying, do what we have agreed, even in our party, even in our constitution, because our constitution recognises federal character.

But we are now talking about this zoning as ethnicity or as whatever, because it’s a political opportunity. What about admissions into the universities that employ the quota system? What about recruitments into the military, where you have the quota system and in employment into the federal civil service, you must reflect federal character? So, if that applies to keep the country together, why wouldn’t it apply in the leadership of the nation?

You have been President of the Senate and Secretary to the Government of the Federation, what more do you want? Are you not simply using this as a chance to negotiate?

Well, I don’t know what you think I want to negotiate for? But importantly, all I have become, more particularly the two you have just mentioned, I became because I’m a Nigerian. And now that I can see the country going down, it is the time to deploy my experience. I gained vantage experience, as president of the senate running the parliament, with all members from across the country.

As secretary to the government of the federation, I have headed the administrative hub of this

“It is only in that circumstance that you can win. If you bring another candidate just to satisfy personal interest with disregard for what is equitable, what is fair, what is right, what is just, that will represent inequity, then we are bound to lose the election”

You recently said you want to bring Nigeria back to the days of the Goodluck Jonathan administration in 2015. If that administration was that good, why did Nigerians vote it out of power, and what exactly do you want to bring back? Is it the perceived clueless disposition of that government or the corruption it was said to have been known for?

Well, I think Nigerians are the best judges. One, it is clear to us now that Goodluck Jonathan was blackmailed out of office, and the people who blackmailed him out of office are the very people looking for him now to return and take over from them. And before I conclude on this, let me also say: Have you seen what it takes in APC to have any PDP member join them? They will celebrate from the local government, to the state, then to the president.

The same people that were accused of being corrupt, that were accused of being clueless, that were accused of all manner of things are the best catch for the accusers now. But let me say that, if I’m talking about bringing back Goodluck’s administration, I’m talking about bringing back the dollar from N600 to $1 now to N180 to $1. I’m talking about bringing back the economy to the largest and biggest in Africa.

I’m talking about bringing back the economy to the fastest growing in Africa.

I’m talking about bringing back the economy that foreign investors will have confidence in and that could attract direct foreign investment as it used to be during the days of Jonathan. I’m talking about a country, where stability is guaranteed, where safety is guaranteed, where lives and properties are safe, where fundamental rights of citizens are respected, where freedom of expression and speech is guaranteed. I think that’s what I’m talking about. I will not only bring back the days of Jonathan, I will advance it.

You come from the South-east, where agitation for an independent state of Biafra is raging.

Some persons have expressed fears that having a person from the South-east become President of Nigeria in 2023 may result in the South-east easily seceding from Nigeria. Do you think such fears are unfounded?

Grossly unfounded! And I will take you back.

The agitation for Biafra is neither isolated nor new.

I remember during the June 12 crisis, there were such huge agitations in the South-west, that it is either they are part of this country, or they are not. And eventually, when one of them became the president of the country, that agitation died out. I also know that the militancy in the Niger Delta was so bad that if not for the way President Olusegun Obasanjo managed it, it would have led to agitations like this, and it was at a time everybody was so scared that if you allow somebody from the South-south become president of Nigeria, they will graduate that agitation to secession.

Immediately, President Goodluck Jonathan became president of Nigeria, that agitation died. In fact, not when he became president, immediately he became vice president of Nigeria, that agitation died out. IPOB agitation is not the only one in the country today. There are a number of them across the country like the Boko Haram insurgency, like Sunday Igboho’s agitation in the South-west. I believe that if a south-easterner becomes the president of Nigeria, that agitation will die.

How do you reconcile your aspiration to be president of Nigeria with the heightened and violent agitation for Biafra by some people from the South-east?

It’s exactly what I have answered, and those agitating are frustrated, young South-easterners, and I tell you, maybe I will put it this way: somebody asked me once, what is the single, most important demand of the south east.

And I replied, the most important, single demand of the southeast from Nigeria is reintegration. Once they feel that they have been fully reintegrated into Nigeria, all agitations will naturally be extinguished. So, my position is that if you give them a sense of belonging, and maybe expand opportunities for everybody, and Continued on page 21

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Those Who Blackmailed Jonathan Now Want to Make Him President they feel equal as citizens of Nigeria, those agitations will simply be extinguished.

For a long time now, there have been strident calls for restructuring from many parts of Nigeria. Recently, eminent legal practitioner, Chief Afe Babalola, called for the postponement of the 2023 elections, to allow Nigeria form an interim government to produce another constitution before holding elections. First, what does restructuring mean to you? Do you see it as a necessary condition for Nigeria to regain stability and make progress? Lastly, do you think Nigeria’s present constitution is good enough?

I will answer by saying that restructuring has been shown to mean different things to different people per time. I avoid getting into the controversy of the definition of restructuring, but one thing I know is that the structure the country assumed at independence was extensively negotiated, extensively canvassed and extensively agreed on.

There were negotiations, there were constitutional conferences, and even at the last lap, the minorities raised issues or fears and the colonial masters set up the Willink’s Commission to look into their fears. They didn’t just decree a structure for the nation. No, they did not at all.

So, if we for any reason think that the present structure we have is not working, we have to sit down, discuss it and build a consensus going forward, not anybody waking up to say, this is my definition of restructuring. If you throw in anything by your own definition, it will not work, because other components of the polity will not accept it.

But I agree that we could present a platform for dialogue, for negotiations, for discussions and build a consensus. Based on that consensus, if we need to make an adjustment, we’ll make it as agreed by all and such adjustment everybody will commit to it, in building the nation So, I don’t want to go into the meaning of anybody’s definition of restructuring. But I want to believe that if all of us feel that the structure we have today is not what we want, we will all sit over and agree on the structure that works for all of us and now carry on from there.

What about the call for an interim government from Chief Afe Babalola?

I am surprised that Afe Babalola made that suggestion, because one, he is a seasoned lawyer and two, more particularly, because that is unconstitutional. And certainly there can’t be a vacuum. So, what provision of our constitution will authorize an interim government?

So, you can’t preach the rule of law and step outside the law to set up a structure that cannot work. So, because it’s unconstitutional, it has no space in our system. That cannot work. But I also know that under any government, the country can still have discussions. The country can still have negotiations and dialogue, and arrive at a consensus that will be acceptable to everybody and we ‘ll build our nation on that. So certainly, that has no space in our system.

Is Nigeria’s current constitution good enough to lead the people to the Promised Land?

You see, I have always believed that democracy is a government of the people, by the people, and for the people. That for the people, and that by the people is very critical in taking any decision of permanent importance to the people, of permanent existence of the polity, of permanent existence of the nation.

If any part of the polity is not agreeable to the structure you want to impose, it won’t work. So, what I’m saying in essence, is that whether the constitution is working, or not working, if you look at our history, our constitutional history, you’ll find out that our founding fathers were effective in adjusting the constitution as they were going.

When we talk about structure today, that’s not the first one. In 1963, the parliament still created the Midwestern state within the constitutional framework, and it was acceptable by everybody.

There was no problem about the creation of the Midwestern state under the constitution.

But why people are raising issues now is mainly because the military altered the structure without enough consultation, without enough consensus, so it is the military fingerprints on the constitutional structure that are creating the concerns people are raising now. I want to believe that we have returned to civilian administration and for that reason, we should be able to pull ourselves together, dialogue, and reach a consensus on what works for us if what the military left for us is no longer working.

I want to emphasise again, that the civilian constitution of Nigeria, had been altered before to accommodate a new structure and there was no problem about it and it worked.

Nigeria is presently embroiled in a seemingly intractable security challenge. If you become president in 2023, what would you do differently to bring the security situation under control?

I will start from where we started under this

“I remember during the June 12 crisis, there were such huge agitations in the Southwest, that it is either they are part of this country, or they are not. And eventually, when one of them became the president of the country, that agitation died” democratic dispensation in 1999, and if you don’t start from there, you will not understand the root cause. In 1999, when I was running for election to the senate, I once left my village in Ebonyi State by 7pm and arrived Abuja at 3am.

I had no fear of any danger on the road and nothing happened to me. Then people were safe, people were free, the society was sane. I want to say that at that time, we had a very low crime rate in the country. Everybody was expectantly waiting for democracy to return and that democracy will deliver dividends to everybody. And everybody will have a stake in the society.

What are those dividends? Employment, equality, economy will improve, political decisions will be more inclusive, because everybody will be carried along and all that. You will agree with me that it’s as we made this journey into democracy that things started to fall apart because instead of delivering employment, unemployment has escalated.

Most of our young people have no food, no jobs, instead of the economy expanding to create more jobs for our teeming population, the economy has shrunk and food has become scarce. You will also agree with me that the deterioration has been growing progressively. The situation as of today is not the same under Obasanjo, not the same under Yar’Adua, not the same under Jonathan. It has escalated to its peak under the present administration.

And this captures the nexus between political leadership, economic management and social cohesion.

So, if you ask me what I will do differently, one, I will be sure that the economic direction of the country fits into the new world economic direction, which prepares Nigeria for the fourth industrial revolution that is here with us.

What it means is that the kind of employment architecture that we need to deploy is no longer such that people will queue up for white collar jobs. We will create innovative hubs, create start-up corridors and encourage young people to unleash their creative abilities. I am sure that as we do that, as the economy also seeks to return to private sector and government withdraws from doing business to regulatory functions, then the economy will expand in such a manner that it will attract foreign investment, it will attract venture capitalists and our people will begin to get more meaningfully engaged.

And once you are engaged, you have a stake

in the society, then you have to defend it. But when you have no stake in the society, obviously, then you have no reason to defend it. Two, you will also notice that, more particularly now, the political management of our diversity is very poor.

Appointments are made with a particular section being marginalised and all that. So, I will bring inclusiveness in managing our diversity. I will focus on expanding economic opportunities in managing our economy. In other words, I will ensure that market solutions become the model.

In other words, government will withdraw from businesses, while the private sector will be at the forefront of running the economy. I will also be sure that political decisions are taken in consultation with every component or section of the society. We will build consensus in all that affects everybody and we’ll be able to manage all the little differences that we have. I must say, too, that when the Niger Delta militancy escalated, the management of that militancy was actually the reason why we were able to achieve a permanent solution to it.

I will manage insecurity properly and how will I do it? I will stratify insecurity. Because we have insurgency, we have banditry, we have secessionist agitations, we have armed robbery, we have cultism that actually expands and grows into other forms of vices. By the time you stratify them, you simply get down and deploy the appropriate mechanism to contend with each of them according to their peculiarities. The criminals will be dealt with as criminals, then, agitations that ordinarily would simply be for political reasons or social disharmony would be addressed that way, and so on.

But I would want you to go back to my open letter to the president. I wrote an open letter to him on the way to address the armed agitations and general insecurity in the country. I was of the opinion that arms alone are not enough, military actions alone will not be enough. It has to be a combined action, involving social, economic, and political solutions.

Aside insecurity, Nigeria is facing myriad of other challenges. The economy is almost prostrate; many acknowledge that Nigeria is more divided today than ever before in its history; cost of living is very high, unemployment is at the highest level, and the youth

are almost permanently restless. Are you not intimidated by these humongous problems?

What do you think you can do immediately as president to give hope to Nigerians?

I’m sure you have not captured all the situations as they were. You’ll also have to include that the debt crisis is a time bomb waiting to happen. You also need to include that the petroleum subsidy that is deferred to the next government is also a time bomb waiting to happen.

There are so many others you have to add to it. My position is that once you have the right leadership, the leadership that will drive the economy on the right path, the leadership that will be responsive to the citizens’ yearnings and aspirations and the leadership that will manage our diversity properly, then, all these will be reversed.

Because I will provide that leadership, I am not worried about those problems. They are problems today, but working committedly with all Nigerians, we shall reverse the situations. They are tough, I agree, but they are not permanent.

Now that you have mentioned them, let’s deep dive into the twin issues of debt management and fuel subsidy. The amount of debt, the level of borrowing by this administration you want to succeed is much. How do you intend to go about this and the issue of subsidy?

I was in government with President Obasanjo when the issue of managing our debts was his greatest headache, and what did he do? He brought a competent hand, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, a globally recognised and respected development economist and she was able to structure a direction for debt forgiveness and a chunk of our debts were forgiven. I understand that most of the debts they are accumulating now are tied to certain projects, but eventually most of the funds go into recurrent expenditure.

I will restructure government spending in such a manner that much of our income will go into capital projects and not into recurrent expenditure. I will engage competent hands to repeat what Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala did under Obasanjo and we’ll be able to manage the debts and find ways to cope with it. On fuel subsidy, the most urgent thing to do is to pursue the liberalisation of the downstream sector to a logical conclusion, in such a manner that will not suffocate ordinary Nigerians.

People should be able to set up refineries, no matter how small and sell to the market, so that even if you are subsidising, you will be subsidising at the crude point, not at the refined product point.

This is because the point we are subsidising now is why the fraud is there, but if there are subsidies at the crude point for refining, and given that not everybody has a refinery, the number of people involved will be small, making it easier for management and control.

NOTE: Read full interview in the online edition on www.thisdaylive.com

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UBA, Access Bank, 10 Others Beat Analysts’ Forecasts, Rake in N334bn Profit in Q1

Kayode Tokede Despite the global and domestic economy challenges,12 Nigerian banks reported N334 billion profit before tax in the first quarter ended March 31, 2022, an increase of 13.7per cent from N293.5 billion reported in the first quarter of 2021.

Analysis of the banks’ profit & loss figures showed 10.4 per cent increase in profit after tax to N281.56 billion in the quarter under review from N255.07 billion reported in Q1 2021.

The banks unaudited financial statement for Q1 showed impressive profitability growth amid hike in total operating expenses and provisions

for bad loans.

The 12 banks are; Access Holdings Plc, United Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc, Zenith bank Plc Ecobank Transnational Incorporated (ETI), Guaranty Trust Holding Plc (GTCO) Plc, Others include; Union Bank for Nigeria Plc, Stanbic IBTC Holdings Plc, FCMB group Plc, Wema Bank Plc, Sterling Bank Plc, Fidelity Bank Plc and Jaiz Bank Plc. Meanwhile, it was learnt that UBA, Zenith Bank and Access Holdings surpassed analysts profit before tax forecast for the period under review.

Of all the 12 banks, only Union Bank of Nigeria reported decline in

profit before tax.

The breakdown showed that Zenith bank grew profit before tax by 11 per cent to N67.99 billion in Q1 2022 from N61.92 billion reported in Q1 2021, as Access Bank grew profit before tax by 8.5 per cent to N65.12billion in Q1 2022 from N60.05billion in Q1 2021.

In the same vein, UBA reported about 10 per cent increase in profit before tax to N44.48 billion in Q1 2022 from N40.58 billion in Q1 2021, while GTCO reported marginal increase of 1.12 per cent growth in profit before tax to N54.29 billion in Q1 2022 from N53.68 billion in Q1 2021.

Zenith bank in a statement

expressed that the growth in profit was achieved by a year-on-year (YoY) growth in gross earnings of 22per cent from N157.3 billion reported in Q1 2021 to N191.5 billion in Q1 2022.

According to the bank, “This double-digit growth in the topline also spurred our bottom line as the Group recorded an 11per cent YoY increase in profit before tax, growing from N61 billion in Q1 2021 to N68 billion in Q1 2022.

“Profit after tax also grew by 10per cent from N53.1 billion to N58.2 billion over the same period.

Topline growth was mainly driven by the growth in interest income, fees on electronic products and trading income.”

However, ETI’s profit before tax grew significantly by 29 per cent to N52.07billion in Q1 2022 from N40.58billion in Q1 2021.

The Chief executive officer, Ecobank Group, Ade Ayeyemi stated that the performance was achieved in a difficult operating environment characterised by the strengthening of the US dollar against local operating currencies, high inflation, high interest rates and tight labour markets across Africa as the Russia-Ukraine conflict continued to take its toll.

“Despite these challenges, we continued to support our customers effectively, which paid off as our businesses grew their revenues

and profits. These were driven by trade, cash management, FICC and payments, while we also achieved modest loan growth with support from higher interest rates.”

The Chief Executive officer, Sterling bank, Mr. Abubakar Suleiman in a statement expressed that 2022 commenced with great expectations for growth globally on the back of the recovery achieved in 2021.

According to him, “However, the outbreak of conflict in eastern Europe had resulted in elevated energy prices, stoked inflation globally and undermined the expected pace of economic growth In Nigeria, this Continued on page 24

NACCIMA to FG: Certificate of Origin Will Checkmate Oil Theft Dike Onwuamaeze The Nigerian Association of Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (NACCIMA) has advised the federal government to use Certificate of Origin (CoO) to fight the sale of stolen Nigerian crude oil in the international market.

The National President of NAC-

CIMA, Mr. John Udeagbala, gave the advice during a quarterly press briefing where he asserted that the issuance of the CoO is the ultimate step Nigeria must take to address the theft of its crude oil inorder to increase its public revenues.

He said: “If the oil export in Nigeria should be done in a way it is meant to be done there must

be certification with the issuing of Certificate of Origin, which means that this oil is actually Nigerian oil.

And no buyer can buy crude oil without this certificate.

Udeagbala claimed that the right to issue the CoO should be domiciled with the NACCIMA, since it is the chambers of commerce all over the world that certified export products.

“That is a possibility that is domiciled with chambers of commerce all over the world. We are trying now to engage the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) to understand who issues this CoO to them. This is one step that we must follow to increase our revenues. So that when the oil pipeline is broken, those stealing the oil cannot go to

anywhere to sell it. I want special attention to be paid to this,” he said.

He stated that government must take decisive action to increase its revenue in the face of rising public debt.

“If the government cannot reduce its cost then it must increase its earnings. The new kid in town is crude oil stealing. But, is it difficult to control

crude oil theft? Government must have the political will. NACCIMA is the agency as it is the chambers of commerce all over the world, which issue what we call Certificate of Origin, which validates products from every country.

“How is the NNPC) is managing Continued on page 29

M A R K E T D ATA A S AT F R I D AY, A P R I L 2 9 , 2 0 2 2 BILLS

BONDS DESCRIPTION

Price

Yield

14.20 14-MAR2024 13.53 23-MAR2025 12.50 22-JAN2026 16.2884 17MAR-2027 13.98 23-FEB2028

110.85

7.85

108.67

10.00

105.73

10.59

120.31

10.82

112.52

11.00

Change Updated Time (%) 29, -0.01 April 2022 29, 0.13 April 2022 29, 0.00 April 2022 29, 0.00 April 2022 29, 0.00 April 2022

Discount

NTB 12May-22 NTB 9-Jun22 NTB 14-Jul22 NTB 11Aug-22

289,00 289,00

0.00 April 29, 2022

304,00 305,00

0.00 April 29, 2022

323,00 325,00

0.00 April 29, 2022

350,00 354,00

0.00 April 29, 2022

NTB 8-Sep22

348,00 353,00

-0.08 April 29, 2022

Yield

OTC F X F U T U R E S

CPS

MATURITY

Change Updated Time (%)

MATURITY UNCP CP VI 2-MAY-22 NEVE CP I 24-MAY-22 DANC CP II 25-MAY-22 TRBH CP V 26-JUL-22 FSDH CP VI 1-AUG-22

Discount Yield

Change Updated Time (%)

8.95

0.31 April 29, 2022

16.52 16.71

0.02 April 29, 2022

8.94

8.59

8.64

0.01 April 29, 2022

10.81 11.10

-0.77 April 29, 2022

7.38

7.52

-0.79 April 29, 2022

CONTRACT Current TENOR Contract Rate ($/₦) (MONTH) NGUS MAY 25 1 427.24 2022 NGUS JUN 29 428.93 2 2022 NGUS JUL 27 3 430.63 2022 NGUS AUG 31 4 432.32 2022 NGUS SEP 28 5 434.02 2022

Updated Time

April 29, 2022 April 29, 2022 April 29, 2022 April 29, 2022 April 29, 2022

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MONDAY, MAY 2, 2022 ˾ T H I S D AY

BUSINESSWORLD

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REWARD FOR SHAREHOLDERS…

L-R: Head, Internal Control, Sigma Pensions Limited, Mr Emmanuel Eje; Head, Compliance, Zainab Kaka; V.P Business Development North, Mr. Nuhu Modibbo; Company Secretary/Legal Adviser, Mrs Mojisole Oyewole; (Executive Director, Technical , Mr. Ibrahim Balarabe; AVP, Relationship Management North, Mrs. Ophelia Alex-Iwuanyanwu; Head, Benefits Administration, Mr. Abdulrahman Bappa and Head, Finance Mrs. Ebehijele Edeh at the company’s Annual General Meeting held in Abuja… recently

Experts: $89bn of Africa’s Wealth Lost Annually to Illicit Financial Flows Oluchi Chibuzor As Africa loses almost 4 per cent of its gross domestic products (GDP) annually to capital flights, it has been noted that about $89 billion of the continent’s wealth is lost annually to illicit financial flows (IFFs), undermining its capability to achieve sustainable development, political stability, and peace.

According to experts the growing level of Illicit capital flight, money laundering, terrorist financing, and corruption are a serious consequence of the systemic shortcomings of professionals, which now threatens national security, economic and political stability in the West African region.

To this end, a roundtable on Public and Private Sector Discussion with the theme, “Strengthening

Anti-Money Laundering/ Countering Terrorist Financing (AML/ CTF) & Curbing Illicit Financial Flows (IFF) in Nigeria and the West Africa Region,” was organised by the Institute of Directors’ Centre for Corporate Governance (IOD CCG), with support from the Centre for International Private Enterprise.

The discussion, which engaged both the private sector gatekeepers and enablers in building consensus and fostering collaboration in solving AML and CFT, agreed it was therefore a collective priority of the private sector, civil society and government to address systemic challenges and gaps undermining the efforts to curb IFF and ML/TF. Speaking at the event, Chairman, IoD Centre for Corporate Governance, Shuaibu Idris, stressed

that tackling illicit financial flows was a matter of survival for Africa’s development.

He noted that illicit flows constitute a drain on Africa’s foreign exchange reserves, reduce efforts to enhance domestic resource mobilisation, contract investment inflows and contribute to low social development indicators including poverty and inequality.

“Africa not only loses about five of continental GDP annually to illicit capital flights but the proliferation of illicit financial flows enables terrorist activity and insecurity from the Lake Chad region which includes Nigeria spanning the Sahel region. The losses to economic growth, trade opportunities, and social development are therefore unquantifiable.

“It is a collective responsibility

and a priority for the private sector, civil society and government to address systemic challenges and gaps undermining the efforts to curb IFF and ML/TF including lack of transparency, weak accountability mechanisms, under capacity, resource mismatch, and others that can be identified through dialogue and strategic engagements on this nature,” he emphasised.

For, Senior Managing Director, K2Integity, Mariano Federici, there was no effective way of combating corruption without private public partnership as it allows for coordination, information sharing, assessment of risks, and sharing operational intelligence to enable investigations.

“Only about 10 per cent of suspicious reports filed are investigated and this is a global

problem. Experience from our reporting on the FinCEN Files project suggests a weak regulatory institution in the US and low level of investigating SARs,” he stated.

On how can jurisdiction be better positioned to detect illicit flows through cryptocurrency, Federici said even though it shows tremendous progress for the financial system in terms of moving values across the world it also raises risks of illicit financial flows.

Speaking, a representative of the CIBN president and former Chief Compliance Officer, Heritage bank, Wumi Adeniyi said PPPs in the fight against money laundering would allow everybody to find it and comply.

In his remarks, CEO IoDCCG, Mr. Nerus Ekezie, said AML/CTF

engagements have usually been short of participation of core actors in the financial institutions and real estate sector.

He adds, “The Roundtable draws the attention of these stakeholders. DNFBPs have a low level of understanding their AML/CTF obligations, according to the Mutual Evaluation Report for Nigeria (GIABA). Therefore, this is the need to focus attention on FIs and REs. At the end of the workshop, it is expected that there will be improved coordination between the private sector and regulators and stronger compliance.”

For panelists, about $89 billion of African wealth is lost annually to IFFs, which undermines the capability to achieve sustainable development, political stability, and peace on the continent.

PenCom: All PFAs Met April 27 Recapitalisation Deadline Ebere Nwoji The National Pension Commission (PenCom) has announced that all Pension Fund Administrators (PFAs) in the country met its April 27,2022 deadline of upgrading their minimum operating capital from N1 billion to N5 billion.

PenCom Director General, Aisha Dahir-Umar who disclosed this in a statement said, “All PFAs have complied with the commis-

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

sion’s directive for the increase of the Minimum Regulatory Capital (Shareholders’ Fund) from N1 billion to N5 billion.”

PenCom had in April 27,2021 mandated all pension fund administrators in the country to upgrade their operating minimum capital from N1 billion to N5 billion, giving them one year grace period to meet the new capital.

According to the commission, the exercise had become expedient as the value of pension fund assets under management and custody had grown exponentially by 244 per cent, from N3 trillion in 2012 (when the previous recapitalisation was done) to N12.29 trillion (as at December 31, 2020).

PenCom noted that the sustained growth in assets implied greater fiduciary responsibilities that required more operational capacity by the PFAs. It said the urgent need to ramp up PFAs capacity to manage the increasing number of registered contributors and value of pension fund assets under management led to the exercise.

“It is worthwhile to state that 10 PFAS had met the new regulatory capital requirement of N5 billion as at 31 December 2021, while the others intensified efforts to meet the deadline of 27 April 2022. This resulted in some mergers and acquisitions, which led to the reduction of

the number of PFAs from 22 to 20, ”it stated.

Meanwhile, it was learnt that some firms that could not meet the new capital on their own merged with others while some others were acquired.

For instance, before the deadline, the commission approved the acquisition of AllCO Pension Managers Limited by FCMB Pensions Limited; and the merger between Tangerine Pensions Limited and APT Pension Funds Managers Limited.

The commission had also approved Norrenberger’s acquisition of IEI-Anchor Pension Managers Limited, after its acquisition of the majority

shareholder, in IEI PIc. According to the commission, With the conclusion of the recapitalisation exercise, stakeholders, particularly RSA holders, should expect increased effectiveness and efficiency as well as improved service delivery from PFAS. Before now, there were 22 licensed PFAs operating in the system and four Pension Fund Custodians. With this development, there are now 20 Pension Fund Administrative operating in the country.

They are: ARM Pension Managers Limited ,CrusaderSterling Pensions Limited, FCMB Pensions Limited which has taken over AIICO Pensions, Fidelity Pension

Manager First Guarantee Pension Limited, Investment One Pension Managers Limited, Leadway Pensure PFA Limited, Nigerian University Pension Management Company (NUPEMCO), NLPC Pension Fund Administrators Limited and NPF Pensions Limited.

Others include; OAK Pensions Limited, Pensions Alliance Limited, Premium Pension Limited,Radix Pension Managers Limited, Sigma Pensions Limited, Stanbic IBTC Pension Managers Limited, Tangerine Pensions Limited, Trustfund Pensions Limited and Veritas Glanvills Pensions Limited.

UBA, ACCESS BANK, 10 OTHERS BEAT ANALYSTS’ FORECASTS, RAKE IN N334BN PROFIT IN Q1 development in addition to supply chain disruptions impacted prices further and resulted in rising inflation “Despite the macroeconomic setbacks, our business showed remarkable resilience as we adapted to our new environment and continued to deliver value to all stakeholders Our customer centric strategy has enabled us to continue to support our partners through innovative product offerings.”

On its part, Union bank of Nigeria that reported 9.6 per cent to N5.84 billion profit before tax in Q1 2022 from N6.46billion in Q1 2021 was the only bank with decline in profit before tax.

The Chief executive officer, Union Bank of Nigeria, Mr. Emeka Okonkwo in a statement said the bank in 2022 renewed its focus on turbocharging productivity

and ensuring fully leverage the strength of its digital channels, regional network and talent to maximise the bottom line.

During the period under review, Wema Bank grew profit before tax by 119 per cent to N3.3billion in Q1 2022 from N1.15billion in Q1 2021 as Stanbic IBTC Holdings reported N19.6billion profit before tax in Q1 2022 from N12.14billion in Q1 2021.

Analysis of other banks results showed that FCMB group generated N6.02billion profit before tax in 2022, an increase of 42.4billion in Q1 2022 from N4.23billion in Q1 2021; Sterling Bank reported N3.5billion profit before tax in Q1 2022 from N2.4billion in Q1 2021; Fidelity Bank grew its profit before tax by 1.9per cent to N10.3billion in Q1 2022 from N10.13billion in Q1 2021 and Jaiz Bank reported 11 per

cent increase in profit before tax to N1.09billion in Q1 2022 from N979 million reported in Q1 2021.

Commenting on the unaudited result and accounts by listed banks, the Managing Director, ARM Securities Limited, Mr. Rotimi Olubi said: “Interest income has been a major drivers of earnings across all banks. We have seen a significant increase in banks interest income due to rise loans from customers and institutions. “ He noted that there was increase in banks gross earnings across all banks as a result of recovery from the covid-19 pandemic.

He explained further that, “Also, it is worthy to note that interest expenses is growing at a sharper rate than interest income. This is based on the fact that banks are paying more in terms of cost of

funds deposited with them.

“This last means that banks are paying higher on a unit basis in terms of the deposit in their position as against the amount they are receiving from loans interest.

Also, banks are now seeing a rise in non-interest income which is a strategic move on their part.”

The Chief Operating Officer, InvestData Limited, Mr. Ambrose Omordion told THISDAY that the Q1 2022 results is a reflection of economy recovery in Nigeria post-covid-19.

According to him, “The performance showed the local economy is not doing bad in the Q1 2022 as projected by the World Bank.

Banks been the cash flow of the economy have performed beyond expectations.”

Speaking from a shareholder’s

perspective, Chairman of the Progressive Shareholders Association of Nigeria (PSAN), Boniface Okezie noted that Nigerian banks have proven to be resilient in growing profits and savings from customers despite domestic and global challenges.

He said, “It is a good thing that Nigerian banks are still resilient and are doing very well despite economy challenges. The resilient is what foreign investors are seeing in our banks and are taking position. The Q1 2022 performance is encouraging and with the growth, shareholders are expecting higher dividend in 2022 FY.” He said that tension towards the 2023 general election would decide the fate of Nigerian banks sustained performance and dividend payout to shareholders in 2022 FY.

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FG Reaffirms Commitment to Promoting Inclusive Sustainable Industrial Development Gilbert Ekugbe The federal government has restated its commitment to promoting inclusive sustainable industrial development (ISID) noting that the establishment of shared common facility centers would address infrastructural challenges hindering the nation’s industrial development drive.

The Minister of Industry,

Trade and Investment, Niyi Adebayo made this known while speaking at the opening session of 2022 edition of Equipment & Manufacturing West Africa, (EMWA) in Lagos.

He said his ministry is in collaboration with the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) adding that ISID is in line with the Nigeria UNIDO Country

Programme (CP) 2018-2022.

Adebayo assured that the current CP is being upgraded to Programme for Country Partnership (PCP), which focuses on sectors with high growth potential that supports countries in achieving its industrial development goals.

Adebayo who was represented by the Director, Industrial Development, Federal Ministry of

Industry, Trade and Investment, Mr. Adewale Bakare, explained further that to the Ministry has also come up with Import Duty Exemption Certificate (IDEC) where incentives are given to local manufacturers to import machinery and equipment that are not fabricated locally, at zero per cent, in its bid to cushion the effect of high cost of production for commodities,

goods and services.

In his words: “There is no doubt that the level of manufacturing is one of the basis for determining economic development in a country. The Manufacturing & Equipment sector therefore, accelerates the pace of transformation and diversification of the economy.

It is on record that Equipment and Manufacturing sector contributes about 10 per cent to our Gross Domestic Product (GDP) annually.”

The Minister of Power, Abubakar Aliyu, represented his Special Adviser, Technical Services, Kingsley Odoh, said the conference would offer Nigeria an opportunity to showcase the

nation’s abundant economic and business possibilities and to the world and the readiness of the present administration to not only provide ease for doing business, but also the willingness to welcome, partner and collaborate with both local and foreign investors for the general overhaul of the manufacturing sector in Nigeria.

The Managing Director, Zenith Exhibition and Convener, EMWA, Mr. Joseph Oru, said its exhibitors and visitors are dynamic organisations and individuals who have identified EMWA as a credible networking platform for achieving their strategic and organisational goals in relation to building sustainable partnerships across Nigeria and West Africa.

Hello Tractor, Heifer Int’l Unveil Pay-As-You-Go Financing for Agripreneurs James Emejo in Abuja

Pastor in charge of Redeemed Church, Lagos Province, Dr Iyiola Adeagbo, his daughter, Comfort Adeagbo (L) and wife, Abimbola Adeagbo (R), during his conferment with Doctoral Degree, ( Ph. D) in Management Science by Ladoke Akintola University, Ogbomoso… recently

Adesina: AfDB Will Partner MFBs Expand Support for MSMEs Nosa Alekuogie African Development Bank (AfDB), has said that it will work with microfinance banks to expand support for Micro Small, Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) and deepen financial inclusion in Nigeria through increased uptake of financial technology tools.

President, AfDB, Mr. Akinwunmi Adesina disclosed this in Abuja while speaking at the 7th annual symposium of the Nigerian Microfinance Platform (NMP).

Represented by the Director General, AfDB, Nigeria Country Office, Lamin Barrow, he said microfinance and MSMEs are key to the economy and Job creation which is at the core of the bank and poverty reduction.

He said, “But they need

our support and so through our mediated support through Development Bank of Nigeria and others, we have supported about 20,000 MSMEs, but given the large number of MSMEs in Nigeria, this support is like scratching the surface.

So we need partners like yourselves and others to penetrate and even in larger numbers.”

While commending the theme of the NMP Symposium, “Expanding the Frontiers of Financial Inclusion Through Innovation: The Microfintech Tools,” he assured that AfDB, will work with all stakeholders to expand financial inclusion in Nigeria including through increased innovation and uptake of Fintech tools.

“It is the bank’s belief that this symposium we help us develop a more holistic understanding of

the financial needs of underserved households and small businesses and develop ways to enhance access to affordable products. We are seeing the development of powerful new technologies and there is therefore the need to seek for ways to combined technologies in the way that move the needle on financial inclusion, “he said.

Speaking, Deputy Governor, Financial System Surveillance (FSS), Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Aisha Ahmad, challenge MFBs to recognize that microfintech, which is Fintech applications adapted to microfinance, as veritage tool for surpassing the nation’s financial inclusion target and hence come up with ways to deploy them to provide cost-efficient manner to microfinance clients.

“MicroFinTech sweeps that

traditional cost structure away and can operate without huge overheads as the marginal cost of delivering software to a new user is near zero. By leveraging technology - smart phones, peer authentication and even the e-Naira, the cost of delivering a microfinance service drops sharply. And as the cost drops, the cost-benefit ratio improves and profitability increases,” she said.

Similarly, Managing Director/ CEO, Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC), Mallam Hassan Bello, stressed the need for MFBs to come up with innovative products that will not only attract more people into the sector, but also restore truth and dignity to the people who are deficit in both through the disruption of mobile technology operators, and to keep expanding and cut cost.

Wigwe: Access Holdings Will Deliver Healthy Performance, Enhance Shareholders Value Kayode Tokede The Group Managing Director, Access Holdings, Herbert Wigwe has assured its shareholders of its commitment to continue to deliver a healthy performance that is consistent with its vision by delivering exceptional service to its customers and adding value to its shareholders’ investment.

Wigwe stated this at a Closing Gong Ceremony at the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) in commemoration of the transition to a New Structure of Access Holdings Plc.

He noted that the management of the company had over the years been working tirelessly to ensure return on investment, while noting that the company had delivered on all the promises it made the stockbroking community.

Wigwe recalled that the NGX, formerly, Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) was the platform the company went to when the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) increased banks’ capital from N2 billion to N25billion, adding that since the listing of the bank on the Nigerian bourse, the company had grown steadily and

witnessed the greatest merger in the country.

He noted that corporate governance is key to the company as it had at different point in time in the last 20 years come to the exchange to share it’s plans.

Looking ahead, Wigwe said the company will not desist from sharing information as it has transited from the narrow banking structure into one that has institutional structures.

Chairman, NGX, Mr. Abubakar Mahmoud noted that the transition of the company to a holding

company signifies the beginning of collaboration and partnership that Access Holding Plc is known for and it will be beneficial partnership to the Exchange, the country and the world at large.

CEO of the NGX, Temi Popoola appreciated the bank for what they have done for the Nigerian capital market while noting that the Exchange’s history would not be complete with mentioning the Bank.

He noted that the Exchange relies on partnerships for growth, thus it’s alliance with institutions that shares it’s chemistry.

Heifer International has said it is investing $1 million in the tractor-booking platform, Hello Tractor, to provide loans for tractor purchases, which could be repaid from revenues earned by leasing them to local farmers.

The programme, “PayAs-You-Go (PAYG) Tractor Financing for Increased Agricultural Productivity in Nigeria,” has already enabled tractor purchases in the states including Nasarrawa, Abuja and Enugu.

Senior Vice President, Africa Programmes, Heifer International, Adesuwa Ifedi, at the launch of the initiative in Abuja, said these purchases could make tractors accessible to thousands of smallholder farmers via the increasingly popular Hello Tractor leasing platform.

She said, “The pay-as-you go model provides financing for entrepreneurs who want to

create jobs by capitalizing on the demand for tractor services on Africa farms, but who lack traditional forms of collateral.

It’s a way to unlock capital for youth who have strong business skills that can help transform African agriculture but are often overlooked by private equity investors.”

Sometimes referred to as Uber for tractors, Hello Tractor offers software and tracking devices that allow farmers to book tractor services from local tractor owners via a mobile phone app.

Also, speaking at the unveiling, Founder/Chief Executive, Hello Tractor, Mr. Jehiel Oliver, said the partnership with Heifer will enable the company to extend innovative financing to people who were previously considered unbankable while increasing access to technology that has the potential to improve the incomes of millions of smallholder farmers across Africa.

Stakeholders Advocate Stronger IP Laws to Drive Innovation in Nigeria Yinka Olatunbosun As part of celebrations marking the World Intellectual Property Day, stakeholders in intellectual property have called for stronger laws and infrastructure to drive innovation in Nigeria.

At the Intellectual Property Symposium organised by the American Business Council in Lagos, plenary sessions around the theme, “IP and Youth innovating for a Better Future,’’ were held with opening remarks from the United States Ambassador, Mary Beth Leonard.

Citing the World Intellectual Property Organisation, she noted that 1.8 billion people under the age of 24 are in the world today with 90% of them living in developing countries.

“This symposium is an opportunity for young people to find out how intellectual property rights can support their goals, help transform ideas into realities, generate income, create jobs and make impact,” she said. She added that inter-agency collaboration as well as new legislation for IPR will help to foster an enabling environment for

creatives and innovators.

The Director-General, World Intellectual Property Organization, Daren Tang observed that there is a need to develop an inclusive IP ecosystem.

“Global youths are future innovators and are part of this.

They are already developing ways of finding solutions using STEM education,’’ she said.

In her intervention, the Chairperson, Section of Business Law, Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Ngozi Aderibigbe remarked that Nigeria’s IP laws and infrastructure are not adapted for Nigeria’s peculiar development challenges. She also pointed out that there is an absence of an overarching supervisory authority on IP issues as many IP related agencies often operate in isolation.

For her, there is a need to build the knowledge capacity not just for the youths who are future innovators but for judges upon whom the onus of interpreting the law rests.

She urged the government to review existing legislation on IP and established specialized courts to uphold IP laws.

“IP laws will drive the economy,’’ she said.

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LCCI, RIMAN Harp on Enhanced Risk Management Practices in Organizations Nume Ekeghe Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) and Risk Management Association of Nigeria (RIMAN) have called for better risk management practices in organisations particularly, in SMEs in the country to enable them survive the challenging economic situation and harsh business environment.

This was stated during a courtesy visit by RIMAN to LCCI recently in Lagos.

The Executive Secretary of RIMAN, Mr. Victor Olannye, applauded LCCI for its role in the economic growth of Lagos State and Nigeria, promotion of sound business ethics, and delivery of best-in-class services among its

members.

LCCI was extolled for doing well in providing excellent services in the promotion and protection of trade and industry in the best interest of the business community.

He further commended LCCI for its numerous contributions in tackling some key topical issues in the country such as urging the federal government to consider the economics of refurbishing and maintaining existing refineries after the importation of contaminated fuel into the country.

The Director-General of LCCI, Dr. Chinyere Almona, remarked that RIMAN and LCCI share similar structures and benefits for members.

She further remarked that though RIMAN is younger in existence

than LCCI, the impact of RIMAN cannot be overlooked especially as newer institutions are increasingly agile, in tune with the local and global trends, and therefore local and global trends, and therefore with the capability to guide its members to respond appropriately to any shocks or volatilities.

She added that many years ago when risk management frameworks were being developed, the frameworks did not work by themselves; “it required the involvement of everyone.”

LCCI and RIMAN agreed to broaden risk management knowledge among their members, and collaborate in key areas of capacity building, training and membership drive.

Proshare Rebrands, Commits to Delivering GreaterValue to Subscribers Proshare has unveiled its new brand identity, domain name and website. The organisation pointed out that over the last 15 years, it has evolved from a news and data analysis portal into a professional research and full-suite information service; recognised as a standard-bearer and a credible source across the Nigerian financial, business, and economic landscape.

The new Proshare logo, a skeuomorphic design combining a flat text image affirms its simplicity, while a 1bith orange dot leverages its old identity, signifying the ‘end of the search’ for thought-led insights to guide

intelligent decision making by stakeholders. The new corporate identity further depicts Proshare’s character of being independent, inventive, audacious, simple, and distinguished.

Speaking about the rebrand and the move to a new home, the Chairman of the Board of Proshare, Mr. Olufemi Awoyemi stated: “We have consistently embraced internally driven change and evolved by think of and ahead of market actions since our debut in 2006.

“We have done this with and through consultations, and learning from engagements with stakeholders committed to

a better market. This change in our corporate identity serves to energise the firm towards a culture of renewal, redefinition and reintroduction of our service to the market. It signposts the new pathway for value that our clients, subscribers, and partners seek and need.”

Commenting on the rebranding, Managing Director, Proshare, Grace Adejare-Ajuwon said: “The new brand identity projects our core values which include Professionalism, Resilience, Excellence, Diversity and Inclusion, Innovation, Credibility, Consistency and Timeliness (P.R.E.D.I.C.T).”

VFD Woos Investors, Says Capital Market Must Restructure to Accommodate Young Investors

Dike Onwuamaeze

The Group Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of the VDF Group, Mr. Nonso Okpala, has wooed Nigerian investors, especially the younger generation, to acquire a stake in the emerging financial ecosystem the group is creating.

Okpala urged a gathering of strategic stakeholders in the Nigerian economy during a business breakfast meeting last week to invest in the dream the VFD Group is creating that has grown from a balance sheet of N2 million in 2009 to N109 billion in 2022. He said: “Every one of the businesses I have mentioned has not been valued to its true strength. The idea is that what we see today as VFD Group is a sleeping giant and in the next three to five

years, even without much effort, that giant will rise. So, we are saying be part of that dream. Get your shareholders to invest in it.

Support us because ultimately what we are trying to do is to make the environment right for the very crazy ideas the young people are brimming with.”

He stated that the group, which started in 2009 with informal lending has grown to own its microfinance bank, mortgage bank, and virtual banking licence while aspiring for a commercial banking licence in the nearest future.

Okpala said: “Most people do not know us because of the way we started this company in 2009 as a group of friends that are committed to governance who came together knowing full well that they have a strong ambition and the requisite know-how to

run a world-class company.

“That is how the VDF Group was born in 2009. And 13 years down the line we have moved our total assets from N2 million to N109 billion. We are currently listed on the NESG. We are an active player on that platform.

But I think a great deal of the value that we have created has eluded the market due to the way we have gone around setting up the business.”

He disclosed that the ecosystem the VFD Group is creating cut across banking, infrastructure and energy, real estate and hospitality, technology and capital market while its footprints have crossed the shores of Nigeria to Ghana and the United Kingdom with the intent to extend them further to South Africa, Kenya, Zambia, The Netherlands and United States of America.

NACCIMA TO FG: CERTIFICATE OF ORIGIN WILL CHECKMATE OIL THEFT to validate the country’s oil and where is it getting its own Certificate of Origin? Recall that when Sierra Leone was faced with the challenge of ‘blood diamond.’ There was certification and once it came into London market the whole stealing stopped,” Udeagbala stated.

NACCIMA described the Certificate of Origin as an important international trade document that confirmed that “the goods in a particular shipment have been wholly obtained, produced, manufactured or processed in a particular country.”

NACCIMA also called for the

privatisation of the country’s poorly run petrol refineries, insisting that the concept of turn around maintenance of refineries is peculiar to Nigeria and not obtainable in any other country. Similarly, the Second National Vice President of NACCIMA, Mr. Dele K. Oye, collaborated Udeagbala’s claim that turn around maintenance of refineries is nothing but a hoax.

Oye said: “There is nothing like turn around anywhere in the world. It is only in Nigeria that we hear such words. When we went to Trinidad and Tobago we were

told that there is nothing like that.

Refineries are designed to run like airplane. Its parts have expiry dates and needed only to be changed on their due dates. There is nothing like turnaround.”

Oye said: “Burdening the private sector with taxes and levies drive away FDI. It does not make any economic sense to add more burden like the National Assembly is trying to do with the NYSC. We as NACCIMA is saying no to this tax.

NYSC is a laudable programme.

But it should be government’s responsibility.”

30

MONDAY MAY 2, 2022 • T H I S D AY

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T H I S D AY MONDAY MAY 2, 2022 Monday May 2, 2022 Vol 27. No 9884 TR

See page 32 THE DIGNITY OF LABOUR DANIEL IGHAKPE writes that hard work helps to care for our material needs See page 32 BETWEEN OSHIOMHOLE AND ALIMIKHENA Alimikhema might pull a surprise in the Edo North Senatorial district, writes AKPEMINOGHENA YAKUBU

See page 33 ROCHAS’ VISION FOR A PROGRESSIVE NIGERIA CHUKWUDI ENEKWECHI contends that Okorocha has demonstrated uncommon capacity to lead the nation

See page 33

EDITORIAL THE END OF RAMADAN

See page 34

& RE A S O

N

opinion@thisdaylive.com

www.thisdaylive.com

THE BUSINESS OF POLITICS (2) Politics has become an extremely lucrative business, writes CHRIS GYANG

UT H

Saraki will fix the economic, unemployment and security problems afflicting the nation, writes YUSUPH OLANIYONU

SARAKI: A STRONG SYMBOL FOR STABILITY Today, the most important element that a troubled country like Nigeria needs is stability.

The polity needs stability so that policies, programmes and projects aimed at bringing about genuine and sustainable development can be formulated, executed, monitored and nurtured. The economy needs stability to get the citizenry out of poverty, deprivation, unemployment/underemployment, LQÁDWLRQDU\ HͿHFWV RI FXUUHQF\ GHYDOXDWLRQ and macro-economic instability.

The social system also needs stability for the restoration of national values, for people to live in peace with each other, to douse separatist agitations, for the school system, the health sector, and other social services to have enhanced government investment and attention. It also involves having a stable environment where people can worship God as a private activity without any violent outcome.

We need a stable system where so many factors will become predictable, or at least, provide a basis for planning and projection. We need stability to enable us to win all the wars that non-state actors and the evil ones amongst us have waged against the rest of society.

Stable planning by security agencies will help us win the wars against insurgents, bandits, kidnappers, cultists, armed robbers, violent separatists, and those who now specialise in using fellow human beings for money rituals.

We need a stable political environment in which all actors abide by the law and work for the country to have peaceful, free, fair, and credible elections that will produce the leadership without any violence or form of bloodletting. This represents political stability.

We require a stable environment to attract investments from within and abroad. Money, they say, goes to where it feels safe. Stable macroeconomic indices will encourage investment. Also, when there is a stable HQYLURQPHQW DQG LQÁRZ RI LQYHVWPHQWV people will have jobs. They will contribute to the country’s GDP, they will be dragged into the tax net as a taxpayer and the government will have more money to invest in social ZHOIDUH VHUYLFHV IRU WKH EHQHÀW RI WKH SHRSOH The expected outcome of such a positive development is an improved standard of living for the people.

The country needs stability to defeat the problem of food insecurity. In a volatile environment in which farmers cannot go to their farms for fear of being kidnapped or DWWDFNHG ZKHUH WKH IDUPHU KHUGHU FRQÁLFW continues to rage, where some unregistered foreign herdsmen continue to provoke violence in the farming regions by invading farms with cows which wreak destruction on farms, instability in food production continues to plague our country.

These problems of multi-faceted instability however have combined to put the country in a blind alley. There seems to be no solution in sight. Nigeria is now characterized as a country that has slipped from the category of safe states

to weak states, then slid down to become a failing state, descended further to the category of failed states, and further degenerated, moving to the level of a collapsed state.

The collapsed state is the lowest of the ranks.

It is a point of no return. It is a point where the country faces the possibility of ceasing to exist.

The Fund for Peace Initiative characterises a collapsed country as one whose government is not in total control of the entire territory, in which the legitimate authority of the state to make collective decisions has been eroded and where the government is unable to provide public services.

This is the situation we have found ourselves in Nigeria. Still, the problem is largely that of leadership. The country needs a leadership that is determined to make history as the greatest turnaround team in the continent this century. The ability of the leadership can only be deciphered from the characters, antecedents, and values of the team leader, the team captain. We have an opportunity to PDNH D GLͿHUHQFH DQG VDYH RXU FRXQWU\ 7KH 2023 election is a golden opportunity for us to get a great, bold leader who can initiate great reforms, follow them through and ensure there are positive changes.

Among the many aspirants across all the

We require a stable environment to attract investments from within and abroad.

Money, they say, goes to where it feels safe.

Stable macroeconomic indices will encourage investment

various political parties seeking to be President, I can recommend Dr. Abubakar Bukola Saraki as the perfect crisis period leader, the turnaround leader, and the leader who is not only brilliant in terms of policy formulation but also obstinate and courageous enough to make positive changes.

Saraki by his antecedent, experience, record, and background is a strong symbol of stability.

As a top private sector player who then came into the public sector to excel, he sure understands the economy and what needs to be done to achieve stability. His economic blueprint is comprehensive and should provide a good basis for discourse as we move gradually towards February 2023 when a new President will be elected. He has promised to focus on macro-economic stability, creation of enabling environment that will encourage investment, solve the power problems, review the process to encourage Nigerians to produce for export by expanding the ports and making their process take less time as well as addressing the challenges confronting the mining sector.

He has also vowed to create a safe and secured Nigeria where there is stability in terms of people’s ability to live, work, produce, and play in Nigeria without any fear of any harm coming to them or their investment. He plans to provide the armed forces with all the necessary equipment and training to neutralise security threats, enforce transparency in the utilization of resources provided for the forces, ensure police are properly funded, trained, and motivated to get them to take over police duties currently being performed by the armed forces.

Part of the plan is also to create a three-tier security architecture to incorporate all village, district, and ward levels for the collection of VHFXULW\ LQIRUPDWLRQ GHYHORS WKH 2΀FH RI WKH Coordinator of Counter-Terrorism into a fullÁHGJHG &RXQWHU 7HUURULVP & VWUHHW WR HQDEOH it to meet the challenges of the multi-faceted security threats. He has also canvassed the need to leverage ICT and the opportunities DͿRUGHG E\ VRFLDO PHGLD WR HQKDQFH VHFXULW\ and national unity. These represent a viable way to bring stability to the polity.

Other areas that Saraki plans to focus on in other to bring stability to Nigeria include achieving a restructured country, reviewing the position of rule of law in Nigeria, and putting emphasis on national planning and good governance. With his antecedent as a cosmopolitan leader, a man who has roots in major parts of the country, the real bridge between the north and the south by the virtue of his family background and represents all the major religions. At 59, he represents the link between the old and the youths, a bridge between the private and public sectors, and HQMR\V WKH FRQÀGHQFH RI ERWK NH\ VHFWLRQV RI the society.

Olaniyonu writes from Abuja

2 32

T H I S D AY

Politics has become an extremely lucrative business, writes CHRIS GYANG

THE BUSINESS OF POLITICS (2) The sordid falling apart of Adams Oshiomhole and Governor Godwin Obaseki on one hand and the bitter parting of ways RI %ROD 7LQXEX DQG <HPL 2VLQEDMR KDV QRW diminished the grandeur and indispensability of godfathers in Nigeria’s body politic. If you ask me, godfathers are very relevant today more than ever before because the stakes in the game of politics are at their highest today.

As long as you and your godfather have D À UP JUDVS RI WKH LQWULFDFLHV LQYROYHG DQG XQGHUVWDQG WKH LPPHQVH PXWXDO EHQHÀ WV WKDW are accruable, you are good to go. You are in good, clean business. But both of you must QHYHU DOORZ WKH HYHU SUHVHQW IRXO VSLULWV RI VHOÀ VKQHVV DQG EHWUD\DO FRPH FORVH WR WKLV lucrative partnership.

1RZ \RX VWLOO GRQ·W DJUHH WKDW WKH 1 million for the APC presidential nomination form is chicken change? Then you must be from planet Mars. Only the other day, terrorists who abducted the chief executive of a federal JRYHUQPHQW RZQHG EDQN GXULQJ WKDW GHDGO\ DWWDFN RQ WKH $EXMD .DGXQD WUDLQ GHPDQGHG D UDQVRP RI 1 PLOOLRQ 7KHLU GHPDQG ZDV promptly met and they proceeded to release him.

(DUO\ WKLV \HDU WKH 1LJHULDQ %DSWLVW &RQYHQWLRQ 1%& UHYHDOHG WKDW LW SDLG 1 million for the release of students abducted from Bethel Baptist College, Kaduna.

3UHVLGHQW RI WKH 1%& 5HY ,VUDHO $NDQML WROG Nigerian Tribune in an interview on January ´,QLWLDOO\ ZH GLGQ·W ZDQW WR VSHQG money…. That was how we began. I even said openly that we would not spend money but I am saying openly now that we have had to spend money.

“We were forced to spend money... we had to weigh between our money being in our pockets and our children being released to us. We preferred to lose the money. Since the government would not help us, we had to UHVRUW WR VHOI KHOS 7KDW ZDV ZKDW KDSSHQHG and we had to spend so much money.”

2Q 7KXUVGD\ $SULO 'DLO\ 7UXVW newspaper reported that the abductors of the founder of Solid Rock Kingdom Church, Apostle John Okiriko, had demanded a UDQVRP RI 1 PLOOLRQ IURP KLV IDPLO\ 7KH octogenarian was abducted Tuesday night from his church premises at Ibekwe Akpan 1\D LQ 0NSDW (QLQ /*$ RI ,PR 6WDWH $V ZH write, the outcome of that situation is not yet clear.

But these three cases barely scratch the surface of this unending nightmare that has become a daily occurrence in most parts of the FRXQWU\ 7HUURULVW NLQJSLQV VXFK DV %HOOR 7XUML Auwal Daudawa, Shehu Rekeb and other such notorious outlaws who control large swathes of Nigeria’s North West routinely make tens of millions of naira daily through ransom payouts and levies/taxes extracted from citizens in ungoverned territories abandoned by governments.

These terrorists and criminals now control billions in both foreign and local currencies.

And you can only understand and gauge the full measure and worth of the Nigerian Naira when you start counting it from hundreds of millions, according to the terrorists’ standards.

Bandits and terrorists have set the template for the appreciation of Nigeria’s currency. That is why it has become very easy to set the value of goods, services and costs of nomination forms at seemingly outrageous sums.

This may appear untenable to ordinary FLWL]HQV VXͿ HULQJ XQGHU D GHELOLWDWLQJ LQÁ DWLRQDU\ WUHQG ZKLFK KDV KLW WKH FHLOLQJ But it is normal to our political leaders who have easy and unfettered access to our

FRPPRQZHDOWK 7KH\ MXVW OLNH WKH EDQGLWV make a million naira look like peanuts.

Terrorists have become a new, awesome, economic bloc to such an extent that their interests/holdings now determine the way ZH SHUFHLYH DQG GHSOR\ À QDQFLDO UHVRXUFHV DQG FRQGXFW EXVLQHVV ² VXFK DV À [LQJ WKH FRVWV RI QRPLQDWLRQ IRUPV IRU HOHFWLYH R΀ FHV Critics say that this new phenomenon has, consciously or unconsciously, permeated the general Nigerian society and found its way into the reckoning of the business of politics. As a result, our perception of the national currency is today partly determined by the widespread, overarching, terrorism and lawlessness that have become daily occurrences throughout the country.

7KDW VDLG LI \RX VWLOO WKLQN WKDW 1 PLOOLRQ is too high a price to pay for the nomination form of Nigeria’s ruling political party, you may wish to consider the possibility of becoming Nigeria’s petroleum minister when \RX À QDOO\ JHW WKH SOXP MRE <HV MXVW OLNH President Buhari, you may decide to make yourself the minister of that most lucrative, ‘Grade A+’, ministry which oversees the goose that lays Nigeria’s golden egg.

That way, you will forever remain immune from the ravages of this poverty which has selected to make Nigeria its most comfortable perch in the whole world. Furthermore, occupying the position of petroleum minister as president will automatically save you the HPEDUUDVVPHQW RI OHDYLQJ R΀ FH ZLWK WKH shame of debts hanging over your neck like SUHVLGHQWV 7KRPDV -HͿ HUVRQ -LPP\ &DUWHU PLOOLRQ DQG %LOO &OLQWRQ PLOOLRQ of the United States of America who refused WR H[SORLW WKH KXJH SRWHQWLDO RI WKH R΀ FH RI president to do good business even when they ZHUH LQ GHHS SHUVRQDO À QDQFLDO GLVWUHVV Troubled by the full weight of the debts on their heads, Carter’s distraught wife, Rosalynn, according to The Washington Post, said, “we thought we were going to lose everything.” That will never be the lot of the wife of a Nigerian president who is wise HQRXJK WR RFFXS\ WKH R΀ FH RI SHWUROHXP minister. $QG DIWHU DOO ZKDW LV WKH YDOXH RI 1 million in dollar terms today? You shout that 1 PLOOLRQ LV WRR PXFK PRQH\ EHFDXVH \RX GR QRW KDQGOH GROODU QRWHV &RQYHUW 1 million into dollars and you will pity yourself for wasting your breath, shouting yourself hoarse, over this inconsequential matter. &RQYHUW 1 PLOOLRQ LQWR GROODUV DQG \RX ZLOO À QG WKDW LW ZLOO RFFXS\ YHU\ OLWWOH VSDFH in the kind of bullion van Tinubu used to VWRFN FDVK RQ WKH HYH RI WKH SUHVLGHQWLDO election which he deployed to oil the wheels RI 3UHVLGHQW %XKDUL·V UH HOHFWLRQ You are making a mountain out of this molehill because you are not as popular as %XKDUL ZDV LQ ,I \RX ZHUH SRSXODU your friends should also gather money and purchase a form for you. You think it is easy to be Mr. Integrity? In fact, if you are a truly detribalized and patriotic Nigerian who is not a religious ideologue, like President Buhari, then you should have no problem assembling RQO\ IULHQGV IURP DFURVV WKH FRXQWU\ WR donate a mere one million naira each towards the actualization of your struggle to gain access to the palatial Aso Villa. As political entrepreneurs who fully understand the huge returns on such an investment, contributing only a million naira each should not be a big deal. *\DQJ is the Chairman of Journalists Coalition for Citizens’ Rights Initiative

MONDAY MAY 2, 2022

DANIEL IGHAKPE writes that hard work helps to care for our material needs

THE DIGNITY OF LABOUR ´7KHUH LV EHQHÀ W LQ HYHU\ NLQG RI KDUG ZRUN talented Nigerian musician, Sonnie Smyth, ´ 3URYHUEV sang in his music video entitled: “NO WAHALA”: “No wahala, e go better, after A talented Nigerian musician, Adekunle today, I go see tomorrow o!” (You can Gold, in one of his popular songs entitled download and watch this music video, “NO ‘WORK,’ encouraged people to work hard. This WAHALA,” performed by Sonnie Smyth is in harmony with what God’s Word, the Bible, and directed by Achor Yusuf, on YouTube).

UHFRPPHQGV DW (FFOHVLDVWHV FKDSWHU YHUVH Also, one Awake! magazine (published ZKHUH LW VD\V ´:KDWHYHU \RXU KDQG À QGV WR GR by Jehovah’s Witnesses) contains this sound do with all your might . . . .” advice: “If you are unemployed, or cannot :RUN ZKHWKHU SDLG RU XQSDLG LV JRRG IRU À QG D MRE LQ \RXU DUHD RI SDUWLFXODU LQWHUHVW RXU KHDOWK DQG ZHOO EHLQJ ,W FRQWULEXWHV WR RXU LW LV ZLVH WR FRQVLGHU ORRNLQJ IRU D MRE LQ KDSSLQHVV KHOSV XV WR EXLOG FRQÀ GHQFH DQG RWKHU DUHDV HYHQ LI WKH MRE LV FRQVLGHUHG VHOI HVWHHP DQG FDQ UHZDUG XV À QDQFLDOO\ :RUN ‘menial’ by the standards of some people. is an essential tool through which individuals Do not allow false pride to let you look FDQ DFKLHYH WKHLU JRDOV Á RXULVK DQG OLYH KDSS\ GRZQ RQ D MRE DV EHQHDWK \RXU GLJQLW\ meaningful lives. $Q\ OHJLWLPDWH VHUYLFH WKDW FDQ EHQHÀ W :RUN KDV GLͿ HUHQW GLPHQVLRQV VXFK DV ZRUN others, and that people are willing to pay for making a living and work for developing IRU FDQ EH FRQVLGHUHG DV DQ DOWHUQDWLYH MRE one’s talent and potential. For example, a little RSSRUWXQLW\ ZKHQ MREV DUH VFDUFH µ girl in one of the corners of the world who goes 3HRSOH GLͿ HU LQ WHUPV RI PDQ\ to the kindergarten and learns how to count, characteristics such as intelligence, talents, academic levels, etc. Therefore depending RQ KXPDQ SRWHQWLDO DQG WKH VSHFLÀ F working environment, work can be equally EHQHÀ FLDO WR WKH SHUVRQ RU GHPHDQLQJ For example, prostitution, gambling, and drug dealing constitute work, as you get a kind of remuneration for the service you provide. But the money you get out of these kinds of work becomes useless, as it neither FRQWULEXWHV WR KXPDQ Á RXULVKLQJ QRU LV WKH basis of a meaningful life. Work should be WKH NH\ WR KXPDQ VXUYLYDO DQG Á RXULVKLQJ and not to degradation of the individual and his moral values.

On the other hand, no matter how honest, working from dawn to sunset does not PDNH \RXU OLIH Á RXULVK HLWKHU ´$OO ZRUN and no play makes Jack a dull boy,” goes draw, or write, is working. Likewise, an adult, the popular saying. Workaholics, the people ZKR JRHV WR KLV KHU MRE HYHU\ GD\ DQG JHWV whose only purpose in life is work, deprive paid for that, is also working. Thus, based on WKHPVHOYHV RI WKH HQMR\PHQW RI HQJDJLQJ the age, circumstances, needs and desires of in other activities. Productive work is not LQGLYLGXDOV ZRUN RU ODERXU WDNHV GLͿ HUHQW DQ HQG LQ LWVHOI EXW D PHDQV RI Á RXULVKLQJ shapes.

If one pursues productive work to the Work is a virtue and necessity, which exclusion of everything else in one’s life, so requires the utilization of time and energy. Man that it becomes one’s only purpose in life, is in control of his time and energy when he WKLV ZLOO XQGHUPLQH RQH·V Á RXULVKLQJ 2Q voluntarily and constructively works. The Bible the other hand, those who keep their life emphasizes the importance of work when it EDODQFHG DUH OLNHO\ WR HQMR\ WKHLU ZRUN HYHQ VD\V DPRQJ RWKHU WKLQJV DW 7KHVVDORQLDQV more.

FKDSWHU YHUVHV WR WKDW ´ LI DQ\RQH So, whether your work is mostly mental, does not want to work, neither let him eat. . . mostly physical, or somewhere in between, . “ This scripture condemns laziness. We need recognize that there is dignity in labour! to work to make a living and provide for our Hard work helps us to care for our material families. Work provides the individual with the QHHGV 0RUHRYHU LW FRQWULEXWHV WR RXU VHOI DELOLW\ WR EH LQGHSHQGHQW WR Á RXULVK WR GHYHORS UHVSHFW DIWHU DOO KDUG ZRUN LV MXVW WKDW DQG PRVW LPSRUWDQWO\ WR À QG D PHDQLQJ WR OLIH hard. When we discipline ourselves to stick However, there are many problems ZLWK RXU ZRUN HYHQ LI LW VHHPV ERULQJ RU VHULRXVO\ DͿ HFWLQJ ZRUN DQG ZRUNHUV LQ GL΀ FXOW ZH FDQ KDYH WKH VDWLVIDFWLRQ RI Nigeria today. These include: unemployment, knowing that we held ourselves to a high poor remuneration/wages, poor working standard. We have won the victory over environment and conditions, casualization the inclination to take the easy way out. In of workers, among others. Many people that sense, work brings an intense feeling of experience poverty and unemployment satisfaction. through no fault of their own. Many who are *RG ZDQWV XV WR HQMR\ WKH IUXLWDJH able to work, willing to work hard, and even or reward, of our hard work. His Word, actively searching for work, are still unable to the Bible says: “There is nothing better À QG ZRUN WKH\ DUH XQHPSOR\HG IRU D PDQ WKDQ WR HDW DQG GULQN DQG À QG Unemployment and poverty are two of the HQMR\PHQW LQ KLV KDUG ZRUN 7KLV WRR , KDYH PDMRU SUREOHPV FXUUHQWO\ SODJXLQJ 1LJHULD·V realized, is from the hand of the true God.” economy and its society. Nevertheless, despite (FFOHVLDVWHV the high rate of unemployment and poverty, the situation is not necessarily hopeless. People can Ighakpe VWLOO À QG VRPH PHDQLQJIXO ZRUN WR HQJDJH LQ writes from even though it may be small. And, as another FESTAC Town, Lagos

Work provides the individual with the ability to be independent, to flourish, to develop, and most importantly, to find a meaning to life

333

T H I S D AY MONDAY MAY 2, 2022

Alimikhema might pull a surprise in the Edo North Senatorial district, writes AKPEMINOGHENA YAKUBU

BETWEEN OSHIOMHOLE AND ALIMIKHENA The politics of 2023 has started gathering momentum, unveiling the shape of things to come. Aspirants are springing up by the day, mouthing their usual political rhetoric and empty promises to curry favour and support of the electorate. The monetised political landscape is not ready to abate any time soon, as political parties are imposing heavy nomination fees on aspirants who intend to contest election. While some Nigerians are of the view that the idea of monetised

than championing wider political interest for all. They accuse him of putting forward his younger brother, Hon. Seid Oshiomhole for the House of Assembly re-election while also feathering his own nest of seeking to contest as senator.

Leaders of the APC from other axis of the senatorial district; Owan and Akoko-edo, are of the view that rather than Comrade Oshiomhole contesting, he ought to have ceded the slot to them, saying it was their turn.

electoral engagement is gradually taking the VKLQH RͿ WKH SURFHVV VRPH DUH RI WKH RSLQLRQ that money could be used to checkmate the LQÁX[ RI DVSLUDQWV LQWR WKH IUD\ RI HOHFWRUDO contest. The National Chairman of the All Progressives’ Congress, Senator Abdullahi Adamu is of the view that the bogus nomination fees imposed by his party was to stop some “unserious aspirants” from joining the fray.

In Edo State particularly Edo North Senatorial District, Senator Francis Alimikhena, chairman Senate Committee on Customs, seems to be having a political battle of his life. The desire of the former Chairman of the APC, and former Edo State Governor, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole to run for the Senate seat is putting a lot of pressure in the exercise. Political gladiators and supporters are pitching their tents between these two strong and formidable Afemai politicians.

While Senator Alimikhena is seeking to run for a third term that would naturally grant him a ranking Senator status, supporters of Comrade Oshiomhole are poised to put spanners in the works, saying that the Igiode-born politician has not lived up to their expectations. Senator Alimikhena’s supporters on the other hand are parading his numerous achievements spread across the six local governments of Edo North, and are LQVLVWLQJ WKDW &RPUDGH 2VKLRPKROH·V VHOÀVK ambition should not deny Alimikhena’s third term slot.

The senator’s supporters are of the view that if Comrade Oshiomhole’s intention were altruistic, rather than be the one seeking for the position, he ought to consider the other zones of the Senatorial district namely Owan and Akoko-edo axis. Both Senator Alimikhena and Comrade Oshiomhole are from the Etsako axis of the Senatorial district.

Some political watchers are of the view that Comrade Oshiomhole should jettison the LGHD RI QDUURZLQJ KLV SROLWLFDO LQÁXHQFH WR being a senator, which automatically reduces his stature from being a former president of the Nigeria Labour Congress, a former Governor of the State, and immediate past National Chairman of the APC to being a mere Senatorial leader. They accused Comrade Oshiomhole of building a political hegemony that promotes self interest and that of his family and immediate loyalists, rather

They posit that on account of the likelihood of Senator Alimikhena getting a ranking position in the next Senate, they were ready to concede the slot to him. “We cannot allow the position to leave from one Etsako Local Government to another Etsako Local Government. If we talk about equity, it should be the turn of Akoko-edo or Owan, as the case maybe”, one of the chieftains opined. Last week, Comrade Oshiomhole and some leaders of the APC in the senatorial district led by Prince Malik Afegbua, visited Senator Alimikhena at his Abuja home to prevail on him to step down from running even when the senator had obtained the party’s nomination form. In what VHHPV WR EH D GL΀FXOW QHJRWLDWLRQ WKH PHHWLQJ failed to achieve what it intended. Before now, two former Commissioners in the Oshiomhole administration Chief Lucky James and Mrs Inumidun had earlier reportedly objected to the aspiration of Comrade Oshiomhole, saying WKH PRYH ZDV ERUQH RXW RI VHOÀVKQHVV As it now turns out, it is most likely that Comrade Oshiomhole and Senator Alimikhena will slug it out at the primaries, but Oshiomhole does not want any of such.

He would rather prefer to be an unopposed candidate on account of his status as a leader in the state. Senator Alimikhena on the other hand is banking on his numerous achievements across the senatorial district and may likely cause an upset should Comrade Oshiomhole enter into primaries with him. Some leaders in the district are also playing a double edged game, showing solidarity to Comrade Oshiomhole during the day, and paying obeisance to Senator Alimikhena at night.

The Senator has also shown his generosity to some of the leaders who are now singing Oshiomhole’s song. While this discussion is yet to abate, Oshiomhole, last week announced his readiness to join the fray of presidential contest. +H KDG À[HG SP RQ )ULGD\ IRU KLV GHFODUDWLRQ until he pulled the reverse gear suddenly by postponing the declaration and almost calling RͿ WKH HQWLUH FRQWHVW DOWRJHWKHU 7KRVH ZKR VD\ Comrade Oshiomhole is confused may have a point, but the fact that he wants to narrow KLV SROLWLFDO LQÁXHQFH WR D VHQDWRULDO GLVWULFW LV what still confounds political analysts.

Yakubu, a chieftain of the APC, writes from Auchi, Edo State

CHUKWUDI ENEKWECHI contends that Okorocha has demonstrated uncommon capacity to lead the nation

ROCHAS’ VISION FOR A PROGRESSIVE NIGERIA Ahead of the 2023 general elections and in the quest for Nigeria’s next president, the clarion call amongst many Nigerian leaders and groups including the Pan-Yoruba socio-political group Afenifere led by Pa Ayo Adebanjo, Ohaneze, PANDEF and Middle Belt Forum has been that power should shift to the South East geo-political zone of the country.

In making these clarion call, they are in tandem with another prominent Nigerian and an All Progressives Congress frontline presidential aspirant, Owelle Rochas Okorocha who recently added his voice by calling for the micro-zoning of the APC presidential ticket to the South East. It was also in a bid to accentuate this demand that the Ohaneze Youths travelled to Kaduna recently and met with the leadership of the Northern youths on the need to support power shift to the South East geo-political zone.

The view in many quarters is that since zoning has become a tradition in our political evolution, DQG WKH EHQHÀWV DUH YLVLEOH LQ WHUPV RI SHDFH accommodation and unity obtainable in Nigeria today, it is only desirable for it to be sustained.

Now as the country is on the cusp of embarking on another round of national elections, it is imperative that we draw strength from those norms and traditions which have since the inception of the present democratic dispensation welded the disparaging and diverse entities of the country into one and indivisible entity.

In this regard, the unique system of power rotation among the six geo-political zones has been the magic wand adopted by Nigeria’s political leaders to help the country navigate through several decades of leadership struggles and challenges. It is needless to say that these struggles have in the past stunted the rapid growth and development of the country. It can be simply said that the struggle for power has in some cases weighed the country down, but the introduction of power rotation in 1999 tended to bring stability to the country, and this is not the time to jettison the arrangement.

As a country with diverse nationalities, tribes and religions, it was indeed desirable that we fashioned a governmental system that will be suitable to the country as a whole, and since societies have their unique peculiarities, it behoves every society to fashion out solutions to their peculiar problems. As most developing FRXQWULHV DUH FRQIURQWHG ZLWK GLͿHUHQW challenges, the ability of the leaders to seek for workable solutions to their problems often reduce acrimony and disharmony associated with heterogeneous societies like Nigeria.

Perhaps it needs to be reiterated that it was in a bid to unite the country and end marginalization and any form of divisiveness among the diverse ethno-religious groups in the country that the late former head of state, General Sani Abacha harped on the need to sustain power rotation among the six geo-political zones. In doing that he went down memory lane to recall the ugly experiences of Nigeria’s political past which culminated in the banning of some presidential aspirants and later the cancellation of June 12 presidential election.

Therefore in the search for a compassionate and visionary leader in 2023 most Nigerians have zeroed in on Owelle Rochas Okorocha, who has demonstrated an uncommon leadership quality as the governor of Imo State for eight years.

As the governor of the state he embarked on a holistic infrastructural development of the state and urban renewal of the capital city, Owerri.

But for his strong will as a leader it would have been impossible for his administration to embark on the dualization of several roads in the state capital. Despite a staunch opposition to his administration’s decision to make Owerri a modern city, and based on the fact that so many KRXVHV ZHUH EXLOW DORQJ WKH DͿHFWHG URDGV DQG

in total violation of the master plan, Okorocha persisted in demolishing such structures and was able to reclaim the road corridors in the interest of the people of Imo State. Today Owerri has become a capital city that many investors are willing to invest and get return on their investments.

Another leadership quality that sets him apart from others is his ability to manage human and material resources in a way that results are achieved. For example, Owelle

Rochas is famous for hands-on leadership which enables him to always supervise his commissioners and those saddled with various sensitive responsibilities. By so doing the set objectives of the administration were realised.

Apart from the capital city of Owerri where the positive impact of his administration can be felt, Owelle Okorocha also built standard hospitals in all the local governments of the state. In education, he rolled out a compulsory and free education programme which saw Imo State regaining its status as one of the educationally advanced states in Nigeria.

Similarly he has made a mark as a senator in the ninth Senate having spearheaded the motion for a cordial relationship between the legislature and the executive arms of government. Indeed KLV PRWLRQ RQ WKH ÁRRU RI WKH UHG FKDPEHU OHG WR WKH ÀUVW SDUOH\ EHWZHHQ WKH 1DWLRQDO $VVHPEO\ and President Muhammadu Buhari, and since then the synergy has continued to exist for the interest of the people. These are some of the leadership traits that he will bring to the table if JLYHQ WKH RSSRUWXQLW\ WR SUHVLGH RYHU WKH DͿDLUV of Nigeria as president.

While some of his contemporaries are depending on the elite to throw them up as the APC candidate in the presidential primaries, Owelle Rochas Okorocha has become the favourite of the ordinary people in Nigeria, especially in the North. The masses’ support for his presidential aspiration resonates and echoes in all corners of the country, but for this hope to crystallise into reality, there is need for the APC power brokers to support Rochas in clinching the APC presidential ticket.

His vision to serve as a Nigerian president with the capacity to unite everyone, and bring succour to the downtrodden is a quality that cannot be ignored. As the longest presidential contestant among all the aspirants he has over the years built bridges across the six geo-political zones, while his passion and compassion to touch the lives of the people can also be felt in all parts of Nigeria.

As we approach both the APC and PDP presidential primaries it is important that justice and equity will be the guiding principles in choosing the standard bearers of the political platforms on which the next Nigerian president will emerge.

Kwechis19@yahoo.com

4 34

T H I S D AY

MONDAY MAY 2, 2022

EDITORIAL

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

THE END OF RAMADAN Ramadan holds lessons for all Nigerians

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If our leaders can curtail their materialistic tendencies and pay more attention to the yearnings of the people, the country will certainly become a much happier place to live in

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

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BAN ALL BOMBS 7KH QHZV WKDW 5XVVLD LV GHSOR\ LQJ ODQGPLQHV LQ 8NUDLQH GHVSLWH WKHP EHLQJ EDQQHG E\ PRVW FRXQWULHV LV KRUULÀ F 7KHUH LV QR UHDVRQ WR XVH ODQGPLQHV LQ D ZDU DSDUW IURP SUHYHQWLQJ SHRSOH UHWXUQLQJ WR DQ DUHD DQG OHDYLQJ DQ\ UHPDLQLQJ SHRSOH WHUULÀ HG RI WKH GDQJHUV WKDW YLVLWLQJ WKHLU RZQ SURSHUWLHV PLJKW EULQJ 7KH\ DUH EDQQHG IRU D UHD VRQ DQG WKHLU XVH LV MXVW DQRWKHU H[DPSOH RI ZK\ 3XWLQ PXVW EH VWRSSHG DQG UHPRYHG IURP SRZ HU IRUHYHU Dennis Fitzgerald, Melbourne, Australia

35

T H I S D AY • MONDAY, MAY 2, 2022

FOCUS Adenuga: The Ubiquitous Recluse @ 69 Nnaemeka Ifeme

T

he obvious paradox in the headline symbolises what the billionaire businessman, Dr Mike Adenuga, Jr. (GCON), represents.

The self-effacing Chairman of one of Africa’s most enterprising telecommunication companies, Globacom, lives a very private life, he is hardly seen in public, does not attend public functions, even some of the workers at his numerous businesses have never set eyes on him.

However, while Dr. Adenuga is as reclusive as a hermit, his accomplishments are as loud as thunder.

Entrepreneur extraordinaire, Spirit of Africa, Africa’s business icon, the Great Guru, Mr. Per Second, Unrivalled Philanthropist, Business Wizkid, Recluse Billionaire, Chairman of Chairmen are some of the superlatives employed by his admirers to describe him.

His gut and sheer determination manifested early in his life. Close friends and family members recall how as a teenager he faced nights of work in the freezing New York weather. Although his parents were well placed to take care of him, the young Adenuga opted to work as a taxi driver and security guard to sustain himself in school. The conditions were so tough that 6 of his fellow Nigerian compatriots had given up their jobs due to what they termed life-threatening weather and work-conditions. But the young Adenuga kept on working in spite of the adversities. He reaped bountifully from his hard work much to the envy of his friends.

Upon his return from the US after his academic sojourn at Northwestern University, United States, Adenuga chose to work in his parents’ saw mill rather than go for white collar jobs which were available at that time and which paid well and had attractive prospects.

Young Adenuga showed his business ingenuity by transforming the mill through the installation of state of the art equipment.

Then he diversified into commodity brokerage and merchandising. He formed his Worldspan Holdings which traded in petroleum products, fuel oil, Automotive Gas Oil (AGO) and motor spirits. He enlarged his coast into real estate and ventured into industrialisation and particularly food processing and manufacturing.

His hope and belief for a better future as well as his unique flair for taking risks and sheer tenacity of purpose paid off as in no time he

Adenuga

started reaping profits in billions.

He founded Devcom Bank and Equatorial Trust Bank which later merged under the latter’s name.

He then established Consolidated Oil, which carries out crude oil drilling, refining and marketing.

His foray into the oil business was a typically audacious one. In the 1980s when he acquired oil blocs through his Consolidated Oil company as part of the Babangida administration’s step to break the monopoly of foreigners in the production of crude oil in the country, Adenuga refused to toe his peers’ path of selling off the oil blocs to foreign companies. He chose to embark on drilling against monumental pressure and the risk of failure. Tales are told of how his beloved mother came in tears, begging and asking him to change his mind about going into oil exploration. Her reason was that the business was still the exclusive preserve of

multinational oil companies and not for individual businessmen.

The mother preferred that her son remain in the manufacturing business where he had made his mark and where Nigerians had succeeded greatly.

But the audacious and achieving spirit in Mike Adenuga would not budge. He plunged headlong into oil drilling with the firm hope and belief in a better tomorrow. That step proved a huge success as he soon made history as the first Nigerian company to strike oil and produce it in commercial quantity.

He later bought over National Oil and Marketing Company, NOLCHEM, for a huge amount of N7.4 billion, when nobody wanted to touch the company because it was going down the drain. Again, the move paid off as the company now called Conoil Plc is today one of the most profitable oil marketing

“As he looks back on his 69 years especially how he has positively affected lives through Globacom and his other companies, Adenuga will no doubt be a fulfilled man. And deservedly so.”

companies in Nigeria.

What perhaps shot him into the consciousness of Nigerians was his bold entry into the telecommunications sector, considered by many as his most audacious move yet. With his Communications Investment Company, CIL, he was issued a conditional licence in 1999 to operate the Global System of Mobile telecommunications, GSM. The licence was later revoked by the Obasanjo administration, which faulted the entire process.

Again, when in 2002, the government through the Nigerian Communications Commission, NCC, organised a new auction for the GSM licence, CIL participated and was one of the four that won the bid. He paid the $20 million mandatory deposit.

However, in the process of resolving the controversy over the frequency allocated to CIL, the licence elapsed and CIL lost both the licence and the $20 million deposit. It was a colossal loss but Adenuga was undeterred. He later went on to bid for the Second National Operator (SNO) license, and deposited another $20 million.

This time, he was lucky. He won the bid in August 2002 and Globacom was granted the licence to operate as a national carrier, operate digital mobile lines, serve as international gateway for telecommunications in the country, and operate fixed wireless access phones.

Many concluded that Adenuga had finally met his waterloo. They argued that the telecom sector was for the well established foreign telecom companies and that Adenuga did not have the requisite experience in that field. And when he announced that Globacom would launch with Per Second Billing (PSB), the industry scoffed at him. But the Guru went on to prove sceptics wrong. Globacom not only launched on PSB, it went on to crash SIM costs from N25,000 to N200 and call charges from N50 to as low as N10 per minute.

As we celebrate this worthy son of Africa at 69, it is so easy to forget that Adenuga’s rise as one of Africa’s wealthiest and most powerful men is attributable to his unflinching optimism, the inclination to hang on in the face of daunting challenges, to hold on to hope despite all odds.

As he looks back on his 69 years especially how he has positively affected lives through Globacom and his other companies, Adenuga will no doubt be a fulfilled man. And deservedly so.

• Nnaemeka Ifeme is a Lagosbased salesman.

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MONDAY MAY 2, 2022 • T H I S D AY

MONDAY MAY 2, 2022 • T H I S D AY

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T H I S D AY ˾ MONDAY, MAY 2, 2022

38

HOMES&DESIGN Eko Court: A Complex of Magnificence, Grandeur

MONDAY, MAY 2, 2022 ˾ T H I S D AY

39

HOMES&DESIGN

Lagos Trinity of Towers The three towers that form the Eko Court Complex in Victoria Island, Lagos, have come a long way in the history of iconic buildings in the state. These towers still inspire awe. Bennett Oghifo writes

E

ko Court Complex consists of three towers that are strictly residential condos and apartments and offices belonging to the Lagos government. Standing at 88.0872 metres (289 ft), 24 storey, they are one of the landmarks on Victoria Island.

The Eko Court Complex, also called the Eko Court Towers, is located at Kofo Abayomi, Victoria Island Lagos.

Eko Court is a foremost housing

complex in Lagos that has stood the test of time since 1980, when it was built. All three towers have the same look and design, and they are arranged in a semicircle, making them easily noticeable.

These towers are blocks of three bedrooms and one-bedroom flats.

The three high rise buildings hold 155 apartments inside them. The environment is so cosy as the three high rise buildings are separated

to allow for privacy and fresh air.

Eko Court Complex has a variety of services as a properly planned mixed-use facility, and the upper floors of the complex present great views of Victoria Island and beyond.

Eko Court is managed by the Lagos State Development and Property Corporation (LSDPC) as an international housing standard facility. Everything

about Eko Court is designed to be top-notch, complete with fluid and secure elevators. The complex has good parking spaces, a good road network, and a sizable recreation area that includes a swimming pool. The environment is well taken care of, with good landscaping and many trees and flowers around, which make it even more conducive. Some people say it is a legendary property for the wealthy in Lagos.

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MONDAY, MAY 2, 2022 ˾ T H I S D AY

BUSINESSSPECIAL

Editor: Obinna Chima obinna.chima@thisdaylive.com 08024557078

Elumelu: I Was Not a Billionaire’s Son, I Created Wealth Out of Entrepreneurship The Founder of the Tony Elumelu Foundation (TEF) and Chairman of United Bank for Africa Plc, Mr. Tony Elumelu during a discussion at The United States Institute of Peace and The Heritage Foundation in the United States of America recently, spoke about his humble beginnings. He also stressed that extreme poverty and hopelessness are threat to peace and stability in Africa. Dike Onwuamaeze who monitored the event brings the excerpts of the questions and answers session with Elumelu: Why is the Tony Elumelu Foundation (TEF) focusing so much young entrepreneurs? frica is a continent of entrepreneurs and I encourage it.

My own story validates that.

Today’s Tony Elumelu started from nowhere. And I just will imagine if 100,000 or a million across Africa will have this kind of opportunity in 10 years’ time it will be a different continent. That is why the TEF is key. Today, I am lucky to be the chairman of the UBA Group that operates in 20 African countries, in Paris, London and is the only African bank in United States of America and all over America that has a deposit taking license. I did not start like that. I was not a billionaire’s son. We created this out of sheer entrepreneurism. Today we have a part of our group that is into power generation because access to electricity is important. When President Barrack Obama launched the Power Africa Initiative, I committed $2 billion to improve access to electricity in the continent. Today we have a generating capacity of 2,000 megawatts of electricity in addition to supplying Republic of Benin power. I did not start like that, but it was just sheer entrepreneurism and determination to succeed. I see in Africa today more people more determined than I was in their age.

The difference between those guys and Tony Elumelu of today is access to opportunities.

And that is what I want to create. That is what I am mobilising others in the private sector in particular to do. Let’s team up and do something that will be impactful. Let’s

A

think legacy and less about what we will have in our bank accounts. But as we do, so we need our government to also prioritise the kind of policy that will make this to succeed.

And also the friends of Africa like the United States of America, all of us will poll resources to see how we can create more Tony Elumelus across the continent. They are ready and the reason they go into extremism today is because they do not see hope. So, we need to show examples so that they will also get encouraged to know that there could be a better future for them. Yes, I believe strongly that entrepreneurship is one of the ways we can develop Africa in a manner that will be really sustainable.

Talking about aid, we get a lot of support into Africa, and that is the truth. But my own take is that we should re-imagine how we give that support because we need to give from the point of view of creating self-reliance, self-independence and making people less dependent on donor aid.

If we give and forever people cannot implement their budgets without aid and people cannot do things without aid then we should question that mechanism, that approach because it seems that something is not working because it should be a brief intervention for a period. But in a situation where it becomes perpetual it calls for a rethink. And I believe that entrepreneurship does not lead to that.

Entrepreneurship and laziness do not go together. Entrepreneurship and that level

of dependence do not go together. You can’t keep giving support to someone all the time. You provide assistance and he starts running. And then, you should also be able to also expand and replicate that so that collectively we will all work in a manner to improve the society.

How will the private sector engage the governments on issue of good governance that is important in creating enabling environment that brings in Foreign Direct Investment to build the social wealth you have talked about?

We need to understand, and more so our government needs to understand, the role of the private sector in economic development. Often times I see disconnect.

At times, and I speak not just about one country but about most of the governments across Africa, you see the government erroneously viewing the private sector as competitor. No! We should see the private sector and public sector as development partners with all hands working together to advance humanity, all hands working together to advance economic prosperity, economic growth, social wealth and social justice in the system. For the private sector to do this the enabling environment must be first of all be established and once it is established the private sector should take advantage of the opportunity that has been created and play its own role.

I see the private sector helping to catalyse economic growth like creating

jobs. Governments do not have the capacity to create the jobs that we need as a continent.

The rate at which we are growing and the demography of Africa and the rate people are entering the job markets in Africa is far, far, more than we can even imagine.

So, we need a collaborative approach in making this happen. I want to see a private sector that is strong on the continent because their being strong and succeeding will help to drive economic growth. I will want us prioritise the big and small enterprises in the continent so that when we talk about the private sector it is not just about the big corporations. We need to cut across all layers and make sure that every segment is included.

I believe in inclusivity in government. We need to make sure that we carry everyone along. There should be gender or youth inclusivity and of all facets of the society.

The lack of this is part the reasons we are having problems. Peace in the world, and Africa in particular, cannot be addressed if we do not address youth engagement.

Private sector does have a role to play and so does our governments in creating the enabling environment. And more so the private sector must engage with the governments to let them know the truth about what I felt was happening. This is not a criticism per say. It is actually what I have seen and believed that we need to address it so that we can attract more investments into the continent. Because need massive investments to help create jobs. And when we do not have some of these investments coming in because

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BUSINESS SPECIAL

INTERVIEW on the African continent. Imagines what will happen in 10 years’ time giving the rate of our population and its demography.

It is going to be worse. So we need to do something urgently. We cannot be creating a future of unequal opportunity and thinking of stability.

No! It cannot happen. So, for me the private sector has a role to play. And that is at the Centre of Africapitalism, which emphasises the leadership role of private sector in the 21st century Africa in catalysing economic growth, opportunities and development. But for that to happen, we need our government to create the enabling environment. I look forward to the oncoming dialogue with African leaders. I pray and hope that it is a true dialogue that brings the private sector and African leaders together and one that people should not come and make written speeches. Let us have conversations like this so that we can engage and dialogue and let leaders know what the private sector needs to do well and let them understand that the success of the private sector helps them to fulfill their manifestos so that they will work in harmony within what is generally acceptable so that we can operate an inclusive government. Private sector will play a role in helping to avert conflicts rather than being involved in its resolution.

But if come to the point where there is conflict, the private sector may be involved in discussing the terms of resolutions on the table. And I am sure that what the private sector will be saying is let us be creating jobs, improve access to electricity.

Let us deal with internet connectivity and bandwidth issue. Let make sure that we run an inclusive government. Let make sure that the society is inclusive and the women have a place at the table, young ones have a seat at the table and that everyone is involved irrespective of religion.

of these issues it further takes us back away from achieving our objectives of creating development, prosperity, and youth engagement in the continent. So, yes, we need a more active private sector.

What are the things will the United States of America and other development partners be doing to help African people and government improve their governance to see higher returns?

I think for the USA government; they need to see how the USA is perceived across the continent. The USA is respected, it is admired and it is loved across the continent.

If anything people are beginning to wonder if the USA is still, there for Africa because of the fray into Africa by other world powers.

We will like to see USA government engagement first reimagine to what the 21st century Africa needs. Aid is good, but we need to measure it to the last mile. We need to make sure that we prioritise those who should get it. A situation where you have billions of dollars coming into Africa and yet we still have the level of youth’s unemployment should tell us that something is not right. The healthcare system is fragile.

I will like to see, one, a change in policy that help to prioritise the ultimate recipients of whatever come into the continent. Two, I will like to help to develop infrastructures that help to drive sustainability.

In summary, I will like to see the United States’ government helping us to engage in a manner that will enable policy makers to see the linkage between the private sector and the public sector’s goal for the people.

I believe some of the approaches will help to get there. But in summary, I will like to see a rethink of how to engage with Africa, especially when it comes to aid. I like to see how it gets to people who really need it. We need to strengthen our infrastructures and institutions because there are a number of institutions that are weak to enable them to engender good governance.

After training 16,000 young entrepreneurs, are you optimistic or pessimistic about the future for African youths?

I am extremely optimistic about the future.

When I travel through Africa I see a lot of excitement and I also see first-hand the people that we have supported that are succeeding. The difference is tangible in terms of the changes they are bringing to their businesses and communities. I know for a fact that if we can prioritise them further and give them the support they need to do more. We have over 600 million people in the continent that are under the age of 30 and we are talking of 16,000 beneficiaries of the foundation. It is like less than a drop of water in the ocean.

For us to make the kind of impact that will increase our optimism and about the future of the continent we need to massively scale up things. And again that is the message I bring to the table: Let us pool resources together to deal with it realising that if there is poverty in Nigeria and Africa it will affect everyone everywhere.

There are young Africans who want to get to Europe, even by crossing the Mediterranean Sea in a very, very hard condition. And they do not care. In fact they will tell you we will rather die trying to get there than stay here. So, we need to work together to see how to make this change occur. Yes, I am optimistic. The people we have supported are making progress but we need a Marshal Plan. We need something much bigger than this 16,000 story to make a different. We should

Elumelu

There have been six coup d’état in Africa since 2021, so how do you

see this from a business perspective?

What Africa needs is prosperity. That will bring peace and reduce conflicts.

Lack of economic opportunities, hope, poverty, joblessness, and gender inequality are issues that create political instability. We cannot have political stability if we do not address these fundamentals. So, it is a problem and we hope and pray that it stops there with the countries that have experienced it.

And I hope that it becomes a wakeup call to others to sit up and prioritise these young ones and address these social issues and the economic problems so that prosperity, at least a drastic reduction of poverty, will help to reduce instability.

I preach always that poverty anywhere is a threat to all of everywhere. We can’t have stability if people are hungry.

We cannot have stability if people are starving. We cannot have stability if there is no economic hope.

People can endure and say okay the way things are going in three or five-year time things will be okay. But where there is hopelessness, anarchy reigns. That is what we are seeing. So the solutions are good governance, prioritisation of our young people in particular and engaging with the private sector to increase their ability to create jobs on the continent so that we can engage these people. We will also make sure that we run an inclusive society that brings everyone to the table. That is the solution.

“We want to make sure that we take more people out of the streets through this kind of initiative.

And the good thing is that they are intelligent.

Seeing some of the young companies coming out of Africa being valued publicly and people investing in them tell what the future can be if we give more support to this people.”

How do you perceive the private sector’s role in conflict resolution and peace negotiation?

The private sector is not trained to be involved in conflict negotiation.

However, we can play a role to prevent it. For me, rather than dealing with consequences, how about making sure that it does not happen in the first instance? And the private sector can play a role there. Again, we have issues

be talking of millions on yearly basis across the continent. Who are those to make this happen? The African private sectors that are succeeding, the global development institutions and the friends of Africa across the world and those who realise and see the linkage that what happens in any part of the world affects people everywhere. So, I see a future but that future should be driven by fundamentals and for me the key fundamental there is prioritising the younger people and entrepreneurship.

Though entrepreneurship is not the only way, but it is still the core for us because we have tested it and have seen in our own life stories where we were before and where we are today, it is all because of entrepreneurship and success we achieved. This is why we created the Tony Elumelu Foundation to help democraticise luck and create access to economic opportunities for others because that is the difference why I am not on the street today.

We want to make sure that we take more people out of the streets through this kind of initiative. And the good thing is that they are intelligent. Seeing some of the young companies coming out of Africa being valued publicly and people investing in them tell what the future can be if we give more support to this people. And there are millions of them in the continent of Africa.

Do you consider dearth of infrastructure a hindrance to flow of investment into Africa from America?

In my remarks earlier, I said that it is time we reimagine the relationship between the USA and the 21 century Africa, which should not be Africa of dependency but Africa of dignity and self-reliance. And for me the way to get there is entrepreneurship.

Let’s prioritise the young ones and support them. Because so much billions of dollars have come into Africa in the form aid yet the continent still remains perpetually dependent. If you do something over a period of time and it is not giving the desired impact and result you have to reassess it. So it is time to reimagine how that engagement could have been.

We have been doing things for so long maybe it is time to have a new deal. We need to fix infrastructure that is such a problem in the continent as I have talked about access to electricity and internet connectivity so that entrepreneurship and even the private sector can do some things.

There are so much that can happen in the continent. However, we cannot give up. If we weight for 100 per cent access to electricity before we begin the journey it will be too late. So let us begin to do something because the entrepreneurs you support today can go into solar project.

Let’s continue with the little, little, things while we wait for the big thing to happen.

I said a few minutes ago that we need a Marshal Plan for Africa to lift Africa sustainably out of poverty.

Yes a lot will be done in the area of infrastructure to enable entrepreneurs to do well. That is why I say to my private sector friends that we can say all these things but on our own let’s try to make a difference. So, let us not give up. I am optimistic. In my own time if I had been hindered or defined or characterised by my background, maybe I won’t be where I am today. So, let us keep encouraging people while playing our own role in making sure that all is not word of mouth but by doing something that can bring about the change that we needed.

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T H I S D AY ˾ MONDAY MAY 2, 2022

CITYSTRINGS

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

How Fire Explosion at Illicit Refinery Killed over 110 People in Imo Community An illicit crude oil refinery in Abaezi woodland in the Ohaji/Egbema Local Government Area of Imo State recently exploded and killed over 110 people. Amby Uneze reports that the explosion was the first of its kind in the history of the state considering the number of people burnt

N

o doubt, Friday evening of April 22, 2022, was a black day in Imo State as the peace and tranquility of a remote oil community, Abaezi woodland in the Ohaji/Egbema Local Government shattered owing to the explosion of an illicit refinery that claimed over 110 people.

The fire explosion was the first of its kind in the history of the state considering the number of people burnt in the inferno.

A Thriving Illicit Business Notably, the site of the illicit refinery was located at the middle of the forest in the Abaezi community. The community has a common boundary with Rivers State and an oil rich area. Therefore, some unscrupulous individuals latch on to the remoteness of the area to perpetuate series of negative oil bunkering and operate illegal refineries in the quiet and sleepy environment.

Severally, the state government had warned the public against patronising the illegal activities of these oil thieves. Due to the flourishing nature of the business, albeit illegal, these oil thieves are persistent in illegal siphoning of the crude that passes through the pipelines thereby denying the federal government the expected revenue that usually goes to her coffers- sabotage of the highest order and an offence against the state.

Since it is a flourishing illegal business, many people engage in it, which explains the high number of victims recorded during the explosion. And because they operate the business crudely, there were no safety measures put in place to fight emergencies.

Also, because the business is carried out in the thick forest, it is not a habitat for the indigenes except those who engage in the business on a daily basis, which was why there were no houses burnt in the inferno.

Sadly, illegal crude oil refining has become a lucrative business, mainly among residents of oil producing states, despite its dangerous consequences. The incident came months after scores were reportedly killed in an oil explosion at another illegal refinery in Rivers State in October last year.

Oil theft, known as “bunkering” in local parlance, has been a source of concern to many stakeholders across the country. The Nigerian government is reported to be losing an estimated $4 billion yearly due to oil theft activities.

In Rivers State, air pollution, especially the soot in Port Harcourt, the state capital, and its environs, has been attributed to the operation of illegal oil refineries. Recently, Governor Nyesom Wike had to take it upon himself and visited some of the illegal refinery sites and handed orders for the arrest and immediate prosecution of the owners.

Condolence and Investigation So many reactions have trailed the unfortunate incident. While President Muhammadu Buhari has condoled with the government and people of Imo State and directed immediate investigation into the incident, Imo State government in her own, commiserated with the people of the Abaezi community and the Ohaji/Egbema people.

Meanwhile, the state government went ahead to issue an order mandating the owner of the illegal refinery to hand himself over to government.

Buhari, in a statement by his spokesperson, Garba Shehu, described the incident as "a catastrophe and a national disaster," and ordered security agencies to clamp down on all illegal refineries across the country.

He said the responsibility for the loss of lives and property “must squarely lie with the sponsors” of the illegal refinery, assuring that they “must all be caught and made to face justice".

The president conveyed “the condolences and the full depth and range of the nation’s shock and trauma” to families of the victims, the community and the people of the state.

He urged community leaders and the personnel of the Nigerian Police Force to take steps to ensure that such “heartbreaking incident” is not allowed to occur again in any part of the country.

Describing the incident as a “sad development”, the Imo State Commissioner for Petroleum, Hon. Goodluck Opiah who is also an indigene of the area on behalf of the

...The illegal refinery governor, Senator Hope Uzodimma visited the scene of the fire explosion and advised the suspected owner of the illegal refinery, one Okenze Onyenwoke, whom he said was on the run to turn himself in at the nearest police station.

“I advise him to hand himself over to the police or any security agency. This is wickedness. This is economic sabotage. It is also destroying our youths. I therefore call on the youths to go away from this kind of illegal business. There are so many legitimate businesses one can do to make genuine money.”

Again the Imo State government, on Tuesday directed security operatives to comb the forests in Ohaji/ Egbema Local Government Area in the state to fish out operators of all illegal refineries and their locations in the forests in the area.

Speaking through the State Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Declan Emelumba, while commiserating with families of victims of last Friday night’s explosion at an illegal refinery at Abaezi community also directed the fumigation of the explosion site for environmental safety.

Emelumba said: “Imo State Government yesterday condoled with families of victims of last weekend’s illegal refinery fire disaster at Egbema. The government deeply regrets that more than 70 Nigerians lost their lives in the unfortunate incident even when they were engaged in illegal activities, including sabotaging the nation’s economy.”

He added: “Governor Hope Uzodimma has directed immediate evacuation of the charred remains of the victims for mass burial, while the area should be fumigated for environmental safety. The governor has also assured that the Imo State government will do everything humanly possible to stamp out illegal bunkering and illegal refinery in the state.

“Both operators and patrons of illegal bunkering and refinery have been ordered to cease operation forthwith having realised that the consequences of their actions could lead to mass murder. The government has directed security agencies in the state to intensify their search for the owners of the illegal refineries and ensure their immediate arrest and trial.

“The statement further directed security operatives to comb all parts of the state to flush out il-

legal refinery operators and bunkers for the safety of citizens and economic growth of Nigeria,” Emelumba said.

Expressing shock over the fire explosion, former governor of the State, Emeka Ihedioha described the disaster as “unfortunate but avoidable”, while calling for full investigation and prosecution of all those behind the carnage to avert future occurrence.

He said, "This is one loss too many. My heart bleeds for the victims, families and affected communities of this unfortunate and avoidable disaster. It is a period of grief and sober reflection for our State, which has been bedeviled by insecurity and other challenges.”

While calling for a deliberate action to nip the increasing activities of illegal refinery and bunkering in the state, he enjoined citizens to take adequate precautions and avoid activities that will expose them to danger or risk of losing their lives and property.

In her condolence message, the United Nations (UN) expresses sympathy with Nigeria over the explosion at an illegal refinery in Imo State. Special Representative of the Secretary-General and Head of the UN Office for West Africa and the Sahel, Mr. Mahamat Annadif, on Monday offered condolences to Nigeria over the Imo illegal refinery explosion.

Annadif stated in New York that he learned with deep emotion about the tragic explosion that occurred on Friday at a gasoline refinery in Imo and wished those injured in the explosion a speedy recovery.

The Igbo National Council (INC) yesterday called on the federal and Imo State governments to conduct a census on the affected families of the last Friday night explosion.

INC President, Chilos Godsent said the issue of census became necessary regarding the level of damage the inferno caused the affected families.

According to the group, by doing the census, the authorities would appreciate the level of suffering the unemployed youths in the oil-rich communities are currently passing through.

“The INC is very shocked that seventy hours after the ugly incident, the Executive Governor of Imo State, Senator Hope Uzodimma and President Muhammadu Buhari have not physically visited the deadly site to condole with the Abaezi people, Ohaji Egbema People, Imo people, the Igbo Nation and Nigeria for this irreplaceable generational loss”.

"Consequent to the above, the Igbo National Council INC, therefore call on the Imo State Governor and President Muhammadu Buhari to immediately visit the site and also declare a state of emergency on youth employment in South-East and South-South geopolitical regions."

The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) disclosed that the death toll in the explosion has risen to 110. Acting Head of Imo/Abia Operations Office of the agency, Mr Ifeanyi Nnaji, disclosed this on

"This is wickedness. This is economic sabotage. It is also destroying our youths. I therefore call on the youths to go away from this kind of illegal business. There are so many legitimate businesses one can do to make genuine money"

Monday.

Nnaji said more dead bodies were recovered in Orashi River, near the scene of the incident on Sunday, while some died at various hospitals to increase the total casualty figure.

On what might have led to the disaster, the NEMA boss said “those who should tell the story and give insight to the incident are all dead, we are still on the ground, we will soon come out with a report on the incident.”

Nnaji further appealed to the government to create the enabling environment for genuine business to flourish within the oil-producing communities in Imo, to discourage youths from engaging in illegal activities.

A resident who identified himself simply as Ejike said, “Nobody survived the incident.

Those who were rescued yesterday have all died this morning (Sunday). The casualty figure is over 100. This is sad. People are rushing to look for their relatives but the unfortunate thing is that the victims were burnt beyond recognition.”

A community leader and President-General of the Supreme Council of Oil and Gas Producing Areas in Imo, Chief Collins Ajie, described the incident as ‘unfortunate’.

Ajie said: “It is unfortunate. A tragedy no one dreamt of where about 108 people got burnt beyond recognition due to illegal oil bunkering. The state and federal governments should step up efforts to stop this illegal bunkering because it has claimed many lives from Ohaji/Egbema and other Niger Delta areas.

“It’s shocking to see these bodies lying down here. Most of them are breadwinners of their families. Most of them are young promising people, undergraduates, and graduates.”

Past Efforts The community leader noted that the Imo State government had some time ago made efforts to stop this illegal business, but it yielded no fruit. According to him, some arrests were made, and some trucks and some boats impounded and burnt, yet it had not been able put the situation under control perhaps as a result of the involvement of high calibre individuals involved in the illegal trade.

Also speaking, Mr David Chibuike lamented that he was at the site in search of the remains of his elder sister. “I heard the information about the incident and I had to rush down because my sister, who was married to someone in this community, was involved.

“I came to identify her body but couldn’t recognize her here,” he said while shedding tears. He also called on government and security agencies to put an end to the illegal bunkering to prevent such huge loss of lives.

Conspiracy of Silence A youth from Abacheke community, Mr. Desmond Ajie, who expressed sadness over the development, expressed concern over the inability of community leaders and security agents to end illegal bunkering in the area.

“There is a conspiracy of silence by both those who call themselves leaders and security agencies because they failed to arrest this issue. It is unfortunate that those with the capacity to put an end to this have failed,” he said.

He said youths in the oil-producing communities in the state hardly felt the impact of oil companies which could have reduced illegal oil bunkering.

Ajie advised the state and federal governments to step up efforts at ending the illegal business. “On our way coming, you could count about 34 checkpoints awaiting the illegal bunkerers and traders. So, If we have that figure and this illegal bunkering continues on a daily basis, then they have questions to answer,” he said.

Sensitisation Campaign Youths in Egbema in the Ohaji/Egbema Local Government Area of Imo State have begun a sensitisation programme following Friday night’s explosion. A youth leader in the area, James Ogbanje said the essence was to disabuse the minds of the youths from engaging in oil bunkering.

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

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T H I S D AY • MONDAY, MAY 2, 2022

WORKERS' DAY STORIES WORKERS' DAY STORIES WORKERS' DAY STORIES

Fayemi: I’ve Disbursed N2.9bn Gratuity, N1.8bn Housing Loan to Workers Our Correspondents

immensely and tirelessly to the country’s stability and economic development over the years in spite the myriad of challenges, adding that the commission appreciated the support and understanding it had received and continued to receive from workers as it implements reforms of the electoral system.

Ekiti State Governor, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, has disclosed that his administration, has disbursed over N1.8 billion as car and housing loans to civil servants, local government staff and teachers in the last four years as appreciation for their commitment and as a demonstration of government's commitment to their welfare.

The governor, who also revealed that his administration, within the period has paid a total sum of N2.9 billion as gratuity to retired civil servants and local government staff, spoke yesterday during this year's May Day Rally held at the Ekiti Parapo Pavilion, Ado Ekiti, the State capital.

Represented by the Deputy Governor, Otunba Bisi Egbeyemi, he, however, assured workers that his administration was working out modalities for the payment of one month salary arrears (owed by previous government) this month to commemorate the workers' Day.

Diri Approves 100% Increase in Bayelsa Retirees’ Gratuity

Obaseki Increases Minimum Wage to N40,000 Edo State Governor, Mr. Godwin Obaseki, has approved N40,000 as the new minimum wage for workers in the state, in commemoration of this year’s Workers’ Day. The governor, who made the announcement while delivering his 2022 Workers’ Day speech, said his government would continue to prioritise the welfare of Edo workers, equipping them with the capacity and environment to deliver efficient and quality service to the people.

“As we all know, the minimum of N30,000 can barely sustain a family. It will be immoral and mindless of us to continue to pretend that we do not know that our workers are suffering.

The government of Edo has now decided to review the minimum for Edo workers from N30,000 to N40,000 a month. Undoubtedly, Edo is the first state since the current outbreak of coronavirus to take this initiative,” he said.

Falana: Labour Should Mobilise Workers, Allies to Politics Human rights lawyer, Mr. Femi Falana, SAN, has called on civil servants and their counterparts in the private sector to get organised with other pro-labour, radical and human rights forces to contest political power with members of the ruling class.

Falana, in a statement titled: 'Rights of Workers to Participate in politics' to mark May Day celebration’, urged the labour movement to mobilise Nigerian workers and allies to embark on mass registration of the members of the Labour Party.

This, he said was necessary in view of "the undeniable fact that the members of the political class had virtually collapsed the neocolonial state through the implementation of anti-people's political and economic programmes for the past 23 years".

Ogun Pays N8.4bn

NLC President, Ayuba Wabba

Deductions, Loans Ogun State Governor, Dapo Abiodun, yesterday, said his administration had paid the sum of N8.4 billion out of the N14.4 billion owed the state workers from May 2019 to March 2022 from deductions and loans just as efforts were on to settle the outstanding balance of N6billion.

The governor, who disclosed this during year's Workers’ Day celebration held at the M.K.O Abiola Stadium, Kuto, Abeokuta, said the state government would look into the non-payment of leave allowances spanning seven years as well as issues surrounding Contributing Pension Law. “Sincerely, we acknowledge your perseverance on the three critical issues that we have had to grapple with. The first is the global deductions, which are now 21 months arrears. From May 2019 to March 2022, total deductions and loans amounted to about N14.4b, out of which a total of N8.4b, had been paid by our administration to date, including regular payment of check-off dues, loans and shillings deductions,” he said.

PDP Salutes Workers’ Patriotism The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), has lauded Nigerian Workers for their patriotism, patience and determination towards nation-building, “in spite of the asphyxiating environment under the vicious, rudderless, inhumane and corrupt All Progressives Congress (APC)-led administration that has no regard for Nigerians and particularly the workers.”

The workers, the PDP, in a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Debo Ologunagba, said were the real drivers of the national life, representing Nigeria’s resilient spirit and fight for survival in her resolve to move

the nation forward despite the misrule of the APC. "It is lamentable that the arrogance in failure and insensitivity of the APC government towards the welfare of workers continue to dislocate our social order and cripple our major productive sectors with grave negative ripple effect on millions of families and the nation at large," the PDP said.

Inuwa: Workers' Welfare Remains Our Priority Gombe State Governor, Alhaji Muhammadu Yahaya Inuwa, has felicitated with workers in the state as they joined their comrades the world over in celebrating the 2022 International Workers’ Day today.

The governor, in a goodwill message, described workers as partners in progress, assuring them that his administration would continue to sustain and deepen the existing friendly working environment and industrial harmony in the state, aimed at increasing productivity of the workforce in particular and improving good governance in general.

In a press release issued by Ismaila Uba Misilli, Director-General (Press Affairs), Government House, the governor described as apt and timely, this year's May Day theme: 'Labour, Politics, and Quest for Good Governance and Development in Nigeria'.

TPAP-M: Workers’ Fighting Spirit is Heroism The peoples alternative political movement (TPAP-M), a coalition of individuals and organisations committed to the emergence of a mass workers party and the socialist transformation of Nigeria, has said the fighting spirit of the average Nigerian worker was nothing short of heorism.

Felicitating with and extending its solidarity to the workers, the group further added was a principled quest for a more humane societal development and governance processes.

The group also commended the leadership of the trade union federations (the NLC & TUC) for the theme of this year's Commemoration: "Labour, Politics, and the Quest for Good Governance and Development'.

FCT Assures Workers Abuja Light Rail Will Resume Service The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja, Malam Muhammad Musa Bello, has assured residents of the FCT and workers of the resumption of the Abuja Light Rail operations that was suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

He offered his felicitations to all workers in the FCT on the celebration of the 2022 Workers’ Day and congratulated the leadership as well as members of the Nigeria Labour Congress, the Trade Union Congress and all other employees across the Federal Capital Territory.

The minister, who said the on-going Greater Abuja Water Project would, on completion, improve water supply in the FCT, noted too that, the collective efforts of all the workers have over the years ensured the sustained development and growth of the FCT, making Abuja one of the most beautiful capital cities in Africa and the pride of every Nigerian.

In Lagos, Workers Endorse Sanwo-Olu for Second Term Lagos State workers have unanimously endorsed Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu for a second term in office. The Nigeria Labour

Congress, Lagos chapter, gave the governor the assurance of their support in his quest to get the second term in office.

The Chairman of NLC in the State, Comrade Agnes Sessi, who addressed hundreds of workers yesterday to mark the May Day celebration, gave the assurance on behalf of the workers, saying, "This year's workers’ day was a unique one as it coincided with Eid-el-Fitr celebration.

"We commend Mr Governor on minimum wage. Lagos was the first to implement minimum wage but the economic conditions have already eroded the euphoria of N30 or 35 thousand minimum wage. Transportation fares are skyrocketing, prices of food have increased, land lords have increased rents. We will like to have a parley with you on the ways to cushion the adverse effects of the economic situations who are unable to meet up with their daily obligations."

Governor Sanwo-Olu during the event presented the title documents of a parcel of land of sufficient size in the Alausa Central Business District on which the NLC and TUC will build befitting Lagos State headquarters.

INEC Promises Workers Inclusive, Transparent Election The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), has assured the nation that it would spare no effort in ensuring that elections conducted by the commission continue to get better, freer, fairer, more credible and more inclusive.

INEC chairman, Mahmood Yakubu, made the pledge in a message released to celebrate Nigerian workers on the occasion of 2022 International Workers’ Day, on Sunday in Abuja.

Mr Yakubu said it was an established fact that Nigerian workers had contributed

Bayelsa State Governor, Senator Douye Diri, has approved additional N200 million for the payment of pensioners’ gratuity for the month of May. The governor gave the approval yesterday, at this year's Workers’ Day celebration while responding to the demands of labour leadership in the state.

Diri assured retirees that N400 million would be made available this month to accommodate a sizeable number of pensioners in view of the backlog of arrears. He appreciated workers in the state for their support and the existing harmonious industrial relationship with his administration.

The governor also approved a number of the workers requests, which included implementation of the annual step increment as well as the release of funds for conduct of the 2022 promotion exercise for both the state and local government levels.

At the same time, Diri approved the financial implementation of 2021 promotion exercise for workers and directed the relevant government officials to negotiate with labour to come up with feasible recommendations as soon as possible.

Masari Expends N70.99bn on Pension, Gratuities The Katsina State Government yesterday said it expended the sum of N70. 99 billion on the payment of pension and gratuities to state and local government retirees between 2015 to August 2018.

Governor Aminu Bello Masari disclosed this during the 2022 Mayday symposium, organised by the state chapter of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and other affiliated unions.

He said screening and verification exercise for both the state and local government senior citizens that retired between 2019 to 2020, was ongoing and the sum of N1.5 billion had been approved for their payment after the exercise.

Masari, represented by his Special Adviser on Labour Matters, Tanimu Lawal Saulawa, said he had also approved the recruitment of 5,461 staff across all sectors to replace those who left the state civil service. The governor added that the approval for the replacement of 1,000 teachers under the State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB) and 200 staff under the state judiciary had also been granted.

He explained that 217 state indigenes would also be recruited under the primary healthcare development agency (PHCA) to effectively manage primary healthcare centers across the state for sustainable healthcare delivery.

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T H I S D AY ˾ ˜ MAY 2, 2022

BUSINESS/MONEYGUIDE

NALDA Targets 1,000MT of Maize in New Food Security Drive James Emejo ÓØ ÌßÔË The National Agricultural Land Development Authority (NALDA) has flagged off its “Aggressive Food Production” project in eight communities in Shendam Local Government Area of Plateau State in a bid to boost food security.

The projects involved the cultivation of 200 hectares of maize farm for the 2022 wet season, targeting about 1,000 metric tons at harvest.

Other interventions included the provision of five solar powered boreholes for dry season irrigation farming and to serve as source of water supply for the communities as well as distribution of inputs.

The Executive Secretary of NALDA, Prince Paul Ikonne, during a visit to the farms, explained that the initiative was

part of President Muhammadu Buhari’s efforts to ensure that no matter the level of food crisis that may arise from the effect of the Russia/Ukraine war, Nigeria would have enough food for its citizens. He said, “So these steps we’re taking is to ensure that Nigeria does not experience any form of food shortage or go cap-in-hand looking for food”.

The NALDA boss added that the authority had already taken delivery of inputs including seeds, herbicides, pesticides and fertilisers to 600 beneficiary farmers through the traditional ruler and youth leaders.

He pointed out that prior to the inputs distribution, land preparation activities had been carried out by the authority.

A total of hectares was donated by the communities for the projects with 200 hectares so

far made available in the first phase.

Ikonne said the targeted yield from the cultivation was 1,000 metric tons of maize which would serve as a great boost to the government’s food security efforts.

In addition to the input distribution, goat pens and veterinary clinic are being built

by NALDA at a central location for the communities.

The clinic and pens which are near completion would serve the veterinary needs of herders and goat breeders in all eight communities.

According to him, NALDA is encouraging farmers with the support of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to aggressively produce food by meeting them at their point of need in their localities.

L-R; Executive Council Member, Risk Management Association of Nigeria (RIMAN), Mr. Adebowale Seidu; Director, Membership Services, Lagos Chamber of Commerce and industry (LCCI), Mrs. Abosede Okeyemi; Executive Secretary, RIMAN, Mr. Victor Olannye; Director General,LCCI, Mrs. Chinyere Almona; Head, Exams & Records, RIMAN, Miss Adesewa Martins; Marketing & Membership Services, RIMAN Mr. Peter Okwuopi during a courtesy visit by RIMAN to LCCI in Lagos...recently

FG Rates MCO Best Digital Innovation Agency Kasim Sumaina ÓØ ÌßÔË

.ng domain name.

The Nigeria Mining Cadastre Office (NMCO) has been rated the best “Digital Innovation in the Federal Government” 5th Nigeria Internet Registration Association Award category for the year 2022.

NIRA, a Non- govermental body established by the order of the President of Federal Republic of Nigeria to manage the Nigeria’s country code, presented the award to the best portal of the federal government with excellent user experience which promote innovation and local content development with the

The NMCO which was nominated by the public and assessed by the Award Jury as fulfilling the criteria for the category, competed with other nominees namely; Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS); Nigeria Communications Commission (NCC); Federal Road Safety Commission ( FRSC); Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) and the National Pension Commission (PENCOM) and emerged winner with the highest number of votes in favour of the agency.

The Director General of

Mining Cadastre Office, Engr. Obadiah Simon Nkom who received the award for his Agency stated that the award is a call for Mining Cadastre to always forge ahead and be committed to be able to achieve greater feat like the NIRA Award.

Nkon, in a statement in Abuja by the agency’s Head (Press), Sade Fatoke, hinted that the reward for hard work is always more work, According to him, “I will say this award is a call for more dedication and commitment for MCO to continue until government’s desire for the agency and the sector is fulfilled.”

Okoko Cosmétiques Expands to Nigeria’s $1.2bn Beauty Market Sunday Ehigiator Okoko Cosmétiques, an ecoluxury clean beauty brand based in Vancouver, Canada, has expanded into Nigeria.

In a statement, the cosmetics brand, which is formulated with botanicals and potent actives to address frustrating skin problems and deliver results to thousands of customers worldwide, revealed that it is now expanding into Africa, starting with Nigeria.

Founded by Oyéta Kokoroko, Okoko Cosmétiques featured in The New York Times twice, Goop, Elle, Forbes, and several International Media. According to Kokoroko, “The brand was formulated with innovative

botanicals and potent activities to deliver results, tackling frustrating skin problems to thousands of customers around the world. We are now bringing our offerings to Africa, beginning with Nigeria.

“Our core values are hinged on innovation, inclusivity, excellence, transparency, and thoughtfulness with a promise to consumers to continue to formulate natural and organic, innovative, solutions-driven, and high-performance products.

“We understand that the Nigerian market consumer loves luxury, packaging, and results, which their white, black, and red label ranges promise above and beyond to deliver

to the market.

“We believe that it is high time Africa which has served as the largest natural ingredients market to beauty companies across the world, begins to truly experience African-owned beauty brands originally formulated from its roots that are cruelty-free, multi-functional, sustainable, and devoid of exaggerated claims, the latter which she believes is highly prevalent in the Nigerian Beauty & Cosmetics Market.”

The company expressed believes that its entrance into the Nigerian market will not only grow the company but further Nigeria’s beauty market and ultimately Nigerian economy.

Strongmas Unveils AI-Enabled System Omini Residence Units in Lagos Okobi Sunday ËØÎ Oluchi Chibuzor Strongmas Residence and Development Limited, a property development firm, has unveiled its latest Artificial Intelligence surveillance system housing units located in the highbrow Lekki Phase I in Lagos State.

According to the firm, the location of the project is to enable residents to have easy access to Lagos’s bustling commercial and cultural centre along with its restaurant and family-friendly educational and recreational activities in a secluded and serene environment. Speaking at the

groundbreaking event in Lagos yesterday, the Managing Director of Strongmas Residence and Development Limited, Micheal Shobukola, said their quest for quality remains unchanged despite the challenges facing the industry.

He revealed that as a complaint firm, they have ensured that all required and mandatory processes with relevant authority that would ensure that safety and return on investment are thoroughly done. He said: “At Strongmas Residence Development, we know that one of the most important attributes that makes for a successful project

is communication. We listen to what our customers tell us about their lifestyle, their vision, and their concerns about building a new home.”

Shobukola revealed that Ominia total of 18 housing units has an AI surveillance system, automated music stream, smart access, flood, smoke and gas detection system, as well as smart ventilation and air conditioning facilities.

For the Managing Director, MOA Planners Limited, Moses Ogunleye, Nigerian residential real estate is believed to have a worth of N650 trillion as over 90 per cent of residential property is owned by individuals.

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 FRIDAY APRIL 29, 2022

The price of OPEC basket of thirteen crudes stood at $105.33 a barrel on Wednesday, compared with $102.94 the previous day, according to OPEC Secretariat calculations.

The OPEC Reference Basket of Crudes (ORB) is made up of the following: Saharan Blend (Algeria), Girassol (Angola), Djeno (Congo), 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).

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T H I S D AY ˾ ˜ Ͱ˜ ͰͮͰͰ

Guinness Nigeria Reports 731% Increase in Profit to N15.28bn Kayode Tokede Guinness Nigeria Plc has continued its impressive growth trajectory, posting a profit after tax of N15.28billion in unaudited third quarter (Q3) ended March 31, 2022, an increase of 731 per cent from N1.84 billion reported in unaudited third quarter (Q3) ended March 31, 2021.

The company reported a revenue of N159.4billion in Q3

2022, which represents a 39 per cent growth over the N114.96 billion reported in Q3 2021.

The results show an impressive performance and a significant improvement when compared to the same period last year, a testament to an unwavering commitment to meeting consumer demands as well as the company’s resilience in a challenging operating environment.

Commenting on the announce-

P R I C E S MAIN BOARD

F O R DEALS

ment, Managing Director/CEO, Guinness Nigeria, Mr. Baker Magunda in a statement said: “In the first nine months of fiscal 22, Guinness Nigeria continued to grow on the back of the strong recovery in the first half of fiscal 22.

“The business has delivered growth in the face of the challenging operating environment characterized by rising inflation and forex challenges in the three

S E C U R I T I E S MARKET PRICE

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months ended March 31, 2022.

Revenue grew by 39per cent to N159.4 billion benefitting mainly from price increases across all brands, as well as from favorable brand mix and resilient consumer demand.

“We have delivered revenue growth across all key categories driven by our strategic focus brands, Malta Guinness and Guinness, as well as strong growth in local and imported

T R A D E D

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A S

spirits and the ready-to-drink category. This has further showed that our strategy is sound, and we are unwavering in our commitment to ensuring our long-term competitiveness in Nigeria,” Magunda said.

He added that Gross Profit grew 76 per cent in the period as revenues grew ahead of cost of sales.

Cost of Sales increased by 24per cent, largely due to inflationary

O F

2 9

pressure, sales volume growth, forex devaluation impacting imported materials, air freight cost increase and a shift towards more expensive can products.

The Company also noted that its Marketing expenses increased 68% versus last year as it increased its marketing investments.

“We increased marketing investment to support our strategic growth priorities and the recovery of the on-trade.”

/ 0 4 / 2 0 2 2 DEALS

MARKET PRICE

QUANTITY TRADED

VALUE TRADED ( N)

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T H I S D AY • MONDAY, MAY 2, 2022

NEWSXTRA

OZOEMENA'S THANKSGIVING MASS...

L-R: HRH Igwe Nick Ojike; wife of the new Chief Judge of Enugu State, Dr. Mrs. Eyuche Ozoemena; his husband/Chief Judge of the State, Hon. Justice Afojulu Raymond; Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi of Enugu State; Hon. Justice Chima Centus Nweze of the Supreme Court of Nigeria; Chairman, Enugu State Council of Traditional Rulers, HRH Igwe Amb. Lawrence Agubuzu; and former Minister of Aviation, Amb. Mrs. Fidelia Njeze, during Ozoemena's Thanksgiving Mass, held at Christ The King Parish, GRA, Enugu, yesterday.

Onu: Revised National Energy Policy, Master Plan will Revamp Energy Sector The Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation, Dr. Ogbonnaya Onu, has said the 2022 Revised National Energy Policy (NEP) and National Energy Master Plan (NEMP) will positively impact the nation’s energy sector.

He stated this while speaking with journalists in Abuja.

Onu pointed out that the revised policy and master plan would enable Nigeria take optimum advantage of available sources of energy in the country.

“Nigeria has an abundance of crude oil, fossil fuels, and variants of renewable energy (solar, hydro, wind, geothermal and biomass), in commercial quantities, and a good mix of all these will greatly improve the energy supply in the country,” he said.

The NEP and NEMP were developed by the Energy Commission of Nigeria (ECN), a parastatal under the Federal Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation.

In his comments, the director-

general, ECN, Prof. Eli Bala, said the revised NEP and the NEMP approved by the Federal Government through the FEC will enhance performance in the energy sector through proper coordination because the policy will provide an instrument for the coordination of the implementation of government policies.

Giving a background to the documents, the ECN boss said in 1990, the commission charged with the responsibility for the strategic planning and coordination of all national energy policies, initiated a committee comprising of stakeholders in the nation’s energy sector, to draft a National Energy Policy (NEP), hitherto non-existent.

He explained that the draft NEP was submitted to the government in 1993 and reviewed severally by inter-ministerial committees, before it was approved by the federal government in April 2003 and launched by President Olusegun Obasanjo on June 20, 2005.

Bala explained that arising from

CSOs Seek Stringent Measures to Stem Online Violence against Children, Women Oluchi Chibuzor As technology continues to shape all facets of the Nigerian society, civic society organisations at the recently concluded Digital Rights Inclusion Forum(DRIF) 2022, have harped on the need for a nation to be proactive in punishing those who engage in online gender-based violence.

According to them, these would deter those who seek to prey on the vulnerability of women and children online, in line with current trends of events in the country.

Speaking at the DRIF 2022, stakeholders believed that Nigerian women do not have stringent data protection online policies and do not trust their system to protect them.

One of the panelists at the event, the policy manager, Silverchip Fox Consulting, Nana Nwachukwu, stressed that CSOs must continue to push the government, private organisations and the society to protect the citizens, especially the gir child.

“A lot of girls get harrassed, abused and receives unfriendly languages online and SMS and they cannot get their right protected.

"You will find out that there is no protocol for handling data violence against women when this happens

law enforcement agents do not do more in this regards; recently we saw some children engaged in something beyond their age and people were sharing it that is wrong.”

She added that, “Nigeria may not in the couple of years enact any laws that border on the sidelines of morality, but one of the things that is important to note is that these laws currently do not exist and women do not have special protection online.

"The biggest or closest we can get is we need to engage with the platforms, because they have internal policies that can generally work around helping women protect themselves.

“Women do not have enough data protection online and we must let the society know there must be action and consequences for their actions. How can you imagine someone threatening to share a compromised picture or video online?, she queried.

"For different panel sessions at the event, private institutions must become more engaged and tough by deliberately reviewing their internal regulatory policy on their workforce's online presence that would monitor their activities with regards to online gender-based violence.

the 2003 National Energy Policy, a national committee was constituted in 2007, with members drawn from the relevant stakeholders to draft a National Energy Master Plan (NEMP).

According to him, the NEMP is a roadmap for the implementation of the NEP that seeks to achieve the goals of policy by converting its strategies to actionable programmes, activities and projects with timelines.

He further said the NEP serves as an omnibus umbrella energy policy that covers all energy sub-sectors and gives the federal government

overall energy policy direction in the exploitation of its energy resources for national energy security and development in an environmentally sustainable manner and with the active participation of the private sector.

The objectives of the NEP and NEMP, Bala stated, are to ensure the development of the nation’s energy resources with diversified energy resources options for the achievement of national energy security and an efficient energy delivery system with an optimal

energy resource mix, guarantee increased contribution of energy productive activities to national income, guarantee adequate, reliable and sustainable supply of energy at appropriate costs and in an environmentally friendly manner to the various sectors of the economy for national development; guarantee an efficient and cost-effective consumption pattern of energy resources.

The objective, he added, would accelerate the process of acquisition and diffusion of technology and

managerial expertise in the energy sector and indigenous participation in energy sector industries for stability and self-reliance.

Others are to promote increased investment and development of the energy sector industries with privatesector leadership, foster international cooperation in energy trade and projects development in both the African region and the world at large and ensure comprehensive, integrated and well-informed energy sector plans and programmes for effective development.

SERAP Drags Buhari to ECOWAS Court over Failure to Rescue Kaduna-bound Train Attack Victims Udora Orizu in Abuja The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has filed a lawsuit against the government of President Muhammadu Buhari over the failure to protect the rights to life, security, and dignity of the victims of the Abuja-Kaduna train attack as well as the failure to secure the safe release of those held captive by the terrorists.

Terrorists had on March 28 attacked the AK9 Abuja–Kaduna train, killing at least nine persons, wounding several others, and abducting an unknown number of passengers.

The victims have remained with the terrorists for a month, despite repeated appeals for the government to free them from captivity.

In fact, the picture of a new born

baby girl delivered in the terrorists' den was released by the abductors last Wednesday, which had sparked outrage among concerned Nigerians.

The suit by SERAP followed reports that the Federal Executive Council (FEC) failed to approve funds for surveillance equipment that could have helped to prevent the train attack.

In the suit No ECW/CCJ/ APP/20/22 filed last week before the ECOWAS Court of Justice in Abuja, SERAP sought a declaration that the train attack, abductions and killings of passengers by terrorists amount to a failure by the government to protect Nigerians, and to prevent these grave human rights violations.

SERAP also sought an order directing the Buhari government to protect, promote, and fulfil the human rights of Nigerians,

including travellers across the country, by ensuring adequate security and taking measures to prevent attacks.

In the suit filed together with an application for expedited hearing, SERAP argued that the Buhari government has a legal duty to protect individuals from real and immediate risks to their lives and security caused by actions of third-parties such as terrorists.

The suit filed on behalf of SERAP by its lawyers Kolawole Oluwadare and Opeyemi Owolabi, read in part: “The Buhari government is under a legal obligation to protect the life of every citizen in the country. Remedies logically should be proportionate to the gravity of the harm or violations caused by the government and its agents or by terrorists or unknown perpetrators.

"The officials of the Buhari

government have publicly stated that they knew or had information that an attack on the train was imminent but the government failed and/ or neglected to take measures to prevent the train attack.

"The government will still be held accountable for failing or neglecting to guarantee and protect human rights regardless of whether such violations are directly or indirectly attributable to the government or its officials.

“The failure of the Buhari government to protect and guarantee the rights to life, security, liberty and dignity of the passengers and victims of the train attack violates the provisions of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights to which Nigeria is a state party."

Prioritising Labour Rights Critical to Development, Says NHRC Michael Olugbode in Abuja The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has urged governments at all levels to observe international best practices in handling labour related matters.

The Executive Secretary of the Commission, Tony Ojukwu made the call in a statement issued yesterday, to commemorate the 2022 International Workers' Day (IWD) He stated that prioritising the rights of workers was critical given that human resources remained the drivers of development in any clime.

Ojukwu further stated that entrenching good working relations

between employers and employees both in government and private sectors in Nigeria would bring about industrial harmony rather than suspicion, tension and strike which all come with their attendant negative tolls on the society.

He, however, observed that Nigeria as a Member of the International Labour Organisation (ILO), cannot afford to renege on the acceptable standards of relationship with the workforce.

He said it was interesting to note that Nigeria as a member of the ILO has always deployed dialogue as a mechanism for addressing disagreements and grievances involving labour, adding that

continuing in that manner will not only portray the nation in good light but also reinforce the confidence of workers in the government.

On the current strike embarked upon by Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) and three other labour unions, the NHRC boss enjoined the federal government to expedite action to resolve the current impasse with ASUU so as not to further endanger the right to education of the university students who have lost an academic year as a result of the unfortunate strike.

He said: “Incessant ASUU strike has continued to constitute a major threat to the right to education of students of our tertiary institutions

especially the public universities where the greater population of our youth attend."

He regretted that the university workers' industrial action deform qualitative and productive education for the Nigerian youth and consequently, "education which is regarded as the fulcrum for national development is truncated” he lamented.

He said the ongoing ASUU strike had also taken an ugly toll on the lives and livelihood of family members of the affected lecturers as most of them reportedly find it difficult to cope with the basic responsibilities of taking care of their families.

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NEWSXTRA

INFORMAL MEETING TO CEMENT RELATIONSHIP… L-R: Ogun State Governor, Prince Dapo Abiodun; one of his predecessors, former Governor Gbenga Daniel and National Secretary of the All Progressives Congress, Senator Iyiola Omisore, during an informal meeting at the Presidential Lodge, Ibara, Abeokuta …yesterday

Adebanjo: Buhari Intentionally Overlooking Multiple Challenges Confronting Nigeria Insists presidency should move to South-east Raheem Akingbolu The National Leader of Afenifere, a pan-Yoruba socio-political group, Chief Ayo Adebanjo, has accused President Muhammadu Buhari of intentionally looking away from the multiple challenges confronting Nigeria, because of his personal agenda.

The Afenifere leader also reiterated that it would be total injustice if the South-east was edged out of the 2023 presidential calculation.

Speaking on Channels Television interview, Sunday Politics, monitored by THISDAY, Adebanjo accused Buhari’s administration of insensitivity by ignoring the clamour for restructuring.

"It is insulting for the ruling party and its major promoters

to insist that they don't know the meaning of restructuring. It's more worrisome for Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, to subscribe to this conclusion.

“We all know that our constitution is not a federal constitution but a document put together by Gen. Abdulsalam Abubakar. In that case, it doesn't require amendment but surgical operation because it's a fraudulent constitution," he said.

The Afenifere leader, who insisted that it's an insult for Buhari to stand aloof as if he doesn't know what to do, said the president is only unwilling to solve the problem in the land.

According to him, "On security and other challenges facing our country, it is not that Buhari doesn't know what to do, but he

has private agenda. We have said it over and over again that,state should be allowed to take care of local security. Look, how can you send a Minna man to Umuahia and expect him to understand the terrain and secure the place?

“It's sad that Journalists also are living in denial because they all know our problem. We are all in Nigeria and no Journalist can say he's safe travelling from Abuja to Ekiti by road. Travelling by road is not safe. Travelling by rail is not safe. Anywhere you turn to, there is danger and we are all pretending all is well."

Adebanjo traced the origin of the current challenges to the reluctance of the North to key into agitation for independence in 1956, adding that the same zone that was reluctant then is still not comfortable with

other parts of the country.

His words: "The idea of zoning emanated from the decision of early leaders to make sure no part of the country is cheated. But, it's sad that a zone is frustrating all efforts being made to achieve this. After the misfortune that trailed June 12 and unceremonious exit of Ernest Shonekan, all the political parties in the country zoned presidency to the South in 1999 to pacify the Yorubas.

“Obasanjo won the election and spent eight years before handing over to Umar Yar'Adua.

Unfortunately, Yar'Adua couldn't complete and Jonathan from Southeast came in. From Jonathan, power returned to Buhari from Northern zone.

“Now, Buhari is rounding off his two term of 8 years and

Teachers to Get Tablets, Smartphones as KwaraLEARN Begins May 16 Hammed Shittu in Ilorin The Kwara State Government at the weekend said plan was underway to kickstart its public education transformation programme so as to improve teaching and learning using innovative technology and data-driven platforms through its KwaraLearn initiative.

The government said the programme would start from May 16, 2022, across 365 public primary schools in the state.

The Chairman, Kwara State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB), Prof Shehu Adaramaja, made the disclosure in Ilorin at a press briefing.

He said the programme would commence across 365 primary schools in Baruten, Offa, Ilorin East, and Ilorin West local governments of the state.

Adaramaja stated that, "The KwaraLEARN intervention

by Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq's administration is a public education transformation programme to improve teaching and learning using innovative technology, data-driven platforms, high-quality learning materials, effective training and continuous coaching and support for teachers and school administrators.

"KwaraLEARN could not have come at a better time, given the

challenges education is facing in Nigeria as captured by a United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) report delivered during a recent programme.

"Starting with governance, the Kwara State Ministry of Education, KwaraSUBEB and our technical partner, NewGlobe, developed a project communication and coordination plan to guide the management of the programme.

"Stakeholders" sensitisation campaigns have also happened in the four pilot local governments, with meetings held with traditional rulers, education trade union representatives and Education Secretaries, among others.

"Today, KwaraLEARN has completed academic field studies in randomly selected schools to learn about teachers' English fluency and proficiency, pupil oral reading fluency, and foundational numeracy," he added.

Adaramaja explained that the process employed by KwaraLEARN has been systematic and scientific to achieve the desired learning outcomes.

He said the decision to start the project was sequel to the critical achievements the State has earlier recorded in academics, governance, stakeholder engagements, operations, school inspection, technology, job creation, leadership and

development.

On the selection of the four local governments for the pilot scheme of KwaraLEARN, Adaramaja said the local governments were randomly picked due to population from both rural and urban centres to check the outcomes before a statewide operation.

The SUBEB chairman noted that KwaraLEARN's key achievements in operations and technology included the delivery of 4,329 teacher tablets and smartphones; procurement of 250 blackboards; hiring of IT operation teams, set up of teacher tablets and validation of tech applications in schools.

On the first phase of induction training which took place in Queen Elizabeth school Ilorin, the Chairman disclosed that 1,813 teachers and headteachers from across 227 schools in Baruten and Ilorin West LGAs have participated, saying that the second phase would start on May 5, 2022, with prospective participants from Ilorin East and Offa local governments.

"The induction training, which is a pivotal element of KwaraLEARN, concludes its first wave today (April 29 2022). Since its commencement on April 19 2022 at Queen Elizabeth School, Ilorin, 1813 teachers and headteachers from across 227 schools in Baruten and Ilorin West LGAs have participated while the second

wave of the induction training would commence on the 5th May, 2022 and is expected to have over 1500 participants from Offa and Ilorin East LGAs. "Our technical partner, NewGlobe has done a tremendous job in ensuring that participants are on the right teaching trajectory by deploying experienced personnel and facilities such as teachers’ smartphones, tablets and applications for the exercise.

"It is worthy of note that the teachers have shown great enthusiasm and a keen interest in becoming a better version of themselves during the course of the training," he added.

Adaramaja added that the programme was also creating a long socio-economic value chain that benefits Kwarans through various job opportunities.

"For example, KwaraLEARN has created jobs by hiring School Inspection Associates and staff to train, support, coach, and mentor the headteachers and teachers.

"We have onboarded schools’ staff to get them prepared and build their capacity for the fieldwork. 43 job offers have been made, while 38 full-time staff have been hired so far. Currently, we are training 3500 teachers drawn from across the state who will implement this programme beginning in May.

some people haven't considered it necessary to zone presidency to South-east. Is South-east not part of Nigeria? If we want peace, we must be just and fair to all," he stated.

The Afenifere leader, who also condemned the president for always speaking to Nigeria while abroad, dismissed Messrs Femi Adesina and

Garba Shehu, both spokespersons to President Buhari, as people ‘who know next to nothing.’

He said, "It is sad that whenever Buhari want to talk to us, he goes abroad or talk to us through Femi Adesina or Garba Shehu. Both guys know next to nothing and they play to the gallery most times."

UK-Based Nigerian Student Urges Buhari to Establish National Media Campaign on Climate Change Warns country's climate change actions risk being relegated to the background Peter Uzoho A United Kingdom-based Nigerian student and Founder of Our Tomorrow Endowment, a Pan-African environmental activist organisation, Prince Emeka Obasi Jr, has called on President Muhammadu Buhari to establish a national media campaign to educate Nigerians on issues of climate change in the country and their effects on the health and socio-economic lives of the people.

Obasi junior is the son of the late publisher of Business Hallmark who passed recently.

Obasi Jr also reminded the president of Nigeria's climate change actions which he announced to the world at the 26th edition of the United Nations Conference of the Parties (COP26) in November last year, in Glasgow, Scotland, warning that those actions risked being relegated to the background as no action had been taken by the government since those pronouncements were made.

In letter addressed to the president dated April 25, 2022, with the title, "On Climate Change, Your Excellency, It Is Time for Real Action", which was sent to THISDAY, at the weekend, Obasi Jr said he was prompted to write the president owing to the need to draw his attention to the threats climate change and environmental pollution pose to Nigeria and the African continent.

He recounted that at the COP26, Buhari had during his presentation articulated the importance of global solidarity in tackling climate change and highlighted the work

being done by his administration to reduce greenhouse emissions in Nigeria as well as transition towards cleaner energy.

He equally reminded President Buhari of his pledge at the COP26 that Nigeria would cut its emissions to net-zero by 2060, while also stressing the need for easier access to climate finance for developing countries, especially given the fact that Africa was only responsible for five per cent of global emissions.

Recounting other pledges made by the president at the conference as Nigeria's commitments to tackling climate change, Obasi Jr stated that no concrete action had been taken as a follow up to Buhari's pronouncements, urging the president to step up action against issues threatening the environment in country and Africa.

The letter read in part, "Sadly, after the COP26 in November last year, I have not seen much follow up action and I am apprehensive that the programmes which you had eloquently canvassed stand the risk of being relegated to the background.

"I am worried because climate change and environmental pollution are too important to be treated with negligence.

They are matters that have grave implications for the survival of our continent.

"They have the potential to cause a food crisis and worsen security challenges if not tackled. Therefore, the time for action is now.

"The experience I had interacting with impacted communities made me commit to doubling my effort towards creating awareness around these issues."

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ANCHORIA ASSET MANAGEMENT RELAUNCH...

L-R: Group Managing Director, VFD Group, Nonso Okpala;Chairman, VFD Group, Tunde Busari; Managing Director, Anchoria Asset Management, Azubike Emodi; Managing Director, Kairos Capital, Sam Chidoka, and Managing Director, Ourcar Limited, Kunle Alamu, during the relaunch of Anchoria Asset Management Limited in Lagos… recently

Ogoni Host Communities to Drag HYPREP to EFCC over $366million Clean-up Funds Blessing Ibunge in Port Harcourt Dissatisfied with the activities of the Hydrocarbon Pollution Remediation Project (HYPREP) in dispensing funds for the clean of Ogoniland, host communities under the aegis of Ogoni Liberation Initiative (OLI), has threatened to drag the agency before the Economic Financial and Crimes Commission (EFCC).

The group called for a review of the clean-up exercise to ensure effective remediation of oil impacted sites in the area.

The host communities gave the

threat to approach EFCC during a stakeholders’ meeting with the theme, "Final Declaration," held in Port Harcourt.

President of OLI, Dr. Douglas Fabeke who read the eight page-document, at the meeting noted with dismay, that there was nothing tangible to justify the alleged $366million so far expended on the clean-up exercise.

Fabeke threatened to invite EFCC, to investigate the activities of the HYPREP over the clean-up exercise.

"Dissatisfaction with the High Level of Misappropriation of

Soyinka Visits Sunday Igboho in Benin Republic Nobel Laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka has travelled to Cotonou, Benin Republic to visit Yoruba Nation agitator, Sunday Adeyemo, known as Sunday Igboho.

The literary icon was seen at the Seme border around noon yesterday, crossing to Cotonou, the capital city of Benin Republic.

He was mobbed by a crowd while waiting to complete immigration formalities and he was repeatedly asked where he was headed.

His response was that he was on a visit to see Igboho to break the Muslim fast with him.

Reminded that neither he nor Ighoho was a Muslim, Soyinka asserted that it made no difference.

He said he had wished to see Igboho, so as to sympathise

with his predicament.

"Ramadan is as good as any other season to express non-denominational solidarity," added the Professor.

Igboho was arrested in Cotonou on July 20, 2021, while traveling to Germany as the Nigerian government had declared him wanted.

He was arrested with his wife, Ropo, who was later released. Igboho spent eight months in prison before he was released by the Benin Republic government, but he is not allowed to leave the country.

Igboho had been at the forefront of agitation for the Yoruba Nation in Nigeria until his house was invaded by the Department of State Services (DSS) in Ibadan. He managed to flee while some of his aides were killed and others arrested.

Ogoni Clean-up Fund by HYPREP: We and the entire Ogoni people express our high level of dissatisfaction with the way and manner the funds meant for the clean-up of the Ogoni environment have been misappropriated by HYPREP. "Available records show that so far, a total sum of $366 million has been released to HYPREP for the clean-up of the Ogoni environment. The said sum was released to HYPREP through the Ogoni Trust Fund.

"However, despite the release of these funds, there is nothing to show and HYPREP has refused to give the Ogoni people upon whose behalf the funds were released, a proper account of how the money has been utilised after

several years.

"We, therefore, call on HYPREP to within fourteen days, render a proper account to the Ogoni people otherwise we shall invite the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission and other anti-graft agencies to investigate HYPREP," Fabeke added.

While calling for the provision of portable water and a comprehension health initiative to assess the health condition of the people, the group also urged the federal government to support individuals and corporate bodies who are willing to invest, to boost the economy of Ogoni.

On Shell facilities still visible in Ogoni land, the people called for the de-commissioning of such facilities to forth stall

further degradation of the environment and urged the Nigerian Petroleum Development Company to implement the federal government directive on the Oil Mining License 11 oil block.

"Decommissioning of Shell Petroleum and Development Company Facilities in Ogoni Land: SPDC oil facilities and assets have been left abandoned and unattended since the year 1993 when SPDC ceased oil operation in Ogoni and their continued presence has continued to cause a great health hazard, environmental and safety risk to the farmers, fishermen and the entire people of Ogoni.

"It is based on the above that the UNEP Report particularly

on page 16, specifically recommended that the SPDC should conduct a comprehensive review of its assets in Ogoni land and develop an Asset Integrity Management plan for Ogoni land and decommissioning plan of these assets which plan should be communicated to the Ogoni people.

“However, SPDC has refused and neglected to decommission these assets neither has it developed any asset integrity management plan on these assets.

"We, therefore, call on the federal government of Nigeria to beacon on SPDC to with immediate effect, decommission all her assets in Ogoni land has lost the license to operate OML 11,” he added.

Kogi: Stakeholders Warn of Consequences if Nonclearance of PDP Senatorial Aspirants is Reversed The PDP Stakeholders in Kogi PDP have warned that the non-clearance of two Senatorial aspirants, Ubolo Okpanachi and Aminu Suleiman by a screening panel set up by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) must not be squashed through the backdoor by the appeal panel.

They stressed that the grounds for not clearing them were justified.

The PDP National Assembly screening committee sitting in Lokoja recently screened four aspirants from Kogi East, Isaac Alfa Ubolo Okpanachi, Aminu Suleiman and Victor Adoji.

The result of the screening made public in Lokoja last Wednesday

had shown that Okpanachi and Abubakar were not cleared for various improprieties.

According to the results, Abubakar was not cleared because he was not known to be a registered voter in Kogi East, while Okpanachi was not cleared because of his involvement in anti-party activities and plethora of other petitions challenging his eligibility to contest.

Owing to this, some stakeholders, who spoke to THISDAY on the condition of anonymity said the non-clearance of the duo had far reaching implications.

"Looking at these two aspirants as they stand at the moment, if

this outcome of the screening is not quashed by the screening appeals committee, the grounds on which they are found wanting is sufficient enough to disqualify them from participating in the party primaries.

"For Aminu Suleiman Abubakar, the fact that he's not eligible to vote or take part in the election in the senatorial district, automatically forecloses his benefiting from any vote that would be cast in the district, especially the one that he's supposed to be a direct beneficiary," he said.

Also, a party chieftain said, "Elder Ubolo's reasons for not being cleared seems even more grievous, being hinged on anti-

party activities. He was known to have left the PDP for the ruling APC, even confirmed to be an appointee of the APC. "The Constitution of the PDP 2017, as amended, allows for members who defected from the party to return. However, for such returning members to be eligible to contest any elective office on the platform of the party, there are certain conditions that they must fulfill.

These conditions are properly spelt out in Chapter 2, Part 1, subsections 16 and 17, which has to do with the procedures for rejoining the party, status of a decampee, and other membership related matter".

Foundation Targets 300,000 Anambra Indigenes for Free Healthcare David-Chyddy Eleke in Awka

A non-governmental organisation, Ferdinand Dozie Nwankwo Foundation has said it is targeting to provide free healthcare for 300,000 indigenes of Anambra State, in seven local government areas in its 2022 medical outreach.

The foundation said the healthcare services that would

be provided include eye treatment, surgeries and general health examination.

Dozie Nwankwo, a member of the House of Representatives disclosed this yesterday, in an event to mark the commencement of the 2022 edition of the annual event.

Nwankwo who was represented by Mr. Law Ugwunna

said: "This outreach is in its 12th edition, under the sponsorship of a member of the Federal House of Representatives, Hon Dozie Nwankwo, representing Njikoka/ Anaocha/Dunukofia.

"The foundation was established years ago as a vehicle to give back to the society and to positively touch the lives of the citizens, especially the less privileged.

"He (Nwankwo) has been conscientiously holding the medical outreach for twenty years before the citizens of the area implored him to come and represent them at the national assembly seven years ago.

"He will next year contest for a seat in the Senate, to represent the people of Anambra Central.

“We urge everyone that is

unable to see a doctor today to visit the next nearest location the next day. Previous editions of the outreach had focused on citizens from only three Council areas of Njikoka, Anaocha and Dunukofia, but the current edition will cover seven local government areas."

He listed the council areas to include: Idemili North, Idemili South, Awka North, Awka South,

Njikoka, Dunukofia and Anaocha that constitute Anambra Central Senatorial district.

"By the end of this exercise, we are hopeful that no fewer than 300,000 beneficiaries would have been registered, cutting across the local government areas listed earlier. All classes of people will be accommodated, including gender and age," he added.

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Internal Security: Stick to Your Constitutional Role, IG Tells Military

Irabor seeks review of strategies, new approaches to contain security challenges

Kingsley Nwezeh in Abuja After a long and hard look at the involvement of the military in internal security operations across the country, the Inspector-General of Police(IG),Usman Alkali Baba, has called for a quick end to the military’s stretch beyond its constitutional role.

The Chief of Defence Staff, Gen Lucky Irabor, recently stated that the military was involved in internal security operations in 34 out of the 36 States of the Federation and the Federal Capital Territory(FCT).

However, speaking at a meeting with the defence chiefs in Abuja, the IG said the military’s role, which also includes providing aid in support of civil authority, was overstretched as it was conducting operations in almost all the states of the federation.

He said the issue of maintaining law and order remained the exclusive preserve of the police.

“The issue of maintenance of law and order, the issue of enforcing law and order, the issue of making sure that people go about their lawful businesses is

certainly the work of the Nigeria Police Force and other security agencies.

“We are very much appreciative of the roles you have been playing

in coming to the aid of the civil authority to the extent that you have been overstretched. You are always everywhere in this country performing both the military and

civil duties,” he said.

“We really hope that there will be a time when we have the military really go back to its statutory responsibilities and

ensure that other agencies that are in charge of safety and security of the nation also perform their duties without stretching the military.

“It is what we have as the last

resort, we shouldn’t be bringing it out at the slightest moment of provocation or threat or violence.

Military should come out as the last resort always,” he said.

SOLIDARITY VISIT…

L-R: Nobel Laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka, Yoruba Nation agitator, Sunday Adeyemo,(Sunday Ighoho); and Leader of Ilana Omo Oodua Worldwide, Prof. Banji Akintoye, during a visit to Igboho in Cotonou, Republic of Benin…yesterday

Train Attack: Terrorists Police Arrest 14 Suspects for Railway Vandalism Release Son of Northern Elders’ Forum Chairman Rebecca Ejifoma

Terrorists, who kidnapped the Abuja-Kaduna train passengers have released Sadiq Ango Abdullahi, son of the Chairman of the Northern Elders Forum (NEF), Professor Ango Abdullahi and his late wife, Senator Aisha Jummai Alhassan, aka Mama Taraba.

Sadiq, who has spent over onemonth in captivity with other victims, was said to have been released last Friday after the payment of ransom to the terrorists.

Sadiq, a Peoples Democratic Party(PDP) chieftain, was among

those in the Business Class coach of the train, who were abducted by the gunmen.

Sadiq had on February 5, 2022 dumped the ruling All Progressives Congress for the PDP. Terrorists had on March 29 bombed the Abuja-Kaduna rail tracks and attacked a train filled with passengers. About nine passengers lost their lives while many were taken into captivity by the terrorists.

One of the victims, who was eight months pregnant was reported to have given birth last week.

NIPOST Staff Tasked to Make Organisation Best in Africa The Postmaster General of the Federation, Dr. Ismail Adebayo Adewusi, yesterday tasked staff of the Nigerian Postal Services (NIPOST) to work towards making the organisation best in Africa.

According to him, the staff of the postal agency can create a global postal organisation of their dream if they are committed to the ideals.

In a special May Day message addressed to NIPOST workers across the country, Adewusi said the choices workers of any organisation make have direct

impacts on the performance and positioning of the oraganisation.

He said: “As a postal service delivery organisation, we are very well-positioned to become the best in Africa and one of best in the world. This goal is achievable if we choose to stay focus on our daily decisions that will take to the place of fulfilment.”

Adewusi reminded NIPOST workers that the pace of change in the delivery business has accelerated in such a manner that NIPOST could not afford to be left behind.

Vetifly Unveils Platform to Enhance Business Growth

Nigeria’s on-demand helicopter booking company, Vetifly, has announced the commencement of its innovation series themed “2022 and Beyond: The Future of Commuting and its Impact on Business Agility.” This is in a bid to champion conversations on how technological advancements are playing an integral role in redefining the operations of the entire Nigerian-mobility sector.

The Vetifly Innovation

Series, which is scheduled to hold on May 5, 2022, is a platform designed to explore the modern business trends across the global-mobility ecosystem. This will invariably help Nigerian companies to develop sustainable models that will guarantee business agility which will enable them to easily embrace technological innovations to upscale their business operations.

The Railway Police Command of the Nigerian Police Force has arrested 14 suspects in connection with rail tracks vandalism concealing stolen properties of the Nigerian Railway corporation (NRC), armed robbery, and criminal conspiracy across the nation this April.

The Kafanchan Railway Police Division of the command, upon

a tip-off by a concerned citizen, intercepted a cement truck laden with railway slippers along Bankin-Kaninkon-Kogi on April 1 this year.

The suspected vandals, according to the police, abandoned the truck and fled the scene upon sighting the police as exhibits were recovered.

Investigations, however, led to the arrest of Ahmed Tanko of Dangoma Village Jam‘A L.G.A in Kaduna State.

While he was said to have confessed to the crime, the police said they were intensifying efforts to apprehend his accomplices who are still at large.

Meanwhile, on April 27, the Kafanchan Divisional Headquarters nabbed six alleged vandals. They were said to be loading multiple rail steels into two trucks belonging to another cement company.

The suspects include: Sergeant Sirajo Suleiman of the Nigerian

Army Central Ammunition Department, Kaduna; Idris Bawa; Idris Musa; Shamsu Abdulahi; Anthony Moses; and Yunana Gaius.

According to the police, these men were caught in the act in a bush near Camuru Station, Kachia, LGA Kaduna State.

The Kano Division of the Railway Command also apprehended three suspects, Abdukarim Haruna, Hassan Dahiru, and Bashir Mumuhamed.

2023: I’m Back in Ogun to Serve My People, Says Lagos Senator

James Sowole in Abeokuta

The Senator representing Lagos West Senatorial District, Solomon Olamilekan Adeola, has said that he is coming back into Ogun State politics for good with his aspiration to contest the Ogun West Senate seat in 2023 and give his people better representation.

Adeola, popularly called Yayi, said he is coming back to Ogun State, to add value to his

senatorial district, with a passion to serve his people.

The senator explained that his ambition to return to Ogun State started more than 15 years ago, which he also premised on the need to contribute to the growth and development of his home state.

By 2023, the accountant turned politician would have spent 20 years in Lagos politics where he had variously served as a member of the House of Assembly, House

of Representatives, and the Senate.

However, the Lagos Senator’s aspiration is generating controversy as some stakeholders have questioned his indigeneship of the state while also expressing divergent views on the morality and legality of his ambition to contest in Ogun State, having held sway in Lagos politics for about 20 years.

Interacting with journalists at his residence in Ilaro, Yewa South Local Government Area of

the state, Adeola dismissed the controversy over his indigeneship, saying he has decided to come back home for no other reason but because of his people.

He said: “If I want to put the comfort and everything that I believe Lagos provides for me into place, I might see it as a difficult situation, having made two attempts to come back home and those two attempts I decided to return, but this time around there is no going back.

Senate: PDP Disqualifies former Guber Candidate, Valentine Ozigbo, Others Chuks Okocha in Abuja The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has disqualified the immediate past President of Transcorp Plc and candidate for Anambra governorship election in 202, Mr. Valentine Ozigbo, from contesting the Anambra South Senatorial District primaries.

The report of the five-man

screening committee headed by Hon S.K.E Udeh Okoye said three Senatorial aspirants were screened out for varying reasons out of the total of nine that were scrutinised.

Also disqualified were Chief Hon Chuma Nzeribe and Obinna Uzoh while those who were cleared were Chief Chris Ubah, Sen. Stella Oduah, Ezebiakwa Peace, Tony Nwoye, John Emeka

and Uche Ekwunife.

It said Ozigbo was disqualified for submitting his nomination form out of stipulated time.

According to the committee, consideration was given to the documentations presented to the committee by Ozigbo.

“He told the committee that he was awaiting the Supreme Court Judgment in SC/CV/240/2022

and SC /CV/241/2022, that if the Supreme Court annuls the election he would become the Governor.On that basis, he concluded that there would be no need to submit the Senatorial Form within the specified time, on April 27.Unfortunately, by the time he submitted the Form, he was already out of time,” the committee explained.

Champions Emerge at Glo Battle of Year Competition After more than three months of unlimited entertainment on the biggest dance reality competition in Nigeria, Glo Battle of the Year ended in grand style last Saturday in Lagos. It was an evening of dance, Music, and Comedy as the show climaxed with the final Bboy, Bgirls, and Breakdance crew dance battles with mega millions at stake for

the winners.

The close out performance of one of Africa’s finest musical acts, Davido, also heightened the excitement for the crowd and viewing audience. The pre-live show had the Breakdance Crew show off their dance prowess on the dance floor seeking to impress the judging panel. In the end, Lagos duo of 619 crew

and Space Unlimited alongside Delta All Stars and Port Harcourt power crew, Eleven All Stars, emerged as semifinalists.

Teni and Simi opened the live show with an exhilarating joint performance, to set Africa’s biggest dance entertainment show going. Nigeria’s Gordons and Basketmouth as well as top rated Ugandan comedian, Salvador,

‘cracked the ribs’ of the audience with their performances.

The Bgirls finale could have been termed the ‘Lagos Vs Abuja’ finale, as one finalist from each region faced the other. In the end, it was Bgirl Cruxxy from Lagos that came out champion defeating Bgirl Vicky from Abuja to be crowned the number One Bgirl in Nigeria.

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Cardinal Onaiyekan Blames Nigeria’s Woes on Politicians The Emeritus Catholic Archbishop of Abuja, Cardinal John Onaiyekan, yesterday berated the political class in the country, saying they have deliberately strangulated the country.

According to him, most of them now regard politics as avenue to capture the resources of the nation instead of offering service to the people.

Onaiyekan made the assertion during a Holy Mass to mark

NLC Mourns 36 Workers Killed by Bandits in Kaduna

The Chairman of the Nigeria Labour Congress(NLC), Kaduna State Council, Ayuba Magaji, yesterday said that no fewer than 36 workers were killed as a result of the insecurity occasioned by banditry, kidnapping across the state.

Magaji ,who disclosed this while addressing workers at this year’s May Day celebration in Kaduna, also asked workers to pray for the repose of the souls of their departed colleagues.

The NLC boss also urged

workers to ensure they obtained their voter cards to vote against politicians who would not protect their interests in the 2023 general elections.

This was just as he urged workers to take part in active politics instead of sitting on the fence before, during, and after the elections.

Magaji also described as “unacceptable”, the continued delay in the payment of salary of primary school teachers and health workers in the state.

29 Imo Communities Abandon Female Genital Mutilation Practice

Amby Uneze in Owerri

As the world goes against the practice of female genital mutilation (FGM), 29 communities in Oguta Local Government of Imo State have reiterated their firm decision to abandon the illegal act especially as the country launches the ‘Movement for Good to end Female Genital Mutilation’.

The event, which was

organised within the context of the United Nations Population Fund and United Nations Children’s Fund (UNFPA/UNICEF) Joint Programme on the Elimination of FGM in five focus states (Oyo, Osun, Ekiti, Ebonyi and Imo) was co-led by the Federal Ministry of Women Affairs and the Federal Ministry of Health ensures that the prevalence of FGM is stopped.

Fathers Day. The event has the theme: ‘Celebrating the elderly (70 and above)’, was organised by the Catholic Men’s Organization (CMO) of the Holy Family Catholic Church Life Camp, Abuja.

“For as long as our political system is the way it is, anything goes.

“Obviously, those who have indicated interest in being president, must be able to buy a form for N100 million in Nigeria of today, and you obviously know the name of the game.

“It means if you are not part of that kind of people don’t even think of ruling Nigeria.

“Who told them that it is only the rich people who can rule Nigeria or that the problem of Nigeria is going to be solved by these people who are already very happy with the way things are?”

“They are not going to change anything for me and you,” he said.

Onaiyekan added that Nigeria may not likely change for the better “because those who should do it are the beneficiaries of the system that we want to change.

“They do not want to block the loopholes that they normally use to get it.”

In spite of the situation, the cleric said Nigerians must pray for a good person to be president of the country in 2023.

Chairman of the CMO, Chief Cyril Ezeani, urged the government to do more in caring for the elderly.

He also urged Nigerians to begin to rebuild the dying culture and consciousness of taking care of the elderly.

“To honour and obey parents is the only commandment of God that comes with a promise,

and one of the best promises for that is longevity,” Ezeani added.

He urged the Church and other faith-based institutions, Non-Governmental Organisations and governments to establish recreational centres for the elderly.

“A place they can go and socialise and play games to kill the boredom of loneliness and abandonment,” he added.

The Parish Priest, Rev. Fr Anthony Olaniyan, said Nigerians should celebrate senior citizens by spending time with them and keeping them happy.

APC Presidential Aspirant Quits Race as Party Dumps Zoning Sunday Aborisade in Abuja An All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential aspirant and leader of the agitations for Middle-Belt Presidency in 2023, Moses Ayom, has withdrawn from the race.

He attributed his decision to the last-minute dumping of the zoning arrangement by the leadership of the APC. Ayom, according to a statement yesterday, announced his withdrawal

while breaking fast with members of the Interfaith Clerics Council of Nigeria on Saturday, at an event centre he donated to the APC. He also said his withdrawal from the race was in deference and total submission to the Abdullahi Adamu-led National Working Committee of the APC. He said: “On the basis of all these, I wish to state without any form of equivocation, that I am standing down my

aspiration for the presidency of our country summarily. I wish to state very boldly that we shall return at the right time.”

Adamu had last Friday told journalists at the Presidential Villa that the party had not taken any decision on zoning of the presidency. When asked where the governing party would be zoning its presidential ticket to, Adamu said such a decision was beyond the NWC and is the prerogative of the entire party,

which, he acknowledged, is bigger than the chairman.

Ayom said part of the reason he wanted to contest the election was to bring relief and succour to his people, who, according to him, had “for decades had not experienced equity, fairness and justice.”

He said: “A people that had suffered untold marginalisation and maltreatment in the form of economic and social deprivation arising from political slavery.

11 People Rescued as Building Collapses in Lagos Rebecca Ejifoma About 11 people were yesterday rescued as threestorey building collapsed at 32 Ibadan Street in Ebute Metta area of Lagos State

at 9.48pm. Although no casualty discovered yet, rescue operations were on going after the incident occurred.

In a statement, the Lagos State Fire and Rescue Service, noted: “An alert of a collapse

of a three storey building by 32 Ibadan Street, Ebute Meta was received at 21:48 hours, Sunday with Lagos State Fire and Rescue Service already at the scene.”

It stated further that while

search and rescue operations were going on, responders like the Lagos State Ambulance Service (LASAMBUS), and the Lagos State Building Control Agency (LASBCA) also on ground.

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MONDAYSPORTS

Group Sports Editor: Duro Ikhazuagbe Email: duro.ikhazuagbe@thisdaylive.com

0811 181 3083 SMS ONLY

Iwobi Helps Keep Everton Survival Hope Alive with Win against Chelsea

Kunle Adewale withagencyreport

Super Eagles midfielder, Alex Iwobi, yesterday put in a brilliant display at left wingback to help Everton claim a hard-fought

1-0 victory against Chelsea at Goodison Park as the Toffees continued with their fight to stay alive in the English Premier League.

Burnley’s victory at Watford

earlier in the day put the toffees in a precarious position.

Everton boss, Frank Lampard, kept his faith with Iwobi, giving the Nigerian star his sixth consecutive start.

As expected, the Blues were the dominant side, but they lacked bite in front of goal in the first half, as they failed to record a shot on goal.

However, Everton shocked

the Central Londoners, as within a minute after the start of the second half, Richarlison struck.

Demarai Gray capitalized on a mistake from the Chelsea defence and passed it to Richarlison, who promptly slotted the ball past Mendy to give the toffees a one-goal lead.

Iwobi was involved in the buildup to Everton's goal as he delivered the throw-in that led to Richarlison's opener.

After conceding, Chelsea increased their tempo, but Everton kept a stealth front, blocking everything the European Champions threw their way.

Iwobi was outstanding despite playing as a wing back and the former Arsenal man put in a brilliant shift.

Iwobi had three clearances, one interception, two tackles, and 47 touches to cap a brilliant afternoon at work.

Chelsea threw everything but Everton kept them out.

The victory for Everton means that they sit two points away from safety, with a game in hand.

RESULTS *Premier League Everton 1-0 Chelsea Tottenham 3-1 Leicester West Ham 1-2 Arsenal

*La Liga Elche Granada Rayo Barcelona

1-1 1-1 1-1 2-1

Osasuna Celta Vigo Sociedad Mallorca

*Serie A Juventus AC Milan Empoli Udinese Roma

2-1 1-0 1-3 1-2 0-0

Venezia Fiorentina Torino Inter Bologna

*NPFL MD 26 Dakkada Enyimba Tornadoes Katsina Kwara Utd MFM FC Heartland Remo Stars Sunshine Lobi Stars

1-0 3-0 2-1 1-0 2-1 0-0 2-1 1-0 0-0 2-1

Plateau Gombe K’Pillars Akwa Utd Rivers Utd Rangers Abia War’ Wikki Shooting Nasarawa

Rohr Favourite to Be Named Eagles of Mali Head Coach

Alex Iwobi (right) and his teammates celebrating Richarlison’s winner against Chelsea...yesterday.

PHOTO: Getty Images

Ofili, Chukwuma, Ashe Headline Another Impressive Weekend for Nigerian Collegiate Athletes Sprinters Favour Ofili, Rosemary Chukwuma and Favour Ashe headlined another weekend of impressive displays by Nigerian collegiate athletes in the United States of America following their incredible efforts in the 100m and 200m events.

Ofili ran a blistering 10.93s in the 100m event on Saturday at the LSU Invitational at Bernie Moore Track Stadium to win the event and move up to No. 8 on the all-time collegiate list.

The 19-year-old, who already owns the collegiate record in the 200m bursts out of the blocks on the way to setting a wind legal personal best of 10.93s in the event to win the title.

Not only did she win the race, but she also beat three Olympic/ world medalists whilst doing so in defeating Mikiah Brisco (10.98), Aleia Hobbs (11.11) and Jenna Prandini (11.15).

The time of 10.93 by Ofili is the fifth fastest in LSU history, eighth fastest in collegiate history, No. 5 in African history, No. 3 in Nigerian history, and it ranks as the fourth fastest wind legal time in the world this season.

Also at the LSU invitational, University of Tennessee freshman Favour Ashe was also devastating on the track as he ran 9.79s with a 3.0 m/s tail wind. It is the fifth-fastest all-conditions time in collegiate history in the men's 100m.

Reigning World U20 champion

Favour Ofili.... hottest Nigerian sprinter at the moment

T R AC K & F I E L D in the 400m, Imaobong Nse Uko ran 51.66s, the second best 400m time of her career to place third behind Kendall Ellis (51.00s) and Rosey Effiong (51.66s), daughter of former Nigeria speed king, Daniel Effiong. Nse Uko however raced to a new 23.33s lifetime best in the 200m.

In the men's 400m, Nathaniel Ezekiel of Baylor University also

ran his second fastest 400m time ever, stopping the clock at 46.64s to place ninth in the final classification.

Chinecherem Prosper Nnamdi threw 73.06m to win the javelin event at the meet. Focus had been on the 19-year-old to finally break the Nigeria record of 81.08m set

by Pius Bazighe in 1999.

Nnamdi was just a centimtre outside the mark when he threw 81.07m at the Michael Johnson Invitational just last weekend.

At the Corky/Crofoot Shootout meet at the Fuller Track and Field Complex in Lubbock, Texas, Chukwuma was also in inspiring form.

The 20-year-old legally dipped inside 23 seconds for the first time in her career to win the 200m race at the event and set a new Texas Tech University record.

Her 22.78s new lifetime best is the 10th-fastest time in the NCAA to be recorded this season, the fifth fastest time in the Big 12 this season, sixth fastest by an African so far this season and third by a Nigerian after Ofili (21.96s) and Tobi Amusan (22.66s).

She also moved up to number 12 in the Nigerian all-time list as she became the 19th Nigerian woman to break 23 seconds in the half lap event.

Chukwuma also won the 100m race in 11.28s. She owns the school record in that event too after running 11.05 seconds at the Percy Beard Track, Gainesville, Florida middle of last month.

In the horizontal jumps, Ruth Usoro was first in triple jump as she hopped, stepped and jumped 13.47m, her personal season's best. Another Nigerian, Onaara Obamuwagun was second (13.38m) behind her compatriot.

In the long jump, the 24-year-old's 6.49m effort was second best on the day as her schoolmate, Monae' Nichols won the event with a leap of 6.74m.

Former Super Eagles of Nigeria handler, Gernot Rohr, has admitted that he is on the shortlist of managers being considered for appointment as the Eagles of Mali’s head coach.

The German gaffer confessed that he is in contact with the Mali Football Federation (FEMAFOOT) to become the head coach of the nation’s senior national team.

The Eagles’ head coach position has been vacant since last month when Mohamed Magassouba was dismissed following the failure of Mali to qualify for the 2022 FIFA World Cup. Tunisia edged Mali to the qualifying ticket.

A new head coach is urgently needed with the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers starting in just over a month. Mali are drawn into Group G to face Congo, The Gambia, and South Sudan.

Rohr is the favourite to land the job ahead of 44-year-old former Mali international Eric

Chelle, and ex-Benin Republic handler Michel Dussuyer, 62.

Speaking on Europe 1 TV, via Bein Sports, Rohr confirmed he could be the next coach of the Eagles of Mali.

“Yes, they (Mali) contacted me indeed,” Rohr said.

“It’s a good team, which made an unfortunate CAN and also eliminated from the World Cup. I saw the two play-offs against Tunisia; they could have qualified.

“They have very good players; it’s an interesting team. The verdict of FEMAFOOT is expected in the coming days.”

Until December last year, Rohr was the head coach of Nigeria’s Super Eagles, leading the team to qualify for the 2018 FIFA World Cup and a third-place finish at the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations.

In charge for over five years, the former Bordeaux manager is the longest-serving coach to head the Nigerian senior national football team.

Gernot Rohr...tipped for vacant Mali job

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Monday, May 2, 2022

UT H

& RE A SO

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Price: N250

MISSILE Southern, Middle Belt Leaders to PDP

“A Fulani man cannot end his eight years rule and hand it over to another Fulani man in 2023. Atiku, Saraki, Mohammed and Tambuwal… Selfish and greedy leaders who are only desperate to grab power. What have they done with the offices they have occupied so far? For them to talk down on zoning is like laying a foundation for the disintegration of Nigeria” – SaMBA Spokesman, Prince Rwang Pam, warning PDP not to field a Fulani Presidential candidate in 2023.

MAHMUDJEGA VIEW FROM THE GALLERY

UPE, WAI and Udoji I

was wondering on this Sallah Day what happened to numerous schemes, programs and agencies that Government rolled out in the last 50 years, and what this country would have been like if many of them had delivered even 10% of their tall promises. An official told me recently that the Federal Government of Nigeria never does away with any scheme or program, once instituted. That all the schemes we were hearing about since our childhood days are still around, embedded as units and departments in various ministries and in the padded federal budget.

He told me, for example, that the War Against Indiscipline [WAI] campaign of the Buhari military era, 1983-85, is still there as a unit. Is that right? Then why are Nigerians no longer queueing up at petrol stations and markets, still throwing empty water bottles from the windows of cars, government offices and banks still flying the national flag beyond 6pm come rain come shine, and taxi drivers sneaking past traffic lights without consequence? Is it because Major General Tunde Idiagbon is not there?

The Ethical Revolution that President Shehu Shagari launched in 1983 probably still exists as a unit in some ministry. Was it the one that soldiers modified into WAI and Idiagbon promoted with the sternest of miens? On one occasion in 1985, a smile escaped from Idiagbon’s lips during a cultural troupe performance. The following day, a newspaper carried a front page picture with the banner headline, “The day Idiagbon smiled.”

I hear that the Green Revolution program that President Shagari launched in 1980 still exists in the budget of the Federal Ministry of Agriculture. Then why is everywhere looking so pale, when Nigeria should be verdant with green crops everywhere?

What about Operation Feed the Nation, OFN, that General Obasanjo launched in 1976? He ordered every Nigerian to cultivate whatever land was available in his backyard. Millions of people did. We saw videos on NTA of the military Head of State working on a farm right inside Dodan Barracks, with a hoe slung on his shoulder. In which ministry is OFN hiding today?

Where is MAMSER, the agency for mass mobilization of citizens [towards which cause, was never made clear]? Nigerians are very good at spontaneous mobilization. In recent years alone they created Boko Haram, ISWAP, Ansaru, bandits, MASSOB and IPOB, running far ahead of government’s mobilization. I was told that even General Obasanjo’s Jaji Declaration of 1977 still exists as a unit in some ministry. If so, then why is Nigerian society not fair, just, humane and African, as he extolled on that occasion?

According to my informant, Mrs. Maryam Babangida’s Better Life for Rural Women program is still alive, tucked away in the Federal Ministry for Women Affairs,

Obasanjo

which itself arose out of the Women Affairs Commission that Better Life gave birth to.

Indeed, my informant said Mrs. Maryam Abacha’s Family Support Program, FSP, and her Family Economic Advancement Program, FEAP, are also alive and well, as units in either the Presidency or some ministry.

Where is DFFRI, the Directorate of Food, Roads and Rural Infrastructure of the Babangida era headed by Air Vice Marshal Larry Koinyan? It was a very good agency; it built a lot of rural roads in order to facilitate the evacuation of farm produce to the markets. If it is tucked away in the Federal Ministry of Works, why is Minister BRF only talking about expressways and not rural roads? DFFRI should never have disappeared when agencies created at the same time, such as Federal Road Safety Corps, are still thriving.

What about NALDA, National Agricultural Land Development Authority? There is still a lot of land yet to be cleared in Nigeria. If NALDA is tucked somewhere as a unit in the Federal Ministry of Agriculture, why

did Chief Audu Ogbeh have trouble finding land to set up RUGA and Cattle Colonies?

Why did Sabo Nanono find it difficult to ensure than everyone can eat to his fill with N30, with NALDA tucked under his belly?

I was just wondering. Where is UPE, whose launching I attended as a school kid in 1976?

We were told then that it was Universal, Free, Compulsory, Primary Education. 46 years later, it is not universal because millions of kids are not in school. It is not free because though tuition fees are not paid, the schools circumvent it with many other fees. There are no freebies such as we used to get from the old Native Education Authorities, such as a bar of washing soap every Friday and highly enriched protein milk. UPE is not compulsory either, because parents who refuse to send their children to school are walking free on the streets. It is no longer Primary but is now called Basic. Someone even said it is not education because many pupils emerge from the schools much as they went in.

If my informant is right, the catchiest and most publicized scheme of the 1980s, Health For All by the Year 2000, still exists as a unit in the Federal Ministry of Health.

From 1975 when this scheme was launched, there was a poster on every street corner in Nigeria heralding this promise. Since the target date elapsed 22 years ago with much ill-health still around, I hope bureaucrats have amended it to read by the Year 3000.

The slogan was so catchy that other sectors copied it, and we soon had Food For All By The Year 2000 and Shelter For All By the Year 2000. Not one of them was delivered.

Where is RUWATSAN, the Rural Water and Sanitation Program of the 1980s? It must be tucked away somewhere as a unit in some Federal Ministry. When I read recently that government launched a scheme to eradicate open defecation, I thought that was one of the promises of RUWATSAN. It is a shame that we are coming back to the same promise after nearly 40 years.

When Professor Olikoye Ransome-Kuti was Minister of Health in the 1980s, everybody in Nigeria heard about Oral Rehydration Therapy, ORT and Expanded Program on Immunisation, EPI. Every mother in

I was just wondering. Where is UPE, whose launching I attended as a school kid in 1976?

We were told then that it was Universal, Free, Compulsory, Primary Education. 46 years later, it is not universal because millions of kids are not in school. It is not free because though tuition fees are not paid, the schools circumvent it with many other fees

Nigeria learnt to mix salt and sugar, and millions of screaming and shrieking babies were taken for immunization against the Six Childhood Killer Diseases. Many of the young Nigerians now active on the social media would not have been here if not for God’s grace through ORT and EPI. In the 1980s, nearly every Northern state had a World Bank-assisted Forestry Project.

They nurtured tree seedlings, sold them cheaply, created shelterbelts and woodlots, while Heads of State and governors annually launched tree planting campaigns. Where are those projects now? The Great Green Wall of trees that President Obasanjo promised in 2000AD to build from Borno all the way to Sokoto, how far has it gone after 22 years?

It was Babangida who banned cigarette smoking in public places. That scheme succeeded beyond our wildest imagination because these days, one could go for weeks without seeing anyone smoking a cigarette.

40 years ago in Nigeria, cigarette was more ubiquitous than the recharge cards of today.

Much less successful was Babangida’s order in 1990 that Nigerian couples should have a maximum four children each. Where is that population control program? Is it still a unit in the Ministry of Health?

Where is the National Committee Against Apartheid, NACAAP, once headed by Mr. Sam Ikoku and later by his brother Prof Chimere Ikoku, domiciled in the Cabinet Office? Is it still there? Just because apartheid rule ended in South Africa in 1994, why is NACAAP not fighting ethnic cleansing in Bosnia Herzegovina, Kosovo, Palestine and against the Rohingyas of Burma? Is apartheid not apartheid?

Where are the Religious Preaching Boards that existed in every state Cabinet Office in 1978? Today’s preachers are much more cantankerous than those of the 1970s. Since these boards probably still exist as units somewhere, why are they not vetting preachers and issuing them with licenses before they can preach? Is it the constitutional freedom of speech? Is the Constitution crazy to allow every mad person to preach?

These days our Ministry of Foreign Affairs has many projects in the cooler, probably existing as moribund units.

In the 1970s, we often heard from top officials that “Africa is the centerpiece of our foreign policy.” These days, is America the centerpiece of our foreign policy? Most probably, the “concentric circles foreign policy” propounded by External Affairs Minister Prof. Ibrahim Gambari in 1984 still exists as a unit somewhere in the Foreign Ministry. As probably does the “Concert of Medium Powers” that his successor Prof Bolaji Akinyemi propounded in 1985. You mean there are no concentric circles and no medium powers in our foreign policy today?

Look, why has there been no Adebo and no Udoji in this country since 1974? Any young person who does not know what that means should please ask elders.

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