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Buhari Nominates Okonjo-Iweala for DG, WTO Obinna Chima President Muhammadu Buhari has approved the nomination of a former two-term Minister of Finance and former Managing Director (Operations) of the World Bank, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-

Iweala, for the position of Director-General of the World Trade Organisation (WTO).

The nomination comes about three weeks after the incumbent, Mr. Roberto Azevêdo, announced that he would step down from the position on August 31,

2020, cutting his second term short by one year.

The decision, according to Azevêdo, is to give his successor the time to work with WTO members to shape the strategic direction for the Twelfth Ministerial Conference (MC12) and beyond.

The election is scheduled to hold in Geneva, Switzerland next year.

However, in a five-page document obtained by THISDAY, dated June 4, 2020, that was addressed to all embassies and permanent missions in Addis Ababa,

the federal government also withdrew the candidacy of Yonov Frederick Agah, Nigeria’s permanent representative to WTO, for the same position.

The document stated: “The embassy of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and

permanent mission to the African Union (AU) and United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) presents compliments to all embassies and permanent missions in Addis Ababa and has the Continued on page 9

FG Unveils $1.2bn Programme to Boost Agriculture... Page 8 Friday 5 June, 2020 Vol 25. No 9188. Price: N250

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NCDC Issues New Guidelines on Discharge of COVID-19 Patients Symptomatic patients to spend 10 days, asymptomatic, 14 days Negative test no longer required 350 new cases move tally to 11,516 with 323 dead; 3,535 persons discharged Nigeria, UK, others seek global funding for vaccines WHO explains resumption of Hydroxychloroquine clinical trials Mosques, churches to reopen in Lagos June 19 Segun James, Martins Ifijeh in Lagos, Olawale Ajimotokan, and Onyebuchi Ezigbo in Abuja The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) yesterday unveiled new guidelines for the treatment of COVID-19

patients, which will quicken their discharge from isolation and treatment centres.

Under the new guidelines, which provide that a negative test will no longer be required to discharge a patient, Continued on page 9

Edo Primary Will be Transparent, APC Assures Obaseki

Court adjourns suit seeking to knock out Ize-Iyamu Iyobosa Uwugiaren in Abuja and Adibe Emenyonu in Benin City The All Progressives Congress (APC) yesterday assured Edo State Governor, Mr. Godwin Obaseki, of its impartiality in

the process that will throw up its governorship candidate in the September election in the state.

It said the party would be transparent and be fair to Continued on page 9

REPORTING PROGRESS...

Chief Executive Officer, Lafarge Africa Plc, Mr. Khaled El Dokani (left), and outgoing Chairman, Mr. Mobolaji Balogun, at the 61st Annual General Meeting of the company held in Lagos...yesterday

Eight Policemen, Woman Killed in Kogi Bank Robbery... Page 5

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

Eight Policemen, Woman Killed in Kogi Bank Robbery

Ibrahim Oyewale in Lokoja Eight policemen, including a divisional police officer (DPO)

and a woman, were yesterday killed by an armed robbery gang in Isanlu, Yagba East Local Government Area of

Fire in State House Store A minor fire incident was recorded yesterday afternoon at a store near the State House Chapel in the Presidential Villa, Abuja, the presidency said yesterday in statement. “The incident, linked to an electrical spark, was immediately brought under control by alert staff using available fire extinguishers

well ahead of the arrival of the Federal Fire Service trucks stationed just outside the premises�, it said in the statement signed by the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Malam Garba Shehu. “Luckily, no injury or serious damage was recorded,� it stated.

Kogi State.

The incident, which occurred at 12 noon, sent panic to the whole community as everybody was running for their dear life.

THISDAY gathered that the large number of armed robbers, who stormed Isanlu community to rob an old generation bank branch in the town, first attacked the police station in the town.

It was gathered that at

the police station, the armed robbers used dynamite to bomb the station, killing the Divisional Police Officer (DPO) and seven others.

It was learnt that after they attacked the police station, the robbers moved to the old generation bank and opened fire and killed a woman who came to transact business in the bank.

While the robbery operation lasted, the people of Isanlu

community ran for cover in order not to be caught in the gun duel.

Meanwhile, in a video of the incident that has gone viral on social media, the bodies of the slain policemen were seen littered on the ground, while the divisional police station was shattered by the explosion.

The Police Public Relations Officer in Kogi State, Mr. William Ayah, a deputy

superintendent of police, when contacted, said that the Kogi State Commissioner of Police, Mr. Ayuba Ede, had deployed Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) in Isanlu.

He pointed out the Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) in charge of operations had also been deployed in the community.

He said that investigation into the incident would commence immediately.

Friends, Associates Rally Support for AfDB President Obinna Chima Some friends and former colleagues of the President of African Development Bank (AfDB), Dr. Akinwumi Adesina, as well as beneficiaries of the federal government's empowerment schemes during his tenure as Minister of Agriculture in Nigeria have expressed support for the embattled president of the development bank.

At an online media briefing yesterday, they extolled the leadership qualities of Adesina, whose second term bid to lead AfDB is being threatened by opposition by some nonAfrican shareholders of the bank, led by the United States.

The Executive Vice Chairman/Group CEO, Verdant Zeal Communications Limited, Mr. Tunji Olugbodi, said within three years of his first term, Adesina embarked on bold reforms of the bank.

According to him, under his watch, the bank has been substantially repositioned globally, and he has driven highly impactful programmes that are accelerating the development of the continent. “Since his election as president, the bank has maintained its AAA rating by all the four major global rating agencies, four years in a row. This is a reflection of the bank’s sound financial and risk management, excellent liquidity and strong shareholder support,� he added.

Chief Executive Officer of Agrolay Ventures, Ms. Ada Osakwe, said Adesina, over the years had displayed purposeful leadership and stewardship at the bank and so should not be distracted.

Osakwe, who had served as Senior Investment Adviser to the AfDB president when he was a minister in Nigeria, added that Adesina has led one of the impactful tenures at the AfDB. She said: "I worked with Adesina since 2012. For him, it has always been about the greater of Africa and how to transform the continent.

Currently, I am serving as his interim Chief Operating

Officer for the foundation he founded, the World Hunger Fighters Foundation, which he started from the fund he got from the prizes he won.

He has a deep resolve that in his lifetime, Africa will feed itself.

"He is the best person to change the narrative of the AfDB and five years down the line he has reformed the bank."

Also, the Managing Director of Babban Gona, Mr. Kola Masha, described Adesina as someone that is passionate about Nigeria, Africa and about development.

"As an individual, he is tirelessly committed to transforming Africa. What is always important to him is the calibre of individuals he works with. He doesn’t care where you come from, but most importantly, he is committed to having talented individuals work with him to add value. But we must understand that in any situation whereby someone is trying to change the status quo, there would always be elements that would resist that as he has found himself today," Masha said.

A pioneer beneficiary of the Youth in Employment Agric Programme (YEAP), Mr. Temitope Aroge, narrated how he was selected for the programme without knowing anyone at the ministry during Adesina's tenure in Nigeria.

He added: "The YEAP programme, which Adesina during his days as Minister of Agriculture created, created an opportunity for young entrepreneurs and professionals to develop a bond.

"Adesina has also gone to the AfDB to escalate this model. For about four years now, there have been programmes all over Africa for young people whereby entrepreneurs across the continent, from Tunisia, South Africa, Ethiopia, Ghana, are brought together yearly, given recognition, inspired and also mobilised other multilateral agencies and private sector organisations to pick interest in entrepreneurs in Africa, which is unprecedented. It has never happened before."

DIASPORA MATTERS‌ Ambassador of Lebanon to Nigeria, Mr. Houssam Diab (left), and Chairman, Nigerians in Diaspora Commission, Mrs. Abike Dabiri-Erewa, during the NiDC chairman's visit to the ambassador in Abuja‌yesterday

House, CAN, NANS Condemn Omozuwa’s Rape, Killing Udora Orizu in Abuja and Adibe Emenyonu in Benin City The House of Representatives, the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) and others have condemned the recent rape and killing of a student of the University of Benin (UNIBEN), Miss Uwa Omozuwa, the rising cases of rape, abuse of civic rights, brutalisation, and killing of innocent Nigerians by trigger-happy police officers.

At the plenary yesterday, the House resolved to urge the Inspector General of Police, Mr. Mohammed Adamu, to probe the cases of Omozuwa, and Tina Ezekwe, who was shot by policemen in Lagos, as well as all other reported cases of violence against women, with a bid to bring the criminals to justice.

It called on the federal government to launch a more effective campaign against rape and other violence against women and girls.

The House also mandated all members to dress in black,

at the next sitting, to mourn Omozuwa, Ezekwe and other victims of rape and violence against women and girls in Nigeria.

They will also be mourning an African-American, Mr. George Floyd, killed by white police officers in Minneapolis, the United States, and all other victims of racial discrimination and police brutality in the world.

These resolutions were passed following the adoption of a motion, titled, ‘Need to condemn the rising cases of sexual violence and other social vices against women and police brutality: Justice for Uwa Omozuwa, Tina Ezekwe, and others', sponsored by Hon. Rotimi Agunsoye.

Moving the motion, Agunsoye said women and the girl child were daily being exposed to genderbased violence in Nigeria with negligible statistics of convictions compared to the prevalence of the dastardly acts.

The lawmaker expressed concerns about the fact that

Nigeria lacks a strong national response to support victims and survivors of violence against women and girls.

He added that a better government policy and legislative framework are required to stem the rising violence against women as well as improve support for women development.

Agunsoye explained that the House is determined to ensure safety, equality, inclusion, and protection of the rights of women and girls in Nigeria.

Adopting the motion, the lawmakers observed a minute silence in honour of Omozuwa, Ezekwe, and other girls and women who had died as a result of rape.

Meanwhile, the member representing Ovia Federal Constituency, in the House of Representatives, Hon. Dennis Idahosa, in company with students led by the President of NANS, Mr. Bamidele Akpan, yesterday protested the killing of Omozuwa and called on the authorities to investigate the matter.

Also in the procession was

the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Benin, Professor Lillian Salami, and other members of the management staff of the school.

Idahosa condemned the incident, describing it as an assault on not just the girl-child but humanity.

He said: "Those perpetrators should be brought to justice.

Enough is enough of this evil.

I am happy the InspectorGeneral of Police has taken over the investigation because we want those behind it to be brought to book.

"It is sad to know that another student has been raped and killed in Ibadan and this evil cannot remain in our country because Nigerians are people of great values.�

The Edo State branch of Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) also condemned the killing.

It advised parents and guardians to "watch over their children and wards with ceaseless vigilance as those involved in carrying out this heinous crime came from homes.�

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FG Unveils $1.2bn Programme to Boost Agriculture Scheme to create 5m jobs, inject $10bn into economy Iyobosa Uwugiaren in Abuja The federal government yesterday unveiled “The Green Imperative,’’ a 10-year agricultural programme worth $1.2 billion and targeted at creating five million jobs and injecting $10 billion into the economy.

The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, and his counterpart at the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Alhaji Sabo Nanono, yesterday gave details about the scheme in a joint statement, they issued at a press conference in Abuja.

The project, according to the ministers is a Nigeria-Brazil bilateral agriculture development that will be implemented for over a period of five to 10 years.

According to the ministers, the funding will come from the Development Bank of Brazil (BNDES) and Deutsche Bank, with insurance provided by Brazilian Guarantees and Fund Managements Agency (ABGF) and the Islamic Corporation for Insurance of Export Credit (ICIEC) of the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB), and coordinated by GetĂşlio Vargas Foundation (FGV). ‘’The Buhari administration is set to revolutionise agriculture in Nigeria through a programme called 'The Green Imperative, a Nigeria-Brazil Bilateral Agriculture Development Programme. It is the outcome of Nigeria's decision, dating back to June 6, 2016, to enrol in Brazil’s Government-to-Government More Food International Programme (MFIP). ‘’Following that decision, and between June 2016 and

December 2019, several high level ministerial and technical visits and exchanges have occurred between the two countries. During one of such visits, the Bilateral Protocol of Intention with the government of Brazil was signed in March 2017,’’ the ministers stated.

Explaining how the programme will revolutionise agriculture in Nigeria, the ministers said it would lead to the reactivation of six motor assembly plants in the sixgeopolitical zones of the country for assembling tractors and other implements, with importation of the Completely Knocked Down (CKD) parts of about 5,000 tractors and numerous implements for local assembly annually for a period of 10 years.

The federal government added that the programme will also establish 142 agro-processing service centres for value addition, with one centre in each senatorial district; establishment of 632 mechanisation service centres to support primary production in the 774 Local Government Areas and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

They said: “This will create 774 service centres nationwide to mechanise our farming methods and process or add value to farm produce locally, leading to efficiency and eliminating post-harvest losses, thereby cutting down the cost of food all year round. “The private sector operators will operate and manage all the service centres and the assembly plants. The programme will create about five million jobs and inject over $10 billion into the economy within 10 years. ‘’It will create sustainable

supply chain of agricultural raw materials for our large manufacturing companies to source locally, thereby saving billions of US dollars in foodrelated forex. It will train about 100,000 extension workers within three years.’’ Stressing the huge benefits of the agriculture programme to the nation, they explained that it will impact over 35 million persons nutritionally and economically, and revitalise the country’s research and extension service delivery through a five-year technology-package transfer component.

The federal government said the programme’s benefits included the transfer of technology from Brazil's manufacturers and institutions to Nigeria. ‘’The programme design was jointly done by Nigeria and Brazil. The honourable Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development set up a high-level inter-ministerial committee for the bilateral programme design. ‘’In the course of the programme design, the Brazilian technical mission visited Nigeria and met with rural small-holder farmers. The

Nigerian technical team also embarked on a study tour of three African countries: Ghana, Kenya and Senegal, where MFIP is being implemented to study their challenges as well as their successes or failures ‘’The Nigerian technical team has also visited the selected assembly plants in the six geopolitical zones to determine in-country capacity to handle the assembly of a CKD-based programme of this magnitude,’’ the ministers stated.

They said since 2015, the Buhari administration had been working hard to bring

about irreversible change in many sectors and to diversify the economy away from oil.

They said the many ‘’unprecedented programmes’’ embarked upon by the administration had touched the power sector, where timelines had been given for ending the age-long power supply problem; food security, especially the production of rice, a national staple, through the Anchor Borrower's Programme; the unique Social Intervention Programme (SIP) and the infrastructural renewal project covering roads, bridges and rail.

SECURITY ON THEIR MINDS...

L-R: Emir of Katsina, Dr. Abdulmimuni Kabir; Chief of Air Sta, Air Marshal Sadique Abubakar; and Air OďŹƒcer Commanding Special Operations Command, Air Vice Marshal Charles Ohwo, at the Emir’s palace, during the CAS’ visit to the air component of Operation Hadarin Daji in Katsina‌yesterday

Finally, FG Hands off Pricing of Petrol NNPC blames insecurity for high production cost Emmanuel Addeh in Abuja and Peter Uzoho in Lagos The federal government yesterday proceeded with the full deregulation of the downstream petroleum sector with the removal of the existing cap on petrol price, urging marketers to import and sell the product according to the dynamics of the forces of demand and supply.

This is coming as the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) yesterday blamed insecurity in the Niger Delta and other factors peculiar to Nigeria’s operating environment for the high cost of oil production in Nigeria.

The corporation, however, restated its commitment to achieve the target of cutting crude oil production cost threshold to $10 per barrel before the end of the fourth quarter of 2021.

With the latest development, it was learnt that petrol marketers can now import the product and sell at prevailing market prices, without the usual price band set by the concerned regulatory agency.

In a statement issued last night, the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA), noted that henceforth prices would be fully determined by market forces.

The statement, which was

signed by the agency’s Executive Secretary, Mr. Abdulkadir Saidu and backdated to March this year, noted that the agency would only continue to monitor trends in the crude oil market and advise the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and oil marketers accordingly. “In exercise of the powers conferred on it by Section 7 and 24 of the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (Establishment) Act. No. 8 of 2003, and all other powers enabling it in that behalf, the Petroleum Product Pricing Regulatory Agency, with the approval of the President hereby states the following: “Market-based pricing regime for premium motor spirit (PMS) using the pricing template of the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency: “The price cap per litre in respect of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) is removed from the commencement of these regulations. “From the commencement of these regulations, a market-based pricing regime for Premium Motor Saint (PMS) shall take effect. The agency shall monitor market trends and advise the NNPC and oil marketing companies on the monthly guiding market-based price," it said.

It added that the new

regulation may now be cited as the “Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) Market Based Pricing Regime Regulations, 2020�.

In the explanatory note to the regulation, it disclosed that the new regulation would complement and enforce the provisions of the 2003 Act and to notify the general public of the existence of a market-based pricing regime for the product starting from March this year.

Meanwhile, the Chief Operating Officer, Ventures and Business Development arm of the NNPC, Mr. Roland Ewubare, when he featured on The Morning Show, a programme on ARISE NEWS Channel, the broadcasting arm of THISDAY Newspapers, said insecurity in the Niger Delta contributed greatly to the high production cost.

According to him, oil companies have to pay for extra security to protect assets and staff from attacks by militants and pirates.

He also described the $10 production cost, also known as operating cost, as an aspirational and aggressive target of the NNPC that the national oil company is determined to achieve.

NNPC Group Managing Director, Mr. Mele Kyari, had last month expressed the oil corporation's determination

to cut production cost to $10 per barrel in view of the crash in oil prices to as low as $13 per barrel in the wake of COVID-19 that triggered a glut due to a sharp drop in demand.

Earlier, Kyari, at a roundtable meeting organised by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) in March, tagged “Going for Growth 2.0,� had said: “Today, the best of our production system is $15 to $17 a barrel, there are many countries whose cost of production is $30 and we’re one of them. So, when the price now goes to $22 and we’re producing at 30 dollars, that means we’re out of business.�

Reacting to a question on the planned production cost cut yesterday, Ewubare said: "But to address your issue specifically, $10, yes, is our aspiration. When are we going to get there? We are looking very actively at hitting that threshold before the end of Q4 of 2021. It's an aggressive target but we are sure we are going to meet it."

Explaining why the operating cost for the NNPC has been high in a sharp contrast to what is obtained in other oil-producing nations, Ewubare attributed it to the peculiar nature of Nigeria's operating environment and other issues.

He said: "The figure the Group Managing Director of NNPC, Mallam Mele Kyari, mentioned

- $10 per barrel as our unit operating cost is an aspirational figure. You have to look where we are coming from in terms of cost and what the larger cost drivers are for us in our industry.

And against that backdrop the conversation around cost becomes an imperative and urgent one.

"Now, you have to understand that at the larger macroeconomic level, which you focus on a lot in your programme, oil is the backbone of our economy. In terms of contribution to GDP, it is not that much between seven and 11 per cent depending on the year in question. But as a contributor to our foreign exchange earnings and as a contributor to the national budget, oil and gas hold an important role in terms of our nation.

"So, whenever you have a regime like we have now where commodity values are low, the only way we are able to squeeze out some reasonable cushion in terms of cash and financial gain to the federation is by containing and constricting our costs. Our costs are driven by a multiplicity of factors. You know staff, you and I know that the oil and gas industry in Nigeria probably pays the highest salaries; we even pay more than the banks. So that's a

huge chunk we spend money on.

"Now, the environment in which we operate: our primary production base is in the Niger Delta and you are well aware of the issues of security, militancy and all of that. All of those add extra layer of cost to production.

And money comes in this world where their citizens don't vandalise national infrastructure.

So, they don't have the idea of the cost that we carry around security.

"If I need to move Korean equipment to an offshore location, I need boat loaded with naval officers to an offshore location. That comes as an extra cost; all those things when you add them up, give you the cost of oil in Nigeria."

He described the current cost structure as a fallback from the high commodity regime that Nigeria had a few years back when oil sold at over $100 per barrel.

He said some of the projects that were sanctioned at that time used that price point, stating that now that prices have gone down, it would take a while for the industry to settle to a more reasonable cost regime.

"So, it's a work in progress but we are certain that by the end of next year we should be able to get $10 a barrel for our operating cost. Our technical cost is a separate matter," he added.

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PAGE NINE BUHARI NOMINATES OKONJO-IWEALA FOR DG, WTO honour to inform that the Federal Government of Nigeria has withdrawn the candidacy of Ambassador Yonov Frederick Agah for election to the position of Director-General of the WTO. “In this regard, the Mission also wishes to inform that his Excellency, President Muhammadu Buhari, has approved the nomination of Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala to replace Ambassador Agah, as Nigeria's candidacy for the position of the Director-General of the WTO, for the term 2021-2025 at the

elections scheduled to hold in Geneva, Switzerland in 2021. “Nigeria is, therefore, pleased to request the support of esteemed AU member states as well as permanent missions and embassies in Addis Ababa in favour of the candidacy of Okonjo-Iweala.�

It described Okonjo-Iweala as a renowned global finance expert, an economist and international development professional with over 30 years of experience, having worked in Asia, Africa,

Europe, Latin America, and North America.

She is presently the Chair of the Board of GAVI, the Vaccine Alliance. Since its creation in 2000, GAVI has immunised over 760 million children across the globe.

She also sits on the boards of Standard Chartered Plc and Twitter Inc. She was recently appointed African Union Special Envoy to mobilise international financial support in the fight against COVID-19, as well as Envoy for the World

Health Organisation’s access to COVID-19 Tools Accelerator.

The Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Ms. Kristalina Georgieva, also recently appointed OkonjoIweala, to serve as a member of her newly-established External Advisory Group.

In addition, Okonjo-Iweala served twice as Nigeria’s Finance Minister, from 20032006, 2011-2015 and briefly as Nigeria’s Foreign Affairs Minister in 2006, the first woman to hold both positions.

She had a 25-year career at the World Bank as a development economist, rising to the number two position of Managing Director (Operations).

As Finance Minister, OkonjoIweala steered Nigeria through the varying degree of reforms, particularly on macroeconomic, trade, financial and real sector issues.

As Managing Director (Operations) of the World Bank, her several portfolios included oversight responsibility for

the World Bank’s $81 billion operational portfolio in Africa, South Asia, Europe, and Central Asia.

Okonjo-Iweala spearheaded several World Bank initiatives to assist low-income countries during the 2008-2009 food crisis and later in the trying period of the global financial crisis.

In 2010, she served as Chair of the World Bank’s successful drive to raise $49.3 billion in grants and low-interest credit for the poorest countries in the world.

cohesive, and help to foster more development in the state.

He added that the committee, which commences work immediately, will reach out to all parties in the dispute and ensure that all grey areas are addressed.

primary.

According to the claimants who were represented by Mr. Kenneth Mozia (SAN) and Mr. Santos Owootori, they sought to know whether Article 31(2) of APC constitution is not in conflict with Section 177(c) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 as amended, as it relates to qualification for election to the office of a governor.

They also wanted to know whether having regard to the provision of Section 177(c) of the 1999 Constitution as amended, if the APC can validly grant a waiver to Ize-Iyamu to make him eligible to contest in the primary, among others.

However, an argument ensued when defendants’ lawyers, led by Mr. H.O. Ogbodu (SAN), and Mr. Victor Oyosuma, appeared in the matter and demanded to be served the motion papers and originating summons.

Consequently, Justice H. Ahaomoje declined to grant the ex-parte motion but instead gave the defendants 10 days to file their response while counsel to the claimants were given two days to reply.

Justice Ahaomoje adjourned the case till June 17.

was with immediate effect.

Until his appointment, Stewart was the Public Relations Officer, Federal Neuropsychiatric Hospital Uselu in Benin City.

He is from Ward 9, Egor Local Government Area (LGA) in Edo State and a top contender for the Chairmanship of Egor LGA, in the last local council elections.

Ohonbamu's resignation came barely nine weeks after the Chief of Staff to Obaseki, Mr. Taiwo Akerele, quit his position.

Ohonbamu was a two-time member of the Edo State House of Assembly, who was at various times the minority leader and deputy speaker.

In his letter of resignation, dated June 4, 2020, and addressed to Obaseki, the former commissioner, said: "I have decided to step aside as a cabinet member and operate outside it for the general good of Edo State and pursuit of happiness for the citizens."

Reacting to the resignation of Ohonbamu, Obaseki, through his spokesman, Osagie, told THISDAY that the development was no evidence of any crack in the Obaseki’s camp, adding that team is focused. “There is no crack whatsoever in our camp.

We are very intact; very firm and focused on our political process. But in any political process, there are people with sub-optimal integrity. These people did not resign because they wanted to resign; they resigned because they knew that they did not fit into the process. If you notice, you will know that we always have immediate replacements for them because we know them.

We are not taken by surprise and that is why we have an immediate replacement,� the governor explained.

EDO PRIMARY WILL BE TRANSPARENT, APC ASSURES OBASEKI all aspirants in the primary scheduled for June 22.

The assurance came against the backdrop of Wednesday's call by Obaseki for APC National Chairman, Mr. Adams Oshiomhole, to recuse himself from the process of picking the party's governorship candidate.

Obaseki and Oshiomhole have been locked in a power struggle for the control of the state chapter of the party, triggering a war of attrition that has led to the factionalisation of APC in Edo State.

The governor had advocated Oshiomhole's recusal on the ground that he is interested as no fewer than four persons from the APC national chairman's camp of the party in the state, including a former Secretary to the State Government (SSG), Mr. Osagie Ize-Iyamu, are gunning for the party's ticket to stop Obaseki's second term bid.

Obaseki feared that Oshiomhole, his predecessor, might not be fair to him, having openly supported Ize-Iyamu to emerge as the APC governorship candidate.

APC also said it has a register of all its members nationwide and would comply with the recent directive by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to submit the Edo State version, ahead of the primary.

However, despite talking tough on the crisis in the state chapter of the party, Obaseki yesterday launched a troubleshooting deal to resolve the differences between him and the Oshiomhole group.

The governor named the Chairman of Northern Governors' Forum and Governor of Plateau State, Hon. Simon Lalong; Governor of Lagos State, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu, and Senator Ehigie Uzamere, to reconcile members of the Edo State House of

Assembly.

The non-swearing of 14 members of the state legislature, who belong to the Oshiomhole group is one of the sore points fuelling the crisis in the state chapter of the party.

However, APC spokesman, Mallam Lanre Issa-Onilu, told THISDAY yesterday that while he is unaware why Obaseki asked the national chairman to recuse himself from the process of the primary, he said the party would be fair to all the aspirants.

He stated: ‘’I don’t know what informed the comment of His Excellency, Godwin Obaseki. I am sure our national chairman is capable of responding to that. But the governor didn’t say the party should recuse itself. In any case, I don’t know the role the national chairman is going to play. ‘’APC, as a party, will be fair to all the aspirants; we will be very transparent in the process leading to the primary and the primary will be conducted in a transparent manner in line with the constitution of our party.’’ He also responded to the recent request by the INEC for Edo APC’s membership register, ahead of the primary, saying the party will do the ‘’needful.’’ ‘’APC is one party; the National Working Committee (NWC) has its membership register across the country.

And we will comply with the directive of INEC. There is no controversy over that,’’ Issa-Onilu said.

However, a former Executive Director of Media and Publicity to Oshiomhole, Mr. John Mayaki, has faulted Obaseki’s call that the party's national chairman should steer clear of the governorship primary.

Mayaki, who is now the Director of Communication

and Media, Ize-Iyamu Campaign Organisation, said: “Obaseki argues that by the virtue of his perceived feud with Oshiomhole, the party chairman will exert influence over the primary process to the disadvantage of himself, the governor. ‘’But that is a nonsensical argument, an unwarranted demand.

Mr. Adams Oshiomhole is the party’s national chairman, one elected in a national convention, hence mandated by the party people’s will and constitution, to preside and oversee all activities concerning the party. “How then will Obaseki, in his arrogant overestimation of his authority, demand that the national chairman abandon his responsibility? But if we must follow Obaseki’s logic, then it will imply that he, as the state governor, who wields and can exert influence over the state, should as well stop being governor so he would not influence the primary election process to the benefit of himself or the disadvantage of others.’’

Obaseki Asks Lalong, Sanwo-Olu, Uzamere, to Reconcile State Assembly Obaseki has, however, raised a three-member panel, comprising Lalong, Sanwo-Olu, and Uzamere, to reconcile members-elect of the Edo State House of Assembly.

In a statement yesterday

by Obaseki’s spokesman, Mr. Crusoe Osagie, the governor said the constitution of the reconciliation committee was part of moves to restore harmony and peace in the state chapter of the APC. The governor said he was committed to peace, adding that a united front would make the party stronger, more

Court Adjourns Suit Seeking to Knock out Ize-Iyamu An Edo State High Court, sitting in Benin City, yesterday reserved proceedings in the suit seeking to restrain Ize-Iyamu from parading himself as an aspirant entitled to participate in the state APC primary.

Joined in the suit are APC, as the first defendant; Oshiomhole sued for himself and on behalf of the National Working Committee of APC as the second defendant; and Ize-Iyamu as the third defendant.

Pastor Kenneth Asekomhe on behalf of the factional state executive loyal to Obaseki; Mr. Benjamin Oghumu, on behalf of himself and Executive Committee of APC in Orhiomwon Local Government Area and Mr. Matthew Ogbebor, on behalf of himself and the Executive Committee of Ugbogbo Wards 5, (all plaintiffs/claimants) approached the court for an order, restraining Ize-Iyamu from parading himself as an APC aspirant.

The claimants also demanded an order of the court, restraining the APC from recognising IzeIyamu as an aspirant of the party in its primary, scheduled for June 22 or any other date, to select a candidate to represent it in the state governorship election slated for September 19.

The claimants also want an order restraining the APC from granting a waiver to Ize-Iyamu to participate in the APC

Obaseki Appoints New Information Commissioner Meanwhile, Obaseki has approved the immediate appointment of Mr. Efe Stewart, as the new Commissioner for Information and Orientation.

His appointment followed the resignation of the incumbent, Mr. Paul Ohonbamu.

The approval for Stewart's appointment was contained in a statement signed by the Secretary to the State Government, Mr. Osarodion Ogie, who said the appointment

NCDC ISSUES NEW GUIDELINES ON DISCHARGE OF COVID-19 PATIENTS symptomatic ones will be discharged at least 10 days after symptoms onset and at least three days without symptoms.

For asymptomatic patients, they will be allowed to go home 14 days after their first positive test.

The release of the guidelines coincided with a further rise in COVID-19 cases in the country, with 350 new incidences recorded to bring to 11,516 the number of confirmed cases in the country. The nation also recorded eight COVID-19 related deaths, raising the tally from 315 to 323 in the last 24 hours.

Announcing yesterday, the NCDC said Lagos recorded 102 new cases, Ogun 34, Federal Capital Territory (FCT) 29, Borno 26, Kaduna 23, Rivers 2, Ebonyi 17, Kwara 16, Katsina 14, Edo, Delta, Kano and Bauchi 10 each, Bayelsa nine, Imo eight, Plateau four, Ondo three,

Nasarawa two, while Gombe and Oyo recorded one each.

It said: "Nigeria has recorded 11,516 cases of COVID-19. 3,535 persons have been discharged, while 323 have unfortunately died."

The guidelines were announced as Nigeria has joined the United Kingdom and other countries of the world to initiate moves on raising funds in support of research efforts to produce vaccines for the treatment of the virus.

Speaking yesterday in Abuja during the media briefing by the Presidential Task Force (PTF) on COVID-19, the Director-General of NCDC, Dr. Chikwe Ihekweazu, said the centre had revised the COVID-19 case management guidelines in line with recent recommendations of the WHO. He said that NCDC held a review meeting with various case management teams in the

Ministry of Health and came up with new guidelines for discharging the patients.

He explained: “There has been new science emerging about the duration of infectivity of individual patients. It led to the WHO issuing new clinical guidelines. “We then convened colleagues across our organisation, the department of hospital services of the Federal Ministry of Health, as well as other colleagues with whom we work, to review our guidelines and issue new guidelines for the country and of course adapting it to local circumstances. “The key thing is that the management of COVID-19 will be made primarily supportive; we don’t have any treatment so far that has any proven impact on morbidity. “One of the major changes that have happened is the discharge criteria. While these guidelines are obviously

and primarily targeted at physicians managing patients, it is important that patients and people know. There are two groups of patients – symptomatic and asymptomatic patients. “For symptomatic patients, they may now be discharged at least 10 days after symptoms onset and at least three days without symptoms. If your symptoms last for longer, we will wait for longer managing you supportively. “If you are asymptomatic, you can be discharged 14 days after your first positive test. So, we no longer have to wait for a negative test to discharge.

This way you can go home with confidence that you are no longer infective and you’re not putting your family and friends or anyone else at risk. “We are not encouraging that people be discharged while they are still symptomatic. We are talking about discharging

people that are asymptomatic and have recovered. That is, you are symptomatic and have recovered or you are completely asymptomatic throughout your clinical episodes. “At that point you really don’t need more clinical interventions, even at home; you just need time to recover.

It is just like you to recover from any other illness. You don’t need any special intervention once you have been discharged. “Change is difficult because we have been saying you have to have a negative test. Even though we have published these results, many physicians are still not using them. We can assure them and everyone managing cases that 14 days after, in fact, 10 days is what the evidence says. “But we have added 14 days to make it two weeks for people to then implement discharge for Continued on page 10

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10

FRIDAY, Í˝Ëœ ͺ͸ͺ͸ Ëž T H I S D AY

NEWS

Analysts Fault IMF’s Call for Suspension of Bank Dividend Payment Obinna Chima Analysts have disagreed with recent advice by the Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Ms. Kristalina Georgieva, that banks should halt dividend payment for now, due to expectation of a steep recession in 2020.

The analysts, who spoke with THISDAY, said while the advice might apply to banks outside the country, dividend payout in Nigeria had been regulated by Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) since the 2014 banking crisis.

According to them, dividend payout in Nigeria has for some years now been tied to banks’ capital buffers.

To Georgieva, one of the steps needed to reinforce banks' buffers was to retain earnings from ongoing operations, which are not insignificant.

Nigerian banks quoted on the stock exchange paid out a total of N538 billion as dividends to their shareholders between 2018 and 2019.

The CBN had then stipulated conditions for eligibility of banks to pay dividend and the quantum of dividends to be paid out by eligible banks.

The circular provided guidelines and restrictions around dividend payout for banks based on nonperforming loans (NPLs) ratio and capital adequacy ratio (CAR).

But there is no regulatory restriction on the dividend payout for banks that meet the minimum capital adequacy ratio, have a Cash Reserve Ratio of low or moderate and an NPL ratio of not more than five per cent.

However, the analysts urged banks to do away with assets that do not deliver returns and are not relevant to their businesses in order to provide capital buffers. Some of such assets may include funds invested in non-interest-bearing bank accounts or property that do not generate income or are redundant.

But speaking in an interview with THISDAY, the Head of Financial Institutions Ratings,

Agusto & Co, Mr. Ayokunle Olubunmi, advised banks to adopt other measures to preserve capital instead of halting dividend payout. “While we don't expect banks to completely halt dividend payment, we anticipate a significant decline in dividend payment as a means of preserving capital. We also expect continuous disposal of non-earning assets and issuance of medium term debt securities to provide an additional capital buffer and headroom for loan growth. “There is also a need for continuous review of their loan book and proactive restructuring of exposures to businesses with strain cash flow is imperative to keep impaired credits low.

Although banks will continue to lend to comply with the minimum loan to deposit ratio (LDR) policy, we anticipate a more rigorous approval process,�

Olubunmi added.

The Managing Director of Afrinvest Securities Limited, Mr. Ayodeji Ebo, said the IMF

boss' advice for banks to halt dividend payment was “too drastic.�

According to him, “while we expect a slowdown in top line and a spike in impairment charges, it will be more appropriate to recommend that the dividend payout ratio should be lowered to free up some cash for the banks. “In addition, payment of the final dividend will be due next year, except for the few that customarily pay an interim dividend, the full-year performance of the company should determine the dividend paid.�

He added that Nigerian investors are used to receiving dividend, hence halting the payment may send a negative signal to investors. “Banks should restructure existing loans as advised by the CBN as well as maintain current cost levels. We feel the economy should pick up from the fourth quarter, albeit depends on the effort of the policy makers,�

he said.

However, analysts at CSL Stockbrokers, stated that current economic realities showed that banks face asset quality threats, further devaluation threat, which may impact capital in some cases and lower profits which in turn affect the quantum of capital retained. “Ideally, these should reflect in NPL ratio and CAR ratio and should immediately restrict banks’ ability to pay dividend but there is usually a time lag before these ratios begin to reflect the new economic realities, so IMFs advise may come in handy for many banks. “That said, halting dividend payments may not go down well for many retail and institutional investors, who rely on bank dividends for regular income.

Banks like Zenith and Guaranty Trust have a good history of consistent dividend payment with attractive yields which is a major attraction for many shareholders,� they added.

Banking Analyst at

CardinalStone Partners, Mr. Jerry Nnebue, said: “For most global banks, dividend policies are independent and are determined by the banks. It is just now that their central banks are coming up with policies to that regard like we saw with the Bank of England recently. “So, we are already doing what the IMF is advising global banks to do basically. So, it is like they are trying to catch up with us in Nigeria. So, it is unlikely that the CBN will come up with anything new because the policy in place is enough to help banks conserve capital buffers. “So, what we should be looking at now is how bad can things get? So, we are not going to see banks record severe asset quality issues that would dampen their CAR. NPLs would go up, but it is not going to be as bad as 2014. Nigerian banks have learnt their lessons from the 2008 and 2014 crisis and the fact that the CBN has given regulatory forbearance would ease the burden.�

in the FCT under the second phase of the ease of lockdown for the next four weeks.

Bello expressed the appreciation of the FCT Administration to the religious leaders for their cooperation and commitment towards a safe re-opening of places of worship in the Territory.

expected by the Lagos State Safety Commission. “But we know that these places of worship have different sizes but even if your 40 percent capacity is really so large, you cannot have beyond 500 worshippers at once, and keeping that maximum 40 percent capacity is really important. “We will be encouraging people to have more than one service and ensure that they keep their premises clean, disinfect before another round of worship can take place."

He also advised that the services will only be Fridays and Sunday for Muslims and Christians respectively, adding that all-night vigils and other services must be put on hold for now until the state reviews the current situation.

NCDC ISSUES NEW GUIDELINES ON DISCHARGE OF COVID-19 PATIENTS patients that are asymptomatic.�

He added: “In addition, we have also removed the use of antiviral from our treatment guidelines. The trial for Chloroquine and Hydroxychloroquine will go on. “We are asking that we limit the use of these medicines to those trial settings and not use them casually around the country. Let us reduce the use of Chloroquine and Hydroxychloroquine and all the other antiviral previously on our guidelines to contexts where clinical trials are going on. “So, we have withdrawn them from the guideline from management. However, we have kept them within the clinical trial so that we can study and see whether they work or not. That is really the rational approach to this.�

Speaking on the issue of availability of personal protective equipment (PPEs), Ihekweazu urged both public and private hospitals to procure their own PPEs and factor it into the cost for healthcare delivery. “Our hospitals both public and private really need to include the purchasing of personal protective equipment in their procurement plans. These are things that they have to buy to keep their hospital going,� he added.

UK, Nigeria, Others Seek Global Funding for Vaccines Meanwhile, Nigeria has joined the United Kingdom and other countries of the world to initiate moves on raising funds in support of research efforts to produce vaccines for the treatment of the virus.

Speaking at the media briefing by the task force, the Minister of Health, Dr. Osagie Ehanire, said he represented President Muhammadu Buhari at a virtual Global Vaccine Summit held yesterday afternoon and hosted by UK Prime Minister Mr. Boris Johnson.

"I also had the honour of presenting the statement of His Excellency, President Muhammadu Buhari, at a virtual Global Vaccine Summit this afternoon, hosted by UK Prime Minister, Mr. Boris Johnson, the purpose of which, was to mark 20 years since GAVI was founded, and also to raise funds to support its activities," he said.

Ehanire also said that he chaired a virtual meeting of the ECOWAS COVID-19 Ministerial Coordination Committee on Health, hosted by the West African Health Organisation (WAHO) and attended by 15 ECOWAS Ministers of Health or their representatives on Tuesday.

According to him, the committee is one of the three committees set up to facilitate the work of the ECOWAS COVID-19 response effort led by Buhari.

He said the meeting compared notes, discussed matters of regional cooperation and collaboration around the pandemic strategy and response, border-related challenges on the movement of people and goods when borders are reopened.

The minister said that WAHO and Nigeria are presently working together on a cost-sharing plan for a common air transport plane to convey COVID-19 supplies of WAHO and Nigeria from Beijing to Abuja.

WHO Gives Reasons for Resuming Drug Trials Also yesterday, WHO explained the reasons for restarting the solidarity trials on Hydroxychloroquine.

WHO had temporarily halted the clinical trials for the use of Hydroxychloroquine for treatment of patients after a report in a health magazine linked the drug to cases of rising mortality rates and toxicity in patients.

However, WHO said yesterday that it decided to resume the clinical trials after a review study showed that there was no cause for alarm and that it was not true that the use of the drug for clinical trials has led to increased deaths.

It said that it took the earlier measure to suspend the clinical trials as a precautionary move.

While giving the reasons for resuming the solidarity trials at the task force’s briefing, WHO’s Country Representative in Nigeria, Mrs. Fiona Braka said: "The suspension lasted about eight days. Yesterday, the committee met and based on the review of available mortality data regarding the use of Hydroxyl therapy for the treatment of COVID-19 patients and considering information from the ongoing trials in the United Kingdom and also the recovery time, where the data safety committee of that trial also reviewed the data, the members of the committee agreed that there was no cogent reason as to recommend the modification of the protocol and they advised that the trials should be continued as planned. “The executive group of the study, therefore, decided that based on the advice of the safety committee to resume the inclusion of patients in Hydroxychloroquine study arm of the trial.�

She said that WHO has continued to emphasise that there is still no evidence that Hydroxychloroquine or any other

drug is effective in treating or preventing COVID-19.

She said that as far as the WHO is concerned, the drugs are only used for the purposes of clinical trials, adding that self-medication with regard to COVID-19 is advised against.

Fact-ďŹ nding Team to Lagos, Ogun Submit Preliminary Reports Ehanire disclosed that the team deployed in Lagos and Ogun States to assess the situation of the COVID-19 pandemic response has completed their assignment and submitted their interim report.

He said though the final report of the team led by the Executive Director of the National Primary Healthcare Development Agency (NPHCDA), Dr. Faisal, is to be ready next week, its preliminary findings indicated "state-specific challenges and gaps."

Ehanire said that the Federal Ministry of Health team deployed in Kano, Sokoto, Jigawa Borno, Katsina, and Gombe States will be submitting their final report today.

The minister said the preliminary reports from the team that visited Lagos and Ogun showed that the goals of the intervention were met.

While speaking on the nature of COVID-19 infection, Ehanire stated that from findings, about 80 per cent of positive cases do not show any symptom.

FG Laments Disruption of Medical Supply Chain The federal government bemoaned the disruption caused

by COVID-19 on the medical supply chain and availability in human and supply sources.

The National Coordinator of PTF, Dr Sani Aliyu, echoed the concern during the media briefing.

Aliyu also said the pandemic had led to the reduction of care for other essential medical services.

In addition, he said the disease had resulted in a sharp decline in people assessing health care out of fear of getting infected with the virus. ''We have also seen a reduction in access to health care for medical diagnosis of other conditions for the most vulnerable of the population like children, the elderly and those with underlying conditions like diabetes. We have also been observing a steady rise in maternal and child mortality as a result of disrupted essential services. We have also seen lifesaving maternal and newborn and child healthcare services, routine vaccinations, access to care for chronic conditions, such

as HIV and other treatment not being delivered in our hospitals,'' Aliyu said.

The PTF coordinator noted that certain products like second-line HIV drugs like Ritonavir and Lupineva that are being used for HIV treatment, are currently being used for COVID-19 infection.

He said that hospitals existed to care for patients and not to turn them back, while also pleading with hospital management not to unduly allow patients to suffer because of the coronavirus pandemic.

FG to Begin Decontamination of Hotels Today The Minister of Environment, Mr. Mohammed Mahmoud, said the ministry would begin from today the decontamination of hotels where some of the Nigerian returnees from abroad were isolated.

Mahmoud said yesterday that the process of decontamination was ongoing in all the six geopolitical zones.

He said the ministry's last sitting with the aviation sector was a critical one as they finalised the type of chemicals to be used for the sector given the nature of security and safety of the industry.

He also added that the decontamination of schools was also ongoing.

FCTA Issues Guidelines on Reopening of Religious Places The FCT Administration has issued guidelines on the reopening of the places of worship.

The FCT Minister, Malam Muhammad Bello, chaired a meeting of the FCT Administration and leadership of the FCT Christian Association of Nigeria and League of FCT Imams Initiative to review the guidelines issued by the Presidential Task Force on COVID 19 particularly as they concern places of worship.

The meeting received briefings from the FCT COVID-19 Emergency Response Team on the situation of the pandemic in the FCT. The report of the committee set up by the minister on May 19, 2020, to draw up protocols to be adopted for possible re-opening of places of worship was equally received at the meeting.

After extensive deliberations, the meeting agreed to adopt the Guidelines as released by the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19 with regards to the re-opening of places of worship

Expect High Cost of Air Fares, FG Tells Air Travellers Meanwhile, the Chairman PTF on COVID-19 and Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Mr. Boss Mustapha, has admitted that the flight tickets and transport fares in the country may increase after COVID-19.

He said the pandemic had created a turmoil, which would have a spillover on the transport and aviation sector.

Mustapha noted that the need to maintain social distancing will result in a reduction of passenger capacity as a precaution for the spread of the virus. '' Flying after COVID-19 will be an expensive business because if you are going to maintain social distance, what will happen to the flight capacity that will reduce?

The flight will use the same fuel and operate the same crew. I am not indulging the transporters to hike their fares, but it will be the reality of the time and what the federal government will do is what the CBN is doing with its stimulus for the economy,'' Mustapha said.

Mosques, Churches to Reopen in Lagos June 19, 21 The Lagos State Government has said mosques and churches will reopen to worshipers on June 19 and June 21 respectively.

The government had through the Commissioner for Home Affairs, Mr. Anofiu Elegushi, on Tuesday said churches, mosques, and other worship centres in Lagos would remain shut due to the continued high number of COVID-19 cases in the state.

Speaking at a press briefing yesterday, the Governor, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu, said there will now be restricted opening of religious houses based on compliance seen and reviewed with the Lagos State Safety Commission.

He said: “From 14 days’ time, precisely on June 19 for our Muslim worshippers and from June 21 for our Christian worshippers. We will be allowing all of our religious bodies to open at a maximum of 40 per cent of their capacity and we will be working with them as being

Countries with High Cases, May Be Banned from Hajj In another development, the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON), Mr. Zikrullah Hassan, has said that Saudi Arabia may ban countries with a high prevalence of COVID-19 cases from participating in hajj.

He made this known at a conference hosted by the Association of Hajj and Umrah Operators of Nigeria, which held via Zoom, and had as its theme, “The Future of Hajj and Umrah Operations after the Pandemic.�

In a statement issued after the conference on Wednesday

by NAHCON’s Assistant Director of Information and Publication, Mr. Mousa Ubandawaki, the chairman explained that the conduct of hajj may come with certain restrictions as the Saudi government may introduce some guidelines to curb the spread of the virus.

According to him, Saudi Arabia may also adopt other measures like pegging the allocation of pilgrims allowed for each country, banning pilgrims from countries with prevalent COVID-19 cases, and exemption of certain categories of persons like the elderly and those with underlying health challenges, as well as those who test positive for COVID-19. “Only the Saudi authorities can make the final decision. We can only take our own decision in the light of Saudi one,� he said, adding: “I still would believe that this may come with certain conditions. It may not be the usual way of doing Hajj. People might have to go through self-isolation or outright quarantine.�

FRIDAY JUNE 5, 2020 ˾ T H I S D AY

11

NEWS

Gunmen Kill 21 in Fresh Attacks in Zamfara

Onuminya Innocent in Sokoto

No fewer than 21 people have been killed by gunmen in separate attacks in Talata Mafara and Maru Local Government Areas of Zamfara State.

The attacks were said to

have occurred on Tuesday and Wednesday.

The state police command confirmed that 21 people were killed in the attacks, but residents of the affected communities said 25 people died.

According to the residents,

House Summons Service Chiefs over Rising Insecurity Udora Orizu in Abuja The House of Representatives at the plenary yesterday resolved to summon the National Security Adviser (NSA), Major General Babagana Monguno (rtd); Chief of Defence Staff, Gen. Gabriel Olonisakin; Director, Department of State Services (DSS), Mr. Yusuf Bichi and Inspector General of Police, Mr. Mohammed Adamu to brief the House on the efforts being made to bring an end to killings, kidnapping and armed banditry in the country.

It resolved that the Service Chiefs should address the House during its sitting next week.

It also directed the leadership of the House to continue the engagement with all the security agencies on a monthly basis on the progress being made until normalcy is restored.

These resolutions followed the adoption of a motion, titled, ‘Need for the relevant security agencies to bring to an end the spate of oblivious kidnappings, killings, and armed banditry across the country’, sponsored by Hon. Sada Soli.

Presenting the motion, Soli noted that in recent time, security situation in some parts of the country has degenerated.

He said that cases of kidnapping, killings and armed banditry have become a daily occurrence across the country, especially in Niger, Sokoto, Zamfara Kaduna and Katsina states.

He also said the Presidential directives have not helped to drastically reduce cases of kidnapping, killings and

banditry in the country due to lack of sustained tempo in the intervention,.

The lawmaker lamented that the criminals have continued to regroup in different camps in the Government Reserve Forests and surrounding villages across the country.

He said: ‘’The magnitude of the attacks on various communities has reached an alarming rate as these criminals have continued to perpetuate their criminal acts unabated.

“Concerned that any deferment by the security agencies to abridge the continuous horror and inhumanity will result to an enormous loss of lives, destruction of properties and immobilize the Socio-Economic and Educational activities of various communities.’ ‘’Aware that the country is battling to contain the dangerous community infection rate of COVID-19, added with the persistent attacks by criminals on farming communities across the country especially in the North-West and North Central, this may result to serious food shortage. Also aware that about 500 primary schools and 2,000 communities were completely destroyed across the country as a result of these incessant kidnappings, killings and Armed banditry attacks.’’

He expressed worries that these criminals are armed to the teeth with weapons supplied by gun runners living in cities across the country, adding that if this criminality is not urgently addressed there will be an imminent present danger to the food security in the country.

the attackers first ransacked various peasant communities and stole hundreds of livestock.

They, however, met stiff resistance in some communities and retreated, a source said asking not to be identified.

People were killed in Awala Zaman Gida, Yargada Bolakke, and Gidan Runji communities all in Maru and Talata Mafara councils areas.

The Zamfara State Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Mr. Muhammad Shehu, in a statement,

confirmed the attacks.

He however, refuted some media reports claiming that over 100 people were killed in the attacks.

The police image maker confirmed that the attacks occurred on Tuesday and Wednesday in six villages namely:- Tungar Malan, Manyan Karaje, Tungar Arne, Dangodon Maiyakane, Dangodon Mai Masallaci and Boleke in Maru Local Government Area.

The armed bandits attacked with the intention to rustle

cows, however, after they were confronted by members of the militia group known as “YAN SAKAI”, they started shooting sporadically, thereby resulting to the death of 15 people, while seven people sustained a gunshot wound and rushed to the hospital for treatment, the police said.

Also, the police said the gunmen on June 3 attacked and killed six people in four villages namely: Gidan Dan Kani, Tungar lauti, Inwala and Dangodo villages in Talata Mafara Local

Government Area.

The victims were attacked and killed while returning from the funeral prayer of those killed in the first attack. Five people sustained gunshot wounds and are currently receiving treatment, the police said in the statement.

“At the moment, normalcy has been restored in the affected communities, and the command will keep members of the public abreast as soon as new development emerges,” the statement said.

SOLIDARITY VISIT...

L-R: Senate Minority Leader, Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe; Chief Whip, Senator Orji Uzor Kalu; President of the Senate, Dr. Ahmad Lawan; Deputy Senate President, Senator Ovie Omo-Agege; Senate Leader, Senator Yahaya Abdullahi; and Deputy Whip, Senator Aliyu Sabi Abdullahi, during a solidarity visit to Kalu after his release from the Kuje Correctional Centre in Abuja...yesterday

Military Warns War Commanders against Sabotage, Cowardice Kingsley Nwezeh in Abuja and Segun Awofadeji in Bauchi The military high command yesterday warned war commanders against acts of sabotage and cowardice ahead of the deployment of new weapons, including amoured tanks purchased from China to the North-east.

War commanders are presently undergoing training on the use of the new equipment in Bauchi State

before its eventual deployment in the final onslaught against insurgents.

The Nigerian Army recently took delivery of 17 sophisticated armoured tanks and artillery vehicles from China.

The equipment, include heavy tanks, light tanks and heavy artillery guns.

This comes as it launched Operation Accord in a renewed bid to contain armed banditry in the North-west and Northcentral parts of the country after

killing 369 bandits in an earlier operation.

Speaking during an assessment tour of the ongoing VT4 Main Battle Tank training where 155 officers and soldiers were undergoing “training for competent commanders, crew men, drivers and technicians,” the Chief of Army Staff, Lt. General Tukur Buratai, warned against acts of sabotage and cowardice in handling the military hardware.

Buratai, who visited the

Nigerian Army Armoured Corps, Nigerian Army Armour School and 33 Artillery Brigade Bauchi, said: “While I commend your efforts in this training, let me warn that you must operate and handle the new equipment proficiently. We will not accept cowardice, sabotage or inefficiency under any guise whatsoever”.

The army chief further stated: “Your discipline, commitment and assimilation is so far quite encouraging and commendable.

NEMA Incapacitated as Plane, Helicopter Grounded, Says DG

Malami Hosts Stakeholders’ Webinar on Post-pandemic Judiciary

Deji Elumoye in Abuja

Alex Enumah in Abuja

The sorry state of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) to respond to emergency situations came to the fore yesterday evening as its Director-General, AVM Muhammadu Muhammed (rtd), declared that the agency is currently incapacitated in the air as its operational plane and helicopter are grounded.

NEMA DG, who lamented while making presentation before the Senate Committee on Special Duties on Budgetary Provisions for the agency in 2019 and 2020 vis-a-vis the operational challenges confronting, it stressed that there are serious issues currently confronting the interventionist body.

According to him, operationally, NEMA is more or less incapacitated in the air as both the executive jet or air ambulance and the only available helicopter are not functional.

He noted that “for the

air ambulance undergoing repairs, parts being sought for in France, are still being expected.

“The COVID -19 pandemic is not even helping matters as flight cancellation from one country to the other over the months, has slowed down the process of putting the air ambulance in good shape of air worthiness. The same fate is also befalling our operational helicopter which has remained grounded.

He, however, informed that efforts are being made to turn the situation around as required collaborations are being made with the Nigeria Air Force in terms of operational efficiency of the aircrafts when eventually put in shape.

On budgetary provisions, Muhammed said for the 2019 fiscal year, N22billion was earmarked for the agency out of which N16billion was cash backed, leaving a difference of N6billion.

Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami (SAN) yesterday hosted webinar/ virtual interactive session with attorneys-general and Heads of Courts of the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

This is contained in a statement issued by Dr. Umar Jibrilu Gwandu, Special Assistant on Media and Public Relations Office of the Attorney-General of the

Federation and Minister of Justice, which was made available to journalists in Abuja .

The meeting, which was part of efforts towards an effective post-pandemic judiciary, involves the deployment of necessary Information Communication Technology (ICT) infrastructure in the justice sector in the country.

Malami in a keynote disclosed that in order to respond to the challenges posed by the pandemic, the Ministry has

improved on its ICT infrastructure to enable it carry out its duties.

“The Ministry has completed the establishment of ICT studios and the deployment of Galaxy Backbone dedicated lines that will facilitate the prosecution of criminal cases as well as the defence of civil cases using the virtual platform,” he said.

According to a statement by his media aide, Gwandu, the minister claimed that the Federal Ministry of Justice being the

biggest Law Chamber in Nigeria and probably in Africa, must continue to lead the process of innovation in the administration of justice.

He disclosed that to complement this effort, the Nigerian Correctional Service is also being engaged on the establishment of Studios in the Correctional Centres to make it possible for evidence of suspects in custody to be taken without their physical presence in court.

Police Arrest Three Suspects over Kidnap, Murder of Mother of Five Kingsley Nwezeh in Abuja Operatives attached to the Intelligence Response Unit of the Nigeria Police Force yesterday arrested three suspects over the kidnap and murder of a mother of five, Mrs. Janet Nnenna Ogbonna.

A Force headquarters’ statement said the decomposing body of the deceased was exhumed from a

septic tank where it was buried.

The suspects are Johnson Emmanuel, 38; Gideon Emmanuel, 31, and Success Emmanuel, 27.

The kidnap and gruesome murder of late Mrs. Ogbonnaya occurred on May 14, 2020.

The suspects, born by same parents, all male and native of Isiekenesi, Ideato Local Government Area of Imo State

were arrested by the police in their home town where they had taken refuge after committing the crime in Abuja, in order to evade police arrest.

Investigations that led to the arrest of the suspects is sequel to complaints received from one Chinedu Ogbonnaya, who alleged that his mother, Mrs. Ogbonnaya, 55, native of Ozuitem in Bender LGA of

Abia State, had been kidnapped and a N5 million ransom was demanded before she could be released.

A comprehensive and painstaking investigation by the police operatives resulted in the arrest of the three suspects, whom, in the course of interrogation, revealed that the victim had long been murdered and buried.

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FRIDAY JUNE 5, 2020 •T H I S D AY

FRIDAY JUNE 5, 2020 • T H I S D AY

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T H I S D AY Ëž Ëœ ÍłËœ 2020

COMMENT

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

THE BURDEN OF LEADERSHIP AT FIRS

Despite obvious challenges, Nami is deploying technological solutions to fast-track tax administration and revenue generation, writes Abdullahi Ismaila Ahmad

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f one has not occupied a position of leadership, one would not fully understand the truism of William Shakespeare’s wise words: “Uneasy lies the head that wears the crown’’. But those who wear the crown know where it hurts. So it is with the leadership of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) at this inauspicious time.

Three factors make the leadership of FIRS quite challenging, even if burdensome, at this time. These are the onerous task of repositioning the Service and raising staff morale, meeting the revenue target amid a global economic lockdown, and having to deal with Janus-faced human nature. These factors combined to make the leadership of FIRS seems more like skating on thin ice, which is really a daunting task.

The task of repositioning the Service means setting it on the track of global best practices in terms of corporate governance and efficient service delivery. This consists of shuffling the staff and putting the right people in the right positions, building staff capacity, creating more vacancies and more offices, deploying cutting-edge technology to drive the processes, and ultimately reestablishing the Service again as a veritable corporate entity to reckon with among its peers in the World. Daunting as this task may seem, it also requires quantum speed to achieve it. Towards achieving the repositioning goal, the Executive Chairman of FIRS, Mr. Mohammed Nami, put together a three-month framework of action as he assumed office in December, 2019. This initial three-month project, tagged short-term goals, is one of the three broad strategies outlined to achieve total retooling of the Service towards increased tax revenue generation. Others are the medium- term and the long- term goals. The short -term goals consists of eleven action points, which are: to hold a strategic corporate retreat to set target and unveil the corporate organogram of the Service; to put in place immediate mechanism to make activities of the Service technology driven; to make TCC processing easy henceforth; to immediately re-position LTOs & MTOs; to henceforth make staff welfare and promotion a top priority; to re-position audit and investigation units in order to achieve efficient performance; stop indiscriminate placement of lien on clients’ accounts; to take disciplinary action henceforth against staff who wittingly pocket tax revenue; to re-engineer business processes; to continue the payment of 13-16 months salaries as bonuses in order to motivate staff and achieve greater tax revenue collection; and to strictly enforce dress code as provided in the FIRS HRPP. At the unveiling of these short-term goals members of staff at the FIRS applauded them as the long overdue changes they have all been looking forward to with bated breath. They enthusiastically acknowledged that the goals were spot on and the required quick fixes desperately needed to reposition the Service for efficient and effective administration and optimal tax revenue collection.

Since the unveiling of the goals, the management team at the FIRS ably led by Mr. Nami has applied itself to implementing them diligently every step of the way. In January, the transition management provided a month- long window for quick and unfettered processing of TCCs for taxpayers to enable them compete for relevant jobs. This led to the processing and issuance of thousands of TCCs which hitherto was difficult. This was immediately followed with the lifting of lien on clients’ bank account with genuine cases. Thereafter a corporate retreat was held with resounding success. At the retreat were most of the former chairmen of the Service, and an array of stakeholders who applauded the ECFIRS for daring to hold the retreat seven years after the last one

THE AUDIT AND INVESTIGATION UNITS HAVE BEEN REINVIGORATED IN THE PROCESS OF WHICH ABOUT 68 NEW OFFICES WERE CREATED ALONGSIDE NEW VAT OFFICES

was held. A circular was issued to staff emphasizing the need to comply with the HRPP provision on corporate dressing and the penalty that goes with its violation.

Also, cutting-edge technological solutions have since been deployed to fast-track the processes involved in tax administration and revenue generation. Automation solutions have been put in place to ensure adequate remittance of Value Added Tax (VAT) and Stamp Duty in close coordination with relevant stakeholders. Staff redeployment and reorganization had been done meticulously, and members of staff are happier for it. The audit and investigation units have also been reinvigorated in the process of which about 68 new offices were created alongside new VAT offices.

All these steps are geared towards making the Service function optimally again as a corporate institution operated on veritable ethics rooted in probity, accountability, and propriety. These are best practices and values which aim to put the Service on the plinth of internationally accepted standards of corporate governance, which was thrown overboard hitherto, thereby turning the Service into a reeling ballroom.

This feat was hard-won. It took a lot of planning, complex thinking, series of meetings and consultations, and hard decisions. Of course, this is what makes leadership burdensome, even more so if the leader’s good intentions and hard work are misconstrued or hardly appreciated.

Anyway, Mr. Nami’s action road map is a clear demonstration of the kind of quality and proactive leadership that is required now at the FIRS. He has unmistakably demonstrated a mature leadership disposition that sends unambiguous signal, which is that it will no longer be business as usual at the FIRS. This is yielding dividends in restored taxpayers’ confidence and trust in the system, among other ample results.

Mr. Nami has also put together a competent, dedicated, and strong-willed management team with national spread to help him steer the course of the Service in the direction of his vision. This includes the Group Lead, Digital Support Group, Mrs. Chiaka Okoye, from the South East, is a member of the management team; the Coordinating Director, Tax Operations Group, Mr. Olufemi Oluwaniyi, from the South West is also a member of the management team; Acting Coordinating Director, ECFIRS Group, Dr Asheikh Maidugu, from the North East is a member of the management team; Acting Coordinating Director, Support Services Group, Mr. Innocent Ohagwa, from the South East is a member of the management team; Acting Coordinating Director, Compliance Support Group, Mr. Ezra Zubairu from the North West is a member of the management team; and Group Lead, Enforcement Support Group, Mrs. Faosat Oguniyi from the South West also a member of the management team.

Under Mr. Nami’s administration at the FIRS, Nneka Ifekwuna from the South East was appointed the Board Secretary while Mr Kola Okunola from the South West and Mallam Auta Mohammed from the North West have been retained as Special Assistants on ICT and administration respectively.

However, just when the management team under the leadership of Mr. Nami seems to be gaining momentum and getting things right, the Covid-19 pandemic seized the world and shattered the global economy like the thin ice under the heavy foot falls of a skater.

Ahmad is the Director of Communications at Federal Inland Revenue Service

BETWEEN POLITICS AND SERVICES

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he increasingly bellicose and confrontational posture of the newly constituted National Assembly Service Commission in its relationship with the bureaucracy of the National Assembly with the Clerk at the helm of affairs best illustrates the potency of the aphorism that a house “divided against itself cannot stand�.

When President Muhammadu Buhari inaugurated the newly constituted board of the commission with fanfare, there were huge expectations that the commission will outperform its predecessors pursuant to its core mandate. This optimism was predicated on the caliber, experience and pedigree of the membership of the commission. Given the actions taken thus far by the commission barely four months in office, it would appear that these expectations were hugely misplaced.

As a result of the relatively young history of the legislature as an institution and the evolution of the National Assembly, the expectation was that the National Assembly Service Commission will close ranks with the bureaucracy of the National Assembly to strengthen its capacity to confront the numerous challenges facing it. Rather than a seamless cooperation with the bureaucracy, the commission has lurched into what many discerning commentators depict as a predetermined mission that may irreparably damage the bureaucracy of the National Assembly and set it on a path that is not in the best interest of the legislature as an institution.

It is becoming increasingly clear that some members of the commission came into office with the mindset

of upsetting the applecart and dismantling a system that has ushered in industrial harmony and cohesion within the bureaucracy and further contributed to the stability of the National Assembly in furtherance of predetermined selfish agenda. They were either wrongly advised or have willingly lend themselves to be used to achieve the selfish agenda of powerful vested political interests. A case in point is the way and manner the commission has gone about the review of the Revised Condition of Service of the staff of the National Assembly which, it must be stated with emphasis, had the imprimatur of the commission it succeeded. The reasons given by the defunct leadership of the commission and the principal officers of the 8th National Assembly who sponsored the motion for the revision of the conditions of service included the need to support the National Assembly to build and institutionalize capacity development, fill human capacity gaps, entrench succession planning and adequate transfer of knowledge to successive officers. Laudable as these objections are, a committee was set up by the commission to review the revised condition of service for whatever objective that is so far lacking in clarity. The way and manner the Abubakar Turare Committee went about this assignment raised concerns about the lack of due diligence, transparency, all-inclusive consultation in good faith and cast a huge shadow on its impartiality. The input of the National Assembly bureaucracy and the staff under the auspices of the Parliamentary Staff Association of Nigeria (PASAN) who will bear the brunt of its decision was not sought ab initio, but after, as the report of the

committee was already prepared before their input got to the committee.

In addition to this highly one-sided and politicized report, the commission is contemplating tinkering with the established process whereby staff of the National Assembly collect their promotion letters from the commission without passing through the Clerk to the National Assembly. If this plan were to stand, all staff of the National Assembly will henceforth collect their promotion letters directly from the commission. A lot is wrong with this action as being contemplated by the commission. It is becoming increasingly clear that some forces are desperate and determined to chip away at the power of the office of the clerk to the National Assembly in clear contravention of the rules, processes and the constitution. It is a deliberate ploy to provoke avoidable and unnecessary clash, confrontation and to inject bad blood into the system. For clarity, the office of the clerk to the National Assembly is not an appendage to the commission. It is a creation of Section 51 of the Constitution - equivalent to the office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation. There is an enduring lesson and knowledge to be learnt in the way the Federal Civil Service functions and the rules which have guided the relationship between the National Assembly Service Commission and the bureaucracy of the National Assembly. Although the Federal Service Commission is in charge of recruitment, promotion and discipline of staff in the federal service, it cannot roll out rules for the staff without the input, consent, and approval of the Head of Service. In the same vein, the National Assembly Service Commission cannot operate

independent of the clerk to The National Assembly and the National Assembly bureaucracy as it pertains to staff recruitment, discipline and promotion. It has no mandate to distribute promotion letters directly to deserving staff without passing it through the clerk who is invested with the authority to endorse such letters. It is the responsibility of the clerk to domicile such letters for records with the personnel and human resources department. This is what Under Flying Seal (UFS) of the clerk to the National Assembly is all about.

For the avoidance of doubt, the commission does not pay the staff of the National Assembly and cannot promote and act on the promotion under UFS at the same time. The clerk determines the availability of vacancies and the eligibility of staff for promotion and passes such information to the commission for necessary action. The ongoing plan by the commission to usurp the statutory functions of the clerk is, to say the least, unfortunate, unacceptable and represent in a new low in role interpretation by the present leadership of the commission. This inordinate attempt at power grab will sow confusion and further dent the bureaucracy of the National Assembly.

The fact that we are even discussing settled elementary issues and already established rules and conventions that had hitherto guided the operation of the National Assembly demonstrates the fact that the newly constituted National Assembly Commission is off target and needs to re-focus its vision. Its present tangent creates the impression of a power tussle between it and the bureaucracy of the National Assembly.

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T H I S D AY ˾ FRIDAY, JUNE 5, 2020

EDITORIAL ACCOUNTING FOR COVID-19 FUNDS Funds donated to contain the pandemic should be judiciously managed

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ince last February when the first coronavirus index case was discovered in Nigeria, many individuals, corporate and philanthropic organisations have been donating funds, equipment and relief materials to the states and federal governments to contain the spread of COVID-19. The federal government itself donated N10 billion to Lagos State, the epicenter of the pandemic and another N6.5 billion to the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) to help the fight against the pandemic. The money in the accounts of the federal government alone is in excess of N30 billion.

While donations and pledges are still being announced to fight the spread of COVID-19, there is some level of opacity surrounding the manner the funds are disbursed.

Some states like Lagos come out on regular basis to publish funds received and spent in the spirit of full disclosure.

But many others are tucking what they spend under the cover of emergency expenses. The National Chairman of African National Congress (AAC) Dr Leonard Nzenwa noted recently “that no government official has been able to respond positively and satisfactorily to query directed at ascertaining the exact amount received for the fight against COVID-19.” Even the TRANSPARENCY SHOULD distribution of palliaBE THE WATCHWORD IN tives to the vulnerable THE MANAGEMENT OF in society is riddled COVID-19 FUNDS with tales of looting and diversions.

However, transparency and accountability are important, particularly because the country is yet to attain the peak of the pandemic. Many states, including the federal government, are complaining of shortages of bed spaces and many other vital equipment need to combat the virus.

It is only judicious management of the funds and equipment that will attract further donations. This is perhaps why many civil society groups and others have been rightly demanding for transparency in the use of the funds.

The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) have been pressing for proper accounting of all

monies. It had tasked the federal government to publish weekly details of the exact funds and other resources allocated by the authorities in the fight against the viral disease as well as the ones received from the private sector.

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T H I S DAY EDITOR BOLAJI ADEBIYI DEPUTY EDITOR YEMI AJAYI, DAVIDSON IRIEKPEN, MANAGING DIRECTOR ENIOLA BELLO DEPUTY MANAGING DIRECTOR KAYODE KOMOLAFE CHAIRMAN EDITORIAL BOARD OLUSEGUN ADENIYI EDITOR NATION’S CAPITAL IYOBOSA UWUGIAREN MANAGING EDITOR JOSEPH USHIGIALE

T H I S DAY N E W S PA P E R S L I M I T E D EDITOR-IN-CHIEF/CHAIRMAN NDUKA OBAIGBENA GROUP EXECUTIVE DIRECTORS ENIOLA BELLO, KAYODE KOMOLAFE, ISRAEL IWEGBU, IJEOMA NWOGWUGWU, EMMANUEL EFENI DIVISIONAL DIRECTORS BOLAJI ADEBIYI, PETER IWEGBU, ANTHONY OGEDENGBE DEPUTY DIVISIONAL DIRECTOR OJOGUN VICTOR DANBOYI SNR. ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR ERIC OJEH ASSOCIATE DIRECTORS PATRICK EIMIUHI, SAHEED ADEYEMO CONTROLLERS ABIMBOLA TAIWO, UCHENNA DIBIAGWU, NDUKA MOSERI DIRECTOR, PRINTING PRODUCTION CHUKS ONWUDINJO HEAD, COMPUTER DEPARTMENT PATRICIA UBAKA-ADEKOYA

n a virtual meeting organised by the Independent Corrupt Practices and other related offences Commission (ICPC) last week, the anti-graft agency confirmed that it was investigating alleged cases of mismanagement of Covid-19 funds and palliatives in the country. The ICPC Director of Operations, Mr. Akeem Lawal, said there were cases of diversion of Covid-19 logistics and contingency emergency fund into personal accounts. Besides, he said the body was investigating some cases of distribution of palliatives and use of funds connected with the pandemic by some public institutions in the release and distribution of grains from the strategic food reserve. “Others”, added Lawal, “are instances of agencies involved in fraudulent purported procurement of Covid-19 palliatives, personal protective equipment and community enlightenment activities; cases of state governments using the Covid-19 pandemic to financially exploit local governments.”

It is unfortunate that there is no transparency in the manner these funds are administered. But it is also no surprise. Issues of abuse of public funds including those meant to assist the vulnerable in the midst of disasters have always been rife. Several reports have exposed poor public finance management by officials whose interest is to plunder wealth, including donations by organisations and men of goodwill to help the needy in society. The misuse of social intervention funds and donations towards the rehabilitation of the North-east in the wake of large-scale destruction by the Boko Haram insurgency is a common reference.

The guidelines issued by the federal government detailing the framework for the management of Covid-19 funds is in order, particularly the one on prompt response to Freedom of Information (FOI) request for spending funds dedicated to fight the Covid-19.

We demand no less. Transparency should be the watchword in the management of Covid-19 funds.

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Rape Is A Violent Crime: Spit It Out

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ccording to a survey conducted by the National Population Commission with support from UNICEF and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, “millions of children suffer violence every year in Nigeria – approximately six out of every 10 children experience some form of physical, emotional or sexual violence before the age of 18.” It said further: “One in two children experience physical violence; one in four girls and one in ten boys experience sexual violence; and one in six girls and one in five boys experience emotional violence.” The aforesaid are clear indications that sexual violence is one of the many incubi that are unsettling our society today.

It is clear to the discernible that there is a lot of tension in the land. The world is at its nadir as a result of the rampaging COVID-19 that stares us in the face.

On the one hand, we are trying to wrestle and win the incubus of COVID-19 that is pitilessly sucking our bloods (human deaths) and funds (palliatives and cash set aside to battle the virus) in massive numbers. On the other hand, terrorists, bandits, criminals and all sorts of human cretin among us are on the offensive, killing, maiming, kidnapping, raping and robbing people with reckless abandon. In the same style the security forces kill, harass, intimidate and sexually abuse those they are

supposed to protect.

On 27 May, 2020, the unconscious body of Vera Uwaila Omozuwa, a 22-year-old microbiology student- who had settled for the reader-friendly quietness and serenity of her empty church in Benin City, as a place to study- was found by the security man of her church in the pool of her blood. In the course of her studying, she was battered, raped and died from the varying degrees of injuries and pains she got from the incident. On the charge of rape, Justice Adedayo Akintoye of a Lagos High Court sitting in Igbosere, on June 1, 2020, sentenced an ex-Exxon Mobil engineer, James Onuoha, to 15 years imprisonment for raping his tenant’s 14-year-old niece. A disturbing news. In Nigeria, incidences of rape are fast assuming a threatening dimension that requires urgent intervention. Laurie Halse Anderson, an American writer, known for children’s and young adult novels once emotionally thundered: “I just want to sleep. A coma would be nice. Or amnesia.

Anything, just to get rid of this, these thoughts, whispers in my mind. Did he rape my head, too?”.

This is one of the many belittling and traumatic thoughts that fills-up the mind of a rape victim. From depression to morbid thoughts, death; they look for every means to excuse themselves from that physical and psychological torture.

Fatai Folorunso, Oke Mosan, Abeokuta, Ogun State

Rape: Need For Stiffer Punishment

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hen the punishment that is tied to a crime is not severe, such crime will continue to record patronage. In Nigeria, we have these two such crimes with flexible punishment and over the years, they have been recording more patronage as other crimes. The two crimes? Embezzlement of public funds and rape. These are among the most reported crimes over the years. However, I would have loved to discuss the two crimes, but my people said, when two trees fall on each other, the one atop should be lifted first. The political crime is a story for another day.

In the space of three to five days, three cases of rape have been reported in Nigeria. Sadly, these were not the only cases. Of course, some rape victims within these days have decided to continue living with theirs; they believed that reporting to the appropriate authorities would not bring the criminals to book. Or would not add to them positively, instead would continue to escalate what should be covert.

We are still raging over the Jigawa 12-year-old girl, who was gang-raped by 12 able-bodied rapists, you don’t call them men, real men do not rape, and the 22-year-old student of University of Benin, Uwa Omozuwa, who was gang-raped and murdered with a fire extinguisher in a well-known church where she went to read. Now, another teenager, Bello Barakat,

has been reportedly raped and killed in Ibadan.

Barakat remains were seen around her street. She was 18.

Though, before these reported cases, I didn’t know the punishment that is tied to rape. It was until recently that I got to know the punishment, and I concluded that it should be reviewed. The life imprisonment for rape is a soft punishment to me.

Besides, how many rapists have been sentenced considering the pegged jail term? Rapists walk into our prisons and walk out after finite years.

Painfully, some of these rapists are recidivists; they will continue from where they stopped after serving the punishment. We’ve been using the punishment of life imprisonment for sometime now, and nothing has changed so far. Instead, cases of rape are multiplying. When you try a product and it doesn’t work as expected, supplanting it with another is not a bad idea. We didn’t start with a life imprisonment, we started somewhere just as other countries that have changed theirs. If the previous punishments they were using had worked well for them, they wouldn’t have changed them. India punishment for rape was previously a life imprisonment, and now it is death sentence. In China, it is a death sentence or castration. It is beheading within days in Saudi Arabia. In North Korea, it is a death by firing squad.

Aremu Lukman Umor, aremulukmanumor@ gmail.com

T H I S D AY ˾ FRIDAY JUNE 5, 2020

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POLITICS

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

How Wike Redeemed Promise to Abonnema People Paulinus Nsirim, Commissioner for Information and Communications, Rivers State recalls the sad incident of loss of lives in Abonnema during the 2019 Presidential election, while highlighting Governor Nyesom Wike’s show of solidarity with the people

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hursday, May 25, 2020, was a historic day not only in the lives of the people of Abonnema kingdom, in Akuku-Toru Local Government Area (AKULGA) of Rivers State, but indeed in the annals of our emerging democratic nation.

On that day, the Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Ezenwo Wike fulfilled the promise he had made to the good people of Abonnema on Wednesday, March 6, 2019, during a memorial service at St Paul’s Nyemoni Church, in honour of Abonnema people who had been killed and had sustained injuries from the attacks of the Nigerian Army on the community, during the Presidential election of 23rd February 2019.

Represented by the Secretary to the State Government, Dr. Tammy Wenike Danagogo, Governor Wike redeemed his pledge by releasing N450 million (Four hundred and fifty million naira) to the victims of the 2019 Presidential election violence in Abonnema.

While some other leaders in the opposition, in their justification of the Army invasion and killings in the community, had described Abonnema as a ‘hideout for criminals and militants’, Governor Wike like a true leader, had promptly inaugurated a committee headed by the Deputy Governor, Dr. Ipalibo Harry Banigo, with the main responsibility of identifying the bereaved families and also identify damaged properties affected by the election crisis, so that the Rivers State Government will offer the required assistance and support to the families and the community.

Governor Wike subsequently inaugurated two more committees on Thursday, March 28, 2019; a Judicial Commission of Inquiry to investigate the violence, killings and other related matters that occurred during the February 23 and March 9, 2019 general elections in the State, headed by Justice Monima Danagogo, and a Panel of Inquiry into the violent invasion and attack on the Rivers State Judiciary and destruction of public properties, which occurred at the state judiciary complex in Port Harcourt on May 11, 2018, chaired by Justice Simeon Amadi.

Dr. Tammy Wenike Danagogo, speaking on behalf of Governor Nyesom Wike, during the brief ceremony to present the N450 million to the beneficiaries in Abonnema, told the select audience that no amount of money could adequately compensate the people for the harrowing experience they suffered at the hands of the Nigerian Army, even as he stressed the Governor’s appreciation of the support and commitment of the People of Akuku Toru Local Government Area before, during and after the elections, adding that the state government had insisted on seeking the consent of the Amanyanabo, the traditional institution and the community in order to establish and ensure the transparency of the ceremony and the presentation.

He also assured the people that the comprehensive documentation of the names of bereaved persons had been compiled by the Deputy Governor’s verification committee and that the administration of Governor Nyesom Wike would continue to execute programmes that would positively impact on the lives of the people of the area, even as he confirmed that the second phase of the Abonnema ring road, which had been abandoned since 2006, was virtually completed and would be commissioned soon.

The Secretary to the State Government then reassured them that Governor Wike was ever reliable, courageous and caring. Adding that even in the face of the COVID-19 Pandemic, he has continued to exhibit these enduring qualities and attributes and would stand by the people

Illustration: @snoarts of Abonnema and Rivers State, through thick and thin, by taking practical steps not only to protect Rivers People but to also provide palliatives to bring succour to the vulnerable and less privileged unlike the selfish politicians in other political

parties who only visit the people to solicit for votes during elections but do not have the interest of the people at heart.

The Amayanabo of Abonnema, King Disrael Gbobo Bobmanuel in full regal splendour but visibly subdued in majestic

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly of Buhari’s Five Years Adeola Adewunmi and Olutunbosun Osifowora, leaders of a civic group known as New Nigeria Collective carry out an unsparing evaluation of the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari, with necessary and commensurate praise and blame

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he leadership of the New Nigeria Collective (NNC), a non-government has given a critical assessment of President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration in the last five years, with a verdict that it has not been a bad journey despite the myriad of challenges confronting the administration.

In a communiqué signed by its Chairman, Adeola Adewunmi and Secretary, Olutunbosun Osifowora Chairman Secretary/ Legal Office titled ‘Five Years Of Buhari, The Good, The Bad And The Ugly,’ the organisation said the Buhari administration’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic, reduction in pump prices of petroleum products, bringing the country of recession and stabilising the economy are some of the key areas the Buhari administration has performed creditably well.

Part of the statement reads, “The leadership of New Nigeria Collective (NNC), a nongovernment, non-profit making organization at its National Executive Council (NEC) meeting, reviewed the state of the nation, coming at a time the federal government marked its fifth year in office and the first of the second term of the President Muhammadu Buhari administration.”

“The NNC noted without biases, the weight of the challenges that are currently besetting governments at all levels in the country and concluded that while the room for improvements and inexcusable delivery of promises palpably points to itself, it has not been a poor journey after all, especially, if the situations in other climes are factored into account side-by-side with the current global health challenge, the Covid-19

pandemic. It was against this backdrop and the growing malcontents amongst a majority of Nigerians, that the NNC objectively dissected the Buhari administration and clearly pointed out ‘The Good, The Bad and The Ugly’ markers that have become the talking points in the last five years.”

The NNC also noted without reservation that its resolve to look at the last five years of the administration in totality as against the last one year was borne out of the reality that countries have been challenged significantly

by COVID-19 in the last few months, some dating back to late last year. To that extent, no genuine assessment could be based on the last one year of the administration, when evidently something else had taken attention away from the familiar good governance and the development of the nation. It’s therefore safe for both the government and the people to look at the administration holistically.

The NNC NEC observed the following; That the response of the government to the COVID-19 pandemic has been commendable, particularly its successful handling of the same contrary to some of the predictions of doom and gloom by both the local and international observers/experts. The NNC also noted with a sense of appreciation and motivation, the dedication, commitment and honesty of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Mr. Boss Mustapha, who as the chairman of the Presidential Task Force on Covid-19, has led the nation thus far and successfully so. Mr. Mustapha is a positive example of a public servant.

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

mien by the solemnity of the moment, thanked Governor Wike for fulfilling his promise to the Abonnema People and while confirming that the Governor has proven over the years that his word is his bond, described him as a man worthy of trust and support because he has fulfilled all his promises to the Abonnema People and advised beneficiaries to make judicious use of the Money the Governor has graciously given to them.

The Chairman of Akuku-Toru Local Government Area Hon. Roland Sekibo said he was still traumatized by the events that took place during the Presidential election in 2019 and expressed gratitude to Governor Wike for his kind gesture, stressing that the People of his Local Government Area would continue to support the Governor in his quest to improve the lives of Rivers People.

One of the beneficiaries Mr. Minamiango Romeo, nursing a limp and trotting along with trouser legs folded up to reveal darkened scars from sustained gunshot injuries on the fateful day, expressed gratitude to Governor Wike for not abandoning them in their time of need and promised to continue to support his administration and the leaders of the local government area.

The ceremony in Abonnema to present the N450 million to the bereaved families, was brief and precise, conducted in full compliance with the mandated social gathering guidelines and hallmarked by the new reality of wearing face masks even by royalty, and social distancing. The poignancy of the event was underscored by the fact that it was devoid of the usual publicity razzmatazz and political mileage often associated with such events, mainly in recognition of the gravitas of the occasion and also in silent acknowledgement of the pall of COVID-19 fatalities that hung ominously, with dark, sinister uncertainty in the air.

The grave and subdued nature of the event, captured by the memorial essence of a dark episode in the history of Abonnema kingdom, also attained historic significance on two levels.

Those who remembered, recall the gory and clinical military offensive in Abonnema on February 23, 2019 and likened it to the invasion of Abonnema on 21 June 1968, a date people of Nyemoni community in Abonnema, Akuku-toru Local Government Area of Rivers state have not forgotten and still serves as a day and memorial still commemorated till date by the proud, cosmopolitan and culturally flamboyant people of the great and ancient Abonnema kingdom.

The second is that, probably, for the first time in the history of our political trajectory as a democracy, a leader and politician, Governor Nyesom Ezenwo Wike, had exhibited great courage, sincere empathy and a historic recognition and penitence to the existential and collateral damage which election violence has unleashed on our people, our communities, our psyche and indeed our evolution as a nation.

For so long and indeed in every democratic dispensation, nascent or otherwise, periodically enacted in the civil space of the country, political actors have not only embraced the unleashing of mayhem and procurement of violence as a sine qua non in the operational guidelines of electoral competition, but have glorified damage and destruction, disruptions and dislocations, abduction and hostage taking and most brazenly, the totting up of casualty head-counts as the ultimate yardsticks for measuring their victories.

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

T H I S D AY ˾ FRIDAY JUNE 5, 2020

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PERSPECTIVE VIEW FROM

Who is Afraid of Senator T. A. Orji?

AMERICA

Eddie Onuzuruike questions the motive behind the barrage of attacks on the character of Senator Theodore Ahamefule Orji, a past governor of Abia State

chido@usafricaonline.com@Chido247

Trump’s America, a Terrible Beauty Chido Nwangwu captures the crucial character of the Donald Trump presidency in the United States of America

H

is bombshell was launched on Wednesday June 3, 2020, regarding the Trump White House insensitive, divisive and unworthy handling of the brutal, installment murder of another nonconfrontational Black man, George Floyd : “Donald Trump is the first president in my lifetime who does not try to unite the American people— does not even pretend to try. Instead, he tries to divide us…. We are witnessing the consequences of three years of this deliberate effort. We are witnessing the consequences of three years without mature leadership.

We can unite without him, drawing on the strengths inherent in our civil society. This will not be easy, as the past few days have shown, but we owe it to our fellow citizens; to past generations that bled to defend our promise; and to our children.”

James Norman Mattis is a distinguished embodiment of America’s highest dedication to its armed forces.

He put in 44 years in the Marine Corps and retired as a USMC General.

The man whose combination of sheer, unflappable courage and intelligence earned him the triple nicknames of “The Warrior”, “Mad Dog” and “Monk”, came from retirement to serve as the 26th US Secretary of Defense from January 2017 to January 2019. He kept his frustrations with President Donald Trump away from any public drama, leaks or spats.

Yes; the United States of America is the proverbial land of milk and honey! It is the land of magic and creative geniuses. Apple, Google., Microsoft, Tesla, and Amazon.

Its and gracious citizens have remained the most philanthropic group of people in the history of mankind. and governments.

In assessing its known armada and constellation of military might, quantum of its formidable technological innovations and vast economic resources, I believe that the United States is the world’s only hyperpower, that is, super power plus.

Practically, it is the world’s most diverse, most creative and competitive market. Regardless of your adversity,

Yes; the United States of America is the proverbial land of milk and honey! It is the land of magic and creative geniuses. Apple, Google., Microsoft, Tesla, and Amazon.

Its gracious citizens have remained the most philanthropic group of people in the history of mankind.and governments

ethnicity, race, religion, gender or orientation, it offers immigrants endless opportunities; almost.

Yes; almost. Almost, because the existential realties of America’s “original sin” of slavery in the 19th century are seen, oppressively, in police brutality, financial red-lining and assorted but subtle institutionalization of racism. Almost, because the coarse apostles of the swine gospel of White supremacy and the inheritors of the fruits of the inhumane labor and brutal exploitation and bloody sacrifices made by the enslaved Africans in America, are still demanding all the advantages taken by their slave-owning families! Alongside the Neo-Nazis and other anti-Semitic gangs, they represent those Trump called “good people on both sides….”

Like Floyd’s issue, these events reveal the character of our president.

Yet, for all of its material successes, America’s real strength rests on the prudent balance of the constitutional assignment of roles and the moral clarity to execute your obligations with a certain sense of fairness and decency. All elements of character.

In fact, one of the greatest Presidents of the United States, Theodore Roosevelt (1858-1919), underscored it with these timeless words: “Americanism is a question of principle, of purpose, of idealism, of character. It is not a matter of birthplace or creed or line of descent.”

In closing, here’s another angle.

“In a president, character is everything. A president doesn’t have to be brilliant... He doesn’t have to be clever; you can hire clever... You can hire pragmatic, and you can buy and bring in policy wonks. But you can’t buy courage and decency, you can’t rent a strong moral sense. A president must bring those things with him…”, are the very canonical points of the former speechwriter for President Ronald Reagan and a Pulitzer Prize winner Peggy Noonan.

Peggy wrote those decades before the never-before-seen squad of racially-divisive men and women And, I must say, that the 45th President of the United States, Donald J. Trump is more in the grips of the seduction and apparati of power, .

These past almost 40 months of the Trump presidency continue to reveal the man and his leadership character.

And, what I see, like Mattis and millions of others is a terrible beauty!

A

popular radio station in Abuja has a programme called Them Say. Them Say had a cousin that reigned during the civil war called Radio without Battery.

These are unconfirmed stories that you formally call rumour. Most times it could be favourable and make you hope or laugh, especially in beer parlours or other leisure places. It has assumed a bigger dimension as it has acquired a political toga and used as a big instrument to blackmail or corner undeserving votes and favours.

Most of us around Senator T.A. Orjistaff, aides and some Abia people inclusive have been forced to constant rumours peddled against government or her leaders. Most of them are ear-tingling and in-depth untruths, unimaginable fabrications and mendacity of the highest order.

A commentator once said that it is a sign of greatness when people make what you said and did not say their business. Put more clearly by an American, ‘If people are trying to pull you down, it only means that you are above them.’

The Igbos way-back avowed and even have it as a name- Ezebuiro: fame, leadership, success in a collective term- Kingship attracts hatred and enemies.

Senator T.A. Orji’s soaring image has not made it easy for detractors, political opponents, especially now that there are a few jobs. Participation at every level in politics today is free without strict screening or basic entry qualifications. In confirmation of the above line of thought, a known politician in Abia while addressing his supporters shocked the God-fearing among his listeners when he boldly stated that there is room for all, that in fact, his project then needed God and Satan to succeed.

The experience of a former governor from the western state of Nigeria will throw more light to my story.

The late Lamidi Adedibu, known as the strong man of Ibadan politics waged a serious opposition against the said governor but failed. The strongman made frantic efforts to have audience with the governor after the elections but was rebuffed. The governor wondered loudly what Adedibu wanted, having employed all his evil ploys and antics to sabotage the elections but failed. Even his aides dissuaded him for granting the much sought audience but trust the Yorubas for their reverence to the elderly and against all conspiratorial winks, nods and nudges, the audience was granted. The governor after few pleasantries asked the strongman what ailed him.

The Baba told him that there wasn’t much but to crave a cooperation and understanding. The governor had a good laugh and told him pointblank that the time for that had gone having won the elec-

Having shown gross inability to match or stop Ochendo with lies and imagined stories, they have now intensified all their efforts in the blackmail factor of taking their time to design and print posters and paste in Aba and other towns. Can a man who has been through the throes of over four elections paste posters before declaring his candidacy?

tions. He reminded him how they pleaded with him in the past but he refused, that there wasn’t much he could do now.

Adedibu made light of the whole issue with a few questions.

“Governor, can you fight in public and tear your shirts and run naked? Can you come to court and bear false witness even swearing all the books?’

To all these questions and more coming, the governor said, ‘no’ amid a guffaw of laughter. Then Adedibu said, ‘that’s where you need me. You can’t do it all alone.’

The governor in order to save his time and his state from more troubles and distractions, accommodated the old man thereafter.

With the above you can see that politics has become an all comers event with so many cadres at different departments be they fair or foul.

Back to our text, right from the emergence of Senator T. A. Orji into politics, extreme and perverse aggressions have been the order. The election that threw T.A. Orji up as governor was a warfront.

The fact that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) had an edge as the parent party from which his party eloped, heightened the risk for ‘T.A.’ when he was put out of circulation with trumped up charges. The opponents reasoned that it will be easier for them to win the election with him out of the way, but it was never to be.

The hypes continued rather than receding. Arguments raged. The most comfortable for them posited by the leadership boasted that he will never be sworn-in as far as the Federal Government was in charge of the courts. When he was sworn-in on the 29th of May 2007, another argument went on that his regime will not last, especially with over 50 lawsuits that he will be removed by the court. Yes, they were nearly right when the tribunal in Umuahia removed him but it was a shortlived victory as another court reinstated him. Not surprising, wild rumours refused to die till he finished eight solid years of his tenure.

Before long, the PDP in their wisdom realised their folly and came for their missing ‘rib’ according to Chief Okwesilieze Nwodo, their party Chairman then, who led a high-powered delegation to Abia.

The peace process that followed revealed the peacemaker in Ochendo as T.A. is popularly called. The reconciliation with Chief Onyema Ugochukwu, the guber candidate of the PDP presented a worthy peace template to the extent that the two helmsmen are the best of friends today, burying the hatchets with the handles unlike many cases where hatchets are buried with the handles strategically above the ground as memorials.

While in office so many thrilling innovations were made but skeptics tried all they could to deny the shine from it. I will give few examples.

There were many youth empowerments and skills acquisition programmes in agriculture, mentorship and all but one was seemingly too good to be true and it stood to be the highest nationwide. The car gift to youths to keep them busy trended all over and many wondered if youth can receive a car without paying a dime. For this, scores of negative minds insinuated that there were hidden charges to which some of the recipients were made to swear to oaths.

The coordinator then, Hon Prince, Maduka Uwadi, S. A. on Youths toured round, held radio programmes, dispelling the rumours but many made up their minds that it cannot be free. Many took to the pages of newspapers reinforcing their lies and I can name names of writers and their phony newspapers. Today, the world knows the truth and cannot deny that Ochendo doled out cars free of charge.

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

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T H I S D AY Ëž JUNE 5, 2020

BUSINESSWORLD

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

Í° ͡ Ëœ Í° ÍŽ Í° ÍŽ MONEY MARKET OBB OVERNIGHT

REPO 2% 3%

CALL 1-MONTH 3-MONTH

2% 5.25 % 6.50 %

S & P INDEX INDEX LEVEL 1-DAY MONTH-TO-DATE

513.01 % 0.28 % 1.27 %

S & P INDEX 1/4 TO DATE 10.17 % YEAR TO DATE 6.62 %

EXCHANGE RATE N361/1US DOLLAR* ĚŠ

Quick Takes ‘Physical Distancing Onboard Not Feasible’

CARING FOR THE NEEDY

Managing Director, Nigerian Ports Authority, Hadiza Bala-Usman (right) and Managing Director, MAERSK Nigeria Limited, Lara Lana during the presentation of COVID-19 Relief Materials in Lagos...recently

NPA to Push for Increased Deep Sea Port Investment Eromosele Abiodun The Managing Director of Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), Hadiza Bala-Usman, has said the focus of the agency going forward is to aggressively drive investment in deep sea ports to make Nigerian ports competitive and efficient.

She stressed that the absence of the deep sea ports, which provides a depth of draft of about 17 meters, was why Nigerian ports in totality are not competitive.

Speaking on a television programme monitored in Lagos, she said: “We want to get our ports as competitive as we see in other countries and drive the attendant reforms around providing enabling environment for new Deep Sea Ports to come on board. “As you are aware one of the

MARITIME concerns that we have that make Nigerian ports in totality not competitive is the absence of the deep sea ports, which provides a depth of draft of about 17 meters, which is where the industry is going now. “The economies of scale encourage larger vessels and that is what is absent in the Nigerian port environment now and we are going to work with the new board to ensure that the deep sea ports that are on the pipeline are concluded in a timely manner.�

She said she would work with the new board of the authority to drive efficiency, map out strategies to further increase revenue for the federal government. “In the last four years we have seen the NPA grow in lips and

bounds, we have seen revenue increased, our contribution to the consolidated revenue has been highest the authority has ever made. “So, yes it has been a very productive four years for the NPA and for the country as a whole. Revenue generating agencies have risen to the challenge and increased contribution to the government,� she added.

Bala-Usman said the agency was engaging the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) on how to sustain security at the eastern ports.

The eastern ports including Calabar Port, Onne, Port Harcourt, has lost patronage from importers and shipping companies due to insecurity in the region.

The NPA boss noted that the agency has taken steps to revive

the eastern ports and it intends to sustain the momentum it is currently yielding.

She said that NPA was also working with the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Terminal Operators and other stakeholders to fast track cargo evacuation as well as deployment of scanning machines to the port. “We will continue to engage with our stakeholders. We recognise that we must enhance efficiency; we must ensure that consignees come to clear their cargoes within the time limit. “Some of the things we are doing is pushing to ensure that vessels come in good time and are evacuated without delay. We do have attendant challenges as I mentioned, because the waiting time within our ports is not in the optimal manner that we would like it to be,� she said.

Airlines Not Only Requesting Cash Bailout, Says AON Chinedu Eze Airline Operators of Nigeria (AON) has said its members are not just requesting cash as bailout from the federal government, but necessary support to enable them go back to operation and sustain their businesses.

The Chief Operating Officer of Dana Air, Obi Mnabuzuo told THISDAY that Nigerian airlines are not necessarily asking for cash from the federal government, but the support that would enable them go back to operation as well as to ensure that they don’t lay off their staff.

In addition, he said the airlines are seeking access to forex to help them pay for aircraft spares, conduct training overseas and maintain their aircraft.

Furthermore, he said the

AVIATION airlines also want the right pricing of aviation fuel now that the price of crude oil has plummeted in the international market; yet, marketers still sell the product at the old prices as if nothing has changed. “We don’t know what nature of bailout government wants to give the aviation industry, but contrary to those speaking against the bailout, we are not really looking for cash. The last bailout was done with the banks; some airlines are still paying for it.

AON has made its position clear in the request it made to the government. “We are looking at the removal of VAT, we are requesting for availability of forex. There was an effort to remove VAT but it was not

gazetted; they have removed duty on aircraft spares but you still pay Customs duty when you import aircraft. “On the discussion that government should give airlines waivers, the agencies would say that it is their source of revenue but I think these things should be reviewed,� he said.

He explained: “For example, we pay en route and terminal charges to the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA) but we do not utilise the service of NAMA en route; the airlines take care of that one because navigational aids do not work on the airways until you are on approach. The ground based navigational aids are not working. For example, there should be Voice Omnidirectional Radio Range (VOR) in Bida area but it is not

working. Pilots rely on instrument onboard their aircraft. So we expect that there should be a review of those charges. They should remove enroute charges for domestic airlines.�

He also requested that the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) should review the policy whereby they charge domestic airlines in dollars when they fly West Coast and other international service, noting that local carriers sell ticket in naira and so they should be charged in the local currency. “The idea that once a local airline takes off to destination like Accra, Ghana it will be charged in dollars, $50 passenger service charge and $20 security charge is not good because we generate revenue in naira; so we expect that government should look into it,� Mbanuzuo added.

TheInternationalAirTransÂŹportAssociation(IATA)hassaidsocialdistancing asproposedbythefederalgovÂŹernmentisnotfeasibleon-boardaircraft.

TheNigeriangovernmenthad,onMonday,inAbuja,duringthedailyupdate bythePresidentialTaskForceonCOVID-19,saidthatindig-enousairlines couldonlyairÂŹliftbetween50and70percentofitspassenger-capacity on any flight when they resume on June 21.

However, IATA’s Director-General, Alexandre de Juniac, said physical distancing was not feasible and implementable in aircraft cabins.

IATA said governments should encourage wearing of face coverings and masks by passengers and aviation workers, routine sanitation and disinfection of all areas with potential for human contact and transmission and health screening, which could include pre- and postflight self-declarations, as well as temperature screenÂŹing and visual observation,conductedbyhealthproÂŹfessionalsasproposedbyICAO. Also, IATA said updated contact information of pasÂŹsengers should be requestÂŹed as part of the health self-declaration, and interÂŹaction betweenpassengersandgovernmentsshouldbemadedirectlythrough govÂŹernmentportals,andthereshouldbepassengerhealthdeclaration forms, includÂŹing self-declarations, in-line with the recommendations ofrelevanthealthauthoriÂŹties.Itaddedthatelectronictoolsshouldbe encouragedtoavoidpaper,addingthattestingofpassengersreÂŹal-time, rapid and reliable must be available. “TheuniversalimplementationofglobalstandardshasmadeaviÂŹation safe.AsimilarapÂŹproachiscriticalinthiscrisissothatwecansafelyrestore airconnectivityasbordersandeconomiesreopen.ThetakeoffguidÂŹance document (of ICAO) was built with the best exÂŹpertise of government and industry,â€? IATA said.

Qatar Resumes Services to Venice, Others

QatarAirwayshasannouncedthatitsairlineswouldberesumingservicesto Venice,ItalystartingfromJuly15,2020.Thepopulartouristdestinationand majorartsandculturalcentrewouldbecometheairline’sthirddestination inItalytoresumeflights,markingasignificantstepintheresumptionof global leisure travel.

The national carrier of the State of Qatar would also increase flights to Dublin,MilanandRome,withdailyservicesstartingfromJune13,2020. “Asoneoftheonlyglobalairlinestohavemaintainedasignificantschedule throughout this crisis, Qatar Airways is uniquely positioned to monitor trends in traffic flow and passenger bookings. “Theairlineexpectstheseadditionalflightstoprovidefurtherseamless connectivityviaitsaward-winninghub,HamadInternationalAirport,withits Asia-Pacificdestinations,inparticularAustraliawheretheairlinecontinues tooperate21weeklyflightstoBrisbane,Melbourne,PerthandSydney,� the airline added.

Qatar Airways Group Chief Executive, Mr. Akbar Al Baker said: “We are excitedtoresumeservicestoVenice,oneofthemosticonicandpopular tourist destinations in the world. “Throughoutthiscrisis,ourfocushasbeenonhelpingtotakepeoplehome andtransportingmedicalaidandessentialsuppliestoimpactedregions.

TheresumptionofservicestoVeniceisamajormilestonenotjustforour airlinebutalsofortheglobaltourismindustry,indicatingthestartofthe gradual return of international leisure travel.�

Greece Halts Flights to Qatar

GreecehassuspendedflightstoandfromQataruntilmid-June,after12 passengersarrivinginAthensonaQatarAirwaysflightfromDohatested positive for Covid-19.

FlightGlobalreportedthattheGreekcivilprotectionministrystatesthat 12ofthe91peopleonboardthe1JuneQatarAirwaysflighttestedpositive for the virus on arrival in Athens.

The12personswouldnowbequarantinedinahotelfor14days,whilethe arrivals who tested negative would be isolated for a week before being tested again. “Wealsoannouncethataftertheaboveepidemiologicaldata,flightsto and from Qatar will be suspended until 15 June,� the ministry said.

QatarAirwayshasmaintainedflightstoatleast30destinationsthroughout the pandemic, and is in the process of reinstating service to 80 cities by the end of June.

TheairlineannouncedonJune3rd,thatitwouldresumeflightstoVeniceon 15JulyandincreasefrequenciestoDublin,MilanandRomefrom13June.

GreecehasarelativelylownumberofconfirmedCovid-19casescompared with many other countries, including Qatar. Data from Johns Hopkins UniversityshowsthatGreecehas2,937cases,whileQatarhas60,259.

“On board social distancing will be quite challenging except aircraft will be configured to all first class seats for economic operations�

President, Aviation Round Table (ART),

Dr Gbenga Olowo

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BUSINESSWORLD

NEWS

Oni: Artificial Intelligence Will Drive Seamless Banking The Chief Digital Officer (CDO) of Sterling Bank Plc, Mr. Olayinka Oni, in this interview speaks about the rationale behind the recent launching of the OneBank App by the bank, the impact of technology in contemporary banking, among others. Oluchi Chibuzor brings the excerpts: banking, for instance?

Transparently, when we launched the first iteration, we wanted it to be a customer acquisition platform because we did not want to cannibalise existing platforms.

However, because we also noticed that a couple of our existing customers liked the proposition, what we were able to provide for them when they logged into OneBank was that once we recognised that they are existing customers we automatically moved their account and card details across as well as their beneficiaries’ details so that they will not have to add it all over again.

However, what we are going to do going forward (in the next update), is to allow existing customers to migrate from existing platforms with as close to a one-click as possible.

Oni

W

hat informed the decision to create the OneBank app?

We figured that customers approach banks for four key things - when they have a need to do payments and lending transactions or when they need to do investments and in need of financial advisory services. Meanwhile, there are all kinds of apps for payments and some specialised ones for lending and investment.

So, the notion of OneBank was to abstract everything a customer needs to do in physical interaction with a bank into a digital platform.

The OneBank App is our digital bank to ensure that everything a customer needs to do in physical engagement with us can be done on a digital platform with ease.

How easy has it been onboarding customers on the new app?

I think providence was on our side that the new app was ready just when people had to sit at home and also could not visit any location because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

We were able to provide banking services for them digitally. Those who wanted to open a full banking account or a wallet were able to do so through OneBank. Similarly, those who wanted to lend money were able to do so through Specta because we have integrated Specta, our digital online lending platform, into the OneBank App. Those who have idle funds and looking for where to invest them were also able to buy annuity investment in Doubble. It was timely that the OneBank App became available at a time when all physical interactions were not possible.

Can customers raise and solve servicerelated issues via their devices using OneBank without visiting any of the bank’s branches?

When the product launched, it came fully integrated into our chatbot, Kiki, where customers have access to frequently asked questions and can ask probing questions on any problem they have. They can also have access to our backend customer service channel so that if the questions they are asking require a physical connection, they would be seamlessly transferred from the chatbot to a physical agent who can talk to them at the backend. The next update to the App would take this a notch higher, with us providing real-time In-App chat capabilities where the customers would be able to interact with a physical agent; for those that prefer a human emotional feel as against chatting with a robot.

Does OneBank offer real-time data synchronisation that enables customers to perform transactions without re-entering data if they switch channel to internet

What advantage will OneBank users have over other banking app users with the recent escalation of cyber-threats occasioned by COVID-19?

We will continue to monitor the trend and do everything possible to fully secure our customers. When we saw the trend and what was going on in the industry, we first disabled OTP authentication on the app and allowed a customer to only authenticate with card details, which is a lot more secured.

From the data/insight we had immediately we did that, we realised that the onslaught of attacks nose-dived.

We have also enabled some form of device DNA protection for our customers. This is to ensure that no one can use another person’s profile to on-board because we will immediately tell such a person that you already have an account and why are you trying to create another account. If the person persists, we will tell him that he already has that profile in another device and so why is he using a strange device to create a new one. We are also exploring to migrate from OTP SMS for account creation to deploy some other form authentication.

To further protect our customers, from the very beginning, we deployed a very robust fraud analytical tool that leverages artificial intelligence and Machine Learning that makes us detect fraudulent transactions and thereby deny access to such transaction that seems to be suspicious. We continue daily to strengthen the app from a security standpoint and ensure that fraudsters are not able to take advantage of our customers.

Given the primacy of technology in today’s world, how can banks improve the security of digital payment platforms?

Security, by its very nature, is like an onion which has several layers. So, several things have to come together to make our security architecture very strong. One of the weakest links in security is people and a lot of that has to do with user education. So, we will continue to step up user education to ensure that customers can differentiate when their bank talks to them as opposed to when a fraudulent person is trying to pretend to be the bank. We will continue to invest in technology, particularly technology around artificial intelligence and machine learning because we know that they are more proactive in ensuring that customers are protected. Security is multi-dimensional.

We will continue to ensure that we are one step ahead of fraudsters and continue to provide our customers comfort to continue to deal with us.

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

As Airlines Prepare for Flight Resumption

MMA2 Terminal

Chinedu Eze There is one thing that is key as Nigerian airlines look forward to resuming flight operations on June 21. That is how to protect passengers from contracting coronavirus while boarding flights or while airborne.

The regulatory agencies and service providers have sent out guidelines on how business activities would be conducted and the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) has given out checklist that airlines must conform with before they are allowed to resume scheduled flights.

Industry stakeholder and consultant, Amos Akpan, told THISDAY that the mainstay of aviation business in Nigeria is the airline operator.

“They have not stated their readiness to commence flight operations on the 21st of June. If they don’t operate, all other businesses have nobody to offer services to or no means to conduct their services. “Bailout is critical for the airlines because they cannot restart domestic flight operations without bailout.

The agencies and service providers have been hit too, so they need support to provide their services,” he said.

Akpan said government could help the airlines by assisting them to pay their workers. He noted that all salaries are paid through banks.

“Send the payroll to the banks. Let the CBN instruct the banks to credit staff salary accounts of airlines and government agencies covering March to June.

“Note that some agencies have paid March and April already. Staff will restart operations with enthusiasm. The banks will recover the money in June 2021,” he added.

He said government could help the airlines to offset fuel cost instead of giving them cash and also they would be helped further if govern-

The regulatory agencies and service providers have sent out guidelines on how business activities would be conducted and the NCAA has given out checklist that airlines must conform with before they are allowed to resume scheduled flights

ment could bring down the cost of aviation fuel to reflect global price realities, as the cost of crude oil has nosedived.

“This is a huge cost component. The marketers, the operators, petroleum products pricing agencies, CBN, Ministry of Aviation, the banks should have an emergency meeting to bring the price to reflect current market realities as it is done with petrol,” he said.

On charges and fees, Akpan said aviation agencies should accept spot payment of 50 per cent on current utilisation of the services they provide covering June 21st to September 21st 2020. He also advised that the agencies should also be supported with bailout by government through emergency appropriation order.

On foreign exchange, he said that the CBN, operators, Ministries of Finance and Aviation should have an emergency meeting on foreign currency for spare parts and maintenance and on existing debt profile, he said except for airlines on receivership, “you cannot use indebtedness as criteria because all airlines owe banks.”

“They all owe one or more government agencies. The insolvent airlines should be removed from coming back by the economic regulatory department of NCAA. Otherwise we will waste bailout on them and we know them.

“Alot need to be done before June 21st besides the guidelines on operations. The ability of the airlines to restart and sustain operations, and the ability of service providers to offer the services are very important,” Akpan said.

However, speaking on Channels Television recently, the CEO of Aero Contractors, Captain Ado Sanusi, said airlines would be fully ready to resume at the given date but warned that there was need for caution because some of the protocols such as disinfecting the aircraft must conform with international best standards and must be guided by the input of the aircraft manufacturers.

According to him, aviation is highly regulated and so Nigeria must be careful when it comes to aviation business. He said the aircraft that have been idle since March are not the same as parking a car for too long and one day you jump into the car, start it and move.

“We must be careful when we are restarting.

It is not like parking a car for long and then jump into the car, start it and drive. Yes, we have some protocols that need to be done but in every contest we (Aero) are ready to start anytime from now and I believe most of the airline too have gone far in all the protocols the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority wants us to do.

“Most of them are trainings and some kind of manuals that we need to do and some are also are the acquisition of the Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) that we need to have for the crew and some are reviewing the procedures that we need to do during check in and disembarking as well as disinfecting the aircraft to get them ready for takeoff,” he added.

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Shebanjo: COVID-19 Will Enhance Domestic Tourism in Nigeria The Chief Executive Officer of Shenbee Travels Limited, Mr. Wole Shenbanjo, in this interview says COVID-19 might discourage Nigerians from outbound tourism and would promote the domestic tourism industry. Chinedu Eze provides the excerpts:

A

ccording to the New York Times, the idea of travelling to another country or state is becoming difďŹ cult owing to the ravaging pandemic. What do government and relevant agencies in Nigeria need to do to reopen the economy fully with focus on travel and tourism, a sector that contributes about 34 per cent to the GDP, and generates 20 per cent of employment?

The ever evolving and unprecedented COVID-19 situation has brought about extreme challenges for the travel and tourism industry. According to the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC), they warned that the COVID-19 pandemic could cut about 50 million jobs worldwide. There are calls for temporary state aid for the sector and more long-term measures like simplification of visa rules to encourage travel and attract tourists in the aftermath of the crisis. Governments all over the world have commenced gradual easing of the lockdown and have started rolling out guidelines to reopen their economies. The federal government through the Presidential Task Force has been working with state governors on how best to manage this pandemic and begin to reopen the economy. Our airports are being fumigated; airlines have started communicating resumption timetables. Domestic flights have been given certain criteria to fulfill so as to commence flights from the 21st of this month – June. The Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) has given checklist to airlines, which they must meet before they are approved to fly. What is important is how to protect passengers from contracting COVID-19 while boarding and while on-board the aircraft. The Lagos state governor has set up a committee to advise on reactivating the tourism, arts and culture sector of the state. In the coming days, we will begin to get more clarity on what is to be expected going forward.

Generally, what do you think should to be done to boost tourists’ conďŹ dence in the face of the present challenge?

Information is everything. Tourists need to be properly carried along on the steps being taken to open up various economies of interest; the safety measures being put in place by each country. Humans are created to interact and socialize and not for isolation.

Tourists are ever willing to travel, they just need to be assured that safety measures are going to be put in place across the entire travel value chain right from their airports of origin to their destinations and back home.

This also presents an opportunity for the use of virtual reality (VR) to ramp up once the travel restrictions have been eased and consumers have confidence in traveling again.

This a unique medium—which can make users offer a try-before-you-buy experience which will give people a thirst for travel again leading to more holidays being booked.

family throughout the period of the total lockdown?

It’s been an amazing time. I am naturally family-oriented and have always been present in the lives of my wife and kids so it wasn’t anything unusual. I guess more of the adjustment was having to infuse work into family time. Once I set up a routine, it was easy to adjust. But generally, working from home has been a good experience. I hope to do more of it even after the lockdown.

There is a push for innovation across all industries, and some businesses are pivoting to survive the harsh effect of the lockdown. What are you doing currently to put your business back on track?

Part of the takeaway or learning points from this pandemic has been for businesses to take steps back and look for ways to optimize their business processes. For us as a company, we have always maintained a lean structure so we just had to tweak a few of our processes to minimise manual interventions. We are players in the downstream sector of the aviation industry, once the airspaces and airlines commence operations, we would get back to business in no time.

Shebanjo resumption timelines and safety guidelines.

From the feedback we have been receiving, once safety concerns have been sorted, flying will resume in earnest.

Countries with close proximity are moving into alliance to aid travel and tour in a new effort or initiative called the ‘Trans Tasman Bubble’. For instance, Australia and New Zealand are looking at that area. Do you think Nigeria and some notable African countries with attractive landscape and tight safety measures can strike this kind of alliance to slowly ease your sector back to business?

Most definitely. Collaboration is the future. I mean, it is the only way to go from here. Africa needs to become accessible to Africans. What the collaboration needs to address are things like cost. Flying or traveling generally within Africa is quite expensive, that is why Dubai remains one of the most visited destinations because when you do the cost comparative analysis, it becomes a better option. Once that is sorted, tourists will be able to move freely within Africa and experience the amazing destinations across the continent. Travel advisors can then create packages that will involve two to three countries and be able to sell competitively.

Since international ights carrying leisure travelers remain on hold, some countries are considering internal tourism.

As CEO of a travel and tour agencies, with afďŹ liations in Europe, Africa, North America and Asia, how well can Nigeria tap that aspect of tourism?

I always say to people that there is a huge potential for domestic tourism in Nigeria.

The government has a huge role in terms of policies, regulation and support. The Ministry of culture needs to live up to expectations as to why they are set up. Nigeria is a great country with very warm people with loads of amazing attractions. And the beauty of it is that our indigenous travel and tour companies have the capacity to create beautiful tour packages but the government needs to fix certain things for inbound tourism to thrive.

The issue of VR as an innovation for driving new experience for tourists was already on the table globally before the latest pandemic struck. Can you elaborate on this? And do you see it as an option considering current fear among leisure travellers?

Virtual Reality is a great innovation. It refers to interactive images or videos, which enable the viewer to explore the entire 360 degrees of a scene. Unlike a regular image of video, which is shot from a fixed viewpoint, VR production captures every part of a location.

In the travel industry, virtual reality can be used to capture tourism destinations in a unique and immersive way, users are able to interact within the experience. It is a welcome initiative particularly now—which can make users offer a try-before-you-buy experience giving people a thirst for travel again.

SpeciďŹ cally, in terms of safety, cost and improved experience, what is your agency doing to ensure clients make a quick return to tourism and ying at the same time?

For us as an agency, we have maintained close communication with our diverse clientele. We constantly offer updates on all destinations as we receive them; we share news from airlines on their scheduled

Elias Bj. Gislason, the director of the Icelandic Tourism Board, recently mentioned countries opening their borders to people from nations that have recorded huge success in containing the virus.

If this approach to gradual easing of international travel eventually works, do you see Nigerians qualifying for acceptance?

Absolutely. From the numbers being released

by the Nigerian Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), it is clear that we have done well in terms of the numbers. Africa in general has fared good in terms of containment of the virus. We are optimistic that we would qualify for most entry requirements across destinations.

How did your company cope with the almost one and the half month of social and economic restriction?

We coped fairly well. For us as an organisation, our number one priority is the health and safety of our employees and customers, and with Lagos being the epicenter of the pandemic, we took all necessary precautions.

We actually took the decision to shut down our office a week before the government gave the lockdown directives. We are a technology driven business, therefore it was really easy for us to adapt and stay in touch with ourselves and our customers.

Having devoted most of your time to traveling, attending seminars, going for business meetings here and there for years, how did you handle being around

What is your projection for the revamp of travel and tourism globally, locally, and immediate contribution to the nation’s GDP? Tourism like I have said is one of the hardest hit by this COVID-19 outbreak. The sector has experienced a rapid and sharp drop in demand and a surge in job losses even at global level, putting many SMEs at risk. Despite tourism’s proven resilience in responses to other crisis, the depth and breadth of this current pandemic will likely have a longer lasting effect on international tourism compared to other industries, more likely to recover once major restrictions are lifted. This is also due to the potential longterm changes in behaviors with people likely to become more cautious about travelling overseas in the future.

In the global space, continuous efforts are ongoing in order to implement effective policy responses to preserve the sector and trigger international coordination.

While today it may be too early to assess or project the immediate impact of these efforts, it is paramount for policy makers to use this COVID-19 outbreak to improve crisis management strategies and strengthen international and domestic co-ordination mechanisms and mutual learning across regions and tourism sub-sectors to rethink a more sustainable and resilient tourism system and to respond united to any future shocks. Personally, I believe over the next 12-18 months, we should see a gradual improvement in our contribution to the country’s GDP.

NCAA Identifies 5 Airports Approved for Flight Resumption Chinedu Eze The Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) has confirmed that the Nnamdi Azikwe International Airport Abuja, Murtala Mohammed International Airport Lagos, Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport Kano, Port Harcourt International Airport, Omagwa and Sam Mbakwe Airport Owerri are the five airports designated for the resumption of flight operations slated for June 21, 2020.

NCAA made this known in a letter dated 1st June, 2020 with ref NCAA/DG/ AIR/11/16/121 to Accountable Managers of all domestic and foreign airlines operating in the country.

The letter signed by Director General of the NCAA, Captain Musa Nuhu, stipulated that other airports would be gradually reopened, stressing, however, that the five would have adhere to existing COVID-19 protocols for approvals The letter read, “The closure of Nigerian airports to domestic flights has been extended to 2300 on 20th June 2020. The gradual start of domestic flight operations will commence on 21st June 2020 with Nnamdi Azikwe International Airport Abuja, Murtala Mohammed International Airport Lagos, Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport Kano, Omagwa International Airport, Port Harcourt and Sam Mbakwe

Airport Owerri. Other airports will be gradually added to the network after a review and assessment.�

The NCAA boss in the letter stressed that continuous closure of Nigerian airports to international flights would continue until a date of resumption is announced.

The letter also states that emergency and essential flights are exempted from the restriction and shall comply with the existing COVID-19 protocols for approvals. “Emergency and essentials flights are exempted from this restriction and shall comply with the existing with the existing COVID-19 Protocols for approvals. Please be guided accordingly. “

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T H I S D AY ˾ JUNE 5, 2020

BUSINESSWORLD

PERSPECTIVE

Brand Marketing in a New World

COVID-19: Nigeria’s Response and Big Challenges Etim Etim

F

Friday Okuwe

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othing prepared the business and marketing world for the shocks and sweeping impact of COVID-19. No economic, political and business forecasts for the year 2020 factored the possibility that almost the entire world would be forced into a lockdown without a clear terminal date. Nations and leading businesses are on lockdown. Every government in the world is occupied with one thing: surviving and finding a lasting solution to COVID-19. The developing countries and weaker economies cannot get assistance from the developed nations. Industries and service sectors that propel the global economy and keep the world growing and going are virtually at a standstill. The global aviation industry, the oil and gas sector with its associated industries and allied products are almost comatose. Professional football, the world’s biggest game with its billions of fans and all its associated industries, are equally on hold.

Businesses and marketing always operated on the premise that we live in a changing world and therefore the need to refine and adapt strategies accordingly. But today businesses are caught in a sudden change. We are in a changed world, a new world and a new reality.

COVID-19 is change with a shock.

Marketing in all its various applications will need to undertake increasingly bigger roles and responsibilities in the Post COVID-19 world. Marketing embraces the art of designing and packaging products and services that people need to live better lives and delivering them in the most convenient and appropriate manner that will appeal to their desires and expectations.

Peter Drucker said, ‘the ultimate aim of a business is to create and keep a customer’.

Marketing creates and delivers value which enables businesses and corporate organisations build a community of highly satisfied, loyal and profitable customers.

Customers are not just buyers and consumers of goods/services. They are not just targets for our marketing activities. They are first PEOPLE. They are people with dreams and aspirations, with hopes and fears, and with desires and expectations. In Nigeria, as in other countries of the world, there are people who were forced into a lockdown that has had physical, psychological, social impact on them.

These are the issues that the people we classify as target customers and consumers in our brand and marketing initiatives, have had to deal with as result of the pandemic.

As it appears they will continue to deal with the aftermath in the post COVID-19 era. When the heat and threat subside, the impact and upsets created by COVID-19 will still be a reality we will have to deal with going forward.

Refresh Organisational Purpose, Values and Vision Marketing needs to start from the inside.

Employees are the organization’s first customers and internal army. Businesses

and organizations should recognize that employees are not returning from vacation to resume where they left off. They are returning from a forced lockdown where a lot happened within a short space of time.

People had their confidence shaken, their convictions tested and their perspectives altered. The way they lived, worked and played also changed. It is a new world for both the organization and its employees.

A strong internal marketing programme is essential to engage employees at all levels in a strategic dialogue. Whether a large organization or a small organisation with only five employees, nothing should be left to chance.

First, organisations should have engaging conversation with staff to understand where they are coming from, hear their concerns or reservations and discuss any personal challenges they have. The new work environment and style may have different implications for each employee. It is necessary that these issues are taken into consideration, discussed with the respective employee and clearly addressed to secure confidence and trust.

Second, the organisation should create programmes and platforms to market itself afresh to employees and all critical internal stakeholders. The objective should be tailored to provide reassurance, inspire hope and a sense of safety in everyone.

Everyone needs to be plugged in and carried along on the organisation’s goals, priorities and practices as a result of the crisis.

Re-ignite Your Brand Purpose In the Post-COVID world, both corporate and product brands will need to find a point of connection to engage with the new consumers within the context of their desire to be alive, to feel alive and stay alive. A brand should project an idea, a point of view and a purpose that defines its uniqueness, its mission in the life of the consumer and the difference it is in the market to create. Nancy Orsolimi, a Starbucks District Manager was quoted as saying that “Starbucks doesn’t sell coffee. We have identified a ‘third place’.

And I believe that sets us apart. The ‘third place’ is that place that is not work or home.

It is a place our customers come for refuge”.

In the new post-COVID world, businesses and organizations need to re-ignite their brand purpose, engage with a clear point of view and communicate in a refreshing and reassuring way that project them as relevant, sensitive and in tune with the new normal. Jean-Marie Dru, Chairman of TBWA Worldwide and author of Disruption, noted that a brand cannot remain static in a world where everything moves. In his views, “If a brand rests on its heritage, fails to question itself, and builds only on its past, before long it will come to appear complacent and static. It needs to be nourished with fresh ideas and initiatives, people need to sense that it is attentive to the times and that it knows how to remain contemporary”.

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

ive months into the global health emergency, our world has changed drastically. What began as a health crisis is now a major economic challenge of immense proportion.

Huge job losses, business closures and sharp drop in crude oil prices are the immediate problems facing every nation on earth. No nation is unaffected by what is now the most devastating economic and social catastrophe of our time.

While other countries were caught flat-footed and remained in denial in the first few months, Nigeria rose quickly and responded efficiently with the benefit of its experience with Ebola in 2014.

As the federal and state governments set up incident management teams consisting of a broad spectrum of medical professionals and senior government officials, businesses, business leaders, industry captains and NGOs were quick to offer huge financial and logistics supports to the governments to fight the pandemic.

One of Nigeria’s truly visionary business leaders, Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede, has also stepped up to help in a big way.

Aig, as his friends and associates call him, is remembered for his remarkable tenure as the chief executive of Access Bank, during which he transformed the bank and took it to the top four in the industry before his retirement six years ago.

Last week, Africa Initiative for Governance (AIG), an NGO founded by Aigboje, co-hosted a webinar with Oxford University’s Blavatnik School of Government on the impact of COVID-19 and the oil price crash on Nigeria’s economy and the response of our government to the crisis.

AIG serves as a catalyst for the transformation of Africa’s public sector with appreciation that an effective public sector is instrument to the attainment of a country’s developmental goals. I had in February written an article on AIG. Many prominent citizens participated actively in the virtual dialogue last Friday.

I am glad to have been invited to join.

Professor Ngaire Woods, the founding Dean of the Blavatnik School of Government at Oxford University, UK, opened the session with a brief introduction of the objective of the programme. She noted that the School of Government is working with many countries, especially the oil-dependent ones that are currently facing peculiar revenue crisis, to set and reset their strategies for recovery and growth during and after the pandemic.

Tracing the genesis of the partnership between Oxford and AIG, Prof Woods noted that ‘’Aigboje’s relentless energy and determination to inspire careers in public service’’ has resulted in many brilliant young Nigerians studying in Oxford.

A son of a career civil servant himself, Aig has realised in the course of his long and successful banking career that the quality of the public service is a very important determinant of good governance in Africa.

As soon as Prof Woods finished with her opening remarks, she introduced Aigboje to speak. His first order of business was to explain what AIG stands for.

“We are not an African DFID’’, he joked.

“We are an independent, non-state, not-for-profit institution set up to transform leadership in government,’’ he said.

He then set out his presentation in three slides that focused on the stark statistics of our health crisis and the need to take advantage of the ongoing crisis to rebuild the Nigerian political economy.

Globally governments have so far committed $15 .6 trillion in response to Covid-19 which works out as $2,042.00 per person, while Nigeria’s $6.5 billion in commitments amount to a paltry $32.50 per person.

He commented that it is obvious

Aig-imoukhuede

that whilst Nigeria’s private sector has thus far contributed five per cent of the commitments, the nation has no option.

The private sector should give more.

Aigboje said Nigeria’s large population and pervasive poverty is fueling the impact of the pandemic. Our experience with previous health crises like HIV is that most pandemics don’t hit Africa first, so for us in Nigeria, the curve will take a while to plateau. While the rest of the world has defeated malaria and HIV, Africa has not.

This crisis, Aig concludes, is an opportunity for us to spend more on our health services. He is saddened by the high doctor to citizen ratio in Nigeria (1:2,600) against WHO’s recommended 1:600; and low budgetary allocation to the sector (a little above 4% yearly).

“So COVID is an opportunity to reset our thinking and spend on health,’’ he said.

He concluded that our governments must reset their priorities, spend smarter and act faster.

Next speaker was Professor Paul Collier, Professor of Economics and Public Policy at Blavatnik School of Government at Oxford.

He set off by noting that although there’s been no guidebook anywhere in the world on how best to manage this crisis, Nigeria has done creditably well.

We appear to be managing the crisis better than the Europeans and the Americans, he emphasised.

I note that President Donald Trump was in denial in the first two crucial months of the pandemic, while Boris Johnson had this initial plan to allow the virus affect a good proportion of the population so that the people could develop immunity.

Today, the US and Britain are two of the most infected nations. But Nigeria was quick to shut down and move into the contact, track and race strict regime.

Collier then posited that each nation should design its own coping measures based on its unique peculiarities.

From the experience of the last five months, Collier asserts that two main types of leaders have emerged: the commanderin-chief and the communicator-in-chief.

The latter is most suitable in times like this and his role is to lead his country through effective communication, he notes.

Nigeria’s Presidential Task Force on COVID-19 has done a great deal in this regard, especially in developing guidelines and policies, and briefing the nation daily.

Prof Collier then sliced through a swath of issues on how nations are managing the crisis and quickly delved into our well-known difficulties: huge population, mass poverty, weak health systems and the miserable economy.

He dimensioned the economic crisis into three areas: Plunge in government revenue; dwindling foreign exchange earnings and citizens’ low capacity to spend.

Collier said countries like Saudi Arabia have since recognised these shocks and are responding in various ways.

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

THIS WEEKEND

NEWS METRO THISLIFE

WEEKLY MAGAZINE

ART WEEKEND ENTERTAINMENT Group Features Editor: Chiemelie Ezeobi chiemelie.ezeobi@thisdaylive.com 07010510430

Ebunola Anozie: Giving New Lease of Life to Breast Cancer Survivors

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COVER

Ebunola Anozie: Giving New Lease of Life to Breast Cancer Survivors Having lost both parents to cancer, traumatised and devastated, Chief Executive Officer and Founder, Care Organisation Public Enlightenment, Mrs Ebunola Anozie, knew it was high time she began to educate people on the danger of breast cancer, the need for regular check-ups and early detection. That was exactly what she did as she began in 1995 to cater to breast cancer patients. In this interview with MARY NNAH, she revealed that even with so many interventions by her organisation to save lives of people suffering breast cancer especially, patients are still being denied by hospitals in Nigeria, the care and attention they require, especially in this era of COVID-19, when most of them are turned back from the hospitals

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ou started COPE like 25 years ago when cancer cases weren’t as rampant as they are today, what particularly informed your decision to go into such ďŹ eld?

I used to work in the banking sector. I lost my mother to cancer in 1970. She was 35 when she died. She died in England but was flown back here. We thought we had heard the last of it until my father also had cancer of the stomach and we tried as much as possible to help out but we found out that the treatment here was nothing to write home about. So, we had to fly him to England for more treatment and the result we got from the doctors over there, really, I would say was a disgrace on the part of the medical treatment here. In fact they were so disgusted with what they saw and started afresh to treat him. For years he lived but when he came back he became very aggressive and he died in 1995. So, the trauma was very much. It was huge. It was very traumatic for the entire family and being the last of five children and my father’s pet I couldn’t just take it.

So, while on vacation in the United States that was when I got to know about breast cancer. I had no idea that people had breast cancer. So I did a lot of investigations in America, I went to some organisations and they were willing to help me out. I came back and started COPE just on a casual basis informing people here and there that breast cancer is dangerous and that you are supposed to check your breasts. I just started on a small level but lot of people started coming and they said I needed to be present here all the time so that they can see me each time they come and that was how I left the financial sector for COPE. And when I started, I was able to on my own, by the grace of the Almighty God, sponsor two women for breast cancer surgery and we have been able to do quite a lot. That was how I started the organisation; it wasn’t as if I really intended to stay here but situation had to force me to stay and help people. That has been the story of COPE and we probably wouldn’t have been able to stand for this long if not for the support we have got so far. We have vibrant board of trustees who are very active. I am just the face. It is not a matter of owning COPE; I run COPE with the support of a formidable board of trustees. We must also thank the organisations that have been very supportive and I must mention again, Variant Advisory. They have been 100 per cent behind us.

The set of people we cater to are very brave women – the Breast Cancer Support Group members. They are all breast cancer survivors. Every third Thursday of the month is when the support group members meet while we do our screening on every third Saturday of the month for people who want to come and have their breasts screened with the ultra-sound machine at our centre.

When you talk about Breast Cancer Support Group, what exactly do you mean?

when they did the surgery; just to relief and make them more flexible. We invite dieticians, oncologists, motivational speakers and experts that lecture them on exercise.

We do aromatherapy, yoga and quite a lot of things just to make sure that they feel sense of belonging and special even though they are more like any other person. So, breast cancer, I keep saying, is not a death sentence and it is not something that people should now stigmatise.

Anozie (front line middle, anked by memebers of COPE Breast Cancer Support Group

Breast Cancer Support Group is made up of women who have survived breast cancer. The aim is for them to help those who have breast cancer. It is to give them new lease of life; to reassure them and help them regain their self-confidence and be able to gain strength from one another. They term themselves as “One Nation�. They are to show those battling with breast cancer that there is life after breast cancer once it is detected earlier. Some of them are about 17 years gone and they are still alive today.

So, for the new ones who come, they gain strength as well from those that they see that have survived it and they are hopeful.

So, they get a lot of information as we invite a lot of resource person to come and talk to them like our chairman, Emeritus professor Osato Giwa-Osagie, a consultant with Lagos University Teaching Hospital in Obstetrician and Gynaecology and Emeritus professor University of Lagos.

Most importantly, yearly, we try as much as possible to give them financial supports.

We give cheques to those that need the assistance because it is not all of them that actually need these assistances but we give to those who don’t have the money to continue with their treatments. We are able to do this through Variant Advisory, a financial consulting firm that provides a wide range of advisory services to corporate businesses in all major industrial sectors. They help us yearly and all those gift items we give to the women are supplied by Variant Advisory as well. The firm has been very supportive of our cause over the years. We also work with organisations that cater for their clients or member of staff who have cancer, so they pay us a million naira for example, and we provide them with cards worth that amount, which they give to their clients and staff to enable them access to our centre for screening. So when they bring those cards, the name of the organisation is written on it so that we know where the card is coming from and we know the number of people coming from a particular organisation and with this they don’t to pay for the N3000 charged for the screening. We charge that cheap for ultrasound because we are not a profit making organisation and we do that also to encourage women to detect breast cancer early before it is too late. So when they come, the doctors and nurses are here and they have their breast examined clinically by the nurse and then the doctor will then check with the machine.

You have been doing this for 25 years.

What has been the impact like?

The impact has been massive. The most important thing is that we have been able to save many lives of people who didn’t know they had lumps in their breasts and we have been able to help them out. We have been able to give financial support to quite a lot of people. And the fact that we are doing this screening at a rock-bottom price of N3000 is really huge. You can’t get ultrasound scan and clinical breasts examination for that low elsewhere. This is our own way of encouraging women to get their breasts examined so that if there is anything there, you know early enough because early detection is key, once you detect it early and go for treatment early, your life would be okay and the breasts can also be saved. It is not all those who have breasts cancer that have one of their breasts cut off. Some people who have had breasts cancer have their two breasts intact because they detected it early and so it didn’t spread to the extent where they would have both or one of their breasts removed. Most of the time, we give out a lot of materials from organisations abroad. We give out special bras and breasts prostheses and all that. But now we have run out of breasts prostheses at the moment. These are things you cannot buy in the markets, so we are soliciting for organisations that can also help to become partners with us.

You would agree with me that even with the rock-bottom price you do the ultrasound screening at COPE, a lot of women still don’t take advantage of it probably due to lack of awareness. So what have you been doing to get information to the grassroots?

We use social media a lot to encourage women to come for screening; we use radio jingles to make sure that we get the message out there. Most importantly, you see, counselling is the key. We do counselling here every Friday where women talk to me one on one with the issues they are having; the fact that we have been able to give out those financial assistance, these are the things they come to talk to me about. And we make sure they have partners that they can relate with and we keep constantly in touch with making sure that they are comfortable. Then every year, we take them to the Spar where each of them gets a massage. Apart from pampering them, the massage is to release some of the tension they might have had

Apart the screening, does COPE do surgeries?

No, we don’t do surgery. COPE is not a hospital rather, it is a nongovernmental organisation. We do everything that needs to be done and then leave the rest for the doctors to do. We can inform and educate because no doctor is going to sit down and tell them all that we tell them. We show them movies of how some people have been able to survive and then tell them what they supposed to do. We have audio-visual that we show to let them to know what they are supposed to do in case of any challenge that they go through. So basically, the support group gives them a sense of reassurance.

Like you said earlier, it is not all the women you assist ďŹ nancially. What determines who you give ďŹ nancial assistance to?

Yes, not all of them need financial assistance and there are times we tell you, okay, go ahead and do whatever you can to get money and whatever it is, we would help you out when we have it. We don’t have the resources; it is someone or organisations that give the money and when they do not have, so we have to wait till when they have. So, it is a matter of you having the confidence that at least your treatment will be taken care of and you would have that ease and not worry about the expenses.

You came from the ďŹ nancial sector to the medical ďŹ eld. How were you able to acquire the skills to function in the medical ďŹ led?

When you want to something successfully, you do it with all your heart. I was always going for conferences; I read books and leaflets that would help cancer survivors, patients and women to cope. I make sure that I quip myself with the necessary tools whenever the occasion arises for that. I make sure I interact with people outside the country as well and thanks to some organisations that have been very supportive.

The most important thing about this whole thing is that we should learn that women should support women and not feeling that you are better than someone else. Anybody can have a challenge any time. So, it’s more of hold my hands and let me hold yours.

However, there are times we lose some of them because some of them come when it is too late. So it has not been bed of roses, there are times we have our ups and downs.

And could be very sad when you have that; coming from a background where I have seen it first hand, I know how devastating it could be.

T H I S D AY ˾ ͳ˜ 2020

27

BOOK REVIEW

28

T H I S D AY Ëž ÍłËœ 2020

BUSINESS/MONEYGUIDE

‘STOAN Willing to Provide Scanners at Nigerian Ports’ Eromosele Abiodun Terminal operators at the seaports have expressed willingness to provide functional scanners for seamless cargo examination at the ports.

The spokesman of Seaport Terminal Operators Association of Nigeria (STOAN), Mr. Bolaji Akinola, gave this indication while speaking as a guest on a TV programme.

Although the provision and management of scanners fall under the purview of Nigerian Customs Service (NCS), Akinola stressed that terminal operators have the capacity to provide scanners if engaged for such services by the government. “It is unfortunate that the scanners brought in by the initial

destination inspectors have all packed up. However, it falls under Customs’ purview and they seem happy with the 100 percent physical examination. “It is important to note that this physical inspection is against the ease of doing business agenda the government is promoting. “If the government wants terminal operators to provide scanners, the operators can provide quality scanners but that would be a different arrangement entirely. Terminal operators can provide and manage functional scanners for the nation but that isn’t currently the responsibility of the terminals,� he said.

Akinola, who was speaking on, “Port Economics: Are Nigerian ports expensive?�, stated that Customs charges account for 70

per cent of the total Nigerian port charges in cargo evacuation, even as he decried the numerous interception cargoes already examined physically by Customs.

According to him, there are three major issues leading to high cost of Nigerian ports. “They are the cost of shipment or freight cost, trucking cost and Customs duties. The freight cost to Nigeria is one of the highest in the region from Europe or China. “It is cheaper to get a consignment from China to Ghana, then China to Nigeria. When you drill further, you would find the issues responsible for this high cost. “Unfortunately, most people have refused to take cognizance of the issues which were also highlighted by a recent study conducted by Lloyds,� he said.

Lagos Outlines Fiscal Sustainability Measures Nume Ekeghe The Lagos State Commissioner for Finance, Dr. Rabiu Olowo, has reeled out fiscal sustainability measures that have been adopted by the state to cushion the impact of the Covid-19 on its economy.

He said although due to the impact of the pandemic, the state was expected to record drop in its internally generated revenue, drop in federal allocation as well as a decline in Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), the state government had in swift response re-ordered its full year 2020 Budget and re-prioritised its capital expenditure to reflect current realities. Olowo, made this disclosure while giving the scorecard of his ministry at a

ministerial press briefing commemorating one year in office of the State Governor, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu at Ikeja, recently. The Commissioner also revealed that: “Lagos State achieved 106 per cent performance in first quarter of year 2020 revenue as against budget. “However, with COVID–19 and the dwindling oil price is a twin-shock to Nigeria, we expect that the revenue numbers will be affected, hence the need to review the full year 2020 budget assumptions.�

Apart from the re-ordering of the 2020 budget, the Finance Commissioner listed other strategies already adopted by the government to manage the impact of the pandemic to include

principal and interest moratorium for MSMEs with loans from the Lagos State Employment Trust Fund (LSETF); extension of tax filing; management and control of dedicated funds for COVID-19 response, including timely payment of hazard allowance and arrangement of special peril insurance for frontline health workers and volunteers.

In the area of revenue optimisation, the Commissioner revealed a number of initiatives put in place in the last one year by this administration to include F.O.R.C.E (Focus On Revenue Creation Everywhere), an initiative conceived to monitor, review and drive innovative revenue performance whilst providing revenue assurance.

Ikeazor Urges Businesses to Build Digital Capacity Businesses in Nigeria have been advised to invest in digital capabilities as one of the critical strategies to survive post-COVID-19.

Former Managing Director, Keystone Bank Limited, Mr.Philip Ikeazor, who is currently a Director at Tideway Advisory Limited, gave this advice during a webinar on the effects of COVID-19 on business operation, organised by the Nigerian chapter of University of Buckingham Alumni Association.

According to him, the transition to contactless operations has gained currency during this crisis, hence businesses must take proactive steps to remain in business after the crisis. “Healthcare is a classic case; in the UK, less than 1 per cent of medication consultations were

recorded in 2019 but under the lockdown, 100 per cent of consultations are occurring remotely,� he said. “There is already a big shift to digital and online channels by banks. Online banking rose by 90 per cent during the crisis in the UK, while in Nigeria, electronic bills payment rose by 36.6 per cent during the lockdown.�

Ikeazor, added that educational institutions globally have also embraced remote learning, adding that car manufacturers in Asia have developed virtual showrooms.

He said businesses in the country would also need to improve their risk management capabilities as vulnerabilities would continue to exist in the operating environment. “Organisations that have a

proactive and structured approach to risk management will always stay ahead of the curve as the next crisis emerges. Risk management approaches must be seen from an enterprise-wide perspective with the capacity to absorb uncertainty, fine-tune key risk indicators, and incorporate the lessons learnt from the pandemic into the operating model,� he advised.

He said the businesses also need to adopt, “a through-cycle mindset that focuses on the long-term after reassessing your competitive advantage while shoring up the balance sheet and capacity in the short term.�

This, he said, would be decisive for businesses in capturing significant value and out-perform peers post-COVID 19.

Union Bank Partners TEDxLagos Union Bank has announced its partnership with TEDxLagos to host the annual TEDxLagos event for the third consecutive year. The collaboration is in line with the bank’s efforts to support initiatives which boost Nigeria’s development and growth.

TEDx is a global platform created in the spirit of TED’s mission, “ideas worth sharing�, and aims to take the spirit of TED to local communities around the globe through TEDx events.

A statement explained that the 2020 TEDxLagos event tagged ‘Upside’, would be a virtual

gathering on Saturday, June 13, due to physical distancing measures in place due to the global Covid-19 outbreak.

The approach would allow attendees from within and outside Lagos participate in the event.

Upside will feature some of Nigeria’s top thought leaders, social innovators and reformers who will spotlight inspiring and thought-provoking ideas to encourage decisive action for the benefit of the society, even as the world grapples with the impact of Covid-19.

Speaking on the bank’s partnership with TEDxLagos, the Head

of Corporate Communications and Marketing at Union Bank, Ogochukwu Ekezie-Ekaidem said, “Union Bank is pleased to partner with TEDxLagos for the third year. Our efforts to enable success in our host communities align squarely with the TEDx mission to unravel and amplify brilliant ideas that cause positive change and move our society forward. Over the past two years, the TEDxLagos events have showcased insightful talks and powerful conversations. This year, more than ever before, we look forward to even deeper conversations at the Upside.�

MARKET INDICATORS MONEY AND CREDIT STATISTICS

(MILLION NAIRA)

SEPTEMBER 2019 Money Supply (M3)

35,029,779.72

-- CBN Bills Held by Money Holding Sectors

7,374,356.91

Money Supply (M2)

27,655,422.82

-- Quasi Money

116,533,891.21

-- Narrow Money (M1)

11,121,531.60

---- Currency Outside Banks

1,625,047.69

---- Demand Deposits

9,496,483.91

Net Foreign Assets (NFA)

13,911,335.83

Net Domestic Assets(NDA)

21,118,443.89

-- Net Domestic Credit (NDC)

35,918,179.45

---- Credit to Government (Net)

10,452,199.38

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

11,007,422.79

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

25,465,980.07

---- Credit to Private Sector (CPS)

-14,799,735.56

--Other Assets Net

7,000,253.07

Reserve Money (Base Money

2,005,600.83

--Currency in Circulation

4,677,530.81

--Banks Reserves

317,121.43

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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

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OPEC DAILY BASKET PRICE Ëœ Íą Í°ÍŽÍ°ÍŽ

The price of OPEC basket of thirteen crudes stood at $35.46 a barrel on Wednesday, compared with $34.95 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), ZaďŹ ro (Equatorial Guinea), Rabi Light (Gabon), Iran Heavy (Islamic Republic of Iran), Basra Light (Iraq), Kuwait Export (Kuwait), Es Sider (Libya), Bonny Light (Nigeria), Arab Light (Saudi Arabia), Murban (UAE) and Merey (Venezuela).

SOURCE: OPEC headquarters, Vienna

29

T H I S D AY Ëž ÍłËœ 2020

MARKET NEWS

Lafarge Africa Assures Shareholders of Growth, Pays 100k Dividend Goddy Egene Lafarge Africa Plc has assured shareholders of improved performance and higher returns on their investments having significantly strengthened its balance sheet. The outgoing chairman of the company, Omobolaji Balogun, stated this at the company’s 61st annual general meeting (AGM) held in Lagos on Wednesday.

According to him, Lafarge Africa is now at a vantage posi-

tion to face the future despite the current challenges brought on by the global pandemic- COVID-19. “The underlining strength of the company’s turnaround and cost-reduction strategy in full year 2019 and the divestment of the South African business have placed Lafarge on more solid financial footing even as the company continues to create more opportunities in the Nigerian market on the basis of its global capabilities in product innovation,� he said.

P R I C E S MAIN BOARD

F O R DEALS

Balogun said , “having overseen the progress in our transformation plan, the clean-up of our balance sheet, its return to robust profitability, streamlining of our operations, the renewal of our Board and the smooth chief executive officer (CEO) and chief financing officer (CFO) succession plan, it is with a deep sense of gratitude to God, that I feel fulfilled, in retiring as chairman, knowing that the board and our company is in a very good shape.�

S E C U R I T I E S MARKET PRICE

QUANTITY TRADED

VALUE TRADED ( N )

While thanking the shareholders for their support over the years, Balogun said the N1 dividend pay-out was a worthy return on their investments.

On his part, CEO of Lafarge Africa, Khaled El Dokani, commended the shareholders for their continued confidence in the company. “Our shareholders have been supportive over the years and we look forward to more robust years in our collective commitment to improving lives as we

T R A D E D MAIN BOARD

A S

implement initiatives that will keep us on a growth trajectory.

We are very positive about Lafarge and its future,’’ he said.

Some of the shareholders commended the outgoing chairman and the improved performance recorded in 2019.

Sunny Nwosu of Independent Shareholders Association of Nigeria hailed Balogun for putting the company on the path to profitability as well as the fulfilment of

O F

the pledge to pay dividend to all shareholders.

Also speaking, Mrs. Bisi Bakare of the Pragmatic Shareholders Association of Nigeria, said the company had consistently introduced new quality products in the market.

According to her, the 2019 dividend pay-out further reinforces the company’s long-term investment in Nigeria, providing value to all stakeholders over the years.

0 2 / 0 6 / 2 0 2 0 DEALS

MARKET PRICE

QUANTITY TRADED

VALUE TRADED ( N)

30

FRIDAY, JUNE 5, 2020 ˾ T H I S D AY

MARKET NEWS

Stockbrokers Advised on Post COVID-19 Survival Strategies Goddy Egene Stockbrokers have been urged to enhance their skills and competencies with as only operators who embrace proactive and innovative business strategy would

succeed under the new normal.

Panelists at a recent Chartered Institute of Stockbrokers’ Mandatory Continuous Professional Development (MCPD) webinar, titled “Opportunities for Stockbrokers: Post COVID-19

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

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

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

Pandemic,” made the call.

For instance, the lead speaker and Divisional Head, Trading Business, Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), Mr. Jude Chiemeka, said the operating environment has changed very dramatically in adjustment to

floor of the Nigerian Stock Exchange.

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

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

GUIDE TO DATA: Date: All fund prices are quoted in Naira as at 03Jun-2020, unless otherwise stated.

the impact of COVID-19.

“The lockdown has resulted in a paradigm shift of what work should look like and the need for companies to re-invent their working models from this perspective. To thrive in times like this, market intermediaries

need to embrace more innovative and pro-active strategies to ride the wave. Stockbrokers have a role to play in deepening the products traded in the market by facilitating cross listings of securities existing in other markets that help investors

achieve their diversification and hedging needs, issuance of unsponsored Depository Receipts, currency tracking exchange traded funds (ETFs), access to international markets such as technology and health care,” Chiemeka said.

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

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

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

DAILY PRICE LIST FOR MUTUAL FUNDS, REITS and ETFS MUTUAL FUNDS / UNIT TRUSTS AFRINVEST ASSET MANAGEMENT LTD aaml@afrinvest.com Web: www.afrinvest.com; Tel: +234 818 885 6757 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Afrinvest Equity Fund N/A N/A N/A Afrinvest Plutus Fund N/A N/A N/A Nigeria International Debt Fund N/A N/A N/A ALTERNATIVE CAPITAL PARTNERS LTD info@acapng.com Web: www.acapng.com, Tel: +234 1 291 2406, +234 1 291 2868 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn ACAP Canary Growth Fund 0.94 0.95 4.33% ACAP Income Funds 0.78 0.78 10.11% AIICO CAPITAL LTD ammf@aiicocapital.com Web: www.aiicocapital.com, Tel: +234-1-2792974 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn AIICO Money Market Fund 100.00 100.00 6.50% AIICO Balanced Fund 2.64 2.70 7.15% info@anchoriaam.com ANCHORIA ASSET MANAGEMENT LIMITED Web:www.anchoriaam.com, Tel: 08166830267; 08036814510; 08028419180 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Anchoria Money Market 100.00 100.00 5.84% Anchoria Equity Fund 100.03 100.37 -1.89% Anchoria Fixed Income Fund 1.21 1.21 5.78% ARM INVESTMENT MANAGERS LTD enquiries@arminvestmentcenter.com Web: www.arm.com.ng; Tel: 0700 CALLARM (0700 225 5276) Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn ARM Aggressive Growth Fund 14.68 15.12 -4.17% ARM Discovery Fund 341.01 351.29 -1.28% ARM Ethical Fund 30.14 31.05 3.63% ARM Money Market Fund 1.00 1.00 5.41% AXA MANSARD INVESTMENTS LIMITED investmentcare@axamansard.com Web: www.axamansard.com; Tel: +2341-4488482 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn AXA Mansard Equity Income Fund N/A N/A N/A AXA Mansard Money Market Fund 1.00 1.00 5.29% CAPITAL EXPRESS ASSET AND TRUST LIMITED info@capitalexpressassetandtrust.com Web: www.capitalexpressassetandtrust.com ; Tel: +234 803 307 5048 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn CEAT Fixed Income Fund 2.04 2.04 14.29% CHAPELHILL DENHAM MANAGEMENT LTD investmentmanagement@chapelhilldenham.com Web: www.chapelhilldenham.com, Tel: +234 461 0691 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Chapelhill Denham Money Market Fund 0.07 0.05 6.71% Paramount Equity Fund 11.47 11.93 -7.36% Women's Investment Fund 109.70 110.53 -0.71% CORDROS ASSET MANAGEMENT LIMITED assetmgtteam@cordros.com Web: www.cordros.com, Tel: 019036947 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Cordros Money Market Fund 100.00 100.00 4.98% Cordros Milestone Fund 2023 97.58 97.80 Cordros Milestone Fund 2028 105.72 105.96 CORONATION ASSEST MANAGEMENT investment@coronationam.com Web:www.coronationam.com , Tel: 012366215 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Coronation Money Market Fund 1.00 1.00 4.14% Coronation Balanced Fund 0.91 0.92 -2.00% Coronation Fixed Income Fund 1.42 1.42 6.79% EDC FUNDS MANAGEMENT LIMITED mutualfundng@ecobank.com Web: www.ecobank.com Tel: 012265281 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn EDC Nigeria Money Market Fund Class A N/A N/A N/A EDC Nigeria Money Market Fund Class B N/A N/A N/A EDC Nigeria Fixed Income Fund N/A N/A N/A FBNQUEST ASSET MANAGEMENT LTD invest@fbnquest.com Web: www.fbnquest.com/asset-management; Tel: +234-81 0082 0082 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn FBN Fixed Income Fund 1,288.72 1,290.16 6.09% FBN Balanced Fund 147.18 148.27 0.25% FBN Money Market Fund 100.00 100.00 5.17% FBN Nigeria Eurobond (USD) Fund - Institutional 114.12 114.94 -1.09% FBN Nigeria Eurobond (USD) Fund - Retail 114.49 115.31 -1.27% FBN Nigeria Smart Beta Equity Fund 119.52 120.94 -8.15% FCMB ASSET MANAGEMENT LIMITED fcmbamhelpdesk@fcmb.com Web: www.fcmbassetmanagement.com; Tel: +234 1 462 2596 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Legacy Money Market Fund 1.00 1.00 4.93% Legacy Debt Fund 3.76 3.76 2.92% Legacy Equity Fund 1.10 1.12 -3.05% Legacy USD Bond Fund 1.10 1.10 2.16% FSDH ASSET MANAGEMENT LTD coralfunds@fsdhgroup.com Web: www.fsdhaml.com; Tel: 01-270 4884-5; 01-280 9740-1 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Coral Growth Fund 3,061.93 3,096.96 2.66% Coral Income Fund 3,168.97 3,168.97 15.59% FSDH Treasury Bills Fund 100.00 100.00 5.64% GREENWICH ASSET MANAGEMENT LIMITED assetmanagement@gtlgroup.com Web: www.gtlgroup.com ; Tel: +234 1 4619261-2 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Greenwich Plus Money Market Fund 100.00 100.00 5.15% Nigeria Entertainment Fund 120.02 120.67 11.57%

GROWTH & DEVELOPMENT ASSET MANAGEMENT LIMITED assetmanagement@gdl.com.ng Web: www.gdl.com.ng ; Tel: +234 9055691122 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn GDL Money Market Fund N/A N/A N/A INVESTMENT ONE FUNDS MANAGEMENT LTD enquiries@investment-one.com Web: www.investment-one.com; Tel: +234 812 992 1045,+234 1 448 8888 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Abacus Money Market Fund 100.00 100.00 4.65% Vantage Balanced Fund 2.22 2.26 1.51% Vantage Guaranteed Income Fund 1.00 1.00 10.29% Kedari Investment Fund (KIF) 143.47 144.03 0.04% LOTUS CAPITAL LTD fincon@lotuscapitallimited.com Web: www.lotuscapitallimited.com; Tel: +234 1-291 4626 / +234 1-291 4624 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Lotus Halal Investment Fund 1.23 1.25 5.38% Lotus Halal Fixed Income Fund 1,128.88 1,128.88 4.70% MERISTEM WEALTH MANAGEMENT LTD info@meristemwealth.com Web: http://www.meristemwealth.com/funds/ ; Tel: +234 1-4488260 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Meristem Equity Market Fund N/A N/A N/A Meristem Money Market Fund N/A N/A N/A PAC ASSET MANAGEMENT LTD info@pacassetmanagement.com Web: www.pacassetmanagement.com/mutualfunds; Tel: +234 1 271 8632 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn PACAM Balanced Fund 1.40 1.42 14.26% PACAM Fixed Income Fund 11.88 11.93 5.47% PACAM Money Market Fund 10.00 10.00 3.24% PACAM Equity Fund 1.07 1.08 PACAM EuroBond Fund 100.23 102.46 SCM CAPITAL LIMITED info@scmcapitalng.com Web: www.scmcapitalng.com; Tel: +234 1-280 2226,+234 1- 280 2227 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn SCM Capital Frontier Fund 119.96 123.04 -2.29% SFS CAPITAL NIGERIA LTD investments@sfsnigeria.com Web: www.sfsnigeria.com, Tel: +234 (01) 2801400 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn SFS Fixed Income Fund 1.01 1.01 3.72% STANBIC IBTC ASSET MANAGEMENT LTD assetmanagement@stanbicibtc.com Web: www.stanbicibtcassetmanagement.com; Tel: +234 1 280 1266; 0700 MUTUALFUNDS Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Stanbic IBTC Balanced Fund 2,521.35 2,532.80 4.16% Stanbic IBTC Bond Fund 210.33 210.33 3.18% Stanbic IBTC Ethical Fund 0.88 0.89 0.00% Stanbic IBTC Guaranteed Investment Fund 273.87 273.95 3.62% Stanbic IBTC Iman Fund 154.92 156.64 1.75% Stanbic IBTC Money Market Fund 100.00 100.00 4.54% Stanbic IBTC Nigerian Equity Fund 7,674.15 7,756.30 -0.80% Stanbic IBTC Dollar Fund (USD) 1.16 1.16 2.40% Stanbic IBTC Shariah Fixed Income Fund 118.18 118.18 0.00% UNITED CAPITAL ASSET MANAGEMENT LTD Web: www.unitedcapitalplcgroup.com; Tel: +234 803 306 2887 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn United Capital Balanced Fund N/A N/A N/A United Capital Bond Fund N/A N/A N/A United Capital Equity Fund N/A N/A N/A United Capital Money Market Fund N/A N/A N/A United Capital Eurobond Fund N/A N/A N/A United Capital Wealth for Women Fund N/A N/A N/A QUANTUM ZENITH ASSET MANAGEMENT & INVESTMENTS LTD service@quantumzenithasset.com.ng Web: www.quantumzenith.com.ng; Tel: +234 1-2784219 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Zenith Equity Fund 10.40 10.53 1.24% Zenith Ethical Fund 12.18 12.31 4.89% Zenith Income Fund 23.52 23.52 5.78% Zenith Money Market Fund 1.00 1.00 3.93%

REITS NAV Per Share

Yield / T-Rtn

3.50 114.44 52.79

-63.85% 2.22% 1.42%

Bid Price

Offer Price

Yield / T-Rtn

8.94 91.98 70.18

9.04 93.87 71.42

2.69% -0.57% -4.85%

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

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

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

funds@vetiva.com Bid Price

Offer Price

Yield / T-Rtn

3.06 4.25 11.75 12.04 180.60

3.10 4.33 11.85 12.24 182.60

-13.81% -27.87% -3.02% 15.69% -3.91%

NAV Per Share

Yield / T-Rtn

108.29

16.90%

INFRASTRUCTURE FUND Fund Name Chapel Hill Denham Nigeria Infrastructure Debt Fund

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

FRIDAY JUNE 5, 2020 • T H I S D AY

31

FRIDAY JUNE 5, 2020 ˾ T H I S D AY

32

NEWS XTRA

Buhari, Fayemi, Tinubu, Obi, Ajimobi, Others Mourn Olumilua Kemi Olaitan in Ibadan,Victor Ogunje in Ekiti and James Sowole in Akure President Muhammadu Buhari; Governor of Ekiti State, Dr. Kayode Fayemi; National Leader of All Progressives Congress (APC), Senator Bola Tinubu; former Governor of Anambra State, Mr. Peter Obi; Deputy National Chairman (South), of the APC, Senator Abiola Ajimobi, and a host of others have sent condolences to the family of former Ondo State governor, Evangelist Bamidele Olumilua, over his death.

The 83-year-old elder statesman, who served as governor in the old Ondo State from January 1992 to November 1993 during Third Republic, died in the early hours of yesterday in his Ikere-Ekiti

country home after brief illness.

The president, in a statement issued by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Mr. Femi Adesina, also condoles with the government and people of the state.

He recalled that the late Olumilua played a notable role in the process of returning Nigeria back to democracy, adding that he worked hard to improve public infrastructure in Ondo State.

“President Muhammadu Buhari condoles with government and indigenes of Ondo State over the death of Evangelist Bamidele Isola Olumilua, who was a governor of the state from 1992-1993.

“The President sympathises with family members, friends and associates of the former governor, who worked very

hard to improve infrastructure and livelihood of people in the state.

“President Buhari affirms that Olumilua played an active role in the return of democracy in the country, and served creditably as Chairman, Nigeria Pilgrims Board,” the state said.

In a message issued by the Head of his Media Office, Mr. Tunde Rahman, the APC National Leader described “Olumilua as an elder-statesman

and an unrelenting patriot. He was irrevocably committed to the unity and indivisibility of this country. A servant-leader, Evangelist Olumilua provided leadership and mentoring to many of us during the aborted Third Republic and even after. “”He believed in democratic principles and worked assiduously to advance them. I knew this about him because we were together in the defunct Social Democratic

Party and could attest to all he did to advance the course of democracy in the land and ensure the will of the people triumphed,” Tinubu explained.

In Ajimobi’s message issued his Special Adviser, Communication and Strategy, Mr. Bolaji Tunji, the APC National Vice Chairman disclosed that Olumilua lived a life of service to the people he served diligently The immediate past governor

of Oyo State described Olumilua as an elder statesman, who though had a short tenure as governor due to military intervention, left indelible imprints in the sands of time.

According to him, “as a progressive – minded elder, he was one of the founding members of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) in 2006, which later metamorphosed into our great party, the All Progressives Congress (APC).

Kaduna Community, ACF, Condemn Kajuru Killings John Shiklam in Kaduna The Southern Kaduna Peoples Union (SOKAPU) and the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) have condemned the killings in the communities in Kajuru Local Government Area of Kaduna State.

The condemnation came following the killing of nine people last Wednesday in a fresh attack in Anguwan Tudu community, Kajuru LGA of the state by suspected herdsmen.

Over 30 people are said to have been killed since May 12, 2020, when gunmen, believed to be herdsmen, invaded some villages in the area.

Hundreds of others are said to have been rendered homeless and are living at the internally displaced persons (IDP) camps following the invasions.

Speaking in an interview yesterday in Kaduna, President of SOKAPU, Mr. Jonathan Asake, described the latest attack as “a continuation of the invasion of communities and IDP camps.”

He lamented that the people had become refugees in their own land, and accused the

state government for allegedly “not doing anything about the situation.”

“It is so unfortunate that the state government has issued no statement about the situation, let alone of attending to the problems facing those living at the IDP camps or trying to restore them back to their communities,” Asake said.

He also said the security agencies have not been able to assist the people to recover the decomposed corpses of their love ones killed in previous attacks, which are still in the bushes, for burial.

Asake called on the government to do the right thing by being “fair to everybody.”

He said: “When the first attacks took place in Gonan Rogo and Makyali between May 12 and 14, 2020, the next thing we saw was the state government in conjunction with the local government authorities sending relief materials worth millions of naira to the people in Laduga, a Fulani community in Kachia LGA, without any form of assistance to the Adara victims of the attacks in Kajuru.

CAN Urges Renewed Fight against Boko Haram, Banditry The Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) has urged communities across the country to compliment the efforts of both federal and state governments in the fight against insurgency and banditry.

The Chairman, Anambra State chapter, Rev. Dr. Ndubisi John, in a statement yesterday in Onitsha, said it was time the citizenry rose against those he described as heartless marauders who have determined to ruthlessly destroy the nation without looking back.

He said, “Whoever that is surrounded by enemies should not sleep with two eyes closed. To win this evil that has bedeviled the country, we should not die as cowards any longer.

“Delay is very dangerous at this critical confusing period in Nigerias socio-religious and economic life. In fact delay means deaths upon deaths.

It will mean more death of persons or group of persons or deaths of communities in this country.

“What will you say

concerning States like Kaduna state, Borno, Yobe, Adamawa, Plateau, Zamfara, Enugu, Ogun, Anambra, Imo to mention but a few that have suffered inhuman torture from these marauders?

“Recently, the Defence headquarters has alerted the nation to note that those so-called almajirai who were distributed to various states of the federation especially in the east were not but heartless marauders who will one day explode their evil agenda and set the city and community on fire if there is no intelligent security checks to abort this evil agenda.

“They have one and the same common mission and that is to steal as they kidnap people and to kill as they assassinate their victims always and to destroy families and communities, which have been happening in daily and weekly basis in Nigeria.The cleric regretted that there was no state in the country that had not been injured by the evil marauders despite federal government increased reinforcement.

A BOOST TO JUSTICE DELIVERY......

L-R: New President of Oyo State Customary Court of Appeal, Hon. Justice Aderonke Aderemi; Oyo State Governor, Mr. Seyi Makinde; and his Ondo State counterpart, Mr. Rotimi Akeredolu, during the swearing-in of Aderemi at Government House, Ibadan. ..yesterday

FG Faults Sack of Senior NDDC Management Staff Deji Elumoye in Abuja The Federal Civil Service Commission (FCSC) has faulted the recent sack of senior management staff of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC).

The commission stated yesterday that the random selection method used by the Interim Management Committee (IMC) of NDDC to sack its top management staff is strange to the commission.

The FCSC Director of Discipline and Appeals, Ojuh Agatha, told the Senator Peter Nwaoboshi- led Senate Committee on Niger Delta

Affairs that the method of sack is strange and unknown to the civil service, and a breach of the Civil Service rule.

According to her, if there was an established prima facie evidence against any officer, such official will be suspended in order to ensure that there was unhindered investigation.

She said the commission was aware of the development in the NDDC, adding that due processes were not observed by the commission prior to the sack of the management staff.

Speaking earlier, counsel to the sacked NDDC staff, Patrick Akan, said the sacked workers were opposed to the complete

breach of procedure and recklessness in stealing public funds and advised against it.

He said there was no procedure for their removal as the exercise was carried out randomly by the IMC. Akan called for the immediate reversal of what he described as illegal disciplinary action taken against the affected senior management staff of the NDDC through mandatory leave and compulsory retirement.

He posited “that under the law and the NDDC Conditions of Service, only a legally constituted governing board has the power to authorise and approve the promotion

of officers on grade level 14 and above. It is also the board that is vested with the power to discipline this category of senior staff in accordance with the law.”

He added that the affected staff did not have the right of fair hearing and that the action taken against them did not follow the procedure prescribed by the conditions of service.

Committee Chairman, Nwaoboshi, in his remarks, said the investigation has nothing to do with the alleged recklessness in the IMC, but for the sacked management staff.

Military Killed over 300 Bandits in N’west, Says CAS Francis Sardauna in Katsina The Chief of the Air Staff (CAS), Air Marshal Sadique Abubakar, yesterday said that over 300 bandits have been killed by troops in the ongoing onslaughts against the hoodlums in the North-west.

He said the air component of Operation Hadarin Daji would not relent in flushing out the bandits and kidnappers in the North-west and other parts of the country.

Abubakar, who was speaking at the Umaru Musa Yar’adua

Airport, Katsina during an operational visit to the Air Component of Operation Hadarin Daji, challenged the troops not to spare bandits.

He explained that arrangements were ongoing to establish an Air Range at Dungurun forest bordering Katsina and Zamfara states in order to dislodge armed bandits within the forest.

He lamented that the deadly onslaughts orchestrated by bandits in the region has started affecting farming activities, adding that troops will not

spare any bandit to enable farmers return to their farms.

The NAF chief, however urged bandits and kidnappers terrorising communities in the region to surrender their arms or face the wrath of the law.

He expressed satisfaction with the performance of the Special Forces so far, saying they were currently collaborating with the land Army to ensure that communities are secured.

Abubakar called for more support from the host communities, especially the human intelligence which

according to him is critical in winning the war against bandits.

He said: “The visit was to assess the level of support in terms of Air and Special Forces operations given by the Nigerian Air Force to the Defence Headquarters Operation to secure the entire North-west and North Central zones of the country.

“I urged the troops to work much harder to justify the enormous resources that the government is spending on their training and their allowances and equipment.

Bayelsa Community Wants Agip to Clean up Oil Spills Onungwe Obe in Yenagoa Brass, the host community of one of Nigeria’s crude oil export terminals, has asked Nigerian Agip Oil Company (NAOC) to carry out the cleaning of the community in order to restore the damages that the 48 years old operation of the company has done to the Brass canal and surrounding environment.

The demand of the community was contained in a letter to the managing director of Agip by lawyers,

Ntephe, Smith and Wills, dated May 25, 2020.

NAOC, an Italian firm is the operator of the oil terminal along with some onshore oil blocks in the swamps of Bayelsa State and Joint Venture (JV) stakes in other fields operated by Shell Petroleum Development Company limited in the state.

In the letter, which was made available to journalists in Yenagoa yesterday, the community alleged that the long overdue remediation of the Brass canal was being

delayed by Agip.

The community said there has been a subsisting regulatory directive for the company to conduct a Comprehensive Impact Assessment (CIA) to determine the effect of the export terminal and proffer remedy and compensation.

It also alleged that the company refused to arrange a joint inter-agency visit to the sites.

According to the letter, “In furtherance of the human security, economic and environmental interests of

your host, Brass Kingdom, touching also on Nigeria’s national interests and Bayelsa State’s strategic interest, we remind you to the overdue obligation on the Brass Canal viz: ‘Proper remediation of ecological damage caused by continuous discharge of toxic wastes at your Brass terminal every day for the past 48 years.

“Adequate compensation based on impartial impact assessment, a restoration and pollution prevention plan as per best practices.

FRIDAY JUNE 5, 2020 ˾ T H I S D AY

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State of Osun Does Not Exist, Court Rules Yinka Kolawole in Osogbo An Osun State High Court sitting in Osogbo has declared that the name, ‘State of Osun,’ does not exist constitutionally.

The court ruled that what is known to the country’s constitution is Osun State.

Justice Mathias Agboola, while delivering a judgment in a case brought before it by a lawyer, Mr. Kanmi Ajibola, against the state government over a personal tax of N5.3million that the state Internal Revenue Service asked him to pay, said it amounted to “artistic colouration when ‘Osun State’ is referred to ‘State

of Osun’.”

But in his judgment, Justice Ajibola had approached the Agboola said lawyers should court to seek redress over tax be wary of legal implications demanded from him, which he of referring to Osun State as said was punitive because he usually held opposing views to those of the immediate past governor of the state, Mr. Rauf Aregbesola.

The lawyer also urged the court to declare the law upon which the tax was based as Adedayo Akinwale in Abuja illegal since it was a law made by ‘The House of Assembly of The Lebanese Ambassador State of Osun,’ a body unknown to Nigeria, Houssam Diab, to the constitution. yesterday disclosed that the Defence counsel, M. Popoola, Embassy has suspended issuing had asked that the case be struck working visas to Nigerians out for lack of jurisdiction. seeking for domestic work in Lebanon.

He said that the suspension started since May 1, following the video of a Nigerian lady, Peace Busari, who was auctioned by a non-Lebanese person on Social media in April

The National Working Committee (NWC) of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has approved the nomination of Mr. Kingsley Chinda as the Chairman of the Edo State Governorship Screening Committee.

Other members of the screening committee are Mr. Oladimeji Fabiyi, Senator Joy Emordi, Mrs. Aishat Hasinduanf and Mr. Boyele Debekeme who woud serve as the committee’s secretary.

A statement issued by the

necessary means of settlement before approaching the court.

He further held that Ajibola should seek redress through

other necessary procedures laid down by the tax law, adding that should such failed, the plaintiff should return to court.

Lebanese Embassy Suspends Issuance of Working Visas to Nigerians

PDP Sets up Screening Committee for Edo Guber Election Chuks Okocha in Abuja

the “State of Osun”.

He, however, upheld the submission of the defence that Ajibola did not seek all

National Organising Secretary of PDP, Col. Austin Akobundu (rtd), said the exercise is scheduled for today, Friday, June 5, 2020 at the NWC Hall, Wadata Plaza, Abuja.

The time for the screening exercise is 10:00 a.m. prompt.

More than three members of the party have bought and returned the governorship nomination form. They include Mr. Omorege Ogbide Ihama and Mr. Gideon Ikhine.

Others have not returned their completed governorship forms for the screening exercise as at the time of this report.

this year, which went viral.

Diab explained that the suspension was to stem the tide for such categories of workers pending the time the procedure would be properly harmonised with the Ministry of Labour modalities.

The Ambassador added that the Lebanese government in conjunction with the Lebanese community in Nigeria had brought back 69 out of 79 Nigerians allegedly stranded and abused by their bosses

back to the country.

Diab disclosed this when he visited the Chairman, Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NIDCOM), Hon. Abike DabiriErewa in his Abuja.

The commission’s Head of Media and Public Relations, Abdur-Rahman Balogun, in a statement issued yesterday, said the Ambassador explained that the remaining 10 Nigerians, who would be transported home soon after the COVID-19 lockdown, have some cases

to answer and would be repatriated home once they are through with their cases.

Diab clarified that the Embassy and the Lebanese community paid over $150,000 to evacuate the 69 Nigerians and also paid for their 14 days’ quarantine, adding that they were not trafficked nor went to Lebanon illegally but were abused by their employers who also breached the working agreement and did not have money to bring them back.

Anambra Communities Embark on Protests, Beg Obiano to Avert Bloody Clashes David-Chyddy Eleke inAwka Two communities in Anambra State - Nibo in Awka South Local Government Area (LGA) and Abba in Njikoka LGA yesterday mobilised indigenes in separate protest marches to block the gate of the Anambra State Government House in Awka, the state capital.

Indigenes of the two communities who carried placards, called on the state governor, Chief Willie Obiano to save them from impending bloodshed arising from

communal clashes.

An elder in Nibo community, Mr. Ikwenna Ekwenugo representing Ifite Umuamam village in the cabinet of the traditional ruler, who led his community to the protest, said they were at the government house to bring to the notice of the governor the intimidation they were passing through in the hands of their neighbours, Awka people.

“Awka people have taken our land, and their youths

have invaded our community, threatening to deal with anyone who challenges them.

“They are being sponsored by a Deputy Inspector General of Police (name withheld). He arms them and has supported their activities against us.

“They have taken our land and also this morning they moved into our farmland. We have reported to the police, but the way they have dismissed us gives us the impression that they are working with the DIG, and

we have been abandoned.

“We decided to come to the governor to complain because we do not what violence to erupt, because we are a peaceful community.”

Also, a community leader, Mr. Obinna Chukwuma, who led Abba community on its own protest, said that Ukpo community has taken over its land, destroyed its market, school and residential buildings, most of which have been in existence since 35 years.

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NDDC: Clark Clarifies Letter to National Assembly

Emmanuel Addeh in Abuja

Elder statesman and Ijaw leader, Chief Edwin Clark, yesterday clarified his letter to the National Assembly on the investigation being carried out by the Interim Management Committee (IMC) of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), stating that his position had been misrepresented.

Speaking through his lawyer , Dr. Kayode Ajulo, Clark

stressed that it was sad that his letter to the National Assembly had been misconstrued and purposely misinterpreted to suit the biases of some unnamed individuals.

The nonagenarian noted that he was concerned about what he described as ‘the issue of endemic corruption in NDDC’, noting that he would want it investigated and exposed once and for all.

The Niger Delta leader also said that he had not taken sides

with anyone that might have corruptly enriched himself with the resources of the NDDC, which are constitutionally meant for the development of the region.

“The letter to the National Assembly is already being misrepresented and misinterpreted by certain individuals.

“For the purpose of clarification, Chief Clark is not

in any way against the probe of the NDDC management, but he was only advocating an all-inclusive probe since the IMC had also levelled serious allegations against certain National Assembly members.

“Chief will never trade his hard-earned integrity for any gain and take sides with anyone whose selfish interest is against the general interest of the Niger Delta people. He only wants

the allegations and counter allegations to be investigated by the National Assembly.

“He only feels that the counter allegations made by members of the IMC should equally be investigated by the National Assembly,” the elder statesman’s representative who spoke on his behalf said.

Clark expressed worry over what he said was the wicked corruption allegations

against the House Committee Chairman on NDDC who he argued is barely a year old in office, wondering why someone that had only passed one budget for NDDC which has not even been implemented could be accused of corruption.

He, nonetheless, urged those that had made allegations to publicly substantiate them “or better still remain silent forever”.

Dakolo Decries Delay in Releasing Legal Advice on Rape Allegation against Fatoyinbo Chiemelie Ezeobi and Rebecca Ejifoma Avid photographer, Mrs. Busola Dakolo, has expressed displeasure over the delay by the Federal Ministry of Justice to release the legal advice on her rape allegation against the Founder of Commonwealth of Zion Assembly (COZA), Pastor Biodun Fatoyinbo, months after the police concluded their investigation.

Dakolo, who is the wife of popular musician, Timi Dakolo, had last year accused Fatoyinbo of serially raping her when she was a teenager, an accusation the pastor has repeatedly denied.

Dakolo was reacting after a letter by the Force Criminal Investigation Department (FCID) declaring that they had concluded investigation since March went viral.

In the letter signed by Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Admin, Umar Sands Mamma, for the Deputy InspectorGeneral of Police (DIG), FCID, the police said they had already

concluded investigations into the matter.

Dated March 25,2020 but released yesterday, the letter which was addressed to ‘Not in My Church’, a movement fighting against abuse in the church, the FCID said they were waiting for the Director of Public Prosecution of the Federation (DPPF) for legal advice and further necessary action.

The letter read: “I refer to your letter addressed to the Inspector General of Police dated February 24, 2020 on the above captioned subject-matter in which you sought to follow up on the investigation into Mrs. Busola Dakolo’s rape allegations against Biodun Fatoyinbo.

“I am directed to inform you that the Force Criminal Investigation Department had concluded its investigation and has forwarded the case file to the Director of Public Prosecution of the Federation (DPPF) for legal advice and further necessary action.

Proposed Constitution Review will Protect Interest of Women, Says Omo-Agege Deji Elumoye in Abuja Chairman of the Senate committee on Constitution Review, Senator Ovie OmoAgege, has given an assurance that the planned constitution review will largely protect the interest of women.

Omo-Agege, who is the deputy president of the Senate, also stated yesterday that alteration of some provisions of the 1999 constitution will commence soon in the Senate.

He said his committee is poised for the onerous task ahead of it as many constitutional bills had been forwarded to it aside memoranda being received from different interest groups in the country.

Speaking on one of the memoranda submitted by national officers of the League of Women Voters of Nigeria, Omo-Agege assured women that their interests would be protected, but not to the detriment of the constitutional provisions against discrimination of whatever form.

According to him, “Let me appreciate the League of Women Voters of Nigeria for this memorandum. It is very timely and apt because the Constitution Review Committee is already steaming for action.

“Anything about women is

very important to us because the day women decide to speak with one voice, men will definitely be in trouble.

“I know that part of what would be in the proposals just submitted would be about increase in proportion of women participation in governance in line with the Beijing protocol but that would be looked into in a way that would not interfere with provisions of the constitution as regards gender discrimination.

“Although what you have submitted in the memorandum will be thoroughly perused by us, but in line with our procedures, your proposals would still be needed to be routed through bill submission and consideration by the Senate in plenary. So, from our own end, a bill would have to be sponsored on proposals for constitution amendments made by the women voters, and for it to be officially forwarded to the committee as part of other numerous bills that had been received to that effect.”

Earlier in her presentation, the National Secretary of the League of Women Voters, Pastor Reginald Omo-Agege, said all proposals made in the memorandum were geared towards making the voice of women heard in the scheme of things in the country.

SIXTY-ONE HEARTY CHEERS...

L-R: Company Secretary, Lafarge Africa Plc, Mrs. Adewunmi Alode; Chief Financial Officer, Mr. Lolu Akinyemi; outgoing Chairman, Mr. Mobolaji Balogun; and Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Khaled El Dokani, at the 61st Annual General Meeting of the company held in Lagos... recently

Life Imprisonment Awaits Convicted Rape Offenders in Osun, Says Assembly Speaker

Yinka Kolawole in Osogbo

The Speaker of Osun State House of Assembly (OSHA), Rt. Hon. Timothy Owoeye, has declared that anyone found guilty of rape in the state would be liable to life imprisonment.

The declaration came as the OSHA passed the Osun Youth Development Commission Establishment Bill 2020 into law.

Owoeye stated that the incident of rape in Nigeria is growing at an alarming rate and must be addressed by all.

He noted that hard time awaits any rapist in the state

as the state government would not tolerate rape and directed that the Director of Legal for the House of Assembly should, henceforth, be present at all rape related cases that is brought to court in the state.

The speaker said: “Osun is blessed to have enacted a law that imposes stiffer sentence on perpetrators of rape. Section 358 of the Criminal Code Cap 34 Vol. 11, Laws of Osun State, 2002 prescribes a life sentence on anyone found guilty of committing rape while an attempt to commit rape attracts an imprisonment of fourteen

years.

“I have taken my time to study the anti-rape laws across the country. I have also met with several groups who are at the fore-front of the campaign against rape and as we pray to God to repose the soul of victims of rape, I stand with those who are alive and hope that the victims get justice.

“The United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 5 is to achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls. The 7th Assembly, relying on the thrust of its legislative agenda, will strive to ensure

that our state achieves the core of the SDG 5 through quality legislation.

“I am well aware of the two recent cases in our state, one involving a traditional ruler who allegedly raped a 14 year old girl and another concerns a 27 year old man who was arraigned for allegedly raping a 17 year old girl.”

Owoeye charged the law enforcement agencies to prosecute cases of rape diligently, noting that with many instances, “we must begin to hold people accountable no matter how highly placed they are.”

Abiodun Appoints Awujale as Head of Ogun Community Policing Committee Kayode Fasua in Abeokuta The Ogun State Governor, Mr. Dapo Abiodun, yesterday appointed the Paramount Monarch of Ijebuland, the Awujale, Oba Sikiru Adetona, as the chairman of the state’s newly inaugurated Community Policing Advisory Committee.

The octogenarian royal father is also the chairman of the State’s Council of Traditional Rulers.

However, the State’s Commissioner of Police, Mr.

Kenneth Ebrimson, would serve as the committee’s co-chairman.

Other members of the committee include heads of all security agencies in the state, the heads the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) and the Nigeria Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA) respectively, as well as the executive members of the Police Community Relations Committee (PCRC) and representatives of the three senatorial districts in the state.

Abiodun also declared that

the attainment of comprehensive police service reform is only means the advisory committee could leave an indelible footprints in the sands of time, otherwise its existence would be in vain.

The governor commended the favourable dispensation of the Inspector General of Police, Mr. Muhammed Adamu, towards promoting community policing in the present day Nigeria.

He was optimistic that the police hierarchy would continue to motivate its personnel to

enable them to discharge their duties in a way that would endear them to the hearts of the citizens. “I admire the respect for human rights that is a major component of the programme. I welcome the openness, the accountability and the transparency that are hallmarks of community policing.

“We welcome the desire of the police to partner with the government and various communities in the state,” he enthused.

LAWMA: Over 12,000 Metric Tonnes of Wastes Generated in Lagos Daily Bennett Oghifo Lagos State Waste Management Authority (LAWMA) has planned to increase its solid waste evacuation from tenements and commercial facilities to approved dumpsites from 500 trips daily to 850, to enable it cope with over 12,000 metric tonnes of waste generated daily in the state.

The acting Managing Director/ Chief Executive Officer of LAWMA, Ibrahim Odumboni, stated this as one of several waste management strategies that would be adopted in the state, during his maiden press briefing yesterday.

Odumboni said LAWMA would focus on a “consistently cleaner Lagos” through decisions that would ensure sustainability,

like sorting and recycling of waste close to the point of generation.

He explained that every household would be encouraged to adopt the use of waste bins and that each of the 57 Local Council Development Areas (LCDAs) in the state would have two recycling points.

Once waste was recycled at these points, he said it would

reduce pressure on various dump/landfill sites, and consequently lesser impact on the environment, as well as to create employment and wealth for the youths.

He welcomed more people interested in undertaking recycling, as there were only 20 recyclers in the 57 LCDAs, and urged their chairmen to provide spaces for recycling.

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Obaseki will Win Any Mode of APC Primary, Says Shaibu Adedayo Akinwale in Abuja The Edo State Deputy Governor, Hon. Philip Shaibu, has expressed confidence that Governor Godwin Obaseki will win any form of primary election in the state, even with just 24-hour notification.

The deputy governor, in a statement issued in Abuja by his Special Assistant on Media, Mr. Benjamin Atu, said the administration’s performance in office was sufficient to guarantee victory at any poll even with a short notice.

He, however, noted that the Obaseki administration would prefer that the party, All Progressives Congress (APC), conducted an indirect mode of primary election, saying this would be the only appropriate method in

view of the committed efforts and precautionary guidelines and directives, put in place to curtail the spread of COVID-19 pandemic in the state.

“Despite this confidence and assurance that the victory of Obaseki is not in doubt, we are not ready to go the way of the Direct Primary.

“Our preference for indirect primary is because we don’t want to secure victory at the expense of the health of those we are seeking to lead”, he said.

He maintained that some media mercenaries, who had been in the business of to creating negative impressions, ignite tension and apprehension across the state, had outlasted their usefulness, adding that Obaseki would win even if the election was to be held the next day.

According to him, the governor owed the state the responsibility of safeguarding the people against any form of hazard like COVID-19 and other situations that may endanger their lives and the Governor will not relinquish such important decision for others to decide

for him.

“As the Chief Security officer of the state and first among equals, the governor has decided to conduct the affairs of the state in the way that will ensure safety of its citizens.

“As at today, Godwin Obaseki is the Governor of Edo State and

has the capacity to determine the direction of the State. That doesn’t amount to fear of failure in facing any election but rather putting the interest of the public above desperation to win an election.

“PDP has a National Chairman for instance; the

National Chairman of PDP doesn’t usurp the sovereignty of the PDP States. The Sovereignty of the State can’t be submerged at this critical juncture of our lives. The indirect primary will make it more convenient for INEC to supervise and will be more transparent.

Umahi Shuts down Govt Offices as Cabinet Members OF ECONOMY....

Test Positive for Pandemic REOPENING L-R: Lagos State Deputy Governor, Dr. Obafemi Hamzat; Commissioner for Finance, Dr. Rabiu Olowo; Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu; and Benjamin Nworie in Abakaliki Ebonyi State Governor, David Umahi, yesterday ordered for the immediate closure of all government offices in the state as confirmed cases of COVID-19 reach 75.

Meanwhile, about four members of Umahi’s Executive Council have tested positive for COVID-19.

In a statement issued by the state Commissioner for Information and Orientation, Uchenna Orji, the governor was disturbed the way and manner some members of his cabinet were infected with the virus.

Umahi also added that in order to ensure effective contact tracing, all civil servants shall work from their respective homes.

According to the governor, “Whereas we have discharged a total of 26 COVID-19 cases and 49 cases still receiving treatment in stable conditions, I am disturbed about the way and manner some State Executive Council members were infected with the virus, although they are also in stable conditions .In

order to ensure effective contact tracing, I have directed that all government offices be shut down from June 4, 2020, to resume on June 10, 2020.”

The statement added: “The governor is concerned about the number of coronavirus cases recorded in the state which has unfortunately risen to 75 out of the over 3, 000 samples tested.

“The governor further directs Dr. Richard Nnabo and his team to commence comprehensive decontamination of the government offices, including the new and old Government House complex. All exco members and government officials, especially that of the Ministries of Finance and Budget are advised to undergo COVID-19 test within this seven-day period.”

“The governor further advises that during this period of closure of Government offices, all workers, especially from the two ministries aforementioned, should go into self-isolation. All site operations shall however remain open, but must be in strict observance of COVID-19protocols.”

the Head of Service, Mr. Hakeem Muri-Okunola, during a press briefing on the state’s guidelines and protocols for the second phase of the gradual easing of C0VID-19 lockdown, at Lagos House, Marina...yesterday

Aviation Unions Write Buhari, Threaten Strike Action

Chinedu Eze

Labour unions in the aviation industry have written a joint letter to President Muhammadu Buhari over cuts and delays in the payment of workers’ salaries and threaten to embark on strike on June 15, 2020.

The unions include: National Union Of Air Transport Employees (NUATE); Air Transport Services Senior Staff Association of Nigeria

Association Of Nigeria (ATSSSAN), Aviation Professionals; and the Amalgamated Union of Public Corporation Civil Service Technical and Recreational Services Employees.

The unions in the letter to the President urged him to intervene in what they called “a looming crisis” in the aviation sector over inability of aviation agencies to pay full salaries to their members.

The workers said they might be forced to stay at home if the situation does not improve by June 15, 2020.

In the letter titled “To Avert Crisis in the Aviation Industry” and signed by the General Secretary, NUATE, Comrade, Ocheme Aba; Deputy General Secretary, ATSSSAN,Comrade Frances Akinjole; General Secretary, ANAP, Comrade Abdul Rasaq Saidu and General Secretary, Amalgamated

Ooni Donates Motorised Fumigators to Enugu Govt In continuation of his nationwide efforts to contain the spread of COVID-19, the Ooni of Ife, His Imperial Majesty, Oba Adeyeye Enitan Ogunlusi, Ojaja II, has donated four modula motorised fumigators to the Enugu State government as part of his contributions to fight the virus.

The revered royal father, who sent a delegation to the Government House, Enugu, to deliver the four modula motorised fumigators extolled the leadership

qualities of Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi.

Presenting the equipment, the leader of delegation, Princess Fadekemi Fadojutimi, thanked Ugwuanyi “for the hospitality he has shown to us”, disclosing that the Imperial Majesty’s decision to donate the fumigators was borne out of his selfless service for the country.

Stressing that “COVID-19 is real”, Fadojutimi maintained that the Ooni of Ife is committed to

joining hands with the government in fighting the pandemic.

She disclosed that the equipment was “locally produced right at the back of the Ooni’s palace”, adding that the chemical sustenance is “body friendly” and not harmful to health.

While emphasising the importance “to disinfect our environments”, Fadojutimi explained that the modula motorised fumigator “has a droplet that kills germs or virus”.

COVID-19: MDAs Earmark N20m to Improve Hygiene, NEPC, FOB Offer Local Exporters Upgrade Facilities Service of the Federation (HCSF), with Discounted Airfreight Ndubuisi Francis inAbuja Ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) of the federal government have earmarked N20 million to upgrade facilities and improve staff hygiene at the Federal Secretariat Complex Phase 1, Abuja, as part of the overall measures to curb the spread of COVID-19.

The Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs (MNDA), Mr. Olusade Adesola, who is also the Chairman of Engagements on COVID-19, made the disclosure in Abuja at the inauguration of the implementation committee.

He said the committee, which had earlier been constituted following the outbreak of the pandemic earlier this year, is to adopt hygiene procedures that will help to check the spread of the virus among staff as well as address related issues raised on the deplorable toilet facilities as noted by the Head of the Civil

Dr. Folashade Yemi Esan.

According a statement issued by the Director (Press and PR) of the ministry, Deworitshe Patricia, quoted Adesola as saying that following the prevalence of the virus’ infection, the lockdown and the expected return of designated staff, the HSCF had issued directives to permanent secretaries and heads of agencies at a recent service-wide meeting held online for resident ministries in the secretariat complex to optimise their hygiene level.

Olusade said: “This is why we had to review the initial preliminary arrangement of using hand sanitizer to deploying hand washing facilities at designated points to increase the chances of managing the spread of the virus.

Stakeholders also had a meeting, and decided to invite the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) to reappraise the water supply problem within the complex and advise appropriately.

Union of Public Corporation Civil Service Technical and Recreational Services Employees ( AU P C T R E ) , C o m r a d e , Babatunde Omotola, the unions lamented that the it took commendable effort on the part of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) to pay salaries for the month of May, adding that the possibility of another such miracle for the month of June is rather bleak

Fred Ojeh The Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC) and Free on Board (FOB) Global Logistics Limited have introduced Special Discounted Airfreight Services from Lagos International Airport to London Heathrow Airport and tran-shipment road haulage services to 27 EU countries.

The Chief Executive Officer of NEPC, Mr. Segun Awolowo, said this would encourage local exporters in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Awolowo stated that the combined efforts of NEPC, FOB Global Logistics and NACCIMA Export Group have created unusual export windows using air cargo to reach out to the world.

He said the initial step taken was with British Airways to airlift non-oil products of Nigerian origin, adding that it has opened another opportunity with Turkish airlines, which he said would

continue to increase volume of Nigerian non-oil export as the day goes by.

According to him, “It is estimated that the export of Nigeria products will continue to increase through air cargo which will lead to prompt delivery of good and services.”

On his part, the Chief Executive Officer of FOB, Mr. Jimmy Adebakin, described it as an opportunity for individuals and corporations to start earning income in dollars by exporting much needed Nigerian nonoil products like food items and other made-in-Nigeria goods like textiles, cosmetics and other beauty products to Europe, United States, China, India and Dubai.

He added: “This requires little capital to start, and if you are not currently an exporter, we encourage you to contact Free On Board Global Logistics Limited and/or Nigerian Export

Promotion Council for advice and support. “This is also a great opportunity for all our youths to start gainful self-employment.

The days of White Collar job are over. America is built on entrepreneurship, so we call on our unemployed graduates to wake up and start exporting businesses.

CHANGE OF NAME I, formerly known and addressed as UDEUWGU CHINYERE ANTHONIA now wish to be known and addressed as NWEKE CHINYERE ANTHONIA. All former documents remain valid. Access Bank Plc and the general public should please take note.

I, formerly known and addressed as ALABI OLAMIDE EUNICE now wish to be known and addressed as AJAYI ARAMIDE EUNICE. All former documents remain valid. The general public should please take note.

I, formerly known and addressed as FAKOREDE CHRISTIANA FATIMOH now wish to be known and addressed as FAKOREDE CHRISTIANA ASHANI. All former documents remain valid. The general public should please take note.

LOSS OF DOCUMENT

I, formerly known and addressed as VIVIAN SPIKE now wish to be known and addressed as ASUKWO UBOKOBONG. All former documents remain valid. The general public should please take note.

This is to notify the general public of the loss of original registered conveyance, purchase receipt and the survey plan for (1) No 5, Odunlami lane, Lagos Island and (2) No 26, Macarthy Street, Ilupeju Estate, Lagos from Ikeja area planing authority belonging to MRS IBIYEMI ABEKE FASHINA. The document got missing in February year 2015, all effort made to trace the said documents have prove abortive, concerned authorities and the general public should please take note.

I, formerly known and addressed as ROSEMARY ADIA now wish to be known and addressed as ROSEMARY CONFERENCE . All former documents remain valid. The general public should please take note.

On the 28th May 2020 at about 1000hrs, one Dr. Abiola Bashorun ‘F’ of ZL Global Alliance, 12a Ajesa Street, wuse II Abuja. Came to FCDA police outstatation area 11 Garki and reported that on the 19th November 2019, while on transit between FCT Abuja and Ondo state, she lost original offer of terms of Grant / Conveyance of approval in respect of plot No.PT 752 located within Gaubo Farm Land II extension layout, kuje area council with ÀOH 1R .$& )&'$ /3 6 bearing the name Berkeley Futures Limited.

She further stated that all efforts made to trace the said DOCUMENT proved abortive. Authority concerned and general public please take note

I, former MISS AGBINOR FAITH UFUOMA, now wish to be known and addressed as MRS. ALUKO FAITH UFUOMA. All former documents remain valid. General public please take note.

36

FRIDAY JUNE 5, 2020 ˾ T H I S D AY

24 HOURS...

24 HOURS...

10,000 APC Members Defect to PDP in Kwara Hammed Shittu in Ilorin

No fewer than 10,000 members of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in Kwara North senatorial district of Kwara State yesterday defected to the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

The former APC members recently signified their defection plan, alleging that crisis hit APC shortly after the assumption of office of Governor

AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq.

However, present at the event were representatives selected across the five local government areas in the Kwara north, in adherence to COVID-19 safety protocols.

The leader of the group, Hon. Manzuma Kawu Dogo claimed that “we are about 10,000 in number across the 58 wards in the district “.

Dogo said that they decided to leave the ruling APC

because of conflict and crisis among party leaders and members, allegedly caused by non-adherence to the party’s constitution.

He said party members were de-enfranchised, miserable and no longer had sense of belonging due to unfulfilled campaign promises.

“Along the line, the centre

cannot hold and things fall apart as a result of injustice, lack of fairness, recognition and sense of belonging to the party members,” he added.

He said the next local government elections would mark gradual extinction of the ruling APC from the state.

“After waiting for a year, we discovered that the truth

has prevailed, necessitating our movement as against compromising our principle. It is high time for us to maintain our clear noble principle towards bringing positive changes and betterment to our people. As you can see there is nothing in the PDP to share now to anyone, therefore our decamping from APC to

PDP is based on conviction,” Dogo clarified.

Welcoming the new members, the Kwara State Chairman of PDP, Mr. Kola Shittu, described the development as unprecedented, assuring the new members that they will enjoy same rights the existing party members enjoy without discrimination.

Akeredolu, Mimiko Mourn Olumilua James Sowole in Akure The Ondo State Governor, Mr. Oluwatotimi Akeredolu and his predecessor, Dr. Olusegun Mimiko yesterday commiserated with the Ekiti State Government and the people of the state on the demise of a former governor of old Ondo State, Mr. Bamidele Olumilua.

Akeredolu in statement signed by his Chief Press Secretary, Mr. Segun Ajibiye described the late Olumilua as a consummate politician who achieved remarkable and indelible feats as the governor of the old Ondo state from January 1992 to November 1993.

The governor described

Olumilua as a great mind who injected a lot of thinking into governance while conducting the affairs of the old Ondo state, from which Ekiti State was created.

Akeredolu said the demise of the illustrious son of Ekiti amounted to further depletion of the generation of politicians who believe that politics and governance are about service to the people.

Mimiko in a statement he personally signed described Olumilua as a consummate politician, humanist, man of faith, and a lover of the masses.

The former governor, who served under Olumilua as Commissioner for Health, said he was a true leader.

COVID-19: Kano Collects Samples from Houses Ibrahim Shuaibu in Kano Kano State Governor, Dr. Abdullahi Umar Ganduje yesterday ordered for houseto-house sample collections from suspected COVID-19 patients, particularly within the eight metropolitan Local Government Areas (LGAs).

The governor’s pronouncement followed a data from the state Task Force on COVID-19, which confirmed that the virus is fast spreading within the eight metropolitan LGAs in the state.

The data confirmed that Taurani LGA has recorded the highest number of patients.

Speaking during the press briefing organised by the State

Task Force on COVID-19 held at Government House, Ganduje said, “we are putting our emphasis within the eight metropolitan Local Government Areas.

“We are engaging in house-tohouse sample collection. I think during the political campaign, some politicians engaged in house-to-house campaign.

“Right now for COVID-19, we are engaging in house-to-house sample collection campaign.”

“There is no doubt we are always improving in our successes in the fight against COVID-19. This is as a result of the commitment of the task force and commitment of the frontline health workers.

WORLD MILK DAY...

L-R: Assistant Brand Manager, Dairy, Promasidor Nigeria Limited, Mr. Oluwatobi Adeniran; Matron, Tower of Refuge Motherless Babies’ Home, Surulere Lagos, Mercy Arinze; and Assistant Brand Manager, Cereal, Promasidor Nigeria Limited, Olumide Olaokun, during the presentation of the company’s products to the orphanage home in commemoration of World Milk Day, held in Lagos… yesterday SUNDAY ADIGUN

Bayelsa Dep Gov Appear in Tribunal over Certificate Forgery Allegations Petitioner abandons subpoena request Alex Enumah in Abuja Deputy Governor of Bayelsa State, Senator Lawrence Ewhrudjakpo, yesterday appeared before the state Election Petition Tribunal sitting in Abuja.

His appearance was in response to a subpoena order on him by the tribunal to appear yesterday to present the original copies of his National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) exemption certificate.

However, there was a twist as the petitioner, candidate of the Liberation Movement (LM) in the November 16, 2019, governorship election in Bayelsa State, Mr. Vijah Opuama, turned around and prayed the tribunal to withdraw the subpoena application.

The petitioner said he no longer

needed Ewhrudjakpo to testify for him as a witness before the tribunal.

Opuama was challenging Ewhrudjakpo’s qualification to stand in the Bayelsa State governorship election on the ground that the deputy governor submitted a forged exemption certificate to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) before the election.

The tribunal had in a subpoena last Tuesday ordered the state deputy governor to appear before it yesterday to produce the original copy of his disputed certificate, following an application to that effect by the petitioner.

Although the deputy governor initially challenged the subpoena application through a motion,

however he changed his mind and presented himself in obedience to the order of the tribunal.

When the matter was called yesterday, Ewhrudjakpo was in court and indicated his readiness to testify.

However, in an unexpected turn, the petitioner’s lawyer, Mr. Pius Dande, informed the tribunal of his client’s intentions to withdraw the subpoena.

According to Dande, “There is an error on the face of the subpoena.”

He said the subpoena was intended for the deputy governor to tender document and not bring him to court.

Dande said he had filed an application before the tribunal

seeking to correct the error. But Mohammed Cirajo, who led the three-man tribunal, refused to grant the application.

Following the refusal of this request by the tribunal, Dande then made an oral application to withdraw the subpoena.

“I would like to apologise to the witness for bringing him to court on a subpoena that was never intended. I equally apologise to the inner bar and indeed the bench as no human is above error.” he said.

Responding, the state Governor, Douye Diri’s lawyer, Chief Chris Uche (SAN), expressed disappointment, describing the development as “a deliberate act of disrespect and the highest form of abuse of court process.”

I’ve Seen Dictators Rise and Fall. Beware, America Salman Rushdie In my life, I have seen several dictators rise and fall. Today, I’m remembering those earlier incarnations of this unlovely breed.

In India in 1975, Indira Gandhi, found guilty of electoral malpractice, declared a state of emergency that granted her despotic powers.

The “emergency,” as it became known, ended only when she called an election, believing she would win, and was annihilated at the polls. Her arrogance was her downfall.

This cautionary tale formed a part of my novel “Midnight’s Children.”

In Pakistan in 1977, Gen. Mohammed Zia ul-Haq staged a coup against Prime Minister Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto and executed him in 1979. This dark story was the inspiration for my novel “Shame.” The

circumstances of my life have given me some understanding of the dictatorial cast of mind.

Extreme narcissism, detachment from reality, a fondness for sycophants and a distrust of truth-tellers, an obsession with how one is publicly portrayed, a hatred of journalists and the temperament of an out-of-control bulldozer: These are some of the characteristics.

President Trump is, temperamentally, a tinpot despot of this type. But he finds himself in charge of a country that has historically thought of itself — by no means always correctly — as being on the side of liberty.

So far, with the collusion of the Republican Party, he has ruled more or less unchecked.

Now an election looms, and he is unpopular, and flails about looking for a winning strategy.

And if that means trampling

VIEW FROM ABROAD over American freedoms, then so be it.

I have lived in the United States for 20 years and been a citizen for the past four.

One of the most important reasons for becoming a citizen was my admiration for the ideas of freedom embodied in the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Trump, whose regard for the Second Amendment is well known, needs reminding of the First, which, if I may help, states in part that “Congress shall make no law … abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.”

And yet, the man whose incompetence allowed the pandemic to tighten its deadly grip around our necks, and

whose inflammatory language full of racist dog whistles has played a significant role in unleashing white-supremacist bigotry upon us all, stands in the Rose Garden of the White House and announces without an iota of shame that he wants to protect peaceful protesters.

At that very time, just down the street, his security forces, some of them on horseback, are attacking a peaceful protest with tear gas and rubber bullets. A moment later, he characterizes the demonstrators as terrorists and characterizes their protests as crimes against God. He has the pictures to prove it: the fleeing young people, the clouds of tear gas, the line of horses advancing in the name of the Law. If there’s one thing Trump knows, it’s how to construct an image the

cameras will like.

This man who, before he got his present job, was almost never seen inside a house of worship, then holds up a Bible outside a church to demonstrate his piety, and if the bishop of the diocese denounces him soon after, accusing him of misusing the church in the service of “a message antithetical to the teachings of Jesus,” what of it?

Once again, he has the pictures, and they speak louder.

We are so inured to the behaviour of this man, so used to his lies, his inexhaustible self-regard, his stupidity, that maybe we are tempted to think of this as just another day in Trumpistan. But this time, something different is happening. The uprising that began with the killing of George Floyd is not fizzling but growing. The man in the White House is scared, and even, for a time, takes refuge in

the basement and turns out the lights. What is such a person to do at such a time?

If he is allowed to use the actions of a tiny minority of criminals and white extremist infiltrators to invalidate the honorable protest of the vast majority against the murder of Floyd, the violence of the police toward the black community and the entrenched power of American racism, he will be on his way to despotism. He has threatened to use the Army against American citizens, a threat one might have expected from a leader of the former Soviet Union, but not of the United States.

In my most recent novel, “Quichotte,” I characterized the present moment as the “Age of Anything-Can-Happen.” Today I say, beware, America. Don’t believe that it can’t happen here. r Salman Rushdie is a novelist

37

FRIDAY JUNE 5, 2020 • T H I S D AY

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Ë&#x153; Í˝Ë&#x153; ͺ͸ͺ͸ Ëž T H I S D AY

FRIDAYSPORTS

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

Dare Secures Approval to Concession National Stadium in Lagos Says work to begin at the Moshood Abiola Stadium in Abuja shortly

Olawale Ajimotokan in Abuja with agency report Minister of Youth and Sports Development, Sunday Dare, has confirmed that life will soon return to the moribund National Stadium in Lagos as he has secured approval from

the Federal Government to concession the sports facility.

The National Stadium in Surulere, Lagos was built I. 1972 to host the second All Africa Games. After playing hosts to several international matches, the edifice has remained in terrible state of

Premier League Approves Five Substitutions for Rest of Season Premier League teams will be able to make five substitutions, rather than three, in each match to the end of the season after clubs approved new rules.

Teams will also be able to name nine substitutes instead of the usual seven.

Footballâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s international lawmakers gave competitions the option of increasing substitutes to protect player welfare on the sportâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s resumption.

Premier League football will return on 17 June after a threemonth absence.

An announcement of the first few rounds of fixtures since the campaign was halted by coronavirus on 13 March is expected to be made today.

Though teams can now make five substitutions, each will only have three opportunities to make changes throughout the match in order to minimise disruption to the game.

Clubs have also agreed in principle to the use of neutral venues if required, although

the vast majority of matches are expected to be played in their usual grounds, barring local spikes in coronavirus cases.

A draft document detailing the extensive biosecurity measures required for each match has been circulated. It is believed the number of people in the stadium while each match is being played will be limited to about 300.

How to end the season, decide the league positions and the possible consequences should it prove impossible to play the remaining matches was discussed at a meeting of clubs, but any decision was delayed to concentrate on the return of action.

The International Football Association Board said in Maythat the temporary changes to substitutions had been made for interrupted 2019-20 competitions as â&#x20AC;&#x153;matches may be played in a condensed period in different weather conditions, both of which could have impacts on player welfareâ&#x20AC;?.

rot for close to two decades after hosting the final of the AFCON 2000.

Several past sports ministers have paid lip service to plans to return the edifice back to its place of pride in Nigerian sports scene.

But Dare insisted yesterday that he has secured approval to concession the sports city. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Now we have approval to concession the National Stadium, Surulere, Lagos and the process has been on going but it was delayed due to lack of concession advisers,â&#x20AC;? observed the minister in a statement issued by his Media Office.

Continued Dare: â&#x20AC;&#x153;We have been able to overcome that (lack of Concession advisers).

In the next couple of weeks, we will have those who are interested in taking over the National Stadium Surulere and hostel come forth and the normal process of concession

National Stadium Lagos

will take place,â&#x20AC;? stressed Dare in the same manner immediate past Sports Minister, Solomon Dalung had promised before he got replaced by the Ogbomoshoborn Dare last year.

Similarly, the minister also hinted that work will soon begin at the Moshood Abiola

National Stadium in Abuja in other to give it a facelift.

Dare confirmed that talks were in final stage of the agreement reached with the Dangote Group to refurbish the facility. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Work will soon commence at the Moshood Abiola National Stadium, Abuja. We were on

the verge of completing the documentation process, review contracting process for the rehabilitation of the stadium before the Covid-19 pandemic struck. We had to shut down the whole country and not just the stadium in line with global health protocols.â&#x20AC;?

Diego Costa Jailed Six Months for Tax Fraud in Spain Atletico Madrid ace Diego Costa has been sentenced to six months in prison for tax fraud in Spain â&#x20AC;&#x201C; but the ex-Chelsea ace will pay â&#x201A;Ź36,000 fine to avoid any jail time.

Spanish law allows penal sentences below two years for non-violent crimes to be exchanged for a financial penalty.

As a result, Costa has agreed to pay an additional fine of â&#x201A;Ź36,500 on top of the â&#x201A;Ź507,000 to avoid prison time.

Spanish outlet El Mundo report the Brazilian forward pleaded guilty to a tax offence amounting to â&#x201A;Ź1.1m.

He is accused of defrauding the state of more than ÂŁ900,000 by not declaring payments of more than â&#x201A;Ź5.15m after his move to Chelsea in 2014.

The tax agency denounced Costa for defrauding the authorities regarding â&#x201A;Ź1m (ÂŁ890,000) in image rights.

The Spanish treasury added

Diego Costa has been jailed for six months for tax fraud

another fiscal crime to Costa before withdrawing and halving the fine.

However, they did give the striker an advance on his wages, meaning he could pay the fine in full.

The fee is said to be around â&#x201A;Ź500,000.

Costa was called to testify in June last year, acknowledging the charges put against him.

The 31-year-old was spotted arriving in court today for a short period of time, donning a protective face mask.

An Atletico spokesman said on Wednesday: â&#x20AC;&#x153;Diego Costa reached an agreement a few months ago with the prosecutor and has already paid the corresponding fine plus interest and the request for a prison sentence was withdrawn. â&#x20AC;&#x153;This week it is expected that agreement will be ratified in court, as is mandatory.â&#x20AC;?

Costaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Chelsea stint ended in tears after a public fallout with Antonio Conte.

Reflecting on his time working with Conte at Stamford Bridge, Costa told ESPN: â&#x20AC;&#x153;(Conte and I) had problems off the pitch, but I think he is a really good manager. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I have no hard feelings towards Conte, but to be a top, top manager, he needs to change the human side of his management. He is very suspicious. At a team like, say, Real Madrid, he would never last a season.â&#x20AC;?

Lionel Messi...may miss Barcelonaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s restart of the La Liga game with Real Mallorca

Messi at Risk of Missing La Liga Reopening Game Barcelona forward Lionel Messi could miss his sideâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s season reopener against Real Mallorca after suffering a muscle injury during training.

La Liga is set to get back underway on 11 June when Sevilla face Real Betis, with Barcelonaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s first fixture coming in the form of a trip to Mallorca two days later.

However, they could end up being forced to go on without their talisman as TV3 note that Messi missed training on Wednesday to undergo an MRI

on a sharp pain in his right leg, which has since been diagnosed as an adductor injury.

Barcelona had insisted that Messiâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s absence was pre-planned and simply an opportunity to do some individual work, but it seems as though that statement was given to try and hide the severity of Messiâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s issue.

Thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s no mention of how serious this injury actually is, but regardless of that, he must now be seen as a doubt for the meeting with Mallorca.

AS stated that these injuries

normally require a period of seven to ten days on the sidelines, so even if he does make it back to training before the game, chances are he wonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t be fit enough to play a major role.

That might not be the biggest problem for the game against Mallorca, who sit 18th in La Liga and shouldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t pose much of a threat to Quique SetiĂŠnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s league leaders, but the hectic nature of the fixture schedule means the Barcelona squad can hardly afford to be any weaker

than it already is.

With Ousmane DembĂŠlĂŠ still out and Ansu Fati needing to manage his workload, Barcelona donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t have too many attacking options to call on.

They will face 11 games in just over five weeks after the Mallorca game, so SetiĂŠn will obviously be eager to rotate his squad as much as possible for what could be a Herculean effort for any player.

Injuries plagued the start of this season for Messi, who played

Nadal Undecided about Playing at US Open 2020 Ordinarily Rafael Nadal would likely be closing in on a 13th Roland Garros title this week.

Instead, he is home in Mallorca trying to make sense of a world that feels anything but normal.

Tennis is on hold until at least the start of August because of the Covid-19 pandemic, and while there have been positive noises about the prospects of the US Open taking place, followed by the French Open, Nadal served a dose of reality.

Speaking via Zoom to tennis media yesterday, the day after is 34th birthday, Nadal was asked his thoughts of playing at the US Open, of which he is reigning champion. â&#x20AC;&#x153;If you asked me today if I want to travel today to New York to play a tennis tournament, I will say: no, I will not,â&#x20AC;? the world No 2 told reporters. â&#x20AC;&#x153;In a couple of months, I donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t know. Hopefully yes. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We need to wait probably until

we have more information about how the virus evolves, how the situationâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s going to be. New York has been one of the places that has been hit most strongly by the virus.â&#x20AC;?

When tennis returns, it will most likely be without fans. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I hate the idea, honestly.

But if thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s the only way, why not? Thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s my position. I donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t understand tennis without the energy of the crowd, without the passion a full stadium brings.â&#x20AC;?

While still in the grip of a pandemic, the US is also experiencing outrage and protests over the death of George Floyd, an unarmed black man who died while in police custody. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I am of course worried to see all these disasters happening on the streets,â&#x20AC;? Nadal said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Violence and pandemics like this today create a difficult climate, a difficult atmosphere for the world. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s important to stay calm, to respect everyone, to live together in peace.â&#x20AC;?

39

Ë&#x153; Í˝Ë&#x153; ͺ͸ͺ͸ Ëž T H I S D AY

FRIDAYSPORTS

Barcelona Launches Global Streaming Service FC Barcelona are planning to begin a global streaming service as the La Liga restart the disrupted 2019/20 football season on June 11.

The Spanish La Liga is one of the first major sports leagues to return after the coronavirus pandemic shut down all sports activities since early March.

According to ESPN, Barcelona as one of the most accomplished football teams in the world, will also offer something new when it comes back: A new streaming service called Barça TV Plus.

The streaming service will be available worldwide in three languages, Spanish, Catalan, and English. It will have free and subscription tiers.

Variety reported that the service would feature live and delayed matches, along with 3,000 videos and 1,000 hours of content. In addition to matches, the service will feature documentary shows,

including one called â&#x20AC;&#x153;Dare to Playâ&#x20AC;? about the Barcelona womenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s team. There will even be an animated fiction series called â&#x20AC;&#x153;Talent Explorers.â&#x20AC;?

On the clubâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s website, it claims 350 million online followers, making them â&#x20AC;&#x153;the current world leaders in digital.â&#x20AC;?

The service will cost about $44 a year in U.S. dollars, though the club admits, to Variety, that the new service is â&#x20AC;&#x153;not perceived as a revenue earner so much as a branding communication channel,â&#x20AC;? and that building â&#x20AC;&#x153;big data on audience segments and preferenceâ&#x20AC;? is a part of the strategy. â&#x20AC;&#x153;FC Barcelona want to remain a benchmark club both on and off the pitch and continue to be the leading sports entity in the generation of revenue,â&#x20AC;?

Oriol TomĂ s, the clubâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Vice President of Commercial Area, said in a statement.

â&#x20AC;&#x153;With this in mind, the creation of this new digital products ecosystem opens up a new way of doing business for us, which we hope will become one of the main sources of regular

income for the club in the coming years, helping us to continue growing and remain competitive in an increasingly sophisticated environment.â&#x20AC;?

Barça TV Plus is believed

to be the first streaming service ever offered by a specific sports club, although many sports teams in the U.S. have either partial or complete ownership of regional sports networks

(RSNs), which also combine live games with vintage games, documentaries, and other team-specific content.

Barcelona already Barça TV, its own basic cable station, in Spain.

RB Leipzigâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Timo Werner Agrees ÂŁ53m Move to Chelsea La Liga: Soaring Fede Threatens Modricâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Dominance at Real Madrid Timo Werner is Stamford Bridge bound after agreeing personal terms with Chielsea

Timo Werner has agreed in principle to join Chelsea in a stunning deal worth ÂŁ53million move on wages of ÂŁ180,000-a-week.

The Blues have capitalised on Liverpool going cold on the striker after an unwillingness on Merseyside to pay the RB Leipzig strikerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s full release clause.

Sportsmail understands that Werner has accepted the deal on the table offered by the Stamford Bridge club worth around ÂŁ180,000-a-week (ÂŁ9m-ayear).

Werner has a ÂŁ53m release clause but the Reds have been put off given the financial uncertainty caused by the coronavirus crisis.

The clause has to be triggered by June 15 and despite Liverpool previously being considered frontrunners and Wernerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s repeated praise of Jurgen Kloppâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s team, he looks set to join their Premier League rivals.

There is still room for Liverpool to come in for Werner but at present they are unwilling to match the offer.

Wernerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s agent Karlheinz Forster is understood to have held advanced discussions yesterday and the finer details of the deal are expected to be ironed out with Chelsea by the start of next week.

It is understood that Jurgen Klopp made a video call to Werner a couple of months ago but the encouraging noises coming from Merseyside have since stopped.

Chelsea have no such financial concerns concerns with the coffers full after their transfer ban and the sale of Eden Hazard to Real

Madrid last summer.

Though his release clause is due to drop to ÂŁ36m next year, they have made their move now to fend off competition from other European sides with Manchester United also among his admirers.

They want a top level striker to offer competition to Tammy Abraham and already have a good relationship with Leipzig as 19-year-old defender Ethan Ampadu is on loan at the Bundesliga club.

Werner reportedly made up his mind to leave RB Leipzig in March and having not heard from Liverpool in weeks, he is now on the brink of confirming a move to Chelsea.

The Blues have long followed Werner and watched him closely last season.

As Sportsmail reported in December, Chelsea scouts made favourable reports when they watched him and their other forward option Moussa Dembele during Red Bull Leipzigâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Champions League encounter with Lyon.

The striker has been an ever-present force in Julian Naglesmannâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s side this season with 31 goals in 30 competitive games and 12 assists.

Inter Milan emerged as contenders to sign Werner in recent weeks but any move was contingent on Lautaro Martinez moving to Barcelona.

It appears that Chelsea will capitalise on the reluctance of Liverpool and inability of other sides to stump up the release clause by moving to secure one of the most clinical finishers in Europe.

Timo Werner is Stamford Bridge bound after agreeing personal terms with Chielsea

Real Madrid midfielder Fede Valverde has, at the age of just 21, packed an awful lot into his career so far, but LaLigaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Uruguayan rising star has really only just taken off.

Valverde has already made over 100 appearances at senior level - while winning silverware and recognition both with his current side Madrid and country Uruguay, and showing the physical, technical and mental attributes to become one of world footballâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s outstanding midfielders.

Born in Montevideo in July 1998, his seven goals in nine games at the 2015 South American Under-17 championships alerted scouts at many of Europeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s top clubs, with his skinny frame earning him the nickname of â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;El Pajaritoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;(the little bird).

Real Madridâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s excellent contacts in Latin America, and the lure of the Santiago Bernabeu, saw him agree to join the LaLiga giants.

Valverde played just 11 times for his Uruguayan club PeĂąarolâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s senior team,

including making a debut in the Copa Libertadores, before completing a permanent move to the Spanish capital after turning 18 in July 2016.

The teenager settled quickly with Real Madridâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s reserve side Castillaunder future senior side coach Santi Solari. He marked his first start in Spainâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s third tier with a goal against Basque side Amorebieta, and gained valuable experience in a squad also featuring the likes of current Atletico de Madrid defender Mario Hermoso, RCD Mallorca midfielder Alex Feibas and future Real Madrid teammate Achraf Hakimi.

The following summer saw Valverde pick up the â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Silver Ballâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; at the Under-20 World Cup after leading Uruguay to an unlucky semi-final exit on penalties.

His development continued at LaLiga Santander level as he spent the 2017/18 season with RC Deportivo, with the increasingly impressive physical specimen standing out even as the Galician team battled against relegation, and

making his full senior Uruguay debut in September 2017.

The quick route to the top continued when Valverde returned to Real Madridâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s senior squad in summer 2018.

He proceeded to earn regular playing time during Solariâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s short spell in charge, and even more so when Zinedine Zidane returned as boss in March 2019 and quickly realised that the youngsterâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s athleticism and determination was just what was required to recharge the team.

2019/20 has seen Valverde really prove himself worthy of a regular starting spot in the Real Madrid XI, even amid intense competition for midfield places with 2018 Ballon dâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Or winner Luka Modric, Brazil national captain Casemiro and 2014 World Cup champion Toni Kroos.

A man of the match performance in a 4-2 victory over Granada in October saw Real Madrid fans realise the star who was emerging, with local pundits comparing his â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;box to boxâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; style to

international figures Paul Pogba and Steven Gerrard. The following month, Valverde, who seemed to be growing in confidence and stature with every passing week, scored his first LaLiga goal at Eibar.

He followed that by adding another in this next outing against Real Sociedad.

A professional foul late in Januaryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Spanish Super Cup final against Atletico de Madrid was not pardoned by the officials, but Real Madrid fans and even Atletico boss Diego Simeone recognised it showed the innocent-faced youngster would do what it took to win a first senior trophy for his team. By now a key member of Zidaneâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s XI, Valverde again excelled in Marchâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s 2-0 LaLiga El Clasico victory over direct title rivals Barcelona, being chosen ahead of club legend Modric.

Valverde is now ready to help Real Madridâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s title challenge over the remaining 11 games of this unusual LaLiga season. The â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;little birdâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; has shown he is ready to soar to the very top of the game.

TR

Friday June 5, 2020

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Shaibu to Oshiomhole “APC’s National Chairman, Adams Oshiomhole, is insisting on direct primary because the results of the yet-to-be-conducted direct primary election have already been written by him, just waiting to be announced” –Edo State Deputy Governor, Philip Shaibu, expressing confidence that Governor Godwin Obaseki will emerge victorious during the June 22 governorship primary election of the APC.

OKEYIKECHUKWU EDIFYING ELUCIDATIONS

okey.ikechukwu@thisdaylive.com

5G Controversy Needs Honest Science

I

t is a fact of science that everything on ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ę ȱ ǯȱ ȱ is also a fact of science that what we ȱȃ Ĵ Ȅǰȱ ȱ ȱ ǰȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ǰȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ¢ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ę ȱ ¢ǯȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ¢ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ǰȱ £ ǰȱ ¡ ǰȱ ǯȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ǰȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱȃę Ȅȱ ȱ ǰȱ ȱ ȱ ¢ȱ ȱ ȱ Ȧ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ǯȱ ȱ ȱ ǰȱ ȱ ǰȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ǰȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ¢ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱę ǯȱ ȱ ȱ ǰȱ how we live and where we live can alter ȱ ȱ ę ¢ǯȱ ǰȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ¢ȱ ȱ ¢ ȱ ǰȱ ȱ ę ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ¡ ǯ ȱ ȱ ¢ȱ ¢ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ś ȱ ¢ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ¡ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ¡ ȱ ȱ ȱ ¢ ȱ ȱ ȱ ¢ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱę ǯȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ǰȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ¢ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ¢ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ¢ȱ Ȭ ȱ ǰȱ ȱ ¢ǰȱ ǰȱ ȱ ¢ȱę Ȧ ȱ ȱ ȱ ǯȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ¢ȱ ȱ ę ȱ ȱ ǯȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ¢ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ǻ ȱ Ǽȱ ¢ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ¢ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱę ǯȱ ȱ ȱ ¢ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ¢ȱ ¢ȱ ȱ¢ ȱ ȱ ¢ȱ ȱ ȱś ȱ ȱ ǯȱ ȱ ȱ ¢ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱś ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱśŖŖȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ǰȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱę ǰȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ǯ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱę ǰȱ ȱ ȱ ę ǰȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ǰȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ě ȱ ȱ ȱ ¢ȱ ǰȱ ǰȱ ǰȱ ȱ ǰȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ argument whether any set of radiations will retain their original characteristics in the ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ¢ ǯȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ¡ ȱ ȱ Ȭ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ǰȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ǯȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ǰȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ¢ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ǯȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ǯȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ǰȱ ȱ ǰȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ¢ǯȱ ȱ ¢ ȱ ȱ ȱ ǰȱ ȱ ¢ ȱ ȱ Ȭ ¢ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȁ £ ȱ Ȃȱ ȱ ȱ ǯȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ¢ȱ ȱ ǰȱ Ȭ ¢ȱ Ȧ ȱ ȱ ȱ ¢ ȱ ȱ ȱ Ĵ ȱ ¢ȱ ȱ ȱ £ ȱ ¢ ǯ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ǰȱ ȱ ȱ Ě ȱ ȱ ȱ ǯȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ǰȱ ȱ ǰȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ¢ǯȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ

Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Isa Ali Pantami

distorts the genetic information in the living cells and introduce errors in the formation of ȱ ¢ȱ ǯȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ change the original formats of the various ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ¢ǯȱ ȱ ǰȱ ȱ ǰȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ǯȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ǯȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ¡Ȭ ¢ȱ ȱ ȱ ¢ ǰȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ¡ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ŗŖȱ ǯȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ Ȭ ¢ȱ ȱ ǰȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ¡ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱŗǰŖŖŖȱ ǯ ȱ ȱ ȱĚ¢ ǰȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ Ȭ ȱ Ě¢ ǰȱ ȱ ǯȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ Ĵ ǰȱ ǰȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ǰȱ ȱ ȱ ǰȱ ǰȱ ȱ

We are working on cover-ups in a world where scientists know that certain radiations from the sun cause carcinogenesis and deterministic degenerative tissue effects in the human body. Radiations from the sun also affect even natural disasters here on earth, as often coincide with certain types of natural disasters

ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ǯȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ǵȱ ȱ ȱ ¡ ȱ ȱ ȱ¢ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱĚ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ǯȱ ȱ ¢ȱ ȱ ȱ ¡ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ǯȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ DZȱ ǵȱ ¢ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ǰȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ Ě¢ ǰȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ from harmful electromagnetic radiations: ǻŗǼȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ DzȱǻŘǼȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ¢ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ¢ DzȱǻřǼȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ǰȱ ȱ ȱ ǰȱ ȱ ȱ Dzȱ ǻŚǼȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ Ȭ ȱ ¢ȱ Dzȱ ȱ ǻśǼȱ ȱ Ȭ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ǯ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ small amounts of radiation from radioactive ȬŚŖȱǻŚŖ Ǽǰȱ ȬŘŘŜȱǻŘŘŜ Ǽǰȱ ȱ ȱ ǯȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ǯȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ řŖȱ Ȯȱ řŘȱ ȱǻ ȱ ȱ ǰȱ ȱ ¢ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ǰȱ ȱ Ǽȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ¢ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ǯȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ Ȭ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ŜŘȱȬȱŜśȱ ȱ ¢ȱ¢ ǯȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ¢ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ǰȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ¡ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ǰȱ ǰȱ ǰȱ ȱ ȱ ǯȱ

ȱ ǰȱ ¢ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ĝ ȱ ȱ ȱ Ȭ ȱ ȱ ¢ȱ ǯȱ Ĵ ȱ ȱ ȱ ¡ ǰȱ ǰȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ǰȱ ȱ ȱ ě ȱ ȱ ȱ ¢ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ǯ ȱ ȱ ę ǰȱ ȱ ę ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ¢ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ǯȱ ȱ Ȭ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ę ȱ ȱ Ȭ ¢ ǰȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ¢ȱ ȱ ǰȱ ȱ ȱ ǰȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ǯȱ And you also have the challenge from outer ǯȱ ȱ ¢ ȱ ¢ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ¢ȱ ȱ ȱŘŖŖşȱ ȱŘŖŗŗǰȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱȃ ¢ȱ ǯȄȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ¡ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ǰȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ǰȱ ȱ ȱȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ¢ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ¢DZȱȃdzȱ ȱ ¢ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ǰȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ¢ȱ ȱ ȱ ǯȄȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȃdzȱ ȱ ȱ ę ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ¡ ȱ ȱ Ȭ ȱ DZȱ ȱ ¢ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ǰȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ¢ȱ ȱ ȱ ǯȄ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱś ǰȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ¢ǰȱ ȱ ȱ ¢ ȱ ȱ ǰȱ ȱ ȱ ěȱ ȱ ǰȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ǰȱ ȱ ȱ ¢ ȱ ȱ ¢ȱ ȱ ¢ȱ ǯȱ ¢ȱ ȱ ȱ ě ȱ ¢ ȱ ȱ ǯȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ǰȱ ȱ ȱ ǰȱ ȱ ȱ ǰȱ ¢ȱ ȱ

nanotechnology are coming together to ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ǯȱ ǰȱ ¢ ¢ǰȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ¢ ȱŘŖŖŖȱ ȱŘŖŗşȱ ¢ȱ ȱ ȱ ¢ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ¢ǯȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ¢ ȱǻ Ǽȱ of all satellites guiding our international Ě ȱ ȱ ¢ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ǯȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱŘşǰȱ ŗşŞşȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ǯȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ǯ ǯȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ Ȭ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱŗǰřŖŖȱ ǯȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ¢ȱ ȱ ȱ ě ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ǯ ȱ ȱ ǰȱ ȱ ȱ ¢ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ¢ȱ ȱ ǯȱ ȱ ǰȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ǰȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ in our solar system from what scientists ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ¢ ǯȱ ȱ

ȱ ȱ ȱ ¢ȱ ȱ ȱ Ě ȱ ȱ ȱ ¢ȱ ȱ ȱ ǯȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱę ǰȱ ȱ ǰȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ¢ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ¢ ȱ ȱ ¢ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ¢ Dzȱ ȱ ȱȃ Ȭ Ȭ Ȅȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ Ȭ ¢ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ǯȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ǯȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ¢ȱ ȱ ¢ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ £ ȱ ¢ ǰȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱȁ ȱ Ȃȱ ȱ ȱ ǰȱ ȱ Ě ȱ ǰȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱŜŖȱ¢ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ǯ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ¢ǯȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ǰȱ ȱ a time that scientists are recording increased ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ¢ȱ ȱ ¢ȱ ȱ ȱ ¢ȱȮ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ǯȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ¢ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȃ ȱ ¡ȱ Ȅȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ¡ȱ ǰȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ¢ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ Ȃ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ǰȱ ȱ ¢ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ǯ ȱ ȱ ȱ ¡ ȱ ȱ ǰȱ ȱ ¢ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ę ȱ ¢ȱ ȱ ȱȃ Ȅȱ ǰȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ę ȱ ¢ȱ ǯȱ ȱ ǰȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ nations striving for world dominance and ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ǯȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ǰȱ ȱ ǰȱ ȱ ǰȱ ǰȱ ǰȱ ǰȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ¢ȱ ǰȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ę ȱ ǰȱ ȱ Ĵ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ǯȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ Ȭ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ radiations from the sun cause carcinogenesis ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ě ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ¢ǯȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ě ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ǰȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ¢ ȱ ȱ ȱ ǯ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱś ȱ ¢ǰȱ ǯ

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