WEDNESDAY 10TH AUGUST 2022

FG to Nigerians: Don't Allow Another Civil War in the Country Says self-centeredness cause of war that claimed one million lives Declares that Nigeria will remain one Deji Elumoye in Abuja President Muhammadu Buhari yesterday warned Nigerians not to allow the civil war that took place between 1967 and 1970 to

repeat itself in the country.

The president who identified self-centeredness as the main cause of the civil war that claimed one million lives however submitted that Nigerians would remain in

one, indivisible country.

Speaking at the State House, Abuja, while receiving in audience former State Chairmen of the defunct Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), Buhari said the self-

centeredness that led to the loss of about a million lives between 1967 and 1970 must not be allowed to repeat itself, noting that the CPC was founded on the bedrock of patriotism and loyalty to the unity

of Nigeria.

He said: “Our main objective is the Federal Republic of Nigeria. We are human beings. We have our weaknesses, but I can assure you that the patriotism in us is hard

earned. We have gone through all the troubles from 15th of January 1966 to date. You know what I mean by this, we have killed a million Continued on page 10

Dollar Crisis: Nigeria Rated Most Crypto-obsessed Nation in the World... Page 8 Wednesday 10 August, 2022 Vol 27. No 9983. Price: N250

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How Buhari Shut Down $418m Paris Club Refund

President sets up c’ttee to review case FEC agrees it’s insensitive to current realities, nation’s mood

Interesting details have emerged on how President Muhammadu Buhari, a week today, shut down plans by the federal government

to commence a phased payment of the $418 million Paris Club refund, allegedly owed four contractors from the federation account, but

not before some heated debate amongst ministers had first taken place.

The instruction expressly

directed to the Minister of Finance, Zainab Ahmed, followed efforts by some ministers, who during the weekly Federal Executive Council

(FEC), moved against the idea being pushed by the the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar

Malami and Ahmed, saying the idea was insensitive to time Continued on page 10

DHQ: We've Arrested Suspects of Owo Catholic Church Attack Rules out use of mercenaries in fight against terrorists Insists Abuja is safe Akeredolu confirms arrest of five suspected church attackers, Afenifere welcomes development Deji Elumoye, Kingsley Nwezeh in Abuja and Fidelis David in Akure The Chief of Defence Staff, Gen. Lucky Irabor yesterday revealed that security forces have arrested the terrorists behind the attack on St. Francis Xavier Catholic Church in Owo, Ondo State.

Irabor, who made the disclosure during a parley with media executives at the Defence Headquarters, Abuja, said the terrorists were arrested by the military in collaboration with other security agencies.

The Media engagement was facilitated by The Media Today (TMT).

Terrorists had, on June 5, attacked the Catholic Church and opened fire on worshippers during a Sunday mass, killing 48 parishioners.

Also, Governor Rotimi Akeredolu

of Ondo State, who confirmed the arrest of five suspected killers of over 40 worshippers at the Church, also revealed that some members of Ebira community in the area were getting involved in kidnapping.

Akeredolu said this during a courtesy visit to his office by the leadership of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Ondo State Council, led by the Chairman, Mr. Leke Adegbite.

Speaking further on the terrorists who masterminded the attack in Owo, the defence chief said the criminals were arrested in collaboration with other security agencies.

"I want to tell you that we have arrested the attackers of Owo Church. We were to parade them today for you, but investigations are still ongoing.

Continued on page 10

Wike Insults Elders, Bullies Others, Alleges Governor’s Estranged Ally... Page12

COURTESY VISIT TO THE PRESIDENT BY NEWLY ELECTED NOC OF NMA...

L-R: Chief of Staff to the President, Prof. Ibrahim Gambari; Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Mr. Boss Mustapha; President Muhammadu Buhari; President, Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) and Dr. Uche Rowland Ojinmah, during a courtesy visit to the president by the newly-elected PHOTO; SUNDAY AGHAEZE. National Officers Committee of the NMA at the State House, Abuja ...yesterday

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

NEWS

OLD MUTUAL NIGERIA ALL-IN-ONE BROKER PORTAL...

L-R: Head, Marketing and Customer Experience, Alero Ladipo; Executive Director, Technical, General Insurance, Wole Fayemi; Managing Director, Life Assurance Company Limited, Olusegun Omosehin; and Managing Director, General Insurance Company, Olalekan Oyinlade all of Old Mutual Nigeria, during the introduction and demo of the Old Mutual Nigeria All-In-One Broker portal in Lagos.... yesterday.

Oil Theft, Serious Threat to Niger Delta, Says Diri as FG’s Team Visits Bayelsa Olusegun Osahon in Yenagoa Bayelsa State Governor, Senator Douye Diri, has assured of the state’s collaboration to tackle the menace of oil theft which he said poses a threat to the Niger Delta region.

Speaking in Government House, Yenagoa, on Monday, when he received a federal government delegation led by the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Chief Timipre Sylva, Diri said oil theft has seriously affected the environment

and image of the region negatively.

He called for urgent actions to end the ugly trend in the interest of the region and the country at large.

Diri lamented that oil theft, which also affects government at all levels has denied the locals their means

of livelihood, stressing that if not stopped or reduced drastically, the implications could be grave.

Recalling how the Chief of Defence Staff had talks with governors on the same issue, Diri welcomed collaborative efforts between the

Google Play Store Compromised by 'HiddenAds' Malware, NCC Warns Nigerians FG commends NCC’s regulatory strides Emma Okonji The Computer Security Incident Response Team (NCC-CSIRT) of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has flagged a new malware, HiddenAds, which has infiltrated Google Play Store that can impact device performance and jeopardise users’ privacy.

In its August 8 advisory, NCC-CSIRT classified the virus, first identified by the McAfee Mobile Research Team, as high in probability and damage potential.

The malware infiltrated the Google Play Store in the form of several device cleaners or optimization apps.

“Upon installation, it can run malicious services without the user opening the app. It also spams the user with irrelevant advertisements.

The apps have received downloads ranging from 100,000 to over a million,” the NCC security team warned.

This is just as the federal government has commended the leadership of the Nigerian Communications Commission for remarkable strides of the agency that has earned remarkable international reputation for Nigeria and placed the telecom regulator in the forefront of the nation’s quest for forward looking national economic growth.

Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy, Dr. William Alo, said this recently while receiving the management team of NCC, led by the Executive Vice Chairman of the Commission, Professor Umar Garba Danbatta, who briefed him on the status of the industry after his recent appointment to the Ministry.

“So far so good, the entire country, and beyond, is fully aware

of the strategic importance of the NCC as a regulating institution of the telecommunications industry in Nigeria. And, of course, we are aware today that between oil and communications, the latter is gradually taking over in the provision of revenue for the country as the nation strives to diversify the economy,” Alo said.

He said of a truth, the quality of service has improved tremendously over the past few years now and that the Commission deserves a pat on the back for what it has done in that direction.

Danbatta who led a team of two executive commissioners and directors of the Commission to the briefing, listed successes recorded since 2015 in teledensity, broadband penetration, and significant contribution of the industry to the GDP that grew from 8.5 per cent in the 4th quarter of 2015 to 12.61 in the 4th quarter of 2021, as the sector also attracted over $2 billion in foreign direct investment over the period.

According to the advisory, the app HiddenAds masquerades are Junk Cleaner, EasyCleaner, Power Doctor, Carpet Clean, Super Clean, Meteor Clean, Strong Clean, Windy Clean, Fingertip Cleaner, Keep Clean, Full Clean – Clean Cache, Quick Cleaner, and Cool Clean.

“When a user installs any of the aforementioned apps, whether the user has opened the app or not, a malicious service is immediately installed on the device. The app will then attempt to blend into the app tray by changing its icon to the Google Play icon that every Android user is familiar with," the advisory added. "Its name will also change to ' Google Play' or 'Setting&#39. The device will then be bombarded with ads in a variety of deceptive ways severely

impairing the user experience.”

It also stated that internet users who install the compromised app would experience "their device performance suffering significantly, clicking on the ads may result in stealth downloads/ installation of other malware, users may inadvertently subscribe to services and be billed monthly, and the privacy of users will be jeopardised.

NCC-CSIRT further advised users to avoid downloading questionable apps or apps "they are unsure about, while those who have installed any identified malicious apps should immediately

delete them," and disclosed that "where the malicious app&#39’s icon and name have changed, it can be identified by the fact that it is removable while the legitimate Google Play app cannot be uninstalled."

The NCC security team recommended installing anti-virus/ anti-malware software with a proven track record for detecting and removing malware.

The CSIRT is the telecom sector’s cybersecurity incidence centre set up by the NCC to focus on incidents in the telecom sector and as they may affect telecom consumers and citizens at large.

states and the federal government to tackle the menace.

He assured the delegation that his administration would play its role in ensuring that it is tackled effectively.

“The federal and state governments largely depend on oil. So, oil theft does not affect only the federal government, it affects us as a state government and the local governments as well. We have spoken about this over and over and we will continue to say it.

"We are talking about our environment that has been brazenly polluted through oil bunkering activities. If you go to our communities, you will see oil floating on our rivers, and that has led to the locals not having a means of livelihood. It has led to unknown diseases and sicknesses.

“There is a spiral effect of oil theft that is going on in the Niger Delta and it affects the communities and the people. So, I welcome you and I assure you that we will collaborate to ensure that oil theft is brought to an end," he added.

In his remarks, the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Chief Timipre Sylva, said the federal government delegation was in the state to seek collaboration to end oil theft in the Niger Delta.

He said the stealing of oil was going on at an alarming rate and should no longer be allowed given its negative effect on the economy of the country.

Sylva lamented that production had been badly affected, which he said was also having negative impact on foreign investments in the country.

The former Bayelsa governor commended Diri for his willingness to collaborate with the federal government to end oil theft.

Also speaking, the Chief of Defence Staff, General Lucky Irabor, said the military had heightened operational engagements to stop criminal activities in the region.

He noted that the activities of oil thieves was bleeding the nation and called on those involved in the act of sabotage to have a rethink, failing which the military will clamp down on them.

Also, Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, Mele Kyari, said the country was facing a dire situation that is not just affecting the economy but also the environment.

He said the importance of collaborative efforts with states in the region cannot be over-emphasised as only one tier of government cannot do it alone.

Legal Fee: Submit Documents on $5m Payments Within 48 Hours, Senate Orders NIMASA Sunday Aborisade in Abuja The Senate Public Account Committee (SPAC) has ordered the Nigerian Maritime and Safety Agency (NIMASA) to within 48 hours, submit documents it used to pay $5 million legal fees to a firm of legal practitioners who did not allegedly, render any service to it.

SPAC led by its Chairman, Senator Matthew Urhoghide, had invited the management of NIMASA to explain why it allegedly paid the $5 million to a firm of lawyers when the said legal service was not rendered.

The representative of NIMASA, Olamide Olusanya, however told the panel at the resumption of proceedings on the matter yesterday, that the issue was already before a competent court of law.

The Committee nevertheless, rejected the NIMASA's submission

and asked the agency to make all the documents relating to the transaction available on Thursday unfailingly.

The Official of NIMASA told the lawmakers that the Agency was directed by then Attorney General of the Federation to pay the $5 million as a legal fee.

The Chairman of the Committee asked the representative of NIMASA to present any letter mandating the agency to pay the $5 million as a legal fee.

The senators asked the NIMASA representative whether it was the Presidency that directed the agency to pay the legal fees, and Olusanya replied them that there was no such directive from the villa.

He, however, said NIMASA was only in possession of a letter from the Senior Special Assistant to President on Administration authorising the payment.

The Chairman therefore ordered

the agency to present documents relating to the payment by Thursday before the Committee would take a final decision on the matter.

He said, " We need the details of the payment, you go back to your archives and bring it out " Another member of the Committee, Senator Abdullahi Danbaba said there was no basis for making the payment.

He added that the money should be recovered from the law from the law firm.

The Chairman then said, "Let us know the transaction between you (NIMASA) and the AGF that made you to pay the money."

The Committee had invited NIMASA up to three times to give explanation about the payment of $5 million as professional fee.

The panel had also demanded for details of $9.3 billion loss by the federal government, but the

agency had declined the invitation.

In the report of the Auditor General for the Federation, seen

by THISDAY, it was revealed that all efforts by the AuGF to see the details of the $9.3 billion loss for scrutiny was not granted by NIMASA. According to AuGF report, the money was paid from Zenith Bank in the United Kingdom through its dollar account.

Part of the query read, "Audit observed that the agency engaged the service of a legal firm through a letter with reference number NIMASA/DG/KP/2014/001, dated 24th January 2014 for the intelligence based tracking of global movement of Nigerian Hydro-Carbon and recovery of loss by the Federal Government of Nigeria in the sum of USD9.3billion between 2013 and 2014, with a start-off cost of $5 million and 5% of all sums recovered.

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NEWS

LAUNCH OF THE EU-SUPPORT TO IMPLEMENT...

L-R: EU–Support to Implement of National Economic Policies (SINEP) Key Expert, Media & Communication, Chief Moji Makanjuola; Co-chair, Nigeria Development Groups (NDPG), Chris Pycroft and Director, International PHOTO: AYO AJAYI Cooperation (FMFBNP), Dr. Lanre Aderanye, during the events for the launch of the EU- Support to implement of National Economic Policies projects (SINEP) in Abuja...yesterday

Buhari: We Have Granted N100bn Loan to Indigenous Pharmaceutical Manufacturers President directs health minister to ensure brain drain becomes brain gain Deji Elumoye in Abuja The federal government has granted a N100 billion loan to indigenous pharmaceutical manufacturers and healthcare investors to expand their capital base and boost local production of medicines and medical consumables, President Muhammadu Buhari disclosed yesterday.

The president said this at the State House in Abuja, while playing host to the new executive members of the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA).

He explained that the loan was extended through the Central Bank of Nigeria’s support to the private pharmaceutical sector.

According to him, the Health Sector Reform Committee chaired

by Vice-President Professor Yemi Osinbajo is currently exploring models for revitalising the nation's healthcare system in ways that improve quality of care and the benefit package to care providers.

Commenting on brain drain in the health sector, the president said he had directed the Minister of Health, Dr Osagie Ehanire, to look into ways of turning, "brain drain" to "brain gain" by engaging top Nigerian medical experts in the diaspora in knowledge and skills repatriation.

He urged the association and other stakeholders in the health sector to support initiatives by the federal government and work with the Committees set up to chart a fast track to a health system that best meets the needs of Nigerians in the 21st Century.

The president also commended the association, which is the umbrella body of all Medical Practitioners in Nigeria, for consistently choosing peaceful resolution of differences on matters pertinent to the National health system.

He said: ‘‘I commend our medical professionals for their contribution to Nigeria's exemplary management of the COVID-19 pandemic, the control of malaria, HIV and Tuberculosis, and other feats also achieved by Nigerian doctors in the diaspora. ‘‘Our response to COVID-19 pandemic has been praised internationally and your members are key parts of this success. ‘‘I recall that in the last quarter of 2021, the immediate past NMA Executives visited me and presented recommendations for the health sector, which included, the review and amendment of NHIS Act; upgrading and equipping existing health institutions; loans to fund hospital equipment; the repeal and re-enactment of the Medical and Dental Practitioners’ Act; and

Appeal for more funding for the four newly established Universities of Medical Sciences. ‘‘I am pleased to inform you that most of these recommendations have been addressed, whilst further action is being taken to study those involving cross-cutting administrative processes with legal implications.’’

The president also used the forum to congratulate a former President of the body, Dr. Osahon Enabulele, the President-elect of the World Medical Association, the first Nigerian to hold the position.

While wishing him a successful tenure, the president expressed hope that Enabulele would use his position to support improvement in health care delivery in Nigeria and lower income countries.

He also wished the new Executive Members of NMA a successful tenure, urging them to earnestly continue to serve as arbiters of peace and progress.

Speaking earlier, Ehanire, who led the medical practitioners to the audience, affirmed that the doctors have been good partners with his ministry, helping to regulate the health profession as well as stressing quality service delivery.

On his part, the NMA President, Dr. Uche Ojinmah, commended Buhari for his steadfast war against corruption; assent to the National

Health Insurance Authority (NHIA) Act which would, “improve the health indices of our nation;” the constitution of the Health Reform Committee under Vice President Yemi Osinbajo; and the various infrastructural projects embarked upon by the Buhari administration.

He enjoined the president to ensure full and appropriate implementation of the NHIA Act; provision of adequate work equipment, conducive work environment and necessary budget support; as well as elongation of the retirement age for medical

Lawmakers Summon Finance Minister over Fuel Subsidy Claims Udora Orizu in Abuja The House of Representatives Special Adhoc Committee investigating Petroleum Subsidy regime has summoned the Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Mrs. Zainab Ahmed to make available before it all documents relating to subsidy claims from 2013 till date.

The Chairman of the Committee, Hon. Ibrahim Aliyu, issued the summon during the investigative hearing yesterday, following the absence of the Minister, who sent the ministry's Director, Home Finance, Stephen Okon, to represent her.

Okon, had in his presentation

told the lawmakers that he had to appear because the ministry did not want to pass information that was not properly processed before the parliament.

He, therefore, pleaded for an extension of time to collate information required before the committee, adding that he was not mandated to make any presentation before the committee.

He said, "the ministry holds the House in very high esteem, however, i was not sent here to make any presentation or submission, but to ask for an extension of time to enable us to put all documents needed to make our presentation and submission.

“I sincerely apologise on behalf

APC NWC Meets Today to Fix Date for Emergency NEC Meeting Adedayo Akinwale in Abuja The National Working Committee (NWC) of the All Progressives Congress (APC) will meet today to fix a date for an emergency meeting of the National Executive Committee (NEC) following the expiration of the 90 days of the transfer of power granted to the NWC by NEC, the highest decision making body of the party.

At the 11th NEC meeting of the party held on April 20 in Abuja, the highest organ of the party resolved to transfer its powers to the party’s NWC for three months. The 90 days expired on July 22, 2022.

To this end, a party source

revealed that the ruling party might hold an emergency NEC meeting before the commencement of the presidential campaign.

The NEC’s powers were transferred to the NWC following a motion moved by the President of the Senate, Dr. Ahmad Lawan, seconded by the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila.

Lawan’s motion said the NWC should take up the NEC’s powers for the “time being,” which could mean an indefinite period. But Governor Nasir el-Rufai, amended the motion, suggesting that the NWC should exercise the NEC’s powers for 90 days.

The amendment to Lawan's motion was subsequently ratified el-Rufai's amendment conferred the powers of the NEC under Article 13(3)(ii)(iii) (iv)(v) and (vi) on the NWC for 90 days. As a result of the ceding of powers, the NWC was empowered to discharge all functions of the NEC as enshrined in Articles 13.3 (ii) of the APC Constitution.

Against this background, the NEC resolved that "the NWC, in the interim period, will also exercise the NEC’s powers as enshrined in Article 13, 3(v) of the APC constitution by exercising control and taking disciplinary actions on all organs, officers, and members

consultants to 70 years and 65 years for non-consultant doctors and other healthcare workers.

Others included: implementation of the Hazard Allowance circularised in December 2021 with the arrears; as well as the setting up of a Health Bank.

of the party and determine appeals brought before it by any member or organ of the party."

The NWC was also vested with the powers to create, elect and appoint any committee it may deem necessary, desirable or expedient and assign to them such powers and functions as it may deem fit and proper, in line with powers given to the NEC in Article 13.3(v) of the APC Constitution.

However, following the expiration of the 90 days, a reliable party source told THISDAY that the NWC could no longer take vital decisions on behalf of the party without approval from the NEC.

The source said, "With the expiration of the three months power transfer since July 22, 2022, the NWC can no longer take vital decisions on behalf of the party without the approval of the NEC, and in view of this constitutional reality, some NWC members are pushing for an emergency NEC meeting."

The source added, "Barring a last-minute change, tomorrow's (Wednesday) weekly NWC will have to discuss the development with a view to fixing a date for an emergency NEC meeting before the commencement of the presidential campaign, which is billed to start on September 28, 2022."

of the Ministry for not sending a letter of authorisation for me to represent the ministry.”

But, the Committee Chairman, said the minister must provide answers to the total amount released from the consolidate revenue account as subsidy payment from 2013 till date.

He also said the breakdown of companies that received subsidy payments from the consolidate revenue account must be submitted before it.

While describing as worrisome the recent statement by the minister that the country would require N6.7 trillion to service subsidy, he gave the minister August 16, to make herself available with all the relevant documents in subsidy claims.

He lamented the non-appearance of over seven companies that were to make an appearance at the Committee and the fact that the companies also failed to send communications to that effect.

Meanwhile, the Committee also faulted Sahara Energy for the discrepancies observed in documents submitted before the Committee whereby Sahara Trade signed a letter of authorisation on behalf of Sahara Energy.

The lawmakers vowed to query both companies to ascertain their incorporation.

It was also established that there's Sahara Group of Companies, Sahara Trade, and Sahara Energy limited and the members insisted on ascertaining the coloration of both companies.

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NEWS

IMPLEMENTATION OF THE POLICE ACT 2020...

L-R: Thematic Lead on Institutions, National Assembly Business Environment Roundtable (NASSBER), Mr.Ezenwa Anumnu; Programme Manager, CLEEN Foundation, Mrs. Chigozirim Okoro; Board Chairman, CLEEN Foundation, Professor Etannibi Alemika; Representative of Deputy Inspector General (DIG ‘A’), FHQ, Lawson Oju; and , Board Member, Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG), MrNnanna Ude, at the open forum on Implementation of the Police Act 2020 organised by NASSBER in collaboration with CLEEN Foundation in Abuja…yesterday

Dollar Crisis: Nigeria Rated Most Crypto-obsessed Nation in the World Ndubuisi Francis in Abuja

Nigeria has emerged as the most crypto-obsessed nation in the world based on the increasing number of Nigerians searching the Internet for crypto-related trading, the crypto price tracker, CoinGecko, has revealed.

According to the latest CoinGecko survey, the global crypto market crash in April saw most cryptocurrencies lose over 60 per cent of their valuation from the top, leading to an overall downturn in trading activity, investor interest and venture capital investment.

However, Coin ecko reported that a recent study highlighted nations’ growing curiosity and

interest in crypto after the April crash.

The research was based on Google Trends data of popular crypto search terms often reflecting increased interest in the crypto market.

The search history of each nation was compiled to give an overall search score, indicating that the countries at the top of the list appear to be most eager to buy the dip.

The CoinGecko research highlighted a significant rise in curiosity among Nigerians after the crypto market downturn in April, adding that the Nigerian population searched the term “cryptocurrency,” “invest in crypto,”

and “buy crypto” most among the 15 countries part of the survey.

The report revealed that two Google trend charts show the data for “invest in crypto” searches in Nigeria compared to the world.

The search density for the term had seen similar interest rates after the April downfall in Nigeria, while the worldwide search density has seen a constant decline in comparison.

"Nigeria’s growing interest in crypto is fueled by inadequate financial services in the country, something that has been a key reason for crypto adoption across Africa. As Cointelegraph reported in April, nearly 17.36 million, or 52 per cent of Nigerian crypto

investors, have allocated over half of their assets to cryptocurrencies," explained the report. "Nigerians started using crypto as a viable alternative to store and transfer assets."

Among the top 15 countries most interested in cryptocurrencies, Nigeria dominates the world despite tumbling prices.

The countries are the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Australia, Canada, Lebanon, US and Kenya.

Others are Trinidad and Tobago, Cyprus, New Zealand, Singapore, United Kingdom, Ireland, Georgia and Pakistan.

Overall, Nigeria was found to be in a league of its own with a score of 371, followed by UAE

Zenon Petroleum: We Did Not Publish Report on Winding Up Suit against Prudent Energy Says oil firm owned up to debts, paid first tranche Zenon Petroleum and Gas Limited yesterday said it never published the particulars of its suit against Prudent Energy & Services Limited (PESL) in adherence with the rules of the court.

In a statement, it said like all others in the public, it read the story of the petition it filed at the Federal High Court Lagos in Suit No. FHC/L/CP/1450/2022 to wind-up Prudent Energy and Services Limited and the subsequent press release by Prudent Energy on Monday.

Earlier, the management of Prudent Energy had debunked the news in the media over the wind up proceedings initiated against it

by Zenon over its inability to pay $6 million debt owed the oil company.

The company had added that the subject of Zenon’s winding-up petition and its entitlement to any sum from PESL was being contested through a High Court suit commenced the company to prevent Zenon from enforcing the corporate guarantee until the arbitral award had been delivered.

It noted that the advertisement in the form of media publications, of the winding-up petition commenced by Zenon against PESL, when no court had authorised the advertisement of such petition, was

illegal and prejudicial.

But Zenon stated that the petition was a matter before the Federal High Court and was not to be publicised by the rules of court by either Zenon or Prudent Energy, saying it would not engage Prudent Energy in any exchange on the pages of the newspapers.

“It is left to the High Court or the arbitral tribunal to determine whether the deferred payment was to meet contingent payment or otherwise as asserted by Prudent

Energy.

“Zenon did not advertise the winding up petition or publish the petition. As a matter of fact, Zenon’s application to advertise the winding – up petition is yet to be heard by the Federal High Court,” it stated.

Zenon added that Prudent Energy had admitted owing the firm and had in fact paid the first instalment of the debt during the arbitration Prudent Energy referred to in its public notice.

“The High Court action referred to paragraph vi of the public notice is being vigorously contested by Zenon; and the subject matter of the winding-up petition is not before any arbitration panel but before the Federal High Court which is the court constitutionally empowered to wind up companies unable to pay their debts,” it said.

Accordingly, Zenon advised all stakeholders and the general public to disregard the press release issued

by Prudent Energy on the matter.

with a score of 271, "which did not come as a surprise to many, given the country’s recent push for crypto adoption."

The report said, "People in Nigeria are reported to embrace cryptocurrencies, thanks to a local currency that has lost much of its value to the dollar in 2022, making it an unworthy store of value for many in the oil-rich nation. According to the latest statistics, the naira was found to be trading at N670 to the dollar."

While the government has had a tough stance against cryptocur-

Sanwo-Olu Congratulates Baba Adinni of Lagos at 100 Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu has congratulated the Baba Adinni of Lagos, Sheikh Abdulhafeez Abou on his 100th birthday.

Sanwo-Olu in a statement signed by his Chief Press Secretary Mr. Gboyega Akosile yesterday described Sheikh Abou, as a respected leader, who has contributed immensely to the propagation of Islam in Lagos and Nigeria as a whole.

Sanwo-Olu who noted that Baba Adinni was worth celebrating because of his impactful leadership, said Sheikh Abou attaining 100 years was a blessing and favour from the Almighty Allah, and it should not be taken for granted.

INEC: Lawan, Akpabio Not Recognised as Senatorial Candidates Chuks Okocha in Abuja For the umpteenth time, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) yesterday denied accepting and publishing the names of the former governor of Akwa Ibom, Godswill Akpabio and the Senate President, Ahmad Lawan, as senatorial candidates.

In a statement by the INEC National Commissioner in charge of Information and Chairman Voter Education, Festus Okoye, the electoral body said, "For the records, the commission has not recognised any of the

two personalities as a senatorial candidate. For the records, the commission has not recognised any of the two personalities as a Senatorial candidate."

Okoye used the opportunity to call for responsible reporting, decrying the "unwarranted attack on the Commission and its officials over a matter than can be easily fact-checked."

He debunked claims making the rounds online that INEC purportedly "doctored, backdated and certified documents" to favour Akpabio and Lawan.

"For clarity, the Form EC9

(submission of names of candidates by political parties) is the form uploaded by parties on the INEC nomination portal. This is clearly indicated on the title of the form, which was received on June 17 2022 when the portal closed," Okoye explained. "What follows is the publication of the personal particulars of nominated candidates, which was done a week later. The forms of the two personalities in question were not published by the commission."

According to him, INEC's decision triggered legal action, which "are still ongoing."

rencies since banning them in 2021, adoption continues to grow. Even after the country became the first in Africa to roll out a Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC), Nigeria has since partnered the Algorand blockchain to develop a national system for tokenising intellectual property rights.

The Nigeria Stock Exchange (NSE) also wants to adopt blockchain technology with the over-the-counter trading securities exchange saying it seeks to launch a tokenised securities market in 2023.

"It, therefore, defies logic and common sense to go around and submit doctored documents purportedly recognising the duo as candidates when the matter is clearly sub-judice", he added. "As part of the ongoing case in Court, a law firm requested the commission for a Certified True Copy (CTC) of the Form EC9 submitted by the All Progressives Congress (APC) as its candidate for Akwa Ibom North West Senatorial District, which we are duty bound to oblige them under the law."

He further disclosed that the form was certified on July 15.

The governor also described him as an epitome of honesty, dedication and service, whose unblemished record of service over several decades has made him a role model to many adherents of the Islamic faith as well as clerics and leaders.

He said: "On behalf of my family and the good people of Lagos State, I heartily congratulate our father, religious leader and elder statesman, Sheikh Abdulhafeez Abou, on the occasion of his centenary birthday.

"Sheikh Abou attaining 100 years is a blessing and favour from the Almighty God, which should not be taken for granted.

Our father is worth celebrating for the great role he has been playing in Lagos and Nigeria.

"Our father has lived his life worshipping the Almighty Allah and serving humanity the best way he could as the Baba Adinni of Lagos. We thank God for sparing the life of our father and for enabling him attain the centenarian age.

“As you celebrate your 100th birthday, it is our prayer that the Almighty God will grant you more grace and strength to continue to contribute your quota to the spread and propagation of Islam in Lagos and Nigeria.

"We also pray that the Almighty God will continue to crown our Baba with good health for him to continue to enjoy His blessings and everlasting goodness."

WEDNESDAY AUGUST 10, 2022 • T H I S D AY

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TEN DHQ: WE'VE ARRESTED SUSPECTS OF OWO CATHOLIC CHURCH ATTACK “For the purpose of this interaction, I will like to read out their names and as I read out their names, let me say that it is not just the Armed Forces, but the DSS, the Police and other intelligence agencies were part and parcel of the efforts to apprehend these criminals who have put us and indeed the nation on their toes," he said.

“On August 7, Idris Ojo, 37, was apprehended at Aiyetorosi in Ondo State. He is one of the high profile Islamic State in West Africa Province (ISWAP) that escaped from Kuje Prison.

“Alongside with him is one Jimoh Ibrahim who a 39-year old criminal who was also arrested.

"Idris Ojo was not done with all the criminal activities which he undertook in the past, he was also planning other deadly attacks and he was perfecting those plans along with his cronies before he was apprehended.

“On August 4, again, the military in a combined operation with the DSS, arrested four terrorists at Eika in Okehi Local Government of Kogi State", he said.

Irabor noted that, “these are Idris Abdulmalik Omeiza otherwise known as Ibn Malik; Momoh Abubakar, Aliyu Itopa and Auwal Onimisi.

“Now, Omeiza is one of the masterminds of the June 5 Catholic Church attack in Owo as well as the attack on the police station in Adavi also in Kogi State that led to the killing of a policeman as well as weapons being carried away," he said.

He also dispelled rumours that terrorist elements were laying siege to the Federal Capital Territory and already plotting attacks on residents of the nation’s capital.

He maintained that Abuja remains safe and had not been invaded by Boko Haram and the Islamic State of West African Province, (ISWAP).

Speaking further, Irabor rejected the idea of recruiting

mercenaries to support the military in the fight against the terrorists.

He rather advised that the resources that would have been used to hire mercenaries should be channeled to build the capacity of the military, which he said has the responsibility of protecting the country.

"Mercenary is not an option, it is a half story. Mercenaries are commercial entities moving from one place to the other. We should rather use the resources to build the capacity of those that have the responsibility to protect the country," he said.

Irabor also assured that contrary to expectations and fears that the raging insecurity across the country may affect the 2023 general election, the Armed Forces of Nigeria was prepared to ensure that the election was free, fair and secured.

"Some time last week the Inspector General of Police had, at a forum for personnel of the police, the military and other security agencies that would be involved in the election and I made a statement that as members of the armed forces, we have a covenant with the electoral process.

"That statement presupposes that we will do anything to create the condition for a free, safe and secured conduct of the 2023 general elections. We will do everything to ensure that nothing stops it. We have a covenant with the democratic process," he said.

Irabor affirmed that the armed forces would ensure that, "nothing stops the election," and maintain its constitutional role of protecting the territorial integrity of the nation.

He reassured the nation that the military would do everything possible to defend the territorial integrity of the country, adding that it would not relinquish the control of the country to terrorists.

Irabor urged Nigerians,

especially the media, to unite against those he described as enemies of the state.

"The core responsibility of the military is to protect the territorial integrity of the country. A nation is as strong as its military and there are various avenues you can weaken your military.

There are people who are strong physically but you can attack them emotionally and their strength will be useless.

"Do not encourage people to weaken the emotional strength of the armed forces, if you do, every one of us will be the losers.

"God has created this space for us to dominate our dominating and exploiting the resources of the state is a collective responsibility. It is for us, our families and our children to enjoy.

“It is not for us to abandon it for some other idiots to take over, it is for us to defend and enjoy.

"So whatever it will take to defend the nation, we will do," he said.

Meanwhile, Akeredolu who also confirmed the arrest of five suspected killers, further disclosed that the owner of the house where the attackers stayed before the June 5 attack in Owo had also been arrested He noted that government did not spare a moment in trailing the terrorists since the horrendous attack on innocent worshippers.

“Now that the military has announced it, I can tell you that five of them have been arrested now. They are still on the trail of the rest.

“The home where they lodged in Owo and the person that accommodated them before the attack, has also been arrested.

“We did not spare a moment.

I am happy that the Chief of Defence Staff has announced it.

We have known for a while, but we needed not to come out with it because more works are still ongoing.

“I can confirm that this arrest

H O W B U H A R I S H U T D O W N $ 4 1 8 M PA R I S C L U B R E F U N D and inimical to current realities in the country.

After suspending the planned deductions, the president immediately set up a committee, majorly of Senior Advocates of Nigeria (SAN) in the cabinet to take a wholesome look at the matter again and advise appropriately.

The Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF), had last week, resisted renewed move by Malami to pay the money.

In a letter to the federal government, through the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Boss Mustapha, the governors contended that, restarting the deduction process, which was being challenged in court.

According to the letter, signed

by Chairman of the NGF and outgoing Governor of Ekiti State, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, the governors described the new move as an “attempt by the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF), Abubakar Malami, and the Minister of Finance (HMF) to circumvent the law and the recent judgement of the Supreme Court by surreptitiously securing the approval of the FEC to effect payment of the sum of $418 million to four contractors, who allegedly executed contracts in respect of the Paris Club refunds to the states and local governments.”

Specifically, in their letter, the governors were of the position that the essence of the definitive pronouncement by the Supreme Court was that none of the contractors recommended for payment of the sum of $418 million could be so paid, because the contracts and payments relied upon were not processed as prescribed by the constitution and the law.

However, at the FEC meeting of Wednesday, August 3, Ahmed and Malami, had presented a memo,

asking the cabinet to approve the deductions from funds due to states from the federation account.

Unfortunately for the duo, prior to the FEC, the governors had written to all ministers and also met some of them in persons, explained their position as well as sought their intervention in stopping the planned deduction being pushed by both Ahmed and Malami.

Thus, soon after Ahmed and Malami made their presentations, they were immediately countered

by Ministers, the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Boss Mustapha and the VicePresident, Yemi Osinbajo.

According to THISDAY sources, the FEC members, who spoke against the deduction contended that it would be sub-judicial for any payment to be made to the contractors while cases were pending in courts.

Even more instructive, they held the view that it was insensitive of their colleagues to have brought forward a proposal for the payment of controversial debts to contractors at a time the government was battling to pay workers and fulfilling its obligations to citizens.

A source hinted: “Our argument was simple and it was the fact that since the issue was being challenged in court, and there was a supreme court pronouncement in place, it would be illegal to go ahead with the planned deductions.

“What further drove our argument home was that, we contended that the planned deductions was also made against the context of the nation’s economic crisis, poor revenue, and uncertain fiscal position. So, our the FEC would sit back and agree to that was clearly impossible.”

However, after all the ministers had submitted their arguments,

the president, another presidency source disclosed, spoke in support of the ministers’ position, and instructed that the planned deductions be suspended for further review.

The president, it would be recalled, had earlier approved the payment through the issuance of promissory notes, based on proposals by Malami and Ahmed, but the move was resisted by the governors, who approached the court for redress through their attorneys-general.

The governors insisted that the matter was on appeal at the Court of Appeal in Abuja, adding that the Nigerian government should exercise restraint in its handling of the matter.

has been made and they are still on the trail of some of them,” he said.

Akeredolu also called on leaders of the Ebira community in the state to warn the young ones against the bad venture of kidnapping.

The governor said recent reports from kidnap victims in the state established that some Ebira indigenes are now involved in the unwholesome act.

He noted that the Ebiras have lived together with the people of the state peacefully for several decades, adding that they have always been supportive and hardworking.

“I want to use this medium to urge our brothers to concentrate on their farming trade. It will be unfortunate to know that the Ebiras in our midst are now involved in kidnapping.

“We are appealing to them not to copy bad thing. The traders selling by the road side should not become informants.

“We are not fighting them; we have seen their numbers, they supported and voted for us during elections. I will call their leaders and talk to them.

“Our brothers who were kidnapped on their way to Ikare; talk to them, they were taken to Ebira farmsteads.

“For me, we have lived together for too long for this to happen. I am ready to make any effort to ensure that the conviviality that we have enjoyed continues.

“But we are begging their leaders to urge them not to copy bad thing. They are in our midst; we are surrounded by them. The issue of security is key and it’s dynamic,” he said.

Akeredolu disclosed that aside the recent recruitment and training of new Amotekun personnel, 20 hunters and local vigilantes would be trained by the Amotekun corps in each of the 18 local government areas of the state.

The governor, who thanked the NUJ in the state for the cooperation extended to his administration, assured them of sustained efforts at developing the state.

Earlier, the Chairman of the NUJ, Ondo State Council thanked the governor for his support for the management of Ondo State Radiovision Corporation and Owena Press PLC, adding that the upgrade of facilities in the two state-owned media outfits was commendable.

On the issue of Security, Governor Akeredolu disclosed that aside the recent recruitment and training of new Amotekun personnel, 20 hunters and local vigilantes would be trained by the Amotekun corps in each of the eighteen local government areas in the state.

In the meantime, the Yoruba socio-political organisation, Afenifere, has described as a welcome development the reported arrest of the terrorists that attacked the Catholic Church in Owo.

The group's National Publicity Secretary, Jare Ajayi said this in a chat with THISDAY. He said: "The announcement of the arrest of some of the masterminds of the Owo carnage as announced by the Chief of Defence Staff, General Lucky Irabor, is a welcome development. It was an indication that the insecurity situation in the country that is giving us a lot of concern is something that our military is not oblivious of."

According to him, the confirmation of the arrest by Akeredolu while receiving members of the NUJ in the state and the reassurance given on efforts at providing security for the people, "also gladden our hearts.

"We urge the security agencies and the governments at federal and state levels to buckle up more in providing security for all and sundry."

The Afenifere spokesman urged the military and all other security agencies to ensure that criminals, bandits and terrorists are apprehended before they are able to execute their evil plans.

"To find lasting solutions to the insecurity problem however, we are hereby repeating our several advocacies for State Police.

"We are also appealing to President Muhammadu Buhari to come out boldly and send powerful messages to evil perpetrators to stop. Such messages to be both gestural and in concrete actions," the Afenifere spokesman further added.

FG: Private Sector Collaboration Needed to Achieve Universal Health Coverage Onyebuchi Ezigbo in Abuja The federal government says it is important to work with private sector stakeholders if the country is to attain universal health coverage for all Nigerians.

It mentioned that one of the most effective strategies to ensure affordable healthcare for all is social insurance, which is operational as the National Health Insurance Scheme.

Minister of State for Health, Hon. Ekumankama Joseph Nkama, disclosed this at the Public Private Dialogue in Abuja on Tuesday.

According to him, the health ministry is saddled with the responsibility of providing leadership for the sector, including policy formulation and implementation.

Nkama noted that the synergy between the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) and CIPE would go a long way in building synergy in strengthening the Nigerian healthcare system.

"The Federal Ministry of

Health has a vision to attain universal health coverage for all Nigerian citizens so that all will have access to quality, safe and comprehensive health care service that is affordable, accessible and acceptable," the health minister explained.

He added, "A strategic and sure way to achieve universal health coverage in Nigeria is through social insurance, which is operational as the National Health Insurance Scheme."

The minister further explained that the initiative had undergone several reforms to increase coverage and improve the accountability framework.

"We need to constantly and consistently monitor and evaluate our performance in order to identify the gaps for timely and appropriate intervention to improve access to essential and quality health services for Nigerians," said Nkama.

However, he admitted that the ministry could not operate alone. Nakama explained that all health system stakeholders

would be needed to improve health outcomes.

"Therefore, any effort toward building and strengthening the health system in Nigeria, such as this public-private dialogue, is welcome and must be applauded and emulated," he stressed. "We need collaboration such as this with NMA and CIPE to conduct research and recommend solutions to identified gaps."

Former President of the NMA, Prof Innocent Ujah, the lead consultant for the research, said the objectives of the research conducted in four cities of Aba, Kano, Lagos and Onitsha was to assess patients' satisfaction with services provided by the National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA), explore accessibility and expenditure challenges faced by enrollees, identify administrative challenges faced by the authority, health management organisations (HMOs) and healthcare professionals.

FG TO NIGERIANS: DON'T ALLOW ANOTHER CIVIL WAR IN THE COUNTRY of ourselves in order to keep this country together.

“I don’t think there can be any practical experience more than that.

We are Nigerians, God willing we remain Nigerians and Nigeria will remain one.”

The president urged all members of defunct CPC and political leaders to always be mindful of the larger picture by working towards preserving the unity, peace and integrity of the nation.

He also urged political leaders to stay focused and uphold the ultimate objective of promoting interest of the country, saying, “We are Nigerians, God willing we remain Nigerians, and Nigeria shall remain one.’’

Buhari noted that the passion and zeal for improving the livelihood of Nigerians, which culminated in creation of the political party had not dwindled, calling for more steadfastness as Nigerians.

The president thanked the former chairmen of the political party, which was merged to form the governing All Progressives Congress (APC), for always highlighting the achievements of the government, admitting that some areas would

surely get more attention.

“I am delighted to welcome the forum of State Chairmen of the former Congress for Progressives’ Change to State House today. I accord great significance to this visit as it demonstrates a determination and commitment to identify with our administration.

“This visit recalls the solidarity with the successes that we have recorded in critical areas of our society. The visit also affords us the opportunity to discuss other issues of interest to the forum.

“I commend members of this forum and all members of the legacy party-CPC, for their continued dedication to the ideals of democratic governance that we all believed in.

“The doggedness with which we pursued our vision and goals that culminated into the success we recorded remain like bright stars in the history of our dear nation,” he added.

Buhari said he was particularly grateful for the, “unalterable belief members of CPC and, by extension the Nigerian electorate, had and still have in me as demonstrated

in their unalloyed support for our electoral struggles which reflected in the results that we consistently recorded at the polls over the years.”

He said it was the solid credentials that the CPC possessed that gave the party a prime place in the merger that led to the formation of the All Progressives Congress.

Other political parties in the merger included the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) along with some members from the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) and People's Democratic Party.

The president said efforts had been made in appointing some members of CPC in his government, including those in the Federal Executive Council (FEC) like the Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Minister of Education, Minister of Water Resources, and Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development.

“We shall remain resolute to continue to deliver on the promises we made to Nigerians and to ensure that we attain greater

milestones in terms of economic growth, infrastructural development, provision of security, and the war against corruption, among other responsibilities of government,’’ he added.

Earlier in his remarks, the Chairman of Forum of State Chairmen of the defunct CPC and former Chairman of the party in Niger State, Umar Shuaibu, who described the president as the “Patriarch of the CPC,” said the party had maintained all its structures across the country, assuring Buhari of their loyalty, especially in the forthcoming elections.

Shuaibu commended the president for providing strong leadership over the years, particularly in remaining balanced, fair and above board in electoral issues.

“Before you, the opposition was arrested and maltreated, but it is no longer so,’’ he said, “You did not deny them what they denied you when they were in power.’’

He said the CPC had always garnered millions of votes in elections across the country, and would support the APC presidential candidate, Mr. Bola Tinubu.

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NEWS

30TH COREN MEETING...

L-R: President, Council for Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria (COREN), Engr. Ali Rabiu; Chairman, SIFAX Group of Companies, Dr. Taiwo Afolabi and CEO, Federal Competition and Consumer Protection PHOTO: KINGSLEY ADEBOYE Commission, Babatunde Irukera, during COREN's 30th meeting held in Abuja... yesterday

Rewane: President’s Leadership Style Delivering Least Economic Outcomes Nigeria approaching the fiscal cliff with a fiscal deficit of N3.09 trillion Dike Onwuamaeze A report by a member of President Mohammadu Buhari’s Economic Advisory Council (EAC)/Chief Executive Officer of the Financial Derivatives Company Limited, Lagos, Mr. Bismarck Rewane, which compared major economic indicators under the present administration with that of past presidents since 1999 has shown that Buhari’s leadership style has resulted to the poorest economic outcomes for Nigeria.

Rewane made the evaluation in a presentation he made during the August edition of the monthly Lagos Business School’s Breakfast Session, a copy of which was obtained by THISDAY yesterday.

The economist arrived at the conclusion that Buhari’s administration has delivered the poorest economic outcomes for Nigeria by comparing the country’s average Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth rate, average inflation rate, percentage in exchange rate at the beginning and ending period of each presidential tenure, external reserves when an administration’s period ended, the external debt valued in billions of dollars and the external reserve minus external debt under the presidential tenures of former presidents: Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, late Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan and that of the incumbent.

He said that the average GDP growth rate was 7.7 per cent, 7.1 per cent, 5.5 per cent and 1.1 per cent under the administrations of Obasanjo, Yar’Adua, Jonathan and Buhari respectively.

Also, the average inflation rate was 12.19 per cent, 13.18 per cent, 9.70 per cent and 14.07 per cent under the administrations of Obasanjo, Yar’Adua, Jonathan and Buhari respectively.

Moreover, the percentage change in exchange rate during the duration of each presidents was 26 per cent, 27.4 per cent, 63.5 per cent and 150.2 per cent for Obasanjo, Yar’Adua, Jonathan and Buhari.

Furthermore, in his comparison, Rewane also showed that the external reserves at the end of the tenures of Obasanjo, Yar’Adua,

billion and negative external reserve of $-0.82 billion after subtracting external debt.

Yet Buhari’s administration amassed higher external reserve of $39.18 billion than that of the late president Yar’Adua and Jonathan’s administrations of $32.34 billion and $28.57 billion respectively.

In terms of leadership style and economic outcomes, Rewane noted that a political leader could be fully engaged hands on; or aloof and effective; or incompetent and ineffective or willing but unable.

Furthermore, the economist made it clear that under Buhari’s administration, “Nigeria is approaching the fiscal cliff with a fiscal deficit of N3.09 trillion and actual debt service was more than revenue between January and April 2022.

In addition, the excess crude oil account was depleted to $375,000 in July 2022 from $35.7 million in June 2022.”

According to the data presented

by Rewane, the federal government’s projected to earn a revenue of N3.32 trillion between January and April, but actually generated N1.63 trillion; it also projected to spend N5.77 trillion but was able to realise an actual expenditure of N4.72 trillion within the first four months of 2022.

In addition, the government projected to spend N1.82 trillion on capital expenditure but was only able to execute N0.77 trillion capital expenses between January and April 2022.

Yet, the Buhari’s administration spent N1.94 trillion on debt service, which the report stated was 37.11

per cent more than the N1.22 trillion it had projected to spend between January and April 2022.

Notwithstanding, Rewane still declared that the country’s “debt level is still sustainable,” even though he opined that it might be possible for the debt levels to become unsustainable as Nigeria has been moving, “towards high debt distress risk as debt service rises faster than fiscal revenue,” and “signaling a debt management problem.”

He also stated that higher oil prices boosted FAAC’s disbursement in July when, “FAAC allocation spiked by 17.86 per cent to N802.41billion in July 2022,” as “increases were (also) recorded in CIT, PPT, and import duty and oil and gas royalties.”

Legislature Has Financial, Investigatory, Impeachment Powers, Says N’Assembly Clerk Urges Nigerians to protect legislature House of Reps Clerk reads riot act to staff over oath of secrecy Udora Orizu in Abuja The Clerk to the National Assembly (CNA), Mr. Olatunde Amos Ojo, yesterday said the parliament had been vested with investigatory, financial, confirmation and impeachment powers.

Akwa Ibom Govt Warns Seplat over Moves to Acquire Mobil’s Assets Akwa Ibom State government has once more warned Seplat Energy Plc against the move to acquire the shallow water assets of Mobil Producing Nigeria Unlimited (MPNU).

In a statement by the state government signed by its AttorneyGeneral and Commissioner of Justice, Uko Essien Udom yesterday, the state pointed out that was a subsisting restraining orders of injunction by the High Court of the state.

It stated: “Our attention has been drawn to a publication by Femi Adesina, Special Adviser to the President (Media and Publicity), to the effect that President Muhammadu Buhari, in his capacity as Minister of Petroleum Resources has consented to the acquisition

Jonathan and Buhari was $43.17 billion, $32.34 billion, $28.57 billion and $39.18 billion under respectively.

Also, Nigeria’s external debt was $3 billion, $10 billion, $15 billion and $40 billion under Obasanjo, Yar’Adua, Jonathan and Buhari respectively.

The data he presented also showed that Nigeria’s external reserves less external debts stood at $40.17 billion, $22.34 billion, $13.57 billion and $-0.82 billion under Obasanjo, Yar’Adua, Jonathan and Buhari.

From the above date, it could be surmised that Buhari’s administration had the least average GPG growth of 1.1 per cent; highest average inflation rate of 14.07; highest exchange rate depreciation of 150.5 per cent; highest external debt of $40

of shallow water assets of Mobil Producing Nigeria Unlimited by Seplat Energy.

“This is to inform the general public that this proposed transaction is subject to restraining orders of injunction of the High Court of Akwa Ibom State, sitting in Uyo in Suits No. HEK/56/2018, , Attorney General of Akwa Ibom State V. Mobil Producing Nigeria Unlimited and HU/209/2020, Mobil Producing Nigeria Unlimited V. Governor of OF Akwa Ibom State & three others.

“Exxonmobil, Seplat Energy, NNPC Ltd and the Federal Government of Nigeria, all have actual knowledge of the court orders, having been duly served with the orders and/or various newspaper publications of same.

Ojo stated this in Abuja, while declaring open a 3-day training for staff of the House of Representatives with the theme: “Legislative Work Ethics and Behavioral Conduct at Workplace.”

He said the legislature remains the symbol of democracy, vested with the powers to make laws for the peace, order and good governance of the federation and therefore all lovers of democracy should protect the parliament.

The CNA said: "The legislature is the first among the three arms of government - the legislature, executive and the judiciary. These arms are characterised by the principle of separation of power as each is supposed to be independent of the other. The legislature derives its powers from the 1999 Constitution (as amended) in Sections 4(1) and 4(2).

“The legislature is vested with the powers to make laws for the peace, order and good governance of the federation. It is also vested with investigatory powers, financial powers, confirmation and impeachment powers.

“It would not be out of place for me to use this occasion to remind us that the legislature is the symbol of democracy all over the world. It is therefore pertinent and incumbent on all lovers of democracy to ensure

that this Institution is protected.

One of the ways of doing this, is adequate training of staff.

“As I said at one of the training programmes organised for Staff, we cannot continue to do things in the same way and expect to achieve different results. We must continue to add value to the legislative process and should not underestimate the importance of the services we render to our dear nation as we facilitate quality law making that would promote public order and security."

In his remarks, Clerk of the House of Representatives, Dr. Yahaya Danzaria read the riot act to National Assembly staff over enforcement of oath of secrecy.

He said the three-day workshop was intended to bring staff to speed on their ethical and behavioural responsibilities and guide them to their legislative processes, in line with international best parliamentary practices.

Danzaria said, "Civil service considers as very important, the need to maintain secrecy on official

government documents. The Oath of Secrecy of 1962 has remained in force in the civil service to demonstrate the premium government places on official document.

“An official who divulges official secret in the civil service is said to have divided loyalty. The inability of the civil servants to keep to these rules is 'serious misconduct' as in Section 04401 of the civil service rules. Serious misconduct is 'a specific act of serious wrongdoing and improper behavior which can be investigated and proved.

Lawyers, Police Officers Trained on Criminal Justice Administration Sylvester Idowu in Warri The Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), in collaboration with MacArthur Foundation, yesterday concluded a two-day sensitisation workshop for police officers and lawyers on the implementation of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act, 2015.

Among other aspects, the training was also aimed at making officers comply with human rights principles in law enforcement in the South-South zone.

Speaking at the event, which started on Monday and concluded yesterday, President of Nigerian

Bar Association (NBA) Olumide Akpata said the workshop was part of his administration policy to assess the level of Administration of Criminal Justice law enacted in 2015 and examine the successes and challenges of its implementation.

He disclosed that the workshop was held in 28 of the 36 states across the country and rounded up in Warri, Delta.

At the commencement of the workshop in Warri on Monday, the Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Hon. Isaiah Bozimo, commended the organisers and urged the participants to take

advantage of the training.

Bozimo, represented by Mrs. E. J. Odogwu, said the training was part of efforts to ensure that stakeholders imbibe the new normal and justice for the common man and assured that the participants would be better off after the training and that the system would be better at the end of the day.

Delta State Commissioner of Police, Ari Muhammed Ali, said, “I urge us to consider this training as a policy of paramount importance, aimed at dictating the roles and mandate of the Nigeria Police Force."

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NEWS

INAUGURATION OF THE DUALISED OGBUNUABALI -EASTERN BYPASS ROAD...

L-R: Former governor of Sokoto State, Senator Aliyu Wamakko; Governor of Rivers State, Nyesom Wike; Speaker Rivers State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Ikuinyi Owaji-Ibani; PDP, governorship candidate in Rivers State, Siminalaye Fubara and Rivers PDP chairman, Ambassador Desmond Akawor, during the inauguration of the dualised Ogbunuabali -Eastern Bypass Road in Port Harcourt yesterday.

Wike Insults Elders, Bullies Others, Alleges Governor’s Estranged Ally Ex-Senator says governor carrying out anti-party activities Narrates how Wike singlehandedly controls the levers of power in Rivers Emmanuel Addeh in Abuja A former senator representing Rivers South-East constituency, Lee Maeba, has accused the Governor of Rivers State, Nyesom Wike, of consistently insulting elders in the state and bullying others.

Speaking during an interview with SymfoniTV, a social media-based news platform, the former governor’s ally stated that Wike who is asking for fairness has dealt wrongly with elders and associates in the state.

“He who comes to equity must come with clean hands. If your hands are not clean, then wash your hands

first before coming to equity,” Maeba said, in apparent reference to cries of marginalisation by Wike after the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) primaries.

Maeba said that last week Thursday, the governor called a former Deputy Speaker, House of Representatives, Austin Opara and other Ikwere leaders as well as a former Governor of the state, Celestine Omehia, threatening them over their visit to the PDP’s candidate, Atiku Abubakar.

“The governor summoned Austin Opara and Omehia and told them they have no right to have gone

to see Atiku for a meeting of that nature without clearing with him.

That they should be ready, that he will kill himself and kill them. He gave that threat and that if they don’t have guns, they should go and buy guns,” he said.

According to Maeba, Austin Okpara was already Deputy Speaker when Wike was struggling to become a local government chairman, and therefore wondered why Opara should take permission from Wike before visiting Atiku.

He maintained that he followed Wike to 22 states in the run-up to the PDP convention, stressing that

since he lost the primaries, there should be no special negotiations for him to support Atiku.

“He clearly told them ‘let me see how you can campaign for Atiku in this state. You cannot campaign for Atiku without my permission.

No one in this state can work for Atiku,” Maeba stressed.

He added that on Friday, Wike summoned the Ogoni people and the member representing him (Maeba) and specifically told them that he was waiting to see how Maeba was going to campaign for Atiku in Rivers.

He stated that the same Wike

Court Nullifies Section 5 of Lagos State Survey Law Declares Lagos House of Assembly acted unconstitutionally Wale Igbintade Justice Daniel Osiagor of the Federal High Court in Lagos has held that the Lagos State House of Assembly acted unconstitutionally in enacting Section 5 of the Survey Law of Lagos State which requires surveyors to obtain written consent of the Surveyor General of Lagos State before carrying out survey on any state land or land acquired by the Lagos State government.

The court stated that the Surveyors Council of Nigeria remains the only body vested with authority to regulate and control survey practice/profession throughout the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

Justice Osiagor made these pronouncements while delivering judgement in suit Number: FHC L CS 1789 2020 filed by seven Surveyors: Adaranuo Ibikunle Ganiyu Rafiu, Aluko Kikelomo Sikirat, Adedeji Olarewaju Adams Benjamin Olugbenga, Mekuleyi Olusey Samuel, Aliu Samuel, and Fashina Adedapo against the Surveyor General, of Lagos State and 10 others.

Other Defendants in the suit were the Surveyors Council of Nigeria, Olatunbosun David, Adesina Adeleke, Akomolafe A.O, Odetunmobi Olufemi, Mrs. Akinraro, Michael Adebisi Alonge, Egbeyemi Lateef, the Attorney General of Lagos State, and the Attorney General of the Federation respectively.

Justice Osiagor held that only

the Surveyors Council of Nigeria, (2nd Defendant) has the powers to issue guidelines for the conduct of Survey Practice in Nigeria 2020, in exercise of its powers to regulate and control survey practice/ profession in Nigeria. The court stated that the Surveyor General of Lagos State (1st Defendant) being a member 2nd Defendant, was bound to follow and apply the Guidelines for the Conduct of Survey Practice in Nigeria 2020, in Lagos State.

The court held that the Surveyor General of Lagos State lacks the powers to deny the plaintiffs or any registered surveyor consent to conduct survey on any parcel of land in Lagos State (whether owned by the Lagos State government, corporate bodies or private individuals).

The court also held that the first Defendant lacked the powers to reject copies of survey plans submitted by the plaintiffs and every other registered surveyor in Nigeria for lodgement, adding that he has no power to demand and/or insist on counter-signing a survey plan prepared by a Registered Surveyor.

Besides, Justice Osiagor held that: “The engagement of the 3rd to 9th Defendants by the 1st Defendant via a letter dated 15 September 2020 with Reference No. OSSG/ CAD/2020/Vol. 1/ 033, as the only surveyors to carry out surveys in the Mende Revocation Area to the exclusion of the plaintiffs and every other registered surveyor in Nigeria is hereby set aside for being in

gross violation of the provisions of Sections 4(d) and 19(1) of the SURCON Act, Sections 1(3), 1(5) and 3 of the Guidelines for the Conduct of Survey Practice in Nigeria 2020.”

Subsequently, the court made an order of perpetual injunction restraining the Defendants from giving effect to the 1st Defendant's letter dated 15 September 2020 with Reference No. OSSG/CAD/2020/ Vol. 1/033, “pursuant to which the 3rd to 9th Defendants were engaged by the 1st Defendant is hereby granted.”

The plaintiffs by an Originating

Summons dated 11th of December 2020, filed by their lawyer, Osaretin Egbobor, had prayed the court to determine, “whether having regard to Section 4(4) and items 25 and 26 Part Il of the second schedule of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended), and Sections 1 and 4 of the Surveyors Council of Nigeria Act Cap S18, LFN 2004 (SURCON Act), the 2nd Defendant is the only body or authority vested with the powers to regulate and control the practice and the profession of surveying throughout the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

who is complaining about being sidelined, bought governorship forms for 14 of his associates, including him (Maeba) but warned all of them not to campaign.

Furthermore, he stated that Wike told all of them that if they dared make any move to override him, they will not only fail woefully but will be disgraced, stressing that till today, himself who was an aspirant never knew any of the delegates. “ The list of delegates was not published. At the end of the day he called me and told me that I can not be governor, that I campaigned for Atiku in 2019 without his permission and that I even formed a group called friends of Atiku and that I opened an office for Atiku.

“He said because of that, it was over and that he could not hand over the state to his enemy. It was in the presence of his staff and I had never seen that kind of humiliation in my life,” he added, stressing that Wike thoroughly warned him not to proceed to the primaries.

Since then, he noted that Wike has not made any move for reconciliation and discuss how to move the state forward, but he’s screaming now about being marginalised. “ What morale does Wike have to go and protest injustice? What is more unjust than what he did to me?” he queried.

Wike has recently been at loggerheads with Atiku as well as the leadership of the PDP, accusing the former vice president of sending minions to him to appease him after his loss of the presidential running

mate position to Governor Ifeanyi Okowa of Delta State.

Although there was peace a meeting between the two politicians some days ago, the conditions listed

by Wike before a truce reportedly included the removal of Iyorchia Ayu, as national chairman of the party.

“All of us knew Atiku before him. Austin Opara had been in the House of Representatives since 1999.

He was the deputy speaker when Atiku was Vice-President. At that time Wike was struggling to be local government chairman. So, if Austin Opara has to take permission from him today to go and see Atiku, then something is wrong,” he argued.

He maintained that no single individual was in charge of Rivers State votes, stressing that Wike was hatching plans to rig elections in the South-south state.

Maeba further stated that he was removed as the Chairman of Elechi Amadi Polytechnic, recently because of his closeness to Atiku, describing it as a humiliation.

“If you stop us from working for Atiku, that is the height of anti-party activities. I stand to be corrected.

This is the middle of our campaign and you line up Bola Tinubu’s men to commission projects in your state.

“Why is he lining up Tinubu’s men? After the commissioning, they go inside to talk. What are they talking about. In the middle of our campaign he’s highlighting the APC and Tinubu above our own candidate. I don’t know what you call that,” he maintained.

Ondo Assembly Declares Seats of Two Lawmakers Vacant Fidelis David in Akure The Ondo State House of Assembly on Tuesday declared the seats of lawmakers vacant over alleged anti-party activities.

They include the lawmaker representing Ilaje State constituency II, Mrs Favour Tomomewo and her counterpart representing the Ese-Odo constituency, Mr Success Torhukerhijo.

The parliament, at plenary, presided over by the Speaker, Bamidele Oleyelogun, directed the Independent Electoral Commission to conduct a by-election within 90 days for their constituencies.

According to the speaker, the decision followed a letter from

the Chairman of All Progressives Congress (APC) in the state, Engr Ade Adetimehin, to declare their seats vacant as the duo were alleged to have fully participated in the activities of another Party, PDP during the last gubernatorial election and Assembly primaries in the state.

Oleyelogun said that based on the APC's letter and the house having acted per the section 109(1)and (g) of the 1999 constitution as amended, the house was declaring their seats vacant while a letter should be written to INEC to conduct a by-election into the seats within 90 days.

He directed that their benefits and entitlements be stopped and all government properties in their

possession returned. The speaker affirmed that there was no crisis or division from ward to the national level of APC to warrant their actions.

Meanwhile, a bill for a law establishing Multi-Door Court and other matters connected thereto, 2022, has been passed. Its passage followed the submission of a report by the House Committee on Judiciary for consideration and approval at a plenary.

Presenting the report, the committee said the establishment of Ondo State Multi-Door Court House is long overdue and a welcome development by all stakeholders.

According to the report, the bill, if passed into law, will further enhance easy access to justice by providing

an alternative mechanism for settlement of litigation in the resolution of disputes in the state and also minimise frustration and delays in justice delivery by providing a standard legal framework for the fair and efficient settlement of the dispute through alternative dispute resolution.

In the committee's observation, the bill will promote the growth and effective functioning of the Justice system in the state through alternative dispute resolution methods.

The Majority Leader, Oluwole Ogunmolasuyi, then moved the motion for the bills to be passed into law and was seconded by the lawmaker representing Akure South constituency II, Sunday Olajide.

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Acting Group Politics Editor DEJI ELUMOYE Email: deji.elumoye@thisdaylive.com

08033025611 SMS ONLY

For Amosun, Abiodun, the Gloves are Off Former Governor of Ogun State, Senator Ibikunle Amosun’s move to oppose the re-election of his successor, Prince Dapo Abiodun, in 2023 has pitted him against other stakeholders of the All Progressives Congress in the Gateway State. James Sowole reports

Abiodun

T

he political enemity between the immediate past Governor of Ogun State, Senator Ibikunle Amosun and his successor, Prince Dapo Abiodun, which started ahead of the 2019 election, has refused to abate, despite being members of the same party, the All Progressives Congress (APC).

The rivalry has become confrontational, as the duo, engaged each other in war of words, that is gradually heating up the polity in the Gateway State.

Though, Amosun and Abiodun, had been at daggers drawn since the commencement early this year of the process for the Congresses of the APC, when delegates, that determined the fate of all aspirants of the party for the 2023 Election were elected, the matter, was not too direct, until last Friday when the Senator emphatically, declared that he is not in support of the current administration in the state stating that all efforts must be made to vote the government out of power.

The former governor while speaking after receiving an award from Abeokuta Club to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the club said the 2019 governorship election in the state was rigged to favour the incumbent, called on his supporters to be on the look out for the next line of action.

He said, “I am elated to have heard people saying that when we were there, we have done the works of four, five, past governors combined, we are happy that people appreciated the little we have done, You know clearly my stand on this matter, just wait very soon, you will hear from us, my stand is where I stand, I am not in support of this administration, he must be removed”.

The former governor while speaking on the 2019 governorship election for the first time after leaving office, stated that he supported candidate of Allied Peoples Movement, Hon AbdulKabir Akinlade, who won the election but was rigged in favour of Abiodun.

According to him: “They rigged, rigged, and ended up with 19,000. Some of them came to apologise to me. I can’t be mentioning names.

We won that election. But I have moved on. We did our work. We will continue to do what we have to do. God will be with all of us.”

Like a wildfire during harmattan, the comments of Amosun, drew out leaders and members of the APC both within and outside the state, for verbal war against the former governor.

The first salvo, was fired by the State APC, via a statement by the Publicity Secretary, Tunde Oladunjoye, who said the outburst, was an indication that the former governor is “suffering from political amnesia and out-of-office loneliness.”

The party, in a release issued in Abeokuta, described, Amosun’s claim as “an after lunch belching of a man suffering from political amnesia and loneliness.”

The statement reads: “The attention of our party has been drawn to a statement report-

Amosun

edly credited to the immediate past governor of Ogun State and the Chief Promoter of the Allied Peoples Movement (APM), Senator Ibikunle Amosun.

“The quoted statement was not only an insult to the psyche of the people of Ogun State but also a sad indication that the former governor is yet to purge himself of extreme arrogance and intolerance that were his trademarks, which earned him suspension from our party, even as a sitting governor. The APC, therefore, calls on the general public, and particularly our esteemed members, to pity and pray for the former governor as he obviously suffers from political amnesia, loneliness and absolute lack of touch with reality.

“There is absolute no truth in the specious utterance of the former governor, who is obviously still sulking from the electoral defeat of his surrogate party in 2019. Our party and candidate not only won fair and square, the victory of Prince Dapo Abiodun was also attested to by his co-contestants, many of whom later joined APC and are still in APC. “Never in the history of governorship elections in Ogun State have candidates of other parties so instantaneously congratulated and visited the Governor-elect, as it happened in the case of Governor DapoAbiodun, whose Iperu country home hosted candidates and leaders of other parties, including late Prince Buruji Kashamu, Otunba Rotimi Paseda, Mr. Gboyega Nasiru Isiaka (GNI), and Otunba Gbenga Daniel, among others.

“It is on record that many of the then opposition figures like former Deputy Governor of Ogun State, Alhaja Salmat Badru; the deputy

governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Mr. Rueben Abati, GNI and others served in the Economic Transition Committee chaired by Mr. Tunde Lemo, which was set up by Prince Dapo Abiodun immediately after the elections.

“As provided for in a democracy, the candidate of the Allied Peoples Movement challenged the results of the election at the Governorship Election Petition Tribunal in Abeokuta and lost.

His ramshackle petition was dismissed.

While confirming the victory of Abiodun at the Saturday, March 9, 2019 election, the tribunal led by Justice Yusuf Halilu, in its judgment, stated that: “This petition does not only fail, it is destined to fail, it fails and hereby dismissed.”

“Not satisfied, the APM and its candidate went on appeal at the Court of Appeal, Ibadan and later at the Supreme Court where they also lost. It is remarkable that in all the petition and court cases, the judgements were unanimously passed without any dissenting voice from the Tribunal members and the judges at the Court of Appeal and Supreme Court.

“If the APM was as popular as the former Governor wants us to believe, he would have contested his senatorial election on the platform of the APM and not on the platform of the APC. “We recollect vividly that it took the support of Prince Dapo Abiodun and the open appeal of our father and leader, Chief Olusegun Osoba, who pleaded during his visits to all the wards in Ogun Central Senatorial District that our members should consider the interest of the party by voting for Amosun.”

Confronting Amosun on the comments, Abiodun, who said he would not be distracted by self-delusional person, noted that “Ogun State is not anybody’s father’s inheritance”.

The incumbent governor, said he would rather focus on his mandate and not join issues with anyone who wants to play God but enjoined the people of the state to ignore Amosun.

Abiodun said, “I will not be distracted by any person or persons who have a problem with self delusion. I will not be distracted by any person who does not appreciate that Ogun State is not anybody’s father’s inheritance. We are all

If indeed election riggers confessed to Amosun and he refused to make such information known to the police, then he must be treated as an accessory after the fact and charged along with the felons that he referred to during his Abeokuta speech last Friday. The riggers must be disclosed. Consequently, the police must without hesitation invite him for questioning, in order to avert possible anarchy in Ogun State and save our democracy from crisis. And where he cannot substantiate the allegation, he must be brought to justice

stakeholders in this commonwealth called Ogun State. I am not going to join issues with anyone that wants to play God; I will leave them to God. God can deal with whoever is challenging His authority and wanted to play God. “All I can say is that what we stand for in Ogun State is administration that is committed to providing purposeful leadership and purposeful infrastructural development across the length and breadth of the state” Sharing the position of Abiodun, Chairman of the Senate Committee on Finance, Solomon Adeola, said Amosun, cannot play God in the state’s politics.

Adeola, a ranking Senator from Lagos West who is a native of Ogun state, made the remark in a statement, made available to journalists.

The Senator, popularly called Yayi said: ”My attention has been drawn to reports credited to a statement made at the 50th anniversary of Abeokuta Club by Senator Ibikunle Amosun, erstwhile governor of Ogun State and APC senator representing Ogun Central, that the 2019 General Election that saw the emergence of Prince Dapo Abiodun as the Ogun State Governor was rigged and he is going to work against Prince Abiodun’s re-election in 2023 ”These invidious utterances would have been left unanswered as yet another ranting from a personality imbued with a sense of over bloated ego of messianic proportion in Ogun State politics. However, with 2023 general election around the corner, it is appropriate to join issues with a supposed APC member with a record of serial anti-party and anti-people tendencies aping to play God in the affairs of Ogun State ”As a stakeholder in APC, Ogun State and the administration of Prince Abiodun, I state with all emphasis that Senator Amosun shamefully dropped the ball in his assertion that the 2019 electoral victory of Prince Abiodun was rigged, even after the said election was judicially validated right up to the highest court of the land ”The revolt of the people of Ogun State against this attempt to play God by a mere mortal was what saw to the surprise emergence of Prince Abiodun as the arrow head of a democratic struggle fully supported by genuine democrats in Ogun State. Our party, the APC, saw through the anti-democratic tendencies of their then governor and rightly threw their weight behind the people of Ogun State with Prince Abiodun emerging as the governor with majority votes against Senator Amosun’s acolyte, Adekunle Akinlade, foisted on misguided APC members in the race under another party, the Allied Peoples Movement (APM). ”To the glory of God, Prince Abiodun has discharged and is discharging his role as governor creditably to all sections of the state, in contrast to the sectional administration of Amosun in Ogun State. He is completing projects abandoned

by Senator Amosun, while starting new ones across the three senatorial districts of the state.

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

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Photo Editor Abiodun Ajala Email abiodun.ajala@thisdaylive.com

L-R: Deputy Executive Secretary, UBEC, Dr Isiaka Kolawole; Chairman, SUBEB, Prof Shehu AbdulRaheem Adaramaja and Permanent Member, SUBEB, Alhaji Ibrahim Moshood; during UBEC’s monitoring visit to Model Smart School, Adeta Ilorin..recently

Osahon Woghiren(left) and Mr Nosa Edo-Osagie( middle) both from Nigeria with Club officers of the Rotary Club of Arlington, Texas USA during the annual Rotary International Convention in Houston Texas, USA... recently

L–R: Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Dr. Mohammad Mahmood Abubakar; Permanent Secretary of the ministry, Dr. Ernest Umakhihie and the Director, Federal Department of Agriculture, Abdullahi Garba Abubakar during the State House Ministerial briefing held at the Presidential Villa, Abuja … recently PHOTO: GODWIN OMOIGUI

L-R: Group Managing Director of Access Bank Plc, Mr. Roosevelt Ogbonna; Executive Vice-Chairman of Techno Oil Ltd, Nkechi Obi and CEO, Cydene Energy, Skalid Obi, during the product launch of Cydene Express mobile app in Lagos... recently

L-R: Director-General, Securities and Exchange Commission, Mr Lamido Yuguda and INEC Chairman Prof Mahmood Yakubu, during the 2022 Election Security Management Workshop in Abuja…recently

C0-chair, Nigeria Development Groups (NDPG), Chris Pycroft (left)and Director International Co-operation (FMFBNP), Dr. Lanre Aderanye, during the launch of the EU- Support to implement the National Economic Policies projects (SINEP) in Abuja..recently PHOTO: AYO AJAYI

L-R: Special Advisers, Barr. Femi Martins (Tourism, Arts and Culture); Engr. Okanlawon Olowu (Commerce and Industries); Princess Aderemi Adebowale (Office of Civic Engagement); Hon. Sola Giwa (Transportation); APC Lagos Chairman, Hon. Cornelius Ojelabi; Lagos State Deputy Governor, Dr. Obafemi Hamzat; Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu; Secretary to the State Government (SSG), Mrs. Folashade Jaji; others Special Advisers, Mrs. Toke Benson-Awoyinka (Housing); Dr. Olajide Babatunde (E-GIS and Planning Matters) and Mr. Robert Bolaji (Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs) during the swearing of seven new cabinet members at the Lagos House, Alausa, Ikeja…recently

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Wednesday August 10, 2022 Vol 27. No 9982

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opinion@thisdaylive.com

www.thisdaylive.com

MEMORIALISING IBRAHIM ATTAHIRU SAMUEL ARUWAN pays tribute to Ibrahim Attahiru, a consummate officer and gentleman

See page 21 THE MAFIA PARADIGM The Mafia model is an intrusion into normalcy, and should not be encouraged, writes ABIODUN KOMOLAFE

See page 21

EDITORIAL THE SEIZURE OF PANGOLIN SCALES

See page 22

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CUI JIANCHUN, the Chinese ambassador to Nigeria reflects on the relationship between his country and our continent

AFRICAN, CHINA AND ENDURING FRIENDSHIP At the Eighth Ministerial Conference of the FOCAC last year, President Xi Jinping summed up the spirit of ChinaAfrica friendship and cooperation. In the past few decades, we have upheld this spirit and achieved a large number of remarkable and tangible outcomes in China-Africa development cooperation, EHQHÀWLQJ WKH ZHOO EHLQJ RI SHRSOH 7KLV \HDU LV WKH ÀUVW IRU WKH LPSOHPHQWDWLRQ RI the outcomes of the FOCAC meetings. &KLQD DQG $IULFD KDYH VWHSSHG XS HͿRUWV to implement the outcomes of the meetings despite the negative impact of the external economic situation and the pandemic. ,Q WKH ÀUVW ÀYH PRQWKV RI WKLV \HDU China’s imports from Africa increased by nearly 20 percent year on year.

Many China-Africa cooperation projects are making steady progress, including China-Africa joint centers for modern agrotechnology exchange, demonstration and training, ‘green lanes’ for African agricultural exports to China, online shopping festivals featuring quality African products, ‘Future of Africa - a project for China-Africa cooperation on vocational education’, ‘100 Companies in 1,000 Villages’ - a public welfare activity of Chinese enterprises in Africa for poverty alleviation, as well as digital education, regional intelligence centers, VXSHUFRPSXWLQJ FHQWHUV ÀEHU EDFNERQH networks and other projects implemented

by Chinese technology companies in Africa, demonstrating the vitality of China-Africa cooperation.

Infrastructure is one of the bottlenecks in Africa’s development. China has been doing its utmost to work with African countries to improve local infrastructure and contribute to Africa’s self-driven sustainable development. Since the establishment of the FOCAC, Chinese companies have built over 10,000 kilometers of railway, up to 100,000 kilometers of roads, nearly 1,000 bridges and almost 100 ports in Africa, and many hospitals and schools as well. Some forces have been denigrating China-Africa cooperation and peddling what they call “quality infrastructure”. What counts as quality infrastructure? Who is truly committed to the well-being of African SHRSOH" 7KH SHRSOH RI $IULFD NQRZ EHWWHU than anyone else. China always sees Africa as a continent with great potential for international cooperation. All countries should respect Africa’s sovereignty and listen to Africa’s voice, and on that basis, use their respective strengths to deliver WDQJLEOH EHQHÀWV WR WKH $IULFDQ SHRSOH instead of just selling empty checks.

According to data from the World Bank, of the $696 billion external debt of 49 African governments, about three quarters is owed to multilateral institutions and non-Chinese private creditors. Debt Justice

found that for the 24 African countries with the highest debt burdens, the median share of their external debt payments from 2022 to 2028 to non-Chinese private creditors and multilateral creditors is projected to be 32% and 35% respectively.

7KH DYHUDJH LQWHUHVW UDWH RQ ORDQV IURP Western private lenders is almost twice that of Chinese lenders.

7KHVH IDFWV DQG GDWD VKRZ WKDW WKH so-called “Chinese debt trap” is pure disinformation and a narrative trap created by those who do not hope to see ChinaAfrica cooperation pick up speed. As Debt Justice’s head of policy said, “Western leaders blame China for debt crises in $IULFD EXW WKLV LV D GLVWUDFWLRQ 7KH WUXWK is their own banks, asset managers and oil traders are far more responsible”.

We call on developed countries, their SULYDWH OHQGHUV DQG PXOWLODWHUDO ÀQDQFLDO institutions to take more robust actions to give developing countries funding support and relieve their debt burden, so that the world economy will achieve inclusive and VXVWDLQDEOH GHYHORSPHQW %XW ÀUVW WKLQJ ÀUVW VRPH GHYHORSHG FRXQWULHV PXVW VWRS slandering China-Africa cooperation.

China continues to make WUHPHQGRXV SURJUHVV LQ WKH ÀHOG RI KXPDQ ULJKWV $FFRUGLQJ WR ÀJXUHV available, between 1990 and the end of 2016, there were several thousand incidents of violent and terrorist attacks in Xinjiang, killing large numbers of innocent SHRSOH DQG KXQGUHGV RI SROLFH R΀FHUV and causing immeasurable property damage. In response to such real threats, ;LQMLDQJ KDV DFWHG UHVROXWHO\ WR ÀJKW terrorism and extremism in accordance with law. At the same time, a series of supporting measures have been taken, like improving people’s livelihoods, raising public awareness about law, DQG RͿHULQJ KHOS WKURXJK YRFDWLRQDO HGXFDWLRQ DQG WUDLQLQJ FHQWHUV 7KH WUHQG of frequent terrorist activities has thus EHHQ HͿHFWLYHO\ FXUEHG 7KHUH KDV EHHQ no violent act of terrorism in Xinjiang IRU ÀYH FRQVHFXWLYH \HDUV DQG PRUH 7KH safety and security of people of all ethnic JURXSV KDYH EHHQ HͿHFWLYHO\ SURWHFWHG I am aware that some Nigerians have IUHTXHQWO\ DVNHG TXHVWLRQV DERXW 7DLZDQ 7KH DQVZHU LV VLPSOH 7KHUH LV RQO\ RQH &KLQD LQ WKH ZRUOG 7KH JRYHUQPHQW of the People’s Republic of China is the sole legal government representing the ZKROH RI &KLQD 7DLZDQ LV DQ LQDOLHQDEOH SDUW RI &KLQD·V WHUULWRU\ 7KH 7DLZDQ region’s participation in the activities of international organizations, must be handled in accordance with the one-China principle. Since the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) came to power, it has placed its political agenda over the well-being of the SHRSOH LQ WKH 7DLZDQ UHJLRQ REVWLQDWHO\ adhered to the separatist position of

´7DLZDQ LQGHSHQGHQFHµ DQG UHIXVHG WR admit the 1992 Consensus embodying the RQH &KLQD SULQFLSOH 7KH '33 DXWKRULWLHV should know that the attempt to seek WKH LQGHSHQGHQFH RI 7DLZDQ E\ WDNLQJ advantage of the pandemic will lead nowhere.

7KH SRVLWLRQ RI WKH &KLQHVH *RYHUQPHQW DQG SHRSOH RQ WKH 7DLZDQ TXHVWLRQ KDYH EHHQ FRQVLVWHQW 7R UHVROXWHO\ VDIHJXDUG the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the country represents the unbending will of the more than 1.4 billion Chinese people.

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Meanwhile, China and Nigeria are partners worthy of mutual dependence.

Chinese always stress the need for their country and Nigeria to harness all friendly activities, to deepen diplomatic relations between the two countries.

China and Nigeria must enhance our relations by political, commercial, cultural activities. China and Nigeria maintain constructive political relations, promoting the development of China-Nigeria VWUDWHJLF SDUWQHUVKLS 7KH WZR FRXQWULHV are strengthening an intergovernmental committee led by the foreign ministers RI WKH WZR FRXQWULHV 7KLV FRPPLWWHH ZLOO coordinate the promotion of mutually EHQHÀFLDO FRRSHUDWLRQ EHWZHHQ WKH WZR FRXQWULHV LQ YDULRXV ÀHOGV WR SURPRWH China’s new development pattern and Nigeria’s new national development plan; to be more closely integrated and deepened; to jointly build the “Belt and Road” cooperation; to vigorously promote the construction of key projects to help the development of Nigeria’s industrialization; to continue to expand the space for cooperation to create new highlights of the digital economy and green economy; to carry out in-depth military security cooperation to improve Nigeria’s ability to maintain national VHFXULW\ WR FROODERUDWH RQ UHJLRQDO DͿDLUV practice the concept of multilateralism, and safeguard the common interests of developing countries.

Nigeria is Africa’s largest economy and PRVW SRSXORXV FRXQWU\ ZLWK VLJQLÀFDQW LQWHUQDWLRQDO DQG UHJLRQDO LQÁXHQFH China is the largest developing country, and it is in the common interests of the two countries and the two peoples to strengthen SUDFWLFDO FRRSHUDWLRQ LQ YDULRXV ÀHOGV 7KH cooperation between China and Nigeria will surely push forward the development of China-Nigeria strategic partnership and inject new impetus into deepening ChinaAfrica friendly cooperation.

CUI, the Chinese ambassador to Nigeria writes from Abuja

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T H I S D AY WEDNESDAY AUGUST 10, 2022

SAMUEL ARUWAN pays tribute to Ibrahim Attahiru, a consummate officer and gentleman

MEMORIALISING IBRAHIM ATTAHIRU “One who is loved, never dies.”

- C.S. Lewis Certain people we meet in the course of our lives become so important to our reality, that permanent separation from them is something the mind can never fully comprehend. The duration of meeting may QRW EH ORQJ LW LV WKH LQWHQVLW\ DQG LPSDFW that linger in the memory.

'HDWK LV DQ LQHYLWDEOH HQG EXW VRPH people are simply larger than life, or should I say, death. Many times, it is easier to forget that they are no longer with us. We visualize their expressions, remember their

presence, and hear their voices clearly in our heads as we recall conversations. For those who were known to the wider society, their work remains as a landmark to their lives, however short. The happiness of a memory quickly mixes with the sad recollection of absence.

It is with such mixed feelings, but mostly with a sense of great honour, that I remember, on what would have been Lt. General Ibrahim Attahiru’s 56th birthday, a man of immense character, discipline, VHOÁHVV VHUYLFH DQG GHGLFDWLRQ DERYH DQG beyond the call of duty. With a sense of supreme privilege and humility, I pay a post-humous birthday tribute to Attahiru, ZKR ZDV LQ DOO UDPLÀFDWLRQV D FRQVXPPDWH R΀FHU DQG D JHQWOHPDQ DQG WUXO\ D VROGLHU·V soldier.

As we commemorate him today, it would not be out of place to remember him as a nation builder and a true patriot in his own right, who served his country impeccably in a stellar military career through which he rose admirably to become the 25th Chief of $UP\ 6WDͿ ,W LV LQ KLV ÀQDO UROH WKDW PDQ\ LQFOXGLQJ myself - will most potently remember *HQHUDO $WWDKLUX 8SRQ KLV VXGGHQ DQG tragic demise in May last year, I recalled his reassuring ebullient presence, underneath which he carried the determination, discipline, and professionalism of a born VROGLHU , UHÁHFWHG RQ KLV DWWHQWLYHQHVV DQG HQWKXVLDVP LQ RXU ÀJKW DJDLQVW EDQGLWU\ terrorism, and general insecurity in our state, and in the region at large. I remembered then, as I do now, his crystal-clear vision DQG SDVVLRQ IRU WKH 1LJHULDQ $UP\ That is the General Ibrahim Attahiru with whom I was blessed to interact. I also know that he is fondly remembered within military circles as a leader who reached out to the men under his command, and even to all who came under his care, and he looked out for them.

In contemplating the lives of great Generals, we wonder if the uniform makes WKH PDQ RU LI LW LV WKH PDQ ZKR ÀOOV XS WKH uniform he wears. Beyond all that General Attahiru was in his professional sphere

and in the limelight, we must not fail to remember him simply as a human being, as a father, as a man who lived by a creed of openness and accessibility. At the launch of the General Ibrahim Attahiru Foundation earlier this year, we heard about the man behind the uniform, Ibrahim Attahiru, the family man, the loving husband who never failed to put a smile on the face of his wife Fati. We learned of the doting and devoted father to Aisha Farrah, Zainab Maliha and Fatima Iman, who made it a priority to spend quality time with his three lovely daughters, encouraging them in their faith, in their academics, guiding them in their social lives and always letting them know that he was proud of them. +LV MRE DQG LWV DWWHQGDQW GHPDQGV notwithstanding, he made time to be a father and a friend to his daughters, and through his charm and courage, mentored them. These are the actions that will forever remain priceless in the lives of his wife and FKLOGUHQ DQG WKH\ UHÁHFW WKH GHGLFDWLRQ with which General Attahiru conducted himself even outside the spotlight.

I will always be grateful for the privilege I KDG WR LQWHUDFW ZLWK KLP DOEHLW EULHÁ\ 'XULQJ our engagements, he demonstrated to me quite clearly the power of hope, through his optimism, energy, and cooperative disposition. For me, and for others involved in security management, our highest tribute to General Attahiru, would be to walk in his footsteps, and to throw ourselves with XQDOOR\HG FRPPLWPHQW DW WKH ÀJKW ZKLFK remains before us.

The General Ibrahim Attahiru Foundation which was launched at the one-year memorial of his demise, will seek to cement and transmit the legacy of the PDQ DQG WKH YLUWXHV ZKLFK KH W\SLÀHG WKH values of strength, dignity, commitment to excellence, leadership, tenacity, openness, accessibility, mentorship, and fatherhood.

It is upon such values that nations are built. It is these virtues which have led to so many honouring him today, on the 56th anniversary of his birth, to celebrate what he stood for in his life, and indeed the way KH UHSUHVHQWHG WKH 1LJHULDQ $UP\ ZLWK distinction for nearly 35 years.

Today, once again, it is right that we celebrate the legacy of a hero, as we also continue to immortalize his love for service, knowledge and impact. It is a mark of KRQRXU DQG D WULEXWH WR KLV PHPRU\ +H is no longer with us, but he lives on in the TXDOLW\ RI OLIH WKDW KH OLYHG D OLIH FXW VKRUW just shy of 55 years on this earth. We are saddened at the fact of his absence, but we are reminded by so many aspects of his legacy, that truly, he lived.

And so today we salute the memory of a patriot, and (I am privileged to say) a companion and ally, who would have turned 56. We celebrate with honour, the memory of a mentor, a brother, a father, a husband. We commemorate the birth, the life and the times of a quintessential soldier, a true General, who exited the arena suddenly, in the middle of a war, and more so, in the line of duty.

In remembering him on the day of his birth, we ensure that the torch of his legacy and ideals will continue to burn brightly, to inspire and lead, as he did.

For truly, one who is loved, never dies.

Aruwan is Commissioner of Internal Security and +RPH $ͿDLUV .DGXQD 6WDWH

The Mafia model is an intrusion into normalcy, and should not be encouraged, writes ABIODUN KOMOLAFE

THE MAFIA PARADIGM Bureaucracy is a systemic form of administration. Since there is a universally acceptable standard benchmark, a deviation from the ideal type reveals the unintended fault lines and the extent to which the system can no longer function as a bureaucratic administration, as expected. A variation in the ideal structure of a bureaucracy, anywhere, is DQ DEHUUDWLRQ DQG LW JHQHUDWHV RU SURGXFHV contaminated contents and a distorted organisation. ,Q D EXUHDXFUDF\ WKH 0DÀD SDUDGLJP WKDW often emerges in a political system suggests a variation or an adulterated variant of EXUHDXFUDF\ WKRXJK D SRZHUIXO RQH 8VXDOO\ this paradigmatic shift from the ideal type is motivated by the leadership structure of the executive arm of government and the subtle intervention of the political class. Once the inbuilt systemic check of a bureaucracy fails, the corrupt version takes roots and gains prominence.

There are contending forces that will want to hijack the administration of any political system. It only depends on the administrative FRPSHWHQFH RI ZKRVRHYHU SHUVRQLÀHV WKH leadership of the government. More often than not, what one gets is that the established structure of the leadership is rubbished for D VWUDQJH DQG GLͿHUHQW VWUXFWXUH WR EHFRPH XQR΀FLDOO\ DXWKHQWLF DQG UXQQLQJ ZLWKLQ WKH R΀FLDOO\ UHFRJQLVHG V\VWHP +RZHYHU DV ORQJ DV WKH FRQVHQVXV SURÀOH RI WKH SROLWLFDO class is assured, the corrupt system will subsist. This is one of the chief reasons the ÀJKW DJDLQVW FRUUXSWLRQ LQ 1LJHULD LV RQO\ REVHUYHG LQ R΀FLDO FHUHPRQLHV DQG PHUH verbal pronouncements. ,Q KLV ERRN ¶0DÀD 'HPRFUDF\ +RZ 2XU Republic Became a Mob Racket’, Michael )UDQ]HVH GHVFULEHV $PHULFDQ 0DÀD VWRU\ as a gangster lifestyle in which the “pursuit of power overshadows even the desire for a dollar, and self-interest outweighs the greater JRRG µ +H OLNHQHG LW WR D JRYHUQPHQW WKDW “is run as if it’s a thing of theirs and not the people’s, a syndicate, a racket.” Founded on greed, lies and corruption, the mindset is characterised by arrogance even as the tactics GR QRW GHWUDFW VLJQLÀFDQWO\ IURP LQWLPLGDWLRQ DQG GHFHSWLRQ :KHQ WKH 0DÀRVL DUH DW work, the sanctity and integrity of public administration is lost. They are the harbingers of unimaginable evil, if allowed to keep festering. Well, a striking characteristic of those UXQQLQJ WKH 0DÀD V\VWHP LV WKDW WKH\ DOZD\V LGHQWLI\ WKHPVHOYHV DV EHLQJ VXSHULRU DQG DV people with unlimited access to the leadership RI WKH JRYHUQPHQW 6LQFH 0DÀRVL WHQG WR EH more Catholic than the Pope, they will always admire the vicar of Bray, not minding whether he is popish or protestant.

2QH RI WKH ÀUVW WKLQJV WKH 0DÀD VWUXFWXUH does to thrive is cripple the normal and H΀FLHQW V\VWHP 2QFH WKDW LV GRQH ZKDW comes thereafter is no longer a bureaucracy.

Public administration is already jaundiced and one can expect all kinds of corruption to follow. This is possible because the existing standard would have been messed up and subsumed under the corrupt standard. There DQG WKHQ ZKDWHYHU WKH 0DÀRVR GHÀQHV DV the standard becomes the standard. The people who are planning development can no longer execute developmental plans based on already-known doctrines because bureaucracy has a pattern and its ambiguity FDQ EH GHFLSKHUHG %XW ZLWK WKH 0DÀD D ULQJ is run around a leader to the extent that the victim will no longer have a mind of his own.

Thenceforth, it is ‘anything goes!’

Vitalized by the ingenious manipulation RI DQ LGHQWLÀDEOH FDEDO WKH SKLORVRSK\ of what works is what makes it to be GLͿHUHQW 7KH XQIRUWXQDWH SDUW LV WKDW WKH victim-leader at times thinks that such a structure is to be trusted. Like a rat race, SHRSOH ZRXOG UDWKHU JR WKURXJK WKH 0DÀD than the proper bureaucracy because it seemingly has the listening ear of the government. They may grumble, but

QR FLYLO VHUYDQW ZLOO FRPSODLQ R΀FLDOO\ and that’s the tragedy of that system!

So, oftentimes, the bureaucratic sector of the government adapts, and embraces the newly-introduced corruption-laden modalities of public administration.

Ordinarily, the people become victims RI WKH 0DÀD EHFDXVH LW VHHPV WR EH PRUH HͿHFWLYH 7KH 0DÀD SDUDGLJP LV QRWDEO\ DQ intrusion into normalcy, which should not be encouraged. Since this is the reality of our world, administrators should watch out for it. It evolves in a very subtle manner until it ultimately truncates the bureaucracy. It is so powerful that it can destroy governments. Once it is institutionalized, it becomes something else. Reckless implementation of the DJJUHJDWHG LQWHUHVWV RI WKH 0DÀRVR will make the government to become LQHͿHFWLYH DQG XQUHVSRQVLYH WR WKH people’s political interests and demands, which triggers low morale on the part of the masses, and lack of enthusiasm in the government. Once it becomes prominent, 0DÀD GHYHORSV D OLIH RI LWV RZQ DQG LW·V GL΀FXOW WR FRQWURO All in the name of politics, people will allow all kinds of unethical practices which, if care is not taken, can lead to the ruination of public administration simply because it will no longer follow DOUHDG\ NQRZQ SDWWHUQ RIWHQWLPHV with ‘political exigencies’ as the readilydeployed excuse. With this, things are made to happen without due diligence or strict observance of the bureaucratic standards. Consequently, as it were, public administration is rigged from the source.

Everything will become amoebic! In this situation, no one can really say ‘this is how to move’ because the fortunes of such a government are at the whims and FDSULFHV RI WKH 0DÀD 8QIRUWXQDWHO\ WKH whims and caprices of a human being are indeterminable. They can only be decided by whatever constitutes the interests of the operators.

Komolafe writes from Ijebu-Jesa, Osun State (ijebujesa@yahoo.co.uk)

22 4

T H I S D AY

WEDNESDAY AUGUST 10, 2022

EDITORIAL

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

THE SEIZURE OF PANGOLIN SCALES The authorities could do more to stem illegal trade in wildlife

T

depleting as more bags of Pangolin scales are traded he seizure of 397.5kg of Pangolin scales everywhere and even in open markets in Nigeria where from smugglers by the Nigeria Customs they are sold as bushmeat.

Service (NCS) in collaboration with Wildlife 'HVSLWH EHLQJ R΀FLDOO\ OLVWHG DV HQGDQJHUHG LQ Justice Commission (WJC) further reinforces Nigeria, pangolins are still hunted in areas where Nigeria’s notoriety as a country where deforestation has fragmented and reduced their forest illicit wildlife trade thrives. It is particularly habitat. Records from a recent study show that Nigeriaembarrassing that this seizure is the fourth major illegal linked Pangolin seizures in the last decade alone amount wildlife arrest in one year resulting from the strategic to at least about 800,000. A large number of Pangolins are partnership between the NCS, WJC and other foreign NLOOHG DQG WUD΀FNHG HYHU\ \HDU IRU WKHLU VFDOHV ZKLFK governments.

DUH XVHG LQ WUDGLWLRQDO $VLDQ PHGLFLQH 6SHFLÀFDOO\ WKHLU Among the suspects arrested in connection with the VFDOHV DUH ERLOHG RͿ WKHLU ERGLHV IRU XVH LQ WUDGLWLRQDO seizure were three Vietnamese. The three suspects were medicine; for their meat, which is a high-end delicacy in sourcing for more Pangolin scales in Nigeria when Vietnam and in China; and they were intercepted. for their blood, which is seen Preliminary investigations as a healing tonic. revealed that the Vietnam With global trends nationals are high-ranking One single Pangolin can consume around 70 million ants and indicating an increasing members of a major number of seizures and organised crime group termites per year. Pangolins save humanity huge amounts of only an estimated 50,000 LQYROYHG LQ WKH WUD΀FNLQJ Pangolins still in existence, money annually in pest destruction of Ivory, Pangolin scales, protection of this species is Rhino horns and Lion all the more important. This bones from Mozambique is also the reason for the and South Africa through T H I S D AY crackdown, however feeble, by the Nigerian government Nigeria to Vietnam.

EDITOR SHAKA MOMODU agencies that has led to arrests and seizures recorded so The primary destinations for Pangolin scales and meat DEPUTY EDITORS WALE OLALEYE, OBINNA CHIMA far. But more needs to be done by the authorities to stop are China and to a lesser extent, Vietnam. Criminals MANAGING DIRECTOR ENIOLA BELLO this illicit trade in the nation’s precious wildlife, and the frequently use Thailand as a transit point in the illegal DEPUTY MANAGING DIRECTOR ISRAEL IWEGBU use of Nigeria as a hub by world’s crime syndicates.

CHAIRMAN EDITORIAL BOARD OLUSEGUN ADENIYI WUDGH (LJKW GLͿHUHQW 3DQJROLQ VSHFLHV DUH LQ WKH ZRUOG EDITOR NATION’S CAPITAL IYOBOSA UWUGIAREN Nigerian conservationists recommend community with four in Africa, including in Nigeria. Thailand is MANAGING EDITOR BOLAJI ADEBIYI HGXFDWLRQ DQG HPSRZHUPHQW RI ORFDOV LQ WKH ÀJKW home to two Pangolin species, the Sunda Pangolin THE OMBUDSMAN KAYODE KOMOLAFE against illegal trade in wildlife. Communities involved (Manis javanica) and the Chinese Pangolin (Manis in hunting of wildlife need to understand why they pentadactyla). It is illegal to trade in these species of should protect endangered wildlife species. It is also Pangolin that are listed in CITES (the Convention on recommended that this problem could be addressed T H I S D AY N E W S PA P E R S L I M I T E D International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna with the amendment of Nigeria’s existing conservation EDITOR-IN-CHIEF/CHAIRMAN NDUKA OBAIGBENA and Flora) Appendix I, the highest level of international GROUP EXECUTIVE DIRECTORS ENIOLA BELLO, KAYODE KOMOLAFE, laws and with better enforcement to discourage hunting protection.

ISRAEL IWEGBU, IJEOMA NWOGWUGWU, EMMANUEL EFENI and poaching of Pangolins and other wildlife.

Pangolins have an extremely important ecological DIVISIONAL DIRECTORS SHAKA MOMODU, PETER IWEGBU, Meanwhile, the states are shirking their responsibilities. role of regulating insect populations, particularly ants ANTHONY OGEDENGBE Many governors do not even know that it is their duty and termites. One single pangolin can consume around DEPUTY DIVISIONAL DIRECTOR OJOGUN VICTOR DANBOYI to enforce conservation laws. There are no functioning SNR. ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR ERIC OJEH 70 million ants and termites per year. Pangolins save Wildlife Departments in most states. The laws are ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR PATRICK EIMIUHI humanity huge amounts of money annually in pest destruction. Scientists believe that if pangolins go extinct, CONTROLLERS ABIMBOLA TAIWO, UCHENNA DIBIAGWU, NDUKA MOSERI outdated or moribund. Recruitment into wildlife DIRECTOR, PRINTING PRODUCTION CHUKS ONWUDINJO departments stopped a long time ago. All these must there would be a cascading impact on the environment.

TO SEND EMAIL: first name.surname@thisdaylive.com change.

Regrettably, the number of these gentle creatures is fast

Letters to the Editor Letters in response to specific publications in THISDAY should be brief (150-300 words) and straight to the point. Interested readers may send such letters along with their contact details to opinion@thisdaylive.com. We also welcome comments and opinions on topical local, national and international issues provided they are well-written and should also not be longer than (750- 1000 words). They should be sent to opinion@thisdaylive. com along with photograph, email address and phone numbers of the writer.

LETTERS

INIEBEHE EFFIONG, IMPS AND THEIR ILK In a country like Nigeria where power is mostly used in abuse, experience has shown that anything at all is possible.

So, it happened that on July 27, 2022, the bad blood brewing between Theresa Ekaette Obong, the Chief Judge of Akwa ,ERP 6WDWH DQG ,QLEHKH (΀RQJ D ODZ\HU ERLOHG RYHU GXULQJ MXGLFLDO SURFHHGLQJV LQ D GHIDPDWLRQ FDVH ÀOHG E\ (PPDQXHO Udom, the Governor of Akwa Ibom State and Leo Ekpenyong, a lawyer. :KHQ WKH GXVW VHWWOHG ,QLEHKH (΀RQJ ZDV HVFRUWHG WR WKH Ikot Ekpene Correctional Center by the order of the honourable chief judge.

As soon as the news of the popular Lagos-based lawyer hit the airwaves, accounts began to emerge and with them an unmistakable history of testy encounters between the lawyer and the chief judge.

Apparently, there had been shouting matches in court.

However, what is clear is that on the fateful day, both parties came to court prepared for each other. While the Chief Judge was said to have invited two heavily armed policemen into the court to stand guard while the proceedings were ongoing, a development the lawyer protested, the lawyer was said to have come with a battery of journalists to cover the proceedings.

Those familiar with judicial proceedings in Nigeria know that there is usually only a thin line between insubordination on the part of the lawyer, and intemperance on the part of the judge.

7KH ÀQHVW RI ODZ\HUV DQG MXGJHV NQRZ KRZ WR WUHDG WKHVH OLQHV even in the heat of judicial proceedings so as to avoid embarrassing fallouts like what happened on July 27, 2022. ,QLEHKH (΀RQJ ZDV VHQWHQFHG WR D PRQWK LQ SULVRQ *LYHQ the unique hurdles of the appeal process, and the current vacation of the Akwa Ibom State High Court, he may end up spending all that time in prison for doing nothing beyond defending his client.

The legal profession is an interesting one, perhaps, the most interesting of them all. Lawyers are called to the Bar. With time, judges are drawn from the ranks of lawyers to decide matters that come before them in the interest of justice.

As corruption has seeped like sewage into the brittle bones of Nigeria, the way and manner lawyers are recruited to become judges in Nigeria has continued to raise eyebrows with family interests and nepotism mostly directing judicial appointments.

7KXV IRU PDQ\ MXGJHV RQFH WKHLU HOHYDWLRQ LV FRQÀUPHG their allegiance is not in doubt, and it is not primarily to the constitution. With eyes gleaming with condescension, they look

with contempt on the lawyers who appear before them, beholdHQ RQO\ WR WKH SDWURQDJH RI WKRVH ZKR KHOSHG WKHP EHDW RͿ RWKer candidates for the judicial slots.

This has always been a source of friction between the bar and the bench and in spite of the widespread recognition that the bar has some really rotten eggs within its ranks, the most rotten of them all can usually call on some complicit judges to bend the rules of justice.

So, what obtains is a shockingly divided house which is usually in for a shellacking by administrations like the current one ZKLFK KDV VRXJKW WR GHÁHFW EODPH IRU LWV FDWDVWURSKLF IDLOXUHV WR lawyers and judges. ,I RQ WKH VDLG GD\ ,QLEHKH (΀RQJ ZDV LQ FRQWHPSW RI WKH court, then by all means, the court should have given him the EHQHÀW RI IDLU KHDULQJ LQ WKH LQWHUHVW RI MXVWLFH WR SUHVHUYH WKH paramountcy of the dignity of the judiciary. By all means, let all the truth fully come into the open, so that whoever is found to have overstepped their bounds would be forcefully thrust within those bounds.

Kene Obiezu, Twitter: @kenobiezu

23

T H I S D AY ˾ , AUGUST 10, 2022

FOREIGN DESK

COMPILED BY BAYO AKINLOYE

Trump Faces Criminal Investigations Amid Plans for 2024 Presidential Run United States and Japan to condemn the escalation in tensions. But Beijing insisted it was the “victim” of diplomatic bullying.

Australia has a One China policy that does not support Taiwanese independence.

Officials have said that Canberra does not back “any unilateral action on either side of the Taiwan Strait, which would change the status quo.”

As he strongly hints at another campaign for the White House in 2024, former US President Donald Trump is facing major federal and state criminal investigations into his actions in the immediate aftermath of his failed reelection campaign in 2020.

Monday’s unprecedented FBI raid at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida was the latest indication that investigators remain focused on the country’s 45th president. Reports say the investigators were seeking classified documents he may have taken with him when he left Washington last year.

The search was court-authorised and was likely sanctioned at the highest levels of the Justice Department. But details of the search warrant filed by investigators and their justification for it are not yet publicly known, nor is the name of the judge who authorised it. The White House says it was not given advance notice of the raid.

Under the Presidential Records Act of 1978, the official records of all presidents and vice presidents remain publicly owned, even after they leave office. The statute’s premise is that the papers belong to the American public, not the individuals who served as the country’s leaders..

Ukraine: Russians Trying to Dislodge Its Forces in Donetsk

Ukraine War: Explosions Rock Russian Air Base in Crimea

Powerful explosions erupted at a Russian air base in Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula on Tuesday, killing one person and wounding five others, authorities said, but the cause of the blasts was unknown.

Russia’s Defense Ministry said munitions blew up at the Saki base in the region seized by Russia in 2014, but it emphasized the installation had not been shelled.

There was no immediate comment from Ukrainian authorities, but there was widespread speculation on Ukrainian social networks that Kyiv’s forces had hit the base with long-range missiles. Sunbathers fled a nearby beach as huge clouds of smoke from the explosions rose over the horizon, while authorities sealed off the area around the base within a radius of five kilometres.

Ukraine’s forces have not attacked Crimea during Russia’s offensive, now in its sixth month, with officials in Moscow warning Ukraine that any attack on Crimea would trigger massive retaliation, including strikes on “decision-making centres” in Kyiv.

But a small-scale, makeshift drone hit the headquarters of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet in the Crimean port of Sevastopol last month, an attack blamed on Ukrainian saboteurs. Russian warplanes have used the Saki base to strike areas in Ukraine’s southern region.”

Presidential, Parliamentary Elections End Peacefully in Kenya

Polls have closed across Kenya for presidential, legislative and local elections, and it appears voting across the country has gone smoothly, despite some irregularities in the early voting hours.

Some Kenyan voters remained in line to register their votes after the polls closed across the country at 5 p.m. local time.

In some polling centres, vote counting is already underway.

Kenya recorded a 30 per cent voter turnout six hours after the polls opened, and the Kenya Election Commission said it expected a total voter turnout of about 60 per cent. At least 22 million people are eligible to vote.

The commission conducted most voter identification using the integrated election systems that help identify the voters. Some voters across the country reported biometric voter registration was not working or was taking a long time to identify voters.

The electoral agency said 238 polling stations out of 46,232 used manual registers to identify voters, allowing at least 100,000 voters to cast their ballots.

Election for two governors and four parliamentary seats was suspended because of errors printed on the ballots. The voters in two counties and four constituencies expressed their displeasure with the electoral agency order.

Seven Killed as Record Rain Hits South Korean Capital

At least seven people died in and around the South Korean capital of Seoul overnight,

authorities said on Tuesday, after torrential rain knocked out power, caused slips and left roads and subways submerged.

The southern part of Seoul received more than 100mm (3.9 inches) of rain per hour on late Monday, with some parts of the city having received 141.5mm of rain, the worst rainfall in decades, according to Korea Meteorological Administration (KMA).

The accumulated rainfall in Seoul since midnight Monday stood at 420mm as of 5 a.m. Tuesday, with more rain forecast.

In the glitzy, highly concentrated Gangnam district, some buildings and stores were flooded and without power, while cars, buses and subway stations were submerged, leaving people stranded.

“I was near Gangnam station last night when the rainfall intensified, with thunder and lightning striking every 30 seconds,” said Lee Dongha, a 27-year-old office worker in Seoul. “All of a sudden, buses, subway stations and streets were submerged, and that’s when I quickly decided to book an accommodation as I didn’t want to be left stranded, with nowhere to go.”

Police Nab Ex-Pakistan PM Khan’s Close Aide for Sedition

Pakistan police on Tuesday arrested a close associate of former Prime Minister Imran Khan for allegedly inciting army officers to mutiny.

Shahbaz Gill was “dragged” out of his vehicle and tortured before being taken into custody just outside Islamabad, the national capital, Khan’s opposition Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party alleged.

Footage aired by local television channels showed broken windowpanes of Gill’s car.

“This is an abduction not an arrest,” Khan tweeted. “Can such shameful acts take place in any democracy? Political workers treated as enemies. And all to make us accept a foreign-backed government of crooks.”

Federal Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah hours later revealed at a news conference that police personnel arrested and subsequently registered a sedition case against the opposition figure “on behalf the state.”

Gill, an American national, was charged

with “abetting mutiny or attempting to seduce a soldier, sailor or airman from his duty,” the minister said. “The accused will be presented in the court tomorrow morning, and the court will decide.”.

Serena Williams From Tennis’

Serena Williams says she is ready to step away from tennis after winning 23 Grand Slam titles, turning her focus to having another child and her business interests.

“I’m turning 41 this month, and something’s got to give,” Williams wrote in an essay released Tuesday by Vogue magazine.

Williams said she does not like the word retirement and prefers to think of this stage of her life as “evolving away from tennis, toward other things that are important to me.”

Williams is playing this week in Toronto at a hard-court tournament that leads into the US Open, the year’s last Grand Slam event, which begins in New York on August 29.

The American has won more Grand Slam singles titles in the professional era than any other woman or man. Only one player, Margaret Court, collected more, 24, although she won a portion of hers in the amateur era.

Australia Seeks a More ‘Potent’ Defense Force as Taiwan Tensions Escalate

Australia says its defence force must be “as potent as possible” as China intensifies its military drills near Taiwan.

Speaking on Tuesday, Australian Defense Minister and acting Prime Minister, Richard Marles, said Beijing’s military buildup was of “enormous” concern and shaped the region’s strategic circumstances.

Tensions have escalated since US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit last week to Taiwan, an island China claims as its own.

In response, Beijing has launched drills in the Taiwan Strait, deploying jets and warships and firing several ballistic missiles.

Marles said that China’s military activities were of “significant” concern.

At the weekend, Australia joined the

A Russian offensive is continuing toward the hub cities of Bakhmut and Avdiyivka in the eastern Donetsk region as the enemy tries to inflict “maximum losses” on Ukrainian forces, the Ukrainian Army’s General Staff said early on August 9.

It said the Russian Air Force was bombarding military facilities in the direction of Donetsk in support of artillery and other ground operations aimed at dislodging Ukrainian units from the front lines.

British intelligence warned on August 8 that Russia was using anti-personnel mines to defend and hold its defence lines in the Donbas, resulting in risks to the military and local civilian populations.

Battlefield reports from either side in the rapidly developing conflict are difficult to confirm.

But Kyiv’s military planners said their forces had repelled reconnaissance and offensive operations in a handful of settlements around Ivano-Daryivka, Bakhmut, and Zaitsevo.

They said Russian forces had withdrawn after unsuccessful pushes around Avdiyivka and Krasnohorivka.

Kyiv said two Russian warships armed with Kalibr cruise missiles are poised for battle off Ukraine’s Black Sea coast.

Meanwhile, international concern persisted over the weekend shelling of the Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant over the potential for a disaster at Europe’s largest atomic facility.

Sri Lanka Seeks Delay in Chinese Ship Visit

Sri Lanka has asked China to defer the planned visit of a Chinese satellite tracking ship, which has raised security concerns in India.

Controversy over the ship’s planned arrival close to Indian shores erupted late last month after New Delhi said that it carefully monitors developments affecting its economic and security interests regarding the Chinese ship.

Sri Lanka’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement Monday that the Yuan Wang 5 was given permission last month to dock at the port of Hambantota Thursday through August 17 for replenishment.

But “subsequently, in light of the need for further consultations,” it has asked China to postpone the visit. It did not cite a reason for doing so.

The Yuan Wang 5 is described as a research and survey vessel, according to the analytics website MarineTraffic. Security analysts say the ship is also packed with sophisticated systems to monitor satellite, rocket and missile launches.

“It is loaded with very advanced sensors that can be used for surveillance,” said defence analyst Rahul Bedi in New Delhi.

Responding to reports that Colombo has deferred the ship’s visit, Beijing’s Foreign Ministry spokesman, Wang Wenbin, said Monday, “It is completely unjustified for certain countries to cite the so-called “security concerns” to pressure Sri Lanka.”

Without mentioning India, he said that it was “morally irresponsible” to exploit Sri Lanka’s vulnerabilities when it is dealing with an economic crisis and urged “relevant parties to see China’s marine scientific research activities in a rational light and stop disrupting normal exchange between China and Sri Lanka.”

The controversy underlines the diplomatic dilemma Sri Lanka faces in balancing ties with the rival Asian giants, whose help the tiny country needs to tide over an economic crisis.

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WEDNESDAY AUGUST 10, 2022 • T H I S D AY

T H I S D AY ˾ WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 10, 2022

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BUSINESSWORLD R A T E S MONEY MARKET

A S

REPO

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

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H1 2022: Dangote Cement, MTN Lead Others in N330.9bn Tax Payments to Revenue Agencies

Kayode Tokede Amid severe macro economic challenges, a total of 18 companies operating in Nigeria and other African countries remitted N330.9 billion to revenue agencies in the first half (H1) of 2022, an increase of 35 per cent from N245.18 billion reported in the first half of 2021.

By law, companies operating in Nigeria remits Corporate Income Tax (CIT), Education tax, National Information Technology Development Agency tax (NITDA), and Nigeria

Police Trust Fund levy.

In Nigeria, the 30 per cent CIT is a tax collected from companies and the amount is based on the net income a company generated while exercising its business activity.

Revenues from these companies are an important source of income for the federal, state and local governments where these companies operate.

According to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), a total of N532.48 billion was remitted as CIT for first quarter (Q1) 2022, a growth rate of 53.09 per cent on a quarter-on-quarter

basis from N347.81billion in the fourth (Q4) 2021.

As posted on the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX), Dangote Cement Plc, followed by MTN Nigeria Plc, Seplat Petroleum Plc and Ecobank Transnational Incorporated (ETI) led others in tax remittance to governments where they operate.

As at the time of filing this report, the likes of Zenith Bank Plc, United Bank for Africa Plc, among others are yet to release audited financial half-year financial statements for the period ended June 30, 2022 to

investing public.

The breakdown showed that Dangote Cement reported N92.79billion tax expenses in H1 2022, an increase of 3.5 per cent from N89.6billion reported in H1 2021, while MTN Nigeria’s announced about 18.7 per cent increase in tax expenses to N87.01billion in H1 2022 from N73.3billion reported in H1 2021.

The CEO, MTN Nigeria, Karl Toriola in a statement explained that tax paid was on investments in government securities following the expiration of the 10-year tax exemption

period, and the education tax rate increased to 2.5 per cent.

However, Seplat petroleum reported N51.85billion tax expenses in H1 2022 from N10.12billion reported in H1 2021, while Totalenergies Marketing Nigeria reported N4.2billion tax expenses in H1 2022, representing an increase of 13.22 per cent from N3.71billion reported in H1 2022.

In the banking sector, ETI reported N13.75billion tax expenses in Q1 2022 from N10.34billion in Q1 2021, as FBN Holdings in its unaudited financial statement announced N9.12billion tax

expenses in H1 2022 from N7.15billion reported in H1 2021.

Experts had attributed growth in tax expenses to pending tax accrued by these companies, stressing that a significant increase in profit also drives growth in tax expenses in the period under review.

Speaking with THISDAY, Fiscal Policy Partner and Africa Tax Leader, at PwC, Mr. Taiwo Oyedele attributed the hike in tax expenses by listed firms to payment of deferred tax liabilities.

Continued on page 30

Report: Nigerians Dominate Equities Market Transactions as Foreign Investors Continue to Exit Nume Ekeghe A report by United Capital Limited has revealed that local investors have continued to dominate trading activity at the Nigerian bourse, controlling 85.3 per cent of total transactions, leaving foreign investors with 14.7 per cent.

This, the report said, is as a result of the unprecedented exit of foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) due to

uncertainties in the economy such as political risk, inaccessibility of foreign exchange, and other global trends.

United Capital stated this in its report titled, “Nigerian Equities Market H1-2022 Review and Outlook,” released over the weekend.

According to the report, “In line with our expectations, participation in the equities market was primarily driven by domestic investors.

According to NGX data on Foreign

and Domestic investor’s participation in the equities market at the end of Jun-2022, the breakdown of the market participants in the period under review shows domestic investors have primarily driven the market with 85.3 per cent of total transactions, leaving foreign investors with 14.7 per cent of total transactions in H1-2022.

“This data suggests the continuation of the declining trend

in foreign players’ participation.

Plausible factors highlighted in our FY-2022 economic outlook document, “Navigating Stormy Seas,” remain valid, particularly with the absence of positive catalysts, sustained FX illiquidity concerns and crystallisation of policy normalisation risks, thus creating a wet blanket on the attractiveness of the local equities market.”

The report added, “In H1-2022,

domestic investors’ trading activities in the market have seen them record transactions worth N1.4trillion, as of Jun-2022, while international investor trading activities printed at N243.5billion. Analysing the activities of foreign equity investors along equity inflows vs equity outflows line shows a net outflow of N2.5billion, following total inflows of N120.5billion vs outflows worth N123.0billion at the end of H1-2022.

On pre-election year syndrome, which usually pushes for exit, it noted that historically, the final six months preceding an election year have always been negative for the equities market.

“Since 2002, Nigeria has had five general elections, of which the benchmark NGX-ASI has lost an average of 2.9 per cent in the Continued on page 26

M A R K E T D ATA A S AT T U E S D AY, A U G U S T 9 , 2 0 2 2 BILLS

BONDS DESCRIPTION Price ^14.20 14MAR-2024 13.53 23MAR-2025 ^12.50 22JAN-2026 ^16.2884 17MAR-2027 ^13.98 23FEB-2028

Yield

104.87

10.81

104.68

11.41

102.07

11.75

115.19

11.91

107.92

11.98

Change Updated (%) Time 0.00 August 3, 2022 0.00 August 3, 2022 0.04 August 3, 2022 0.00 August 3, 2022 0.00 August 3, 2022

MATURITY

Discount

Yield

OTC F X F U T U R E S

CPS

Change Updated Time (%)

NTB 13-Oct22 NTB 10Nov-22 NTB 26-Jan23 NTB 9-Feb23

9.00

9.16

0.00 August 3, 2022

3.90

3.94

0.00 August 3, 2022

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7.78

0.00 August 3, 2022

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7.59

0.00 August 3, 2022

NTB 9-Mar23

5.45

5.63

0.00 August 3, 2022

MATURITY SIBP CP III 27-OCT-22 DLMG CP IV 11-NOV-22 FDHP CP III 17-MAR-23 VHPL CP III 1-APR-23

Discount Yield

Change Updated Time (%)

15.12 15.14

-0.03 August 3, 2022

17.24 17.98

0.06 August 3, 2022

11.25 11.57

0.06 August 3, 2022

10.44 10.71

0.06 August 3, 2022

CONTRACT Current TENOR Contract Rate ($/₦) (MONTH) NGUS AUG 31 1 433.54 2022 NGUS SEP 28 435.39 2 2022 NGUS OCT 26 3 437.24 2022 NGUS NOV 30 4 439.09 2022 NGUS DEC 28 5 440.94 2022

Updated Time

August 3, 2022 August 3, 2022 August 3, 2022 August 3, 2022 August 3, 2022

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WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 10, 2022 ˾ T H I S D AY

BUSINESSWORLD

MARKET REPORT

As CPs, Bonds Listing on FMDQ, NGX Soar Following uncertainty surrounding access to fresh capital for expansion, companies have found solace in the Nigerian debt capital market. Kayode Tokede examines how Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) and FMDQ Exchange have facilitated growth and development in the Nigerian debt capital market and economy at large.

A

side from creating wealth and facilitating liquidity flow, Exchanges across the globe also play a vital role when companies seek to raise capital either through debt or equity financing.

Another major function constitutes a commitment to promoting an efficient, transparent, and well-regulated market, which attracts and retains both domestic and foreign investors, through the provision of a world-class listing and quotation service, amongst others, in line with the mandate of capital market regulating body, Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Specifically, The Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) and FMDQ Exchange have championed economic reforms in various ways as local and foreign companies have accessed these markets to raise fresh capital instead of borrowing from banks that come with high-interest rates.

Both Exchanges have listed numerous issuance this year and the outcome has further enhanced corporate earnings and as a result, drive stock prices and boost investors’ confidence.

The Debt Management Office (DMO) has consistently supported the federal government in raising capital in both exchanges to bridge the budget deficit.

An investigation by THISDAY revealed that in the first half (H1) of 2022, companies and the government have listings/quotations size totalled at N185.8 billion and N689.48 billion on the FMDQ Exchange, which include bond and Commercial Paper (CP), respectively.

The FMDQ in its monthly financial market monthly report announced N5.9 trillion and N2.00 trillion total outstanding value of corporate bonds and CPs, respectively as of June 30, 2022.

The report also disclosed that the total amount of Treasury bills sold between January and June of 2022 was N2.31 trillion and N1.84 trillion FGN Bonds total amount sold in the period under review.

Among the notable issuance, this year was the listing of FGN’s $4 billion Eurobond and MTN Nigeria Plc’s N127 billion CP. FMDQ Exchange in February announced the listing of the Federal Government of Nigeria 6.125 per cent $1.25 billion SEP 2028, 7.375 per cent $1.50 billion SEP

2033 and 8.250 per cent $1.25 billion SEP 2051 Eurobonds under its Global Medium-Term Note Programme on its platform.

The listing of these foreign currency-denominated debt securities is yet another commendable feat for the Federal Government of Nigeria (FGN) through the Debt Management Office (DMO), and demonstrates the government’s unrelenting commitment to supporting the development of the nation’s debt capital markets (DCM) towards

REPORT: NIGERIANS DOMINATE EQUITIES MARKET TRANSACTIONS AS FOREIGN INVESTORS CONTINUE TO EXIT

second half, July December of the pre-election year.”

“Interestingly, the NGX-ASI has lost in four of the five-second half of the pre-election year over the five election cycles. Thus, excluding the single gain of 26.9 per cent in H2-2006 preceding 2007 general elections, Nigerian equities have lost an average of 10.3 per cent over four-second halves of pre-election years, ”it stated.

The report added that the poor performance of Nigerian equities in the second half of a pre-election year is better understood when analysing

the behaviour of investor categories during the period.

“According to data from National Pension Commission (PENCOM), PFA allocation to domestic equities fell by an average of 14.8 percent in the second half of the last two pre-election years H2-2014: -15.0 per cent, H2-2018: -14.6 percent.

“PFAs who currently set the pace of equity market direction tend to develop itchy feet towards Nigerian equities in a pre-election cycle. For FPIs, the consensus that they tend to exit emerging market equities whenever an election season starts

holds true for Nigeria. For context, over the past two pre-election years, data from the Nigerian Exchange Group (NGX) show that FPIs have been net sellers of Nigerian equities to the tune of N81.8billion in the second half of a pre-election year.

“In addition, data from the National Bureau of Statistics show that equity FPI inflows in the second half of the last three pre-election years have declined by an average of 26.9 per cent, compared to the first half of the same year, H2-2010: -2.2 percent, H2-2014: -13.4 percent, and H2-2018: -65.0 percent, ”it stated.

sustainable economic development.

These issuances represent the FGN’s seventh Eurobond issuances, following the issuances in 2011, 2013, 2017, and 2019.

However, the telecommunication giant led with the issuance of a historic N127 billion Series 1 & 2 CP under its registered N150 billion programme.

The issuance consisted of two tenors – a 184-day series issuance priced at a 7.50% yield and a 254-day Series 2 issuance priced at an 8.50 per cent yield.

FINANCING OPTIONS

According to MTN Nigeria, the issuance was in line with its strategy to diversify financing options, with the proceeds being deployed towards working capital and general corporate purposes.

Speaking at the signing ceremony, the Chief Executive Officer, MTN Nigeria Communication, Mr Karl Toriola explained that the N127 billion CP issuance would go into the record books as the largest CP issuance in Nigeria.

According to him, “The success of our CP issuance is a clear demonstration of the strength and acceptance of the MTN brand, and the trust placed by the investor community in MTN Nigeria’s company’s leadership, strong financial performance and corporate strategy.”

He noted that MTN Nigeria with the completion of the N127 billion CP aimed at improving customer services and high-quality bouquet services that included 5G spectrum that awaits regulatory approval.

On the flipside, the NGX has listed new issuance worth N1.08 trillion and Eurobonds of $4 billion on its platform in H1 of 2022.

These issuances listed across both the bonds and stock markets are essential in deepening the market, tradability, and improving liquidity as well as increasing access to capital to fund growth returns.

In the stock market, NGX started the year with the landmark listing of BUA Foods’ 18 billion shares listed at N40 per share, adding N720 billion to the NGX market capitalisation. Abbey Mortgage Bank also listed its right issue of about N3.028 billion, while Access Holdings, following its merger and acquisition listed new shares of 35.545 billion shares valued at N353.675 billion.

On the NGX’s bond market, the Federal Government of Nigeria dominated issuances, raising about N2,494,110,547,000.00 locally and listing $4 billion in Eurobonds.

Furthermore, NPF Microfinance Bank listed 3,107,001,335 ordinary shares of 50 kobo each arising from the offer of 2,286,657,766 ordinary shares of 50 Kobo each at N1.50 per share via a Rights Issue on the basis of 1 new ordinary share for every 1 ordinary share held and public offer of 713,342,234 ordinary shares at N1.50 per share made by NPF Microfinance Bank Plc amounting N4.66 billion while other memorandum listing stood at N2 billion.

According to the NGX, capital is critical for business growth either in form of debt through

bonds, or equity through shares.

SUPPORT FOR SHAREHOLDERS

In delivering on its mandate as a market organizer, FMDQ Exchange over the year expressed that it remains committed to articulating and pioneering, with the support of its key stakeholders, innovative ways to improve and make the Nigerian financial markets globally competitive, operationally excellent, liquid, and diverse.

According to FMDQ, “As is the corporate tradition for FMDQ Exchange, these Eurobonds shall be availed of all the benefits of FMDQ Exchange’s prestigious listing and quotation service, including global visibility through the FMDQ Exchange website and systems, governance, credible price formation, and continuous information disclosure to protect investor interest, amongst others.”

Comnenting, Vice Chairman, Highcap Securities, David Adonri said: “Issuance of CPs in H1 2022 has improved because interest rate fell drastically to lower single digit. Cost of borrowing via CPs was to the benefit of corporate borrowers more than traditional bank credit. There was also an incentive for investors to invest in CPs due to their higher rates than deposit rate and Treasury Bill rate.”

The Chief Executive Officer, NGX Limited, Temi Popoola noted that the NGX being a significant component of the capital market would continue to play a significant role in the capital formation process because of the tremendous opportunities that ensue from its activities.

“It is expected that a thriving exchange will continue to mobilize long-term savings to finance long-term investment by providing risk capital in the form of equity or quasi-equity to entrepreneurs, a role NGX continues to prioritize, “he said.

It will be recalled that the NGX earlier in the year highlighted five major focus areas in 2022 in its efforts to deepen access and attract new generation of investors to the market.

Popoola had said the NGX would seek to consolidate its historic status with a new verve of digitisation by creating innovative and automated access to the market while ensuring overall quality of listed companies and ease of capital raising process.

According to him, The Exchange would deploy strategic initiatives to attract financial technology (Fintech) firms to the stock market, including launching of a Nasdaq-style board for the listing of tech companies.

“Today, there are lots of capital raising from tech companies globally. Our market can be a source to raise this capital. SEC has already taken the leadership.

It will help to drive economic growth and mobilise capital from sectors of surplus to deficit, ”Popoola said.

He added that the NGX would also accelerate the digitisation of its processes and operations to attract more investors, especially the millennial and youths, who are increasingly turning to alternative investment options.

He said NGX would work to integrate the market to digital banks and other transactional channels in order to make the market a viable and accessible investment option.

H1 2022: DANGOTE CEMENT, MTN LEAD OTHERS IN N330.9BN TAX PAYMENTS TO REVENUE AGENCIES According to him, the tax expenses reported in H1 2022 is not the amount companies definitely remitted due to deferred tax.

He explained further that, “You will have to take into account that a company can always report N1billion as tax expenses but the amount remitted to FIRS, among other agencies might be N400 million.

He stated further that tax expenses

differ by sector, adding, “Specifically, the banking sector has a different pattern from the manufacturing sector. The banking sector has a lot of tax exemptions including government bonds which those in the manufacturing sector are not enjoying.”

Oyedele noted that increasing tax expenses due to improved business activities in the country is good

for the nation’s economy, stating that, “increasing tax expenses over government policies that seems to impose additional burden is not a welcome development. In the final quarter of 2021, one of the changes was increasing the education tax from two per cent to 2.5 per cent.

“Definitely, what companies pay on education tax is expected to increase as government policy

has increased the tax burden on them. It can have a negative impact because companies have to pay taxes that could have been used to invest and expand.

“It could be positive if the government collects these funds and uses it well for our universities not going on strike actions across the country. If companies are paying education tax and universities are

on strike, you begin to ask yourself if it makes sense or not. The government is depriving companies of opportunities to invest and the education sector is not improving.

It is like companies are getting hit at two fronts.”

Analyst at PAC Holdings, Mr. Wole Adeyeye noted that aggressive growth in profit before tax impacted listed companies’

tax expenses, stressing that the increased business activities post-covid-19 boost companies’ revenue drives.

According to him, “the likes of Dangote cement, MTN Nigeria and Nigerian Breweries grew revenue that impacted on profit before tax.

When a company reports growth in profit before tax, it is expected to reflect on tax expenses.”

T H I S D AY ˾ WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 10, 2022

27

BUSINESSWORLD

FINANCE

Boosting Economic Recovery Through Loans The long-standing need to strengthen capital structures has become more urgent, Nume Ekeghe writes on commercial banks’ drive to boost lending to the real sector.

Alawuba

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lobally, banks are renowned to be engines of economic growth. They mobilize funds from areas of surplus to areas of needs as well as give interest to the depositors and charge interest from the borrowers, thereby providing income for those who have idle funds, and earning income from those that borrow money to finance their businesses.

The long-standing need to strengthen capital structures and to decrease dependence on borrowing has become more urgent, as many firms are obliged to increase leverage in order to survive the recent economic and financial crisis. Indeed, the problem of SME over-leveraging may have been exacerbated by policy responses to the crisis, which tended to focus on mechanisms that enabled firms to increase their debt (e.g. direct lending, loan guarantees).

While bank financing will continue to be crucial for the SME sector, there is a broad concern that credit constraints will simply become “the new normal” for SMEs and entrepreneurs. It is therefore necessary to broaden the range of financing instruments available to SMEs and entrepreneurs, in order to enable them continue to play their role in investment, growth, innovation and employment. Without a doubt the full potential for ensuring the expansion of entrepreneurs can be viewed from the performance of SMEs.

ACCESS TO CREDIT

Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) are seen as critical segments of thriving economies. Nigeria was no exception as the economy slipped into recession for the second time in four years as oil prices plunged in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. While bank financing will continue to be crucial for the SME sector, there is a broad concern that credit constraints will persist for SMEs and entrepreneurs.

To guard against this occurrence, experts called on financial institutions to expand the range of financing instruments available to SMEs and entrepreneurs.

This, they said, would enable them continue to play their role in investment, growth, innovation and employment.

During the turbulent economic situation where businesses suffered under the weight of COVID, insecurity and other economic challenges, a few banks were upstanding and served as adequate life-line to businesses helping the economy surmount its economic challenges.

BANKS’ DRIVE TO BOOST LENDING

Access to credit has, therefore, become very important, especially in a time of crisis, exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, with economies all over the world badly hit.

One of the banks worthy of mention is United Bank for Africa. The bank was innovative enough to help businesses in Nigeria and across Africa weather the storm with several loan facilities that helped change the narrative and eventually catalyse growth.

The best performers in terms of lending to businesses in first quarter of the year include United Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc, Access Bank Plc, FBN Holdings Plc, FCMB Holdings Plc, Fidelity Bank Plc, Stanbic IBTC Holdings Plc, and Wema Bank Plc. It is worthy

of note that UBA did well to pull its weight firmly behind business in 20 African countries which helped in a great way to keep them afloat at a turbulent time occasioned by COVID 19 and inflation from the Ukraine / Russia war.

Commenting on the credit to customers by banks, a financial expert and securities dealer, Mr. David Adonri of Highcap Securities Limited, said short-term credit was required by businesses to finance their working capital.

“Banks are the source of this type of finance.

As a result of risk management considerations, bankability of requests is a major factor in credit creation. Of course, banks will usually observe the canons of lending when granting credits.

If the economic environment is conducive and prospect is bright, the confidence to grant credit to borrowers will be high because repayment is guaranteed,” he said.

According to him, the volume of credit granted in Q1, 2021 by banks rose because of increase in economic activities.

“Fund users demanded more credit during the period to ramp up their products and services to cover increased consumer pull. The demand on banks for credit also resulted in increased borrowing by banks from Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) during the period.

“The supply gap in the economy is still huge and this will increase demand for bank credit.

As a result, banks like UBA is poised to create more credit this year to meet the rising Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth rate revised from 1.5 per cent to 2.7 per cent,” he added.

COVID-19 IMPACT ON LENDING

Speaking on the bank’s recent loan position and consequent determination to buy the nation’s SME sector, Group Managing Director, Oliver Alawuba said “Our passion for Small Businesses and great ideas has never been in doubt and is evident in the firm support given to individuals and business as our loan products are tailored specifically to meeting the varying needs of all our customers.

Continuing, Alawuba said, “Despite the tumultuous impact of Covid-19 pandemic globally and across our 23 countries of operation, we created N519.0 billion additional loans as we continued to support our customers and their businesses. Customer deposits grew 48.1% to N5.7 trillion, driven primarily by additional N1.8 trillion in retail deposits. As a global bank, we remain well capitalized and determined to successfully drive financial inclusion on the continent through our innovative products and vast network. Our capital adequacy and liquidity ratios came in at 22.4% and 44.3%, well above the respective regulatory minimum of 15.0% and 30.0%.

Speaking on the bank’s strategy, he said, “Our primary strategy will continue to focus on providing excellent services from our customers’ standpoint, putting the customer first always. Looking ahead, I am inspired by the achievements we have made since the launch of our transformation programme. We have

expanded market share considerably across the geographies where we operate and are consolidating our digital banking leadership in Africa. We will continue to leverage our diversified business model and dedicated workforce to further strengthen our position as ‘Africa’s Global Bank’.”

LENDING AT AFFORDABLE RATES

Also on the performance, the Group Chief Financial Official, Ugo Nwaghodoh said, “The persistent low interest rate environment in 2020 exerted significant downward pressure on margins.

Notwithstanding, our interest income for the year grew by 5.7% (to N427.9 billion), driven by 8.2% and 7.5% year-on-year growth on interest income on loans and investment securities respectively. Our interest expense declined by 8% (to N168.4billion) driven largely by a 34.2% decline in interest expense on customer deposits in our Nigerian operations, bringing down the Group’s cost of funds to 2.9%, from 4% in 2019.

While giving an insight to the bank’s array of loan products changing the dynamics in the industry, Group Head Consumer Lending, Anant Rao recently spoke about some of the products and intrinsic benefits to customers as he said Senior Citizens Loan is designed to support Pensioners within the ages of 55- 70 years. They can get up to N10 million to start a retirement project, travel the world and do much more and repay conveniently within 36 months. Rao further explained that no collateral was required to access the loans. There is also the UBA Personal Loans, Auto Loans, Asset Finance, Mortgage.

SPECIAL LOANS FOR SPECIAL NEEDS

As for Personal Loans, Rao said: “It is a product designed to aid the finance of the daily needs of our customers. Available to employees whose salaries and other emoluments are being paid through UBA or who are willing to transfer their accounts to UBA. “Here, required documents include letter of introduction and awareness from employer, copy of customer’s staff ID, copy of customer’s Valid ID, duly accepted offer letter and duly filled loan application form.’’

He explained that Asset Finance, one of its products, was designed to facilitate the purchase of physical assets ranging from household appliances to alternative power solutions and devices by our retail customers through approved partnering vendors, giving them the convenience to pay over a period.

The bank listed the required documents as letter of introduction and awareness from employer, copy of customer’s staff ID, copy of a customer’s valid ID, proforma invoice in UBA/customer’s name and duly filled loan application form as well as accepted offer letter.

“UBA Mortgage Loan is a product designed to part-finance the acquisition of residential

real estate by salary earners whose employers are listed on the bank’s approved counterparty list. “The product is targeted at High-Net-Worth Individuals (HNIs) with predictable and sustainable income. The product is to enable customers buy fully developed properties or draw equity from their home as loans for specific purposes,” the bank said.

He added, The UBA Personal Loan Direct is a variant of UBA Personal Loan product targeted at civil servants whose salaries are not domiciled with UBA. The product is designed to offer personal loans to civil servants who have difficulties in changing their salary accounts from other banks to UBA. This loan is available to Federal civil servants that are enrolled on IPPIS platform, state civil servants (this will be limited to states whose salaries are managed by ICT firm). The required documents include duly filled loan application form, a copy of customer’s staff ID, a copy of customer’s valid ID and customer’s instruction letter.

“UBA FX Cash Backed Loan is a term loan designed for Nigerians who are resident in Nigeria or Abroad and have a funded domiciliary account with the bank.

Customers can get up to N10 million for investment purposes or to meet the financial needs of relatives in Nigeria. The required documents include; Funded domiciliary account, Duly completed loan application form, valid means of Identification (international passport, national driver’s license, national id card and voter’s card).

“Also, the UBA Working Capital loan offers up to N50 million to help business owners meet their cash flow needs and expand their business. A flexible collateral cover will be required depending on the loan amount and the nature of customer’s business. This loan product is targeted at customers with verifiable credit net worth whose cash flow patterns meet the requirement for lending and other structured groups/business clusters. There is also the UBA Asset Finance for SMEs, the UBA School Loans and the UBA Health Loan.

“It is a medium-to-long term facility aimed at meeting working capital, asset and mortgage needs of registered privately-owned schools. The bouquet comprises a four-month time loan, a three-year asset finance loan and a 10-year mortgage loan.”

“Other variety of loan offerings tailored specifically to meet the needs of different individuals also include; Auto Loans where customers can get up to N15 million for part-financing of brand new vehicles for customers whose salaries are domiciled with the Bank. Vehicles purchased will be in the name of UBA/Customer’s name and they are available for all car models at selected dealer shops nationwide.

The Required Documents are as follows; Letter of introduction and awareness from employer, copy of customer’s staff ID, copy of customer’s valid ID, Proforma invoice in UBA/customer’s name, duly filled loan application form and accepted offer letter.

“With a UBA Credit Card, customers are free to spend up to N3 million and have the option to pay as low as 0% interest when they repay within 45 days.

UBA customers can withdraw cash both locally and internationally, make online bill payments, shopping, hotel reservations and enjoy amazing discounts at partner restaurants & hotels, lounge access, etc across the world, “the bank said.

28

T H I S D AY ˾ ˜ ͯͮ˜ ͰͮͰͰ

FEATURES

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

CelebratingTriumph through Isoken,Nwabunka'sAutobiography Executive Director and Prime Mover at Grooming People for Better Livelihood Centre, Isoken Patricia Nwabunka recently unveiled her autobiography, Isoken. Chiamaka Ozulumba writes that it was a story of pain turned triumph

Dr. Myles Nwabunka (left) speaking about the Isoken community project at the soft launch of the book, Isoken, written by her mother, Mrs. Isoken Nwabunka (right)

E

xecutive Director and Prime Mover at Grooming People for Better Livelihood Centre, Isoken Patricia Nwabunka, has unveiled her autobiography, Isoken.

The soft launch of the book was held on July 28, 2022, in a glittering ceremony at the Grooming Centre Multi-purpose Hall in Ejigbo, Lagos.

Surrounded by her husband, Dr. Godwin Nwabunka, and her children, the event was anchored by veteran Nollywood actress Gloria Young. The event featured friends, relatives, and members of the Governing Council of the Grooming Centre, business partners, staff and well-wishers, among others.

In Isoken. Mrs. Nwabunka tells the riveting and inspirational story of her humble beginning of hawking different wares in Benin City and then Lagos as a teenager, despite being the daughter of a medical doctor father, Dr. Efemwenkeankean Yellow Igbinigie and a thriving businesswoman mother, Enegbegbana Stella Igbinigie.

In simple prose, it highlights and celebrates her resilience, determination, and courage from when she lost her father at a tender age, caring for her mother who lost her sight to glaucoma and braving the odds to relocate to Lagos right after secondary school with just her secondary school certificate in tow.

The 132-page book is divided into nine chapters: Enegbegbana Stella Igbinigie, Hunting in Lagos, Family is everything, Back to school, Building boldly: Mum, businesswoman and student, Gold in unusual places, The journey to Grooming Centre, Reaching out to women, and Life is worth the challenge.

The reader is thrilled with Mrs. Nwabunka’s memoirs of challenges and triumphs in Nigeria’s biggest city. It chronicles her journey from selling stationery and printing supplies, vending fire extinguishers, setting up a fashion business, running a beauty and wellness

From left: Managing Partner, Platform Capital; Dolapo Ogunmekan, founder and CEO, Grooming Centre; Godwin Nwabunka, Executive Director (admin) Grooming Centre; Isoken Nwabunka, Chairman, Governing Council, Grooming Centre; Dr. Noel Ihebuzor, and Chairman, Platform Capital, Dr. Akintoye Akindele

salon, and –incredibly –selling motor spare parts! They also capture the journey from her formative years to meeting the love of her life and future husband, Dr. Godwin Nwabunka, becoming a wife, mother and leader at Grooming Centre.

In the words of Vivien Shobo, who wrote the foreword, Isoken is a true story of “a fearless woman’s journey to engaging in business for impact.”

For ace broadcaster Soni Irabor, " Isoken. is a story like no other...a story of survival that takes you through the stark realities of a young woman's journey, instilling in her a remarkable sense of industry, independence and self-reliance, that was to pay off later in life... told in a simple straightforward manner, with a bare it-all simplicity that holds the reader spellbound in a compelling flow..."

Dr. Myles Nwabunka, daughter of the writer who is also a Law lecturer at the University of Salford in Manchester, described Isoken. as “A book for everyone – whether at the start, mid or peak of your career – who desires growth, success, entrepreneurship and understanding and harnessing your strengths. I’m sure you’ve had that feeling where someone shares a thought or sings a song about something, and you think, ‘that’s exactly how I’ve felt. There were many such moments as I read the book by my mother – Mrs Isoken Nwabunka.”

In his welcome address, Nkanu Egbe, publisher/editor of the Lagos Metropolitan newspaper and CEO, Henkmedia Connect, communication consultant to the Isoken. project, said the book was “a product of faith – the faith of a mother because her mother believed in her; hope and faith of her husband, Dr Godwin Nwabunka, because he believed in her; and faith that has followed all the people that she has worked with and has made it possible that we have a Grooming Centre that we have today. It is because of

this faith and this hope that she has, leading to a great future that she has been able to pen down this 132-page book, Isoken.

A pioneer Grooming Centre staff, Laura Jonah-Omachefu, gave personal highlights of her relationship with Mrs. Nwabunka, describing her as warm and accommodating.

“She opened her door, so open that we could even eat with her. She never thought of ‘oh these are my workers’. She gives you that same platform as if she’s talking to her own–maybe siblings or her own children, that, I was like ‘wow, can this really be a boss?’” Jonah-Omachefu said.

The author’s husband, Dr. Nwabunka expressed delight at the impressive turnout.

“I'm so filled with gratitude. This was supposed to be a small family launch because the main one is going to come,” he said.

“We've come a long way you know, and this young beautiful lady has made all of us so proud,” he added, referring to his wife.

“You know, overcoming all kinds of odds to become a great manager. I am so proud of the work she has done. I’ve been trying to do my memoirs, myself, for a long time and haven't managed to get it out. Well, I’m highly motivated by what you do with this. The journey has just begun.”

For the author, the book was entirely a work of facts. “There is no fiction,” she said.

Mrs. Nwabunka expressed hope that Isoken would inspire readers not to give up on life, no matter the challenges.

She said it teaches people “how to take things step-by-step and no matter what happens, even if you fail once you

get up and you stand again.”

“It took me a lot of time to write. I wanted to publish this book last year, 2021. Then, COVID took away all the time I was using to write it so I couldn’t put it all together. It was only last year and now that I was able to gather it all together. So, it took me two years to put it all together.”

The author was confident that the book would impact lives, adding that it would be useful in schools.

“If you read the book, you would surely have something to take home, whether old, young, middle-aged, people that have attained a certain level, the people that are high up, the people that are at the middle; they all have things to take from this book.

“This book is very good and can be used as a textbook in schools. It can be used to teach growing children that getting rich quick is not the ultimate. You have to set a goal, work for your goal, and you will get to where you want to be and get whatever it is you want to get in life. Sometimes you get more than what you think you can get,” Mrs. Nwabunka added.

Isoken Patricia Nwabunka together with her husband, Dr.Godwin Nwabunka, 2006, founded Grooming Centre, a microfinance non-governmental organisation with operations across Nigeria, where she currently sits as Executive Director. Her life journey has been an exemplary story of wisdom, courage, and faith to reach her highest potential against all odds.

As an astute manager of people, she and her husband have grown Grooming Centre from one branch to a network of over 600 branches in 15 years, serving millions of clients since inception. Her pedigree, with a master's degree in International Relations from the Lagos State University and certifications from the Lagos Business School and the Boulder Institute among others, has enabled her to consistently apply global best practices for the achievement of remarkable results.

Groups Honour Ajadi as He Marks Birthday Mary Nnah

I

t was honour galore penultimate Wednesday for a chieftain of the New Nigeria People's Party (NNPP), Comrade Olufemi Ajadi, who added a year and was celebrated by some groups.

He carted home four awards and a deluge of citations for entrepreneurial excellence, role modeling, and relentless support for the growth of the Nigerian entertainment industry.

Among the organisations which recognised Ajadi at the celebration were three apex beat associations- The Commerce & Industry Correspondents Association of Nigeria (CICAN), Online Journalists Association of Nigeria (OJAN) as well as a Small & Medium Enterprises (SMEs) organisation, and Dream Next.

The glamour twin events held at Afid Goshen Event Center at Ibafo, Ogun State, drew distinguished personalities including chieftains of the NNPP, led by its state chairman, Mr. Oginni Olaposi.

Chairman of CICAN, Charles Okonji who co-presented the organisation's award alongside a long-standing member, Johnmark Ukoko, said the "Entrepreneur of the year award, to Ajadi, as MD, Bullion Go-Neat Global Limited,

Ajadi (left) with a Yoruba musician, Femo Lancaster at the event was well deserved.

He said the company had grown to typify excellence and quality, by not only producing good brands but also creating

employment.

He also expressed the hope that the recognition would spur the recipient to do more.

Others who spoke along the same line were Steve Akpos of Nollyfans; Bisi Otunla, MD of Dream Next; as well as Kasali Akinwale who spoke for OJAN. They not only acknowledged Ajadi's contributions to socio-economic development but urged other operators to emulate him Ajadi was earlier awarded before the event for his philanthropy by the Students Representative Council of the Nigerian Institute of Journalism.

Ajadi, who was appreciative of the fact that he was alive and healthy, and that God had given him the grace to be of support to other people, said, “It is God that has allowed me to be alive. It is only someone alive and healthy that can celebrate a birthday. So, I thank Him for the grace".

As for the awards, he said they had shown him the importance of hard work and having a good heart towards other people.

He said he had always that society would become better when we learn to help one another.

“I have suffered in life before God decided to lift, that is why when it is within my power I try to assist others around me”, he noted.

He implored other well-to-do individuals in society to be one another's keepers.

29

T H I S D AY ˾ ͯͮ˜ ͰͮͰͰ

ENTREPRENEUR

Ade Yesufu: Linking Stakeholders with Investors to Boost Energy Sector Nigeria Energy is the leading energy platform gathering contractors, developers, investors, project owners and utilities to meet and develop reliable power solutions for the country's peak energy demand and pave the way for decentralisation. Its 2022 flagship conference will bring together key stakeholders from Nigeria's energy sector, from government ministries and regulators to gas companies supplying fuel to grid-connected plants to independent power producers, distribution companies and the bodies mandated to facilitate the development of renewable energy and off-grid solutions. The strategic conference will provide a platform for the public and private sector in Nigeria to engage with international energy leaders and investors, not only offering a stage to share knowledge but a platform for developing solutions and forming partnerships to meet Nigeria's energy challenges. In this interview, Ade Yesufu, Exhibition Director, Energy Portfolio – MEA, Informa Markets, speaks on how this event aims to boost the current state of the energy sector in Nigeria through the flagship conference, why stakeholders should be a part of the conference, what it hopes to achieve, and plans for the future. Precious Ugwuzor brings excerpts:

T

& solutions and network with the industry peers and visionaries, all under one roof.

he Nigerian Energy conference is returning since it was rebranded from Power Nigeria. What does the conference hope to achieve, and what is the agenda for this year?

The Nigeria Energy conference aims to support the energy sector in achieving its power supply goals. Power capacity within the industry currently fluctuates at 3000-4000 megawatts, which means the sector can only dispatch around 4,000 MW, significantly insufficient for a country of over 195 million people.

The critical issue that stakeholders are currently debating is, "how do we increase capacity in the power sector power capacity in Nigeria?"

The Nigeria Energy conference aims to help the government manifest its vision by collaborating with international and local stakeholders, including manufacturers, distributors, and suppliers of certain products that range from conventional generation methods to renewable energy technologies. The agenda also helps create a marketplace for industry players to network and find solutions to the lingering issues within the Energy sector.

What is the sector's primary challenge, and how does the Nigerian Energy conference aim to address this?

There might be different opinions on the challenges for distribution, transmission, and generation companies. However, I think the main challenge is all stakeholders' determination to address the situation by creating an enabling environment for investors to thrive in the sector.

That is, building confidence for investors to get involved. We know that many investors are interested in the Nigerian market because they see an opportunity in the market.

The Nigeria Energy conference would not just create an entry point for investors but would also bring technology into play. With the government now looking to use digitalisation to solve challenges in the sector, the agenda touches on how we can integrate new technologies to enhance the installed capacity. Conversations will be shaped around diversifying the investments and embracing renewable sources for Nigeria to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals by the year 2050.

In the past, Nigeria Energy conferences have been credited with an exciting mix of speakers and exhibitors. What is the lineup for this edition, and how are they identified?

During the Middle East Energy conference in Dubai, we hosted a Nigeria-focused session with a delegation from the Nigerian government, Private sector, Investors and End Users, discussing the potential opportunities in the Nigerian power sector.

Together, the expert group formed an advisory board for Nigeria Energy 2022, representing private and public sectors, and guided us in shaping the conference agenda. The advisory board has done a phenomenal job identifying the event's key themes and the areas we need to address.

The Honourable Minister of Power - Engr.

Abubakar D. Aliyu, Director of Investment - Engr.

Ade with the Minister Faruk Yusuf Yabo and Ag., Director of Renewables - Engr. Abubakar Ali, both at the Federal Ministry of Power and MD, Transmission Company of Nigeria - Engr. (Dr.) S.A. Abdulaziz, MD of Rural Electrification Agency - Ahmad Salihijo and others have been very supportive and committed to helping the event grow. The Federal Government recently launched a new central data management system portal that will help improve the power supply in the country; hence their crucial focus at the event is pushing an agenda for the digital transformation of the power sector, and we are about to experience some fundamental changes.

The strategic conference will provide a platform for the public and private sector in Nigeria to engage with international energy leaders and investors, not only offering a stage to share knowledge but a platform for developing solutions and forming partnerships to meet Nigeria's energy challenges.

Asides from the list of speakers,

what do you consider unique about the Nigeria Energy conference, and why should industry stakeholders participate?

One of the reasons the Nigeria Energy conference is exclusive is because it is organised by Informa Markets, a worldclass event organiser. Informa Markets' leading energy events include Middle East Energy, with a legacy of 47 years and Egypt Energy, with 30 years across MEA, contributing to the sustainable evolution of the industry.

Leveraging our track record and longevity of producing world-class events through the years with exhibitors and partners from around the world, we are confident of delivering the same in Nigeria, with Nigeria Energy now in its 9th year running. With our close collaboration with local/International stakeholders and their trust in us along with commitment to bringing a lasting solution to lingering power challenges in Nigeria, Nigeria Energy remains the only platform for stakeholders to engage, showcase products

I see the Nigerian energy sector reaching a point where technology and renewables will fundamentally disrupt the Nigerian power sector.

I foresee energy access being facilitated by technology and renewables allowing Nigerians to have reliable access to power

What progressive trends have you seen globally that the Nigerian energy sector needs to adopt?

Nigeria has established its position well by integrating renewable energy into its mix and collaborating closely with the Rural Electrification Agency (REA) by offering alternate solutions to electrical problems. The Ministry is committed, keen and vested in ensuring the Nigerian energy sector reaches a stage where there is significant improvement.

Adoption of mini grids is key for the sector.

With that in mind, the recent electricity bill passed by the Senate Committee on Power led by Senator Gabriel Suswam in July 2022, allowing states and individuals to generate and distribute electricity, is a game changer for the country. This bill gives legal backing to renewable energy, which means that if you decide to generate 1 M.W. of power using solar source, that is also provided for, according to the lawmaker, the bill would improve utilisation of generated power through increased investments in new technologies to enhance transmission and distribution of generated power to minimise aggregate value chain loses.

The bill will help revive the institutional framework for the reform of the Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry (NESI), initiated and implemented by the federal government and also sought to promote policies and regulatory measures that would ensure the expansion of power transmission networks in Nigeria in order to address any imbalance in the existing transmission infrastructure.

What are your predictions for the next 10 years regarding the Nigerian energy sector?

I see the Nigerian energy sector reaching a point where technology and renewables will fundamentally disrupt the Nigerian power sector. I foresee energy access being facilitated by technology and renewables allowing Nigerians to have reliable access to power.

What kind of technology or innovations should participants expect from the exhibition?

Advances in electric metering firms, transmission technologies, distribution improvements, backup generators and critical power solutions and solar among other things. Depending on what the visitors are looking out for in the power sector, they can be sure to find it at Nigerian Energy.

What is Informa Markets' plan for Nigeria in the next coming years?

Along with Nigeria Energy, Informa Markets currently organises Medic West Africa to provide reliable healthcare solutions for the country, and the group intends to grow further leveraging on the success of these flagship events and expand its full potential in the territory representing other sectors such as Food, Agriculture, Real Estate etc. that would be introduced in the near future.

30

T H I S D AY ˾ ˜ AUGUST 10, 2022

BUSINESS/MONEYGUIDE

Sugar Council Seeks to Strengthen Refining Capacity to Break FOREX Barriers James Emejo ÓØ ÌßÔË The Executive Secretary/Chief Executive, National Sugar Development Council (NSDC), Mr. Zacch Adedeji, has said the council is currently working towards strengthening the industry’s local sugar refining capacity with a view to overcoming the present challenges in accessing foreign exchange.

He said apart from deploying technology, it would also strive to solve the FX issues by encouraging investment in production and refining capacity.

He spoke when he received a delegation from Oyo State Government, led by the Director-General of the State Liaison Office Abuja, Mr. Wale Ajani, to among other things deliberate on a partnership to further grow the sugar economy in the state.

Adedeji, who noted that Nigeria currently consumes about 1.7 million metric tons of sugar, however, pointed out that, the country would require 250,000 irrigated lands – in a normal temperate land - to support

local consumption.

He said Nigeria remained a net importer of sugar in Africa with about 11 million metric tons annually which constitutes a huge drain on foreign exchange.

Nonetheless, the NSDC boss said the emergence of the African Continental Free Trade Area agreement (AfCFTA), offers the country ample opportunity to play a leading role in the development and export of the commodity.

While assuring that the council would continue to partner with the state government to harness the potential of the sugar industry, he pointed out that the latter already had a mini sugar factory in the state.

According to him, about 80 per cent of sugar consumption in Nigeria happens in three states including Lagos, Ogun, and Oyo given the industrial activities in the areas, adding that the table sugar consumption only accounted for less than 5 per cent.

He explained that the real sugar consumption in the country was mostly industrial.

He described the visit by the delegation as “very auspicious”,

noting that the establishment of the Sugar Cooperative in Iseyin, remained one of the major works currently undertaken by the council in the state. Adedeji said the new sugar factory being installed in the state would have a capacity of about 1,250 Total Cane per day (TCD) adding that it is about 96 per cent completed.

He said, “If not for the fluctuation we have in FOREX and some delays, I think by now we should have commissioned it.”

He insisted that to tackle the menace of insecurity and unemployment, the country needed to “go back to the productive economy, part of which sugar is going to play a major role”.

While commending the state governor for providing a conducive environment that allows business to thrive, Adedeji further tasked the government to boost infrastructure for sugar cane development, particularly the construction of access roads and irrigation dams as well as de-risk the sector in order to attract more private sector involvement.

HÖRMANN Doors Debuts In Nigeria, Pledges Quality Service Hörmann, a leading manufacturer of European doors has made it’s foray into the Nigeria Market with a pledge to provide cutting edge services to it’s customers.

Addressing a cross session of stakeholders at the introduction of the German door brand in Lagos, the Managing Director and Founder of SarniaRock International Limited, the official distributor of Hörmann products in Nigeria and West Africa, Mr. Ajibade Yusuf said it is a new day for customers in Nigeria.

According to him, the brand would satisfy the yearnings of Nigerians craving for superior and durable doors. He told the audience that SarniaRock will provide an end-to-end solution in procurement,

foreign exchange, installation as well as after-sales service to its customers.

He noted that Hörmann doors, which started production in 1935 in Germany stand out from the crowd because the manufacturer produces based on requirements and precision.

Explaining further, Ajibade said the company is noted for creating products for clients satisfaction.

“We want to be part of our client’s story by working with them from idea creation or conceptualization of the building, that is, at the design and drawing stage. This allows us to understand the needs of our customers very well as we can provide technical support from the onset. SarniaRock has highly trained engineers

to ensure the measurement is accurate and the product is installed correctly, ”Ajibade said.

He also pointed out that the company’s team in Lagos is well positioned to travel across the country to provide one-to-one rapport with customers. Ajibade revealed that after-sales service is another added value clients would enjoy from Hörmann as there is a dedicated support team and highly trained technicians and engineers to assist with installation and maintenance.

The SarniaRock boss described Hörmann as the market leader in Europe with a range of products with varied guarantee periods of 1 to 10 years, “which speaks volumes about the quality and the confidence we have in our brand which has been in existence for over 80 years”.

Coronation Insurance Pays N5.5bn Claims Ebere Nwoji Coronation Insurance Plc, has said that it paid total claims of N5.5billion in 2021.

This is a little below N5 .6 billion claims paid by the firm in 2020 .The company said the slight decrease in claims paid during the year was as a result of improvement in its claims management expertise.

The company said its claims expenses recoverable was N2.9 million in 2021 from N3 billion in 2020. It said these reflected a net claims expenses of N1.4billion in the same year compared to

the previous year in which the value for the same purpose amounted to N3 billion.

In terms of turnover during the year under review, the company raked in gross premium income of N8.6 billion compared to N12.3 billion it made in the same period of 2020.

Profit After Tax stood at N689.6 million while net underwriting income was N9.66 billion. The company’s Chairman, Mutiu Sunmonu made this known in a statement sent to the Nigerian Stock Exchange and Shareholders on the Group’s Audited Financial Results for the Year 2021.

He noted that the Net Underwriting Income was N9.66 billion, adding that N7.31 billion was paid as claims.

Sunmonu submitted that the firm also recorded a total underwriting profit of N1.25 billion, while the investment income stood at N1.51 billion.

He said the firm’s total assets for the period stood at N39.80 billion, just as its share capital stood at N11.99 billion; share premium was N4.61 billion while contingency reserves stood at N3.66 billion; other reserves stood at N1.75 billion and total equity at N21.59 billion .

Stanbic IBTC Set to Host Africa-ChinaTrade Expo Nume Ekeghe Stanbic IBTC Holdings Plc has announced that it plans to host the 2022 Stanbic IBTC Africa China Trade Expo as part of its efforts at promoting trans-regional trade and development between Nigeria and China.

The trade expo the bank said in a statement, would feature a panel discussion, master classes on trade, a presentation on

the Stanbic IBTC Africa China Trade Solutions, and a fully virtual exhibition.

It added that the two-day hybrid conference and exhibition themed, “Synergy For Growth,” is slated for 10 and 11 August 2022, “and is geared at providing insights and opportunities for participants. The event would serve as an avenue to showcase Nigerian and Chinese exhibitors, and would as well provide opportunities

to build relationships within the trade community.”

Chief Executive, Stanbic IBTC Holdings, Dr Demola Sogunle, highlighted that the Stanbic IBTC AfricaChinaTrade Expo hybrid Conference and Exhibition would be geared at showcasing Nigeria and China trade opportunities while emphasizing the role of Stanbic IBTC in facilitating inter-regional trade.

Managing Director, SarniaRock International Limited, Mr. Ajibade Yusuf, (middle), Head of Engineering Operations, SarniaRock International, Mr. Kolade Aladeojebi, (right), and A Guest, Aisha Ademodi (left), at the building Industry stakeholders meeting in Lagos....recently

MARKET INDICATORS MONEY AND CREDIT STATISTICS

(MILLION NAIRA)

JUNE 2022 Money Supply (M3)

48,865,823.53

-- CBN Bills Held by Money Holding Sectors

167,956.2

Money Supply (M2)

48,797,867.32

-- Quasi Money

28,405,330.1

-- Narrow Money (M1)

20,392,537.22

---- Currency Outside Banks

2,722,785.91

---- Demand Deposits

17,669,751.32

Net Foreign Assets (NFA)

6,242,394.29

Net Domestic Assets(NDA)

42,623,429.24

-- Net Domestic Credit (NDC)

57,267,178.05

---- Credit to Government (Net)

17,996,690.06

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

0.00

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

0.00

---- Credit to Private Sector (CPS)

39,270,488

--Other Assets Net

5,566,430

Reserve Money (Base Money

11,320,304

--Currency in Circulation

3,259,269.15

--Banks Reserves --Special Intervention Reserves

11,320,303.72 384,377.56

˾ ÙßÜÍÏ ̋

Money Market Indicators (in Percentage) Month

June 2022

Inter-Bank Call Rate

11.10

Minimum Rediscount Rate (MRR) Monetary Policy Rate (MPR)

13.00

Treasury Bill Rate

2.45

Savings Deposit Rate

1.38

1 Month Deposit Rate

3.48

3 Months Deposit Rate

4.55

6 Months Deposit Rate

4.97

12 Months Deposit Rate

5.30

Prime Lending rate

12.29

Maximum Lending Rate

27.61

˾ ÙØÏÞËÜã ÙÖÓÍã ËÞÏ ̋ ͯͱϱ

OPEC DAILY BASKET PRICE AS AT THURSDAY, MAY 7

The OPEC Reference Basket of Crudes (ORB) is made up of the following: Saharan Blend (Algeria), Girassol (Angola), Djeno (Congo), Zafiro (Equatorial Guinea), Rabi Light (Gabon), Iran Heavy (Islamic Republic of Iran), Basra Light (Iraq), Kuwait Export (Kuwait), Es Sider (Libya), Bonny Light (Nigeria), Arab Light (Saudi Arabia), Murban (UAE) and Merey (Venezuela).

31

T H I S D AY ˾ ˜ ͯͮ˜ ͰͮͰͰ

Stock Market Down N615bn on Sell-off in Dangote Cement, MTN, Others Kayode Tokede The stock market of the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) yesterday extended losses for the second consecutive session, bringing the overall market capitalisation down

by N615 billion to drop below N26 trillion.

Specifically, the market capitalisation lost N615 billion to close at N26.618 trillion from N27.233 trillion it opened for trading.

Consequently, the NGX All

Share Index (ASI) decreased by 1,139.02 basis points, representing a dip of 2.26 per cent to drop below the 50,000 psychological mark at 49,350.71 basis points from 50,489.73 basis points the stock market opened for trading.

The downturn was impacted by losses recorded in medium and large capitalised stocks, amongst which are: Dangote Cement that depreciated by 9.1 per cent and MTN Nigeria Communications was down by 4.3 per cent.

P R I C E S MAIN BOARD

F O R DEALS

Market breadth, which is measure by market sentiment was negative, as 12 stocks gained relative to 16 losers. NEM Insurance and Prestige Assurance recorded the highest price gain of 10 per cent each to close at N3.74 and 44 kobo respectively, while Ellah Lakes followed with a gain 9.78 per cent to close at N3.93, per share.

Multiverse Mining & Exploration went up by 9.57 per cent to close at N2.06, while Ikeja Hotel

S E C U R I T I E S

MARKET PRICE

QUANTITY TRADED

VALUE TRADED ( N )

appreciated by 9.28 per cent to close at N1.06, per share. On the other hand, Cornerstone Insurance led the losers’ chart by 9.33 per cent to close at 68 kobo, per share.

Dangote Cement followed with a decline of 9.06 per cent to close at N241.00, while Japaul Gold and Ventures went down by 8.11 per cent to close at 34 kobo, per share.

Sovereign Trust Insurance lost 7.41 per cent to close at 25 kobo, while Stanbic IBTC Holdings shed

T R A D E D MAIN BOARD

A S

6.45 per cent to close at N29.00, per share. Also, the total volume traded declined by 32.14 per cent to 140.610 million units, valued at N1.600 billion, and exchanged in 3,895 deals.

Transactions in the shares of Japaul Gold and Ventures topped the activity chart with 23.180 million shares valued at N8.951 million. AIICO Insurance followed with 14.849 million shares worth N8.449 million, while Sterling Bank traded 14.302 million

O F

0 9

shares valued at N21.411 million.

Sovereign Trust Insurance traded 10.111 million shares valued at N2.579 million, while Guaranty Trust Holding Company (GTCO) transacted 7.850 million shares worth N160.969 million.

United Capital Plc said “we maintain that the local bourse will remain broadly bearish as higher interest rates, depressed exchange rate and political camaraderie weigh on investor sentiments in the medium term.”

/ 8 / 2 0 2 2 DEALS

MARKET PRICE

QUANTITY TRADED

VALUE TRADED ( N)

32

T H I S D AY ˾ WEDNESDAY AUGUST 10, 2022

EDUCATION Favourable Policy will Ensure More Girls are Equipped to Become Automobile Experts’ In this interview with Funmi Ogundare, the Project Coordinator Forging Africa’s Future Mechanical Engineers (FAFME) Implementation board of the Nigerian Institution of Mechanical Engineers (NIMechE), Mrs Osazoduwa Agboneni is advocating for policies that would ensure that more girls are being trained to become automobile experts, among other issues

H

by my work and results.

ow long have you been working as a mechanic?

I started my journey at the University of Benin, where I read Mechanical Engineering.

I was also opportune to do my internship while at university in auto care garages which exposed me to the industry. I started this journey as an engineer with Coscharis Motors in 2006, making the cut as part of the first sets of female automobile engineers employed by the company. I ventured into telecommunications afterwards for some time. It wasn’t until January 9, 2015, that I formally opened my doors to customers with the opening of Nenis Auto Care. So I can say that I have been actively practising for the past 7 years without interruption.

How do you feel working as a mechanic in a male-dominated environment?

First, I would want to state that my upbringing prepared me for where I am today. I have already been standing in the men’s world from my secondary school days. While in secondary school, I joined the technical drawing classes because I had made up my mind to be an Engineer. We were not up to five girls in that class. It was dominated by the boys. Also when I got into the university to study Mechanical Engineering, in a class of over 159 people, we had just three girls. For me, that was the foundation. I was already used to the industry I was coming into. However, being in a male-dominated business is quite impressive. If it were another woman in my position, I would commend her and give her the support that she requires because it is not easy. Being in the midst of guys running this kind of business means you just have to be on your toes. You need to work really hard. I commend women who are in a gender-sensitive industry like mine.

Working in the such environment has taught me to exhibit strong leadership skills, be courageous in decision making and be a great collaborator. The challenges it posed have actually made me a better person.

What challenges do you face on a day-to-day basis, and how are you able to surmount them?

Business has been good and also very challenging. But then, I won’t say business has been flourishing the way it was before now. The economy has affected the business. The cost of parts and operating the business is ever increasing. Customers are driving their cars and managing them, not wanting to do maintenance until they are forced to because the economy is not friendly. The cost of used vehicles and the attendant taxes are pushing vehicle afford-

How do you balance work life and family?

As a mother of four strong boys, I definitely need to balance my home and my work life effectively. When it comes to the home front, our society believes that it is meant for women to take care of the home front. As a woman combining home with job, and at the same time still being social, it is really not easy. I have to help myself with the support structure to attain balance. One thing that helps me is that I use a daily planner. When I am planning my activities for the day, I also look at developing my personal life. I work on my personal life, which includes my health, I work on my business and family life daily.

I wake up at 4:00am daily, and I have a two-hour power-packed personal time. I draw up my task for the day and wake my kids by 6am. So by 7:00am they are set for school. Personally, I advocate that we make our work place female-friendly.

We definitely need to advocate for creches in organizations. I also enjoy the support and understanding of a very supportive spouse and family who are ever willing to pitch in for me when the need arises.

This is an unquantifiable blessing that I am always grateful for.

Agboneni

ability out of the reach of most Nigerians. It is not like what it used to be, I must say. But then, business has been good so far. We just keep pushing. We just keep moving. We try to be innovative in our services. We are taking circularity seriously in looking at repurposing and refitting vehicle parts for clients’ use and stringing our diagnostic and repair skills to ensure we only do the barest minimum in terms of repairs for our clients.

Do you face any discrimination among your male colleagues?

Generally, I do have certain instances where men are intimidated by my sterling

credentials in the industry. I have had men who are irritated by the fact that I am a female auto care expert. Well, it is just the stereotype, and we need to work towards changing that. When such people come to Nenis Auto Care, if they don’t want a woman to touch their car, I have male staff members who are auto-care experts, so the men will go ahead and attend to them. Gender mainstreaming is not that it should be women everywhere. All we are saying is that it should be a blend of both sexes. Even these days, unlike when taking cars to the auto care garage to fix is a man’s job, women now bring their cars themselves to fix. Even some men now prefer me fixing their cars. Tell them someone else will attend to them, they will insist on coming when I am around.

Among colleagues, I am well respected because I have earned their recognition

Are there any favourable policies that have made you thrive?

Definitely, from the public end, there is more positive actions on affirmative action for women and special provisions for women in various places this has help with the level of recognition I enjoy which has also help improve the patronage of our business. I have also enjoyed the support of organisations and institutions that have policies in place to support women economically and socially. Let me mention some of the outstanding examples; Tony Elumelu Foundation (TEF), Young African Leaders Initiative (YALI), Vital Voices, Goldman Sachs and Bank of America, The Nigerian Institution of Mechanical Engineers (NIMechE), Royal Academy of Engineering UK. These organisations and others alike have provided me with enormous opportunities to grow my skills and my business at various times. I have gotten funding to expand the business, and I am still enjoying various levels of support that I am indeed grateful for.

My experience has shown me the vital importance policies play in driving growth for women in societies. I have also taken leave by advocating for more policies for women and at the same time training girls and women to become automobile experts; my way of giving back.

N100m Spent On UTME Mop-up Exam, Says JAMB Registrar Uchechukwu Nnaike

The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) Registrar, Prof Ishaq Oloyede, has described the justconcluded mop-up Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) as a consequence of examination malpractice.

The exam was conducted for about 42,000 candidates in some states, most of whom were from the 10 centres where candidates’ results were cancelled for examination malpractice during the conduct of the exam in May. Other categories of candidates who

sat for the mop-up UTME are those with fingerprint peculiarities, BVN failure and technical issues.

Speaking in Lagos while monitoring the conduct of the exam, he said because there were innocent few among those who sat at those centres, the board decided to re-conduct the examination for all those who took in those centres but did not post them to the centres again.

He said the board and

the candidates had to bear the consequences, as JAMB spent about N100 million to re-conduct the examination, while the affected students had to deal with the emotional and physical strains of rewriting the examination.

To the affected candidates, he said, “you have seen what all of us have made of the country. You are free to determine whether you will continue with the system or to create a better tomorrow and better tomorrow is not to cheat in the examination.”

Asked if conducting the examination was necessary considering the number of students yet to be admitted into

universities following the ASUU strike, he said it would be unfair to cancel the examination since some state and private universities and other specialised institutions are not on strike.

He appealed to the government and the staff unions to solve the problem so the students could return to school.

Some candidates told THISDAY that they did not prepare adequately for the mop-up examination. Others said the cancelled results demoralised them.

Centres visited by the registrar were JKK ETC, WAEC International Office (WIO), Ikeja and WAEC Test and Training Centre (WTTC) Ogba.

33

T H I S D AY ˾ WEDNESDAY AUGUST 10, 2022

EDUCATION

ASUU Strike: King’s College Abia Poly in ND Result Scandal as State Assembly Principal Decries IdleYouths Probes Accreditation Withdrawal by NBTE Uchechukwu Nnaike

The Principal, King’s College, Lagos, Mr Andrew Ali Agada, has expressed worry over the increasing number of idle youths in the country as a result of the ongoing strike by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU).

He regretted that two sets of students are waiting to be admitted into universities, and the recent secondary school leavers have joined the pool of idle youths.

He stated that the level of youth restiveness is partly a result of idleness and appealed to the federal government and ASUU to reach a compromise.

Agada said despite the tension, the school still maintains excellence, as one of its students, Lawal Olaoluwa Emmanuel,

scored 355 to emerge among the first five in this year’s Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME), conducted by JAMB. In keeping with his promise to reward the student with the best UTME result, the principal said Emmanuel would receive a cash award during the school’s graduation ceremony on August 13.

In last year’s WASSCE, he said the school recorded 99 per cent for those that scored five credits and above, including English Language and mathematics.

“In English, we had 100 per cent; in mathematics, we had 98 per cent. In chemistry, physic, and biology, we had about 97, 96 per cent. We are not doing badly, but our goal is to be number one,” he said.

Emmanuel Ugwu-Nwogo in Umuahia

The Abia State Polytechnic is grappling with an alleged academic fraud scandal after the institution issued a National Diploma (ND) statement of result prematurely to an Ababased businessman when he had not completed his academic programme.

The latest blight in the institution is coming on the heels of the withdrawal of its accreditation by the National Board on Technical Education (NBTE), an ugly development which the Abia State House of Assembly has started probing.

An Umuahia-based legal practitioner, Okey Amechi, SAN, blew the whistle on the statement of result scandal in

a petition he sent to the Rector, Prof. Kalu Osonwa, questioning the manner a student, Chief Gregory Okwuchukwu Okafor, obtained his National Diploma result from the institution.

The legal practitioner was not alone in sounding the alarm bell as a human rights organization. The Centre for Reform and Public Advocacy (CRPA) has petitioned the stateowned polytechnic over the same issue.

What appeared to have exposed the alleged academic fraud was the election by the Aba Sports Club in 1926, in which the minimum qualification for a member to contest for the office of president was pegged at the National Diploma.

The SAN, in his petition,

alleged that Chief Okafor, a businessman in Aba, and a member of the Aba Sports Club 1926, did not possess the minimum educational requirement at the time he indicated an interest in vying for the office of Club President in the election scheduled for December 2021.

He stated that the businessman recognised his academic deficiency and had enrolled on a programme in Business Administration and Management at Abiapoly during the 2018/2019 academic session.

“Surprisingly, Chief Okafor, who had up to the closure of nominations for the office of the President of the Club, maintained he was a student of Abia Polytechnic, suddenly brought an ND statement of

result, dated November 30, 2021,” the petitioner said.

According to him, what the statement of result purportedly showed was that Chief Okafor had graduated from the school with effect from August 1, 2020.

The legal practitioner questioned the authenticity of the ND statement of result purportedly issued to Okafor in August 2020, even with the disruptions in academic activities across the globe in that year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Amechi further raised doubts on the statement of result issued to Chief Okafor, arguing that as of December 2021, Abiapoly was yet to graduate students of ND programmes that were admitted during the 2018/2019 session.

YABATECH Rewards Staff, Students’ Research Prowess Uchechukwu Nnaike

Yaba College of Technology (YABATECH) has presented cash prizes and certificates to winners of the just-concluded 2022 inter-school research fair, exhibition and awards.

The maiden edition of the research fair was aimed at sharing some of the engaging works developed by staff and students.

The programme was jointly organised by the Committee on College Research Fair and Exhibition, the Centre for Applied Research and Technology Innovation (ARTI) and the TETFund Centre of Excellence (TETCoE).

In the departmental category, the Department of Polymer and Textile Technology emerged winner with 296 points and received a cash award of N150,000; Science Laboratory Technology came second with 266 points and got N100,000; while Biological Sciences came third with 259 points and received N75,000.

In the school category, the School of Technology garnered 296 points to emerge the winner and was rewarded with N200,000; the School of Science

came second with 287 points and received N150,000; while the School of Arts Design and Printing came third with 278 points and got N100,000 reward.

The polytechnic’s rector, Obafemi Omokungbe, expressed delight that over 35 departments from eight schools in the college participated actively in the exhibition and presented research-based products.

He said that the institution identified several products at the end of the exhibition worthy of patenting and partnering for commercialisation.

“We shall make sure that we have patents for those products and sign an MoU with companies to manufacture them, and royalties will be given to the researchers.”

He said the college would also be represented at upcoming national and international exhibitions where some of the products will be presented to a larger gathering.

Omokungbe added that the management would work with the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) to seek sponsorship for identified products to take them further.

Class of 2022, Chrisland School, Abuja, during the 8th valedictory and prize-giving day... recently

APWEN Holds Career Fair to Bridge Town, Gown Funmi Ogundare

The Association of Professional Women Engineers of Nigeria (APWEN) recently held a town and gown mentoring/career fair for young engineers aimed at bridging the gap between female engineering students and the industry.

The programme sponsored

by Worley Foundation was themed ‘Industry-Focused Capacity Building’.

Speaking at the programme

held in Lagos, the president of the association, Dr Elizabeth Eterigho, noted that the vision of the town and gown series, which kicked off in 2020, is to create a pool of ‘ready-now’ female engineers and an avenue for the recruitment of bright young talents.

She added that it also serves as a mechanism to assist the nation in attaining Sustainable Development Goals (SDG).

“The first series started in 2020 through 2021 comprised of STEM Education, diversity and

inclusion projects that impacted communities in the six geopolitical zones in Nigeria,” she said, adding that the feedback had shown an impact on the young engineers through job placement among the various industries.

President of Nigeria Society of Engineers (NSE), Tasiu Gidari Wudil, expressed delight about the programme and commended APWEN’s efforts.

In his keynote, the guest of honour, Robert Azibaola, said he believed that young people,

especially engineers, can change things for the better if they put their mind to it and have passion for what they do.

Azibaola stated, “We are so prayerful in this part of the world, but it seems that our development has been thwarted. As engineers, we should be able to think very fast. You can believe in religion, but work had to try to solve the problem of society. Once you are able to think about invention, distance it from spirituality.”

Amazing Talents School Urges Parents to Dafi Rogers-Halliday Unveiled as 2022 7Up Leave Legacy for Children Harvard Business School Scholarship Winner Esther Akinola

Amazing Talents School has advised parents on the significance of leaving a legacy for their children, especially at this time.

The Chairman of the School and Proprietor, Mr Eddy Odivwri, stated this while addressing parents and guests at the 16th graduation and prizegiving ceremony on the theme, ‘Raising A Responsible Child’.

Odivwri said: “We are not unaware of the challenges families are facing in bracing up with the daily living in the country. It has almost become a choice-less situation that not only are public schools no longer delivering reliable and quality service. They are

even now plagued with endless seasons of strike and service disruption.”

He however, insisted that parents who know the value of education would continue to support alternative options by way of patronising private schools.

The chairman hinted they were not only poised and determined to continue to offer quality education.

“We have even raised the bar and expanded the frontiers of our service by setting up our college last September,” he added.

While celebrating parents who sponsor their children in private schools despite the economic difficulty in the nation, Odivwri urged parents

to join Amazing Talents School to build and grow together as an institution by allowing their children to enrol at their new college.

Speaking also, the headteacher, Mrs Prisca Akunasha, expressed gratitude to God for a journey of 16 years while also priding itself as a school that develops children’s talents.

“We stand out everywhere we are. Our children are making us proud in the secondary schools they have been enrolling. But now we have our college, we hope the new set joins us there,” said Akunasha.

Meanwhile, taking a cue from the proprietor, Akunasha implored parents to pay more attention to their children’s education.

Mary Nnah

Seven-Up Bottling Company Limited (SBC) has unveiled Miss Dafi-Rogers-Halliday as the 12th winner of the 7Up Harvard Business School MBA Scholarship. The scholarship is awarded to a deserving young Nigerian every year for a two-year MBA programme at the prestigious Harvard Business School, United States of America.

The Managing Director of Seven-Up Bottling Company, Mr Ziad Maalouf, during the presentation of the scholarship, restated the company’s commitment to the development of a pool of well-trained young global leaders able and capable of providing transformational leadership that will impact the political economy of Nigeria

and the African continent in no distant future.

According to Maalouf, Nigeria is one of the countries with the best young talented population who are making an impact both locally and globally, especially in the fintech space. He said the 7Up HBS MBA Scholarship is aimed at complementing this pool of talents and raising future leaders with a global vision.

Chief Marketing Officer, SBC, Mr Norden Thurston, who recalled the event of the first presentation of the first winner of the 7Up HBS Scholarship 11 years ago, said he was immensely proud of the impact past winners are making in society. Citing the example of Misan Rewane, who, through her skills training organisation, the West African Vocational

Education (WAVE) has trained and placed over 5000 graduates in several companies in the hospitality industry.

While thanking SBC for the Harvard Business School MBA Scholarship, Dafi-RogersHalliday, a first-class graduate of Economics, said the scholarship is an honour as it has helped her to realize her long-life dream of studying at Harvard Business School. “The journey to the 7Up HBS Scholarship was not easy. It was a tedious process. I feel validated. And being selected meant that SevenUp was able to connect with my story,” Rogers-Halliday said. The award winner, who is from Rivers State, said her only regret was that her father, who had passed on years back, was not able to witness such a momentous event.

34

˜ ͹͸˜ ͺ͸ͺͺ ˾ T H I S D AY

Wednesday, August 10, 2022

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ďƌĞĂĚƚŚ͕ ƌĞŵĂŝŶĞĚ Ăƚ ͲϬ͘ϭdž ĂƐ ϭϮ ƐƚŽĐŬƐ ŐĂŝŶĞĚ͕ ϭϲ ĨƌŽŵ ϭ͘ϯdž ƌĞĐŽƌĚĞĚ ŝŶ ƚŚĞ ůĂƐƚ ƚƌĂĚŝŶŐ ƐĞƐƐŝŽŶ ĂƐ Ϯϰ ƐƚŽĐŬƐ ůŽƐƚ ǁŚŝůĞ ϴϮ ĐůŽƐĞĚ ŇĂƚ͘ dŽĚĂLJ͕ ǁĞ ĞdžƉĞĐƚ ďĂƌŐĂŝŶ ĂĚǀĂŶĐĞĚ ǁŚŝůĞ ϭϱ ƐƚŽĐŬƐ ĚĞĐůŝŶĞĚ͘ DZ^ ;нϵ͘ϵйͿ͕ D zͲ

2.0%

-12.6%

144.8%

14.4%

12.1x

15.3x

6.4%

-12.3%

-18.2%

23.3%

12.1%

22.1x

5.0x

4.7%

4.5%

0.2%

19.8%

3.2%

3.4x

0.7x

14.6%

29.6% 37.4%

6.9% 4.9%

20.55

0.2%

4.2%

-21.0%

0.0%

4.1%

-15.5%

-2.1%

20.6%

2.6%

2.7x

0.5x

14.6%

3.4%

-6.2%

-12.4%

44.2%

15.8%

12.0x

5.4x

8.3%

8.3%

25.45

0.0%

2.8%

6.3%

-3.6%

15.6%

11.1%

6.8x

1.0x

8.3%

14.7%

10.80

0.0%

2.5%

-5.3%

-6.9%

20.5%

1.9%

2.3x

0.4x

3.2%

43.3%

0.0%

2.4%

-16.5%

-7.1%

178.2%

15.1%

22.4x

35.7x

3.7%

4.5%

1,430.50

0.0%

2.8%

120.1%

10.0%

9.9%

5.1%

11.0x

1.1x

2.9%

9.0%

9.00

0.0%

2.1%

-3.2%

-3.2%

17.9%

1.6%

2.0x

0.3x

7.8%

50.9% 48.4%

7.20

-0.7%

1.6%

-10.6%

-3.4%

15.6%

1.4%

2.1x

0.3x

13.9%

47.15

0.0%

1.2%

-5.7%

-19.8%

13.4%

4.9%

16.0x

2.1x

3.5%

6.3%

216.90

0.0%

1.4%

52.7%

0.0%

52.6%

30.4%

9.7x

4.8x

3.6%

10.3%

10.60

7.1%

1.3%

21.8%

0.0%

20.0%

1.1%

2.1x

0.4x

6.3%

46.8%

29.00

-6.5%

1.1%

-19.4%

-13.6%

15.6%

2.1%

6.1x

1.0x

10.3%

16.3%

5.00

-4.8%

0.9%

1.0%

-20.6%

-2.4%

-0.9%

32.90

0.0%

0.9%

16.0%

1.2%

ǁŚŝůĞ dZ E^ ;Ͳϴ͘ϯйͿ͕ > ^ K ;Ͳϲ͘ϳйͿ͕ ĂŶĚ >/s Ͳ

^dK < ;Ͳϰ͘ϴйͿ ůĞĚ ůŽƐĞƌƐ͘ WƌĞǀŝŽƵƐ ĚĂLJ͕ ǁĞ ĞdžƉĞĐƚ ƚŚĞ ŵĂƌŬĞƚ ƐĞŶƟŵĞŶƚ ƚŽ ƌĞŵĂŝŶ ŵŝdžĞĚ͕ ĂƐ ĞĂƌŶŝŶŐƐ ƐĞĂƐŽŶ

ŐƌĂĚƵĂůůLJ ǁŝŶĚƐ ƵƉ͘

-2.5%

0.7x

6.5%

3.00

0.0%

0.6%

17.6%

-12.3%

13.3%

1.2%

2.3x

0.3x

11.7%

83.00

0.0%

0.6%

112.8%

-8.3%

19.1%

8.1%

11.6x

2.0x

8.6%

8.6%

158.40

0.0%

0.4%

80.4%

-4.0%

53.7%

20.2%

7.0x

3.7x

4.6%

14.3%

3.35

0.0%

0.5%

365.3%

5.0%

15.7%

0.9%

8.4x

1.8x

7.2%

11.9%

0.0%

0.4%

2.0%

-11.8%

12.4%

1.2%

2.0x

0.2x

6.6%

49.9%

5.7%

1.7%

9.2x

0.5x

13.4%

10.9%

6.1x

2.9x

11.8%

16.3% 14.8%

1.86

-1.6%

0.4%

-19.8%

-7.0%

12.80

0.0%

0.4%

29.3%

0.4%

16.55

0.0%

0.4%

-4.9%

1.5%

23.2%

8.7%

6.8x

1.5x

6.0%

1.12

3.7%

0.3%

16.7%

-8.9%

19.0%

4.3%

2.7x

0.4x

1.8%

36.5%

10.25

0.0%

0.3%

68.0%

6.8%

7.8x

1.1x

2.5%

12.8%

15.40

0.0%

0.2%

75.0%

-10.7%

8.7x

1.9x

3.3%

11.4%

11.20

0.0%

0.2%

17.9%

0.9%

18.7x

0.7x

5.8%

5.4%

234.50

0.0%

0.2%

5.7%

0.0%

3.6%

1.6%

1.8x

25.90

0.0%

0.2%

15.9%

-2.3%

19.1%

2.1%

5.5x

0.8x

9.7%

18.2%

6.80

0.0%

0.2%

-13.9%

-2.9%

18.2%

5.2%

4.1x

0.7x

7.4%

24.4%

13.50

0.0%

0.1%

-6.9%

-8.8%

7.2%

4.3%

42.0x

1.2x

3.7%

2.4%

0.87

-1.1%

0.1%

55.4%

-4.4%

20.0%

1.5%

6.4x

1.2x

4.6%

15.7%

4.90

-1.8%

0.1%

10.9%

-13.6%

5.80

0.0%

0.1%

-1.7%

-5.7%

6.4%

0.7%

9.3x

0.6x

1.50

0.0%

0.1%

-0.7%

-1.3%

10.3%

1.0%

2.7x

0.3x

-17.7%

-4.1%

62.50

0.0%

0.0%

0.0%

0.0%

6.25

0.0%

0.0%

16.2%

0.0%

-21.5%

-183.5% 10.8% 6.7%

1.8x 1.1%

T o p 10 T r a d e s b y V o l u m e

P ric e C hg %

T ic k er

Vo lum e

P ric e C hg % -8.1%

0.44

10.0%

J A P A ULGOLD

23.2

10.0%

A IIC O

14.8

0.0%

ELLA H LA KES

3.93

9.8%

ST ER LN B A N K

14.3

0.0%

M ULT IVER SE

2.06

9.6%

SOVR EN IN S

10.1

-7.4%

IKEJ A H OT EL

1.06

9.3%

GT C O

7.9

0.2%

R T B R ISC OE

0.39

8.3%

UB A

6.2

-0.7%

CHA M S

0.27

8.0%

A C C ESSC OR P

5.9

0.0%

ET I

10.60

7.1%

CHA M S

5.3

8.0%

1.12

3.7%

Z EN IT H B A N K

4.4

0.0%

0.32

3.2%

H ON YF LOUR

4.2

-4.7%

C OR N ER ST D A N GC EM J A P A ULGOLD SOVR EN IN S ST A N B IC

T o p 10 T r a d e s b y V a l u e T ic k er

Value

P ric e C hg %

P ric e

P ric e C hg %

0.68

-9.3%

SEP LA T

441.8

0.0%

241.00

-9.1%

M TNN

300.9

-4.3%

0.34

-8.1%

GT C O

161.0

0.2%

0.25

-7.4%

Z EN IT H B A N K

94.6

0.0%

29.00

-6.5%

D A N GC EM

79.1

-9.1%

53.2

0.0% -0.7%

C H A M P ION

3.75

-6.2%

A C C ESSC OR P

IN T B R EW

5.00

-4.8%

UB A

44.3

-4.7%

N EST LE

42.9

0.0%

201.00

-4.3%

FB NH

25.7

0.0%

5.80

-3.3%

GUIN N ESS

25.4

0.0%

M TNN NA HCO

2.81

36.5% -1.8%

1.0x

3.74

T ic k er

43.8%

3.05

N EM

H ON YF LOUR

Afrinvest West Africa Limited

1.0x

P R EST IGE

F T N C OC OA

8.3%

-9.1%

P ric e

T R A N SC OR P

13.8%

1.1%

21.25

T o p 10 L o s e r s

< Z ;нϵ͘ϴйͿ͕ ĂŶĚ ,KEz&>KhZ ;нϵ͘ϴйͿ ůĞĚ ŐĂŝŶĞƌƐ ŚƵŶƟŶŐ ĂĐƟǀŝƟĞƐ ƚŽ Ɛƚ ŵĂƌŬĞƚ ƉĞƌĨŽƌŵĂŶĐĞ͘

6.7%

241.00

T o p 10 G a in e r s T ic k er

0.8x

1,300.00

22 Wema Bank PLC 23 FCMB Group Plc 24 AXA Mansard Insurance PLC

ƚƌŝĂů 'ŽŽĚƐ ĂŶĚ &ZͲ/ d ŝŶĚŝĐĞƐ ůĞĚ ƚŚĞ ůĂŐŐĂƌĚƐ͕ ŝŶĚĞdž ƌĞŵĂŝŶĞĚ ŇĂƚ͘ dŽƉƉŝŶŐ ƚŚĞ ůĂŐŐĂƌĚƐ ĂƌĞ ƚŚĞ ŽŶƐƵŵͲ

6.7%

99.5%

4.8x

Divindend Earnings Yield Yield

4.9%

0.0%

20 Guinness Nigeria PLC 21 Presco PLC

ďĞĂƌŝƐŚ ĂƐ ϰ ŝŶĚŝĐĞƐ ůŽƐƚ ǁŚŝůĞ Ϯ ŐĂŝŶĞĚ͘ dŚĞ /ŶĚƵƐͲ ďĞĂƌŝƐŚ ĂƐ ϰ ŝŶĚŝĐĞƐ ůŽƐƚ͕ ϭ ŝŶĚĞdž ŐĂŝŶĞĚ ǁŚŝůĞ ƚŚĞ &ZͲ/ d

P/BV

19.2%

-4.3%

17 International Brew eries PLC 18 Flour Mills of Nigeria PLC 19 Fidelity Bank PLC

27 Transnational Corp of Nigeria 28 PZ Cussons Nigeria PLC

ĐƌŽƐƐ ƐĞĐƚŽƌƐ ƵŶĚĞƌ ŽƵƌ ĐŽǀĞƌĂŐĞ͕ ƉĞƌĨŽƌŵĂŶĐĞ ǁĂƐ

P/E

26.0%

58.80

49.7%

ROA

10.0%

201.00

15 Ecobank Transnational Inc 16 Stanbic IBTC Holdings PLC

25 United Capital PLC 26 Dangote Sugar Refinery PLC

ROE

32.1% 145.1%

0.0%

12 United Bank for Africa PLC 13 Nigerian Brew eries PLC 14 Okomu Oil Palm PLC

ĞĂƌŝƐŚ ^ĞĐƚŽƌ WĞƌĨŽƌŵĂŶĐĞ ĞĂƌŝƐŚ ^ĞĐƚŽƌ WĞƌĨŽƌŵĂŶĐĞ ĐƌŽƐƐ ŽƵƌ ĐŽǀĞƌĂŐĞ ƐĞĐƚŽƌƐ͕ ƉĞƌĨŽƌŵĂŶĐĞ ǁĂƐ

-0.67%

1,905.40

3 BUA Cement Plc 4 Guaranty Trust Holding Co PLC

ϵ͘ϭйͿ͕ DdEE ;Ͳϰ͘ϯйͿ͕ ĂŶĚ ^d E / ;Ͳϲ͘ϱйͿ͘ ĐĐŽƌĚͲ ^ŚĂƌĞ ŝŶĚĞdž ƌŽƐĞ ďLJ ƉƌŽǀĞĚ ƚŽ Ͳϭ͘ϴй ǁŚŝůĞ ŵĂƌŬĞƚ ĐĂƉŝƚĂůŝƐĂƟŽŶ ƌŽƐĞ ďLJ

2450.55

1 Airtel Africa PLC 2 MTN Nigeria Communications PLC

5 Zenith Bank PLC 6 Dangote Cement PLC 7 Lafarge Africa PLC

Price Previous Price Current Change Price Change Weighting Index to Change YTD Date

Current Price

Ticker

Brokerage

Asset Management

Investment Research

Adedoyin Allen | aallen@afrinvest.com

Robert Omotunde | romotunde@afrinvest.com

Abiodun Keripe | AKeripe@afrinvest.com

Taiwo Ogundipe | togundipe@afrinvest.com

Christopher Omoh | comoh@afrinvest.com

Damilare Asimiyu | dasimiyu@afrinvest.com

35

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 10, 2022 • T H I S D AY

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

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

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

floor of the Nigerian Stock Exchange.

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

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

GUIDE TO DATA: Date: All fund prices are quoted in Naira as at 08Aug-2022, unless otherwise stated.

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

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

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

DAILY PRICE LIST FOR MUTUAL FUNDS, REITS and ETFS MUTUAL FUNDS / UNIT TRUSTS AFRINVEST ASSET MANAGEMENT LTD aaml@afrinvest.com Web: www.afrinvest.com; Tel: +234 818 885 6757 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Afrinvest Equity Fund 192.04 193.19 15.04% Afrinvest Plutus Fund 100.00 100.00 6.76% Nigeria International Debt Fund 309.68 309.68 7.18% Afrinvest Dollar Fund 104.94 106.09 6.38% AIICO CAPITAL LTD ammf@aiicocapital.com Web: www.aiicocapital.com, Tel: +234-1-2792974 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn AIICO Money Market Fund N/A N/A N/A AIICO Balanced Fund N/A N/A N/A ANCHORIA ASSET MANAGEMENT LIMITED info@anchoriaam.com Web:www.anchoriaam.com, Tel: 08166830267; 08036814510; 08028419180 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Anchoria Money Market N/A N/A N/A Anchoria Equity Fund N/A N/A N/A Anchoria Fixed Income Fund N/A N/A N/A info@anchoriaam.com ARM INVESTMENT MANAGERS LTD enquiries@arminvestmentcenter.com Web: www.arm.com.ng; Tel: 0700 CALLARM (0700 225 5276) Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn ARM Aggressive Growth Fund 21.73 22.39 7.14% ARM Discovery Balanced Fund 514.55 530.06 14.05% ARM Ethical Fund 43.06 44.36 10.54% ARM Eurobond Fund ($) 1.07 1.08 -0.49% ARM Fixed Income Fund 1.05 1.05 3.65% ARM Money Market Fund 1.00 1.00 8.40% AVA GLOBAL ASSET MANAGERS LIMITED info@avacapitalgroup.com Web: www.avacapitalgroup.com; Tel 08069294653 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn AVA GAM Fixed Income Dollar Fund 93.01 93.01 -3.91% AVA GAM Fixed Income Dollar Naira 1,094.17 1,094.17 9.42% AXA MANSARD INVESTMENTS LIMITED investmentcare@axamansard.com Web: www.axamansard.com; Tel: +2341-4488482 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn AXA Mansard Equity Income Fund N/A N/A N/A AXA Mansard Money Market Fund N/A N/A N/A CAPITAL EXPRESS ASSET AND TRUST LIMITED info@capitalexpressassetandtrust.com Web: www.capitalexpressassetandtrust.com; Tel: +234 803 307 5048 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn CEAT Fixed Income Fund N/A N/A N/A Capital Express Balanced Fund(Formerly: Union Trustees Mixed Fund) N/A N/A N/A CAPITALTRUST INVESTMENTS AND ASSET MANAGEMENT LIMITED halalfif@capitaltrustnigeria.com Web: www.capitaltrustnigeria.com; Tel: 08061458806 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Capitaltrust Halal Fixed Income Fund 1,011.50 1,011.50 4.64% CARDINALSTONE ASSET MANAGEMENT LIMITED mutualfunds@cardinalstone.com Web: www.cardinalstoneassetmanagement.com; Tel: +234 (1) 710 0433 4 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn CardinalStone Fixed Income Alpha Fund 1.01 1.01 5.02% CHAPELHILL DENHAM MANAGEMENT LTD investmentmanagement@chapelhilldenham.com Web: www.chapelhilldenham.com, Tel: +234 461 0691 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Chapelhill Denham Money Market Fund 100.00 100.00 8.90% Paramount Equity Fund 19.65 20.02 12.80% Women's Investment Fund 149.82 150.66 4.86% CORDROS ASSET MANAGEMENT LIMITED assetmgtteam@cordros.com Web: www.cordros.com, Tel: 019036947 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Cordros Money Market Fund 100.00 100.00 8.27% Cordros Milestone Fund 134.27 135.22 7.77% Cordros Dollar Fund ($) 110.56 110.56 4.94% CORONATION ASSETS MANAGEMENT investment@coronationam.com Web:www.coronationam.com, Tel: 012366215 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Coronation Money Market Fund N/A N/A N/A Coronation Balanced Fund N/A N/A N/A Coronation Fixed Income Fund N/A N/A N/A EDC FUNDS MANAGEMENT LIMITED mutualfundng@ecobank.com Web: www.ecobank.com Tel: 012265281 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn EDC Nigeria Money Market Fund Class A 100.00 100.00 8.34% EDC Nigeria Money Market Fund Class B 1,000,000.00 1,000,000.00 8.86% EDC Nigeria Fixed Income Fund 1,112.46 1,129.84 0.02% EMERGING AFRICA ASSET MANAGEMENT LIMITED assetmanagement@emergingafricafroup.com Web:www.emergingafricagroup.com/emerging-africa-asset-management-limited/, Tel: 08039492594 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Emerging Africa Money Market Fund N/A N/A N/A Emerging Africa Bond Fund N/A N/A N/A Emerging Africa Balanced Diversity Fund N/A N/A N/A Emerging Africa Eurobond Fund N/A N/A N/A FBNQUEST ASSETS MANAGEMENT LIMITED invest@fbnquest.com Web: www.fbnquest.com/asset-management; Tel: +234-81 0082 0082 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn FBN Bond Fund 1485.97 1485.97 11.29% FBN Balanced Fund 194.52 195.80 10.99% FBN Halal Fund 122.17 122.17 10.60% FBN Money Market Fund 100.00 100.00 9.09% FBN Dollar Fund (Retail) 125.11 125.11 5.83% FBN Nigeria Smart Beta Equity Fund 160.54 162.70 6.08% 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 N/A N/A N/A Legacy Debt Fund N/A N/A N/A Legacy Equity Fund N/A N/A N/A Legacy USD Bond Fund N/A N/A N/A FSDH ASSET MANAGEMENT LTD coralfunds@fsdhgroup.com Web: www.fsdhaml.com; Tel: 01-270 4884-5; 01-280 9740-1 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn

Coral Balanced Fund Coral Income Fund Coral Money Market Fund

4,104.96 3,598.12 100.00

4,162.37 3,598.12 100.00

8.95% 6.21% 9.88%

FSDH Dollar Fund 1.11 1.11 3.99% 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 N/A N/A N/A Vantage Balanced Fund N/A N/A N/A Vantage Guaranteed Income Fund N/A N/A N/A Kedari Investment Fund (KIF) N/A N/A N/A Vantage Equity Income Fund (VEIF) - June Year End N/A N/A N/A Vantage Dollar Fund (VDF) - June Year End N/A N/A N/A LOTUS CAPITAL LTD fincon@lotuscapitallimited.com Web: www.lotuscapitallimited.com; Tel: +234 1-291 4626 / +234 1-291 4624 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Lotus Halal Investment Fund 1.61 1.63 13.16% Lotus Halal Fixed Income Fund 1,160.69 1,160.69 5.75% MERISTEM WEALTH MANAGEMENT LTD info@meristemwealth.com Web: http://www.meristemwealth.com/funds/ ; Tel: +234 1-4488260 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Meristem Equity Market Fund 12.47 12.52 14.05% Meristem Money Market Fund 10.00 10.00 9.52% NORRENBERGER INVESTMENT AND CAPITAL MANAGEMENT LIMITED enquiries@norrenberger.com Web: www.norrenberger.com, Tel: +234 (0) 908 781 2026 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Norrenberger Islamic Fund (NIF) 101.72 101.72 9.65% Norrenberger Money Market Fund (NMMF) 100.00 100.00 8.01% PAC ASSET MANAGEMENT LTD info@pacassetmanagement.com Web: www.pacassetmanagement.com/mutualfunds; Tel: +234 1 271 8632 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn PACAM Balanced Fund N/A N/A N/A PACAM Fixed Income Fund N/A N/A N/A PACAM Money Market Fund N/A N/A N/A PACAM Equity Fund N/A N/A N/A PACAM EuroBond Fund N/A N/A N/A SCM CAPITAL LIMITED info@scmcapitalng.com Web: www.scmcapitalng.com; Tel: +234 1-280 2226,+234 1- 280 2227 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn SCM Capital Frontier Fund 130.04 132.63 4.74% 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 1.05 1.05 9.25% STANBIC IBTC ASSET MANAGEMENT LTD assetmanagement@stanbicibtc.com Web: www.stanbicibtcassetmanagement.com; Tel: +234 1 280 1266; 0700 MUTUALFUNDS Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Stanbic IBTC Balanced Fund 3,632.78 3,674.81 7.35% Stanbic IBTC Bond Fund 240.56 240.56 2.12% Stanbic IBTC Ethical Fund 1.45 1.47 15.87% Stanbic IBTC Guaranteed Investment Fund 323.95 323.96 3.46% Stanbic IBTC Iman Fund 269.15 273.31 15.43% Stanbic IBTC Money Market Fund 1.00 1.00 6.55% Stanbic IBTC Nigerian Equity Fund 11,987.25 12,157.25 9.90% Stanbic IBTC Dollar Fund (USD) 1.33 1.33 3.05% Stanbic IBTC Shariah Fixed Income Fund 119.29 119.29 2.04% Stanbic IBTC Enhanced Short-Term Fixed Income Fund 111.20 111.20 4.54% UNITED CAPITAL ASSET MANAGEMENT LTD unitedcapitalplcgroup.com Web: www.unitedcapitalplcgroup.com; Tel: +234 01-6317876 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn United Capital Equity Fund 0.99 1.01 11.42% United Capital Balanced Fund 1.34 1.36 2.80% United Capital Wealth for Women Fund 1.16 1.17 11.95% United Capital Sukuk Fund 1.07 1.07 4.34% United Capital Fixed Income Fund 1.90 1.90 3.83% United Capital Eurobond Fund 122.38 122.38 3.30% United Capital Money Market Fund 1.00 1.00 9.75% QUANTUM ZENITH ASSET MANAGEMENT & INVESTMENTS LTD service@quantumzenithasset.com.ng Web: www.quantumzenith.com.ng; Tel: +234 1-2784219 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Zenith Balanced Strategy Fund 13.81 13.94 4.72% Zenith ESG Impact Fund 16.16 16.34 10.60% Zenith Income Fund 22.93 22.93 4.46% Zenith Money Market Fund 1.00 1.00 6.67% VETIVA FUND MANAGERS LTD funds@vetiva.com Web: www.vetiva.com; Tel: +234 1 453 0697 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Vetiva Banking Exchange Traded Fund 3.79 3.89 -5.46% Vetiva Consumer Goods Exchange Traded Fund 5.86 5.96 0.37% Vetiva Griffin 30 Exchange Traded Fund 18.41 18.61 4.10% Vetiva Money Market Fund 1.00 1.00 7.10% Vetiva Industrial Goods Exchange Traded Fund 19.33 19.53 -3.23% Vetiva S&P Nigeria Sovereign Bond Exchange Traded Fund 148.65 150.65 -5.74%

REITS NAV Per Share

Yield / T-Rtn

117.96 51.82

4.16% 1.90%

Bid Price

Offer Price

Yield / T-Rtn

14.55 135.81 104.79 16.40 17.10

14.65 139.13 107.02 16.50 17.20

4.03% 6.80% 5.01% -3.01% 19.91%

NAV Per Share

Yield / T-Rtn

107.59

0.00%

Fund Name SFS REIT Union Homes REIT

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

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.

36

WEDNESDAY, ͹͸˜ ͺ͸ͺͺ ˾ T H I S D AY

NEWS

COURTESY VISIT TO LAGOS GOVT HOUSE, MARINA...

MD/CEO of PremiumTrust Bank, Mr Emmanuel Emefienim (left) and the Governor of Lagos State, Mr Babajide Sanwo-Olu during a courtesy visit at the Government House, Marina in Lagos State…recently

Groups Stage Protest at PDP Headquarters, Say Ayu Must Remain as Chairman Accuse Edevbie of being an APC Mole Chuks Okocha in Abuja In a move to counter a previous protest by other civil society groups that had called for the sack of the National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), another groups yesterday stormed the national headquarters of the party, passing a vote of confidence on Iyorchia Ayu. Also, the civil society coalitions under the auspices of the Ijaw Mandate Groups alleged that the factional governorship candidate in Delta state was a mole who is working for the All Progressives Congress (APC).

According to the leader of the groups, Andaye Dagiri, "it came to our notice that a few nameless Edevbie supporters accompanied by scores of hired mischievous miscreants, ostensibly to swell their number, paraded themselves as aggrieved Delta PDP members under the name of Concerned Deltans for Good Governance with a recruited band of hired street urchins in Abuja went to the premises of the national secretariat of the PDP to stage a misplaced protest, which was widely ignored and overlooked by the national leadership of the party. Although they managed to address the press in utter ignorance."

Accordingly, they said, "we restate our confidence in all the candidates of the PDP in Delta state who are products of the Dr. Iyorchia

Ayu-led National working Committee’s (NWC) validly conducted party primaries, (Presidential, vice presidential, governorship, Senate.

House of Representatives, State Assembly candidates) and we will stop at nothing to mobilise Deltans to vote all our candidates to victory at all levels."

He further stated that they were not completely unaware of the alleged hidden agenda between some high-handed David Edevbe supporters and Ovie Omo-Agege for the governorship election.

In view of this, the group said, "for the avoidance of doubt, we have implicit confidence in the judiciary to dispense justice in this case as the importance of the judiciary in shaping our society over the years, cannot be over emphasised.

"That to all Nigerians of goodwill, we say without equivocation that Rt. Hon. Sheriff Oborewor Francis, the authentic Delta state PDP gubernatorial candidate of the PDP is eminently qualified in both character and pedigree and academic qualifications and cognate experience to become governor of our state and deliver come 2023 and beyond, despite all these needless distractions.

"And, without prejudice to and preempting the judicial proceedings of the Court of Appeal, he will be victorious at the end of the day," the group stated.

The group said the Ayu-led executive fully mobilised and

packaged the party to win the governorship victory for Osun State against all odds In passing of confidence on Ayu and his team, they said, that the present leadership of the party have rebranded the PDP and ensured

the gale of defections into the PDP in different states from the APC and other parties.

"The party is better primed right now to reclaim our lost mandate as the party in government once again in Nigeria

That, Delta State PDP is intact and unshakable as the recent state-wide PDP rally,” it added.

The Ijaw mandate group said the successful hosting and conclusion of the PDP National Convention in Abuja repositioned the party as a

stable and likeable entity amongst the other political parties.

The groups were received by the National Publicity Secretary, Debo Ologunagba who promised to pass their petition to the National Working Committee.

Atiku Support Group Urges Voters to Elect President That Will Address Their Challenges Chuks Okocha in Abuja A group under the aegis of The Atiku Youth Wing has urged eligible voters, especially the youths to be actively involved in the 2023 general elections by electing a president that would address their concerns.

The group in support of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, made the call in Abuja yesterday, at a press conference titled, “the wings of the unifier,” addressed by its National Team Leader, Kalgo Ibrahim.

Ibrahim appealed to all Nigerians, “facing the heat of the current challenges, to rise to the occasion in electing credible leader for the sake of the country.”

Expressing confidence in Atiku’s experience to fix Nigeria, Ibrahim said the welfare and well-being

of Nigeria youths remained paramount in the PDP programme and Atiku when elected.

These according to Ibrahim include proper placement of youths and women on well-deserved positions in the national leadership ranks, as clearly established in PDP manifesto being the passion of Abubakar He assured Nigerians youths that Atiku’s promise of allocating 40 per cent of political appointment to the youth and women would not be an empty promise on the paper.

“We acknowledge that many are wounded and marginalised youths of Nigeria, but your tears and troubles will be wiped away by the absolute commitment and creative concerns as manifested in the youth friendly PDP manifesto.

“This will be done taking into consideration the now incessant

and prolonged industrial action of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) strike.

“We want to accordingly, assure our brothers and sisters that with the victory of Atiku Abubakar at the polls come 2023 general elections, there will be a complete reversal of this perennial cases of strike.

“The strike that have crippled effective development of our youth and relevant efforts at showcasing their diverse God-given talents with every sincere commitment.

“Commitment in the educational training and exploration of the amazing and awesome huge potential lying dormant in we the Nigeria youths; even this will be conclusively addressed with due attention to re-launch Nigerian youth to global relevance, where they truly belong,” Ibrahim said.

IIbrahi, who urged Nigerian

youths to maintain peace and be patriotic as they go into the campaign period, pledged that the youth wing would deal with issues based on constructive criticism and format.

He also urged youth to visit the organisation’s portal to register their membership in support of Atiku mandate for 2023.

He said the aim of the group was to mobilise grassroots support for Atiku Abubakar, raise an army of passionate youth and students for Abubakar.

“It is also to help create an effective and efficient communication link with millions of eligible voters cut across all the polling units in Nigeria; “To strategically identify and win over a reasonable number of eligible voters in each polling unit using the Atiku’s youth wing structure,” he said.

37

WEDNESDAY AUGUST 10, 2022 ˾ T H I S D AY

NEWS

Again, EFCC Arrests 18 Suspected Internet Fraudsters in Kogi Hammed Shittu in Ilorin The operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Ilorin Zonal Office, have arrested 18 suspected “Yahoo-Yahoo” internet fraudsters.

Among the suspects are two siblings, namely Mr. Caleb Abdulkarim Bala and Mr. Ayuba Bala.

Others are Mr. Adebayo Olubunmi, Mr. Yusuf Salawu, Mr. Victor Yakubu, Mr. Victor Udeh, Mr. Abutu Francis, Mr. Moses Akeji, Mr. Aiyegbe ThankGod, Eniola Adeniji, Mr. Abraham Ayodele, Mr. Julius Omowale, Mr. Samuel Onojah, Mr. Saka Usman Ojo, Mr. Isaac Emmanuel, Mr. Yusuf Mohammed, Mr. Ibrahim Musa and Mr. Omaonu Ojochenemi Victor.

The arrest, according to THISDAY checks, was the second of such operation in the state within the last two months.

Ilorin Zonal Command of the EFCC, which covered Kwara, Ekiti and Kogi States, had

arrested 19 suspected fraudsters at different locations in Lokoja in June 2022.

The latest arrest was made on Wednesday, August 3, 2022,

followed actionable intelligence and hours of surveillance by the anti-graft operatives to smoke out the suspected fraudsters of their hideouts.

Preliminary investigations have shown that the suspects operated as syndicate to scam unsuspecting victims.

The suspected “Yahoo-Yahoo

Boys” had incriminating items in their possession, including five different brands of exotic cars, phones and laptops, and have volunteered useful statements

to the commission.

A senior official of the commission who sought anonymity confirmed the arrest to journalists in Ilorin yesterday.

SOLIDARITY VISIT…

Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi of Enugu State and candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for Enugu North Senatorial District, Rt. Hon. Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi (right) acknowledging cheers from youths of Igbo-Etiti Local Government Area, when they paid him a solidarity visit at the Government House, Enugu… yesterday

Niger Reads Riot Act Ondo Assembly Declares Seats of Two Lawmakers Vacant to Minna Thugs Fidelis David in Akure

Laleye Dipo in Minna

Worried by the increasing rate of thuggery often caused by those described as “Area Boys” in Minna, the Niger State Government has read the riot act to all those concerned and threatened to deal decisively with anyone caught disturbing the peace of the state.

Apart from the strong warning issued to the “Area Boys,” the government also said that any of them caught with dangerous weapons including knives, machetes, guns and daggers would be treated according to existing laws of the land.

In the past couple of months, life has been made unbearable for residents of Minna following

breakdown of law and order caused by the “Area Boys” who apart from engaging themselves in open warfare using dangerous weapons have resorted to bugling shops and other business outfits as part of their illegal activities.

To stem the trend, the state government invited five each of the “Area Boys” from the areas where the attacks have been prominent to a strategic security meeting at the Justice Idris Legbo Kutigi International Conference Centre where the Deputy Governor of Niger State, Mr. Ahmed Mohammed Ketso, who represented Governor Abubakar Sani Bello, read out the riot act to the representatives of the boys on Monday.

The Ondo State House of Assembly yesterday declared the seats of two lawmakers vacant over alleged anti-party activities.

They include the lawmaker representing Ilaje state constituency II, Mrs. Favour Tomomewo, and her counterpart representing Ese-Odo state constituency, Mr. Success

Torhukerhijo.

The Assembly at the plenary presided over by the Speaker, Bamidele Oleyelogun, directed the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to conduct a bye-election within 90 days in their constituencies.

According to the Speaker, the decision followed a letter from the state Chairman of All Progressives Congress (APC), Ade Adetimehin, to declare

their seats vacant as the duo were alleged to have fully participated in the activities of another political party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) during the last gubernatorial election and Assembly primaries in the state.

Oleyelogun said based on the APC letter and the Assembly having acted in accordance with Section 109(1)and (g) of the 1999 Constitution as amended, “the Assembly was declaring their

seats vacant while a letter should be written to INEC to conduct a bye-election into the seats within 90 days.”

He directed that their benefits and entitlements be stopped forthwith and all government property in their possession returned. The Speaker affirmed that there was no crisis or division from ward to the national level of APC to warrant their actions.

Anglican Church Tasks FG on Security, Nation’s Economy Blessing Ibunge in Port Harcourt The Evo Diocese of the Anglican Communion in Rivers State, has urged the federal government to beam its light on the state of the nation and savage the country from insecurity and other current challenges.

This call was made at the fifth Synod of the diocese held at St. Michaels Anglican Church, Rumuomasi Deanery, Obio/Akpor Local Government Area of the state.

Bishop of the diocese, Rt. Rev. Innocent Ordu, who led the synod had expressed worry at the incessant kidnap of bishops, priests and killing of

Christians in parts of Nigeria by bandits and extremist groups.

Ordu expressed sadness that the federal government has failed to address the problems confronting the nation, including the diversity of the people and their aspirations, insecurity to exclusiveness in the running of the affairs of

the nation.

Also, in a communique raised from the synod, the church expressed sadness that after six months students are still not back to school because of the rift between the federal government and the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) over unsettled agreement.

the 2022 Batch ‘B’ Stream Two orientation course at NYSC permanent orientation camp, Ikot Itie Udung in Nsit Atai Local Government Area.

Fadah, who was represented

by State Coordinator, Mrs. Chinyere Ekwe, said being into business would boost self-reliance and encourage corps members to contribute immensely to the economy.

He lauded corps members for their commitment to the entrepreneurial training conducted in the camp under the Skill Acquisition and Entrepreneurship Development (SAED) programme.

He encouraged corps members to build on the skills they have acquired by availing themselves of postcamp training opportunities

to be self-employed.

Fadah said: “On our part, we are liaising with financial institutions and other stakeholders with a view to providing start-up loans to enable you to actualise your business dreams.

“I wish to assure you that management will continue to explore avenues for optimising the impact of the programme.”

FCT Rolls Out 10-year Livestock Production Plan NYSC Assures Corps Members of Start-up Loans for Business outcome of the meeting is expected Olawale Ajimotokan inAbuja The Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) has launched a livestock development and implementation plan with a gestation period of 10 years.

The FCT Minister of State Dr. Ramatu Tijjani Aliyu, launched the plan yesterday at the opening ceremony of a two-day stakeholders’ engagement meeting.

She stated that the plan was aimed at facilitating and enhancing the provision of critical infrastructure and resolving all social impediments towards the full development of the four grazing reserves in the FCT. The minister noted that the

to provide the FCT Administration with a roadmap towards a stable and prosperous livestock sub-sector and contribute to the desire to achieve food and nutrition security, create needed jobs, and stimulate further diversification of the economy away from the oil sector.

Aliyu revealed that the agriculture sector contributed about 22.36 per cent to the national GDP in the first quarter of 2022, with the livestock sub-sector contributing about seven per cent to that figure, regretting that the potential that would enable efficient growth of the sector has yet to be activated.

Makinde Makes Minor Cabinet Reshuffle

Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo State, yesterday made a minor reshuffle of his cabinet, by assigning new portfolios to two commissioners.

This is contained in a statement issued by the State Commissioner for Information, Culture and Tourism, Dr Wasiu Olatunbosun, shortly after the weekly State Executive Council meeting.

According to the statement, the governor has directed Mr. Olasunkanmi Olaleye, to take over the Ministry of Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs from Mr. Bayo Lawal, who will henceforth

be in charge of the Ministry of Trades, Industry, Investment and Cooperatives, hitherto under the control of Olaleye.

“In attendance at the meeting was the Deputy Governor, Chief Adebayo Lawal, who attended the meeting for the first time after he was sworn in as the Deputy Governor of Oyo State.

“The Secretary to the State Government, Mrs Olubamiwo Adeosun and the Chief of Staff to the Governor, Mr. Segun Ogunwuyi, were also in attendance,” the statement read operations support.

Okon Bassey in Uyo

The National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) has assured that it would partner with financial institutions to provide interested corps members willing to venture into business with start-up loans.

The Director General of NYSC, Brigadier-General Mohammad Fadah, disclosed this yesterday during the closing ceremony of

Adegbite: National Steel Council to Achieve Self-sufficiency in Steel Production Kasim Sumaina in Abuja

The federal government yesterday reconstituted the National Steel Council to achieve the goal of self-sufficiency in steel production.

The Minister of Mines and Steel Development, Mr. Olamilekan Adegbite, in his remarks at the inauguration

council, hinted that the steel industry remains the backbone of modern society.

He said the sector has significant forward and backward linkages regarding material flow, employment, and income generation, noting that President Muhammadu Buhari is indeed aware of this, which is why he has approved the reconstitution

of the National Steel Council.

According to Adegbite, “The steel industry serves as a key enabler in the economy by providing the basic raw materials for public infrastructural development projects and key sectors such as housing and real estate development, energy, automotive, defence, and various, small and medium enterprises

engaged in downstream engineering and fabrication business.”

He further noted that the National Steel Act clearly makes adequate provisions for the establishment of the National Steel Council, which would be responsible for the central planning of the iron and steel industry.

Ekiti to Arrest, Prosecute Those Assaulting Revenue Officers Victor Ogunje in Ado Ekiti The Ekiti State Government has disclosed its readiness to henceforth prosecute those harassing the state Revenue Officers in the cause of performing their lawful duties.

The state government said the recurrent cases of assault being launched against the officers were negatively affecting the state drives to increase the revenue generating

profile of Ekiti State.

The Chairman of the Ekiti State Internal Revenue Service, Mr. Olumuyiwa Ogunmilade, gave the warning in Ado-Ekiti yesterday at the closing ceremony of the one-week induction programme organised for newly recruited staff of the service.

He condemned the recent attacks on some revenue officials while discharging their official

assignments at some locations in Ado Ekiti metropolis, saying such wouldn’t be tolerated.

Ogunmilade said: “The state government would no longer tolerate any form of assault, intimidation, or harassment under any guise on revenue officials, and any person or group of persons caught would face the full weight of the law.

“Ekiti State is working hard

to ensure that it increases its IGR and it has set about N1.5billion target monthly before the end of the year and no one will be allowed to derail this focus.

“There is a general shortfall in the level of revenue accruing to all states from the federation accounts and all the states must think outside the box to generate from the state to meet its statutory obligations to the people.

WEDNESDAY AUGUST 10, 2022 ˾ T H I S D AY

38

NEWSXTRA

Abia Women Protest Continued Captivity of Abducted Medical Doctor Emmanuel Ugwu-Nwogo in Umuahia Abia women from Umuopara clan in Umuahia South Local Government, yesterday, poured out in their hundreds to protest the continued captivity of their Illustrious Son and the Provost, College of Medicine, Gregory University Uturu, Professor Uwadinachi Iweha,

who was abducted by gunmen for more than two months now.

Iweha was kidnapped right in front of his home on Sunday, June 5, 2022.

A ransom of millions of Naira was said to have been paid to the abductors as demanded but the whereabouts of the medical doctor has remained unknown and his abductors have completely switched off further contacts

after collecting the ransom.

Several protests, including withdrawal of services for three days by medical doctors as directed by the Abia State Chapter of the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA), as well as efforts by security agencies have all failed to compel the abductors to release the doctor from their custody.

The latest protest spearheaded by women of Ahia Asa autonomous community was prompted after the lingering wait for the professor’s

return and the apparent lull in efforts by the police to locate and free him from his captors.

Chanting songs that express anger, the women marched to the palace of their Traditional Ruler, Eze Godfrey Ibekanma, the Ezeukwu I of Ezeleke, Umuopara, to express their frustration, anger and bitterness over the continued stay of their illustrious son in the hands of hoodlums.

They also marched to the home of the missing professor and then to

the market square where they cried out in tearful prayers calling for divine intervention.

Spokesperson of the protesting women, Dame Victory Sally Asomugha, who represented the Woman Leader of Ahia Asa, Mrs. Sally Ukauwa, said that they were sad and bitter that their son was abducted and for this long no word has been heard from him till date.

“Our son left his house to worship God, they called him from the church,

he went back home and till date we have not seen him. We want him back, he is our son in whom we are proud,” she said.

“We are also calling on government and security agencies to expedite action for his release,” the woman leader added.

Addressing the women at his palace, Ibekanma said that the 14 autonomous communities of Umuopara were united in their protest and demand for the release of Professor Iweha.

Kuni Tyessi in Abuja

them resume classroom lectures in Igbinedion University Campus on a joint programme under the Nigeria’s National Universities Commission (NUC) Transnational Educational guidelines.

A release signed by the representative of the Ukrainian University in Nigeria, Dr. Cliff Ogbede, said that the programme would enable the students to resume and continue their academic programmes uninterrupted.

Ogbede stated that the joint collaboration is geared towards the creation of a sustainable system between the two universities, based on high international academic standards, thereby encouraging the development of regional cooperation.

“The Nigerian oil and gas industry will benefit immensely from this collaboration; hence it will improve capacity building of the students and ensure

knowledge based qualifications for the beneficiaries, using modern technology.”

Ogbede concluded that the cooperation would enable the two institutions to start conducting degree and qualification courses with common or dual certification, which may include the harmonisation of curricula between the two parties and mutual recognition of prior periods of study at the partner university.

Group Urges APC to Expel Amosun for anti- Ukranian, Igbinedion Varsities Partner on Oil, Gas Programme party activities in Ogun A group, Ogun Renaissance Movement (ORM), has called on the national headquarters of the All Progressives Congress (APC) to expel the immediate past governor of Ogun State, Senator Ibikunle Amosun for anti-party activities.

Amosun has been under the flak of recent over his comment that the 2019 governorship election in Ogun State was rigged in favour of his successor, Prince Dapo Abiodun.

The former governor, while speaking at an event in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital last weekend also promised to do everything possible to remove Governor Abiodun in 2013.

According to ORM, following Amosun’s Abeokuta statement, his loyalists in APC have concluded plans to refloat the Allied Peoples Movement (APM) ahead of the 2023 elections, with one Biyi

Otegbeye as its governorship candidate.

The group noted that Amosun floated the same APM in 2019 to fight Prince Abiodun with Adekunle Akinlade, who has now joined the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) as its candidate.

According to the group, the failure of the leadership of APC to sanction Amosun in 2019 has emboldened him with his anti-party activities.

It noted that the former governor should be cut to size by the hierarchy of the party, adding that he should not be allowed to think that he is bigger than the party.

“It is regrettable that Senator Amosun was allowed to go scot free in 2019. The failure of the party to impose maximum sanction on the recalcitrant senator has emboldened him to go the same route in 2022.

In their quest to prepare qualified and experienced specialists for the oil and gas industries in Nigeria, Ukrainian Ivano Frankivsk National Technical University of Oil and Gas, has signed a cooperation agreement with Igbinedion University, Okada.

Due to the war in Ukraine, this cooperation is said to enable the university admit students in a remote format, which would enable

Abia APC Stakeholders in Bende Back Committee to Unite Party Emmanuel Ugwu-Nwogo in Umuahia Stakeholders of the Abia State Chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) from Bende Local Government have given their support to the peace and reconciliation committee mandated by the national leadership of the party to unify Abia APC.

A’Ibom Worries over Mobil, Seplat Energy Deal despite Court Case

Okon Bassey in Uyo

Akwa Ibom State Government has expressed worried that President Mmuhammadu Buhari has consented to the acquisition of shallow water assets of Mobil Producing Nigeria Unlimited by Seplat Energy despite the fact that the case is court.

The state Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Uko Essien Udom, in a statement yesterday regretted

that President Buhari uses his position as Minister of Petroleum Resources to give concern to the said acquisition.

“Our attention has been drawn to a publication by the Special Adviser to the President (Media and Publicity), Femi Adesina, to the effect that President Buhari, in his capacity as the Minister of Petroleum Resources, has consented to the acquisition of shallow water assets of Mobil Producing Nigeria Unlimited

by Seplat Energy.

“This is to inform the general public that this proposed transaction is subject to restraining orders of injunction of the High Court of Akwa Ibom State in Uyo in Suits No. Hek/56/2018, Attorney-General of Akwa Ibom State vs. Mobil Producing Nigeria Unlimited and HU/209/2020, Mobil Producing Nigeria Unlimited v. Governor of Akwa Ibom State and three others.

Badagry Port Devt Limited to Create 25,000 Jobs The Badagry Deep Seaport project, which is a strategic step towards the development of Nigeria as a global maritime hub will create about 25,000 jobs. The project is being handled by Badagry Port Development Limited (BPDL), wholly owned by Quinn McGrath Marine & Environmental Services Limited (QMMESL), an indigenous formidable maritime investment subsidiary of the Quinn McGrath Group.

The Federal Executive Council recently approved the sum of $2.59 billion for the project.

The Minister of Transportation, Mu’azu Sambo, who disclosed had said: “This is to further the government’s goal of making Nigeria the maritime hub of the West and Central Africa sub-region. The project is under a Private-Public Partnership.

According to the minister, Nigeria is strategically located at a significant point in the Atlantic Ocean, with about 853 kilometres coastline, which gives us a geographic advantage to become a maritime hub for not only the West and Central

African region, but also the entire maritime trading world.

“And with over 70 per cent of cargo bound for West and Central Africa destined for Nigeria, the country also has a huge commercial advantage.

The Badagry Deep Seaport, planned to be Africa’s biggest and most advanced seaport when it becomes operational, would help to maximise this extraordinary maritime potential, more so given the strategic location of Badagry in the region,” he said.

Obaseki Seeks Increased Role for Women in Communities Adibe EmenyonuinBeninCity The Edo State Governor, Mr. Godwin Obaseki, has urged global leaders and other development stakeholders to expand opportunities for women in rural areas to drive sustainable development in communities.

Obaseki gave the charge in commemoration of the International Day of the World’s Indigenous People, celebrated by the United Nations and its partners, on August 9, each year.

He said, “In commemoration of this year’s International Day of the World’s Indigenous People, there is the need for world leaders to work

together in opening up the space for increased women participation in driving sustainable development, especially in rural communities.”

“In Edo State, women are a part of the process in building a sustainable future in several socio-economic sectors and are represented across the different levels of government.”

On this year’s theme, “The role of indigenous women in the preservation and transmission of traditional knowledge,” the governor commended the UN for drawing global attention to the role of women in rural areas.

He noted, “The participation of women at the local level in

governance gives them a sense of belonging and the opportunity to be voted into power. We have seen how women work together as a group in protecting government projects and supporting policies of government at the local level.”

Highlighting the crucial roles women play in rural communities, Obaseki said, “through the state skills development agency, EdoJobs, more women have been empowered and equipped with the right skills and provided with support in rural communities to enable them function effectively as breadwinners, caretakers, knowledge keepers and leaders.

The stakeholders, who were drawn from the 13 wards in Bende, gave their backing to the peace efforts during the maiden meeting of the APC State Chairman, Dr. Kingsley Ononogbu, held with them over the weekend at his country home at Nkpa.

Ononogbu, who is in Bende LG, harped on the need for APC stakeholders to come together and

work with unity of purpose to save Abia from the suffocating bad governance of the ruling Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP).

He said: “We must come together and save this state,” adding that party members should put aside their differences and cooperate with the peace and reconciliation committee to accomplish its task.

“We can’t continue to be angry; we can’t continue to complain and be indifferent. We must get involved in playing the politics that will change the style of governance in Abia,” he said.

The party chairman stated that the 2023 general election is crucial to the fate of Abia as the people of have made up their minds to vote out the ruling party.

39

WEDNESDAY, ͹͸˜ ͺ͸ͺͺ ˾ T H I S D AY

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Group Sports Editor: Duro Ikhazuagbe Email: duro.ikhazuagbe@thisdaylive.com

0811 181 3083 SMS ONLY

After 23 Grand Slam Titles, Retirement Beckons for Serena

Tennis icon, Serena Williams, has dropped hints of retiring from the sport that gave her all: wealth and glamour.

Despite her inability to win the 24th grand slam title she has been seeking to match all time greatest Margaret Court, the American lady believes it is time “evolving away” from the sport after this year’s US Open.

Writing for Voguemagazine this week, Serena, 23-time Grand Slam singles champion, said she is moving towards "other things that are important to me", adding she does not like the word "retirement".

In an accompanying Instagram post yesterday, she wrote that "the countdown has begun".

"I'm gonna relish these next few weeks," the 40-year-old said.

Williams made her singles return at Wimbledon in June after a lengthy injury lay-off that had led to speculation about her retirement.

She says she will play at the US Open, where she has won six of her major singles titles, later in August.

Williams has won more major singles title than any female player in the Open era and the second

most of all time, behind Court's 24.

"Unfortunately, I wasn't ready to win Wimbledon this year. And I don't know if I will be ready to win New York. But I'm going to try," she wrote.

"I know there's a fan fantasy that I might have tied Margaret that day in London, then maybe beat her record in New York, and then at the trophy ceremony say, "See ya!"

"I get that. It's a good fantasy. But I'm not looking for some ceremonial, final on-court moment.

"I'm terrible at goodbyes, the world's worst. But please know

that I am more grateful for you than I can ever express in words."

On Monday, she had her first singles win in 14 months, beating Spain's Nuria Parrizas Diaz to reach

the second round of the National Bank Open in Toronto.

In the lengthy essay, Williams says she has been "reluctant to admit to myself or anyone else that I have

Bitnob Signs Iheanacho as Brand Ambassador Kunle Adewale

Bitnob, a leading Bitcoin company, has signed Super Eagles and Leicester City striker, Kelechi Iheanacho, as its brand ambassador.

With this move, Bitnob further strengthens it commitment to the marriage of football and bitcoin in its effort to deepen the adoption of Bitcoin on the continent. Like football, Bitcoin brings the world together regardless of race, gender, religion or sex.

In May 2022, Bitnob signed a multi-year partnership with the League Management Company (LMC)as an Elite sponsor of the Nigerian Professional Football

League (NPFL).

Bernard Parah, CEO of Bitnob said; “To us, Bitcoin is about Freedom. Freedom from rules and limitations that seek to keep us down, and limit how we access and spend our own money.

“Rising from humble beginnings, Kelechi has grown to become a force not just here in Nigeria, but across the world. That’s the promise of Bitnob. You have the power to live without limits; to start in your little corner and shake the world. That’s freedom”, says Bernard.

Today, Nigeria suffers from a series of financial limitations, such as limits on online payments, slow and costly remittance services, inflation

and more. Leveraging Bitcoin, Bitnob is delivering freedom to its users from these limitations.

According to Iheanacho, “As a senior man, I have found a senior way in Bitnob to take charge of my money. I believe Bitcoin is the future of money and Bitnob makes it easy for everyone to commence their Bitcoin journey with as little as $1”.

Iheanacho further stated that “I am from the streets, and I always long to be a part of a solution that empowers people. I believe Bitcoin is a true empowerment tool and I am excited to be partnering Bitnob to bring this to millions of people on my continent”.

Bitnob not only empowers individuals to take charge of their money but also enables businesses to become global by accepting payments in Bitcoin through its business product.

Serena Williams says it’s time to move away from tennis after amassing 23 grand slam title

to move on from playing tennis".

"Alexis, my husband, and I have hardly talked about it; it's like a taboo topic," she wrote.

"I can't even have this conversation with my mom and dad. It's like it's not real until you say it out loud. It comes up, I get an uncomfortable lump in my throat, and I start to cry.

"I know that a lot of people are excited about and look forward to retiring, and I really wish I felt that way. " In singles, Williams has won the Wimbledon and Australian Open seven times, along with six US Open trophies and three French Open titles.

Her first major title was the 1999 US Open, when she was 17.

She won her last Slam title at the 2017 Australian Open when she was eight weeks' pregnant with daughter Olympia.

She says there is "no happiness" in the possibility of no longer playing tennis.

"I know it's not the usual thing to say, but I feel a great deal of pain. It's the hardest thing that I could ever imagine," she wrote.

"I hate it. I hate that I have to be at this crossroads. I keep saying to myself, I wish it could be easy for me, but it's not.

"I'm torn: I don't want it to be over, but at the same time I'm ready for what's next."

Williams nearly died in childbirth with Olympia but returned to the sport, reaching four major finals after coming back from maternity leave. She lost them all, leaving her, tantalisingly, one short of Court's record.

She discusses having more children in her essay, stating: "I definitely don't want to be pregnant again as an athlete.”

Rivers Utd, Plateau Utd, Remo Stars Thread on Tough Paths

Kelechi Iheanacho...now Bitnob brand ambassador

Nigeria’s league champions, Rivers United FC and runners-up, Plateau United, will commence their respective campaign in the elite continental club competition, CAF Champions League, on a tough note to reach the next phase of the competition.

At the draws ceremony of the club competitions by the Confederation of African Football (CAF), yesterday, league winners Rivers United were drawn against Liberia champions, Watanga FC, while Plateau United will take on Gabonese side Aso Stade Mandji in the preliminary rounds.

But should the Nigerian teams overcome their respective opponents, the duo will have to contend with the North African

HiFL 2022: UNIMAID Desert Warriors, AAUA Luminaries Risk Exit The 2021 Champion and first runner-up of the Higher Institutions Football League (HiFL) UNIMAID Desert Warriors and AAUA Luminaries may not qualify for the quarter finals of this year’s competition except they upturn the results from their first leg games.

The HiFL organised by PACE Sports, NUGA and supported

by StanbicIBTC, Bold, LIRS and Indomie Noodles has reached a climax as teams jostle to qualify for the quarter-finals and the Super Four with the second leg of the Round of 16 games starting today.

Defending champions UNIMAID Desert Warriors who were held to a 1-1 draw by BUK Stallions in Maiduguri must win or get at least a 2-2 draw in Kano to qualify for the next round.

However, Coach Isiyaku Ibrahim of the Stallions has promised to upstage the champions because “it

is our turn to lift the HiFL trophy.

Every team that has defeated us at this level has gone ahead to win the league but now it is our turn to beat our opponent at this stage and go ahead to win the league, hopefully. “We have done everything technically and tactically for the game and we sincerely hope that we get a good result”.

AAUA Luminaries from Akungba have a mountain to climb when they face the LASU Blazers in Lagos.

The Luminaries must overturn their 0-2 home loss to stand any chance.

Coach Joseph Abuo of the Luminaries has assured their fans that “we have worked on every area of the game where we needed to improve based on our first leg game. My boys are motivated because I have told them that this is a must-win match for us”.

However, for Coach Bamidele Omosaye of LASU Blazers,

the deal must be completed by Wednesday (today). “ I have told my boys to continue from where we stopped at Akungba. We are very optimistic and we would want to consolidate on our win to qualify for the quarter-finals. Our school administration and students have been very supportive and we promise that we will do our best not to disappoint them”.

The oriental derby at the University of Port Harcourt will be no less important as HiFL 2021 third place team UNN Lions hope to consolidate on their 4-2 home win to qualify for the next round when they face UNIPORT Sharks.

In Kogi, it will also be a fight to finish between KSU Steelers and FUTMINNA Transformers from Minna. The first leg of their encounter ended 2-2 and the Steelers are counting on home advantage to qualify for the next round.

CAF COMPETITIONS side for a place in the final round.

The Pride of Rivers will face defending Champions Wydad Casablanca of Morocco if they defeat the Liberian side while Plateau United on their part will face former champions Esperance of Tunisia if they overcome the Gabonese side over two legs.

Enyimba FC remain the only Nigerian team to have won the competition.

In the second tier of the continental club competition, debutant, Remo Stars, were

handed a tricky Confederation Cup opener as they are to face Association Sportive des Forces Armées Royales (AS FAR) of Morocco, the 2006 winners of the Cup and runners up in the following year.

The Moroccan military sports club also won the CAF Champions League in 1985. They were the club that eliminated Nigeria’s Stationery Stores at the quarter finals stage in Nigeria’s debut appearance at the former African Cup of Champion Clubs in 1968 ASFAR hosts the first leg match on 9 September while the return leg in Ikenne will hold on 18

September. The aggregate winners will face the victor of the game between AAGBS of Guinea and Mauritania’s Nouakchott Kings.

Nigeria’s second representatives, Kwara United who are making a second attempt at the competition after their debut of 2007 have a relatively easy fixture.

They will face AS Douanes of Niger Republic in their opening match scheduled for Ilorin on 9 September. The return leg will hold in Niamey the following week.

Should Kwara United win, they will have dates with Moroccan side, RS Berkane.

Okowa Hails Team Nigeria’s All-time Best Performance Delta Governor and Vice-Presidential Candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Sen. Ifeanyi Okowa, has congratulated Nigerian athletes for their medals haul at the justconcluded 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, United Kingdom.

He particularly extolled world record holder, Tobi Amusan, for her gold medal in the women’s 100m hurdles, where she set a new Commonwealth record, and also led Favour Ofili, Rosemary Chukwuma and Grace Nwokocha to a historic gold medal in women’s 4x100m relay.

Home-girl, Ese Brume, with a gold medal and new Commonwealth record in Long Jump was also a toast of the governor, who expressed great delight at the marvelous performances of other gold medalists - Adijat Olarinoye, Rafiatu Lawal (Weightlifting), Chioma Onyekwere (Discus Throw), Folashade Oluwafemiayo (Powerlifting).

C O M M O N W E A LT H GA M E S Others include; Adekuoroye Odunayo, Oborududu Blessing and Genesis Mercy (Wrestling), and Para-Athletes - Goodness Nwachukwu (Women’s Discus) and Eucharia Iyiazi (Women’s Shot Put).

The athletes took Team Nigeria’s gold medal haul to12 - the best in the history of Nigeria’s participation at the Games.

According to Okowa in a statement on Tuesday by his Chief Press Secretary, Mr Olisa Ifeajika, “I am quite elated with the sterling performances of the Nigerian athletes at the Commonwealth Games.”

He said that the athletes victoriously transited, with the winning spirit, from the World Athletics Championships in Eugene, Oregon, to the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham.

The presidential running mate commended the athletes for their

patriotism, determination and hard work which propelled them to the superb outing at the Games, etching Nigeria high in the world’s psyche in spite of challenges back home.

"On behalf of the government and people of Delta, I congratulate these great compatriots for making our country proud, and I again, urge every Nigerian to imbibe this winning spirit and attitude in every facet of our livelihood to make Nigeria attain the greatness God has programmed it for, given its endowment in human and natural resources.

"It is only such conquering mentality and patriotic heroism that can engender the much-needed change for a better nation that Nigerians earnestly yearn for.

"Once more, congratulations to Team Nigeria and all participating athletes and coaches for this great honour," he stated.

TR

Wednesday, August 10, 2022

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MISSILE NESG to FG “It is still possible to turn the tide, and it is not too late to bring the nation out of the current quagmire. Our appeal to Mr. President is that a lot can still be done to turn the curve within the remaining 10 months of this administration. *This requires tough choices and *decisive actions, with no sacred cows”--- The Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG) asking the federal government to make tough economic choices.

KAYODEKOMOLAFE THE HORIZON

kayode.komolafe@thisdaylive.com

0805 500 1974

Towards 2023 with New Ideas

O

ne of the positive things in the ferment about the 2023 elections is the increasing advocacy that the elections should be a contest of ideas.

In other words, candidates contesting on the platforms of the various political parties should be identified by the ideas underlying their programmes beyond their ethnic, regional and religious labels.

The corollary to that, of course, is that instead of abuses, curses and peddling of prejudice, political parties and their candidates should articulate clear strategies of development and workable policies.

The public should in turn assess the parties and candidates on the basis of these strategies and the policies articulated to bring the visions to life.

What should be added is that not only must 2023 be of politics of ideas, the ideas themselves must also be new and workable so as to confront the multi-dimensional crisis the country faces at this time.

There should be a rethink of some ideas that risk being reduced to platitudes. A moment of crisis demands fresh ideas to confront the new situation.

It is a simple logic of life.

As the political parties and their candidates unfold their plans, critical questions should be asked about the efficacy of the medicine being prescribed to cure the malaise of the Nigerian economy, polity and society.

New ideas are sorely needed for the simple fact that the same old ideas that the political parties and their candidates have presented as various acronyms in more than two decades have not helped sufficiently to tackle the problems. If the ideas had been cumulatively efficacious, the society would not have been plagued by mass poverty and gross inequality. And the consequences of the socio-economic decay including worsening insecurity are frightening.

For instance, on the critical question of what to do with the economy and the pivotal public sector, fresh ideas should be developed if the crisis is to be resolved in the interest of the people.

As a matter of fact, since the military government of President Ibrahim Babangida recast the Nigerian political economy with its Structural Adjustment Programme (SAP) virtually all economic discussions have begun and ended with the invocation of the components of this

INEC Chairman Prof. Mahmoud Yakubu monumental programme. Among these components are privatisation, commercialisation, liberalisation and deregulation. They are, of course, meant for different purposes. These ideas have featured in Nigeria’s economic management since the Babangida regime promulgated the Public Enterprises Privatisation and Commercialisation Decree Number 25 of 1988 and the concomitant establishment of the Technical Committee on Privatisation and Commercialisation (TCPC).

Yet if you have a conversation today with the experts working on the economic strategies, policies and programmes of the various parties and candidates, you would think privatisation, deregulation and liberalisation are new ideas invented in 2022 by policy wonks.

It is amazing that politicians are still promising privatisation as the silver bullet to the festering economic crisis. You wonder what else is there in the economy to privatise! Maybe one day Aso Rock itself would be privatised for “efficient management.”

What should be done is an honest audit of the privatisation exercise so as to know what went wrong

Democracy or Plutocracy

By Femi Falana

A

s part of the fundamental objectives of the neocolonial State, the participation of the people in their government is guaranteed in accordance with the provisions of the Constitution and the Electoral Act. The implication is that elected officials are mandatorily required to have their mandate renewed periodically through fair and free elections. Nigeria is said to be a State that is based on the principles of democracy and social justice, the federal, state and local governments are under a legal obligation to promote the happiness, freedom and prosperity of the people. But in view of the monetisation of the electoral process by the political class, Nigeria cannot be said to be a democratic society. It has become a plutocratic society where only the few rich people can contest and win elections. In other words, democracy is no longer a government of the people but a government of a few rich and powerful individuals.

It is common knowledge that the wealth with which the democratic process is sabotaged by members of the ruling class has been traced to the coffers of the government. A public officer and his cronies have just been charged with the criminal diversion of N109 billion from the Federation Account and bribes received from Governors, Finance Commissioners and heads of parastatals who had to jump the

queue that was artificially erected in the office of the accountant-General of the Federation. I am also aware that the sum of N4.5 billion has just been found in the bank account of the Surveyor-General of Ogun State. The Abeokuta Club should lead a campaign for the recovery of the stolen fund and prosecution of the suspect and his collaborators. The recovered loot should be invested in one of the sectors calling for urgent attention of the State Government. If we fail to monitor the movement of the fund it may turn out to be a case of “ole gbe, ole gba.” (A thief steals something, another thief divests him of it).

A situation whereby corruption is fought, even though partially, by the Federal Government alone should stop. In view of the duty imposed on the State by section 15(5) of the Constitution to “abolish all corrupt practices and abuse of power”, the authorities of the 36 state governments and the Federal Capital Territory should establish anti-graft agencies to fight the menace of corruption, recover looted fund and prosecute indicted individuals, groups and organisations. In addition to the recovery of looted public fund from all criminal elements, serving l and retired public officers who wish to contest elections should be thoroughly investigated. Those who betrayed the public trust by looting the treasury should not be allowed to pollute the electoral process with stolen money. Nigerians must stop the dangerous culture of “Owo Abu lafi se Abu lejo” (we used Abu’s money to entertain Abu as a visitor).

Continued online

and how to make amends.

However, in the wisdom of some economic experts the solution to the problems arising from privatisation is more privatisation.

Instead of falsely presenting privatisation as a magic solution, there should be a critical review of the idea and practice of the policy in more than three decades. In 2011, the senate embarked on a probe of 122 public enterprises privatised between 1999 and that year. A committee of the senate looked into the outcomes of the privatisation process. The findings are instructive, but no administration has learnt anything from the report. The committee found out that the situation of those enterprises had gone “from bad to worse” as more than 80% of the privatised enterprises had become moribund. So no jobs were created and no taxes were paid to government from the privatised enterprises as promised by the proponents of privatisation. In some cases the stories have been those of asset-striping and liquidation of the enterprises sold by government at give-away prices. A good number of these privatised public enterprises have been run down by their incompetent private sector owners. In some cases the expected injection of capital, managerial competence and technology to make the enterprises profitable have proved to be a mirage. The economy is yet to benefit from the fortunes expected from most of the privatised companies.

When policy thinkers wax lyrical on privatisation as the solution, they are often silent on why the privatisation of the Nigerian Airways failed woefully and while the liberalisation of the aviation sector has not turned Nigeria into an aviation hub many years after the exercise.

Perhaps the sharpest query on privatisation should be issued in the power sector. Almost after a decade of privatisation of the generation and distribution segments of the industry, the Nigerian economy continues to be run on diesel-powered generating

sets. It is obvious that with this policy cul-de-sac, critical review of the sector which began with the enactment of the Electric Power Sector Reform Act 2005.

Yet, some of the candidates are promising to even privatise the transmission of electricity. Imagine asking those who went into the business of distributing electricity without the capacity to even make meters available to consumers being asked to add transmission to their portfolios. It is an incredible policy proposition!

This uncritical approach in designing strategies and policies is a thing that should worry all enthusiasts of people-centred development. It is indeed a conceptual problem. Most of the experts working on the various plans of political parties and candidates are ideologically fixated on privatisation even when it is not working in the Nigerian context.

However, elsewhere in the world a lot of rethink is taking place since the global crisis of capitalism as manifested in the 2008 financial meltdown.

The nature of the ideas that inform the making of policies should be scrutinised as we await the 2023 choice.

For as Professor Paul De Grauwe of the London School of Economics puts it in his book entitled “The limits of Market: The Pendulum Between Government and Market,” the fundamental question really is as follows: who is in charge of economic management? The scholar puts the matter like this: “The Old discussion as to whether the market is more important than government or vice versa is pointless. The only question worth asking is how the division of labour between market and government can best be organised. This division of labour must start out from the ideas… that both market and government have their limits.”

Those who are committed to building a working capitalist political economy in Nigeria should ponder this pertinent point as they prepare to be in charge of governance.

Ibori and the Burden Of Statesmanship

By Magnus Onyibe

H

enry Kissinger, the 99- year old former United States of America National Security Adviser and Secretary of State has just written and published a book titled :”Leadership: Six Studies in World Strategy.” The author is considered to be one of the most consequential political figures of our time and a colossus in the world of foreign affairs.

Kissinger’s book is a case study in a personal way,of the following leaders of significant countries around the world, whose leadership in their respective countries were epochal.

They are Konrad Adenauer of Germany,Charles de Gaulle of France,Richard Nixon of USA,Anwar Sadat of Egypt and Margaret Thatcher of Uk as well as Lee Kuan Yew of Singapore.

To set the agenda for the diagnostic study of lbori persona that l have set out to put on the dais in commemoration of his 64th birthday,a brief review of Kissinger’s book as captured below is apropos.

Henry Kissinger in his compelling book, makes the case that “leaders think and act at the intersection of two axes: the first,between the past and the future; the second between the abiding values and aspirations of those they lead.”

He argued further that “They must balance what they know,which is necessarily drawn from the past, with what they intuit about the future, which is inherently conjectural and uncertain.”

Kissinger concluded that “It is this intuitive grasp of direction that enables leaders to set objectives and lay down a strategy.”

From what l personally know about the man,James Onanefe Ibori since he got into the

political space in 1990 when he joined National Republican Convention (NRC),readers would agree with me that he embodies most,if not all the virtues of the leaders profiled above. More so as he has adroitly applied the skills that qualified the leaders extolled by Kissinger as transformational in the management of affairs in their respective countries,as lbori has done in Delta state at a time that it was in turmoil.

Let us dig deeper into the book.

According to a reviewer: “In Leadership,Kissinger analyses the lives of six extraordinary leaders through the distinctive strategies of statecraft which he believes they embodied. After the Second World War, Konrad Adenauer brought defeated and morally bankrupt Germany back into the community of nations by what Kissinger calls ‘the strategy of humility’.

Charles de Gaulle set France beside the victorious Allies and renewed its historic grandeur by ‘the strategy of will’. During the Cold War, Richard Nixon gave geostrategic advantage to the United States by ‘the strategy of equilibrium’. After twenty-five years of conflict,Anwar Sadat brought a vision of peace to the Middle East by a ‘strategy of transcendence’. Against the odds, Lee Kwan Yew created a powerhouse city-state,Singapore,by ‘the strategy of excellence’. Although when she came to power Britain was known as ‘the sick man of Europe’, Margaret Thatcher renewed her country’s morale and international position by ‘the strategy of conviction” Again,although,lbori has not led a country,Delta state where he served as governor from 1999-2007, is a mini Nigeria.That is simply because it shares with our country a multi culture,multi ethnic and multi religion characteristics.

Continued online

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