FRIDAY 2ND SEPTEMBER 2022

Foreign Capital Importation Fell to $1.54bn in Q2 Lagos accounted for 68.66% of inflows PwC: Insecurity biggest impediment to Nigeria’s economic growth Says foreign education, health tourism putting pressure on FX James Emejo and Emmanuel Addeh in Abuja The total value of capital importation into the country

declined by 2.40 per cent to $1.54 billion in the second quarter of the year (Q2 2022) compared to $1,57 billion in the preceding quarter, the National Bureau of Statistics

(NBS) said yesterday.

However, when compared to the corresponding quarter of 2021, when capital importation was recorded at $875.62 million, it represented

an increase of 75.34 per cent.

According to the Nigerian Capital Importation Q2 2022, which was posted on the NBS website yesterday, Lagos State

topped the destination for foreign capital inflows with $1.05 billion, accounting for 68.66 per cent of total inflows into the country.

This was followed by investment

into Abuja (FCT), valued at $453.95 million (29.57 per cent).

Anambra attracted $24.71 million, Continued on page 5

Osinbajo Meets W'Bank President in Washington, Seeks Support to End Petrol Subsidy, Others... Page 8 Friday 2 September, 2022 Vol 27. No 10006. Price: N250

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UNESCO: Estimated Number of Out-of-School Children in Nigeria Now 20m... Page 41

Wike to Ayu: You’re An Ingrate, We Children Made You Chairman from Gutters

Says chair unwilling to resign because of N14bn made from primaries Party must address lopsided NWC before campaigns, George warns NEC holds next week Atiku promises to restore Nigeria’s preeminent role in West Africa

Chuks Okocha in Abuja and Blessing Ibunge in Port Harcourt Rivers State Governor Nyesom Wike, yesterday, hit back at the national chairman of his party,

Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Dr. Iyorchia Ayu, for calling him and others children. Wike described Ayu as an ingrate, because those he derided as children were the same people

who brought him from the gutters to the chairmanship of the party.

The governor made the riposte at the launch of a project in Port Harcourt, the state capital.

He claimed Ayu was unwilling

to resign due to the allure of some N14 billion made during the PDP primaries, warning that arrogance would not take the PDP chairman anywhere.

Wike said Ayu’s actions were

not geared towards the party’s victory in 2023, and promised to assist him in making the PDP fail.

Relatedly, former Deputy National Chairman of PDP, Chief Olabode George, said it was

important for the party to address the current lopsided structure of its National Working Committee (NWC) before the commencement Continued on page 5

NEF: North Won’t Vote on Ethnic, Religious Sentiments Says region carries scars of one it voted twice Warns against exploitation of its diversity John Shiklam in Kaduna National Chairman of Northern Elders Forum (NEF), Professor Ango Abdullahi, has said the north would not support any candidate based on clannish sentiments or someone who seeks to exploit the region’s ethnic and religious diversity.

Speaking at a book launch, yesterday, in Kaduna, against the backdrop of next year’s general election, Abdullahi said the north would only support leaders with integrity, competence, compassion, and the fear of God. He said the region currently carried scars of the one it substantially voted into office twice and had, therefore, learnt its lesson.

Abdullahi said the north would participate in all political and electoral activities as equals with other Nigerians, who respected Continued on page 5

FELICITATING WITH TUNDE OGBEHA AT 75...

L-R: Senator Ado Shuaibu; former Imo State Governor, Emeka Ihedioha; Senator David Mark; Senator Tunde Ogbeha; Sokoto State Governor, Aminu Waziri Tambuwal; Prince Sola Akanmode, and Hon Musa Ahmodu, during the marking of Ogheha's birthday in Abuja...yesterday

Nigeria’s Total Debt Profile Now N41.60trn, Says DMO... Page 5

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Nigeria’s Total Debt Profile Now N41.60trn, Says DMO Juliet Akoje in Abuja.

The Director-General of the Debt Management Office (DMO), Mrs. Patience Oniha yesterday confirmed that Nigeria's total debt profile as at March, 2022 stood at N41.60 trillion.

Oniha said this during her appearance at the ongoing engagement on the 2023 - 2025 Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) and Fiscal Policy Paper held by the House of Representatives Committee on Finance yesterday. She attributed Nigeria's high debt profile to shortfall in revenues and the deficit in the annual budget as approved

by the National Assembly. These, according to her, increased the debt stock of the country.

She revealed that, "as at December 2020, the debt stock of Nigeria and that includes the federal, state governments and the Federal Capital Territory was N32.92 trillion. By December 2021, it was N39.556 trillion. As at March of this year, we published quarterly, it was N41.6 trillion. On the average, the federal government is owing about 85 percent of the total debt.

“We have been running deficit budget for many years and each time you approve a budget with a deficit, by the time we raise money,

because when you approve it is giving us a mandate, authority to borrow, it will reflect in the debt stock, so the debt stock will increase. Also note that states are also borrowing. So we add their own. They also have laws governing their borrowings and as debt stock increases so does debt service.

"Until the issues of personnel, overhead and capital expenditure are properly addressed in the budget, borrowing would not stop."

Speaking further, she said, "a World Bank report showed that in terms of debt-to-GDP ratio, Nigeria is low but for debt serviceto-revenue ratio, we are very high.

So, if you look at tax-to-GDP ratio of these other countries, they are in multiples of Nigeria.”

According to her, the World Bank survey report of about 197 countries revealed that Nigeria was 195, meaning that the country was only able to beat two countries and that was Yemen and Afghanistan, “and I don't think we want to be at those places."

"When the MTEF for 2021 to 2023 was being prepared, it is to say, let's begin to look at revenues because as debt is growing, debt service is increasing. So, the language we used is for debt to be sustainable in the medium term.

“Sustainable means you

can service your debt without difficulty, without it consuming all your revenues because you have very little for other projects. You must look at revenues very closely and I think the discussions you have had with the Customs is one part of it.

“There are many other revenue generating agencies. So, we must increasingly begin to look out our revenue for funding our activities as opposed to deficit.

"We talked about N11 trillion deficit and borrowing for 2023, how much is the revenue there?

When we looked at the first tranche that was N10 trillion for full year of subsidy and N9 trillion for

subsidy next year and the size of the borrowing was 62 per cent of the budget. That's high.

“The responsibilities, I think, are on both sides. Query the various expenditure lines and see what it is we can handle. So, if the deficit is lower, the borrowing will be lower and that's how to grow on a slower pace," she added.

The Deputy Chairman of the Committee, Hon. Saidu Abdullahi who presided over the session, in his remarks said, "the country was on a good pedestal to keep borrowing. The need for borrowing will always be there. It doesn't matter how much we make; the country must borrow.

recalled the enviable role that Nigeria played during the Olusegun Obasanjo era and the preceding administrations that saw the country providing support and leading the initiatives to restore peace and stability in the region.

Atiku said he desired that Nigeria and EU developed strong

partnership in strengthening democracy for the mutual benefit of both parties.

He used the opportunity of the meeting to share his vision of a greater Nigeria and gave the diplomats an insight into his socio-economic and political agenda for Nigeria.

WIKE TO AYU: YOU’RE AN INGRATE, WE CHILDREN MADE YOU CHAIRMAN FROM GUTTERS of the 2023 election campaigns.

George stated that the office of national chairman should come to the south for the sake of fairness and balance.

But the NWC might have resolved to move ahead with the composition of the PDP Presidential Campaign Council, with a National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting slated for next week after it was initially called off last week.

Still on next year’s election matters, the presidential candidate of PDP, Atiku Abubakar, reaffirmed his commitment to restore Nigeria’s leadership role in regional security and development, if elected into office.

Ayu had in an interview with the BBC Hausa service said children, who did not know how the party was formed could not force him to resign. The statement was in apparent reference to Wike and allies, who had since the party’s presidential primaries waged a campaign against the leadership.

Speaking at the launch of a project in Port Harcourt, Wike responded, "Yesterday, somebody said, where were you when they founded the party? Because we insisted that the right things must be done. We are boys, we are children. You can imagine what power can do. You can imagine the ingratitude; how people can be ingrates in their lives?

“I thought as chairman of a party, who wants to win elections, your business is to bring peace to your party; your business is not to divide your party. Your business is not to show arrogance to your party.

“Yes, the children brought you to be chairman of the party. The children brought you from the gutter to make you chairman.”

Pointedly calling out the national chairman, Wike said, "Ayu, you were impeached as senate president.

Ayu, you were sacked by Obasanjo's administration. Arrogance cannot take you anywhere. Now, we have seen that you don’t want the party to win the election. We will help you.

"These boys that brought you from nothing, from nothing we brought. Ayu, you said you founded this party, but you left the party in 2007. You founded a company, you left the company.

People stood and made the company what it is today. You left with your shares, so you have no moral right.

"You want to show integrity.

You want to sell a party to Nigeria that we want to take over. You must convince Nigerians that we have integrity. You are the driver that will drive the vehicle that will convey us to the destination, that is the victory we're looking for.

So, if the driver has no integrity, honesty, how do you convince Nigerians?”

The Rivers State governor revealed how, before the presidential primaries, he and others had championed the zoning of the office of PDP National

Chairman to the north.

He stated, "Now Nigerians have seen how ungrateful some of you can be. So, they are asking if we give these people power, will they be grateful?

"Now that you have shown arrogance that you were elected, where did you campaign? Show me your posters in Rivers State, even though we gave you money to go and do posters, but you kept it in your pocket.

"Because of money we made from the party primaries, about N14 billion, that is why he’s saying, I won't resign. Nothing more, just N14 billion. He wants to preside over the expenditure.

“You are referring to the people, who salvaged the party, as children because of N14 billion in the party's account. It will finish.

"A man who is inconsistent and ran away from the party, telling those of us who spent our time, sleepless nights, and made sure that the party did not go down, that we are children. To those children, you are the prodigal father."

In a similar vein, George warned, "We can only go back to Aso Rock if we are united and not divided. The people that are abusing Governor Wike, that he is a troublemaker; those abusing him, as an elder, as a father in this party, I am directing him to stop immediately, because Governor Wike is only fighting for justice, for equity and fairness in our party.

"He is not only a strong pillar in this party, a mobiliser, a financier, and an actualiser. What we are saying is that the issue of the national chairman of the party must be addressed before the commencement of the campaign of 2023 general election.

"It is an antithesis and against the norm and culture of our party that our presidential candidate, our national chairman and chairman of our board of trustees will come from one section of the country.

Party members from the south are already feeling alienated. PDP is not a private company.

"Before we start the presidential campaign at the end of this month, the national chairman must go to the south. This is all that Governor Wike is saying and as a life member of the Board of Trustees, I support this position 100 per cent."

The former Ondo State military governor asked, "How will party members from the south feel, when they see that at all political rallies, southerners have no public political representation. This constitutes a fundamental fault and lack of inclusiveness, which is diametrically opposed to the position of the thinking of the founding fathers of our party.

"May be if Ayu had remained perpetually in the party, he would have learnt the ropes much better.

We do not want to have a Northern Peoples Democratic Party and a Southern Peoples Democratic Party; we do not want to go to the election divided.

"Don’t let them remind us that this is the time for the amalgamation to be revisited.

What is good for the goose is good for the gander. That is why the position of the national chairman must come to the south as a matter of urgency. We are not begging for it, we demand it, because it is our right."

Meanwhile, NWC, which had two weeks ago called off the NEC and national caucus meetings to resolve the dispute between Ayu and Wike, yesterday, agreed that the meetings should hold between Tuesday and Thursday next week.

A source said, "The presidential campaign council and the composition is ready. What we are looking out for now is to get a chairman of the campaign council from the south for the purposes of balancing "We have recognised the importance of balancing, but we have agreed to move on. The chairman of the presidential campaign will come from the south and everyone will be accommodated."

Confirming that position, National Publicity Secretary of PDP, Debo Ologunagba, said the party was moving ahead and NEC and the national caucus meetings would take place in a matter of days.

"The national campaign council will be ready very soon," Ologunagba said.

However, speaking yesterday in Abuja, when he led a delegation to a meeting with the 19 ambassadors of the European countries and Ambassador of the EU Mission in Nigeria, Atiku vowed to re-establish the place of the country in the sub-region.

Those on PDP presidential candidate’s team included the governor of Delta State and the party’s vice presidential candidate, Dr. Ifeanyi Okowa, and National Chairman of PDP, Dr. Iyorcha Ayu. Bemoaning the policies of the All Progressives Congress (APC) federal administration in the last seven years, Atiku said the government’s strategy, such as the closing of borders, had eroded the gains of the foreign policy that was pursued by the previous PDP administration.

He said under his watch, regional security and collaboration would be strengthened.

Atiku told the diplomats that his cardinal foreign policy would be a cordial relationship with all countries and blocs, with West Africa and Africa being the centre of the country’s foreign policy.

He said the crises in the subregion could not be addressed in isolation because they were similar, largely fuelled by lack of development, and would require working with all the countries to bring peace back to the region.

The former vice president

NEF: NORTH WON’T VOTE ON ETHNIC, RELIGIOUS SENTIMENTS them.

He stated, “We will not support a candidate that fails to convince that he will radically improve the quality of governance and the integrity of leaders. Second, northerners will not be intimidated into making choices that do not improve the chances of real changes in their current circumstances.

“We will participate in all political and electoral activities as equals, and concerning other Nigerians, who respect us."

Abdullahi added, "In the north, we consider attempts to create divisions and conflicts around religion as hostile acts.

“We have paid a high price in conflicts around religion in the north and we do not need to do more. Our insecurity and collapsing economy do not discriminate between Christians and Muslims.

“We cannot seek solutions from them as Muslims or Christians. I have to state here that we are

witnessing some of the crudest and most unproductive campaigns to create divisions between Hausa and Fulani people, and create distances between Christians and Muslims in the north.

“We warn that these contemptible attempts will fail, because they find no support in history going back centuries, or in the recent past. While we differ in faith and ethnicity, history, geography, and our experiences in living as Nigerians have created roots and bonds that cannot be destroyed by desperate political gambits."

According to Abdullahi, the north would be more critical than all other regions about who wins its support, because, "We bear scars from governance by one we substantially voted into power twice. Northern votes will make a major impact in the 2023 elections as well, but they will be cast by people who are now wiser and more discerning."

FOREIGN CAPITAL IMPORTATION FELL TO $1.54BN IN Q2 Kogi $2 million and Ekiti 40.50 million during the quarter.

However, portfolio investment accounted for 49.33 per cent ($757.32 million), representing the largest capital importation in the review period. It was followed by other investment category which was valued at $630.87 million or 41.09 per cent of total inflows while Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) accounted for $147.16 million or 9.58 per cent of total capital imported in Q2.

Disaggregated by sectors, capital importation into banking had the highest inflow of $646.36 million amounting to 42.10 per cent of total capital imported during the period.

It was also followed by capital imported into the production sector, which stood at $233.99 million or 15.24 per cent.

Furthermore, the financing sector attracted $197.31 million or 12.85 per cent inflows.

According to the statistical agency, capital importation by country of origin revealed that the United Kingdom (UK) ranked top as the major source of capital imported into the country with 781.05 million, accounting for 50.87 per cent. This was followed by Singapore and the Republic of South Africa valued at $138.58 million (9.03 per cent) and $122.26 million (7.96 per cent) respectively.

Categorised by banks, Citibank Nigeria Limited ranked highest in with $450.94 million (29.37 per cent).

This was followed by Standard

Chartered Bank Nigeria Limited which attracted $323.24 million (21.05 per cent) and Stanbic IBTC Bank Plc with US$163.92 (10.68 per cent).

PwC: Insecurity Biggest Impediment to Nigeria’s Economic Development Meanwhile, Advisory Partner and Chief Economist, PricewaterhouseCoopers (Pwc), Dr Andrew Nevin, yesterday posited that the current biggest challenge to Nigeria’s economic development remains the pervasive insecurity in the country.

Speaking on Arise News Channel, THISDAY’s broadcast arm, Nevin said insecurity was having a knock-on effect on all sectors of the Nigerian economy and driving up inflation, especially the prices of food.

“I firmly believe the biggest economic problem we're having right now is (in)security. And the reason for this is that insecurity is having incredible knock-on effects around the country, in addition to the great losses, which are just terrible.

“It creates a real problem for example, in the agricultural space and that’s why we are having such rapid inflation. We know there are various forces in the Ukraine war, supply chain problems, but the biggest thing driving inflation in agriculture is the fact that when

farmers are insecure, they change their planting patterns,” he argued.

Stressing that there had been various calls for oil subsidies removal, especially when prices were low, he lamented that the impact was currently hurting the Nigerian economy.

He argued that for Nigeria’s quest to diversify its economy not to take decades, the country must look beyond the traditional way, adding that the path being advocated for Nigeria was to begin to export high value-added services in the global value chain.

Noting that the world has changed technologically in the last number of years and particularly with COVID-19, Nevin opined that Nigeria can unleash its population to begin to do remote work.

“So we are advocating that the quickest way to prosperity is actually by putting over two million remote workers out there and to have 2 million remote workers participate in global value chains in the next seven to 10 years and that would address the problem,” he said.

He pointed out that the traditional route like manufacturing or mining would have extremely long lead times, and will take a long time to turn around the economy.

“So we really think it's the quickest path, in fact, the best path for prosperity in this country,” he added.

The PwC official argued that

Nigeria cannot drive prosperity from the centre, maintaining that the current practice of sharing monies from the federation account on a monthly basis was unsustainable.

“You can't have one centralised place trying to drive prosperity throughout the country. You need people all over the country driving prosperity. I think they (states) recognise that the whole federation account approach where they just collect money, is no longer viable,” he noted.

He listed Kaduna, Ogun and Nasarawa states as some of the subnationals doing well, explaining that they give real cause for optimism.

“I'll repeat, it's not possible for this large country for the prosperity to be driven from the centre. It can only be done in a distributed and decentralised way,” he insisted.

He explained that India, for example, has the same nominal Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita as Nigeria, but that prices in that country are lesser because India has better infrastructure and a more efficient supply chain.

“Fifty per cent of the people in Nigeria spend more than 50 per cent of their income on food. So what really matters for the wellbeing of Nigerians is food inflation,” he said.

Nevin urged Nigeria to harvest its low hanging fruits like building its education and health systems which would help cut down the foreign exchange spent on schooling abroad as well as health tourism.

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NEWS

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

THE AMAYANABO OF TWON-BRASS VISITS BUHARI...

President Muhammadu Buhari (R) receiving the Amayanabo of Twon-Brass, King Alfred Diete-Spiff during an audience at the State House Abuja....yesterday

NNPCL's Total Outstanding Petrol Subsidy Debt Hits N1.04trn, N448.7bn Deducted in July Firm Records zero export crude receipts

Emmanuel Addeh in Abuja With total spending on the controversial petrol subsidy now exceeding oil revenue, the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPCL) outstanding debt on what it terms under-recovery hit N1.044 trillion in July.

Data from the National Oil Company (NOC) released late yesterday indicated that in July, the firm also deducted N448.7 billion for the purpose, a record high since the re-emergence of subsidy payment early last year.

The document detailing the NNPCL's presentation to the Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) last week, also showed that there was no receipt from export crude oil. There

was no explanation for the zero revenue from export crude.

Furthermore, a tie-back to June showed that the overall NNPCL crude oil lifting for the sixth month in terms of export and domestic, was 7.27 million barrels , a decrease of 18.68 per cent relative to 8.94 million barrels lifted in May. In the whole of July, it also showed that just about N400 billion was the gross domestic crude oil and gas receipts.

This implies that the amount spent on petrol subsidy for the month exceeded the total oil sold for the month by roughly N48 billion.

In addition, Nigeria LNG feedstock gas receipt was $93.88 million, inclusive of $9.39 million

arrears, with $2.04 million being miscellaneous receipts, the NNPCL document stated.

"The sum of N400,469,663,160.14 is the gross domestic crude oil and gas revenue for the month of July 2022.

"The value shortfall on the importation of Premium Motor Spirit or petrol recovered from July 2022 proceeds is N448,782,119,154.91, while the outstanding balance carried forward is N1.044,514,420,619.13," the data showed.

Also, like it has done since this year, the NNPCL did not remit a kobo to the federation account. In fact, the column for that purpose has now been deleted from the document. This may not be unconnected with the company’s

recent ‘commercialisation’.

For the whole of the month, no project outlined by the NOC was paid for, aside the one for subsidy, according to a THISDAY analysis of the information.

Some of the regular calendarised payments by the NNPCL include those for national domestic gas development, frontier exploration services and renewable energy development.

Others, according to the document signed by one Nasir Usman on behalf of the Chief Financial Officer NNPCL , include refinery rehabilitation, the Nigeria-Morroco pipeline , among others.

A few weeks ago, THISDAY reported that in the first half of 2022, petrol subsidy claims

N11.9bn Stolen from Kwara Between 2011 and 2019, Forensic Audit Reveals It is unfounded allegations, says Ahmed Hammed Shittu in Ilorin A forensic audit company hired by the Kwara State Government yesterday disclosed that about N11.9 billion of public funds were allegedly carted away from the treasury of the state between 2011 and 2019 without any project or programme to show for it.

Also, the forensic audit revealed that N2 billion cash withdrawals were not tied to any project or official expenditure were made within eight days in February 2019, barely one month to the general election.

But a former governor of the state, Alhaji Abdulfatah Ahmed on whose tenure the funds were allegedly withdrawn has described the allegations as preposterous, naïve, unspecific and generally unfounded.

Ahmed in a statement issued yesterday signed by his former Chief Press Secretary, Alhaji Abdulwahab Oba said, "Every expenditure during the period under review was properly appropriated

and followed due process. If there were infractions as alleged, there are laid down procedures for correction.

"Since we left office more than three years ago, the accounts have been properly audited by various auditing agencies and had been certified. Any query now, six months to election, on the legality or otherwise of the expenditure, are after thought and politically motivated."

However, submitting the report to the state governor, Alhaji AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq in Ilorin yesterday, a Partner at SSAC and Professionals, Mr. Anthony Inumoh said, "the report is in two volumes covering internally generated revenue; capital receipts; internal and external loans; recurrent/ overhead expenditure; personnel cost (salaries and wages); capital expenditure; assets disposed; Kwara State Internal Revenue Service; Infrastructural Fund Kwara (IFK); Harmony Holdings Limited; amongst others."

Other members of the audit firm

were Tijani Dako and Bamidele Sobiye.

According to him, “A few highlights of our findings may be necessary for the record. Our forensic audit revealed a colossal pilfering of N11, 981,268,709 which we recommended should be recovered to the public coffers."

Inumoh stated that, "Similarly, we recommended to the state government to prosecute certain officers and companies in addition to claiming exemplary damages on transactions totaling N6,023,358,444, amongst other key findings.

“This is especially so in the cases of firms that we observed were paid huge public funds without any evidence of work done on record."

He added, "In one instance, records show that a firm that was incorporated at the Corporate Affairs Commission on 14th June, 2016, was paid by the state government for a contract it purportedly executed for the state in April of the same year.

It became apparent that this was a preconceived attempt to defraud the state.

“There was an instance of public officer getting paid at two different places for years, which is a clear breach of the law.

"Other infractions arising as a result of obvious conflict of interest and violation of due process were also spotlighted for the government to draw up new policy instruments to prevent such in the future."

Speaking further, he said: “There was also a cash withdrawal within eight days of N2.06 billion in February 2019, which was of interest to the audit.

"However, no documentation was made available to validate the purpose for which the money was withdrawn. There were also several other cash withdrawals within the state over the period running into billions of naira which we could not validate.

“These and others have been recommended to be referred to an Administrative Panel of Enquiry.

"Furthermore, the audit revealed that loans were obtained by the Kwara State Government within the period under review.

surpassed oil and gas revenue by a whopping N210 billion, with the NNPCL recording N2.39 trillion as gross revenue from oil and gas receipts, while subsidy claims amounted to N2.6 trillion.

The data further revealed that N1.59 trillion was used to cover part of the subsidy costs in the last six months, leaving an outstanding balance of N1.01 trillion.

Nigeria is currently facing an economic crisis with rising debt servicing costs and fuel subsidy payments, which from all indications could exceed the

budgeted N4 trillion this year as well as a massive drawdown on its Excess Crude Account (ECA).

Coupled with that, it has for the first time in recent history been unable to take advantage of rising international oil prices because it cannot meet its Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) production quota. Crude oil has sold for above $100 for most of this year.

An analysis of the latest material released by the NNPCL Continued on page 8

NAICOM Clarifies N4bn Office Acquisition Bid, Says Move Followed Due Process James Emejo in Abuja The National Insurance Commission (NAICOM), yesterday clarified that contrary to speculation, it secured approval of the Federal Executive Council (FEC) presided over by President Muhammadu Buhari to acquire an unfinished property as NAICOM Academy and office accommodation.

It said the council's approval followed the green light it got from the immediate past governing board of the commission on the purchase.

NAICOM's clarification came against the backdrop of allegations that the commission among other things, deceived Buhari and the FEC into approving the purchase of a new office building in Abuja.

In a statement issued by the management, the commission stressed that all the documents relating to the property clearly stated that the property was in an unfinished state, contrary to speculation.

It added that the commission had prior to the FEC approval, obtained a, “No Objection” from the Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP) following the valuation of the property by the Federal Ministry of Works and Housing.

The insurance regulator further maintained that adequate due

diligence was conducted on the property for acquisition adding that all relevant approvals were secured by the commission.

It said provision was also made in the 2022 approved annual budget of the commission for the purpose of acquiring the building for the commission.

It added, "The building is to serve the dual purpose of housing the newly established NAICOM Academy which is an initiative of the present leadership of the Commission to address knowledge gap in the insurance sector regulation and supervision not only in Nigeria but across Africa and beyond and also serve as the new head office of the commission.

"In order to address the problem of low insurance penetration, entrench the culture of insurance in every part of the country and enhance the effectiveness of its surveillance in all the geopolitical zones of the country, the expansion of the Commission’s infrastructural facilities is inevitable thus the Commission requires a befitting Office accommodation to curtail any future office space crises.

"This clarification has become necessary to clear any doubt in the minds of the public with respect to the process followed by the Commission in its efforts at acquiring the property."

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OSINBAJO WITH SOME NIGERIAN STAFF OF WORLD BANK/IMF...

Vice President Yemi Osinbajo alongside Finance, Works, Environment Ministers and Nigeria's Ambassador to the US, Dr. Uzoma Emenike with representatives of about 250 Nigerian staff of the World Bank/IMF in a group photo after Vice President's meeting with the World Bank President in Washington DC…yesterday

Osinbajo Meets W'Bank President in Washington, Seeks Support to End Petrol Subsidy, Others Bank wants decisive move toward exchange rate unification, stabilisation by Nigeria The World Bank Group President, David Malpass yesterday met with Vice President, Prof.Yemi Osinbajo as part of efforts to seek the multilateral institution's support to end petrol subsidy

which has become a drain to Nigeria.

The meeting which took place in Washington was disclosed in a statement posted on the World Bank’s website.

Commenting about the meeting on his official Twitter handle, the World Bank boss said it was, a "productive meeting today with Vice President @ ProfOsinbajo of Nigeria.Good

talks on the importance of exchange rate unification and stabilisation, phasing out fuel subsidies, Nigeria's energy transition plan & integrating climate & development."

Knocks for Okowa over Negative Remarks on Obi

Emameh Gabriel in Abuja

The vice presidential candidate of the People's Democratic Party, Dr. Ifeanyi Okowa, came under fire yesterday over negative remarks on his Labour Party counterpart, Mr. Peter Obi. Okowa who recently accused Obi of fanning the embers of religion and associated sentiments, was labeled as being ignorant and mischievous by the Media Office of the Obi-Datti Movement.

In the statement signed by the Office, the team said Okowa has through his remarks against Obi exposed himself as grossly ignoring the magnitude of the nation’s challenges and why Nigerians were rising in support of the Labour Party presidential ticket holder.

"Okowa's baseless allegation is one of the many attempts at trying to label Obi as belonging to the country’s primaeval politics, religion, tribe, and geography," the statement said.

While drawing the Delta State

Governor’s memory to how the Obi movement was first tagged a mere social media blitz, hanging in the air without structure at it initial stage and thereafter Obi was labelled an Igbo and IPOB irredentist, and, now as one fanning religious sentiments, the Office said Okowa must accept the facts staring at him that, "Obi is a driver of a movement whose membership and support cut across all facets of our national life and any attempts to pigeonhole him into any sector will fail.”

The Media Office in its defense said against Okowa's remarks added: "Obi has visited churches even before he came to run for the presidency. In July 2021, he was at St Mary’s Catholic Church, Karu, Abuja, to attend the 25th anniversary of a priest and the church erupted when he was introduced.

“At various weddings in Abuja, Lagos, and, all over the country where he visited, Nigerians celebrated him for what he stood for and what he did when he held

NNPCL'S TOTAL OUTSTANDING PETROL SUBSIDY DEBT HITS N1.04TRN, N448.7BN DEDUCTED IN JULY last night indicated that in January, February and March 2022, petrol subsidy payments gulped N210.38 billion, N219.78 billion, and N245.77 billion, respectively while in April, Nigeria spent N271 billion and N327.07 billion in May 2022 to cater for the shortfall of the importation of petrol.

For the month of June, the national oil company deducted N319.18 billion from the federation account as payment for petrol subsidy, even as it hit a record N448.7 billion in the latest version of the document.

To compound the current subsidy crisis, Nigeria does not know its exact daily consumption of petrol and is believed to be subsidising neighbouring countries due to the arbitrage created by the subsidy in Nigeria.

The problem is expected to even worsen in 2023 with a current projection of as much

as N6.72 trillion by the country in its 2023-2035 medium-term expenditure framework & fiscal strategy paper (MTEF&FSP).

Earlier in the year, the federal government deferred the planned petrol subsidy removal for 18 months, saying the impact would be too negative on the poor and the less privileged.

President Muhammadu Buhari also recently slammed calls by the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for subsidy removal, arguing that even in the West, governments were paying all kinds of subsidies on behalf of their people.

Nigeria imports all its petrol because it does not refine a drop of the product in the country.

All the refineries have been nonfunctional for years. The country operates a swap oil-for-petrol regime which is largely seen as opaque.

public office in Anambra State.

"One of such functions was Dr. Okowa’s child's wedding at the National Ecumenical Conference Centre, Abuja, this year. Celebration of Obi at any public gathering has been there long before he began to aspire for the presidency.

"Recently in Kaduna State, Obi attended a wedding ceremony in a Mosque and his admirers thronged around him in a bid to touch him.

"Moreover, the Obi-Datti Media office is privy to the fact that in most of the top public church appearances of Obi, including a recent Dunamis Church outing in Abuja, the Delta state governor was always invited.

“He either stayed away or sends his wife to represent him and because Obi does not like a rep where the people want him, he strives to show presence despite

his tight schedule.

“We don’t expect Governor Okowa to join in this fantasy talks of attack dogs, but to use every available avenue he has to market himself and his candidate instead of dwelling in gainsaying anything that concerns Peter Obi of the Labour Party.”

Furthermore, the statement added: “Truth which is glaring and known to even Okowa is that the Labour Party candidate is leading a movement that cannot be stopped or distracted by any side talk because it was prompted by long-standing oppression of the people who are about to be liberated with Obi’s message of hope.

“Taking back the country and rebuilding it is a task that is almost certain as there is no going back.

The oppressors have forced the oppressed to pull the trigger and there is no going back.”

However, the statement quoted Malpass to have said the discussion with Osinbajo also centred around Nigeria’s Energy Transition Plan, the importance of exchange rate unification and stabilisation as well as integrating climate and development.

He welcomed Nigeria’s commitment to achieving universal energy access and reducing GHG emissions while maintaining a reliable baseload.

President Malpass emphasised the importance of integrating climate and development, as well as the need for an enabling policy and regulatory environment alongside strengthened institutions in the energy sector.

Malpass affirmed to Vice President Osinbajo the World Bank Group's readiness to support Nigeria in phasing out regressive fuel subsidies, while increasing social assistance for the poor and vulnerable.

He encouraged a decisive move toward exchange rate unification and stabilisation

by Nigeria, highlighting the economic benefits for the Nigerian people.

"President Malpass

emphasised to Vice President Osinbajo that a unified exchange rate will significantly improve the business enabling environment in Nigeria, attract foreign direct investment, and reduce inflation.

"President Malpass and Vice President Osinbajo also discussed the importance of increasing domestic revenues through broadening Nigeria’s tax base and increasing the efficiency of tax administration," the statement added.

The federal government is estimating that N6.7 trillion would be spent on petrol subsidy next year.

World Bank Country Director for Nigeria, Shubham Chaudhuri, had said Nigeria would continue to face fiscal pressures because of its ballooning cost of fuel subsidy at a time production continues to decline.

The World Bank had chief pointed out that Nigeria, for the first time since its return to democracy and as the only major oil exporter, hasn’t been able to benefit from the windfall opportunity created by higher global oil prices presently, due to its rising petrol subsidy burden.

NSITF: We're Assisting Senate Probe on N17.15bn Misappropriated Fund Onyebuchi Ezigbo in Abuja The Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund (NSITF) has said it is giving necessary assistance to the Senate to carry out its statutory oversight functions with regards to the N17.15 billion which was allegedly misappropriated from the Fund between 2012- 2015.

It explained that the misappropriated fund was from the between 2012- 2015, adding that it emanated from the 2018 Audit Report of the Office of the Auditor General of the Federation.

In a statement issued by the NSITF management yesterday, it said when the Senate Committee initiated the current probe in 2021, the Fund had to set up an internal committee to retrieve from First Bank and Skye Bank, detailed transactions involving

the NSITF under the period as requested by the Committee.

It said relevant documents were subsequently submitted to the Senate Committee.

"And to further assist the Senate Committee in the performance of their function at their prompting, we equally invited the former Managing Directors - Munir Abubakar (2010-2016) Ismail Agaka(2016-2017) and Bayo Somefun(2017-2020) under whose tenures these infractions as reported in the Auditor General’s Report took place, to respond to some of the questions raised in the reports of 2018 which the Senate is probing.

"Nigerians who attended the Senate Public Hearing on Thursday, 11 August, 2022, know and understand undoubtedly, that beyond mischief and the

attempt to make mountain out of mole hill, the circumstance under which reference was made to termites, when one of the past Managing Directors claimed that the vouchers for the N5 billion payment made in 2013 would still be in a container in the compound of the fund," it said.

Explaining the extent of involvement of the current management of NSITF, the Fund said: "We wish to officially make it clear without any shred of doubt that these financial infractions have nothing to do with the current management which is just a year old.

"They were rather financial violations and sleazes committed by the former management and board who superintended over the affairs of our organisation between 2012 and 2017.

Some members of the present

management team were not even staff members of the organisation at this period in question," he said.

The Fund traced the origin of the alleged fraud to 2015, when the EFCC acting on petitions and tip-off from whistle blowers investigated the accounts of the NSITF and discovered massive looting to the tune of N62 billion.

It said the EFCC subsequently arrested and charged the former Chairman of the Board of the Fund, Ngozi Olejeme and two other board members - Aderemi Adegboyaga and R.U. Uche to court.

Others equally charged included former top management staff – former Managing Director, Abubakar, the Deputy General Manager Finance, Henry Ekhasomi and General Manager Legal, Adebayo Aderibigbe.

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Acting Group Politics Editor DEJI ELUMOYE Email: deji.elumoye@thisdaylive.com 08033025611 SMS ONLY

Ekweremadu: In Support of Ohanaeze Ndigbo Law Mefor says it was high time the Nigerian government engaged diplomatic means to intervene in the on-going trial of former Deputy Senate President, Senator Ike Ekweremadu, before a London Court in the United Kingdom

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he recent statement by Ohanaeze Ndigbo calling for the Federal Government’s intervention in the travail of Senator Ike Ekweremadu and his wife, Beatrice, in London revives some hope that the Igbo philosophy of “Onye aghana nwanne ya” (all for one, one for all).

The Ohanaeze plea came on the heels of Attorney General and Minister of Justice Abubakar Malami’s declaration that the Federal Government would not intervene in the Ekweremadus’ legal battle in the UK, claiming that it was never Nigeria’s tradition to intervene when her citizens are caught up in criminal legal issues overseas.

It was therefore reassuring to read Ohanaeze reel out a recent instance where the President Muhammadu Buhari administration successfully intervened in the case of a Nigerian lady from Jigawa State caught up in a drug-related legal debacle in Saudi Arabia, and many instances where nations such as the UK and U.S.A, intervened or are presently intervening in the matters of their citizens standing trial in foreign lands.

Ohanaeze also predicated their call on cultural relativism, Nigeria’s enduring good relations with the UK, and the fact that all persons involved in the kidney saga are Nigerians. Cultural relativism connotes that the norms and values of one culture should not be evaluated using the norms and values of another. Ohanaeze believes that the fact that Ekweremadu wrote the UK High Commission in Nigeria to support the young man’s medical visa application, and also made full disclosure of the donor’s mission and down to the hospital were clear indications that he acted in good faith and without any willful intent to breach any law.

One also aligns with Ohanaeze that the Federal Government cannot in good conscience intervene in the matter concerning Zainab Kila in Saudi Arabia who faced execution and decline to intervene in Ekweremadu’s matter.

Besides, Ekweremadu is a patriot, who has served Nigeria meritoriously in very high capacities. And love or hate him, he exemplifies how a citizen could love his people and still love his country. Amid Biafra separatist agitations, which climaxed under the present administration, Ekweremadu is one Igbo leader, who has continually condemned the injustice to Ndigbo, but has nevertheless maintained that Ndigbo should be better off a united, but just and restructured Nigeria.

His treatise “Biafra: The Legal, Political, Economic, and Social Questions” which was published by Thisday Newspaper in 2017 captures his intellectual and quite pragmatic thoughts on the matter. It is worth reading.

It resonates in the Awka Declaration of the 2018 Igbo Summit and the 2nd “The Sunday Newspaper” (TSM) Diamond Lecture delivered by Ezigbo Gburugburu, Dim Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu in Lagos on February 22, 1994.

But his stand notwithstanding, Ekweremadu led the South East Senate Caucus, which included the likes of Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe and the late erudite Senator Uche Chukwumerije, to a meeting with the late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua in July 2007 to secure the release of the Leader of the Movement for the Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB), Chief Ralph Uwazuruike, who was earlier arrested and detained by the Chief Olusegun Obasanjo administration. It was also at that meeting that Yar’Adua approved an international airport for the region deliberately blockaded from direct access to the world post-civil war.

Unfortunately, the separatist agitations were revived by exclusionist tendencies of the Buhari administration towards the South East over their electoral choice and the arrest and detention of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu. To worsen matters, military crackdown was adopted over and above dialogue. In November 2016, Amnesty

International’s report stated that “The Nigerian security forces, led by the military, embarked on a chilling campaign of extrajudicial executions and violence resulting in the deaths of at least 150 peaceful pro-Biafra protesters in the southeast of the country”.

“Analysis of 87 videos, 122 photographs, and 146 eyewitness testimonies relating to demonstrations and other gatherings between August 2015 and August 2016 consistently shows that the military fired live ammunition with little or no warning

As Odebiyi Tackles Unemployment in Ogun West...

Olubunmi Omoogun writes about employment opportunities created by Senator Tolu Odebiyi for young graduates in Ogun West Senatorial District

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here are very few politicians in Nigeria who can sponsor several students in public tertiary institutions, mentor them all through their four-year duration in school and further facilitate full-time employment opportunities for the beneficiaries.

In his determination to reverse Nigeria’s shares in the unenviable status of being among countries with the highest unemployment rate in the world, a politician who is also the Senator representing Ogun West Senatorial District in the National Assembly, Tolu Odebiyi, is using graduates trainees opportunities from Fintech companies as a powerful instrument to help change the narrative especially for the teeming youth population in Ogun West.

Having sponsored more than 300 indigenous Ogun West students in tertiary

institutions and provided HP Laptops to each of the students, the Tolu Odebiyi Scholarship Foundation’s commitment to empowering the next generation of Ogun West tech entrepreneurs is launching many youth from Ogun West Senatorial District to acquire more skills that will make them technologically advanced youth in Nigeria.

The Senator believes the youths will develop very strong confidence in themselves and acquire some highly valuable skills that will further quicken development of their various communities.

Following a clear path to sustaining economic growth and job creation in Ogun State, Senator Odebiyi, asides facilitating full-time job opportunities in Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) of the Federal government for youth in Ogun West, facilitated full-time job opportunities in Africa’s leading fintech and payment technology company, Flutterwave and Africa’s leading card manufacturing company, SecureID for beneficiaries of the Tolu Odebiyi Scholarship Foundation who recently completed the one year mandatory national service (National Youth Service (NYSC). The Ogun West Senator also facilitated many Industrial Training opportunities and graduate trainee opportunities for 20 Tolu Odebiyi Scholarship Foundation beneficiaries in Flutterwave.

to disperse crowds. It also finds evidence of mass extrajudicial executions by security forces, including at least 60 people shot dead in the space of two days in connection with events to mark Biafra Remembrance Day”, Amnesty stated.

Ekweremadu was one of the few courageous Igbo leaders, who rose stoutly in condemnation of the crackdown, advocating civil approach. At the floor of the Senate on May 31, he called the attention of his colleagues to the military crackdown that resulted in the death of many unarmed Igbo youths around Onitsha and Asaba during the Biafra Day celebration the previous day.

He told the Senate: “I will like to use this opportunity to say that the security agencies must apply caution in trying to quell disturbances. We have had so much blood bath in this country under different circumstances and we cannot continue to lose young men and women because the future of this country belongs to them.

“It is important that this Senate rises to condemn any act of killing in any part of this country. We are now in a democracy and people should be entitled to speak their minds and to assemble under responsible circumstances”.

In November 2016, Ekweremadu led South East Senators to meet President Buhari to find a political solution to Kanu’s case and douse tension in the region. Through silent, but deft diplomatic interventions, Kanu was released in April 2017 and I am aware that Osita Chidoka, who was also involved in the whole arrangement for Kanu’s bail, chauffeured the IPOB leader to Ekweremadu’s residence where he met with the lawmaker and other South East Senators to appreciate them for rallying for his freedom. Ekweremadu’s strategic effort was partly captured by Thisday’s report, entitled: “How Ekweremadu Rallied Igbos to Meet Kanu’s Bail Term” I know because I was privy to the arrangement from the outset. I was also among the Igbo professionals (under the auspices of Nzuko Umunna), who visited Nnamdi Kanu in detention on May 16, 2016, and thereafter addressed a press conference calling for his release. That delegation was led by Prof.

Charles Soludo, now governor of Anamabra State, and included Prof. Pat Utomi, Dr. Udenta Udenta, Dr. Sam Amadi, Ferdie Agu, Emeka Ugwuoju, the late Innocent Chukwuma, and humble me.

I recalled he also did an open letter to President Buhari in September 2017, urging him to call off the Operation Python Dance and embrace dialogue to douse tension in the South East.

Even though Ekweremadu sees his interventions as a duty he owes his people and keeps them under the table, I recall that Abaribe was forced to bare it all after Ekweremadu was attacked in Germany.

Abaribe described the attack as “a brazen show of ingratitude to a man, who has been at the forefront in the struggle for all that is good for the Igbo race”, adding that “Obviously, this is not how to repay a man… who has given his all, even going as far as deploying his means to arrange for the bail of Nnamdi Kanu, not minding the repercussions to his illustrious political career”.

That notwithstanding, Ekweremadu was at the forefront of the quest for a political solution to Kanu’s present travail until London issue. Besides holding back-channel meetings and rallying South East National Assembly Caucus, he led Igbo representatives like Abaribe, Bishop Sunday Onuoha, and Ohanaeze Ndigbo national scribe (Amb. Okey Emuchay) to visit Kanu in the Department of State Security custody.

-Omoogun writes from Abuja.

-Mefor writes from Abuja NOTE: Interested readers should continue in the online edition on www.thisdaylive.com

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

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NCAA Insists on Safety, Moves to Stabilise Airline Operations Amid Mounting Challenges

Chinedu Eze As Nigerian airlines continue to suffer economic decline, as a result of growing challenges emanating from high price of aviation fuel, naira depreciation, high cost of maintenance and scarcity of forex, the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) has moved to stabilise the airline sub-sector in order to ensure continuous safety.

The move, THISDAY gathered, would also help in sustaining the over nine years of safety record of zero accident involving scheduled airlines in the country.

Since February this year Nigerian carriers have been faced with growing challenges that are beginning to subject most airlines

to financial distress.

This reality has forced NCAA to subject the airlines to safety and economic audit to ensure that they are safe to fly and also ensure that they operate airworthy aircraft.

The Director General of NCAA, Captain Musa Nuhu, said the airlines have to undergo the rigorous process of audit, knowing that many organisations are facing economic challenges and that financial distress in airlines could compromise air safety.

“The airlines have challenges, we have had discussions with some of them, and we have since discovered that some of them need injection of funds. For instance, Aero decided to shutdown on its own volition and they are reorganising, getting more

aircraft, expecting some injection of funds so that their financial status can grow. So, we are still in discussions with most of the airlines on this matter.

“Financial distress in aviation if not managed properly could turn out to be safety issues because we don’t want airlines to start to cut corners. Those with financial difficulties if you notice, they are delaying flights, cancelling flights, but we need to work with them.

We are all in this together, except where we have serious concerns in the continued existence of the airlines or serious violation. We will work hand-in-hand with them to help them get out of the financial challenges they found themselves,” Nuhu said.

On Dana Air, which was shut down by the regulatory authority last month, the Director General said: “NCAA is making sure that the airline returns to the sky safely. Once the operator meets the conditions to resume operations, we will approve its operations.

According to him, “Dana Air did not only have financial issues, there were other violations in conjunction with the weak financial position. We are working with Dana assiduously to see how the issue can be resolved. We had internal zoom meeting with the airline this week and a couple of things need to be completed and we will call our management; Dana will sit down with them, they will tell us what they have done and what

they have put in place. If we are happy, we release them, but if not, we will tell them what they must do before they are released for safe operations. Safety of the industry is paramount and it will never be compromised.”

Due to the economic challenging facing the airlines and the aviation industry, the operators are hugely indebted to the agencies and the Director General gave ultimatum to the domestic carriers to sign payment plan for the payment of the debts.

He said, “We (airlines and aviation agencies) all agreed that there are challenges; everybody is having challenges, difficulties and this is not restricted to the industry stakeholders alone. The

airlines, ground handlers and other service providers, even the agencies, all have the same challenges of funds. At a point in time during the Covid-19 pandemic when the airlines ran into troubles, a lot of the agencies too had the same challenges of paying the salaries of their workers. So we are all in the same boat. You can imagine FAAN running about 27 airports and the funds are not there, NAMA has facilities all over the country that they must maintain, equipment are imported and they must be maintained. I had to train my inspectors overseas. We are all in the same boat and we all need to work together, collaborate and Continued on page 30

Expert Tasks NBS on Proper Capturing of Maritime Sector Contribution to GDP

Dike Onwuamaeze

A strong appeal has been made to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), to ensure a proper capturing of the activities and contributions of the maritime sector to Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

This appeal was made by an Economist and the Founding Chief

Executive Officer of the Centre for the Promotion of Private Enterprise (CPPE), Dr. Muda Yusuf, who highlighted that a remedy on data quality of the GPD report on the maritime sector would be critical for planning and investment in Nigeria.

Yusuf, in his reaction to the Q2 2022 GDP report released by the NBS recently, noted that there is

“Evidently a gross under-reporting of the activities of the maritime sector by the National Bureau of Statistics,” which reported that the sector posted 0.01 per cent and 0.0 per cent in the second and first quarters of 2022 respectively.

He said: “For instance, in the Q2 (2022) GDP report, the maritime sector (water transport) was said

to have contributed a mere N2.4 billion to the GDP out of N45.5 trillion GDP for the quarter. This is a contribution of a mere 0.01 per cent.

“In the first quarter of 2022, the NBS recorded zero per cent contribution of the sector to GDP. In the GDP numbers, water transport is the only proxy closest to maritime.

But maritime sector activities are beyond water transportation.

“We, therefore, appeal to the National Bureau of Statistics to engage with stakeholders in the maritime sector to ensure a proper capturing of the activities of the sector and the contributions of the sector to the national economy.

“The GDP figures over the years

have been grossly under reporting the contribution of maritime sector to the national economy. This remedy on data quality is critical for planning and investment.”

Yusuf noted that the 3.54 per cent GDP growth in the second quarter of 2022 marked the seventh consecutive Continued on page 30

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Discount

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CONTRACT Current TENOR Contract Rate Updated Time ($/₦) (MONTH) NGUS AUG 31 433.54 1 August 25, 2022 2022 NGUS SEP 28 435.39 2 August 25, 2022 2022 NGUS OCT 26 3 437.24 August 25, 2022 2022 NGUS NOV 30 4 439.09 August 25, 2022 2022 NGUS DEC 28 5 440.94 August 25, 2022 2022

24 T H I S D AY FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 2, 2022 TR

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& RE A S O

Friday September 2, 2022 Vol 27. No 10006

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opinion@thisdaylive.com

www.thisdaylive.com

BOOSTING NIGERIA’S DIGITAL ECONOMY The Director-General of NITDA, Kashifu Abdullahi, has a scientific approach to management, writes BASHIR IBRAHIM HASSAN

See page 25

FOR A UNITED, WORKING NIGERIA BODE BOB AKANDE reckons that Atiku and Okowa have what it takes to unite the country

See page 25

EDITORIAL WHERE ARE THE MISSING NIGERIANS? "

See page 26

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It’s time for the Peoples Democratic Party to call off the Rivers State governor’s bluff, writes BOLAJI ADEBIYI

STILL ON THE MATTER OF WIKE Months after Nyesom Wike, the governor of oil-rich Rivers State, was worsted at the Peoples Democratic Party presidential convention, he remains inconsolable, throwing tantrums up and down as if losing a political contest is a big deal that has never happened to anyone else in the party.

'HVSLWH HͿRUWV WR UHFRQFLOH KLP ZLWK the reality of his loss, he has continued to harass the party’s presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, and its leadership, attracting at one point, the anger of Sule Lamido, two-term governor of Jigawa State, who asked him to go to hell and do his worst. Lamido’s point was that QR RQH LQ WKH 3'3 KDG RͿHQGHG :LNH therefore, there was nothing to reconcile with him.

Although the former governor of Jigawa State’s rebuke of the wailing Rivers State governor represents the rising feeling of indignation in the party, Wike, last week held all kinds of meetings in faraway London with Bola Tinubu and Peter Obi, presidential candidates of opposing All Progressives Congress and Labour Party respectively.

Perhaps worried by these meetings, $WLNX KDG WR PHHW ZLWK KLP WR ÀJXUH out how his bruised ego could possibly be massaged.

But in spite of these overseas meetings Wike’s behaviour has not improved as he has used every public outing to throw jibes at his perceived opponents not only in his home state but also threatening to throw a bombshell that would bring down the roof of the PDP. “Something big will happen soon in the PDP,” he was widely quoted to have threatened on Monday. What will possibly happen?

He will leave the PDP? For which other party? If he does that, what happens to his candidates in his state?

As it has been previously pointed out here, Wike’s several outbursts have clearly given him out as an unintelligent SROLWLFLDQ ZKR ODFNLQJ LQ HͿHFWLYH strategy, has become too desperate to do a review of his failing tactics that have further eroded his hitherto very limited options. THISDAY’s exclusive report on Monday that he might have come back from these overseas meetings emptyhanded not only demonstrates this but also explains his rising desperation.

From all he has been saying, it is QRW GL΀FXOW WR VHH KRZ KLV GHHS VHQVH of entitlement has continued to push him towards the precipice of political disaster. What possible concessions can a man, who carries on as if others do not matter, get from a political negotiation that requires give-and-take? Given the state of play, what deal could he have extracted from the APC presidential

candidate who also has candidates running for elections in Rivers State?

And what would be the political cost of such a deal to Tinubu?

Although it is not known what concessions Wike asked from Tinubu, his reported demands from Atiku appeared made to make negotiations DQG UHVROXWLRQV GL΀FXOW )RU LQVWDQFH the demand that Iyorchia Ayu, the national chairman, should stand down cannot solve the problem of northern domination of the party hierarchy because the party constitution provides WKDW LI DQ R΀FH EHFRPHV YDFDQW WKH QH[W person in line from the region where the previous occupier comes from VKDOO ÀOO WKH SRVLWLRQ ,Q WKLV FDVH LW LV the deputy national chairman, Umar 'DPDJXP WKDW ZLOO ÀOO WKH SRVLWLRQ Is it to be presumed that Wike a leading member of the party, who is also a lawyer, is unaware of this constitutional provision?

Many leaders of the PDP are actually coming to the conclusion that Wike is PDNLQJ GL΀FXOW GHPDQGV LQ RUGHU WR precipitate and sustain a crisis situation that will bug down the party and distract it from the more important task RI UDLVLQJ DQ HͿHFWLYH SODWIRUP IRU WKH upcoming electioneering. Not a few of them think that at this stage, the Rivers State governor should be called to order.

They have a point. This kind of behaviour is becoming a pattern dating back to 2014. That year some northern governors on the platform of the party argued that the presidency was the turn of the North and that President Goodluck Jonathan should not run for a second term. They made and insisted on this demand despite the constitutional right of the sitting president to run. They made so much trouble till four of them, Rabiu Kwankwaso, Abdulfatah Ahmed, Aliyu Wamakko and Murtala Nyako along with Rotimi Amaechi, and some other prominent members of the party from the zone, including Atiku, Bukola

Saraki and Aminu Tambuwal left for the new APC. Some others who did not leave stayed on, intent on massively sabotaging the party. This left the PDP, though the ruling party, so weak that it did not recover from the crisis until it was defeated in the 2015 general election.

Five years later in 2019, it would seem to be payback time for Atiku who provided leadership for the 2014 revolt as South-east governors and leading politicians in the party from the region refused to cooperate with him on the choice of Obi as his running mate largely because everyone one of them preferred to be his vice-presidential candidate.

While none of them decamped, they stayed on to sabotage the party in the 2019 presidential election which returned President Muhammadu Buhari to power.

Some PDP leaders are now saying that it is high time the party learnt from its previous mistakes of pacifying recalcitrant members who believe that they must bring down the roof each time things do not go their way. They made the point that had the party been decisive on the two previous occasions by having its own plans and routing out the aggrieved, the electoral outcomes ZRXOG KDYH EHHQ GLͿHUHQW Putting Wike in check, they reasoned, VKRXOG EH OHVV GL΀FXOW VLQFH KLV HOHFWRUDO worth and network are actually H[DJJHUDWHG $OUHDG\ KH KDV VXͿHUHG D major setback with his inability to secure any meaningful concession after his loitering around Tinubu and the APC. Meanwhile, neither his motley crowd of former this-and-that who since they left R΀FH KDYH ORVW HOHFWLRQV VHYHUDOO\ QRU his sitting governor-friends, including Oyo’s Seyi Makinde, Benue’s Samuel Ortom and Abia’s Okezie Ikpeazu, will be able to last the distance with him.

The sitting governors have their own EDWWOHV WR ÀJKW LQ WKHLU UHVSHFWLYH VWDWHV as they are candidates in the 2023 general election which electioneering will start later this month. What time would they have to be loitering around with Wike who himself has a growing mountain of opposition to his bully tactics at home to put down?

For these leaders, it is time for the PDP hierarchy to begin to have its own electoral plan without Wike, and tell him to either ship in or ship out.

Adebiyi, the managing editor of THISDAY Newspapers, writes from bolaji.adebiyi@ thisdaylive.com

T H I S D AY

3 25

FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 2, 2022

The Director-General of NITDA, Kashifu Abdullahi, has a scientific approach to management, writes BASHIR IBRAHIM HASSAN

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BODE BOB AKANDE reckons that Atiku and Okowa have what it takes to unite the country

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26 4

T H I S D AY

FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 2, 2022

EDITORIAL

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

WHERE ARE THE MISSING NIGERIANS? Are they dead? Are they alive?

T

he disclosure by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) that Nigeria has the highest number of missing persons ever registered by the organisation in Africa is another worrying signal about the state of our country. According to Leonard Blazeby, the ICRC’s head of programme and prevention, 25,000 out of 64,000 missing persons reported are from Nigeria. “This includes more than the 2000 cases that were registered after January 2021.

The number of missing persons continues to rise every GD\ \HW WKH ,&5& NQRZV WKDW WKHVH ÀJXUHV UHSUHVHQW a fraction of a wider undocumented humanitarian tragedy,” Blazeby said.

At a time the nation is grappling with the challenge of human WUD΀FNLQJ LW LV ZRUULVRPH that many Nigerians are leaving their homes and workplaces without returning. Indeed, the sheer numbers of hitherto unaccounted for people is a pointer to the gravity of WKH VLWXDWLRQ )RU WKH DͿHFWHG IDPLOLHV OLYLQJ WKURXJK the ordeal of having a relation missing can be a most traumatic experience. The anxiety generated in such situation is far worse than in established cases of kidnapping, wherein the release of victims could be conditioned on the possibility of reaching a deal with the abductors.

Perhaps no case highlights the plight of missing persons in the country more than that of Abubakar Idris, (popularly known as Dadiyata), a 34-year-old lecturer at the Federal University Dutsinma, Katsina State. For the past four years, his family has since joined several others in Nigeria who cannot account for the whereabouts of their father, mother, daughters, sons, uncles and other loved ones. Such is the regularity of this occurrence that a civil society organisation, ‘Enough is Enough’ has opened a website to document the trend.

Available records reveal that some missing persons have been found after some days, weeks or months,

"

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sometimes in locations far away from home. But others are never found, thus prolonging the anxiety of their family members who would forever wonder: Were they kidnapped or involved in road accidents? Were they victims of rituals? Did they suddenly miss their way?

Did they step into a dangerous drain hole? Are they dead? Are they alive?

Saso Ali, permanent secretary, ministry of women DͿDLUV GHVFULEHG WKH GLVDSSHDUDQFH RI SHRSOH DV D painful experience, adding that “it is better to see a dead body and bury it than to have to wait probably all your life for a missing relative.” Yann Bonzon, head of delegation for the ICRC in Nigeria, said insecurity is the biggest reason for the increased disappearances in Nigeria. “There are over DFWLYH DUPHG FRQÁLFWV in Africa today. Thousands of people cross borders, the Sahara Desert and the Mediterranean Sea in search of safety and better life each year. Such movements often entail great risks, including the risk of disappearance,” he said.

Whatever may be the reasons, this is a serious national security issue. The uncertainty of families of missing persons is heightened by a feeling of hopelessness and despair, especially when there is QR R΀FLDO SODFH WR ZKLFK WKH\ FDQ UHFHLYH VXFFRXU ,Q other societies, the realisation that the country provides a platform for reporting and tracking missing persons RͿHUV D VHQVH RI KRSH SHUKDSV RI SRVVLEOH WUDFLQJ DQG HYHQWXDO UHXQLÀFDWLRQ 7KH REOLJDWLRQ WR FODULI\ WKH fate and whereabouts of missing persons arise from WKH IDFW WKDW WKHLU UHODWLYHV KDYH VSHFLÀF QHHGV 7KHVH include administrative, economic, psychological and psychosocial support and the need to have their VXͿHULQJ DFNQRZOHGJHG Beyond reporting to the police, there must be other avenues by which the families can seek public support with the assurance that the lives of their loved ones whose whereabouts cannot be accounted for matter.

In other societies, the realisation that the country provides a platform for reporting and tracking missing persons offers a sense of hope, perhaps of possible tracing and eventual reunification T H I S D AY EDITOR SHAKA MOMODU DEPUTY EDITORS WALE OLALEYE, OBINNA CHIMA MANAGING DIRECTOR ENIOLA BELLO DEPUTY MANAGING DIRECTOR ISRAEL IWEGBU CHAIRMAN EDITORIAL BOARD OLUSEGUN ADENIYI EDITOR NATION’S CAPITAL IYOBOSA UWUGIAREN MANAGING EDITOR BOLAJI ADEBIYI THE OMBUDSMAN KAYODE KOMOLAFE

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

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 TRAVAILS OF NIGERIA’S SECURITY PERSONNEL Nigeria continues to battle terrorism on many fronts. The batWOH ZKLFK KDV UDJHG IRU \HDUV QRZ KDV EHHQ GHÀQHG E\ WKH VORZ disintegration of Nigeria`s security architecture and the devastation communities and families have had to endure.

In Nigeria`s North-east and North-west regions where it was recently revealed that over a hundred borders were left unguarded, foreign and homebred terrorists have left children, their families and communities hanging by a thread.

All manner of atrocities had been committed in the places where these terrorists hold sway. Extortionate taxes have been imposed and laws have been made to regulate daily life and defy lawful authorities. These are in addition to the mindless slaughter of rural citizens and other forms of unspeakable atrocities.

Nigeria`s security forces have battled valiantly. They also have had to count the cost of a war that has taken a great toll on the country. Breadwinners of families have had to pay the supreme price in the blink of an eye. Great lights of hopeful and expectant families have been extinguished in seconds all LQ D ZDU WKDW VKRXOG QHYHU KDYH DULVHQ LQ WKH ÀUVW SODFH ZHUH the Giant of Africa proactive about its security. Instead, what the

country has on its hands is a war even more frightening than the Nigerian Civil War. It was obviously in the light of this that the wives of some SROLFH R΀FHUV VHUYLQJ LQ .DGXQD 6WDWH UHFHQWO\ JDWKHUHG WR SUD\ to God to protect their husbands from bandits. In Nigeria, realL]DWLRQ KDV ORQJ GDZQHG RQ PDQ\ WKDW QR PDWWHU WKH VDFULÀFHV made for the country, the moment a breadwinner is felled in the line of duty, the family is most often left to weather the biting cold of life on their own. )RU SROLFH R΀FHUV LQ D FRXQWU\ ZKHUH ULVLQJ FULPH DQG FLYLOLDQ VXVSLFLRQ KDYH EUHZHG XQPDWFKHG WR[LFLW\ OLIH LV DV GL΀FXOW DV it can get. That in a breath, life could be in mortal danger, makes things worse.

On June 27, 2022, while driving to report to duty at the Police Division in Birnin Gwari town, the headquarters of Birnin Gwari Local Government Area of Kaduna State, CSP Mohammed Gyadi-Gyadi was kidnapped. He was said to have been abducted on his way to Buruku, a village appointed as a rendezvous for him to be received by his men who had come from Birnin Gwari to give him security cover through the dangerous Buruku- Birnin Gwari Road.

Now, more two months later, he remains in captivity. It is not FOHDU WKDW VHULRXV HͿRUWV KDYH EHHQ PDGH WR UHVFXH KLP (YHQ LI they have, the fact that he remains in captivity means that the HͿRUWV PDGH WR UHVFXH KLP KDYH IDOOHQ VKRUW His fate in the hands of his abductors who have been known to deal ruthlessly with security personnel is better imagined than experienced. But more than anything, it shows the danger confronting the men who defend Nigeria from murderous terrorists. It is not like they have nine lives. Neither is it like they GR WKHLU ZRUN XQGHU LGHDO FRQGLWLRQV /LIH LV URXWLQHO\ VQXͿHG out of them and in most cases, their families are left stranded in a system that that has struggled for as long as anyone can remember.

There was a time it was inconceivable that Nigerians would be snatched from any part of the country and made to spend days in the hands of their abductors. These days, it has become routine.

It is not just every day Nigerians that are snatched, security personnel have become prime targets too.

Kene Obiezu, Twitter: @kenobiezu

T H I S D AY ˾ FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 2, 2022

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INTERVIEW

Yuguda: Ponzi Schemes Are Cancers to Capital Markets The Director General, Securities and Exchange Commission, Mr. Lamido Yuguda reveal how the commission is fighting to rid the capital market of Ponzi schemes. Kayode Tokede captures some of the excerpts at the just concluded Second quarter (Q2) Capital Market Committing (CMC) held virtually What is the Commission doing to stem the tide of Ponzi schemes? he SEC has been fighting a serious war against Ponzi schemes, we have been alerting people. We have said that investors should only deal with registered operators that have the registration of the Commission, we have their list on the SEC website and we have always said that if you go to an operator or when an operator approaches you, you must confirm that he is a licensed operator with the SEC. We have our numbers on how to reach our offices in the zones and we have done a lot of sensitizations in terms of seminars, webinars all in an effort to discourage people from going to Ponzi schemes. Unfortunately, a lot of people continue to patronize this Ponzi schemes, we have had cases that have been reported to us, our enforcement department and the police unit have been on many of these cases trying to resolve the cases that have been reported to us.

I will like to use this opportunity to say that it is not very difficult to recognize a Ponzi scheme and the people that go to Ponzi scheme many of them are probably aware that there is a type of risk that they are taking, because when somebody tells you that I will pay you a 10 per cent per month on your investments, that means if you invest a million naira, every month you get 10per cent of that which is N100,000.00. If you see something like this, it is probably too good to be true. Because when you compound the annual rate of return, you find out that it is way higher than any decent investments can give you. There are people who think they can be amongst the first people to go in and probably go out before it collapses but you may be taking a huge risk because you do not know if you are the first, may be the 1000th and could be that it is your own money that could get trapped.

It is important for our investors to understand the tale-tell signs of a Ponzi scheme and to alert the commission if they need some clarity, we have contact numbers you do not have to come to us, you can send a WhatsApp, email or walk to any of our offices that is close to you.

Is the SEC working with other agencies to contain the activities of Ponzi schemes?

We have been working with other agencies of the government in terms of reducing the access of Ponzi schemes to the advertising platforms that we have whether it is in the internet or the print media or electronic media i.e. the radio and television. This is very important because Ponzi schemes are cancers to the capital market, a lot of money has been lost and it is unacceptable

to be frustrating the process?

In terms of the e-dividend, I earlier mentioned that the Commission works through a variety of sanction and the capital market operators know that and we said that whoever is frustrating the e-dividend Mandate Management System will face the SEC sanctions.

T

Can you elaborate more on the revised Master Plan?

On the revised capital market master plan, it will be presented at the next CMC meeting. As you know, the master plan is a 10-year document that was launched in 2015. You will agree that between 2015 and now, a lot of things have actually changed, a lot of the assumptions used in designing the 1st master plan has changed.

So the mid – term review was just an attempt to revise the document so that the assumptions that would be relevant for the next 5 years are used and the structure of the capital market and the corporate world as we know it today has significantly changed from what is was in 2015.

So it is all these new things that have been added and put into the revised capital market master plan to make it more relevant to allow the SEC to realize the goals of the capital market master plan as quickly as possible. For more details, attend the launch if you are able too or join online so that you can get the details and of course as soon as it is available, we will have the master plan on our website, the full edition of the master plan and anyone with interest can download and study.

You then concentrate and focus on the area of the capital market that they actually want to focus on.

Yuguda

to continue to have this kind of investment losses by people.

In terms of the synergies between the Commission and the law enforcement on the fight against Ponzi schemes, I can say that there is very good synergy and harmony between the SEC and the law enforcement agencies. It is worthy to mention that the SEC has a detachment of the Nigerian Police working directly with the SEC on capital market matters including Ponzi schemes and we have a good collaboration with the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit, the EFCC especially on the fight against money laundry and Ponzi schemes.

The collaboration between the organizations is very strong and we are always talking between ourselves. We are expanding to other organizations that have control over our airwaves and internet systems because you still see a lot of adverts of Ponzi schemes on these. We have a very strong collaboration and engaging continuously with these agencies to eliminate completely all Ponzi schemes operations in our market.

Are there plans to take enlightenment to the streets?

For enlightenment to the street, it is a good question; we have been working with various bodies to make sure that our message gets to the streets. We are on the board of the advertising practitioner’s council. We are on the council because we thought that we should bring to the council the concerns of the capital market because of the issue of Ponzi Schemes.

We have recently signed an understanding with the Lagos State Signs Authority in terms of having Bill Boards at very strategic locations in Lagos state, warning the citizens about the ills, the risks, the dangers of Ponzi schemes. These are some of the things we do and we will continue to fund cross the entire length and breadth of this country, working with various state government, local government and different agencies of government including non-governmental organizations to make sure that the message gets to the nooks and crannies of our country.

This is something that is depriving a lot of households of hardearned money. Money that could be used for a lot of other meaningful activities and needs are now surrendered to

fraudsters essentially. When they come to you trying to convince you, they actually come in the form of very honest people, giving you all sort of promises in terms of financial return but once they get your money the story begins to change.

What has the SEC been doing about the unclaimed dividend?

The Commission has done a lot about the unclaimed dividend, by working with the registrars to be sure that dividends are now distributed by electronically through the bank accounts of investors rather than through dividend warrants that used to be the case. The problem is that people need to mandate their accounts that are you need to provide your accounts details to the registrars so that the registrars can credit your account directly with these dividends. We observed that there are issues with that process; right now unfortunately you will still need to go to each and every registrar that you deal with to give the same information. Right now what we are doing is to try to get one point of supplying that information because you give it to one registrar you do not need to provide that information across all the other registrars and these registrars of course will automatically get your details.

The second thing we have done is enlightenment; people need to be enlightened, a lot of changes have happened in the market and the fact that many people have not mandated their accounts means that many people are un aware of this e-dividend management mandate system.

Also companies have changed their names, companies that used to be called one name have changed to another and not all investors are aware that these companies have changed their name and if they are having papers reflecting the old name you find out that they may be confused and unaware of where to go. What we are doing is trying to create more awareness of the way the capital market is organized so that investors can get their dividends back.

What is the exact figure of unclaimed dividends as at today?

The number of unclaimed dividend that we have for the end of last year was about N177 billion, unfortunately this is an increase over the number of the end of 2022. At the end of 2020 we had about a N168 billion.

What does the Commission plan to do especially to stakeholders that are reported

Before now, corporate bonds enjoyed tax exemption but that has now been re-instated by the government. How does that affect investments in the capital market?

The exemption we mentioned and the effect of this exemption has been on the investments on Corporate Bonds. It is important to note that for any asset class investment, whether investors invest in that asset class or not is a function of many considerations and tax is only one part of the consideration. Although it is only one, it is also an important consideration, especially when the tax rate is actually high, but for now, given that there are so many other considerations, we have liquidity as a consideration, the return, the risk, the time horizon of the investor, the liquidity preference of the investor, and any unique circumstances that may be faced by the investor.

So considering all these factors and for the fact that this happened early this year, it is very premature to start to draw inferences in terms of decline or increase in corporate bond investments has something that has to do with the tax rebate or not. However, that is just about that, it is too early to actually give you more information, but the tax is a very important part of the process that is why we believe that tax rebate should be reinstated and the market also believes that.

We have been working with the tax authorities and the physical authorities to advocate to the return of the status quo.

What is the state of the review of the ISA? The SEC has been working with the National Assembly on this and it has passed the second reading at the House of Representatives and the house is currently on recess but we expect that once the house resumes the other processes required in terms of public hearing and other things will actually be done quite quickly. We appreciate the support of relevant committees of the National Assembly and the entire leadership in this process and we expect to have the ISA revised and enacted into the new law possibly by the end of this year.

There have been various visits by securities Commissions from Ghana and Zimbabwe. What were the visits about?

The visit of SEC Zimbabwe staff is a familiarization exercise. Different capital market regulators face challenges in their own market and they might be unaware of what other regulators do in respective markets. They organize these visits so that they can come and learn what we are doing and see how they can apply these lessons to their own domestic market. So we have had the SEC Ghana and Zimbabwe and typically when they come they come with quite a number of people representing different aspects of their organizations so that they can learn from us. We also do same to other regulators to learn from them. This is a very normal kind of engagement.

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AIR WATCH

APM Terminals: Lagos-Ibadan Standard Gauge Instrumental to Our Green Agenda Eromosele Abiodun Terminal Manager, APM Terminals Apapa, Steen Knudsen, has said the construction of the new standard gauge line by the federal government is key to supporting the Nigerian economy as it would provide a cost-efficient means of moving cargo inland from the port. He noted that this is in line with the company’s agenda of making its entire supply chain eco-friendly, by using the synergies of moving more cargo in one go.

Speaking during an interactive session with journalists, Knudsen said APM Terminals is a global terminal operator that has deployed international best practices in facilitating trade in Nigeria.

“While a narrow-gauge railway line connecting to Kano is in operation at the terminal, the construction of the new standard gauge line by the Federal Government will further enhance the delivery of cargo through the rail.

“Once the Standard Gauge becomes operational, we are hopeful that a lot more cargo will move on the rail which will also help our green agenda because moving cargo on rail is much more environmentally

friendly than by trucks,” Knudsen said.

The terminal in the past year had made much effort to incorporate environmentally friendly policies in its operations. A few months ago, it had collaborated with Freee Recycle Limited, to recycle the terminals’ worn-out tyres into paving tiles.

Its latest environmentally friendly venture is the conversion of single used plastic into reflective coveralls.

Knudsen added that some of the terminals’ investments were also in the area of trade facilitation.

He said, “We are using global best practices to introduce digitalized products to ensure that importers and exporters enjoy a seamless service at the terminal. A berthing window has also been provided at the terminal for both deep sea vessels as well as barges, to help create more efficient flows of containers, thereby removing costs and waste from the supply chain.

“In addition to that, we continue to expand our barging traffic so we can also penetrate the areas both east and west of the terminal and ensure that our customers can take possession of their cargo in areas that are closer to their warehouses.”

The terminal had last year,

introduced a berthing window service to enable consignees take prompt delivery of their cargo, by eliminating waiting time for vessels.

Describing the terminal as a world class facility, Knudsen said, “Just to dwell a little bit on world-class services: what does that mean?

It means the shipping lines that come in get a consistent and costefficient service. For the Nigerian importers and exporters, it means our efficiency on the waterfront allows us to be very cost efficient in terms of facilitating their trade into the market. It is also important for the terminal to continuously focus on customer-centricity and to continuously focus on creating a consistent and safe environment.

“For our employees, being a world-class facility means we are the preferred employer; that we continuously offer the best facilities and safe operations so they can ensure that they have long-term employment with us; they can develop themselves and that they can go home safely at the end of the day.”

He added that aside its investment in equipment, APM Terminals Apapa is also investing heavily in its people, ”Knudsen said.

AON Refutes Allegation of Defrauding Aviation Agencies Chinedu Eze Airline Operators of Nigeria (AON) has denied the allegation that its members defrauded government aviation agencies like the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) and the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA) of over N19 billion while converting same to personal use.

In a statement signed by AON Vice President and Chairman of AirPeace, Allen Onyema, he maintained that airlines did not defraud aviation agencies.

“AON wishes to state its very strong reservations for such accusations and we deny very strongly that our members are defrauding or defrauded government agencies of the said amount or any amount for that matter. Airline

Operations, worldwide, is not a cash and carry business. Every airline in the world owes debts, which are settled as their operations go on.

Nigeria is not an exception,” the statement said.

Onyema however noted that it is true that some of its members have very bad debts but not all members owe such debts, adding that owing of debts in itself does not amount to fraud.

“We frown very strongly at the criminalization of all Nigerian airlines as a result of the said debts,” he said.

According to him, various parties were present at a stakeholders’ meeting and the Director General of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), Captain Musa Nuhu, did not at any time use such words to describe Nigerian airlines.

He stated that the meeting rather ended on an amicable note with everyone agreeing to work together

to address the debts.

“It is pertinent to point out that some of these debts are owed by some airlines that are no longer in existence. We, however, advise our members with such bad debts to engage the agencies and put forward repayment plans.

Airlines in Nigeria are operating under very harsh environment and need all the support from everyone,” the vice president explained.

In a stakeholders’ meeting on Tuesday, Nuhu, had warned that if over N42bn and $7.8 million debt owed by airlines to agencies were not paid immediately, the aviation organisations might collapse in the next few weeks.

He said domestic airlines currently owed the NCAA N19 billion and $7.8 million respectively for their statutory five percent Ticket Sales Charge and Cargo Sales Charge (TSC/CSC).

‘ N ew C iv i l Av i a t io n Act to Develop Sector, Strengthen NCAA’ The Director General of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), Captain Musa Nuhu has said that the Civil Aviation Act 2022 would help strengthen the power of NCAA as regulatory agency, as it has removed encumbrance clauses that complicate the oversight function of the authority against the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA) and the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN).

He said that since the enactment of Civil Aviation Act 2006, there have been significant changes in the industry.

“We have had new annexes in ICAO (International Civil Aviation

Organisation), new developments in terms of ICT, environments in the sector generally. In addition to that the service providers namely: NAMA and FAAN have some residual regulatory functions in them and those regulatory functions have been removed and moved to NCAA as the regulator of the industry to avoid conflict of interest.

You cannot provide service and also regulate some of the services you provide. Those are the main things that we have in the new Civil Aviation Act 2022.

“Of course, there are other changes that are with the view to have a much efficient, effective air

transportation industry and to make sure Nigeria complies with the new ICAO standards, new Annexes and international best practices,” he said.

President Muhammadu Buhari recently assented to Civil Aviation Act Bill. The Act repeals the Civil Aviation Act, No. 6, 2006 and enacts the Civil Aviation Act, 2022 to provide for an effective legal and institutional framework for the regulation of civil aviation in Nigeria in order to promote aviation safety and security, ensure that Nigeria’s obligations under international aviation agreements are implemented and consolidate the law relating to civil aviation regulation in Nigeria.

Ethiopian Airlines Advances Customer Functionalities Ethiopian Airlines, a CHAMP customer for 30 years, has extended its partnership agreement with the cargo IT solutions provider for an additional five years.

Under the agreement, Ethiopian would continue to benefit from its use of the acclaimed Cargospot suite of applications to manage the airline’s day-to-day sales and commercial activities and to support its Addis Ababa hub handling

operation.

Addis Ababa cargo terminal is Africa’s largest and most advanced and automated cargo terminal.

The airline said in a statement that in addition to the Cargospot suite, Ethiopian would continue to operate other CHAMP solutions to manage its business, including ULD Manager - to control the airline’s ULD assets, Weight & Balance - to ensure safe and

efficient load planning of the airline’s large and growing fleet of freighter aircraft, CHAMP’s Regulatory Compliance services to meet customs and security reporting requirements across the airline’s network, and CDMP – essential for members of the IATA (International Air Transport Association) interest group Cargo iQ to measure performance in line with worldwide quality standards.

A I R WATCH How Extortion Compromises Security at Nation’s Airport

Chinedu Eze Last week, the Aviation Round Table (ART) held a breakfast meeting in Lagos and deliberated on the industry with the theme on airport security.

In the communiqué the think-tank body released later, it stated among other things that multi-layered security system, which does not necessarily mean physical multi-layer structure but technologically driven security coverage, should be provided for all airports in Nigeria to ensure security of airports, passenger and airports infrastructure.

ART also stated that there was an urgent need for provision of more funding for security at the nation’s airports to enable acquisition and deployment of stateof-the-art security equipment and that there was also the need to reduce the number of physical security checking points at the nation’s airports to enhance passenger facilitation and avoid discouragement of travel by air with unnecessary delays at the airports.

There have been efforts to reduce the number of physical security checkpoints at the airports.

In 2017, the Federal Government Executive Order on the Ease of Doing Business in Nigeria was launched at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos by the Vice President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo, which removed manual baggage checking counters of the foreign airlines operating at the airport and replaced it with one harmonized screening machine at the airport departure hall. This eased the long queues at the check-in-counters of the airlines but with time the security operatives ganged up and arranged another physical interface with passengers besides the x-ray machine at the entrance to departures.

In June this year a passenger travelling to Doha from the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos entered the terminal to check in for his trip.

As he pushed his bag into the x-ray machine at the entrance, the security operative, a policeman, standing near the x-ray machine directed him to meet another man. Knowing that the policeman that gave him the directive was not monitoring the computer attached to the x-ray machine to see the content of his luggage, he asked the policeman why he should go and see the other security personnel.

The passenger bluntly told him that he was not going to see anybody that there was nothing in his bag that was prohibitive and attempted to carry his luggage to the airline’s counter. The policeman attempted to stop him and he said, “I have been travelling from this airport for several years. I know the rules and what I have in my bag are clothes and shoes that I need where I am going. I am going to attend a conference. If you stop me I will make sure you leave this airport from today.”

Not knowing who he was, the policeman retreated.

Some journalists who were also travelling watched the altercation and were eager to know what the policeman would do next. He left the man who was later identified as senior official of one of the aviation agencies.

Observing activities at the floor above departures on that same day, THISDAY noticed that many passengers who entered the terminal to travel were stopped immediately their luggage rolled out of the x-ray machine located at the gate and were cornered to a kiosk beside the machine where security operatives from different agencies were threatening and extorting money from some passengers. They would ask the passengers to bring their luggage, they would open it and bring out things from the luggage and start threatening them and some of them would bring out money and give to them along with begging. The security

operatives have a network and work for themselves across board, from Customs to Immigration, Aviation Security, Quarantine, DSS, police and National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA). They work together.

Seasoned airport security specialists are of the view that any security system that accepts bribery or extorts money from passengers or any other airport user is compromised because the system is already eroded and rendered porous.

In his presentation at the event, aviation security expert, Dr. Ayodele Obilana spoke on, ‘Addressing Challenges to Passenger Facilitation Process in the Aviation Security Regime’ and noted that the existing security breaches at the Nigerian airports have lingered continuously for decades thereby creating numerous challenges regarding delays, gaps, hindrances and sometimes congestion at Nigeria international airports.

These breaches, he said, impede and negatively impact airport facilitation process and security operations.

He identified some of these anomalies to include multiple and unnecessary checks/regulations. He cited example with the Lagos airport and said that over 15 check points exist on departure and a minimum of five on arrival compared with two or three in the US and other countries for International travelers.

Others include analogue operations, which is doing things the old way or outdated way, which he described as bank pass-book mentality.

Other problems include working at cross-purposes - LEO (Law Enforcement Operatives) causing delay on facilitation; lack of training in many areas (deployment of personnel without training to the airports, gratifications and untouchable personnel); passenger data exchange, which is poorly streamlined at co-located points (Immigration and State security) and corruption and extortion (both on arrival and departure levels), saying that airlines bear the brunt of such corruption Others also include no clear cut policies, numerous facilitators without specific statutory functions (compound the process), which include personnel profiling passengers at the gates, adding that surge in presence of touts and touting activities remain a great challenge.

He also spoke about obsolete profiling methods of passengers, Illegal profiling methods – violation of passengers right and government interference, this includes deployment of politicians instead of professionals and bad or/summersaulting policies inclusive.

In his recommendation, Obilana demanded for well-structured and articulated systems approach, restructuring in airport facility for speedy processing, funding procurement of required equipment/materials for the processing scheme, training for the process per se (bring all agencies under an operational umbrella), empowerment of NCAA to act decisively and investment in modern technology – e.g. use of machine readable equipment and access control technology.

Other recommendations include discarding analog system or “bank passbook mentality era” of doing things, pre-profiling technologies for airlines and regulatory authorities to upload traveling documents process passenger check in, bag drop off and subject to verification at the airport (e.g. of Covid-19 vaccination cards) and periodic audit to ensure closure of existing gaps.

It is expected that government should review the activity of security operatives and significantly reduce physical interface between passengers and security operatives, using technology. This will reduce the extortion that go on at the airports.

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 2, 2022 ˾ T H I S D AY

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AVIATION

Leveraging Government, Private Sector Collaboration to Resuscitate Aviation The four major challenges bedeviling aviation industry, which have been identified as high cost of aviation fuel, depleting fleet of domestic airlines, aircraft maintenance facility and paucity of foreign exchange, can be addressed through collaboration between government and the private sector, writes Chinedu Eze

T

he popular adage that no airline in Nigeria can succeed without government support literally means that government, which created the laws that made flight operations possible must enforce these laws and provide necessary services for orderliness to happen and for airlines to have conducive environment to render their own services.

But there are much more that the government must do to enhance air operation in Nigeria.

If government raises high taxes on commercial airlines, they will be driven out of business. If government removes tariff on imported aircraft and spares, it will enhance flight operation because the airlines will spend less on importation. If government does not protect Nigerian airlines on international services, their destination countries may not acquiesce to their request. So government’s role is crucial to airline operation in Nigeria and in other parts of the world. This is why government’s support in airline business is very critical.

Government signs Bilateral Air Service Agreement (BASA) with countries and imbedded in the BASA are commercial agreements that airlines abide by. So government through policies and regulations dictate how airlines should operate in every country. This explains why government airlines are held responsible largely for failure of airlines.

FOREX The major impediment to airline operation in Nigeria today is the inability of airlines to access foreign exchange. Domestic airlines are at the throes of extinction if the current situation continues to prevail; a situation they cannot have access to foreign exchange to buy spares, ferry their aircraft overseas for maintenance and also pay for insurance of their aircraft.

Travel expert and organiser of Akwaba African Travel Market (AKWAABA), told THISDAY that the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) should consider the request of Nigerian airlines to have access to dollars, just as it had responded to the request of foreign airlines, noting that the number of aircraft in Nigeria continues to deplete as the airlines could not bring in their aircraft that were taken overseas for checks. They cannot take the ones due for checks overseas and they find it very difficult to obtain forex and import aircraft spares to conduct ‘A’ and ‘B’ checks, which could be done in the country.

He said shifting from operating 60 aircraft fleet to about 30 aircraft fleet, meant huge investment loss, and expressed worry that the number of operating aircraft continues to shrink, adding that with the loss of aircraft seats and increasing passenger demand, airfares will continue to soar.

Spokesman of Airline Operators of Nigeria (AON), who is also the Chairman/CEO of United Nigeria Airlines, Prof Obiora Okonkwo, recently stated in a TV interview that domestic airlines needed government support because the operators are finding it very difficult to render their services in an environment where they have to go to the parallel market to access dollars at a very exorbitant price, noting that it is becoming increasingly difficult coping with

operational challenges in the country.

He said if government should support domestic carriers and facilitate their push to operate international destinations, Nigerians would pay less for international travel and that there would be less money to be repatriated by international carriers.

“If the local airlines are supported we will build capacity and operate to more international destinations. If you check what the fares Air Peace charges to Dubai and what foreign carriers charge to the same destination, you know the level of exploitation on Nigerian travellers. So they have to support local airlines. The good news is that all the monies will remain in Nigeria,” he said.

Okonkwo also called on the federal government to review BASA and ensure that Nigerian carriers are given landing rights as they do foreign airlines in the principle of reciprocity.

BLOCKED FUND Early this week, industry stakeholders commended the action taken by CBN by releasing $265 million to foreign airlines and described it as face-saving. They also called for the total liquidation of the balance of the debt owed the international carriers, put at $465 million by the International Air Transport Association (IATA) and urged that Nigeria should ensure that blocked fund never happened in Nigeria again. Industry analyst and the publicity secretary of Aviation Round Table (ART), Olu Ohunayo said that what CBN did was good for Nigeria, international air travellers and foreign airlines, noting that the payment has helped Nigeria to redeem its image.

He said that the challenge before Nigeria is to win back the credibility of a credit worthy nation and also expressed hope that what happened in the aviation sector would not affect other areas of the economy.

“I hope we will not get backlash from other sectors of the economy based on our action in the aviation sector. We should not allow the industry to lump us together with Venezuela, Lebanon and Zimbabwe that have been on this for a while. We do not belong there. Now that the first tranche of payment has been made, they must continue to provide the forex so that

by December/January they would have completed the payment,” he said.

BASA REVIEW There has been a call for BASA review so that Nigerian airlines could be given more opportunities in the commercial agreements with foreign airlines and their host countries.

Industry expert and Secretary General of Aviation Round Table (ART), Group Captain John Ojikutu (rtd), told THISDAY that the federal government should review the multi designation given to foreign airlines so that when they bring passengers to Lagos and

Abuja, local airlines would help them to distribute the passengers to other airports.

“First, remove the multiple destinations given to the foreign airlines and limit them to either Lagos or Abuja and one other airport in the alternative geographical area to their choice in Abuja or Lagos; let them make as many frequencies as they wish to the given destinations. But they must make interlining arrangements with the domestic airlines to help distribute incoming international passengers to their final destination and connect outbound international passengers to the nearest international airport but payments must be done for the interlining connection in dollars.

“This way, you remove the foreign airlines out of our domestic routes and domestic markets of the domestic airlines.

Finally, ensure that a Domiciliary Aviation Commercial Account is opened with the CBN where money generated by the operators in Aviation and Maritime are kept and naira equivalent given to the depositors. These dollars can be taken back when needed and the naira returned. That domiciliary account can be succour for the repatriation of the foreign airlines money. There is also a BASA Account with the CBN where the repatriation money can substantially be taken,” Ojikutu said.

Airline operator and industry stakeholders have said that prior to the liquidation of Nigeria Airways Limited (NAL), the airline negotiated all BASA on behalf of Nigeria.

They said that in the BASA agreements then, there was commercial agreement, which required that the airline paid money for extra frequencies.

The airline operator said: “NAL then was jam packed with industry gurus and patriotic and proud citizens who were sometimes just proud to wear the colours without even monetary benefits as we have today.

They were then smartly limiting the BASA frequencies then to about three times or so per week so that they could make money on extras. Smart patriots they were!! And I believe some of those patriots are alive.

That royalty money was also then going directly to Nigerian Airways if my memory is not failing me.

“Those who know, NAL was not designed as a profit making company then, it served government needs with officers traveling with warrants instead of cash and NGA 001/2 movements were also burdened on NAL. In fact, the government actually commandeered aircraft at will to serve government needs. NAL was also presenting and enjoying funding through the national budget annually as a parastatal of government. If am wrong about the above, I stand to be corrected.”

“About 2013 or so, Federal Ministry of Aviation (FMA) cancelled commercial agreement part of the BASA. I don’t recall the reason, but I think they said because Europe was no longer charging royalties,

so we cancelled ours too. We scrolled the list of EU countries and alas! Nigeria was missing as EU member, so one wonders why? But it’s FMA, so no quarrels as master has spoken.

“The multiple designation syndrome then started and still continues now. Whether we get money for them again or not, honestly, I lost count and stand to be corrected if I say we no longer make money. The effect is now contributing to the huge capital flight and the remittance pressure on the nation’s CBN amidst the global and economic issues we are currently facing generally because we consume way more than we produce,” the industry stakeholder said.

Informed source, however, told THISDAY that senior government officials in the Ministry of Aviation negotiate deals with foreign airlines unofficially and secure frequencies and also serve as go-between between airlines and the Minister.

“Yes, it became apparent in 2013 but it has not stopped because those who would have stopped it are benefitting from it. Recently I just heard that Qatar Airways is operating two times daily from Lagos. You may never know about it because there was no publicity.

The airline did not even advertise it because they knew how thy got the increase,” a source told THISDAY.

MAINTENANCE Another major challenge facing Nigerian carriers is their inability to carry out major checks in Nigeria for many of their aircraft. It is estimated that when Nigeria had about 60 aircraft operating in the country it was spending near a billion dollars on checks and spares overseas. The difficulty of earning revenues in Naira and paying dollar to maintain aircraft overseas is real challenge for domestic airlines.

This is why many industry stakeholders have canvassed for government to facilitate the establishment of major aircraft Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul (MRO) facility in Nigeria.

The stakeholders said that government is not expected to put in money in the project but it would provide the land, enhance other logistics and give it the necessary it needs.

“A proper, internationally competitive MRO operation would need EASA (European Aviation Safety Agency) and FAA (US Federal Aviation Administration) certification, aside from the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA)’s. For this, and ab initio partnership with an already recognized international MRO player would help set the facility up properly for business.

What they in turn would need is a committed, professional local partner, a proper, modern hangar facility and ‘due business safeguards’, especially during the start up phase. A competent local MRO available for local airlines would make a huge difference to the local airlines businesses,” a senior official of one of Nigeria’s major airlines, said.

For the aviation industry to be revitalized, there should be purposeful synergy between the private sector and the federal government with a vision to make the sector more rewarding to investors and the country’s GDP.

T H I S D AY ˾ FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 2, 2022

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BUSINESSWORLD

ENERGY

L-R: Minister of State for Transportation, Ademola Adegoroye; Minister of Transportation, Mohammed Jaji Sambo and Secretary General of Maritime Organisation of West and Central Africa (MOWCA), Dr Paul Adalikwu, during Adalikwu’s visit to Nigeria...recently

HP Unveils New Low-cost Laser Tank Printer for Nigerian SMBs Emma Okonji

HP Inc. has introduced the HP LaserJet Tank Printer series, created for Nigerian entrepreneurs and small business owners looking for reliable, cost-efficient resources in all facets of their business.

Given the significant growth of small and medium-sizes businesses in recent years, HP’s latest innovations and intuitive features in the LaserJet Tank series better support the next-generation of entrepreneurs and business owners by streamlining print management.

Country Head, HP Nigeria, Emmanuel Asika, said: “Small business has grown tremendously over the past two years and at HP, we’re uniquely positioned to meet the evolving needs of these customers with the introduction of the HP LaserJet Tank Printer series, featuring the revolutionary, refillable LaserJet tank.”

According to Asika, “The HP LaserJet Tank Printer is a premier offering combining

incredible performance with hassle-free print management.

This addition to our LaserJet series, with comprehensive features, underscores our commitment to helping small businesses thrive through efficient, easy-to-use solutions.”

For those with high-volume printing needs, the HP LaserJet Tank series feature automatic duplex printing, a 40-sheet auto document feed support and a 50,000-page long-life imaging drum to ensure consistent, exceptional printing, even with daily use.

Users can also seamlessly connect using the best-inclass HP Smart app which enables employees to print remotely from their mobile device plus access advanced scanning features with Smart Advance. Advanced security features, supported by HP Wolf Essential secure, are also incorporated throughout to ensure sensitive data stays protected. HP Laser Jet Tank Printer series have extended warranty to three years upon registration.

One of its key features

that makes it unique is that it the only cartridge free laser printer, with a mess-free toner refill solution, requiring just 15 seconds of attention. It also comes with an ability to print up to 5,000 pages with the prefilled Original HP Toner, plus save on refills with ultra-high yield HP Toner Reload Kit. The new HP LaserJet Tank Printer series is very durable with sustainability in mind, a feature that has earned it an Energy Star certification and Epeat Silver designation. The HP Toner Reload Kit saves up to 90 per cent waste and comes with an optimized tank design of up to 17 per cent smaller size even with auto two-sided printing plus life-long imaging drum.

The printer series which comes with HP Wolf Essential security, provides seamless experience for powerful productivity needs, including double-sided printing at fast speed with 40-sheet automatic document feeder support, reliable wireless connectivity, and best-in-class HP Smart App with Smart Advance scanning features.

EXPERT TASKS NBS ON PROPER CAPTURING OF MARITIME SECTOR CONTRIBUTION TO GDP quarterly GDP growth since the country’s economy exited from recession in the fourth quarter of 2020.

But added that, “This report reflects the resilience of the Nigerian economy amid extreme macroeconomic challenges, galloping inflation, currency depreciation, foreign exchange illiquidity, high energy cost, heightened insecurity, weakening purchasing power, structural bottlenecks and trade facilitation issues.”

He also remarked that the

crude oil and gas, oil refining, textiles, electricity, gas and steam engines sectors are still in recession, notwithstanding the fact that the Nigerian economy has been out of recession since the fourth quarter of 2020.

Many businesses, according to him, are also struggling to cope with the numerous challenges and shocks to the economy while the citizens are also experiencing serious economic hardship as a result of the galloping inflation and the impact on purchasing power.

He said: “The GDP report has

further underlined the dominance of the non-oil sector which accounted for 93.67 per cent of the GDP while the oil sector accounted for 6.63 per cent. However, the oil sector continues to play a leading role in the generation of foreign exchange and a significant role in the generation of government revenue.

“This underscores the persistent productivity challenges, which has continued to characterize the non-oil sector of the economy.

The non-oil contribution to our export earnings is still less than 5.0 per cent.”

NCAA INSISTS ON SAFETY, MOVES TO STABILISE AIRLINE OPERATIONS AMID MOUNTING CHALLENGES get out of the problem. We need to stabilise the system and ensure there is improvement,” he said.

The Director General also said that airlines’ outstanding debts must be paid and must be done in a way that it would not hurt the finances of the airlines but insisted that the agencies needed the money to continue to provide service to the airlines.

“There are issues of the outstanding debts that need to be paid. So, we are working on the airlines, we know that if we tell them to give us all these monies at the same time, it is very difficult and not possible, so, what we have put

in place in NCAA and to prevent the debts from growing, we have put in place a tripartite agreement; the NCAA, airlines and the airlines’ banks. So, once those funds go to the bank, the 5 per cent TSA/CSC (ticket sales charge and cargo sales charge) is automatically deducted and goes into the NCAA bank and NCAA will share it with the other sister agencies on a pre-determined ratio as entrenched in the 2006 Civil Aviation Act. “For the legacy debts, what we have done is to enter an MoU with all the operators; we know they can’t pay all at a time, but they have to pay us a reasonable amount of

money on a monthly basis at least.

I think almost all the airlines are complying with this, except a few that we are working on. What we have said is that if they don’t pay this legacy debt, we are not going to renew their licenses; AOC (Air Operator’s Certificate), ATL (Air Transport Licence). That is one of the conditions and most of them have entered into the agreement.

My account people are sitting with them so that they can make an arrangement on payment of a reasonable amount so that the debts can be cleared off over a short or middle time period,” Nuhu said.

This

Weekend

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 2, 2022

TR

UTH

& R E ASO

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WEEKLY MAGAZINE

NEWS Adeoye Adefulu Assumes Office as NBA SBL Chairman See page 33

ETRENDS BBNaija S7: Amaka’s Surprise Eviction and Other Twists So Far See page 34

POLSCOPE The Abuja Rail Surveillance Contract and Matters Arising See page 35

Group Features Editor: CHIEMELIE EZEOBI chiemelie.ezeobi@thisdaylive.com

07010510430

DR. OMOAYENA ROSEMARY ODUNBAKU:

Braving the Odds

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T H I S D AY ˾ Ͱ˜ ͰͮͰͰ

COVER

D r. O m o a y e n a R o s e m a r y Odunbaku: Braving the Odds ܲ ×ÙËãÏØË ÙÝÏ×ËÜã ÎßØÌËÕß ÓÝ ÞÒÏ ÜÙÑÜË××Ï ËØËÑÏ×ÏØÞ ÐÐÓÍÏܘ ß×ËØ ÏÞÞÖÏ×ÏØÞݘ ØÑÖÙÚÒÙØÏ ÏÝÞ ÐÜÓÍË áÓÞÒ ÞÒÏ ØÓÞÏÎ ËÞÓÙØÝ ß×ËØ ÏÞÞÖÏ×ÏØÞÝ ÜÙÑÜË××Ϙ ̋ ËÌÓÞËÞ˛ ÏÐÙÜÏ ÞÒËÞ˜ ÝÒÏ ÒÏÖÎ ÞÒÏ ÎßËÖ ÚÙÝÓÞÓÙØ ÙÐ ËÍÞÓØÑ ÏËΘ ÙàÏÜØËØÍÏ ØÓÞ˜ ËØÎ ÜÙÑÜË××Ï ËØËÑÏܘ ÐÜÓÍË ÜÌËØ ÑÏØÎË ÚÜÙÑÜË××Ϙ ÓØ ÝË×Ï ÙÜÑËØÓÝËÞÓÙØ˛ ßÞ ÚÜÓÙÜ ÞÙ ÞÒËÞ˜ ܲ ÎßØÌËÕß áËÝ Ë ÖÏÍÞßÜÏÜ ÓØ ÞÒÏ ÏÚËÜÞ×ÏØÞ ÙÐ ÜÌËØ ËØÎ ÏÑÓÙØËÖ ÖËØØÓØј ØÓàÏÜÝÓÞã ÙÐ ËÑÙݘ ËÝ áÏÖÖ ËÝ ÞÒÏ ÏÚËÜÞ×ÏØÞ ÙÐ ÙáØ ÖËØØÓØј ÙÝÒÙÙÎ ÌÓÙÖË ÙÖãÞÏÍÒØÓ͘ ÔÏÜϘ ÑßØ ÞËÞÏ˛ ÖÝÙ˜ áÓÞÒ Ë ÙÍÞÙÜ ÙÐ ÒÓÖÙÝÙÚÒã ÓØ ÜÌËØ ËØÎ ÏÑÓÙØËÖ ÖËØØÓØÑ ÐÜÙ× ÞÒÏ ØÓàÏÜÝÓÞã ÙÐ ËÑÙݘ ÓÑÏÜÓ˘ ÝÒÏ ÒËݘ ËÝ Ë ÜÏÝÏËÜÍÒÏÜ ÝÚÏØÞ ÞÓ×Ï ËÎàÙÍËÞÓØÑ ÐÙÜ ÍÖÏËØÏÜ ÏØàÓÜÙØ×ÏØÞ ÓØ ÞÒÏ ÚÙÙÜ ØÏÓÑÒÌÙßÜÒÙÙÎÝ ÙÐ ËÑÙÝ ×ÏÞÜÙÚÙÖÓݲ Ý Ë ÝÞÜÙØÑ ËÎàÙÍËÞÏ ÐÙÜ ÞÒÏ Ï×ÚÙáÏÜ×ÏØÞ ÙÐ ÞÒÏ ÑÓÜÖ̋ÍÒÓÖΘ áÙ×Ïؘ ËØÎ ãÙßÞÒ áÒÙ ÓÝ ÎÏÖÓÌÏÜËÞÏ ËÌÙßÞ ÎÏàÙÞÓØÑ Ë ÝÓÑØÓÐÓÍËØÞ ÚÜÙÚÙÜÞÓÙØ ÙÐ ÒÏÜ ÞÓ×Ï ÞÙ ×ÏØÞÙÜÓØÑ ãÙßÞÒݘ ÒÏÜ ÌÙÙÕ˜ ˜ áÒÓÍÒ áËÝ ÚßÌÖÓÝÒÏÎ ÙØ ÒÏÜ ͕͑ÞÒ ÌÓÜÞÒÎË㘠ÓÝ ËØ ÙÌÔÏÍÞÓàÏ ËÍÍÙßØÞ ÙÐ ÒÏÜ ÔÙßÜ̋ ØÏã ÞÙ ÌÏÍÙ×ÓØÑ Ë ÝßÍÍÏÝÝÐßÖ ÐÜÓÍËØ ÚÜÙÐÏÝÝÓÙØËÖ áÒÙ ÒËÝ ÌÜËàÏÎ ÞÒÏ ÙÎÎݲ ÒÏ ÌËÜÏÝ ÓÞ ËÖÖ ÓØ ÞÒÓÝ ÓØÞÏÜàÓÏá áÓÞÒ MARY NNAH inform of the class introducing herself as our lecturer.

She ignited my passion for lecturing as she was very young. I would then follow up on her regularly until I thought it was right for the proper introduction. Prof Iyiola Oni was my sister’s lecturer, I heard he was on the board of LAMATA and had gone to him for a favour, after our discussion he asked me to come to see him the next day. On getting there he had obtained a Ph.D. form on my behalf to my surprise. He counseled me on the importance of not losing track of one’s dreams due to disappointments, today he is a father figure in our home. Mariam Yunusa was my boss at the UN and literary my mother, I do not call her my mentor but a grand mentor. She mentored Taibat Lawanson and Taibat Lawanson mentors me……I am other professionals’ mentor, Ms. Edna Tobi, Prof Oyebanji Oyeyinka, and others. I also have a long list of mentees who comprise former students, colleagues, family and friends. I mentor them by disseminating relevant information and opportunities, giving counsel based on experience, serving as a professional guardian and sometimes going as far as being their sponsor when the need arises. I am also the founder of HerAbiity Hub.

Your professional career has been within a single spectrum of urban planning, as a lecturer and technocrat in UN-Habitat. What inspired this career trajectory? exterity, Determination, and Destiny! As far back as my undergraduate days, I wanted to become three things and two of them: after extensive research, discussions, reading biographies and relevant professional resumes, I identified and mentally planned my professional career to become a university Professor and United Nations Staff. To become a professor one had to work in a university and the prerequisite

by National University Commission was a Ph.D. or enrolled for Ph.D. So I enrolled and worked toward the university lecturer appointment in the bid to become a professor someday and actualising my first dream.

I had planned that I would start searching for a UN appointment after I had become a professor, but as destiny would have it, I got the UN appointment even before the completion of my Ph.D.

D

From your vantage position as an expert, what is your perspective on how Nigeria is faring in terms of urban planning? What are the areas that need improvement? And what is the forecast for the future given the status quo?

There have been some deliberate interventions but there is more work to be done. A lot of work to be done. Most settlements do not have spatial plans and those that have are not being implemented. It is one thing to have a plan it is another to implement and enforce. I do not get tired of using Abuja and Lagos as examples of planned cities, although we might criticise implementation and enforcement. The benefits of urban planning cannot be overemphasised in the attainment of economical, physical, environmental and social sustainability.

As a nation and as a people, we cannot continue to have unplanned human settlements as the consequences are dire. Health hazards due to pollution and overcrowding, traffic congestion, precarious settlements, increased crime and violence, etc.

What would you consider your most memorable moment as a lecturer, and why?

Every time I stood in front of the class to deliver lectures to the students. My style was quite different, and the majority embraced it warmly. We had very interesting exchanges because they were very free with me. We had an exchange platform called easyclass, I had asked them to subscribe to and on that platform just like social media now, the exchanges would inform the temperaments during the next class. During one session of spatial economics, we were analysing the market structure of Lagos traditional settlements, the discussion is still very fresh in my memory. I witnessed the power of collective- innovative thinking. Even the tagged unserious students gave in their best which helped in improving the quality of presentations.

If you were to have an alternative career, which path would you have taken, and why?

Economics. I wanted to become a Civil Engineer, but as fate would have it I am a proud Urban Planner.

My experience in the last two decades would identify the vacuum of urban economics and finance and this informed my answer to your question about an alternative career.

Your book is an account of your journey to becoming a successful African professional. How was that journey difficult or otherwise on account of you being a woman?

A Professional journey is always peculiar, especially for an African woman with kids. My book chronicles not only my successes but also my failures. It illuminates my childhood and adolescence as well, as the internal and external effects of decisions that others make on our behalf with or without your consent. I would relate my journey to be a mix of sensations – love, hate, joy, sorrow, peace, confusion, success, and failures. A story should not only be an account of successes but a reflection of the entire journey. Life presented tough scenarios, especially on future promises, however, I am most grateful to those who have shared in my moments, especially family and mentors.

As an advocate of empowerment for girl-child and women, what are the practical ways you think our society can engender equality and equity for the female gender?

I would go with equity. There is a Yoruba adage “ona kan o wo oja” meaning one road doesn’t lead to the market. Mass education, aggressive advocacy and empowerment, mentorship, sponsorships, scholarships, etc. Whilst all these are valid, I have a passion for creating enabling platforms for the girl child and women. Boys and men have more formal and informal platforms to meet, exchange ideas and build knowledge while the females are somewhat restricted. It is sufficient to say that the girl-child is battling with the hangover of centuries of subjugation, subservience, and silence just

Odunbaku for being specially created and uniquely built.

This has resulted in a metaphysical ceiling turned into self-doubt which has continuously hindered her ability to aspire for greatness and attain her potential. Despite these negatives, girls still strive to engage with relevant stakeholders in the quest for emancipation and have continually proven that they are unscripted and unstoppable. These efforts are mostly in silos and uncoordinated groups. This inspired me to found HerAbility Hub in consultation with a faculty of like minds.

HerAbility Hub is inspired by the eight indicators of the Platform of Action nine indicators for girls “Promote girls awareness of and participation in social, economic and political life” and it is conceptualised to create a central platform for girl child networking and also connects multiple girl child community hubs.

Nigeria has a teeming population of youth which should naturally be an advantage for the country but is presently a concern due to the high unemployment figure.

I agree that we have a golden opportunity that if not harnessed has grave adverse effects.

The government just must review existing Youth and employment policies to stimulate economic growth. Most social policies are hardly linked with economic policies; hence we suffer such setbacks not only as a nation but as a continent.

Education - I am not referring only to tertiary education - which includes, technical colleges,

trade institutions, etc to serve the broad spectrum of the demand as envisaged in future economic blueprints. Social, economic, and physical planning must be integrated and complementary with the primary goal of the bigger picture of posterity for all Nigerian citizens.

How would you advise young people to prepare themselves for a better future where the government is not likely to provide everything they require?

A better future isn’t served a la carte. You must continuously work hard and be strategic.

Building a high Intelligent quotient that is complemented with emotional quotient and information. I mean verifiable information, not bandwagon headlines and hearsay talks.

I opine that the first stage is to understand that no one owes you anything in this world. That said, as a citizen, you have a right to certain things. A right is different from debt, we often confuse both.

Mentoring is critical to the empowerment of an individual. Who were your mentors?

How did they mentor you? In what ways are you involved in the mentoring of others?

Prof Taibat Lawanson is my forever mentor.

I was deliberate about it and grateful we are sisters now. I saw her walk into the faculty and a few minutes later she was standing to

As a career woman, how do you balance the high pressure of your job with family obligations?

I am very deliberate about that. It is not easy I must say. It is a continuous process of giving your all and thinking of the best ways to strike the balance. I am very present in the life of my kids but in some cases where I am left with no choice, I outsource some part of my motherly duties, for example, dropping off and picking up the kids from school and after-school hours teacher for extra coaching. I will draft a mealtime table for the domestic staff to follow and always follow up with whatever is happening in the house personally or monitor via phone when I am away from the duty station. I still cook for my husband and amongst several strategies, we decided to opt for morning walks over gym sessions, it affords us one hour of quality time during the week.

Family is everything and enkindling the bond is a secret to my high performance at work.

What are the lessons of life you would want the younger generation to imbibe?

Life is not a bed of roses, it could be difficult in noses, pick up all odds and swim against the tide, the promised land awaits you. Also, life is not a bed of turns because it is mostly what you make of it, and you should leave luck to chance and not base your future on chance and miracles.

Focus, we are all unique in our own ways.

What is your worldview about women empowerment because sometimes there is a disagreement that feminism is not the same thing as women empowerment?

In my opinion, feminism has several perspectives aimed at mentally and socially empowering women.

Both are championing the course of the girl child and women to overcome those old and contemporary obstacles to their success and advancement. On a personal note, I evangelise that the reality should be that a glass ceiling shouldn’t exist and must be shattered but to do so, an army of empowered women is needed, and it begins with them.

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T H I S D AY ˾ Ͱ˜ ͰͮͰͰ

NEWS

Adeoye Adefulu Assumes Office as NBA SBL Chairman Stories by Mary Nnah

changed – with Boomers, Gen X, Millennials and Gen Zs and Dr. Adeoye Adefulu, a lead partner their different cultures practicing in the renowned business law firm law together (sometimes in the Odujinrin and Adefulu, has been same office). Whilst the objectives chosen to lead the Nigerian Bar of the SBL remain broadly the Association’s Section on Business same, we must adapt our tools to reflect the new environment, Law as its Chairman.

Delivering his acceptance during demography & culture,”, he said.

He also pointed out that, among the Nigerian Bar Association Section on Business Law Annual General other things, the pandemic, Meeting, held on August 25, he said: devaluation, and inflation are “I am grateful to all who nominated all adversely affecting enterprises. me; to the membership of this To better serve these companies, organisation and the past chairs, the NBA-SBL must reevaluate the council members, committee chairs, effectiveness of its advocacy and and exco & the SBL Secretariat, all of communication tools.

Adefulu expressed his whom have contributed immensely to make us one of the leading plans for the new council in membership associations in the a mathematical formula: 2 x IS (two times I divided by S).

Nigerian business community.”

Adefulu also highlighted how Where the first I represents Impact, the NBA Section on Commercial the second I represents Influence Law would adapt to the changing and represents Sustainability. He business and economic landscape noted the council’s mission to improve members’ professional since its founding.

“Our demography has also lives by fostering opportunities

for professional growth, which would be assessed through training, mentorship, networking, volunteerism, and giving access to the resources required to provide high-quality legal services.

Regarding influence, the new Chairman stated that the council would strive to increase the SBL’s influence over the business climate.

This influence would be assessed based on the quantity and quality of its partnerships with the private sector, advocacy efforts with regulators, national and state assemblies, and the executive.

He also said that these activities would be governed by sustainability principles, with each action being carried out in a way that will sustain the institution’s existence. He urged the SBL members to participate in voluntary work, adding, “Volunteering is in the SBL DNA. It is a great opportunity to network and develop a variety

of skills, useful in your practice and other aspects of life. We will need volunteers to carry out some of the responsibilities you have tasked us with. Please look out for our formal requests for volunteers”.

Additionally, he urged members to share their ideas for how the Section may be improved because the first duty of the new council is to listen.

Adefulu has previously served the NBA Section on Business Law as its vice Chairman under the leadership of Ayuli Jemide. He was also the Chairman of the SBL Training Committee in 2015. Aisha Rimi, Babasola Alokolaro, Ayoyinka Awosedo,AdelekeAlex-Adedipe and Oyeyemi Aderibigbe were elected with him to serve as vice chairman, secretary, treasurer, assistant secretary and financial secretary respectively in the new council. Other elected CouncilmembersareKehindeDaodu, Chinasa Unaegbunam, Perenami Momodu, Funmilayo Otsemobor & Stella Duru.

L-R: Baale of Adugan village, Alhaji Kusi Taofeek; the Chairman, Odeda Local Government, Ogun State, Mrs Afolasade Adeyemo; the General Manager, The British American Tobacco Nigeria Foundation (BATNF) Oludare Odusanya; and the Olu of Olodo, Dr Adeosun Ebenezer, during the donation of a solar-powered borehole water facility by BATN Foundation to Adugan community, Olodo, in Odeda Local Government, Ogun State, recently

BuyLetLive Expands, Names New COO Leading Online Real-Estate platform, BuyLetLive has expanded its team with the latest appointment of a new Chief Operations Officer, Modupe Agbolahan to its management team.

An astute leader with business acumen in real estate and property marketing, Agbolahan brings onboard a wealth of experience in building sustainable stakeholder partnerships and brand loyalty.

Until recently, she was the Assistant General Manager at Realhouse Communications Limited where she delivered rapid market adoption of Castles Lifestyle Magazine and grew the portfolio to N100M Annual Recurring Revenue. Agbolahan led the team to achieve excellent customer service to over 10,000 real estate practitioners earning the title “Nigeria’s premier real estate magazine”.

Announcing the onboarding, the Chief Strategy Officer, Olorunsola Awolola, said, Agbolahan’s appointment will support the accelerated execution of BuyLetLive’s ambition and 3-year growth trajectory to dominate the Market through Partnerships and excellent Customer experience.

“As a real estate marketplace, BuyLetLive is a safe meeting point for stakeholders in the ecosystem. Our users are at the core of everything we do. It is why we harness resources from the best available to ensure we deliver on our promise”.

“I am very happy to be joining this family. I have seen the active commitment and passion of the teams to address user pain points in property search for Shortlet, annual lease, and outright purchases. The team relies on profound market insight, adopting user research for concrete strategy. All that we do is from a place of commitment to our customers. I am ecstatic to be a part of this and we will do

groundbreaking things!”

Agbolahan has a wealth of experience in commercial strategy, consumer marketing, customer service, brand building, and customer analytics, a great addition, especially with the massive growth the platform has recorded since its launch in November 2021.

As the Chief Operating Officer, Modupe will oversee marketing and operations, while Olorunsola will now oversee technology and product developments. This promotes BuyLetLive’s goal as a proptech solution to make property search easier.

At the recent press conference, Olorunsola announced the release of the BuyLetLive Mobile App and stated other plans in the blueprint for improved property search: “We started operations 8 months ago with only the web application.

“This was a deliberate approach to understanding our users. More importantly, we needed to study their pain points and build what is of value to them. We are happy to announce that the app will improve agent upload sessions by 40 per cent.

“Of course, for those who request a more personal touch, we have a

dedicated customer service team and an active web chat to directly receive feedback, enquiries, and special requests from customers.”

BuyLetLive’s mission is to simplify, digitise and streamline the buying, selling and rental experience for the real estate ecosystem in a user-friendly interface, using top-quality photos to view.

They give prospects peace of mind by verifying agents on the platform and offer VAS services that ensure that their customers find the process of searching and settling into their new homes seamlessly.

ASUS Launches Innovative 2-In-1 Foldable OLED Laptop Chiamaka Ozulumba The world’s first 17.3” Foldable OLED Intel Evo-certified laptop is two devices in one, with multiple modes for a unique user experience.

ASUS today announced groundbreaking Zenbook 17 Fold OLED (UX9702), the world’s first 17.3-inch foldable OLED laptop, will be priced from $3,499 and will roll out globally in Q4 2022.

To create this futuristic device, ASUS and Intel developed industry-first solutions to advance innovation in the foldables category, including collaborations between domain experts and an ecosystem partnership.

According to them, Zenbook 17 Fold OLED is a response to users’ desires to achieve the ideal balance between mobility and productivity in their modern 24/7 lifestyles.

“ASUS engineers and designers worked seamlessly to create a device that delivers effortless efficiency with a modern minimalist design. It eliminates the need to compromise when working in

different environments — in the office, at home, while traveling or when relaxing — by elegantly incorporating two screen sizes and multiple usage modes into one highly portable device,” they disclosed.

Meanwhile, this groundbreaking Intel® Evo™-certified foldable laptop offers users two sizes of OLED display in one device: a large 4:3 17.3-inch 2.5K touchscreen that folds in the middle to create two seamless 3:2 12.5-inch 1920 by 1280 displays.

When folded fully closed along the precision-engineered 180° hinge — which is tested to withstand over 30,000 open-and-close cycles — it’s an ultra-compact and portable 12.5-inch device that’s smaller than a sheet of photocopier paper.

Multiple versatile usage modes — Desktop, Laptop (with Bluetooth® keyboard), Laptop (with virtual keyboard), Tablet, Reader and Extended — are enabled by the folding design in conjunction with the full-size ASUS ErgoSense

Bluetooth keyboard and touchpad, and each screen can additionally be split into multiple windows and the contents arranged, using the intelligent window-management feature in the ASUS ScreenXpert 3 and exclusive Mode Switcher apps.

Despite its versatility and large screen size, the device weighs just 1.5 kg without the keyboard, or 1.8 kg with it.

For immersive entertainment, the foldable OLED touchscreen — which has a 0.2 ms response time and a 60 Hz refresh rate — is accompanied by a powerful quadspeaker Harman Kardon-certified Dolby Atmos sound system.

This stunning Dolby Visioncertified display has a 100% DCI-P3 gamut and is also PANTONE® Validated for color accuracy and TÜV Rheinland-certified for reducing harmful blue light.

Zenbook 17 Fold OLED includes several smart AI-powered features, including user-presence detection using an HD IR camera; an integrated color sensor for automatic adjustment of screen brightness and color temperature;

POSITIONING AFRICAN STARTUPS FOR THE NEXT LEVEL From accommodation to Agrotech, fashion, engineering, education, retail, and storytelling, African startups are taking Africa to the next stage of her glory and taking Nigeria to a whole new level. Every one of them needs proper funding and willing investors to push them forward to achieve their goals to the last point and more.

It is to this end that Lagos Business School (LBS), the graduate business school of Pan-Atlantic University, is throwing its weight behind 27 new startups that will positively affect Nigeria in the future.

These startups were part of the Lagos business school accelerator and they were hand-picked for the excellent service they provide.

The new startups include Hostel. Ng, NITEON, Pillplus, Qiqi farms, Gorggies Empire, Obasphere, Millercor Industries Ltd, Stemsbridge, Onedabrand Design Agency, AfriCAD Alliance, Openhouse, Famebirds, and ProSkillz Academy.

Others are DunDun Communications, The Brand Builders Consulting Agency, Shel, Luppon, Looptel, Trade Lenda, Stamford, FirstPointConnect Limited, Fabriceight, Winniecense Fragrance Nigeria, Alliance QED, Teinye Boyle Studios, and WaresPlanet.

The programme tagged, Growth Africa Startup (GAS), has Tony Nwose founder of Niteon as one of the benefactors of the programme.

He said, “Africa is a continent with very promising resources which include talents, like the sands of the oceans. Start-ups rise regularly in Africa putting African nations on the global economic stage as an asset and sky-rocketing the value of African youths.

DMSI PARTNERS TEXILA INTERNATIONAL E-CONFERENCE FOR 5TH GLOBAL DIGITAL MARKETING SUMMIT Nigeria’s foremost EdTech company, Digital Marketing Skill Institute (DMSI) has partnered with Texila International E-Conference, an initiative of Texila American University as well as other global IT giants such as LinkedIn, Yahoo, and DHL, amongst others for the 5th Global Digital Marketing Summit set to hold virtually from September 15th to 16th.

The conference which is the largest digital marketing global summit where digital marketers from around the world converge to discuss digital marketing best practices, latest trends, practical solutions and strategies in the evolving digital marketing industry, will have renowned global speakers that cut across different areas of digital marketing to talk on various topics, relevant to the industry; also allowing networking.

Among the speakers is the Founder and CEO, of DMSI, Mr. Tobi Asehinde who is an associate partner for this year’s edition of the conference.

Speaking on the partnership and upcoming conference, Asehinde stated, “Being the team lead for an organisation that is focused on training world standard digital marketers, we are delighted to be partnering with Texila International E- Conference, especially as the world evolves to the digital space. We are focusing on embracing the need to be educated on digital technologies and skills.”

Other speakers include Linkedin Associate Creator Manager, Ms. Val Anzaldo, Global Head of DOOH Yahoo, Ms. Stephanie Gutnik, Head of Digital Marketing DHL Express Malaysia, Mr. Yasir Chowdrey, Managing Director & Adobe Lead Accenture, Mr. Soma Ganti, Lead Digital Marketing Henkel, Ms. Reena Jagtap, amongst others.

Registration is currently ongoing and interested participants can register on the official website: https:// gdms.texilaconference.org/register/ Texila International E-Conference is a digital platform that connects thought-provoking leaders, renowned speakers and fellow researchers to exchange knowledge from the comforts of your remote location.

EXCELLENCE ONE UK, OTHERS NAME AWARDEES FOR GLOBAL PEACE AND HUMANITARIAN AWARD As the world marks the 2022 United Nations International Humanitarian Day, focusing on the theme, bringing together partners from across the humanitarian system to advocate for the survival, well-being and dignity of people affected by crises, Excellence One UK, Centre for Grassroot Development, Soccer for Peace Foundation and other international civil society organisations have released names of shortlisted individuals and organisations for the 2022 prestigious Global Peace and Humanitarian Award.

This was made known to newsmen at a press conference held in Abuja, commemorating the 2022 United Nations International Humanitarian Day. The African representative for the Global Awards Amb. Ozuem Esiri said that the Award is presented to individuals and organisations who consistently promote peace and humanitarian services in their communities, regions and around the world.

Also to those who have made significant contributions to Peacebuilding, human development, refugee assistance, gender equality, sustainable economic development, healthcare and education. Amongst these outstanding individuals and organisations currently nominated for the prestigious Award in Nigeria, Africa and across the globe include DG. Omotunde Lawason, RT.Hon. Dogara Yakubu, Distinguished Senator Jarigbe Agom Jarigbe, Amb. Arthur Matti ( Switzerlind) Tamara Loriinez ( Canada) Mert Korur (Turkey), Sandra Dias ( Brazil ) Josephine Ojimbo (Kenya), Jiro Kawatsuma (Japan) Lesya Dzhadan ( Ukraine ) Namrata Suri ( India ), Sun of Hope Foundation, Chris Bamidele Foundation, Hope Interactive, AFRIDEV Foundation, and Pivot 2 Peace Foundation Canada. Esiri said further that the 4th edition of the Global PH Awards ceremony will complement the efforts of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) and other humanitarian partners to highlight the immediate human cost of the climate crisis by pressuring world leaders to take meaningful climate action for the world’s most vulnerable people and the urgent need to build a culture of peace and unity.

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E-TRENDS 5 THINGS WE LEARNT FROM THE SECOND EPISODE OF HBO’S ‘HOUSE OF THE DRAGON’

MUSIC SHOWBIZ

…Your weekly entertainment delight

BBNaija S7: Amaka’s Surprise Eviction and Other Twists So Far StoriesbyVanessaObioha

King Viserys and Laena in ‘House of the Dragon’

The second episode of ‘House of the Dragon’, HBO’s prequel to the ‘Game of Thrones’, dropped on Showmax on Monday with a truckload of drama. The new series follows the Targaryen family 200 years before the ‘Game of Thrones’ when they reigned supreme with fearsome dragons as their enforcers. In the second episode, the ruler King Viserys 1 announced his new wife, Princess Rhaenyra showed the girl power and Lord Corlys Velaryon and Prince Daemon were likely to forge a new alliance. However, here are five things we learnt from the episode.

Never underestimate the girl child: We all have those parents that looked down on their female children because they have been tagged as the weaker sex. Princess Rhaenyra however proved her father wrong when she prevented war by employing her emotional skills, something that Ser Otto Hightower could not achieve with his army.

It pays to be on the sly: You may not like Ser Otto Hightower but one cannot deny that he is strategic. He is very furtive in his advice and suggestions, never revealing his true intentions. This played well when King Viserys announced that he would take Otto’s daughter Alicent as his new wife, a revelation that left the confident Lord Corlys incensed and Princess Rhaenyra broken.

Siblings Rivalry will Always Exist: This is one family quandary that will not be solved. When one is placed higher than his other siblings, he should always expect some form of competition or dislike. It is nature. Just be smart about it.

Be prepared for anything: Should Princess Rhaenyra really be mad at Alicent? Shouldn’t she be happy that her friend will be her new stepmother? What better way to cement their relationship?

If only things were easy. When a loved one knows how much you have suffered the loss of a dear parent, it really hurts when you find out that they have been secretly meeting with your father. So, we completely understand Princess Rhaenyra’s heartbreak. Perhaps, she should have listened to Princess Rhaenys Targaryen who knew how it feels to be betrayed.

Parents are selfish: Like it or not, our parents are selfish when it comes to their quest for power.

Take poor Laena Velaryon who has to be subjected to early marriage because of her parents’ power lust.

So if you are from those powerful families, just know that las las, your marriage has a greater chance of being arranged. Just pray to find love.

NOLLYWOOD

Were you gobsmacked by the sudden eviction ofAmaka on Monday night? you were not alone. No one saw that coming.

Usually, the evictions are reserved for Sunday nights by which fans would have had the opportunity to vote to keep their preferred housemate in the game. Amaka unfortunately did not get that privilege.

The eviction came shortly after her careless handle of the microwave.Amaka was one of the housemates whose attitude evoked a gamut of emotions that ranged from ire to glee from both viewers and her housemates. It was no surprise that her name was on the lips of most of the housemates during the nomination process.

Amaka’s eviction is the latest twist of the Level Up season so far. The season started with a double launch show that saw 24 housemates living in two levels of the Big Brother Naija house. Four additional fake housemates were introduced, making the number of housemates 28.

While BBNaija fans are used to fake housemates, Big Brother added a twist in its description and role of the fake housemates. Out of the four fakes, two were identified as riders. Chizzy and Rachel were to play the game as the other real housemates. They will be nominated and will remain in the house till Day 72 unlike Modella (now evicted) and Deji.

Having two levels in the Big Brother Naija house required the organisers to

Amaka was evicted on Monday night

have another channel so that viewers would not miss any of the actions, although this proved a bit distracting.

The two levels, for the time they lasted, favoured the Level One housemates.

They mostly won the Head of House games which provided immunity for all occupants on that level and gave the

Emeka Mba, Aro Leonard, Others Unveiled as Judges for InauguralTNBA

L-R : Dr. Yemisi Bamgbose, Executive Secretary, Broadcasting Organisation of Nigeria (BON); Mr. Greg Odutayo, Member, Central Working Committee, BON; Mr. Emeka Mba, Former Director General, National Broadcasting Commission (NBC); Mr. John Ugbe, Chairman BON and CEO, MultiChoice Nigeria; Mr. Jenkins Alumona, MD/CEO, Strategic Outcomes Limited and Brand Consultant, The Nigeria Broadcasting Awards (TNBA); Mr. Shola Adegborioye, ex-officio member, Association of Advertising Agencies of Nigeria (AAAN) and Mr. Kingsley Uranta, AGM Operations, Channels Television

The former Director-General of the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC), Emeka Mba, and ace broadcasters Aro Leonard and Deborah Odutayo are among the judges that will assess entries for the maiden edition of The Nigeria Broadcasting Awards (TNBA). Others on the jury panel include Bello Sule, organiser of the 1988 Nigerian Festival of Television Programmes (NIFETEP); Susan Agbo of the Advertising Regulatory Council of Nigeria (ARCON), Kayode Olowu, representative of the Association of Advertising Agencies of Nigeria (AAAN) and Stella Erhunmwunsee of the NBC. The judges were unveiled during a press briefing to announce the call for entries which opened yesterday, September 1 and will close three weeks later.

TNBA is organised by the Broadcasting Organizations of Nigeria (BON) and is focused on recognizing and celebrating excellence in the Nigerian broadcasting industry, according to the Chairman of BON

and CEO of MultiChoice Nigeria, John Ugbe.

“We believe one of the biggest motivations is becoming the best.

This obviously makes people invest a lot of time and energy into what they do. And it’s one of the key drivers for us to create a very credible ceremony that rewards the best from a professional perspective.”

TNBA aims to motivate professionals to deliver higher professional standards by providing incentives that ignite and reward creativity, original ideas and concepts across broadcast platforms (radio and television) licensed to operate in Nigeria. The award has 12 competitive categories in radio and TV and only entries that are original copies of work undertaken between August 1, 2021 and August 31, 2022, will be accepted. All entries must be accompanied by the CV of the entrant as well as the organisation licensed by BON. Entries are to be submitted either as an MP3 audio file for radio or an MP4 video file for TV.

HoH winner the sole right to nominate Level Two housemates for possible eviction. This strategy saw the elimination of Cyph, Christy O, Khalid, Pharmsavi, Ilebaye and Kess.

The creation of the two levels caused a fierce competition. The Level Two housemates were seen as those from the

trenches but with more talents, while the Level One housemates walked with an air of superiority and given their HoH wins, their ego knew no bounds.

These egos clashed when Big Brother decided to merge the levels. Gossip was served hot and ships were threatened.

Shots were thrown, some caught, others missed.Morepunishmentandstrikesgiven to defaulting housemates.

It is always interesting to see the bonds formedinBigBrother’s house but it seems the Level Up housemates are very keen on forming ships even to their disadvantage as seen in the case of Beauty who was disqualified for her actions towards Groovy over his dancing partner in one of the Saturday night parties. Shortly after her disqualification, Phyna started a ship with Groovy, raising eyebrows considering she once cautioned Beauty not to be too emotional with Groovy. Given the way she cried her eyes out when Groovy was moved to Level One, one wonders if Phyna is the pastor that preaches what he cannot practice. There is also the Giddyfia situationship with Diana and Rachel. It is hard to say where his heart is. Fans are also intrigued by Dotun’s love for Daniella. The latter had a good ship in the house with Khalid until he was evicted. It seems that love has flown out of the window.

This season is definitely not running low on drama and love, and with all housemates up for eviction this Sunday except the HoH Dotun, Big Brother can spin another twist on us.

ENTERTAINMENT PMAN INTRODUCES MEETS BASKETBALL IN BIOMETRIC CARD FOR NEW REALITY SHOW MEMBERS A new reality show Africa StarX that fuses lifestyle, entertainment and sports is set to launch in the last quarter of 2022. Unveiling the reality show, Dr. Benjamin Peters who leads the team said that “the project has been designed as a platform to give opportunities to talented sportsmen to showcase their talents and get to the zenith of their careers through management and endorsement deals that we would be providing for the eventual winner.”

For its first season, the organisers are focusing on basketball.

Ogoh Odaudu, Chris Nomingo, Taiye Adeniyi, Shola Shomala, Adewunmi Aderemi, and Abdulrahman Mohammed were announced as coaches for the participants while sports journalist Femi Adefeso will be the host of the season.

According to the project coordinator and lead, Henry Omotayo interested participants will be picked across the country through entry submission on the website between August 31, 2022, and September 30, 2022.

“Physical auditions will follow immediately after the entry submissions in Abuja, Port Harcourt, Kaduna, Enugu, and Lagos after which a team of coaches will select the last 25 both male and female, that will enter the house to participate in the show. The 25 participants are expected to bond and engage in different challenging activities for 30 days while slugging it out as a team and later as individuals to win the reality show,” Omotayo said.

Omotayo also touched on the humanitarian side of the Africa StarX tagged Africa StarX Cares which will see participants visiting charity organisations to donate, engage in community services and also contribute their quota to humanity.

The best team will be rewarded with N10 million, while the most valuable player gets N2.5millon, a management deal and contract for international tryouts, and one participant also gets a college scholarship.

By Iyke Bede To secure the well-being of all its members, the Performing Musician Association of Nigeria (PMAN) has rolled out activities geared at collating and establishing a database through the issuance of a chipped biometric card.

With the biometric card project conceived in 2014, its execution marks a milestone for the body that has continually strived to match international standards of music associations around the globe.

Speaking at the unveiling that was held at Eko Hotels and Suits, Lagos, the president of the association, Pretty Okafor, explained that the online database is a progression away from its antiquated data storage method, noting that the new system facilitated by Zenith Bank will bring about documentation, recognition and accounting of members while enabling the public effectively harvest data.

“Over the years, PMAN has been trying very hard to affect a workable structure for its members, which will serve as a permanent solution to put us on the frontline when it comes to best international music practices,” Okafor said.

He continued: “The benefit of the biometric card is life insurance. For registered members who should have any form of emergency, their family members or next of kin will have access to N2 million. In cases of accidents and disabilities, registered members will have access to N1 million.”

Other benefits include health insurance, pension plan, as well as offering legal and embassy assistance.

T H I S D AY ˾ Ͱ˜ ͰͮͰͰ

POLSCOPE

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The Abuja Rail Surveillance Contract and Matters Arising

Canticles….

The Battle for the Soul of Delta State

Ovie Omo-Agege

Oborevwori

Okowa got the governorship ticket and seat. Go and ask him. So, don’t forget, there is still anointing in Bethel.

If loyalty is the creed, then authority must be respected.

What is more, even on the kinetic edge, Okowa is battling for his Vice presidential race. He will be too Huge jubilation? Over what? distracted to engage in a tussle with Didn’t you hear that the Appeal his political godfather. Trust me, the Court sitting in Abuja in a major cloud is not quite clear. judgment restored Hon Sheriff Forget about the cloud. There Oborevwori as the governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic are many Ika-based rainmakers, they will soon clear whatever cloud Party (PDP) in the state? you are seeing.

Is that why there should be such a My brother, I speak in metaphor, jubilation and celebration? Is such jubilation not hasty? They have a bigger river you are hearing me in nursery rhyme. to cross, which is the main election. If I maintain that the cloud is not quite you ask me, the said jubilation amounts clear. And if you doubt this, wait till to counting your chicks before the eggs the Ovie Omo-Agege movement is unleashed on the system. He is a are hatched. political typhoon. You can see that the You don’t understand.The belief APC has been quiet.

Go and check the Electoral Act, as is that winning the PDP ticket is the most contentious part of the contest, amended. If any irregularity is detected essentially because the state is con- on the profile of the said Oborevwori sidered a PDP state. Since 1999, PDP (be it in academic credentials, name, has been ruling the state. Besides, identity or any other information about jubilating over the Appeal Court his person and record), then it is over ruling is also a way of expressing for both the candidate and his party. gratitude to God for granting that One of the reasons for the failure of level of victory, pending the ultimate Edevbie’s case is because it was hasty. It victory at the general election. Don’t didn’t wait till all relevant information forget that the Oborevwori supporters and documents had been filed with had gone into prayer and fasting for INEC before instituting his case, and so, he inadvertently gave Oborevwori the judgment. ample room to re-arrange himself You speak as if winning the PDP ticket before filing his papers with INEC. But all things considered, I can is all there is to the governorship battle.

Look, it is far more complex than you assure you that the rivers ahead for Oborovweri and his party are wider think.

First, do not ignore the fact that the and deeper. His source of oxygen is Oborevwori fellow is not endorsed by the narrow and small.

The APC is warming up, big time. supreme elders of the party in the state.

The Ogidigborigbo political machine is There is no guarantee that the apple not buzzing behind Oborevwori, but be- cart cannot be upset. Do not delude hind David Edevbie. It is only the sitting yourself in thinking that because the governor, Ifeany Okowa that is prodding PDP has always been in charge of Delta, the Speaker of the House, ostensibly then it will always be PDP. Go and to cover up his tracks, as most people ask one Vincent Ogbulafor, former believe. Don’t forget Okowa himself is National Chairman of the PDP who a creation of the Ogidigborigbo Political falsely prophesied that the PDP will academy. No wise man can be seen to rule and dominate Nigeria for the next be challenging his Chi to a wrestling 50/60 years. He was a delusionist. Few match, according to Chinua Achebe, in years after that mendacious prophecy, his book, Things Fall Apart. The Ibori PDP was thrown out of the centre, political engine is revving. The Okra after 15 years. My brother, nothing plant can never outgrow its owner, if is cast in stone. This is democracy.

The people are going to ask critical you know what I mean.

It is not over until it is over. So, I can questions.23 years of PDP rule in Delta tell you that it is not yet Uhuru for the State, where has it taken the state? What Okowa camp. The Edevbie faction still has changed in the socio-metrics has a window of the Supreme Court to of the people? Are they poorer or challenge the validity of Oborevwori’s richer? When Okowa came with the campaign lingo of “Prospercandidature. ity for All”, how much faith did Hmmmm, you seem to be suggest- he keep with such promise? Did ing that a great duel lies ahead. Look, the people of the State actually Ibori or no Ibori, do not discount experience prosperity? I can tell the power of incumbency. Okowa you they are a lot wiser today. The is in office. He is a quiet operator. era of blind and mindless political flocking is over. The mass hysteria He amasses so much…. of political discipleship is over. This (cuts in) He amasses so much what? is the 21st century.

Look, don’t delude yourself in the name Are you saying that the PDP of incumbency factor. No matter how long an arm is, it derives from the chest. could lose the guber polls in Delta Go and ask Okowa himself if he was State? the choice of his predecessor, former You said so. The variables are comGovernor Emmanuel Uduaghan.

While Uduaghan preferred the late plex, my brother. Check and re-check, Tony Obuh, Ibori, from faraway land nothing is all so certain. Like Charly endorsed Okowa. And that was how Boy’s show, anything can happen.

D

FCT Minister, Mohammed Bello

T

here is no doubt, we are in a deep mess as a country. Many things are no longer what they used to be. We can no longer take many things for granted. One of such is travelling. We can no longer guarantee that when we set out, we shall arrive. Beside the possibility of road accidents or armed robbery attacks, we now contend with the fiercer version of uncertainty: banditry and kidnapping. I should think insurance companies will soon develop products to accommodate this new fear.

Perhaps it is in a bid to discount such eventuality that the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT)Alhaji Mohammed Bello, recently awarded a contract for the surveillance of the Abuja rail line to two security companies.

The rail line is within a 45-kilometer stretch, between Abuja metropolis and the Abuja airport, at the cost of N718 million.

The rail service which had been suspended ostensibly because of security concerns is likely to resume as soon as the security outfits perfect their surveillance task.

The two organisations given the contract are: Al-Ahli Security Guards Limited and Messrs Seaguard Security and Protective Company Ltd. While Al-Ahli Security Guards is to man 27.4 kilometers of the rail stretch (hosting eight train stations) at N407,214 million, Seaguard Security and Protective Company Ltd will man 18 kilometers of the stretch with four rail stations at the cost of N310,979,250 .

Well, it is advisable to take precautionary measures against any attack on the rail service in Nigeria.

But the arising questions are troubling: First, why is the same surveillance contract not being awarded for other rail services in Nigeria, such as Lagos-Ibadan route and the Warri-Itakpe route? Are the Abuja passengers more valued than passengers on other routes?

Secondly, why was a mere 45-kilometer rail stretch split between two security contractors, whereas there are other routes that remain unsecured in the country?

Perhaps a point of greater concern is the issue of the background of one of the security organisations: the Al-Ahli Security Guards, purportedly owned

by Alhaji Abdullahi Bala-Lau, the National Chairman of Jama’atu Izalatul Bidi’ah wa Ikamatus Sunnah (JIBWIS), an organization that has been severally

linked with financing terrorism in the country, especially the Christmas Day bombing of the St Theresa Catholic Church, Madalla, Niger State, on December 25, 2011.

Along with some other Islamic fundamentalists, Kabiru Sokoto, the mastermind of that dastardly attack, eleven years ago, was said to have been funded by the Izala movement, also known as JIBWIS, by Bala-Lau. JIBWIS is one of the largest Islamic organisations in West Africa. One of its main creed is not to allow a non-Muslim to lead Nigeria.

The allegation that they support the activities of terrorists has not been denied.

The indications from the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) establish a link between the winner of the contract and the Izala movement.

So, the arising question is why is the federal government knowingly awarding such a huge and sensitive contract to persons suspected to be linked with terrorist activities? Is it so the terrorists can be better funded to continue their attacks on the Nigerian state or is it so, the terrorists will be placated not to launch any other attack on Nigerian train services?

Did the BPE undertake the usual background check of companies it awards government contracts, before awarding this rail surveillance contract to an organization accused of funding terrorism?

It is acts like this that fuel the suspicion in many quarters that the government not only knows those behind the spate of insecurity in this country, but that the government is also not willing to truly and sincerely tackle the blight.

I have not forgotten the grave confessions of Alhaji Kawu Baraje, former chieftain of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), who, in an interview, disclosed that the APC, in a desperate move to ensure the party won the 2015 elections, brought in Fulani militias from Mali, Sierra Leone, Senegal etc., to Nigeria. Needless to say that those Fulani militias are those who have transmuted to being a sustained terror machine, killing and maiming Nigerians in their homes and on the highways. Baraje is still alive.

Nobody, till date, has either arrested him or refuted what he said.

The utterances of the Kaduna State governor, Mallam Nasir el-Rufai few years ago, about his cuddling romance

with the terrorists lend credence to what Baraje said.

The militias were brought in to cause maximum mayhem, if the APC lost the election. But having won, the militia could not be sent back from where they were brought. And today, they have become our collective albatross, on which huge sums of our resources have been expended without respite, and to no avail. Indeed, the falcon can no longer hear the falconer, and things are falling apart.

It is thus safe to say the APC-led government brought this menace on us.

So Mr FCT minister, you need to explain to Nigerians why this surveillance contract was awarded to an organization with such a badge of terror stuck on its profile.

It is safe to infer that splitting the contract between the two organisations is to use the Seaguard Security and Protective Company Ltd to deoderise the miasma which the Yola-based Al-Ahli Security Guards represents.

How can we justify government’s resources being deployed to organisations that the same government claims to be fighting? Little wonder that the more government spends to combat terrorism, the more dastardly they get. It is acts of contracts and supports like this that clearly lionize the terror gangs.

But hey, where was the Vice President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo when this Surveillance contract was approved by the Federal Executive Council? Osinbajo, it was that disapproved of the installation of security gadgets on the AbujaKaduna train service, which could have averted the March 28 bomb attack on the Kaduna-bound train.

Osinbajo had argued that the company recommended by the Ministry of Transport had neither cognate experience, nor sufficient capital base to undertake such a project costing about N3 billion. That memo was knocked off, and few months later, the March 28 terrorist attack occurred. Some of the kidnapped passengers on that train service are still in the bush.

Why were the same questions not asked about these new security organisations? What is their experience?

What is their background? How much do they have in their kitty?

And pray, how much will the Abuja metropolis train service be making as to pay out N718 million every two years?

id you watch the huge jubilation in Government House, Asaba, earlier in the week?

36

T H I S D AY ˾ ˜ SEPTEMBER 2, 2022

BUSINESS/MONEYGUIDE

SMEDAN Grants License to 150 Business Development Service Providers Oluchi Chibuzor The Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN), has granted licenses to over 150 Business Development Service Providers (BDSPs) in an effort to further deepen professionalism within the BDS ecosystem in the country.

Speaking in Lagos, the Minister of State for Industry, Trade and Investment, Marriam Katagum said the award of licenses certificate programme for BDSPs was important for the continuous growth of MSMEs in the country.

Represented by Director, Industrial Development, Mr Adewale Bakare she urged certified BDSPs to use the opportunity in the betterment of solving challenges confronting MSMEs in Nigeria.

She said, “The ministry will continue supporting all entrepreneurs across Nigeria towards ensuring that they achieved the MSMEs sub-sector

of the our dream in areas of job, wealth creation and poverty alleviation.”

Commending the programme, the Director General and CEO of SMEDAN, Olawale Fasanya, said the agency would continue to be at the forefront of establishing a platform for enthroning professionalism within their BDS ecosystem in Nigeria as part of her mandate.

He said, “We consulted widely both within and outside the country in the run up to the establishment of the Framework because our original resolve was to create a system that is geared towards setting a standard for the delivery of services by BDSPs to MSMEs in Nigeria. MSMEs have continuously complained about the quality and cost of services provided by various BDSPs in the past. Therefore, this Framework has arrived at the most appropriate time to address the issues surrounding delivery of low-quality services at very exorbitant costs by

BDSPs in Nigeria.”

According to him in liaison with the Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment and other relevant stakeholders within the MSMEs sub-sector in Nigeria, only certified BDSPs would be allowed to deliver capacity building, mentorship, counseling and other forms of BDS to MSMEs in Nigeria.

Similarly, the Director General, National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control, (NAFDAC), Prof.

Chistianah Adeyeye, revealed that the agency had created a 50 per cent discount for MSME registration to encourage more participants in the profession.

Also, the Chairman, Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), Mr Muhammad Nami, represented by the Director of State, FIRS, Mr Abubakar Muhammed, commended the effort of the awardee and assured them of the service’s continuous collaboration.

VBANK Partners AUTOCHEK to Guarantee 48hour Underwriting Process Ugo Aliogo VBank, a foremost digital banking App has formed offtaking partnership with AUTOCHEK to guarantee underwriting process for customers loan application process to deliver requisite financing to customers within 48hours of loan origination process.

Indeed, the partnership will create the first auto-loan securitization process in subsaharan African while improving the overall efficiency of individuals businesses with automated loan process that will ultimately enhance the overall experience to improve business models, efficiency and cash flow.

The company also affirmed that part of the unique loan origination and offtaking

partnership, enabled Autochek to developed an algorithm based on Vbank’s underwriting process to guarantee that customers receive an approved loan offer from Vbank within 48 hours of application.

According to the company, this would provide a streamlined digital and mobile banking experience to enable easier access to a wide range of financial services for users adding that the partnership would streamline the loan origination process, with all paperwork and documentation running through an automatic underwriting algorithm for loan processing.

Speaking on the partnership, Senior Vice President, West Africa at Autochek, Mayokun Fadeyibi,

said, “We are really excited to unveil this game-changing product, which is the result of a long series of conversations between the Autochek and VFD teams.

He posited that we wanted to create a product that would make the most of our combined expertise to deliver real change in how people across Nigeria access financing for their vehicles.

He said by combining VFDs exciting range of financing products with our process, we are confident that we will be able to connect more customers to the financing they need to access the vehicles they desire, which should in turn catalyze more growth across the automotive sector.” he averred

Coscharis Boss to Speak at BNI Platinum First Anniversary The Founder and Chief Executive of Coscharis Group, Dr Cosmas Maduka will be the keynote speaker at the first anniversary of Business Network International (BNI), a business think tank and, the worlds leading and most successful business referral organisation.

Maduka is a well respected businessman and philanthropist of repute with a net - worth of over $500 million and heading diverse business subsidiaries.

The Cosharis boss will be speaking on the topic ‘Unlocking The

Business Code’ at the event that holds at the Radisson Blu Hotel, Ikeja.

Other expert discussants at the business parley include Mrs. Mokutima Ajileye, Managing Director of Procter and Gamble (P&G) as well as Mr. Gabriel Idahosa, Deputy President of the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Lagos amongst others.

According to Platinum Chapter President, Tom Ebong, Business Network International BNI is a platform for Chief

Executives and those with smart business ideas. It’s a meeting point for investors and market leaders who believe in connections and enriching each other.

Highlights of BNI Platinum’s first anniversary, which also includes a lunch buffet, will afford members and potential members the opportunity to network with CEO’s and Business Executives from various professions while learning new business keys to unlock their business space and access frontiers for exponential growth.

Visa Appoints Uaboi as New Head for West Africa Visa has appointed Andrew Uaboi, as the new head of the West Africa region. Andrew will be responsible for the development and implementation of Visa’s growth strategy in the region and will be part of the Sub-Saharan Africa leadership team at Visa.

Andrew’s appointment is in line with Visa’s vision to continue to build a solid regional team by matching unique strengths and talents with critical business opportunities.

Speaking on the new appoint-

ment, Senior Vice President at Visa and Head of Sub-Saharan Africa, Aida Diarra said, “Andrew’s appointment reflects the importance we place on the West Africa markets and in supporting our clients and partners. The depth of experience that he brings will enable him to make immediate contributions to our strategy and growth within the region and Sub-Saharan Africa.

We look forward to Andrew’s leadership in building on our continued efforts to help accelerate digitizing commerce

in West Africa”.

Prior to this new role, Andrew held various positions in Visa including Country Manager for Nigeria and more recently as interim lead of the West Africa cluster. In that time, he has driven the continuous growth of the business with key accomplishments. Andrew brings over 18 years of experience across different industries including telecommunications and banking and is ideally placed to accelerate the current momentum of the West Africa business at Visa.

L - R: CEO, Investment One Group, Nicholas Nyamali; British High Commissioner in Nigeria, Catriona Laing; Minister of State Budget and National Planning, Clem Agba; CEO of British International Investment (formerly CDC Group), Nick O’Donohoe CMG and Head of Office & Coverage Director, Nigeria, Benson Adenuga at the relaunch of BII at the British Deputy High Commissioner’s residence 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).

37

T H I S D AY ˾ ˜ Ͱ˜ ͰͮͰͰ

‘NGX Commited to Positioning Nigerian Capital Market for Global Investment’ Kayode Tokede The Divisional Head, Capital Markets, Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX), Mr. Jude Chiemeka on has restated the Exchange’s commitment to positioning the Nigerian capital market as a global investment destination for stakeholders.

Chiemeka made this disclosure during his opening remarks at the NGX Index Circuit Breaker webinar, themed, “Role and

Impact of Index Circuit Breakers in the Capital Market.”

In his remarks, he noted that, “As an agile exchange, NGX is committed to enhancing the competitiveness of the Nigerian capital market as a global investment destination.

The webinar, which is geared towards educating market operators, investors and other stakeholders about the design and benefits of Index Circuit Breakers would also examine

P R I C E S MAIN BOARD

F O R DEALS

the unprecedented event of November 12th, 2020 when the NGX Index Circuit Breaker was triggered for the first time since its introduction in 2016”.

He also shared the benefits of circuit breakers to daily trading operations, “They play a significant role in capital markets operations by helping to curb panic-selling on stock exchanges, halt trading in event of adverse volatility when prices of securities rapidly move outside of pre-determined bounds

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

QUANTITY TRADED

and instill investor confidence in the market”, he added.

Financial Economists World Federation of Exchanges (WFE), Kaitao Lin, in his presentation said “Circuit breakers can achieve an improvement in market quality, such as a reduction in volatility, an increase in liquidity, or a more efficient price discovery process.

However, circuit breakers often do not have any significant impact on prices as they do not stop a fall in prices”.

T R A D E D

VALUE TRADED ( N )

MAIN BOARD

A S

Office of International Affairs, Commodity Futures Trading Commission USA, Kelvin Piccoli, said questions about the circuit breaker and market quality can be addressed using a theoretical market approach and econometrics event studies.

According to him, the theoretical market microstructure model examines how information shocks affect liquidity, price formation or agent behaviour in the presence of circuit breakers

O F

0 1

while the econometric event studies test the impact of circuit breakers on trading patterns and market variables.

Additionally, William Speth, Former Vice President, Research CBOE Holdings Inc. Chicago while making presentations during the webinar, showed data investigating the four market-wide trading halts in USA during March 2020 and provided model recommendations to NGX.

/ 0 9 / 2 0 2 2 DEALS

MARKET PRICE

QUANTITY TRADED

VALUE TRADED ( N)

38

T H I S D AY • FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 2, 2022

Friday, September 2, 2022

Thisday Afrinvest Index gains 0.01% The Thisday Afrinvest 40 index rose 0.01% to

THISDAY AFRINVEST 40 INDEX

2,498.41 index points due to gains in BUACEMENT (+2.7%), ACCESSCORP (+2.4%), and

Fundamental Performance Metrics for THISDAY AFRINVEST 40 Index

UBA (+1.4%). ƵŵƵůĂƟǀĞůLJ͕ ƚŚĞƐĞ ƐƚŽĐŬƐ ĂĐĐŽƵŶƚ

Price Price Previous Change Current Change Price Index to Weighting YTD Change Date

Current Price

Ticker

for 6.3% of the index.

THISDAY AFRINVEST 40

2498.41

1 Airtel Africa PLC 2 MTN Nigeria Communications PLC

ĂƌŐĂŝŶ ,ƵŶƟŶŐ ƌŝǀĞƐ WŽƐŝƟǀĞ WĞƌĨŽƌŵĂŶĐĞ͙ ASI up 0.1% zĞƐƚĞƌĚĂLJ͕ ƚŚĞ ůŽĐĂů ďŽƵƌƐĞ ĐůŽƐĞĚ ŽŶ Ă ƉŽƐŝƟǀĞ ŶŽƚĞ͕ ĂŝĚĞĚ ďLJ ďĂƌŐĂŝŶ ŚƵŶƟŶŐ ŽŶ BUACEMENT (+2.7%), ACCESSCORP (+2.4%), and &/ >/dz ;нϰ͘ϰйͿ͘ Ɛ ƐƵĐŚ͕ ƚŚĞ ďĞŶĐŚŵĂƌŬ ŝŶĚĞdž ŐĂŝŶĞĚ ϭϬďƉƐ ƚŽ ϰϵ͕ϴϴϵ͘ϴϬ ƉŽŝŶƚƐ͕ zd ƌĞƚƵƌŶ ŝŵƉƌŽǀĞĚ ƚŽ ϭϲ͘ϴй ;ƉƌĞǀŝŽƵƐůLJ͗ ϭϲ͘ϳйͿ͕ ǁŚŝůĞ ŵĂƌŬĞƚ ĐĂƉŝͲ ƚĂůŝƐĂƟŽŶ ĞdžƉĂŶĚĞĚ ďLJ ʬϮϴ͘ϳďŶ ƚŽ ʬ26.9tn.

DĞĂŶǁŚŝůĞ͕ ĂĐƟǀŝƚLJ ůĞǀĞů ĚĂŵƉĞŶĞĚ ĂƐ ǀŽůƵŵĞ

2,040.00

3 BUA Cement Plc 4 Guaranty Trust Holding Co PLC

ŽŶ ƚŚĞ ďĂĐŬ ŽĨ ďƵLJŝŶŐ ŝŶƚĞƌĞƐƚ ŝŶ h D Ed ;нϮ͘ϳйͿ ĂŶĚ K E K ;нϮ͘ϬйͿ͘ ^ŝŵŝůĂƌůLJ͕ ƚŚĞ ŽŶͲ

side, the /ŶƐƵƌĂŶĐĞ and Banking ŝŶĚŝĐĞƐ ĐůŽƐĞĚ

6.7%

4.7x

0.8x

6.7%

199.00

0.0%

6.7%

1.0%

-13.5%

144.8%

14.4%

12.0x

15.1x

7.1%

53.40

2.7%

4.3%

-20.4%

-25.7%

23.3%

12.1%

20.1x

4.5x

4.9%

5.0%

19.85

0.0%

4.0%

-23.7%

-3.2%

19.8%

3.2%

3.3x

0.7x

15.1%

30.6% 37.4%

-15.5%

-2.1%

20.7%

2.7%

2.7x

0.5x

14.6%

-4.7%

-10.9%

44.2%

15.8%

12.2x

5.5x

8.2%

8.2%

25.00

0.0%

2.7%

4.4%

-5.3%

15.6%

11.1%

6.7x

1.0x

8.0%

14.9%

8 FBN Holdings Plc 9 Nestle Nigeria PLC 10 SEPLAT Energy PLC

10.75

-3.6%

2.4%

-5.7%

-7.3%

20.5%

1.9%

2.3x

0.4x

3.2%

43.5%

1,350.00

0.0%

2.4%

-13.3%

-3.6%

178.2%

15.1%

23.2x

37.1x

3.7%

4.3%

1,300.00

0.0%

2.5%

100.0%

0.0%

9.9%

5.1%

10.0x

1.0x

3.2%

10.0%

11 Access Holdings PLC 12 United Bank for Africa PLC 13 Nigerian Brew eries PLC 14 Okomu Oil Palm PLC 15 Ecobank Transnational Inc

8.50

2.4%

2.0%

-8.6%

-8.6%

17.9%

1.6%

1.9x

0.3x

8.2%

53.9%

7.30

1.4%

1.6%

-9.3%

-2.0%

15.6%

1.4%

2.1x

0.3x

13.7%

47.8%

45.50

0.0%

1.1%

-9.0%

-22.6%

13.4%

4.9%

15.4x

2.0x

3.5%

6.5%

188.30

0.0%

1.2%

32.6%

-13.2%

52.6%

30.4%

8.4x

4.2x

4.0%

11.9%

11.00

0.0%

1.3%

26.4%

3.8%

20.0%

1.1%

2.2x

0.4x

6.1%

45.4%

16 Stanbic IBTC Holdings PLC 17 International Brew eries PLC

31.00

0.0%

1.1%

-13.9%

-7.6%

18.0%

2.3%

6.3x

1.1x

10.9%

15.9%

5.00

0.0%

0.9%

1.0%

-20.6%

-2.4%

-0.9%

18 Flour Mills of Nigeria PLC 19 Fidelity Bank PLC

28.05

2.7%

0.8%

-1.1%

-13.7%

14.5%

3.7%

4.3x

0.6x

7.6%

23.1%

3.33

4.4%

0.7%

30.6%

-2.6%

13.3%

1.2%

2.3x

0.3x

3.1%

43.7%

20 Guinness Nigeria PLC 21 Presco PLC

87.90

0.0%

0.7%

125.4%

-2.9%

19.1%

8.1%

12.3x

2.1x

8.4%

8.1%

142.60

0.0%

0.4%

62.4%

-13.6%

53.7%

20.2%

6.3x

3.3x

5.1%

15.9%

29 UAC of Nigeria PLC 30 TotalEnergies Marketing Nigeri 31 Julius Berger Nigeria PLC 32 Custodian and Allied Insurance 33 Wema Bank PLC 34 Unilever Nigeria PLC 35 Jaiz Bank PLC 36 Oando PLC 37 Union Bank of Nigeria PLC 38 Sterling Bank PLC 39 Notore Chemical Industries Ltd 40 Transcorp Hotels Plc

1.0x

-2.5%

3.20

4.9%

0.4%

7.0%

-7.5%

12.4%

1.2%

2.1x

0.3x

6.3%

47.5%

1.80

0.0%

0.4%

-22.4%

-10.0%

5.7%

1.7%

8.9x

0.5x

13.9%

11.2% 17.4%

12.00

0.0%

0.4%

21.2%

-5.9%

5.7x

2.7x

12.5%

16.40

0.0%

0.4%

-5.7%

0.6%

23.2%

8.7%

6.7x

1.5x

6.1%

14.9%

1.05

-7.1%

0.3%

9.4%

-14.6%

19.0%

4.3%

2.6x

0.4x

1.9%

38.9%

8.20

0.0%

0.2%

34.4%

-14.6%

6.2x

0.9x

3.0%

16.0%

13.00

0.0%

0.2%

47.7%

-24.6%

7.4x

1.6x

3.8%

13.5%

11.00

0.0%

0.2%

15.8%

-0.9%

27.6x

0.7x

5.9%

3.6%

234.50

0.0%

0.2%

5.7%

0.0%

2.4%

1.1%

1.8x

25.90

0.0%

0.2%

15.9%

-2.3%

19.1%

2.1%

5.5x

0.8x

9.7%

18.2%

6.50

0.0%

0.1%

-17.7%

-7.1%

18.2%

5.2%

3.9x

0.7x

7.7%

25.5% 11.4%

3.50

0.0%

0.2%

386.1%

9.7%

15.7%

0.9%

8.8x

1.8x

6.9%

12.20

0.0%

0.1%

-15.9%

-17.6%

7.2%

4.3%

38.0x

1.1x

4.1%

2.6%

0.86

0.0%

0.1%

53.6%

-5.5%

20.0%

1.5%

6.3x

1.2x

4.7%

15.9%

8.9x

0.6x

5.20

2.0%

0.1%

17.6%

-8.3%

5.60

0.0%

0.1%

-5.1%

-8.9%

1.48

-4.5%

0.1%

-2.0%

-2.6%

62.50

0.0%

0.0%

0.0%

0.0%

6.25

0.0%

0.0%

16.2%

0.0%

-21.5% 6.4%

-172.9%

0.7%

11.2%

2.7x -17.7%

-4.1%

6.7% 1.8x 1.1%

T o p 10 T r a d e s b y V o l u m e

T o p 10 G a i n e r s T ic k er

P ric e

P ric e C hg %

Vo lum e

P ric e C hg %

GUIN N ESS

87.90

9.9%

ST ER LN B A N K

162.4

2.0%

1.14

9.6%

A C C ESSC OR P

27.7

1.8%

26.6

0.0% 2.3%

C A VER T ON T R A N SC OR P

T ic k er

1.13

8.7%

UB A

22.35

6.4%

FB NH

22.4

LA SA C O

1.03

5.1%

F ID ELIT YB K

20.2

4.9%

lowing sell-ŽīƐ ŝŶ D E &/d ;-ϵ͘ϰйͿ͕ // K ;-

F ID ELIT YB K

3.19

4.9%

M B EN EF IT

19.2

0.0% 3.8%

WA P C O

25.00

4.6%

A IIC O

8.5

B UA F OOD S

58.30

4.5%

ET I

8.0

1.9%

A R D OVA

12.60

4.1%

T R A N SC OR P

6.9

8.7%

CHA M S

0.27

3.8%

Z EN IT H B A N K

6.0

-0.2%

KƵƚůŽŽŬ

ďƌĞĂĚƚŚ͕ ǁĞĂŬĞŶĞĚ ƚŽ Ϭ͘Ϭϯdž ĨƌŽŵ Ϭ͘Ϭϵdž ĂƐ ϭϰ ƐƚŽĐŬƐ ŐĂŝŶĞĚ͕ ϭϮ ůŽƐƚ ǁŚŝůĞ ϳϰ ĐůŽƐĞĚ ŇĂƚ͘ dŽĚĂLJ͕ ǁĞ ĞdžƉĞĐƚ Ă ďĞĂƌŝƐŚ ƉĞƌĨŽƌŵĂŶĐĞ ŝŶ ƚŚĞ ĂďƐĞŶĐĞ ŽĨ ƉŽƐŝƟǀĞ ĐĂƚĂůLJƐƚ͘

P ric e C hg %

T ic k er

Value

P ric e C hg %

0.60

-7.7%

M TNN

873.3

0.0%

UN ILEVER

12.20

-7.2%

A IR T ELA F R I

348.7

0.0%

SOVR EN IN S

0.26

-7.1%

FB NH

244.7

2.3%

UP D C R EIT

3.30

-7.0%

ST ER LN B A N K

238.9

2.0%

J A IZ B A N K

0.86

-4.4%

A C C ESSC OR P

228.0

1.8%

UP D C

1.00

-2.0%

UB A

191.3

0.0%

H ON YF LOUR

2.65

-1.9%

Z EN IT H B A N K

132.3

-0.2%

-1.4%

GT C O

110.1

0.0%

45.50

-0.7%

B UA F OOD S

93.3

4.5%

3.05

-0.7%

ET I

88.4

1.9%

NB FCM B

Afrinvest West Africa Limited

P ric e

C H IP LC

C OR N ER ST

T o p 10 T r a d e s b y V a l u e

T o p 10 L o s e r s T ic k er

0.69

37.0% -1.8%

1.0x

ŶĞŐĂƟǀĞ͕ ĚŽǁŶ Ϭ͘ϱй ĂŶĚ Ϭ͘ϰй ƌĞƐƉĞĐƟǀĞůLJ ĨŽůͲ

/ŶǀĞƐƚŽƌ ƐĞŶƟŵĞŶƚ͕ ĂƐ ŵĞĂƐƵƌĞĚ ďLJ ŵĂƌŬĞƚ

8.4%

4.0%

N GXGR OUP

ϭ͘ϴйͿ͕ E/d, ;-ϯ͘ϬйͿ͕ ĂŶĚ ^d Z>/E' ;-ϰ͘ϱйͿ͘

14.7%

1.1%

3.3%

ƐƵŵĞƌ 'ŽŽĚƐ ŝŶĚĞdž ĂƉƉƌĞĐŝĂƚĞĚ Ϭ͘ϭй ĂƐ Ă ƌĞƐƵůƚ ŽĨ ƉƌŝĐĞ ƵƉƟĐŬ ŝŶ &>KhZD/>> ;нϮ͘ϴйͿ͘ KŶ ƚŚĞ ŇŝƉ

4.9%

19.2%

0.0%

27 PZ Cussons Nigeria PLC 28 Cadbury Nigeria PLC

ŝŶĚŝĐĞƐ ĂƉƉƌĞĐŝĂƚĞĚ ϭ͘Ϭй ĂŶĚ Ϭ͘ϯй ƌĞƐƉĞĐƟǀĞůLJ͕

26.2%

17.8%

Divindend Earnings Yield Yield

-3.0%

ly to 229.1m units and ʬϭ͘ϳďŶ͘

ĐůŽƐĞĚ ŇĂƚ͘ dŚĞ /ŶĚƵƐƚƌŝĂů 'ŽŽĚƐ and Oil & Gas

113.6%

P/BV

21.25

25 Dangote Sugar Refinery PLC 26 Transnational Corp of Nigeria

ĂƐ ϯ ŝŶĚŝĐĞƐ ŐĂŝŶĞĚ͕ Ϯ ůŽƐƚ ǁŚŝůĞ ƚŚĞ AFR-ICT index

34.7% 149.8% 52.2%

P/E

245.00

ĂŶĚ ǀĂůƵĞ ƚƌĂĚĞĚ ĨĞůů ϯϳ͘ϲй ĂŶĚ ϰϲ͘Ϭй ƌĞƐƉĞĐƟǀĞͲ

ĐƌŽƐƐ ŽƵƌ ĐŽǀĞƌĂŐĞ ƐĞĐƚŽƌƐ͕ ƉĞƌĨŽƌŵĂŶĐĞ ǀĂƌŝĞĚ

0.0%

ROA

5 Zenith Bank PLC 6 Dangote Cement PLC 7 Lafarge Africa PLC

22 FCMB Group Plc 23 AXA Mansard Insurance PLC 24 United Capital PLC

DŝdžĞĚ ^ĞĐƚŽƌ WĞƌĨŽƌŵĂŶĐĞ

0.01%

ROE

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

39

T H I S D AY •FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 2, 2022

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 31Aug-2022, unless otherwise stated.

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

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

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

DAILY PRICE LIST FOR MUTUAL FUNDS, REITS and ETFS MUTUAL FUNDS / UNIT TRUSTS AFRINVEST ASSET MANAGEMENT LTD aaml@afrinvest.com Web: www.afrinvest.com; Tel: +234 818 885 6757 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Afrinvest Equity Fund N/A N/A N/A Afrinvest Plutus Fund N/A N/A N/A Nigeria International Debt Fund N/A N/A N/A Afrinvest Dollar Fund N/A N/A N/A AIICO CAPITAL LTD ammf@aiicocapital.com Web: www.aiicocapital.com, Tel: +234-1-2792974 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn AIICO Money Market Fund 100.00 100.00 9.03% AIICO Balanced Fund 3.70 3.76 9.15% ANCHORIA ASSET MANAGEMENT LIMITED info@anchoriaam.com Web:www.anchoriaam.com, Tel: 08166830267; 08036814510; 08028419180 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Anchoria Money Market 100.00 100.00 6.22% Anchoria Equity Fund 138.39 139.96 -0.62% Anchoria Fixed Income Fund 1.18 1.18 2.92% info@anchoriaam.com ARM INVESTMENT MANAGERS LTD enquiries@arminvestmentcenter.com Web: www.arm.com.ng; Tel: 0700 CALLARM (0700 225 5276) Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn ARM Aggressive Growth Fund 21.08 21.71 3.91% ARM Discovery Balanced Fund 509.29 524.65 12.88% ARM Ethical Fund 42.33 43.60 8.65% ARM Eurobond Fund ($) 1.08 1.08 0.09% ARM Fixed Income Fund 1.06 1.06 4.25% ARM Money Market Fund 1.00 1.00 9.59% AVA GLOBAL ASSET MANAGERS LIMITED info@avacapitalgroup.com Web: www.avacapitalgroup.com; Tel 08069294653 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn AVA GAM Fixed Income Dollar Fund 89.84 89.84 -7.03% AVA GAM Fixed Income Dollar Naira 1,093.46 1,093.46 9.35% AXA MANSARD INVESTMENTS LIMITED investmentcare@axamansard.com Web: www.axamansard.com; Tel: +2341-4488482 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn AXA Mansard Equity Income Fund N/A N/A N/A AXA Mansard Money Market Fund N/A N/A N/A CAPITAL EXPRESS ASSET AND TRUST LIMITED info@capitalexpressassetandtrust.com Web: www.capitalexpressassetandtrust.com; Tel: +234 803 307 5048 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn CEAT Fixed Income Fund 2.09 2.09 2.71% Capital Express Balanced Fund(Formerly: Union Trustees Mixed Fund) 2.32 2.37 10.31% CAPITALTRUST INVESTMENTS AND ASSET MANAGEMENT LIMITED halalfif@capitaltrustnigeria.com Web: www.capitaltrustnigeria.com; Tel: 08061458806 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Capitaltrust Halal Fixed Income Fund N/A N/A N/A CARDINALSTONE ASSET MANAGEMENT LIMITED mutualfunds@cardinalstone.com Web: www.cardinalstoneassetmanagement.com; Tel: +234 (1) 710 0433 4 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn CardinalStone Fixed Income Alpha Fund 1.01 1.01 5.63% CHAPELHILL DENHAM MANAGEMENT LTD investmentmanagement@chapelhilldenham.com Web: www.chapelhilldenham.com, Tel: +234 461 0691 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Chapelhill Denham Money Market Fund 100.00 100.00 10.55% Paramount Equity Fund 19.25 19.61 10.50% Women's Investment Fund 146.44 148.23 3.18% CORDROS ASSET MANAGEMENT LIMITED assetmgtteam@cordros.com Web: www.cordros.com, Tel: 019036947 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Cordros Money Market Fund N/A N/A N/A Cordros Milestone Fund N/A N/A N/A Cordros Dollar Fund ($) N/A N/A N/A 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 N/A N/A N/A EDC Nigeria Money Market Fund Class B N/A N/A N/A EDC Nigeria Fixed Income Fund N/A N/A N/A 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 1496.22 1496.22 11.45% FBN Balanced Fund 192.76 194.00 9.99% FBN Halal Fund 122.96 122.96 10.81% FBN Money Market Fund 100.00 100.00 9.68% FBN Dollar Fund (Retail) 125.60 125.60 5.97% FBN Nigeria Smart Beta Equity Fund 158.16 160.30 5.36% FCMB ASSET MANAGEMENT LIMITED fcmbamhelpdesk@fcmb.com Web: www.fcmbassetmanagement.com; Tel: +234 1 462 2596 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Legacy Money Market Fund 1.00 1.00 8.09% Legacy Debt Fund 3.71 3.71 -7.30% Legacy Equity Fund 1.88 1.91 7.86% Legacy USD Bond Fund 1.24 1.24 2.76% 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

N/A N/A N/A

N/A N/A N/A

N/A N/A N/A

FSDH Dollar Fund N/A N/A N/A GUARANTY TRUST FUND MANAGERS LIMITED 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 N/A N/A N/A Lotus Halal Fixed Income Fund N/A N/A N/A MERISTEM WEALTH MANAGEMENT LTD info@meristemwealth.com Web: www.meristemwealth.com/funds/; Tel: +2348028496012 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Meristem Equity Market Fund 12.07 12.14 10.79% Meristem Money Market Fund 10.00 10.00 10.97% NORRENBERGER INVESTMENT AND CAPITAL MANAGEMENT LIMITED enquiries@norrenberger.com Web: www.norrenberger.com, Tel: +234 (0) 908 781 2026 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Norrenberger Islamic Fund (NIF) N/A N/A N/A Norrenberger Money Market Fund (NMMF) N/A N/A N/A PAC ASSET MANAGEMENT LTD info@pacassetmanagement.com Web: www.pacassetmanagement.com/mutualfunds; Tel: +234 1 271 8632 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn PACAM Balanced Fund N/A N/A N/A PACAM Fixed Income Fund N/A N/A N/A PACAM Money Market Fund N/A N/A N/A PACAM Equity Fund N/A N/A N/A PACAM EuroBond Fund N/A N/A N/A SCM CAPITAL LIMITED info@scmcapitalng.com Web: www.scmcapitalng.com; Tel: +234 1-280 2226,+234 1- 280 2227 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn SCM Capital Frontier Fund 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 1.06 1.06 9.24% 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 3,544.68 3,578.94 4.65% Stanbic IBTC Bond Fund 241.32 241.32 2.44% Stanbic IBTC Ethical Fund 1.40 1.42 11.90% Stanbic IBTC Guaranteed Investment Fund 325.34 325.35 3.90% Stanbic IBTC Iman Fund 258.90 263.26 11.11% Stanbic IBTC Money Market Fund 1.00 1.00 8.96% Stanbic IBTC Nigerian Equity Fund 11,594.43 11,754.88 6.28% Stanbic IBTC Dollar Fund (USD) 1.34 1.34 3.41% Stanbic IBTC Shariah Fixed Income Fund 119.56 119.56 2.27% Stanbic IBTC Enhanced Short-Term Fixed Income Fund 111.83 111.83 5.13% UNITED CAPITAL ASSET MANAGEMENT LTD unitedcapitalplcgroup.com Web: www.unitedcapitalplcgroup.com; Tel: +234 01-6317876 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn United Capital Equity Fund 0.95 0.98 7.74% United Capital Balanced Fund 1.34 1.36 2.77% United Capital Wealth for Women Fund 1.12 1.14 8.59% United Capital Sukuk Fund 1.08 1.08 4.77% United Capital Fixed Income Fund 1.91 1.91 4.20% United Capital Eurobond Fund 122.98 122.98 3.80% United Capital Money Market Fund 1.00 1.00 11.33% 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 13.65 13.77 3.46% Zenith ESG Impact Fund 15.60 15.75 6.72% Zenith Income Fund 23.06 23.06 5.07% Zenith Money Market Fund 1.00 1.00 9.48% 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 3.82 3.92 -4.60% Vetiva Consumer Goods Exchange Traded Fund 5.96 6.06 1.91% Vetiva Griffin 30 Exchange Traded Fund 18.01 18.21 1.83% Vetiva Money Market Fund 1.00 1.00 9.51% Vetiva Industrial Goods Exchange Traded Fund 17.67 17.87 -11.51% Vetiva S&P Nigeria Sovereign Bond Exchange Traded Fund 141.41 143.41 -10.30%

REITS NAV Per Share

Yield / T-Rtn

118.56 51.93

4.66% 2.11%

Bid Price

Offer Price

Yield / T-Rtn

14.12 127.51 99.24 16.40 17.10

14.22 130.75 101.41 16.50 17.20

0.94% 0.32% -0.52% -5.16% 14.76%

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.

40

FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 2, 2022 •T H I S D AY

41

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 2, 2022 • T H I S D AY

NEWS

SUBMISSION OF THE VISITATION PANEL REPORT ON LASU ...

R-L: Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu; Chairman, LASU Visitation Panel, Prof. Rahamon Bello; Vice Chancellor, Lagos State University (LASU), Prof. (Mrs) Ibiyemi Olatunji-Bello, and former Vice Chancellor, Obafemi Awolowo University , Prof. Bamitale Omole, during the submission of the visitation panel report on LASU at the Lagos House, Marina...yesterday

UNESCO: Estimated Number of Outof-School Children in Nigeria Now 20m 244m children won’t start new school year globally India, Nigeria, Pakistan top list Ndubuisi Francis in Abuja As the new academic year commences soon, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) has put the number of out-of-school children in Nigeria at 20 million.

The latest out-of-school data released by the United Nations agency also revealed that 244

million children and youth aged between six and 18 worldwide are still out of school. Using what it described as a comprehensive measurement methodology, which combines multiple data sources, the UN agency, in new figures published online by the UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS) and the Global Education Monitoring (GEM) Report, said Sub-Saharan Africa remains the

FG Urged to Establish Tobacco Control Fund

Onyebuchi Ezigbo in Abuja

The Nigeria Tobacco Control Alliance (NTCA) has made a case for the operationalisation of the Tobacco Control Fund in order to ensure the protection of public health from the destructive effects of tobacco in Nigeria.

It said the Central Bank of Nigeria, Federal Ministry of Finance and the office of the Accountant General of the Federation must play their roles in setting up of the account to ensure that the revenue loss was stopped as prescribed by the NTC Act, 2015.

Addressing a press conference in Abuja yesterday, the Chairman of NTCA, Akinbode Oluwafemi said Nigeria has lost a lot of funds that should accrue to it through licencing of Tobacco Industry players.

He said Nigeria was one of the 182 parties to the World Health Organisation framework convention on Tobacco Control that pledged to take action to reduce the impact of tobacco in their countries.

He explained that sustainable funding was critical in pursuing the objective of protecting the citizens from hazardous effects of tobacco.

"This is what informed the inclusion of the provision to establish a Tobacco Control Fund in the NTC Act, 2015, to ensure the protection of public health from the destructive effects of tobacco in Nigeria,” he added.

He recalled that during the ministeral press briefing commemorating the 2022 World No Tobacco Day, the Federal Ministry of Health made an important promise to make the Tobacco Control Fund fully operational

within one month.

Oluwafemi said the group has watched and waited patiently to allow the ministry enough latitude to make good their promise.

"However, we are no longer at ease as It is now over two months since that pledge was made without any sign of fulfilment.

"The continued delay in the operationalisation of the Fund is tantamount to self-injury on the federal government. Revenue which should accrue to the fund from the issuance of licenses to tobacco manufacturers and distributors is being lost.

"Also, the unavailability of an operational account for the payment of licensing fees makes the operations of tobacco manufacturers, importers and distributors in the country illegal, as the companies have no licences to back their operations," he said.

NTCA boss said it was deeply concerning that the tobacco industry with its awful public health implications was indirectly being granted eight ‘license free holiday’ and was allowed to operate in Nigeria without licences because of the government’s continued failure to make the Tobacco Control Fund operational.

"It is not a secret that tobacco control activities in the country are grossly underfunded and this ugly delay negatively impacts important tobacco control work.

"The tobacco industry has continued to dangle monies before the government in the guise of corporate social responsibility. The Tobacco Control Fund will give the government the impetus to do what it needs to do and to call the bluff of the ‘Greek gift’ from the Tobacco industry.”

region with the highest number of youth and out-of-school of school children.

It put the number of children and young people excluded from education in Sub-Saharan Africa atv98 million.

The region is also the only one where the number is increasing.

The report added: “The region with the second highest out-ofschool population is Central and Southern Asia with 85 million.

The top three countries with the most children and youth excluded from education are India, Nigeria and Pakistan.

“Global out of school numbers are lower than we thought, but far too many children are still

missing out. Countries have committed to benchmarks to slash out-of-school numbers by over half by 2030.

"We must identify solutions during the Transforming Education Summit called by the United Nations SecretaryGeneral this September so that countries can deliver on these pledges. All children should have access to quality education,” said UNESCO’s Assistant-Director General for Education, Stefania Giannini.

The report explained that out-of-school numbers in subSaharan Africa continue to rise According to the report, important data gaps had been

filled in countries that have large out-of-school numbers but where no administrative data of good quality has been available for over a decade.

It stated that Nigeria which has an estimated 20 million out-of-school children and youth, Ethiopia (10.5 million), the Democratic Republic of Congo (5.9 million) and Kenya (1.8 million).

Commenting on the report, Director of the Global Education Monitoring Report, Manos Antoninis said: “With UNESCO’s help, 90 per cent of countries have now set national SDG 4 benchmarks for 2025 and 2030, including

on out-of-school rates.

"We must step up our support for those who are being deprived of their opportunities, keeping a watchful eye on those who have struggled on their return after COVID-related school closures.”

On her part, the Director of the UNESCO Institute for Statistics, Silvia Montoya, remarked: "UNESCO has long underscored the need to make more efficient use of the data we have. That’s why we’ve brought together administrative data with information from surveys and censuses. By using multiple data sources, gaps are filled, data trends are smoothed, and we can draw consistent time series.”

World Bank, Katsina to Construct 800kms of Rural Roads

Francis Sardauna in Katsina

The Katsina State Government in collaboration with the World Bank has announced plan to construct and upgrade 800 kilometers of rural roads under the state’s Rural Access and Agricultural Marketing Project (RAAMP) across the state.

The project also includes upgrading of secondary markets (agro logistics centres) and about 700 kilometers would be put under routine maintenance every year up to five years in the state.

The State Governor, Aminu Bello Masari stated this yesterday, while flagging off the construction of 24.5 kilometers

Danja-Bazanga-Nahuce road with a spur from Bazanga to Kokami in Kokami village of Danja Local Government Area of the state.

He explained that the 24.5 kilometers road which was also under the RAAMP project was awarded to Mothercat Nigeria Limited at the sum of N2,400,000,000:00 with a completion period of 18 months.

He warned contractors and all other stakeholders in the affected communities to ensure compliance to the terms of agreements for smooth and successful implementation of the project in the respective.

Masari added, however, that the project would improve

agricultural produce value chain and address the sorrowful effects of climate change threatening the livelihood and food production of the citizenry.

He said: "Permit me to remind you of our aspiration under RAAMP, which is to have about 800 kilometers of rural roads receiving different types of intervention including upgrading, spot improvement, backlog maintenance and introduction of performance based maintenance contracting."

He applauded to President Muhammadu Buhari for support through the Ministers of Agriculture and Natural Resources and Finance and

Economic Development towards the implementation of RAAMP in the state.

In his welcome remarks, the State Commissioner for Environment, Hamza Suleiman, said the state government had made significant efforts in tackling the spate of flooding and erosion bedeviling residents of the state in order to boost food production.

Earlier, the National Coordinator of the project, Engr. Aminu Bodinga, said 952.73 kilometres of roads have been constructed and 150 river crossings built in Kaduna and Cross River states under the first phase of the project.

US Launches $48.8m Investment in Education Michael Olugbode in Abuja United States has launched a $48.8 million investment in Nigeria’s education.

The investment which is through the US Agency for International Development (USAID) tagged, ‘Leveraging Education Assistance Resources in Nigeria (LEARN) Read Activity,’ was aimed at improving early grade reading in the country over the next five years.

A statement from the US Embassy yesterday read: “This $48.8 million US Mission Nigeria investment in education will provide a better future to millions

of Nigerian children, and help lead to thriving, prosperous communities throughout Nigeria.”

The statement further revealed that: “LEARN to Read will contribute to improvement in the reading outcomes of more than 3.5 million children in 5,900 schools and in the capacity of more than 35,000 teachers, head teachers and school support officers to support early grade reading in a bout 6,000 schools.”

The Supervisory Program Office Director USAID/Nigeria, Stephen Menard was quoted to have said at the launch that: “The new USAID activity will ensure that school-age children and youth in Nigeria are

able to gain foundational skills, such as literacy and numeracy, safely, while building critical social and emotional skills to progress to higher levels of education, training, and employment.”

The Minister of State for Education, Goodluck Nana Opiah was quoted to have said at the launch that: “The Federal Ministry of Education recognises the efforts of USAID in the last 20 years to improve literacy in Nigeria through its innovative programs,”. adding that, “LEARN to Read will build on the close collaboration with the Ministry of Education, Nigerian Educational Research

and Development Council, and language/curriculum experts to support mother tongue-based medium of instruction in the early grades.”

The statement noted that USAID’s education programme focuses on the most vulnerable parts of the population, while supporting the government of Nigeria to deliver quality education.

It noted that key focus areas of the present programme include increasing enrollment, strengthening basic education, building capacity of teachers, and raising minimum academic standards for reading curriculum.

42

T H I S D AY • FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 2, 2022

NEWSXTRA

NATIONAL STAKEHOLDERS’ CONFERENCE...

L-R: President Association of Corporate Affairs Managers of Banks (ACAMB), Rasheed Bolarinwa; GM/Group Head Business Development BUA Group, Tajudeen Ahmed; Chief Consultant B. Adedipe Associates Ltd., Biodun Adedipe; Registrar/CEO Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (CIBN), Seye Awojobi; President/Chairman of Council, CIBN, Ken Opara, and Deputy Director, Financial System Stability Directorate Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Eboagwu Ezulu, at the first National Stakeholders’ Conference on Synergy Between Nigeria's Banking Industry and Organised Private Sector held in Lagos…recently

2023: Declare Your Assets, CSOs Tell Tinubu, Atiku, Obi, Kwankwaso, Others Adedayo Akinwale in Abuja Ahead of the 2023 general election, a coalition of civil society organisations (CSOs) has called on the various presidential candidates, including Mr. Bola Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Rabiu Kwankwaso of the New Nigerian Peoples Party (NNPP), Peter Obi of Labour Party and other political office seekers to declare their assets.

The CSOs which included: Accountability Lab Nigeria, Connected Development (CODE), Socio - Economic Rights And Accountability Project (SERAP), Budgit, Centre for Journalism Innovation and Development (CJID), PLSI, Yiaga Africa, and Enough is Enough (EIE) said the call became imperative to ensure politician don't enrich themselves and their cronies while holding public offices.

Speaking on behalf of the coalition, the Executive Director of CODE, Hamzat Lawal said there was a

need for all the presidential candidates, government and critical stakeholders to prioritise accountability issues in government processes, fiscal transparency, and on plans to strengthen anti-corruption agencies and address gender challenges.

He said: "Despite the existence of a legal framework for asset declaration for political office holders, the level of compliance is unknown as data on asset declaration for office holders is not available to the public.

"The lack of public data on the assets of potential political aspirants provides an avenue for opacity and a lack of accountability; thereby fueling political corruption."

Lawal pointed out that the present administration failed in setting a standard as far as public declaration of assets by political office holders was concerned.

According to him, “President Muhammadu Buhari failed in declaring his assets. We don't want a situation whereby politicians will go into public

Lufthansa Pilots Begin Strike Today, May Cancel 800 Flights Chinedu Eze with agency report Germany-based mega carrier, Lufthansa may cancel about 800 flights as its pilots begin strike today.

Reuters reported that this was disclosed by labour union, Vereinigung Cockpit (VC), which stated that the pilots would lay down tools due to escalation of an ongoing wage dispute that would further plague a summer of travel chaos.

The union, Vereinigung Cockpit, said pay talks had failed and that the strike would affect pilots for the passenger airline as well as its cargo division.

Lufthansa declined immediate comment.

Reuters also reported that strikes and staff shortages

had already forced airlines including Lufthansa to cancel thousands of flights this summer and caused hours-long queues at major airports, frustrating holidaymakers keen to travel after COVID-19 lockdowns.

Vereinigung Cockpit is demanding a 5.5 per cent pay rise this year, for its more than 5,000 pilots and automatic inflation compensation thereafter.

"We have not received a sufficient offer today either.

This is sobering and a missed opportunity," said VC spokesperson Matthias Baier.

Earlier on Wednesday, pilots at Lufthansa's subsidiary Eurowings voted in favour of strikes but first want to continue wage negotiations with their employer

offices and enrich themselves and cronies.”

Lawal added: "In all of this, to strengthen democracy in Nigeria through inclusive and accountable leadership with integrity and enhancing public trust in governance, we are calling all political parties and political aspirants to publicly declare their assets."

The coalition lamented that the monetisation of politics was the main headline during the political parties’ primaries, adding that it became a pointer

to how vote buying and selling would play a disruptive role in the 2023 elections.

This, it said also affected the value of the naira as candidates now deal in and distribute major international currencies, especially the dollar.

It stressed that in the last couple of weeks, the dollarnaira exchange fell to as low as N715$1 on the parallel market due to the undue pressure on the value of the naira.

Also, the Executive Director of Yiaga Africa, Sam Itodo decried

that vote buying had become widespread practice, where democracy has struggled to be fully consolidated due to Nigeria's entrenched corrupt political class, trapping citizens in self sabotaging, subservient relationship with political leaders.

He said it was an aberration of the constitution to nominate clear partisans persons as Resident Electoral Commission (REC) of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

Itodo called on the National

Assembly to oversee full operational independence of the INEC ahead of the 2023 elections and yield to numerous calls for transparency regarding its budget and auditing of its finances.

The coalition also called on political parties to adopt a Gender Equality and Social Inclusion (GESI) approach in their campaigns and political engagements toward inclusive governance and a plan to advance the Gender and Equal Opportunities Bill.

Sanwo-Olu Floats Autonomous Financing Channel for Lagos’ Tertiary Schools Sets up dedicated trust fund Receives 322-page LASU visitation panel report Segun James An autonomous funding mechanism that would keep all the three Lagos State’s tertiary institutions on the path of sustainability has been initiated by the state government.

The State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, yesterday announced that the government would be setting up Lagos State Tertiary Education Trust Fund, in a move that would creatively revolutionise the model for the funding of tertiary education in the country.

Sanwo-Olu made the announcement when he received members of the Visitation Panel to the Lagos State University (LASU) led by the former Vice-Chancellor of the University of Lagos (UNILAG), Prof. Abdulrahman Bello, at the State House, Marina.

The panel, set up in November 2021, turned in a 322-page recommendations for the Governor’s implementation towards meeting the university’s contemporary needs in academic growth and physical development.

Sanwo-Olu said the need to create an independent funding channels for the state’s tertiary institutions became pertinent, given the nature of disputes characterising the national university system which had

led to the perennial staff strikes and closure of campuses across the country.

Although none of the three tertiary institutions in Lagos is taking part in the ongoing Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) strike, the governor said the Fund would be a pragmatic strategy to meet the schools’ requirements.

The governor directed the Attorney General, Mr. Moyosore Onigbanjo, and the Special Adviser on Education, Hon. Tokunbo Wahab, to fashion out the statutory framework that would give legal approval to the Fund.

He said: “Now that we have three universities in Lagos, I believe there is a need for us to set up Lagos State Tertiary Education Trust Fund, which, in our view, will create a sustainable model and the funding that is required, both internally and externally, to strengthen academic research, learning and all that is necessary to keep these universities on track of their mission.

“This is an idea whose time has come at the appropriate period many schools are under closure due to industrial disputes.

I am issuing the responsibility to Attorney General and Special Adviser on Education to create the legal framework for the birth

of the Trust Fund.

“This will be another legacy initiative our Government is bringing to sustain education in our State. This will create a financial model that will ensure sustainability of these schools.”

Sanwo-Olu said the Trust Fund would create an additional funding source to the three universities, aside the monthly subventions and intervention funds from federal education agencies, including Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund).

The governor said the LASU Visitation Panel was set up to birth a new order of growth for the university ranked as the Second Best University in Nigeria by the Times Higher Education (THE) World University Rankings, 2020.

After receiving the panel report, Sanwo-Olu said the state government, in the next seven days, would constitute a committee that would dissect its recommendations. The committee, he said, was expected to come up with a White Paper that would ensure seamless implementation of the panel’s recommendations.

“It is delightful for me to know that the panel took on the responsibility graciously with all the commitment required. I thank the chairman and members for your dedication and efforts

invested in this tough assignment.

“Today, you are turning in the report. I assure you that we will review and take all suggestions offered. Lagos will continue to be beacon of hope for the country in education,” the governor said.

Bello said the panel, in the course of its sittings, interacted with all stakeholders of the university on the 11 terms of reference given to the panel.

The chairman said the panel received and considered 40 memoranda from ASUU and the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU), which contained 58 separate issues, adding that members also visited the three campuses of the university.

Bello said: “LASU has to be assisted and supported to maintain this status. The fine details of what would need to be done have been catalogued under each term of reference. These include issues with academic and infrastructural needs, as well as other consideration for the Government, from funding needs to amendments to the University Law to ensure good governance and peace.”

The panel, in its report, recommended the need to upgrade infrastructure in the Epe campus of LASU to meet the standards of the university.

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FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 2, 2022 • T H I S D AY

NEWSXTRA

AT A MEDIA ROUNDTABLE IN LAGOS...

L-R: EVP, Telecom Business at Gupshup / CEO, Dotgo, Dr Inderpal Singh Mumick; Director, Airtel Business, Nigeria, Ogo Ofomata; Senior Manager, Value Sales, MTN Nigeria, Mopelola Balogun; and Head, Android Partnerships Lead, West Africa, Google, Ngozi Madueke-Dozie at the Rich Communication Services (RCS) Media Round Table in Lagos... yesterday SUNDAY ADIGUN

Redeem Your Battered Image, Ortom Replies Buhari Chuks Okocha in Abuja Benue State Governor Samuel Ortom has challenged President Muhammadu Buhari and his government to redeem their battered image by rescuing Nigeria from the throttlehold of bandits, kidnappers, and terrorists, who were having a field day in the country. Ortom said this was the painful reality that the president’s handlers did not want Nigerians to talk about.

The governor spoke yesterday, in reaction to a statement by Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu.

Ortom said in the statement, "Each time I speak about the dreadful manner the Muhammadu Buhari administration has handled the security situation in the country, his media aides and

hangers-on come out attacking my personality, instead of addressing the issues I raised.

"The latest of such attacks by the presidency came from the garrulous Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media, Garba Shehu, who, rather than tell Nigerians the steps taken by his principal to end the unprecedented bloodshed perpetrated by armed Fulani terrorists, chose to hurl insults on the governor.

"If the presidency assumes that I am wrong about my statements regarding the failure of the present government to tackle insecurity, I urge them to hold a referendum to get the feelings of Nigerians towards their ineptitude, complicity, and clear lack of commitment and sincerity in protecting the people.

"It is sad and unfortunate that the likes of Garba Shehu have

zero sympathy for the families of those being killed daily by Fulani terrorists. As long as their meal ticket is secured, they tell Mr President to go to bed, that all is well with the country.

"Garba is a man, whose loyalty is for sale to the highest bidder. He sings in high praise of the president today, because that is his current source of livelihood. He will be the first to go against the president once the tables turn.

“He has done that before with other prominent Nigerians, whom he served. A man who betrays his former benefactor for a new pot of porridge does not possess the moral right to question a patriotic leader like Governor Ortom.

"Shehu blew the opportunity to prove me wrong that I had raised a false alarm about the

worsening security situation in the country. Hundreds of our citizens are held captive by terrorists in the forests.

I expected Shehu to tell Nigerians what efforts the federal government has made to release the hostages.

"Was it a false alarm from me that led to the terrorists’ attack on the convoy of President Buhari in his home state, Katsina? Or was it a movie acting, when terrorists broke into Kuje Correctional Centre right in the heart of Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory, and released their colleagues?

“It is unfortunate that till date, no officer has been arrested or questioned for the lapses and clear cases of complicity by the security operatives attached to the Kuje facility. There are reports

of over six jailbreaks in the last seven years under the Buhari administration. If that is not a crying shame of failure on the part of the presidency, we wonder what else qualifies as failure.

"Everyone is aware how the Buhari administration descends heavily and brutally on other groups like Nnamdi Kanu of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) or Sunday Igboho, who have been declared as terrorists with their members arrested and incarcerated, but the same government treats Fulani terrorists with kid gloves."

The governor further stated, "Garba Shehu must be reminded that I speak the minds of most Nigerians on specific areas of incompetence or deliberate complicity by the federal government in the heinous

crimes committed against citizens by armed Fulani herdsmen and other terrorists.

Instead of taking me on those points, Shehu went chasing vain and mundane matters in a desperate attempt to malign me, which he failed woefully.

"If I raised a false alarm, why have the Fulani terrorists, who are veiled as herdsmen, continued to kidnap and kill Nigerians unchallenged? How many of the terrorists and bandits have been apprehended and prosecuted? The Buhari administration cannot extricate itself from complicity regarding the evil visited on citizens of this country. The presidency has failed the integrity test and should rather accept its failure, apologise to Nigerians, and seek help to salvage the situation.”

Kwankwaso Reiterates Commitment to Revamp CBN Grants Flutterwave Ailing Economy If Elected, Denies Attack in Kogi Payment Processing Licence Flutterwave, one of Africa’s leading payment technology companies has been granted a Switching and Processing Licence by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

The licence allows Flutterwave to offer transaction switching and card processing services to customers. Others include nonbank acquiring, agency banking and payment gateway services.

According to a statement, the Switching and Processing licence allows Flutterwave to enable transactions between banks, fintechs and other financial institutions.

It noted that the company is also able to process card transactions, participate in agency banking and offer various payment services without any intermediary. Prior to this license, Flutterwave operated with its Payment Solution Service Provider (PSSP) and International Money Transfer Operator (IMTO) licenses.

Commenting on the development, the CEO and Founder of Flutterwave, Olugbenga Agboola said, “This is big news for our customers, partners, investors, and other stakeholders. It is an important milestone in our growth story.

Building a thriving payments ecosystem in Nigeria, Africa’s largest economy, is in line

with our goal of developing a world class and secure payment infrastructure for global merchants and payment service providers across the continent.”

Also, Flutterwave’s Chief Regulatory and Government Affairs Officer, Oluwabankole Falade said, “We’re thrilled to have been issued this license after fulfilling all of the regulatory requirements. The application process was very rigorous and included a detailed review of our operations as a business.

“As a switch, we have more responsibilities and will continue to work with regulators to ensure we meet and exceed their expectations.”

Reacting to the news, the company’s Head of Product Marketing, Onyedikachim Nwankwo, said, “The license will allow us to offer more services and explore more payment use cases for our ecosystem. With this licence, we can offer more value to our customers while taking more control of our value chain to enable an improved payments experience for our enterprise, medium scale and retail customers.”

The application and review process by the CBN was a tough and rigorous process that examined every aspect of Flutterwave’s business, including the company’s financial position.

Ibrahim Oyewale,Lokoja The presidential candidate of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) and the former Minister of Defence, Senator Rabiu Kwankwaso has reiterated his commitment to revamp the ailing Nigerian economy, saying policies would be set in motion to put the economic indices in their right perspectives if he becomes the president in 2023.

Kwankwaso disclosed this while speaking in a chat with newsmen in Lokoja yesterday, shortly after a closed door meeting with the critical stakeholders of the party .

He explained that every segment of economy was in shambles, noting that as practical

politician, the NNPP presidency would assembly best experts to reset the economy and address other socio-economic challenges.

He told journalists that he administration would ensure the economy becomes productive and tackle headlong the unemployment ravaging youths in the country.

On why he parted ways with former Governor of Kano State, Senator Ibrahim Sekarau, Kwankwaso pointed out that personally has no grudge against the Senator, stressing that by the time he chose to join NNPP, the had already conducted its primaries across the federation.

The former minister added that though Sekarau tabled his request for the party's consideration, but

because various elections had been conducted before his arrival as new member of the party, the NNPP could not accommodate his request.

The former two term governor of Kano State explained that he was primarily in Kogi State to commission the office accommodation in Lokoja and meet stakeholders in preparation for the 2023 elections.

He pointed out that based on the relationship between him and ex-governor of Kogi State, he and his entourage visited the country home of Late Prince Abubakar Audu as mark of respect and honour.

While reacting to the media reports that he was attacked by hoodlums, Kwankwaso said

he was disappointed by such reports, calling on the media practitioners to be professionally responsible when covering an event .

He stated he was well received when he arrived the Kogi State capital yesterday, adding that he had no problem with anybody and wondered how some people cooked up story that they attacked him.

Meanwhile, the Head of Media, Kwankwasiya Campaign Organisation, Mr. A. Johnson the described the media report as mischievous .

In a statement made available to newsmen in Lokoja, he said appropriate action would be taken against the media house that published the story.

FG Inaugurates Committee on Legal Framework for Police Training Institutions Kingsley Nwezeh in Abuja Minister of Police Affairs, Dr. Muhammad Dingyadi, yesterday, inaugurated a committee to set up the legal framework for the Nigeria Police Force institutions in the country.

The committee, whose members were drawn from Presidency, Nigeria Police Force, Nigerian Law Reform Commission, Ministry of Police Affairs, and Ministry of Justice, was inaugurated at the

headquarters of the Ministry of Police Affairs, Abuja.

The minister pointed out that the government initiated the idea of legalising the existence of the training institutions to enable them to be relevant, active, and functional as well as enjoy better funding.

“By the time you have a legal framework for them, they will have governing board, budget and be self-accounting and additional funding for Nigeria Police Force. This is one of the ways of reforming Nigeria

Police Force in the country.

"What we are thinking now is how we can have one legal framework that will cover the selected police institutions. I understand some guidelines have been given by the Ministry of Justice to the Nigeria Police Force to enable them to assess how they are going to go about it," he said.

Dingyadi reiterated the commitment of government to reform the Nigeria Police Force and hoped that the committee would key into the aspiration

and ensure it becomes a reality.

"By the time it comes to fruition, we would have made history with the police in this country," he said.

He assured the committee of the federal government's cooperation and support to enable them discharge their duty and urged the committee to pay special attention to the checklist from the Ministry of Justice to enable them to come out with a good framework that will guide the running of the institutions.

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T H I S D AY • FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 2, 2022

NEWSXTRA

HANDING OVER...

Outgoing Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Information and Culture, Dr. Ifeoma Adaora Anyawutaku (left) and the incoming Permanent Secretary of the Ministry, Mrs. Lydia Shehu Jafiya (mni) during the handing over ceremony to the new Permanent Secretary in Abuja ...yesterday

SGF: Implementation of North-east Devt Masterplan to Gulp N31trn in 10 Years Adedayo Akinwale and Ifeanyi Ohagwa in Abuja The Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Mr. Boss Mustapha has said the implementation of the North-east Development Plan would gulp the sum of $80 billion, which is equivalent to N31.05 trillion over the period of 10 years.

Mustapha disclosed this yesterday, in Abuja, at a meeting on validation of the North-east Stabilisation and Development Masterplan (NESDMP).

He recalled that the creation of the North-East Development Commission (NEDC) was to rebuild the north-east region following the unfortunate Boko Haram insurgency.

Mustapha stressed that in less than four years since its establishment, the Commission has made great strides towards achieving its mandate of managing funds for recovery, stabilisation and paving a path towards long-term social-economic development of the north-east region.

He said it was gratifying to

note that in implementing the Humanitarian Development Peacebuilding (HDP) nexus, NEDC had covered much ground with viable, demand-driven, and impactful projects that are changing the landscape of the region.

Mustapha explained that the North-east NESDMP was a holistic roadmap for recovery, stabilisation, expansion, and long-term socioeconomic development of the region.

He explained: "We have just learned that the cost of implementing the eleven pillars of the 10-year NESDMP is N31.05 trillion or about $80 billion, which is a colossal amount. At this juncture, I wish to call on all stakeholders in the public and private sectors, development partners, especially donors, to garner resources and invest optimally in the richly endowed but least-exploited north-east region.

"Going forward, the federal government will swiftly approve the regional plan for immediate implementation by all relevant stakeholders."

86 Shortlisted for Alaafin Stool Kemi Olaitan in Ibadan The Head of Oyo Princes, popularly known as Baba Iyaji, Chief Mukaila Afonja, has submitted the names of 86 contestants for the vacant stool of Alaafin to the Basorun of Oyo, High Chief Yussuf Ayoola, who doubles as the regent of the town.

This was contained in a statement yesterday in Ibadan, by the Director of Media and Publicity to the Alaafin of Oyo, Bode Durojaiye.

High Chief Ayoola, had summoned an emergency meeting of Oyo Mesi following the receipt of the names.

The statement read: “In attendance at the meeting was the Chairperson, Atiba Local Government, Alhaja Kafilat

Olakojo. At the end of the meeting, it was resolved that all the contestants should, as a matter of utmost concern, attend a peace meeting on Saturday, 3rd of September, 2022, at the Agbala Ogun Hall, in the Palace.

“Thereafter, from next week Monday the 4th till Thursday, the 8th of September, 2022, 10 contestants will appear for interview on daily basis. There will be a break on Friday, as no interview will take place, to pave the way for the Jumat service.

“The interview will resume on Monday, the 12th and last till the 15th of September, 2022."

The throne became vacant following the passing of Oba Lamidi Adeyemi, who reigned for 52 years and died on April 22, 2022, at the age of 83 years.

On his part, the Managing Director of NEDC, Mohammed Alkali said in order to produce a holistic roadmap that could be implemented diversely and comprehensively in the region, the Commission in addition to baseline studies, conducted across the zone, consultations and engagements on the Master Plan were held at grassroots level in all the 112 LGAs in the Zone, as well as with Humanitarian, Development and Peacebuilding (HDP) Actors, CSOs/CBOs and the Private Sector at the Regional Level, Federal Legislators from the North-East, Federal MDAs, the Military, Police, Security Agencies amongst others.

"The validation event we are witnessing today signifies the endpoint of production of the NESDMP, a document culminating from baseline studies and robust engagements with all critical Stakeholders," he

explained.

Alkali pointed out that the proposed 10-year NESDMP also encapsulates relevant aspects of President Muhammadu Buhari’s plan, Development Plans of Member States, Sectoral Development Plans and Roadmaps of Federal Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDA), and align with projects being executed by development partners in the zone.

He added: "It runs from 2020 to 2030 in four implementation phases; Recovery & Stabilisation (2020 – 2021), Renewal (2022 – 2023), Expansion (2024 – 2025) and Sustainable Growth (2026 – 2030).

"It consists of 11 Pillars - Peaceful Society; Leadership in Agriculture; Healthy Citizens; Educated Populace; Flourishing Trade; Productive Entrepreneurs; Purposeful Infrastructure; Industrialisation; Memorable Experience; Protected Environment; Connected Region.

"Its cost of implementation is forecasted at N31.05 trillion about ($80 billion); substantially coming from the Private Sector. It contains over 500 Schemes/Programmes/ Projects."

The Managing Director revealed that the Commission had been executing modest projects necessary for humanitarian assistance, recovery, stabilisation, peacebuilding, and development of the region.

According to him, “our interventions cut across various sectors – education, health, WASH, agriculture, transport, housing, youth empowerment, reintegration, social cohesion, and capacity building, among others.”

On his part, Governor of Borno state and the Chairman of North East Governors Forum, Prof. Babagana Zullum said without a clear road map, no meaningful achievement could be made regardless of the enormity of resources available.

Zullum stressed that if the recovery and development of the regional master plan was strategically implemented, it would not only complement what the governors are doing in the states by investing in transformation projects, but also serve as tipping points for the transformation of the region.

The 11 pillars encompass all the sectors that need attention and investment to make the region be at par with the rest of the country and unleash its potential.

Zullum stated: "In order for the commission to deliver on its mandate of supporting the recovery and development of the North-east region of Nigeria that have been devastated by Boko Haram insurgency, which is further compounded by severe climate change, it has to be strategic and realistic realising that the resources it has its limited and insignificant percentage is time bound, and has only seven years to go."

APGA Crisis: S’Court Clears Air on Judgment, Says Njoku Not Party in Suit Alex Enumah in Abuja The Supreme Court, yesterday, maintained that Chief Edozie Njoku, was never a party to an appeal surrounding the All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA) leadership crisis, wherein the apex court delivered judgment late last year.

The disclosure was part of efforts at clarifying the raging controversies and misconception the said judgment was generating.

In a statement, the Supreme Court clarified that the judgment delivered on October 14, 2021, was between one Chief Jude Okeke and APGA with three other respondents, which did not include Njoku.

The statement signed by the Director, Press and Information, Supreme Court, Dr Akande Festus, explained that Njoku had sought

to be joined in the appeal but was not and therefore not a party to the final judgment that resolved the leadership crisis.

The statement stated that any other judgment containing parties different from the parties on record did not emanate from the Supreme Court and should therefore be disregarded.

"Our attention has been drawn to the misconception being peddled by some members of All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) regarding the judgment of the Supreme Court in Appeal Number: SC/ CV/687/2021: Chief Jude Okeke Versus ALL PROGRESSIVES GRAND ALLIANCE (APGA) & 3 ORS, delivered on 14th October, 2021, which is causing confusion within the party fold; and by extension, the public space.

"To keep the record straight, we wish to state that the appeal in respect of party leadership of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), which was filed in the Supreme Court against the judgment of Court of Appeal, Kano Division by Chief Jude Okeke, as SC/CV/686/2021 and SC/CV/687/2021, contained the following parties: Chief Jude Okeke (Appellant) and All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), Chief Victor Ike Oye; Alhaji Rabiu Garba Aliu; Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) as 1st to 4th respondents respectfully,"the statement read in part.

The statement further explained that the appeal arose from a primary election conducted by the party on the May 31, 2019 at Owerri, Imo State, in which the 3rd Respondent

(Rabiu Garba Aliu) was elected Deputy National Chairman (North).

While noting that Aliyu had gone to court seeking to be declared chairman of APGA after the then chairman was suspended, it stated that, "The trial Court dismissed the suit and confirmed Chief Jude Okeke as the Party’s Chairman.

However, the 3rd respondent, unsatisfied with the judgment, appealed to the Court of Appeal, Kano Judicial Division.

"At that point, the 1st and 2nd respondents (APGA and Victor Ike Oye) sought and were granted leave to be joined as interested parties at the Court of Appeal. However, the Court of Appeal dismissed the appeal for lack of jurisdiction as all the issues in contention took place in Imo State and not Jigawa State," Akande explained.

FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 2, 2022˾ T H I S D AY

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NEWS

IBUCAP BRAND AMBASSADOR UNVEILLED…

Brand Manager (Cardiovascular Portfolio), Shalina Healthcare Limited, Mr. Olugbenga Obaparusi; Brand Manager, Analogistic and Antimalarial Portfolio, Mr. Chiuba Nwaosu; Head, Product Marketing, Mr. Sandeep Sahu; Head, Regulatory, Mr.Theophilus Adimoha; Chief Operating Officer, West Africa, Mr. Arun Raj; Ibucap Brand Ambassador, Kafayat Oluwatosin Shafau (Kaffy); Head, Consumer Business, West Africa, Mr. Suresh Karuppiahsamy, and Head, Corporate Marketing, Mr. Folorunso Alaran, during the unveiling of Kaffy in Lagos…recently

Court Stops Lagos from Taking over Collapsed Ikoyi Building Wale Igbintade Justice Adewunmi Oshin of the Lagos High Court has restrained the Lagos State government from taking over and demolishing the remaining two Ikoyi high-rise buildings constructed by Fourscore

Heights Limited.

Justice Oshin ordered all parties in the suit to maintain the status quo pending the hearing and determination of a suit filed by 15 subscribers of the various units of flats/ penthouses/terraces/apartments being constructed in three

Anambra Now Safe, Say Police David-Chyddy Eleke in Awka Anambra State Police Command yesterday took stock of its achievements in the state, and declared that the state is now safe. Anambra had since last year fallen under the grip of criminals, who were popularly referred to as unknown gunmen. The criminals came close to stalling the governorship election in the state in November 2021, as most parts of the state were declared unsafe for political campaigns.

But the Police Commissioner (CP) Echeng Echeng, who addressed officers of the command in Awka yesterday,

during a visit of the Assistant Inspector General in charge of Zone 13 police command, AIG Umar Muri, declared that the state is now safe.

Echeng said: “We have registered a lot of successes in the fight against criminals.

Most of the successes wouldn’t have been possible without your (Muri’s) advice.

“Our security situation continues to improve everyday, and it will continue to improve day after day. Many of those criminals who were referred to as unknown gunmen have been arrested, many guns have been recovered and vehicles recovered and given to their owners.

Atiku-Okowa Vanguard to be Launched Tomorrow Ahead of the 2023 general elections, a political support group, Atiku-Okowa Vanguard Nigeria 2023 is set for inauguration in Abuja on September 3(tomorrow).

In a statement, National President of the group, Mrs. Oby Nwaogu, said 15 delegates from each state of the federation would be at the event billed to hold in Abuja at 12noon.

According to her, the inauguration of the group and launching of the 36 states and FCT Chapters with theme “Atiku-Okowa: Getting Nigeria Working Again”, would be chaired by former Senate

President, Anyim Pius Anyim while the Presidential candidate of the party, Atiku Abubakar is Special Father of the day and Mrs Titi Atiku Abubakar would be Mother of the day.

“Furthermore, the vice presidential candidate of the party and Governor of Delta State, Sen. (Dr) Ifeanyi Okowa and his wife Dame Edith Okowa would be Guests of Honour at the ceremony,” she said.

Nwaogu disclosed that there would be a solidarity visit to the principal, Atiku Abubakar

by State directors and patrons of the group on September 4.

Duro Onabule for Burial September 16 A veteran journalist and erstwhile Chief Press Secretary to former Military President, General Ibrahim Babangida, Chief Durojaiye Onabule, will be buried on September 16.

Onabule died last month at the age of 83. Activities for the rites of his passage will begin on September 14, 2022 with a service of songs and tributes in Lagos.

This will be followed by a wake in Ijebu-Ode, Ogun State, on September 15, 2022, while the funeral service comes up on September 16, 2022 in Ijebu-Ode. Onabule, who was born in Ijebu-Ode on September 27, 1939, graduated from CMS Grammar

School and School of Journalism, London. His first media work was as a reporter for Daily Express in 1961. Three years later, he joined the staff of Daily Sketch for some time before going back to Daily Express.

In 1969, he served as the London Correspondent of Daily Express.

In the mid-1970s, he worked for the Daily Times, rising to become a Deputy Editor of Headlines magazine. When the late MKO Abiola started Concord Press, Onabule was appointed features editor. In 1984, he became the editor of Concord newspaper and until his death, Onabule maintained a column in The Sun newspaper.

high-rise buildings at 44BCD, Gerrard Road, Ikoyi.

Among the three high-rise buildings (namely Blocks A, B, and C), one of them, Block B (consisting of 21-storeys) collapsed in November 2021, killing 46 persons while 15 persons were rescued alive.

In the substantive suit, the subscribers, including a Senior

Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Wemimo Ogunde; a former cleric of the Redeemed Church (RCCG), Pastor Adetola Odutola; an Oba-elect, Pastor Ghandi Olaoye are seeking general damages of N200 million and another N50 million as the cost of filing the suit.

The claimants, in the suit filed by their lawyer,

AbdulHakeem U. Mustapha, SAN, are contending that it is the failure of the Lagos State government and its officials to supervise the construction of one of the three towers in line with regulations that led to its eventual collapse.

They claimed that they invested over N15 billion in the property that was being

developed by Fourscore Heights Limited, a company promoted

by Femi Osibona who also died in the tragedy.

Other claimants in the matter are: Pastor Bola & Mrs Bunmi Odutola, Ms. Zahra Motomori, Kwara Business School Limited, Saikoyi Property Limited, and Mr. Adewale & Mrs Foluso Folowosele.

Nigeria, Korea to Tackle Energy Challenges The Honourable Minister of State, Power, Goddy JedyAgba, has said that Nigeria is willing to work with South Korea to address nation’s energy challenges.

The minister stated this when he received a delegation led by the President of Korea-Africa Foundation, His Excellency, Lyeo Woon-Ki in his office in Abuja.

Jedy-Agba said that learning

from Korea experience and seeking areas of cooperation to address the nation’s energy problems were appealing for the government of President Mohammadu Buhari to explore.

He explained that because Nigeria is committed to the United Nations plan to transform global energy sector from fossilbased to zero carbon by 2060, the current administration is

investing heavily on renewable energy sector.

According to him, “We are happy to receive you to Nigeria.

Nigeria is a great country and we are open to partnerships and cooperations that will help us improve in different sectors.

Korea and Nigeria have good working relationship in different sectors of our economy. In the power sector, we’ve a number

of Korea organizations we’re working with to address our power challenges. We’re hoping that this visit will open up more opportunities for us to strengthen our ties”.

Earlier, Woon-Ki said that the purpose of his visit was to familiarize with the Ministry and to have an insight into the power sector with a view to exploring possible areas of partnership.

PDP Guber Candidate Accuses Gombe of Victimisation The gubernatorial candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Gombe, Muhammad Jibrin Barde, has accused the state government of victimisation and executive highhandedness, following a recent attack and the latest demolition of his campaign office in the state capital by the Gombe State Urban Planning Development Authority (GOSUPDA).

Barde, in a chat with the media

narrated how he escaped the attack by whiskers and accused the state government of disruption of peace in the state. He decried the thuggish attack and latest demolition, which was the second time his campaign office would be hit by government forces, following a recent vandalism of the same structure.

A petition written by Barde’s lawyers said the attack was

spearheaded by the ruling APC State Government, and accused some government officials of leading some police personnel in the raid and demolition exercise.

In the petition, he said: “The police officers, the governor’s appointees and other dangerous arms-wielding thugs engaged in the indiscriminate firing of gunshots, with the approval of the state commissioner of police,

which led to hospitalisation of 26 people from the neighbouring houses; the attempted assassination of Muhammad Jibrin Barde, the gubernatorial candidate of PDP in the forthcoming general elections, as well as the demolition of the campaign office, including 6 vehicles that were totally destroyed, with the potential for total breakdown of law and order in Gombe State.

‘A’Ibom PDP Must Put its House Together to Win Elections’ OkonBasseyinUyo The leadership of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) in Akwa Ibom State has been told to put its house in order if it hopes to win the 2023 general elections.

Aformer Governorship Aspirant of PDP in the state, Mr. James Iniama,

made the call while fielding questions from journalists in Uyo. Iniama regretted the inability of the party to reconcile aggrieved members months after the party’s primaries were concluded in the state.

He reasoned that the party ought to have taken advantage of such move to reassure members of its

sincerity in accommodating all interests, especially as we approach the general election.

He said: “I had expected that the reconciliation committee would be the beginning process of re-engineering the structure of the PDP and the state. I had thought so.

“We are drawing closer to the

election and I haven’t seen our party engage in any activity that will reassure the people of Akwa Ibom State that they do not need to fret or worry in spite of what the other political parties are doing.

But, so far, I haven’t seen us take advantage of that reconciliatory initiative.

Okonkwo: Obi’s Presidential Ambition is a Prayer Answered

Sunday Okobi

Senator Annie Clement Okonkwo yesterday said the presidential ambition of the candidate of the Labour Party (LP), Mr. Peter Obi, is a prayer answered.

The former senator, who disclosed this during a town hall meeting between Peter

Obi and Nigerians in Diaspora in Los Angeles, California, United States, said Obi is the most fitting and qualified candidate among all the candidates contesting the 2023 presidential election.

According to statement issued by his media office, Okonkwo said: “What has kept Nigeria where it is today is corruption,

and we need a bold leader like Peter Obi to rescue the country from the hands of people who don’t mean well for Nigeria.

“The Obidient Movement has not been seen in Nigeria before now. Sometimes, I wish the campaign should start today so that I can see those campaigning for other candidates, they will hide

their faces in shame because it will be very glaring to them at the direction Nigerians are moving to because the people are tired of bad leadership.”

Quoting the Holy Bible, the senator said: “Jesus said to them, take away the stone and He shouted with authority Lazarus, and he slowly hobbled out.”

Court Remands Benin Palace Secretary, Six Others over Illegal Demolition Adibe EmenyonuinBenin-city

Edo State High Court presided by Justice Mary Itsueli has remanded the Secretary of the Benin Traditional Council (BTC), Frank Irabor, and six others in prison custody for alleged illegal demolition of houses.

Others were Chief Oko-Oboh, Aghavbere Osawemwrnguan,Abel

Oko Oboh, Tuesday Atagamene, Okechukwu Okeke and Ode Ikoko.

The accused persons appeared in court on a six count-charge bordering on forceful takeover of land and illegal demolition of buildings at Ulegun village in Ikpoba-Okha Local Government Area of Edo State.

The police charge alleged that

the accused were involved in the illegal demolition of over 60 houses in the village that are worth N500 million.

The charge read in the part: “That you did conspire among yourselves to commit felony to wit: ‘Promoting Inter Communal War’, and thereby committed an offence punishable under Section 516 of the Criminal

Code Act, Cap C38, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004.

“That you did conspire among yourselves to commit felony to wit: ‘Forceful Takeover of Land’, and thereby committed an offence punishable under Section 516 of the Criminal Code Act, Cap C38, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004.

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FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 2, 2022 ˾ T H I S D AY

WORLD OF ISLAM Air Strikes Decimate 14 NEWSEXTRA

Edited by: MJO Mustapha Email deji.mustapha@thisdaylive.com

Terrorists in Kaduna, Borno Why Believers’ Sins are All Forgivable (1) Kingsley Nwezeh in Abuja

The Nigerian Air Force yesterday said it conducted air strikes that killed 14 terrorists in Kaduna and Borno States.

A war update issued by the Nigerian Air Force Headquarters

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in Abuja, said the Operation Whirl Punch conducted air interdiction missions on Tuesday, against identified terrorists hideouts at Alhaji Isiaka location and Kuduru in Igabi Local Government Area of Kaduna State.

It said similar air strikes were also undertaken at Udawa along Kaduna-Birnin Gwari Road in Kaduna State after receiving intelligence reports of terrorist activities in the area.

“On receipt of the distress call, NAF aircraft were immediately scrambled to the location where they

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intercepted and neutralised several terrorists on bikes.

“Feedback from local sources and own troops deployment around the area revealed that the terrorists suffered heavy casualties from the air strikes”, it said.

In the North-east, fighter aircraft also bombed terrorist locations same day at Amchile and Gargash, both terrorist locations east of Maiduguri.

It said the locations were attacked severally with few surviving terrorists seen fleeing from the point of impact and hiding under nearby trees which were subsequently attacked.

‘National Water Resources Bill, Threat to Nation’s Unity’ OlusegunSamuelinYenagoa A Bayelsa-born Legal Practitioner, Dortimi Tawari, has thrown his weight behind governors and the growing opposition to the contentious National Water Resources bill, describing the proposed legislation as a threat to the powers of the states and the nation’s fragile unity.

Tawari, a lawyer with over 35 years experience, an environmentalist and a member of the Ijaw Community Law Review Group, noted that despite the growing desperation by the federal government for the passage of the Bill and the series of disinformation handed members of the National Assembly, the National Water Resources Bill has lots of ambiguity, confusion and treasonable acts.

Tawari, who made this known during an interactive session with newsmen at the secretariat of the Nigerian Union of Journalists, Bayelsa State chapter, said the amended version of the National Water Resources Bill, was a revised version of the Military decree initiated in 1993 under the military junta led

by Former Head of State, Ibrahim Babangida.

Delta Gov to Grace Emogram’s 50th Anniversary Celebration The Delta State Governor, His Excellency Sen. (Dr) Ifeanyi Okowa is expected to grace the 50th Golden Jubilee celebration of Emore Grammar School Oleh in Isoko South Local Government Council.

The governor, is the special guest of honour for the historic event with the inauguration of the Golden Jubilee memorial Hall.

According to a statement made available by the Old Students’ Association National Public Relation Officer, Emmanuel Ekebe, the Golden Jubilee celebrations run for five days, starting from Wednesday, September 7 to Sunday, September 11, 2022.

Also, the President of Old Students’ Association, Emmanuel Egbure, was quoted as disclosing that the Odiologbo of Oleh Kingdom, His Royal Majesty Anthony William O. Ovrawah (JP) Omogha 1, will be Father of the Day, while Prof. Oghenekaro Ogbinaka is the Keynote Speaker just as High Chief Henry Ojogho is the special guest.

By: Spahic Omer/IslamiCity It is a matter of fact that, apart from Prophets, all people are fallible and sinners, one way or another. The good news, however, is that man is created as a pure and innocent being, that he is predisposed to appreciating and doing good and that he intrinsically despises evil, that virtue preponderates over evil, that both good and bad are self-evident and the paths leading to them are clearly defined, and that, at the end of the day, there is Almighty God who is All-Compassionate, All-Merciful and Ever-Forgiving.

These constitute a part of the ontological and spiritual laws according to which life has been created and according to which the existence of man - in his capacities as God’s vicegerent on earth and the raison d’etre of life - unfolds. They are integral to the sunnatullah (the way God created and administers the universe).

Which means that the presence of sins on earth is normal. Abnormal would be the total absence of wrongdoing. Equally anomalous, unworkable and even counterproductive would be if a person or a society starts dreaming of a time and a state when infallibility will prevail. Positively, there can be neither perfection, nor flawlessness, in this world. Such things are but illusions.

Thus, utopianism as a form of excessive idealism is not pursued by Islam. Realism, rooted in utmost pragmatism and matter-of-factness, is the way. The hierarchies of life realities, at the heart of which resides man with his noble terrestrial mission and purpose, are to be perceived and dealt with exactly as they are, with neither adding to nor subtracting from them.

This, nonetheless, is only one side of the dynamics of life. The other side is that man cannot operate alone. So weak and vulnerable has he been created that at every stage of his terrestrial journey he needs his Creator to make it through. Otherwise, man is bound to lose his way, exacerbate his weaknesses and aggravate his limitations, and, in the end, be consumed by the advancing power of sin.

Man furthermore needs the guidance of his Creator, for it is Him who created man and knows best what he needs to stay the course and succeed.

It is only God who can optimize the potentials of man and defuse his disadvantages. Man-made substitutes can never be adequate to rule the roost, because whatever man produces, be it in the realm of thought or real life, is as flawed as his entire being. Pageantry is as short-lived as it is artificial and shallow, thereby exhibiting the full existential package of man.

Lastly, a believing man must become an active protagonist. His inborn revulsion against evil is to be translated into action. Incessantly, he should try to stay away from sin and from all contexts, as well as paths, that may drag him into it. Under no circumstances should he be turned into a supporter of evil and a partisan of sinners. He should be sufficiently educated, sensible and ever vigilant. He should not only steer away from sin, but also should help others as much as he can to follow his example.

Believers and sins If and when, due to the working of the physical and metaphysical vicissitudes of life, a believer succumbs to the advances of sin, he should not feel defeated or lose heart. He should do the following as an alternative.

No sooner does a sin “touch” a believer and he sins, than he ought to start feeling ashamed and blameworthy. He needs to have a feeling of betrayal and let down, which in turn should lead to a condition of restlessness.

What a believer has just done is not compatible with his soul and consciousness, so he ought to get on the offensive. In this unprecedented situation – and relationship - he ought to be the subject and the sin committed the object.

A sin is to be seen as a discordant and hence, unwelcome extraneous element, which must be eliminated at once. A believer next needs to repent to God most sincerely, affirming that he abhors what he has done and vowing that he will never do it again However – by way of conjecture - if the reverse happens, that is, if a sin becomes the subject and a sinner the object, such a possibility is destined to spell trouble and indicate that sin has found a home and has started to overwhelm a person. In the latter scenario, getting rid of a sin becomes ever more difficult. Wrongdoing becomes a passion and a lifestyle, and its home-person its receptacle and locus of operation. Sin and sinner become assimilated. They turn out to be one, in which case sin moulds its person in its own image.

When committing a sin in this manner, a believer should not despair since he knows that he did not intend to rebel against the holy authority

and revealed word of his Creator and Lord.

He did not switch allegiance. Rather, a believer knows that his sin was a momentary lapse of spiritual concentration and judgment. It was a demonstration of his weaknesses and flaws. It was a sign of his humanness.

A believer errs because he is a human being subjected to all the ups and downs of this fleeting world. To commit a sin, it follows, is to be human.

Moreover, to conquer a sin and genuinely repent signifies that a person’s heavenly dimension has triumphed and has commenced to reign supreme over his aggregate personality, whereas being conquered by a sin and never feeling remorseful, nor asking forgiveness, indicates that a person’s earthly-cum-animalistic dimension - with the help of Satan’s pretexts of course - has taken control of his self.

It stands to reason that a believer does not sin in the conventional significations of the word, in the sense defiant non-believers do, for example. Accordingly, a believer cannot be bent on transgressing within the framework of a premeditated perversion and systematic misconduct of his, or else his status as believer will be undermined. Nor does he break the spiritual and moral rules for the sake of breaking them, or because he was given to feeling and acting all high and mighty.

Instead, a believer does sin sporadically because he slips, commits an error and makes wrong steps. He finds himself in the wrong place at the wrong time, worsening his inherent inadequacies and provoking himself into making momentary bad choices and arriving at momentary wrong decisions. A believer’s misdeeds are one-off, rather than regular, occurrences. They are not his routines.

They are exceptions to the rule of righteousness that comprises his standards of living.

It is no coincidence that in Arabic repentance (tawbah) means “returning” to regret and willingly return from the path of disobedience to that of submission and conformity. It also means that a believer, when repenting, returns to the range of the divine love and care, which were intended for him all along. He returns to the purity and goodness of his primordial self as well. Like so, lesser “returns” to sin prompted far greater “returns” to heavenly joy.

The Qur’an and Sunnah on sin and repentance That is why Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him), while emphasizing this life paradigm, said: “By the One in whose Hand my soul is, were you not to commit sins, Allah would replace you with a people who would commit sins and then seek forgiveness from Allah; and Allah would forgive them” (Sahih Muslim).

The Prophet likewise said: “Every son of Adam commits sin, and the best of those who commit sin are those who repent” (Sunan Ibn Majah).

“The one who repents from sin is like one who did not sin” (Sunan Ibn Majah).

The Qur’an is also replete with references to these truths. For example, Allah says: “Say (O Muhammad): ‘O My servants who have transgressed against themselves (by sinning), do not despair of the mercy of Allah. Indeed, Allah forgives all sins. Indeed, it is He who is the Forgiving, the Merciful’” (al-Zumar, 53).

“Indeed, Allah does not forgive association with Him, but He forgives what is less than that for whom He wills. And he who associates others with Allah has certainly fabricated a tremendous sin” (al-Nisa’, 48).

At one place, Allah yet describes the righteous, the pious and the doers of good as the ones who when they “commit an immorality or wrong themselves (by transgression), remember Allah and seek forgiveness for their sins - and who can forgive sins except Allah? - and (who) do not persist in what they have done while they know” (Alu ‘Imran, 135).

The question, therefore, is not whether the most outstanding believers could commit an act of immorality or could wrong themselves by committing a sin – which is obviously so – but how they react afterwards. What is stipulated is that the sinning believers collect themselves and remember Allah, seek forgiveness from Him for the committed immoralities, and that they remain true to themselves and do not knowingly persevere in the disgraceful acts.

This could be called the “ethics of sinning”, which, despite the repulsive nature of immorality, is fully permeated with the spirit of the Islamic message. So much so that it yet could be asserted that whatever a true believer does – including the problematic matters - he does in accordance with the implications of tawhid (believing in, affirming and living in conformity with the Oneness of God). A believer sins in the spirit of tawhid, too.

To Be Continued

47

FRIDAY, SE ͺ˜ ͺ͸ͺͺ ˾ T H I S D AY

FRIDAYSPORTS

Group Sports Editor: Duro Ikhazuagbe Email: duro.ikhazuagbe@thisdaylive.com

0811 181 3083 SMS ONLY

Nigeria v Ghana: Will Lightning Strike Twice in Abuja?

Yusuf assures Nigerians this crucial return leg is a different match After Ghana’s senior national team, the Black Stars, denied Nigeria qualification for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, Head Coach of Super Eagles B, Salisu Yusuf, has vowed that his wards have moved on from the 0-2 loss to Galaxies in Cape Coast last weekend and is doing all possible to ensure lightning does not strike twice in Abuja for the country’s football team.

C H A N 2 0 2 3 Q UA L I F I E R Yusuf is certain Ghana will not deny Nigeria qualification for the 7th African Nations Championship (CHAN) scheduled to hold in Algeria next year.

Salisu, who led the Class of 2018 to a second-place finish in the final tournament in Morocco

Dare Approves Funding for NGF, 10 Clubs Listed on WHS Olawale Ajimotokan in Abuja Minister of Youth and Sports Development, Mr Sunday Dare, has said the federal government will grant the Nigeria Golf Federation (NGF) some of the funds due it to enable it support the game of golf in the country.

He gave the assurance yesterday in his address to the Captains of 70 golf clubs and other stakeholders from across the country at the First Nigeria Golf Federation Summit in Abuja.

The minister admitted that the NGF had not been receiving the financial support it deserved from the government and assured that will change soon.

Date also urged the NGF board led by Otunba Olusegun Runsewe to resuscitate the Nigeria Golf Open Championship last held in 1999.

The minister also said what was happening in America and other climes should be domesticated in Nigeria.

He also assured the 16-yearold Nigerian sensation, IyeneObong Essien, who finished second at the recent Champion of Champions World Golf Championship Invitational in Northern Ireland and other talented athletes will be entered into the talent hunt programmes of the ministry for support.

The minister said Essien will be part of the Nigerian contingent to the Commonwealth Games that will meet President Muhammadu Buhari on September 15.

Dare commended the Runsewe-led NGF board for organising the two-day national golf summit, stressing

that it was long overdue for the captains of golf clubs and lovers of golf in the country to brainstorm on the way forward for the game.

The summit was declared open by Plateau State Governor, Simon Lalong.

He urged NGF to improve on the hosting of competitions across the country and harness the participation of Nigerian golfers in international competitions.

He said this was necessary because the game of golf in Nigeria must move from being a leisure sport to a money making exercise as obtained abroad.

He expressed hope that the summit would enable the Captains to come up with various strategies on how to demystify the sport and let people know that it is not an exclusive sport of the elite.

The critical discussion of the Captains hinged on the registration of Nigerian golfers on the World Handicap System (WHS).

A member of the NGF board, Mrs Ekanem Ekwueme, said the incorporation of the WHS in Nigeria is not impossible as all golf courses in Nigeria will all be rated.

She listed the golf clubs which WHS rating has already concluded to include IBB Golf Club Abuja, Port Harcourt Club 1928, Kaduna Golf Club, Rayfield Golf Club, Jos, Abeokuta Golf Club, Ikeja Golf Club, Ibadan Golf Club, Ikoyi Golf Club and James Ibori Golf Club, Asaba.

She said Enugu was dropped after it was rated because the club failed to provide information on its members.

Anyanwu Joins Race for NFF Presidency Administrator and Coach, Marcellinus Anyanwu, has declared interest to vie for the post of the President of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF).

His declaration has jerked up the number of those bidding for same position ahead of the NFF Elective Congress scheduled for September 30, 2022in Benin City.

Anyanwu, a youth specialist coach and Arsenal U-17 team coach at the Arsenal Soccer School in Dubai, declared his intention to contest the NFF top job on his social media handle.

The former MFM FC assistant

coach said his conviction to contest the poll when it was thrown open followed intensive consultation with various football stakeholders after it became evident that he had the qualities required to be the President of the NFF He said that he was coming to build a strong pillar and establish a formidable structure towards a sustainable and successful football federation in Nigeria.

“We are going to engage experts that understand the regiments of football and most especially the grassroots coaching. We will be engaging tutors around to world, to train our coaches,” he said.

said yesterday in Abuja that the team’s concentration is how to score enough goals to overturn the deficit incurred in the away leg.

“What is past is past and that is the case with the match we played in Ghana. Now we are looking forward to a good match on Saturday.

“We are doing all we need to do to achieve our utmost desire to be in Algeria next year. There may have been one or two lapses that caught us on the bad end in Cape Coast but we can’t continue to dwell on that. We want to achieve a good result on Saturday.”

Yusuf, who is on a very familiar terrain, stressed that the team that will go out on Saturday may not be radically different from the line-up he featured in the first leg.

“It is going to be more like 88 to 90 percent of the team we presented in Ghana last Sunday. Remember that Sadiq Abubakar was injured in a moment we thought should

Super Eagles B at training inside the MKO Abiola National Stadium, Abuja... yesterday have produced a penalty kick for us. He has not recovered fully and so may not feature.”

Antony...headlines summer transfer window

The Eagles B have continued their build-up for the return leg against the Galaxies of Ghana billed

Aubameyang... Chelsea switch not confirmed last night

for Saturday, 3rd Septemberin Abuja. The winner on aggregate will qualify for Algeria 2023.

Akanji...lands in Man City

Antony, Akanji, Arthur, Others Move in Summer Window Aubameyang’s switch from Barca to Chelsea was also on the card The summer transfer window ended last night with Manchester United’s £82million signing of Brazil winger Antony from Ajax headlining the window.

The deal, which includes a potential 5m euros (£4.3m) of add-ons, is the fourth most expensive signing in Premier League history.

The 22-year-old has signed a contract until 2027, with the option of an additional year.

"This is an incredible moment in my career to join one of the most iconic clubs in the world," said Antony.

"I'm thankful to everyone who has believed in me, especially my family, and all my coaches and team-mates, because I could not have got here without them.

D E A D L I N E DAY T R A N S F E R S "Playing under Erik ten Hag at Ajax was perfect for me and my development. His style of football and coaching brings out the best in me, and I am excited by what he has told me about his plans and ambitions in Manchester."

Also headlining the Summer Transfer Window is the expected Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang expected switch from Barcelona to Chelsea while Nigerian born Swiss defender, Manuel Akanji, also completed move to Manchester City amongst other transfers that happened on the deadline day.

Aubameyang scored 13 goals in 24 appearances for Barcelona after joining the Spanish club

in February from Arsenal. As at close of the transfer window at 11pm, there was no official statement from either Camp Nou or Stamford Bridge on the deal.

According to 90min discussions veered away from a straight-cash deal for between Chelsea and Barca. A swap deal involving left-back Marcos Alonso is believed to be part of the £10m agreement.

The 33-year-old had a buyout clause of 100m euros(£83.4m) in his contract, but has only played eight minutes this season.

The former Gabonese forward scored 92 goals in 163 games in all competitions for Arsenal, but left on a free transfer after falling

out with manager Mikel Arteta.

Elsewhere, Manchester City finalised the signing of centreback Manuel Akanji from Borussia Dortmund.

The Swiss international had entered the final 12 months of his contract with Dortmund and moves to City for a fee of around £17million and has signed a five-year contract.

Akanji becomes City's fifth signing of the summer, following Erling Haaland, Kalvin Phillips, Sergio Gomez and Stefan Ortega “I am delighted to be here, and can’t wait to get started,” Akanji said.

Liverpool also completed talk with Juventus over a loan deal for Brazilian midfielder Arthur, sources have confirmed to 90min.

Friday September 2, 2022

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Price: N250

MISSILE Gov Ortom to Miners

“We know that there are some Miners with licences from the Federal Government because it is the responsibility of the Federal Government to grant licences.

We know that some of the miners don’t have licences, we have foreigners and indigenous ones among them. As a result of the danger the activities of the miners pose in the state, we hereby suspend all mining activities in the state “ –Benue State Governor, Samuel Ortom, suspending mining, to tackle insecurity.

AKINOSUNTOKUN DIALOGUE WITH NIGERIA

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akinosuntokun@thisdaylive.com

Two of A Kind

hat are the corollaries of either the All Progressive Congress, APC or the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP winning the 2023 presidential election?

If Governor Bola Ahmed Tinubu ticket wins the election, the immediate consequence is the deepening of the religious cleavage between Christian and Islam. And it will feature with particular intensity in the Middle Belt region.

The potential crisis it will generate is predictable and the problem is entirely of his own making.

The cynical ploy to weaponise religion as an instrument of political mobilisation echoes the wise saying that politicians look towards the next election while statesmen look at the next generation. In the short term it is guaranteed to heighten religious tension and chauvinism.

It is the sort of scenario that will embolden and promote the mentality that resulted in the savage murder of Deborah in sokoto. Equally, it is going to stoke and perpetuate the kind of fear that compelled Vice President Atiku Abubakar to withdraw his condemnation of what was objectively and clearly a despicable crime of Deborah’s murder. On Friday afternoons the country will be treated to the symbolic spectacle of the front page display of president Tinubu and vice president Kashim Shettima observing ablution at the national mosque in Abuja. Never mind that their religious posturing and that of a good chunk of the Nigerian elite are a mimicry of religious piety.

Parallel to the demonstration of this dubious religious insensitivity at the highest level will be the relentless campaign of terror and carnage of the alternative government of Nigeria aka Boko Haram, Miyetti Allah, Iswap and the fulani militia. In response to this menace, either of the two is liable to deploy a characteristic penchant to respond to political problems with what the late chief Anthony enahoro called ‘subversive generosity’. We can presently recall how the presidential primaries of the two parties practically metamorphose to financial bazaar at the behest of the two winners. If morning shows the day, Nigerians no longer need any evidence to arrive at the conclusion that fighting corruption is not likely to be the priority of these twins.

Tinubu A banter that is making the rounds of late is that both of them believe that ‘what money cannot solve, more money will solve it’. A gifted raconteur of language, ‘subversive generosity’ was the apt vocabulary Enahoro deployed to characterise the vaunted reputation of president Ibrahim Babangida for buying (settling) off critics and opponents of his regime.

I developed a quite close. relationship with him after his tour of duty as president and my early impression of him was that kindness and empathy come to him naturally. He has such a large heart and really doesn’t know how to say no to any request made of him.

I often wondered aloud at the paradox of how to reconcile the contemporary Babangida with the devil may care adventurous young military officer whose trademark include the personification of any successful military coup in Nigeria. I detest glorifying the civil war in any shape or manner and so I have to crave the indulgence of those who may

feel offended in choosing to employ the tragedy to make a point. It was in the unique circumstances of this tragedy that Babangida typically demonstrated uncommon bravery.

He got injured in the thick of battle and was consequently repatriated to the University of Lagos medical hospital. His medical attendants were confounded by his incessant harassment to be quickly discharge so he could return to the war front in quick order.

Babangida is not the subject matter of this column, I just found myself drifting into it as an irresistible behavioural analogy and latterly as a subconscious atonement to mitigate the tone deaf critical piece I did on him on the occasion of his 80th birthday. Given his general genial patriarchal disposition he deserves all the encomiums he could get on his special day regardless of a controversial past. At the end of the day, we are all human after all. The point I wanted to make was that in their penchant for “subversive generosity’ both Tinubu and Atiku are cut of the same wood with IBB. And it is a character trait that has proven decisive in their successful political careers.

If either of them ever becomes president, it is a safe bet to speculate that the first item on their menu is going to be the appeasement of sundry bandits and terrorists with tons of cash and it will work in the near term.

What may prove overwhelming to the next Nigerian president is the inheritance of the buhari legacy of incipient civil war and a collapsing economy. Reinforced with escalating inflation the plunging Nigerian naira incrementally impoverish each and everyone of us.

And then when it all bottoms out with no prospect of where the next meal is coming from, the downtrodden otherwise known as the lumpen proletariat will react in the same manner they have done down the ages. In the wisecrack of late professor Sam Aluko, the rich cannot sleep because the poor are hungry. Given the magnitude of this disastrous trajectory it is a moot point whether Nigeria will even be in a position to hold any election come 2023.

And this is where the incurably defective

ticket of Tinubu and Atiku will encounter their nemesis. The logic is quite simple, you cannot respond to the extant deep division of Nigerians with more divisive instrumentality -inherent in their presidential tickets. What Nigeria does not need now is the prospect of another fulani moslem successor to Buhari who had chosen to reward the pan Nigeria goodwill that brought him to office with an unprecedented and unparalleled assault on the tenuous thread holding Nigeria together.

Both tickets are inherently and manifestly divisive.

Rather than assuage the Nigerian reality of ethno regional /religious cleavages they have deliberately chosen to aggravate them and worsen the North /South and Christian /muslim division in the singular pursuit of the short term goal of winning elections.

There is a reason the principle of presidential rotation of power between the North and South commended itself to Nigeria in the first place. Is the underlying imperative of political stability and national integration no longer of consequence?. If the rotation of power between the North and the South is predicated on the principle of fairness and equity, is the South not bound to exercise same principles in determining which of the three zones is most deserving of the concession?

But because God is not yet done with Nigeria, he contrived the emergence of Peter Obi as a compelling presidential candidate in his own right regardless of the adjunct complement of his Igbo origin. In Nigeria today especially among the younger generation, he is easily the most unifying national symbol. There is a dimension of the prevalent political crisis that may have eluded the discernment of Nigerian commentators and observers. And that is the platform obi has created which has availed the frustrated and bitter young Nigerians an avenue to channel their pent up anger and frustrations. Were they limited to the inevitability of Atiku and Tinubu, it will be difficult to contain the accompanying despair and hopelessness. There is the allied utility and potential of Obi’s candidacy to serve as the springboard for political leadership recruitment among the younger generation.

Between Tinubu and Afenifere W Seun Kolade

hen Afenifere recently announced its support for Peter Obi’s presidential candidacy, under the auspices of the labour party, not a few were taken by surprise, for various reasons.

Perhaps the most vocal have been political associates and supporters of former Governor Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the presidential candidate of APC. Tinubu’s supporters argued, in effect, that the fundamental principle of self-preservation dictated that Yoruba’s leading socio-political organisation must give support to “one of their own”, in spite of any grievances they may have about Tinubu’s flaws and past failings.

The argument went further: to discountenance Tinubu’s candidacy is to work against Yoruba interest. The logic

of self-preservation advanced by Tinubu’s supporters, is peculiarly ironic, given Tinubu’s open and frequent repudiation of the Yoruba cause over the years. When Yorubaland reels under incessant attacks of terrorists and kidnappers, Tinubu said and did very little. Lagos state, which he still rules by proxy, is the least engaged of all the southwestern states in the collaborative efforts to combat terrorist activities in the land, including through the formation of Amotekun In spite of all desperate efforts by his followers to whitewash his profile, the man has shown over the past decades that he is a ruthlessly ambitious operator who is ready to sacrifice anything and anyone in the pursuit of his personal ambition. He is interested in self-preservation only to the extent that it applies to his personal ambition. Yoruba Nation can go to blazes. In

mocking the death of Fasoranti’s daughter and openly repudiating Yoruba causes time and again, he was deliberately ingratiating himself to the Northern power brokers who style themselves as the custodian of political power in Nigeria. This is the same with his incoherent response to the END SARS protest.

Indeed, he probably consider the backlash to his silence and perceived complicity as a badge of honour with which he can woo the Northern political elite.

As for the so-called “OBIDIENTS” feeling pleasantly surprised with Afenifere’s endorsement of Obi, they easily forget that Afenifere has always taken a moral stand, often against the current of popular opinion.

They warned against Buhari’s candidature back in 2015, when many unsuspecting citizens were swindled by a dubious narrative of a “born-again” General Buhari. They supported Jonathan on the basis of the latter’s support

for a sovereign national conference, something that was ultimately undertaken too late to make a difference.

Afenifere is a human organisation with its own flaws and weaknesses, but on the most important issues of the day, it has demonstrated, time again, its moral authority and capacity to see through and beyond the artifices and machinations of temporary political considerations. It is the moral conscience, not only of the Yoruba, but the Nigerian nation.

It has nothing to prove. And this is why the next point is important: Afenifere supports Obi’s candidacy not merely because he is Igbo, but because he is the one candidate that has openly and credibly committed to restructuring, and he is the only candidate with which Afenifere and the coalition of southern and middle belt leaders can work to achieve the restructuring of the Nigerian pseudo-federal nation-state.

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