THURSDAY 22TH OCTOBER 2020

Stock Market Loses N113bn as Investor Confidence Dampens Goddy Egene and Chris Uba The stock market lost N113 billion yesterday as investors’ appetite, which has been high for days became dampened due to the tensed security situation in the country.

The market had remained

stable since Monday with marginal gains following profit taking after weeks of a bull run.

However, investors reduced their demand for equities yesterday as they reacted to the prevailing security situation after some #EndSARS

protesters at Lekki Tollgate, Lagos were shot by the military on Tuesday.

The Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) All-Share Index declined by 0.75 per cent from 28.665.82 to 28,449.49, while market capitalisation shed N113 billion from N14.983

trillion to N14.870 trillion.

Market operators said most investors were showing more concern about their safety first before thinking of investing.

According to a stockbroker, most people are monitoring the environment and watching how the government will

handle the situation, rather than in investing.

Also, the Nigerian Employers’ Consultative Association (NECA) has reiterated that the protests will negatively impact on the economy.

The Director-General of

NECA, Mr. Timothy Olawale, told THISDAY that “protest is legal and a fundamentally guaranteed right of Nigerians to draw government’s attention to the need to take drastic action as regards reforms in Continued on page 8

Bandits Slay 20 in Fresh Killings in Zamfara... Page 5 Thursday 22 October, 2020 Vol 25. No 9327. Price: N250

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Hoodlums Take over Lagos, Torch Public, Private Assets Sanwo-Olu apologises, sues for peace Our Correspondents Despite the 24-hour curfew imposed by the Lagos State Governor, Mr. BabajideSanwo-Olu, to curb the spread of violence arising from the #EndSARS protests,

hoodlums still took over the state yesterday, unleashing mayhem, and burning public and private assets.

Sanwo-Olu, however, apologised for the action of the soldiers that fatally dispersed Lekki protesters

Enugu, Ebonyi, Rivers declare curfew

on Tuesday, clarifying that no state governor in the country controls the rules of engagement of the military, blaming forces beyond his control for the violent crackdown.

More violence also erupted

yesterday in Ebonyi, Ondo, Kano, Edo, Osun, Rivers, and Enugu states.

Following the increasing violence in their states, Governors Dave Umahi of Ebonyi State, Nyesom Wike of Rivers State, and Ifeanyi

Ugwuanyi of Enugu State imposed a curfew to curb the spread of mayhem unleashed by hoodlums.

As hoodlums took over Lagos yesterday, some of the facilities affected include the Nigerian Ports Authority

(NPA) headquarters in, which was set ablaze; Sanwo-Olu’s family home; BRT terminals at Oyingbo and Berger; Lagos Television (LTV); Television Continental (TVC); and The Continued on page 7

Crackdown on Protesters Premature, Obasanjo, Atiku, Soyinka tell Buhari Guterres, Clinton, Biden, Akufo-Addo, others call for restraint Presidency urges calm DHQ mum, speaks today Kingsley Nweze, Chuks Okocha, Adedayo Akinwale, Udora Orizu in Abuja, Chiemelie Ezeobi in Lagos, Kayode Fasua in Abeokuta and Yinka Kolawole in Osogbo Eminent personalities, including former President Olusegun Obasanjo; former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, and Nobel laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka, yesterday faulted Tuesday’s military crackdown on unarmed protesters at the Lekki Tollgate, Lagos, describing it as premature.

The incident also elicited reactions from the United Nations Secretary-General, Mr. António Guterres; a former

United States President, Mr. Bill Clinton; former US Vice President, Mr. Joe Biden; United Kingdom’s Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, Mr. Dominic Raab; President Nana Akufo-Addo of Ghana; the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby; the European Union, and the Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Ogunwusi.

They expressed concern about the shooting of the protesters and called for restraint.

However, while the Defence Headquarters (DHQ) remained mum but has promised to brief Continued on page 7

FACE OF RAGE...

BRT buses set ablaze by hoodlums in Berger, Lagos… yesterday

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NEWS Bandits Slay 20 in Fresh Killings in Zamfara Group News Editor Ejiofor Alike

Email Ejiofor.Alike@thisdaylive.com, 08066066268

Onuminya Innocent in Sokoto Bandits have killed 20 persons in Tungar Kwana, a village in Zamfara State, for giving information to security agencies about their operations.

Although sources in the village situated in Talata-

Mafara Local Government Area (LGA) of the state said 22 people were killed on Tuesday night, the state police command confirmed 20 deaths.

The attackers, numbering over 100, were said to have invaded the village around midnight and shot people indiscriminately.

A source in the village said the 22 people, including children and women, were killed instantly, while others were injured.

The injured victims, according to him, are receiving treatment in the hospital.

The bandits also reportedly stole many cows, sheep,

goats and foodstuffs after the village was deserted for fear of their return.

Confirming the incident, the spokesperson for the police command, Mr. Mohammed Shehu, a Superintendent of Police (SP), said: “The police have confirmed the killing of 20 people in that village but not 22.”

Shehu explained that the bandits targeted the villagers because they gave information to security agents, which led to the killing of some of the criminals last week.

“The villagers told the security agents useful information about some bandits who rustled cows last week and the information had

assisted greatly in locating and killing many of them.

“Since that time, the bandits were targeting the villagers in order to avenge the killing of their people,” he said.

He said the police had drafted a squad to the village to arrest the bandits and bring them to justice.

APC, PDP in Verbal War over Sponsorship of Protests Chuks Okocha and Adedayo Akinwale in Abuja The ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) yesterday engaged in a war of words over the sponsorship and killing of #EndSARS protesters.

While the PDP charged President Muhammadu Buhari and the APC to take responsibility for the shooting and killing of peaceful and unarmed young protesters by military operatives at Lekki Toll Gate in Lagos on Tuesday, the APC accused the leaders of the main opposition party of playing politics with the protests.

In a statement issued yesterday by the National Publicity Secretary of the PDP, Mr. Kola Ologbondiyan, the PDP said as the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, the bulk stopped at the table of Buhari and that he should take responsibility for what happened.

The PDP said: "Our party is, however, shocked at President Buhari’s stance, particularly his inability to demonstrate the capacity for concerned, attentive and proactive governance and command structure, while the nation he presides over dangerously slides into anarchy.

"A well-structured governance response from Mr. President, as the father of the nation, would have calmed frayed nerves and averted the crisis, violence, deaths, destruction of property and the avoidable loses we are witnessing today."

The party said it was heart-rending that the once united, viable, resilient and cohesive nation handed over to Buhari in 2015 is fast

collapsing in his hands.

PDP explained that in countries where presidents are alive to the demands of their offices, such countries would not be in turmoil with citizens being murdered in cold blood as witnessed in the country in the last 48 hours, yet the citizenry cannot find their president or prime minister coming out personally to offer consolation, provide direction and give hope.

The main opposition party said that the video showing police vans and vehicles belonging to other security agencies bringing in and coordinating armed thugs to attack peaceful protesters in Abuja points to serious complicity in high places.

According to the PDP, the ruling party and its agents in government circles had kept mute over reports in the public space that they are behind the deployment of the armed thugs to infiltrate peaceful protests and perpetrate acts of violence so as to discredit the demonstration and justify their attacks on protesters.

PDP said that the unexplained dismantling of security cameras and lights at the Lekki Tollgate before military operatives opened fire on peaceful protesters, further points to high-level conspiracy against Nigerians.

"Such unleashing of terror against peaceful demonstrators exposes a dangerous recourse to barefaced brutality, violence and killing to suppress and subjugate the Nigerian people,” it said, adding: "Today, under the APC, our streets are stained with the blood of our promising young ones. Our highways have been turned into battlegrounds where thugs and security operatives

mow down citizens and destroy property with reckless abandon."

But in a swift reaction, the ruling APC accused the leaders of the PDP of playing politics with the protests.

The Deputy National Publicity Secretary of the party, Mr. Yekini Nabena, in a statement issued yesterday, said since the protest started, the PDP had taken over the social media, making various unguarded assertions thereby fueling the protest.

It alleged that it was on record that one of the leaders of the protests in Akwa Ibom State had publicly admitted that the Governor, Mr. Udom Emmanuel, gave N4 million for onward sharing to the protesting youths in Uyo, the state capital.

It alleged that one Kufre Carter, who was one of the organisers of the protest reportedly said he got a call from the governor’s aide on youth matters whom he said told him that the governor gave N4 million to

be shared to the protesters.

The APC stated: "The governing All Progressives Congress (APC) will not [take] issues with the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) on the development, which the #ENDSARS protest has taken.

"The party will rather place on record how PDP and its leaders are directly and indirectly sponsoring the protests and playing politics with the development.

"The APC caretaker

committee Chairman, Governor Mai Mala Buni of Yobe state, has rightly noted the hidden agenda in the protests."

It said all leaders, including the PDP’s, should know that it is only when the country exists in peace that one can achieve their goals, saying no one can be a leader through chaos.

The ruling party appealed to the protesting youths to give dialogue and peace a chance while ignoring insensitive fuelling by the PDP.

AFTER THE JAILBREAK...

Controller of Correctional Services, Edo State Command, Mr. Babayo Maisanda (left), and Governor Godwin Obaseki during the governor’s inspection of the damaged section of Medium Security Correctional Centre Oko, Benin City… Wednesday

Southern, M’Belt Leaders Seek ICC’s Probe of Buhari, Sanwo-Olu, Buratai Deji Elumoye and Udora Orizu in Abuja The Southern and Middle Belt Leaders Forum (SMBLF) yesterday called for the investigation and trial of President Muhammadu Buhari; Chief of Army Staff, Lt. General Tukur Buratai, as well as other alleged possible accomplices, including Governor of Lagos State, Mr. Babajide SanwoOlu, by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for the alleged killing of peaceful #EndSARS protesters at the Lekki Tollgate and other parts of the state

on Tuesday.

The forum, in a statement jointly signed by its leaders namely Chief Edwin Clark (South-south), Chief Ayo Adebanjo (South-west), Chief John Nwodo (Southeast) and Dr Pogu Bitrus (Middle Belt) said it was devastated by the killing of the protesters with the kind of force that has yet to be seen even against terrorist Boko Haram by the federal government.

In the statement titled, 'Black Tuesday: Buhari and Co Must Pay for this Genocide,’ the group said it would be cowardice

for them not to have the courage to call on Buhari to step down as president after the killings.

While condoling with all bereaved families, the group said those involved in the killings must be fished out for punishment. ''The killings that claimed scores of lives across cities in Nigeria on Tuesday, 20.10.2020 appeared orchestrated and fangs - baring in the most despotic manner aimed at smashing the #ENDSARS protests that have been in the order of constitutionally recognised right to peaceful

protests,” it said.

It accused the federal government of setting up the protesters for a crackdown by sponsoring hoodlums to infiltrate the protest and attacking the protesters in Lagos and Abuja.

“Buhari’s regime, behaving like a junta that does not brook any opposition, allegedly started sponsoring thugs against the protesters until Tuesday when it removed all gloves,” it said, adding: “In Lekki Tollgate in Lagos that was the Tiananmen Square of the crackdown,

solders openly opened fire on protesters killing them and carting away their bodies.”

It further alleged that the police killed several other protesters in Mushin area and other parts of the state.

It added: “In the Federal Capital Territory, there were also reports of killings of protesters in alleged state-sponsored violence as miscreants from the president's corner of the country were reportedly mobilised to kill protesters.

Killings were reported in other towns and cities across Nigeria. We frown at the

killings of an unspecified number of people in state murders. ''We totally reject the various panels set up in different parts of the country as there is no basis to get justice under this regime as all institutions that can give such are under its armpit. As such, we demand UN-supervised inquiry into this genocide.

The world should remember that it was the extra-judicial killing of Mohammed Yusuf that gave rise to the violent Boko Haram which Nigeria has battled unsuccessfully for 10 years.”

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NEWS

Youth Restiveness Threat to Nigeria, Says ACF John Shiklam in Kaduna The Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) has identified the current youth restiveness as a threat to the wellbeing of Nigeria.

ACF Chairman, Chief Audu Ogbeh, said yesterday in his address during the National Executive Council (NEC) meeting of the forum in Kaduna that the demands of Nigerian youths can no longer be ignored, as doing so would be at the nation's peril.

He said: “We must bring along the youth and reconnect with them, support them and even learn from them. We can no longer ignore them and their demands, as we only do so at our own peril.

“The current restiveness of the youth, particularly, in the North, is a potent threat to the wellbeing of the region and the nation at large.

"It is my hope that now, more than ever before, is the time for all stakeholders to buckle up and save our children and secure their future.”

According to him, the North has many challenges, including security, economic and political issues to deal with.

He stressed the need for the region to re-strategise and refocus its energies towards addressing the challenges through

investment in education, agriculture and industry.

According to him, "We have serious challenges to deal with. These are very well known to all of us.

They are social, economic and political in nature. We can and must confront

them headlong through investment in education, agriculture and industry.

“ACF has come a long way in its mission to safeguard the interest of the North.

“This could be done through the existence of

strong state chapters who should be catalyst for purposeful engagement.”

He urged the leaders to take every step to ensure the existence and strengthening of ACF chapters in their respective states, explaining that

was the way that the organisation’s membership could be expanded and more effective.

"We must be conscious of our unity both in the North and Nigeria at large.

I wish to prevail on you to continue to exercise caution

and passion to strengthen the unity of the nation within our strength,” he stated.

The meeting later moved into a closed-door session and a communiqué is expected to be issued at the end of the deliberations.

NEW HELMSMEN...

L-R: New Ogun State Commissioner for Education, Science and Technology, Prof. Ayobami Arigbabu; Deputy Governor, Mrs. Noimot Salako-Oyedele; Governor Dapo Abiodun, and new Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Mr. Waheed Odusile, after the inauguration of the commissioners in Abeokuta…yesterday

Senate Seeks NECO Suspends Examinations over Protests Nigerian Leaders’ Help to End Youth Protests Laleye Dipo in Minna

Deji Elumoye in Abuja

The Senate yesterday evening solicited the support of all Nigerian leaders across religious, political, ethnic and regional divides to join the government in putting an end to the ongoing #EndSARS protests by youths across the country.

President of the Senate, Dr Ahmad Lawan, who expressed the concern of the upper legislative chamber after a marathon meeting with the Inspector-General of Police, Mr. Mohammad Adamu, and Director-General of the Department of State Services ( DSS), Mr. Yusuf Bichi, said the intervention of leaders at all levels in putting a stop to the protests will come in handy now.

Lawan, who met with the security chiefs along with the entire leadership of the Senate, emphasised that what started as a very legitimate peaceful protest on equally legitimate demands has turned violent and completely hijacked by those who don't know what the #EndSARS protesters were agitating for in the first place.

His words: "The time has come for the hijacked protests to stop, requiring the intervention of leaders at

all levels across the country regardless of religious, ethnic, political differences.

"Those who started the protests are no doubt, Patriots, the very reason the Senate in its first resolution on it two weeks ago, supported them and called on the Federal government to accede to their five-point demand.

"Also at that time, President Muhammadu Buhari also responded well by not only endorsing the disbandment of Special Anti Robbery Squad (SARS) but declaring that holistic reform would be carried out in the Police.

"Our appeal to Nigerians at this time, particularly leaders, is to join the government in bringing an end to the now hijacked protests, for the government to address the issues raised before violence set in."

According to him, Nigerians should not allow themselves to be taken in the wrong direction as being witnessed in some states of the federation.

"The Senate at any time supports legitimate and peaceful protests by any Nigerian or group of Nigerians but not in support of any violent protest," he stressed.

Following the deteriorating security situation in the country occasioned by the #EndSARS protests, the National Examination Council (NECO) has suspended the conduct of the Senior School Certificate Examination (SSCE).

THISDAY learnt that NECO had already directed its examiners and invigilators to return to their various offices and await further instructions.

The decision to stop the conduct of the examination also followed the declaration of 24-hour curfew by some state governors where

violence had trailed the protests.

The examination body had conducted the Economics paper test on Tuesday while the Physics practical took place on Wednesday without some candidates in some states writing the tests because of the protest and curfew.

A circular issued by the Director of Examination Administration at NECO to all its field officers, confirmed the suspension of the examination.

The memo is titled: “Putting on Hold some papers of the Ongoing SSCE.” In the circular, NECO

said: "The Management and Governing Board of the National Examinations Council (NECO) is compelled by circumstances occasioned by the EndSARS protests which led to the imposition of curfews in some states thereby making it difficult for the council to move sensitive materials across the country, to put on hold papers for Thursday, 22; Friday 23 and Saturday, 24, October.

"The papers will be written between November 17 and 19, after computer practical paper on the 16 October. "Examinations will continue on October 27.

"All officers are hereby

directed to return to base and await further directives on October 25.

"State ministries of education, schools, parents, supervisors, monitoring officers and other stakeholders should be adequately sensitised."

A senior official of NECO had also told THISDAY that it was difficult for the body to continue to conduct the examinations in the present circumstance.

NECO had earlier announced that it had rescheduled one of its SSCE papers, the Computer Studies practical paper 1 earlier scheduled to take place on October 19.

Fashola: FG Owes Road Contractors N392bn Deji Elumoye in Abuja

The Minister of Works and Housing, Mr. Babatunde Fashola, yesterday put the debt the federal government owes contractors for 711 ongoing road projects nationwide at N392 billion.

The minister, at the ministry's 2021 budget defence session before the Senate Committee on Works, said the N392 billion debt profile was higher than the N276 billion proposed as budgetary allocation for road projects in 2021.

Fashola added that with the situation on the ground, new projects would be stopped while ongoing ones should be prioritised towards achieving completion of some of them.

According to him, N6.62trillion is needed by the government to complete the 711 road projects, adding that the resources are not available.

He said: "We do not have the resources that we need to fix our road infrastructure at once - the very reason why we need to prioritise what want to do.

“The situation on ground requires us to cut our coat according to our cloth and not according to our size because no goodwill comes out of more new road projects now".

The minister, however, explained that in order to remedy the situation, the 711 projects have been categorised into four areas for funding and execution.

He stated that the

first categorisatiom is the highway projects financed with Presidential Infrastructure Development Fund ( PIDF) which covers projects such as Lagos Shagamu - Ibadan dual carriageway, 2nd Niger Bridge and rehabilitation of Abuja - Kaduna-Kano dual carriageway.

The second are highway projects financed with the Sovereign Sukuk Fund, totalling 44 roads across the six geo-political zones .

Third, are highway projects financed under tax credit some which are Lokoja- Obajana - Kabba - Ilorin road, Apapa Wharf Road in Lagos State, Apapa - Oworonsoki - Ojota Expressway etc.

Those in the fourth category are highway

projects funded from multilateral loans.

Fashola added that the ministry has given priority to 18 roads/bridges projects on which work had advanced and within a completion period of 12 -15 months.

When the Chairman of the committee, Senator Adamu Aliero, advised the minister on the possibility of utilising the fund in the National Pension Commission (PENCOM), to execute some of the road projects, Fashola said he was not in a position to do that.

"The Central Bank of Nigeria ( CBN) seems to be in the best position to work out such arrangement.

It will be helpful if that type of funding can be put together," the minister said.

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PAGE SEVEN CRACKDOWN ON PROTESTERS PREMATURE, OBASANJO, ATIKU, SOYINKA TELL BUHARI journalists on the shooting incident today, the presidency appealed for understanding and calm nationwide.

In a statement yesterday, Obasanjo urged the protesters to give peace a chance as they go about making their legitimate demands.

He also counselled President Muhammadu Buhari against the continued application of brute force to put down the protests.

In the statement titled, "Violence against Protesters in Nigeria: An Appeal for Calm,” the former president advised the president to also restrain the military and other security agencies from using brute force.

"The shooting and murder of unarmed protesters, no matter the level of provocation, has never been effective in suppressing public anger and frustration,” Obasanjo said, explaining: "Instead, such actions only reinforce the anger and the frustration of the populace and close the window of dialogue and peaceful resolution.”

He added: "It is clear that Mr. President and his lieutenants did exhaust the opportunities for dialogue with the protesters before resorting to use of force.

"It is worse that there is a denial of wrongdoing in spite of overwhelming visual evidence. Great harm has been done but it can be stopped before it completely spirals out of control."

The former president stated that the country was at a critical moment and that the president must act immediately before it is too late. “This time demands leadership and mature leadership at such,” he said firmly.

He acknowledged the efforts of Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos State for taking the demands of the protesters to Buhari, saying, however, that the federal government could have acted more quickly on the demands even as he urged to protesters to calm down give time for the implementation of the demands the administration had committed itself to.

Soyinka called on governors where protests forced declaration of curfews to immediately demand the withdrawal of soldiers deployed by the federal government.

The playwright, in a statement from his residence in Abeokuta, Ogun State, titled, ‘DÉJÀ VU– In tragic vein’ said it was bliss to be alive to watch youths finally beginning to take the future into their own hands.

Soyinka said with the protesters’ roadblocks in Ogun State and elsewhere, it was all déjà vu– the uprisings in the former Western Region of Nigeria and the antiAbacha movement among others.

“To the affected governors all over the nation, there is one immediate step to take: demand the withdrawal of those soldiers. Convoke town hall meetings as a matter of urgency. 24-hour curfews are not the solution. Take over the security of your people with whatever resources you can rummage. Substitute community self-policing based on local councils, to curb hooligan infiltration and extortionist and destructive opportunism. We commiserate with the bereaved and urge state governments to compensate material losses, wherever,” he said.

He told the federal government that the army had now replaced the SARS in the demonic album of the protesters.

“My enquiry so far indicates that the Lagos governor did not invite the army, did not complain of a ‘breakdown in law and order. Nevertheless, the centre has chosen to act in an authoritarian manner and has inflicted a near incurable wound on the community psyche. Need I add that, on arrival in Abeokuta, my hometown, I again had to negotiate a roadblock? That went smoothly enough. I expected it, and have no doubt that more are being erected as this is being written,” the Nobel laureate stated.

Atiku in a broadcast also called on the federal government to restrain the armed forces from further attacking the campaigners.

The former vice president who said that he was heartbroken at the turn of events, sent condolences to the families of those attacked by the military and the hired hoodlums that attacked the campaigners.

Atiku also called on Buhari to speak to Nigerians.

He said: "I call on our armed forces to show

restraint. No more lives must be lost - absolutely none. We must face our common enemies, not our brothers and sisters. And our foes are the terrorists and insurgents, who seek to end the Nigerian way of life."

In a tweet yesterday, Clinton expressed concern over reports of violence in Lagos and urged the “Nigerian government to engage in peaceful dialogue with the EndSARS protesters for police reform and an end to corruption.”

Biden has also called on Buhari and the military to stop the violent crackdown on protesters.

Biden, in a statement, titled, ‘Violence in Nigeria – Statement by Vice President Joe Biden,’ said the United States must stand with Nigerians who are peacefully demonstrating for police reform and seeking an end to corruption.

He said: “I urge President Buhari and the Nigerian military to cease the violent crackdown on protesters in Nigeria, which has already resulted in several deaths. My heart goes out to all those who have lost a loved one in the violence.

“The United States must stand with Nigerians who are peacefully demonstrating for police reform and seeking an end to corruption in their democracy. I encourage the government to engage in a good-faith dialogue with civil society to address these long-standing grievances and work together for a more just and inclusive Nigeria.”

The Ghanaian President, Akufo-Addo, assured Nigerians that he had spoken with Buhari and that the president had begun the process that would lead to reforming the police and other demands.

He stated that violence on the part of the police or protesters could not be the solution to resolving the crisis.

Akufo-Addo expressed his condolences to the bereaved families and wished the injured a speedy recovery.

“I join all well-meaning persons in calling for calm, and the use of dialogue in resolving the #EndSARS impasse in Nigeria. I have spoken with President Buhari, who is committed to this end, and has begun the processes that will lead to reform.

“Violence, be it on the part of the police or protesters,

HOODLUMS TAKE OVER LAGOS, TORCH PUBLIC, PRIVATE ASSETS

Nation Newspapers.

THISDAY gathered that NPA workers escaped death as part of the building was set ablaze by the hoodlums.

The fire torched over five floors of the ninestorey building, invaded by hoodlums numbering over 50.

However, there was no official statement from the agency as all efforts to speak with the General Manager, Corporate Communications, Mr. Adams Jatto, proved abortive.

Confirming the attack on The Nation Newspaper, the Editor of the paper, Mr. Adeniyi Adesina, said in a statement last night that armed men on motorcycles invaded the headquarters of the paper on Fatai Atere Way, Matori in Lagos yesterday afternoon.

He said: “In a commando-

like manner, they kicked their way into the premises after scaring away the security men on duty, brandishing their sophisticated guns.

“They poured petrol on the frontage of the building and set fire to it.

“Some of the vehicles parked within the premises were also set ablaze.

“Hundreds of boys that followed the men on motorbike swooped on the office and looted everything they could lay their hands on.

“These include desktop computers, laptops, air conditioners and other office equipment.”

Adesina further disclosed that at the time of the attack, the Managing Director and Editor-in-Chief Mr. Victor Ifijeh, was among those trapped within the office while the fire raged on.

He added that they were, however, evacuated when men of Operation MESA security outfit arrived.

He described the incident as a targeted attack on the free press.

“The Nation had been listed on Twitter and other social media platforms, being promoted by sympathisers of the ongoing destructive activities, as a target of attack.

“The Nation has robustly reported the protests fairly, giving voice to the agitation of youths for a better Nigeria.

“The management is at a loss as to why the company should be a target of such an unwarranted attack,” he said.

The hoodlums, who claimed to be enraged by the attack on protesters at the Lekki Tollgate, also went on

cannot be the solution,” he said.

The United Nations Secretary-General, Guterres, also called for an end to police brutality and attack on #EndSARS protesters in Nigeria.

Guterres condemned the killing of activists demanding police reforms in Lagos and other parts of the country.

The UN boss, in a statement yesterday, also expressed his condolences to the bereaved families and wished a speedy recovery to those injured.

He called on the authorities to investigate the incidents and hold the perpetrators accountable.

According to a statement from his office: “The secretarygeneral is following recent developments in Nigeria and calls for an end to reported police brutality and abuses.

“He condemns the violent escalation on October 20 in Lagos which resulted in multiple deaths and caused many injuries.

“The secretary-general urges the security forces to act at all times with maximum restraint while calling on protestors to demonstrate peacefully and to refrain from violence.”

The European Union (EU) also expressed shock over the killings of the #EndSARS protesters.

The EU said this yesterday in a statement titled, ‘Statement by the High Representative/VicePresident, Josep Borrell’.

“It is alarming to learn that several people have been killed and injured during the ongoing protests against the Special Anti-Robbery Squad in Nigeria. It is crucial that those responsible for abuses be brought to justice and held accountable. Following the government’s will to deliver on reforms, we expect to see decisive implementation,” it stated.

The Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, condemned the shooting of protesting youths at Lekki and other parts of the country.

The world leader of the Anglican Church, who is also Buhari’s personal friend, said he had earlier advised the president to ensure that lives are protected.

Welby made his position on the shooting known in a message he posted on his Twitter handle, @JustinWelby.

“I condemn in the strongest terms the reported deliberate

shooting of unarmed protesters in #Lagos and other parts of #Nigeria.

“I have urged President @ MBuhari directly to ensure that lives are protected – and I say that again now.

“I mourn for Nigeria.

May God save Nigeria,” he tweeted.

The Economic Community of West Africa States (ECOWAS) expressed concern over the protest against police brutality by the youth that has turned violent.

It called on the federal government to probe the misconduct of the disbanded SARS. The President of the Commission, Mr. Jean-Claude Brou, in a statement yesterday, urged security operatives to exercise restraint in the handling of the protests and act professionally.

"While ECOWAS Commission recognises the rights of citizens to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly and protests, it is also of the view that those rights should be exercised in a non-violent manner.

“In this regard, ECOWAS Commission calls on all protesters to remain peaceful in the conduct of their demonstrations. It also urges the Nigerian security operatives to exercise restraint in the handling of the protests and act professionally,” it said.

The Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Ogunwusi, yesterday urged the federal government to prosecute the soldiers involved in the dastardly attack.

He also advised that government should separate the peaceful protesters from the perpetrators of crimes.

The monarch described the Lekki Tollgate protesters as descent Nigerian youths with a high sense of patriotism to their country.

Adeyeye also announced plans by traditional rulers in Nigeria to mediate between the federal government and organisers of the #EndSARS movement.

In a statement signed by his Director, Media and Public Affairs, Mr. Moses Olafare, the monarch said the decision of the authorities to protect public facilities was necessary but should not include military engagement of the unarmed protesting youths.

Also reacting to the shooting of the protesters, the Speaker of the House of

a rampage to burn residential houses of perceived enemies, police divisions and outposts, hospitality centres, emergency and safety offices and equipment.

In the fray, so many fatalities and casualties were recorded on the civilian and police side, as well as journalists who were attacked by the mob.

In Surulere, the family house of Sanwo-Olu was reportedly set ablaze by an irate crowd while the palace of the Oba of Lagos, Oba Rilwanu Akiolu, at Iga Idugaran on the Island, was vandalised by youths in the area.

Although they couldn’t gain access to the monarch, they vandalised his palace and made away with his staff of office.

It took the intervention of the military to douse the

situation in the palace and regain control.

Also affected were several BRT buses that were burnt at Berger, as well as parts of Lagos City Mall, Igbosere Magistrate Court and IbejuLekki Local Government Secretariat.

The angry mob set ablaze facilities in Jakande, Lekki, while a Shoprite Mall in Sangotedo was looted.

The irate youths also stormed Television Continental (TVC) and set it ablaze with the staff on duty.

Again, it took concerted efforts from the deployment of anti-riot policemen before the staff could escape to safety.

Reporters attached to African Independent Television (AIT) and Continued on page 8

Representatives, Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila, described the killings as disturbing and not reflective of Nigeria’s growing democracy.

Gbajabiamila, who expressed grief over the sad event and the consequent civil disturbances around the state, called for a thorough investigation into the incident.

In a statement issued yesterday by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Mr. Lanre Lasisi, the speaker said Nigerians deserved an account of the acts that led to the events of Tuesday night.

While urging Nigerians to remain calm and law-abiding, Gbajabiamila noted that no blood needed to be spilled anymore.

Presidency Urges Calm Amid rising tension over the shooting, the presidency has appealed for understanding and calm.

Presidential spokesman, Mr. Femi Adesina, in a statement yesterday, also reiterated what it described as the full commitment of the Buhari’s administration to the implementation of lasting police reforms in Nigeria.

The statement quoted Buhari as reaffirming his commitment to supporting state governments to ensure that justice is achieved for all victims of police brutality in Nigeria.

It said at the last count, no fewer than 13 states had established the judicial panel of inquiry as resolved by the National Economic Council (NEC) to address the redress and justice for victims of police brutality.

It said the president commended the promptness of these necessary subnational actions.

The states that have set up the panels so far are Lagos, Kaduna, Delta, Ekiti, Ogun, Anambra, Enugu, Imo, Plateau, Edo, Nasarawa, Ondo and Akwa Ibom.

It recalled that the president had in June 2019 signed a bill establishing the Police Trust Fund, to mobilise additional funding for the welfare and equipping of the Nigeria Police Force.

"The presidency appeals for understanding and calm across the nation, as the implementation of the reforms gather pace at federal and states," it stated.

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THURSDAY, ͺͺ˜ ͺ͸ͺ͸ ˾ T H I S D AY

8

NEWS

Osinbajo Promises Justice for Lekki Tollgate Victims Federal legislators call for prosecution of killer-soldiers Deji Elumoye and Udora Orizu in Abuja Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo (SAN) yesterday expressed his condolences for the victims of last Tuesday’s military clampdown on protesting youths at the Lekki Tollgate, promising to ensure that the perpetrators of the killings would be brought to justice.

“My heart goes out to all the victims of the Lekki shootings, and also the policemen and all other men and women who lost their lives in the past few days in different parts of Lagos and other states,” he said in a series of Tweets.

He stated: “I spoke to some of those in hospital.

The pain of these terrible events is palpable in our towns and cities, and some losses are irreplaceable, but we can and will get justice for all of them.

“I stand with Lagos and all other affected states in these trying times.

“We pray we will never see a repeat of these

tragedies in Jesus name.

God bless you all.”

In the same vein, thirty-five members of the National Assembly have called on President Muhammadu Buhari to as a matter of urgency identify all the soldiers who attacked the peaceful demonstrators and prosecute them for murder.

The lawmakers made up of four senators and 31 members of the House of Representatives in a joint statement issued on Wednesday demanded that the perpetrators of this dastardly act and all those who gave the orders should be brought to account in a transparent and accountable manner.

The senators are Olu Adetunmbi, Opeyemi Bamidele, Tolu Odebiyi and Surajudeen Basiru.

The House signatories include Hon. Julius Ihonvbere, Hon. Rimamnde Shawulu Kwewum, Hon. Francis Waive, Hon. Peter Akpatason, Hon. Umeoji Chukwuma, Hon. Kingsley

Chinda, Hon. Abubakar Hassan Nalaraba, Hon Francis Ottah Agbo, Hon. Unyime Idem, Hon. Omowumi Olubunmi Ogunlola, Hon. Ibrahim Kunle Olarewaju, Hon. Segius Ogun, Hon. Preye Oseke, Hon. Ibrahim Obanikoro.

Others are Hon. Bamidele Salam, Hon. Dennis Idahosa, Hon. Nnolim Nnaji, Hon. Benjamin Mzondu, Hon. Timehin Adelegbe, Hon. Taiwo Oluga, Hon. Ben Kalu, Hon. Amos Magaji, Hon Olododo Cook Abdulganiyu Saka, Hon. Igariwey Iduma Enwo, Hon. Olubukola Oyewo, Hon. Tolulope Akande-Sadipe Oluyole, Hon Uzoma Nkem Abonta, Hon. Satomi Alhaji Ahmed, Hon. Wole Oke, Hon. Miriam Onuoha and Hon. Ifeanyi Chudy Momah.

The lawmakers who condemned this action by government and security agencies, said it is inexcusable, totally

unacceptable, adding that there is no justification whatsoever for security officials who are paid with taxpayers’ money to kill unarmed protesters.

The statement read in part; ''We the undersigned are legislators committed to set agenda for progressive laws in Nigeria; initiating progressive laws and speaking against antipeople bills in the National Assembly. We have followed carefully the #ENDSARS protest by young people across Nigeria for the past two weeks and the killings in several cities including Jos, Kaduna, Abuja, Benin and Lagos.'' ''We note that in the recent past, this has been the most elaborate protest that has united young Nigerians across geography, ethnic nationality and religion. We observe that the protest goes beyond the excesses of the police formation called Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS). The protests are as a result of frustration by

Nigerian youths who have seen governments at all level fail to provide public goods and opportunities for them to lead a meaningful life. ''We recognise that over the years, socio-economic indicators in Nigeria have remained precarious. The Fragile state's index has consistently classified Nigeria among the 15 worst states that are failing across the world. We are appalled by the reliance on force, intimidation and manipulation by government and security agencies in an attempt to break the protest rather than utilising globally recognised methods of policing in a democratic society. ''We are enraged by reports of shooting of unarmed, defenceless protesters by military officers at the Lekki toll gate in Lagos after the lights were turned off and CCTV cameras put off. We call on the President to give an immediate order

to all security agencies to stop shooting at protesters.

We call on the President to address the nation and take concrete actions to respond to the demand of the protesters. He should commit in words and action to respect and protect the right to protest. He should publicly invite the leaders of the protesters to an urgent dialogue while assuring them of their safety and that outcomes would be expeditiously implemented. ''We also condemn the attack and burning of properties of innocent citizens and government.

We call on the government to respond expeditiously to the demand of the protesters and other lingering issues of addressing the security architecture of the country and addressing revelations of corruption in many government agencies. As patriots, we will not keep quiet while the country is plunged into crisis under any guise. A stitch in time saves nine.''

steps in addressing the situation and restore peace.

The Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) had estimated that the protests had cost the economy over N700 billion in losses.

The President of LCCI, Mrs. Toki Mabogunje, had said the group was concerned about the negative impact of the development on business activities.

“These actions have been at great cost to the economy

and the welfare of Nigerian citizens. It should be noted that our economy is still reeling from the shocks of the COVID-19 pandemic and struggling to recover from its devastating effects,” she had said.

Also despite the curfew in Edo State, cases of looting have escalated as security patrols appear relaxed over the fear of possible attacks on them by hoodlums.

further notice.

The directive was contained in a statement l by the Commissioner for Information, Mr. Chidi Aroh.

Aroh stated that the decision followed the observed hijack of #EndSARS protests, which had been peaceful in the past days, by miscreants who planned to unleash mayhem.

“The Governor of Enugu State in fulfilment of his primary responsibility of protection of lives and property of all law-abiding residents in the state has, therefore, ordered the imposition of the curfew in the above mentioned local governments, until further notice,” he said.

Wike also announced a 24-hour curfew in parts of Port Harcourt metropolis and Oyigbo Local Government Area following violence and destruction of property by hoodlums.

In a statewide broadcast yesterday, Wike said it had become obvious that the protest had been hijacked by hoodlums to unleash carnage and destroy property.

He stated: "Earlier today, some hoodlums attacked and destroyed police stations and court buildings in Oyigbo Local Government Area of the state.

"Another set of hooligans

were also on a rampage at the Ikokwu spare parts markets disturbing public peace and damaging property."

He said the government would not watch helplessly and allow troublemakers to take the laws into their hands and use the current situation to create a state of panic and insecurity.

According to him, "Consequently, the state’s security council met today and decided to take the following measures to secure lives and property in the state: A 24-hour curfew has been imposed on Mile 1, Mile 2, Emenike, Ikokwu and Iloaubuchi areas of Port Harcourt from 6.30 p.m. today 21st October 2020.

"A 24-hour curfew has been imposed on the entire Oyigbo Local Government Area from 6.30 p.m. today, 21st October 2020; "A 24-hour curfew has also been imposed on Oil mill area in Obio/Akpor Local Government Area; "Security agencies are directed to enforce the curfew with effect from 6.30 p.m. today 21st October 2020."

The Ebonyi State government also declared a 24-hour curfew from 7 pm yesterday till today on the state.

STOCK MARKET LOSES N113BN AS INVESTOR CONFIDENCE DAMPENS all areas of our national life, it is important that the economy should not be brought to its knees in the process.”

He added: “The economy is in tatters, facing the threat of a second recession and unemployment rising to an

unmanageable level, the need to stop the slide is not only urgent but important.

“A consequential effect of the hindered capacity of businesses to function is the higher unemployment rate, further reduction

in disposable income of those left in employment, heightened insecurity with the risk of hoodlums hijacking the peaceful protest among others.”

He urged the government to take cogent and convincing

HOODLUMS TAKE OVER LAGOS, TORCH PUBLIC, PRIVATE ASSETS Silverbird Television were harassed by the mob, who accused them of spying on their activities.

Emergency and safety services were not left out in the attacks as the offices of the Vehicle Inspection Service (VIS) and Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) at Ojodu were razed including their vehicles.

The Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA) also had one of their paramedic interns hit by a bullet while on duty.

Reacting to claims that they refused to help injured Lagos residents, the DG/ CEO LASEMA, Dr. Olufemi Oke-Osanyintolu, said their personnel and vehicles have been under attack and harassment since the protests started and they have struggled to maintain a presence while still keeping their personnel safe.

Reacting to Tuesday incident at the Lekki Tollgate, Sanwo-Olu lamented that the #EndSARS protests in Lagos had been hijacked by criminal elements.

He subsequently extended the curfew by additional 24 hours even as he directed that flags in public buildings in Lagos should fly at halfmast in solidarity with the victims of the protests.

In a statewide broadcast to the people of the state, Sanwo-Olu said that situation took a new turn when criminal elements took over.

He cited several cases of mayhem unleashed by hoodlums.

On the action of the soldiers, he said: "For clarity, it is imperative to explain that no sitting governor controls the rules of engagement of the army."

He said he had nevertheless instructed an investigation into the ordered and the adopted rules of engagement employed by the officers and men of the Nigerian Army deployed in the Lekki Tollgate yesterday.

“I apologise for everything that happened,” Sanwo-Olu said in an effort to assuage the anger in the state.

Violence Worsens in Ebonyi, Edo, Kano, Others In Kano, schools were yesterday closed and business activities brought to a halt at the Sabon-Gari market over the fear of hoodlums’ attack.

Sabon-Gari market is predominantly occupied by non-indigenes.

Schools on the axis were

also closed yesterday to prevent any attack by the hoodlums.

Ondo In Ondo State, protesters burnt the state Secretariat of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Akure, the state capital.

The secretariat was located at the Cathedral area on Oyemekun Road.

The attack came after the protesters attacked the private residence of the APC state Chairman, Mr. Ade Adetimehin, and vandalised three vehicles in the compound.

The Ondo State Police Command also confirmed the burning of the former office of the Special AntiRobbery Squad (SARS) in Akure.

The Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Mr. TeeLeo Ikoro, confirmed the incident.

The Secretariat of the PDP located near the First City Monument Bank (FCMB), Alagbaka, Akure, was also attacked by hoodlums.

The Publicity Secretary of the PDP in the state, Mr. Kennedy Peretei, confirmed the burning of the property.

Edo

Ebonyi In Ebonyi State, protesters numbering over 200 burnt vehicles at the Kpirikpiri police station in Abakaliki, the state capital.

The Police Public Relations Officer of the State Command, DSP Loveth Odah, noted that it was only a car parked in front of the police station that was burnt.

She said: "Apart from a vehicle parked in front of the Kpirikpiri police station, which the owner is yet to be ascertained, that was set ablaze, no other police facility is torched or shall be torched because they will not see such an opportunity."

Umahi, Wike, Ugwuanyi Impose Curfew The outbreak of violence prompted the Enugu State Governor, Ugwuanyi, to impose a 24-hour curfew on Enugu East, Enugu North and Enugu South Local Government Areas, effective from 7 pm yesterday until

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THURSDAY OCTOBER 22, 2020 ˾ T H I S D AY

NEWS

IG Withdraws Police Officers from VIPs Again, FG pledges to implement protesters’ demands Kingsley Nwezeh in Abuja The Inspector-General of Police, Mr. Mohammed Adamu, has ordered the withdrawal of all police officers attached to all very important personalities (VIPs) a in the country with immediate effect.

This is coming as the federal government has pledged to fully implement the demands of the EndSARS protesters for the overall good of policing in Nigeria.

The IG has ordered the withdrawal of policemen attached to VIPs, with the exception of those attached to government houses, the Senate President and the Speaker House of Representatives.

A police wireless message sighted by THISDAY, which was addressed to the Commissioners of Police in the 36 States and dated October 21, 2020, said “any commander who violates this order will bear the consequences.”

The signal further stated that “any protect personnel found escorting or guarding any VIP with or without a firearm is deemed to be deployed by the commander and the commander will be sanctioned.”

Meanwhile, the federal government has pledged to fully implement the demands of the EndSARS protesters for the overall good of policing in Nigeria.

The Minister of Police Affairs, Mr. Muhammad Dingyadi, gave the pledge in a statement issued yesterday by his Press Secretary, Osaigbovo Ehisienmen, in Abuja.

Dingyadi noted that the government had already scrapped the Special Anti Robbery Squad (SARS) as demanded by the protesters.

The minister said that the implementation of other demands were at various stages.

He also noted that many state governments had set up judicial panels to deal with cases of violation of human rights by the ex-SARS operatives.

Dingyadi assured Nigerians that the panels would reel out punishments, and compensate victims with resources put together through the victims’ support fund.

“The creation of Special Weapons and Tactics Team (SWAT), to confront cases of armed robbery, kidnapping, and other violent crimes by the Police signified the commencement of activities to select and train personnel before deploying to the new unit.

“Training for SWAT personnel is ongoing at Nigeria Police Mobile Force training colleges in Osun and Nasarawa states.

“Personnel of defunct SARS are now undergoing debriefing, medical and psychological reevaluation to ascertain their fitness for reassignment in units, different from SWAT,’’ he said.

He also pledged to ensure the full implementation of police reforms to deepen training of personnel, equip and prioritise their welfare needs.

The minister said that work was ongoing to meet three key component demands of the #ENDSARS protesters. Dingyadi regretted that the protest had been hijacked by hoodlums and criminals, who unleashed terror,

Killings, Soldiers’ Deployment, Curfew Won’t End Protests, Says Afe Babalola Victor Ogunje in Ado Ekiti A legal luminary, Chief Afe Babalola (SAN), yesterday said the declaration of curfew, deployment of soldiers and killing of protesters won’t solve the nationwide protests embarked on by the youths to press home bad governance and police brutality.

He said the curfew imposed in some states to quell the crisis would not also work on the premise that the atmosphere has already been charged and needed presidential intervention to bring the violent crises to a halt.

Babalola, therefore, called on President Muhammadu Buhari to alleviate the pains of the suffering masses by addressing the country about his plans to correct perceived injustice being complained by the youths.

The founder of Afe Babalola University, Ado Ekiti, stated this in a statement he made available to journalists in Ado Ekiti, Ekiti State, yesterday.

According to the statement, “Protests against the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS or FSARS) have spread to all parts of Nigeria and beyond.

“The deployment of soldiers to the streets is not the answer.

The imposition of curfews is

certainly not the answer. The use of live bullets and other lethal weapons to kill the protesting youths is not the answer.

“A protest, both in fact and in law, is analogous to a message which an injured toe sends to the brain complaining about unbearable pain. The response by the brain and the head is normally to take steps to treat the pain to the toe. Any injured person who refuses to take steps to treat pains to any part of the body does so at his own peril.

“The president is the head of the nation, while the youths are parts of the body. I therefore urge the president as the head of the country to address the youths and offer remedial steps to be taken to alleviate the pains.”

Babalola said he had warned at the inception of the protests that quick intervention of the president would help in resolving the crisis, adding that this can still be done to save the country from imminent conflagration.

“I remember that as soon as the protests began, I had issued a statement in a similar vein on the issue appealing to the president to please address the issue at that time.

“I now again plead with him to address the root causes of the pain, which the youths are complaining about,” he said.

attack police facilities, carry out jail breaks as well as cause wanton destruction of property in parts of the country.

According to him, citizen’s right

to peaceful protest remains one of the strongest tenets of democracy, but the government is circumspect on the need to maintain law and order.

The minister appealed to Nigerians to renew confidence in the government’s genuine commitment to fully implement the various demands.

“This is to support security

operatives in maintaining law and order, re-arrest fleeing inmates in Benin Correctional Centres and protect citizens against criminals,’’ he added.

FORTY-FIVE HEARTY CHEERS…

L-R: Emir of Kaiama, Alhaji Muazu Shehu; Etsu Patigi, Alhaji Ibrahim Umar Bologi; Emir of Lafiaji, Alhaji Sa’adu Kawu Haliru; Kwara State Governor, Mr. AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq; and Speaker of state House of Assembly, Hon. Yakubu Salihu Danlandi, during the commemoration of the 45th anniversary of installation of Emir of Lafiagi...yesterday

UK Shuts Visa Application Centres in Nigeria Adedayo Akinwale in Abuja The United Kingdom has shut down its visa application centres in Nigeria over the crisis arising from #EndSARS protests in the country.

The UK made this known in a statement on its website.

The statement was titled, ‘Important: Closure of our Visa application centre’.

The statement read: “Due to the ongoing protest in Nigeria and for the safety of both staff

and applicants, our Nigeria centres will be closed for 48 hours at a minimum.

“For applicants with booked appointments within this period, please you will need to reschedule your appointment for next week, from 26th October 2020.

“We will continue to post regular updates on this page, so please keep checking back for the latest information on reopening.

“We sincerely apologise for the inconvenience and thank you for your understanding.”

On Tuesday, the United States shut down its consulate in Lagos State for two days over the #ENDSARS protests.

The US embassy and consulate had in a statement said, “Multiple demonstrations are ongoing across Nigeria – to include areas within the consular districts of Abuja and Lagos.

“Although most demonstrations are peaceful, some have become violent and have shut down major thoroughfares and bridges.

“Some police stations have been targeted. Lagos State closed all schools indefinitely as of October 19 due to protests and implemented a 24-hour curfew starting at 4:00 p.m. on October 20. Consulate General Lagos is closed for the rest of today and tomorrow.’’

The Lagos State Government on Tuesday imposed an indefinite curfew in the state as the police ordered out anti-riot units nationwide to face protesters.

NGE Condemns Killing of Protesters Nationwide

IPC kicks against attack on media

The Nigerian Guild of Editors (NGE) has condemned in very strong terms, what it described as the unwarranted shooting and killing of unarmed protesters by security men in different parts of the country.

This is coming as the International Press Centre (IPC) in Lagos has expressed concern about latest happenings in the country with respect to the #ENDSARS and #ENDSWAT protests especially the targeting of media institutions and harassment of journalists.

In a statement issued yesterday, NGE urged President Muhammadu Buhari to address the nation to calm frayed nerves, insisting also that there is nothing wrong in actively engaging in dialogue with the aggrieved youths.

The guild sympathised with victims of the shootings and their families and calls for full scale investigation of Tuesday mayhem across the nation, especially the killings and injuries inflicted on protesters at the Lekki, Toll Plaza in Lagos, where security personnel shot and killed some unarmed protesters

before the commencement of curfew at 9pm.

NGE noted that there was no need whatsoever for security personnel to use live bullets and therefore, demands that those found culpable should be brought to justice.

The NGE is worried over the dramatic turn the #EndSARS peaceful protests have taken.

The body of editors welcomed the curfew imposed on some states following the apparent hijack of the peaceful #EndSARS protests by hoodlums.

It commended the efforts of these state governments to separate the wheat from the chaff.

NGE however argued that the restriction of movement in parts of the country does not give law enforcers any right to harass and intimidate persons on essential duties, especially journalists who are on the frontline in the discharge of their constitutional duty of gathering, processing and disseminating information.

“The guild will not tolerate the harassment of such journalists. They should be allowed unfettered access to places of interest to them as they strive under this atmosphere of

insecurity to carry out their legitimate responsibilities.

“The guild also advises journalists to be security conscious in these trying times.

“The apparent hijack of the protests by hoodlums should not be used as an excuse by the government not to address the legitimate demands of the #EndSARS protesters,” the statement added.

Meanwhile, the IPC has also expressed extreme concern about latest happenings in the country with respect to the #ENDSARS and #ENDSWAT protests especially the targeting of media institutions and harrassment of journalists.

In a statement issued yesterday, IPC condemned yesterday’s attack on Television Continental (TVC) as well as the molestation of the journalists and other media professionals working in the establishment by a mob.

IPC equally condemned the assault on some security personnel attached to Channels Television that led to a temporary halt of broadcasts

by the station.

IPC also decried the attack on Toyin Yusuf, a journalist with Osun State Broadcasting Corporation and another member of the Nigerian Union of Journalists by some angry youths while covering the protests in the state.

IPC further condemned the prevention of an Arise TV crew from carrying out their legitimate duty at the Lekki Toll Gate, Lagos, by a group of soldiers.

Executive Director of IPC, Mr. Lanre Arogundade, warned that molestation of journalists and other media professionals either by the security agents, mobs or protesters was not acceptable: “The media and journalists have the legitimacy to report the current crisis across the country with a view to bringing truthful account to the citizens and under no circumstances should they be subjected to hardship in the course of doing that.

We therefore condemn in totality the various attacks so far recorded and demand that they should stop”.

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THURSDAY OCTOBER 22, 2020 ˾ T H I S D AY

NEWS

Protests: ACF Seeks Far-reaching Reforms in Nigeria Tasks govt on nepotism, referendum, salaries of politicians John Shiklam in Kaduna The Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF), has asked the federal government to use the opportunity provided by the EndSARS protests to embark on sincere and farreaching reforms in the country.

In a communique issued yesterday at the end of its National Executive Council (NEC) meeting in Kaduna, the forum, urged the federal government to engage critical stakeholders to fine-tune the demands of the protesters and have defined timelines for implementations.

The communique signed by the spokesman of the forum, Mr. Emmanuel Yawe, noted that: “Some of the areas that stand in dire need for urgent reforms should include but not limited to the following: “Security architecture, management of law and order: Outcome required is expansion in the quantity and quality of the armed forces and the police; tackling corruption and nepotism as being perpetrated by political office holders.”

The forum noted that in view of the fact that the vast majority of young people cannot find jobs, “it

is going to be difficult to achieve good governance or even maintain law and order in Nigeria.”

“We recommend that a judicial commission of enquiry be set up to examine the nature and scale of the money politicians at all levels pay themselves.

“It is necessary to restore sanity in these matters by bringing their payments within acceptable limits taking into cognisance the economic reality of the country,” the communique stated.

The ACF also lamented that “the current Presidential system of government we are running is expensive; in view of our economic and infrastructural demands, the

current system should be reviewed through referendum from the double chamber parliament to unicameral legislature among others.

“Such concerns have led several African countries to streamline their legislatures to single chambers including in Senegal, Ghana, Niger, etc.

“Growing the economy, creating jobs and reducing poverty: We require equity, fairness, transparency with full disclosure, in the Central Bank and other government interventions in several key areas.”

The communique maintained that democracy comes with a

number of human and peoples’ rights which cannot be abridged or abolished by governments”.

“Among these, are rights to hold and express views, to assembly and even to protest against perceived injustices provided they are done peacefully and do not injure the interests of other people” the communique said.

The ACF said: “Thankfully, the ENDSARS Protests that have raged across the country for over ten days have been largely peaceful until now.

“These protests that have persisted, have continued to evolve and have become increasingly

violent.

“Innocent citizens caught in the cross fires have lost their lives.

State governors and other political office holders have been attacked.

“Public highways and commercial facilities are being blocked, precipitating a dangerous lockdown of the country.

“This is happening not because the government did not respond to their many demands.

“On the contrary, the federal government has quickly and publicly agreed with the complaints of the protesters and has committed itself to carrying out far reaching reforms to address them.

Security Operatives Killed 12 Protesters in Lagos, Says Amnesty Human rights watchdog, Amnesty International, has alleged that at least 12 #EndSARS protesters were killed in Lagos on Tuesday.

In a series of tweets yesterday, the organisation said its investigation showed that the victims were killed in Lekki and Alausa.

Security operatives opened fire on protesters at Lekki toll gate.

“Evidence gathered from eyewitnesses, video footage and hospital reports confirm that between 6:45pm and 9:00pm on Tuesday 20 October, the Nigerian military opened fire on thousands of people who were peacefully calling for good governance and an end to police brutality.

“Witnesses at the Lekki protest grounds told Amnesty international that solders arrived at about 6:45pm local time on Tuesday evening, and opened fire on #EndSars protesters without warning.

Eyewitnesses at Alausa protest ground said they were attacked by a team of soldiers and

policemen from the Rapid Response Squad (RRS) Unit at about 8:00 pm, leaving at least two people dead and one critically injured.

“Opening fire on peaceful protesters is a blatant violation of people’s rights to life, dignity, freedom of expression and peaceful assembly. Soldiers clearly had one intention - to kill without consequences,” said Osai Ojigho, Country Director of Amnesty International Nigeria.

Amnesty International said it also received reports that shortly before the shootings, CCTV cameras at the Lekki toll gate, where #EndSARS protesters had been camped for two weeks, were removed by government officials and the electricity was cut – a clear attempt to hide evidence.

As in previous cases documented by Amnesty International, the rights group said some of those killed and injured at both grounds were allegedly taken away by the military.

EFCC Nabs Serial Impostor for Employment Scam George Okoh in Makurdi The Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC), Makurdi Zonal Office, Benue State, has arrested one Patience Simon Robert who posed as an officer of the EFCC to allegedly defraud many people with propositions of employment in the EFCC and Nigeria Customs Service (NCS).

Patience was arrested following a complaint by a victim whom she collected N1.5million from on the pretext to help him secure jobs for his children in the EFCC. The complainant equally revealed that the suspect tricked his younger brother to part with the sum of N300, 000 after promising to get his children employed in the NCS. Investigation revealed that

the suspect had severally been arrested for impersonation and fraud by the Nigeria Police and other agencies. It was discovered that she had been charged to a Magistrate Court in Minna, Niger State, for alleged impersonation and obtaining money under false pretence.

She allegedly obtained over N11million from several victims with the propositions of offering them jobs in various agencies while parading herself as a staff of the EFCC. The suspect also allegedly defrauded another victim in Abuja to the tune of N4.5 million while posing as a “Director of Civil Intelligence in EFCC.” The suspect would be charged to court after investigation is concluded.

ERADICATING MALARIA…

L-R: A philanthropist, Prince Ned Nwoko (left), and the President of Association of Local Governments of Nigeria (ALGON), Mr. Kolade Alabi, during the presentation of Nwoko’s malaria eradication project and Antarctica experience photo book to ALGON in Abuja… recently KING AKAN

House Minority Caucus Seeks Prosecution of Soldiers Involved in Lekki Incident Udora Orizu in Abuja The Minority Caucus of the House of Representatives has called on President Muhammadu Buhari to order the arrest and prosecution of soldiers who attacked #EndSARS protesters at the Lekki Tollgate on Tuesday night.

The Minority Leader, Mr. Ndudi Elumelu, in a statement issued yesterday, “strongly” condemned the killing of “peaceful and unarmed” protesters by security operatives at Lekki Tollgate and other parts

of the country.

In the statement titled, ‘Reps Minority Condemns Killing of Protesters,’ the caucus said, “such wicked act of extrajudicial killing of defenceless citizens by suspected agents of the state cannot be justified or condoned under any rule or guise whatsoever.”

The statement partly read, “as lawmakers and representatives of the people, we cannot accept this gruesome execution of our young ones in their own country by security operatives. Life is sacred and no one has the right

to terminate the life of another just because he has the apparatus of state power.

“Such brazen brutally and defilement of right to life, which is at the centre of the ongoing protests across the nation, underscores the demand for an immediate and total overhaul of our nation’s security architecture.

“We, therefore, call on President Muhammadu Buhari to immediately order the arrest and prosecution of officers involved in the Lekki killing as well as the withdrawal of soldiers from engaging protesters.”

The caucus also restated its earlier call on Buhari to urgently rejig the nation’s security architecture through extensive reforms and urgent replacement of the service chiefs “with more competent and professional hands to assist in effectively handling of the security challenges confronting the nation.”

The caucus commiserated with the families of the victims of “this heinous act” while assuring them of immediate legislative actions that will ensure that justice is served.

No Peaceful Protester will Be Harassed in Ogun, Says Abiodun Kayode Fasua in Abeokuta The Ogun State Government yesterday announced that joint security patrol teams have been deployed to ensure law and order as well as to secure lives and property across the state.

The state Governor, Prince Dapo Abiodun, who stated this on his verified tweeter handle, urged the

people to go about their lawful daily activities without fear of attack from security agents or any other quarter whatsoever.

He said security agents had been given specific instructions to maintain law and order, ensuring that law-abiding citizens who conduct themselves in orderly manners have nothing to fear, especially

of attacks from some elements that had hijacked the hitherto peaceful protests.

“No protester involved in peaceful demonstrations would be harassed by any security agent. In fact, the agents have been instructed to provide adequate security for these peaceful protesters from unscrupulous elements who

may want to turn the rallies into violence,” the governor tweeted.

He enjoined the people of the state to go about their lawful activities and avoid harassing fellow citizens by disrupting free vehicular and pedestrian movements as well as vandalising public and private properties.

THURSDAY OCTOBER 22, 2020 • T H I S D AY

11

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THURSDAY OCTOBER 22, 2020 ˾ T H I S D AY

NEWS

Fuel Scarcity Looms as Depots Halt Loading over Fear of Attack Emmanuel Addeh in Abuja Some depot owners in the country have stopped loading petroleum products over fear of being attacked by some restive youths, sparking fears

that a nationwide scarcity of the product might be in the offing.

The umbrella body of petrol marketers, Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria

Killing EndSARS Protesters Crime against Humanity, Says ASUU UNILAG branch condemns killing of youths Funmi Ogundare in Lagos and Kemi Olaitan in Ibadan The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) yesterday condemned the killings of #EndSARS protesters at Lekki, Lagos, and other parts of the country.

The University of Lagos branch of the union also condemned the “wicked killing of innocent and defenceless youths peacefully protesting against the impunity and recklessness of members of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) operatives.

ASUU said the killing in the ongoing protest is a crime against humanity, calling on the United Nations to show serious interest in the descent to totalitarianism by the President Muhammadu Buhari-led federal government.

The Chairman of the University of Ibadan chapter of the union, Prof. Ayo Akinwole, in a statement made available to THISDAY yesterday, said the federal government’s repressive attacks on the advocacy and

demands for responsible and responsive governance

by Nigerian youths showed that Nigeria is tending towards repressive military governance.

He said the killings of the youths demanding justice against brutality and being murdered in cold blood have revealed that the security brutality of Nigerians is an agenda of the federal government.

Akinwole stated further that it is a taboo for parents to bury their children in Yoruba land and in most cultures, adding that President Buhari has committed a taboo.

He said peaceful protest and demonstration are forms of political participation to bring about positive changes, but regretted that the Buhari administration represses every voice of reason while behaving like a military president.

ASUU lamented that Nigerian youths have not enjoyed any good thing, and are being deprived of funding in education, face unemployment, and are worse hit by poverty.

(IPMAN), yesterday stated that some of their members could not also embark on their usual transit even after they were allowed to load.

The National Vice President of IPMAN, Alhaji Abubakar Maigandi, stated that the protests currently rocking the country and the ensuing crises have stopped the marketers from moving their loaded trucks.

Some Senators have commenced moves to pressurise the President of the Senate, Dr. Ahmad Lawan, to reconvene the upper chamber to discuss issues of urgent national interest.

The Senate had last Tuesday suspended plenary till November 24 to enable relevant committees scrutinise the 2021 budget proposal of the federal government.

But hardly had the Senate gone on break than some senators across party lines expressed concern about the #EndSARS protests across the country, which climaxed last Tuesday evening with the killings of some protesters at Lekki Tollgate in Lagos by yet-to-be identified soldiers.

Flowing from this, some senators of like minds convened a meeting in one of the committee rooms yesterday and canvassed for the need for the Red Chamber to reconvene and take a definite position on the protests by the restive

youths, which is spreading to different parts of the country.

A ranking senator from the North Central geo-political zone confirmed to THISDAY yesterday evening that the meeting actually took place, and a delegation had been asked to meet with the Senate president to call senators back as soon as possible.

The vocal senator, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said most senators were really concerned about what is happening in the country, especially the #EndSARS protest by the youths.

He said the protest was already taking another dimension with the killings and destruction of properties in the commercial city of Lagos “and thus made senators to be worried with urge that the Senate must take a position on the matter.”

The senator said: “We discuss for about two and half hours, and those of us present from both APC and PDP came to the conclusion that the upper chamber must

reserves to turn to upon the exhaustion of available stock, maintaining that because some of the depots are not loading due to insecurity, there will ‘definitely’ be a negative impact on supply.

He said: “The ones that have already loaded have parked their trucks in the yards so that protesters will not set them on fire. There is no way you can have

sufficient fuel in the filling stations because we don’t hoard it.”

The IPMAN national vice president urged the protesters to begin discussions with the federal government for the amicable resolution of the crises, asking them to embrace the peace because of the economic losses that are resulting from the crisis.

NSCDC Declares Emergency on Critical Infrastructure Kuni Tyessi in Abuja Following the outcome of the widespread #EndSARS protest in many parts of the country, the Controller-General of the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corp (NSCDC), Abdullahi Gana Muhammadu, has declared emergency on all critical infrastructure and national assets in the country.

To this end, he has directed all state commandants to immediately reinforce deployment of personnel to all strategic critical infrastructure and national assets located in their various states to forestall any act of vandalism, arson or destruction.

In a statement signed by its spokesperson, Okeh Emmanuel, the CG emphasised that such infrastructures need to be protected from miscreants who may capitalise on the ongoing protest in most parts of the country to perpetrate their sinister motives.

He also appealed to the youths to give peace a

Lawmakers Mount Pressure on Lawan to Reconvene Senate Deji Elumoye in Abuja

He argued that since petroleum products are highly inflammable, the drivers decided to park their trucks in safe places nationwide, explaining that since consumers buy fuel on a daily basis and there is no replacement, there might be scarcity of the products.

Maigandi added that since marketers do not hoard products, there will be no

not sit on the fence over issues of national interest like the youths protest.

“So, we have mandated three of us to meet with the Senate leadership immediately to stress the need for the upper chamber to act fast before the situation deteriorated. Mind you, this will not be the first time the National Assembly will have to reconvene in a time of national crisis. Don’t forget that early in 2012, when President Goodluck Jonathan increased the pump price of fuel, the House of Representatives under the leadership of Hon Aminu Tambuwal sat on a Sunday and took a decision that the fuel price increase must be reversed.”

The senator added that most of the lawmakers had been approached about the move to reconvene the upper chamber “and from the favourable response we are getting, the Senate president may accede to our request and reconvene the Senate shortly.”

chance and toe the path of dialogue in order to resolve the lingering matter.

The CG noted that there is no better time than now to stand down on the protest especially when it has become obvious that hoodlums and criminals have hijacked it.

He further reassured the public of their safety and security as they go about their legitimate business, appealing for continuous partnership with the corps by giving relevant and timely information that can assist in

fighting crime in the society, especially at this time in the country’s history.

The statement read: “He gave this directive at the Corps National headquarters in Abuja while briefing on the current security situation in the country, with emphasis on the ongoing protests by the youths in different parts of Nigeria.

“He stressed that the turn of event has called for more vigilance around critical national assets and infrastructures, which have become endangered species

at this critical period and as easy target for hoodlums seeking to cause havoc and sabotage the economy.

“This must not be allowed to happen because it is not in the interest of anybody to destroy our collective wealth.”

Muhammadu appealed to the citizens, especially the youths, to remain law-abiding even in their demands for reform in some sectors of the country, and advised them to go about their legitimate plea without taking the law into their hands.

13

THURSDAY OCTOBER 22, 2020 • T H I S D AY

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14

T H I S D AY ˾ ˜ ͰͰ˜ ͰͮͰͮ

COMMENT

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

WE MUST GET CHILDREN BACK TO LEARNING Business as usual is not an option, write Jutta Urpilainen and Henrietta Fore

“O

ne child, one teacher, one book, one pen can change the world.” These words by Nobel Peace Prize winner Malala Yousafzai could not ring more true. Making sure girls and boys all over the world get good quality education is how we will build a more sustainable, more equal and more peaceful world.

Global school closures in response to the COVID-19 pandemic have resulted in unprecedented disruption to children’s education, with more than a billion students affected.

Those who have returned to school are presented with new challenges – masks, social distancing, lack of access to handwashing facilities and fears of getting sick. As the digital divide deepens, most will have missed out on the chance to learn from home over the past few months. They will have fallen behind as a result, making the return to classrooms more daunting for them – and for their teachers.

In many ways, however, they are still the lucky ones. The new challenges they face are by far overshadowed by the catastrophic long-term impact of missing out on education altogether, particularly in the poorest countries and those affected by conflicts or crises.

We know from previous crises that the longer children stay out of school, the less likely they are to return. We also know that when children do not go to school, they are at increased risk of violence, abuse and exploitation. Girls face the additional risk of early marriage and pregnancy. Now with COVID, and as essential health, nutrition, immunisation and child protection services are put on hold, children are also exposed to undernutrition, disease, mental health issues and abuse.

In these most difficult of circumstances, can we still win the battle to educate our children? The answer is a resounding “yes”. But for this, like model students, we will need to work even harder to get the results we want.

In response to global pandemic, the European Union and its Member States – Team Europe – have demonstrated the power of working together for better results. Given our proven track record of getting results from our partnerships, the EU and UNICEF can together make a lasting difference to education outcomes worldwide.

There are concrete steps we can take to safeguard children’s futures, steps that will build on existing work and strike out in new, innovative directions. This means investing now, so that the most vulnerable children can reenter education. It means making sure that their schools are safe and their teachers can respond to their needs. It means reshaping education systems so that children graduate with 21st-century skills, such as digital skills and entrepreneur-

Continued from Backpage

S

EDUCATION BUDGETS MUST BE PROTECTED FROM CUTS AS THE GLOBAL ECONOMIC CRISIS BITES. EDUCATION MUST BE SEEN AS PART OF THE COVID-19 RECOVERY PLAN: RATHER THAN DIVERTING FINANCES AWAY FROM EDUCATION, THERE MUST BE MORE INVESTMENT TO STRENGTHEN EDUCATION SYSTEMS

ship training, ready for the new world before them.

Recently, we have seen impressive change, with many governments providing education online, on television, on the radio and via mobile phone. For instance, in Somalia, offline recorded lessons are being uploaded onto solar-powered tablets and made available to children. In Kyrgyzstan, children can access remote learning through online platforms, three national TV channels and two mobile network applications free of charge. In Vietnam, certain tests and modules have been dropped from the curriculum, while others have been postponed to the next school year to allow students to catch up on missed learning over the whole of next year, and to reduce academic pressure and psychosocial stress.

So the green shoots of recovery are there. Now it is time to nurture them. This is the moment to reimagine education systems, embrace technology, remove barriers and give all children the same access to modern education systems.

This must include closing the online education gap. We must embrace and invest in the promise of online learning – not just basic skills like reading and math, but digital, entrepreneurial and workplace skills, so young people can join the workforce.

Above all, education budgets must be protected from cuts as the global economic crisis bites. Education must be seen as part of the COVID-19 recovery plan: Rather than diverting finances away from education, there must be more investment to strengthen education systems. Education is essential to human development, which underlies all EU investments in international cooperation and this will be boosted in EU development financing for the upcoming period. Building back better applies as much to education as to anything else.

The scale of this crisis requires a global, coordinated response; the EU and UNICEF intend to be at the forefront of that response. The education community must jointly develop a global action plan to pave the way for equitable and quality education for all.

We have a once-in-a-generation opportunity to emerge from this once-in-a-generation crisis doing things differently, addressing inequalities through more sustainable social systems.

Embarking on this huge undertaking means realising that business as usual is not an option. If we learn the right lessons now, we can re-imagine and deliver better education systems – for this generation and the next.

Ms. Urpilainen is the EU Commissioner for International Partnerships while Ms. Fore is Executive Director of UNICEF

FROM #ENDSARS TO BLOODBATH

adly, the federal government response was too slow in coming.

President Muhammadu Buhari and Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo impressed me with their initial disposition to handling the crisis.

SARS was dissolved by the InspectorGeneral of Police as demanded by the protesters, judicial investigations into incidents of police brutality were pledged along with that of reforming the force and a public apology was tendered by the vice president. But the dilly-dallying over the prosecution of 35 officers indicted by the Special Presidential Panel on SARS - whose report was submitted to the president in June last year - offered no comfort to the protesters that the federal government was serious. Exchanging files between the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) and the Office of the Attorney General of the Federation and issuing press statements not backed by concrete measures betrayed an abysmal lack of imagination. Amid all this, Governor Simon Lalong of Plateau State led a number of his Northern colleagues to visit the president and declared support for SARS after it had been dissolved. In a divided polity, and against the background of insinuation that the protests were targeted at President Buhari, the Lalong narrative only emboldened those who chose to malign the protesters and divide them along sectional lines.

For the record, there have been several cases of extra-judicial killings by the police in the North. On 23rd March 2018, SARS operatives opened fire on a relaxation spot in Dorowa, near the School of Health Technology, Zawan, Jos south local government area, killing a man and injuring others in one of several extrajudicial killings in the same state Lalong claims to govern. On 14th March 2018 in

Olusegun Adeniyi urges President Buhari to address the nation Ganaja village, Ajaokuta local government area of Kogi State, a SARS operative killed a livestock seller identified as Ibrahim Ali. The SARS man had knocked down a girl with his motorcycle and his refusal to take her to hospital drew an angry crowd. In the process, he called for reinforcement and when his colleagues arrived in a Toyota Hilux van, he drew an AK 47 rifle and began shooting indiscriminately. That was how Ali lost his life with many others injured.

On 28th July 2016, a 42-year-old patent medicine dealer in Kano named Tochukwu Iro was shot in the thigh

by SARS operatives near Kano Pillars Stadium. His alleged offence was that he did not stop when asked to. Although these trigger-happy policemen were forced to rush Iro to the Murtala Mohammed Specialist Hospital in a tricycle, their victim did not survive. Just last month, in an incident described by Governor Aminu Tambuwal’s spokesman, Muhammad Bello, as “unfortunate, inhuman and condemnable,” a man was shot dead by a police officer right in the palace of the Sultan of Sokoto. The story was that some young boys were fighting over money and the only way this errant policeman knew to restore order was to kill one. An eye witness reportedly told the Caliphate Post: “I saw when two boys were fighting [over the money] and the mobile police knelt, cocked his gun and aimed directly at one [Aminu Abdurrahaman, believed to be 18-year-old] shot him, saying to himself in Hausa language ‘ba dan iska ka ke ba?’ (‘such an obstinate boy’), then he left.” The Police Sergeant involved has since been arrested. In June this year in Adamawa State, a commercial motorcyclist, Arabo Dauda was killed by police at a checkpoint in Mahia town allegedly for his refusal to give a N100 bribe. In

September 2017 in Yobe, a SARS operative shot at a vehicle in Damaturu, the state capital, killing a 14-year-old boy, Faruk Olaruwajo.

I can go on to list police atrocities in the 19 northern states Lalong claimed to have spoken for but I think I have made my point. So, whatever may be our misgivings about the refusal of protesters to respect the rights of other citizens who reside within the Lekki axis or those who needed to access airport road in Abuja last weekend, what they embarked on was a national protest against injustice being perpetrated by bad eggs in the police who consider themselves above the law. I am delighted that the federal government recognises that, even if they were not expeditious enough in dealing with the crisis prior to it getting out of hand.

It is clear from what has transpired in the past two weeks that when our young people say ‘Soro Soke’, they are not only speaking about sacking degenerate police officers, they are demanding a better justice administration. And they are seeking equity in the running of a country where the defining ethos seems to be that the wisdom of Solomon has a correlation with the age of Methuselah. It is only in Nigeria that when you hear that a young man has been appointed to an official position, he must be in his late forties or fifties! Our political parties even appoint grandfathers as their youth leaders! Yet, according to estimates by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), Nigeria has a predominantly young population of under 35 while only about 3 percent of our population is above 65 years of age.

Having risen to be editor of a national newspaper in my thirties, when I became presidential spokesman at 41, I considered it an insult to be categorised among the youth. But it was also not lost on me

that I was one of the youngest persons holding a senior position in the federal government at the time. And this in a nation where military officers were heads of state, governors and federal ministers in their thirties and professionals were appointed federal permanent secretaries in their twenties. What goes for young people today goes for women who have practically been excluded from crucial decision making in all spheres. If they are unmarried, they are discriminated against and if they are married, the situation is even worse because of the obsession with ‘state of origin’, which practically renders them ‘stateless’.

These are conversations we must have but in the interim, President Buhari needs to address the nation to condole the families who lost loved ones (including in the police) and give the people hope.

A society where public officials (which military leaders are) do not feel they can be held accountable for the life of a citizen, or any life at all, impunity will reign. As during the Kaduna killings by the army in December 2015, it is difficult for the president to escape the accusation that what took place in Lekki on Tuesday had his explicit or implicit nod. And the only way to debunk this inference is by bringing to justice those who pulled the triggers on defenceless protesters, especially in Lekki, and those who gave the command.

As I once argued on this page, a tear for the distressed, a sigh of contrition in moments of mistakes, one heartfelt utterance of genuine grief when people are hurting are leadership attributes—it is not about taking all tidings with equal indifference.

Nigeria is bleeding right now. Only the president can heal that wound by bringing to a halt what is fast becoming a descent into anarchy.

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T H I S D AY Ëž Ë&#x153; Í°Í°Ë&#x153; Í°ÍŽÍ°ÍŽ

EDITORIAL

DEALING WITH TALES OF CORRUPTION Fighting corruption has become an empty ritual

T

he dismal culture of impunity in public sector is spreading. Many institutions of government are increasingly being compromised.

Recently, the Independent Corrupt Practices and other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) Chairman, Bolaji Owasanoye, said some N2.67 billion meant for the feeding of boarding students in federal government colleges was diverted into private accounts. Besides, the anticorruption body found over N2.5 billion diverted by a deceased worker with the ministry of agriculture. At about the same time, the National Security Adviser to President Buhari, Babagana Monguno, restated what has become an open secret: that the Presidential Amnesty Programme was plagued with corruption, waste and mismanagement. He said a whopping N712 billion was unaccounted for â&#x20AC;&#x153;due to so many issues, corruption being the main.â&#x20AC;?

REPORTS ON CORRUPTION All the raging issues of deficits HAVE DEGENERATED INTO of enlightened A TOOL OF PROPAGANDA, governance and BORN OF WEAKNESS AND lack of fidelity MADE FOR TELEVISION to rudimentary public morality run counter to the avowed commitment of President Muhammadu Buhari to right the wrongs of our past. Indeed, the scourge of corruption has grown in monstrosity because the administration has failed to speak with precision and clarity about the problem when politics is involved. It is a cynical dimension of the Buhari administration: If you are on their side, no matter how much you have undermined the system and abused public trust, you can walk the streets with arrogance and nothing will happen to you.

It is therefore no surprise that reports on corruption have since degenerated into a tool of propaganda, born of weakness and made for television.

Many are of the view that instead of fighting corruption, one of the cardinal pledges that brought it to power, this government has indeed encouraged the vice by its attitude, insincerity and inaction.

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Indeed, the administrationâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s record on corruption in the last five years cannot, by any stretch of imagination, be said to be better than that of its predecessors. Some will in fact wager that it is far worse. Mounting instances of the administrationâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s tardiness in taking prompt decision on corruption allegations cut across the executive, legislature and the judiciary.

That many public officials have continued to fleece the very people they are supposed to protect is to put the situation rather mildly. There are thousand cases of graft that dot the entire landscape and many more are committed daily. Only recently, the Auditor-General of the Federation, Ahmed Idris, revealed the recklessness with which the MDAs conducted their affairs with scant regard for accountability. So many of them did not even care to file their annual returns yet the National Assembly that is charged with the responsibility of oversight kept approving new budgetary estimates for them. Even when the lawmakers conduct public hearings into issues bordering on transparency and accountability, they end up as footages for social media entertainment.

Of the Open Treasury Portal review carried out between January and 15th August 2020, according to the ICPC, some 268 ministries, departments and agencies had cumulative infractions totalling N90 million. But this is peanuts compared to the billions of naira siphoned recently into private pockets from the systemic corruption in the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC). Despite the all noise and the public hearings conducted by the National Assembly on the issue, all is now quiet and all those who openly confessed to stealing public money are still in office. There is no inkling that the offenders will be prosecuted. Even the major institution created to fight corruption is troubled. The question therefore is: Why do the officials, including those positioned to fight graft, continue to regale the public space with tales of corruption?

Having failed to grasp the meaning of corruption, fighting it has become a hollow ritual to the current administration to our collective shame as a nation.

TO OUR READERS Letters in response to speciďŹ c publications in THISDAY should be brief (150-200 words) and straight to the point. Interested readers may send such letters along with their contact details to opinion@thisdaylive.com. We also welcome comments and opinions on topical local, national and international issues provided they are well-written and should also not be longer than (9501000 words). They should be sent to opinion@thisdaylive.com along with the email address and phone numbers of the writer.

ENDSARS: TIME IS RUNNING OUT

ince the end of World War II, there have been roughly 50 major revolutions that had either toppled autocratic regimes or led to significant political reform in â&#x20AC;&#x153;flawedâ&#x20AC;? democracies.

For those revolutions that have occurred under dictatorships, only about a third have resulted in transitions to democracy.

Two infamous cases that might raise some alarm bells about the Middle East today are the theocracy that followed Iranâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s 1979 revolution, and the â&#x20AC;&#x153;republicanâ&#x20AC;? dictatorships of Anwar Sadat and Hosni Mubarak after Egyptâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s 1952 revolution. Similarly, the checkered political histories of post-revolutionary China, Cuba, Mexico and Russia might make even the most fervent revolutionaries take pause.

Still, the democracies that have managed to emerge in the aftermath of their revolutionary ferment provide cause for optimism. Less than a handful of those revolutionary transitions have reverted back to dictatorship. For every Kyrgyzstan, where there has been autocratic backsliding since the Tulip Revolution, there are a dozen examples of democracies that have arisen in the

wake of revolution â&#x20AC;&#x201D; including surprises such as the Philippines.

The recent killings of protesters in Nigeria as a result of showdown between the security forces and the activists calling for the scrapping of a unit of Nigeria Police - Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) has cast a dark cloud on what many had hoped would serve as a model for democratic transition in countries swept by the corrupt leaders and bad governance. The sad fact is that many revolutions lead to renewed dictatorships. But the good news is that even a rocky and prolonged transition can produce stable democracy.

The country is at the verge of a crossroad, again. The yarning of the citizens could not be overlooked and the leadership takes more time to discern the issues at hands with analytical mind.

There are clear indications that Nigeria is now in the triumvirate of a colour revolution and hybrid warfare, and agent agitators are now trying to force the hand of the government towards employing violent suppression of the protests so as to delegitimize the government.

As a people, it is important to

understand that, one should leave the stage when the ovation is loudest. The demands of the protesters are well appreciated and the leadership lacks quick response mechanism to show responsiveness which gives more opportunities for new adventure of calamities across the length and breadth of the country.

One would conclude that this was a deliberate ploy to use peopleâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s legitimate demands to achieve a devilish agenda by some foreign nations and some local dissatisfied elites who are in the shadow.

This pattern has been used in various arenas where peopleâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s liberation movements have been used as a Trojan horse to infiltrate and destroy a nation. If care is not taken at the right time in proper quantity, a civil war is looming as it shows in our collective faces.

Unarguably, citizens are a powerful force for change. That is why more and more governments are doing what they can to silence them -- from Russia to China to Venezuela and more. Citizenship gives us sense of belonging on why oneness of voice in our society is so essential. When people are free to speak their minds and hold their leaders accountable, governments are more

responsive and more effective. When entrepreneurs are free to create and develop new ideas, then economies are more innovative, and attract more trade and investment, and ultimately become more prosperous.

It was Barack Obama, former US President who said that â&#x20AC;&#x153;â&#x20AC;Ś If you want strong, successful countries, you need strong, vibrant civil societies. When citizens are free to organize and work together across borders to make our communities healthier, our environment cleaner, and our world safer, thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s when real change comesâ&#x20AC;?.

Dear President Buhari, it is high time you summoned the courage and present error-free speech that would be televised to your children - Nigerian Youths. It is now a good time to avert the unknown calamities ahead of us. #ENDSARS does not just represent a protest against rogue Police officers; it is a symptom of the poor state of the economy, which for years has only gotten worse. Fortunately, the agitation can still be managed but time is running out.

Basheer Luqman Olarewaju, Ilorin

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T H I S D AY ˾ THURSDAY OCTOBER 22, 2020

POLITICS

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

‘Transition From SARS to SWAT was too Rash, too Brash and too Hasty’

Nseobong Okon-Ekong dialogues with Dr. James Akanbi, an Accountant and Harvard-trained strategist on what lessons the federal and state governments should pick from the EndSARS campaigns

S

ARS was disbanded after three days of the EnSARS campaigns, but the protests endured into the second week, do you the youths overreacted themselves?

I would not think that way. I think the major problem with their insistence to remain on the street is about suspicion. The Nigerian people have not been able to trust the government. They view whatever promise the government is making with some cynicism.

They think the government has not been very sincere with the citizens. What we are seeing is the accumulation of such mistrust and distrust from the past that is actually playing out now. If the government had been trusted in the past, we are not going to have this type of situation. If it were to be in other countries, the moment the government came out and said we have heard you and can you just give us a time frame and we will back with you, if they had been faithful in the past, the people will pick it up from there and everybody will go back to their place. I have been in the UK and the US, at times when issues like this are going and I have seen that just one single address from either the Prime Minister or the President had actually taken the people back into their homes. The problem we have here is the mistrust and distrust that have been there all these while. The government has not been able to come up with an articulated speech and idea about any issue and follow it through. They have not able to do that in the past. So, it just the harvest of that kind of leadership problem that we are just having now. Under a normal situation, the moment the SARS was disbanded, it should be over. That was supposed to be the real antidote, but the problem of the suspicion is the reason we still have the youths on the street They went on to ask for five more demands, including improved welfare for men and officers of the Nigeria Police and a total reform of the police, now they are pressing for restructuring of Nigeria, do you think these demand can be met on streets and overnight,withoutthem coming to articulate at a roundtable. And what would you advise the government to do now under the circumstance?

This is a fertile ground for revolution.

This is not really a revolution. There is a particular kind of spontaneity that came out with this matter. There is no structure.

There is no leadership, no organisation or administration of the whole thing. It is just an advanced mob kind of stuff. That is why we have something that looks like ideological incoherence as at now. You see the people in Ibadan saying something and those in Lagos are saying another thing. Those in Edo are saying something else. That is ideological incoherence. You have it when the whole thing is a kind of spontaneous reaction. All that people are asking is as a result of the fact that it is not really a revolution because there is no coherence of ideology. That is the reason they are coming up with one thing today, another thing tomorrow. Some of these things that they are asking for, definitely anyone that knows governance knows that it cannot be met as it is. But do you know what the government is supposed to do?

The President can no longer be operating through proxy with the current situation.

He should have made several addresses to the nation. He should say, we have heard you. We know we made some mistakes in the past. We have not been able to follow through with some of our promises to you, but this is a different situation, can you just gove me some time frame and if I do not and if I do not come up with a definite solution, move back to the streets. With the volatility of the whole thing right now,if they should

Akanbi hear that from the President, the street will be empty within the next 24 hours. If the President says, if I do not come up with a pragmatica action within a certain time go back to the street, they will go back home.

But we have been having governance by proxy, presidency by proxy, that cannot work in this kind of situation. The President has to speak as the father of the nation. The president has to empathic and sympathetic.

The President has to own up to past failures.

He has to own up that they were not trust worthy. It is not about him alone. It has been on over time. The President has to own up to some errors of the past in governance and he should make a definite promise that the governance is on a new turn, having seen the anger of the youths of Nigeria. If

those who are not intelligent enough are still protesting, the intelligent ones will withdraw. You will discover that the thing will completely dissipate and everybody will go back home.

Many states have set up judicial commission of inquiries into police brutality, do you think the youths will be willing to wait for that period of time to see their desired results?

The little training that I have from Harvard on Strategic Leadership tells me that change must never be abrupt. The transition from SARS to SWAT was too rash, too brash and too hasty. Any change that will be meaningful must be international, must be with gradually and must be with a major pragmatism. There

People who are able to raise fund within a short while. It means,if the cause is bigger than the current one that we have, they would raise funds for it. People who are able to use an unregistered NGO to bring fund into the country. That is saying something. It is a serious matter.

It means,there are so.e channels through which money can enter into this country to finance some of these kind of things. There are some people waiting over there whi are prepared to channel money into the country . If the cause is bigger than the current one, we are going to have bigger funds to take care of it. Nigeria has changed.

Things can no longer be like the past. The election that is coming can no longer be like the past. The people have found their voice. The way they have been able to articulate two of the demands -the #EndSARS and #EndPoliceBrutality is a serious matter. It means,there are some Nigerians that can articulate some ideology and it becomes a rallying point for the society at large. If this set of people become fully align to their cause, it means they can vote in a president

was no sufficient communication, no tactical engagement of the citizens and you move straight to a change like, do you think the people will trust you? That is where they messed it up. They think they can bring a kind of veil upon the people and say l ook you want disbandment of SARS and now SWAT is coming. No. I would think and expect that the police would just transfer the function of this SARS to another unit With a new modus operandi, get them to actually move strategically underneath and then come up later and announce the new body that is taking over some of the functions of the disbanded SARS. The moment they came up with that swift change, the people were no longer ready to trust the government.

That was where the trust broke. They people then said thos government is not ready for action unless we back it up with some level of resilience and some violence, because when you have a government that only hears but does not listen, then you need some element of force to make them to listen.

That is a very crucial thing in leadership.

You don’t only hear, you listen. Nigeria has been having leaders who hear but do not listen. They have been taking the populace for a ride and that is why this set of people have said we must back up our demand with some element of force. It is wrong, but it is as a result of the past of the government . In these six months that some states have set as deadline for their judicial commission of inquiries, I can tell you, everything that is involved in their demands cannot wait for six months. There are some that can be done in double quick time. Look at what Saudi Arabia did when the Kashoggi issue came up, whether sincerelyor without sincerity, they first of all claimed all the 15 guys into prison and everyone knew they were in prison. They dismissed the best friend of the Crown Prince from his position . They acted fast, yes, the international community didn’t believe them, but at least within their own country they were able to calm nerves.

In this situation, there are some things they can do within two weeks, like beginning the prosecution of SARS operatives with an established prima facie case of brutality, the lawyers are there and the matter is in court. When people see some pragmatism in the government action, they will begin to reason, but when you take the whole thing to six months, people know that government is looking for a cool off time. Before six months, what stops the President from inviting people with proven cases of police brutality to Aso Rock for lunch or dinner?

He should personally handover compensation to them and apologise on behalf of the government. This SARS we are talking about was it s creation of the Nigerian Police?

Were there no supervisors? Nobody can be blaming those operatives on the field.

What about their supervisors? Where was the government when the bruatalities were taking place. The whole thing that happened now just reveals that our leaders are very much far away from the realities of modern governance. Do they want to tell us that have not been hearing of these brutalities before? Where was the Inspector General of Police? Where was the President? Did SARS create itself? There were individuals who were supposed to call those guys to order. Nobody was doing anything. Now the operatives are the sacrificial lambs, but some people have prospered from their excesses and the government was looking them. The IGP and commissioners of police were looking at them and did nothing. This shows that our leaders are faraway from modern governance.

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

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T H I S D AY ˾ THURSDAY OCTOBER 22, 2020

POLITICS

‘With EndSARS, Youths Have Served Politicians Adequate Notice, it Won’t be Business as Usual’ President of the Pan-Yoruba pressure group, Oodua Peoples Congress, Prince Osibote tells Nseobong Okon-Ekong the EndSARS campaign is warning signal to corrupt politicians

H

aving worked closely police authorities, did you see the EndSARS campaign coming?

EndSARS is not the issue for the fact that the issue is the entire system that runs the Nigerian state. We can’t isolate SARS and then go home to jubilate. SARS is just another department in the Nigeria Police Force. In any country, we must have a tactical team that can combat certain crime. What we should be looking for is an overhauled system.

There are some officers who are in the police stations, who are worse than SARS operatives.

There are people sitting in the office who expect those operatives that are out on the streets to bring money back to them. If you remember there was one Inspector General of Police who suggested that the minimum requirement for Nigerian policemen should be a university degree and some people said nonsense, simply because there is a section of the country that feels its people may be deprived from joining the police. But if we are one country and it is truly a police for Nigerians, nobody should be concerned about where the policemen are from.

The second point is, how much are you paying these people? The amount they are receiving is far below what can enable send their children to a decent school and guarantee them quality life. I am not supporting them because there are people who have suffered at the hands of these SARS operatives. EndSARS should not be the target, there should be a total overhaul of the system

The last few days have recorded the unleashing of anger directed at the police, why are the target?

I will be beg the youths. Burning of police stations and other government buildings is not the solution. The police are part of us. It is still the tax payers money that will be used to rebuild these burnt assets. If they can identify the guilty ones and go after them, that is a different case.

I, however, do not support jungle justice in any form. If the youths want to vent their anger, it should be directed at politicians. There are people in this country who have been in government since independence or since the Second Republic.

When they are indisposed, they put their children there. They are the ones sharing the resources of this country among themselves. The only time they ever remember the people is when they want their votes, which they obtain criminally and further dehumanise the people by paying them pittance. These are the people the youths should vent their anger on. But it is coming to that. I think the youths have served the politicians adequate notice, it wont be businessas usual, going forward. They have demonstrated their capacity for violence. All the filthy politicians in Nigeria are afraid now. It will get to a point when the police will refuse to protect them. In any society, I will not support burning of police station and killing of policemen. We had this issue sometime ago when a DPO lost his life. No good society will tolerate that. But, even the police, do they love themselves? Our political elders have failed us. In the Southwest we are talking of Chief Obafemi Awolowo, is this the same legacy that he left behind? Awolowo identified Alhaji Lateef Jakande as his successor and we are all witnesses to Jakande’s brilliant performance as Lagos State. I stand to be corrected that no Nigerian governor has surpassed his record. But people who have the capacity to make a lot of noise and steal the peoples collective wealth now claim that they are leaders of the Yoruba when Jakande is alive. You don’t elevate yourself. The people know who their heroes are. Is there any of them who can equal Awolowo or Jakande’s record? Why are they galivantimg all over the place? I am disappointed a little bit with the diplomatic community, they have a lot of intelligence on Nigerian politicians. Are they sincere with Nigeria in the fight against corruption?

Placing a visa ban on them is tokenism. These corrupt Nigerians whose monies are stacked abroad should be named and shamed. They should be in prison. They have done a lot of investigation on them. What they are saying to Nigerians is that it is our local problem, but they know what to do, if they want to do it.

Osibote EndSARS has taken an ethnic colouration, why do you think this happened?

I know Comrade Shettima who issued this ethnic warning well. He is entitled to his own opinion. When people talk there must be a reason and there is something they want to achieve.

When they talk like this, they want to escalate the problem. One thing I know is that Nigeria cannot break up until all those generals die, because they fought the war. We should not pray for a war or revolt because it will take us,years to come back. I do not see Buhari as the problem.

It is his lieutenants. I will beg him to allow the youths see him. Then they will see a different man. What I will say to our own Yoruba man in the Presidency is, if the man is not doing your job, come back home. You did not know Buhari is bad, but when you started working with him

you realised it, what should do? Come back home! But the availability of a free house, cars and driver will not allow that wise decision.

Forget the talk someone convinced people to vote for Buhari. People voted for him out of conviction, particularly those of us who were around when he was military head of state. If God said Buhari will not be there, he will not win. It is true that some people don’t trust him.

There are those who have a strong believe in his capacity to govern well. My observation is that he needs to be on his feet to do the right things because of his name. Already, there is a school of thought that the country has never been this divided. What led to the civil war? Do a people who are friendly go to war? Was Buhari the ruler when Nigeria went to war? Many of the problems of this country have been with us for long, but we want Buhari to show that he is

With this EndSARS protest, we are going to a state of anarchy, if government doesn’t resolve it quickly. Anything can happen. There is so much anger. A lot of things happened fast to the disadvantage of the common man, the EndSARS protest was what they needed to release bottled up anger. You cannot control what you cannot control. If Buhari is bad, some of our state governors should be thrown into the lagoon.

There are states you get to and you ask yourself, where is that state among states in the nation?

Some state governors have turned Government House to an entertainment venue only. It is just for merry making and sharing money. When Buhari came in the first impression we had is not what is happening now

addressing them to the best of his ability during his time. He must step on toes, but destruction of government assets is not the solution. There is a difference between a revolution and protest.

A protest can lead to a revolution, but it must be well coordinated. People must all agree. With this EndSARS protest, we are going to a state of anarchy, if government doesn’t resolve it quickly.

Anything can happen. There is so much anger. A lot of things happened fast to the disadvantage of the common man, the EndSARS protest was what they needed to release bottled up anger.

You cannot control what you cannot control.

If Buhari is bad, some of our state governors should be thrown into the lagoon. There are states you get to and you ask yourself, where is that state among states in the nation? Some state governors have turned Government House to an entertainment venue only. It is just for merry making and sharing money. When Buhari came in the first impression we had is not what is happening now.

What OPC was founded for are the ideals I holding in to since I took over the leadership. My first address to the members was that I do not want to see the violence in them. Some of the OPC members are bad. They are being encouraged by unscrupulous Yoruba leaders who want to pocket the group for their selfish reasons. I will not agree to that. What is their problem with Dr. Frederick Fasehun, founder of the OPC? Why are they empowering factions? What made me to come out is to change the perception of OPC. Even the June 12 they are talking about, many of our leaders from the Southwest are Abacha boys. I am not a novice in the struggle. I have enough information. The time is coming when we will tell them the true role they played in the June 12 struggle. Today, they are going around claiming they are champions of democracy and that they suffered for democracy. More troubles are coming for these so-called big politicians from the Southwest. When Tinubu was promoting Buhari he said when the trouble started in France they sent for a General, then what happened?

He did not complete the picture. Perhaps, that is what we are seeing now. The judiciary is not working, even the security system is not working, they only use intimidation.

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FEATURES

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

Women Empowerment: Nigerian Engineers to the Rescue The Nigerian Society of Engineers recently held a three-day intensive training for their spouses on everyday- use household products. The spouses as pilot beneficiaries are expected to overrun the Nigerian markets, increase GDP and give foreign products a run for their money. Kuni Tyessi writes

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conomic and social analysts have come to the conclusion that the world will take about a century to fully recover from the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. This is not unconnected to the fact that the scourge gave no warning or signal about its emergence which has completely changed the entire outlook towards life.

However, like the belief of every enthusiast, a coin is two-faced and such is life. Therefore, as much as losses have been recorded as a result of the pandemic, good reports have also emanated from the experience, especially in developing countries like Nigeria.

The good is embedded in the spirit and consciousness of entrepreneurship and the thought, as well as plans for a better tomorrow. This was the mindset behind the training which was organised for spouses of Nigerian male engineers under the auspices of the Nigerian Society of Engineers (NSE).

After dividing the nation into three zones, namely Enugu, Lagos and Abuja, and training them on how to make disinfectant, hand spray, methylated spirit, hand sanitizer, Vaseline, bleach and a host of other items, the society which spoke through its president, Engr. Babagana Mohammed said as late comers to the game of realisation, coupled with the fact that Nigerians can equal their counterparts in other climes, all thanks to the pandemic, acquiring life trainings will belt them up for future unknown challenges.

According to him: "the intention is to empower Nigerians. Our attention is not centered on just the spouses but on empowering 10,000 Nigerians with skills. Aftermath of COVID-19 has taught a lot of lessons.

Yes, a health issue, but it came with a lot of lessons. There is nothing that cannot be done and so we can do everything for our selves. At the beginning of the pandemic, advanced countries were not ready to release their medical equipment, saying until they had served their citizens. This was indeed a loud message and a clarion call.

"It was during the pandemic that I knew that Nigerians can make hand sanitizers of high quality which is the same all over the world and based on WHO standards. Why should we then import hand sanitizers when we can make and package them effectively?

"I have never heard of anything called ventilators. I only read them in books and I pass because there's nothing special about them. But when they said ventilators are about $10,000, I asked that one should be bought and right now our people have started making ventilators. After going down and picking the designs, Nigerian engineers have started making ventilators.

"As I speak to you, one ventilator is at advanced stage. All the ventilators in the market are meant for one person and they cost between $30,000-$60,000 and that's the range.

"I am starting the programme with very few spouses because that is my immediate constituency. As engineers, we need to be happy at home before we think for any other Nigerian and how can we achieve that?

Our finances need to look good. How can this be? It is made possible with the little things our wives can do at home so that we can save money. After this, we will go out.

"We will introduce how to repair handsets, laptops and this is because majority of the people in this country use them and so there's need to know how to repair them.

The training will be practical and not in theory and the duration does not matter even if it will be for two weeks."

For while it is not enough to have the "he for she" as a mantra calling on men to advocate for the rights of women and close the gaps in keeping the pace with realities on ground as well as strengthen gender equality/ equity, the society says the future belongs to women and the combination of Science,

Participants at the Abuja training for spouses of the Nigerian Society of Engineers (NSE) Photo credit : Kingsley Adeboye

Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM). Therefore, empowering them to meet up with their divine and natural roles is not out of place.

He added: "the world has changed.

Men have failed. Let's be very honest to ourselves. Our only option now is to look at the side of the women. Women have not failed and have not been given the chance to operate. Nobody is arguing this. Who says women cannot do it? Are they not qualified? They are special specie from God. Their shock absorber is higher than that of men. Why not give them an opportunity. Men care for themselves and women take care of the entire family. Why shouldn't they be empowered? The case of empowering women is no longer an issue.

It's a reality and it's a must. The gender called women must be empowered. It is key. If we must be on equal grounds and everything moving formally, women must be empowered.

"The young people are involved. The future belongs to engineering and the future belongs to women. It has to start now. The future does not start in the future. We are already behind and there's need to fast track it and be somewhere. When I say engineering, I mean Science,Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM).

Nobody should be left behind.

"Nigeria is yet to be in the 21st century even though the world is already there.

Countries in the 21st century are countries that have overcome poverty, have 24/7 power supply of electricity, good roads network, people who live above two dollars per meal and eat three square meals a day without looking at the cost. Amongst us, there are people who are privileged but this is not about individuals but about all of us as a people."

He says although they do not have a ready market for the trainees, Nigeria has a population of about 200 million people, adding that "even if it's pure water that

has been well packaged, there will be a market for it. Don't be deceived with the civil service life we are passing through. I know of many who are into petty trading who are richer that me and you. Their daily turnover is about 10,000 naira and we don't earn that in a day. So they are more comfortable than us. And who says we cannot do it? So we can work and engage in businesses in our own leisure.

"President Buhari said he wants to lift 100 million people out of poverty. He is just one person. He is not talking on his behalf but that of all of us. He is not a magician.

When all of us play our part, the numbers will be congregated to give the 100 million.

He is looking at the professionals. We have far passed depending on the government as it can't do everything. The government will do its part through SMEs, humanitarian ministry and we will do ours and at the end of the day, 100 people out of poverty will be actualised”.

Wife of the president, Mrs. Amina Babagana Mohammed, who also doubled as co-pays convener, said aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic has fine a long way in teaching women to be self reliant and have less dependency on men.

Disclosing that it was not easy putting up a crowd for the training, she said the distribution of palliative to the needy during the pandemic was an opener that many women are in need of skills acquisition, hence the training.

"It's not easy to put up a crowd. I first if all felt the pulse of women before we decided to settle for the training. Thankfully, the men have been very supportive. We were also able to distribute palliatives and the response was great with people begging that we make it a monthly venture. Women will have to stand up and make themselves useful and self reliant" she said.

A beneficiary of the training and a spouse of an engineer, Mrs. Benjamin Ogede, said

apart from simplifying the method and processes involved in making everyday useable items at home, training the trainer mentality has been imbued in the trainees and society will be better for it.

According to her: "I have learnt quite a lot.

We learnt how to make vaseline, methylated spirit, disinfectant, hand sanitizer, bleach, hand spray, and hair cream. Ordinary, I don't know how to go about it. Most times, I see the ingredients as big chemistry English I can't speak but this has been broken down for even the man on the street to understand.

"It's something I never imagined can be put together. It has given us knowledge that we can do it ourselves. They have taught us how to help our husbands. Now we are reaping the benefits of marrying engineers.

I hope to produce in large scale but for now it is for immediate consumption. I will educate other women in my community, thereby empowering them and improve the lives of others."

Another beneficiary, Hadiza Hussaini Aliyu said as much as she hopes to go into large scale production of the items she has learnt, she is excited because the continuous idleness that has become a routine is coming to an end.

"I have benefited a lot after being at home and doing nothing. But for the past three days, I have been very happy because I have been able to learn a lot of things and I hope to go into large scale production even though for now, I do not have a ready market.

"The training has been superb and I encourage the organisers to do more. I will encourage them to empower many of us doing nothing. I expect to see trainings based on sewing, knitting, baking, catering, makeup and beads making among others."

Hopefully, the results of the training will be felt in no distant future, but the problem is: will Nigerians patronise their own as against foreign products?

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THURSDAY OCTOBER 22, 2020 • T H I S D AY

Current State of the Nation:

IT IS TIME TO PULL BACK We are Nigerians from the northern part of the country who have closely followed events related to policing and security in our country in the last two weeks. We have decided to make our opinions public at this stage out of concern that developments around protests by groups and the responses of governments could threaten and worsen our security, the economy, national stability and co-existence even more seriously than they have been in the last few years. We are even more disturbed at the turn of events, with many deaths in Lagos on Tuesday night, and the fear that we have not heard the last of avoidable, violent conflicts and deaths in other parts of the country.

We are convinced that the anger of Nigerians over the failure of governments to protect communities and arrest excesses of policing personnel is well grounded in the realities of our existence. We applaud the spirit and the courage of young Nigerians who are genuinely motivated by the desire to improve our collective security and welfare, as well as accountability and responsiveness of leaders to the rights of all Nigerians to good governance. We are also worried that these sincere young people and the cause they champion could remain isolated and vulnerable to being corrupted by interests that seek other goals, unless the nation makes maximum use of the opportunities which these protests present.

We have been concerned by the failure of the administration of President Buhari to appreciate the magnitude of the threats, which these protests pose to national security, stability and unity. We are particularly disappointed at the tepid and disjointed responses of the administration. In particular, we have noted the distinct impression that the administration operates under the impression that the pressures and multiple interests behind these protests can be accommodated by routine and pedestrian approaches in administrative and policy styles.

iii) A more determined effort at fighting the Boko Haram insurgency, banditry and kidnappings in the North; iv) Assumption of full responsibility to maintain all Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) Camps in Northern States by the Federal Government and responsibility for securing communities and returning IDPs to their communities; v) Review of the 20/21 and 21/22 budgets to substantially improve funding for security, education, health and employment opportunities by all governments; vi) Immediate resolution of the strike by ASUU and immediate resumption of all tertiary institutions; vii) Adoption of a programme of direct engagement of leadership of these protests and other major groups with a genuine interest in contributing to immediate and long-term solution to the country’s problems by President Muhammadu Buhari; viii) A commitment from governments not to prosecute or punish peaceful protesters; ix) Establishment of a Judicial Commission of Inquiry into killing of protesters in Lagos and other parts of the country. x) Ending of all the protests and commencement of genuine efforts to engage leadership of the protesters in discussions with the government.

xi) President Muhammadu Buhari should speak to the nation and assure Nigerians that the voices of the young have been heard, all genuine grievances will be addressed, agents of the Nigerian State will operate strictly within their legal boundaries and government is We are aware that there are many negative consequences that will willing to engage with all parties that may contribute to the resolution follow the continuation of these protests. These include more damaging of our current situation. acts of lawlessness that will worsen the state of insecurity of citizens; serious damage to the economy which is already severely stressed; We are convinced that these protests have registered a historic level of increasing negative influence of foreign interests in our national concern that Nigerians will no longer tolerate impunity, or leadership, affairs; further damage to the image and confidence of security, law which fails to accord the highest consideration to accountability, and order institutions; increasing polarization of constituent parts security and welfare of citizens. It is particularly important that this of the nation and deepening the fault lines in our national politics; achievement was registered by the younger generation, Nigerians who further alienation of younger Nigerians from political processes have the most stake in the future of our nation. One important lesson and institutions; widening the scope for opportunistic interests that the nation must learn from these protests is that young Nigerians have target the political process, particularly the elections in 2023, and the raised the stakes in their substantive participation in all matters that possibility that the country could be threatened by desperate attempts determine how citizens of our nation live now and in the future. to pitch supporters and opponents of the administration against each We believe that these protests have achieved major goals, and they other. should be brought to an end. We expect all leaders to immediately We are convinced that the end to these protests and long-term embark on measures that will improve the welfare of Nigerians, solutions to insecurity and restiveness among our younger citizens lie especially the young, and the security of all citizens. We call on all in substantial changes in the manner the administration approaches leaders to contribute to the search for an end to these protests, and vital matters related to governance. Nigerians need to see immediate, we appeal to fellow Nigerians to raise our levels of vigilance against bad leadership and impunity. In particular, we call on Governors to decisive and informed decisions which should include: closely police inter ethnic and inter religious relations in the light of i) Immediate, holistic changes in the leadership and structures of the these protests, and take urgent and decisive steps to prevent further military and police, and substantial improvements in their capacities, violence between communities. We pray for God’s mercy on the souls of those who have died in these protests and many who have integrity and commitments to regaining public confidence; been killed by criminals running riot in our country, and we ask that ii) Establishment of a Judicial Commission of Inquiry by the Federal appropriate restitution should be made to their families.

Government into abuses by personnel of the Nigeria Police, and a transparent process of bringing those who have abused their powers and trust to justice; October 21st 2020.

SIGNED Engr Bello Suleiman Alhaji Mohammed Bello Kirfi (Wazirin Bauchi) Yomi Awoniyi Dr Hakeem Baba-Ahmed Amb Hassan Tukur Professor Jibrin Ibrahim Professor Idris Mohammed Rev Bitrus Dangiwa Air Marshall A. Daggash Dr Mike A. Omeri N. Shariff Malama Lantana Ahmed

Kashim Tumsa Dr Sadiq Abubakar Professor Usman Yusuf Nafiu Baba-Ahmed Dr Mahe Dange (Yariman Sokoto) Lawal Aboki Falalu Bello Bala Bilya Hajiya Hauwa Funtua M.D. Usman Abdullahi Usman Toro, Esq Dr Muazu Abubakar

Tom Mataimaki Ibrahim N. Dasuki Prof Abdullahi Z.D. Loko Dr Usman Jimada Dr Buhari Bello Kware Engr Yusuf Suke Adamu Dr Saleh Mari Maina Alhaji Muazu Alhaji Alhaji Garba Kilgori Professor Maikano Ari Dr Suleiman Kofar Na-Isa Alhaji Bello Abubakar

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THURSDAY OCTOBER 22, 2020 â&#x20AC;¢T H I S D AY

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Quick Takes Firm to Boost Wâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;African e-Commerce

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Harith General Appoints Makhubela CEO

WE ARE OPEN FOR BUSINESS

L-R: Chief Operation OďŹ&#x192;cer, Greenwich Merchant Bank, Tubosun Falowo; Non-Executive Director, Olutoyin Okeowo; Chairman, FBN Holdings, Oba Otudeko; Non-Executive Director, Greenwich Merchant Bank, Tony Uponi, and Executive Director, Benson Ogundeji, at the oďŹ&#x192;cial commencement of operations Greenwich Merchant Bank held in Lagos... recently PHOTO: ETOP UKUTT

Experts Raise the Alarm over Attacks on Govt, Organisationsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Websites Stories by Emma Okonji The Nigeria Computer Society (NCS), the umbrella body for computer professionals in Nigeria has warned against the current trend, where government and organisationsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; websites are hacked into by members of the Anonymous group, an online network known for launching attacks against government institutions, in solidarity with the ongoing #EndSARS protest across the country.

President of NCS, Prof.

Adesina Sodiya, who gave the warning in Lagos, told THISDAY that the situation portends great danger for the Nigerian economy, and could lead to serious security breach.

Sodiya, therefore called on

TELECOM the federal and state governments to take proactive steps to end the hacking that has been attributed to the ongoing #EndSARS protesters.

According to him, â&#x20AC;&#x153;NCS has noticed a serious security breach in the country now. Over 28 â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;state public-facingâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; systems have been breached.

As of now, at least 42-50, or more government websites are potential targets. There are also estimates that indicate that up to 30 government related sites have already been breached and more might be affected in the coming days. Government need to act fast now before they start pasting our Automated Teller Machine (ATM)

cards and Personal Identification Numbers (PINs) online now.â&#x20AC;?

Sodiya who described the attacks as unethical, said the development amounts to unauthorised access to government and organisationsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; websites, and punishable by law.

He said the cyber threat composed of a vast number of threats such as attack on physical system; authentication and privilege attack; denial of service, â&#x20AC;&#x153;as we are currently witnessing from hacktivist; global risks including non-state actors in cyberspace like anonymous compounded by pandemics, which have accelerated our digitisation timelines but also introduced many related online fraudulent opportunities and scaremongering; malicious

content; social engineering and value chain disruptions, among others.â&#x20AC;? â&#x20AC;&#x153;Nigeria might be under attack from both foreign and local actors, as we speak. Both private and public organisations are subjected to continue to experience different waves of attacks. â&#x20AC;&#x153;The current situation is still manageable and we have to take urgent measures so as to protect the country from more terrible situations. This might also seriously reduce and undermine our ranking in the â&#x20AC;&#x153;Global Cybersecurity Perception Index,â&#x20AC;? Sodiya said.

He added, â&#x20AC;&#x153;On our own as the major information technology Continued on page 22

Technology Company Joins Others to Block Third-party Cookies Amidst growing agitations against the move by technology companies to block third-party cookies on their websites, and prevent third-party companies from gaining access to customersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; data for market analytics, Zoho, a global technology company, with focus on world-class applications, has joined other global technology companies to eliminate third-party cookies on its website.

Business Development Manager in charge of Africa for Zoho, Mr. Andrew Bourne, who spoke with THISDAY about Zohoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s recent plan to join other technology companies to eliminate third-party cookies, said the move became necessary to prevent surveillance companies who rely on ads, from having

TELECOM access to customersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; information without their consent.

Cookies are small pieces of data stored on the web userâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s computer/device and enable the domain/webpage to store information and preferences about that user in order to facilitate smoother user interactions. Third-parties usually access the data, analyse it and push the information about customers buying behaviour to advertising companies.

In January 2020, Google announced that it would phase out third-party cookies on its chrome internet browser over the next two years, joining other internet platforms like Safari by Apple, and Firefox by Mozilla

who phased theirs out since 2013.

The development came amidst the growing agitation for stronger user privacy and security on the internet.

With Zoho joining the group to eliminate third-party cookies, the fears of third-party companies would increase, following previous agitations from them.

Founder/CEO ofTerragon, Africaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s fastest-growing enterprise marketing technology company, Mr. Elo Umeh, had raised concern over the planned phase out of third-party cookies

by Google, Apple and Mozilla.

According to him, the phase out would create serious challenge on data analytics and digital marketing.

Zoho however said it has blocked third-party sites on its

website to stop adjunct surveillance. This includes removing options to share on social media sites or analysing website visitor data using third-party services.

Zoho had to develop its own tools in some cases but believes that the cost of doing that was worth it.

According to Bourne, â&#x20AC;&#x153;Surveillance companies, which rely heavily on showing ads to survive, collect user information even from adjunct properties without userâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s permission.

B2B companies use products and services from surveillance companies in exchange for their usersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; data. Earlier this year, Zoho had decided not to follow this industry practice and Continued on page 22

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Ericsson Wins Award

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Ă&#x201C;Ă&#x2018;Ă&#x201C;Ă&#x17E;Ă&#x2039;Ă&#x2013; Ă&#x153;Ă&#x2039;Ă&#x2DC;Ă?Ă?Ă&#x2122;Ă&#x153;Ă&#x2014;Ă&#x2039;Ă&#x17E;Ă&#x201C;Ă&#x2122;Ă&#x2DC; ĂĄĂ&#x2039;Ă&#x153;Ă&#x17D; Ě&#x2039; Ă?Ă&#x2DC;Ă&#x17D;Ă&#x2122;Ă&#x153; ĂĄĂ&#x2039;Ă? Ă&#x161;Ă&#x153;Ă?Ă?Ă?Ă&#x2DC;Ă&#x17E;Ă?Ă&#x17D; Ă&#x2039;Ă&#x17E; Ă&#x17E;Ă&#x2019;Ă? Ă&#x17E;Ă?Ă&#x2013;Ă?Ă?Ă&#x2122;Ă&#x2014;Ă? Ă&#x2122;Ă&#x153;Ă&#x2013;Ă&#x17D; Ă&#x201C;Ă&#x17D;Ă&#x17D;Ă&#x2013;Ă? Ă&#x2039;Ă?Ă&#x17E; Ă&#x2122;Ă&#x2DC;Ă?Ă?Ă&#x153;Ă?Ă&#x2DC;Ă?Ă? Í°ÍŽÍ°ÍŽË&#x153; Ă&#x2039; Ă Ă&#x201C;Ă&#x153;Ă&#x17E;Ă&#x;Ă&#x2039;Ă&#x2013; Ă?Ă Ă?Ă&#x2DC;Ă&#x17E; Ă?Ă&#x2122;Ă&#x153; Ă?Ă&#x17E;Ă&#x153;Ă&#x2039;Ă&#x17E;Ă?Ă&#x2018;ĂŁË&#x153; Ă&#x201C;Ă&#x2DC;Ă&#x2DC;Ă&#x2122;Ă Ă&#x2039;Ă&#x17E;Ă&#x201C;Ă&#x2122;Ă&#x2DC; Ă&#x2039;Ă&#x2DC;Ă&#x17D; Ă&#x161;Ă&#x2039;Ă&#x153;Ă&#x17E;Ă&#x2DC;Ă?Ă&#x153;Ă?Ă&#x2019;Ă&#x201C;Ă&#x161;Ă? Ă?Ă&#x2122;Ă&#x153; Ă&#x17E;Ă&#x2019;Ă? Ă&#x17E;Ă?Ă&#x2013;Ă?Ă?Ă&#x2122;Ă&#x2014;ËŞĂ? Ă?Ă?Ă&#x2122;Ă?ĂŁĂ?Ă&#x17E;Ă?Ă&#x2014;Ë&#x203A; Ă&#x2019;Ă? Ă&#x17E;ĂĄĂ&#x2122;Ě&#x2039;Ă&#x17D;Ă&#x2039;ĂŁ Ă Ă&#x201C;Ă&#x153;Ă&#x17E;Ă&#x;Ă&#x2039;Ă&#x2013; Ă?Ă Ă?Ă&#x2DC;Ă&#x17E; Ă?Ă&#x2122;Ă?Ă&#x;Ă?Ă?Ă? Ă&#x2122;Ă&#x2DC; Ă&#x17E;Ă&#x2019;Ă? Ă?Ă&#x17E;Ă&#x153;Ă&#x2039;Ă&#x17E;Ă?Ă&#x2018;Ă&#x201C;Ă?Ă?Ë&#x153; Ă&#x17E;Ă?Ă?Ă&#x2019;Ă&#x2DC;Ă&#x2122;Ă&#x2013;Ă&#x2122;Ă&#x2018;Ă&#x201C;Ă?Ă? Ă&#x2039;Ă&#x2DC;Ă&#x17D; Ă&#x152;Ă&#x201C;Ă&#x2018; Ă&#x201C;Ă&#x17D;Ă?Ă&#x2039;Ă? Ă&#x17E;Ă&#x2019;Ă&#x2039;Ă&#x17E; Ă&#x2039;Ă&#x153;Ă? Ă?Ă?Ă?Ă?Ă&#x2DC;Ă&#x17E;Ă&#x201C;Ă&#x2039;Ă&#x2013; Ă?Ă&#x2122;Ă&#x153; Ă&#x17E;Ă?Ă&#x2013;Ă?Ă?Ă&#x2122;Ă&#x2014;Ă? Ă?Ă&#x2122;Ă&#x2014;Ă&#x161;Ă&#x2039;Ă&#x2DC;Ă&#x201C;Ă?Ă? Ă&#x201C;Ă&#x2DC; Í°ÍŽÍ°ÍŽ Ă&#x17E;Ă&#x2019;Ă&#x153;Ă&#x2122;Ă&#x;Ă&#x2018;Ă&#x2019; Ă&#x152;Ă&#x153;Ă&#x2122;Ă&#x2039;Ă&#x17D;Ă?Ă&#x2039;Ă?Ă&#x17E;Ă&#x201C;Ă&#x2DC;Ă&#x2018; Ă&#x161;Ă&#x153;Ă?Ă?Ă?Ă&#x2DC;Ă&#x17E;Ă&#x2039;Ă&#x17E;Ă&#x201C;Ă&#x2122;Ă&#x2DC;Ă? Ă&#x2039;Ă&#x2DC;Ă&#x17D; Ă&#x2013;Ă&#x201C;Ă Ă? Ă&#x201C;Ă&#x2DC;Ă&#x17E;Ă?Ă&#x153;Ă&#x2039;Ă?Ă&#x17E;Ă&#x201C;Ă Ă? Ă?Ă?Ă?Ă?Ă&#x201C;Ă&#x2122;Ă&#x2DC;Ă? Ă?Ă&#x153;Ă&#x2122;Ă&#x2014; Ă&#x2013;Ă?Ă&#x2039;Ă&#x17D;Ă&#x201C;Ă&#x2DC;Ă&#x2018; Ă&#x201C;Ă&#x2DC;Ă&#x17D;Ă&#x;Ă?Ă&#x17E;Ă&#x153;ĂŁ Ă?âĂ?Ă?Ă&#x;Ă&#x17E;Ă&#x201C;Ă Ă?Ă? Ă&#x2039;Ă?Ă&#x153;Ă&#x2122;Ă?Ă? Ă&#x17E;Ă&#x2019;Ă? Ă&#x153;Ă?Ă&#x2018;Ă&#x201C;Ă&#x2122;Ă&#x2DC;Ë&#x203A;

â&#x20AC;&#x153;The vital importance of digital skills to achieve the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals has been brought into sharp perspective during the COVID-19 crisis. The expert contributions in â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Digital Skills Insightsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; are helping to ensure that digital skill gaps do not exacerbate existing inequalitiesâ&#x20AC;?

Secretary-General, International Telecoms Union (ITU),

Houlin Zhao

22

T H I S D AY Ëž Í°Í°Ë&#x153; Í°ÍŽÍ°ÍŽ

BUSINESSWORLD EXPERTS RAISE THE ALARM OVER ATTACKS ON GOVT, ORGANISATIONSâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; WEBSITES society in Nigeria, we have increased cybersecurity awareness programmes among individuals and corporate organisations. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We shall continue to take measures towards ensuring that we are able solve our national cyber security challenges. NCS is ever ready to work with the Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy and Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA) towards ensuring that we have a stable and secure online transactions. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We wish to advise both individual and corporate members at this time to adhere to basic cyber security principles.â&#x20AC;?

Cybersecurity Lawyer and Alternate Legal Adviser to Information Security Society of Nigeria (ISSAN) a cybersecurity advocacy group, Mr. Nwabueze Obasi, who also condemned the hacking of government websites, however said some unscrupulous persons could hide under the disguise of #EndSARS protest to hack government websites.

TECHNOLOGY COMPANY JOINS OTHERS TO BLOCK THIRD-PARTY COOKIES started eliminating third-party trackers and cookies.â&#x20AC;?

Chief Evangelist, Zoho, Raju Vegesna, said: â&#x20AC;&#x153;Currently, data privacy is our top concern. We are noticing a trend today, where companies donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t think much before embedding services that are essentially trojan horses masquerading as free services that spy on users. We refer to this as â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;adjunct surveillance.â&#x20AC;&#x2122; â&#x20AC;&#x153;We strongly condemn this practice and took a stance to entirely block third-party companies across all our properties.

This may not be a financially sound decision, but morally this is right, and we are proud of this. Financial profitability doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t mean anything if we are morally bankrupt. We hope other vendors follow us on this path. The pendulum of surveillance has swung too far. It is important to swing in the other direction to protect user privacy. We make a simple promise to our customers: We donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t own your data, you do.

We will never sell your data.

We will never show you ads in our products.â&#x20AC;?

NEWS

APCON Gives Condition for Foreign Firmsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Incursion into Advertising Business Raheem Akingbolu Foreign agencies that are ready to explore the Nigerian advertising market within the ambit of the regulations guiding the practice in the country, are free to practice, the Advertising Practitioners Council of Nigeria (APCON), has declared.

Speaking while speaking with journalists recently, the Registrar and Chief Executive Officer of the council, Dr. Lekan Fadolapo, however, said there are laws guiding advertising practice in the country, adding that such laws should be respected by any individual, interested in playing in the nationâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s advertising space.

He added that the agency, was quite in tune with the federal governmentâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s drive for foreign direct investments, and would therefore do everything possible to encourage such investments in nationâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s marketing communications industry, as long as they did not contravene the advertising law. â&#x20AC;&#x153;What we are trying to do at APCON is to ensure that rules of engagement are followed, especially by foreigners that want to be involved in the practice here. This has become necessary because we just donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t want to wake up one day and discover that all our agencies have been over-run by foreigners. â&#x20AC;&#x153;And donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t forget that one of the promises of this government is to create jobs and leave the

economy better than it met it. So we will not, before our very eyes, allow jobs meant for Nigerians, to be taken over by foreigners. We are very committed to protecting Nigeriansâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; interest,â&#x20AC;? he added.

Fadolapo also hinted on the possibility of the agencyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s council getting inaugurated in a few weeks.

While he would not be specific with the date such inauguration would take place, the new APCON Registrar however expressed the belief that the

issue of non-inauguration of the agencyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s council would â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;soonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; be a thing of the past.

He insisted that talks were on to inaugurate the council and announce a new chairman that would oversee the affairs of the council, in no distant future.

Fadolapo, however, sought the support of the media in highlighting the reforms the agency would be embarking on, and the need for practitioners to play by the rule.

Four years ago, stakeholders in the Advertising stood against

multinationals hiring foreign agencies, insisting that Act No 55 of 1988 that established APCON must be perfectly followed.

The multinational companies in the country that were hiring the services of foreign advertising agencies with no established offices and local affiliate agencies in the country, were therefore condemned and their actions were described illegal and brazen disregard for the constitution of the federal Republic of Nigeria.

Specifically, the multinational brands that jettisoned local

agencies in business partnership were said to be involved in a practice that would stunt the growth and development of the service industry while finally crippling the national economy.

Prior to the period, some multinational companies with global brands were clandestinely resorted to hiring the services of some foreign creative, media and digital agencies in apparent disregard to the rules governing the practice of advertising business as enshrined in Act No 55 of 1988.

Advertising

Experts Proffer Solutions for SME Growth Stories by Emma Okonji Experts in business and corporate governance, recently held a virtual masterclass where they proffered solutions to build capacity in business management for Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in Nigeria.

The event, the latest series in The Revv Programme masterclasses, with the theme: â&#x20AC;&#x153;The Resilient Small Business: A Stakeholder and Crisis Management Perspective,â&#x20AC;&#x2122;â&#x20AC;&#x2122; discussed how small businesses could have access to new markets, productivity support and advisory services.

A key insight at the session was â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;DRESS RIGHTâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;, which is a new acronym for corporate governance.

Moderated by the General

Manager, Regional Operations, MTN Nigeria, Amina Dambatta, the session featured experts in key business areas such as risk and compliance management, corporate governance, enterprise development among others.

The Director, Enterprise Development Centre, PanAtlantic University, Peter Bamkole, identified access to market and finance, as well as security of lives and property as many factors to business development. He also advised the participants at the virtual masterclass on the need to exercise some self-discipline for best business practice. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Corporate governance means you canâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t take a unilateral decision even when you run your own business,â&#x20AC;&#x2122;â&#x20AC;&#x2122; Bamkole said. Using the acronym, DRESS

RIGHT, he enumerated the major components of 21st century business management, which are Digitisation, Risk mitigation, Ethics, Separation, Saving, Regulatory compliance, Innovation, Governance, Human resource, and Togetherness.

While speaking on crisis management, the Principal Consultant, NECCI Consulting, Nkechi Ali-Balogun, highlighted the importance of anticipating risk in order to be better prepared to manage it. This can be done by assembling a crisis communication team that includes a spokesperson and media relations personnel. â&#x20AC;&#x153;The spokesperson must be knowledgeable about the business and the environment and be able to balance the issue with the organisation,â&#x20AC;&#x2122;â&#x20AC;&#x2122; she said.

In addition, she advised SMEs to create positive content in advance in order to counter any negative publicity that may be generated on social media.

The CEO, Beyond Clothing, Arthur Uche, shared a personal account of how his business thrived during the COVID-19 lockdown. With the total closure of non-essential business activities, he considered problem-solving options that enabled him use available resources to retool and reinvent his clothing business. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We had to diversify into making Personal Protective Equipment (PPEs) and convert our manufacturing lines. We conducted research and took our products to hospitals for trials. We didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t just survive but we thrived during the

lockdown. We solved a problem.

Entrepreneurs see problems and solve them,â&#x20AC;&#x2122;â&#x20AC;&#x2122; Uche added.

The Chief Corporate Services Officer, MTN Nigeria, Tobechukwu Okigbo, noted the importance of possessing an in-depth knowledge of the business environment, identifying key stakeholders and supporting their needs. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Understand your environment, because the more you understand your environment the better you are able to respond to crisis. â&#x20AC;&#x153;When you have mapped your stakeholders, the next thing you need to do is to understand what drives them and balance those needs vis-a-vis your organisation.

If you are well versed with your stakeholders, it is easier to change direction and act when in a crisis,â&#x20AC;?

Okigbo said.

Firm Promises Quality Service with New Brand Identity Group Business Editor

Obinna Chima

Capital Market Editor

Goddy Egene

Comms/e-Business Editor

Emma Okonji

Senior Correspondent

Ă&#x2039;Ă&#x2019;Ă?Ă?Ă&#x2014; Ă&#x2022;Ă&#x201C;Ă&#x2DC;Ă&#x2018;Ă&#x152;Ă&#x2122;Ă&#x2013;Ă&#x; (Advertising) Correspondents

Ă&#x2019;Ă&#x201C;Ă&#x2DC;Ă?Ă&#x17D;Ă&#x; äĂ? (Aviation) Ă&#x153;Ă&#x2122;Ă&#x2014;Ă&#x2122;Ă?Ă?Ă&#x2013;Ă? Ă&#x152;Ă&#x201C;Ă&#x2122;Ă&#x17D;Ă&#x;Ă&#x2DC; (Maritime) James Emejo (Finance) Ebere Nwoji (Insurance) Chineme Okafo (Energy) Ă&#x2014;Ă&#x2014;Ă&#x2039;Ă&#x2DC;Ă&#x;Ă?Ă&#x2013; Ă&#x17D;Ă&#x17D;Ă?Ă&#x2019; (Energy) Reporters

Ă&#x;Ă&#x2014;Ă? Ă&#x2022;Ă?Ă&#x2018;Ă&#x2019;Ă? (Money Market) Ă&#x2122;Ă?Ă&#x2039; Ă&#x2013;Ă?Ă&#x2022;Ă&#x2019;Ă&#x;Ă&#x2122;Ă&#x2018;Ă&#x201C;Ă? (ICT) Ă?Ă&#x17E;Ă?Ă&#x153; äĂ&#x2122;Ă&#x2019;Ă&#x2122; (Energy)

BCX Nigeria, a technology solution provider said it has concluded all arrangements to reposition the company for better service quality, as it plans to rebrand the company by next month.

CEO of BCX Nigeria, Mr. Ayo Adegboye, who made the disclosure in Lagos, during an online chat with the media, said: â&#x20AC;&#x153;In about a month from now, BCX Nigeria, the brand that you have trusted all these years, will be switching over to its new brand identity. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re having a virtual launch to mark this historic event. Since our advent into the Nigerian business environment in 2008, BCX

Nigeria has been at the forefront of developing innovative and disruptive technology solutions for all of West Africa.â&#x20AC;?

According to him, in 2009, BCX deployed the â&#x20AC;&#x153;Campus-wide Wireless Networkâ&#x20AC;? for one of Nigeriaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s foremost Universities, and this became the largest single enterprise Wi-Fi project in the country at the time. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Three years later, in 2012, we launched the BCX Cloud Computing Service, a major contribution to Nigeriaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s ICT infrastructure. In 2013, we deployed the very first SIM Registration Solution (in-country) for one of the largest Telcos in Nigeria.

â&#x20AC;&#x153;Five years later, in 2018, we deployed end-user computing and networking for the worldâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s largest brewery, and just last year, we signed a contract to deploy the largest Vocalcom deal in Africa for over 2,500 agents. â&#x20AC;&#x153;In so many ways, our customers have been part of the BCX journey for 12 years and as we rebrand to take on new challenges, innovate new solutions and deliver a greater future, we want customers to be part of this next stage in our evolution,â&#x20AC;? Adegboye said.

Giving reasons for rebranding, he said following the acquisition of BCX Group by Telkom in 2015, the business decided to divest all

its investments outside Southern Africa and earlier on in 2020, BCX Nigeria exchanged ownership in a management buyout led by the companyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s incumbent Managing Director, Ayo Adegboye and IP & Cloud Ltd. The new entity though now fully Nigerian owned will continue to maintain a strategic relationship with BCX SA and also retain global best practices imbibed from them, Adegboye said, adding that financially, BCX Nigeria has run autonomously for the last five years and with this acquisition, is now better positioned to expand to other areas in the country besides its head office in Lagos and

regional offices in Port Harcourt and Abuja especially in sectors where local content had erstwhile been a barrier. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We are currently concluding our regional expansion to other parts of sub-Saharan Africa.

One of our differentiators in the industry has been our technical strength and our clients are assured of seamless continuity in this regard since all accreditations and certifications were obtained locally and therefore remain valid. In the coming days, we will share more details about the virtual launch event and how Nigerians can join this new journey,â&#x20AC;? Adegboye added.

T H I S D AY ˾ OCTOBER 22, 2020

23

BUSINESSWORLD

INTERVIEW

Eneh: Fibre Connectivity Key Olabiyi: Technology Innovation to Technology Development Will Enhance Customers’ Divisional Chief Executive Officer of ipNX Retail, Experience a fixed-wireless and fixed-wired service operator, Kene Eneh, speaks on the possibilities of fibre optic cables in enhancing technology development through high speed broadband solutions. Emma Okonji presents the excerpts:

i

I

pNX recently launched its fiber broadband internet service. How fast is the speed in relation to today’s digital era?

FOS Xtreme is ipNX’ flagship series for premium broadband services to homes and small, medium and enterprises (SMEs). We recently launched Xtreme100 and Xtreme200 from theFOS Xtreme series,which offers speeds of 100Mbps and 200Mbps respectively.

Xtreme200, for example, is currently 12 times faster than the reported average speed for fixed broadband in Nigeria (for August) and eight times faster than the broadband speed projections for urban areas, as contained in the National Broadband Plan for 2020-2025.

Available statistics shows that Nigeria ranks among countries where download speed is very slow, as a result of the low bandwidth in the country. What change is your new product likely to bring in terms of download speed?

While this is true, the FOS Xtreme promise is to deliver the fastest speeds for residential and small business customers obtainable in Nigeria at any given time. We have demonstrated this with the launch of Nigeria’s first three-digit speed in the country. This will go a long way in improving the National fixed broadband average and will put Nigeria at par with top-ranked developed countries in the world today.

What is unique about the solution, and how will it meet the needs of small businesses and start-ups?

FOS Xtreme brings much needed power to SMES. With internet speeds of 100Mbps and 200Mbps, small businesses now have the power to drive business performance at an affordable price. The Xtreme series is positioned as our premium series and it is bundled with a complimentary telephone line as well as a static IP address for reliable business communications and hosting needs.

Our service offerings, which will be delivered to homes and SMEs, is the first of its kind in Nigeria, lending credence to ipNX’ reputation for being the industry’s pacesetter for technological innovation. Based on our traditions at ipNX, we introduced two FOS Xtreme plans to the market ‘Xtreme100’ and ‘Xtreme200’. The FOS Xtreme promise is to deliver the fastest internet access speed obtainable at any given time in Nigeria. We are at such a crucial time in history when productivity and output should not be affected by the challenges of the ongoing pandemic, thus as an innovative brand, we have invested in developing these novel plans that will deliver the highest speed and quality of connection to subscribers and SMEs alike.

COVID-19 outbreak has forced many organisations to increase online activities by asking workers to work from home.

What impact will your solution bring to organisations whose staff operates from home?

FOS Xtreme is primed for the new homeoffice user. Work productivity of staffusing Xtreme will increase tremendously as a result of being able to access relevant work information easily through faster download/ upload speedand to collaborate seamlessly through Video-Conferencing applications.

Staff working from home can also reduce (and in some cases, even eliminate) cellular usage charges by making free on-net calls with the complementary FOS Voice line. COVID-19 has brought about a new normal, where people have to adapt to a new lifestyle. As online presence and activities increase as a result of more people working from home, we need to address the needs of such workers and our solutions are best designed to address such needs.

Country Manager, Dimension Data Nigeria, Olugbenga Olabiyi, speaks on the company’s recent rebranding and its commitment to drive the Nigerian enterprise market through enhanced customers’ experience. Emma Okonji presents the excerpts:

Eneh

The launch of your FOS Xtreme series depends largely on fiber optic cables, which must get approval on Right of Way (RoW) for the laying of cables to homes and offices. How will you address RoW issues with governments of the various states where ipNX operates?

What we have seen is that (thanks to the efforts of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) and the Federal Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy), the executive governors of several states have offered concessions and in some instances complete waiver of Right of Way (RoW)charges to foster telecoms infrastructure rollout which has been identified as one of the pillars for the development of the digital economy. ipNX is very well positioned to take advantage of the opportunities offered by the state governments where we operate in. As a responsible organisation, ipNX will continue to comply with the necessary directives for the approval of RoW from the state governments where it currently has coverage areas, to enable it deliver its high speed fiber broadband internet.

In areas where there are an existing ducts, IPNX would partner with the service provider and plug directly to the exiting ducts, instead of digging up roads to lay fiber optic cables.

What is the concept of the FOS Xtreme solution, what are the benefits and economic impact to Nigerians?

More Internet speed and reliable connectivity means more productivity and better economic competitiveness. When businesses thrive, this can only be good for the economy as value and prosperity will be created for all.

You launched fast internet solution at a time when Nigeria and other African countries are developing technology skills that will help leapfrog into the global digital transformation agenda. How can Nigeria leverage on your solution to attain digital transformation?

FOS Xtreme series will help drive the digital transformation agenda of Nigeria, lending support to several pillars of the National Digital Economy Policy and Strategy developed by the Honorable Minister, Federal Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy, Dr. Isa Ali Ibrahim (Pantami). This series will ultimately turn Nigeria into a leading hub and destination for startups due to the robust fibre infrastructure and unprecedented speed.

We also anticipate a corresponding growth for digital jobs across all sectors of the Nigerian Economy.

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

nternet Solutions recently announced a rebrand to Dimension Data in Nigeria. Why did it become necessary to rebrand the company?

The need to rebrand became necessary in order to reposition the company to serve our clients better. The company previously had four operating entities although not all of them were operating in Nigeria. We had Dimension Data itself and its subsidiaries; Internet Solutions, Merchants, Continuity SA, and BriteHouse. These acquisitions had different sets of core competencies and capabilities hence the need to unite all these business units across Africa including Internet Solutions Nigeria as one people, with one name, under a single client-centred operating model. The board considered bringing all these entities together under the construct that “the whole is better than the sum of its parts.” For instance, Internet Solutions is focused on connectivity and cloud infrastructure, BriteHouse is good with applications development, Continuity SA is good with business continuity plans for enterprises, and so on. It is important to bring these companies under the big umbrella of Dimension Data and start offering better value to the market and enabling customers to achieve better business outcomes. Unifying these companies with a single name and operating model will bring these great businesses together as a better company and unlock greater innovation, from a place of greater strength. It will also allow us to effectively and efficiently execute our go-to-market strategy and enable our clients’ success in a digital-first world; one characterised by technologies that are converging to deliver relevant solutions for real business impact.

Tell us about the five go-to-market areas and what they mean for the future of the company?

Our former operating model had different parts, which were quite specialised but not as effective as we wanted. We had to take a step back to develop a more efficient process and go-to-market that takes us closer to the clients and makes us faster and more agile in delivering our value proposition to our clients.

By unifying all our business units in Africa as one people, we will move faster, remove internal competition, duplication of resources and barriers to effectiveness, while maximising the exceptional talent we have across the group to better serve our clients. Thus, we reorganised around five go-to-market areas to deliver intelligent technology and services that are aligned to our clients’ journeys, in Intelligent Infrastructure, Intelligent Workplace and Customer Experience, Intelligent Business Applications, Intelligent Innovation, and Intelligent Security.

Intelligent Infrastructure provides the infrastructure required to deliver your ICT services such as connectivity, virtual hosting, for instance with the hyperscalers like AWS, Microsoft Azure, or Dimension Data’s native platforms.

After we deliver the IT stack and services e.g next-gen networks, we have to secure them. This is where our Intelligent Security infrastructure comes into play. With the advent of COVID-19, it has become more important to secure everything we do online as more engagement have moved online since the pandemic outbreak. With our Intelligent Security, we are well-positioned to walk the journey with our enterprise partners. Our Intelligent Business Application leverages the deep capabilities of BriteHouse and its competencies in software and application development and with this, we can address the specific pain points of our clients. This goes beyond simply delivering connectivity to delivering relevant, bespoke applications and software to achieve the business outcomes our clients seek.

Olabiyi

With Intelligent Workplace, we are responding to the seismic shift that the pandemic has wrought on the traditional workplace. Several companies have delayed resumption into physical offices till 2021, some 2022. Yet, this has not impacted their productivity as they are doing more and getting more value from their staff with current online collaborations.

Intelligent Workplace provides solutions that help you tear down the four walls, take business away from the brick and mortar construct, and get your employees to work from anywhere.

And we have the solutions to help companies transform their workforce this way.

Our Intelligent Client Experience provides intelligent analysis that the client wants, giving them more data to contextualise and customise their customer experiences. Gone are the days when service providers only offered boutique products with one size fits all services. What we do now is to tailor specific requirements based on real-time data from customer engagement so that they benefit from an altogether exciting experience.

What is the expected impact of the rebrand of Dimension Data in Nigeria?

For Dimension Data, it’s a big change in how we operate. Uniting more than four operating companies together under the same umbrella involves a lot of synergies; we have had to integrate our IT processes and other processes, to achieve improved, efficient ways of doing things and getting our staff to do more. We have a streamlined ID system, which allows staff to reach out to anyone in the group and move things a lot faster than previously. In terms of client delivery, because we have rolled everyone under the same umbrella with different unique capabilities and competencies, we have an all-encompassing and very deep repository of knowledge that people can tap into to solve our unique clients’ problems. Our client-first operating model allows Dimension Data to unlock greater innovation and give our clients the power to build their futures using game-changing technology, from a place of greater strength. With the business units we have, we can solve any client problem and do this with the rich deposit of skills that lies with the group. We have some of the best engineers, global engineers who have seen more of the specific nuances people typically experience with client issues and can bring their vast experiences to solve unique problems in Nigeria. The Nigerian team is local, to contextualise issues that our Nigerian clients face and make sure that we give a global and best-in-class service.

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

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Pushing Campaign for EfďŹ cient Energy Utilisation Policy Seven years after the acquisition and rebranding of the Egbin Power Station by Sahara Energy Group as Egbin Power Plc, the power generating company is taking the campaign of efficient energy utilisation a step further. Raheem Akingbolu reports

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cross the length and breadth of the earth, energy is known to fuel most aspects of human activities. From heating to cooling to transportation and even production the list is endless of the many uses of fuel as a source of energy.

However in the midst of these multifarious benefits lie the environmental challenges that are mostly associated with the fossil fuels.

The release of toxic gases to the atmosphere and environment is a regular scenario and a permanent fixture of the process of any fuel exploitation and utilisation. The impact of this release over the years has been a great concern for most countries of the world which are worried by the twin issues of climate change and environmental degradation and defoliation and as a result are leading the campaign and revving up efforts to reduce carbon dioxide emissions.

According to a recent global report from International Energy Agency (IEA), these efforts may have paid off as most of carbon dioxide emissions were discovered to be over 5 percent lower in first quarter 2020 than in first quarter 2019 mainly due to a 8 per cent decline in emissions from coal, 4.5 per cent from oil and 2.3 per cent from natural gas.

Carbon dioxide emissions during this period fell more than energy demand as most carbon intensive fuels experienced the largest declines in demand during the first quarter of 2020.

As the worldâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s 17th biggest emitter of greenhouse gases in 2015, the second in Africa after South Africa, Nigeria like the rest of the world can therefore not afford to be on the backfoot if it is to remain faithful to the Paris Agreement, a deal it ratified in 2017 to mitigate climate change and sustain the environment by reducing carbon emissions by 20 percent before 2030.

The countryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s emission is expected to reach around 900 million tonnes by 2030, but with the pledge there is likelihood that the figures may be reduced to 720 million tonnes through actions meant to tackle climate change and perhaps try further to keep it down to 495 million tonnes with international support.

The enormity of this target may have been driven home in Nigeria as the country through a private initiative by Sahara Energy Group and its power generating arm,Egbin Power Plc recently ramped up the environmental sustainability campaign by investing in a state of the art electric buses and bicycles to support carbon emission reduction Speaking at the media unveiling of the electric buggies and bicycles at the companyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s premises in Ikorodu, Lagos, the Chairman, Tope Shonubi said environmental sustainability is a core of Egbin Power Plcâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s energy utilisation policy as it tends to address the twin issues of climate change and environmental degradation which have adverse effects on the lives of the people. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Todayâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s event is not an ordinary one as it is not just about today alone but most importantly about the future. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s about the environment and even far beyond. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s about the people and their healthy living and lifestyle .The environment to us is not just the physical environment as the people make part of the environment. Everything we do to us is the environment. In todayâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s world itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s all about sustainability and ensuring that the future is better than the present, the chairman said in his introductionâ&#x20AC;?.

While calling for greater synergy and cooperation in the campaign for a safer, well protected and better secured environment, Shonubi noted that doing that would guarantee greater result in just little time. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I must say that this environmental sustainability thing requires a collective effort. My advice is for everybody to come together because when we come together, there is a force, there is a movement. Thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s the only way we can make that sustainable difference in our community, country, Africa and the world at large.â&#x20AC;?

He spoke further of the plans of the company to encourage the adoption of the newly launched electric cars and bicycles as a mode of transportation. â&#x20AC;?For us, we are aware that one in every five Nigerians actually get power from Egbin or Omok or Afam. What we have come to realise is that charity begins at home. We must walk

Shonubi

the talk .As we give energy we must be able to influence our customers. Imagine 40 million Nigerians getting to another 40 million people globally it is a multiplier effect but you must live the life before you preach the life so that is what this is all about. â&#x20AC;&#x153;It is not just for us to say we are launching this set of buses and bicycles for our staff. We are starting here but we will project it through the distribution companies. When you get your electric bill we are going to talk about environmental sustainability. We want to help try save the earth as well as the environment, he saidâ&#x20AC;?.

The chairman disclosed that because the environment and health of the people are key priorities to the company explains why climate

and environmental issues are not handled with kid gloves but rather put on the front burner.

The occasion which witnessed tree planting exercise by the chairman to reinforce the environmental sustainability campaign had other speakers give insights on other activities and efforts by the Sahara Energy Group geared towards ensuring energy sufficiency and effective utilisation in the country.

A Director at Ikeja Electric, a distribution arm of the Group,Ade Ogunsi said the group conglomerate through a well laid out planning system has over years built a culture of excellence in service delivery to the growing numbers of customers â&#x20AC;&#x153;In Sahara, Egbin and IE all put together we always conduct what we call scenario planning.

Scenario planning is simply that we anticipate all likely possibilities and put in place a program and strategies to deal with those eventualities.

Thankfully we are always not caught napping.

We are always quite aware of what might happen and by that we are able to continue to steer the organisation in the right path. â&#x20AC;&#x153;For us, it is not just being in existence that matters it is being able to deliver the promise we have made. For us we have signed this contract with all our customers to ensure that they have electricity. We will continue to invest massively in network expansion to ensure that lines that needed to be strengthened are strengthened and equally give additional contracts to those meter manufacturers to ensure that they deliver the prepaid meters for purpose of adequately metering of our customers. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We equally pay attention to some of the things we are doing with regards to bilateral premium power initiative which we started in Magodo, Ogudu, Ikeja GRA and the rest of them. It is something that is catching fire so to speak, a service based tariff regime of this administration which is a product of our own experimentation at Ikeja Electric and thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s why we have now isolated and segmented the customers along the line of those who have the capacity to pay and ensuring that they are paying,â&#x20AC;? he affirmed.

With reference to investments made by the company on metering and other power facilities Odunsi said: â&#x20AC;&#x153;As for metering alone we have invested about $11.4million.Before then, we spent close to $44 million in advanced metering infrastructure which primarily is to integrate technology and innovation in our own way of doing business. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We are doing network optimisation, we are doing more of system upgrade and most importantly we are equally training our staff the new way of doing things and so part of what we are doing presently is to ensure that the capacity to deliver is there. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Meanwhile, there is something you canâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t teach and that is passion. The passion of our staff lately is quite impressive. We deliberately and intentionally want to make things better because ultimately it is when there is electricity that they can go to bed and rest but today we donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t have enough of that.â&#x20AC;?

On the debate trailing the new tariff payment, he noted that the investment growth being sought in all the value chains of the power sector would continue to be a tall order without a cost reflective tariff system.

NDE Recruits100 Beneficiaries for Agric Training in Osun Yinka Kolawole in Osogbo The Director General of the National Directorate of Employment (NDE), Dr. Nasir Argungu has emphasised the need for unemployed persons, especially, Nigerian youths to explore job opportunities in the agric sector in order to grow Nigeriaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s economy.

The NDE boss, stated this in Oshogbo, while speaking through the NDE Osun State coordinator, Mallam Ismail Yekeen, at the commencement of the three months intensive training organised by NDE Rural Employment Promotion (REP)

department for 100 participants under the NDE Sustainable Agric Development Training Scheme (SADTS 2020).

According to him, the issue of unemployment could be reduced to the barest minimum, if enormous resources of unemployed youths could be deployed into agriculture and other agro-allied productive ventures.

He enjoined the selected participants to accord agric development, a pride of place in their consciousness, saying â&#x20AC;&#x153;agric business is a serious business.â&#x20AC;?

He expressed the NDEâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s readiness to continue to provide succour to all unemployed persons, through its various employment generation programmes and activities.

The NDE DG disclosed that through the directorateâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s efforts and in collaboration with both National and International agencies, the NDE has been able to address effectively the scourge of joblessness among unemployed persons.

Also speaking at the occasion, the head of the Department of REP, Mrs. Toyin Adesina, advised the participants to be committed to the

training â&#x20AC;&#x153;as all areas of Agriculture will be covered, both theoretically and practically â&#x20AC;&#x153;.

Adesina, stated further, that the training would run for three months, during which the participants would be attached to established private or public farm enterprise, for them to acquire requisite knowledge, in any area of Agric they may intend to venture into.

She disclosed that the participants could be further assisted, after the completion of the training by way of provision of starter pack, in cash or kind.

Group to Dissect Role of PR in Venture Capital Funding The 12th edition of the NECCI public relations roundtable scheduled to hold in Lagos this month with the theme: â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Raising the Venture Capital Funding Clarion - The Role of Public Relations in Growing the Enterprise Base through Venture Capital Funding , will focus on the role public relations plays in venture capital funding in growing enterprise.

This yearâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s marks the 20th edition and due to the ongoing social distancing, the event would be held both physically and live-streamed

across various digital platforms.

According to the Convener Nkechi Ali-Balogun, who is the Principal Consultant/CEO, the theme would expound the new frontier of enterprise development through venture capital funding, especially with a focus on the part of Nigeriaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s demography that has the least access to funding from the capital market, namely women and youth. â&#x20AC;&#x153;It will define applicable means for venture capital funding targeted at upstarts, idea-driven innovative

ventures and small businesses within the Nigerian economy. More importantly, it will highlight the role of public relations in driving funding for business upstarts as the most viable means to building and sustaining an enterprise base for Nigeriaâ&#x20AC;? she said.

Balogun believed that this would be a wake-up call that will tremendously boost the acceleration of the creation of this fund for sustainable economic growth and job creation.

In alignment with the roundtableâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s

advocacy for youth inclusion, she further stated that emerging entrepreneurs and students in tertiary institutions would be supported with the provision of data to attend the conference.

Confirmed to speak at the roundtable are Prof. Joseph Nnanna, Chief Economist, Development Bank of Nigeria; Dr. Biodun Adedipe, Chief Consultant, B. Adedipe Associates Limited (BAA Consult); Peter Obi, former Governor of Anambra State and a host of others.

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Vitafoam Launches Product Awareness to Boost Earnings

Adeosun: Ardova is Transforming into Integrated Energy Firm

Goddy Egene

The Chief Executive Officer, Ardova Plc, Mr. Olumide Adeosun, has said the company is moving from being an oil firm to becoming an integrated energy company in its efforts to broaden its value proposition to the market.

Adeosun stated this while presenting the companyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Facts behind the figures,â&#x20AC;&#x2122; at the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) last week.

He said: â&#x20AC;&#x153;In line with our vision of being the most reputable African energy solution brand, committed to driving the continentâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s growth, we will leverage innovative technology and commit strongly to

Vitafoam Nigeria Plc is set to launch national awareness on the relationship between body mass and mattress to promote healthy living, widen customer base and boost its return on investment (ROI).

Already, the company has concluded arrangements to flag off buy right that covers mattresses for six distinct categories of body weight, ranging from under 50kg to all weight categories.

Speaking on the development, the Group Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Vitafoam Nigeria, Mr. Taiwo Adeniyi, explained that the company decided to educate the entire public on the need to consider body weight before purchasing mattresses in view of the health challenges of using wrong foams.

Adeniyi disclosed that the companyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s new move was borne out of empirical facts and obligation to create awareness as part of its Community Social Responsibilities (CSR). â&#x20AC;&#x153;Many people have suffered from health challenges because of disparity between their body weight and the mattress they use. Our actions are based on empirical facts and not intuition.

Some people just buy mattresses

on the basis of their pocket. We have found out that there is a need to have basis for buying.

One of the questions that our outlets ask customers is their body weight and there are scales to measure it for proper guidance. â&#x20AC;&#x153;What you sleep on determines what your day looks like.

Bad mattress causes bad dream.

People do not bother about what they sleep on. But a lot of health challenges come along. We are taking our campaign, scheduled for three months to both urban and rural areas. We can customise our products to body mass,â&#x20AC;? said Adeniyi.

By the companyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s categorisation, people that are under 50kg should go for Vita Shine mattress, up to 70kg, Vita Grand and Vita Corona, up to 100kg, Vita Haven, Vita Supreme and Spring Flex, above 100kg, Vita Spring Firm, up to 120, Vita Sizzier and all weight categories which is not suitable for children, Vita Twill, Vita Galaxy Orthopedic and Galaxy Classic.

According to Adeniyi, the new development on body weight as a basis for purchase of mattress is a result of the companyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s continuous improvement on its existing product categories. He explained that the new categorisation of mattresses by body weight did not affect their existing prices.

Goddy Egene

delivering superior customer experience. In the second half of 2020, our focus will be on: operational efficiency, building superior customer experience, innovation, and partnerships.â&#x20AC;?

Presenting the financial highlights, Executive Director, Finance and Risk Management, Ardova Plc, Mr. Moshood Olajide stated: â&#x20AC;&#x153;Gross margin grew significantly in the second quarter to 7.3 per cent in second quarter (Q2):2020 from 5.4 per cent in first quarter (Q1):2020 and from 6.3 per cent in the corresponding period in 2019.

This sterling performance in gross margins reflects our resolve to maximise our core earnings and minimise cost.

Shareholdersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; funds also grew

by 5.8 per cent year-to-date (YTD) to N17.5 billion in half year (H1):2020 (N18.6 billion full year (FY):2018) as a result of an 11.5 per cent growth in retained earnings. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Our gearing ratio also improved to 37.8 per cent in H1:2020 compared to 88.6 per cent while our earnings generating capacity remained sufficient to cover existing debt/ borrowing with normalised interest cover printing at 4.3x in H1:2020 relative to 0.7x in H1:2019.â&#x20AC;?

Speaking at the virtual event, the Divisional Head, Listings Business, NSE, Mr. Olumide Bolumole, said: â&#x20AC;&#x153;Given that the market is driven by timely, relevant and accurate informa-

tion, we commend the board and management of Ardova Plc for interacting with the market through this forum.

The exchange also recognises efforts made by the board and management of Ardova Plc towards achieving business continuity by improving its operations. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We are pleased that the successful rebranding and efforts towards repositioning the organisation continue to boost investor confidence in the company. At the exchange, we will continue to position ourselves as the African Exchange of choice for issuers and investors by strengthening the corporate governance of our listed companies through forums such as this.â&#x20AC;?

Sahara Group Advocates Private Sector Collaboration to Boost Food Security Peter Uzoho Energy conglomerate, Sahara Group, has canvassed increased private sector collaboration towards optimising food value chains to address global undernourishment prevalence.

Saharaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s intervention came on the heels of the Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO)â&#x20AC;&#x2122;s report on the state of food security and nutrition in

the world, which said undernourishment prevalence stands at 687.8million, representing 8.9 per cent of global population.

The FAO report also recorded the prevalence of severe food insecurity at 746.0million, which translates to 9.7 per cent of global population.

Further review of the report shows that sub-Saharan Africa alone has severe food insecurity prevalence of 227.5million,

which is 21.3 per cent of Africaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s population.

The report cited undernourishment as a measure of the insufficiency of an individualâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s food consumption to provide the amount of dietary energy required to maintain a normal, active and healthy life.

It also explained that food insecurity refers to limited access to food, at the level of individuals or households,

due to lack of money or other resources.

The Director, Governance and Sustainability, Sahara Group, Pearl Uzokwe, said in a statement that collaboration among regional and global businesses will increase investments in sustainable food and agricultural projects and create avenues for better engagement with governments and global development agencies.

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T H I S D AY ˾ OCTOBER 22, 2020

BUSINESSWORLD

PERSPECTIVE

Race against Economic Inequality in Emerging Markets Soromfe Uzomah

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ne of the great challenges of the 21st Century is the need to reduce poverty levels and economic inequality globally.

Economic growth is the most powerful tool for reducing poverty and improving the quality of life in developing countries.

The World Bank’s Poverty and Inequality Report finds that, “More equal countries tend to have healthier people, be more economically efficient, and have greater social stability than highly unequal countries. And countries that invest smartly in reducing inequality today are likely to see more sustained economic growth than those that don’t invest. Less inequality can benefit the vast majority of the world’s population.”

However, emerging markets are often defined by marked levels of economic inequality. And while governments have a responsibility to try to close the income gap, Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) can have a profound impact in ensuring economic growth as reflected by GDP growth.

SMEs represent about 90 per cent of businesses and more than 50 per cent of employment worldwide. Formal SMEs contribute up to 40 per cent of national income (GDP) in emerging economies, and these numbers rise significantly if we include informal SMEs. It’s estimated that 600 million jobs will be needed by 2030 to absorb the growing global workforce, which makes SME development a high priority for many governments. In emerging markets, most formal jobs are generated by SMEs, which create seven out of 10 jobs.

The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) states that SMEs are essential for delivering more inclusive globalisation and growth, while the World Bank notes that SMEs play a major role in most economies, particularly in developing countries, by generating employment, adding value, making moderate to significant impacts to the GDP growths of economies, and driving innovation. It has been identified that SMEs are of overwhelming importance for developing countries, because they account for more than 90 per cent of all firms outside the agriculture sector.

We can see the benefits of a robust SME sector clearly in a study of the ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) countries. SME development is an important point of consideration for the ASEAN Economic Community Blueprint, which aims at increasing the contribution of SMEs to the overall economic growth and development of ASEAN as a region.

SMEs have been directly correlated to economic growth in many thriving Asian economies, including Korea, Singapore and Thailand, and they’ve also played a very significant role in the rapid industrialisation and development of China and of India, two of our BRICS partners.

There’s a connection between the levels of poverty, hunger and economic

Uzomah

well-being of a society and the general condition of SMEs in that country. In most developing and developed economies, over 90 per cent of SMEs improve the employment rate. With respect to the ASEAN economies, studies have concluded that SMEs’ development is integral to achieve long-term sustainable economic growth.

It can hardly then be a surprise that three of the Asian countries with the most notable growth occupy the top ten rankings for the World Bank’s annual Ease of Doing Business survey for 2018, Singapore in second place, Republic of Korea in fourth and Hong Kong in fifth.

In addition, Taiwan (#15) and Thailand (#26) appear in the top 30 countries, while only one African country, Mauritius (#25) appears in the top 30 list.

While not specific to the SME sector, the rankings seek to quantify and rate the ease of doing business in a country, based on components such as the ease of doing or starting a business, dealing with permits, access to electricity and credit, trading across borders and resolving insolvency, to name a few.

The challenge, according to the Doing Business Index, is that the sub-Saharan Africa region ranked “the economies with the least business-friendly regulations on average”, making growth in GDP contribution in the sub-Saharan countries much more difficult than our Asian counterparts, with a direct impact on job creation and poverty alleviation.

Governments and regulators can do much to ease onerous legislative and regulatory requirements and facilitate the positive contributions of SMEs towards economic growth.

Many SMEs across the world, but

particularly in emerging markets, struggle with the same challenges – lack of access to affordable finance, trade and investment barriers, and lack of access to global markets. Poor physical and ICT infrastructure often prevent SMEs from operating efficiently or accessing international markets at competitive costs. Digitisation offers SMEs new opportunities to participate in the global economy, but many are lagging in digital transformation and access to the internet remains unattainable for many in the region.

We’ve found that investing into strategic partnerships can provide muchneeded assistance for SME’s. In Nigeria, Microsoft has partnered with First Bank of Nigeria, Vodacom Business Nigeria and MTN Nigeria, to provide their SME customers with access to technology, skills development resources, business networks and an educational platform.

First Bank of Nigeria is building the capacity of local SMEs and accelerating their digital transformation by providing them with exclusive and tailored nonfinancial solutions, giving them access to technology at discounted rates and in local currency, while providing access to business networks and education through the Microsoft Virtual Academy.

Vodacom Business Nigeria provides Microsoft Azure cloud services to Vodacom customers, enabling them to optimise their operations and improve their decision-making capabilities to maintain a competitive advantage. MTN Nigeria is focusing on capacity development, access to markets and business networks across Africa, providing access to technology while offering support in creating innovative solutions.

Microsoft has partnered with Jumia in Nigeria and Kenya to host an official store page on the Jumia online mall. This provides SMEs with the opportunity to buy and use genuine Microsoft products and solutions with payments in local currency, helping to solve payment-currency challenges – and the intention is to grow this into other markets including Egypt, Ghana and Côte D’Ivoire. Innovative partnerships like these can really have a direct impact on SMEs and the challenges they face.

Digital skills are essential for any organisation to grow, and we want to encourage technology adoption and skills development in every organisation. The Biz4Afrika Online platform is helping SMEs to access to technology, information, skills and markets. It’s helped bring 1.7 million SMEs online, and more than 500,000 SMEs in Africa are actively consuming Microsoft Cloud Services today.

And it’s not only strategic partnerships with corporate entities that can shift the needle. Public-private partnerships play an important role. In Morocco, the partnership with Algo Consulting, has developed Wraqi, an online administration solution using machine learning, IoT and blockchain to improve citizen-government relations.

Powered by the Microsoft cloud, Wraqi allows users to create an account with a signature repository, which government entities can use to identify, authenticate and authorize citizens remotely using electronic signatures and multi-factor authentication, which is likely to accelerate, but also facilitate, access to services.

Opportunities for increased access to markets can also help to promote more inclusive growth. In West Africa, Microsoft-supported startup SpacePointe helps SMEs build affordable online marketplaces and ecommerce strategies. On a broader scale, the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA) can play the role of unlocking innovation, growth and productivity on the continent, especially for its SME segment, by translating spending power into economic development.

It is apparent that sustained, fast growth in the Asian economies mentioned is related to robust infrastructure, legislation and ease of doing business in those countries, particularly in relation to the SME sector.

Conversely, where these elements are not in place, countries experience slower growth. Enabling environments for SMEs will impact the future of many emerging market economies and allow smaller businesses to respond nimbly to the needs of those economies.

If we are genuine in our desire to see the economies of the African continent grow and strengthen, then we must work with intent to help SMEs overcome the challenges they face. In doing so, levels of inequality and income disparity can be reduced.

-Uzomah is Head, Strategic Partnerships, Microsoft 4Afrika

NGO Trains 60 Girls on GVI Programme Ugo Aliogo

A

ction Health Incorporated (AHI) has trained and graduated 60 teenage girls in the Girls’ Voice Initiative (GVI) programme to become leaders and change agents in their respective communities.

The programme empowered the girls to drive change in their various communities on the issues of sexual harassment, domestication of child protection policy in schools, and elimination of child marriage.

Speaking at the graduation ceremony, the Executive Director, Action Health Incorporated, (AHI), Mrs. Adenike Essiet, said the focus of the programme was to provide opportunity for girls to discover their potential and how they can drive

change in their communities.

She also stated that the programme which was supported by Rise Up and Cummings Nigeria is in line with the mandate of AHI which is to provide every young person the opportunity to succeed.

Essiet further stated that the programme has provided opportunity for the girls to be trained in ways they can drive change in their respective communities, adding that, “we are excited about it and any time we find a partner who is willing to support these issues, we are always ready to collaborate.”

Continuing, she said: “In this short period of time, we have seen how they have worked with the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) to address the issue of sexual harassment. We have also seen how they have

worked to address the issue of girls been kept out of school in order to be able to support their families and several other issues that affect young women. A week ago four of the girls were speaking in a primary school, encouraging other young girls to look up for themselves.”

In her remarks, the Country Director, Rise Up, Mrs. Theresa Effa, hinted that the programme provided a platform to build the skills of the girls in advocacy, identifying issues around their communities, amplifying their voices, public speaking, and engagement with policy makers.

She also stated that the organisation invested in the girls by providing technical support and funding, to enable them implement advocacy strategies which would allow them transform their communities.

According to her, “We are particularly excited that we are graduating 60 of those special leaders, whom through technical support of AHI have amplified their voices, to be able to identify issues within their communities, and make a change in that area. We started this project in September 2019 and this is the first phase of the project and they have recorded successes.

“From what I learnt they have been able to engage policy makers for instance Tutor-General Permanent Secretary, (TGPS) District I to implement the child protection policy within the schools. They have also been able to mobilise community leaders to support girls who are out of school to enroll back in school. So even their graduation, they have been able to make some changes within their environment.”

THURSDAY, ͺͺ˜ ͺ͸ͺ͸ ˾ T H I S D AY

27

LAGOS UNDER SIEGE

Soldiers address hoodlums to calm down at Makinde Police Station at Mafoluku

Makinde Police Station and barracks razed by hoodlums

Oba of Lagos Palace

Lagos State Traffic Management Authority office in Ejigbo

Nigerian Ports Authority Head Office on Marina

BRT Station in Oyingbo

Lagos Theatre at Oregun

Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu’s mother’s residence in Sururele

TVC Communications headquarters in Shangisha

The Nation Newspapers Head Office on Fatai Atere Way, Ladipo

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T H I S D AY ˾ , OCTOBER 22, 2020

HEALTH & LIFESTYLE

ÜÙßÚ ÏËÞßÜÏÝ ÎÓÞÙÜ˝ ÒÓÏ×ÏÖÓÏ äÏÙÌÓ ×ËÓÖ chiemelie.ezeobi@thisdaylive.com, Tel: 07010510430

Assessing Confidence Rating of COVID-19 Health Policy Intervention The current COVID-19 pandemic has not only posed a major health challenge to all countries of the world, but it further put to test the capacity of nations and their respective governments to meet the expectations of their citizens. In Nigeria, a study by the Human And Environmental Development Agenda Resource Centre revealed the pandemic further exposed the weak capacity of government to understand and respond to the needs of Nigerians, reports Onyebuchi Ezigbo

The PTF Chairman and Secretary to the Government Federation, Mr. Boss Mustapha

Chairman HEDA, Mr. Olanrewaju Suraju

T

Resource Centre commissioned a research study on the perception on COVID-19 national response effort. The centre said the research was informed by the need to examine the level of response of the federal government to the pandemic in particular and citizens’ demands in general. It said the research was conducted to also measure the trust of citizens in the government and measure the values credibility currency of government with the citizens.

The outcome of the research on leadership approval rating: citizens perception of leadership and governance in nigeria will surely strengthen public participation in the democratic process and provide a challenge in measuring the level of government response to the COVID-19 scourge.

Respondents in the survey knocked the federal and state authorities for poor responses to a pandemic that has hit social, economic and cultural lives of millions of people all over the world.

In addition, the survey revealed respondents’ dissatisfaction with various responses from the Federal and Lagos State Governments. According to respondents, public officials did not do enough to meet global standards rated in their poor management of information, public education, swift responses to public health needs, sharing of palliatives and constructive engagement of the critical sector.

The report provides citizen perception of FG’s decision making and how such affects the people and perspective during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Respondents were drawn from the labour force while the survey weighed on gender.

The survey which targeted 1300 respondents recalled a success of 1150 responses. 50 per cent of respondents above 50 years of age said the federal government did not fairly well handle the pandemic while 50 per cent of female respondents said the federal government badly handled the responses.

According to the report, out of 420 respondents, with 262 male and 155 female, 104 respondents said the governments fairly badly handled the response while 104 female, 231 male said the response’s were badly handled.

The report contains analysis and evaluation of the various citizen perspectives on government responses.

Most people from 34 to 64 years old felt the responses of the government were bad. The survey was conducted on August 7 and 8, 2020.

While presenting the report Chairman HEDA,

he outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic and it’s wide spread across the globe came as a rude shock to most people who are still wondering how the disease came about. It was in February 2020 that Nigeria recorded her first index COVID-19 case.

This led to shutdown of the country for public health reasons.

As at October this year, some 38.1 million people have been infected with COVID-19 worldwide while 1.09 million of these figures are dead. In Nigeria, the number of cases is slowing down due to reduction in testing.

As at October 14, 2020, the vital information generated in Nigeria include the following, number of confirmed cases of COVID-19: 60,834; total active cases, 7,575; number of fatalities, 1,116 deaths and the number of recovered cases is 52,143. Cumulative number of samples tested is 567,857; whereas the number of laboratories established so far is 69 with at least one in each state.

This number of infection is a far cry from reality as many people are refusing to submit themselves for testing for the virus. In fact, the three months target set by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) to ramp up testing to about two million has elapsed without half of it being met. One of the concerns that the federal government had been expressing was the growing violation of the COVID-19 protocols, especially with regard to use of face mask and observance of social distancing at events, offices, markets and political gatherings. People seem not convinced by government’s position and have continued to flout it’s directives. It appeared as if the citizens do not believe those in government anymore when they ask them to make sacrifices.

The reason for the apathy in observing COVID-19 protocols remained in the realm of conjecture, at least for the federal government which keeps lamenting and expressing fears of a possible spike in the spread of the pandemic in the country due to the behaviour of most Nigerians.

The government through the Presidential Taskforce on control of Human And Environmental Development Agenda,(HEDA Resource Centre)-19 has continued to express concern over the increasing wave of violations of the COVID-19 protocol by Nigerians.

In its latest report on the HEDA Resource Centre COVID-19 intervention efforts, the PTF noted the huge challenge posed by poor engagement with

states which manifests strongly in the form of low level of sample collection across the country.

“As at date, only the Federal Capital Capital Territory (FCT) and Lagos have achieved the target of testing one per cent of its population followed by three states that have crossed 50 per cent (Plateau, Gombe & Rivers) Twenty-Six others are yet to measure up to 25 per cent . This is considered a serious problem which is further compounded by the increasing general apathy and disbelief about the risk of COVID-19 in Nigeria”.

The PTF Chairman and Secretary to the Government Federation, Mr. Boss Mustapha said reduction in the test positivity ratio to less than five per cent further corroborates the belief that the epidemic curve is flattening, despite the unsatisfactory testing rate in the country attributable to general apathy among the populace.

The apathy being shown by Nigerians in the observance of measures and protocols approved by government on COVID-19 may either be as a result of lack of trust, confidence or poor sensitisation.

Perhaps, it was in a bid to help find answers to the lukewarm attitude by Nigerians on government’s policy measures on COVID-19, that HEDA

The fact that only 17 per cent of respondents assessed the federal government as either having done fairly well or very well in handling the COVID-19 pandemic is enough indicator to the level of popularity of policy measures by governments.

The responses of the federal and state governments should have been more decisive

Mr. Olanrewaju Suraju, said the action was informed by the need to understand, with empirical fact, citizen’s perception of governments at the federal and state levels, with special focus on Lagos as pilot, to determine what level of trust is placed on the governments to represent and reflect citizens’ interest in the formulation and implementation of policies and programmes. Other considerations included the allegations of misapplication and secrecy surrounding the utilisation of resources and funds mobilised to combat the COVID-19 by these governments.

Although the focus of the research was on COVID-19, Suraju said that it can also be of help in understanding the way the public view policies implemented by government which in reality affects their livelihood. No doubt, the research has broadened the debate about the quality of public participation in government policies. It can help the various tiers of government to improve in mass communication and constructive engagement of social and political forces at play in their domain.

“The report highlights how government machinery is often times oiled by exclusion and the lack of effective public participation. The unfolding public protest against police brutality under the campaign slogan #EndSARS has practically demonstrated and confirmed a critical findings of this research, citizens’s lack of trust in government.

“The fact that only 17 per cent of respondents assessed the federal government as either having done fairly well or very well in handling the COVID-19 pandemic is enough indicator to the level of popularity of policy measures by governments. The responses of the federal and state governments should have been more decisive,” the report of HEDA Resource Centre said.

Also Suraju noted that refusal of #EndSARS protesters to return home and abandoned the protests, which is fast gaining momentum across the country in such an unprecedented manner, despite the assurances of government’s commitment to their demands and the disbandment of the Federal Special Ant-Robbery Squad, is a resounding testimony to lack of trust in government or promises of government.

One of the major problems confronting us today as a country is lack of inclusion. Majority of Nigerians are isolated from governance and excluded in the decision making process. In essence, the current COVID-19 pandemic has further exposed the weak capacity of the government to understand and respond to the needs and aspirations of Nigerians.

T H I S D AY ˾ , OCTOBER 22, 2020

29

NEWS

Draiklinas at 40, Calls for Regulation, Investment in Hygiene Sector Rebecca Ejifoma Draiklinas Limited, leaders of commercial and industrial cleaning, is advocating urgent need for regulation and structured investment in the cleaning and hygiene sector as it set to celebrate its 40th anniversary in active operations.

The firm made this call at a press briefing to celebrate its 40th year anniversary and appreciate 40 deserving clients who have patronised them for over 20 years.

The Managing Director, DraiKIinas Limited and Public Health Specialist, Dr Tunde Ayeye said there is need for the sector to transit to a properly regulated sector because of its potential impact on the health and wellbeing of the citizens.

He decried the current situation wherein many operators in the sector fail to establish proper organisational structures to assure enduring business operations with potential for transcending generations.

While challenging the current practice of quackery and use of unskilled and untrained persons as cleaning and hygiene operatives, the health expert said effective regulation would increase investment in the sector, encourage professionalism and unlock the massive economic potential

in the sector in addition to the desired health and environmental benefits.

To buttress the urgent need for the strengthening, standardisation and regulation of the cleaning and hygiene industry, the MD suggested that improvement in environmental hygiene will reduce significantly some the health problems that we are currently faced with.

According to the health specialist, about one million children in Nigeria will die before their fifth birthday. He cited the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) as saying 64 per cent of those deaths are caused by malaria, diarrhea and pneumonia.

The CEO of Draiklinas continued that over half of these children – over 500,000 – would be saved by just simply focusing attention on WASH (water, sanitation and hygiene).

Reminding Nigerians that the most effective solution to the recent COVlD-19 pandemic is observance of simple basic cleaning and hygiene principles and protocols, Ayeye highlighted the different activities to celebrate its ruby anniversary.

The firm will be rolling out corporate awards to demonstrate its gratitude to its numerous corporate clients. It will be giving different categories of

awards to thank its customers for their patronage over the years some of which have lasted over 20 years and in some instances over 30 years.

Draiklinas will also be giving 40 per cent anniversary promo for the first 40 retail customers for the next four months for postconstruction cleaning, fumigation and deep cleaning service. “This is to thank them and encourage further patronage in the years ahead,” says Ayeye.

As part of its CSR, it will hold a Clean Up Save Lives Campaign. It is a series of advocacy campaigns to ensure the cleanliness and improved hygiene 0f the environment.

While the clean up will be the public cleaning of their gutters and streets, corporates bodies are to adopt their streets and clean the road; clean the gutter, adopt a garden; plant and maintain a garden.

While encouraging other firms to adopt and clean up, Draiklinas would be adopting a garden near its head office and would beautify and maintain same in conjunction with LASPARK. “Similarly, we will adopt its road and ensure its cleanliness and will be donating insecticide treated nets to underserved communities,” the expert and MD shared.

As a medical expert, who left the medical world to man the Draiklinas business, Ayeye said, “Net up every child under the age of five means every child should sleep under an insecticide treated net”.

With eyes on the future, Draiklinas is planning to increase its financial and operational capacity, institutionally and strengthen its systems and processes, and hopes to become part of a public listed company as it prepares for the next 40 years.

Giving further insights into the current operations of Draiklinas; the Country Business Director, Mr. Afolabi Abrahams, expressed that the company is currently structured into three major Strategic Business Units (SBU).

The units are: commercial and industrial cleaning providing commercial and industrial cleaning services using mechanised and heavy duty machinery.

He continued that the company invests heavily in technology driven services to ensure adherence to global best practice and implored patrons of cleaning services both in private and public sector.

Having employed over 10,000 people in its four decades of existence, the firm implored patrons to engage properly structured and equipped cleaning business

such as Draiklinas to guarantee the fidelity of their assets and the safety and hygiene of their environments.

Abrahams further hinted specific example where individuals and corporations develop buildings and factories and engage nonprofessional to carry out post construction cleaning and in many cases end up with damage to their floors and other assets in their premises due to the use of manual implements, inappropriate chemicals and unprofessional methods.

For unit two, Draiklinas engages in integrated pest management and fumigation.

Speaking further, the GMD expressed concerns at the use of certain pesticides that do not meet the right ecological and biologically friendliness thresholds.

For the director, Draiklinas IPM SBU consistently benchmarks the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals in the delivery of its IPM services.

The director outlined concerns at the widespread use of uncontrolled agents especially in the wake of COVID-19 which has led to the emergence of many emergency fumigation contractors who may end up doing more harm than good in certain instances.

He, therefore, commended the efforts of EHORECON, LASEPA, PECAN CPAN and other agencies attempting to standardise that subsector.

For its SBU three, Afolabi mentioned that Draiklinas is the largest on premises laundry provider in the country treating over a million uniforms every year.

He harped on the need for organisations especially in the food and beverages, pharm, healthcare and other sectors where what is required is not just washing but treatment and decontamination to be more circumspect in the handling of factory uniforms, as this may have severe deleterious impact if unprofessionally handled and contamination occurs.

Abrahams bemoaned the current situation where certain organisations still allow staff to handle their work garments off premises without any control on the process of washing employed.

Since its creation in 1980, Draiklinas Limited has metamorphosed into a leading commercial and industrial cleaning company and into a growing business group with operations in other parts of West and Southern Africa. This is thanks to the Founder and Chairman, Mr. Olajide Ayeye.

May and Baker Set to Confront Malaria with New Brand Ayodeji Ake Nigeria’s leading pharmaceutical manufacturer, May and Baker Nigeria Plc. has introduced a new anti-malarial medicine that promises to revolutionise malaria disease treatment in the country.

The new drug, Malact is a DihydroarteminsinPiperaquine combinationbased formulation which ensures fast relief from malaria and guarantees better post treatment protection.

According to a press statement made available to THISDAY at a media launch of the new anti-malaria product in Lagos, Managing Director of May and Baker, Mr. Nnamdi Okafor, said the introduction of Malact is part of the company’s efforts at continually confronting the malarial scourge by providing effective and affordable medicines for treatment of the disease.

He stated further that Malact is the latest and most effective arsenal in the toolbox for fight against malaria. He said the goal of May & Baker is to continue to be the one-stop-shop for quality antimalarials.

Executive Director, Pharma Sales and Marketing , May and Baker, Mr. Chukutem Chukuka in his remark said “Malact has a reliable efficacy which guarantees patient faster relief compared to other ACTs currently available in the market.

“It also has better post treatment protection because of the Piperaquine content that makes it possible for patients not to experience relapse for at least six weeks.

“Malact therefore prevents malaria for up to six weeks and prevents recrudescence of malaria.

“May and Baker Nigeria Plc. remains a key player in the anti-malarial market in Nigeria. It was the first company to introduce an antimalarial drug to Nigerians with its Nivaquine brand of chloroquine sulphate decades ago.

“When the WHO discountenanced chloroquine as first line drug for the treatment of malaria, and recommended the ACTs, the company was one of the first pharmaceutical manufacturers in Nigeria to locally produce ACTs with the introduction of its artemisinin combination therapy (ACT) antimalarial drug ‘Artelum’ which is a brand of Artemether/ Lumefantrine in April 2009.”

Malact, the new product from May & Baker, therefore prevents malaria for up to six weeks and prevents recrudescence of malaria.

Other advantages of Malact include convenient dosing because it is taken once a day and this reduces the chances of dosage non-compliance.

It does not require to be taken with fatty meals by the patient before it can be absorbed.

The Country Director, Mr. Afolabi Abrahams; Business Development Manager, Mrs. Chiderah Emele; Founder and Chairman, Mr. Olajide Ayeye; and Executive Vice Chairman/MD, Dr. Tunde Ayeye , at the 40th anniversary celebration of Draiklinas Limited, leaders of commercial and industrial cleaning

Pharmacists Council Seals 448 Medicine Shops, 98 Pharmacies in Oyo Kemi Olaitan ÓØ ÌËÎËØ The Registrar, Pharmacists Council of Nigeria (PCN), Mr. Elijah Mohammed, has said 448 patent medicine shops and 98 medicine shops, have been sealed in 10 local government areas visited in Oyo State.

Mohammed who made the disclosure while addressing journalists in Ibadan, said the affected shops were issued compliance directives for various offences ranging from

poor handling of controlled substances, prescription of drugs without supervision of pharmacist and unhygienic poor documentation.

The registrar who was represented by the Director, Inspection and Monitoring, Mrs. Anthonia Aruya, said the decision was taken for the interest of the public, adding that the demands of the PCN are regulation of practices of pharmacy in Nigeria.

He then urged Nigerians to

ask for the registration status of facilities where they receive medicine for their safety.

According to him, “a total number of 546 premises were visited by our enforcement team. Out of this number, which comprises 98 phrmacies, and 448 patent medicine shops, a total number of 424 premises were sealed which comprises 22 pharmacies and 402 patent medicine shops.

12 premises were issued compliance directive for

various offences.”

On the need for enforcement, the Registrar said it is important to ensure streamlining of the drug distribution value chain in promoting availability safe, effective and quality medicine distribution in the country.

He further stressed that the federal government would not relent in its activities aimed at sanitising the system for better pharmaceutical services delivery to the good people of Nigeria.

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T H I S D AY ˾ , OCTOBER 22, 2020

HEALTH

Impact of COVID-19 on Cancer Survivors Ayodeji Ake writes that while much attention was shifted to COVID-19 patients during the long lockdown to contain the spread, most cancer survivors on the other hand couldn’t seek medical attention from their doctors, which consequently, increased cancer mortality rate

Breast cancer survivors at the 25th year anniversary and fundraising program of C.O.P.E, recently

O

ver the years, a lot of campaigns have been reported pleading to the government for interventions on expensive cancer treatments and creation of cancer comprehensive centre across the country to reduce the burden of cancer. Also, the government has on different occasions made empty promises with nothing to show for it.

Impact During an exclusive conversation with THISDAY, Founder of Care Organisation Public Enlightenment (C.O.P.E), a breast cancer awareness nongovernmental organisation, Mrs. Ebun Anozie, revealed COVID-19 lockdown had negative impact on quite a number of survivors.

Anozie recapped stories of survivors who couldn’t visit their doctors for medication because the attention was shifted to COVID-19 patients and survivors who missed their routine medication abroad due to the closure of the airports.

She revealed this increased depression cases among survivors who visited health facilities and were misdiagnosed for COVID-19, and couldn’t return to the doctor because they were scared. Consequently, she said there was increase in cancer mortality during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown.

She said: “COVID-19 affected quite a number of survivors. They couldn’t have access to their various hospitals because medical doctors were more involved with patients who had COVID-19 which is quite unfortunate. Some of them that had medications abroad couldn’t go for treatment because of the lockdown. Some died because they couldn’t access medication and those who didn’t have COVID-19, some doctors reported they are positive which wasn’t true, and made quite a lot of people very depressed.

“Before the lockdown they meet one another and exchanged ideas on how they have been surviving. This is because being alone for cancer patients isn’t really very good. It’s also important they see their doctors but they couldn’t because of the lockdown. Although, during that period some had virtual meetings, some started farming while some started a new trade and they all learnt a lot of things during that period”.

Anozie expressed worry about increasing the brain drain in the Nigeria health system. She

lamented that a number of Nigeria’s health professional doctors are abroad in search for greener pasture which as a result bends the Nigeria health system development curve.

“COVID-19 is still around but we have changed our lifestyle by being more careful and embracing proper hygiene where people wash their hands regularly. For brain drain, unfortunately, some of our health workers are outside the country for greener pasture.” she said.

Battling Stigmatisation One of the cancer survivors who pleaded anonymity, explained survivors wish their voices could be heard by sharing the stories to the public, rather stigma ends up catching up with them. She narrated how she told her story to one of Nigeria’s television stations which cost her love relationship.

“We survivors always wish to tell our stories and I have tried three times but it came back to sting me. Most stories that I read are for married women and of course, their husbands are already there supporting them through thick and thin and they can come out to the media and tell their stories.

“For people like me who is unmarried, we grant the interview and the moment it’s over I start receiving calls. While some will encourage me, some will condemn me for telling my story.

The last Interview I had, I was in a relationship.

I didn’t tell him I was going for an interview until he watched the interview. After a week he jilted me. This is the reason why most of us shy away from telling our stories. To God be the glory for everything for COPE. Doing this is not easy because it’s almost like you are begging for money” she said.

She urged the Nigerian media to effortlessly drive the campaign against stigmatisation of cancer survivors.

Charge to Government Mrs. Anozie emphatically said one of the ways to reduce the burden of cancer and to provide quality healthcare to patients and survivors is to build a cancer comprehensive healthcare detached from the general hospital.

“Everything boils down to having a comprehensive centre. I won’t stop talking about it because we need to take treatment of cancer away from general hospitals. Some visited a health facility in Lagos and were told they have COVID-19 which wasn’t true. They couldn’t

return to the doctors because they were scared.

We lost some patients.

“We don’t have a comprehensive cancer centre and we are yet to have one. I have been out there and I know what one looks like. We have the wealth and Nigeria is blessed but they should help the cancer patients because they are dying. Nigerians are resilient people. Half of what we take here other countries doesn’t tolerate. I will say that the way you treat your citizens is the way they will be treated outside.“ Appeal Recently celebrating C.O.P.E 25th Anniversary and Fundraising Programme in Lagos, Anozie, urged Nigerians to support one another.

“I’m happy because you saw for yourself those survivors left here happy, which is something that gives me so much joy. Cancer is not an easy thing to deal with. I told you that I lost my dad 25 years ago and my mom 50 years ago. For me it has been a journey, if anybody had told me that this is what I will be doing I will deny but I give God the glory for what He has been doing.

My father died of cancer of the stomach which is why I’m always very careful to what I eat.

25 years is a long journey.

“Right now, our main focus is to raise three million naira to be able to provide the items for breast cancer survivors. Though we have more things to do but these are what I saw as necessary rather than them using all sorts to support their breast. Basically for me, we have just started. We give thanks to God for this journey. “ I want to thank the media for the support. I have people calling from different states. Some of them want me to come to their states but it’s difficult to be everywhere but we are trying our best because I counsel as well and we have about four machines that we use.

“It’s important that we appeal to Nigerians who have the heart of giving for support. The survivors have been stigmatised in one form or the other. Some are in a relationship and at the end of the day they lose their relationships,” she said.

Rally for Support While commending C.O.P.E’s efforts in fighting cancer for over two decades and half, the Founder, Ginger Soul Lifestyle, Mrs. Aminat Gbajabiamila, noted

there is a need to support the cancer patients and survivors rather than waiting for the government.

She said Ginger Soul Lifestyle among other nongovernmental organisations has shouldered increased awareness and advocacy against cancer.

She said: “I went into breast awareness and advocacy nine years after I lost my mother. I lost my mother to breast cancer. The more I did my research, the more I found out that cancer does not discriminate but there are some things we can do to help prevent. Like this year our theme for the campaign is ‘Green for Pink’.

“Even though pink is the colour for cancer, green is the colour for vegetable and the more we consume raw foods the more it helps our digestive system.

“Those are the things we do as an organisation.

We started as a hospitality venture and we progressed into a lifestyle transformation coaching. Helping women live their best lives.

“A lot of what I do is building possibilities.

We strategise on how to make women more impactful and growing more beneficiaries. We have seen jobs done at COPE cancer centre and we see they could be of help with awareness and publicity. We are promoting wellness and supporting Nigerian brands.

“The target for our fund raising is 5000 dollars and at this point we have raise over a thousand dollars. We just started the campaign last week and will run through the months and I’m very confident.

“I’m one of those who say government is man and vice versa so there is nothing like waiting for the government. So it’s about helping one another in the areas where government cannot meet our needs alone.”

One of the survivors, Mrs. Odugbesan Oluwaseyi, who has also been a strong supporter applauded C.O.P.E for its constant support for cancer patients and survivors.

“When I called my sister abroad that I will be ordering for some breast foams and other items, she asked if I was going to make some money but I told her I’m not selling them because I know in Nigeria the only challenge my people have is how to get these items. I want to thank God and thank her for being an instrument that God used to make my wish come to pass.

“I want to appreciate every member of this family for His protection over us. A very big thank you to COPE and everyone that had made this day a success” she said.

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T H I S D AY ˾ , OCTOBER 22, 2020

HEALTH

TreatMalariaasNationalHealth Emergency,NEMPTellsFG tACOMIN: Nigerians suffering from malaria-induced poverty Onyebuchi Ezigbo ÓØ ÌßÔË The Coordinator of National Malaria Elimination Programme, (NEMP), has asked the federal government to tackle malaria as a national health emergency in the same manner COVID-19 pandemic is being handled.

Against the background of increasing poverty in the country, Civil Society in Malaria Control, Immunisation and Nutrition (ACOMIN) has said there is a direct linkage between malaria scourge and the level of poverty in communities.

Speaking at a meeting with the civil society group involved in anti malaria advocacy, Coordinator of NEMP, said the current level of funding of the health sector by government is unacceptably low.

“You can see that we are all wearing face masks today, but we can decide to free ourselves from it by freeing our environment of malaria. It is not only COVID-19 that is an emergency, in the same way, we should have it on our minds that we can free ourselves from malaria,” he said.

The Coordinator who was represented by Dr. Lilian Oguguo said the country is presently not properly covered by anti malaria programmes, adding that only 13 states are being covered by the Global Fund-assisted malaria elimination programme.

She also said the federal and state governments habe been failing in their responsibility to provide counterpart funds

where such are needed.

“Nigeria is grossly living on borrowed money for funding our health intervention programme “ she said. Oguguo said the call for an emergency declaration on malaria has become necessary now that funds from major donor agencies, like the Global Fund is shrinking.

Earlier, the coordinator of ACOMIN, Ayo Ipinmoye said malaria and poverty are intimately connected.

He said that as a root cause and a consequence of poverty, malaria is most intractable for the poorest countries and communities in the world that face a vicious cycle of poverty and ill health.

According to Ipinmoye, the Earth Institute, University of Colombia described malaria as the disease of the poor.

He also quoted Professor Jeff Sachs as having said that ending malaria is the most important priority in lifting Africa out of poverty.

He argued “that it is no coincidence that the only parts of Africa that have significantly reduced malaria are the northern and southern tips, home to the richest countries on the continent. In the Western Hemisphere, the country with the worst malaria, Haiti, also happens to be the poorest country in that region.”

Ipinmoye said that ACOMIN is going collaborate with the media in mounting sustained public awareness on the ways and means of eradicating the malaria scourge in Nigeria.

FGLaudsAbiaGroupforDonatingFacilityto HandleCOVID-19,OtherInfectiousDiseases Emmanuel Ugwu ÓØ ×ßËÒÓË The federal government has expressed delight at the efforts of a group of professionals from Abia State who pulled resources together to fight COVID-19 pandemic and other infectious diseases by building a care centre.

The Minister of state for Health, Dr. Adeleke Mamora and the Director General, Nigeria Centre for Disease Control(NCDC), Dr Chikwe Ihekweazu, jointly poured encomium on the Concerned Abia Professionals (CAP) during the inauguration of Abia Care Centre at the Federal Medical Centre(FMC) Umuahia.

The Abia Care Centre, an ultramodern 50-bed isolation centre with NCDC approved molecular laboratory was built, equipped and donated by CAP for the treatment of infectious diseases at FMC Umuahia.

Dr Mamora said the initiative by the Abia professionals was a display of high level patriotism not easily seen anywhere in

Nigeria According to him, the gesture has gone a long way to prove that collaboration between private and public sectors was needed to advance the cause of improving the well being of Nigerians, adding that FG would never overlook positive contributions by citizens.

In his own remarks the NCDC boss, Ihekweazu said such demonstration of patriotism by Abia professionals has the effect of encouraging government to strive more to meet the needs of citizens. He pointed out that such gesture of CAP was akin to the spirit of self help displayed by the people of old who never depended on government but on their own embarked on people oriented projects through communal efforts.

Ihekweazu stated that COVID -19 would have recorded more casualties in Nigeria but for some stringent and painful steps taken by the government taskforce to stem the tide of the pandemic.

He however, regretted that

Nigerians were not appreciative of the efforts of the taskforce and his agency in stemming the spread of the pandemic in the country.

The Abia State Governor, Dr Okezie Ikpeazu commended the members of CAP for really expressing their concern for the wellbeing of their fellow citizen by building the health care centre.

The governor., who was represented by his deputy, Sir Ude Oko Chukwu, enthused that it was the first time Abians with divergent political inclinations would come together to undertake a common project of public importance.

Giving an update on COVID-19 situation in Abia, the state chief executive said that 909 confirmed cases have so far been recorded out of which 810 cases had been successfully managed and discharged while active cases presently stand at 10.

The initiator and vision bearer, Mrs. Ngozi Ekeoma, had earlier in her address explained that the project was inspired and executed with the aim of curtailing casualty

figure of COVID -19 and other infectious diseases in the state.

She thanked all Abia professionals that identified with the life-saving project, noting that the health centre would always be available to handle any outbreak of infectious diseases in the state.

Chairman of the implementation committee, Mr Johnson Chukwu, disclosed that the project, which was completed in 47 days, cost over N120 million with 180 Abians contributing N98 million to support the project.

He expressed gratitude to the Nigeria Sovereign Wealth Investment as well as public -spirited friends for donating some medical equipment to the centre.

Among notable Abia personalities that witnessed the inauguration of the Abia Care Centre were Senate Minority Leader, Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe; financial expert, Dr. Alex Otti, and the member representing Ikwuano/ Umuahia federal constituency, Rep Samson Onuigbo.

Expert to Offer Free Virtual Physiotherapy Sessions to Elderly Nigerians As part of activities marking the 2020 International Day of Older Persons, a physiotherapist, Prof Efe Useh, has offered to provide free virtual physiotherapy assessments to Nigerian pensioners and other elderly people with low back and neck pain for the rest of the year.

Useh, a Nigerian physiotherapist based in South Africa is offering free services on the platform of Virtualphysio, the online physiotherapy care provider. All that the elderly person requires to do to access the free care is to call or send sms to +27739898869.

In a statement from Virtualphysio made available to THISDAY recently, Useh, an accomplished Physiotherapist with over 37 years of national and international working experience, said he will be joined by other international virtualphysio consultants to evaluate and manage various conditions suffered by the elderly.

These include body and joint aches resulting from poorly assumed postures when they were active at work; backache as a result of poor postures in general, long sitting and standing, job hazards etc.

Aching and heaviness of the neck which could be due to wear and tear around the neck bones; Painful Shoulders of an unknown origin, Sprains

of different joints and Strains of muscles resulting in inability to use the affected part of the body.

“Arthritis of the neck, back, and knees are also common problems of the elderly.

That could be managed. We at virtuaphysio.org are aware that 2020 has been a challenging year for us all, and the impact of COVID-19 on the elderly in our societies has been devastating.

“The economic impact on financing our healthcare by these groups that are no longer on medical aid or support could be overwhelming. For that reason, we have decided to offer a free service to these citizens to ensure an improved quality of life. This provides our pensioners with any of the conditions mentioned above to be examined and managed simultaneously by multiple practitioners across the globe.

“As we age, there is a reduction in functional and physical activities. Our joints begin to hurt, sometimes they are sore and painful or even swollen.

Occasionally our hands, fingers, and toes begin to feel numb with a sensation of pins and needles. “ All these are usually as a result of changes in our bodies as we age. These, however, need not impact negatively on the older persons’ quality of life.

Virtualphysio will love to ensure this through our free management care for the elderly.”

Rotary District Governor, Mr. Bola Oyemade (far left) with chiefs from Ibasa/Ijegun Agboyojoye Community after Rotary Club of Satellite Town, Lagos donated potable borehole water

FG Targets 30 Million People for Fever Vaccination Onyebuchi Ezigbo ÓØ ÌßÔË The federal government has said that this year’s accelerated yellow fever campaigns phase 4 will target more than 30 million people.

It said the campaign will target people in seven states (Bauchi, Benue, Borno, Delta, Osun, Ondo, and Oyo) and complete the pending 2019 phase 3 Yellow Fever campaign in Anambra State.

The Executive Director, National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA), Dr. Faisal Shuaib who revealed this in a statement, said the agency is encouraging all eligible persons in the state to come forward and get vaccinated.

He said: “The accelerated yellow fever campaigns phase 4 will target more than 30 million people in 7 states (Bauchi, Benue, Borno, Delta, Osun, Ondo, and Oyo) and complete the pending 2019 phase 3 YF campaign in Anambra State.

“This will be followed by further Yellow Fever vaccination efforts between 2021-2022, which will target more than 95 million

persons as part of the push to eliminate yellow fever epidemics”.

Shuaibu said while combatting multiple public health challenges, including the COVID-19 pandemic, the federal government with support of the World Health Organization (WHO), CDC, and Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance will safely relaunch an accelerated series of mass preventive vaccination campaigns to protect Nigerians against yellow fever (YF).

“To enable safe implementation in the COVID-19 context, personal protective equipment (PPE) and enhanced infection prevention control measures have been assured by a collaborative initiative and agile support of the State Ministries of Health, CDC, and World Health Organisation (WHO) Health Emergencies Programme, and funding from Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance,” he said. Shuaibu explained that the 10-day Yellow Fever campaign in Anambra is scheduled to kick off on the October 16 while the phase 4 states are scheduled to start on November 20, 2020.

These campaigns are to be

implemented in accordance with the WHO guidelines for the implementation of mass campaigns in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic with the use of PPEs and infection prevention control strategies as recommended.

“While COVID-19 remains a pressing priority, we are pleased to be able to safely relaunch lifeprotecting vaccination campaigns against yellow fever this week.

“Almost 30 million Nigerians will be protected for life from these campaigns in coming months – a remarkable achievement by our health care workers and communities,” stated Shuaib.

“We encourage all eligible persons in the state to come forward and get vaccinated.

Yellow fever outbreaks have re-emerged as a serious public health concern since September 2017. The upcoming campaigns will help stop outbreaks and save lives.”

He said the 2020 campaigns represented an acceleration of the phased preventive mass vaccination campaign aimed to protect the country against

yellow fever outbreaks.

According to the Executive Secretary, the acceleration has been endorsed by the global strategy to Eliminate Yellow Fever Epidemics (EYE) by 2026.

Nigeria is a priority country for the EYE Strategy.

He added that with the support from WHO, UNICEF, Gavi, and other partners, Nigeria has updated its strategic elimination plan with the accelerated EYE strategic plan 2020-2023, aimed at completing nationwide vaccination by 2023 (instead of 2025 as initially planned), improve yellow fever diagnosis capacity, routine childhood immunisation coverage and overall population immunity in all states.

Over the duration of the strategy, it is expected that almost 180 million Nigerians will be protected against yellow fever through accelerated phased preventive mass vaccination campaigns.

Yellow fever is a viral infection transmitted by infected mosquitos.

The infection can cause serious disease, including fever and jaundice (yellowness of the eyes) and can even lead to death.

32

T H I S D AY Ëž Í°Í°Ë&#x153; 2020

BUSINESS/MONEYGUIDE

CBN Reviews Requirement for Banksâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Chief Compliance Officersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Appointment Obinna Chima The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has reviewed the requirement for the appointment of chief compliance officers (CCOs) by banks. The central bank stated this in a letter titled: â&#x20AC;&#x153;Re: Status of Chief Compliance Officers,â&#x20AC;? that was signed by its Director, Financial Policy and Regulation Department, Kevin Amugo, a copy of which was posted on its website. Precisely, the bank stated that merchant banks, regional banks (commercial and specialised) have been granted allowance to appoint CCOs on

a grade not below an assistant general manager.

But the CCOs, would however report directly to the Executive Compliance Officer (ECO) of the financial institutions who has sole responsibility for compliance matters in the bank. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Further to the circular Referenced FPR/DIR/GEN/ CIR/06/004 of 28 September 2016 on the appointment of ECO and CCO of deposit money banks, the CBN has after due consideration and presentations by stakeholders on the size, structure, operation and dynamics of classes of operators in the sectors, reviewed the

requirements for the appointment of Chief Compliance Officers. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Accordingly, merchant banks, regional banks (commercial and specialized) are hereby granted dispensation to appoint CCOs on a grade not below an assistant general manager. â&#x20AC;&#x153;The CCOs, will however report directly to the ECO of the financial institutions who have sole responsibility for compliance matters in the bank.

Meanwhile, the requirements and responsibilities of Executive Compliance Officers remain as earlier communicated in our circular of 28 September 2016.â&#x20AC;?

NDICHostsVirtualConfabonFintech,EmergingRisks James Emejo Ă&#x201C;Ă&#x2DC; Ă&#x152;Ă&#x;Ă&#x201D;Ă&#x2039; The Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC) has concluded plans to organise a two-day virtual international conference with the theme: â&#x20AC;&#x153;Financial System Stability, Fintech and Emerging Risks: Challenge for Bank Supervisors,â&#x20AC;? which commences today.

The corporation is taking the front seat in the international finance community to drive public discourse on the impact, risks, challenges and opportunities of Financial Technology (Fintech).

NDIC Director, Communication and Public Affairs, Mr. Bashir Nuhu, in a statement, explained that the conference, billed for October 22nd to 23rd, 2020, is the first of its kind to be hosted by a Deposit Insurance System (DIS) in the African region, to

address emerging developments and financial system stability effects of Fintech and COVID-19 pandemic.

The event brings together speakers and participants from the International Association of Deposit Insurers (IADI), World Bank, International Monetary Fund (IMF), sister deposit insurers, supervisory & resolution authorities, as well as professionals and practitioners in the financial systems across the world.

Some of the local participants are drawn from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), FITC, Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (CIBN), Independent Corrupt Practices Commission (ICPC), Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU), amongst others.

He said the conference is part of effort to promote knowledge and experience sharing amongst key stakeholders on fintech, as well as provides opportunity to promote broad discussion on policy options to address emerging risks and opportunities associated with fintech.

The two-day virtual conference will address pertinent topics including, â&#x20AC;&#x153;How Big Tech and Asian Banks are Reinventing Banking; Emerging Issues on Cyber Risks; Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning; and Consumer Protection in the Fintech era.

Other topics include, the use of Regulatory and Supervisory Technologies as Early Warning Signals; Regulation of Fintech Payment Service Banks (PSBs); and Identifying the Potential Impact of Disruptive Technologies on On-Site Supervision,â&#x20AC;? he said.

ACCI Postpones Abuja Intâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;l Trade Fair, Introduces Auto Exhibition James Emejo Ă&#x201C;Ă&#x2DC; Ă&#x152;Ă&#x;Ă&#x201D;Ă&#x2039; Citing circumstances beyond its control, the President, Abuja Chamber of Commerce and (ACCI), Prince Adetokunbo Kayode, has announced the postponement of the 15th Abuja international trade fair earlier scheduled to hold between October 22 and November 2, 2020.

In a statement by ACCI Media Officer, Latifat Opoola, he said: â&#x20AC;&#x153;With the current atmosphere in the country and after analysing the situation on ground, organising the fair at this time will affect

the business environment.â&#x20AC;?

He, however, ACCI, assured its members, exhibitors, and visitors that their safety remained of utmost importance to the chamber.

The fair with the theme: â&#x20AC;&#x153;Trade and Commerce Beyond Borders,â&#x20AC;? is now expected to hold on between November 22 and December 2, 2020.

However, in a separate development, the chamber, in collaboration with Western Atlantic Corporation has come up with the first Auto Dealer Auction in Nigeria aimed at organising auto

dealing in Abuja, by kick-starting and promoting the business of all the auto dealers within the FCT and Abuja.

Speaking on the initiative, Director General of ACCI, Mrs. Victoria Akai, said it planned to hold monthly auto dealersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; exhibition where Nigerians can get vehicles of their choice.

She said: â&#x20AC;&#x153;In the new year, we are creating an opportunity for our indigenous vehicle manufacturers and assembly plants to showcase their products by having one auction in a month for brand new products only.

Jumare Resigns from Union Bank Board Goddy Egene Mrs. Furera Isma Jumare has resigned her role as Independent Non-Executive Director on the Board of Union Bank of Nigeria Plc. This followed her appointment as Director General of the Jigawa State Investment Promotion Agency.

This is in line with regulatory guidelines precluding certain

categories of public servants from serving on boards of banks and other financial institutions.

Commenting on Jumareâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s resignation, Board Chair of Union Bank, Mrs. Beatrice Hamza-Bassey, said: â&#x20AC;&#x153;Since joining the Board in May 2017, Furera has been an invaluable voice in the Boardroom. Her experience and professional counsel directly contributed to

our wins in recent years and in helping us navigate challenging times. â&#x20AC;&#x153;She also served studiously as the Chair of the Board Governance Committee and Member of the Board Audit and Risk Management Committees. On behalf of the Board, I thank her for her diligent service and wish her much success as she answers the call of service to her State.â&#x20AC;?

EKEDC Denies Alleged Role in Lekki Toll Gate Power Outage Nigeria Plc. This followed her appointment as Director General of the Jigawa State Investment Promotion Agency.

This is in line with regulatory guidelines precluding certain categories of public servants from serving on boards of banks and other financial institutions.

Commenting on Jumareâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s

resignation, Board Chair of Union Bank, Mrs. Beatrice Hamza-Bassey, said: â&#x20AC;&#x153;Since joining the Board in May 2017, Furera has been an invaluable voice in the Boardroom. Her experience and professional counsel directly contributed to our wins in recent years and in helping us navigate challenging

times. â&#x20AC;&#x153;She also served studiously as the Chair of the Board Governance Committee and Member of the Board Audit and Risk Management Committees. On behalf of the Board, I thank her for her diligent service and wish her much success as she answers the call of service to her State.â&#x20AC;?

MARKET INDICATORS MONEY AND CREDIT STATISTICS

(MILLION NAIRA)

JULY 2020 Money Supply (M3)

36,822,751.47

-- CBN Bills Held by Money Holding Sectors

3,476,121.25

Money Supply (M2)

33,346,630.22

-- Quasi Money

120,764,479.02

-- Narrow Money (M1)

12,582,151.19

---- Currency Outside Banks

2,002,026.89

---- Demand Deposits

10,580,124.31

Net Foreign Assets (NFA)

7,637,137.23

Net Domestic Assets(NDA)

29,185,614.24

-- Net Domestic Credit (NDC)

39,711,115.95

---- Credit to Government (Net)

19,521,851.08

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

0.00

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

0.00

---- Credit to Private Sector (CPS)

-130,189,264.87

--Other Assets Net

3,472,017.70

Reserve Money (Base Money

13,421,827.07

--Currency in Circulation

2,395,917.03

--Banks Reserves --Special Intervention Reserves

11,025,910.04 317,234.17

Ëž Ă&#x2122;Ă&#x;Ă&#x153;Ă?Ă? Ě&#x2039;

Money Market Indicators (in Percentage) Month

March 2018

Inter-Bank Call Rate

15.16

Minimum Rediscount Rate (MRR) Monetary Policy Rate (MPR)

14.00

Treasury Bill Rate

11.84

Savings Deposit Rate

4.07

1 Month Deposit Rate

8.82

3 Months Deposit Rate

9.72

6 Months Deposit Rate

10.93

12 Months Deposit Rate

10.21

Prime Lending rate

17.35

Maximum Lending Rate

31.55

Ëž Ă&#x2122;Ă&#x2DC;Ă?Ă&#x17E;Ă&#x2039;Ă&#x153;ĂŁ Ă&#x2122;Ă&#x2013;Ă&#x201C;Ă?ĂŁ Ă&#x2039;Ă&#x17E;Ă? Ě&#x2039; ͯ͹Ϲ

OPEC DAILY BASKET PRICE Ë&#x153; ÍŻÍ´ Í°ÍŽÍ°ÍŽ

The price of OPEC basket of thirteen crudes stood at $41.37 a barrel on Friday, compared with $41.29 the previous day, according to OPEC Secretariat calculations.

The OPEC Reference Basket of Crudes (ORB) is made up of the following: Saharan Blend (Algeria), Girassol (Angola), Djeno (Congo), ZaďŹ ro (Equatorial Guinea), Rabi Light (Gabon), Iran Heavy (Islamic Republic of Iran), Basra Light (Iraq), Kuwait Export (Kuwait), Es Sider (Libya), Bonny Light (Nigeria), Arab Light (Saudi Arabia), Murban (UAE) and Merey (Venezuela).

SOURCE: OPEC headquarters, Vienna

33

T H I S D AY Ëž Í°Í°Ë&#x153; Í°ÍŽÍ°ÍŽ

Oil & Gas Firms Raise N400bn from Capital Market, Says NSE CEO Goddy Egene Companies in the oil and gas sector have raised over N400 billion across several asset classes using the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) platform in recent years, the chief executive officer (CEO) of the Exchange Mr. Oscar Onyema, has said.

Speaking during a webinar on the oil and gas sector organised by the NSE, Onyema said: â&#x20AC;&#x153;The oil & gas sector remains arguably

one the most critical sectors to the Nigerian economy. The challenges within the sector, however, present a backdrop for future opportunities for governments, regulators and operators to adopt innovation across existing verticals and pivot towards growth areas. The NSE on its part continues to provide a platform to access a global pool of capital, with Issuers operating in the Oil and Gas Sector raising over N400 billion across several asset classes in recent years.â&#x20AC;?

P R I C E S MAIN BOARD

F O R DEALS

According to him, the exchange continues to collaborate with the relevant stakeholders to provide the appropriate framework supporting diversification towards renewable energy, adding that the exchange is also well positioned to facilitate needed capital formation.

The Minister for State for Petroleum Resources, Chief Timipre Sylva, said the volatility in the energy industry aggravated by the COVID-19 pandemic leading to

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

QUANTITY TRADED

VALUE TRADED ( N )

the progressive decline in crude oil price in 2020 has made it unavoidable for Nigerian industry players to seek innovative solutions or be forced by the tide to abdicate the stage for more resilient players who are willing and able to do things differently.

In his goodwill message, the Group Managing Director, Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Mallam Mele Kolo Kyari, represented by the Group General Manager Finance, NNPC, Mrs.

T R A D E D MAIN BOARD

A S

Rose Eshiett, highlighted the impact of the twin shocks of the COVID-19 pandemic and low crude oil prices on the Nigerian economy. In proffering solutions, he said: â&#x20AC;&#x153;To reposition the oil and gas industry for sustainability post COVID, there must be collaboration across different dimensions: Government, industry players and particularly with the host community. Innovation will also play a crucial role in managing cost, improving efficiency and

O F

delivering the required cash flow for reinvestment and expansion.â&#x20AC;?

Meanwhile, the Head, Oil & Gas Coverage, Renaissance Capital United Kingdom, Mr. Alex Burgansky, projected an average oil price of $50/bbl over the next five years. The President, Nigerian Gas Association, Ms. Audrey Joe-Ezigbo, reiterated that partnerships and collaboration will underpin any success that the oil and gas industry will enjoy going forward.

2 0 / 1 0 / 2 0 2 0 DEALS

MARKET PRICE

QUANTITY TRADED

VALUE TRADED ( N)

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 22, 2020 ˾ T H I S D AY

34

MARKET NEWS

African Prudential Approves Q3 Financial Statements Goddy Egene The Board of Directors of

African Prudential Plc has approved the unaudited financial statements (UFS)

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

for the third quarter (Q3) ended September30, 2020.

The company said 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 20Oct-2020, unless otherwise stated.

approval was given at the Board Meeting of the Company held on October

19, 2020.

“The board also approved that, the Q3 UFS, be filed

with the exchange and the Securities and Exchange Commission,” it said.

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

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

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

DAILY PRICE LIST FOR MUTUAL FUNDS, REITS and ETFS MUTUAL FUNDS / UNIT TRUSTS AFRINVEST ASSET MANAGEMENT LTD aaml@afrinvest.com Web: www.afrinvest.com; Tel: +234 818 885 6757 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Afrinvest Equity Fund N/A N/A N/A Afrinvest Plutus Fund N/A N/A N/A Nigeria International Debt Fund N/A N/A N/A ALTERNATIVE CAPITAL PARTNERS LTD info@acapng.com Web: www.acapng.com, Tel: +234 1 291 2406, +234 1 291 2868 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn ACAP Canary Growth Fund N/A N/A N/A ACAP Income Funds 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 4.65% AIICO Balanced Fund 3.65 3.77 49.23% ANCHORIA ASSET MANAGEMENT LIMITED info@anchoriaam.com Web:www.anchoriaam.com, Tel: 08166830267; 08036814510; 08028419180 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Anchoria Money Market N/A N/A N/A Anchoria Equity Fund N/A N/A N/A Anchoria Fixed Income Fund N/A N/A N/A 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 16.13 16.62 5.32% ARM Discovery Balanced Fund 368.81 379.93 6.77% ARM Ethical Fund 31.78 32.74 9.28% ARM Eurobond Fund ($) 1.16 1.17 16.48% ARM Fixed Income Fund 1.12 1.13 12.67% ARM Money Market Fund 1.00 1.00 2.85% AXA MANSARD INVESTMENTS LIMITED investmentcare@axamansard.com Web: www.axamansard.com; Tel: +2341-4488482 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn AXA Mansard Equity Income Fund 109.83 110.60 14.31% AXA Mansard Money Market Fund 1.00 1.00 2.21% CAPITAL EXPRESS ASSET AND TRUST LIMITED info@capitalexpressassetandtrust.com Web: www.capitalexpressassetandtrust.com ; Tel: +234 803 307 5048 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn CEAT Fixed Income Fund N/A N/A N/A Capital Express Balanced Fund(Formerly: Union Trustees Mixed Fund) N/A N/A N/A CHAPELHILL DENHAM MANAGEMENT LTD investmentmanagement@chapelhilldenham.com Web: www.chapelhilldenham.com, Tel: +234 461 0691 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Chapelhill Denham Money Market Fund 100.00 100.00 4.92% Paramount Equity Fund 13.46 13.71 7.56% Women's Investment Fund 121.12 122.34 9.77% CORDROS ASSET MANAGEMENT LIMITED assetmgtteam@cordros.com Web: www.cordros.com, Tel: 019036947 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Cordros Money Market Fund 100.00 100.00 2.83% Cordros Milestone Fund 2023 121.07 121.60 Cordros Milestone Fund 2028 131.74 132.76 Cordros Dollar Fund ($) 103.28 103.28 CORONATION ASSEST MANAGEMENT investment@coronationam.com Web:www.coronationam.com , Tel: 012366215 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Coronation Money Market Fund 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 FBNQUEST ASSET MANAGEMENT LTD invest@fbnquest.com Web: www.fbnquest.com/asset-management; Tel: +234-81 0082 0082 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn FBN Fixed Income Fund 1,541.29 1,542.84 25.65% FBN Balanced Fund 164.66 165.89 12.15% FBN Halal Fund 109.28 109.29 9.28% FBN Money Market Fund 100.00 100.00 2.45% FBN Nigeria Eurobond (USD) Fund - Institutional N/A N/A N/A FBN Nigeria Eurobond (USD) Fund - Retail N/A N/A N/A FBN Smart Beta Equity Fund 128.90 130.90 -0.95% 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 2.62% Legacy Debt Fund 3.84 3.84 5.07% Legacy Equity Fund 1.30 1.32 14.76% Legacy USD Bond Fund 1.13 1.13 4.05% FSDH ASSET MANAGEMENT LTD coralfunds@fsdhgroup.com Web: www.fsdhaml.com; Tel: 01-270 4884-5; 01-280 9740-1 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Coral Growth Fund 3,373.80 3,411.01 10.92% Coral Income Fund 3,210.08 3,210.08 4.36% FSDH Treasury Bills Fund 100.00 100.00 3.46% GREENWICH ASSET MANAGEMENT LIMITED assetmanagement@gtlgroup.com Web: www.gtlgroup.com ; Tel: +234 1 4619261-2 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Greenwich Plus Money Market Fund 100.00 100.00 2.78% Nigeria Entertainment Fund 123.42 123.95 14.61%

GROWTH & DEVELOPMENT ASSET MANAGEMENT LIMITED assetmanagement@gdl.com.ng Web: www.gdl.com.ng ; Tel: +234 9055691122 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn GDL Money Market Fund N/A N/A N/A INVESTMENT ONE FUNDS MANAGEMENT LTD enquiries@investment-one.com Web: www.investment-one.com; Tel: +234 812 992 1045,+234 1 448 8888 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Abacus Money Market Fund 100.00 100.00 2.50% Vantage Balanced Fund 2.37 2.42 8.28% Vantage Guaranteed Income Fund 1.00 1.00 5.79% Kedari Investment Fund (KIF) 152.64 153.45 6.51% LOTUS CAPITAL LTD fincon@lotuscapitallimited.com Web: www.lotuscapitallimited.com; Tel: +234 1-291 4626 / +234 1-291 4624 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Lotus Halal Investment Fund 1.26 1.28 12.18% Lotus Halal Fixed Income Fund 1,126.77 1,126.77 8.46% MERISTEM WEALTH MANAGEMENT LTD info@meristemwealth.com Web: http://www.meristemwealth.com/funds/ ; Tel: +234 1-4488260 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Meristem Equity Market Fund N/A N/A N/A Meristem Money Market Fund N/A N/A N/A PAC ASSET MANAGEMENT LTD info@pacassetmanagement.com Web: www.pacassetmanagement.com/mutualfunds; Tel: +234 1 271 8632 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn PACAM Balanced Fund 1.47 1.50 19.91% PACAM Fixed Income Fund 11.76 11.84 4.60% PACAM Money Market Fund 10.00 10.00 3.16% PACAM Equity Fund 1.14 1.15 PACAM EuroBond Fund 107.84 110.51 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 123.08 125.00 0.54% 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 1.02 1.02 6.62% STANBIC IBTC ASSET MANAGEMENT LTD assetmanagement@stanbicibtc.com Web: www.stanbicibtcassetmanagement.com; Tel: +234 1 280 1266; 0700 MUTUALFUNDS Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Stanbic IBTC Balanced Fund N/A N/A N/A Stanbic IBTC Bond Fund N/A N/A N/A Stanbic IBTC Ethical Fund N/A N/A N/A Stanbic IBTC Guaranteed Investment Fund N/A N/A N/A Stanbic IBTC Iman Fund N/A N/A N/A Stanbic IBTC Money Market Fund N/A N/A N/A Stanbic IBTC Nigerian Equity Fund N/A N/A N/A Stanbic IBTC Dollar Fund (USD) N/A N/A N/A Stanbic IBTC Shariah Fixed Income Fund N/A N/A N/A UNITED CAPITAL ASSET MANAGEMENT LTD Web: www.unitedcapitalplcgroup.com; Tel: +234 803 306 2887 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn United Capital Balanced Fund N/A N/A N/A United Capital Bond Fund N/A N/A N/A United Capital Equity Fund N/A N/A N/A United Capital Money Market Fund N/A N/A N/A United Capital Eurobond Fund N/A N/A N/A United Capital Wealth for Women Fund N/A N/A N/A QUANTUM ZENITH ASSET MANAGEMENT & INVESTMENTS LTD service@quantumzenithasset.com.ng Web: www.quantumzenith.com.ng; Tel: +234 1-2784219 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Zenith Equity Fund 11.24 11.38 9.39% Zenith Ethical Fund 12.51 12.63 7.64% Zenith Income Fund 24.53 24.53 7.98% Zenith Money Market Fund 1.00 1.00 3.03%

REITS NAV Per Share

Fund Name SFS Skye Shelter Fund

Yield / T-Rtn

117.93

5.15%

53.40

2.59%

Bid Price

Offer Price

Yield / T-Rtn

9.52 99.47 75.32

9.62 101.62 76.70

13.84% 5.30% 0.25%

Union Homes REIT

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

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

funds@vetiva.com Bid Price

Offer Price

Yield / T-Rtn

3.57 4.82 13.49 N/A 12.21 225.69

3.61 4.90 13.59 N/A 12.41 227.69

4.51% -18.29% 10.92% N/A 17.35% 18.36%

NAV Per Share

Yield / T-Rtn

108.03

15.02%

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.

THURSDAY OCTOBER 22, 2020 ˾ T H I S D AY

35

NEWS

Obaseki Gives Ultimatum to 1,818 Fleeing Prisoners to Return Adibe Emenyonu in Benin-city

Edo State Governor, Godwin Obaseki, has given the prisoners who escaped from the Benin Medium Security Correctional Centre and Oko Medium Security

Correctional Centre last Friday to return voluntarily or face the wrath of the law.

The warning came following the recent jailbreaks at the two centres by hoodlums in the guise of the #EndSARS protest.

Fulani Elders Berate Self-styled Miyetti Allah Leader, Bodejo A group of Fulani elders under the aegis of Concerned Fulbe Forum, has condemned Bello Bodejo, a self-styled leader of Miyetti Allah Kautal Hore, who alleged without evidence that the National Leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Senator Bola Tinubu, was sponsoring EndSARS protests across the country.

The group questioned the state of mind and leadership credential of Bodejo in aspiring to lead Miyetti Allah Kautal Hore.

Pointing out the contradiction in terms, claiming that the same Tinubu whose properties have been massively destroyed in Lagos is allegedly sponsoring the people destroying his assets.

In a statement signed by its Chairman, Mr. Abubakar Ardido Suleimanu, and Secretary-General, Mr. Junaidu Gidado Hamza, the Fulbe Forum said: “We read with awe and great disappointment a statement credited to Bello Bodejo, the self-styled leader of Miyetti Allah Kautal Hore, who alleged that the National Leader of APC, Bola Tinubu is sponsoring the ongoing protests in some parts of Nigeria tagged #EndSARS. “This depicts the present state of mind of Bello Bodejo and his co-travelers in the world of the insane. Bello Bodejo and the association he is leading do not and will not in any way

whatsoever represent the Fulani in Nigeria as he is alleging.

“Bello Bodejo registered Miyetti Allah Kautal Hore Association in order to remain relevant in the scheme of things. He has so far succeeded in pitching the hapless pastoralists against their fellow Nigerians through his unguarded utterances. Bodejo is a clown masquerading as a leader to seek cheap popularity among gullible Nigerians.

“His gory antecedents speak for itself. Otherwise, how could one in his right senses utter such unfathomable accusation to a man who is toiling day and night to instill the right democratic culture in our national polity?

Early this year, the same Bello Bodejo granted an interview castigating the National Leader simply because of his inalienable rights to contest the presidency of his fatherland. What are the grudges of Bello Bodejo and his team against BAT? “We are responding to this spurious assertion not because Bodejo deserves any response. No. We are pained and constrained to respond noting the monumental losses Bola Ahmed Tinubu has been subjected to by miscreants protesting at present. His person, family and businesses were not spared.

The Nigerian Correctional Service (NCS) disclosed that 1,993 inmates escaped from their facilities.

Obaseki, during an assessment tour of the affected NCS centres and the police stations that were burnt in Benin-city, the state capital, by the hoodlums, in company of the Deputy Inspector-General of Police (DIG) zone 5, Celestine Okoye; the state Commissioner of Police, Johnson Kokumo; representatives of the Nigerian Army, Nigerian Air Force, Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) and the Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC), among others, gave the order while speaking at the end of

the on-the-spot assessment.

He lamented that the extent of destruction was massive, adding that it was against the spirit of the genuine #EndSARS protesters that went about their protests in a peaceful manner.

The governor said the government would not sit down and watch hoodlums operate in such a manner, adding that the attacks on the security facilities were orchestrated by criminallyminded people.

He, therefore, warned the escapees to willingly turn themselves to the Edo State Police Command in Benin-city for them to be returned to the correctional centres.

According to him, “You will agree with me that this is not in the spirit of the EndSARS protest.

This is sheer criminality, while the real protesters were focusing on the reform of our policing system and not to destroy government properties, prisons, and release inmates.

“So, you can deduce that there were some criminal intentions behind these acts, as the EndSARS protest in state was hijacked by criminals and used the opportunity to release their colleagues who were held in our correctional centre.

“We condemn the act wholeheartedly and we expect that even the EndSARS protesters

would join us in condemning this dastardly act. The government cannot sit down and fold its arms to allow the breakdown of law and order in our society, because everybody would be affected, and having undertaken the assessment and seen the extent of destruction that has taken place, we will now move swiftly into action.

“Fortunately, the Inspector-General of Police (IG), Mohammed Adamu, understanding the gravity of what has happened in Edo State, has asked the DIG, Celestine Okoye, to come to Benin-city to put the situation under control.

BUDGET DEFENCE...

L-R: Minister of State for Works and Housing, Mr. Abubakar Aliyu; Minister of Works and Housing, Mr. Babatunde Fashola (SAN); and the Permanent Secretary at the ministry, Mr. Ernest Umakhihe, when they appeared before the Senate Committee on Works for 2021 Budget defence in Abuja... yesterday JULIUS ATOI

#EndSARS Protests: Military Actions May Worsen Delta Killings: FG Files Fresh Crisis, Says Adeboye Charges against Seven Terror The General Overseer of statement issued yesterday agitations of the young people He, however, called on the underground, thereby making youths to suspend their protests the Redeemed Christian by the General Overseer.

Suspects He said: “I condemn in the situation unmanageable. for peace to reign.

Church (RCCG) of Nigeria, The federal government has filed a three-count amended charge against seven persons, alleged to have been involved in the 2017 killings in Idumuje-Ugboko Community of Aniocha North Local Government Area of Delta State.

The filing of the amended charge was informed by the addition of four more defendants to the three persons earlier charged before the Federal High Court, Abuja, now raising the total defendants to seven.

The new four were recently arrested following a bench warrant issued by the court.

The defendants as named in the charge are: Nwochie Light, Aikhomo Omezi, Okey Ifejoku, Godwin Aniemeke, Nonso Omefe, Dennis Nwoko and Emeka Bidoku.

The seven defendants were said to have connived with others in May 2017 to unleash terror on the community by burning houses and killed one Cyprian Kumaorun within the community.

At the mention of the case yesterday, prosecution’s counsel, Mr. Shuiabu Labaran said although the business of

the day was arraignment, not all the defendants were in court.

“Due to the uncertainty on the roads, the correctional centre in Kuje was unable to produce the 1st and 2nd defendant in court.

“We are also in receipt of an affidavit of facts stating why the third defendant is not in court.

Considering the facts deposed to, we have no reason to counter it.

“However, we recall that this court did issue a bench warrant with effect from April 3, 2020 against some new defendants consequent upon which about four of them were arrested.

“This necessitated the prosecution to file further amended charges to bring the defendants to seven on the charge sheet.

“We therefore seek the leave of the court to amend the earlier charge,”Labaran said.

He said since all the defendants were not in court, rather than have the arraignment in piecemeal, the case should be adjourned to allow all the defendants to be present in court for arraignment.

Labaran also urged the court to grant accelerated hearing in the case since it was terrorism related.

Pastor Enoch Adeboye, has condemned the shootings of #EndSARS protesters by soldiers at the Lekki toll gate on Tuesday.

He warned that such actions may worsen the situation of things in the country.

This was contained in a

the strongest possible terms, attacks launched by the Nigerian military on unarmed young people, who have been peacefully protesting police brutality over the last 12 days as #EndSARS protests.

“The condemnable actions of the military risk driving the

“I call on the federal government to thoroughly investigate the tragic events at Lekki and other parts of the country, give justice to all victims even as it engages the #EndSARS protesters to reach a common agreement to end police brutality.”

“I am also appealing to the Youths to allow peace reign & stop any form of action that would give the Military any other form of excuse to attack. May the peace of God come upon our nation, now more than ever in Jesus name (Amen),” Adeboye added.

#RevolutionNow Protest: Court Rejects Request to Revoke Sowore, Bakare’s Bail Alex Enumah in Abuja Justice Ijeoma Ojukwu of the Federal High Court in Abuja yesterday declined request by the Office of the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF) to revoke the bail granted to Omoyele Sowore, convener of the #RevolutionNow protest, and one Olawale Bakare.

The federal government had on February 13, 2020, re-arraigned Sowore and Bakare on a two-count amended charge, bordering on alleged conspiracy to commit treasonable felony.

They, however, pleaded not guilty to the charges.

When the matter was called at the resumed trial yesterday, though counsel to the parties were in court, Sowore and Bakare were conspicuously absent.

Lawyer to Sowore and Bakare, Marshal Abubakar, told the court that Sowore, although in Abuja, was indisposed.

He also said Bakare could not come to court because of the ongoing #EndSARS protest, which had crippled activities in Osun State where he presently resides.

Following the absence of the defendants in court, counsel to the federal government, Kayode Alilu, then applied that the court should

issue a bench warrant against the defendants and likewise revoke the bail granted them having not been in court for their trial.

The lawyer argued that there was no evidence of medical report showing that Sowore was ill, and that the excuse by Bakare of lockdown in the state where he resides was not tenable.

According to Alilu, they have no reason not to be in court having not been here in the last adjourned date.

Meanwhile, Abubakar objected to Alilu’s application. He said Femi Falana, who he represented, would have loved to be in court but for the crisis in Lagos State which had

led to the 24-hour curfew imposed in the state.

He said the same scenario was what happened to Bakare.

The counsel, who informed the court that Sowore had just developed malaria symptoms and could not have gotten a medical report, then told the court that he had had a message from the 1st defendant that he was on his way to the court.

Justice Ojukwu then asked that she should be notified when Sowore is in court, and subsequently adjourned the matter till December 10 and 11, 2020, for continuation of the trial.

36

THURSDAY OCTOBER 22, 2020 ˾ T H I S D AY

24 HOURS...

24 HOURS...

Hoodlums Burnt 10 Police Stations, Others in Lagos, Says Spokesman The Lagos State Police Command yesterday disclosed that at least 10 police stations across the state have been burnt by hoodlums since the EndSARS protests started in the state.

The spokesman of the command, Mr. Muyiwa Adejobi, in a statement issued yesterday, highlighted how suspected thugs wreaked havoc in different parts of the state.

He said at least 10 stations had been set on fire across the state since violence marred the #EndSARS protests.

However, he did not include police station in Ikotun, which was reportedly said to have

been burnt yesterday afternoon.

The Igando and Ikotun Police stations were said to have been set ablaze after security operatives failed in their bid to repel the attacks on the stations.

“The hoodlums, who have been causing mayhem in Lagos State, under the guise of the ongoing EndSARS protest, have killed two policemen at Orile Police Station, wounded many at various stations and set ablaze ten (10) police formations across the state,” the statement read.

“The violent and criminallyminded hoodlums descended on police stations/facilities and

gruesomely murdered two policemen on Tuesday, October 20, 2020 and Wednesday, October 21, 2020, while others were critically injured. They looted the affected stations and carted away some valuables.

“Some of the other affected police stations include Idimu, Igando, Layeni, Denton, Ilenbe

Hausa, Ajah, Amukoko, Ilasa, Cele Outpost under Ijesha, disbanded SARS officer under Ajegunle, Ebute-Ero Mushin (Olosan) where two policemen were shot by the hoodlums, Ojo and Ajegunle where 2 patrol vans each were set ablaze.

“Similarly, the hoodlums attacked three (3) new

generation banks on Tuesday 20th October and Wednesday 21st October, 2020, respectively, and carted away unspecified amount of money while some parts of the banks were set on fire before they were dislodged, and some of them were arrested with the loots from

the banks, including arms and ammunition.

“At Ajegunle Area, they burnt the Secretariat of Ajeromi Ifelodun Local Government Council and some valuables including cars; and some other private medical and commercial centres were attacked.”

Inter Religious Council Urges FG to Resolve Crisis Onyebuchi Ezigbo in Abuja The Nigerian Inter Religious Council (NIREC) has asked the Federal Government to immediately take measures to bring a quick and peaceful resolution to the current wave of protests by Nigerian youths over alleged bad governance and police brutality.

The council also warned that soldiers and other security personnel should not go after peaceful protesters, but those who are attacking innocent people and destroying properties.

The Executive Secretary of NIREC, Rev. Fr. Cornelius Omonokhua, who addressed a press conference yesterday in Abuja, urged the Nigerian youths to calm down on the protest and give the government time to respond to their demands.

According to the cleric, “NIREC, under the leadership of the Co-chairmen, President of the Christian Association of

Nigeria (CAN), His Eminence Rev. Samson Olasupo Ayokunle, and the Sultan of Sokoto and the President-General of Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs, His Eminence Alhaji Muhammadu Sa’ad Abubakar, has noticed with concern the current waves of protest happening around the country.

“If not addressed, such protest as peaceful as they are intended, could be manipulated by unscrupulous elements in the society, thus resulting in the breakdown of law and order.”

Omonokhua said NIREC is urging the federal government to swing into action and bring a quick and peaceful resolution to the situation on ground.

In the same vein, NIREC urged the Nigerian youths to calm down on the protest and give the government time to respond to their demands, adding: “NIREC also appeal to all Nigerian citizens to remain calm and remain law abiding.”

Osun Senator Tasks FG on Killing of Unarmed Protesters Peter Uzoho The senator representing Osun Central Senatorial District at the Senate, Dr. Surajudeen Ajibola Basiru, has criticised the President Muhammadu Buhari-led federal government for alleged shooting and killing of unarmed ENDSARS protesters in Lagos on Tuesday by security operatives.

Basiru in a statement yesterday issued and signed by his Media Adviser, Remi Ibitola, faulted the resort to display of outright recklessness by shooting into unarmed protesters.

“I have monitored with shock and personal indignation the turn out of events on the #EndSARS protest with evidence of obvious descent of the country, particularly in the Southwest of Nigeria, after the reckless and disturbing incident at Lekki toll gate yesterday evening.

“As a student who was involved in several protests, I see no reason for the display of outright recklessness by shooting into unarmed protesters by whoever, governmental or otherwise”, he said.

Basiru noted that as an elected representative of the people of Osun Central in the Senate, he deprecated the clear lackadaisical attitude of the federal executive to the lingering anarchy and destruction of lives and property.

According to him, “at the sitting of the Senate on Tuesday, 20 October, 2020, it was resolved that the President should address the nation, not knowing that the evening of that day will bring about more sinister dimensions to the already deteriorated situation.

“By Section 14 of our Constitution, security and welfare of the people is the paramount purpose of government.

“I hereby urge the President to live up to the Constitution and find a lasting, peaceful and human friendly solution to the crisis and also comply with the several resolutions of the National Assembly.”

The Osun senator added that he found it personally uncomfortable to keep silent anymore as an elected representative of the people whose youths were being killed and bruised.

HUNTERS TAKE CHARGE AGAINST HOODLUMS...

Hunters providing security for EndSARS protesters in Osogbo, Osun State...yesterday

YINKA KOLAWOLE

Abdulsalami Committee Tasks Buhari on Citizens’ Rights, Urges Youths to End Protests Onyebuchi Ezigbo in Abuja The National Peace Committee co-chaired by a former Head of State, General Abdulsalami Abubakar (rtd) and the Catholic Bishop of Sokoto Dioceses, Bishop Matthew Hassan Kukah has asked President Muhammadu Buhari to ensure that citizen’s right to peaceful protest is respected.

In a statement issued yesterday, the committee expressed sadness at the killing of innocent protesters across the country, and urged the youths to end the protests.

The committee also described as unacceptable the conduct of some elements within the security apparatus, which has gradually turned an otherwise peaceful protest into a major societal

concern.

“We watched with utter shock, deep sorrow and sadness, the events that have taken place across the country in the wake of these protests by our youths.

“We have seen ugly scenes of activities that are totally unrelated to the goals of the youth protesters.

This is very sad, but we call for calm among our people and appeal to the President to ensure that the rights of citizens are fully respected and protected,” it said.

The peace committee said that the right to protest is considered a cardinal principle in human existence, adding however that such is not absolute or beyond the laws of country.

“Therefore, when an individual or some members feel aggrieved, it

is their right to seek redress within the rules guiding their existence and that of the community.

“It is against this backdrop that we must see the EndSARS protests by the youths in our dear country as a legitimate pursuit.

Like millions of other Nigerians, we all concede that it is within the rights of our youths to express their grievances with the system,” it said.

The committee urged the youths to step down their agitation since the federal government has apologised.

It said the freedom to protest ends and imposes a right on the protester when the agent acknowledges the circumstances that have led to the protest.

In addition, the peace committee

said that pause is urgent so that all sides can prepare for negotiations that benefit everyone.

“Therefore, we call on the youths to respond appropriately by accepting the show of faith by all levels of government and the Police Force.

“Developments among some of the youths are causing some very serious concerns and could lead to a defeat for the noble project that the genuinely aggrieved youths have embarked upon.

“We call for a pause because the COVID-19 pandemic does not recognise our protests and it is dangerous for us to let our guards down especially when we see what is happening around the world with the new threats of the resurgence of this pandemic.

FEC Ratifies Nigeria’s Membership of International Coffee Organisation Adedayo Akinwale in Abuja The Federal Executive Council (FEC) has approved the ratification of Nigeria’s membership of the International Coffee Organisation (ICO).

The Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Otuba Niyi Adebayo, disclosed this yesterday while speaking with the State House correspondents at the end of the weekly FEC meeting.

He revealed that the country signed the International Coffee agreement in 2008, but failed to ratify the agreement till date.

The minister said the result of not having ratified the

agreement was that the country only has observer status in the organisation.

He said: “However, now that the council has approved the ratification, some of the benefits that will come to the country would include allocation of coffee development projects; access to consultative fora on coffee sector finance-our farmers will have access to where they can raise funds to increase their farm yields. We’ll have access to fora where producing and consuming countries can discuss key issues and difficulties relating to international coffee trade and development timely policies and solutions, which means that we’ll

be actively involved in creating policies that will improve the trade of coffee.”

Adebayo explained that with the ratification, Nigeria would have access to private sector associations and coffee quality improvement programmes, which would help the farmers to improve the yield of coffee that they grow.

He said another benefit to derive is that Nigeria would have access to objective and comprehensive information on world coffee market, with regular reports on market situation and economic studies to inform decision making and comprehensive statistical data

of the world coffee trade and economy and the privilege of being effective in the organisation’s meetings and activities.

Meanwhile, the Minister of Health, Dr. Osagie Ehanire, said his ministry presented a memo on a bill to establish a Council for Traditional, Alternative and Complementary Medicine Practice in Nigeria.

He said the memo seeks to take traditional and complementary medicine out of obscurity and give it a profile to institutionalise it, just as it’s been done in other countries, particularly China and India.

THURSDAY OCTOBER 22, 2020 ˾ T H I S D AY

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24 HOURS...

24 HOURS...

NHRC Inaugurates Panel on SARS Condemns use of live bullets on protesters Alex Enumah in Abuja The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) yesterday inaugurated an Independent Investigation Panel on human rights violations by operatives of the disbanded Special Anti Robbery Squad (SARS) and other units of the Nigeria Police Force.

The panel, which is headed by a retired justice of the Supreme Court, Justice Suleiman Galadima, is saddled with the responsibility of investigating allegations of human rights violations and abuse of power by operatives ofthe defunct SARS and other units of the Police, as well as determine damages or compensation payable in relations to any violation of human rights and refer any matter of human rights violation

for prosecution to the Attorney General of the Federation or State Attorney General as the case may be.

The panel is also mandated to recommend to the federal government measures to be taken against erring SARS operatives or officers of the Nigeria Police and in addition propose remedial steps that can enhance professional conduct of the defunct SARS operatives, any succeeding unit and other members of the Nigeria Police Force.

Meanwhile, the commission has strongly condemned the use of live bullets against peaceful #EndSARS protesters at the Lekki Tollgate in Lagos state and some other parts of the country where state of emergency has been declared.

Executive Secretary of the

Commission, Mr. Tony Ojukwu, who made the position of the rights body known stressed that “nothing short of holding accountable the officers who directed and unleashed the use of live ammunition against peaceful protesters will be acceptable”.

He also called for the arrest, investigation and subsequent prosecution of hoodlums, who infiltrated the protests and attacked police officers and destroyed properties of

members of the public.

Speaking at the inauguration in Abuja, Ojukwu also made case for the compensation of innocent people who lost their properties due to the action of the hoodlums as they were not given protection by the law enforcement agents.

While calling on members of the public to remain peaceful, the commission called on law enforcement agents to stop miscreants from infiltrating the protests and that law enforcement agents must exercise caution and

full restraint in responding to peaceful protesters as they will be held accountable for any violation.

Ojukwu said the Commission, following the directives of Vice President Yemi Osibanjo (SAN) carried out a comprehensive investigation of complaints on human rights violations by operatives of SARS and other arms of the Nigeria Police Force and came out with a recommendation of a comprehensive reforms to improve the system of policing in the country.

He said a three-man panel reviewed the report and advised the federal government on its implementation, adding that the disbandmentofSARSandthesigning into law of the Police Act 2020 are some of the key recommendations of the report.

Ojukwu said the names of SARS officials recommended for disciplinary and other actions have been submitted to the Police Service Commission (PSC), the AGF and the Inspector General of Police for necessary action.

INEC to Meet 37 RECs over Outstanding By-elections Chuks Okocha in Abuja The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) yesterday said it would meet the 37 Resident Electoral Commissioners (RECs) of the commission today to determine the fate of the October 31 byelections in 11 states of the federation.

In a statement issued by the National Commissioner and Chairman of Information and Voter Education, Mr. Festus Okoye, the commission said it is not oblivious of the current mood of the country-the security situation, natural disasters and other emergencies reported in some parts of the country.

Indeed, Okoye said the commission has been monitoring these situations regarding their possible impact on the smooth conduct of the bye-elections.

Consequently, he said: “The

Commission will on October 22, 2020, hold a meeting with the 37 RECs to evaluate the situation in the states and constituencies where bye-elections have been scheduled.

“The outcome will be communicated to the public immediately after the meeting.”

According to the statement, the public would recall that the INEC had scheduled the conduct of bye-elections in 15 constituencies in 11 states for October 31, 2020.

The elections, Okoye explained are consisted of six senatorial and nine state House of Assembly seats, adding that the vacancies were as a result of deaths and resignation of previous members.

The commission, he said, had been engaged in meticulous preparations for the byelections for several weeks in its determination to continue to deliver free, fair, credible and safe elections for Nigerians.

CDS Inaugurates Water Projects in Nasarawa Igbawase Ukumba in Lafia The Chief of Defence Staff, General Gabriel Olonisakin, yesterday inaugurated five water projects built by the Department of Civil-military Cooperation in Nasarawa State.

The water facilities inaugurated in the state by the Chief of Defence Staff were in five communities of Ayaragu and Gidinye in Obi Local Government Area; Agudu, Kadarko and Giza in Lafia and Keana Local Government Areas respectively.

Speaking when he inaugurated the water facilities, Olonisakin, who was represented by Rear Admiral Obeb Ngalabak, stated that the Nigerian military was mandated under the law to assist civilians with amenities whenever they are needed.

He maintained that the projects were sited at the

various points to address the water needs of the benefiting communities in addition to the security being provided in the areas.

According to him, “As part of our Civil-military cooperation, we built dispensaries, worship centres and renovated schools across the country, and we have the mandate by law to aid civilians with amenities whenever they are needed.”

In his address, the state Governor, Abdullahi Sule, commended the Chief of Defence Staff for providing life-saving water projects in some communities in the state.

The governor, who was represented at the occasion by his deputy, Emmanuel Akabe, noted that the military, through Operation Whirl Strokes, has done exceedingly well for the people of the state having succeeded in ridding bandits from the state.

FIGHTING POLICE IMPUNITY…

L-R: Founding Director of Women’s Aid Collective (WACOL), Prof. Joy Ngozi Ezeilo; Governor of Enugu State, Hon. Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi; and the Chairman of the Enugu State Judicial Panel of Inquiry on Police Brutality, Hon. Justice Kingsley Ude (rtd), after the inauguration of the panel by the governor, at the Government House, Enugu… yesterday.

IPPIS: NASU, SSANU Develop Alternative Salary Payment Platform Onyebuchi Ezigbo in Abuja The non-teaching staff unions in the universities, Non-Academic Staff Union of Educational and Associated Institutions (NASU) and Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU) have said that they have devised an alternative means of payment of salaries that would take care of

peculiar needs of the universities.

Against the background of complaints raised by the unions regarding the inadequacies of the existing Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information Systems (IPPIS), NASU and SSANU’s negotiating team has informed the Minister of Labour and Employment, Senator Chris Ngige during their meeting on Tuesday

that they have developed their own payment platform, which would address the needs of the university system.

THISDAY gathered that the name of the platform is University General Peculiar Payroll Payment System, (UGPPPS).

A source privy to the meeting told THISDAY that Ngige had assured the unions that federal

government is favorably disposed to any research that can assist to fine tune the payment system.

The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) had earlier presented to federal government its own homegrown alternative to IPPIS, known as, University Transparency and Accountability Solution (UTAS).

NDDC Probe: Pondei, Other IMC Members Shun House Panel Udora Orizu in Abuja The Managing Director of the Interim Management Committee (IMC) of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), Kemebradikumo Pondei, yesterday shunned the House of Representatives investigative hearing into the N139.317 billion misappropriated between 2013 and 2018.

Chairman, House Committee on Public Accounts, Hon. Wole Oke, who announced the absence of the

NDDC members at the scheduled hearing, resolved to adjourn sitting to Thursday.

Details of the queries were contained in the 96-page special periodic checks on the activities and programmes on NDDC for the period of January 1, 2013 to June 30, 2018.

According to the report, the 626 contractors engaged by the commission for the execution of contracts worth N309,172,941,001.86, received a mobilisation fees

of N61,468,160,743.03 in Abia (32 projects); Akwa Ibom (64 projects); Bayelsa (80 projects); Cross River (29 projects); Delta (99 projects); Edo (51 projects); Imo (33 projects); Ondo (50 projects); Rivers (106 projects) and 82 other regional projects.

Some of the queries include: “Waste of public fund due to collection of mobilisation fees without reporting to project sites by contractors - N61,468,160,743.

03; irregularities in the contract for completion of NDDC

headquarters building in Port Harcourt, N16.223 billion; irregularities in the execution of contract awarded to Messrs Setraco Nigeria Limited for the construction of GbaregolorGbekbor-Ogulagha road phase 1 for N16,157,782,480.20; unauthorised revision and variation of contract sum without due process and payment above completion level on the contract for the construction of Kaa-Ataba Road and bridges for N10,930,414,996.45.’’

CSOs Urge Buhari to Prosecute Soldiers Involved in Lekki Tollgate Attack Udora Orizu in Abuja A coalition of Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) has called on President Muhammadu Buhari to investigate the perpetrators who attacked and killed peaceful #EndSARS protesters at the Lekki Tollgate in Lagos last Tuesday night and ensure they are brought to book.

The coalition in joint statement issued yesterday, while condemning the attack on

peaceful protesters, said they stand with Nigerians in affirming their constitutional right to protest.

The CSOs included Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD); Enough is Enough (EIE); Partners for Electoral Reform, Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC); Centre for Information, Technology and Development (CITAD); Yiaga Africa; Women Advocates Research and Documentation Centre (WARDC); HEDA Resource

Centre; BUDGiT, among others.

The CSOs appealed to all friends of Nigeria to sustain pressure on the government of President Buhari to rein in on members of the armed forces carrying out these killings of unarmed protesters.

They also called on the National Assembly to hold an emergency session to address the killing of protesters and hold a national public hearing to investigate the abuse of power and killing of

peaceful protesters by security agencies and the failure to arrest thugs and hoodlums who attacked the #EndSARS protesters and innocent citizens across different states in the country.

The coalition further called on the International Criminal Court (ICC) to open investigation on the ongoing crimes against humanity being committed against the peaceful and unarmed #EndSARS protesters in Nigeria.

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THURSDAYSPORTS

Group Sports Editor Duro Ikhazuagbe Email duro.ikhazuagbe@thisdaylive.com 0811 181 3083 SMS ONLY

National Sports Festival Postponed Indefinitely Femi Solaja The ongoing #EndSARS protest across the country may have forced the Federal Ministry of Youth and Sports and host, Edo State government to postpone the much anticipated National Sports Festival planned for next month in Benin.

The national Olympics, which is in its 20th edition was initially scheduled to hold last March but the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic forced the event to be postponed indefinitely as the nation joined the rest of the world to battle the virus.

But the lifting of ban on contact sports by Presidential Task Force on Covid-19 early this month, paved the way for the Council of Sports made up of Directors in the Ministry, presidents, coaches

and technical directors of all the participating national sports federations to meet yesterday and today in Lagos to propose a new date for the hosting.

However, the wild #EndSARS protests nationwide which have paralysed vehicular movement have forced the Council of Sports to now call for an indefinite postponement again.

Today’s meeting was to deliberate on the date which expectedly was to be November and modalities, including strict health protocol put in place to avoid the spread of the virus within the sporting arenas and their respective camps during the festival.

In a telephone interview with THISDAY last night, a top official in the Federal Ministry of Youth and Sports confirmed that the event will not hold again this

year but the official confirmation will be made before the end of the month.

“There was supposed to be a physical meeting on Wednesday and Thursday this week and all seem set but the current development in the country has knocked off whatever plans we wanted to put in place in respect of the festival.

“It is most unfortunate with the turnout of events but the Edo event is not jinxed and will hold at the most appropriate time and

that could be early next year when all stakeholders would have put behind then the trauma we all went through in this year,” the official explained.

Although the Ministry had the option of a having a virtual meeting, the security implication of hosting the youths of the country in the ‘Heartbeat’ of the nation at this auspicious time was looked into with its attendant security implications.

“The ongoing protest no doubt is an eye opener and the

essence of the event itself was to unite youths under a friendly atmosphere but there are more to it now that we can expect.

“The country had gone through this in the past and hopefully this one will go too and by the first quarter of next year, things would have come better and athletes will compete for their respective states without fears,” another top official pointed out.

The recently held governorship election in the Edo State was also a factor that led to the long

postponement of the festival.

It was generally believed that if the incumbent governor failed to win re-election, that may lead to restructuring of the Local Organising Committee (LOC).

Apart from Super Eagles AFCON 2022 qualifying match with Sierra Leone scheduled to hold at the Samuel Ogbemudia Stadium in Benin City, the NSF would have been the first major sporting events to hold the recently refurbished facility.

#EndSARS: Ighalo, Joshua, Other Celebrities Pledge Support for Protesters Manchester United star Odion Ighalo has become one of the latest celebrities to voice their support for protests against police brutality in Nigeria.

In a video on Twitter, the Nigerian striker called the country’s government “a shame to the world”.

It comes amid reports that several people have been shot dead or woundedduring demonstrations in Nigeria’s biggest city, Lagos.

Officials initially denied anyone died and have promised an investigation.

Mr Ighalo, who has won 35 caps for Nigeria’s national football team, said in his statement that he could not “stay silent anymore”.

“I am ashamed of this government, we are tired of you guys and we can’t take this anymore,” he added shortly after United defeated PSG in their opening group game in Paris on Tuesday night.

Among those who’ve also expressed their support for the protests are actor John Boyega, and musicians including Estelle, Trey Songz and Chance the Rapper.

Pop singer Beyoncé Knowles said in a statement that she was “working on partnerships with youth organisations to support those protests for change”.

Musician Rihanna shared a picture of a bloodied Nigerian flag on Twitterand said: “My heart is broken for Nigeria.”

Earlier this week, US rapper Kanye West also showed his solidarity with demonstrators, saying “the government must answer to the people’s cries”.

British-Nigerian boxer Anthony Joshua said he was exploring donations to support local hospitals and provide food packages.

“This was never a trend for me!

It’s real life and I want to learn how to make lasting change,” he added.

The protests have also gained support from several high profile figures with no ties to Nigeria, including Twitter’s chief executive Jack Dorsey, and German-Turkish Arsenal player Mesut Özil.

Not everyone has been happy with the sentiments expressed by celebrities on social media.

In response by Beyoncé’s pledge to “provide emergency healthcare, food and shelter,” some Nigerians said it was change they wanted,

not food.

“Keep your help and aid to yourself, I don’t need it and the dead definitely don’t,” said one Twitter user. “All we needed was your platform to create awareness for the whole issue but you prefer to send us aid like the “poor” set of people we are.”

Some defended Beyoncé saying she was offering support.

“That’s stupid, and after what? She gon talk without doing anything? She’s offering her money and health support and you ask for a voice?? I don’t understand people!” Queen Domi tweeted.

Protests began nearly two weeks ago amid calls for the disbandment of a controversial police unit, the Special AntiRobbery Squad (SARS).

The unit has been accused of illegal detentions, assaults and shootings, and was disbanded by Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari on 11 October.

But the demonstrations have continued around the country, with calls for more reforms to Nigeria’s security services, and the government more widely.

Over the last two weeks, an outpouring of support for Nigerian protesters has played out on Twitter, with various hashtags, but predominantly #EndSARS. Protests have sometimes turned violent.

Yesterday human right group Amnesty International said a group of armed people attacked protesters in the capital, Abuja.

Nigerian athletes competing for the various states at one of the previous editions of the National Sports Festival

Dennis ‘Overjoyed’ with Goal against FC Zenit Super Eagles forward, Emmanuel Dennis, has said that he is overjoyed with his goal which propelled Club Brugge to a 2-1 win over FC Zenit Saint Petersburg on Tuesday night.

Philippe Clement’s men went to Krestovsky Stadium as underdogs owing to the absence of key players against the Russian Premier League title holders.

The Belgians were without goalkeeper Simon Mignolet, Cote d’Ivoire’s Odilon Kossounou and Michael Krmencik, who are in isolation after contracting Covid-19, while Simon Deli was unavailable due to suspension.

Nevertheless, they took the

lead in the 63rd minute after the Nigerian followed up on Charles De Ketelaere’s blocked shot to slot the ball past goalkeeper Mikhail Kerzhakov.

Zenit equalised eleven minutes later as Dejan Lovren’s shot from distance struck the post before rebounding off goalkeeper Ethan Horvath to sail into the net.

With the Group F encounter looking destined for a draw, De Ketelaere sealed the win with a late effort thanks to an assist from captain Ruud Vormer.

Speaking after the game, the 22-year-old who was substituted for Senegalese forward Youssouph Badji in

the 82nd minute expressed his delight getting a goal against the Lions.

“I’m overjoyed with my goal,” Dennis told the Club Brugge website.

“But much more important is the final 2-1 victory in this opening game of the Champions League.

“As champions of Belgium in the previous editions we were already very close a few times, but now that first is so important, victory is a fact and that feels really good.

“It took us a lot of energy, but when you win you feel it much less.”

The former Zorya Luhansk striker who now boasts five goals in Champions League history also reflected on his desire to find the net against Zenit.

“Yes, you all know that I do like a joke, but nevertheless I am super happy that I was able to poke the ball against the ropes after two blocked chances by Charles.”

Dennis would be hoping to score again when Club Brugge welcome Lazio to the Jan Breydel Stadium in their next game.

Before then, he is expected to lead the Blue Black’s attack in a league outing at OH Leuven.

Flying Eagles, Eaglets Face Tough Opponents on Roads to Mauritania, Morocco Nigeria’s U20 and U17 boys have been presented with tough tasks in the

races for next year ’s youth continental championships.

L-R: Manchester United’s Odion Ighalo; Musician Estelle and World heavyweight boxing champion, Anthony Joshua have pledged their support for protests in Nigeria

At the Draws conducted on Tuesday, seven-time African champions, Flying Eagles were housed in the same Group B as Ghana’s Black Satellites and the Junior Elephants of Cote d’Ivoire for the WAFU B U20 Tournament taking place in the Republic of Togo 18th November – 2ndDecember.

Hosts Togo, Niger Republic, Benin Republic and Burkina Faso will battle it out in Group A of the tournament, from which the champion team will qualify to represent the zone at the 2021 U20 Africa Cup of Nations that will hold in Mauritania.

Also on Tuesday, WAFU

B secretariat made the draw for the WAFU B U17 Tournament holding in Benin Republic in December.

Nigeria’s Golden Eaglets, champions of Africa in 2001 and 2007, and five-time world champions, will contend with the Black Starlets of Ghana and the Baby Elephants of Cote d’Ivoire also in Group B. The tournament holds 5th – 20thDecember.

Group A has hosts Benin Republic, Niger Republic, Burkina Faso and Togo. The winner of the tournament will represent the zone at the 2021 U17 Africa Cup of Nations that will take place in Morocco in the month of March.

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THURSDAYSPORTS U E FA C H A M P I O N S L E AG U E

Shakhtar Stun Real Madrid in Group Opening Game Thirteen-time European Cup winners Real Madrid were Wednesday evening handed a humiliating defeat as a shambolic first-half performance was clinically punished by a second-string Shakhtar Donetsk side.

The Ukrainian champions arrived in Madrid without 13 first-team players after 19 positive Covid-19 tests throughout the club left them needing to call up youth-team players.

But Luis Castro’s young side were undaunted and swept into an amazing, but thoroughly warranted, 3-0 lead at Real’s empty Alfredo di Stefano training ground.

Goals from Luka Modric and Vinicius Junior after the break gave Real hope, but there was no escape for the competition’s most decorated side despite a dramatic finale.

Federico Valverde thought he had hit a stoppage-time leveller but after a check at the pitchside monitor referee Srdjan Jovanovic disallowed the goal for offside.

Club legend Zinedine Zidane won the Champions League in each of his first three seasons in charge of Real, but his decision to rest players with next Saturday’s El Clasico against Barcelona in mind was a rare, and huge, aberration.

Without captain Sergio Ramos - left in the stands with a knee injury - Real’s defence was a mess and could do little to prevent Mateus Tete and Manor Solomon scoring either side of a Raphael Varane own goal.

Former Tottenham midfielder Modric hit a stunning long-range strike to bring a ray of hope and,

although Vinicius scored within 15 seconds of coming,

on Shakhtar held on for a famous result.

In one of the other games in the early Wednesday kick

off, RB Salzburg drew 2-2 with with Lokomotiv Moscow.

Man Utd Lose £70m to Covid-19 Manchester United lost £70million in the period to 30 June 2020 as a direct result of the coronavirus pandemic.

The figures were outlined in United’s 2019-20 financial statement, which took in the period during which English football was closed down completely.

United’s overall revenue was down 18.8% from £627.1m to £509m but part of this was due to the club not qualifying for last season’s Champions League.

In last year’s statement, United had estimated revenues could reach £580m.

“Our focus remains on protecting the health of our colleagues, fans and community while adapting to the significant economic ramifications of the pandemic,” said the club’s executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward.

“Within that context, our top priority is to get fans back into the stadium safely and as soon as possible.”

English football was halted in March in response to the pandemic and since the restart in June has been played without fans.

In a statement released with the results, Woodward also appeared to be referencing recent talks about ‘Project Big

Picture’ and a European Premier League, both of which have involved United in addition to other major English clubs.

Last week Premier League clubs rejected ‘Project Big Picture’ - a proposal to reduce the league from 20 to 18 clubs and scrap the EFL Cup and Community Shield. It would also have seen more power transferred to the so-called ‘big six’ Premier League clubs.

On Tuesday, talks were reported to have taken place over the creation of a new £4.6bn European Premier League, involving the top sides from across the continent.

“We are also committed to playing a constructive role in helping the wider football pyramid through this period of adversity, while exploring options for making the English game stronger and more sustainable in the long-term,” wrote Woodward.

“This requires strategic vision and leadership from all stakeholders, and we look forward to helping drive forward that process in a timely manner.”

All areas of United’s income have been affected but broadcasting revenues were especially badly hit, reducing 41.9% from £240.2m to £141.2m.

Shakhtar Donetsk players celebrating their famous win at Real Madrid...yesterday

Pique ‘Betrayed’ Other Barca Players over Pay-cut Gerard Pique has reportedly found himself at the heart of a dressing-room split at Barcelona after going behind his team-mates’ backs to sign a new contract.

The Nou Camp giants are in a cash crisis amid the coronavirus pandemic, with under-fire President Josep Maria Bartomeu doing all he can to balance the books in his final few months in the role.

His goal in the coming weeks, as reported by Marca, is to lower the wages of the first-team squad by 25 per cent while promising them an improved salary in the latter stages of their deals - something of a ‘poisoned inheritance’ for the next president.

While most of the players signed a letter refusing to negotiate with the board, Pique has now gone against the grain and signed his new contract, something which is said to have infuriated the rest of the dressing room.

Barcelona announced four contract extensions on Tuesday, for Pique, Marc-Andre ter Stegen, Frenkie de Jong and Clement Lenglet.

Ter Stegen and De Jong had refused to sign the letter from the beginning, instead opting to go their own route to renew their deals, while Pique’s situation is more intriguing given that he did sign the letter, only to go back on his word.

Wednesday was expected to be the day that Barcelona begin their attempts to secure the salary reductions for the squad, so it comes as no surprise that they have announced the four new contracts just hours before talks get underway.

In March, Messi announced players had accepted a 70 per cent pay-cut so non-playing staff could remain employed during the pandemic.

“If we didn’t speak until now, it’s because the priority was to to find solutions to help the club and to see who the most affected were during this situation,” he said “For our party, the moment has arrived that, the cut will be 70% of our wage during the state of alarm. We will also help out the club in order for the workers to be paid 100% of their wages.”

Now, with further cuts required after Barcelona posted losses this summer of £88m, the squad is being ‘torn apart’ by the ‘split’ over who opposes the proposed salary changes.

Marca refer to the technique as ‘divide and rule’ as the board attempts to create a split in the squad, and the paper report that there are ‘huge’ cracks forming in the dressing room.

It marks the latest episode in a particularly tense year for a dressing room now on their

third manager.

Relations between squad and board soured in February when Messi took aim at then director Eric Abidal over comments that players had pushed to have Ernesto Valverde sacked.

Abidal claimed in an interview that ‘many players were not satisfied’ with Valverde and so his position had become untenable something Messi felt was a direct attack on the character of the players.

Pique has been accused of sell out by his Barcelona teammates over pay-cut at Camp Nou

EPL Clubs Lead Europe in Luis Figo Slams New £4.6bn European Premier League legend Luis Figo has Figo took aim at the elite clubs The European Premier League last week after a vote of Premier Kit Sponsorship Revenue Portugal slammed the idea of a new proposing the idea, labelling them would reportedly have 18 teams League clubs and condemnation Premier League sides generate more than $409 million a season from having partners’ logos on the front of club shirts, almost double that of Bundesliga teams, a GlobalData study showed.

The study said the average value of Premier League deals was over $20 million, while the average in Germany was just over $11 million and $10.6 million in Spain.

The top five leagues in England, Germany, Spain, France and Italy generated over $1.15 billion per season from front-of-shirt sponsors alone, it added.

“Thanks to the way the Premier League has built its presence overseas, its teams

can drive significant revenue from brands around the world,” GlobalData’s Head of Sport Analysis Conrad Wiacek said. “(Partners) are using the league and member clubs to build brand presence in new markets and drive interest in their products.”

Wiacek said Real Madrid’s front-of-shirt deal with Emirates was the most lucrative in Europe, valued at over $81.7m. “(But) both the Premier League and Bundesliga collectively generate more revenue from front-of-shirt deals than La Liga teams, which speaks to the strength in depth both leagues possess, and which can be lacking in Spain’s top flight,” said Wiacek.

£4.6billion European Premier League by claiming that it would ‘destroy football as we know it’.

The 47-year-old took to Twitter to ask ‘everyone’ in football to oppose the proposals following the news of the latest attempts to re-shape the face of European football.

According to Sky News, the new tournament is backed by FIFA and Wall Street giant JP Morgan, who are assembling a multi-billion funding package.

United and Liverpool are among more than a dozen teams from England, France, Germany and Italy in negotiations about becoming founder members of a competition that could start as early as 2022.

as ‘greedy’ before insisting that it would ‘kill other clubs and leagues that fans love’.

‘What I read about this Super League idea will destroy football as we know it,’ Figo tweeted on Wednesday.

‘It’s all about greed and keeping the game for a few elite clubs, while killing the other clubs and leagues that fans love. Football should unite! Everyone should oppose it!’

Figo has joined both Gary Neville and Jamie Carragher in condemning the idea.

Carragher tweeted ‘Oh f*** off’ in response to the idea before United legend Neville called for an ‘independent regulator’ within football, later linking to a petition.

and involve fixtures played during the regular European season with the top-ranked sides advancing to a knockout format.

Prize money worth hundreds of millions of pounds would be on offer each year.

The news comes as a fresh bombshell after Liverpool and United were the driving force behind the radical Project Big Picture proposals that emerged last week.

That would have seen the number of teams in the Premier League reduced from 20 to 18, the scrapping of the League Cup and Community Shield, and power concentrated in the hands of the so-called ‘Big Six’ clubs.

The plans were abandoned

by the Government. They had gained the support of Leagues One and Two because they included a £250million rescue package for cash-strapped clubs in the EFL, whose chairman Rick Parry was one of the authors of Project Big Picture.

The latest plans for a European league also drew criticism from fans on social media.

The Football Supporters’ Association tweeted: ‘Seriously, if you’re a club owner or football financier who thinks a global health crisis is the perfect opportunity to rip up and reshape football to suit billionaires… you have no idea how much fans detest your concept. It will not go how you think.’

Thursday, October 22, 2020

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& RE A S O

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Price: N250

MISSILE Reuben Abati to Public Officials

“The first thing I noticed after that phone call was that people stopped coming to the villa to see the former president. The traffic to that villa just disappeared. We were seeing pictures of people already going to the other side, to the presidentelect, including members of the Jonathan government. They had changed camp, and the speed with which it was done was amazing” – Former presidential spokesman saying that in Nigeria you’re only as relevant as the position you occupy.

OLUSEGUNADENIYI THE VERDICT

olusegun.adeniyi@thisdaylive.com

From #EndSARS to Bloodbath ‘Soro soke, ki o se idajo ododo, ba talaka ati alaini gba eto won’ (Speak up and judge fairly; defend the rights of the poor and needy)—Proverbs 31: 9

W

hen the army announced last week that beginning Tuesday it would commence ‘Operation Crocodile Smile’—not against Boko Haram insurgents in the North-east but rather across the country “to identify, track, and counter negative propaganda in the social media and across cyberspace”—it was obvious to discerning Nigerians that EndSARs protesters were their target. It was also clear that the intervention would not end well.

Crocodiles don’t smile. When the big reptile opens its mouth, it is not a friendly gesture; it is to kill and destroy. And that was exactly what happened at the Lekki-Epe toll gate in Lagos on Tuesday night following what appeared to be a well-orchestrated attack under the cover of darkness.

The exact number of lives lost in that tragic incident as well as in other cities across the country in the past one week remain a matter of speculation. But no one will dispute the fact that what we are now experiencing is a national calamity. The irony to the Lekki tragedy is that you can be shot by soldiers while protesting

extra-judicial killings by the police!

However, it was not unexpected. The moment the peaceful character of the protests against abuse of power by personnel of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS)—a notorious unit of the Nigeria police that has been disbanded—was overrun by hoodlums and an assortment of rented thugs, the threat to national security became a clear and present danger. My fear from the beginning was how the federal government would respond to such a threat without bloodshed, given the mind set of our military should they be called upon to intervene. Knowing that at some point opportunistic criminals would exploit the protests for their own end, I advocated last week for the protesters to adopt a strategy that would take the conversation from the streets.

If in advanced societies like the United States ‘Black Lives Matter’ protests could degenerate into looting, vandalism and arson, it was not so difficult to predict what would happen here.

Aside the bodybags that kept mounting, the Ekiti Attorney General and Justice Commissioner, Olawale Fapohunda, disclosed on Tuesday that no fewer than three girls were gang-raped by thugs who had hijacked the protest in the state.

In Osun State, Governor Gboyega Oyetola who joined the protests in solidarity, escaped death by a whisker. On Monday morning in Benin, Edo State capital, police stations were burnt,

prison inmates (numbering 1,993) were set free at two correctional facilities by hoodlums and several vehicles were damaged. The same day in Abuja, the Apo area descended into violence that led to the death of no fewer than five persons with scores left injured. On Tuesday in Lagos, a police station was razed with one killed and many injured. That forced the hand of Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu who declared a curfew that started a train of events culminating in the Tuesday night tragic drama at the Lekki-Epe toll gate. With the orgy of violence, arson and destruction of yesterday in Lagos by hoodlums who were out of control, there is an urgent need for the federal government to restore law and order quickly by reining in all self-serving impulses.

Meanwhile, the unhelpful blame game has begun. There will be time for that later and there is sufficient blame to go round. Our young people who protested the brutalities of SARS may have been naïve about possible hijack and the consequences, but they were well organised.

They may also have appeared on the surface to be ‘leaderless’ but they were not. Leaders were not congregating at a physical venue but there were obviously chains of command with people on the streets responding to specific instructions conveyed digitally. Without anybody carrying Ghana-Must-Go bags or driving bullion vans

around, money was being moved to offer legal support, pay for hospital bills, purchase food and drinks, hire bodyguards and generally provide essentials. The switch from go-fund-me accounts to difficult-to-track bitcoins was so seamless that it cannot be understood without the expertise available to organisers of the protests from Nigerians in the Diaspora.

The ‘Soro Soke’ catchphrase summed up their ingenuity. Simply interpreted, ‘Soro Soke’ in Yoruba means ‘speak louder’. Those who understand the language know that the embedded meaning is in the tone: usually a command laced with rebuke by the superior party in a conversation. When someone says ‘speak louder’ it is most often not because the person did not hear what you said; they are simply pretending not to have heard you.

Three reasons account for this. One, the person may not like what you said. Two, the person may not believe you. Three, the person may be asking you to take a definite stand on the issue being discussed. So, when our youths charge public officials to ‘Soro Soke’, they are invariably saying they are the superior party in this conversation and are demanding a positive stand from government on matters affecting them and their future.

NOTE: Piece concluded on page 14

Salute to The Paystack Founders

I

f you paid attention to what some of the officers who served in the dissolved Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) have been saying, the only conclusion to draw is that a profile exists of people they were conditioned to see as potential criminals: Young men who can drive a car of N7 million (roughly $15,000) as well as those whose work revolves around computers, sport dreadlocks and ‘dress anyhow’. The problem here is that this sort of profile fits Shola Akinlade and Ezra Olubi, the young founders of Paystack.

The Nigerian company has now merged with Stripe, (an American financial services and software payment giant) in a deal worth over $200 million (N74 billion). The duo started in their twenties. One was sporting dreadlocks.

They worked with their laptops. And they mostly wore Jeans and T-shirts. If they appeared at a police check point manned by operatives of the dissolved SARS, driving a Mercedes Benz, it would take the grace of God for them to live to share their experience.

It is indeed a sign of the times we are in that the people in government—who are ever eager to latch on to the success stories of Nigerians, especially on the international stage—could not appreciate what the Paystack deal symbolises.

Even those who would make the BBNaija winner a role model for our young people failed to see a genuine success story right under their nose.

Yet, this is the biggest story out of Nigeria in a long while. The same computer that ‘Hushpuppi’ and confederates were using to perpetrate their nefarious activities that sullied our global image was what Akinade and Olubi used to build a platform that serves over 17,000 businesses, processes over 15 percent of all online payments in Nigeria today and makes us an African giant in the tech world. It is made sweeter by the fact that the duo graduated from a Nigerian (Babcock) University.

For the Paystack duo, the journey to stardom

Paystack founders Shola Akinlade and Ezra Olubi began in 2015 (just five years ago) when they set out to build a payment platform in Nigeria focused on digital infrastructure that could cut across the continent. That is one thing about our young entrepreneurs. They look beyond the shores of our country to the emerging African market. With its acquisition—as part of Stripe’s international expansion plans on the back of a $600 million funding round in April—the deal will see both companies continue to operate independently. Which means that Paystack is leading the way for others not only in Nigeria but across the continent.

I salute Akinlade and Olubi and urge those in authority to celebrate them because they represent the endless possibilities that abound within our environment and the resourcefulness

of our young people. Besides, nobody needs to buy them houses or cars, these are luxuries they can afford by dint of their ingenuity. My 2016 ‘Platform Nigeria’ lecture, ‘From Luggage Economy to Knowledge Economy: Which Way Nigeria?’ was essentially an ode to the resourcefulness of this emerging generation of Nigerian techpreneurs.

In that presentation, I defined luggage economy as “one that follows the normal curve of ‘heavy’ industrialisation and cargo based international trade. It is a model whose developmental impact depends on a trickle down flow and the provision of conventional employment” before I added: “There is a limit to how that model can make billionaires of citizens not born into wealth or who do not have access to illicit funds.”

On the other hand, Knowledge economy—that

the duo of Akinlade and Olubi have proved with Paystack—places emphasis on the power of human imagination to use knowhow and know why to create business opportunities through new entrepreneurship models. In this new economy, our young men and women (regardless of their social background) with proficiency in IT, basic engineering or entrepreneurship can break through all known barriers to emerge very quickly with a product or service that the mass market wants. In the process, they achieve in a few years what the purveyors of the luggage economy could not achieve in so many years both in terms of aggregate capital accumulation and net contribution to the GDP, I reasoned.

In that presentation, I also mentioned young Nigerians who are developing solutions and apps capable of generating income and huge employment in all sectors of our economy, from transportation, to civic engagement, healthcare, sports and agriculture. Examples of the growing ecosystem that I cited include Paga, Andela, BudgIT, Efiko, Mamalette, Autobox, Truppr, Agribiz4Africa, ReelFruit, Wecyclers Corporation, IROKO TV, Tech-Her, MAX NG, Hotels NG etc.

I also highlighted the efforts of Bosun Tijani, Femi Longe, Iyinola Aboyeji, Tayo Oviosu, Gossy Nkanwoke, Chioma Agwuegbo, Mark Essien, Bankole Cardoso, Bilkiss Adebiyi-Abiola, Jason Njoku, Affiong Williams, Fatima Oyia Ademoh, Adetayo Bamiduro, Chinedu Azodoh, Kunle Afolayan and others.

What these young men and women are doing in the tech world, others are doing in arts and literature (Tomi Adeyemi was just listed as one of the 100 most influential persons in the world in 2020 by TIME magazine at age 26), music, sports, Nollywood and other fields of human endeavour. We must do everything we can to encourage this generation. And when they demand of us to ‘Soro Soke’, it is in our collective interest to accede to that request. Not with bullets but listening ears!

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