WEDNESDAY 25TH NOVEMBER 2020

CBN Battles Recession, Raises COVID-19 Facility to N300bn Retains MPR at 11.5% Emefiele links high parallel market FX rate to people engaged in bribery James Emejo in Abuja Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor, Mr. Godwin Emefiele, yesterday said the bank would raise its COVID-

19-targeted facility from N150 billion to N300 billion in order to accommodate more Nigerians in a bid to cushion the impact of the pandemic that has pushed the nation’s

economy into its second recession in five years.

Emefiele added that the parallel market cannot be used to determine the true value of the country's currency,

as the value of the naira can only be determined by forces of demand and supply, explaining that the parallel market rate is high mainly because of the illicit activities

of people using the dollar for bribery.

He told reporters in Abuja after the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting that the doubling of the

CBN’s COVID-19-targeted facility to N300 billion seeks to spur consumer spending and accelerate recovery from the Continued on page 46

Okonjo-Iweala’s Rival to Pull out of WTO DG Race... Page 8 Wednesday 25 November, 2020 Vol 25. No 9361. Price: N250

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South-south Leaders Meet FG Delegation, Demand Restructuring, Federalism Emmanuel Addeh in Abuja South-south governors and other stakeholders from the geopolitical zone yesterday

in Port Harcourt met with a presidential delegation led by the Chief of Staff to the President, Prof. Ibrahim Gambari, and demanded

restructuring of the country to ensure “true federalism” and guarantee peace, security and stability of the country.

They also demanded the

relocation of the headquarters of all subsidiaries of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) to the region.

Calling for the revitalisation of the region’s Calabar, Port Harcourt and Warri ports, they also demanded the immediate privatisation of

the nation’s refineries to make them functional and boost the economy of the region.

Continued on page 46

FG Spurns UK Parliamentarians’ Threat of Sanction over Rights Abuse Says legislators' resolution based on fake news, hearsay, not British govt's position Despite Nigeria’s protest, CNN releases second report on Lekki shootings Senate seeks 1% VAT to compensate states affected by #EndSARS protests Iyobosa Uwugiaren, Deji Elumoye, Wale Ajimotokan in Abuja and John Shiklam in Kaduna The federal government yesterday said it was unperturbed by resolutions of the United Kingdom parliamentarians for sanctions against top Nigerian officials and security agents involved in the alleged violation of #EndSARS protesters' rights as it did not represent the position of the British government.

Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, told THISDAY in Abuja that the UK government will not sanction Nigerian officials based on a fake report.

He was reacting to Monday's resolutions taken after the parliamentarians had considered a petition signed by 220, 000 signatories in the aftermath of the alleged Continued on page 45

TOWARDS SELF-SUFFICIENCY...

L-R: Executive Secretary, Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board, Mr. Simbi Wabote; Chairman of Waltersmith Group, Mr. Abdulrazaq Isa; Imo State Governor, Senator Hope Uzodinma; Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Chief Timipre Sylva; and Group Managing Director, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, Mallam Mele Kyari, at the inauguration of Waltersmith Modular Refinery in Ibigwe, Ohaji/Egbema, Imo State ...yesterday

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

NNPC Assures Buhari on Petrol Export by 2023 OPEC, others cut oil supply by 1.6bn barrels

Omololu Ogunmade, Emmanuel Addeh in Abuja, Peter Uzoho in Lagos and Amby Uneze in Owerri The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) yesterday assured President Muhammadu Buhari that his target to make Nigeria a net exporter of petrol would be achieved by 2023, promising that the country will begin the exportation of petroleum products with the West African sub-region.

The corporation’s Group Managing Director, Malam Mele Kyari, gave this assurance during the inauguration of the 5,000-barrel per day capacity Waltersmith Modular Refinery in Imo State by Buhari, who said the advent of such refineries in the country will aid the availability of petroleum products and eliminate importation.

This is coming as Nigeria and other participating oilproducing countries across the globe reduced global supply of crude oil by 1.6 billion barrels since May this year, the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), has said.

Buhari, who inaugurated the refinery sited in Ibigwe, Imo State virtually, noted that the realisation of the refinery roadmap his administration launched in 2018, will lead the country to become a net exporter of petroleum products not only to the neighbouring countries but to the worldwide market.

The president also led the groundbreaking ceremony for phase two of the project to expand the capacity of the refinery to 50,000 barrels per day.

Buhari, according to a statement by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Mr. Femi Adesina, said the establishment of modular refineries was one of the four key elements of his administration’s refinery roadmap rolled out in 2018.

According to him, the implementation of the initiative will make Nigeria a net exporter of petroleum products.

The president said the Waltersmith refinery came on stream barely two years after the launch of the modular refinery roadmap.

He added that the initiative came on board years after licences were issued for the establishment of modular refineries without any result.

Buhari said: "There is increased momentum in the other three focus areas under the roadmap covering the rehabilitation of existing refineries, co-location of new refineries and construction of Greenfield refineries. ''The realisation of the refinery roadmap will ultimately lead us to become a net exporter of petroleum products not only to our neighbouring countries but to the worldwide market. This modular refinery is the largest commissioned modular refinery in the country today.�

He praised the collaborative role of the federal government, through the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB), with Waltersmith Refining and Petrochemical Company as novel in concept and superb in delivery.

The president described plans to commence the expansion of the capacity of the refinery to 50,000 barrels per day for

the refining of crude oil and condensates as an integral part of the economic reforms that the country is undergoing.

The president who said he looked forward to seeing this new phase completed within the target time frame added that he has also directed the Ministry of Petroleum Resources, Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR), Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and all relevant government agencies to support Waltersmith company to access crude oil and condensate feedstock for the timely delivery of the additional capacity.

He said in accordance with his administration’s agenda for jobs' creation, he was glad that hundreds of direct and indirect jobs were created during the construction of the first phase of the project in addition to various business opportunities.

He expressed hope that the construction of the second phase of the project will create a bigger additional employment opportunities.

Buhari thanked the local community and the people of Imo State for hosting the refinery that will bring prosperity and economic development to the area.

The president commended the Ministry of Petroleum Resources; the Minister, Chief Timipre Sylva; the Chairman and members of the Governing Council and the management and staff of the Nigerian Content Development Board for making the public-private partnership a success.

He also commended the chairman, board, management and staff of Waltersmith Refining and Petrochemical Limited for their professionalism and focus on getting the project completed.

Governor Hope Uzodinma of Imo State and the Minister of State, Petroleum, cut the tape on behalf of the president at the event, which was also attended by the Executive Secretary, NCDMB, Mr. Simbi Wabote; and the Chairman of Waltersmith, Abdulrazaq Isa. In his speech, Kyari said with small-scale refining facilities springing up in the country, the ongoing Dangote refinery and the rehabilitation of the country’s three plants, achieving the feat of becoming net exporter in two years was already in sight.

Kyari who called for more private partnerships in the refining business, said all the initiatives would come to fruition during the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari, whom he said had directed that all efforts must be geared towards deepening local refining capacity.

He said: “On your directive, Mr. President, you have said that we should deepen local refining and local production so that we become a net exporter of petroleum within a short time. “This is within sight and it’s not a political date. By 2023, this country will be a net exporter of petroleum in very many fronts for many reasons. “First, there are a number of initiatives that are going on like this one today. Many of them are approaching delivery, including the Dangote refinery, plus our own refineries and we will deliver them as promised.

It will be done. “There are additional initiatives, including modular refineries, small-scale refineries

and Mr. President will see them within his tenure and ultimately the objective will be achieved.�

He explained that every litre of petroleum added to the Nigerian economy locally means that value is being added since it’s a reduction of the volume of product that would have been imported in the absence of local refining capacity. “This is one of them which has incremental value and has the potential to deliver additional 45,000 barrels per day within record time. “One key element of a refinery is to have the assurance of feedstock. We have engaged Waltersmith severally and we have assured them that we will make feedstock available to them as directed. NNPC will continue to collaborate with investors to establish more private refineries,� the GMD said.

According to him, although the country currently has the capacity to produce 2.5 million barrels per day, it is being constrained because of issues around production cuts.

Minister of State, Petroleum, Sylva, said in-country refining capacity would soon hit 250,000 barrels per day. “This (inauguration) is coming

to fruition of a major policy of the president: the development of local refining capacity. “This is only the beginning.

There are a lot of other refineries to be commissioned and we are hoping that very soon the in-country capacity to refine will be up to as much as 250,000 barrels per day. “This marks a milestone in our quest to reduce imports which is in line with the policy direction of the current administration,� he said.

He said with deregulation, the downstream will sanitise itself, adding that Nigerians have already begun to welcome the benefits and are coming to terms with the new regime of deregulation.

Sylva stated that the government was committed to taking Nigeria back to when there was sufficient local production which was enough for Nigerians and aligned with the GMD on his position that Nigeria will soon become a net exporter of petroleum.

OPEC, others cut oil supply by 1.6bn barrels, Nigeria and other participating oil-producing countries across the globe have reduced the global supply of crude oil by 1.6 billion barrels since May this year,

the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries has said.

OPEC’s Secretary-General, Dr. Muhammad Barkindo, said, during a videoconference of the Crescent Ideas Forum with the theme, ‘The Outlook on Energy,’ the reduction in crude oil supply was taken in the interest of consumers, investors and the global economy. “Since May, the production adjustments undertaken by the participating countries have helped to reduce the global supply by around 1.6 billion barrels, a truly impressive feat given the economic uncertainty overshadowing the industry. “I would like to stress that these efforts were undertaken not just for the good of the DoC (Declaration of Cooperation) participating countries, but in the wider interests of consumers, investors and the global economy in general.

There can be no recovery without market stability, and no one stands to benefit from volatility,� he stated.

In April, OPEC delivered an unprecedented response to an unparalleled market shock, by adjusting output down by 9.7 million barrels per day or roughly 10 per cent global demand at the time.

“These provisions stand out as a remarkable acknowledgement of both the commitment by these countries to support the market, and the scale of the challenge. “There is no doubt in my mind that these decisive and proactive efforts helped put the oil market back on stable footing. “In doing so, the DoC provided much-needed support to the global economy as it began to pick up steam in the third quarter of this year,�

Barkindo added.

He said OPEC members began this year optimistic about the global economy and healthy oil market growth.

He stated that OPEC’s 2020 vision did not foresee the devastating impact of the coronavirus, the deadly toll it had taken across the world, nor the blow it had dealt with many economic sectors, especially crude oil. “In 2021, we expect growth to bounce back to 6.2 million barrels per day, to just over 96 million barrels per day, compared to our pre-coronavirus expectations for demand reaching almost 102 million barrels per day next year,� he said.

SEARCHING FOR PEACE...

L-R: Chief of Sta to the President, Prof. Ibrahim Gambari; and Governors Nyesom Wike (Rivers) and Ifeanyi Okowa (Delta), during a stakeholders' meeting between a presidential delegation and leaders of South-South region, in Port Harcourt‌yesterday

US Excludes Nigeria from N7.5m Visa Bond Policy Chiemelie Ezeobi The United States Mission in Nigeria yesterday took to its Twitter handle to debunk claims that Nigerians are expected to pay between $5,000 and $15,000 before securing visas.

The outgoing administration of United States President Donald Trump yesterday issued a new temporary rule that could require tourists and business travellers as well as others from 24 countries, mostly in Africa, to pay a bond of as much as $15,000 to visit the country.

The US State Department said the measure targets countries whose nationals have higher rates of overstaying B-2 visas for tourists and B-1 visas for business travellers.

The Trump administration said

the six-month pilot programme will test the feasibility of collecting such bonds and serves as a diplomatic deterrence to overstaying the visas.

The new visa bond pilot programme for B-1 visas (for business travellers) and B-2 visas (for tourists) is expected to run for six months — December 24 to June 24, 2021.

The visa bond pilot programme is targeted mostly at African countries with high visa overstay.

The new visa system elicited outrage from Nigerians, prompting the US Mission to explain that Nigeria is not on the list of countries whose nationals are affected by the policy.

The US statement said: “Nigeria is not included in this six months pilot programme. “In response to the April 2019

Presidential Memorandum on Combating High Nonimmigrant Overstay Rates, the Department and our embassies and consulates overseas conducted an in-depth analysis to identify and address the root causes of overstays. “Among other efforts to address this challenge, the State Department is considering additional steps to address overstays, including piloting a limited visa bonds programme to test, in coordination with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the operational feasibility of posting, processing, and discharging visa bonds as a means to ensure the timely departure from the United States of certain travellers. “Accordingly, the State Department will begin a limited six-month visa bond

pilot program beginning on December 24, 2020. “We are committed to combating visa overstays and making sure travellers to the United States respect our laws. “The implementation of this pilot builds on our engagement with foreign governments in recent years and will ensure continued progress to reduce overstay rates.�

Trump, who lost a re-election bid earlier this month, made restricting immigration a central part of his four-year term in office.

President-elect Joe Biden, a Democrat, has pledged to reverse many of the Republican president’s immigration policies, but untangling hundreds of changes could take months or years.

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Okonjo-Iweala’s Rival to Pull out of WTO DG Race

Obinna Chima with agency report

South Korea appears to have decided to withdraw its Minister of Trade, Ms. Yoo Myung-hee, from the race for the World Trade Organisation (WTO) directorgeneral, paving the way for Nigeria’s candidate, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, to be confirmed as the head of the global trade body.

Washington Trade Daily (WTD) in a report in its Monday edition, which THISDAY obtained yesterday, quoted people familiar with the development to have said that South Korea was expected to announce its decision to withdraw Myung-hee shortly, to enable the WTO’s General Council appoint Okonjo-Iweala.

The international trade news medium also announced on its Twitter handle, @ washtradedaily, that, “Korea plans to withdraw Trade

Minister Yoo from the race for new WTO director-general, paving the way for Nigeria's Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala to be the next DG and the first woman and African in the role."

However, attempts to confirm the development from WTO officials were not successful.

The Washington-based newspaper added that South Korea has already conveyed its decision to the United States, which had been insisting on the selection of Myung-hee.

But for the US' opposition, the WTO’s General Council would've named Nigeria's former coordinating minister for the economy and minister of finance as the directorgeneral in October after she had secured the vote of 163 of the 164 members of the trade organisation.

But she could not be declared the head of the WTO because of the objection by the US, which cited lack of

experience and procedural issues for its stance.

By the organisation’s selection rules, its DG has to emerge by consensus.

The WTD, however, gave more insight into the US' objection to Okonjo-Iweala's candidacy, saying that the Trump administration suspected her of being close to the Democratic Party.

The WTO had scheduled a General Council meeting for November 9, which was postponed after the Geneva Canton imposed new restrictions on meetings in the

face of the sudden surge in COVID-19 cases. Most of the WTO meetings are largely being held virtually through internet platforms.

In order to take decisions by the General Council, a quorum of 82 members must be present at the meeting.

A General Council meeting has been scheduled to take place on December 17, but it is not clear whether the meeting can take place if the current restrictions continue next month.

The WTO had disclosed that during the selection process,

majority of its members had indicated “strong preference for Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala as DG.�

The Geneva-based organisation had in a statement quoted Walker to have said: “She (Okonjo-Iweala) clearly carried the largest support by members in the final round and she clearly enjoyed broad support from members from all levels of development and all geographic regions and has done so throughout the process.�

The General Council is the WTO’s pre-eminent

decision-making body, save for the Ministerial Conference, which normally meets every two years.

The General Council chair explained that since the process to replace Roberto AzevĂŞdo as the sixth director-general of the WTO began the ultimate objective of the measured and clearly defined selection process has been to secure a consensus decision by members.

AzevĂŞdo had stepped down as director-general of WTO a year before the expiration of his mandate.

Stakeholders Urge FG to Grant Lagos Special Status Segun James in Abuja Various stakeholders in Lagos State, cutting across traditional rulers, politicians and professionals yesterday reiterated their demand for a special status for Lagos from the federal government.

Speaking when representatives of the federal government, including the Interior Minister, Mr Rauf Aregbesola, and his Police Affairs counterpart, Mr Muhammad Dingyadi, visited Lagos, the leaders urged both ministers to facilitate the process of according the state a special place among the states in the country.

A communique at the end of the meeting hosted by the Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu, which was held as part of the engagements on conflict resolution also recommended the creation of jobs opportunities for the youths of the state.

The event held at the Adeyemi Bero Auditorium at the Lagos State Secretariat, Alausa, Ikeja and attracted top government functionaries including the Deputy Governor, Dr. Obafemi Hamzat.

Also prominent among those present during the event were the Oba of Lagos, Oba Rilwan Akiolu; human rights lawyer, Mr Femi Falana (SAN); Chairman, Lagos State chapter of the National Youth Council of Nigeria (NYCN), Mr Lekan Oba; and leading Lagos politicians, including Dr. Yomi Finnih.

The communiquĂŠ noted that the stakeholders further urged the government to improve the working conditions of the police by increasing their salaries and focusing on their welfare to boost their commitment.

They also urged the

government to step up its intelligence effort to pre-empt crises and restructure police operations to conform to the country's federal system. “The stakeholders urged the federal government to provide crowd control equipment and set aside protest arena for citizens to express dissent. “They also agreed on the need to expose youths to counselling and the knowledge of God, for proper guidance and more engagement of the youths as they also have ideas that could assist in formulating policies for government. “The government should also look at the reintroduction of value-driven programmes like boys scout, girls guild etc in our schools to meaningfully engage our youths and provide adequate training and grooming of the wards by their parents,� the leaders noted.

Addressing the attendees earlier, Aregbesola eulogised the city of Lagos, describing it as the destiny of the African race where he cut his teeth as a politician.

He said that although the country is facing security challenges, things had not degenerated to the “Hobbesian state of nature where life was brutish, poor and nasty.�

He expressed shock over the attack on the palace of the Oba of Lagos and appealed for the preservation of the heritage of the Nigerian people.

In his remarks, Minister of Police Affairs, Mr. Muhammad Dingyadi, commiserated with the Lagos State governor over the loss of lives and property due to the violence which trailed the #EndSARS protests.

He added that President Muhammadu Buhari had recently addressed some of the demands of the protesters by approving a salary increase for police officers.

RUMINATING OVER SECURITY...

L-R: Lagos State Deputy Governor, Dr. Obafemi Hamzat; Minister of Police Aairs, Mr. Muhammad Dingyadi; Governor Babajide-Sanwo-Olu; and Minister of Interior, Mr. Rauf Aregbesola, during a stakeholders’ engagement on security and conicts resolution in Lagos‌yesterday

Nigerian Airlines Safe, NCAA DG Replies Senate Committee Chinedu Eze The Director-General of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), Captain Musa Nuhu, yesterday assured the public of the safety of the Nigerian airlines, saying there is no cause for alarm.

Nuhu was reacting to the alarm raised by the Chairman of Senate Committee on Aviation, Senator Smart Adeyemi, who warned that aircraft might start falling from the skies because of poor funding of airlines and poor maintenance of aircraft.

But the director-general of NCAA said Nigerian airlines are safe and their operating aircraft are airworthy, noting that the operators are effectively regulated by the agency, which has also grounded some aircraft in the fleet of airlines to force them to meet the standard of airworthiness. “I can categorically say that our aeroplanes are safe. The

aeroplanes that are not safe have been grounded. Some aircraft have been grounded in Nigeria for months because they are not safe and we have insisted that the operators must fix whatever issue they have before they are authorised to fly. The standard as regards airworthiness of aeroplanes, even I as the director-general I do not have the authority to waive anything as long as it is a safety-related issue. All our aircraft flying are safe,�

Nuhu said.

He added that it was likely the statement credited to the Adeyemi might have been misquoted and twisted to make a sensational story. “I believe this statement came supposedly from the National Assembly and I want to believe there was a misquotation. I will leave it like that. Somehow, the story was twisted by whoever, for whatever to make a sensational story,� he said.

Nuhu cited the consequence of such false report to include a bad image for the regulatory authority, local airlines finding it more difficult to access credit facility from international financiers, paying a high premium for aircraft insurance and finding it more difficult to lease aircraft. “What this has done is that it has cast doubt in Nigeria civil aviation with the international community and what that will end up doing is that it will make it more difficult for our airlines to assess international funds, to have good lease rate for their aircraft, their insurance premium may go up. Of course, the twisting of the comment has created an impression that Nigeria civil aviation is not safe and I don’t think you want to put your aircraft or money where the system is not safe.

It is unfortunate and that is not the state we are in. I can categorically state that

all aircraft we are flying in Nigeria are safe and safe to fly. You can quote me on that,�

Nuhu added.

Speaking on post-COVID-19 efforts to ensure safe flight operations, he explained that NCAA made changes and took decisions to suit the reality of the time. “When we closed the airports, we made sure they were not reopened until FAAN (the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria) meet some certain requirements. I must commend the managing director of FAAN and his team for doing an excellent job. All the protocols are still there and there are certain things that the public may not necessarily see, especially at the airside. Like what we call the fire fighting and rescue services; we made sure FAAN did what it was supposed to do in this. That was why we didn’t open all the airports at the same time,�

Nuhu said.

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

CNN, SOLDIERS AND LEKKI SHOOTINGS Sonnie Ekwowusi argues that the denial of killings at the Lekki toll gate is unfortunate

L

ast week the Cable News Network (CNN) released what it terms “a carefully and meticulously researched� report on the Lekki Toll Gate murder.

The report contained in a video footage, which is still making its rounds, heavily indicts the Nigerian authorities in the murder of unarmed young peaceful protesters at the Lekki Toll Gate on 20-10-2020. The footage shows an army truck being driven from the military’s Bonny Camp to Lekki Toll Gate (in fact the CCTV footage of the shootings which was played last Saturday by the Lagos State Judicial Panel of Inquiry showed that not less than seven military trucks were deployed to Lekki Toll Gate by the Nigerian military on 20-10-2020). The CNN report also shows mutilated corpses lying in the pool of blood; soldiers opening fire on protesters who were yelling, taking cover and scampering for safety; Nigerian flags splashed with human blood and some weeping protesters granting interview in corroboration of the shootings.

First, the military dismissed the Lekki 20-10-2020 murder as fake news. Federal Attorney-General Abubakar Malami SAN said that the murder might have been committed by hoodlums in army uniform, not the military itself. Initially Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu authoritatively announced to the whole world that no protester was killed in the shooting. But when he spoke to the CNN, he retracted and admitted that only two fatalities were recorded except that he was not the person who invited the military to shoot and kill.

Upon hearing this, the same military which earlier dismissed the Lekki murder as fake news, turned round to say that it was Babajide Sanwo-Olu who invited them to Lekki to do the shooting except that the military never shot live bullets at the protesters. The Chief of Army Staff, Lt.-Gen. Tukur Buratai said the army is a professional and never operated outside the rules of engagement (ROE). Hon. Minister of Information and Culture Lai Mohammed, lambasted the CNN and said that its report fell short of standards. He alleges that the Nigerian soldiers fired blank bullets in the thin air, not at the young protesters as alleged. In its response to the above, the CNN maintains that it stands by its report. It says its report is not based on hearsay but on the testimonies of CNN staffers and dozens of witnesses and verified footage of soldiers shooting in the direction of the protesters. “They pointed their guns at us and they started shooting�, said Sarah, a protester told the CNN. The manifest contradictions in the above concocted testimonies of the Nigerian authorities testify that they are trying to cover up the murder. But the truth of the matter is that the murder was transmitted live, and, most Nigerians watched it live. I watched it live. I must confess that I was simply flabbergasted by the sporadic shooting and wailing that had engulfed the Lekki Toll Gate on that 20-10-2020. So, the shooting and murder are notorious facts requiring no proof.

We don’t even need a CNN report to convince us of what we already know about the Lekki Toll Gate murder. Therefore a denial of the shooting and murder by the Nigerian authorities does not make sense at all. There are certain facts you don’t deny in public except you want to make a fool of yourself.

If the military only fired blank bullets in the air as Lai claims, how come there were mutilated corpses lying in the pool of blood after the shooting? If the military didn’t shoot

THE NUMBER OF PROTESTING YOUNGSTERS KILLED AT THE LEKKI TOLL GATE IS NEGLIGIBLE COMPARED TO THE NUMBER OF UNARMED CIVILIANS MURDERED AT OBIGBO, RIVERS STATE

at the protesters, why were the Nigerian flags carried by the protesters smeared with human blood? If the military didn’t fire live bullets, why was the scene of the crime littered with bullet casings and pellets? If the military did not fire live bullets at the protesters, why were the protesters who suffered bullet wounds admitted to the hospitals? If the military did not fire live bullets that killed some protesters, why are the parents of the murdered protesters still crying till date and refusing to be consoled by anyone? If the soldiers didn’t open fire on the protesters, why did Chizoba Francisca Agu, a 27-year-protester who was badly shot in the face by the soldiers at Lekki Toll Gate, die of gun wounds on 4th November 2020? The sad aspect, as revealed by the ongoing Lagos State Judicial Panel of Inquiry probing the Lekki murder, is that the soldiers who were deplored to Lekki Toll Gate were not professional soldiers but training soldiers at the military schools. Small wonder they opened fire on the protesters.

Contrary to Buratai’s testimony, the Nigerian Army, with the greatest respect, lacks professionalism. The Nigerian army does not observe ROE. The Nigerian army has developed a somewhat strange proclivity for shooting and killing unarmed protesting civilians. Or, simply put, killing unarmed protesters is in the DNA of the Nigerian army. How? Following the attack by the army on the Shia Muslim community ostensibly to rescue the Chief of Army Staff from alleged assassination, about 300 unarmed protesting civilians (most of whom were young people) were shot at and killed in Zaria on or around 12th December 2015. Till date no justice for the victims of the Zaria massacre. Then on February 9, 2016 the Nigerian soldiers were deployed to shoot and kill countless unarmed young pro-Biafra protesters who were peacefully holding prayers inside the football field of Ngwa High School, Aba in Abia State. No justice for the victims of that barbaric murder till date despite popular outcry. Then during the Biafran Day celebration on May 30, 2016, the Nigerian soldiers were again dispatched to fire bullets that killed and injured over 30 unarmed civilians at Nkpor-Agu, Niger Bridge, Onitsha and Asaba respectively. As we speak, killer-soldiers have been deployed to Obigbo, Rivers State to be killing unarmed civilians there. The number of protesting youngsters killed at the Lekki Toll Gate is negligible compared to the number of unarmed civilians murdered at Obigbo, Rivers State. The International Society for Civil Liberties & Rule of Law reports that the army has killed over 60 defenceless civilians and injured over 100 civilians in the Obigbo massacre.

All said, the Lekki 20-10-2020 tragic murder has cut deep into the heart of the nation. No dirty politics or pseudorationalization can erase the murder from our collective memory. All over the civilized world soldiers do not open fire on peaceful protesters except in Nigeria. It is probably only in Nigeria that trigger-happy men in uniform can shoot and kill innocent civilians anytime and get away with it. Can you imagine a police aide attached to the Speaker of House of Representatives opening fire and killing an innocent street vendor last Thursday? By opening fire on peaceful protesters and killing them, the Nigerian soldiers fragrantly violated section 217(2)(c)(d) of the 1999 Constitution. With overwhelming concrete, compelling and weighty evidence at the public disposal, the culprits should be brought to justice.

FOR THE LOVE OF THE POOR

The ministry of humanitarian aairs is doing its bit to cushion the plight of the needy, writes

A

mid the rising cost of living affecting all Nigerians, the task of providing a humanitarian window for extending some relief to the most vulnerable segments of the population who are least capable of sustainable survival becomes a life-saving necessity. The challenge of clinging onto life that confronts the poorest people daily has become more of an existential crisis than the intermittent cycles of natural disasters like floods and pandemics which actually make a bad situation worse. The need for any humanitarian initiative to have a bi-focal scope that responds to the socioeconomic adversity as well as natural disasters cannot be over-emphasized.

The Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development adequately captures in its portfolio the broad range of human and natural misfortunes whose amelioration must be prioritized by any responsible government and its performance so far, despite being hastily launched from an uncoordinated array of agencies just over a year ago, gives cause for cheer. Under the focused and humble direction of the Minister, Hajiya Sadiya Umar Farouq, much sought after government relief measures have reached thousands of all categories of needy and distressed Nigerians, from jobless school leavers to hapless IDPs and flood victims.

In its latest outreach, the ministry has commenced the federal government’s Rural Women’s Cash Grant, a N20,000 one-off grant to support women, widows and vulnerable families to help them earn a living and support their households. It’s another aspect of the Buhari administration’s social inclusion

and poverty reduction agenda with the ambitious target of lifting 100 million Nigerians out of poverty in 10 years. Compared to other interventions, the cash transfer to mainly rural women across the country is bound to have a more profound impact on lives of a segment of the population of poor people that has for long been out of reach of such a direct government intervention.

After a hectic schedule of working tours of flood-ravaged communities across the country earlier in the year, Minister Sa’adiya Faruk has since busied herself ensuring the launch of the latest initiative in Gombe, Ebonyi and Bauchi States. In Ebonyi State, 200 women from each of the 13 local government areas received N20,000 cash during the flag off and a total of 2,600 rural women are expected to benefit. The emphasis has been on urging the beneficiaries to use the grants judiciously being government effort “to give lifting hands to women, widows and vulnerable persons�, as the minister described it. She drew attention to opportunities for starting up a business or enhancing existing businesses, to help them earn a living and support their households and to generally improve the living standards of vulnerable people in the country, especially women and widows. Excited beneficiaries at the launch events expressed happiness that they were being “remembered� by the federal government as they reeled out various ways of using the grants to generate more income to contribute to the welfare of their families.

Yet another impactful intervention of the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development for the distribution of cash and food to vulnerable people in urban hotspots in Abuja, Lagos and

Kano was being actualised in partnership with the UN World Food Programme (WFP) to cushion COVID-19 effect on the residents. At the launch in Abuja recently, Dr Paul Howe, WFP representative in Nigeria said WFP is contributing one million dollars which would be shared among the vulnerable people and commended the federal government for providing food from the National Strategic Grains Reserve. He disclosed that the WFP planned to reach 67,500 beneficiaries in Abuja Municipal, Bwari and Gwagwalada under the intervention programme which had already reached over 57,000 individuals.

He stated that WFP is supporting the Nigerian government, which is providing cereal food support, in assisting up to 200,000 people through a combination of cash-based transfers and food distributions while also acknowledging the contribution of the government of Switzerland, which is WFP key contributor to the funding of the project, via cash transfer to the beneficiaries, adding that it was the first time WFP is expanding into urban centres in Nigeria to serve people and families affected by hunger and severe food insecurity.

Dr Paul Howe remarked that “COVID-19 has grown beyond a global health crisis into a global ‘food pandemic’ of historical proportions. Over 90 million people or 46 per cent of the population in Nigeria live on less than US$2 per day, the urban poor depending on daily wages have been very hard hit. In communities in Kano, Abuja and Lagos; the socio-economic impact of COVID-19 has hit hard.�

It will be recalled that the federal government had earlier in April disbursed

Conditional Cash Transfer to poor households at the Kwali Area Council of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja as part of the federal government’s efforts to help reduce the effect of lockdown following the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic in the country.

In her exemplary pre-occupation with the humanitarian concerns of her ministry, Hajia Sadiya Umar Farouk had also attended the virtual EU Inter-Ministerial meeting where she emphasized the need for an integrated approach to the humanitarian issues plaguing the nation. She also met with the Director of Operations and Emergencies at the UN, Jeffery Labovitz where discussions focused on areas of support and collaboration to boost impact of the ministry’s programmes.

From all indications the plight of the poor, the distressed and other vulnerable people in Nigeria will continue to get the priority attention it deserves as the minister’s restless quest for delivering succour and “remembering� those who felt forgotten in the scheme of things, continues to yield timely and tangible outcomes.

Her focus and zeal will be of particular relevance in view of the diminishing economic buoyancy confronting the nation with corresponding budgetary implications on government programmes. It is however re-assuring that the minister’s quest for support for its humanitarian programmes has an international scope leveraging on her meritorious career in marshalling resources and diligently executing relief programmes with remarkable team working to restore hope among refugees and vulnerable communities.

Goga wrote from Kano

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EDITORIAL

YET ANOTHER ECONOMIC RECESSION The crumbling economy needs better attention

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ithout a doubt, the situation in the country today has tasked the wits of the federal government. If the cause of the prevailing hardship could be traced to past years of profligacy, the incompetent handling of the economy in the past five years has compounded the woes of many Nigerians. There is perhaps no better evidence of this than the announcement last Saturday by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) that the economy has slipped into its second recession in five years as the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) contracted for the THERE IS NO BETTER TIME second consecutive THAN NOW TO MAKE THE quarter. Not many MUCH-TOUTED TRANSITION Nigerians were FROM OIL TO AGRICULTURE surprised by the outcome.

AS THE GROWTH CATALYST In June this FOR THE NIGERIAN year, Shubham Chaudhuri, World ECONOMY Bank Country Director in Nigeria had warned that “While the long-term economic impact of the global pandemic is uncertain, the effectiveness of the government’s response is important to determine the speed, quality, and sustainability of Nigeria’s economic recovery�. He further admonished that it would “be even more urgent to address bottlenecks that hinder the productivity of the economy and job creation.�

Although many officials are predicting that the country may soon come out of the recession, the challenges nonetheless remain daunting.

The implications are that prices of household consumables will rise further; family incomes will shrink even as savings capacity thin out. Meanwhile, the real estate sector will reel under poor demand. More companies may also close down as the operating conditions become harder. With the naira exchanging at about N490 to the dollar, higher prices of both finished goods and raw materials will further fuel inflation and the misery

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index will certainly deepen in the country.

The consequence of the prevailing situation is that the economic problems could spiral to other areas of national life. Insecurity could worsen as unemployment and job losses lead many idle young hands into crimes of desperation. Labour agitations and strikes will increase as more states get into trouble with payment of salaries. These are some of the challenges that lie ahead.

Although there is no doubt that agriculture is one of the key options in the national efforts to diversify our economy, much more thoughtful policies are required to move the nation in the direction of that noble path. Unfortunately, the response from the federal government to these challenges remains incoherent. Many of the rural communities in the country today do not have access to potable water supply; they lack critical infrastructure for storage and transportation of raw materials from their places of production to markets. Farmers are at the mercy of middlemen who exploit them and make significant profits on resale of the same goods in other geographies.

Besides, incentives for private sector and youth participation are scanty just as a credit regime to drive the sector does not exist. There is also no backup national communication campaign to make agriculture sexy for the digital generation who tend to see farming as synonymous with an ageing colorless rural population. Yet, there is no better time than now to make the much-touted transition from oil to agriculture as the growth catalyst for the Nigerian economy. It’s not as if we are left with much choice anyway. With energy alone accounting for about 30 per cent of the operating cost of businesses and running individual households, we must address these challenges in a strategic manner.

For sure, the reversal of the looming recessional avalanche would require a combination of fiscal and monetary creativity. The federal government will also require businesslike executive capacity that is currently lacking. One thing is certain: the economic challenges we face in the country today cannot be tackled with the ad hoc approach being adopted by the current administration.

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.

WHAT’S THE MINISTER OF STATE FOR WORKS DOING?

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he delay in the completion of the Kaduna-Zaria-Kano expressway is a major topic in the northern part of Nigeria. Recently, I witnessed a debate between two friends in Jimeta, Yola, Adamawa State, on the completion of the expressway. The duo debated the role of Abubakar D. Aliyu, Minister of State for Works and Housing in the delayed completion of the expressway, considering the fact that he is from the north.

Whenever the unpalatable tale of the delay of the Federal Ministry of Works and Housing projects in the north is mentioned, Aliyu’s name often pops up. This may be due to no other reason than he is from the north; a politician, an accomplished engineer, a member of the Council of Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria (COREN), and has the record of being the longest-serving deputy governor in Nigeria - 10 and a half years as the deputy governor of Yobe State. With the aforementioned, Aliyu cannot run away from being mentioned and looked upon for criticism and some explanations.

When asked, the Federal Ministry of Works and Housing explained why

the construction work on the KadunaZaria-Kano expressway is taking long to complete. They clarified that the project did not begin early as planned because some members of the National Assembly demanded the expansion of the road from two lanes to three lanes, to which the executive obliged.

After the directive from the presidency, there was a need to redesign and accommodate the expansion. The redesigning meant the realignment of 40 different bridges on the road and other technical readjustments. After undergoing all the processes of procurement for redesigning to three lanes, the ministry received another instruction to revert to two lanes due to paucity of funds.

These were the major reasons for the delay.

Apart from popping up in debates on the state of federal roads, Aliyu’s name comes up frequently in Adamawa State.

Though having Yobe State as state of origin, Abubakar and his late brother, former governor of Yobe State, Senator Mamman Ali were born and raised in Jimeta-Yola. Many people in Jimeta pay attention to their affairs, as they are seen as role models. In his current position, Abubakar has gone through the mills to

contribute to the ministry’s policies and programs on highway construction and rehabilitation; infrastructural planning and design; and the monitoring and maintenance of federal roads and bridges, nationwide. Aliyu has been actively involved in driving initiatives aimed at improving the country’s infrastructure. The Jimeta-raised technocrat was integral to the plans by the federal government to build 500 houses for the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in Zamfara, Borno, Adamawa and Katsina States, including the construction of affordable housing nationwide. He is also contributing in driving the federal government’s wider target to cut the housing deficit in the country by 20 million in 2033. As a seasoned engineer, Aliyu is a round peg in a round hole in the ministry of works and housing.

With the bureaucracy of the Nigerian administrative system, which often delays achieving monumental projects like the Kaduna-Zaria-Kano expressway, the country needs the expertise of technocrats like Aliyu to take its infrastructure development to the next level.

Zayyad I. Muhammad, Jimeta, Adamawa State

PUSH THE BUTTON

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ost people have accepted that Joe Biden is the President -Elect, from the majority of citizens, political representatives, courts, TV commentators and finally a source of true authority, Twitter.

On Jan 20, 2021, President- Elect Joe Biden loses the “Elect� word. He gets the keys to the White House, which are unnecessary as someone opens every door for him, he gets the red phone except that it doesn’t really exist, he gets the nuclear button except that it’s actually really just a set of codes but he does get the highly regarded @POTUS Twitter account. Twitter had declared that they will save all the Trump messages and then reset the count to zero.

Will there be much difference when the new President uses the account, apart from the frequency, the misspellings, the incorrect grammar, the fake news, the complaints about fake news and the overuse of the word “Great�? We hope and assume so.

What will future historians make of the Trump Twitter messages? Hopefully, they can just use the delete button by then.

Dennis Fitzgerald, Melbourne, Australia

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WEDNESDAY NOVEMBER 25, 2020 •T H I S D AY

WEDNESDAY NOVEMBER 25, 2020 • T H I S D AY

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T H I S D AY ˾ WEDNESDAY NOVEMBER 25, 2020

MIDWEEKPOLITICS

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

Anambra Politicians Eyeing Obiano’s Job David-Chyddy Eleke profiles 25 top Anambra sons and daughters, from different political parties, who are eyeing the job of the current governor of the state, Chief Willie Obiano as the 2021 governorship election draws closer

Ozigbo

Ekwunife

Nwankwo

Soludo

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servant, he would touch more persons, and is determined to do so.

liked by people across the state. He is the owner of The Dome Event and Entertainment Centre in Abuja and also of the about to commence New Nigeria Airline. Very popularly known as Dike Ora, Okonkwo holds the highest traditional titles in each of the three senatorial zones of the state, and reputed to be very rich too.

Singlehandedly, he has for a very long time sponsored the activities of his political party, and through his non-governmental organization; Pro-Value Humanity Foundation, he has touched lives across the state and beyond.

Ojukwu ahead of the then governor.

He however lost the governorship ticket of the party. Etiaba has since then faded out of politics and many believe he will have to do a lot of work to bounce back politically.

Ike Oligbo Oligbo is a UK trained lawyer and businessman. He hails from Umuoji in Idemili South Local Government Area, which falls into Anambra Central zone. During a recent meeting with members of the PDP, he said he was bringing his wealth of experience in many fields of endeavour, garnered in UK to ensure development for the state. He listed power, security, youth employment, education, road construction, healthcare, focus on ecological challenges and many more as some of his priority areas for the state. He is not known to have political antecedents.

Chuma Nzeribe Though there have not been much mention about his aspiration, but recently, the chairman of the PDP in Anambra State, Chief Ndubuisi Nwobu mentioned Nzeribe as one of the persons who have shown interest in the governorship ticket of the party in the forthcoming election. He was known as a de-facto governor during the days of Dr Chinwoke Mbadinuju as governor of Anambra State, but has since faded into oblivion after the abrupt end of Mbadinuju’s government.

eoples Democratic Party For now, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has the highest number of aspirants in the state and has vowed to take the state from the party in power, All Progressives Grand Alliance. The party has thrown open its door to everyone to join the contest, stating that for now, the clamour for zoning the position to Anambra South would not be adhered to.

Harry Oranezi He is better known as a medical doctor and policy expert than as a politician. Oranezi is, however, a politician and has played several roles in the politics of Anambra and Nigeria. He was a coordinator of the Atiku/Obi presidential election in Anambra in 2019.

Ifedi Okwenna Ifedi Okwenna is coming into the governorship race with a huge knowledge of the political terrain in Anambra and Nigeria. He has held several political positions in the past, including as Special Assistant (Political) in the government of President Olusegun Obasanjo and Commissioner for Environment and Mineral Resources; Commissioner Science and Technology, under the Peter Obi-led administration in Anambra State and Secretary, Honorary Advisory Committee, to President Jonathan.

Emeka Azubogu He is the current member of the House of Representitives representing Nnewi South and Ekwusigo Federal Constituency, a position he has been in for three terms. He is very popularly known as ‘Mr Project’ because of the huge infrastructures he has attracted to the area. Azubogu’s capacity to lead the state is not in doubt. He is an amiable politician that does not carry any air around him. His constituents see him as a noiseless politician who is also very open to all, just as he is accessible. He prides himself as the most prepared of all the people gunning for the position, and does very great exploits, noiselessly.

Valentine Ozigbo Many people have referred to him as a rookie politician, and they may not be exactly wrong. He is the immediate past President of Transnational Corporation, also known as Transcorp.

Ozigbo prides himself as coming into politics on a clean slate. He once told journalists that he decided to come into politics after viewing from the sideline for a while, and believes that after touching lives as a private individual, he believes that as a public

Godwin Maduka The Lion of Africa is a more popular name by which this US based medical doctor is known. He is a renowned pain manager and the owner of Las Vegas Pain Institute in Las Vegas, United States of America. He is among those who can be described as green horn politicians, as he is not known to have participated in politics in the state before now. However, he is known to have deep pocket, and has capitalized on his riches to build for himself a huge crowd of followers. Many still think he is only being followed because he has resources to spend, just as others think he is arrogant.

Uche Ekwunife Known to be a performer in any position she finds herself in, Ekwunife has grown to be a veteran governorship contender, as one can always predict that she would be in any governorship election in the state.

She is a sitting senator of the federal republic and represents Anambra Central. She has over the years grown to be a known grassroot politicians with a formidable followership. Many hold the opinion that Anambra is too complex to be left in the hands of a woman, but with the magic wand she has deployed in the past, it would be risky to underate her.

Obiora Okonkwo A respected leading businessman, Okonkwo is coming to power prepared. He holds a PhD in Political Science from a Russian University.

He is highly favoured for the governorship position as he is very much

Emeka Etiaba Son of the first Nigeria female politician ever to become governor of a state; Dame Virgy Etiaba. Emeka is a top flight lawyer, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria. In 2010, Etiaba gave then incumbent governor, Mr Peter Obi a tough fight as he sought to unseat the governor then, and went to the extent of receiving the blessings of the leader of the All Progressives Grand Alliance, Dim Chukwuemeka Odumegwu

Young and ambitious Tony Nwoye has made a name for himself in the Anambra political arena. He has been chairman of the PDP at a very tender age, and a two term member of the House of Representatives before he voluntarily declined further contest for the position. He has a crop of young followers who are ready to die defending him. He is not a push over as far as Anambra politics is concerned and has contested the governorship seat of Anambra state twice, and beaten known persons to the ticket in his choice party

Godwin Ezeemo Successful businessman, hotel proprietor, publisher of Orient Daily Newspaper, owner of Orient FM, and a successful farmer, Ezeemo is known to be rich. He is gradually becoming a veteran governorship contender too as he has twice before now given the position a shot without success.

Ugochukwu Okeke Ugochukwu Okeke is a young politician. A die hard member of the PDP, where he has previously contested for governorship too. Political watchers dismiss him as among the kind of contenders known as pretenders as he neither has the resources to truly engage in a contest nor the followership needed to achieve victory.

Oseloka Obaze He ran for the governorship position in 2014 on the platform of the PDP in a bid to stop Governor Willie Obiano from gaining reelection. He is a diplomat and secretary to the Anambra state government during the Governor Peter Obi administration, and during the early days of the administration of Governor Willie Obiano. He later dumped APGA and moved to PDP, where he was seen as a favourite aspirant of the former governor, Peter Obi. He lost to Obiano.

Stella Oduah Oduah was former Aviation Minister and the current senator representing Anambra North senatorial zone.

Though not much has been heard of her, nor has she stated her intention to run, but her supporters believe that she is warming up for the contest.

Continued on page 19

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T H I S D AY ˾ WEDNESDAY NOVEMBER 25, 2020

POLITICS

Anambra Politicians Eyeing Obiano’s Job

Azubogu

Ubah

Ubah

Okolo

APGA The All Progressives Grand Alliance is the ruling party in the state. The number of aspirants may have been limited by the choice of the party to zone the governorship position to the southern zone. Anambra can be referred to as a one-party-state as APGA controls only Anambra.

The party has vowed to remain in power in the state and expand to other states, and 2021 may present a tough test for her, especially for outgoing Governor Obiano who has the burden of ensuring the state remains an APGA state.

few aspirants who have been trained for good governance. He is among the first aspirants to show interest in the contest, and has since then been mobilizing support. He believes strongly in the zoning of the governorship position to the southern senatorial zone and hails from Nnewi.

contest and won the 2019 senatorial election for Anambra South, after an agreement he said he entered with Governor Obiano to hand him the ticket of APGA failed.

Muhammadu Buhari, Moghalu is the current Director General of Nigeria Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA). Though he is yet to mention his quest for the governorship seat, his name is everywhere as a possible contender. He is believed to be one of the oldest members of the APC in the state besides the Minister of Labour and Employment, Dr Chris Ngige.

He joined the APC from CPC, which was led by President Buhari into the merger deal. He is also believed to be highly favoured for the ticket.

Chukwuma Soludo Former governor of Central Bank of Nigeria is one that can be said to be a tested and trusted hand in the business of governance. He has long been touted as the ace of his party until recently, when rumours of underground plans by influential persons in his party to dump him for another candidate surfaced. Soludo first gave the governorship seat a shot in 2010 when he sought to unseat Obi who was then running for a second term. In 2017, Soludo was being wooed by some people to contest against Obiano (who was seeking reelection), but in a move that surprised many, he rejected and simply joined APGA after he delivered a lecture stating clearly that Anambra under Obiano was not broken and as such didn’t need fixing. He is strongly warming up for the contest, and is said to have assured some confidants that even if APGA failed to field him, he would still contest and win the election.

He has a strong cult-like following among young people in the state.

Nicholas Ukachukwu Ukachukwu is a veteran election contender. He has contested in many governorship and senatorial elections in the state. Recently, his billboards surfaced in parts of the state, showing his supporters urging him to run for the governorship seat. Besides the push to vie, many believe that Ukachukwu may be a decoy by the first family in the state to replace Soludo who many say may not be amenable to external influence, once sworn in.

Ben Nwankwo A two term House of Representatives member for Orumba North and Orumba South Federal Constituency.

He recently joined the APGA from his former party, the PDP, fueling speculations that he may have brokered a deal with the leaders of the party for him to fly its flag in 2021.

He is a grass root mobiliser, a likeable politician and very soft spoken.

Damian Okolo An Estate Surveyor, a fellow of the Institute of Arbitrators, a legal practitioner and a graduate of the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPSS), Kuru, Jos, Okolo prides himself as among the

Stanley Uzochukwu Uzochukwu is a young entrepreneur who has never been associated with politics. He is also being touted as the preferred choice of the first family in Anambra State, and may be handed the party’s ticket in the nick of time.

His investment in Anambra; Stanel World, which deals in oil and gas, entertainment, fast food and supermarket chain has also severally been linked to the wife of Anambra state governor, Mrs Ebelechukwu Obiano, just as many have described him as a front.

Nnamdi Okonkwo Former Managing Director of Fidelity Bank, Okonkwo’s name has been discussed in places. His recent resignation from Fidelity Bank has also been linked to his quest to become the governor of Anambra. Fidelity Bank is a major financier of projects in Anambra State, and recently, anyone who seeks governance in Anambra must have a Fidelity Bank connection.

Obi was chairman of the bank, and he handed over to Obiano who was executive director of same bank. No one can blame those who think Obiano may hand over to the former MD, especially, as his younger brother, Mike is a commissioner in the Obiano cabinet.

Young Peoples Party Young Peoples Party, is relatively unknown in Anambra. Senator Ifeanyi Ubah moved to the party in 2018 to

Ifeanyi Ubah Among all the governorship aspirants in Anambra State, only one is sure of the ticket of his party for the election. That politician is Senator Ifeanyi Ubah. It would not be wrong to state categorically that Ubah stands in a class of his own as far as the contest is concerned. This is because he is the face of the party in the state, and can be said to be far more popular than the party on whose platform he is contesting. The Nnewi born oil magnate is not new to politics. He has also made several attempts to govern the state but has remained unlucky.

He is known to have deep pockets, and also the willingness to throw around money to achieve his desires.

He is also very much loved among the larger population of the state, but elites oppose his aspiration on the grounds that he has limited education, while others say the governorship bid may just be an opportunity he seeks to off-set his debt with AMCON. It was like magic when he won his senate election on the platform of YPP, and many believe he can repeat the feat again.

All Progressives Congress The party has never commanded enough followership in the state, despite having some notable politicians, and being the party in power at the federal level. It however has few notable aspirants who hope to move the state to the centre.

George Moghalu A likeable soft-spoken politician, and a long time ally of President

Among all the governorship aspirants in Anambra State, only one is sure of the ticket of his party for the election. That politician is Senator Ifeanyi Ubah. It would not be wrong to state categorically that Ubah stands in a class of his own as far as the contest is concerned.

This is because he is the face of the party in the state, and can be said to be far more popular than the party on whose platform he is contesting. The Nnewi born oil magnate is not new to politics. He has also made several attempts to govern the state but has remained unlucky. He is known to have deep pockets, and also the willingness to throw around money to achieve his desires. He is also very much loved among the larger population of the state

Tony Nwoye Young and ambitious Tony Nwoye has made a name for himself in the Anambra political arena. He has been chairman of the PDP at a very tender age, and a two term member of the House of Representatives before he voluntarily declined further contest for the position. He has a crop of young followers who are ready to die defending him. He is not a push over as far as Anambra politics is concerned and has contested the governorship seat of Anambra state twice, and beaten known persons to the ticket in his choice party.

Johnbosco Onunkwo Onunkwo is a young and ambitious politician too, but not in the mould of Nwoye. He is gradually gaining the notoriety of a veteran election contender despite his young age as he is always coming out for every governorship election. He is into oil and gas, and said to be rich too, but many believe that he lacks the root that politicking and governorship contest requires in Anambra State.

Andy Ubah His is a household name. His nearest attempt to governing Anambra State was in 2007 when he was sworn in but later removed after just 17 days as governor for then governor, Mr Peter Obi to complete his four-year term.

He later mounted a strong campaign to be sworn in, in 2010 after Obi’s first term on the premise that he was already a governor-in-waiting, having won the 2007 governorship election overwhelmingly, but he failed. Since then, Uba has contested every governorship election on every available political party including PDP, APC, LP. Chidozie Nwankwo Nwankwo is a pastor and a successful business man. He is the Chairman, Chief Executive Officer of Wichtech, a company that produces roofing sheets. Those who know him say he is rich and would have no problem in financing his gubernatorial ambition, just as he is believed to be very well connected outside the state and among the leaders of the APC at the national level. He has long opened a campaign office in Awka, and recently hosted the leadership of APC in the state, while also promising to win over the Anambra government house if he is given the ticket off the party.

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FEATURES

Group Features Editor: Chiemelie Ezeobi Email chiemelie.ezeobi@thisdaylive.com, 08038901925

Consolidating on Infrastructural, Rural Development The Governor Aminu Bello Masari's 2021 Budget of Recovery and Consolidation will lead to the completion of many ongoing infrastructural projects and boost rural development in the state, writes Francis Sardauna

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overnor Aminu Masari of Katsina State, on Wednesday, November 18, 2020 took a bold step by presenting the state’s N282,787,930,655.00 2021 appropriation bill to the State House of Assembly for its deliberation and consideration.

The budget, christened “Budget of Recovery and Consolidation �, seeks to sustain and consolidate on the gains of the 2020 budget. Amongst the major highlight of the budget is ensuring timely completion of all ongoing projects in the state that cut across road, health, education, water, agriculture and environment.

The 2021 budget estimate is structured with a total recurrent expenditure of N86,426,087,744.00 which is equivalent to 30 per cent of the total budget and capital expenditure of N196,161,842,911.00, representing 70 per cent of the entire budget draft presented to the lawmakers.

The total amount projected by the governor to finance the appropriation bill is the sum of N172,252,927,970.00 which comprises N57,180,527,226.00 as Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) from the board of internal revenue, ministeries, departments and agencies as well as the balances of the 2020 Budget. The revenue receivable through the Federation Account is estimated at the sum of N115,072,400,744.00.

Interestingly, the 2021 recurrent revenue has increased by 37.20 per cent over 2020 revised budget, while the recurrent expenditure in the 2021 budget has increased by 20.85 per cent which is an clear indication the state’s revenue has increased by about 37.20 per cent over that of 2020 fiscal year.

Under the recurrent expenditure of the 2021 budget; personnel cost is N30,611,635,955.00 (35.40 per cent), overhead cost is N42,890,391,144.00 (49.60 per cent), while charges under the consolidated revenue stood at N12,924,060,645.00 (15.00 per cent), bringing the whole total for recurrent expenditure to the tune of N86,426,087,744.00.

Simialarly, the sum of N196,161,842,911.00 which represents 70 per cent of the total budget proposal is estimated for the capital expenditure in the 2021 budgetary allocations for the fiscal year.

Governor Masari, while presenting the budget estimate, said apart from the new projects initiated and executed within the 2020 fiscal year, the state government succeeded in the rehabilitation and upgrading of existing ones in accordance with the ‘Restoration Agenda’ of his administration in spite of serious economic meltdown and insecurity orchestrated by bandits in the state.

He said the restoration plans of his administration include programmes, projects and policies to be implemented under education, health, water resources, agriculture, environment, work, housing and transport sectors of the state government.

He said: "As a result therefore, the 2021 Budget has provided adequate allocation of funds to the priority sectors as follows: Education N19,201,403,309.00 (12.17 per cent); Health N26,983,923,319.00 (17.10 per cent); Water Resources N22,513,601,585.00 (14.27 per cent); Agriculture N20,988,867,506.00 (13.30 per cent); Works N43,886,330,475.00 (27.82 per cent) and Environment N24,199,643,185.00 (15.34 per cent) and the total is N157,773,769,379.00 (100 per cent)".

He explained that the budget was

Governor Masari during the presentation of the 2021 budget

designed to complete ongoing projects and initiate other capital projects that can be completed within the last three years of his administration.

According to him, "the 2021 budget is citizens based budget due to the fact that prior to the budget preparation, citizens’ sensitisation was conducted.

During the sensitisation, citizens were engaged to provide their input into the 2021 budget".

Masari enumerated areas of focus in the 2021 budget to include employment generation, youth empowerment, market development, massive investment in agriculture, health, roads construction, among other noted projects to enhance the socio-economic well-being of the citizenry.

In addition, the governor promised that his government will focus on empowerment, boosting production, developing value chain and strengthening commercial venture for a stable economy as well as the creation of conducive environment for the participation of informed sector to attract investors to the state in order to boost employment opportunities in the state.

To ascertain the success of the appropriation bill, Governor Masari reiterated that both the executive and legislature must brace up to the duty of strengthening their partnership to enable them realise their goal of leading the state to the promised Land.

The governor, however, called on residents of the state, particularly traditional and religious leaders to join the state government "in our collective prayers against banditry, cattle rustling, kidnapping and all

other forms of insecurity across the state".

In his speech shortly after the governor ’s presentation, the Speaker of the Assembly, Hon. Tasi'u Maigari, who noted that by virtue of the governor’s presentation, the budget has passed through the first reading, assured that the budget will be given due consideration.

The speaker revealed that the main thrust of the 2021 budget proposal is the promotion of the welfare of people of Katsina State by boosting infrastructure and expanding job opportunities for the teeming youths, assuring of speedy passage of the appropriation bill.

He said, “Presenting the budget proposal earlier than enough is a welcome development that needs to be appreciated by all and sundry, considering that fact that if a budget is presented early enough, it will give the legislature the ample time to deliberate on its components.�

However, during the budget breakdown at the old Government House, the State Commissioner for Budget and Economic Planning, Mr. Faruq Lawal-Jobe highlighted the sources of revenue to finance the 2021 budget to includes domestic grants, foreign loan and grant, recurrent revenue, bonds and closing bank balance.

He said: "Bonds is N50,000,000,000.00 (17.68 per cent); recurrent revenue N167,252,927.970.00 (59.14 per cent); domestic grants N14,874,021,834.00 (5.26 per cent); foreign loan N18,498,219,356.00 (6.54 per cent); foreign grant N27,162,761,495.00 (9.61) and closing bank balance N5,000,000,000,00 (1.77

per cent)".

He added that: "our decision to borrow using the bond is for three reasons; the rules cannot be change in the middle of the game, the best time to borrow is now when the risks are very low and then, you have a very long period to repay which will not in any affect the operations of the government and any other obligations that we have".

The commissioner explained that part of the loan would be used for the completion of major infrastructure projects which were abandoned due to paucity of funds. He said the projects include the expansion and rehabilitation of 22 general hospitals across the state, of which eight have been completed.

According to him, "we also hope to upgrade three others to general hospital status and construct key major roads projects at the urban and rural areas of the state. In addition, we plan to build more primary and secondary schools and have a school of nursing in Daura as well as school of midwifery in Mani council area".

The commissioner for budget and economic planning added that while the state government is targeting to raise N50 billion in the Sukuk Bonds, it also expecting to raise another N18.5 billion in foreign loan and grants for next year's expenditure.

Whatever reason given, like every other philanthropist, whose interest is leaving behind a lasting legacy for his masses, Masari’s decision to complete all ongoing projects despite the financial uncertainty stood him out like an iroko tree.

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FEATURES

Kickstart: Empowering Dreams to Reality International Breweries Plc’s corporate social investment initiative, Kickstart, which has created 571 jobs, generated an estimated N334.7 million total revenue and projected to create 1,392 jobs by 2021 is a model other corporate organisations should emulate, writes Eromosele Abiodun

Cross section of participants, beneďŹ ciaries and organisers

O

ver the years, successive administrations have initiated policies and schemes to address the rising rate of unemployment in Nigeria, and among young people in particular.

Rising population figures which has seen 70 per cent of Nigeria’s people numbers comprise youths, many of whom are bristling with ideas, yet lack the resources to birth or scale what could be the next conglomerate remains a huge challenge for the country.

The National Directorate of Unemployment (NDE) established in 1986, National Accelerated Poverty Reduction Program (NAPEP) launched in 2001, and N-Power, a national social investment programme introduced in 2016 are some of the youth empowerment schemes that have been created by the federal government to address the challenge of unemployment and help increase social development in the country.

The reason for introducing these programmes is not far-fetched—a nation is only as successful as the combined efforts of its productive populace—who determine its GDP. When International Breweries Plc launched Kickstart Initiative, a corporate social investment initiative, through the International Breweries Foundation, it was a decision borne out of the conviction that the future belongs to young people, and Nigeria needs to provide the enabling environment and support for these young men and women who are ready to seize the moment to build and shape that future.

As the initiative entered its fifth year, it was time to reflect on the strides it has made in the empowerment of 708 young entrepreneurs in diverse business sectors through training, mentoring, and grants.

According to Temitope Oguntokun, the Legal and Corporate Affairs Director of International Breweries Plc who doubles as a trustee of International Breweries Foundation, “Kickstart has been a resounding success, creating 571 jobs, generating an estimated N334.7 million total revenue and projecting that about 1,392 jobs will be created by 2021.�

Youth unemployment remains a global challenge which development experts and governments have identified as needing urgent focused attention. The twin shocks of a rampaging pandemic and dwindling oil prices only worsened the situation as more young people found themselves without a source of livelihood.

Those who had great ideas they needed support to execute or budding enterprises that could do with the injection of funds were left frustrated due to the unavailability of systems and processes to facilitate their journey to successful entrepreneurship. It’s why Kickstart is viewed as a lifeline for business-focused youths who are ready to give back to

their communities.

Managing Director, International Breweries Plc, Hugo Dias Rocha a proud part of AB InBev, the world’s largest brewery chain, highlighted Kickstart’s alignment with the goal of the government to reduce the alarming incidence of youth unemployment in Nigeria; going one step further to have positive rub-on effects on the host communities of young entrepreneurs.

Olumide Ogunbanjo, an agroecologist who returned to Nigeria to help set up commercial farms after studying sustainable agriculture at Coventry University learnt about Kickstart on social media. A couple of months later, he had won the grand prize and was gifted 50 beehives, a rentfree honey processing centre, NAFDAC certification, and 12 months of business mentoring. The ripple effect of that gesture was Ogunbanjo’s ability to reach more farmers, scale capacity, and replicate the community bee-keeping initiative.

In two years, the N1.5 million seed fund from Kickstart had grown 10 times to peak at a turnover of N15 million. In Ogunbanjo’s words, “The magic moments came when our production capacity scaled up and we were able to produce more beehives and replicated the community bee-keeping initiative. Many thanks to the support from Kickstart, we also won the Total Startupper Challenge and came first in Africa.�

For Edom Thelma Chinemerem who is into shoemaking and leatherwork production, the N3 million seed funding, five-day boot camp, and quality business mentorship she had access to for 12 months was a dream come true and the turnaround her business needed. She had learnt about the Kickstart entrepreneurship programme online and had gone ahead to apply.

Peter Bamkole, Chairman Kickstart Advisory Board says youth empowerment for greater community impact is what Kickstart Initiative is all about. “We envision the initiative as the nursey of innovation in business where we plant and nurture, as well as train, give grants, and mentor. We are optimistic that every successful beneficiary will pull others out of unemployment, for every job they create will take about three other people out of the job market,� Bamkole said.

Bamkole also hopes that the success of Kickstart will encourage other corporates to go the route of youth empowerment especially as Nigeria continues to battle myriads of socio-economic challenges occasioned by the COVID-19 pandemic and other endemic issues.

Kickstart was first launched as a poverty alleviation initiative in South Africa in 1995 by South Africa Brewery (SAB Miller), former majority shareholders in International Breweries Plc. Over the years, the initiative has been implemented in Botswana, Lesotho, Tanzania, and Swaziland. Having run in the South East

L-R: Otunba Michael Daramola, Kickstart beneďŹ ciary, Barrister Festus Keyamo, and Dr Kingsley Moghalu

and South West since 2015, the initiative has now extended its reach to the six geopolitical zones of the country to allow more young people between the ages of 18 and 35 to benefit from the programme.

Through the provision of material and financial support, the initiative continues to act as a catalyst for young entrepreneurs to grow their big ideas into sustainable businesses or expand their existing business.

As a scheme focused on youth empowerment through the promotion of a culture of entrepreneurship within and outside International Breweries Foundation’s identified communities, Kickstart is inspired by three guiding objectives: creating a healthier and improved quality of life for underprivileged or at-risk youths; a commitment to drive Nigeria’s economic growth through the empowerment of young indigenous entrepreneurs and to create an environment where young Nigerian entrepreneurs can get critical elements of support in the early stages of their business’ life.

Every year, the initiative calls for entries from young entrepreneurs who apply through an online portal with Enterprise Development Centre (EDC).

Applications are evaluated and graded based on their quality and business viability, and shortlisted candidates emerge. Selected candidates are then taken through a 3-day boot camp where they are trained to develop and manage a sustainable business.

A pitch session follows the final selection phase where judges assess applicants’ presentation based on scalability, practicability, and sustainability. This process culminates in the announcement of winners who are presented with grants. Awardees are also given access to carefully selected expert assistance through mentorship and coaching for a period of one year.

However, it’s not just about the estimated N325,000 million funds invested as direct seed capital to entrepreneurs to scale their start-ups, the 708 beneficiaries recorded so far, the over 500 jobs generated, the 1,392 and N526.75 million projected jobs and revenue respectively, it is the multiplier effect of the initiative which has seen 1,416 beneficiaries indirectly benefitting from Kickstart.

As the most populous country in Africa, with a youth population of over 33 million, and a current unemployment rate of 21.7 per cent representing 13.9 million unemployed Nigerian youths, it’s imperative that those who benefit from programmes such as the one offered by Kickstart Initiative to do all they can to impact the lives of others positively.

Looking to an already overwhelmed government to solve these problems may be unwise even with government initiatives such as the Economic Recovery Growth Plan (ERGP), Trader Moni, N-Power, and other programmes targeted at the twin

problems of poverty and unemployment.

And this is what Kickstart continues to achieve with its youth-centered scheme.

People Director, International Breweries Plc, Marilyn Maduka revealed that over the last five years, Kickstart has demonstrated the commitment of International Breweries to complement government’s efforts at tackling the growing challenge of youth unemployment in Nigeria. “The essence of the Kickstart programme is to identify youth empowerment opportunities within the sponsors’ community; help their business to gain momentum, become viable, and become institutionalised,� she said.

In line with the United Nation’s SDG 17 which focuses on strengthening the means of implementation and revitalising global partnership for sustainable development, Kickstart has collaborated with other stakeholders to gain synergies, drive, and scale impact to the benefit of beneficiaries.

David Ekwueme, a social entrepreneur with an unwavering passion for waste management and social economy agrees that Kickstart is fulfilling its goal of empowering Nigeria’s future business leaders. A first prize winner of the Kickstart programme opines that the social investment initiative is a platform that empowers budding entrepreneurs.

In his words, “The Kickstart programme was a major lift my business needed.

The training, grant, and network I have built have made my business one of the leading plastic recycling firms in Onitsha.�

Moyinola Olamigoke shares Ekwueme sentiments. The Season 3 beneficiary has been able to acquire 10 manual machines, two industrial machines, and a generator for her tailoring training venture through Kickstart’s support.

In the light of a volatile global economy, unstable oil prices, and other socio-political and economic factors nations of the world have had to grapple with, it has become critical for economies, particularly those in Africa, to look inward to their most valuable resource— youth. The ones who have been imbued with the energy and technological savviness to change the fortunes of society.

A preponderance of young people is one resource Nigeria is not lacking in, but the challenge has always been how to galvanise the innate potential of this category of people in society for the benefit of everyone.

Beyond government and non-governmental organisations’ efforts to solve this problem, more corporate bodies need to embrace youth empowerment and development initiatives like Kickstart to reach more young people.

As Kickstart Initiative takes on its fifth year, managers of the programme have assured the public that it is only just getting started on its journey to turning young entrepreneurial dreams into reality.

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WEDNESDAY NOVEMBER 25, 2020 •T H I S D AY

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BUSINESSWORLD R A T E S MONEY MARKET OVERNIGHT OBB

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

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Quick Takes Consumers Laud Mouka’s Products

SPECIAL RECOGNITION

L-R: GroupChiefExecutiveOfficer,AmazonEnergyGroup,Mr.OlayinkaOluwatimehin;GroupManagingDirector,NNPC,Mr.MeleKyari;Chairman,Amazon EnergyGroup,Mr.TrevorAkindele;ManagingDirector,Mr.ChineduOkpareke;and ChiefOperatingOfficer,UpstreamNNPC,Mr.AdokiyeTombomieye,atthe 16thconfermentfellowshiplecturesofNigerianSocietyofEngineers(NSE)andconfermentoffellowshipawardonOluwatimehininAbuja...recently

Shareholders: FG’s Plan to Hijack N200bn Unclaimed Dividends Illegal Goddy Egene Shareholders have said the plan by the federal government to take over the N200billion unclaimed dividends through the establishment of Unclaimed Dividend Trust Fund is unconstitutional and void to resist the move.

The shareholders under the aegis of Independent Shareholders Association of Nigeria (ISAN), stated this in statement signed by its Founder, Sunny Nwosu and its National Coordinator, Anthony Omojola.

According to them, the underground moves to take over the funds via a “trust fund� is null, saying the government lacks powers to manage funds belonging to private sector investors. “Dividends are private wealth

CAPITAL MARKET of investors, either individuals or corporate entities. The idea of converting such private wealth to federal wealth negates the relevant provisions of the rights to own property as guaranteed by the 1999 constitution. Our opinion, is that S39 to the extent of its inconsistency with S44 of the 1999 constitution(as amended)is null and void. The law expressly states that there shall be no forceful takeover of any private move-able property of any Nigerian without due and appropriate compensation and or valid court order,� the shareholders said.

ISAN explained that dividends are only available to investors after “the company has paid a host of taxies, in-

cluding companies income Tax Act(CITA),Educational Trust Fund(ETF) and other taxes are paid to the federal government -including 10 per cent withholding tax on the shareholders for every dividend declared.� “The statute of limitation provides for expiration of debts after six years. CAMA 2020

by S432 increased the limitation to 12 years. Is government by any chance taking the position that the statute of limitation is unconstitutional?�Government lacks the capacity to manage the funds and has demonstrated a lack of capacity to administer funds. Imagine a shareholder with an unclaimed dividend of about N1, 000 to write /go to Abuja just to make a claim of the unpaid dividend. The stress and bureaucratic bottleneck is too cumbersome and will not

solve the unclaimed dividend problem,� the shareholders said.

For solution, ISAN asked that government should make it easier for the estate of deceased shareholders to obtain probate/ administration via the courts and that banks should help in ensuring ease of executing probate/letters of administration.

Before now, the Chairman, Association of Securities Dealing Houses of Nigeria (ASHON), Chief Onyenwechukwu Ezeagu, and President of Chartered Institute Stockbrokers (CIS), ), Mr.Olatunde Amolegbe, had kicked against the move. For instance, Ezeagu, said the plan was unnecessary because capital market regulators and operators had leveraged technology to put in place many initiatives that Continued on page 24

Report Recommends Assets Sale, Balance-sheet Approach to Public Finance James Emejo in Abuja The federal and state governments have been advised to consider the privatisation of certain public assets and services in order to improve its revenue and enhance financial sustainability.

The Sustainable Public Finances through COVID-19 report, which was published by the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA), however, cautioned that government should avoid poor-value privatisation, which provide immediate cash but reduce public sector net worth.

The report further urged the government to take a balancesheet approach to managing its finances through through

ECONOMY the COVID-19 pandemic to improve decision making, enhance transparency and accountability as well as provide increased clarity on the true position of the public finances.

It said the balance sheet information could improve decision making and should act as the benchmark for new fiscal targets, and will support governments in using sufficient fiscal firepower to rebuild the economy for a more inclusive and greener future.

Authored by ACCA Head, Public Sector Policy, Mr. Alex Metcalfe and the association’s Chief Economist, Mr. Michael Taylor , the publication made

wide-ranging recommendations which they believed would be a game-changer in the public finance management by governments amidst the impact of the pandemic going forward.

The study urged governments to minimise reliance on either tax increases or austerity measures by taking a balance-sheet approach to fostering sustainable public finances.

It pointed out that this could be achieved through maximising the return on public assets, focusing on value for money in the use of public resources, and by expanding the scope of the PSBS to include a broader range of capitals.

The report among other things, urged the government to reset current economic

frameworks, in the light of the COVID-19 crisis, and consider what fiscal rules will guide their decision making during the recovery phase. “New frameworks should include fiscal rules that move beyond debt to GDP ratios and instead rely on public sector net worth, providing a comprehensive view of public finances that includes public assets and non-debt liabilities. “As part of resetting fiscal limits, governments should develop medium-term plans for capital spending that support a green recovery and inclusive growth – while also considering the possible economic multipliers arising Continued on page 24

Consumers have commended Mouka for its delivery of quality products that improve wellness and other worthy initiatives in line with the company’s mantra of adding comfort to life.

In a statement they also lauded the company for its role in the manufacturing of mattresses and other bedding products which cater to the needs of the dierent segments of the society, and to make quality sleep possible.

The statement explained that the commendation came on the heels of the advocacy by the Nigeria Society of Physiotherapy (NSP) that qualitysleephelpsinboostingtheimmunesystemtohelpďŹ ghtagainst infections such as the coronavirus (COVID-19).

A consumer, Mrs. Funmi Ayodele, eulogised the company for its innovative sleep solutions which she said have helped in improving her sleep pattern and health.

She declared that Mouka has continually engaged consumers as part of its stakeholders for a more robust understanding of their needs and preferences.

Thestatementnotedthatthecontinuousengagementoftheconsumers was a proof of the company’s determination in promoting consumer wellbeing and in the delivering of quality products.

Ugwuanyi Welcomes Dana Air

The Enugu State Governor, Ifeanyi Uguanyi has commended Dana Air for its decision to restart ights to the Akanu Ibiam International Airport, Enugu The Governor made the remark during a courtesy visit by Dana Air’s managementteamtotheGovernmentHouseontheairline’sinaugural ight to the state.

Ugwuanyi, while receiving the management team of Dana Air led by the Chief Operating oďŹƒcer Obi Mbanuzuo said, “We are happy to have a reputable airline like Dana Air in Enugu state.â€? “Enugu state is peaceful and our economy is growing really fast.

With Dana air in Enugu, we now have the game changer. Enugu is a salaried state and our people will be returning home soon. We are sure to have very eďŹƒcient service with competitive fares,â€? he added. ‘’We once again commend your decision to commence ights to the Akanu Ibiam International airport and we are also committed to supporting Dana Air. Feel free to visit us anytime and we will be available to support you in any form.’’ TheChiefOperatingOďŹƒcerofDanaAir,ObiMbanuzuowhileresponding to the governor said, ‘’Your Excellency we have come to contribute positively to the economy of Enugu state and to also provide daily ight services from Enugu to Lagos and Abuja

Prosell Consulting Rebrands

OneofNigeria’sconsultingďŹ rms,Prosellhasconcludedare-positioning process to enable it focus more eectively on its core areas of competence, which is attitude transformation and performance enhancement. According to a statement, the exercise also resulted in a change of its oďŹƒcial logo and pay-o line. The ďŹ rm’s new Chief Executive OďŹƒcer, Fabian Emenyonu, explained that the re-branding andmarketre-positioningexercisehasputProsellinavantageposition toavailorganisationsofitsuniquetalentandwealthofexperience(or its unique and highly innovative concepts) in attitude re-orientation, turnaroundmanagementandcontinuousperformanceenhancement, especially as the entire world pivots inexorably into a new normal.

Stanbic IBTC Wins Awards

Stanbic IBTC Holdings Plc has announced that it was recently declared winner of the Holding Group Category of the Next 100 Global Awards 2020.

Organised by the International Finance Magazine, Global Banking & FinanceReview,theNext100GlobalAwardsrecognisesorganisations with exceptional strategy, achievements, dedication and leadership.

Someofthecriteriausedintheselectionincludedleadershipandteam experience,quality,trackrecord,industryfootprint,socialcontribution, economic impact and the level of expertise. Other criteria are growth rate, industry awards and recognitions, technological advantages, customer response and engagement, disruptiveness of solutions in respective markets and impact on the respective industry.

“Let me remind us that before the impact of COVID-19, the Nigerian economy was experiencing sustained growth, which had been improving quarter-by-quarter until the Q2 2020, when the impact of the COVID-19 was felt�

Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning,

Mrs. Zainab Ahmed

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BUSINESSWORLD SHAREHOLDERS: FG’S PLAN TO HIJACK N200BN UNCLAIMED DIVIDENDS ILLEGAL are already addressing the issue of unclaimed dividends. “Generally, the incentives for savers and capital providers in the capital market is the expectation of dividends and capital appreciation. It is therefore our considered view that the proposed legislation, if passed, will be a great disincentive to savings, long-term capital mobilisation and serious disruption of the Nigerian economy since it will take away the only expectation of investors in the market,�

Ezeagu said.

On his part, Amolegbe, described the bill as objectionable at this stage of the market.

According to him, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) would always ensure that unclaimed dividend is transferred to capital reserves of the company for restricted utilisation such as capital expansion and issuance of bonus shares to the company’s shareholders.

REPORT RECOMMENDS ASSETS SALE, BALANCESHEET APPROACH TO PUBLIC FINANCE

from any public investment decision. “Revised fiscal frameworks should also provide a planned path to recovery, setting out how sustainable public finances will be achieved over the medium- to long-term.�

Speaking during the report presentation, at the recent ACCA-ANAN Sustainable Public Finance conference in Abuja, ACCA Nigeria Country Head, Mr. Tom Isibor, told THISDAY that the COVID-19 pandemic had caused major disruptions to “how we live and how we work and obviously on sustainability.�

He said, “So we have to also look at how to support and partner with the government in finding solutions to financial sustainability and that’s why we put this together to share our research findings and thoughts and see how we can support government in its efforts towards recovery.�

NEWS

Total Expresses Concerns over Low Investment in Nigeria’s Oil Industry Peter Uzoho Total Nigeria Plc has again expressed concerns over the continuous drop in investment in the Nigerian oil and gas industry despite the country’s huge hydrocarbon deposits.

This is just as the international oil company (IOC) also announced its partnership with Kwik Delivery to develop an e-commerce fulfilment and delivery service in Nigeria.

Speaking at a management session during the recently held 38th edition of the international conference and exhibition of the Nigeria Association of Petroleum Explorationists (NAPE), the Managing Director of Total Nigeria, Mr. Mike Sangster, stated that Nigeria had only benefitted from less than five per cent of all investments in oil and gas in Africa between 2015-2019 despite having the largest reserves in the continent.

Represented at the session with the theme: “Future of Oil and Gas Industry in Low Oil Price Environment: Survival Strategies,� by the Deputy Managing Director, Deepwater, Total Nigeria, Mr. Victor Bandele, Sangster pointed out that the five per cent represented only $3billion investment in the country.

He attributed the decline in investment in the nation’s petroleum sector to issues around uncompetitive fiscal terms, increasing cost of operations,

unsettled deep water disputes, and upcoming deep-water lease expiry.

Sangster said: “A win-win PIB: Total is keen to continue to invest in Nigeria and willing to contribute constructively to the ongoing debate on the Petroleum Industry Bill. Permit me to contextualise Nigeria’s situation: Nigeria has only benefitted from less than five per cent of all investments in oil and gas in Africa from 2015 to 2019 despite having the largest reserves. “That is to say that, the $3 bil-

lion invested in Nigerian projects which took Final Investment Decision (FID) between 2015 and 2019 represents only five per cent of all oil and gas funds invested in Africa. “No major investment decision was taken in Deepwater Nigeria from 2015 – 2019, despite a number of available potentially viable projects. “Uncompetitive fiscal terms, increasing cost, unsettled deep water disputes, and upcoming deep-water lease expiry all contribute to increase the risk

for investors and prevent new investments�.

He assured that his company would support the efforts being made by the Nigerian authorities to define a long- term framework for the oil and gas industry that provides clarity and certainty as well as attractive terms which translate to a win-win solution for the country and investors.

According to him, that would further attract more capital investment in an ever more competitive world, adding that a progressive, win-win PIB would no doubt be

the catalyst needed for a new wave of hydrocarbon exploration and development investment in Nigeria.

On diversification and pursuit of new energies, Sangster stated that even before the period of heightened concerns about the COVID-19 which has brought about a reduction in global demand, firms and countries eager to reduce their carbon footprints had been out with strategies and an evolving energy mix in the shift towards cleaner energy.

EMPOWERINGFEMALEENTREPRENUERS

L-R: Regional Head, South-west, First City Monument Bank (FCMB), Mr. Emmanuel Comla; Former Deputy Governor of Ogun State, Alhaja Salmot Badru; Executive Director, Business Development, FCMB, Mrs. Bukola Smith; one of the beneficiaries of the bank’s zero-interest loan/CEO, IAP Building Solutions, Mrs. Yemisi Ibrahim; Special Adviser to the First Lady of Ogun State, Ms. Shola Arobieke; First Lady of the State, Mrs. Bamidele Abiodun; Former Speaker of the House of Assembly, Mrs.Titi Oseni-Gomez and Commissioner forTrade and Investment, Mrs. Kikelomo Longe, during the presentation of cheques to empowerwomenentrepreneursinOgunstateunderFCMB’sSheVenturesproposition,ataceremonyinAbeokuta‌recently

‘Women Capable of Fixing Nigeria’s Struggling Power Sector’ Chineme Okafor in Abuja Nigeria’s struggling electricity sector can leverage the talents and capacities of the country’s women engineers and professionals to fix its challenges and become efficient, the Vice President of the World Federation of Engineering Organisation, Valerie Agberagba has suggested.

Agberagba who also serves in the same capacity in the Federation of African Engineering Organisation (FAEO) stated this in a presentation she made at a meeting organised by the Maitama Abuja Chapter of the Nigerian Society of Engineers

(NSE).

She condemned an alleged disregard of the capacities of women engineers and professionals in the country’s power sector and called for changes that would allow the sector benefit from the talents of women in it.

Agberagba explained that industry data shows that the number of women at positions of influence in the sector have remained very negligible despite reports that they do better than their male counterparts in power utilities that were studied across the world. “According to Ernst & Young on its article talent at the table:

Women in Power & Utilities, Index. 2015, utilities with more women in leadership ranks performed better than their peers.

Its analysis depicts the utilities with women had a better return on equity,� Agberagba said.

She noted that in the past 10 years, a lot of investment, policies regulations and changes have taken place in Nigeria’s power sector without the expected results “We are still groping with 4000MW of generation for over 180 million Nigerians. Research on women in the sector shows that out of 23 chief executive officers in the generation, there

is no female CEO or in the management board. There are only two Chief Financial officers (CFO). “Out of the 11 distribution companies, only one is a CEO with three CFOs and of course, the transmission has all male general managers and executive directors. “This is not about women only in the higher-level roles but across the strata of the workforce. There is no better time than now to consider a more gender balanced workforce and leadership in the sector. Women have different ways of analysing and taking risks, addressing issues, ruminat-

ing on the issues before taking decisions,� she explained.

According to her, the power sector in Nigeria has in the past few years struggled to change its story and failed to embrace diversity in its workforce. “Diversity in this regard means both gender and age demographics. A team that will bring in different ideas, perceptions, experiences and problem-solving skills. The Nigerian power sector especially the utilities can be described as a sector that is struggling with its aging infrastructure and aging population of managers and need to solve the problem.

FERMA Boss Laments Poor Funding Emmanuel Addeh in Abuja

Group Business Editor

Obinna Chima

Capital Market Editor

Goddy Egene

Comms/e-Business Editor

Emma Okonji

Senior Correspondent

Ă‹Ă’Ă?Ă?Ă— Ă•Ă“Ă˜Ă‘ĂŒĂ™Ă–Ă&#x; (Advertising) Correspondents

Ă’Ă“Ă˜Ă?ĂŽĂ&#x; äĂ? (Aviation) ĂœĂ™Ă—Ă™Ă?Ă?Ă–Ă? ĂŒĂ“Ă™ĂŽĂ&#x;Ă˜ (Maritime) James Emejo (Finance) Ebere Nwoji (Insurance) Chineme Okafor (Energy) Emmanuel Addeh (Energy) Reporters

Ă&#x;Ă—Ă? Ă•Ă?Ă‘Ă’Ă? (Money Market) Ă™Ă?Ă‹ Ă–Ă?Ă•Ă’Ă&#x;ÙÑÓĂ? (ICT) Peter Uzoho (Energy)

The Managing Director, Federal Roads Maintenance Agency, (FERMA) Mr. Nuruddeen Rafindadi, has lamented the paucity of funds in carrying out the functions of the organisation.

Speaking when he received a delegation from the Nigerian Institute of Public Relations

(NIPR) governing council and the Abuja chapter executive on a courtesy visit to FERMA headquarters, Rafindadi, however, stated that the agency would continue to do its best despite the low funding.

The MD said: “When I assumed office in October 2017, the agency had only received N1 billion out of N25 billion of its capital budget for the year

and as at December 2017, the agency only got about 35 per cent of its budget. “The funding in FERMA is very low, but not withstanding, we must communicate often with the public, and the communications and public relations handlers have been doing so effectively to the extent that the public knows of our reality and challenges and appreciates our

effort in fixing federal roads despite the low funding�.

The MD said partnership with the NIPR was a necessity, especially with regards to crisis management and pledged the agency’s readiness for a continued partnership.

Rafindadi enjoined NIPR to continue to project FERMA’s good image to the public, saying that work would commence soon

on the federal roads across the country before Christmas as the agency is working tirelessly to ensure the Covid-19 intervention projects are concluded soon.

The National President and Chairman Governing Council, NIPR, Mr. Mukhtar Sirajo, his remarks, said the purpose of the visit was to seek areas of partnership with FERMA that will be beneficial to both parties.

DPR Okays New LPG Guidelines for Investors, Operators Emmanuel Addeh in Abuja The Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) said it has introduced new guidelines to accommodate more Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) investors and operators across the country.

The move, according the agency, was geared towards enhancing the availability of LPG also known as cooking gas in Nigeria, as well as meeting the current administration’s target of 5 million metric tonnes of domestic, commercial and industrial LPG utilisation in

the next 10 years.

Speaking with newsmen during a public sensitisation exercise on safe usage of LPG, the Zonal Operations Controller, DPR, Ayorinde Cardoso stated that the federal government through the National Gas Expansion Programme was

committed to making gas accessible and affordable for Nigerians. “We have a lot of people coming into the sector to invest and DPR is on ground to ensure that they follow the regulatory requirements. “We have brought out new

guidelines to encourage investors and anybody that wants to operate in the sector to follow the guidelines. “DPR is also collaborating with the Lagos state government and other stakeholders to improve safety in gas storage, sales and distribution,� he stated.

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Court Fixes February 2021 to Decide AMCON’s Suit against Ogboru Davidson Iriekpen The Federal High Court in Lagos has fixed February 2, 2021, to rule on whether or not it has jurisdiction to entertain an application filed by the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) seeking to seize the funds in the bank accounts of the 2019 governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress in Delta State, Chief Great Ogboru, and his firm, Fiogret Limited, in a bid to recover a judgment debt of N784m.

Justice Maureen Onyetenu fixed the after taking arguments from AMCON’s lawyer, Mr Kunle Ogunba (SAN), and counsel for Ogboru and his firm, Chief Nelson Imoh.

In an ex parte application filed before the judge, AMCON said the N784m debt arose from a July 5, 2013 consent judgment entered in its favour by Justice Okon Abang.

The corporation said contrary to its expectation, about seven years after Justice Abang’s judgment, Fiogret Limited and Ogboru “have not taken any step(s) to satisfy/liquidate the judgment sum and the accruable interest.�

AMCON said its investigation had revealed that Fiogret and Ogboru had accounts in 22 banks in Nigeria. It prayed the court to summon all the banks to disclose how much Fiogret Limited and Ogboru have with them and for the court to make an order attaching the funds “to prevent the judgment debtors from dissipating their funds with the various garnishees (banks).�

The corporation said this was the only means by which it could “reap the fruits of its hard-earned judgment in the suit herein.�

But Fiogret Limited and Ogboru are challenging Justice Onyetenu’s jurisdiction to hear

AMCON’s ex parte application, seeking the seizure of their funds.

The firm and the businessman said they had already appealed Justice Abang’s July 5, 2013 judgment up to the Supreme Court while their Motion on Notice praying for a stay of execution of the judgment was also pending before the apex court.

They contended that contrary to AMCON’s argument, there was no provision in AMCON Act, stipulating that they must pay the N784m judgment sum into an account approved by the court pending the determination of their appeal by the Supreme Court.

Besides, they said the Federal Government also owed Fiogret Limited N4.3bn, which the Federal Ministry of Justice had in an October 20, 2015 acknowledged and expressed the resolve of the federal government to pay N350m to AMCON.

Beiersdorf Donates over 115million to Lagos Food Bank Initiative Ugo Aliogo Beiersdorf Nigeria (BDF) has partnered with the Lagos Food Bank Initiative by donating N115 million to mitigate hunger and by providing meals to the less privileged in order to tackle adverse effect of the food insecurity caused by coronavirus pandemic fueled job/ income losses in the country. The donation was part of a Regional partnership with the Global Food Banking Network (GFN) and local Nigerian affiliate – Lagos Food Bank Initiative LFBI) and is carried out under Beiersdorf‘s “Care Beyond Skin� Corporate Social Responsibility initiative.

A statement by company said the partnership seeks to impact over 350,000 beneficiaries which includes 4,000 school children in 20 schools per month, vulnerable, expectant mothers, infants, as well as children who are malnourished and living in underserved communities in Lagos state.

The Country Manager, Nigeria at Beiersdorf, Godwin Harrison, said Food banks are powerful interventions which change lives and communities.

He also noted they are an interconnected lifeline to the hungry and equip communities to feed themselves, “we as Beiersdorf recognise the importance of strengthening food banks as it

fosters resilience and enhances the community’s capability to fight hunger long term.�

The Founder, Lagos Food Bank Initiative, Michael Sunbola, said the organisation is grateful for the donation from Beiersdorf Nigeria as it enables them to reach more beneficiaries with much needed nutrition at this crucial time.

He said this will enhance its capacity to support food security resilience in COVID-19 emergency and recovery activities in the country. The statement further noted that as part of the 12 month long partnership Beiersdorf and the LFBI would fund the Education Enhancement Intervention for Food Insecure Students (EduFood).

It disclosed that EduFood is a school feeding programme that started in March, 2020 where LFBI provided nutritionally balanced food parcels to 12 primary schools in Lagos and 2,400 school children and their families benefited from it. The statement asserted that another arm of the COVID-19 Community Intervention programme is the 16-month Nutritious Meal Plan Intervention for Vulnerable Mothers and Children (Numeplan) Project that focuses on expecting mothers and infants who are malnourished, vulnerable to malnutrition.

According to the statement: “There is also the family farming

programme, designed to create a food and agricultural system that is managed and operated by a family and relies on partnership family labor to increase the quality of life in dignity, equity and reducing the level of hunger and poverty. “LFBI, through the also aims to build its capacity through an improved service to its existing beneficiary base, increase service scale exponentially by increasing warehouse capacity and locations, cold chain capacity, fleet and human resources.

Globally, Beiersdorf is taking a targeted approach to provide effective and direct support where help is urgently needed. “Locally, the company is focusing on two areas: financial support for NGOs, production and donation of hand sanitisers to government health care facilities and vulnerable members of the community. “Food banking works by collecting surplus food from various entities such as farms, grocery retailers, food manufacturers and distributors, restaurants and hospitality organisations as well as government and consumers.

Food is collected at foodbanks and is thereafter distributed to community service organisations who deliver onwards to hungry people.�

Group Unveils GIS Technology Ugo Aliogo VerifyMe Nigeria, has unveiled a new service that facilitates address verification.

In a statement by the group, the enabled by 4D GIS technology service would improve last-mile agent efficiency by pre-screening addresses based on cell tower and GPS positioning in real-time.

The Chief Information Officer, VerifyMe, the Brandon Wang, said non-standardisation of addresses was a massive problem for businesses in Nigeria.

He also stated that when instances of the issue are aggregated across industries, especially finance and eCommerce, they

translate to billions of naira in delayed or lost income as well as thousands of unfulfilled deliveries.

He said when the group entered the market, it believed in last-mile capacity to be the missing piece of the digital identity problem in the country.

He, however, stated their experience over the last three years has shown that to solve last-mile authentication, there was need first to resolve ambiguous addressing.

According to him, “To illustrate this, about two months ago, one of our banking clients requested for 1,500 address verifications to be fulfilled in a week. We had to

reject 1,000 of those requests due to vague or incomplete addresses supplied by loan applicants. “This issue significantly slowed down the onboarding process and translated to a loss of potential revenue for our client and staff-hours for us.

Not to mention that over a thousand people were not able to get access to credit in that week. “This is why we are launching our 4D GIS address verification service into the Nigerian market. It will help our customers and agents use the improved accuracy to verify incomplete or vague addresses in real-time.

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GTBank Sustains Growth Momentum With profit after tax of N142 billion, total assets of N4.6 trillion and shareholders’ funds of N755.5 billion for the nine months ended September 30, 2020, Guaranty Trust Bank Plc has recorded an impressive performance, writes Goddy Egene

S

hareholders of Guaranty Trust Bank (GTBank) Plc heaved a big sigh of relief last week after the bank announced its nine months results ended September 31, 2020. The bank reported a performance that was commendable considering the operating environment that prevailed in the review period.

The economy has suffered from the COVID-19 induced lockdown and companies operating are expected to feel the negative impact. Hence, there were apprehension over what the financial results of listed companies, including banks, would look like at the end of third quarter (Q3).

However, GTBank reported a resilient results, showing growth in most performance metrics. The bank recorded a net income of N188 billion, up from N173 billion in the corresponding period of 2019. Net fee income stood at N33 billion, compared with N47 billion in 2019. Loan impairment charges soared by 267 per cent from N2.762 billion to N10.145 billion in 2020.

GTBank ended the nine months with a profit before tax (PBT) of N167.352 billion as against N170.652 billion in 2019, and profit after tax of N142.283 billion compared with N146.989 billion in 2019.

Loan and deposit book grew by 4.5 per cent and 25.1 per cent from N1.502trillion and N2.640 trillion recorded as at December2019 to N1.569 trillion and N3.303trillioninSeptember 2020 respectively.

GTBank’s balance sheet remained well structured, diversified and resilient with total assets and shareholders’funds printing at N4.574 trillion and N755.5 billion respectively. Full impact capital adequacy ratio (CAR) remained very strong, closing at 23.9 per cent. Similarly, asset quality was sustained as non-performing loan(NPL) ratio and cost of risk (COR)closed at 6.5 per cent and 0.6 per cent in September 2020 from 6.5 per cent and 0.3 per cent in December 2019 respectively.

In all, GTBank Plc continues boast of the best performing indicators in terms of all financial ratios including: post-tax return on equity (ROAE) of 26.3 per cent, post-tax return on assets (ROAA) of 4.6 per cent, and cost to income ratio of 40.2 per cent.

Commenting on the performance, the Managing Director/CEO of GTBank Plc, Mr. Segun Agbaje, said: “Our third quarter (Q3) result is a reflection of how we have appropriately positioned our balance sheet to cope with current economic realities and the challenging business environment. It is also testament to the enduring loyalty of our customers, the hard work and dedication of our staff and the unwavering support we continue to enjoy from all our stakeholders in our drive to deliver best-in-class financial services and superior and sustainable returns.�

According to him, as an organisation, “we will continue to build on our commitment to enriching lives by leveraging our digital-first customer-centric strategy to improve customer experience and maintain a high standard in service delivery, and going beyond banking to create and drive innovative financial solutions that add value to our customers in all aspects of their lives.�

Assessing the results, analysts at FBNQuest Research said GTBank’s 9M PBT of N167bn implies that the bank will have to deliver Q4 PBT of N68 billion to meet its full year guidance of N235 billion.

Segun Agbaje “While this is not impossible, we believe that it would be a stretch given the prevailing macroeconomic and low yield environment. Management was unwilling to revise its guidance on its Q2 2020 conference call. As such, it appears the bank’s current run-rate is more in line with our N229 billion full year PBT forecast. Further down the profit and loss (P&L), PAT missed by 12 per cent, largely because of a negative result of -N4.4 billion in other comprehensive income (OCI). Despite this, the bank’s PAT still implies a healthy annualised ROAE of 28.9 per cent, ahead of its full year ROAE guidance of over 25 per cent. We expect a neutral reaction from the market following the limited surprises on the results,� they said.

Speaking only on the third quarter(Q3) result, FBNQuest said Q3 PBT grew five per cent to N57.6 billion on the back of six per cent increase in pre-provision profit and two per cent reduction in operations expenses(opex). Pre-provision profit growth was driven by 10 per cent increase in funding income, thanks to a sharp reduction in interest expense. In bid to sustain its impressive performance and deliver returns to shareholders, the bank is proposing to diversify into payment service banking (PSB), asset management business and pension administration among others. This the bank hopes to achieve through the adoption of a holding company (HoldCo) structure.

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has given the bank an approval-in-principle to commence the transform into HoldCo structure. According to the

bank, reorganisation is expected to be implemented by means of a scheme of arrangement with its shareholders pursuant to the Companies and Allied Matters Act. Agbaje explained that the competitive landscape as it were for the non-core banking businesses didn’t warrant the bank retaining the subsidiaries and pushing it into adopting the HoldCo model.

He said: “We got our universal banking license in 2001. But you will remember that when the financial crisis happened, universal banking license was cancelled and the CBN decided that you either stay as a bank, or you went into a holding company structure. “At the time, because the competitive landscape was very different from what it is today, we decided that we were going to focus on our banking business, and it was the right decision for us then. Because we went from number seven in profit to number one, some years, we have been number two, but basically, we have been number one most of the years.�

The MD/CEO said while it was the right decision to take at that time, he added that the competitive landscape today has necessitated diversifying the banking earnings, hence, the decision to go the HoldCo way. “When you look at what is happening to banking, or you look at what I’ve been describing to you, and the people who are basically looking to take banking income, it is time to diversify our earnings. The only way you can legally diversify

your earnings in Nigeria today is going into a holding company structure, because as a pure bank, you cannot do more than banking,� he said.

According to Agbaje, the bank proposes to diversify into payment service banking (PSB), asset management business and pension fund administration (PFA). He explained that this diversification would not distract its core banking business.

It envisages to go greenfield with the PSB while seeking to acquire an asset management company and a PFA. Nevertheless, if acquiring these companies are expensive, the bank has the option of going Greenfield with them. And for now, is not looking the way of insurance business, even though it is not foreclosing the idea of operating the business in the future.

Agbaje stressed that poised to take advantage of opportunities inherent in the HoldCo arrangement, GTBank has therefore looked at some sectors that “create great synergies for it to create great opportunities.� “We looked at some sectors, which we think today create great synergies for us and create great opportunities. The first one is payments.

We love the payment landscape, you can see what is happening with FinTechs, we think we should compete with the FinTechs, we think we should grow the business, and that it is definitely a business for the future. And so it’s a place we would like to play to diversify the earnings base of the bank. We like asset management. The reason we like asset management is that it complements our business, we’ve grown a very good retail business today.

Sometimes when people want a higher yield, then we lose that money to other institutions.

But, we will create our own asset management company so that when the retail money looking for yield leaves us, it goes to someone that is in our ecosystem, and we consolidated profit and loss. A system where you can do payments, you can do asset management, once you come into your bank ecosystem is what we are beginning to build,� he said.

Talking on the PFA, Agbaje said the PFA business is continuing to grow. Hence the need to focus on it and benefit from it. “And essentially what we are trying to do is do as much as we can for the customer base that we have. And we think that this is a good place to start and that this will diversify our earnings base and create value. The go to market plan for this is very simple. I have started to tell you about the first one, which is the diversifying to what we think of complementary businesses and services, payments, asset management, and PFA for today, there might be other businesses, the people like the one I always hear about is insurance. But I think that if we are going to be dominant in the businesses that we have picked, it is better we focus and we stop with those. And then maybe one day down the road if we’re very successful with everything else, we can look at insurance. We are also going to face our core banking business we are never going to let that drop because GTBank Nigeria continues to be the mother ship for us, and apart from our corporate business which is very strong, which will continue to hold, we will make sure that we continue to deepen our retail and SME business,� he said.

Lagos Commodities and Futures Exchange Unveils Management Staff Goddy Egene The Lagos Commodities and Futures Exchange (LCFE) has announced its management staff.

Mr. Akinsola Akeredolu-Ale is the managing director/CEO, while Fatima Abeni Lawal is the company secretary. Dr Allwell Umunnaehila is head, operations.

Eyowam Ami is head, shared services, just as Rotimi Omowale is chief financial officer. Rotimi Ayodele-Oba is chief technology officer.

An astute market analyst and operator, the MD/ CEO has worked in various capacities since he qualified as an authorised dealing clerk of the Nigerian Stock Exchange

(NSE) in 1994. He became a Chartered Stockbroker in 1995 and a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Stockbrokers in 2008.

His first degree was earned from the University of Lagos. He has a master’s degree in corporate Governance from the Leeds Metropolitan University, UK and is an Associate Member of The Nigerian Institute of Management. He served on the Technical Committee for the Emerging Capital Markets Task Force UK (ECMT) tasked with the setting up of an operational and legal framework to facilitate emerging markets with special attention to Nigeria. He has over 26 years of experience in Wealth Management both in Capital and

Money Markets.

The company secretary Abeni Lawal has over 25 years post qualification work experience in Legal Practice and Business Administration. She graduated with a Bachelor of Law degree (LLB Hons) from Obafemi Awolowo University Ile-Ife, Osun State, has a Barrister at Law (BL) from the Nigerian Law School and a Masters’ Degree (LLM Administration and Public Policy) from the Lagos State University (LASU).

The Head of operations, Umunnaehila -Head, Operations holds a Ph.D. in Business Administration with specialisation in Strategic Management from Babcock University, Ilishan-Remo,

Nigeria. He also holds a master’s in business administration (MBA) with specialization in Finance and Banking from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka.

He has a Post Graduate Diploma in Finance and Banking from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka. He is a chartered stockbroker with a dealership licence of the Nigerian Stock Exchange and Securities and Exchange Commission.

On his part, the Head, Shared Services, Ani, is a senior level finance executive with professional experience along the finance, finance operations and investments value chain. She holds a BSc. in Economics graduating with Honors from the University of Lagos, Nigeria, and an MSc. in

Finance and Management from Cranfield School of Management, Cranfield University UK. She is also a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria with practice experience in a top 4 global accounting firm.

The chief financial officer , Omowale, is a product of Accountancy from the Polytechnic Ibadan where he obtained both Ordinary and Higher National Diploma at Upper Credit level between 1986 to 1991. He obtained a Master of Business Administration Degree (MBA) in Finance from Ladoke Akintola University of Technology, Ogbomoso. He is a fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria, an Associate of Chartered Institute of

Stockbrokers, Chartered Institute of Taxation of Nigeria, Institute of Credit administration and a Member, Nigeria Institute of Management (Chartered).

The chief technology officer, Ayodele-Oba is responsible for using information technology to drive growth, sustainability, and efficiency at the exchange. He holds a BSc in Computer Science from Ekiti State University, MSc in Information Technology from National Open University of Nigeria, MBA (specialisation in information technology) from Ulyanovsk State University, Russia and a Certificate in Business Accounting from Chartered Institute of Management Accountants, UK.

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New Vista for Pension Sector The National Pension Commission recently unlocked the long awaited pension transfer window. In this report, Ebere Nwoji looks at the expectations from the pension sector, especially the competitive challenges thrown up by the initiative

A

fter 16 years of waiting for the commencement of the pension transfer window, Nigerian workers contributing into the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS), can now heave a sigh of relief as the National Pension Commission (PenCom) ďŹ nally, on November 16th, commenced the exercise.

The pension transfer window is an avenue that allows contributors into CPS who are dissatisfied with the services of their existing Pension Fund Administrators (PFA) to move to another operator.

It is one aspects of the pension Reform Act 2004 amended in 2014 that had remained unimplemented until its launch.

Going by the Pension Reform Act 2014 which established the CPS, the transfer window ought to have become operational the same year the CPS started or perhaps a year after when contributors must have experimented with a PFA of their choice and take decision for a change. But this did not happen despite the agitations by contributors who have one problem or the other that would warrant change of their fund administrator.

Reason often given by both PenCom and PFAs for the delay was registration and biometrics problems.

PenCom, had said it wanted to address issues such as double registration by some contributors and improper identification, which may lead to transferring one person’s fund to another, before it unveils the policy.

Section 13 of the Pension Reform Act (2014) specifies that an employee may not more than once in a year transfer his Retirement Savings Account (RSA) from one PFA to another.

Past administrations in PenCom had given several dates for the take-off of the initiative but none of these came to reality until last week when PenCom made good its promise to implement the initiative.

Managing Director, UBA Pension Custodian, Mr. Bayo Yusuf, once told the media that part of the delay was because PenCom and the PFAs have been having engagements to ensure smooth take off.

PenCom also said it was developing an Enhanced Contributor Registration System (ECRS), an electronic platform for the submission of requests by PFAs for the registration of contributors and issuance of Personal Identification Numbers (PINs). The Commission, had insisted that until it successfully develops the system, it will not commence the transfer window.

But while the commission was experimenting on these, a lot of challenges that created need for workers to change from one PFA to another continued to arise.

Some of these problems left the contributors more frustrated.

But at the official launch of the transfer window, the Director General PenCom, Aisha Dahiru Urma, told contributors that the Commission was unable to embark on the full implementation of the RSA transfer policy due to challenges hitherto experienced in its contributor registration system. “These challenges were largely hinged on technology, given that in the early days of the pension reform, contributor registration did not include a biometrics component. However, the

Dahiru-Umar commission has renewed its commitment towards taking the pension industry to greater heights by undertaking the in-house development of some computer applications that are required to enable the opening of the RSA transfer window.

The commission therefore, developed and deployed the Enhanced Contributor Registration System (ECRS) in June 2019,� she said.

She said in order to facilitate RSA holders’ ability to make informed choices, the commission had expanded its minimum disclosure requirements, by providing more statistics on pension industry performance.

She also said a special section has been created on the commission’s website, containing relevant information on the RSA transfer, to guide RSA holders.

According to her, the activation of the RSA transfer was expected to result in improved service delivery across the pension industry, as Pension Fund Administrators engage in healthy competition.

Findings showed that had the commission kicked off the transfer window between 2015 and 2018, many PFAs would have lost their contributors to the big players.

Also, this long delay in the commencement of the transfer window was the reason some sector workers opted for their own specialised PFA. A typical example was the case of university workers who insisted on getting license for their own specialised PFA tagged, ‘NUPENCO.’ Before the license was granted, the Chairman ASUU, University of Lagos chapter, Dr. Kari Ogbinaka, had in an interview, told THISDAY that he was personally disgusted with a lot of irregularities and lack of transparency in handling of his contributions by his PFA .

According to him, this was worsened by the fact that all efforts to get the anomalies corrected yielded no result. Also attempt to migrate from

Wabote: Nigeria Must Prepare for 4th Industrial Revolution Emmanuel Addeh in Abuja The Executive Secretary of the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) Mr. Simbi Wabote, has said to remain relevant in the comity of nations, Nigeria must be prepared to actively take part in the what he described as the fourth industrial revolution.

Speaking at the launch of the Nigerian Content Science and Technology Innovation Challenge (STIC), in Lagos, Wabote argued that a vivid sign of the revolution is the current situation whereby many tech firms are now worth more than some companies that have existed for decades.

Noting that the world was

already in the era of cloud computing, internet of things, robotics and big data, where technology and innovation have revolutionised the business environment, Wabote challenged Nigerians to position themselves for the technological changes. “We need to prepare and position our young minds and talents for the 4th industrial revolution that is about to take place. The competition is open to Nigerian undergraduates from any of the accredited universities and polytechnics in the country.� “We believe that tapping from the ingenuity of our young talents, we will enhance the delivery of the various strategic initiatives enunciated in our 10-year strategic roadmap,� he stated.

He emphasised that with about 170 public and private universities in Nigeria producing more than half a million graduates every year, there are huge opportunities to extract brilliant ideas from Nigeria’s agile and very creative youths to solve current and future challenges.

Wabote hinted that NCDMB had always targeted most of its initiatives towards the youth, in line with its mandate and in recognition of the pivotal role that youths play as the workforce of the nation.

He added that over the period of 10 years the board had existed, about 10 million training man hours had been utilised to train youths under project-based training and direct-training programs.

the PFA to another was rejected by PenCom. Also Dr. Emeka Anorue, a lecturer in the Department of Mass Communication, University of Nigeria Nsukka, told THISDAY that the reason university workers opted for a separate PFA to manage their fund was lack of confidence in their various fund managers and lack of liberty to migrate to another fund manager due to non-commencement of the transfer window.

Similarly, within this period of delay, workers from aviation sector, started agitating for licensing of their own separate fund manager for the same reason of misgivings with their fund managers and lack of liberty to migrate to a new fund manager.

While the university workers had their way last year with the licensing of the University Pension Company (NUPENCO), the aviation sector workers are yet to have their way.

With the commencement of the transfer window, expectedly, there is an ongoing race among PFAs to outwit each other in terms of customer service delivery.

Indeed, a lot of marketing intrigues have been employed by PFAs to enhance their market share in the pension industry.

Going by their operations, some PFAs may lose some contributors to firms that offer superior services and are professionally managed.

At present, the PFAs are strategising on how to grab larger shares of both the existing and emerging markets and remain on top in the areas of asset size and number of contributors.

Unlike before when PFA marketers sit tight only for workers’ contributions to be flowing into their companies’ account, the reverse is the case as there are offensive and defensive marketing tactics currently unfolding in the industry physically.

It is expected that soon, the operators will employ various communication channels that may include advertising, promotions, radio and

television commercials, social media, sales activities, and other visibility campaign strategies.

Indeed, pension sector marketers are beginning to be more aggressive than banking and insurance marketers as it is fast becoming the survival of the fastest.

Recent data on market share of operators showed that five companies account for over half of the N11 trillion RSA assets.

While among the 21 licenced operators, top 10 PFAs manage 88.20 per cent of the total RSA assets and the last 10 PFAs accounts for 8.74 per cent of the RSA assets under management.

As the industry looks forward to reap bountifully from the emerging micro pension market which the regulator kicked off barely two years back, the PFAs are positioning themselves to enhance their visibility in the emerging market.

Referring to competition in the industry, Price Waterhouse Coopers in its recent report on activities in Nigerian pension sector stated: “PFAs are developing clear client value propositions and targeting specific contributor market segments as the race for leading market share intensifies.�

It added that technological advancement was bringing in several non-traditional players who will provide platforms for pension products and services. “In the days ahead, the strengths and weaknesses of each player will be further scrutinised as the battle for the minds of the consumers continues.� “The foregoing scenario undoubtedly provides insight to an intense battle for market share., it observed.

Apparently, the take-off of the pension transfer window For most PFAs, will provide the ideal opportunity for both turf defense and customer acquisition while for some , it will spell a doom and end of their business career.

On their part contributors have different views about the take off of the much delayed transfer window.

Some said at this stage , changing their fund manager is not their priority but better condition in the management and disbursement of their fund.

According to Mr. Segun Bankole of Sovereign Trust Insurance Plc, instead of PenCom talking about transfer window now, it should have focused on modifying the law to allow contributors who are up to 55 years of age and still in active service to access a quarter of the fund while in service instead of the existing law that allows them to access 25 percent after retirement.

Also, Mr. Orokunle Olaitan, a staff of Lagos State Inland Revenue Service, said he has no reason migrating to another PFA at this time.

According to him, what is more important is to make the CPS functional through timely payment.

He said personally what worries him is that even with the CPS, there is much delay in payment of retirement benefits to retirees.

He said some of his colleagues who retired two, three years ago were yet to receive their benefits .

Two other workers who do not want their identity and PFAs said the window transfer take off was a blessing to them as they were warming up to change their fund managers.

Lawmakers Pledge Support for Aviation Sector Chinedu Eze The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Mr. Femi Gbajabiamila has expressed the determination of the House of Representatives to continue to support legislations that would reposition the aviation industry for greater efficiency.

The Speaker stated this when he declared open the three-day public hearing on six executive Bills seeking to amend certain aspects of the civil aviation Acts recently. He described the public hearing as an important law-making process that affords members of the public ample opportunity to voice their views either for or against any proposed laws before the parliament.

Gbajabiamila, however, urged the stakeholders to make meaningful submissions that would assist the parliament in coming up with amendments that would be in tandem with International Civil Aviation Organisation, (ICAO) best practices. The Chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Aviation, Mr. Nnolim Nnaji, earlier in his opening address noted that the House of Representatives in recognition of the importance of aviation in national economy had considered the Executive Bills and referred them to the committee for further legislative actions.

He said the need for these enabling Acts to be repealed were glaring, considering the urgent need to meet the contemporary demands and international standards

for the general development of the aviation sector. “It is pertinent to note that since the last review of these agencies’ Acts, significant changes and developments have taken place in the industry, which necessitated the review and amendment of these Acts so as to bring them up to date with the operational requirements and dictates of the industry,� he added. The Minister of Aviation, Senator Hadi Sirika, in his opening remarks, said the journey to the proposal for the amendments of the Acts establishing the agencies under the Nigeria Civil Aviation commenced following the result of findings in the International Civil Aviation Organization, (ICAO) Universal Safety Oversight Audit programme.

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WEDNESDAY NOVEMBER 25, 2020 •T H I S D AY

WEDNESDAY NOVEMBER 25, 2020 • T H I S D AY

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Delves: Working Remotely Lowers Employees’Morale Prof. Roger Delves is anAssociate Dean and Professor of Practice atAshridge Executive Education, Hult International Business School. In this interview he speaks on the forthcoming TEXEM, UK’s executive development programme, scheduled to take place virtually next month, where he will share practical insights on strategic leadership for success in an age of disruption. Oluchi Chibuzor brings the excerpts: of remote work underscore the importance of support for those working from home. Again, when an employee works remotely, morale might be lower because they lose the opportunity to learn from others. Thus, at this time more than ever before, team members need to be understood and treated as an individual. The leader should also emphasise the purpose of the organisation, try to highlight how their work makes a positive difference to society and celebrate the progress made by each team-member irrespective of how little it is. Also, organisations could invest in value-adding executive development programmes organised

by TEXEM, which would ultimately stimulate performance. These suggestions also apply in a live environment or a hybrid of the two.

How can a leader thrive in these times of disruption?

These are times of enormous change, and much of the change is not temporary but permanent.

When the pandemic is overcome, the new normal which emerges will be significantly different to the world we left behind when we went into lockdown. Leaders must learn to thrive on change and to lead through change – even if that change is transformational. Leaders need to develop trust among stakeholders, have a strategic outlook and learn to identify opportunities even among challenges.

How could a leader develop unique resources and capabilities for accelerated growth?

Accelerated growth occurs when organisations see an opportunity which they are uniquely wellequipped to respond to or take advantage. Amazon is an example. We can’t shop in stores, because of lockdown during the COVID19 first wave. So Amazon grows exponentially, as do associated partners such as logistics providers. Leaders in Amazon and Amazon partners have to be agile and be able to create teams which can respond swiftly to changing circumstances. However, the equivalent of Amazon in Nigeria has not done so well. Why? Could it be challenges with; efficiency and effectiveness, resource optimisation, structure, process and business model? Then, they need to be examined and rejigged. The leader should identify organisational weaknesses, classify them into those that could be changed and those that would be unfeasible to do so, prioritise those that are feasible and critical, then allocate resources smartly accordingly to them.

Also, the leader has to be very well aware of individual capabilities within the team and has to create an engaged team with an achievement and creative culture. All this is easy to say, but very hard to do successfully, especially under the intense pressure of the demand to deliver results swiftly and dependably with the potential for costs to skyrocket.

Delves How can a leader effectively motivate their team and positively inuence their performance while working remotely?

Teams consist of individuals, each of whom may be inspired by different things. Sources of motivation could include the desire for; personal growth, to be promoted, be recognised as a talent, or be rewarded for performance. Great leaders know that each individual in a team needs to be motivated if they are to be engaged in the team’s pursuit of goals and targets. The fact that they work remotely is also critical, given the heightened uncertainty due to; loss of jobs, increased inflation as is the case in Nigeria and the bleak economic outlook globally. Also, the interruptions to family life when working from home and the potential mental health implications

How can one become a more effective and resilient leader at a period of turbulence?

Being effective and resilient are two very different things. Times of turbulence and uncertainty will put extraordinary demands on the resilience of a leader, and the resilience tank is not bottomless.

Leaders need to give themselves time to restore their resilience levels, or they won’t be able to lead the team as well as they need to. They also need to be forgiving of themselves: this is their first experience of leading in a global pandemic and they, like everyone else, will be learning as they go along. Mistakes are bound to happen. They need to be overtly resilient because emotions are contagious: if they are in despair, or anxious, or stressed, they will infect their team with these same emotions. If they are upbeat, confident, optimistic, then these emotions are equally transferable.

How can a leader boost morale and motivate while downsizing?

Downsizing is simply a strategic decision. It is either right or wrong. Once it is taken, the leader must assume that the strategic decision is the right one and should approach downsizing as a right and necessary step to secure the future of the organisation. Presented to the team in this

way – as a difficult necessity – allows those who are not released in the downsizing to look forward with more confidence, which helps them to get over the sadness of losing colleagues. Leaders must absolutely not question the strategy or the decisions of the management team, or the confidence of the team in the strategy will be lost, and the resentment felt at the downsizing will increase hugely to overshadow any other emotions.

Why should delegates attend this programme?

Given TEXEM’s impressive pedigree of consistently delivering value-adding programmes and the world-renowned faculties such as General Nick Parker and Professor Michael Mol who would join me in delivering this programme, it is one that is timely and will help leaders and organisations to succeed. Thus, this programme on Strategic Leadership for Success in an age of disruption scheduled to take place virtually, from 2nd – 3rd December 2020 is relevant, critical and promises to add immense value to organisations and leaders. Also, through this programme, leaders would network and challenge assumptions. Notably, in times of social, economic and political turmoil, it is easy to get so engrossed in the daily struggle to survive that one forgets to take a breath, look around, take the temperature of the wider environment.

Leaders can better focus on the bigger picture, identify opportunities and inspire actions for profitable growth when one pauses to reflect, and to examine, which are missed in the rush and worry of the pandemic day. Intelligent executive minds all pausing at the same time and exploring the same issues together are bound to come up with new thoughts, exciting ideas, refreshing, stimulating initiatives and enhance performance. Wouldn’t you want to be in the room when the process of impactful growth begins?

Laseinde: Why Persons Behind Business Transformations Should Be Celebrated The Chief Information Officers awards will this week honour outstanding C-level tech professionals in Nigeria, who delivered business value to their organisations and the industry at large, through the use of technology during the year under review. In this interview, the CEO of Edniesal Consulting, organisers of awards, Abiola Laseinde, spoke on the rationale for the awards, and how the platform will sustain a viable ecosystem for Nigerian tech professionals and organisations. Oluchi Chibuzor provides the excerpts: Can you tell us what the CIO award is all about?

The Chief Information Officer (CIO) Awards is Nigeria’s foremost recognition platform for outstanding C-level tech professionals, who have during the year under review, delivered business value to their organisation and the industry at large, through the innovative use of technology.

What is the rationale behind the creation of the awards?

The essence of celebrating the CIOs is that, hitherto, this class of business leaders are hardly visible nor celebrated in most organisations, but now their role has increased in importance over time as they evolve from information to innovation and leading the digital transformation initiatives. In some companies, depending on the organisational culture, they are asked to wear multiple hats of business strategists and change leaders.

It is therefore a commitment to recognising individuals and enterprise excellence in innovation and technology across different sectors. It is indeed the celebration of the individuals and talented teams behind business transformations in Nigeria.

Tell us about the nomination process, who qualiďŹ es for nomination and participation in the CIO Awards?

The inaugural CIO Awards is open to the C-level technology leaders within an organization who have the overall responsibility and control of the IT vision and direction of the company.

of Nigeria.

What is the overall objective of the CIO Awards?

The CIO Award is created to serve as a mark of individual and enterprise excellence. Essentially, the awards seek to celebrate outstanding tech professionals, who have during the year under review, delivered business value to their organization and the industry at large, through the innovative use of technology.

Laseinde How are entries into the CIO Awards reviewed?

As I speak with you, entries have been reviewed and evaluated by a team of independent judges (Interim and Grand jurors respectively). These are very senior executives drawn from different sectors with expertise on this subject matter. The reviews are carried out based on various criteria including business innovation, special projects, impacts and strategic business leadership. Our Jurors are looking out for nominees who are leveraging leading-edge IT practices to produce measurable results. Our Chairman, Jury is Mr Ade Bajomo, Executive Director, IT & Operations, Access Bank and President, Fintech Association

How will the CIO Awards contribute to the advancement of innovation and technology in Nigeria?

We are honouring organisations and executives driving IT innovation in Nigeria. Our awardees will form a cloud of inspiring examples of how IT leadership as strategic business partners are reshaping the future. We are convinced that the CIO Awards will further project the positive impact of technology and the tremendous benefits of disruptive thinking by these leaders.

Tell us about Edniesal Consulting, the organisers of the CIO awards?

Edniesal Consulting Limited is an enterprise governance firm, providing business consultancy to diverse corporate and individual clients across several business sectors. Interestingly, enterprise governance of information technology is a relatively new concept that is gaining traction in both the academic and practitioner worlds.

Going well beyond the implementation of a superior IT infrastructure, enterprise governance of information technology is about defining and embedding processes and structures throughout the organisations that enable both business and IT people to execute their responsibilities, while maximising the value created from their IT-enabled investments. So many players are demonstrating this value and Edniesal Consulting has chosen to recognize and celebrate them.

What are attendees to look out for at the CIO Awards?

The CIO Awards ceremony will be a hybrid event. There will be an online and onsite audience enjoying a syndicated event that will include delightful networking, insightful presentations and wholesome entertainment.

The ceremony will also feature the unveiling of The CIO Club Africa.

Do you have support from other brands?

Yes, we do. We have PWC as our Technical Partner while brands like Access Bank, Microsoft, Reliance Infosystem, Global Accelerex and many others are supporting in various aspects of the awards.

Where do you see the CIO Awards in ďŹ ve years?

In five years, it is our desire to see the CIO Awards become the most influential gathering and platform for CIOs and senior IT executives alongside business leaders in Nigeria and in Africa.

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Examining ‘Next Level’Affordable Housing Delivery at FMBN John M. Agbokpile

in stimulating growth of the housing sector and the economy at large.

Specifically, he was involved in the design and construction of wide variety of mortgage and real estate projects that provide housing solutions to varieties of stakeholders, especially in the social mass housing end.

T

he Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria (FMBN) occupies a strategic position as a proven institutional enabler of affordable housing delivery to Nigerian workers. The apex mortgage bank provides mortgage loans at single digit interest rates that are as low as per cent per annum. Open market interest rates range from 22-25 per cent.

Secondly, it is the only institution that accommodates long- term housing loan payback periods of over 30 years. This is quite significant. For a long time, maximum tenors for housing loans offered by private sector players capped at five years. In part, because financial institutions largely relied on short-term deposits.

In the last couple of years, however, the Nigeria Mortgage Refinance Company (NMRC) has bolstered the liquidity position of mortgage lenders with longer term funds sourced from the capital market. As a result, they have in the recent past started offering housing loans with tenors of up to 20 years.

Another distinctive feature of FMBN’s suite of affordable housing products is its ability to offer zero equity requirement for loans below N5 million, and a maximum of 10 per cent equity for loans ranging from N5 million to N15 million. These terms are, unarguably, without competition in the Nigerian housing market. Together, they have over time fortified the bank’s unique status as the leader in the delivery of affordable housing to Nigerian workers.

Beyond these unique housing offers, FMBN also accounts for majority of housing loans and real estate development projects. As at date, the bank has disbursed housing loans totaling over N265 billion. The N265 billion represents an increase by over N112 billion or 74 per cent over the N152.5 billion, which the current management met in early 2017.

Also, it has funded the construction of over 29,133 housing units in collaboration with reputable property development companies across the country since inception. Within the last three years alone, about 8,700 new homes have been added, representing a growth of 43 per cent.

The paradox of potential versus expectation Of course, these numbers are quite small when weighed against the massive housing deficit that experts estimate to range between 17-22million units. However, this is not much of a surprise given the limitations, which the bank has faced over the years. Housing analysts and stakeholders familiar with the Act establishing the bank and trends in the housing industry opined that FMBN would have recorded greater achievements and impacted the housing deficit more if two key factors were addressed properly.

One is adequate capitalisation and two, a stronger National Housing Fund (NHF) scheme.

At the core of these two pivotal factors is finance – the inadequacy of it. Catalysing housing development requires capital intensive.

This argument has strong merit at many levels. Take the size of the bank’s capital base for a start. Statutorily, the FMBN is supposed to have a total capitalisation of N5 billion – a sum that is still grossly inadequate given its mandate.

Some of the mortgage institutions that the bank on-lends to have even higher levels of financial capitalisation than it does. Even at that, it is only 50 per cent of the FMBN’s capitalisation that is actually paid up by its principal shareholders, which includes the Federal Government of Nigeria (FGN), the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the National Social Insurance Trust Fund (NSITF).

While the federal government has redeemed its portion of the shares amounting to N2.5 billion, the CBN and the NSITF are yet to put down the cash value of their 30 and 20 per cent shareholdings respectively. Several efforts over the decades to ensure redemption have failed.

This strengthens the premise that that the core of the bank’s growth drawback is inadequate empowerment. Expectedly, this longstanding

Dangiwa systemic handicap has in great part constrained the FMBN’s capacity to leverage housing finance – locally and internationally – with consequential implications on its drive to boost housing development and counter the housing deficit.

The second plank of the argument bordering on the National Housing Fund (NHF) scheme is also quite vital. The NHF, which serves as a key financial pillar of the FMBN has a rather weak base. When the scheme was conceived and established in 1992, it was designed to have several strong self-sustaining avenues for mobilizing on a large scale, low-cost, longterm funds that will support the provision of affordable housing loans to low and medium income Nigerians that are payable over longer periods of time.

This includes the mandatory monthly contribution of 2.5 per cent of workers’ salaries, investments in the scheme by commercial and merchant banks of 10 per cent of their loans and advances. Likewise, insurance companies were required to invest in the scheme. As the owner of the bank, the federal government was also obliged to periodically inject funds into the scheme to bolster its ability to function as a more effective tool for housing development, a key state objective.

Unfortunately, gaps in the program’s legal enforcement framework compromised the potency for impact. Over the years, commercial and merchant banks have failed to comply with the provisions of the Act. The federal government too has also over these decades not lived up to its obligation to periodically inject massive capital into the scheme. The NHF has only relied basically on the 2.5 per cent monthly contributions from workers’ salaries to drive its operations. In the face of these clear violations of the NHF Act by principal players, there appears little that could be done to enforce compliance using existing laws. What is clear however is that given the resources pooled from contributions from workers under the NHF, the FMBN has indeed posted proportionally commensurate results.

Next Level FMBN Clearly, for the FMBN to unleash its full potential as a tool for driving the Buhari Affordable Housing Plan for Nigerian workers, these twin issues that anchor on inadequate financial resources must be addressed frontally as part of a broader strategic reform of the bank that reflects the urgent and rising demands

for affordable housing in Nigeria.

The good news is that the current Board and Executive Management Team that has been leading the bank for the past three years have demonstrated that they realise the urgency of the task at hand, have a clear understanding of the issues at stake and have marshalled a clear action plan to path to fixing them.

Bold Ideas, Charting New Path In the lead of the new push to reform the FMBN as a stronger and more impactful provider of affordable housing is Ahmed Musa Dangiwa, a simple-minded technocrat that combines simplicity, progressive action with a passion for change. In April 2017, when Dangiwa was appointed to head FMBN as its Managing Director/Chief Executive President Muhammadu Buhari, many industry experts widely commended his choice as fit and wise.

And for many good reasons. First, he combined an impressive track record of academic excellence and private sector experience as a housing industry practitioner and professional. On the academic front, he boasted an MSc in Architecture and a master’s degree in business administration both providing relevant foundations for his role.

Secondly, he had built an enviable track record as a successful, practicing architect with over thirty years of wide-ranging experience and understands at both the theoretical and practical levels the business of real estate as well as the social imperative upon which it rests. His career spanned both the private and public sectors.

From 1996 until his appointment, he built two leading architectural and construction companies: AM Design Consults, an architectural and real estate development consultancy firm and Jarlo International Nig. Ltd, a Construction Company. As the driver of those companies, he acquired practical experience in designing and supervising the delivery of several outstanding housing and related projects in diverse areas and sectors across the country.

Besides his expertise and experience as a top-level real estate consultant, Dangiwa came onboard as someone already familiar with the mortgage banking industry. He had worked with Sahel Mortgage Finance Limited where he rose through the ranks from being a Property Manager to the position of Manager of the Mortgage Banking Division. In this role, Dangiwa experienced at close range, the nitty gritty of the mortgage industry, how it works and the social impact that it can have

On Track to Deliver Three years down the line and Dangiwa has not disappointed bookmakers. He has led his management team to champion a series of bold corporate reforms, aggressed pursued longstanding programs that are designed to unlock the potential of the bank for impact and brought a private sector management edge to bear on the operations of the bank.

Consider the accelerated stakeholder rally to bolster the financial capacity of the bank.

The Dangiwa-led management of the FMBN successfully lobbied critical players in the industry and the National Assembly to pass the reviewed FMBN and NHF establishment Acts.

Although, the president declined assent to the two bills, the feat stands as a key milestone in the over twelve-year history of several attempts to repeal the bills. Moreover, with the identification of the problematic provisions, the chances of securing presidential assent in the next round is now stronger.

The possibility of ending this longstanding attempt to review the FMBN and NHF Acts is very high.

The implications for the FMBN are enormous.

First, the reviewed Acts will provide the legal foundation for the recapitalization of the bank to the tune of N500billion. With such a heavy war chest, the FMBN will be able to provide more housing loans to more Nigerian workers and catalyse housing development. Another notable result will be a stronger, more financially liquid NHF with stronger legal framework for enforcing compliance to its provisions.

As the lead man at the FMBN in the past two years, Dangiwa, has demonstrated a passionate commitment to putting the Nigerian worker first. “I believe that in executing the mandate of the FMBN to deliver affordable housing, we must improve access to cheap housing finance and encourage developers to build houses that workers can afford� he remarked recently. “From design to finish, the uppermost consideration must be the financial capacity of workers. Many previous housing programs have failed in the past because they were not built based on a thorough understanding of the financial dynamic of the Nigerian worker in mind�.

A good reflection of this, “worker-centric� mindset that Dangiwa has brought to bear on the operations of the bank include the reduction in the equity requirement for housing loans. Instead of five per cent and 20 per cent equity requirement, workers now pay zero equity for loans below N5 million and only 10 per cent for loans from N5 million to N15 million.

He has also led the bank to introduce the ‘Rent-to-Own’ Homeownership Scheme.

The scheme allows a beneficiary to move into FMBN-owned housing property as a tenant and pay to own the property in monthly or annual instalments over 30 years at an interest rate of just nine years.

Another notable stride of the FMBN under Dangiwa’s leadership is the launch of FMBN Digital Platforms. The Digital Platforms have ushered in a new era of transparency and accountability in the operations of the National Housing Fund (NHF) by empowering contributors with real-time access to information on their NHF accounts.

Overall, the new direction of change at the FMBN inspires hope for expansion of access to affordable housing for a greater number of Nigerians. To sustain the tempo of reform, government and stakeholders should rally round the current management and provide needed support in its plans to recapitalise the bank and review the NHF and FMBN Act, both critical to taking the bank to the Next Level, in line with the plans of the Buhari administration for housing development.

Agbokpile is a public policy analyst based in Abuja

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Photo Editor ĂŒĂ“Ă™ĂŽĂ&#x;Ă˜ ÔËÖË Email Ă‹ĂŒĂ“Ă™ĂŽĂ&#x;Ă˜Ë›Ă‹Ă”Ă‹Ă–Ă‹ĚśĂžĂ’Ă“Ă?ĂŽĂ‹ĂŁĂ–Ă“Ă Ă?Ë›Ă?Ù×

FCT Minister, Malam Muhammad Musa Bello (right) examining documents presented to him by the President, Manufacturers Association of Nigeria ,MAN,Engr Ahmed Mansur, during the visit of MAN delegation to the Federal Capital Territory Administration, FCTA in Abuja...recently

R-L: Delta Governor, Senator Dr. Ifeanyi Okowa and the Archbishop of Bendel Province/Bishop, Diocese of Ughelli Anglican Communion, Most Rev’d Cyril Odutemu, during the 10th year Consecration Anniversary and Presentation as Archbishop Thanksgiving Service in his honour at All saints Cathedral, Ughelli...recently

L-R: Founder, Ace Charity Foundation, Kiki James; Country Representative of Malala Fund, Crystal IkanihMusa; Education Manager, Borno Women Development Initiative, Munira Yerima; and Founder, Connected Development (CODE), Hamzat Lawal, during the inauguration of the CODE and Malala Fund’s report on Girls Education and COVID-19 in Nigeria, in Abuja...recently

L-R: Former Chairmen, Abeokuta North LGA, Mr Folarin Suraj; Mr Olabode Taofeek; Minister of Mines and Steel Development, Mr Olamilekan Adegbite; and Salami Taoreed, during the Town Hall Meeting in Ijebu Ode, Ogun State...recently

Speaker, House of Representatives, Rep. Femi Gbajabiamila (middle) anked by leaders and members of the Abuja Newspapers Distributors Association (ANDA) and the Newspapers Vendors Association, Abuja (NVAA) during his condolence visit to the two associations over the death of their colleague, Ifeanyi Okereke in Abuja... recently

L-R: Executive Chairman, Lagos State Universal Basic Education Board, Hon. Wahab Olawale Alawiye-King; Chairman House Committee on Education, Hon. Oluyinka Ogundimu; Head, Corporate Communications, Ikeja Electric, Mr. Felix Ofulue, and , Deputy Governor, Lagos State, Dr Obafemi Kadri Hamzat during the launch of Project Zero in Lagos...recently

L-R: Discussant, Dr. Alero Roberts; Chairman of the occasion, Prof. Chris Bode; Publisher/Editor, Realnews, Maureen Chigbo; Representatives of Guest Speaker/National Coordinator, Presidential Task Force on Covid-19, Dr. Sanni Aliu and Representatives of Group Managing Director of NNPC/MD of NETCO, Usman Baba during the 8th Anniversary Lecture and Investiture into the Realnews Hall of Fame in Lagos...recently PHOTO: ABIODUN AJALA

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L R: Chairman, House of Representatives Committee on Science and Technology, Rep. Beni Lar; Clerk of the Committee, Ukachwukwu Chidibere and member of the committee, Rep. Awaji-Inombek Abiante during the appearance of minister of ďŹ nance and Budget OďŹƒce over plans for budget preparation for Science and Technology at the National Assembly Abuja...recentlyy

L-R: President of Ohaneze, Imo State council, Dr Ezechi Chukwu, Governor of Imo State, Hope Uzodimma; President General elect of Ohaneze Ndigbo from Imo State, Ambassador George Obiozor and Chairman of Ndigbo Council of Elders and Leader of the committee on selection of President General of Ohaneze Ndigbo from Imo State; Chief Dr Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu and other elders when they presented Prof. Obiozor to Governor Uzodimma at Sam Mbakwe Exco Chambersin Imo State....recently

L-R: Newly appointed National President, Muslim Ummah of South West Nigeria (MUSWEN), Alh. AbdulRasaki Oladejo; Former Executive Secretary, MUSWEN, Prof. Dos Noibi; and new National Deputy President, MUSWEN, Alh. RaďŹ u Adisa Ebiti, at the MUSWEN extra- ordinary general assembly and appointment of both Oladejo and Ebiti in Ibadan, Oyo State...recently

L-R: Governor of Plateau State, Simon Lalong ; Chairman, Senate Committee on Culture and Tourism, Senator Rochas Okorocha; and Minister of Women Aairs, Pauline Tallen, during the inauguration of 33rd National Festival of Arts and Culture (NAFEST) in Jos...recently

L-R: Head, Sales Vitafoam Nigeria PLC, Mr Dahiru Gambo; Commercial Director, Mr Sola Owoade and Medical Director, Federal Mecical Centre (FMC), Abeokuta, Prof Adewale Musa-Olomu, during donation of hospital mattresses to FMC by Vitafoam in Abeokuta... recently

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L-R: Ogun State Governor Dapo Abiodun; Commissioner for Finance, Mr Dapo Okubadejo and his Budget and Planning counterpart, Olaolu Olabimtan during the Treasury Board meeting on 2021 - 2023 Medium Term Expenditure Framework and 2021 Budget held at Obas Complex, Governor’s oďŹƒce, Oke Mosan, Abeokuta... recently

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EDUCATION ‘Reducing Cost of Governance, Proper Funding of Education Will Bring Devt to Nigeria’ Professor Ibraheem Gbajabiamila is the Vice-Chancellor, Crescent University, Abeokuta, Ogun State. In this interview with Funmi Ogundare, the Professor of Virology explained why the country must reduce the cost of governance and spend the 26 per cent UNESCO recommended figure on education and human capital development, to move the nation forward. Excerpts:

H

ow would you describe the state of Nigerian education considering the impasse between ASUU and the federal government?

We should all be concerned about the education system as a nation. One of the things Prince Bola Ajibola, the Proprietor of the university and a former ambassador once said was that while he was serving Nigeria abroad, people held the believe that Nigeria is a place that does not care about education. He said there were two facts that were thrown at him; that Nigeria has the largest number of children out-of-school at that time. Twenty per cent of the children in the whole world, are Nigerians.

So it was very difficult to convince the world bodies that we are serious about education.

Second issue is infant mortality which is one of the worst in the world. With these two facts as the Nigerian ambassador, it was very difficult for him to defend. In the past, students of University of Ibadan, were taking University of London degrees before independence and they performed very well because they are taking the same exams with students of University of London. The University College Hospital (UCH), Ibadan was one of the top 10 best hospitals in the Commonwealth. We had world class universities with good facilities. But over a period of time especially with the coming of the military, we spent less on education, and as a result, our country’s education system nosedived. The academics and students then were very focused delivering a world class service and the salary structure of the academics was tied to permanent secretaries in the federal civil service, so people were valued and they contributed their quota very well. UNESCO asked developing countries such as ours to spend 26 per cent on education, but as it is, Nigeria spends less than 10 per cent on education. On the issue of the ASUU strike, we have seen the result of underfunding. For instance, in the past, Nigeria gives scholarship to students from South Africa, Zimbabwe, Rwanda, Botswana and Ghana during the apathied era.

Nigerian universities were the destination for most of the African countries. They were all either in UI, UNN, OAU, Ife or Lagos. Over a period of time, those countries improved their system. A case in point is Ghana and we now have 78,000 Nigerian students in Ghana alone. As a result of underfunding of Nigerian education system, we need to spend the 25 per cent that Ghana has been spending. We have seen the result of their spending the money. WAEC exam has been going on now for over 40 years. The first 30 years, was dominated by Nigerian schools, but over the last 10 years, the Ghananian schools have taken over and they are best in Art, Science and English.

Having visited Ghana public schools, I saw that they have running water, uninterrupted power supply in the last five years, as well as internet facilities. Our children are taking the same exam with those people who have all the facilities. Can we get a public secondary school in Nigeria that has these three elements? So its unfair on our children to compete in a public exam.

Being a faith-based university, what policy stands it out among others in Nigeria and how have you been able to ensure its successful implementation to impact students?

The institution arose when the Proprietor, Prince Bola Ajibola wanted to improve the Nigerian education system and spare the time for students going abroad. As a faith-based university, because of the level of investment, we have electricity, running water and with internet, we are able to provide an online learning platform for our students. So when the COVID-19 came, we were able to continue teaching online which is a clear difference between the private and public universities. Public universities are crippled because the government cannot meet its own minimum standard of requirement. Our own university has been delivering. Our four or

a private university, you must look at IPP as a way of surviving in order to join community of nations and catch up with Ghana, but it’s like a reversal. We are just above Somalia, a war-torn country, where we are spending 20 per cent on education when our competitors are spending 25 per cent. So you cannot expect the same level of achievements. If you don’t provide light, our industries cannot run. A lot of entrepreneurs are doing their best providing a means of energy for their factories. So these are the real challenges and that was why I said our challenges are the challenges of Nigeria. Parents now know that our hospitals and universities are inadequate.

So the way forward is spend the 26 per cent UNESCO recommended figure. That was why there was agitation when they brought out the budget, it did not reflect spending more on education and health. They are spending more on the National Assembly. We need to reduce the cost of governance and spend money on the necessary things that will allow us to move forward as a nation.

Gbajabiamila five year course is four years unlike what you have in public universities where students spend seven years for a four year course. That is unfair on the students. When people are out of school for such stay a long time, it could ballon into unpleasant things.

How have you been able to position your institution globally and ensure that your students are competitive by the time they graduate?

Positioning your institution globally is a very important aspect as we are all regulated by the National Universities Commision (NUC) standard.

We have full accreditation for all our programmes.

We have entrepreneurship as part of the curriculum.

A lot of our students have good jobs, we have students working for BBC, Dangote Group, NestlĂŠ and other multinational companies. As a matter of fact, some of the companies asked us to send more students because the academic and moral excellence, are what guides a faith-based university, not just taking brilliant students, but employing those who are morally grounded and can be trusted with any position. That has been the diffrence between private and public enterprise.

What efforts are you making or have you made towards improving and strengthening existing collaborations with other international institutions?

It is very important if you aspire to be a world class, you need to join similar institutions worldwide. For instance, we have a collaboration with University of Derby in the UK. The idea of the collaboration is to allow our students progression, to have their masters or start a programme at our university and finish at the University in Derby. With that kind of collaboration, we have already mapped out our curriculum and vetted it. The students who have proceeded abroad, have done extremely well. We have a Mass Communication student who got a degree here and went to University of Aberdeen, Scotland.

Having gotten a first class degree in our university, they invited the head of department to University of Aberdeen, they said the student was not only brilliant and morally sound, she never missed a single class. Those are the products that we are really proud of. That has been the pattern in the past. I have worked at the University of London for five years, so we used to receive Nigerian students. When they are given the opportunity

at the facility, Nigerian students do well. Having returned to Nigeria 10 years ago, as the VC, we have been able to create a network for students to progress abroad and improve themselves.

What other ďŹ rst would you say your institution has recorded?

At the Nigerian Law School, our law students have done extremely well. For those that got first class, within the last five years, our students have been able to carve out a niche for themselves. A lot of them who have gotten first class at the Law School, are now practicing barristers. That I think is an achievement for a small private university to compete with other faith-based universities.

What challenges have you faced since coming on board and how were you able to surmount them?

The challenges are those that we have in Nigeria as a nation, which is virtually the problem of electricity. The reason why students are doing well in Ghana is because of constant light, unlike in Nigeria where we have to run generators. The COVID-19 pandemic exposed us as a nation. There were only two functional laboratories in Abuja and Lagos, later we progressed to about 40. We must remember that in the light of donations of testing kits, we have spent less on education and health.

One of the problems of running those tests is that you need to run some tests for between 15 and 18 hours on generators. As a virologist, it is very difficult for anybody to do meaningful research if you don’t have the right apparatus to do it. I must commend our doctors who are working under challenging circumstances as the COVID exposed our inability to provide basic healthcare and education. We were able to surmount the challenges by providing generators to run the university and sustain our laboratories, as well as internet facilities which is a key learning tool for students. We spent money on infrastructure and ensured that the students are getting the best education.

Some private institutions are running on Independent Power Project (IPP), are there plans by your institution to have a similar plan?

Inevitably we will be able to have an independent power project to sustain the institution.

If the government cannot do it, then a private provider will have to do it. If you want to run

Considering the recent happenings in the country following the EndSARS protest, what impact can universities make to curb youth restiveness?

Universities are building skilled manpower and future leaders. But if you continuously have strikes and not providing the basics, if a government signs an agreement and fails to honour it, there will be issues. The issue between ASUU and the federal government has been going on for years. What happens is that whenever there is a strike, the government will agree to sign, but will not honour it which will lead to another strike. This is disruptive to the education of the youths. It frustrates them. The students have been out of school for eight months and parents are concerned about this. Federal and state universities cannot provide those facilities and pay staff. Those are things that are clear to everybody and the agitation will be there. In Africa, particularly Nigeria, the youths are the majority, but they have not been able to harness the energy. They may feel shortchanged and decide to go abroad. Sadly, not everybody is able to do that. More importantly, the country has a duty of care to the youths. We are one of the top 10 oil producers, there is no other top 10 oil producers in the world that does not have constant electricity or not spending 25 per cent on education. Our challenge is that even when oil was $120 per barrel, we did not channel it to education or health, is it now that it is $20 a barrel that Senate will do it? I think it is the failure of planning and supporting the youths. That was what the agitation was about. Harnessing their energy is about providing the opportunities through education. If at primary school level, we have 13 million children out-of-school, that means 20 per cent in the whole world are roaming about. Chief Obafemi Awolowo once said that if we fail to educate the children of the poor, we may face unpleasant situations, and that is what is playing out now. So at the primary and secondary school level, we have major challenges.

At the tertiary level, we have a major challenge, at the hospitals, we also have challenges. These are the facts before us. If we must harness their energy, we must have a youth-friendly policy starting from primary school to the tertiary level so that we can regain the kind of system that our parents left for us. We are leaving a worst system than we met it. Unfortunately, things went down and we can’t even boast of being among the top 100 schools in the world. The youths are talented, when they go abroad, they do very well. Microsoft is establishing facilities in Nigeria for COVID and when students are given the opportunity, they do very well. We have mechanics and vulcanizers who can repair cars without training or formal education. We have human capital which we need to develop and focus their energy to national development.

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T H I S D AY Ëž NOVEMBER 25, 2020

EDUCATION

LSUBEB Unveils Initiative to Tackle Menace of Out-ofschool Children Funmi Ogundare The Lagos State Universal Basic Education Board (LSUBEB) has launched its Project Zero initiative, aimed at tackling the manace of out-of-school children and ensuring that every child of school age has access to free basic education.

The Chairman of the board, Mr. Wahab Alawiye-King, said a survey conducted by the basic and quality assurance; and social mobilisation departments of the state, discovered that 22,000 children have not returned to school as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, adding that the state has funding for only 16 per cent of the figure.

He said the Project Zero initiative will ensure that children who have dropped out of school due to socioeconomic impact of COVID-19 would be traced, mobilised and supported through engaging critical stakeholders within the basic education space. “Tweaking the age-long saying, quality education is the best gift anyone can give a child, and now, it is even not a gift anymore, it is every child’s right backed by national and international laws. However, despite the government’s efforts, several socio-economic factors still stand between our efforts and our desired result,� he said, adding that government is determined to increase enrolment and retention in public schools.

In his keynote address, the state Governor, Babajide SanwoOlu, who was represented by the Deputy Governor, Dr. Obafemi Hamzat, said universal basic education is vital to achieving sustainable development in any society, adding that the fourth goal of quality education on the SDG is also in alignment with the objectives of the education and technology pillar of the administration’s THEMES agenda.

He regretted that the issue of out-of-school children has become a serious challenge that must attract the atten-

tion it deserves to ensure the realisation of the dream of a society where every child of school-age is found in the classroom and not on the streets as child hawkers or servants. “Although this challenge predates the current pandemic, many evidence-based projections suggest that the aftermath of the coronavirus pandemic may see more children out-ofschool with its implication on social stability and cohesion,�

Sanwo-Olu said, while calling on its partners in social development to intensify efforts and ensure that children are in school, irrespective of their socio-economic background.

He said the initiative will commence with the tracking and identification of children who have dropped out or with a high risk of dropping out of school and would be supported with necessary relief items, including school uniforms, school sandals, two pairs of socks and writing materials.

He thanked the donors for their contributions towards building a bright future for the children.

The Commissioner for Education, Mrs. Folashade Adefisayo said the onus remains on stakeholders to support the state government on the initiative so that hoodlums will not be created from children who are unable to attend school because they lack the basic materials. “The fact that a child does not have uniform to wear to school is worrisome. The future is in our hands and the future is here today. We need to equip them so that they can have access to quality education,� she said.

The Executive Director of Wema Bank, in charge of Lagos Business Directorate, Mr. Wole Ajimisimi said the bank is giving hope to almost 10,000 out-of-school children, adding, “we are giving them kits that will facilitate their going back to school. We are complementing the efforts of the government because the children are our future and we need to get them off the street and ensure that they get quality education.�

HoS to Wade into Bida Poly Rector’s Reappointment Crisis, Says FME Uchechukwu Nnaike The Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Education, Mr. Sonny Echono has revealed that the lingering issue of the reappointment of the Rector, Federal Polytechnic, Bida, Niger State, Dr. Abubakar Dzukogi has been referred to the Head of Service of the Federation for official reinterpretation.

Echono disclosed this when he hosted a peace meeting in Abuja involving the national leadership of the Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics (ASUP), executives of Bida Poly chapter, the rector, the institution’s director of academics and senior ministry officials.

But findings by ASUP revealed that the HoS office does not have any document relating to the rector’s reappointment crisis. The development has made the union to call to question the sincerity of the Federal Ministry of Education to resolve the issue.

A senior official at the HoS office revealed that the ministry of education has not forwarded any Bida Poly document on the reappointment crisis to the head of service for reinterpretation.

The revelation shocked ASUP leadership. At the meeting, Echono told ASUP that the

case has been referred to the head of service for official reinterpretation.

The permanent secretary said Femi Falana, SAN, is wrong in his assertion that the reappointment of Dzukogi is illegal. “Though he deliberately refused to tell us about the content of the Attorney General’s letter, but we got hint that the AGF condemned the two reappointments. We also realised on Tuesday November 3, that there are no letters submitted to the head of service as claimed by the permanent secretary,�

ASUP stated.

According to him, Echono categorically told ASUP and others present at the meeting, that HoS will determine Bida Poly rector’s reappointment crisis. He confirmed that petitions from the presidency, Falana, union on the issue have been submitted to HoS for final reinterpretation.

Other issues discussed at the meeting include unpaid backlog of 63 months outstanding allowances, non provision of drugs and essential services in the poly’s NHIS facility since 2015, maladministration in management of TETFund, illegal suspension of three union

leaders and breeding of cultists on campus.

It was gathered that Echono mandated the rector to set up a committee to administer the school clinic and to follow TETFund guidelines and administration of funds.

The ministry also asked the rector to withdraw, with immediate effect, all the queries and suspensions, stating that the union has the right to enquire about the activities of the school clinic because workers’ money is involved.

Also, Echono was said to have pleaded with ASUP to give the rector four months grace for the payment of 63 months backlog of allowances. “He appealed to the union leadership to beg the congress men and women to suspend the local strike and submit the semester’s results to management’. “The Attorney General of the Federation has formally interpreted the reappointment of Dzukogi as an error but the ministry, out of disrespect to the Polytechnic Act, is looking elsewhere for another reinterpretation from the HoS. “After the formal interpretation by the Attorney General, permanent secretary still believes their action isn’t wrong.

Therefore asking the Head of Service to pass final judgement.

He even said Falana was wrong in his letter condemning the rector’s reappointment,� said one of ASUP national leaders.

In a swift reaction to the permanent secretary’s directive, the rector withdrew all queries and suspension on the three ASUP executives.

The letter dated October 26, 2020 and signed by the Registrar, said based on the peace meeting held in Abuja, the rector has approved the withdrawal of query and has lifted suspension, adding “you are therefore recalled to resume work immediately.�

In another development, the national leadership of the union received a letter from the FME tagged ‘Resolution from the FME’ and signed by the Director Tertiary Education claiming in item six that the reappointment of the rector to serve beyond his retirement age of 65 years is “right and proper.� The assertion, FME said is the reinterpretation from the HoS. In a more shocking revelation, HoS denied ever making any official statement on the reappointment saga. This was revealed by an insider from the HoS.

L-R: The Lagos State Commissioner for Education, Mrs. Folasade AdeďŹ sayo; Chairman, State Universal Basic Education Board, Wahab Alawiye-King; Deputy Governor of Lagos State, Dr. Obafemi Hamzat; and member, Lagos State House of Assembly, Hon. Olayinka Ogundimu during the presentation of the 450,000 MP3 devices, preloaded with lessons donated by the technical partners of SUBEB for EKOEXCEL, for pupils in Lagos primary schools... recently

Remands Five Persons in Prison Custody Take Your Education Court More Seriously, Obi over Alleged Extortion of Ex-Maritime Varsity VC Advises Students Sylvester Idowu in Warri

The Vice-Presidential Candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the 2019 elections, Mr. Peter Obi has advised students to take their education seriously, saying that education remains a sure path to success.

Obi made this known at Presentation Nursery and Primary School, Mgbowo, Awgu recently when he visited the school to sympathise with them on the accident that claimed lives of staff and students of the school.

Encouraging the students to pursue a better future for themselves through education, Obi said anyone can become

great in life with good education which is the right of every child. He advised the students to always pay attention to their teachers who are sent to guide them to success.

He recalled his early days in life, saying that he would not have attained the height he has attained today if not for the good education and moral formation he received. “I look back at my life with gratitude to God for where I am today. Most people never believed I would succeed in life, but with the good education and moral upbringing I received in life, I am here today,� Obi said.

The Federal High Court sitting in Warri, Delta State has remanded five persons in prison custody over an alleged attempt to extort and defame Prof. Maureen Etebu, the former Vice-Chancellor of the Maritime University, Okerenkoko in Warri Southwest Local Government area of the state.

The accused persons, Dr. Vincent Akpoveta (38 years); Stanley Erobosa (40 years); Doboikiabo Warmate (47 years); Edgar Daniel Biu (47 years); and Ibrahim Abubarkar (34 years), were arrested by operatives of the Zonal Headquarters of the Nigerian Police.

They were arraigned before the Federal High Court, Warri presided over by Justice Emeka Nwete, who adjourned the case till February 3, 2021.

The accused were charged with eight counts of defamation, extortion and criminal conspiracy, but all pleaded not guilty to the charges.

Only Edgar Daniel Biu, who is the fourth accused was mentioned in all the eight count charges.

Legal Counsels to the accused, Barr. N. Trofaniowei (fourth respondent); Barr. Ray Enogeh (third respondent); Barr. N. Ohre (first respondent); Barr. H.O Omyebuolose (second respondent); and Barr.

P.O. Itsyeli moved applications for their bail which were

turned down by the court.

Police Prosecuting Counsel, N.A Ukpebor opposed the applications for bail, alleging that the accused may tamper with the prosecuting witnesses and that the purported medical report tendered by the fourth and third accused were fake.

Nwete in his ruling on the bail applications, turned down the request of the accused and ordered them remanded in prison custody.

The Inspector General of Police had in a suit numbered FHC/WR/66CC/2020 with eight count charges against the accused, alleged criminal extortion and attempt to defame the characters of the former vice- chancellor,

which is punishable by section 24(2)(a)(b)(1) of the cybercrime prohibition and Proclamation Act, 2015.

In the charge sheet, the three accused were alleged to have “in June 2020 sent offensive and obscene mails to Etebu, thereby committing offences punishable under section 24(a)(b) of the Cyber Crime Prohibition and Revocation Act,. “That in June, 2020, they sent email to the former Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Maureen Etebu with attempt to extort N150,000,000 from her and another attempt in June, 2020 to extort N200,000,000 punishable by sect. 24(2)(a) (b)(6)(1) and (1) of the Cyber Crime Prohibition Act, 2015.�

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T H I S D AY Ëž NOVEMBER 25, 2020

EDUCATION

Varsity Don Canvasses Effective Teaching, Research for Manpower Devt Funmi Ogundare A Professor of Agricultural and Environmental Engineering and former Vice-Chancellor, Obafemi Awolowo University, IleIfe, Michael Faborode, has called on tertiary institutions in the country to engage in teaching and research that will produce the manpower needed to run the economy for prosperity and growth.

This move he said would create employment, sustain jobs, as well as solve most of the country’s existential problems, including poverty, hunger, healthcare, quality education, infrastructure, desertification, ageing and gender inequality.

Faborode, who stated this recently at the fifth convocation lecture of McPherson University, Ogun State, said universities should be able to key into the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of preparing skilled and knowledgeable manpower and professionals for various sectors of the economy, generating and disseminating knowledge through research engagements for institutional development, as well as building the capacity of professionals, and imbu-

ing them with values and citizenship skills.

In his convocation lecture titled ‘Sustainable Development, Post COVID-19: Is Nigeria’s Growing Population a Curse or Blessing’, he said, “universities need to take the challenge of leading the global developmental march very seriously because it is intrinsically embedded in their mission and purpose. “Nations must realise and deliberately take advantage of the potency of their universities. Indeed, universities have never been as crucial to nation states as they are today if such nations or states are to be competitive in the global economy.�

The don explained that the country needs the university sector to produce and apply knowledge, as well as produce knowledgeable and well-skilled workers across the skills spectrum. “University must key into the concept of sustainable development, just as Nigeria’s education system is being looked upon for the dividends of the nation’s membership of world bodies and her investment in education.�

In other to achieve this, Faborode stressed the need

for universities to be well funded and the accorded needed recognition, adding that in return, they must not be found wanting in responding to this crucial need that will determine their local relevance, global visibility and social value. “One key strategy of accomplishing this onerous task of leading Africa to grow is for our universities to produce enterprising graduates, who are not only entrepreneurial, but are equally endowed with the zeal to establish enterprises, ventures, hubs to produce goods and services and create jobs.

Graduates who will be the liberators, and the army of the new Africa, where knowledge, technological creativity, including new digital savviness, enveloped with genuine African humanistic values, will drive development and environmental conquest.�

Faborode, who is also a former SecretaryGeneral, Association of Vice-Chancellors of Nigerian Universities (AVCNU), emphasised on agriculture-led structural transformation of African economies.

He said efforts must be made to devise ways and means to unlock Nigeria and Africa’s enormous

agricultural potential and make it more competitive to support the continent’s structural transformation process, while frontally decreasing food insecurity to achieve zero hunger and meaningfully contributing to poverty reduction. “It has been argued that the low productivity of the agriculture sector, largely characterised by small-scale subsistence production, has not benefited from the green revolution that aided much of the rest of the developing world, hence we need to give urgent attention to the development of agricultural value chains and their consolidation in order to boost the overall productivity of African farmers/agro-processors, create and strengthen viable agribusiness industry and culture that is beginning to emerge.�

A total of 92 students graduated in three faculties from the institution, with 12 finishing in the first class category. Miss Precious Aduekpe of the Accounting Department emerged the best graduating student with a Cumulative Grade Point Average (CGPA) of 4.97, the best ever in the history of the university. She received cash prizes and plaques for her effort.

KEHINDE OMORU www.kayomoru.com

CREATING THE CAREERYOU WANT Do you dare to be a brand name or are you just a generic? First things ďŹ rst, let’s check out how it works with medications: It is plausibly clear that the world of work cum creating a career has changed, the world is now drifting to an ever more innovative, self-reliant, value addition kind of work from the usual professional poised career.The outbreak of the COVID-19 has further clariďŹ ed this point of going the extra mile of value creation and be innovative at all times.

Ifyouchecktheirpackaging,medicationssometimeshavemorethanone name.Oneofthesenameswouldbethegenericnameofthemedication, while the other name would be its brand name. For example, Ibuprofen is the generic name whilst Hedex or Nurofen are two brand names for ibuprofen; SildenaďŹ l is a generic name for Viagra (its brand name).

Paracetamol,whichisextremelypopularisthegenericnameforPanadol, Calpol,Tylenol, Emzor Paracetamol or DawaYa Magi etc. Paracetamol hasbeenaroundforoveronehundredyears.Itissoldinitsgenericname, as well as by brand names. Paracetamol is sold in many countries by a rangeofmanufacturersthateachusedierentbrandnames.Thegeneric or scientiďŹ c name of a medication refers to the active ingredient in the medication.This is the oďŹƒcial medical name for this medication given byanexpertcommittee.Genericmedicationsareusuallycheapereven though they contain the same active ingredients and have the same clinical eects as their brand versions. Generic names do not start with capital letters. A manufacturer, the pharmaceutical company or the distributor of the drug selects and names a drug its brand name. The brandnamethereforeactsasthetradenameofthemedication.Aneasy to pronounce, quick to remember and aesthetic - for recognition name is usually coined as a brand name. The brand version of a medication is just as clinically eective because it contains the active ingredient of the medication.

In some people’s experiences, some generic drugs work dierently from their brands and vice versa.This may be so if you bear in mind that eventhoughgenericandbranddrugshavethesameactiveingredients, they may dier in add ons like: colouring agents, emulsiďŹ ers, ďŹ llers, preservatives and binders.

Omoru is a freelance writer, education, health and social care advocate

Greensprings’ Senior Assistant Principal Tasks Parents on Positive Reinforcement for Children Uchechukwu Nnaike

Some Executives of Daniel Ogechi Akujobi Memorial (DOAM) Foundation, during the presentation of educational materials to pupils of Ibafon Nursery and Primary School, Olodi Apapa, Lagos... recently

Gombe Pays WAEC, NABAIS, NABTEB Fees, Approves Payment of Outstanding Scholarship to Students Segun Awofadeji in Bauchi The Gombe State Executive Council has approved N112 million for the payment of outstanding scholarship of students of indigenes of the state for 2016, 2017 and 2018 academic sessions.

The state Executive Council meeting, which was presided over by Governor Muhammadu Yahaya, also considered and approved N204 million for the payment of WAEC, NBAIS and

NABTEB examination fees for over 13,000 final year students of the state.

Briefing journalists on the outcome of the eighth edition of the meeting, the Commissioner for Information and Culture, Ibrahim Kwami, alongside his counterparts in Works, Abubakar Bappah; Education, Dr. Habu Dahiru; Water Resources, Alhaji Mijinyawa Yahaya; and Housing and Urban Development, Alhaji Dishi Kupto,

said the issues discussed at the council were geared towards uplifting the socioeconomic and educational standards of the people of the state.

The information commissioner explained that “you may recall that the last administration paid only 50 per cent of the scholarship for students in 2016/2017, 2017/18 sessions, so council now approved the payment of the balance of the 50 per cent, and going

forward, we will continue to pay our students their scholarship entitlements.�

Still on education, he said council also approved the upgrading of five public schools to model institutions with one in each of the three senatorial districts and two in the state capital owing to its cosmopolitan nature. This he said is in line with the governor’s desire to reposition the education sector for optimal performance.

A Senior Assistant Principal at Greensprings School, Lekki Campus, Lagos, Mrs. Olayinka Adesanya, has called on parents to use positive reinforcement to encourage good behaviours in their children.

Adesanya, who said this during a recent induction programme at the school, noted that children nowadays turn out to be well-behaved when they are made to realise the consequences of their actions or incentivised for positive attitude.

She stressed that unlike corporal punishment, positive reinforcement has been proven to correct undesirable behaviour in children without a dent on their self-esteem. “While the use of corporal punishment is popular in Africa for making children follow rules at homes and in some schools, psychologists argue that positive reinforcement is better. We are used to situations where good behaviour goes unnoticed, while kids are instantly reprimanded when they misbehave.

“Under the principle of positive reinforcement, the focus is on positive behaviour, whereby children get rewarded for their good behaviour. It reinforces good behaviour and makes it more likely to reoccur,� she stated.

Adesanya added: “At Greensprings School, we rely on positive reinforcement and it has been very effective in encouraging our students to be of good behaviour.

We have what we call the ‘caught being good’ board, where points are recorded for the act of kindness by the students. Every Tuesday, during assembly, we call out the names of students who have earned high points for the week for them to be celebrated and duly rewarded.�

She therefore urged parents to adopt the principle of positive reinforcement at home. She also advised them not to be too focused on the negative behaviours of their children. “Rather, they should focus on shaping good behaviours by rewarding positive attitude and talking about the consequences of unacceptable behaviours.�

37

T H I S D AY Ëž Í°ÍłËœ Í°ÍŽÍ°ÍŽ

Oyetola Reiterates Commitment to Transforming Education

Kwara Uncovers Alleged Massive Corruption in State-owned Poly

Yinka Kolawole in Osogbo

The Kwara State Government said it has uncovered alleged massive corruption involving some staff of the state owned polytechnic (Kwara Polytechnic) Ilorin.

The Commissioner for Tertiary Education, Science and Technology, Hajiya Sa’adatu Modibbo Kawu, who stated this in Ilorin, while receiving the visitation panel report set up to reposition the institution, said: “I have just received the ministry’s committee report on allegation of corruption by some staff of the institution “The ministry has investigated and spoken with all the

The Osun State Governor, Adegboyega Oyetola has reiterated the administration’s commitment to transforming the education sector and putting it on a sure footing.

He said the administration is determined to leave no stone unturned in its drive to provide the necessary support to raise the bar of education to meet its status as the bedrock of socio-economic development.

Oyetola maintained that the recent educational reforms which are products of the yearnings of the people in the state, are aimed at conforming the sector to global best practices for optimum results.

He said the N11 billion earmarked for the sector in the proposed 2021 budget was a justification of the government’s commitment to a sector that is central to the growth of other sectors.

This is even as the governor announced automatic employment for the overall best graduating student of the State College of Education (OSCOED), Ilesa, Miss Agboola Lateefat Oluwakemi.

Addressing guests at the 42nd Founder’s Day and 27th convocation ceremony of the institution, Oyetola disclosed that the allocation of substantial funds to education was a giant leap toward ultimately meeting UNESCO’s 26 per cent budget allocation to education, thus complementing the government’s commitment to uplifting the sector and stimulating a vibrant knowledge economy for the state. “Education as we all know occupies an important place on the priority list of our administration. We are therefore committed to leaving no stone unturned in our drive to transform the sector and put it on a sure footing.�

He also restated the adminstration’s resolve to continue to invest massively in upgradiinfrastructure and other learning facilities, as well as assist in staff development to enable them to keep pace with

the required global standard in the education sector.

He commended the institution for maintaining moral and ethical standards since its establishment, adding that his administration is determined to ensure that the state’s tertiary institutions become benchmarks in Nigeria, ranking comparatively with global institutions and producing competent leaders of tomorrow.

Oyetola congratulated the graduands for working hard to earn the Nigeria Certificate in Education in various disciplines, saying that the new feat marked the fulfilment of their academic objectives for self-development and contributions to national development.

He advised them not to be complacent and content with the present achievement, but to be ready to set new targets and create new benchmarks to attain more horizons in life.

The visitor also admonished the graduands on giving back to the college, saying, “dear graduands, as you graduate today, you increase the strength and fortune of this college, your alma mater, by a good measure. This college is your home. You hold its membership forever. I therefore advise you to own your college and contribute your quota towards its development at all times.�

In his remarks, the Ekiti State Governor, Kayode Fayemi applauded the management and staff of the institution for being committed to moral and ethical standards of education.

He expressed his readiness to support the overall best graduating student to accomplish her future academic endeavours.

In his welcome address, the Provost of the college, Prof.

Labayo Kazeem commended the Oyetola administration for the approval of additional staff to complement the efforts of the institution to meet its mandate of providing quality education.

He also lauded the state government for providing an enabling environment for the institution to run a hitch-free academic process.

Tatari Ali Poly Students Support New Rector’s Appointment Segun Awofadeji in Bauchi Students of the Abubakar Tatari Ali Polytechnic (ATAP), Bauchi State have expressed satisfaction with the appointment of Dr. Adamu Sa’idu as the new Rector of the institution.

The students, under the aegis of the Coalition of Abubakar Tatari Ali Polytechnic Students, while addressing journalists, said the state government has made the best choice of a rector capable of moving the polytechnic forward.

According to the Coordinator of the Coalition, Mustapha Ibrahim Musa, ATAP is one of the polytechnics with the

highest accredited courses in the country, including degrees, national diplomas, higher national diplomas and national certificate of education. “New courses were introduced into the school that of course glorified it and made it compete with its counterparts in Nigeria.�

The students commended the rector for his move to stop absenteeism and nonpunctuality of some lecturers by introducing performancebased assessment of lecturers before promotion.

This they said would go a long way in ensuring effective service delivery in the institution.

Hammed Shittu in Ilorin

parties concerned and I can confirm that truly there was misappropriation of funds in Kwara Polytechnic, despite the meagre resources available for the institution. “I want to tell you that the AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq-led administration will not tolerate any act of mismanagement under any guise. “I want to promise you that the ministry will act on the recommendations of the ministry’s committee report as soon as possible to ensure that the wrong is rectified.�

Receiving the two-volume report of the panel, led by its Chairman, Dr. Fatai Bello, on behalf of the state government,

the commissioner thanked members of the panel for their commitment and doggedness to the assignment.

Kawu commended members of the visitation panel for their selfless effort in offering recommendations that would reposition the institution positively.

Earlier, the chairman of the panel commended Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq for his determination to reposition the polytechnic, and urged the commissioner to ensure full implementation of the panel’s recommendations to prevent further perpetration of fraud in the institution.

In another development,

the commissioner also paid an inspection visit to the Osi Satellite Campus of KWASU with the State House of Assembly Committee Chairman on Tertiary Education, Hon. Abdulwahab Opakunle and his members, to ascertain the level of work done on the project.

The project, according to her, was at about 48 per cent completion stage, pointing out that the level of work done was not commensurate with the amount released by the past administration.

The commissioner reiterated the present administration’s commitment to ensuring that the project is completed and put to use in good time.

Some students of St. Michael College, Benin, winners of SEPLAT PEARLs QUIZ Competition, with oďŹƒcials of the organisers, government oďŹƒcial and Benin royal chiefs, displaying their prizes

St. Michael’s College Benin Wins Seplat/NPDC Quiz Contest Adibe Emenyonu in Benin City St. Michael’s College, Benin City, Edo State has emerged winner of the Seplat Pearls Quiz completion with a total of 54 points to defeat Macmell Academy, Sapele, Delta State, which scored 35 points to the second position.

The quiz competition was organised by Seplat Petroleum Development Company, in association with the Nigeria Petroleum Development Company (NPDC) Joint Venture for schools in the host communities of Edo and Delta States.

The third position went to Gloryland Secondary School, Igarra, Akoko-Edo, Edo State,

while St. John’s Academy, Oleh, Delta State came fourth.

With this emergence, St. Michael’s College received N7 million cash prize, a trophy, while the students who participated in the competition got N100,000 cash gift each.

Similarly, Macmell Academy got a trophy, a cash prize of N3 million for the school and N75,000 each for the students that participated in the quiz challenge, while Gloryland Secondary School, with 65 points, got a cash prize of N1 million, a trophy, and N50,000 for the students. St. John’s Academy received a cash prize of N1 million and N10,000 for each of the students that participated

in the quiz competition.

Speaking at the event, the General Manager, External Affairs and Communication, Seplat Petroleum Development Company, Dr. Chioma Nwachukwu, said the yearly competition which is ninth in the series remained part of the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) of the organisers (Seplat/ NPDC) to impact on their immediate communities. “It is meant to impart quality knowledge to the students with the most modern method of learning.�

She disclosed that this year’s quiz completion began six months ago, adding that about 574 schools took part in

the competition. Besides, she said 45,140 students have been impacted since 2012 when the completion began.

The Seplat Petroleum general manager said in addition to the quiz competition, aimed at enhancing education in the country and impact positively on students, the company also has teachers’ empowerment programme by equipping them with all it takes to continue to impart knowledge in their students with modern techniques.

According to her, “the overall objective of the programme is designed to enhance academic performance of children and teaching technics for teachers for improve performance.�

Coal City Varsity Appoints Ihua Professor of Practice The Executive Director of Africa Polling Institute (API), Dr. Bell Ihua has been appointed a visiting Professor of Practice in the Faculty of Arts, Social and Management Sciences, Coal City University, Enugu State.

The Registrar of the University, Mrs. Loretta Udeh, in a letter, said the position of Professor of Practice is awarded to a distinguished individual of recognised professional standing, with a significant track record of senior professional experience.

The appointment she said will offer Ihua the opportunity

to draw from his extensive industry and professional experience to provide linkages for students between theoretical and conceptual knowledge and the practical application of tools.

The letter reads in parts: “Students at Coal City University will have the opportunity to learn about opinion polling, surveys and social research from Dr. Ihua in this new position.

He will be collaborating with the university to develop a new regional hub for opinion research that will promote good governance in South-east Nigeria

and beyond. “He will also be contributing to the university’s flagship entrepreneurial programme designed to focus not just on new business ventures and business growth, but on the development of the skills, attributes and behaviours of enterprising people, to be used in wide contexts (business, government, educational institutions, social enterprise, NGOs, etc.) to solve real-world business and societal problems.�

In his response, Ihua thanked the university for the opportu-

nity to contribute to enhance its work. “I am truly honoured to join Coal City University as a Visiting Professor of Practice, and excited about the opportunity to foster collaboration between ‘town and gown’ in my work.�

He noted that the appointment will offer him the opportunity to give back to the society. “I look forward to collaborating with other faculty members to stimulate growth and value creation on an institutional, regional, and national level.�

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CITYSTRINGS

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Rebuilding Lagos after EndSARS Protests Following the carnage that was the aftermath of the EndSARS protests in Lagos, Segun James looks at the efforts of the state government to put the state back on the path of growth again

Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu during his on-the-spot assessment of public and private properties destroyed by hoodlums after the EndSARS protests

F

or Lagos, the highjack of the #EndSARS protest was a long nightmare. It started as a protest by youths against the atrocities of a police department, the Special Anti Robbery Squad (SARS), which had been terrorising them for years.

Angered by government’s indifference to the activities of the police, the youth took their protest to the Alausa Government House to demand that Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu should call the police to order.

For three days the protest became a carnival as the young men and women played music and dance. The governor, who was impressed by their conduct, promised that their grievance would be looked into immediately.

Then, some hoodlums infiltrated the movement and started attacking vehicles and people.

Alarmed at the turn of event, Governor Sanwo-Olu appealed to the youth at Alausa to disband and go home. They agreed as they peacefully dispersed.

But that was not to be at the other protest venue at the Lekki Toll Plaza in Victoria Island.

The youth refused to leave, and when a curfew was instituted, men of the Nigerian Army were dispatched to the scene.

The attack on the protesters by the army triggered three days of violent orgy by hoodlums. Hundreds of buses owned by the state government were burnt, police stations were destroyed, policemen killed while government and private properties were set ablaze and the oldest courthouse in the country along with millions of historical legal materials was razed. It was a carnage. At the end of it, Lagos resembled a war zone.

Who could have set the nation's oldest courthouse on fire? What was the motivation behind this action that has set the state back?

Now, the state is set to rebuild. It was with this in mind that Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu has set up the Healing Lagos Initiative.

The people were horrified, the nation was stupefied by the atrocity. Few states, except during the Nigerian Civil War have suffered such a nightmare so devastating as the aftermath of the protest, and worse still, fewer have been prepared for such calamity that followed.

Security threats world over are no longer about territorial dispute and military confrontations, they are fast including nontraditional political threats like protests arising from political, economic and social issues. In Lagos it was a protest against police brutality.

Contrasting worlds collided in Lagos. It is the economic powerhouse of the federation.

Lagos epitomises everything Nigeria. But Lagos scarcely disappoints with its capacity to produce

uplifting situations. Governor Sanwo-Olu has lived up to this with his Healing Lagos Initiative.

Since 1999, Lagos has always proved pundits wrong with its capacity to rise from the ashes to the zenith. This can be attested by the fact the that state’s economy is the fifth highest in the Africa. It has been blessed by a set of reformist and progressive governors who pride themselves on the pragmatic development of the city-state.

Sanwo-Olu since coming to government has taken the challenges that face the state with gusto. Since 2019, he has done the same as his predecessors by pulling off one of the most impressive government among states in the country. In fact the state has become the model for others in the federation.

Rebuilding Lagos Lagos has made extraordinary strides in recent times. The growth in per capital incomes is the greatest in the country. And last year, it was the largest contributor to the nation's GDP and VAT income.

Shout "Population growth", many people immediately think Lagos and resources under stress. That is why the arson attack on major infrastructures in the state was alarming. Why burn down facilities that are already bursting on the seams and not enough for the population expansion?

Lagos is one state where at least 100 people arrive every hour without any intention of leaving. The pressure on the infrastructure is high and the government is trying hard to meet the demand, especially in the area of transportation, waste management and road network.

Today to rebuild the the state after the three day orgy of violence and carnage, the state government needs at least one one trillion Naira!

Yet, the entire budget of the state for year is just a little over this sum. How does the state government find solution to these problem?

The first thing that the government is doing is taking the rebuilding effort one at a time.

Governor Sanwo-Olu has set up a board to oversee the new transformation. Headed by a renown banker and chairman of Citibank Nigeria, Mr. Yemi Cardoso, the eight-man Board of the Lagos Rebuild Trust Fund, will plan, execute and ensure the speedy completion of the destroyed facilities.

Sanwo-Olu, at the inauguration of the board, said government decided to put the criminal destruction behind it and face the huge and necessary task of rebuilding the state. The government, he said, would be embracing new standards of governance and building stronger

partnerships, which would enable the state to bequeath stronger institutions and cohesion among residents.

He said many friends and admirers of the state have been calling to lend a hand in rebuilding the razed assets. “In the last few weeks, we have been inundated with local and global offers of assistance to rebuild our state and recover all we lost to arson and violence in October. It is obvious that we can no longer wait to begin the onerous task of reconstructing Lagos. In the next few days, our government will be sending a bill to the House of Assembly for the establishment of a Trust Fund to Rebuild Lagos. “Today, I am signing an Executive Order to set up an eight-man Lagos Rebuild Trust Fund Committee, which will begin to oversee our recovery process. To ensure the highest standards of probity, transparency and accountability, FBN Trustees headed by Mr. Kunle Awojobi will oversee the Lagos Rebuild Trust Fund Committee.

The committee m will comprise five members from the private sector, two members from the public sector and one member from the International Donor Aid Community. “We will embrace new standards of governance and build stronger partnerships, stronger people, stronger institutions, and stronger Lagos. Our strength lies in our uncanny ability to overcome the most complicated challenges because we have people who genuinely love Lagos State and will assiduously do all they can to preserve its peace and unity.�

Sanwo-Olu said the Trust Fund would be responsible for getting detailed cost of restructuring and rebuilding of destroyed assets. The funds, he added, will also advise the state government on the most critical assets to prioritise and identify emergency response service critically needed.

The rebuilding plan, the governor said, will be all-inclusive, stressing that the government would welcome support and contributions from well-meaning individuals and corporate organisations who believe in the Lagos Dream.

His words: “I believe this is the starting point of a new socio-economic process. I am hopeful that this initiative will help us to seamlessly make the transition to a rebuilt Lagos with upgraded public structures, facilities and amenities. I know that the ashes that presently dot our landscape will birth modern and globally acceptable infrastructure. “At the centre of this decisive action to rebuild Lagos is the need to closely work with the people and organisations who call Lagos home; those who believe in the Lagos Dream, and those who share our collective vision of a mega-city that thrives on peace and unity

among all ethnic groups. Those who know that the future of Lagos is tied to our ability to keep nurturing our state and those who are ready to commit their resources to the glory of our state, because their future is the future of Lagos.�

Other members of the Trust Fund’s Board are the Managing Partner, Olaniwun Ajayi LP, Prof. Konyinsola Ajayi, SAN; Chief Executive Officer of Sterling Bank, Mr. Abubakar Suleiman; Co-founder and CEO, Flutterwave; Mr. Gbenga Agboola; Vice Chairman, Standard Chartered Bank, Mrs. Bola Adesola - all representing the private sector - and a representative of an International Donor Agency.

The Commissioner for Economic Planning and Budget, Mr. Sam Egube, and Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Works and Infrastructure, Engr. Jimi Hotonou, are members of the Board representing the public sector.

As part of government’s objectives to fully heal the wounds of the crisis, the governor also announced six other committees. They are: Business Continuity Committee; Assessment Committee; Execution, Measurement and Evaluation Committee, Communication and Engagement Committee, Trust Fund Implementation Committee and Security and Enforcement Committee.

With the move, Sanwo-Olu expressed optimism that the state would attain new heights of development for a more resilient system and become more united in achieving its development goals.

As part of the Rebuilding Lagos move, Sanwo-Olu, assured Lagosians that the state government would complete the ongoing construction of the Lagos-Badagry Expressway.

He said his government is committed to the construction of the Lagos-Badagry Expressway, saying that the delay of work on the road was based on the government's plan to build a first-class infrastructure that people would be proud of when completed.

"I want to assure you that the Lagos-Badagry Expressway would be completed. The road was just a two-lane way, but the government has turned it into 10 lanes, five on both sides. We are doing a complete rebuild of the road, with bridges and interchanges. We are building a road that will last for 30 to 40years for you. And because we know that this is an international gateway, it does not deserve anything less. We are building a first-class road infrastructure that all of you would be proud of."

As the starts the rebuilding efforts, Sanwo-Olu has vowed that never again will such atrocities be allowed in the state that prides itself as the Centre of Excellence.

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CRIME&SECURITY

CAPPA Petitions ICC, UN High-Commissioner over Lekki Shooting, Seek Justice for Victims Sunday Ehigiator

T

he Corporate Accountability and Public Participation Africa (CAPPA) has petitioned the International Criminal Court (ICC) and the office of United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, to institute an inquiry into what it tagged, 'the brutal deployment of firearms against peaceful protesters at Lekki and other acts since October 8'.

In a statement signed by the Executive Director, CAPPA, Akinbode Oluwafemi, and made available to journalists during a press conference, the group said the petition was in response to the shrinking civic space following #EndSARS protests and Lekki killings.

"You must agree with me that events in the country have been unsettling since October 4, 2020 when the viral video of a young Nigerian who was shot in Ughelli, Delta state by men of the Special Anti-Robbery (SARS), who then dumped him by the roadside and sped away with his car, was released online.

"Other similar patterns of police brutality meted out on Nigerians, especially the youth population who are often profiled, dehumanised, extorted or killed followed in quick succession. “These agonizing incidents were very quickly matched with protests and outcry

by Nigerians, championed by the youth population on October 8, 2020.

"These developments thereafter, have not only exposed the rot in our system, but have also revealed the enemies of the people who will do everything and anything in their power to stifle the core principles of human rights and democracy.

"What started out as a well-coordinated and peaceful demand on the Nigerian government to disband the dreaded Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) due to their high-handedness, brutality and extrajudicial killings has become the litmus test of the sustainability of our brand of democracy.

"The #EndSARS protesters were not only organised, but they were also leaderless and tactful. Beyond the reform of the police, they were concerned about the state of the nation and wanted true changes that would ultimately benefit every citizen of

L-R: Executive Director of Center for Anti-corruption and Open Leadership (CACOL), Debo Adeniran; Convener of the Youths Right Campaign (YRC), Comrade Soweto; Executive Director, Corporate Accountability and Public Participation Africa (CAPPA), Akinbode Oluwafemi; Associate Director, Corporate Accountability and Public Participation Africa (CAPPA), Aderonke Ige, and Executive Director, Peace and Development Project (PEDEP), Abayomi Francis this nation. But all that changed when state-sponsored.

"The climax of this show of shame started at about 6:50pm on October 20, 2020, when peaceful #EndSARS protesters gathered at the Lekki toll gate area of Lagos were savagely attacked and shot at sporadically by men of the Nigerian Army.

"In the horrific circumstance, protesters wailed, sang the national anthem and waved the Nigerian flag in the air while others attended to the wounded and even performed life saving, mini surgical operations right there, removing bullets from the fallen and wounded.

"Lagos State Governor Sanwo-Olu initially claimed that no lives were lost at the Lekki Toll Gate that night, but later said in an interview with Cable News Network (CNN) that two persons were killed. Compare this to the accounts from protesters who were there.

"However, four #EndSars protesters Perpetual Kamsiyuchukwu, Dabiraoluwa Adeyinka Honey Ayuku and Samuel Isah on Saturday, November 14, while testifying at the Judicial Panel of Inquiry in Lagos, provided a list of 22 protesters who died because of the Lekki shooting.

"The army’s response since the incident is best described as a moving target. Initially it denied its men were at the scene of the killings and then changed this statement days after, explaining that its men were there but they did not shoot. In another breath the army contradicted itself, reaffirming that its men were at Lekki but only shot blank bullets into the air."

Speaking about the petition, Oluwafemi said 10,027 individuals, and 154 organisations from over 75 countries around the world signed it.

"With justice seemingly distant, we had no option than to seek help elsewhere. On

October 23, 2020 CAPPA began collating signatures for the International Criminal Court (ICC) and U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights to institute an inquiry into the brutal deployment of firearms against peaceful protesters at Lekki and other acts of human rights abuses that have happened across the country, especially since October 8.

"We decided to approach the ICC and the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights to open an international inquiry into the killing and maiming of #EndSARS protesters as well as identified individuals who actively and covertly promoted and instigated violence on the peaceful protesters."

He finally revealed that the petition was delivered to ICC and the UN High Commissioner on Friday, November 20, 2020, coincidentally exactly a month after the Lekki incident.

Allegations of Political Victimisation Trail Arrest of Three Traders in Police Custody r ...As accuser maintains stance suspects tried to kill her Chiamaka Ozulumba A trader at Ogige Market, in Nsukka Local Government Area of Enugu State, Obiora Asogwa, has alleged that his brother and two other traders arrested in connection with the shooting of the chairman of Ogige Market Traders Association, Nsukka, OMATAN, Dr. Ngozi Ozioko, were suffering political victimisation from the market boss.

Asogwa alleged that the OMATAN chairman and her daughter were shot by stray bullets from one of the security personnel guarding the market.

He said the security guard accompanied the market leader to her residence after attending a social function at Ede Oballa community in the council area.

Calling on the government to secure the unconditional release of his brother, Emmanuel Asogwa, and two others, Okezie Attah, and Damian Ugwuanyi, he bemoaned their continued detention by the police.

Claiming the market leader saw them as oppositions, he lamented that they were accused of a crime they know nothing about to allegedly enable her return unopposed for her second tenure as the chairman of the association.

He said "The OMATAN chairman, Ngozi Ozioko, wrote a petition to the police, alleging that , Emmanuel Asogwa, Okezie Attah and Damian Eze sent the boys who attempted to assasinate her on September 26, 2020. “They were arrested two days after the

Chairman of OMATAN, Ngozi Ozioko

One of the suspects, Emmanuel Asogwa before his arrest

incident but the truth is that the OMATAN chairman and her daughter were shot by a local security guard attached to the market who accompanied her to a social function at Ede Oballa. “They followed her home after the event and to announce her arrival, shot at the air.

However, one of the security personnel had a problem with his gun and had brought it down to fix it when bullets escaped from the barrel and caught them.

"They were rushed to the Bishop Shanahan Hospital in Nsukka where the daughter was

treated but the medical personnel referred the chairman to Enugu because her case was critical.

"The allegation that some boys traced her to her residence and shot at her is false and a ploy to decieve the public in order to achieve political gains.

"She is holding the three men because she sees them as the only opposition who could stop her from winning her second tenure as the OMATAN chairman. “Though, none of them is contesting for the election because they are still in detention,

she knows they have the power to talk to the traders and make great impact. “I have been making efforts through the magistrate court at Enugu to secure their bail, but police have been frustrating me."

However, the OMATAN chairman, in her reaction from the hospital bed in Enugu, where she is still receiving treatment, alleged the suspects masterminded the assassination attempt on her life.

She said: “I am not afraid of allegations because truth will prevail at the end of the day. I have been working with the security men since my election last four years and they didn't shoot me until now that my first tenure is coming to end.

"They masterminded those who came to assassinate me. Ogige Market is not worth dying for and should not make somebody to go and kill. Why are they talking about election?

"Just two days after I went to thank Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi for the pipe borne water he is sinking in the market, I was attacked. “I have been receiving endorsement since last year from people who appreciate the efforts I am making to reposition the market for the better. Anyone who wishes to contest for any position should go for it. “Why are they after my life? I thank God that I didn't die on the spot because the person they sent asked me if it was my birthright to be the chairman of the market association. The attack is from the market."

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BUSINESS/MONEYGUIDE

Hope PSBank Commences Operations Nume Ekeghe Hope PSBank, a subsidiary of Unified Payment Services Limited and Nigeria’s premier digital-first bank has commenced operations.

The payment service bank has promised seamless digital banking in its bid to drive financial inclusion in the Nigerian banking ecosystem. The bank has also set a target of a minimum of 10 million customers in its first year of operation.

Speaking at the launch, the Managing Director, Hope PSBank, Mr. Ayotunde Kuponiyi, said the bank was ready to redefine financial and payment services by driving inclusion through the leverage of digital technologies.

Kuponiyi added that setting up of the bank was in line with the objective of the Central Bank of Nigeria to enhance financial inclusion. He said: “When the

inclusion rate in an economy is high, the citizens of that economy will have access to credit/finance, will be able to save, have access to insurance, grow cottage industries, employ more staff, unemployment rate is reduced, the employment citizens are able to pay tax, government will have more revenue to provide infrastructure and this will and generally improve the standard of living of the citizens.�

On his firms’ target, he said: “At Hope PSBank, our target in terms of agency is 50,000 in the first year and for customers we are looking at a minimum of 10 million in one year.�

He explained further that beyond financial inclusiveness which the bank hopes to achieve, it would serve as a platform to empower the people with many becoming agents thus leading to job creation and alleviation

of poverty.

According to him, Hope PSBank offers a competitive edge among its competitors, saying the bank would deliver financial services to customers with ease, convenience, affordability and access unhindered. “This is a bank that leverages technology by bringing financial and payment services as well as tailor-made solutions closer to everyone across different channels regardless of economic or social status and location,� he added.

Also speaking at the launch, the Executive Governor of Lagos State, who was represented by the Commissioner of Finance, Mr. Rabiu Olowo, commended promoters of Hope PSBank for making the dream of a digital bank a reality, stating that the state government is committed to creating enabling environment for such innovation to thrive.

L-R: Kaduna Electric’s Head, Corporate Communication, Abdulazeez Abdullahi; Head, Admin. & Security, Mohammed Haro; and Managing Director, Engr. Garba Haruna, during Haruna’s conferment with Fellowship of the Solar Energy Society of Nigeria in Sokoto‌ recently

Winners Emerge in UBA Foundation’s National Essay Competition Winners yesterday emerged in the National Essay Competition (NEC) of UBA Foundation, the corporate social responsibility arm of the United Bank for Africa (UBA).

The virtual ceremony that was attended by high school students from across the nation revealed that for the fourth consecutive year, females led the competition with14 year-old Eshiet Abasiekeme of Bright Stars Model Secondary School from Akwa-Ibom state taking home this year’s winning prize.

Eshiet received an educational grant of N2.5 million, to study in any African university of her choice. She will also be supported throughout her educational career

and beyond with constant mentoring by the UBA Foundation.

The second prize was awarded to 14 year old Mofuluwake Adesanya of Spring Forte-Lead College, Lagos State, who won a N2 million educational grant, whilst the third prize of N1.5 million went to Abdulganiyy Habeeba, 16 years old. Abdulganiyy attends the International School, University of Lagos.

Eshiet and the 11 other finalists also won brand new lap tops.

In his opening remarks, the Group Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of UBA Plc, Mr. Kennedy Uzoka, commended all 12 finalists, saying UBA was happy to be touching lives and making a solid impact through

its NEC, which is now in its 10th edition.

He was very pleased about the fact that more females again came out tops this year, adding that notwithstanding the constraints and challenges of 2020, the Foundation received the highest number of entries ever, at over 12,000 digital submissions.

Uzoka who is also the Chairman, UBA Foundation added, “The NEC has been changing lives positively for 10 years, and we have awarded scholarships to students not just in Nigeria but in other parts of Africa like Ghana, Sierra Leone and Senegal.

Some of these students are already graduates and contributing meaningfully to their communities.

NetPlusDotCom Partners FCMB on Contactless Payment Fintech and payment service provider, NetPlusDotCom has gone into a partnership with First City Monument Bank (FCMB), to develop and deploy a notification service for merchants that enables account transfer payment notification on point of sale (PoS) devices and merchant apps.

The service, running on the NIBSS Instant Payment (NIP) platform, will make it easier for merchants with an FCMB account and their customers to transact on existing PoS payment infrastructure already provided by the bank.

With the challenges posed by the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, payment service providers and financial institutions have gone the extra mile

to make financial transactions more secure, safer and easier for all segments of the society.

Instant money transfer is one of the leading digital payment channels in Nigeria. It has been established that innovating and improving the user experience is a major boost for the entire ecosystem.

Speaking on the service, the Founder and CEO of NetPlusDotCom, Mr. Wole Faroun, said: “We are excited about this development in collaboration with FCMB. We want to make it possible for local business owners to get payment confirmation for Bank transfers made by their customers and provide a working alternative to card payment in Nigeria. “Through existing PoS devices and Merchant Apps, we

are providing a quicker and more convenient means to transact, especially now that every aspect of our lives is going virtual, we need to limit contact as much as possible�.

Also commenting, the Divisional Head, Transaction Banking of FCMB, Mrs. Rolayo Akhigbe, stated that: “As almost all aspects of our lives become virtual, there is a need to continuously proffer convenient solutions that will cater to the transacting needs of our customers. This new development by Netplus aligns with FCMB’s vision to be a key partner in supporting local businesses through innovative and convenient means. We are more than happy to be part of this initiative.

Kaduna Electric CEO Now SESN Fellow The Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Kaduna Electricity Distribution Company, Engr. Garba Haruna has been conferred with the fellowship of the Solar Energy Society of Nigeria (SESN).

The 38th annual conference of the Solar Energy Society of Nigeria, SESN held in Sokoto, recently, saw the Society conferring Fellowship on some distinguished Nigerians. In the investiture which had in attendance, the Governor of Kebbi State, Senator Abubakar Atiku Bagudu, Haruna

was described as, ‘’a consummate Engineer and a seasoned technocrat whose contributions to the development of the various field of engineering in Nigeria and beyond is invaluable’’.

According to a statement, the President of the Solar Energy Society of Nigeria, Prof. I. J. Dioha applauded the support being given to the society by Haruna and urged him to continue to be a worthy ambassador of the Solar Energy Society of Nigeria.

Haruna was also applauded for his role in promoting standardisa-

tion and safety in the Engineering profession in Nigeria.

Dioha averred that Nigeria stands to benefit a lot if the abundant solar resources is harnessed and put to good use.

In a keynote address, the Governor of Kebbi State, Senator Atiku Bagudu called for synergy between policy makers and scientists to drive the renewable energy potential of the country, warning that the era of hydrocarbon was long over, saying, “the world shall not wait for us.�

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™Ă&#x;ĂœĂ?Ă? Ě‹

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™Ă˜Ă?ĂžĂ‹ĂœĂŁ ÙÖÓĂ?ĂŁ Ă‹ĂžĂ? Ě‹ ͯ͹Ϲ

OPEC DAILY BASKET PRICE Ëœ Í°Íą Í°ÍŽÍ°ÍŽ

The price of OPEC basket of thirteen crudes stood at $44.75 a barrel on Monday, compared with $43.38 the previous Friday, 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

41

T H I S D AY Ëž Í°ÍłËœ Í°ÍŽÍ°ÍŽ

NSE All-Share Index Rises 0.65% as Stock Market Rebounds Goddy Egene The stock market rebounded yesterday which made the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) All-Share Index (ASI) to rise by 0.65 per cent to close at 34,340.56, after a negative start on Monday.

The market had depreciated the previous day following continued profit taking that depressed the prices of 46 stocks as against five that

appreciated.

However, the trend was reversed yesterday as 26 stocks appreciated compared with 16 others depreciated. United Capital Plc led the price gainers with 9.5 per cent, trailed by Fidelity Bank Plc with 9.4 per cent. Mutual Benefits Assurance Plc chalked up 8.7 per cent, just as Cornerstone Insurance Plc and Union Diagnostic and Clinical Services Plc garnered 8.6 per cent and 8.0 per

P R I C E S MAIN BOARD

F O R DEALS

respectively.

Sterling Bank Plc and Union Bank of Nigeria Plc went up by 7.6 per cent and 7.2 per cent in that order. Both banks were among those that released their nine months last week.

For instance, Union Bank of Nigeria Plc recorded gross earnings of N118.8 billion in 2020, indicating a six per cent growth from N111.9 billion posted in the corresponding period of 2019. Profit before tax

S E C U R I T I E S

MARKET PRICE

QUANTITY TRADED

VALUE TRADED ( N )

rose two per cent from N15.5 billion to N15.9 billion in 2019.

Commenting on the results, Chief Executive Officer of Union Bank, Emeka Emuwa, had said notwithstanding the realities of a tougher operating environment arising from the ripple effects of the Covid-19 pandemic, the bank delivered a six per cent growth in gross earnings from N111.9 billion in nine months to N118.8

T R A D E D MAIN BOARD

A S

billion in nine months 2020..

According to him, the bank reached a major milestone as our customer deposits crossed the N1 trillion mark this quarter, growing by 28 per cent to N1.1 trillion compared to N886.3 billion at the end of 2019. “This reflects increasing customer loyalty and our intense retail drive. Our customer acquisition strategy has been reinforced by the versatility of our digital platforms and

O F

channels which continue to drive customer satisfaction,� he said.

Meanwhile, Eterna Plc led the price losers with 9.9 per cent, trailed by Fidson Healthcare Plc with 9.8 per cent. Champion Breweries Plc shed 9.4 per cent. Julius Berger Nigeria Plc went down by 8.9 per cent, just as Chams Plc and Livestock Feeds Plc lost 8.3 per cent and 5.5 per cent in that order.

2 4 / 1 1 / 2 0 2 0 DEALS

MARKET PRICE

QUANTITY TRADED

VALUE TRADED ( N)

42

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 25, 2020 ˾ T H I S D AY

MARKET NEWS

AXAMansard Shareholders to Approve Shares Consolidation Goddy Egene

has fixed December 7, 2020, for the extra-ordinary general meeting (EGM)in Lagos.

AXA Mansard Insurance Plc 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

The EGM, according to a notification to the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), would

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 23Nov-2020, unless otherwise stated.

enable the shareholders approve the proposal by the board and management of

the company to carry out the share consolidation and issuance of bonus shares

exercise required to take the company’s share capital to N18 billion.

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

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

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

DAILY PRICE LIST FOR MUTUAL FUNDS, REITS and ETFS MUTUAL FUNDS / UNIT TRUSTS AFRINVEST ASSET MANAGEMENT LTD aaml@afrinvest.com Web: www.afrinvest.com; Tel: +234 818 885 6757 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Afrinvest Equity Fund N/A N/A N/A Afrinvest Plutus Fund N/A N/A N/A Nigeria International Debt Fund N/A N/A N/A Afrinvest Dollar Fund N/A N/A N/A 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 1.02 1.04 13.67% ACAP Income Funds 0.85 0.85 11.30% 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 3.09% AIICO Balanced Fund 3.75 3.88 53.23% 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 100.00 100.00 1.03% Anchoria Equity Fund 127.73 128.18 20.20% Anchoria Fixed Income Fund 1.46 1.46 21.92% 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 17.85 18.39 16.53% ARM Discovery Balanced Fund 395.80 407.73 14.58% ARM Ethical Fund 33.60 34.61 15.53% ARM Eurobond Fund ($) 1.19 1.20 19.41% ARM Fixed Income Fund 1.13 1.13 13.19% ARM Money Market Fund 1.00 1.00 1.30% AXA MANSARD INVESTMENTS LIMITED investmentcare@axamansard.com Web: www.axamansard.com; Tel: +2341-4488482 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn AXA Mansard Equity Income Fund 120.89 121.74 25.82% AXA Mansard Money Market Fund 1.00 1.00 1.82% CAPITAL EXPRESS ASSET AND TRUST LIMITED info@capitalexpressassetandtrust.com Web: www.capitalexpressassetandtrust.com ; Tel: +234 803 307 5048 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn CEAT Fixed Income Fund 2.31 2.31 22.25% Capital Express Balanced Fund(Formerly: Union Trustees Mixed Fund) 2.27 2.31 48.91% CHAPELHILL DENHAM MANAGEMENT LTD investmentmanagement@chapelhilldenham.com Web: www.chapelhilldenham.com, Tel: +234 461 0691 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Chapelhill Denham Money Market Fund N/A N/A N/A Paramount Equity Fund N/A N/A N/A Women's Investment Fund N/A N/A N/A CORDROS ASSET MANAGEMENT LIMITED assetmgtteam@cordros.com Web: www.cordros.com, Tel: 019036947 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Cordros Money Market Fund 100.00 100.00 1.77% Cordros Milestone Fund 2023 126.54 127.16 Cordros Milestone Fund 2028 150.36 151.86 Cordros Dollar Fund ($) 107.29 107.29 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 100.00 100.00 1.21% EDC Nigeria Money Market Fund Class B 1,000,000.00 1,000,000.00 1.84% EDC Nigeria Fixed Income Fund 1,191.98 1,209.19 7.62% 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 1,483.90 1,485.46 24.91% FBN Balanced Fund 178.92 180.52 21.86% FBN Halal Fund 110.74 110.77 10.74% FBN Money Market Fund 100.00 100.00 1.76% FBN Nigeria Eurobond (USD) Fund - Institutional 119.41 119.82 5.85% FBN Nigeria Eurobond (USD) Fund - Retail 119.59 120.00 5.47% FBN Smart Beta Equity Fund 145.60 147.85 11.89% FCMB ASSET MANAGEMENT LIMITED fcmbamhelpdesk@fcmb.com Web: www.fcmbassetmanagement.com; Tel: +234 1 462 2596 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Legacy Money Market Fund N/A N/A N/A Legacy Debt Fund N/A N/A N/A Legacy Equity Fund N/A N/A N/A Legacy USD Bond Fund N/A N/A N/A FSDH ASSET MANAGEMENT LTD coralfunds@fsdhgroup.com Web: www.fsdhaml.com; Tel: 01-270 4884-5; 01-280 9740-1 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Coral Growth Fund 3,567.58 3,611.12 17.14% Coral Income Fund 3,229.48 3,229.48 5.21% FSDH Treasury Bills Fund 100.00 100.00 3.48% 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 2.06% Nigeria Entertainment Fund 125.05 125.58 17.69%

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 1.94% Vantage Balanced Fund 2.81 2.87 28.55% Vantage Guaranteed Income Fund 1.00 1.00 7.50% Kedari Investment Fund (KIF) 156.00 156.93 8.89% 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 1.34 1.44 22.38% Lotus Halal Fixed Income Fund 1,144.39 1,144.39 10.02% 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 1.60 1.63 29.84% PACAM Fixed Income Fund 12.07 12.17 7.19% PACAM Money Market Fund 10.00 10.00 2.38% PACAM Equity Fund 1.54 1.55 PACAM EuroBond Fund 108.10 110.52 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 135.11 137.85 16.53% SFS CAPITAL NIGERIA LTD investments@sfsnigeria.com Web: www.sfsnigeria.com, Tel: +234 (01) 2801400 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn SFS Fixed Income Fund 1.01 1.01 8.51% STANBIC IBTC ASSET MANAGEMENT LTD assetmanagement@stanbicibtc.com Web: www.stanbicibtcassetmanagement.com; Tel: +234 1 280 1266; 0700 MUTUALFUNDS Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Stanbic IBTC Balanced Fund 2,521.35 2,532.80 24.58% Stanbic IBTC Bond Fund 210.33 210.33 6.14% Stanbic IBTC Ethical Fund 0.88 0.89 24.44% Stanbic IBTC Guaranteed Investment Fund 273.87 273.95 7.29% Stanbic IBTC Iman Fund 154.92 156.64 29.69% Stanbic IBTC Money Market Fund 100.00 100.00 1.39% Stanbic IBTC Nigerian Equity Fund 7,674.15 7,756.30 21.48% Stanbic IBTC Dollar Fund (USD) 1.22 1.22 5.06% Stanbic IBTC Shariah Fixed Income Fund 110.59 110.59 6.12% 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 12.07 12.22 17.46% Zenith Ethical Fund 13.41 13.54 15.42% Zenith Income Fund 24.85 24.85 9.37% Zenith Money Market Fund 1.00 1.00 1.94%

REITS NAV Per Share

Fund Name SFS Skye Shelter Fund

Yield / T-Rtn

119.82

6.73%

53.51

2.80%

Bid Price

Offer Price

Yield / T-Rtn

11.51 114.72 87.40

11.61 114.72 89.04

36.62% 20.15% 16.35%

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

funds@vetiva.com Bid Price

Offer Price

Yield / T-Rtn

4.02

4.06

17.10%

Vetiva Consumer Goods Exchange Traded Fund

5.70

5.78

-3.58%

Vetiva Griffin 30 Exchange Traded Fund Vetiva Money Market Fund Vetiva Industrial Goods Exchange Traded Fund

15.76 1.00 16.21

15.86 1.00 16.41

30.97% 2.17% 55.44%

231.94

233.94

23.18%

NAV Per Share

Yield / T-Rtn

107.71

13.11%

Fund Name Vetiva Banking Exchange Traded Fund

Vetiva S&P Nigeria Sovereign Bond Exchange Traded Fund

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.

WEDNESDAY NOVEMBER 25, 2020 • T H I S D AY

43

44

WEDNESDAY NOVEMBER 25, 2020 ˾ T H I S D AY

INTERNATIONAL

Sputnik V COVID-19 Vaccine 95% Effective, Says Russia EU announces latest vaccine contract with Moderna Russia Tuesday said a second interim analysis of clinical trial data on Sputnik V Covid-19 vaccine shows it is 95 per cent effective.

The two-dose vaccine will be available on international markets for less than $10 (8.40 euros) per dose, they said, and will be free for Russian citizens.

It can be stored at between two and eight degrees Celsius (between 35.6 and 46.4 degrees Fahrenheit), they said, instead of the temperatures below freezing required for some other vaccines.

The calculations of its effectiveness were based on preliminary data obtained 42 days after the first dose, Russia’s health ministry, the state-run Gamaleya research center and the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) said in a statement.

The statement said that the vaccine had shown 91.4 percent effectiveness 28 days after the first dose, a figure based on 39 cases.

Forty-two days later, after a second dose, data showed “an efficacy of the vaccine above 95 percent.”

It did not note the number of coronavirus cases used to make the final calculation, however.

“The second analysis was conducted a week after volunteers got the second dose, meaning that

their bodies have partially reacted to both doses,” Gamaleya’s director Alexander Gintsburg said in the statement.

He said the centre expects the efficacy rate to be “even higher” three weeks after the second dose.

The statement said that 22,000 volunteers had been vaccinated with the first dose and more than 19,000 with both doses.

Overseas trials of the vaccine are also taking place in the United Arab Emirates, Venezuela, Belarus and other countries.

Russia in August became the first country to register a coronavirus vaccine but did so ahead of the large-scale clinical trials that are still underway.

Last month, President Vladimir Putin announced that Russia had registered a second coronavirus vaccine, EpiVacCorona, as a global race heats up in producing an effective vaccine to combat the pandemic, which has now claimed the lives of nearly 1.4 million people.

Putin last week said that Russia had manufacturing agreements in place with China and India and encouraged Brazil and South Africa to also mass-produce Russian-made vaccines.

Pharma giants Pfizer and BioNTech announced that their

virus vaccine is 95 percent effective, while US company Moderna said last week early results showed its candidate was 94.5 per cent effective.

Meanwhile, EU yesterday said it would sign a sixth contract for an upcoming coronavirus vaccine, this time for up to 160 million doses of a jab developed by US firm Moderna.

“According to the results of clinical trials, this vaccine could be

even if the Africans don’t like it,” he added, highlighting the Europeans’ impatience over the lack of Security Council action on the weeks-long fighting.

Earlier, South Africa, Niger, Tunisia and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines withdrew their request because envoys have yet to travel to Ethiopia, said one African diplomat.

“It is necessary to allow more time for the regional efforts that are being undertaken in this regard,” he had told AFP. The African Union announced on Friday that three former presidents had been appointed as special envoys to Ethiopia to help mediation efforts between the conflicting parties.

Forces loyal to Tigray’s ruling

The Biden transition team has announced a number of appointments to senior foreign policy positions yesterday.

According to the announcement, Antony Blinken will serve as the Biden Administration’s Secretary of State; Alejandro Mayorkas will serve as Secretary of Homeland Security; Avril Haines as Director of National Intelligence; Linda Thomas-Greenfield as U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations; Jake Sullivan as National Security Advisor; and John Kerry as Special Presidential Envoy for Climate.

Biden said upon the

party have been battling Ethiopian soldiers for nearly three weeks.

Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed has ordered the leaders of the northern region of Tigray to surrender ahead of a threatened all-out assault on its capital, Mekele.

Abiy launched the military campaign against the Tigray People’s Liberation Front on November 4, accusing it of attacking two federal military camps in the region, and of seeking to destabilize his government.

Hundreds of people are reported to have been killed, but a communications blackout has made claims from both sides difficult to verify.

England to Cut Quarantine Period for Travellers from Abroad Travellers to England from abroad could face a shorter period in quarantine from mid-December, the UK government announced Tuesday in a move welcomed by the battered aviation sector.

From December 15, travellers arriving by air, ferry or train can end their quarantine if testing negative for COVID-19 at least five days after their arrival.

New arrivals currently have to self-isolate for 14 days, while Britain has recorded more than 55,000 deaths of people testing positive for coronavirus, the highest figure in Europe.

“This is a hugely welcome step that will begin the process of

opening up international travel and restarting UK aviation,” trade body Airlines UK said in a statement, as the government prepares also to lift England’s lockdown next week.

Airlines UK, however, added that it wanted to see “a pre-departure or domestic testing regime that can remove safely the need for self-isolation altogether, as quickly as possible”.

This was echoed by Johan Lundgren, chief executive of British no-frills airline EasyJet. “We have always said that implementing an effective testing regime which reduces the length of quarantine is key to getting people travelling again,” he said in a

Brussels has previously signed contracts for hundreds of millions of doses of possible future vaccines from Johnson & Johnson, Sanofi-GSK, AstraZeneca, Pfizer-BionNTech and CureVac. Von der Leyen has said that the European Medicines Agency may next month give approval for the most promising vaccines, that have already submitted data from clinical trials.

“Between us we are setting up one of the most comprehensive Covid-19 vaccine portfolios in the world. This provides Europeans access to the most promising future vaccines under development so far,” she said.

“Of course, all vaccines from our portfolio will be evaluated very carefully by our European Medicines Agency, the EMA,” she added.

Biden Names Foreign Policy Team

UN Security Council to Meet on Ethiopia’s Tigray The UN Security Council was due to hold its first meeting on the conflict in Ethiopia’s dissident Tigray region Tuesday, amid division between European and African members over whether the closed-door discussion should take place.

France, Britain, Belgium, Germany and Estonia, backed by the United States, announced the virtual meeting would go ahead after African countries pulled out of organizing it.

“They say ‘Africans solutions to African problems.’ It is something that we have to respect only to a certain degree,” a European diplomat told AFP on condition of anonymity.

“At a certain moment, we have to put it on the agenda,

highly effective against Covid-19,” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said.

“Once the vaccine is indeed proven as safe and effective, every member state will receive it at the same time on a pro rata basis,” she said, in a brief statement.

Details of the contract, including any purchase options within the 160 million possible total number of doses, will be announced when it is signed on Wednesday.

statement.

Under the relaxed plans, passengers will have to book a private screening and quarantine beforehand.

Those who choose not to be tested will have to observe a two-week quarantine.

“Our new testing strategy will allow us to travel more freely, see loved ones and drive international business,” said Transport Secretary Grant Shapps.

“By giving people the choice to test on day five, we are also supporting the travel industry as it continues to rebuild out of the pandemic.”

announcement of his foreign policy team: “We have no time to lose when it comes to our national security and foreign policy. I need a team ready on Day One to help me reclaim America’s seat at the head of the table, rally the world to meet the biggest challenges we face, and advance our security, prosperity, and values. This is the crux of that team. These individuals are equally as experienced and crisis-tested as they are innovative and imaginative.

Their accomplishments in diplomacy are unmatched, but they also reflect the idea that we cannot meet the

profound challenges of this new moment with old thinking and unchanged habits — or without diversity of background and perspective. It’s why I’ve selected them.”

Blinken has been a key advisor to President-elect Biden closest advisors on foreign policy and was a key figure in the Obama Administration.

He was opposed to the plan to apply Israeli sovereignty in Judea and Samaria, but has stated that Biden would not punish Israel for such a move by withholding aid.

“Now, let me be clear about one thing, because

the vice president can clear about it himself. He would not tie our military assistance to Israel to any political decisions that it makes,” Blinken said.

“Israel’s security is challenged on a daily basis. They face existential threats every single day. And he’s made clear that he would not tie our military assistance to this. So that’s the one thing he’s… explicitly ruled out. Now, that’s probably the greatest point of leverage.

Well, again, it’s in our interest that Israel have the means to secure itself.

And that’s not something he would touch.”

45

WEDNESDAY, ÍşÍ˝Ëœ ͺ͸ͺ͸ Ëž T H I S D AY

PAGE FORTY-FIVE FG SPURNS UK PARLIAMENTARIANS’ THREAT OF SANCTION OVER RIGHTS ABUSE shooting of protesters at the Lekki Tollgate on October 20, calling, among others, for sanction against indicted Nigerian officials.

However, while the panYoruba socio-cultural group, Afenifere, and the Pan Niger Delta Forum (PANDEF) hailed the decision of the UK parliament, the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) said it was losing confidence in the UK lawmakers.

Also yesterday, there was an uproar on the floor of the Senate as senators demanded the setting aside of one per cent of proceeds from the Value Added Tax (VAT) to compensate Lagos State and others affected by the violence associated with the #ENDSARS protests nationwide.

Meanwhile, despite the federal government's protest over its earlier report on the Lekki Tollgate shootings, for which it demanded a retraction, the CNN yesterday aired a second report on the incident, in which it analysed CCTV footage tendered before the Lagos State Judicial Commission of Inquiry probing the matter, to show that soldiers fired at the protesters.

The UK Parliament's Petitions Committee had on Monday debated the motion “that this House has considered e-petition 554150, relating to Nigeria and the sanctions regime."

Petitions debates are general debates, which allow members of parliament from all parties to deliberate on crucial issues raised by one or more petitions, and put their concerns to government ministers.

A member of the Petitions Committee, Theresa Villiers MP, opened the debate, while the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office sent a minister to respond.

However, Mohammed in an exclusive interview with THISDAY said there was no reason for the federal government to be worried by the UK Parliament’s resolution.

The minister stated that what the UK Parliament relied on to arrive at its resolutions were fake news and hearsay.

Mohammed said: "The federal government is not panicky at all. The resolution of the UK Parliament is not necessarily the decision of the UK government. “And no responsible government will consider sanctioning the federal government based on fake news and hearsay without getting in touch with the government.

"Two issues - the resolution of the UK Parliament doesn't represent the position of the government of the UK and only the government can sanction and parliament can only make resolutions. “Secondly, we are very confident that no responsible government, no serious government, is going to consider imposing sanctions on other countries based on fake news and unverified videos. “They will also do

their own painstaking investigations and also ask for the side of the country.

So, we have no reason to panic at all because we know that all the evidence before them is fake newsnothing of big news.�

Also reacting to CNN’s second report, the minister said he had watched the video and there was nothing in it to disprove Nigeria's position that there were no fatalities arising from the Lekki Tollgate shootings as soldiers only fired blank bullets.

He added: “Nothing new - CNN is desperate and they are grasping at straws. I have watched the video. We have asked questions: where are the bodies they are claiming?

And it is very important to do that. CNN was never at the gate on 20th October “The BBC reporter that was there reported that the soldiers did not shoot into the crowd. And then the CNN is being clever by half. “The same CNN on October 23 on its Twitter handle tweeted that 38 lives were lost. A month later after their so-called intensive investigation, they came out and said only one person was killed. “And people are not even noticing this inconsistency.

The truth of the matter is that CNN has been caught in the glare of its own fake news and misinformation and it is just struggling and you know we have written an official letter to CNN. “The facts are clear. All the videos they are using, none of them can show us dead bodies. They claimed soldiers went and dumped the bodies elsewhere, so those people have no relations. “They have no parents, and a month after they can't come out and say my son and daughter went to the tollgate and did not come back. CNN was unprofessional, unfair and reckless.�

Afenifere, ACF, PANDEF Differ on Threats of Sanctions In their reaction to the parliamentary decisions, Afenifere and PANDEF hailed the resolutions to sanction Nigerian government officials.

The National Publicity Secretary of Afenifere, Mr. Yinka Odumakin, told THISDAY that Afenifere welcomes the decision to impose sanctions "on those with bloody hands to show that enlightened humanity is not impressed with their conduct and they are ostracised by decent people."

According to him, "Listening through the parliamentarians’ debate was some therapy to the horror we are going through in Nigeria which fascists unleashed on the polity and the Lai Mohammeds dancing on the graves of our young ones murdered in cold blood.

"The debate was a mark of honour for our shared

humanity and a serious indictment of our rulers without any milk of humanity for human lives.

Those who protect cows with all they have and even confess to paying a ransom to Fulani who lost cows in Kaduna years after having no tear for our massacred young ones and continue to malign them in death as if there is no God who rules in the affairs of men."

PANDEF’s spokesman, Mr. Ken Robinson, expressed the hope that the action of the British parliamentarians would serve as a warning to the federal government.

He said: "The decision of the British Parliament is understandable. It has been said that no country is an island on its own. Nigeria is part of the global community, whatever happens in this country, good or bad, could directly or indirectly, affect the whole world. “Therefore, the global community cannot afford to sit idle and watch things go wrong in Nigeria, and indeed any other country.

"There is no gainsaying the fact that the handling of the EndSARS protest was awful; things could have been done better. This is a democratic government and citizens have the right to express their disaffection peacefully. “That's what the young Nigerians did in the peaceful #EndSARS protests but unfortunately, they were brutalised and are now being demonised."

He added that the hiring of armed thugs to unleash terror on the peaceful protesters and the deployment of the military and police against the demonstrators were unnecessary.

But on its part, ACF said it was beginning to lose confidence in UK Parliament and will not want to make any comments on its deliberations about Nigeria.

Speaking in a telephone interview with THISDAY yesterday, the spokesman of the ACF, Mr. Emmanuel Yaweh, said the allegation against the former military Head of State, Gen. Yakubu Gowon (rtd), by a member of the UK Parliament made ACF lose confidence in them.

"We at the ACF are beginning to lose confidence in the UK lawmakers. “Only today a member of UK Parliament by name Mr. Tom Tugendhart took a swipe at our respected former Head of State, Gen. Yakubu Gowon, by accusing him of stealing half of the money in Nigeria's central bank, the CBN, and taking it to the UK. "Until the UK Parliament substantiates such wild claims, it will not serve any purpose discussing any of their proposals.

"The ACF is convinced that Gen. Gowon is the cleanest former Nigerian leader surviving.

"Where is the money this UK Parliamentarian has alleged he stole and kept? In which bank and under what name is it kept?

"Raising such wild allegations without substance in the UK against all Nigerians has become a hobby to its leaders. May be they want to recolonise us and steal our wealth as they did before and created a kingdom where the 'Sun never set'.

"If not barefaced theft, what were they doing all over the world, holding innocent Africans as slaves and plundering the weather of India. “Gen. Gowon resided in UK as a student at Warwick University. All those who knew him said he lived modestly. He has no property in Nigeria or any other place in the world.

"He is today in Nigeria living modestly. Until the UK Parliament provides evidence that Gowon stole half of the money in Central Bank of Nigeria when he was deposed, we at the ACF see the comments of their member as racially motivated to destroy African leaders, no matter how honest they may be.

"We at ACF have no time to discuss with such bigoted people.�

Senate Seeks 1% VAT to Compensate Riot-ravaged States There was an uproar on the floor of the Senate yesterday as senators debated a motion seeking to compensate states wracked by the violence associated with the recent #ENDSARS protests.

The Senate, after the debate asked the federal government to reserve one per cent of VAT proceeds for Lagos and other states badly hit by the violence.

However, the two senators from Lagos State, which was the most affected by the violence, Senators Oluremi Tinubu and Olamilekan Adeola, did not contribute to the debate.

While Tinubu sat all through the time the debate lasted, Adeola, left the chamber and didn't return until deliberation on the #EndSARS motion had ended.

The Senate in its resolution called on the federal government to set aside one per of VAT proceeds as compensation for Lagos and other affected states.

It also asked the government to set up a visitation panel to evaluate the extent of damage in the affected states.

It mandated its Committee on State and Local Government Affairs to ensure compliance by the panel.

The Senate resolutions were sequel to the adoption of two motions moved by Senator Olujimi Abiodun and Senator Gershom Bassey calling on the National Assembly to compensate states affected by the crises.

In their arguments, the two senators disclosed that large-scale destruction of public and private property, including police stations and other public facilities, and the residence of a serving and former lawmaker in

Lagos and Cross River States, occurred during the violence.

Olujimi lamented the extent of destruction suffered by the Southwest and Lagos State in particular.

She said private and public assets destroyed by hoodlums in Lagos were estimated to be over N1 trillion by the state Governor, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu. Bassey also lamented the crisis in Cross River State, saying that "it is unfortunate that what started as a peaceful protest was hijacked by hoodlums, unleashing terror on innocent citizens."

However, the debate took a different dimension when Senator Sani Musa (Niger East) said the compensation should include states suffering from banditry and Boko Haram attacks.

Musa, in his contribution, said: "Any intervention by the government should be holistic and not restricted to Lagos State or Calabar."

Other senators also said their states should be compensated.

Senator Abdullahi Adamu said any legislative motion on #ENDSARS will be prejudicial to the outcome of the judicial tribunals set up by states.

He suggested that the Senate should wait for the outcome of the tribunals.

On his part, the former Deputy President of the Senate, Senator Ike Ekweremadu, stated that the nation has not done enough to create jobs for the youth.

Senator Christopher Ekpenyong noted that politicians, especially the executive and the legislators, are fond of using the youth during electioneering and abandoning them after the election.

In his remarks, the President of the Senate, Dr. Ahmad Lawan, said there was a need to do more to provide better economic conditions for youth employment.

He added that the Senate needs to support security agencies to ensure the enforcement of law and order.

CNN Airs Second Report on Lekki Shootings Despite the federal government's protestation, the CNN yesterday broadcast a second report on the Lekki Tollgate shooting.

In the follow-up report, the international news channel said it obtained the CCTV footage of the October 20 incident submitted by the Lekki Concession Company (LCC) ahead of the judicial panel sitting.

The footage shows soldiers allegedly shooting at unarmed protesters on October 20.

The fresh report also showed the Commander, 81 Division, Brig.Gen Ahmed Taiwo, admitting, for the first time, before the judicial panel in Lagos that his men took live ammunition to the

tollgate.

The CNN report also highlighted the fact that Taiwo’s claim is at variance with the minister’s who had claimed last week that the army fired blank bullets.

The fresh report also showed protesters running as soldiers opened fire.

In its analysis, CNN said the footage reviewed at the panel sitting corroborated the timings it reported for the gunshots fired by soldiers but that it did not capture everything that happened. “The footage corroborates the timings CNN reported for the gunshots fired by the army. It also shows soldiers approaching protesters and firing shots. What is perhaps most notable is what’s missing. “At 6:47 p.m., the moment when CNN has video of the army appearing to fire directly at protesters, the surveillance camera pans away from the area. “The surveillance camera pans left and tilts up before reframing and struggling for focus. It is unclear if the camera pans away deliberately or whether the pan away is a poor choice by the CCTV operator,� it stated.

In its report, CNN quoted Taiwo as admitting that soldiers carried live ammunition to the protest ground. “For the protection of the force, we carried live bullets in case they were attacked. But the soldiers who formed the firing team, who fired as you could see in the video [‌] carried magazines charged with blank ammunition,â€? he said.

The Nigerian government had tagged the CNN investigation as fake news, threatening to sanction the broadcasting station for “irresponsible reporting.�

On Monday, in a letter addressed to the Vice President Communications at CNN, Jonathan Hawkins, Mohammed said the report “did not just fall short of journalistic standards but reinforces the disinformation that is going around on the issue.�

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46

WEDNESDAY, ÍşÍ˝Ëœ ͺ͸ͺ͸ Ëž T H I S D AY

NEWS CBN BATTLES RECESSION, RAISES COVID-19 FACILITY TO N300BN COVID-19- induced recession.

The apex bank, arising from its two-day meeting of the MPC, the last in 2020, resolved to leave all monetary policy parameters unchanged in continued efforts to stimulate economic growth.

The CBN retained the Monetary Policy Rate (MPR) otherwise known as interest rate at 11.5 per cent with the asymmetric corridor of +100/700 basis points around the MPR. It further retained the Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR) at 27.5 per cent as well as the Liquidity Ratio at 30 per cent.

The MPR is the rate which the apex bank lends to commercial banks and often determines the cost of funds.

Emefiele said increasing the targeted credit facility will, by boosting consumer spending, stimulate output and ensure that all the six geopolitical zones benefitted from the palliative.

He said: "We have been advised or nudged on by the MPC that given that this had been very impactful positively, that the CBN should do more.

"We have been told that we have to increase it not just from the N140 billion to N150 billion that it is now, but increase it to about N250 billion to N300 billion to accommodate more people that have not accessed this facility.

"But we do insist that this must be done in a way that it goes round because we found out that some zones are more represented in the country than others.

"But understand that a zone like North-central, where we have predominantly Abuja, or South-west, where you have predominantly Lagos, would certainly have a larger share.

"The important thing is that we want to use this as an opportunity to see what can be done to boost consumer spending for our people and also see to it that output is stimulated positively for the good of our people."

He, however, reinforced his call for diversifying the economy to end reliance on crude oil and save the country from exogenous shocks often

arising from volatility in oil prices.

He said it was high time the country went back into agriculture for economic sustainability amidst current efforts to steer it out of the second recession.

The CBN governor also expressed optimism that the country will exit the recession as early as the first quarter of 2021 as well as begin to witness improved output by the fourth quarter of 2020.

He said: "Base on data available to the MPC from the CBN, we are somewhat cautiously optimistic that indeed, if we continue doing what we are doing, that there is a likelihood that we would see some little positive output numbers during the fourth quarter of 2020.

"But I can say with some level of certainty as well that during the first quarter of 2021, we would exit the recession."

According to him, the bank will continue to boost support for agriculture, industry and manufacturing to stimulate job creation as well as moderate inflationary pressures.

He added that despite the economic contraction in Q3, Nigeria's performance was better than some other economies which recorded double-digit contraction in growth compared to the country's 3.62 per cent.

Emefiele, who read the MPC communiquĂŠ, said the committee noted that inflation continued to be driven by supply side disruptions arising from the COVID-19 pandemic and other legacy factors, particularly the security challenges in parts of the country; increase in food prices and the recent hike in pump price of petrol and electricity tariff.

The committee emphasised the need to address structural supply side issues putting upward pressure on the costs of production and unemployment.

The CBN called on the federal government to make efforts to procure COVID-19 vaccines to surmount the public health crisis and

pave the way for a broader macroeconomic recovery.

The MPC noted that the economic contraction had bottomed out, since it moderated significantly from -6.10 to -3.62 per cent in the third quarter of 2020.

It said: "This was so because both the monetary and fiscal authorities had anticipated the impending recession and had put measures in place for its quick reversion.

"Some of these measures include the Economic Sustainability Programme by the federal government and other CBN facilities targeted at households, small and medium enterprises (SMEs), youth empowerment, and reduction of unemployment."

The committee also urged the federal government to maintain its initiatives targeted at reducing unemployment, particularly among the youths, citing the recent #EndSARS protests and ensuing agitation by hoodlums as potentially disruptive to output growth in the country.

The MPC, however, reiterated its support for the various development finance initiatives of the CBN to stimulate production and reduce unemployment and "further encouraged the bank to intensify its efforts by increasing funding to more beneficiaries so as to boost consumer spending and accelerate recovery from recession."

Meanwhile, in arriving at its decision to hold monetary policy rates at current levels, Emefiele said the committee focused not only on price stability, but also on the need to speedily take actions to exit the recession.

He said the MPC was faced with options around whether to tighten the stance of policy to address rising price levels recognising its primary mandate of price stability; to ease to support output recovery; or to hold to allow existing policy initiatives to permeate the economy.

He said: "The committee noted that although the appropriate response to rising inflationary pressure would

be to tighten the stance of policy in order to moderate upward pressure on prices, it nevertheless, felt that doing this would exert downward pressure on the recovery of output growth.

"The committee also felt that tightening would negate the bank’s desire to expand credit to the real sector at affordable terms, not only to boost production but also to increase consumer spending. To the committee, tightening was, therefore, not the appropriate response at this time.

"With the economy, whereas MPC felt that government spending and bank’s expansionary stance would be desirable to support recovery and guide the economy out of recession, it felt loosening would trigger excess liquidity and worsen the inflationary pressure. MPC also felt that excess liquidity may impact demand pressure and fuel further depreciation of the naira.

"On balance, the MPC was of the view that although all three options offer some benefits to the economy, the hold option was desirable at this meeting. Based on these factors, members voted in line with the most pressing need towards reversing the recession and achieving medium-term macroeconomic stability.

"In view of the foregoing, the committee decided by a unanimous vote to retain all parameters."

EmeďŹ ele Insists Naira Determined

By Market Forces Emefiele has also said the parallel market cannot be used to determine the true value of the naira as the value of the naira can only be determined by forces of demand and supply.

Describing the black market as tainted, he said it only accounted for five per cent of total foreign exchange market share and can't determine the worth of the naira.

He was reacting to recent statements by some analysts

that the current official exchange rate should be about N480 to the US dollar, using the parallel market rate.

Rather, he said the official rate hovered between N380 and N387 at NAFEX. Reacting to questions from journalists during the MPC meeting that the naira may currently be overvalued according to some experts, Emefiele expressed disappointment that analysts who ought to know chose to mislead Nigerians.

Reacting to calls for further devaluation of the currency, Emefiele said Nigeria had depreciated its currency this year by 28 per cent, describing it as "a whopping depreciation compared to depreciation in some countries."

He said: "And indeed, I heard some analysts talking about the parallel market, saying that the exchange rate is at N480. I want to say this that it is unfortunate and even unfair that even analysts who are supposed to know will play with numbers and begin to determine the exchange rate of our currency using parallel market rates.

"For the information of everybody, parallel market, as we know and from the data that we have, is a shallow market in Nigeria with not more than five per cent of market share.

"Parallel market, and quote me, is a tainted market in Nigeria - where people who desire to deal in illegal exchange transactions, including sourcing of FX cash for purpose of offering bribe, corruption, that is where they deal.

"And that is where people who are supposed to understand the implication of this on economic activity on our country begin to go to television and say our exchange rate is N480.

"This is very unfortunate that this is the way those who are supposed to know try to bend numbers in this country.

Parallel market is a market where people who don't want to provide documentation to support their transactions deal in and cannot be a basis to

determine the value of our currency.

"Everybody knows and it is accepted the NAFEX market, which is predominantly the I&E window is the market that should be used to determine the value of our naira.

"As far as we are concerned today, the NAFEX ranges from between N380 going to N386, N387 and we have been very open on the market price determination factors in that market.

"The central bank has no hand in the price determination in that market and in any case, when people say that it should depreciate, the currency should depreciate."

According to him, India has depreciated its currency by nine per cent; Indonesia by four per cent; South Africa by nine per cent; Russia by 22 per cent; Nigeria by 24 per cent; Brazil by 28 per cent; Turkey 33 per cent and Argentina by 35 per cent.

He described the calls for naira depreciation as misplaced.

"I do not understand what and how people who are supposed to know will begin to crave for further depreciation of the currency.

But we are saying even if the currency is overvalued, shouldn't we go through a step-wise process where the shock can be less felt than those who are supposed to know how this works begin to create panic in the market by saying that the exchange rate of Nigeria is N480? It is very unfortunate.

"But on our side, we will continue to insist that the exchange rate is determined by forces of demand and supply in the NAFEX market. We do not agree that the determining factor for the exchange rate in Nigeria for our currency should be based on a market that is tainted; a market where people go to offer bribes.

"You can imagine, you can pay any price to buy foreign exchange to pay a bribe. We are not going to be a party to that and we would continue to say this to anybody who cares to listen," he added.

SOUTH-SOUTH LEADERS MEET FG DELEGATION, DEMAND RESTRUCTURING, FEDERALISM The South-south leaders stated that the country was not at peace with itself and not working as it should, particularly, for the people of the South-south region.

The Chairman of the Southsouth Governors Forum and Delta State Governor, Senator Ifeanyi Okowa, presented the position of the zone during its stakeholders’ meeting with the presidential delegation.

The meeting, earlier slated to hold on November 17, was cancelled at the last minute on the excuse that Gambari and some other members of the delegation had to attend an emergency meeting of the National Security Council presided over by President Muhammadu Buhari, in Abuja on the same day.

The sudden cancellation of the meeting angered leaders of the geopolitical zone who demanded an apology from the government.

The presidency had fixed the meeting with the governors and other leaders of the region to discuss burning national issues affecting the region and the aftermath effects of the #EndSARS protest.

The federal government delegation was supposed

to include all the ministers from the geopolitical zone and other persons.

In the aftermath of the cancellation, Okowa, who presided over the session, had expressed regret at the botched meeting, adding that the people of the region had been embarrassed, disgraced and disrespected.

He had said that the Southsouth geopolitical zone is a very important component part of the nation and the governors feel insulted because the traditional rulers who had gathered for the meeting deserved to be revered.

In a move to pacify the South-south leaders, the presidency had expressed regrets over the failure of the presidential delegation to honour the scheduled meeting with governors and leaders of the zone and promised to contact them to reschedule the parley.

It had attributed the absence of the delegation, which necessitated a last-minute cancellation of the meeting and drew the anger of the South-south leaders, to the timing conflicting with an emergency National Security Council meeting, which held

in the State House on Tuesday.

However, at yesterday's meeting, Okowa told the presidential delegation that the South-south is committed to restructuring the country to guarantee “true federalism� and devolution of powers to the states to create and manage their own police and security architecture under a federal structure.

The regional leaders also called for the relocation of the headquarters of major oil companies, NNPC subsidiaries from Lagos and Abuja to the South-south region.

They requested the immediate implementation of the consent judgment entered in the Supreme Court Suit No: SC/964/2016 to enable the South-south gets its share of $55 billion shortfall of collection on deep offshore and inland basin production sharing contracts.

"True federalism’ guided by the principle of derivation, revenue sharing and control of resources by each state of the federation as it was the case in the first republic is what we want," Okowa told the presidential delegation.

According to him, the geopolitical zone desires a

federation where its constituent units are constitutionally empowered to create their own structures like local government areas, manage their elections and control their judiciary.

He said: "We are all aware of the huge endowment of this country. As such, it is imperative to stress that with a little bit of efforts, imagination, hard work, sacrifice and leadership, every state of the federation as of today, has the ability and capability to contribute to the national purse. This should be encouraged rather than the whole country depending substantially on a region of the country.

"What is worse and even more painful in this ugly situation is the deliberate lack of understanding, empathy and the uncompromising attitudes of some Nigerians, who have refused to understand the challenges of the South-south region of the country, especially, the degradation of the environment and our waters.

As a result, most of the demands of the region have remained unattended to while the resources of the region

have been used continually to develop other parts of the country."

The governors called for the reconstruction and rehabilitation of the region’s major seaports in Port Harcourt, Calabar and Warri to enhance the economic development of the region.

They demanded that the two refineries in Port Harcourt and Warri should be privatised.

The Deputy President of the Senate, Senator Ovie OmoAgege, urged the leaders of the region to avail themselves of the ongoing review of the 1999 Constitution by the National Assembly since most of the issues contained in their demands are constitutional matters.

In his address, Gambari said the meeting was in response to the president's mandate that the presidential delegation comprising all the ministers from the region to visit and consult the representatives of the people regarding the recent #EndSARS protest.

Gambari noted that reports indicated that there were instances where a breakdown of law and order was reported across various locations in the

South-south states.

He lauded the governors for their quick response and actions in addressing the #EndSARS crisis.

Those who attended the meeting were Governors Nyesom Wike (Rivers); Ben Ayade (Cross River); Udom Emmanuel (Akwa Ibom); Douye Diri (Bayelsa) and Godwin Obaseki (Edo).

Others were Minister of Niger Delta, Senator Godswill Akpabio; Minister of State for Petroleum, Chief Timipre Sylva; Minister of State for Power, Mr. Goddy Jeddy- Agba; Minister of State for Niger Delta, Mr. Festus Keyamo (SAN); Minister of Health, Dr. Osagie Ehanire, and Minister of Information, Alhaji Lai Mohammed.

The Minister of Transportation, Hon. Rotimi Amaechi was absent.

Other eminent persons present were the National Chairman of the Pan Niger Delta Forum (PANDEF), Air Commodore Idongesit Nkanga (rtd); former President, Nigerian Bar Association, Mr. Onueze Okocha (SAN); and President, Ijaw Youths Council (IYC), worldwide, Mr. Peter Igbifa, among others.

WEDNESDAY NOVEMBER 25, 2020 ˾ T H I S D AY

47

NEWSXTRA

Buhari Seeks Senate’s Confirmation of Yakubu as INEC Chairman

Rallies international support to eliminate violence against women Says Libya’s instability affecting Nigeria

Omololu Ogunmade and Deji Elumoye in Abuja President Muhammadu Buhari has forwarded the name of Prof. Mahmood Yakubu to the Senate for reappointment for the second and final five-year term as Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

Buhari has also rallied international support for the

elimination of all forms of violence and discrimination against women.

The president also yesterday said the instability in Libya is affecting all countries in the Sahel region, including Nigeria.

The President’s request for Yakubu’s confirmation was contained in a letter dated October 21, 2020, and read at plenary yesterday by the President of the Senate, Dr. Ahmad Lawan.

The letter reads: “In accordance

Northern Students Give FG, ASUU One-week Ultimatum to Resolve Dispute Ibrahim Shuaibu in Kano The coalition of 19 Northern states presidents of the Students’ Union Government (SUG) has issued a one-week ultimatum to both the Nigerian government and Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) to resolve their problem with ASUU or else the students would turn the streets to their classes.

Addressing the conference on behalf of the coalition yesterday in Kano, Sadi Garba Sa’id of the Bayero University Kano said: “The coalition has unanimously agreed on the review of ASUU’s demands. The coalition is giving both parties an ultimatum of one week to resolve themselves or else we the Nigerian students will move to the streets and make them our classes.”

They further stated that they would not accept any hike in the registration fees, calling on the government to waive the fees because of the COVID-19 pandemic which has caused economic devastations globally.

“The coalition will not tolerate any form of hike in registration fees or the induction of tuition fees.

“The government should waive registration fees because of the pandemic which has seriously affected the economic situation of

students, parents and guardians,” they declared.

The SUG presidents’ coalition also called for a review of the National Youth Service Corp (NYSC) age-limit, as the lingering ASUU strike might have affected the chances of some of the students to participate in the scheme.

According to them, “NYSC age limit should be revised owing to the fact that the ASUU lingering strike and COVID-19 pandemic may have crippled some students’ chances of participating in the scheme.”

The coalition further condemned the alarming rate of rape and kidnapping cases across the country, and therefore, called for prompt action by the government.

They also demand that education should be given priority in the country, calling on the government to also provide quality education in primary and secondary schools as well not the tertiary level.

It further called for the introduction of skills acquisition and internship programmes for the students of tertiary institutions across Nigeria, while also calling for transparency in respect of federal and state scholarship schemes.

Two Killed, Others Wounded as Troops Repel Bandits’Attack John Shiklam in Kaduna Two people have been killed in an attack by gunmen in Maiginginya village, Igabi Local Government Area of Kaduna State.

The incident was said to have occurred at about 3a.m. yesterday.

In another development, bandits were also said to have struck again on the dreaded Kaduna-Abuja highway last Monday night, but were repelled by troops of the Operation Thunder Strike (OPTS).

However, a driver was said to have been shot by the fleeing bandits while two buses were said to have run into a ditch, resulting in injuries to some passengers, who were rushed to the hospital by the security operatives.

The state Commissioner for Internal Security and Home Affairs, Mr. Samuel Aruwan, who confirmed the incidents in a statement yesterday in Kaduna, said the security agencies briefed the state government on the attacks.

He said: “The Kaduna State Government has been informed

that troops of the Operation Thunder Strike (OPTS) late last Monday night successfully repelled bandits on the Kaduna-Abuja road.

“The bandits appeared along the pipeline axis of Kakau general area in an attempt to strike, when the troops engaged and repelled them with superior fire power.

“Many of the bandits escaped into the forest with gunshot wounds, having been denied freedom of action.

“When the troops cleared the road for traffic, it was discovered that a driver was hit by the bullets of the bandits who were fleeing the location. Also, two buses ran into a ditch resulting in injuries to some passengers, who were rushed to the hospital by the security operatives.”

The statement said further that the state “government was also briefed that the bandits, in frustration at being denied freedom of action, attacked Maiginginya village in Igabi LGA at around 3a.m. yesterday killing two persons, Nasiru Yahaya and Isah Bature, and injuring the duo of Magaji Goma and Zurkhalaini Alhassan.”

with the provision of Section 154(1) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended), I am pleased to present for confirmation by the Senate, the nomination of Professor Mahmood Yakubu for appointment as Chairman, Independent National Electoral Commission for a second and final term.

“While hoping that the Senate will consider and confirm the reappointment of the nominee, please accept Distinguished Senate President, the assurances of my highest consideration.”

The President in another letter, requested the upper chamber to confirm Professor Abdullahi Abdu Zuru as National Commissioner representing the North West in the

Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

“The Senate is invited to note that, this request is sequel to the resignation of Abubakar Ahmed Nahuche, National Commissioner representing North West, who served for four years in the Commission”.

Meanwhile, the President has also forwarded to the Senate for confirmation, his nominees as Chairman and Members of the Governing Council of Hydroelectric Power Producing Areas Development Commission (HYPADEC), and National Commission for Persons with Disabilities.

In a letter dated 12th November, 2020, the President requested the upper chamber to confirm the

nomination of Ityav Joseph Terfa as Chairman of HYPADEC. According to him, the request was made pursuant to Section 3(2) of the Hydroelectric Power Producing Areas Development Commission Act. Also to be confirmed are: Abubakar Sadiq Yelwa (Kebbi) as Managing Director; Alhaji Isa Ozi Salami (Kogi) as member; Taoheed Daud Toyin (Kwara - member); Hon. Mikail A. Bmitosahi (Niger – member); Saleh Mohammed Galadima Kanam (Plateau – member); Mr. Aminu Muhammed Ganda (Sokoto – member); and Chief Utum Eteng (Cross River – member).

In another letter dated November 5, 2020, President Buhari requested the confirmation

of seven nominees as Chairman and members of the National Commission for Persons with Disabilities.

In a related development, President Buhari in another letter requested the upper chamber to confirm the nomination of Umaru Farouk Aminu as full-time Commissioner representing the North-West Geopolitical Zone in the National Pension Commission.

Meanwhile, Buhari has rallied international support for the elimination of all forms of violence and discrimination against women.

The president made the call in his speech to commemorate today’s International Day of Eliminating Violence against women.

A BOOST TO BILATERAL COOPERATION…

Foreign Minister of Republic of Chad, Mr. Amine Abba Sidick (left), and President Muhammadu Buhari, when the president received Special Envoy from Chad led by the minister at the State House in Abuja…yesterday

Dickson Vows to Unmask Killers of His Police Guard Onungwe Obe in Yenagoa Former Bayelsa State Governor, Chief Henry Seriake Dickson, has vowed to do everything possible to track down and punish those who invaded his country home in Toru-Orua in Sagbama Local Government Area of Bayelsa State last Wednesday and killed a police inspector guarding the house.

Dickson, who visited the scene

of the incident yesterday, the first time since the incident occurred, said those who killed the police officer would not go unpunished.

He said all efforts would be made to ensure that those who planned, executed and funded the act are brought to justice.

The former governor visited the place with party leaders, government officials and his supporters from the Bayelsa

West senatorial district.

He repeated his call on all Bayelsans and the Ijaw nation to volunteer necessary information that could lead to the immediate arrest of the murderous hoodlums.

Dickson lamented that the hoodlums who killed the policeman also took away his weapon, urging the security agencies to ensure a speedy investigation of the cruel action.

Dickson, who had already condoled with the family of the late policeman, said it was not true that the assailants were on a mission to attack anybody, but to perpetrate other criminal activities as shown by the ransacking of the church.

According to him, “We call for calm. There should be no hasty conclusion, and there should be no reprisal for whatever reason.”

Northern Elders Restate Support for Restructuring Uche Nnaike The Northern Elders’ Forum (NEF) has restated its support for restructuring of the country, saying that it represents the fact that the federal system is not working optimally.

The forum’s Director of Publicity and Advocacy, Dr. Hakeem BabaAhmed, stated this yesterday when he featured on the Morning

Show of ARISE NEWS Channel, a sister broadcast arm of THISDAY Newspapers.

He said, “Nigeria has always been restructured from the day the British took over the territory and named it Nigeria, this territory has gone through restructuring almost on a routine basis.

“So, there is nothing new about restructuring and it shouldn’t scare

anybody. But the Northern Elders’ Forum is in favour of restructuring and we believe there is a national consensus as we speak in support of restructuring and we believe that it serves northern interest to support restructuring.”

According to him, the forum has collaborated with other groups, many of them from the southern part of the country to see if they can

create a national consensus around what the concept of restructuring is.

“A few months ago, we sat with former President Olusegun Obasanjo in Abuja with groups from the south, where we began to discuss the outlines of creating some kind of elite consensus around restructuring. We released copious statements, saying we support restructuring,” Baba-Ahmed said.

One Shot, Police Station Burnt as Prison Officials, Motorcyclists Clash in Ibadan Violence erupted at the Agodi Gate area of Ibadan, the Oyo State capital yesterday when prison officials allegedly shot a motorcyclist.

According to eyewitness reports, the okada rider had an

argument with prison officials who wanted the access route to the prison cleared but the situation degenerated into violence leading to a crisis in the area.

Thereafter, the police station at Gate was burnt allegedly by some

angry motorcyclists.

The okada rider who sustained a gunshot wound is, however, alive and receiving treatment, while security operatives led by the Joint security task force Operation Burst have taken over to restore normalcy

in the area.

Meanwhile, contrary to some reports that the face-off was between the police and motorcycle riders, the police spokesman Gbenga Fadeyi said no policeman fired any shot at the scene.

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NEWSXTRA

Fashola: Zoning Agreement on Elective Offices Should Be Honoured Says FG requires N1.5tn over three years to fix roads

Adedayo Akinwale in Abuja The Minister of Works and Housing, Mr. Babatunde Fashola, has said although the issue of zoning was more of gentlemen’s agreements, political parties who entered into such agreements showl honour them.

Fashola has also said the federal government would require a minimum of N500 billion annually over the next three years, to develop its 35,000 kilometres of network of roads.

Fashola stated these yesterday in Abuja, while addressing journalists covering the activities of the All Progressives Congress (APC).

The minister said, “First let’s talk about law, let’s talk about agreement, the law is the Constitution. The Constitution decides the age at which you can contest certain offices and there is nothing in the Constitution that says zoning. All are political parties, political parties are clubs where you write agreements just like a social club and we can decide that it is the youngest person who will be the Chairman of the Club or we can decide that it is the oldest person or the next female or the next male, that is the matter of agreement between people.

“But the Constitution that sets up the climate of political parties’ formation does not prescribe zoning.

The truth is that what makes an agreement specification is the honour in which it is made, not whether it is written. If it was written there would be no Court cases of breach of contract because it’s a document that is written and signed that goes to court.

“But the private agreement you

make with your brother and sister can be breached, (it) is honour.”

He explained that the best politics was one that would enhance good governance and impact positively on the lives of most, especially the vulnerable in society.

The APC chieftain said, “I belong to a party, APC and it is committed to good governance because I think the best politics is good governance. The beauty of it for me, is the opportunity it gives to impact people’s lives.

We have elections only once in four years but we have the responsibility to provide good governance every day and that’s the culture.”

Meanwhile, Fashola has also said the federal government would require a minimum of N500 billion annually over the next three years, to develop its 35,000 kilometres of network of roads.

He said work is currently ongoing on only 13, 000 kilometres of the country’s federal roads.

Fashola told journalists in Abuja yesterday that if successive administrations had shown the kind of commitment of President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration was showing towards the development of the road infrastructure, most Nigerian roads would have been the better for it.

Fashola said, “I think that a minimum of half a trillion every year over the next two, three years will be a strong support to really advance and complete as many as the 711 contracts.

“Again, people are mistaken what I said about 711 contracts to mean roads. No. For example, from

Stay away from Osun, PDP Warns Aregbesola Yinka Kolawole in Osogbo The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has warned a former governor of the state and Minister of Interior, Mr. Rauf Aregbesola to stay away from the state to prevent breakdown of law and order.

The party also claimed that Osun State residents had suffered enough because of maladministration of the former governor and do not deserve to be put through harrowing experience of security breakdown, maintaining that the proposed visit by the Minister of Interior to the state was a ploy to cause mayhem.

A statement issued yesterday by the Deputy National Publicity Secretary of the party, Prince Diran Odeyemi, obtained by newsmen in Osogbo then called on security operatives to pay more than passing attention to the planned visit by Aregbesola purportedly to mark 10 years of return of progressive administration to the state.

“It is more than mere coincidence that Rauf Aregbesola decided to mark 10 years of his administration on the very day his successor Oyetola wanted to celebrate the second year of his administration. It is obviously meant to test power and popularity with the use of thugs and hooligans,” Odeyemi said.

The PDP spokesman further claimed that the visit had already exposed the bad relationship that existed between Oyetola, and his predecessor, and cautioned that rather than come to Osun for any celebration, Aregbesola should endeavour to let the residents enjoy their peace, having left them worse than he met them.

The PDP stalwart also claimed there was no concrete achievement the state recorded other than huge debt of N200 billion, formation of thuggery tagged ‘State Boys,’ inflated contracts and complete loss of value under the watch of Aregbesola.

“What is he coming here to celebrate? Where is MKO International Cargo Airport where over N3 billion was spent by Aregbesola? What is good in his administration that Aregbesola left over N200 billion debt according to the National Bureau of Statistics as at November, 2018 when he left government?” PDP queried.

“Aregbesola left N36 months unpaid half salaries to Osun workers and pensioners amounting to N30 billion.

Where is Igi iye project of Bola Ilori that swallowed several billions of naira? Where is osunwon omoluabi introduced

by Aregbesola government? where is Osun helicopter? Why did Aregbesola refused to pay pensioners their gratuities for eight years?

Lagos to Ibadan expressway we have one road but two contracts, one with JD, one with RCC. “On Benin/Lokoja we have one road but we have five contractors. So, the totality of those contracts are made of 711 different contracts on many roads across the country and the total road network now under construction or

rehabilitation is little over 13,000 kilometers in different stages of repairs out of total Federal network of 35,000 kilometers.“ He explained that the administration inherited a number of roads which it resolved to complete as many as possible before the end of its tenure in 2023.

According to him, some of

roads being rehabilitated were started in 2007, some in 2006 and others are even older.

But that, “unfortunately for reasons that we can only imagine, at a time that the country was earning more revenues, up to $100 per barrel, the total budget of this country was N4 tr. It is now that the country is earning

very less, $40 per barrel that it is budgeting N13 tr.”

Fashola also said it was important for Nigerians to stop the abuse of roads.

He noted that each road has a carrying capacity but that most Nigerian roads were made to carry more weight than they were originally designed for.

STRENGTHENING RELATIONSHIP…

L-R: Chief Financial Officer, SEPLAT Petroleum Development Company Plc, Mr. Emeka Onwuka; Chairman, Dr. Ambrose Orjiako; the Orodje of Okpe Kingdom, His Royal Majesty, Mujakperuo Orhue 1; and Chief Executive Officer of SEPLAT, Mr. Roger Brown, during a visit by a delegation of the company to the Orodje’s Palace, Okpe Kingdom in Edo State…recently

Fight Illegal Poaching, Felling of Trees, Obasanjo Tells FG, States Kemi Olaitan inIbadan Former President Olusegun Obasanjo, yesterday in Ibadan, Oyo State capital, tasked government at all levels to fight illegal felling of trees and poaching to protect the forests and its abundant resources.

He said this at the 42nd annual conference of the Forest Association of Nigeria (FAN), which coincided with the 50th anniversary of the association.

According to the former President who was represented by Deacon

Sunday Agusa, “we must ensure that we do not, arising from our negligence lose our endangered species. We must begin to harness, document and advance the innumerable benefits of our forests in solving contemporary health issues. We must begin to look at and devise means of protecting our forests from those who are concerned about today without iota of consideration for the resultant effects of their actions and inaction” The former Executive Secretary,

National Universities Commission (NUC), Prof. Julius Okojie, in his keynote address, urged Nigerian governments to arrest the ongoing spate of deforestation ongoing in the country to avert negative effects of global warming and climate change.

Okojie who noted that it is increasingly becoming difficult to check forest encroachment in Nigeria, stated that forest-protecting agencies should be equipped with the necessary tools to fight encroachments in the forest estates.

He added that strategies

for protecting the forest against encroachment should involve holistic approach that will incorporate social and energy security of the people.

He further identified inadequate policy and measures, weak law enforcement, and lack of transparency and accountability in Nigeria’s forest reserves administration, noting that the newly approved National Forest Policy 2018 is capable of addressing most of the challenges confronting growth and development of the sector

Explosions Rock Shell, Agip Pipelines in Bayelsa Onungwe Obe in Yenagoa Bayelsa residents have reported attacks on crude oil pipelines belonging to Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) Limited and Nigerian Agip Oil Company (NAOC) at Ikarama community, Yenagoa Local Government Area of Bayelsa State on Monday night.

Residents said they heard explosions that ripped off the

pipelines but could not say who the attackers were.

A youth leader from Ikarama, Mr, Ben Warder, said the people were too scared to go near the site of the explosions after they heard several sounds from the oil fields.

“The site is not far from Ikarama; we heard sounds from the blast and it sounded like dynamites and it was not safe to go near. So, when the situation became quiet, we had to trace what happened

and it turned out that Shell’s gas pipeline and Agip’s crude lines were destroyed,” Warder said.

But he lamented that the incident caused air pollution from the gas pipeline and crude leak, which members of the affected communities are battling to cope with.

An SPDC Spokesman, Mr. Michael Adande, confirmed the incident and said that the facility has been shut down to curtail

impact.

He said, “We have a report of interference on our pipeline about one kilometre from Ikarama Community in Bayelsa State.

We immediately shut-in the line and we have informed the relevant regulatory government agencies and stakeholders. “A governmentled joint investigation team will determine the cause of the interference.”

Gombe Lawmakers Remove Speaker, Majority Leader, Deputy Chief Whip A member of Gombe State House of Assembly, Mr. Abubakar Luggerewo, representing Akko Central, has been sworn in as the seventh Speaker of the the assembly, replacing Mr. Ibrahim Abubakar of the All Progressives Congress (APC).

THISDAY gathered yesterday that this was done through voice votes by 16 members out of the 24 members of the House of Assembly, comprising 20 APC

and four Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) members.

Luggerewo, aged 36 years, was sworn in by the deputy speaker, Mr. Siddi Buba, from Kwami West constituency.

A former deputy speaker, Mr. Shuaibu Adamu, announced the names of the 16 members that backed the removal motion moved

by Mr. Saddam Bello, representing Funakaye constituency.

According to Buba, a member

representing Balanga North, the decision to sack Abubakar was a collective one.

He said: “The former Speaker of the House was removed due to lack of confidence. We lost confidence in his leadership; and as a house, we are at liberty to change leadership. Once you lack confidence in someone then there has been a breach. We felt the best thing was to remove him and replace him with a brand

new speaker.”

The Majority Leader, Mr. Samuel Markus, was also removed through a voice vote announced by Mr. Mustapha Usman representing Gombe South.

The Speaker was replaced by Mr. Ladan Yerima, representing Kaltungo East Constituency.

The Deputy Chief Whip, Mr. Yahaya Kaka was replaced with Mr. Saddam Bello, representing Funakaye constituency.

WEDNESDAY NOVEMBER 25, 2020 ˾ T H I S D AY

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$10bn Claim: New Report Accuses British Home Secretary of Backing P&ID Alex Enumah in Abuja The chances of Nigeria reversing a whopping $10 billion judgment debt over last weekend brightened following the revelation that the current British Home Secretary, Priti Patel, on several occasions allegedly rooted her support for an offshore oil and gas firm, Process and Industrial Development

(P&ID), in the failed oil and gas deal with Nigeria.

The deal entered in 2010 by both parties is currently an issue of litigation at a London Court, owing to an award of damages now estimated at $10 billion against Nigeria.

A panel of arbitration had slammed the fine against Nigeria for allegedly defaulting in the

NAICOM Compiles List of Insurance Companies with Unsettled Claims Ebere Nwoji The National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) has said it is compiling the list of insurance companies with huge unsettled claims for necessary regulatory action as a way of sanitising the insurance sector and redeeming its image.

The Commissioner for Insurance, Mr. Sunday Thomas, disclosed this yesterday in Lagos at the 2020 insurance directors’ conference organised

by NAICOM in Lagos.

Thomas, while addressing board directors of various insurance companies, said the era of huge backlog of claims should no longer be associated with insurance companies in Nigeria.

He also urged companies that are responsive to the plight of their clients in prompt

settlement of claims to sustain the tempo, pointing out that this is a good business conduct.

“The era of huge backlog of claims should no longer be associated with our companies, and while the commission is profiling companies with huge unsettled claims for necessary regulatory action, companies that are responsive to the plight of their clients in prompt settlement of claims are encouraged to sustain the good business conduct,” he stated.

“To be able to meet their claims obligation at all times and participate in high ticket businesses especially in oil and gas sector, Thomas said operators in the industry must strengthen their human and financial capital for effective participation in big ticket risks.

Jonathan Hails Atiku at 74 Former President Goodluck Jonathan has felicitated with former Vice President Atiku Abubakar as he turns 74 today.

In a goodwill message to the former Vice President, Jonathan prayed God to grant him good health as he continues to play an active role in the polity.

The former President described Atiku as a statesman who has contributed significantly to Nigeria’s development and the growth of democracy in the nation.

Jonathan further said: “I join your family, friends and well-wishers to felicitate with you as you mark

your 74th birthday.

“Yours has been a steadfast journey in the political and business world with remarkable successes and positive impact in the country.

“As a politician, you have contributed to the growth of our nation’s democracy, having served as Vice President of Nigeria, and have continued to play an active role in our polity.

“You are a statesman, who has continued to advocate for the unity, peace and progress of Nigeria, offering innovative ideas to the challenges in the land.

contract entered with the offshore oil and gas firm.

Nigeria is currently presenting evidence to prove that the contract was a fraud from the outset hence cannot be held liable of any breach.

As the case progresses, however, investigation has revealed that Patel “sought to publicly intervene three times on behalf of an offshore company, which has been accused in a British court of obtaining a £100million contract from the Nigerian Government through corruption.”

The investigation reported by a British tabloid, The Independent, noted that the Home Secretary repeatedly backed P&ID in its long legal dispute with the Nigerian Government.

Besides the latest allegations, Patel is currently at the centre of a political storm following allegations of “bullying staff in her department.”

The allegations have led to calls for her resignation as Home Secretary “after an investigation concluded that she had breached

the ministerial code of conduct.”

Although the report stated that her actions may have been “unintentional,” since the said intervention in the court case took place before she was appointed home secretary by Prime Minister Boris Johnson.

“She was joined in supporting the company by Shanker Singham, a prominent fellow Brexit advocate, who is now a government trade adviser, in the bitterly contested legal action,” The Independent reported.

According to the tabloid, Patel first publicly supported P&ID in an article for a newspaper, City AM, in November 2018, where she was quoted as saying that Nigeria “must honour its obligations to companies like P&ID” and pay the firm “almost $9billion (as the sum in legal action was at that stage). She condemned the further legal action by the Nigerian Government as a “running scandal, obstinate and flouting international law and convention.”

A NEW MEGA DEAL…

L-R: Chairman, Hope PSBank, Mr. Shehu Abubakar; Managing Director, Mr. Ayotunde Kuponiyi; Lagos State Commissioner for Finance, Dr. Rabiu Olowo; Director General, National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), Mr. Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi; and Managing Director/CEO, Unified Payments, Mr. Agada Apochi during the official launch of Hope PSBank in Lagos ...yesterday SUNDAY ADIGUN

Ohanaeze Gives Conditions for South-east’s Participation in 2023 General Election Chuks Okocha in Abuja The President-General of the Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Dr. John Nwodo, yesterday said one of the irreducible requirements for the South-east region to participate in the 2023 general election is for the two major political parties to ensure that their presidential candidates are from the region.

This, he said, would be similar to what happened in 1998, when the two main political parties- All Peoples Party (APP) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)-deliberately zoned their presidential tickets to the South-west region.

As a result of this, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo and Olu False emerged,

and in the end, Obasanjo was elected the president.

Also, he stated that the second irreducible requirement is restructuring, which Nwodo said would ensure that each zone controls and manages its natural resources.

Nwodo stated these yesterday when he featured on Arise News channel, the sister broadcast arm of THISDAY Newspapers.

According to him, “Who said that the Southeast was deliberately denied the hardship of Nigeria, despite the fact that Igbo people are physically present in every nook and cranny of Nigeria?”

He blamed such notion on what he described as absence of political

will by the elites.

Nwodo, who stated that Nigeria as a country is on a quicksand of history, lamented that the 1999 Constitution was imposed on Nigerians by the military, as the people has no input in the making of the constitution.

Nwodo said it was the imposition of the 1999 Constitution without a referendum that necessitated the deliberate sidelining of the South-east from the headship of Nigeria.

The president-general of the Igbo apex group explained that the deliberate sidelining of the Southeast has a dangerous implication for the national cohesion of Nigeria as a sovereign country.

It is for this reason that he

therefore advocated that the two main political parties, the APC and the PDP, should as a deliberate policy, ensure that they zone their presidential tickets to the South-east region in 2023.

The Igbo leader said: “It was done in 1999 when the entire country assuaged the Southwest because of the event of June 12 1993.

Because of this, the APP and the PDP ensured that their presidents candidates-Chief Olusegun Obasanjo and Chief Olu Falae-came from the Southwest, and at the elections, Obasanjo of the PDP won. This deliberate policy from the two main political parties should therefore be extended to the South-east zone too.”

Gaius-Obaseki as a reformer who led the national oil company from the front.

“On the occasion of your 75th birthday or what some call a platinum celebration, | would like to take the opportunity to congratulate you, not only on this milestone birthday, but also on your outstanding career and accomplishments.

“Your resumé is one to be extremely proud of, covering

a plethora of leadership roles in Nigeria and ones that have been recognised and honoured nationally and internationally.

“It is a list that resembles a ’who’s who’ of major Nigerian oil and gas industry companies and positions, including MD of the Nigerian Gas Company (NGC), Group General Manager of Crude Oil Marketing NNPC HQ, Chairman of Brass LNG, Chairman of Nigeria LNG

Limited (NLNG) and Group Managing Director, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC),” Barkindo noted.

The OPEC boss noted that as an employee of the NNPC under Gaius-Obaseki, the former NNPC GMD did everything to ensure that the entire staff, including him (Barkindo) understood the new direction of the corporation at the time.

Ex-lawmaker, Nicholas Ukachukwu, OPEC Greets Former NNPC GMD, Obaseki at 75 Loses Wife in Auto Crash A former member of the House of Representatives from 1999 to 2003 and three times gubernatorial candidate in Anambra State, Prince Nicolas Ukachukwu, has lost his wife, Jewel Princess Nnenna Ukachukwu.

Close family sources confirmed that she died in the same accident that claimed the life of Amaka, wife of former Senate Leader, Ndoma-Egba and Chinyere Azike, a police officer along OreBenin Expressway on Thursday, November 19, 2020 Before her untimely death, Mrs. Nnenna Ukachukwu was a mother of five children, a lawyer, entrepreneur, an educator and the proprietress of British Nigerian Academy, Abuja as well as an avid scholar.

THISDAY gathered that Mrs. Ukachukwu and Mrs. Ndoma-

Egba were travelling to Ondo State for a burial programme when their vehicle was rammed into by an over-speeding trailer.

Funeral arrangements for the deceased will be announced later by the family.

EmmanuelAddehinAbuja The Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), has felicitated with a former Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Mr. Jackson Gaius-Obaseki, on his 75th birthday.

In a letter personally signed by the OPEC Secretary General, Dr Sanusi Barkindo, the organisation described

Umahi Sacks Tertiary Institution’s Boards Headed by Ex-Minister, Ambassador

Jewel Princess Nnenna

Governor David Umahi of Ebonyi State yesterday continued his sacking spree with the announcement of the dissolution of the governing boards of the state’s two tertiary education institutions.

The governor also sacked 16 more aides from various local government areas in the state.

The boards dissolved are the Ebonyi State University Governing Council and the Ebonyi State College of Education, Ikwo Governing Boards.

The two boards are headed by Ambassador Franklin Ogbuewu and a former Minister of State for Health, Mr. Fidelis Nwankwo.

The dissolution of the boards

and the sack of the aides was announced by the Secretary to the State Government, Mr. Kenneth gbala.

Ugbala said the dissolution of the two boards was to enthrone efficiency in service delivery.

The statement reads: “In the further effort of Ebonyi State

Government to enthrone efficiency in service delivery, the Governor of Ebonyi State, Mr David Nweze Umahi, has approved the dissolution of the Ebonyi State University Governing Council and the Ebonyi State College of Education, Ikwo Governing Board with immediate effect.

WEDNESDAY NOVEMBER 25, 2020 ˾ T H I S D AY

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Slain Vendor’s Family Demands N500m from Gbajabiamila The family of Ifeanyichukwu Okereke, a vendor who died after being shot by a security aide to the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila, has hired human rights activist, Chief Mike Ozekhome (SAN), demanding N500 million from the Speaker.

Ozekhome was given the

mandate to write to Gbajabiamila by the father of the deceased, Mr. Okorie Okereke; and the younger brother to the deceased, Mr. Destiny Okereke.

The family made the N500 million demand in the letter dated November 23, 2020, signed by Ozekhome.

The Department of State

Court Revokes Bail of Maina’s Son AlexEnumahinAbuja Barely a week after it revoked the bail granted former Chairman of the defunct Pension Reform Task Team (PRTT),AbdulrasheedMaina,aFederal High Court in Abuja yesterday revoked the bail it also granted his son, Faisal Maina, over his failure to continue his alleged corruption trial.

Justice Okon Abang, who revoked the bail while ruling in an application to that effect, accordingly issued a bench warrant for Faisal’s arrest “anywhere he is sighted by security agencies.”

Only last week, the court had revoked Maina’s bail and made a similar order for his arrest wherever he may be found.

The court also last Monday ordered the remand of Senator Ali Ndume at the Kuje Correctional Centre over the said disappearance

of the former Pension boss.

Justice Abang, in the ruling, also issued a summon on Faisal’s surety, a lawmaker in the House of Representatives, Hon Sani Dan-Galadima, to appear before the court today to show cause why the bail bond should not be forfeited.

The court, however, held that it would issue a bench warrant for the arrest of the lawmaker if he refuses to show up in court today.

The court had on November 26, 2019, admitted Faisal to bail in the sum of N60 million with a surety in like sum, who must be a member of the House of Representatives.

Dan-Galadima, who represents Kaura Namoda federal constituency of Zamfara State, had deposed to an affidavit of means on December 11, 2019, to always come to court at every adjourned date and produce Faisal in court.

Services (DSS) had last week arrested the operative, Abdullahi Hassan, who shot Okereke while Gbajabiamila had also visited the family of the deceased and promised to scholarships and foundation for the children.

But in a letter to Gbajabiamila, the family is insisting on N500 million compensation and prosecution of the DSS operative, stressing that nothing could bring the dead vendor back to life.

The letter read in part: “Our clients have instructed us to make

from your good self, the following modest demands: That you use your good offices to ensure the immediate prosecution of your security aide (Abdullahi Hassan), who went on a frolic of his own, clearly acted outside the purview of his duty and responsibility by shooting to death an innocent, harmless and armless citizen.

“That you adequately compensate the Okereke family with a modest sum of N500million only. This monetary demand can never adequately replace or take

the place of their son, husband, brother, and breadwinner’s life.

But it will at least mitigate the obvious trauma and hardship the premature demise of their irreplaceable breadwinner has placed on them.”

The family also asked the Speaker to ensure that the safety of vendors is guaranteed as they had become afraid to return to the streets since the tragic incident.

The Okereke family said it would take legal action against Gbajabiamila if all the demands

are not met within seven days.

“Take note therefore that it is our clients’ firm instruction that in the event that you fail, refuse and/or neglect to accede to or proffer reasonable compensatory terms to our above modest demands within seven days from the date of this letter, we shall without any further correspondences from us, take appropriate legal steps to enforce our clients’ constitutional rights,” the letter stated.

A SHOW OF APPRECIATION…

L-R: Chairman of Uzo-Uwani Local Government Area, Hon. Chukwudi Nnadozie; Governor of Enugu State, Hon. Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi; and member of National Assembly representing Enugu North senatorial district, Senator Chukwuka Utazi, when the people of Nkpologu community paid the governor a Thank-you visit at the Government House, Enugu … yesterday

House Passes PIB for Second Reading El-Rufai: Those Opposed to Restructuring Not Representing the North upstream petroleum operations.

Udora Orizu in Abuja The House of Representatives at the resumption of plenary yesterday after over an hour of debate, passed for second reading the new Petroleum Industrial Bill (PIB), which was transmitted to it

by President Muhammadu Buhari in September 2020.

The legislation entitled: ‘A Bill for an act to provide legal, governance, regulatory and fiscal framework for the Nigerian petroleum industry, the development of host community and for related matters (HB.1061)’, among others, is proposing the establishment of Nigerian Upstream Regulatory Commission to be responsible for the technical and commercial regulation of

The bill seeks the commercialisation of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) to become Nigerian National Petroleum Company, and to be incorporated under the Companies and Allied Matters Act by the Minister of Petroleum.

It further seeks to scrap the Petroleum Equalisation Fund (PEF) and Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA), and replaces them with a new agency to be known as Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Regulatory Authority (NMDRA), which shall be responsible for the technical and commercial regulation of midstream and upstream petroleum operations in the industry.

Biodun Shobanjo’s Biography for Launch The much-anticipated biography of Nigeria’s foremost marketing communications practitioner and Chairman of Troyka Holdings, Dr Biodun Olusina Shobanjo has been slated for public presentation in Lagos on Thursday, November 26, 2020.

The book titled, ‘The Will To Win: The Story of Biodun Shobanjo,’ is written by Mr. Dotun Adekanmbi, an awardwinning business journalist and accomplished public relations practitioner.

Distinguished boardroom guru and diplomat, Ambassador Christopher Kolade, will chair the launch while renowned African

entrepreneur, Chief Dele Fajemirokun, is the Chief presenter of the book. Veteran journalist, Mr. Ray Ekpu, will review the biography during the launch.

The Will To Win: The Story of Biodun Shobanjo is the first authoritative biography on the guru of advertising who at various times had been conferred with high honours including Doctor of Letters (D.Litt Honoris Causa) by the Obafemi Awolowo University; Advertising Man of All Time by The Sun newspapers and Most Influential Personality in Advertising in Africa

by Africa Development Magazine, Ghana.

The Kaduna State Governor, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai has argued that the northerners who are against restructuring do not represent the north, saying that the draft bill produced and submitted by his committee in January 2018 was stepped down for fear of politicisation ahead of 2019 general election.

He added that some interested members of the ruling party were making frantic efforts to get the

draft bill presented to the National Assembly for consideration before the end of the tenure of the present administration.

The governor spoke yesterday in Abuja while fielding questions at a panel discussion of the ongoing 26th Nigerian Economic Summit (NESG).

He explained that the Committee made bold recommendations at the time

and made a draft bill available for onward transmission to the National Assembly, which every lawmaker could take up and sponsor as a private bill.

He insisted that it is position of the party and the president to see the draft bill passed into law but assured that consideration of the bill would soon take-off.

For him, the consideration could be done in piecemeal,

adding that the country does not require an omnibus amendment of the constitution to restructure the country.

He berated fellow northerners who are opposed to restructuring, saying that they are doing so for selfish purpose.

He pointed out that there is a difference between the position of some northerners and the north as a region.

Electoral Act: House Moves to Limit Presidential, Governorship Campaign Expenses Udora Orizu in Abuja Ahead of 2023 general election, the House of Representatives yesterday passed for second reading the Electoral Act Amendment Bill, 2020, which seeks to reduce excessive campaigns’ expenses, ensure the strict use of card readers, ban the substitution of candidates by political parties, and end late

releases of polling funds to the Independent National Electoral Commission, (INEC).

The legislation entitled, “A Bill for an Act to Repeal the Electoral Act N0. 6, 2010 (As amended 2015) and enact the Independent National Electoral Commission Act 2020, to regulate Conduct of Federal State and area Council Elections and for related matters, 2020,’’ was sponsored by Hon.

Aisha Dukku.

Dukku, leading the debate said the amendment has become necessary because of the flaws observed in the electoral system.

She explained that Act when amended, the maximum election expenses to be incurred by a candidate at the presidential election shall not exceed N5 billion; governorship, N1 billon; senatorial, N100million;

House of Representatives, N70 million; state assembly, N30 million, chairmanship for area councils in the case of the FCT, N30million and councilors, N5 million.

She said there are several clauses, which need amendment, including the title bill, adding that the bill has the input of INEC, Senate and the Federal Ministry of Justice.

Senate Asks FG to Implement Zero Duty on Aircraft Importation, Spare Parts Wants review of NAICOM Act Deji Elumoye in Abuja The Senate yesterday asked the federal government to fully implement the Executive Order on zero customs duty and zero Value Added Tax (VAT) on importation of commercial aircraft and aircraft spare parts.

This is just as the upper legislative chamber called on the Central Bank of Nigeria

(CBN) to make foreign exchange easily accessible for the aviation sector by making the interest rate single digit for airline companies in order to reduce the cost of capital.

While calling on the federal government to eliminate multiple taxes, fees and charges, the Senate mandated its Committee on Banking, Insurance and other Financial Institutions

to facilitate review of the National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) Act to grant the externalisation of insurance placements for domestic airlines.

It also urged the Ministry of Aviation to allocate more entries and frequencies to domestic airlines on international routes, as well as create a businessfriendly environment for the air

transport sector by fast tracking the clearance of Aircraft On Ground (AOG) spare parts.

These resolutions were sequel to the adoption of a motion entitled: ‘The Need to Protect Nigerian Indigenous Airlines from Extinction’, moved by former Governor of Kebbi State, Senator Adamu Aliero.

WEDNESDAY NOVEMBER 25, 2020 • T H I S D AY

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WEDNESDAY NOVEMBER 25, 2020 •T H I S D AY

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WEDNESDAYSPORTS PTF Rejects December 3 Date Proposed for NSF in Benin City

Group Sports Editor Duro Ikhazuagbe Email duro.ikhazuagbe@thisdaylive.com 0811 181 3083 SMS ONLY

Edo State ofďŹ cials furious at postponement

Duro Ikhazuagbe and Adibe Emenyonu in Benin City The much expected 20th National Sports Festival (NSF) expected to begin on December 3 in Benin City has been moved to next year on the advice of the Presidential Task Force (PTF) on Covid-19.

This new shift of the ‘Nigerian Olympic’ is a vindication of THISDAY’s report last month that the NSF is not likely to hold this year which the Federal MInistry of Youth and Sports Development ((FMY&SD) did everything possible to tag ‘fake news.’ But yesterday, barely days after the FMY&SD had fixed December 3 as the start date for

Sunday Dare ....Sports Minister

the festival it planned to stage in staggered manner in conjunction with the Edo State government, the PTF on Covid-19 insisted that the date was no longer feasible due to tie upsurge in the pandemic in the country.

It therefore advised the sports ministry and the host stage government to move the festival to early next year.

However, independent sources close to the host state told THISDAY last night that the postponement was not at the instance of the PTF but the FMY&SD and the host Edo State that refused to accept the conditions given by PTF before the festival can be allowed to go ahead in the face of the second wave of the Covid-19 outbreak in the country.

The Chairman of the Organising Committee of Edo 2020 Sports Festival who also doubles as the Deputy Governor of the state, Phillip Shuaibu, while speaking with reporters in Abuja on Monday insisted that the PTF that has allowed various bodies to return from the lockdown cannot give conditions that make the festival look like the caricature of the purpose to host the games. “How can PTF who approved that we can now start contact sports, the same PTF that

approves opening of NYSC camps across the country. The same PTF that approves that we can all go to churches and mosques. All the market places are opened and you say we cannot hold the National Sports Festival. In Sports we have the capacity to control the crowd that come to the stadium,� fumed the Deputy governor on Monday afternoon.

Similarly, the CPS to the Deputy Governor, Musa Ebomhiana who also doubles as the Chairman, Publicity sub-committee of the Edo 2020, frowned at the purported

postponement of the sports fiesta. “I do not know why the Presidential Taskforce on Covid-19 is playing politics with the national Sports Festival when the state has put everything in place to host the fiesta.�

According to him, “The National Council on Sports , held recently in Asaba, Delta State gave a go-ahead order for the festival to hold� and wondered why the PTF decided to behave the way it did yesterday.

The festival was initially scheduled to hold in March this year before the outbreak of the coronation virus

pandemic caused the indefinite postponement.

With the PTF lifting restrictions on both non contact sports and contact sports last month, the National Council on Sports met in Asaba, Delta Statewhete it was agreed that the festival should hold in staggered format, starting on December 3.

The FMY&SD later issued a statement clarifying the ‘new normal’ of the festival. “Like we did by consulting with the PTF on Covid-19, when we lifted the ban on non-contact sports and later contact sports, discussions are ongoing to decide

on a new date for the Festival. “We are considering a staggered Festival spanning several weeks and Athletes in batches, with no fans and strict adherence to the Covid-19 protocol. “While we are committed to holding the Festival, we do not want to endanger the lives of athletes and officials.

Be rest assured that a decision would be taken in line with the Government’s guidelines in the best interest of the common good of our sports and the athletes,� concludes the statement from the sports ministry.

Dare Orders NFF to Hold Rohr to Higher Standards in His Contract The Federal Ministry of Youth and Sports Development has given the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) the marching orders to hold Super Eagles’ Technical Adviser, Gernot Rohr to the higher standards contained his contract following the team’s dismal two-leg draw against the Sierra Leonean side in the AFCON 2022 qualifier.

Sports Minister, Sunday Dare, gave this directive at a meeting with NFF officials on Tuesday to review the Technical Report of the Nigeria/Sierra Leone AFCON 2022 Qualifiers and other matters. “The recent dismal performance of the Super Eagles in their qualifiers against SIerra Leone has raised a few concerns and brought to fore the need to do a quick critique. “The Government, while concerned about the dismal performance and non discernible pattern of play and team harmony in the Super Eagles, is looking beyond the outcome of the Nigeria versus SIerra Leone matches and AFCON. “We are looking at the present and future administration of football that speaks to the development of the front room and backroom. “The NFF must tightly hold the Technical Adviser to the KPIs in his contract. “Thus, we cannot wait for those conditions to come to life, before we tighten the screws or demand a higher or better performance, better technical depth, better player mix and team harmony and

a functional national team, else Nigeria and football lovers in Nigeira will be the greatest losers. “In this area, NFF must take necessary steps and actions beyond Rohr to protect our football fortunes,� observed the minister.

Dare insisted that the federal government will ask the tough and relevant questions. “The NFF should do the same The right of Nigerians to ask of Government and indeed NFF explanations for dismal performances and football administration cannot be simply characterized as interference. “On our part, we will work to support the NFF but we will also demand for answers and changes too on behalf of Nigerians. CAF and FIFA while we appreciate their working partnerships, are expected to support Nigeria in its quest to ensure an effectual football administration. “Football is now both business and politics. A tool of diplomacy.

Governments are more than interested in how its run. The FGN is interested even beyond that. Football is a source of national pride. A rallying point and promoter of peace and Unity.

RESULTS Krasnodar 1-2 Sevilla Rennes 1-2 Chelsea Dortmund 3-0 Club Brugge Lazio 3-1 Zenit D’Kyiv 0-4 Barcelona Juve 2-1 Ferencvaros Man Utd 4-1 Basaksehir PSG 1-0 Leipzig

Chelsea players celebrating Olivier Giroud’s winner in the 2-1 defeat of Rennes to qualify for tbd Last 16 of the UEFA champions league...last night

Chelsea, Sevilla Reach UEFA Champions League Last 16 Chelsea reached the last 16 of the UEFA Champions League last night after a late Olivier Giroud strike gave the Blues a 2-1 win over Rennes.

France forward Giroud’s powerful header snatched the points for Frank Lampard’s side after Serhou Guirassy had levelled Callum HudsonOdoi’s first-half opener.

The French striker has

played just 127 minutes for the Blues so far this season, but made the most of his time on the pitch here with an injury-time finish after Timo Werner’s effort had been blocked.

Just six minutes earlier, Rennes looked to have denied Chelsea when Serhou Guirassy headed home from a corner to cancel out Callum HudsonOdoi’s opener.

Frank Lampard’s side dominated the first half and could easily have led by more than just Hudson-Odoi’s calm finish after he had been sent clear by a pinpoint pass from Mason Mount.

They invited the home side on in the second half and had to rely on a defence that included the returning Thiago Silva and goalkeeper Edouard

Mendy, who made a couple of good saves against his former club.

The Blues have 10 points in G ro u p E , n i n e m o re than both Rennes and K r a s n o d a r.

Elsewhere, Chelsea were joined in the next round by Group E rivals Sevilla after the Spanish side snatched a late 2-1 w i n a t K r a s n o d a r.

Okowa, Pinnick Others for Delta Football Summit Sylvester Idowuin Warri Delta State Governor, Dr. Ifeanyi Okowa, Deputy Governor Kingsley Otuaro; Speaker of the State House of Assembly, Sheriff Oborevwori; President of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), Amaju Pinnick and the Chairman of the Delta State Sports Commission, Chief Tony Okowa, are expected to

grace the first Delta Football Summit.

Chairman of the board of Delta State Football Association (DFA), organisers of the summit, Comrade Kenneth Nwaomucha made the disclosure in a communique issued after the Exco meeting of the board in Asaba.

According to the communique made available by his Media Aide, Alloy

Okereke , “all football stakeholders, including past FA chairmen, club owners, local football council chairmen will be part of the summit, which will hold on November 25 at the Vacation Villa Hotel and Suites, off Mariam Babangida Way Asaba, with the theme ‘Football As A Tool For Peace Building And Economic Empowerment. “He stated that the

summit will commence at 11 am prompt adding “The Summit will also hold an interactive session on life outside football to x-ray how those involved in the game can live fruitful lives outside football,� he said.

The board paid tribute to some of the sponsors of the Summit like Honorable Felix Anirah and Chief Charles Obule for working with the Board to achieve set goals.

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WEDNESDAYSPORTS U E FA C H A M P I O N S L E AG U E

Cup Holders, Bayern, Low on Defenders Against Red Bull Holders Bayern Munich are short on defenders for Wednesday’s home Champions League match against Red Bull Salzburg with Niklas Suele out and Lucas Hernandez only

likely to start on the bench.

Bayern have won their first three games in Group A and will qualify for the last 16 if the European champions beat Salzburg, who lost 6-2 at home

Firminho’s New Form Excites Klopp As Atalanta Visit Anfield Liverpool boss Juergen Klopp compared his team to an orchestra and said on Tuesday that his versatile forward Roberto Firmino always hits the right notes even if he is not scoring.

Firmino had scored only twice in 23 Premier League matches before heading one in during Sunday’s 3-0 victory over Leicester City and Klopp said he was happy with the Brazilian’s output. “Scoring was always important for Bobby but he’s a complete footballer,� Klopp told a news conference ahead of Wednesday’s Champions League clash against Atalanta at Anfield. “Football is like an orchestra and if you have different people for instruments, some are louder, but all are important for the rhythm. Bobby can play without (goals) as well. “We always celebrate goals but this one (against Leicester) was really emotional. The players read the newspapers and they saw some criticism (of

Firmino).�

Forward Mohamed Salah missed the clash after contracting Covid-19 on international duty with Egypt last week but has since tested negative. “Mo trained and looked really good, a negative test like the rest. He’s available.

We have to see what we can do with that,� Klopp said. “All the rest, no news.

One looks closer, the other not so, that is the situation.

I don’t want to speak too much about it.�

Liverpool have won their opening three matches in Group D, including a 5-0 victory over Atalanta earlier this month but Klopp said he would not take the Italian side lightly. “They’re a threat even without a point to prove. We were exceptional (in Italy).

We did everything right. It all came together. We know that game has nothing to do with tomorrow,� Klopp added. “They’re a top team with a special way to play. I expect problems in this game.�

GOtv Boxing Night 21: Fijabi Promises Explosive Ring Return Former African Boxing Union (ABU) light welterweight champion, Olaide “Fijaborn� Fijabi, who is set to have his first fight in two years, has warned his next opponent to expect a torrid time when they clash at GOtv Boxing Night 21 on November 27.

Fijabi, who has been stripped of his title, following his injury-enforced inability to defend his title in Senegal in 2018, is scheduled to fight Dennis “The Range� Mbat in a national challenge duel.

Speaking in Lagos yesterday, the former West African and African champion, said he is happy to be back in the ring and that he is confident of returning to the pinnacle of continental boxing. “I can’t describe how happy I am to fight competitively once again. I’m in very good shape and free of injuries. That, I believe, is bad news for Mbat, who will have a November he won’t want to remember. I believe that the video of the fight will be painful for him to watch, as he will fast-forward it to avoid remembering the punishment he’d endure,� said the former ABU champion.

Fijabi also warned future opponents, saying he is ready to reclaim his

ABU title and then go for the Commonwealth title. “People forget I’m undefeated at the national, West African and African levels. I will be back bigger and better.

GOtv Boxing Night 21 will hold behind closed doors in line with COVID-19 protocols, but will be broadcast live on SuperSport (DStv channel 209 and GOtv channel 34).

The event will feature seven bouts, including the national bantamweight title fight between Habeeb “Ige�

Oladeji and Tunde “Turning Star� Olojede. Other fights lined up national lightweight challenge duel between West African Boxing Union (WABU) champion, Rilwan “Real One� Oladosu and Prince “Lion Nwoye; national welterweight challenge contest between WABU champion, Rilwan “Baby Face� Babatunde and Jubril “Terrible Olalekan.

Other bouts include; Super featherweight clash between Sikiru “Omo Iya Eleja� Sogbesan and Kazeem “Delight� Oluwo; lightweight challenge clash featuring Lateef “Akins Jr� Akinola and Alaba “Elyblow� Omotola as well as light heavyweight duel between Cosmos “Awosika�

David and Segun “Success�

Olanrewaju.

when the sides met in early November.

Bayern coach Hansi Flick says centre-back Suele needs to work on his fitness, while Hernandez, who can play left-back or centre-back, could start “on the bench�.

Suele was substituted at half-time when Germany were routed 6-0 by Spain last Tuesday on his first appearance since testing positive for Covid-19.

“He (Suele) is behind in training, so we have to make up for that,� Flick said on Tuesday. “Now we’re hoping he’ll play on Saturday,� Flick added with Bayern due to face Stuttgart away in the league this weekend.

Jerome Boateng is expected to partner David Alaba at centre-back, but Bayern are low on options on either side of defence.

Both midfielder Corentin

Tolisso and right-back Bouna Sarr are both carrying knocks.

Flick also revealed Canadian left-back Alphonso Davies is back in training a month after damaging ankle ligaments.

Both Davies and midfielder Joshua Kimmich, who has undergone knee surgery, are expected to be able to play again in January.

TODAY *B’Mo’gladbach v Shakhtar *Olympiacos v Man City Atletico v Lokomotiv B’Munich v Salzburg Inter v Real Madrid Marseille v FC Porto Ajax v Midtjylland Liverpool v Atalanta (All matches 9pm except *@6:55pm)

Bayern Munich players stretching out in the gym ahead clash with Red Bull Salzburg this evening

CAF CHAMPIONS LEAGUE

Bitter Rivals Al Ahly, Zamalek to Meet in Final on Friday Africa’s oldest footballing rivalry has an elevated prize on offer on Friday when Egypt’s Al Ahly meet their arch rivals Zamalek in the African Champions League final in Cairo.

Bitter adversaries for more than a century, Friday’s clash for the top club trophy on the continent is the 239th meeting between the two teams, each of whom can count their support in the Arabic-speaking world in the tens of millions of fans.

Al Ahly dominate the past win count 102-58 but this is the first time the Cairo clubs face off in a continental competition final.

The showpiece, however, faces being overshadowed

by Covid-19 infections with three Al Ahly players possibly missing out, including veteran playmaker Walid Soliman.

Zamalek will be without key defender Mahmoud El-Wensh, Egyptian press reports said.

Al Ahly employed South African coach Pitso Mosimane

just under two months ago and he has continued their domestic dominance.

They reached the final with a convincing 5-1 aggregate semifinal victory over Morocco’s Wydad Casablanca and won the Egyptian Premier League comfortably with a runaway 21-point lead over second-placed Zamalek.

Mosimane won the Champions League with Pretoria club Mamelodi Sundowns four years ago when they easily beat Zamalek over two legs in the final.

Zamalek have veteran Portuguese coach Jaime Pacheco at the helm. He was hired days before Mosimane joined Al Ahly and is the 20th coaching

appointment in the last five years made by Zamalek’s eccentric chairman Mortada Mansour.

Friday’s match is the first time since the inaugural African Champions Cup final in 1965 that the trophy is decided in a single game. The Confederation of African Football introduced the concept of a single final for the competition after last season.

Zamalek players at training yesterday ahead of Al Ahly clash in CAF Champions League final on Friday

AFA Sports Opens New Store in Abuja, Unveils ‘Afrileisure’ Line AFA Sports is unveiling the best of the past, present and future of African designs through its ‘Afrilieisure’ line, just as it announced the opening of a new store in Abuja.

A statement by AFA, confirmed that the expansion was in response to the growing need of the people in the federal capital city.

It said that the brand relies on feedback and suggestions from brand loyalists, friends and the general public to drive consumer interest and ensure

customer satisfaction.

According to the CEO of AFA Sports, Ugo Udezue: “We are a brand that listens. We are doing this for our customers who for a long time kept asking for a flagship store in Abuja.

This is also an opportunity for our business to continue its continental momentum as a brand. We look forward to creating meaningful connections with our customers.�

The former former Nigerian basketball star stressed that the new shop situated

at shop L-13 Jabi Lake Mall, “goes beyond generating excitement for customers to forging relationships, partnerships and fostering goodwill with consumers and other businesses.�

He said AFA Sports will be unveiling the ‘Afrileisure’ line with the introduction of new products during the grand opening on November 25. ‘ Afrileisure’ is AFA Sports’ trademarked term for African traditional concepts modernized in the Athleisure and Sports

environment.

The products which include the Jalamia tracks, Sports Hijab and Kaftan T-shirt, celebrate originality, creativity and the cultural background of the African continent.

Also to drop same day is the Kubwa Tribal sneakers, an addition to the coveted luxury Kubwa collection. This lifestyle kicks is designed with iconic patterns, colorful aesthetics and high-quality elevated sole padded with comfortable properties.

Wednesday November 25, 2020

TR

UT H

& RE A SO

N

Price: N250

MISSILE

Sanwo-Olu to FG “The level of insecurity being experienced across the nation calls for serious concern, considering its implication not only on the socioeconomic development and prosperity of our people but also on the unity and territorial integrity of our nation” – Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, expressing concern over the current security challenges in Nigeria.

KAYODEKOMOLAFE THE HORIZON

kayode.komolafe@thisdaylive.com

0805 500 1974

An Invitation to Cynicism P

oliticians hardly waited for the counting of votes in the last year presidential election before putting the 2023 presidential election squarely on the national agenda.

You wonder if all there is to the content of liberal democracy is the election of the president.

This manifestation of an indecent political culture is an open invitation to public cynicism.

So, don’t blame the people when they become cynical about politics and politicians. Already, the cynicism is already on display in the increasingly low voter turn-out during elections. Billions of naira are spent by candidates who end up scoring collectively a few hundreds of thousands of votes.

Meanwhile, tens of thousands of policemen and other security operatives are mobilised to create a peaceful atmosphere for the election in which the total votes of all candidates are fewer than half a million. Can you say the people actually believe that elections could change their poor condition with a turnout of voters that is less than 30%? Really, Nigeria suffers from the malaise of political underdevelopment. It is not yet officially diagnosed even though the symptoms are all too glaring. Voter apathy is one of the symptoms.

The people are extremely alienated from the political process. They can’t see the purpose of the periodic elections in their lives. Some of them perceive elections in transactional terms. Political education is sorely lacking.

That is why the growing political culture of perpetual campaigns for elections should be severely rebuked by those who care about the democratic development of Nigeria.

It is not for nothing that elections are described as festivals of a liberal democratic culture. During this festival, the voter periodically exercises his civic power to join others in deciding in whose hands to entrust governance. The centrality of elections to the democratic process is never in doubt.

But as in any culture, this festival cannot be a daily preoccupation of the people. It is always a periodic thing to do.

To be clear, this argument against the premature placement of 2023 on the national agenda is without prejudice to the legitimacy of the clamour for geo-political equity in nominating candidates for the next presidential election. If only for reasons of political psychology and national integration it would be impractical to wish away zoning of the presidential nominations at this stage of the nation’s political maturity. In this wise, the interwoven social and moral factors of Nigeria’s post-colonial history should not be ignored. Until Nigeria becomes so politically developed that the ideology of a candidate would matter more than his ethnic or regional origin, the factor of zoning would be difficult to eliminate in the political process.

It is hoped that zoning will eventually be a transitional thing in the course of political development and the management of the enriching diversity of Nigeria.

However, that cannot be a justification for putting a nation bedevilled with a multi-dimensional crisis on an electoral mode perpetually.

To start with, it is a gross assault on the sensibilities of the people who voted for a president only last year and are now entitled to expect competent governance. The people expect socially responsible governance from the elected president or governor and not perennial electioneering by politicians at this time.

The time between one electoral season and the next one should be productively devoted to issues of governance. The government, the opposition politicians and indeed, the society at large, have enormous roles to play in this regard.

Buhari This is the way to serve the cause of public purpose.

It is, therefore, less than responsible to do otherwise in the name of playing politics.

As the party in power, the All Progressives Congress (APC) should be leading debates on policies while mobilising support for President Muhammadu Buhari, governors and others elected on its platform. The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and other parties outside power should engage the APC in contest of ideas by providing alternative solutions and approaches to many problems in the land. It is the duty of the opposition and, in fact, the people to constantly challenge the Buhari administration to govern properly and improve the condition of people. It is important that the next 31 months of the Buhari’s administrations should be spent on tackling Nigeria’s huge problems regardless of the calculations towards 2023. Whoever becomes president in 2023 will not have to be confronted with the problems already solved in 2020, for instance.

The national climate is doubtless that of grave insecurity and socio-economic pains. According to the constitution, “the primary purpose of

government is the security and welfare of the people.” For millions of Nigerians, can it be said that the purpose is being fulfilled in their lives?

Hardly does a day pass without reported bloodshed in parts of the country. Criminals are killing policemen and soldiers. Even policemen are being kidnapped. And ransom is reportedly paid for the freedom of those who have the task of security. Parts of the country are virtually ungoverned spaces; they are under the dark reigns of bandits and terrorists. At least, three local government areas in the home state of the President and Commander-in-Chief, Katsina, are reported to be highly troubled by activities of bandits.

Highways in virtually all parts of Nigeria remain unsafe. Armed robbers and kidnappers are on the prowl. Even troops had to be deployed recently between Abuja, the nation’s capital, and Kaduna, the capital of the old northern region.

The insecurity is worsened by the low morale and lack of capacity of the police. Years after Boko Haram had been declared “degraded”, killings of soldiers including officers and sacking of communities are continually reported from the northeast. The convoy of the exceptionally courageous and committed Borno Governor Babagana Zulum has been attacked a number of times by terrorists. Those who were already in the camps of the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in 2015, when Buhari was elected, are yet to return to their communities.

Even before the outbreak of coronavirus, the economy deserved better management.

The administration is borrowing heavily to implement projects and a disproportionate percentage of the budget is devoted to debt servicing. The economy is now officially in recession. The consequences of the disruption caused by coronavirus have worsened the condition of poverty of the most vulnerable segment of the society while inequality is widening.

In such a grim socio-economic situation, it is highly incongruous that the statements from Aso

Rock would be about an unprincipled governor defecting to the president’s party. Aso Rock and APC are supposed to be explaining the difficult situation of socio-economic life to the Nigerians while telling them plans to bring relief to their pains. This is not the time to celebrate politics without principle. It is the time to discuss policies or lack of policies to improve the conditions of the people.

Given the structure of the economy, the states (usurping the powers of local governments) are jointly responsible for the management of more than 47% of revenues from the Federation Account.

The states have vast responsibilities for governance in areas of security, healthcare, education, social housing, sanitation, food security, water supply, road construction, transportation etc.

Currently, governors are presenting their budgets in hundreds of billions. But these budgets and the proposed policy instruments are hardly discussed in the public sphere. A flint of attention is only focussed on a state during the election of the governor. Thereafter, the governor is left to act like a local emperor for the next four years, accountable to nobody including the state legislature. Is there any state where the state House of Assembly is vigorously scrutinising the budget proposed by the governor for the purpose of reshaping policies and the direction of things in the state?

While bandits wreak havoc in their states, some state governors, in their flowing babaringa, are busy receiving defectors to their party in other far-away states and paying 2023-centred visits to prominent political figures. The time and energy that should be strictly devoted to governance in 2020 is spent on scheming for 2023 as if politicians are clairvoyant enough to know what the realities of Nigeria would be even in 2021.

Certainly, democracy should mean more than elections.

If the current trend of focussing on 2023 at the expense of governance at present is not reversed, the public cynicism about politics may worsen with time.

The Long Journey of PIB

I

n its tortuous journey to become a law, the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) moved at a slightly cheery note yesterday when the House of Representatives passed it for a second reading after a one-hour debate.

You may call it a piece of good news in the policy cloud that has defined the reform of the petroleum sector.

In the senate, the bill has already passed the stage of the second reading.

The bill was sent to the National Assembly

by President Buhari in September.

Only last week, Minister of State for Petroleum Timipreye Sylva was in an upbeat mood about the bill. According to him, the bill could be passed by the first quarter of next year.

Earlier in the year, the optimism was similarly expressed by Senate President Ahmed Lawan that the bill would be passed before the end of 2020.

Well, this is November and the processing is still at the stage of second reading!

Entitled “A Bill for an Act to Provide Legal, Governance, Regulatory and Fiscal Framework for the Nigerian Petroleum Industry, the Development of Host Community and for Related Matters,” it is a legislative proposal with huge ambitions.

The content of the proposed law includes the establishment of the Nigerian Upstream Regulatory Commission for the purpose of technical and commercial regulation of the upstream operations in

the petroleum industry and the commercialisation of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).

The Bill also seeks to scrap the Petroleum Equalisation Fund (PEF) and Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA). When the bill becomes a law they would be replaced by another organisation.

As a matter of fact, the journey of the PIB could be said to have begun on April 24, 2000 with the setting up of the Oil and Gas Reform Committee (OGRC) by the administration of President Olusegun Obasanjo.

The idea was to make the industry more transparent to increase the government’s share of the revenues from petroleum resources. Further investments in the sector by oil companies were said to be hinged on the proposed law.

The PIB was first introduced at the Sixth National Assembly in 2008 following the report of another presidential committee appointed in 2007.

It appeared at a time that the obstacles on the way of the bill becoming a law were insuperable because of the uneasy balance of interests of the contending forces. How much of these interests could be categorised as public interests?

The rigmarole in the making of a petroleum regulatory law is a proof of governance incompetence of the successive executive and legislative arms of governments in the last 20 years.

The successive administrations and lawmakers have treated with levity the making of a law meant to improve the situation of things in a sector providing 95% of the nation’s foreign exchange earnings and 80% of funds for its annual budget.

The long journey of the PIB speaks volumes about the nature of economic management in Nigeria.

One thing that politicians in power have in common (regardless of their kaleidoscopic partisan differences) is that they often assume that they have eternity to make progress in the policy arena for public good.

In the circumstance, they lose sight of the big picture of things.

They seem unconscious of the dynamics of their global environment.

Since the idea of a PIB was suggested in 2000, there have been four presidents and six legislative cycles at the National Assembly. In fact, two of the presidents -Obasanjo and Buhari- have been petroleum ministers.

Yet, the PIB has not become law.

Contrary to the official policy illusion, those in charge of governance in Nigeria simply do not have the luxury of wasting time to put workable policies in place.

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