MONDAY 30TH NOVEMBER 2020

Banks' Profits Rise to N677bn Despite COVID-19 Harsh Conditions Obinna Chima Despite the economic meltdown caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, the nine months 2020 financial results of 12 commercial banks have shown that they recorded a combined profit of N677.149

billion for the period that ended on September 30.

This represented an increase

by N43.581 billion or seven per cent as against the results reported by the banks in the comparable period of 2019.

The banks are Access Bank Plc, Fidelity Bank Plc, FCMB,

FBN Holdings, Guaranty Trust Bank Plc, Union Bank of Nigeria Plc, United Bank for Africa Plc, Zenith Bank Plc, Stanbic IBTC, Wema Bank, Unity Bank, and Sterling Bank Plc. The results were compiled

by THISDAY from their

respective nine-month reports for the period, which the banks presented to the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE).

It showed that in the period under review, while Access Bank Plc recorded 16 per cent growth in its profit after tax (PAT) to N102.3 billion,

compared with the N88.4 billion recorded in the first nine months of 2019; Fidelity Bank’s profit after tax rose by seven per cent from N19 billion to N20.4 billion in the period under review and FCMB posted a profit after tax of N13.903 billion, compared with

the N10.791 billion recorded in the comparable period of 2019.

Also, while FBN Holdings Plc reported a growth of 31.7 per cent in its profit after tax of N68.256 billion, up from Continued on page 9

World Bank Partners Nigeria on N140bn Solar Systems Installation... Page 8 Monday 30 November, 2020 Vol 25. No 9366 Price: N250

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Outrage Grows over Killings as 43 Borno Farmers Buried UN puts death toll at 110 Lawan, Gbajabiamila, Northern govs, others demand more actions Deji Elumoye, Chuks Okocha, James Emejo, Adedayo Akinwale, Michael Olugbode in Abuja, Seriki Adinoyi in Jos and John

Shiklam in Kaduna Boko Haram's killing of no fewer than 43 rice farmers at Zabarmari in the Jere Local

Government Area of Borno State yesterday sparked fresh outrage over the worsening insecurity in the country.

The remains of the victims,

killed on Saturday, were interred yesterday after the funeral rites witnessed by Borno State Governor, Prof.

Babagana Zulum, among other

personalities.

Top public officials, including President of the Senate, Dr. Ahmad Lawan; House of Representatives

Speaker, Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila; Northern governors as well as Continued on page 9

FG to Treat Fresh #EndSARS Protest as Attempt at Regime Change Sees proposed demonstration as decoy for political action to force ‘Mali situation’ on Nigeria Security agencies placed on red alert Kingsley Nweze in Abuja The federal government would treat any fresh demonstration against perceived police brutality or any other issue, particularly if it threatens to disrupt peace and security of any part of the country, as high treason aimed at unconstitutional regime change, highly placed security sources told THISDAY last night.

Notice of a fresh protest, of alleged federal government’s harassment of promoters of the #EndSARS protests held in October, scheduled for December 5 has been trending in social media for weeks.

This has attracted a firm response from the Inspector-General of Police, Mr. Mohammed Adamu, who warned, shortly Continued on page 9

POWERING EKO...

L-R: Managing Director of Tech Systems Limited, Dr. Walter Olatunde; Power Sector Investor, Mr. Babor Egeregor; Directors of Eko Electricity Distribution Company, Mr. George Etomi, Mr. Ernest Oji and Mr. Dere Otubu; Chairman, Mr. Charles Momoh; Minister of Power, Mr. Sale Mamman; Permanent Secretary, Mr. Chinyeaka Ohaa; MD/ CEO EKEDC, Mr. Adeoye Fadeyibi; Special Assistant to the Minister on Special Duties, Hon. Ibrahim Yusuf; and Director of Distribution System, Ministry of Power, Ms. Sapke Ibrahim, at the inauguration of EKEDC Supervisory Control And Data Acquisition - Distribution Management System (SCADA-DMS) in Marina, Lagos…recently

Committees Submit Harmonised 2021 Spending Estimates to N'Assembly Thursday...Page 5

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NEWS Committees Submit Harmonised 2021 Spending Estimates to N'Assembly Thursday Group News Editor Ejiofor Alike

Email Ejiofor.Alike@thisdaylive.com, 08066066268

Say N400bn needed for maintenance of federal roads annually Deji Elumoye in Abuja The harmonised 2021 N13.08 trillion spending estimates will be ready for presentation to the National Assembly by the Joint Appropriation Committee of the Assembly on Thursday, THISDAY has learnt.

This is just as the lawmakers stated that not less than N400 billion will be required annually to maintain the 35,000 kilometre-stretch of federal roads nationwide.

The Chairman of the Senate Committee on Appropriation, Senator Barau Jibrin, said at the weekend that the Joint Committee on Appropriation was working towards ensuring the submission of the

harmonised report on the rejigged N13.08trillion 2021 budget proposals.

He said with the submission of all budget estimates from the subcommittees, the next stage of work for the appropriation committee would be to carry out the required scrutiny of the reports, harmonise with the House of Representatives for submission at both chambers on Thursday.

"The process of presentation of reports as regards the 2021 budget estimates for the various MDAs by the various committees scrutinising them is over since all of them have submitted their reports.

"What remains now is for those of us in the

appropriation committee to collate the reports in harmonisation with the House of Representatives for final consideration and passage by both chambers.

"Timetable for that has already been drawn up and we shall work assiduously in keeping to it by submitting harmonised report of the budgetary proposal to the Senate on the 3rd of December, 2020 for final consideration and passage latest by the following week," he added.

Meanwhile, the federal lawmakers have said that for the federal roads to be

motorable at all times, N400 billion will be required yearly for maintenance.

It described the N38 billion earmarked for that purpose in the 2021 budget proposal as too low for it to make any impact.

Chairman of the Senate Committee on Federal Roads Maintenance Agency (FERMA), Senator Gersome Bassey, explained that road maintenance in a country like Nigeria where road transportation is most used for the movement of people, goods and services can only be effectively carried out with

about N400billion yearly.

He said: "What the committee has just submitted to the appropriation committee for such exercise in the 2021 fiscal year is the N38 billion proposed for it by the executive, which cannot cover up to one-quarter of the entire length of deplorable roads in the country.

"Unfortunately, despite having the power of appropriation, we cannot as a committee jack up the sum since we are not in a position to carry out the estimation of work to be done on each of the specific portions of the

road. Doing that without proposals to that effect from the executive may lead to project insertion or padding as often alleged in the media.

"But the situation on the ground as far as the committees on FERMA at both Chambers are concerned, is very bad, requiring far more than N38billion earmarked.

"If the roads are well maintained on a yearly basis, reconstruction and rehabilitation which require bigger amounts of monies and years to carry out may not be necessary as frequently as they are now."

Buhari Rolls Out Autogas Programme, Targets One Million Vehicles Emmanuel Addeh in Abuja President Muhammadu Buhari will on Tuesday (tomorrow) officially roll out the much-awaited National Gas Expansion Programme (NGEP) in Abuja, which is expected to gradually replace or complement the use of petrol by Nigerians.

Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Chief Timipre Sylva, said the event would also herald the formal dispensing of autogas, mainly Compressed Natural Gas(CNG) and Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) products at two retail filling stations belonging to the

Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

A statement by the Special Adviser on Media to the minister, Mr. Garba Muhammad, in Abuja yesterday emphasised that the federal government’s autogas programme will deliver at least one million vehicle conversions by the end of 2021 and herald the clean energy transition for Nigeria as well as the delivery of cheap transportation fuel.

It stated that the programme was the culmination of the resolve of the Buhari-led government to deepen Continuedon page 10

NEW ADDITION...

L-R: Commissioner for Insurance/CEO, National Insurance Commission, Mr. Thomas Sunday; Deputy Commissioner for Insurance, Technical, Mr. Sabiu Abubakar; Chairman, Heirs Holdings, Mr. Tony Elumelu, at the presentation of new insurance operating licences to Heirs Insurance Ltd and Heirs Life Assurance Ltd in Abuja‌weekend

Malami, APC Tackle INEC, Speaker over Certificate of Return Iyobosa Uwugiaren in Abuja The Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice, Mr. Abubakar Malami (SAN), and the All Progressives Congress (APC) have faulted the former Chairman, Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, and the Speaker of House of Representatives, Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila, over what they labelled as the wrongful issuance of the certificate of return by INEC to Hon. Abdulsalam Mubarak representing Bali/ Gassol Federal Constituency of Taraba State.

An insider in a seemingly legal struggle, told THISDAY that in a letter with reference number: SGF/PS/PGC/200/ TII dated July 14, 2020, addressed to the speaker and INEC Chairman, the Office of AGF had requested the reinstatement and swearingin of Hon. Garba Hamman Julde as a member of House of Representatives representing

the constituency having been duly sponsored and elected.

In a letter dated August 24, 2020 and signed by the Acting National Secretary of the APC, Senator John James Akpanudoedehe, the party also supported the position of the AGF, insisting that Julde was rightfully sponsored by the party and won the election.

Malami and APC have expressed concerns that months after they drew the attention of the speaker and INEC to the illegality of their offices, no action has been taken to ratify their actions.

Giving a background to the case, the AGF said Julde contested the House of Representatives for Bali/Gassol Federal Constituency of Taraba State, his name having been duly submitted to INEC by his party, APC, as the party’s candidate for the election in INEC form EC. 25 (iv) dated November 30, 2018.

According to the letter, one Gambo Mubarak was said to have later filed a suit in 2018 at the Federal High

Court Jalingo contesting the purported primary election and the decision of the National Working Committee of APC. For a reason not known to the aggrieved parties, the trial court in its judgment ordered that Mubarak’s name be submitted to contest the election. The case went to Court of Appeal and subsequently to the Supreme Court, and the apex court was said to have set aside the judgment of the Court of Appeal in favour of Mubarak on the ground that it was delivered out of time and restored the judgment of the Federal High Court. ‘’The Supreme Court judgment was delivered on the 3rd of June, 2019 at a time that the 2019 National Assembly Election had been concluded. “It is observed that the judgment of the Supreme Court did not indicate that the certificate of return issued to Hon. Garba Hamman Julde is nullified and should be

withdrawn. ‘’Similarly, the judgment did not also indicate that Abdulsalam Mubarak be issued with a certificate of return in place of the earlier one issued to Hon. Garba Hamman Julde,’’ Malami stated.

The AGF added that the petition before him shows that INEC has issued another certificate of return to Mubarak, protesting that INEC’s decision has no basis in the judgment of the Supreme Court, delivered on June 3, 2019 - as no such order was made to that effect.

Malami added: ‘’It is for a good reason that the Supreme Court did not give such an order because at the time the Supreme Court heard the Appeal and delivered its judgement, the 2019 National Assembly Election had been concluded without the participation of Abdulsalam Mubarak. ‘’Suffice it to say that the position of the Supreme Court in not giving such specific

order is in accord with the provision of Section 285 (13) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended) and Section 141 of the Electoral Act 2010.’’ The minister explained that Section 285 (13) of the Constitution provides that ‘’an election tribunal or court shall not declare any person a winner at an election in which such a person has not fully participated in all stages of the election further submitted that Section 141 of the Electoral Act 2010 states that ‘’an election tribunal or court shall not under any circumstance declare any person a winner of an election in which such a person has not fully participated in all the stages of the said election."

Wondering what informed INEC and the speaker’s decisions, Malami said it is not in dispute that Mubarak did not participate in 2019 National Assembly Election and in the post-election petition that followed the declaration of Julde as the winner.

‘’Thus, the subsequent issuance of a certificate of return to Abdulsalam Mubarak

by INEC in an election that he never participates in is patently wrong and ultra-vires the commission. ‘’In the circumstance, two letters were written on my directives by the SolicitorGeneral of the Federation and Permanent Secretary dated 24th, February 2020 and 1st June 2020 were respectively addressed to the chairman of the commission. However, the commission did not respond to any of the two letters’’, the minister stated.

In a similar letter to the Speaker, which he referred to the National Assembly Legal Department, an Assistant Director (Legal Services), Charles Yoila, agreed with the AGF, asking the speaker to reinstate Julde.

In a letter dated August 24, 2020, and signed by the Acting National Secretary of APC, Akpanudoedehe, the party also supported the position of the minister.

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World Bank Partners Nigeria on N140bn Solar Systems Installation Beneficiaries to own energy after three years Omololu Ogunmade in Abuja The World Bank is to provide some grants for federal government's N140 billion solar home systems scheduled to take-off this week, THISDAY learnt at the weekend.

The solar home systems, conceived to guarantee power supply for 25 million individuals in no fewer than five million homes across the country are part of the federal government's economic sustainability plan (ESP) for economic recovery.

Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity (Office of the Vice-President), Mr. Laolu Akande, at the weekend, said the initiative was designed to fundamentally address the challenge of power supply in the country.

THISDAY also learnt at the weekend that the World Bank, which had offered to participate in the initiative would provide 20 per cent grants to finance the retail cost of the solar system nationwide.

The solar home systems, under the ESP scheme, designed to serve Nigerians who are not connected to the national power grid, it was learnt, could be fully owned by beneficiaries after three years

with a maximum monthly payment of N4,000 over a 3-year period.

Akande said the ESP solar programme which has been nicknamed Solar Power Naija would be implemented by the Rural Electrification Agency (REA).

He said the initiative would accord priority to Nigerians residing in both rural areas and urban settlements who are either under-served or totally cut off the national grid.

He explained that the scheme offers the option of outright ownership by beneficiaries at a cost ranging from N1,500 per week to N4,000 monthly depending on the capacities, for a period of three years.

According to him, the arrangement allows as many as 25 million Nigerians to own personal solar systems in their respective homes.

As contained in the economic sustainability plan, Akande explained that the target five million connections' initiative is a private sector-led electricity access acceleration scheme to be facilitated by a low-cost loan facility from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and implemented by REA. He listed the objectives of

Seven Killed in Fresh Attacks on Kaduna Communities

John Shiklam in Kaduna

Seven people have been reported killed following a fresh crisis in communities in Jama’a Local Government Area in the southern part of Kaduna State.

Four people were injured, while two children were said to be missing.

Four houses were also said to have been burnt.

The incidents, according to a statement issued yesterday by the state Commissioner for Internal Security and Home Affairs, Mr. Samuel Aruwan, occurred on Saturday and yesterday when one Isiyaka Saidu, a herder, was killed by unknown persons on Saturday in Ungwan Pah village, Jema’a LGA. The state government condemned the actions.

According to Aruwan, the state government received the operational feedback from the military under the auspices of Operation Safe Haven (OPSH) highlighting the unfortunate incidents.

He said: “Governor Nasir El-Rufai has also directed the military and police to accelerate investigation and ensure diligent prosecution of those responsible for the killing.�

According to him, the military had on Saturday reported to the government that Saidu was killed by unknown persons with deep knives cut on his head. “The military further stated

that three persons were arrested from Ungwan Pah and Ungwan Bido villages of the same local government area namely: Victor Markus, Gero David, and Thankgod Sunday “Security agencies have furthered reported that Ungwan Bido village was attacked today, Sunday, November 29, 2020, where some local residents were killed and four injured. Two children are missing. “The six persons killed are: Silas Maman, Malaki Tabat Geofree Andrew, Anna Ahmadu, Sunday Tagwai and Fidelis Musa,� he stated, Aruwan said el-Rufai had sent condolences to the families that lost their loved ones and prayed for the repose of their souls even as he wished those that sustained injuries speedy recovery.

He said the state government appealed to security agencies, traditional rulers and community leaders to continue to work with the state government to sustain the community peace-building efforts being supported by the Kaduna State Peace Commission.

The state government, according to him, also directed the Kaduna State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA) “to as a matter of urgency provide relief materials to citizens whose houses were burnt as well as those injured in the attack.�

the programme to include: expansion of energy access to 25 million individuals (5 million new connections) through the provision of solar home systems (SHS) or connection to a mini-grid.

Other objectives, he added, are to increase local content in the off-grid solar value chain; facilitating the growth of the local manufacturing and assembly industry and incentivising the creation of 250,000 new jobs in the energy sector.

He said benefits derivable

from the programme aside from the creation of access to cheap and clean energy would include impacting the local solar assembly industry.

He said: “The programme will include the assembly or manufacturing of components of off-grid solutions to facilitate the growth of the local manufacturing industry. “In view of the scale of materials required, solar equipment manufacturers/ assemblers will be incentivized to set up facilities in Nigeria,

thereby offering additional job opportunities to Nigerians. In addition, installation, servicing and payment collections are expected to provide thousands of other jobs. In all, at least 250, 000 jobs will be created.�

THISDAY learnt that the connection of 25 million new Nigerians to solar energy as well as the ongoing implementation of the National Mass Metering Programme (NMMP), is among measures adopted by the federal government to address the nation’s energy

crisis.

REA, through its off-grid solar programme, is said to have already connected the people of Olooji community in Ijebu East area of Ogun State to electricity, for the first time in 200 years.

According to information available to THISDAY, Olooji solar hybrid has a total capacity of 100 kilowatts (KW) completed with 304 solar panels, 72 batteries and over 30kw of distribution network cables, serving over 4000 people.

CELEBRATIONS...

L-R: Chieftain of the All Progressives Congress, Mr. Kashim Ibrahim-Imam; Speaker, House of Representatives, Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila; Imo State Governor, Senator Hope Uzodinma; and Ebonyi State Governor, Mr. Dave Umahi, during the traditional marriage of a party chieftain's daughter at Ehime Mbano, Imo State‌weekend

Power Supply Partially Restored after National Grid's Collapse Vandals plunge Abuja into darkness Emmanuel Addeh in Abuja and John Shiklam in Kaduna The national power grid collapsed again yesterday, plunging most parts of the country into a blackout, a development the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) attributed to multiple tripping of the system.

But the TCN, which is wholly controlled by the federal government, stated that it was investigating the blackout while as of yesterday evening, power had been restored to some parts of the country.

This is coming as the Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC) has said that the activities of some vandals had thrown parts of its franchise areas in Abuja and environs into a total darkness.

Kaduna Electricity Distribution Company (KEDCO) and their counterpart in Lagos, Eko Electricity Distribution Company (EKEDC), which first announced the national grid collapse, also apologised to customers for

the inconvenience.

The national grid has continued to suffer system failures over the years, which the sector players say could be solved by the acquisition of a spinning reserve, a generation capacity that is online and can compensate for generation or transmission during collapses.

However, as of 5pm yesterday, a statement by the General Manager, Public Affairs of the TCN, Mrs. Ndidi Mbah, noted that power had been restored to many parts of the country, except parts of Cross River, Benue, Plateau, Borno among others. “The Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) regrets to inform electricity consumers nationwide that at 11:25am today, the nation's electricity grid experienced multiple tripping, which led to the collapse of the system. “TCN has since commenced grid restoration; power has been successfully restored to every part of the country, except Calabar, Ugwuaji, Makurdi, Jos, Gombe, Yola and Maidugiri axis. Effort is, however, ongoing to ensure

full restoration nationwide. “We regret the inconvenience this has caused electricity consumers. Investigations would be conducted to establish the immediate and remote cause(s) of the multiple tripping as soon as the grid is fully restored - considering that the grid had been relatively stable in the last couple of months,� TCN said.

Four states in the north-west zone have lost electricity supply following the collapse of the national grid.

The Kaduna Electricity Distribution Company, in a statement yesterday by its spokesman, Mr. Abdulazeez Abdullahi, listed the states as Kaduna, Kebbi, Sokoto and Zamfara, which are within its franchise.

It added that consumers in the area won't have power supply until the grid is backed up.

Also, the Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC) said vandals had thrown parts of its franchise areas in Abuja and environs into darkness.

A statement by the company’s spokesman, Mr.

Oyebode Fadipe, noted that over 15 districts and communities were affected by the damage done to the transmission line. “Customers living in the underlisted locations are hereby informed that as a result of the activities of vandals on the 330/132kV Gwagwalada/Kukwaba line that transports power to the 2 x 60MVA Kukwaba injection substation, power supply to the areas has been disrupted. “The affected areas are: Kaura District, Galadimawa, Lokogoma, Suncity, Maccido Housing Estate, Games Village, Eyes Centre Hospital, National Stadium, Feeds Milipat Filling Station, part of Indoor Stadium, Kuchingoro, Karamajigi, King Park Estate, Royal Anchor Estate, DSS Quarters, Wilbahi Estate, Wuye, Utako and environs. “While the live-line maintenance crew of the TCN is already working on the vandalised section of the 330kV/132kV line, efforts are also on to back-feed our customers from Apo,� the Disco said.

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PAGE NINE OUTRAGE GROWS OVER KILLINGS AS 43 BORNO FARMERS BURIED former Vice President Atiku Abubakar; Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the Afenifere condemned the carnage and urged the federal government to adopt more stringent measures to win the insurgency war.

The apex Niger Delta sociocultural group, Pan Niger Delta Forum (PANDEF) and the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) also decried the carnage, which President Muhammadu Buhari, on Saturday, described as "senseless."

Boko Haram fighters had slit the throats of the rice farmers in the village near Maiduguri, the state capital.

The terrorists were reported to have first tied up the farmers, who were working in rice fields, before killing them.

However, the United Nations (UN) has said the death toll might be higher than 43, adding that no fewer than 110 civilians were killed in the attack.

Amnesty international also declared 10 women as missing, raising the possibility of them being killed already or captured by the terrorists.

Zulum has also said that Boko Haram still maintained a strong presence in parts of the troubled state, despite the claim by the federal government that the terror group doesn't hold any territory in the country.

However, farmers under the umbrella of the All Farmers Association of Nigeria (AFAN), have warned of an imminent food crisis as virtually all the Northern states with major agricultural production activities, including Zamfara, Katsina, Sokoto and Kebbi,

are currently affected by the activities of non-state actors, which have forced many farmers to vacate their farms.

Condemning the killings, Lawan described it as another act of barbarism against innocent Nigerians.

"This incident is heart-rending and again demonstrates why we must all continue to support the security forces to thwart the criminals in their evil determination to impose a reign of terror on the North-east of Nigeria,� he said.

He urged the security agencies to redouble their efforts with a view to bringing an end to the mindless violent crimes in the country.

Gbajabiamila in a statement yesterday by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Mr. Lanre Lasisi, said it was unfortunate that at a time the country was focusing on self-sufficiency in rice farming, about 50 of the farmers were killed in a most gruesome manner.

The speaker, who expressed sadness over the killings, noted that the incident has once again brought to the fore the need for more military action against the terrorists.

He said the incident was one too many for the country.

"Their lives should not go in vain. This should call for more action from our military.

As a House, we are ever ready to give them all the necessary support, especially through budgetary allocation, to deal decisively with the insurgents," the speaker said.

In their reaction to the massacre, the Northern Governors Forum (NGF)

described it as tragic and a setback to the efforts of Nigeria to attain domestic sufficiency in rice production as well as food security.

Chairman of the forum and Governor of Plateau State, Mr. Simon Lalong, said in a statement yesterday that the country is saddened over the killing of the rice farmers whose only crime was to go to the farm to earn their living.

He stated that the forum has consistently worked with the federal government, security agencies and local support groups to ensure that farmers are protected in order to enable them to farm.

Atiku reiterated his call for the overhaul of the nation's security system, saying he was heart-broken over the incident and short of words on what to say over the continued killings

by Boko Haram insurgents.

He stressed the imperative of rejigging the security network in the country as a measure to counter the continued activities of the Boko Haram insurgents.

Atiku, in a tweet, said: "Heartbreaking. Words fail me. The lives of our citizens should be worth much more than this. The rejig of the nation's security architecture is long overdue. May their souls rest in peace and may their families be comforted."

Reacting, the PDP, in a statement yesterday by its National Publicity Secretary, Mr. Kola Ologbondiyan, described the massacre as wicked, devilish and must not be left unaddressed.

It noted that the horrific killing of compatriots comes as yet another of the recurring horrid testament and badge

of failure of the President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration to secure the nation and guarantee the safety of lives and property.

"Indeed, our party is distressed by the escalated killing and maiming of innocent Nigerians by insurgents, bandits, and marauders, who have continued to ravage and pillage our communities, while the lazy and lethargic Buhari administration continues with its lip service, rhetoric, and false performance claims," it added.

The PDP expressed concern about the failure of the Buhari presidency to take decisive action despite series of concerns raised by Zulum about security compromises in the state.

The spokesman of Afenifere, Mr. Yinka Odumakin, told THISDAY yesterday that the group was worried by the incessant attacks and killing of the people in the North-east, especially in Borno State by the Boko Haram insurgents despite claims to the contrary by the federal government.

He stated that with the nation now under siege with many lives being lost, Buhari has become Nigeria's “Lamentor-in-Chief.�

"We are worried that in spite of the official untruth by the Nigerian government that it has degraded Boko Haram, the terror group daily continues to downgrade the current government as comprehensively incompetent.

And on all fronts, the country is under siege with lives being lost on a daily basis and our president is now lamentor-in-

chief," he said.

In its reaction, PANDEF called on the president to immediately overhaul the nation's security apparatus, including sacking all the service chiefs.

Its National Publicity Secretary, Hon Ken Robinson, told THISDAY yesterday that "those in charge of the security architecture of the country should stop pretending and face reality; things are not alright. The country is in a precarious state; things are not okay and we cannot continue like this.

"Mr. President needs to take some drastic and pragmatic actions, now; including the overhaul of the entire security architecture of the country.

A change in the leadership of the nation's security high command is long overdue.�

While the ACF condemned the killings, it, however, declined to make comments on the way forward to tackle the security challenges in the country, saying, it has repeatedly spoken on the issue.

Spokesman of the forum, Mr. Emmanuel Yawe, told THISDAY that the ACF cannot say anything more than what it had said before concerning the security situation in the country. “We cannot say more than what we said in our October communiquĂŠ and the recent statement we issued about a week ago. We cannot say anything on insecurity again because if we say anything, it won't be new,â€? he added.

The forum in a statement on November 24 had berated the Buhari administration over the rising insecurity in the North.

It had urged the president to live up to his oath of office.

Also, the Coalition of Northern Groups (CNG) described the Buhari administration as the worst in the history of the country.

The spokesman of the group, Mr. Abdul-Azeez Suleiman, said the federal government and federal troops could no longer be relied on to protect northern communities.

The coalition said it has heard enough of excuses and fake promises of action from the Buhari administration.

CNG described as unacceptable a situation where the people of the North will continue to live under a high level of exposure to criminals who attack, kill, maim, rape, kidnap, burn villages and rustle cattle while the president and security chiefs issue threats and promises that have no effect.

"The president and federal troops keep telling us that they are doing something about the mounting insecurity, but by now all Northerners must have realised that our region has been abandoned at the mercy of a rampaging insurgency that is continuously wasting the greatest asset of North; its population and weakening it politically and pauperising it economically,� it said.

Bodies of 43 Farmers Buried Meanwhile, the remains of the 43 victims of the Boko Haram massacre were interred yesterday as residents told Zulum the death toll may Continued on page 10

FG TO TREAT FRESH #ENDSARS PROTEST AS ATTEMPT AT REGIME CHANGE before a meeting with the commissioners of police in the 36 state commands and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) last Friday, that the proposed protest would be resisted by the nation’s security agencies.

The October protests by youths, largely in the southern parts of the country and Abuja, coordinated by seemingly amorphous groups held the country down for about three weeks before a military intervention at Lekki Tollgate on the 20th of the month yielded a takeover of proceedings by the mob, resulting in the death of 22 policemen and the torching of police and other public and private facilities amounting to trillions of naira.

The protesters had made a five-point demand, including immediate release of all arrested protesters; justice for all deceased victims

of police brutality and appropriate compensations for their families; setting up an independent body to oversee the investigation and prosecution of all reported police misconduct within a period of 10 days; carrying out psychological evaluation and retaining of all disbanded SARS operatives before they can be deployed (this should be verified by an independent body); and the government should increase police salary and they should be adequately compensated for protecting the lives and property of the citizens.

The federal government quickly acceded to the demands, disbanding SARS and directed the states to establish judicial inquiries into alleged violations of citizens’ rights with a view to making restitutions through adequate compensation.

But the protests, however,

persisted despite the federal government’s concessions, forcing its senior officials to suspect that the demonstrations might have political undertones beyond the publicly stated complaints of the brutalization of the citizens by the police.

With the threat of fresh protests from Monday, ostensibly to resist the alleged harassment of the promoters of the October demonstrations, the federal government is said to be unprepared to brook any further challenge to its authority. “The federal government thinks that there is more than meets the eye,� a security source said, asking: “What is the fresh protest about when the government has since accepted all their demands and has put in place the machinery for implementing the demands?�

He said the federal government feels that politics is behind the protest, pointing out that the findings of the security agencies with respect to the funding of the October matches showed substantial political funding. “We traced some of the funds to some persons of interest; in some cases, some of them apologised, pleading that they did not know that was what the funds would be used for,� he said.

Another security source said there is enough evidence to show that aggrieved political interests are fueling the protest with the intention of forcing the government to its knees. “They are appealing to perceived popular sentiments, playing on the hard times that are not entirely the making of the government,� she explained, adding: “The people who lost out on the political tough, now want to

take advantage of the dire economic situation.�

She stated pointedly: “The strategy is mob rule, the type that occurred in Mali a few months ago. The mistake they are making, however, is that they fail to realise that we have stronger security institutions here to resist unconstitutional regime change.�

The source said the proposed fresh protest would be vigorously resisted and warned that its promoters would be surprised by the force with which any potentially violent match would be put down. “As President Muhammadu Buhari said in one of his concession speeches, the federal government’s decision to accept the demands of the protesters should not be mistaken for weakness,� she warned.

However, the Feminist Coalition and a couple of other

Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) that participated in the earlier matches in October, have beaten a retreat, saying they are not part of the proposed protest.

"We are not taking part in the new protest," a member of the Feminist Coalition told THISDAY last night.

"Our initial intervention was to end SARS and seek justice for the victims of its brutal operations," she stated, adding: "Since the federal government has disbanded the rogue squad and is attending to the other demands, we have no further issues to protest."

Another CSO leader told THISDAY that since the judicial panels are already sitting to unravel the alleged killing of innocent Nigerians by the police squad, "the only rational thing to do is to await the outcome of the inquiries."

BANKS' PROFITS RISE TO N677BN DESPITE COVID-19 HARSH CONDITIONS N51.747 billion in the corresponding period of 2019; Guaranty Trust Bank’s profit after tax also stood at N142.283 billion compared with N146.989 billion in 2019, and Union Bank realised profit after tax of N15.9 billion, slightly higher than the N15.5 billion it garnered in the comparative period of 2019.

In addition, while Zenith Bank’s profit after tax grew by 5.7 per cent to N159.315 billion from N150.723 billion in 2019, the United Bank for Africa reported a profit after-tax of N77.132 billion at the end of September 2020, as against the N81.6 billion

recorded in the comparative period of 2019; Stanbic IBTC realised profit of N66.163 billion in the period under review, as against the N55.552 billion the bank recorded in the first nine months of 2019; while Wema Bank’s profit after-tax was N2.644 billion as of September 30, 2019, compared with the N4.089 billion it made in 2019.

Also, while Sterling Bank’s profit after tax was N7.369 billion as of September 30, 2020, as against the N7.579 billion in the comparative period of 2019; Unity Bank’s profit after tax climbed to N1.574 billion as at September 30, up from the

N1.482 billion it made in the comparative period of 2019.

Due to the ravaging effects of the COVID-19 and some other exogenous factors, Nigeria’s real GDP contracted for the second consecutive quarter by 3.62 per cent in the third quarter of the year, compared to a growth of -6.10 per cent, which showed that the country had entered its second economic recession in five years.

One of the global rating agencies, Standard and Poor’s (S&P), recently predicted that the COVID-19 pandemic will significantly hurt banks in Nigeria and some other African countries.

It listed risks that banks

on the continent would face to include the prolonged effect of the pandemic on their economies; the likely rise in debt, and a likelihood of default by debtors, among others.

For Nigeria, it stated that the pace of recovery of the banking sector would be affected by the slow growth of the country’s GDP, depreciation of the local currency, and volatile oil prices.

It, however, noted that the pandemic has accelerated banks’ digitalisation and could trigger another round of restructuring and consolidation. “Short-term support to

banks and borrowers leaves longer-term overhangs. The anticipated surge in leverage leads to higher corporate insolvencies. “The property sector is more severely hurt than expected. Ultralow interest rates are squeezing banks’ net interest margins, increasingly making weak profitability a structural problem for many banking sectors, particularly in Europe and Japan. “Banks need to take strategic measures as the pain will worsen. Those able to make structural changes, including cost-cutting and digitalisation, will suffer less,� S&P had stated.

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NGN NGN 0.03 0.36 0.02 2.40 0.02 0.26 0.37 5.47 0.75 13.75 NGN 0.24 2.61 0.16 2.34 0.06 1.07 COURTVILLE 0.01 0.20 MBENEFITS 0.01 0.23 HPE Nestle Nig Plc â‚Ś1,400.00 Volume: 190.281 million shares Value: N3.330 billion Deals: 3,976 As at Friday 29/11/2020 See details on Page 37

% 9.0 9.0 8.3 7.2 5.7 % 8.4 6.4 5.3 4.7 4.1

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Editors Urge Media Practitioners to Adopt Creative Use of Technologies

Ejiofor Alike

The Nigerian Guild of Editors (NGE) has advised media practitioners to adopt creative use of new technologies to “generate revenue, by employing programmers, data scientists, information and communications technology specialists, as part of the demands of the new normal�.

It has also called on editors to think as marketing officers and develop well researched products that will respond to yearnings of the people across all segments of the economy at all times.

In a communiquĂŠ issued yesterday after the 16th annual conference of the

NGE, held on Thursday via Zoom, to deliberate on ways and means of sustaining operations of players in the media industry, in the face of the global COVID-19 pandemic which has adversely impacted on their survival, the group stressed the need for regular capacity building interventions.

These it said, are necessary to ensure that the knowledge and content provided are relevant and applicable to the needs of the reading public.

The theme of the conference, which was chaired by a Fellow of the Guild and Chairman of Media Trust Limited, publishers of Daily Trust newspapers, Mr. Kabiru Yusuf, was: “Media, People and Covid-19: How

to Create Sustainability in the Digital Era�.

The conference provided opportunity for editors to explore new ways to create contents, with aesthetics and overall values, that would help sustain media as a business in the country. “Editors expressed the need for media professionals to rethink their roles from just assigning, reviewing, rewriting and processing of words to creating compelling, engaging and impactful contents, in line with the needs of their audiences. This has become necessary, if they are to be relevant and remain in business in the age of digitalisation and global Covid-19 pandemic.

“That media business is about people at all levels, therefore practitioners should be less obsessed with government officials and focus on people-centred reporting in order to generate the needed resources for the sustainability of media industry,â€? said the communiquĂŠ, which was signed by the President of the NGE, Mr. Mustapha Isa and the General Secretary, Mary Atolagbe.

The communiquĂŠ also noted that the conference emphasised that while there are several options for making money through digitalisation of media businesses, it is almost impossible to make a living without a large following.

“Therefore, efforts should be made to connect with the people, improve aspects of readers’ lives and obsess more with the audience through creative contents. “While identifying huge potential in archiving photographs and offering of transcripts as reliable means of generating new streams of income, it canvassed for fresh air in the media space through the use of creative headlines,â€? the communiquĂŠ added.

The communiquĂŠ also recommended periodic engagement with media audiences and communities to find out about their habits and preferences in order to create engaging contents for

the consumers.

It called for institution of reward system for audiences, in return for loyalty and enduring relationship. “Editors remembered and observed a minute silence for members of the Guild who passed away in the last one year. These are: Malam Wada Maida, a former NGE President; Mrs. Ronke Fajemirokun of BCOS, Ibadan; Mr. Diji Akinhanmi, GM, OGBC, Abeokuta; Waheed Bakare, Editor, New Telegraph on Saturday; Malam Musa Ahmed Tijjani, Editor, Triumph Newspapers, Kano and Abba Ado Gwarzo, a retired NTA staff,â€? the communiquĂŠ added.

2023: PGF DG Tasks APC Leaders on Succession Plan Says Eta’s suit against party a bargaining chip Adedayo Akinwale in Abuja The Director General of Progressive Governors Forum (PGF), Dr. Salihu Lukman, has called on the leadership of the All Progressives Congress (APC) to put in place strategic succession arrangement in order to guarantee electoral victory in 2023.

Lukman has also stated that the recent court case instituted by Mr. Hilliard Eta, a former APC National Vice Chairman, South-South, against the APC Caretaker Committee, is basically aimed at negotiating the return of Eta to the leadership of the APC. Lukman in a statement issued yesterday and titled: "Nigerian Democratisation and Internal Party Contest for Leadership", said part

of the challenge facing Nigerian politics today is the difficulty in institutionalising and mainstreaming political competition within political parties.

The director general explained that most of the public speculations around internal dynamics in APC was basically informed by some strategic political expectations and leadership permutations.

Lukman said unfortunately, a lot of these permutations seem to be based on an approach that seeks to strengthen the capacity of some leaders within APC to conquer the structures of the party.

He noted that when members and leaders of the party, for instance, demand that issues of membership register of the party are resolved

such that the party is able to have a credible and verifiable membership register, it was being interpreted to mean that some leaders of APC want to take over the party to promote their political ambition for 2023.

"Take over from who? Does it mean that those who claim to be in control of APC now have any credible and verifiable membership records? Why are they not able to make such records accessible to all party members and leaders?" he queried.

Lukman said once the ruling party is able to institutionalise internal leadership contests, some of the avoidable distractions based on manipulative strategies using both legal and extra-judicial strategies can be avoided.

The director general said

the absence of democracy within political parties has not only blocked open leadership contests but is criminalising political aspirations, adding that most of the needless court cases within parties, including the APC, are initiated based on the anger that open and transparent leadership contest are blocked.

According to him, even the recent court case instituted by Mr. Hilliard Eta, a former APC National Vice Chairman, SouthSouth of the party against the APC Caretaker Committee, is basically aimed to negotiate the return of Eta to the leadership of the APC. Lukman emphasised that most of the political leaders are highly resistant to competition, adding that for them, competition should be

mainly reduced to endorsement of their leadership and their decisions, including the leadership choices they make.

He said since the emergence of APC, apart from the personality of President Muhammadu Buhari, no leader can be sure of emerging as a candidate of the party for any election.

The director general noted that in the case of President Buhari, he has such a personal blessing that made him to attract at least 12 million votes in all the elections he contested since 2003, adding that no leaders, whether in APC or out of APC can claim to be in control of five million votes.

Lukman stated: "The fact that President Buhari is serving his last term, requires some strategic succession

arrangement within the APC, especially in order to guarantee the retention of all the electoral advantages. With President Buhari clearly out of the race for the position of presidential candidate of APC in 2023, there is clearly a potential for a big internal contest in the party. The question is whether any of the power blocks within the party will take step to block internal contest and therefore emerge as the conqueror.

"In which case, the issue is really whether the APC leadership will allow the process of democratisation to ensure that leadership emergence both within the party and at wider political levels are determined based on the choices of party members and citizens."

“We have also received reports that several women may have been kidnapped. I call for their immediate release and return to safety,� he added.

the security situation in the country and safeguard the lives of farmers.

President of AFAN, Mr. Farouk Rabiu-Mudi, while reacting to the recent killings of about 43 farmers in Borno State, told THISDAY in an interview that though the government had been working hard in recent times to address the security challenges, "but they have to work harder this time because it affects the farmers."

He added that the development has further limited the farmers' ability to contribute to the development of the economy.

Rabiu-Mudi said the security situation had prevented the Borno chapter of the group from assessing the area affected by the killings in order to properly evaluate the quantum of destruction inflicted on the community.

OUTRAGE GROWS OVER KILLINGS AS 43 BORNO FARMERS BURIED rise above the 43 buried.

During the burial, the governor was told by residents who were involved in the retrieval of the bodies that it was still early to determine the number of those killed.

They said some of those that went to the farms on Saturday were still missing.

One of the residents, who preferred anonymity for security reason, said: “Your Excellency, as you have seen here, 43 corpses were buried, but others have not been retrieved from the scene of the incident. Nobody can tell you the exact number of people killed. Some of the victims are still missing.�

Boko Haram Still Strong in Borno, Says Zulum Zulum has said that Boko

Haram still maintained a strong presence in parts of the troubled state.

The governor, during his condolence visit to the people of Zabarmari community after he attended the burial of the 43 people killed in the attack lamented that Boko Haram exists in many parts of the state and are a threat to over six million people living in the state.

He noted that the sect still holds strong in Sambisa forest and the Lake Chad regions in northern Borno, stressing that this is worrisome.

He asked governments of border countries of Chad, Niger and Cameroon Republic to work with the Nigerian government to address the lingering crisis in the region.

Earlier, during the burial, Zulum had told the bereaved community that his

administration would work with the military and others to trace those missing. “This is very sad. We are still appealing to the federal government to ensure recruitment of more of our youths in the CJTF and hunters into the Nigerian military and the Civil Defence so that they can form part of the agro rangers that will protect farmers," he stated.

UN Puts Death Toll at 110 In a related development, the United Nations yesterday said over 110 civilians were killed in the attack.

A statement by the United Nations Humanitarian Coordinator in Nigeria, Mr. Edward Kallon, while describing the attack as

horrifying, said no fewer than 110 people were killed. Many others were also injured in one of the deadliest attacks by the terrorist group, who have laid siege to the North-east for over a decade.

Kallon said: “At least 110 civilians were ruthlessly killed and many others were wounded in this attack. “In the early afternoon of 28 November, armed men on motorcycles led a brutal attack on civilian men and women who were harvesting their fields in Koshobe and other rural communities in Jere Local Government Area. Reports we are receiving are indicating these innocent farmers were the victims of this callous violence.�

Kallon also lamented that many women may have been kidnapped in the attack.

Farmers Warn of Food Crisis Farmers under the umbrella of the All Farmers Association of Nigeria (AFAN), have warned that the worsening insecurity in the North, which has impaired farming, may plunge the country into a food crisis.

It added that the insecurity, especially in all the Northern states with major agricultural production activities, including Zamfara, Katsina, Sokoto, and Kebbi has forced many farmers to vacate their farms.

The group called on the federal government to work harder to urgently improve

BUHARI ROLLS OUT AUTOGAS PROGRAMME, TARGETS ONE MILLION VEHICLES domestic usage of natural gas in its various forms. “It is also in line with the government's plan to make gas the first choice source of cheaper and cleaner energy for Nigerians in their personal and industrial endeavours,� Sylva said.

At the event, the release

noted, Sylva will also on behalf of the federal government handover CNGpowered mass transport buses to Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC).

He added that the handing over was part of the agreement reached with labour during negotiations

and in recognition of the role organised labour plays in the quest to bring relief to ordinary Nigerians.

Sylva had argued that to give deregulation a human face, the government was introducing an alternative fuel which will mean that Nigerians will convert their

cars to the dual capability of both fuel and gas. “So, if you look at the price of petrol versus the price of gas and you think that gas is cheaper which of course, it is going to be cheaper. Gas will even be cheaper than petrol as it is today. So you see that we

are also giving an alternative to ordinary Nigerians,’’ he had said.

Also, recently, the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR), said it instructed about 9,000 filling stations across the country to start the installation of facilities for gas products

as an alternative to fuel for Nigerians.

Apparently, the government’s new policy was prompted by the rising international crude oil prices which have led to a steady rise in the pump price of petroleum in the country for several months.

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Police Arrest Three Suspects as Explosion Rocks Wike’s Father’s Church PDP condemns incident, restates call for state police

Chuks Okocha in Abuja The police have arrested three persons in connection with the attack on the Christian Universal Church International belonging to the father of Rivers State Governor, Mr. Nyesom Wike.

This is coming as the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has condemned the attack and demanded a comprehensive investigation into the incident.

The attackers, numbering about five had sneaked into the church on 25 Azikiwe Street Mile, 3 Diobu, on Saturday night and detonated the explosives suspected to be dynamites, which damaged a significant part of the church.

Three of the arrested miscreants were said to have been apprehended by a vigilant group and handed over to the police.

The operatives of Eagle Crack, an outfit of the state police

command, Mopol 19 and other security agencies were said to have cordoned off the area.

The Assistant Chief Security Officer of the Azikiwe Street Security, Collins Johnbull, told journalists that one of his men was hit by a bullet in the process of chasing the suspects.

“On Saturday, 28th November, 2020, while I was on my duty post, we observed some movements around 8pm to 9pm and we were on the alert, before then we saw some strange faces, about five of them that entered into the governor’s father’s church.

“We thought they were church members having their normal evening programme, but we were suspicious of them because of the way they were moving.

“By God’s grace, we were able to apprehend three of the criminals that attacked the church, while two escaped. We did everything

in our power to apprehend the hoodlums, as we are talking now, one of my men who was hit by a bullet is receiving treatment.”

The Police Public Relations Officer, Nnamdi Omoni, said the arrested suspects were helping the police in their investigations.

“I can confirm the attack on the Church and three suspects arrested in connection with the attack. They are helping us in our Investigation. The Church has been swept by the Bomb

Department.”

Meanwhile, the PDP yesterday demanded a comprehensive investigation into the Saturday’s attack.

The main opposition party also condemned the dastardly attack on the church, which it believed was well planned and targeted to causing harm to worshippers and persons close to Governor Wike, particularly, his father.

The PDP said that it is disturbed by the intentions

of the attackers in detonating an explosive in a religious place particularly given the large number of persons that usually gather at such places.

According to a statement issued by the National Publicity Secretary, Kola Ologbondiyan, “While we demand for a thorough investigation into the attack as well as prosecution of all those involved, we hold, as a party, that the time has come, more

than ever in our contemporary history, for the amendment of our extant laws to allow state governors to be in charge of the security of their respective states.

“We restate our call for the amendment of relevant sections of the 1999 constitution (as emended) to allow states more control of security issues in their respective domains”, the PDP demanded .

Robbers Attack Ogun Church, Abduct Member Men of Ogun State Police Command have arrested five armed robbers who attacked members of a church, beat them to a stupor, and kidnapped one of them.

The robbers reportedly invaded a Christ Apostolic Church, situated at Gudugbe Alagbon area of Wasimi in Ewekoro Local Government Area of the state.

The Police Public Relations Officer in the state, DSP Abimbola Oyeyemi, disclosed this yesterday in a statement issued in Abeokuta.

Oyeyemi noted that the suspects – Abubakar Ibrahim, 38; Sulaiman Yusuf, 32; Ismail Yusuf, 20; Umar Aliu, 26 and Yinusa Musa – were arrested on Thursday.

The PPRO added that they were arrested the same day they robbed the church members, following a distress call made by the shepherd in charge of the church, Obisesan Seye.

According to the PPRO, the shepherd told the police that his church was invaded about 1:30 am by six men who were armed

with dangerous weapons.

Oyeyemi said, “The hoodlums beat some members of the church to a stupor before dispossessing them of their valuables.

“As if that was not enough, the hoodlums abducted one Mojisola Atolagbe while leaving the church.

“Upon the distress call, policemen attached to Ewekoro division swiftly moved to the scene, combed the forest where the hoodlums escaped to thoroughly and their efforts paid off when five amongst the gang members were apprehended in the bush.

“The victims of the attack have identified all the arrested suspects while the sixth one is being hunted for.”

The PPRO said some weapons such as one cutlass, two sharppointed cudgels, and assorted dangerous charms were recovered.

He said the Commissioner of Police, Edward Ajogun, has ordered the immediate transfer of the suspects to the state Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department for discreet investigation.

APC Holds Emergency Virtual NEC Meeting December 8 Adedayo Akinwale in Abuja The All Progressives Congress (APC) has announced that an emergency meeting of the National Executive Committee (NEC) of the party has been scheduled for Tuesday, December 8, 2020.

The Deputy National Publicity Secretary of the party, Mr. Yekini Nabena, disclosed this in a statement issued yesterday.

He said in line with the COVID-19 public health protocols, the APC NEC meeting would be virtual.

He said: “An emergency meeting of the National Executive Committee (NEC)

of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has been scheduled for Tuesday, December 8, 2020.”

“In a formal invitation sent to APC NEC members by the National Secretary of the Party’s Caretaker/Extraordinary Convention Planning Committee (CECPC), Senator John James Akpanudoedehe, the meeting will “review the party’s position and set agenda for the party’s next move.”

“In line with the COVID-19 public health protocols, the APC NEC meeting will be virtual.

Login details will be sent to APC NEC members in due course.

The meeting is slated for 11am at the Council Chamber, State House, Abuja.”

HONOUR TO A GURU…

L-R: Wife of Chairman of Troyka Holdings, Mrs. Joyce Shobanjo; her husband, Mr Biodun Shobanjo; Chief Launcher, Chief Oladele Fajemirokun; and the author, Mr. Dotun Adekanmbi, at the public presentation of ‘The Will To Win: The Story of Biodun Shobanjo,’ in Lagos… recently

10 Women Still Missing in Borno Farmers’Attacks, AI Insists Michael Olugbode in Maiduguri Amnesty International (AI) has said that 10 women who were at the rice plantation during the attack by Boko Haram on Saturday were still missing A statement by the international human rights

organisation yesterday said its findings has shown that of the 43 farmers killed by Boko Haram on Saturday, 16 were Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) resident at Farm Centre IDP Camp. While 10 women working in Kwashabe rice farm are still missing after the attack.

It lamented that Boko Haram has consistently and deliberately targeted civilians in and across Borno State, urging the group to end its campaign of vicious and unlawful killings of civilians.

It said: “Boko Haram and other armed groups must renounce their unlawful and

vicious campaign of violence against civilians.”

It added that: “It is the firm duty of the government to secure lives and properties within its territory. These killings are crimes under international law and there must be accountability.”

Buni: I Spend Four Days Monthly to Perform My Functions asYobe Gov Adedayo AkinwaleinAbuja The Governor of Yobe and the Chairman of the Caretaker/ Extraordinary Convention Committee of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Mr. Mai Mala Buni has said that he spends at least three days in a month in his state.

The ruling party had during the emergency National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting held at the Presidential Villa on June 25, dissolved the Adams Oshiomholeled National Working Committee (NWC) following protracted

leadership crisis and set up a committee to manage the affairs of the party in the interim.

The 13-member caretaker committee headed by Buni was given six months by the NEC presided over by President Muhammadu Buhari to manage the party.

Within the six months, the committee was mandated to organise a national convention for new leaders to emerge and also mandated to reconcile aggrieved members ahead of the planned national convention of the party.

But Buni, while reacting to

criticism that he has been largely absent from the state since he took over as the caretaker chairman of APC during an interview with the BBC, insisted that he carries out his duties effectively even when he is not in the state.

The Cable quoted the BBC as saying that the governor added that his duty in APC as the chairman of the committee was not hindering his efforts to discharge his responsibilities.

Buni stated: “On the issue of staying, there is no way I can spend a month without spending

three or four days in Yobe State.

And then even if I return to Yobe, I won’t advertise or make it public that today I will be in Yobe and tomorrow I will be leaving,” the governor said.

“Wait, Let me land, listen to me, I won’t be revealing to the public that I came to Yobe or when I am leaving. And at this age of technology, when will anybody say that there were bunch of files waiting for me?

Even before I came here I don’t know the numbers (of files I treated).”

Oyetola: How God Promised to Make Me Governor Yinka Kolawole in Osogbo The Governor of Osun State, Adegboyega Oyetola, has said that the slogan ‘IleriOluwa’, which has become the mantra of his sdministration, was given to him by God. Speaking at the thanksgiving service held in commemoration of the second anniversary of his administration at The Redeemed

Christian Church of God, Osun Province 1 headquarters in Osogbo, Oyetola said the slogan came from a divine revelation where God assured him that he would be the governor of the Osun State.

According to him, “This administration was founded by God, and I will tell you why. I am ordinarily not one who sees visions. But on two occasions, I

had a strange encounter.

“Imagine the son of an Imam receiving a song that is common in the Christian parlance in a dream.

That was my encounter. All I could remember on both occasions was the last line of the song which says ‘IleriOluwa ni lati se’ (the will of God must come to pass).

Outside of that dream, I had never heard the song before.

“When the impression was

heavy on my heart, I called one of my friends to ask him about the song, and he told me the song was the track 2 of Timi Oshukoya’s song.

He went out to get me the album, and immediately I started listening to the track, my consciousness was restored, and then I had an understanding of what God was saying to me.

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COMMENT

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

MAIZE, SOYA BEAN AND THE POULTRY INDUSTRY Collins Akpan writes that the poultry industry is endangered

A

s federal government plans to employ 774,000 artisans and unskilled workers across the 774 Local Government Areas of Nigeria for three months, about five million (5,000,000) poultry jobs are already on the line, if reports in the media are anything to go by. In the last seven months, 2,000,000 poultry jobs have reportedly been lost due to acute scarcity of maize and soya beans, resulting in prohibitive cost of animal feeds.

Confirmed media reports indicate that the price of soya beans, which is a constituent of poultry feeds, has increased by 87 per cent. In comparison with the same period in 2019, the price of maize has risen by 82 per cent. Poultry feeds have increased by nearly 100 per cent. There are also unconscionable capitalist grain merchants and saboteurs who are alleged to be hoarding the small available products and intent on giving the Buhari administration a bad name.

Agriculture contributes 21 percent to Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product. Poultry industry is said to be worth N10 trillion, sharing 25 percent of the contribution of agriculture to the economy. Poultry employs over 20 million Nigerians directly and indirectly through its wide value chain, from field to fork.

Earlier in July, the media was awash with the report that the Central Bank of Nigeria had through a memo directed all authorized maize dealers “to discontinue the processing of Form M for the importation of maize/corn with immediate effect,� as part of the effort “to increase local production, stimulate a rapid economic recovery, safeguard rural livelihoods and increase job, which were lost as a result of the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.�

But the decision, according to industry players, led to excessive rise in the price of maize, which reportedly led to thousands of small and medium-sized poultry farmers with millions of their direct and indirect employees out of business.

Due to outcry, the CBN relaxed the policy once by allowing importation of 262,000 tons of maize in addition to the 5,000 tons released by the federal government on the orders of President Buhari. The single window by the apex bank was described as a drop in the ocean.

A report quoted Mrs Blessing Alawode, chairman, Poultry Association of Nigeria, Ogun State chapter, as calling for immediate ban on the export of processed soya beans and intervention to end the acute shortage of maize with its exorbitant price, occasioned by poor harvest and insecurity in parts of the country, where the product is largely produced.

With the current astronomical prices of soya beans and maize, more poultry farmers with thousands of their workers across the country may soon be out of business as majority of Nigerians cannot afford the inevitable but exorbitant cost of poultry products. “For the avoidance of any doubt, the Ogun State chapter of Poultry Association of Nigeria stands by President Buhari and is on the same page with the CBN on the need for self-sufficiency in food production in Nigeria. We want the federal government to assist the local maize growers with high-yielding seeds and fertilizer in order to increase their quantum of harvest per hectare, so that in the next seven to 10 years, the huge gap between demand and supply of maize and soya beans can be filled. But the citizens have to survive and have food to eat before we reach the desired destination.

POULTRY EMPLOYS OVER 20 MILLION NIGERIANS DIRECTLY AND INDIRECTLY THROUGH ITS WIDE VALUE CHAIN

Our appeal to CBN stems from the prohibitive costs of maize and soya beans. Poultry feeds have increased by nearly 100 per cent. The price of soya beans has increased by 90 per cent, while maize in comparison with the same period in 2019 has increased by 80 per cent. Poultry farms cannot survive the current situation. Therefore, importation of maize and soya beans, in the short term, is the most pragmatic way to obviate further rising prices of the products and ameliorate the hardships of the citizens. We appeal to the government to ban the export of processed soya beans and soya bean meal, and check the profiteering activities of grain merchants,� concluded the statement.

Following the CBN announcement of ban on maize import in July, the Programme Director of the Lagos Business School Agribusiness Programme, Dr Ikechukwu Kelikume, described the directive by the CBN was “ill-timed�, with potential harmful consequences for the poultry sector. It seems the birds have come home to roost. The predictions of experts have come to pass. “The situation spells doom for poultry farmers across the country, who are beginning to cut down on production because of the high cost of feed and imported medication for the birds. A negative spill-over effect of the high cost of feed is the scarcity of eggs and a consequent rise in its price across the country. The implications of the current challenges in the maize value chain are that the gains of employing more people in the agricultural sector will be rolled back in the coming months,� he said.

Kelikume further explained, “As it stands, there is no alternative for the poultry farmers, as the poultry sector will face a catastrophic shortage of feeds, a critical input in their business. This situation will render tens of thousands of them unemployed and undo all the gains made by this sector in the past five years. Thousands of poultry businesses will shut down in the face of high operating costs, leaving business owners and their employees without a means of livelihood.

As a matter of necessity, the CBN’s decision to discontinue the processing of Form M for the importation of maize/corn must be revisited. It is expedient at this time for the Central Bank to allow importers of maize to import it through the CBN Foreign exchange window, to close the gap in maize shortage while preparing for a phased discontinuation of maize importation in the country.�

The supply of dry maize in the market is at its lowest in recent years. The price of soya beans continues to sky rocket.

Government is not in a position to subsidize the price of maize and soya beans. The CBN governor should support the welfarist policy of the Buhari administration by crashing the exorbitant prices of maize and soya beans through controlled importation of the products or granting of waivers. And that should be done now.

The country is now in a recession. The jobs of maize and soya beans growers are not in any way threatened because they cannot even meet the huge local demand for the products. Yet the exorbitant prices of these products have put on the line the jobs of millions of direct and indirect poultry workers. r"LQBO XSPUF GSPN -BHPT

ENDSARS: SOCIAL ACTION AND JUSTICE

The Lekki shooting raises serious questions about violations of human rights, writes Samuel Akpobome Orovwuje “5IF 1SFTJEFOU IFBST B IVOESFE WPJDFT UFMMJOH IJN UIBU IF JT UIF HSFBUFTU NBO JO UIF XPSME )F NVTU MJTUFO DBSFGVMMZ JOEFFE UP IFBS UIF POF WPJDF UIBU UFMMT IJN IF JT OPU u – Harry Truman

S

ocial action is a proven gateway for citizens to voice or protest against what they see as fundamental political and economic injustices in any society. Such determined resistance is usually described by authoritarian rulers and the elite club, who most times do not give in to such demands, as “actions against the state�.

The EndSARS movement provides a glimpse into successive leadership failures in the absence of a virile opposition. The campaign in no time took on a life of its own - as an ideologue for national rebirth.

The actions of the indomitable youth across the country lifted the veil on corruption and police brutality. It has established itself as a movement impossible to ignore in our quest for authentic leadership and good governance.

The campaigners are able, fearless, resourceful, well-coordinated and ceaseless in their efforts to arouse a new nationalism. It is an article of faith for citizen-led reforms, a call to raise a new class of competent and empathetic leaders, an engagement to fix politics. The movement purposefully campaigned against widespread police brutality and championed reforms for good governance. The movement carried the weight of the failure of successive governments to deliver on their promises to the people. They are risk-takers who defy ethnicity, religion and other political persuasions to prove that change is possible. They are revolutionaries who defy a decade of an

oppressive policing system.

An effective and accountable police service is the bedrock on which peace, law and order are maintained. Therefore, public confidence in the police service (force) is of critical importance while government must also ensure that citizens’ constitutional rights are respected. Despite statements and promises by government officials on the initial demands by the protesters, it has become clear that there is a lack of concrete timelines and deliverable benchmarks, just as there is the absence of a well-crafted plan on police reforms.

Curiously, the cocktail of judicial post-mortems into alleged police brutality across the country remain to be seen as a means of truth telling and reconciliation for national healing from the unfortunate Lekki 20/10 incident.

The pressure is on our leaders right now to rethink the current governance architecture in terms of inclusivity and sustainability in line with global standards. Regrettably, our political leaders have become prisoners of their own game of survival with a manifest military overhang vilifying progress.

It is of utmost concern and a sad spectacle that governors are acting more like seat warmers for their local and Abuja godfathers, rather than as stewards of the people they are meant to serve, and have become astonishingly reckless in their pronouncements. They have shown that they lack the aptitude or responsiveness to handle protest, dissent and reforms. The governors and their collaborators are ignorant of the pitfalls that lie ahead with the EndSARS panel of inquiry and the divisive nation-building narratives across the political divide. The messages resonating from those in power smacks of irresponsibility.

A content analysis of the social media space

puts the users at 3.8 billion, representing 50% of the global population, with an additional one billion internet users anticipated to come online in the coming years. The notion of business, politics and governance has taken a new significance and versatility in the digital age. Indeed, the youth represent this transition with their ever-growing network of users. It should be noted that social media attracts a younger audience and the publicity for the movement remains vibrant. Social media will continue to shape the future of democracy in Nigeria, particularly in politics and governance. The latest bids by the Executive and the National Assembly to regulate the social media space as means to combat fake news is likely to fail woefully if it is merely a smokescreen to stifle dissent. Recent events suggest that there is no room for inept leaders and authoritarian regimes masquerading as democrats.

From the perspective of the international protection of human rights and municipal law, the EndSARS Lekki shooting raises grave questions about the violation of the 1949 Geneva Conventions (and their additional protocols) and the International Criminal Court (ICC) concerning genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes and aggression, but also about the principles and procedures governing the international investigation and prosecution of these crimes. The crime of aggression (also known as crime against peace) is a crime of the state, committed by high-level state agents and their agencies.

Nevertheless, it also deals with the liability of individuals of such crimes, and the status of the perpetrator is irrelevant.

The soft power capabilities of the new media and citizen-to-government diplomacy,

as tools for existential gatekeeping, is salutary.

Going forward, the government should prioritise this relationship in understanding the nexus between social movements (such as street protests) and participatory democracy in the emerging global governance ecosystem and how it ties into the politics of restructuring over-bloated national and state assemblies and the mischievous and underperforming bureaucracy that supervises the criminal neglect of the masses in the face of state corruption by politicians and their collaborators.

Furthermore, the government must focus their creative energy on raising dynamic, innovative and principle-centred youths, who can drive positive and far-reaching transformation and social interventions that support transitions in the areas of knowledgebased education, entrepreneurship and civic participation in governance beyond the tokenism of N-Power and other public work schemes.

One of the norms of liberal democracy is that it is shaped by various forms of protest, movements and civil disobedience against entrenched power structures. Yet the state often believes that civil movements are unreasonable whilst demonising their leaders as terrorists and destabilising agents of opposition parties. The government should instead focus on building strategic communication with the teeming youth through their key decision-makers and influencers with a view to fostering collaborative teams that work seamlessly to resolve the demands (such as police and constitutional reforms) of the people. r0SPWXVKF JT 'PVOEFS )VNBOJUBSJBO $BSF GPS %JTQMBDFE 1FSTPOT -BHPT

15

T H I S D AY Ëž Ëœ ÍąÍŽËœ Í°ÍŽÍ°ÍŽ

EDITORIAL

THE HIGHWAYS OF CARNAGE The regulators must do more to minimise the scourge

T

he rise in number of crashes on our roads is frightening. The high rate of carnage demands appropriate and adequate policy interventions by the regulatory authorities. Hardly any day passes without report of a road accident that leaves on its trail grisly tales of fatality, injuries, wrecks, traffic hiccups and loss of productive hours. Apart from the socio-economic burden that these road mishaps place on victims’ families, they also take a huge toll on the country’s economy. Some N450 billion is estimated to be lost annually from goods and services that perish in road accidents.

THE GOVERNMENT AND The recent accident in Akungba-Akoko, ITS AGENCIES SHOULD Ondo State which TAKE DRASTIC STEPS claimed no fewer TO ENSURE THAT OUR than 16 lives is typical ROADS REMAIN SAFE of the state of affair.

It occurred when a ALL THE TIME trailer rammed into a crowded market due to brake failure. Before that sad event, a truck also ran into a bus carrying school children and teachers, killing 21 in the South-east. Almost on a daily basis several lives are lost on the Lagos-Ibadan expressway. In the past three weeks alone almost 100 lives were lost on the roads either due to ill-maintained vehicles or bad roads. The Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) said that 3,947 road crashes and 1,758 deaths occurred in the first quarter of 2020.

Indeed, driving on Nigeria’s approximately 200,183 kilometres road network can be risky and arduous as large swathes have broken down, ridden with potholes. But there are other things responsible for the rise in road carnage in the country. These factors range from faulty road design to poor road quality, insufficient safety features in vehicles and speed limit violation by reckless drivers, who disregard all safety codes. Some are half asleep behind the wheels under the influence of alcohol and drugs.

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However, the tragedies and mounting body count from accidents can be curbed by inexpensive remedial interventions. It is common knowledge that there are too many rickety vehicles on our roads. The tyres of several vehicles plying the roads are either worn out or are in a state of disrepair, just as their brakes are suspect. Some drivers drive in foggy condition with malfunctioning headlamps. The prospect of accident is enhanced when vehicles owners do not take the precaution to ensure their vehicles are road worthy.

The government and its agencies, the FRSC, vehicle inspection offices and Police traffic departments should take drastic steps to ensure that our roads remain safe all the time.

Besides, government should consider enacting a National Road Safety Policy that will outline various policy measures pertaining to safety and should continue raising awareness about road safety, creating a road safety information database and promoting safer road infrastructure. In addition, it should encourage training and sensitisation of drivers, identifying needs of vulnerable road users, enforcing road safety laws and ensuring medical facilities for road accident victims.

Critical stakeholders in the transport sector, particularly tanker drivers, must be held accountable for reckless driving. As we have argued repeatedly, what is happening on most of our highways across the country is anathema to decency in road usage while the armada of trailers and petroleum tankers will be considered primitive in more civilised societies. Much as we therefore appreciate the primacy of the long vehicle drivers in the product distribution chain, we plead that they should render their services carefully and within the ambit of the traffic rules and regulations in order not to endanger the lives of innocent citizens. As we gradually move towards Christmas and the holiday season, it is important that critical stakeholders in the road sector are alive to their responsibility.

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.

PATH TO REDUCING HOUSING DEFICIT IN LAGOS

agos’ status as the economic, industrial and commercial hub of the country is partly responsible for the daily migration of people from various walks of life to the metropolis. A recent data states that about 25,000 people from across the world come into Lagos for various reasons on a daily basis. This, no doubt, is a factor in the city’s growing population. In spite of its small landmass, Lagos is the most populated state in the country.

One striking challenge of the state’s huge population is the availability of affordable housing. Clearly, the state’s sporadic growth has not been proportionate with the housing stock available to the residents.

It is, therefore, in order to address the challenge that the Babajide Sanwo-Olu administration took a larger part of his first 200 days in office to understudy the model that would meet the housing needs of the residents of the state.

Having successfully completed the study, the government devised strategies to frontally address the state’s unique housing challenge. One of such was a resolve to ensure that none of the inherited housing projects from preceding administrations is abandoned. The goal is to build on their achievements and guarantee that the government’ investments on those projects

are not wasted, as it used to be in time past.

Some of the projects in this class include the Igbogbo, Sangotedo, Ajara, Egan-Igando, LASU main Campus, Iba and Epe Housing Schemes to mention but a few.

Consequently, the LagosHoms, Igbogbo Scheme, with 360 home units comprising 120 one-bedroom, 120 two-bedroom and 120 three-bedroom apartments, was completed and commissioned by the Sanwo-Olu administration.

Similarly, the Lagos State Affordable Public Housing Scheme, Topo, Badagry with 252 2-bedroom apartments, Courtland Villas, Behind Alhaji Femi Okunnu Estate, Igbohushu, Lekki with 120 units of fourbedroom Maisonettes and Boys Quarters and the Lekki Apartments, Ikate-Eleguishi, Lekki were also completed and commissioned by the current administration.

Perhaps, the most significant highlight of the Sanwo-Olu led administration in the housing sector, thus far, is in handing over of keys to 492 keys beneficiaries of its maiden rent-to-own housing scheme at the Lateef Kayode Jakande Housing Estate, Igando. The rent-to-own policy reflects the commitment of the government to reduce the housing deficit in the state. The initiative is part of the holistic plan to make housing affordable, and easy to get, especially for low income earners.

Although the initiative predates the current administration, it has done a lot to modify its operation in order to meet current realities. Hence, the entry requirements, which used to be more stringent, have now been reduced to draw more people into the home ownership scheme.

The rent-to-own scheme allows a first-time house owner, who is a resident of the state, to pay only 5 percent of the cost of the house, while the rest of the cost is spread over 10 years on a monthly instalment at a rate not more than 33 percent of the individual’s income.

The cheering development about the housing project is that it has a job creation component. Besides the main and subcontractors, numerous artisans, labourers, suppliers and food vendors are also effectively engaged and earning a living from these projects.

The second strategy evolved by the government to tackle the state’s housing deficit is the Public-Private-Partnership (PPP) model. The main aim of the PPP is to deliver high quality, cost efficient yet affordable housing in Lagos State.

The PPP option involves the government providing lands for private investors at a subsidized rate, while the investors construct affordable housing units. Through this model, over 30 private investors are in

joint partnership with the government with a strong legal bond that upon completion of the housing project, the private investor would allocate to the state the agreed number of housing that is proportionate to the cost of land given to the investors by the government and a percentage of the profit.

In the past, the PPP model had some challenges spanning from lack of transparency and inability to deliver. But the Sanwo-Olu administration is bent on making more residents house owners in the state through the model. Investors and the government have duly played their part in making the provision of the housing scheme a reality by enforcing timeliness to ensure timely delivery, validation and inspection of the site to ensure it measures up with agreed specification.

In order to encourage more residents of the state to embrace the mortgage fiancĂŠ option, the state government recently made the Lagos Building Investment Company (LBIC) a solitary mortgage provider to ease housing deficit in the state. The LBIC has made available over 20,000 mortgage homes across the state through the provision of friendly mortgage payment to prospective homeowners. r0NPMBSB 0UVZFNJ .JOJTUSZ PG *OGPSNBUJPO BOE 4USBUFHZ "MBVTB -BHPT

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MONDAY NOVEMBER 30, 2020 ˾ T H I S D AY

NEWS

Governors Condemn Borno Killings Ejiofor Alike The Nigeria Governors Forum (NGF) has expressed grief over the killing of 40 rice farmers by

suspected Boko Haram Terrorists, on Saturday.

They also expressed concerns over the state of the nation’s security architecture which they

said called to question its readiness to protect the lives and property of Nigerians.

This was contained in a statement issued late last night

Ondo Speaker, Three Others Face Contempt Charges over Lawmakers’ Suspension James Sowole in Akure For allegedly disobeying court order to reinstate four suspended members of the Ondo State House Assembly, the state High Court has summoned the Speaker, Hon Bamidele Oloyelogun, and three other persons to show cause why they should not be jailed for disobedience to court order.

Other persons accused of alleged disobedience to the court order are the Clerk of the Assembly, Mr. Bode Adeyelu; Parliamentary Secretary, Hon Abayomi Akinruntan, and the Deputy Majority Leader, Hon Oladiji Olamide Adesanmi.

Justice Ademola Bola of the state High Court had ordered the reinstatement of four members of the Assembly who were suspended for alleged gross misconduct during attempt to remove the state Deputy Governor, Hon Agboola Ajayi.

The four lawmakers, Hon Iroju Ogundeji, Hon Favour Tomomowo, Tomide Akinribido and Wale William-Adewinle,

however, approached the court to challenge their suspension.

The court, after listening to the arguments of the parties, ordered that they should be reinstated and to be paid N5 million each for the unlawful suspension from the Assembly.

Not satisfied with the court order, the Assembly presided over by Oleyeloogun, approached the Court of Appeal to halt the implementation of the orders of the lower court.

But the appellate court, in its judgement, uphold the judgment of the lower court, and ordered the reinstatement of the lawmaker to their offices and the payment of their entitlements from the day of their unlawful suspension.

Apart from directing the reinstatement of the lawmakers, the Appeal Court judgement read

by Justice Oyebisi Omoleye also ordered the appellants to pay the sum of N250.000 jointly and severally to the lawmakers as damages.

Despite the orders of both the lower and appellate courts, the

four lawmakers have not been allowed into the plenary session of the Assembly nor paid their entitlements.

Dissatisfied with the action of the leadership of the Assembly, the four lawmakers, through their counsel, Mr. Olabanjo Ayenakin, filed contempt charges against the Speaker and three others.

In the notice of consequence of disobedience to order of the court, the lawmakers said unless the Assembly obeys the direction contained in the judgment of the court, they would be guilty of contempt of court, and will be liable to be committed to prison.

The notice read: “A declaration that by the provision of section 36(1) and 2(a) and (b) of the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 as amended and rules and standing orders of the Ondo State House of Assembly and the Code of conduct of the House, the indefinite suspension of the claimants from the House of Assembly was unlawful, null and void.

and titled, “The Killing of Rice Farmers in Borno,” signed by the Chairman of the NGF, who is also the Governor of Ekiti State, Dr. Kayode Fayemi.

He said, “The killing of over 40 rice farmers in Garin Kwashebe in Jere Local Government Area of Borno State on Saturday, November 28, 2020, by suspected Boko Haram terrorists brings back ugly memories of several dastardly attacks on soft targets in the state.

“The farmers were attacked while harvesting their produce totally oblivious of the danger that awaits them in nearby bushes.

This method is consistent with the senseless bombings of busy

markets, bus stations, schools and abattoirs whenever the terrorists feel overpowered by the security operatives or feel their backs against the wall.

“Governors, under the platform of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum view this attack, like many before it, as obnoxious, wicked, unwarranted, and morally reprehensible.“ The statement further read, “This sad narrative raises serious questions on the general security situation in the country and around the capability of the nation’s security architecture. It also raises questions on whether or not there are adequate arrangements

to protect lives and property.

“Since insurgency engulfed the country more than a decade ago, each time it seems like the situation is coming under control, the enemy strikes again. This has happened consistently.

“Governors are concerned that the carnage is degenerating beyond explicable limits, yet again, and the catalogue of destruction is not only seeming to be endless and intractable but it has an adverse effect on everything in the state and the country at large.”

He promised that the NGF will collectively review these issues at our next meeting to forge the way forward.

Niger Gov Tasks States, Lawmakers on Youth Empowerment Laleye Dipo in Minna Niger state Governor, Alhaji Abubakar Sani Bello has challenged states and federal lawmakers on the need to partner with governments for youth empowerment.

Bello stated this in Minna on Saturday at the closing ceremony of a one-week training programme in various aspects of Information Communication Technology (ICT) for 140 youths, which was sponsored by the Senator representing Niger East Senatorial zone of the state, Sani Musa.

The governor noted that the collaboration was necessary in

view of the fact that government resources are very lean to carry out such programme alone, pointing out that the assistance will also check youth restiveness when the young ones are well trained and become self-employed.

Bello who was represented by the state Commissioner for Investment, Mr. Mustapha Jubril commended Musa for his youth empowerment programme, which he said has been able to reduce the number of unemployed youths in the Senatorial zone.

In his address Musa announced plans to open ICT centres in the nine local government areas that make up his constituency.

“In no distant time, we are going to build ICT Centres in each of the nine local government areas. “We are also bringing modern rural markets to all the nine local government areas,” he said, adding that he will build 60 open shops with different designs in the markets.

He argued that the nation has to match “what the advanced countries will use against us in the future which is ICT,” adding that “we have to start learning it today”.

“With these efforts we also hope to re-engineer our economy and diversify the source of income of our people,” Musa said.

17

T H I S D AY ˾ MONDAY NOVEMBER 30, 2020

Group Politics Editor NSEOBONG OKON-EKONG

POLITICS

Email: nseobong.okonekong@thisdaylive.com 08114495324 SMS ONLY

M O N D AY D I S C O U R S E

Tales of the Unexpected Characterise 2021 Budget Defence Sessions

Udora Orizu writes that sordid revelations and stunning drama dominated the one month-long budget defence sessions at the House of Representatives

Buhari

Gbajabiamila

Beni Lar

Ossai

I

fielded questions from lawmakers about their 2020 budget performance and 2021 estimates, was filled with a lot of drama and so many revelations.

While some MDAs had a smooth sail, others literally waded through stormy waters some. A lot of padding, some fictitious plans with outrageous budgetary allocations were discovered in the budget of some MDAs. The outcome of some committees sessions in the House of Representatives were particularly revealing.

N1.36 billion. Out of the total releases, N18.23 billion representing 74.88 percent has been fully utilised. ‘’A breakdown of the 2020 performance report shows that N24.99 billion was appropriated as personnel cost for the commission, out of which the sum of N21.397 billion has been released for the payment of salaries and allowances of staff between January and September, while the sum of N17.603 billion has so far been utilised as at the end of September 2020.

The sum of N3.6 billion was appropriated for the commission’s overhead cost in 2020 out of which N2.1 billion has been released as at 30th September. The sum of N1.22 billion has so far been utilised. ‘’Similarly, the sum of N4.09 billion was appropriated for the commission’s capital budget out of which the sum of N1.638 billion has been released as at the end of September 2020. The procurement process of the 2020 capital project is still ongoing and the funds will be utilised as soon as the procurement process is over. ‘’N3.6 billion was proposed for overhead cost in 2020 and N2.1 billion released to you, while a total of N1.2 billion was utilised with a balance of N879 million and we are approaching the end of the year. Don’t you think there is a luxurious supply of funds, thereby denying other sectors getting enough money for their operations?

Some members of the committee however observed that while other agencies of government were facing financial crisis, the EFCC was having huge unspent funds, even as one of the members, Abdulganiyu Olododo (APC, Kwara) insisted that the commission must be transparent about how it has expended the

money released to it.

Meanwhile, the EFCC boss canvassed for the establishment of special anti-corruption courts to speed up justice dispensation.

Speaking on the challenges faced by the commission, he said, “Not highlighting challenges it seems all is well, we’ve highlighted challenges, some of which include need to have special courts to try corruption cases, issue of increase of personnel, lack of promotion for some of the personnel, we need to promote more.’’

n a bid to sustain the return to the January to December budget cycle, both chambers of the National Assembly on October 20 adjourned plenary to November 24, 2020, to enable lawmakers hold budget defence sessions with various Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) of the Federal Government.

President Muhammadu Buhari had on October 8, presented the 2021 budget estimates to a joint session of the National Assembly.

The proposed expenditure is pegged at N13.08 trillion with a crude oil benchmark price of $40 per barrel and daily oil production estimate of 1.86 million barrels per day.

This also includes N1.35 trillion spending by Government Owned Enterprises and Grants and Aid funded expenditure of N354.85 billion.

The budget contains recurrent expenditure of N5.65 trillion, personnel cost of N3.76 trillion and debt service of N3.12 trillion. Statutory transfers have been put at N484.4 billion while Pension, Gratuities & Retirees Benefits was put at N501.19 billion and Overhead cost at N625.50 billion.

Buhari said the 2021 budget is titled ‘Economic Recovery and Resilience’ with the aim of promoting economic diversity and enhancing social inclusion, while calling for prompt passage of the budget estimates by federal lawmakers.

In his closing remarks, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila while commending his colleagues for making the budget cycle of January to December a reality, assured that they would pass the budget promptly.

He said, ‘’I thank my colleagues in the National Assembly for the dedication and commitment they showed last year during the appropriation process. Senators and members of the House of Representatives toiled night and day, sometimes through the night and into the wee hours of the morning to ensure that we achieved our commitment to return to the January to December budget cycle as envisaged by the constitution. ‘’I do not doubt that we will exhibit the same commitment to nation-building and deliver a good budget on time. We cannot afford a return to the old practices, and we must do everything in our power to avoid such an outcome. We also promised to pass a budget that reflected our priorities; healthcare, education, public infrastructure and the development of an economy that is less dependent on fossil fuels and gives to all Nigerians, the ability to achieve their dreams equal to their effort and commitment.’’

Aside committees that held their defence sessions behind closed doors, the one-month brainstorming exercise with the MDAs that

Committee on Financial Crimes On November 11, the House of Representatives Committee on Financial Crimes uncovered about N6 billion unspent funds in the coffers of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), saying the commission may have gotten too many budgetary releases to the detriment of other agencies.

The Acting Chairman of the Commission, Mr. Mohammed Umar, told members that out of about N32 billion budgeted for the commission for the 2020 fiscal year, about N24.99 billion was released by the government, while about N18.23 billion of the released amount has been fully utilised.

Umar however told the committee that his commission was not aware of the provision in the 2020 appropriation which granted them five percent of all monies collected by the commission from recoveries for administrative purposes.

Umar said, ‘’Total releases as at September 2020 was N24.99 billion representing 70.8 percent of the total appropriation. The release for personnel cost is N21.98 billion, overhead cost, N2.100 billion and capital of

Aside committees that held their defence sessions behind closed doors, the one-month brainstorming exercise with the MDAs that fielded questions from lawmakers about their 2020 budget performance and 2021 estimates, was filled with a lot of drama and so many revelations. While some MDAs had a smooth sail, others literally waded through stormy waters some. A lot of padding, some fictitious plans with outrageous budgetary allocations were discovered in the budget of some MDAs. The outcome of some committees sessions in the House of Representatives were particularly revealing

Committee on Public Procurement Another unsavoury discovery was made the next day by the Committee on Public Procurement. The Committee uncovered a worker in the Bureau of Public Procurement said to have been born in 1996 but was employed in 1992.

The management of the BPP appeared before the House Committee on Public Procurement for its 2021 budget defence, where a member, Hon. Nicholas Ossai, called the attention of the lawmakers to the stunning discovery on the bureau’s nominal roll, asking the DirectorGeneral, Mamman Ahmadu, to explain the irregularity.

A copy of the BPP’s nominal roll sited after the session has Lawal’s date of birth as 08/01/1996 and her employment date as 01/01/1992.

Lawal, who is from Bade Local Government Area of Yobe State, was promoted Deputy Director (Accounts) on Grade Level 16 on 01/01/2019, with a Bachelor of Science degree and a Post-Graduate Diploma.

Ossai said, ‘’On personnel, a female staff of the bureau named Lantewa Fatsuma Lawal, the Deputy Director, Accounts, with date of birth as 08/01/1996 received her first appointment on 15/12/1992; that is four years before her date of birth.’’

Responding, Ahmadu however, said there was an error in the dates, making the lawmakers to resolve to carry out an oversight visit to the bureau while demanding more documents.

Again, Ossai, speaking on BPP’s overhead recalled that the DG, in his presentation, said the sum of N240.8 million had been committed to pending liabilities but the details provided only contained details amounting to N203.6 million.

The lawmaker also said while the bureau spent about N22m on welfare packages in 2019, same amount had been spent as of October 2020.

Ossai also asked the BPP boss to explain the N17 million spent on legal services as of October, even as he demanded details of the matters for which the services were engaged.

Another member of the committee, Hon.

T H I S D AY ˾ MONDAY NOVEMBER 30, 2020

18

MONDAY DISCOURSE

Abiante

Ayi

Adar

Faleke

Dachung Bagos, raised an issue on the proposed surveillance of ongoing Federal Government projects for which about N38m was allocated while BPP still had a balance of N38 million.

He asked, “if one of your core duties is to supervise government projects, it means that from January to now, who has been supervising all the government projects and handling surveillance on them?

Responding, Ahmadu said they have procured some of the procurement audits and have submitted same for this year, adding that the second one is in the process of production.

Speaking on why N15 billion was allocated to the project, the minister said, ‘’I want to deliver a road that will last for many years.

You may not like my state, but look at my records; the roads I did 13 years ago in my state don’t have potholes. So I have the hope that I will deliver the same in the Niger Delta.

We will provide for you the details of designs among others. I have not allowed any single variation, because I have not seen the kind of quality of work I would have loved to see, there was one that entered into Federal Executive Council and I had to step it down.’’

reason is that FERMA is an agency under the supervision of the Federal Ministry of Works. We’re represented at the cabinet by the Minister of Works. Our budget is in the envelope of the ministry, so the ministry is asked to submit their budget within that envelope, and it includes budgets of agencies under the ministry of which FERMA is one of them. So, we got instructions to submit our budget through the Ministry of Works, and we submitted to them.

“It is true that we submit our budget to the ministry, what happens after is on the ministry-then Ministry of Budget and Planning-until subsequently it reaches the House of Representatives. We only know what was in our budget after submission.

We’ve since gotten the budget of FERMA as submitted to the National Assembly, and we’ve been analyzing the differences between the two budgets like you said.”

During the session as well, members of the committee had prevented the agency from presenting its 2021 budget over lack of execution of the 2020 budget.

Rafindadi, and his management team were ordered out of the session as House members deliberated among themselves.

House members, while deliberating, said the agency has been irresponsible and unresponsive to its core mandate. Some of the members said they had called the Managing Director to alert him on the sorry state of some roads in the country, but he refused to pick their calls.

Eventually, the FERMA boss and his team were called in and the lawmakers agreed that the budget hearing be adjourned so that a thorough consideration could be done. Thus, when the agency appeared again to defend its budget, Gagdi, who questioned the increase in FERMA’s envelope, gave the update on the Committee’s position.

According to him, the lawmakers resolved that they would ensure the projects spread across all the six geopolitical zones if at all it would be adopted into the 2021 Appropriation Act.

He said, ‘’There was an envelope that was given to FERMA by Ministry of Finance through Ministry of Works, which is the supervising ministry of FERMA and I came to discover that the project was increased not by the National Assembly. Normally Ministry of Finance has enveloped budget because we operate envelope budget so I was aware of the fact that the envelope that was given to FERMA was not up to N30 billion, it was N20 something billion.

“And all of a sudden, I just discovered that they have submitted from the Ministry of Finance, to the National Assembly over N30 something billion with an increment of about N11 billion. I raised that issue and I still stand on my feet to question the increase. It is even the right of the budget office to submit whatever they want to submit to the National Assembly I won’t even call it padding because they have increased the money beyond the envelope of their ministry.

“But my argument is this, why will you increase about N11 billion to one state? It is not possible. Then the committee on FERMA agreed that the purpose of elective representative is to ensure equity and fairness to all the geopolitical entities. We now say you have brought this budget, that it is one sided. If you look at my comment very well, I tackled the fact that the budget is not balanced. So we must balance the budget as the people that have the right to do it in such a way that it represents the interest of Nigerians. My position on the N11 billion still stands that from somewhere between the Ministry of Works and Ministry of Finance, N11 billion was increased at inter-ministerial level in the budget of FERMA. And I still stand by it. I will give you the document, you will see it clearly. The predominant state that got that N11 billion that was increased is Imo State without any fear of political contradictions but I don’t know who increased it.’’

Speaking after the budget defence session, Hon. Bamidele Salam said that there was an attempt to rush the passage of the budget and prevent those of us who had observations from doing so.

Committee on Niger Delta Affairs The House Committee on Niger Delta Affairs on November 10 queried the allocation of N15 billion out of the N19 billion proposed in the 2021 budget by the Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs for capital expenditure for the construction of the East-West Road.

The Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Senator Godswill Akpabio, while presenting his ministry’s 2021 budget proposal to the committee, said N15 billion out of the N19 billion meant for capital expenditure would be used to construct the East-West Road.

But, members of the committee disagreed with him, saying the money was too much for just one project.

A member of the committee, Hon. Edim Eta, opined that the bulk of the money should go to youth programmes rather than the road.

According to him, ‘’If you’re budgeting N15 billion for East-West Road, are you saying that only N4 billion is left for other Niger Delta projects. I don’t think that’s fair. I believe the bulk of the funding that’s coming in 2021 should go to youth programmes. We all witnessed the #EndSARS protest; all these were from frustrations of staying at home from ASUU strike, unemployment among others, so can only N4 billion out of the total budget of the Niger Delta affairs go to those projects. Hon minister, I don’t think that’s a good idea. If the East-West Road money has been taken from the sovereign wealth fund, then the provision for that N15 billion should have been done separately to cover that.’’

Corroborating Eta’s question, the Chairman of the committee, Hon. Essien Ayi, said with the current agitations, the lawmakers would not allow him to spend such amount of money on only one project.

Ayi said, ‘’The East-West Road has been there for over 14 years. We just finished with #EndSARS, and we know what happened, as the whole of my state capital was turned upside down. The kind of devastation I saw there would have taken us about 10 years back. If the budget is youth-oriented, then why are we going to use N15 billion for EastWest Road? I listened to the news where the Senate President warned that we should be careful that if this thing (protest) resurfaces again, it’s going to be very devastating. So Minister, we have about three hundred and something projects in Niger Delta, so how are you going to allocate the money to this kind of project? It’s not possible, and we will not do it.’’

Responding, Akpabio said the amount spent so far on the road is about N423 billion, while amount paid till date is about N354billion.

He opined that the total completion of the road is about 80 percent, saying though release of funds is slow, and the annual rainfall has affected the work, the ministry was determined to surpass those challenges.

Committee on FERMA On November 5, the Managing Director of Federal Roads Maintenance Agency (FERMA), Mr. Nurudeen Rafindadi, appearing before the House of Representatives Committee on FERMA, chaired by Hon. Richard Femi Bamise, to defend the agency’s 2021 budget proposal, alleged that the Ministries of Finance and Works and Housing were responsible for the inflation in their 2021 budget by over N11 billion.

A member of the committee, Hon. Yusuf Gadgi, had asked the FERMA boss why their budget had a sudden increase of over N11 billion.

Gagdi said, “Earlier to this moment, we’re privileged to know your budget proposal to the ministry; from the ministry to the National Assembly, the proposal changed from twenty something billion to thirty something billion.

I will respectfully want you to address that aspect. You in charge of FERMA, how come before the proposal got to the National Assembly it was increased upwards?

“If it was increased, who is responsible for the increment with what you defended during your inter-ministerial defence? Coming to National Assembly, the amount of over N11 billion was increased in the proposal you earlier submitted. We want that confirmation from you.’’

Responding, the FERMA boss said, ‘’Our proposal of budget as it is today is submitted to the Federal Ministry of Works. And the

The Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Senator Godswill Akpabio, while presenting his ministry’s 2021 budget proposal to the committee, said N15 billion out of the N19 billion meant for capital expenditure would be used to construct the East-West Road. But, members of the committee disagreed with him, saying the money was too much for just one project. A member of the committee, Hon. Edim Eta, opined that the bulk of the money should go to youth programmes rather than the road. According to him, ‘’If you’re budgeting N15 billion for East-West Road, are you saying that only N4 billion is left for other Niger Delta projects. I don’t think that’s fair. I believe the bulk of the funding that’s coming in 2021 should go to youth programmes. We all witnessed the #EndSARS protest

Committee on Finance Appearing before the House Committee on Finance, November 4, to defend the commission’s 2021 budget proposal, the Chairman of Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC), Mr. Elias Mbam, disclosed that following a nationwide monitoring exercise on the Solid Minerals sector with the aim of examining royalty collection to the Federation Account for the period 2009 to 2015, it was discovered that the country was losing an estimated revenue of about N1.3 trillion annually.

He explained that the analysis of the exercise, which is still ongoing, was carried out on 10 mineral type, namely: Gold, Tin-ore, Coal, Columbite, Kaolin Crude, Lead, Gypsum, Tantalite Crude, Zinc and Manganese, taking into consideration their qualities, quantities and their international value.

Mbam also revealed that the commission, during the monitoring, verification and reconciliation exercise on revenue collection and remittances by commercial banks, companies and collecting agencies, also recovered the sum of N75 billion.

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

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T H I S D AY ˾ MONDAY NOVEMBER 30, 2020

POLITICS

Between the Potent ASUU and Ineffective NLC Amby Uneze compares and draws a contrast between the engagement strategies of the Academic Staff Union of Universities and the Nigeria Labour Congress

Buhari

Ogunyemi

Wabba

Ngige

I

* To continually struggle to influence public and corporate policies and legislation on all issues at all levels, in the interest of workers, disadvantaged social groups and trade unions; etc.

However, the NLC has failed the people of this country in so many ways. Looking at the intervention of the NLC these past few months, especially as the petrol pump price increases monthly to the chagrin of Nigerians, one had expected the NLC to live up to her mandate by protecting Nigerians from the shylock of the federal government.

How can one explain that fuel which was sold for N87 per litre in 2015 before President Muhammadu Buhari ascended power can under five years rise to N170 per litre? Have we forgotten that Nigeria is one of the five major exporters of crude oil in the world and still her citizens pay heavily, even more than those countries they export to? What kind of economic calculation is that, and then the government is also talking about another recession?

The Organised Labour had recently reconvened a meeting with the Federal Government that was aimed at addressing the increase in price of fuel and electricity tariff. The outcome of the meeting was that they staged a walkout and never put pressure on the Federal Government to rescind her decision on fuel increase. The meeting, they claimed, was necessitated by the recent increase in pump price of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), otherwise called petrol, from N160 per litre to N170 and the increase in electricity tariff.

The Federal Government has been giving excuses to justify the hike without taking Nigerians into consideration. The FG had linked the recent increase in the pump price of petrol to the success of Pfizer ’s COVID-19 vaccine. Imagine that! The Federal Government has said that the recent increase in the pump price of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), otherwise known as petrol, is due to the announcement of a positive outcome in the final stage trial of the Coronavirus vaccine being developed

by American pharmaceutical giant, Pfizer Inc in collaboration with BioNTech.

The explanation followed the public outcry and criticisms that have greeted the petrol price increase. This disclosure made by the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Chief Timipre Sylva during an interaction with State House correspondents on Monday, November 16, 2020, after a routine meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari at Aso Villa, Abuja was indeed a reckless one, considering the fact that Nigerians did not get the COVID-19 palliative meant for them by CACOVID talk less of vaccine.

Sylva pointed out that the announcement by Pfizer, that its COVID-19 vaccine was over 90% effective, triggered a slight increase in the price of crude oil in the global market. He said, “What happened recently was because of the announcement of a vaccine for COVID-19 by Pfizer. With that, crude oil prices went up a little bit.

“If you have been following crude oil prices, you would have seen that crude oil prices went up a little bit as a result of this announcement. So, when crude oil prices go up a little bit, then you will see that (it will) instantly reflect on the price of petrol, which is a derivative of crude oil.”

Sylva, who pointed out that it was not the first time that the Federal Government will be giving this explanation whenever there was a jump in petrol price, said that the pump price of petrol was directly determined by the price of crude oil in the global market.

He said, “When the price of crude oil goes up, then it means that the price of the fixed stock has gone higher; it will also affect the price of the refined product and that is why you see that product prices are usually not static, it depends on the price of crude oil which goes up and down.

“That is why we say, deregulate so that as the price goes up or down, you begin to go up and down as well at the pump.

Before now, we fixed it – which was not optimal for us as a country.”

The Minister while speaking on the petrol price deregulation explained that the price of petrol will continue to fluctuate depending on the price of crude oil. He said it may crash again to a much lower

figure, like was experienced in March 2020, if the price of crude drops again.

Now, what is the NLC doing to protect Nigerians from these regular increases in pump price of fuel? Generally, when there is a slight increase in fuel, every segment of the economy is affected and those who usually bear the brunt are the poor Nigerians that NLC is supposed to protect. But they have sold out.

For ASUU, its leadership has remained resolute, astute and dogged in fighting for what they feel are the rights of the university lecturers in the country. They have held several meetings with Minister of Labour and Employment, Senator Chris Ngige, and finally it does appear that there is light at the end of the tunnel. Last week the Minister expressed optimism that members of the Academic Staff Union of Universities will accept the new offer by the Federal Government and end the eight-month strike which began in March.

He urged ASUU to hasten consultations with its members in order to return to the negotiation table before Friday. “I feel that even this offer is one of the best they have ever gotten since I started conciliation with them. I do not see why they should not accept it. Everything they asked for has been granted. I don’t think they should say the offer is not good.

“But I told them before they left that asking the nation and the students to wait from Friday to Friday is unfair, they should come back to us by Tuesday. They have done that before when we negotiated with the Senate President. The offer was made on a Thursday and they came back to us on a Tuesday.

“So, that’s what I expect them to do this time around. If they do so, the nation will appreciate them and regard them as patriotic citizens of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

I expect them to get back to me much earlier than Friday,” the minister, who spoke on an ARISE TV interview, said.

The Minister had reported last Friday that the Federal Government accepted the demand by ASUU that the lecturers be exempted from the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System. The government also offered to increase the Earned Allowances to university staff from N30 billion to N35b and the Revitalisation Fund from N20 billion to N25 billion.

The government also shifted grounds, as it agreed to pay outstanding salaries to the university lecturers from February to June, through the old salary payment platform, Government Integrated Financial and Management Information System, as well as resolve other issues for a lasting industrial harmony in the university system.

While ASUU and the Federal Government should be commended for resolving the over eight months impasse, which apart from the lockdown that arose from the COVID-19 pandemic that crippled the nation’s university system, the NLC needs to carry Nigerians aling by protecting them from the onslaught of the Federal Government, which has made living more difficult for them. NLC should wake up from its slumber.

n Nigeria of today, struggle for relevance becomes the key word to survive the harsh economic realities in the country. It is no longer news that everybody fights for himself.

The dependence on organized bodies to act as activists or mouthpiece for people who are aggrieved over certain unpopular policies of government(s) most times turn out to be impotent.

No wonder, therefore, the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) is dancing in the sun just for the sake of seeking relevance while in the actual sense of it the body is impotent. However, such organizations as the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) that acts as the main catalyst between teachers in the university and government need to be commended for standing tall to be counted. ASUU, no doubt has her own short-comings but generally, her potency to galvanize all the grievances of Nigerian university lecturers into a demand to achieve academic excellence in the country is highly appreciated. That is what a union that loves her members and country should do at any given time.

On the other hand, an organized body that should fight for all Nigerians irrespective of which union one belongs individually is the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC). NLC is the mother of all unions in Nigeria, and her main mandate is to protect the rights of every worker in the country. Unfortunately, NLC has of late become a toothless bulldog and cannot defend the people it claims to represent. Nigerian workers are however, at the mercy of the government that tosses them like a coin.

The fundamental aims and objectives of the Congress are to protect, defend, and promote the rights, well being and the interests of all workers, pensioners, the trade unions and the working class in general; and also to promote and defend a Nigerian nation that would be just, democratic, transparent and prosperous through the attainment of the following objectives: * To promote, defend and advance the economic, political and social rights and wellbeing of Nigerian workers and pensioners; * To continually enhance the quality of life and improve the income and other working conditions of workers; * To promote and sustain the unity of Nigerian Trade Unions, ensure total unionization of all workers irrespective of their creed, state of origin, gender and political beliefs; * To promote the existence of one trade union and/ or one federation of trade unions in every industry; including the emergence of one central labour organization in Nigeria; * To continually strive towards the attainment of gender equity and improvements in the status and conditions of women in the world of work and society; * To work for the industrialization and prosperity of the Nigerian nation and ensure protection of jobs, full employment and a humane working environment;

For ASUU, its leadership has remained resolute, astute and dogged in fighting for what they feel are the rights of the university lecturers in the country. They have held several meetings with Minister of Labour and Employment, Senator Chris Ngige, and finally it does appear that there is light at the end of the tunnel. Last week the Minister expressed optimism that members of the Academic Staff Union of Universities will accept the new offer by the Federal Government and end the eight-month strike which began in March

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FEATURES

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

Nigeria’s Failing Power Sector Nigeria’s privatised power sector is failing, and a good number of defining indicators support this, writes Chineme Okafor

Buhari

E

lectricity personifies progress and modernity; its availability makes marvellous things happen in societies, but today 97 million people in Nigeria don’t have it since they are not connected to the national grid yet.

The fortunate millions who are connected, have in the last five years shared a meagre 3,680 megawatts (MW) available to the national grid.

In some cases, data show that their supplies are just enough to power lightbulbs but never enough to turn fans and run simple household machines. Some pay for this terribly poor supply; others simply steal it or decline to pay.

From the bright, radiant lightbulbs that help schoolchildren study more, to the complex machines that run economies, the impressions electricity leaveson people’s daily lives are enormous and striking.

It is often explained as the foundation for contemporary civilisation; airports run on its power, industries rely on its strength, health centres look to it to overcome diseases and people expect that it will keep their homes comfortable for living.

In 1879, when Thomas Edison displayed an incandescent lamp for the first time in Menlo Park in New Jersey, he perhaps intended for it to make impressions on societies, but maybe not as profound as becoming the bedrock of modern progress.

Nevertheless, researchers in the natural sciences and economy as well as anthropologists have engaged with and highlighted the mutual relationship between electricity and societies; they have mostly played up the value of energy security and how societies often leverage electricity from diverse sources – solar, fossil fuel, wind, hydro – to transform their fortunes.

Electricity Access DeďŹ cit in Nigeria Nigeria, a country of about 180 million people, has most of these electricity sources endowed to it but data show that it has failed to leverage them for its progress.

In a recent report of the World Bank, the country on the back of its unreliable electricity supply, loses N10.1 trillion or about two per cent of its Gross Domestic Product (GDP) yearly.

Similarly, out of the 190 countries the bank surveyed another report to determine their level of access to electricity, it ranked Nigeria 171 globally and 33 among 46 Sub-Saharan Africa countries.

The bank explained that 97 million people or 47 per cent of Nigeria’s population today do not get electricity from the national grid.

These people it said rely mostly on batterypowered torchlights and fuel generators to

Minister of Power, Saleh Maman electrify their homes and offices.

The country, it added has the largest electricity access deficit in Sub-Saharan Africa and the second largest in the world, after India. “For the bottom 40 per cent, access to grid electricity is lower at about 31 per cent nationwide. “The average annual per capita electricity consumption of Nigeria is 147kWh, which is a fifth of the average low middle-income country consumption,� the World Bank said of Nigeria’s electricity situation.

It further stated that: “Of the households connected to grid electricity, most experience blackouts daily, as well as frequent voltage fluctuations. As a result, 40 per cent of households with access to electricity use generators and many rely on other non-grid sources such as solar home systems, solar lantern/lighting systems, rechargeable batteries. “Low income-households resort to candles and flashlights for lighting and firewood for cooking, which are inefficient and potentially harmful to their health and the environment.�

The bank reiterated that insufficient energy impacts all Nigerians, but that the burden frequently falls predominantly on women in the country.

Electricity Generation in Nigeria Starting out for the first time in 1896 but officially becoming a public good with the setting of the first electric utility company, known as the Nigerian Electricity Supply Company (NESC) in 1929, the history of electricity generation and distribution in Nigeria is quite as old as the product itself.

As explained by the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) – the regulator of the country’s modern-day electricity sector, the Electricity Corporation of Nigeria (ECN) and National Electric Power Authority (NEPA) succeeded the NESC. NEPA however emerged as a state-owned monopoly controlling the generation, transmission and distribution of electricity across the country.

According to the NERC, NEPA operated as a vertically integrated utility company and had a total generation capacity of about 6,200 megawatts (MW) from two hydro and four gas power plants. It also had kilometres of transmission and distribution cables and infrastructure but was hugely incompetent.

Its operational inefficiencies resulted in unstable and unreliable electricity supply services so much so that eligible consumers experienced frequent power cuts and long periods of outages.

NEPA, the NERC added represented, “an industry characterised by lack of maintenance

of power infrastructure, outdated power plants, low revenues, high losses, power theft and non-cost reflective tariffs.�

Fast-forward to 2001, and Nigeria coming through a popular transition to democracy from military rule in 1999, the country considered and initiated reforms to revive her electricity sector.

It promulgated the National Electric Power Policy to establish an efficient electricity market and sought to transfer the ownership and management of the infrastructure and assets of NEPA to private businesses.

This way, it envisioned that it will get the government out of the real business of generating and distributing electricity to allow private businesses leverage their famed knowhow to revive the rather dead sector.

By 2005, the country made significant progress in its planned reform of the sector, and a new law, the Electric Power Sector Reform (EPSR) Act was in place.

The EPSRA became the bedrock of the power reform; it birthed what was supposed to be an independent regulator, NERC and created the Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) from NEPA as a transitional corporation that had 18 successor companies – six generation companies (Gencos), 11 distribution companies (Discos) and a transmission company.

By design, the Gencos and Discos were to be privatised, while the transmission company would be operated through a management company. These moves were equally matched with the setting up of a credible off-taker – the Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading Plc (NBET) – to buy and sell electricity from the Gencos to the Discos until direct power trades was possible in the sector.

Essentially, the NBET was to become a sort of a clearing house, helping to counterbalance expected trade deficits between the Gencos and Discos. Its chief responsibility was to ensure that the sale of electricity between both entities was smooth in the interest of Nigerians.

By November 2013, the privatisation of all Gencos and 10 of the 11 Discos was completed – the last Disco was privatised in 2014. As planned, the government retainedits ownership of the transmission company. An efficient power market was then expected.

Failing Sector Shortly after privatising, the then promising power sector began to fall apart through what experts called teething problems. Seven years after, its fortunes and goodwill have further deteriorated. Today, most Nigerians consider the sector hopeless and its operators dishonest.

From records, the exercise which was

undertaken to instil efficient service delivery through firm contracts, has failed to lift up. Trust deficit between key stakeholders, regulatory and policy failures, tariff shortfalls and contempt for contracts are chiefly its defining characters.

Key performance indicators (KPIs) agreed between parties ahead of the privatisation have equally been spurned, making its stakeholders quite unwilling to fix its challenges in harmony.

By the first quarter of 2020, the NERC disclosed that these challenges remain unaddressed.

In its first quarter 2020 report, the regulator noted that: “The financial viability of NESI (Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry) has remained a major challenge threatening its sustainability.� “The liquidity challenge is partly due to the non-implementation of cost-reflective tariffs, high technical and commercial losses exacerbated by energy theft and consumers’ apathy to payments under the widely prevailing practice of estimated billing,� it added.

The NERC equally stated that only 10,477,856 people or homes are registered electricity customers in the country, from which only 4,231,940 or 40.39 per cent have been provided meter by their Discos.

Additionally, it explained that from service complaints lodged by consumers, cases of load shedding, delayed connection, service interruptions, outages, arbitrary disconnections and infrequent voltage were top on the list.

This, it inferred indicated that nothing really has changed from the inglorious days of NEPA. Even safetypractices are frequently compromised in the sector so much that in the first three months of 2020, nine people died of electrocution.

Providing their perspective on how the sector began to fail, power Gencos in June 2020 claimed that the government from its inactions bungled the privatisation process, hence the failure.

They stated that the governing contract agreements reached with the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) prior to the November 2013 takeover were not executedand that the disregard for agreements which included the Power Purchase Agreement (PPA), Gas Supply Agreement (GSA), Gas Transportation Agreement (GTA) and grid connection agreement resulted in the gradual decline of the privatisation goals.

They equally noted that the agreement for 100 per cent financial security of power production, in other words,guaranteeing availability of electricity from existing Gencos with stable securitisation was also botched. “This has led to a huge outstanding debt of approximately one trillion naira owed to Gencos from the inception of privatisation till

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FEATURES date,� the Executive Secretary of the Association of Power Generation Companies (APGC), Dr. Joy Ogaji told a local newspaper – Premium Times in a June interview.

Ogaji noted that the non-provision of the securitisation for payments encouraged multiple defaults on invoices for power supplied to the national grid and with zero consequences for such defaults.

According to her, while Gencos receive payments below their expectations for power generated, “the weak transmission and distribution networks inherited from the PHCN are still in existence and are not complementing Genco’s efforts in maximising available capacities to the benefit of the Nigerian consumers.� “The maximum capacity attained by the national grid ever is 5,375MW as opposed to the current overall average available capacity, 8,589MW, and installed capacity of 13,427MW, with an expansion capacity of 20,000MW in an enabling environment,� she further explained.

In essence, Ogaji stated that the average volume of electricity stranded from getting to Nigerians everyday as a result of poor transmission and distribution facilities is 3,214MW. “This implies that if we had a grid capacity that matches our average available capacity, 3,214MW can be immediately made available to Nigerians with the current state of operations of the Gencos and at no additional cost,� she added.

But typical of the fraught relationship between operators in the sector since its privatisation, the Discos subsequently debunked the Gencos claims. “Since 2015, there has been no significant improvement in the energy generated and wheeled by TCN, that is finally received by Discos. It continues low and flat, only affected by a seasonal effect between the dry and rainy seasons,� they said in their first quarter 2020 operational report which was published by their association, the Association of Nigerian Electricity Distributors (ANED).

The Discos equally claimed that supply uncertainty from the Gencos, NERC’s regulatory inconsistencies as well as theft and assets vandalism have remained key challenges to progress in the sector.

Equally providing his perspective on the sector’s failures so far, Wale Shonibare who is a Director for Energy Financial Solutions, Policy and Regulation at the African Development Bank (AfDB) pointed to governance failures and unhealthy political compromises as key reasons.

Shonibare spoke at a recent meeting in Abuja where he stated that, “to address the liquidity issue, there has to be a reset of the utilities. The lack of political will and regulatory power has led to the dis-alignment in the power sector.�

He added that on the basis of its failure, potential investors would be cautious to put their money in the sector for service improvement.

Messier Situation In furtherance, the World Bank made the condition of the country’s power sector clearer when it recently explained that between 2017 and 2019, the level of debt from tariff shortfalls totalled N1.249 trillion.

It stated that N322 billion, N403 billion and N524 billion were recorded in the sector as tariff debts in 2017, 2018 and 2019 despite the government spending N1.301 trillion within these years as subsidy payment for power production. The subsidy it noted however benefits only rich Nigerians. “The significant fiscal resources spent on funding tariff shortfalls disproportionately benefit the (relatively) rich. “While access to grid electricity of the poorest 40 percent, ranked by per capita household expenditures, is 37 per cent, 68 per cent of the richest 60 per cent reported access to the grid. “Living in more affluent neighbourhoods, the top 60 percent also experienced fewer outages, and spent almost twice as much on electricity as the bottom 40 per cent. “As a result, the fiscal expenditure on tariff shortfalls largely benefits the rich. Eighty per cent of the fiscal expenditure on tariff shortfalls benefits the richest 40 percent of the population, while only eight per cent benefits the bottom 40 per cent, and less than two per cent benefits the poorest 20 per cent,� the bank explained.

Similarly, data which THISDAY obtained from the Advisory Power Team in the Office of the Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, and subsequently analysed showed that between 2015 and November 2020, the average volume

of electricity from the grid to Nigerians every day was not more than 3,680MW. Within these years 31393MW was not supplied daily as well on account of several constraints, while a massive N3.074 trillion could not be earned by the sector.

The data explained that constraints from insufficient gas supply to Gencos, poor distribution infrastructure and transmission infrastructure continued to help the sector to underperform within these periods.

Further breakdown of the data showed that in 2015, the average daily supply was 3,790MW while 2,413MW was shut in resulting in the loss of N246.6 billion. 2016, had an average daily supply of 3,211MW and 3,546MW with

N622.9 billion lost by the sector.

In 2017, it was an average of 3,559MW supplied daily to the Discos from the national grid, 2,420MW was not supplied and N425.1 billion lost. 3,807MW was the average daily supply in 2018 and 3039MW was not supplied with N532.4 billion lost, while 2019 had 3,782MW and 3,599MW supplied and not supplied respectively as N630.5 billion was unearned.

Between January and November 2020, the data also showed that an average of 4,007MW was supplied daily while 3,880MW was not, resulting in a deficit of N616.4 billion.

Clearly from the perspectives of experts, these recurrentshortcomings of the sector

are signs that it has refused to innovate and failed to recognise that its customers are key to its operations. The sector according to the experts has also failed wean itself of deeprooteddishonest practices.

Based on the World Bank’s data, aggregate technical, commercial and collection (ATC&C) losses of the Discos in 2019 hovered around 41 per cent while inadequate metering of end-use customers and non-settlement of electricity bills by many federal, state and localgovernment Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) across the country have remained high; these have further ensured that across Nigeria today electricity supply remains poor, indicative of a failing sector.

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MONDAY NOVEMBER 30, 2020 •T H I S D AY

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Quick Takes MTN Introduces ‘Zigi’

MTN Nigeria has announced plan to launch ‘Zigi,’ an online assistant chatbotdesignedtoenhancecustomers’digitalinteractionswiththebrand, and provide speedy and secure marketing, sales and technical support.

Withthis,customerswouldbeabletointeractwiththechatbotonmultiple channelsincludingWhatsApp,FacebookMessenger,Telegram,theoďŹƒcial MTN website and myMTN App. According to a statement from the telco, it would provide a wide range of services including account balance checks, airtime, data purchases and answers to frequently asked questions.

The chatbot would also have the ability to transfer customers to a live agent. These channels and varying features would be rolled out in phases as ‘Zigi’ continues to evolve to oer comprehensive support and services to all customers interested in interacting with MTN through ‘Zigi’.

Commentingonthelaunchof‘Zigi,’theChiefCustomerRelationsOďŹƒcer, MTN Nigeria, Ugonwa Nwoye, said, “Zigi oers personalised, intuitive and prompt service to our customers. “Her introduction would not take away the customers’ access to live agentsbutwillserveastheďŹ rstpointofcontactforcustomerswhochoose to interact with Zigi.

Ogbechie Appointed LBS’ Dean

SAFETY ONTHEIR MIND

L-R: Director of Engineering, HashimWali; Commissioner/CEO, Accident Investigation Bureau, Nigeria (AIB-N), Akin Olateru and Director of Operations, Capt.

Dayyabu, atthereleaseofthreeAccidentReportsandtwoSafetyBulletins,ata ceremonyheldatAbuja‌recently

Investors Stake N26bn on Stocks as Bulls Regain Control Goddy Egene Investors committed N25.791 billion in 1.816 billion shares in 39,265 deals last week, compared with the N58.733 billion staked on 4.509 billion shares in 47,140 deals the previous week.

Despite lower level of investment, the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) All-Share Index (ASI) went up by 2.57 per cent to close at 34,136.82, following gains by Airtel Africa Plc, Dangote Cement Plc and BUA Cement Plc. Similarly, market capitalisation closed higher at N17.838 trillion.

As we enter the new week, some investors remain bullish on the market, seeing further

CAPITAL MARKET growth. “With the recent decision of the MPC to hold monetary policy parameters constant in furtherance of their growth objective, we expect alpha-seeking investors to continue rotating their portfolio towards equities amid attractive dividend yields on bellwether stocks. “We expect market performance to be dominated by the bulls, as positioning by early birds in dividend-paying stocks ahead of full year (FY) 2020 dividend declarations should outweigh profit-taking activities.

We reiterate the need for posi-

tioning in only fundamentally sound stocks as the weak macro environment remains a significant headwind for corporate earnings,� at Cordros Research said.

A look at the activity chart showed that the Financial Services Industry (measured by volume) led the activity chart with 1.274 billion shares valued at N14.710 billion traded in 18,392 deals, thus contributing 70.1 per cent and 57.04 per cent to the total equity turnover volume and value respectively.

The Conglomerates Industry followed with 217.170 million shares worth N231.809 million in 1,226 deals, while third place was occupied by the Consumer Goods Industry, with a turnover

of 113.760 million shares worth N2.598 billion in 4,568 deals.

Trading in the top three equities namely Zenith Bank Plc, Transnational Corporation of Nigeria Plc and Access Bank Plc accounted for 649.529 million shares worth N8.104 billion in 6,395 deals, contributing 35.7 per cent and 31.4 per cent to the total equity turnover volume and value respectively.

Meanwhile, 27 equities appreciated in price during the week, higher than 21 equities in the previous week, just as 43 equities depreciated in price, lower than 55 equities in the previous week.

Continued on page 24

Elumelu Vows to Replicate Banking Industry Milestones in Insurance Sector James Emejo in Abuja The Commission for Insurance/ Chief Executive, National Insurance Commission (NAICOM), Mr. Sunday Thomas, has urged newly licensed insurance companies to comply fully with the regulatory guidelines of the Insurance Act 2003 and other relevant rules or risk outright revocation.

This is as Chairman, Heirs Insurance Limited (General), Mr. Tony Elumelu, who was handed an operating license over the weekend, promised to

INSURANCE replicate the milestones recorded through the United Bank for Africa (UBA) in the banking sector, to stimulate and deepen insurance penetration going forward.

Thomas, however, charged the chairmen, board of directors and management of the companies to further uphold corporate governance and proper risk management and commit to market development in a positive manner.

Speaking at the award of

operating licenses to four insurance companies and one reinsurance company to begin operations in the country, the NAICOM boss, reminded the companies that the license were only held on lease and could be revoke if there are sufficient reasons at any point to do so.

The newly approved insurance firms included Heirs Insurance Limited (General), chaired by Mr. Tony Elumelu and Heirs Life Assurance Limited, which is chaired by Dr. Tajudden Yusuf and FBS Reinsurance Limited led by the former Commissioner of

Insurance, Mr. Fola Daniel.

Others are Enterprise Life Assurance Company Nigeria Limited, chaired by Keli Gadzekpo and Stanbic IBTC Insurance Life, chaired by Yinka Sanni.

Thomas described the latest licensing regime as historic, pointing out that the last license an insurance license was awarded by the commission was about 10 years while the last reinsurance license was issued about 35 years ago.

He said: “It is important that

The Lagos Business School (LBS) has announced the appointment of Professor of Strategic Management, Chris Ogbechie, as its new dean.

The appointment made by the Governing council of Pan-Atlantic University was announced by the Vice-Chancellor, Professor Juan Elegido, last Thursday and becomes eective on January 1, 2021, according to a statement. Ogbechie has decades of academic and corporate experience, with the latter derived from his work in executive capacities for local and multinational companies, and from his consulting work with African ďŹ rms.

He chairs the board of several private and public companies and advises severalothers.OgbechieholdsaďŹ rst-classdegreeinmechanicalengineering from Manchester University, an MBA from Manchester Business School, and a PhD in Business Administration from Brunel Business School in the UnitedKingdom. Ogbechie,hasbeenamemberofLBSManagementBoard since March 2012, and has been associated with the school for over 20 years. He teaches strategy, sustainability and corporate governance at the school and is a visiting professor across Africa.

He is to take over from Enase Okonedo, who has been dean for 11 years.

Under Okonedo’s leadership, the school has grown to become a leading business school in Africa; achieving global accreditations from international accrediting bodies and consistently ranked amongst top providers of executive education by the Financial Times of London and The Economist magazine, amongst others.

Wema Partners Lagos State

Wema Bank has partnered the Lagos State Universal Basic Education Board(LASUBEB)tofundeducationforout-of-schoolchildren.Theinitiative which is tagged Project Zero was launched recently.

Project Zero is a multi-partner initiative to tackle and cater to out of school children. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, various sectors of the economy have been severely aected and this has led to loss of income andlivelihoodtonumerousparentsandguardiansofalotofthesechildren/ wards.Theinitiativeaimstoprovidestarterkitstoencourageoutofschool children to get back to school and resume academic activities.

Speakingduringtheprogram,astatementquotedtheExecutiveDirector, Lagos Bank , Wema Bank, Mr. Wole Ajimisinmi, to have expressed delight about the initiative. He said: “The Project Zero initiative is in line with one of our Corporate Social Investments (CSI) Pillars; Education. Undoubtedly, COVID-19 has further widened the gap of the number of Out of School Children in Lagos State. Wema Bank is proud to be associated with this initiative as we believe in the LASUBEB mantra that no child should be left behind. Board member, Social Mobilisation department, LASUBEB, Sijuade Idowu-Tiamiyu, also expressed appreciation to all the sponsors, saying, “I salute the commitment and good-intent of all stakeholders in the birth of this project and I am conďŹ dent that together we can solve the social menace of child illiteracy and put our dear children in Lagos state who are for various reasons despite continuous counter-eorts by the government out-of-school back to school.â€?

“The banking sector has a significant role to play as a facilitator of growth in the agriculture sector, through its intermediation function�

CBN Governor, Continued on page 24

Mr. Godwin EmeďŹ ele

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BUSINESSWORLD INVESTORS STAKE N26BN ON STOCKS AS BULLS REGAIN CONTROL UPDC Real Estate Investment Trust led the price gainers with 32.5 per cent, trailed by Neimeth International Pharmaceuticals Plc with 12 per cent. NCR (Nigeria) Plc went up by 9.8 per cent. University Press Plc chalked up 9.5 per cent, while United Capital Plc garnered 8.1 per cent.

Coronation Insurance Plc gained 7.3 per cent, while FCMB Group Plc, Airtel Africa Plc and AXAMansard Insurance Plc chalked up 7.2 per cent, 7.0 per cent and 6.3 per cent in that order.

On the negative side, Japaul led with 11.1 per cent followed by Honeywell Flour Mills Plc with 10.8 per cent.

Custodian Investment Plc shed 10 per cent, while Champion Breweries Plc lost 9.4 per cent.

Trans-Nationwide Express Plc lost 9.3 per cent, just Linkagae Assurance Plc and Wema Bank Plc went down by 9.1 per cent apiece.

ELUMELU VOWS TO REPLICATE BANKING INDUSTRY MILESTONES IN INSURANCE SECTOR

we state this and also to let you know that we are issuing you license today. The license does not belong to you, it is on lease but you will determine how long the lease period will be. “We will hand it over to you to run your business but I pray that you will not give this commission reasons to want to recall our license.�

The commissioner further said:�One thing I also want to clear and make known is the fact that companies don’t die, people kill companies. “And when companies do, the first port of call will be the board of directors before you now come to the management because if they supervise the management, it’s not likely that that company will die. “Now, your responsibility as a company is to ensure that fit and proper person manage the company. It is also important that you know your limits when it comes to taking on risks.

NEWS

CBN Reiterates Commitment to Tackling Cyber-fraud Ugo Aliogo In a bid to tackle the increasing threats of cyber-attacks in the financial sector, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has expressed its desire to continue collaborating with banks in addressing the challenge.

Speaking at the FirstBank Information Security Webinar, the Director, Banking Supervision, CBN, Mr. Hassan Bello, said there was need for banks to comply with the requirement of the CBN two-factor authentication (2FA) on all online products.

H disclosed that the CBN was also collaborating with banks in enabling customers to truncate all electronic channels transactions such as USSD, online banking and mobile app.

Bello further stated that on assumption of his second tenure, the CBN Governor, Mr. Godwin Emefiele, put in place the development of a robust mechanism to ensure that financial institutions have the necessary safeguards to protect against loss of data, fraud and cyber incursions in their respective systems as part of the governor’s five year policy thrust (2019-2024).

He maintained that the central bank was committed to the fight against cyber-attacks in financial institutions.

Bello said the Bankers’ Com-

Obinna Chima

Capital Market Editor

Goddy Egene

Comms/e-Business Editor

Emma Okonji

Senior Correspondent

Raheem Akingbolu (Advertising) Correspondents

Chinedu Eze (Aviation) Eromosele Abiodun (Maritime) James Emejo (Finance) Ebere Nwoji (Insurance) Chineme Okafor (Energy) Emmanuel Addeh (Energy) Reporters

Nume Ekeghe (Money Market) Nosa Alekhuogie (ICT) Peter Uzoho (Energy)

to the customer, adding that if it is an institution or organisation that is defrauded, the impact is felt at the organisational level.

The FirstBank Head of IT Control and Enhancement advised customers to put in place two-step factor authentication in their email accounts to make it difficult for fraudsters to access their accounts.

Continuing, Bello noted that the implementation of the cashless policy which was to drive the development of the financial system, reduce the cost

of banking services and promote financial inclusion have increased the risks of electronic banking in the country.

According to him, “The impact of the fraud on the customer include monetary loss, negative perception of bank’s security practices, loss of confidence in the financial system, thus impacting negatively on the cashless policy and the financial inclusion initiative, and others. “Some of the methods used to get customer information to perpetuate fraud include phising,

vishing, smishing, pharming, spoofing and social engineering. “To minimise the loss of customer funds, it is necessary to enhance the security measures on all electronic delivery channels.

Customers should monitor their accounts regularly and promptly report unusual activities and account balances on your account to the bank. Customers should desist from any offer asking them to supply their confidential details, such as card numbers and password online because it is a scam.�

AWARD WELL DESERVED

L-R: Chief Financial Officer, FBN Holdings Plc, Oyewale Ariyibi; Group Managing Director, UK. Eke, receiving an award from Chairman Reward Investments & Services Limited, Henry Olayemi, and Publisher, BusinessDay, Frank Aigbogun, at the eight Banking & Other Financial Institutions Awards organised by the

Govt Should Reimburse Insurance Firms for #EndSARS Claims, Say NICON Boss James Emejo in Abuja In what could spark a new debate in insurance administration in the country, Managing Director/Chief Executive, NICON Insurance Limited, Mr. Muhammad Hussaini has said the federal, state and local governments should reimburse insurance companies for claims paid as a result of the recent EndSARS protests across the country.

He said there’s currently a social contract between the government

and the people as amply captured in Section 14 (2b) of the 1999 constitution which mandates the government to provide security and welfare to the people.

Speaking during an interactive session with journalists in Abuja, over the weekend, Hussaini, therefore, encouraged insurance companies which may have paid claims under the circumstances to mobilise under the Nigerian Insurers’ Association (NIA) - the umbrella trade body - to approach the government to make recoveries where applicable.

He told THISDAY that the referenced section of the constitution, “To me, this presupposes that the government is ultimately responsible for any fundamental breach of the peace as happened with the Endsars protest�.

He said: “Luckily, Nigeria has a responsive and responsible government that has listened to the demands of #Endsars protesters and is taking the necessary steps to do the needful. It will also listen to insurance companies. I have no doubt

about that.�

When reminded that the government is currently fiscally constrained to yield to the proposed request by the industry operators, he said, the government nevertheless, has a “a dormant facility to deal with this issue and similar ones. It is interesting to note that the government has the ability to provide the funds without recourse to the treasury.�

But the NICON Insurance boss added that it would be inappropriate for him to preempt the government, he pointing out

specific avenues to draw funds for the repayment.

He said with loses running into trillions of naira, the suggested government facility can pay recoveries of insurance companies adding that this will be most commendable as the government will be assisting to stabilise a critical arm of the finance industry as well as help to preserve jobs.

He also canvassed for a mass insurance scheme on benefits basis in all classes of insurance to work the system of compensate going forward.

Poultry Farmers Want FG to Halt Export of Maize, Soybeans James Emejo in Abuja

Group Business Editor

mittee has continued to clamour for increased awareness on the issue of cyber-security, pointing out that to reduce quantum of cyber-fraud, more sensitisation was required. In his remarks, the Head IT Control and Enhancement, FirstBank, Obinna Nbagwu, said cyber security sessions are not frequently held event, despite having a lot of customer awareness meetings, therefore commended the bank for the initiative.

Mbagwu, affirmed that when a customer is defrauded through cyber-attack incidents, it is personal

The Poultry Association of Nigeria (PAN) has called on the federal government to halt the export of Soybeans, Soymeal as well as maize with immediate effect.

They also called for the immediate importation of Soybeans and maize as a stop gap measure to mitigate what they described as impending doom in the Nigerian poultry industry.

Speaking at a media briefing,

President of the association, Mr. Ezekiel Ibrahim, said also said the government should secure the country from criminals to enable serious farming and encourage commercial production of maize and Soybeans with proven technology and farming practices.

The group noted that the industry had suffered devastating loses occasioned by the restriction of movement of goods and services amidst the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic and the knockdown

that followed.

The association said it lost billions of naira in sales of eggs and chicken, resulting to the closure on many small and medium poultry farms. It said the current situation increased the price of maize from N95,000 per ton to N165,000 per tonne.

Ibrahim pointed out that though the government had supported the industry with the release of 5,000 metric tons of maize at subsidised rate, expecting to reduce or sta-

bilise prices during the harvest, this however, failed to achieve the objective as maize further increases to between N145,000 and N160,000 as at November compared to N85,000 per ton in November 2019.

He said there’s currently scarcity and near absence of soybeans largely as a result of insecurity and climate change among other militating factors affecting production.

He said unless there was urgent

government intervention, the industry might be forced to shut down completely by January 2021.

The association said the current situation had threatened between 5 to 10 million jobs especially at the urban and rural areas and led to divestment in the poultry sector due to lack of investor confidence.

Among other things, it called for a state of emergency on the sector as well as organise a national conference on poultry production in the country.

AIG Commences 2021/22 Scholarship Selection Process The Africa Initiative for Governance (AIG) has announced that its 2021/22 AIG Scholarship Selection process has commenced with aptitude tests conducted in Nigeria and Ghana.

The selection process for next year’s scholarships commenced just as the six recipients of the 2020/21 AIG scholarship de-

parted West Africa for the United Kingdom to begin their MPP degree studies at the University of Oxford’s Blavatnik School of Government According to a statement, on November 7th, in-person aptitude tests were conducted in four locations – Lagos, Abuja, Port Harcourt and Accra. “The tests would not have been

possible without the support of Access Bank in Nigeria and Ghana and Nigeria’s National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) who worked with us to ensure that exercise followed health and safety best practices. “We are grateful for their partnership and support, which allowed us to maintain the strictest safety protocols during the

administration of the tests,� the statement added.

It pointed out that this year, as in previous years, “we recorded a strong turnout of high calibre candidates, and successful applicants will move forward to the next stage of our rigorous selection process. “These candidates follow in the footsteps of the several worthy

young Africans who have received the AIG Scholarships since 2016.�

According to the AIG, after graduation, scholars are expected to return to their home countries and apply their new learning as change agents in the public sector, championing our cause for a transformed public sector that works for and in service of the people of Africa.

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Gbededo: Inconsistent Govt Policies Distorting Fertilizer Market Dike Onwuamaeze The Group Managing Director/ CEO of the Flour Mills of Nigeria Plc (FMN), Mr. Paul Gbededo, has stated that inconsistent government policies has continued to hinder growth of Nigeria’s fertilizer market.

He noted that that policy which imposed a subsidy regime on the fertilizer business has become a stumbling block on the structures his company had developed based on its knowledge of the market, farmer’s needs and agronomy services in the country.

The group managing director made these remarks recently while speaking during the Golden Fertilizer Customer Forum 2020 with the theme “Going the Distance ‌ Emerging Stronger.â€?

The forum is a yearly event that the Golden Fertilizer Company Limited (GFCL), a subsidiary of the FMN, uses to celebrate its customers and award key partners that have contributed immensely toward the success of the company in the previous financial year.

Gbededo said the present administration and the introduction of policies such as the Presidential Fertilizer Initiative (PFI), has made fertilizer a government commodity that has been controlled in a way never seen in the past 25 years.

He argued that the PFI has ensured that farmers are not guaranteed the supply of quality fertilizer at the right time and price, which has negatively affected the business volume and

turnover of FMN’s distributors.

He said: “This (the PFI) has pegged the quantity of fertilizer we can deliver into the market.

At the whims of the government through the PFI and NSIA we are allocated raw materials and the quantity to blend. We were back to the subsidy regime of fertilizer and controlled market. “This challenge is likely to continue for some time. Our experience has been that farmers are never guaranteed quality fertilizer nor at the right time or price, even though the price is subsidised. It has also affected our customers in that their business volume and turnover have receded. Over the past four years, we have through our doggedness forced our way beyond government allocation to our traditional fertilizer blends

even at a high cost.�

Gbededo also said the fertilizer industry is faced with the challenge of insecurity by bandits and the government’s concern around fertilizer, especially urea. “We have worked assiduously with the NSA (National Security Adviser) and other security agencies to ensure unfettered movement of our products across the country. All these we have done at a significant cost using our best resources. “The question we may ask ourselves is: will the Golden Fertilizer be able to emerge from all these challenges stronger?

First let me admit here that it takes all hands and all minds on deck to navigate the current problems and the ones ahead. “We have shown over the past

20 years that partnership with our stakeholders is resilient and can withstand the turbulence of the social and economic environment. “One good thing is that despite the problems, we have kept our business and your businesses (distributors) going profitably.

This is very crucial to creating wealth and keeping jobs,� he said.

He also expressed confidence that the company would prepare for the challenges ahead through innovative ideas. “Our company has not relented. We are looking forward to expansion of our blending plants into more states outside Lagos. We have just gained more properties in northern states that will help us cater better for our customers and de-risk the concentration of

our business in Lagos. This will also enhance our presence and allow for quick delivery of golden fertilizer to the end users,� he added.

The top winner of the 2020 award was Nura Makarfi, a Kaduna based businessman, who went home with a brand new Lexus 4X4 SUV. Gbededo said the award would strengthen its relationship with the distributors and motivate them to achieve even much more in the current and coming year.

The General Manager of the GFCL, Mr. Mr. Olusegun Falade, assured farmers and dealers that the company would roll out strategies in 2021 that would effectively put an end to the adulteration and faking of its products.

‘We are Pushing for Implementation of Executive Order Five’ Ugo Aliogo In a bid to increase participation of indigenous engineers in the planning and execution of projects, the Chairman, Nigerian Society of Engineers, (NSE), Ikeja Branch, Engr.

Tosin Ogunmola, has stated that the branch will work with other branch chairmen for the implementation of the executive order five which was signed into law by President Muhammadu Buhari.

Ogunmola stated this in Lagos, recently, during a media briefing to announce the forthcoming inauguration of the new Executive Committee for the branch.

He disclosed that the branch would be working with stakeholders in public and private sector to ensure that all engineering projects, “we are having, we give life to the executive order five.�

Ogunmola expressed dismay over widening gap between the academia and industry, stating that the reason for the huge vacuum was because the educational system is still using 21st century curriculum to address present day challenges.

He further explained that there

are myriads of challenges to address in the education sector to ensure that the curriculum is update. “The trend of development is at a very fast pace, therefore the reason why we are not catching with trends is because we still have the gap and we are not exposing our graduates to the industry. “As a matter of fact one of the leeways created to breach that gap was the industrial training opportunities that students are meant to have. As a matter of fact, every engineering undergraduate is meant to spend second semester of their fourth year in industrial training programme. But we have been having challenges where students cannot find industries to do internship,� he stated.

He remarked that part of the activities of the branch’s study group is studying engineering legislations, “so that students can be posted to industries and industries will not reject them.�

He assured of the branch’s readiness to work with Industrial Training Fund (ITF) to have a legislative framework that would make the industrial training programme very effective.

NAPTIP to Develop New National Action Plan Ugo Aliogo The National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) with the support of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) has commenced the process to develop a new national action plan against human trafficking in Nigeria.

In a statement by UNODC Communication Associate, Olivia Okorondu, NAPTIP gathered over 30 stakeholders including ministries, law enforcement agencies, civil society organisations and international partners for a three-day workshop in Abuja to set the priorities of the new national action plan.

The statement further explained that the development of the strategic document was long overdue as the previous national plan expired in 2012.

The statement remarked that the initiative was supported

through the ‘strengthening the policy framework and response to human trafficking in Nigeria’ project, funded by the Swiss government and implemented jointly by NAPTIP and UNODC. The workshop would provide a unique opportunity for partners to reflect on the previous plan’s successes as well as lessons learned in its implementation and identify key priorities for the upcoming years in the fight against human trafficking in the country.

It maintained that as a preliminary step, the project conducted between April and July 2020 a baseline assessment of the current situation of trafficking in persons in Nigeria. It disclosed that the report assessed the current responses to trafficking in the various fields such as prevention, protection, criminal justice response and international cooperation.

COURTESYVISIT

L-R:HeadofLekkiOperations,DUFILPrimaFoodsPlc,RajeshGaggar;FormerNigeriaHeadofState,AlhajiAbubakarAbdulsalami;MagajinGarinSokoto,Hassan Ahmed Danbaba; and Managing Director, Lagos Free Trade Zone, Dinesh Rathi, during a courtesy visit by the management of Lagos Free Trade Zone to the formerHeadofStateinMinna...recently

CIOTA Commits to Support FG’s Transformation of Transport Sector Eromosele Abiodun The Chartered Institute of Transport Administrators (CIOTA), Nigeria has reinstated its commitment to support efforts by the federal government to transform the nation’s transportation sector.

To achieve this, CIOTA said it will continue to fund research and come up with ideas as to how to transform the transportation sector from what is currently obtainable to multi modal means of transportation in the country.

President of the institute, Dr. Bashir Jamoh stated this over the weekend at a media briefing to announce CIOTA’s second National Transport Summit and Annual General Meeting, which will commence tomorrow.

He said the second summit

would build on the gains of the maiden edition held one year ago in Abuja. According to him, “CIOTA has taken her place as the foremost and exclusive charter body designed by legislation to drive the Nigerian transportation sector. It is expected that the conference will contribute to our having enduring, sustainable transport infrastructure, address issues relating to funding, development of the fours modes not in silos but together as each mode is connected to the other. “We will also be exploring partnership concepts and making a case for private participation in the railway.� He added that the rebuilding of Nigeria’s transport infrastructure is currently in progress in many fronts. “The rail network, highways and bridges, deep sea ports, airports conces-

sioning are some of the areas of strategic focus. The building of inland ports represents a hybrid innovation and technology for extending the hinterland of ports, providing opportunities for multi-modalism in the use of rail, road transportation and short sea shipping.�

He added: “However, there are enormous challenges in the efforts. These include funding, Public-Private partnership (PPP) arrangements, institution building and the CODID-19 issues, which have increased the risk of transportation globally.

The summit will address the many facets of these outlined issues, using the expertise and rich industrial experience of the speakers, discussants, and active audience participation.�

As part of the objectives of the summit, he said it would discuss the context of sustainable transport infrastructure development in Nigeria in relation to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. “We will analyse the opportunities, innovation, technologies and current challenges in the provision of air and road transportation.

We will discuss the automobile industry in Nigeria, showing an example of success in indigenous vehicle technology development, discuss alternative and innovative source of finance and funding, including PPP arrangements for transport infrastructure development in Nigeria and analyse the role of pipeline transportation in the sustainable development of transport in Nigeria, “he said.

IADI Lauds NDIC on Capacity Building Initiative The International Association of Deposit Insurers (IADI) has commended the Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC) for proposing the establishment of the African Center for Deposit Insurance (ACDI).

The ACDI is to be domiciled in the NDIC Academy, Abuja, to provide training and enhance the capacity for the staff of member countries on the continent.

According to a statement by the Director, Communication & Public Affairs Department, NDIC, Bashir Nuhu, the commendation was given during the recent Annual General Meeting of the

IADI Africa Regional Committee (ARC) chaired by the ARC Chairperson and NDIC MD/CE Umaru Ibrahim.

The meeting which was held online had representatives of nine member countries of ARC. They included Angola, Ghana, Kenya, Morocco, Nigeria, Rwanda, Tunisia, Uganda and Zimbabwe, as well as the IADI Secretary General, Mr. David Walker and Mr. Keehyun Park of the IADI Secretariat Basel, Switzerland.

While praising the NDIC for its efforts to spearhead the establishment of the Centre, members agreed that due to the current

Covid-19 pandemic restrictions, the Centre should commence with online programmes in 2021.

Members also commended the proposed ARC Publication which was designed to document the experiences and challenges of Deposit Insurance System (DIS) in Africa.

They agreed for the setting up of a Committee made up of Nigeria, Zimbabwe, Kenya and Morocco to coordinate the collation of information from member countries to be used in the compilation of the publication.

During the meeting, ARC member countries provided

update on their activities. Issues discussed from the country reports centred on the need for continuous capacity building; enhanced public awareness; prompt depositor Reimbursement/pay-out; and stepping-up of supervision of insured institutions.

Ibrahim thanked Walker for his continuous support to the ARC. As this was his final ARC meeting, he expressed gratitude to members for their support during his three years tenure as chairperson and called for continuous collaboration to drive the growth of deposit insurance in Africa.

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Emefiele: Exogenous Factors Shouldn’t Be Determining Nigeria’s Prosperity Central Bank of Nigeria Governor, Mr. Godwin Emefiele, in a recent post Monetary Policy Committee meeting interview among other things, spoke about measures to be taken to pull the Nigerian economy out of recession. Obinna Chima brings the excerpts: Are there other measures the central bank intends to take to stimulate the economy considering the recession and what are the steps the monetary authorities intend to take to make us exit this recession quickly?

Like you all recall in March this year, when the COVID-19 surfaced in the country, the CBN came out very quickly and put on the table a couple of initiatives that we believe were meant to help alleviate the pain on our people. Firstly, we talked about how the banks should restructure their facilities, how interest rates should come lower particularly for CBN interventions and how repayments could be spread for those who are owing banks, so that they can have some respite given that their cash flows have been badly affected. On another hand, we also proposed that for targeted credit facility to household and small scale businesses that are adversely impacted by COVID-19, we put on the table N50 billion for them. These were unsecured facilities meant for people who we feel are impacted and they just needed some little money either to start business or conduct some kind of consumption so as to help them live their lives during the period of the pandemic.

We also made available N100 billion for the healthcare industry, for pharmaceuticals and hospitals, for their upgrade and buildings of new ones. In addition, we made available also a facility of N1 trillion for corporates who are will to expand either in the agriculture or manufacturing sector. Let me say that till date, we have seen tremendous response on these initiatives. And I must also say that these initiatives, together with those that have come from the fiscal authorities, have been responsible for the somewhat moderated impact of COVID-19 on the lives of our people. Till date, rather than the N50 billion, the CBN has disbursed through its participating financial institutions, the sum of N149 billion to almost 317,000 beneficiaries. On the healthcare, approximately N60 billion has been disbursed to 60 healthcare projects; whether they are hospitals or pharmaceutical companies who are into healthcare and drug manufacturing.

On the real sector, we have disbursed N350 billion to over 105 real sector projects during this same period. For the Agri-Business Small and Medium Enterprise Investment Scheme (AGSMEIS), which is for those going into small businesses – poultry, hairdressing and the rest, we have also disbursed over N92 billion to more than 27, 000 people. For the youths under the creative industry funding initiative, we have disbursed almost N2.9 billion to our youths in the area fashion, ICT/ software development, in the movie sector and in the music sector. Now that we have seen that these have been quite impactful, particularly the targeted credit facility which is meant for households and SMEs, because what we saw during this period was that it helped to boost consumption spending for our SMEs. And if recall that consumption constitutes almost over 70 per cent of output, you will know that this has been very, very impactful in moderating the impact of COVID-19 on productivity and output and GDP in our country. We have been advised or we have been nudged on by the Monetary Policy Committee that given that this has been impactful, that the CBN should do more.

With N50 billion on the table, we have so far disbursed almost N149 billion to 317, 000 beneficiaries. And we have been told that we need to increase it, not just from N150 billion or N149 billion that it is now, but that we should increase it to about N250 billion or 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 than others. But it is understandable that for instance a zone like the north central where

EmeďŹ ele we have predominantly Abuja or South-west where you have predominantly Lagos, will certainly have a larger share. But the most important thing is that we want to use this as an opportunity to see what can be done to boost consumption spending for our people and also see to it that output is stimulated positively for the good of our people. The second question what about the specific steps being taken to exit recession? Recession or contraction in growth or in output is what we are seeing throughout the entire world as a result, not only drop in commodity pricing, but because of the adverse consequences of the health crisis created by COVID-19. In some developed countries during the first, second and even the third quarter, we saw some of them showing double digit contraction in growth. But in Nigeria, we saw a contraction by 6.1 per cent and I will say pleasantly, in third quarter, a reduction in output by 3.6 per cent. Let me say that we are hopeful and the Minister of Finance address some

We need to continue to tell people that Nigeria is the country with the highest population in Africa, a country with the highest GDP in Africa and so we should not be a country that sneezes when price crude price drops

gathering where she said she is hopeful that during the first quarter of 2021 Nigeria will exit recession. Based on data available to the Monetary Policy Committee from the CBN, we are somewhat cautiously optimistic that indeed if we continue doing what we are doing and do more , there is a likelihood that we will see some little positive output numbers during the fourth quarter 2020. But I can say with some level of certainty as well that we are so certain that during the first quarter of 2021, we will exit the recession.

Why? As a result of all the actions taken by the monetary and fiscal authorities, the National Bureau of Statistics numbers showed that 18 sectors during the third quarter recorded growth, relative to 13 sectors during the second quarter. And these growth were recorded mainly from the agricultural sector, industry manufacturing. Indeed, we saw even services dropping somewhat slightly. But agriculture coming on strongly also means that what we can achieve from whatever we are doing to stimulate agriculture and manufacturing, will create jobs for our people and also stimulate spending; will increase output and ultimately lead to the moderation of the level of inflation in our country.

The parallel market rates have depreciating once more, I will like to know what your comments are on this development and ination rate is now at about 14.2 per cent, what measures are you putting in place to address this?

Indeed I heard some analysts talking about the parallel market, saying that the naira exchange rate is at N480 to a dollar. I want

to say this, that it is unfortunate that and really 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 rate. For the information of everybody, parallel market as far as we know and the data that we have, is a shallow market in Nigeria, with no more than five per cent of market share. The parallel market is a tainted market in Nigeria where people who desire to deal in illegal foreign exchange transactions, including sourcing of forex cash for purposes of offering bribes, corruption, that is where they deal. And that is where people who are supposed to understand the implication of this on the economic activity on our country begin to go on television to say that 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 do not want to provide documentations to support their transactions deal in. It cannot be a basis to determine the value of our currency. Everybody knows and it is accepted that the NAFEX market which is predominantly the Investors and Exporters’ window, is the market that should be used to determine the exchange rate of our naira. As far as we are concerned today, the NAFEX ranges today between N380/$1 going to N386/$1 and N387/$1. And we have been very open about the market price determination factors in that market. The central bank has no hand in price determination in that market. And in any case when people say that it should Continued on page 27

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BUSINESSWORLD

INTERVIEW

EMEFIELE: EXOGENOUS FACTORS SHOULDN’T BE DETERMINING NIGERIA’S PROSPERITY depreciate, Nigeria has depreciated its currency this year by 28 per cent. That is a whooping depreciation compared to the depreciation in some countries. India has depreciated by nine per cent; from our records; 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 by 33 per cent and Argentina by 35 per cent. I do not understand what and how people who are supposed to know will begin to crave further depreciation of the currency. But we are saying, if even if the currency is overvalued, shouldn’t we go through a step wise process where the shock can be less felt than where those who are supposed to know how this works, begin to create panic in the market by saying that the exchange rate of Nigeria N480 to a dollar. 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 exchange rate in Nigeria, for our currency should be based on a market that is tainted, a market where people go to offer bribes, and you can imagine having any price to buy foreign exchange to pay bribe. We are not going to be party to that and we will continue to say this to anybody who cares to listen. The other question talked about the inflation at 14.3 per cent and what measures are we putting in place? Well you have heard everything that we are doing. But at this time the monetary policy committee felt that there are issues like growth, exchange rate, inflation, because interest rate is somewhat moderated.

But the monetary policy committee felt that we should be looking more at exiting the recession. So what do we do to exit the recession is what was the main focus at the meeting.

And then to address the inflation side, we said it is better for us to look at attacking the inflation from the supply side. Supply side how? Offer low interest rate to people, offer low interest rates to corporates, offer

unanimous decision and we feel Nigerians should please allow us give this a chance and let see how this works.

EmeďŹ ele low interest rates to small businesses to they can go to work, so they can employ people.

By employing people we see improvement in manufacturing and industrial output.

When there is improvement in industrial and manufacturing output, what you will see is

that supply for goods will increase perhaps surpass demand so that prices can come down and ultimately impact positively on inflation.

That is the strategy monetary policy decided unanimously to adopt. It was not my position, it was the position of 10 people and it was a

Now that the country has entered into another recession what is the CBN doing to facilitate early exit from the recession?

All the stories I have been telling in the last 15 minutes are some of the things we are going to do. But we will do more because we are hopeful, in fact we are happy that it has worked and hopeful that as we do more it will impact positively on the lives of our people and our economy can be better.

But let me say this and assure people that what is happening is a global trend, it is a global phenomenon and monetary and fiscal authorities are doing their best. No one would have thought that today price of crude is where it is. Sometime in February and March, price of crude was at $17 per barrel. Today it is at $44, but in spite of that we are developing other strategies that will help us to diversify this economy from depending on oil. And that is why you could see from the numbers, non-oil sector contribution to growth has increased while crude oil contribution has reduced. And that is what we need to continue to do. We need to continue to tell people that Nigeria is the country with the highest population in Africa, a country with the highest GDP in Africa and so we should not be a country that sneezes when price crude price drops. We are not in control of price, we are not in control of quantity; what kind of people are we that we will allow exogenous factors to determine the prosperity of our nation? So, as Nigerians, we must think about diversifying the base of our economy. One way, Nigeria has survived was agriculture before we found oil. We just have to go back to agriculture as well as encourage expansion in manufacturing and industrial output because that, as far as we are concerned, is the way ahead and road for Nigeria.

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Flutterwave Provides Protection to Online Shoppers Dike Onwuamaeze A new policy that offers protection to online shoppers in Nigeria has been launched by Flutterwave, a fintech company.

The new policy would alleviate the fears of online shoppers and boost their confidence and sense of security when using Flutterwave’s payment solutions.

The policy was announced recently by Flutterwave when it launched its Payment Protection Promise (PPP) that, “acts as a money-back guarantee to shoppers when an item or service purchased does not arrive, is faulty, damaged on arrival or does not match the item that was listed.�

The PPP would strengthen the growing online shopping culture in Nigeria and displace the skepticism associated with patronising e-commerce businesses.

The Founder/Chief Executive Officer of Flutterwave, Mr. Olugbenga G.B. Agboola, explained

that, “the goal of the PPP is to ensure that all who shop online and pay with Flutterwave are confident that they could shop safely and get value for their money.�

Agboola said: “We understand that with the rising online shopping culture in Africa, there are bound to be issues of lack of trust in online businesses and we are using this policy to close that gap. “When anyone sees the Flutterwave logo while shopping online, we want them to feel safe and confident knowing that they are covered. This policy is also beneficial to our merchants as it will boost patronage and sales due to increased customer confidence and assurance of value.�

The PPP would permit customers to use the dispute page or support channels via email and live chat on the Flutterwave website and other social media platforms to lodge their complaints.

Companies Urged to Procure Due Diligence Documents Ugo Aliogo The Principal Manager, Adewale and Adewale Co., Mr. Timothy Adewale, has called on companies and other going concerns to procure due diligence documents as part of efforts to address human rights violation.

Adewale, who stated this in Lagos recently, during a stakeholders’ consultative forum on business and human rights organised by the Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC), said businesses’ failure to respect human rights

have led to injuries and serious loss of life.

He also noted that there are a lot of rights violations that are not being addressed in Nigeria, adding that the blame should not be shifted to only business concerns, saying “government also has a duty to protect, while businesses have a duty to respect those rights.� He hinted that if businesses fail to respect people’s rights, it could lead to the death of such businesses too. “It is not enough for me to respect human rights, other top

actors in the supply chain should respect human rights. If I fail to respect human rights, it flows freely to other actors and persons in the supply chain,� he stated.

Adewale expressed displeasure over government’s implementation of laws against right violations; pointing out that there are some human rights agencies that are moribund, and people are not aware that they are in existence.

According to him, “In developed societies, human rights agencies assist citizens in seeking redress for the infringement of

their rights. We have the human rights commission that is trying on its part, but they can do more. “There are a lot of agencies that is supposed to be protecting human rights, they are not functioning. We don’t have implementation at all. “Everyone has a role to play to make sure that businesses respect human rights and that is why we are talking about the need for businesses to have due diligence documents. It is not just businesses alone; society, government and judiciary have a part to play.�

FG Inaugurates 100KWP Solar Hybrid in Ebonyi Community Emma Okonji The federal government has inaugurated a 100KWP solar hybrid mini grid in Eka Awoke community in Ebonyi State, provided by Cloud Energy, an energy solutions provider.

The intervention was done in partnership with the Rural Electrification Agency (REA), designed to address the shortage of electricity in Nigeria.

Prior to the inauguration, the remote community had no electricity serving the people.

Governor of Ebonyi State, Mr. David Umahi, who was represented by the Deputy Governor, Kelechi Igwe, and the Minister of State for Power Mr. Goddy Jedy Agba, including the Managing Director/CEO of REA, Mr. Ahmad Sahilijo Ahamad, were on ground for the commissioning.

Others present were, Member Representing Ikwo LGA, Chinedu Ogar, the Executive Director Rural Electrification Agency Dr. Sanusi Ohiare, Directors of REA; and the traditional ruler of Eka Awoke community in Ikwo Local Government Area of Ebonyi State, Eze Ogalegu.

In his remarks, the Ebonyi State Deputy Governor, described the

Eka Awoke Solar mini-grid as a revolutionary transformation of infrastructure. He thanked the federal government for providing another power plant in the state with an assurance that more would follow. The Deputy Governor said he was proud of the competence displayed by Cloud Energy on the execution of the Eka Awoke 100KWP mini-grid project while urging the youths to take advantage of steady electricity to boost economic development.

In his speech, the minister expressed delight that the Eka Awoke community would begin to experience economic growth and development powered by the 100KWP Solar hybrid mini-power plant. The Managing Director, CEO Rural Electrification Agency, REA, Ahmad Salihijo Ahmad said he was delighted to be commissioning his first mini-grid project since assumption of office. He was more delighted that homes, businesses and the entire community will now have access to clean, safe and sustainable energy. This automatically enhances productivity and provides jobs in the community.

Managing Director of Cloud Energy, Theophilus Nweke, paid tribute to the commitment and professionalism of REA.

Expert Advises South-south Governors to Build Refinery Sylvester Idowu in Warri An oil and gas expert and Chairman of DAS Energy Services, Delta State, Chief Sunny Onuesoke has appealed to Governors in South-south states to build their own refinery.

He noted that since the states have the raw material (crude oil) closer to them, it would be an advantage to venture into the business of oil refinery, saying it would act as source of economic boost to their revenue and an assurance of steady fuel supply in a cheaper price to their people.

Onuesoke, who made the call in a statement recently, pleaded with the Governors to yield to his advice maintaining that the signs on ground and evidence are

bound that if something is not done now the South-south states would be stranded economically in the future when the oil dried up.

He wondered why Dangote and some other individuals could nurse the idea of building refineries, while the south-south governors could not pull their resources together to build at least a single refinery for the benefit of their people. “If Dangote, an individual, can build a refinery, I wonder why the south-south Governors with the huge oil derivation cannot put their resources together and build at least a refinery. If this is done there is an assurance that they have their own oil refinery that will be supplying the people oil products,� he added.

CUSTOMER FORUM

L-R: Group Chief Operation Officer, Flour Mills of Nigeria Plc (FMN), Mr. Boye Olusanya; Group Managing Director/CEO, Mr. Paul Gbededo; Grand Price Awardee, Mr. Nura Makarfi ,and Head, Golden Agri Inputs, FMN, Mr. Olusegun Falade during the presentation of Lexus SUV(grand price) to Makarfi at the Golden Fertilizer Customer Forum held in Lagos..recently abiodun ajala

FCMB Organises Tax Seminar for Businesses, Seeks Synergy among Stakeholders First City Monument Bank (FCMB) has urged business owners in Nigeria to keep pace with current and emerging realities in the corporate environment, especially on taxation, in order to make their respective businesses competitive and enhance overall performance.

In addition, the bank has advised stakeholders to build a more robust relationship that would enable SMEs to effectively understand the country’s tax laws and how it applies to them.

According to a statement, FCMB made the submission at a virtual tax seminar it organised in partnership with the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) recently. The seminar, the third in the series, was under the theme, “Tax and Your Business: An Indepth Discussion.�

It recorded over 500 registered SME participants in attendance.

The seminar provided a platform to equip entrepreneurs with requisite knowledge on taxation by promoting the exchange of ideas between tax regulators

and businesses on existing and emerging tax matters to ensure compliance and avoid sanctions.

Topics discussed at the seminar ranged from, Accessing your Tax Identification Number, Understanding Nigeria’s Business Tax System, Tax Reconciliation Issues: An SME Perspective, Tax Compliance and Business Performance, among others.

Among the experts who spoke at the virtual seminar were the Director, Taxpayer Service Department at the FIRS, Mrs. Saadatu Yero; Acting Director, Special Taxes Department of the Service, Mr. Adamu Kudu; Divisional Head, Transaction Banking, FCMB, Mrs. Rolayo Akhigbe; Group Head, Business Banking, Mr. George Ogbonnaya; Head, SME Digital Innovation, Mr. Dennis Ezaga; Partner, Pedabo Professional Services, Mr. Killian Khanoba and Chief Executive Officer, Square Bee Four Nigeria Limited, Mr. Efe Sodje. In her keynote address, Yero enlightened participants on the importance of obtaining Tax Identification Number (TIN) by

SMEs. According to her, “the TIN helps businesses to make easy payment over different platforms such as remita, e-transact and Paydirect. It is also an important requirement when businesses request for credit note for tax reconciliation, offsetting of tax debt and claim processing.�

The director urged businesses and taxpayers to use the agency’s electronic payment channels, such as the e-filing, TIN e-registration and e-payment of stamp duties etc.

In his contribution, Kudu of the FIRS, spoke on the functions of the agency, particularly its role in tax assessment, collection and accounting as well as digitisation of its operations.

He stated that, “in order for the FIRS to discharge its functions, the taxation process has been redesigned to encourage voluntary compliance. “These include compliance with registration, filing, payment and other civic obligations connected to these duties. Most of the obligations have been automated

not only to induce efficiency in service delivery, but to also reduce compliance burden on taxpayers.�

Also speaking, Akhigbe of FCMB said as an inclusive lender that places a lot of importance on best practices, the Bank considers it imperative to ensure that customers in the SME segment follow due process and compliance in the conduct of their businesses.

She pointed out that, “as the dynamics of taxation continues to change in Nigeria, we recognise that many businesses, especially SMEs, are not equipped with the requisite information and knowledge to discharge their responsibilities in this area appropriately. It is based on this reality that we decided to organise this virtual seminar, which will go a long way towards helping SMEs to understand taxation and the processes involved better. Having built a strong base in the SME segment, we will continue to partner with relevant stakeholders to further build the capacity of businesses in a sustainable manner’’.

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Report Highlights e-Commerce as Key to Unlocking Revenue Emma Okonji A recent report conducted by Visa Consulting and Analytics (VCA), titled ‘Accelerating the Shift to e-Commerce’, has predicted that small businesses are likely to have an immediate advantage in the e-Commerce marketplace, since they have the capacity to provide easy access to information, frictionless payments, a simple returns policy, and personalised shopping options.

The report explained that 81 per cent of customers that were

surveyed, indicated they are willing to pay more for a good customer experience.

While analysing the report, Vice President, Visa West Africa, Kemi Okusanya, said: “Small and Medium-sized Businesses (SMBs) that leverage e-Commerce solutions, which provide excellent online shopping experience for consumers, have the opportunity to benefit from high spend periods like Black Friday and the coming festive season compared to businesses who have not mastered the importance of holistic back-end

design of the customer journey.�

The move to increase online shopping comes on the back of most retailers driving their customers online due to different lockdown restrictions that affected in store foot traffic, Okusanya added.

The Visa’s COVID-19 Impact Tracker released earlier this year showed that up to 68 per cent of consumers were going to grocery stores less often. As the retail sector looks to driving recovery, the approach to periods like Black Friday has also evolved and

further necessitated safer, better online payment experiences. “The impact of a bad payment experience can be devastating.

When a shopper abandons an online shopping cart due to checkout friction, the data shows that 67 per cent end up leaving for a competitor or never complete the purchase anywhere, and 59 per cent say they are less likely to shop with that same retailer again,� Okusanya added.

The report highlighted how the payment experience was a critical touch-point – a part of the

customer journey, which requires special attention. “Each time a potential customer reaches the checkout page, they have a moment to reflect on whether the effort needed to make the payment is equal to the value they get from their purchase. To win prospective and repeat customers, SMBs need to have a digital presence during the discovery and evaluation stages of the customer shopping journey,� the report added. “Digital payments provide a convenient and secure way to pay

for customers. For businesses, they reduce the friction arising from handling money, limit customer queuing, grow their customer base as a result of enhanced experience and eventually improve sales and profitability.

As online shopping becomes the norm for consumers and businesses continue on the road to economic recovery, digital payment and in particular frictionless e-commerce experiences, will become a competitive advantage for small businesses,�

Okusanya said.

FG, TiimAfrica Partner to Boost Businesses King Akan in Abuja TiimAfrica, a venture capitalist firm has introduced ProjectGrow100 grant to aid the expansion of 100 existing businesses across Nigeria.

The grant which is open to young Nigerians between the ages of 25 to 35 years has a benchmark of $5000 and is open to businesses in all sectors of the economy.

Also the major criteria for receiving the grant is that the business must be registered in Nigeria.

This was disclosed at the signing of the ‘ProjectGrow100’ MoU between TiimAfrica and the Ministry of Youth and Sports Development which took place in Abuja, recently.

According to Managing Partner, TiimAfrica, Samuel Ajako, the partnership with the ministry would ensure due diligence as well as that the right recipients are selected.

Ajako, also noted that the grants would be disbursed based on merit and that the firm will work

with the Ministry of Youth and Sports Development to ensure the process is credible. “A link for applying for the grant will be made available immediately after this event.

The first phase will take three months. The screening process will include a pitch day for investors to come and sell their businesses, after which 100 successful applications will be selected,� he said.

The Minister of Youth and Sports Development, Sunday Dare, who was represented by the Director of Legal Services, Ministry of Youth and Sports Development, Mrs. Amaka Odili, enthused about the partnership with TiimAfrica, describing it as a welcome development.

Dare said, “this comes at a time when Nigerian youths need the most investments. We will continue to seek for partnerships with private sector organisations and youth led groups such as TiimAfrica in order to give our teeming youth the best possible opportunities.�

Association of Sustainability Professionals Inaugurated Ugo Aliogo The Association of Sustainability Professionals of Nigeria (ASPN) has been inaugurated.

Speaking during the virtual inauguration with the theme: ‘Professionalising Sustainability for Inclusive Development’ recently, the President, ASPN, Prof. Kenneth Amaeshi, said the ceremony was a milestone moment while commending the tremendous work of the Board of Trustees (BoT) and directorate members.

He stated that the event and the association have been a collective effort by committed and resilient sustainability professionals in Nigeria.

Amaeshi, further explained that the thinking behind the association has been over a decade and it was formalised and concretised in August 2019.

According to him, “The primary purpose of the association is to establish a league of sustainability professionals with expert knowledge in the broad areas of sustainability. “We will support them to be the best they can for their organisations, Nigeria, and Africa by setting standards for Corporate Social Responsibil-

ity (CSR) and sustainability practice. “We will support them in building capacity for sustainability professionals through certification, knowledge sharing and peer learning. “We will promote professionalism. We will facilitate collaboration and partnership among professionals for greater reach and impact.

We will unify the diverse groups of sustainability professionals in the country. “I believe today is an exciting and important day that sets our objectives in motion; a day that marks the beginning of an impactful era. It is hoped that the Association will bring a fresh and innovative approach to sustainability; and we look forward with considerable enthusiasm to working with you all.�

In his keynote address, the Resident Representative in Nigeria, United Nations Development Programme, Mr. Mo Yahya, said theme of the event was timely, stating that development framework tend to focus more on sustainable development, since the adoption of the agenda 2030 for Sustainable Development Goal (SDG).

Firm Supports Entrepreneurs through Community Program Sunday Ehigiator Diatom Impact, an impact focused investment and research organisation has continued to support entrepreneurs through its 1Community (IC) program.

In a signed statement, the Director, ICommunity, David Thames, he said 1Community (1C) is a community of micro, small and medium scale enterprises (MSMEs), “creating a network effect through training, business support, up-skilling, and funding of entrepreneurs resulting in increased commerce, revenue, job creation, pensions, and tax remittance. “Nigerians are well known for their entrepreneurial

drive and passion. According to the World Economic Forum, Africa is increasingly taking its place on the global stage as a continent of growth and opportunity. “Yet a critical challenge remains; particularly the need to create a significant number of jobs for the continent’s booming population, and the need to build a cadre of home-grown business leaders able to access global markets and drive growth in a sustainable and inclusive manner.�

He added: “For this reason, African entrepreneurship is central to Africa’s future prosperity. Creating an enabling environment for businesses to grow and thrive is one of the key drivers of growth

in a country like ours. “Diatom Impact is achieving this objective through its impact vehicle, 1Community. “1C’s 10 years vision regarding entrepreneurship is to invest, train and scale up 1,000,000 micro enterprises into sustainable Small and Medium Scale businesses in Nigeria and Africa. “Each creating four new jobs; resulting in 4,000,000 new jobs created. This vision can only be achieved through collaboration and partnerships; Diatom Impact is keen to ensure that this vision becomes a reality.�

Speaking about Diatom Impact, Thames said the organ was a part of Platform Capital Group.

“It is a research and impact focused organisation focused on five areas critical to economic and social development; health, education, entrepreneurship, gender equality and quality of life.�

Highlighting the work being done by Diatom Impact in the area of entrepreneurship, Chairman, Platform Capital Group, Dr. Akintoye Akindele, noted that “entrepreneurship is key to unlocking the growth potential of the African continent. “With 1C’s approach to business growth and job creation, we will create a massive opportunity for millions of people to support themselves and their family across the continent.�

SON Commences Nationwide Campaign on Quality Products Chris Uba The Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) has commenced a nationwide sensitisation campaign on the need to have only standards and quality products in circulation across the country.

The Director-General of the agency, Farouk Salim who stated this, said the campaign was being executed with the organisation’s relevant stakeholders in various sectors of the nation’s economy, maintaining that the benefits of stocking, selling and patronising quality and standard products could not be over emphasised.

Meanwhile, the agency has declared that the renewed partnership with the Nigerian Police would help to increase its level of enforcement activities in

the country.

Salim, made this known when he paid a courtesy visit to the Commissioner of Police in Enugu State, Ahmad Abdurrahman, in Enugu, recently.

He said the existing cooperation between the agency and the police had lasted for over 50 years, adding that the ``time has come to re-enforce the partnership for the greater benefit of the country in checking sub-standard goods’’. “With the help of the police, collaboration of other government regulatory agencies and other stakeholders; SON will definitely deliver on its mandate to secure all goods sold and consumed in the country. “The police can further help us with enough officers and

men to make our enforcement operations seamless,’’ he said.

He, however, sympathised with the police especially Enugu State Police Command for personnel and working material lost during the hijack of the peaceful #EndSARS protest by hoodlums in the state. “As partners in progress, SON is standing with the Nigerian Police especially this command in this trying period and we will not mind to contribute our little quota to bring succour to families of deceased policemen if called upon to do so,’’ he said.

Responding, Abdurrahman assured SON of cooperation to carry out its mandate of enforcement in the state and rid the state and by extension

the nation of sub-standard products.

According to the commissioner, SON is also security organisation by the virtual of their mandate. “The police will support your work; since the work of SON and police are closely related in that police check human criminality; while SON checks materials or goods criminality. “So, SON is a partner in our quest to reduce all forms of crimes in the country. And once an agency, like SON, is ridiculed; the entire nation will not move forward,’’ he said.

Highlights of the visit were souvenir presented by the commissioner to the director-general of SON and a group photograph of SON top officials and senior ranking police officers.

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Reforming Nigeria’s Tax Incentive Program Introduction Section 29 of the Fiscal Responsibility Act, 2007 requires any proposed tax expenditure to be accompanied by an evaluation of its budgetary and financial implications in the year it becomes effective and the subsequent 3 years. It also requires the need for the tax expenditure to be supported by countervailing measures for the same period.

Unfortunately, the Nigerian Government has never complied with this provision. However, for the first time, the government stated, in the 2021 budget, the tax expenditures incurred in respect to some taxes such as companies income tax, VAT and custom duties. It should be noted that stating just the tax expenditure is not enough, we need information such as the naira cost of the job created by the various tax incentives to enable us to assess the effectiveness and the efficiency of the tax incentives.

International organizations have often called on developing countries to review and reform their tax incentives program because they believe that some of the incentives granted are redundant. This means that investors would likely have made the investment without the incentives. There is also the issue of other considerations that investors assess before making investment. Such considerations

will include political and economic stability, availability of skilled labour, local markets and the transparency of the legal framework.

Nigeria’s incentives package is largely in alignment with international best practices, especially in areas such as inclusion of sunset provisions, transparency and clarity in eligibility criteria.

However, there are issues that the government needs to address to make it more effective and efficient. This is the thrust of this article.

Issues with the Tax Incentives program High Tax Expenditure – Grant of tax incentives may reduce opportunities for the much-needed revenue for public infrastructure such as roads, bridges, mass transit, airports, power supply and hospitals. The simple reason is that anytime tax incentives are provided, there is loss of revenue to government, at least in the short term. However, where the incentive granted is cost-based, like the road infrastructure development and refurbishment tax credit, the benefits may far outweigh the tax expenditure. According to the Honourable Minister of Finance, the tax expenditures for companies income tax, VAT and customs duties are N1.2 trillion, N3.1trillion and N347billion,

respectively. This seems high relative to other comparable countries.

Profit-based Incentives – Though Nigeria applies both the cost-based and profit-based incentives, there is a preponderance of profit-based incentives. While a cost-based incentive reduces the cost of investment, a profit-based incentive reduces the applicable rate of tax. Profit-based incentives will include tax holidays, preferential tax rates and income exemptions. Research has shown that profit-based incentives are more effective in attracting investment and are being used broadly by developed nations.

These countries rely more on investment tax credits and favourable treatment of R&D credits. Consequently, many less-developing countries are moving away from cost-based to profit-based incentive schemes.

Proliferation of tax incentives – Undoubtedly, Nigeria has many incentives that have been driven by the need to compete favourably with other African countries in order to attract investment. Such competition has led to the so-called race to the bottom that has benefited mostly the investors in these countries. The relevant question that still needs to be answered

is whether all these incentives have yielded the desired benefits to the country.

Lack of quality data – The major dilemma that faces every government is always how to strike a balance between creating an attractive tax regime for investment and generating enough revenues for public spending. A related issue is also how to determine whether to continue, reform or stop an incentive scheme. To be able to take informed decisions on these matters, quality data must be available. Unfortunately, this has been the bane of most developing countries, Nigeria inclusive.

There is no adequate data and or analytical tools and skills required to facilitate the analysis. Interestingly, Nigeria Investment Promotion Commission (NIPC) recently removed cement as a pioneer product based on an impact assessment analysis conducted. It would be desirable if such analysis is made publicly available. – Adewale Ajayi (@walesj1967) KPMG in Nigeria

Partner,

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

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IMAGES

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L-R: Old Student, Government College Ughelli, Mr. Alfred Okoigun; the Son of late Prof. JP Clark, Mr. Eleye Clark; and an old Student, Government College Ughelli, MR. Dennis Ayisere during an evening of Tributes for the late Prof. JP Clark, held in Lagos...recently PHOTO: SUNDAY ADIGUN

L-R: Representative of Punuka Nominees Company secretary, Ms. Olubunmi Tadema; Chairman ANAMMCO Ltd, Sir Godwin Okeke; Executive Director Corporate Aairs, Mr. Uche Okeke; Managing Director ANAMMCO Ltd, Mr. Buchi Okeke and Director ANAMMCO Ltd , Mr. Adewale Folowosele during the 44th annual general meeting of the company in Enugu...recently

L-R: Minister of State Petroleum, Mr Timipre Sylva; Chief of Sta to the President, Prof Ibrahim Gambari; Algerian Minister of Foreign Aairs, Mr Sabri Boukadoum and Minister of Foreign Aairs, Mr Georey Onyeama during the visit of the Algerian Minister of Foreign Aairs to the Presidential Villa in Abuja... recently

Speaker, Abia State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Chinedum Enyinnaya Orji(left) and Wife of Abia State governor, Mrs. Nkechi Ikpeazu, at the Valedictory Service held in honour of Late Dr. Solomon Ogunji, immediate past Commissioner for Environment, Abia State, at Michael Okpara Auditorium Umuahia...recently

L-R: Team Lead, AG Mortgage Bank Plc (AGMB) North Region, Mrs. Ugomma Okafor; Managing Director/ CEO, AGMB Plc, Mr. Ngozi Anyogu; MD/CEO, Crown Allied Global Reality Ltd, Dr. Gadewole Amos Kayode, and Executive Director/COO, AGMB, Simon Ogwu at the ‘AGMB’s ‘Meet-And-Greet’ meeting in Abuja...recently PHOTO: KINGSLEY ADEBOYE

Chairman, Nigeria Institute of Public Relations, Lagos Chapter, Mr. Segun McMedal (middle) anked by the Vice Chairman of the Institute, Mrs Eniola Mayowa (left) and Manager, Account Managgement, BDC Communications, Adeolu Isadiran during the LaPRIGA Awards 2020 press brieďŹ ng in Lagos...recently PHOTO: ABIODUN AJALA

L-R: Treasurer, NUJ Lagos, Iyabo Ogunjuyigbe; Vice President, Abiola Becky, Chairman, Ajayi Adeleye; Secretary, Tunde Olalere and the assistant secretary Philip Nwosu; during the swearing in of new executives of Nigeria Union of Journalists, Lagos Chapter after a credible election, held at Lagos Television premises, Agindingbi, Lagos...recentlyy

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L-R: AIG Zone II, Mr Leye Oyebade; Inspector General of Police, Mohammed Adamu; and Commissioner of Police, Oyo State, Mr Nwachukwu Enwonwu, during the visit of the I G to Oyo State Police Command’s Headquarters at Eleyele in Ibadan...recently

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L-R: Representative of the National Security Adviser, Dr. Danisa Levin; Ogun State Commissioner for Health, Dr. Tomi Coker and Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu, during the 6th African Conference on One Health and Biosecurity, held in Lagos...recently

L-R: Deputy Speaker, Bayelsa State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Michael Ogbere, Deputy Governor, Senator Lawrence Ewhrudjakpo, Governor Douye Diri and the Speaker, Rt. Hon. Abraham Ingobere, during presentation of the 2021 Appropriation Bill by Governor Diri to the Assembly in Yenogoa...recently

L-R: Senior Special Assistant to the President on SDGs, Princess Adejoke Orelope-Adefulire; Ekiti State Governor, Dr Kayode Fayemi; his wife and Chairperson GBV Committee, Erelu Bisi Fayemi and Minister for Humanitarian Aairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, Hajiya Sadiya Umar Farouq; during the commissioning of Ekiti State Transit Home for Abused Women and Girls and Skills Development Centre, in Ado-Ekiti‌recently

L-R: Chairperson Victims support fund, Toyosi Akerele; Acting executive director Victims support fund, Mrs. Nana Tanko and president national council of women societies (NCWS), Mrs. Gloria Shoda; during the presentation, of covin19 emergency support programme phase two in Abuja...recently PHOTO: KINGSLEY ADEBOYE

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CITYSTRINGS

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Taking Giant Strides in Agricultural DiversiďŹ cation in Kogi Ibrahim Oyewale writes on the giant strides by Kogi State government in the agricultural sector with a view to promote local food production and massive employment opportunities

Side view of Kogi rice mill

Tractors inaugurated by Kogi State Governor

T

he importance of agriculture in developing countries cannot be overemphasised. Perhaps this was the reason why the present administration under the leadership of President Muhammadu Buhari had since 2015 intensified efforts to revive the ailing sector against the backdrop of food insecurity and paricularly to diversify from hitherto monolithic oil economy to agriculture, which was once a mainstay of Nigeria economy between 1960-1980.

No doubt , Kogi State is an agrarian state with arable land suitable for cash crops, staple crops and subsistence farming, as the case may be. Research has however confirmed that Kogi State is the largest producer of cassava in Nigeria. In addition, the state is richly endowed with both natural and human resources as well as blessed by the confluence of Rivers Niger and Benue in Lokoja, the state capital.

In its agenda to diversify the economy, but also adopt the policy of consuming what is locally produced, the government has not left any stone unturned by creating total rebirth, encouraging both young and old to return to farming, which has been consistently providing necessary inputs to boost agriculture in past four years.

As part of efforts to enhance food security and promote Agriculture in Kogi state, the state Governor, Yahaya Bello recently inaugurated additional 100 tractors and immediately distributed them across the 21 local government areas of the state. He said the incentives were meant for farmers, women and youths, as part of efforts boost food security, create employment and income for the people of the state.

Bello explained that the launching of the tractors was not the first of his administrative commitment to boost agriculture in the state, stressing that such efforts to improve farming in the state commenced in 2017 and 2018 with provision of farming implements to farmers.

The governor added that the government has created cluster value system through Agro Processing Productivity Enhancement and Livelihood Improvement Support APPEALSwhere group of youth and women farmers are provided with implement, incentives and N2million each to engage in farming in their community. “If we must end food insecurity in the state, we must promote and encourage the young, old and empower the youths, women by providing them the necessary materials or tools", he said.

Earlier in his remarks, the Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, Mr. Salami Ozigi Deedat said the commissioning of the tractors was part of the quest of the administration to identify the basic and fundamental factors that will accelerate the socio-economic development of the landscape of the entire Kogi "The distribution of 100 tractors to the 21 local government areas is not only unprecedented in the history of Kogi but a major revolution in the agricultural sector that has the capacity to

Governor Bello during the inauguration of tractors guarantee food security in the state", he said.

While speaking on the recent commissioning of 100 tractors and other farm implements by the Governor of Kogi State, Yahaya Bello, the State Commissioner for Information and Communication, Kingsely Fanwo stressed that it was an instructive action to frontally confront hunger in the state. He pointed out that effect of ravaging COVID-19 pandemic in the country has taught Nigerians new lessons and has foisted on us, a new normal.

According to him , the first line of defense now is to combat hunger that is threatening lives and homes even in a severer form than the pandemic. Fanwo lamented that Nigeria was close to sufficiency in staple crops before the pandemic, noting that today “we are facing a dangerously waging hunger and diseases.

Food prices are rising furiously and impatiently.

"It is time great leaders got down to work.

Enough of grammar and sadistic statistics.

Nigerians need food. Governor Yahaya Bello has again set the pace. He has shown the way.

The brand new tractors will now go to the 21 LGAs and ensure massive production. The state is establishing farm settlements already.

The good days are here. That is the way to go. Thank you GYB for matching words with action. Kogi will continue to provide leadership in the face of seeming gloom across the world.

Kogi under GYB is doing more already�.

It is pertinent to note that Kogi State is one of piloting states in the Federal Government /World Bank agricultural project known as Agro Processing Productivity Enhancement and Livelihood Improvement Support (APPEALS) after successful payment of its counterpart funds to promote, enhance food production and youth employment.

Recently at presentation of Kogi State APPEALS Integrated Farm Settlement project to members of the state executive council by the State Coordinator, Dr Sanni Abdullahi Ozomata, the governor said his administration will give full backing towards the establish-

ment of the Integrated farm Settlements for beneficiaries of the APPEALS- Women and Youth Empowerment Programme, describing the initiative as a model for other states to emulate.

The governor said that due to the impact of the APPEALS project on the Agricultural landscape of the state, the state government will give full support towards the establishment of the Integrated Farm Settlements, adding that the idea will equally be replicated at the community levels in order to improve the livelihoods of more youths in the state.

He stated that the importance of Agriculture as catalyst for economic growth cannot be overemphasised, hence the commitment of his administration to making agriculture receive the desired attention.

In his presentation, Ozomata said the idea of establishing an integrated farm settlements for beneficiaries of the APPEALS-Women and Youth Empowerment programme is to develop a commodity-based cluster formation model with associated business investment plan leading to the economic empowerment and livelihood improvement of the beneficiaries.

He said the farm settlements will be located in the three senatorial districts of the state with 1700 direct beneficiaries and 2000 indirect beneficiaries. He enumerated areas of benefits for the state to include increase in internally generated revenue, job creation, and value addition to the common staple crops in the state among others.

Meanwhile, in line with the determination to make Kogi State a food basket of the nation, this administration also established one of the biggest Rice Mill at Ejiba, Yagba West known as Kogi Confluence Rice Mill. The newly constructed mill at cost of over N4 billion has the capacity to produce 50 tonnes of rice per day. The mill which is located on 800 hectares has maximum capacity and is expected to create over 6,000 direct and indirect jobs.

At completion of this gigantic stride embarked

upon by the Yahaya Bello administration which was commissioned in August, 2019 as part of the activities marking the 28th anniversary of the creation of Kogi State on August 27, 2019, the plant could easily run over 3000 tons of rice per month and over 36,000 tons per year.

This is equivalent to the production of over 720,000 50kg rice bags per year.

Currently, the Industry has 800 hectares nucleus rice farm that feeds the processing plant. While the 800 hectares produce around 3200 tons of paddy rice yearly, the processing plant will consume the 3,200 tons in just a month meaning that expanded rice cultivation is encouraged to meet the feedstock.

The state government also assured people of the state that aside the engagement of Public Private Partnership (PPP) in the sector, the present administration would continue to assist local farmers and youths and women who are willing to earn a living through agriculture.

The potentials of the Rice Mill industry as at today is impressive- the farm is currently generating 300 direct jobs, which comprises farm staff, hunters and equipment operators. The industry can also generate over 5000 indirect jobs through its Out-Growers empowerment programme. Last year, it empowered 150 local farmers through the office of Kogi State Governor. “As a catalyst for direct, indirect and general employment, once the rice mill commences operation, the industry will be employing other hundreds of staff, as its plans to run the plant at the maximum capacity on two-session day and night shift per day. Each shift will produce over 50 tons of finished Confluence Rice. “By establishing the Rice Milling Industry, Governor Yahaya Bello is using one stone to kill two birds; while fighting food insecurity by increasing food production, he is also fighting the scourge of unemployment by creating direct and indirect jobs. This is what the ‘New Direction Government� stands for and Governor Yahaya Bello is steering the ship to the next level of development,� he added.

Investigations however revealed that the Kampe Dam at Omi also in Yagba West Local Government Council had informed the citing of the rice mill at Ejiba for irrigation purposes and dry season farming. “We needed to utilize that dam for the economic prosperity of our people. The dam was commissioned in 1999 and never put to serious use. The target is to cultivate 4000 hectares of rice plantation there to feed the mill. 800 hectares will produce 6,400 tonnes of rice yearly because we will plant during the wet and dry seasons�, he said.

The state government had earlier inaugurated and distributed the agricultural equipment across the 21 local government areas of the state, these include 40 tractors, 40 ridgers , 40 harrows, 40, ploughs and 1500 power tillers.

Others are 10 boom sprayers, 10 combined harvestors and 10 planters, which will be distributed to farmers free except tractors that will be managed by farm instructors in the local government area of the state.

35

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CRIME&SECURITY

SARCs Assisted 15,800 Sexual Assault Victims in Nigeria within a Year, ROLAC Reveals Stories by Mary Ovie

O

ver 15, 800 victims of sexual assaults have been assisted through the 29 Sexual Assault Referral Centres (SARCs) established by the Rule of Law and Anti-Corruption (RoLAC) Programme of the British Council across 17 states of Nigeria.

This is just as the Minister of state For FCT, Dr. Ramatu Tijjani-Aliyu, disclosed that many cases of sexual assault in Nigeria are under reported as survivors are often times reluctant to report, for fear of victim blaming and social stigma.

Aliyu made this known at the launch of Awyetu Sexual Assault Referral Center (SARC) in Bwari, Abuja, as part of the programmes set to commemorate the 2020 ‘I6 Days of Activism to End Violence against Women and Girls’, organised by the British Council under its European Union (EU) funded programmes; RoLAC and the Managing Conflict in Nigeria (MCN).

She said “even when cases are reported most times they are poorly prosecuted due to lack of evidence to prove rape more so there are limited facilities to assist victims with necessary medical assistant, trauma counselling etc. “The medical personnel assigned to this SARC has been trained in forensic medical examination and documentation, and to also provide medical report to police to support the prosecution of rape cases in court.�

Also, Ambassador Clement Botillier, Head of section, Democracy, Governance and Migration section, EU Delegation to Nigeria and ECOWAS stated that sexual crime is widely acknowledged as the most serious crime affecting women and girls in Nigeria, adding that the pandemic created a surge showing a significant increase in sexual gender based violence. “The fight against gender based violence remain one of the priorities of the European Union because we believe this is a thread and that there are challenges that affect so

Dignitaries at the launch of Awyetu Sexual Assault Referral Center (SARC) in Bwari, Abuja, as part of the programmes set to commemorate the 2020 ‘I6 Days of Activism to End Violence against Women and Girls’, organised by the British Council under EU-funded programmes; RoLAC and the Managing Conict in Nigeria many people in the world. “SGBV is creating underdevelopment, negatively affects cohesion, the ability to contribute to society and ultimately prevent society from thriving, because of this the EU have committed significant resources in the fight through technical and financial support to front line defenders,â€? he said.

Speaking, the National Programme Manager of RoLAC, Mr. Danladi Plang, stated the need for Sexual Assault Referral Centers is important as it tries to solve the problem that makes it difficult to prosecute rape perpetrators as it provides immediate emergency medical report, forensic medical examination, confidentiality, privacy and client focused approach.

According to Plang “Between July 2019 and September 2020,SARCs have assisted over

15,800 victims of sexual assault combined, over 70 per cent of whom are under the age of 18. “The success of the SARC initiative have demonstrated the critical role it plays as a hub of network of collaboration among the many institutions and responders that are active in the effort to reduce sexual violence and assist victims.�

Pauline Tallen, Women Affairs Minister, represented by Ebele Obiefuna, Senior Social Welfare Service, stated that the Nigerian Police reported that it received 717 cases of sexual assault between January and 2020.

With this development, she said many strategies have been put in place to help curb the increase of sexual assault.

She stated that “we are engaging constantly

with the police on the need to promptly address issues if rape and GBV, also the governor’s forum declared a state of emergency on rape as a follow-up the wives of the governors with support from the wife of the President, Aisha Buhari, in a bid to address the hydraheaded monster. “The ministry has also launched the national data situation room and data dashboard for ending violence against women and girls in Nigeria.�

In the same vein the Director General NAPTIP Julie Okah Donli reiterated the importance of SARC as it goes along way in the fight against GBV, stating that the agency will not relent in the fight to bring justice to survivors, emphasising the commitment on fighting the menace headlong.

We Must Continue to Support the Police, Says LSSTF Secretary

RRS operatives during the CPR simulation

T

he Executive Secretary, Lagos State Security Trust Fund (LSSTF), Dr. Abdurrazaq Balogun has appealed to Lagosians to continue to support the members of the Nigeria Police in order for the officers to discharge their duties effectively.

Balogun stated this last week at the simulation of bleeding control and cardio – pulmonary resuscitation (CPR) on accident victims by the officers of Rapid Response squad (RRS) held on Governor Road, Alausa, Ikeja.

He noted that the training was part of the quarterly training for officers of RRS for them

The Executive Secretary, Lagos State Security Trust Fund (LSSTF), Dr. Abdurrazaq Balogun

RRS Commander, DCP Tunji Disu

to assist in saving lives on the road during emergencies, adding that the training was to ensure that the officers, as first responders to emergencies in Lagos, know the basic steps to saving lives and that they stabilise victims of emergencies before the arrival of medical teams.

He maintained that “these are the kind of trainings that distinguish RRS officers from their counterparts in the Lagos Police Command. It is important for all us to realise that the police are meant to serve us. Let us on our part support them in whichever way or manner they may require of us�.

Speaking at the event, RRS Commander, Deputy Commissioner of Police, Tunji Disu said 330 officers benefitted from the training on post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), cardio – pulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and

bleeding control.

He noted that the training would serve as added value to what the officers already know, maintaining that the training would be useful to them in their various beats and at home.

He added that policing is about giving service to members of the public and saving life is part of police duties. “They have been told the importance of responding swiftly to emergencies and we are confident that they would do better when next they respond to emergencies.

We have gotten to a stage in the country where we have realised that the police are working for the public and for the police to know that we can’t work alone, there must be constant cooperation between the police and members of the public�.

36

T H I S D AY Ëž ÍąÍŽËœ 2020

BUSINESS/MONEYGUIDE

BDCs Now to Sell Dollars at N392$1 Obinna Chima The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has adjusted the exchange rate Bureau De Change (BDC) operators are to sell the United States dollars to end-users to N392 to a dollar, lower than the N386 to the dollar it was previously.

On the other hand, BDCs are now to purchase the greenback from the CBN at the rate of N390 to a dollar, lower than the N384 to a dollar it was previously.

The CBN stated this in its circular titled: ‘Weekly Exchange Rate for Disbursement of Proceeds of International Money Transfer Service Operators,’ that was signed by its Director, Trade and Exchange Department, Dr.

Ozoemena Nnaji.

Also, it stated that while International Money Transfer Service Operators (IMTSOs) are to sell the greenback to banks at the exchange rate of N388 to a dollar; banks are to sell to CBN at N389 to a dollar; and BDCs are expected According to the circular, the exchange rate for the disbursement of proceeds of IMTOs would be for the period Monday, November 30, 2020, to Friday, December 4, 2020. “Kindly note that the GBP rate should be derived from the USD cross rate on the date of sale,� it stated.

CBN Governor, Mr. Godwin Emefiele, last Tuesday, stressed that the parallel market cannot

be used to determine the true value of the country’s currency.

He emphasised that the value of the naira can only be determined by forces of demand and supply, insisting that the parallel market rate is mainly for illicit activities and for persons using the dollar for bribery.

Describing the black market as tainted, he said it only accounts for five per cent of total foreign exchange market share and can’t determine the worth of the naira.

Reacting to questions from journalists during the MPC meeting that the naira may currently be overvalued according to some analysts, Emefiele expressed disappointment that analysts who ought to know chose to mislead Nigerians.

Coronation Insurance Posts N13.26bn Q3 Premium Ebere Nwoji Coronation Insurance Plc has announced gross written premium of N13.26 billion for the third quarter ended September 30, 2020.

This represents a five per cent growth compared with the September 2019 figure.

The company grew its underwriting profit for the period by nine per cent to N2.7 billion, compared with the N2.5 billion recorded in the previous period in 2019.

Profit before tax witnessed a drop by two per cent to N1.1 billion from the previous year’s figure. Commenting on the result, the Managing Director, Yinka Adekoya, explained that the slight drop in the company’s profit was largely driven by an increase in net claims expenses incurred by the company for the period which stood at N2.4 billion, representing 10 per cent

increase when compared to the N2.2 billion Claims paid in the same period in 2019.

Announcing other performance indices of the company, Adekoya, said “Our total asset went up by 31 per cent for the group, from the December 2019 figure. “Gross Written Premium grew by five per cent to N13.26 billion, compared to same period in 2019. We sustained this consistent growth in premium by the attainment of leadership status on some major accounts and enhanced underwriting capabilities, net claims’ expenses of N2.4 billion was recorded as at September 2020. “The net claims ratio closed at approximately 44 percent as at third quarter 2020, an 11 per cent increase when compared with the 39 per cent net claims ratio recorded in the third quarter of 2019,� Adekoya stated.

She said the group’s total

underwriting profit grew to N2.67 billion as at September 2020, a six per cent year-on-year growth from the N2.45 billion recorded in the preceding period of 2019. According to her, the group closed with a profit before tax of N1.07 billion, representing a year-on- year decline of two per cent.

She said the key drivers of the results were increase in claims and operating expenses for the period.

On the performance of the subsidiaries, Adekoya, said Coronation Life Assurance Limited posted a Gross Written Premium of N2.9 billion, showing 40.9 per cent growth, compared to the N2.7 billion premium it made in the same period in 2019.

She said net claims expense decreased by 38 per cent to N617 million for the period, compared to N778 million recorded in the corresponding period of 2019.

Leadway Pensure Pledges Superior Services Ugo Aliogo Leadway Pensure PFA has reiterated its commitment to excellent service delivery, as well as competitive returns on investments for its Retired Savings Account (RSA) customers.

The firm pointed out that by constantly delivering unique services and innovating processes, it was pushing the frontiers of the pension industry in Nigeria, while also offering comfort to RSA holders. According to a statement, the firm launched an online RSA enrollment portal, which enables users to remotely open RSAs and get their Personal Identification Numbers (PINs) within 10 minutes.

It explained that the swiftness of the process helps to eliminate the bureaucracy of physical enrollment and giving Nigerians

the needed motivation to secure their financial future.

It maintained that RSAs coupled with the Leadway mobile app, interactive SMS, Pensure Online (P-Online) and SureCal (Pensure Calculator), provides accessibility and convenience for customers to have wholesome and seamless pension experiences with the brand.

In his remarks, the Managing Director, Leadway Pensure, Mrs. Ronke Adedeji, said: “Our promise to all existing and potential customers at Leadway Pensure PFA is to give them good experiences across all our channels. “We are not relenting in our quest to find better ways to connect with our customers and give them excellent pension service delivery. This explains why we won the best PFA in customer service back to back.�

She further noted that the firm’s RSA funds outperformed their stipulated benchmark for October, with RSA I returning a 32 per cent annualised return against a 25 per cent benchmark; RSA II returned 25 per cent against a 23 per cent benchmark.

She added that the RSA III returned 20 per cent against a 15 per cent benchmark, and RSA IV returned 18 per cent against a nine per cent benchmark; culminating in an overall high performance of RSA funds across multiple investments in the company.

Continuing she hinted: “The performance is a testament to our consistent efforts to deliver excellent results to our customers. As a company, we work assiduously to never stray from our objective of remaining among the top five Pension Fund Administrators in the country.�

NAMB to Audit MFBs to Deepen Financial Inclusion The National Association of Microfinance Banks (NAMB) is set to conduct a nationwide audit of all licensed microfinance banks (MFBs) in the country.

The move is to help identify MFBs’ operational challenges and provide necessary support to the ailing ones as part of its efforts to sanitise the sector and deepen financial inclusion in the

country.

The National President of the association, Alhaji Yusuf Gyallesu, was quoted to have made the remark in a statement after the inaugural meeting of the new National Executive Council (NEC), comprising the National Working Committee, Zonal and State Chairmen of the association in Abuja. Gyallesu, who restated

the strategic roles of microfinance banks in the nation’s socio-economic development globally, said his team would get all licensed MFBs involved in the activities of the association in order to strengthen the micro-lending institutions and by so doing, restore public confidence in them and make them fulfil their statutory mandate in grassroots development.

L-R: Chibueze Nwangwu of Recare Ltd; General Manager, Operations, Union Bank Nigeria, Theresa Ereme; Finance Manager, Recare Ltd, Kalu Umar and Abass Aderounmu at the CSR Reporters’ Award of Beauty and Cosmetics Company of the year to Recare Ltd in Lagos‌ recently

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

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Money Market Indicators (in Percentage) Month Inter-Bank Call Rate

March 2018 15.16

Minimum Rediscount Rate (MRR) Monetary Policy Rate (MPR)

14.00

Treasury Bill Rate

11.84

Savings Deposit Rate

4.07

1 Month Deposit Rate

8.82

3 Months Deposit Rate

9.72

6 Months Deposit Rate

10.93

12 Months Deposit Rate

10.21

Prime Lending rate

17.35

Maximum Lending Rate

31.55

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OPEC DAILY BASKET PRICE ˜ Ͱʹ Ͱ͎Ͱ͎

The price of OPEC basket of thirteen crudes stood at $46.66 a barrel on Thursday, compared with $46.91 the previous day, according to OPEC Secretariat calculations.

The OPEC Reference Basket of Crudes (ORB) is made up of the following: Saharan Blend (Algeria), Girassol (Angola), Djeno (Congo), ZaďŹ ro (Equatorial Guinea), Rabi Light (Gabon), Iran Heavy (Islamic Republic of Iran), Basra Light (Iraq), Kuwait Export (Kuwait), Es Sider (Libya), Bonny Light (Nigeria), Arab Light (Saudi Arabia), Murban (UAE) and Merey (Venezuela) SOURCE: OPEC headquarters, Vienna

37

T H I S D AY Ëž ÍąÍŽËœ Í°ÍŽÍ°ÍŽ

NSE’s CEO Tasks New Stockbrokers on Professionalism Goddy Egene The Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), Mr. Oscar Onyema, has urged newly qualified stockbrokers to uphold the highest ethical standards in their professional practice.

Onyema, who addressed the 50 authorised dealing clerks during the exchange’s first virtual induction ceremony, hailed the

inductees for their resilience and adaptability to the new learning conditions in spite of the challenges occasioned by the Covid-19 pandemic.

He also advised the stockbrokers to put the interest of the market first, noting the stockbrokers’ robes represents a commitment to uphold the Chattered Institutes of Stockbrokers (CIS) ethical standards and the Exchange’s Rulebook for Dealing

P R I C E S MAIN BOARD

F O R DEALS

Members. “It means a pledge to be a bastion of integrity and impeccable character. It represents a decision to put the interest of the market first. Despite the challenging times, we are able to certify a corps of qualified stockbrokers who are the future leaders of the Nigerian capital market. “We have at this event, successful Dealing Clerks who have passed through the exchange’s

S E C U R I T I E S

MARKET PRICE

QUANTITY TRADED

VALUE TRADED ( N )

Automated Trading System (ATS) training faculty, made up of seasoned Capital Market regulators and operators (SEC, NSE, CSCS, Registrars, ASHON and CIS). “The ATS training is a prerequisite for participating in an oral examination; a rigorous exercise to ensure only suitable candidates secure the required regulatory approval to practice as Authorised Dealing Clerks of

T R A D E D MAIN BOARD

A S

the NSE. “The need to embrace the culture of continuous learning in a fast-paced environment such as the capital market cannot be over-emphasised if we must remain relevant. As the market deepens with the launch of new products, I encourage everyone to seek for better understanding of various aspects of the Capital Market as well as new developments,� Onyema said.

Also speaking, the Chairman,

O F

Association of Securities Dealing Houses of Nigeria (ASHON), Mr. Onyenwechukwu Ezeagu, reiterated the importance of skills and integrity for the newly inducted Stockbrokers. “The consciousness of Perception, Integrity, Adaptation and Discipline in The Stockbroker/Securities Dealer�, Ezeagu affirmed that the financial market had many areas, including the equities, commodities and derivatives market among others.

2 7 / 1 1 / 2 0 2 0 DEALS

MARKET PRICE

QUANTITY TRADED

VALUE TRADED ( N)

38

MONDAY NOVEMBER 30, 2020 •T H I S D AY

MONDAY NOVEMBER 30, 2020 ˾ T H I S D AY

39

INTERNATIONAL

Why COVID-19 is Less Prevalent in Africa Than the US, Says Study A recent study has explained the reason for the lower prevalence of the novel coronavirus disease in sub-Saharan Africa compared to that in the US, Europe, and Asia.

Findings of the study published in the International Journal of Infectious Diseases shows that there is a higher prevalence of cross-reactive antibodies against Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS-CoV-2) in the blood samples collected from sub-Saharan African populations.

“The level of antibodies is probably because of Africans prior exposure to other human coronaviruses,” according to a report on news-medical.net.

According to Premium Times, an antibody is a protective protein produced by the immune system in response to the presence of a foreign substance, called an antigen (such as coronaviruses).

Antibodies recognise and latch onto antigens in order to remove them from the body.

A significantly higher prevalence of coronavirus infections and related deaths has been observed in the United States, Europe, and Asia. This is despite having advanced medical facilities and expertise.

In stark contrast to several predictions suggesting that the pandemic will wreak havoc in the African continent, a much lower COVID-19-related morbidity and mortality rate has been documented in sub-Saharan Africa.

Few months into the outbreak in Nigeria, the World Health Organisation (WHO) warned that nearly a quarter of a billion Africans would have contracted coronavirus by the end of this year, with between 150,000 and 190,000 of them dying.

But as of November 28, the total number of infected cases in the continent stood at 2,163,810, about two per cent of Africa’s one billion population. About

51,000 people have died.

This is still far less compared to the over 16 million cases of coronavirus recorded in Europe where 386,816 fatalities have been recorded from the virus.

With over 13 million cases, the US has the highest number of coronavirus cases in the world, data from Worldometers.info shows.

The scientists analysed 289 plasma samples collected in the pre-COVID-19 era from people living in sub-Saharan

Africa (Tanzania and Zambia) and the U.S. The purpose was to determine possible serological cross-reactivity between different human coronaviruses. They used an immunofluorescence assay to detect the presence of crossreactive antibodies against the spike protein and nucleocapsid protein of SARS-CoV-2, SARSCoV-1, MERS-CoV, HCoV-OC43, HCoV-HKU-1, HCoV-NL63, and HCoV-229E. The scientist also checked the

prevalence of HIV-1 infection in the study cohort to determine whether HIV-1 infection can influence the serological crossreactivity against SARS-CoV-2.

Of all Tanzanian and Zambian samples, about six per cent and 43 per cent tested positive for HIV-1, respectively.

In contrast, all U.S. samples tested negative for HIV-1.

The immunofluorescence assay data showed the presence of immunoglobulin G (IgG)-specific cross-reactive

antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 in pre-COVID samples.

Specifically, cross-reactive anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies were detected in 2.4 per cent, 19 per cent and 14.1 per cent of samples collected from the US, Tanzania, and Zambia, respectively.

This indicates that people living in sub-Saharan Africa are more likely to have anti-SARSCoV- 2 c ro s s - re a c t i v i t y than those living in the USA.

Supreme Court Reviews Trump’s Plan to Exclude Undocumented Immigrants from 2020 Census In what could be one of his most politically significant final acts as president, Donald Trump plans to exclude millions of undocumented immigrants from the official 2020 Census figures used to allocate political power and billions of dollars in federal funds.

But first, the U.S. Supreme Court has to sign off.

The justices on Monday will hear oral arguments over Trump’s effort -- already twice rejected by lower federal courts -- that would break from more than a century of precedent in determining apportionment of the 435 congressional districts across all 50 states.

If successful, it would boost the influence of predominantly conservative, Republican states and rural communities while drawing resources away from more liberal, Democratic states

and urban areas.

The Constitution requires an “actual enumeration” be performed every 10 years to account for changes in population and that decennial redistricting be based on “the whole number of persons in each state,” regardless of citizenship or immigration status.

Since taking office, Trump has sought to minimize the influence of non-citizens in American politics by sidelining them from the count.

After the Supreme Court in 2019 blocked his attempt to add an explicit citizenship question to the census form, Trump directed the Census Bureau to rely on existing government data to derive a total of undocumented immigrants in each state -- and then subtract that figure from the overall sum.

45 Migrants Rescued After Improvised Boat Found in Trouble Forty-five migrants “including a pregnant woman and children” were rescued on Saturday in the English Channel after their improvised boat found itself “in trouble” off Dunkirk, French authorities said.

Several of the people “appeared to be in a state of hypothermia” after being brought aboard a patrol ship, the French prefecture in charge of the Channel and North-Sea said in a statement.

First responders and border police took charge of the migrants, who were “all safe and sound” when they were put ashore in Calais in the early evening, it added.

Calm weather this weekend prompted fears among French sea rescuers that larger numbers than usual would attempt the crossing to Britain, a source close

to emergency services told AFP. With busy traffic and powerful winds and currents, the Channel crossing can prove extremely dangerous for small boats despite the apparent short distance between Calais and British port Dover.

In late October, four people died and three were reported missing, devastating an IranianKurdish family in the deadliest single incident for migrants attempting to cross the Channel.

Increasing numbers of people have attempted the sea crossing from France to Britain since 2018.

On Saturday, the two countries signed a deal aimed at shutting down the route, which calls for French patrols to be doubled and for radar and drones to be used to spot migrant boats earlier.

WELCOME TO EDO STATE...

L-R: Austrian Commercial Counsellor to Nigeria, Mr. Guido Stock; Edo State Governor, M. Godwin Obaseki and Edo State Deputy Governor, Hon. Philip Shaibu, during a courtesy visit by the Commercial Counsellor, to Government House, Benin City ... weekend

Fishing Rights Top Agenda as Brexit Talks Continue Last-ditch Brexit trade talks continued in London on Sunday with fishing rights remaining an “outstanding major bone of contention,” according to British foreign minister Dominic Raab.

European Union chief negotiator Michel Barnier told reporters that “work continues, even on a Sunday,” as he arrived for the second day of talks.

Barnier had arrived in London on Friday following a spell in self-isolation after a member of

his team contracted coronavirus and ahead of the resumption of talks with British counterpart David Frost on Saturday.

Both men warned that a deal could not be reached without major concessions from the other party.

There are only five weeks to go until the end of the current transition period, during which trade relations have remained largely unchanged.

The two key sticking points remain post-Brexit access to British fishing waters for European vessels

and the EU’s demand for trade penalties if either side diverges from common standards or state aid regulations rules.

Raab told Sky’s Sophy Ridge On Sunday that this could be the final week of “substantive” talks, with time running out to agree and ratify a deal.

“There’s a deal to be done,” he said.

“On fishing there’s a point of principle: as we leave the EU we’re going to be an independent…

coastal state and we’ve got to be able to control our waters,” he added.

Barnier told envoys last week that London was asking that European access to UK waters be cut by 80 percent, while the EU was willing to accept 15 to 18 percent, according to a Brussels source.

ABritish official called the demands “risible”, according to the domestic Press Association, adding that the “EU side know full well that we would never accept this.”

Ghanaians to Elect President in ‘Battle of Two Giants’ West African gold producer, Ghana, is preparing to elect a president on Dec. 7, in a race dubbed the “battle of two giants.”

Incumbent Nana Addo Akufo-Addo of the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) will face former president John Dramani Mahama, leader of the National Democratic Congress (NDC).

It is the third time Akufo-Addo and Mahama will compete

against each other for the highest office, with each previously having won one poll – AkufoAddo in 2016 and Mahama in 2012.

Although 12 candidates are vying for the presidency, including two women, only Akufo-Addo and Mahama are said to have a chance of coming out victorious.

The electoral campaign has

been dominated by Ghana’s economy, infrastructure development, education, corruption, and debt relief.

Akufo-Addo, 76, has been touting economic growth during his current four-year term in office as well as the streamlining of government services and implementation of free schooling for senior high school pupils.

Mahama, 62, has meanwhile stressed the many infrastructure projects, including roads, bridges, schools and hospitals, he realised during his presidency, promising do invest more in this area if re-elected.

Political analysts of the University of Ghana in the capital, Accra, predict a slim win for Akufo-Addo in the December elections.

Republicans Suffer Another Legal Blow as Pennsylvania Supreme Court Strikes out Suit

Pennsylvania’s highest court dismissed a lawsuit on Saturday from U.S. Rep. Mike Kelly (R-Pa.) and other Republicans who’d sought to challenge the legitimacy of the approximately 2.6 million mail-in ballots cast in the state during the November general election.

In a unanimous decision, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court threw out a lower court’s order issued by Commonwealth Court Judge Patricia McCullough on Wednesday in response to the suit that had temporarily halted the certification of remaining contests

in the state.

The state Supreme Court said Kelly and the other Republican plaintiffs were much too late in filing their lawsuit, which had argued that Pennsylvania’s voteby-mail statute, signed into law in 2019, was unconstitutional.

Kelly — a vocal ally of President Donald Trump — and the other plaintiffs had sought to either toss out all mail-in ballots from the general election or to invalidate the election results entirely and order the state’s Republican-controlled Legislature to choose Pennsylvania’s

presidential electors.

The state Supreme Court, however, scoffed at the idea.

“It is beyond cavil that Petitioners failed to act with due diligence in presenting the instant claim,” the court wrote in its opinion, using a term that means petty or unnecessary.

Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro (D) celebrated the ruling as “another win for democracy.”

As the Philadelphia Inquirer noted, the court’s ruling marks the end to the many lawsuits filed by the Trump campaign

and its allies to challenge Pennsylvania’s election results.

About a dozen legal challenges were filed, the paper said, and the Trump campaign lost all except one.

President-elect Joe Biden won Pennsylvania by more than 81,000 votes a result certified by Gov. Tom Wolf (D) on Tuesday.

A day later, Wolf appealed McCullough’s lower court decision to the state Supreme Court, saying there was no “conceivable justification” to stymying the certification of Pennsylvania’s vote.

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MONDAY NOVEMBER 30, 2020 ˾ T H I S D AY

NEWSXTRA

NAMA, Pensioners Bicker over Alleged Diversion of N1.5bn Pension Fund Chinedu Eze Pensioners under the auspices of Airspace Management Pensioners Association of Nigeria (AMPAN) and the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA) yesterday engaged in war of words over allegation of diversion of about N1.5 billion pension fund levelled against the agency by the pensioners.

The pensioners alleged that the diverted fund was due to gradual “illegal” withdrawal

by NAMA since 2003 But the NAMA has denied the allegation and had insisted that it responded to all the requests made by the pensioners’ association.

The chairman of AMPAN, which is an affiliate of the Federal Parastatals and Private

Sector Pensioners Association of Nigeria (FEPPAN), Mr. Kester Omotayo told journalists in Lagos yesterday that the diversion of the funds, which have been variously confirmed was an indication that pensioners were being shortchanged by the agency.

According to him, the underpayment of the pensioners had lingered for over 10 years and attributed the act to either due to ignorance, inefficiency or corruption in the system.

Omotayo explained that the underpayment of the pensioners started with the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) returnee pensioners to NAMA in 2005, stressing that the pension increase effective from 2003 was unimplemented by the

agency.

He explained that the Human Resources Department of NAMA had been duly notified of the issue, adding that it declined to address the imbalance in the system.

He alleged that the department took offence and decided to delay actions on its several submissions on the issue since 2017.

Omotayo also accused the agency of operating two pension structures, to deliberately cover up or attempt to cover some sharp practices in the pension division of the Human Resources Department, stressing that the association had made requests to look

into the books of NAMA as it concerns pension but it was allegedly snubbed.

“The pension indebtedness has accumulated to over N1 billion. We have submitted a foolproof tabulated analysis to NAMA management for well over a year, but, as usual, there was no positive action taken.

Our request for dialogue on the issue has also been rebuffed.

“It is not unlikely that NAMA operates on two pension structures, may be to deliberately cover or attempt to cover some sharp practices in the pension division of the Human Resources Department.

This we suspect when in 2017, we requested them for

the structure with which our pensions were being paid,” Omotayo said.

Another retiree of NAMA and former Secretary General of the National Union of Air Transport Employees (NUATE) Olayinka Abioye, confirmed the Chairman of AMPAM’s Allegation.

According to Abioye, investigation carried out by the pensioners indicated that they are being short paid by the management to the tune N1.5 billion since 2003.

In responding to the allegation, NAMA in a statement signed by the Chief Public Affairs Officer, Mr. Steve Onabe said, “The attention of Nigerian Airspace Management

Agency (NAMA) has been drawn to unsubstantiated claims by some officials of Airspace Management Pensioners Association of Nigeria (AMPAN) to the effect that the agency has been shortchanging its members in their monthly pension payment.

“The agency makes bold to say that the above allegations are completely spurious and borne out of either malice, ignorance or both. We make bold therefore to say that the agency runs on a transparent platform with zero tolerance for corruption, even as it is poised to protect and promote the interests of its senior citizens at all times.”

Viral Video: Police Arrest Suspected Drunk Inspector in Abuja The Nigeria Police Force has announced the arrest of one of its officers whose rifle was reportedly seized by residents who suspected that the policeman was drunk.

Police Public Relations Officer of the Federal Capital Territory Police Command, Yusuf Mariam, made this known in a statement issued yesterday.

The statement was titled: ‘Police arrest drunk policeman’ in trending video, subject him to psychological and medical evaluation’.

In a viral video seen on Saturday, residents were seen pouring water on the police officer, who sat by the roadside.

A voice was heard in the video saying that the incident happened at Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) junction about 4 pm.

Giving an update yesterday, Mariam said, “Following the viral video of the ‘Drunk Policeman’

at CBN Junction, the FCT Police Command has identified, arrested, and taken into custody the Police Inspector shown in the video.

“Furthermore, the Commissioner of Police CP. Bala Ciroma has ordered that the Police officer be subjected to psychological and medical evaluation, preparatory to the commencement of disciplinary actions against him.

“In view of the above, the Commissioner of Police wishes to unequivocally state that the behaviour portrayed by the Policeman in the video does not depict the standard discipline of the Nigeria Police Force.

“While urging residents to remain calm, the Command wishes to reiterate its unflinching commitment to the protection of lives and property in the Federal Capital Territory.”

105 Tested Postive to HIV During COVID-19 Lockdown in Ogun, Says Govt No fewer than 105 persons have tested positive to HIV in Ogun State during the COVID-19 lockdown.

The Commissioner for Health in Ogun State, Dr. Tomi Coker, said this at a press briefing to mark the 2020 World AIDS Day with the theme “United to end AIDS in the midst of COVID – 19”.

Coker said statistics show that 20,827 people are living with HIV in the state.

According to Coker, with the figure, the state has the highest prevalence of the virus among South-west states.

The commissioner, represented by the Permanent Secretary, Hospital Management Board, Dr. Nafiu Aigoro, said the 20,827 patients have been placed on Antiretroviral Treatment to keep the HIV under control.

She explained that Ogun State has a prevalence rate of 1.6 per cent.

She noted that “during the

COVID-19 pandemic lockdown, 49,211 persons have been counselled, tested and given results out of which 105 were tested positive.”

“The first case of HIV and AIDS in Ogun State was reported in 1990. In 1999, when the first HIV/ AIDS zero-prevalence sentinel survey was carried out the prevalence rate was 2.5 percent.

“In 2001, it rose to 3.5 percent and recorded a drop in 2003 to 1.5 percent and a rise again to 3.6 percent in 2005. In 2008, it dropped to 1.7 percent in 2010, it was 3.1 percent, in 2012 (NARHS) the prevalence was 2.9 percent.

“Ogun State presently has a prevalence rate of 1.6 percent (NAIIS 2018). This is noted to be above the national prevalence (1.4percent) and is also the highest in the Southwest.

“Ogun state currently has 20,827 persons are currently on ART,” she said.

TO WHOM HONOUR IS DUE…

L-R: Enugu State Governor, Mr. Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi; former President of the Senate, Senator Ken Nnamani; and the National President, Nkanu Youth Assembly, Hon. Edeani Edeani, when the governor was presented with an Award of Excellence by the association, in recognition of his excellent leadership and inclusion of youths in governance, in Enugu… yesterday.

N40bn Earned Allowances: Varsity Workers Insist on Fair Sharing Formula Workers in the universities have urged the federal government to ensure the fair sharing of the N40billion Earned Academic Allowances (EAA) to be released to all unions in the university system.

The workers threatened that the federal government would have to deal with another round of strike if the funds were not fairly shared among the unions in the universities.

The federal government had on Friday in a meeting with the leadership of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), raised the EAA to N40 billion to be shared by the four unions in the

universities - Senior Staff Association of Nigeria Universities (SSANU); Non- Academic Staff Union of Educational and Associated Institutions (NASU), and the National Association of Academic Technologists (NAAT) SSANU urged the federal government to ensure that the money passed through the University Councils, which have the template of sharing formula.

It also cautions the government against any group or union that would present any payment platform apart from the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information

System (IPPIS) which it claimed is the one recognised by government to curb corruption within the system.

ASUU has presented the University Transparency and Accountability Solution (UTAS) as an alternative payment platform to the federal government for its members.

President of SSANU, Comrade Mohammed Ibrahim, in a statement issued yesterday, said his union would resist the introduction of any payment platform aside IPPIS or the one being conceived by the Joint Action Committee (JAC) of SSANU and NASU.

He said government had no business in sharing money to unions as universities were established through statute of law and each university has a Governing Council, which is the employer of all workers and the highest policy making body of each university.

He said the university administration through the registry and bursary units have the responsibility of knowing who should earn what and advised government to channel whatever amount they are giving properly through the councils.

SERAP Seeks Probe of False Post on Information Ministry’s Twitter Handle Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has asked the Minister of Information and Culture, Mr. Lai Mohammed to probe false post on the Ministry’s official twitter handle of court proceedings in a suit against him and the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC).

SERAP, in the suit is praying the court to declare arbitrary, illegal, and unconstitutional the N9million fines imposed on Channels TV, AIT and ARISE NEWS Channel over their coverage of the #EndSARS protests, and to stop the NBC from collecting the money.

According to SERAP, the Ministry of Information and

Culture had after the court hearing last Friday posted on its Twitter handle a story falsely claiming that the suit had been dismissed.

But contrary to the report, the suit, which came up for hearing at the Federal High Court 10 in Abuja, was adjourned to Wednesday, March 10, 2021 for the hearing of SERAP’s originating summons and the preliminary objections filed by the NBC and its DirectorGeneral.

In a statement issued yesterday by SERAP’s deputy director, Mr. Kolawole Oluwadare, the organisation said: “While there is a legitimate

public interest in informing the public about court proceedings, any such reporting ought to accurately reflect the proceedings.

The organisation said it is “deeply disappointing that the ministry, which is yet to file any court process in response to the suit, posted and promoted on its Twitter handle a story claiming that the suit against it and the NBC had been struck out.”

SERAP said: “The posting on the Ministry’s Twitter handle threatens to impede or prejudice the outcome of this case.

“For the sake of a fair administration of justice, the rule of law, and consistency, we urge

Mr. Lai Mohammed to promptly and thoroughly probe the false posting, and ensure that the story is immediately removed from the ministry’s Twitter handle and its other platforms.”

SERAP insisted that freedom of expression and media freedom are a prerequisite to any serious fight against corruption and impunity.

“We will continue to fight to protect these fundamental freedoms. Cases are won in court, and not on social media. “We will see the NBC and Mr Lai Mohammed in court in March 2021, equipped with the Nigerian Constitution 1999 [as amended] and international human rights law.”

MONDAY NOVEMBER 30, 2020 ˾ T H I S D AY

41

NEWSEXTRA

Afe Babalola Blames Insecurity for Lack of Quality Education Victor OgunjeinEkiti Founder of Afe Babalola University, Ado-Ekiti, and Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Chief Afe Babalola, has blamed the growing insecurity and socio-politico-economic problems in Nigeria on lack of functional and quality education at the different levels in the country.

He argued that “without quality education, a country is doomed.”

The legal icon also called on parents and well-to-do Nigerians to invest in quality education in the country, adding that, “I realise

better than most that education is power. I also know that education can change individuals, societies, nations and indeed the whole world.”

ABUADDeputyDirector,Corporate Affairs, Mr. Tunde Olofintila, stated this in a statement issued yesterday and titled ‘Afe Babalola wins 2020 African Lifetime Achievers Award,’ made available in Ado Ekiti.

The statement revealed that the elder statesman spoke in reaction to the award for deservingAfricans who had made significant contributions to community development, leadership, entrepreneurship, agriculture and

education.

Olofintila stated that the Chairperson of the African Achievers Awards and Former Civil Mayor of the London Borough of Hackney, United Kingdom, Susan FajanaThomas, said the award, slated for December 5, was in view of Babalola’s “contributions to theAfrican educational and agricultural sectors.”

TheABUAD founder thanked the organisers of the African Achievers Awards for the beautiful things said about him, which he acknowledged as “a call to more duty, a catalyst that will propel, inspire and encourage him to want to do more for the African continent”.

Babalola said, “If the country

(Nigeria) has a quality education and functional education, it will not be going through the various crises of insecurity, spiral unemployment, kidnapping, robbery, gross underdevelopment, and unpaid salaries and other emoluments it is currently experiencing”.

The ABUAD founder lauded the

“selfless and committed teachers” who imparted quality and functional education in him in Emmanuel Primary School, Ado-Ekiti, the only formal/classroom education the legal icon ever had, saying it was the quality education he had in the beginning that shaped his life to become what he had become in life

Residents Beat Suspected Kidnapper to Death in Ekiti PDP berates Fayemi over insecurity

Victor Ogunje in Ado Ekiti

A middle-aged man accused of attempting to kidnap a boy was last Saturday beaten to death by residents of Omuo Ekiti, headquarters of Ekiti East Local Government Area of Ekiti State.

The incident occurred at Iludofin area of Omuo Ekiti, where the deceased allegedly attempted to kidnap a seven-year-old boy, and was apprehended by angry youths.

An eyewitness revealed that the incident occurred around 2.30p.m. when the pupils were returning from schools.

The source disclosed that a man, who sighted the now-deceased suspect, had raised the alarm as he grabbed the boy and was forcefully dragging him into the surrounding bush.

The residents were said to have trooped out en masse and pounced on the suspect, and beat him until he relapsed into coma.

“The suspect was trailing the boy home from school. When he realised that he had reached a bushy footpath, he pounced on him and started dragging him into the bush.

“It was a man who was looking from afar that raised the alarm, and the people caught him (the suspect) in the act and beat him to stupor.

“It was later that the police arrived at the scene and took him to the station with the aim of taking him to the hospital for treatment,” he said.

While confirming the incident, the state Police Public Relations Officer, ASP Sunday Abutu, said the man died immediately he got to the police station.

Abutu said it was one of the Chiefs at Iludofin quarters that reported the case to the police, which he said they acted upon promptly.

“When we got the information, the police rushed to the scene of the incident, but the man had already gone into coma by then.

“The mob action was very intense, but the police tried and rescued him, and the intention was to firstly take him to the station for cover before rushing him to the hospital for medical attention. Unfortunately, he died in the station as a result of the beating,” he stated.

P&ID: Irishman Involved in €8bn Nigerian Court Battle Caught up in Alleged Arms Deal Emmanuel Addeh in Abuja with agency report One of the founders of Process and Industrial Developments (P&ID), an Irish-owned company in a $10 billion legal battle with Nigeria in the British courts, Mr. Brendan Cahill, has been caught up in an alleged illegal arms deal that led to a jail sentence for a business associate.

UK-based online newspaper, the Independent, reported that Gary Hyde, a weapons dealer, was sentenced to seven years’ imprisonment over his role in the deal.

The arms sale, valued at £6.2million (€6.9million) from China to Nigeria, involved 40,000 AK-47 assault rifles, 30,000 rifles, 10,000 pistols and 32 million rounds of ammunition.

Cahill, who co-founded P&ID alongside fellow Irishman, Mr. Michael Quinn, was reported to be acting for the Nigerian purchaser in the transaction, but was not accused of any unlawful action in the transaction and faced no charges.

The paper reported that Hyde arranged the sales via offshore companies without a UK arms export licence. The court case, which happened in 2012, heard it was likely he did not apply for one as he thought he wouldn’t receive it.

Hyde claimed he conducted the business away from the UK., although the news medium reported that phone records showed he had been in the UK during critical parts of the contract.

In June 2013 he was ordered by the court to repay the profit he had made from the deal, £782,142 (€870,000), or have another four years added to his sentence.

The Independent also reported this month that Priti Patel, home secretary in the UK government, had supported P&ID on three occasions regarding its case with Nigeria before she was appointed home secretary.

Patel first supported P&ID in a November 2018 article for the UK newspaper City A.M, writing that Nigeria “must honour its obligations to companies like P&ID”.

HEALTH ON THEIR MINDS…

L-R: Owa Ajero of Ijero Kingdom, Oba Joseph Adebayo Adewole; Ojurin of Ijurin Ekiti, Oba Joachim Adeyemi; Chairman, Ekiti State Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) Implementation Committee, Hon. Biodun Omoloye; Senior Special Assistant to the President on SDGs, Princess Adejoke Orelope-Adefulire; and Head, Conditional Grants Scheme (CGS), Mrs Olufunlola Modupe-Olaopa, during the inauguration of Primary Health Care Centre in Ijurin, Ijero Local Government Area of Ekiti State…recently

Senate: N3bn Needed to Resuscitate Ajaokuta Steel Rolling Mill Deji Elumoye in Abuja The Senate at the weekend revealed that the total sum of N3 billion would be required to resuscitate the Ajaokuta steel rolling mill which has been under construction since 1980.

The Chairman of the Senate Committee on Solid Minerals, Mines and Steel Development, Senator Tanko Al-Makura, said the multi-billion dollar project may remain a dream if N3 billion is not provided for the reactivation of the 21 plants next year.

This is just as he lamented that workers of the complex working in the Mining Cadastral Office will not be getting their monthly salaries from January 2021 as World Bank responsible for that had already informed the country that it’s pulling out of the gesture from next year.

Al-Makura, who spoke to journalists at the weekend, expressed concern that the N3

billion required to facilitate the engagement of experts from Russia for the reactivation of the 21 plants in the Iron and Steel Complex, is not included in the 2021 budget earmarked for the Ministry of Mines, Steel and Solid Minerals.

He said he had made presentation to that effect last Thursday to the Senate Committee on Appropriation during presentation of the 2021 budget estimates of the ministry to the committee.

According to him, the remarks made by the Appropriation Committee headed by Senator Jibrin Barau for the provision of the money in the final report on the 2021 budget, was not assuring enough.

The senator said: “Nigeria has spent a lot on the Ajaokuta project than to allow just N3billion to make her decade-old efforts a mirage. Resuscitation of the Ajaokuta is key to the industrialisation and

development of the country.

The Mines, Steel and Solid Minerals Ministry appealed to us during budget defence to effect appropriation for the N3 billion.

“Since we cannot on our own as joint Committees on Mines, Steel and Solid Minerals increase the enveloped budget presented to us by the ministry, we pushed the appeal to the Appropriation Committee for the required appropriation. The N3billion is very necessary to be provided for in saving the iron and steel project from total comatose,” he said.

Al-Makura said the completion of the Ajaokuta Iron and Steel Project would serve as required catalyst for the diversification of the country’s economy which is one of the key policies of President Muhamnadu Buhari-led government.

On workers who may not be collecting their salaries from

January, the former governor of Nasarawa State explained that they are contract staff working at the Mining Cadastral Office of the Complex and whose monthly salaries have been footed in the past years from interventions from the world Bank, which had notified the country that it would stop the gesture after December this year.

When contacted on the phone yesterday evening as to whether the N3 billion would be appropriated as additional fund for the Iron and Steel Company, Senator Barau was evasive.

He said although diversification of the country’s economy is a necessity at this time, paucity of funds remains the stumbling block in acceding to such demands since the N13.08 trillion 2021 budget was projected on expected revenues and not monies already kept somewhere.

House Member Denies Alleged Plot to Cause Crisis in Delta Wants IG to investigate allegation Deji Elumoye in Abuja The lawmaker representing Isoko federal constituency of Delta State in the House of Representatives, Hon. Leo Ogor, has debunked claims that he procured the arms that were used in the conflict between two communities in his constituency.

He has, therefore, called on the Inspector General of Police (IG), Mohammed Adamu, to thoroughly investigate the allegation against him by a traditional ruler in Delta State.

Reacting to allegations made by the clan head of Oleh community, the headquarters of Isoko South Local Government Area, that he armed the people of Ozoro, the

former House Majority Leader described the allegations as not only false but baseless.

Speaking to journalists in Abuja, Ogor averred that it would be ridiculous for him to arm a community in his constituency against another community since all the peoples that make up his federal constituency are his constituents.

He accused the traditional ruler of Oleh, who made the allegation against him, of ill-motives to drag his name into the crisis that he knows nothing about, and challenged him to prove his allegations by showing whatever link he has as the protagonists of the Ozoro-Oleh crisis

or role he played in the communal crisis.

The lawmaker appealed to the IG and the state commissioner of police to wade into the matter by investigating the allegations made by the Oleh traditional ruler, including looking into the communal crisis with a view to bringing the perpetrators of violence to justice.

According to him, “I represent the Isoko people; they are all my constituents. I want to call on the IG and the Delta State Police Commissioner, for in the interest of peace, to come into the matter and bring it to a logical end. The culprits must be arrested and brought to book.

I am absolutely disgusted with

the allegations made by the Oleh clan head that l bought arms for anyone to kill the people of my constituency. “l am disturbed by the killings. We need to do everything possible to restore peace and end the crisis.

It’s abnormal for the Oleh clan head to accuse me of arming one community all because I live in Ozoro. The matter must be properly investigated. The allegation against me by the Oleh clan head, I believe, is politically motivated. My belief is that nobody has the right to take a life. I sympathise with the families that lost their loved ones during the crisis.”

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Edo NUT Threatens Industrial Action Adibe Emenyonu in Benin-city Edo State chapter of the Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT) has threatened to embark on strike if the state government fails to address the issues of payment of outstanding welfare allowances and conditions of service.

The teachers, in a letter addressed to the state Governor Godwin Obaseki, dated November 23, 2020, and made available to

journalists in Benin-city, said failure by the state government to fulfill their pending demands may likely result to industrial disharmony in the education sector.

The letter, which was signed by the state Chairman and Secretary of the union, Pius Okhueleigbe and Mike Moni Modesty Itua respectively, noted that pending issues of teachers’ welfare and condition of service discussed and decided with Obaseki on July 17,

North East Region Breeding Ground for Drugs Abuse, Says NEDC Daji Sani in Yola The Managing Director of the North East Development Commission (NEDC), Alhaji Mohammed Alkali, has stated that the adverse effects caused by the insurgency in the North-east region on youths have made the region a breeding ground for crimes and drugs abuse.

Alkali disclosed this over the weekend at a youth sensitisation programme organised by Jakadiya Trust Foundation held at the Emir’s palace in Mubi, Adamawa State.

According to him, “The youths in Mubi, like all other youths in the North-east region, have been adversely affected by the insurgency in which schools, businesses and sources of livelihoods have been destroyed and academic disrupted. This has made Mubi and its environs a breeding ground for crimes mostly drug abuse.

The MD of the commission, who was represented by the Head of Education of NEDC, Fatima Ciroma, stated that “that is why we need to enlighten

our youths of the dangers in drugs abuse, and provide them with opportunities to make better lives for themselves.”

He said NEDC wished to encourage the emirate and the Adamawa State government to prioritised youth empowerment for a better society.

“Young people are the backbone of every society, and their participation in all aspects of societal activities is very important. Unfortunately, many of our youths are being deprived of this,” Alkali said.

He said isolating young people intentionally or unintentionally, especially in the rural areas when they are jobless, can contribute to the already mentioned menaces of drugs abuse, illegal and criminal activities, depression, rural/urban migration.

Alkali proposed some mechanisms to make the youths positive contributors to the society, such as conducting entrepreneurship training and capacity buildings in areas in leadership, advocacy, gender awareness, communication and life skills.

Kogi NMA Lauds Mamora on Reopening of Lokoja FMC Ibrahim Oyewale in Lokoja Nigerian Medical Association (NMA), Kogi State chapter, has commended the Minister of State for Health, Senator Mamora Olorunibe, for his relentless effort which it said led to the reopening of the Federal Medical Centre(FMC) in Lokoja, which was shut down six months ago.

The commendation was contained in a statement jointly signed by the state Chairman of NMA, Dr. Oyiguh S.Omakoji, and his Secretary, Dr. Fomotele Tolorunju, a copy of which was made available to journalists in Lokoja yesterday.

The association expressed the gratitude of its members to the minister for his bold steps which it said had allowed voice of reason to prevail, and effect the decision to reopen the health institution.

According to the statement, “We wish to thankfully express the joy of our members to you that the Federal Medical Centre, Lokoja, is finally opened to receive patients.

“We appreciate all your efforts in ensuring a peaceful resolution of the impasse that resulted in the closure of the institution.”

While the NMA noted that the

members of their association in the said tertiary health centre have also expressed their appreciation to the minister for the opportunity given to them to attend promotion interview for this year, it stressed that its members were eagerly waiting for the embargo on shutdown of the facility to be lifted, as they are in high spirit to resume work and offer their services to benefit of the patients.

The NMA, therefore, stated that with such heartwarming, and the unlocking order of the FMC facility by the minister, the members of the association at the Centre “can now begin to offer services that will bring smiles to the faces of patients.”

The workers of the medical institution were seen clearing their premises and dusting off their equipment last Friday in readiness to open the facility to the members of the public as from today.

The federal government-owned medical centre in Lokoja was shut down six months ago when hoodlums suspected to be thugs invaded the facility, vandalised their equipment and carted away some valuables of the hospital.

2020, were yet to be addressed by the state government.

The letter further disclosed, however, that the leadership of the union is seeking an audience with the state governor on December 3 and 4, 2020.

It added that the meeting would go a long way in providing lasting solutions to the issues raised as well as avert the looming industrial action.

They listed the seven-point demands which the state government was yet to address to include non-payment and incomplete payment of 2013 to 2015 promotion arrears of primary school teachers in Oredo,

Orhionmwon and Uhunwonde Local Government Areas, and the non- implementation of the 2016 to 2018 promotion of primary school teachers in payrolls since August 2020.

The NUT explained that the teachers were also allegedly denied their arrears as per promotion while those omitted from the exercise have not been considered.

Other demands are the non-release of 2019 teachers promotions by SUBEB for four months after the state governor’s approval-”the non-payment of Edo-BEST training stipends of 2018 and 2019 to about two thousand teachers who participated in the

programme.

“Non-remittance of the lawfully deducted schools monthly subvention from the account of local government councils to school heads from April 2020 till date, and the delay in the payment of teachers monthly salaries.”

Meanwhile, the Esan NorthEast local Government Area chapter of the union has issued a seven-day ultimatum to the acting Education Secretary, Local Government Education Authority, Mrs. Mary Oseghale, to reverse the deployment and subsequent demotion of one Ikiakhele Agatha, the head

teacher of Efandion Primary School in the locality.

A petition signed by the NUT Chairman of the local government area, Oriere Duba; Secretary, Eyonse Martins, and two others was addressed to the state executive of the union and state chairman of Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB), Benin-city at the weekend.

The union said teachers in the locality would not fail to embark on strike if the acting education secretary of the local government education authority fails to reverse the deployment and demolition of the head teacher.

STRENTHENING COLLABORATION…

L-R: Chairman, Association of Cross River Online Journalists (ACROJ), Mr. Darlington Edem; Chairman of Board ofTrustees, Mr. Agba Jalingo; Vice Chancellor, Arthur Jarvis University (AJU), Prof. Ani Nkang; Chancellor, Mr. Arthur Jarvis Archibong; Registrar, Mrs. Ngozi Ughas; Dean, Faculty of Humanities, Management and Social Sciences, Dr. Ebri Willie; and the Director of Consultancy Service Centre, Ms Knowledge Essang, after an expanded meeting of the management of Arthur Jarvis University and the Institute of Online Journalism (IOJ) in Calabar, Cross River State...recently

We Won’t Allow Public Assets to Rot Away, Kano Replies Kwankwaso Group Ibrahim Shuaibu in Kano The Kano State Government yesterday reacted to the criticism by the Kwankwasiyya Movement faction of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) over the effort of the state to rejuvenate non-performing public assets, which the latter said it would not fold its arms and allow them to rot away.

Rather, the state government said it would revitalise such under-performing assets through Public-Private Partnership (PPP)

agreement with willing investors in the best public interest, and part of a noble futuristic move to make the ancient city catch up with modernity for a befitting mega city status.

The state Commissioner for Information, Malam Muhammad Garba, who stated this in a statement made available to THISDAY in Kano yesterday, said contrary to the erroneous belief, such abandoned and structurally defective property in the state, some of which have been in

comatose, would be turn around by committed stakeholders.

He said Daula Hotel, which had been abandoned for many years, has become a hiding place for criminals, even as the School of Hospitality and Tourism situated within its premises, which only occupies 10 per cent of the structure, would now be developed to a residential building for enhanced revenue generation.

The state government said: “As for the moribund Triumph newspapers, which was

unceremoniously closed down by the Kwankwaso administration in 2012, one quarter of which was converted to a public convenience, was revived by the present administration and now relocated to a more convenient place befitting a newspaper house to pave the way for the development of a more economically viable and modern Bureau de Change market that can generate more revenue to the state and provide employment opportunities to the teeming populace.”

Onuesoke Faults FG’s Plan to Import Petroleum Products from Niger Republic Sylvester Idowu in Warri The Chairman DAS Energy Services, Chief Sunny Onuesoke, has described as embarrassing the federal government plan to import petroleum products from Niger Republic.

Onuesoke, who is also a former Delta State gubernatorial aspirant, said the pronouncement sounded unbelievable “because Nigeria has four refineries while Niger Republic has only one.”

Recall that the Ministry of Petroleum Resources announced recently that it had signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Niger Republic to import petroleum products from the desert country.

Reacting to the announcement while addressing journalists at the Osubi Airport, Onuesoke said it is a shame that “Nigeria would import fuel from a desert Niger Republic because Nigeria cannot maintain its four

refineries,” adding that what the pronouncement meant is that Nigeria could soon import cassava for its Garri consumption.

“What a sad commentary. I watched the Minister of State for Petroleum, Timipre Silva, on television describing it as a good development that Nigeria would soon import petrol from the Niger Republic. This is the true definition of incompetence, cluelessness and mediocrity.

“After five years of the All

Progressives Congress (APC) promise of change, things have gotten from bad to worse.

Nigeria has four refineries but it is not its priority to make them work, but to import from a smaller and poor country. My feeling is that this government is bent on empowering Niger Republic for whatever reason. First it was a railway construction and now importation of fuel,” he lamented.

Kwara Gov Condoles with Borno Govt over Zabarmari Massacre Hammed Shittu in Ilorin Kwara State Governor, Alhaji AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq, yesterday commiserated with his Borno State counterpart, Prof.

Babagana Zulum, and the people of the state over the killing of 43

farmers by Boko Haram terrorists.

A condolence statement issued in Ilorin, which was signed by the governor’s Chief Press Secretary, Mr. Rafiu Ajakaye, said: “Governor AbdulRazaq sends his heartfelt condolences to the government and people of Borno State over

the unfortunate incident, and prays the Almighty Allah to repose the souls of the victims who got killed while lawfully fending for themselves and their families.

“He specifically commiserates with Governor Zulum and the

affected families.”

The Kwara State governor, however, joined the people of goodwill across the world to plead for immediate end to what is clearly mindless killings and maiming of fellow human beings.

MONDAY NOVEMBER 30, 2020 ˾ T H I S D AY

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FG: Nigeria Flared over One TCF of Gas, lost $2bn Revenue Peter Uzoho in Abuja The federal government has said Nigeria has lost over one trillion cubic feet (TCF) of natural gas and $2 billion revenue between 2017 and 2020 as a result of burning gas through flaring by oil companies.

This, the federal government said, is equivalent to 54million barrels of crude oil.

The Chairman of the National Gas Expansion Expansion Programme (NGEP), Dr. Mohammed Ibrahim, stated these at the weekend during the stakeholders’ engagement

Solewant Group Presents New Products for Oil Industry, Others Peter Uzoho Solewant Group, an oil services firm involved in pipe/metals fabrication and coating, has unveiled its new set of products targeted at the international oil companies (IOCs) and the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) companies.

Solewant Group recently celebrated its 20th anniversary as a company and four years of its pipe coating plant situated at Alode, in Eleme Local Government Area of Rivers State.

The new products, services and business model, which were initiated to serve the Nigerian oil and gas industry, were unveiled by the Group Chief Executive Officer of Solewant Group, Mr. Solomon Ewanehi.

Ewanehi expressed happiness with the achievements recorded so far by the group and attributed them to the grace of God. He explained that the services of the company include; line pipe coating, provision of bare pipes, custom coating and cathodic services, emphasising that their services are tailored towards the growth of the oil and gas industry in the country.

The group chief executive officer said Solewant Group was partnering foreign technical partners such as Shawcor Group of the Netherlands, Kema Coatings of Canada, Vallourec of France, and Anhuimeijia Group of China, among others.

He said: “We are in partnership with Vallourec Group of France, for the provision of steel pipes and pipe coating solutions. Vallourec, one of the world’s largest manufacturers and providers of advanced seamless steel pipes, was founded in 1886.

“Vallourec owns Seremax Steel Welding and Fabrication Group Worldwide.

Our partnership with Shawcor Group is strong, the world’s largest provider of advanced pipeline coating systems, with 86 years’ experience. Shawcor Group owns Bredero Price and Socotherm Worldwide.

“We are currently expanding our Canusa heat shrink sleeves coating centre to manufacture made-in- Nigeria Heat Shrink Sleeves products in Nigeria here at our Solewant Industrial Area,” Ewanehi explained.

He said their competences lie on engineering, procurement and construction solutions, adding that their services are beneficial in the area of quality, speed and availability.

He urged the IOCs, EPCs and others to take advantage of the company’s products to better their lot.

Ewanehi further said: “We offer a one stop asset development, Steel fabrication and protection solutions.

“Our facilities are the products of the local content philosophy of the federal government and the new driving principle in the oil and gas sector.

“We intend to prove this as an enabler to value creation for the well-being of our Nigerian and global economy. We see this as a task that must be done through these master class facilities.

“We, therefore, use this Open Day today to once again invite the international oil companies and your partners, project owners and EPCs to take advantage of the unique and cutting edge technology that our facility offers the Nigerian industrial environment.”

Wase Condemns Killing of Borno Farmers Udora Orizu in Abuja The Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon Ahmed Idris Wase, has condemned the killing of 43 rice farmers in Zabarmari village of Borno State by suspected Boko Haram terrorists.

In a statement issued by his Chief Press Secretary, Umar Puma, Wase described the killing as painful and highly regrettable, especially at this period when the country is striving hard to feed itself.

While calling on the security agencies to redouble their efforts in protecting all Nigerian citizens, he also prayed to Allah to grant their

families the fortitude to bear their untimely deaths.

According to him, “I commiserate with the government and people of Borno State over the unfortunate attack on innocent farmers who have heed the call of the federal government for self-sufficiency in rice farming. My deepest condolences are with the families who lost their loved ones in this callous act.

“These senseless killings are painful, condemnable and unpardonable. I pray that the Almighty Allah will accept the souls of all those who lost their lives in these unfortunate incidents.”

meeting with the media ahead of the presidential launch of the programme tomorrow.

Ibrahim said in 2017 alone, Nigeria flared 324 billion cubic feet (BCF) of natural gas, explaining that it meant that such volume of gas was being wasted to flaring annually.

He said: “In 2017, 324billion cubic feet of gas was flared in this country. Which means from 2017 up to this moment, over a trillion has been flared and it is still being flared as we are talking.

“What does that translate to in terms of revenue, in terms opportunities for employment?

One, this 324billion means that every year, we are burning 54million barrels of crude oil equivalent.

“Secondly, it means that what could have triggered between 70 and 85 projects is being burnt, and we are talking about unemployment.

It also means that we could have generated 300,000 jobs times four.

“Let’s focus on the last one year, 1. 2million direct jobs could have been created. And we are complaining that the youth are on the streets.

“In terms of credit value, half a billion dollars - if you

multiply that by four, that’s $2billion”.

Reeling out more of the opportunity cost of the volumes of gas wasted in the period under review, Ibrahim said those gas burnt could have fetched the country about 3,000megawatts of electricity on a yearly basis.

According to him, “That would have been additional 12,000MW of electricity. But those molecules of gas are still being burnt”.

Regretting Nigeria’s unserousness about deepening domestic utilisation of Liquefied Petroleum Gas

(LPG) commonly known as cooking gas, he said the country burns 600,000 metric tonnes of LPG per annum.

Ibrahim added that it meant in four years, Nigeria had burnt and wasted additional 2.4million tonnes of LPG that could have been used profitably and in more value adding manner in the country.

He argued that by flaring such large volumes of cooking gas, it had made the available product scarce and expensive, pointing out that 12.5kg of cooking gas sells for about N3,000.

ONWARD TOGETHER…

Chief of Defence Staff, General Abayomi Olonisakin (left), and the Chief of the Naval Staff Vice Admiral Ibok- Ete Ibas, during the graduation ceremony of Naval Warfare Course 4 in Calabar, Cross River State …weekend.

Shobanjo Tasks NigerianYouth On Entrepreneurship Africa’s advertising czar and chairman of Troyka Holdings, Dr. Biodun Shobanjo, has charged Nigerian youth to embrace a culture of diligence and hard work in order to excel in their professional callings.

He gave the charge in Lagos recently at the public presentation of his biography titled, ‘The Will To Win: The Story of Biodun Shobanjo,’ written by Mr. Dotun Adekanmbi, a journalist and public relations practitioner.

“I just want our young people to believe in themselves because to continue to hope that government would provide employment or solve all their problems is not reality,” he said adding that, “people must learn to take their

fate in their own hands.”

Shobanjo said the story of his life was illustrative of the benefits of starting out early regardless of the obstacles that often tend to derail even the most carefully laid out plans, saying, “my biography written by Dotun Adekanmbi essentially captures where I am coming from and what God has enabled me to prove with what I have done in the management of enterprise over the last 50 years.”

He said he was able to achieve all that was chronicled in the book because, apart from hard work and diligence he was lucky to have interacted with destiny helpers who believed in his dream. In particular, he commended his partner of over 40 years, Mr. Jimi Awosika, whom

he described as the ‘last man standing’ in the league of the co-founders of the enterprise that has grown to become Troyka Holdings, a leading player in corporate Nigeria.

He explained that with proper guidance and support, the young people of Nigeria have a lot to contribute, stressing that, “I believe that young people will find nuggets in The Will To Win: The Story of Biodun Shobanjo that will serve as motivation for them to go out there and do things for themselves; for me, that is the thrust of the whole thing.

People who have worked with me and have equally become successful in their own rights are

proof positive that people can do wonders for themselves.”

The author of the book, Dotun Adekanmbi, said he was motivated to write the book because he found Shobanjo’s personality and professional accomplishments quite intriguing, particularly because he (Shobanjo) evokes diverse passions in players in his industry.

The reviewer of the book and veteran journalist, Mr. Ray Ekpu, commended the author, Dotun Adekanmbi, a former Editor of Business Times for going the extra mile to present a business biography in a lucid and reader-friendly manner.

Ethnic Profiling, Cancer to National Cohesion, Says Kwara Gov Kwara State Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq at the weekend cautioned against ethnic profiling in Nigeria, describing the trend as “a clear and present danger” to corporate existence of the country.

AbdulRazaq in Osogbo at the grand finale of the 2020 Press Week of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Osun State Council, said: “Ethnic profiling is a cancer that is a clear and present danger to the corporate existence of our country. It is a phenomenon that has led to loss of lives and destruction of property worth billions of naira.

“The fact that we speak different tongues or have

different origins is not the problem. Differences are established facts of history.

The problem has been a culture of negative profiling of one another on the basis of ethnicity. This leads to mutual distrust, unnecessary suspicion, hatred, unhealthy rivalry which eventually graduated to ethnic violence as we have seen in various parts of our country.”

The governor, who was the keynote speaker at the event, urged the media to lead the battle against ethnic profiling.

AbdulRazaq was represented at the event by his Chief Press Secretary, Rafiu Ajakaye.

Speaking on the topic: ‘Ethnic profiling and threat to national cohesion’, the governor said

no particular ethnic group has the patent for any specific bad conducts, and urged Nigerians to desist from blaming people’s bad conducts on their origins or religions.

“No tribe is bad. None is created to be bad. What makes a person bad is not their ethnicity. What makes a person bad is a set of antisocial behaviours that hurts everyone, including persons from their own ethnic group.

Every ethnic group has its good, bad, and the ugly. So, what is bad is not the ethnicity of any individual or suspected criminal, it is the anti-social behaviour such persons have exhibited to the detriment of the larger society,” he added.

The governor also urged Nigerians to take up the responsibility of stopping ethnic profiling and promote things that help to strengthen national unity and development of the country.

“As a country, we need to urgently navigate away from seeing whatever happens in this country or action taken by government at any level from the prisms of ethnicity.

It is a dangerous voyage which does no one any good. Rather, it veils us from seeing things from fair and balanced perspective or appreciating whatever benefits derivable from such efforts,” AbdulRazaq said.

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Gunmen Kill University Professor in Makurdi An Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering at the Federal University of Agriculture Makurdi (FUAM) Dr. Karl Kwaghger was Saturday night gruesomely murdered my

gunmen.

He was killed at the popular JS Tarka Foundation in Makurdi by the assailants who attacked him with a hard object on the head and later slit his throat before

Niger Delta Host Communities Blame Renewed Violence on Impersonation of Group Chuks Okocha in Abuja The Niger Delta oil and gasproducing communities, also known as HostCom, has blamed the recent resurgence of violence in the Niger Delta region on the activities of a few “unpatriotic individuals” impersonating the body for selfish gains.

Also, the body warned the public against relating with the individuals on behalf of HostCom, saying in their desperation for relevance, they “have gone to the pages of newspapers to call for fictitious Annual General Meeting (AGM), after which it will hold a conference in the name of the Board of Trustees (BoT) and Executive Committees of host communities.”

At the ‘Oil Host Communities’ press conference held in Abuja yesterday, the National Chairman of HostCom, Chief Benjamin Style Tamanarebi, said the recent spate of violence across the country, especially in the Niger Delta, was becoming too dangerous for silence.

He said: “These people are impersonating and are a threat to the federal government. Their bid to cause breach of peace in the Niger Delta is unacceptable.

“HostCom is one indivisible body, an umbrella body representing all hosts and 50kilometre radius of any project site with registration No. 23281.

For the avoidance of doubt, there is no known organisation by the name HostCon. So, why impersonate and use the name of our duly recognised association for illegality and by extension,

causing insecurity concerns and threatening the federal government in disguise?”

“The wanton destruction of lives and property cannot in any way be equated with atonement for any grievance we may want to address as currently being canvassed by the new militia groups in the region. Rising cases of murder, piracy in the creeks, cult-related killings, kidnappings, gas and oil pipeline explosions and attacks on citizens-both military and civilian-is dishonouring the dignity of the victims, their families with resultant incalculable loss to the country.”

On what could have led to another group springing up to speak for the host communities, the HostCom boss said those behind the development are criminally minded, noting that “the initial leadership tussle in the organisation was laid to rest by the judgement of the Oba of Benin, which was followed by a court judgement that affirmed the leadership and legal BoT with patent rights of High Chief Benjamin Style Tamanarebi.”

The leader of the host communities expressed the readiness of the body to resist any form of intimidation by individuals, no matter how powerful, to use the group to perpetuate criminality and militancy in the region.

The group also pledged its commitment to join forces with the federal government in its quest to curb bunkering, crude oil theft, pipeline vandalism, kidnapping and all forms of social vices in the oil producing region.

House to Commence Consideration of Queries to MDAs Udora Orizu in Abuja The House of Representatives Committee on Public Account has said it would commence considerations of queries raised on financial impropriety by the Auditor General for the Federation to Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) of the federal government.

The Chairman of the Committee, Hon. Wole Oke disclosed this in Abuja at its resumed hearing bothering on accountability by MDAs. He said that the Auditor General for the Federation had laid his annual report part 1 in respect of 2018 financial year.

He also said that the annual report came along with performance audit report on Federal Road Maintenance Agency

(FERMA) on maintenance of federal roads.

He added that the Auditor General had laid his performance audit report on the budgeting process in Nigeria before the committee. ‘’So, we now have these three documents in our kitty and we shall commence considerations of the queries on issues raised by inviting the relevant MDAs of government.

Including on the spot assessment inspection of the projects where the Auditor General has cast doubt or aspersions on, so that we can have value for money reports.’’

He therefore called on the clerk to convey the queries on the issues raised to the affected MDAs and schedule a day for their appearances.

they fled.

Te Head, Information, Protocol and Public Relations Unit of the FUAM, Mrs. Rosemary Waku confirmed the murder.

She however, said the institution was yet to get full details of his death. The Chairman, Academic Staff

Union of Universities (ASUU), FUAM Chapter, Dr Ameh Ejembi confirmed the incident.

The state Police Public Relations Officer, Deputy Superintendent (DSP) Catherine Anene explained that at about 10:30pm on Saturday, a Police patrol team found the lifeless body of the deceased in a

pool of his blood at the JS Tarka Foundation premises.

She said the police picked the corpse and deposited it at the mortuary while investigation into the cause of his death as well as those behind the murder was ongoing.

“We just saw the corpse at

Tarka foundation in a pool of his blood. It looked like he was stabbed with a knife.

We saw the corpse between 10 and 11pm, so he must have been killed about an hour earlier. Investigation will reveal what happened to him,” she said.

CONGRATULATIONS…

L-R: Chief Executive Officer, Federal Medical Centre, Ebute-Meta; Dr. Adedamola Dada; Executive Director, ISN Products Nigeria Limited, Mr. Felix Ofungwu; Winner, 2020 ISN Medical Laboratory Scientist of the Year Award, Mr. Abiola Fashina; and the Registrar, Medical Laboratory Science Council of Nigeria, Dr. Tosan Erhabor, at the grand finale event of the ISN Medical Laboratory Scientist of the Year held in Lagos…weekend SUNDAY ADIGUN

Edo Govt Condemns Illegal Logging at Okomu Forest Reserve Adibe Emenyonu in Benin City The Edo State Government has condemned the activities of illegal loggers at Okomu Forest Reserve, saying it is compromising the forest assets in the state and endangering the wild-life in the park.

In a statement issued yesterday, Secretary to the State Government, Mr. Osarodion Ogie, directed the forest patrol team to firm up surveillance across the

forest belt so as to mitigate the activities of illegal forest loggers, who violate government regulations on logging.

According to him, “the State Government condemns activities of illegal loggers at the Okomu National Park and across the Okomu Forest Reserve. Anyone found conducting illegal activities in the forest plane would be brought to justice and the state will explore extant laws to ensure that they are duly prosecuted.

“The forest patrol teams, which were recently empowered with equipment to improve the surveillance of the forest, are charged to ramp up their activities, with a view to halting the activities of these illegal loggers.”

He added that the state government has over the years pursued an aggressive afforestation programme in conjunction with international partners and local experts to protect its pristine forest assets, in the wake of debilitating encroachment

on forest reserves that had compromised the safety of endangered species, among other harsh effects on the state’s ecosystem.

The stern warning by the state government is coming in the wake of a reported spike in illegal logging in the Okomu Forest Reserve, which is further depleting the state’s forest asset and leading to a situation where elephants are reportedly running rampage on farmlands, destroying crops and other valuables in local communities.

Group Kicks against Alleged Move to Appoint LG Caretaker Committees in Kwara Hammed Shittu in Ilorin An Ilorin, Kwara State-based group, Kwara Advancement Initiative (KAI), at the weekend kicked against the purported move by the state government to appoint caretaker committees in the 16 local government areas of the state.

KAI rather called on the state government to abide by the promise to correct past mistakes by conducting local government elections in the state.

The tenure of the suspended councils’ chairmen in the state ended on November 26, 2020.

In a statement issued in Ilorin, which was signed by its state Chairman, Mr. Ibrahim Suleiman, and made available to journalists, the group said: “The alleged move by the state government to constitute caretaker committees in the 16 local government councils in the state would negate the Supreme Court judgement passed on the illegality of appointing caretaker

chairmen for local councils in the country.”

The statement noted further that “the reference point of all repeated actions has always been the previous administration, and that alone has always been the basis of justification for acts that undermine the social infrastructure of the state.

“The attempt by the state Governor, Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq, to constitute caretaker committees for the local government councils in the

state has spanned legal debates, controversy and even crisis within his own party in the state.

“While different individuals and groups continue to spin narratives in favour of their camp or the interest they represent, we want those of us that are still conscious and true to the development of the state to maintain a firm ground that abiding by law and order is part of contributions to social infrastructure.”

... State Govt Confirms 30 Deaths By COVID-19 Hammed Shittu in Ilorin Kwara State Government yesterday said about 30 people have been confirmed dead due to the infections of COVID-19 pandemic in the state.

A statement issued in Ilorin by the governor’s Chief Press Secretary and spokesman of the state COVID-19 Committee, Mr. Rafiu Ajakaye, however, cautioned residents of the state against continuous violations of

COVID-19 safety protocols.

The state government also warned that the virus infection rate could spike beyond control unless the rules are followed.

According to the statement, “The last few days have seen sudden rise in our infection rates while more deaths have been recorded.

“On Sunday morning, the state recorded another death, taking its casualties to 30, while some other serious cases are being

managed. More cases are being recorded, and the time to stop being complacent is now.

“I am appealing to Kwara people to avoid crowded places, use their face masks while in public space, sneeze into their elbows, and wash their hands with soap constantly.

“Even as the yuletide approaches, the state government urges citizens to kindly note that COVID-19 is still with us, and we must avoid anything that may

trigger public health emergency in the state.”

The statement, therefore, said: “As of Sunday afternoon, Kwara State has recorded 1,112 confirmed cases, out of which 1,054 have been discharged after getting well.

“There are fears of a second wave of the pandemic in Nigeria after some lull in the rate of infections.”

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MONDAYSPORTS

Group Sports Editor Duro Ikhazuagbe Email duro.ikhazuagbe@thisdaylive.com 0811 181 3083 SMS ONLY

FCT Environmental Agency Demands N81m to Cut MKO Abiola Stadium Grass, Alleges Sports Minister Olawale Ajimotokanin Abuja Minister of Youth and Sports Development, Sunday Dare, has revealed that the Federal Capital Territory agency in charge of the environment, the Abuja Environmental Protection Board (AEPB), has tabled a whooping bill of N81 million as the one-time cost of cleaning and cutting the grass that has overgrown the MKO Abiola National Stadium, Abuja.

He said paying such bill will

be outrageous as it is far beyond what the Sports Ministry could afford amid other priorities given its annual budget that is slightly over N2.7 billion.

Dare made this disclosure recently while speaking during the one-day seminar organised by the Sports Writers Association of Nigeria (SWAN) FCT Chapter.

The allegation was made in relation to the maintanance of Package B of the National Stadium, which houses facilities like the indoor basketball court,

2021 AFROBASKET QUALIFIERS

swimming pool, NFF secretariat, volleyball courts, tennis courts, squash courts, athletes’ hostels, among others, but which ironically have become habitat for all manners of reptiles including snakes. “When we approached AEPB for one-time cleaning of the stadium, they gave us a bill of N81 million. “If I tell Nigerians that I have N81 million and I use that money to rid the National Stadium of bush rats, instead of using that money to bring back the High-Performance Centre, there would be an outcry. It is

an opportunity cost, the fund is just not available,’’ Dare said.

He noted there are plans for a facility manager at the National Stadium as well as to have a section where the public can pay fees for outdoor walk in a one kilometre stretch featuring 14 sports legends. There is also plans for a water park. “It is already designed, but just waiting for the private sector. That can generate for us a revenue in the region of N150 millon to N200 million every year in the private hand. There is a decision in that direction,� concludes the minister.

The main bowl of the MKO Abiola Stadium in Abuja

D’Tigers Defeat Mali to Maintain Perfect Start in Rwanda Nigeria’s senior men’s basketball team, D’Tigers, defeated Mali 91-68 points to conclude the first phase of the 2021 FIBA AfroBasket qualifiers in Kigali, Rwanda unbeaten on Sunday evening.

The perfect run in effectively put Nigeria in the summit of Group D ahead of the next phase of the qualifiers scheduled for February next year.

Captain Ike Diogu led from the front as he powered the team to its third victory with 14 points, 5 rebounds to emerge D’Tigers’ top performer.

Although Mali won the first quarter, 16-13, they lost their rhythm in the second quarter 26-15pts as Nigeria headed into the break with a 39-31 points lead.

It was all about the Coach Mike Brown led team when the second half resumed with the team winning the third and fourth quarter (22-20, 30-17) no thanks to some sloppy play leading to series of turnovers which the Malians paid for dearly.

Point Guard, Ike Iroegbu

continued his sterling performance and consistency for the team, scoring an amazing 17 points, 4 steals and 6 assists.

Obi Emegano and Keith Omoerah combined to score 23 points on a night that the team confirmed its superiority.

Despite the heroics of Ibrahim Djambo who sank 22 points and 5 rebounds, it was not enough to stop the determined D’Tigers team who had their eyes fixed on their third straight win after defeating South Sudan and host-Rwanda.

Nigeria had defeated South Sudan 76-56 in a match that was also played on Thursday.

On Saturday, D’Tigers won the first and second quarters 22-13 and 25-15 respectively.

They lost the third quarter just as it happened against South Sudan by 24-19 but recovered to take the last quarter at 17-10.

Diogu similarly led in scoring for Nigeria with 18 points while Kami Kabaje’s 13 was the biggest for Rwanda.

CAF COMPETITIONS

Enyimba’s Win in B’Faso Highpoint of Poor Weekend for Nigerian Clubs Nigeria’s representatives in CAF Champions League Enyimba FC of Aba were the country’s saving grace in continental campaign at the weekend, going all the way to Burkina Faso to win 1-0 against Rahimo FC of Ouagadougou.

On the weekend that the country’s other team in the Champions League Plateau United lost 0-1 at home in Jos on Sunday, both Rivers United FC and Kano Pillars had succumbed to opponents in Equatorial Guinea and Senegal respectively in the CAF Confederation Cup on Saturday.

Enyimba put aside the lethargy of rustiness caused by the non resumption of the country’s leagues since March and handed out the lone goal defeat to FC Rahino, the same team that beat them by same margin in opening game of the preliminaries last season.

Sunday’s encounter at the Stade du 4 Aout in Ouagadougou, clearly showed the People’s Elephant as perhaps the only team in the domestic scene capable of making any impact this year ravaged by the Covid-19 pandemic.

While Rivers United still have the chance of progressing by reversing the 2-1 defeat in Mongono next week in Port Harcourt, Plateau United appears ‘no hopers’.

The Jos team missed several opportunities as they slipped to a surprise 1-0 defeat to Simba SC in the CAF Champions League preliminary round.

Clatous Chama scored the only goal in the 54th minute and that was enough to help the Tanzanian side pick up an important first leg victory.

Dennis Nya andAbba Umar hit the post for Plateau United in the first half, but it was a frustrating afternoon for the Jos side.

D’Tigers’ Ike Diogu (second left) was the star performer of the Nigerian team at the just concluded 2021 AfroBasket qualifiers in Kigali, Rwanda

SWAN President Confirms Receipt of FIFA Covid-19 Funds from NFF The President, Sports Writers Association of Nigeria (SWAN), Sir Honour Sirawoo has commended the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) for the release of the FIFA Covid-19 Relief Fund.

The NFF had released N11,400,000 as part of the Covid-19 Relief Fund from FIFA to SWAN. Sirawoo lauded the Amaju Pinnick-led NFF for the transparent way and manner it has disbursed the funds in accordance with the earlier

breakdown and FIFA guidelines.

According to him, “FIFA and the NFF must be commended for this transparent process. It has been done in such a manner that is open for all to see. “FIFA must also be commended for such a gesture despite a challenging period of coronavirus pandemic across the world. It is a sign of a responsive and responsible football governing body.�

He assured stakeholders that the funds allocated to SWAN would be utilized transparently

in accordance with the stated guidelines. “Let me state clearly that we will follow all guidelines as stated by FIFA and NFF; every penny expended would be published for all to see. “Our mantra has always been responsive leadership and we will demonstrate that in all our dealings. An enlarged NEC meeting will hold in a couple of days to determine how the funds will be utilized,� he stressed.

Meanwhile, Sir Sirawoo

has charged Nigeria’s representatives in CAF club competitions to make the nation proud by targeting the ultimate prizes.

He noted that Plateau United, Enyimba, Rivers United, and Kano Pillars have the resources and personnel to make good showings in the competitions.

The SWAN boss called on the respective managers of the teams to do all within their means to make the players comfortable so as to make them perform optimally.

Fayele, Odusanya Lead Others as 52nd Asoju Oba Cup Begins Femi Solaja The Asoju Oba Molade OkoyaThomas Table Tennis Cup will serve off today in Lagos with the 52nd edition of the annual tournament.

On the card from today, versatile David Fayele and Bose Odusanya will be aiming to hold on to their titles in the men and women’s singles events of Nigeria’s oldest sporting competition.

The tournament which has continued to produce world stars was started in 1968 by the late Molade Okoya-Thomas to mark his installation as the Asoju Oba of Lagos.

This year being the 52nd

uninterrupted edition, will have players competing in just two events as against the conventional 17 due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

With great assemblage of best players at every edition, Fayele dominated the men’s singles in the last two editions after claiming the title in the 50th edition in 2018. He received a brand new salon car as his prize and retained the title in 2019 after defeating Hammed Adeyinka in the final.

The soldier/player is already looking forward to winning the title a third time in a row when the competition ends on Wednesday. “I am not ready for now

to surrender the title. I don’t see anybody in sight beating me this year because I am fully prepared,� boasts Fayele yesterday.

Unlike Fayele, Odusanya is eyeing a record win having won the last five editions. The women’s singles champion believes she has the wherewithal to continue her dominance. “I don’t think I can be displaced because I am in good shape and nothing can prevent me from claiming the title again this year,� she assured her fans.

According to Deji OkoyaThomas, the hosting of this year’s tournament despite the Covid-19 pandemic was based on the need to ensure

the tournament continues uninterrupted.

He assured stakeholders that the Covid-19 protocols laid down by the Lagos State Sports Commission (LSSC) and health authorities would be followed during the two-day event.

Chairman of the Lagos State Table Tennis Association (LSSTA), Femi Sokoya, commended the family of late Chief Molade Okoya-Thomas for their commitment to the tournament despite the Covid-19 pandemic. “For refusing to break the tradition of uninterrupted staging of the tournament, I must commend the family for this amidst the Covid-19 pandemic.�

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MONDAYSPORTS

The Kaduna ‘Marathon’-What is in a Name?

T

here is no pother when it comes to who are kings of the distance races in Africa. Anyway, if there is one, Nigeria would not be in the discussion. We would watch enviously from the sidelines as the Kenyans, Ethiopians and Ugandans stake the claim for the crown in Africa and indeed the World. So when Maiyo Kareen Jibet and Mburu John led a cleansweep of Kenyan runners in the women and men’s race in the just concluded maiden Kaduna Marathon respectively, it was no surprise and actually no news. The big news is what really was won on the day.

Nigeria is a country of sprints. In figurative and literal terms. Figuratively, we like to rush. We rush to work, we rush to show political advances etc without big plans or visions for the future. When we build roads or infrastructure, we are more concerned about the immediate impact than the long term results. So we have the ‘sprint approach’.

Which most times sees us feel ahead initially but lose

out in the long run. We love immediate results at the risk sometimes of losing in the end.

Literally, we love sprint races. That fast outburst of energy and power that fuels our excitement. That very short race that gives us instant results. We have no patience for the long, tactical, well planned races that give us a slow start but successful finish after a long time. That is why we excel in the sprints in sports (100m, 200 and 400m) and do not even have patience for longer races like 5km, 10km and the marathon.

But no matter our preferences, we cannot change fact and we must be educated to this, So while the growth of the longer running and marathons is spreading through the country, (many thanks to the success of the Accessbank Lagos City Marathon promoted by Bukola Olapade and his Nilayo Sports group) we must understand what really we are taking part in so as not to be a mockery in the committee of nations.

The recently concluded Kaduna ‘Marathon’ was

NOT a marathon. It was a half marathon and should be referred as thus. A marathon is an exact race.

It is a race that has a distance of 42.195 km or 26.2 miles.

This has been so since the 1908 Games in London the course was extended

Windsor Castle (so the littlest royals could watch from the window of their nursery, according to some accounts) and finish in front of the royal box at the Olympic Stadium—a distance that happened to be 26.2 miles.

This distance has stuck ever since and in 1921 the length for a marathon was formally standardized at 26.2 miles (42.195 kilometers).

So a marathon is as exact as a dozen (12 not 11 or 13), a score (20) or a century (100).

When it is not $2.195km it is NOT a marathon. We can have fractions of a marathon, for example the most common one is the half-marathon, which is 21.0975 km.

So we should understand that not all races are marathons as we seem to confuse ourselves in Nigeria.

We have in the past seen adverts for “10km marathon, 20km marathon� and so on around the country. These are misnomers. These are merely road races. Road races are run on a measured course over an established road (as opposed to track and field and cross country running). These events

Kenyan John Mburu won the maiden Kaduna Half Marathon

allegedly to accommodate the British royal family.

As the story goes, Queen Alexandra requested that the race start on the lawn of

are usually classified as long-distance according to athletics terminology, with races typically ranging from 5 kilometers to 42.2 kilometers in the marathon. They may involve large numbers of runners or wheelchair entrants. The four most common World Athletics recognized distances for “road running� events are 5K runs, 10K runs, half marathons and marathons.

The Kaduna ‘Marathon’ was a distance of 21.0975 km. So it is NOT a marathon but a half-marathon. This is what we should understand.

Recently, half marathons ran in Imo State and Anambra State were advertised as marathons. This is errorneous and we should understand that.

Only after we have understood the basics and learnt this do we then hope to prepare for winning these races and be considered in the midst of road running

nations. For now we have two World Athletics labelled races in Nigeria and the likes of Olapade’s Nilayo Sports and Itemuagbor’s Pamodzi Sports have energized Nigerians into road running.

A step further should be taken to educate Nigerians that like on the tracks, road running has various events.

Then, we can eventually move from being generous hosts dolling out cash to excellent Kenyans to actually winning these races.

And yes, the education would be long and we have to be patient. A lot of unlearning would have to be done‌and we know that it would not happen immediately, after all, it’s a marathon not a sprint.

* EneďŹ ok is an author, Speaker, administrator, Life coach, businessman and Nigeria’s ONLY Male two Time Olympic Medalist

PREMIER LEAGUE

Super Sub Cavani Inspires Man Utd’s Comeback at Southampton Mourinho’s Spurs return to summit on goals difference Edinson Cavani came off the bench to inspire a stunning Manchester United comeback as they turned around a two-goal deficit to secure a superb 3-2 victory at Southampton.

The 33-year-old Uruguayan striker was a half-time replacement for out-of-sorts Mason Greenwood with Saints two goals up and in control of a fluctuating encounter at St. Mary’s - the veteran turning the tide with a virtuoso display and a brilliant headed double.

James Ward-Prowse was United’s tormentor in that first half, setting up Jan

Bednarek’s 23rd minute header with a corner before floating a magnificent freekick beyond David de Gea 10 minutes later.

Manchester United Manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, who watched his side waste a host of chances and also had to replace the injured De Gea with Dean Henderson at the interval, sent on Cavani to perform the rescue act and the deadline-day signing obliged in spectacular style.

Cavani was a constant threat, setting up Bruno Fernandes to pull one back just on the hour before showing the old instincts

remained fully intact to divert the Portuguese midfield man’s deflected shot past the excellent Southampton keeper Alex McCarthy with a diving header, 16 minutes from time.

As the game entered injury time, and with Southampton hanging on desperately for a point, Cavani was the matchwinner with a flicked header from Marcus Rashford’s cross to spark wild United celebrations as they recorded eight successive top-flight wins away from home for the first time.

Elsewhere, Tottenham

returned to the top of the Premier League despite being held by Chelsea in a highly-competitive yet

goalless London stalemate.

The eagerly-anticipated fixture between two teams in excellent form failed

to produce a goal as both sides cancelled each other out at Stamford Bridge.

Delayed Tokyo Olympics to Cost Extra $2.5bn The one-year postponement of the Tokyo-2020 Olympic Games due to the coronavirus pandemic could cost an additional $2.5 billion over the initial budget of $16.6 billion, an increase of 15%, a Japanese daily disclosed yesterday.

Olympic organizers will officially decide on the amount of the increase in mid-December after discussions with the Japanese government and the city of Tokyo,Yomiuri Shimbunnewspaper reported, citing anonymous sources in charge of organizing the Games.

The world’s biggest sporting event had been postponed due to the pandemic of the new coronavirus. It is scheduled to begin on July 23, 2021.

This delay has resulted in a multitude of new costs, ranging from the need to make new bookings to keeping staff in charge of the organization.

The recent new waves of the epidemic, which affect many countries, have raised doubts about the possibility that they will take place in 2021, but organizers say it will be safe.

Thomas Bach...IOC President The additional cost of 200 billion yen ($2.5 billion), compared to the 1350 billion yen ($11 billion) estimated before the coronavirus, was calculated taking into account a cost reduction due to a simplification of the event.

Organizers have decided to reduce them by approximately $365 million through cost-saving measures such as fewer tickets,

fewer mascots and fireworks, and cancelled athlete welcome parties.

However, the new figure does not include the cost of the planned coronavirus control measures and officials hope that they will be paid for by the Japanese government, according to the newspaper.

A senior official said on Friday that test events for the Tokyo Olympics will resume in March and a decision on spectator attendance will be made in the spring.

Organizers and officials are considering a range of measures to combat the virus in the hope that this will enable the Games to take place even without vaccines.

The President of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), Thomas Bach, said in mid-November that he was “very confident� about the presence of spectators at the Tokyo Games.

Olympic Committee officials could not be reached immediately for comment.

Edinson Cavani saved Man United’s blushes at Southampton yesterday

Zidane Laments Madrid’s Poor Form after Home Loss Real Madrid Manager Zinedine Zidane has confessed that he has no idea why his side are currently on a miserable run of form, which continued on Saturday with a 2-1 loss to Alaves at the Estadio Alfredo di Stefano.

It took Real 86 minutes to find the back of the net, and made little difference as Alaves claimed their first win over Madrid in 20 years.

It was Real’s third league loss of the season and the third consecutive game in which Los Blancos have failed to win, and Zidane admitted that he simply has no idea why the defending champions are yet to turn up this season. “I don’t have an explanation for our form,� Zidane said (via

Marca). “Against (Alaves) we alternated between good and bad moments. When they score after three minute things become very complicated. “The other day, in Milan, we played a good game, and yet here... It’s the reality we have to deal with today. What we have to do is keep working hard, allow our players to recover and change our consistency. “I have to find the solution with the players. I am not going to say it here. We must not only think about the negative.

We also have to see what we did well and try to be more consistent.�

Conceding after three minutes left Real fighting an uphill battle for the entire game, and Zidane added that he was

concerned by the fact his side couldn’t turn the tide until the game was almost over. “Starting as we started, it’s the worst start of the season,� he confessed. “We couldn’t change the dynamics of the game and that bothers and worries me. “We have not turned the game around and in the second half we fell short. We did very little in the second half to change the dynamics of the game.�

To make matters worse for Real, they lost Eden Hazard to yet another injury after just 28 minutes, and the Belgian’s involvement in December’s meetings with Sevilla and Atletico Madrid now appears to be in doubt.

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T H I S D AY ˾MONDAY, NOVEMBER 30, 2020

MONDAYSPORTS LA LIGA.

Messi Salutes Maradona as Barcelona Hammer Osasuna 4-0 Lionel Messi paid a personal tribute to the late Diego Maradona after scoring on Sunday

as Barcelona returned to winning ways in La Liga with a resounding 4-0 home win over Osasuna.

Premier League: Wolves Beat Arsenal First Time in 41 Years Wolves recovered from a nasty head injury to top scorer Raul Jimenez to secure their first win at Arsenal since 1979 and condemn their hosts to their worst Premier League start after 10 games.

Mexico striker Jimenez had come off worse in a sickening clash of heads with Gunners defender David Luiz after an Arsenal corner in the opening exchanges and was treated on field for 10 minutes before being taken to hospital.

A game between two of the Premier League’s lowest-scoring sides was understandably flat after that but it came to life when Pedro Neto slotted home from close range after Leandro Dendoncker had headed Adama Traore’s teasing cross against the bar midway through the first half.

Gabriel equalised for the hosts with a thumping header from a Willian cross just three minutes later but Wolves were the better side throughout and re-established their 2-1 lead when Daniel Podence cleverly converted after keeper Bernd Leno fumbled Neto’s drive.

Arsenal rarely threatened, with striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang little more than a spectator at times, and boss Mikel Arteta has much to ponder with his side languishing in 14th place in the Premier League after

Messi adorned a brilliant team display with a thumping strike into the top corner in the second half, after Martin Braithwaite had broken the deadlock and Antoine Griezmann and Philippe Coutinho had scored either side of half-time.

The Argentine then lifted his shirt to reveal

a red and black replica kit of his hometown club Newell’s Old Boys bearing the No. 10 which Maradona wore during his brief spell at the Rosario side in 1993.

The Catalans had paid homage before kick-off to Maradona, who played for the club in an eventful yet disappointing spell from

1982 to 1984, hanging a framed signed shirt of his above the presidential box while the players held a minute’s silence in front of an old Barca shirt bearing the No. 10.

Barca defender Clement Lenglet limped off with an ankle problem, leaving his side with no fit firstteam centre backs due to

injuries to Samuel Umtiti, Ronald Araujo and Gerard Pique.

The win followed Barca’s 1-0 defeat at Atletico Madrid last week and lifted them to seventh in the standings on 14 points after nine matches, nine behind leaders Real Sociedad and second-placed Atletico.

10 matches.

Wolves, on the other hand, are up to sixth and sit just four points off the summit in an increasingly congested top half of the table.

The match had barely got going when one of its biggest stars was left unable to continue.

The moment Jimenez and Luiz dropped to the floor it was clear there was real concern among the players as medical staff rushed on to the field.

Jimenez was ultimately taken off on a stretcher and straight to hospital after a bandaged and visibly upset Luiz went to check on his stricken opponent.

Luiz continued until halftime - Arsenal have said they followed all the correct protocols in keeping him on the pitch - but was withdrawn at the break, blood clearly showing through his bandage.

In the absence of talisman Jimenez, manager Nuno Espirito Santo needed his other attackers to step up - and, once the shock of the injury wore off, they duly delivered a vibrant performance of real menace.

Neto’s first goal of the season, from the bench against Southampton last week, was rewarded with a start at Emirates Stadium on Sunday, and he repaid that faith by firing Wolves into the lead.

Lionel Messi (left) displaying Late Diego Maradona’s Newell’s Old Boys jersey...yesterday

Villarreal Narrow Real Sociedad’s Lead at the Top LaLiga leaders Real Sociedad’s six-game winning streak ended on Sunday as they were held to a 1-1 draw at home to Villarreal.

The visitors took an early lead as Gerard Moreno converted a penalty after six minutes but Sociedad pulled level when Mikel Oyarzabal also netted from the spot in the 33rd.

Villarreal looked more likely to find a winner in the latter stages and had another penalty appeal turned down deep in stoppage time when Moreno was tackled by Igor Zubeldia.

Sociedad are top with 24 points after 11 games but second-placed Atletico Madrid are one point behind with two games in hand. Villarreal are third with 20 ahead of Real Madrid on 17.

Meanwhile, Real Madrid slumped to a 2-1 loss at home to Alaves in LaLiga on Saturday as city rivals Atletico moved level with leaders Real Sociedad after extending their winning run to six matches.

Lucas Perez scored a fifthminute penalty at Alfredo di Stefano stadium and Joselu added a second just after half-time following an awful mistake by goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois.

Casemiro gave Real a lifeline on 86 minutes but Alaves held on for a victory that lifted them

up to ninth. Madrid remain in fourth place and six points behind Real Sociedad and Diego Simeone’s Atletico.

After a minute’s silence in honour of Diego Maradona, in keeping with the poignant tributes around Spain this weekend following the death of the Argentine legend, Real soon fell behind when Nacho handled at a corner.

Perez powered the spot-kick beyond Courtois to give Alaves the lead, and the forward should have struck a second when he was played clean through, his attempted chip superbly swatted aside by the Real ‘keeper.

Madrid’s night went from bad to worse when Eden Hazard was forced off on 28 minutes after taking a knock, the latest in a long list of injury setbacks for the Belgium star.

While a terrific double save

by Fernando Pacheco denied Toni Kroos, a howler from Courtois presented Joselu with the second goal on 49 minutes when a wayward pass went straight to the forward who steered home from 30 yards.

Mariano Diaz’s header was cleared off the line before Casemiro tapped in from close range after Pacheco kept out Vinicius Junior’s effort, but Alaves clung on as Isco clipped the bar with the final kick.

Senegal Legend Bouba Diop Dies After Illness Former Senegalese star Papa Bouba Diop has passed away at the age of 42.

According to reports, Bouba Diop had been suffering with a long-time illness, Charcot-MarieTooth disease.

His former club, RC Lens, paid tribute on Twitter, writing: “It is with great sadness that Racing Club de Lens has just learned of the disappearance of its former player Papa Bouba Diop , at the age of 42.

“We offer our deepest condolences to his loved ones.”

World governing body FIFA declared: “FIFA is saddened to learn of the passing of Senegal legend Papa Bouba Diop.

“Once a World Cup hero, always a World Cup hero.”

Diop became a national hero when he scored the goal which saw Senegal beat France 1-0 in their opening World Cup game in 2002.

The midfielder first arrived in English football when he joined Fulham from Lens in 2004, becoming known as “The Wardrobe” at Craven

Cottage.

He joined Portsmouth in 2007 and after a stint with AEK Athens returned to English football by joining West Ham in 2011 and helping them win promotion back to the Premier League.

After one season with the Hammers he joined Birmingham City before being re l e a s e d in January 2013.

Diop won 63 caps for Senegal, scoring 11 g o a l s i n c l u d i n g h i s h i s t o r i c Wo r l d C u p strike.

Late Bouba Diop in his heyday with Teranga Lions of Senegal

Lennox Lewis Hints at Return after Tyson/Jones Exhibition After Mike Tyson and Roy Jones Jr returned to the ring for a special exhibition bout on Saturday night in Los Angeles, it has tempted another legendary boxer to now dust off his gloves.

Tyson, 54, and Jones Jr, 51, battled it out to a draw in their eight-round exhibition fight, with ‘Iron Mike’ showing glimpses of his former destructive self while the latter displayed his strong defensive skills.

The ex-heavyweight pair proved age is just a number following their rigorous

training regimes and speaking prior to their showdown, former undisputed world champion Lennox Lewis hinted he could now be persuaded to return to the ring.

Speaking about a potential comeback, Lewis told BT Sport: ‘Sure! I mean, it seems like a lot of fun.’

Lewis knocked Tyson out when the pair went headto-head in Memphis back in June 2002 before retiring just one year later following a fascinating battle against Vitali Klitschko, in which the

Brit came out on top.

Lewis’ career took off during the Seoul Olympics in 1988, where he overcame Riddick Bowe via knockout to clinch Gold at the Olympics.

It was thought that Lewis would meet American boxer Bowe in the professional ranks following their Olympics showdown but a fight never came to fruition.

And Lewis has admitted there is ‘unfinished business’ with Bowe, suggesting that a return could be in the pipeline.

Lewis added: ‘I looked at

the history of why boxers come back and most boxers come back because they have nothing else to do.

‘People keep coming up to them and saying to them, “Hey, when is your next fight?

Who are you going to fight?”

‘But it doesn’t do better for them, it makes them look bad.

So I always elected to stay away from that.

‘But, if it is right, I may come back. There’s been talk Riddick Bowe wants to fight me still so there is still some unfinished business there.’

Monday November 30, 2020

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Price: N250

MISSILE

Afenifere to Buhari

“We are worried that in spite of the official untruth by the Nigerian government that it has degraded Boko Haram, the terror group daily continues to downgrade the current government as comprehensively incompetent. And on all fronts, the country is under siege with lives being lost on a daily basis and our president is now lamentor-in-chief” – Pan-Yoruba socio-political group, Afenifere, lamenting the incessant attacks and killing in the country.

ALEXOTTI OUTSIDE THE BOX

alex.otti@thisdaylive.com

As Recession Stages A Strong Comeback ‘Out of adversity comes opportunity’ – Benjamin Franklin

O

n April 27, 2020, in our column titled “Coronavirus: The Morning After” we had correctly predicted another recession thus: “However, while we prepare for extended coexistence with Covid 19, one thing that is clear nevertheless, is that the economy has gone into a tailspin which will ultimately lead us into a recession by October this year. In fact, if care is not taken, it will degenerate into a depression.

This is the stark reality and we must begin to think of how to deal with it.”

Our prediction was corroborated by the World Bank in a release on June 25, 2020 where it stated “the collapse in oil prices with the Covid-19 Pandemic is expected to plunge the Nigerian economy into a severe economic recession, the worst since the 1980s”.

Today, Nigeria has made it once again, into the league of economies in recession, with effect from October 1, 2020. Last week, the National Bureau of Statistics released its report for the end of the third quarter 2020, with negative GDP growth of 3.62%. In the second quarter, GDP declined by -6.1%, resulting in cumulative GDP growth rate of -2.48% for the first three quarters of 2020. This is happening just four years after the economy went into a recession in 2016. Even though the economy managed to recover in 2017, growth numbers were very minuscule leading some analysts to argue that the country never actually recovered from the recession of 2016. Technically speaking, economic growth must be related to corresponding population growth for it to make sense. Therefore, the average growth rate from 2017 to 2019 of around 2% per annum versus the average population growth of 3% per annum meant that our economy was growing slower than the number of mouths it was supposed to feed.

The recession this time around is on the heels of the Coronavirus Pandemic. In a way, one can take comfort in the fact that virtually all parts of the world is experiencing economic meltdown at the same time. For instance, just a few days ago, the Indian economy was reported to have plunged into its first recession since 1947. GDP in India fell from -23.9% in June to -7.5% in September 2020.

We should note, however, that for economies that were strong before the pandemic, the ease with which they would get out the recession would be different from ours. Secondly, our economy is not helped by our own demons that have been with us for a while. The first one is the foreign exchange crisis which today is assuming a desperate dimension as exchange rates continue to deteriorate at both the official and unofficial markets. The foreign exchange challenge had been lurking around the corner since oil prices began to slide downwards. Again, before this recession, we had managed to steer our economy into a debt trap. As at half year, Nigeria’s total debt stood at about $86b or N31trillion with its attendant debt service pressure. In the first half of the year, we had spent N1.21trillion just to service debt and all things being equal, we may spend the same amount, if not more, by the second half of the year. This means that about 25% of our 2020 budget of N10.8trillion would go into debt service. Our revenue, on the other hand, remains abysmally poor and its net effect is that more than half of our annual revenue goes to debt servicing. The summary of all these is that we do not have enough elbow room for more aggressive borrowing as we clearly have borrowed to the teeth. Other challenges like unemployment, poverty level, inflation and extremely poor productivity still remain with us.

Zainab Ahmed, Government functionaries are positive that recovery would happen as early as next year.

In fact, some starry-eyed optimists stridently claim that this will happen within the first quarter of 2021. Truth be told, one does not see the economic, social and political fundamentals that would ensure quick recovery and therefore, we intend to interrogate that optimism and make an attempt at looking at what we should be doing if we want a quick resolution. Many people are agreed that spending is one of the most effective ways of getting out of a recession. As far back as 1945, President Franklin D Roosevelt had proclaimed and demonstrated this in his “New Deal” policy that basically stimulated the post 2nd World War US economy through spending and it worked. Obama did the same in the modern-day economy, following the sub-prime economic crises.

His economic therapy also worked. With these examples, no one would argue with government on spending our way out of recession. The big problem is the gory picture painted above where we tend to be over leveraged. There is a limit to how much we can borrow, especially when one factors in the fact that capacity to repay is a major consideration by lenders when taking credit decisions. There is no doubt that we are almost at unsustainable levels with our debt management profile. Even the resort to ways and means has its limitations given its inflationary effect. With current inflation rate crossing 14%, this option should not be contemplated at this time.

We believe Government needs to do a few specific things to pull the economy back from the brink. It will not be a one-therapy-solution but a bouquet or cocktail of measures. In our opinion, the focus on the foreign exchange market and exchange rate management should stop henceforth. It is our considered view that the CBN should suspend its managed float exchange rate policy now and completely float the currency. CBN should therefore become an active player in a free market where exchange rates will be determined by the forces of demand and supply. We should assume that we don’t have oil or that our oil reserves have dried up or better still, recreate the lockdown scenario under Covid-19 where no one was willing to buy crude oil from us. Once we have reset our mind in this manner, then it would be easy to go in the direction we are proposing. Any time the CBN has foreign exchange to sell, its dealers would enter the market and sell at the market rate for that day. CBN will also buy directly from the market when it wants dollars. CBN, in the exercise of its regulatory role, may choose to buy or sell foreign exchange depending on the outcome it wants to achieve. If it wants to

moderate rates downwards, it would sell and when it wants the opposite outcome, it will buy.

A few things would naturally happen if we did this. The first is that exchange rates would go up but would not stay there for long as the forces of demand and supply would regulate them towards some equilibrium. Second, CBN will no longer worry about managing exchange rates as market forces would take over. The third is that speculators would go out of business as there would no longer be uncertainty in the market. Fourth, the real price of the currency and imported goods and services would be clear as any hidden subsidy in foreign exchange would have been removed and the otherwise distortionary situation would be gone for good.

The fifth is that CBN, and therefore government, would start receiving appropriate value for its foreign exchange earnings because it would be selling at the prevailing market rates which, to all intents and purposes, would be higher than the present official rate that is managed and therefore contrived. Sixth, the multiple exchange rate regime; another recipe for distortion; would have been permanently eliminated. Seven, consumption of foreign-made goods and services, would be reduced to necessaries to the elimination of luxuries, as it is today. The reason for this is because imports would thus become more expensive since their price would be denominated in the foreign currency. The converse would also happen for local consumption and production as foreign goods would no longer engage in an unfair competition because of the subsidy they hitherto enjoyed. This is the eighth thing that would happen. The nineth one is that, because the unfair competition would have been eliminated, local production would become more attractive and jobs would be created as a result. There is no doubt that it will help to suck up the large reserve army of the unemployed and restless youth. The tenth is that with more productivity and more local consumption, the economy will begin finally to grow again in real terms and GDP will begin to head north. It is only then that we can boldly bid recession goodbye. Finally, as the CBN begins selling its foreign exchange holdings at real market rates, it would raise more Naira for every such sale. This difference can be deployed in stimulating the economy without resorting to borrowing or printing money. This surplus can also be used in paying local contractors. Once they are thus paid, they would spend same in the economy, thereby increasing economic activities and whittling down recessionary pressure.

Like we said earlier, there are other things that would help in our economic recovery efforts.

We had extensively made recommendations in previous interventions on cutting down cost of governance and they remain imperative, even more so at this time. Heavy government spending does not stimulate the economy, rather it turns into a complete drainpipe that must be plugged by all means. Government must also identify priority areas to support to help the economy come out of crisis. In our case, agriculture remains a top pick for so many reasons. It is a sector that guarantees food security and this does not need to be overemphasised, particularly in a country where more than 50% of its population lives below poverty line of less than $1.90 per day.

It is also an area that has the capacity to mop up a lot of idle labour to reduce unemployment, especially the youth. Agriculture and its value chain can pioneer our positioning to play a key role in filling the supply chain gap created by the Pandemic. Even if we cannot be key players on the global scene, we can at least help rebuild our own supply chain and economic buffers.

Manufacturing is another sector that has been

dealt a serious hand by the neglect of successive governments in Nigeria. Maybe because of cheap petrodollars and the resultant laziness, we hardly produce anything locally. Times were, when cars and trucks were assembled by companies like Peugeot Automobile Nigeria, Volkswagen of Nigeria, Mercedes Benz (ANAMMCO), Leyland and the like. These companies which not only employed thousands of Nigerians in their heydays, are comatose and virtually nonexistent today. Tyre manufacturers like Dunlop, and Michelin relied heavily on our locally grown and processed rubber to make tyres locally that satisfied much of the demand of the domestic market and even some export. It is as if we went on a de-industrialisation voyage.

Gloomy as it may seem, we prefer to look at the unfolding scenario as a dark cloud that offers Nigeria a silver lining. This recession offers us an opportunity to start re-industrialising the country once again. A crack team could be set up by government to look at the possibility of getting some of these industries back on stream and where impossible or relatively expensive on account of antiquated technology or processes, new ones should be set up immediately and as a matter of priority. This would be followed by the setting up of research institutes, which may be attached to serious tertiary institutions.

Such institutions should be supported to act as technology hub for industry, healthcare, agriculture and other concerns that depend on technology.

Due to the low attraction of such institutions to the private sector that are focused on returns to shareholders, these could be executed by government. However, once viability is established, it should default immediately to the private sector for commercialization and even privatization.

This is an area that is so useful in view of the argument that the world has learnt a bitter lesson with the disruption of the global supply chain by the Covid-19 Pandemic. Many developed countries realised that they were running a concentration risk by relying solely on China for supply of their needs. Some of the more perceptible countries are now seriously looking to diversify their supply markets to other parts of the world. Two major world powers seeking such replacements are the US and Japan. Our belief is that with serious rethinking of our policy framework geared towards making Nigeria a manufacturing hub, we stand a good chance of benefitting from the new policy shift. We are positive that we are well positioned to do this, once the will is there.

We have a private sector that can rise up to that challenge, given the right package of incentives and support by government.

Necessity they say, is the mother of invention.

Most innovations in history come from the need to adapt to a crisis. Solutions are so called because they are a response to a need or a problem. We have operated as if we have no problems for a long time, but the truth is that we sure do have problems. Economic recession is not unusual so, we need not panic. In fact, the ease with which a country slips into a recession may also be the ease with which it would get out of it, if it does the right thing. Besides, because recession points to two consecutive quarters of negative GDP growth, any number that is above zero amounts to a positive growth and the country would have exited recession. However, just like we had demonstrated here, you can exit recession in theory but remain therein in practice. That is why it becomes imperative that we do not waste the unique opportunities that this recession offers, like we had done in the past. We have no doubt that if we do the right thing, out of this recession, may emerge a stronger and more resilient Nigerian economy.

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