WEDNESDAY 1ST DECEMBER 2021

NNPC: Global Attack on Fossil Fuel Investment Will Continue to Worsen Energy Crisis $20bn spent on EPC, oil sector services in four years, says NCDMB Sylva optimistic about investments inflow

Ejiofor Alike in Lagos, Emmanuel Addeh in Abuja and Olusegun Samuel in Yenagoa

The Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited yesterday attributed the current global gas crisis

to shortage of investments in the oil sector as activists, investors, and climate change advocates continue

to mount pressure on banks and oil companies to withdraw funding for fossil fuel related projects.

NNPC said there might be no end in sight to the overheating of the oil market, which could even worsen

if the required financing of major oil Continued on page 47

SGF: 60 % of FG's Overhead in Three Years Wasted on Travels, Honoraria, Consumables... Page 48 Wednesday 1 December, 2021 Vol 26. No 9732. Price: N250

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Canada Bans Travellers from Nigeria, Egypt, Malawi over Omicron Fears Nigeria’s lawmakers urge NCDC to step up national response Chinedu Eze in Lagos and Udora Orizu in Abuja with agency report

AT NGX INAUGURAL CAPITAL MARKETS CONFERENCE...

L-R Chairman BUA Group, Alhaji Abdul Samad Rabiu; Chairman, Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX), Mr. A.B Mahmoud, Vice President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, and CEO, Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) Mr Temi Popoola, CFA, at the NGX Inaugural Capital Markets Conference in Abuja ...yesterday

Canada yesterday banned travellers from Nigeria, Egypt, and Malawi over fears of the spread of the new Omicron coronavirus variant, bringing to 10 the number of African countries targeted by Ottawa, according to the AFP. Continued on page 47

Lagos White Paper Rips Apart Panel’s Report on #EndSARS Accepts 11 of 32 recommendations, rejects one, agrees on six with modifications, sends 14 to FG “The inconsistencies and contradictions in the entire JPI report concerning the number of persons, who died at LTG on 20th October 2020, and their cause of death rendered the JPI’s findings and conclusions thereon as totally unreliable and therefore unacceptable."

Sanwo-Olu: We’ll bring closure to the painful episode Segun James The Lagos State Government, last night, released its much-awaited White Papers on the report of the Judicial Panel of Inquiry over

alleged police brutality, especially, the October 20, 2020 incident at the Lekki toll plaza and ripped it apart.

According to the White paper, Continued on page 47

SEEKING PRESIDENTIAL SUPPORT...

Minister of Women Affaires, Dame Pauline Tallen (left), presenting awareness materials to President Muhammadu Buhari to mark his identification with Nigerian women as they observe 16 days of activism for this year’s International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women 2021 held at Presidential Villa , Abuja .....yesterday PHOTO: GODWIN OMOIGUI

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

NEWS

STATING GOVERNMENT’S POSITION ON #ENDSARS REPORT...

L-R: Lagos Deputy Governor, Dr. Obafemi Hamzat; Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu and Commissioner for Information & Strategy, Mr. Gbenga Omotoso, during a media briefing on the State Government’s position on the recommendations of the Judicial Panel of Inquiry on #EndSARS at Lagos House, Ikeja ... yesterday

Buhari: Heavy Punishment Awaits Corrupt Public Servants 1,144 Convicted, Eight Aircrafts, Seven Filling Stations, 48 Real Estates, 149 Vehicles, Recovered in 11 Months, Says CJN Honours three Nigerians for integrity, exemplary conduct Deji Elumoye and Alex Enumah in Abuja President Muhammadu Buhari has declared his readiness to mete out heavy punishments against public officers found wanting in the course of their duties.

This is just as he honoured three Nigerians with Public Service Integrity Awards for their integrity and exemplary conduct at work.

Also, as part of its efforts to reduce corruption in the country, the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Ibrahim Muhammad has disclosed that the judiciary has secured the conviction of 1,144 suspects and went ahead to recover properties worth billions of naira in the last 11 months.

The president and the CJN spoke yesterday at the third national summit on, “Diminishing Corruption in the Public Sector,” held in Abuja.

The president said his administration would sanction those who bring in personnel into the public workforce through illegal recruitment, pad their payroll and retain ghost workers.

Buhari warned that his administration would not hesitate to punish

heads of Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) that fraudulently present new projects as ongoing projects in the budget.

According to him, “we reduced the cost of governance by maintaining our promise to complete abandoned or ongoing projects commenced by previous administrations and have ensured that MDAs do not put forward new capital projects at the expense of ongoing projects.

“Government has, however, noted from the activities of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) that some MDAs have devised the fraudulent practice of presenting new projects as ongoing projects.

“Necessary action and sanctions will continue against the heads of such errant MDAs. I am confident that ICPC will continue to maintain the vigilance required of her by the ICPC Act in this regard."

He expressed delight that the legislative and judicial arms of government were also under focus on managing the cost of governance, saying government remains a collective and not the business of the executive branch

alone.

The president added that: “On 19th August 2020, the Federal Executive Council adopted the National Ethics and Integrity Policy which I launched on 25th September 2020.

“I am delighted that some public officers continue not only to demonstrate the core values of ethics, integrity and patriotism but have been identified for their sterling anti-corruption disposition in their workplace."

The highpoint of the summit attended by the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Ibrahim Tanko Muhammad and a representative of the Senate President, Dr. Ahmed Lawan, was the presentation of the 2021 Public Service Integrity Awards to three distinguished Nigerians.

They were Deputy Director, Legal, Federal Ministry of Information and Culture, Nelson Okoronkwo; Assistant Commander of Narcotics, National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), Muhammad Ahmad, and Ikenna Nweke, a PhD student, from Imo State, studying in Japan.

Okoronkwo, who was recognised for his consistent acts of integrity in the different ministries where he

served, is a committee member on fertilizer distribution that led to the recovery of billions of naira from racketeers with collaborators within the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.

He was credited to have reported corrupt practices that led to the Ogoni clean-up investigation in the Federal Ministry Environment.

As Committee Chairman on Illegal Recruitment in the Federal Ministry of Information and Culture, the Deputy Director facilitated the detection and removal of over 3000 fake employers from the service thereby saving the government millions of naira in terms of salaries and emoluments.

The NDLEA officer, Ahmad, was recognised for demonstrating the highest ideals and standards of the public service in the discharge of his responsibilities.

Also a recipient of the Chairman/Chief Executive Award for Outstanding Performance and Integrity, Ahmad recently recovered and declared to his Agency the sum of 24,500 USD offered to him as bribe by a drug baron to compromise an investigation of 27.950 kg of cocaine, worth billions of naira

On his part, Nweke, the Nigerian PhD student in Japan who found a wallet containing a very large amount of money and other valuables returned it to the Japanese police and declined 10 per cent of the money offered to him as a reward.

The Nigerian, who joined the event virtually from his base in Japan, was recognised for his act of ‘‘honesty and integrity,’’ by the President.

On Nweke, President Buhari said: ‘‘I am also happy to note the ICPC special award to Ikenna Steve Nweke, a Nigerian Ph.D student from Imo State studying in Japan.

1,144 Convicted, Eight Aircraft, Seven Filling Stations Recovered in 11 Months, Says CJN

Meanwhile, the CJN revealed that the judiciary has secured the conviction of 1,144 suspects and went ahead to recover properties worth billions of naira in the last 11 months.

According to Justice Muhammad, the Nigerian judiciary has

Osinbajo Seeks Seamless Forex Regime to Attract Foreign Investors Innovative products needed to sustain GDP growth, SEC tells market operators Eromosele Abiodun and Ndubuisi Francis in Abuja The Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo yesterday called on the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and other key government agencies to work with the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) to ensure that excessive risk premium in the capital market was abated.

Why decrying the year-to-date performance of the stock market, in advancing measures to reverse the trend, he said foreign investors needed to be sure that Nigeria’s foreign exchange (forex) mechanism and other regulations would enable them channel resources in and take their resources out.

Osinbajo stated this while delivering his keynote address at the NGX Capital Market Conference with the theme: “The Future Ready Capital Market: Innovating for Nigeria’s

Sustainable Recovery,” held in Abuja.

According to him, “The NGX in 2020, was the highest performing exchange with a return of 50 per cent from the All Share Index (ASI) when compared with 98 other exchanges tracked globally by Bloomberg, yet in 2021, the exchange has experienced a significant withdrawal of foreign participation leading to a meagre performance of 7.65 per cent.

“To correct this and usher in the return of foreign, domestic and institutional participation, I must say that it is clear that government and other government agencies and regulators in our financial system such as the CBN, Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the National Pension Commission (PenCom) among other key stakeholders realise that we must work with the NGX to ensure that the excessive risk premium within the market is abated and

foreign investors are ensured of our foreign exchange mechanism and other regulations that will enable them to channel resources in and take their resources out is put right.”

However, he said the federal government had shown its commitment and was committed to working with relevant stakeholders to achieve this objective.

“And I believe it is evident as we restate our commitment to working with NGX to develop the capital market especially with the signing of the singing of the demutualisation bill into law in 2018, so the point for reassuring the business environment for local and foreign investments is our medium term national development plan which was officially approved by the Federal Executive Council (FEC) contains a robust policy plan agenda aimed at achieving fast and sustainable growth.

“The objective of the plan includes the establishment of a strong foundation for a diversified economy, investing in critical infrastructure, enabling human capital development and improving security.

“The economy is expected to grow from about three per cent this year, rising to about 6.3 per cent in 2025. The key of course is in the implementation and we must ensure that we implement this plan,” he said.

He added that the government was improving the macroeconomic environment as well as the regulatory regime, adding that this would help the country realise the huge opportunities in the capital market.

“This issues are crucial, government policies and actions are important and there is no way of overemphasising that,” he added.

To get the economy working, he said the trade groups and chambers of commerce and other business

associations must play key and active roles.

The government, he added, was already leveraging on the existing digital platform not just to attract new generation of investors, but to get access to data to enhance investment decisions.

“We should also attract tech companies present and future tech companies to the market as a revival options for raising capital and at the same time giving investors the opportunity to benefit from the phenomenal growth of this company We must commend the Securities and Exchange Commission for a steady regulatory oversight, “he said.

Sustainability reporting, he added, was mandatory, saying it had been able to attract institutional investment and was becoming a norm.

“We must also leverage on our Continued on page 49

been in the forefront in the fight against graft, haven put in place a robust mechanism of introspecting periodically to do a self-assessment to see those areas where corruption could surreptitiously creep into the system and quickly nip it in the bud from the outset.

He said, "The National Judicial Council has been carrying out regular disciplinary actions against erring judicial officers to effectively tame the monster within the system. It is not a hidden fact that for any nation to prosper and make meaningful progress, the judiciary must be firm, independent and insulated from any extraneous interference and orchestrated influence, either monetarily or otherwise.

"Worried by the delays associated with the trial of criminal cases by our courts, particularly those relating to corruption and financial crimes, we decided to set up the Corruption and Financial Crime Cases Trial Monitoring Committee (COTRIMCO) in 2018, with Hon. Justice Suleiman Galadima, a retired Justice of the Supreme Court, as Chairman.

"The sole aim of this Committee is to fast-track the trial of corruption and financial related crimes in the country; and it has since been working assiduously with various heads of courts, to bring about a significant rise in the dispensation of corruption and financial crime cases in the country. Even with the devastating impact of the Covid-19 pandemic in virtually the whole of 2020 and a better part of 2021, a total number of 746 corruption cases were dispensed with.

"Similarly, the number of forfeited non-cash recoveries made, include 51 Automobiles, 16 Real Estates, 11 Barge/Tug Boats and 2 Schools.

Between second January and 14th November, 2021, a total number of 1,144 suspects were convicted of various corruption and financial related crimes, while the number of non-cash forfeited assets has also risen to include: eight aircraft, seven filling stations, 48 real estates and 149 Vehicles, amongst others. Similarly, various cash forfeiture were made in hundreds of millions of Naira.

"We shall not rest on our oars until every trace of corruption and undue exercise of influence to negatively secure unmerited advantage over others is stamped out of our clime."

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PRACTICAL NIGERIAN CONTENT CONFERENCE...

L-R: Country Chair and Managing Director, Shell Petroleum Development Company, Mr. Osagie Okunbor; Bayelsa State Governor, Senator Douye Diri and the Executive Secretary, Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board, Engr. Simbi Wabote, during the opening of the 2021 Practical Nigerian Content Conference at NCDMB headquarters in Yenagoa ... yesterday.

MTN's N97 Billion Public Offer Opens Today Telecoms company pegs share price at N169 per unit, to issue additional 15% of offer if over-subscribed James Emejo, Oghenevwede Ohwovoriole in Abuja and Emma Okonji in Lagos Telecommunications giant, MTN Nigeria, yesterday announced that its N97 billion public offer to retail investors for the sale of 575 million shares held in the local company by the MTN Group will open today.

The company stated that the offer, which will be priced at N169 per share, would close on December 14.

MTN Nigeria Chief Executive, Karl Toriola, said at a media briefing on the offer in Abuja that the company believed the "success and growth of MTN Nigeria are intrinsically linked to that of Nigeria and Nigerians. Therefore, we are very excited to offer Nigerians the opportunity to own shares in MTN Nigeria."

He said the minimum subscription would be for 20 shares and lots of shares thereafter, adding that offer includes incentive in the form of one free share for every 20 shares purchased, subject to a maximum of 250 shares per investor.

Toriola said the offer was open to retail investors, who bought and held shares allotted to them for at least 12 months post allotment date.

The retail offer is the first in the country to be delivered end-to-end via a digital platform by utilising the power of technology to facilitate the largest participation possible

by Nigerian investors.

Toriola, further explained that the offer represented the second stage in a phased programme of inviting Nigerians to participate in the value creation that MTN Nigeria offered. He said the company had In May 2019, listed by introduction, leading to the current offer opening.

He said the purpose of the offer was to “really diversify our shareholding, specifically with the focus on retail investors, to bring them into our shareholding base so they can share in the creation of value that we see in the next 20 to 40 years coming of MTN Nigeria in this great country.”

He told THISDAY that the primary objective was not to raise money adding, “We have a very strong balance sheet. We genuinely want the broad base of retail shareholders in our investor base. And there are lots of shares on offer. I believe everyone should participate and I believe that majority of people would be able to get some shares in the offer.”

The MTN Nigeria CEO said, “Our journey to becoming the largest network in Nigeria has been humbling but we still have a long way to go. There is much more to do to support the evolution of an inclusive digital economy and we continue to invest as we evolve into a truly digital operator, capable of seamlessly interrogating value across the evolving telecommunications, digital and fintech

segments.”

Investors would be able to submit applications through the issuing houses, receiving agents, including authorised stock brokers and Nigerian banks, and online via unique digital application platform primary offer administered by the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX).

Commenting on the offer also, MTN Group President/Chief Executive, Ralph Mupita said, “The offer with MTN Group's strategic

priority is to create shared value."

Mupita added, “In the last 20 years, we have worked diligently to connect 68 million subscribers onto voice and data networks and ensure that we deliver the benefits of a modern connected life.

"With this offer, we will contribute to further deepening of Nigeria's equity capital markets. It is the first in a series of transactions as the MTN Group implements its plan to ensure broad based ownership by

UNICEF has revealed that at least 300,000 children were newly infected with HIV in 2020, which translated to one child every two minutes.

A report released by UNICEF yesterday, ahead of World AIDS Day today, disclosed that another 120,000 children died from AIDSrelated causes during the same period, or one child every five minutes.

According to the report, in Nigeria, 20,695 children aged 0-9 years were newly infected with HIV in 2020 – or one child every 30 minutes.

The latest HIV and AIDS Global Snapshot further warned that a prolonged COVID-19 pandemic was deepening the inequalities that have long driven the HIV epidemic, putting vulnerable children, adolescents, pregnant women and breastfeeding mothers at increased risk of missing life-saving HIV

prevention and treatment services.

Speaking on the situation, the UNICEF Executive Director, Henrietta Fore, said: “The HIV epidemic enters its fifth decade amid a global pandemic that has overloaded health care systems and constrained access to life-saving services.

“Meanwhile, rising poverty, mental health issues, and abuse are increasing children and women’s risk of infection. Unless we ramp up efforts to resolve the inequalities driving the HIV epidemic, which are now exacerbated by COVID-19, we may see more children infected with HIV and more children losing their fight against AIDS.” The report said it was alarming that 2 in 5 children living with HIV worldwide do not know their status, and just over half of children with HIV are receiving antiretroviral treatment (ART).

Some barriers to adequate access to HIV services are longstanding and familiar, including discrimination

the offer was an opportunity for Nigerians to own shares in the company, saying MTN Group has determined to sell about 14 per cent of its share in MTN Nigeria to Nigerians. Kadri said MTN Nigeria had a track record of declaring 80 per cent of its profit as dividends over the years and urged Nigerians to take advantage of the investment opportunity as well as opportunity for capital appreciation.

WHO: 1,300 Persons Die Daily from AIDS in Africa Says continent may miss 2030 target for ending the virus Onyebuchi Ezigbo in Abuja The World Health Organisation (WHO) has stated that despite free access to effective treatment, Africa has recorded 460,000 deaths from the Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS), with 1,300 lives lost every day.

The global health body also predicted that the continent was unlikely to end AIDS as a public health threat by 2030.

However, WHO noted that the challenges notwithstanding, Africa had made significant progress against the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) in the past decade, reducing new infections by 43 per cent and nearly halving

AIDS-related deaths.

In its message to mark this year's World AIDS Day, WHO’s Regional Director for Africa, Dr. Matshidiso Moeti said the world could not afford to lose focus on the urgent need to end the inequities that drive AIDS and other epidemics.

Matshidiso who noted that it had been 40 years since the first HIV cases were reported, expressed regret that in Africa and globally, AIDS remained a major public health concern.

'Last year, two out of every three new HIV infections occurred in the African Region, corresponding to almost 2 500 new HIV infections every day.

Sadly, AIDS claimed the lives

300,000 Children Newly Infected with HIV

Michael Olugbode in Abuja

reducing its shareholding in MTN Nigeria to 65 per cent over time.

"We thank the Nigerian authorities for the support we, as MTN Group, have received in the various approvals related to this offer and remain committed to play our humble role in digital and financial inclusion across the country over the medium term."

In an interview with journalists, Chief Financial Officer, MTN Nigeria, Mr. Modupe Kadri, said

and gender inequalities.

According to the report, in Nigeria, about 30 per cent of AIDSrelated deaths in 2020 occurred in children and that only about 3.5 per cent of the 1,629,427 Nigerians receiving antiretroviral treatment (ART) are children, revealing a big treatment gap.

It lamented that barriers to adequate access to HIV services are longstanding and familiar, including discrimination and gender inequalities.

The report also said in Nigeria, almost eight out of ten new infections occurring in adolescents aged 10-19 occur in adolescent girls, while an estimated 83,000 pregnant women in Nigeria are HIV positive. Only 44 per cent of them are on ART, risking continued mother-to-child transmission of HIV. The report however noted that many countries saw significant disruptions in HIV services due to COVID-19 in early 2020. HIV infant testing in high burden

countries declined by 50 to 70 per cent, with new treatment initiations for children under 14 years of age falling by 25 to 50 per cent.

UNICEF Nigeria Country Representative, Peter Hawkins, also said, “Children and adolescents continue to be left behind in the HIV response around the world. In Nigeria, teenage girls also bear the heaviest burden. We must increase and sustain HIV investments to ensure children are born free of HIV and stay HIV-free throughout childhood and adolescence.

“This is a shared responsibility.

The HIV response must be increasingly integrated into all ongoing sector plans. The COVID-19 response presents an opportunity for Nigeria to take big strides to make strategic health system-wide investments that can benefit all children and adolescents. That must include meaningful engagement with all affected communities, especially the most vulnerable.”

of 460 000 people, or a shocking 1 300 every day, in spite of free access to effective treatment.

"The challenges notwithstanding, Africa has made significant progress against HIV in the past decade, reducing new infections by 43% and nearly halving AIDSrelated deaths," she said.

Matshidiso further said in the African region, 86 per cent of people living with HIV know their status, while 76 per cent are receiving antiretroviral therapy.

On the efforts to eliminate mother-to-child HIV transmission, Matshidiso said only 16 countries have so far been certified for eliminating mother-to-child HIV transmission, none of which had as large an epidemic.

According to her, Botswana seems to be the only country in Africa that is on the home stretch to eliminating mother-to-child HIV transmission.

Matshidiso said: "Going forward, we cannot afford to lose focus on the urgent need to end the inequities that drive AIDS and other epidemics around the world. The continent as a whole is, however, unlikely to end AIDS as a public health threat by 2030, after we fell short of the expected 75 per cent reduction in new HIV infections and 81 per cent reduction in AIDS-related deaths by 2020.

“Despite the very high percentages of people living with HIV who know their status, and treatment rates, new HIV infections and AIDS-related deaths are not decreasing concomitantly.

"It remains critical for us to reach those who are fuelling the epidemic, addressing the persistent inequities in the provision of quality care and interventions.

“For instance, in West and Central Africa last year, key populations and their sexual partners accounted for 72 per cent of new

adult HIV infections. Yet punitive laws, policies, hostile social and cultural environments, and stigma and discrimination, including in the health sector, prevent them from accessing services."

Speaking further on the transmission rate, WHO Regional Director said within the SubSaharan Africa, young women were twice as likely to be living with HIV than men.

She explained that for adolescents aged 15 to19 years, three in every five new infections were among girls who don’t have access to comprehensive sexuality education, who face sexual and gender-based violence, and live with harmful gender norms.

She said infections were more among the girl because they have less access to school than their male peers.

She added that COVID-19 people living with HIV appeared to be at elevated risk for virus-related illness and death.

"Nearly 70 per cent live in the WHO African Region, where only 4.5 per cent of people are fully vaccinated against COVID-19," she said.

Matshidiso advised governments to prioritise investment in health funding for community-led, human rights-based, gender transformative responses.

She also that global solidarity and shared responsibility are critical components of the kind of rights-based approach we need if we are to end HIV/AIDS and COVID-19.

"We must boost our essential health workforce, and secure equitable access to life-saving medicines and health technologies.

"We must ensure that everyone, everywhere, has equal access to HIV prevention, testing, treatment, and care, including COVID-19 vaccinations and services," she said.

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REVVING UP THE WAR AGAINST CORRUPTION...

L-R: Mr. Nelson Okoronkwo of Federal Ministry of Information; Chairman of ICPC, Prof. Bolaji Owasanoye; President Muhammadu Buhari and Asst. Commander of Narcotics, NDLEA, Muhammad Tukur Ahmad, during the third National Summit on Diminishing Corruption in the Public Sector 2021 and the presentation of Public Service Integrity Award held in Abuja ....yesterday

NEC Okays 2022 Finance Bill, Seeks Aggressive Domestic Revenue Drive Proposed legislation to block tax loopholes, avoid double taxation Third parties owing us N5.2trn, says FG Deji Elumoye and Ndubuisi Francis in Abuja The National Economic Council (NEC) yesterday approved the 2022 Finance Bill which makes provision for aggressive domestic revenue drive for the nation.

NEC which is composed of all 36 State Governors, the Federal Capital Territory Minister, Governor

of the Central Bank of Nigeria and federal government officials at a monthly virtual meeting presided over by Vice President Osinbajo endorsed a memo on the Finance Bill for 2022.

The Media Assistant to the Vice President, Laolu Akande, in a statement, revealed that the the bill was presented to the Council by the Minister of Finance, Budget,

and National Planning, Mrs. Zainab Ahmed, who explained that the proposed legislation was intended to be passed alongside next year's budget by the National Assembly.

According to the minister, some of the proposed legislative changes cover domestic revenue mobilisation, closing tax loopholes, public financial management and tax administration reforms as well

as international taxation issues.

She added that some of the principles of the Finance Bill 2022 were to ensure fiscal equity, avoid double taxation, and support businesses especially MSMEs. Meanwhile, the Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, disclosed yesterday that third parties were owing the federal a total sum of N5.2 trillion with

NAFDAC Targets 70% Reduction of Nigeria's Pharmaceutical Imports by 2025 Destroys tramadol worth N2trn Says Nigeria to begin manufacture of vaccine in 2022 Onyebuchi Ezigbo in Abuja As part of efforts to achieve drug security in Nigeria, the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) said it has set a target of cutting the country’s present 70 per cent drug import to about 30 per cent by year 2025.

Similarly, the agency said that it had made stringent efforts at winning the battle against the importation of illicit drug and unwholesome food and unregulated products in the last four years.

Also NAFDAC said having successfully implemented the 868 recommendations given by the World Health Organisation (WHO), the stage was set for Nigeria to begin local manufacturing of vaccines by 2022.

Speaking at a press conference to mark her fourth anniversary in office yesterday, the Director General of NAFDAC, Prof. Mojishola Adeyeye said the agency had taken lots of measures to enhance local production of pharmaceuticals in Nigeria, She said henceforth companies would be required to submit draft blueprints of proposed partnerships with Nigerian companies or plan to set up local manufacturing plant within seven years of rolling out business in the Nigeria.

Adeyeye said: "NAFDAC has put a premium on local manufacturing of our regulated products to ensure that Nigeria will have drug security and turn the tide from 70 per cent imports to about 30 per cent imports by year 2025. Part of the goal is to also mitigate safety and counterfeiting since ensuring the quality is much easier compared to an imported product.”

She said in order to enhance local production of pharmaceuticals in Nigeria, the agency had reviewed and updated its five plus five-year validity policy.

She explained that a product registration licence was valid for five years and by the end of the fourth year of license validity, companies would be required to submit draft blueprints of proposed partnerships with Nigerian companies or/and set up local manufacturing plant.

"Upon successful renewal for another five years for companies with verifiable blueprints, NAFDAC will monitor the migration of the imported drugs to local production.

At the end of Year 7 (First 5 years plus 2 years into renewal), if there is no progress on migration to local manufacturing as detailed in the blueprint, an alert for de-registration will be sent to the company at the beginning of year," she said.

Adeyeye however said migra-

tion to local manufacturing would be limited to products the local manufacturers have capacity to produce or that partnership would enhance the capacity to manufacture.

According to her, the measure was aimed at reducing the number of registered imported products and encouraging local manufacturing and innovation Regarding the move to commence local manufacture of vaccines, NAFDAC DG said the agency had signed an MoU with Bio Ventures for Global Health (BVGH) to improve collaboration on capacity building for clinical trial staff and principal investigators in the research space for the conduct and oversight of Oncology Clinical Trials.

She said NAFDAC had successfully implemented the 868 recommendations set for the country be able to regulate the local manufacture of vaccines.

"In 2018 about 80 per cent of our laboratory facilities were not working but since that time, NAFDAC's laboratories have witnessed rapid improvement as over N2 billion worth of equipment have been procured," she said.

Adeyeye said the huge chunk of the revenue generated by the agency was being deployed towards revamping and equipping its laboratories, especially

the facility at Yaba and Oshodi, both in Lagos State, to meet the WHO requirements.

She said the agency was also developing capacities in the area of clinical trials and that an Electronic Clinical Trial Application Platform (eCTAP) in collaboration with BMGF and NOVOTEQ for ease of submission of Clinical Trial Package and improved Transparency and tracking system of all application.

Also as part of the preparedness for the revival of local vaccine manufacturing in Nigeria, Adeyeye said NAFDAC had re-equipped its major laboratories across the country.

Furthermore, Adeyeye said the agency has improved greatly in its regulatory function and has satisfied the 53 recommendations requested

by WHO. She said that NAFDAC has also developed a one-stop-shop link that houses all the relevant clinical trial guidelines.

Other key milestones she said included the development of a guidance document for conducting Clinical Trials, reduction of timelines for review of COVID-19 related trials (new molecule -15 Days while for repurposed medicine -10 Days) and skipping of Phase 1 study and in some cases Phase II studies for herbal medicine.

just N49.7 billion of the amount so far recovered.

The disclosure came just as she stated that the constraints imposed by corruption, insecurity and misgovernance on sustainable development are multi-faceted and require an ‘all-hands-on-deck’ approach to tackle.

In a keynote address she presented in Abuja at the third National Summit on Diminishing Corruption in the Public Sector, the minister described public sector corruption as a dishonest behavior by those in positions of power or authority, such as managers or government officials.

According to her, corruption includes giving or accepting bribes or inappropriate gifts, double-dealing, under-the-table transactions, manipulating elections, diverting funds, laundering money, and defrauding investors among others.

She added: "Although good governance security and the fight against corruption are instrumental to sustainable development, I believe that causality also runs in the other direction with growth and economic development creating a safe and secure environment where all Nigerians can pursue their livelihoods. " "Corruption is multifaceted and comes in various dimensions and manners which ranges from electoral corruption, bureaucratic corruption, judicial corruption, to economic corruption, political corruption and moral corruption.

"It should however, be noted that most, if not all types of corruption have serious negative impact on the economic development of acountry. It is an undisputable fact that the issue of corruption in Nigeria has been endemic and pervasive over the years, costing the country trillions of naira that could have been channeled into economic development."

Explaining that corruption is a hydra-headed monster which festers on every facet of the economy and national life, the minister noted that if left unat-

tended to, it has the ability to cripple even the most viable economy.

Nigeria, she pointed out, has had her fair share of the devastating effects of corruption, adding that that explains why the current administration, from its inception in 2015 made the reduction/eradication of corruption in public sector to the barest minimum one of its primary concerns.

Ahmed further stressed that corruption was a pressing issue in Nigeria which affects public finances, investments as well as standard of living.

"Corruption leads to low governance effectiveness as a result of inefficient government expenditure and leakages. It leads to weak support for Foreign Direct Investment since it makes it increasingly difficult for investors to predict and make good business decisions under an economy burdened by corruption.

"Also affected is lower human capital as fewer people, especially the poor, are able to access healthcare and education.

Poverty and unemployment of our youthful population are the tragic consequences of corrupt practices since the resources which could have been ploughed into socio-economic development are diverted to private use. This scenario poses a grave danger to the country because an idle hand is the devil’s workshop.

"The efforts of this administration to tackle corruption have focused on two (2) key measures: implementing good governance measures and ramping up indictments -including of highprofile cases. This government has worked continuously in diminishing corruption in Nigeria.

“The federal government has successfully conducted the audit of key federal revenue generating agencies under the approval and watchful eyes of the National Executive Council (NEC), which has led to the recovery of large sums of monies that were hitherto not remitted to the Federation account,” she added.

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COMMENT

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

CYRIL RAMAPHOSA’S VISIT TO NIGERIA Ade Adefeko urges South Africa and Nigeria to strengthen their bilateral relations

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arring any last minute change, President Muhammadu Buhari will be receiving South Africa’s President, Cyril Ramaphosa, in company of top government functionaries of his administration between 30th November and 1st December.

The visit, which is long overdue, will be President Ramaphosa’s first visit to Nigeria in his official capacity as the substantive President of the Republic of South Africa since he was elected some three years ago. While he had visited Nigeria in 2018, this was as the Acting President, following the exit of former President Jacob Zuma from office.

President Ramaphosa’s coming is a state visit which, in diplomatic circles, is different from an official visit. In the diplomatic world, a state visit is a formal visit by the head of state of one country to the head of state of another country. It is the highest level of bilateral relations, and its purpose is to confirm the good relationship between the countries concerned and to explore ways of making it even better. It is different from an official visit, which is one made by a functionary of a sovereign government, for instance a minister, to another country based on the invitation of his counterpart serving in the same capacity as the inviting country. In other words, a state visit can only be undertaken by a sovereign head of state to another sovereign head of state.

Clarifications over, it is pertinent to state that South Africa has had a chequered history, especially as it relates to the years of apartheid rule.

During this period, black South Africans were subjugated and suppressed by their white counterparts who felt that they were superior to them and, therefore, deserved to dominate them. The significant contributions made by Nigeria in helping to put an end to apartheid is well documented.

Besides Nigeria providing material and human resources to help fight white domination in South Africa during the dark era of apartheid, Nigeria also provided some sort of shield for some of the leading lights of the anti-apartheid struggle, such as Thabo Mbeki (who was to later become President of South Africa), when they were declared wanted in South Africa. Though far away geographically from the frontline of the fight against apartheid, Nigeria was symbolically seen as a Frontline State and played a crucial role in the struggle that led to the end of the obnoxious regime.

Since the end of apartheid and the institution of majority rule, Nigeria and South Africa have had a very harmonious relationship.

Except for occasional disturbances often triggered by xenophobia which targets Nigerians based in South Africa and their businesses, the two countries have developed many positive partnerships along the way. However, there is still a lot to be done in promoting bilateral cooperation between the two countries. This is especially so taking into cognizance the influential roles the two countries have to play in helping the African continent to actualise its manifest destiny in the world.

Two critically important things the leadership of the two countries must bear in mind are that one out of every four Africans must be a Nigerian because the country remains the most populous in Africa, while South Africa, warts and all, remains the strongest economy on the continent. This places a responsibility on both countries to leverage the comparative advantages inherent in them for the prosperity of

IT IS SAID THAT SOUTH AFRICA AND NIGERIA - AFRICA’S LARGEST ECONOMIES- ACCOUNT FOR ABOUT A THIRD OF THE CONTINENT’S OUTPUT. THIS REALITY MUST BE PUT TO WORK FOR THE BENEFIT OF ALL AFRICANS

Africa and the advancement of the black race. It is said that South Africa and Nigeria - Africa’s largest economies- account for about a third of the continent’s output. This reality must be put to work for the benefit of all Africans.

One hopes the outcome of President Ramaphosa’s visit is that the South African Government will accord Nigerian businesses operating in the country (South Africa) more freedom to thrive. The urgency to strengthen bilateral cooperation between the two countries can no longer be delayed or postponed, going forward.

Currently, the official encumbrances confronting some legitimate Nigerian business operators in South Africa preclude them from doing as well as they should do. The Nigerian spirit is a resilient one, capable of overcoming challenges. But it will serve the benefit of all sides when official encumbrances are removed. This is especially so given the growing population of Nigerians in South Africa. According to some official data, there are about half a million Nigerians living in South Africa. That’s almost the population of Sao Tome and Principe! These are economic immigrants that, individually and collectively, contribute and will continue to contribute to the growth and development of their host country.

Interestingly, South African business concerns in Nigeria are doing very well, creating value and employment for Nigerians while also generating revenue in the form of diaspora remittances back to South Africa. One of these is the telecommunication giant, MTN, which is the largest telecommunication provider in Nigeria. Another is DSTV whose parent company, Multichoice, remains the number one leading player in the Cable TV ecosystem in the country. Nigerians are arguably the biggest users of the satellite TV network aside from South Africans who own the network!

Altogether there are about 120 South African firms doing exceedingly well in the Nigerian market in diverse sectors like telecommunications, banking, retail and fast food. Conversely, only a few Nigerian firms like Aliko Dangote’s Sephaku Cement and Oando Energy company are operating in South Africa. This gross imbalance has to be corrected through the elimination of official barriers preventing Nigerian firms from operating in the country.

Another area where both leaders need to find common ground is with the visa regime between both countries. Right now, the process is unwieldy and inimical to good relationship between the peoples of both countries. It speaks volumes that it is much easier for a Nigerian, irrespective of status or travel history, to get a visa to visit the US, Britain and several European countries than it is to obtain one to visit South Africa. This painful reality, which inhibits business relationships between both countries, needs to come to an end.

It is to be hoped that after this August visit, Nigeria and South Africa will adopt the Nigeria-Kenya visa-on-arrival policy which has been a fundamental catalyst in improving the ease of doing business between the two countries. If Kenya and Nigeria could do it, then nothing should stop Nigeria and South Africa from doing the same thing. It is settled that business operators and owners will most likely invest in a country where the issue of visa acquisition does not pose a big challenge.

Adefeko is Chairman, Export Group NACCIMA and Honorary Consul of Botswana in Lagos

WHY TINUBU IS BEST FOR NIGERIA He is an exceptional manager of resources and a seasoned administrator, writes Tosin Adeyanju “We have discovered a man who is ready to sacrifice all he has for his fatherland…the least sacrifice we can make is to let the whole country see the Leadership we have seen, feel the compassion we have felt; and move the maker of modern Lagos (Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu) to the moulder of a greater Nigeria”Hon James Faleke Date was Saturday, October 23, 2021. etting was at the TSG Secretariat on highbrow Kainji Crescent, Maitama. The atmosphere was electrifying with enthusiastic APC Chieftains and members, TSG faithful in celebration mood. All gladly donning an all-white attire with the famous “Asiwaju Logo” inscribed on them.

The highpoint of the day was when speaker upon speaker mounted the podium to list reasons why Tinubu remains the best Presidential Candidate for APC at the moment.

For Senate Deputy Whip, Senator Sabi Abdullahi from Niger Sate, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, the Jagaban Borgu remains the best option for the rich and the poor in Nigeria.

“The man who is up and the man who is down are all affected by what is happening in the country.

Jagaban will make a difference.”

In his words, Member, House of Representatives from Borno State, Hon Mohammed Zana describes Jagaban as a nation builder whose contributions to nation building have benefited most Nigerians.

“Jagaban is a nation builder. So, we are going to win this election by God’s grace in 2023”, he declared. For the Speaker of the Kano State House

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of Assembly, Rt Hon Hamisu Chidari who also graced the occasion, Kano State which has the highest number of voters and delegates in the country would repay Tinubu act of helping President Muhammadu Buhari to become President in 2015.

According to him, “My Purpose is to kick-start the journey that will take us to the villa by God’s grace with Asiwaju Tinubu as the number one Citizen of Nigeria. “ He added that “In Kano, being the state with the highest number of delegates, we have already decided and already concluded; we are set to give him at least 98 Percent of delegates in the primaries. Not only that, we are set as usual to give him the highest number of votes so that come May 29, 2023, we will be at the Eagle Square to swear him in as the President”.

The Kano Speaker buttressed the popular slogan of TSG”SAKKAYA,” meaning “Payback” by declaring that “all of us in the North-West are aware of the role he (Asiwaju) played in taking our son, President Buhari, to the villa. So, we are going to reward him; we are going to pay him back. So, I have assured him of victory. Almost all the delegates from the North-West States are going to vote for him in the Primary elections.” He capped his assertions thus: “We don’t know a better candidate than Asiwaju Bola Tinubu.”

Speaking during the programme, a Member representing Ikeja Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives and Chairman, House Committee on Finance, Hon. James Abiodun Faleke poignantly declared that Asiwaju Tinubu deserves offer of first refusal from the APC for the 2023 Presidential election. In his speech titled “Run, Asiwaju Ahmed Bola Tinubu,” Faleke said; “it is

not often that history nurtures a particular person to fit into the need of a particular time; Our Party is therefore lucky that it does not need to go on a wild goose chase for the man to fly our Party’s flag in these challenging times; a time when the Presidency of Nigeria must go to the person who can continue to end banditry, to crush kidnappers and engage separatists so that our people can live in peace and prosperity. This is a man who will use his financial wizardry to further the gains of economic transformation.”

Faleke went further to state that “To secure the votes of majority in 2023, we must present a candidate who knows where the shoe pinches the average Nigerian, not just because he has been there, but because, as the governor of the most difficult, most complex state in Nigeria, he put smiles on the faces of the poor by convincing the rich to join the government to chase poverty from the streets…That man is Bola Ahmed Tinubu. He is already our National Leader. (And) by the practice and standards in other climes, when the issue of raising a Presidential candidate is on the burner, such a personality should be given the right of first refusal.”

Further pushing for the suitability of Asiwaju for the highest office in the land, Faleke said: “People have wondered why I am on the frontiers for the campaign to draft Asiwaju Tinubu for Presidency.

For me and many other men and women he raised, the least sacrifice we can make is to let the whole country see the Leadership we have seen, feel the compassion we have felt; and move the maker of modern Lagos to the moulder of a greater Nigeria.”

In his address, the Director –General of TSG, Arc

Umar Ibrahim Mohammed said: “In our search for credible Ieadership to consolidate and improve on the enormous gains of the Buhari administration in the next dispensation, we have painstakingly and consciously undertaken to observe, study and critically analysed the challenges confronting the nation as well as our immense resources, potential and strength. We have also reflected deeply on the outstanding Leadership qualities, personal attributes and antecedents of Asiwaju Tinubu as a man with the attributes of hard work, extensive vision, rich experience and striking intelligence, networks of vital contacts, sense of equity, justice and fairness with high regard for the rule of law.”

“Tinubu is a bridge builder across regional, ethnic and religious lines that is capable of uniting the country. We have identified him as an exceptional manager of resources and a seasoned administrator and we are convinced that the nation needs him in the next dispensation.

“We have no doubt that he has the capacity and the political will to institute a new concept of governance and new agenda of sustainable development, to provide effective leadership, capable of providing solutions to the numerous challenges confronting the nation.”

Indeed, the nation’s political atmosphere has been agog lately with supporters of Tinubu leading the pack with the huge numbers of support group they parade engaging in unrelenting advocacy on the need for the National Leader of the APC to throw his hat in the Presidential ring and for all Nigerians to support him.

Adeyanju, Acting Head, Media, TSG, wrote from Abuja

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EDITORIAL NO TIME FOR A GOVERNMENT AIRLINE The idea of a national carrier is a misplaced priority

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ridicule. Some of the aircraft were seized abroad at will because of indebtedness. Salaries were hardly paid. At one of the most ludicrous moments in 2002, after more than a 24-hour delay on a Lagos-bound flight from New York, a passenger had to lend the airline $5000 to buy fuel! Indeed, Nigeria Airways was synonymous with large scale inefficiency, mismanagement, and corruption. Yet there is nothing to suggest that appreciable lesson has been learnt as evident in the debacle that followed the federal government arrangement with Virgin Airlines to run Virgin Nigeria as Public-Private Partnership (PPP), a similar model that the aviation minister is now proposing. Sir Richard Branson, chairman of the group complained of political intrigues, corruption, lack of adherence to agreements, and a regulatory body that didn’t know what to do “and persistently asking for bribes at any point.”

early every other national airline has either folded up, gone bankrupt or been sold off. Air India, South African Airways, Alitalia, etc., the list is long. But the Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika insists on foisting on the country a new national carrier without a logical convincing argument to justify this bid. When he first mooted the idea in January 2016, we warned the current administration against erecting another monument to waste in a period when it is borrowing even to pay salaries. Our position has not changed.

We live in a country in which government and its enterprises are doomed to failure from bad management and rank corruption. Moreover, this is a country in which a massive privatisation programme was initiated to salvage huge moribund public enterprises only a few years ago. The remaining public assets from refineries to stadia are either embarrassing eyesores or wasting monuments.

To compound the THE CURRENT STATE OF problem, the nation’s THE AVIATION INDUSTRY aviation industry is currently going IN NIGERIA DOES NOT INDICATE A NEED FOR AN through financial AIRLINE THAT EXISTS JUST stress and many of the airlines are not TO FLY THE NATIONAL only highly indebted, FLAG but they are also hindered by inadequate fleet and capacity and thus cannot compete effectively. Therefore, given the operating environment, we feel that the idea of a national carrier is a misplaced priority. The current state of the aviation industry in Nigeria does not indicate a need for an airline that exists just to fly the national flag.

As we have highlighted in the past, at its peak, the then national carrier, Nigeria Airways had over 30 aircraft in its fleet. But by the time it was eventually liquidated in 2003 by the administration of President Obasanjo, it had become a huge liability, an object of national shame and international

Letters to the Editor

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T H I S DAY EDITOR SHAKA MOMODU DEPUTY EDITOR WALE OLALEYE, OBINNA CHIMA MANAGING DIRECTOR ENIOLA BELLO DEPUTY MANAGING DIRECTOR ISRAEL IWEGBU CHAIRMAN EDITORIAL BOARD OLUSEGUN ADENIYI EDITOR NATION’S CAPITAL IYOBOSA UWUGIAREN MANAGING EDITOR BOLAJI ADEBIYI THE OMBUDSMAN KAYODE KOMOLAFE

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

e agree that given the size of our nation and the mobility of our people, there are sufficient grounds to argue for a national carrier. At present the country loses so much money to foreign airliners because there is no national carrier with adequate network of routes or the capacity to operate extensively many of the highly lucrative routes. The few private airlines that attempt to do that do not have the wherewithal and capacity to finance extensive foreign operations. Yet, no matter how patriotic we may feel about the issue, this is nothing but a misplaced nostalgia.

Existing private domestic and international carriers are all groaning under huge debts and operational limitations because of an unfriendly policy and economic environment. A new national carrier is therefore an idea whose time has passed and whose justification belongs in the refuse dump of public enterprise. Nigeria’s economic situation is already bad enough. To saddle it with yet another massive loss-making public enterprise would be foolhardy. The minister of aviation should look in the direction of reforming our creaky aviation sector if he is desperate for a positive legacy.

TO OUR READERS Letters in response to specific 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.

UNPROFESSIONAL PRACTICE AT BUREAU OF PUBLIC PROCUREMENT

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write to bring to the notice of the federal government, the Senate Committee Chairman on Procurement, House of Representatives Chairman on Procurement, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Independent Corrupt Practices Commission (ICPC), Head of service and Secretary of the Government of Nigeria, a disturbing trend currently happening at the Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP).

As we are all aware, the BPP Act 2007 has put Nigeria in the League of countries with legislation on how public funds should be expended along with the establishment of the BPP as the regulatory authority responsible for monitoring and oversight of public procurement and practices by regulating, setting standards and deploying the legal framework and professional capacity for procurement in Nigeria and for other related matters.

Based on the above, it is clear that the BPP is an arm of government established and administered under strict professional, ethical and legal standards for capacity building and operators of procurement professionals in Nigeria.

Unfortunately, all these are about to be rubbished by some wicked and unethical forces at the corridor of powers at the BPP. As I write, caution is being thrown to the wind, professional stands discarded and set standards by the BPP

thrown to the dust bin with the release of the shortlisted candidates for batch two of the 2021 Conversion/induction (Foundation) Training Course into the Procurement Cadre in parastatals, institutions, commissions and agencies of the federal government.

In the set rules, standards and regulations set for candidates by the BPP, it is stated clearly among other criteria that “Nominees must have attended at least one course in any of the Public Procurement Research Centres (PPRCS) at Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), or Federal University of Technology Owerri (FUTO); and nominees who have less than five years left in service from the date of the advertisement or more than 50 years of age need not apply.

But my checks reveal that these three very important criteria were not adhered to even when it was clearly stated in Section 23 of the piece of legislation setting up the BPP, that a standard set cannot be subject to change.

Furthermore, from those fraudulently picked and undergoing training in Lagos, some did not attend either ABU or FUTO as clearly stated as one of the cardinal requirements.

Also, nominees that are above 50 years and full- fledged directors were picked against the set rules and regulations set

by BPP for nominees that those above GL 15 or its equivalent need not apply. In fact, deputy directors and directors were

all shortlisted - a clear case of abuse of the criteria set by the same BPP. The question is, are full- fledged directors on GL 15?

No doubt, this flagrant disregard to laid down rules and standards is akin to corruption which the present administration has zero tolerance for. It is clear that those who ought to apply have been disenfranchised and cut off from the process.

If BPP that is saddled with regulating procurement process is cutting corners and circumventing the rules, what becomes of procurement practice in Nigeria’s government architecture?

This explains why procurement process is suffering in Nigeria.

I call for urgent review and re - screening of the current list by the relevant authorities with those found wanting in abusing their offices and the process brought to book and made to face the full wrath of the law. This is very important in order to sanitise the system and restore confidence in procurement practice in Nigeria and serve as deterrent to would - be offenders. Otherwise this fraudulent list will pass and those who do not qualify to be certified issued with certificate of conversion to practice as procurement officers in government ministries and agencies.

Yisau Alabi, Ikeja - Lagos State

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MIDWEEKPOLITICS

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

Kayode Adaramodu and the Road to Ekiti 2022 Tony Amadi takes a look at a corporate and political strategist aspiring to occupy Ekiti Government House

Fayemi

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igeria’s political roadshow is gathering steam. With the most contentious election mercifully over with the conclusion of the Anambra gubernatorial contest. The next stop would be in Ekiti State, the Land of Honour and Integrity, a state that claims to be the fountain of knowledge with more professors than anywhere else in Nigeria. Governor Kayode Fayemi, the present governor of the state would be rounding up his term and apparently will be seeking higher laurels as the President of Nigeria in 2023 if his party gives him the presidential ticket and if he manages to fight off the threat of the Jagaban, better known as Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the National Leader of the All Progressive Congress (APC) Nigeria’s ruling party and former governor of Lagos from 1999 to 2007.

Dr. Fayemi has already started an extraordinary political roadshow with his appearance at the Zik Lecture series at Nnamdi Azikiwe University Awka in Anambra state where he gave a great speech in honour of the famous former President of Nigeria, postulating that unity will be guaranteed with Zik’s spirit among Nigerians. The seemingly fearless politician was obviously trying to win South-east APC national convention votes by that singular gesture. Governor Fayemi may hope to install a member of his party, the ruling APC to replace him when he leaves the governor’s office next year, but the opposition party, the PDP has surprisingly assembled an array of greater minds that will do justice to governance to the people of Ekiti when Fayemi leaves office.

Political stalwarts are now lining up to register their interest in governing the state and there is quite a number of interested Ekiti leaders who want the job badly. Since 1999 when a new political dispensation took off following the end of military rule, the state had a population of 2.3 million according to the 2006 census while the 2016 census gave Ekiti a population of 3.2million. Past civilian governors included Niyi Adebayo whose father was military governor of the old western state now divided into six states followed by governor Ayo Fayose, Engr Segun Oni and now John Kayode Fayemi who is expected to leave office after elections fixed for 18th June 2022 and Osun state on July 16, 2022.

There is certainly a jewel in the pack rearing its head among the aspirants jostling for the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidacy who should win the governorship race when Ekiti goes to the polls next year.

The young ex banker, corporate and political strategist is Mr. Kayode Adaramodu from the Ekiti South senatorial district which

Adaramodu has so far not produced a governor just like the Anambra scenario where the south sought and ultimately won the gubernatorial election through Governor-elect Charles Chukwuma Soludo. Ekiti APC is obviously hopeful to retain the governorship when Dr. Fayemi bows out, but PDP strategists in the state believe that their time has come and that it would be difficult for the state’s ruling party to retain the position.

Like a football manager moving to take over a team headed for relegation, winning his first match in charge is a very crucial step to take, and that is what in political terms, Senator Iyorchia Ayu at the helm of the PDP chairmanship seat wants to do with the Ekiti governorship election, the first election in his chairmanship calendar.

Mr. Adaramodu will first have to win the party’s nomination to stand a chance and he has assembled a powerful team of battle tested men and women to work behind the scene on his behalf.

If the quest to have a Southern Ekiti candidate pulls through, it could be an advantage for the savvy banker turned politician. He will then have to contend with the ranking Senator Biodun Olujimi who comes from the South as well. Top political analysts believe however that Olujimi would be content to remain in her safer senate seat rather than test the muddy gubernatorial waters with its shark infested environment. At age 50, the younger southerner Adaramodu has all it takes to fight the good fight and win not only

for the Southern senatorial district but the rest of the state especially with the dynamic economic, infrastructural and educational content of his manifesto.

Kayode Adaramodu’s banking skills was discovered by Chief Tayo Aderinokun, the late former Managing Director and co-founder of the Guaranty Trust Bank, one of the most successful new age banks in Nigeria and decided to explore those skills through foreign affairs placement in Gambia and other west coast of Africa destinations where he opened new and successful branches.

His performance in those postings was instant success before the fast moving GTB boss sent Kayode to his home base in Ekiti to open up banking liaisons with the government in the equally progressive state.

It was during that period that Adaramodu not only consolidated GTB’s success in its Ekiti state operations, but prepared useful position papers on the economy of the state that Governor Ayo Fayose tapped into the young bankers’ brilliance to the advancement of his government. It was no surprise therefore that the wealth of knowledge of the young banker gravitated to a discovery of a brand new political economy blueprint he now intends to unleash on the state’s governance. In the process, his study in governance at home and abroad added to his vision in taking his home state to the economic boom he intends to foist on the state if elected as its governor in the 2022 gubernatorial elections.

What specifics would a future

The young ex banker, corporate and political strategist is Mr. Kayode Adaramodu from the Ekiti South senatorial district which has so far not produced a governor just like the Anambra scenario where the south sought and ultimately won the gubernatorial election through Governor-elect Charles Chukwuma Soludo. Ekiti APC is obviously hopeful to retain the governorship when Dr. Fayemi bows out, but PDP strategists in the state believe that their time has come and that it would be difficult for the state’s ruling party to retain the position

Governor Adaramodu bring to the table of governance in Ekiti? Apart from his software engineering and banking experience, the governorship aspirant’s British work experience cannot be underestimated. A corporate strategist in his own right, he is not completely new in political strategy, having contested for the Ekiti South Senatorial election when he was even much younger and learnt how to swim with the sharks more than ten years ago, adding hugely to a work experience that saw him through the British system of organizational competence. It will be interesting to see a team of young and upwardly mobile group of young men and women take over the reins of power in a new Nigeria that the youths are anxious to give a new direction.

Is Adaramodu worried about the incumbency powers of the present governor foisting his APC acolyte to government house in 2022?

Those who know the PDP aspirant say he is a dogged fighter concerned with fairness, justice and equity in all aspects of life. Dr. Fayemi may have done well in his tenure, but Ekiti people are too intelligent for an individual, whatever his position in society may be to muzzle them with incumbency powers or whatever you call it, analysts say. I am told that the pragmatic Adaramodu is concerned with instituting an economic powerhouse in his home state of Ekiti in which the people will explore economic opportunities in their local government areas, rather than moving to urban centers to chase non-existent job opportunities; activate infrastructure deficits, especially roads to connect the local government areas to power the local economy and fine tune the educational infrastructure to further accelerate the already high standards in that sector.

The zoning skirmishes are still going on for the next governor of Ekiti to come from the south senatorial district. If it goes through as it did for Anambra State, Adaramodu stands to benefit more than others. Zoning or not, Mr Kayode Adaramodu is however confident of what package he has got for his beloved Ekiti people that will land him at the helm of affairs of the state in 2022.

This much was evident at the recent PDP National Convention where he spoke to ARISE News with the kind of confidence reserved for winners and seasoned political strategists. The mistakes of Anambra PDP primaries must be avoided in Ekiti or the party would suffer the same fate the Peter Obi led group suffered in the Southeast.

The road to Ekiti government house isn’t going to be easy for any of the two major parties or any other party in the state, for that matter, but the credentials of some candidates such as Kayode Adaramodu stand out clearly as the race intensifies.

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POLITICS

Between Yahaya and Goje, No Retreat, No Surrender

GOVERNANCE IN PHOTOS

The battle line between Governor Inuwa Yahaya of Gombe and former Governor, Senator Danjuma Goje has become more evident with the prosecution and detention of the Senator’s aides, for posting All Progressives Congress exco resignation on Facebook, by the state government, writes Nseobong Okon-Ekong L-R: Director Agency for Msss Education, Mrs ,Oluwakemi Kalesanwo; Permanent Secretary - office of Special Adviser of Education, Mr,Adeniran Kasali; Lagos State SUBEB Chairman, Hon Wahab Alawiye King; and SUBEB Board Seccretary, Alh. Hakeem Lamido, at the Quiz competition for Adult Education student in Lagos State organised by Lagos State Ministry of Education in Lagos recently PHOTO: ETOP UKUTT

Yahaya

Goje

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of All Progressives Congress (APC) from Yamaltu/Deba Local Government Area Gombe State, reportedly esigned their position over Senator Muhammad Danjuma Goje and Governor Muhammadu Inuwa Yahaya feud.

The ward executives, which constitute about 80 per cent of the entire ward executives, announced the decision after a stakeholders’ meeting.

After the meeting, immediate past chairman of APC in Yamaltu/Deba LGA, Alhaji Sulaiman Ibrahim, told journalists that the ward executives resigned from their respective offices in protest to the disrespect and ‘attack’ on Senator Muhammad Danjuma Goje’s convoy, last month.

This decision, according to him, was taken by the party leaders after an enlarged meeting of stakeholders and the party executives from the LGA. According to him, the executives condemned the attack and decided to align with the Senator considering the fatherly role he has been playing in the development of the state and the country at large.

He added that to well-meaning party members in the state, Senator Goje is the only recognized leader of the APC and deserve utmost respect considering the critical role he played in forming and nurturing the party.

Last month, the daughter of Goje, Hussaina resigned as the state’s Commissioner for Environment and Forest Resources, one day after suspected political thugs assaulted her father.

The serving senator, who is a former governor of the state has been in a running political battle with incumbent Governor Muhammadu Yahaya.

Until the recent public attack, both men denied the rift. However, the public attack against Goje has further widened the growing gulf of enmity between them.

Although Goje’s daughter attributed her resignation to “personal reasons,” which she refused to disclose, political pundits have adjudged that the unfortunate attack on her father not happened, she would, arguably still remain part of the Gombe executive council.

The detention of Goje’s aide for posting the mass resignation on his Facebook page may be the last straw that has broken whatever was left of the fragile unity between the camp of Governor Inuwa Yahaya and Senator Danjuma Goje.

Chief Magistrate Court in Gombe State has remanded Senator Muhammad Danjuma Goje’s aide on social media, Muhammad Adamu Yayari, in prison custody for posting the resignation of some ward executives of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) from Yamaltu/Deba LGA on his Facebook Wall.

The detention of Yayari was as a result of his Thursday Facebook post on the resignation of some ward executives of the APC from the Yamaltu/ Deba LGA. The excos resigned in solidarity with Senator Goje. There is a feud between Goje and the state governor, Muhammadu Inuwa Yahaya.

They cited persecution and incessant attacks on the senator as the reason they left their respective offices.

The report of the resignation of the party chieftains was widely reported by the national media last week.

Yayari, was arrested and detained at the state police headquarters on Monday following a petition against him by the state secretary of the APC, Abubakar Umar S Goro.

The Police First Information Report (FIR), said the accused person had on November 25, 2021 published ‘an injurious falsehood’ against the executives of the APC in Yamaltu/ Deba LGA chapter of the party on his personal facebook page.

Reading the FIR, the State Counsel, Ramatu Ibrahim Hassan, said the accused intend to harm the reputation of the ward executives with the said post.

She told the court that Yayari has committed offenses of injurious falsehood and inciting disturbance which contradicted Sections 393 and 114 of the Penal Code Law. However, when asked by the court if the information as contained in the FIR is true, Yayari pleaded not guilty.

The defense counsels, Barristers Sa’idu Mu’azu Kumo and A. B. ElIbrani applied for his bail.

However, the state counsel objected the bail application and told the court that it would be injurious to release accused considering the nature of the case.

The presiding judge, Chief Magistrate Mohammed Sulaiman Kumo, adjourned the case to December 6 to rule on the bail application.

About 80 per cent of ward executives

Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu (right) and the Speaker, the State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Mudashiru Obasa during the recent presentation of the Y2022 Budget Estimates to the House of Assembly at the Assembly Complex, Alausa, Ikeja

Olubadan of Ibadanland, Oba Saliu Akanmu Adetunji, Aje Ogungunniso 1 (middle) flanked by the Publisher, The Street Journal Magazine, Wole Arisekola and wife, Morenike, during his recent installation as Mogaji Ajenigi-Eye of Yemetu-Oje, at Olubadan Palace, Popoyemoja, Ibadan, Oyo State

Mr. Valentine Ozigbo (left), candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party in the November 6 Anambra Governorship contest with the Most Rev. Valerian Okeke, Archbishop of the Catholic Archdiocese of Onitsha during the maiden edition of Unusual Praise at the Catholic Basilica of the Most Holy Trinity, Onitsha

T H I S D AY ˾ WEDNESDAY DECEMBER 1, 2021

22

FEATURES

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

Growing Nasarawa through Entrepreneurship Given the paucity of white colour jobs in the labour market, the Nasarawa State government is training youths to acquire skills and grow the economy, reports Igbawase Ukumba

L-R Governor Sule, Deputy Governor, House Leader at the event

I

n a bid to ensure that youths in Nasarawa State were self-dependent in situations where they are no jobs after graduation from tertiary institutions, the Nasarawa State government in October, 2020 began an Employability/Entrepreneurship Training Programme for youths in the state.

The programme was anchored by the newly established Nasarawa State Human Capital Development Office in partnership with the private sector and other employers of labour.

Perhaps the emerging trends in the country had called for a new thinking towards engaging more youths in skills acquisition for economic development, hence the state government said it has concluded plans to establish a Graduate Training Academy to equip fresh graduates in the state with the 21st century skills to make them employable and employers.

Speaking during the launch of the second phase of the three-weeks Employability/Entrepreneurship Training Programme for youths of the state in October, 2021, Governor Abdullahi Sule maintained that youths of the state would continue to be given attention in all programmes of the state government as part of steps towards addressing restiveness and indolence among them.

Sule explained that white colour jobs were no longer available in the labour market, hence the need for youths in the state to acquire skills outside what they studied in their various fields of study while in school.

“It has been my dream to turn Nasarawa State to an entrepreneurship centre where our young and old citizens will learn various skills and innovations that will help to grow the economy of our dear state and Nigeria, because if you have skills, employers will look for you instead of you looking for them. I commend Poise Graduate Finishing Academy and Oxfam Nigeria for partnering the state government in training 100 youths on various skills, who were drawn from the 13 local government areas of the state.

“I want to commend Poise Graduate Finishing Academy and Oxfarm Nigeria for the partnership. Nasarawa State is among the few states in the country that was selected for this programme and I thank you from the bottom of my heart. I call on the participants to be serious about the training, as my expectations at the end of the programme is for the participants to become masters in the skill that they have learnt," the governor said.

During his visit to the venue of the Employability/Entrepreneurship

Cross section of participants at the training

Training Programme in Lafia, the Nasarawa State deputy governor, Dr. Emmanuel Akabe lauded the success of the training organised for the 100 youths when fielding question from journalists.

Akabe therefore maintained that the training had been a success given reports received and interactions with the participants, even as he lauded the organisers for the way they handled the training programme.

He said: "From my interactions with them, I think we are getting it right.

From what I was told, there were about 100 participants who have been well trained on various skills. I was also informed that the participants are determined and committed to improving their knowledge and from my interactions with them, I am satisfied."

Expressing confidence that the participants, after completing the training, will be able to start businesses of their own and be employers of labour, the Nasarawa deputy governor added: "As they are also been trained to be chief Executives of their own and it is an opportunity to link them up with some finance houses to see how the finance houses can assist develop the small projects they have."

For the Senior Special Assistant (SSA) to Governor Sule and Focal Person on Human Capital Development, Hajiya Habiba Balarebe-Suleiman, the training had been successful so far because the organisers had been able to impact on participants the 21st century skills aimed at making them employable and self reliant.

"I can comfortably say that we have had a total change and achieved a lot of our expected outcome. So yes, it's been very intense because every day it's been back to back full course training with theory and practical sessions. So it's been quite an amazing experience for them based on the testimonies from them. Even in their

attitudes, we noticed changes. So I can comfortably say that we are, like his excellency said earlier, going in the right direction."

She then expressed confidence in the participants attracting employment and those interested in entrepreneurship been able to make it on their own based on the trainings they got.

"We had some courses that teach them etiquettes; how to write a curriculum vitae, how to write a business proposal and a whole lot of them. Basically, we are trying to give them the skills, the knowledge they need so that when eventually they gain employment or start businesses, they will be able to handle whatever they are doing seriously and be more productive in their lines of work," she said.

Balarebe-Suleiman added by lauding the commitment and dedication of the Nasarawa State government to the training programme which she revealed enabled Oxfam Nigeria, funding partner of the programme, to agree to fund the programme for another three years.

Consequently, the Senior Special Assistant said Oxfam has given approval for the siting of a Bits Academy in Nasarawa State that will run Information Communication and Technology (ICT) specialties for unskilled youths of the state. She added that the academy was designed to run a year long ICT programme for 100 unskilled youth in ICT on various ICT specialties that includes but not limited to Information Technology, Soft Ware and Network Engineering, Multimedia Arts, Digital Illustrations and Animation, and Graphic Arts.

Acccording to the SSA, "It is worthy to note that Nigeria is one of the very few countries that have up to three Bits Academy sited. Nasarawa State due to the high level commitment and dedication it exhibited towards our partnership earned us a spot christened ‘NAS-BITS’ which is

It has been my dream to turn Nasarawa State to an entrepreneurship centre where our young and old citizens will learn various skills and innovations that will help to grow the economy of our dear state and Nigeria, because if you have skills, employers will look for you instead of you looking for them

already approved by Governor Sule and will hopefully commence early next year.

"Another great programme in the pipeline for 2022 is the Technical Training for 200 youths in specialised Auto-Mechanical and Engineering courses in collaboration with Peugeot Automobile Nigeria (PAN)" She continued that the Employability and Entrepreneurship Programme was aimed at preparing Nasarawa youths to become fine executives in their own rights; in character and capacity.

"This collaboration between the Nasarawa State government and Oxfam Nigeria with Poise Graduate Finishing Academy is one that is essential and promises a lot in the future. You may recall that last year during the job fair, Oxfam announced its approval for an additional three years for the implementation of the Employability and Entrepreneurship Programme and Job Fair in Nasarawa State, the 3rd State in Nigeria to enjoy this privilege after Edo and Lagos States," Habiba explained.

Nevertheless, it had been a great honour to one of the training firms, Poise Nigeria, to be in Nasarawa State. Hence it appreciated the effort and support the administration of Governor Sule had made and is still making that the youths in Nasarawa State were empowered with the right skills.

The Managing Director of Poise Nigeria, Mrs. Ebele Chukwujama, stated this during the flag off of the training programme, adding that the training was part of activities scheduled during the just-concluded Nasarawa State Fair flagged off by the Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo, in collaboration with the state government, triggered by the increase in the unemployment rate currently at 27.1 per cent.

"The three weeks programme exposed the youths to 21st century employability skills, including Leadership training, Ethics, C.V writing, Goal setting, Communication skills, Business model canvas, and Business plan writing, among others.

So far, the vision for the training and fair is to create a pool of skillful employers, entrepreneurs and job creators in the state."

The Poise Nigeria MD, therefore, said it was bent on catering to that niche in order to reduce the rate of unemployment among the youth in Nasarawa State.

Speaking, one of the participants, Mr Sunusi Abdulsalam, lauded the state government for the training and said so far participants have been taught how to take opportunities, explore opportunities and manage the opportunities with the scarce resources available.

23

T H I S D AY ˾ WEDNESDAY DECEMBER 1, 2021

FEATURES

How a Cashless Africa Could Strengthen the Economy of the Continent

Efayomi Efayomi Carr

T

he dream of a completely cashless Africa, where a Kenyan can trade easily with a Zambian despite the countries having different currencies and being in different economic zones, was a far-fetched reality less than a quarter of a century ago, and it was definitely a time most Africans were only familiar with via the media they consumed showing depictions of cashless transactions in more developed regions and economies.

Change is the only thing in life that is constant, and this we can attest to in every area of life.

Currently, the transition to a cashless society is already happening and while Kenya may not be fully ready to switch over completely to a cashless economy, financial institutions including credit and debit card firms are more than willing to support this idea.

The prospect of a cashless Africa has triggered a scramble for control of its payments plumbing. Thanks to their “ mobile money“ networks, the continent’s top telecoms operators have become big financial players thanks to their “mobile money” networks, which provide basic banking to tens of millions through handsets.

Restrictions on movement and increased wariness of handling physical cash helped lift subSaharan mobile money transaction volumes 23% to $490 billion last year, greater than the GDP of Nigeria, the region’s biggest economy.

Active users increased by 18% to 159 million, according to the GSMA, an industry body.

There are strong advantages of choosing to go cashless. It makes life easier and helps verify the transactions that are done, therefore reducing theft and fraud cases. It also reduces the expenditure incurred in printing and transportation of currency notes considering the fact that the lifespan of paper currencies is about six years.

Going cashless helps to curb corruption, which is one of the major problems in Africa, while also preventing the inflow of laundered money which leads to an increase in economic growth.

Apart from improving financial inclusion, a cashless Africa could also embrace Africa’s large informal economy. But with the growth of technology and a population that is able to easily adapt to digital platforms, growing a cashless

economy can have a major impact on the continent’s growth.

Innovation has to lead for policy to follow. The impact of mobile money can be seen in the financial inclusion statistics of the continent. In contrast to the high number of unbanked individuals, according to the GSMA State of the Industry Report on Mobile Money 2021, Africa accounts for 64% of all mobile money transactions globally.

Mobile technology has played a big part in that, making it easier both to send and receive money, but it’s also opened the door to a lot of potential exploitation by unscrupulous opportunists, preying on people who might use a service for convenience and not be completely clear on how the actual pricing breaks down.

For instance, Kenya came up with the concept of mobile money through the creation of M-PSEA and continues to lead

Going cashless helps to curb corruption, which is one of the major problems in Africa, while also preventing the inflow of laundered money which leads to an increase in economic growth.

Apart from improving financial inclusion, a cashless Africa could also embrace Africa’s large informal economy

the continent to grow and develop the services.

Digital technology is now being leveraged in building an ecosystem that enables people to digitally send and receive money and offer simple financial access for everyone. This has played a part in building financial technology to improve the lot of people living in emerging markets either through better access to payments facilities or access to remittance services.

For that reason, the UN has set a goal for remittance pricing and commissions to be no higher for any company than 3% of the total sent — one way to ensure that players focus more on volume and less on margins. Taptap Send, an Africa based financial services provider is one of the few companies in Africa that has publicly committed to that goal.

Such firms are solving two key problems that exist around the world - eliminating the use of cash for transactions and access to financial services. These companies have been of great assistance in helping people send and receive money with ease.

The question is, does money have to be in the physical form?

The generations to come are likely to live at a time when their idea of money will be credit and debit cards. This will be the time when cash will have to give way to a world where exchange will take place without money being visible and tangible.

-Carr is the Principal, Flourish Ventures.

24

WEDNESDAY DECEMBER 1, 2021 • T H I S D AY

T H I S D AY ˾ WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 1, 2021

25

BUSINESSWORLD R A T E S MONEY MARKET

A S

A T

REPO

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

08056356325

N O V E M B E R

S & P INDEX

3 0 , 2 0 2 1

S & P INDEX

EXCHANGE RATE

OBB

14.00%

CALL

4%

INDEX LEVEL

565.29%

1/4 TO DATE

6.06%

N412.08/ 1 US DOLLAR*

OVERNIGHT

14.50%

1-MONTH

6%

1-DAY

–0.11%

YEAR TO DATE

– 15.66%

*AS AT LAST FRIDAY

3-MONTH

10%

MONTH-TO-DATE

0.41%

Illiquidity: Banks’ Borrowing from CBN Rises by 315% to N24.53trn in 11 Months

Kayode Tokede The scarcity of liquidity has forced banks and merchant banks to aggressively depend more on the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) for short-term liquidity needs, leading to N24.53 trillion borrowing from the apex bank between January and November 2021.

This represents a 315 per cent increase when compared to N5.91trillion borrowed in the previous year.

The acentral bank has two shortterm lending windows for banks and merchant banks, namely the Standing Lending Facility (SLF)

and Repo lending.

While the CBN lends money to banks through the SLF at interest rate of 100 basis points (bpts) above the Monetary Policy Rate (MPR) of 13 per cent, it also lends money to the banks through Repurchase (Repo) arrangement, which involves the purchase of banks’ securities with the agreement to sell back at a specific date and at higher price.

Data from the CBN official website showed that banks’ and merchant banks borrowing through the SLF rose by 315.2per cent to N12.23trillion from N5.17trillion, while borrowing through Repo arrangement moved to N5.15trillion from N735.14billion

the previous 11 months.

On the heels of aggressive borrowing, the Nigeria’s real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) grew by 4.03 per cent (year-on -year) in the third quarter (q3) of 2021, compared with 5.01 and -3.62 per cent in Q2 2021 and Q3 2020, respectively.

The growth trajectory has thus, been positive in the last four quarters following the exit from the recession in 2020.

The Governor, CBN, Godwin Emefiele at the last Monetary Policy Meeting (MPC) in Abuja said money market rates oscillated within the standing facilities corridor, reflecting the prevailing liquidity conditions

in the banking system.

Meanwhile, analysts have attributed the increase in banks’ borrowing from CBN to improved economic activities in the country.

According to analyst at PAC Holdings, Mr. Wole Adeyeye “Last year, the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in lockdown of economic activities and restriction of movements in many States.

“Most businesses were adversely affected as the country witnessed economic recession in 2020. However, the increase vaccination in 2021 resulted in improved economic activities.

“Most companies in the real sector

increased their borrowing during this period to meet the rising demand.

Consequently, the GDP maintained positive growth in 2021. It could be there was no opportunity in the economy to finance a project needed for them to access liquidity from the SLF of the CBN.” Some analysts believe liquidity crunch in the country is responsible for increasing DBMs and merchant banks borrowing from the apex bank in the first four months of 2021.

The Managing Director, Highcap Securities Limited, Mr. David Adnori expressed that growing demands to support economy growth forced banks and merchant banks to increase

borrowing from CBN. He was quick to add that liquidity crunch is another major factor banks and merchant banks borrowed funds from CBN to meet their daily business activities demands from customers.

Specifically, he said, “There are two reasons why banks may borrow heavily from the CBN. The first has to do with booming economy as opportunities are increasing in the banks. There are always demands on banks fir credits as borrowers go to banks to access funds. The banks’ balance might not be enough Continued on page 29

CBN Discontinues Manual Processing for Non-commercial Exports James Emejo and Nume Ekeghe The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) yesterday announced the stoppage of manual processing of the Form NCX (Non-commercial Exports), directing that processing of the document shall only be done electronically on the Trade monitoring System.

The policy became effective on November 30, 2021.

The apex bank, in a circular

dated November 29, 2021, that was addressed to all authorised dealers, including the Nigeria Customs Services (NCS), shipping lines and airlines, National museums and monuments and members of the public, stated that the e-Form ‘NCX’ shall replace the hard copy Form NCX for non-commercial exports.

It further mandated all authorised dealer banks to ensure that their customers obtain a valid

Tax Identification Number (TIN) from Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS)/Joint Tax Board (JTB) adding that TIN remained a prerequisite for customers to access the Trade System for e-Form ‘NCX’ application.

According to the circular, signed by the CBN Director, Trade and Exchange Department, Dr. O.S. Nnaji, which was posted on the CBN’s website, the e-Form ‘NCX’ is web-based and allows non-

commercial exporters to initiate the form from their offices/homes and submit same to the authorised dealer bank.

The CBN also explained that a charge of N5, 000.00 as fee per declaration of e-Form ‘NCX’ would be applicable with effect from November 30, henceforth.

It said, “There will be a direct debit of the processing bank’s current account for each declaration which should

be recovered from the customer by the bank. However, the charge on the customer for the e-Form ‘NCX’ should be separated from other bank charges.”

The central bank also said all hard copies of Forms “NCX’ established on or before November 30, 2021 (prior to the commencement of the e-Form ‘NCX’) shall be utilized within 90 days of the establishment of the Form, warning that all

established hard copies of the document for which shipment had not taken place within the transition period of 90 days shall be deemed cancelled.

The CBN further enjoined all authorised dealer banks to inform their customers of the latest development for compliance.

Essentially, Non-commercial Exports (NCX) form shall be Continued on page 29

M A R K E T D ATA A S AT T U E S D AY, N O V E M B E R 3 0 , 2 0 2 1 FGN BONDS DESCRIPTION 10.296 FGNSB 13-NOV-2021 13.390 FGNSB 14-NOV-2021 9.091 FGNSB 11-DEC-2021 13.402 FGNSB 12-DEC-2021 7.144 FGNSB 15-JAN-2022

Price

Yield

BILLS Change (%)

MATURITY

OTC FX F U T U R E S

Discount Yield Change (%)

100.19

3.79

0.00

NTB 11-Nov-21

3.74

3.74 0.00

100.31

3.79

0.00

NTB 25-Nov-21

3.82

3.83 0.00

100.54

3.96

0.00

NTB 13-Jan-22

4.10

4.13 0.00

101.02

3.97

0.00

NTB 27-Jan-22

4.18

100.59

4.17

0.00

NTB 10-Feb-22

4.26

CONTRACT TENOR (MONTH) 1

Contract

Current Rate ($/₦)

NGUS NOV 24 2021 420.93

2

NGUS DEC 29 2021 422.38

3

NGUS JAN 26 2022 423.83

4.22 0.00

4

NGUS FEB 23 2022 425.28

4.31 0.00

5

NGUS MAR 30 2022 426.73

C Ps MATURITY

Discount Yield

Change (%)

CMBL CP XVII 15-NOV-21 FSDH CP III 16NOV-21 NBRP CP XIV 25NOV-21 PARP CP IA 26NOV-21 PARP CP IB 26NOV-21

5.69

5.71

0.00

7.06

7.08

0.00

6.56

6.59

0.00

9.29

9.35

0.00

6.71

6.74

0.00

26

WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 1, 2021 ˾ T H I S D AY

BUSINESSWORLD

NEWS

IBPLC’S 50TH ANNIVERSARY…

L-R: Legal & Corporate Affairs Director, International Breweries Plc (IBPLC), Temitope Oguntokun; Managing Director, International Breweries Plc, Hugo Rocha; Executive Governor of Ogun State, Prince Adedapo Oluseun Abiodun; Independent Non-Executive Director, International Breweries Plc, Olutoyin Odulate, and Plant Manager, Gateway Plant, International Breweries Plc, Akintayo Oguntunde, during the courtesy visit to the Ogun State Governor as part of IBPLC’s 50th Anniversary programme in Ogun State

Impressive Corporate Earnings Lifts NGX Investors Gain by N629bn in November Kayode Tokede The stock market of the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) appreciated

by N629 billion in November 2021, on the back of investors’ renewed interest in listed high-mid capitalised and undervalued stocks on the bourse.

Analysis of market performance for November revealed that the market capitalisation of listed equities on the NGX appreciated by 2.9 per cent or N625billion to close on November 30, 2021, at N22.567 trillion, up from the N21.938 trillion the market opened for trading this year.

Consequently, the NGX All-Share Index also appreciated by 2.9 per cent or 1,209.45 basis points from the 40,270.72 basis points it opened at the beginning of 2021, to 43,248.05 basis points.

Year-Till-Date (YtD), the stock market gained N1.5trillion from N21.063trillion the stock market opened in 2021 to close November 30, 2021 at N22.567trillion.

Similarly, the NGX ASI has gained 7.4 per cent or 2,977.33 basis points to 43,248.05 basis points as at November 30, 2021 from 40,270.72 basis points it opened this year.

The stock market in 2021 has been confronted with foreign investors’ exit, double-digit inflation rate that discourage investment as well as movement of liquidity to money market instruments.

Capital market analysts noted that inflation rate at double-digit between January and November of 2021 contributed to investors dumping the equities market for money market instruments.

The market capitalisation also lost a total of N1.297 trillion in the first half (H1) of 2021 to N19.760 trillion as investors moved to fixed income

Group Business Editor Eromosele Abiodun Comms/e-Business Editor Emma Okonji Aviation Editor Chinedu Eze Asst. Editor, Money Market Nume Ekeghe Senior Correspondent Raheem Akingbolu (Advertising) Correspondents James Emejo (Finance) Ebere Nwoji (Insurance) Chineme Okafo (Energy) Emmanuel Addeh (Energy) Reporters Nosa Alekhuogie (ICT) Peter Uzoho (Energy) Ugo Aliogo (Development)

instrument.

The exchange had stated that the global economy is projected to stabilize in 2021 and consolidate on growth made in the second half of 2020, albeit, below pre-pandemic levels.

“This is hinged on the distribution of a COVID-19 vaccine, persistent social distancing, rekindling economic activities, and increased

consumer demand. We expect the marginal reopening of businesses, normalization of the economy and revenue-diversification drive of the Nigerian government to elicit positive sentiments throughout the year.

“Our growth expectations should be noted with caution, as the recent second wave of Covid-19 in Nigeria and globally, may slowdown renewed

social and economic activities.”

A stockbroker and capital market analyst, Mr. Rotimi Fakayejo attributed the oil and gas index performance growth to impressive corporate earnings posted by listed petroleum marketing companies, stressing that the enactment of the Petroleum Industry Act also played a critical role in lifting the index higher in the 10 months

under review.

On his part, Managing Director, Highcap Securities Limited, Mr. David Adnori, attributed stock market to impressive listed companies’ nine months corporate earnings and improved macroeconomic conditions.

According to him: “The rising price of crude oil also increased demand for stocks on the NGX.

The growth may extend to year-end as most Q3 results are fantastic.

“The rebound in the stock market is expected to extend till year ended because of steady increase in global oil prices. The recovery of the stock market could have been better but insecurity in the nation’s led to hike in inflation rate and investors have to react negatively.”

Group Seeks Inclusion of Mushroom into CBN’s ABP, Eyes $45.3bn Market James Emejo in Abuja The National President of the National Mushroom Growers, Processors, and Marketers Association of Nigeria (NAM- GP-MAN), Chief Michael Awunor, yesterday called for the inclusion of the commodity into the Central Bank of Nigeria’s Anchor Borrower Programme (ABP).

He lamented a situation where the commodity association was created by the federal government but neglected soon after launch.

He called on government to enlist the association in ABP and other agricultural funding avenues in order to tap into the $45.3 billion global mushrooms market, which

is further projected to reach $72.5 billion by 2027.

He said investment in mushroom would boost the present administration’s agenda to diversify the economy and create jobs for Nigerians.

Speaking at the maiden National Mushroom Week in Abuja, Awunor, he called for proper funding of the commodity association as well as a special fund for agricultural commodity associations to be managed by the Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment and the associations.

He added that the mushroom week seeks to sensitise and educate Nigerians on the importance of cultivation and consumption of the commodity and appreciate God for the gift of mushroom to mankind

due to its nutritional and medicinal values as well as the opportunities it presents for job/wealth creation.

Awunor said the global demand for mushroom has continued to increase significantly according to the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) with world production estimated at 8.99 million tons in 2018 - China accounting for 46 per cent of global output.

Africa accounted for 28.77 thousand tons mainly produced by South Africa, Madagascar, Morocco, Algeria, Zimbabwe and Tunisia while Nigeria’s annual production was estimated at only about 1 5 tons or 1,495 kilograms in 2019.

According to him the global demand and market for mushroom

stemmed from its potency in medical and nutritional applications adding that the increasing global awareness for healthy foods had further made the commodity a highly preferred substitute for meat in proteins, vitamins and minerals.

He said,”The statistics above represents a lucrative and attractive option for Nigeria to key into mushroom production for economic diversification, job creation and the medicinal/nutritional value will greatly enhance the wellbeing of her populace.”

But he said available date indicated that there was no production in some states of the federation.

He put the monthly estimated mushroom production in the country

at about 12,460kg and 149,520kg annually, representing only about 10 per cent of total annual local demand.

He added that Nigeria needed to produce about 1.46 million kg to meet local demand.

He said, “This implies that mushroom farmers may need to produce about 1,495, 200kg to meet local demand alone. However, with proper incentive and additional encouragement from government, farmers can produce much more for medicinal, nutritional, industrial raw materials and exports.”

He, however, lamented that despite the numerous opportunities in mushroom farming, the government is yet to come to the aid of the farmers.

Obaseki’s Regeneration Project Gets Boost as Edo Cultivates 50,000-hectare Oil Palm Plantation The Edo State Governor, Mr. Godwin Obaseki, has said his administration has made remarkable progress in the area of forest regeneration as the state has cultivated over 50,000-hectare oil palm plantations.

Obaseki disclosed this when he received the British High Commissioner to Nigeria, Catriona Laina, who was on a courtesy visit at the Government House in Benin City.

He hinted that the target was to cover over 200,000 hectares, seeking the support of the British Government to realize the vision.

According to him, “We have developed a structured oil palm programme where

we are going to make 150,000 hectares of land available. The first 50,000 hectares have been done under a very well defined and structured programme, which takes into consideration a strong community action programme. Communities must be involved as well as the investors so as to sustain livelihoods in communities.”

“We will be counting on your support in the areas of technical assistance,” Obaseki urged.

The governor noted that the British Government had helped establish the best forestry governance system in Benin City, stating that the advent of crude oil truncated it.

“We have done a bit of work in

reclaiming our forests as we have a well-developed regeneration programme for our forests. We are also working hard to police our forests to ensure they are not hideouts for criminals,” he added.

Governor Obaseki also renewed the call for the return of Benin artefacts in the United Kingdom, noting that it would help inspire and reenergize the state’s young population to recreate such masterpieces.

He further stated, “As a government, we are working to ensure our artefacts are returned, as the works represent our culture, creativity and innovation. The work will influence and re-energise our young ones as it will connect them with

their history.

“The return of the work is important to us as we have the capacity to support the works as it will attract tourism; the artefacts are a global public good.”

In the area of technology, Governor Godwin Obaseki said his administration is preparing Edo youths to take advantage of technology, adding, “We are using basic education to drive the process of actualizing our policies and plans.

“The issue of human trafficking has been taken seriously and we have made remarkable success in that aspect as we traced the root causes and addressed it.

We are hoping to work with the Federal Government to come up with a strategy

for regular migration, knowing those that want to travel and preparing them for such journeys.”

On her part, Catriona Liang said the United Kingdom is ready to partner with the Edo State Government to tackle climate change and deforestation, using oil palm trees.

The High Commissioner said she was in Edo to follow up on commitments Nigeria made on forest regeneration at the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference, COP26, held in Glasgow.

She emphasized that the goal was to ensure that the oil palm approach was sustainable for the good of not just Nigeria but the world as a whole.

WAICA-Re Poised to Fight against Effects of Climatic Change Ebere Nwoji The West African Reinsurance Corporation (WAICA Re), has said that it was set to fight the effects of climatic change and other emerging risk across the African continent through sponsorship of an annual competition that would require people to provide practical solutions to ending these emerging disaster on the continent.

The corporation said it has taken the responsibility of funding the winning project.

The WAICA Group Chief Operating Officer, Dr Abiba Zakariah, addressing the media on the initiative, during the just concluded African Insurance Organisation’s conference held in Lagos, said the corporation came up with the initiative as part of its Corporate Social Responsibility(CSR) to end drought, flood and deforestation across Africa, especially, West African region.

She stated that the projects proffered practical solutions that could be replicated across Africa, adding that WAICA Re was ready to continue to support such

initiative with $100,000 annually to ensure that Africans saw themselves as solutions to African problems.

According to her, the winner of the competition now becomes WAICA Re’s goodwill ambassador for a year, even as the reinsurance firm would support the winning project with $100,000, while such ambassador would have a cash reward of $5000.

At the conference, one Mr Ejike Nwankwo won the 2021 WAICA Re Champions Award, with his entry on how to manage plastic waste to prevent

flooding and the corporation promised to finance this initiative to the tune of $100,000. He also went home with $5,000.

Similarly, Uduakobong Inyang, won cash prize of $3000 as first runners-up while $2000 prize went to Chinwe Anthonia Umeobi of African Alliance Insurance Plc as the 2nd runners-up.

Zakariah, said the corporation came up with the initiative as part of its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) to end drought, flood and deforestation across Africa, especially, West African region.

“There will also be 1st and 2nd runners-up with cash awards of $3000 and $2000 respectively, she stressed.

Also speaking, the immediate past Secretary General, AIO, Prisca Soares, said, the devastating effects of natural disasters, which might also be linked to climate change in most countries on the continent was better imagined, adding that, the untold and undocumented hardship on the communities and worsening poverty situations, were gaps insurance policies did not cover.

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ECONOMY

Dealing with Unemployment Challenge James Emejo urges tertiary institutions to take advantage of the Central Bank of Nigeria entrepreneurship scheme and contribute to solving the country’s increasing unemployment and social challenges

U

nemployment constitutes one of the most glaring macroeconomic challenges faced by the current administration besides inflation and other variables. The country’s worsening insecurity has been linked to the lack of jobs for the teeming youth

population.

According to figures from the Bureau of Statistics (NBS), 23.18 million Nigerians are currently unemployed while the country’s unemployment rate rose to 33.3 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2020 (Q4 2020) compared to 27.1 per cent in Q2.

It implied that there was an additional 1.42 million persons added to country’s unemployment portfolio when compared to 21.77 million unemployed persons in Q2.

According to the Labour Force Statistics: Unemployment and Underemployment Report (Q4 2020), a combination of both unemployment and underemployment rates stood at 56.1 per cent for the reference period.

Of the particular interest is the fact that unemployment rate among young people (15 to 34 years) increased to 42.5 per cent from 34.9 per cent while the rate of underemployment for the same age group declined to 21.0 per cent from 28.2 per cent in Q2.

POVERTY STATISTICS

Moreover, rising unemployment has often been associated with the increasing level of poverty in the country.

The statistical agency last year said more than 83 million Nigerians are currently living below the national poverty line, and put the current poverty rate at 40.1 per cent.

The national poverty line is determined by adding the food poverty line and cost of non-food basic needs.

The current value of the poverty line set at N137,430 per person per year, indicating that individuals living in households whose per capita annual consumption expenditure is below the threshold are regarded as poor by national standards.

Earlier in October 2018, also, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in collaboration with the NBS had released the Nigeria Human Development Report 2016, which estimated Nigeria’s poverty index at 53.7 per cent.

UNEMPLOYMENT AS MAJOR CONCERN

Nigeria’s unemployment crisis had been a major source of concern to both fiscal and monetary authorities in recent times. The adverse impact of insecurity has cost the country foreign investments among others as investors age-long high appetite has drastically reduced due largely to the unfavourable investment climate despite policy reforms. It has variously been argued that no investor would be enticed to commit resources to areas where security is not guaranteed.

Analysts have described the bulging youth population, without corresponding increase in available opportunities, as a time-bomb if not urgently addressed.

ROLE OF TERTIARY INSTITUTIONS

For one, the ivory towers have particularly been berated for running short of providing solutions to some of the societal problems currently bedeviling the country.

Universally, higher institutions of learning pioneer research efforts, which have ended in producing solutions to issues confronting humanity. There is no gainsaying the fact that major breakthrough in innovation and advancement in research and human endeavour emanated from universities and their equivalent across the world but tertiary institutions in the country appeared to have fallen short of these attributes. Thousands of graduates are turned out annually from tertiary education into the already- saturated job market – almost all of them seeking white-collar jobs, which are almost non-existent.

APEX BANK’S INTERVENTION

However, to reverse this trend, the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mr. Godwin Emefiele, last week, formally launched the apex bank’s N500 million Tertiary Institutions Entrepreneurship Scheme (TIES), a move which had been commended in view of these challenges.

The intervention will help to solve the issue of lack of access to finance opportunities to budding entrepreneurs whose ideas often perished for lack of support.

According to the CBN governor, the intervention would create an enabling business environment that supports innovation and enable the youth to unleash their entrepreneurial potential, by redirecting their focus from seeking white-collar jobs to embracing a culture of entrepreneurship.

Essentially, the initiative, which the CBN governor hinted at earlier this year, is expected to boost entrepreneurship in higher institutions of learning as well as create the environment to provide support in re-orientating, training, and providing a financing model apt to the peculiarities of the sector within which the businesses operate.

Emefiele, at the launch of the scheme in Abuja, urged government at all levels to evolve policy measures to support entrepreneurial development among the youth in the country adding that this was particularly crucial given that about 600,000 students graduate yearly from Nigerian tertiary institutions without commensurate employment opportunities in both the public and private sectors.

He said the essence of the intervention was to create a paradigm shift from the obsession for white-collar jobs among graduates and promote entrepreneurship. He said the CBN was particularly concerned about the current level of unemployment among the youth population.

He explained that the intervention consisted of three main components, including term loan, equity investment, and development grant.

Emefiele said the scheme would make it easy for youths to access credit and create jobs for themselves and others.

He warned that the finance to be provided was not a grant but a loan, which should be used for the intended purposes, adding that entrepreneurship remained an integral part of any economy and remarked that entrepreneurs play a key role in driving growth and innovation, which in turn results in job creation.

He explained that this is in line with its mandate

of ensuring monetary and price stability, and its developmental mandate of ensuring inclusive growth in the economy, noting that the central bank had introduced several programmes to create an ecosystem that allowed the flow of affordable credit to the real sector.

The CBN Governor noted that these interventions were industry-led and designed to support the resilience of targeted priority sectors and segments for growth and job creation.

Emefiele said, “With an estimated population of 213 million, out of which two-third are youth, aged under 35 years, the nation is faced with a historic opportunity, particularly as the demography continues to create clear evidence of their relevance to economic development, as accentuated by the global recognition of Nigerian tech start-ups and continued growth of businesses in the technology space owned by the youth.

“In realisation of this, the CBN has introduced several innovative financing programmes designed to extend low-cost financing to youth entrepreneurs across the country. These interventions have continued to receive resounding commendations, as they have proven effective in extending credit to youth entrepreneurs across the country.”

Essentially, he said TIES was conceived as part of measures to promote entrepreneurship development among the graduate and undergraduate youths of Nigerian polytechnics and universities, with the release of the implementation guidelines and the opening of a portal for submission of applications in October 2021.

The scheme aims at providing an innovative financing model that will support the development of innovative entrepreneurial ideas among graduates and undergraduates of tertiary institutions in the country, the CBN governor said.

BODY OF EXPERTS CONSTITUTED

The ceremony also witnessed the inauguration of the Body of Experts (BoE) by the CBN governor.

The body, chaired by the Group Managing Director/ Chief Executive, Sterling Bank Plc, Mr. Abubakar Suleiman, among other professionals, seeks to evaluate and rank entrepreneurial presentations made by the tertiary institutions under the development (grant) component.

Emefiele said members of the body were professionals of impeccable standing, drawn from the academia, professional bodies, and industry. He said part of their job was to recommend projects with high potential and transformational impact for grant awards.

Emefiele said the official launch of the TIES and subsequent inauguration of the BoE for the scheme’s development component was a testimony to the important role the youth play in building new blocks for economic growth, particularly as national growth was highly dependent on strong and competitive businesses.

He said bridging their financing gaps and enhancing access to low-cost credit to drive development of business was a task that could only be addressed by an innovative financing model that correlates with the complexity and

dynamics of these small businesses.

Emefiele said the scheme was designed to address three verticals of the segment namely, term loan component, which provides direct credit opportunities to graduates of Nigerian polytechnics and universities of not more than seven years post-graduation.

He said an applicant, if successful, should be eligible for a maximum of N5 million for an individual, soleproprietorship or small company; and a maximum of N25 million for a partnership or company.

The tenure of the facility is a maximum of five years, with a one-year moratorium, and at an interest of five per cent per annum, which shall revert to nine per cent from March 2022.

The pilot phase of the scheme is presently being implemented through the Bank of Industry (BOI) with the development of an application portal and processing of submitted applications.

The equity investment component is designed to support start-ups, existing businesses requiring expansion, and ailing businesses seeking resuscitation, and shall be implemented under the bank’s AGSMEIS equity window.

The investment limit shall be subject to the limit prescribed by the AGSMEIS guidelines and the investment period not more than 10 years.

Emefiele also noted that the development grant component was aimed at raising awareness and visibility of entrepreneurship among undergraduates of Nigerian tertiary institutions. He explained that here, polytechnics and universities in the country shall compete in a national biennial entrepreneurship competition where undergraduates are presented by the tertiary institutions to pitch innovative entrepreneurial or technological ideas with transformational potential.

According to him, three top institutions at the regional levels shall proceed to the national level, where the top five shall be awarded grants ranging between N120 million and N250 million.

He insisted that the grant awards should be used by the tertiary institutions solely for the development of the award-winning ideas.

Further commenting on the genesis of the scheme, Emefiele said, “As you are all aware, at the occasion of the 51st convocation of the University of Lagos, in July 2021, I delivered the convocation lecture, titled, ‘National Development and Knowledge Economy in the Digital Age: Leapfrogging SMEs into the 21st Century.’ At that event, I promised that the central bank would seek fresh collaboration with the nation’s tertiary institutions to develop entrepreneurship programmes, and to support – through the provision of access to finance – graduates and undergraduates who have bankable ideas, to bring the ideas to fruition.

“Engagements have been on-going between the central bank and the leadership of some of our tertiary institutions regarding the framework for an innovative financing model that will support entrepreneurship development among our graduates and undergraduates.

“This launch of the Tertiary Institutions Entrepreneurship Scheme today, is a culmination of the engagements and fulfillment of that promise.”

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INSURANCE

PFAs Performance in Challenging Economy The Contributory Pension Scheme administered by the Pension Fund Administrators has since inception 17 years ago recorded some achievements as well as met some obstacles. In this report, Ebere Nwoji takes a look at the performance of the scheme in the face of the down turn in Nigeria’s economy

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he Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS) regime in Nigeria was established by the Pension Reform Act 2004 amended in 2014, which put the management of pension fund in the hands of private organisations called Pension Fund Administrators (PFAS).

The investment of the contributed fund was also placed in the hands of different set of investment experts called Pension Fund Custodians (PFCs).

Both have their activities regulated by the National Pension Commission (PenCom), which also stands as federal government adviser on pension matters.

With the establishment of these bodies and enactment of laws guiding their operations, Nigerian pension system which hitherto was enmeshed in huge deficit of over N2 .56 trillion during the defined benefit pension scheme era, suddenly wriggled out of the deficit track to gain its present ground of conveniently sitting on huge accumulated N13 trillion assets.

This has automatically positioned the pension sub sector as a vibrant part of the finance service sector of the economy.

The above N13 trillion represents the quantum of contributions made by both employees and employers of over nine million Nigerian workers who have so far keyed into the scheme.

The fund contributors were all registered by the 22 licensed Pension Fund Administrators in the country and their investment into various investment portfolios specified by the law is managed by four registered pension fund Custodians in Nigeria.

LICENSED PFAs

The 22 licensed PFAs include: AIICO Pension Managers Limited, APT Pension Fund Managers Limited, ARM Pension Managers Limited, CrusaderSterling Pensions Limited, FCMB Pensions Limited, Fidelity Pension Managers, First Guarantee Pension Limited, IEI-Anchor Pension Managers Limited, Investment One Pension Managers Limited, Leadway Pensure PFA Limited and Nigerian University Pension Management Company (NUPEMCO).

Others are NLPC Pension Fund Administrators Limited, NPF Pensions Limited, OAK Pensions Limited, Pensions Alliance Limited, Premium Pension Limited, Radix Pension Managers Limited, Sigma Pensions Limited, Stanbic IBTC Pension Managers Limited, Tangerine Pensions Limited and Trustfund Pensions Limited and Veritas Glanvills Pensions Limited.

THE PFCs

As stipulated by the laws guiding pension fund investments, the investment of the funds generated by these PFAs is determined by the following four PFC; First Pension Custodian Nigeria ltd, UBA Pension Custodian Ltd, Zenith Pension Custodian Limited, and Access Pension Custodian Limited.

They Play the role of undertaking the responsibility for keeping safe custody of pension assets on trust on behalf of contributors.

The main functions of PFCs are to receive pension contributions on behalf of PFAs; settle transactions and undertake activities relating to the administration of pension fund investments on behalf of PFAs and to notify the PFA within 24 hours of the receipt of pension contributions from employers.

THE CPFAs

Operating side by side with these existing and licensed

22 PFAs are five other organisations called Closed Pension Fund Administrators (CPFAs) These are managers of Pension schemes in the private sector existing prior to the introduction of the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS) in June 2004.

After Pension Reform Act 2001 was enacted, these were allowed to continue as CPFAs, subject to guidelines issued by PenCom. The companies are required to have operated a fully funded existing pension scheme with assets of at least N500 million. A condition precedent on the issuance of a CPFA license is that the company must possess the requisite capacity for the management of pension fund assets and show that it had managed its pension scheme effectively for at least five years prior to the commencement of the CPS. The CPFAs operate mostly as Defined Benefits Schemes with a guarantee from the sponsor companies over any funding deficit.

But the Pension Reform Act, 2014, an amendment of 2004 Act, has foreclosed new entrants into the CPFAs. The amended Act stated that effective from July 1, 2014, all new employees of the sponsor companies are required to join the CPS and open Retirement Savings Accounts (RSAs) with a PFA of their choice. Furthermore, an existing employee still reserves the right/option of pulling out of the CPFA to join the CPS. Currently, there are five Closed Pension fund administrators in Nigeria, which are: Chevron closed PFA, Nestle Nigeria Trust Limited, Nigeria Agip CPFA Limited, Progressive Trust CPFA Limited, Shell Nigeria Closed Pension Fund Administrators ltd and Total (E&P) Nigeria CPFA Limited.

Pension experts said these CPFAs are still in good conditions as most of their employees and retirees are comfortable with their operation and management of their retirement Benefits.

PFA PERFORMANCE

Both the PFAs and PFCs have from their inception been doing well even up to the present time though currently they are faced with a lot of challenges.

Their impressive performance over these years was no doubt aided by the compulsory nature of pension contribution by both the public sector and private sector employers and employees.

The PRA 2014 mandated both the employers and employees to contribute 18 per cent in the order of 10 percent by the employer and eight percent by the employee.

Regular contributions to the CPS by both the private and public sector workers and their employers boosted the growth of the fund to the present level within a decade and half of CPS regime.

At present, the status of the Scheme is this in the past seven years, according to recent report released by the National Pension Commission, 19,000 workers from the public and private sectors joined the CPS Scheme (CPS) growing the asset

by N470 billion.

Data obtained from the National Pension Commission (PenCom) have shown.

The PenCom data, said pension asset stood at

N12.31 trillion as of December 31, 2020 but soared to N12.78 trillion by July 31, 2021 On the investment side, N8.13 trillion was invested in federal government securities as of December 2020. This increased slightly to N8.2 trillion by July 2021.

PenCom also noted that as of December 2020, N136.59 billion was invested in state government securities, N1.69 trillion in the local money market while N89.68 billion was invested in state government securities in July 2021 and N2.11 trillion in the local money market.

PenCom Director General, Aisha Dahir-Umar, noted that it was pertinent to reassure stakeholders that the implementation of the CPS remained on course.

She stated that the maintenance of consistent growth continues to justify the Commission’s overriding philosophy of ensuring the safety of pension fund assets.

CHALLENGES

The CPS, which by all parameter of measurement has been adjudged the best scheme for pensioners, is not without challenges and these challenges dates back to its early years.

The downturn in the economy, which started in 2008 during the melt down in the global financial system made the scheme to lose some amount invested in the capital market. But not so much was lost, as the law guiding pension fund investment did not allow much investment in the capital market.

One of the challenges facing PFAs at present regarding the down turn in the economy is the fact that as a result of job cuts in various sectors occasioned by the COVID19 out break, inability of some firms to break even and weakened purchasing power of the masses, there has been low output and low return on investment by most firms, many firms also experienced low profit margin leading to loss of jobs by many Nigerians.

With the loss of jobs, there was pressure on the existing PFAs for withdrawal of 25 percent of their contributed funds as permitted by the law.

The PRA 2014 permits contributors into the CPS below 50 years who lost their jobs to withdraw 25percent of their contributions if they fail to get another job within four months of loss of the previous job.

Closely connected to this is the fact that as these withdraw demands were coming, new employees were not getting fresh jobs to add to the number of contributors and generate more funds for the scheme.

There was also the problem of volatility in the federal government investment instrument.

Example is the fluctuation in the yields of federal government bond where over 70 percent of the pension fund was invested.

For instance, the pension fund declined from N12.306 trillion in December 2020 to N12.248 trillion in February 2021, showing N58 billion decline.

Giving explanation to this, the National Pension Commission (PenCom) attributed the decline to volatility in the market.

The commission’s head corporate communications, Mr Peter Aghahowa, however, said this was not a big problem, expressing optimism that the market

would bounce back.

Stakeholders in the scheme said main challenges faced by the PFAs are low coverage of the scheme and compliance, inadequacy of benefits and poor awareness about the benefits of pension scheme.

Also the scheme operators themselves highlighted other challenges saying poor outreach of operators to Nigerian workers, the challenge of deepening investment to create impact and low exchange rate of naira to dollar.

They also identified non-compliance by various state governments, most of which are still operating the “pay as you go” system, as a major hitch to further advancement of the CPS scheme.

ACCRUED RIGHTS

Before now, one of the key challenges of the scheme and the PFAs administration was inadequate or total non- funding of the Redemption Fund against the annual projected pension liability, arising from voluntary and mandatory retirements, death of employees in service and the right of pensioners to pension review in line with section 173(3) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended).

Indeed, since the advent of the CPS scheme, the failure of the federal government and some state governments that have keyed into the scheme, to transfer to PenCom the accrued rights of government workers for onward transfer to the various Pension Fund Administrators (PFAs) managing the workers’ contributed funds has constituted delays to immediate payment of workers’ lump sum benefits after retirement.

The Accrued rights are entitlement of workers from their employers before the enactment of pension Reform Act 2004 that established the CPS. The result is that in most cases, because of much delay in the release of the accrued rights, most workers don’t receive their benefits two to three years after their retirement.

The situation was worsened by the fact that the Act establishing the scheme did not give room for payment of the fund contributed by the employee and his employer to keep soul and body alive pending the time government would have the necessary funds to pay their accrued rights.

This often makes the retiring workers feel that there is no difference between the CPS, which is funded, and the Defined Benefit Scheme, which is non funded, since the workers who constitute the contributors have to wait for some years for government to release their accrued rights before they can receive their retirement benefits.

But President Muhammadu Buhari recently gave approval for the release of workers’ accrued rights and backlog of differential based on 10 per cent employer contributions according to Pension Reform Act 2014 (PRA2014).

ACHIEVEMENTS

With the recent approval of the accrued rights payment by the federal government coming on the heels of commencement of the transfer window, the pension industry has indeed recorded great achievement this year and in the views of the stakeholders stand the chance of tripling the current pension asset figure if other similar hiccups standing on the way of its advancement would be addressed.

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BANKING

MPC as Enabler for Sustained Recovery Nume Ekeghe writes on the economic impact of the recent decisions taken by the Monetary Policy Committee in its bid to sustain recovery

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he Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the Central Bank of Nigeria rose from its final meeting for the year recently without any change in its decision. The committee by unanimous vote, decided to retain the Monetary Policy Rate (MPR) at 11.5 per cent. Members of the committee also voted to retain the asymmetric corridor of +100/-700 basis points around the MPR, the CRR at 27.5 per cent and the Liquidity Ratio at 30 per cent. These considerations according to the Governor of the CBN, Godwin Emefiele lead the Committee to hold all policy parameters constant to support the enabling environment for sustained recovery.

distortions in the money markets which could fuel inflationary pressures.

“As for whether to hold its existing stance, MPC believes that the existing monetary policy stance has supported the growth recovery and should be allowed to continue for a little longer for consolidation to achieve the MPC mandate of price stability that is conducive for sustainable growth. The Committee also feels that a hold stance will enable it to carefully appraise the implications of the unfolding global development around policy tapering and normalisation by advanced economies.”

The MPC communique stated.

MPC CONSIDERATIONS

Reviewing the decisions of the MPC, analysts at FBN Quest said it stressed the negative impact of insecurity across the country, and not solely food producing areas, on business confidence, external investor sentiment and food inflation.

“It calls on the security agencies to intensify their efforts to defend the free movement of people and goods. The committee again finds the banking industry to be in good health. The capital adequacy and liquidity ratios are comfortably above their prudential limits. The ratio for nonperforming loans is still a little over the benchmark of 5.0 per cent yet declined again in October, to 5.3 per cent.

“The CBN’s growth forecast for this year remains 3.1 per cent, compared with the FGN’s 3.0 per cent and the IMF’s 2.6 per cent. All three look on the low side, given the better-than-expected result of 4.0 per cent for Q3 ’21. Growth for 9M ’21 reached 3.2 per cent and the traditionally best quarter is yet to come. Double-digit growth year on year in trade for two successive quarters is particularly welcome in our view since it is the most accurate barometer of economic

The committee had put into consideration the growth level of the country’s Gross Domestic Product, inflation figures amongst others in its decision. Inflation figures having soared to 19 per cent in the year had been on the decline, dropping to 15.99 per cent as at October 2021.

Similarly, the country having emerged from a COVID-19 induced recession has been on the growth trajectory with the third quarter GDP recording a 4.03 per cent growth rate, albeit a slower growth compared to the second quarter growth rate.

Considering these measures, the MPC members said given the level of its conviction about the efficacy of its actions on macroeconomic variables, they felt that the tightening would further help to rein in inflation aggressively. The MPC nevertheless feels that tightening policy would increase cost of funds and constrain output growth.

“On the other hand, whereas loosening will lower policy rates, ease liquidity pressures, and stimulate additional credit creation which will boost output growth, MPC also thinks that loosening will further widen the negative real interest rate gap and compound the price

REVIEWING THE DECISION

activity,” the analysts said.

ANALYSTS’ TAKE The decisions on the MPC members were however expected as analysts believed the concerns of the committee are justified.

Analysts are of the view that the “wait and see” attitude of the committee is to allow its previous policy have an effect window, while waiting for the fiscal policy makers to also put in measures that would impact the economy.

To analysts at Cowry Assets Management the, “Committee’s decision to hold rate was in line with Cowry Research expectation given the positive local economic variables recently printed Q3 2021 GDP grew by 4.03 per cent, October inflation rate fell to 15.99 per cent and the recent appreciation of the Naira against other foreign currencies. Hence, going forward we feel that the MPC would continue to support the fiscal authority in its drive to further boost production output.”

According to Head, Financial Institutions Ratings at Agusto & Co, Mr. Ayokunle Olubunm, “A lot of us were not surprised being the way things turned out. It is very tough decision for the MPC because it is going to be very difficult to increase rates given that the economy is still struggling and they can’t reduce rates further because everybody is complaining that rates are low enough.”

“I think what people were looking forward to was not the rates but other major decisions that would be made. This is because at the two previous MPC meetings, the CBN announced major decisions pertaining to the foreign exchange market.

So what people were looking forward to was something dramatic but in terms of rate no one expected a significant change.”

He stated.

Likewise, analysts at Cordros Research said the decision of the committee was in line with their expectations, saying the committee expects that with the sustained interventions by the CBN, economic activities would continue to normalise in the short-to-medium term leading to improved output growth and lower inflationary pressures.

They stated, “We observed that a recurring theme at the meeting was the likely impacts of the normalisation of monetary policy by central banks in advanced countries. We think the concerns of the Committee are justified given the attendant effect of rising global bond yields on capital flows into emerging economies like Nigeria.

“Moreover, there has been a chorus among systemically critical central banks to wind down their asset purchase programme. Thus, we think the underlying tone suggests the Committee is bracing up for a change to a hawkish policy from H2-22 when we believe the Committee will judge that substantial progress has been made in supporting economic recovery and the US Fed would wind down its net asset purchases.”

Analysts at FBN Quest say the MPC members plan to maintain this stance for “a little longer” so that the gains from the efforts of the monetary and fiscal authorities can multiply. Additionally, it favours the wait-and-see position because it can better respond to changes in the uncertain global environment.

“Tightening, in the words of the communiqué, would boost the cost of funds and dampen output growth, although it would ease pressures in the foreign exchange market. Loosening, in contrast, would give a lift to inflation and push up negative real rates of return for investors.

The CBN’s optimal contribution in the committee’s view, not that it is stated explicitly in the communiqué, is to accelerate its many development finance initiatives, which are listed in greater than usual detail, “they said.

CBN DISCONTINUES MANUAL PROCESSING FOR NON-COMMERCIAL EXPORTS completed by shippers or their agents and submitted to the bank for approval subject to

the stipulated guidelines in the foreign exchange manual when payments are not expected for

goods to be shipped to any destination outside Nigeria. Before now, the Form NCX was still

completed manually.

Goods classified as noncommercial Includes gifts and

personal effects, trade samples and printed business matter, machinery and equipment for

repairs and return, machinery and equipment for replacement, trans-shipments.

In his words, “Why the 2021 doubled when compared to last year was that economy was depressed last year because of COVID-19 lockdown. Remember also, that the interest from banks was low.

“This year, that economy is getting back, interest rates have increased and banks are lending to borrowers. They can now visit CBN and borrow money at a cheaper rate and make profit on the borrowing.”

ILLIQUIDITY: BANKS’ BORROWING FROM CBN RISES BY 315% TO N24.53TRN IN 11 MONTHS to meet customers’ borrowers, forcing them to borrow from CBN to lend to customers demanding for credit.

“The CBN itself may not have such money and it might issue new money and borrow it to the banks which the bank will lend to

customers. That is the method in which money is printed by CBN in a normal economy. These are routes through which new money enters the economy.”

He explained further that, “The second reason why banks visit

CBN to access money is when there is liquidity crunch in the system. Depositors as you likely know always give money to banks.

The bank will try and access funds through the inter-bank market and if they cannot, they try CBN as

the lender of last resort to borrow money as a move to boost their liquidity position.”

He explained that hike in 2021 borrowing by DMBs and merchant banks is due to stability in nation’s economy.

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BUSINESSWORLD

PERSPECTIVE

Overtaxing a Diminishing Workforce, Strangulated Economy

Okey Nwachukwu

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igerian leaders have a long uncanny history of triggering a cause of action only to turn around to expect a different outcome. Faced with failure, they deploy an array of weapons to search for scapegoats.

By his words and countenance, Muhammad Nami, Chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), was quite upset with Nigerians for the seeming shortfall in revenue, a situation he attributed to the low numbers of people paying taxes. The revenue deficit underpins the government’s failure to perform and forced it into borrowing binge.

Having just 41 million as tax payers in a country of 200 million people, Nami argued, is inconceivable, noting that tax evasion has become a cankerworm that must be exorcised from the Nigerian system.

Therefore, more taxes will be introduced and the tax net expanded.

Nami however failed to acknowledge that an estimated 23 million of Nigeria’s 80 million employable workforce have lost their jobs due to failed policies. He also failed to acknowledge that taxation is embedded in the relationship between the government and the governed.

He described as incorrect the classification of Nigeria as a rich country based on accruals from oil sales. Instead, taxation is the magic wand required to produce prosperity but Nigerians are undercutting this obligation.

He said, “People are not willing to pay even when they are appointed as an agent of collection; whatever they have collected they find it difficult to remit. We assume that we are a rich country; I don’t think that is correct, we only have the potential to be rich, because we have a very huge population of about 200 million.

He said Nigeria still earned lower than what its counterparts across Africa generate from Personal Income Taxes (PIT). “If you also compare that with South Africa where they have a total population of about 60 million people, with just 4 million taxpayers, the total personal income tax paid in South Africa last year was about N13 trillion. You can now see that these things are not adding up.

“The number of billionaires in Lagos alone is more than the number of billionaires in the whole of South Africa but yet what we generated as PIT

by Lagos State was low. So, if we don’t pay these taxes, there is no way the government will be able to provide the social amenities required, the critical infrastructure required for the wellbeing of the country.”

Nami and Mrs. Zainab Ahmed, the Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, voiced their minds while presenting the detailed breakdown of the 2022 budget, and dismissed widespread concerns about Nigeria’s borrowing spree while identifying inadequate revenue as the hurdle.

Ahmed said, “What we have is a revenue problem and we are working on it to be able to fully fund the operations of government as well as be able to service our debt obligations.

Borrowings are essential for us to be able to continue to deploy necessary capital expenditures as well as human development.”

Apart from borrowing, the government is looking at introducing new taxes in order to shore its revenue base to finance the 2022 budget.

This is invariably a hydra-headed option that stakeholders are already saying would further strangulate current tax payers, whether individuals or businesses, and consequently trigger a chain of depressing reactions.

The Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) and Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) have already enumerated the drawbacks which the proposed tax increases would impose on the people and economy.

Segun Ajayi-Kadir, Director-General of MAN, said the proposed excise duty on soft drinks by the Nigeria Customs Service would choke the manufacturing sector, which is already burdened by multiple taxes, levies and fees.

Should government proceed with the excise duty, millions of micro enterprises along the distribution chain will be hard hit. Manufacturers will in addition lose up to N1.9 trillion in revenue sales.

Manufacturers, who are already strangulated by covid 19, are battling with extremely low margins, Ajayi-Kadir said, noting that “We risk an unprecedented build-up of unplanned inventory, downsizing of the labour force and factory closures. All these would vitiate the revenue expectations of governments and therefore counterproductive. The current unbridled avalanche of taxes, fees and levies from the three tiers of government and their overzealous regulatory agencies may be compounded.”

A similar position was taken by the DirectorGeneral of the LCCI, Dr Chinyere Almona, who said expecting more revenue from government-owned enterprises (GOEs) comes with adverse effects because as regulators of their operating environments, the GOEs might launch policies that would affect private enterprises adversely. “We have noted in the breakdown of the budget that more revenue is expected from the government-owned enterprises, some of which are regulators of some sectors. Good corporate governance principles and practices should be adopted. The push for more revenue should not compel the GOEs to undermine the health of the business environment in the pursuit of revenue targets.”

There is hardly any sector of the economy not buffeted by such challenges as multiple taxation and over-regulation, poor power supply or outages, weak infrastructure and deplorable roads, and worsening insecurity.

Taxation is already high in such sectors as aviation, telecommunications and manufacturing where all forms of fees are demanded by multiple agencies.

The aviation sector, which has the potential to create huge job opportunities, is still struggling to recover from the disruption inflicted by covid 19, besides such traditional challenges as “poor capital structure, difficulty in accessing

finance, difficulty in accessing cost effective leases, high insurance costs, difficulty in accessing FOREX for maintenance and spare parts, multiple taxation by government agencies, weak corporate governance structure, lack of airport infrastructure and very marginal share of the lucrative regional flights of under 20 per cent.”

The projected increase in the number of taxes and taxpayers, as envisaged by government officials, would undoubtedly generate additional revenue to support development. Their optimism would come at an expensive cost.

Data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed that the country’s unemployment rate in the fourth quarter of 2020 stood at 33.3%, meaning that with a labour force of 80.2 million, about 21.7 million Nigerians are unemployed, a figure in excess of the population of 35 of Africa’s 54 countries. At present, Nigeria’s jobless market is put at 23 million. This number of Nigerians outside the tax net. The five-year Country Partnership Framework of the World Bank for 2021-2025 indicated that COVID-19 pushed five million Nigerians into poverty.

Over the past six years, the country was plunged into two dire recessions, first in 2016 and again in 2020. The depression in 2020, in which the economy recorded gross domestic product contraction of 3.62 percent in the third quarter, was largely blamed on the COVID-19 pandemic, while the one in 2016 was triggered by arbitrary and incoherent inconsistencies. For instance, the government, claiming to checkmate illegal smuggling, suddenly closed the country’s land borders.

The immediate upshot of that policy was the skyrocketing of prices of almost all goods.

Smuggling became deadlier and continued in earnest. Though the borders have since been reopened, the prices of goods have remained skyward.

Policy inconsistencies naturally trigger capital flight as no investor would risk his capital where stability and coherence are absent. Of course, diminishing investments in an economy propels a spike in unemployment as well as drag more people into poverty.

Tax revenue takes a hit consequently.

Multiple tax audits are also known to discourage investment in any nation’s economy as investors, for obvious reasons, avoid an economy laden with too many taxes. It will also trigger disincentive to the payment of taxes. “It will hamper ease of doing business in the country, erode investor’s confidence in the country and further decrease foreign investments,” one expert said.

Nigeria is reported to have about 41 million registered MSMEs in the country.

This all-important segment has been known to underpin the development of several economies across the world. The reverse is the case in Nigeria where support to the sector has proven ineffective. They are faced with such difficulties as access to market, lack of credit facilities, infrastructure deficit, insufficient cashflows, multiple taxation, regulatory burden, and sub-optimal implementation

of the provisions of the country’s MSME policy.

In the absence of an enabling environment for them to thrive, these small businesses take tax avoidance as a natural recourse.

The multiple imposition of taxes is particularly brazen in the states. They come in every guise and form. Efforts to raise internally generated revenue among the states and local governments have largely been interpreted as the introduction of all manner of levies and charges. As the bulk of the states are dominated by civil servants, farmers and traders, revenue from these segments are just meager.

FIRS and some states are currently in court over the collection of the Value Added Tax (VAT), ‘a consumption tax levied on a product repeatedly at every point of sale at which value has been added’.

A cursory look will show that due to lack of meaningful productive activities, only a few states, namely Lagos, Kano, Oyo, Rivers and Ogun generate significant revenue from this tax. But because it is a federally-collectible tax, its proceeds are first warehoused by a federal agency before being shared among all the three tiers of government in the country by the Federation Accounts Allocation Committee (FAAC). In 2020, N1.53 trillion was generated as VAT in the country. Based on the national sharing formula, the Federal Government got 15 percent; the states shared 50 percent, while local governments shared 35 percent.

Strident calls have been made for collaborative efforts between the federal and state governments to evolve a mechanism that leads to the reduction of multiple taxes on payers. Nigeria is lagging behind in ease of paying taxes because of multiple taxation and other unfriendly tax laws.

Judging by the current deplorable state of the economy, in which a large number of Nigerians are currently unemployed or being shoved into the job market, rather than expanding the tax net, it may just remain stagnant, or shrink even further.

The existence of a conducive environment will inevitably engender the creation of opportunities, especially the establishment and expansion of businesses that would subsequently provide jobs. These jobs would in turn be taxed to fund government. Right now, job creation is in reverse gear.

People are happy and willing to perform their tax compliance responsibility once they are presented with opportunities and they see a correlation between revenue and development.

They recognize that taxation is an integral part of governance and nation-building. The task before government then is to assure compliance by powering prosperity across board. The reverse is presently the case.

Widening the tax net, when the chips are down, will translate to the overburdening of the already overtaxed and rapidly declining workforce and businesses. The negative ripple effect on the economy will simply remain.

If diversification makes any meaning to policy makers, now is the time to commence a concerted execution. t /XBDIVLXV DBO CF SFBDIFE WJB JOGPSNPLFZOPX!ZBIPP DPN

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IMAGES

T H I S D AY ˾ WEDNESDAY DECEMBER 1, 2021

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

L-R: Mother, Gladys Owolabi; first-class graduating student in Electrical Electronics, Afe Babalola University, Ado Ekiti, Peace Oluwatomisin Owolabi; and father, Dayo Owolabi, during the convocation ceremony at the university in Ado Ekiti, Ekiti State...recently

L-R: Mrs. Elfrida Ebisue; her husband, Sunny Ebisue; Mrs. Blessing Darlington and her husband, Mr. Igbinovia Darlington, during the final burial of their late mother/mother-in-law, Deaconess Beatrice A. Ebisue, in Umueze village, Kwale, Delta State…recently

L-R: Official of the Embassy of Japan in Nigeria, Mr. Tomoyoshi Maehira; Chairman, House Committee on Nigeria-Japan Parliamentary Friendship Group, Hon Mukhtar Ahmed; Japanese Ambassador to Nigeria, Matsunaga Kazuyoshi; Speaker, House of Representatives, Hon Femi Gbajabiamila; and Embassy Official, Namikawa Hokuto, after a courtesy visit to the Speaker by a delegation from the Embassy of Japan at the National Assembly, Abuja...recently

L-R: Chief Medical Director, Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH), Professor Chris Bode; Minister of Health, Dr. Osagie E. Ehanire; Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director, Airtel Nigeria, Surendran Chemmenkotil; and Chairman, LUTH Management Board, Alhaji Isa Bello Sali, during the inauguration/ handover of the renovated LUTH Ward-A building at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital, Idi-Araba, Lagos...recently

L-R: Co-Founder/CTO, Digital Encode Limited, Dr. Oluseyi Akindeinde; Convener of Cyberchain Conference and Exhibition, Jude Ozinegbe; three members of Team NOHATS (winners of Cyberchain 2021 Hackathon); and Co-Founder/CVO, Digital Encode Limited, Dr. Peter Obadare, during the prize presentation ceremony in Lekki, Lagos...recently

L-R: Director, Sanitation Services, Lagos State Ministry of Environment and Water Resources, Dr. Hassan Sanuth; Senior Brand Manager, Hygiene West Africa, Mrs. Chioma Sylva-Ifedigbo; Special Adviser to the state Governor on Drainage and Water Resources, Joe Igbokwe; Brand Ambassador, Harpic, Dr. Helen Paul; and Director, Conservative and Ecology, Mr. Sheriff Savage, at the 2021 World Toilet Day commemoration event in Lagos…recently PHOTO: ETOP UKUTT

L-R: Corporate Affairs and Sustainable Business Director, Unilever West Africa, Soromidayo George; Company Secretary and Legal Director, Unilever West Africa, Bidemi Ademola; Managing Director, Unilever West Africa, Carl Cruz; Ogun State Deputy Governor, Noimot Salako-Oyedele; Chief Financial Officer and Supply Chain Director, Lafarge Africa, Lolu Alade-Akinyemi; Ogun State Commissioner for Health, Dr. Tomi Coker; Human Resources Director, Unilever West Africa, Ola Ehinmoro; and Head, Health Safety and Environment, Lafarge Africa, Olufolake Odegbami, at the official handover ceremony of isolation centre built by Unilever and Lafarge, to the state government in Abeokuta…recently

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T H I S D AY ˾ WEDNESDAY DECEMBER 1, 2021

EDUCATION Advancement Foundation as OAU’s Bold Step to Tackle Decaying Infrastructure As public universities continue to battle decaying infrastructure and obsolete equipment due to inadequate government funding, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, has sought a lasting solution with the planned launch of a N1 billion OAU Advancement Foundation, marking its 60th anniversary. Uchechukwu Nnaike reports

L-R: Alumni Relations, Obafemi Awolowo University, Mr. Gbolahan Ogunajo, Awardees’ Representative, Great Ife Alumni Association 60th Anniversary Celebration, Alhaji Rafiu Ebiti; and representative of Vice-Chancellor, OAU/Chairman, Great lfe 60th Anniversary Celebration Committee, Professor Charles Ukeje, during the press conference announcing the formal launch of Great Ife Advancement Foundation, in Lagos PHOTO: ETOP UKUTT

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ith the growing effects of inadequate funding in Nigerian public universities, the government has, at different fora, reiterated that it cannot fund education alone and that universities should consider alternative sources of revenue generation.

Some universities have heeded the charge and have set up various initiatives to boost their internally generated revenue. The proposed launch of the OAU Advancement Foundation has been described as a right step.

According to the Chairman of the Great Ife 60th Anniversary Celebrations Committee, Prof. Charles Ukeje, the launch of the foundation on December 4 in Lagos is based on the fact that all over the world, the continued existence, success and overall development of any higher institution depend largely on the financial and material benevolence of its alumni community, as well as those of friends, benefactors and other stakeholders.

Ukeje, who said this while briefing journalists in Lagos, on behalf of the Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Eyitope Ogunbodede, noted that at the heart of the project is the quest to “garner support worldwide for the overall development and real-time growth of our renown university- Great Ife.” He said the foundation would, among other key responsibilities, help reposition the university to meet the standard of the 21st century as obtainable in other climes within and outside Africa.

“It will also help us to maintain and sustain the ideals of the founding fathers of our great institution so that

OAU will be ranked first in Nigeria and Africa,” noted the VC. Ogunbodede stated that all members of the foundation’s board of trustees are men and women of impeccable character.

He added that board membership, to be unveiled during the foundation’s formal launch, includes eminent jurist at the Supreme Court; two distinguished lawyers and boardroom gurus, a highly seasoned pan-African banker, and a renowned scholar.

“We are proud of their accomplishments and excited that they will bring their wealth of experience to bear in piloting the affairs of the OAU Advancement Foundation,” the VC added.

He stressed that the money from the foundation would not be spent frivolously but for enduring things. The board, in its wisdom, will determine priority projects to support in the university when the need arises, according to Ogunbodede.

Another high point of the upcoming event will be the recognition of 60 distinguished trailblazing alumni.

On the criteria for their selection, he said it was difficult to choose 60 people out of the many alumni who have distinguished

themselves in different fields of endeavour within and outside the country.

“These are also people that, at different times, have consistently been there for us. And for me, this is also a clarion call for those who have not done so, hoping that with the celebration of these 60, they will also appreciate the need to step forward to be counted in terms of supporting the university,” Ogunbodede stressed.

Asked why it took the institution this long to come up with the initiative, Ukeje said the university had set aside resources for rainy days in the past. He said the founders were deliberate in ensuring that the university could weather the storm in a difficult time. But the circumstances of the mid-1980s, the crisis of structural adjustments with economic austerity eroded many resources across all institutions.

Ukeje said the new initiative is supposed to respond to the imperative of the 21st century and beyond.

He regretted that public universities are in such dilapidated a state because they are tuition-free, unlike the private ones that use some of the money generated from students’ fees to maintain facilities.

“When you send your child to primary school as many of us have

Nigerians need to have a major national conversation about the future of higher education. If we want higher education, we must be ready to fund it

done, and you pay so much. You send your child to secondary school, and you pay so much. Your child now goes to a public university, and your education budget goes down. Something is wrong with such a society,” he said.

“So when you hear about collapse of hostels in any public university, it is what you get. What you put in is what goes out. Nigerians need to have a major national conversation about the future of higher education.

If we want higher education, we must be ready to fund it.” h He called on alumni, friends and benefactors of the university at home and abroad to contribute to the foundation.

Highlighting the contribution of the alumni, Ukeje said the university is working with the African Import-Export Bank to set up a centre on intra African trade zone. He said Ife would be the lead hub, supported by the bank for research training within the continent around trade issues.

He added that the university has benefited from the magnanimity of individuals across the country in various forms, and the 60th anniversary is an opportunity to seek more favour.

Among other activities lined up to celebrate the university’s 60th anniversary, Ukeje said an art exhibition tagged ‘60 by 60’ will hold for 60 days from December 1, 2021, to January 30, 2022.

“We have invited 60 alumni to showcase one artwork each that best represents them. We received over 150 entries of artworks from distinguished artists all over the world who have affiliations with the Department of Fine Arts. It was a very difficult task for us to be able to have a shortlist of 60.”

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T H I S D AY ˾ WEDNESDAY DECEMBER 1, 2021

EDUCATION

Bogoro: Focusing on Faculty, Equipment Will Boost Universities’ Global Ranking At a two-day capacity building workshop organised by the Tertiary Education Trust Fund recently for beneficiary universities in Lagos, the Executive Secretary, Prof. Suleiman Bogoro, explained to some journalists, including Funmi Ogundare, why the institutions must focus on the quality of faculty and research equipment so that they can achieve a higher global ranking. Excerpts:

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n your remarks, you alluded to mushroom universities being part of the reasons for the poor ranking of universities in Nigeria. As a solution, ASUU recently suggested that new universities shouldn’t benefit from TETfund grants for the first 10 years. Do you agree with that submission?

I was at Afe Babalola University Ado Ekiti (ABUAD) recently and the founder, Chief Afe Babalola, virtually said mushroom. He talked about illegal universities and mushroom universities. It wasn’t Prof. Bogoro, but the truth is we have less than competitive universities across the country.

This is not good for us. Chief Afe Babalola spoke about the National Assembly making pronouncements about the creation of universities when the powers do not exist with them. The laws of the university is very clear. It is the executive that creates universities, and the law then goes to the National Assembly.

Why the capacity building workshop, and would you describe the ranking of Nigerian universities?

For me, the workshop is a platform for discussing ranking.

Yes, we are talking about the

standards and quality that obtain in the ivory towers.

They are determined in terms of their standards both locally and internationally. This is what people flaunt. But very sadly, in Nigerian universities, they have been ranked very lowly for quite a while, embarrassingly so. About eight, nine years ago, given the top 2,000, there were no Nigerian universities. In the African universities, there were no Nigerian universities until seven or eight years ago that we had about three to five Nigerian universities in the top 100 of Africa.

What effort was made

by TETFund to ensure that universities in Nigeria rank high?

To a significant extent, courtesy of TETFund intervention, we have been able to secure a scale-up of the ranking of our universities. And that was how, from a no university among the top 2,000 in 2015, we had two universities emerging, and I think two or three years after, we had three or four universities emerging among the top 1,000.

Last year, the University of Ibadan emerged in the top 500, Covenant University was also between 500 to 600. That means it is increasingly good news. The immediate past Vice-Chancellor of the University of Ibadan,

Global Education Week: BIC Honours Exceptional Educators Uchechukwu Nnaike

BIC, one of the world leaders in stationery, lighters and shavers, marked this year’s Global Education Week (GEW) by honouring 10 exceptional educators worldwide, one of which is from Nigeria.

The company launched the BIC Cristal Pen Awards programme in 2020 to recognise educators who exemplify BIC values by bringing joy to children, inspiring and preparing the next generation to thrive.

BIC is committed to improving the learning conditions of 250 million children globally by 2025 as part of its ‘Writing the Future Together’ programme.

As of 2020, BIC has already cumulatively helped 118 million children as part of its goal.

The Chief Executive Officer of BIC, Gonzalve Bich, said: “Education is a passion of mine and part of BIC’s DNA. The Cristal Pen Awards are a great opportunity for our team members to celebrate educators in their communities around the world.”

After BIC team members submitted hundreds of nominations, a panel of judges selected 10 educators from across every region BIC operates.

The Nigerian winner, Opeifa O. is a teacher with over a

decade of experience and passion for English literacy.

He teaches difficult concepts in phonology and grammar using popular rap songs, card games and dance. He also founded the first-ever free weekend tutorial classes to prepare students for external exams, including a reading club.

Winners will receive a custom-designed award, a BIC stationery product donation and a EUR 5,000 grant for their school or organisation of choice.

Another winner is Ramanan R., Sri Lanka. Ramanan works at the Jaffna Hindu College in Jaffna, a war-torn region where his ongoing work has been a pillar of strength to many throughout his career. There is also Naomi Anstice, UK, is an Assistant Head Teacher at Frodsham Manor House Primary. She has taught for over 20 years, focusing on helping children become good local and global citizens.

A winner from France, Aline D. worked as a music teacher for more than 20 years. She is known for going above and beyond in her instruction of disabled students, especially those who are hearing impaired, with innovative teaching methods combining music, visual arts and performance.

Bogoro Prof. Olayinka, said to me last year, ‘I am happy to inform you that UI has hit it among the top 500 in the world. We got the news this week. We are celebrating’. Let’s give credit to people who have contributed.

Believe me, TETfund is one of those that have helped UI to rank high.

What are the factors that hinder the progress and performance of Nigerian universities in the global ranking of world universities?

For us to convoke a meeting of this nature to discuss exclusively ranking requirements, we are concerned. Recently, when I delivered a convocation lecture of ABUAD, I said, ‘ historically, endowments and research foundations are the DNA of

ivory towers, but very sadly, some other things are defining our universities; lackadaisical tendencies, politicisation, mediocrity, refusing to place square pegs in square holes even within the university system from the leadership and management level to academic units; departments, colleges and faculties. Whichever micro-unit within the system, when people get promoted to the rank of professors, and you invite them to lead a team to produce a grant for professorial chair, and they literally buckle. What does that tell you? That person lacks the capacity. We must interrogate these issues. These are the problems. The ranking of universities is around the quality of faculty and research equipment. Take out these two; then, there is no basis for ranking of

universities. That is why we are trying to do it at TETfund.

How can universities in the country be competitive and be part of the knowledge economy, and what indices are used in the assessment for global ranking?

To be competitive, Nigerian universities must ensure that all lecturers should aim to have a Doctorate of Philosophy as an essential requirement for teaching and research.

Universities must develop strong democratic leadership in their administration and must also develop a collaborative association with industries, foreign universities, linkages and donor agencies in multiple capacities that increase funding for research, teaching and other essential facilities. Aside from

these, they should be able to identify strong programs and build on them through the endowment of chairs in medicine, engineering, pharmacy, cyber security, or other fields of science and technology. Some of the indicators employed for the ranking include teaching, citations, international outlook, industry income, academic and employer reputation, faculty/ student ratio, international faculty ratio and international student ratio. While we genuinely and vigorously pursue and strive to strengthen universities in Nigeria to be globally competitive, we must ensure that such improvement is carried out carefully and with professionalism. It must also reflect in the improvement of the Nigerian state and its people.

Court Orders Immediate Reinstatement of Sacked UI Lecturer Alex Enumah ÓØ ÌßÔË

Justice J.D. Peters of the National Industrial Court, sitting in Ibadan, Oyo, has ordered the immediate reinstatement of Dr. Oladoyin Odebowale as a lecturer at the University of Ibadan.

Similarly, Justice Peters ordered the immediate reinstatement of a staff of the Oyo State Board of Internal Revenue (BIR), Adetoro Abiola Olayinka, dismissed from service in 2015.

In two separate judgments delivered on November 18, 2021, Justice Peters held that the procedures followed by both the authorities of the University of Ibadan and the Board of Internal Revenue ran contrary to laid down laws and procedures.

Dr. Odebowale had in his suit marked NICN/IB/109/2016

and, dated December 6, 2016, approached the court to set aside his dismissal from the employment of the University of Ibadan because of the principle of fair hearing was not observed before his sack.

In his suit marked Suit number NICN/IB/182016, Adetoro Olayinka, had dragged the Board of Internal Revenue of Oyo State, Civil Service Commission, Oyo State and Attorney General, Oyo State, before the court, the judge agreed with the two separate claimants that lawful procedures were not followed before their sack.

In setting aside the dismissal of the claimant, the judge held that the employment of the claimant is one with statutory flavour and that the first defendant did not comply with the procedure enshrined in the

Public Service Rules, Vol. 1, Section 4 030402 (L) of January 2013 in dismissing claimant from its employment.

He subsequently ordered reinstating the claimants and held that “an order of reinstatement becomes inevitable in a matter and circumstances as the present case. Thus the claimant is hereby reinstated as Clerical Officer GL 04 to the pensionable establishment of the Board of Internal Revenue without any loss of employment rights, including promotion.”

Peters then made another order directing the defendants to pay the claimant all his arrears of salaries plus allowances from February 2016 when this suit was filed to date as if he was never dismissed.

He made a similar order reinstating Dr. Odebowale to his position of Lecturer 1, after

setting aside all steps taken by the university leading to his dismissal as well as the sacked letter dated December 6, 2016, from the registrar of UI. The judge further frowned at the institution’s conduct for going ahead to sack the lecturer when the case was already in court.

Meanwhile, the judge urged the university to pay attention to the plagiarism alleged to be condoned by the university.

“Plagiarism is the worst crime that could be committed against an academic. It is the theft of another’s intellect, the theft of the contribution of another to academic and scholarship. That negative trend must be checked quickly and decisively; otherwise, the image of the 1st defendant may be permanently dented forever,” the judge asserted.

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T H I S D AY ˾ WEDNESDAY DECEMBER 1, 2021

EDUCATION

‘The Hurried Child’ Launched, Highlights EKOEXCEL: Lagos’ll Continue Improving Basic Dangers of Overburdening Children Funmi Ogundare

Stakeholders from all walks of life recently converged on the Protea Hotel, Victoria Island, Lagos for the launch of ‘The Hurried Child’ project, aimed at highlighting the dangers of rushing or overburdening a child through childhood years conditionally or unconditionally by factors influencing the home, school and society thereby causing negative stress.

The programme themed, ‘The realities of Motherhood and the Hurried Child Problem in Nigeria’, was organised by A Mother’s Love Initiative (AMLi), a non-government organisation that advocates for the psycho-sociological wellbeing of the African child, the development of an ideal family within the African society and changing the narrative of

the African child.

Speaking at the programme, the Head Research and Projects Development of the organisation, Mr. Mohammed Ahmed Ademola, noted that it had carried out a quantitative survey to examine the perception and awareness of the public on the attitudes, practices and patterns of lifestyle that contributes to hurried child syndrome within the country.

Based on the findings, he noted that Nigerians are aware of the negative effects of hurrying a child and also aware of the significance of ‘involved and intentional parenting’; and in loco parentis, to ensure a child enjoys a quality experience in childhood.

He expressed concern about the dearth of literature on the construct of the hurried child syndrome in the African context,

making it difficult to analyse the phenomenon from a multicultural perspective critically.

“This begs the need for further research in this area of child development,” Ademola said.

He affirmed the need for academic scholars to be engaged in developing interventions that can curb or control the spread of the syndrome in Nigeria and Africa at large, with special attention given to our indigenous cultural practices that may serve as protective factors in buffering the syndrome.

He also stressed the need for child psychologists, counsellors, health care providers, and social workers to be enlightened about the issue that would help their private and public practices.

“Parenting practices must be revised and taught at tertiary levels to bridge knowledge and skills gap of the next set

of parents for the future. Work policies must be further revised ( key attention to the private sector) to reduce parenting stress and encourage inclusive and balanced parenting,” he stressed.

He emphasised the psychological assessment of stress in children, noting that this should be a critical indicator in their admission process. in schools.

Ademola said the government should also establish post-marital counselling clinics in each Local Governments Areas.

Earlier in her remarks, the First Lady of the state, Dr. Ibijoke Sanwo-Olu, said the theme is rightly focused on fundamentally supporting and defending the child’s rights because the day falls on the 2021 World Day For the Prevention of Child Abuse.

Sanwo-Olu, represented by the Commissioner for Budget and Planning, Mrs. Edith Ebube,

Education, Says SUBEB Chairman

Segun James

The Chairmen, Lagos State Universal Basic Education Board (LASUBEB), Wahab Alawiye-King, says the state will not relent in leveraging technology to advance primary education through EKOEXCEL. Governor Babajide SanwoOlu inaugurated EKOEXCEL (Excellence in Child Education and Learning) in 2019 to provide quality education to both the rich and the poor and upskill teachers through cutting-edge technology.

Speaking at the quarterly meeting of the Universal Basic Education (UBEC) management, Alawiye-King, the newly elected dean of the States Basic Education Boards in the country, said leveraging technology to boost primary education through EKOEXCEL was a long-term strategy of

the government.

“We have adopted the Edo system in a manner to bring the best out of our pupils. Using technology to boost education is where the world is going now. It is part of our strategy in Lagos,” said Alawiye-King stated. “That is complementing education with technology so, we are leveraging technology to move basic education forward in Lagos.”

The LASUBEB chair added that Lagos would ensure the success of EKOEXCEL because it wants to make the education sector globally competitive and give more pupils access to education.

“We want to make the education sector in Lagos globally competitive hence boosting the standard and quality with technology. Also, the demand for education has outweighed the supply, but

Firm Celebrates 10th Anniversary to Inspire Students

L-R: The Lagos State Commissioner for Budget and Planning, Mrs. Edith Ebube; representative of the state first lady/ Head, External Relations, A Mother’s Love Initiative, Hannatu Enwemadu; and Commissioner for Education, Mrs. Folasade Adefisayo, during the inauguration of ‘The Hurried Child’ project in Lagos... recently

NDDC to Rebuild School Destroyed Amid A’Ibom Communities Clash Okon Bassey in Uyo

For peace to reign in the Akwa Ibom community, the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) has assumed responsibility to reconstruct a school destroyed a year ago over communal conflict.

The Comprehensive High School in the Okobo local government area of the state was destroyed over a year ago when two warring communities, Amamong and Okopedi of Okobo LGAs, clashed.

The school has produced high profile members in the society, including the current Secretary of the Nigerian Bar

Association, Barr. Joyce Odua and former Akwa Ibom House of Assembly Speaker and member, House of Representatives, Rt. Hon. Peter Linus.

Interim Administrator of the NDDC, Dr. Efiong Akwa, who is also an alumnus of the school, noted, “Almost one year after that unfortunate crisis, the children who attend that school have not been able to resume school. We cannot allow this to continue. We can’t deny these children the right to go to school.”

He recalled that the renowned institution was wrecked beyond rehabilitation when Amamong and

Okopedi communities clashed last December.

“We have to start engaging communities with this kind of intervention. NDDC is here to work with our communities to build infrastructure and foster lasting peace.”

Already, the NDDC boss said an assessment team of engineers, led by the acting Director of Utilities, Infrastructural Development and Waterways of the Commission, Engr. Aniefiok Iniokut had submitted its report on rebuilding the school.

“We will build an ICT centre, a library, science laboratory, staff quarters, and an assembly hall,” he said.

Community leaders from Amamong and Okopedi communities who received the assessment team expressed joy over NDDC’s planned intervention, noting that it will bring lasting peace between the two communities.

“We have been having a serious misunderstanding over our boundary lines. But with the coming of NDDC, I am sure all of that will be a thing of the past,” the Okopedi youth leader, Ekpenyong Ekpenyong, said.

Chief Bassey Ikpadi from Amamong, also the school’s Parents/Teachers Association (PTA) chairman, also expressed his delight.

Alumni Pledge N15m to Redesign Fountain School ICT Lab Emmanuel Olorunda-Otaru

In giving back, the Fountain School (Primary) alumni have promised to redesign and equip the school’s ICT laboratory, with N15 million, which they expect to come from donations from the alumni members.

This promise was made during the Fountain School 50th Alumni Reunion Gala/

Awards event at their campus in Surulere, Lagos, which brought a combination of “ancestors, mini ancestors, elders, big brothers and sisters, siblings, JJCs, and baby set” from across the world recently.

According to Mr. Soji Oluwole, class of 1980, a team member coordinating the event, the project will be funded via voluntary donations.

Some alumni were awarded.

Among them are the first Fountain School manager, the late Prof.

Samuel Adedapo Olaitan, and the proprietress, Mrs. Funlayo Olaitan, whose awards were received on their behalf by their children. Others included Mrs. Chinwe Oriaku Ogwo, Mrs. Christiana Aduke Bademosi, Mr. A.O. Orisakwe, Mr. Joseph Oshotunde, Lady Nneka Osisi-

ogu, Mrs. Salome Nnate, Lady Etta Achufunaku Umeuruike, Mrs. Marieliese Shonubi, Mr. Augustine Adetola, Mr. Olufemi Ojo, Madame Ifeyinwa Ethel Menkiti, Mrs. Keziah Ogonnaya Utah, Mrs. Bessie Nwade, Mrs. Bibiana Ukachi Nneji, Mrs. Eihe Adanma Ikeriowu, Minister Rose Nkeiruka Mbamali, Mrs. Jean Bamwo, Mrs. Enuka Azie and Mr. Johnson Adeyemi Banwo.

A real estate company in Lagos, WIP Africa, recently visited Immaculate Heart Senior High School and Mende Senior High School, Maryland, to commemorate its 10th anniversary.

The event aimed at making the students realise the possibilities that lie within them despite their circumstances encouraged students to always believe in themselves and strive for the best.

The co-founder of the organisation, Mr. Tade Cash, recalled how he was raised in a one-room apartment with six siblings and parents, hawked bread before school each day, yet he was able to come out tops in his endeavours and made

his first million dollars at the age of 28 through real estate.

This inspired the students as they asked questions and shared their learning points from the conversation.

School bags and stationeries were distributed to selected students from both schools.

Also present at the ceremony were the co-founder of WIP Africa, Mr. Oluwasanmi Aina; Head of Operation, Mrs. Olayinka Ilori, as well as other members of staff. Representatives of schools were Mrs. Olayinka Oluwaleye, Principal, Immaculate Heart Senior School; Mr. Solarin, Principal, Mende Senior High School, as well as other members of staff.

LASDRI Honours Greensprings’ Bus Driver for Safe Driving In celebration of the 2021 Drivers’ Appreciation Day, the Lagos State Driver’s Institute (LASDRI) gave a special recognition award to Mr. Williams Udeme, a school bus driver with Greensprings School. Udeme received the award with 24 other professional drivers, out of the thousands of participants across the state.

Speaking after the award ceremony, Greensprings’ Transport Manager, Mr. Kolawole Ebenezer dedicated the award to all drivers in the school for the safe driving of the students and members of staff.

He said: “I congratulate Udeme for displaying competence in his field and for his discipline. Like all our drivers, he always follows all the applicable safety rules and regulations. Therefore,

this award goes out to all our drivers for keeping our students and members of staff safe at all times.”The Drivers’ Appreciation Award was organised in conjunction with the Lagos Computerised Vehicle Inspection Service (LACVIS).

Participating drivers are expected to be professionals, working for a company that complies with all vehicle documentation, have no accident record, and be of good behaviour to other road users.

To win the award, participants went through a computerised driving test, oral interview and eye test.

The award ceremony held on November 10 at Eko FM Multipurpose Hall, Ikeja, with winners coming from the public and private sectors.

T H I S D AY ˾ WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 1, 2021

39

FOCUS

2023: Jonathan as National Symbol of Power Balance and Peace Jalo Alhassan

S

ince November 2020 when governors elected on the platform of the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, started visiting former President Goodluck, the visits had generated debate in several quarters. Within the opposition Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, it has triggered panic among leaders of the party that the APC is wooing one of their best possible presidential materials for 2023.

However, for political observers that are taking note of the development on the political turf, the APC Governors appear to be taking proactive measures to ensure the party retains power beyond 2023. In the past few years Nigeria has been inching towards a failed state and there is an urgent need to pull the country back from the cliff. To achieve that, the country needs a competent President that can be trusted by every section of the country.

This possibly informed the decision of the APC governors to draw former President Jonathan nearer to them ahead of the 2022 national convention of the party. In 2015 Dr Jonathan shocked the world by a very rare display of sportsmanship and statesmanship when he conceded defeat by calling on his opponent, General Muhammadu Buhari, before the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) could announce the final result of his second term presidential election in 2015.

Surely, Nigeria is inching closer to the most anticipated presidential election in the history of our country and many Nigerians, and indeed watchers of Nigeria’s affairs from outside the country, have been watching with intense interest where the pendulum would swing with particular reference to the binary North versus South power block. This is in view of the fact that Nigerian national democracy gravitates around geopolitics which is usually laced with ethno-religious nationalism.

What makes this even more interesting is the reality of the perilous times we are living in as a country in terms of national security. Since the present government of President Muhammadu Buhari came into power, the country has been thrown into protracted conflicts at higher dimensions than it inherited. There is more than a the decade-long insurgency in the North-East, banditry in the North-West, farmers-herders conflicts in the North-Central which has spread to the South-East, South-West and South-South, as well as kidnappings nationwide, including the invasion of kidnappers into the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja.

There is an overwhelming perception that banditry and farmers versus herders’ conflicts are criminal activities mainly perpetrated by the Fulanis and that the federal government headed by a Fulani man in the person of President Buhari has been giving the suspects moral and logistical support. This accusation appears to have been supported by the fact that the security agencies have been controversially involved or allegedly compromised in that they have not demonstrated any genuine commitment to arresting and prosecuting the criminal suspects; rather, they are being fingered as providing protection for suspected criminals to execute their barbarism with a view to fulfilling a landgrabbing agenda and take over the country in a so-called Jihad.

As a Fulani man, in as much as I detest and refuse to accept such a rather demonization of my race as criminals, it is very unfortunate that the Buhari administration has failed to dislodge these allegations through decisive security measures to arrest the daily fighting, killings and displacement across the country.

This is not ignoring another weighty accusation that the All Progressive Congress (APC) created the conflicts as political launching pads which it massively deployed in the bitter electoral campaign of calumny against the incumbent President Goodluck Jonathan of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the build up to the 2015 presidential elections, and which

Jonathan subsequently swept Jonathan out of power.

The present government and its foot soldiers have not refuted the gamut of these allegations that have been trending for years. As a matter of fact, top officials of this APC-led government have wittingly and unwittingly admitted to this very telling label.

This has led to the violent regional agitations in the South-East by the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOD), the Yoruba Nation in the South-West, etc. evidently, those of us who witnessed the events that snowballed into the Civil War know the fact that since that national pogrom, Nigeria has never been so divided along ethnic, religious and geopolitical lines. Where then can our country, under such disruptive forces, find peace, unity and progress? President Buhari’s second tenure will end in May 2023. Where and who should the country turn to at this critical time? These questions are as important as the concern over the future of Nigeria.

At this juncture, many people may be wondering: Why GEJ in 2023? Of course, from all indications, the GEJ factor in the 2023 General and Presidential Elections are pivotal to the survival of democracy, which is anchored on peace, unity and progress.

More importantly, power moving to the South will definitely create that political and power balance between North-South power

rotation circles, that is, after eight years of the Buhari administration (North’s turn).

We live at a perilous time in our country where the government appears not to be accountable to no one. No country can be called free which is governed by an absolute power; and it matters not whether it be an absolute royal power or an absolute legislative power, as the consequences will be the same to the people”. Unfortunately, that is exactly where the country is today.

If there is any time that Nigeria needs a national character, a statesman who promotes the country and its people above self, a man who has amassed more national and international confidence and accolades after he left power, that ‘hero’ that Koyenikan talks about is GEJ. Arguably, GEJ is one of the most respected African voices in the world among former leaders in the African continent. The youths miss their freedom of expression, media and association under him.

Among the contemporary national leaders of our dear country Nigeria, GEJ is definitely the most accepted national leader in Nigeria who is respected openly across political divides. Members of the ruling party and top officials of this government confessed and apologized to GEJ for working against him in 2015 because time proved them wrong and him (GEJ) right on economy, political accommodation, tolerance and

“If we must move forward as a country, we must jettison ethnicity, religious and primordial interest so that we can live together as a harmonious entity and the only national figure that can forge that bond in our current history is GEJ.”

humility.

Among several refrains that GEJ wrote in our political lexicon is that “My ambition does not worth the blood of any Nigerian” in a country where elections have been ignominiously described as a war or a do or die affair. In one of his valedictory interviews ahead of the 2015 presidential elections, GEJ clearly stated that, “the choice in the coming election is not between President Goodluck Jonathan and General Muhammadu Buhari, or between PDP and APC; it is between freedom and retrogression”. Of course, Nigerians were goaded into making their fatal choice and today, we are buying our freedom with the blood of our citizens, a very costly price indeed.

If we must move forward as a country, we must jettison ethnicity, religious and primordial interest so that we can live together as a harmonious entity and the only national figure that can forge that bond in our current history is GEJ. As Albert Einstein once stated, “the only thing more dangerous than ignorance is arrogance”, which is what some elements in the Buhari government and certain conservatives in the North are trying to exhibit. The coming election in 2023 and, of course, Nigeria is greater than any region, group or individuals.

If by any means power is retained in the North in 2023, then it would become very clear that the North is creating a very dangerous imbalance in the already shaky system. It means that the region is sowing the wind and it would, without fail, harvest the whirlwind, which would finally nail the coffin of the entity called Nigeria. It is obvious to the discerning minds that the North has been making fatal errors in its politics of regional interest as exemplified in the late President Umaru Musa Yar’adua and the current President Buhari.

Unfortunately, all these are as a result of visionary leadership whose voice provides clear direction and focus. That is why despite producing more presidents and heads of government in Nigerian history, we remain the most underdeveloped and impoverished region and people. In other words, the region needs to play its politics well this time.

Nigeria needs a national cohesion. The country needs to return to the winning ways among the comity of nations under a truly inspirational leadership and not the other way round. There is an urgent need to rebuild and reunite the different entities that are hurting and blowing hot as a result of obvious marginalization and exclusion in the governance structure under the current dispensation. It would amount to betrayal of common sense and friendship between the North-South power structure.

In the interim, Nigerians are concerned that the two major political parties have not come out to categorically state their position on the zoning of their 2023 presidential ticket. To some extent signals from the APC indicate that their ticket will be rotated to the south and several APC governors like Mallam Nasir El-rufai have come out to express support for power rotation to the south. In the PDP, the party appears not to be waiting for the AP to make an official declaration of zoning before taking a decision. The emergence of Dr. Iyorcha Ayu from the north central as incoming National Chairman of the PDP would have automatically given the south the party’s presidential slot but PDP leaders said they have changed the rules and the zoning of National Working Committee offices will have no bearing on the zoning of their presidential ticket.

The concern of many members and supporters of the PDP is that while they are foot-dragging the APC many invade the party and snatch away sellable presidential materials like Dr Goodluck Jonathan. If the PDP allows APC to take the initiative, the party may as well forget the 2023 presidential race and concentrate on contesting for National Assembly seats and elections at the state level alone. t "MIBTTBO B NBOBHFNFOU DPOTVMUBOU XSPUF GSPN .JOOB /JHFS 4UBUF

40

T H I S D AY ˾ WEDNESDAY DECEMBER 1, 2021

CITYSTRINGS

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

Curbing Youth Restiveness through Empowerment In a bid to tackle youth restiveness, which is often caused by widespread unemployment, Chief Ndubuisi Onukwuli, the CEO of Disco Imperial Hotels Ltd, walked the talk to empower hundreds of youths in his immediate environment by equipping them with the necessary vocational skills, as well as provided start-up funds, Chris Asika reports

T

he rising cases of youth restiveness, caused by unemployment has dominated public discourse across the country, as individuals, organisations and government seek ways of stemming the tide.

One of such individuals is Chief Ndubuisi Onukwuli, a philanthropist/ business man, who is committed to youth empowerment through diversified investments in winery, home fittings, agriculture, real estate and his latest addition is the acquisition of a hotel, Disco imperial Hotels Ltd with direct and indirect labour of about 80 employees.

He said the idea to establish a hotel came during the COVID-19 lockdown.

"I used to wake every morning doing nothing and I started entertaining fear that I may get used to staying idle, so I started by establishing a small bush bar and it taught me how to run a hotel which is all about hospitality.

"I have always had plans to diversify my business every year and hospitality was an initial project I planned for 2023, but the lockdown period made me to change my mind to start in 2020 since just like everybody I had nothing doing and Disco Imperial was birthed last year from here we are going to five star, my dream is that at least every state of the federation will have two standard hotels that will create a difference in the hospitality industry."

He said the hotel commenced operations on August 29, 2021 because of the security challenges in the area, caused by jobless youths, mostly cult boys. "We made sure our guests will enjoy a secured environment."

As a result, he said he sought a means of getting them busy and employed some of them and also empowered others with vocational skills like barbing, laundry and commercial bus driving "before we employed the services of law enforcement agencies like the police and give them a checking point around the premises to maintain peace and order. It took us almost seven months to achieve it".

Explaining his passion for youth empowerment, he said: "I witnessed jungle justice once and I was mad because someone I knew was gone in the process and till date I have not heard or set my eyes on him.

"What instigates all these social menace is joblessness. To grow as a nation, we need to build bridges that connect today and tomorrow and such bridges can be built on the youths. I am equally a youth and it is our mandate to serve the future.”

He added that sometime, ago he decided to register a youth movement, but didn’t succeed because of divided interest.

"I brought in intellectuals and our first rally was supported with a budget of N4 million but some big shots in the society felt such rally in their districts will be a slap on their faces and offered money to divert the course and some people that were supposed to be my backbone took money and sabotaged and betrayed our purpose. Since then I decided that the best step is to keep the jobless youths off the street and keep them busy so they know the value of their conscience and prestige,” he added.

Onukwuli

The Anambra-born entrepreneur said the selected youths were not only trained, he also bought equipment and rented shops which cost about N1.2 million; 11 clippers, three industrial machines at the cost of N375,000 each, two mini buses for two persons to be remitting certain amount daily, and N10,000 each to enable them feed before they start the daily remittance.

Onukwuli, an Economics graduate from Ebonyi State University, said the cost of the entire projects gave him an insight into creating a foundation to keep youths off the street.

"I called a couple of people to donate to the gesture. I had to convince them of the importance of keeping these youths off the streets. I invited about four of them and three responded: Mr. Chigozie Obimdike, CEO 2GIG Limited donated N200,000, Mr. Obinna Ebigbo, a banker donated N20,000, and my wife, Mrs. Ifeoma donated N100,000 Mr. Okeke Onyebuchi, based in

Australia, donated N400,000.”

He said the idea is for the beneficiaries to be making monthly payment till they recover the cost of purchase.

"Our intention is for them to be engaged and if they are able to show faithfulness, we can forfeit the rest and from their contributions we can empower more people when we set up the foundation without more challenge.

“My dream of setting up Disco Imperial Hotel Ltd is not only to gather people to unwind but, to have a place to network, sell ideas and get full entertainment.

Making profit is not the sole aim but to makle an impact on the society, a helping hand to all and sundry. "I believe that we don’t have to fold our hands and wait for government to do everything, we all have our roles to play."

The CEO said the hotel currently has 35 staff, "and we are introducing things that will bring more employment. Our target is to have over 80 workers by next

What instigates all these social menace is joblessness. To grow as a nation, we need to build bridges that connect today and tomorrow and such bridges can be built on the youths. I am equally a youth and it is our mandate to serve the future

year".

Asked what his future plans are, Onukwuli said: "I am also into agriculture- piggery, poultry, and fish and vegetables production, in a large farm in my home town. We hope to delve into real estate by next year and according to my time-table, come 2024, I assure Nigerians of a massive production factory that will provide employment for 20 per cent of the unemployed people in the country, the next plan is to retire afterwards."

He regretted that youths are still roaming the streets jobless, drinking away their time, fighting and causing public nuisance. "It pains me because as a person I see a Nigeria of tomorrow. A time will come when our elders will grow weak, what becomes of the society if the next generation- our youths today are living that kind of life.

"I can't say I am fulfilled. I may be comfortable, a happy man but I can’t be fulfilled because a greater percentage of this entire project has not been fulfilled. I work with time-table and as such I can automatically say my fulfillment will be when I retire to the village, Ichi, in Ekwusigo Local Government Area and by then I can proudly point out those who have been employed and by my dreams, where empires will be built through my vision,” he said.

Sharing his experience, he advised youths to be focused and hard working, as their performance in little tasks will determine their eligibility for higher responsibilities.

41

T H I S D AY ˾ WEDNESDAY DECEMBER 1, 2021

CRIME&SECURITY

Insecurity: Former Army Officer Makes Case for Humanitarian Organisation

CRIME SITUATION REPORTS

MANAGING CRIMINAL INTRUSION (3) Gbolahan Samuel Moronfolu

METHOD EMPLOYED IN THIS ACT IS MAINLY THROUGH: 1. Hijacking 2. Invasion 3. Hawkers 4. Impersonation like insane person 5. Collaboration with transporters

L-R: District 404B2, Administrative and a Pep Master Brigadier, Lion Tolulope Senbanjo; Guest Speaker, Gen. Sani Usman (Rtd); District 404B2 Nigeria Governor, Lion Kayode Oshinuga; Chairman of the Day, Hon. Akim Bakreem and Club President, Lion Mustapha Sikiru at the event Mary Nnah

F

PSNFS %JSFDUPS "SNZ Public Relations, Brigadier General Sani Kukasheka UsNBO 35% TBJE UIBU to provide adequate protection for humanitarian agencies that help humanity in times of crisis, there should be an enhanced relationship between security operatives and the non-governmental organisations.

The former spokesman of the army, who retired in 2019 made the statement while presenting his speech titled, “Implications of Insecurity on Humanitarian "HFODJFTu BT B HVFTU TQFBLFS at the investiture ceremony of *LFKB .FUSP -JPOT $MVC UI President.

The retired Brigadier General said this at an occasion where UIF *LFKB .FUSP -JPOT $MVC recently installed its 20th president during a fundraising event for humanitarian causes and investiture ceremony held JO -BHPT SFDFOUMZ "U UIF FWFOU XIJDI UPPL place at Ikeja Country Club, Brigadier Usman noted that humanitarian agencies like -JPOT $MVC 3PUBSZ $MVC BNPOH others fight for humanity and so it is important to protect the lives of humanitarian personnel.

“Humanitarian agencies like -JPOT $MVC JOUFSOBUJPOBM BNPOH others are always there for the most vulnerable in society. They double their efforts whenever there is conflict, disaster or crisis.

"If we have security challenges, it affects them too. We have seen instances where some of them were abducted, some lost their lives in the course of fighting for humanity”, Usman noted.

He stressed therefore that there was a need for humanitarian agencies that help humanity to strengthen their relationship with security agencies.

5IF %JTUSJDU (PWFSOPS -JPO $MVCT *OUFSOBUJPOBM %JTUSJDU # /JHFSJB -JPO ,BZPEF 0TIJOVHB XIJMF BQQMBVEJOH the newly installed president PG UIF $MVC -JPO .VTUBQIB

0MBKJEF 4JLJSV GPS taking up the mantle of leadership for the 2021/2022 lions service year, reminded him of the challenges ahead.

“The office of the president of a -JPOT $MVC JT B WFSZ important and the most challenging assignment as it is the bedrock upon which other structures of the association are built.

“Your club, with 70 strong members, is the largest club in our district and one of the largest in the multiple districts.

Your club is also one of the strongest, as she has also over the years, built a strong reputation in quality service delivery to our communities and the leadership development of your members. " Your club is therefore a pride, not only to our district, but to the entire multiple district of Nigeria.

The challenges ahead of you, therefore, are very enormous as you have the responsibility of not only maintaining the very high standard, which your club has, over the years, set for yourselves, but to improve on your past records and achievements” he noted.

Chairperson for the investiUVSF GVOESBJTJOH QSPKFDU -JPO Blessing Umebali expressed gratitude for the large turnout of guests and members at the FWFOU OPUJOH UIBU *LFKB .FUSP -JPOT $MVC %JTUSJDU # /Jgeria is made up of dedicated, committed and kind-hearted volunteers who have been sold for service.

“Every year we organise and strategies plans on how best to carry out a fundraising project like this and invite wellmeaning Nigerians like you all here, which will enable us to raise a substantial amount to JOWFTU JO $PNNVOJUZ /FFET "TTFTTNFOU $/" BOE UIFSFBGUFS execute them monthly.”

“We believe that we cannot do it alone likewise other companies as well as the government cannot do it alone.

That is why we collaborate with any group available to enable us to have a tailored plan for execution of our activities”, Umebali noted.

She revealed further that the association has over 1.4millon membership in more than 205 countries all scattered across 48,000 local clubs around the world impacting lives and gradually healing the world from hunger, environmental degradation, health impediment where we invest or time, talents and treasure to hold road shows awareness, campaign, and advocacy.

The newly installed 20th QSFTJEFOU PG UIF $MVC .VTUBQIB 0MBKJEF 4JLJSV FYQSFTTFE profound gratitude to guests who honoured the event.

He promised to uphold the rules of the club while serving humanity.

Humanitarian agencies like Lions Club international among others are always there for the most vulnerable in society. They double their efforts whenever there is conflict, disaster or crisis. If we have security challenges, it affects them too

CONCLUSION: I join my mind with a security notion which states that “If you don’t prevent threats, then you will deal with the consequences”. In view of the foregoing, the growing danger that many manmade threats pose to the survival of any individual/ community has actually attracted increasing attention of various security stakeholders and practitioners to fathom ways at curbing the threat of criminal intrusion or how it can be reduced or prevented.

There is need for individual to have a good risk management programme which involves four basic steps: r *EFOUJGJDBUJPO PG SJTL PS specific vulnerabilities r "OBMZTJT BOE TUVEZ PG risks which includes the likelihood of degree of danger of an event r 0QUJNJ[BUJPO PG SJTL management alternatives: a. Risk avoidance b. Risk reduction c. Risk spreading d. Risk transfer e. Self-assumption of risk r 5IF BQQSPBDI NVTU CF total, there should be no shortcuts.

NEED TO EMBARK ON REGULAR THREAT ASSESSMENT This could be done by identifying the threat and vulnerabilities. The key factors to consider in specific vulnerabilities in a given situation as certain threats are not always obvious; Some may seem to be common sense by conducting door checks, locks and gates to control access, accessibility through walls made of inferior materials or through a priority constructed door or door frame is a less obvious DPOTJEFSBUJPO "XBSFOFTT of all the possibilities is the mark of good security.

DEVELOPING THREAT TRIANGLE Threat triangle strategy: This concept, theft-much like fire-occurs when three elements are present: r .PUJWFT r %FTJSF r 0QQPSUVOJUZ EFFECTIVE WAY TO CURB INCIDENCES OF CRIMINAL INTRUSION 1. Preparation by hardening the targets as peculiar to a particular environment as crime is dynamic. %FWFMPQ UIF TUSBUFHZ of self-assessment in your homes, business places and offices by accessing your strength, your weakness, opportunity you might have created for intrusion and the general threats in

the environment and what UP EP UP DIFDLNBUF JU 0UIFS effective way to manage cases of criminal intrusion is: a. Watch the dissemination of your private or family information in the social media. b. Keep information of your success to yourself and family alone, not all progress you must expose.

D %PO U MFBWF ZPVS GFNBMF family member vulnerable to rape or attack. d. Never use a car sticker to display the kind of work your do, too much exposure or show off or ego may kill you.

F "WPJE NBLJOH ZPVS GJOBOcial status public especially when making donations or in parties, watch your spending. f. Check making large withESBXBM GSPN "5. BOE FOTVSF delete all bank transactions and notification and you can FRVBMMZ NFNPSJ[F ZPVS BDcount balance.

H %P OPU HP KPHHJOH JO UIF dark.

I %FWFMPQ TJHOBUPSZ TUSBUegy, interchange the way you pass in and pass out i. Stop unnecessary lies, let your family members know your movement j. Stop sending your kids and family members on errand especially at night they may be soft targets.

L .BLF TBGFUZ ZPVS OVNCFS one factor in your decision always l. Ensure your driver does not reside or sleep in your house except when necessary as may under study the security lapses to your premises and don’t tell your driver about your next day movement N .BLF TVSF ZPVS ESJWFS pick your car key in your house and drop it at close of each work day O %JDUBUF UP ZPVS ESJWFS the route you want him to take and follow, let him not be your master and monitor his speed at interval. o. Ensure thorough background check to all your staffs and people who works around you.

Q "WPJE FYQPTJOH ZPVS financial information when you carry bulk money and exposing the information to your driver. q. Ensure you obtain all regular document regarding your landed property, house, vehicle to prevent unnecessary intrusion.

Finally, intrusion may be as a result of your inability to protect your internal values from external threats, which implies the establish ideals of lives, customs, code of conducts, ethics that members of a given society regards as BDDFQUBCMF .BLF UIF EFGFODF of values an important element of your life, family and properties.

-Moronfolu is a seasoned security consultant with many years of security and policing experience. FELLOW, Fourth Estate Professional Society (FFPS), he has also partaken in peace keeping operations within and outside the country and has flair for general security education.

42

T H I S D AY ˾ ˜ DECEMBER 1, 2021

BUSINESS/MONEYGUIDE

Chartered Institute of Taxation Defends Stance against New Taxes Omolabake Fasogbon

The Chartered Institute of Taxation of Nigeria (CITN) has maintained its position on the introduction of new taxes, stating that such would do further harm to businesses and economy at large.

President of the institute, Adesina Adedayo rather advised that efforts should be focused on few but high yielding taxes.

Adedayo who was speaking at the 45th induction ceremony of the institute, pointed out that taxation remained a key fiscal policy instrument to return the economy to stability post COVID-19. He however counselled that the

instrument be wisely used.

He said, “Government must avoid the propensity to introduce earmarked taxes with the intention of raising revenues while neglecting the impact that such action would have on businesses and economic activities. As a matter of fact, the thinking of Section 2.2.6 of the Revised National Tax Policy 2017 is that our “taxes should be few in number, broad-based and high revenue-yielding.”

He emphasised that tax policy initiatives and tax law reviews be well thought-out and followed through, adding that taxes be simplified for easy enforcement and compliance by taxpayers.

Addressing the 850 inductees, Adedayo reminded them of the need to adhere to the ethics and standards of the profession and to avoid falling for temptations.

He added that the induction exercise was in compliance with the provisions of the CITN Act, CAP C10, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004 where the Institute derives powers to regulate and control the practice of taxation profession, in all ramifications.

Also speaking, Registrar/ Chief Executive Officer of the institute, Adefisayo Awogbade tasked the inductees on continuous learning to enable them stay abreast of trends in taxation practices.

Polaris Bank wins Digital Bank of the Year Award Polaris Bank has been recognized as the Digital Bank of the Year (Global Award category) at the recently held Banks And Other Financial Institutions (BAFI) award for its trailblazing delivery of VULTe Digital Bank organised

by BusinessDay Newspapers.

The Organisers at the award ceremony, which held in Lagos disclosed that Polaris Bank’s VULTe outperforms all its peers in the industry across 8 metrics considered by the award selection/ review Committee. The 8 metrics considered are: strength of strategy for attracting and gaining digital customers; accelerated user engagement since the pandemic; success in getting clients to use digital offerings; growth of digital customers and platform security.

Others include: the breadth

of product offerings for retail and corporate clients; evidence of tangible benefits gained from digital initiatives and web/mobile site design, intuitiveness and functionality. Other Nominees in the Digital Bank of The Year Award category were: ALAT by WEMA, Kuda and VBANK. In the words of BusinessDay “According to the selection parameters, the selection of Polaris Bank was based on VULTe satisfying and exceeding the hurdle scores in the period under review.”

Polaris Bank had on May 18, this year launched VULTe at a grand ceremony in Lagos where it predicted that the Digital Bank will redefine Nigeria’s Digital banking landscape. And in a space of four months, VULTe

performance and quantum of Customer uptake within and outside Nigeria confound Analysts as it crossed the one millionth customer uptake marking a major milestone.

Receiving the award, Polaris Bank’s Managing Director/CEO, Innocent C. Ike who was accompanied by his management Team at the ceremony, thanked customers of the Bank for their loyalty and patronage assuring that the best was yet to come.

While appreciating BusinessDay for the award, the bank confirmed that VULTe recorded the 1 millionth customer before the end of 4 months of its launch justifying that the huge ICT investment made by the Bank paid off ultimately with this recognition among several plaudits VULTe has recorded.

Wema Bank Reaffirms Commitment to Environmental Sustainability As efforts intensify globally to tackle the climate crisis, Nigeria’s leading digitallydriven financial institution, Wema Bank, has reiterated its commitment to reducing carbon emissions and helping to mitigate the dangerous effects of climate change through innovative and environmentally sustainable practices.

These innovations have continued to drive staff productivity, operational efficiency, and increased customer satisfaction, and the bank has further affirmed that it would continue on this sustainability path. Recall that the need to urgently address climate change was again highlighted at the recently concluded COP 26 in Glasgow, Scotland.

One of such environmentally friendly innovations adopted by Wema Bank is powering 23 of

its branches nationwide with solar energy, which has helped reduce carbon emission by over 800 metric tonnes.

Another of its initiatives, Purple Works, electronic correspondence and document management system has reduced paper usage by 80% and improved operational efficiency, while 46 branches enlisted under its recycling initiative have generated over 7000kg of recyclables to boost a cleaner environment.

“There is a need to reduce emissions that contribute to the dangerous effects of climate change in the future. We are already suffering the consequences of global warming, and as a socially responsible organization, Wema Bank commits to environmental sustainability through several initiatives,” Head, Corporate Sustainability

& Responsibility, Wema Bank, Mrs Abimbola Agbejule said.

“We use LED bulbs which require 40% less energy usage.

We also have an effluent water management system at the Head Office, which aids wastewater recycling. Our generator shutdown policy reduces daily diesel consumption and carbon emission, while also improving work-life balance,” she disclosed.

Agbejule added that Wema Bank’s other environmental sustainability practices include a dual toilet flushing system in all its facilities to conserve water for other uses, while virtual meetings, videoconferencing and carpooling aid reduction of carbon emissions. The Bank also engages in community and coastal clean-ups, as well as advocacy to prevent environmental pollution.

Abubakar Canvasses Efficient Technology for Rice Production Funmi Ogundare A Professor of Agricultural and Bio-Resource Engineering and the Vice Chancellor of Capital City University, Kano, Sadiq Zubair Abubakar, has stressed the need for the development of efficient technology transfer methods that would enable rice farmers adopt improved production, harvest and post-harvest technologies.

The move, he noted, would enable them exploit the export potential of Nigerian rice.

Speaking at the fourth edition of the annual Nkechi Isigwe Annual Lecture, (NIAL), themed, ‘Women Entrepreneurs in a Digital Generation’ held, recently in Lagos, Abubakar recalled that

two established processing companies, Vetee and Olam, owned by Indian nationals in Nigeria have taken the lead as they source improved seeds for farmers and provide extension services.

“The recent Federal Government of Nigeria (FGN) interventions led by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), NIRSAL, BoI, BOA, is encouraging more of such private firms joining the Nigerian rice economy which can launch our entry into the internal market,” he said. The don said he believes that the country is endowed with diverse situations that allow for efficient and profitable rice production competitive to world standards, while stressing the need for an

improvement of rice production clusters.

“This will be within the existing and potential rice production ecologies in each of the states.”

He emphasised on the challenges of rice value chain affecting the major actors involved in the rice businesses and economy saying that the non-competitiveness of local rice as well as post-harvest losses along the rice value chain contribute to huge economic losses to both farmers, processors and the marketers, leading to rise in food prices for consumers.

According to him, “ most farmers are small small scale, uneducated, lack technology, knowledge and capital for favourable competition at all levels.”

Presentation of a Post humus award to the wife of the late Ubong King: L-R: Martins Iluyomade (CEO and Founder of Aimart International),Daughter of Mrs Unyime King, Mrs. Unyime King, Charles O’Tudor (The GroupPrincipal Consultant of ADSTRAT BMC), Lanre Olusola (Chief Catalyst at OlusolaLanre Coaching Academy), Olawale Ayilara (CEO/Founder, Landwey Investments)

MARKET INDICATORS MONEY AND CREDIT STATISTICS

(MILLION NAIRA)

JANUARY 2021 Money Supply (M3)

38,779,455.43

-- CBN Bills Held by Money Holding Sectors

1,039,129.55

Money Supply (M2)

37,740,325.88

-- Quasi Money

21,779,302.69

-- Narrow Money (M1)

15,961,023.19

---- Currency Outside Banks

2,364,871.13

---- Demand Deposits

13,596,152.06

Net Foreign Assets (NFA)

7,414,275.50

Net Domestic Assets(NDA)

31,365,179.93

-- Net Domestic Credit (NDC)

42,916,586.63

---- Credit to Government (Net)

12,304,773.44

---- Memo: Credit to Govt. (Net) less FMA

0.00

---- Memo: Fed. and Mirror Accounts (FMA)

0.00

---- Credit to Private Sector (CPS)

30,611,813.19

--Other Assets Net

3,892,112.74

Reserve Money (Base Money

13,264,585.14

--Currency in Circulation

2,831,167.19

--Banks Reserves --Special Intervention Reserves

10,433,417.96 317,234.17

˾ ÙßÜÍÏ ̋

Money Market Indicators (in Percentage) Month

March 2018

Inter-Bank Call Rate

15.16

Minimum Rediscount Rate (MRR) Monetary Policy Rate (MPR)

14.00

Treasury Bill Rate

11.84

Savings Deposit Rate

4.07

1 Month Deposit Rate

8.82

3 Months Deposit Rate

9.72

6 Months Deposit Rate

10.93

12 Months Deposit Rate

10.21

Prime Lending rate

17.35

Maximum Lending Rate

31.55

˾ ÙØÏÞËÜã ÙÖÓÍã ËÞÏ ̋ ͯͱϱ

OPEC DAILY BASKET PRICE AS AT THURSDAY, OCTOBER 7

The OPEC Reference Basket of Crudes (ORB) is made up of the following: Saharan Blend (Algeria), Girassol (Angola), Djeno (Congo), Zafiro (Equatorial Guinea), Rabi Light (Gabon), Iran Heavy (Islamic Republic of Iran), Basra Light (Iraq), Kuwait Export (Kuwait), Es Sider (Libya), Bonny Light (Nigeria), Arab Light (Saudi Arabia), Murban (UAE) and Merey (Venezuela).

43

T H I S D AY ˾ ˜ ͯ˜ ͰͮͰͯ

Stock Market Close Lower on Profit-Taking by Investors Kayode Tokede The stock market of the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) closed on a negative note yesterday on the back of profit-taking by investors.

In summary, the NGX AllShare Index (ASI) dropped by 22.89 basis points, representing a decrease of 0.05 per cent, to close at 43,248.05 points. Similarly, the overall market capitalisation declined

by N12 billion to close at N22.567 trillion.

Sectoral performance on the Exchange was mixed as the Insurance (+1.6 per cent) and Banking (+0.3 per cent) indices gained while the Oil & Gas (-0.4 per cent) and Consumer Goods (-0.2 per cent) indices recorded declines. The Industrial Goods index closed flat.

As measured by market breadth, market sentiment

P R I C E S MAIN BOARD

F O R

DEALS

remained negative, as 24 stocks lost relative to 12 gainers. AIICO Insurance recorded the highest price gain of 9.21 per cent, to close at 83 kobo, per share. Access Bank followed with a gain 4.40 per cent to close at N9.50, while Wapic Insurance appreciated by 4.17 per cent to close at 50 kobo, per share.

Ecobank Transnational Incorporated (ETI) went up by 3.73 per cent to close at

S E C U R I T I E S

MARKET PRICE

QUANTITY TRADED

VALUE TRADED ( N )

N8.35, while FCMB Group appreciated by 3.33 per cent, to close at N3.10, per share. On the other hand, UPDC Real Estate Investment Trust led the losers’ chart by 9.89 per cent, to close at N4.10, per share.

Ikeja Hotel followed with a decline of 9.63 per cent to close at N1.22, while UACN Property Development Company (UPDC) lost 9.32 per cent to close at N1.07,

T R A D E D MAIN BOARD

A S

per share.

Chams shed 9.09 per cent to close at 20 kobo, while Union Bank of Nigeria (UBN) depreciated by 6.19 per cent to close at N4.55, per share.

The total volume of trades increased by 5.5 per cent to 224.910 million units, valued at N3.708 billion, and exchanged in 4,331 deals. Transactions in the shares of Access Bank topped the activity chart

O F

with 42.181 million shares valued at N389.703 million.

Zenith Bank followed with 38.967 million shares worth N935.404 million, while FBN Holdings (FBNH) traded 16.894 million shares valued at N198.727 million.

GTCO traded 16.671 million shares valued at N413.979 million, while AIICO Insurance transacted 12,856 million shares worth N10.513 million.

3 0 / 1 1 / 2 0 2 1 DEALS

MARKET PRICE

QUANTITY TRADED

VALUE TRADED ( N)

44

WEDNESDAY, ͹˜ ͺ͸ͺ͹ ˾ T H I S D AY

Wednesday, December 1, 2021

dŚŝƐĚĂLJ ĨƌŝŶǀĞƐƚ ϰϬ /ŶĚĞdž ƌŽƐĞ ϮďƉƐ dŚŝƐĚĂLJ ĨƌŝŶǀĞƐƚ ϰϬ /ŶĚĞdž ĨĞůů ďLJ ϭϰďƉƐ dŚĞ dŚŝƐĚĂLJ ĨƌŝŶǀĞƐƚ ϰϬ /ŶĚĞdž ƌŽƐĞ ϮďƉƐ ƚŽ ĐůŽƐĞ Ăƚ ϭ͕ϴϲϰ͘ϭϰ dŚĞ dŚŝƐĚĂLJ ĨƌŝŶǀĞƐƚ ϰϬ /ŶĚĞdž ĚĞĐůŝŶĞĚ ďLJ ϭϰďƉƐ ƚŽ ƐĞƩůĞ

THISDAY AFRINVEST 40 INDEX

ƉŽŝŶƚƐ ĚƵĞ ƚŽ ďƵLJŝŶŐ ŝŶƚĞƌĞƐƚ ŝŶ ^^ ;нϰ͘ϰйͿ͕ h ;нϬ͘ϲйͿ͕ ĂŶĚ

Ăƚ ϭ͕ϲϳϰ͘ϴϵ ƉŽŝŶƚƐ ĚƵĞ ƚŽ ƐĞůůͲƉƌĞƐƐƵƌĞ ŽŶ E/d, ;ͲϬ͘ϲйͿ͕ & E, ;нϬ͘ϰйͿ͘ dŚĞƐĞ ƐƚŽĐŬƐ ĐƵŵƵůĂƟǀĞůLJ ĂĐĐŽƵŶƚ ĨŽƌ ϵ͘ϯй ŽĨ ƚŚĞ

t W K ;Ͳϭ͘ϯйͿ͕ ĂŶĚ h ;ͲϬ͘ϳйͿ͘ dŚĞƐĞ ƐƚŽĐŬƐ ĐƵŵƵůĂͲ

ŝŶĚĞdž͘

Fundamental Performance Metrics for THISDAY AFRINVEST 40 Index

ƟǀĞůLJ ĂĐĐŽƵŶƚ ĨŽƌ ϭϯ͘Ϯй͘

Ticker

THISDAY AFRINVEST 40

1,864.14

0.02%

950.00

0.0%

33.3%

74.50

0.0%

10.3%

-3.7%

24.60

-1.4%

6.7%

-24.0%

dŚĞ ĞĂƌƐ džƚĞŶĚƐ ŽŵŝŶĂŶĐĞ͘​͘​͘ ^/ ĚŽǁŶ ϱďƉƐ

^/ ƵƉ ϭϭďƉƐ ĂƐ E' D 'ĂŝŶƐ ϯ͘ϯй

zĞƐƚĞƌĚĂLJ͕ ƚŚĞ ůŽĐĂů ďŽƵƌƐĞ ĞdžƚĞŶĚĞĚ ŝƚƐ ďĞĂƌŝƐŚ ƉĞƌĨŽƌŵĂŶĐĞ

ĚƌŝǀĞŶ ďLJ ƐĞůů ƉƌĞƐƐƵƌĞ ;Ͳϭ͘ϰйͿ͕ ŝŶ E/d, ,KEz&>KhZ ;Ͳϭ͘ϬйͿ͕ ĂŶĚ zĞƐƚĞƌĚĂLJ͕ ƉƌŝĐĞ ŽŶ 'd K ƵƉƟĐŬ E'^h' Z ;Ͳϭ͘ϮйͿ͕ ĂƐ ƚŚĞ ďĞŶĐŚŵĂƌŬ ŝŶĚĞdž ;нϬ͘ϳйͿ ƐŚĞĚ ϱďƉƐ ƚŽ ;нϵ͘ϴйͿ͕ E' D ;нϯ͘ϯйͿ͕ ĂŶĚ & E, ďŽůͲ ϰϯ͕Ϯϰϴ͘Ϭϱ ƉŽŝŶƚƐ͘ ŽŶƐĞƋƵĞŶƚůLJ͕ zd ƌĞƚƵƌŶ ŵŽĚĞƌĂƚĞĚ ƚŽ ϳ͘ϰй ƐƚĞƌĞĚ ƉŽƐŝƟǀĞ ƉĞƌĨŽƌŵĂŶĐĞ ŽŶ ƚŚĞ ůŽĐĂů ďŽƵƌƐĞ ĂƐ ƚŚĞ ůůͲ ǁŚŝůĞ

^ŚĂƌĞ

ŵĂƌŬĞƚ

ĐĂƉŝƚĂůŝƐĂƟŽŶ

ŝŶĚĞdž

ƐŚĞĚ

ƌŽƐĞ

േϭϭ͘ϵďŶ

ƚŽ

ďLJ

േϮϮ͘ϲƚŶ͘ dƌĂĚŝŶŐ ĂĐƟǀŝƚLJ ŝŵƉƌŽǀĞĚ ĂƐ ǀŽůƵŵĞ ĂŶĚ ǀĂůƵĞ ƚƌĂĚĞĚ

1 Airtel Africa PLC 2 BUA Cement Plc 3 Guaranty Trust Holding Co PLC 4 Zenith Bank PLC 5 Dangote Cement PLC 6 MTN Nigeria Communications PLC 7 Nestle Nigeria PLC

ϭϭďƉƐ ƚŽ ϯϵ͕ϱϱϬ͘ϯϲ ƉŽŝŶƚƐ͘ ŽŶƐĞƋƵĞŶƚůLJ͕ zd ůŽƐƐ ŝŵͲ

8 Lafarge Africa PLC 9 Access Bank PLC

ƉƌŽǀĞĚ ƚŽ Ͳϭ͘ϴй ǁŚŝůĞ ŵĂƌŬĞƚ ĐĂƉŝƚĂůŝƐĂƟŽŶ ƌŽƐĞ ďLJ ^^ ;ϰϮ͘Ϯŵ ƵŶŝƚƐͿ͕ E/d, ;ϯϵ͘Ϭŵ ƵŶŝƚƐͿ͕ ĂŶĚ & E, ;ϭϲ͘ϵŵ

10 United Bank for Africa PLC 11 FBN Holdings Plc

േϮϯ͘ϰďŶ ƚŽ േϮϬ͘ϲƚŶ͘ dƌĂĚŝŶŐ ĂĐƟǀŝƚLJ ǁĂƐ ŵŝdžĞĚ ĂƐ ǀŽůƵŵĞ ƵŶŝƚƐͿ ůĞĚ ĂĐƟǀŝƚLJ ďLJ ǀŽůƵŵĞ ǁŚŝůĞ E/d, ;േϵϯϱ͘ϰŵͿ͕ E ^Ͳ

12 Nigerian Brew eries PLC 13 Stanbic IBTC Holdings PLC

ƌŽƐĞ ϱ͘ϱй ĂŶĚ ϱϳ͘Ϯй ƌĞƐƉĞĐƟǀĞůLJ ƚŽ ϮϮϰ͘ϵŵ ƵŶŝƚƐ ĂŶĚ േϯ͘ϳďŶ͘

ƚƌĂĚĞĚ ĚĞĐůŝŶĞĚ ďLJ Ϯϭ͘ϲй ƚŽ ϭϭϬ͘ϴŵ ƵŶŝƚƐ ǁŚŝůĞ ǀĂůƵĞ d> ;േϵϭϲ͘ϭŵͿ͕ ĂŶĚ 'd K ;േϰϭϰ͘ϬŵͿ ůĞĚ ďLJ ǀĂůƵĞ͘ ƚƌĂĚĞĚ ƌŽƐĞ ďLJ ϴϴ͘ϱй ƚŽ േϯ͘ϭďŶ͘ dŚĞ ŵŽƐƚ ƚƌĂĚĞĚ ƐƚŽĐŬƐ DŝdžĞĚ ^ĞĐƚŽƌ WĞƌĨŽƌŵĂŶĐĞ ďLJ ǀŽůƵŵĞ ǁĞƌĞ dZ E^ KZW ;ϭϭ͘ϵŵ ƵŶŝƚƐͿ͕ & E, ;ϭϭ͘ϭŵ

ƵŶŝƚƐͿ͕ ĂŶĚ K E K ;ϳ͘ϯŵ ƵŶŝƚƐͿ ǁŚŝůĞ E ^d> ;േϮ͘ϮďŶͿ͕ ĐƌŽƐƐ ŽƵƌ ƐĞĐƚŽƌ ĐŽǀĞƌĂŐĞ͕ ƉĞƌĨŽƌŵĂŶĐĞ ǁĂƐ ŵŝdžĞĚ ĂƐ ϯ ŝŶĚŝĐĞƐ ůŽƐƚ͕ Ϯ ŝŶĚŝĐĞƐ ŐĂŝŶĞĚ͕ ǁŚŝůĞ ƚŚĞ &ZͲ/ d ŝŶĚĞdž ĐůŽƐĞĚ ŇĂƚ͘ dŚĞ E' D ;േϭϰϱ͘ϬŵͿ͕ ĂŶĚ 'd K ;േϭϯϰ͘ϴŵͿ ůĞĚ ďLJ ǀĂůƵĞ͘ /ŶƐƵƌĂŶĐĞ ĂŶĚ ĂŶŬŝŶŐ ŝŶĚŝĐĞƐ ǁĞƌĞ ƚŚĞ ŽŶůLJ ŐĂŝŶĞƌƐ͕ ƵƉ ϭ͘ϲй ĂŶĚ

Ϭ͘ϯй ƌĞƐƉĞĐƟǀĞůLJ ŽŶ ĂĐĐŽƵŶƚ ŽĨ ďƵLJŝŶŐ ŝŶƚĞƌĞƐƚ ŝŶ // K ;нϵ͘ϮйͿ͕

ĞĂƌŝƐŚ ^ĞĐƚŽƌ WĞƌĨŽƌŵĂŶĐĞ t W/ ;нϰ͘ϮйͿ͕ ^^ ;нϰ͘ϰйͿ͕ ĂŶĚ d/ ;нϯ͘ϳйͿ͘ ŽŶǀĞƌƐĞůLJ͕ ƚŚĞ Kŝů Θ 'ĂƐ ŝŶĚĞdž ůŽƐƚ ƚŚĞ ŵŽƐƚ͕ ĚŽǁŶ Ϭ͘ϰй ĚƵĞ ƚŽ ƐƵƐƚĂŝŶĞĚ ƐĞůů ĐƌŽƐƐ ƐĞĐƚŽƌƐ ƵŶĚĞƌ ŽƵƌ ĐŽǀĞƌĂŐĞ͕ ƉĞƌĨŽƌŵĂŶĐĞ ǁĂƐ ƉƌĞƐƐƵƌĞ ŽŶ K E K ;ͲϮ͘ϬйͿ͘ dƌĂŝůŝŶŐ͕ ƚŚĞ ŽŶƐƵŵĞƌ ĂŶĚ /ŶĚƵƐƚƌŝĂů

ďĞĂƌŝƐŚ ĂƐ ϰ ŝŶĚŝĐĞƐ ůŽƐƚ͕ ϭ ŝŶĚĞdž ŐĂŝŶĞĚ ǁŚŝůĞ ƚŚĞ &ZͲ/ d

'ŽŽĚƐ ŝŶĚŝĐĞƐ ĨĞůů ϮϭďƉƐ ĂŶĚ ϰďƉƐ ƌĞƐƉĞĐƟǀĞůLJ ĚƵĞ ƚŽ ƉƌŝĐĞ ĚĞƉƌĞͲ

ŝŶĚĞdž ƌĞŵĂŝŶĞĚ ŇĂƚ͘ dŽƉƉŝŶŐ ƚŚĞ ůĂŐŐĂƌĚƐ ĂƌĞ ƚŚĞ ŽŶƐƵŵͲ

ĐŝĂƟŽŶ ŝŶ E'^h' Z ;Ͳϭ͘ϮйͿ͕ 'h/EE ^^ ;ͲϬ͘ϴйͿ͕ ĂŶĚ t W K ;Ͳ

Ğƌ 'ŽŽĚƐ ĂŶĚ /ŶƐƵƌĂŶĐĞ ŝŶĚŝĐĞƐ͕ ĚŽǁŶ ϰ͘ϲй ĂŶĚ

Ϭ͘ϲйͿ͘

ϭ͘Ϯй ƌĞƐƉĞĐƟǀĞůLJ ŽŶ ƚŚĞ ďĂĐŬ ŽĨ ƉƌŽĮƚͲƚĂŬŝŶŐ ŝŶ E ^d> ;Ͳ

ϵ͘ϭйͿ͕

hE/> s Z

;Ͳϯ͘ϱйͿ͕

/ŶǀĞƐƚŽƌ ^ĞŶƟŵĞŶƚ tĂŶĞƐ

>/E< ^^hZ

;Ͳϲ͘ϰйͿ͕

ĂŶĚ D E^ Z ;ͲϮ͘ϮйͿ͘ ^ŝŵŝůĂƌůLJ͕ ƚŚĞ Kŝů Θ 'ĂƐ ĂŶĚ ĂŶŬͲ

/ŶǀĞƐƚŽƌ ƐĞŶƟŵĞŶƚ͕ ĂƐ ŵĞĂƐƵƌĞĚ ďLJ ŵĂƌŬĞƚ ďƌĞĂĚƚŚ ;ĂĚǀĂŶĐĞͬ

ŝŶŐ ŝŶĚŝĐĞƐ ĨĞůů ďLJ Ϭ͘Ϯй ĂŶĚ ϮďƉƐ ƌĞƐƉĞĐƟǀĞůLJ ĚƵĞ ƚŽ ƐĞůůͲ

ĚĞĐůŝŶĞ ƌĂƟŽͿ͕ ǁĂŶĞĚ ƚŽ Ϭ͘ϱdž ĨƌŽŵ Ϭ͘ϲdž ĂƐ ϭϭ ƐƚŽĐŬƐ ĂĚǀĂŶĐĞĚ

ŽīƐ ŝŶ K E K ;ͲϬ͘ϴйͿ͕ E/d, ;ͲϬ͘ϮйͿ͕ ĂŶĚ 'd K ;ͲϬ͘ϮйͿ͘ ǁŚŝůĞ Ϯϰ ƐƚŽĐŬƐ ĚĞĐůŝŶĞĚ͘ // K ;нϵ͘ϮйͿ͕ ^^ ;нϰ͘ϰйͿ͕ ĂŶĚ

Price Change Index to Date

ROA

P/E

5.3x

P/BV

Divindend Earnings Yield Yield

27.0%

86.4%

15.0%

3.5%

11.5%

11.5%

14.7%

5.2%

0.8x

5.3%

-3.7%

19.1%

11.2%

35.8x

6.7x

-24.0%

24.8%

3.9%

3.7x

0.9x

12.2%

26.9% 30.8%

2.8%

23.95

-1.0%

6.2%

-3.4%

-3.4%

20.9%

2.8%

3.2x

0.6x

12.5%

280.00

0.0%

6.6%

14.3%

14.3%

40.4%

16.7%

13.9x

5.4x

6.3%

7.2%

190.00

0.0%

5.2%

11.8%

11.8%

179.2%

14.1%

13.7x

20.8x

6.1%

7.3%

0.0%

3.5%

-7.3%

-7.3%

106.8%

15.6%

27.1x

31.8x

4.3%

3.7%

-0.6%

3.7%

18.1%

18.1%

11.6%

8.4%

9.3x

1.0x

4.0%

10.8%

9.50

4.4%

3.0%

12.4%

12.4%

17.0%

1.4%

2.7x

0.4x

8.9%

37.5%

8.05

0.6%

2.4%

-6.9%

-6.9%

2.0x

0.4x

6.9%

49.4%

11.95

0.4%

3.9%

67.1%

67.1%

3.8%

17.9%

46.50

0.0%

1.6%

-17.0%

38.00

0.0%

1.9%

0.6%

10.6%

1.0%

5.6x

0.6x

-17.0%

5.3%

1.9%

42.9x

2.2x

2.3%

2.3%

0.6%

15.4%

2.0%

8.7x

1.4x

10.8%

11.4%

-10.3%

-3.9% 4.5x

0.7x

5.7%

22.2%

4.80

0.0%

1.2%

-19.3%

-19.3%

29.25

-0.5%

1.1%

12.5%

12.5%

695.00

0.0%

1.7%

72.8%

72.8%

3.4%

1.9%

16.0x

0.6x

6.2%

6.2%

0.9x

-11.9%

0.0%

19 Fidelity Bank PLC 20 Ecobank Transnational Inc 21 Dangote Sugar Refinery PLC 22 FCMB Group Plc 23 Sterling Bank PLC 24 NASCON Allied Industries PLC 25 Transnational Corp of Nigeria 26 Presco PLC 27 Unilever Nigeria PLC 28 PZ Cussons Nigeria PLC 29 United Capital PLC 30 Guinness Nigeria PLC 31 Custodian and Allied Insurance 32 AIICO Insurance PLC 33 TotalEnergies Marketing Nigeri 34 Julius Berger Nigeria PLC 35 Wema Bank PLC 36 Union Bank of Nigeria PLC 37 Oando PLC

142.00

0.0%

1.2%

56.0%

56.0%

38.8%

25.2%

9.7x

3.4x

5.3%

10.3%

2.53

0.8%

0.7%

0.4%

0.4%

12.0%

1.1%

2.2x

0.3x

8.7%

44.7%

8.35

3.7%

0.9%

39.2%

39.2%

1.5%

0.1%

27.6x

0.4x

16.25

-1.2%

0.5%

-7.7%

-7.7%

9.2%

3.10

3.3%

0.5%

-6.9%

-6.9%

1.48

-0.7%

0.3%

-27.5%

-27.5%

10.1%

0.9%

3.2x

0.3x

3.4%

14.20

0.4%

0.4%

-2.1%

-2.1%

21.3%

6.9%

13.4x

2.7x

2.8%

7.5%

0.97

1.0%

0.4%

7.8%

7.8%

11.1%

2.3%

5.1x

0.5x

1.0%

19.4%

2.1x

1.1%

-1.3%

-0.8%

87.80

0.0%

0.3%

23.7%

23.7%

13.75

-0.7%

0.2%

-1.1%

-1.1%

5.95

-0.8%

0.2%

12.3%

12.3%

4.8%

1.2x

-1.1% 4.2%

9.65

-1.5%

0.4%

104.9%

104.9%

-0.8%

0.4%

91.1%

91.1%

8.1%

3.8%

12.9x

1.0x

1.3%

7.7%

7.75

0.0%

0.2%

32.5%

32.5%

24.7%

7.5%

3.8x

0.9x

7.1%

26.2%

0.83

9.2%

0.3%

71.4%

72.9%

7.2%

1.1%

461.1x

0.8x

216.80

0.0%

0.3%

66.8%

66.8%

1.9%

20.3%

24.80

0.0%

0.2%

40.7%

40.7%

20.7%

2.5%

4.3x

0.8x

1.7%

23.1%

0.79

-1.3%

0.1%

14.5%

14.5%

13.7%

0.8%

3.7x

0.5x

5.1%

26.8%

-6.2%

0.0%

7.1%

0.8%

5.1x

0.5x

5.4%

-2.0%

0.1%

29.7%

14.5%

2.6%

2.1x

0.3x

4.7x

0.6x

29.7%

2.2x

0.2%

4.9x

62.50

0.0%

0.1%

0.0%

0.0%

-41.3%

-9.2%

52.95

0.0%

0.1%

-4.4%

-4.4%

14.8%

10.1%

5.38

0.0%

0.0%

49.4%

49.4%

19.5% 48.4%

2.3x

-20.3% 2.0%

21.4%

0.9x T o p 10 T r a d e s b y V o l u m e

T o p 10 G a i n e r s P ric e

7.2%

P ric e C hg %

T ic k er

Vo lum e

P ric e C hg % 4.4%

ǁĞ ĞdžƉĞĐƚ LJĞƐƚĞƌĚĂLJ͛Ɛ ďĞĂƌŝƐŚ ƉĞƌĨŽƌŵĂŶĐĞ ƚŽ ĐŽŶƟŶƵĞ ŝŶ ƚŚĞ ƟŽŶ ŝŶ E' D ;нϯ͘ϯйͿ͘

A IIC O

0.83

9.2%

A C C ESS

42.2

A C C ESS

9.50

4.4%

Z EN IT H B A N K

39.0

-1.0%

WA P IC

0.50

4.2%

FB NH

16.9

0.4%

ET I

8.35

3.7%

GT C O

16.7

-1.4%

ŽƌƉŽƌĂƚĞ ŝƐĐůŽƐƵƌĞ

FCM B

3.10

3.3%

A IIC O

12.9

9.2%

/ŶǀĞƐƚŽƌƐ ƐĞŶƟŵĞŶƚ͕ ĂƐ ŵĞĂƐƵƌĞĚ ďLJ ŵĂƌŬĞƚ ďƌĞĂĚƚŚ

A F R IP R UD

6.50

2.4%

UB A

12.5

0.6%

DĞĂŶǁŚŝůĞ͕ DdE EŝŐĞƌŝĂ ŽŵŵƵŶŝĐĂƟŽŶƐ WůĐ ;DdE EŝŐĞͲ

T R A N SC OR P

0.97

1.0%

R EGA LIN S

7.6

0.0%

;ĂĚǀĂŶĐĞͬĚĞĐůŝŶĞ ƌĂƟŽͿ͕ ƐƚƌĞŶŐƚŚĞŶĞĚ͕ ƐĞƩůŝŶŐ Ăƚ ϭ͘ϲdž ƌŝĂͿ ĂŶŶŽƵŶĐĞĚ ƚŚĂƚ ƚŚĞ ƉƵďůŝĐ ŽīĞƌ͕ ĨŽƌ ƚŚĞ ƐĂůĞ ŽĨ ƵƉ ƚŽ ϱϳϱ ŵŝůͲ

F ID ELIT YB K

2.53

0.8%

T R A N SC OR P

5.5

1.0%

UB A

8.05

0.6%

CHA M S

4.3

-9.1%

FB NH

11.95

0.4%

UB N

3.5

-6.2%

ĨƌŽŵ ϭ͘ϯdž ƌĞĐŽƌĚĞĚ ŝŶ ƚŚĞ ůĂƐƚ ƚƌĂĚŝŶŐ ƐĞƐƐŝŽŶ ĂƐ Ϯϰ ƐƚŽĐŬƐ ůŝŽŶ ƐŚĂƌĞƐ͕ ƚŽ ƌĞƚĂŝů ŝŶǀĞƐƚŽƌƐ ǁŝůů ďĞ ƉƌŝĐĞĚ Ăƚ േϭϲϵ͘ϬϬ ƉĞƌ ƐŚĂƌĞ

31.1%

36.30

4.80

38 Notore Chemical Industries Ltd 39 Beta Glass PLC 40 Transcorp Hotels Plc

3.6%

1.6x

ĂďƐĞŶĐĞ ŽĨ ĂŶLJ ƉŽƐŝƟǀĞ ĐĂƚĂůLJƐƚ͘

/ŶǀĞƐƚŽƌ ^ĞŶƟŵĞŶƚ ^ƚƌĞŶŐƚŚĞŶƐ

16.1%

2.0%

24.85

17 11 PLC 18 Okomu Oil Palm PLC

T ic k er

ROE

1,395.00

14 International Brew eries PLC 15 Flour Mills of Nigeria PLC 16 SEPLAT Energy PLC

ŽŶǀĞƌƐĞůLJ͕ ƚŚĞ /ŶĚƵƐƚƌŝĂů 'ŽŽĚƐ ŝŶĚĞdž ǁĂƐ ƚŚĞ ůŽŶĞ ŐĂŝŶͲ t W/ ;нϰ͘ϮйͿ ůĞĚ ŐĂŝŶĞƌƐ ǁŚŝůĞ hW Z /d ;Ͳϵ͘ϵйͿ͕ /< : ,Kd > ;Ͳ ϵ͘ϲйͿ͕ ĂŶĚ hW ;Ͳϵ͘ϯйͿ ůĞĚ ĚĞĐůŝŶĞƌƐ͘ /Ŷ ƚŽĚĂLJ͛Ɛ ƚƌĂĚŝŶŐ ƐĞƐƐŝŽŶ͕ Ğƌ͕ ƵƉ ϭ͘ϴй ĚƌŝǀĞŶ ďLJ ƉƌŝĐĞ ĂƉƉƌĞĐŝĂͲ

Price Previous Current Change Price YTD Weighting Change

Current Price

;ƚŚĞ KīĞƌͿ͘ dŚĞ KīĞƌ ǁŝůů ŽƉĞŶ Ăƚ ϴ͗ϬϬ Ăŵ ŽŶ ĞĐĞŵďĞƌ ϭƐƚ͕ ϮϬϮϭ ĂĚǀĂŶĐĞĚ ǁŚŝůĞ ϭϱ ƐƚŽĐŬƐ ĚĞĐůŝŶĞĚ͘ DZ^ ;нϵ͘ϵйͿ͕ D zͲ T o p 10 T r a d e s b y V a l u e

T o p 10 L o s e r s

ĂŶĚ ĐůŽƐĞ Ăƚ ϱ͗ϬϬ Ɖŵ ŽŶ ĞĐĞŵďĞƌ ϭϰƚŚ͕ ϮϬϮϭ͘ dŚĞ ŵŝŶŝŵƵŵ ƐƵďͲ < Z ;нϵ͘ϴйͿ͕ ĂŶĚ ,KEz&>KhZ ;нϵ͘ϴйͿ ůĞĚ ŐĂŝŶĞƌƐ

P ric e

P ric e C hg %

T ic k er

Value

UP D C R EIT

4.10

-9.9%

Z EN IT H B A N K

935.4

-1.0%

^dK < ;Ͳϰ͘ϴйͿ ůĞĚ ůŽƐĞƌƐ͘ zĞƐƚĞƌĚĂLJ͕ ǁĞ ĞdžƉĞĐƚ ƚŚĞ ŵĂƌŬĞƚ

IKEJ A H OT EL

1.22

-9.6%

N EST LE

916.1

0.0%

ƐŚĂƌĞƐ ƉƵƌĐŚĂƐĞĚ͕ ƐƵďũĞĐƚ ƚŽ Ă ŵĂdžŝŵƵŵ ŽĨ ϮϱϬ ĨƌĞĞ ƐŚĂƌĞƐ ƉĞƌ

UP D C

1.07

-9.3%

GT C O

414.0

-1.4%

389.7

4.4% 0.4%

ƐĐƌŝƉƟŽŶ ŝƐ ϮϬ ƐŚĂƌĞƐ ĂŶĚ ůŽƚƐ ŽĨ ϮϬ ƐŚĂƌĞƐ ƚŚĞƌĞĂŌĞƌ͘ ůƐŽ͕ ƚŚĞ ǁŚŝůĞ dZ E^ ;Ͳϴ͘ϯйͿ͕ > ^ K ;Ͳϲ͘ϳйͿ͕ ĂŶĚ >/s Ͳ KīĞƌ ŝŶĐůƵĚĞƐ ĂŶ ŝŶĐĞŶƟǀĞ ŝŶ ƚŚĞ ĨŽƌŵ ŽĨ ϭ ĨƌĞĞ ƐŚĂƌĞ ĨŽƌ ĞǀĞƌLJ ϮϬ

ƐĞŶƟŵĞŶƚ ƚŽ ƌĞŵĂŝŶ ŵŝdžĞĚ͕ ĂƐ ĞĂƌŶŝŶŐƐ ƐĞĂƐŽŶ ŐƌĂĚƵĂůůLJ

T ic k er

P ric e C hg %

ŝŶǀĞƐƚŽƌ͘ dŚĞ ŝŶĐĞŶƟǀĞ ŝƐ ŽƉĞŶ ƚŽ ƌĞƚĂŝů ŝŶǀĞƐƚŽƌƐ ǁŚŽ ďƵLJ ĂŶĚ

CHA M S

0.20

-9.1%

A C C ESS

ǁŝŶĚƐ ƵƉ͘ ŚŽůĚ ƚŚĞ ƐŚĂƌĞƐ ĂůůŽƩĞĚ ƚŽ ƚŚĞŵ ĨŽƌ Ăƚ ůĞĂƐƚ ϭϮ ŵŽŶƚŚƐ ĂŌĞƌ ƚŚĞ

UB N

4.55

-6.2%

FB NH

198.7

-4.5%

UB A

100.0

0.6%

WA P C O

83.7

-0.6%

ĂůůŽƚŵĞŶƚ ĚĂƚĞ͘

Afrinvest West Africa Limited

VER IT A SKA P

0.21

M A N SA R D

2.12

-3.2%

F T N C OC OA

0.39

-2.5%

D A N GC EM

62.5

0.0%

60.7

-0.8%

60.2

0.0%

OA N D O

4.80

-2.0%

GUIN N ESS

C H IP LC

0.50

-2.0%

M TNN

Brokerage

Asset Management

Investment Research

Adedoyin Allen | aallen@afrinvest.com Robert Omotunde | romotunde@afrinvest.com Abiodun Keripe | AKeripe@afrinvest.com Taiwo Ogundipe | togundipe@afrinvest.com

Christopher Omoh | comoh@afrinvest.com

Damilare Asimiyu| dasimiyu@afrinvest.com

45

WEDNESDAY DECEMBER 1, 2021• T H I S DAY

MARKET NEWS A Mutual fund (Unit Trust) is an investment vehicle managed by a SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission) registered Fund Manager.

Investors with similar objectives buy units of the Fund so that the Fund Manager can buy securities that willl generate their desired return.

An ETF (Exchange Traded Fund) is a type of fund which owns the assets (shares of stock, bonds, oil futures, gold bars, foreign currency, etc.) and divides ownership of those assets into shares. Investors can buy these ‘shares’ on the

floor of the Nigerian Stock Exchange.

A REIT (Real Estate Investment Trust): is an investment vehicle that allows both small and large investors to part-own real estate ventures (eg.

Offices, Houses, Hospitals) in proportion to their investments. The assets are divided into shares that are traded on the Nigerian Stock Exchange.

GUIDE TO DATA: Date: All fund prices are quoted in Naira as at 29Nov-2021, unless otherwise stated.

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

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

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

DAILY PRICE LIST FOR MUTUAL FUNDS, REITS and ETFS

MUTUAL FUNDS / UNIT TRUSTS

AFRINVEST ASSET MANAGEMENT LTD aaml@afrinvest.com Web: www.afrinvest.com; Tel: +234 818 885 6757 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Afrinvest Equity Fund 164.44 165.87 1.58% Afrinvest Plutus Fund 100.00 100.00 9.03% Nigeria International Debt Fund 317.57 317.57 -16.97% Afrinvest Dollar Fund 99.07 100.12 -10.31% AIICO CAPITAL LTD ammf@aiicocapital.com Web: www.aiicocapital.com, Tel: +234-1-2792974 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn AIICO Money Market Fund 100.00 100.00 9.06% AIICO Balanced Fund 3.31 3.37 -3.95% ANCHORIA ASSET MANAGEMENT LIMITED info@anchoriaam.com Web:www.anchoriaam.com, Tel: 08166830267; 08036814510; 08028419180 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Anchoria Money Market 100.00 100.00 8.69% Anchoria Equity Fund 138.39 140.13 4.05% info@anchoriaam.com Anchoria Fixed Income Fund 1.14 1.14 -13.99% ARM INVESTMENT MANAGERS LTD enquiries@arminvestmentcenter.com Web: www.arm.com.ng; Tel: 0700 CALLARM (0700 225 5276) Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn ARM Aggressive Growth Fund 20.50 21.12 13.03% ARM Discovery Balanced Fund 455.27 469.00 13.71% ARM Ethical Fund 39.75 40.95 17.92% ARM Eurobond Fund ($) 1.07 1.08 -2.23% ARM Fixed Income Fund 0.99 0.99 -5.60% ARM Money Market Fund 1.00 1.00 8.58% AVA GLOBAL ASSET MANAGERS LIMITED info@avacapitalgroup.com Web: www.avacapitalgroup.com Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn AVA GAM Fixed Income Dollar Fund 107.56 107.56 5.75% AVA GAM Fixed Income Naira Fund 1,057.57 1,057.57 5.76% AXA MANSARD INVESTMENTS LIMITED investmentcare@axamansard.com Web: www.axamansard.com; Tel: +2341-4488482 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn AXA Mansard Equity Income Fund N/A N/A N/A AXA Mansard Money Market Fund N/A N/A N/A CAPITAL EXPRESS ASSET AND TRUST LIMITED info@capitalexpressassetandtrust.com Web: www.capitalexpressassetandtrust.com ; Tel: +234 803 307 5048 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn CEAT Fixed Income Fund 2.03 2.03 -3.68% Capital Express Balanced Fund(Formerly: Union Trustees Mixed Fund) 2.22 2.27 2.34% mutualfunds@cardinalstone.com CARDINALSTONE ASSET MANAGEMENT LIMITED Web: www.cardinalstoneassetmanagement.com ; Tel: +234 (1) 710 0433 4 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn CardinalStone Fixed Income Alpha Fund 1.04 1.04 5.06% CHAPELHILL DENHAM MANAGEMENT LTD investmentmanagement@chapelhilldenham.com Web: www.chapelhilldenham.com, Tel: +234 461 0691 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Chapelhill Denham Money Market Fund 100.00 100.00 9.26% Paramount Equity Fund 17.26 17.57 7.90% Women's Investment Fund 140.81 142.41 5.80% CORDROS ASSET MANAGEMENT LIMITED assetmgtteam@cordros.com Web: www.cordros.com, Tel: 019036947 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Cordros Money Market Fund 100.00 100.00 8.55% Cordros Milestone Fund 132.31 133.14 12.78% Cordros Dollar Fund ($) 109.91 109.91 5.42% CORONATION ASSEST MANAGEMENT investment@coronationam.com Web:www.coronationam.com , Tel: 012366215 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Coronation Money Market Fund 1.00 1.00 8.06% Coronation Balanced Fund 1.26 1.28 5.16% Coronation Fixed Income Fund 1.43 1.43 -9.72% EDC FUNDS MANAGEMENT LIMITED mutualfundng@ecobank.com Web: www.ecobank.com Tel: 012265281 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn EDC Nigeria Money Market Fund Class A 100.00 100.00 7.29% EDC Nigeria Money Market Fund Class B 1,000,000.00 1,000,000.00 7.53% EDC Nigeria Fixed Income Fund 1,169.67 1,193.40 1.79% assetmanagement@emergingafricafroup.com EMERGING AFRICA ASSET MANAGEMENT LIMITED Web:www.emergingafricagroup.com/emerging-africa-assetmanagement-limited/, Tel: 08039492594 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Emerging Africa Money Market Fund 1.00 1.00 8.72% Emerging Africa Bond Fund 1.04 1.04 3.33% Emerging Africa Balanced Diversity Fund 1.11 Emerging Africa Eurobond Fund 104.20 FBNQUEST ASSET MANAGEMENT LTD Web: www.fbnquest.com/asset-management; Tel: +234-81 0082 0082 Fund Name Bid Price FBN Bond Fund 1,378.31 FBN Balanced Fund 173.75 FBN Halal Fund 114.76 FBN Money Market Fund 100.00 FBN Dollar Fund (Retail) FBN Smart Beta Equity Fund FCMB ASSET MANAGEMENT LIMITED Web: www.fcmbassetmanagement.com; Tel: +234 1 462 2596 Fund Name Legacy Money Market Fund Legacy Debt Fund Legacy Equity Fund Legacy USD Bond Fund

121.94 148.92 Bid Price 1.00 3.99 1.73 1.20

1.11 10.24% 104.20 4.16% invest@fbnquest.com Offer Price 1,378.31 175.03 114.76 100.00

Yield / T-Rtn 11.40% 4.22% 9.24% 9.02%

121.94 4.01% 150.93 12.69% fcmbamhelpdesk@fcmb.com Offer Price 1.00 3.99 1.77 1.20

Yield / T-Rtn 7.21% 3.21% 13.74% 5.78%

FSDH ASSET MANAGEMENT LTD coralfunds@fsdhgroup.com Web: www.fsdhaml.com; Tel: 01-270 4884-5; 01-280 9740-1 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Coral Balanced Fund N/A N/A N/A Coral Income Fund N/A N/A N/A Coral Money Market Fund N/A N/A N/A INVESTMENT ONE FUNDS MANAGEMENT LTD enquiries@investment-one.com Web: www.investment-one.com; Tel: +234 812 992 1045,+234 1 448 8888 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Abacus Money Market Fund 100.00 100.00 7.94% Vantage Balanced Fund 2.88 2.95 0.98% Vantage Guaranteed Income Fund 1.00 1.00 4.50% Kedari Investment Fund (KIF) 155.41 155.68 -0.06% Vantage Equity Income Fund (VEIF) - June Year End 1.26 1.31 0.32% Vantage Dollar Fund (VDF) - June Year End 1.06 1.06 3.97% LOTUS CAPITAL LTD fincon@lotuscapitallimited.com Web: www.lotuscapitallimited.com; Tel: +234 1-291 4626 / +234 1-291 4624 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Lotus Halal Investment Fund 1.50 1.52 9.72% Lotus Halal Fixed Income Fund 1,152.49 1,152.49 8.01% MERISTEM WEALTH MANAGEMENT LTD info@meristemwealth.com Web: http://www.meristemwealth.com/funds/ ; Tel: +234 1-4488260 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Meristem Equity Market Fund 11.72 11.80 12.08% Meristem Money Market Fund 10.00 10.00 10.10% NORRENBERGER INVESTMENT AND CAPITAL MANAGEMENT LIMITED enquiries@norrenberger.com Web: www.norrenberger.com, Tel: +234 (0) 908 781 2026 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Norrenberger Islamic Fund (NIF) 101.17 101.18 7.54% Norrenberger Money Market Fund (NMMF) 100.00 100.00 8.84% PAC ASSET MANAGEMENT LTD info@pacassetmanagement.com Web: www.pacassetmanagement.com/mutualfunds; Tel: +234 1 271 8632 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn PACAM Balanced Fund N/A N/A N/A PACAM Fixed Income Fund N/A N/A N/A PACAM Money Market Fund N/A N/A N/A PACAM Equity Fund N/A N/A N/A PACAM EuroBond Fund N/A N/A N/A SCM CAPITAL LIMITED info@scmcapitalng.com Web: www.scmcapitalng.com; Tel: +234 1-280 2226,+234 1- 280 2227 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn SCM Capital Frontier Fund 129.25 131.61 10.45% SFS CAPITAL NIGERIA LTD investments@sfsnigeria.com Web: www.sfsnigeria.com, Tel: +234 (01) 2801400 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn SFS Fixed Income Fund 1.07 1.07 10.06% STANBIC IBTC ASSET MANAGEMENT LTD assetmanagement@stanbicibtc.com Web: www.stanbicibtcassetmanagement.com; Tel: +234 1 280 1266; 0700 MUTUALFUNDS Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Stanbic IBTC Balanced Fund 3,384.93 3,417.43 5.34% Stanbic IBTC Bond Fund 234.88 234.88 4.46% Stanbic IBTC Ethical Fund 1.27 1.29 8.47% Stanbic IBTC Guaranteed Investment Fund 311.34 311.34 5.66% Stanbic IBTC Iman Fund 240.00 243.66 9.99% Stanbic IBTC Money Market Fund 100.00 100.00 7.73% Stanbic IBTC Nigerian Equity Fund 11,066.29 11,225.33 5.46% Stanbic IBTC Dollar Fund (USD) 1.29 1.29 4.90% Stanbic IBTC Shariah Fixed Income Fund 116.54 116.54 4.92% Stanbic IBTC Enhanced Short-Term Fixed Income Fund 105.61 105.61 UNITED CAPITAL ASSET MANAGEMENT LTD Web: www.unitedcapitalplcgroup.com; Tel: +234 01-6317876 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn United Capital Balanced Fund 1.34 1.36 4.46% United Capital Bond Fund 1.95 1.95 6.20% United Capital Equity Fund 0.93 0.95 16.03% United Capital Money Market Fund 1.00 1.00 9.01% United Capital Eurobond Fund 121.78 121.78 6.36% United Capital Wealth for Women Fund 1.08 1.10 6.27% United capital Sukuk Fund 1.07 1.07 7.00% QUANTUM ZENITH ASSET MANAGEMENT & INVESTMENTS LTD service@quantumzenithasset.com.ng Web: www.quantumzenith.com.ng; Tel: +234 1-2784219 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Zenith Balanced Strategy Fund 13.08 13.19 10.21% Zenith ESG Impact Fund 14.55 14.71 19.23% Zenith Income Fund 24.76 24.76 3.17% Zenith Money Market Fund 1.00 1.00 5.43%

REITS NAV Per Share

Yield / T-Rtn

124.98 54.20

10.62% 7.24%

Bid Price

Offer Price

Yield / T-Rtn

14.36 129.80 104.30 17.55 21.54

14.46 133.02 106.59 17.65 21.64

8.59% 7.94% 5.13% -2.68% 15.88%

Fund Name SFS REIT Union Homes REIT

EXCHANGE TRADED FUNDS Fund Name Lotus Halal Equity Exchange Traded Fund SIAML Pension ETF 40 Stanbic IBTC ETF 30 Fund MERGROWTH ETF MERVALUE ETF

VETIVA FUND MANAGERS LTD Web: www.vetiva.com; Tel: +234 1 453 0697 Fund Name Vetiva Banking Exchange Traded Fund Vetiva Consumer Goods Exchange Traded Fund Vetiva Griffin 30 Exchange Traded Fund Vetiva Money Market Fund Vetiva Industrial Goods Exchange Traded Fund Vetiva S&P Nigeria Sovereign Bond Exchange Traded Fund

funds@vetiva.com Bid Price

Offer Price

Yield / T-Rtn

3.85 5.43 17.93 1.00 21.84 157.48

3.95 5.53 18.13 1.00 22.04 159.48

2.74% -4.31% 10.65% 7.70% 6.39% -15.16%

NAV Per Share

Yield / T-Rtn

107.28

13.11%

INFRASTRUCTURE FUND Fund Name Chapel Hill Denham Nigeria Infrastructure Debt Fund

The value of investments and the income from them may fall as well as rise. Past performance is a guide and not an indication of future returns. Fund prices published in this edition are also available on each fund manager’s website and FMAN’s website at www.fman.com.ng. Fund prices are supplied by the operator of the relevant fund and are published for information purposes only.

46

WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 1, 2021 ˾ T H I S D AY

FOREIGN DESK

COMPILED BY BAYO AKINLOYE

US Warns Russia against ‘Renewed Aggression’ in Ukraine US Secretary of State Antony Blinken warned Russia against taking any “escalatory actions” toward Ukraine, saying Tuesday that “any renewed aggression would trigger serious consequences.”

Speaking to reporters alongside Latvian Foreign Minister Edgars Rinkevics during a visit to Riga, Blinken said the United States is “very concerned” about Russian troop movements along the border with Ukraine.

Concerns about Russia’s military buildup will be discussed later Tuesday and Wednesday during a NATO ministerial meeting in Riga. Blinken said he would have a lot more to say on the topic after those consultations with NATO allies.

Ahead of the ministerial talks, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg called on Russia to reduce tensions in the region, saying the military buildup is “unprovoked and unexplained.”

“Any future Russian aggression against Ukraine would come at a high price and have serious political and economic consequences for Russia,” Stoltenberg said Monday.

US Removes Colombia’s FARC from Terrorists List The United States has removed a former Colombian Marxist rebel group from a list of foreign terrorist organizations.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement Tuesday the move came five years after a US-Colombia agreement “formally dissolved and disarmed” the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, known as FARC. “It no longer exists as a unified organization that engages in terrorism or terrorist activity, Blinken said.

Blinken said revoking FARC’s designation does not affect US charges or potential charges against the group’s former leaders.

FARC was responsible for thousands of kidnappings and murders.

He also said the move would make it easier for the US to support the deal’s implementation in parts of Colombia where disbanded FARC guerrillas are located.

While the 2016 accord has significantly reduced violence, FARC guerrillas and members of other armed groups continue to engage in violent activity.

Myanmar Court Postpones Verdict for Ousted Leader Suu Kyi A court in Myanmar postponed its verdict on Tuesday in the trial of ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi to allow testimony from an additional witness.

The court agreed with a defence motion that it allow a doctor who had previously been unable to come to court to add his testimony, a legal official said.

The verdict would be the first for the 76-year-old Nobel laureate since the army seized power on February 1, arresting her and blocking her National League for Democracy party from starting a second term in office.

She also faces trials on a series of other charges, including corruption, that could send her to prison for dozens of years if convicted.

The court was to deliver a verdict on Tuesday on charges of incitement and violating coronavirus restrictions.

The judge adjourned the proceedings until December 6, when the new witness, Dr. Zaw Myint Maung, is scheduled to testify, said the legal official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the government has restricted the release of information about the trial. It was unclear when a verdict would be issued.

HRW: Taliban Killing Ex-Afghan Security Forces Taliban forces have carried out more than 100 summary executions and forced disappearances in just four Afghan provinces in a series of revenge attacks since the militant group seized power in August following the withdrawal of Western forces, according to Human Rights Watch.

The attacks were documented in Ghazni, Helmand, Kandahar, and Kunduz provinces between August and the end of October, but it’s believed such incidents have occurred across Afghanistan.

“They were targeting the people they had fought with. And many of the cases we investigated were people really on the front lines, people who were known to the Taliban in particular localities,” said report author Patricia Gossman, in an interview with VOA. She said the attacks had taken place despite Taliban promises that they would not seek revenge.

Omicron: Israel Bans Tourists for Two Weeks Israel has tightened restrictions after at least two cases of the omicron variant of the coronavirus were discovered in travellers returning to the country.

The new variant was discovered in two Israelis who had returned from Africa. Israel has now closed its borders to incoming tourists for the next two weeks in a move that comes less than a month after it reopened.

As part of the new restrictions, anyone flying to Israel from nations labelled as red countries — including most of Africa will be sent to government-sponsored hotels run by the Israeli army. All other returning Israelis will have to submit to a PCR test on arrival in Israel, as

Zemmour later acknowledged on Twitter was “very inelegant” — cast fresh doubt on the temperament and electability of the author and former journalist who has polled in low double digits since September despite having no hands-on political experience. Zemmour has drawn comparisons in France to Epstein Pilot Resumes Testimony at former US President Donald Trump Ghislaine Maxwell Trial A longtime pilot for the late financier because of his rabble-rousing populism Jeffrey Epstein resumed his testimony and ambitions to jump from the small at Ghislaine Maxwell’s sex trafficking screen to national leadership. trial Tuesday, saying the British socialite charged with helping the financier Omicron in Europe Before South find teenage girls to sexually abuse Africa Makes Discovery New evidence has revealed that the was ‘Number 2’ in the hierarchy of omicron variant of the coronavirus was Epstein’s operations.

Lawrence Paul Visoski Jr. is the first already present in western Europe well witness in the sex trafficking trial of before the first cases were officially Maxwell, 59, a woman who travelled identified in southern Africa.

Authorities in the Netherlands said for decades in circles that put her in contact with accomplished and wealthy Tuesday that it detected the variant in test samples as early as November 19 people before her July 2020 arrest.

Asked where Maxwell stood in the -- a full week before the positive cases hierarchy of Epstein’s world, Visoski detected last Friday among passengers said Maxwell “was the Number 2.” who arrived in Amsterdam on a flight He added that “Epstein was the big from South Africa.

Health officials in Japan and France also Number 1.”

The testimony supports what Assistant confirmed their first cases of omicron on US Attorney Lara Pomerantz told jurors Tuesday, joining a growing list of nations in her opening statement Monday when including Britain, Canada, Scotland, she said Epstein and Maxwell were Australia, Austria, Spain and Sweden. “partners in crime.”

Pomerantz said Maxwell recruited and Omicron: Australia Delays Border groomed girls for Epstein to abuse from Reopening for Migrant Workers Australia has changed its plan to 1994 to at least 2004 sexually.

Maxwell has pleaded not guilty, and allow fully vaccinated skilled migrants, her lawyer says she’s being made a backpackers and international students scapegoat for Epstein’s bad behaviour. into the country beginning December 1.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison said there would be a two-week delay TV Pundit Joins French Presidential because of the spread of the omicron Race A far-right former TV pundit with COVID-19 variant.

Several infections have been detected multiple hate-speech convictions officially entered the race for France’s presidency in travellers returning to Australia.

The World Health Organization on Tuesday and warned his supporters has declared omicron a “variant of that they would likely be called racists for backing his anti-immigration and concern.”

Business groups have been calling anti-Islam views that have already shaken for Australia, which closed its borders up the election campaign.

The launch of Eric Zemmour’s run for to most foreign nationals in March the presidency made official a candidacy 2020, to allow in migrant workers to that had been gathering steam for months ease chronic skills shortages.

The Business Council of Australia, before it then stumbled of late — notably which represents the sector, supports the after the 63-year-old raised a middle finger at a woman who did likewise decision to force migrants and students to wait while Australia assesses the threat to him over the weekend.

That flash of temper — which posed by the new coronavirus variant.

has been the rule until now, and spend three days in quarantine. They will be released only after a second negative test.

Senior health official Dr. Sharon Al-Ro’I Preuss says the variant appears to be extremely contagious.

47

WEDNESDAY, ͹˜ ͺ͸ͺ͹ ˾ T H I S D AY

FORTY-SEVEN NNPC: GLOBAL ATTACK ON FOSSIL FUEL INVESTMENT WILL CONTINUE TO WORSEN ENERGY CRISIS and gas projects continued to lag.

Speaking in Yenagoa during the 10th Practical Nigerian Content (PNC) Conference organised by Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB), the Group Executive Director, Upstream, NNPC, Adokiye Tombomieye, urged Nigeria to look inwards for financing of major projects.

The event was attended by several industry and non-sector players, including the governor of Bayelsa State, Douye Diri; Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Timipre Sylva, who was represented by the Director, Human Resources Management, Dr. Famous Eseduwo; and the NCDMB Executive Secretary, Simbi Wabote.

Others at the event included Country Chair, Shell Nigeria, Osagie Okunbor; Group Managing Director, NNPC, Mele Kyari, who attended virtually; Chief Executive Officer, Nigerian Upstream Regulatory Petroleum Agency (NURPC), Mr Gbenga Komolafe; and several top shots in the oil and gas industry.

Tombomieye, who was represented by the Group General Manager, National Petroleum Investment Management Services (NAPIMS) Bala Wunti, said there had been a downward spiral in investment in the oil and gas industry since 2000. But he stressed that with the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) things would change from 2022.

Tagged, “Driving Nigerian Content in the New Dawn of the

Petroleum Industry Act,” the NNPC top official, who spoke during one of the sessions, maintained that there was an on-going trend of upward movement in the industry.

"The reason is not far-fetched,” Tombomieye stated, adding, “We have seen the consequence of uncertainty in the industry. Investment and uncertainty never mix.”

Tombomieye explained, “Whether we go ahead with the energy transition or not we have already created a monster and that monster is that we now have finance activists, investment activists that have come into the space to create problems for energy investment.

“Energy investment is being attacked and will continue to be attacked in the fossil fuels industry.

Investment capital is now very discriminatory against fossil fuels, but not only that, it has become more and more impatient.

“Everybody wants to invest today and recoup the money tomorrow.

Nobody wants to invest that money for 10 years, but I need to let you know that the upstream space is not a day’s job. You will invest today and wait for 10 years. These issues have created an impediment to investment.”

According to the GED, the crunch on finance and investment has not created the new energy crisis across the globe, but has seen the prices of gas skyrocketing in the last few months.

However, he stated that the situation had also brought about

significant opportunities for Nigeria, which would now have to look elsewhere to finance major projects.

He said, “If I'm not getting money from JP Morgan and I’m not getting money from Blackwell, if Shell is running away, where else will the money come from. And this is a challenge for the service contractors.

We do know that there should be active collaborations by the service contractors.”

Tombomieye argued that though many players within the industry liked to cut corners, with the advent of the PIA, that would soon stop.

He said major investments would start rolling in by 2022 as pending disputes are being resolved.

During the event, the NCDMB Executive Secretary, Wabote, formally signed a deal with Amal Technologies for the setting up a state-of-the-art factory to produce hardware, embedded systems, and other technological devices in Nigeria. He said the plant could produce as much as two million electricity meters.

Wabote stated, “The plant will produce smart gas/smoke detector alarm devices that monitor and detect smoke and all types of gas leakages (especially LPG), call the user’s mobile phone if the intensity of the gas is getting high, and automatically shut off the valve of the gas cylinder using Internet of Things and Artificial Intelligence technology.”

On the board’s 10-year roadmap, Wabote said while there was a total

of 96 initiatives, 56 were on track, 24 were on-going, 16 initiatives were not yet due, while overall, 75 per cent of the roadmap was on-track as at November 2021.

According to Wabote, “Five areas monitored for evaluation of Nigerian content are engineering, procurement, fabrication, project management, and services. Based on projects covered by our monitoring and evaluation directorate, a total of $20.4 billion was spent on these five categories between 2016 and 2020.

"The top three industries’ spend are $8.07 billion on fabrication, representing 39 per cent of spend; $4.74billion on engineering services, representing 23 per cent of spending, and $5.67 billion on procurement of manufactured materials representing 28 per cent of spend.

“The low spends were $1.18 billion on services, representing six per cent of spend, and $746 million on project management, representing four per cent of spend.”

In his remarks, Sylva called for closer collaboration among the various agencies of the ministry with implementation of the PIA about to come into force. He said the conference had continued to grow every year, adding that the NCDMB had consistently broken new grounds with the implementation of the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry Content Development (NOGICD) Act. He enjoined the board to continue its upward trajectory and stay focused on the implementation

LAGOS WHITE PAPER RIPS APART PANEL’S REPORT ON #ENDSARS of the 32 recommendations made by the panel on the Lekki toll gate shooting, the state government only accepted 11, rejected one outright, agreed on six, albeit with modifications, while 14, which fell outside its powers would be forwarded to the federal government for consideration.

Importantly, the White Paper, which addressed each of the recommendations and passed a verdict, rejected claims that nine people died at the Lekki toll plaza.

Meanwhile, Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, who for the first time, reacted to the panel’s report in a broadcast yesterday at the Lagos House, Ikeja, promised that his government would bring closure to the painful episode of the #EndSARS with the White Paper.

But the government, while disputing some of the claims in the report, insisted it was full of discrepancies, irregularities and inaccuracies with claims of deaths of victims, even when some paragraphs of the same report revealed different claims and assertion.

In the White Paper released by the Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Mr Gbenga Omotoso, the government described as baffling, the report that nine protesters were killed during the protest, saying apart from listing out their names in tabular form on pages 297-298, the JPI offered no explanation regarding circumstances of their deaths, adding that the names only sprang up at 297-298 of the report without any justification.

"It is quite astonishing that in the list of eleven (11) deaths set at pages 297-298, two (2) of the names appeared twice (Kolade Salam, Folorunsho Olabisi as Nos. 37 and 38). Furthermore, the person listed, as No. 46, Nathaniel Solomon, who testified as a witness and petitioned the JPI in respect of his brother, who he alleged died at LTC, himself listed as having died at LTG on 20th October 2020.

“Remarkably, Nathaniel Solomon’s deceased brother (Abata Soloma, was then also listed as No 2 on the list of persons, who died at LTG. The only victim of gunshot injury from LTG was picked up at 7:43, on 21th October 2020 after the curfew commenced (see page 99).

Furthermore, there was no shred of evidence regarding, who shot him.

"Another substantial inconsistency in the JPI Report was the award of compensation to only one (1)

out of the alleged nine (9), listed as ‘deceased’, which showed that the JPI itself had doubts as to the deaths of eight (8) other allegedly deceased persons on its list. See page 304 of the JPI Report," the White Paper stated.

The government also picked hole in the justification for the award of money to one Serah Ibrahim, saying she was neither a petitioner nor a claimant before the JPI. "The JPI also surprisingly awarded the sum of N10m to one Serah Ibrahim (listed as No. 14 on Page 304 of the Report). Serah Ibrahi was neither a Petitioner nor a Claimant before the JPI. At Page 179 of the report, Serah Ibrahim testified on oath that she did not have any petition before the panel, neither did she have any claims for compensation.

“This award to Serah Ibrahim is also contrary to the provisions of Section 13, Tribunal of Inquiry Law 2015 (Cap. T6 La of Lagos State), which prescribes that only witnesses requested summoned by a Tribunal of Inquiry are entitled to witness fees subject to consent of the Attorney General. Serah Ibrahim did not testify at the request or summons of the Tribunal. See pages 17-18 of the report for the list of summoned witnesses," the paper stated.

On what it considered as fundamental inconsistencies in the findings of the JPI regarding the nine (9) deaths at LTG, the state government maintained that it rejected the claim, because the finding were clearly and manifestly not supported by evidence.

The government added that the JPI attested to the fact that there was nothing contrary to that of Professor Obafunwa, that only one person died at LTG of gunshot wounds on 21st October, 2020.

“The JPI’s finding of nine (9) deaths is, therefore, irreconcilable with the evidence of Prof. Obafunwa, that only one (1) person died of gunshot wounds at 7:43pm at LTG on 21stOctober, 2020.

“Having held that there was no evidence before it to the contrary of what Prof. Obafunwa said, the question is, where did the JPI then get its finding of nine (9) deaths? (see table at pages 297-298).

“It also follows the irresistible conclusions to be drawn from the JPI’s acceptance of Prof. Obafunwa’s testimony that only one (1) person died of gunshot wounds at LTG

on 21stOctober 2020 is that there was no massacre at LTG, contextual or otherwise.

“The findings of the JPI that nine (9) people died at LTG on 21st October 2020 from gunshots fired by the military are based on assumptions speculations.

“The inconsistencies and contradictions in the entire JPI report concerning the number of persons, who died at LTG on 20th October 2020, and their cause of death rendered the JPI’s findings and conclusions thereon as totally unreliable and therefore unacceptable."

Further on other recommendations, the Lagos government said, it has no control over the internal affairs of the Nigeria Police Force, and that the recommendation would be forwarded to the appropriate authorities, namely the federal government of Nigeria, National Economic Council, Police Service Commission and Nigeria Police Force.

Government, however, promised to set up a separate statewide Helpline for human rights abuses in addition to its existing Emergency Toll-Free (767 & 112) Helplines, assuring the people that the recommendations would also be forwarded to the National Economic Council.

Specifically, on police brutality, the government said out of the 22 recommendations, it would only accept four and forward 18 to the federal government, three of which overlap and have also been accepted.

The state government further added that it lacked the powers to investigate and fish out police officers as recommended by the JPI at pages 249-254 of the report.

However, speaking yesterday, Sanwo-Olu, who sounded emotional in his broadcast and seemed willing to put the matter behind him as quickly as possible, noted that though he believed in the Continued on page 53

of the Nigerian Content 10-Year Strategic Roadmap to grow Nigerian content to the targeted level of 70 per cent by 2027.

Wabote said, “Government expects that with the PIA now in place and supported by the enabling structures to ease doing business, new Final Investment Decisions (FIDs) should begin to happen rapidly in the Nigerian oil and gas industry.

“With over $42 billion worth of investment agreement signed by various Nigerian entities at the just concluded Intra African Trade Fair (IATF) in South Africa, there is strong optimism that so many new projects would soon commence in the Nigerian oil and gas industry.”

Komolafe, in his comments read by the Senior Technical Adviser NUPRC, Mr. Abel Nsa, said over a decade since the enactment of the NOGICD Act, so much had been achieved by the NCDMB over the years in the development of indigenous capacity. He said this had helped in stimulating the local economy and brought about the resurgence of new businesses, creation of jobs for the youth and unemployed, in addition to the retention of wealth in the country.

Shell Chair in Nigeria said the company in 2016 spent over N2 billion in the construction, upgrade and provision of equipment for the Nigerian Institute of Welding (NIW) in a bid to enhance welding technology in-country.

“With this investment, the institute is now able to perform destructive and non-destructive testing of materials in Nigeria,” he said.

Diri urged the stakeholders to create “local contentment”, to foster a conducive environment for the operations of the oil companies.

Shell MD, Okunbor Urges Nigeria to Optimise Energy Resources

Okunbor said Nigeria should adopt a two-pronged strategy for its energy transition programme in response to global calls for reduction in the exploitation of fossil fuels and production of Green House Gases (GHG).

Okunbor spoke while delivering the 51st Founders’ Day Lecture of the University of Benin, titled, “The Global Energy Transition and The Imperatives for Nigeria.” He called for an urgent optimisation of Nigeria’s energy resources for speedy economic and industrial development of the country.

He said, “Nigeria has gas in abundance - around 202 trillion cubic feet of proven gas reserves

and about 600 trillion cubic feet of unproven reserves. Harnessing these vast gas resources, and on time too, is key in the next decade of Nigeria’s existence.”

According to him, the second approach for Nigeria’s successful energy transition would be an intentional growth of the off-grid power and renewables industry taking advantage of foreign financial support and technology transfer.

Okunbor stated, “The on-going energy transition is here with us.

As with other transitions, it is a journey that will involve multiple approaches, collective action and undoubtedly present new challenges and opportunities.

“Nigeria is well positioned to ride the wave of the current energy transition with its abundance of natural fossil fuels and renewable solar energy. We need to move with a greater sense of urgency and a clear sense of direction.”

Okunbor, who is also the Managing Director of The Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Limited (SPDC), said, “Nigeria, as a country with abundant natural fossil fuel resources, cannot afford for international and multilateral agencies to stop funding the development of fossil fuels, particularly gas projects.

“The transition is underway,” Okunbor said, “but it will move at different paces and produce different outcomes in different countries, depending on local factors. Society, as a whole, faces a dual challenge to transition to a low-carbon energy future, dealing with how to manage the risk of climate change, while also extending the benefits of energy to everyone on the planet. This is a challenge that requires changes in the way energy is produced, used and made accessible to people.”

Despite the efforts at decarbonisation, Okunbor said oil and gas would remain in the energy mix for some decades to come. He said, “This is partly a consequence of the time needed for renewables to reach the necessary level of materiality.

In part, it is also a consequence of the lack of substitution options in some parts of the economy. But the world will need to meet its energy needs at the same time as it tackles climate change.”

He noted that to make the federal government’s ”Decade of Gas” agenda a success, the country would need to unlock the domestic gas-to-power value chain; accelerate infrastructure development; drive gas-based industrialisation; and deepen domestic liquefied petroleum gas penetration.

CANADA BANS TRAVELLERS FROM NIGERIA, EGYPT, MALAWI OVER OMICRON FEARS This is just as members of Nigeria’s House of Representatives at plenary yesterday, mandated the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) to step up national response to control the emergence and spread of new COVID-19 omicron variant in order to spare Nigeria the full brunt of the third wave of the pandemic.

“Foreign nationals who have transited or stayed in these 10 countries cannot enter Canada if they have been in those countries in the last two weeks,” the AFP quoted Canadian Health Minister, Jean-Yves Duclos, to have said at a press conference.

He also said all air travelers arriving from outside Canada, apart from the United States, would now need to be tested for Covid-19 at their point of entry, “whether they are vaccinated or unvaccinated,” and that those travelers would need to isolate until their test results are available.

First reported to the World Health Organisation (WHO) less than a week ago after being detected in southern Africa earlier in November, the Omicron variant has already appeared in several countries, stoking global fears about a coronavirus pandemic that has killed more than five million people and savaged economies worldwide.

“The pandemic is not over,”

Transport Minister Omar Alghabra added. “Travel measures could change at any moment.”

Canada on Friday banned entry to all travelers from seven southern African countries: Botswana, Swaziland, Lesotho, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, and Zimbabwe.

And on Sunday, Canada confirmed it had detected its first cases of the new Omicron strain, in two people who had traveled recently to Nigeria.

Canada however, has no direct flight with Nigeria.

Meanwhile, in Nigeria, the House of Representatives have also mandated the NCDC to ensure intensive observation and check on travel protocols for inbound passengers.

It further mandated the Federal Ministry of Health to mandate the COVID-19 Task Force to immediately activate strategies to be implemented in monitoring adherence to COVID-19 guidelines and ensure residents continue to comply with all advisories aimed at curtailing the spread of COVID-19.

The resolutions of the lawmakers were sequel to the adoption of a motion of urgent national importance sponsored by Hon. Dachung Bagos (PDP, Plateau).

Moving the motion, Bagos said the House was aware that on November 26th, 2021 a new,

heavily mutated COVID-19 variant named Omicron was discovered in South Africa and had spread across the globe on Sunday, shutting borders and renewing curbs as the EU chief said governments faced a “race against time” to understand.

He said the House was also aware that on November 26, 2021, WHO designated the variant B.1.1.529 a variant of concern, named Omicron, on the advice of WHO's Technical Advisory Group on Virus Evolution (TAG-VE).

This decision, he noted was based on the evidence presented to the TAG-VE that Omicron has several mutations that may have an impact on how it behaves, for example, on how easily it spreads or the severity of illness it causes.

He expressed concerns that Canada said on Sunday it had detected its first cases of the new Omicron strain of COVID in two people who had travelled recently to Nigeria.

He noted that the NCDC, said it was monitoring emerging evidence on Omicron variant and its implication, to inform Nigeria’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

He said, "The government of Ontario confirmed that the two cases are In the Capital, Ottawa and also preliminary evidence suggests there may be an increased risk of reinfection with Omicron (ie, people

who have previously had COVID-19 could become re-infected more easily with Omicron), as compared to other variants of concern.

“Concerned that a total of 126 genomes of this variant have been detected globally and published on GISAID, a global mechanism for sharing sequencing data, and there seem to be a high number of mutations present in the Omicron variant and the exponential rise suggesting the virus to be highly transmissible and may also present an increased risk of reinfection compared to other variant of concern (VOC)."

In his contribution, Hon. Henry Nwawuba (PDP, Imo) opined that the provisions which the controversial infectious diseases Bill sought to achieve is playing out today.

He said the government should be proactive and not wait for other countries to take actions that will affect Nigeria.

"I want to raise the consciousness of Nigerians on the Omicron variant of COVID-19 which has led to travel restrictions placed in some countries.

Last year this house moved for the control of infectious diseases bill at the time there was an outcry saying that the bill was draconian and the house was overstepping its boundary, that we are giving too much power to the NCDC.

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SEA POWER FOR AFRICA SYMPOSIUM...

L-R: Chairman House of Representatives Committee on Navy, Yusuf Gagdi; Chief of Defence Staff, General Lucky Irabor; Chief of the Naval Staff, Vice Admiral, Awwal Gambo and Chairman Senate committee PHOTO: ENOCK REUBEN on Navy, Senator Ishiyaku Abboh, during the opening ceremony of the Sea Power for Africa Symposium at the Naval headquarters in Abuja ... yesterday

AfDB President Cautions FG against Tax Increment ICAN president harps on trust in governance

James Emejo in Abuja The President of the African Development Bank (AfDB), Dr. Akinwumi Adesina yesterday said despite the country's low tax to Gross Domestic Product (GDP) ratio, the federal government must exercise restraint in continuous tax increase.

Speaking at the opening of the 51st Annual Conference of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN), with the theme: "Trust in Governance", in Abuja, he said while tax to GDP remained relatively low, it was no excuse to keep raising taxes.

He argued that when citizens bear the burden of high implicit taxes and governments or institutions fail to provide basic services, trust in governance would be eroded.

He said a distinction must be established between nominal taxes and implicit taxes — taxes that are borne by the people but are not seen nor recorded.

The AfDB president further called for lifestyle audit for leaders, adding that when citizens see their leaders living transparently, being sensitive, not lavish in lifestyle but delivering good governance, they will trust governments.

Adesina said, “While tax rates are relatively low in Nigeria, it simply is not an excuse to keep increasing taxes.

"Take the case of Norway for example. Its tax-to-GDP ratio is 39 per cent. Singapore’s tax-to-GDP ratio is 13.2 per cent. And Nigeria’s tax-to-GDP is 6.1 per cent. It is easy to make the comparison and say Nigeria needs to raise its taxes to similar levels as in Norway or Singapore."

He said: “But also consider the following - In Norway, education is free through university. In Singapore, a country that had only 1/3 of Nigeria’s per capita income at its independence in 1965, today has 100 per cent access to electricity and 100 per cent access to water.

“While progress is being made the challenge, however, is that in many parts of Nigeria, citizens do not have access to basic services that governments should be providing as part of the social contract.

“People sink their own private boreholes to get water. They generate their own electricity oftentimes with diesel. They build roads to their neighbourhoods. They provide security services themselves.

“These are implicit taxes, borne by society due to either inefficient government or government failure.

As such, we must distinguish between nominal taxes and implicit

taxes — taxes that are borne by the people but are not seen nor recorded.

“It has become so common that we do not even bother to question it. But the fact is governments can simply transfer its responsibility to citizens without being held accountable for its social contract obligations.”

He pointed out that to build trust with the society, governments must fulfil their part of the social contract, and citizens must also pay their own fair share of taxes adding that there must be mutual accountability.

He stressed the need to enforce social contracts adding that participatory governance demands open and transparent governance.

He said governments should be

opened up and allow the citizens a right to know how public finances are being used.

He said, “This is why I believe that we must develop a ‘People’s Index of Governance’ with citizen accountability forums.

“But when people feel that their resources are mismanaged or being used for opulence, widening the gap between the leaders and those they are leading, it builds distrust and despondency, which then permeates the fabric of society.

“Leaders must not only be accountable; they must live simply.

Power is not judged by wealth, but by transforming lives of people. To earn the trust of people, we must create people wealth, not simply personal wealth."

However, ICAN President,

Mrs. Comfort Eyitayo, in her presentation, said trust was the ultimate currency in the relationship that all institutions companies and brands, governments, NGOs and media build with their stakeholders.

She noted that the theme was not just central to reshaping governance across political, public and corporate institutions, but also represented the bedrock for achieving a successful union between prosperity, people and planet.

She said with business, political and social environments changing rapidly, it became imperative to rethink governance against the backdrop of the new normal.

She said digital disruption, democratisation of knowledge and ubiquity of information have positioned people at the vantage of

the global scene, with access to realtime information and unprecedented capacities to verify the authenticity of such information.

She said these have further exposed leadership failures and raised awareness on the lack of transparency and accountability that characterises some public and private institutions.

She said the impact and management of the COVID-19 pandemic have further weakened the level of trust citizens of some economies have on their leaders to respond appropriately and promptly to unanticipated events.

She said the pandemic revealed leaders, corporates and economies level of unpreparedness to adapt to unpredictable socio-economic dynamics.

Eyitayo added: "The pandemic has been christened a stress test for trust in government.

"It is trite to state that social, commercial, economic and political progress would remain forlorn if Leaderships perception of the right thing differs from the expectations of the led.

"The led would continue to make concessions if Leaders fully discharge their part of the social contract. Restoring trust in governance benefits all in diverse ways and creates a society where there is increased social order, labour harmony, inclusive growth and development and enhances international trade, commerce and Foreign Direct Investments (FDIs) as well as boost diplomatic relationships.”

Omicron COVID-19: Clarion Call for Vaccine Equity, Says Okonjo-Iweala Obinna Chima The Director General of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala yesterday said the emergence of the Omicron COVID-19 variant has raised fresh fears about the pandemic globally, was a, “clarion call to all of us that we should now move speedily

to agree on the response to the pandemic,” in order to end vaccine inequity.

She said this while responding to questions from journalists during a virtual media briefing on the postponement of a ministerial level meet that was previously scheduled to hold from yesterday in Geneva, but was called off due

to an outbreak of a new strain of the COVID-19 virus.

The meeting which is a gathering of the WTO’s highest decision-making body, represents a critical moment for the global trade body.

“We need to use all tools at our disposal to make sure we solve this problem of access to vaccines.

SGF: 60 % of FG's Overhead in Three Years Wasted on Travels, Honoraria, Consumables Olawale Ajimotokan in Abuja

The Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Mr Boss Mustapha has echoed federal government's concern that about 60 per cent of its overhead expenditure from 2012 to 2014, was spent on travels, honoraria, maintenance, local and international training, welfare, office stationery and consumables, among others.

He expressed the worry yesterday at the Third National Anti-Corruption Summit held at the State House, Banquet Hall, Abuja.

He said systemic corruption, which has permeated the fabric of society must be flushed out of governance because it prevents government from maximising its potential of providing good governance for the people with available little resources, especially at the time of COVID-19 pandemic.

According to the SGF, recent data from the Budget Office

alluded that: “Actual MDAs recurrent spending is still on the rise viz. from N3.61 trillion in 2015 to N5.26 trillion in 2018 and N7.91 trillion in 2020.”

He said the Buhari-led administration has been unrelenting in making sure that the country's little resources would no longer be budgeted and used for frivolities, hidden in fake projects, unnecessary travel, wasteful overhead costs, meaningless capital projects and remuneration of ghost workers.

"We also remain focused on getting back our resources that have found their ways into the private pockets of those who fraudulently orchestrate the budget process for their selfish desires," he said.

Mustapha said government concerns have always been how it will continuously reflect and take measures to mitigate the negative consequences of unrestrained cost of governance.

He said the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related

Offences Commission (ICPC) was doing a lot to prevent and recover of diverted or stolen public funds by building the capacity of MDAs to resist corrupt practices and promoting ethical values through the National Ethics and Integrity Policy of government.

He listed some of the capacity building measures to include system study and review of operations of MDAs, corruption risk assessment and the establishment of anti-corruption monitoring units in all MDAs. Mustapha said recovery of public funds in recent years have demonstrated the strong resolve of government to stem financial hemorrhages and promote initiatives towards curbing illicit financial flows.

He urged the ICPC to strive to eliminate corruption from governance and strengthen fiscal transparency rather than focus on pursuing the money after it has taken flight.

This is a call for us to move faster and that is why we are not waiting for a Ministerial Conference, we are just going to push along. We have one goal in common, which is to save lives. We need to use all tools at our disposal to make sure we solve this problem of access to vaccines,” she added.

According to the former Nigeria’s Minister of Finance, lives and economic recoveries were at stake.

However, the WTO boss said work on an intellectual-property waiver aimed at widening vaccine access in poor countries would continue despite the postponement of the ministerial meeting.

“The postponement was a very difficult decision to make.

Once several countries had been banned from flying into Europe, on equity ground our members felt it wasn’t appropriate that the meeting should go on when most of the delegations wouldn’t be able to participate. As you know, these negotiations involved some side meetings, discussions, bilaterals and some trading of ideas. So, this was one of the reasons.

“The speed with which governments across the world were reacting was a caution and as you know, we take directive from the Swiss health rules, the WTO follows the guidelines put by the Swiss government. So, we didn’t was to endanger the health of anybody. So, we took the decision to postpone on equity ground so as not to exclude countries who could not come in.

“So, it was quite astonishing to read some headlines that

the postponement was a good excuse for a meeting that would not have resulted into anything.

I totally disagree with that point of view. Really, the key thing I want to convey is that we have to change our mode of operating.

We don’t know the trajectory of this pandemic. It is incumbent on us to keep working,” she explained.

Over the past year WTO members have tried and failed to engage on a proposal from India and South Africa to waive key aspects of the organisation’s Intellectual Property rules for vaccines, therapeutics and diagnostics.

While the United States China and scores of other nations support the idea in principle, the European Union, the UK and Switzerland oppose an IP waiver that they say would do little to expand access to vaccines in the developing world.

The WTO should resume its “meeting as soon as it is possible health-wise and travel-wise,” she said.

The Omicron variant of the coronavirus carries a very high global risk of surges, WHO warned on Monday, as more countries reported cases, prompting border closures and reviving worries about the economic recovery from a two-year pandemic.

Scientists have said it could take weeks to understand the severity of the new variant. Its emergence has caused a strong global reaction, with countries imposing travel curbs and other restrictions, worried that it could spread fast even in vaccinated populations.

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LAUNCHING FARMERS' FUND...

L-R: Area Director, British American Tobacco (BAT), West and Central Africa Area, Mr Yarub Al-Bahrani; representative of the Oyo State Governor and Chief of Staff, Hon Segun Ogunwuyi; Deputy Chief of Staff, Hon Mojeed Mogbojubola and Operations Director, BAT, West and Central Africa Area, Waseem Hayat, during a courtesy visit to BAT, Ibadan and formally launch of the farmer's fund established in favour of farmers.

Nigeria Mulls Maritime Strategy to Boost Blue Economy as 33 African Navies Meet in Abuja Magashi flags off sea power for Africa symposium Kingsley Nwezeh in Abuja The federal government, yesterday, said the upcoming Nigerian maritime strategy was a policy tool that would further galvanise national maritime resources towards the actualisation of a virile blue economy underpinned by an effective maritime security architecture.

The Minister of Defence, Major General Bashir Magashi (rtd), who hinted at this, spoke at the opening of the Sea Power for Africa Symposium hosted virtually at the Naval Headquarters, Abuja.

In the same vein, Chief of Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Awwal Gambo, said the increasing potentials of the blue economy had no doubt expanded the duties, roles and responsibilities of navies and maritime law enforcement agencies operating in African waters.

But the minister, who was represented by the Chief of Defence Staff, Gen. Lucky Irabor, said the planning and organisation of the symposium was a welcome development especially, with recent efforts towards consolidating and

ensuring a downward slope of maritime criminalities within and around Nigeria’s maritime domain.

He said President Muhammadu Buhari's support for the process of modernisation of the Nigerian Armed Forces, had included documentation and codification of enabling policy instruments aimed at achieving comprehensive enforcement of maritime laws.

He also cited the promulgation of the Harmonised Standard Operating Procedures on Arrest, Detention and Prosecution of Vessels and Persons in Nigeria’s Maritime Environment document in 2016 as a template for all maritime stakeholders in Nigeria.

However, Gambo, in his remarks, stated that the increasing potentials of the blue economy had no doubt expanded the duties, roles and responsibilities of navies and maritime law enforcement agencies operating in African waters.

Considering that over 90 per cent exports are covered by sea, Gambo stated that gatherings of this nature were vital to forge collaborative frameworks towards protecting the over 18,950 miles of

Buhari Mourns Murdered Policemen, Assures Peace would Return to Troubled Areas Deji Elumoye in Abuja

President Muhammadu Buhari, yesterday, mourned two police officers, who were gruesomely murdered in the South East allegedly by men of Easter Security Network, the security arm of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB).

He, however, gave an assurance that peace would soon return to all troubled areas experiencing all forms of insecurity across the country.

The President, in a statement by his Media Adviser, Femi Adesina, sympathised with families of policemen and lamented the horrific nature of the bloodletting, which he said indicated that some minds were completely overtaken by hatred, and reduced to the basest level imaginable.

Noting that the three abducted

policemen, two of whom were later brutally executed, were serving the country, and providing security to those, who ironically turned against them, President Buhari sent heartfelt condolences to the bereaved families and prayed for God’s comfort in their deep sorrow.

He equally sympathised with all those, who had lost their loved ones in the different theatres of insecurity that had rocked the country thus far, charging them to take solace in the inevitable victory of good over evil.

While areas where insecurity was once fiercest in the country experience some measures of calm now, the president assured the people that the same would be replicated round the country, and the people would no longer mourn and sorrow from wanton loss of lives.

coastline on the African continent.

He further stated that the exploration of natural resources was forging new frontiers especially, with the huge natural gas reserve potentials on the continent, amounting to more than 800 trillion cubic feet, which would no doubt accelerate blue economy activities.

The CNS further revealed that the Nigerian Navy through the support of the federal government embarked on building institutional capacity for enhanced maritime governance.

This, he said, was typified by the launching of the Falcon Eye intelligence facility, the Deep

Blue Project and different asset acquisition and capacity building programmes of the Nigerian Navy.

He stated that the efforts and investments were yielding the required outputs especially, with recent reports of drop in piracy incidents within the Nigerian waters.

The CNS further said the federal government was working assiduously with different stake holders and tiers in government to ensure that the root causes of piracy and other maritime crimes were mitigated through non-kinetic programmes and constructive community engagements.

W’Bank Director: Nigeria Must Consider Opportunity Cost of Fuel Subsidy Emma Okonji The World Bank Country Director for Nigeria, Shubham Chaudhuri has called on the Nigerian government to consider the opportunity cost of its continued fuel subsidy practice and decide whether to end the policy completely or maintain the waste and drain on its scare resources.

Chaudhuri who spoke yesterday, during a courtesy visit by some of the World Bank team in Nigeria to THISDAY Newspapers in Lagos, where he was received by the company’s Managing Director, Mr. Eniola Bello.

According to Chaudhuri, “Nigeria must bring to the table, the opportunity cost of subsidy and consider whether to remove fuel subsidy or continue to subsidise it.

Our estimate at World Bank is that up to 10 million Nigerians have

fallen into poverty because of the rising inflation in the country.

“Part of the rise in inflation is attributed to lack of jobs, and those that have jobs are lowly paid and their basic needs are rising while their income are not rising. The truth is that the increase in Premium Motor Spirits (PMS) will not give t much needed impact to cushion the effect of the rising inflation in the country.”

He, however, said the removal of fuel subsidy may not necessary put a stop to the high inflation currently being experienced by Nigerians.

According to him, Nigeria must invest in healthcare, road infrastructure, agriculture and education in order to reduce inflation. He said the World Bank had always provided incentives for financing and beyond financing in order to make life better the lives of poor people globally.

Chaudhuri, who also spoke about public spending and waste in government said the old idea of business as usual must be discouraged in Nigeria, and that Nigerians should begin to hold government accountable and have a paradigm shift from the old ways of doing the same thing over and over again, at the detriment of the Nigerian populace.

He said for Nigerian government to be able to provide basic amenities for all its citizens, government must cut its public speed and reduce wastage to the nearest minimum.

Government must concentrate on providing quality services to the people.

“If Nigeria must spend up to 25 per cent of its resources on fuel subsidy, such money could be transferred to the federation account and have it approved by as an expenditure item by

the National Assembly. This will remove corruption and help the poor to benefit from Nigeria’s rich resources,” Chaudhuri said.

Speaking about Nigeria’s borrowing from global institutions and from foreign countries, Chaudhuri said what matters was whether Nigeria was borrowing for the right reasons.

Addressing the issue of technology startups in Nigeria, Chaudhuri said the World Bank had various programmes enabling the growth of startups in Nigeria and in Africa, and that Nigerian startups have benefitted a lot from the World Bank programme on startups development.

Eniola welcomed Chaudhuri and his team and advised that the World Bank should look more into African government borrowing, spending and wastage in order to save for their citizens.

OSINBAJO SEEKS SEAMLESS FOREX REGIME TO ATTRACT FOREIGN INVESTORS experience on issuing the sukuk bonds, the sukuk bonds have deepened our capital markets and the proceeds have been beneficial to us as a government in improving our sources of finance for infrastructure budgets. “There are many more rooms to bring international investors and also the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA) offers new exciting opportunities and formation of long term capital.

“The NGX must see itself as a critical player even in the negotiation on the AfCFTA, so this is the time to come into play along with government negotiators,” the vice president said.

In his presentation, the Director General of SEC, Mr. Lamido Yuguda, urged capital market operators to

continuously produce innovative products, platforms and processes in order to sustain current economic recovery trajectory.

Yuguda noted that to sustain this trajectory, overcome some of the negative impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and achieve the objectives of the developmental plans of the government, the capital market needed to continuously produce innovative products, platforms and processes.

In a goodwill message at the conference, Yuguda stated that innovation plays a critical role in the development of any capital market as it increases the markets’ chances of reacting to changes, and enables the discovery of new opportunities.

He noted that technological

innovations had been identified as one of the factors that could enhance the efficiency and transparency of capital markets around the world and enable financial intermediation, making it easier for investors and market professionals to identify opportunities and conduct their businesses in a timely and cost efficient manner.

Yuguda said the capital market of every nation plays a strategic role, not only in allocating scarce resources, but in harnessing the huge investment opportunities in agriculture, infrastructure, oil and gas, natural resources as well as in other sectors of the economy.

He said: “Nigeria like most other countries in the world experienced weak growth in their economies as a

result of the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. The Nigerian economy is just recovering from the effect of the Covid-19 pandemic, with a GDP growth rate of 4.03% in the third quarter of 2021 from a contraction of 6.10% in the second quarter of 2020.

“To sustain this trajectory, overcome some of the negative impact of the pandemic and achieve the objectives of the developmental plans of the government, the capital market needs to continuously produce innovative products, platforms and processes. Innovation plays a critical role in the development of any capital market as it increases the markets’ chances of reacting to changes, and enables discovery of new opportunities.”

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Police Parade Transnational Car Theft Syndicate, 27 Crime Suspects Kingsley Nwezeh in Abuja Police Force Headquarters yesterday paraded 32 crime suspects involved in transnational car theft, kidnapping, rape and homicide.

A total of 19 AK47 rifles, three revolvers, one sub-machine gun, two locally made pistols, a General Purpose Machine Gun (GPRG) and 453 rounds of ammunition were recovered by the suspects.

Also, 17 stolen vehicles were recovered from the transnational car theft syndicate.

Parading the suspects in Abuja, Force Public Relations Officer, Mr. Frank Mba, a Commissioner of Police, said the suspects stole vehicles from different parts of the country, notably, Zamfara, Katsina and Kaduna States, which were sold to a certain Alhaji Garba in Niger Republic.

Mba said the stolen vehicles were later refurbished and resold to Nigeria.

“The Alhaji also deals in arms, sometimes, he exchanges cars with weapons”, he said.

The suspects include: Karimu Mohammed, 30; Imrana Abubakar, 32; Bala Abubakar, 55; Ibrahim Abubakar, 36 and Nasiru Musa, 33.

He said police detectives were working with Interpol and Nigerien counterparts to ensure

that the culprit was arrested and brought to justice.

One of the suspects, Kasimu

Mohammed, said he had stolen 30 vehicles in three years, preferring Toyota products owing to its

marketability.

Mba called on those whose vehicles were stolen to report to

the IG’s Intelligence Response Team’s headquarters with proof of ownership for collection.

CAPACITY BUILDING…

L-R:Director General, Lagos State Public Bureau Agency, Mr. Onafowote Fatai Idowu; Head,Research, Training and Strategic Planning, Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP), Mr. Adebowale Adedokun;Representative of the Director General, BPP, Mr. Babatunde Kuye;Deputy Director,Public Relations and Protocol Unit, BPP, Mrs. Janet Mcdickson, and Representative of Chairman, Independent Corruption Practicies and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), Mr. Obiora Igwedibia at the 2021 2nd batch Procurement Training Conversion Induction Foundation course organised by BPP in Lagos… recently ETOP UKUTT

Senators Bicker over IPOB, ESN Deny Beheading Policemen, Accuse Army Recruitment FG of Plotting to Implicate Kanu Deji Elumoye in Abuja

Senators were at daggers drawn yesterday overalleged lopsidedness in recent recruitments carried out by the Nigerian Army. This played out at an interactive session the Senate Committee on Army had with the Commander, Training and Doctrine Command of the Nigerian Army, Major General S.O Olabanji.

A member of the Committee, who doubles as Deputy Minority Whip of the Senate, Senator Abdullahi Ibrahim Danbaba, had during the session, asked Major General Olabanji about the alleged lopsided nature of recent recruitment carried out by the Army.

But the acting Chairman of the Committee, Senator Abba Moro, who presided over the session , ruled Danbaba out of order saying “this meeting is not for such enquiry.”

Another member of the Committee, Senator Barinada Mpigi, again raised the issue

, saying “ lopsidedness in recruitment is not an issue to be put aside or ruled against.”

But Senator Moro again ruled against the enquiry, insisting that the session was not for review of recruitment made by the Army but on tactical Training and Doctrine of officers and men.

He said: “The questions being raised by my colleagues on alleged lopsided recruitments are being thrown to the wrong person. The Chief of Army Staff, Lt - Gen Farouk Yahaya, is the one who can do justice to such allegation or enquiry.”

Piqued by the insistence of Senator Moro that questions on recruitment should not be entertained at the Session, Senators Danbaba and Mpigi stormed out of the meeting in protest Speaking to newsmen on what transpired at the session, Senator Danbaba said he walked out from the meeting with Senator Mpigi due to high handedness of Senator Moro.

Amby Uneze in Owerri The Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) has disassociated its members as well as the Eastern Security Network (ESN) from the dastardly act of beheading the two policemen circulating in the social media.

In a release signed by IPOB media and publicity secretary, Emma Powerful yesterday, the proscribed organisation maintained that its members were not in any way responsible for the beheading

and does not operate in such a cannibalised manner.

He accused the federal government, who used the office of the Minister of Information and Culture, Mr. Lai Mohammed to shop for evidence to nail the IPOB leader, Nnamdi Kanu, who is facing terrorism and treasonable charges at the Abuja High Court.

Powerful said: “The attention of the global family of the IPOB ably led by our great leader Mazi Nnamdi Kanu has

been drawn to the spurious allegation by the Minister for Information, Lai Mohammed that we are responsible for the beheading of security agents in a viral video being circulated.

“The leadership of the Indigenous people of Biafra wish to state unequivocally that IPOB and ESN are a disciplined freedom movement and security outfit respectively and therefore such barbarity as seen on the said video is not, has never been and will never be part of our modus

operandi.

“The perpetrators of such barbarism are neither IPOB nor ESN operatives. IPOB has remained a non-violent movement since inception.

The Nigeria security agencies namely; The Nigerian Police, The DSS, and The Nigerian Army in collaboration with some traitor governors are the ones recruiting and arming hoodlums to perpetrate atrocities across Biafra land with the single objective to implicate and demonise IPOB.

Insecurity: House Urges FG to Address Banditry Attacks in Niger Udora Orizu in Abuja The House of Representatives has called on the Federal Government to address the incessant banditry attacks at Agwara/Borgu federal constituency of Niger State.

The lawmakers’ call followed the adoption of the prayers of a motion sponsored by Hon. Jafaru Muhammad, at the

plenary yesterday.

Muhammad had while moving his motion, noted the frequent banditry attacks on communities within Agwara/ Borgu Federal Constituency of Niger State.

He expressed concerns that during the attacks, many people, including the District Head of Wawa and the aged mother of a serving Member

of the Niger State House of Assembly were abducted while others, including the District Head of Dekare and many guards at Kainji National Park, were killed.

He further expressed concerns that Nigeria’s Super Tucano Fighter Jets, which are being kept at the 407 Air Weapon Training School, New Bussa are exposed to the risk

of getting destroyed, given its proximity to the location of bandits at the Kainji National Park in the Borgu Game reserve.

He added that the correctional centre which was situated in 221 and 101 battalions and has some insurgents incarcerated therein poses great risk to public safety, lives and properties in the areas within the constituency.

Boat Mishap Claims over 40 Court Jails Ex-convict for 28 Years for Cyber Fraud in Kwara seeking to pay school fees in June 2020 been convicted Following the plea of guilt Hammed Shittu in Ilorin Lives in Kano and hostel accommodation. by Justice Sikiru Oyinloye entered by the defendant,

Ibrahim Shuaibu in Kano

No fewer than 40 people, mostly women and children, were reported to have lost their lives in Badau village, Bagwai Local Government Area of Kano state following a boat mishap.

Eyewitness who confirmed the incident to THISDAY in Kano said the incident occurred yesterday around 6pm. He explained that the boat capsized in the middle of the river while conveying passengers to Bagwai town from Badau village.

“The passengers were travelling to Bagwai town to attend the annual Mulud festival. The boat capsized due to overload, killing over 40 passengers, mostly women and children. Scores of others

sustained various degrees of injuries. Very few passengers survived the incident,” the eye witness said.

THISDAY gathered that the victims of the unfortunate incident died right inside the river because they could not swim to its bank and they were not wearing life jackets.

In 2007 several passengers also lost their lives in similar incidents in the local government.

THISDAY’s effort to contact the local government council chairman, Mr Inuwa Zangina failed.

However when contacted, the spokesman of the state Fire Service, Mr. Saminu Yusuf Abdullahi confirmed the incident.

A Kwara State High Court sitting in Ilorin has sentenced a 29-year-old ex-convict, Mr. Joshua Ajayi Oluwatobi to 28 years imprisonment for allegedly impersonating the Dean Student Affairs, University of Ilorin and others to scam unsuspecting students

The Ilorin Zonal Command of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, had arraigned Oluwatobi on four-count charge bordering on fraud, attempt to defraud and impersonation, to which he pleaded guilty.

Oluwatobi, had sometime

of the State High Court for similar offence.

After spending time at Mandala Correctional Centre, the convict went back to crime, and was again arrested by operatives of the EFCC and brought before the court for justice.

counsel to the EFCC, Andrew Akoja, presented a witness, one Musa Muhmmad Sani, an operative of the EFCC, who reviewed the facts of the case and presented documents to establish the culpability of the defendant in the crime.

Malami Sets Up Committee to Probe Alleged Sales of FG’s Property Alex Enumah in Abuja Worried by media report to the effect that some persons in the Federal Ministry of Justice have been involved in the unauthorised sales of the federal government’s property, the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mr

Abubakar Malami ,SAN, has constituted a five-member committee to investigate the claim.

A statement by Malami’s media aide, Dr Umar Gwandu, disclosed that the Committee, Chaired by the Director Public Prosecution of the Federation, is “Saddled with the responsibility

and task of unveiling the factuality and accuracy of the publication and recommends ways of handling the matter in accordance with the provisions of the extant laws”.

The statement read: “It is important to set the record straight that the office of the Attorney General of the

Federation and Minister of Justice has not officially started the sale of Federal Government’s property.

“The Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice Abubakar Malami, SAN did not approve and was not aware of and did not order the sale of any of such properties.

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NEWS XTRA

Jos Prison Attack: Armed Men Overpowered Our Men, Says Controller-General Seriki Adinoyi in Jos The Controller-General of the Nigerian Correctional Service(NCoS), Mr.Haliru Nababa has blamed lack of adequate funding to the inability of the Service to deploy technology in manning its custodial centres nationwide. Nababa, who was represented by the Deputy Controller-General (operations), Mohammed Tukur stated this yesterday when he visited the Jos Medium Security Custodial Centre which was attacked on Sunday evening by gunmen.

He explained that there is no way custodial centres would be adequately manned manually except with the help of technology, stressing that “if we don’t have enough releases from the government there is no way we will be able to cover all our custodial centres with CCTV.” Speaking with journalists in Jos shortly after inspecting the custodial centre, he disclosed that armed guard on duty were overpowered before help came, disclosing that and so far, 17 out of the 252 inmates that escaped had been recaptured. He said was optimistic that with the

assistance from sister security agencies, the fleeing inmates would be recaptured in no distance time.

“On the faithful day, the attackers came, met armed men outside the gate of the

correctional facility and before they knew what was happening, the attackers had gunned down one of them and the remaining officers had to engage them.

However, because of the number of the assailants that came,

they were able to penetrate into the main yard of the custodial centre and some of our inmates escaped. Some through the fence, some through the door. From the door here if not for the repairs, you would

have seen the bullet holes here.

That is how they got in.

“Because of the vibrancy of our men, they were able to stop everybody from going out. If you look at this, you will see that we have Police

headquarters, Police barracks, in front of the custodial centre and the DSS is behind us, all these people including the military and the NSCDC were all here to help in seeing that all of these people did not go out.

AFRICA TRAVEL MARKET 2021…

L-R: President, Federation of Tourism Association of Nigeria (FTAN), Mr. Onung Nkereuwew;Director General, National Council for Arts and Culture (NCAC) Otunba Segun Runsewe; Publisher, Guardian Newspapers, Mrs. Maiden Ibru and Organiser, Akwaaba Africa Travel Market 2021, Mr. Ikechi Uko,during the opening ceremony of Akwaaba Travel in Lagos...yesterday KOLAWOLE ALLI

Drama as EFCC Re-arrests Police Rescue Girl Locked up for Months by Guardian in Osun Fani-Kayode in Court Wale Igbintade There was a mild drama yesterday at the Federal High court, Lagos as the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission,(EFCC) re-arrested a former Aviation Minister, Femi Fani-Kayode over investigations into alleged document falsification.

The drama ensued shortly after his trial was adjourned till January 24, 2022 and the defendants stepped out of court.

EFCC charged Fani-Kayode alongside a former Minister of State for Finance, Nenandi Usman.

Also charged is Yusuf Danjuma, a former Chairman of the Association of Local Governments of Nigeria (ALGON) and a company, Jointrust Dimentions Nigeria Ltd. The anti-graft agency preferred a 17-count charge of

N4.6billion money laundering against them before Justice Mohammed Aikawa.

They had each pleaded not guilty to the charges and were granted bails.

Trial had began before Justice Aikawa and witnesses were still being led in evidence, until Aikawa was transferred out of the Lagos division.

The charge was consequently, assigned to a new judge, Justice Daniel Osaigor, and the defendants were scheduled for re-arraignment on October 27.

But on the said adjourned date, Fani Kayode was absent from court and defence counsel who appeared on his behalf, Mr. Fred Ajudua had told the court that he was on admission at Kubwa General hospital in Abuja.

He had prayed for an adjournment on that grounds on behalf of second defendant.

Police in Osun State have rescued a six-year-old girl locked up, malnourished and maltreated for months by her guardian at Isale-Osun, Osogbo.

Police spokesperson, SP Yemisi Opalola, said in a statement issued in Osogbo yesterday that the culprit guardian, one Olanrewaju Adenike, had equally been

arrested.

“In our continued efforts to curtail criminal activities, the Osun Police Command, upon a tip-off, has arrested one Olanrewaju Adenike who subjected a minor, a six-yearold female child to serious maltreatment and child abuse.

“The emaciated little child was rescued from her

predicament at Isale-Osun Area of Osogbo.

“She was locked up in a filthy abandoned apartment close to a toilet at the back of her guardian’s house without proper feeding and care for months.

“The Commissioner of Police in Osun State, Olawale Olokode, advises the general

public to jettison this kind of unethical behaviour exhibited and treat every child under their care with kindness, love and affection.

“The rescued child has equally been taken to the hospital for proper healthcare while investigation is on-going to locate the biological parents of the little child,’’ he said.

Ogun Orders Urgent Holiday in 12 Schools over Students’ Unruly Behaviour James Sowole in Abeokuta

The Ogun State Government has directed that 12 secondary schools should be closed with immediate effect from Tuesday, November 30, which is 10 days earlier than December 10 scheduled for all schools in the state to embark on their first term holiday.

The closure, it was gathered, was sequel to unruly behaviour and violence involving some secondary schools in the state.

Students of the affected schools had engaged in riotous behavior, including physical assault on teachers and fellow students.

The directive to close the schools for first term holiday was contained in a circular released by the office of the Commissioner for Education, Science and Technology, Professor Abayomi Arigbabu.

Confirming the circular, Arigbabu, who spoke on phone, explained that the schools were

shut due to violent clashes among the students and their unruly behaviours towards their teachers.

He said that the “compulsory holiday,” which took effect from yesterday, was meant to prevent gathering of the students which could trigger fresh violence.

The commissioner listed the affected schools, which were tagged “hot spots” to include, Egba High School, Asero High School, Itori Comprehensive High Schoo, Itori, Ofada

Community Comprehensive High School, Ofada, and Lafenwa High School,Lafenwa, Abeokuta.

Others are Egba-Owode Grammar School,Owode, Community Comprehensive High School, Ijoun, Unity High School,Kajola Iboro,Ado-odo Ota, Eyini Comprehensive High School,Iboro, Government Science and Technical College, Idi-Aba, Abeokuta, Lisabi Grammar School and Methodist High School, Arigbajo.

meant for the state government is being diverted through ways like illegal collections, multiple taxation by several unapproved groups among others.

Hence, government has warned some Ministries Deparrtment

practice as it contravenes the State revenue generation laws.

Governor Samuel Ortom, who read the riot out in a communique issued at the end of revenue generation stakeholders meeting held in

which discourage traders from coming into Benue State to buy produce and directly has led to waste and decline in internally generated revenue (IGR) base of the State.

The communiqué, which was

further called for the dismantling of illegal revenue collection checkpoints forthwith, averring that any person or group of persons caught operating such illegal revenue collection checkpoints shall be punished.

Ekiti, US Varsity Partner Benue Decries Loss of Revenue Through Illegal Ways on Patient-based Agencies (MDAS) who are in the Makurdi, yesterday , also warned also signed by the Secretary to George Okoh In Makurdi habit of diverting monies collected local government chairmen to the State Government Prof.

Healthcare Delivery Benue State Government has from Pay as you earn (PAYE) to henceforth, desist from multiple Anthony Ijohor and the Speaker decried the rate at which revenue desist from this unwholesome taxations in their council areas of the State Assembly Titus Uba

Victor Ogunje in Ado Ekiti

The Ekiti State Government has partnered Massachusetts Institute of Technology Governance Laboratory (MIT/GOVLAB) for improved healthcare delivery that would give more dividends to patients and service seekers.

The agreement was formally reached yesterday in Ado Ekiti during the official launching of a system called ‘Governance Innovation Lifecycle Challenge and Accelerator’, a programme designed to improve patientdriven healthcare services in the state.

Speaking during the launch of the programme, the state Governor, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, said with the partnership, an information and technology

platform can be provided where patients and those patronising the primary, secondary and tertiary health institutions can make complaints on the qualities of services they are getting.

Fayemi said: “Healthcare as a core driver for human capital development is a key focus of my administration, and we have demonstrated this by implementing a suite of high impact health interventions that address the needs of our people.

“We have done this knowing that investments in health are the most valuable returns, and I am confident that the Governance Innovation Lifecycle Challenge and Accelerator will be a great complement to these investments both now and in the foreseeable future.

Defamation: Journalist Drags Nasarawa, Newspaper to Court Igbawase Ukumba in Lafia

The Director-General of Media to the governor of Nasarawa State, Mr. Yakubu Lamai; Daily Trust Newspaper, and the state government have been dragged to court by a former staff member of the Daily Trust Newspaper, Ibraheem Hamza Muhammad, over

alleged defamation of character.

Muhammad, former state correspondent of the Daily Trust Newspapers, has taken the three parties to court through his lawyer, M. A. Danmama.

At the commencement of the hearing at the state High Court in New Karu yesterday, the claimant said he had

investigated and balanced a story which was published in the online platform of Daily Trust titled: ‘No single ventilator but Nasarawa buys N500m cars for lawmakers’.

Therefore, Muhammad is pleading the court to grant him damages of N300 million over the alleged defamation of his character.

In their separate responses,

lawyers to the first, second and third defendants, Felix Dza and E.J Ittah, and that of the fourth defendant, F.C. Uzowuru, moved a motion for extension of time to file their defence.

The motion was granted by the court presided by Justice Hannatu Kabir, who consequently adjourned the case to January 27, 2022.

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WEDNESDAY DECEMBER 1, 2021 ˾ T H I S D AY

NEWSEXTRA

Police Rescue Three Kidnapped Victims, Recover Three AK-47 Rifles in Zamfara The Zamfara Police Command said it rescued kidnapped victims and recovered three AK-47 rifles and ammunition.

The state Commissioner of Police, Mr Ayuba Elkanah, announced this yesterday while presenting suspects for various criminal activities in the state.

Elkanah further said that the command also arrested some members of the outlawed Yansakai group for alleged murder of Fulani herders and other suspects in connection with criminals conspiracy and armed robbery, among other criminal offences.

Elkanah said at the news conference that the command recorded tremendous achievements in the ongoing police operations across the state.

“You will recall that last week, our operatives during search and rescue operation along Shinkafi axis succeeded in unconditional rescue of 13 kidnapped victims, including students of Government Day Secondary School, Birnin Yero and Federal Polytechnic, Kaura Namoda.

“On Nov. 26, same operatives stormed the enclaves of the abductors where exchange of gun battle ensued and many of them escaped with possible gunshot injury.

“On search of abandoned enclave, three AK-47 rifles with magazines containing 50 rounds of live ammunition were recovered from the scene,” he said.

“On November 27, police

operatives in Talata Mafara Local Government Area, responded to a distress call regarding the report of abduction in Low-cost area by unidentified hoodlums.

“The Divisional Police officer

in Talata Mafara who led the operatives to the scene, repelled the abductors and rescued the above named victims already abducted by the hoodlums.

“The victims were taken to Police Clinic Gusau for

medical attention, while the police debriefed them before re-uniting them with their families”, he added.

“During the attack, the following items were snatched away by the suspects; two

Techno and one infinix handsets valued at N135,000,” he added.

“The police and other security agencies in collaboration with state government are working assiduously to ensure peace and safety in the state,” he added.

COURTESY VISIT…

Executive Director, Business Development, Nigerian Export Import Bank(left) Stella Okotete being presented a plaque by the Abuja Chairperson, Nigerian Association of Chambers Of Commerce Industry Mines and Agriculture NACCIMA Business Women Group, Hajiya Aisha Abubakar, during her visit to Okotete in Abuja…recently

Witness: How Family Discovers Ataga’s Jail Breaks: Senate Summons Aregbesola, Body in Mortuary on His Birthday Malami, Nababa Wale Igbintade

Deji Elumoye and Juliet Akoje in Abuja The Senate yesterday resolved to summon the Minister of Interior, Mr. Rauf Aregbesola; the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, and the Comptroller-General of the Nigerian Correctional Service, Haliru Nababa, over the recurring incidents of jail break in different parts of the country.

It also mandated its Committee on Interior to carry out a full scale investigation into the causes of jail breaks in some Correctional Centres across

the country.

The invitation of the two ministers and DG of NCS by the Red Chamber was also aimed at determining the status of Correctional Centres nationwide, with a view to finding out the challenges in order to prevent future jail breaks.

These formed part of resolutions reached by the Senate following a motion brought during plenary by Senator Istifanus Gyang.

The motion was titled, “Terror Attacks on two Communities in Plateau North and Jail Break at the Jos Medium Security Correctional Centre Jos.”

A former school mate of late Super TV Chief Executive Officer, Usifo Ataga, Mr Rotimi Albert, in the ongoing trial of Chidinma Ojukwu, the alleged murder suspect Ataga, yesterday told the court of how Ataga’s

family and friends found his body in the mortuary on his birthday.

Albert, who is the fourth prosecution witness made the stated this while giving evidence before a Lagos High Court, sitting at Tafa Balewa Square TBS.

Ojukwu, a 300-level, Mass Communication student of the University of Lagos, is facing trial alongside her sister, Chioma Egbuchu and one Adedapo Quadri, for Ataga’s murder.

The witness, who introduced himself as a long time school mate and family friend to the

late Ataga, said he wanted to call the deceased on June 17, 2021, his birthday, to send birthday wishes to him.

Albert said another of their mutual friends called him in the evening of June 16, 2021 and asked if he had seen or heard from Ataga.

Ogun: Abiodun Presents N350.74bn Budget Proposal for 2022 Bornu presents N267.9bn Ogun State Governor, Prince Dapo Abiodun yesterday presented a N350.74 billion 2022 Appropriation Bill to the State House of Assembly.

Also, Borno State Governor, Prof. Babagana Zulum has presented an appropriation bill of N267.9 billion to the State House of Assembly for 2022 fiscal year.

The Ogun State budget

christened, “Budget of Restoration,” has a projection of N170 billion for physical capital projects, which represented an increase of N10 billion from the current 2021 budget.

According to a statement, the recurrent expenditure, was expected to take N154 billion billion out of which personnel cost would gulp N75 billion with N51 billion earmarked

for overhead expenses, just as N28 billion was set aside for debt service obligations.

The governor said N7.7 billion would be set aside for stabilisation fund to insulate and position the state towards unprecedented activities or economic shocks.

Speaking on the budget sourcing, Abiodun was quoted to have said N56.30 billion was

expected to be sourced through internally Generated Revenue, while the revenue targets of other Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) was put at N96.87 billion.

He added that N73.01 billion was being expected from the Federation Account, while the sum of N124.56 billion would be sourced from capital receipts.

Adedayo Akinwale in Abuja

Delta State.

The House also urged the NERC to be up to their responsibilities of supervising and ensuring that distribution companies all over the country don’t continue to thrive in deceit and rip off of consumers.

The resolutions of the House were sequel to the adoption of a motion of urgent national importance moved at the plenary

yesterday by Hon. Ben Rollands Igbakpa.

Igbakpa said for about seven years, major parts of Ethiope West, particularly Mosogar and Edjemudarho communities, have been in total blackout as a result of total failure by the BEDC to discharge their duties in the distribution of power/electricity to the affected areas.

He said that the BEDC

promptly collected bills from customers but whenever there are technical issues or faults requiring their attention to fix their assets such as transformers, cables, poles etc. under their management and control, the company abandons and or abdicates such responsibilities by compelling the customers to fix such faults or provide money to purchase it.

Editors Hold Self-scrutiny Town House Summons NERC, BEDC over Seven Years Blackout Hall Meeting in Lagos The Nigerian Guild of Editors (NGE) is to commence its town hall meeting in the South-west geo-political zone on Thursday (tomorrow) at De Rembrandt Hotel, Ikeja, Lagos, with a theme: ‘’Agenda Setting For Sustainable Democratic Culture.’’

The main objective of the meeting, which is supported by the United States (US) Embassy in Nigeria, is to assess the media performance in consolidating Nigeria’s democracy - citizens’ verdict and outlining media agenda for the future.

In a statement by its President, Mustapha Isah and the General Secretary, Iyobosa Uwugiaren, yesterday in Lagos, the professional body of all the editors in Nigeria, said the meeting would also provide a platform for the media’s stakeholders to remind editors and other media managers of the

sacred duties they are tasked to perform by the constitution on behalf of the citizens.

Drawing copious examples from democracies around the world, the statement added that the meeting, will be taken across the six geo-political zones of the country, is expected to instil in the editors the need to perform their duties with the highest form of standard and sense of responsibility.

“The town hall meeting will provide a platform for media stakeholders to undertake selfintrospection and also begin a conversation on a framework for media regulation, which will not only have their buy-in but also improve the standard for media practice in Nigeria thereby reducing, if not eliminate, incidents of sub-standard and unprofessional reportage in the Nigerian media.

The House of Representatives has summoned the management of the Benin Electricity Distribution Company (BEDC) and the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) over seven years power blackout in Mosogar, Edjemuoyavwe and other affected areas in Ethiope West Local Government Area of

64 Students Bag First Class as FUTO Graduates 4,412 Amby Uneze in Owerri A total of 4,412 students would at the weekend graduate from the Federal University of Technology, Owerri (FUTO) with 64 to be awarded first class honours.

In a media briefing on the university’s 33rd convocation

ceremony, its Vice Chancellor (VC), Prof. Nnenna Oti, disclosed that out of the number for the award of honours, 380 would receive higher degrees comprising 42 doctorates, 219 master degrees and 119 postgraduate diplomas.

She also announced that the convocation lecture would be

delivered by the Pro-chancellor and chairman of council of the Federal University of Technology, Akure (FUTA), Dr. Godknows Bokadei Igali on the topic: “The Challenge of Funding and Survival of University Education: Options for Radical Trajectory in Nigerian Universities.”

The vice-chancellor, who would be performing her first major assignment as the eight substantive and the first female VC of the university maintained that her goal was to consolidate the culture of excellence which is the mantra of the institution and improve on the quality of products.

WEDNESDAY, ͯ˜ ͺ͸ͺͯ ˾ T H I S D AY

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Court Nullifies Banishment of Deposed Emir, Sanusi Awards N10m damages against Kano government, DSS, Police Alex Enumah in Abuja Justice Anwuli Chikere of the Abuja Division of the Federal High Court yesterday nullified the banishment placed on former Emir of Kano, Lamido Sanusi by the Kano State Government.

Justice Chikere in a judgment held that the banishment breached the fundamental rights of the former Emir as well as contravened provisions of the 1999 Constitution.

The Kano State Government had last year March banished Sanusi to Awe, a remote community in Nasarawa State after it deposed him as Emir of Kano.

Angered by the action of the Kano State Government, Sanusi had approached the court to nullify it being an illegality, unlawful and Unconstitutional.

Other sued alongside Kano State Government included the Nigeria Police Force, Department of State Service (DSS) and the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF).

Delivering judgment in the suit, Justice Chikere held that the restrictions placed on Sanusi after his deposition on March 9, 2020 on allegation of insubordination was a clear arbitrary violation of his right to freedom of movement and personal liberty granted by the Nigerian Constitution.

She agreed with Prince Lateef Fagbemi, counsel to Sanusi that his client was moved out of Kano to Abuja and later to Awe, in Nasarawa state against his wish.

The judge further held that the right to freedom of liberty and personal dignity granted under

section 34 of Nigeria's Constitution cannot be taken away as done

by Kano Government, the Police, DSS) and AGF except with express order of a Court of Law. The Judge subsequently voided the arrest, harassment and banishment of Sanusi to Abuja and later to Nasarawa state and set it aside on grounds that it infringed on the applicants' fundermental human rights.

Accordingly, the court awarded the sum of N10 million as damages against the Kano State Government, Police and DSS. In addition, Justice Chikere ordered the respondents to tender a public apology to Sanusi to be published in two major national dailies for the embarrassment caused him in the cause of breaching his fundamental human rights.

LAGOS WHITE PAPER RIPS APART PANEL’S REPORT ON #ENDSARS credibility of the panel members to have appointed them for the assignment, their work as well as the eventual leakage of the report had only reopened deep wound.

While promising that the decision of his government would be based entirely on the law, the weight of evidence and an unblemished respect for the truth, the governor also invited some of the youths, who were actively involved in the protests for a peace walk to herald the “healing of Lagos”.

Sanwo-Olu spoke in a broadcast held at the State House, Alausa, on the government’s position on the panel’s recommendations.

“I will start by saying that we, as an administration, are determined that the next steps that will be taken in this process of coming to terms with the events of October 2020, must bring closure to a painful episode in the history of our State, with the release of the White Paper later today. This, in my view, is a moment that beckons us to define who and what we are as a people,” he said.

Continuing, the governor explained that, “It is with great sense of responsibility that I address you today on the reactions that have trailed the release of the #EndSARS Judicial Panel of Inquiry Report submitted to me two weeks ago, and how it has played out in public discourse since then.

“I believe — and have always been vocal about this — that we owe it to you, the people of Lagos, to constantly speak and engage with you. In easy times, in difficult circumstances, we will never shy away from making our case to you, while also ensuring that we listen to you.

“To be a Centre of Excellence, we must be a Centre of Truth. To be a smart city, we first must be a just one. To be a prosperous state, we must establish ourselves as a peaceful entity. And to achieve the Greater Lagos of our dreams, we must learn to live in harmony, even amidst inevitable disagreement.”

Sanwo-Olu also said, in times like these, “with anger and animosity too quick and fast at hand, it is easy to hide behind our own prejudices, treating them as deeper truths instead of the superficial lies they are.

“It is far too easy to take sides and choose emotion over fact, even when the truth is to be found in shades of nuances. It is easy to choose darkness over light; to take perverse delight in playing unhelpful games of cynicism and suspicion; to cling to beliefs that do not carry the weight of verifiable evidence.

“To become a champion of prejudice is to own a fleeting and false victory. It is a victory of rancour over reason, of vengeance over justice, of anger over compassion. Today, I stand before you to declare that I reject this path; and I invite you all to do same.”

For some important context, he

claimed that there were certain things the people must never lose sight of, recalling that the Judicial Panel of Inquiry was originally inaugurated to investigate allegations of police brutality committed by the disbanded SARS in the state.

“In the aftermath of what happened on October 20, 2020, I decided to expand the mandate of the Panel to include investigating what really happened at the Lekki Tollgate that night. As a matter of good faith and a sincere commitment to uncovering the truth, we constituted a panel of individuals that we believed were independent, credible, and representative of the various stakeholder community interested in the movement against police brutality.

“Apart from the Chairman of the panel being a respected retired jurist, various stakeholders including the youths, #EndSARS protesters, the police and civil society groups were represented on the panel. I am sure no member of the panel can claim that the state government made any attempt to influence them in any way throughout the duration of its sitting.

“While I commend the panel for undertaking its task to the best of its abilities, it is however regrettable that the panel’s work and the leakage of an unauthorised version of the report have generated much tension. Sadly, a deep wound has been reopened.

“The heated exchanges among various shades of opinion on the report have unfortunately put us all at the risk of missing the larger picture; the fact that what we all seek in common is a land in which we are all safe and secure, law enforcement agents are trusted, and justice is guaranteed for all.”

The governor reiterated that he had no intention to engage in histrionics or further inflame passion on a matter that had generated intense interest and controversy nationally and internationally, but maintained that, “Our decisions and actions will be based entirely on the law, the weight of evidence and an unblemished respect for the truth.”

According to him, “I have never been in any doubt as to the sincerity, patriotism and noble motivations of both organisers of and participants in the movement to see an end to the human rights abuses by the now disbanded Special Anti- Robbery Squad (SARS).

“It is also on record that the federal government accepted all the demands of the protesters, including the immediate scrapping of SARS. The National Economic Council (NEC) also recommended the establishment of State Panels of Inquiry into cases of police brutality.

And the Lagos State Government was the first to set up its own panel.

“I can boldly say that no state took the advocacy for police reforms and justice in the face of documented brutality more seriously than we did in Lagos. We have so far paid

N420million in compensation to victims of police brutality, in line with the recommendations of the panel.”

Sanwo-Olu further recalled that, in solidarity with the protesters, “I joined our youths at various points during the demonstrations, particularly at the Lekki Tollgate and Alausa. I received the charter of demands of the protesters and promised to pass them on to the President and Commander-In-Chief of the Armed Forces, President Muhammadu Buhari.

“I kept my word and passed on the demands to the President, who promised to act promptly on the issues raised. However, perhaps as a result of entrenched lack of trust between the government and the governed over the years, the protesters responded to the government's concessions with skepticism, and the demonstrations continued, even growing in intensity.”

Sanwo-Olu acknowledged that what had been “well organised and peaceful protests were subsequently hijacked in different parts of the country, particularly in Lagos. In the ensuing descent into anarchy, many of our compatriots were caught up in the violence. Several policemen were killed. Public and private property, including critical infrastructure, were set on fire, leading to losses estimated at several billions of naira,” forcing the imposition of a curfew.

While hoping that everyone, including the government, the youth, protesters, the police, and other security agencies, would have learned the appropriate lessons from the #EndSARSprotests, particularly the Lekki Tollgate incident, with a view to averting a recurrence, he said “It is a testimony to our strength and resilience as a people that, despite the huge losses incurred because of these terrible incidents, we have bounced back, with our economy as vibrant and virile as ever.”

To that extent, Sanwo-Olu said he would be leading ‘A WALK FOR PEACE’ this December to “herald the healing of our land.

Let me use this occasion to extend an open invitation to our youths, members of the diplomatic corps, civil society groups, students and the media as well as other stakeholders to join me.”

Sanwo-Olu, however, identified such individuals as Folarin Falana (Falz), Debo Adebayo (Mr. Marcaroni), Dele Farotimi, Temitope Majekodunmi, Segun Awosanya (Segalinks), Adetoun (Just Detoun), Seun Kuti, CP Hakeem Odumosu and CSP Yinka Egbeyemi as some of those he would like to have join him on the historic march for Lagos.

“Nobody will build this city for us. Let us show the world who we are. We are Lagosians – a people of great renown, driven by the irrepressible spirit of Lagos,” he stated.

STATE JUDICIAL PANELS CAN INDICT MILITARY AND POLICE OFFICERS Court (per Ejiwunmi JSC) held that “...the National Assembly has the power to enact the Tribunal of Inquiry Act, Cap 447 with the limitation that it operates in the Federal Capital only. To this limited extent, the Act is an ‘existing law’ by virtue of the provisions of section 315 of the Constitution. It must be emphasized that though the Tribunals of Inquiry Act is ‘an existing law’ its application is limited and has no general application. I need to point out that perhaps this litigation might have been unnecessary if the framers of our Constitution had borne in mind the necessity of ensuring that the powers of each component part of the Federation are carefully set out in the Constitution.”

Since the Tribunal of Enquiry Act is not a law of general application in the country it is a dangerous submission to say that only a commission of inquiry instituted by the President is competent to investigate the violations of human rights or murder committed by Federal officers in any State of the Federation. In fact, it is embarrassing that some public officers who had campaigned for the sovereignty of state governments within the Federation before 2015 have turned round to question the powers of State Governments to legislate on matters in the residual list including the Tribunal of Inquiry Laws. It is a matter of common knowledge that before the #endsars protests last year every State Government in the country has been settling up administrative and judicial commissions of inquiry. Some of them include the following: 1.

The Justice Kalu Anya Judicial Panel set up by the Military Governor of Lagos State to probe the burning of the residence of Fela Anikulapo-Kuti in February 1978.

The Panel blamed the “unknown soldier” for the arson, attempted murder and torture meted out to the occupants of the house including Fela’s 78-year old mother.

2.

The Niki Tobi Judicial Commission set up by the Plateau State Government in 2003 indicted some police officers for their involvement in the brutal killing

of people in Jos. 3.

The Uwaifo Judicial Commission of Enquiry set up by the Osun State Government in 2010 indicted police officers in gross human rights abuse. The Panel was set up by Governor Rauf Aregbesola, the current Minister of Interior.

4.

The Truth and Reconciliation Commission headed by the Late Justice Kayode Eso set up by the Rivers State government in 2015 under Governor Rotimi Amaechi indicted Federal security agencies for not curbing cultist attacks in the State.

Mr. Amaechi is the current Minister of Transportation.

5.

The Garba Judicial Commission of Enquiry set up by the Kaduna State Government in January 2016 indicted the senior military officers who superintended the illegal killing of 348 Shiites in Zaria and the secret burial of their bodies in a mass grave in Mango in Kaduna State. A London based human rights body had dragged the Federal Government to the International Criminal Court over the refusal to prosecute the military personnel including a General who were fingered in such crime against humanity.

It is therefore submitted that the military and police personnel indicted for murder and allied offences are liable to be prosecuted by the Attorney-General of Lagos State as the Attorney-General of the Federation lacks the power to prosecute any person accused of committing state offences. Not too long ago, the Lagos State Government prosecuted the military and police officers including a former Chief of Army Staff and a former Police Commissioner for murder and allied offences which occurred in the State under the Sani Abacha junta. Vice President Professor Yemi Osinbajo SAN who led the prosecution team was the then Attorney-General of Lagos State. On July 18, 2012, the then Lagos state Governor, Mr.Babatunde Fashola SAN arrested a military Col. Ki Yusuf and Staff Sergent, A J Adeomi for driving on the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) lane on Ikorodu Road contrary to the Lagos State

Traffic Law. Mr. Fashola SAN is the current Minister of Works and Housing.

Realising that the Federal Government is not competent to prosecute federal officers indicted for torture and extrajudicial killing of suspects and other citizens the National Economic Council has directed that the reports of all the #endsars panels be submitted to the State Attorneys-General. As far as the law is concerned, the Okuwobi Judicial Commission of Enquiry did not breach any law in recommending that military and police officers be sanctioned for engaging in the egregious infringement of human rights of innocent people in Lagos State.

No amount of empty magisterial arrogance of Messrs Lai Mohammed and Festus Keyamo SAN can be substituted for the findings of the Panel. Therefore, the military and police officers who are dissatisfied with their indictment may wish to approach the High Court for legal address. But it is going to be a tough legal battle since the indicted officers had denied themselves he opportunity to defend themselves against allegations -of involvement in the brutal murder of 99 citizens.

Finally, the late Chief Gani Fawehinmi SAN was arrested and detained by the Ibrahim Babangida military junta over his campaign for the prosecution of the killers of a prominent journalist, Mr. Dele Giwa by parcel bomb in Lagos on October 19, 1986. In like manner, Mr. Festus Keyamo SAN was arrested and detained by the Olusegun Obasanjo administration over his role in the struggle for the trial of the people believed by him to have been involved in the brutal assassination of a former Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Chief Bola Ige SAN on December 23, 2001. The young members of the #endsars movement who are demanding for the arrest and prosecution of all military and police officers involved in the massacre of unarmed protesters under the Buhari administration should be encouraged and supported by all genuine patriotic forces.

30 YEARS IN DEFENCE OF RELEVANT ART socio-economic sphere (such as the shrinking of the middle class and widening of inequality). The negative effects of the components of the SAP were also felt in the cultural and intellectual sectors – funding of public education was reduced and the production of knowledge was downplayed in the policy arena. The economic climate was abysmally unfavourable to publishing. Books and artworks were not listed among the “essential commodities.” Important segments of the society were reduced to cultural deserts. For instance, the Harare Book Fair, which was a huge cultural attraction to Robert Mugabe’s Zimbabwe in the early days of independence had lost its colour by the end of the 1980s. In Nigeria, the necessary investment in culture and the arts was not considered a priority of economic management. Meanwhile, the debate over the appropriateness of “art for art’s sake” in the post-colonial setting raged among writers and literary theorists. The regular conversations on these trends among some journalists and artists and enthusiasts metamorphosed into the idea of CORA. Among the originals of CORA are Toyin Akinosho, Yomi Layinka, Jossy Ogbuanor and Tunde Lanipekun. The initial programme of CORA was the organisation of Arts Stampede at the Festac Town family residence of Akinosho in Lagos. Various themes on art forms were explored in these periodic gatherings over groundnuts and palm wine. The stampedes have been moved at different times to the National Theatre in Iganmu, Lekki, Ajegunle

and other parts of Lagos. It was even once held in Ibadan, Oyo State.

Akinosho, a geologist and publisher, was joined later by Jahman Anikulapo-Kuti, Culture Advocate and former editor. The duo constitutes the dynamo of CORA. The evolution of CORA is a study in the unwavering commitment to a cause and clarity of purpose on what is to be done. Unlike the amorphous structure of the early days, CORA now has a board chaired by distinguished art patron and businessman Chief Kayode Aderinokun and a board of trustees headed by the Festival Honoured Guest this year, Ajai-Lycett. Another sign of promise in the profile of CORA is the increasing role of younger elements such as promising artists, advocates and enthusiasts. They feature as volunteers in running programmes. Some others stage performances and engage the older elements intensely in conversations as panelists. It is more than a cliché to say that they are the future of CORA. It was, therefore, most fitting that some time was devoted at the 2021 LABAF to reflect on the development of CORA as a national institution in its own right. Aderinokun, an author, provoked not a few thoughts as he sought to establish the “nexus between arts and development.” He unapologetically made a case for the “prosperity of the artists.” He suggested that instead of begging for funds institutions of the arts should seek collaboration with the corporate world. Aderinokun

challenged CORA and its supporters to think more seriously about revenue generation to fund its great programmes.

Ace broadcaster Layinka, who was the pioneer chairman of CORA, challenged CORA to take the documentation of its history more seriously. He proposed the structural transformation of CORA so that it could relate to the corporate world on a “transactional basis.” Layinka seemed to strike the same chord as Aderinokun in advocating that CORA should set the agenda for the transformation of arts from “a vocation into a business.” AjaiLycett also put the matter bluntly: “there is no business without show business.”

In his characteristic modesty and crave for anonymity, Akinosho, who first raised the idea of CORA with Layinka in Festac Town , Lagos, in 1991, was reluctant to talk about how the idea has germinated and blossomed. Akinosho, the inimitable enthusiast of the arts, was persuaded to tell the story of CORA, which he briefly put as “a work in progress.” He clearly defined the political and socio-economic moment in which CORA was born.

For instance, he said in the military days of the 1980s, “literature was reduced to poetry.”

As demonstrated by the themes of the sessions and other activities of the 2021 book and arts festival, CORA continues the advocacy for relevant art by situating artistic production within its socio-economic and political ecology.

In this respect, a special forum would be necessary to project into the future of CORA as a silver lining in the cultural cloud.

WEDNESDAY, ͹˜ ͺ͸ͺ͹ ˾ T H I S D AY

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WEDNESDAYSPORTS

Group Sports Editor: Duro Ikhazuagbe Email: duro.ikhazuagbe@thisdaylive.com

0811 181 3083 SMS ONLY

Quadri Aruna Achieves All-time Highest ITTF Ranking by an African Femi Solaja These are indeed the best time of Quadri Aruna’s table tennis career. Barely four days after the Oyo-State born ping-pong player set an African record as the first from the continent to reach the quarter final stage of the ITTF World Table Tennis Championships, Aruna again became the first to be ranked 13th In the latest ITTF ranking released yesterday.

The Nigerian was ranked 17 in

the world before the ITTF World Table Tennis Championships held in Houston, Texas, in the United States. But based on the feat he achieved some days ago, Aruna gained four steps up in the ladder to be rated 13th in the ITTF rating.

He was the biggest mover among the top 20 players in the world.

Aruna has continued to raise the bar for other African players to emulate with his superlative performance at major

competitions which have also earned him a place among the top 20 players invited for the 2021 World Table Tennis (WTTF) Cup Finals scheduled for December 4 to 7in Singapore.

Speaking on the feat yesterday, an excited Aruna said the ranking means more work for him.

“I am so excited to improve my world ranking, and this means I must work hard to remain on top in the world. This is another task I must face in my career, and I will not relent to do my best as

I look forward to the WTTF Cup Finals taking place this weekend in Singapore.”

While commenting on the feat, the President of the Nigeria Table Tennis Federation (NTTF), Ishaku Tikon, said the latest achievement

by Aruna would surely motivate other upcoming players to work harder.

“We are so excited that within one week, Aruna has set two African records as the first to reach the quarterfinal of the World Championships as well as the

first African to be ranked 13th in the world.

“This for us as a federation means we must find another Aruna who can exceed what he has done. Our focus remains the cadet and junior ranks and we are going to ensure we organise tournaments and expose them to international competitions,” observed the NTTF chief.

He further commended Aruna for his dedication and hard work.

“I must also commend Aruna for his conduct within and outside

the table because he has shown to be a good ambassador of the sport and we hope to compliment this feat by ensuring we unearth more Arunas,” Tikon said.

2021 World Championships runner’s up Truls Moregard of Sweden has become the biggest mover on the latest ITTF ranking as the 19-year-old moved from 77th spot to 31st in the ranking, while newly crowned world champion Fan Zhendong of China held on to the top spot in the ranking.

Quadri Aruna...now ranked 13th globally

Ranieri Backs Troost-Ekong to Recover from Blunder at Leicester Players and officials of College of Commerce Warri, celebrating with the trophy after defeating Osadenis Mixed Secondary School, Asaba 5-3 on penalties to win the 2021 Zenith Bank/Delta Principals' Cup competition...yesterday in Asaba

College of Commerce Retains Zenith/Delta Principals’ Cup Defending champions of the annual Zenith Bank/Delta Principals’ Cup, College of Commerce, Warri, became the first team in the history of the competition since it returned six years ago, to defend the title after defeating Osadenis Mixed School 5-3 on penalties at the final played at the Stephen Keshi Stadium, Asaba yesterday.

The game watched by several dignitaries including the Executive Governor of the state, Senator Ifeanyi Okowa, witnessed no goal in the regulation period.

However, College of Commerce were the better of the two teams on display, taking the game to their opponent but failed to make their pressure count as the second half also ended without a goal leading to a straight penalty shootout between the two sides.

Orido David, in goal for College of Commerce, was the hero after saving Ewa Victor’s penalty before wrapping it up with the final kick to lead his side to a back-to-back title.

To get to the final, College of Commerce had similarly won their semifinal 21-20 on penalties and they showed how good they were in the final.

Speaking during the final, the CEO of Zenith Bank, Ebenezer Onyeagwu, represented by the Group Zonal Head, Zenith Bank PLC, Delta Zone, Lucky Ighade, said the Principals’ Cup had created the required platform needed for the players to compete fiercely at higher level.

“The skills demonstrated by these young lads are very

impressive,” he said.

“A total of 376 public and private secondary schools participated in this edition and we are proud of that turnout.

“The bank remains committed to furthering the economic, cultural and social development

of host communities, particularly through community-based initiatives and philanthropy.”

“Our profound appreciation goes to the state government, under the able leadership of His Excellency, Senator Ifeanyi Okowa, for creating the platform

and enabling environment for us to thrive and anchor this sports initiative.”

Earlier in the day, Alaka Grammar School, Ozoro defeated Ovwor Mixed Secondary School, Ovwor, 3-2 in the third place match.

Watford’s Italian Manager, Claudio Ranieri, has thrown his weight behind Super Eagles Deputy Captain, William TroostEkong, to emerge stronger with fresh focus after his blunder gifted Leicester City their opening goal in the 4-2 defeat on Sunday.

“It’s focus – focus on the match,” Ranieri told a press conference on Tuesday.

“That was a mistake because he thought he was alone and said ‘okay I’ll leave the ball to the keeper’ but the keeper didn’t ask for the ball. ” Now I’m sure it never never can happen again because it would be very strange if it

happened another time. ” I’m sure Will will be very focused and very determined in every match we play.”

Ranieri who made his first return to the King Power Stadium first time at the weekend after leading the Foxes to Premier League title in 2016, also said he and his players have been giving Troost-Ekong plenty of encouragement in the wake of the error, in order to help him react in a positive way.

“I think this is the right way,” he said. ” Also his teammates have said ‘come on, that can happen’ we have to react,” he concluded.

....SWAN Honours Okowa with Merit Award Odusanya Begins Title Defence at 53rd Asoju Oba Cup In recognition of his genuine commitment to sports development and industry, Delta State Governor, Senator Ifeanyi Okowa has been honoured with a merit award by the Sports Writers Association of Nigeria (SWAN).

Performing the investiture inside the Stephen Keshi Stadium, Asaba, during the finals of Zenith Bank Delta Principals' Cup, President of SWAN, Honour Sirawoo described Okowa as an "enabler of generational shift in sports growth and development."

He stated that Governor Okowa has contributed immensely to sports development, not just in Delta but across the federation.

The nation's number one sportswriter stressed that under Okowa's administration, Delta has excelled in every sphere of sports.

According to him, "Governor Okowa must be commended for his genuine love for sports and its development. He is indeed a square peg in a square hole when it comes to passion for sports.

"Under his administration, Delta State has maintained commanding positions in practically all sphere of sports in the country. This clearly shows

that the governor is a lover of sports.

"By giving all the needed impetus for sports to thrive, he is at the same time creating opportunities for athletes to earn means of livelihood and contribute

to the state's economy."

Sir Sirawoo disclosed that the SWAN Merit Award is given to those who truly deserve it and as such, Governor Ifeanyi Okowa has joined an exclusive list of awardees.

L-R: SWAN President, Sir Honour Sirawoo presenting Merit Award to Delta State Governor, Senator Ifeanyi Okowa, while the state’s Deputy Governor, Kingsley Otuaro watches with keen interest...yesterday

Women’s singles defending champion, Bose Odusanya, will be aiming to hold on to her title when the 53rd Asoju Oba Molade Okoya-Thomas Cup kicks off today at the Teslim Balogun Stadium in Lagos.

Odusanya who has been dominating the women’s event since 2015 remains unbeaten in the tournament while she is also hoping to claim her sixth title against other top players expected to line up for the one-week tournament.

In the absence of the men’s singles defending champion, Ahmed Adeyinka who had relocated to the United States, all eyes will be on runner’s up Emmanuel Augustine who will aim to step into Adeyinka’s shoe this year.

However, Augustine will be ready to shield Rilwan Akanbi who has been in superb form lately with last weekend’s victory at the Lagos State Table Tennis Association (LSSTA)-organised two-day championships.

A confident Odusanya has promised to retain the title.

“I think nobody can stop me again from winning the title this year because I am playing well, and I am in shape to win the tournament again.”

He admitted to be aware of the challenges ahead of him at this particular edition.

“I am quite aware of the challenge from some young players like Ifeoluwa Omotosho and others. But as it is at present, I am aiming for the seventh consecutive title this year,” Odusanya said.

Regarded as the oldest table tennis tournament in Africa, the annual tournament has been producing top stars for the country with the likes of Olajide Omotayo emerging from it to become African Games champion in 2019.

Due to Covid-19 pandemic, nine titles will be competed for this year. They include; singles (men and women), doubles (men and women), mixed doubles, para singles standing (men and women), para singles sitting (men and women). The tournament ends on December 7.

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WEDNESDAY, ͹˜ ͺ͸ͺ͹ ˾ T H I S D AY

SPORTS

NFF Please Don’t Cost Us a World CupTicket

W

hichever way you look at it, sacking Gernot Rohr now is the most stupid thing to do. I know as a fact that the German was not the most popular coach we have employed. Some wanted him sacked almost as soon as he was nominated. Many wished a Nigerian should have been appointed. Others had candidates they were sponsoring. In the almost six years Rohr has been our national football team head coach, he has remained haunted.

Almost like someone you expect to just drop dead. Or perhaps,he should just disappear.

Regardless of his situation, the German has been able to perform fairly creditable. He has a win rate of about 54%.

He has qualified the Super Eagles for two Africa Cup of Nations competitions, one World Cup final, and is about to add qualification for a second World Cup. In other words, he has so far delivered on the contract he renewed with the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF). This piece is not about what Gernot Rohr has done right or wrong. I intends to look at all the parameters involved in asking him to go and possible implications for our country.

Let's take a look at our football calendar. In about six weeks we have the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) kicking off in Cameroon. We cannot possibly appoint a new coach and expect him to be able to compete

Gernot Rohr....Super Eagles Head Coach favorably at the tournament.

There has been talks of hiring another foreign manager for our team but it is going to be a near impossibility getting one to fit our bill in the time available before AFCON. Some have suggested getting a Nigerian coach to take over but it is going to be difficult knowing which one would fit our bill. Moreover, almost all of those who could do a good job are not in good stead with the NFF. Unless, of course, our football governing body eats the humble pie.

Asking anyone of Rohr's assistants to takeover would similarly be unproductive if the original target of playing in the final round of AFCON given to the German is maintained. I believe more than 70% of our present Super Eagles would be playing in Cameroon. I do not see them paying more respect to a coach that was hitherto a subordinate. We have tried changing coaches midstream before with little success. In 2002 Amodu Shaibu, Stephen Keshi and Joe Erico were replaced by

Festus Onigbinde. We ended up being 27th which was our worst placing up till that time.

I do not know why this frenzy to sack Rohr is gaining currency except to conclude that forces against his being employed have coalesced to capitalize on perceived flaws.

My view is that now is not the time to ask the German to go. What I think we should do is support him massively to succeed. We can not even afford to sack him. I am told he is being owed about 5-8 months

salary if his monthly wage is around 46000$ then we would need first to pay his areas and pay an additional penalty for prematurely terminating his contract. Where would an NFF owing just about everybody get the funds? Now is not the time to derail our World Cup plan if we have one. As at the moment, Gernot Rohr is the best option to qualify Nigeria for the World Cup. Those who want him out will tell you that at the moment our Super Eagles would not be able to beat any of the nine teams that have qualified for the final round. That is simply not true.

On a good day, our team can beat any of the qualified teams. What we should be doing is putting all hands on deck to ensure we win. We should engage our coach on what he needs to succeed.

Get our players to commit to qualifying for the World Cup. Pay all monies owed to them.

Increase their winning bonuses if need be. Choose a venue that would help galvanize the players.

This is not an endorsement for Gernot Rohr. I believe he was less than adequate in Russia.

If he was sacked immediately

after Russia2018, not many would have complained. Instead, he was forced to take a pay cut and given some targets to be achieved within a two-year contract. So far he has delivered in almost ALL aspects of the agreement signed. True, we lost to lowly rated Central African Republic (CAR) and drew with Cape Verde. These results to me are indicative of a need by all concerned to get more serious. Sacking Rohr now can only help him and hurt us.

He will smile to the bank and use his play log with the Super Eagles to get a new and maybe a better job. Please, do not let us throw the baby out with the bathwater. Let's help Gernot Rohr to help us. We must qualify for the World Cup. And we still can if we get less emotional and more practical and proactive.

We have deliberately over hyped the mistakes there were in other to make our team look worse than they are. Getting a draw against Cape Verde, particularly when that is all we need isn't as bad as critics made it appear. By the way, the same Cape Verde defeated 'All-mighty ' Cameroon 3-1 earlier this year.

Klopp Praises Van Dijk's Brilliant Form Ahead Merseyside Derby Liverpool defender Virgil van Dijk was unlucky to suffer a serious knee injury in last season's Merseyside derby against Everton but has bounced back brilliantly this term, Manager Jurgen Klopp said before both teams clash again

PREMIER LEAGUE tonight.

Van Dijk sustained an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury following a reckless challenge

by goalkeeper Jordan Pickford during the match in October 2020, which required multiple surgeries that sidelined him for the rest of the season.

The Dutch international's layoff hit Liverpool hard as they finished

third, failing to retain the Premier League title.

But he has helped Liverpool keep eight clean sheets in 13 league games this season, providing solidity in central defence.

No More Full-time Golf for Tiger Woods Again Tiger Woods has ruled out a full-time return to professional golf but insists he is still intent on playing tour events as he continues his recovery from a life-threatening car accident.

Woods spoke of his progress and remaining ambitions in the sport, one week after posting a short clip on his official Twitter account showing him hitting balls on a practice range.

The 45-year-old required surgery on open fractures to his lower right leg and further injuries to his foot and ankle following the single-vehicle accident in February, and said at one point he feared that his leg could be amputated.

Woods had completed a remarkable recovery from back surgery to win his 15th major title at the Masters in 2019 but effectively dismissed the possibility of a repeat, telling Golf Digest: “I don't have to compete and play against the best players in the world to have a great life.

“After my back fusion, I had to climb Mount Everest one more time. I had to do it, and I did.

“This time around, I don't think

I'll have the body to climb Mount Everest and that's OK. I can still participate in the game of golf. I can still, if my leg gets OK, click off a tournament here or there.

“But as far as climbing the mountain again and getting all the way to the top, I don't think that's a realistic expectation of me.

“I think something that is realistic is playing the tour one day - never full-time, ever again - but pick and choose, just like Mr (Ben) Hogan did. Pick and choose a few events a year and play around that.”

Woods, who was found to be travelling at almost twice the legal speed limit when he crashed, was hospitalised for weeks before returning to his home in Florida, where he continues to undergo extensive rehabilitation.

“It's been a hell of a road, it's been a long one and a sore one but I'm making some really positive strides,” Woods added.

“I've had some really tough days and some setbacks here and there, but overall everything is progressing nicely. I just wish I could do everything that I used to do but I'm not quite there yet.”

"We are all human beings so it's probably difficult to ignore something like that (the injury)," Klopp told reporters yesterday.

"The situation wasn't (one) that can always happen in football...

But Virgil is very experienced.

"He has to be completely free of all things that he could have in his mind because of one issue in the past... He has come back brilliantly (this season). He had a full pre-season which is absolutely helpful.

"Three games in a week, he looked fine but we gave him a break... Some things are not exactly that they used to be, but that's only a matter of time

because of his quality."

Liverpool are third on 28 points, 13 points ahead of their local rivals Everton who are languishing in 14th spot.

However, Klopp said Liverpool will treat tonight’s game at Goodison Park like any other match.

"We know there are some special things around derbies but it's a football game as well, that's how we approach it," he said.

Joe Gomez (calf) and Naby Keita (hamstring) are expected to return to training next week, but Roberto Firmino (hamstring) and Curtis Jones (eye) remain sidelined.

Mancini Emerges as Candidate for Man Utd Job

Visa delays Rangnick from taking charge on interim basis

Virgil van Dijk....back stronger from injury setback

Roberto Mancini has emerged as a surprise candidate for the Manchester United job when interim manager Ralf Rangnick steps down in the summer.

Mancini is currently in charge of Italy. He has led from disaster to European Championship glory since taking over in 2018.

However, more recent times have not been so good. First, the Azzurri crashed out in the UEFA Nations League Finals at the first hurdle and they then missed out on automatic qualification for the 2022 World Cup after slipping to disappointing

draws against Switzerland and Northern Ireland.

Italy must now navigate a tricky playoff route to make it to Qatar with a semi-final clash with North Macedonia likely to be followed by a one-off game against Portugal for a place at the showpiece event next winter.

According to UK’s Telegraph, United are weighing up an approach for Mancini amid Italy's struggles. At present, the 57-year-old is committed to the national team, but if they fail to qualify he could become available.

TR

Wednesday, December 1, 2021

UT H

& RE A SO

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Price: N250

MISSILE ICPC to Govt Officials

“Our findings indicate that the same malady of corruption afflicts executive as well as zip projects (of the legislators) thus undermining government projections, escalating the cost of governance and denying Nigeria value for money. These maladies include poor needs assessment that disconnects projects from beneficiaries; false certification of uncompleted contracts as completed; deliberate under performance of contracts; incessant criminal diversion and conversion of public property by civil servants, to name just a few.”. --Chairman of the of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), Professor Bolaji Owasanoye, on duplication of projects in the 2021 Budget

KAYODEKOMOLAFE THE HORIZON

kayode.komolafe@thisdaylive.com

0805 500 1974

30 Years in Defence of Relevant Art I

t was Nigeria’s first professor of Theatre Arts, Ebun Clark, who aptly captured the wider context of the gathering artists and enthusiasts of the arts a fortnight ago. She said those who attended the occasion were indeed “lucky” to be there as such a serene ambience for reflection was not available in some other parts of the country where killings, kidnappings and destruction of property were taking place at that hour.

Professor Clark, widow of the celebrated poet and playwright Professor John Pepper Clark, spoke at a session with the sub-theme “How Did it all Go Awfully Wrong?” at the 23rd Lagos Book and Art Festival (LABAF). With theme A Fork in the Road, the festival took place without any special arrangement for the security of the participants and guests who wined and dined after intellectual discussions. Such an occasion would certainly be a luxury elsewhere in the country. The venue of the important festival in the in cultural calendar of Lagos, nay Nigeria, was the Freedom Park in central Lagos. The park itself used to be the ground for the old Broad Street Prison built by the colonial masters.

Three books were reviewed at the vigorous session in which Professor Clark made her remarks. They are Formation: The Making of Nigeria: From Lugard to Amalgamation, by Fola Fagbule and Feyi Fawehinmi; The Politics of Biafra and the Future of Nigeria, by Chudi Offodile and The Riddle of the Oil Thief, by King Bubaraye Dakolo, Agada IV, the Ibenananowei of Ekpetiama Kingdom, a first class monarch in Yenagoa Local Government Area of Bayelsa State.

King Dakolo himself graced the session with his impressive entourage. In his brief intervention from the floor, the king , a scientist, said the story embodied his novel is the story of a witness to the injustice and inequity visited upon the Niger Delta. Talking about how and when things went wrong, eminent dramatist and poet Professor Femi Osofisan, who chaired the session, posed the pertinent question: are people really making efforts to build a nation?

He put the matter like this: nations do not build themselves; it is the people who nations. So it is not enough to talk about how things go wrong. Are there genuine efforts to put things right?

Other sessions of the festival featured discussions on Mentorship, Publishers’ Forum, Visual Arts Day, Readers’ day, Nollywood Tales, Evenings of Music, Literary Activism Day, Culture Icons Day and Book Trek.

Important statements were also made by some of the guests and participants at the various sessions.

In his keynote address at colloquium on the Culture Icons Day entitled The Choice at the Oritameta (a crossroads), writer and journalist Kunle Ajibade posited that “we must do less of agonising and more of organising. This will require a lot of hard work and serious thinking. The walk on this road will not be easy. And as we go down this road, we must defy the god of tribalism, nepotism, bigotry, opportunism, crass materialism distractions etc.

It will demand discipline and a sense of history.”

The foregoing is just a taste of the offers on the typical menu of the yearly book and art festival.

Indeed, it was an exception in today’s Nigeria rather than the rule to have some persons gathered solely to celebrate books and their authors; works of arts and their creators as well as reflect on the centrality of arts to all-round development.

In materialist terms, the social structure is such that only members of the elite can afford the luxury of devoting quality time to reflect on the arts. Worse still, in the present situation not a few members of the same elite are overwhelmed by their environment; they cannot even talk seriously about arts what with the socio-economic, political and security issues competing for their attention.

So, it is a huge challenge attracting public interest

Dame Taiwo Ajai-Lycett, Veteran Actress and Culture Advocate to such a festival.

Meanwhile, the point that is seemingly lost on the policymakers and the public alike is that in finding

a comprehensive solution to the multi-dimensional crisis afflicting the nation, arts and culture have a primary role to play. To neglect this reality is to further deepen the contradictions that Nigeria has to contend with in the search for genuine development.

Despite this disabling social climate, the 30-year old Committee for Relevant Art (CORA) has staged the cultural show, LABAF, for 23 years as its flagship programme. Other activities of CORA include Arts Stampede, Arthouse Forum, Lagos Cinema Carnival and the Lagos City Arts Guide. Without the resources and bureaucratic structures of the federal or any state ministry charged with the responsibility to promote arts and culture, CORA has consistently provided the forum for writers, visual artists, artistes, producers, art patrons, academics, students, arts aficionados etc. to engage in productive conversations and other interactions.

Far more than officialdom, CORA as an engine for cultural advocacy, has brought into focus the problems and promise of the culture sector. It foresaw the prospects of a lot of the good news in the sector today. Some artists who used to accompany their aunties and uncles to earlier editions of the CORA Arts Stampede have emerged today as bright stars of the art nationally and internationally. A number of creative persons have had their careers shaped on the platform provided by CORA. This is simply because CORA consciously celebrates creativity by employing the force of examples.

This year’s BABAF, for instance ,was designed to honour the veteran actress and culture advocate, Dame Taiwo Ajai-Lycett, who turned 80 earlier in the year.

One of the high points of the festival was when Ajai-Lycett read her 2012 essay entitled “Restore, Renew” which speaks poignantly to the reality of Nigeria today. She said inter alia: “The country has spent more than enough decades reviewing and fiddling with our body politic, that to my mind , it is time for action if the professional and political investment in the careers of our leaders of thought are not to turn back at zero risk to all of us. A sense of commitment is called for in order to transform our life into a semblance of stability and sanity, and hopefully , build a feeling of confidence in our people…”

In the last 23 years, leading lights of the of the culture sector, who reached similar milestones were honoured by dedicating editions of LABAF to these creative giants including visual artist Bruce Onobrakpeya, novelist Gabriel Okara, novelist Chinua Achebe, playwright Wole Soyinka, poet John Pepper Clark, playwright Femi Osofisan, author Yemi Ogunbiyi, playwright Ahmed Yerima, literary critic Abiola Irele, literary theorist Biodun Jeyifo, poet Odia Ofeimun, poet Niyi Osundare etc.

Significantly, CORA has provided the platform for the interplay of theory and practice on the issues confronting the art and culture sector. Students are often invited to the mentoring sessions and are encouraged to be part of the conversations.

So, why and how did CORA emerge in the Nigerian arts community? The Structural Adjustment Programmes (SAPs) imposed on African countries in the 1980s wreaked enormous havoc beyond the Continued on page 53

State Judicial Panels can Indict Military and Police Officers Femi Falana

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s a sequel to the #EndSARS protests last year, the National Economic Council advised all State Governments to institute judicial commissions of Enquiry to probe allegations of police brutality in the country. Based on the advice the Federal Government and 28 State Governors set up judicial commissions of inquiry to probe sundry allegations of police brutality under the applicable Tribunal of Inquiry Laws. However, a few lawyers deliberately set out to obfuscate the issues in a desperate attempt to cover up the massacre of unarmed protesters in Lagos, Rivers, Edo, Oyo and the Federal Capital Territory. Notwithstanding that some of the lawyers had previously appeared in panels of enquiry set up

by State Governors they turned round to question the constitutionality of the judicial commissions, albeit on a very shaky legal wicket. I was compelled to intervene by clarifying the state of the law on the unquestionable validity of the powers of the President and State Governors to institute administrative or judicial commissions of inquiry within their areas of jurisdictional competence under the current political dispensation. Thereafter, the Panels which had been set up by the State Governors commenced public sittings.

Thus, some army officers represented by a team of lawyers led by a Senior Advocate of Nigeria appeared before the Doris Okuwobi Judicial Commission of Enquiry, gave oral testimony and tendered documents which were admitted as exhibits.

But shortly thereafter, the officers and their counsel withdrew further appearance from the proceedings of the Panel for an undisclosed reason. Based on the fact that many witnesses later gave detailed evidence of the involvement of soldiers in the brutal killing of 99 people and secret dumping of their bodies in the various mortuaries in Lagos State the Panel decided to give the military officers the opportunity to rebut such damning evidence. But having been misled into believing that they are not bound by the Lagos State Tribunal of Inquiry Law the officers ignored the summons. A few months later, the Panel concluded its assignment and submitted a report which recommended the dismissal and prosecution of some military and police personnel for engaging in the extrajudicial killing of unarmed citizens including protesters who were waving the Nigerian Flag and singing the National Anthem on October 20, 2020.

Even though President Buhari had said that he would await decisions of the State Governors on the reports of all the panels of enquiry on police brutality the report of the Lagos State Judicial Commission has been singled out for excoriation by a couple of Ministers who have purportedly rejected it on behalf of the Federal Government. In the highly erroneous belief that the White Paper Committee set up by Governor Sanwoolu could recommend the annulment of the recommendations of the Panel both Ministers have launched venomous attacks on the findings of the body. Curiously, Mr. Festus Keyamo SAN, the Minister of State in the Federal Ministry of Labour and Productivity has said that the Panel was illegal for having the temerity to indict military and police

officers. But contrary to such misleading claim the legality of the Panel instituted by the Governor in accordance with the provisions of the Tribunal of Enquiry Law cannot be challenged on solid legal grounds.

Indeed, the controversy surrounding the legality of any Panel set up under the Tribunal of Enquiry Law of Lagos State was laid to rest as far back as 1987. For the avoidance of doubt, the validity of the law was upheld by the Court of Appeal in the case of Williams v Dawodu (1998) 4 NWLR (PT 87) 189 at 212- 213 where Akpata JCA (as he then was) held inter alia: “In any event the Learned Trial Judge was not entitled to enquire into the constitutionality of the Tribunal of Inquiry Law (CAP 135) Lagos State, even if Section 5(e) and 14(2) thereof appeared to be unconstitutional. The Tribunals of Inquiry Law was promulgated on December 4, 1968. Thus, when the 1979 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria was promulgated as of the 1st October, 1979 the Tribunal of Inquiry Law qualified as an ‘Existing Law’ under Section 274 of the same Constitution.”

It is crystal clear that notwithstanding the enormous powers conferred on the Federal Government under the 1999 Constitution the power vested in the President of Nigeria to set up a Judicial Commission of Enquiry is limited to the Federal Capital Territory.

The authority for this submission is the case of Chief Gani Fawehinmi v. Gen. Ibrahim Babangida (2003) 3 NWLR (PT 808) 604 at 626 where the Supreme Continued on page 53

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